WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 383 



M'Laugbliu's sons, who has settled here, and has an extensive por- 

 tion of the prairie fenced in. This part of Willamette Valley is a 

 prolonged level, of miles in extent, circumscribed by the woods, which 

 have the appearance of being attended to, and kept free from under- 

 growth. This is difficult to account for, except through the agency 

 of fire destroying the seeds. The Indians are in the habit of burning 

 the country yearly, in September, for the purpose of drying and pro- 

 curing the seeds of the sunflower, which they are thus enabled to 

 gather with more ease, and which form a large portion of their food. 

 That this is the case appears more probable I'rom the fact that since 

 the whites have iiad possession of the country, the undergrowth is 

 coming up rapidly in places. 



In passing through the Willamette, I had a good opportunity of 

 contrasting the settlers of different countries; and, while those of 

 French descent appeared the most contented, happy, and comfortable, 

 those of the Anglo-Saxon race showed more of the appearance of 

 business, and the "go-ahead" principle so much in vogue at home. 



The most perfect picture of content I saw was a French Cana- 

 dian by the name of La Bonte, on the Yam Hill river, who had been 

 a long time in the service of the Hudson Bay Company. This man 

 was very attentive to us, and assisted in getting our horses across 

 the river, which, though but a few rods wide, is yet deep and attended 

 with much difficulty in passing. 



The sudden rises of this river are somewhat remarkable and diffi- 

 cult to be accounted for, as there does not appear from the face of the 

 country to be much ground drained by it. The perpendicular height 

 of the flood is, at times, as much as thirty feet, which was marked 

 very distinctly on the trees growing on its banks. 



Having heard that the farm of the late Mr. Young was the most 

 beautiful spot in this section of the country, I determined to visit it, 

 and for this purpose crossed the Yam Hills again. When we reached 

 the top, we again had a view of the Faulitz Plains, which were 

 highly picturesque. The hills here were covered, as we had found 

 them before, with wall-flowers, lupines, scilla, and quantities of ripe 

 strawberries. Mr. Young's farm is situated in a valley running east 

 and west, which seems to unite that of Willamette and Faulitz. The 

 situation did not meet my high-raised expectations, though it is fine. 

 Mr. Young was one of the first pioneers and settlers in this country, 

 and met with much difficulty. At one time he was desirous of esta- 

 blishing a distillery, but through the influence of Mr. Slacum, who 



