METEOROLOGY OF OREGON. 1. Observations at Fort Hoskins, Lat. 44° 31' N., Long. 122° 11′ W., October 1, 1861, to April 1, 1862. By II. Carpenter, A.A. Surgeon, U.S.A. NOTE. The semi-annual mean of the thermometer was 40° 17', and, as will be noticed, the monthly mean was above the freezing-point, except in January, and even during that month but little more than 50 below it. The snow and rain fall, and the number of cloudy days, are remarkable, as well as the amount of rain-fall. 2. Amount of Rain-fall from October 1 to April 1 for five years, at Fort Umpqua, Lat. 43° 49′ N., Long. 124° 15' W. from Greenwich. NOTE. The snow-fall is included with the rain. It would appear from this table that in that part of Oregon the winters of 1858-59 and 1861-62 were exceptional in the large amount of rain-fall. Climate. The impression is very general that Oregon has an exceedingly moist climate. This is only true of Western Oregon and of that portion of it lying west of the Coast Range and on the western slope of that range. At Fort Umpqua, on the coast, about lat. 44°, the average rain-fall of five years was 56 inches. At Astoria there were on an average of three years 70 rainy days during the winter; in Willamette Valley, 43; while at Peoria, Ill., usually considered a very dry climate, there were 37. The average annual temperature in Western Oregon is 52°.64. There were, in Dec. 1861, and June, 1862, two great floods in Western Oregon,-the first occasioned by a heavy rain and the melting of the snows around the head-waters of the Willamette, which caused great destruction of property along its banks; the second, from the melting of snow east of the Cascade Range, which raised the waters of the Lower Columbia and set back the current of the Willamette, so that it stood, on the 14th of June, at Portland, 28 feet above low-water mark. Eastern Oregon has a very dry climate, little or no rain falling except in the autumn. Both sections are considered very salubrious. Religious Denominations.-The following table exhibits the numbers of the different religious denominations in the State in the summer of 1862: Mineral productions.-Eastern Oregon, especially that portion traversed by the Blue Mountains, is rich in minerals. Gold is abundant and easily mined on the Salmon and other tributaries of the Snake River, and rich mines were opened in 1861 and 1862 on the John Day and Powder Rivers, which yield larger amounts than the best California mines. The product of the Oregon mines in 1862 was estimated, from carefully-collected data, to exceed $12,000,000. The large yield of these mines has brought a large increase of population to Eastern Oregon. Silver, lead, copper, and iron of extraordinary purity are also found in the State, and coal of good quality has been mined the past year in Coos county. Military Affairs.-Being situated at so great a distance from the seat of war, and having a small population, themselves liable to attack from the Indian tribes within their boundaries, Oregon has not been required to furnish a quota of troops for the war; but the Legislature of 1862 passed a law for the organization of a militia force, which, by express enactment, is to be subject to the call of the President; and a considerable number of her citizens joined the California contingent which came forward in the service of the General Government in the autumn of 1862. A regiment of cavalry raised in the State are performing garrison duty, and thus relieving the regular army troops, who have by this means been enabled to join the army at the East, XXXV. NEBRASKA TERRITORY. Organized, 1854. Capital, Omaha City. Estimated area, 100,000 square miles. Population, 1860, 28,841, of whom 15 were slaves. There are also 5072 Indians belonging to the Sioux and other tribes. Valuation, 1860, $9,131,056. XXXVI. WASHINGTON TERRITORY. Organized as a Territory, 1853. Capital, Olympia. Area, 176,141 square miles. Population, 1860, 11,578. Estimated population, 1861, 14,249. Valuation of property, 1861, $6,800,003. The Legislative Assembly of Washington consists | elected for three years; and the House of Repreof the Council and House of Representatives, and sentatives is composed of thirty members, elected convenes annually on the first Monday in De- for one year. cember. The Council is composed of nine members, EDUCATION.-The University of the Territory of | seat of the county of the same name, Steilacoom, Washington was incorporated January 24, 1862, the county seat of Pierce county, and Port Anand the Board of Regents under its charter elected. gelos, in Clallam county, the present port of entry Its site is at Seattle, in King county, and univer- of the Territory, are the other principal towns. sity buildings have already been erected, at a cost MINING. The eastern portion of Washington of about $30,000. The General Government has Territory has within the past two years attracted granted it an endowment of 46,080 acres of land, great attention from the extensive discoveries of which, it is believed, will create a fund of not less gold made there. The gold-fields are on the headthan $75,000. waters of the Columbia River, which is formed by two principal streams, the Upper Columbia, or main branch, which takes its rise in British Columbia, and the Suake River, which rises in the Rocky Mountains in the southeast portion of Washington Territory, and receives as tributaries the Salmon and Kooskooskie Rivers. The first mines discovered-the Wenatchee, Okanagon, Kettle River, and Colville Mines-were on the tributaries of the Upper Columbia; while the later and, as is alleged, richer deposits of the Nez Percé and Salmon River diggings are on tributaries of the Salmon River and in the new counties of Idaho and Nez Percé. A good wagon-road, 624 miles in length, from Port Benton, the present head of navigation on the Missouri River, to Walla Walla, near the bend of the Columbia River, was completed in August, 1862. Common Schools.-The school lands granted to the Territory by the General Government amount to 10,161,138 acres,-an endowment which must eventually give it ample resources for the support of its schools. The number of children between the ages of 4 and 21 years in the Territory in 1861 was 2141. The number of school-houses was 53, and the cost of instruction, $9,638 22. The office of Territorial Superintendent was abolished by the Legislature in January, 1862. PRINCIPAL TOWNS.-The largest town in the Territory is Florence, in Idaho county, in the new mining-region of Salmon River. Its population is said to be over 3000. Olympia, the territorial capital, Vancouver, the county seat of Clarke county, Lewiston, the county seat of Nez Percé county, also in the mining-region, Walla Walla, county XXXVII. NEVADA TERRITORY. Organized March 2, 1861. Capital, Carson City. Estimated Area, 80,000 square miles. Population, 1860, 50,568, of which 16,261 are Indians on reservations, and 7550 tribal Indians, mostly Pah-Utes, Shoshonees, and Bunnocks. |