January, 1881.
THE WEST SHORE.
a few drops. The Cascade range of
mountains form an eternal lofty barrier
piercing the clouds, against whose
evergreen western sides the watery
clouds impinge and weep for the bene
fit of Webfoot. The clouds that float
higher pass on, wrapping the denuded
basalt of Mt. Hood in many a fathom
of the purest white, and in winter
dropping snowy down on Hood River
valley from ten inches to four feet deep.
The atmosphere in summer, which, in
Portland, is stagnant, damp and sultry,
and at The Dalles is hot, arid and horri
ble, as that which sweeps the burning
sands of Sahara, is balmy,soft and invigs
orating here; always cool enough to
make it pleasant for harvesters, and cool
down the combativeness of the rattle
snakes, which are numerous, as they lie
basking in the sunshine, so that not one
that I have heard of has bitten man or
other brute here since the world began.
People in passing up and down the
Columbia have often told me they saw
something different in the atmosphere
as soon as they struck this valley, from
anything they have seen elsewhere.
The springs, though cold, sweet and
clear as the fabled springs of Pagan
Muses are impregnated with mineral,
though not prcccptible to the taste. 1
have a spring strong enough to run a
mill ; sweet cold and limpid, which
nevertheless, turns all the wood that
lies in its waters into solid stone
in a few years. There in here, us
in all other countries, a wide difference
in the waters for another spring that
heads within thirty rods of this seems
to be freighted with. death to all who
drink it. I once read in an old Latin
book that waters partook of the char
acter of the man who owned the land
on which they took their rise. If this
should be so, in Hood River or in the
hills that surrounded the throne
of Priam, the rule would have
an exception, as also in the artesian
wells of Michigan, where no
two springs are alike in a single town,
all healing, though only forty rods
apart and owned by different men.
Whether attributable to the water, the
atmosphere, or to the pure society of
Hood River, I cannot tell; but I do
know that I have never yet struck a
spot where invalids mend as they do
here. Infirmity comes hobbling on
crutches; and often, though aged and
spine crooked, flings away iU wooden!
supports, stands erect and goes away
cured; or settles down and marries a
young girl, uud would you believe it?
raises a family.
I said the climate was sui gtntris I
might say the same of the soil, or
whatever it is that makes or orchards
produce better apples than grow in the
Willamette valley, superior peaches to
those brought from California, liner
almonds than come from Chili or Los
Angeles, and all kinds of fruits you can
mention, equal to any you can find out
side of the tropics. The blight has
however nearly ruined the peach crop
for three years in succession, while the
hard winter of 1879 has killed many
of the almond trees. We live in hopes
that the gods will cease frowning soon.
There is no country on the face of the
cartji that has not its drawbacks. Hood
River has its share, but as few us any
other country I have yet seen. It is
take everything into account,thc bright
est and best spot I have yet seen. The
atmosphere reminds me of Chili in
South America so translucent that
Mt. Adams, sixty miles away, and Mt.
llood, twenty-live miles distant, seem
at your very door. Smoke and fog
that intervene in the Willamette val
ley, and gives an indistinct outline,
are unknown here; and we sec these
Mountain Kings, as they behold the
distant snows of the Andes in Santiago,
Chili, through an atmosphere that
brings them to your very feet, and
causes the artist to come here for the
finest sketches he can get.
The scenery is, in my eye, superior,
more grand, awful majestic and beauti
ful than anything I have witnessed 011
the Hudson, among the Andes, in the
Sandwich Islands, or in the wilds of
Central America. The loveliest and
most enchanting is from Wind River
Mountain, and Shell Rock opposite to
it to Hood River. Arriving at Hood
River Landing and reaching the
bluff one mile back, you see Mt.
Adams fifty miles to the north, white
with eternal snow. White Salmon
River, (named by the Indians from the
fact that f very fall it is so full of sal
mon with white flesh and destitute of
fat, that you can scarcely put in a stick,
without touching one,) empties into the
Columbia opposite the landing, while
Hood River empties itself a mile above.
The mountains on either side are
covered with graft, with an occasional
'5
clump of evergreen. Cattle, horse
and sheep roam over the mountains,
nibble ul the bunch grass and grow
fat. The scenery is to a poet's eye,
beautiful, grand and lovely. To n man
who is hunting a place to raise corn and
hogs, it is not so attractive. Thia
country seems to have been made for
poets and invalids who seek for health
and new life. A poet, even far from
home and friends, may feel like Tom
Moore, when standing on the banks of
the Schuylkill !
"Oh nature, tlioiiyb Uovx-d ami bright sro thy
O'er llicliniw of aenllon enclmnl Inuly tttruwni
Vet faint arc they to the luntre thai i.luyi,
In s smile (rum a heart thai li fondly uur own."
AN ORKtiON SUNRISE.
Lust Wednesday morning, Dec. 8lh,
the lovers of the beautiful who were
fortunate enough to have shaken the
drowsy God of slumber from their eye.
lids, betimes, had the opportunity of
witnessing one of the most brilliantly
beautiful morning dawns that ever
broke upon the sight of man. The air
was as balmy as in spring-time, and
light fleecy clouds floated in th East,
cm horizon, growing gradually more
dense towards thu West till lost in a
somber belt of dark and frowning
clouds that spanned the extreme West'
cm view. This was the aspect of the
heavens just before sunrise. Soon long
waves of dreamy light threw their
beams upon the huttcm skies, tipping
the cloudlet's edges with lines of gold
en splendor, heralding the approach of
the god of day. The scene for the
next few moments bailie the power of
the pen or the artistic genius of the
brush. Lighter grew the Kastern ho
rizon and more densely dark and low
ering frowned the Western. Now
lines of light came creeping Westward
and the whole mid-heavens shimmered
in a lield of kaleidoscopic beauty ami
fjoldcn grandeur. The wholo of the
lorizon is bhicd with gold and em
erald flushings, as from Last to Wet
the King-(Jod sent .his shining lances to
rift the angry and sodden clouds that
mocked the inspiring scene. Fleecy
clouds that hung below this dismal masa
of rebellious vapor, blushed till from
their leathery edges, globules of fire
darted their piercing ray and hid the
hideous presence or the enemies of the
the coming day. (AWei.)
A hundred families can find good
homes in the different Vullies on the
North Chahalam, Clatsop county. The
land is rich and some of it In entirely
clear of timber.