Five miles farther up, on the east side, is a town newly laid out by Mr. Lot Whitcomb, calld Milwaukie. Vessels of considerable size can sail as far up as this place.
Seven or eight miles farther up, on the east side, is a tributary calld Clacamas. Its waters flow from the Cascade mountains. At the mouth of this tributary are rapids, which prevent ships from sailing up to Oregon city.
One mile farther up, is Oregon city on the east side, and Lynn city on the west side of the Willamet river. Between these two places is a bay, the waters of which are between three and four hundred feet deep. The width of the bay is about thirty rods, near the upper end at the crossing, and gradually widens downward to the Clackamas rapids.
Oregon city at present is built entirely upon the first terrace above the waters of the bay, and being so narrow that there is but one street that passes through the town lengthwise, excepting a Water street along the shore of the bay. East of the present town and contiguous to it, is a precipitous range of rocks, one hundred feet high from Main street, and so near to it that there is but just room enough for the accommodation of buildings with some very small gardens. On the top of this bluff, which is a second terrace from the waters of the river, the surveys for the town are extended, but no buildings have yet been erected there. Still back of this at a short distance, is a third terrace, elevated in hight equal to the surrounding country.
Oregon city is a new town, containing about 150 buildings, two saw mills, one of which is a double mill, and two grist mills. At each of these mills, water enough is wasted to carry four other mills. I think I may justly say, that there is water power enough at Oregon city to carry five hundred grist mills. It seems, on taking a view of the natural dam at the upper end of Oregon city, that when the fissure now constituting the river was formd, the paroxysmal effort from beneath causd a lateral dismemberment of some of the rocks along the sides of the fissure, and upon sliding down chokd up the chasm from one side to the other. Below the falls, the terrace on which the town stands seems to have taken a similar slide, but being filld in part with rubbish beneath, prevented an entire union of the rocks, leaving the chasm now constituting the bay.
The waters of the falls are precipitated over the cragged rocks at several different places, foaming and tumbling with tremendous roar, to the depth of thirty feet into the waters of the bay below.
About one mile and a half above the falls, on the west side of the river, is the small tributary calld Twality, issuing from the coast range.
Two or three miles farther up, is another slide of rocks, which chokes up the entire stream, with the exception of a small chasm or two, too narrow to admit boats of any considerable size to pass.
About twelve miles above Oregon city, on the east side of the river, Molala and Pudding river waters unite with the Willamet. These two tributaries have good supplies of water for mills. After having collected their waters from the hilly country east, they meander about over the land, and finally empty into the Willamet at one place.
About thirty miles above Oregon city, Yam creek unites with the Willamet, on its west side, watering the country from the coast range in two separate branches, till within about ten miles of the Willamet, where they unite and form one.