BEGINNINGS OF OREGON. 113

s;i it. This is David McLou-lilin. son of Dr. McLoiiirhliii, now over 80 years of a#e.' He WHS hore.in liis early boyhood, with liis father, over 70 ye;ii-s airo. f ;iiii permitted to iva<l ;ui extract I'roin a letter written hy him to a friend in Tort land, only ;i few d;iys sinee, which is very interesting, lie says: "< iv-jon was ;i tine country in my early days a park on a larire scale, that could not he surpassed even hy artificial culture. It mattered not at what point immiirrauts or travelers entered this western shore of America, at each of its thresholds a scene of beauty awaited them. Before the Anirlo-Sa.xon race penetrated the Rockies there was no civil/a- tion in the country that is worth mention. It was in its natural state of heauty. romantic and irrand. with its endless prairies, streams and forests and wild animals of all kinds for the use of man. Here and there, scattered throughout the country, snow-capped mountains were to he seen, enhanc- ing the grandeur of its scenery. "The Rockies for many lonir years served as a barrier airainst the advance of civilization. This harrier was at last overcome by the immiirrants seeking after a new country in tin- valleys of the far Columbia in 1835-4!*. But this is not the place to commemorate the trials and privations endured by the immiirrants before they reached their final haven. From the hanks of the Missouri to the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains they struggled on with a constancy almost unparalleled in history. "The savage man, the savage beasts, hunger, thirst and disease; in fact, every kind of impediment which nature could place in their way, had all been overcome with Anirlo-Saxon tenacity yet the lonjr journey and accumulations of terrors for their families had shaken the hearts of the stoutest amonir them. "It was between Walla Walla and Willamette valleys that the immiirrants suffered most, on account of the rains and 'David Mclxnighlln died In May. 1MB.