WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 353 



by the Catholic portion of the settlers. I therefore could not avoid 

 drawing their attention to the fact, that after all the various officers 

 they proposed making were appointed, there would be no subjects 

 for the law to deal with. I further advised them to wait until the 

 government of the United States should throw its mantle over them. 

 These views, I was afterwards told, determined a postponement of their 

 intentions. 



Dr. Babcock and others, myself and officers, were tendered an invi- 

 tation from the American settlers of the Willamette, to partake of a 

 4th of July dinner with them, which I was obliged to decline, on 

 account of the various duties that pressed upon us. 



The next day the gentlemen of the mission proposed a ride to what 

 they term "the Mill," distant about nine miles, in a southeast direction. 



We passed, in going thither, several fine prairies, both high and low. 

 The soil on the higher is of a gravelly or light nature, while on the 

 lower it is a dark loam, intermixed with a bluish clay. The prairies 

 are at least one-third greater in extent than the forest: they were again 

 seen carpeted with the most luxuriant growth of flowers, of the richest 

 tints of red, yellow, and blue, extending in places a distance of fifteen 

 to twenty miles. i 



The timber we saw consisted of the live and white oak, cedar, pine, 

 and fir. 



We reached * the Mill" by noon, which consists of a small grist and 

 saw mill on the borders of an extensive prairie. They are both under 

 the same roof, and are worked by a horizontal wheel. The grist-mill 

 will not grind more than ten bushels a day ; and during the whole 

 summer both mills are idle, for want of water, the stream on which 

 they are situated being a very small one, emptying into the Willamette. 

 We found here two good log houses, and about twenty lay members, 

 mechanics, of the mission under Mr. Raymond, who is the principal 

 at the mills. There a*re, besides, about twenty-five Indian boys, who, 

 I was told, were not in a condition to be visited or inspected. Those 

 whom I saw were nearly grown up, ragged and half-clothed, lounging 

 about under the trees. Their appearance was any thing but pleasing 

 and satisfactory ; and I must own I was greatly disappointed, for I 

 had been led to expect that order and neatness at least would have 

 been found among them, considering the strong force of missionaries 

 engaged here. 



From the number of persons about the premises, this little spot had 

 the air and stir of a new secular settlement ; and I understood that 

 it is intended to be the permanent location of the mission, being 

 considered more healthy than the bank of the Willamette. The 



VOL. IV. 2E2 45 



