Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 18.djvu/55



Hall Jackson Kslley 35

place of nations, interchanging the commodities and produc- tions of western America and the East Indies.

"Much of the country within two hundred miles of the Ocean, is favorable to cultivation. The valley of the Multnomah is particularly so, being extremely fertile. The advantages, gen- erally, for acquiring property are paramount to those on the prairies of the West, or in any other part of the world. . . . The Oregon is covered with heavy forests of timber. . . . The production of vegetables, grain, and cattle will require comparatively but little labor; these articles, together with the spontaneous growth of the soil, and the fruits of laborious industry, in general, will find a market, at home, and thereby comfort and enrich the settlers. Surplus staple articles may be shipped from their doors to distant ports, and return a vast profit in trade. Lumber, ship timber, &c. may be sent to the western coast of South America, the islands in the Pacific; bread stuffs, furs, salmon, and many other articles of domestic manufactures, to the East Indies.

"It is the circumstance of a good home market, that gives any country its greatest value, and must give the Oregon coun- try immense advantages for settlement; advantages unknown in the Western States, whose markets are as remote as the shores of the Atlantic. ...

"The want of value to the farmer's surplus produce, is his poverty ; and has made shipwreck of the fortunes of thousands, who have settled in Ohio, Indiana, &c."^*

Having thus described the resources of the country, he pro- ceeded to unfold his plans more in detail, taking up in order the survey and division of lands, the civil government, and provisions for the organization of churches and schools. Then came the direct appeal to emigrants and the terms on which they might be enrolled, the route to be taken, the expedition itself, and finally the question of funds. The order of presenta- tion is significant ; first a general picture of the economic ad- vantages, then a more detailed description designed to appeal to those who would shrink from the idea of "roughing it,"

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