416 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. [1841. 



was extended from the Rocky Mountains west, along the 

 49th parallel of north latitude, to Queen Charlotte's Sound, 

 and then through the Straits of Juan de Fuca to the Pacific 

 ocean, — with the further stipulation, that the navigation of 

 the Columbia river below 49° should be free to the Hudson's 

 Bay Company during the continuance of their charter. 



It is computed that there arc from three hundred to three 

 hundred and fifty thousand square miles contained in the 

 area, or tract of country known as Oregon territory, lying 

 between the boundary before mentioned and California, the 

 Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. This extensive territory 

 is divided into three belts or sections, rising like terraces 

 one above the other, by different ranges of mountains run- 

 ning nearly parallel with the shore of the Pacific. The coast 

 section is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles 

 wide, and is bounded on the east by the Cascade Range, 

 which is continuous, except where it is divided by the chan- 

 nels of streams, and frequently rises into tall conical peaks, 

 from nine to ten thousand feet high, whose summits are 

 bathed in perpetual snow.* The middle section lies between 

 the Cascade Range and the Blue Mountains, and is of ir- 

 regular width, varying from one to three hundred miles : the 

 Blue Mountains are often interrupted, and deviate from their 

 usual course, the spurs sometimes running off, nearly at 

 right angles to the general direction, for a considerable dis- 

 tance, beyond which are occasional detached outliers. Be- 

 yond the Blue Mountains, and between them and the lofty 

 barriers of the Great Cordillera, which tower upward to the 

 height of sixteen thousand feet, is the third or eastern sec- 

 tion, whose average width is not far from five hundred miles. 

 Notwithstanding the Rocky Mountains are here a continuous 

 chain, in general, the long reach, trending away on the one 

 side to the frozen regions of the north, and on the other to 

 the sunny plateaus of Anahuac, is occasionally interrupted 

 by passes through which roads are practicable. The North 



* The line of perpetual snow in this latitude, is about 65O0 feet above th« 

 le^el of the tea. 



