WILLAMETTE VALLEY. 305 



former, many have been introduced by parties, which trap on their 

 way thither and return with cattle. Although there were but a few 

 head of them four or five years before, in 1841 there were upwards of 

 ten thousand. The whole country is particularly adapted to grazing, 

 which, together with the mildness of the climate, must cause this 

 region to become, in a short time, one of the best-stocked countries in 

 the world. 



The price of cattle may be quoted at ten dollars a head ; but those 

 that are broken in for labour, or milch-cows, command a higher price; 

 and in some places in the Willamette Valley they have been sold for 

 the enormous price of eighty dollars. Every endeavour is made to 

 keep the price of cattle up, as labour is usually paid for in stock. 



The price of labour for a mechanic may be set down at from two 

 dollars and a half, to three dollars a day; and there is much difficulty 

 to procure them even at that rate. The wages for a common labourer 

 is one dollar per day. The price of wheat is fixed at sixty-two and 

 a half cents per bushel by the Company ; for which any thing but 

 spirits may be drawn from the stores, at fifty per cent, advance on the 

 London cost. This is supposed, all things taken into consideration, to 

 be equal to one dollar and twelve cents per bushel ; but it is difficult 

 for the settlers so to understand it, and they are by no means satisfied 

 with the rate. There is a description of currency here, called beaver 

 money ; which seems to be among the whites what blankets are 

 among the Indians. The value of the currency may be estimated 

 from the fact, that a beaver-skin represents about two dollars through- 

 out the territory. 



In speaking of the Willamette Valley, I have viewed its advantages 

 for raising crops, pasturage of stock, and the facilities of settlers 

 becoming rich. There is, however, one objection to its ever becoming 

 a large settlement, in consequence of the interruption of the navigation 

 of its rivers in the dry season ; which renders it difficult to get to a 

 market, as well as to receive supplies. 



The salmon-fishery may be classed as one of the great sources of 

 wealth, for it affords a large amount of food at a very low price, and 

 of the very best quality : it does not extend above the falls. I found it 

 impossible to obtain any data to found a calculation of the quantity 

 taken, but it cannot be short of eight hundred barrels ; and this after 

 the Indian manner of catching them, as before described. The finest 

 of the salmon are those caught nearest the sea. 



The settlers and Indians told us that the salmon as they pass up the 

 river become poorer, and when they reach the tributaries of the upper 

 Columbia, they are exceedingly exhausted, and have their bodies and 

 heads much disfigured and cut, and their tails and fins worn out bv 



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