THE RIVERS OF OREGON 



to fine advantage against its background of 

 evergreens. 



Of the fertility and beauty of the Willam 

 ette all the world has heard. It lies between 

 the Cascade and Coast Ranges, and is bounded 

 on the south by the Calapooya Mountains, a 

 cross-spur that separates it from the valley of 

 the Umpqua. 



It was here the first settlements for agri 

 culture were made and a provisional govern 

 ment organized, while the settlers, isolated 

 in the far wilderness, numbered only a few 

 thousand and were laboring under the oppo 

 sition of the British Government and the 

 Hudson s Bay Company. Eager desire in the 

 acquisition of territory on the part of these 

 pioneer state-builders was more truly bound 

 less than the wilderness they were in, and their 

 unconscionable patriotism was equaled only 

 by their belligerence. For here, while nego 

 tiations were pending for the location of the 

 northern boundary, originated the celebrated 

 &quot;Fifty-four forty or fight,&quot; about as reasonable 

 a war-cry as the &quot;North Pole or fight.&quot; Yet 

 sad was the day that brought the news of the 

 signing of the treaty fixing their boundary 

 along the forty-ninth parallel, thus leaving 

 the little land-hungry settlement only a mere 

 quarter-million of miles! 



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