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About Oregon spectator. (Oregon City, O.T. [i.e. Or.]) 1846-1855 | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1847)
JL -.' ijrsi 4, -i iSTfJ 04 " i iii D ' in $Zjf r 9 "" K HI 1 . For the Oregon Spectator. Mr. Editor In the first number of your Ijiaper, vpl. 2, I hoc a picco signed ' M.' giv ing 'Fifty.four Forty,' a most dosporato drubbing, nnd that too, by figures, which he has called to his assistance, as unerring as tho problems of Kuclid. Also some great gone. by men hus he (unted, not being satis, fled with his own argumentative towers to prove the nearsighted and silly statements of ' Fifty.four Forty.' Now supposing ' Fifty.four Forty' just what Mr. ' M.' makes him out to be, and Mr. ' M.' just what his arguments provo him to be, tho following four lines, also, might have been inserted as a quotation in Mr. M's piece applicable to both. " True patriots we, For be it understood, i Wo left our country, For our country's good." Hut to convince Mr. ' M.' that we under Mand his drift, I will make a few remarks on his mutilated argument could'nt think though of loosing the string by which he is hound; for thereby ho may lw uctuated to tuke the course tbut 'Fifty-four Forty' shows in Spectator No. '2(1, where he says, " I noy lice the mun who grous wh'-at in Oregon, is provided with every thing to make him comfortable. Me bus "plenty of clothes a burn well stored with grain, uud a good c red it," ic. No sir, be it fur from me to hit any man in so humiliating u condition where, by he muv huto to work for by personal experience, well do I know how hard it goes, consequently the string must be kept tort, and the collar too, to keep him prepared with u scheme. As ho says nothing about the delegate to Congress that ' Fifty. four Forty' ( mentions, which prolmblv troubled him more at that time, than any thing that was said about the merchants (but he didn't went.) So lej us prolw aguin, We have the tools, And make the gifted cry, "O, quit, you fools." And so fur as it relates to its author, he says, "wo shall leave that subject to the more can did reflection of our readers,' to show how near-sighted must be hiseflbrls. Our efforts went no farther than to state matters of fact : in Fifty.four Forty' there is nothing to star, tic an)1 one who attends to his own business, and lets politics alone, nor whether wc cot too little or too much for our wheat. Now let us see what ' M.' soys. To effect a change in this, "the wool must be drawn off our eyes, and their silly statements, such as Fifty.four Forty," exposed by mathematical calculations." What folly to make use of such balderdash in argument against " Fifty four Forty." Mr. M.' says, the clear prof, its, hofvevcr, arising froin the sales of grain purchased this year by one of these compa. nies, when placed in markets, will, wc expect to show, amount to more thun all the indeht. edness of the farmers in Oregon. This also appears to me a visionary calculation, rather than a mathematical one. "When placed in market," he says : it appears to me he had hotter wait to sec if th'oro can be u market found for it, and when it is sold, tell us what they got for it. Suppose for a moment that that Mr. ' M.' is correct in what he says about the prices of flour at the Islands ; in that case our merchants have been very lame ; for they have been, it appears, taking out lumber and freighting, rather than give (10 cents for wheat, and pay it in goods at a profit of six-fold, as he will hereafter show. There is a mistake some placo ; for I am cortain that I heard of Oregon flour selling ut the Islands for less than 90 per barrel at other times 8 seldom f 16. What I am sorry to learn is, that one ship load of flour, say fivo hundred tons, will glut the market and bring flour down to nothing, so you sec, 1 thing one of Mr. ' M's problems solved. Rut it appears to mo that something .else is in Mr. ' M's head besides mathomati cal calculations, and what can it bo? There is only ono thing that I can think of; we loarn that some people are .trying to turn tho farmors into merchants, ovor injhe Tu alitin Plains, to be called a scrip company, or sco Oregon Spectator, 25, ovor M.'j mother's invention, if that is the case, (it boing a wheat concorn) tho gentleman in .question may want tho office of acting agent; if so, I would recommend him, as he calcu. lates well, which is tho main thing. Send him to the States with your bonds if any ono can pass them, he can. Such fawning oloquenco, without oven a 'prompter he Oregon Spectator. ! 1 - ' ' ' - -M I I ..,.. -.-.I. ..,., " jannr " Weatward the Star of Empire takes ft way." Vol. H. Orsjoa City, (Oregon Ttr.) Ikmiaj, March 18, 1847. No. 4. fain would make you a few thousand. 'Fifty. four Forty" says the merchants have done much for Oregon. That is what sticks in Mr. ' M's' craw. If I thought the Oregon Spectator had enough capital I's to set up a piece for Mr. ' M.' I would invito him to tell us what ho has donu for tho people of Ore gon, provided, he would leuvo out the capital spent in city speculations, and confine him self to institutions, agricultural pursuits, knowlotlge, science, tc. That number I supposo it has not got. Therefore, I will only ask him to look in Spectator, vol. 2. No. 1, at a piece under the head of "Hard Times;" there I think he will find something useful, if not interesting. He bus been informed by one whose vera city cannot Is: doubted, that the II. B. Com puny has received from the farmers and Cannes lO.OUil bushels of wheut: granted although contrary to their rules to let it be known. Dab! To what length will men go for otficc, and how notional will they get. It docs appear that Mine mun must dispute, and with their best friends, rather than live in peace and quietness with their neighbors. Therefore, in conclusion, ' Fifty.four Forty' hopes that Mr. ' M.' will let one paper come out during tho present year, withonl his mark ' M. It will look then as though it was not merely used by a monopolist. As for his argument alwut tho prico of wheat, his object is so clear, that it is not worth while making any answer to the particulars; so if ' Filty-four' Forty' had been as wise as the clever man of Oregon, he would not have noticed any of his publications, but passed them by as imagination. F. F. F. For tho Oregon Spectator. OREGON AS IT IS. Oregon is the land of my adoption, to which others, perhaps more favored, may claim to bo the land of their birth. I look upon her as weak, yet untrammelcd by nature a dc lightsome land. As my eye ranges over the extended plains which windthcir way through the valleys of Oregon, I view them boauti fully interspersed with fertile prairies, skirt ed and adorned with the lofty cedar and the towering fir, as if nature, in an idle, play ful hour, had dressed them with uncommon and peculiar care. I view her table lauds in general, dressed in living green through out the year ; over this delightful scene, wc behold the sturdy spreading oak, as it waves to the wind and defies tho storm and from her banks are seen to burst forth delightful springs' of water, clear as tho crystal healthful as tho pure brqezopf the morning drink most safofor man's freo use. Scat tered hero and there, promiscuously at pros ent, over hills and vulioys, our eye fulls upon tho cottago of the husbandman, somewhat rudely constructed, yet often neat in appear ance, indicating to tho passer by, that con tcntmont reigns within tho humble dwelling that its inmates, though thoy may chance to l)o poor, are yet happy and prosperous. Would that we might here stop ; but our eye falls upon the ovil, as well as tho good : this is not tho charactor of overy houso, or its in mates somo on which our cyo may reluc tantly full, are the sinks of vice haunts where a demon dwells from whence issue forth deadly streams, that poison wherever thoy flow. Would you know tho namo of this demon, who has invaded our peaceful land ? His namo is Alcohol an-emissary from tho pit of darkness. It is but a few. years since he tried to treat with Oregonians, in their infant stato, that he might grow with their growth, strengthen with their strength, and in the end, triumph over their prosperity ) but they in their wisdom, would como to nopeicoful terms with him, who was thoirmosHreceitful and dangeious foe. At last hwas noJLaHowcd to roam ; be was taken, trieoSbefbre their council, condemoftd as a public nuisance, as a destroyer of the peace of community, and bound over to keep ;4h peace, by their. laws, whioh, aa.freemen, iney wcro nounci to sustain. 1 have onco said, Oregon was untrammelcd. Once, she was thus ! Once, heaven smiled upon her as such a land ; but now, alas ! her best in tercst her glory has in u great measure do parted. The Legislators of our land free men! I blush to namo them all, as such, though mv countrvmen deeD was the stain stamped Uon their names, as Oregonians, when they relinquished those bonds whioh might have been made to hind our common foe, and, for a paltry sum, let him forth at large, to do his destroying work. Already we see its dire effects ; our eye rests upon the cheek where, but a few weeks since, sat the rosy bloom of health, now inflamed by the marks of tho fiery, fell destroyer. The quivering lip, the trembling hand betray the unhappy victims to every passer by thus laying the foundation for a work, the like of which, hath already cost our fathers in our native land, years of labor to destroy. May a kind and overruling Providence de fend us from this threatened woe. C. O. For the Oregon Spectator. ROAD TO OREGON. No. 3. Tho three streams forming the Willam ctte river, unite about the 44th degree of north latitude, to which point the settlements now extend. It will probably be found less expensive to make tho Willamette river the channel of trade as high up as the forks, than to build a railroad ; the navigation of the river will have the further advantage of being convenient to both sides of the valley. The fine water power on tho river, the na tural beauty of the site, and broad and fer tile valleys which follow up the three rivers which here unite, seem to mark this place as the center of trade for the upper Willam ette : and should a branch of the expected railroad from the U. States to tho Pacific be extended to this country, it will most likely hero find its northern terminus. Capt. Fremont (on tho 27th Dec. 1843,) crossed the Sicra Novada directly on the 42d parallel ; as tho wagon road over the Calapooia mountain bears about the same rel ative position to tho forks of the Willamette, that the wagon pass over the Siera Nevada does to the pass of Capt. Fremont, the dis tance in both cases (according to Mitchell's late Map) on a right line, is about 225 miles. But as tho road makes but very little cast ing until it crosses Roguo river, and is forced from a direct line in crossing the mountains and meandering tho lakes, it is according to tho way bills, about 335 miles to the top of mo oieru lsevaaa. aooui xbu nines oi tins distance lies in the valleys of the Umpqua, Rogue river, Clamct and Sacramento ; tho remainder in the Calapooia, Umpqua, and Sis. kiu or Cascade mountains. . Of the road in the valleys, it is only nec essary to state that tho grass is every whero plenty, and water at convenient distances the road crosses a few hills in tho different valleys, and some rocky country in the val ley of tho Sacigimento ; with these excep tions, it is over firm, level plains tho streams aro crossed at good rocky fords, and at tho proper season are, from their size, of little impediment. Tho mountains require a more particular description. Tho ridgo dividing the waters of the Wil. lametto and Umpqua rivers, is called the Calapooia mountains : it is narrow and of no great hight, and may bo crossed in many places ; the wagon road crosses it by a ridge way about 10 miles in length from prairie to prairie, and is not complained of by tho im migrants ; but ohasms similar to the pass jf the Umpqua mountain, may be found through the Calapooia, by whioh a railroad will meet with but Blight ascents or descents. The Umpqua mountain divides the waters of Rogue river and "Umpqua, and is much more formidable than the Calapooia, being a much hicrhnr. rockier ridgo, nndovsr It, it 'is impracticable to make a wagon 'road. The road passed through a chasm which cuts the mountain from side to sido io its very base. As this pass has been a placo of much disaster to some of the immigrants, and is of Itself a natural curiosity, it re quire a minute description. A pool ot wa ter about 15 feet in diameter,, occupies tho dividing ground between tho waters 'of 'trio Roctie river and UmoauR : there is from east to west about 30 yards of level land be- l tween the mountains which rises abruptly t? tho hight of about 1500 feet tho descent each way from this point is very gentle that to tho souib i about three miles con. dacts by a good way to the open country : tl at to tho north is about 12 miles in length for throe or four miles there is sufficient space of level ground, and but little work required to make a good road ; but below this, the stream increasing in sizo by tho t'n trance of affluents, and the mountains clos ing in upon it, tho road must descend in its rocky bed, made moro difficult by somo largo stones and short falls, or be graded along tho side of the mountain, which being loose soil, or decomposed basalt, can be done with tho greatest facility these last two or three miles, when tho hills recede and leave, by frequent ly crossing the creek, a bottom wide enough for a road the remainder of the distance. The party employed in opening tho road, being in want of tho necessary tools, and scarce of provisions, wore unable to make this road properly, and attempted only to make it passablo with as little labor as pos sible. On the level ground it is made crook ed in going round logs and trees, and tho banks at the crossings of the creek aro left, too steep, and at that part of the pass proper, ly called the kanvon, tho road is taken along the sido of the hifl, about a mile, when it do. scends into the creek by a hill so steep as to require the greatest care to prevent wagons from upsetting. The difficulties of the, road were much increased by tho rains commen cing about the time the first wagons were crossing the mountain. 1 he failure of somo pf the weaker teams so discouraged others, that several wagons were left on the south side of the mountain,. their owners tlunking it impossible to take them through the pass. But nearly a month atler the commence: tjG ment of the rains, and at a time when tney '"V, road, with 800 or 1000 lbs. in it was drawn through the pass, and could easily have reached the prairie on this side on the second day, had not the heavy rains which fell dur ing its passage so swollen the little creek that runs down from the pass, as to endanger tho wetting the goods at ono of the last crossings. As it was, the wagon was brought over all the bad road, and within a mile and a half of tho prairie whero Mr. P. arrived with his team before night. From which it is evident that with a littlo additional labor, heavily laden wagons may pass cither way through this formidable mountain in dry weather in a day : and through it a railroad may bo constructed as cheap, and with as little labor as tho same distance over a level plain. By a gradual aicent of several miles through open country, the road reaches the summit of a high plain, or rather broad mountain, the western run hero being a ridgo rising considerably abovo tho general level. This plain is timbered with a variety of pine, (by far the finest tree I have seen of that family,) with occasional small prairies, well stocked with grass and wator ; tho road runs upon this plain about 27 miles and descends to the Clamet, at a prairie about 5 miles bo. low tho lake Tho road is generally cood. there being but two short steeps to ascend, and two to descend to the little streams which afford the camps. This mountainis usually called tho Siskiu, but it is in my opinion the Cascade range, as this broad plain runs directly south to tho foot of a mighty pile glittering in eternal snow, and surmounted by a peak by far the highest in the range called Mount Shasto. Though the Clamet river outs its way through this plain, it makes no opening, and is generally in kanyons of groat dopth. The 8iera Nevada is a continuation of tho Blue mountains, and horo is a high, narrow ridge, capped with snow. The road runs through a good, open pass, and the pnly hill' to cross is on the' east' aide of the range ; fine grass runs up to the top of the nioun tain, and fine springs bmk out on both sides, whichylnbuf h the aawntof the hill Islong I I i 1 I' "$& ft$ft$Jr . VvVw- ,., - 1 A 7,-rt- J.---., i .--