GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED. 33 



failed, on account of the immense expense of the undertaking. The northern bank is favorable, 

 and a portage, four and a half miles in length, has been constructed by the company owning 

 the line of steamboats plying between the Dalles and Portland. Since my visit, this has been 

 greatly improved by Lieut. Gr. H. Derby, United States Topographical Engineers, who has had 

 charge of the construction of a military road from Vancouver to Fort Dalles. 



Want of time compelled me to return to the Dalles without examining the river below the 

 Cascades. 



The following information relating to the navigation of the Columbia, I received from Captain 

 W. B. Wells, the chief proprietor of the line of steamboats plying upon the river ; a gentleman 

 whose business has afforded him ample opportunity for observation. The river is at its lowest 

 stage about the first of April, when it has a depth of between 9 and 10 feet up to the Cascades, 

 and 9 feet thence to the Dalles. Above that point it is so much interrupted by rapids as 

 to be unna,vigable. It is highest about the first of July, when it has a depth of about 18 feet 

 up to the Cascades, and of 39 feet thence to the Dalles. The disproportionate rise in the latter 

 section is due to the stoppage of the water at the Cascades. There are no troublesome snags or 

 floating timber at any time in the river, but often the shifting sand occasions trouble. The river 

 very rarely freezes, and never for more than a day or two at a time. 



As the Columbia has succeeded in forcing its way through the Cascade Range by this pass, it 

 has naturally been supposed that a wagon road or a railroad could be constructed, at a moderate 

 expense, upon its banks, and an appropriation of $25,000 was made for the former purpose by 

 Congress. The officer in charge of the work, Lieut. G. H. Derby, United States Topographical 

 Engineers, made a careful examination of the route, subsequent to my reconnaissance, and he 

 has reported the road impracticable, without enormous expense. I think that a careful survey 

 would show the same to be true with reference to a railroad. At present, the only land com 

 munication down the river is by two pack trails, which leave the Dalles on the southern bank. 

 Both are generally well supplied with grass. I was informed that one, which can only be used 

 when the river is low, is tolerably good ; but that the other continually crosses rough spurs, and 

 winds along the face of precipices, by paths so narrow, that even mules sometimes lose their 

 foothold. By both trails it is necessary to cross to the northern bank of the river, above the 

 Cascades, where the current is strong and the river wide. 



WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 



This valley, which forms the richest and most populous portion of Oregon, lies between the 

 Cascade mountains and the Coast Eange. It is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, and 

 fifty in breadth. Its general elevation above the sea level is from two to eight hundred feet. 

 Some parts of it are well timbered with oak, maple, cedar, fir, spruce, arbor vitae, and other valu 

 able kinds of trees ; other portions are open and fertile prairies. The soil is generally very rich, 

 and produces in abundance wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and other products of the eastern States. 

 Indian corn, however, cannot be cultivated to advantage. The Willamette river, flowing 

 through the valley, receives many tributaries from the east and west, which furnish an abundant 

 supply of water. The navigation of this river is interrupted by rapids, near Oregon city, about 

 twenty-five miles from its mouth. At the season of high water, however, it is navigable for small 

 steamboats, from the upper end of these rapids to Corvallis, a distance of about one hundred miles 

 by the course of the river. Numerous flourishing towns, and a few cities, are located upon its 

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