364
THE WEST SHORE.
November, 1881
doubtless soon begin laying track
Portland can boast of two theatre,
many churches, banks, tome fine public
building, large hotel buildings beau
tiful residences, numerous publications
-daily, weekly and monthly and
almost everything that distinguishes
citie or vastly more inhabitant and
pretension before the world. With at
present a population of 20,000 the in
crvasc in ten yean may safely lc placed
at 50xxx The "boom" ha atruck
Portland, and although in the past some
of ui may have lout fuith in itt future,
and despaired or ita ever being any.
thing more than an overgrown village
with one or two remunerative toll
gate, the feelingnow is everywhere
spreading, like the limit of our city
that nothing can ever prevent it ad
vancement, and no combination of cir
cuimtanre occur to rob it of it fairly
won title of queen of the Pacific North
wct.
The Wir Siiohk in thi issue, ore
aenli to its reader tix via wi of Portland,
taken from different point, and though
the business portion of the city doe
not receive justice, nevertheless, the
trangcr can form a very fur idea from
them of the character of our home
and the general appearance of Oregon'
metropolis It I unfortunate that
photographer in taking view of citie
have to ue their instrument in the out
skirts, wnich result in the mall house
that usually occupy those part being
brought prominently into the fore
fround, while the large edifice of the
business centre, crowding together
and hiding each other, are almot en.
tirely lost to view. These are difficulties
that cannot be overcome, except by
photographing street by itrcet, a fair
specimen of which we furnished in our
August number.
To illuMraie all of Portland we
should I compelled to devote ex
clusively fifty Usue of the Wkst
SitoNK, rather too much for even ao
deserving and beautiful a subject.
Good Waob The Northern Pa
cific Company i advertising for one
hundred men to work all winter on
pile-driver on Lake Pend d'Orcille, and
offering them wage at the rate of j.j0
per day. Thi price for labor, requir
ing very little sVill, will seem incrcdi
bio when read In the low-price citie of
the Atlantic. j
ROGUE RIVER VALLEY AND CRATER
LAKE.
The proposed construction of the
I California Railroad to a
connection with the Oregon branch of
the Central Pacific road, calls attention
to the claim of Southern Oregon to
consideration as a region possessing
great native resources, and especially,
a to agricultural and mineral wealth,
calculated to attract immigration and
develop important interests as soon as
railroad connection and improved trans
portation facilities shall bring it within
easy reach of the busy, every-day work-
in? world, south of Koseburc. and to
the state line, lie a good proportion of
arable land that will become more val
uable and invite dense settlements and
more thorough cultivation as soon as
connected rails shall carry the swift
locomotive to the rescue of the waiting
regions.
Without attempting to summarize
the varied resources that Nature has
made available in the southern counties.
for the satisfactory reason that we do
not pretend to thoroughly understand
them, we can still speak with confidence
ol a successful future of a prosperity
to be safely based on wealth of precious
metal that will be successfully mined
hereafter, and on a perfected agriculture
that shall convert all its arable districts
into productive fields. The soil is fertile
and the climate is the most perfect to
oe loumi north or California. Not so
moist at the northern valleys, warmer
because further outh; healthy in all
respect and generally a favored
the advent of the locomotive will put
in competition all it advantages and it
will become a favorite abiding place for
many who are fastid
- V'O'IVV UI
climate and production. Agriculture
mere partakes or all the good qualities
of the region farther north. wKiA i,..
been in former times the most favored
by opportunity, inJ in addition to the
usual growth of cereals, fruits and vege
table within reach of agriculture in
the Willamette valley, the Rogue
..cy win produce corn and
wine, for maixe and sorghum thrive
well toward our aouthwestcrn border.
The vineyard of Romi riuor ...II
nval the wine and raiin producing
d.tnct. of California, ,nd luscious
peche ripen to perfection, for the
Pch u acclimated here and add, a!
other to the ovt r , ?n
j-j- 'ioitiiix in thai
portion of Oregon. 1
In the good time coming, that the
people of southern Oregon have so
long prayed and waited for, they will
LlenJ in their maleiial existence the
best traits of Oregon and California,
and possess the just medium between
these somewhat antagonistic individ
ualities. Southern Oregon, must at no
very distant day, and as soon as com
munication shall be perfected, be an ex
ceedingly prosperous region, rich in
varied respects. The beautiful valley
of Rogue river has only one fault
that it is too limited in its area. The
jealous mountains crowd, it with their
envious ridges and rugged hills occupy
much space that must be redeemed
from Nature and changed from wilder
ness to cultivation. When the era of
development shall actually dawn upon
that region much of the untamed hill
country will be reclaimed and planted
in vineyards and orchards, and it must
be borne in mind that fruit offers to-day,
to the farmers of California, as much
and far surer profit than ever existed in
the placers of '49.' Gold and silver
entice myriads to their ruin, as well as
some to fortune, but the cultivation of
golden fruits and purple grapes will
win bread and even luxury, as rewards
for labor, when placers shall be extinct
and the veins of precious ore be worked
out to their lowest depths.
There is another view of this portion
of Oregon the picturesque view to
which we propose to call attention, for
with the possibility of travel made easy
and even pleasant, the tourist will visit .
southern Oregon and regale himself in
the enjoyment of new scenes thus added
to the repertoire of picturesque America.
He will come over the Siskiyou range
looking back for last glimpses of the
awful grandeur of snow towering
Shasta. But as the vision of the south
is shut off he will be repaid with the
tableau of Rogue river valley; the
bleak and barren region of rock-bound
Klamath river, with its desert shores
and unsocial surroundings, will be re
placed by the coup iotil of, mountains
that frame in this beautiful valley, which
i thronged wih forms and gemmed
with towns and villages. The presence
of homes and productiveness, of culture
and progress these are with him here
for the first time since he left the Sacra
mento valley and picturesque surround
ings frame the scenes with touch of
grace and romance. During the past