The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1909-10-07
OUR WESTERN TOUR
No. 5-The Shasta Route.

Mt. Shasta is not in sight from the
train for all the 772 miles from Port
land, Oregon, to San Francisco. But
when a mountain clad in snow all
summer on half its surface for sever
al thousand feet from its summit, is
plainly seen for two hundred miles
of our journey, and would be In
view for a hundred miles more were
it not for intervening forests, hills,
etc, 1t Is not strange that in railroad
literature and in popular phrases 1t
should give name to the entire route.
And so If this letter could be long
one, instead of the hasty epistle
which l pencil as we are hurried on
the way to Yosemite Park. l might
well omit reference to our lovely ride
of the Sth inst. up the Columbia Riv-
er to the Dalles and return, and all
that we yet have seen of San Fran
cisco, to pay tribute to the giant
peak Of Northern California, 14,440
feet in height.
For the first three-fifths Of the
trip we ascend the Willamette River
and were on the waters Of Rogue
and Klamath Rivers. The first en-
tiers the Columbia twelve miles be-
low Portland; the other two flow
direct to the Pacific. The last two
fifths of the way is down the Sacra-
mento, from where near Mt. Shasta
1t is but noisy little stream, cramp-
ed by the rugged rocks on either
side to where it spreads its placid
waters over a wide area and in
time Of freshets would inundate the
country for miles around were 1t not
for the dykes or embellishments which
have been built along its sides. Some
twenty miles from San Francisco 1t
unites with the San Joaquin to form
San Pablo Bay, an arm of the great
Bay of San Francisco. Except near
the headwaters of the several rivers
the road lies in the midst OF spacious
valleys. We were surprised at the
number of large and busy towns, as
well as the wealth of improved fields
and productive orchards. In one Dody
wore many Thousands of thrifty pear
trees so heavily laden that hundreds
of them would have been crushed oy
their burden of mammoth frult
stronq supportS had not been placed
under the branches.
Nearly all the way the Coast Range
WAS between us and the Pacific Ocean.
on the east, at varying distances, Is
the more lofty mountain system which
through Washington and Oregon taxes
the name of Cascade Mountains Dut
through the vast region which we ac-
ouired from Mexico bears the Spanish
name of Sierra Nevada. 1t may be
well to remark here that to the
east of this range, between 1t and
tho Rocky Mountains proper, is
much wider stretch Of country, much
of IL fairly level, constituting the
barren wastes of Idaho, Utah, NeVa-
da and Arizona. Much of this, even'
is capable of being made extremely
productive wherever there are rivers
or lakes 50 situated as to favor carry
ing out the great plan of irrigation
which now largely engage the atten-
ton OF the General Government OF
the respective states and some private
corporations. Many thousand acres
are already reclaimed. But we VIII
return to the route just Travelled. In
the Cascade Mountains, st. Helens,
Rainier and Hood divide the honors.
In the Sierra Nevada, Mt Shasta
reigns supreme. 1t might be called the
lighthouse of northern California, If
1t be proper to apply that term too
the stupendous pile OF solid rock whose
snowy crest forever glistens whenever
the rays of the sun fall upon it. The