OREGON. 



615 



A considerable source of wealth to the State 

 ies in the public lands granted to it from time 

 to time by Congress, including large tracts of 

 swamp and overflowed lands which have never 

 been accurately surveyed. A large share of 

 this territory is set apart for the purpose of 

 yielding funds for the maintenance of public 

 education. The last Legislature, which held its 

 session in the autumn of 1870, made grants 

 from these lands to various companies, to aid 

 in developing internal improvements, and also 

 passed a law authorizing the sale of the swamp- 

 lands under new regulations. Both these acts 

 produced considerable dissatisfaction, and in 

 many cases, it is alleged, actual settlers have 

 been dispossessed of their land by claimants 

 under the new law. The conflicting claims 

 have not as yet been clearly presented. 



Railroads constitute an important agency in 

 developing the resources of a new State, and in 

 Oregon the beginning of an efficient system of 

 internal communication has been made. The 

 Oregon & California road has been completed 

 from Portland to Eugene City, a distance of 

 about 130 miles, and will soon be carried 

 through to Oakland. The Oregon Central has 

 been completed to Hillsboro, 22 miles. The 

 North Pacific Railroad Company has 25 miles 

 of its road in running order, and the rest of 

 the line between the Columbia River and Pu- 

 get Sound is progressing rapidly. A narrow- 

 gauge road from "Walla Walla to "Wallula is in 

 course of construction. The whole length of 

 railroad completed in the State at the end of 

 the year was 214 miles, of which 55 miles 

 were built since the close of 1870. Among 

 the new enterprises which are on foot is the 

 Portland, Dalles & Salt Lake Railroad, in which 

 much interest appears to be taken. 



The mining and manufacturing interests of 

 the State are of much importance, but are as 

 yet very imperfectly developed. Rich veins 

 of argentiferous lead-ore have been discov- 



ered in the western part of the State, and 

 steps have been taken for working them vig- 

 orously. 



The Federal Government has made appro- 

 priations to aid in developing the commerce 

 of the State, which has already made a prom- 

 ising start. Acts were passed at the last session 

 of Congress, providing for a survey of the pub- 

 lic lands, and appropriations of money were 

 made for the completion of the custom-house 

 at Astoria, for building a custom-house at Port- 

 land, for the establishment of a light-house at 

 Cape Foulweather, and for the improvement 

 of the Umpqua River. 



The schools of the State are well endowed, 

 though the endowment consists mainly of lands 

 as yet undisposed of. There are 75,000 acres, 

 the proceeds of which are to be devoted to a 

 State University, 90,000 acres for the benefit 

 of an Agricultural College, 500,000 acres re- 

 served by the constitution for the benefit of 

 common schools, after deducting $200,000, 

 granted by the last Legislature to the Willa- 

 mette Falls and Locks Company, besides the 

 sixteenth and thirty-sixth sections, which in- 

 clude 3,810,966 acres, or nearly one-sixteenth 

 of the whole State. 



There was no general election, or session of 

 the Legislature, during the year, and hence no 

 political movements worthy of note, and no 

 official reports upon the different interests of 

 the Commonwealth. 



The present Governor is L. F. Grove, whose 

 term of office expires in September, 1874. The 

 State is represented in the United States Sen- 

 ate by Henry W. Corbett, Republican, and 

 James K. Kelly, Democrat, and in the Lower 

 House of Congress by James H. Slater, a Dem- 

 ocrat. The Secretary of State is S. F. Chad- 

 wick; Treasurer, L. Fleischner. The State 

 capital is Salem, and the leading commercial 

 city Portland, the latter having a population, 

 in 1870, of 8,293. 



CENSUS OF 1870. 



