USA > Oregon > Marion County > Salem > Oregon and its institutions; comprising a full history of the Willamette University, the first established on the Pacific Coast > Part 5
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The population of the county has recently been strengthened by immigration, to facilitate which a wagon road is in process of being built through the Coast Range from Cammas Prairie in Douglas County to Coose River.
CURRY COUNTY.
This county is situated in the extreme southwestern corner of the state. It is bounded north by Coose County, east by Josephine, south by California, and west by the Pacific Ocean. It is a large county in extent, but rough and mountainous, and contains about two hundred inhabitants. The number of votes cast at the last election was one hundred and five. The value of the county consists principally in its timber and mineral resources. Copper leads have been discovered of great prospective value, and gold is found in various places. Farming is carried on
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to a very limited extent, there being but about four hundred acres of land under cultivation in the county. The value of assessable property is one hundred thousand dollars.
Ellensburg is the county seat. It is situated on the south bank of Rogue River, and is about three hundred and fifty miles southwest of Salem.
Port Orford is within this county, but is not a place of much importance.
JOSEPHINE COUNTY.
This county is in the extreme southern portion of Oregon, being bounded by Douglas County on the north, Jackson County on the east, the state of California on the south, and Curry County on the west. It embraces an area of about two thousand five hundred square miles, equal to one million five hundred thousand acres of land. Of this not more than four thousand acres are under cultivation. The value of assessable property is estimated at three hundred thousand dollars. The topography of this county is wonderfully variegated and interesting. It consists of a succession of beautiful valleys, separated by ranges of high hills which often rise to the dignity of mountains, and presenting, as one passes over the country, ever-varying scenery, mingling in one view the beautiful, romantic, and sublime, so that, though the ascending and descending may tax the physical energies, the mind is never weary in the contempla- tion of the picture.
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The Cow Creek and the Grave Creek valleys are beautiful, and portions of them are fertile and under cultivation. The valley of Jump-off-Joe is beautiful, but fertile only in spots.
These valleys are in the northern part of the county. The Rogue River passes through the county from east to west, dividing it about in the center. That part of the Rogue River Valley embraced in Josephine County is of considerable extent, level, and in places very fertile, and under a good state of cultivation. In this county is also a considerable portion of the valley of Applegate Creek, a stream which, rising in the Siskin Mountains, and running northward, enters the Rogue River within Josephine County. A combination of mining and agricultural wealth renders this valley one of considerable im- portance. Gold mining is still carried on success- fully in the valley; and, scattered along the stream, may be seen here and there a well-conducted and productive farm. The principal valley of the county, however, is one in the southern part, known by the name of Illinois Valley. A river of the same name, rising also in the Siskiu Mountains, after meandering through this valley, finds its way to the Pacific Ocean through the channel of the Rogue River.
The Illinois Valley covers an area, embracing some of the foot hills, of about three hundred square iniles. But little of this, however, is under cultivation. The main interests of the county are of a mining character, and these are immensely valuable. There are productive placer mines in various parts of the
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county. Sailor's Diggings, Waldo, Jump-off-Joe, and many other places, are producing more or less gold every year. Discoveries have been made of quartz ledges in various parts of the county ; and at a place called Enterprise, in the upper end of the valley, a quartz mill has been put in operation with six stamps, and produces fair returns for the expenses incurred.
Kirbyville is the seat of justice of Josephine County, and constitutes the main center of trade for Illinois Valley. It is situated on the Illinois River, and occupies a very fine site, and will, doubtless, ultimately grow into quite a town. It derives con- siderable patronage from a public road leading from Crescent City to Jacksonville and Fort Klamath, in the interior ; Crescent City, forming an entrepot for Curry, Josephine, and Jackson Counties. This road, though passing over high and rugged mountains, is very much used, as nearly all the goods shipped for Southern Oregon pass over it in four and six horse wagons. In fine, Josephine County, from a com- bination of mineral, agricultural, and pastoral re- sources, is destined to occupy a vastly higher position in the estimation of the people of other portions of the state than as yet it has attained.
JACKSON COUNTY.
A gentleman by the name of Jackson first pros- pected a little creek near where Jacksonville now stands, and found rich deposits of gold in the earth
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washed by the waters of the creek, and hence the name Jackson Creek, Jackson County, and Jack- sonville.
The interesting and important portion of the state of Oregon embraced in Jackson County is situated in the southern part, and bounded as follows: north by Douglas County, east its limits are undefined, south by the state of California, and west by the county of Josephine. The population of the county at present is three thousand souls. The number of voters at the last election was one thousand two hundred and fifty- three. The number of acres of land under cultiva- tion about fourteen thousand. The value of assessa- ble property is one million two hundred and ninety- eight thousand four hundred and sixty-five dollars. This county is about eighty miles from the northern to the southern extremity, and one hundred or more east and west, covering an area of at least eight thousand square miles. The topography of the county, in its beauty and grandeur and variety, will not suffer when compared with any other county in the state. The Winter Range of mountains, which is but a continuance of the Cascade Range, appear on its eastern border, and passing through the county and dividing it into two equal parts as to extent of territory, is another broken part of the Cascade Range, of which Scott's Peak and the Three Brothers are the principal elevations. This last range forms the divid- ing ridge between the waters of Rogue River and those that flow into the Klamath River. In this castern portion of Jackson County, comprehending
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the Klamath Lake country, and in the regions be- yond, extending even to Nevada, are large extents of land, both hill and low land, beautiful and fertile, which will, doubtless, not many years hence, consti- tute delightful homes for thousands of intelligent citi- zens. In this region are found Alvord and Puebla valleys, Forest Creek, White Horse, and Willow Creek valleys. These are in the extreme southeastern por- tion of the state. West of these is a desert of some forty miles in extent, and on the west of this desert, and at the base of a mountain range, is a long and, in many places, narrow valley, with a chain of fresh- water lakes extending through it. It is north of Surprise Valley in California, and is divided from it by a low range of hills. In and around this valley are many inviting spots both for cultivation and raising stock.
The most important part of Jackson County, how- ever, is that which is comprehended in the Rogue River Valley and its tributaries. This valley is sur- passingly beautiful, and is surrounded with the most enchanting scenery. Snowy Butte, with its graceful outlines and conelike summit, casts its shadow against the eastern sky. The Siskiu Mountains lift their majestic summits on the southern border, as if to guard against invasion from that direction. The Table Rock, rising perpendicularly hundreds of feet, and spreading out upon its top a mile of broad flat surface, offers ample room for all the surrounding people to come to the "Table of Giants " and par- take of their viands together. And a thousand other
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objects-mounds, hills, buttes, mountains, snow-peaks, rocky, jagged, smooth, round, and conical tops, with brooks, creeks, rivulets, cascades, etc., etc., all com- bine to make this region one of peculiar interest to every admirer of natural scenery. The county seat of Jackson County is Jacksonville, which is the largest and most flourishing town in the southern portion of Oregon. It is situated on the western borders of a beautiful plain, where two rich mining gulches, known as Jackson's Creek and Rich Gulch, come together, and at the base of the range of hills which divide the waters of Bear Creek from those of Applegate, and is ten miles south of Rogue River.
Jacksonville is a town of very considerable trade, and is sustained by a combination of mining and agricultural interests. It is situated about one hun- dred and twenty-five miles from Crescent City, on the Pacific Ocean, and receives all its merchandise from that point by the way of a wagon road which has been constructed over the Coast Range. This road has been considered in connection with Jose- phine County. Jacksonville is built in a very compact form, and contains many substantial fire-proof brick stores and hotels, with a variety of shops, saloons, groceries, livery stables, and manufactories, which, with a large number of fine private dwellings, stand- ing in the backgrounds of delightful gardens, give the town an interesting and city-like appearance. The town is blessed with the presence of two churches, a Methodist Episcopal and Catholic. It has also a court-house, and has recently erected, in a most
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beautiful locality, an academical institution which will doubtless grow into a flourishing college. Here are published two weekly papers, the Sentinel and the Review, of course on each side of the great political questions of the day. In fine, Jacksonville possesses not only all the characteristics of cities of larger pre- tensions, but many of the elements of a continued and permanent prosperity. It is two hundred and fifty miles south of Salem, the capital of the state, and within twenty miles of the California line.
The valley immediately on Rogue River is not very wide, varying perhaps from one mile to three, and possibly in places it may widen out to five miles. The main body of what is called Rogue River Valley lies upon the tributaries of that stream. Bear Creek is one of these tributaries ; and Jackson Creek, upon which Jacksonville is situated, is a tributary of Bear Creek. The Bear Creek Valley, or Stewart's Creek, as it is sometimes called, varies in width from three to twelve or fifteen miles, and is about twenty-five miles long. It is remarkably beautiful to the eye, and a large portion of the valley is as rich and fertile as it is beautiful. The stage road from Sacramento to Portland runs the whole length of this valley, crossing the Rogue River at Rock Point, and con- tinuing along down the banks of that stream twelve miles before it leaves the valley. The points of in- terest along this great thoroughfare from California to Oregon, from where the road comes down the Siskiu Mountains into Bear Creek Valley to where it leaves the Rogue River Valley to strike off into
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Josephine County, are the Mountain House, Ash- land, a thriving town, Eagle Mills, Phoenix, Jackson- ville, Willow Springs, a rich mining locality, Dar- danelles, Rock Point, Evans's Creek, Dry Diggings, and Croxton's Station, or Grant's Pass. Southwest from Jacksonville, on the upper waters of Applegate Creek, are the mining towns of Sterling and Will- iamsburgh ; while in the northeastern portion of the county are the valleys of Antelope, Little Butte, and Big Butte Creeks, and on the north side of Rogue River is a settled locality rejoicing- in the name of Sam's Valley. There are other valleys of less extent, beautiful and fertile, which a want of space will not allow to be particularly mentioned. These, running into those already described, and becoming one in con- nection with the main river, constitute what is known as the Rogue River Valley, one of the most delightful upon which the sun ever shone.
This county has been of immense valne to the Pacific coast, and especially to the state of Oregon, from the immense amount of gold which has been taken annually from its gulches and hill-sides. The yield of gold has varied somewhat from year to year ; but the experience of sixteen years of mining in this locality abundantly proves the durability of the Jackson County mines. Besides this the county is rich in agricultural, pastoral, and manufacturing re- sources, so that if the mines were to fail, of which there is no ground for fear, the county would still constitute an important part of the state of Oregon. Already an extensive woolen factory is in process of erection,
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and nearly completed, at Ashland, on Bear Creek, and the extended valleys, hills, and even mountains, covered with grass, afford ample fields for the pro- duction of wool ; and when the iron horse shall come neighing through the valley, which will doubtless be the case before many years, then this delightful val- ley will be placed, in point of value, upon an equality with the most favored portions of the state.
MARION COUNTY.
This county is bounded on the north by Clacka- mas County, east by Clackamas and the Cascade Mountains, by which it is separated from Wasco County, on the south by Linn County, and on the west by Polk and Yamhill counties, from which it is separated by the Willamette River. The central position of Marion County, its abundant agricultural resources, the superiority of its soil, in connection with its excellent commercial advantages, render it one of the most, if not the most prosperous county of the state. It covers an area of from two thousand five hundred to three thousand square miles. Of this there is forty-six thousand acres under cultivation. The population of the county is now estimated at ten thousand, and at the last election there were cast some two thousand two hundred votes. Salem is the county seat, as also the capital of the state. It is situated on the east bank of the Willamette River, and very near the center of the valley; and no city in this or any other country has a more delightful
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location. It is fifty miles southwest from Portland, the commercial emporium of the state, and sixty-two miles from the Columbia River. It contains a popu- lation of four thousand five hundred, ranking next to Portland in size and commercial importance. The scenery around the city has been considered in the general description of the country, and nothing need here be added but to say, that it would be utterly impossible to conceive of a picture more variegated, beautiful, and magnificent than is here presented to the eye. The blue limpid waters of the Willamette, which wash the western side of the city, the prairie plains and hills in the immediate vicinity, and the dark lines of forest through which the river flows, added to the bolder outlines of the distant mountain ranges, present a picture to the eye at once charming and instructive.
The site of the city is a gradually inclined plane, bordered around with forest outlines. Here the oak, the fir, the maple, and the balm blend together in harmonious beauty ; and, indeed, nature has been so lavish of the adornments with which she has decked the locality, that the efforts of art seem but to mar and deface, rather than beautify. Salem is laid out on a grand scale. Her streets are from ninety to a hundred feet wide, and cross each other at right angles. Extensive avenues are also provided, and these are beautified by rows of fine cottages and splendid mansions, which appear on every hand. The public buildings for the state have not yet been erected, but will doubtless be commenced in 1868.
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The penitentiary, located here, and now a temporary building, will be erected first, and the State House, Insane Asylum, and others contemplated, as soon as the bricks can be manufactured by the convicts of the prison. At present the state rents apartments in a brick block owned by Joseph Holman, Esq., for the use of the legislature, which answers for the time being a very good purpose.
Salem has laid the foundations to become in the future, and that at no distant day, a great manufac- turing city. By the excavation of a ditch or canal of less than a mile in length, water is brought from the Santiam River the distance of about fourteen miles, and intersects the Willamette River at this place. By this arrangement a fall of forty feet or more has been secured, all within the limits of the city. It constitutes the best, and, perhaps, the easiest applied water-power in the state. This hydraulic privilege is owned, by a charter from the state legis- lature, by the Willamette Woolen Manufacturing and Milling Company. The water is exhaustless, easily controlled both summer and winter, and it is estimated that this water possesses a driving capacity sufficient to drive the machinery for a chain of fac- tories miles in extent. Already an extensive woolen factory, with four sets of carding machinery, one thousand six hundred and eighty spindles, and thirty- three looms, is driven constantly by this power. It employs one hundred and fifty operatives, uses four hundred thousand pounds of wool annually, and produces one thousand yards of cloth per day. In
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addition to this the company own an extensive flour- ing mill, which they have erected at a cost of about seventy-five thousand dollars. This company has been remarkably successful, and has added im- mensely to the wealth of Salem. It is composed of some of the most energetic business gentlemen on the coast. No business operation that has ever been commenced in Oregon has done more to awaken the dormant energies of the people, and give a spur to the enterprise of the country, than this. And, as it has conferred a great financial benefit upon the people generally by a large increase of operatives, and opening a market for wool and other produce, so, on the other hand, it has laid the foundation for the accumulation of a fortune upon the part of all the stockholders of the company.
In addition to this, Salem is blessed with extensive lumbering manufactories, sash factories, founderies, inachine shops, and every other branch of mechanism and industry which the necessities of the country de- mand. Stores of all kinds-hotels, livery stables, photograph galleries, saloons, meat markets, drug- gists, booksellers-and all other business establish- ments which are requisite to give life, energy, and activity to a growing town, abound in all parts of the city of Salem. Merchandising especially, as Salem is the center for a large extent of country, rich in every agricultural resource, is carried on very extensively, and becomes the medium through which men beginning with a small capital in a few years raise themselves to independence.
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The legal profession has a very strong representa- tion in the little capital of Oregon, especially as to the number of lawyers in comparison with the popu- lation. Twenty disciples of Blackstone ought to be sufficient to set the whole population of Salem, of less than five thousand, by the ears ; and yet it would be difficult to find a more well-disposed, peaceful, and quiet community in any country than constitute the society of this growing town. Perhaps this is to be attributed to a kind of counteracting influence exerted by an equal number of ministers of the gos- pel of peace whose residences are within the precincts of the city. At any rate, the people of this commu- nity, under the discipline and instruction of these two professions, filled by so able and influential a body of men, ought to be, as they really are, a gospel- loving and a law-abiding people.
The medical profession constitute another "insti- tution " in Salem which should receive a passing notice. Comprising an equal number with the two professions of which we have spoken, according to the theory of some, it is quite remarkable that Salem and vicinity should remain in so healthy a condition. There are certainly doctors enough, and poisonous drugs enough, not only to keep the people all sick, but rapidly to remove them to another clime. And yet few communities are blessed with more uniform and unbroken health; and the people when taken sick, and under the care of the doctors, live, as the man said about his wife, "beyond all account." Perhaps, after all, this state of things is, at least in
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part, to be attributed to the care exercised by the very able and excellent corps of physicians and sur- geons who preside over the sanitary interests of this rising community. If so, we cheerfully accord to them all the credit for the healthfulness of our town and country to which they are entitled.
With three such bodies of men, the lawyers to take care of our temporal interests, the physicians to take care of our bodies, and the ministers to take care of our souls, it might reasonably be expected that we would be exempt from many of the ills to which flesh is heir. "But this too," as the preacher saith, "is all vanity and vexation of spirit."
The publishing interests of Salem deserve also a separate notice. Here are three papers published, one daily and two weekly. Of course they cater to the different political tastes and appetites of the people among whom they are published. The Salem Daily Record is issued at twenty-five cents per week, and is devoted to politics and local and general news. D. W. Craig, Esq., is the publisher and proprietor.
The Capital Chronicle is published every Saturday, Upton & Noltner, proprietors, the former filling also the editor's chair.
The American Unionist, William Morgan, pro- prietor, is published every Monday, and is the pres- ent official paper of the state. These papers are well sustained, and contribute much to the development of the resources and the advancement of the interests of the entire country.
The schools of Salem constitute an important in-
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terest worthy of special mention. There are four public schools already established in the four quar- ters of the city, some of which are graded institutions, and all promising much for the numerous children everywhere thronging the streets. There are also a number of private schools well patronized ; indeed it would be very difficult to find a community in any state where more general attention is paid to educa- tional interests than in this, or where the youth are more generally taught or further advanced in science and the fine arts than they are in the city of Salem. Much of this, I am aware, is to be attributed to the pres- ence in their midst of the Willamette University, the particulars of whose history are traced in the subse- quent chapters of this work.
Another institution in Salem just rising into notice, and already beginning to be of service to an unfor- tunate class of the children and youth of the country, is the Orphan Asylum. This institution originated in the action of several benevolent ladies of the city of Salem, who were moved in this direction by con- templating the situation of a number of orphan chil- dren, whose parents had died upon the plains or elsewhere without leaving them any adequate means of support. Mrs. Elizabeth Parrish, wife of Rev. J. L. Parrish, of the Oregon Conference, who is the president of the association, has donated, near the city, a valuable piece of ground of sufficient dimen- sions to accommodate the institution, and energetic measures are being taken to erect upon it a suitable edifice. In the hands of the ladies of the city of
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Salem it will doubtless be carried forward to comple- tion, and become the means of great good to the bereaved, afflicted, and suffering orphan.
Of Christian Churches there are eight in Salem, which, in the consideration of the institutions of the country, require a passing notice.
The Methodist Episcopal Church justly stands at the head of the list, not only because of superiority of numbers, but also of priority of organization. It was established at Salem mainly by removals from the old mission station, ten miles below, in 1841, and was at that time under the pastoral care of Rev. David Leslie. Its original members were Rev. Ja- son Lee and wife, Rev. L. H. Judson and wife, Rev. H. Campbell and wife, Rev. James Olley and wife, Joseph Holman and wife, Rev. G. Hines and wife, and Webley Hauxhurst, who was the first white man converted to Christianity through the labors of the first missionaries. In the spring of 1842 G. Hines re- ceived the appointment of superintendent of the mis- sion sehool, and pastor of the Church at Salem, which he retained until the fall of 1843, when Salem again fell under the pastorate of Mr. Leslie, who also had the care of all the societies in the Willamette Valley.
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