About twenty-five miles above Oregon City, the Yamhill River enters the Wallamet from the west. It is a narrow stream, and its entrance is almost hidden by the profusion of overhanging shrubbery and trees. Waiting here for freight and passengers, is the Dayton, a commodious steamer of light draught, which will convey us, if we so elect, to the towns of Dayton, La Fayette, or McMinnville, in Yamhill County—one of the finest agricultural portions of the State, and celebrated for having domiciled, at one time or another, almost every person of prominence in the State, prior to 1868.
Above the Yamhill, the traveler sees nothing of interest, beyond a wood-yard or a grist-mill, all the way to Salem. There is, however, a memorable spot twelve miles below Salem, on the east bank, where the Methodist Mission made its first location in 1834; this being the very first American settlement in the Wallamet Valley. Here, too, in 1843, after the acceptance of the Organic Laws, was held the first Legislative Assembly of nine persons; their Council Chamber being a public room in a building belonging to the mission, known as "The Granary." Subsequently, the Legislature removed its sessions to Oregon City. The high-water of 1862 carried away a portion of the old mission ground, which was situated on the bank of the river, where the open prairie approaches quite to it.
