The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1880-11-11
EASTERN OREGON.
IRIS. DUNIwAY's DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY
SCENES AND EVENTS NOTICED BY HER
DURING THE PAST WEEK.
BURNT RAxcHE, Or, November 3, 1850.

BURNT RANCHE, Or, November 3, 1881.
uE READERS or rHE y sw ~ srEwEsT;
j YOU desire to know "a. ,,- 'nsch Of the very
ma iesl kind of active variety you can endure and
you can learn it all by going a-staglng IN the
ra t treeless upland region Of Eastern Oregon
and Washington. But you need not expect the
stv to be all hardship, for you can also expert
eace that e~lssiine enjoyment which no lifelong
Ienizen OF a city can dream of unless he like our
.1ciSy self, becomes political missionary, or,
faing in that, stockman or pioneer ranchers
rife
After a busy day and almost sleepless night at
The Dalles, We on the morning of the Slst ultimo,
boa ded the thOroughbrace mail wagon, which
lily called for Us at the Umatilla House, our
tination Canyon City, Baker City, and such
-lermediate points we might be induced 10y
wGS or WEAKNESS to halt at. These Journeys by
stage have been so often described in the Peoples
per that but for the multiplicity of new readers
hat are constantly widening our ranks, it would
ardly be worth while to give them more than
ssi ing mention.
b. hold US at seven a. NJ seated upon the perch
sile the driver well wrapped in overcoats
and muffiers that we resemble Kalmuck Tartar
OF pa Esquimau rather than a native-bom vic
tim OF taxation without representation" The
air cold and bracng and the vaulted heavens
are clear the tones of a silver bell We eay e
the rocky fiat where the thriving lower town lies
nesting, and climb TO the rocky upland where the
wing upper town is hOurishing Then on and
tnve go, careening, humping, crashing bounding
oyer the billOwy bunch-grass plain the road run
rr at times through Gallons and over winding
grades, with ever another higher range of hills
aa ID of us and on our right the great white peaks
Of he Cascade Range keeping eternal guard over
e ee1nia sly illimitable vista that is everywhere
1tspread beneath the bending sky. Here and
llar in the valleys arc excellent farms, and all
ai7 on the hiilsides are the open stock ranges.
Travelled through these scenes Of ofever-varying
sar ness for twenty-five Cayuse miles (or about
Sis English ones, and then struck the grade
-ea ng TO the Deschutes bridge. The driver here
pu n the brake and gave the well-,lrilled horses
tae Elm, and down we went at railroad speed
lgh and over a labyrinthine maze Of serpen-
Tin .urves and doubles, the road just wide enough
Tor ne wagon, with zgzag depths upon the left,
az. certain death at the bottom if the rigging
sho break, and zigzag heights upon the right
Nhle no pedestrian would care to climb, all COW
cred to their heights and depths with a shaggy
ooa IF bunch-grass, like the uncombed wool on the
back Of a Cotswold buck, or barring the color
Ike the unkempt hair the flattened head of a
noble red man. This steep and winding grade is
fga miles long, and forms part Of the great toll
road running across the Deschutes River and out
Canyon City. At its feet the Deschutes River
runs through deep and rocky gorge of porous
and basaltic rock, and is spanned by a bridge of
brief dimensions that you pause in astonish-
and gaze upon il in and wonder. The
ing waters that and surge beneath this
ar -e are eighty-seven feet in depth at low water
ma and the great river is literally 'set up on
sde, as it ceaseessly struggles through its rocky
roadway in seeking egress toward the sea.
1lr and Mrs J. Fl. Shearar, the enterprisng
prop-ietors of this bridge and tol-road keep a
travellers rest at the bridge, and cosy and pleas
ant abode for the bruised and weary stager it is,
too When we saw how inviting its quarters
wore, we grew too weary to go on, and the rest we
enjoyed under the lee CT the great perpendicular
cliffs that wall the obtruding heights upon either
side Of the narrow valley will long remain with
u- as a genial memory. Mrs. Shearar, like all
sensible women, understands her business, and is
1, husbands partner, book-keeper and general
f1tfJ1tm. Their business is immense, and is con-
st8u increasing. Can anybody tell us why Mrs.
- ga ar, who is as heavy taxpayer as her hus-
band, should not vote as well as he?
There many grand natural curiosities in the
vicinity which should dearly love to visit did
time permit; but our "cerI Of the weather. "a
complaining corn is warning to hurry onward
ana escape a coming storm So on the morrow
We again mount the stage, and, after a ride Of
z" ~ miles through intensely rocky, rough
anc romantic stretch Of volcanic upland we are
ONeraken by the fall Of night at the head Of Dead
DO Guch, and the driver tells US that we are