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About Oregon free press. (Oregon City [Or.]) 1848-1848 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1848)
OlTECrO FTP RE E PR Ef S'S GEa L. CunitY, Editor and Proprietor. OREGON CITY.SATUltDAY o"c TO m7m&. News ok tiif Week. No news of any cons (ti, nee appears to be aslir. The 'Towdir riser go'd" ,x citemenl continues to agitate the public tiiind, al though not so violently as at first. No sp:eimenof the reputed gold from this section has dazl.d our optics, although there is said to be some in (he valhv. Indeed we shutild like to be favored with a siyhl of it. However, it is said thai a parly is preparing to start from the ieinity of Salem, in a lew days to explore and see if they can't iind eold. Since the above was put in ly p.-, we undersland that a parly from Yamhill, pa.-si d lltruii.li I v n this morning to rendezvous on the Clackamas, designing to start in a few davs for the same distinction. There is a report current that two vtssds have arrived in Maker's Day. We have receiud a fine specimen of Lead ore, from Mr Knox, who informs us that thire is plenty of it on the Sauliam. Small I.yi.yik; nation. From capt. Harlow we learn that all the immigrants are in, that oulv HUJ wagons have passed the loll gale, 10 were lcll al (he Dalhs, which comprises the whole of the immigration. Up wards of 20 u'agons were abandomd, in const (juence of the teams failing, between Fort Hall and Ibe Dalles, where the r.iutc is represent! d as being cnlireh des titute of grass. This is an excei dingly .-mall immi gration when compared with those of the three last years. Our increase of populatioj this v ear, by (his means, may be Si t down in round number-al 700 souls. From five to six hundred head of Sheep, and several hundred head of loose cattle were saleh got in. The report that four wagons were robb. d by Ibe Cay use Indians, in the vicinity of the Grand Bound, is without foundat'ou. 'British and Ajieiiilan Ohecon'. From an article, under this caption, in the Philadelphia 'North Amer. can,' we make the subjoined extract; Taking the Or gon territory as a whole, it is far fromb.ing a very valuable oiie, consider, d in refer ence to its natural resources and capacity to sustain a large population. It is a vast expanse of inoimtai.ins savage and barren with valleys of lava, sand, or u i ked rock, pjreb 'd and uncultivabl . The rivers are wild torrents, roaring down In mentions ravin s. in continual succssion of rapids and cataracts. Timber, even fuel, is extremely scam and worm-wood lakis the place of Ihe ordinary herbage. There are nooks or good land hire and then and sometimes the mountains are fertile, while Ibe alleys are sterile: but the. above is the general character of the interior, as will be seen by the reader who has followed Fre mont alon the route of the emigrants in the south, and Sir George Simpson in the track of the Hudson Bay traders in the north. All the really aluablc lands of Oreifon are on Ihe coast, in tin: strip be tween the s. a and the vvcsltm range oi mountains, extending from California, were it is known as (lie Sierra Nevada, through Oregon, where it is called the Cascade Bange, until it sweeps the shores of the Gulf of Georgia, and is lost in the far north." , Now Ih o Oi'n 'North American Is a standard publU cat on, ami assorialid as il is wilh the j liii.aitt mim orii s of our bo hood . w i do i ot love to si e it in rror, parliculai ly in a math r ol Ma h liiomi nt lo us all here in his isolalt (I ounli . II Ami iiican On gon is to be litmltd (o Ihe bnundaru s of the Willamette valley, then i cn, (hire would be tu, rt ason in such remarks for (hi- valley alone is upwads of one hundrid and fifty mihs in extent and avi raging, at least, fifty miles in widlh all of il cultivable land too, with numer ou large and luxuriant prairies, and, perhaps more of i! than would he d suable covered with excellent limber. The L'mpqua vallev is another "no k of good land," w hich a n rent exploration makes almost as large as Ihe Willamette. The settlements in Ihe Cowlitz and Pugi I Si urd country have satisfactorily proven that the soil of those districts are the opposite of "sterile." "Yalleys of lava, sand, or nakidrock," indeed, they only could have had existence in the imagination of some politcal aspirant, disappointed in ambition. It is too bad that such misrepresentation should come from such a respectable quarter. Fremont is no authority to adduce, he knows nothing about Or. gon proper, as he only pass d through a portion of its up pi r and middle srel ous. it Id r is "Sir deorge Simp son in the track of (lie Hudson Ba trad rs in the north," any heller authority. In short, even at this late day desirable parts ui the country are being dis. covirid by exploration, .and the North American to the contrary, a great array of facts can be present! d to show that Oregon terntory is highly "valuable" has great "natural resources," and is capable of sustaining a large population. .Mr. Geo. L. Cliiuy Sir P. rmil me Ihe use of your valuable columns to answi r charg. s pr. f r d against me, although il was ni'Vi r my intention to bavi noticed any Ihing cmena ting f lo.n an Or. gon CI ipi but after mature r fit c tio.i, I let I it my mdtsp usable duty to say to yo i, that as a Bar Pilot,! have nd avor. d t discharge the duties of my office, and nd. mi Ibe cbaracli r of our i i vi r channel, and uilb lb feeble means in my power bow far I havs surrei d d is li ft to the judgement of an impartial world. I notice in th.' numbi r of the Free Press wb re I am ch.irgid with placing obstacles in (be wav of Mr. Hawks's reinlering limi Iv aid to the ship Main, the asi rlion is falsi', be uras not uudi r my charge nor am I r sponsible for bis acts would to God! the ship Main had b.'i n undi r my can1, or I bad have known of her being in our waters, or in want or a pilot, fur in my private capacity, a few dollars to a crcu, or all I po.vs. ss would not hac detered me in rescuing or rend ring lim I) aid, or p. rrisb. din the allciupl for my couulrp'o gooa ; for the post of duty is the place of a pil t as vj. II. is a co.nmisioui r. Allhcugb 1 received the pilotage ol ,i K w ships, but, unlotiunatit ly ,rcndcivd the si r ici ot pilot and would be ci usuri d Tor not rendring mor. balding lareuill lo tin ollice of pilot, I wish prospiiit) to ever attend it and my country's councils. Astoria, Sept. 4, 1848. S. C. Keeye.
