XXI 



THE PHYSICAL AND CLIMATIC CHARACTERISTICS 

 OF OREGON 



OREGON is a large, rich, compact section of 

 the west side of the continent, containing 

 nearly a hundred thousand square miles of 

 deep, wet evergreen woods, fertile valleys, 

 icy mountains, and high, rolling, wind-swept 

 plains, watered by the majestic Columbia 

 River and its countless branches. It is bounded 

 on the north by Washington, on the east by 

 Idaho, on the south by California and Nevada, 

 and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It is 

 a grand, hearty, wholesome, foodful wilder 

 ness and, like Washington, once a part of the 

 Oregon Territory, abounds in bold, far-reach 

 ing contrasts as to scenery, climate, soil, and 

 productions. Side by side there is drouth on 

 a grand scale and overflowing moisture; flinty, 

 sharply cut lava-beds, gloomy and forbidding, 

 and smooth, flowery lawns; cool bogs, ex 

 quisitely plushy and soft, overshadowed by 

 jagged crags barren as icebergs; forests seem 

 ingly boundless and plains with no tree in 

 sight; presenting a wide range of conditions, 

 but as a whole favorable to industry. Natural 



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