CHAPTER VIII.

Up to the Cascades--Farming by happy-go-lucky--The foot-hills--Sweet Home Valley--Its name, and how deserved and proved--The road by the Santiam--Eastward and upward--Timber--Lower Soda Springs--Different vegetation--Upper Soda Springs--Mr. Keith--Our reception--His home and surroundings--Emigrants on the road--The emigrant's dog--Off to the Spokane--Whence they came--Where they were bound--Still eastward-- Fish Lake--Clear Lake--Fly-fishing in still water--The down slope east--Lava-beds--Bunch-grass--The valleys in Eastern Oregon--Their products--Wheat-growing there--Cattle-ranchers--Their home--Their life--In the saddle and away--Branding-time--Hay for the winter--The Malheur reservation--The Indians' outbreak--The building of the road--When, how, and by whom built--The opening of the pass--The history of the road--Squatters--The special agent from Washington--A sham survey. 100