largest in the State, located at Salem, grinds two hundred barrels per day. One hundred and seventy saw-mills are employed in making lumber, and fifteen quartz-mills are in operation in the mines. A linseed-oil mill is in successful operation at Salem. There are seven woollen factories in the State, one at each of the following places: Salem, Oregon City, Brownsville, Dalles, Ashland, Aurora, and Dallas. Numerous churches, schools, and colleges attest the progress and refinement of the people. There are twenty-eight newspapers published in Oregon, and eight libraries, (public and society,) with an aggregate of fourteen thousand volumes, which supply in part the reading matter of the people of the State. On the discovery of gold in California, numbers of the people of Oregon went to the mines, many of whom realized fortunes and returned to their new homes in the beautiful valley of the Wallamet. The mass of the people of Oregon, however, never having come in contact with nor been affected by the excitement incident to gold-mining, have remained quietly upon their farms and at their other employments, and, as a consequence, have built themselves up quiet and peaceful homes free from the excitement, extravagance, folly, and unrest incident to early life in California. The pioneer of Oregon had to contend long and bitterly with the relentless red man for the possession of the soil. A population of about thirty thousand savages, consisting chiefly of the Walla Wallas, Shawnees, Chinook, and Flathead tribes, struggled long and fiercely to maintain their ancient hunting-grounds; but at last they gave way before inevitable fate, and the last representatives of the powerful tribes of distant Oregon are fading away before the axe and ploughshare of the invading white man. The State of Oregon is divided into twenty-two counties, with the capital at Salem, forty miles by a direct line south of Portland, and on the east bank of the Wallamet river. There are several thriving towns in the State. Portland, with a population of 8,293, of whom 5,715 are native Americans and 2,578 are of foreign birth, is the chief city of Oregon. It is at the head of ocean-steamer navigation, on the west side of the Wallamet, and is substantially built with many elegant houses. Railroads traversing the Wallamet valley and other parts of the State enter this city, whose prosperity is evidenced by its nicely paved streets, elegant stores, hotels, banks, schools, churches, and colleges. Many branches of mechanical industry are prosecuted in this city, which is a port of entry of considerable commercial importance, and for its size is one of the most thriving and active cities in the United States. Altogether, the genial climate, natural resources, and large areas of good land yet attainable from the government and from occupants at reasonable prices, make Oregon one of the most desirable quarters of the republic for the emigrant in search of a home. The new-comer will find, besides the great resources and inviting climate, well-ordered society, schools, churches, and colleges, active and progressive men and women, with big, generous hearts and willing hands, and the foundations of a great and prosperous State well established, CHAPTER XXXII. NEVADA. Acquisition of-Area-Population-Geography-Mountains-Val leys-Lakes-Rivers- Forests-Soil-Seasons-Climate-Mines -Mining-Minerals- Counties-Cities-Progress-SchoolsNewspapers-Libraries-Future prospects. NEVADA, known as the Silver State on account of its extensive silver-mines, lies directly east of the State of California, from which it is separated in its division line by the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The area now forming this State was originally a part of the Territory of California, and more recently of a portion of the district embraced within the Territory of Utah, and was acquired by the United States from the Republic of Mexico, by the acquisition of California, in 1846. In 1861, a territorial government was established by act of Congress, and, in 1864, it was admitted a State in the Union, with a very small population. The area of Nevada is 81,531 square miles, and its population, according to the federal census of 1870, was 42,491, of whom 38,959 were white, 357 colored, and 3,152 Chinese. Of the whole population, almost one-half were of foreign birth, there being 23,690 native born and 18,801 foreigners. Nevada is bounded on its extreme southeastern corner by the river Colorado, which separates it from the Territory of Arizona. Utah forms the eastern line and Oregon the northern. On the west, the crest of the Sierras forms the line between this State and the State of California. The beautiful Lake Tahoe, seven thou |