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a residence of five years on the Pacific Coast—three of which were spent in Oregon—a visit of several months was made to the Atlantic States, during which time I was called upon to do volumes of talk about the West Coast, especially about Oregon and Washington—questions concerning which every body I met was sure to ask. The great dearth of information concerning these countries there, suggested to me the need of books which should faithfully and familiarly treat of them, their natural features and resources, together with their business and social condition.

Although every summer of my residence in Oregon had heretofore been spent in excursions to different parts of the country, I resolved on my return to repeat some of my previous journeys, and make others in new directions, until all was perfectly familiar, and thoroughly understood, which related to the geography, topography, scenery, soil, climate, productions, and improvements of the several sections of the two divisions of the Northwest Coast treated of in this volume.

While it was a pleasure to me to familiarize myself with the country, the object of it was to enable me to answer, in print, all the various questions which had been asked me concerning it by Eastern people. If the reader follows my summer wanderings as here given, he will, especially with any thing of a map before him, be able to obtain quite a complete picture of all that magnificent territory, now being rapidly brought into communication with the East, through the enterprise of the several great railroad companies. Besides the general information thus given, I have thought it best to furnish many details of the condition of