_ 2 _ 
at Oregon city, it is a peculiar stream, being but a few yards wide 
and. almost as many deep, cutting down through the deep brown clayey 
soil to a depth of 40 or 50 feet, it might well be called a canyon. 
Draining a large section of country subject to a heavy rainfall, 
and running through a very level country, it is subject to great 
fluctuations of level, and in many places where Where are lowlands 
floods wide stretches for pretty long periods during the winter and 
spring. These low lands are the truck farms which supply Portland 
with vegetables, particularly onions, which are a great crop in 
the state and are very valuable. I saw but one place in the county 
where one could find a gravel stone, in the bed of a small stream 
which flows out of the Coast Range on the west side, elsewhere the 
soil is perfectly smooth, becoming along the roads, six inches of 
impalpable dust in summer and bottomless mud in winter. Tnere are 
two main highways up the valley on the west side, one running along 
the fciver and the other further west through Hillsboro, Forest drove 
and other small towns and finally, I think, joining the other at 
Salem. These highways are of concrete and there are a few roads 
radiating from these of macadam, on one of which our place is 
located, so we will never be bothered in getting to town. The act¬ 
ual distance to Portland from the house being 16 miles. 
''’he Valley has a much lighter rainfall than where we are 
now, being somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 inches and the climate 
is milder, corn is a large crop, especially for silage, and the 
truckers raise lots of tomatoes and other things which must be 
handled very carefully here. I saw one large field of peppers near 
Portland, and melons, water and musk, are raised in the home gardens. 
Grapes are raised commercially and there are great orchards of 
English walnuts. 
It is a beautiful country, but very different from what 
we have been accustomed to and we will raise our great mountains 
and the clear cold streams. Hood and St. Helens will not let us 
