STEEP TRAILS 



of the Columbia, which are green and flowery 

 in spring, but gray, dusty, hot, and forbidding 

 in summer. Considerable areas, however, on 

 these plains, as well as some of the valleys 

 countersunk below the general surface along 

 the banks of the streams, have proved fertile 

 and produce large crops of wheat, barley, hay, 

 and other products. 



In general views the western section seems 

 to be covered with one vast, evenly planted 

 forest, with the exception of the few snow- 

 clad peaks of the Cascade Range, these peaks 

 being the only points in the landscape that 

 rise above the timber-line. Nevertheless, em- 

 bosomed in this forest and lying in the great 

 trough between the Cascades and coast moun- 

 tains, there are some of the best bread-bearing 

 valleys to be found in the world. The largest 

 of these are the Willamette, Umpqua, and 

 Rogue River Valleys. Inasmuch as a consid- 

 erable portion of these main valleys was tree- 

 less, or nearly so, as well as surpassingly fer- 

 tile, they were the first to attract settlers; and 

 the Willamette, being at once the largest and 

 nearest to tide water, was settled first of all, 

 and now contains the greater portion of the 

 population and wealth of the State. 



The climate of this section, like the corre- 

 sponding portion of Washington, is rather 



278 



