Page:All Over Oregon and Washington.djvu/221

Rh We have already referred to wool-growing as one of the leading interests of Douglas County. In the year 1869 this county exported 430,000 pounds; and the amount is annually increasing. The same year it contained 11,000 head of cattle and 160,000 sheep. The amount of bacon exported is not known, though it is considerable. The oak glades of Umpqua furnish great quantities of food for hogs, at no expense—the acorns seldom failing to be a good crop.

Water-power, of unlimited extent, can be had—the finest being near Winchester, on the Middle Fork of the Umpqua. The site has been offered as a gift to any Company who would erect manufactories at this place. It is an excellent situation for a woolen-mill, being about in the centre of the county.

The road from Roseburg, toward the south, gives us views of very great beauty and grandeur. Every variety of surface is presented, including prairie; gentle slopes, picturesquely wooded; mountain ridges; wild canyons; and every form of noble or pleasing landscape. The Myrtle Creek Hills remind us of Harper's Ferry. We are awed and delighted with the Umpqua Canyon, fully as wonderful as the more celebrated Echo Canyon. The valley of Cow Creek fascinates us, with its wild and solitary beauty, and the extraordinary richness of the autumn tints with which the mountain sides are resplendent.

The scenery does not fail for one moment to interest the traveler during the long ride which takes him from the Umpqua into the Rogue River Valley, over a range of mountains of that name. Traces of old mining operations begin to appear along this route. The earth is broken and scarred; old, deserted cabins stare blankly at us from the roadside; abandoned rockers