from Vancouver, which still continued to be their market reached by boat on the Willamette.
The California gold rush, as we have seen, lured some of the Oregon pioneers to the valleys of the Umpqua and Rogue rivers where they settled as farmers and cattle raisers, to supply the California trade, and soon the gold seekers crossed from the south the Siskiyou Mountains into Oregon, which resulted in uniting the two communities though at some points the connecting band of settlement was still extremely slight.
The California market essential. The California gold rush seems the almost providential means of saving the Oregon colony (and the California colony, too) from stagnation and perhaps ultimate failure. In the entire history of the westward migration of the American people there is no example of an agricultural settlement which really flourished before adequate market facilities were created for it; and until California filled up, magically, with gold seekers the market of the Oregon farmers was entirely too limited and too uncertain.
Even after the gold rush had set in the market for wheat, flour, meats, fruits and vegetables, all of which could be supplied by Oregon and ^^'ashington farmers, was far from being unlimited, especially since California agriculture gradually supplied most of the local demand for food stuffs. The opening of the mines throughout the Inland Empire brought a new and much needed stimulus. But, once more, local agricul
