The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-10-29
An Essay on the Columbia River and
Other Things.

Lieut.. THOMAS w. SYMoNs Is q young
officer Of the Corps of Engineers. He also
aspires to be ON eloquent and a polemlcal
writer, as we shall shortly proceed to show.
During the autumn Of 1881 Lieut.. SYMON 8
made an examination Of the Columbia River.
TO determine its navigability and the advis-
ability OF putting steamboats, on 1t to be used
in the transportation Of troops, stores, sup
plies, &C." The Secretary of War, in response
to call from that body, transmitted to the
Senate last April Lieut.. SYMoNss report Of
his observations. That report, printed at
the Government Printing Office, makes a
quarto Of about $50 pages, and Is illustrated
with numerous maps and sketches.
Its subject Is unQuestionably interesting,
for the Columbia Is one Of the grandest Of our
rivers, and one, too, about which compare
lively little Is generally known. Along its
banks, or In the region which 1t drains, q
great population is destined to be gathered
before many years.
The Columbia is the Mississippi Of the
Pacific slope, the largest stream Of water
which pours into that ocean from the Ameri-
can continent. 1t forms, as any one can see
by consulting the map, the boundary line
between Oregon and Washington Territory,
and, entering the Pacific near the forty-sixth
degree Of latitude, it spreads out as a great
arm of the ocean, up which seagoing vessels
can go for one hundred miles and more to
what the eloquent Lieut.. SYMoNs calls the
foot hills Of the great range OF mountains
whose snow-clad summit peaks can be seen
by the sailor Us he nears the foaming break
ers at the rivers mouth" II certain obstruc-
tions are removed or avoided at great
expense to the Government it will have a
total Of $50 miles OF navigable water, to
which must be added the navigable waters
OF the Clearwater, the extent Of which Lieut..
SYMoNs does not know.
BY means OF its tributaries, the Columbia
drains the western slope of the Rocky Noun
tains from about the forty-second to the
fifty-third parallel Of north latitude, dis
lance OF about 800 miles. The drainage basin
aggregates nearly 245, 900 square miles, an area
larger than oil the New England and Middle
States, with Maryland, Virginia, and West
Virginia combined. The northern portion Of
the interior Columbia Basin is known as the
Great Plain Of the Columbia. This region,
which Is also called the Bunch Grass Coun-
try, from the circumstance that nearly all
the plains and hills throughout its extent
are covered with that most hardy and nutri-
tious grass, has an area OF about q, 900 square
miles, a territory as large as Massachusetts,,
New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode
Island together
Bunch grass" says Lieut.. SYMoNs, has
become the synonyme for things good. strong,
rich, and great; the Bunch Grass Country is
ha hnS nd N an RI n.
grass cattle and horses are the sweetest,
ileetest, and strongest in the world; and a
bunch-grass man is the most superb being in
the universe" or course that was written
in vein of pleasantly, but he adds. soberly,
that lover nearly the whole OF this Great
Plain OF the Columbia there is now spread a
rich and fertile soil, varying in depth from a
few inches to hundreds OF feet" This soil
has been produced by the disintegration OF
volcanic rocks during geologic periods, and
is shown by experience to possess in high
degree the qualities and mineral constituents
needed by plants THE most fertile soils Of
France, Italy. the Sandwich Islands, and Cal
ifornia are OF this nature" says Lieut.
SYMoNs, land the wondrous harvests in
some localities in the Bunch Grass Country
show that its soil has no superior anywhere"
The great drawbacks to the settlement Of
the region are the lack Of an abundant sup
ply Of water and the scarcity OF wood for
fuel and lumber. But an increase Of moisture
seems to come according to him, with an in
crease Of cultivation. When Fort Kearney
was established in 1s4s, the effort was made
to raise vegetables for the troops and grain
for the public animals; but agriculture was a
complete failure, owing to the lack Of rain.
Now all about the old fort are thousands Of
farms, on all OF which abundant crops are
raised. This change has been produced by
the westward progress OF settlements, carry
ing along an increased rainfall"
In order to show the extraordinary fertili-
ty OF the Columbia River country, Lieut..
SYMONs compares its average yield Of cereals
with that OF the whole Union. In 1879, &C
cordng to the census AS quoted by him, the
average yield OF wheat was % bushels in the
States and Territories drained by the Column
bia, against Is bushels for the whole Union
OF barley 33 bushels, against % bushels buck
wheat IS bushels against IA bushels Indian
corn % bushels, against 2S bushels; oats IS
bushels. against IS bushels; rye Is bushels.
against II bushels. "This country" says
of Government, and is very little known. but
it is bound soon TO force itself on the atten-
ton of the country as one of the grandest
portions OF our domain, unexcelled by any in
the productions Of the earth, in the beauty,
extent, and yield OF its waters, in its noun
tains clothed with splendid forests and en-
folding mines of the useful and precious
metals and in its climate"
The facts we have given above are taken
from mass of matter, from amid good
deal Of rather calow verbage, from report
which is far from well-digested or system
attic and one whose opinions may possibly
have felt the effect OF railway influence. But
the most remarkable piece OF fine writing in
Lieut. SYMoNs's volume is the following pas
sage about the temporal power of the Pope.
1t occurs at the beginning Of long and
mostly unnecessary chapter on the history of
the discovery and exploration OF tho Column
bia River:
About the same time in the eventful year OF 1892
that the ind0mtable energy and genius of CoLuxBUs
was rewarded by his discovery OF New World n con.