The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-03-27

says no. -ws go long train Of w.soo.
ooming thFoagh our stroeas. A th.,
20 they arc hailed with joyous shout. q,
welcoms BY their fellow tTavalleru, Loo.
Ing out at tho passing train 70 sss amooy
the foremost ao0mforeAblo covered vaR,n
with ono % In shests 20 drawn aairs. a,
20 reveal . quiet looking woman seated IN
aide and sowing. The bottom Of ~.
and mirror: near by are thros chAiru. an
hanging along the sides aro articles O.,
ornament and uss. Then CONS team
aftsr team, each drawn by six or eiSht
stout omen driven by stout sons OF Anal
not ono u than IOf the sonsl undar 81,
feet two In his stockings. We are IN ,
perfect Oregon fewer. Then come stoc.
OC every deacEtption-ns9ross, horse
mules. cows. Oxen. and thers sssms 90 b.
no end Of them. Not Iess than two or
thrsO thousand people are RAEharod Al
this point. ready 10 st on over the broAd
prairie about May 10. A train Of ~,
wagons left our town on Tuesday ami
Wednesday last. bound for Oregon
Yesterday twenty-eiEht passsd this town
They came from about Fort Madison
Iowa. Two hundred moro have crossed
the Missouri at Sc. joseph and City arr
aaid to be crossing at the Lower Ferry
May . the advance guard act OF from In.
depsndenco in four companies. Msn amt
boys numbered tO2. women and girls Ssi
the wagons leo. and the horsss. mule
Oxen and cattle over S.OO0. One who
met the great body of emigrants After
they had set out on their long journey
declares that the trail from fifteen miles
beyond the BIG Blus 30 the state line wa
crowded. with smigrants and that hs
passed 900 wagons and the usual proper.
ton Of men. women. children and cattle
This account. Mr.. McAtastsr says. 10 not
ovvrwrousht. 4 letter from one Of tho
company. then sncamped on tho Platt.
River. relates that the caravan COMPRISE
sOo wagons. between 5000 and 1000 emf
grants and some 10000 cattle. When the
teams. horses. ponies. mules. cattle and
wagons wers stretched in marching order
on the prairie the procession was threc
miles long
Many in the Fast. this historian says
thought Oregon a WORTHLESS country. and
to them these people seemed = pack Of
fools. The New York TribHas was one ~
tho newspapers that proclaimed the folly
VI the emigration Not less than ton
thousand Of our fellow citizsns.- said the
editor. have this year left the fertile
pTairisS OF the West 60 endure the hard
ships and priVatiOns Of the overland jour
ney 60 Oregon. That journey will cost the
lives Of many delicate women and chill
drsn: ak months or more OF the parils ~
the plains. days of famine. nights OF
Cirenching storms, and when winter opsns
with its incessAnt rain and slest they vii
DO hundreds OF miles from Willametts.
But suppose they do reach Vancouver by
the first of December; with food gone.
clothes worn out. wagons broken OF left in
the sterile desserts Of eastern Oregon. what
are they 20 do3 Where are they to lind
houses. food and clothes? Oregon IL not
q fertile country. Not a tenth OF its sur
face can ever he cultivated at all, whiln
there 10 not square mile OF it on which "A
good crop Of Indian corn can bs raised
The snow covered mountains insure cool
nights nc all seasons. however fervid the
days. and heavy frOsts after withsring
heat are Of frequent Occurrencs. Moth
ing that frost kills can be raised In Oregon
Why then do men 20 there? Why leave
the richest and most inviting spots on the
face VI the earth. regions where every gram
and grass grows in luXuriAnt perfection
20 wander two thousand miles through the
most desolats region on which the sur
ever shons. and ~ last reach . land fnfs-
rior to New EnglAndp wAs thsrs ever
such faulty short OF suicide2"
IL might he that this was Q contradiction
to the TribuRs editors famous advice Go
west. young man. but really IL In only an
ADMIRATION not 90 10 further west or not
10 no northwest IL esems 70 have had
some warrant. for certainly the smi-
grants who left tho Missouri frontier for
Oregon in the spring Of ls4e suffered much
bsfors they reached the Winametts Val
Icy. or course there II fun relation hsrs
Of the Oregon dispute and OF its ssstls-
msnt; also OF the dispute oODosrning r~xAs
and OF the war With Mexico and tho &C.
quisition o. California. The book IL an
tremely interesting. It tslls great many
things. presents . very generous picture.