CORRESPONDENCE 285
tance from the Plains of about 80 miles; from the Tuallity Plains to this place twice, a distance of about 28 miles, and I think I hazard nothing when I give it as my opinion that its fertility is scarcely excelled by the same extent in the Missis- sippi Valley. In wheat it far exceeds in yield any part of the United States. The crop never fails by winter killing, by blight or by insects, and produces from ten to more than fifty bushels to the acre of the best wheat I ever saw. All the small grains and vegetables do well as far as tried and turnips excell anything I ever saw. The climate is remarkably mild during the winter, although rainy, and is said to be extremely fine during the spring, summer and autumn. It is ascertained that there is a large extent of country north of the mouth of the Columbia reaching to the Sound and back for perhaps more than a hundred miles, much of which is open and fertile, susceptible of immediate settlement. The country of the Umpqua, the Rogue and the Clamet 100 is represented as re- markably fertile and somewhat extensive. New towns must soon rise up on the river, both above and below us. At the mouth of the Columbia and on the Pugets Sound there must soon spring up small cities whose extent and importance will in a great measure be determined by the intelligence, virtue and enterprise of the people of the tributary country. Our climate, our soil, our timber and our water power conspire to render our resources, when developed, great, for the extent of the territory, beyond that of any country I ever saw. But with all these facilities, we greatly need a few discreet young brethren, with perhaps families, who love our Lord and His cause, who can teach and operate upon the mind of the rising generation in bringing them to adopt correct views in all the social and moral relations of man. We also greatly need brethren with families who know how to feel and act for the wants of the church, with whom ministers may counsel and execute.
ioo The Klarnath. For the different spellings of the name, see Frederick V. Holman, History of the Counties of Oregon, in Ore. Hist. Soc. Quar. XI 155. Clamet was the spelling given in Elijah White's "Ten Years in Oregon."
