Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/694

680 was $22,000,000, which United States Commissioner Raymond thinks more than 50 per cent. too high. The subsequent yield, according to Raymond, has been as follows: 1868, $3,500,000; 1869, $2,625,000; 1870, $2,625,000; 1871, $2,200,000; 1872, $1,775,000; 1873, $1,375,000; 1874, $650,000; total, $14,750,000. The entire product to the close of 1874 may therefore be stated at from $26,000,000 to $37,000,000. The amount of gold deposited at the United States mints and assay offices from Oregon to June 30, 1874, was $12,314,071 10. Mineral springs, both hot and cold, occur in the Rogue river valley, in the Siskiyou mountains, and in eastern Oregon.—Western Oregon has a moist and equable climate; eastern Oregon, one dry and variable. In the former division there are but two seasons, the wet and the dry. The wet season commences about the latter part of November and lasts till March or April, during which drizzling rains and thick mists prevail, though there are many clear days. In the dry season the sky is generally clear, and though rain is not entirely wanting, very little falls from June to October. The climate of this division varies somewhat in different localities. In the southern portions the dry season is longer and the wet season shorter than in the northern, while in the district W. of the Coast range the atmosphere is more humid than between the Coast and Cascade mountains. Snow falls occasionally, but seldom to any considerable depth, and generally soon disappears. Ice rarely forms more than an inch or two in thickness, and soon thaws. In some winters flowers bloom in the gardens even in the N. portion of the Willamette valley. The nights in summer are always cool, and the heat during the day, seldom extreme, is never oppressive. The Cascade mountains shut out from eastern Oregon the moisture of the Pacific. The temperature here is subject to greater extremes than in the west, but the winters are shorter and milder, and the summers cooler and more equable than on the Atlantic coast. The winter commences late in December, and generally, lasts three months. Snow frequently falls to the depth of 12 inches in the valleys, but 6 inches is the usual depth. In the high mountainous region of Grant co. a much greater quantity falls. Ice is formed every winter, but commonly it does not exceed a few inches in thickness. A warm S. E. wind is not uncommon, before which the snow speedily disappears. In summer the heat occasionally reaches 100°, but owing to the dryness and rarity of the atmosphere it is not severely felt. Considerable rain falls in spring, but in summer there is little rain and not much dew, though crops do not suffer from drought. In the Klamath valley, owing to its elevation (4,200 ft.), frosts occur every night of the year, and snow lies from three to five months. Thunder, lightning, hail, and heavy winds are rare in Oregon. In most parts of the state cattle are wintered without shelter or prepared food,

but loss is suffered in seasons of unusual severity. In western Oregon the most careful farmers erect sheds to protect their stock from cold rains, and furnish fodder for five or six weeks. The mean temperature of the seasons and year at Port Orford (lat. 42° 40′) and Astoria (lat. 46° 10′) on the coast, at Corvallis (lat. 44° 30′) in the Willamette valley, and at Dalles (lat. 45° 36′) just E. of the Cascade range, is stated by Murphy as follows:

At Eola (lat. 44° 57′), near Salem, the average mean temperature of the years 1870, '71, and '72 was 49.66°, varying from 49.25° to 50.4°; average annual rainfall, 38.62 inches, varying from 37.11 to 40.84 inches; average mean temperature of spring, 47°; summer, 66.1°; autumn, 49.1°; winter, 37.3°; maximum temperature, 83°; minimum, 13°. The annual rainfall at Astoria is stated at 60 inches, and in eastern Oregon at from 15 to 20 inches. The climate is generally healthy, and there is no prevailing type of disease. A species of intermittent fever occurs in the low bottoms along some of the watercourses in western Oregon, but it is mild and readily yields to treatment. The climate is believed to be beneficial to consumptives, particularly in eastern Oregon. The number of deaths according to the census of 1870 was 622, viz.: from general diseases, 304, including 85 from fevers, 34 from diphtheria, and 112 from consumption; diseases of the nervous system, 54; circulatory system, 19; respiratory system, 61, including 23 from croup and 30 from pneumonia; digestive system, 63; accidents and injuries, 55; the rest from various causes.—The soil in the valleys of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue rivers is very fertile. The district W. of the Coast mountains is generally rugged, but along the watercourses and at the mouths of the streams are tracts adapted to agriculture, which possess a good soil. These valleys are more extensive toward the south. In eastern Oregon the chief agricultural tracts are along the streams. The most extensive and productive valleys are those of the Grande Ronde, Powder, and Malheur rivers. On John Day's and Crooked rivers there are also productive lands. Much of the district belonging to the Great Basin is a desert, covered in the east with sand and sage, and in the west with volcanic ashes and pumice. Lava terraces often rise one above the other to the height of 1,000 ft., and chasms appear on every hand. The only tree is a dwarf pine. Western Oregon, with the exception of the extensive prairie tracts in the Willamette valley and smaller ones in some of the other valleys, is densely wooded with gigantic forests. This is particularly true of the Coast range and the