| 1049 corn, they continued their course north-east; the party and poor animals suffering extreme want of water. About ten o'clock, when the party struck a deep ravine and began to follow it, but they had only proceeded a short distance, when the Doctor discovered two Indians far in the distance, to the south east; the party stopped and concealed themselves in the ravine; Brown crept to the bank to watch their movements; the Indians advanced a little, then also stopped. The Doctor then prepared to retreat and change the course of travel, and the party readily complied with his suggestion, went up the ravine some distance, took a southerly direction and travelled [traveled] six miles, when they struck a small creek, kept their course still towards the south, and just at dark struck the Oregon road, to the great joy of all the pry. They encamped that night at 12 o'clock on the Republican Fork, again eating raw corn for supper.
On the 3d of November, they considered themselves nearly out of reach of the Pawnees, being fifty miles from their village. They arrived at the bank of the Big Blus [Blue?] on the evening of the 7th, when on entering the tall forest trees, by the light of the moon, a large flock of turkies [turkeys] were heard among the branches. All were excited with pleasing anticipations of once more tasting something palatable, as the corn, in whatever state it was taken, for several days had soured on the stomachs of the men, and they ate it only to keep from starving. The next morning, Brown's well-directed rifle brought a fat turkey to the ground. After the turkey was despatched, they returned to the corn again, as the Indians gave them only two rifles, having percussion locks with no more ammunition, and the other rifle was unloaded to strike fire with the powder.
On the evening of the 13th, they ate the first meal in the house of Mr. Charles Fish, quickly prepared by his lady, residing among the Shawnee Indians, thirty miles from the United States line.
The Doctor left the Williamette colony in a very flourishing state, and is of opinion that Oregon, at no distant day, will rival many of the Atlantic States in agriculture, science, and the arts. In this opinion all the party concur, and they intend to return again in the spring.
A daily computation makes the distance from
Oregon city to Fort Hall 800 miles
From Fort Hall to Green river, 195 "
From Green river to Fort Laramie 400 "
From Fort Laramie to Independence. 630 "
2025
From the St. Louis Republican.
St. Louis, Nov. 23rd, 1845.
Sir: I received with pleasure your polite note of inquiry, regarding Oregon, from the consideration of the warm interest you have manifested in favor of that new, distant and interesting part of our wide domain, and am most happy to assure you, and through you, the good citizens of St. Louis and Missouri generally, who have said and done so much to advance our interests, that aside from some inconvenience for the want of a circulating medium, or the establishment of proper commercial regulations, our little colony of eight thousand, are going forward most vigorously and prosperously, and, so far as the accumulation of property is concerned, I know of no people so rapidly advancing as those who have planted themselves in the valley of the Willamette, nor do I know of any like population so uniformly pleased with the country of their adoption-none, sir, of the sober, industrious an intelligent part of our cheerful little colony, but are greatly pleased with Oregon, and its prospects, uniformly extolling the climate, soil, scenery, &c., &c. And, sir, of this you need not be surprised, as from a residence of nine years in that delightful valley, I assure you I know of no country possessing so mild, equable, salubrious and agreeable climate, nor a country of such varied and beautiful scenery, no one of such certainty or uniformity of all kinds of crops peculiar to such latitude, save Indian corn, which, though more certain from the uniformity of cool nights, does not in growth yield more than an average New England crop. Nor do I know of a country, every where possessing such purity of water, or considering its extent, more valuable water privileges. Of its natural and commercial advantages, I need not speak, as from its contiguity to the Sandwich Islands, China, Peru and all the western world, it will be seen at a glance that these are very great.
I do not deny that, at the first glance, a great portion of the eastern and interior of that territory appears of little worth, nor would otherwise say than that in the Willamette Valley, the garden of the world, possessing more strength and depth of soil, and less waste land than any country of like extent; that three months out of twelve, arising from the continuous rains, are disagreeable; but, sir, the time is coming, and rapidly advancing, when
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