342
OREGON AND WASHINGTON.
year. This decrease is owing partly to the exhaustion of old diggings, and partly to the opening of other routes of travel, by which the gold dust is scattered in many directions, instead of flowing through one channel only, as in 1864.
There is no longer any excitement about mining in any part of Oregon, or the adjacent Territories. It has assumed the aspect of a steady industry, and as such will long continue to contribute to the wealth of the State, in connection with agriculture, manufactures, and every form of productive labor.
