612 



OREGON. 



OSBORN", SHERARD. 



adapted to agriculture, which possess a good 

 soil. These valleys are more extensive toward 

 the south. In Eastern Oregon the chief agri- 

 cultural tracts are along the streams. The 

 most extensive and productive valleys are those 

 of the Grande Ronde, Powder, and Malheur 

 Rivers. On John Day's and Crooked Rivers 

 there are also productive lands. Much of the 

 district belonging to the Great Basin is a desert, 

 covered in the east with sand and sage, and in 

 the west with volcanic ashes and pumice. 

 Lava terraces often rise one above the other to 

 the height of 1,000 feet, and chasms appear on 

 every hand. The only tree is a dwarf pine. 

 Western Oregon, with the exception of the 

 extensive prairie tracts in the Willamette Val- 

 ley and smaller ones in some of the other val- 

 leys, is densely wooded with gigantic forests. 

 This is particularly true of the Coast Range and 

 the region west of it. On the Cascade Moun- 

 tains the forests extend to the snow-line. 

 While several varieties of deciduous trees oc- 

 cur, the forests consist chiefly of coniferous 

 evergreens. These furnish excellent ship-tim- 

 ber, and several species attain a height of 300 

 feet, and a diameter of from 8 to 20 feet. The 

 largest tree in Oregon is the redwood, which 

 grows along the shores of the Pacific, and is 

 surpassed in size only by the Sequoia gigantea 

 of California. 



In Eastern Oregon timber is scarce, except 

 along the streams and on the mountains. The 

 Blue Mountains are well wooded. The prin- 

 cipal varieties here are poplar, cottonwood, 

 aspen, birch, willow, etc., on the water-courses; 

 and the larch, pine, fir, cedar, maple, etc., on 

 the mountains. Some species are found in 

 both divisions of the State. Among wild fruits 

 are grapes, cherries, plums, and numerous 

 species of berries, including gooseberries, cur- 

 rants, cranberries, strawberries, and blackber- 

 ries. In Western Oregon, particularly west of 

 the Coast Range, grass is abundant, owing to 

 the prevalence of moisture, while in the east 

 section the nutritious bunch-grass (Festuca sca- 

 brella) abounds. The greater part of the State 

 is well adapted to stock and sheep raising. 

 The table-lands of Eastern Oregon may be prof- 

 itably devoted to this industry. Wheat is the 

 chief crop ; its yield is large and its quality ex- 

 cellent. By far the greater portion is raised 

 in the Willamette Valley. The climate and 

 soil are also well adapted to oats and barley. 

 Rye and buckwheat have been little cultivated. 

 Indian corn is not extensively raised, the cli- 

 mate being better suited to the production of 

 the smaller grains. It grows best in portions 

 of Eastern Oregon and in the south valleys be- 

 tween the Coast and Cascade Mountains. Po- 

 tatoes, peas and beans, cabbages, onions, tur- 

 nips, carrots, and other root-crops, grow well. 

 Flax grows wild in the vicintity of the Klamath 

 basin. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and 

 grapes, thrive, and considerable quantities of 

 apples are raised in the Willamette Valley. 

 Prunes are grown in many portions of western 



Oregon, and peaches succeed well in the east- 

 ern and southern sections of the State. Figs 

 have been successfully grown in the south part 

 of western Oregon. 



The rivers of Oregon abound in salmon at 

 the proper seasons ; there are several species. 

 Other varieties of fish are the cod, halibut, 

 sturgeon, herring, smelt, etc. Lobsters, oys- 

 ters, clams, and other shell-fish, are also com- 

 mon. The salmon alone is caught to any con- 

 siderable extent. There are a number of fish- 

 eries near the mouth of the Columbia, and sev- 

 eral canning establishments. The total annual 

 value of the salmon-fisheries of the State is es- 

 timated at $1,500,000. Most of the animals, 

 birds, and fishes, as well as the trees and other 

 vegetable productions of Oregon, differ from 

 those of the Eastern States, and are peculiar to 

 the Pacific coast. 



The shipments of wheat and flour from Ore- 

 gon in 1875 were as follows : 



To Europe... .. 2,141,800 bush. 



" San Francisco 248,776 " 



" British Columbia 4,173 " 



"Honolulu 889 " 



Total. 



The shipments of flour were as follows: 



To Europe. . . . . 118,588 bbls. 



" BanFrancisco 78,885 " 



" British Columbia 23,678 " 



" China 2,000 " 



" Honolulu 1,712 " 



Total. 



Among the shipments of miscellaneous prod- 

 uce were 10,159 bushels of oats, 1,625 boxes 

 of apples, 448 packages of dried fruit, 2,576 

 cases of bread, 8,928 sacks of mill-feed, 1,995 

 barrels and 1,619 half-barrels of salmon, and 

 8,893 cases and packages of salmon. 



The present State government is as follows : 

 Governor, Lafayette Grover, Democrat ; Sec- 

 retary of State, S. F. Chadwick, Democrat ; 

 State Treasurer, A. H. Brown, Democrat; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, L. L. 

 Rowland, Republican. 



The Legislature is classified as follows : 



OSBORN", SHERABD, a British naval officer, 

 born April 25, 1822; died May 6, 1875. In 

 the Arctic Expedition sent in search of Sir 

 John Franklin, in 1849, he was selected as a 

 volunteer, and was given the command of the 

 Pioneer. He served with distinction in the 

 Black Sea, during the Crimean War. In 1857, 

 in command of the Furious, he took part in 

 the capture of the Tuku forts, and in 1858 

 navigated the Yang-tse-kiang as far as Hankow, 

 six hundred miles from the sea. In 1862 he 

 was offered by the Emperor of China the ab- 

 solute command of a squadron, with which to 

 suppress piracy on the coast of China. As the 



