34 
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE REGIONS EXAMINED. 
banks, and settlers’ bouses are now to be seen throughout nearly the whole of this beautiful 
valley, which has been appropriately called tbe Garden of Oregon. 
Communication with the region east of the Cascade Range is principally carried on by small 
steamboats upon tbe Columbia river ; but tbe pack trails upon the banks of this stream, and 
the wagon roads crossing the mountains near Mount Hood and Diamond Pe§,k, are also used 
for this purpose. Tbe land route to California is very mountainous, but a line of steamers con¬ 
nects Portland and San Francisco. 
The climate of the valley is mild and salubrious. The following facts relating to this sub¬ 
ject are taken from tbe Army Meteorological Register, published in 1855. The mean annual 
temperature is about 52°.5 Fab.; that for the summer being about 65° Fab., and for tbe winter, 
40° Fall. The mean fall of rain is, in the spring, 10 inches ; in the summer, from 2 to 6 
inches ; in the autumn, 10 inches ; and in the winter, 20 inches. The mean annual fall varies 
from 40 to 50 inches. 
CALAPOOYA MOUNTAINS. 
This name is given to a chain extending from the Cascade to the Coast Range, and separa¬ 
ting tbe Willamette and Umpqua valleys. It is composed of low ridges, most of which are 
heavily timbered with spruce, pine, fir, and oak. A kind of hard sandstone is the prevailing 
rock. 
There are three wagon roads across these mountains. Two of these, the Applegate and 
Scott roads, pass over high and steep hills. Tbe third, which is located between them, and 
which was not fully completed when my party passed over it, follows Pass Creek through the 
mountains without encountering a single hill. 
UMPQUA VALLEY. 
The principal branch of the Umpqua river, called the South Umpqua, rises in the Cascade 
mountains near Diamond Peak. At first its course is westerly. In longitude about 123° 15', 
it bends abruptly towards tire north, and after flowing about 75 miles in this direction, and 
receiving tbe waters of the North Umpqua river and Elk creek, it again turns towards the west, 
and discharges itself into tbe Pacific. The most valuable and populous portion of the valley 
lies near the river where its course is northerly. This region consists partly of small open prai¬ 
ries, and partly of rolling hills sparsely covered with oak, fir, and other kinds of trees. Much 
of the land is exceedingly productive. The valley*, at present, contains many scattered houses, 
but very few towns. 
UMPQUA MOUNTAINS. 
Little is known of this chain of mountains, except that it extends westward from the 
Cascade Range nearly to the ocean. It consists of ridges, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height, 
covered with thick forests and underbrush. The rocks are mostly talcose in character. The 
only road through the chain follows the Umpqua canon, which is fully described in Chapter 
V, under the date November 1. Cow creek rises south of the mountains, and flows through 
them to the South Umpqua, but its canon, although followed by a pack trail, is reported to 
be too narrow and precipitous for a wagon road. The chain has been crossed at other places 
by parties with animals, and it is not improbable that a good pass might be discovered by a 
thorough exploration. 
