In the latter years of that decade there was the California gold rush to deepen those ruts. And all through the 1850's, and after, the wagons rolled on and the ruts worked farther into the hard plain and the harder mountains.
But these travelers were still the "Men of the Western Waters." They had not yet accepted the plain. Entering the valley of the Willamette, they did as they had been accustomed to do. The first of them established their farms on the banks of the Willamette. The next followed up the tributaries. Those a little later, and so excluded from these choicer sites, nevertheless crowded as close as possible. And all promptly began using the stream for the transport of their crops to market, for their journeys to town, and for their visits in the neighborhood. This was particularly necessary because of the sogginess of the land in the rainy season. Steam-use was logical, and, besides, romance just then surrounded the steamboat. So scores of landings were built along the Willamette, and many more along tributaries that today look unnavigable.
It is this story of development that is told in Willamette Landings. Here is the record of the boisterous and yet bucolic years of river traffic. And of course the story ends with the construction of railways and roads, over which produce and people could move swiftly and more directly. And so the old landings were left to fall into decay or to be carried away by the freshets.
The historian always finds it an adventure to come upon a good study, such as this, in some comparatively new field. But this book is more than just a good study. It has been done with due regard for the romance and the drama involved, and in admirable literary style. The layman will get as much pleasure as the historian in the reading of this book.
