Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1907-12-25

tlcle written Dy j.. III. CTauleDduBh
of The Journal staff, for an Easter
publication, it being one of a serie
of articles on Oregon written by hin
for the Eastern press:
A description of Oregon scener.
might well cause one much able
than myself to hesitate long befor'
Undertaking II. Oregon is so big
so grand, so beautiful that one rea
Lies the pancity of language and the
inadequacy OF words in attempting
to tell of It.
Cutting the state into two dis
tinct sections, the Cascade noun.
tains parallel the Coast line, at dis
tance of about 100 miles from t.
while the Coast Range, lying as It's
name indicates, along the coast,
sends It's bold" -headlands out in ma
jectic bu'warks to meet the billows
OF the Pacific. and its innumerable
streams have formed beautiful little
valleys and delightful hooks, a
never ceasing delight to nature low
ers ms NY OF whom spend their sum
mer vacations there, where the land
scape Is still as God made Il. and
unmarried by man. Both the Cas-
cade and Coast Ranges are heavily
tlmbered, while between them lie the
Willamette, Umpqua and Rogue
River Valleys, each with a beauty
all its own-each different, and
each, once seen, always remembered.
The Willamette Is the largest of
the three, with a length OF about
150 miles and breadth of 60. II
was, no doubt, &C one time an arm
OF the sea, but now beautiful,
broad sweep OF gently undulating
plains, miles of prairie. dotted with
groves OF ash and maple and dark
islands OF majestic frs. The climate
is so mild that snow Is a rarity, and
the year around the valley is an i'm
mense emerald-the "set" In the
ring OF the world. II Is always beau
tiful, but In June--who can describe
itl Mile upon mile of emerald
sward, as fair to look upon as was
that vision when Lot lifted up his
eyos and beheld all the plain OF Jor-
dan, that IL was we'll watered every
where. even as the Garden OF the
Lord" The mountain streams have
forgotten their turbulence and their
courses are bordered by alders and
fringed with willows, while wild
honey suckles tangle their tendrils
round tree and shrub and wild roses
in riotous luxuriance make great
banks of pink among the verduro.
Mile after mile the scene stretches
away TO where the long ridges mr.
clad and sinuous lift ever higher
and higher, while the canyons grow
deeper and darker between; ever
bolder and more rugged until at last
their rounded SUBMITS mark an AN
dulating line OF beauty against an
amothystine sky, and over all nature
has draped a vail OF royal purple,
distinct yet dreamlike, and inde-
scribably beautiful-and from these
lofty SUBMITS rise the majestic
peaks: snow clad, white, emblems of
silence, OF purity and majesty, aud
thore are many of them-HOod,
Jefferson, the Three Sisters. Thiel-
sen and many others: a string of
pearls upon thread OF purple!
But the valleys and the noun
tains. with their sentinel snow
peaks beautiful as they are, are
everyday AFFAIRS. for they are with
us always. other countries have
beautiful valleys and beautiful hills,
but Oregon has one scenic wonder
aside from these that is not equalled
in the whole ring of the world, and
that is, the grand gorge of the Co
lumbla, where the after breaks
through the mighty Cascade Range
and sweeps unhampered TO the sea.
II is a magnificent stream, the ffth
In size in the world, and easily first
in the grandeur and beauty OF it's
scenery. 1t rises amid the snow
crowned mountains OF British Co
lumbia. and from the character of
the country through which IL flows
its waters, except at food, are clear
ana cold, and OF deep blue tint
that mirror the floating clouds until
as one glides over its azure depths
1t seems as though one were sailing
over an inverted sea. Fifteen miles
above the Dalles, and about 100
miles east OF Portland. the river, as
though preparing for its battle with
the mountain range. plunges over
the Cello falls, series Of broken
and separate cataraets. but magnih-
cent In their grandeur. Below the