2(30 iLLL ABOUT THE COLOMBIA RIVEiL 



oors, that, considering their intimate relation to the general interest of com. 

 merce, seem to demand our first attention. 



Tlie Columbia and its branches water almost tne entire territory, and 

 open a highway fiom the ocean to the lofty mountain ranges which form its 

 enstern boundary. This river heads in lau 62° north, long. 1 19" west from 

 Greenwich, and, after pursuing a serpentine course for fifteen hundred oi 

 two thousand miles, finds its discharge in the Pacific, at lat 46° nortli. 



One hundred and twenty miles of this distance are navigable for ships 

 of the largest class, but the remainder of its course is interrupted by occa- 

 si'mal rapids and falls, that render frequent portages necessary. 



The upper and lower " dalls" and " cascades," present the most serious 

 impediments to navigation. The former of these, situated above Clarke's 

 Fork, are caused by the passage of the Columbia through immense ledges, 

 that leave hufe vertical walls of basaltic rock upon either side, and com^ 

 press its waters to a narrow, chasm-like channel. There, dashing and 

 foaming in wild fury, the torrent rushes past its lateral dikes with frightful 

 velocity. 



The distance between tliese two " dalls" is some thirty miles. 



The " cascades " lie at the base of a mountain range of the same name, 

 one hundred and fifty miles from the Ocean. Near this place the whole 

 stream is plunged over a precipice of fifty feet descent, forming a sublime 

 and magnificent spectacle. 



Between the dalls and cascades, a reach of high-lands, formed almost en- 

 tirely of naked basalt, presents another barrier, through which the river 

 forces itself by a tunnel-like pass for ten or fifteen miles, leaving vast mural 

 piles upon tlie right and left, that attain an altitude of tliree hundred and 

 fifty or four hundred feet. 



A few miles above the junction of the southern and middle forks of the 

 Coliunbia, two consideiabie lakes have been formed by the compressure of 

 its waters among the adjoining mountains. 



The first of these is about twenty miles long and six broad, shut in by 

 high, tov/ering hills, covered witJi stately pine forests. 



Emerging from this, the river urges its way through lofty embankments 

 of volcanic rock for some five miles or more, when a second lake is formed 

 in a similar manner, which is about twenty-flve miles in length and six Id 

 widtli. 



jjoTE.— Capt. Fremont, in speaking of the Columbia, makes use of the following 



i> at observations : 



" The Columbia is the only river which traverses the whole breadth of the country, 

 isrealdiig through all the ranges, and entering into the sea. Drawing its waters from 

 fi section of ten degrees of latitude in the Rocky Mountains, which are collected 

 into one stream by three main forks (Lewis', Clarke's, and tlie North fork) near the 

 centre oi the Oregon valley, this great river th«iice proceeds by a single channel int« 

 the sea, while ita three forks lead each to a pass in tlie mountains, which opeos tht 

 way into the interior of the co7itinent. 



'•'TMs fact, in reference to the rivers of tht region, gives an immense value to the 

 Columbia. Its mouth is the only inlei and outlet to and from the sea; its three forki 

 lead to passes in the mountains ;' it is, therefore, the only liae of communication be- 

 tween the Pacific and the interior of North America ; and all onerations of war a 

 comrierce, of national or social intijrcourse, mtist be conducted up^ia iu" 



