WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 35 [ 



side. Here we met George Gay, who was travelling with his Indian 

 wife : he told us that he would join us on our trip to the Yam Hills, 

 which we proposed to make the next day. 



We found our camp established by Plumondon, near the residence 

 of Mr. O'Neill, formerly the property of the Rev. Mr. Leslie: it lies 

 about a mile from the river, in a pretty oval prairie, containing about 

 three or four hundred acres, with a fine wood encircling it. Sixty of 

 these are under cultivation ; about forty in wheat, that was growing 

 luxuriantly. 



Three years since, O'Neill came to the valley with only a shirt to 

 his back, as he expressed it : he began by working part of this farm, 

 and obtained the loan of cattle and other articles from Dr. M'Laughlin, 

 all of which he has, from the natural increase of his stock and out of 

 his crops, since repaid. He has bought the farm, has two hundred 

 head of stock, horses to ride on, and a good suit of clothes, all earned 

 by his own industry ; and he says it is only necessary for him to work 

 one month in the year to make a living ; the rest of the time he may 

 amuse himself. He spoke in the highest terms of Dr. M'Laughlin, 

 and the generous aid he had afforded him in the beginning. This 

 farm is the best we have seen, in every respect; and it is not only 

 well arranged, but has many advantages from its location. The suc- 

 cess of O'Neill is a proof of what good education and industrious habits 

 will do, and it is pleasing to see the happiness and consideration they 

 produce. Mr. O'Neill is also a mechanic, and has gained much of 

 his wealth in that way : he ploughs and reaps himself, and is assisted 

 by a few Indians, whom he has the tact to manage. He has a neat 

 kitchen-garden, and every thing that a person in his situation can desire. 



The Rev. Mr. Leslie, who lives with O'Neill, invited us to the 

 hospitality of his roof, but we preferred our camp to putting him to 

 any inconvenience. 



The next day (9th of June) we started for the Yam Hills, which 

 divide the valleys of the Willamette and Faulitz. They are of but 

 moderate elevation : the tops are easily reached on horseback, and 

 every part of them which I saw was deemed susceptible of cultiva- 

 tion. The soil is a reddish clay, and bears few marks of any wash 

 from the rains. These hills are clothed to the very top with grass, 

 and afford excellent pasturage for cattle, of which many were seen 

 feeding on them. On our route through the Yam Hills, we passed 

 many settlers' establishments. From their top, the view is not unlike 

 that from Mount Holyoke, in Massachusetts, and the country appears 



VOL. IV. 96 



