NAREATIVE AND ITINERARY FORT LANE SISKIYOU MOUNTAINS. 109 



November 3. To-day we travelled about twenty-five miles to Fort Lane, crossing Rogue river 

 at Evans ferry. His house, and others south of the river, were now protected by a few soldiers. 

 The disturbance had been confined to the northern side of the valley ; but a few murders had 

 been committed on the Siskiyou mountains, and the settlers were in great alarm. The road was 

 gently undulating until we arrived at the ferry ; but from that point it followed the level bank 

 of the river nearly the whole distance to Fort Lane. The land appeared to be rich and valuable. 

 The hills were thinly covered with oak, pine, and other kinds of trees. A short time before 

 reaching the fort we passed a salt spring, at which the animals drank eagerly. 



November 4. To-day we remained in camp to recruit the animals, which had suffered very 

 much from fatigue and hunger during the last few days. We were treated with every possible 

 kindness and attention by the officers stationed at the post. 



Fort Lane, at present a cavalry station, is pleasantly situated on the side of a low hill, near 

 the junction of Stewart creek with Rogue river. The barracks and officers quarters are built of 

 logs plastered with clay. Much of the surrounding country is fertile and settled, but destruc 

 tive Indian outbreaks are not unfrequent. On the opposite bank of Stewart creek there are some 

 peculiar basaltic hills, with flat tops and precipitous sides, somewhat resembling those of the 

 Des Chutes valley. The principal one, which is about five hundred feet high, is called Table 

 Rock. Good observations were obtained at the fort, by which the altitude above the sea was 

 found to be 1,202 feet, and the latitude 42 25 56&quot;. 



November 5. This morning we continued our journey without an escort, as no Indian out 

 rages of importance had been recently perpetrated on the route. We found many houses 

 deserted, however, and great alarm prevailing among the settlers. After travelling about 26 

 miles up the valley of Stewart creek, we encamped at the house of Mr. Smith, near the foot of the 

 Siskiyou mountains. The road was level, and the general appearance of the country was sim 

 ilar to that near the source of the Willamette river. The rolling hills that shut in the valley, 

 were sometimes bare and sometimes thinly covered with trees. We passed, on the way, a hot 

 spring, the temperature of which was about 100 Fahr. A continual escape of gas through the 

 water gave it the appearance of boiling. 



November 6. This morning we crossed the Siskiyou mountains. At first the ascent was 

 gradual ; but the road soon began to wind up a steep slope, portions of which were rendered 

 very slippery by clay and rain, until,, at length, the summit, elevated 2,385 feet above camp, 

 was attained. Here the mountain was densely timbered, but near the base there were com 

 paratively few trees. The descent, for a short distance, was very abrupt ; but it soon became 

 gentle, and broken by a few hills. A pile of stones by the roadside marked the boundary 

 between Oregon and California. When we passed this spot it was raining ; but in the valley 

 below, clouds of dust gave evidence of a long continued drought. The rainy season begins 

 earlier in Oregon than in California ; and it happened in several places that the first rain of 

 the season occurred on the night of our arrival. Nature seems to have preceded legislation in 

 making the Siskiyou mountains a boundary ; for, after passing them, the appearance of the 

 country immediately undergoes a change. Rounded and nearly bare hills, not unlike those of 

 the Sacramento valley, near Benicia, began to appear ; and a few scattered sage bushes reminded 

 us of the plateau east of the Cascade Range. The general altitude above the sea, also, had 

 increased between one and two thousand feet since leaving Rogue river. We crossed Klamath 

 river at Dewitt s ferry, and encamped on its southern bank, after a day s march of about 

 twenty-four miles. 



