Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/264

 242 Leslie M. Scott beautiful appearance. It is a continuation of plains which commence here and continue on to the Southward, sparated by narrow strips of timber, bounded to the east by the strip of woodland which occupy the banks of the Willamet; and to the westward by the woods which occupy the base of the Killymaux Mountain. The soil is a rich blackish mould covered (but not with a close [185] thick sward) with grass & other plants, among which are considerable quantities of strawberry plants, now well furnished with fine fruit. Not a stone & scarcely a shrub to interrupt the progress of the plough which might be employed in many places with little more difficulty than in a stubble field. The country here though termed Plain from being clear of wood, is not a dead flat but composed of portions of level land with gently rising grounds. Portions of the flat lands are springey. Here the soil inclines to be clayey. The vegetation is not rank, yet it yields a great deal of pasture. This first plain may be about three times the size of the clear ground about Fort Vancouver, and about 170 horses have been feeding upon it for the two last months, and there would still be grass enough for them for the rest of the summer. This Plain is never overflowed; the nost Northern fork of the Faldin is a little distance further on to the Southward. It is not far but through a woody country, to the banks of the Co- lumbia in a N. N. W. direction. The open country here is of an irregular form, as points of woods [186] jut out into the plains from both sides. There can be no doubt but abundant crops of every kind of grain would amply reward the labor of the hus- bandman, besides its being so well adapted for pasture both of cattle & sheep. The open ground here may be about 3 or 4 miles wide from E. S. E. to W. N. W. May 25. Thick fog in the morning. Fair weather afterwards. Sent off six men and boys with 103 horses to Mr. McKay's Place. Owing to the fog it was late in