December, 1880.
THE WEST SHORE.
3.1
TO OREGON.
BY MCI'HRRSON.
Land where the lays of the sunset
Hid adieu to a continent vast,
And the moon in the silvery circuit
Sheds the sheen of her floodlight last,
Thou art dear to my heart, though I wiindcr
Fr away from thy golden shore,
And I turn with a gleam of pleasure
To glance back o'er the scenes of yore.
Land where 'he forests are grander,
And tower the mountains more high
Where the limpid streams meander
'Neath a purer and brighter sky,
Than that where the brave old Tilier
Reflects back the star-lit dome,
Sweet land of the West I adore thee,
And dream of my dear old home.
My home, where the lake and river
' Commingle their waters in one,
And the bright-hued myrtle leaves quiver
In the rays of the autumn sun.
There, the song of the spring bird is sweeter,
And the air breathes a fragrant perfume,
Richer far than the zephyrs of Ceylon,
Waft seaward from orange-grove bloom.
While Columbia sweeps on to the ocean,
And Willamette flows sparkling and bright
Through the valley In anient devotion
Will I treasure the glorious sight
Of meadow and brooklet and mountain
Of river e'en Pacific's blue wave
Utters music in charms without equal,
As the green shores its bright waters lave.
Dear lund, though art mine i I inherit
All the title to call thee mine own,
And to share with the friends of my childhood
Within thy wide limits a home.
And when the last mandate Is given,
That bids me from labor to rest,
All I ask, save on entrance in heaven,
Is to sleep on thy broad, iwaccful breast.
MOUNT HOOD,
iiv w. n. amiiTF.it.
Majestic eminence, snow mantled Hood,
That on thy pedestal of granite rock,
Through the long vanished centuries hath stood
The vain chronology of man to mock
Hail we the vision of Ancient Seers,
To trace thy hist'ry through the mystic iast,
Anil down the infinite of coming years
The hnnisroie of prophecy to cast i
T would measure Time ere empires nue and fell,
Or ancient learning hastened to decay J
Ere Earth had greenand flower-enameled dell,
Or present river look its tortuous way.
Or, scanning down unumbercd cycles long,
llchold our planet tending to the sun,
Ami thy bright glory heralded In song
Forever ended and its memory gone.
The tourist's pride, and gem of Oregon l
Thy radiant form 't is joy to look upon
And who hath once beheld the picture, bright,
Will e'er retain the vision with delight.
No mortal witnessed the volcanic throe
That h raided th morning nf thy birth
'T was ere the tropic (lower or artic snow
Did belt and beautify our planet Earth.
Eternal power Issued the decree t
Internal forces hastened to oliey
When slowly from the restless sea,
Thy resurrected being hailed the day.
Hut not as snow, did white and green combine
To role thy form in haimony divine I
Not on thy head was set the crown of snow,
Nor emerald 'round thy feet its lieauty throw
Not from thy breast the pure and cooling streams
That irrigate the grassy plains below
Hut sterile rock, with caverns deep and scams,
Where neither tree nor plant could grow.
Though modest bights before thee lowly bend
Thankful for light and grandure thou dost lend t
No rival monarch near thy mountain throne
Disputes a sceptre which is thine alone.
Could'st thou recite the legends of the past
When dusky warriors round thy sylvan base
Contested claims to lmrlwirous empire vast,
Or waged fierce war, or mingled In the chase,
Could'st thou relate their conflicts, rise and fall,
T' were more instructive than historic page
Where maudlin orators In finished hall,
Debate the misty problems of their age.
When Sol, retiring to the distant west,
Casts his light ling'ring glances on thy breast,
The light and shade that counter drajw thy cone
Reveal a changing beauty all thine own.
When misty twilight spans the evening sky
And fleecy cloud lines near thy summit lie,
The wienl strange features that adorn thy face
Enhance the solemn grandeur of the place.
While gating on thy skyward towering form
Part clad in sunlight, part in cloud anil storm
The heart Is stirred to purer, higher theme,
The mind diverted from each sordid scheme.
The ardent soul of Nalure'a student, fraught
With ncw-liorn teal in search of lofty thought,
Is moved with fresher courage to explore
The decer fields ol her rich hiddrn lore.
nv 1. I. SIMITtON,
White despot of the wild Cascades I
I greet thee as the twilight shades
Haunt the disheveled, broken wall
Where sheaves of sun light burning yet
On frosty tower and minaret
Portray, thee, reigning over all.
And glraming like a silver trnt
Abuvr the lir-lringnl halllriwnl,
Cold Jefferson is crowned with flame I
Eair as a group of fallen stars,
The Siilrrs, linked with sunset Iter,
Pledge thee as monarch yet again.
The biasing quiver of the storm
Has hung upon thy lonely form,
Sheathing its ragged barbs of fire,
When night has crushrd its tempest wings
Against thy granite anchoring
I read no record of their ire.
The centuilet which o'er thre tramp,
like spectre of their shallow camp,
llequealh thee neither scar doc stain
The gliding dimples of the sea,
The stan' sweet -eyed eternity.
lo not a lovlier youth matntam t
And misty flashes of the morn
Are first upon thy shoulders botn,
When all the world Is dark below
And sunset's last and Unci)' l.l
Drtped by the weary hand o( Day
Wreathes thy pale brow with ling'rltig glow.
Thus Memory and Hope are wrought
Triumphant as the sculptor's thought
When syllalwlcd in marble speech
And Ciod-word like a prophet's prayer
Thou scalcst the heaven's windy stair,
The quiet of the spheres to teach.
And what an empire t rough and shorn
lly all disorders ploughed and torn,
Sun-ward the mighty realms arc spread)
In broidery of wood and mead,
Willamette's green mosaics lead
Down where the rushing breakers tread.
I.odgcd In thy helmet's Icy ctasp N
The star of conquests rests at last
Never to lead the bold again I
It's rays like spears of silver laid
Across the grave, but newly made
The Pioneer's, in sea-side glen.
An Iron arm with gleam'ng coil,
Has won a wilderness of Toil I
The traffic of the seas are wed
The morning of a brighter age
Than ever lit historic page,
Lifts in the west Its golden head I
With mutterings of doubt and foai,
And dark with battle lone and drear,
The Pagan spirit of the past
Stalks through the silence and the night
That dccK'n with the ages' light
Conscious of (iixl and Truih at Ul t
The Desert hungeis for the Sphinx,
It's tawny ocean swells and sinks
Almul her and the Pyramids
The Simoon's ghostly wings of sand
Will surely shroud them as they stand,
And seal those sad and weary lids
'And still hand In crystal mall
lleie, flashing to the clouds, will hall
The tomb of Egypt's cruel Jest
And where the ara-tlilit leap and shine
Along the New World's bonier line,
Proclaim the ICmi-irK of THK Wrr.
TltK Willamette villi cy la iymili'
in length hy 30 l ix utile in wiillli. '
Contain ithont tj,ooo,ooo acre Minccp.
tilde to cultivation. Land here nrc
mindly taken up, Lttt can lie purc-lmacd
nt 0 rriiMinnlile price from partie who
hnvc more tluin they run hike cure of.
The UmMtiN vitllcy lira south of the
Williimette valley. Mint U only aWit
one-hitir it si.e, hut in very fertile and
well watered. The wool Irotn thnt
section hn the Wat reputation of nil
Oregon wools. Market lire K'mmI, nt
Itoachurg and Oakland, the principal
town, lire connected hy rnilroml with
Portland, find they also havo another
outlet to the ocean hy the way of
Scottuhurg and the Umppia river,
Oregon polled 40,806 vote, and
Washington Territory 16130 volcn at
thn IkI t-Wiinn.