CHARACTERISTICS OF OREGON 



seen, and it is only after we have sailed into 

 the country by the Columbia, or climbed some 

 one of the commanding summits, that the 

 great white peaks send us greeting and make 

 telling advertisements of themselves and of 

 the country over which they rule. So, also, in 

 coming to Oregon from the east the country 

 by no means impresses one as being surpass 

 ingly mountainous, the abode of peaks and 

 glaciers. Descending the spurs of the Rocky 

 Mountains into the basin of the Columbia, we 

 see hot, hundred-mile plains, roughened here 

 and there by hills and ridges that look hazy 

 and blue in the distance, until we have pushed 

 well to the westward. Then one white point 

 after another comes into sight to refresh the 

 eye and the imagination; but they are yet a 

 long way off, and have much to say only to 

 those who know them or others of their kind. 

 How grand they are, though insignificant- 

 looking on the edge of the vast landscape! 

 What noble woods they nourish, and emerald 

 meadows and gardens! What springs and 

 streams and waterfalls sing about them, and 

 to what a multitude of happy creatures they 

 give homes and food! 



The principal mountains of the range are 

 Mounts Pitt, Scott, and Thielson, Diamond 

 Peak, the Three Sisters, Mounts Jefferson, 

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