34 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP THE REGIONS EXAMINED. 



banks, and settlers' houses are now to be seen throughout nearly the whole of this beautiful 

 valley, which has been appropriately called the Garden of Oregon. 



Communication with the region east of the Cascade Range is principally carried on by small 

 steamboats upon the Columbia river ; but the pack trails upon the banks of this stream, and 

 the wagon roads crossing the mountains near Mount Hood and Diamond Peak, are also used 

 for this purpose. The land route to California is very mountainous, but a line of steamers con- 

 nects Portland and San Francisco. 



The climate of the valley is mild and salubrious. The following facts relating to this sub- 

 ject are taken from the Army Meteorological Register, published in 1855. The mean annual 

 temperature is about 52°. 5 Pah.; that for the summer being about 65° Fah., and for the winter, 

 40° Fah. The mean fall of rain is, in the spring, 10 inches ; in the summer, from 2 to 6 

 inches ; in the autumn, 10 inches ; and in the winter, 20 inches. The mean annual fall varies 

 from 40 to 50 inches. 



CALAPOOYA MOUNTAINS. 



This name is given to a chain extending from the Cascade to the Coast Range, and separa- 

 ting the Willamette and Umpqua valleys. It is composed of low ridges, most of which are 

 heavily timbered with spruce, pine, fir, and oak. A kind of hard sandstone is the prevailing 

 rock. 



There are three wagon roads across these mountains. Two of these, the Applegate and 

 Scott roads, pass over high and steep hills. The third, which is located between them, and 

 which was not fully completed when my party passed over it, follows Pass Creek through the 

 mountains without encountering a single hill. 



UMPQUA VALLEY. 



The principal branch of the Umpqua river, called the South Umpqua, rises in the Cascade 

 mountains near Diamond Peak. At first its course is westerly. In longitude about 123° 15', 

 it bends abruptly towards the north, and after flowing about 75 miles in this direction, and 

 receiving the waters of the North Umpqua river and Elk creek, it again turns towards the west, 

 and discharges itself into the Pacific. The most valuable and populous portion of the valley 

 lies near the river where its course is northerly. This region consists partly of small open prai- 

 ries, and partly of rolling hills sparsely covered with oak, fir, and other kinds of trees. Much 

 of the land is exceedingly productive. The valley, at present, contains many scattered houses, 

 but very few towns. 



UMPQUA MOUNTAINS. 



Little is known of this chain of mountains, except that it extends westward from the 

 Cascade Range nearly to the ocean. It consists of ridges, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height, 

 covered with thick forests and underbrush. The rocks are mostly talcose in character. The 

 only road through the chain follows the Umpqua canon, which is fully described in Chapter 

 V, under the date November 1. Cow creek rises south of the mountains, and flows through 

 them to the South Umpqua, but its canon, although followed by a pack trail, is reported to 

 be too narrow and precipitous for a wagon road. The chain has been crossed at other places 

 by parties with animals, and it is not improbable that a good pass might be discovered by a 

 thorough exploration. 



