Page:Route Across the Rocky Mountains with a Description of Oregon and California.djvu/92



The soil of the Valley of the St. Wakine, along the river, and on its tributaries, is very rich, and consequently, favorable to argicultural productions. These fertile strips, make up a great portion of the valley; but beside these, there are extensive tracts of barren land, laying back, between the river and the mountains, and between its tributaries. These barren tracts, are so dry and sandy, as to be entirely unfit for cultivation; but they are, nevertheless, covered with that superior kind of grass, peculiar to these Western countries; and which, although it is much less abundant on the barren, than on the fertile land, is richer and more nutritious. On this account, these unfruitful lands, are not altogether valueless; affording, as they do, excellent pasturage for large herds of cattle. In one portion of this valley, the land is so sandy, that several of the mountain streams, which would otherwise empty into the River, are swallowed up. This portion is of considerable extent, and the river, for a long distance opposite to it, receives no tribuatries, from that side. It will seem contradictory, that lands unfit for cultivation, and so dry, as we have represented these to be, should produce grass sufficient to render them valuable, for the purpose of grazing: but, it must be remembered, that during the rainy season, the frequent showers keep, even these, almost constantly moist; and that the temperature, at this season, is of sufficient mildness, to favor vegetation; and the fact of the grass becoming cured during the dry season, causes them to afford nourishment for animals, constantly. It is improbable, that they will bear pasturage to the same extent, or support the same number of animals, as the fertile lands. But when the country becomes well populated, and when all the lands, adapted to cultivation, shall have been brought into requisition, for that purpose; then these barren lands, with proper care, will give support, the most healthy and nutritious, to immense numbers of all kinds of herbiverous animals. This, however, is not to be considered, as the general character of the Valley of the St. Wakine; on the contrary, it is considered to be one of the best portions of California. In many places, where the tribuatries of the St. Wakine enter the Valley, there are the terminations of narrow, but rich, and beautiful valleys; which wind away among unexplored, and rugged spurs and peaks, and penetrate deep into the bosom of the California Mountains. In the upper extremity of the Valley of the St. Wakine, there are large