Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/23

Rh position between the farming country above the falls and the deep-water navigation twelve miles below; and more capital and improvements are found here than at any other point. It is the only incorporated town as yet in Oregon, the legislature of 1844 having granted it a charter; unimproved lots are held at from $100 to $500. The canal round the falls which the same legislature authorized is in progress of construction, a wing being thrown out across the east shoot of the river above the falls which form a basin, and is of great benefit to navigation by affording quiet water for the landing of boats, which without it were in danger of being carried over the cataract.

Linn City and Multnomah City just across the river from the metropolis, languish from propinquity to a greatness in which they cannot share. Milwaukee, a few miles below, is still in embryo. Linnton, the city founded during the winter of 1843 by Burnett and McCarver, has had but two adult male inhabitants, though it boasts a warehouse for wheat. Hillsboro and Lafayette aspire to the dignity of county-seats of Tualatin and Yamhill. Corvallis, Albany, and Eugene are settled by claimants of the land, but do not yet rejoice in the distinction of an urban