Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/691

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OREGON
677

viz.: Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Coös, Curry, Douglas, Grant, Jackson, Josephine, Lake, Lane, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wasco, Washington, and Yamhill. The chief city and commercial metropolis is Portland (pop. in 1870, 8,295), on the Willamette river, 12 m. above its junction with the Columbia. Salem (pop. 1,139), the capital, is on the E. bank of the Willamette, 50 m. S. of Portland. Other places with from 500 to 2,000 inhabitants are Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia; Forest Grove, 20 m. W. of Portland; Albany, Corvallis, Eugene City, Harrisburg, and Oregon City, on the Willamette; Roseburg, in the valley of the Umpqua river; Jacksonville, in Rogue river valley; Dalles, on the Columbia; La Grande, on Grande Ronde river; Pendleton, on Umatilla river; and Baker City, in Baker co. The total population (federal censuses) has been as follows: 1850, 13,294; 1860, 52,465; 1870, 90,923, of whom 346 were colored, 3,330 Chinese, and 318 non-tribal Indians.

State Seal of Oregon.

According to the state census of 1865 it was 65,090. Next to Nevada it is the least populous state of the Union. Of the total population in 1870, 79,323 were native and 11,600 foreign born, 53,131 males and 37,792 females. Of the natives, 37,155 were born in the state, 7,061 in Missouri, 4,722 in Illinois, 4,031 in Ohio, 3,695 in Iowa, 3,451 in Indiana, 3,092 in New York, 2,387 in Kentucky, 1,930 in Pennsylvania, 1,710 in California, 1,544 in Tennessee, 1,447 in Virginia and West Virginia, 746 in Massachusetts, 676 in Maine, and 606 in Washington territory; and there were persons living in the state born in every other state and every territory except Dakota. Of persons born in the state, 6,225 were living in other parts of the Union. Of the foreigners, besides the Chinese, 3,771 were natives of the British isles, 1,875 of Germany, and 1,187 of British America. There were 24,608 male citizens of the United States 21 years old and upward residing in the state. The number of families was 18,504, with an average of 4.91 persons to each; of dwellings, 19,372, with an average of 4.69 to each. There were 2,609 persons 10 years old and upward unable to read, and 4,427 unable to write, of whom 3,003 were natives and 1,424 foreigners, 808 Chinese, and 118 Indians; 122 insane persons, 55 idiotic, 23 deaf and dumb, and 35 blind; paupers supported during the year ending June 1, 133, at a cost of $24,800; receiving support on that date, 81; persons convicted of crimes during the year, 80. Of the 30,651 persons 10 years old and upward returned as engaged in all occupations, 13,248 were employed in agriculture, including 3,126 agricultural laborers and 9,758 farmers and planters; 6,090 in professional and personal services, including 162 clergymen, 830 domestic servants, 2,962 laborers, 194 lawyers, 206 physicians and surgeons, and 410 teachers; 2,619 in trade and transportation; and 8,694 in manufactures and mining, including 3,965 miners. A majority of the inhabitants are settled in the Willamette valley, the districts W. of the Coast mountains and E. of the Cascade range being thinly inhabited. The tribal Indians of Oregon in 1875 numbered about 8,000, of whom 2,500 or 3,000 were roving bands, chiefly along the Columbia river and in the E. and S. E. parts of the state; the rest are settled on reservations or at agencies. Some of them are partially civilized and are engaged in agriculture. There are seven reservations: the Alsea, about the centre of the Pacific coast; the Siletz, N. of this; the Grande Ronde, E. of the Siletz; the Klamath, in the Klamath basin; the Warm Springs, in the N. part of the state, just E. of the Cascade mountains; the Umatilla, in the N. E. part of the state; and the Malheur, on the N. fork of the river of that name. The Oregon Indians comprise numerous small bands, including Alseas, Bannacks, Calapooyas, Cayuses, Clackamas, Clatsops, Coosas, Klamaths, Modocs, Molels, Nez Percés, Pi-Utes, Shasta Scotans, Shoshones, Sinselaws, Snakes, Terrinoes, Tillamooks, Umatillas, Umpquas, Walla-Wallas, Warm Springs, and Wascoes.—Oregon is divided into two unequal parts, known as eastern and western Oregon, by the Cascade mountains, which cross the state from N. to S. at an average distance of 130 m. from the coast. The two sections differ in climate, soil, and topography. The Cascade mountains are from 4,000 to 10,000 ft. high, with occasional peaks rising still higher, of which the principal are Mt. Hood, in lat. 45° 20', according to Lieut. Col. Williamson (1867), 11,225 ft high; Mt. Jefferson, in lat. 44° 40', 10,200 ft the Three Sisters, in lat. 44° 10', 9,420 ft.; Diamond peak, 9,420 ft.; Mt. Thielsen, 8,500 ft.; Mt. Scott, 8,500 ft.; and Mt. McLaughlin or Pitt, in lat. 42° 25', 11,000 ft. All these rise into the region of perpetual snow, and all of them are extinct volcanoes. How long they have been extinct is not known, but the Indians have traditions of a time when Mt. Hood was an active volcano. Western Oregon,