of the State, attacked a company of volunteers there, and drove them to Hutchinson, while another band, about as numerous, attacked Forest City, not far distant, and were repulsed by the citizens. A few days later the Indians attacked Hutchinson, but were repulsed. Troops were sent at once to these points. Driven back here, the savages next extended their raid to Jackson, Noble, and Pipeston Counties, in the south-west part of the State, on the border of Iowa, and Col. Flandran, who had so valiantly defended New Ulm, was sent with 500 troops to protect that region.

"Governor Ramsey had meantime apprised the United States Government of the condition of affairs, and had called the Legislature of Minnesota together to meet in extra session on the 9th of September. At their assembling, he laid before them, in his message, the circumstances of the Indian insurrection, and suggested the measures requiring their action, all of which were promptly passed. Meantime the Government had dispatched Major-General Pope to command in that department, and aid in suppressing the insurrection. The Indians, finding a force greatly superior to their own ready to take vengeance on them for the terrible and dastardly outrages they had committed, began to withdraw from the region they had desolated. A force of 300 or 400 of them made two assaults, in September, on Fort Abercrombie, but were repulsed in both, the second time with heavy loss; the larger part of those who had invaded the central and south-western part of the State, fled toward the western border, but were overtaken and brought to bay at Wood Lake, on the 22d of September, where, after a short battle, they were utterly defeated, and Little Crow, with his women and children, fled to the Yankton Sioux of Dakota Territory. About 500 Indians were taken prisoners, and 498 were tried by court-martial, of whom 300 were sentenced to be hung. The President ordered, however, that only thirty-eight of these should be executed, while the remainder were kept in confinement until further investigation could be had. One of the thirty-eight executed on the 26th of December was a negro named Godfrey, who had been a leader in the massacre, and it was said had killed more than any one of the Indians.

"The whole number of Indian warriors among the Minnesota Sioux did not exceed 1,000 or 1,200, and many of these had taken no part in the insurrection, so that probably the killed and captured constituted the greater part of the insurgents. This defeat and prompt arrest of the assailants carried terror into the hearts of other Indian tribes in the vicinity, and though there have been occasional symptoms of uneasiness since that time among some of the Indians of that region, and the inhabitants of Minnesota can not feel safe with such treacherous and blood-thirsty foes so near them, it is hardly probable that there will be another uprising for some years. The citizens of Minnesota are, not without cause, exceedingly desirous the Government should remove the Indians from their State.

"The loss of life in this insurrection has never been accurately ascer tained. Gov. Ramsey, in his message, stated it in round numbers at eight hundred, a number undoubtedly larger than subsequent facts

would sustain.

Some of the writers from the region in which it oc curred speak of it as not exceeding one hundred, which is probably as great an error in the other direction. Eighty-five were buried at Yellow Medicine, nearly all of whom were horribly mutilated, and a considerable number at New Ulm, Breckinridge, Birch Coolie, Fort Abercrombie, Red Lake, Red Wood, and Wood Lake, and many more in the isolated farm-houses in the extensive tract overrun by the savages. Probably not far from five hundred, in all, lost their lives, either through the ferocity of the Indians, or from the sickness, suffering, and starvation which resulted from their hasty flight from their homes. Between 20,000 and 30,000 persons thus fled for their lives, leaving every thing behind them. A part have since returned, others have found their way to their friends at the East, but for some months between 6,000 and 7,000, mostly women and children, were necessarily dependent upon charity.

"The people of the State contributed most liberally toward their relief, and considerable sums were forwarded from other States. Governor Ramsey urged upon the Government the forfeiture of the annuities of the Sioux for the benefit of the innocent sufferers, and the Secretary of the Interior warmly seconded the proposition, which, indeed, seems no more than justice. The loss of property was estimated at from $2,500,000 to $3,000,000, and the capital of annuity paid to the Minnesota Sioux was $2,000,000."

FINANCES. The receipts into the State treasury of Minnesota for the year ending December 1, 1865, were $489,129.46, and the disbursements during the same period amounted to $416,318.60, leaving a balance of $72,801.86 on hand. At the close of the year, the floating debt, for the first time in the history of the State, was announced to be substantially canceled. The land-offices in the State disposed, during 1865, of 804,982 acres, and the railroad companies of about 200,000. Of school lands, 150,048 acres were sold, at an average price of about $6.30 per acre, realizing $983,528. If the remainder of these lands should be sold at the same price, the school fund will amount to $16,000,000. The land registry showed entries during the year of 139,323 acres.

The Governor's message to the Legislature at the opening of the session in January, 1867, stated that the State finances were in a satisfactory condition; that the total receipts for the past fiscal year were $529,455; the claim of the State against the General Government ($125,000) was in a fair way for speedy settlement; and the funded debt of the State was $625,000 of eight per cent., and $100,000,000 of seven per cent. bonds, of which $90,000 was held by the school and sinking funds.

RAILROADS. The railroad interests of Minnesota are witnessing a great development. During 1865 upward of 210 miles of track were completed and 132 graded. Of the railroad communications with the Eastern and Western States, Governor Miller, in his message to the Legislature of 1866, on the occasion of his retirement from office thus spoke:

"The Chicago and North-western Company have given assurances that their road shall be completed to Winona at an early day; thus, by means of the St. Paul and Pacific and Winona and St. Peter's lines, a continuous railroad communication will be formed from almost every populous district of the State to Chicago and other Eastern markets. The city of St. Louis will be reached by the Minnesota Central Railroad and its connections, while our wealthy tier of counties bordering on the Iowa line, will be equally well cared for by the completion of the Southern Minnesota Road."

GEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION.-Professor Eames, the State Geologist for Minnesota, returned in the latter part of 1865 from an exploring expedition in the region around Vermillion Lake, situated in the northeast corner of the State, about 80 miles north of Lake Superior and 23 from St. Paul. He reported in the vicinity of Vermillion Lake, and throughout nearly the entire country between this lake and Lake Superior, extensive formations of gold and silver-bearing quartz, and immense bodies of iron ore of a superior quality. The field accurately examined in the vicinity of Lake Vermillion showed a formation of talcose and silicious slate, which the ore-bearing quartz veins traverse, upward of six miles in width and ten in length. All the indications tended to show that the mineral range is very extensive. Both the talcose and silicious slates are very rich in veins of gold and silver. Within the distance of half a mile eight veins were examined, varying from one inch to ten feet in width, and all of them auriferous or silver-bearing. Some of the veins were traced to the distance of seven miles. Numerous specimens of this quartz have been assayed at the United States mint and elsewhere, and, though they were taken from the surface, have yielded thirty dollars of gold and silver to the ton.

An immense iron range was also discovered in the same vicinity, its first exposure being about two miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, extending north-east. It was examined to the thickness of fifty feet, and supposed to extend much below this depth.

FUR TRADE.-The fur trade of Minnesota forms an important item of industry, and employs several thousand persons, white men and Indians. The value of the furs obtained in 1865 was between $4,000,000 and $5,000,000, somewhat less than the yield of previous years. The chief kinds taken are mink, muskrat, otter, and beaver skins.

OREGON.

OREGON, the twentieth State admitted into the Union after the adoption of the Federal Constitution, is bounded on the north by Washington Territory, on the east by the Territory of Idaho, on the south by Nevada and California, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. In other words, its northern boundary is the Columbia River, separating it from Washington Territory, for a distance of about 300 miles from its mouth to its intersection with latitude 46° north, which it follows eastward about 70 miles to the Snake River, or Lewis fork of the Columbia, and that stream is the boundary to the mouth of the Owyhee River; the line continues thence due south to latitude 42°, and thence due west to the ocean. Oregon lies between latitude 42° and 46° north, and longitude 116° 40′ and 124° 25' west. It is about 320 miles long from east to west, and 280 miles wide from north to south. Its area is about 80,000 square miles.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY, MOUNTAINS, ETC.-Oregon is usually divided into three portions, viz.: the lower country, or portion next the ocean; the middle country, or that part which lies between the Cascade range and the Blue Mountains; and the upper country, or that portion which lies between the Blue and Rocky Mountains. On approaching Oregon from the sea, it presents the same bold, iron-bound coast as California, but with this difference, that the Coast Range, instead of running parallel with the Pacific, is composed of a series of highlands, nearly at right angles with the shore, through whose valleys the streams of Callapuya or Callapooya Mountains (the western limit of the Willamette Valley) descend to the ocean. The first section is about from 75 to 120 miles in breadth, and includes the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue River Valleys, the first running parallel with the sea, and the others at right angles to it. The last are south of the Willamette Valley. The large valleys vary in length from 40 to 150 miles, and from 5 to 85 miles in width. One remarkable feature of the Willamette Valley is the Buttes, high, conical, insulated hills, of about 1,000 feet in height. The middle section covers a breadth of 160 miles, and is mostly an elevated plateau. The upper country is mostly a sterile and dreary region, covered with lava, through which the rivers cut their channels to a great depth; in many places their rocky beds are inaccessible to man or beast. Oregon may be emphatically called a mountainous country. Beginning at the east, about half-way between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific are the Blue Mountains, running nearly north and south, but still sending off ridges in different directions. These mountains sometimes rise to the snow region, but are generally from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in height. The Cascade range, having the loftiest known peaks of any mountains in the United

States, extend from 60° rorth latitude nearly parallel with the Pacific to the southern part of old California, at distances (in Oregon) varying from about 80 to 140 miles. Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson, Mount Pitt or McLaughlin are the principal peaks in Oregon, of which the first, 14,000 feet in elevation above the sea level, is the highest, and seems to be a dormant volcano. Finally comes the Coast Range, called in Oregon the Callapooya Mountains; these, as has been stated, send off spurs at right angles with the ocean.

MINERALS. The mineral resources of Oregon have scarcely begun to be developed; but gold has been found in various places, from Port Orford to Burnt and Powder Rivers, but whether it exists in sufficient abundance to promise profitable returns is not yet fully ascer tained. The Secretary of the Treasury's report for 1854 gives $13,535 as the amount of gold deposited at the mint, the product of Oregon. Fremont found, in latitude 45° north, longitude 122° west, a stratum of coal and forest trees embedded between strata of alternate clay. This mineral is also known to exist in Willamette Valley, 100 miles above Oregon City.

RIVERS, BAYS, AND LAKES.-There is no very considerable bay in Oregon. The Columbia, the greatest river on the Pacific slope of the continent, forms half the northern boundary, from the point where it strikes the 46th parallel to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean. Its great branch, the Snake or Lewis River, and its tributaries the Salmon, Henry, Malheur, and Owyhee, drain the great valley between the Rocky and Blue Mountains. Lewis River rises in the south-east, and pursuing a north-west course about 900 miles, passes into Washington Territory, where it joins the Columbia soon after. The Walla Walla, Umatilla, John Day's, and Fall, east of the Cascade Mountains, and the Willamette, west, are the other principal affluents of the Columbia from this State. The Umpqua and Rogue's River (entirely in Oregon), and the Klamath, which passes into California, empty directly into the Pacific from the south-west of this State. There are several small lakes between the Cascade and Blue Mountains. The principal are Klamath, Albert, Pitts, Salt, and Synaldels. The Columbia is navigable to the Cascade range, about 130 miles from the sea, for large vessels, and above the Cascades for boats. The Willamette is navigable to Portland, and sometimes even to the falls, for ocean craft. Above the falls, large steamboats may run for 80 miles during eight months. The Umpqua is navigable 25 miles for steamers, and vessels drawing 12 feet may enter its mouth. The Klamath is also navigable for a short distance. There are few capes or harbors on the coast of Oregon, which are remarkably free from great sinuosities. The most important capes are Cape Blanco or Orford, Cape Foulweather, and Point Adams. The harbors are the Columbia River, much obstructed by sandbars and shoals, but admitting vessels of 16 feet draught, and the Umpqua River which may be ascended by vessels drawing eight feet water for a short distance.

OBJECTS OF INTEREST TO TOURISTS.-What we have already said of the mountains is, perhaps, sufficient, without this heading; but Or