Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/188

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182
OREGON AND WASHINGTON.

valley. Certainly it is evident that the resources of this part of the country, in soil, timber, water, and minerals, are unexcelled by any portion of it; and only its remoteness has hitherto prevented its settlement. Already the lands are beginning to be taken up, and settlers' cabins to appear on frequent claims on the Middle Fork of the Wallamet. McKenzie, or North Fork, is a large stream, with a similar country and advantages for locating. The South Fork is smaller, with the same general character.

A glance at the map of Oregon will show any one the horse-shoe shape of the head of the Wallamet Valley, with the Coast Range on the west, the Cascades on the east, and the Calapooias on the south.

This amphitheatre of mountains, running down into the valley in long slopes and ridges, furnishes it with superior facilities for a great variety of manufactures which depend on wood, water, stone, and such like materials. When these are to be found, together with a variety of good soils, adapted to all branches of farming, there can be no doubt of the future of such a country. From every side, the riches of these hills will glide down into the lap of that city which is situated in their midst.