Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/320

 Oregon, one of the Pacific Coast States, seventh in size among the states of the Union (1910). It received its name from the Oregon (now the Columbia) River, which is the state's greatest inland waterway. The ultimate origin of the name is obscure. Oregon is bounded on the north by the State of Washington, on the east by Idaho, on the south by Nevada and California, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its length is 300 miles from north to south; its breadth 396 miles. Its total area is 96,030 sq. miles, including 1470 of water surface. It lies between 42° and 46° 18' N. lat., and between 116° 35' and 124° 35' W. long.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
In the western portion of the state two mountain ranges one hundred miles apart run parallel with the coast line; in the eastern part there stretches out a vast inland plateau. The coast range traverses the state at a distance of about twenty miles from the ocean; it has an average height of 3500 feet, and is densely covered with fir, spruce, and cedar, most of which is valuable for lumber. The Cascade Mountains, a prolongation of the Sierra Nevada, extend through the state from north to south at a distance of about 120 miles from the coast. While the average height of this range is about 6000 feet, it is crowned with a line of extinct volcanoes whose snow-capped peaks reach a height of 9000 feet, Mt. Hood, just east of the city of Portland, attaining an altitude of 11,225 feet.

DIVISION
The state is divided physically into three sections known as Western, Southern, and Eastern Oregon, differing in temperature, rainfall, and products. The Willamette Valley lies in Western Oregon. It is bounded on the north by the Columbia River, on the east by the Cascades, on the west by the Coast Range, and on the south by the Calapooia Mts. It is the mostly thickly settled part of the state, and is noted for its beautiful farm homes and equable climate. The valley is about 160 miles long, and has an average width of sixty miles, not including its mountain slopes. It presents one beautiful sweep of valley containing about 5,000,000 acres, all of which is highly fertile. It is drained by the Willamette River, which runs north, receives the waters of many important streams rising in the Cascades and coast range, and discharges into the Columbia River, just north of Portland. Western Oregon also includes the important counties west of the Willamette Valley on the coast. Southern Oregon lies west of the Cascades, between the Willamette Valley and California. It comprises the counties of Douglas, Coos, Curry, Josephine, and Jackson. The principal streams of this section are the Umpqua and Rogue Rivers, which rise in the Cascades, pierce the Coast Range, and empty into the Pacific Ocean. The valleys of these rivers are notable for their abundant and varied fruit production. The mountains in this section are rich in gold, which is extensively mined. The portion of this section west of the coast range is generally heavily 