the mineral districts of Eastern Oregon; without, however, exciting much interest, owing to the precedence given to the precious metals, as well as to difficult transportation, distance from markets, and other hinderances common to newly settled territories.
There are no very correct means of estimating the gold product of Eastern Oregon and Washington. The gold-fields of the north-eastern portion of the Territory have contributed a certain share to the general amount of bullion received by the Express-office and banks, which ship the gold to San Francisco; but it can not be separated from that of Oregon, Idaho, British Columbia, or Montana. It is only the gold of Northern Idaho that goes to the California Mint by way of Portland. All the gold of the southern portion of that Territory, and perhaps a part of that produced in Baker County, Oregon, goes to San Francisco by Wells, Fargo & Co.'s stages, overland.
There has been a regular decrease in the shipments of bullion by way of Portland since 1864, when the mining excitement in Idaho and Eastern Oregon was at its height. The shipments of Wells, Fargo & Co. from Portland have been as follows: 1864, $6,200,000; 1865, $5,800,000; 1866, $5,400,000; 1867, $4,000,000; 1868, $3,037,000; 1869, $2,559,000; 1870, $1,547,000. The shipments of Ladd & Tilton, bankers, of Portland, for 1869, were $419,657. There is always a considerable amount of gold dust conveyed by private hands at the close of the mining season, which can not be correctly estimated. Add to this the gold produced in Southern Oregon, which is about $400,000, and the sum total of all the bullion produced in Oregon and Washington will amount, for 1870, to about $2,000,000; whereas, it was probably $3,000,000 for the preceding
