Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/107

Rh Thirty-one miles above Dalles, we pass the mouth of the John Day River—a stream, in all respects, similar to the Des Chutes—with the same narrow valley, and the same depth below the general level of the country. What bottom-land there is along this river is already taken up, and there are mining-camps upon its head-waters, from which a steady gold product has been derived for the last eight years. The high bluff's intervening between the Columbia and the interior country quite conceal any appearances of settlement, and leave upon the mind the impression of an altogether uninhabited country—an impression quite erroneous in fact, though there are thousands of square miles still vacant.

Willow Creek is a small stream, coming into the Columbia thirty-three miles above John Day River, with a small, fertile valley well settled up. After an interval of another thirty-three miles, we find ourselves at Umatilla—a small town set in the sands at the mouth of the river of that name. It serves simply as a port to the mines of Eastern Oregon, and, as such, has a trade disproportionally large for its size. Here the steamers disembark their passengers and freight; and the stages and pack-trains take up what the steamer leaves, to convey it to the interior and the mines.

The Umatilla River, on account of its valley, is one of the most important streams of Eastern Oregon. The Umatilla Valley, together with the bottom-lands of several tributary creeks, furnishes a fine tract of rich, alluvial land, having a high reputation for its agricultural capacity. About seven thousand acres, nearly all bottom-land, are under cultivation in Umatilla County, the whole area of which is over