XXIII 



THE RIVERS OF OREGON 



TURNING from the woods and their inhabi- 

 tants to the rivers, we find that while the for- 

 mer are rarely seen by travelers beyond the 

 immediate borders of the settlements, the 

 great river of Oregon draws crowds of visitors, 

 and is never without enthusiastic admirers 

 to sound its praises. Every summer since the 

 completion of the first overland railroad, tour- 

 ists have been coming to it in ever increasing 

 numbers, showing that in general estimation 

 the Columbia is one of the chief attractions 

 of the Pacific Coast. And well it deserves the 

 admiration so heartily bestowed upon it. The 

 beauty and majesty of its waters, and the 

 variety and grandeur of the scenery through 

 which it flows, lead many to regard.it as the 

 most interesting of all the great rivers of the 

 continent, notwithstanding the claims of the 

 other members of the family to which it be- 

 longs and which nobody can measure the 

 Fraser, McKenzie, Saskatchewan, the Mis- 

 souri, Yellowstone, Platte, and the Colorado, 

 with their glacier and geyser fountains, their 

 famous canons, lakes, forests, and vast flow- 



327 



