GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED. 35 



ROGUE RIVER VALLEY. 



Rogue river rises in the Cascade Range, near Mount Pitt, and flows westward to the Pacific 

 ocean, receiving on the way numerous small tributaries from the Umpqua and Siskiyou 

 mountains. Some of these streams flow through fertile valleys, separated from each other &quot;by 

 high and forest-clad hills. Others, especially those near the coast, are sunk in immense 

 canons. Most of the rich land lies near the California and Oregon trail. Gold digging is 

 profitable in many places. Hornblende and granitic rocks predominate, but Table Rock, and 

 other hills in the vicinity, are basaltic. Jacksonville is at present the only town in the valley, 

 although there are many scattered dwellings. 



SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS. 



Very little is accurately known about this chain, although it has been much explored by 

 gold seekers. It is a high and heavily timbered dividing ridge between the waters of Rogue 

 and Klamath rivers, and its general direction is east and west. The prevailing rock is a hard 

 kind of conglomerate sandstone. Near the summit, elevated about 2,400 feet above the base, 

 we found the soil to be an adhesive clay, which, when wet, renders travelling very laborious. 

 There are several pack trails across the chain, but no reliable information concerning them 

 could be obtained. 



LAMATH RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. 



Klamath river, as already stated, rises in the great plateau east of the Cascade Range. 

 After flowing through Klamath marsh, and upper and lower Klamath lakes, it breaks through 

 the mountains, near Shasta Butte, and following the southern base of the Siskiyou chain, dis 

 charges itself into the Pacific. Through the greater part of its course, it flows either through 

 sterile table lands, or immense caiions. Gold is found in many places upon its banks. My 

 party, while returning to Fort Reading, passed through the valleys of Shasta, Scott s and 

 Trinity rivers, three of its most important tributaries. These will be described in the order in 

 which they were examined. 



Shasta valley is an undulating region, about 25 miles in length and 15 in breadth, which 

 extends from the base of Shasta Butte, in a northwesterly direction, to Klamath river. A 

 small stream, named from the Butte, traverses it. This valley is sterile, compared with most 

 of those already described, but the thick growth of bunch grass renders it a fine grazing 

 country. It is for its gold, however, that it is chiefly valuable. This metal is found in large 

 quantities ; but mining is difficult on account of the scanty supply of water. To remedy this 

 deficiency, the miners are now digging a ditch from a point near the source of Shasta river, 

 along the base of the hills which bound the valley on the southwest, to the river again near 

 where it discharges itself into the Klamath. This ditch, which is called the Yreka canal, will 

 be, when completed, between 30 and 40 miles in length. It derives its name from the great 

 depot of the northern mines, which is situated in so rich a portion of the valley that gold is 

 dug in the very streets of the city. 



Scott s river flows nearly parallel to Shasta river, being only about 18 miles further to the west. 

 The character of its valley, however, is widely different. Gold digging is not generally profitable 

 in it, although some rich mining claims have been discovered ; especially at Scott s Bar near the 

 mouth of the stream. Most of the land is very productive, and a large portion of the valley is 



