February, 1883. 24 THE WEST SHORE. FROM PORTLAND TO ST. PAUL, We were to many year, wailing for direct rail communication with the Eastern Statei, that molt of our reiidenti can hardly realiie that in five monlht from the present writing we shall have " all rail " to the tut j in fact, in a trifle less than three months the Northern Pacific will make ilt first eastern connection with the Utah North ern railroad, now completed to the mouth of the Little Blackfoot river, and iince il completion ceded to the Northern Pacific from the Blackfoot to Deer Lodge. Thii will be our first " all rail " to the Eat. It will take ui over the N. P. R. R to Deer Lodgej thence by Utah Northern to Ogdcn, and then by usual routes East. The trip will neceitate five changes of can from Portland to New York, and consume eight day. When the Northern Pacific it finished, solid trains will be run, without change of cart, in six days. We have" recently passed over the entire route, from Portland lo St. Paul, and were gratified to find it by far the roost desirable of any of the trans-conti-nenlal routes. The sleeping cars running over the eastern end, from St. Paul to Livingstone, a dis tance of I, loo miles, are marvels ol elegance well ventilated, brilliantly lighted in short, haven't their equal on any route, Last or West. We at first intended to give only a general sketch and a few illustrations of the country the road passes through, but since studying our notes and field sketches, we find it would be an injustice to our readers not to furnish more complete information. Montana alone, at present a sort of terra intognita, it larger by far than Great Britain and Ireland combined, or more than twice as large as the six New England states, and has in its 145.776 square miles of territory the nucleus of more wealth than any other locality of similar site in the Union. He fore us it reliable map of Montana. It is seven by thirteen inches. The county of Silver Bow occupies a space on thii map so small that it may be entirely covered by 1 five-cent nickel, and yet the assessed value of thii little spot it $4,106,767, and we are reliably informed that id real value it not less than $50,000,000. Its county scat, Butte, has sprung up within the latl five years. It it substantially built nearly all brick and stone has 7,000 inhabitants, and enjoys the electric light and other modem improvements. Helena, the territorial seat of government, unlike all other capitals, it stirring business place, and is said to b tht) richest city in the Union for itt site, a position heretofore occupied by Hartford, Connec ticut, with Portland, Oregon, at second. Benton, an isolated place away up on the Missouri river, has J.000 inhabitants, a hotel building which hasn't lit equal in the Pacific Northwest, and (tore which would be a credit to any place. In view of all these facts, and having illustrated and described the trip from Portland to Lake Peod d Oreille in the August number of this journal, we proceed in this issue with the first two counties in Montana Missoula and Deer Lodge- through which the northern 1'acific passes after leaving tht 1-aJte. in our neat we shall have something to aty of Butte: then of Helena, and on, until our readers become familiar with every por cash customers for fruits and vegetables, fresh, dried and canned, and for salmon, oysters, and many other necessities and luxuries. In addition to our descriptions of the country, we have in preparation a series of illustrations of the won derful scenery along the entire length of the rail way, from Portland to St. Paul, which will in clude the National Park of the Yellowstone, and the Mauvaises Terns, or Pyramid Park, through which the railway passes. These illustrations of scenery will be furnished in a separate number, and will be executed in the very highest style of the art. DOUGLAS COUNTY, OREGON. This was the first county peopled in Oregon subsequent to the settlements in the Willamette valley; in fact the Applegates and many others lived in what it now Douglas county, long before the occupation by whites of large portions of the Willamette. The first permanent settlement was made in Yoncalla, a narrow, rich valley in the northern part of Douglas. Soon after this, Scottshurg, on the Umpqua river, was laid out with a view of making it a commercial town and the future entrepot of all the rich region of the southern Oregon. The present territory of Douglas county has not always been under the government of this county, but was formerly divided into the counties of Douglas and Umpqua, the latter county cover ing the north half of the region now included in Douglas ; and many have been the battles over this county division question, the relation of which by any of the old time politicians would make a most interesting chapter in its history. Umpqua county never erected any permanent county build ings, and its former seat of government, Win chester, it now hardly known to the great body of new comers. Douglas has improved its oppor tunity to erect valuable and commodious county buildings at Roseburg by the taxes collected from the whole region, yet the ambition for a separate county organization for the northern part under me oiu banner of " Umpqua," has never been extinguished, and is one of the local questions wnicn nas 10 be delicately handled by the county politicians of both parties, so that neither can gain or lose by the nomination of objectionable county organiiers on either side. TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. No region of Oregon, or of any country, presents greater variety or more pleasing landscape than ...umy.ana many correspondents speak of il ik ic...:. 1 1 . r .- - owiitcnana ot America." A .11 time, the traveler through Douglas has within his ww we most romantic and delightful little val ley. hid away among gently rounded hills, beau, tifully ornamented with scattered .nH miA.u v fip , : 'K evergreen pine or hr, while sloping away from th. ..!,!.,. -r ... "'J ,he " nge, Calapooi. and Cas- in on all in giant firs. cade mountains, shutting the county UllM (t ill. - . , ' nn a seeminc imnal.L 1 : . . . the deep green 0f boundl. r,..,. .,. . The cranio i:..u ..... Pawn,.. tlcWMoolana, ThiswillUof advance notonly other by the h U of Z hom lo intending aettlera, but lo residents of Oregon and and eslen i ' ' odd haP portuaitylo ttisdy to const the territory will b 00 of our very best I who ,7 ' "H.nea down at ants. Foe Years been ik ...i . . . e .... . ' . I . ' "v,m" n admiral on nf Washingtoo a, well, u i, will give ,hem an op. random instead 0 fl Z , 7 V, portly 10 ), Montana', wants. For ' W ! . , f UP below, have -pused through the county 0tt w;7;7f one of the coaches of the old stage line. And the way the iron horse slips in and out rwu,.. - -vm this mate of hills and valleys, by openings which no traveler can discern from the car window, only heightens the interest in the puzzle and makes him long to get out and see more of this beautiful region. SOIL, CLIMATE AND HEALTH. Douglas county possesses a quick, rich soil on the hills and a deep, rich black vegetable loam in the valleys, producing every fruit, grain and veg etable of this latitude. Much of the lands in cultivation has been farmed every year succes sively for more than twenty-five years, and like other parts of Oregon have never been aided by the application of nny artificial manures, and yet, to-day, they produce almost as abundantly as when the virgin soil gave up its first crop. The county contains an area of about five thousand square miles, or three million two hundred thousand acres. Nine-tenths of this vast area is almost covered with the primeval forests, and of the re maining tenth, of open hill, prairie and valley land, not more thanone-third of it has ever been touched by the plow. Lands can be had in the , county at all prices, ranging from homesteads on public lands for the taking, ud through railroad selections at two dollars and a half per acre to the improved valley farms at forty and fifty dollars per acre, Grazing land is abundant and cheap, but valuable principally for sheep. In point of climate, Douglas county possesses attractions over every other section of the Pacific coast. Midway between the "Webfoot" regions! of Oregon and the droughty plains of California, and shut in by mountain chains on all sides, and yet so close to the ocean as to be certain of reasonable moisture for crops, and its healthy breezes to dissipate the heats of summer, the Umpqua valleys are free from all storms of wind, severe weather of any kind, and possess that mild, iquable climate which so distinguishes southern Fronce from all the rest of Europe. There is no malarious swamps, no malaria, and no prevailing type of disease in Douglas county. The health of the neonle of this repion is oro- verbial, and it was many years before the settlers could get a grave yard started. FISH AND GAME, The streams are abundantly stocked with sal mon which run up from the ocean, and the speckled mountain trout which breed in all the rivers and creeks in the county. Game, too, is yet comparatively plenty. A day's ride to the foothills of the surrounding mountains will bring the sportsman to the grazing grounds of the deer, and in the neighborhood of the black bear. And occasionally along the higher ridges of the moun tains a stray "grizzly" may be encountered, al though no one is particular about hunting for this dangerous game. The quail, pheasant, grouse, coon, fox, Virginia gray squirrel, panther aud wolves, both large and small, can be found in sufficient quantities to make their hunting real sport, while a few beaver yet linger along the water courses, and wild geese are plentiful during the winter season. FORESTS AND STREAMS. All sections of Douglas county are fairly sup plied with timber for farm use, while the surround ing foothills and mountains are heavily covered