Page:History of Oregon volume 1.djvu/618

Rh and also guided a portion of the immigration of the following autumn into the Willamette Valley by this road, arriving in good season and in good condition, while the main immigration, by the Dalles route, partly on account of its number, suffered severely. This established the reputation of the Klamath Lake road; and the legislature of this year passed an act for its improvement, making Levi Scott commissioner, and allowing him to collect a small toll as compensation for his services. The troubles with the Cayuses, which broke out in the winter of 1847, and which but for the Oregon volunteers would have closed the Snake route, demonstrated the wisdom of its explorers in providing the mountain-walled valleys of western Oregon with another means of ingress or egress than the Columbia River; their road to-day being incorporated for nearly its whole length with some of the most important highways of the country.

In June 1847 a company headed by Cornelius Gilliam set out with the intention of exploring the Rogue River and Klamath valleys, which from this time forward continued to be mentioned favorably on account of their climate, soil, and other advantages.