New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-08-28
IN SOUTHERN OREGON.
,rcrrrprsOIrE MOUNTAIN JOURNEY.


RIVER vALLEY5-FARMING AMONG THE NOUN
TAISs.
rrpow AN AsrosAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRrBUSEl
STRAWBERRY VALLEY. Cal. Aug. 10" fou'll
find it a rough and tedious journey" SAID n Irienu
In Portland to whom | spoke OF my purpose Oh
going by land to California; nearly three nun
dred miles of travel across country between tno
ends of tho two railroads that are ultimately 10
ion at the state line, and not much 10 SEQ Desi's
mountains the whole way. lie went on 10 say
that nobody travelled that route except san Fran
cisco drummers whose business required them 10
look up the country storekeepcrs but line oil
daily STAGES ran over it, packed full OF mail bags
with room for passengers only OIL the outside; that
stage robberes occurred now and then, ana thae
running of precipice was altogether too frequent
an occurrence for the peace OF mlhd OF travellers
clinging to the top of a coach and rounding curve
an ste.n grades Mt n run. All this did MOI look
encouraging. neither did the prospect of an ocean
voyage from the mouth of the Columbia 10 oah
Francisco to invariably seasick from harDUr 10
harbor: besides n wide stretch of new country Is
always worth seehig, while one mile oil cohVuiseu
green brine is just like another 30 ueciueu W
take the la al route.
! The Oregon and California Railroad runs IN two
lines on either side OF the Willamette Valley, the
longer arm going beyond the valley to the mountain
town of Roseburg on the Umpqua River, 2OO
miles south of Portland. The Oregon Branch OF
the Central Pacific Railroad formerly the Call
! fornia and Oregonl runs northwarI from Sacra-
| mento up the valley of the Sacramento hVer until
| it encounters at Reddng the immense mountain
system of which Mount Shasta is the central ana
| commanding peak. At the barrier OF TINS noun
| tain system railrOad-buildlng enterprise stoppeu
abont ten years ago Both the companies saw the
advantage 1t would be to the two States OF Oregon
| D.,I,f far fhau tn
each hestated to spend the money necessary to
buIld through peculiarly difficult country Offering
| very little local traffic to sustain road. FINALLY
an agreement was made last spring that work
should be commenced at once and pushed on
rapidly until the lines meet at the State boundary
The Oregon Company went promptly to work ana
have already laid about twenty miles OF track
Four thousand Cinnamon are grading and tunnel
ling on tho South Fork of the Umpqua RIVER anu
in the Canon and Rogue River Mountains. The
California Company have located their line and
intend to put a large force upon 1t IN the iall In
about two years junction will be made near the
southern base of the Siskyou Mountains The
heavier task falls upon tho Oregon Company which
must pierce the mountain ranges with tunnels,
besides having more miles of track TO lay; but the
Central Paciic's share of the undertaking IS no
LIGHT affair Their route follows the Sacramento
River for two-thirls of the distance, but the river
runs through savage gorge and has no valley; 50
the road must be carved out of the prccpouS sides
of the mountains.
Both States. as I have said, will be benefited by
| ral connection, but Oregon will reap the greater
gain because she has in her southern counties some
| fine fertile valleys now quito isolated from all chan
| cels of trade which Will be traversed by the new
| line. and brought within twenty-four hours dis
! lance from San Francisco and fifteen from Port
and,- and because all the currents OF her business
! lie will be quickened by a closer union with the
| larger Pacific coast community of California. Up
to this time Oregon has been rs eifcctually sepa-
rated from her neighbor State ~ though she were
an island out in the Pacific six hundred miles from
the Golden Gate. Geographically the two States
| are contiguous but so far as trade relations are
concerned they are further apart than New-lork
aud South Carolina.
The WILLAMETTE VALLEY.
| word about the willamette Valley before
! look further southwark to the mountain counties
OF southern Oregon. Nothing that has been said
by tourists IN praise of this beautiful and fruitful
re- ion has Oterraed It's attractions. Indeed 1t is
one of the fc places sees ia travel that do not
fall short of the expectations formed from reading
| descriptions OF them. 1t is lich rolling plaln'
drained by the Willamette River lying between
! the Cascade Mountains and the Coast Range. hay-
ing an average width of forty miles and extending
! from the rough hill country that skirts the CO.
lumbia River southwark for a distance of n hundred
and fifty miles II naT0ws in at its head aud is
widest about midway of its length. The two noun
tain RANGES are visible from all parts of the valley.
| The whole region is a vast wheat-neld, and so
enormous is its Weld that four lines of railway
| two standard and two narrow gauge-tnd profitable
business in hauling away its surplus crop. besides
| numerous steamers plying upon the river III tine
| Same trade doubt / there is anywhere IN the
| Il Of Ion Of ltph rrQnf
and uniform fertility. The wheat crop yc r after
year will average over twenty-five bushels to the
acre. ana farmers who know how to till their land
and pay attention to the proper times fol- seeding
rarely fail to get from thirty to forty bushels. L
saw this season fields that have been cropped for
thirty successive years without manuring which
will Weld forty bushels, although this is not IA
vorable ear for wheat on the Pacific coast.
The valley is well settled for a Western section.
but by no means thickly settled. Much of the land
| is still held in the mile square tracts obtained by
the first settlers under tho Donation Act OF Con-
pre,s. When the large farms are rut up and tho
| inferior but valuable land of the foothills is Guilt
waited, the valley will support many times Its pres
ent population and such pretty market towns as
| Salem. Corvallis and Albany viii grow into
1Ourshing little cities. There is earthly para
| disc so this wonderfully fertile region, with its
broad expenses OF golden grain, its groves of oak,
| its magnificent mountain views, its clear water
COURSES its orchards and its pretty famhOuses. has
| its drawback: the long rainy winters, converting
| the roads into rivers of mre and shutting up tho
! farmers III their homes. The genuine wob-foot,'
who has lived long time in Oregon, insists that
| he likes tho moist winters and prefers them to
| the cold scissors of the East and of course the
| natives know nothing else; but winter with
! plenty Of frost and snow is unquestionably more
hoalthful and more enjoyable than the four or five
months OF drzzlc they have in the Willamette
| Valley.
A LONG MOUNTAIN DRIVE.