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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1880)
3aS THE WEST SHORE. fiitul results. No marked type of dis ease predominant. Last winter the river wn the hilvt and the thcrmo. meter the lowest in cighUcn years; the latter 4 (leg. alovc zero. Also more mow than for many yearn previous. No twamp or mineral springs, l'lenty of tiinlwr of fair quality. JAI KSON COUNTY, I'HOK.NIX. Dr. I). A. Covert, l'hoenix is in the Rogue river valley. High mountain range to the north mnl south. The valley in well wooded. Has a number of mineral prings. Drainage good. The climate about the same ax all of Southwestern Oregon neither hot nor cold. An to rain, there is not too much nor too little. Snow seldom remains more than forty-eight hours. Disease arc generally of n bilious nature. Gen eral health, medium. Mortality of children, remarkably low. am' vai.icy. lly Dr. A. C. Stanley, situated in Uogue river valley ; surrounded by mountains and heavy timber. The valley li barren of timber. Climate mild. Wet winter and dry summers. No winds or bad storms. One or two weak sulphur springs. Water soft. No lakes, but some twamp on the river Ixittoms. Seldom have more than three Inches of anow. Range of thermome ter seldom us low s lo deg. below or loi) deg. Im)Vo Hero. No particular type of disease! prevail unless it be ma larial fever. Occasionally a case of typhoid fever, General health good. Rate of mortality very low. LINN COUNTY, SIIKIIIIS. lly Dr. J. W. Starr. The location Is healthy. Drainage not the best, as the country it level. No epidemic or en demic of any kind. Some indications of malaria oft mild type. No mineral springs, lake or swamps. Water soft. Climate wet, windy and moderately cold. Slight snow. MARION COl'NTV, STAYTON. Jly Dt. J. M. Kitchen. This section is free from swaniM and hikes, Water soft. Moderate supply of timber. Drain age generally good. Last year the pre vailing disease were of the alimentary canal, especially among children, with a mortality of about five per cent. Rheumatism ami tcailetinn ha ap peared. La4 December enteric fever 1 became endemic, but of ten case in my practice only two proved fatal. Dis eases of the air passages arc frequent but not of a serious nature. TIIIAMOOK COUNTY, NKHAI.EM. lly Mr. C. F. Knowles, postmaster. " We have about two hundred people here. The settlement is ten years old. We have three graves; two of still born infants and one of a man who shot himself. If you find any healthier lo cality than this, please let me know." Mr. Knowle reports the county moun tainous; heavily timbered; good drain age; abundance of soft spring water; usual wet and dry seasons; no strong winds. Some winters no snow at all. The lowest points of thermometer last winter were 6 deg., lS deg., 23 deg., and 26 d:-g. Five years ago it sank to 10 deg. below zero. No prevailing diseases or endemic have occurred for many years. UMATILLA COUNTY, WILLOWS. By Mr. A. Wilson. No physician in that locality. The county is hilly with some even lands of from eight to ten mile wide. No timber within thirty miles; no mineral springs, lakes or swamps. Water generally hard. Little rain fall; the county dry and sandy; a great deal of wind. Snow 'fall last winter about one foot. Ther mometer fell to lS degrees below zero; sometimes rises to no degrees in the summer. There are but few sutlers. Principal disease among children is diphtheria; cannot give the rate of mor tality. UNION COUNTY, INDIAN VAI.LKY. Dr. M. H. Morris says he is living in a very healthy county. The county is hilly and barren, but good lands and grass near the mountains. Water soft and climate mild. Fed sheep only three days last winter. WASCO COUNTY, NMNKVILLK. Dr. L. Vanderpool reports a sandy country but with bottom lands of rich loam ; tome alkaline sections. The county is one vast plateau with numer ous small bed of lava. The streams run or teem to have cut through lava beds. The few mountain peaks which seem to pierce the level sands, are all covered with fir, pine, and tamarack. The lava lands arc covered with juniper, sage and hunch grass. Lands along the streams arc very productive. Frosts every mouth in the year. Rains in Mimmer but not in winter. Slight now full-only three inches W winter. December, 188a Water generally hard. Thermometer sank to 28 deg. below zero, but did not remain long. In summer it reaches 100 deg. the average for winter being 30 deg., and for summer 76 deg. The usual variety of diseases prevails, such as bilious, congestive, intermittent and puerperal fevers, diphtheria, etc. Mor tality of children not more than one and one-third per cent. Children have good teeth owing to the hard water and absence of acid fruits. THE GEOLOGY OF OREGON. The geology of Oregon is unique and interesting, and the geologist will find no richer field for his researches than in Oregon. Cenozoic along the coast ; Mctamorphic in the range and region of Coast Mountains ; Cenozoic again throughout the Willamette val ley ; Volcanic throughout the Cas cade Mountains and along the Snake River country ; while the rest is a var ied combination of the above. Formerly the Pacific extended far to the eastward, and lashed the borders of the Rocky Mountains, and nothing ap peared to the westward save a few of the highest peaks of the Blue Moun tains ; perhaps none but the huge vol cano which formerly occupied the spot where Grande Ronde valley is now situated. In course of time, however, the coast was elevated until the Cas cades projected above the surface, then the waters between them and the Rocky Mountains formed a great lake with the Blue Mountains forming an island in the center, and thus it remained until the gorge was cut through the Cascades where the Columbia now runs, when the water was gradually drawn ofT and formed what is now called the Columbia Basin. Immense deposits of marine shells found on the several sides of the Blue Mountains, and deposits of the same age found on the top of the Cascades, prove the above theory to be correct. Subsequently, when the coast was higher elevated, the Coast Mountains made their appearance and there was then formed another lake between them and the Cascades, and not until the rocky barrier at Oregon City was cut, was it deprived of its water. The Coast Mountains gradually de crease in height as they approach the Columbia, and after they pass the Brit ish line they are no longer visible a mountains, but form a chain of islands extending as far as the territory of Alaska. The elevating force has been more active in the southern than in the northern part of the State ; hence, the Coast Mountains, which, when the Cascades formed the coast, appeared a islands like that part of the chain that it still submerged north of Puget