Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/54

Rh heart of the mountains, but constitutes in itself a continuous panorama of rare views, to which minds even of the least ideality soon become attached. As the eastern foothills sink to plain, the forest disappears, only a few scattering pines remaining in the vicinity of the Dalles; by the bars and on sandy margins of the river grow willows and low shrubs, while above them rise high rounded bluffs, bald and monotonous, yet not without picturesque effect. Beyond these the country rolls off in broken plains, covered in spring by a delicate verdure bright with flowers, later wearing a russet hue that early gave it the name of desert. Yet even through this eastern part there is much to please the eye in the softly flowing outlines of the ever-changing scene, in the calm blue which canopies the imperious Columbia raging at its rocky obstructions, and in the deep cañons that channel the inflowing rivers from the south. A hundred miles from the mountains there are smaller streams with open valleys, occupied as grazing lands by native horse-owners, the Umatillas, Cayuses, Walla Wallas, and Nez Percés.

Yet farther east, beyond the Umatilla and Walla Walla countries, is the Snake or Lewis River region, in the eyes of those who visit it as worthless as it is wild and lonely. Its waterless deserts, severely hot in summer and cold in winter, inspire the overland tourist with dread; and many a trapper and voyageur meets his death from want in crossing them. Yet fertile spots are found, pleasant little valleys where the climate is delightful, and, so far as appears, the earth fruitful. North of the Snake River the whole region is unexplored except as traversed by fur-hunters; indeed, away at the base of the Rocky Mountains is a large and diversified tract, a terra incognita to the world at large. And for many years to come this portion of the Oregon Territory offers few attractions to agriculturists. On the other hand, all the western portion of Oregon, especially the