Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/198

192 opposite side, is Dayton, the grain-depot of the county; and about the same distance above is McMinnville. These are the three principal towns. McMinnville is a handsomely located place, and will be a railroad point. It is the seat of a flourishing academy, as well as the centre of the agricultural interests of the county. The West Side, a paper devoted to the interests of the county, is published here.

The Yamhill River is formed by two streams, both rising in the Coast Range, and uniting about ten miles above its mouth. The Salmon River rises in the same pass of the Coast Range through which flow the head-waters of the South Yamhill, but runs in the opposite direction, and empties into the sea. The gorge of these streams furnishes an opening for the sea-breeze to cool the temperature of summer, or moderate that of winter. It is also a roadway for horses and carriages, by which the summer travel reaches the sea-coast. The sea-beach at the mouth of the Salmon River, is a favorite resort for the people of the central portion of the Wallamet Valley. To come here in July, camp out for two or three weeks, fish, ride, hunt, and eat "rock-oysters" and blackberries, is thought to be both a sanitary and a pleasurable manner of taking the summer's recreation.

The "rock-oyster" of Salmon River is so called because it is found embedded in sandstone-rock, and has to be released from its captivity by hard blows with a hammer. When it was so encased is not very well known, and the subject is one of no little interest. The quality of the testacean does not seem impaired by confinement; on the contrary, it is said to be remarkably good. The oyster, when extricated from the rock, is pear-shaped, with the impression of a