Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/50

Rh River, between the Cascade Mountains, a lofty range running nearly parallel with the coast, at a distance from it of about one hundred and twenty-five miles, and the Calapooiah Mountains, a range of considerable height, which rise immediately on the coast, and extend along it so as to form an entire rock bound shore. The Valley has an average width of about seventy-five miles, and extends South one hundred and fifty miles. It is traversed from South to North, by the Willammette river, a large and beautiful stream, which is navigable to the Falls, within two miles of which the tide reaches. The Falls overcome, and navigation reaches fifty miles further up the River. This valley is divided into several portions, by ranges of high lands running in different direction, generally following the course of the streams. The principal tributaries of the Willamette, are the Clackamus, which rises in the Cascade Mountains and empties one and a half miles below the Falls; the Twalita, which rises in the Calapooiah Mountains, flows through the Twalita Plains, and empties two miles above the Falls; and, eight miles above the Falls, the Moolally or Pudding River, which rises in the Cascade Mountains and empties into the Willammette, from the East: fifteen miles above the Moolally, the Yamhill River, which empties from the West; and above the Yamhill, the Sandy Yam, which empties from the east. The streams emptying from either side, have their sources in the bordering Mountains. On the lower Willamette, the country near the river is broken, and covered with dense forests of Pine. Further back from the River, it is diversifies, with open woodland and groves of heavy timber; and still further, there are beautiful plains, lying between the streams, separated by belts of timber, and extending back to the Mountains. On the upper Willammette, the country is more open and level, and is diversified with groves of Oak, Pine, and Fir, and broad and fertile plains, covered with luxuriant crops of grass. Above the mouth of the Yamhill River, a range of hills commences, and follows the Willammette River, continuing, gradually, to increase in height, to its junction with the Columbia. From the mouth of the Willammette, they follow the South bank of the Columbia, within fifteen miles of the Ocean; thence they bear away to the south, and join with the Calapooiah Mountains, at Cape Look Out, twenty miles South of the Columbia; encircling the Twalita plains, a cluster of small, but rich and beautiful prairies, lying twenty miles West of the Falls of the Willammette, being in extent, about equal to thirty miles square and connected by the Shohalam