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diff --git a/39388-h/39388-h.htm b/39388-h/39388-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c5fb306 --- /dev/null +++ b/39388-h/39388-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13146 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce, by William Denison Lyman—A Project Gutenberg eBook + </title> + + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .dent {padding-left: 2em;} + + .giant {font-size: 200%} + .huge {font-size: 150%} + .large {font-size: 125%} + + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .poem {margin-left: 15%;} + .note {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + .hang {margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;} + .title {text-align: center; font-size: 150%;} + .chapter {text-align: center; font-size: 125%;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + p.dropcap:first-letter{float: left; padding-right: 3px; font-size: 250%; line-height: 83%; width:auto;} + .caps {text-transform:uppercase;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + .vertsbox {border: solid 2px; padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em; margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Columbia River, by William Denison Lyman + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Columbia River + Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce + +Author: William Denison Lyman + +Release Date: April 6, 2012 [EBook #39388] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COLUMBIA RIVER *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> + + +<p> </p><p><a name="frontis" id="frontis"></a> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="" /></div> + +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<h1><small>The<br />Columbia River</small></h1> +<p class="center"><span class="large">Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery<br />Its Commerce</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><small>By</small><br /> +<span class="large">William Denison Lyman</span><br /> +<small>Professor of History in Whitman College,<br />Walla Walla, Washington</small></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><i>With 80 Illustrations and a Map</i></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center">G. P. Putnam’s Sons<br /> +New York and London<br /> +The Knickerbocker Press<br /> +1909</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1909<br /> +BY<br /> +G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS</p> +<p class="center"> +The Knickerbocker Press, New York</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcaplc">TO MY PARENTS</span><br /> +<span class="large">Horace Lyman and Mary Denison Lyman</span><br /> +<span class="smcaplc">PIONEERS OF 1849, WHO BORE THEIR PART IN LAYING THE<br /> +FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION UPON THE BANKS OF<br /> +THE COLUMBIA, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED<br /> +BY THE AUTHOR</span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>I see the living tide roll on,<br /> +It crowns with rosy towers<br /> +The icy capes of Labrador,<br /> +The Spaniard’s land of flowers;<br /> +It streams beyond the splintered ridge<br /> +That parts the northern showers.<br /> +From eastern rock to sunset wave,<br /> +The Continent is ours.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 9em;"><span class="smcap">Holmes.</span></span></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></p> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">As</span> one of the American Waterways series, this volume is designed to be a +history and description of the Columbia River. The author has sought to +convey to his reader a lively sense of the romance, the heroism, and the +adventure which belong to this great stream and the parts of the +North-west about it, and he has aimed to breathe into his narrative +something of the spirit and sentiment—a spirit and sentiment more easily +recognised than analysed—which we call “Western.” With this end in view, +his treatment of the subject has been general rather than detailed, and +popular rather than recondite. While he has spared no pains to secure +historical accuracy, he has not made it a leading aim to settle +controverted points, or to present the minutiæ of historical research and +criticism. In short, the book is rather for the general reader than for +the specialist. The author hopes so to impress his readers with the +majesty of the Columbia as to fill their minds with a longing to see it +face to face.</p> + +<p>Frequent reference in the body of the book to authorities renders it +unnecessary to name them here. Suffice it to say that the author has +consulted the standard works of history and description dealing with +Oregon—the old Oregon—and its River, and from the voluminous matter +there gathered has selected the facts that best combine to make a +connected and picturesque<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> narrative. He has treated the subject +topically, but there is a general progression throughout, and the +endeavour has been to find a natural jointure of chapter to chapter and +era to era.</p> + +<p>While the book has necessarily been based largely on other books, it may +be said that the author has derived his chief inspiration from his own +observations along the shores of the River and amid the mountains of +Oregon and Washington, where his life has mainly been spent, and from +familiar conversations in the cabins of pioneers, or at camp-fires of +hunters, or around Indian tepees, or in the pilot-houses of steamboats. In +such ways and places one can best catch the spirit of the River and its +history.</p> + +<p>The author gladly takes this opportunity of making his grateful +acknowledgments to Prof. F. G. Young, of Oregon University, for his +kindness in reading the manuscript and in making suggestions which his +full knowledge and ripe judgment render especially valuable. He wishes +also to express his warmest thanks to Mr. Harvey W. Scott, editor of the +<i>Oregonian</i>, for invaluable counsel. Similar gratitude is due to Prof. +Henry Landes of Washington University for important assistance in regard +to some of the scientific features of the first chapter.</p> + +<p class="right">W. D. L.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Whitman College</span>,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Walla Walla, Wash.</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">1909.</span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">CONTENTS</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#PART_I">PART I.</a>—THE HISTORY</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Land where the River Flows</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_3">3</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Tales of the First White Men along the Coast</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">How All Nations Sought the River from the Sea and how they Found it</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">First Steps across the Wilderness in Search of the River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Fur-Traders, their Bateaux, and their Stations</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Coming of the Missionaries to the Tribes of the River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Era of the Pioneers, their Ox-Teams, and their Flatboats</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Conflict of Nations for Possession of the River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Times of Tomahawk and Firebrand</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">When the “Fire-Canoes” Took the Place of the Log-Canoes</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Era of the Miner, the Cowboy, the Farmer, the Boomer, and the Railroad-Builder</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Present Age of Expansion and World Commerce</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#PART_II">PART II.</a>—A JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER</td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.I">CHAPTER I</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.II">CHAPTER II</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Lakes from the Arrow Lakes to Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.III">CHAPTER III</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">In the Land of Wheat-Field, Orchard, and Garden</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Where River and Mountain Meet, and the Traces of the Bridge of the Gods</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_332">332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.V">CHAPTER V</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Side Trip to some of the Great Snow-Peaks</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_352">352</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center"><a href="#CHAPTER_2.VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Lower River and the Ocean Tides</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_374">374</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_399">399</a></td></tr></table> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">St. Peter’s Dome, Columbia River, 2300 Feet High</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Mount Adams from the South</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_75">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Capt. Robert Gray</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_77">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The “Columbia Rediviva”</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_77">76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Mount Hood from Lost Lake</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_83">82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Eliot Glacier, Mt. Hood</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_85">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Astoria in 1845</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">From an old print.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Astoria, Looking up and across the Columbia River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">One of the Lagoons of the Upper Columbia River, near Golden B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_121">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by C. F. Yates, Golden.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Saddle Mountain, or Swallalochort near Astoria, Famous in Indian Myth</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_121">120</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Steamer “Beaver,” the First Steamer on the Pacific, 1836</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Portland, Oregon, in 1851</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_125">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">From an old print.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Grave of Marcus Whitman and his Associate Martyrs at Waiilatpu</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_211">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cayuse Babies</span>—1</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">212</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cayuse Babies</span>—2</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_213">212</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Col. B. F. Shaw, who Won the Battle of Grande Ronde in 1856</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_223">222</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fort Sheridan on the Grande Ronde, Built by Philip Sheridan in 1855</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_225">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Tullux Holliquilla, a Warm Springs Indian Chief, Famous in the Modoc War<br />as a Scout for U. S. Troops</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_229">228</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Hallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) or Joseph, the Nez Percé Chief</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_231">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">By T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Camp of Chief Joseph on the Nespilem, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Tirzah Trask, a Umatilla Indian Girl—Taken as an Ideal of Sacajawea</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_235">234</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Oregon Pioneer in his Cabin</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_257">256</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Old Portage Railroad at Cascades in 1860</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">258</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Log-boom down the River for San Francisco</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_259">258</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lumber Mill and Steamboat Landing at Golden, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_261">260</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by C. F. Yates.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Typical Lumber Camp</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_263">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Trueman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Logging Railroad, near Astoria</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Natural Bridge, Kicking Horse or Wapta River, and Mt. Stephen, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">276</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by C. F. Yates.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Sunrise on Columbia River, near Washougal</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_277">276</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Windermere, Upper Columbia, where David Thompson’s Fort was Built<br />in 1810</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_281">280</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Mt. Burgess and Emerald Lake, One of the Sources of the Wapta River, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by C. F. Yates.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bonnington Falls in Kootenai River, near Nelson</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_285">284</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Allan Lean.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bridge Creek, a Tributary of Lake Chelan, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_287">286</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by F. N. Kneeland, Northampton, Mass.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Kootenai Lake, from Proctor, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_289">288</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lower Arrow Lake, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_291">290</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bridal Veil Falls on Columbia River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_293">292</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Shoshone Falls, in Snake River, 212 Feet High</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_295">294</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_297">296</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Cœur d’Alene, Idaho</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_297">296</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The “Shadowy St. Joe,” Idaho</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_298">298</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">On the Cœur d’Alene River, Idaho</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_301">300</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Gorge of Chelan River, the Outlet of Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_303">302</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Head of Lake Chelan—Looking Up Stehekin Cañon</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_304">304</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cascade Pass at Head of Stehekin River, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_307">306</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Doubtful Lake, Cascade Range, Washington, near Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_309">308</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane, Wash.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Horseshoe Basin through a Rock Gap, Stehekin Cañon</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_311">310</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Harvest Outfit, Dayton, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_315">314</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent"><i>Sunset Magazine.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Combined Harvester, near Walla Walla</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_315">314</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Inland Empire System’s Power Plant, near Spokane, 20,000 Horse-Power</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_317">316</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xvii" id="Page_xvii">[Pg xvii]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lower Spokane Falls</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_317">316</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cañon of the Stehekin, near Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Memorial Building, Whitman College, Walla Walla</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_320">320</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Starting the Ploughs in the Wheat Land, Walla Walla, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_323">322</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">On the Historic Walla Walla River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_325">324</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Blalock Fruit Ranch of a Thousand Acres at Walla Walla, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_327">326</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Witch’s Head, near Old Wishram Village. The Indian Superstition is that<br />these Eyes will Follow any Unfaithful Woman</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_329">328</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cabbage Rock, Four Miles North of the Dalles</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_331">330</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Eagle Rock, just above Shoshone Falls in Snake River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_333">332</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Stehekin Cañon, 5000 Feet Deep</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_335">334</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Steamer “Dalles City,” Descending the Cascades of the Columbia</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_337">336</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Memaloose Island, Columbia River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_339">338</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Horseshoe Basin near Lake Chelan, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_341">340</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xviii" id="Page_xviii">[Pg xviii]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Castle Rock, Columbia River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_343">342</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Lyman Glacier and Glacier Lake in North Star Park, near Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_344">344</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Hunters on Lake Chelan, with their Spoils</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_346">346</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Morning’s Catch on the Touchet, near Dayton, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_346">346</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent"><i>Sunset Magazine.</i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Oneonta Gorge—Looking in</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_349">348</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Cape Horn, Columbia River—Looking up</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_351">350</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Looking up the Columbia River from the Cliff above Multnomah Falls, Ore.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_353">352</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Copyright, 1902, by Kiser Photograph Co.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Spokane Falls and City, 1886</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_355">354</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Spokane Falls and City, 1908</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_355">354</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">In the Heart of the Cascade Mountains, above Lake Chelan, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_361">360</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Birch-Tree Channel, Upper Columbia, near Golden, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_363">362</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo by C. F. Yates, Golden.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Typical Mountain Meadow, Stehekin Valley, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_365">364</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xix" id="Page_xix">[Pg xix]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">High School, Walla Walla, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_367">366</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Chelan</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_369">368</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by F. N. Kneeland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">On the Banks of the Columbia River, near Hood River</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_371">370</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Rooster Rock, Columbia River—Looking up</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_373">372</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Band of Elk on W. P. Reser’s Ranch, Walla Walla, Wash.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_375">374</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Oregon City in 1845</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_377">376</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">From an old print.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fort Vancouver in 1845</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_377">376</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lone Rock, Columbia River, about Fifty Miles East of Portland</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_379">378</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Willamette Falls, Oregon City, Ore.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_381">380</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Among the Big Spruce Trees, near Astoria, Oregon</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_383">382</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Portland in 1908. Mt. St. Helens Sixty-Five Miles Distant</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_385">384</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Portland Harbour, Oregon</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_387">386</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Fish River Road in Upper Columbia Region, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_389">388</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Trueman, Victoria.</td></tr> +<tr><td> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xx" id="Page_xx">[Pg xx]</a></span></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Multnomah Falls, 840 Feet High, on South Side of Columbia River about<br />Sixty Miles above Portland</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_391">390</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Chinook Salmon, Weight 80 Pounds</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_393">392</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Lake Adela, near Head of Columbia River, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_394">394</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by C. F. Yates.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Bridal Veil Bluff, Columbia River, Oregon</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_396">396</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Band of Kootenai Indians, B. C.</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_398">398</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="dent">Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.</td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Maps</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#maps"><i>At End</i></a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PART_I" id="PART_I"></a>PART I<br /> +The History</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Land where the River Flows</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Contrasts—The Two Islands—Uplift—Volcanic Action—Flood—Age of +Ice—Story of Wishpoosh and Creation of the Tribes—Outline of the Mountain Systems—Peculiar Interlocking of the Columbia and the +Kootenai—The Cascade Range—The Inland Empire—The Valleys West of the Cascade Mountains—The Forests—The Climate—The +Native Races and Some of their Myths—Story of the Kamiah Monster—The Tomanowas Bridge at the Cascades—Origin of Three Great +Mountains—The Chinook Wind—Myths of the Unseen Life—Klickitat Story of the Spirit Baby—Beauty of the Native Names.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Wonderfully</span> varied though rivers are, each has a physiognomy of its own. +Each preserves its characteristics even in the midst of constant +diversity. We recognise it, as we recognise a person in different changes +of dress. The Ohio has one face, the Hudson another, and each keeps its +essential identity. The traveller would not confuse the Rhine with the +Danube, or the Nile with the Volga.</p> + +<p>Even more distinctive than most rivers in form and feature is the +Columbia, the old Oregon that now hears far other sounds than “his own +dashings,” the River of the West, the Thegayo, the Rio de los Reyes, the +Rio Estrachos, the Rio de Aguilar, the many-named river which unites all +parts of the Pacific North-west. It is to its records of romance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> and +heroism, of legend and history, as well as to its alternating scenes of +stormy grandeur and tranquil majesty that the reader’s attention is now +invited. Though among the latest of American rivers to be brought under +the control of civilised men, the Columbia was among the earliest to +attract the interest of the explorers of all nations, and the struggles of +international diplomacy over possession were among the most momentous in +history. The distance of the Columbia from the centres of population and +the difficulty of reaching it made its development slow, and for this +reason its pioneer stage lasted longer than would otherwise have been the +case. In this part of its history there was a record of pathos, tragedy, +and achievement not surpassed in any of the annals of our country, while, +in its later phases, the North-west has had the sweep and energy of growth +and power characteristic of genuine American development. Finally, by +reason of scenic grandeur, absorbing interest of physical features, the +majesty and mystery of its origin in the greatest of American mountains, +the swift might of its flow through some of the wildest as well as some of +the most beautiful regions of the globe, and at the last by the peculiar +grandeur of its entrance into the greatest of the oceans, this “Achilles +of Rivers” attracts alike historian, scientist, poet, statesman, and lover +of nature.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>“A land of old upheaven from the abyss,” a land of deepest deeps and +highest heights, of richest verdure here, and barest desolation there, of +dense forest on one side, and wide extended prairies on the other; a land, +in brief, of contrasts, contrasts in contour, hues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> productions, and +history;—such is that imperial domain watered by the Columbia River and +its affluents. To the artist, the poet, the scientist, and the sportsman, +this region presents noble and varied scenes of shore, of mountain, of +river, of lake, while to the romancer and historian it offers a wealth of +native legend and of record from the heroic ages of American history.</p> + +<p>As a fit introduction to the picture of the land as it now appears, there +may be presented a brief record of the manner in which it was wrought into +its present form. Professor Thomas Condon of Oregon thought that the first +land to rise on the Pacific Coast was composed of two islands, one in the +region of the Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California and Southern +Oregon, and the other in the heart of what are now the Blue Mountains and +Saw-tooth Mountains of North-eastern Oregon, South-eastern Washington, and +Western Idaho. Other geologists have doubted the existence of the second +of these two islands.</p> + +<p>Those islands, if both existed, were the nuclei of the Pacific Coast +region. The rock consisted of the earlier granite, sandstone, and +limestone crust of the earth. For long ages these two islands, washed by +the warm seas of that early age, and bearing a life now found in the +tropics, were slowly rising and widening their boundaries in all +directions.</p> + +<p>Next, or perhaps as early, to respond to the pressure of the shrinking +crust of the earth and to appear above the sea, was the vast cordon of +pinnacled peaks which compose the present Okanogan and Chelan uplift, +granite and porphyry, broken by volcanic outflow. These peaks are veined +with gold, silver, and copper.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>That first age of mountain uplift was ended by the coming on of the age of +fire. The granite upheaval of the Blue and the Cascade Mountains was blown +apart and cracked asunder by volcanic eruption and seismic force. A vast +outflow of basalt and andesite swept westward from the Blue Mountains to +meet a similar outflow moving eastward from the Cascades. Thus, throughout +the Columbia Basin, the surface is mainly of volcanic rock overlying the +shattered fragments of the original earth crust. At many points, however, +the primeval granite or sandstone surface was not covered, while at +frequent intervals the breaking forth of the fiery floods transformed +those original rocks into various forms of gneiss, porphyry, and marble. +But the greatest result of the age of volcanic outflow was the elevation +of the stupendous isolated snow peaks which now constitute so striking a +feature of Columbian landscapes.</p> + +<p>With the close of the age of fire, the mountain chains were in place, as +they now stand, but the plains and valleys were not yet fashioned. Another +series of forces must needs come to elaborate the rude outlines of the +land. And so came on the third great age, the age of flood. The upheaval +of the mingled granite and volcanic masses of the Cascade and Blue +Mountains, while at the same time the Rockies were undergoing the same +process, imprisoned a vast sea over the region now known by Westerners as +the Inland Empire. In the depths of this sea the sediment from a thousand +torrents was deposited to fashion the smooth and level valleys of the +Yakima, the Walla Walla, the Spokane, and lesser streams, while a similar +process fashioned the valleys of the Willamette and other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> streams between +the Cascades and the Coast Mountains westward.</p> + +<p>But while the age of flood was shaping the great valley systems, a fourth +age—the age of ice—was working still other changes upon the plastic +land. The mountains had been reared by upheaval and volcanic outflow to a +stupendous height. Then they became glaciated. The whole Northern +Hemisphere, in fact, took on the character of the present Greenland. +Enormous glaciers descended the flanks of the mountains, gouging and +ploughing out the abysmal cañons which now awe the beholder, and scooping +out the deeps where Chelan, Cœur d’Alene, Pend Oreille, Kaniksu, and +other great lakes delight the vision of the present day.</p> + +<p>Such were the forces that wrought the physical features of the land where +the River flows. We do not mean to convey the impression that there was a +single age of each, and that they followed each other in regular +chronological order. As a matter of fact there were several eras of each, +interlocked with each other: upheaval, fire, flood, and frost. But as the +resultant of all, the Columbia Basin assumed its present form. The great +forces which have thus fashioned this land manifested themselves on a +scale of vast energy. Evidences of upheaval, fire, flood, and glacier are +exhibited on every side, and these evidences constitute a testimony of +geological history of the most interesting nature. Long before this record +of the rocks had found a white reader, the native red man had read the +open pages, and interpreted them in the light of his ardent fancy.</p> + +<p>The Indian conception of the flood, involving also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> that of the creation +of the native tribes, is one of the most fantastic native legends. This is +the story of the great beaver, Wishpoosh, of Lake Kichelos. According to +this myth the beaver Wishpoosh inhabited that lake on the summit of the +Cascade Mountains, the source of the Yakima River.</p> + +<p>In the time of the Watetash (animal people) before the advent of men, the +king beaver, Wishpoosh, of enormous size and voracious appetite, was in +the evil habit of seizing and devouring the lesser creatures and even the +vegetation. So destructive did he become that Speelyei, the coyote god of +the mid-Columbia region, undertook to check his rapacities.</p> + +<p>The struggle only made the monster more insatiate, and in his wrath he +tore out the banks of the lake. The gathered floods swept on down the +cañon and formed another great lake in the region now known as the +Kittitas Valley.</p> + +<p>But the struggle between Wishpoosh and Speelyei did not end, and the +former in his mad fury went on thrashing around in this greater lake. For +a long time the rocky barriers of the Umtanum restrained the flood, but at +last they gave way before the onslaughts of the wrathful beaver, and the +loosened waters swept on down and filled the great basin now occupied by +the fruit and garden ranches of the Cowiche, Natchees, and Atahnum. In +like fashion the restraining wall at the gap just below Yakima city was +torn out, and a yet greater lake was formed over all the space where we +now see the level plains of the Simcoe and Toppenish. The next lake formed +in the process covered the yet vaster region at the juncture of the +Yakima, Snake and Columbia rivers. For a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> time it was dammed in by +the Umatilla highlands, but in process of time it, too, was drained by the +bursting of the rocky wall before the well-directed attacks of Wishpoosh. +The yet greater lake, the greatest of all, now formed between the Umatilla +on the east and the Cascade Mountains on the west. But even the towering +wall of the Cascades gave way in time and the accumulated floods poured on +without further hindrance to the open sea.</p> + +<p>Thus was the series of great lakes drained, the level valleys left, and +the Great River suffered to flow in its present course. But there is a +sequel to the story of the flood. For Wishpoosh, being now in the ocean, +laid about him with such fury that he devoured the fish and whales and so +threatened all creation that Speelyei perceived that the time had come to +end it all. Transforming himself into a floating branch, he drifted to +Wishpoosh and was swallowed. Once inside the monster, the wily god resumed +his proper size and power; and with his keen-edged knife proceeded to cut +the vitals of the belligerent beaver, until at last all life ceased, and +the huge carcass was cast up by the tide on Clatsop beach, just south of +the mouth of the Great River. And now what to do with the carcass? +Speelyei solved the problem by cutting it up and from its different parts +fashioning the tribes as each part was adapted. From the head he made the +Nez Percés, great in council and oratory. From the arms came the Cayuses, +powerful with the bow and war-club. The Klickitats were the product of the +legs, and they were the runners of the land. The belly was transformed +into the gluttonous Chinooks. At the last there was left an indiscriminate +mass of hair and gore. This Speelyei hurled up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> the far distance to the +east, and out of it sprung the Snake River Indians.</p> + +<p>Such is the native physiography and anthropogenesis of the land of the +Oregon.</p> + +<p>If now one could rise on the pinions of the Chinook wind (the warm south +wind of the Columbia Basin, of which more anon), and from the southern +springs of the Owyhee and the Malheur could wing his way to the snowy +peaks in British Columbia, from whose fastnesses there issues the foaming +torrent of Canoe River, the most northerly of all the tributaries of the +Great River, he would obtain, in a noble panorama, a view of the land +where the River flows, in its present aspect, as fashioned by the +elemental forces of which we have spoken. But not to many is it given thus +to be “horsed on the sightless couriers of the air,” and we must needs use +imagination in lieu of them. Even a map will be the safest guide for most. +Inspection of the map will show that the distance to which we have +referred covers twelve degrees of latitude, while the distance from the +source of the Snake River in the Yellowstone National Park to the Pacific +requires a span of fifteen degrees of longitude. The south-eastern part of +this vast area occupying Southern Idaho is mainly an arid plain; arid, +indeed, in its natural condition, but, when touched by the vivifying +waters in union with the ardent sun, it blossoms like a garden of the +Lord. Upon these vast plains where the volcanic dust has drifted for ages, +now looking so dismal in their monotonous garb of sage-brush, the millions +of the future will some time live in peace and plenty, each under his own +vine and apple-tree. On the eastern boundary, all the way from Western<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +Wyoming to Eastern British Columbia, stand cordons of stupendous +mountains, the western outposts of the great Continental Divide. These +constitute one spur after another, from whose profound cañons issues river +after river to swell the torrents of the turbid and impetuous Snake on its +thousand-mile journey to join the Columbia. Among these tributary streams +are the Payette, the Boisé, the Salmon, and the Clearwater. Yet farther +north, beyond the system of the Snake, are the Bitter Root, the Missoula, +the Pend Oreille, the Spokane, and the Kootenai (we follow here the +American spelling, the Canadian being Kootenay), with almost innumerable +affluents, draining the huge labyrinths of the Bitter Root Mountains and +the Silver Bow.</p> + +<p>Thus our northward flight carries us to the international boundary in +latitude 49 degrees.</p> + +<p>Far beyond that parallel stretches chain after chain of divisions of the +great Continental Range, the Selkirks, the Gold Range, Purcell’s Range, +sky-piercing heights, snow-clad and glaciated. Up and down these +interlocking chains the Columbia and the Kootenai, with their great lakes +and unexplored tributaries, seem to be playing at hide-and-seek with each +other. These rivers form here one of the most singular geographical +phenomena of the world, for so strangely are the parallel chains of +mountains tilted that the Kootenai, rising in a small lake on the western +flank of the main chain of the Canadian Rockies and flowing south, passes +within a mile of the source of the Columbia at Columbia Lake, separated +only by a nearly level valley. Connection, in fact, is so easy that a +canal once joined the two rivers. From that point of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>contact the Kootenai +flows far south into Idaho, then makes a grand wheel to the north-west, +forming Kootenai Lake on the way, then wheeling again in its tortuous +course to the west, it joins the greater stream in the midst of the +majestic mountain chains which stand guard over the Arrow Lakes. And +meanwhile where has the Columbia itself been journeying? After the parting +from the Kootenai it flows directly north-west between two stupendous +chains of mountains. Reaching its highest northern point in latitude 52 +degrees, where it receives the Canoe River, which has come two hundred +miles or more from the north, it turns sharply westward, finding a +passageway cleft in the mountain wall. Thence making a grand wheel toward +the south, it casts its turbid floods into the long expanse of the Arrow +Lakes, from which it emerges, clear and bright, soon to join the Kootenai. +And how far have they journeyed since they parted? The Columbia about six +hundred miles, and the Kootenai hardly less, though having passed within a +mile of each other, flowing in opposite directions.</p> + +<p>It will be readily seen from this description that the mountains which +feed the Columbian system of rivers on the east and north, are of singular +grandeur and interest. But now as we bear our way southward again we +discover that another mountain system, yet grander and of more curious +interest, forms the western boundary of the upper Columbia Basin. This is +the Cascade Range. Sublime, majestic, mysterious, this noble chain of +mountains, with its tiaras of ice, its girdles of waterfalls, its +draperies of forest, its jewels of lakes, must make one search long to +find its parallel in any land for all the general features of mountain +charm. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> over and beyond those more usual delights of the mountains, +the Cascade Range has a unique feature, one in which it stands unrivalled +among all the mountains of the earth, with the exception possibly of the +Andes. This is the feature of the great isolated snow peaks, stationed +like sentinels at intervals of from thirty to sixty miles all the way from +the British line to California. There is nothing like this elsewhere on +the North American continent. The Sierras of California are sublime, but +their great peaks are not isolated monarchs like those of the Cascades. +The high Sierras are blended together in one mountain wall, in which no +single peak dominates any wide extended space. But in the long array of +the Cascades, five hundred miles and more from the international boundary +to the California line, one glorious peak after another uplifts the banner +and sets its regal crown toward sunrise or sunset, king of earth and air +to the border where the shadow of the next mountain monarch mingles with +its own. Hence these great Cascade peaks have an individuality which gives +them a kind of living personality in the life of any one who has lived for +any length of time within sight of them.</p> + +<p>From the north, moving south, we might gaze at these great peaks, and find +no two alike. Baker—how much finer is the native name, Kulshan, the Great +White Watcher—first on the north; Shuksan next, the place where the +storm-winds gather, in the native tongue; then Glacier Peak, with its +girdle of ice, thirteen great glaciers; Stewart next with its dizzy horn +of rock set in a field of snow; then the great king-peak of all, Rainier, +better named by the natives, Takhoma, the fountain breast of milk-white +waters; and after this,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> Adams, or in the Indian, Klickitat, with St. +Helens or Loowit near at hand on the west; then, across the Great River, +Hood or Wiyeast, with its pinnacled crest; next southward, Jefferson with +its sharp chimney whose top has never yet been touched by human foot; yet +beyond, the marvellous group of the Three Sisters, each with its separate +personality and yet all together combining in one superb whole; then Mt. +Scott, Mt. Thielson, Diamond Peak, Mt. Pitt, and with them we might well +include the truncated cone of Mt. Mazama, once the lordliest of the chain, +but by some mighty convulsion of nature, shorn of crown and head, and now +bearing on its summit instead the most singular body of water, Crater +Lake, on all the American continent.</p> + +<p>Fifteen is the number of the great peaks named, but there are dozens of +lesser heights, snow-crowned and regal. The great Cascade chain is, +therefore, the noblest and most significant feature of the topography of +the land of the Columbia. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades +lies what is locally known as the Inland Empire, mainly a continuous +prairie or series of prairies and valleys, wheat land, orchard land, +garden land, fertile, beautiful, attractive, broken by an occasional +mountain spur, as the irregular mass of the Blue Mountains, but +substantially an inhabited land, reaching from Colville, Spokane, and the +Okanogan on the north to the Klamath valleys on the south, a region five +hundred miles long by two hundred wide, a goodly land, one difficult to +excel in all the potentialities of use for human needs.</p> + +<p>Such are the distinguishing features of the Columbia Basin on the east +side of the Cascade Mountains.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>To the west of those mountains is another vast expanse of interior +valleys, not so large indeed and not more fertile, but even more +beautiful, and by reason of earlier settlement and contiguity to the +ocean, better developed.</p> + +<p>This series of valleys is enclosed between the Cascade Mountains and the +Coast Range, and in a general way parallels the Inland Empire already +described. But this statement should be qualified by the explanation that +North-western Washington consists of the Puget Sound Basin, which is a +distinct geographical system, while South-western Oregon consists of the +Umpqua and Rogue River valleys, and these valleys though commercially and +politically a part of the Columbia system, are geographically separate, +since they debouch directly into the Pacific Ocean. There is left, +therefore, for the Columbia region proper west of the Cascade Mountains, +the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and the valleys of the Lewis, Kalama, and +Cowlitz in Washington, with several smaller valleys on each side. The +Willamette Valley is the great distinguishing feature of this part of the +Columbia Basin. A more attractive region is hard to find. Mountains +snow-clad and majestic, the great peaks of the Cascades already described, +guard it on the east, while westward the gentler slopes of the Coast Range +separate it from the sea. Between the two ranges lies the valley, two +hundred miles long by about a hundred broad, including the foot-hills, a +succession of level plains, oak-crowned hills, and fertile bottoms. Not +Greece nor Italy nor the Vale of Cashmere can surpass this earthly +paradise in all the features that compose the beautiful and grand in +nature.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>Geologists tell us that this Willamette region was once a counterpart of +Puget Sound, only with less depth of water, and that, as the result of +centuries of change, the old-time Willamette Sound has become the +Willamette Valley. It has now become the most thickly settled farming +region of the Columbia Basin, and, as its fitting metropolis, Portland +sits at the gateway of the Willamette and Columbia, the “Rose City,” +handsomest of all Western cities, to welcome the commerce of the world.</p> + +<p>The valleys on the Washington side of the Columbia make up together a +region of great beauty, fertility, and productiveness, perhaps a hundred +miles square, and, though yet but partially developed, contain many +beautiful homes.</p> + +<p>The larger part of the Columbia Valley west of the Cascade Mountains is, +in its natural state, densely timbered. Here are found “the continuous +woods where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound but his own dashings.” +These great fir, spruce, cedar, and pine forests, extending a thousand +miles along the Pacific Coast from Central California to the Straits of +Fuca (and indeed they continue, though the trees gradually diminish in +size, for nearly another thousand miles up the Alaska coast), constitute +the world’s largest timber supply. The demands upon it have been +tremendous during the past twenty years, and the stately growths of +centuries have vanished largely from all places in the near vicinity of +shipping points. Yet one can still find primeval woods where the coronals +of green are borne three hundred feet above the damp and perfumed earth, +and where the pillars of the wood sustain so continuous a canopy of +foliage that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> the sunlight is stopped or filters through only in pale and +watery rays. Hence all manner of vines and shrubs grow with almost tropic +profusion, though with weak and straggling stems.</p> + +<p>Throughout the entire Pacific North-west the soil is of extraordinary +fertility. It is largely of volcanic dust as fine as flour and seems to +contain the constituents of plant life in inexhaustible abundance. Even in +the arid belts of Eastern Oregon, where to the eye of the stranger the +appearance is of a hopeless waste, those same elements of plant food +exist, and with water every manner of tree or vine or flower bursts +quickly into perfect life.</p> + +<p>The climate of the Columbia Basin is a puzzle to the stranger, but in most +of its aspects it quickly becomes an equal delight. As is well known, the +Japan ocean current exercises upon the Pacific Coast an effect similar to +that of the Gulf Stream on Ireland and England. Hence the states of the +Columbia Valley are much warmer in winter than regions of the same +latitude on the Atlantic Coast or in the Mississippi Valley. Though the +average temperature is higher, yet it is cooler in summer on the Pacific +Coast than on the Atlantic. The Pacific climate has much less of extremes. +The State of Washington has about the same isothermal line as North +Carolina. There is, however, another feature of the Columbia climate not +so well known to non-residents, which is worthy of a passing paragraph. +This is the division of the country by the Cascade Mountains into a humid +western section and a dry eastern one. The mountain wall intercepts the +larger part of the vapour rising from the Pacific and flying eastward, and +these warm masses<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> of vapour are condensed by the icy barrier and fall in +rain on the western side. Hence Western Oregon and Washington are damp and +soft, with frequent clouds and fogs. The rainfall, though varying much, is +in most places from forty to fifty inches a year. But east of the mountain +wall which has “milked the clouds,” the air is clear and bright, the sun +shines most of the year from cloudless skies, and there seems to be more +of tingle and electricity in the atmosphere. The rainfall ranges from ten +to thirty inches, and in the drier parts vegetation does not flourish +without irrigation.</p> + +<p>Any view of primeval Oregon would be incomplete without a glimpse of the +native race, that melancholy people, possessed of so many interesting and +even noble traits, whose sad lot it has mainly been to struggle against +the advent of a civilisation which they could not understand nor resist, +and before which they have melted away in pitiful impotency. But they have +at least had the highest dignity of defeat, for they have died fighting. +They have realised the conception of the Roman Emperor: “<i>Me stantem mori +oportet</i>.”</p> + +<p>The Oregon Indians have essentially the same characteristic traits as +other Indians, secretiveness, patience, vindictiveness, stoicism; and, in +their best state, fidelity and boundless generosity to friends.</p> + +<p>The poor broken fragments of the once populous tribes along the Columbia +cannot but affect the present-day observer with pity. Most of the tangible +memorials of this fallen race have vanished with them. Not many of the +conquerors have been sympathetic or even rational in their treatment of +the Indians. Hence memorials of memory and imagination which might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> have +been drawn from them and treasured up have vanished with them into the +darkness. Yet many Indian legends have been preserved in one manner and +another, and these are sufficient to convince us that the native races are +of the same nature as ourselves. Some of the legends which students of +Indian lore have gathered, will, perhaps, prove interesting to the reader.</p> + +<p>A quaint Nez-Percé myth accounts for the creation as follows: There was +during the time of the Watetash a monster living in the country of Kamiah +in Central Idaho. This monster had the peculiar property of an +irresistible breath, so that when it inhaled, the winds and grass and +trees and even different animals would be sucked into its devouring maw. +The Coyote god, being grieved for the destruction wrought by this monster, +made a coil of rope out of grass and with this went to the summit of +Wallowa Mountains to test the suction power of the monster. Appearing like +a tiny spear of grass upon the mountain, he blew a challenge to the +monster. Descrying the small object in the distance Kamiah began to draw +the air inward. But strange to say, Coyote did not move. “Ugh, that is a +great medicine,” said the monster. Coyote now took his station upon the +mountains of the Seven Devils, a good deal closer, and blew his challenge +again. Again the Kamiah monster tried to breathe so deeply as to draw the +strange challenger into his grasp, but again he failed. “He is a very big +medicine,” he said once more. And now Coyote mounted the top of the Salmon +River Mountains, somewhere near the Buffalo Hump of the present time, and +again the monster’s breath failed to draw him. The baffled Kamiah was now +sure that this was most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> extraordinary medicine. In reality, Coyote had +each time held himself by a grass rope tied to the mountain.</p> + +<p>Coyote now called into counsel Kotskots, the fox. Providing him with five +knives, Kotskots advised Coyote to force an entrance into the interior of +the monster. Entering in, Coyote found people in all stages of emaciation, +evidently having had their life gradually sucked out of them. It was also +so cold and dark in the interior that they were chilled into almost a +condition of insensibility. Looking about him, Coyote began to see great +chunks of fat and pitch in the vitals of the monster, and accordingly he +rubbed sticks together and started a fire, which being fed with the fat +and pitch, soon grew into a cheerful glow. Now, armed with his knives, he +ascended the vast interior until he reached the heart. He had already +directed Kotskots to rouse up and gather together all the emaciated +stowaways and provide that when the monster was cut open they should see +how to rush out into the sunlight. Great as was the monster Kamiah, he +could not stop the persistent hacking away at his heart which Coyote now +entered upon. When the fifth knife was nearly gone, the heart dropped down +and Kamiah collapsed into a lifeless mass. The people under the guidance +of Kotskots, burst out into the sunshine and scattered themselves abroad. +It must be remembered that these were animal people, not human. Coyote +called upon them to wait until he should have shown them a last wonder, +for, cutting the monster in pieces, he now began to fashion from the +pieces a new race of beings to be called men. The portion which he cut +from the head he flung northward, and of this was fashioned the Flathead +tribe. The feet he cast eastward,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> making them the Blackfeet. So he +continued, making new tribes here and there. But at the last Kotskots +interposed an objection. “You have made no people,” he said, “for the +valley of the Lapwai, which is the most beautiful of all.” Realising the +force of the suggestion, Coyote mixed the blood of the monster with water +and sprinkled it in a rain over the entire valley of the Clearwater. From +these drops of blood and water, the Nez Percé tribe was formed. The heart +of the monster is still to be seen by all travellers in that country, +being a heart-shaped hill in the valley of Kamiah.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most perfect and beautiful of all Indian fire myths of the +Columbia, is that connected with the famous “tomanowas bridge” at the +Cascades. This myth not only treats of fire, but it also endeavours to +account for the peculiar formation of the river and for the great snow +peaks in the near vicinity. This myth has various forms, and in order that +it may be the better understood, we shall say a word with respect to the +peculiar physical features in that part of the Columbia. The River, after +having traversed over a thousand miles from its source in the heart of the +great Rocky Mountains of Canada, has cleft the Cascade Range asunder with +a cañon three thousand feet in depth. While generally swift, that portion +between The Dalles and the Cascades is deep and sluggish. There are, +moreover, sunken forests on both sides visible at low water, which seem +plainly to indicate that at that point the river was dammed up by some +great rock slide or volcanic convulsion. Some of the Indians affirm that +their grandfathers have told them that there was a time when the river at +that point<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> passed under an immense natural bridge, and that there were no +obstructions to the passage of boats under the bridge. At the present time +there is a cascade of forty feet at that point. This is now overcome by +government locks. Among other evidences of some such actual occurrence as +the Indians relate, is the fact that the banks at that point are gradually +sliding into the river. The prodigious volume of the Columbia, which here +rises from fifty to seventy-five feet during the summer flood, is +continually eating into the banks. The railroad has slid several inches a +year at this point toward the river and requires frequent readjustment. It +is obvious at a slight inspection that this weird and sublime point has +been the scene of terrific volcanic and probably seismic action. One +Indian legend, probably the best known of their stories, is to the effect +that the downfall of the bridge and consequent damming of the river was +due to a battle between Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams,—or, some say, Mt. St. +Helens—in which Mt. Hood hurled a great rock at his antagonist; but, +falling short of the mark, the rock demolished the bridge instead. This +event has been made use of by Frederick Balch in his story, <i>The Bridge of +the Gods</i>.</p> + +<p>But the finer, though less known legend, which unites both the physical +conformation of the Cascades and the three great snow mountains of Hood, +Adams, and St. Helens, with the origin of fire, is to this effect. +According to the Klickitats, there was once a father and two sons who came +from the east down the Columbia to the region in which Dalles City is now +located, and there the two sons quarrelled as to who should possess the +land. The father, to settle the dispute,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> shot two arrows, one to the +north and one to the west. He told one son to find the arrow to the north +and the other the one to the west, and there to settle and bring up their +families. The first son, going northward, over what was then a beautiful +plain, became the progenitor of the Klickitat tribe, while the other son +was the founder of the great Multnomah nation of the Willamette Valley. To +separate the two tribes more effectively, Sahale, the Great Spirit, reared +the chain of the Cascades, though without any great peaks, and for a long +time all things went in harmony. But for convenience’ sake, Sahale had +created the great tomanowas bridge under which the waters of the Columbia +flowed, and on this bridge he had stationed a witch woman called Loowit, +who was to take charge of the fire. This was the only fire in the world. +As time passed on Loowit observed the deplorable condition of the Indians, +destitute of fire and the conveniences which it might bring. She therefore +besought Sahale to allow her to bestow fire upon the Indians. Sahale, +greatly pleased by the faithfulness and benevolence of Loowit, finally +granted her request. The lot of the Indians was wonderfully improved by +the acquisition of fire. They began to make better lodges and clothes and +had a variety of food and implements, and, in short, were marvellously +benefited by the bounteous gift.</p> + +<p>But Sahale, in order to show his appreciation of the care with which +Loowit had guarded the sacred fire, now determined to offer her any gift +she might desire as a reward. Accordingly, in response to his offer, +Loowit asked that she be transformed into a young and beautiful girl. This +was accordingly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>affected, and now, as might have been expected, all the +Indian chiefs fell deeply in love with the guardian of the tomanowas +bridge. Loowit paid little heed to any of them, until finally there came +two chiefs, one from the north called Klickitat and one from the south +called Wiyeast. Loowit was uncertain which of these two she most desired, +and as a result a bitter strife arose between the two. This waxed hotter +and hotter, until, with their respective warriors, they entered upon a +desperate war. The land was ravaged, all their new comforts were marred, +and misery and wretchedness ensued. Sahale repented that he had allowed +Loowit to bestow fire upon the Indians, and determined to undo all his +work in so far as he could. Accordingly he broke down the tomanowas +bridge, which dammed up the river with an impassable reef, and put to +death Loowit, Klickitat, and Wiyeast. But, inasmuch as they had been noble +and beautiful in life, he determined to give them a fitting commemoration +after death. Therefore he reared over them as monuments, the great snow +peaks; over Loowit, what we now call Mt. St. Helens; over Wiyeast, the +modern Mt. Hood; and, above Klickitat, the great dome which we now call +Mt. Adams.</p> + +<p>Of the miscellaneous myths which pertain to the forces of nature, one of +the best is that accounting for the Chinook wind. All people who have +lived long in Oregon or Washington have a conception of that marvellous +warm wind which in January and February suddenly sends them almost summer +heat amid snow banks and ice-locked streams, and causes all nature to +rejoice as with a resurrection of spring time. Scarcely anything can be +imagined in nature more picturesque<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> and dramatic than this Chinook wind. +The thermometer may be down nearly to zero, a foot of snow may rest like a +pall on the earth, or a deadly fog may wrap the earth, when suddenly, as +if by the breath of inspiration, the fog parts, the peaks of the mountains +may be seen half stripped of snow, and then, roaring and whistling, the +warm south wind comes like an army. The snow begins to drip like a pressed +sponge, the thermometer goes with a jump to sixty, and within two hours we +find ourselves in the climate of Southern California. No wonder the +Indians personified this wind. We personify it ourselves.</p> + +<p>The Yakima account of the Chinook wind was to the effect that it was +caused by five brothers who lived on the Columbia River, not far from the +present town of Columbus. Now there is at rare intervals in this country a +cold north-east wind, which the Indians on the lower Columbia call the +Walla Walla wind because it comes from the north-east. The cold wind was +caused by another set of brothers. Both these sets of brothers had +grandparents who lived near what is now Umatilla. The two groups of +brothers were continually fighting each other, sweeping one way or the +other over the country, alternately freezing or thawing it, blowing down +trees and causing the dust to fly in clouds, and rendering the country +generally very uncomfortable. Finally, the Walla Walla brothers sent a +challenge to the Chinook brothers to undertake a wrestling match, the +condition being that those who were defeated should forfeit their lives. +It was agreed that Speelyei should act as umpire and should inflict the +penalty by decapitating the losers. Speelyei secretly advised the +grandparents of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> the Chinook brothers to throw oil on the wrestling ground +so that their sons might not fall. In like manner he secretly advised the +grandparents of the Walla Walla brothers to throw ice on the ground. +Between the ice and the oil it was so slippery that it would be hard for +any one to keep upright, but inasmuch as the Walla Walla grandfather got +ice on the ground last, the Chinook brothers were all thrown and killed.</p> + +<p>The eldest Chinook had an infant baby at home, whose mother brought him up +with one sole purpose in view, and that was that he must avenge the death +of his father and uncles. By continual practice in pulling up trees he +became prodigiously strong, insomuch that he could pull up the largest fir +trees and throw them about like weeds. The young man finally reached such +a degree of strength that he felt that the time had come for him to +perform his great mission. Therefore he went up the Columbia, pulling up +trees and tossing them around in different places, and finally passed over +into the valley of the Yakima, where he lay down to rest by the creek +called the Setas. There he rested for a day and a night, and the marks of +his couch are still plainly visible on the mountain side.</p> + +<p>Now, turning back again to the Columbia, he sought the hut of his +grandparents, and when he had found it, he found also that they were in a +most deplorable condition. The Walla Walla brothers had been having it all +their own way during these years and had imposed most shamefully upon the +old people. When he learned this, the young Chinook told his grandfather +to go out into the Columbia to fish for sturgeon, while he in the meantime +would lie down in the bottom of the boat and watch for the Walla Walla +wind. It was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> the habit of these tormenting Walla Walla wind brothers to +wait until the old man had got his boat filled with fish, and then they, +issuing swiftly and silently from the shore, would beset and rob him. This +time they started out from the shore as usual, but to their great +astonishment, just as they were about to catch him, the boat would shoot +on at miraculous speed and leave them far behind. So the old man landed +safely and brought his fish to the hut. The young Chinook then took his +grandparents to a stream and washed from them the filth which had gathered +upon them during all those years of suffering. Strange to say, the filth +became transformed into trout, and this is the origin of all the trout +along the Columbia.</p> + +<p>As soon as the news became known abroad that there was another Chinook +champion in the field, the Walla Walla brothers began to demand a new +wrestling match. Young Chinook very gladly accepted the challenge, though +he had to meet all five. But now Speelyei secretly suggested to the +Chinook grandfather that he should wait about throwing the oil on the +ground until the ice had all been used up. By means of this change of +practice, the Walla Walla brothers fell speedily before the young Chinook. +One after another was thrown and beheaded until only the youngest was +left. His courage failing, he surrendered without a struggle. Speelyei +then pronounced sentence upon him, telling him that he must live, but +could henceforth only blow lightly, and never have power to freeze people +to death. Speelyei also decreed that in order to keep Chinook within +bounds he should blow his hardest at night time, and should blow upon the +mountain ridges first in order to prepare people for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> his coming. Thus +there came to be moderation in the winds, but Chinook was always the +victor in the end. And thus at the present time, in the perpetual flux and +reflux of the oceans of the air, when the north wind sweeps down from the +chilly zones of Canada upon the Columbia Basin, his triumph is but +transient. For within a few hours, or days at most, while the cattle are +threatened with destruction and while ranchers are gazing anxiously about, +they will discern a blue-black line upon the southern horizon. In a short +time the mountain ridges can be seen bare of snow, and deliverance is at +hand. For the next morning, rushing and roaring from the South, comes the +blessed Chinook, and the icy grip of the North melts as before a blast +from a furnace. The struggle is short and Chinook’s victory is sure.</p> + +<p>Nearly all our native races had a more or less coherent idea of a future +state of rewards and punishments. “The happy hunting ground” of the +Indians is often referred to in connection with the Indians of the older +part of the United States. Our Indians have ideas in general quite +similar. Some believe that there is a hell and a heaven. The Siskiyou +Indians in Southern Oregon have a curious idea similar to that of the +ancient Egyptians as well as of the Mohammedans. This is to the effect +that the regions of the blessed are on the other side of an enormously +deep chasm. To pass over this, one must cross on a very narrow and +slippery pole. The good can pass, but the bad fall off into empty space, +whence they reappear again upon the earth as beasts or birds.</p> + +<p>The Klickitat Indians, living along The Dalles of the Columbia have a fine +legend of the land of spirits.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> There lived a young chief and a girl who +were devoted to each other and seemed to be the happiest people in the +tribe, but suddenly he sickened and died. The girl mourned for him almost +to the point of death, and he, having reached the land of the spirits, +could find no happiness there for thinking of her. And so it came to pass +that a vision began to appear to the girl at night, telling her that she +must herself go into the land of the spirits in order to console her +lover. Now there is, near that place, one of the most weird and funereal +of all the various “memaloose” islands, or death islands, of the Columbia. +The writer himself has been upon this island and its spectral and volcanic +desolation makes it a fitting location for ghostly tales. It lies just +below the “great chute,” and even yet has many skeletons upon it. In +accordance with the directions of the vision, the girl’s father made ready +a canoe, placed her in it, and passed out into the Great River by night, +to the memaloose island. As the father and his child rowed across the dark +and forbidding waters, they began to hear the sounds of singing and +dancing and great joy. Upon the shore of the island they were met by four +spirit people, who took the girl, but bade the father return, as it was +not for him to see into the spirit country. Accordingly the girl was +conducted to the great dance-house of the spirits, and there she met her +lover, far stronger and more beautiful than when upon earth. That night +they spent in unspeakable bliss, but when the light began to break in the +east and the song of the robins was heard from the willows on the shore, +the singers and the dancers fell asleep.</p> + +<p>The girl, too, had gone to sleep, but not soundly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> like the spirits. When +the sun had reached the meridian, she woke, and now, to her horror, she +saw that instead of being in the midst of beautiful spirits, she was +surrounded by hideous skeletons and loathsome, decaying bodies. Around her +waist were the bony arms and skeleton fingers of her lover, and his +grinning teeth and gaping eye-sockets seemed to be turned in mockery upon +her. Screaming with horror, she leaped up and ran to the edge of the +island, where, after hunting a long time, she found a boat, in which she +paddled across to the Indian village. Having presented herself to her +astonished parents, they became fearful that some great calamity would +visit the tribe on account of her return, and accordingly her father took +her the next night back to the memaloose island as before. There she met +again the happy spirits of the blessed, and there again her lover and she +spent another night in ecstatic bliss. In the course of time a child was +born to the girl, beautiful beyond description, being half spirit and half +human. The spirit bridegroom, being anxious that his mother should see the +child, sent a spirit messenger to the village, desiring his mother to come +by night to the memaloose island to visit them. She was told, however, +that she must not look at the child until ten days had passed. But after +the old woman had reached the island, her desire to see the wonderful +child was so intense that she took advantage of a moment’s inattention on +the part of the guard, and, lifting the cloth from the baby board, she +stole a look at the sleeping infant. And then, dreadful to relate, the +baby died in consequence of this premature human look. Grieved and +displeased by this foolish act, the spirit people decreed that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> dead +should never again return nor hold any communication with the living.</p> + +<p>In concluding this chapter we cannot forbear to call the attention of our +readers to the rare beauty of many of the native Indian names of +localities. These names always have some significance, and ordinarily +there is some such poetic or figurative conception involved in the name as +plainly reveals the fact that these rude and unfortunate natives have the +souls of poets beneath their savage exterior. It is truly lamentable that +some of the sonorous and poetic native names have been thrust aside for +the commonplace and oft-repeated names of Eastern or European localities +or the still less attractive names of discoverers or their unimportant +friends.</p> + +<p>Think of using the names Salem and Portland for Chemeketa and Multnomah, +the native names. Chemeketa means “Here we Rest,” or, some say, the “Place +of Peace,” for it was the council ground of the Willamette Valley Indians. +But the Methodist missionaries thought that it would have a more Biblical +sound and conduce to the spiritual welfare of the natives to translate the +word into its equivalent, Salem. So they spoiled the wild native beauty of +the name for all time. Multnomah means “Down the Waters.” But two Yankee +sea captains, with a sad deficiency of poetry in them, tossed up a coin to +decide whether to employ the name of Boston or Portland, the native town +of each, and the latter won the toss.</p> + +<p>Oregon has been more fortunate than Washington in its State name, for it +has the unique name, stately and sonorous, which old Jonathan Carver first +used for the River and which is one of the most distinctive<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> of all the +names of States. But whether Oregon is Indian, Spanish, French, or a +corruption of something else, or a pure invention of Carver’s is one of +the mooted points in our history. Idaho, too, has one of the most +mellifluous of names, meaning the “Gem of the Mountains.”</p> + +<p>All three States have many beautiful and appropriate names of rivers, +lakes, mountains, and cities. Such are Chelan, “Beautiful Water”; +Umatilla, “The Wind-blown Sand”; Walla Walla, “Where the Waters Meet”; +Shuksan, “The Place of the Storm Winds”; Spokane, “The People of the Sun”; +Kulshan, “The Great White Watcher”; Snoqualmie, “The Falls of the Moon +God.” Seattle derives its name from the old chief Seattle, or Sealth.</p> + +<p>The most bitterly disputed name of all is Tacoma <i>vs.</i> Rainier, as the +name of the greatest of our mountains. The name of Rainier was derived by +Vancouver from that of an officer of the British navy, a man who never +knew anything of Oregon and had no part or lot in its discovery or +development. Tacoma, or more accurately, <i>Takhoma</i> (a peculiar guttural +which we cannot fully indicate), was the native Indian name, meaning, +according to some, “The Great White Mountain,” and according to others +meaning “The Fountain-breast of Milk-white Waters.”</p> + +<p>With these glances at the character of the land, and its native +inhabitants, we are now ready to see how they became known to the world.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p class="chapter">Tales of the First White Men along the Coast</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Nekahni Mountain and Tallapus—Quootshoi and Toulux—Original Beauty of Clatsop Plains—The +Story Told by Celiast and Cultee—Casting of the “Thing” upon the Beach—The Pop-corn—Burning of the Ship—Konapee, +the Iron-worker—Franchère’s Account of Soto—The Treasure Ship on the Beach at Nekahni Mountain—The Black Spook and +Mysterious Chest—The Inscription Still Found on the Rock—The Beeswax Ship—Quiaculliby.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">We</span> have told something of the mountains, rivers, and lakes which make up +the framework of our Pacific North-west. We have also tried to see the +land through the eyes of the native red men, and have called back a few of +the grotesque, fantastic, sometimes heroic, sometimes pathetic legends +which they associated with every phase of their country.</p> + +<p>Now the very centre of Indian lore, the Parnassus, the Delphi, the Dodona, +of the lower Columbia River Indians, is the stretch of mingled bluff, +plain, lake, sand-dune, and mountain, marvellously diversified, from the +south shore of the Columbia’s mouth to the sacred Nekahni Mountain. It is +a wonderously picturesque region. From it came Tallapus, the Hermes +Trismegistus of the Oregon Indians. Its forests were haunted by the +Skookums and Cheatcos. From the volcanic pinnacles of Swallallochast, now +known as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> Saddle Mountain, the thunder bird went forth on its daily quest +of a whale, while at the mountain’s foot Quootshoi and Toulux produced the +first men from the monstrous eggs of that same great bird. In short, that +region was rich in legend, as it was, and still is, in scenic beauty.</p> + +<p>It is said by the Indians that a hundred years or more ago it was much +finer than now, for the entire breadth of Clatsop Plains was sodded with +deep green grass and bright with flowers almost the whole year through. +This bright-hued plain lay open to the sea, and across its southern end +flowed three tide streams, having the aboriginal names of Nekanikum, +Ohanna, and Neahcoxie.</p> + +<p>It was a veritable paradise for the Indians. The forests were filled with +elk (moosmoos) and deer (mowitch), while fish of almost every variety +thronged the waters, from that king of all fish now known as the royal +chinook of the Columbia down to such smaller fry as the smelt and the +herring, which even now sometimes so throng the lesser streams that the +receding tide leaves them by the thousands on the muddy flats. On the +beach were infinite numbers of clams; and as an evidence of their +abundance we can now see shell mounds by the acre, in such quantity, +indeed, that some of the modern roads have been paved with shells.</p> + +<p>This favoured region was the home of the Clatsops. There, too, according +to the legends, the first white men landed. The story of the first +appearance of the white men has reached our own times in various forms, +but the most coherent account is through the word of Celiast, an Indian +woman who died many years ago, but who became the wife of one of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +earliest white settlers and the mother of Silas Smith, now dead, but known +in his time as one of the best authorities on Indian history. Celiast was +the daughter of Kobaiway, a chieftain whose sway extended over the land of +the Clatsops in the time of the Astor Company a century ago. Celiast was +in fact the best authority for many of the Indian legends. But she is not +alone in the knowledge of this appearance of the white men, for a number +of other Indians tell the substance of the same tale. Among others an old +Indian of Bay Centre, Washington, by the name of Charlie Cultee, related +the story to Dr. Franz Boas, whose work in the Smithsonian Institute is +known as among the best on the native races. This is the story, a +composite of that of Celiast and that of Cultee.</p> + +<p>It appears that an old woman living near the ancient Indian village of +Ne-Ahkstow, about two miles south of the mouth of the Great River (the +Columbia) had lost her son. “She wailed for a whole year, and then she +stopped.” One day, after her usual custom, she went to the seaside, and +walked along the shore towards Clatsop. While on the way she saw something +very strange. At first it seemed like a whale, but, when the old woman +came close, she saw that it had two trees standing upright in it. She +said, “This is no whale; it is a monster.” The outside was all covered +over with something bright, which they afterwards found was copper. Ropes +were tied all over the two trees, and the inside of the Thing was full of +iron.</p> + +<p>While the old woman gazed in silent wonder, a being that looked like a +bear, but had a human face, though with long hair all over it, came out of +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> Thing that lay there. Then the old woman hastened home in great fear. +She thought this bearlike creature must be the spirit of her son, and that +the Thing was that about which they had heard in the Ekanum tales.</p> + +<p>The people, when they had heard the strange story, hastened with bows and +arrows to the spot. There, sure enough, lay the Thing upon the shore, just +as the old woman had said. Only instead of one bear there were two +standing on the Thing. These two creatures,—whether bears or people the +Indians were not sure,—were just at the point of going down the Thing +(which they now began to understand was an immense canoe with two trees +driven into it) to the beach, with kettles in their hands.</p> + +<p>As the bewildered people watched them they started a fire and put corn +into the kettles. Very soon it began to pop and fly with great rapidity up +and down in the kettles. The pop-corn (the nature of which the Clatsops +did not then understand) struck them with more surprise than anything +else,—and this is the one part of the story preserved in every version.</p> + +<p>Then the corn-popping strangers made signs that they wanted water. The +chief sent men to supply them with all their needs, and in the meantime he +made a careful examination of the strangers. Finding that their hands were +the same as his own, he became satisfied that they were indeed men. One of +the Indians ran and climbed up and entered the Thing. Looking into the +interior, he found it full of boxes. There were also many strings of +buttons half a fathom long. He went out to call in his relatives, but, +before he could return, the ship had been set on fire.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> Or, in the +language of Charlie Cultee, “It burnt just like fat.” As a result of the +burning of the ship, the Clatsops got possession of the iron, copper, and +brass.</p> + +<p>Now the news of this strange event became noised abroad, and the Indians +from all the region thronged to Clatsop to see and feel of these strange +men with hands and feet just like ordinary men, yet with long beards and +with such peculiar garb as to seem in no sense men. There arose great +strife as to who should receive and care for the strange men. Each tribe +or village was very anxious to have them, or at least one of them. The +Quienaults, the Chehales, and the Willapas, from the beach on the north +side, came to press their claims. From up the river came the Cowlitz, the +Cascades, and even the Far-off Klickitat. The different tribes almost had +a battle for possession, but, according to one account, it was finally +settled that one of the strange visitors should stay with the Clatsop +chief, and that one should go with the Willapas on the north side of the +Great River. According to another, they both stayed at Clatsop.</p> + +<p>From this first arrival of white men, the Indians called them all +“Tlehonnipts,” that is, “Of those who drift ashore.” One of the men +possessed the magical art of taking pieces of iron and making knives and +hatchets. It was indeed to the poor Indians a marvellous gift of Tallapus, +their god, that they should have a man among them that could perform that +priceless labour, for the possession of iron knives and hatchets meant the +indefinite multiplying of canoes, huts, bows and arrows, weapons, and +implements of every sort. The iron-maker’s name was Konapee. The Indians +kept close watch of him for many days<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> and made him work incessantly. But, +as the tokens of his skill became numerous, his captors held him in great +favour and allowed him more liberty. Being permitted to select a site for +a house, he chose a spot on the Columbia which became known to the +Indians, even down to the white occupancy of the region, as “Konapee.”</p> + +<p>Among other possessions, Konapee had a large number of pieces of money, +which, from the description, must have been Chinese “cash.” From this some +have inferred that Konapee must have been a Chinaman, and the wrecked ship +a Chinese or Japanese junk. This does not, however, follow. For the +Spaniards had become entirely familiar with China, and any Spanish vessel +returning from the Philippine Islands or from China would have been likely +to have a supply of Chinese money on board.</p> + +<p>There is an interesting bit of testimony which seems to belong to this +same story of Konapee. It is found in the book by Gabriel Franchère in +regard to the founding of Astoria, the book which was the chief authority +of Irving in his fascinating narrative entitled <i>Astoria</i>. Franchère +describes meeting an old man, eighty years old, in 1811, at the Cascades, +whose name was Soto, and who said that his father was one of four +Spaniards wrecked on Clatsop beach many years before. His father had tried +to reach the land of the sunrise by going eastward, but having reached the +Cascades was prevented from going farther and had there married an Indian +woman, Soto’s mother. It is thought likely that the father of Soto was +Konapee. The two stories seem to fit quite well. If this be true, it is +likely that Konapee’s landing was as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> early as 1725. If all the details of +Konapee’s life could be known, what a romance might be made of it! There +is no reason to suppose that he ever saw other white men or ever got away +from the region where the fortune of shipwreck had cast him. Yet he was in +possession of one of the greatest geographical secrets of that country, +for the hope of the discovery of some great “River of the West,” the +elusive stream which many believed to be a pure fabrication of Aguilar and +other old navigators, had enticed many a “marinere” from many a far +“countree.”</p> + +<p>In any event it is probable that the Columbia River Indians had got a +general knowledge of the whites and their arts from Konapee long before +the authentic discovery of the river was made. Especially it seems that +from him they got a knowledge of iron and implements fashioned from it. +Captain Cook mentions that when he visited the coast in 1780 the Indians +manifested no surprise at the weapons or implements of iron. In fact even +all whites who supposed themselves to be the first to visit this coast +found the Indians ready to trade and especially eager to get iron. A new +era of trade and business seems to have been inaugurated among these +Clatsops and Chinooks dating from about the supposed time of Konapee. But +he was by no means the only one of his race to be cast upon the Oregon +shore. There is a story of a treasure ship cast upon the beach near +Nekahni Mountain. This mountain, the original home of Tallapus, while on +its summit the great chief god Nekahni himself dwelt, is one of the +noblest pieces of Nature’s art all along the shore. Fronting the ocean +with a precipitous rampart of rock five hundred feet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> high and thence +rising in a wide sweeping park clad in thick turf, and dotted here and +there with beautiful spruce and fir trees, to an elevation of twenty-five +hundred feet, the sacred Nekahni presents as fine a combination of the +beautiful and sublime as can be seen upon a whole thousand miles of coast. +It was a favourite spot with the natives. For lying upon its open and +turfy slopes they could gaze upon many miles of sea, and could no doubt +light up their signal fires which might be seen over a wide expanse of +beach. Very likely there, too, they celebrated the mysterious rites of +Nekahni and Tallapus.</p> + +<p>One pleasant afternoon in early summer, a large group of natives assembled +upon the lower part of Nekahni, almost upon the edge of the precipitous +cliff with which it fronts the sea. Gazing into the offing they saw a +great object like a huge bird drawing near from the outer sea. It +approached the shore, and then from it a small boat with a number of men +and a large black box put out to land. Coming to the beach the men took +out the box and also a black man whom the Indians supposed to be a spook +or evil demon. Going a little way up the beach the men dug a hole into +which they lowered the box, and then having struck down the black man they +threw him on top of the box and, covering it up, they returned to the +ship, which soon disappeared from sight. On account of the black man +buried with the box, the superstitious Indians dared not undertake to +exhume the contents of the grave. But the story was handed from one +generation to another, and it came to constitute the story of the +“treasure ship.”</p> + +<p>In recent times the idea that here some chest, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> gold and jewels in +the most approved style of buried fortunes, might be found has caused much +searching. The ground has been dug over for the sight of the regulation +rusty handle which is to lead to the great iron-bound chest with its +doubloons of gold and crucifixes of pearls. Parties have come from the +Eastern States to join the search. One party even secured the guidance of +spirits who professed to locate the treasure. But though the spirit-led +enthusiasts turned over every stone and dug up the sand for many feet +along the beach, they found never an iron-bound chest, and never a sign of +the treasure. There is, however, in plain sight now, on a rock at the foot +of Nekahni Mountain, a character cut in the rock bearing a rude +resemblance to a cross. Some think it looks more like the letters, I.H.S., +the sacred emblem of the Catholic Church. There is also what seems to be +quite a distinct arrow pointing in a certain direction. But the treasure +remains unfound.</p> + +<p>The next legend of the prehistoric white man is that of the “Beeswax +Ship.” This, too, has a real confirmation in the presence of large +quantities of beeswax at a point also near Nekahni Mountain, just north of +the mouth of the Nehalem River. Some naturalists claimed at one time that +this substance was simply the natural paraffine produced from the products +of coal or petroleum. But more recently cakes of the substance stamped +with the sacred letters, “I.H.S.,” together with tapers, and even one +piece with a bee plainly visible within, may be considered incontestable +proof that this is indeed beeswax, while the letters, “I.H.S.” denote +plainly enough the origin of the substance in some Spanish colony. An +interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> point in connection with this is the historical fact that on +June 16, 1769, the ship <i>San José</i> left La Paz, Lower California, for San +Diego, and was never heard from again. Some have conjectured that the <i>San +José</i> was the “Beeswax Ship,” driven far north by some storm or mutiny. As +to the peculiar fact that a ship should have been entirely loaded with +beeswax it has been conjectured that some of the good padres of the +Spanish Missions meant to provide a new station with a large amount of wax +for the sake of providing tapers for their service, the lighted candles +proving then, as they do now, a matter of marvel and wonder to the +natives, and, with other features of ceremonial worship, having a great +effect to bring them into subjection to the Church.</p> + +<p>The Indian legend runs on to the effect that several white men were saved +from the wreck of the “Beeswax Ship,” and that they lived with them. But +having infringed upon the family rights of the natives, they became +obnoxious, and were all cut off by an attack from them. One story, +however, asserts that there was one man left, a blue-eyed, golden-haired +man, that he took a Nehalem woman, and that from him was descended a +fair-complexioned progeny, of which a certain chieftain who lived at a +beautiful little lake on Clatsop plains, now known as Culliby Lake, was +our Quiaculliby.</p> + +<p>Such in brief survey, are some of the stories which preserve the record of +the space betwixt the Indian age of myth and the period of authentic +discovery.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p class="chapter">How all Nations Sought the River from the Sea and how they Found it</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Search for Gold—Economic Effects—Early Extension of Exploration +Westward—Cortez—Magellan—Aguilar—Fables of the Sea—Shakspere and +Swift—Maps—Great Wars of the Seventeenth Century and Downfall of +Spain—Long Delay—Resumption of Exploration—Spanish Settlement of +California—Russia and Behring—Perez—Heceta—Cook—Fur-trade—Gathering of Nations—The +Yankees—Gray and Kendrick—Meares and Vancouver—The Complete +Discovery—Strife between England and the United States.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> period of the Renaissance is one, which by reason of splendid +achievements in literature, in art, in science, and in discovery, can +hardly be duplicated. We are here especially concerned with the +discoverers. A mingling of motives impelled those dauntless spirits +onward, and among the most potent was the greed for gold. Much American +history is bound up with the mad rush for the precious metals, and the +spread of exploration from the West Indies and Mexico, the first centres +of Spanish power, was one of its results. Only eight years after the +landing of Columbus on San Salvador, the Portuguese Gaspar Cortereal had +conceived the idea of a north-west passage, which in some unexplained +manner became known as the Strait of Anian. In 1543, the Spaniards +Cabrillo and Ferrelo coasted along the shores of California,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> and the +latter was doubtless the first white man to look upon the coast of Oregon. +In 1577, England appeared in the person of that boldest and most +picturesque of the half-discoverers, half-pirates, of that time, Francis +Drake. In that year he set forth on the wonderful voyage in which he +plundered the treasures of the Spanish Main, cut the golden girdle of +Manila, queen of the Spanish Orient, skirted along the coast of California +and Oregon, and at last circumnavigated the globe. Brilliant as were +Drake’s exploits, they did not result in the discovery of our Great River. +In 1592, just a century after Columbus, Juan de Fuca, whose name is now +preserved in the strait leading to Puget Sound, is said to have made that +voyage which is regarded by most historians as a myth, but which affords +so fascinating a bit of narration that it ought to be true. Two hundred +years later John Meares, the English navigator, attached the name of the +stout old Greek pilot to that inlet now familiar to ships of all nations. +With the passage of a few years more, explorations upon the western shore +of America began to assume a more definite form. In 1602 the best equipped +squadron thus far sent out left Acapulco under command of Vizcaino, with +the aim of carrying out Monterey’s great purpose for the northward +extension of Spanish power. The fleet being scattered by storm, the +<i>fragata</i> in command of Martin Aguilar ran up the coast as far as latitude +43 degrees. There they found a cape to which they attached the name still +held, Cape Blanco. From that point, following the north-westerly trending +of the coast, they soon came abreast of a “rapid and abundant river, with +ash trees, willows, and brambles, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> other trees of Castile upon its +banks.” This they endeavoured to enter, but from the strength of the +current could not. “And seeing that they had already reached a higher +latitude than had been ordered by the viceroy and that the number of the +sick was great, they decided to return to Acapulco.” Torquemada, the +historian, from whom the account is taken, goes on to say:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It is supposed that this river is one leading to a great city, which +was discovered by the Dutch when they were driven thither by storms, +and that it is the Strait of Anian, through which the vessels passed +in sailing from the North Sea to the South Sea; and that the city +called Quivera is in those parts; and that this is the region referred +to in the account which His Majesty read, and which induced him to +order this expedition.</p></div> + +<p>The interesting question arises, Was the river the Columbia? It is the +only large river on the Oregon coast, though the Umpqua, if at flood +stage, might have given the impression of size. The latitude is not right, +either, though the Spanish narrator does not say how far north of Cape +Blanco they went. But whether or not Aguilar really went so far north as +the Columbia, his voyage was one of much interest. It gave Spain a warrant +to claim the western coast of America; it still further strengthened the +idea of the Strait of Anian; it seemed to confirm the romantic conception +of a great city or group of cities with civilised inhabitants along that +passage way, and it gave the first name to the river, the Rio de Aguilar.</p> + +<p>Thenceforth the navigators of all nations accepted as the primary object +of their search some great river of the West. Hidden in the fogs of fancy, +as it lay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> shrouded in truth in the mists of the ocean, the supposed Rio +de Aguilar yet held the spell of enchantment over many an “ancient +mariner” of many a land. Whatsoever nation could actually find the river +and establish a definite claim to first discovery, would have, by the +generally accepted usage of nations, the right of occupation and +ownership.</p> + +<p>That was a fruitful time for fables of the sea, and around the Great River +many of them gathered. The original of Baron Munchausen seems to have +existed in the persons of Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado and Admiral +Pedro Bartolomé de Fonte. The first of these worthies, whose voyage was +said to have been made in 1588, describes in a very circumstantial manner +his passage through the Strait of Anian and his exit upon the Asiatic side +of the continent. This he averred was marked with a very remarkable rocky +eminence which rendered it wonderfully adapted to fortification and +defence, the mountain being so steep, in fact, that a missile dropped from +the summit would fall directly upon a ship in mid-channel. It is thought +by some students that some unchronicled Spanish navigator may have +actually made the inland passage up the Alaskan coast and that some report +of it may have become transformed into Maldonado’s story. Fonte’s story +seems to have first appeared in a London publication in 1708, though his +voyage was alleged to have been made in 1640. He told a marvellous tale of +a great river which led to a magnificent lake on whose banks stood a great +city. The river he located in latitude 53 degrees, and he named it the Rio +de los Reyes, or River of Kings. This is far north of the Columbia, but +the account persisted in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> popular idea for a long time. The name became +associated with those of the Rio de Aguilar and the River of the West.</p> + +<p>These and other similar tales, the flotsam and jetsam of ocean myths, gave +something of inspiration and suggestion to literature. For even long +before the alleged exploits of Fonte, the fertile mind of Shakspere had +conceived of Caliban and Ariel and other fancies of the age of Western +adventure. And in the next century the prince of political satirists, +Jonathan Swift, had located almost exactly at the mouth of the Rio de +Aguilar, the land of the Brobdingnagians, while the countries into which +the veracious Gulliver was thrown at a later time, Luggnagg and +Blubdubrib, were in the Pacific at a somewhat indefinite distance from the +land of the Giants.</p> + +<p>The land of the Oregon was in short, the land of the great unexplored and +of boundless fancy. Some of the old maps illustrating that period are of +much interest. Zaltieri’s map of 1566 shows a generally accurate +conception of the eastern part of America and of the western coast of +Mexico and California, but the entire continent above about latitude 60 +degrees is occupied with a <i>mare septentrionale incognito</i>. Luck’s map of +1582 presents a fairly good conception of Florida and Mexico, but is +entirely astray on the western coast. The Wytfliet-Ptolemy map of 1597 has +a singularly indented coast running nearly east and west in the location +of Oregon, while Cape Blanco and a river, the Rio de los Estrachos, in +about latitude 51 degrees, seem to be an attempt to denote Aguilar’s cape +of 1543, and to locate the river by still another name, though in a +higher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> latitude. Maldonado’s map of the Strait of Anian of 1609 is +manifestly manufactured to suit the occasion, and is interesting only as +showing how far mendacity and gullibility could travel hand in hand.</p> + +<p>But now the first age of discovery on the coast of Oregon drew to a close. +It cannot be said that much of tangible knowledge had been attained. +Puzzling questions had been raised. Labyrinths of conjecture, with no +definite clues for exit, had been entered. Fascinating romances had been +so interwoven with probable fact that no one could untangle them. A +general conception of a great river and a great north-west passage had +been held up with some distinctness as the goal of navigators. Finally, +most important of all, what had been seen was of so enticingly interesting +a nature and seemed to promise results so important, that they furnished a +motive for continued exploration. It certainly looked as though the +nations would continue the search for the Great River of the West. Spain +had the inside track of all, though Drake and Cavendish and Hawkins had +run down many a richly laden treasure galleon and had laid the booty at +the feet of the Virgin Queen, and many an embittered buccaneer of French +or English race had hounded the flag of Spain across the breadth of half +the seas.</p> + +<p>But a great change was impending. There was a new shuffle of the cards in +the hands of the Fates and the Furies as the seventeenth century moved on +apace. Spain’s time had come. Her cup of iniquity was now full. Her whole +measure of national policy had been the sword for the pagan and the +inquisition for the heretic. The banished Moors of Granada and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> the +murdered “Beggars” of Holland and the wasted Incas and Montezumas of +America united to call down the vengeance of Nemesis upon the destroyer of +a fair world’s peace.</p> + +<p>The stupendous struggles engendered by the Reformation, culminating in the +Thirty Years’ War, went on almost without pause for over a century. That +strife, ending at Westphalia in 1648, saw Spain prostrate and the +principle of religious toleration triumphant. But almost immediately +another struggle arose, the natural successor of the first, the struggle +against the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons. As may well be seen, the +nations of Europe were so enchained in the strife against Pope and King +that they had little thought for new discoveries. Over a hundred and sixty +years passed after the voyage of Aguilar before there was another serious +movement of discovery on the coast of Oregon.</p> + +<p>This new movement of Pacific exploration, destined to continue with no +cessation to our own day, was ushered in by Spain. There was even yet much +vitality in the fallen mistress of the world. Impelled by both religious +zeal and hope of material gain, the immigration of 1769 went forth from La +Paz to San Diego and Monterey. That inaugurated the singular and poetic, +in some aspects even beautiful, history of Spanish California, an era +which has provided so much of romance and poetry for literature in the +California of our own times. The march of events had made it plain to the +Spanish Government that, if it was to retain a hold on the Pacific Coast, +it must bestir itself. Russia, England, and France, released in a measure +from the pressure of European struggles,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> were fitting out expeditions to +resume the arrested efforts of the sixteenth century. It seemed plain also +that colonial America was going to be an active rival on the seas. And +well may it have so seemed, for, in the sign of the Yankee sailor, the +conquest was to be made.</p> + +<p>But just at that important juncture a most favouring condition arose for +Spain. The government of England precipitated the struggle of the American +Revolution. France soon joined to strike her island rival a deadly blow by +assisting in the liberation of the colonies. For the time, Spain had +nearly a clear field for Pacific discovery, so far as England and France +were concerned. As for Russia, the danger was more imminent. Russia had, +indeed, begun to look in the direction of Pacific expansion a long time +prior to the Spanish immigration to California. That vast monarchy, +transformed by the genius of Peter the Great, had stretched its arms from +the Baltic to the Aleutian Archipelago, and had looked from the frozen +seas of Siberia to the open Pacific as a fairer field for expansion. Many +years elapsed, however, before Peter’s great designs could be fulfilled. +Not till 1741 did Vitus Behring thread the thousand islands of Sitka and +gaze upon the glaciated crest of Mt. St. Elias. And it was not till thirty +years later that it became understood that the Bay of Avatcha was +connected by the open sea with China. In 1771 the first cargo of furs was +shipped directly from Avatcha to Canton. Then first the vastness of the +Pacific Ocean was comprehended. Then first it was understood that the same +waters which lashed the frozen ramparts of Kamchatka encircled the coral +islands of the South<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Sea and roared against the stormy barriers of Cape +Horn.</p> + +<p>The Russians had not found the Great River, though it appears that Behring +in 1771 had gone as far south as latitude 46 degrees, just the parallel of +the mouth of the Columbia. But he was so far off the coast as not to see +it.</p> + +<p>Three Spanish voyages followed in rapid succession: that of Perez in 1774, +of Heceta in 1775, and of Bodega in 1779. The only notable things in +connection with the voyage of Perez were his discovery of Queen +Charlotte’s Island, with the sea-otter furs traded by the natives, the +first sight of that superb group of mountains which we now call the +Olympic, but which the Spaniards named the Sierra de Santa Rosalia, and +finally the fine harbour of Nootka on Vancouver Island, named by Perez +Port San Lorenzo, for years the centre of the fur-trade and the general +rendezvous of ships of all nations. But no river was found.</p> + +<p>With another year a still completer expedition was fitted out, Bruno +Heceta being commander and Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, second in +command. This voyage was the most important and interesting thus far in +the history of the Columbia River exploration. For Heceta actually found +the Great River, so long sought and so constantly eluding discovery. On +June 10, 1775, Heceta passed Cape Mendocino, and entered a small bay just +northward. There he entered into friendly relations with the natives and +took solemn possession of the country in the name of His Catholic Majesty +of Spain. Sailing thence northward, he again touched land just south of +the Straits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> of Fuca, but there he met disaster at the ill-omened point +subsequently named Destruction Island. For there his boat landing for +exploration was set upon by the savage inhabitants, and the entire +boat-load murdered. Moving southward again, on August 15th, in latitude 46 +degrees 10 minutes, Heceta found himself abreast of some great river. +Deciding that this must be indeed the mysterious Strait of Fuca, or the +long concealed river of the other ancient navigators, he made two efforts +to enter, but the powerful current and uncertain depths deterred him, and +he at last gave up the effort and bore away for Monterey. Three additional +names were bestowed upon the River at this time. Thinking the entrance a +bay, Heceta named it, in honour of the day, Ensenada de Asuncion. Later it +was more commonly known as Ensenada de Heceta, while the Spanish charts +designated the river as Rio de San Roque. The name of Cabo de Frondoso +(Leafy Cape) was bestowed upon the low promontory on the south, now known +as Point Adams, while upon the picturesque headland on the north which we +now designate as Cape Hancock, the devout Spaniards conferred the name of +Cabo de San Roque, August 16th being the day sacred to that saint.</p> + +<p>The original account given by Heceta is so interesting that we insert it +here:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>On the 17th day of August I sailed along the coast to the 46th degree, +and observed that from the latitude 47 degrees 4 minutes to that of 46 +degrees 10 minutes, it runs in the angle of 18 degrees of the second +quadrant, and from that latitude to 46 degrees 4 minutes, in the angle +of 12 degrees of the same quadrant; the soundings, the shore, the +wooded character of the country, and the little islands, being the +same as on the preceding days.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>On the evening of this day I discovered a large bay, to which I gave +the name Assumption Bay, and a plan of which will be found in this +journal. Its latitude and longitude are determined according to the +most exact means afforded by theory and practice. The latitudes of the +two most prominent capes of this bay are calculated from the +observations of this day.</p> + +<p>Having arrived opposite this bay at six in the evening, and placed the +ship nearly midway between the two capes, I sounded and found bottom +in four brazas [nearly four fathoms]. The currents and eddies were so +strong that, notwithstanding a press of sail, it was difficult to get +out clear of the northern cape, towards which the current ran, though +its direction was eastward in consequence of the tide being at flood. +These currents and eddies caused me to believe that the place is the +mouth of some great river, or of some passage to another sea. Had I +not been certain of the latitude of this bay, from my observations of +the same day, I might easily have believed it to be the passage +discovered by Juan de Fuca, in 1592, which is placed on the charts +between the 47th and the 48th degrees; where I am certain no such +strait exists; because I anchored on the 14th day of July midway +between these latitudes, and carefully examined everything around. +Notwithstanding the great difference between this bay and the passage +mentioned by De Fuca, I have little difficulty in conceiving they may +be the same, having observed equal or greater differences in the +latitudes of other capes and ports on this coast, as I will show at +the proper time; and in all cases latitudes thus assigned are higher +than the real ones.</p> + +<p>I did not enter and anchor in this port, which in my plan I suppose to +be formed by an island, notwithstanding my strong desire to do so; +because, having consulted with the second captain, Don Juan Perez, and +the pilot Don Christoval Revilla, they insisted I ought not to attempt +it, as, if we let go the anchor, we should not have men enough to get +it up, and to attend to the other operations which would be thereby +necessary. Considering this, and also, that in order to reach the +anchorage, I should be obliged to lower my long boat <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>(the only boat I +had) and to man it with at least fourteen of the crew, as I could not +manage with fewer, and also as it was then late in the day, I resolved +to put out; and at the distance of three leagues I lay to. In the +course of that night, I experienced heavy currents to the south-west, +which made it impossible to enter the bay on the following morning, as +I was far to leeward. These currents, however, convinced me that a +great quantity of water rushed from this bay on the ebb of the tide.</p> + +<p>The two capes which I name in my plan, Cape San Roque and Cape +Frondoso, lie in the angle of 10 degrees of the third quadrant. They +are both faced with red earth and are of little elevation.</p> + +<p>On the 18th I observed Cape Frondoso, with another cape, to which I +gave the name of Cape Falcon, situated in the latitude of 45 degrees +43 minutes, and they lay at an angle of 22 degrees of the third +quadrant, and from the last mentioned cape I traced the coast running +in the angle of 5 degrees of the second quadrant. This land is +mountainous, but not very high, nor so well wooded as that lying +between the latitudes of 48 degrees 30 minutes, and 46 degrees. On +sounding I found great differences: at a distance of seven leagues I +got bottom at 84 brazas; and nearer the coast I sometimes found no +bottom; from which I am inclined to believe there are reefs or shoals +on these coasts, which is also shown by the colour of the water. In +some places the coast presents a beach, in others, it is rocky.</p> + +<p>A flat-topped mountain, which I named the Table, will enable any +navigator to know the position of Cape Falcon without observing it; as +it is in the latitude of 45 degrees 28 minutes, and may be seen at a +great distance, being somewhat elevated.</p></div> + +<p>It may be added that the Cape Falcon of Heceta was the bold elevation +fronting the sea, known now as Tillamook Head, while the Table Mountain +was doubtless what we now call Nekahni Mountain, both points especially +the scenes of Indian myth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>Such was the actual discovery of the Columbia River, and as such the +Spaniards justly laid claim to Oregon. Their treaty with the United States +in 1819 was the formal conveyance of their claims to us. Nevertheless +Heceta only half discovered the River. It seems very strange that with the +all-important object of two centuries’ search before him, he should so +readily have succumbed to the fear of the powerful outstanding current. +But the Spaniards were not in general the patient and persistent students +of the shores that the English and Americans were. Their charts were in +general worthless. Nevertheless Spain came nearest “making good” of any of +the European powers. In 1779 Bodega and Arteaga sailed far north and +sighted a vast snow peak “higher than Orizaba,” which was doubtless St. +Elias. In the same year Martinez and De Haro established themselves at +Nootka. Subsequent voyages of Bodega, Valdez, and Galiano, and their first +circumnavigation of Vancouver Island (named by them Quadra’s Island, but, +by mutual courtesy and good-will of the British and Spanish rivals, +designated Vancouver’s and Quadra’s Island), gave them a clear title to +the Pacific Coast of North America from latitude 60 degrees to Mexico.</p> + +<p>But “that is another story.” What of the Great River? In the very year of +the declaration of American independence, the most elaborate expedition +yet fitted out for western discovery, set forth from England in command of +that Columbus of the eighteenth century, Captain James Cook. After nearly +two years of important movements in the Southern Hemisphere and among the +Pacific Islands, Cook turned to that goal of all nations, the coast of +Oregon. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> the same singular fatality which had baffled many of the +explorers thus far, attended this most skilful navigator and best equipped +squadron thus far seen on Pacific waters. For Cook passed and repassed the +near vicinity of both the Straits of Fuca and the Columbia River, but +without finding either. Killed by the treacherous natives of Hawaii in +1778, Cook left a great name, a more intelligent conception of world +geography than was known before, and greatly strengthened claims by Great +Britain to the ownership of pivotal points of the Pacific. Of all the +great English navigators, Cook is perhaps best entitled to join the grand +chorus that sings the <i>Songs of Seven Seas</i>. But he did not see the Great +River of the West. What had become of it? After the fleeting vision which +it accorded to Heceta, it seemed to have gone into hiding.</p> + +<p>But a new set of motives came into play immediately after Cook’s voyage. +The two ships, the <i>Resolution</i> and <i>Discovery</i>, took with them to China a +quantity of furs from Nootka. A few years earlier, as previously stated, +the Russian fur-trade from Avatcha to China had been inaugurated. A great +demand for peltries sprang up at once. A new régime dawned in Chinese and +East India trade. Gold, silver, and jewels had not thus far rewarded the +search of explorers. They were reserved for our later days of need. But +the fur-trade was as good as gold. The North Pacific Coast, already +interesting, assumed a new importance in the eyes of Europeans. The +“struggle for possession” was on. The ships of all nations converged upon +the fabled Strait and River of Oregon. English, Dutch, French, Portuguese, +Spanish, Americans,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> began in the decade of the eighties to crowd to the +land where the sea-otter, beaver, seal, and many other of the most +profitable furs could be obtained for a trifle. The dangers of trading and +the chances of the sea were great, but the profits of success were yet +greater.</p> + +<p>The fur-trade began to take the place of the gold hunt as a matter of +international strife. The manner in which our own country, weak and +discordant as its different members were when just emerging from the +Revolutionary War, entered the lists, and by the marvellous allotment of +Fortune or the design of Providence, slipped in between the greater +nations and secured the prize of Oregon, is one of the epics of history, +one which ought to have some native Tasso or Calderon to celebrate its +triumph.</p> + +<p>Following quickly upon the conclusion of the American War, came a series +of British, French, and Russian voyages, which gradually centred more +particularly about Vancouver Island and Nootka Sound. The British exceeded +the others in numbers and enterprise. Among them we find names now +preserved at many conspicuous points on the northern coast: as Portlock, +Hanna, Dixon, Duncan, and Barclay. The most notable of the French was La +Pérouse, who was best equipped for scientific research of any one. A +number of Russian names appear at that period, most of which may yet be +found upon the maps of Alaska, as Schelikoff, Ismyloff, Betschareff, +Resanoff, Krustenstern, and Baranoff.</p> + +<p>But none of them set eyes on the River, and it seemed more mythical than +ever. As a result, however, of their various expeditions, incomplete +though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> they were, each nation followed the usual practice of claiming +everything in sight, either in sight of the eye or the imagination, and +demanded the whole coast by priority of discovery.</p> + +<p>Never did a geographical entity seem so to play the <i>ignis fatuus</i> with +the world as did the River. Thirteen years elapsed from the discovery of +the Rio San Roque by Heceta before any one of the dozens who had meanwhile +passed up and down the coast, looked in again between the Cabo de Frondoso +and the Cabo de San Roque. Then there came on one negative and two +positive discoveries, and the elusive stream was really found never to be +lost again.</p> + +<p>The negative discovery was that of Captain John Meares in 1788. Since +England afterwards endeavoured to make the voyages of Meares an important +link in her chain of proof to the ownership of Oregon, it is worthy of +some special attention. It happened on this wise. Meares came first to the +coast of Oregon in 1786, in command of the <i>Nootka</i> to trade for furs for +the East India Company. With the <i>Nootka</i> was the <i>Sea-Otter</i>, in command +of Captain Walter Tipping. Both seem to have been brave and capable +seamen. But disaster followed on their track. For having sailed far up the +coast, they followed the Aleutian Archipelago eastward to Prince William’s +Sound. Separated on the journey, the <i>Nootka</i> reached a safe haven, but +her consort never arrived, nor was she ever heard of more. The <i>Nootka</i>, +after an Arctic winter of distress and after losing a large part of the +crew through the ravages of scurvy, abandoned the trade and returned to +China. Discouraged by the outcome, the East India Company abandoned the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +American trade and confined themselves henceforth to India.</p> + +<p>But Meares, finding that the Portuguese had special privileges in the +fur-trade and in the harbour of Nootka, entered into an arrangement with +some Portuguese traders whereby he went nominally as supercargo, but +really as captain of the <i>Felice</i>, under the Portuguese flag. With her +sailed the <i>Iphigenia</i> with William Douglas occupying a place similar to +that of Meares. In estimating the subsequent pretensions of Great Britain, +the student of history may well remember that these two mariners, though +Englishmen, were sailing under the flag of Portugal.</p> + +<p>Reaching again the coast of Oregon, Meares looked in, June 29, 1788, at +the broad entrance of an extensive strait which he believed to be the +mythical Strait of Juan de Fuca of two centuries earlier, but which he did +not pause to explore. He had resolved to solve the riddle of the Rio San +Roque or the Ensenada de Asuncion or de Heceta, and turned his prow +southward. On July 5th, in latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, he perceived a +deep bay which he considered at once to be the object of his search. +Essaying to enter, he found the water shoaling with dangerous rapidity and +a prodigious easterly swell breaking on the shore. From the masthead it +seemed that the breakers extended clear across the entrance. With rather +curious timidity for a bold Briton right on the eve of a discovery for +which all nations had been looking, Meares lost courage and hauled out, +attaching the name Deception Bay to the inlet and Cape Disappointment to +the northern promontory, the last a name still officially used.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>Meares left as his final conclusion in the matter, the following +memorandum: “We can now assert that there is no such river as that of St. +Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts.” In view of this statement +of the case it would certainly seem that he could not be accepted as a +witness for English discovery, even if the Portuguese flag had not been +flying at his masthead.</p> + +<p>After bestowing the name of Lookout upon the great headland christened +Cape Falcon by Heceta and known to us as Tillamook Head, Meares squared +away for Nootka, and there he spent a very profitable season in the +fur-trade.</p> + +<p>But into the harbour of Nootka that same year of 1788, there sailed the +ship of destiny, the <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>, in command of John Kendrick. +With the <i>Columbia</i> came the <i>Lady Washington</i>, commanded by Robert Gray. +These were the advance guard of Yankee ships which the energies of our +liberated forefathers were sending forth as an earnest of the coming +conquest of Oregon by the universal Yankee nation.</p> + +<p>Gray and Kendrick were engaged in the fur-trade, and their energy and +intelligence made it speedily profitable. It took a long time and a long +arm, sure enough, in that day, to complete the great circuit of the +outfitting, the bartering, the transferring, the return trip, and the +final sale;—three years in all. The ship would be fitted out in Boston or +New York with trinkets, axes, hatchets, and tobacco, and proceed by the +Horn to the coast of Oregon,—six months or sometimes eight. Then up and +down the coast, as far as known, they would trade with natives for the +precious furs, making a profit of a thousand per cent. on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> investment. +Gray on one occasion got for an axe a quantity of furs worth $8000. The +fur-barter would take another six or eight months. Then with hold packed +with bales of furs, the ship would square away for Macao or Canton, six or +eight months more. In China, the cargo of furs would go out and a cargo of +nankeens, teas, and silks go in, with a great margin of profit at both +ends. Then away again to Boston, there to sell the proceeds of that three +years’ “round-up” of the seas, for probably ten times the entire cost of +outfitting and subsistence. The glory, fascination, and gain of the ocean +were in it, and also its dangers. Of this sufficient witness is found in +vanished ships, murdered crews, storm, scurvy, famine, and war. But it was +a great age. Gray and Kendrick were as good specimens of their keen, +facile, far-sighted countrymen, as Meares and Vancouver were of the +self-opinionated, determined, yet withal manly and thorough Britons.</p> + +<p>Among other pressing matters, such as looking out for good fur-trade in +order to recoup the Boston merchants who had put their good money into the +venture, and looking out for the health of their crew, steering clear of +the uncharted reefs and avoiding the treacherous natives, Gray and +Kendrick remembered that they were also good Americans. They must see that +the new Stars and Stripes had their due upon the new coast.</p> + +<p>The first voyage of the two Yankee skippers was ended and they set forth +for another round in 1791, but with ships exchanged, Gray commanding the +<i>Columbia</i> on this second voyage. The year 1792 was now come, and it was a +great year in the annals of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> Oregon, three hundred years from Columbus, +two hundred from Juan de Fuca. The struggle between England and Spain over +conflicting rights at Nootka, which at one time threatened war, had been +settled with a measure of amicability. As a commissioner to represent +Great Britain, Captain George Vancouver was sent out, while Bodega y +Quadra was empowered to act in like capacity for Spain. Spaniards and +Britons alike realised that, whatever the Nootka treaty may have been, +possession was nine points of the law, and both redoubled their efforts to +push discovery, and especially to make the first complete exploration of +the Straits of Fuca and the supposed Great River. There were great names +among the Spaniards in that year, some of which still commemorate some of +the most interesting geographical points, as Quimper, Malaspina, Fidalgo, +Caamano, Elisa, Bustamente, Valdez, and Galiano. A list of British names +now applied to many points, as Vancouver, Puget, Georgia, Baker, Hood, +Rainier, St. Helens, Whidby, Vashon, Townsend, and others, attests the +name-bestowing care of the British commander.</p> + +<p>In going to Nootka as British commissioner, Vancouver was under +instructions to make the most careful examination of the coast, especially +of the rivers or any interoceanic channels, and thereby clear up the many +conundrums of the ocean on that shore. With the best ship, the war sloop +<i>Discovery</i>, accompanied by the armed tender <i>Chatham</i>, in command of +Lieutenant W. R. Broughton, and with the best crew and best general +equipment yet seen on the coast, it would have been expected that the +doughty Briton would have found all the important places yet unfound. +That<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> the Americans beat him in finding the River and that the Spaniards +beat him in the race through the Straits and around Vancouver Island, may +be regarded as due partly to a little British obstinacy at a critical +time, but mainly due to the appointment of the Fates.</p> + +<p>On April 27, 1792, Vancouver passed a “conspicuous point of land composed +of a cluster of hummocks, moderately high and projecting into the sea.” +This cape was in latitude 46 degrees 19 minutes, and Vancouver decided +that here were doubtless the Cape Disappointment and Deception Bay of +Meares. In spite of the significant fact that the sea here changed its +colour, the British commander was so prepossessed with the idea that +Meares must have decided correctly the nature of the entrance (for how was +it possible for an English sailor to be wrong and a Spaniard right?) that +he decided that the opening was not worthy of more attention and passed on +up the coast. So the English lost their second great chance of being first +to enter the River.</p> + +<p>Two days later the lookout reported a sail, and as the ships drew +together, the newcomer was seen to be flying the Stars and Stripes. It was +the <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>, Captain Robert Gray, of Boston. In response to +Vancouver’s rather patronising queries, the Yankee skipper gave a summary +of his log for some months past. Among other things he stated that he had +passed what seemed to be a powerful river in latitude 46 degrees 10 +minutes, which for nine days he had tried in vain to enter, being repelled +by the strength of the current. He now proposed returning to that point +and renewing his effort. Vancouver declined to reconsider his previous +decision that there could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> no large river, and passed on to make his +very elaborate exploration of the Straits of Fuca and their connected +waters, and to discover to his great chagrin, that the Spaniards had +forestalled him in point of time.</p> + +<p>The vessels parted. Gray sailed south and on May 10, 1792, paused abreast +of the same reflex of water where before for nine days he had tried vainly +to enter. The morning of the 11th dawned clear and favourable, light wind, +gentle sea, a broad, clear channel, plainly of sufficient depth. The time +was now come. The man and the occasion met. Gray seems from the first to +have been ready to take some chances for the sake of some great success. +He always hugged the shore closely enough to be on intimate terms with it. +And he was ready boldly to seize and use favouring circumstances. So, as +laconically stated in his log-book, he ran in with all sail set, and at +ten o’clock found himself in a large river of fresh water, at a point +about twenty miles from the ocean.</p> + +<p>The geographical Sphinx was answered. Gray was its Œdipus, though +unlike the ancient Theban myth there was no need that either the Sphinx of +the Oregon coast or its discoverer perish. The River recognised and +welcomed its master.</p> + +<p>The next day the <i>Columbia</i> moved fifteen miles up the stream. Finding +that he was out of the channel, Gray stopped further progress and turned +again seaward. Natives, apparently friendly disposed, thronged in canoes +round the ship, and a large quantity of furs was secured.</p> + +<p>The River already bore many names, but Gray added another, and it was the +one that has remained,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> the name of his good ship <i>Columbia</i>. Upon the +southern cape he bestowed the name of Adams, and upon the northern, the +name Hancock. These also remain.</p> + +<p>The great exploit was completed. The long sought River of the West was +found, and by an American. The path of destiny for the new Republic of the +West was made secure. Without Oregon we probably would not have acquired +California, and without a Pacific Coast, the United States would +inevitably have been but a second-class power, the prey to European +intrigue. The vast importance of the issue then becomes clear. Gray’s +happy voyage, that Yankee foresight and confidence in his seamanship and +intuitive suiting of times and conditions to results which marks the vital +turning points of history, differentiate Gray’s discovery from all others +upon our north-west coast.</p> + +<p>As we view the matter now, a century and more later, we can see that our +national destiny, and especially the vast part that we now seem at the +point of taking in world interests through the commerce of the Pacific, +hung in the balance to a certain extent upon the stubborn adherence by +Vancouver, the Briton, to the preconceived opinion that there was no +important river at the point designated by his Spanish predecessor, and +the contrasted readiness of the American Gray to embrace boldly the +chances of some great discovery. It is true that the “Oregon Question” was +not to be settled for several decades. Much diplomacy and contention, +almost to the verge of war, were yet to come, but Gray’s fortunate dash, +“with all sail set, in between the breakers to a large river of fresh +water,” gave our nation a lead in the ultimate adjustment of the case, +which we never lost.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>We have said that there was one negative discovery—that of Meares—and +two positive ones. Gray’s was one of the two, and that of Broughton, in +command of the <i>Chatham</i> accompanying Vancouver, was the other.</p> + +<p>On the 20th of May, the <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>—a most auspicious name—bade +adieu to the scene of her glory, and with the Stars and Stripes floating +in triumph at her mizzen-mast, turned northward. Again the American +captain encountered Vancouver and narrated to him his discovery of the +Columbia. With deep chagrin at his own failure in the two most important +objects of discovery in his voyage, the British commander directed +Broughton to return to latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, enter the river, +and proceed as far up as time allowed.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, on October 21st, the companion ships parted at the mouth of +the River, the <i>Discovery</i> proceeding to Monterey, while the <i>Chatham</i> +crossed the bar, described by Broughton as very bad, and endeavoured to +ascend the bay that stretched out beautiful and broad before them. But +finding the channel intricate and soundings variable, the lieutenant +deemed it advisable to leave the ship at a point which must have been +about twenty miles from the ocean, and to proceed thence in the cutter.</p> + +<p>There is one thing observable in Vancouver’s account of this expedition of +Broughton, and that is extreme solicitude to establish these two +propositions:—first, that the lower part of the Columbia is a bay and +that its true mouth is at a point above that reached by Gray; and second, +that the River is much smaller than it really is. It is hard to reconcile +the language<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> used in Broughton’s report as given by Vancouver with the +supposition of candour and honesty. For while it is true that the lower +part of the River is of bay-like expanse from four to nine miles in width, +yet it is entirely fresh and has all river characteristics. One of the +points especially made by Gray was that he filled his casks with fresh +water. Moreover, the bar is entirely at the ocean limit. So completely +does the River debouch into the Ocean, in fact, that in the great flood of +1894 the clams were killed on the ocean beaches for a distance of several +miles on either side of the outer headlands through the freshening of the +sea.</p> + +<p>As to the size of the River, Broughton gives its width repeatedly as half +a mile or a quarter of a mile, whereas it is at almost no point below the +Cascades less than a mile in width, and a mile and a half is more usual. +Broughton expresses the conviction that it can never be used for +navigation by vessels of any size. In view of the vast commerce now +constantly passing in and out, the absurdity of that idea is and has been +for years sufficiently exhibited. The animus of the British explorers is +obvious. By showing that the mouth of the River was really an inlet of the +sea, they hoped to lay a claim to British occupancy as against Gray’s +discovery, and by belittling the size of the River they hoped to save +their own credit with the British Admiralty for having lost so great a +chance for first occupation.</p> + +<p>Broughton ascended the River to a point near the modern town of Washougal. +He bestowed British names after the general fashion, as Mt. Hood, Cape +George, Vancouver Point, Puget’s Island, Young’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> Bay, Menzies’ Island, +and Whidby’s River. With true British assurance, he felt that he had +“every reason to believe that the subjects of no other civilised nation or +state had ever entered this river before; in this opinion he was confirmed +by Mr. Gray’s sketch, in which it does not appear that Mr. Gray either saw +or was ever within five leagues of its entrance.” Therefore he “took +possession of the river, and the country in its vicinity, in His Britannic +Majesty’s name.”</p> + +<p>In view of all the circumstances of Gray’s discovery, and his impartation +of it to the British, this language of Vancouver has a coolness, as John +Fiske remarks, which would be very refreshing on a hot day.</p> + +<p>On November 10th, the <i>Chatham</i> crossed the bar outward bound for Monterey +to join the <i>Discovery</i>.</p> + +<p>Such, in rapid view, were the essential facts in the long and curiously +complicated finding of our River. We see that various nations bore each a +part. We see the foundation of the subsequent contention between Great +Britain and the United States.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p class="chapter">The First Steps across the Wilderness in Search of the River</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Jefferson and Ledyard—Verendrye—Montcachabe, the Indian—The +Indians—The Canadians—Results of the Louisiana Purchase—Fitting out +the Lewis and Clark Expedition—The Winter with the Mandans—Crossing +of the Great Divide—Meeting of Sacajawea and Cameahwait—Descent from +the Mountains to the Clearwater and Kimooenim—Canoe Journey Down the +Snake and Columbia—First Sight of Mt. Hood—Clark in the Rôle of a +Magician—The Timm or Great Falls—The Sunken Forests—First +Appearances of the Tide—The Winter of 1805-06 at Fort Clatsop—The +Beginning of the Return Trip—Faithfulness of the Indians—Reception +of Lewis and Clark in the States—The Hunt Expedition—The <i>Voyageurs</i> +and Trappers—Slow Progress to the Snake River—Disasters and Distress +along the “Accursed Mad River”—Starvation—New Year’s Day of 1812—A +Respite from Suffering in the Umatilla—First Sight of the Columbia +and the Mid-winter Descent to Astoria—Melancholy Lot of Crooks and +Day—Results of the Hunt Expedition.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> Pacific North-west was discovered both by land and by sea. To Thomas +Jefferson, the great apostle of Democracy, is due the gathering of +American interests in the far West, and the opening of the road by which +American sovereignty was to reach the Pacific. His great mind outran that +of the ordinary statesman of his time, and, with what seems at first sight +the strangest inconsistency in our political history, he was the +State-rights theorist and at the same time the creator of nationality +beyond any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> other one of our early statesmen. Away back in 1786, Jefferson +met John Ledyard, one of Cook’s associates in his great voyage to the +Pacific Ocean, and grasped from the eager and energetic Yankee sailor, the +idea of American destiny on the Pacific Coast. The fertile mind of +Jefferson may justly be considered as the fountain of American exploration +up the Missouri, across the crest of the Shining Mountains, as they then +called the Rockies, and down the Columbia to the Pacific. Although +Jefferson never himself took any steps beyond the Alleghanies, he was the +inspiration of all the Americans who did take those steps.</p> + +<p>Since we are speaking of first steps across the wilderness we should not +forget that those of other nationalities than ours first crossed the +American continent. The honour of the pioneer expedition to the crest of +the Rocky Mountains belongs to the Frenchman, Verendrye. In 1773 he set +forth from Montreal for the Rocky Mountains, and made many important +explorations. His party is said to have reached the vicinity of the site +of Helena, but never saw the sunset side of the Great Divide.</p> + +<p>We are told by the interesting French writer, La Page, that the first man +to proceed across the continent to the shores of the Pacific was a Yazoo +Indian, Montcachabe or Montcacht Ape by name. According to the story, his +two-year journey across the great wilderness through every species of +peril and hardship, savage beasts and forbidding mountains and deserts, +hostile Indians often barring his progress for many days, was one of the +most remarkable explorations ever made by man. This Yazoo Indian with the +long name was a veritable Columbus in the nature of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> his achievements. But +results for the world could hardly follow his enterprise.</p> + +<p>The first traveller to lead a party of civilised men through the Shining, +or the Stony Mountains, finally known as Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific +Ocean, was Alexander Mackenzie, a canny Scotchman, leading a party of +Scotch and French Canadian explorers. In 1793 he reached the Pacific Coast +at the point of 52 degrees 24 minutes 48 seconds north latitude. His +inscription upon a rock with letters of vermilion and grease, were read +many years afterwards: “Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by land, July 22, +1793.”</p> + +<p>But the explorations of Canadians were too far north to come within the +scope of the Pacific North-west of our day. We must therefore take up the +American expeditions which proceeded from the master mind of Jefferson. +The first of these was the expedition of Lewis and Clark. This expedition +did more to broaden the American mind and to fix our national destiny than +any similar event in our whole history.</p> + +<p>As soon as Jefferson was inaugurated president, he had urged upon Congress +the fitting out of an expedition “to explore the Missouri River and such +principal streams of it as, by its course of communication with the waters +of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other +river, may offer the most direct and practical water communication across +the continent, for the purposes of commerce.”</p> + +<p>But before anything had actually been accomplished in the way of +exploration, that vast and important event, the Louisiana Purchase, had +been effected. The significance of this event was but little understood at +the time, even by statesmen, but Jefferson realised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> that a great thing +had been accomplished towards the development of the nation. His +enthusiasm and hopefulness spread to Congress and to the leaders of +opinion throughout the land. A like enthusiasm soon possessed the mass of +population, and emigration westward began. Already the older West was +teeming with that race of pioneers which has made up the life and the +grandeur of the nineteenth century. The American hive began to swarm. “Out +West” began to mean something more than Ohio and Kentucky. The distant +sources of the Missouri and the heights of the Shining Mountains, with all +the fantastic tales that had been told of them, were drawing our +grandfathers farther and farther from the old colonial America of the +eastern coast, and were beginning to modify the whole course of American +history. The atmosphere of boundless expectation gathered over farm and +town in the older States and the proposed expedition of Lewis and Clark +fascinated the people as much as the voyage of Columbus fascinated the +Spain of his day.</p> + +<p>And what manner of men were in charge of this expedition, thus filled with +both interest and peril? Meriwether Lewis was the leader of the party. He +was a captain in the U. S. Army who was well known to Jefferson and who +had been selected by him as possessed of the endurance, boldness, and +energy which made him the fittest man within Jefferson’s knowledge for the +duties of commander. His whole life, from his boyhood days in Virginia, +had been one of bold adventure. It is related that at the tender age of +eight, he was already illustrious for successful midnight forays upon the +coon and possum. He had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> not received a scientific education, but +immediately upon receiving the appointment of commander of the expedition, +he entered with great energy upon the acquisition of knowledge along +geographical lines which would best fit him for preserving an accurate +record of his journey. William Clark, the lieutenant of the expedition, +was also a United States officer, a man of very good judgment, boldness, +and skill in organising his work, and readiness in meeting every kind of +emergency. The party was made up of fourteen United States regular +soldiers, nine Kentucky volunteers, two French voyageurs, a hunter, an +interpreter and a negro servant. The soldiers were offered the munificent +bounty of retirement upon full pay, with a grant of land. By Jefferson’s +directions, the party were encouraged to keep complete records of all they +saw and did. They carried out the instruction so fully that seven journals +besides those of Lewis and Clark themselves, were carefully kept, and in +them a record was made of every important, as well as unimportant, +discovery, even down to the ingredients of their meals and their doses of +medicine. It is safe to say that no expedition was ever more fully or +accurately reported. Although not a single one of the party possessed +literary attainments, there is nevertheless a singular charm about the +combined record which has been recognised to this day by repeated editions +of the work. It was well understood that the success of the expedition +depended largely upon making friends with the Indians, and the explorers +were therefore completely fitted out with beads, mirrors, knives, and all +manner of trinkets.</p> + +<p>The summer of 1804 was spent in an easy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> uneventful journey of five +months up the Missouri to the country of the Mandan Indians, in what is +now Dakota. There they determined to winter. The winter was devoted to +making the acquaintance of Indians and to collecting botanical and +zoölogical specimens, of which they sent President Jefferson a large +amount by a portion of the party which now left them and descended the +River. And, while speaking of their relations to Indians, it is very +interesting to note the attitude Jefferson instructed them to take in +respect to the native tribes. He insisted upon a policy of peace and +good-will toward all the tribes upon the route. It is observable that +Jefferson refers in a most considerate and friendly manner to the Indians, +and instructs the explorers to arrange, if possible, to have some of the +more important chiefs induced to come back with the explorers to the city +of Washington. He also points out the desirability of urging any bright +young Indians to receive such arts as might be useful to them when in +contact with the white men. Jefferson even goes so far as to advise the +explorers to take along vaccine matter that the Indians might be +instructed in the advantages of vaccination. A number of medallion medals +were made that were intended to be given as presents to Indian chiefs, the +inscription of which was “Peace and Friendship,” with the design of +clasped hands. These medals, it may be remarked, seem to have been prized +by the Indians as among their greatest treasures. Several of them have +been found in Indian graves; one even in a grave of the Nez Percé Indians +in Idaho.</p> + +<p>While among the Mandans, the expedition was joined by the most attractive +personage in it, that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> to say, Sacajawea. This young Indian woman, the +only woman in the expedition, seems to have furnished the picturesque +element in the composition of the party, and she has in later days become +the subject of great interest on the part of students of Pacific Coast +history.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img01.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Mt. Adams from the South.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>On April 7th, everything was in readiness for resuming their journey up +the River. The explorers embarked again in a squadron of six canoes and +two pirogues.</p> + +<p>On the twelfth day of August, an advance party of the explorers crossed +the Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains, the birthplace of mighty rivers. +Descending the western slope, they found themselves in the country of the +Shoshone Indians. Captain Lewis was leading this advance expedition, and, +as he neared the highest point of the pass, he realised the significance +of the transition from the waters of the Missouri to those of the +Columbia. A quotation from his narrative at this most interesting point of +the journey gives the reader a better conception than any description +could, of the feelings of the explorers:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The road was still plain, and as it led directly toward the mountains, +the stream gradually became smaller, till after their advancing two +miles further, it had so greatly diminished in width that one of the +men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the rivulet, +thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri. As they +proceeded, their hope of seeing the waters of the Columbia rose to +almost painful anxiety; when at the distance of four miles from the +last abrupt turn of the stream, they reached a small gap formed by the +high mountains which recede on either side, leaving room for the +Indian road. From the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains, +which arises with a gentle ascent of about half a mile, issued the +remotest water<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> of the Missouri. They had now reached the hidden +sources of that river, which had never before been seen by civilised +man; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy +fountain,—as they sat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which +yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean,—they felt +themselves rewarded for all their labours and difficulties. They left +reluctantly this interesting spot, and pursuing the Indian road +through the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge from +which they saw high mountains, partially covered with snow, still to +the west of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing +line between the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. They +found the descent much steeper than on the eastern side, and at the +distance of three-quarters of a mile, reached a handsome, bold creek +of cold, clear water running to the westward. They stopped to taste +for the first time the waters of the Columbia.</p></div> + +<p>The party was now upon the western slope of the Great Divide, in the +vicinity of the present Fort Lemhi in Eastern Idaho. They supposed that +they were almost to the Pacific, not realising that a thousand miles of +difficult and dangerous travel and more than two months of time still +separated them from their wished-for goal. The journey, in fact, from the +springs of the Missouri to the navigable waters of the Columbia, proved to +be the most critical of the whole series.</p> + +<p>Soon after passing the crest of the mountains, the party encountered a +band of sixty Indians of the Shoshone tribe, coming to meet them at full +speed, upon fine horses, and armed for battle. Captain Lewis, who always +showed great discretion with Indians, took the Stars and Stripes in his +hand, and advanced alone to meet the party. As soon as the Indians +perceived that he was a white man, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> showed signs of great rejoicing, +and the three leaders of the war-party, dismounting, embraced the American +captain with great exuberance, shouting words which he afterwards +discovered meant, “We are rejoiced! We are rejoiced!” The valiant captain, +however, was much more pleased with the hearty good-will of their +intentions than in the manner of its expression, inasmuch as they had +transferred a good portion of the war paint from their own faces to his. +Lewis now brought up his companions and entered upon a long and friendly +conference with the chief of the party, whose name was Cameahwait. Captain +Lewis, as the representative of the great American nation, set forth to +the eager listeners about him, a glowing report as to the benevolence of +the Great Father at Washington, and his desire that his brothers of the +West should come into friendly relations with him and trade their furs for +the beads and blankets and knives which the Indians so highly prize. He +also explained to them that they would receive from his government guns +and ammunition which would enable them to cope with the dreaded Sioux or +the pitiless Blackfeet. Captain Lewis also greatly aroused the curiosity +of these Indians by indicating to them that he had with him a woman of +their tribe, and also a man who was perfectly black and yet not painted. +He now made a proposition to Cameahwait to go back with him and his +companions to the forks of the Missouri where they had left the main party +with their goods and boats. Cameahwait very gladly agreed to do this and +also to provide them with horses for the journey westward to the navigable +waters of the Columbia.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img02.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Capt. Robert Gray.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img03.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">The <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>After a journey of several days upon the back trail, the party found +themselves again at the forks of the Missouri, but, somewhat to their +surprise and consternation, the main party was not there. The Indians at +first were very much excited, and, believing that they had been deceived +and that the white men were enticing them to destruction, they were at the +point of wreaking vengeance upon them. But with great tact and boldness, +Lewis gave the chief his gun and ammunition, telling him that if it proved +that he had been a deceiver, they might instantly kill him. Reassured, the +Indians proceeded onward and in a short time they could descry the boats, +making their way slowly up the impetuous stream toward a bold promontory +where the Indians were stationed. In the bow of the foremost boat was +seated Sacajawea, clad in her bright red blanket, and gazing eagerly at +the group of Indians, thinking it possible that they might be of her own +tribe. As the boat approached the band, the keen-sighted little Indian +woman soon perceived that these people were indeed of her own Shoshone +tribe. Quickly disembarking, she made her way to them, when suddenly her +eyes fell upon the chief, Cameahwait. Then to the astonishment of the +white men who were with her, she broke forth suddenly into a torrent of +tears which were soon changed into joyful smiles as the chief, with almost +as much emotion as herself, rushed forward to embrace her. She then +explained to Captain Lewis that Cameahwait was her own brother, whom she +had not seen since, as a little girl, she had been seized by the Mandans +and carried into captivity.</p> + +<p>Of course there was now the kindliest feeling <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>between the party of +explorers and the Indians. They found everything that they needed, horses, +provisions, and guides, placed at their disposal. They were at that time, +as would be seen by an inspection of the map, at the head waters of Salmon +River. They hoped that they might find a route down that powerful stream +to navigable water. But the Indians assured them that the river was white +with foam for many miles and disappeared in a chain of terrific snowy +mountains. It became necessary, therefore, to find a more northerly route, +and on the last day of August, with twenty-nine horses, having bidden a +hearty good-bye to the hospitable Shoshones, they turned north-westward +and soon became entangled in the savage ridges and defiles, already +spotted with snow, of the Bitter Root Mountains.</p> + +<p>They were at this time among some of the upper branches of the second +largest tributary of the Columbia, named by them Clark’s Fork, though at +the present time more commonly known by the more rhythmic title of Pend +Oreille. After several days of the most difficult, and indeed dangerous, +journeying of their entire trip, they abandoned the northern route, turned +southward, and soon reached the wild and beautiful stream which they +called the Kooskooskie, commonly known to modern times as the Clearwater, +one of the finest of all the fine rivers of Idaho, the “Gem of the +Mountains.”</p> + +<p>But they were not yet by any means clear of danger. The country still +frowned on them with the same forbidding crags, and the same blinding snow +storms as before. They were approaching the starvation point. The craggy +precipices were marked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> with almost daily accidents to men and beasts. +Their only food was the flesh of their precious horses. Under these +harassing circumstances, it was decided that the wisest thing was for +Captain Clark to take six of his best men and press rapidly forward in +search of game and a more favourable country. After a hard journey of +twenty miles, he found himself upon the crest of a towering cliff, from +which stretched in front a vast open plain. This was the great plain, now +covered with wheat-fields and orchards, lying east and north of the +present city of Lewiston, Idaho. Having made their way down the +declivities of the Bitter Root Mountains to the prairie, where they found +a climate that seemed almost tropical after the bitter cold of the high +mountains, the advance guard camped and waited for the main party to come +up.</p> + +<p>Rejoicing at their release from the distressing conditions of their +passage of the Bitter Root Mountains, they passed onward to a beautiful +mountain-enclosed valley, which must have been in the near vicinity of +what is known as the Kamiah Valley of the present time. Here they found +themselves with a large body of Indians who became known subsequently as +the Nez Percés. These Indians appeared to be the most honest, intelligent, +and attractive they had yet met,—eager to assist them, kind and helpful, +although shrewd and business-like in their trading.</p> + +<p>The Nez Percés imparted to them the joyful news that the Great River was +not far distant. Seeing the Clearwater to be a fine, navigable stream, the +explorers determined to abandon the weary land journey and once more +commit their fortunes to the waters. They left their horses with the Nez +Percés, asking that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> they should meet them at that point in the following +spring when they expected to be on their return trip. The scrupulous +fidelity with which the Nez Percés carried out their trust is some +evidence of the oft-made assertion that the treachery characteristic of +the Indians was learned afterwards from the whites.</p> + +<p>With five large and well-filled canoes, and with a good supply of eatables +and all the other necessaries of life, the explorers now cast themselves +upon the clear, swift current of the Kooskooskie, and on the 10th of +October reached that striking and interesting place where the beautiful +modern town of Lewiston is located, at the junction of the Clearwater and +the Snake. The turbid, angry, sullen Snake, so striking a contrast with +the lesser stream, received from the explorers the name of Kimooenim, its +Indian name. Subsequently they christened it Lewis’s Fork, but the still +less attractive name of Snake is the one by which it is universally known.</p> + +<p>The journey of a hundred and twenty miles from the junction of the +Clearwater and the Snake to the junction of the latter stream with the +mighty Columbia, seems to have been a calm and uneventful journey, though +the explorers record every manner of event, whether important or +unimportant. Knowledge of their approach seems to have reached the Indian +world, and when on October 16th they reached the point where the modern +city of Pasco is located, they were met by a regular procession of two +hundred Indians. The two great rivers were then at their lowest point in +the year, and they found by measurement that the Columbia was 960 yards in +width and the Snake, 575<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> yards. In the glimmering haze of the pleasant +October day they noted how the vast, bare prairie stretched southward +until it was broken by the rounded summits of the Blue Mountains. To their +astonishment, they found that the Sohulks, who lived at the junction of +the rivers, so differed from other Indians that the men were content with +one wife and that they would actually assist her in the drudgery of the +family life. After several days spent in rest and getting fish, which +seemed to throng the river in almost countless numbers, they resumed their +journey upon the magnificent flood of the Columbia. Soon after passing +what we now call the Umatilla Highland, they caught their first glimpse, +clear-cut against the horizon of the south-west, of the bold cone of Mt. +Hood, glistening with its eternal snows. Landing upon the broad prairie +near where Umatilla is now located, Captain Clark shot a crane and a duck. +He then perceived a group of Indians who were almost paralysed with terror +and yet able to make their way with considerable expedition to a little +group of tepees. Having entered one of these, Captain Clark discovered +thirty-two Indians, men, women, and children, all of whom seemed to be in +the greatest terror, wailing and wringing their hands. Endeavouring by +kind looks and gestures to soothe their perturbation, Captain Clark held +up a burning glass to catch a stray sunbeam with which to light his pipe. +Whereupon the consternation of the Indians was redoubled, to be soothed +only by the arrival of the two Indian guides who were accompanying the +party. The terrified Indians explained to the guides that they knew that +Captain Clark must have some bad medicine about him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> for he had dropped +out of the sky with a dead crane and a duck, accompanied by a terrible +noise.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img04.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Mt. Hood from Lost Lake.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The Indians being now convinced that he was a mortal man, and, moreover, +having heard the sound of the violin which the negro servant carried with +him, became so enamoured with the strangers that they stayed up with them +all night, and in the morning collected by hundreds to bid them good-bye.</p> + +<p>The Indians had now given them to understand that in a short time they +would reach the place which they knew as “Timm.” This seems to have been +an Indian word for falls. It still appears in the name Tumwater Falls +applied to the falls at Celilo on the Columbia. A weird, savage place this +proved to be; crags of basalt, thrust through the soil, like clenched +hands, seemed almost to grasp the rushing river. Making several portages, +the voyagers reached that extraordinary place now called The Dalles, or +the “big chute,” where all the waters of the Columbia are squeezed into a +crack only a hundred and fifty feet in width. The River, in fact, is +“turned on edge.” The explorers, finding the shore so rough that it was +difficult to carry their boats over, steered boldly through that witch’s +caldron. Though they must have been carried with frightful rapidity +through the boiling stream, they reached the end of the cataract without +accident. At this point they began to be aware of the fact that they were +reaching the sphere of the white traders from the ocean, for they began to +see blankets, axes, brass kettles, and other articles of civilised +manufacture. The Indians, too, were more saucy, suspicious, and +treacherous than those of the upper country.</p> + +<p>Being launched upon the calm, deep flood of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> River below The Dalles, +they observed the phenomenon of the submerged forest, which at a low state +of water is still conspicuous. They correctly inferred that this indicated +a damming up of the River at some recent time. They thought indeed that it +could not have been more than twenty years previous. We know, however, +that submerged trees or piles, as indicated by remains of old Roman +wharves in Britain, may remain intact for hundreds of years. This place on +the Columbia is, however, one of the most interesting of its many +interesting phenomena. It is evident that within very recent times, +geologically speaking, there was a prodigious rock-slide from the +mountains which closed the River, producing the cataract of the Cascades +and raising the River above, some forty feet.</p> + +<p>Here the explorers had their last portage. On the second day of November +they reached the foot of the Cascades and perceived the movement of the +tide, which made it plain to them that the ocean was near at hand. Yet, in +reality, it was much farther than they thought, for the majestic lower +River extends one hundred and sixty miles from the foot of the last +cataract to the Pacific. It is interesting to notice comments made by the +explorers upon the green and fertile islands at the lower end of the +Cascades, and that spired and turreted volcanic cliff which they called +Beacon Rock, but which we know now as Castle Rock.</p> + +<p>The rest of the journey of Lewis and Clark was a calm floating down the +tranquil flood of the lower Columbia in the midst of the fog and clouds +which at that season of the year generally embrace all objects. On +November 7th the mist suddenly broke away before them, the bold +mountainous shores vanished in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> front, and, through the parted headlands, +they looked forth into the expanse of the ocean.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img05.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Eliot Glacier, Mt. Hood.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Their journey was now ended. They had demonstrated the possibility of +crossing the continent and of linking together the waters of the Missouri +and the Columbia.</p> + +<p>The winter of 1805-06 was spent in log buildings at a point named by the +explorers, Fort Clatsop, situated on the Lewis and Clark River at the +south side of the Columbia a few miles from the present site of Astoria. +The location of this fort has been identified in modern times, as has also +the location of the salt cairn, upon what is now known as the Seaside +Beach, commemorated by an inscription.</p> + +<p>One of the interesting little human touches in the narrative of Captain +Lewis describes the casting of a whale upon Clatsop Beach and the journey +of the party to see the great marine curiosity, as well as to secure some +of its fat and blubber. The Indian woman, Sacajawea, was to be left behind +to keep camp while they were all at the beach, but she put up the earnest +plea that inasmuch as she had never seen any such curiosity as the “big +fish,” and as she had journeyed all those weary miles from the country of +the Mandans, it seemed hard that she should be denied the privilege of +satisfying her eyes with a view of the whale. Lewis remarks that the +request of the poor woman seemed so reasonable that they at once fixed up +camp in such manner that it could be left, and took her with them, to her +intense satisfaction.</p> + +<p>After four months spent in the fogs and mists of the coast, and without +seeing any of the ships which the Indians said were accustomed to come in +considerable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> numbers during the spring and summer, the party turned their +faces homeward on the 23d of March, 1806. The commander posted upon the +fort a notice which read as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The object of this last is that through the medium of some civilised +person who may see the same, it may be made known to the world that +the party consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed +and who were sent out by the Government of the United States to +explore the interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate +the same by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, to the discharge +of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, at which they arrived on the +14th day of November, 1805, and departed on their return to the United +States by the same route by which they had come.</p></div> + +<p>They also gave to the chiefs of the Clatsops and Chinooks certificates, to +which they attached great importance and which were afterwards exhibited +to other explorers, setting forth the just and hospitable treatment which +these Indians had accorded the party.</p> + +<p>The return from Fort Clatsop to the Missouri was in the main a pleasant +and successful journey without extraordinary event, except the fact that +upon their return they discovered the Willamette River, which, strange to +say, had eluded their observation on their journey down the River in +November. The journal contains the somewhat quaint statement that the +chief cultivable region which they discovered in Oregon was Wapatoo +Island, now known as Sauvie’s Island, at the mouth of the Willamette. They +express the conviction that that fertile tract of country and the region +adjoining might sometime support a population of fifty thousand people. +They seem to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> regard this as an extraordinary prophecy of prosperity. +Inasmuch as there are already over four times that number of people in the +city of Portland, it would seem that Lewis and Clark were hardly “boomers” +in the modern sense of the word.</p> + +<p>One interesting thing in connection with the Lewis and Clark expedition +receives special emphasis from them in the account of their return +journey, and that is, the faithfulness, honesty, and devotion of the +Indians when entrusted with any charge, as the care of horses or canoes. +This character of the Indians was so marked that one can hardly avoid the +conclusion that the subsequent troubles with the Indians were due very +largely to abuse by the whites.</p> + +<p>No better summary can be given of the scope of this historic journey than +that by Captain Lewis himself in his journal. He says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The road by which we went out by way of the Missouri to its head is +three thousand ninety-six miles; thence by land by way of Lewis River +over to Clark’s River and down that to the entrance of Traveller’s +Rest Creek, where all the roads from different routes meet; thence +across the rugged part of the Rocky Mountains to the navigable waters +of the Columbia, three hundred and ninety-eight miles, thence down the +river six hundred and forty miles to the Pacific Ocean, making a total +distance of four thousand one hundred and thirty-four miles. On our +return in 1806 we reduced the distance from the Mississippi to the +Pacific Ocean to three thousand five hundred and fifty-five miles.</p></div> + +<p>The safe return of the explorers to their homes created a sensation +throughout the United States and the world. Leaders and men were suitably +rewarded. Though the expedition was not marked by many <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>remarkable +adventures or dramatic events, and though the narration given by the +explorers is of a plain and simple kind with no attempt at literary +ornamentation, yet occurring, as the expedition did, at such a peculiar +juncture in our history, and having such an effect to bridge the chasm +between the old time and the new, this Lewis and Clark expedition has +continued to receive, and justly, more attention than any other journey in +our history. President Jefferson, paying a tribute to Captain Lewis in +1813, expressed himself thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Never did a similar event excite more joy throughout the United +States; the humblest of its citizens have taken a lively interest in +the issue of this journey and looked with impatience for the +information it would furnish. Nothing short of the official journals +of this extraordinary and interesting journey will exhibit the +importance of the service, the courage, devotion, zeal, and +perseverance, under circumstances calculated to discourage, which +animated this little band of heroes, throughout the long dangerous, +and tedious travel.</p></div> + +<p>The expedition of Lewis and Clark may justly be considered as constituting +the first steps across the wilderness. The breadth of the American +continent was now known. The general relations of its rivers and mountain +systems and prairies were understood. Something of its prodigality of +resources became set forth to the world. A dim consciousness of the +connection of this vast Pacific domain with the progress of American +destiny appeared to our grandfathers. And although the wilderness +traversed by this complete expedition did not come into possession of the +United States for many years, yet it might well be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> said that our +subsequent acquirement of it was due to the Lewis and Clark expedition.</p> + +<p>Of the many remarkable explorations which followed, with all of their +adventure and tragedy, we cannot here speak. For several years all the +expeditions to the far West were the outgrowth of the fur-trade. Most +remarkable of these early journeys was that of the Hunt party which was +the land division of the great Astor movement to establish the Pacific Fur +Company. That company was established by John Jacob Astor of New York for +the purpose of making a bold and far-reaching attempt to control the +fur-trade of the Pacific Coast in the interests of the United States. +While the sea division was upon its journey around Cape Horn, the land +division was in process of organisation at St. Louis. Wilson Price Hunt, +the commander of this division, was the second partner in the Astor +company. He had been merchandising for some years at St. Louis, and had +become impressed with the financial profits of the fur-trade as well as +with the vast possibilities of American development on the continent. Hunt +was a fine type of the pioneer promoter of that age. Brave, humane, +cheerful, and resolute, he appears to us as the very flower of the +adventurous Argonauts who were searching for the seal and beaver fleeces +of the far West.</p> + +<p>With Hunt were associated four other partners of the expedition, Crooks, +McKenzie, Miller, and McCellan. Accompanying the party were two English +naturalists, Bradbury and Nuttall, who did the first scientific study of +the Rocky Mountain region. There were forty Canadian <i>voyageurs</i> whose +duties consisted of rowing, transporting, cooking, and general drudgery.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +The remaining twelve of the party consisted of a group of American hunters +and trappers, the leader of whom was a Virginian named John Day. The +company was in all respects fitted out most bountifully.</p> + +<p>There were at that time two great classes of trappers. The first and most +numerous were the Canadian <i>voyageurs</i>. These were mainly of French +descent, many of them being half-breeds. Almost amphibious by nature and +training, gay and amiable in disposition, with true French vivacity and +ingenuity, gliding over every harsh experience with laugh and song, +possessed of quick sympathies and humane instincts which enabled them to +readily find the best side of the Indians,—these French <i>voyageurs</i> +constituted a most interesting as well as indispensable class in the +trapper’s business.</p> + +<p>The free trappers were an entirely different class of men. They were +usually American by birth, Virginia and Kentucky being the homes of most +of them. Patient and indefatigable in their work of trapping, yet, when on +their annual trip to the towns, given to wild dissipation and savage +revellings, indifferent to sympathy or company, harsh and cruel to the +Indians, bold and overbearing, with blood always in their eyes, thunder in +their voices, and guns in their hands, yet underneath all of their harsh +exterior having noble hearts, could they but be reached, these now +vanished trappers have gone to a place in history alongside of the old +Spartans and the followers of Pizarro and Cortez in Spanish conquest.</p> + +<p>Of the many adventures of the Hunt party on the journey up the Missouri, +we cannot speak. For some reason, although taking a more direct route than +did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> Lewis and Clark, and having, to all appearance, a better equipped +party, they did not make so good time. Guided by Indians, they crossed +chain after chain of mountains, supposing each to be the summit, only to +find another yet to succeed. At last on the 15th of September, they stood +upon a lofty eminence over which they could gaze both eastward and +westward. Scanning attentively the western horizon, the guide pointed out +three shining peaks, whose bases, he told them, were touched by a +tributary of the Columbia River. These peaks are now known as the Three +Tetons.</p> + +<p>And now the party set forth upon the long descent of the western slope, +passing mountain after mountain and stream after stream, some of the way +in boats which the <i>voyageurs</i> made from the green timber of the forests, +and much of the way being obliged to carry their effects around cataracts +and rapids, and thus losing much time. Nevertheless, they found one long +stretch of over a hundred miles upon the upper Snake which they navigated +with comparative ease. But having reached what is now known as the Seven +Devils country in South-western Idaho, they found themselves in a chain of +rapids and precipitous bluffs where neither boats nor horses, apparently +nothing but wings, could be of service. This was in fact the beginning of +over a hundred miles of the most ragged and inaccessible region upon the +whole course of the Snake River, a region which even to this day contains +neither road nor steamboat route, and by which the great State of Idaho is +separated into two divisions, neither directly accessible to the other by +any ordinary modes of travel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>After a forty-mile tramp up and down the river, Hunt decided that the only +way to escape the difficulties with which they were surrounded, was to +divide the party into four divisions, hoping that one of them might find +game and a way out of the forbidding volcanic wastes in which they were +beleaguered. Two of the parties soon returned. One, being in charge of +McKenzie, continued upon its course northward and reached the mouth of the +Columbia, without ever again seeing the main party.</p> + +<p>During the weeks that followed, the main party, lost amid the great +mountains which lie eastward from the present vicinity of Baker City and +Wallowa Lake, suffered all the torments of famine and cold. In places the +river ran through volcanic sluiceways, roaring and raging; in some cases, +although within hearing, yet entirely inaccessible, so that although +within sound of its angry raving, the travellers were often obliged to lie +down with tongues parched and swollen for lack of water. The party applied +to this long volcanic “chute” the name of the Devil’s Scuttle-hole, and to +the river they applied the name <i>La Rivière Maudite Enragée</i>, or “Accursed +Mad River.”</p> + +<p>The lives of the party were evidently at stake. In the emergency Hunt +determined to divide his force into two divisions, one on the north and +one on the south side of the river. From the 9th of November until the +first part of December they urged on this dismal and heart-sickening +march. They passed a few wretched Indian camps where they managed to +secure dogs for food, and once they got a few horses. The frightened and +half-starved Indians could give them no clear information as to the +location of the Great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> River, but they signified that they supposed it to +be yet a long way off. The party was evidently approaching something, for +gigantic snowy mountains now loomed dimly through the winter mists. +Finding it impossible to make headway against blinding snowstorms and up +the icy crags, they turned their course down to the river itself and made +a cheerless camp. In the morning they were startled by seeing upon the +opposite side of the river, a group of men more wretched and desolate than +themselves. It soon appeared that this was the other party, which had +entirely failed in finding either food or guidance from the Indians. +Finding it necessary that some provision should be made for these dying +men, Hunt constructed a rude canoe from the limbs of trees and the skin of +one of the horses. In this crazy craft one of the daring Canadian +<i>voyageurs</i> made his way with some of the horse meat, which, poor as it +was, was sufficient to save life for the time.</p> + +<p>With their little remaining strength, they pressed on down the river until +they reached another small village of the wretched Snake Indians. Urging +these Indians to provide for them a guide, and at last securing one by the +most bounteous offers of rewards, Hunt succeeded in gathering all of his +party together, with the exception of six sick men whom they were obliged +to leave to the tender mercies of the Indians.</p> + +<p>For another fortnight, the cold and hungry party floundered painfully +through the snow across the rugged mountains which lie between what we now +know as the Powder River Valley and the Grande Ronde. Reaching a lofty +mountain height on the last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> day of December, they looked far down into a +fair and snowless prairie, bathed in sunshine and appearing to the +winter-worn travellers like a gleam of summer. Moreover, they soon +discerned a group of Indian lodges which they judged were well supplied +with dogs and horses. Thither hastening eagerly, they soon found +themselves in a beautiful valley, which from their description must have +been the Grande Ronde Valley. Beautiful at all times, it must have seemed +trebly so to these ragged and famished wanderers.</p> + +<p>The next morning the new year of 1812 shone in upon them bright and +cheerful, as if to make amends for the stern severity of the outgoing +year. And now the Canadians insisted upon having their New Year’s holiday. +Not even death and famine could rob the light-hearted <i>voyageurs</i> of their +festivals. So with dance and song and with dog meat, roasted, boiled, +fried, and fricasseed, they met the newly-crowned year with their Gallic +happiness and abandon.</p> + +<p>The Indians assured them that they could reach the Great River within +three days. But they found it twice that, and their way led across another +lofty chain of snowy mountains, before the canopy of clouds which hung +above them parted. There, looking far down from their snowy eyre, they +beheld the boundless and sunny plains of the Great River. Swiftly +descending the slopes of the mountains, they emerged upon that finest land +of all Eastern Oregon, the plains of the Umatilla. Here they found the +tribe of the Tushepaw Indians with thirty-four lodges and two hundred +horses. More significant than these to Hunt were axes, kettles, and other +implements of white<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> construction, indicating that these Indians had +already come into communication with the traders upon the lower River. In +answer to his eager questions, the Tushepaws informed him that the Great +River was but two days distant and that a small party of white men had +just descended it. Being now certain that this was the advance guard which +had left him at the Devil’s Scuttle-hole, Hunt felt sure that they were +safe and was therefore relieved of one great anxiety.</p> + +<p>After a few days’ rest upon the pleasant prairies and in the comparatively +genial climate of the Umatilla, the party set forth upon horses obtained +from the Tushepaws, and after a pleasant ride of two days across the +rolling prairie, they beheld flowing at their feet, a majestic stream, +deep and blue, a mile in width, sweeping toward the sunset, evidently the +Columbia. At the great falls of the River, known to the Indians as the +Timm or the Tumwater, just above what we now call Dalles City, Hunt +exchanged his horses for canoes. This last stage of two hundred and twenty +miles by boat down the River, was calm and peaceful and a refreshing rest +after the distress and disaster of their winter journey through the +mountains. Not till the 15th of February, however, did they reach the +newly christened town of Astoria. Rounding the bluffs of Tongue Point, +they beheld with full hearts the Stars and Stripes floating over the only +civilised abode west of St. Louis. Westward they saw the parted headlands +between which the River pours its floods into the ocean. As the boats drew +near the shore, the whole population, trappers, sailors, and Indians, came +down to meet them. Foremost in the crowd they saw the members of the party +which had gone on ahead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> through the Snake River Mountains. Having had no +hope that Hunt and his men could survive the famine and the cold, these +members of the advance guard were the more rejoiced to see them. The +Canadians, with their French vivacity, rushed into each other’s arms, +sobbing and hugging like so many schoolgirls. Even the nonchalant +Americans and the stiff-jawed Scotchmen smiled and gave themselves up to +the gladness of the hour. The next two or three days were mainly devoted +to eating and telling stories.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, they had lost several of their number from starvation and +drowning along the banks of the Snake River. They had also left six sick +men with the Indians in the heart of the mountains. They had little hope +of ever seeing these again, but the next summer the party on their way up +the Columbia River, saw two wretched looking beings, naked and haggard, +wandering on the river bank near the mouth of the Umatilla. Stopping to +investigate, they discovered that these were Day and Crooks, the leaders +of the party which they had left behind. Their forlorn plight was relieved +with food and clothes, and, having been taken into the boat, they related +their dismal tale. It appeared that they had been provided sufficiently by +the Indians to sustain their lives through the winter. In the spring they +had left the Canadians among the Indians, and had set forth in the hope of +reaching the Great River. But having reached The Dalles, they had been +robbed of rifles and ammunition, stripped of their clothing, and driven +forth into the wilderness. They were almost at the point of a final +surrender to ill-fortune when they beheld the rescuing boat. So, with +joyful hearts, they turned their boat’s prow to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Astoria, which they +reached in safety. But poor Day never regained his health. His mind was +shattered by the hardships of his journey, and he soon pined away and +died. The barren and rugged shores of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon +take on an added interest in view of the sad story of the brave hunter who +discovered them, and who wandered in destitution for so many days beside +them. Strange to say, the four Canadians who remained among the Indians +were afterwards found alive, though utterly destitute of all things. Hence +it appears that the loss of life in this difficult journey was not great.</p> + +<p>The journeys here narrated may be considered as covering what we have +designated as the first steps across the wilderness. Within a few years, +many parties of trappers, explorers, and adventurers, with some +scientists, and a little later, parties of missionaries, made their way +over the great plains, through the defiles of the mountains, and down the +barren shores of the Snake River to the Columbia and the sea. Each party +had its special experiences, and made its special contribution to +geographical or commercial advancement. But to the parties led by Lewis +and Clark and by Hunt, we must accord the greatest meed of praise for +having broken the first pathways across the continent and for having +linked the two oceans by the footsteps of civilised men.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Fur-Traders, their Bateaux, and their Stations</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Importance of the Fur-trade as Connected with all Other Parts of the +History—Fur-hunters Compared with Gold-hunters—Sea-otter—Ledyard’s +Exploration—The European Inaugurators of the Trade—Beginnings of the +American Trade—The Great British Companies and their Struggles with +the French—Mackenzie’s Journey across the Continent—Thompson’s +Descent of the Columbia—Union of the Two Great Canadian +Companies—The American Fur Companies—Henry’s Fort—The Winship +Enterprise on the River—John Jacob Astor and the Pacific Fur +Company—Rivalry with the North-westers—Arrangements for Expeditions +by Land and Sea, and the Personnel of these—Voyage of the <i>Tonquin</i> +and her Disastrous Approach of the River—Founding of +Astoria—Appearance of Thompson and the North-westers—Interior +Expedition and Founding of Fort Okonogan—McDougall, the Smallpox +Chief and Bridegroom of the Indian Princess—Evil Tidings in Regard to +the <i>Tonquin</i>—Other Disasters—War of 1812 and Sale of Astoria to the +North-westers—Restoration of Astoria to the Americans—Monopolisation +of the River by the Hudson’s Bay Company—Their Expeditions—Hard Lot +of Madame Dorion and her Children—Adventures of Alexander Ross—The +Forts and General Plan of Work—Fort Vancouver and its Remarkable +Advantages—Dr. McLoughlin, or the “White Eagle”—Profits of the +Fur-trade—The Canoes and Bateaux and the <i>Voyageurs</i>—The Routes of +the Brigades—Later Americans.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">As</span> the reader will doubtless already have discovered, we are presenting +the history of the River topically rather than chronologically. The +various great stages of progress, discovery by sea, discovery by land, +fur-trade, Indian wars, missionary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> undertakings, international contests, +beginnings of steamboat navigation, and settlement, overlap each other, +and each topic compels us in a measure to anticipate its successors. This +is especially true of the topic treated of in this chapter.</p> + +<p>The fur-trade was an important factor in the eras of discovery both by +land and by sea, in the Indian wars and in the era of settlement, while +the strife of nations for the possession of the land of Oregon is almost a +history of the fur companies and their international policies. Remembering +this synthetic nature of these features of our history, we shall +endeavour, with as little repetition as possible, to present a coherent +picture of that great era of the fur-traders.</p> + +<p>Without doubt one of the earliest uses to which man has put the lower +animals is that of clothing his body in their captured skins. The +acquisition of furs has been a special feature of the colder climes. It is +obviously also a feature of discovery and conquest, for it is the +wilderness only which yields any considerable number of fur-producing +animals. Thus navigation, commerce, discovery, invention, economics, +finally international wars and policies, have been rooted to a large +degree in this primal business. The fur-hunters have held the hunters of +gold and precious stones and spicery a close race in the rank of world +movers. Indeed it may well be questioned whether results of greater moment +to humanity have not proceeded from the quest for furs than from that for +gold.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards expended their energies in the gold and silver hunt in +Mexico and Peru and annihilated the races of those lands in their pitiless +rapacity. The other great exploring nations of the sixteenth century,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +especially the French, while not indifferent to the possibility of +encountering the precious metals, found more certain and permanent results +in the less feverish and dazzling pursuit of the wild animals of the +wilderness. Neither the hunters for gold nor those for peltries were the +state-builders and home-builders without whom our American Union would not +exist. But they were the avant-couriers of both. Our land of Oregon has +had the peculiar fortune of being opened by both for both.</p> + +<p>China furnished the most active and convenient market for furs to those +who secured their supplies on the Pacific Coast of North America. The +Russians were the first Europeans to enter the Chinese market, and they +began their voyages as early as 1741.</p> + +<p>The sea-otter seems to have had its chief habitat on the Pacific shore +from Oregon to Alaska, and, as the ships of all nations began to crowd +upon the location of the fabled Strait of Anian, the trade with the +natives for these precious furs became constantly augmented, until the +curious and interesting creatures, so fatally attractive, were added to +the long list of “lower creatures” whom the greed of the “higher +creatures” has exterminated. A book by Coxe published in London in 1787 +first made known to the English-speaking people the rich profits of the +Russians from the transportation of the sea-otter skins to China. He +instanced a case of a profit of $50,000 from a single cargo. It had, +however, been known in 1785 from the report of the voyage of Captain Cook +that the North-west Coast of America contained a new source of wealth from +the accumulation of these furs by the Indians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> and their eager desire to +trade them for trinkets and implements of civilised manufacture.</p> + +<p>The first American to comprehend the greatness of the fur-trade on the +North-west Coast of the Pacific, both as a means of profit to himself and +as a patriotic impulse to direct his own nation into the channels of +westward expansion, was John Ledyard. Thomas Jefferson and John Paul Jones +became deeply interested in Ledyard’s extravagant hopes of future wealth +and glory, but all his efforts came to naught, and in 1788 this brilliant +adventurer, just on the eve of setting out to explore the interior of +Africa, suddenly put an end to his own life at Cairo, Egypt. Ledyard +should always be remembered by his countrymen, for, though his glowing +visions were unfulfilled, he was an important link in the great chain +which bound Oregon to our own country.</p> + +<p>During these same years, several Englishmen, already noted in the chapter +on discovery, Portlock, Dixon, Hanna, Barclay, and Meares, were actively +engaged in the fur-trade, while the voyages of La Pérouse and Marchand +carried the flag of France on the same quest, and Spain’s once illustrious +emblem of world dominion was borne by Quadra, Valdes, Galiano, Fidalgo, +Quimper, Caamano, and several others. While these explorers all were +impelled in part by national pride and diplomacy, the hope of sharing the +spoils of the sea-otter droves was the chief lure to the tempestuous seas +of the North Pacific.</p> + +<p>In Bullfinch’s <i>Oregon and El Dorado</i> is a very interesting narration of +the inception of the American part in the fur-trade of Oregon. In a +building known as the Coolidge Building in Boston a company were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> gathered +together in 1787 discussing the reports, then first made public, of Cook’s +voyages. Mr. Joseph Barrell, a rich merchant of Boston, was much impressed +with Cook’s account of the chances of barter with the Indians for furs and +the disposal of them in China for yet more profitable cargoes of teas, +silks, and other characteristic commodities of that land. As a result of +this conference, a company was formed in Boston to prosecute such +enterprise, the members of the company, Messrs. Barrell, Brown, Bulfinch, +Darby, Hatch, and Pintard, being among the foremost of the business men in +Boston in that good year of the creation of the American Constitution.</p> + +<p>The enterprising Yankees rapidly drew to the front, so that during the +years from 1790 to 1818, the records show one hundred and eight American +vessels regularly engaged in the business, while only twenty-two English, +with a few Portuguese and French are found. It should, of course be +remembered that the tremendous strife of the Napoleonic Wars was +engrossing the attention of European nations during that time. So well +known did the Boston navigators become in that period that the common name +of Americans used by the Oregon Indians was “Bostons.” Robert Gray, the +discoverer of the Columbia River, was fitted out by Bulfinch and others of +the first Boston Company. During the period under consideration the +profits of the traffic were usually very great, though variable, sometimes +actual losses being incurred, while disaster from wreck, storm, scurvy, +and murderous Indians was frequent. During the two years, 1786 and 1787, +if Dixon is to be followed, there were sold in Canton five thousand eight +hundred <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>sea-otter hides for $160,700. Swan figures that with the four +years ending with 1802, forty-eight thousand five hundred skins were sold. +Sturgis states that he knew a capital of $50,000 to yield a gross income +of $284,000. He relates that he had collected as high as six thousand fine +skins in a single voyage and once secured five hundred and sixty of the +best quality in one day. The Indians, however, learned to become very +expert traders, and as they discovered the eagerness with which the whites +sought their furs, they raised the price. They became, moreover, very +capricious and unreliable, so that the phenomenal profits could no longer +be obtained.</p> + +<p>The stage of the history of the fur-trade of which we have thus far spoken +may be called its first era of a free-for-all rush to the new seas, with +no vast moneyed interests in any position of leadership. But commercial +conditions were already in existence which were bound to reverse the +situation.</p> + +<p>Great operators, gigantic companies, foreshadowings of the great trusts of +the present, with monopolistic aims, were seeking the ear of the British +Government, while enterprises, larger, though not so monopolistic, were +rapidly forming in the United States. The great monopolies of Europe had +indeed existed long prior to the period of the Oregon fur-traders. As far +back as the beginning of the sixteenth century, De Monts, Pontgrave, +Champlain, and other great French explorers had secured monopolies on the +fur-trade from Louis XIII. and his minister, Richelieu. Later La Salle, +Hennepin, D’Iberville, and others had the same advantages. The St. +Lawrence, the Great Lakes, and the upper Mississippi were the great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +“preserve” of these great concessionaires. The English and their American +Colonists set themselves in battle array against the monopolistic Bourbon +methods of handling the vast domain which the genius and enterprise of De +Monts and Champlain had won for France, with the result that upon the +heights of Abraham the Fleur-de-Lis was lowered before the Cross of St. +George, and North America became English instead of Gallic, and one of the +world’s milestones was set for good. Then by one of those beautiful +ironies of history which baffle all prescience, victorious Britain +violated the principles of her own conquest and adopted the methods of +Bourbon tyranny and monopoly, with the result that another milestone was +set on the highway of liberty and the new continent became American +instead of European.</p> + +<p>But out of the struggles of that century, French, English, and American, +out of the final distribution of territory, by which England retained +Canada and with it a large French and Indian population, mingled with +English and Scotch,—out of these curious comminglings, economic, +commercial, political, religious, and ethnic, grew the great English fur +companies, whose history was largely wrought out on the shores of the +Columbia, and from whose juxtaposition with the American State-builder the +romance and epic grandeur of the history of the River largely comes.</p> + +<p>Many enterprises were started by the French and English in the seventeenth +century, but the Hudson’s Bay Company became the Goliath of them all. The +first charter of this gigantic organisation was granted in 1670 by Charles +II. to Prince Rupert and seventeen others, with a capital stock of ten +thousand five<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> hundred pounds. From this small beginning, the profits were +so great that, notwithstanding the loss of two hundred thousand pounds +from the French wars during the latter part of the century, the Company +declared dividends of from twenty-five to fifty per cent.</p> + +<p>The field of operations was gradually extended from the south-eastern +regions contiguous to Hudson’s Bay until it embraced the vast and dreary +expanses of snowy prairie traversed by the Saskatchewan, the Athabasca, +the Peace, and finally the Mackenzie. Many of the greatest expeditions by +land under British auspices which resulted in great geographical +discoveries were primarily designed for the expansion of the fur-trade.</p> + +<p>Just at the critical moment, both for the great Canadian Fur Company, as +well as for discovery and acquisition in the region of the Columbia, a +most important and remarkable champion entered the lists. This was the +North-west Fur Company of Montreal. It was one of the legitimate +consequences of the treaty of Paris in 1763, ceding Canada to Great +Britain. The French in Canada became British subjects by that treaty, and +many of them had extensive interests as well as experience in the fur +business. Furthermore a number of Scotchmen of great enterprise and +intelligence betook themselves to Canada, eager to partake of the +boundless opportunities offered by the new shuffle of the cards. These +Scotchmen and Frenchmen became natural partners in the foundation of +enterprises independent of the Hudson’s Bay monopoly. In 1783 a group of +the boldest and most energetic of these active spirits, of whom the +leaders were McGillivray, McTavish, Benjamin and Joseph <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Frobisher, +Rechebleve, Thain, and Frazer, united in the formation of the North-west +Fur Company. Bitter rivalry soon arose between the new company and the old +monopoly. Following the usual history of special privilege, the old +company, which had now been in existence one hundred and thirteen years, +had learned to depend more on privilege than on enterprise, and had become +somewhat degenerate. The North-westers “rustled” for new business in new +regions. In 1789 Alexander Mackenzie, as one of the North-westers, made +his way, with incredible hardship, down the river which bears his name to +the Frozen Ocean. A few years later he made the first journey to the shore +of the Pacific, commemorating his course by painting on a rock on the +shore of the Cascade Inlet, north-east of Vancouver Island, these words: +“Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one +thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.”</p> + +<p>As a result of the new undertakings set on foot by the North-westers and +the reawakened Hudson’s Bay Company, both companies entered the Columbia +Valley. The struggle for possession of Oregon between the English and +American fur companies and their government was on. In the summer of 1810 +David Thompson of the North-west company crossed the continental divide by +the Athabasca Pass in latitude 52° 25′. The North-westers had heard of the +Astor enterprise in New York and realised that they must be up and doing +if they would control the land of the Oregon. Although the character of +soil, climate, and productions of the Columbia Valley was but imperfectly +known, enough had been derived from Lewis and Clark, and from ocean +discoveries to make it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> plain that the Columbia furnished the most +convenient access to the interior from the sea, and that its numerous +tributaries furnished a network of boatable waters unequalled on the +Western slope, while there was every reason to suppose that its forests +abounded in fur-bearing animals and that its climate would admit of much +longer seasons of work than was possible in the biting winters of the +Athabasca. It became vital to the continental magnitude of the designs of +the Canadian companies that they control Oregon.</p> + +<p>For greater topical clearness we will anticipate a little at this point +and state that after several years of intense rivalry it became plain to +the British Parliament that it was suicidal to allow a policy of division +in the face of a common enemy. Hence in 1821, by act of Parliament, the +two companies were reorganised and united under a charter which was to +last twenty-one years (and as a matter of fact was renewed at the end of +that time), and under the provisions of which the North-westers were to +have equal shares in both stock and offices, though the name of the +Hudson’s Bay Company, was retained. It will be remembered therefore, that +up to the year 1821, the two great Canadian companies were distinct, and +that during that time the North-west Company was much the more active and +aggressive in the Columbia Valley, but that after that date the entire +force of the Canadian Companies was combined under the name of the old +monopoly. But however bitter the first enmity of the Canadian rivals, they +agreed on the general proposition that the Americans must be checkmated, +and during the score of years prior to their coalition they were seizing +the pivotal points of the Oregon country.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> During the next two decades +they created a vast network of forts and stations, and reduced the country +contiguous to the River and its tributaries to a system so elaborate and +interesting as to be worthy of extended study. We can sketch only its more +general features. And the more perfectly to understand them, we must +arrest here the story of the great Canadian monopoly and bring up the +movement of the American fur companies.</p> + +<p>It may be noted, first of all, that by reason of the quicker colonisation +and settlement and consequent establishment of agriculture and other arts +pertaining to home life, the region of the United States east of the +Mississippi never became the natural habitat of the trapper and fur-trader +to anything like the degree of Canada and the western part of our own +land. Nevertheless extensive fur interests grew up on the Mississippi +during the French régime, and in 1763-4 August and Pierre Choteau located +a trading post on the present site of St. Louis, and the fascinating +history of that great capital began.</p> + +<p>Most of the American trading companies confined their operations to the +east side of the Rocky Mountains. But the Missouri Fur Company of St. +Louis, composed of a miscellaneous group of Americans and +Hispano-Gallo-Americans, under the presidency of Manuel Lisa, a bold and +enterprising Spaniard, took a step over the crest of the mountains and +established the first trading post upon the waters of the Columbia. This +was in 1809. Andrew Henry, one of the partners of the aforesaid company, +crossed the mountains in that year and a year later built a fort on a +branch of Snake River. This seems to have been on what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> subsequently +became known as Henry’s River. It was in one of the wildest and grandest +regions of all that wild grand section of Snake River. Henry’s River +drains the north side of the Three Tetons, while the south branch, known +afterwards as Lewis and finally as Snake River, drains the south of that +group of mountains. <i>Henry must be remembered as the first American and +the first white man recorded in history who built any structure upon any +tributary of our River, and the year was 1810.</i> Both Henry and his Company +had hopes of accomplishing great things in the way of the fur-trade in +that very favourable region. But the next year the Indians were so +threatening that the fort was forsaken and the party returned to the +Missouri. When the Hunt party in the fall of 1811 sought refuge at this +point they found only a group of abandoned huts, with no provisions or +equipment of which they could make any use.</p> + +<p>But though Henry’s fort was but a transient matter, his American +countrymen were beginning to press through the open gateways of both +mountain and sea. In the early part of 1809 the Winship brothers of +Boston, together with several other keen-sighted Yankees, formed a project +for a definite post on the Columbia River, proposing to reach their +destination by ship. Accordingly they fitted out an old vessel known as +the <i>Albatross</i>, with Nathan Winship as captain, William Gale as captain’s +assistant, and William Smith as first mate. Captain Gale kept a journal of +the entire enterprise, and it is one of the most interesting and valuable +of the many ship’s records of the North-western Coast.</p> + +<p>Setting sail with a crew of twenty-two men and an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> excellent supply of +stores and ammunition, and abundance of tools and hardware for erecting +needful buildings, the <i>Albatross</i> left Boston in the summer of 1809. +After a slow and tedious, but very healthful and comfortable voyage, +stopping at the Hawaiian Islands on the route, the <i>Albatross</i> reached the +mouth of the Columbia River on May 26, 1810. Many American and other ships +had entered the mouth of the River prior to that date, but so far as known +none had ascended any considerable distance. Apparently Gray and Broughton +were the only shipmasters who had ascended above the wide expanse now +known as Gray’s Bay, while the Lewis and Clark expedition contained the +only white men who had seen the river above tide-water. The Winship +enterprise may be regarded with great interest, therefore, as the first +real attempt to plant a permanent establishment on the banks of the River.</p> + +<p>Winship and his companions spent some days in careful examination of the +river banks and as a result of their search they decided on a strip of +valley land formed by a narrowing of the River on the north and an +indentation of the mountain on the south. This pleasant strip of fertile +land is located on the south bank of the lordly stream, and its lower end +is about forty-five miles from the ocean. Being partially covered with a +beautiful grove of oak trees, the first to be seen on the ascent of the +River, the place received the name of Oak Point. It may be noted that this +name was subsequently transferred to a promontory nearly opposite on the +north bank, and this circumstance has led many to locate erroneously the +site of the first buildings designed for permanent use<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> on the banks of +the Columbia. And such these were, for the Lewis and Clark structures at +what they called Fort Clatsop, erected four and a half years earlier, were +meant only for a winter’s use. But the Winship party had glowing visions +of a great emporium of the fur-trade, another Montreal or St. Louis, to +inaugurate a new era for their country and themselves. They designed +paying the Indians for their lands and in every way treating them justly. +They seem in short to have had a very high conception of the dignity and +worth of their enterprise. They were worthy of the highest success, and +the student of to-day cannot but grieve that their high hopes were dashed +with disaster.</p> + +<p>Tying the <i>Albatross</i> to the bank on June 4th, they entered at once with +great energy on the task of felling trees, rearing a large log house, +clearing a garden spot, in which they at once began the planting of seeds, +and getting ready to trade with the natives. But within four days the +River began to rise rapidly, and the busy fort-builders perceived to their +dismay that they had located on land subject to inundation. All the work +thus far done went for naught, and they pulled their fort to pieces and +floated the logs down stream a quarter of a mile to a higher place. There +they resumed their buildings with redoubled energy. But within a week a +much more dangerous situation again, and this time permanently, arrested +their grand project. This time it was the very men toward whom they had +entertained such just and benevolent designs, the Indians, who thwarted +the plans. For, as Captain Gale narrates in a most entertaining manner, a +large body of Chinooks and Cheheeles, armed with bows and arrows, and some +muskets, made their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>appearance, announcing that they were on their way to +war against the Culaworth tribe who had killed one of their chiefs a year +before. But the next day the Indians massing themselves about the whites, +gave such plain indications that the previous declaration was a pretence +that the party hastily got into a position of defence. Their cannon on +board the <i>Albatross</i> had already been loaded in anticipation of +emergencies, and so plain was it that they could make a deadly defence +that the threatened attack did not come. A long “pow-wow” ensued instead, +and the Chinooks insisted that the builders must select a site lower down +the river. After due consideration the party decided that any determined +opposition by the Indians would so impair their enterprise, even though +they might be able to defend themselves, that it would be best to seek a +new location. Accordingly they reloaded their effects, dropped down the +River, and finally decided to make a voyage down the California coast and +return the next year. Return they did, but by that time the next year the +Pacific Fur Company had already located at Astoria the first permanent +American settlement, and the Winship enterprise faded away. That the +design of the Winships was not at all chimerical is apparent from the fact +that within twenty years the Hudson’s Bay Company had made of Vancouver, +sixty miles farther up the River, the very kind of a trading entrepôt of +which the Winships had dreamed. Their dream was reasonable, but the time +and place were unpropitious.</p> + +<p>A quotation from Captain Gale’s journal will give a conception of his +feelings:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>June 12th.—The ship dropped +further down the River, and it was now determined to abandon all attempts to force a settlement. We have +taken off the goats and hogs which were left on shore for the use of +the settlement, and thus we have to abandon the business, after +having, with great difficulty and labour, got about forty-five miles +above Cape Disappointment; and with great trouble began to clear the +land and build a house a second time, after cutting timber enough to +finish nearly one-half, and having two of our hands disabled in the +work. It is, indeed, cutting to be obliged to knuckle to those whom +you have not the least fear of, but whom, from motives of prudence, +you are obliged to treat with forbearance. What can be more +disagreeable than to sit at the table with a number of these rascally +chiefs, who while they supply their greedy mouths with your food with +one hand, their bloods boil within them to cut your throat with the +other, without the least provocation.</p></div> + +<p>On the way out of the River Captain Winship learned that the Chinooks +designed capturing his vessel, and would doubtless have done so, had not +his vigilance prevented.</p> + +<p>While the crew of the <i>Albatross</i> were engaged in these adventures the +largest American Fur Company yet formed was getting ready to effect a +lodgment on the shores of the Columbia. This was the Pacific Fur Company. +John Jacob Astor was the founder of this enterprise. Though unfortunate in +almost every feature of its history and its final outcome, this company +had a magnificent conception, a royal grandeur of opportunity, and it +possessed also the felicity, shared by no one of its predecessors, of the +genius of a great literary star to illuminate its records. To Washington +Irving it owes much of its fame. Yet the commercial genius of Astor could +not prevent errors of judgment by the management any more than the +literary genius of Irving was able to conceal their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> errors, or the genius +of American liberty able to order events so as to prevent victory for a +time by the “Britishers.” As we view the history in the large it may be +that we shall conclude that the British triumph at first was the best +introduction to American triumph in the end.</p> + +<p>John Jacob Astor may, perhaps, be justly regarded as the first of the +great promoters or financial magnates who have made the United States the +world’s El Dorado. Coming from Germany to this land of opportunity after +the close of the Revolutionary War, he soon manifested that keen intuition +in money matters, as well as intense devotion to accumulation, which has +led to the colossal fortunes of his own descendants and of the other +multimillionaires of this age. Having made quite a fortune by transporting +furs to London, Mr. Astor turned to larger fields. With his broad and keen +geographical and commercial insight, he could readily grasp the same fact +which the North-westers of Montreal were also considering, that the +Columbia River might well become the key to an international fur-trade, as +well as a strategic point for American expansion westward. He made +overtures to the North-westers for a partnership, but they declined. Then +he determined to be the chief manager, and to associate individual +Americans and Canadians with himself. With the promptitude of the skilful +general, he proceeded to form his company and make his plan of campaign in +time to anticipate the apparent designs of the active Canadians. They saw, +as well as Astor did, the magnitude of the stake and at once made ready to +play their part. For, as already noted, David Thompson crossed the Rockies +by the Athabasca<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> Pass in 1810, spent the winter at Lake Windermere on the +Columbia River, and in the summer of 1811 reached Astoria, only to find +the Astor Company already established there. It should be especially noted +that the Thompson party was the first to descend the River from near its +source to the ocean, although of course Lewis and Clark had anticipated +them on the portion below the junction of the Snake with the main River.</p> + +<p>Mr. Astor’s plans provided for an expedition by sea and one by land. The +first was to convey stores and equipment for founding and defending the +proposed capital of the empire of the fur-traders. Of the expedition by +land under Hunt we have already given a full account in the preceding +chapter, since its events rather allied it to the era of exploration than +that of the traders. The organisation of Mr. Astor’s company provided that +there should be a capital stock of a hundred shares, of which he should +hold half and his associates half. Mr. Astor was to furnish the money, +though not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars, and was to bear all +losses for five years. The term of the association was fixed at twenty +years, though with the privilege of dissolving it in five years if it +proved unprofitable. The general plan and the details of the expedition +had been decided upon by the master mind of the founder with statesmanlike +ability. It comes, therefore, as a surprise to the reader that Mr. Astor +should have made a capital mistake at the very beginning of his +undertaking. This mistake was in the selection of his associates and the +captains of some of his ships. Of the partners, five were Americans and +five were Canadians. Two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> only of the Americans remained with the company +long enough to have any determining influence on its policies. Take the +fact that the majority of the active partners and almost all the clerks, +trappers, and other employees of the company were Canadians, and put it +beside the other fact that war was imminent with Great Britain and did +actually break out within two years, and the dangerous nature of the +situation can be seen. Of the ship-captains, the first one, Captain +Jonathan Thorn of the <i>Tonquin</i>, was a man of such overbearing and +obstinate nature that disaster seemed to be fairly invited by placing him +in such vitally responsible a position. The captain of the second ship, +the <i>Beaver</i>, was Cornelius Sowles, and he seems to have been as timid and +irresolute as Captain Thorn was bold and implacable. Both lacked judgment. +It was probably natural that Mr. Astor, having had his main prior +experience as a fur-dealer in connection with the Canadians centring at +Montreal, should have looked in that direction for associates. But +inasmuch as war between England and the United States seemed a practical +certainty, it was a great error, in founding a vast enterprise in remote +regions whose ownership was not yet definitely recognised, to share with +citizens of Great Britain the determination of the important issues of the +enterprise. It would have saved Mr. Astor great loss and chagrin if he had +observed the maxim: “Put none but Americans on guard.” As to the captains +of the two vessels, that was an error that any one might have made. Yet +for a man of Astor’s exceptional ability and shrewdness to err so +conspicuously in judging the character of the men appointed to such +important places seems indeed strange.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img06.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Astoria in 1845.<br />From an Old Print.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img07.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Astoria. Looking up and across the Columbia River.<br />Photo. by Woodfield.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>To these facts in regard to the personnel of the partners, the captains, +and the force, must be added two others; <i>i. e.</i>, war and shipwreck. The +combination of all these conditions made the history of the Astoria +enterprise what it was. Yet, with all of its adversity, this was one of +the best conceived, and, in most of its details, the best equipped and +executed of all the great enterprises which have appeared in the +commercial history of our country. As an element in the development of the +land of the Oregon, it must be accorded the first place after the period +of discovery.</p> + +<p>The <i>Tonquin</i> left New York on September 6, 1810. She carried a fine +equipment of all things needed for founding the proposed emporium. She was +manned by a crew of twenty-one and conveyed members of the fur-trading +force to the number of thirty-three. Stopping at the Sandwich Islands, an +added force of twenty-four natives was taken aboard. At various times on +the journey the rigid ideas of naval discipline and the imperious temper +of Captain Thorn came near producing mutiny among the partners and clerks. +When the <i>Tonquin</i> hove to off the mouth of the Columbia on March 22, +1811, the eager voyagers saw little to attract. The wind was blowing in +heavy squalls, and the sea ran high. Nevertheless the hard-hearted Captain +issued orders to the first mate, Fox, with a boat’s crew of four men, to +go into the foaming waves and sound the channel. The boat was +insufficiently provided, and it seemed scarcely short of murder to +despatch a crew under such circumstances. But the tyrannical captain would +listen to no remonstrances, and the poor little boat went tossing over the +billows on her forlorn hope. Such indeed it proved to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> be, for neither +boat nor any one of the crew was ever heard of again. This was a wholly +unnecessary sacrifice of life, for the <i>Tonquin</i> was in no danger, and +time could just as well have been taken for more propitious weather.</p> + +<p>The next day, the wind and sea having abated, the <i>Tonquin</i> drew near the +dreaded bar, but, no entrance that satisfied the captain appearing, the +ship again stood off to spend the night in deep water. On the next day, +the 24th, the wind fell and a serene sky seemed to invite another attempt. +The pinnace in command of Mr. Aikin, with two white men and two Kanakas, +was sent out to find the channel. Following the pinnace the ship moved in +so rapidly under a freshening breeze that she passed the pinnace, the +unfortunate men on board finding it impossible to effect an entrance and +being borne by the refluent current into the mad surge where ocean tide +and outflowing river met in foamy strife. So the pinnace disappeared. But +meanwhile the crew had all their energies engaged to save the <i>Tonquin</i>. +For the wind failed at the critical moment and the ship struck the sands +with violence. Night came on. Had the men been classically trained (as in +fact Franchère was) they might have remembered Virgil, <i>Ponto nox incubat +atra</i>. But they had no time for classical or other quotations. Hastily +dropping the anchors they lay to in the midst of the tumult of waters, in +that worst of situations, on an unknown coast in the dark and in storm. +But as Franchère expresses it, Providence came to their succour, and the +tide flooding and the wind rising, they weighed the anchors, and in spite +of the obscurity of the night, they gained a safe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> harbour in a little +cove inside of Cape Disappointment, apparently just about abreast of the +present town of Ilwaco.</p> + +<p>Thus the <i>Tonquin</i> was saved, and with the light of morning it could be +seen that she was fairly within the bar. Natives soon made their +appearance, desirous of trading beaver-skins. But the crew were in no mood +for commerce while any hope existed for finding the lost sailors. Taking a +course toward the shore by what must have been nearly the present route +from Ilwaco to Long Beach, the captain and a party with him, began a +search and soon found Weeks, one of the crew of the pinnace. He was stark +naked and suffering intensely from the cold. As soon as sufficiently +revived he narrated the loss of the pinnace in the breakers, the death of +three of the crew, and the casting of himself and one of the Kanakas upon +the beach. The point where they were cast would seem to have been near the +present location of the life-saving station.</p> + +<p>The two survivors of the ill-fated pinnace having been revived, the party +returned to the <i>Tonquin</i>, which was now riding safely at anchor in the +bay on the north side of the river, named Baker’s Bay by Broughton +nineteen years before. Joy for their own escape from such imminent perils +was mingled with melancholy at the loss of their eight companions of the +two boats, and with the melancholy there was a sense of bitterness toward +the captain, who was to blame, at least for the loss of the small boat.</p> + +<p>But now the new land was all before them where to choose, and since +Captain Thorn was in great haste to depart and begin his trading cruise +along the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> coast, the partners on the <i>Tonquin</i>, Messrs. McKay, McDougal, +David Stuart, and Robert Stuart, decided somewhat hurriedly to locate at +the point which had received from Lieutenant Broughton the name of Point +George. Franchère gives a pleasant picture of the beauty of the trees and +sky, and the surprise of the party to find that, though it was only the +12th of April when they set to work upon the great trees which covered the +site of their chosen capital, yet spring was already far advanced. They +did not then understand the effect of the Japan current upon the Pacific +Coast climate.</p> + +<p>An incident of special interest soon after landing was the appearance on +June 15th of two strange Indians, a man and a woman, bearing a letter +addressed to <i>Mr. John Stuart, Fort Estekatadene, New Caledonia</i>. These +two Indians wore long robes of dressed deerskins with leggings and +moccasins more like the Indians of the Rocky Mountains. They could not +understand the speech of the Astoria Indians nor of any of the mixture of +dialects which the white men tried on them, until one of the Canadian +clerks addressed them in the Knisteneaux language with which they seemed +to be partially familiar. After several days of stay at the fort the two +wandering Indians succeeded in making it clear to the traders that they +had been sent out by a clerk named Finnan McDonald of the North-west Fur +Company from a fort which that company had just established on the Spokane +River. They said that they had lost their way and in consequence had +descended the <i>Tacousah-Tessah</i> (and this Franchère understood to be the +Indian name for the Columbia, though the general impression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> among the +Indians is that Tacousah-Tessah, or Tacoutche-Tesse, signified Frazer +River). From the revelation gradually drawn from these two Indians (and +the surprising discovery was made that they were both women) the very +important conclusion was drawn that the North-west Fur Company was already +prepared to contest with the Astor Company the possession of the River. +The peculiar feature of the situation was that the most of the Astorians, +though American by the existing business tie, were Canadian and British by +blood and sympathy, and hence were very likely to fraternise with the +Montreal traders.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img08.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">One of the Lagoons of the Upper Columbia River, near Golden, B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates, Golden.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img09.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Saddle Mt., or Swallalochost, near Astoria, Famous in Indian Myth.<br />Photo. by Woodfield.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>However the Astorians decided to send an expedition into the interior to +verify the story given by the two Indian women, but, just as they were +ready to go, a large canoe with the British flag floating from her stern +appeared, from which, when it had reached the landing, there leaped ashore +an active, well-dressed man who introduced himself as David Thompson, of +the North-west Company. This was the same man, the reader will remember, +who had crossed the Rocky Mountains the year before, had wintered near the +head of the River, and had then descended it, seeking a location for the +Columbia River emporium of the Canadian company. But he was too late. It +was quite strange by what narrow margins on several occasions the British +failed to forestall the Yankees.</p> + +<p>On July 23d the delayed expedition of the Astorians set forth far to the +interior, and as a result of their investigations, David Stuart, in charge +of the party, began the erection of a trading house at the mouth of the +Okanogan, five hundred and forty miles above Astoria. It was on September +2, 1811, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> this post was begun, and hence Fort Okanogan may be +regarded as the first American establishment in the present State of +Washington. It was antedated a few months by the post of the North-west +Company at the entrance of the Little Spokane into the Spokane, near the +present site of the City of Spokane.</p> + +<p>During the fall of 1811 the Indians around Astoria became very +threatening. Direful rumours, too, in regard to the destruction of the +<i>Tonquin</i> began to disquiet the Astorians. In the emergency the wary +McDougall, then acting as the head of the Company, bethought himself of a +very effective expedient. He had learned that dreadful loss of life among +the Indians had resulted a few years before from smallpox and that the +Indians were mortally afraid of it. Calling into his room several of the +principal chiefs, he asked if they remembered the smallpox. Their serious +faces were sufficient proof that they did. McDougall then held up a small +vial and continued with awful solemnity: “Listen to me. I am the great +smallpox chief. In this little bottle I keep the smallpox. If I uncork the +bottle and let it out I will kill every man, woman, and child of the +Indians. Now go in peace, but if you make war upon us I will open the +bottle, and you will die.” The chiefs filed out in terror, and peace was +preserved.</p> + +<p>McDougall still further cemented the bond of union with the natives by +becoming united in wedlock with the daughter of Comcomly, the one-eyed +chieftain of the Chinooks. After numerous and thorough ablutions had +somewhat mitigated the oiliness and general fishiness of the Chinook +princess, she was clad in the most brilliant style of the native beauty, a +grand holiday<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> was declared at Astoria, and white men and Indians joined +in the wedding feast and made the welkin ring with their demonstrations. +Thus did the daughter of Comcomly become the first lady of the land, and +thus did peace brood over the broad waters of the lower River.</p> + +<p>During the winter of 1811-12 the two instalments of the Hunt party made +their appearance, after their distressful journey from St. Louis as +already narrated in Chapter IV. In May, 1812, the company’s ship <i>Beaver</i> +arrived from New York, loaded with stores and trading equipment, and +bringing a considerable addition to the force of men. In the following +month sixty men were despatched up-river, and by them a trading post was +located at Spokane and another on the Snake River somewhere near the +present site of Lewiston, while one section of the party went across the +mountains and down the Missouri to convey dispatches to Mr. Astor.</p> + +<p>At this stage of the history of the Astoria enterprise, every aspect was +encouraging. The trade in furs on the Spokane, the Okanogan, the Snake, +the Cœur d’Alene was excellent, a successful cruise along the coast by +the <i>Beaver</i> seemed sure, and the Indians about the mouth of the River +were friendly and well disposed. Mr. Astor’s great undertaking seemed sure +to be crowned with success. In the midst of all the signs of hope came +tidings of dismay. It became known with certainty that the <i>Tonquin</i> had +been destroyed. This appalling disaster was related directly to the +Astoria Company by the only survivor. This was an Indian of the Chehalis +tribe whose name is given by Irving as Lamazee, by Ross as Lamazu, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> by +Bancroft as Lamanse. He had escaped from the Indians who had held him +after the destruction of the <i>Tonquin</i> and had finally found his way to +Astoria, there to tell his tale, one of the most sanguinary in the long +roll of struggles with the Indians. The next great disaster was the +wrecking of the <i>Lark</i>, the third of the Company’s ships from New York. +During the same period Mr. Hunt, the partner next in rank to Mr. Astor and +the one above all who could have acted wisely and patriotically in the +forthcoming crisis, had gone in the <i>Beaver</i> on a trading cruise among the +Russians of Sitka, and by a most remarkable series of detentions he had +been kept away from Astoria for over a year.</p> + +<p>To cap the climax of misfortunes, the War of 1812 burst upon the knowledge +of the fur-traders and seemed to force upon such of the partners as were +of British nationality the question of their paramount duty. As a result +of the crisis, McDougal and McKenzie, although against the wishes of the +other partners present, sold out to the agent of the North-westers, who +had repaired at once to Astoria upon knowledge of the declaration of war. +Thus the great Astoria enterprise was abandoned, and the Stars and Stripes +went down and the Union Jack went up. Soon after the transfer, the British +man-of-war <i>Raccoon</i>, Captain Black, arrived at Astoria, expecting to have +seized the place as a rich prize of war. Imagine the disgust of the +expectant British mariners to discover that the post had already been sold +to British subjects, that their long journey was useless, and that their +hopes of prize money had vanished.</p> + +<p>With the close of the War of 1812 a series of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> negotiations between the +ministers of the two countries took place in regard to the possession of +the River, by which it was finally decided that Astoria should be restored +to the United States. Accordingly, on the 6th of October, 1818, the +British Commissioners, Captain F. Hickey, of His Majesty’s Ship <i>Blossom</i>, +and J. Keith, representing the North-west Fur Company, signed an act of +delivery restoring Fort George (Astoria) to the United States. Mr. J. B. +Prevost, Commissioner for the United States, signed the act of acceptance. +Astoria was once again American property.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img10.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Steamer <i>Beaver</i>, the First Steamer on the Pacific, 1836.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img11.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Portland, Oregon, in 1851.<br />From an Old Print.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>While the River was now nominally in possession of the United States, it +was practically under the control of the British fur companies. The +Pacific Fur Company ceased to operate, and the North-westers entered upon +active work both by sea and land in exploring the vast and profitable +domain which the misfortunes of their American rivals, supplemented in a +most timely manner by the treachery of McDougall and McKenzie, had put +within their power. The canny Scotchmen, McDougall, McTavish, McKenzie, +McDonald, and the various other Macs who now guided the plans of the +North-westers, signalled their entrance into power by despatching +companies to the various pivotal points of the great Columbia Basin, the +Walla Walla, Yakima, Okanogan, Spokane, and Snake rivers. Two incidents +may be related to illustrate the character of people and the conditions of +that wilderness period.</p> + +<p>A party of ninety men in ten canoes left Astoria for up-river points on +April 4, 1814. While passing the mouth of the Yakima, about three hundred +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> fifty miles up the River, the men were surprised to see three canoes +putting out from shore and to hear a child’s voice calling out, “<i>Arretez +donc! arretez donc!</i>” Stopping to investigate, the party found in one of +the boats the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, with her children. Dorion, +with five other Canadians, had gone the previous summer with a party under +command of John Reed of the Astor Company. While trapping and hunting, +deep in the mountains of Snake River, the party had been massacred by +Indians. The woman and her two boys had alone escaped the massacre. It was +the dead of winter and the snows lay deep on the Blue Mountains. But the +wife of Dorion found shelter in a remote fastness of the mountains, +putting up a bark hut for a shelter and subsisting on the carcasses of +some of her horses. In the spring, the pitiful little company of mother +and children descended to Walla Walla and found there more kindly disposed +natives, who cared for them and turned them over to the protection of the +whites. A more thrilling story of suffering and heroism than this of +Madame Dorion and her children has never come up from the chronicles of +the wild West.</p> + +<p>Equally illustrative of the life of the fur-traders is the account given +by Alexander Ross of one of his many adventures in the Columbia country. +In 1814 Ross went from Okanogan to Yakima to secure horses. With him were +four other whites and three Indian women. The Yakima Valley was then as +now a paradise of the Indians. There the tribes gathered by the thousands +in the spring to dig camas, to race horses, and to gamble, as well as to +form alliances and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> make plans for war. When the little company of traders +reached the encampment, they discovered to their astonishment that it was +a veritable city. Six thousand men, women, and children, with ten thousand +horses, and uncounted dogs and many shackled bears and wolves, were strewn +across the plain. It was a dangerous situation for the traders, for it +became plain to them that the Indians were unfriendly. But assuming an air +of careless bravado, Ross proceeded to display his store of trinkets for +the purpose of starting a traffic in horses. Assuming a very hilarious +manner the Indians would seize and drive away the animals as fast as the +white men got them. Then the Indians began to deprive them of clothes and +food. Finally they made ready to seize their three women as slaves. Ross +managed to have the women escape temporarily, but then the savages were +worse than ever. Matters reached a crisis when an obstreperous chief named +Yaktana snatched a knife from the hands of one of the Canadians. A +desperate struggle was just at the point of breaking out, which would +inevitably have resulted in the death of all the white men, when a sudden +intuition flashed through the quick mind of Ross, and rushing between the +combatants he handed his own knife, a much more elegant one, to Yaktana, +saying in a friendly tone, “This is a chief’s knife. Take it and give back +the other.” There was an instant revulsion. Yaktana was so much flattered +that he turned at once into a stanch supporter of the shrewd trader. Food +was brought. The horses were restored. Equipment was provided. The three +women were regained, and the company made their way without further +trouble to Okanogan.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>We have already mentioned the important fact that in 1821 the two great +Canadian Companies, the North-western and the Hudson’s Bay, decided to +unite. With the union, the great era of fur-trade in the Columbia Basin +fairly began, to continue about twenty-five years, yielding then to the +American immigrant. That twenty-five years of the dominance of the great +Fur Company contained nearly all the poetry and romance as well as the +profit and statesmanship of the business. The entire region of the River, +as well as that of the Puget Sound country, was mapped out in a most +systematic manner with one chief central fort, Vancouver on the Columbia. +A more magnificent location for the purpose cannot be conceived. It is now +the site of a flourishing city and of the United States Fort Headquarters +for the North-west, generally conceded to be the finest fort location in +the United States. Fort Vancouver was established in 1825 upon a superb +bench of land gently sloping back from the River for two miles. Great +trees fringed the site, Mt. Hood lifted its pinnacled majesty sixty miles +to the eastward, the sinuous mazes of the Willamette Valley stretched out +far southward, while the lordly River was in full view a dozen miles up +and down. Every natural advantage and delight which wild nature could +offer was here in fullness. Ships could readily ascend the hundred miles +from the ocean to unload their merchandise and take on their cargoes of +precious furs, the furs collected at the outlay of so much toil and +suffering over the area of hundreds of miles. Every species of game and +fish abounded in the waters and along the banks of the River. Deer and elk +tossed their antlers <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>between the stately firs of the upland, and pheasant +and grouse whirred among the branches. Geese, cranes, ducks, and swans, in +countless numbers, darkened the lagoons amid the many islands enclosed by +the mouths of the Willamette and the adjacent waters of the larger stream. +Fish of many varieties, the royal Chinook salmon, king of food fish, being +at the head in beauty and edibility, though surpassed in size by the +gigantic sturgeon, which sometimes weighed a thousand pounds, abounded in +the River. No epicure of the world’s capitals could command such viands as +nature brought to the doors of the denizens of Fort Vancouver.</p> + +<p>The fort itself was laid out on a scale of amplitude suitable to the +spaciousness of the site. It was enclosed with a picket wall twenty feet +high, with massive buttresses of timber inside. This enclosure was a +parallelogram seven hundred and fifty by five hundred feet. Inside were +about forty buildings, the governor’s residence of generous dimensions +being in the centre. Two chapels provided for the spiritual needs of the +company, while schoolhouse, stores, “bachelors’ halls,” and shops of +various kinds attested the variety of the needs. Along the bank of the +River, outside the enclosure, lay quite a village of cottages for the +married employees, together with hospital, boathouses, granaries, +warehouses, threshing mills, and dairy buildings.</p> + +<p>Taken altogether Fort Vancouver was the model fort of the western slope. +Moreover, the fertile soil and genial, humid climate soon encouraged the +factors of the Company to experiment with gardens and orchards, and, +within a few years after founding, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>fifteen hundred acres of land were in +the finest state of productivity, while three thousand head of cattle, +twenty-five hundred sheep, three hundred brood mares, and over a hundred +milch cows, added their bounteous contributions to the already plentiful +resources of the fort.</p> + +<p>With this rich larder, with the spacious buildings, with the annual +arrivals and departures of ships by sea and fleets of bateaux by river, +with hunting trips and Indian policies, with the intercoast traffic with +the Russians on the north and the Spaniards on the south,—there was as +much to engage and delight the minds of these people as if they had lived +in the heart of civilisation.</p> + +<p>Any account of Fort Vancouver would be incomplete without some reference +to Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Company in the Columbia +district from 1824 to the time of his retirement from the Company in 1846 +and settlement at Oregon City, Oregon, as an American citizen. Rarely has +any one in the stormy history of the Columbia Basin received such +unvarying and unqualified praise as has this truly great man. Physically, +mentally, and morally, Dr. McLoughlin was altogether exceptional among the +mixed population that gathered about the emporium of the traders. Six feet +four inches in height, his noble and expressive face crowned with a great +cascade of snowy hair, firm yet kindly, prompt and businesslike yet +sympathetic and helpful, “Old Whitehead” or “White Eagle,” as the Indians +called him, was a true-born king of men.</p> + +<p>We have said that Fort Vancouver was the great central fort. The others +commanding the pivotal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> points upon the River and its tributaries were +Fort Hall and Fort Boisé on the Snake, Spokane House on the Spokane near +the present metropolis of the Inland Empire, Fort Colville on the river of +the same name near its junction with the Columbia, Fort Okanogan at the +junction of the stream of that name with the great River, Fort Owen in the +Cœur d’Alene region, Fort Simcoe in the Yakima country, Fort Walla +Walla, first known as Fort Nez Percé, on the Columbia at the mouth of the +Walla Walla, and Fort George on the former site of Astoria. These forts +were all laid out in the same general fashion as Fort Vancouver, though no +one was so large, elaborate, or comfortable. Besides the forts there were +a number of small trading posts. The chief furs procured in the interior +were beaver, and those on the coast were sea-otter. Many others, as the +mink, sharp-toothed otter, fox, lynx, raccoon, were found in abundance.</p> + +<p>The profits of the business were immense. Alexander Ross relates that he +secured one morning before breakfast one hundred and ten beaver skins for +a single yard of white cloth. Ross spent one hundred and eighty-eight days +alone in the Yakima country. During that time he collected one thousand +five hundred and fifty beavers, besides other peltries, worth in the +Canton market two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds, which cost him in +his objects of trade only thirty-five pounds. That was while Ross was +connected with the Astor Company.</p> + +<p>In completing this necessarily hurried chapter on the fascinating era of +the fur-traders, we cannot omit a brief reference to the movements of the +regular brigades of boats up and down the River, for these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> comprised a +great part of both the business and the romance of the age. The course of +these brigades was from the southern shores of Hudson Bay, through +Manitoba, to the crest of the Rockies at the head of the Columbia. Water +was utilised to the greatest possible extent, while at the portages and +across the mountains horse-power and man-power were employed. Once afloat +upon the Columbia, the brigades braved most of the rapids, paying +occasional toll of men and goods to the envious deities of the waters, yet +with marvellous skill and general fortune making their way down the +thousand or more miles from Boat Encampment to Fort Vancouver. The descent +was easy compared with the ascent. The first journey of the east-bound +brigade of the North-westers from Astoria to Montreal was in 1814, and it +required the time from April 4th to May 11th to reach the mouth of Canoe +River, the point at which they entered upon the mountain climb to the head +of the Athabasca.</p> + +<p>The boatmen were French-Canadians, a hardy, mercurial, light-hearted race, +half French, with the natural grace and politeness of their race, and +having the pleasant patois which has made them the theme of much popular +present-day literature. They were half Indian, either in tastes and +manners or in blood, with the atmosphere of forests and streams clinging +to every word and gesture. They were perhaps the best boatmen in the +world. Upon those matchless lakes into which the Columbia and its +tributaries expand at intervals the fur-laden boats would glide at ease, +while the wild songs of the <i>coureurs des bois</i> would echo from shore to +shore in lazy sibilations, apparently betokening no thought of serious or +earnest business.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> But once the rapids were reached, the gay and +rollicking knight of the paddle became all attention. With keen eyes fixed +on every swirl or rock, he guided the light craft with a ready skill which +would be inconceivable to one less daring and experienced. The brigades +would run almost all the rapids from Death Rapids to the sea, making +portages at Kettle Falls, Tumwater or Celilo Falls, and the Cascades, +though at some stages of the water they could run down even them. They +always had to carry around those points in ascending the River. In spite +of all the skill of the <i>voyageurs</i> the Columbia and the Snake, the Pend +Oreille and the Kootenai have exacted a heavy toll of life from those who +have laid their compelling hands upon the white manes of chute and +cataract. Many, even of the <i>voyageurs</i>, are the human skeletons that have +whitened the volcanic beds of the great streams.</p> + +<p>The boats used by the fur brigades were either log canoes obtained of the +Indians or bateaux. The former were hollowed from the magnificent cedars +which grew on the banks of the River, sometimes fifty or sixty feet long, +with prow carved in fantastic, even beautiful fashion. They would hold +from six to twenty persons with from half a ton to two or three tons of +load, yet were so light that two men could carry one of the medium size +while four could handle one of any size around a portage. But the +<i>voyageurs</i> never took quite so much to the canoes as did the Indians, +whose skill in handling them in high waves is described by Ross and +Franchère as something astonishing. And even the Indians of the present +show much the same ability, though the splendid cedar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> canoes are no +longer made, and only here and there can one of the picturesque survivors +be seen.</p> + +<p>The bateaux were boats of peculiar shape, being built very high and broad +so that in an unloaded condition they seemed to rest on the water almost +like a paper shell. Both ends were high and pointed as prows. They were +propelled with oars and steered with paddles. One of the usual size was +about thirty feet long and five feet wide. Being of light-draft, +double-enders, capable of holding large loads and yet easily conveyed +around portages, more steady and roomy than canoes, these bateaux were the +typical Columbia River medium of commerce during the era of the +fur-traders. They, too, have mainly vanished from the scenes of their +former glory. Canoes, bateaux, cries and yells of Indians, songs of +<i>voyageurs</i>, have gone into the engulfing limbo of the bygone, along with +the keen-eyed Scotch factor and the sharp-featured Yankee skipper. Yet the +swans and geese and ducks still darken the more placid expanses of the +River and the salmon still start the widening circles in almost +undiminished numbers, while the glaciated heights of Hood and Adams and +St. Helens (we would rather say Wiyeast, Klickitat, and Loowit) still +stand guard over the unchanging waters.</p> + +<p>This part of our topic has mainly centred upon the British possession of +the River. A full history of the fur era on the River would demand a +chapter on the later attempts of three remarkable men to reestablish +American interests in the disputed territory. These men were Jedediah +Smith, Capt. E. L. Bonneville, and Nathaniel J. Wyeth. But though these +men belong properly to this era, their efforts in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> fur-trade were +relatively unimportant in comparison with the influence of their lives in +the direction of permanent American occupation. It seemed the appointment +of destiny that the American should play second fiddle to his British +rival in the fur-trade. But as tenfold, a thousandfold compensation, the +American farmers, home-builders, and tradesmen were to acquire final +possession of one of the goodliest lands on which the Stars and Stripes +has ever floated. The bateaux and canoes must needs give way to the +steamboat and the launch, the <i>coureur des bois</i> to the lumberman and the +miner and farmer, and the picturesque emporium of the British fur-trader +on the River to the modern American city. We shall, therefore, more +fittingly chronicle the later American fur-traders as a part of the march +of their countrymen to permanent ownership of Oregon.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Coming of the Missionaries to the Tribes of the River</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Journey of the Nez Percé Chiefs to Find the White Man’s Book of +Life—Interest Excited among Christian People by this Event—Methodist +Church Leads in Preparing for a Missionary Party—Jason Lee and his +Mission near Chemeketa—The Reinforcement by the +<i>Lausanne</i>—Importance of Jason Lee as a Force in Oregon History—The +Missions of the American Board at Walla Walla, Lapwai, and +Tshimakain—Preliminary Journey of Whitman and Parker in 1835—The +Wedding Journey from Missouri to the Columbia in 1836—Dr. Whitman and +his Associates and their Traits of Character—On the Summit of South +Pass—Whitman’s Waggon—Arrival at Vancouver and Conference with +McLoughlin—Locations of the Missionaries—Reinforcement in +1838—Friendship of the Nez Percés—First Printing Press—Whitman’s +Ride in 1842-43—The Catholic Missions—Fathers Blanchet, Demers, and +De Smet—Influence of the Missions.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> 1832 a strange thing happened. Four Indians appeared in St. Louis +seeking the “White Man’s Book of Life.” At that time General William Clark +was superintendent of Indian affairs, located at St. Louis. He was +familiar with the Western Indians and had greatly sympathised with them.</p> + +<p>Learning of these strange Indians and their stranger quest, General Clark +sought them, and entered into communication with them. It is usually +stated that these Indians were Flatheads from the Pend Oreille region, but +Miss Kate Macbeth, a missionary for many years to the Nez Percés, became<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +convinced that three were Nez Percés and the fourth a Flathead. How they +had learned that the white man had a “Book of Life” is not known. Captain +Bonneville’s journal states that Pierre Pambrun had given many of the +Oregon Indians instruction in the rudiments of the Catholic worship. Some +have conjectured that Jedediah Smith, a noted American trapper, and, most +remarkable of all, a devout Christian, may have imparted religious +thoughts to them. Miss Macbeth believed that the motive of the mission was +to find Lewis and Clark, the explorers, whose visit in 1804-05 had +produced a profound impression on the Nez Percés. The first published +account of these four Indians appeared in the <i>New York Christian +Advocate</i> for March 1, 1833. This was in the form of a letter from G. P. +Disoway, in which he enclosed a letter to himself from his agent, William +Walker, an interpreter for the Wyandotte Indians. Walker was at St. Louis +at the time, and met these four Indians in General Clark’s office. He was +much impressed with their appearance, and learned that General Clark had +given them as full an account as possible of the nature and history of +man, of the advent of the Saviour, and of His work for men. Walker states +that two of the four men died in St. Louis, and as to whether the others +reached their native land he did not know.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Illinois Patriot</i> of October, 1833, the same topic was taken up, +together with the statement that Walker’s report had excited so much +interest that a committee of the Illinois Synod had been appointed to +investigate and report on what seemed the duty of the churches in the +premises. The committee <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>accordingly went to St. Louis and confirmed the +account by conference with General Clark. They also made it an object to +learn all available facts in regard to the general conditions among the +Indians west of the Rocky Mountains.</p> + +<p>One of the most valuable records in respect to these Indians is from +George Catlin, the noted painter and student of Indian life. Catlin was on +the steamer going up the Missouri toward Fort Benton with these two +remaining Indians on their homeward journey. His account of them in the +<i>Smithsonian Report</i> for 1885 is thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>These two men, when I painted them, were in beautiful Sioux dresses +which had been presented to them in a talk with the Sioux, who treated +them very kindly, while passing through the Sioux country. These two +men were part of a delegation that came across the mountains to St. +Louis, a few years since, to inquire for the truth of representation +which they said some white man had made among them, that our religion +was better than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did +not embrace it. Two old and venerable men of this party died in St. +Louis, and I travelled two thousand miles, companion with these two +fellows, toward their own country, and became much pleased with their +manners and dispositions. When I first heard the objects of their +extraordinary mission across the mountains, I could scarcely believe +it; but, on conversing with General Clark on a future occasion, I was +fully convinced of the fact.</p></div> + +<p>It appears from still another account of the matter that the two surviving +Indians were disappointed in that they did not actually get possession of +the “Book.” A speech of one of the chiefs as he left General Clark has +been published in a number of books, and is well worthy of preservation. +It should be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> stated, however, that this speech has no authentic source, +nor does it appear anywhere how it was obtained. It is commonly stated +that it was “taken down” at the time by one of the clerks in General +Clark’s office. The historian Mowry is authority for the statement that +one of the Indians gave the substance of the speech to the missionary, +Spalding, at a later time. It has, also, a somewhat conventionalised +sound. Yet with whatever discredit may be cast upon it, it possesses so +many elements of interest that it may well be given here. This is the +reported speech.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>I come to you over the trail of many moons from the setting sun. You +were the friend of my fathers, who have all gone the long way. I came +with an eye partly open for my people, who sit in darkness. I go back +with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind, to my blind people? I +made my way to you with strong arms through many enemies and strange +lands that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms +broken and empty. Two fathers came with us. They were the braves of +many winters and wars. We leave them asleep here by your great water +and wigwams. They were tired in many moons and their moccasins wore +out.</p> + +<p>My people sent me to get the White Man’s Book of Heaven. You took me +to where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the +book was not there. You took me to where they worship the great Spirit +with candles, and the book was not there. You showed me images of the +good spirits and the pictures of the good land beyond, but the book +was not among them to tell us the way. I am going back the long and +sad trail to my people in the dark land. You make my feet heavy with +gifts and my moccasins will grow old in carrying them, yet the book is +not among them. When I tell my poor blind people after one more snow, +in the big council, that I did not bring the book, no word will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will +rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and +they will go on a long path to other hunting grounds. No white man +will go with them, and no White Man’s Book to make the way plain. I +have no more words.</p></div> + +<p>Taken altogether, it may be said that this event, as preserved in these +various ways, constitutes one of the most pleasing and significant, though +pathetic, incidents in Indian history. It was, moreover, pregnant with +results. It might almost be said that it was the key to American +possession of Oregon. For upon the acquisition of the story by the +Christian people of the United States, there rose an immediate demand that +something be done to carry the Gospel to the Indians of the Oregon +country. This story was interpreted as a Macedonian cry. The period was +one of strong religious feeling, as well as missionary zeal. The +warm-hearted followers of the Cross felt at once that here was a +providential opening to honour that Cross and to advance its kingdom upon +the western border of civilisation.</p> + +<p>The Methodist Church was first to take up the work of sending forth +missionaries to the Oregon Indians. To Wilbur Fiske of Wesleyan University +seems due the credit of the first move. He enlisted the interest of Jason +Lee, a former student at Wesleyan University, but then engaged in +missionary work in the province of Quebec. Lee was a tall, athletic young +man, full of zeal and consecration, not polished or graceful in manner, +but powerful in spirit. He grasped at once the great possibilities in the +proposition of Dr. Fiske, and, going to Boston, became appointed by the +New England Conference as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>superintendent of a mission to Oregon. Daniel +Lee, Cyrus Shepard, and P. L. Edwards were named his associates.</p> + +<p>In 1834, this mission band learned that Nathaniel Wyeth, famous as a +fur-trader, was expecting to cross the continent, sending his goods by the +brig <i>May Dacre</i> to the Columbia River. Such an opportunity was too +favourable to be lost, and the Methodist Board at once opened negotiations +with Captain Wyeth, with the result that this first missionary company to +Oregon went with him and arrived safely at Vancouver on the Columbia, the +headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The <i>May Dacre</i> reached her +destination soon after, and thus Mr. Lee and his comrades found themselves +at the threshold of their labours. The first intention had been to locate +among the Nez Percés and Flatheads, the ones from whom the Macedonian cry +had gone up. But Dr. McLoughlin, the chief factor at Vancouver, who had +received them with the utmost interest and cordiality, persuaded them that +the Willamette Valley would be a more promising field. Its advantages were +obvious. It was directly on water navigation to the sea, and within easy +distance of it. It was so near the chief entrepôt of the Hudson’s Bay +Company as to be comparatively safe and accessible to all mails. The +valley was of extraordinary scenic charm and salubrious climate. The +natives, moreover, seemed more tractable and peaceful than those of the +upper valley. Accordingly the Methodist brethren ascended the Willamette +to a point near a group of farms which had been located by French +employees of the Hudson’s Bay Company on what is known now as French<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +Prairie. One of these Frenchmen was Joseph Gervais, and from him the +subsequent town of Gervais was named. The mission was located on the +Willamette near Chemawa, the present site of the United States Indian +School. It was ten miles north of Chemeketa, which was the great Indian +Council Ground, or Peace Ground, from which fact the missionary applied to +it the name of Salem,—a change of name more commendable for piety than +for taste.</p> + +<p>Jason Lee set to work at once with zeal, patience, and intelligence, to +inaugurate the work to which he had consecrated his life. At times his +efforts seemed to be well rewarded. Then pestilence would attack the +Indians, followed by suspicion and excitement, as a result of which all +the gains would be lost. The work among the whites and their half-breed +families was more encouraging than that with the Indians. At the best, +Indians have been inconstant and unreliable in respect to religious +instruction.</p> + +<p>In 1837 a strong reinforcement arrived, among whom were Dr. Elijah White, +destined to become a man of note as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.</p> + +<p>In 1838, Rev. Daniel Lee and Rev. H. K. W. Perkins established a new +station at Wascopum, now the location of The Dalles. In the same year +Jason Lee returned East to secure an addition to the mission. His efforts +were crowned with success. Five missionaries, one physician, six +mechanics, four farmers, one steward, and four female teachers, with a +number unclassified,—in all thirty-six adults and seventeen +children,—reached the Columbia River on the good ship <i>Lausanne</i>, under +charge of Captain Spalding, on May 21, 1840. This was the most notable +company that had yet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> reached our Great River. Among them were men and +women who contributed in a great degree to the subsequent growth of +Oregon. Of the number were Revs. Gustavus Hines, Alvin Waller, J. P. +Richmond, and J. H. Frost; Dr. Ira L. Babcock, George Abernethy, +afterwards governor of the territory, J. L. Parrish, and L. H. Judson. All +the men were accompanied by their wives, and most of them had children. +They were, in short, the advance guard of the American home-builders in +Oregon, and as such they deserve a special place on the roll of honour.</p> + +<p>With this added force, it was possible to enlarge the work, in both +secular and religious lines, both among the whites and the Indians. A +mission was started at Clatsop on the south side of the mouth of the +Columbia under Mr. Parrish, one at the falls of the Willamette, and +another on Tualatin Plains, under Mr. Hines, while still another was +located by Mr. Richmond at Nisqually on Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>As time passed on, it became more and more evident that this work was to +become less for Indians and more for the incoming whites. The whole aspect +of it changed. The Methodist Board in New England decided that they were +not justified in maintaining the missions, and these were discontinued +during the decade of the forties.</p> + +<p>Out of the mission at Chemeketa grew Willamette University, one of the +most prominent educational institutions of Oregon.</p> + +<p>Jason Lee returned to the East and died in Canada in 1845. His life, +though short, was heroic and influential. He looms large on the background +of the history of the Columbia. In brief retrospect,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> it may be said of +him that he combined religious zeal with shrewd common sense and capacity +to see and adapt himself to the business and political conditions of his +time and place. This capacity is illustrated by his shrewd management of a +bold and enterprising character named Ewing Young. This man was about +starting a distillery in the Willamette Valley. Knowing the ruinous +effects of intoxicants on Indians, the missionaries strongly opposed the +enterprise. But knowing also that Young was a man of force and capacity +and much more valuable as a friend than as an enemy, Mr. Lee accomplished +the abandonment of the distillery by indirection, and at the same time +gained one of the most important steps in the development of the country. +For he induced Young to undertake the great work of driving into the +Willamette Valley a large herd of cattle from California. To the settlers +beginning to locate on the fat pasture land along the Willamette and its +tributaries, this was a stage in history of priceless moment. Up to that +time the only cattle in the country belonged to the Hudson’s Bay Company +and it was not their policy to encourage American settlers.</p> + +<p>Another fact in connection with Jason Lee constitutes a landmark in the +history of American acquisition of Oregon. This was a memorial prepared by +him, with the assistance of P. L. Edwards and David Leslie, and signed by +practically all the adult men then accessible in the Willamette Valley, +thirty-six in number, addressed to the United States Congress and praying +that the Government would consider the importance of the Columbia River +country and the question of acquisition. This <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>memorial was dated March +16, 1838, and was taken by Mr. Lee to the East and given to Senator Linn +of Missouri, in January, 1839. Senator Linn was so aroused over the +boundless possibilities offered to westward expansion that he introduced a +bill in the Senate calling for the establishment of Oregon Territory and +the occupation of it by the military forces of the United States. Though +this bill did not become a law, it constituted a rallying cry for the +friends of American possession, which had results of utmost importance.</p> + +<p>In short, to Jason Lee, more than to any other one, unless we except Dr. +Marcus Whitman, of whom we shall speak later, must be attributed the +inauguration of that remarkable chain of causes and effects, a long line +of sequences, by which Oregon and our Pacific Coast in general became +American possessions, and the international destiny of our nation was +secured.</p> + +<p>From the Methodist missions of Lower Columbia we turn to the Presbyterian +and Congregational missions of the upper River and its tributaries. The +American Board of Foreign Missions was at that time under the joint +control of three religious bodies, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Dutch +Reformed. At the instance of the last named body, the Board in 1835 +commissioned Rev. Samuel Parker of Ithaca, N. Y., and Marcus Whitman, +M.D., of Rushville, N. Y., to make a reconnaissance of the country of the +Columbia, with the view of a mission. Under the protection of the American +Fur Company, the two spiritual prospectors journeyed as far as Green +River. There deciding that what they learned of the land beyond the Rocky +Mountains warranted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> the carrying out of the missionary project, they +determined to part company, Dr. Whitman returning to the “States” for +reinforcements, and Dr. Parker going onward through Oregon to the mouth of +the Columbia, and proceeding thence by ship to Honolulu, whence he +returned by water to his home. Dr. Parker was an elderly man, somewhat +pedantic and notional in his ways, but withal full of energy and zeal in +the cause. He was not so popular with trappers and frontiersmen as his +companion. For Whitman was a young, athletic man, capable of any degree of +fatigue, very ready in proffering his professional or other services to +those in need. There was a bonhommie and general disregard of the +conventionalities in Whitman that caused the rough spirits of the border +to “take to” him at once, while they rather looked askance at the more +straight-laced ecclesiastic. But Parker was a man worthy of all respect +for his qualities both of mind and purpose. He was a keen observer, and +has left us, as his contribution to history, his <i>Travels beyond the Rocky +Mountains</i>, one of the most readable and valuable books of travel in our +western literature. His journey was, in fact, the first one across the +continent, after that of Lewis and Clark, which produced a book of high +standard.</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitman made his way at once to his home in New York, accompanied by +two Nez Percé Indians. Arriving late on Saturday night he stopped with his +brother, and no one else of the village knew of his arrival, until at the +hour of service the next morning, he appeared in the aisle followed by his +two Indians. His appearance was so like that of an apparition that his +usually staid and proper mother lost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> her head entirely, and leaped to her +feet, shouting “Why, there is Marcus!” The equilibrium of the meeting was +for the time almost destroyed.</p> + +<p>Within a few months, Dr. Whitman was married to Narcissa Prentiss. He +persuaded Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, who had hitherto planned to go as +missionaries to the Osage Indians, to join them for Oregon. W. H. Gray was +secured to go with the party as secular manager.</p> + +<p>And now began the famous “Wedding Journey” from New York to the banks of +the Columbia. It included within itself the romance, the pathos, the +devotion, the heroism, and at the last, the tragedy of missions.</p> + +<p><i>The History of Oregon</i>, by W. H. Gray, is the chief original authority +for this journey, though the women of the party kept journals which are of +great value. It would seem that all the members of the party were of +marked personality. Dr. Whitman was a tall, spare man, with deep blue +eyes, wide mouth, iron-grey hair, of inflexible resolution, and very set +when his mind was once made up, though flexible and even variable till +that point had been reached. He was of enormous physical strength and +endurance, with a constitution, as one who knew him later told the writer, +“like a saw-mill.”</p> + +<p>Mrs. Whitman was a woman of liberal education for those times, large, +fair-haired, blue-eyed, dignified, and somewhat reserved (rather +“starchy,” the mountain men thought her), very ladylike, refined, and +attractive. One of the pathetic and interesting things about her is +related by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb in the <i>Magazine of American History</i>, in +1884. This <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>relates the fact that the church of which Miss Prentiss (Mrs. +Whitman) was a member in Plattsburg, N. Y., held a farewell service for +her, and in the course of it the minister gave out the hymn:</p> + +<p class="poem">Yes, my native land, I love thee,<br /> +All thy scenes, I love them well;<br /> +Friends, connections, happy country,<br /> +Can I bid you all farewell.</p> + +<p>The entire congregation joined heartily in singing, but before the hymn +was ended voice after voice was choked with sobs, and in the last words +the clear, sweet soprano voice of Miss Prentiss was heard alone, +unwavering, like a peal of triumph.</p> + +<p>Mr. Spalding was a very different man from Dr. Whitman and has not been so +well treated by historians. He is said to have been more nervous and +crotchety, though of remarkable industry and intense likes and dislikes, +which he never scrupled to express in vigorous fashion. The fact remains, +however, that his mission was altogether the most successful of all those +founded in Oregon.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Spalding was tall, dark, rather coarse featured, and of fragile +health. It is truly wonderful that with such a handicap she should have +been able to accomplish the arduous journey to Oregon. She was less +fastidious and reserved than Mrs. Whitman and adopted the policy of taking +the habits and manners of the Indians in greater degree, whereas her more +dignified sister believed in the policy of trying to raise the Indians to +her own level. The Indians therefore understood Mrs. Spalding better. The +Indians always desired the privilege of entering Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> Whitman’s private +room unannounced, and, if possible, of seeing her at her bath or toilette. +Her natural objection to such intrusion was a chronic grievance which +resulted in the suspicion by the Indians that she was conspiring against +them.</p> + +<p>W. H. Gray, the secular agent, was a young, fine-looking, daring, and +athletic man, very skilful in making and handling boats, teams, waggons, +and anything else of a practical nature. He was so positive and even +violent in his views as to alienate many with whom he came in contact. Yet +he was one of the manliest men that ever came to Oregon, and was +intimately connected with nearly every important event in the history of +the Columbia River, navigation included. His four sons, all born in +Oregon, became steamboat captains and pilots, and without question, no one +family has been so intimately associated with the River as has the Gray +family. If any one group of people could be said to have filed a claim on +the River, it is the family of W. H. Gray. Gray’s history is of high +value, yet so intense was his hatred of the Hudson’s Bay Company and of +the British in general, as well as of Roman Catholics, that his book has +been subjected to unsparing criticism by later writers.</p> + +<p>The little missionary band of five, accompanied by the two Nez Percé +Indians who had gone East with Whitman the year before, joined the +westbound caravan of the American Fur Company, and journeyed with them the +greater part of the way. One of the most thrilling and suggestive moments +in their journey was when they stood on the summit of the Rockies at South +Pass. There they looked down the westward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> maze of mountains and valleys +drained by the Snake River and its tributaries as these swept west to join +the Columbia and thence proceed to the Pacific. With that vision before +them, they spread the Stars and Stripes to the breeze and kneeling upon +the turf, they took possession of the great unknown to the westward in the +name of God and the American Union. Nobly was the claim maintained, though +with it came the crown of martyrdom.</p> + +<p>Whitman desired above all other things to demonstrate the feasibility of a +waggon road to the Pacific. He therefore insisted on taking his +waggon,—“<i>Chick-chick-shaile-kikash</i>,” the Indians called it, in +attempted onomatopœia. His demonstration was successful, though the +trouble was infinite. He was compelled to leave the waggon at the Hudson’s +Bay Fort on the Boisé, near the present site of Boisé City, with the +intention of getting it the next year. The Hudson’s Bay people used every +effort to discourage Whitman in his waggon enterprise, though according to +Gray, they made much use of the vehicle in their fort.</p> + +<p>On September 2, 1836, the mission party reached the Hudson’s Bay Company’s +fort at the mouth of the Walla Walla, a little more than four months and +two thousand two hundred miles from the banks of the Missouri to those of +the Columbia.</p> + +<p>But the journey was not complete, for their definite location must yet be +selected. They proceeded now in bateaux down the Great River to Vancouver, +the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s empire. There Dr. +McLoughlin, the chief factor, met them with his own peculiar cordiality, +and yet with the dignity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> befitting the head of so great an establishment. +He was a noble man, and though business considerations and the orders of +the directors of the company would have led him to “freeze out” the +Americans, yet humanity and his own genial nature forbade him to withhold +the cordial hand from the mission band. The fort and two ships in the +river were arrayed in gala attire in honour of the event. Dr. McLoughlin +did the honours of his spacious hall to Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding in +a style that would have graced a baronial mansion.</p> + +<p>By Dr. McLoughlin’s advice, since the Methodist mission had been located +in the Willamette Valley, Whitman decided to establish himself among the +Cayuses in the beautiful and fertile valley of the Walla Walla, at +Waiilatpu, the “Place of the Rye-grass.” Spalding accepted the urgent +appeal of the Nez Percés to go a hundred and twenty-five miles eastward to +Lapwai on the Clearwater, near the modern site of Lewiston. Both stations +were fair to look upon, with every natural advantage. It proved, however, +that the Cayuses were fierce and intractable, while the Nez Percés, though +warlike and manly, were also docile, ambitious to learn, and predisposed +to friendly relations with the Americans.</p> + +<p>In 1838, the American Board of Foreign Missions sent a reinforcement to +the field, consisting of Revs. Elkanah Walker, Cushing Eells, A. B. Smith, +and their wives. Mr. Gray, who had returned the previous year in order to +organise this reinforcement, had found a wife, and with her was now +accompanying this second missionary band to Oregon.</p> + +<p>Messrs. Walker and Eells located at Tshimakain,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> on what is now called +Walker’s Prairie, near Spokane. Mr. Smith went to Kamiah up the +Clearwater, about sixty miles from Mr. Spalding’s station at Lapwai.</p> + +<p>Time fails to speak of the many interesting events marking each of the +missions. They were all located in singularly attractive spots, and every +one of the missionaries made great progress in cultivating the ground, +building mills, houses, and fences, and interesting the Indians in the +arts of peace. It is true that when the novelty of the white man’s ways +had passed, many of the natives lost all interest. Yet upon the Spokanes +and the Nez Percés, lasting influences were wrought. The Nez Percés in +particular, under the influence of their noble and intelligent chief, +Hal-hal-tlos-sot, or Lawyer, almost decided the fate of American +institutions in the upper Columbia River region for years.</p> + +<p>One of the especially interesting events in connection with the Nez Percé +mission was the acquisition by Mr. Spalding of the first printing-press +used west of the Rocky Mountains. This was donated by the church of Rev. +H. Bingham at Honolulu in 1839. The indefatigable Spalding, with the +assistance of his wife, who had unusual powers as a linguist, began at +once reducing the Nez Percé language to a written form and printing in it +translations of hymns and portions of the Bible. Some of these first books +of the Columbia River are still in existence. The venerable printing-press +is in the museum of the Oregon Pioneer Society at Portland.</p> + +<p>The most dramatic and influential event in connection with the missions of +the Columbia, one of the most so in all American history, was Dr. +Whitman’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> mid-winter ride in 1842-43 from Waiilatpu to St. Louis. Dr. +Whitman, in common with Jason Lee, soon began to perceive that the +Columbia Valley possessed resources and a location which would inevitably +make it the seat of a civilised population. The corollary of this was that +the mission must conform to the movements of the whites and in time cease +to be simply an Indian mission. He perceived another thing. That was the +purpose of the Hudson’s Bay Company to hold Oregon under English +possession and keep it a wilderness for the sake of the fur-trade. The +corollary of that was that, if American families could be induced to +locate in Oregon, they would in time topple the scale in favour of +American ownership.</p> + +<p>The value of Oregon was then but dimly understood among the Americans. +Webster, Benton, and others of the great statesmen are on record in the +<i>Congressional Globe</i> with many disparaging remarks upon “that worthless +Columbia River country.”</p> + +<p>Whitman watched all signs with anxious eye. Negotiations between England +and the United States indicated a probable surrender to the former. The +American Board was considering the abandonment of the mission. Looking +over the broad field of the future of the American nation with a +statesman’s vision, Dr. Whitman readily saw that the interests of his +country and of Christian civilisation demanded the acquisition of Oregon. +Those interests were in jeopardy. He made the great resolution to proceed +at once to the “States” with the threefold aim: confer with the officers +of the American Board on the retention of the mission, confer with +President Tyler, Secretary Webster, and such others of the officers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +government as he could see at Washington, and finally help organise and +lead back to Oregon an American immigration. His fellow-missionaries +strongly opposed his purpose. They felt that it was abandoning the +religious aims of the mission to take up political questions. But he +declared that he had not expatriated himself by becoming a missionary. Go +he would. The undertaking seemed chimerical, even desperate. But Whitman +was bold, athletic, persistent, possessing all the qualities of a hero.</p> + +<p>With a single white companion, A. L. Lovejoy, and one or more Indian +guides, he left Waiilatpu on October 3, 1842. His journey through snow, +ice, wind, hunger, peril, and deprivation of every sort, has been ofttimes +described. The extent of his influence in securing the adoption by our +Government of the policy of retaining Oregon has become the theme of +earnest, even acrimonious discussion. The simple fact remains that Oregon +was “saved” to the American Union. The missionaries Lee and Whitman bore, +each his part, and a great one, in the great final result. It is not too +much to say that of the various lines of influence by which the valley of +the Columbia became American territory, that of missions was one of the +strongest.</p> + +<p>The Catholic missions of the Columbia Valley have found several +chroniclers, of whom the most valuable are Rev. F. N. Blanchet and Rev. +Pierre J. De Smet. The former in his book, <i>The Catholic Church in +Oregon</i>, gives a clear and circumstantial account of the founding and +carrying on of the work in the Willamette Valley. The latter in his +<i>Oregon Missions</i>, and <i>Western Missions and Missionaries</i>, has given a +singularly graphic and interesting report on religious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> progress, and with +it many charming descriptions of the scenery and other natural conditions +of the country.</p> + +<p>Father Blanchet, in company with Rev. Modest Demers, went from Montreal to +Vancouver, a journey of over four thousand miles, in 1837. At the Little +Dalles of the Columbia, near the present Northport, a lamentable disaster +cost the lives of twelve of the company with whom they were travelling. +Reaching Vancouver on November 24, 1837, they received from Dr. +McLoughlin, who had himself been brought up a Catholic, a most cordial +welcome, though apparently not more cordial than the good man had given +Lee, the Methodist, and Whitman, the Presbyterian. The fact that there +were so many French Canadians in the country made the way of the Catholic +Fathers easier than that of the other missionaries. For the French, with +their gayety, sociability, and usual habit of intermarriage with the +Indians, were much more popular with them than were the more harsh and +reserved British and Americans. In fact the Catholic Fathers found a +building all ready for their use at the historic town of Champoeg on the +Willamette, thirty miles above Portland. There in 1836, the French +settlers had built a log church, the first church building in Oregon. It +is rather sad to relate that petty dissensions and jealousies marred the +relations between the Catholics and the Methodists. But both alike were +zealous and indefatigable in promoting the secular and religious interests +of both red men and white men.</p> + +<p>While Fathers Blanchet and Demers and their associates were busily engaged +in the Willamette Valley, Father de Smet had come in 1840 into the +Flathead country, in what is now Northern Idaho.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> His first mission was +St. Mary’s, on the Flathead River, founded by the planting of the cross on +September 24, 1841. Other missions were soon established on Cœur +d’Alene Lake and Pend Oreille Lake. Branching out from them were missions +in Colville, and ultimately in the Walla Walla, Yakima, Wenatchee, and +Chelan valleys.</p> + +<p>De Smet greatly overestimated the number of Indians, reckoning those in +Oregon at one hundred and ten thousand. He numbered his converts by the +thousands. So pressing seemed the needs that in 1843, he went to Europe +for reinforcements. He was very successful in his quest, returning the +following year in the ship <i>L’Indefatigable</i>, from Antwerp, accompanied by +four fathers, six sisters, and several lay brothers. He gives a thrilling +account of his entrance of the Columbia River on July 31, 1844. He vividly +portrays the terrors of the bar with the mighty surges dashing across the +entrance. The captain did not understand the channel and became diverted +from the true course, which was then by the north channel, and got into +the south. The latter is now the main channel, but then was dangerous. De +Smet piously regards their escape from wreck as due to the special +interposition of divine providence, and to the favour extended to them +because of its being the day sacred to St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of +their order. De Smet’s brilliant and poetical descriptions of the grandeur +of the river and its forests denote a keen appreciation of nature and a +facile pen.</p> + +<p>Demers, De Smet, and Blanchet entered upon their work with such energy +that by the time of De Smet’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> report in 1844 there had been established +four dioceses in the region tributary to the Columbia; viz., Oregon City, +Walla Walla, Fort Hall, and Colville. Oregon City was the Metropolitan See +and in charge of Rev. F. N. Blanchet. Walla Walla was under the direction +of Rev. Magloire Blanchet, who at that date had charge also of Forts Hall +and Colville. Eleven chapels had been erected at different points; five in +the Willamette Valley, one at Vancouver, one on the Cowlitz, one on +Cœur d’Alene Lake, one on Pend Oreille Lake, one at Kettle Falls on the +Columbia near Colville, and one near Calispell among the Flatheads. There +were three schools; one being St. Mary’s among the Flatheads, while at St. +Paul’s on the Willamette, there were two, a college for boys, still the +site of a college, and a girls’ academy. Twelve clergymen were engaged at +that time in the work, and the number was soon increased to twenty-six by +another reinforcement from Europe. With the reinforcement were also seven +female teachers.</p> + +<p>Each of these three chief groups of missions had its special aims, +methods, and results. The Catholic was more exclusively religious, while +the Protestants passed over readily from their initial religious aims to +the domain of political and educational interest. The net result was +tremendous in the history of the country.</p> + +<p>Among the educational institutions growing directly out of the labours of +the missionaries we may mention Willamette University at Salem, the direct +successor of the Methodist mission at Chemeketa; Whitman College at Walla +Walla, founded by Cushing Eells as a memorial to Marcus Whitman; Pacific<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +University at Forest Grove, Oregon, founded by a later set of +Congregational Home Missionaries; and the Catholic College at St. Paul’s, +the successor of the school founded in 1839 by Blanchet.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>They rest from their labours and their works do follow them.</p></div> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Era of the Pioneers: their Ox-teams and their Flatboats</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Events and Men who led the Way to the Pioneer Age—Kelley, Wyeth, and +Bonneville—Ewing Young—Farnham, Shortess, and the “Oregon +Dragoons”—The Wilkes Expedition—The <i>Star of Oregon</i>, and the Cattle +Enterprise—Dr. John McLoughlin and the Americans—Dr. Marcus Whitman +and his Winter Ride, and the Immigration of 1843—Retrospect of J. W. +Nesmith—Features of the Journey across the Plains—Whitman’s +Services—Getting the Waggons across the Plains—Reaching the River +and Building Boats—Delights and then Distress of the Descent of the +River—Battle with the River—Condition in which they Reached +Vancouver, and their Reception by Dr. McLoughlin—Subsequent +Immigrations—The Barlow Road—The Donation Land Law—Quotation from +Jesse Applegate.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> pioneer era was ushered in by the coming to Oregon of fur-hunters, +missionaries, and little bands of adventurers, who together composed the +nucleus of that American community which formed the Provisional Government +of 1843. There were certain individuals, too, whose agency in leading the +way to the immigration movement was so unique as to deserve mention.</p> + +<p>One of these was Hall J. Kelley of Boston. He was a native of New +Hampshire and a Harvard graduate. As early as 1815, when seventeen years +old, he conceived the idea of the colonisation of Americans in Oregon. He +was a man of high scholarship, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>philanthropic spirit, and patriotic +purpose. He was a dreamer and idealist, planning to form a community on +the Columbia, as one of the Utopias which minds of that stamp, from Plato +down, have been fond of locating somewhere in the unexplored West. After +making a great effort, with partial success, to enlist Congress in his +schemes, he succeeded in organising a company of several hundred, and by +1828 shaped the definite plan of going to St. Louis and following the +route of the fur companies across the plains to the River of Oregon. But +opposition by those same fur companies, and adverse criticism by the press +broke up his enterprise for that time. In 1832 he started with a small +party for the land of his dreams by the route through Mexico and +California. In California, he met with Ewing Young, an American of great +natural abilities and some education. Young and Kelley, brainy and +original men, the former from shrewd commercial instinct and the latter +from philanthropic dreams, formed a little company, and proceeded overland +from California to Oregon. This was in the autumn of 1834. When, after +some disasters, the company of eleven reached the Columbia, Young took up +a great tract of land in the Chehalem Valley, where he devoted himself to +stock-raising. Kelley, having become an invalid, went in distress to Fort +Vancouver, where Dr. McLoughlin treated him with kindness, though the +exclusive “Britishers” would not admit him to “social equality.” The other +members of the company were scattered in various directions, but some of +them remained till American occupancy became an accomplished fact.</p> + +<p>This company of 1834,—the same year that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Methodist missionaries +under Jason Lee arrived—may be considered the advance guard of American +immigration. Kelley, upon his return to New England by way of the Sandwich +Islands, disseminated much useful information about Oregon. To him, +without doubt, is to be attributed much of the subsequent wave of interest +which swept on toward American immigration. As first a New England college +man, educator, and social theoriser, and then a leader of the pioneer +movement to Oregon, Hall J. Kelley is worthy of permanent remembrance.</p> + +<p>Ewing Young became distinguished for leading the party which in 1837 drove +a band of seven hundred cattle from California to Oregon. This even marked +an epoch in preparing for immigration and subsequent American possession. +One of the peculiarly noteworthy facts in connection with Young’s +enterprise, is that Dr. McLoughlin, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s magnate, +who had at first discountenanced Young on account of a charge of stealing +brought against him from California, and who frowned upon the cattle +enterprise for fear of American influence, became reconciled to both Young +and the cattle, and subscribed liberally to the enterprise.</p> + +<p>Nearly contemporary with Kelley and Young were Bonneville and Wyeth.</p> + +<p>Bonneville was a well-educated French-American, a West Pointer, and +holding the commission of captain in the United States Army. His ardent +and imaginative disposition became fired with the thought of a far western +expedition, and in 1832 he organised a fur-traders’ company of a hundred +and ten men. Though not realising his dreams of a fortune in furs,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +Bonneville made many interesting and valuable observations upon the +Salmon, Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia rivers. He became thoroughly +imbued with the romance and scenic grandeur of the far West. Upon his +return to New York, he had the good fortune to meet Washington Irving at +the home of John Jacob Astor. Irving had already felt the irresistible +fascination which the River of Oregon has wrought upon all poetical +natures, and the result of this meeting was one of Irving’s most charming +volumes, <i>Bonneville’s Adventures</i>, a volume which became another potent +force in turning toward the Pacific slope the thoughts of the eager, +restless people of the frontier.</p> + +<p>Still another in the group of men who led the way to immigration was +Nathaniel Wyeth. He was a talented, well-educated, and energetic +Bostonian. So distinguished a personage as James Russell Lowell has said +of him: “He was a very remarkable person, whose conversation I valued +highly. A born leader of men, he was fitly called Captain Nathaniel Wyeth +as long as he lived.”</p> + +<p>Wyeth conceived the idea of a great trading company on the Columbia, whose +operations would necessarily create rivalry with the British. His design +was to send companies across the continent to the Columbia head-waters and +to maintain also ship connection by way of Cape Horn. He believed that a +ship load of salmon from the Columbia River to the Atlantic sea-board +would be a paying venture. On so large a scale did he lay out his +enterprise that he expected soon to have a business of two hundred +thousand dollars a year. But he looked beyond the fur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> and salmon business +to American possession and settlement, at least south of the River to the +California line. He therefore embraced in his view the building of +enterprises which should lead up to and then profit by American +immigration. Wyeth spent five years in Oregon, having many interesting +adventures, and as many business reverses. As was the case with Astor, the +British fur-traders proved too powerful for the Yankee. Among other +undertakings, he built a fort on Sauvie’s Island at the mouth of the +Willamette, which he called Fort William. He desired to make this the +basis of his trade, and he expected the Indians to go there to trade. But +such was the influence of the Hudson’s Bay people and their employees with +the Indians that Wyeth’s fort had no trade. It was during those years that +a frightful pestilence swept the natives away like flies, and there was +great fear among them that Wyeth’s fort might harbour the scourge. The +period of Wyeth’s enterprise in Oregon extended from the spring of 1832 to +the autumn of 1836. Though not a business success, it had a great bearing +on the creation of an interest in Oregon, and on preparing for immigration +a few years later. It opened the eyes of many Americans to the attractions +of Oregon and to the tremendous power and profits of the Hudson’s Bay +Company.</p> + +<p>The next movement may be called a real immigration to Oregon. It consisted +of a party of nineteen, commonly known as the “Peoria party,” since they +went from Peoria, Ill. Jason Lee, the missionary of Chemeketa, delivered a +lecture at that place in 1838, and so much interest in Oregon was aroused +that in the year following, the Peoria party, the first regular party<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +from the Mississippi Valley, set forth for the River of the West. Their +leader, T. J. Farnham, christened his followers the “Oregon Dragoons” and +Mrs. Farnham gave them a flag with the inscription, “Oregon or the Grave.” +Farnham declared his purpose to seize Oregon for the United States.</p> + +<p>The Peoria party had the good fortune to have two writers in the number, +whose accounts possess rare interest. These writers were the leader +Farnham, and Robert Shortess. The party went to pieces at Bent’s Fort on +the Arkansas, but its members reached Oregon somewhat in driblets during +that year, and the one following. Shortess reached the Whitman Mission at +Walla Walla in the fall of 1839, and there he remained until the following +spring, when he went down the River to The Dalles. From The Dalles, he +made his way over the Cascade Mountains to the Willamette Valley, and +there he lived many years. Farnham also finally reached Oregon, but his +avowed mission was unfulfilled. Shortess says of him: “Instead of raising +the American flag and turning the Hudson’s Bay Company out-of-doors, he +accepted the gift of a suit of clothes and a passage to the Sandwich +Islands, and took a final leave of Oregon.” But upon his return to the +“States,” Farnham published a <i>Pictorial History of Oregon and +California</i>, a book of many interesting features, and one which played a +worthy part in waking the people of the Mississippi Valley to the +attractions of the Pacific Coast.</p> + +<p>Soon after the close of Wyeth’s enterprise, there were two notable +government expeditions to the Columbia River. One was commanded by Sir +Edward Belcher of the British Navy, and the other by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> Lieutenant Charles +Wilkes of the American Navy. The Wilkes expedition was one of the most +interesting and important ever undertaken by the United States Government. +The squadron consisted of two sloops-of-war, the <i>Peacock</i> and the +<i>Vincennes</i>, the store ship, <i>Relief</i>, the brig, <i>Porpoise</i>, and the +schooners, <i>Sea Gull</i> and <i>Flying Fish</i>. This fine squadron took up its +principal station on Puget Sound, from which extensive surveys were made, +one across the mountains to Fort Okanogan; another of the Cowlitz Valley +and the Columbia River as far as Wallula.</p> + +<p>One of the most important results of this elaborate Wilkes expedition was +to establish in the minds of officers of the Government the essential +unity of all parts of the Pacific Coast and the boundless opportunities +offered to American immigration. Wilkes and his intelligent officers +readily grasped, and conveyed through an elaborate report to the +government, the idea that Puget Sound was an inherent and integral part of +Oregon and that the Columbia Basin was essential to the proper development +of American commerce upon the Pacific. They may also have forecast the +time when California with her girdles of gold and chaplets of freedom +would spring, Athena-like, from the Zeus brain of American enterprise. The +control of the River was the key to the control of the entire coast from +San Diego to the Straits of Fuca;—and American ownership should have +extended to Sitka.</p> + +<p>A memorable calamity occurred to the squadron upon its entrance to the +River, and that was the loss of the <i>Peacock</i> on the Columbia River bar. +The oft-depicted terrors of the River were realised at that time, and yet +it was not the River’s fault for the <i>Peacock</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> was out of the channel. +The spit is known as “Peacock Spit” to this day.</p> + +<p>Among the many episodes connecting Wilkes with the early immigration was +the building of the schooner <i>Star of Oregon</i> and her voyage to California +for cattle. This was in 1842. It will be remembered that Ewing Young had +made a successful trip from California with cattle. But as the population +of the Columbia had increased, there was a great desire among the settlers +to obtain a larger number of cattle to let loose upon the rich pasture +lands of the Willamette Valley. A little group of Americans conceived the +adventurous project of building a schooner of Oregon timber, sailing with +her to California, exchanging her there for stock, and driving the band +across the country home again. The schooner was built by Felix Hathaway, +Joseph Gale, and Ralph Kilbourne. The oak and fir timber of which the +vessel was built was cut on Sauvie’s Island, at the mouth of the +Willamette, and in due time she was launched and taken to Willamette Falls +for fitting. A difficulty arose. Dr. McLoughlin refused to sell sails, +cordage, and other materials. He had the only supply in Oregon. In despair +the enterprising ship-builders appealed to Lieutenant Wilkes. He felt a +keen interest in their laudable undertaking and made a visit to McLoughlin +to try to change his resolution. By assuring the Doctor that he would be +responsible both for all the bills, as well as for the good conduct of the +party, he induced him to allow the requisition for all materials necessary +to complete the gallant craft. Gale was the only sailor in the party. +Having satisfied Wilkes that he was qualified to command a ship, and +having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> received from him a present of a flag, an ensign, a compass, +kedge-anchor, hawser, log line, and two log glasses, the captain flung the +flag to the Oregon breeze and turned the prow of the <i>Star of Oregon</i> +toward the River’s mouth. She may be remembered as the first sea-going +vessel built of Oregon timber. Crossing the Bar in a storm, she sped +southward in a spanking breeze, all hands seasick except Gale. He held the +wheel thirty-six hours continuously, and in five days “dashed through the +portals of the Golden Gate like an arrow, September 17, 1842.”</p> + +<p>As it was too late to get the cattle back to Oregon that fall, the party +sold their schooner for three hundred and fifty cows, wintered in +California, and the next spring drove to the Columbia twelve hundred and +fifty head of cattle, six hundred head of mules and horses, and three +thousand sheep. This was an achievement which made the way for immigration +clearer than ever before, and in a most effective manner united the +American settlers with the American government. Some of the Hudson’s Bay +Company people could begin to see the handwriting on the wall. Dr. +McLoughlin saw most quickly and most clearly, and as elsewhere narrated, +began to transfer his interests to the American side. This fine old man +was big-brained, big-bodied, and big-souled, a natural American, though +compelled to work for the British fur monopolists for the time. He admired +the independent spirit of the incoming Yankee immigrants, even when the +joke was on him. He afterwards told with much gusto of an American named +Woods crossing the Columbia to Vancouver to try to get goods. He found his +credit shaky, and somewhat piqued, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> exclaimed: “Well, never mind, I +have an uncle back East rich enough to buy out the whole of your old +Hudson’s Bay Company!” “Well, well, Mr. Woods,” demanded the autocrat, +“who may this very rich uncle of yours be?” “Uncle Sam,” was the unabashed +and characteristic American reply. “Old Whitehead” also appreciated, +though he was obliged to manifest a dignified disapproval, when two young +men from New York, having reached the fort on the River, were asked about +their passports. Laying their hands on their rifles they replied, “These +are an American’s passports.”</p> + +<p>These small miscellaneous immigrations were in continuance from about 1830 +to 1842. In the latter year a hundred came. In 1843, as elsewhere related, +the Provisional Government was instituted. At the very same time, the +immigration of 1843 was on its way to the River.</p> + +<p>This immigration of 1843 was in many respects the most remarkable of all. +It was the first large one, and it was a type of all. It will be +remembered that Dr. Marcus Whitman had made his great winter ride in +1842-43 across the Rockies to St. Louis, with a double aim. First he +wished to see the officers of the American Board of Missions, and then to +enlist the American government and people in the policy of holding Oregon +against the manifest aims of the British. There was already a tremendous +interest felt in Oregon among the people of Missouri, Illinois, and the +other great prairie States. Whitman’s opportune arrival and his announced +purpose to guide an immigration to the Columbia became widely known, and +brought to a focus many vaguely-considered plans.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>J. W. Nesmith, subsequently one of the most prominent pioneers and a +member of each House of Congress from Oregon, has given a humorous account +of the manner of starting this immigration of 1843, of which he was a +member, which is so characteristic that we quote it here.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Burnett, or as he was more familiarly styled, “Pete,” was called +upon for a speech. Mounting a log the glib-tongued orator delivered a +glowing florid address. He commenced by showing his audience that the +then western tier of states and territories were crowded with a +redundant population, who had not sufficient elbow room for the +expansion of their enterprise and genius, and it was a duty they owed +to themselves and posterity to strike out in search of a more expanded +field and a more genial climate, where the soil yielded the richest +return for the slightest amount of cultivation,—where the trees were +loaded with perennial fruit,—and where a good substitute for bread, +called La Camash, grew in the ground; where salmon and other fish +crowded the streams; and where the principal labour of the settlers +would be confined to keeping their gardens free from the inroads of +buffalo, elk, deer, and wild turkeys. He appealed to our patriotism by +picturing forth the glorious empire we should establish upon the +shores of the Pacific,—how with our trusty rifles we should drive out +the British usurpers who claimed the soil, and defend the country from +the avarice and pretensions of the British Lion,—and how posterity +would honour us for placing the fairest portion of the land under the +Stars and Stripes.... Other speeches were made full of glowing +descriptions of the fair land of promise, the far-away Oregon, which +no one in the assemblage had ever seen, and about which not more than +half a dozen had ever read any account. After the election of Mr. +Burnett as captain, and other necessary officers, the meeting, as +motley and primitive a one as ever assembled, adjourned with “three +cheers” for Captain Burnett and Oregon.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>Peter Burnett to whom Nesmith here refers, was the same who became the +first governor of California.</p> + +<p>By the walnut hearth-fires in many a home of the prairie States and at the +corn-huskings and quilting bees the talk of Oregon and the forests of the +Columbia, and the rich pasture lands of the Willamette, and the salmon and +game, and genial climate and majestic mountains, went the rounds. Interest +grew into enthusiasm, enthusiasm waxed hot, and in the early spring the +great immigration of 1843 set forth from Westport, Missouri, for the +Columbia waters. Though the immigration of 1843 was the earliest of any +size and the first with any number of women and children, it had perhaps +the least trouble and misfortune and the most romance and gayety and +enthusiasm of any. The experience of crossing the plains was one which +nothing else could duplicate;—the hasty rising in the chill damp of the +morning, the preparing the cattle and horses for the long, hard drive, the +rounds of the waggons to strengthen bolts and tires and tongues, the +loading of the rifles for possible hostile Indians or buffalo, the setting +forth of the scouts on horseback, the long train strung across the dusty +plain, the occasional bands of wild Indians emerging like a whirlwind from +the broad expanse, and then the approaching cool of night with its hurried +rest on the rough prairie sod. Sometimes there were nights of storm and +stampede and darkness. Sometimes savage beasts and savage men startled the +train, or one of the stupendous herds of buffalo went thundering across +the prairie. Then came the first glimpse of snowy heights, then of deep +cañons, and then the summit was attained, and far westward stretched the +maze of plains and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> mountains through which the Snake River, the greatest +of the tributaries of the Columbia, took its swift way.</p> + +<p>During most of the journey, Dr. Marcus Whitman was guide, physician, and +friend. While severe controversy has arisen as to the extent of his +services in organising the immigration, the testimony is unvarying as to +the value of his presence with the train. Last to bed at night and first +up in the morning, attending both people, cattle, and horses in their +sicknesses and accidents, ahead of the train on horseback to find the +passes of the hills and the fords of the rivers, the watcher by night and +the pilot by day, the missionary doctor was the veritable “Mr. Greatheart” +of the immigration.</p> + +<p>Great was the astonishment of Captain Grant, commandant of the Hudson’s +Bay Fort Hall on Snake River, near the present Pocatello, when the long +train filed past the enclosure. Grant had known Whitman before and was +aware of his stubborn determination and patriotic purpose. But Grant +attempted just the same to dissuade the immigrants of 1843 from going +farther with their waggons, declaring the Blue Mountains to be impassable. +The doughty doctor simply laughed quietly and told the immigrants to push +on, and he would see them through. But just as they were entering the +rough defiles of the Blue Mountains, a band of Indians from Waiilatpu, +headed by Sticcus, came to meet the train, searching for Whitman, telling +him that his medical services were in great demand at Lapwai. The +much-needed guide turned over the pilotage of the train to Sticcus, and he +himself hastened on to minister to the sick at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>Lapwai. As he passed +through Waiilatpu he learned that the threatening conduct of the Indians +had led Mrs. Whitman to go to Vancouver, and that during his absence the +Indians had burned his mill and committed other depredations. But it was +his lot to labour and suffer. He had become accustomed to it.</p> + +<p>The event proved that Sticcus was a thoroughly capable guide. For, though +not speaking a word of English, he made his directions so well understood +by pantomime that, as Mr. Nesmith has said, he led them safely over the +roughest mountain road that they ever saw. And so in due time the train +emerged from the screen of timber on the Blue Mountains. Stretched wide +before them, lay the plains of Umatilla and Walla Walla, while in the far +distance the River of the West poured through the arid waste. Yet farther +the snow summits of the Cascades ridged the western sky. After a brief +pause at Waiilatpu, the train reached the banks of the River. The +immediate vicinity of the section of the River first reached is very dry +in autumn. Aside from the River itself, the immediate scene is desolate +and forbidding. But probably those immigrants of ’43 gazed upon the blue +flood, a mile wide and hastening to the western ocean, with feelings +almost akin to those which swelled the hearts of the Pilgrims landing from +the <i>Mayflower</i>. This was another epic of state-making, and one generation +after another of the Americans who have wrought such achievement may well +turn back to join hands with those before.</p> + +<p>Doubtless the immigrants, as they stood by the River in the pleasant haze +of the October afternoon, felt as though their journey was substantially +at an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> end. Being now at Fort Walla Walla on the river of that name, they +paused to make ready for the last stage of the journey, little realising +what perils and sufferings it would entail. Dr. Whitman and Archibald +McKinley, the chief factor at the fort, advised them to leave their cattle +and waggons to winter on the Walla Walla, while they pursued their way +down the stream on flatboats. Part of the company accepted the advice, but +a number determined to keep all their belongings together and to take +their road along the bank of the River to The Dalles, and there make their +flatboats.</p> + +<p>To those who remained on the Walla Walla now fell the difficult task of +constructing flatboats. Huge, uncouth, structures they were, made of +timber gathered on the river bank. But when loaded and pushed out into the +swift current, steered with immense sweeps in the stern, these flatboats +afforded to the footsore and exhausted immigrants a delightful change. Out +of the dust, off the rocks, away from the sage-brush, with more of laugh +and song than they had had for many a day, they swept gaily on. For a +hundred miles or more the elements were propitious. With the bright +sunshine, the clear, cool water, the majestic snow-peaks in the distance, +the easily gliding boats,—this seemed the pleasantest part of the entire +journey. But after The Dalles had been reached and the two divisions of +the company were again united and on their way down the River to the +Cascades, disaster began to haunt them. At the Cascades, a boat with +several members of the Applegate family, one of the most prominent in the +immigration as well as afterwards, was overturned in the rapids, and three +of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> party drowned in the boiling surge. Two were saved in a way that +seems almost miraculous. One of these was a young boy, the other a young +man. The boy was very active and an excellent swimmer. After the +overturning of the boat he was carried two miles in the current, part of +the time being entirely sucked under by the whirling under-current. After +being tossed with violence betwixt rock and wave till it seemed that he +must expire, he was suddenly spewed forth upon a ledge of slippery rock, +to which he clung desperately till he had recovered breath. Then he drew +himself up on a narrow shelf, and at the same instant saw the young man +swept by. Reaching forth, the brave boy managed to bring the struggling +man to the same shelter with himself. But when they had regained +sufficient strength to examine their surroundings, they discovered that +they were on a rocky niche from which they could find no ascent of the +ragged precipitous cliff. They were in a trap. Looking across the River, +they could see that the bank was smooth and that on that side lay the +trail. Young Applegate saw that a reef extended a considerable part of the +way across the River, and desperate as the attempt seemed, he resolved to +pick his way along the reef to a point whence he might swim to the other +shore. It was his only chance for life. Fearful as were the odds, the +daring lad accomplished his aim. He emerged on the further end of the +reef. Looking around, he discovered that his comrade had not possessed the +nerve to follow. And then,—most wonderful of all,—back he went to assist +his more timid fellow. In this, too, he succeeded, and after a return in +which they should have been drowned a dozen times,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> they both reached the +farther end of the reef. There casting themselves again into the +inhospitable flood, they buffeted their way to shore. Battered, bruised, +exhausted, they yet recovered and lived to a good old age to tell the tale +of their fight with the Columbia River.</p> + +<p>From the Cascades to Vancouver, the company suffered more than in all the +rest of their journey. The fall rains were at hand, and it poured with an +unremitting energy such as no one can realise who has not seen a rain +storm on the lower River. Food had become almost exhausted. Clothing was +in rags. Tired, hungry, wet, cold, disheartened, the immigrants who had so +jauntily descended the River to this “Strait of Horrors,” presented a most +woful appearance. It actually seemed that many must perish. But in the +crisis, help came. One of the party managed to procure a canoe and +hastened down the River to Fort Vancouver. As soon as Dr. McLoughlin +learned that nearly nine hundred men, women, and children were beleaguered +in the mist and chill, he equipped boats with flour, meat, and tea, and in +his choleric excitement, waving his huge cane, bade the boatman hurry to +the rescue. It was not business for the good Doctor to thus aid and abet +American immigrants, and the directors of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the +cold-blooded Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-chief, disapproved. But it +was humanity, and that ever predominated in the mind of “Old Whitehead.” +The next night he caused vast bonfires to be alight along the bank, and +gathered all the eatables and blankets that the place afforded. When the +boat loads of the battered, but rescued Americans drew near, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> Doctor +was on the bank to meet them, to hand out the women and children, to +administer the balm of cheery words and warmth and food. Few were the +travellers on the River, none were the immigrants of ’43, who would not +rise up and call him blessed.</p> + +<p>After this happy pause at Vancouver, the immigration passed on to the +Willamette Falls, then the centre of operations in Oregon, and there they +were soon joined by the chosen men who had driven their thirteen hundred +head of cattle by the trail over the Cascade Mountains, a task toilsome +and even distressing, but one that was accomplished. After an inactive +winter in the mild, muggy, misty Oregon climate, the immigrants of ’43 +spread abroad in the opening spring to secure land, each his square mile, +as the Provisional Government provided, and as the American government was +contemplating.</p> + +<p>Such was the coming of the immigrants to the River. Subsequent +immigrations bore a general resemblance to that of 1843. Each had its +special feature. That of 1845 was conspicuous for its size. It was three +thousand strong. It was also illustrious for the laying out of the road +across the Cascade Mountains near the southern flank of Mt. Hood. This +noble and difficult undertaking was carried through by S. K. Barlow and +William Rector. It was a terrific task, and was not completed the first +year. Cañons, precipitous rocks, morasses, sand-hills, tangled forests, +fallen trees, criss-crossed and interlaced with briars and vines and +shrubbery of tropical luxuriance, such as no one can appreciate who has +not seen an Oregon jungle,—these were the obstructions to the Barlow +Road. But they were vanquished and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> in 1846 and thence onward the +immigrants made this the regular route to the Willamette Valley. So steep +was Laurel Hill on the western slope that waggons had to be let down by +ropes from level to level. The marks of the ropes or chains are still seen +on the trees of Laurel Hill. The immigration of 1852 was sadly conspicuous +for the devastations of cholera. Many a family was broken in sunder and +some even were entirely eliminated by the dreadful plague. The +immigrations of 1854 and 1855 were notable for the Indian outbreaks, and +especially for the atrocious butchery of the Ward family near Boisé in the +earlier year, the most pitiless Indian outrage in Oregon history.</p> + +<p>From 1850 onward for some years the Donation Land Law of Congress was a +great lure to immigrants, for by it a man and wife could obtain a section +of land. A single man could take up half a section. That situation +encouraged early marriages. Girls were in great demand. It was not +uncommon to see fourteen-year-old brides. Some narrators relate having +found married women in the woods of the Columbia who were playing with +their dolls! But though the immigrations varied in special features, they +were all alike in their mingling of mirth and melancholy, of toil and +rest, of suffering and enjoyment, of heroism, and self-sacrifice. They +embodied an epoch of American history that can never come again. To have +been an immigrant from the Missouri to the Columbia was an experience to +which nothing else on earth is comparable. It confers a title of American +nobility by the side of which the coronets of some European dukes are +tawdry and contemptible. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>Perhaps no one ever better phrased the spirit of +Oregon immigration than Jesse Applegate of the train of ’43, one of the +foremost of Oregon’s builders, long known as the “Sage of Yoncalla.” So +fitting do we deem his language that we quote here an extract from one of +his addresses.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Western pioneer had probably crossed the Blue Ridge or the +Cumberland Mountains when a boy and was now in his prime. Rugged, +hardy, and powerful of frame, he was full to overflowing with the love +of adventure, and animated by a brave soul that scorned the very idea +of fear. All had heard of the perpetually green hills and plains of +Western Oregon, and how the warm breath of the vast Pacific tempered +the air to the genial degree and drove winter back to the North. Many +of them contrasted in imagination the open stretch of a mile square of +rich, green, and grassy land, where the strawberry plant bloomed +through every winter month, with their circumscribed clearings in the +Missouri bottoms. Of long winter evenings neighbours visited each +other, and before the big shell-bark hickory fire, the seasoned walnut +fire, the dry black-jack fire, or the roaring dead elm fire, they +talked these things over; and as a natural consequence, under these +favourable circumstances, the spirit of emigration warmed up; and the +“Oregon fever” became as a household expression. Thus originated the +vast cavalcade, or emigrant train, stretching its serpentine length +for miles, enveloped in vast pillars of dust, patiently wending its +toilsome way across the American continent.</p> + +<p>How familiar these scenes and experiences with the old pioneers! The +vast plains, the uncountable herds of buffalo; the swift-footed +antelope; the bands of mounted, painted warriors; the rugged +snow-capped mountain ranges; the deep, swift, and dangerous rivers; +the lonesome howl of the wild wolf; the midnight yell of the +assaulting savage; the awful panic and stampede; the solemn and silent +funeral at the dead hour of night, and the lonely and hidden grave of +departed friends,—what memories are associated with the Plains +across!</p></div> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h3> +<p class="chapter">Conflict of Nations for Possession of the River</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">The Six Nations at First Engaged in the Conflict—The Three Left in +it—Claims by Sea of Spain, England, and the United States—Claims by +Land—Rivalries of the Great Fur Companies—Capture of Astoria by the +English—Its Restoration to the United States—Appearance of Fort +George in 1818—Joint Occupation Treaty of 1818—Florida Treaty of +1819—Treaty with Russia in 1825—Forces on the Side of England and +those on the side of the United States—American Triumph +Inevitable—Policy of the Hudson’s Bay Company in Contrast with that +of the American Immigration—Indifference of the American +Government—Utterances of Some American Statesmen—Doings of the +American People—Gathering of the Little American Colony in the +Willamette Valley—Need of Government—First Meeting at +Champoeg—Advice of Commodore Wilkes that they Delay—The “Wolf +Meetings”—Second Meeting at Champoeg, and Establishment of the +Provisional Government—Its Chief Provisions—Thornton’s Account of +the “Hall” at Champoeg—Peter H. Burnett—Dr. McLoughlin’s +Position—Triumphs of the American Immigrant over the Great Fur +Company—McLoughlin and Whitman—Movements of Diplomacy between +England and the United States—Webster, Linn, Benton, and +Calhoun—Inconsistent Positions of the Democratic Party—Polk and the +Platform of 54 Degrees 40 Minutes, or Fight—Near Approach of +War—Compromise on the Line of 49 Degrees—Momentous Nature of the +Issue—Triumph of American Home-builders.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Earlier</span> chapters of this volume have already developed some of the +essential elements in the complicated strife of the maritime nations of +the world for possession of the land of the Oregon. This brief chapter +will endeavour to recapitulate and group those steps, and to trace the +course of events by which the line finally was drawn on the parallel of 49 +degrees.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>As we have seen, the many-named river, and the fact that it was the key to +a vast region and that the shores of the ocean contiguous to it seemed to +abound in the finest of furs, was a lure to Portuguese, Frenchman, +Russian, Spaniard, Englishman, and American. The first three became early +eliminated from the conflict, and the last three fought the triangular +battle to its ending with the final result that Uncle Sam inserted his +broad shoulders between Mexico and the 49th parallel, and thus controls +the choicest land of the sunset slope of the continent.</p> + +<p>Spain, England, and the United States each had a valid claim to Oregon. +Spain, by the partial discovery of the River by Heceta in 1775, by the +voyages of Bodega and Arteaga in the same year and again in 1779, and by +the voyage of Valdez and Galiano around Vancouver Island in 1792, together +with many other voyages of a less definite nature by illustrious +navigators, as Malaspina, Bustamente, Elisa, and others, had a strong +position. Yet she had failed to clinch her discoveries or to take +effective possession.</p> + +<p>Great Britain could point to the elaborate examinations of Cook and +Vancouver. The latter had made a minute investigation of the noble group +of waters whose outlet preserves the name of the old Greek pilot of +Cephalonia, Juan de Fuca; and his Lieutenant Broughton had entered the +Columbia River and proceeded over a hundred miles up the stream. The +nomenclature given to both the River and the Sound regions by Vancouver +had been the first in any sense complete. So England, too, had a strong +claim.</p> + +<p>And what were the claims of the United States?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> First and foremost was the +discovery by Robert Gray of the River and his actual twenty-five-mile +ascension of it in May, 1792. He had gone much farther than Heceta, who +had only looked in, but he had not gone so far as Broughton. The latter +indeed, claimed, and his government followed him in the claim, that Gray +had not really been in the River at all, but was only in an estuary of the +sea into which the River flowed. But that, to any one who has seen the +River, is too much of a forced construction to stand serious examination. +Moreover, Gray antedated Broughton by some months.</p> + +<p>Turning from sea claims to land claims, England could point to Alexander +Mackenzie as having crossed the continent in 1792, and as having reached +the veritable ocean at Cascade Inlet. But it again was a very strained +construction to extend that claim so far as to include the lower Columbia +Valley. The United States could justly advance as a sufficient offset, the +expedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804. In 1811 David Thompson had +traversed the entire length of the Columbia for the British flag, only to +find the Astor Company already established under the Stars and Stripes at +the mouth of the River. From these essential facts out of many, we can +easily draw the conclusion that no one of these three contestants could +justly be too arrogant and exclusive. Some degree of modesty was befitting +each.</p> + +<p>We have already seen the rivalries of the great fur companies, the +Hudson’s Bay and the North-western of the British, and the Pacific of the +Americans, and the effect of the War of 1812 on their fortunes. As a +result of that war the Pacific Fur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> Company sold out to the North-westers, +and a few years later the North-westers united with the Hudson’s Bay +Company under the name of the latter. To all appearance the Yankee was +worsted, and the Briton in possession of the River.</p> + +<p>But the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, closing the War of 1812, provided that +all territory taken by either party should be restored. The boundary line +west of the Lake of the Woods was left undrawn. John Jacob Astor now +applied to the Government to restore his captured property on the +Columbia, stating that if again in possession, he would resume his former +operations. The United States Government accordingly notified Great +Britain of its intention to re-occupy the fort at the Columbia’s mouth. +For two years the communication lay unanswered. In September, 1817, the +sloop-of-war, <i>Ontario</i>, Captain J. Biddle, was despatched to the Columbia +with Mr. J. B. Provost as special agent, under instructions to assert the +claim of the United States to the territory of the River. This decisive +move compelled Great Britain to come out from under cover. A long and +tedious diplomatic warfare ensued. Meanwhile the <i>Ontario</i> was pursuing +her long journey around Cape Horn. In 1818, an agreement was reached to +the effect that Astoria should be formally restored to the United States, +but that the North-western Fur Company should be allowed to remain in +actual possession. Captain Biddle of the <i>Ontario</i> had left Mr. Provost in +Chile and had proceeded to the Columbia to take possession. Captain +Sheriff, commandant of the British ships in the Pacific, being in +Valparaiso, in H. M. S. <i>Blossom</i>, learning of Mr. Provost’s presence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +there, conceived the happy thought that it would be an international +courtesy to invite Mr. Provost to accompany him to Astoria. Accordingly on +October 1, 1818, the <i>Blossom</i> pushed her bow across the Bar, and on the +6th the formal ceremony of transfer from the Union Jack to the Stars and +Stripes took place. Captain J. Hickey of the <i>Blossom</i> represented Great +Britain, Mr. J. Keith acted for the North-west Fur Company, while Mr. +Provost stood for the United States. It seems to have been a very +good-natured affair throughout. Placards were posted at the capes on both +sides of the River declaring the change of sovereignty. Fort George was +quite a powerful structure at that time, consisting of a strong stockade +of fir logs twelve feet high, enclosing a parallelogram one hundred and +fifty by two hundred and fifty feet, having within it dwellings, shops, +store houses, and magazines. On the walls were two eighteen-pound cannon, +six six-pounders, four four-pound carronades, two six-pound cohorns, and +seven swivels. The day of transfer must have been a very picturesque day +among the many such in Astoria’s history. We can imagine the soft October +haze floating over Cape Hancock, and the long, lazy swell of six thousand +miles of sea, thundering across Point Adams.</p> + +<p>One interesting feature of Mr. Provost’s presence at Astoria was his +observation of the bar at the entrance of the River. This had generally +been represented to the world as something frightful. It is often so +represented at the present time. Mr. Provost in a letter to Secretary of +State, John Quincy Adams, says that there is a spacious bay, by no means +so difficult of ingress as has been represented.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> He states that there is +a bar across the mouth of the River, at either extremity of which there +are sometimes appalling breakers; but that there is a channel of nearly a +league in width with a depth of twenty-one feet at the lowest tides. He +thinks, therefore, that with proper buoys the access to vessels of almost +any tonnage may be rendered secure. This statement in regard to the Bar is +of much interest as furnishing a basis for comparison with the present +conditions. The depth at low tide now is about twenty-six feet, the +increase probably being due to the jetty.</p> + +<p>The logic of the restoration of Astoria to the United States, while at the +same time the British Fur Company was left in practical possession, was +realised in the Joint Occupation Treaty of 1818. By this singular +arrangement it was agreed that any country on the north-west coast of +America that may be claimed by either power shall be open for ten years to +the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers.</p> + +<p>In 1819 another very important step was taken; viz.: the Florida Treaty +with Spain. By this, Spain retired to the line of 42 degrees, ceding to +the American Republic all her rights above that line. With her own claims +joined to those of Spain, the Republic would seem to be able to snap her +fingers at England. But, with characteristic tenacity, the latter power +made ready to insist all the more strenuously upon her claims. In 1825 +England and the United States agreed with Russia upon the line of 54 +degrees 40 minutes, as the southern line of Russian claims. With Spain and +Russia out of it, Oregon was left for England and the United States to +fight over. The Joint Occupation Treaty was to last ten years,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> with the +privilege of renewal. Meanwhile what were the factors in the struggle for +possession? There was on the side of England the Briarean monopoly of the +Hudson’s Bay Company, supported by a disciplined and intelligent +government. But the English people were not in it. On the American side +the Government was strangely indifferent. There were several ambitious +attempts to control the situation by American trading and fur companies. +But the essential forces were the American immigrant, the American +missionary, the Declaration of Independence, and the ox-team. Those were +the champions of America. They were the Davids against the Goliaths of +British monopoly. At first thought it seemed that Goliath would have a +“walk-over.” The case seemed hopeless for the Americans.</p> + +<p>But to the deeper observer, American triumph was inevitable. It was the +Age of Democracy. The conception both of popular government and of +individual ownership of land, with which went the corollary of “equal +opportunities for all men and special privileges for none,” was graven +deep upon American character. With these things there went, of necessity, +the disapproval of slavery and the support of free labour. Still further +there went, by the same logic, the doctrine of unity and continental +expansion. These various influences have constituted the broad foundation +on which were reared the towers and battlements of American nationality.</p> + +<p>In previous chapters we have outlined the operations of the Hudson’s Bay +Company, the coming of the missionaries, and the immigrations of +Americans. The policy of the Hudson’s Bay Company was to keep the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> country +a wilderness, to maintain amicable relations with the Indians, and to +depend mainly on the fur-trade for the great profits of their enterprise. +The policy of the American immigrants was to build homes, cities, roads, +steamboats, mills, develop the country, crowd out the natives, and depend +on mining, farming, stock-raising, lumbering, for their profits; not +profits of a monopoly located in a distant money centre, but profits of +the individual worker on his own land. The difference was world-wide. It +represented two different conceptions of government and of life itself.</p> + +<p>But though the American people had the manifest destiny of expanding to +the Pacific, the Government was strangely supine. We say “strangely,” but +it was not so strange after all. Congress was dominated by the South in +the interest of slavery, and by the East in the interest of the tariff. +Calhoun usually led the South, and he weighed everything in the scales of +slavery. Webster governed Eastern sentiment largely, and he spoke for New +England manufacturers. It is true that Clay was at all times a power in +the councils of the nation, and Clay’s constant word was nationalisation +and expansion. But even Clay was so committed to the tariff that he did +not always appreciate the possibilities of the “West-most West.” The +Presidents of the period from 1819 to 1846 were from the South or the +Atlantic seaboard and not usually inclined to regard the far West with +special interest.</p> + +<p>The American people were away ahead of the American government in the +struggle for possession of Oregon. A few of the utterances of leading +statesmen of that period as significant of their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>conception of Oregon, +may be given here. Benton, who became later the greatest champion of +Oregon, was so imperfectly informed in 1825 that he spoke thus: “The ridge +of the Rocky Mountains may be named as a convenient, natural, and +everlasting boundary. Along this ridge the western limit of the Republic +should be drawn, and the statue of the fabled god Terminus should be +erected on its highest peak, never to be thrown down.” But Benton +improved, for later referring to the Columbia, he said, “That way lies the +Orient.” Webster said of Oregon: “What do we want of this vast, worthless +area, this region of savages and wild beasts, of shifting sands and +whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs. To what use could we ever +hope to put these great deserts or these great mountain ranges, +impenetrable and covered to their base with eternal snow? What can we ever +hope to do with the western coast, a coast of three thousand miles, +rock-bound, cheerless, and uninviting, and not a harbour on it? What use +have we of such a country? Mr. President, I will never vote one cent from +the public treasury to place the Pacific Coast one inch nearer Boston than +it is now.” And that was “God-like Dan!” Dayton expressed himself thus: +“God forbid that the time should ever come when a State on the shores of +the Pacific, with interests and tendencies of trade all looking toward the +Asiatic nations of the East, shall add its jarring claims to our +distracted and already overburdened confederacy.” The <i>National +Intelligencer</i> doubtless expressed a common sentiment in the following: +“Of all the countries upon the face of the earth, Oregon is one of the +least favoured by nature. It is almost as barren as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> Sahara and quite as +unhealthy as the campagna of Italy.”</p> + +<p>Such an estimate by American statesmen was all right to the Hudson’s Bay +Company. They wished such an estimate and had taken pains to foster it. +But while the gullible American statesmen were thus accepting just the +version which their rivals were disseminating, the hard-handed and +hard-headed, though not hard-hearted frontiersmen of Missouri and Illinois +and Iowa were packing their ox-teams and starting across the desert for +that Sahara on the Columbia River. Also one Marcus Whitman, a missionary +physician of the Walla Walla, was floundering in the snows of the Sierra +Madre and crossing the Arkansas through broken ice, in order to tell the +benighted statesmen what the land of the Oregon really was like. The +American people were busy, and the statesmen looked askance. And so, a few +here and a few there, by trail or ship, adventurers, missionaries, +sailors, trappers, there was formed a gathering in the Willamette of the +advance guard of American home-builders. They began to call out of the +wilderness to Uncle Sam.</p> + +<p>As a result of the coming of the missionaries and of the small +immigrations of the thirties and early forties, together with the +settlement in the Willamette Valley of various French-Canadian employees +of the Hudson’s Bay Company, there was enough of a population to demand +some sort of organised society.</p> + +<p>W. H. Gray made a summary of population in 1840 to consist of two hundred +persons, of whom a hundred and thirty-seven were American and sixty-three +Canadian. Up to 1839 the only law was the rules of the Hudson’s Bay +Company. In that year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the Methodist missionaries suggested that two +persons be named as magistrates to administer justice according to the +ordinary rules of American law. This was the first move looking to +American political organisation. In 1839 and 1840 memorials were presented +to the Senate by Senator Linn of Missouri at the request of American +settlers praying for the attention of Congress to their needs. But, not +content with lifting their voices to the home land, they proceeded to +organise for themselves.</p> + +<p>At that time, Champoeg, a few miles above the falls of the Willamette and +located pleasantly on the west bank of that river, was the chief +settlement. There, on the seventh of February, 1841, a gathering of the +settlers was held “for the purpose of consulting upon steps necessary to +be taken for the formation of laws, and the election of officers to +execute them.” Jason Lee, the Methodist missionary, was chairman of the +meeting, and he outlined what he deemed the needed method of establishing +a reign of law and order. The meeting proved rather a conference than an +organisation and the people dispersed to meet again at the call of the +chairman.</p> + +<p>A week later an event occurred which brought most forcibly to the minds of +the settlers the need of better organisation. This was the death of Ewing +Young, one of the most prominent men of the little community. He left +considerable property, with no known heirs and no one to act as +administrator. It became clear that some legal status must be established +for the settlement. Another meeting was held, in which it was determined +that a government be instituted, having the officers usual in an American<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +locality. The work of framing a constitution was entrusted to a committee, +in which the five different elements, the Methodist missionaries, the +Catholics, the French Canadians, the independent American settlers, and +the English, had representation. The committee was instructed to confer +with Commodore Wilkes of the American Exploring Squadron, just at that +time in the River, and Dr. McLoughlin, the Hudson’s Bay magnate. Wilkes +advised the settlers to wait for added strength and for the United States +Government to throw its mantle over them. The committee decided that his +advice was sound and indefinitely adjourned. Constitution building rested +for a time along the shores of the Willamette.</p> + +<p>In 1841 and 1842, two hundred and twenty Americans reached Oregon, +doubling the population.</p> + +<p>The Americans were ill at ease without a government and kept agitating the +question of another meeting. But the English and the Catholic influences +opposed this. Some diplomacy was needed. The irrepressible Yankees were +equal to it. They determined to draw the settlers together under the +announcement of a meeting for the purpose of discussing the means of +protecting themselves against the ravages of the numerous wild beasts of +the valley. W. H. Gray was the leading spirit in this enterprise. In a +most picturesque and valuable account of it, John Minto has developed the +thought that the founding of the Oregon State bore a striking resemblance +to that stage in the Roman state, subsequently celebrated in the festival +of Lupercalia, wherein the first organisation was for defence against the +wild beasts. So the Willamette witnessed again the gathering of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +clans, Americans, English, French, half-breeds, Catholics, Protestants, +Independents, all coming together to protect themselves against the bears, +cougars, and wolves. The meetings were usually known thereafter as the +“wolf meetings.”</p> + +<p>James O’Neil was made chairman of this historic gathering. With the +astuteness characteristic of American politicians, a previous +understanding had been made between Mr. O’Neil and the little coterie of +which Mr. Gray was the manager, that everything should be shaped to the +ultimate end of raising the question of a government. As soon, therefore, +as the ostensible aim of the meeting had been attained, W. H. Gray arose +and broached the all-important issue. After declaring that no one could +question the wisdom and rightfulness of the measures looking to protecting +their herds from wild beasts, he continued:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>How is it, fellow-citizens, with you and me, and our wives and +children? Have we any organisation on which we can rely for mutual +protection? Is there any power in the country sufficient to protect us +and all that we hold dear, from the worse than wild beasts that +threaten and occasionally destroy our cattle? We have mutually and +unitedly agreed to defend and protect our cattle and domestic animals; +now, therefore, fellow-citizens, I submit and move the adoption of the +two following resolutions, that we may have protection for our lives +and persons, as well as our cattle and herds: <i>Resolved</i> that a +committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of +taking measures for the civil and military protection of this colony; +<i>Resolved</i> that this committee consist of twelve persons.</p></div> + +<p>There spoke the true voice of the American state-builder, the voice of the +Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The resolutions were +passed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> and the committee of twelve appointed, mainly Americans. The +committee met at the Falls of the Willamette, which by that time was +becoming known as Oregon City. Unable to arrive at a definite decision, +the committee issued a call for a general meeting at Champoeg on May 2d.</p> + +<p>Pending the meeting, there was a general policy of opposition developed +among the French Canadians in the interest of the Hudson’s Bay Company and +England. This opposition threatened the overthrow of the entire plan. It +was, however, checkmated in an interesting fashion. George W. Le Breton +was one of the leading settlers and occupied a peculiar position. He was +of French origin, from Baltimore to Oregon, and had been a Catholic. His +existing affiliations were with the Americans. He was keen, facile, and +well educated. He discovered that the Canadians had been drilled to vote +“No” on all questions, irrespective of the bearing which such a vote might +have on the leading issue. Le Breton accordingly proposed that measures be +introduced upon which the Canadians ought to vote “Yes.” These tactics +were carried out. The Canadians were confused thereby. Le Breton watched +developments carefully and, becoming satisfied that he could command a +majority, rose and exclaimed, “We can risk it, let us divide and count!” +Gray shouted, “I second the motion!” Jo Meek, famous as one of the +Mountain Men, stepped out of the crowd and said, “Who is for a divide? All +in favour of an organisation, follow me!” The Americans speedily gathered +behind the tall form of the erstwhile trapper. A count followed. It was a +close vote. Fifty-two voted for, and fifty against. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> Americans would +have been outvoted had it not been that Le Breton, with two French +Canadians, François Matthieu and Étienne Lucier, voted with them. The +defeated Canadians withdrew, and the Indians, who lined the banks of the +River to discover what strange proceedings the white men were engaged in, +perceived from the loud shouts of triumph that the “Bostons” had won. +Though the victory was gained by so scanty a margin, it was gained, and it +was decisive. It was one of the most interesting events in the history of +Oregon or the United States, for it illustrates most vividly the inborn +capacity of the American for self-government.</p> + +<p>The new government went at once into effect. The constitution formulated +by the committee and adopted by the meeting at Champoeg provided that the +people of Oregon should adopt laws and regulations until the United States +extended its jurisdiction over them. Freedom of worship, habeas corpus, +trial by jury, proportionate representation, and the usual civil rights of +Americans were guaranteed. Education should be encouraged, lands and +property should not be taken from Indians without their consent. Slavery +or involuntary servitude should not exist.</p> + +<p>The officers of government consisted of a legislative body of nine +persons, an executive body of three, and a judiciary of a supreme judge +and two justices of the peace, with a probate court and its justices, and +a recorder and treasurer. Every white man of twenty-one years or more +could vote. The laws of Iowa were designated to be followed in common +practice. Marriage was allowed to males at sixteen and females at +fourteen. One of the most important<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> provisions was the land law. This +permitted any individual to claim a mile square, provided it be not on a +town site or water-power, and that any mission claims already made be not +affected, up to the limit of six miles square. This land law was framed +upon the general conception of the proposed Linn bill already brought +before Congress. The land law allowed land to be taken in any form, but +since there was no existing survey, each man had to make his own survey.</p> + +<p>The first elected executive committee consisted of David Hill, Alanson +Beers, and Joseph Gale. Within a year an amendment was made to the +constitution providing for a governor. George Abernethy, a former member +of the Methodist mission, was chosen to fill the place.</p> + +<p>Outer things were pretty crude in the little colony on the Willamette, +though brains and energy were there in abundance. J. Quinn Thornton +expressed himself as follows on the “Oregon State House,” which he says +was in several respects different from that in which laws are made at +Washington City:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The Oregon State House was built with posts set upright, one end set +in the ground, grooved on two sides, and filled in with poles and +split timber, such as would be suitable for fence rails, with plates +and poles across the top. Rafters and horizontal poles, instead of +iron ribs, held the cedar bark which was used instead of thick copper +for roofing. It was twenty by forty feet and therefore did not cover +three acres and a half. At one end some puncheons were put up for a +platform for the president; some poles and slabs were placed around +for seats; three planks, about a foot wide and twelve feet long, +placed upon a sort of stake platform for a table, were all that was +believed necessary for the use of the legislative committee and the +clerks.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>There are several facts in connection with the inauguration of this +Provisional Government of Oregon which are almost equal to itself in +interest. One of these is that Peter H. Burnett, a lawyer and the most +notable member of the emigration of 1843, rendered the opinion that, by +the spirit of American institutions, the Provisional Government might be +regarded as possessing valid authority. Going in a few years to +California, Mr. Burnett incorporated the same principles into the +government of that State and became its first governor.</p> + +<p>Another most significant fact was the attitude of the Hudson’s Bay +Company. That great organisation was of course opposed to American +ownership and to the Provisional Government. At first, the management +under Sir James Douglas (Dr. McLoughlin had been superseded by Douglas +because of his supposed leaning toward the Americans) affected to ignore +the government framed at Champoeg, declaring loftily that the company +could protect itself. Dr. McLoughlin, in his very interesting account of +this, says that the Americans adopted in 1845 a provision in the +constitution that no one should be called to do any act contrary to his +allegiance. This provision struck him as designed to enable British +subjects to join the organisation. Dr. McLoughlin was so pleased with the +wise and liberal spirit which this evinced that he prevailed on Douglas to +join the Provisional Government. The family was now complete. The American +farmers and immigrants and missionaries had triumphed over the autocratic +government of the great fur company. The American idea—government of the +people, by the people, and for the people—was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> vindicated. The local +battle was won for the Yankee.</p> + +<p>Before leaving this great epoch of the history of the River, it will +interest the reader to know that Dr. McLoughlin, so conspicuous in the +story thus far, removed to Oregon City, and became an avowed American +citizen, living on the claim on which he filed at the Falls. Much trouble +subsequently arose between him and the Methodist mission people +represented by Rev. A. F. Waller. Harder yet, Congress was led by Delegate +Thurston of Oregon, to exclude him from the benefit of the Donation Land +Law. The final result was that the great-hearted ex-king of the Columbia +lost the most of his claim on the ground that he was an alien at the time +of taking it. The Hudson’s Bay Company directors chose to disapprove his +acts in bestowing provisions upon the weary and hungry and ragged American +immigrants, and they charged him personally with the cost. This, in +addition to the loss of his claim, rendered him almost penniless and sadly +embittered his old age. He said that he supposed he was becoming an +American, but found that he was neither American nor British, but was +without a country. It is pleasant to be able to record the fact that the +Oregon Legislature restored his land in so far as the State controlled it, +but this was only just before his death.</p> + +<p>Of all the brave and big-souled men who bore their part in redeeming +Oregon and the Columbia from the wilderness, John McLoughlin has stood at +the head of the column, side by side with Marcus Whitman, the American +physician and missionary. Though identified at first with rival interests +and conflicting aims, McLoughlin and Whitman had many traits in common,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +and the story of their lives and life-work in Oregon should be written in +one chapter. No one that ever knew or sympathised with Oregon history has +failed to give his meed of praise to both Whitman and McLoughlin. No one +ever stood on the hill at Waiilatpu and viewed the mission home of Whitman +in the fertile vale of the Walla Walla, the scene of martyrdom and +anguish, without joining it in mind with the expanse of the Columbia at +Vancouver and recalling “Old Whitehead,” and his large-minded and humane +lordship for twenty years of the land of the Oregon. Nor can one withhold +the thrill of indignation at the cold-blooded commercialism of the +Hudson’s Bay Company, and at the petty ingratitude of some Americans, +which together brought darkness to the old hero’s last days.</p> + +<p>But though American Democracy was winning a bloodless triumph on the +Columbia, it seemed by no means certain that American diplomacy would win +on the Potomac. Webster, as Secretary of State under Harrison and during +part of Tyler’s administration, represented the conservative councils of +the New England seaboard, and was inclined to yield to England in respect +to the Oregon boundary.</p> + +<p>Senator Linn of Missouri was the most steadfast friend of American +occupancy. He was the one to frame land bills to encourage American +immigration, and in his hands the memorials of the settlers on the +Columbia had been placed. But in 1843, he died, with his work undone. +Benton, his colleague, had meanwhile become fully as pronounced, and he +pursued the same policy with uncompromising and volcanic energy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>But a curious and anomalistic alignment of interests and parties now +arose. The Oregon question became entangled with those of Texas and +slavery. Calhoun became Tyler’s Secretary of State upon Webster’s +resignation. While the Democrats in general were more inclined to western +expansion than the Whigs, yet the slaveholders of the South were much more +interested in Texas than in Oregon. The Provisional Government of Oregon +had prohibited slavery. Calhoun was ready to fight Mexico for the +possession of Texas, but he did not want to fight England for possession +of Oregon. Nevertheless, he did not dare to offend the West by a square +back-down on Oregon. He therefore adopted a policy of “masterly +inactivity.” He believed that if war arose with England, we would lose +“every inch of Oregon,” for England could hurry a fleet to the Columbia +River from China in six weeks, whereas American ships would have to double +Cape Horn, and an American army would have to cross the continent under +every disadvantage of transportation. But time, he believed, would win all +for the Americans.</p> + +<p>In this conception, Von Holst thinks Calhoun was wise. Roosevelt in his +<i>Life of Benton</i>, thinks that the war, if there had been war, would have +been fought out in Canada, and that, while Calhoun was not wrong in +desiring delay, he should never have abated one jot in demanding all of +Oregon up to 54 degrees 40 minutes.</p> + +<p>The Democratic platform on which Polk was elected President, demanded “54 +degrees 40 minutes,” and, in popular clamour, the words, “or fight,” were +added. Oregon, Texas, and slavery were practically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> the issues on which +Polk was elected. His inaugural address declared our title to Oregon to be +“clear and unquestionable.” Great excitement ensued, for if Congress stood +by the President, war was almost inevitable, unless England yielded. To +the surprise of the world, however, James Buchanan, the yielding, not to +say shifty, Secretary of State under the new administration, now announced +the willingness of our Government to compromise on the line of 49 degrees. +But here another complication ensued. Pakenham, the British envoy, +declined, in almost insulting terms, to accept 49 degrees. Polk thereupon +withdrew the proposition and in his next message stated that “no +compromise which the United States ought to accept can be effected.” At +the same time he advised the cancellation of the Joint Occupation Treaty. +It seemed now that the conflict between the nations for the possession of +the River would surely eventuate in war. Senator Cass of Michigan fanned +the flame by a speech declaring that “War is almost upon us.” The +committees on Foreign Relations in both House and Senate proposed +resolutions to notify England at once of the close of the Joint Occupation +Treaty. Excitement rose to fierce heat, and the standing of marine risks +and commercial ventures at once showed the popular sentiment. “Fifty-four, +forty, or fight!” was the spirit of Congress.</p> + +<p>But now Calhoun found himself betwixt the devil and the deep sea. He did +not really wish to get all of Oregon, for fear of the effect on slavery. +Yet he dared not throw cold water on the tremendous spirits of patriotism +and ambition in the West demanding Oregon. A compromise was the only +recourse.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> Powerful men of the “Moderates” in both England and the United +States brought their influence to bear. Calhoun caused Lord Aberdeen, +Foreign Secretary of England, to understand that the President would again +take up the line of 49 degrees. Lord Aberdeen directed Pakenham to revive +the negotiations which had been somewhat rudely broken off. The Senate +reconsidered the situation more calmly and opened the way to a new treaty. +This was consummated and signed by President Polk on June 15, 1846, and +confirmed by the Senate on June 19th. The line of 49 degrees was accepted. +The Great River was divided by that line nearly equally between the two +nations, there being about seven hundred and fifty miles in American +territory and six hundred and fifty in British.</p> + +<p>The decision of the ownership of the River was one of the most momentous +in American history. If we had not got Oregon, we probably would not have +got California. And without the Pacific Coast, the history of the Great +Republic would be essentially different, and the history of the world +would be essentially different.</p> + +<p>The Oregon Question owed much of its interest to its very complicated +nature. It was at first a question between the governments of five +different nations, England, France, Russia, Spain, and the United States. +In time it became a question between England and the United States. Then +it was a question between Oregon immigrants and British Fur Company. Then +it became a question between slavery and freedom. This was still further +complicated by the fact that it was also a question between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> West, East, +and South. Different factions of different parties still further +complicated it. It was in truth a manifold question, and in its final +solution we read some of the most vital of American traits and movements. +Out of it all the settlers of the River may justly be said to have emerged +with highest credit. The American home-builder, the great Democracy of the +West, the inborn impulse to expand and to nationalise,—these were the +essential factors in the triumph. The settlers on the Willamette, the +constitution-makers of Champoeg, the immigrants and the missionaries, had +already gained the day before diplomacy took it up.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Times of Tomahawk and Fire-Brand</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Extent of Indian Troubles in the Region of the Columbia—Destruction +of the <i>Tonquin</i>—Conflicting Policies of the British and the +Americans in Regard to the Fur-trade—Advances in Settlement by +Americans, and Indian Opposition—The Whitman Mission and its +Relations to the Indians, and to the Hudson’s Bay Company—The +Pestilence of 1847—The Whitman Massacre—Mr. Osborne’s +Reminiscences—Saving of the Lapwai and Tshimakain Missions—The +Cayuse War—Great War of 1855-56—Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox—Governor +I. I. Stevens of Washington Territory and his Efforts to Make +Treaties—The Walla Walla Council and the Division among the +Indians—Pearson and his Ride—Outburst of Hostilities and the +Destruction that Followed—Conflict between the Regulars and the +Volunteers—Battles of Walla Walla, Cascades, and Grande Ronde—Second +Walla Walla Council—An Unsatisfactory Peace—Continued Incoming of +Prospectors and Land-seekers—Third Indian War—Disastrous Steptoe +Campaign—Garnett’s Campaign in the Yakima—Wright’s Campaign to +Spokane and Overthrow of Indian Power—Peace Proclaimed and the +Country Thrown Open to Settlement—Nez Percé War of +1877—Hallakallakeen, or Joseph, the Indian Warchief—His Melancholy +Fate—The Bannock War.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Columbia River</span> history has had its full share of Indian wars. To narrate +these in full would transcend the limits of this chapter. Even during the +era of discovery desperate affrays with the natives were a common +experience of explorers. Captain Gray of the <i>Columbia</i> lost a boat’s crew +of seamen at Tillamook. The ship <i>Boston</i> was seized in 1803 by the wily +old chief Maquinna at Nootka.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>In 1812 the <i>Tonquin</i>, the first vessel of the Pacific Fur Company, in +command of Captain Thorn, was captured at some point to the north of the +Columbia River, variously known as Eyuck Whoola on Newcetu Bay, or Newity +Bay, or Newcetee. She was, as a result of the capture, blown up by the +explosion of her own powder magazine. Gabriel Franchère and Alexander +Ross, of the Astoria party, are the original authorities for this dramatic +story. Irving has made the event a leading feature of his charming +<i>Astoria</i>. H. H. Bancroft has discussed it at length in his history of the +Pacific Coast. In recent years Major H. M. Chittenden in his valuable +book, <i>History of the American Fur Trade</i>, presents new testimony of much +interest. But whatever discrepencies existed in the records, the general +truth remains that the ship and all her crew, with the exception of one +Indian, disappeared, and great was the loss to the traders at Astoria as a +result.</p> + +<p>For more than three decades after the destruction of the <i>Tonquin</i> there +were no serious Indian conflicts. The Hudson’s Bay Company carried out +consistently the general policy of harmony with the natives. Most of the +employees were of French Canadian origin, and, with their general +sociability, they were more popular with the Indians than the Americans +usually have been. But with the incoming of American missionaries, +trappers, explorers, and immigrants, the situation changed. Conflicts of +interests, ambitions, and national aims led both Americans and British to +be somewhat more ready to encourage the hostile and suspicious disposition +of the natives. Chiefly, however, the cause of the changing attitude of +the natives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> must be attributed to the perception by the more intelligent +of the fact that the actual occupation of the country by white farmers, +home builders, and land owners, meant their own destruction. Though this +truth dawned on them only vaguely and gradually, they had begun to be +somewhat familiar with it by the decade of the thirties.</p> + +<p>The founding of American missions during that decade, as narrated earlier, +at Chemeketa, Walla Walla, Lapwai, and Tshimakain, and, during the years +following, the obvious intent of the Americans to draw immigration to the +country, prepared the way for the first and perhaps the most ferocious, +though by no means the greatest, of the four principal wars which we plan +to consider. This first one was the war connected with the Whitman +massacre.</p> + +<p>We have already described the founding of the Whitman Mission at +Waiilatpu, six miles from the present site of Walla Walla, and twenty-six +miles from the Hudson’s Bay fort on the Columbia, known as Fort Walla +Walla. We have also told of Whitman’s journey across the continent in the +mid-winter of 1842-43, of his efforts to secure the attention of Congress +and of the Executive to the importance of the Oregon country, and of his +return to Walla Walla in 1843, with the first large immigration of +American settlers.</p> + +<p>After the incoming of this immigration, it became more than ever clear to +the more intelligent Indians that this movement of settlers portended a +change in their whole condition. Their wild life could not co-exist with +farming, houses, and the fixed and narrowed limits of the white man’s +life. Moreover, since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> they saw the antagonism between the Americans and +the Hudson’s Bay Company, and since the latter was obviously more +favourable to perpetuating the life of the wilderness, the natives were +naturally drawn into sympathy with the latter. Still further, since the +Americans were Protestants and naturally affiliated with the Whitman +Mission and its associated missions, and since the Hudson’s Bay people +were mainly Catholics and interested in maintaining the missionary methods +adapted to the régime of the fur-traders, there became injected into the +situation the dangerous element of religious jealousy.</p> + +<p>Dr. Whitman perceived that he was standing on the edge of a powder +magazine, and, during the summer of 1847, he arranged to acquire the +mission property of the Methodists at The Dalles, a hundred and sixty +miles down the River, intending to remove thither in the spring. But +meanwhile, the explosives being all ready, the spark was prepared for +igniting them.</p> + +<p>During the summer of 1847 measles became epidemic among the Indians. Their +method of treating any disease of which fever was a part was to enter a +pit into which hot rocks had been thrown, then casting water on the rocks, +to create a dense vapour, in which, stripped of clothing, they would +remain until thoroughly steamed. Thence issuing, stark naked and dripping +with perspiration, they would plunge into an icy cold stream. Death was +the almost inevitable result in case of measles. Whitman, who was, it +should be remembered, a physician, not a clergyman, was skilful and +devoted in his attentions, yet many died. Now just at that time a +renegade<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> half-breed known as Jo Lewis seems to have become possessed with +the diabolical mania of massacre. He made the Indians think that Whitman +was poisoning them. Istickus or Sticcus, a Umatilla Indian and a warm +friend of Whitman, had formed some impression of the plot and suggested +the danger. Whitman’s intrepid spirit laughed at this, but Mrs. Whitman, +though equally intrepid, seems to have felt some premonition of the swift +coming doom, for the mission children found her in tears for the first +time since the death of her beloved little girl eight years before. The +Doctor tried to soothe her by declaring that he would arrange to go down +the River at once. But on that very day, November 28, 1847, the +picturesque little hill rising a hundred feet above the mission ground, +now surmounted by the granite shaft of the Whitman monument, was observed +to be black with Indians. It was evident from various sinister aspects +that something was impending.</p> + +<p>On the next day, November 29th, at about one o’clock, while Dr. Whitman +sat reading, a number of Indians entered the room. Having gained his +attention by the usual request for medicines, one of them, afterwards said +by some to have been Tamahas, and by others have been Tamsaky, rushed +suddenly upon the Doctor and struck his head with a tomahawk. Another +wretch named Telaukait, to whom the Doctor had been the kindest friend, +then cut and hacked the noble face of the philanthropist. The work of +murder thus inaugurated went on with savage energy. The men about the +mission were speedily slain, with the exception of a few who were in +remote places and managed by special fortune to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> elude observation. Mrs. +Whitman, bravely coming forward to succour her dying husband, was shot in +the breast and sank to the floor. She did not die at once, and it is said +by some of the survivors, then children, that she lingered some time, +being heard to murmur most tender prayers for her parents and children. +Mrs. Whitman was the only woman killed. The other women and girls were +cruelly outraged and held in captivity for several days.</p> + +<p>William McBean was at that time in charge of the fort at Walla Walla, and +with a strange disregard of humane feelings, he shut the door of the fort +in the face of one of the escaped Americans, and a little later served the +Osborne family in the same manner. McBean sent a courier down the River to +convey the tidings to Vancouver, but this courier did not even stop at The +Dalles to warn the people, though they were not attacked. James Douglas +was then chief factor at Vancouver, as successor to Dr. McLoughlin. As +soon as he was apprised of the massacre, he sent Peter Skeen Ogden with a +force to rescue the survivors. Ogden acted with promptness and efficiency, +and by the use of several hundred dollars’ worth of commodities ransomed +forty-seven women and children. Thirteen persons had been murdered.</p> + +<p>One of the most distressing experiences was that of the Osborne family. Of +this Mr. Osborne says:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>As the guns fired and the yells commenced I leaned my head upon the +bed and committed myself and family to my Maker. My wife removed the +loose floor. I dropped under the floor with my sick family in their +night clothes, taking only two woollen sheets, a piece of bread, and +some cold mush, and pulled the floor over us. In five minutes the room +was full of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> Indians, but they did not discover us. The roar of guns, +the yells of the savages, and the crash of clubs and knives and the +groans of the dying continued till dark. We distinctly heard the dying +groans of Mrs. Whitman, Mr. Rogers, and Francis, till they died away +one after the other. We heard the last words of Mr. Rogers in a slow +voice calling “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.” Soon after this I +removed the floor and we went out. We saw the white face of Francis by +the door. It was warm as we laid our hand upon it, but he was dead. I +carried my two youngest children, who were sick, and my wife held on +to my clothes in her great weakness. We had all been sick with +measles. Two infants had died. She had not left her bed in six weeks +till that day, when she stood up a few minutes. The naked, painted +Indians were dancing the scalp dance around a large fire at a little +distance. There seemed no hope for us and we knew not which way to go, +but bent our steps toward Fort Walla Walla. A dense cold fog shut out +every star and the darkness was complete. We could see no trail and +not even the hand before the face. We had to feel out the trail with +our feet. My wife almost fainted but staggered along. Mill Creek, +which we had to wade, was high with late rains and came up to the +waist. My wife in her great weakness came nigh washing down, but held +to my clothes. I braced myself with a stick, holding a child in one +arm. I had to cross five times for the children. The water was icy +cold and the air freezing some. Staggering along about two miles, Mrs. +Osborne fainted and could go no farther, and we hid ourselves in the +brush of the Walla Walla River, not far below Tamsukey’s (a chief) +lodges, who was very active at the commencement of the butchery. We +were thoroughly wet, and the cold fog like snow was about us. The cold +mud was partially frozen as we crawled, feeling our way, into the dark +brush. We could see nothing, the darkness was so extreme. I spread one +wet sheet down on the frozen ground; wife and children crouched upon +it. I covered the other over them. I thought they must soon perish as +they were shaking and their teeth rattling with cold. I kneeled down +and commended us to my Maker. The day finally dawned and we could see +the Indians riding furiously up and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> down the trail. Sometimes they +would come close to the brush and our blood would warm and the shaking +would stop from fear for a moment. The day seemed a week. Expected +every moment my wife would breathe her last. Tuesday night, felt our +way to the trail and staggered along to Sutucksnina (Dog Creek), which +we waded as we did the other creek, and kept on about two miles when +my wife fainted and could go no farther. Crawled into the brush and +frozen mud to shake and suffer on from hunger and cold, and without +sleep. The children, too, wet and cold, called incessantly for food, +but the shock of groans and yells at first so frightened them that +they did not speak loud. Wednesday night my wife was too weak to +stand. I took our second child and started for Walla Walla; had to +wade the Touchet; stopped frequently in the brush from weakness; had +not recovered from measles. Heard a horseman pass and repass as I lay +concealed in the willows. Have since learned that it was Mr. Spalding. +Reached Fort Walla Walla after daylight; begged Mr. McBean for horses +to get my family, for food, for blankets, and clothing to take to +them, and to take care of my child till I could bring my family in, +should I live to find them alive. Mr. McBean told me I could not bring +my family to his fort.</p> + +<p>Mr. Hall came in on Monday night, but he could not have an American in +his fort, and he had put him over the Columbia River; that he could +not let me have horses or anything for my wife and children, and I +must go to Umatilla. I insisted on bringing my family to the fort, but +he refused; said he would not let us in. I next begged the priests to +show pity, as my wife and children must perish and the Indians +undoubtedly would kill me, with no success. I then begged to leave my +child who was not safe in the fort, but they refused.</p> + +<p>There were many priests in the fort. Mr. McBean gave me breakfast, but +I saved most of it for my family. Providentially Mr. Stanley, an +artist, came in from Colville, narrowly escaped the Cayuse Indians by +telling them he was “Alain” H. B. He let me have his two horses, some +food he had left from Rev. Eells and Walker’s mission; also a cap, a +pair of socks, a shirt, and handkerchief, and Mr. McBean <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>furnished an +Indian who proved most faithful, and Thursday night we started back, +taking my child, but with a sad heart that I could not find mercy at +the hands of the priests of God. The Indian guided me in the thick +darkness to where I supposed I had left my dear wife and children. We +could see nothing and dared not call aloud. Daylight came and I was +exposed to Indians, but we continued to search till I was about to +give up in despair when the Indian discovered one of the twigs I had +broken as a guide in coming out to the trail. Following these he soon +found my wife and children still alive. I distributed what little food +and clothing I had, and we started for the Umatilla, the guide leading +the way to a ford.</p> + +<p>Mr. McBean came and asked who was there. I replied. He said he could +not let us in; we must go to Umatilla or he would put us over the +river, as he had Mr. Hall. My wife replied she would die at the gate +but she would not leave. He finally opened and took us into a secret +room and sent an allowance of food for us every day. Next day I asked +him for blankets for my sick wife to lie on. He had nothing. Next day +I urged again. He had nothing to give, but would sell a blanket out of +the store. I told him I had lost everything, and had nothing to pay; +but if I should live to get to the Willamette I would pay. He +consented. But the hip-bones of my dear wife wore through the skin on +the hard floor. Stickus, the chief, came in one day and took the cap +from his head and gave it to me, and a handkerchief to my child.</p></div> + +<p>The Whitman massacre was a prelude to the Cayuse War. It should be +remembered that, the year before the massacre, the Oregon country had, by +treaty with Great Britain, become the property of the United States. No +regular government had yet been inaugurated, but the Provisional +Government already instituted by the Americans met on December 9th and +provided for sending fourteen companies of volunteers to the Walla Walla. +These were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>immigrants who had come to seek homes and their section of +land, and it was a great sacrifice for them to leave their families and +start in mid-winter for the upper Columbia. But they bravely and +cheerfully obeyed the call of duty and set forth, furnishing mainly their +own equipment, without a thought of pecuniary gain or even reimbursement. +Cornelius Gilliam, an immigrant of 1845 from Missouri, was chosen colonel +of the regiment. He was a man of great energy and courage, and though not +a professional soldier,—none of them were,—had the frontier American’s +capacity for warfare. The command pushed rapidly forward, their way being +disputed at various points. At Sand Hollows the Indians, led by Five Crows +and War Eagle, made an especially tenacious attempt to prevent the +crossing of the Umatilla River. Five Crows claimed to have wizard powers +by which he could stop all bullets, and War Eagle declared that he could +swallow all balls fired at him. But at the first onset the wizard was so +badly wounded that he had to retire and “Swallow Ball” was killed. Tom +McKay had levelled his rifle and said, “Let him swallow this.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img12.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Grave of Marcus Whitman and his Associate Martyrs at Waiilatpu.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The way was now clear to Waiilatpu, which the command reached on March +4th. The mangled remains of the victims of the massacre had been hastily +interred by the Ogden party, but coyotes had partially exhumed them. The +remains were brought together by the volunteers and reverently, though +rudely, buried at a point near the mission, a place where a marble crypt +now encloses the commingled bones of the martyrs. A lock of long, fair +hair was found near the ruined mission ground which was thought surely to +be from the head of Mrs. Whitman. It was preserved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> by one of the +volunteers and is now one of the precious relics in the historical museum +of Whitman College.</p> + +<p>The Cayuse War dragged along in a desultory fashion for nearly three +years. The refusal of the Nez Percés and Spokanes and the indifference of +the Yakimas to join the Cayuses made their cause hopeless, though there +were several fierce fights with them and much severe campaigning. In 1850 +a band of friendly Umatilla Indians undertook to capture the chief band of +the Cayuses under Tamsaky, which had taken a strong position about the +head waters of the John Day River. After a savage battle Tamsaky was +killed and most of the warriors captured. Of these, five, charged with the +leading part in the Whitman massacre, were hanged at Oregon City on June +3, 1850. It remains a question to this day, however, whether the victims +of the gallows were really the guilty ones. The Cayuse Indians were quite +firm in their assertion that Tamahas, who, by one version, struck Dr. +Whitman the first blow, was the only one of the five concerned in the +murder.</p> + +<p>Thus ended the first principal war in the Columbia Basin. It was quickly +followed by another, which was so extensive that it may be well called +universal. This was the War of 1855-56. This was the greatest Indian war +in the entire history of the Columbia River.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, the American home-builders had outmatched the English +fur-traders in the struggle for possession. On the 3d of March, 1853, +Washington Territory, embracing the present States of Washington and +Idaho, with parts of Wyoming and Montana, was created by Act of Congress, +and Isaac<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> I. Stevens was appointed governor. This remarkable man entered +with tremendous energy upon his task of organising the chaos of his great +domain. The Indian problem was obviously the most dangerous and pressing +one. There were at that time two remarkable chiefs of the mid-Columbia +region, natural successors of Philip, Pontiac, Black Hawk, and Tecumseh, +possessing those Indian traits of mingled nobleness and treachery which +have made the best specimens of the race such interesting objects of +study. These Indians were Kamiakin of the Yakimas, and Peupeumoxmox of the +Walla Wallas.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img13.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cayuse Babies 1.<br />(Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.)</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img14.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cayuse Babies 2.<br />(Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.)</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>In 1855 the great war broke out almost simultaneously at different points. +There were six widely scattered regions especially concerned. Four of +these, the Cascades, the Yakima Valley, the Walla Walla, and the Grande +Ronde, were on or adjacent to the River. The others were the Rogue River +region and Puget Sound. So wide was the area of this war that intelligent +co-operation among the Indians proved impracticable. This, in fact, was +the thing that saved the whites. For there were probably not less than +four thousand Indians on the war-path, and if they had co-operated, the +smaller settlements, possibly all in the country except those in the +Willamette Valley, might have been annihilated.</p> + +<p>The first efforts of Governor Stevens were to secure treaties with the +Indians. Having negotiated several treaties in 1854 with the Puget Sound +Indians, the governor passed over the Cascade Mountains to Walla Walla in +May, 1855. There during the latter part of May and first part of June, he +held a great council with representatives of seventeen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> tribes. Lieutenant +Kip, U. S. A., has preserved a vivid account of this great gathering, one +of the most important ever held in the annals of Indian history. According +to Lieutenant Kip, there were but about fifty men in the escort of the +daring governor, and if he had been a man sensible to fear he might well +have been startled when there came an army of twenty-five hundred Nez +Percés under Halhaltlossot, known as Lawyer by the whites. Two days later +three hundred Cayuses, those worst of the Columbia River Indians, surly +and scowling, led by Five Crows and Young Chief, made their appearance. +Two days later a force of two thousand Yakimas, Umatillas, and Walla +Wallas came in sight under Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox. The council was soon +organised. Governor Stevens and General Palmer, the latter the Indian +Agent for Oregon, set forth their plan of reservations, all their speeches +being translated and retranslated until they had filtered down among the +general mass of the Indians. Then there must be a great “wawa,” or +discussion by the Indians. It soon became apparent that there were two +bitterly contesting parties. One was a large faction of Nez Percés led by +Lawyer, who favoured the whites. The other faction of the Nez Percés, with +all the remaining tribes, were set against any treaty. With remarkable +skill and patience, Governor Stevens, with the powerful assistance of +Lawyer, had brought the Indians to a point of general agreement to the +creation of a system of reservations. But suddenly there was a commotion. +Into the midst of the council there burst the old chief Looking Glass +(Apashwahayikt), second only to Lawyer in influence among<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> the Nez Percés. +He had made a desperate ride of three hundred miles in seven days, +following a buffalo hunt and a raid against the Blackfeet, and as he now +burst into the midst, there dangled from his belt the scalps of several +slaughtered Blackfeet. As quoted in Hazard Stevens’s <i>Life of Governor +Stevens</i>, he began his harangue thus: “My people, what have you done? +While I was gone you sold my country. I have come home and there is not +left me a place on which to pitch my lodge. Go home to your lodges. I will +talk with you.” Lieutenant Kip declares that though he could understand +nothing of the speech of Looking Glass to his own tribe, which followed, +the effect was tremendous. All the evidence showed that Looking Glass was +a veritable Demosthenes. The work of Governor Stevens was all undone.</p> + +<p>But later the Governor and Lawyer succeeded in rallying their forces and +gaining the acquiescence of the Indians to the setting aside of three +great reservations, one on the Umatilla, one on the Yakima, and the third +on the Clearwater and the Snake. These reservations still exist, imperial +domains in themselves, though now divided into individual allotments. The +acquiescence of the Indians in this treaty, as the sequel proved, was +feigned by a number of them, but for the time it seemed a great triumph +for Governor Stevens. From Walla Walla the Governor departed to the +Cœur d’Alene, the Pend Oreille, and the Missoula regions to continue +his arduous task of negotiating treaties.</p> + +<p>This great Walla Walla Council cannot be dismissed without brief reference +to an event, not fully known at the time, but which subsequent +investigation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> made clear, and stamped as one of the most dramatic in the +entire history of Indian warfare. This event was the conspiracy of the +Cayuses and Yakimas to kill Governor Stevens and his entire band, and then +exterminate the whites throughout the country. While the acceptance of the +treaty was still pending, Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox were framing the +details of this wide-reaching plot, which was indeed but the culmination +of their great scheme of years. Kamiahkin was the soul of the conspiracy. +He was a remarkable Indian. He was of superb stature, and proportions, +over six feet high, sinewy and active. Governor Stevens said of him: “He +is a peculiar man, reminding me of the panther and the grizzly bear. His +countenance has an extraordinary play, one moment in frowns, the next in +smiles, flashing with light and black as Erebus the same instant. His +pantomime is great, and his gesticulation much and characteristic. He +talks mostly in his face and with his hands and arms.” He was withal a +typical Indian in treachery and secretiveness. Peupeumoxmox was similar in +nature, but was older and less capable.</p> + +<p>Exactly opposite to these was Halhaltlossot, or Lawyer, the Solon of the +Nez Percés. Lawyer became convinced of the existence of this conspiracy +and went by night to the camp of Governor Stevens and revealed it. He +concluded his revelation by saying: “I will come with my family and pitch +my lodge in the midst of your camp, that those Cayuses may see that you +and your party are under the protection of the head chief of the Nez +Percés.” When it became clear to the conspiring Cayuses and Yakimas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> that +Lawyer’s powerful division of the Nez Percés was sustaining the little +band of whites, they did not execute their design. Lawyer and his Nez +Percés saved the day for the whites.</p> + +<p>And yet the sequel is one of the most lamentable examples of the +miscarriage of justice in Indian affairs that we have any record of. The +friendly Nez Percés saved the whites. The unfriendly faction of the Nez +Percés, led by Joseph and Looking Glass, finally yielded and accepted the +treaty. But they did this with certain expectations in regard to their +reservation. This was set forth to the author by William McBean, a +half-breed Indian, son of the McBean who was the commandant of the +Hudson’s Bay post at Wallula. McBean the younger was a boy at the time of +the council at Walla Walla. He was familiar with all the Indian languages +spoken at the council and in appearance was so much of an Indian that he +could pass unquestioned anywhere. Governor Stevens asked him to spy out +the situation and learn what the Nez Percés were going to decide. The +result of his investigations was to show that the whole decision hinged on +the understanding by Joseph’s faction that, if they acquiesced in the +treaty and turned their support to the whites, they might retain perpetual +possession of the Wallowa country in North-eastern Oregon as their special +allotment. Becoming finally satisfied that this would be granted them, +they yielded to the Lawyer faction and thus the entire Nez Percé tribe +made common cause with the whites, rendering the execution of the great +plot of Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox a foredoomed failure. But now for the +sequel. Though it was thus clear in the minds of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> Joseph and his division +of the Nez Percés that the loved Wallowa (one of the fairest regions that +ever the sun shone on and a perfect land for Indians) was to be their +permanent home, yet the stipulation, if indeed it were intended by +Governor Stevens, never became definitely set down in the “Great Father’s” +records at Washington. The result was that when, twenty years later, the +manifold attractions of the Wallowa country began to draw white +immigration, the Indians, now under Young Joseph, son of the former chief, +stood by their supposed rights and the great Nez Percé War of 1877 ensued.</p> + +<p>And now, to resume the thread of our discourse, we may note that Governor +Stevens proceeded on his laborious mission to the Flatheads in the region +of the Cœur d’Alene and Pend Oreille lakes in what is now Northern +Idaho. After protracted and at times excited discussion, a treaty was +accepted by which an immense tract of a million and a quarter acres was +set apart for a reservation. From Pend Oreille, Governor Stevens with his +little force, now reduced to twenty-two, crossed the Rockies to Fort +Benton.</p> + +<p>But what was happening on the Walla Walla? No sooner was the governor +fairly out of sight across the flower-bespangled plains which extended two +hundred miles north-east from Walla Walla, than the wily Kamiakin began to +resume his plots. So successful was he, with the valuable assistance of +Peupeumoxmox, Young Chief, and Five Crows, that the treaties, just +ratified, were torn to shreds, and the flame of savage warfare burst forth +across the entire Columbia Valley.</p> + +<p>Hazard Stevens, in his invaluable history of his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> father, gives a vivid +picture of how the news reached them in their camp thirty-five miles up +the Missouri from Fort Benton. Summer had now passed into autumn. A +favourable treaty had been made with the Blackfeet. On October 29th, the +little party were gathered around their campfire in the frosty air of fall +in that high latitude, when they discerned a solitary rider making his way +slowly toward them. As he drew near they soon saw that it was Pearson, the +express rider. Pearson was one of the best examples of those scouts whose +lives were spent in conveying messages from forts to parties in the field. +He usually travelled alone, and his life was always in his hand. He seemed +to be made of steel springs, and it had been thought that he could endure +anything. “He could ride anything that wore hair.” He rode seventeen +hundred and fifty miles in twenty-eight days at one time, one stage of two +hundred and sixty miles having been made in three days. But as he slowly +drew up to the party in the cold evening light, it was seen that even +Pearson was “done.” His horse staggered and fell, and he himself could not +stand or speak for some time. After he had been revived he told his story, +and a story of disaster and foreboding it was, sure enough.</p> + +<p>All the great tribes of the Columbia plains west of the Nez Percés had +broken out, the Cayuses, Yakimas, Palouses, Walla Wallas, Umatillas, and +Klickitats. They had swept the country clean of whites. The ride of +Pearson from The Dalles to the point where he reached Governor Stevens is +one of the most thrilling in the annals of the River. By riding all day +and night, he reached a horse ranch on the Umatilla belonging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> to a noted +half-breed Indian, William McKay, but he found the place deserted. Seeing +a splendid horse in the bunch near by, he lassoed and saddled him. Though +the horse was as wild as air, Pearson managed to mount and start on. Just +then there swept into view a force of Indians who, instantly divining what +Pearson was trying to do, gave chase. Up and down hill, through vale, and +across the rim-rock, they followed, sending frequent bullets after him, +and yelling like demons, “Whupsiah si-ah-poo, Whup-si-ah!” (“Kill the +white man!”) But the wild horse which the intrepid rider bestrode proved +his salvation, for he gradually outran all his pursuers. Travelling +through the Walla Walla at night Pearson reached the camp of friendly Nez +Percé Red Wolf on the Alpowa the next day, having ridden two hundred miles +from The Dalles without stopping except the brief time changing horses. +Snow and hunger now impeded his course. Part of the way he had to go on +snowshoes without a horse. But with unflinching resolution he passed on, +and so now here he was with his dismal tidings.</p> + +<p>The despatches warned Governor Stevens that Kamiakin with a thousand +warriors was in the Walla Walla Valley and that it would be impossible for +him to get through by that route, and that he must therefore return to the +East by the Missouri and come back to his Territory by the steamer route +of Panama. That meant six months’ delay. With characteristic boldness, +Governor Stevens at once rejected the more cautious course and went right +back to Spokane by the Cœur d’Alene Pass, deep already with the winter +snows, suffering intensely with cold and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> hunger, but avoiding by that +route the Indians sent out to intercept him. With extraordinary address, +he succeeded in turning the Spokane Indians to his side. The Nez Percés, +thanks to Lawyer’s fidelity, were still friendly, and with these two +powerful tribes arrayed against the Yakimas, there was still hope of +holding the Columbia Valley.</p> + +<p>After many adventures, Governor Stevens reached Olympia in safety. +Governor Curry of Oregon had already called a force of volunteers into the +field. The Oregon volunteers were divided into two divisions, one under +Colonel J. W. Nesmith, which went into the Yakima country, and the other +under Lieutenant-Colonel J. K. Kelley, which went to Walla Walla. The +latter force fought the decisive battle of the campaign on the 7th, 8th, +9th, and 10th of December, 1855. It was a series of engagements occurring +in the heart of the Walla Walla Valley, a “running fight” culminating at +what is now called Frenchtown, ten miles west of the present city of Walla +Walla. The most important feature of it all was the death of the great +Walla Walla chieftain, Peupeumoxmox. But though defeated and losing so +important a chief, the Indians scattered across the rivers and were still +unsubdued.</p> + +<p>In March, 1856, the sublime section of the Columbia lying between The +Dalles and the Cascades became the scene of a series of atrocities the +most distressing in the entire war. The Klickitats swooped down upon the +defenceless settlers and massacred them with revolting cruelty. They +vanished like a whirlwind, but men whom the writer has known have related +to him how the volunteers, returning to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> scenes of desolation, found +all houses destroyed and the carcasses of cattle thrown into the springs +and wells. They found the naked bodies of the girls and women with stakes +driven through, and those of men horribly mutilated. In savage humour, the +Indians had killed the hogs and left parts of human bodies in their +mouths. One interesting fact connected with the campaign at the Cascades +is that General Phil Sheridan fought his first battle there. The old Block +House on the north side of the River, nearly opposite the present Cascade +Locks, existed until a few years ago, and there was Sheridan’s first +battle.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Governor Stevens had organised a force of Washington volunteers. +As the year 1856 progressed, it seemed more plain that the discord which +developed between the regulars under command of General John E. Wool and +the volunteers would result in fatal weakness. Nevertheless Governor +Stevens and Governor Curry kept pressing the movements of their backwoods +soldiers with unflagging energy. They were at last rewarded with a measure +of success. For Colonel B. F. Shaw, commanding the Washington volunteers, +learning that the hostiles were camped in force in the Grande Ronde +Valley, made a rapid march from Walla Walla across the western spur of the +Blue Mountains and struck the collected force of Indians a deadly blow, +scattering them in all directions and ending the war in that quarter.</p> + +<p>But the end had not yet come in Walla Walla. Governor Stevens determined +to hold another great council at the site of the first. Leaving The Dalles +on August 19th, he pressed on to Shaw’s camp, two <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>miles above the +present location of Walla Walla. On September 5th, Colonel E. J. Steptoe, +with four companies of regulars, arrived at the same place and made camp +on the site of the present fort.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img15.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Col. B. F. Shaw, who Won the Battle of Grande Ronde in 1856.<br />By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>And now came on the second great Walla Walla council. The tribes were +gathered as before, and were aligned as before. The division of Nez Percés +under Lawyer stood firmly by Stevens and the treaty. The others did not. +The most unfortunate feature of the entire matter was that Colonel +Steptoe, acting under General Wool’s instructions, thus far kept secret, +refused to grant Stevens adequate support and subjected him to +humiliations which galled the fiery Governor to the limit. In fact, had it +not been for the vigilance of the faithful Nez Percés of Lawyer’s band, +Stevens and his force would surely have met the doom prepared for them at +the first council. The debt of gratitude due Lawyer is incalculable. +Spotted Eagle ought to be recorded, too, as of similar devotion and +watchfulness. Governor Stevens afterward declared that a speech by him in +favour of the whites was equal in feeling, truth, and courage to any +speech that he ever heard from any orator whatever.</p> + +<p>But in spite of oratory, zeal, and argument, nothing could overcome the +influence of Kamiakin, Owhi, Quelchen, Five Crows, and others of the +Yakimas and Cayuses. Nothing was gained. They stood just where they were a +year before. The fatal results of divided counsels between regulars and +volunteers were apparent.</p> + +<p>The baffled Governor now started on his way down the River, but not +without another battle. For, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> he was marching a short distance south of +what is now Walla Walla city, the Indians burst upon his small force with +the evident intention of ending all scores then and there. But Colonel +Steptoe came to the rescue, and with united forces the Indians were +repulsed.</p> + +<p>That was the last battle on the Walla Walla. Colonel Steptoe established a +rude stockade fort on Mill Creek in what is now the heart of the present +Walla Walla city, and went into winter quarters there in 1856-57. Governor +Stevens returned to Olympia and launched forth a bitter arraignment +against Wool. The latter, however, was in a position of vantage and issued +a proclamation commanding all whites in the upper country to go down the +River and leave the Cascade Mountains as the eastern limit of the white +settlement. Thus ended for a time this unsatisfactory and distressing war. +To all appearances Kamiakin and his adherents had accomplished all they +wanted.</p> + +<p>But this was not the end. Gold had been discovered in Eastern Washington. +Vast possibilities of cattle raising were evident on those endless +bunch-grass hills. Although there was as yet little conception of the +future developments of the Inland Empire in agriculture and gardening, yet +the keen-eyed immigrants and volunteers had scanned the pleasant vales and +abounding streams of the Walla Walla and the Umatilla and the Palouse, and +had decided in their own minds that, Wool or no Wool, this land must be +opened. In 1857 the Government decided on a change of policy and sent +General N. S. Clarke to take Wool’s place. General Clarke opened the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +gates, and the impatient army of land hunters and gold hunters began to +move in. Meanwhile, Colonel Wright and Colonel Steptoe, though formerly +they had closely followed Wool’s policy, now began to experience a change +of heart. Out of these conditions the third Indian war, in 1858, quickly +succeeded the second, being indeed its inevitable sequence.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img16.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Fort Sheridan on the Grande Ronde, Built by Philip Sheridan in 1855.<br />By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Three campaigns marked this third war. The first was conducted by Colonel +Steptoe against the Spokanes and Cœur d’Alenes, and ended in his +humiliating and disastrous defeat. The second was directed by Major +Garnett against the Yakimas, resulting in their permanent overthrow. The +third was conducted by Colonel Wright against the Spokanes and other +northern tribes who had defeated Steptoe. This was the Waterloo of the +Indians, and it ushered in the occupation and settlement of the upper +Columbia country.</p> + +<p>The Steptoe expedition was the most ill-starred event in the whole history +of the North-west, unless we except that of the destruction of the +<i>Tonquin</i>. Colonel Wright was then in command of the new Fort Walla Walla, +located in 1857 on the present ground. Perceiving his former error in +giving the turbulent and treacherous natives undisputed sway, he ordered +Colonel Steptoe to go with two hundred dragoons to the Spokane region and +subject the restless tribes centring there. Steptoe’s force was well +equipped in every way except one. The pack train was heavily laden, and an +inebriated quartermaster conceived the brilliant idea of lessening the +burden by <i>leaving out the larger part of the ammunition</i>. Even aside from +this fatal blunder, Colonel Steptoe seems<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> to have had no adequate +conception of the vigour and resources of the Indians.</p> + +<p>As before, the Nez Percés were the faithful friends of the whites. +Timothy, a Nez Percé chief living on Snake River at the mouth of the +Alpowa, put them across the wicked stream, then running high with the May +freshet, and went on with them as guide.</p> + +<p>On May 16, 1858, the force reached a point near four lakes, probably the +group of which Silver Lake and Medical Lake are the chief ones, a few +miles west of Spokane. Here was gathered a formidable array, Spokanes, +Pend Oreilles, Cœur d’Alenes, Okanogans, and Colvilles, the hosts of +the upper country. Steptoe was soldier enough to perceive that it was time +for caution, and he halted for a parley. Saltese, a brawny chief of the +Cœur d’Alenes, declared to him that the Indians were ready to dispute +his farther progress, but that if the white men would retire the Indians +would not molest them. A friendly Nez Percé, seeing the duplicity of +Saltese, struck his mouth, exclaiming, “You speak with a double tongue.”</p> + +<p>The force turned back and that night all seemed well. But at nine o’clock +the next morning, while the soldiers were descending a cañon to Pine +Creek, near the present site of Rosalia, a large force of Indians burst +upon them like a cyclone. As the battle began to wax hot, the terrible +consequences of the error of lack of ammunition began to become manifest. +Man after man had to cease firing. Captain O. H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant +Gaston commanded the rear-guard. With extraordinary skill and devotion +they held the line intact and foiled the efforts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> of the savages to burst +through. Meanwhile the whole force was moving as rapidly as consistent +with formation on their way southward. Taylor and Gaston sent a messenger +forward, begging Steptoe to halt the line and give them a chance to load. +But the commander felt that the safety of the whole force depended on +pressing on. Soon a fierce rush of Indians followed, and, when the surge +had passed, the gallant rear-guard was buried under it. One notable figure +in the death-grapple was De May, a Frenchman, trained in the Crimea and +Algeria, and an expert fencer. For some time he used his gun barrel as a +sword and swept the Indians down by dozens with his terrific sweeps. But +at last he fell before numbers, and one of his surviving comrades relates +that he heard him shouting his last words, “O, my God, my God, for a +sabre!”</p> + +<p>But the lost rear-guard saved the rest. For they managed to hold back the +swarm of foes until nightfall, when they reached a somewhat defensible +position a few miles from the towering cone of what is now known as +Steptoe Butte. There they spent part of a dark, rainy, and dismal night, +anticipating a savage attack. But the Indians, sure of their prey, waited +till morning. Surely the first light would have revealed a massacre equal +to the Custer massacre of later date, had not the unexpected happened. And +the unexpected was that old Timothy, the Nez Percé guide, knew a trail +through a rough cañon, the only possible exit without discovery. In the +darkness of midnight the shattered command mounted and followed at a +gallop the faithful Timothy on whose keen eyes and mind their salvation +rested. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> wounded and a few footmen were dropped at intervals along the +trail. After an eighty-mile gallop during the day and night following, the +yellow flood of Snake River suddenly broke before them between its +desolate banks. Saved! The unwearied Timothy threw out his own warriors as +a screen against the pursuing foe, and set his women to ferrying the +soldiers across the turbulent stream.</p> + +<p>Thus the larger part of the command reached Fort Walla Walla alive.</p> + +<p>One of the most extraordinary individual experiences connected with the +Steptoe retreat, was that of Snickster and Williams. Some of the survivors +question the correctness of this, and others vouch for its accuracy. It +perhaps should not be set down as proven history. Snickster and Williams +were riding one horse, and could not keep up with the main body. The +Indians, therefore, overtook and seized them before they reached the Snake +River. In a rage because of having been balked of their prey, the Indians +determined to have some amusement out of the unfortunate pair, and told +them to go into the river with their horse and try to swim across. Into +the dangerous stream, two thousand feet wide, almost ice-cold, and with a +powerful current, they went. As soon as they were out a score of yards, +the Indians began their fun by making a target of them. The horse was +almost immediately killed. Williams was struck and sank. Snickster’s arm +was broken by a ball, but diving under the dead horse, and keeping himself +on the farther side till somewhat out of range, and then boldly striking +across the current, which foamed with Indian bullets, he reached the south +side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> of the river and was drawn out, almost dead, by some of Timothy’s +Nez Percé Indians.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img17.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Tullux Holiquilla, a Warm Springs Indian Chief,<br />Famous in the Modoc War as a Scout for U. S. Troops.<br />By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>With the defeat of Steptoe, the Indians may well have felt that they were +invincible. But their exultation was short-lived. As already noted, +Garnett crushed the Yakimas at one blow, and Wright a little later +repeated Steptoe’s march to Spokane, but did not repeat his retreat. For +in the battle of Four Lakes on September 1st, and that of Spokane Plains +on September 5th, Wright broke for ever the power and spirits of the +northern Indians.</p> + +<p>The treaties were thus established at last by war. The reservations, +embracing the finest parts of the Umatilla, Yakima, Clearwater, and +Cœur d’Alene regions, were set apart, and to them after considerable +delay and difficulty the tribes were gathered.</p> + +<p>With the end of this third great Indian war and the public announcement by +General Clarke that the country might now be considered open to +settlement, immigration began to pour in, and on ranch and river, in mine +and forest, the well-known labours of the American state-builders and +home-builders became displayed. The ever-new West was repeating itself.</p> + +<p>The Valley of the Columbia now rested from serious strife for a number of +years. But in 1877, an echo of the war of 1855 suddenly startled the +country, and provided an event to which lovers of the tragic and romantic +in history have ever since turned with deep interest. This was the “Joseph +War” in the Wallowa. Our readers will recall that the so-called Joseph +band of Nez Percés opposed the Walla Walla Treaty at first, but finally +acquiesced, with what they understood was the stipulation that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> they +should possess the Wallowa country as their permanent home. The Joseph of +that time was succeeded by his son, whose Indian name was Hallakallakeen, +“Eagle Wing.” He was the finest specimen of the native red man ever +produced in the Columbia Valley. Of magnificent stature and proportions, +with a rare dignity and nobility, which wider opportunities would have +made remarkable, and with a career of mingled light and shade, pathos and +tragedy, Hallakallakeen will go down into history with a record of +passionate devotion from his followers and unstinted encomiums from most +of his opponents.</p> + +<p>Joseph loved the Wallowa with a passionate affection, and made at first +every effort to maintain amity with his white neighbours. But when the +Government violated what he had regarded its sacred pledge and permitted +entrance upon the lands which he claimed, he refused to abide by the +decision and led out his warriors to battle. The Nez Percés, though few in +number, could fight face to face with white men, and could use white men’s +weapons and white men’s tactics. At a desperate battle at White Bird Cañon +they routed the detachment in command of Colonel Perry. The result was to +put arms, ammunition, and provisions in abundance into the hands of the +Indians and hope into their hearts.</p> + +<p>General O. O. Howard, then commanding the department of the Columbia, now +assumed command and began so vigorous a campaign against Joseph that the +Indian chief plainly saw that with all his activity he could not avoid +being seized in the closing arms of Howard’s command. The interesting +details of the marches, countermarches, desperate encounters,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> sometimes +favourable to white man and sometimes to red, are to be found in General +Howard’s own book. At last, with marvellous skill and good fortune, Joseph +eluded capture and adopted the desperate resolution of crossing the Bitter +Root Mountains by the Lolo trail, descending the Missouri, and ultimately +reaching the Canadian line beyond the land of the Sioux. Encumbered as he +was with his women, children, and entire movable possessions, obliged to +forage and hunt on the way, and avoiding pursuers in rear as well as +forces coming to meet him in front, fighting frequent and some of the time +successful battles,—the Nez Percé chieftain exhibited qualities of +leadership and resources of mind and body which offer materials for a +historical romance equal to De Quincey’s <i>Flight of the Kalmuck Tartars</i>.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img18.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Hallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) or Joseph, the Nez Percé Chief.<br />By T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Howard’s tireless pursuit in the rear and the active and intelligent +co-operation of Gibbon and Miles, who ascended the Missouri to meet the +fleeing Nez Percés, resulted at last in their capture at Bear Paw Mountain +on the Milk River in Montana.</p> + +<p>General Howard says that the campaign from the beginning of the Indian +pursuit across the Lolo trail until the embarkation on the Missouri for +the homeward journey, including all stoppages and halts, extended from +July 27th to October 10th, during which time his command marched one +thousand three hundred and twenty-one miles. He says that Joseph, +encumbered with women, children, and possessions, traversed even greater +distances, “for he had to make many a loop in his skein, many a deviation +into a tangled thicket, to avoid or deceive his enemy.” Howard pays the +highest tribute to his Indian foe and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> declares that some of his +operations are not often equalled in warfare.</p> + +<p>Joseph’s subsequent career was a melancholy one. Transported with his band +to Oklahoma, the wild eagle of the Wallowa so pined away on the flat +prairie and begged so piteously to be allowed to return to the waters of +the Columbia, that his request was granted. But so intense was the feeling +among the people who had suffered from their dangerous enemy that this +poor fragment of the Nez Percés was placed on the Colville Reservation in +Northern Washington. There the restless heart of the Nez Percé Bonaparte +was eaten out by bitter yearnings for his loved Wallowa.</p> + +<p>He had an occasional proud and interesting hour. At the time of General +Grant’s obsequies at New York, Joseph was in Washington to see the “Great +Father” about his reservation. General Miles, who greatly admired the hero +of the Lolo trail, asked him to ride with himself at the head of the +funeral procession. Mounted on a magnificent charger, Joseph rode solemnly +through the streets of the metropolis by the side of the conqueror of Bear +Paw Mountain, and there were not wanting those who said that the Indian +was the finer horseman and the finer-looking man.</p> + +<p>But Joseph died at his camp on the Nespilem without ever seeing Wallowa. +His last request was that he be buried there. He remained an Indian to the +last, not ordinarily living in a house or wearing civilised costume or +even speaking English, though perfectly able to do so. His life might have +been happier had he never been known to fame.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img19.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Camp of Chief Joseph on the Nespilem, Wash.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>The next year after the Joseph War, or in 1878, occurred the Bannock War, +the scene of which was mainly Umatilla County in Oregon and other parts +adjoining the River. Though at first, as has happened so many times, the +Indians met with successes, the end was their inevitable defeat.</p> + +<p>With the close of the Bannock War it may be said that Indian warfare +practically ended. The war-whoop ceased to be heard and the tomahawk was +brandished no more along the Columbia.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h3> +<p class="chapter">When the Fire-Canoes Took the Place of the Log-Canoes</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Variety of Craft that have Navigated the Columbia—The <i>Beaver</i>, +<i>Carolina</i>, <i>Columbia</i>, and <i>Lot Whitcomb</i>—Beginning of Steamboating +above the Cascades—Steamboats above The Dalles—Rival Companies on +the River—The Oregon Steam Navigation Company—Great Business +Developments of the Decade of the Sixties—Specimen Shipments in +1862—The Steamboat Ride from Portland to Lewiston—Some of the +Steamboat Men of the Period—Story of W. H. Gray and his Sailboat on +the Snake River—Descending The Dalles—Captain Coe’s Account of the +First Steamboat Ride on the Upper Columbia and the Snake—Navigation +above Colville and on the Lakes—The Locks and Prospects of Future +Navigation—Remarkable Trips on the River—Some Steamboats of the +Present.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">We</span> have learned that our River has been navigated by boats of almost every +description. At one time it was the hollowed cedar-log canoes of the +aborgines. Again, the bateaux of the trappers were the chief craft to cut +the blue lakes and the white rapids. At yet other times it was the +flat-boats of the immigrants. Sailing ships of every sort—frigates, +galleons, caravels, men-of-war, full-rigged ships, barks, brigs, +schooners, and sloops—crowded early to the silver gate of the River.</p> + +<p>In due process of time the “Fire-canoes,” as the natives called steamers, +let loose their trails of smoke amid the tops of the “continuous woods.” +The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> <i>Beaver</i>, a small steamship belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company +and sent from England, entered the River in 1836, the first steamer to ply +these waters. The Company afterwards sent her to Puget Sound, and, if we +are correctly informed, she is still afloat on the Gulf of Georgia. In +1850 the first American steamship, the <i>Carolina</i>, crossed the Bar. In the +same year a little double-ender, called the <i>Columbia</i>, began running +between Portland and Astoria.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img20.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Tirzah Trask, a Umatilla Indian Girl—Taken as an Ideal of Sacajawea.<br />Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The first river steamer of any size to ply upon the Willamette and +Columbia was the <i>Lot Whitcomb</i>. This steamer was built by Whitcomb and +Jennings. J. C. Ainsworth was the first captain, and Jacob Kamm was the +first engineer. Both these men became leaders in every species of +steamboating enterprise. In 1851 Dan Bradford and B. B. Bishop inaugurated +a movement to connect the up-river region with the lower river by getting +a small iron propeller called the <i>Jason P. Flint</i> from the East and +putting her together at the Cascades, whence she made the run to Portland. +The <i>Flint</i> has been named as first to run above the Cascades, but the +author has the authority of Mr. Bishop for stating that the first steamer +to run above the Cascades was the <i>Eagle</i>. That steamer was brought in +sections by Allen McKinley to the upper Cascades in 1853, there put +together, and set to plying on the part of the river between the Cascades +and The Dalles. In 1854, the <i>Mary</i> was built and launched above the +Cascades, the next year the <i>Wasco</i> followed, and in 1856 the <i>Hassalo</i> +began to toot her jubilant horn at the precipices of the mid-Columbia. In +1859 R. R. Thompson and Lawrence Coe built the <i>Colonel Wright</i>, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> +first steamer on the upper section of the River. In the same year the same +men built at the upper Cascades a steamer called the <i>Venture</i>. This craft +met with a curious catastrophe. For on her very first trip she swung too +far into the channel and was carried over the upper Cascades, at the point +where the Cascade Locks are now located. She was subsequently raised, +rebuilt, and rechristened the <i>Umatilla</i>.</p> + +<p>This part of the period of steamboat building was cotemporary with the +Indian wars of 1855 and 1856. The steamers, <i>Wasco</i>, <i>Mary</i>, and <i>Eagle</i> +were of much service in rescuing victims of the murderous assault on the +Cascades by the Klickitats.</p> + +<p>While the enterprising steamboat builders were thus making their way +up-river in the very teeth of Indian warfare, steamboats were in course of +construction on the Willamette. The <i>Jennie Clark</i> in 1854 and the <i>Carrie +Ladd</i> in 1858 were built for the firm of Abernethy, Clark & Company. These +both, the latter especially, were really elegant steamers for the time.</p> + +<p>The close of the Indian wars in 1859 saw a quite well-organised steamer +service between Portland and The Dalles, and the great rush into the upper +country was just beginning. The <i>Señorita</i>, the <i>Belle</i>, and the +<i>Multnomah</i>, under the management of Benjamin Stark, were on the run from +Portland to the Cascades. A rival steamer, the <i>Mountain Buck</i>, owned by +Ruckle and Olmstead, was on the same route. These steamers connected with +boats on the Cascades-Dalles section by means of portages five miles long +around the rapids. There was a portage on each side of the River. That on +the north side was operated by Bradford & Company, and their steamers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +were the <i>Hassalo</i> and the <i>Mary</i>. Ruckle and Olmstead owned the portage +on the south side of the River, and their steamer was the <i>Wasco</i>. Sharp +competition arose between the Bradford and Stark interests on one side and +Ruckle and Olmstead on the other. The Stark Company was known as the +Columbia River Navigation Company, and the rival was the Oregon +Transportation Company. J. C. Ainsworth now joined the Stark party with +the <i>Carrie Ladd</i>. So efficient did this reinforcement prove to be that +the Transportation Company proposed to them a combination. This was +effected in April, 1859, and the new organisation became known as the +Union Transportation Company. This was soon found to be too loose a +consolidation to accomplish the desired ends, and the parties interested +set about a new combination to embrace all the steamboat men from Celilo +to Astoria. The result was the formation of the Oregon Steam Navigation +Company, which came into legal existence on December 20, 1860. Its stock +in steamboats, sailboats, wharf-boats, and miscellaneous property was +stated at $172,500.</p> + +<p>Such was the genesis of the “O. S. N. Co.” In a valuable article by Irene +Lincoln Poppleton in the <i>Oregon Historical Quarterly</i> for September, +1908, to which we here make acknowledgments, it is said that no assessment +was ever levied on the stock of this company, but that from the proceeds +of the business the management expended in gold nearly three million +dollars in developing their property, besides paying to the stockholders +in dividends over two million and a half dollars. Never perhaps was there +such a record of money-making on such a capitalisation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>The source of the enormous business of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company +was the rush into Idaho, Montana, and Eastern Oregon and Washington by the +miners, cowboys, speculators, and adventurers of the early sixties. The +up-river country, as described more at length in another chapter, wakened +suddenly from the lethargy of centuries, and the wilderness teemed with +life. That was the great steamboat age. Money flowed in streams. Fortunes +were made and lost in a day.</p> + +<p>When first organised in 1860, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company had a +nondescript lot of steamers, mainly small and weak. The two portages, one +of five miles around the Cascades and the other of fourteen miles from The +Dalles to Celilo Falls, were unequal to their task. The portages at the +Cascades on both sides of the River were made by very inadequate wooden +tramways. That at The Dalles was made by teams. Such quantities of freight +were discharged from the steamers that sometimes the whole portage was +lined with freight from end to end. The portages were not acquired by the +company with the steamboat property, and as a result the portage owners +reaped the larger share of the profits. During high water the portage on +the Oregon side at the Cascades had a monopoly of the business, and it +took one-half the freight income from Portland to The Dalles. This was +holding the whip-hand with a vengeance, and the vigorous directors of the +steamboat company could not endure it. Accordingly, they absorbed the +rights of the portage owners, built a railroad from Celilo to The Dalles +on the Oregon side, and one around the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>Cascades on the Washington side. +The company was reorganised under the laws of Oregon in October, 1862, +with a declared capitalisation of two million dollars.</p> + +<p>Business on the River in 1863 was something enormous. Hardly ever did a +steamer make a trip with less than two hundred passengers. Freight was +offered in such quantities at Portland that trucks had to stand in line +for blocks, waiting to deliver and receive their loads. New boats were +built of a much better class. Two rival companies, the Independent Line +and the People’s Transportation Line, made a vigorous struggle to secure a +share of the business, but they were eventually overpowered. Some +conception of the amount of business may be gained from the fact that the +steamers transported passengers to an amount of fares running from $1000 +to $6000 a trip. On April 29, 1862, the <i>Tenino</i>, leaving Celilo for the +Lewiston trip, had a passenger load amounting to $10,945, and a few trips +later reported receipts of $18,000, for freight, passengers, meals, and +berths. The steamships sailing from Portland to San Francisco showed +equally remarkable records. On June 25, 1861, the <i>Sierra Nevada</i> conveyed +a treasure shipment of $228,000; July 14th, $110,000; August 24th, +$195,558; December 5th, $750,000. The number of passengers carried on The +Dalles-Lewiston route in 1864 was 36,000 and the tons of freight were +21,834.</p> + +<p>It was a magnificent steamboat ride in those days from Portland to +Lewiston. The fare was sixty dollars; meals and berths, one dollar each. A +traveller would leave Portland at five <span class="smcaplc">A.M.</span> on, perhaps, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +<i>Wilson G. Hunt</i>, reach the Cascades sixty-five miles distant at eleven <span class="smcaplc">A.M.</span>, proceed +by rail five miles to the upper Cascades, there transfer to the <i>Oneonta</i> +or <i>Idaho</i> for The Dalles, passing in that run from the humid, low-lying, +heavily timbered West-of-the-mountains, to the dry, breezy, hilly +East-of-the-mountains. Reaching The Dalles, fifty miles farther east, he +would be conveyed by another portage railroad, fourteen miles more, to +Celilo. There the <i>Tenino</i>, <i>Yakima</i>, <i>Nez Percé Chief</i>, or <i>Owyhee</i> was +waiting. With the earliest light of the morning the steamer would head +right into the impetuous current of the River, bound for Lewiston, two +hundred and eighty miles farther yet, taking two days, sometimes three, +though only one to return. Those steamers were mainly of the +light-draught, stern-wheel structure, which still characterises the +Columbia River boats. They were swift and roomy and well adapted to the +turbulent waters of the upper River.</p> + +<p>The captains, pilots, and pursers of that period were as fine a set of men +as ever turned a wheel. Bold, bluff, genial, hearty, and obliging they +were, even though given to occasional outbursts of expletives and +possessing voluminous repertoires of “cuss-words” such as would startle +the effete East. Any old Oregonian who may chance to cast his eyes upon +these pages will recall, as with the pangs of childhood homesickness, the +forms and features of steamboat men of that day; the polite yet determined +Ainsworth, the brusque and rotund Reed, the bluff and hearty Knaggs, the +frolicsome and never disconcerted Ingalls, the dark, powerful, and +nonchalant Coe, the patriarchal beard of Stump, the loquacious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +“Commodore” Wolf, who used to point out to astonished tourists the +“diabolical strata” on the banks of the River, the massive and +good-natured Strang, the genial and elegant O’Neil, the suave and witty +Snow, the tall and handsome Sampson, the rich Scotch brogue of McNulty, +and dozens of others, whose combined adventures would fill a volume. One +of the most experienced pilots of the upper River was Captain “Eph” +Baughman, who has been running on the Snake and Columbia rivers for fifty +years, and is yet active at the date of this publication. W. H. Gray, who +came to Waiilatpu with Whitman as secular agent of the mission, became a +river man of much skill. He gave four sons, John, William, Alfred, and +James, to the service of the River, all four of them being skilled +captains. A story narrated to the author by Captain William Gray, now of +Pasco, Washington, well illustrates the character of the old Columbia +River navigators. W. H. Gray was the first man to run a sailboat of much +size with regular freight up Snake River. That was in 1860 before any +steamers were running on that stream. Mr. Gray built his boat, a fifty-ton +sloop, on Oosyoos Lake on the Okanogan River. In it he descended that +river to its entrance into the Columbia. Thence be descended the Columbia, +running down the Entiat, Rock Island, Cabinet, and Priest Rapids, no mean +undertaking of itself. Reaching the mouth of the Snake, he took on a load +of freight and started up the swift stream. At Five-mile Rapids he found +that his sail was insufficient to carry the sloop up. Men had said that it +was impossible. His crew all prophesied disaster. The stubborn captain +merely <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>declared, “There is no such word as fail in my dictionary.” He +directed his son and another of the crew to take the small boat, load her +with a long coil of rope, make their way up the stream until they got +above the rapid, there to land on an islet of rock, fasten the rope to +that rock, then pay it out till it was swept down the rapid. They were +then to descend the rapid in the small boat. “Very likely you may be +upset,” added the skipper encouragingly, “but if you are, you know how to +swim.” They were upset, sure enough, but they did know how to swim. They +righted their boat, picked up the end of the floating rope, and reached +the sloop with it. The rope was attached to the capstan, and the sloop was +wound up by it above the swiftest part of the rapid to a point where the +sail was sufficient to carry, and on they went rejoicing. Any account of +steamboating on the Columbia would be incomplete without reference to +Captain James Troup, who was born on the Columbia, and almost from early +boyhood ran steamers upon it and its tributaries. He made a specialty of +running steamers down the Dalles and the Cascades, an undertaking +sometimes rendered necessary by the fact that more boats were built in +proportion to demand on the upper than the lower River. These were taken +down the Dalles, and sometimes down the Cascades. Once down, they could +not return. The first steamer to run down the Tumwater Falls was the +<i>Okanogan</i>, on May 22, 1866, piloted by Captain T. J. Stump.</p> + +<p>The author enjoyed the great privilege of descending the Dalles in the <i>D. +S. Baker</i> in the year 1888, Captain Troup being in command. At that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +strange point in the River, the whole vast volume is compressed into a +channel but one hundred and sixty feet wide at low water and much deeper +than wide. Like a huge mill-race this channel continues nearly straight +for two miles, when it is hurled with frightful force against a massive +bluff. Deflected from the bluff, it turns at a sharp angle to be split in +sunder by a low reef of rock. When the <i>Baker</i> was drawn into the suck of +the current at the head of the “chute” she swept down the channel, which +was almost black, with streaks of foam, to the bluff, two miles in four +minutes. There feeling the tremendous refluent wave, she went careening +over and over toward the sunken reef. The skilled captain had her +perfectly in hand, and precisely at the right moment, rang the signal +bell, “Ahead, full speed,” and ahead she went, just barely scratching her +side on the rock. Thus close was it necessary to calculate distance. If +the steamer had struck the tooth-like point of the reef broadside on, she +would have been broken in two and carried in fragments on either side. +Having passed this danger point, she glided into the beautiful calm bay +below and the feat was accomplished. Captain J. C. Ainsworth and Captain +James Troup were the two captains above all others to whom the company +entrusted the critical task of running steamers over the rapids.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Overland Monthly</i> of June, 1886, there is a valuable account by +Captain Lawrence Coe of the maiden journey of the <i>Colonel Wright</i> from +Celilo up what they then termed the upper Columbia.</p> + +<p>This first journey on that section of the River was made in April, 1859. +The pilot was Captain Lew<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> White. The highest point reached was Wallula, +the site of the old Hudson’s Bay fort. The current was a powerful one to +withstand, no soundings had ever been made, and no boats except canoes, +bateaux, flatboats, and a few small sailboats, had ever made the trip. No +one had any conception of the location of a channel adapted to a +steamboat. No difficulty was experienced, however, except at the Umatilla +Rapids. This is a most singular obstruction. Three separate reefs, at +intervals of half a mile, extend right across the River. There are narrow +breaks in these reefs, but not in line with each other. Through them the +water pours with tremendous velocity, and on account of their irregular +locations a steamer must zigzag across the River at imminent risk of being +borne broadside on to the reef. The passage of the Umatilla Rapids is not +difficult at high water, for then the steamer glides over the rocks in a +straight course.</p> + +<p>In the August <i>Overland</i> of the same year, Captain Coe narrates the first +steamboat trip up Snake River. This was in June, 1860, just at the time of +the beginning of the gold excitement. The <i>Colonel Wright</i> was loaded with +picks, rockers, and other mining implements, as well as provisions and +passengers. Most of the freight and passengers were put off at Wallula, to +go thence overland. Part continued on to test the experiment of making way +against the wicked-looking current of Snake River. After three days and a +half from the starting point a few miles above Celilo, the <i>Colonel +Wright</i> halted at a place which was called Slaterville, thirty-seven miles +up the Clearwater from its junction with the Snake. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> the remainder +of the cargo was discharged, to be hauled in waggons to the Oro Fino +mines. The steamer <i>Okanogan</i> followed the <i>Colonel Wright</i> within a few +weeks, and navigation on the Snake may be said to have fairly begun. +During that same time the city of Lewiston, named in honour of Meriwether +Lewis, the explorer, was founded at the junction of the Snake and +Clearwater rivers.</p> + +<p>While parts of the Columbia and it chief tributary, the Snake, were thus +opened to navigation by 1860, no “fire-canoe” had yet appeared on that +magnificent stretch of navigable water from Colville into the Arrow Lakes. +From contemporary files of the <i>Daily Mountaineer</i> of The Dalles, we learn +that Captain Lew White launched the <i>Forty-nine</i> in November, 1865, at +Colville. In December the <i>Forty-nine</i> ascended the Columbia one hundred +and sixty miles, nearly to the head of lower Arrow Lake, whence, meeting +floating ice, she returned. From the <i>Mountaineer</i> we learn also that in +the early months of 1866 a steamer was constructed at the mouth of Boisé +River for navigation of the far upper Snake. At the same time also the +steamer <i>Mary Moody</i> was constructed by Z. F. Moody, on Pend Oreille Lake, +the first steamer on any of the lakes except the Arrow Lakes of the +Columbia.</p> + +<p>With the close of the decade of the sixties, it may be said that the +Columbia and its tributaries had fairly entered upon the steamboat era. +While many steamers were added within the succeeding years, the steamboat +business was never so active on the upper River as during that early age. +After the building of the railroads along the River and into interior<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +valleys and eastward, it became apparent that the heavy handicap of +rehandling freight at two portages would forbid the steamers from +competing with the railroads. In 1879 the Oregon Steam Navigation Company +sold out to the Villard interests for $5,000,000, and the Oregon Railroad +and Navigation Company was the result.</p> + +<p>Since that time there have been few steamboats on that part of the River +above The Dalles. The section between The Dalles and the Cascades was +joined to the tide-water section by the opening of the Government locks at +the Cascades in 1896, and since that time many of the finest steamers on +the River do an immense tourist business between The Dalles and Portland. +It is only a question of a few years till the locks at Celilo will be +completed, and then the whole vast Inland Empire, with its enormous +production, will be thrown open to the sea. Then there will come on a new +age of steamboat navigation, and with it the electric railroad. The +steamer and the trolley car will set the whole Columbia Basin next door to +tide-water. When improvements now in view by Government are completed, our +River will be one of the most superb steamer courses in the world. That +may truthfully be said already of the two hundred and twenty miles from +The Dalles to the Ocean, as well as of the three hundred miles from Kettle +Falls, Washington, to Death Rapids, B. C.</p> + +<p>The Government engineers in Senate Document, 344, February, 1890, name the +amount of navigable water on the Columbia and its tributaries at 1664 +miles. This may, perhaps, be an underestimation, since President Roosevelt +has recently referred to it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> as twenty-five hundred miles, in which he +probably included the lakes. Generally speaking, the rivers of the Pacific +slope descend from high altitudes in comparatively short distances, and +are necessarily swift. Hence we can expect no such vast extent of +navigable water on them as the Mississippi and its affluents offer. Aside +from the Columbia itself, the main streams, east of the Cascade Mountains +offering steamboat transportation, are the Snake, Okanogan, and Kootenai, +together with Lakes Pend Oreille, Chelan, Cœur d’Alene, Flathead, +Okanogan, Kootenai, Arrow, Christina, and Slocan. On the west side are the +Willamette, Cowlitz, and Lewis rivers.</p> + +<p>It would fill a volume to narrate even a tithe of the thrilling tales of +daring and tragedy which gather around the subject of boating in all its +forms on the Columbia.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable steamboat journeys was that elsewhere described +in this work, under command of Captain F. P. Armstrong, of the <i>North +Star</i>, from Jennings, Montana, on the Kootenai to Canal Flats and thence +through the canal to Lake Columbia. With that should be coupled as equally +daring and more difficult, the trip down Snake River, from the Seven +Devils to Lewiston, in a steamer piloted by Captain W. P. Gray.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly the most remarkable journey in any other sort of craft than a +steamboat was that undertaken by a party of eighteen miners in 1865. They +built a large sailing boat at Colville and in her ran up the entire course +of the River, never having their boat entirely out of water, though our +informant says that they must have had her on skids part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> the way. They +reached the very head of the Columbia, over seven hundred miles above +their starting point, hauled their boat across Canal Flats, launched her +again on the Kootenai, and so descended that furious stream to Fort Steele +on Wild Horse Creek. The full history of that journey would be deserving +of a place in any record of daring exploration.</p> + +<p>In concluding this chapter, it may be said that there are now upon the +lower Columbia some of the swiftest and most beautiful “fire-canoes” in +the world. These ply on the two great scenic routes, one from Portland to +Astoria, and the other from Portland to The Dalles. The most noted of +these swift steamers at present writing are the <i>Hassalo</i> (No. 2), the <i>T. +J. Potter</i>, the <i>Charles D. Spencer</i>, and the <i>Bailey Gatzert</i>.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h3> +<p class="chapter">Era of the Miner, the Cowboy, the Farmer, the Boomer, and the Railroad Builder</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Early Gold-hunters—Gold in California—Effects of that Discovery on +the Columbia River Country—Growth of Towns on the Columbia—Discovery +of Gold in the Colville Country—Gold on the Clearwater—Stampede to +the Idaho Mines—Cowboys Rush in with the Miners—Sudden Development +of Industries at Walla Walla, Lewiston, and Other Towns—Profits and +Fare in the Mines in 1861—The Hard Winter—Development of the Farming +Industry—The Boomers—The Hard Times—The Railroad Age—Beginning of +Railroading in the Willamette Valley—Ben Holladay—Transcontinental +Railways—Henry Villard—His Great Building and his Downfall—The +Present Railroads on the River—Dr. D. S. Baker and the Pioneer +Railroad on the Upper River.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> age of gold in the Columbia pressed hard upon that of the trappers. +But it dawned first far south.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards had sought the precious metals with boundless energy. Richly +had the treasures of the Montezumas and the Incas rewarded their reckless +cupidity. But as they moved northward they met with nothing but +disappointment. The El Dorados of their ardent fancy had vanished as they +turned toward Oregon and California.</p> + +<p>In 1848 the guns of Stockton and Fremont thundered the salvos of American +occupation over the Sierras. Just as the sovereignty of Uncle Sam was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +acknowledged, the long-sought discovery of gold startled the world.</p> + +<p>In 1838 a gay, mercurial Switzer, Captain Sutter, had made his way with a +band of trappers across the plains to Oregon, and thence had gone to +California. A dashing adventurer, without money, but with boundless +<i>sang-froid</i> and <i>bonhommie</i>, Sutter had marvellously interested all whom +he met and in some inexplicable manner had got money and credit sufficient +to build a fort and start an immense ranch on the Sacramento, almost on +the site of the present capital of the Golden State. “Sutter’s fort” +became one of the most notable places in California. In 1844 James W. +Marshall went to the Columbia, but after only a year’s stay made his way +to California. In 1847 he entered into partnership with Sutter in a +sawmill enterprise at Coloma on the south fork of the American River. +There, while at work in the mill-race on the 19th of January, 1848, +Marshall discovered shining particles. Gold!</p> + +<p>The discovery was made, and soon the secret was out. And then—! There +never was anything quite comparable to what followed. The first and +greatest of the great stampedes for gold took place.</p> + +<p>When the tidings reached Oregon it was as though a prairie fire were +running over the country. Men went fairly mad. Throngs, hardly stopping to +take their ploughs from the furrow, mounted their horses, galloped off up +the Willamette, through the lonely valleys of the Umpqua and the Rogue +River, over the Siskiyou, and down the Sacramento, where a fortune could +be had for the digging.</p> + +<p>All the stress and strain of American life and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> history reached the utmost +intensity in the fever strife for gold on the Sacramento. The Willamette +and Columbia were almost equally stirred. During the first two years of +the gold excitement homes on the Columbia were well-nigh deserted. Then +the Oregonians began to drift back again. Some came with gold-bricks in +their pockets and sacks of gold-dust in their packs. Some came broken in +health and spirits, sick with disappointment. Some did not come at all, +and their bones found unmarked graves in the pestilential ditches of the +Sacramento.</p> + +<p>But the shrewder Oregonians perceived that they had better than a gold +mine in the trade with California. Grain, fruit, eggs, lumber,—these were +in such demand that frequently twenty ships at a time were moored by the +dense forests of the lower Willamette waiting for cargoes. Gold-dust was +the universal medium, and it seemed to be cheaper than anything else. Four +bushels of Oregon apples brought five hundred dollars in gold-dust in San +Francisco. Tons of eggs were sold for a dollar apiece in the gold mines.</p> + +<p>Portland, the lonely little village on the Willamette, with just enough of +a foothold by the edge of the forest to keep from rolling into the River, +sprang at a bound into the rank of a city. The huge firs were dug out, and +wharves went in. The face of nature, even, as well as that of industry and +politics, was transformed by that gold-dust in Marshall’s mill-race on the +Sacramento.</p> + +<p>But, most of all, the disposition of the people was changed. The serene, +idyllic, pastoral age passed, and the fierce lust for wealth, the +boundless imagination,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> the fever in the veins, came on. Why should there +not be gold as well by the Columbia as by the Sacramento! The men who had +come down the Columbia in search for homes and grass-land for cattle, now +began to retrace their steps and turn again up the River in search of the +precious metals. Nor was it long before discovery of gold in the region +tributary to Colville was made known. The first discovery was at the mouth +of the Pend Oreille River. A regular stampede ensued. Other discoveries on +a greater scale were soon to follow. During the early days of the gold +excitement of California, a Nez Percé Indian had wandered on to the +Sacramento. He made acquaintance with a group of miners, who became +impressed with his general force and dignity. Among these miners was E. D. +Pearce, and to him the Indian gave a vivid account of his home in the +wilds of what is now Idaho. He told also a tale of how he with two +companions were once in the high mountains, when they beheld in the night +a light of dazzling brilliance, with the appearance of a refulgent star. +The Indians looked at this with awe as the eye of the Great Spirit. But in +the morning they summoned courage sufficient to investigate, and found a +glittering ball that looked like glass. It was so embedded in the rock +that they could not dislodge it. It was clear to them that this was some +great “tomanowas.” On hearing this fantastic story, the mind of Pearce was +kindled with the idea that perhaps the Indians had found an immense +diamond. He determined to seek it. After several years he made his way up +the Columbia and reached Walla Walla. From that point he ranged the +mountains of Idaho,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> but for a long time met no success. With a company of +seven men, he entered upon an elaborate search, which finally so much +aroused the suspicion of the Indians that they ordered him from the +country. Nothing daunted, however, he induced a Nez Percé woman to guide +the party from the Palouse to the Lolo trail, from which they reached an +unfrequented valley on the north fork of the Clearwater. There one of the +party, W. F. Bassett, tried washing a pan of dirt, with the result that he +got a “colour.” This was the first discovery of gold in Idaho, and the +spot was where Oro Fino afterwards stood.</p> + +<p>Fall was coming on, and after digging out a small amount of dust, the +party deemed it wise to return to the settlements for a more thorough +outfitting. Accordingly, they went to Walla Walla and located with J. C. +Smith, to whom they imparted their secret. So impressed was Mr. Smith with +the tidings that he organised a party of fifteen, with whom he returned +just at the opening of the winter of that same year, 1860. Soon shut in by +deep snows in inaccessible mountains, the little company built five rude +huts, and in the intervals of the storms they dug for gold along the +streams, meeting with such success that in March Mr. Smith made his way to +Walla Walla with $800 in gold-dust. The dust was sent to Portland. Now +ensued another gold excitement and stampede almost equal to that of ’49 in +California.</p> + +<p>As the miners rushed into Idaho, every other species of industry rushed up +the River with them. The cowboy came side by side with the miner. In fact, +already following close on the heels of the Indian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> war, had come an +inrush of cattle, horses, and sheep. During the last years of the decade +of the fifties, stockmen had driven from the Willamette Valley thousands +of head of stock to the rich pasture lands of the Walla Walla, Umatilla, +and Yakima. When the gold discoveries of 1860 and 1861 became known, the +activities of the cowboys were multiplied, added bands of stock were +driven in, all the wild and extravagant features of a combined cowboy and +mining age, vendors of “chain-lightning and forty-rod,” gamblers, +prostitutes, murderers,—and with them missionaries and teachers,—became +reproduced again on the shores of the Columbia, Snake, Clearwater, Salmon, +Walla Walla, and other rivers of the Inland Empire. It was another of +those wild eras in which the worst and the best that are in human nature +jostled each other at every turn.</p> + +<p>Transportation problems followed close upon the cowboy and the miner. The +Oregon Steam Navigation Company, organised in 1860, began within a year to +run steamboats from Portland to Lewiston, with portage railroads around +the Cascades and the Dalles. Stage lines were started from Umatilla, Walla +Walla, and Lewiston, within a year or two after the gold discoveries of +Oro Fino. Prairie-schooners, huge waggons, sometimes three in tandem +fashion, drawn by a team of twenty mules, with jingling bells, driven with +a “single line,” formed the approved system of hauling freight over the +mountain roads. In addition to the stages and prairie-schooners, however, +thousands of mules and horses were driven with pack-saddles over the +trails and roads. Then was the time when “throwing the diamond hitch” +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>became a fine art. Then was the time, too, when it behooved stage-drivers +and packers to be handy with a “gun,” for “road-agents” were plentiful and +vigilant. Many a man with a pack-saddle loaded with gold-dust, or +sometimes with whiskey or even “canned goods,” “passed in his checks” +under some over-shadowing tree or behind some sheltering rock.</p> + +<p>Both the distresses and the successes of that epoch are well illustrated +by extracts from some of the newspapers of the time. From issues of the +<i>Washington Statesman</i> of Walla Walla, we learn that flour was at one time +a dollar a pound; beef, thirty to fifty cents a pound; bacon, sixty; +beans, thirty; rice, fifty; tea a dollar and a half; tobacco, a dollar and +a half; sugar, fifty cents; candles, a dollar. Some of these staples could +not be had at all. Physicians, when they got into the mines, would charge +twenty dollars a visit. Board was from five to ten dollars a day, +frequently more.</p> + +<p>But as an offset to the expense and frequent positive suffering, we gather +the following item from an issue of the <i>Statesman</i> in December, 1861:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>S. F. Ledyard arrived last evening from the Salmon River mines, and +from him it is learned that some six hundred miners would winter +there; that some two hundred had gone to the south side of the river, +where two streams head that empty into the Salmon, some thirty miles +south-east of the present mining camp. Coarse gold is found, and as +high as one hundred dollars per day to the man has been taken out. The +big mining claim of the old locality belongs to Mr. Weiser of Oregon, +from which two thousand six hundred and eighty dollars were taken out +on the 20th, with two rockers. On the 21st, three thousand three +hundred and sixty dollars were taken out with the same machines.</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>The <i>Statesman</i> for December 13, 1861, contains the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>During the week past not less than two hundred and twenty-five pack +animals, heavily laden with provisions, have left this city for the +mines. A report in relation to a rich strike by Mr. Bridges of Oregon +City seems to come well authenticated. The first day he worked on his +claim (near Baboon Gulch) he took out fifty-seven ounces; the second +day he took out one hundred and fifty-seven ounces; the third day, two +hundred and fourteen ounces; and the fourth day, two hundred ounces in +two hours.</p></div> + +<p>As an ounce of gold was worth sixteen dollars, it will be seen that Mr. +Bridges of Oregon City had truly “struck it rich.”</p> + +<p>Within a year, a million and a half dollars in gold-dust had been taken +from those mines. Anticipated demands led cattlemen to rush still larger +numbers of stock into the upper Columbia Basin, and traders brought in yet +larger supplies of goods into Walla Walla and Lewiston, as well as the +mining camps themselves. A considerable part of these goods, we regret to +narrate, consisted of material for spirituous refreshments. That the said +refreshments were of a stalwart character may be inferred from a +reminiscence of a traveller to Walla Walla, who relates that upon going +into one of the numerous saloons, he found the floor covered with sawdust, +and upon asking for whiskey, he received with it a whisk-broom. Feeling +puzzled as to the intent of the latter, and not wishing to reveal his +ignorance, he waited till another man came in. Waiting for developments, +he found that the object of the broom was to sweep off a place on the +floor to have a fit on, for the whiskey was sure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> to produce one. After +having got through his fit, the happy (?) purchaser would return the broom +and go on his way.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img21.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">An Oregon Pioneer in his Cabin.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Just as miners, cowboys, and traders were plunging eagerly into every form +of enterprise, the famous “hard winter” of ’61 descended upon the country. +It was almost a Minnesota winter. There was snow on the ground from +December 1st to March 22d, something never known before or since in the +Columbia Basin. Cattle could find no food and perished by the thousands. +Miners were found frozen into the stiff crust. In the rude cabins, with +wide cracks into which the snow drifted, the few women and children in the +Inland Empire fought a distressing and frequently losing fight. Even in +the Willamette Valley where houses were more comfortable, supplies more +plentiful, and the weather less severe, the conditions were hard enough. +At Portland the price of hay was eighty dollars a ton. In Eastern Oregon +it could not be obtained for any price, and the maintenance of life by +cattle depended entirely on their endurance.</p> + +<p>But with the coming on of tardy spring, the rush up the River was resumed, +and the game went on. Seven millions in gold was reported in 1862, besides +almost as much, as was estimated, taken out in ways of which no record was +reported.</p> + +<p>At Florence in February, 1862, flour was a dollar a pound; butter, three +dollars; sugar, a dollar and a quarter; coffee, two dollars; boots, thirty +dollars a pair.</p> + +<p>The enormous profits, as well as enormous expense, of developing those +mines hastened the coming of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> farmer. Among the throng that passed +madly into the mountains for gold, and among the throng that drove the +wide-horned cattle over the bunch-grass hills, there were a few keen-eyed +observers who asked themselves if wheat and corn and potatoes and barley +and fruit-trees might not grow on those broad prairies, and especially +along the numerous watercourses descending from the Blue Mountains.</p> + +<p>A farm here and there at some favourable point beside some favouring +stream, followed in two or three years by a flour-mill, then a few apples +whose bright red cheeks and fragrant smell showed that the upper Columbia +lands could match those of the Willamette, then an experimental +wheat-field or barley-field on the high bunch-grass prairies,—and, almost +before people realised it, the farmer was standing up beside the miner and +the stockman, as tall and broad and important as either. The plough and +the hoe and the mowing-machine took their places beside the pick and +gold-pan and quirt and schapps and spurs as symbols of Columbia River +nobility.</p> + +<p>The “boomer” was the logical result of the development of mine and range +and farm and garden and orchard. If people were going to eat and travel +and raise wheat and cattle, they must inevitably buy and sell. And if they +were going to buy and sell, they must needs “boom.” The decade of the +eighties was the great age of the boom in real estate along the Columbia +and its tributaries. Then, as also upon Puget Sound, cities were founded +with most extravagant size and expectations—on paper. Farm lands changed +hands rapidly. If a man could raise nothing else on his land, he could at +least raise the price.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> That was the time when the boomer boomed, the +promoter promoted, and the sucker sucked. It was a great age, but alas, it +was followed by an awakening, similar to that which follows a night of +carousal, when the next day brings a dark-brown taste in the mouth and a +very heavy head. The decade of the nineties was dolorous along the River +and in the mines and forests and farms and town-lots and additions and +suburbs adjoining.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img22.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Old Portage Railroad at Cascades in 1860.</p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img23.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center"> A Log-boom Down the River for San Francisco.<br />Photo. by Woodfield.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Interlocked with the days of miner, cowboy, rancher, and boomer, was +another age of equal importance and one that was both result and cause of +the others. This was the age of the railroad builder.</p> + +<p>Transportation by the River was a great feature of traffic in the fifties +and sixties. But, during the second of those decades, the people of +Portland began to realise that the time had arrived for rails as well as +sails. The first great transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific and +Central Pacific, was in active process of building between California and +Omaha. A fever of railroad building spread to the Columbia River people. +Railroads were projected from Portland on both sides of the Willamette, up +the valley, with the view of ultimate connection with California. Surveys +were made by S. G. Elliott from Marysville, California, to Portland in +1863. It was October, 1870, when the first train reached Salem, the +capital of the State. The road was known as the Oregon Central Railroad, +and its manager and ultimately its chief owner was Ben Holladay, the most +famous railroad man of that period in Oregon. In 1871 and 1872, railroad +building was extended on the west side of the Willamette. The lines on +both sides<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> were reorganised under Mr. Holladay’s control as the Oregon +and California Railroad.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the air was full of discussion of a transcontinental line to the +Pacific Northwest. The conception of a Northern Pacific railroad was +nothing new. Away back in 1853, Governor I. I. Stevens and Captain George +B. McClellan had made a reconnaissance across the Rocky and Cascade +Mountains and over the great plains of the Columbia, for the purpose of +ascertaining a route for a northern line. They pronounced the route +feasible, but the time had not yet come for such an undertaking. In a +letter to McClellan of April 5, 1853, Governor Stevens states the route to +be from St. Paul to Puget Sound by the great bend of the Missouri River. +It is interesting to note that this is nearly the course afterwards +followed.</p> + +<p>Work on the Northern Pacific was begun in the vicinity of Kalama on the +Columbia in 1870. The financial panic of 1873 resulted in the failure of +Jay Cooke & Company, the backers of the enterprise, and for several years +railroad work was at a standstill.</p> + +<p>In 1879 there came to Oregon the greatest railroad builder of that era, +Henry Villard. He was a true financial genius, daring, far-seeing, +persistent, and self-reliant. With the quick grasp of a statesman, Mr. +Villard perceived that the Columbia River was the key to a boundless +opportunity. He saw that a central line up the Columbia with branches +north, east, and south-east, might be thrust like a wedge between the +Northern Pacific and the Union Pacific and control both. In pursuance of +this conception he made three rapid moves. The first was the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +incorporation of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The second was +the formation of the “blind pool” and the Oregon and Transcontinental +Company. The third was the acquisition of a controlling interest in the +Northern Pacific Railroad. The three years up to and including 1883 were +years of almost feverish activity along the River. The line of the Oregon +Railroad and Navigation Company between Wallula and Portland was pushed on +with tireless energy. Rock bluffs were split off by enormous charges of +dynamite, or were tunnelled through. The road was indeed built so hastily +and the curves were in some cases so extreme that much work had to be done +over at later times.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img24.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lumber Mill and Steamboat Landing at Golden, B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A part of Villard’s plan in pushing the work so hastily was to divert the +Northern Pacific system to the River, and make Portland rather than Puget +Sound the western terminus. The undertaking seemed to be crowned with +success. The connection was made. A gorgeous celebration, the greatest +ever held in the Columbia River country, commemorated, in October, 1883, +the completion of the transcontinental railroad to tide-water on the +Columbia River. But in the very hour of victory, the sceptre fell from +Villard’s hands. His downfall was as sudden and dramatic as his rise. By +clever jobbing of the market, the Wright interests regained possession of +the majority of the Northern Pacific stock, the transcontinental pool +broke, and at the very time that Mr. Villard was being worshipped at +Portland as the financial god of the North-west, he learned that his +gigantic enterprise had fallen into the hands of the enemy. But in spite +of defeat the work of Villard was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>assured, and his name and fame as the +champion railroad builder of the Columbia River was established.</p> + +<p>After the Wright interests had regained possession of the Northern +Pacific, that great system was pushed to Puget Sound. The Oregon Short +Line was carried to a connection with the Union Pacific system. Thus two +independent transcontinental lines reached the River. Yet later the +Southern Pacific system acquired control of the Oregon and California +Railroad, and, by joining the sections, connected the Columbia River with +the Golden Gate. Through connecting lines the Canadian Pacific Railroad +gained access to the Columbia River. There are, therefore, four distinct +transcontinental railroad systems into the valley of our River. Two more +are rapidly approaching completion. As a logical result, too, many local +and connecting lines have been built. The Astoria and Columbia River +Railroad, on the Oregon side of the River, joins Portland to Astoria and +Seaside and the other resorts of the ocean beach. The Oregon Railway and +Navigation Company has continuous connection on the south side of the +Columbia and Snake rivers to Riparia on the latter stream, and thence by a +road on the north side, owned jointly with the Northern Pacific, to +Lewiston, Idaho. The most remarkable of all these connecting and joint +roads is the Portland, Seattle, and Spokane Railroad, commonly called the +“North Bank Road.” This is supposed to be the joint property of the +Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads. It is one of the many +monuments in the West to the financial genius and tireless energy of James +J. Hill. It was completed in 1908, between Pasco and Portland, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>at +the first of the year following, from Pasco to Spokane. It is said to be +the most expensively and scientifically built road in the United States, +having curves and grades reduced to a minimum, being, in fact, a +continuous descent from near Spokane to tide-water. Its builders evidently +expect stupendous traffic, and every feature of the line is adjusted to +such expectation.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img25.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Typical Lumber Camp.<br />Photo. by Trueman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Any account of the great railroads joining the Inland Empire to the River +and thence to the seaboard would be incomplete without reference to the +pioneer of them all, the “Strap-iron” narrow-gauge from Walla Walla to +Wallula. This line was forced by the exigencies of the times, but it +commemorates the rare commercial foresight and ability of a man, who, in +native business genius, ranks with the foremost in the history of the +Columbia Valley. This man was Dr. D. S. Baker, a native of Illinois, an +immigrant to the Columbia in 1848, and a settler in Walla Walla in 1860. +Perceiving the vast latent resources of the Inland Empire, he invested in +land, founded a bank, became a partner in a store, and during much of the +time was also actively engaged in his profession of medicine.</p> + +<p>In 1863, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was running boats from +Portland to Lewiston, over four hundred miles, having short railroad +portages at the Cascades and The Dalles. That was the most active era of +the mines in Idaho. Rates from Portland to up-river points were as +follows: freight from Portland to Wallula, $50.00 per ton; to Lewiston, +$90.00; fare from Portland to Wallula, $18.00; to Lewiston, $28.00. (The +rates had been much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> higher a year or two earlier.) From Wallula to Walla +Walla, freight was hauled by prairie-schooners at from $10.00 to $12.00 a +ton, thirty miles. Needless to say, the company piled up a fortune.</p> + +<p>Dr. Baker saw the possibilities of the region and, almost unaided, with +every difficulty and discouragement, constructed a narrow gauge, with +wooden rails, on which strap-iron was fastened. An astonishing amount of +business was soon developed, steel rails were substituted, and the +business made a fortune for its builder. It was absorbed by the Oregon +Steam Navigation Company. But Dr. Baker’s strap-iron road may be +considered the true progenitor of the railroads of the upper Columbia.</p> + +<p>During these first years of the twentieth century, the shores of the River +have echoed with the sound of whistles on many a new road, but the +distinguishing mark has been the construction of electric roads. The lower +Willamette Valley, centring at Portland, has become fairly swarming with +electric roads. Spokane has become almost an equal centre of electric +lines, while Walla Walla is following close behind her larger sisters in +the procession. When lines already constructed from Spokane southward are +joined to a system projected from Walla Walla northward and westward, +there will be a complete system of independent electric lines from all +parts of Eastern Washington and North-eastern Oregon to steamboat +connections on the River, and thence to tide-water. The significance of +this as a commercial fact cannot be realised as yet.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img26.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Logging Railroad, near Astoria.<br />Photo. by Woodfield.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Present Age of Expansion and World Commerce</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Population and Productions of the Region on the River and its +Tributaries—Extent of its Navigability—Improvements Needed—Kinds of +Traffic—Local Traffic—Transcontinental Traffic—World +Traffic—Advantages of the River Route for these Kinds of Traffic—The +Bar—The Competition of Puget Sound—The Combination of River Route +and Sound Route.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">We</span> have traced the successive eras which have brought the land of the +Oregon from a wilderness to a group of powerful young American States, +abounding in resources and filled to the brim with hope and enthusiasm. We +have followed the River through its eras of canoe, bateau, flatboat, +sail-ship, and steamboat, and we have seen railroads built along its +banks. It remains only to cast a brief final glance at the River in its +present age, and to forecast something of what seems its sure future.</p> + +<p>It may be said that the population of those parts of Oregon, Washington, +Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, which are embraced in the watershed of the +Columbia, is probably nearly a million and a quarter. The population of +the area in British Columbia is scanty, but rapidly increasing.</p> + +<p>The productive capacity is very great. A rough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> estimate of production in +the valley of the Columbia for the year 1908 would probably give a grain +production of seventy million bushels, a lumber output of three billion +feet, a mineral output worth sixty million dollars, and a combined output +of pastoral, horticultural, fishing, and miscellaneous industries of fifty +millions of dollars.</p> + +<p>Such figures indicate that the Columbia River is already a factor in world +commerce. Yet its development is but begun. What is to be its part in the +world commerce of the future?</p> + +<p>Inspection of a map will show that the Columbia possesses the only +water-level route from the vast productive regions of the Inland Empire to +the seaboard. As has been shown in the course of this volume, the River is +navigable throughout the larger part of its course from Revelstoke in +British Columbia to the ocean. In that distance there is one canal, with +locks. That is at the Cascades, sixty-five miles from Portland. Before the +River can be continuously navigable it will be necessary that a canal be +constructed to overcome the obstructions at the Dalles, a few miles above +the city of that name, another at Priest Rapids, seventy miles above +Pasco, and still another at Kettle Falls. The Government is already +engaged in the first of these works. The second seems comparatively near +of accomplishment by reason of work done and projected by a powerful +irrigation company. Nothing has yet been done at Kettle Falls, but it +would be comparatively a light task to provide canal and locks at that +point. Besides these larger obstructions there are several rapids at +points between Kettle Falls and the Dalles which impede navigation at +certain stages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> of water. The Government has made surveys of these +sections of the River, and has announced that with comparatively small +outlay the rocks and reefs may be removed, the channels deepened and +straightened, and the River made navigable. One thing may be emphasised in +this connection, and this is that the Columbia River has mainly a rocky +bed, and hence work on the channels is permanent. It will not cut and +fill, nor pile up islands and bars as does the Missouri.</p> + +<p>In view of the capability of the River to carry great water traffic, and +in view of the fact that railroad traffic is seeking and will still more +seek the down-hill grade to the sea, it becomes a question of great +interest what the future commerce of the River will be.</p> + +<p>It is evident that there will be three kinds of traffic: local, +transcontinental, world-wide. Each is bound to be vast beyond the +calculations or even the imagination of the present. The local traffic is +sure to be immense, for it is estimated that there is a million acres of +land immediately contiguous to the River, irrigable and adapted to +intensive farming. Present experience shows that five or ten acres of such +land are sufficient to support a family. Many cities and towns are sure to +grow upon the banks of the River. Its banks will sometime become populated +like those of ancient Nile. Besides the immediate region of the River, +there are millions upon millions of acres of land more remote, the great +wheat fields and stock ranges and valley lands of tributary streams, and +these broad areas will seek the river route. Much of this immense local +traffic of the future will be conveyed by steamboats and barges.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>The second class of traffic will be the transcontinental. All the +railroads across the continent, except those down the Columbia, are +obliged to climb the Cascade Mountains, four thousand feet or more in +height. With difficulty two powerful locomotives pull a freight train of +forty cars up the grades, and at some points even a third is needed. But a +single locomotive will pull eighty cars on the level grades of the River +roads. In the even keener competition bound to come, this advantage of +grades and curves will be a factor of immense importance.</p> + +<p>The third class of future commerce is the world-wide. No western American +can contemplate the future of the world without being persuaded that the +Pacific Ocean and its shores will be the scene of the greatest problems of +the twentieth century. If this prove true, that world commerce of the +Pacific will seek that point of the American continent which most swiftly +and cheaply communicates with the eastern side of the continent and with +Europe. Granting that a large part of world commerce will pass through the +Panama Canal, there will still be, without question, an immense trade +between the Orient and such points in our own country as are so far from +the Atlantic seaboard that a transcontinental route is a necessity. +Moreover, even for our Atlantic seaboard and for Europe, there will be +large amounts of products, for the transit of which time will be a great +object. Hence we may be sure that there will be extensive world commerce +across the American continent. If so, where will it cross? Inspection of a +globe demonstrates that the Columbia River route is shortest, and, for +reasons already given, it is cheapest of all.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>Puget Sound is its only present competitor. But the water-grade through +the Cascade Mountains, along the banks of the Columbia, constitutes an +advantage beyond the reach of permanent competition. Here, however, the +critic comes in and claims that the Bar at the mouth of the River forbids +entrance of the largest ships. This in a measure is true, though the +difficulties of the Columbia Bar have been grossly exaggerated. There are +over twenty-five feet of water on the Bar at the lowest tide. The +flood-tide adds from six to twelve feet. In any ordinary weather, forty +feet of water is safe enough for any vessel. But if marine architecture is +going to keep pace with growing commerce, we may soon have ships drawing +forty or fifty feet of water. If so, the Bar may indeed seriously block +the heaviest commerce. Some observers have, therefore, believed that the +big freights of the future will enter the Straits of Fuca, go to some one +of the Puget Sound ports, thence pass by rail across the low tract of +country between the Sound and the Columbia River, and proceed thence by +the River route to the interior and eastward. This would combine the +advantages of the two great routes of the Pacific North-west, abundant +depth of water, low altitudes, and easy grades. This would, in truth, come +nearest to realising the dream of the old navigators, the Strait of Anian. +In any event, the future world will look to our River as the goal of +markets as well as of vision, and as a highway of nations both for +freights and for tourists.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PART_II" id="PART_II"></a>PART II<br /> +A Journey Down the River</h2> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.I" id="CHAPTER_2.I"></a>CHAPTER I</h3> +<p class="chapter">In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Extent of Navigation on the River—Attractions of a Canoe Journey—The +Canadian Pacific Railroad—Banff and Lake Louise—Summit of the +Rockies—The Continental Divide and its Western Descent—Field and the +Wapta River—Golden and the Upper Columbia—Peculiar Interlocking of +the Columbia and the Kootenai, and Professor Dawson’s Explanation of +this—Views of the Selkirks and the Rockies—Some Steamboat Men and +their Tales—Captain Armstrong’s Adventures on the Kootenai—The +Picture Rocks—Lake Windermere—The Location of the Old Thompson +Fort—Baptiste Morigeau and his Stories of Pioneer Days—The War +between the Shuswaps and the Okanogans—Down the River from +Golden—Rapids and Navigation—By the Canadian Pacific through the +Selkirks—Glacier and the Illecillewaet—Revelstoke and the River +again—Wise Management of the Canadian Government and the Railroad.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">A journey</span> upon the River may best begin with its source and end with the +ocean. It is about fourteen hundred miles by the windings of the stream +from its origin in the upper Columbia Lake to the Pacific. It descends +twenty-five hundred feet in that distance. It is therefore swift in many +places. Yet it would be possible to descend almost the entire length of +the River in a small boat. Nor can one imagine a more fascinating journey, +especially if he could conjure back the shades of the great <i>voyageurs</i> of +seventy years ago, as Monique and Charlefoux, famous in Dr. McLoughlin’s +time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> and listen to their gay song, mingling with the plash of oars:</p> + +<p class="poem">Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant,<br /> +En roulant, ma boule roulant.</p> + +<p>The way of approach for the Eastern tourist to a journey down the Columbia +is by the Canadian Pacific Railway, a magnificent road in a gallery of +masterpieces. Wonders begin before he reaches the western watershed. He +will see Banff, with its hot springs, its immense hotel, its Bow River and +Falls and Valley. He will see the gem of the Canadian Rockies, one of the +gems of the earth, Lake Louise. Imagine a glistening wall of purest white, +Mts. Lefroy and Victoria, with a vast glacier descending from them, great +bastions of variously tinted rock closing on either side as a frame of the +snowy picture, and in front a lake, small indeed, but of perfect form, a +mirror in which the snowy wall, the glacier, the rocky ramparts, find a +duplication as distinct as themselves.</p> + +<p>A few miles farther west, and the traveller will find himself at one of +the most significant of all places, the Continental Divide. Eastward the +water flows into the Bow, thence into the Saskatchewan, and ultimately +into the Atlantic. Westward the springs find their way to the branches of +the Wapta, thence to the Columbia and the Pacific. The long westward +ascent which we have followed all the way from Winnipeg ends at last. The +track becomes level. We are at the summit. Looking southward we can see +descending the steep slope, a clear mountain stream, which is parted into +two branches by a little wall of stone. One branch goes east to the +Atlantic, the other west to the Pacific.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>It must have been of some such place, though farther north, that Holmes +was imagining when he wrote:</p> + +<p class="poem">Yon stream, whose sources run<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Turned by a pebble’s edge,</span><br /> +Is Athabasca, rolling toward the sun,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Through the cleft mountain-ledge.</span><br /> +<br /> +The slender rill had strayed<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But for the slanting stone,</span><br /> +To evening’s ocean, with the tangled braid<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Of foam-flecked Oregon.</span></p> + +<p>At the parting of the streams, a pretty rustic framework has been erected, +bearing the words, “The Continental Divide.”</p> + +<p>We are now on the Columbia’s waters. We are also in the heart of the +Canadian Rockies, and in the midst of a perfect sea of mountains. It has +been said that British Columbia is “fifty or sixty Switzerlands rolled +into one.” Here are five distinct ridges, up and down, and through and +around which, the Columbia and its affluents chase each other in a dizzy +dance.</p> + +<p>The descent of the west side of the Divide is appallingly steep. From +Stephen to Field is a drop of one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven +feet in ten miles. In that distance are several places which reach two +hundred and thirty-six feet to the mile. Most explicit directions are +given to engineers in respect to handling trains on this grade. A speed of +only six miles an hour is allowed, and frequent stops and tests of +air-brakes and signals are required. By reason of the exceeding care, no +serious accident has ever occurred. In ascending three locomotives are +required for an ordinary train.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>There are several splendid resorts on the line of the Canadian railroad. +Banff and Lake Louise are the resorts on the east side of the Divide. The +first one west of that point is Field. There, as at all the other resorts, +the hotels are managed by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. They are +conducted with great skill and elegance, and may well be regarded as a +tribute to the business ability and artistic taste of the managers.</p> + +<p>As we descend the steep grade from Stephen to Field, we catch glimpses of +peak after peak, range after range, valley after valley, glacier after +glacier, purple, saffron, red, dazzling white, glistening greens and +blues. Mt. Stephen lifts its great wall over a mile of almost +perpendicular height, and nearly opposite is the spire of Mt. Burgess. +Mountain wonders and attractions of every sort lie in all directions from +Field. Perhaps the finest is Yoho Valley. There are the Takkakaw Falls, +twelve hundred feet high. There is the Wapta Glacier, itself a part of a +prodigious ice-field, known as Wahputekh, lying between the towering +heights of Mts. Gordon, Balfour, and Tralltinderne.</p> + +<p>Leaving Field, the road runs between two chains of mountains, the +Ottertail on the north and the Van Horne on the south. The former is bold +and spire-like in outline, with the snow-fields and ice pinnacles of Mt. +Goodwin closing the vista. The latter is less bold in contour, but has a +colouring of yellow rock-slopes in beautiful contrast with the rich purple +of the lower forests.</p> + +<p>Passing between those sublime mountain chains, we soon plunge into the +Wapta cañon, with its <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>perpendicular walls of rock rising hundreds of +feet on either side. The Wapta is more commonly known as the Kicking +Horse. It received that name in this wise. The Palliser exploring +expedition of 1858 had been seeking unsuccessfully a feasible route +through the Rockies. In the progress of the search, Sir James Hector, then +in charge of the party, pitched camp on the Wapta. While there a vicious +horse kicked him with such effect that he was left on the ground +apparently dead. The three Indians with him had, in fact, dug his grave. +But while they were conveying him to it, he suddenly came to himself. +Having recovered, he became curious to follow the stream where he had met +with the disaster. As a result he discovered the cañon and a short route +through the main chain. Upon the pass he bestowed the name of “Kicking +Horse,” and this has latterly been bestowed upon the river itself. The +river is one of the most remarkable of the tributaries of the upper +Columbia. It drains a cordon of glaciated peaks, from which it bears a +vast volume of water, foaming and frothing with frequent cataracts down +the steep descent, from fifty to a hundred feet to the mile.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img27.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Natural Bridge Kicking Horse or Wapta River, and Mt. Stephen, B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img28.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Sunrise on Columbia River, near Washougal.<br />(Copyright, 1902, by Kiser Photograph Co.)</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Forty-five miles west of the Divide we reach Golden on the Columbia. It is +indeed a thrilling moment to the traveller when he first sets eyes upon +these head-waters of the River of the West. Golden is a pleasant little +town, a hundred and fifty miles below the upper Columbia Lake and twelve +hundred and fifty by the windings of the River from its destination in the +Pacific.</p> + +<p>At Golden we must pause and make ready for our first journey on the River. +The greater part of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> tourist travel passes by Golden, not realising +that between that pretty town and the lakes lie some of the most charming +scenes in all the vast play-ground of British Columbia.</p> + +<p>We find at Golden several steamboats in command of captains who are very +princes of good fellows, as Captain Armstrong of the <i>Ptarmigan</i> and +Captain Blakeney of the <i>Isabel</i>, with whom we may journey from Golden to +Lake Windermere. Over the hundred miles between these two points the +Columbia is a slack-water stream, having a descent of but fifty feet in +the distance from the extreme head waters to Golden. Over considerable +part of this distance the River runs in bayous. These bayous or channels +wind their serpentine courses through low flats, flooded at high water, +and exposing fair expanses of vivid green at the subsidence of the waters.</p> + +<p>Professor Dawson, the eminent Canadian geologist, made a study of this +section of the River some years before his death, and as a result +expressed the opinion that the section of the Columbia above the mouth of +Blue River, some thirty miles below Golden, formerly united with the +Kootenai. But owing to some convulsion of nature, the surface was tilted +just sufficiently to turn the section of the stream from Columbia Lake +toward the north instead of the south, with the result that we have this +slack-water system of lagoons and lakes constituting this marvellously +picturesque division of the River. Now in confirmation of this theory of +Professor Dawson we have in the relations of the Columbia and Kootenai the +singular geographical phenomenon already referred to in an earlier +chapter. The Kootenai runs through “Canal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> Flats,” in which the upper +Columbia Lake is situated, and comes within a mile of that lake. It is +nine feet higher than the lake, but there is no high land there, and at +one time a canal joined the Kootenai with the lake. This canal was wrecked +in the great flood of 1894, but steamboats had run through it from the +Kootenai to the Columbia, and it would be entirely feasible to reconstruct +it. After having thus passed within a mile of each other and evidently +having once been actually connected, the two rivers part company. The +Columbia flows north and the Kootenai south. Each makes a vast bend. Again +they reverse directions, the Columbia flowing south and the Kootenai +north, and then come together many miles from their point of separation.</p> + +<p>Aside from the unique beauty of the lagoons and the grassy shores, the eye +of the traveller is delighted with the two mountain chains which confront +each other across those glassy channels throughout the entire stretch from +Golden to Windermere. On the east side is the main chain of the Rockies, +and on the west are the Selkirks.</p> + +<p>As we proceed on the deep, still stream, gliding from channel to channel, +we may find ourselves mightily entertained by the conversation of such a +navigator as Captain Armstrong or Captain Blakeney. For each can command a +fund of historical and descriptive matter of rare interest.</p> + +<p>Captain Armstrong was one of the earliest pilots on the Kootenai. In 1894 +he built the <i>North Star</i> at Jennings, Montana, ran her up the wild stream +to Canal Flats, thence through the canal to the Columbia lakes, and into +the River itself. A more exquisite<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> stretch of river navigation than that +through Columbia Lake, Lake Adela, and Lake Windermere, and from them into +the lagoons of the River, can scarcely be found or even imagined, and it +was the lot of the <i>North Star</i> to ply upon that route until her unhappy +destruction by fire in 1900.</p> + +<p>There is little danger of accident on the placid water of the uppermost +Columbia, but it is far different on the Kootenai. We heard many a tale of +steamboating adventure from these pilots.</p> + +<p>One of these so well illustrates those old-time conditions that we repeat +here its chief points. Captain Armstrong owned two steamers, the <i>Ruth</i> +and the <i>Gwendoline</i>. Both were engaged in transporting freight by way of +Jennings to Fort Steele and the various mining camps in that district. The +business was enormously profitable, for the boats received two and one +half cents a pound. At that particular time there were twenty-six cars on +the Great Northern Railway awaiting shipments.</p> + +<p>From his two steamers Captain Armstrong sometimes made two thousand +dollars a day in gross receipts. But though profitable, the business was +also correspondingly risky. The Jennings Cañon, above Bonner’s Ferry, is, +perhaps, the worst piece of water that has ever been navigated on the +Columbia or its tributaries. A strip of water, foaming-white, down-hill +almost as on a steep roof, hardly wider than the steamboat, savage-looking +rocks waiting to catch hold of any unwary craft that might venture +through,—so forbidding in fact was that route that Captain Armstrong +found no insurance agent that felt disposed to insure his boats and cargo. +At last he induced a San<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> Francisco agent to make the trip with him and +to offer a rate. After sitting in silence on the deck while the steamer +whirled down the Jennings Cañon, the agent stated that his rate would be +twenty-five per cent. of the cargo. The daring captain decided to take the +risk himself. He had made a number of trips with entire success and +immense profit. But just at the height of the season, when the twenty-six +cars were on the track and a sack full of gold was waiting for him, the +captain got into too much of a hurry. He was running the <i>Gwendoline</i>; one +of his best pilots, the <i>Ruth</i>. The <i>Ruth</i> was ahead. Both were making +their best possible time down the cañon to get a cargo. Captain Armstrong, +at the wheel of the <i>Gwendoline</i>, was whizzing down the cañon at a rate +which made stopping impossible, when to his dismay he saw the <i>Ruth</i> right +ahead of him in a narrow turn, lying across the channel, wedged in the +rocks. To stop was impossible. To select any comfortable landing-place was +equally so. The <i>Gwendoline</i> piled right on top of the <i>Ruth</i>. Both were +total wrecks, without a dollar of insurance. A two-thousand-dollar cargo +gone in five minutes, to say nothing of boats and business that could not +be replaced and a fortune within grasp that would never be so near again.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img29.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Windermere, Upper Columbia, where David Thompson’s Fort was Built in 1810.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But such were the risks of steamboating on the Kootenai.</p> + +<p>There are two historical notes of special interest to be made in +connection with the journey to Windermere. One of these is a prehistoric +drawing in some kind of red pigment on the smooth surface of a rock on the +upper Columbia Lake. It seems to represent a battle scene, and, though +rude, denotes some conception of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> picture art. The Indians think that it +was made prior to Indian times. Apparently it belongs to the same order of +pictures as the drawings on the rocks of Lake Chelan and other places in +the north-west, furnishing a worthy theme for the antiquarian.</p> + +<p>The other object of historical interest is the remains of the temporary +fort built by David Thompson of the North-west Fur Company in 1810. +Thompson crossed the Rockies in that year in order to descend the Columbia +and gain possession of its territory for his fur company. He was a brave, +intelligent, and enterprising man with considerable knowledge of +astronomy. But he waited one season too long. For, finding it late in the +year 1810 when he had reached the sources of the Columbia, he decided to +winter there and descend the River in the spring. He selected a beautiful +spot capable of defence on all sides on Lake Windermere and there built a +rude fort, the trench and mound of which still remain. In the spring of +1811 he went down the river (and this was the first party to traverse the +entire course of the Columbia) full of hope that he might take possession +for Great Britain and the North-westers, only to find that the Astor party +of Americans had preceded them by three months in effecting what might be +called permanent occupation.</p> + +<p>This was one of the important links in the history of the control of the +North-west. Doubt has been raised as to the authenticity of this +Windermere location, but there are certainly the remains of mound and +trench, and the tradition has it that here was the place of the Thompson +party of 1810, the first place located by white men on the upper Columbia.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img30.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Mt. Burgess and Emerald Lake, One of the Sources of the Wapta River. B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>An interesting character lives on the shore of Lake Windermere in the +person of Baptiste Morigeau. He is a man of sixty-six, the son of a French +father and Indian mother. The father, Francis Morigeau, was born at Quebec +in 1797, and came to the upper Columbia region as a free trapper in 1820. +He trapped up and down the Columbia for many years, selling his catches to +the Hudson’s Bay Company, usually at Fort Colville. Baptiste was born at +Windermere in 1842. Three years after that the father with his numerous +family went to Colville. He had a number of horses and cattle, a large +supply of valuable furs, ammunition, and traps. He located at Colville at +just the right time. For, having taken up a large body of the rich land in +that valley, he began raising hay and grain. His stock increased. He was +surrounded with every species of rude plenty, and just at the most +profitable time for him the gold discoveries began in 1854, followed the +next year by the great Indian war. The fat cattle, the horses, the grain, +hay, and vegetables of the Morigeaus were in great and immediate demand. +Money came in to them by the handful. Baptiste states that they took in +one hundred and fifty thousand dollars during the five years of Indian +wars and settlement. Their lives were often in peril, but with good +fortune, aided by their own connection with the natives, they escaped any +serious harm.</p> + +<p>On one occasion Indians were about to plunder them of their valuables and +take possession of the barn where several of the family were thrashing +grain with flails, when the oldest son, Aleck, suddenly turned his flail +upon the marauders. So vigorously<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> did he lay about him and so astonished +were the Indians at the novel assault that they gave way and retreated.</p> + +<p>Morigeau told us the interesting fact that there were practically no +Indians living in the Windermere district until about a century ago. At +that time some branches of the Shuswaps and of the Kootenais came in. +Their relations were usually very amicable, but between the Shuswaps and +the Okanogans was deadly and long-continued enmity. This was ended in a +curious and interesting manner by the following event. The Shuswaps had +captured the only daughter of the Okanogan chief. She was led with other +captives into the Shuswap camp. The boasting warriors were gloating over +the poor victim, and the squaws were discussing the greatest possible +indignities and tortures for her, when an aged, white-haired chief got the +attention of the crowd. He declared that his heart had been opened, and +that he now saw that torture and death ought to end. He proposed that +instead of shame and torture they should confer honour on the chieftain’s +child. He said: “I can hear the old chief and his squaw weeping all the +night for their lost daughter.” He then proposed that they adorn the +captive with flowers, put her in a procession, with all the chiefs loaded +with presents, and restore her to her father.</p> + +<p>The girl meanwhile, who did not understand a word of the language, was +awaiting torture or death. What was her astonishment to find herself +decorated with honour, and sent with the gift-laden chiefs toward her +father’s camp. On the next day the mourning chief of the Okanogans and his +wife, looking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> from their desolate lodge, saw a large procession +approaching, and they said: “They are coming to demand a ransom.”</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img31.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Bonnington Falls in Kootenai River, near Nelson.<br />Photo by Allan Lean.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As the procession drew nearer, one of their men said that it looked like a +woman adorned with flowers in the midst of the men with presents of robes +and necklaces. Then they cried out: “It is our child, and she is restored +to us.” So they met the procession with rejoicing and heard the speech of +the old Shuswap chief. And after that there was peace between the Shuswaps +and the Okanogans.</p> + +<p>Having returned from Lake Windermere to Golden by small boat,—one of the +most charming of all water trips,—we are prepared to make a new start +down the River.</p> + +<p>The River from Golden holds a general north-westerly course to its highest +northern point in latitude 52 degrees. There having received its northmost +tributary, Canoe River, a furious mountain stream, it makes a grand wheel +southward, forming what is known as the Big Bend. This section of the +River was navigated by the bateaux of the trappers and the canoes of the +Indians. There are, however, several bad rapids, of which Surprise Rapids, +Kimbasket Rapids, and Death Rapids, are the worst. These cannot be passed +by steamboats. The <i>voyageurs</i> seem to have run them sometimes, though +they ordinarily made portages. A Golden steamboat captain assures us that +none but fools ever ran Death Rapids,—and they were mostly drowned.</p> + +<p>The Canadian Pacific Railroad follows the Columbia from Golden to +Beavermouth, then turns up the Beaver to cross the Selkirk Mountains. The +Beaver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> is a magnificent mountain stream, and from the railroad, high on +the mountain side, the traveller can at many points look down hundreds of +feet upon the river. Though the Selkirks are not quite so high as the main +chain of the Rockies, they are even grander. The snowfall is materially +greater in the Selkirks, and the glaciers are vast in extent. It is said +that the snowfall at Glacier averages thirty-five feet during the winter, +and that it lies from four to eight feet deep from October to April. There +are thirty immense snowsheds on this section of the railroad.</p> + +<p>Glacier is the great resort in the Selkirks. This splendid resort has +attractions in some respects superior to those of Banff, Lake Louise, or +Field. It is in the very heart of the Selkirks. The Great Glacier is only +a mile and a half distant, a glacier which is said to cover an area of two +hundred square miles; more than all the glaciers of Switzerland combined. +From the watch tower at Glacier, this mass of ice, twisted and contorted, +with all the colours of the rainbow playing upon it, is one of those +visions of elemental force which only great mountains reveal. Like all the +glaciers of the Northern Hemisphere, this is receding at a rapid rate. A +record on the rock indicates the point to which the ice attained in July, +1887, and the ice is now over seven hundred feet distant from that point.</p> + +<p>The Asulkan Glacier is a more beautiful sight, as viewed from Abbott +rampart, than the Great Glacier. Every traveller should climb the trail to +Abbott in order to get that sight. And with it he will view the twin peaks +of Castor and Pollux yet farther south, while to the north the splendid +peaks of Cheops, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>Hermit, and Cougar dominate the majestic wilderness.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img32.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Bridge Creek, a Tributary of Lake Chelan, Wash.<br />Photo. by F. N. Kneeland, Northampton, Mass.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But the most striking single sight is the granite monolith of Sir Donald. +This is almost a counterpart of the Matterhorn of Switzerland, though not +so high. It rises in one huge block to a height of 10,808 feet. It has +been climbed, though this is one of the most daring and difficult of +climbs. From the dizzy spire there is visible a perfect map of peaks, +rivers, valleys, and lakes. It is said that a hundred and twenty glaciers +can be seen.</p> + +<p>From Sir Donald and the Great Glacier issues the Illecillewaet River, +well-named, for this means the “swift flowing.” From its source in the +Great Glacier to its entrance of the Columbia it descends thirty-five +hundred feet in forty-five miles. It is swift. One of the most interesting +places on this section of the road is the “Loops,” a place where the track +has to descend five hundred and twenty-two feet in seven miles. To +accomplish this, it has been carried in a “double S” around the bases of +Mts. Ross and Bonney. So close are the tracks that the two parts of the +loop a mile in length are not more than eighty feet apart, one being +almost perpendicularly above the other. Some miles farther down is the +Albert Cañon on the Illecillewaet. On this point the distinction has been +conferred of a complete pause of the train, while from it the passengers +hasten to a platform to gaze down the perpendicular walls three hundred +feet to the white torrent tearing its way through the rock.</p> + +<p>Soon Revelstoke is reached, and we are again on the navigable waters of +the Columbia. Every traveller, as he leaves the line of the Canadian +Pacific <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>Railroad, must pay his tribute of respect to the skill, energy, +and intelligence with which this superb road is conducted. It has been +said that English money supplied this road, Scotch energy built it, and +Irish keenness and adaptability run it. Sir Thomas Shaughnessey, the +manager, is certainly entitled to the respect and gratitude of thousands +of tourists.</p> + +<p>With the railroad, all tourists will associate the Canadian Park managers. +The Canadian Government is a singularly intelligent one. It has grasped +the possibilities in these vast and varied scenic charms, and has used +exceedingly good judgment in rendering them accessible to the travelling +public. This entire mountain area bordering the railroad, to an extent of +five thousand seven hundred and thirty-two square miles, has been set +apart as a park, in charge of the Department of the Interior. Superb roads +are constructed in available places, and improvements are continually in +progress about the springs and falls and lakes and other points of +interest. The Government, in fact, exercises entire control, but grants +concessions to the railroad company in the matter of hotels and other +conveniences.</p> + +<p>As we bid good-bye to the Canadian Rockies, we may say that perhaps the +world offers nowhere else such a sea of mountains, such knots and clusters +and cordons of elevations, as in this strange and sublime region where the +Columbia and its tributaries, the Kootenai, the Illecillewaet, the Wapta, +the Beaver, the Canoe, seem to be playing hide-and-seek with the Thompson +and the Fraser. There are not less than five distinct snowy ridges between +the head waters of the Saskatchewan and the Pacific Ocean. The existence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +of this immense watershed of snowy mountains accounts for the vast volume +of the Columbia. Although not half as long as the Mississippi, the +Columbia equals it in volume.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img33.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Kootenai Lake, from Proctor, B. C.<br />Photo. by Allan Lean.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Well joined, in truth, are the sublime River and the sublime mountains. +One cannot fully understand the River unless he has seen its cradle and +the cradle of its affluents beneath the shadows of the great peaks of +British Columbia.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.II" id="CHAPTER_2.II"></a>CHAPTER II</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Lakes from the Arrow Lakes to Chelan</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">The Lake Plateau—The Glacial Origin of the Lakes—Down the Arrow +Lakes from Revelstoke—The Fine Steamers—Characteristics of the +Scenery—By Rail from Robson to Nelson—Agricultural, Mineral, and +Lumbering Resources around Nelson—Kootenai Lake and its Charms—On +the River from Robson to Kettle Falls—Historic Features around Kettle +Falls—On Lakes Cœur d’Alene, Pend Oreille, and Kaniksu in Northern +Idaho—From Kettle Falls to Chelan—Appearance of Chelan River—First +View of the Lake—Delights of a Boat Ride up the Lake—Comparison of +Chelan with other Great Scenes—Storm on the Lake—Goat +Mountain—Views from Railroad Creek—The Red Drawings—Rainbow Falls +and Stehekin Cañon—The Wrecked Cabin and its Story—Railroad Creek +and North Star Park—Cloudy Pass and Glacier Peak.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> the progress of our journey down the River on the route of the old-time +fur brigades, we have passed over what may be considered the first two +stages of the stream. The first is the lagoon-like expanse of the section +from Canal Flats to Golden, one hundred and fifty miles. The second is the +more swift and turbulent part from Golden to Revelstoke, two hundred and +fifty miles. At the latter place we enter upon a third stage of the River, +the lake stage.</p> + +<p>The region of the lakes constitutes one of the most unique and delightful +of all parts of the River. Let the reader consult the map and he will find +an area of probably one hundred thousand square miles in British Columbia, +Washington, Idaho, and Montana filled with lakes. This lake region +constitutes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> a plateau, crossed indeed by mountains and somewhat rough in +surface, but of a uniform general elevation. It constitutes a sort of +debatable region between the two great slopes, one from the Rocky summits +to the lakes and the other from the lakes to tide-water. On those slopes +the white waters of cataract and rapid are found; on the plateau, the +deep, still lakes. A glance at the map reveals the fact that the larger of + +these lakes are long and narrow, and lie on north and south lines. A +journey on them reveals the fact that they are deep and clear and cold. +Join these facts with the additional one that they are surrounded by snowy +mountains, and you have no difficulty in deciding their origin. They are +glacial. At some time in the glacial ages, stupendous ploughshares of ice +descending from Rockies, Selkirks, Gold Range, Cascades, and Bitter Roots, +gouged out profound cañons in the rents already wrought by earthquakes, +and these became the lake beds.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img34.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lower Arrow Lake, B. C.<br />Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Each one of the branches of the River in this plateau region has one or +more of these expansions. On the Columbia itself are the Arrow Lakes. +Kootenai Lake is an enlargement of the River of the same name. Okanogan +Lake is likewise an expansion of its river. Christina Lake is the source +of Kettle River. The Slocan River derives its icy torrents from Slocan +Lake. Flathead, Kaniksu, and Pend Oreille lakes feed Clark’s Fork, now +more commonly known in its lower section as Pend Oreille River. Cœur +d’Alene Lake supplies the Spokane River. Chelan pours its cold flood into +the Columbia through a river of the same sweet sounding name. Wenatchee +Lake gives life to the Wenatchee River.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>We find at Revelstoke that the chief current of tourist travel follows the +main line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Nevertheless, there is a +rapidly increasing movement of travellers on the branch by steamboat over +the Arrow Lakes and the Kootenai to what is known as the Crow’s Nest line +from Spokane to Calgary, Winnipeg, and other points east.</p> + +<p>The Canadian Pacific line has excellent steamers, the <i>Rossland</i>, the +<i>Kootenai</i>, the <i>Kaslo</i>, the <i>Kuskanook</i>, and others of similar grade. The +journey on the <i>Rossland</i> or <i>Kootenai</i> down the Arrow Lakes from +Arrowhead to Robson is one to dream of, one to recall in waking hours, and +even, we almost suspect, in another life. The two lakes together +constitute one hundred and thirty miles of steamboating, and every mile +has its special charm. It was the peculiar joy of the <i>voyageurs</i>, after +having toiled over the snowy and wind-swept Athabasca Pass and buffeted +the foamy descent of Death Rapids, to reach the Arrow Lakes and lazily +paddle down their tranquil deeps. In fact, pleasant as is our journey on +the <i>Rossland</i>, we would rather reconstruct the bateaux of 1840 and in +them make the whole long journey to the sea, a thousand miles away.</p> + +<p>The traveller learns from the captain, if he can persuade that busy +personage to indulge in conversation, that the Arrow Lakes derived their +name from the fact that in early times great bundles of arrows could be +seen stuck in the clay banks or in the crevices of the rocks at the head +of the upper lake. The upper Arrow Lake has mountain banks rising +thousands of feet to the zone of eternal snow. The shores are usually +precipitous, though it is not uncommon to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> see smooth slopes furnishing +timbered margins to enchanting little bays. At various places along the +shores we see the beginnings of fruit and dairy ranches. It is only within +four or five years that anything has been done here in the way of +cultivation. The results thus far attained prove the wonderful +adaptability of soil and climate to choice fruits. And the +flowers,—Heaven bless them!—the sweetest and biggest and brightest of +roses, pinks, sweet peas, larkspurs,—every kind that grows, are seen in +profusion at almost every point where there has been any cultivation. By a +little conversation with people at the landings we learn that the +new-fledged ranches are very profitable. One tells us that he has made a +net profit of two dollars and twenty-five cents per crate on his +strawberries, or five hundred dollars an acre.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img35.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Bridal Veil Falls on Columbia River.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Perhaps the most attractive place on the Arrow Lakes is the point where +the upper lake narrows into the stretch of fifteen miles of river joining +the two lakes. The mountains on either hand, in great billows of forest +green and blue, rise ever upward till they break against the eternal +frost. The shores are clothed in dense forests, and on either hand bold +promontories enclose sheltered bays, the very beau ideals of camping +places.</p> + +<p>We find the lower Arrow Lake of a gentler type of scenery than the upper. +The mountains no longer bear snow-peaks and glaciers on their crests, and +there are no longer to be seen the stupendous rocky walls which in places +enclose the upper lake. But as a compensation for the loss of this +pre-eminent grandeur, the lower lake possesses a charm of colouring, both +of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> water and shore, a richness of mountain outline and tints, and a +certain serenity which may well make it an equal of its grander companion.</p> + +<p>At the lower end of the Arrow Lakes the steamer stops and transfers her +freight and passengers to the trains running from Robson to Nelson. This +is necessitated by the fact that the Kootenai River, which enters the +Columbia just below Robson, has a descent from Nelson of over two hundred +feet. The railroad follows the Kootenai, which almost rivals the Columbia +in magnitude. We pass the Bonnington Falls, the noblest waterfall on the +entire system of Columbia’s tributaries, with the exception of the Great +Shoshone of the Snake.</p> + +<p>Reaching Nelson, the metropolis of this entire lake country, we find a +bustling, active, well-built little city of seven thousand people. The +leading industries centring at Nelson are mining and lumbering. It has +been discovered very recently, however, that the soil and air and climate +are peculiarly adapted to choice berries and fruits. The shores of the +river and lake at this point are rugged and rocky, at first thought ill +adapted to horticulture. But it is well known that rough locations produce +choicer fruit. Between the boulders or nestling against the hillsides, the +peach and apple take on an added blush, absorb a more delicate nectar, +exhale a more exquisite perfume. We are told that during the season of +1908 there were twenty thousand crates of berries, mainly strawberries, +shipped from Nelson, at a price of two to three dollars per crate.</p> + +<p>In every direction from Nelson is mineral wealth of untold quantity. +Almost every mineral known,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, to say +nothing of every kind of fine building stone, including marble, besides +coal and iron, is found east, west, north, and south of Nelson. The town +itself was founded by reason of the Silver King mine, which can be seen +high up on the mountain side south of the place. The output of these mines +has been immense. In spite of the comparatively hard times, the output of +the three districts of the Kootenai, Rossland, and Boundary, was estimated +at $21,025,500 in 1907. One interesting fact connected with the mining +industry in the lake country is that at Nelson is located an electric zinc +smelter, the only one of the kind in the world. Zinc is found in +association with gold, silver, and copper, and, though valuable, is quite +an impediment to the mining of the gold and silver. This unique smelter +works by what is called the Snyder process, an electrical system, which, +if it accomplishes all that is hoped for, will open every mine on the +Kootenai.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img36.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Shoshone Falls, in Snake River, 212 Feet High.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>From Nelson we find the way open by fine steamers to all parts of the +Kootenai. This largest of all the lakes of the Columbia system, containing +141,120 acres of surface, bears a general resemblance to the Arrow Lakes, +clear, deep, cold, with lofty mountains on either side and vast stretches +of purple forests crowding to the very margin of the water. This lake +consists of three arms, northern, southern, and western. The Kootenai +River enters by the southern and leaves by the western.</p> + +<p>The northern part of the Kootenai region, especially around Kaslo, +possesses vast mineral wealth. A railroad proceeds from Kaslo to Sandon in +the heart of the mountains, and to Slocan Lake and thence to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> Nakusp on +the upper Arrow Lake. The scenery of Slocan Lake is even more wild and +rugged than that of the Kootenai. Both abound in fine trout. We saw a lake +trout at Nelson of a weight of twenty-two pounds. Ducks and geese and swan +are common on the water, limitless grouse and pheasants are found in the +woods, while deer, elk, and bear are common in the wild maze of mountains +and cañons;—a sportsman’s paradise.</p> + +<p>Tourists taking the route eastward go from Nelson on the elegant steamer +<i>Kuskanook</i> to Kootenai Landing and there take up again the railway route +by the Crow’s Nest. Such as desire to go to Spokane can leave the line at +Curzon and go southward to a connection with the Spokane International. +There is also a rail connection more directly between Nelson and Spokane +by the Spokane and Northern. This pursues more nearly the course of the +Columbia River, of which the traveller obtains delightful glimpses at +intervals. But for ourselves, we would rather go by rowboat from Robson +down the River over the historical route of the old <i>voyageurs</i>. No rail +route compares with the water.</p> + +<p>The River is a superb water-way from Robson, British Columbia, to Kettle +Falls, Washington, about ninety miles. In fact, the section of the River +from Death Rapids above Revelstoke to Kettle Falls, including the Arrow +Lakes, is the longest unbroken stretch of deep, still water on the entire +River, being about three hundred miles.</p> + +<p>Kettle Falls, too, is a historic spot. For here was Fort Colville of the +Americans and also the old Hudson’s Bay post. Here was the greatest +centring of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> the fur-trade on the upper River. Here were the strongest of +all the Catholic missions, and here were the most fertile fields and the +earliest cultivated of any on the upper River. Here is the Colville Indian +Reservation, and here for many years the wily and untamable old savage +Moses herded his bands of “cuitans,” watched the incoming whites with +jealous eye, and, as opportunity offered, made way with such wandering +prospectors or stockmen as he could find off their guard in rocky glen or +forest depth. (And none ever knew what became of them.) Here +Hallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) the great Nez Percé chief, commonly known as +Joseph, who waged the Wallowa War of 1877 to its bitter conclusion, +carried on the sad remnant of his days, and not far distant on the wild +Nespilem, he held his summer camp. In all directions around Colville and +Kettle Falls, up the Sans Poil and Kettle rivers, are opening mines and +farms, one of the most promising sections of all the promising State of +Washington.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img37.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho.<br />Photo by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img38.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Cœur d’Alene, Idaho.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Time forbids us to visit all the lakes in this wonderful lake section. But +we must see the most important. While at Spokane, we should not fail to +go, by trolley or train or auto or horseback, to the greatest of all +Spokane resorts, Cœur d’Alene Lake. Of its beauties and delights, and +of the “shadowy St. Joe River,” and of the canoeing and fishing and +hunting which may be found there galore, some of our pictures speak. And +of them any one who has ever been there will also speak in no uncertain +tone. It seems no whit short of the unpardonable sin to give no longer +space to that wonderland of lakes, Cœur d’Alene, Pend Oreille, and +Kaniksu, in Northern Idaho, each the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> centre of every conceivable scenic +attraction. In their near vicinity, too, lie the great mines of the +Cœur d’Alene district, the greatest silver lead mines in the world, +whose fabulous wealth (forty million dollars a year) has built many a +stone mansion at Spokane, or sent the prospectors of yesterday to the ends +of the earth for the pleasure or display of to-day. But the limits of this +chapter forbid description of these masterpieces. Though each lake has its +individual character, there is a general similarity. All have the +characteristics of their common glacial origin and mountainous +surroundings.</p> + +<p>We may therefore make one visit and give descriptions of the one great +inclusive scene or group of scenes which may be said to express the +beauty, the sublimity, the wonder of the lakes of the Columbia River. And +this one typical lake, the all-inclusive, is Chelan, “Beautiful Water.”</p> + +<p>True to our purpose of following the River from source to sea, we turn +back now from Spokane in order to go from Kettle Falls to Chelan by boat. +There are no regular steamboats running from Kettle Falls to Brewster at +the mouth of the Okanogan, but from the last named point to Wenatchee the +steamboat is the regular and indeed only means of public travel. +Throughout the entire course of two hundred miles from Kettle Falls to +Wenatchee the river is wild and swift. Yet steamers have traversed the +entire distance, and Government engineers are now engaged in surveys +looking to improvements such as will make steamboat traffic easy and +profitable. We pass numberless points of interest, but “Chelan, Chelan,” +“Beautiful Water, Beautiful Water,” is our goal.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img39.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">The “Shadowy St. Joe,” Idaho.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>We had thought that the Columbia was clear, but we did not then know what +clear water really was. When we reach the mouth of Chelan River we know. +We see a streak of blue cutting right across the impetuous downflow of the +River. As we push our way into it we discover that it is so clear as to +make little more obstruction to the view of rocks and fish below than does +the air itself. This transparent torrent is the outlet of the lake. It is +only four miles long and descends three hundred and eighty feet in that +distance. It furnishes one hundred and twenty-five thousand horse-power at +low water. The cañon, riven and tortured, through which it descends, is a +fitting approach to the lake, unique Chelan. For having traversed the four +miles, we find the lake outstretched before us.</p> + +<p>At this first view the lake has that look of a serene obliviousness to the +flight of passing centuries, that impressure of eternity, that belongs to +all great works of God or man. But majestic as is the view at the lower +end of the lake, we are not content to remain there. “<i>Neskika Klatawa +sahale</i>,” cry we with a single voice, which being interpreted is, “Let us +go up higher,” the motto, by the way, of our Mazama (Mountain-Climbers’) +Club of the Pacific North-west. In skiffs, well-laden with provisions and +ammunition, we set forth on our sixty-mile pull toward “where the spectral +glaciers shone.”</p> + +<p>Delightful, delightful, almost ecstatic in truth, this rocking on the +glassy swell; this bed of romantic spruce and pine boughs on the beach; +this star-lit sky which is our only roof; this murmur of cascades falling +from the bluffs; this trolling for five-pound trout;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> this disembarking on +some rocky point and climbing a granite pinnacle from which a perfect maze +of mountains, streams, and forests, lies extended below; this experience +of the deadly attack of “buck-ague” which paralyses our arms as some goat +or deer dashes by; and then the inexpressible delight with which we, +“stepping down by zigzag paths and juts of pointed rock, came on the +shining levels of the lake.” We do not wish to hurry our oars. We must +take time to look into the heavenly blue of the waters through the +foam-streaks left by our advancing prows. We must suspend the oar-dip +entirely at times while we gaze dizzied, with strained necks, up, up, +thousands of feet, toward “Death and Morning on the Silverhorns.” We must +study shore and water as we pass slowly by, finding therein ample +confirmation of the theory of glacial origin.</p> + +<p>This is one of the deepest cañons on earth. Not such another furrow has +Time wrought on the face of the Western Hemisphere, at least. At some +points the granite walls rise almost vertically six thousand feet from the +water’s edge. Here, too, soundings of seventeen hundred feet have been +necessary to touch bottom. Over a mile and a half of verticality! This +surpasses in depth Yosemite, Yellowstone, Columbia, or even Colorado +Cañon. As compared with those more familiar wonders, Chelan lacks the +incomparable symmetry and completeness of Yosemite; it has not such a +multitude of waterfalls and groups of “castled crags” as are seen within +the basaltic gates of the Columbia; it does not display that variety of +colouring, especially of the lighter and warmer hues, which astonishes the +beholder of the Colorado or the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>Yellowstone, and it has no especially +curious feature like the geysers of the last; but for immensity, for a +certain chaotic sublimity, for the rich and sombre grandeur of the purple +and garnet, dusky, and indigo-tinted shore views, Chelan surpasses any of +the others, while in its water views,—such colourings and such blendings, +light-green, ultramarine, lapis lazuli, violet, indigo, almost +black,—such light and shade, “sea of glass mingled with fire,” where +every cloud in the changing sky and all the untold majesty of the hills +find their perfect mirror, all hues and forms, a kaleidoscope of earth and +heaven, beyond imagination to conceive or pen to describe or brush to +portray,—in all this, Chelan is without a rival.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img40.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">On the Cœur d’ Alene River, Idaho.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As we round a shaggy promontory, there the snow-peaks stand in battle +array, azure, purple, amethystine, with lines and masses of glistening +white, flushed on their topmost pinnacles with rosy light from the +westering sun, solemn, solitary, very oracles of mountain revelation, so +grand, so beautiful, so true, looking as though they had been there +forever waiting for an interpreter,—before that scene we bow the head and +make involuntary obeisance, the homage of the true in man to the true in +nature, that is, the recognition of a common brotherhood in one divine +origin.</p> + +<p>Not of every scene on this lake of wonders can we speak. Yet every mile +brought its special revelation. Sometimes we found the lake in storms. As +we rowed in what seemed a summer calm, Winter from his throne eight +thousand feet above sent forth his cloud-legions, which, like the “thunder +birds” of Indian story, spread their wings and came down. The thunder +clash went echoing in long reverberations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> “from peak to peak, the +rattling crags among.” “If a squall ever strikes you, put for the first +crack in the bank that you see,” had been the parting injunction of the +lake sailors when we started on our cruise. We observed the warning and +made the best possible time to a cranny in the ill-omened “Windy Cape.” +And there we lay till morning, when the tumult fell as suddenly as it +rose, and lake and sky smiled as serenely at each other as ever.</p> + +<p>The chief point on the lake, for photographing, hunting, fishing, and +climbing, is Railroad Creek, fifty miles up the lake. Railroad Creek comes +from the “Roof of the World,” having its source in the very heart of a +great group of glaciers. It descends probably six thousand feet in +twenty-five miles. It is swift! The fury with which it hurls logs and even +boulders down its cataract bed is fairly appalling. The very earth quivers +beneath its flail-like strokes.</p> + +<p>Nowhere, perhaps, can one see more work done by rivers than here. The +entire course of one of these rivers can be traced from the lake. Rising +in a snow bank six thousand feet above, its route marked by a streak of +foam, sometimes falling in spray hundreds of feet, then hiding behind a +cliff, to burst forth in snow-white “chute,” augmented by similar streams +from lateral cañons, it plunges into the lake with a perfect delirium of +motion. So great is the erosion that were not the lake of enormous depth, +it would soon be filled with the jetsam and flotsam of the hills.</p> + +<p>The sunset effects looking up the lake from Railroad Creek are marvellous, +though, alas, the cool black and white of the photograph cannot preserve +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> wealth of colouring, “the illumination of all gems,” which for a few +transcendent moments fills the mighty cañon “bank-full” with such radiance +that one might think it the grand gathering place of all the rainbows of +earth. The light greens and blues of the shallower water shade into +deepest indigo toward the centre, reflecting the ever-changing hues of the +cañon walls, a deep, rich, and sombre purple on the shaded side, while on +the sun-lit side are poured forth upon the shaggy mountain slopes perfect +inundations of orange, carmine, and saffron. From these floods of glory +there falls into the lake a seeming rain of pearls and rubies, barred with +stripes of gold and crimson. But the sun drops lower and the splendour +fades, the conflagration of the sky is quenched, and it seems as though +ten thousand ships, “all decked with funeral scarfs from stem to stern,” +were putting out from the glooming western shores, strewing darkness as +they move,—and night is at hand.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img41.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Gorge of Chelan River, the Outlet of Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Like all travellers to Lake Chelan, we must make a journey to the head of +the lake, to the Stehekin River, and to Rainbow Falls. The view up the +cañon of the Stehekin is the crowning glory of this panorama of +sublimities. A forest of almost tropical luxuriance covers the morass +through which the impetuous river makes its way. On either side tower the +cañon walls, capped with snow. The background consists of glittering +pinnacles of some of the Glacier Range. Majesty, might, elemental force, +eternity,—such are the only words to express the emotions excited by this +scene.</p> + +<p>One curious thing to be seen at the mouth of the Stehekin, and at several +other places on the lake is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> series of rude drawings on the smooth, +white surface of the granite bluff, the work of some prehistoric artist, +unknown to the Indians, and of so ancient date that the lake is now twenty +feet below their level. The drawings are of men, goats, tents, and trees, +and are in strong red colours, of some very enduring nature. One is +ashamed to record that alleged human beings in the form of white tourists +have used these curious relics of bygone days as targets to shoot at from +their boats, and have ruined some of the finest. Also that some vandal has +desecrated the place by painting a glaring advertisement of his ferry +underneath.</p> + +<p>Although it may well seem to the tourist who has attained the head of Lake +Chelan that nature has reached her acme of grandeur, and that it would tax +his powers of belief to be informed that there is grander yet, we shall +run the risk of saying just that, and bid him join us on side journeys up +the mighty cañons of the Stehekin River and Railroad Creek. Lake Chelan +being, as already indicated, in the very heart of the Cascade Mountains, +and these mountains here attaining an average elevation of seven or eight +thousand feet, with dozens of peaks of ten thousand or more, and the +countless impetuous streams from those snowy heights having cut their way +deep down toward the lake level, it follows as a matter of course that the +entire Chelan region, for an area of probably ten thousand square miles, +is perfectly gridironed with cañons. Many of them have never been explored +or even entered. In them are myriads of lakes, waterfalls, parks, +glaciers, and, in fact, every species of mountain attraction. There is no +question that within<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> this vast cordon of mountains there are more +glaciers than in all the rest of the United States combined, and, with the +exception of the Sierras and the Canadian Rockies, there is certainly no +other region on this continent that can for a moment enter into +competition with it. Travellers have assured the author that the Alps in +no respect except historical association, surpass, and some say, do not +equal this crowning glory of our great North-west State.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img42.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Head of Lake Chelan—Looking up Stehekin Cañon.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Amid the bewildering profusion of great cañons radiating from the lake, +the two most accessible are those of the Stehekin River and Railroad +Creek. The former enters the head of the lake, after a course of probably +fifty miles from Skagit Pass. To ascend this cañon we must commit our +lives and fortunes to cayuse ponies and a mountain trail, which, though +good enough to the initiated, is a terror to the “tenderfoot.”</p> + +<p>Four miles up the Stehekin we reach Rainbow Falls, heralded by distant +gusts and eddies of mist, which at first seem to be from woods on fire. +But a dull roar, a harsh rumble, then a lighter splash,—and we see that +what at first had seemed smoke eddying out of the cañon wall is the mist +driven before the gusts created by the falling torrents. With a few more +hurried steps we find ourselves before a fall three hundred and fifty feet +high. Its clouds of spray swirl like a thunder-shower, drenching the rocks +and trees far around. Picking our way amid the pelting mist to the top of +a slippery hillock from which we can look right down into the very heart +of the fall, we see, swinging against the mist, a perfect rainbow, a +complete double circle, a blaze of lustre. The thrilling roar deepens as +we hang over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> slippery verge, and sounds like voices, trampling of +armies, clatter of innumerable hoofs, rattling of artillery, all the +grandeur and frenzy of conflict, seem to rise from that wild gorge. Now +the mist eddies forth and blurs the vision, and then falls back, and that +dazzling bow hangs there unmarred. The bridge of Iris or Heimdall, we +say,—but no; it is no more a bridge, it is a perfect circle, the symbol +of eternity. The symbol also of peace, for eternity is peace. That +mist-hung bow becomes to us an emblem of the harmony of all jarring sounds +and discordant forces. And so with that bow of peace swaying behind us, +and the deep thunder fading in musical diminuendo, we pass on to the next +wonder; and this is not far, for every mile brings its special revelation.</p> + +<p>Time forbids that we pause for more than one added scene on the Stehekin, +and this is the Horseshoe Basin, thirty miles up the river. This is in the +upper cañon. Imagine yourself perched upon a granite pinnacle, looking +possibly a little anxiously for bear in the thick copses at its bases, for +this is said to be the greatest bear region in the country, but soon +lifting your eyes to the heights on either side. Six thousand feet deep is +that stupendous gorge. On the south side you see the “castled crags,” +glacier-crested, while on the north, Horseshoe Basin stands revealed. A +long line of dark-red minarets, at whose foot stretches two miles of +glistening and twisted ice, then below that a great terrace, vivid green +with spring foliage, and over it falling a perfect symposium of +waterfalls, if we may be allowed such an expression. Twenty-one falls and +cataracts all in one view. They vary in descent from two hundred to two +thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> feet. Joining at the foot of the terrace in one foaming torrent +the waters of the Basin plunge in one fall of two hundred feet, thence +pass under a snow tunnel and down a rocky chute swept clean by the flood +to augment the already raging waters of the Stehekin. The Horseshoe Basin, +though not grander, not so sublimely terrible, in fact, as some other +scenes in the cañon, has that indescribable look of perfectness which +belongs to the immortal works of nature and art. It has a symmetry of form +and colour beyond any other in the entire region. The dark-red minarets +which form the outer escarpment, ten thousand feet above sea-level, form a +marvellous contrast and yet harmony with the green and blue and white of +the glacier and the snow-field, and this in turn is margined with the +deep-green and olive hues of the lower terrace, while joining and unifying +all is the flashing and opalescent splendour of the cataracts.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img43.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cascade Pass at Head of Stehekin River, Wash.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>At the mouth of the Horseshoe Creek, lodged on a little rocky island, is a +shattered cabin. We camp near this, and while we are engaged in preparing +an appetising meal of fish and venison, a grizzled prospector appears +coming down the trail. After the manner of the mountains, he makes himself +at home and camps with us for the night. In the course of his conversation +he narrates many stories of this wild region and of the prospecting and +hunting adventures that have happened in it. Finally he tells us the story +of the lost cabin, a story that certainly contains all the elements of a +romance. It appears that some years ago two young fellows from the East, +cousins, had come to the Stehekin to prospect. The old man who told us the +story was then the only prospector in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> the cañon, and he soon made friends +with the two adventurers. From broken pieces of conversation and finally +some confidences on the part of one of the boys, he learned something of +their story. They had been bosom friends all their lives, but had fallen +in love with the same girl. The poor girl, not knowing which she did like +best, told them that the only thing was for both to leave her for two +years, and at the end of the time she would decide in favour of the one +that had showed himself the braver and more successful man. Each kept his +destination a perfect secret, but to their astonishment, within a month +after, they found each other in Spokane. They concluded that it was the +appointment of fate, and so went together to the wild country of Chelan, +to seek a fortune.</p> + +<p>After they had been there a short time they found a mutual distrust +springing up, and finally, by the advice of the old man, they agreed to +separate. George was to stay below. He was the more sullen and selfish of +the two, and it was due to him that they had fallen out. Harry was of a +frank and generous nature, and when it became evident that they must part +he insisted that he should help build a cabin for George. And the cabin +that they built was the very one that we now saw lodged against the rocks. +Harry went up the cañon toward the Skagit Pass, and there in the lonely +grandeur of the glaciers he plied his pick and shovel.</p> + +<p>A few months later there came a mighty Chinook, the warm wind of the +Cascades, which strips the peaks of snow within a day, transforms the +creeks into raging torrents, and sends floods down every dry gulch. The +night after the wind began to blow the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> old miner came to George’s cabin, +and in the intense darkness of the cloudy night they listened to the +hurtling of the storm and the roar of the rapidly growing river. About +midnight there came suddenly a succession of rifle shots near at hand, and +in a few minutes a thunder and roar of water beyond anything that they had +heard. Rushing out they saw that the water was already surrounding the +cabin and they had to run in the darkness for their lives. Stumbling among +the rocks they reached at last land high enough for safety, while the +floods went tearing by. With the first light they looked out to see that +the cabin had gone adrift, but sadder to tell, they soon found Harry, +mangled, tortured, at the point of death, just strong enough to tell them +that from his situation he had seen that a fearful flood was coming and he +was trying to save George. But he had fallen in the darkness and crashed +upon the rocks, and even in his suffering he had fired his rifle as a +warning, hoping that it might be heard and save, and so it did. And the +faithful fellow died content. “We tell the tale as it was told us.” But +the poor old wreck of a cabin took on something of a new significance as +it leaned up against the rocks, while the restless river sobbed and +frothed about it.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img44.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Doubtful Lake, Cascade Range, Washington, near Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>There is great strife among the Chelan people as to which is the grander +section, the Stehekin or Railroad Creek. As a matter of fact, both are so +superlatively magnificent that whichever place one is in, that he thinks +the finer. But there is one feature of the case, and this is that the +grandest part of Railroad Creek is seldom visited. Few have ever been to +Glacier Lake, North Star Park, and Cloudy Pass,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> at the extreme head of +the creek, and these are the central features of the scenery. They are +about twenty-five miles from Lake Chelan, and the road and trail are +mainly good, so that the journey to the head of the creek and return can +be made very comfortably in four days.</p> + +<p>Neither words nor pictures are adequate to convey any true conception of +Glacier Lake and its surroundings. Imagine a park of four or five thousand +acres, set with grass and flowers, filled with ice-cold streams of water +clear as crystal, and dotted here and there with trees of the most +exquisite beauty. On every side except the one down which the creek +descends, stupendous, glacier-crowned, and pinnacled peaks penetrate the +blue-black sky at an elevation of ten or eleven thousand feet. At the +south side of the park lies Glacier Lake, a mile long and half as wide, +margined with vivid grass, brilliant flowers, and trees of the Alpine +type, clear as crystal, unless darkened by some sudden scud from the +heights. At the southern end of the lake is a bold bluff of five hundred +feet, over which fall the waters of Railroad Creek, a white band across +the darkness of the bluff. Above may be seen the source of this stream. It +issues from a smaller lake, which lies in the very end of a vast glacier, +a mass of ice two miles wide and about four miles long.</p> + +<p>Passing west of Glacier Lake through the enchanted North Star Park, a +veritable land of Beulah (at least when the sun is shining), we climb a +thousand or twelve hundred feet higher, and find ourselves at one of those +thrilling points in the mountains, a “divide.” We are on the crest of the +Cascade <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>Mountains. To the east the water flows to Lake Chelan, thence to +the Columbia, and thence to the Pacific by a journey of six hundred miles. +To the west the water descends through the Sauk and the Skagit to Puget +Sound, only a hundred and fifty miles away. This pass is almost always +wrapped in clouds, and it is fittingly known as Cloudy Pass. The masses of +warm vapour rising from the Pacific are hurled against the icy crowns of +Glacier Peak, Mt. Nixon, Mt. Le Conte, North Star Peak, Bonanza Peak, and +the rest of the wintry brotherhood, most not yet even named, and make of +them a genuine “<i>patriam nimborum</i>,” in Virgil’s phrase.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img45.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Horseshoe Basin through a Rock Gap, Stehekin Cañon.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>This is the breeding place of tempests. We had just reached the pass on +one occasion, with a smiling sky below, and were just getting our cameras +ready to catch the westward maze of peaks, when almost instantly there +began to wheel and whirl above us great cloud-masses, seemingly from +nowhere, formed right there, in fact, and before we had time to think, we +were wrapped in a furious blizzard. With difficulty, benumbed, drenched, +and exhausted, we managed to pick our way to camp, four miles below. This +was in the early part of August. To be caught in a Chelan snowstorm is a +serious matter at any time, and later in the year, may be all a man’s life +is worth.</p> + +<p>But the greatest sight, the crowning feature, of all this panorama of +sublimities is Glacier Peak seen from Cloudy Pass. This is pre-eminently +the storm-king, the “Cloud-Compeller” (<i>Nephelegereta</i>, in the sounding +word of Homer), and rarely can one catch an unobstructed view of its +glistening cone. After much watching and waiting we caught the base and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +part of the double crown of the mighty mass. Glacier Peak is the “Great +Unknown” among our Washington peaks. Every one has heard of Rainier, most +people know of Adams, St. Helens, Baker, and Stewart, but Glacier Peak, +alone in its solitary grandeur, not visible from the cities or routes of +travel, is little known even to the people of the State. As its name +denotes, it is the centre of a vast glacial system. To any tourist with a +taste for adventure, Glacier Peak affords the finest field, while it +offers an almost untouched mark for the scientist.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img46.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.III" id="CHAPTER_2.III"></a>CHAPTER III</h3> +<p class="chapter">In the Land of Wheat-field, Orchard, and Garden</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Increasing Population and Cultivation as we go South—Chelan and +Wenatchee Orchards—The Wheat-plains East of Wenatchee to +Spokane—Spokane, the Metropolis of the Inland Empire—The Falls and +their Power—Interesting Points in and around Spokane—The Palouse +Farming Country—Snake River and its Orchards—Vast Irrigating +Enterprises of the Upper Snake—Shoshone Falls—Walla Walla—Waiilatpu +and Whitman Monument—Whitman College—Pendleton and its Wheat-fields +and Historical Characters—Wallowa Lake—From Wenatchee to Priest +Rapids—Origin of Name of Priest Rapids—Irrigating Enterprises below +Priest Rapids—By Steamboat from Priest Rapids to Pasco—The Yakima +Valley, its Fruits and Towns—Pasco and Kennewick and the Meeting of +the Waters—Prospects of the Future for the Irrigable Country—From +Pasco to Celilo—The Umatilla Palisades—Umatilla Rapids—Tumwater +Falls—The Canal and Locks at Celilo—What Will be Accomplished by +them for the Inland Empire—The Dalles—Its Historic Interest—Its +Wool Business, its Horticultural and Agricultural Resources, its +Scenery.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Our</span> journey on the River thus far has been mainly in those sections where +scenery is the greatest product, and where the country, scantily +inhabited, has almost as primitive an appearance as when the gay songs of +the <i>voyageurs</i> raised the echoes against the rock-walls of the lakes, +while paddles and bateau-prows started correspondent ripples on the clear +surface.</p> + +<p>But as we proceed southward into the State of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> Washington, we find more +and more evidences of cultivation and inhabitancy. At the mouths of the +streams and on the frequent “benches” and islands, orchards and gardens +attest the enterprise and patience of the settlers. Around the lower end +of Lake Chelan the big red apple, luscious peaches, plethoric pears, huge +bunches of grapes, like the grapes of Eschol, make a picture of +fruitfulness and delight. When we reach Wenatchee on the Columbia,—a +river, a lake, and a town of the same name, meaning in the native tongue +the “butterfly,”—we find ourselves in the uppermost of those belts of +fruit land which have made the River so famous. As we stroll through these +model orchards and vines and berry patches and gardens, and see the +wonders wrought on the arid soil by the life-giving waters of the +Wenatchee, we are almost ready to join the throng that are continually +accepting the invitation to “be independent on ten acres of land and find +health, wealth, and happiness in Wenatchee.” In truth, these irrigated +lands are marvels of productiveness. The valley of the Wenatchee is small, +and not over twelve thousand acres are yet in productive bearing; but in +1907 not less than five hundred carloads of fruit and vegetables were +shipped.</p> + +<p>Like all the irrigated regions, Wenatchee is a place of pleasant homes, +good schools and social advantages, and all the accompaniments of the +finest type of genuine, whole-souled, ambitious Americanism. At Wenatchee +we are on the main line of the Great Northern Railroad, and by it we can +go west through the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound, or east to Spokane. +We must return again to Wenatchee in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> order to resume our journey down +the River, but we will first turn eastward and make a tour of the great +“Inland Empire” of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img47.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Harvest Outfit, Dayton, Wash.<br /><i>Sunset Magazine.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img48.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Combined Harvester, near Walla Walla.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>One must necessarily visit Spokane on a journey through the great wheat +country. Spokane, the metropolis and the pride of Eastern Washington, is a +wonder to the Eastern tourist. Such a city, over one hundred thousand +people, with costly brick and stone buildings, four, six, ten stories +high, impressive public buildings, schools, churches, hotels, hundred-foot +avenues well-paved, private dwellings of architectural excellence,—and +hardly a soul there thirty years ago!</p> + +<p>A grand spectacle the falls offered the eye in old Spokane, but now, alas, +so cribbed and cabined is the noble stream by the march of industrial and +electrical power that its wild energy is well-nigh gone except at the +highest water. The total fall in the Spokane River is one hundred and +forty-six feet, and the horse-power capacity at low water is forty +thousand, at high water over half a million.</p> + +<p>Many points of interest must be hastily passed. The author feels great +reluctance to omit a visit to the State College of Washington at Pullman, +and the University of Idaho at Moscow. There are also historic spots, as +one at Rosalia where a monument has recently been erected in commemoration +of the Steptoe defeat in 1858, and the site of the first church in Eastern +Washington on Walker’s Prairie, where Eells and Walker started a mission +for the Spokane Indians in 1838. There is also at the junction of the +Spokane and Little Spokane, the site of Spokane House, a post<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> of the +Hudson’s Bay Company, started in 1811. One might also well desire to visit +the location of the old Spokane Bridge, where Colonel Wright crushed +forever the pride and power of the Spokanes by killing eight hundred of +their choicest horses.</p> + +<p>On whatever side viewed, either past or present, or in the forecast of the +future, Spokane is worthy of careful study. Its extensive railroad system +and its network of electric lines reaching the many lakes, garden and +fruit tracts, and rapidly developing suburbs, are concentrating the +interests of a vast and wealthy region. But there are other cities to see +and other boomers to hear and other bright futures to forecast, and so we +turn our faces southward on the line of the O. R. & N. Railway, passing +through vale after vale between the swelling prairies, with wheat, wheat, +wheat, oats, oats, oats, hay, hay, hay, cattle, horses, hogs, apple trees, +and sugar beets, elegant farmhouses on the knolls and spacious barns in +the hollows,—the great Palouse farming country, one of the most +productive in the world. Whitman County has produced eight million bushels +of wheat in a season, besides vast quantities of other products.</p> + +<p>A hundred and forty miles from Spokane the great wheat plateau is broken +by the profound abyss of Snake River. Dark, turbid, sullen, not so +beautiful as the northern branches flowing out of the lakes, this largest +of all the tributaries of the River goes on its swift and treacherous +course to the union with the Columbia. Snake River is famous for its +orchards. Almota, Penewawa, Alpowa, Kelly’s Bar, Clarkston, Asotin, are +the most prominent among many points where the cherries, peaches, +nectarines, apricots, berries, grapes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> go out by the carload and +steamerload, earlier than anywhere else except on the banks of the +Columbia itself, to all parts of the West and even at times to Chicago and +New York. The region of these enormously productive fruit ranches is a +narrow ribbon of fertile land at the bottom of a cañon fifteen hundred +feet deep. Hot? Yes, hot! They say the mercury sometimes boils out of the +top of the thermometer. But heat and water and good soil make the rich +juice and bright cheeks of the peach and nectarine. Hundreds of miles up +Snake River in the wide expanses of Southern Idaho the waters are being +diverted for some of the largest irrigation enterprises on earth. There +the Twin Falls canal, one hundred feet wide and deep enough for a +steamboat, conveys the water to two hundred and eighty thousand acres of +land. The Minidoka canal covers almost as much. That part of the Snake +River Valley, three hundred miles long by fifty miles wide, will ere long +count its inhabitants by the million.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img49.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Inland Empire System’s Power Plant, near Spokane, 20,000 Horse-Power.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img50.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lower Spokane Falls.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>No one could consider that he had really seen Snake River unless he had +visited the Great Shoshone Falls, or “Pahchulaka.” This sublime +manifestation of nature’s power is about forty miles from the town of +Shoshone on the Oregon Short Line. The total descent is nearly three +hundred feet, of which eighty consists of cataracts and chutes broken by +rocky islands, while the entire stream unites in the one final plunge of +two hundred and twelve feet. It is ten hundred and fifty feet wide, and +the walls of basaltic rock rise perpendicularly a thousand feet. Niagara +is the only waterfall on the American continent that can be compared with +Shoshone. Niagara is much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> wider but not so high. Its banks are tame, +while those of Shoshone are wildly sublime.</p> + +<p>The spectres of history rise up at every stage of a journey along Snake +River. But we cannot pause. We pass on from the crossing of Snake River +and soon find ourselves approaching Walla Walla. This is the most historic +city of the Inland Empire and the oldest of the entire State of +Washington, with the exception of Vancouver. The pleasant-sounding name +signifies in the native tongue “Many Waters,” though more literally, as +the author has been told by an old Cayuse Indian, “Place where four creeks +meet.” The city of Walla Walla is thirty-two miles from the Columbia River +in the midst of a broad and fertile valley, through which dozens of clear +rivulets issuing from springs make their way through the birches and +cottonwoods. The warm climate, rich soil, and abundant water, with +multitudes of trees, give the “Garden City” an appearance of almost +tropical luxuriance. On all sides for many miles stretch the wheat-fields, +orchards, gardens, and alfalfa-fields. It is a land of plenty. It is +commonly said that Walla Walla has more automobiles, more bicycles, more +pianos, more flowers, and more pretty girls in proportion to population, +than any other town in the North-west.</p> + +<p>The special historic interest of Walla Walla is found in the fact that it +was the location of the Whitman Mission and that the Whitman massacre took +place at the Mission Station, Waiilatpu, six miles from the city. That +spot is now marked with a marble crypt in which the bones of the martyrs +rest, and a plain but imposing granite shaft stands upon the crest of the +hill just above.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img51.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cañon of the Stehekin, near Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>A more living monument to the missionary is found in Whitman College. This +institution, planned on the model of Amherst, Yale, and Williams, though +co-educational, was founded by Rev. Cushing Eells in 1859 as an academy. +It was not till 1883 that college work was undertaken. During that period +the self-denying missionary and his family supported the infant +institution by selling the products of their farm and devoting to it all +except what was absolutely necessary for their own support. During years +of slow, patient growth under very discouraging conditions, Whitman +College has made friends East and West, and within the last few years it +has become equipped with buildings and general facilities of high grade. +An effort is now in progress, apparently sure of fulfilment, to raise two +million dollars for buildings and general endowment. Walla Walla is +becoming peculiarly known as the educational centre and the home city of +the Inland Empire.</p> + +<p>From Walla Walla we take a flying trip through the continued wheat belt on +the Umatilla and its branches in Northern Oregon, a region similar to that +around Walla Walla, rich and fruitful. Of this part of Oregon, Pendleton +on the Umatilla is the metropolis. The Umatilla Indian Reservation, one of +the most important in the history of this country, adjoins it. One of the +most interesting persons in North-west history, now deceased, lived at +Pendleton many years, Dr. William C. McKay, the son of Thomas McKay, and +grandson of Alexander McKay, the last named being that one of the Astor +company who lost his life on the <i>Tonquin</i>. Dr. William McKay was a +three-quarter-blood Indian, but he was well educated and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> one of the most +interesting men in our history. Another noted man, still living in the +prime of life, is Major Lee Moorehouse, famous in earlier times as an +Indian fighter and agent, and more recently as one of the most successful +students and photographers of Indian life. Some of his pictures have +gained national fame, and the publishers of this volume are indebted to +his courtesy for their appearance here. Another interesting fact in +connection with Pendleton is that here the Pendleton Indian robes and +blankets are manufactured, and these have borne the name of their home +place to all parts of the United States and even the world.</p> + +<p>While in this part of Oregon we must take advantage of the opportunity to +visit Lake Wallowa, with its tragic and pathetic memories of Indian war +and early settlement and with its glorious scenery, almost equal to that +of Chelan. Right over the lake, deep-set in precipitous mountain walls, +towers the battlemented crest of Eagle Cap, which the people of Wallowa +now declare to be the highest mountain in Oregon, 12,000 feet in +elevation. Wallowa Lake is the veritable jewel of the Blue Mountains, a +chain which, while not in general equal to the Cascades for height, +grandeur, and variety, possesses in the Wallowa Basin a group of +attractions not surpassed in any part of the North-west.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img52.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Memorial Building, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>And now we must retrace our course after this long detour through the +productive land bordering the tributaries of the River or we can in +imagination fly on the wings of the south wind, which almost always blows +across the Inland Empire, and find ourselves again at Wenatchee in order +to resume our interrupted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> journey down the River. From Wenatchee to the +foot of Priest Rapids, about sixty miles, there is no regular steamboat +communication. We can, however, use the same means of transportation that +we have hitherto used so liberally, imagination, and upon that airy and +convenient ship we can descend the swift and tortuous stream. The fur +brigades used to trust themselves to the skill of their paddles and boldly +descend the rapids, seldom meeting with disaster. There are three +principal rapids in this section of the River, Rock Island, Cabinet, and +Priest. In the first the River is very narrow and split in sunder by +ragged pinnacles of basaltic rock. At first observation it looks a +reckless thing to push a boat out into the white water whirling through +these fantastic points of rock. Yet a bateau or canoe skilfully handled +will plunge like a race-horse down the foaming stretch, and emerge below +bow down with little water aboard and inmates intact. Steamboats have both +descended and ascended this rapid, though it is considered a somewhat +dangerous performance. Cabinet Rapids are less picturesque and interesting +than Rock Island, but they offer even more serious obstacles to +navigation, the channel being narrow and the water shallow. The river has +cut this part of its course through the great plateau, and its banks on +either side are rocky walls a thousand feet high, with occasional sandy +stretches, sad, barren, and monotonous. There is, in fact, not so much to +catch the eye or enlist the interest of the tourist (if he were here) in +this dismal expanse of rock and sand as there is either above or below. It +is practically uninhabited. But as we proceed upon our way the banks fall +away, wider expanses of land <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>appear, and we discover an occasional band +of cattle or a settler’s hut on the generally bare, brown prairie. We are +now approaching the longest rapid and the most serious impediment to +navigation in the whole course of the River from Kettle Falls to Tumwater +Falls. This is Priest Rapids. It is ten miles in length and represents a +descent in the River of seventy feet. It would certainly be impossible of +navigation by steamboats, were it not that the descent is distributed +quite uniformly over the ten miles and the River in general is quite +straight and with a fair depth of water throughout. The old <i>voyageurs</i> +had little difficulty in racing down, and they seem to have usually +ascended by <i>cordelling</i> their bateaux beside the rocks, and at some +especially difficult places by lightening the load and carrying around. +Steamers have both ascended and descended, but it is so slow and tedious +(on one occasion requiring a steamer three days to ascend the ten miles) +that it cannot be considered commercially navigable. It will doubtless +become necessary to construct a canal and locks at this point to render +the River continuously and profitably navigable.</p> + +<p>Alexander Ross, in his <i>Adventures on the Columbia</i>, tells us how Priest +Rapids came to be named. The first expedition of the Pacific Fur Company, +of which Ross was a member, was making its way from Astoria up the River +in 1811, and had reached the lower end of this fall. While reconnoitring +and making preparations for proceeding, a large body of Indians gathered, +watching operations with great interest. Among them was a fantastically +dressed individual, with many feathers on his head, who was going +through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> some kind of a performance which the explorers conceived to have +a religious significance. Considering him a priest, they named the rapids +thus.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img53.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Starting the Ploughs in the Wheat Land, Walla Walla, Wash.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The country around Priest Rapids is barren and unpromising in its natural +state, but just below the foot of the rapids is one of the most +interesting irrigation projects in the State. Along the west side of the +River for twenty-five miles extends a belt of the most fertile land. An +immense pumping plant run by electricity, which in turn is generated by +the current, has been put in at the foot of the rapids. By this the water +is conducted over the twenty thousand or more acres of land available, and +it is the expectation that within a few years a dense population will line +the river bank and repeat on a larger and finer scale the miracle of +redemption by water already performed at various points on the River and +its tributaries. Several town sites, of which the chief is Hanford, named +from the president of the company, have already been laid out, and +investments both in town property and orchard land are being rapidly made. +The same process of irrigating is becoming inaugurated at many points from +Hanford for a hundred and fifty miles down the River. It is plain to the +observer that it is but a question of time when the shores of the River in +this arid section will bloom and blossom like the rose, and repeat the +history of Old Nile in massing of population and creation of cities and +towns. It has been estimated that there are about a million acres of +irrigable land contiguous to the River between Chelan and The Dalles. +Since from five to twenty acres of irrigated land are ample to maintain a +family, and since cities and villages are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> bound to grow on such tracts +commensurate with their productive capacity, it seems probable that a +million people will sometime live on this long belt of fertile soil +redeemed by the River.</p> + +<p>The beauty of irrigation on the Columbia is that it can be made to pump +itself. For by taking advantage of such a fall as that of Priest Rapids (a +half million horse-power at ordinary water), electric power can be +generated by which limitless water can be raised sufficiently to cover any +desired amount of land. Some have expressed the opinion that this process +would exhaust the River, but this is hardly possible. For the great +demands are in June and July when the River is at its flood. It has been +estimated that at low water the Columbia at Celilo discharges 125,000 +cubic feet per second, and at extreme high water, 1,600,000 cubic feet per +second. Such a prodigious volume of water would be scarcely at all +affected by any possible withdrawals.</p> + +<p>The River from the foot of Priest Rapids is regularly navigated by several +steamers connecting the new lands and towns with Pasco, the railroad +centre seventy miles below. This section of the River is deep and +tranquil, a superb watercourse. Below Hanford the River receives the +Yakima River, which is the important agent in the irrigation of the great +Yakima Valley. No one could say that he knew the Columbia River or the +State of Washington without a visit to that valley, the largest in the +State and the scene of the most extensive development in irrigated lands +anywhere in the North-west. Three thousand carloads of fruit and +vegetables were shipped from the Yakima in 1907. Buyers of Yakima fruits +come from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> all parts of the East, from England, and even from France. +Fortunes have been made in that fair land,—a fair land when supplied with +water, but an arid waste without it. The United States Government has +acquired control of most of the water system of the Yakima, and by means +of storage basins in the mountain lakes where the Yakima and its branches +rise, will be able to supply water for over a million acres of land.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img54.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">On the Historic Walla Walla River.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The productive capacity of these fat lands when softened with an +irrigating ditch and tickled with a hoe or cultivator is almost beyond +belief. In 1907 an orchardist in what is known as Parker Bottom in the +Yakima Valley raised on fifty-eight pear trees a crop of pears which was +sold for over three thousand dollars. This statement is well attested, +extraordinary as it sounds. It should be understood that such production +does not represent an average yield. The trees were of large size and of +the choicest variety, while conditions of production, price, and sale were +of the best. Yet similar records may be found in Wenatchee, Hood River, +Walla Walla, and others of the fine fruit-producing regions of the +Columbia Valley. A man in the Touchet Valley near Dayton, who had been for +twenty years a teacher at an average salary of a thousand a year, became +discontented with his narrow conditions, and by making credit arrangements +for a rich body of land has devoted himself for some years to the +development of an apple orchard. He has a hundred acres of trees, young +and of choice varieties, from which in the year 1907 he sold thirty-four +thousand boxes of fruit for approximately fifty thousand dollars.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>But while we have been flying in imagination over the spacious valley of +the Yakima, our steamer has been speeding down the broad River, and we are +now within sight of a vast prairie stretching east and south, bounded on +the southern horizon by the azure wall, ridged with white, of the Blue +Mountains. To the east, this great plain melts into the sky. In fact it +extends to the Bitter Root Mountains, a distance of over two hundred +miles. On the west bank of the River we see a narrower plain bounded by a +steep treeless ridge. On either bank we see taking shape before us houses +and trees, while extended over the River, like threads of gossamer in the +distance, a bridge is outlined against the sky. We soon discover that we +are near Pasco on the east bank and Kennewick on the west bank of the +River. The bridge is that of the Northern Pacific and Spokane, Portland, +and Seattle Railroads. A mile below the bridge the Snake River joins its +greater brother.</p> + +<p>This point is the very hub of the Inland Empire. Here the two great rivers +unite. Here steamboating on a vast scale will take place in the near +future. As soon as the locks are placed in the River at Celilo, a hundred +and thirty miles below, steamers can move freely to the ocean. Here three +transcontinental railroads pass, two down the River and one to Puget +Sound. Another is in process of construction to Puget Sound. Here a body +of the richest soil, on both sides of both rivers, embracing at least a +hundred and fifty thousand acres, waits only for water to bloom and yield +as Wenatchee and Yakima have already done. Here the long, hot summer +insures the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> earliest production of any part of the North-west, and in +early production the profit is found.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img55.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Blalock Fruit Ranch of a Thousand Acres at Walla Walla, Wash.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>It is, in fact, obvious at a glance that here at the junction of the +Columbia and Snake Rivers, at the crossings of the great railroads, and at +the point of the greatest area of irrigable land in one body, with every +advantage of soil, climate, and transportation, there is bound to be in +the near future a large city. Already on the west side of the Columbia the +beautiful little town of Kennewick, of three thousand inhabitants, where +six years ago the jack-rabbits, coyotes, and sage-hens held sway, shows +what can be done with water. For at that point the first irrigating canal +was put through the waste, and the traveller can now see the results.</p> + +<p>Other irrigating enterprises are now in progress, and by the time the +readers of this volume come to descend the River in the splendid +steamboats which will sometime run through canals and locks the whole +length from Revelstoke to the ocean, there will be one of the most +splendid cities in the North-west at this meeting of the waters. Pasco is +likely to be the location of the big city. From Pasco there are steamers +running to Celilo, conveying wheat. The traveller who desires to know the +River from its surface should take passage on such a steamer. We see the +same characteristic features of the inauguration of irrigating enterprises +from point to point, but mainly the shores are still uninhabited and +barren, and the River, mainly untouched by sail or steamer, sweeps on its +swift course, as lonely as when Lewis and Clark first turned their canoe +prows westward.</p> + +<p>As we pass the desolate sand heaps near the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>disconsolate little old town +of Wallula, we can recall the old Hudson’s Bay fort, the Indian wars, the +struggle for possession, the missions, the incoming immigrants, all the +tragedy and striving which marked the century just closed. Below Wallula +the Umatilla highlands throw a barrier eight hundred feet high athwart the +course of the stream, and the bold escarpments of rock, palisades grander +than those of the Hudson, attest the energy with which the River fulfilled +his mission of cleaving the intercepting barrier in two. Below these +palisades, a vast plain extends many miles on the south to where the +purple line of the Blue Mountains cuts the horizon. On the margin of this +plain the little town of Irrigon (where is published a paper with the +alliterative title of the <i>Irrigon Irrigationist of Irrigon, Oregon</i>), +green and flowery in the wide aridity, shows us again what part water +plays in reclamation of land. Of similar interest is Blalock Island, +commemorating the name of Dr. N. G. Blalock of Walla Walla, whom the +North-west honours as the father of great enterprises.</p> + +<p>We pass several rapids on this section of the River, the chief of which +are the Umatilla, John Day, and Hell-gate. These are somewhat serious +impediments to navigation at low water. The Umatilla Rapid presents the +curious feature of a reef extending almost directly across the River with +the channel running parallel to it and at right angles to the course of +the stream. Hence when the water is so low that the reef cannot be passed +directly over, the steamer pilot must follow a channel running right +across the current, a current which tends to throw him broadside onto the +reef. The Government is at present engaged in blasting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> a channel +directly through this reef. The country becomes more rugged as we descend, +and at various points, if the sky be clear, we can see the great peaks of +the Cascades to the west. Passing through the wild water of Hell-gate, +where the steamer quivers as though great hands were reaching up from +below and shaking her, we soon find ourselves at Celilo.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img56.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Witch’s Head, near Old Wishram Village.<br />The Indian Superstition Is +that these Eyes will Follow Any Unfaithful Woman.<br />By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>This is the beginning of the greatest series of obstructions on the River +and the point where the Government is now constructing a canal, by means +of which the entire upper course of the River will be brought into +connection with the lower. In the distance of twelve miles the River falls +eighty-one feet at low water and sixty feet at high water. The Tumwater +Falls at the head of this series of obstructions has a descent of twenty +feet at low water, but at high water the volume of the River is so great +that it passes directly over the fall and a boat can shoot over the steep +slope. Here was one of the most famous places in early history. On the +north side was the Wishram village, noted in Irving’s <i>Astoria</i>. This, +too, was the greatest place for fishing on the upper River. Even now the +Indians gather in autumn in great numbers and can be seen spearing the +salmon. Several immense fish-wheels also can be seen upon the verge of the +falls.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable of all these obstructions is Five-Mile Rapids. This is +the place to which in the first place the French <i>voyageurs</i> applied the +name <i>Dalles</i>, meaning a trough through the flat plates of rock. It is +sometimes called the “Big Chute.”</p> + +<p>It is planned by the Government to overcome these obstructions by a canal +and locks. The expense is estimated at four and a half million dollars. +The <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>resulting advantages will be vast. The greater part of the Inland +Empire will be thrown open to steamer competition with the railroads. The +freight tariff at the present time is heavier than in any other part of +the United States. If the productive capacity of the region were not +extraordinary, it could not have developed as it has with such a handicap. +It is estimated that by the reduction of freight which will follow +steamboat navigation, the Inland Empire will save not less than two +million dollars annually. In the tremendous movement now sweeping over our +country to improve waterways, the Columbia will bear its part and receive +its improvement. It will be a great day for the storied and scenic River +of the West when some magnificent excursion steamer descends the thousand +miles from Revelstoke to the outer headlands. And with canals at Celilo, +Priest Rapids, and Kettle Falls, with some improvements at minor points, +at no immoderate expense, the thing can be done.</p> + +<p>And now we reach the city of The Dalles. The traveller will find this a +place hardly surpassed in historic interest by any other on the River. The +old trading posts, the United States fort, the missions, the Indian wars, +the early immigrations, the steamboat enterprises, all unite to give rare +value to this picturesque “capital of the sheep country.” For, aside from +historic interest, The Dalles surpasses any other point in the United +States as a wool shipping station. It is now becoming also the centre of a +farming and orchard country. For it is now understood that the rolling +hill land for many miles is adapted to wheat raising and to fruit of the +finest quality. If our visitors to the River should happen to be in The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +Dalles in autumn they would find at the Wasco County Horticultural Fair +one of the most attractive and appetising displays of fruit that the whole +country affords.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img57.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cabbage Rock, Four Miles North of The Dalles.<br />Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The scenery about The Dalles, with the majestic River, the great white +cones of Hood and Adams, and wide sweeps of rolling prairie and hollowed +hills, is noble and inspiring. It may be considered the gateway of the +open prairie to the east and the passage of the Cascade Mountains by the +River to the west.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.IV" id="CHAPTER_2.IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h3> +<p class="chapter">Where River and Mountain Meet, and the Traces of the Bridge of the Gods</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">The Most Unique Point yet on the River—River, Mountains, and +Tide—The Only Place where the Cascade Range is Cleft—Distant View of +Mt. Hood and Gradual Appearance of Lesser Heights—Limits of Region +where River and Mountain Meet—Geological Character of this +Region—Forces of Upheaval and Erosion and Volcano—We May Journey by +Rail, by Steamboat, Horseback, Waggon, or Afoot, but we Prefer a +Rowboat—Paha Cliffs—On the Track of Speelyei—Memaloose Island—Hood +River and White Salmon Valleys and their Fruit—Beginnings of the +Great Heights—The Sunken Forest—The Bridge of the Gods—Loowit, +Wiyeast, and Klickitat—Difference in Climate between the +East-of-the-Mountains and the West—Sheridan’s Old Blockhouse—Passing +the Locks—Petrified Trees—Fish-wheels—Castle Rock—Ascent of Castle +Rock—Story of Wehatpolitan—St. Peter’s Dome—Oneonta +Gorge—Multnomah Falls—Cape Horn—Getting out of the Mountains—Cape +Eternity and Rooster Rock—This Section of the Journey +Ended—Comparison of the River with Other Great Scenes.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">In</span> the long journey down our River we have had a panoramic view of +towering mountains and broad plains, foaming cataracts and tranquil lakes, +fruitful valleys and volcanic desolations, growing cities and lonely +wastes. All illustrate that infinite variety of the River which imparts +its unrivalled charm.</p> + +<p>But now we are approaching a point which is unique even in the midst of +the unique, varied in never-ending variety, sublime even in almost +continuous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> sublimity, singular even upon our most singular River. This +place is where the mountains and the River meet. By mountains we mean the +great chain of the Cascades, which under various names parallels the +Pacific Coast all the way from Alaska to Southern California. But not only +do mountains and River meet here, but the ocean sends his greetings, for +at the lower end of the rapids which here mark the gateway of the +mountains, the first pulse-beat of the Pacific, the first throb of the +tide, is discernible, though it is a hundred and sixty miles farther to +where the River is lost in that greatest of the oceans. River, Mountains, +Ocean,—a very symposium of sublimities.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img58.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Eagle Rock, just above Shoshone Falls in Snake River.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>There is, too, another especially interesting feature of this spot, and +that is, it is the only place for twelve hundred miles where the +Cascade-Sierra Range is cleft asunder. In fact it is the only place in the +entire extent of the range where it is cut squarely across. This fact +imparts not only scenic interest, but commercial value. It is the only +water-level route from the seacoast to the Inland Empire.</p> + +<p>The place where River and mountains meet had been heralded to us long +before we reached it. For as we passed the plains of the Umatilla we got +an intimation of the mountain majesty which we were approaching. +Clear-limned against the south-western horizon, a glistening cone, +cold-white in the earliest morning, rosy-red with the rising dawn, and +warm with the yellow halo of noon, fixes our eyes and bids us realise that +from the far vision of a hundred miles we can see and worship at the +shrine of Oregon’s noblest and most historic peak, Mt. Hood. As we speed +on down the current we begin to see long lines<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> of lesser peaks rising to +the westward. The prairies of the Umatilla have been succeeded by +picturesque bare hills, and these by ragged palisades of columnar basalt, +with higher hills yet, crowned with gnarled oak-trees. Of the wheat-fields +and orchards and sheep ranges centring at The Dalles, we have already +spoken, and we have paused at Celilo and gazed on the historic “Timm,” or +the Tumwater Falls, and the “Big Chute,” observing especially the +Government canal and locks now started, from whose completion such vast +commercial possibilities are plainly foreshadowed. Our present quest is +therefore yet farther on, to the gateway of the mountains. This is found +at the “Cascade Locks,” fifty miles below Dalles City. The section of +river which we have styled “Where River and Mountain Meet” may be +considered as extending from the mouth of the Klickitat River, a few miles +west of Dalles City, to Rooster Rock, about thirty miles east of +Vancouver. The distance between these points is about fifty miles, and +through this space we may see all the evidences of a titanic struggle +between the master forces of fire and water and upheaval. As we descend +the majestic stream with the majestic banks on either hand and mark the +apparent ancient water-marks hundreds of feet above our heads, we recall +the Indian myth of Wishpoosh in an earlier chapter. The opinion of +geologists in regard to this extraordinary passageway of the River is that +it represents ages of gradual elevation of the mountain chain and a +cotemporary erosion by the River, so that as the heights became higher, +the river bed became deeper. The one-time shore slowly mounted skyward, +and as the new upheavals rose from the ocean deeps the lines of erosion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> +were in turn wrought on them, and river shore succeeded river shore +through long ages. With these fundamental forces of upheaval and erosion +there were eras of local seismic and volcanic activity, more cataclysmic +in nature, from which there came the magnificent pillars of columnar +basalt and the first trenching of the profound chasms which subsequent +lateral streams carved through the rising base of the great range.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img59.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Stehekin Cañon, 5000 Feet Deep.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>To view this great picture gallery of history and physiography, we may +have the choice of nearly every method of travel, horseback, afoot, by +team (though the waggon roads are not continuous), or by train, on either +bank. The river himself offers his broad back for any kind of craft. +Several swift and elegant steamers make daily trips between Portland and +The Dalles, passing through the Government canal and lock at the Cascades. +Launches, scows, sailing craft of almost every kind, are in constant +movement, loaded with every sort of commodity. Of all the means of +transit, however, we will, if you please, float down the stately stream in +our well-tried skiff. Independent as the Coyote god Speelyei when he used +to pass up and down the river, transforming presumptuous beasts or mortals +into rock at will, we will drift with the current, partaking of the very +life of the rich and multifarious nature about us. We can pause as we wish +on jutting crag or fir-crowned promontory or at the foot of spouting +cataract. We can camp for the night beneath some wide-spreading pine, and +breathe the balsamic fragrance of the “continuous woods.” We can trace the +historic stages of bateaux or canoes or immigrant flatboats, and open and +shut the camera at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> will amid the open volumes of our heroic age of +discovery and settlement, or the yet vaster and grander epoch of Nature’s +creative day. No palace car or even floating palace of steamer for us when +we can have two or three days of such unalloyed bliss in an open skiff +moving at our own sweet will.</p> + +<p>We shall find here a marked change in the movement of the river as +compared with its prevailing character in the five hundred miles from the +British line to The Dalles. The impetuous might above has become +transformed into a slow and stately majesty. With the exception of the +five miles at the Cascades round which the canal passes, the river below +The Dalles is deep and calm, seldom less than a mile in width.</p> + +<p>Of the almost numberless objects at which we level eye and camera, we can +here describe but few.</p> + +<p>A fitting introduction to this stage of our journey is found in Paha +Cliffs at the mouth of the Klickitat, a perpendicular bastion of lava +rock, not remarkable for height, but of such regularity and symmetry as to +seem the work of men’s hands. A short distance below the Paha Cliffs, also +on the Washington side of the river, is a most singular semicircular wall +of gigantic area, surrounding on the west what seems to be an immense +sunken enclosure. The Indians have a story to the effect that once +Speelyei, being on his way up the river before this wall existed, paused +here to perform some unworthy deed (for Speelyei was a curious mixture of +the noble and the base). Having done the deed, he began to fear that it +would become known. So he hurriedly built a wall to keep in the report. +But while he was engaged in building on the west, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>report got out on +the east. The wall that we now see is the remains of his building. Of a +similar order of Indian fancy is the “Baby-on-the-Board” and the “Coyote +Head” farther down the river, also on the north side. The Coyote Head is +near White Salmon. It commemorates the transformation of a presumptuous +Klickitat chief who wished to proclaim himself equal to Speelyei, so he +crowned himself with a coyote skin and took his station on the great rock +wall above the mouth of the White Salmon. And there he remains still, for +Speelyei with a wave of the hand transformed the offending chieftain into +rock.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img60.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Steamer <i>Dalles City</i> Descending the Cascades of the Columbia.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A few miles below the mouth of the Klickitat, there stands in mid-channel +one of the most curious and interesting objects on the river, “Memaloose +Island.” This desolate islet of basalt was one of the most noted of the +frequent “death” or burial places of the Indians. They were accustomed to +build platforms and place the dead upon them. Apparently this island was +used for its gruesome purpose for centuries. A large white marble monument +facing the south attracts the attention of all travellers, and as we pass +we see that it is sacred to the memory of Vic Trevett. He was a prominent +pioneer of The Dalles, and in the course of his various experiences became +a special friend of the Indians, who looked upon him with such love and +reverence that when his end approached he gave directions that his +permanent burial-place and monument should be on the place sacred to his +aboriginal friends.</p> + +<p>We have spoken of the region between the mouth of the Klickitat and +Rooster Rock as the mountain section of the river. But as we move on down +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> stream we discover that there are numerous nooks and glens adjoining +it which are the choicest locations for fruit and garden ranches. At a +point just about midway from The Dalles to the Cascades there is a +remarkable break in the otherwise unbroken and constantly rising mountain +walls. This break constitutes one of the most charming residence regions +on the Columbia shores, and at the same time the avenue of approach to the +most magnificent of mountains. There are here two great valleys. One of +these is that of Hood River, better called by its musical Indian name +Waukoma, “The Place of Cottonwoods.” It proceeds directly from the foot of +Mt. Hood, twenty-five miles distant to the south. The valley on the north +bears a similar relation to Mt. Adams, forty miles distant, and is drained +by the White Salmon River. From favourable points on the River, or from +the heights which border it, we obtain views of the two peaks which create +an unappeasable longing to tread their crags and snow-fields. Though truly +mountain valleys, these two valleys are of spacious extent. They are +moreover so richly provided with sun and water and all the ingredients of +soil necessary to produce the choicest fruit that they have become the +very paradise of the orchardist. The Hood River apples grace the tables of +royalty in the old world and delight the palates of epicures in both +hemispheres, while to the eyes and the nostrils of any one of delicate +sensibilities their colour and fragrance impart a still more æsthetic +charm.</p> + +<p>As we pass on down the river from those two vales of beauty and plenty, we +begin to see the first of those lofty crags on either hand, the basaltic +pinnacles, turretted, spired, castellated, which make the distinguishing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> +feature of Columbia River scenery for these fifty miles. Mitchell’s Point, +Shell Mountain, Wind Mountain, Bald Mountain, and Mt. Defiance are the +first group. The lowest of the group attains an elevation of nearly two +thousand feet, almost perpendicular, while at the summit of the crags rise +a thousand feet higher yet long grassy slopes alternating with splendid +forests.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img61.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Memaloose Island, Columbia River.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As we near the Cascades we note another curious phenomenon. This is the +sunken forest on either side. At low water these old tree trunks become +very observable, and their general appearance suggests at once that they +are the remains of a former forest submerged by a permanent rise in the +river. This explanation is confirmed by the fact that from The Dalles to +the Cascades the river is very deep and sluggish. When we reach the +Cascades a third fact is revealed and that is that at the chief cataract +the river bank is continually sliding into the river. Trees are thrown +down by this slow sliding process, railroad tracks require frequent +adjustment, and on clear, still nights there is sometimes heard a grinding +sound, while a tremor from the subterranean regions seems to indicate that +the upper stratum is sliding over the lower toward the river. In fact, the +mighty force of the stream is all the time eating into the bank and +gradually drawing it down.</p> + +<p>From those and other indications the conclusion has been drawn that some +prodigious avalanche of rock at a not long distant time dammed the river +at this point, creating the present Cascades and raising the water above +so as to submerge the forest, whose remains now attract the attention of +the observer at the low stage of water.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>To confirm this theory we have the Indian story of the “tomanowas bridge,” +the quaintest and most interesting of the long list of native myths.</p> + +<p>The region around the old site of the “Bridge of the Gods” may be +considered as the dividing line between the Inland Empire and the Coast +Region. Above, it is dry, sunny, breezy, and electrical, the land of +wheat-field and sheep ranges, cow-boys and horses and mining camps. Below, +it is cool, cloudy, still, and soft, the region of the clover and the +dairy, the salmon cannery, the logging camp, and boats of every sort. +Above, the rocks look dry and hard, and glitter in the sun. Below, the +rocks are draped in moss, and from every cañon and ledge there seems to +issue a foaming torrent. It is, in truth, the meeting place of mountain +and River.</p> + +<p>On all sides around the Cascades there are objects of natural and historic +interest. Stupendous crags, often streaked with snow, lose themselves in +the scud of the ocean which is almost constantly flying eastward to be +absorbed in the more fervid sunshine of up-river. Perhaps the most +impressive of these vast heights is Table Mountain, on the north side of +the River, near the locks, said to have been one of the supports of the +“Bridge of the Gods.” Its colours of saffron and crimson add to the +splendour and grandeur of its appearance. Just below the locks on the +north side stood the old blockhouse built by a young lieutenant in 1856 as +a defence against the Klickitat Indians. The blockhouse is now in ruins, +but the name of its builder has been fairly well preserved, for it +is—Phil Sheridan.</p> + +<p>The total extent of the cataract at the Cascades is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> five miles and the +descent is about forty-five feet, of which half is at the upper end at the +point passed by the locks. We enter the locks in the wake of one of the +steamers, and in a few minutes find our craft emerging from the lower end +of the massive structure into the white water which bears us swiftly down +the remaining part of the Cascades. It looks dangerous to commit an open +boat to that sweeping current, but as a matter of fact the course of the +river is straight and deep, though swift, and it is entirely feasible for +any one of reasonable skill to manage a small boat in the passageway to +the tranquil expanses below.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img62.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Horseshoe Basin, near Lake Chelan, Wash.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As we speed swiftly down the river, we note the little station of +Bonneville, named for the historic fur-trader whom the fascinating pages +of Irving have brought down to this era. A short distance below Bonneville +our eyes catch sight of a white sign-board bearing the words, “Petrified +Tree.” Sure enough, there is the tree, and a marvellously fine specimen of +silicification it is, too. When the railroad was built along the river +bank at this point, the graders ran into a perfect forest of petrified +wood. The logs and limbs were piled up by the cord near Bonneville, but +the larger part has been taken in various directions for cabinets and +ornaments.</p> + +<p>But a short time is needed to fly down the Cascades, and at their lower +end we reach what may be called the Lower River. For here a slight rise +and fall of tide betokens the presence of the ocean. No more rapids on the +River, but a tranquil, majestic flood, broadening like a sea toward its +final destination, a hundred and sixty miles away.</p> + +<p>If we were to describe in detail all the marvels of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> beauty and grandeur +and physical interest which engage our attention at every stage of the +journey, our volume would end with this chapter, for there would be no +room for anything more. One class of objects of curious interest to almost +all travellers, though of no special charm to scientist or nature lover, +is the fish-wheels at the Cascades. These are very ingenious contrivances +set in the midst of a swift place in the stream and made to revolve by the +current. As they revolve, the huge vans dipping the water scoop up almost +incredible numbers of the salmon which have made the Columbia famous the +world over. A weir is built to turn the fish from the outside course into +the channel of the wheel, with the result that numbers are taken almost +beyond belief, sometimes as high as eight tons a day by a single wheel. +Another picturesque sight, both at the Celilo Falls and the Cascades, is +the Indian fishermen perched upon the rocks and with spear and dip-net +seeking to fill their larder with the noble salmon.</p> + +<p>But now to contemplate the works of God and Nature rather than those of +man. We must, as already seen, by the necessities of space, ask our +readers to share with us only the masterpieces of this gallery of wonders. +Probably all visitors to the River would agree that the following scenes +most nearly express the spirit and character of the sublime whole: Castle +Rock, St. Peter’s Dome, Oneonta Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Cape Horn, and +Rooster Rock. To these individual scenes we should add, as the very crown +of all, the view at the lower Cascades both up and down the great gorge. +With the majestic heights, scarred with the tempests and the earthquakes +of the ages, swathed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> in drifting clouds and oftentimes tipped with snow, +and the shimmering of the River, and the answering grandeur of sky and +forest,—this grouping of the whole is more inspiring than any one scene.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img63.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Castle Rock, Columbia River.<br />(Copyright by Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.)</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The first special object to fix our attention below the Cascades is Castle +Rock. It is an isolated cliff of basalt, nine hundred feet high, covering +about seventeen acres, its summit thinly clothed with stunted trees. It +stands right on the verge of the River, nearly perpendicular on all sides, +marvellous for symmetry from every point of view. At first sight one gets +no conception of its magnitude, for it is dwarfed by the stupendous +pinnacles, three thousand feet high, which compose the walls of the cañon. +It is said that some Eastern lady, seeing it from a steamer’s deck, +exclaimed, “See that fine rock! I wish I had it in my back yard at home.” +Being informed that she would have to find a pretty spacious back yard to +accommodate an ornament covering seventeen acres, she was too much +astonished to believe it. But to any one viewing it deliberately and from +every point of view, and especially landing, as we in our happy method of +travel can do, and going about its base, it becomes evident that Castle +Rock might be called a mountain in almost any other place. It was for a +long time regarded as an impossible thing to reach the summit. For some +years there was a standing offer of one thousand dollars for any one who +would place the Stars and Stripes on the summit. But no one took the dare. +At last in 1901, when the rivalry between two steamboat lines was keen, +Frank Smith of the Regulator Line, with George Purser and Charles Church, +accomplished the seemingly impossible, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> by ropes and staples and +fingers and teeth and toenails, scaled the almost perpendicular walls, and +unfurled the Regulator banner to the breeze where no flag ever flew +before, nor human foot ever trod. It was probably the most risky climb +ever taken in the North-west. A little later, by the aid of the experience +of this party, several others attained the summit. Among these were George +Maxwell, who set the Oregon Railway and Navigation flag as high as that of +the Regulator had gone, and two photographers, W. C. Staatz and George M. +Weister. With them went a young lady, Lilian White, who, though she did +not reach the summit, went higher than any of her sex have gone. Later Mr. +Whitney, manager of the great McGowan Cannery, went up and placed the +Stars and Stripes upon the top.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img64.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">The Lyman Glacier and Glacier Lake in North Star Park Near Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>We said that no earlier human steps had trodden that beetling height and +that Miss White had gone higher than any of her sex. But if we accept the +romantic Indian tale of Wehatpolitan, our statement needs correction. For +this story is to the following effect. Wehatpolitan was the beautiful +child of the principal chieftain in these parts. She loved and was loved +by a young chief of a neighbouring tribe. But when she was sought by her +lover in marriage, the stern father denied the request and killed the +messenger. But the lovers were secretly married and met clandestinely at +various times. In course of time the father, thinking the infatuation of +the forbidden lovers to be at an end, gave Wehatpolitan to a chief whom he +had favoured. The latter kept constant watch of the girl, and one night he +saw her stealing steathily away, and tracking her he found the secret<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> of +her midnight wanderings. As soon as the new lover had imparted to the +father these tidings, the latter with deep duplicity sent word to the +other chieftain that if he would come to the lodge, all would be forgiven +and he and Wehatpolitan would be duly wed. Rejoicing at the happy outcome +to all their troubles, the faithful lover hastened to his own, but no +sooner had he arrived than he was seized upon and slain by the revengeful +parent. Not long after this the heartbroken girl gave birth to a child, +but her father at once decreed that the child must share its father’s +fate. Hearing this pitiless word, Wehatpolitan caught up her child and +disappeared. All that day they searched in vain, and on the next day, the +Indians heard wailings from the top of Castle Rock, from which they soon +discovered that the poor girl with her child had gone to that apparently +inaccessible height. The old chief, repenting of his harsh course, called +aloud to his daughter to come down and he would forgive her. But fearing +new treachery she paid no heed, and the wailings continued. Overcome with +grief the remorseful chief offered all kinds of rewards for any one who +would climb the rock and save Wehatpolitan and her child. But though many +tried, none could succeed. On the third day the wailings ceased. Then the +half-crazed father himself essayed to climb. He seemed to succeed, for at +least he disappeared among the crevices of the rock high up toward the +summit. But he never returned. The Indians thought that he reached the top +and that finding the lifeless bodies of his daughter and her child he had +probably given up all hope of getting down and had lain down and died with +them. But even yet heart-breaking wailings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> come down from time to time, +especially when the Chinook blows soft and damp up the river, and these +wailings have been thought by Indians to be the voice of the spirit of the +unhappy Wehatpolitan, because it could never descend to the happy hunting +grounds of the tribe.</p> + +<p>Another native idea is to the effect that Castle Rock (which ought to be +called Wehatpolitan’s gravestone) is hollow and is filled with the bodies +of former generations now turned to stone. As a matter of fact, the party +of 1901 found evidence of a great cave, but so far there has been found no +practical ingress. So the interior is still an unexplored mystery. Immense +quantities of spear-heads and arrow-heads are found along the river at +this point, and these are apparently of an earlier age than most of those +found in this country.</p> + +<p>Loosing from the enchanted shore of Wehatpolitan’s monument, we see for +several miles on the Oregon side a cordon of perpendicular cliffs, red and +purple in hue, streaked with spray, and touched here and there with the +deep green of firs which have rooted themselves with claw-like roots into +the crevices. Most symmetrical and beautiful, though not the highest of +this line of elevations, is St. Peter’s Dome. Its summit is over two +thousand feet above the river. While in height it is surpassed by certain +crags of Chelan or Yosemite, as well as its brothers on the river, it has +no rival in beauty there, or elsewhere, so far as the author has seen, +among the wonders of the American continent. Every hour of the day, every +change of sky or season, reveals some new and unexpected beauty or +sublimity in this superb cliff.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img65.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Hunters on Lake Chelan, with their Spoils.<br />Photo. by W. D. Lyman.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img66.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Morning’s Catch on the Touchet, near Dayton, Wash.<br /><i>Sunset Magazine.</i></p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>We are almost sated with sublimities by the time we pass on down below St. +Peter’s Dome, but one of the most unique scenes of all is close at hand. +This is Oneonta Gorge. A swift stream issuing from the cliffs on the south +side of the River attracts our attention, and we moor our boat to the +roots of a tall cottonwood and make our way inward. The wall is cleft +asunder, its sides almost meeting above. At places the smooth sides of the +Gorge leave no space except for the passage of the pellucid stream, and we +have to wade hip deep to make our way. Showers of spray descend from the +towering roof above, and in places we are well-nigh in darkness. Then +there is a widening and through the broken wall the lances of sunshine +pierce the gloom with rainbow tints. Marvellous Oneonta with the +sweet-sounding name! It, too, has its wealth of native myth, of which our +narrowing limits forbid us to speak.</p> + +<p>And now leaving Oneonta, we can see that we have passed the maximum of the +mountains, and are already looking into a broadening valley, with the yet +more lordly volume of the river widening toward the sunset. While our eyes +are thus drawn toward the river, the diminishing walls of the cañon, and +the fair entrance to what may be called the genuine West-of-the-Mountains, +we perceive on the Oregon shore a series of waterfalls, higher and grander +than has even been the wont, and in the midst of them, far-famed +Multnomah. A spacious sweep of circling mountains, a perpendicular wall, +indented with a deep recess, and crowned upon its topmost bastions with a +row of frightened looking trees, and partially visible through +intercepting cottonwoods at the River’s margin a moving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> whiteness,—such +is the first vision of this matchless waterfall. A short space farther +carries us past the screen of cottonwoods, and the whole majestic scene +lies before us. Like St. Peter’s Dome or Castle Rock or Niagara or +Yosemite or Chelan or Mt. “Takhoma,” this scene of Multnomah Falls with +its surroundings wears that aspect of eternity, that look of final +perfectness, which marks the great works of nature and of art. The cliff +almost overhangs, so that except when deflected by the wind against a +projecting ledge the water leaps sheer through the air its eight hundred +feet of fall. It is mainly spray when it reaches the deep pool within the +recess of the mountain, and from that recess the regathered waters pour in +a final plunge, from which the stream takes its way through the +cottonwoods to the River.</p> + +<p>We disembark and climb to the pool which receives the great fall. We find +it sunless and almost black in hue from the intensity of the shadows. The +maidenhair fern which grows at the edge of the pool is nearly white in its +cool dark abode. The water falls into the pool with a weird, uncanny +“chug,” rather than a splash, so great is the sheer fall and so largely +does the water consist of spray alternating with “chunks”—if we may so +express it—of water. The pool is large enough to hold a steamboat and of +considerable depth. A pretty rustic bridge spans the gorge through which +the stream passes on its way from the pool, and below the bridge is the +final fall of seventy-five feet. On account of its proximity to Portland +and the frequent steamboat excursions, Multnomah has become quite a +resort. While the creek is only of moderate size in summer, and the fall +is notable rather for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> beauty than energy, yet when swollen by the rains +and melting snows of winter and spring it takes on the dimensions of a +river. Then the fall hurling its great volume over the eight hundred feet +of open space assumes an appalling sublimity.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img67.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Oneonta Gorge—Looking In.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>And now with the sounds of the fall ringing in our ears and our eyes +turned back for a final reluctant gaze, we make our way across the River +and a short distance down to the next wonder on the Washington side. This +is Cape Horn. It is a long palisade of basalt, not high compared to most +of the river walls, being only about two hundred feet high, but it is the +most complete example of continuous basaltic formation on the River. The +beauty and symmetry of the formation, the deeps of the River reflecting +the escarpment of rock, the wide-opening vista of hazy islands and +extending plains down-stream;—all these together compose a scene unique +in itself and, though so different, placing Cape Horn in the same gallery +of royal pictures which we have been gathering.</p> + +<p>A few miles below Cape Horn it becomes apparent that we are about to issue +from the mountain pass. The heights have fallen away. Deep valleys appear +and many habitations attest the cultivable character of the region. But as +if to show that she has not exhausted her resources, wonder-working Nature +has set one more masterpiece in the long line, and this is Rooster Rock, +with a mighty rampart of rock adjoining and closing the southern horizon. +Together they mark the western limit of the mountains. That rampart, which +was once well named Cape Eternity, though the name does not seem to have +been preserved, is a sheer massive precipice of a thousand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> feet. Though +not nearly so high as some of the cliffs above, it is not surpassed by any +for the appearance of solid and massive power. Rooster Rock is +distinguished by a singular and exquisite beauty, rather than magnitude or +grandeur. It is only three hundred and fifty feet high, but in form and +colour and alternation of rock and trees it is the most beautiful object +on the River.</p> + +<p>With a farewell to Cape Eternity and Rooster Rock we are out of the +mountains, and this stage of our long journey is at an end. If we were to +compare the section of the River which we have described in this chapter +with other great scenes in our country, we would say that this section of +the Columbia from Paha Cliffs to Rooster Rock possesses a greater variety +than any other. Chelan has loftier cliffs, clearer and deeper water, and a +certain chaotic and elemental energy beyond comparison. The Yellowstone +has a greater richness of colouring and larger waterfalls, together with +the unique features of the geysers. Yosemite has loftier waterfalls and +has cliffs that in some respects are even more imposing. Puget Sound has +finer distant scenes, with lagoons and channels and archipelagoes. Each of +these grand exhibitions of nature’s works is equal or even superior to the +Columbia Gorge in some special feature. But the River has every feature. +It has cliffs and mountains and waterfalls and cataracts, valleys and +forests, broad marine views near and distant, colour and form, shore and +sky, earth and air and water, a commingling of all elements of beauty, +grandeur, and physical interest. Add to this, that, up or down, the broad +waters of the River are accessible to every form of floating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> craft, and +that Portland, one of the most beautiful and progressive cities of the +West, destined to become one of the great cities of the world, sits at the +very gates of admission to this symposium of grandeurs and wonders, and we +have such an aggregation of charms that we may well suppose that all the +other great scenic regions would bow before our great River and +acknowledge him as the king of all.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img68.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Cape Horn, Columbia River—Looking Up.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.V" id="CHAPTER_2.V"></a>CHAPTER V</h3> +<p class="chapter">A Side Trip to Some of the Great Snow-Peaks</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Attractions of our Mountain Peaks—Relations to the Rivers—Locations +of the Greatest and their Positions with Regard to the Cities and the +Routes of Travel—The Mountain Clubs—The Peaks, Especially Belonging +to the River: Hood, Adams, and St. Helens—A Journey to Hood—Beauty +of the Approach through Hood River Valley—Lost Lake—Cloud-Cap Inn +and Elliot Glacier—Extreme Steepness of the Ascent—Magnificence of +the View—Mt. Adams—The Hunting and Fishing—The Glaciers—The +Vegetation about the Snow-Line—The Night Storm—Morning and the +Ascent—Views Around, Up, Down—Ascent by the Mazama Club in 1902 and +the Transformation Scene—General Similarity of Ascent of our +Peaks—Zones of a Snow-Peak.</p></div> + +<p class="center">“<i>Nesika Klatawa Sahale</i>”</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Most</span> countries have rivers of beauty and grandeur; many have lakes of +scenic charm; many have hills and mountain chains; but there is only one +country in the United States that has all of these features, and, in +addition, a number of isolated giant peaks, clad in permanent ice and +snow. That country is the Pacific North-west. Throughout Oregon and +Washington and extending partly through California is a series of volcanic +peaks which gather within themselves every feature of natural beauty, +sublimity, and wonder.</p> + +<p>The fifteen most conspicuous of these peaks, beginning with Baker or +Kulshan on the north, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> ending with Pitt on the south, are spaced at +nearly regular intervals of from thirty to fifty miles, except for the one +group of the Three Sisters, which, though distinct peaks, are separated +only by narrow valleys. Most of these great peaks are somewhat remote from +the cities or the great routes of public travel, and hence are not easily +accessible to ordinary tourists. None of them, except Hood and Rainier or +Tacoma, possesses hotel accommodations. The natives are more accustomed to +“roughing it,” and braving the wilderness than most Eastern people are, +and hence many parties go annually from the chief cities of Oregon and +Washington to the great peaks. Some of them, as Glacier Peak and Shuksan, +are so environed with mountain ramparts and almost impassable cañons as to +be practically unknown. The most approachable and the most visited are +Hood, Rainier, and Adams.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img69.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Looking up the Columbia River from the Cliff above Multnomah Falls, Ore.<br />(Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.)</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>The greatest influence in organising visits to these mountains, and in +cultivating an appreciation of them among the people of the region, as +well as in informing the world regarding them, has existed in the mountain +clubs. The chief of these are the Mazama (Wild Goat) Club of Portland and +the Mountaineers of Seattle. Membership is not confined to those two +cities, though mainly located there. The Mazama Club may be called the +historic mountain climber’s club, and it has done incalculable good in +fostering a love of mountains and in arranging expeditions to them.</p> + +<p>The three peaks which may be considered as especially belonging to the +Columbia River are Hood, Adams, and St. Helens. As the traveller on the +River views the unsullied spires and domes of these great<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> temples of +nature, he longs to worship in their more immediate presence. As a logical +consequence of this sentiment, after having floated down the Columbia from +The Dalles to Rooster Rock, we feel that life would be at least partly in +vain if we should fail to plant feet on the topmost snows of at least two +of these great heights.</p> + +<p>We will first visit Hood. Though not the highest, this is the boldest and +most picturesque of all. Moreover by reason of its location, seen +conspicuously as it is from Portland and the Willamette Valley, and +because of its nearness to the old immigrant road into Oregon, Hood was +the first noticed, and the most often described, painted, and berhymed of +any of the wintry brotherhood. As the Puget Sound region became settled, +and great cities began to grow up there, Mt. Rainier (“Takhoma”) began to +be a rival in popular estimation. When measurements showed that Rainier +was three thousand feet higher, and Adams over one thousand feet higher +than the idolised Hood, a wail of grief arose from the Oregonians, and for +a time they could hardly be reconciled. But as they became adjusted to the +situation, they planted themselves upon the proposition that, though Hood +was not the highest, it was the most beautiful, and that its surroundings +were superior to those of any other. For this proposition there is much to +be said, though, in truth, we must accept the dictum of Dogberry that +“comparisons are odorous”</p> + +<p>The usual approach to Mt. Hood by the Hood River route is indeed of +striking attractiveness. This picturesque orchard valley is like an avenue +of flowers leading to a marble temple. One of the finest points<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> in the +vicinity of Hood River, seldom visited because it is off the road and +buried in forests, is Lost Lake. Perhaps the grandest view of Mt. Hood is +from this lake. The bold pinnacle, rising out of the broad fields of snow, +they in turn most wondrously encircled in forests of rich hue, is mirrored +in the clear water with a perfectness that scarcely can be matched among +the many lakes of its kind in all the land. In these days of swift +transit, Hood River keeps up with the procession, for there is a regular +automobile line from the town to Cloud-Cap Inn at the snow-line of the +great peak, twenty-four miles distant. The distance, though it represents +a rise of seven thousand feet, is traversed all too quickly to fully enjoy +the valley, filled with its orchards, and rising in regular gradation from +the heat of the lower end to the bracing cold of the upper air. In +Cloud-Cap Inn the traveller may find the daintiest, most unique specimen +of a mountain resort in our mountains. The Inn is owned by a wealthy +Portland man, and is maintained rather as an attraction to visitors than +with the expectation of making money.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img70.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Spokane Falls and City, 1886.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img71.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Spokane Falls and City, 1908.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>From the Inn one can climb in a few minutes to Photographer’s Point, from +which he can look right down on the Elliot Glacier, not a large, but an +exceedingly fine specimen of that most interesting of all features of a +great peak.</p> + +<p>Hood, though so steep, can be ascended from several points. It was for a +long time supposed to be unscalable from the north side. But William +Langille, one of the most daring and successful mountain climbers of +Oregon, soon found his way up the sharp ascent, and, once marked out, that +route has been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> followed by the great majority of climbers. Though very +steep, there has never been an accident on this route except in one case, +when a stranger undertook the climb alone and never returned. He probably +lost his footing and fell into a crevasse. With the usual precautions of +ropes and ice hatchets and caulks, a party can make their way over the +steep slope, and its very steepness makes the ascent quicker and less +exhaustive than to overcome the longer and more gradual ascents of Adams +or “Takhoma.” While it takes but about four or five hours for an average +party to go from snow-line to summit of Hood, either of the other +mountains named demands from seven to ten hours.</p> + +<p>And having reached the summit, what a view! If the day be entirely +clear—a rare occurrence—you will behold a domain for an empire. On the +south, the long line of the Cascades, with the occasional great heights, +Jefferson, Three Sisters, Thielson, Diamond, Scott, and, if it be very +clear, even Pitt. To the north, the giant bulk of Adams, the airy symmetry +of St. Helens, and the lordly majesty of Rainier, rule sky and earth, +while in mazy undulations the great range, alternately purple and white, +stretches on and on until it blends into the clouds.</p> + +<p>Seemingly almost at the feet of the observer, a dark green sinuosity amid +the timbered hills, now strangely flattened, as we stand so high above +them, marks the course of the River on its march oceanward. If the day be +very clear, a whitish blur far westward shows where the “Rose City” on the +Willamette reigns over her fair domains, while a dim stretch of varied +hues denotes the Willamette Valley.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> Some climbers have even asserted that +late in the afternoon of extremely clear days the glint of the western sun +can be seen upon the Pacific, a hundred and fifty miles distant. Toward +the east lie the vast plains of the Inland Empire, marked at their farther +limit by the soft curves and lazy swells of the range of the Blue +Mountains.</p> + +<p>While it is an ungracious and even a fruitless undertaking to compare such +objects as the great mountains or the views from the respective summits, +it may be said that Hood has one conspicuous feature of the view, and that +is that it is nearest the centre of the great mountain peaks, as well as +systems, and also best commands the outlook over the great valley systems +and river systems of this part of the Columbia Basin. And therefore, +though the view is not equal in breadth to that from the summit of Adams +or Rainier, it is unsurpassed for variety and interest. It may be said to +cover more history than the view from any other peak. Across the southern +flank lies the old Barlow Road, over which came the greater part of the +immigration in the days of the ox-team conquest of Oregon in the forties +and fifties. Thirty miles east is The Dalles with its old fur-trader’s +station, its old United States fort, its mission station, its Indian wars, +its early settlement, the most historic place in Eastern Oregon. From the +old town, during all the years from the opening of the century, there +descended the River the trappers, missionaries, immigrants, miners, +soldiers, hunters, home-seekers, of a later day, adventurers and promoters +of every species, to say nothing of the generations of Indians who lived +and died along the banks.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>To the west of our icy eyrie, Portland and Vancouver, with the rich +valleys around them, represent the earliest explorations and developments +of the fur-traders, as well as the earliest days of the era of permanent +settlement. There in the westward haze is the little town of Champoeg +where the Provisional Government of Oregon was established. In fact, in +whatsoever direction we may look, we see illustrations of the heroic age +of Old Oregon, the drama of native races, rival powers of Europe and +America, the march of empire, a section of humanity and the world in the +making.</p> + +<p>When our visit to Hood is ended we must cross the River and traverse +another paradise, the White Salmon Valley, leading to Mt. Adams, the old +Indian Klickitat. Adams is in such a position that its true elevation and +magnitude cannot be understood from Portland or The Dalles or most of the +routes of travel. Therefore until comparatively recent times it was +generally supposed that Adams was an insignificant mountain in comparison +with Hood, which looms up with such imposing grandeur from every point +along the chief highways of commerce. It was discovered by the Mazama Club +in 1896 that Adams carried his regal crown at a height of twelve thousand +four hundred and seventy feet above the level of the sea, while the +previously established height of Hood was only eleven thousand two hundred +and twenty-five. Since then Adams has been held in much greater respect by +mountain lovers, and many journeys have been made to and on it.</p> + +<p>Around Mt. Adams is a region of caves. As one rides through the open +glades he may often hear the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> ground rumble beneath his horse’s hoofs. +Mouths of Avernus yawn on every side. Some caverns have sunken in, leaving +serpentine ravines. One cave has been traced three miles without finding +the end. Some of these caves are partially filled with ice. There is one +in particular, fifteen miles south-west of the mountain, which is known as +Ice Cave. This is very small, not over four hundred feet long, but it is a +marvel of unique beauty. Its external appearance is that of a huge well, +at whose edge are bunches of nodding flowers, and from whose dark depths +issue sudden chilly gusts. Descending by means of a knotty young tree +which previous visitors have let down, we find ourselves on a floor of +ice. The glare of pitch-pine torches reveals a weird and beautiful scene. +A perfect forest of icicles of both the stalactite and stalagmite forms +fills the cave. They are from ten to fifteen feet in length and from one +to three in diameter. From some points of view they look like silvered +organ-pipes.</p> + +<p>These caves have been formed in some cases by chambers of steam or bubbles +in the yet pasty rock which hardened enough to maintain their form upon +the condensation of the vapour. Others were doubtless produced by a tongue +of lava as it collected slag and hardened rock upon its moving edge, +rising up and curling over like a breaker on the sand. Only the “cave of +flint” instead of turning into a “retreating cloud” had enough solid +matter to sustain the arch and so became permanent. Others were no doubt +formed by pyroducts. A tongue of flowing lava hardens on the surface. The +interior remains fluid. It may continue running until the tongue is all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> +emptied, leaving a cavern. Such a cavern, whose upper end reaches the cold +air of the mountains, might be like a chimney, down which freezing air +would descend, turning into ice the water that trickled into the cave, +even at the lower end.</p> + +<p>For sport, the region about Mt. Adams is unsurpassed. The elk, three kinds +of deer, the magnificent mule deer, the black-tail, and the graceful +little white-tail, two species of bear, the cinnamon and black, the daring +and ubiquitous mountain goat, quail, grouse, pheasants, ducks, and cranes, +are among the attractions to the hunter. Of late years great bands of +sheep have driven the game somewhat from the south and east sides. In the +grassy glades that encircle the snowy pile of Adams no vexatious +undergrowth impedes the gallop of our fleet cayuse pony or obscures our +vision. On the background of fragrant greenery the “dun deer’s hide” is +thrown with statuesque distinctness, and among the low trees the whirring +grouse is easily discerned. Nor is the disciple of Nimrod alone +considered. After our hunt we may move to Trout Lake, and here the very +ghost of the lamented Walton might come as to a paradise. Trout Lake is a +shallow pool half a mile in length, encircled with pleasant groves and +grassy glades, marred now, however, by the encroachment of ranches. Into +it there come at intervals from the ice-cold mountain inlet perfect shoals +of the most gamey and delicious trout. On rafts, or the two or three rude +skiffs that have been placed there, one may find all piscatorial joys and +may abundantly supply his larder free of cost. A few ranches here and +there furnish accommodations for those who are too delicate to rest on the +bosom of Mother Earth.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> But no extended trip can be taken without +committing oneself to the wilderness delights of sleeping with star-dials +for roof and flickering camp-fire for hearth. And what healthy human being +would exchange those for the feverish, pampered life of the modern house? +Let us have the barbarism, and with it the bounding pulses and exuberant +life of the wilderness.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img72.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">In the Heart of the Cascade Mountains, above Lake Chelan, Wash.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But now, with stomachs and knapsacks filled, and with that pervasive sense +of contentment which characterises the successful hunter and angler, we +must get up our cayuse ponies from their pastures on the rich grass of the +open woods, saddle up, and then off for the mountain, whose giant form now +overtops the very clouds. About two miles from Trout Lake the trail +crosses the White Salmon, and we find ourselves at the foot of the +mountain. For eight miles we follow a trail through open woods, park-like, +with huge pines at irregular intervals, and vivid grass and flowers +between, a fair scene, the native home of every kind of game.</p> + +<p>As we journey on delightedly through these glades, rising, terrace after +terrace, we can read the history of the mountain in the rock beneath our +feet and the expanding plains and hills below. All within the ancient +amphitheatre is volcanic. There are four main summits, a central dome, +vast, symmetrical, majestic, pure-white against the blue-black sky of its +unsullied height. The three other peaks are broken crags of basalt, +leaning as for support against the mighty mass at the centre. Around the +snow-line of the mountain many minor cones have been blown up. These have +the most gaudy and brilliant colouring, mainly yellow and vermilion. One +on the south-east is <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>especially noticeable. From a deep cañon it rises +two thousand feet as steep as broken scoriæ can lie. The main part is +bright red, surmounted by a circular cliff of black rock. Probably the old +funnel of the crater became filled with black rock, which, cooling, formed +a solid core. The older material around it having crumbled away, it +remains a solid shaft.</p> + +<p>But fire has not wrought all the wonders of the mighty peak. Ice has been +most active. The mountain was once completely girdled with glaciers. Rocks +are scratched and grooved five miles below the present snow-line. The +ridges are strewn with planed rocks and glacial shavings and coarse sand. +Some of the monticules on the flanks of the mountain have been partially +cut away. Many have been entirely obliterated. But the ice has now greatly +receded. Instead of a complete enswathement of ice there are some six or +seven distinct glaciers, separated by sharp ridges, while the region +formerly the chief home of the ice is now a series of Alpine meadows. Like +most of the snow peaks, Mt. Adams is rudely terraced, and the terraces are +separated into compartments by ridges, forming scores and hundreds of +glades and meads. In some of these are circular ponds, from a few square +rods to several acres in area. These lakes are found by the hundred around +the mountain and in the region north of it. They are one of the charms and +wonders of the country. About most of them tall grass crowds to the very +edge of the water. Scattered trees diversify the scene. Throughout these +glades flow innumerable streams, descending from level to level in +picturesque cascades, and composed of water so cold and sparkling that the +very memory of it cools the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> after thirst. Sometimes the tough turf grows +clear over, making a verdant tunnel through which “the tinkling waters +slip.” Here and there streams spout full-grown from frowning precipices.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img73.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Birch-Tree Channel; Upper Columbia, Near Golden, B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates, Golden.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But we are not content to stand below and gaze “upward to that height.” We +must needs ascend. In climbing a snow peak a great deal depends on making +camp at a good height and getting a very early start. By a little +searching one may find good camping places at an elevation of seven +thousand or even eight thousand feet altitude. This leaves only four +thousand or five thousand feet to climb on the great day, and by starting +at about four o’clock a party may have sixteen hours of daylight. This is +enough, if there be no accidents, to enable any sound man of average +muscle,—or woman either, if she be properly dressed for it,—to gain the +mighty dome of Adams.</p> + +<p>At the time of our last ascent we camped high on a great ridge on the +south side of the mountain, having for shelter a thick copse of dwarf +firs. So fiercely had the winds of centuries swept this exposed point that +the trees did not stand erect, but lay horizontal from west to east.</p> + +<p>With pulses bounding from the exhilarating air, and our whole systems +glowing with the exercise and the wild game of the preceding week, we +stretch ourselves out for sleep, while the stars blaze from infinite +heights, and our uneasy camp-fire strives fitfully with the icy air which +at nightfall always slides down the mountain side.</p> + +<p>Sweet sleep till midnight, and then we found ourselves awake all at once +with a unanimity which at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> first we scarcely understood, but which a +moment’s observation made clear enough. A regular mountain gale had +suddenly broken upon us. It had waked us up by nearly blowing us out of +bed. Our camp-fire was aroused to newness of life by the gale, and the +huge fire-brands flew down the mountain side, igniting pitchy thickets, +until a fitful glare illuminated the lonely and savage grandeur of the +scene. The whole sky seemed in motion. Then a cloud struck us. Night, +glittering as she was a moment before with her tiaras of stars, was +suddenly transformed into a dull, whitish blur. The vapour formed at once +into thick drops on the trees and was precipitated in turn on us. +Occasional sleet and snowflakes struck us with almost the sting of flying +sand when we ventured to peep out. Covering ourselves up, heads and all, +we crowded against each other and grimly went to sleep.</p> + +<p>We woke again, chattering with cold, to find it perfectly calm. The +morning star was blazing over the spot where day was about to break. The +sky was absolutely clear, not a mote on its whole concavity. The wind had +swept and burnished it. The mountain towered above us cold and sharp as a +crystal. There was a still, solemn majesty about it in the keen air and +early light which struck us with a thrill of fear. The light just before +daybreak is far more exact than the scarlet splendour of morning or the +blinding blaze of noon. The world below us was a level sea of clouds. We +seemed to be on an island of snow and rock, or on a small planetoid +winging its own way in space. Yet beyond the puncturing top of a few of +the Simcoe peaks a wavering line that just touched the glowing eastern +sky, told of clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> weather a hundred leagues up the basin of the +Columbia. Out of the ocean of cloud, the great peaks of Hood and St. +Helens rose, cold and white, like icebergs on an Arctic sea.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img74.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">A Typical Mountain Meadow, Stehekin Valley, Wash.<br />Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Coffee, ham, and hardtack, and then out on the ice and snow, just as the +first warm flush of morning is gilding the mighty mass above us. The snow, +hardened by the freezing morning, affords excellent footing, and in the +sharp, bracing air we feel capable of any effort. We gain the summit of a +bright red knob, one of the secondary volcanoes that girdle the mountain. +At its peak are purple stones piled up like an altar, as indeed it is, +though the incense from it is not of human kindling. The sun is not fairly +up, but from below the horizon it splits the hemisphere of the sky into a +hundred segments by its auroral flashes. And now we begin to climb a +volcanic ridge, rising like a huge stairway, with blocks of stone as large +as a piano. This is a tongue of lava, very recent, insomuch that it shows +no glacial markings, and yet enough soil has accumulated upon it to +support vegetation. It can be seen, a dull red river, three hundred yards +wide, extending far down the mountain side. How well the old Greek poet +described the process that must have taken place here: “Ætna, pillar of +heaven, nurse of snow, with fountains of fire; a river of fire, bearing +down rocks with a crashing sound to the deep sea.”</p> + +<p>The ridge becomes very steep, at an angle of probably thirty-five or forty +degrees, and we climb on all fours from one rock to another. At last we +draw ourselves up a huge wedge of phonolite and find ourselves at the +summit of the first peak. Six hundred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> yards beyond, muffled in white +silence, rises the great dome. It is probably five hundred feet higher +than the first peak. To reach it we climb a bare, steep ridge of shaly, +frost-shattered rock, in which we sink ankle deep, a difficult and even +painful task with the laboured breathing of twelve thousand feet altitude.</p> + +<p>But patience conquers, and at about noon, seven hours and a half from the +time of starting, we stand on the very tip of the mountain. Ten minutes +panting in the cold wind and then we are ready to look around. Within the +circle of our vision is an area for an empire. Northward is a wilderness +of mountains. High above all, Mt. Rainier lifts his white crown unbroken +to the only majesty above him, the sky. The western horizon, more hazy +than the eastern, is punctuated by the smooth dome and steely glitter of +Mt. St. Helens. Far southward, across a wilderness of broken heights, +rises the sharp pinnacle of Mt. Hood, and far beyond that, its younger +brother, Jefferson. Still beyond, are the Alpine peaks of the Three +Sisters, nearly two hundred miles distant. Our vision sweeps a circle +whose diameter is probably five hundred miles. Far westward the white haze +betokens the presence of the sea. A deep blue line north-eastward, far +beyond the smooth dome of St. Helens, stands for Puget Sound. Numerous +lakes gleam in woody solitudes.</p> + +<p>Having looked around, let us now look down. On the eastern side the +mountain breaks off in a monstrous chasm of probably four thousand feet, +most of it perpendicular. We crawl as we draw near it. Lying down in turn, +secured by ropes held behind, fearful as much of the mystic attraction of +the abyss as of the slippery snow, we peep over the awful verge.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> Take +your turn, gentle reader, if you would know what it seems to gaze down +almost a mile of nearly perpendicular distance. Points of rock jut out +from the pile and eye us darkly. That icy floor nearly a mile below us is +the Klickitat glacier. From beneath it a milk-white stream issues and +crawls off amid the rocky desolation. At the very edge of the great +precipice stands a cone of ice a hundred feet high. Green, blue, yellow, +red, and golden, the colours play with the circling sunbeams on its +slippery surface, until one is ready to believe that here is where +rainbows are made. We roll some rocks from a wind-swept point, and then +shudder to see them go. They are lost to the eye as their noise to the +ear, long before they cease to roll. Silence reigns. There is no echo. The +thin air makes the voice sound weak. Our loudest shouts are brief bubbles +of noise in the infinite space. A pistol shot is only a puff of powder. +Even the rocks we set off are swallowed up and we get no response but the +first reluctant clank as they grind the lip of the precipice. Nor do we +care much for boisterous sounds. We are impelled rather to silence and +worship.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img75.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">High School, Walla Walla, Wash.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But now once more to earth and camp! For pure exhilaration, commend me to +descending a snow peak. For a good part of Mt. Adams one may descend in +huge jumps through the loose scoriæ and volcanic ashes. Some of the way +one may slide on the crusty snow, a perfect whiz of descent. How the thin +wind cuts past us, and how our frames glow with the dizzy speed! Such a +manner of descent is not altogether safe. As we are going in one place +with flying jumps on the softening snow, a chasm suddenly appears before +us. It looks ten feet wide, and how deep, no one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> could guess. To stop is +out of the question. We make a wild bound and clear it, catching a +momentary glance into the bluish-green crack as we fly across. We make the +descent in an incredibly short time, only a little more than an hour, +whereas it took us over seven hours to ascend. And then the rest and +mighty feasts of camp, and the abundant and mountainous yarns, and the +roaring camp-fire, whose shadows flicker on the solemn snow-fields, until +the stars claim the heavens, and, while the wailing cry of the cougars +rises from a jungle far below us, we sleep and perform again in dreams the +day’s exploits.</p> + +<p>Of all scenes in connection with Mt. Adams, the most remarkable in all the +experience of those who witnessed it, and one of those rare combinations +which the sublimest aspects of nature afford, was at the time of the +outing of the Mazama Club in 1902. The party had reached the summit in a +dense fog, cold, bitter, forbidding, and nothing whatever to be seen. All +was a dull, whitish blur. In the bitter chill the enthusiasm of some of +the climbers evaporated and they turned away down the snowy waste. Others +remained in the hope of a vanishing of the cloud-cap. And suddenly their +hopes were realised. A marvellous transformation scene was unveiled like +the lifting of a vast curtain. The cloud-cap was split asunder. The great +red and black pinnacles of the summit sprung forth from the mist like the +first lines in a developing photographic plate. Then the glistening tiaras +and thrones of ice and snow caught the gleams of the unveiled sun, and lo, +there we stood in mid-heaven, seemingly upon an island in space, with no +earth about us, just the sun and the sky above and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> a great swaying ocean +of fog below. But now suddenly that ocean of fog was rent and split. The +ardent sun burned and banished it away. Mountain peak after peak caught +the glory. Range after range seemed to rise and stand in battle array. The +transformation was complete. A moment before we were swathed in the +densest cloud-cap, blinded with the fog. Now we were standing on a mount +of transfiguration, with a new world below us. Every vestige of smoke or +fog was gone. We could see the shimmer of the ocean to the west, the +glistening bands of Puget Sound and the Columbia. Far eastward the plains +of the Inland Empire lay palpitating in the July sun. The whole long line +of the great snow-peaks of the Cascades were there revealed, the farthest +a mere speck, yet distinctly discernible, two hundred miles distant. One +unaccustomed to the mountains would not believe it possible that such an +area could be caught within the vision from a single point.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img76.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Chelan.<br />Photo. by F. N. Kneeland.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>It may be understood that the description of one of our great snow-peaks +is, in general terms, a description of all. With every one there are the +same azure skies, the same snow-caps, the same crevassed and glistening +rivers of ice, the same long ridges with their intervening grassy and +flowery meads, purling streams, and reflecting lakes. With the name of +each there rises before Mazama or Mountaineer the remembrance of the camp +of clouds or stars upon the edge of snow-bank, the sound of the bugle at +two o’clock in the morning of the great climb, the hastily swallowed +breakfast of coffee and ham, while climbers stand shivering around the +flickering morning fire, the approaching day with its banners of crimson +behind the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> heights, the daubing of faces with grease-paint and the +putting on of goggles, amid shouts of laughter from each at the grotesque +and picturesque ugliness of all the others, then the hastily grasped +alpenstocks, the forming in line, and at about four o’clock, while the +first rays of the sun are gilding the summit, the word of command and the +beginning of the march.</p> + +<p>Each great peak has its zones, so significant that each seems a world in +itself. There is first the zone of summer with its fir and cedar forests +at the base of the peak, from a thousand feet to twenty-five hundred above +sea-level. In the case of most of our great peaks this zone consists of +long gentle slopes and dense forests, with much undergrowth, though on the +eastern sides there are frequently wide-open spaces of grassy prairie. +Then comes the zone of pine forest and summer strawberry, with its +fragrant air and long glades of grass and open aisles of columned trees, +“God’s first temples,” pellucid streams babbling over pebbles and white +sands, and occasionally falling in cascades over ledges of volcanic rock. +This zone rises in terraces which attest the ancient lava flow, at an +increasing grade over the first, though at most points one might still +drive a carriage through the open pine forests. Then comes the third zone, +a zone of parks. The large pine trees now give way to the belts of +subalpine fir and mountain pine and larch, exquisite for beauty, enclosing +the parks and grouped here and there in clumps like those in some old +baronial estate of feudal times. This is the zone of rhododendron, +shushula, phlox, and painted brush. Through the open glades the ptarmigan +and deer wander, formerly unafraid of man, but now, alas, under the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> ban +of civilisation. The upward slope has now increased to twenty or +twenty-five degrees, and to a party of climbers a frequent rest and the +quaffing of the ice-cold stream that dashes through the woods afford a +happy feature of the ascent. At the upper edge of this zone, at an +elevation of probably seven thousand feet, beside some dashing stream or +some clear pool, fed from the snows above, is the place for the camp. And +such a camp! Oh, the beauty of such an unspoiled spot!</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img77.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">On the Banks of the Columbia River, near Hood River.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>It is from such a camp at the upper edge of the paradise zone that a party +sets forth at the four o’clock hour to attain the highest. So the march on +the great day of a final climb carries us at once into a fourth zone. This +is the zone of avalanche and glacier, the zone of elemental fury and +warfare, a zone of ever-steepening ascent, thirty degrees, a zone of +almost winter cold at night, but with such a dazzling brightness and +fervour in the day as turns the snow-banks to slush and sends the +fountains tearing and cutting across the glaciers and triturating the +moraines. Vegetation has now almost ceased, though the heather still +drapes the ledges on the eastern or southern exposures, and occasionally +one of the tenacious mountain pines upholds the banner of spring in some +sheltered nook. This wind-swept and storm-lashed zone is also the zone of +the wild goats and mountain sheep. On the precipitous ridges and along the +narrow ledges at the margin of glaciers they can be seen bounding away at +the approach of the party, sure-footed and swift at points where the nerve +of the best human climber might fail. This zone carries the climbers to +ten or eleven thousand feet of elevation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> on the highest peaks. And here +is the place for the Mountaineers and Mazamas to take the half-hour rest +on their arduous march. A sweet rest it is. We pick out some sheltered +place on the eastern slope, and stretch ourselves at full length on the +warm rocks, while the icy wind from the summit goes hurtling above us. And +how good the chocolate and the malted milk and the prunes and raisins of +the scanty lunch taste, while we rest and feel the might of elemental +nature again fill our veins and lungs and hearts.</p> + +<p>But then comes a fifth zone, the last, the zone of the Arctic. This is the +zone of the snow-cap. The glaciers are now below. All life has ceased. The +grade has ever steepened, till now it is forty degrees or more. The snow +is hummocked and granulated. Here is where part of the climbers begin to +stop. Legs and lungs fail. Camp looks exceedingly good down there at the +verge of the forests. They feel as though they had lost nothing on the +summit worth going up for. A nausea, mountain sickness, attacks some. +Nosebleed attacks others. Things look serious. Icy mists sometimes begin +to swirl around the presumptous climbers. Frost gathers on hair and +mustache and eyebrows. The unaccustomed or the less ambitious or weaker +lose heart and bid the rest go on, for they will turn toward a more +summer-like clime. Generally about half an ordinary party drop out at this +beginning of the Arctic zone. But the rest shout “Excelsior,” take a +firmer grasp of alpenstock, stamp feet more vehemently into the snow, and +with dogged perseverance move step by step up the final height. Inch by +inch, usually in the teeth of a biting gale, leaning forward, and panting +heavily, they force<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> the upward way. And victory at last! There comes a +time when we are on the topmost pinnacle, and there is nothing above us +but the storms and sun. And then what elation! Nothing seems quite to +equal the pure delight of such a triumph of lungs and legs and heart and +will.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img78.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Rooster Rock, Columbia River—Looking Up.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span></p> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_2.VI" id="CHAPTER_2.VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h3> +<p class="chapter">The Lower River and the Ocean Tides</p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang">Remarkable Change in Climate and Topography—Farms and Villages—First +View of Mt. Hood on West Side—Vancouver and its Historic +Interest—The North Bank Railroad—View at the Mouth of the +Willamette—Sauvie’s or Wapatoo Island—Beauty of the Willamette and +its Tributaries—Simpson’s Poem—Approach to Portland—Site of +Portland—Transportation Facilities—Portland’s Commerce—Homes and +Public Buildings—Art in Portland—The Historical Society Museum—The +<i>Oregonian</i> and its Editor—Once more on the River—The Fishing and +Lumbering Villages—Scenery of the Lower River—Astoria and the +Outlook to the Ocean—Industries of Astoria—The Fisheries—The Fleet +of Fishing Boats on the Bar—The Ocean Beaches and the Tourist +Travel—Through the Outer Headlands to the Pacific.</p></div> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Having</span> returned from our side trip to the mountain peaks of Hood and Adams +and having resumed our station on the bank of the River just below Rooster +Rock, we see that we are now in a new world. We are at sea-level. Dense +forests clothe the shores, except for the places where the axe of the +settler or the saws of the lumberman have made inroads. Moss drapes the +rocks. Ferns and vines take possession wherever the trees have been +removed. Even in summer a feeling of humidity usually pervades the air. A +certain softness and roundness seems to characterise both the vegetable +and animal world. The smell of the sea is in the atmosphere, even though +the sea is yet distant. No longer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> do our eyes wander over boundless +expanses of rolling prairie, crowned to the highest knolls with +wheat-fields, as on the other side of the mountains. The mountains fall +away, and low bottoms, sometimes oozy with the inflowing river or the +creeks from the forests, stretch away in the lazy, hazy distance. The +River no longer flows tumultuously and with that militant energy which is +so characteristic of the long stretches from Kettle Falls to The Dalles. +It has a calm and stately majesty, the repose of accomplished warfare and +victory. It has hewn its way down to the level of the ocean and no longer +needs to fret and storm. It has conquered a peace.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img79.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Band of Elk on W. P. Reser’s Ranch, Walla Walla, Wash.<br />Photo. by W. D. Chapman.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Below Rooster Rock, the shores are flats with low hills in the background, +and the River expands to a width of from one to two miles. If we still +imagine ourselves in a small boat, we find the most delightful of +sensations in gliding past the grassy islands and shores thick with fir or +cottonwood. Or if we choose to take our way to one of the elegant +steamers, <i>Spencer</i> or <i>Bailey Gatzert</i>, we shall still partake of the +same life and feel the same sense of repose and contentment which belong +by natural right to this portion of the River.</p> + +<p>Soon after leaving Rooster Rock, we begin to pass frequent pleasant farms +on either bank. On the Washington side we see two pretty villages, +Washougal and La Camas. The first has the historical distinction of being +at or nearly at the highest spot reached by the English explorer Broughton +in 1792, and named by him Point Vancouver. La Camas is the location of the +most extensive paper mills in the North-west.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>If, while we are in this section of the River and our eyes are bent +eagerly forward to catch the ever-changing shore and river lines, we +happen to glance backward, our gaze is fastened as with a magnet, and for +a moment utterance fails. For what do we see? Glistening white, ethereal, +Mt. Hood rises before us, a vision which, of the many mountain visions +that we have seen, seems the most beautiful. Mt. Hood indeed is the +background of many a noble scene upon the River, but there is none quite +equal in amplitude, in variety, to this,—River, forest, shore, foreground +of timbered hills, Cascade Gorge, distant white and purple chain of +Cascade Mountains, and the volcanic cone overtopping and overawing all. +This view of Mt. Hood from the vicinity of La Camas has perhaps been +oftener the subject of painting than any other.</p> + +<p>A few miles below La Camas we reach the most historic and perhaps the most +beautiful spot upon the Columbia, Vancouver. As the capital for twenty +years of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fur Empire, associated with the name +of Dr. John McLoughlin, the centre of almost every event of importance in +the early history, connected with both American and British occupation, +and later as the location of the United States military post and +preserving the names of Grant, Sheridan, McClellan, Hooker, and others of +our famous generals, Vancouver has indeed a rich historic setting. But +aside from such associations with the past, every tourist must note the +location of Vancouver as one of rare beauty. In fact, the spot is almost +ideal for a great city. The splendid River, a mile and a half in width, +offers limitless facilities for shipping, while, beginning at the water’s +edge, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span> gradually rising slope of land extends in a superb swell several +miles to the north. Every feature of scenery that could delight the +eye—Mt. Hood with the Cascades to the east, the Willamette Valley to the +south, the Portland and Scappoose hills to the west, the River blending +all—seems to have been lavished on Vancouver. It has been a surprise to +many that the great city had not grown here rather than at Portland, +which, though on an equally fine location, is on the tributary and much +smaller Willamette. The chief reasons of this were the nearer proximity of +Portland to the rich farming country of the Tualatin and the presence in +the Columbia a mile below Vancouver of a sand-bar which embarrassed +shipping. This is now removed.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img80.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Oregon City in 1845.<br />From an Old Print.</p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img81.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Fort Vancouver in 1845.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>At Vancouver the newly-built “North Bank” Railroad (Spokane, Portland, and +Seattle) has constructed across the Columbia a bridge a mile and three +quarters in length, said to be the largest and costliest of its kind in +the world. This same railroad has also bridged the Willamette a few miles +west of Vancouver, thus effecting an entrance to Portland. This railroad +is one of the most interesting and remarkable undertakings of the age. It +is said that its cost from Spokane to Portland exceeded forty million +dollars. Vancouver expects much from this road, even anticipating that +much of the shipping hitherto centring in Portland will be diverted to the +larger river. However that may prove, it is plain that Vancouver has the +promise as well as the memory of great things.</p> + +<p>Six miles west of Vancouver is one of those imposing scenes in which our +River so abounds. This is the junction of the Willamette with the +Columbia.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> This spot was noted by Broughton in 1792 as one of exceptional +beauty, and to it he attached the name Belle Vue Point. It is indeed a +combination of both historical and scenic interest. The Willamette steals +shyly and coquettishly through green islands to fall into the strong arms +of the stately Columbia. The western arm of the Willamette, commonly +called the “Slough,” joins the Columbia eighteen miles below at the +picturesque little town of St. Helens. Between the Columbia and the Slough +lies Sauvie’s Island, named from a Hudson’s Bay man, and famous throughout +Hudson’s Bay times as well as Indian times. The island was the seat of +power of the Multnomah tribe. The scene of the book known as the <i>Bridge +of the Gods</i> by Frederick Balch is mainly upon this island, and in that +book will be found some glowing descriptions of this beauty spot. To the +Indians it was known as Wapatoo Island. In the ponds grew the plant called +the wapatoo, an onion-like root, very nutritious and palatable, and, with +salmon, constituting the chief food of the natives. Not only so, but the +Multnomah Indians used the wapatoo as a commercial stock, carrying on +regular trade with both the coast and the up-river tribes.</p> + +<p>According to the early explorers there were great annual fairs on Wapatoo +Island, when Indians from ocean beach, from valley, from mountains, and +from River, both up and down, would gather to exchange products, to +gamble, race horses and boats, and have a general period of hilarity and +good fellowship.</p> + +<p>The gathering of the wapatoos developed upon the patient “klootchmen” +(women) of the tribe. They would go out in canoes to the shallow water +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>where the roots grew and then, stripping naked, would hang over the side +of the boat and dislodge the wapatoos with their toes from the soft mud. +Soon the surface would be covered with the floating roots. The squaws +would gather these into the canoes. Then they would move to another place +for another load. Sometimes they would spend almost the whole day in the +water. The wapatoo still grows in the ponds and lagoons of the island. +These ponds formerly abounded in ducks and geese and cranes and swans. +Even yet there is fine hunting. During the damp soft days of the Oregon +winter, the Nimrods of Portland betake themselves thither in great +numbers.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img82.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lone Rock, Columbia River, about Fifty Miles East of Portland.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>From the steamer, as we enter the mouth of the Willamette, or from the +greater elevation of the lighthouse, one may command one of the lordliest +views that even this land of lordly views affords. Five snow-peaks, Hood, +Rainier-Tacoma, St. Helens, Adams, and Jefferson, rise snow white from the +purple forests of the Cascade Range. Up the Columbia the great gorge +through which we have passed stands open to view, while down-river the +sinuous and hazy lines of low-lying shore betoken the nearer proximity of +the ocean. Up the Willamette, enchanting islands, with low watery shores, +occupy the foreground, while a short distance back from the western bank, +a chain of picturesque hills, heavily timbered, encloses the vista. On the +east side a low bench with bluffy promontories, crowned with the beautiful +smooth-barked madrona tree, rises from the green meadows.</p> + +<p>If we could, from so fair an entrance, ascend the Willamette to its source +in the Cascade Mountains two hundred miles away, and if we could turn +into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> the Tualatin, the Yamhill, the Clackamas, the Molalla, the La +Creole, the Santiam, the Calapooia, affluents worthy of union with the +Willamette, and if we could tarry among the vales and meadows and +oak-crowned hills and distant Coast and Cascade ranges of mountains, all +across that superb valley, fifty miles wide by a hundred and fifty long, +as beautiful as Greece or Italy,—we would then all agree that the +Willamette deserves a volume by itself and that it is almost a crime to +introduce it so briefly here. Every old Oregonian, in thinking of the +Willamette, at once associates it with the apostrophe to it by S. L. +Simpson, the gifted and unfortunate poet of Oregon, whose genius deserved +a wider recognition than it ever received. The first stanza of his poem is +this:</p> + +<p class="poem">From the Cascades’ frozen gorges,<br /> +Leaping like a child at play,<br /> +Winding, widening through the valley,<br /> +Bright Willamette glides away.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Onward ever, lovely River,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Softly calling to the sea,</span><br /> +Time that scars us, maims and mars us,<br /> +Leaves no track or trench on thee.</p> + +<p>And now that we have fairly entered the Willamette, it becomes speedily +evident that we are in the near vicinity of a large and prosperous city. +Steamboats, an occasional steamship, sailing ships, sometimes huge +four-masted steel ships towed by coughing tugs, long booms of logs in tow +of some spluttering stern-wheeler, scows of every description, gasoline +launches, rowboats,—a motley fleet, they seem to be making they way with +all possible haste upon the stream.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img83.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Willamette Falls, Oregon City, Ore.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>We are indeed approaching Portland, the metropolis of the Columbia, the +“Rose City,” in many respects the most interesting and attractive of +Western cities. The approach to Portland is one hard to match for stately +beauty. The city occupies both sides of the Willamette, the main business +part on the west side, but the larger residence part on the east.</p> + +<p>The first settler on the original site of Portland was a man named +Overton. Lownsdale, Chapman, and Lovejoy bought him out. Then Captain John +H. Couch in 1845 located a donation land claim on what is now the northern +part of the west side city. At that time the site was somewhat cut up with +gulches and clothed in the densest of dense forests, with perfect jungles +of every species of undergrowth. But duller eyes than those of the gallant +mariners, Couch, Flanders, Ainsworth, Pettygrove, and Lovejoy, could have +seen beneath the tangled thickets the making of a city, though it may well +be questioned whether even they, in their wildest flights of fancy, ever +pictured the scene of to-day, where the city of these sixty years’ +building now sits, a queen upon her circling throne of hills. The location +of Portland is almost ideal. The hills to the west rise to a height of +about eight hundred feet, but many fine homes are located there, and car +lines cross the hills in many directions. Above the fogs and smoke these +high-line homes have every possible charm. On the east side of the +Willamette the land is a level bench with limitless room for expansion. +There are a few picturesque elevations on the east side, as Mt. Tabor and +Mt. Scott, and these have been used for homes with the taste which +characterises the entire city.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>Portland is the centre of every species of transportation facility. It has +one of the most extensive and well-equipped electric railway systems in +the United States. In addition to the urban lines, there are interurban +lines in every direction, to Vancouver, Troutdale, Oregon City, Milwaukee, +Hillsboro, and Salem, the last named the capital of the State and fifty +miles distant. We find also that four transcontinental railroads have a +terminus in Portland, the Southern Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the +Union Pacific, and the Great Northern. Steamship lines run to Alaska, +Puget Sound, San Francisco and other California ports, to all the +coastwise ports of Oregon, to the Hawaiian Islands and the Orient, and to +Mexico and South America. Sailing ships convey the products of the +North-west to all the ports of the world.</p> + +<p>As a result of these facilities for commerce we find such figures as the +following: During the year 1907 there entered and cleared at Portland +twelve hundred and twenty ocean-going vessels, registering more than +1,700,000 tons, net, and with a carrying capacity of 3,500,000 tons. In +the cargoes of this total, were 175,000,000 feet of lumber and 18,000,000 +bushels of wheat, flour included. Portland has in fact reached the front +rank as a wheat and flour shipping port, being in the class with Galveston +and New York, some of the time having led both of them. In December, 1907, +Portland’s record of wheat shipments, exclusive of flour, was 3,000,000 +bushels. The Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor +gave the value of all breadstuffs shipped from Portland for the eleven +months ending November 30, 1907,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> at $10,536,234. During the same period +the shipments of the same commodities from San Francisco totalled +$4,143,592, while from the three Puget Sound ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and +Everett, the aggregate was $13,989,178. During November, 1908, there were +shipped 903,000 bushels of wheat, 180,145 barrels of flour, 209,246 +bushels of barley, and 9,752,552 feet of lumber. During the year 1908 the +value of wheat and flour reached a total of $18,340,405, while the lumber +exports aggregated 162,089,998 feet.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img84.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Among the Big Spruce Trees, near Astoria, Oregon.<br />Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Perhaps the most gratifying feature of the shipping trade to Portland +people has been the increase in the size of ships entering the River. In +1872 the average wheat cargo exported was 33,615 bushels, while now it is +four times as much. The record cargo was that of the British bark +<i>Andorinha</i>, in the fall of 1908, 189,282 bushels. The channel from +Portland to the Columbia Bar and that across the Bar have so much improved +that no lightering was necessary during the year 1908, and ships of +twenty-five and twenty-six feet draft have gone from Portland to the ocean +without difficulty. In connection with this fact we are told that in June, +1907, the International Sailing-ship Owners’ Union abolished the +differential of thirty cents per ton which had stood for some years +against Portland. These conditions, together with the completion of the +North Bank Railroad, by which a greatly added traffic from the Inland +Empire will be turned to Portland, seem to indicate that Portland is on +the direct road to a greater commercial leadership than she has yet known. +The lumber industry centring in Portland is as remarkable as that of +grain. Oregon’s available forests,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> according to Government estimates, +reach a total of three hundred billion feet, board measure. It is +estimated that during the years 1906-8 the lumber cut in Oregon reached +about two billion feet each year, of which about one fifth was sawed in +Portland. It is asserted, in fact, that Portland is the largest lumber +producing city in the world. Lumbermen believe that it is only a question +of a few years when Portland will cut a billion feet of lumber a year. +While grain and lumber are the great articles of export from Portland, +there are vast totals of fruit, hay, live-stock, dairy and poultry +products, fish, and manufactured articles of many kinds.</p> + +<p>But to the thoughtful traveller it is of more interest to see the use made +of wealth than the wealth itself. Portland now contains about two hundred +thousand people, said to have more per capita wealth than any other city, +with two exceptions, in the United States. What are these people doing +with their accumulations? For answer the traveller visits the schools, the +public buildings, the churches, the stores, the places of amusement, the +homes, and he finds every evidence of taste, good judgment, refinement, +and artistic skill. The Portland Hotel, the <i>Oregonian</i> building, the +Marquam Grand Theatre, the Marquam building, the Chamber of Commerce +building, the Corbett block, the Wells-Fargo building, the First +Congregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Baptist churches and Jewish +Synagogue, the Union Depot, the City Hall, the City Library,—these and +many other structures challenge the admiration of travellers from even the +best-built cities of the East. During the year 1907, building permits were +issued to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> amount exceeding nine million dollars, of which nearly half +was expended for dwelling houses. Portland is indeed a city of homes, and +workingmen own their own houses to an unusual degree.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img85.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Portland in 1908. Mt. St. Helens, Sixty-five Miles Distant.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As the visitor traverses Portland’s streets, he sees amply demonstrated +the propriety of the cognomen, the “Rose City.” Almost every yard boasts +its roses, and on almost every porch the scarlet rambler or some other +climber casts its rich colouring. Soil and climate are said to produce an +ideal combination for the finest grades of roses, as well as of many other +species of flowers. The Portland Fair of 1905 was the means of beautifying +a section of the city near Macley Park. While most of the structures were +of a temporary nature, the unique and interesting Forestry building has +been left, and this is a rare attraction to the Eastern visitor. The two +tasteful and significant groups of statuary, <i>The Coming of the White Men</i> +and <i>Sacajawea</i>, still grace the spot where they were dedicated. Portland +contains many other attractive works of art at available points. Among +these is the Skidmore Fountain, on one of the most crowded thoroughfares +of the city, a real gem of art.</p> + +<p>No visitor to Portland should fail to visit the City Hall and the valuable +and interesting historical collection of the Oregon Historical Society. +Mr. George H. Himes, the Secretary of the Society, has devoted years to +the gathering of this museum of pioneer relics. Some of them are +priceless. Here is the first printing press in Oregon, used for some years +by Rev. H. M. Spalding at the Nez Percé Mission. Here is Mrs. Whitman’s +writing desk. Here is Captain Robert Gray’s sea-chest. The ages of +discovery, of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> the fur-traders, of the missionaries, of the pioneers, are +all lived over again in the inspection of these relics.</p> + +<p>Probably most people who have followed the course of public thought and +action in the West, if asked what agency and what man would first come +into their minds at the mention of the name of Portland, would answer at +once,—“The <i>Oregonian</i> and its editor, Harvey Scott.” This great journal +and its great editor, associated together most of the time for over forty +years, have indeed constituted one of the most potent forces in framing +the thoughts and the institutions of the Columbia River people. It is +frequently said that Harvey Scott and Henry Watterson are the only great +American editors yet remaining of the old type, the type of a personal +intellectual force and a public teacher. The present type of editor is +rather an advertising manager than a political and social leader, a +business man rather than a generator of ideas.</p> + +<p>There are many additional features of interest in and around Portland. +Whether viewed artistically, commercially, financially, socially, or +historically, this fair metropolis of the Columbia River Empire is in a +class by herself. Only by personal acquaintance can the student of the +West satisfy himself as to Portland.</p> + +<p>But once more we must address ourselves to the River. One may go to +Astoria by rail down the southern bank, or he may, if he prefer, as we +certainly do, go by water. He can go by almost every species of boat known +to man, from an ocean steamship to one of the lateen-sailed fishing boats +which abound on the lower River.</p> + +<p>When we have retraced our course to the mouth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span> of the Willamette and have +again committed ourselves to the oceanward flow of the Columbia, we find a +continuance of the same low, oozy, and verdant banks, the same timbered +hills on either side in the middle distance, and the same dominant +snow-peaks and unbroken Cascade Range in the farthest background. We pass +many little towns, whose leading occupations are manifestly lumbering and +fishing. We try to live over again the sensations which we think must have +been felt by Lewis and Clark or Broughton, as they, first of civilised +men, lifted the veil from this solitude.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img86.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Portland Harbour, Oregon.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>In this section of the River there are no stupendous pinnacles as in the +Gorge of the Cascades. Yet the scenery is infinitely varied, and although +less bold, it is, in its way, equally attractive with the loftier scene. +One unique spot attracts the eye, and almost recalls the beauty of Rooster +Rock. This is Mt. Coffin, on the Washington side, near the mouth of the +Cowlitz River. This was one of the “Memaloose” or sepulture places of the +Indians. There in early times their dead, in great numbers, were deposited +upon platforms after the usual Indian fashion.</p> + +<p>After passing the ingress of the Cowlitz, we find the River widening to +yet grander proportions. Islands become numerous. Among these islands not +a few desperate affrays and even tragedies have occurred among warring +fishermen, union against non-union. Lurking among these islands, too, are +numerous unlicensed vendors of spirits. In the uncertainty as to which of +the States may have jurisdiction at places, these illicit traffickers move +from island to island and cove to cove and one overhanging forest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> to +another, evading officers of both States and of Federal Government alike. +Sometime a novelist will be inspired with the poetry and humour and +tragedy and pathos of this fisher life on the lower River, with its +mingling of the life of law-breaker and desperado, and this section of our +River will blossom into literature and find a place with the moonshiners +of the South and the cowboys of the Rockies. All the material is ready. +The River waits only for its Owen Wister or Hamlin Garland or Jack London +to introduce it to the world of readers.</p> + +<p>But the River moves and we must move with it. Many signs indicate to us +that we are approaching the ocean. If we are moving in a small boat, we +may pause to camp under some one of the thick-topped spruce trees whose +stiff spicules pierce our unwary hands like pins. If we should spend a +night we would find the water heaving and falling two, four, or five feet, +with the ocean tides. Broader and broader grows the River. Numerous salmon +canneries and seining stations appear. Passing a fishing village on the +north bank called Brookfield, we notice a very curious rock, Pillar Rock, +in the River a quarter of a mile from shore. It rises forty feet directly +out of the water. We are told by one versed in Indian lore that this is +the transformed body of a chief who tried to imitate the god Speelyei by +wading across the River. For his presumption he was turned into a rock.</p> + +<p>Soon after passing Pillar Rock we see the curious spectacle of a house on +piles apparently right in the middle of the River. More curious still, we +see horses seemingly engaged in drawing a load through the very water +itself. The mystery is soon solved.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> The house is built on a sand-bar. It +is a seining station. The horses are pulling a seine from its moorings at +the point of the sand-bar to the point where its load may be discharged. +Lumber, salmon, and water,—this is the world in which we now live and +move and have our being.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img87.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Fish River Road, in Upper Columbia Region, B. C.<br />Photo. by Trueman, Victoria.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>We next enter a broad expanse of the River, nine miles wide, on the north +side of which is a deep cove. There is the historic spot in which Robert +Gray on May 3, 1792, paused at his highest point to fill his water casks +and to float the Stars and Stripes over Oregon, claimed for the United +States of America. As we look westward, the headlands seem to part in +front of us, and between them sky and water join. The greatest ocean is +before us, though still twenty miles away. The River has reached the end +of his fourteen-hundred-mile journey. Soon we pass, on the Oregon side, +the bold promontory of Tongue Point, and Astoria, the second largest city +on the navigable waters of the Columbia, is before us.</p> + +<p>To the history of this oldest American town west of the Rocky Mountains we +have already referred many times. Interesting in so many features of the +past, Astoria is full of problems and suggestions, commercial and +otherwise, for the present and the future. The city has grown slowly, +always wondering why Portland should have so outstripped her. She +certainly has such a location that it seems a crime not to utilise it for +a great city. The River is here five miles wide. Upon its ample flood all +the navies of the world might ride at anchor, sheltered from the sea by +the long low sand-ridge of Point Adams. The site of the city, though +somewhat rugged<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span> and broken, is entirely capable of reduction to a +convenient grade, and is singularly noble and commanding. From the plateau +three hundred feet high upon which the splendid waterworks are located, is +a view of imposing grandeur;—River in front, dense forest to rear, with +the blue saddle and pinnacled horn of Saddle Mountain,—Swallalochost in +Indian speech, with its thunder-bird of native myth,—and the ocean to the +west. We find Astoria to be a well-built city of about fifteen thousand +permanent inhabitants, with perhaps five or six thousand more during the +height of the fishing season. Almost every resource of industry offers +itself in this favoured region about the mouth of the River. Though the +country is densely timbered in its native state, the soil is such that +when cleared it is of the finest for dairy and vegetable purposes. The +mildness of the climate keeps the clover and grass green and the flowers +in bloom the long year through.</p> + +<p>As might be expected the chief industries as yet developed are lumbering +and fishing. There are magnificent forests of fir, spruce, cedar, and +hemlock, in all directions, while in and around Astoria there are six +immense establishments for transforming the timber into merchantable +lumber. This lumber aggregates something like a hundred and twenty million +feet annually, and it goes to all the ports of the world. There is +occasionally floated to the bar and thence to San Francisco, a log-boom +chained in substantial fashion and containing several million feet of +logs. Such a great boom is one of the most curious sights of the +River-mouth. But transcending all else in importance at Astoria is the +business of canning and drying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span> salmon. What silver is to the Cœur +d’Alene, what wheat is to Walla Walla, what apples are to Hood River, that +salmon are to Astoria. The people think, act, and reason in terms of +salmon. And well they may. He who has not seen Chinook salmon from the +Columbia River has not seen fish. Nay, he cannot even be said to have +really lived in the larger sense of the term. Take a genuine Chinook +salmon of fifty or sixty pounds, caught in June, fat, rich, +glistening,—but words are a mockery. Nothing but the actual experience +will convey the impression. The salmon output on the River has for some +years run from two hundred and fifty thousand to five hundred thousand +cases per year, twenty-four cans to the case. The amount dried and smoked +represents something like an equal amount. This is for the River from +Astoria to The Dalles. The great bulk of this, however, is put up at +Astoria or in its immediate vicinity. It is estimated that from thirty +million to forty million salmon are caught yearly on the Oregon side of +the lower River. This represents a value of four or five million dollars, +about half of this going to the fishermen and half to the cannerymen. Some +ten thousand men are engaged in fishing about the mouth of the River. +These men are largely Finns, Russians, Norsemen, Italians, Sicilians, and +Greeks. They have various co-operative associations and are independent of +the cannerymen, to whom they furnish the fish at some stipulated price, +usually five cents a pound.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img88.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Multnomah Falls, 840 Feet High, on South Side of<br />Columbia River about Sixty Miles above Portland.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>There are many tragedies at the mouth of the River. The best fishing is +just off the Bar and the best time to draw the nets is at the turn of the +tide. In a fishing boat in the chill of the early morning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> the fishermen +will frequently become benumbed and drowsy, and will neglect the critical +moment. When the tide fairly turns on the Bar it runs out like a mill +race, and woe to the boat that waits too long. It goes out to sea, +reappearing perhaps, bottom-up, in the course of the day, with owners and +cargo gone. Some experienced men have asserted that not less than a +hundred fishermen are lost every summer. Many boats are now fitted with +gasoline power, and loss of life is lessened thereby.</p> + +<p>To the visitor at the River’s mouth the fairest sight of all in connection +with the fishing industry is the incoming fleet of boats in the early +morning, or the outgoing fleet of evening. On a June night it scarcely +grows really dark at all, and as the faint glow of the north turns at two +or three o’clock into the morning flush, the lateen sails can be seen like +a flock of gulls on the rim of the ocean. When the full radiance of the +dawn, with its bars of carmine and saffron, has “turned to yellow gold the +salt-green streams,” the fleet is within the outer headlands. Hundreds, +sometimes thousands of them, a regular cloud of them, converge from all +parts of the offing to the wharves of lower Astoria.</p> + +<p>With all its benefits the fishing industry brings almost infinite trouble. +The two States of Oregon and Washington never agree on laws governing the +periods of lawful fishing. Sometimes Federal authorities bear a part in +the imbroglio. Gill-net men, seiners, fish-trap men, union men, non-union +men, local, State, and Federal officials, all combine in one great general +mix-up. In the midst of the confusion the countless salmon pursue their +course up the River and its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span> tributaries in summer, back to the ocean +again in autumn. The Federal Government maintains fish hatcheries on a +number of streams, and from them young salmon to the number of millions +are turned out each year to replenish the diminishing supply.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img89.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Chinook Salmon, Weight 80 Pounds.<br />Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>A great and constantly growing tide of tourists from all parts of the +Willamette Valley and the upper Columbia region go to Astoria during the +summer. The fine steamers, <i>T. J. Potter</i>, <i>Hassalo</i>, <i>Charles D. +Spencer</i>, and others of less size, convey these thousands of tourists to +Astoria, while the railroad from Portland brings yet other thousands. From +Astoria, the North Beach is reached by steamer to Ilwaco, and thence by +rail to all points of the fishhook of land which extends from the northern +headland of the River to the mouth of Willapa Harbour. During the season +this beach is almost a continuous city from Cape Hancock to Leadbetter +Point, twenty miles distant. Clatsop Beach on the south side of the River +is reached by rail from Astoria. Every charm that an ocean resort can +possess has been lavished on these two beaches on either side of the +River. The bathing, boating, climbing, fishing, hunting, clamming, +crabbing,—they are all there. To the population of that part of the River +country east of the Cascades, the transition from the dust and heat of the +summer to the cool and rest and freshness of the beach, with its breath +from six thousand miles of unbroken sea, is almost like a change of scenes +in a play. Both these beaches, especially Clatsop Beach, are the location +of a rich store of Indian legend and romance. “Cheatcos” and “Skookums” +haunt the forests, and the spirits of Tallapus and Nekahni and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span> Quootshoi +have been enthroned on every peak and cape.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>All rivers must reach the sea, and all journeys must end. And so both our +River and our journey find their end in the ocean. From Astoria we can see +the outer headlands and the ocean space between. As we survey this merging +of the Great River with the greater deep, our eyes turn in fancy to that +clear, bright lake, fourteen hundred miles away in the snowy peaks of +British Columbia, from which the River flows. And in imagination we view +again the vistas of lagoons and islands, cliffs and glaciers, lakes and +cañons, plains and forests, through which the Columbia takes its course, +while once more the changing scenes of the historical drama associated +with that splendid waterway are enacted before our eyes.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img90.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Lake Adela, near Head of Columbia River, B. C.<br />Photo. by C. F. Yates.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>But now all these scenes and vistas must be left behind, and we must pass +between the capes. The long sandspit of Point Adams lies on the south, and +the bold rock-promontory of Cape Hancock on the north, seven miles apart, +each crowned with a lighthouse. Between them we secure a view of the great +jetty in course of construction by the Federal Government. This is one of +the most important improvements in connection with the River. When this +work, together with the canal and locks at Celilo, is completed, the River +may be regarded as really navigable on a large scale. The work on the +jetty was inaugurated soon after the jetty-building by Captain Eads at the +mouth of the Mississippi River had drawn the favourable attention of +people and Government to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span> this method of deepening river mouths. The +jetty consists of a double line of piling, filled with rock and mattresses +of woven willows. This constitutes a solid core against which the current +of the River on one side piles the silt, while on the other the ocean +waves pound the sand into a permanent barrier-reef. The philosophy of it +is so to narrow the entrance that the accelerated current of the River +will scour out the channel to an increased depth. Piles have been set in +place by an ingenious system of pneumatic pipes by which compressed air +bores a hole in the sand. Into this hole the pile is dropped, and the +sea-waves in a moment fill in and tamp the sand around it. Thus the ocean +is made to fence itself out. Upon the jetty a railroad has been built, and +a train, loaded with rock and willows, runs out on this every eleven +minutes for dumping material into the space between the piles. Very +gratifying results have already been secured. There is now a depth of +twenty-six feet on the Bar at low water. The crest of the Bar has been cut +much deeper at several narrow points, and this indicates the progress that +may be expected. It is hoped that the completed jetty will maintain a +permanent channel of forty feet at low water. In stormy weather the work +on the jetty is difficult and dangerous. The impact of the Pacific waves +when lashed by a sixty-mile “sou’-wester” is something terrific. Large +sections of piling have been torn out, and much loss has resulted. But +patience and money triumph over all obstacles, and the work goes steadily +on. Some conception of the magnitude of the commerce to be accommodated by +this great work may be formed from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> the fact that in the year 1907 the +freight handled on the lower River by both river and ocean vessels +amounted to 4,251,681 tons, valued at $76,583,804. This is but a fraction +of what will come with the full development of the Columbia Valley and +with the needed improvements to navigation. The Federal Government +maintains life-saving stations on both sides of the River. Many a tale of +daring could these heroes of the beach tell, should we stop to question +them.</p> + +<p>We are at the point of the jetty. The buoys rise and fall behind us. The +horrible blare of the fog-horn sounds across the thunder of the surf, as +we cross the imaginary line from headland to headland. Sea-captains tell +us that ten miles from the River’s mouth—so powerfully does the mighty +current cleave the sea—they can dip up fresh water. But now, to west and +north and south, the deep blue, though crossed by the pale green of the +River water, assures us that we are fairly upon the Bar. The River of the +West is all behind us. If it be very clear, we can just discern upon the +horizon’s verge, cameo-like and glistening white, Mt. Hood, monarch of the +Oregon Cascades, for ever standing guard over the disappearing River.</p> + +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img91.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Bridal Veil Bluff, Columbia River, Ore.<br />Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>As the shore line grows vague, it would not be difficult for the +imagination to conjure up the navigators of the Old World who sailed these +seas, then unknown seas of mystery and romance. Looming up through the +ocean mists we may see strange ships and stranger crews emerge,—junks +with Oriental castaways swept hither by storms and ocean currents; +caravels with the dauntless sailors of the sixteenth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> century; buccaneers +and pirates, a motley flotilla. Then the stout crafts of Drake, Behring, +Heceta, Cook, Malaspina, Valdez, Bodega, Vancouver, La Pérouse; ships of +discovery, of trade, of war, of adventure, of science; flags of Spain, of +Russia, of Portugal, of France, of England;—on they throng from the hazy +Pacific rim toward the Oregon shore. And soon we seem to see, circling +around them, canoes with their red-skinned paddlers from the River’s +mouth. But ships and flags, explorers and natives, fade like a dissolving +view. In their place appears a gallant bark, with banner streaming free. +What ship? What banner? The <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>, and the Stars and +Stripes—the flag that still waves over the land of the Oregon.</p> + +<hr style="width: 25%;" /> + +<p>And now our vessel rises and falls upon the long swell of the Pacific. Our +journey on the Columbia River is ended, and we are upon the open sea.</p> + +<p> </p><p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img92.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p class="center">Band of Kootenai Indians, B. C.<br />Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span></p> +<p class="title">INDEX</p> + + +<p> +<span class="huge">A</span><br /> +<br /> +Abernethy, Clark & Co., builders of steamers on Columbia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Abernethy, George, first Provisional Governor, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +Adams, Mount, origin of, in Indian myth, <a href="#Page_22">22-24</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elevation of, <a href="#Page_358">358</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">caves of, <a href="#Page_359">359</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sport in vicinity, <a href="#Page_360">360</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">structure of, <a href="#Page_361">361-362</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">storm on, <a href="#Page_364">364</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascent of, <a href="#Page_365">365-366</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">views from, <a href="#Page_366">366-368</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Aguilar, Martin, Spanish explorer, <a href="#Page_44">44-45</a><br /> +<br /> +Ainsworth, J. C., first captain of steamer <i>Lot Whitcomb</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">joins new company, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">skill in running rapids, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Albatross</i>, ship connected with Winship enterprise, <a href="#Page_109">109-11</a><br /> +<br /> +American Board of Foreign Missions undertakes work for Oregon Indians, <a href="#Page_145">145</a><br /> +<br /> +Applegate, Jesse, disasters of family on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extract from pioneer address, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Armstrong, Capt. F. P., trip on Kootenai River, <a href="#Page_280">280-281</a><br /> +<br /> +Arrow Lakes, steamboat journey on, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">scenery of, <a href="#Page_293">293</a> <i>et seq.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +Arteaga, voyage on the Alaskan coast, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +Astor, John Jacob, founder of Pacific Fur Co., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes company at Astoria, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his plans and mistakes, <a href="#Page_115">115-116</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Astoria, founding of, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">restored to United States, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">amplitude of harbour, <a href="#Page_389">389</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">scenery of surroundings, <a href="#Page_390">390</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">industries of, <a href="#Page_390">390-391</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fishing fleets, <a href="#Page_392">392</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">resorts adjoining, <a href="#Page_393">393</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Astoria and Columbia River Railroad, <a href="#Page_362">362</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">B</span><br /> +<br /> +Baker, Dr. D. S., railroad builder, <a href="#Page_363">363-364</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Baker, D. S.</i>, the steamer, running the Dalles, <a href="#Page_243">243</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Bailey Gatzert</i>, steamer on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<br /> +Balch, Frederick, his story, <i>The Bridge of the Gods</i>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> +<br /> +Bancroft, H. H., discussion of loss of <i>Tonquin</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> +<br /> +Banff, attraction as a resort, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br /> +<br /> +Bannock Indian War, <a href="#Page_233">233</a><br /> +<br /> +Barlow, S. K., building road across Cascade Mountains, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Barrell, Joseph, originator of fur company at Boston, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +<br /> +Bassett, W. F., first gold discovery in Idaho, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Bateaux, description of, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Baughman, Capt., pilot on Columbia and Snake Rivers, <a href="#Page_241">241</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Beaver</i>, vessel of the Pacific Fur Company, <a href="#Page_123">123-124</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Beaver</i>, first steamship on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Beers, Alanson, members of Executive Committee of Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +“Beeswax Ship,” story of, <a href="#Page_41">41-42</a><br /> +<br /> +Behring, Vitus, explorations on Pacific Coast, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a><br /> +<br /> +Belcher, Sir Edward, expedition to Columbia River, <a href="#Page_164">164</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Belle</i>, steamer on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Benton, Thomas H., expressions in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">special advocate for Oregon, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bishop, B. B., steamboat builder on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span><br /> +Blakeney, Capt., in charge of steamer <i>Isabel</i> on Upper Columbia, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> +<br /> +Blalock, Dr. N. G., connection with large enterprises, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> +<br /> +Blanchet, Rev. F. N., book on Catholic Missions, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">journey to Oregon, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">locates in Willamette Valley, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Blanchet, Rev. Magloire, Catholic Mission at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> +<br /> +Boas, Dr. Franz, investigator of Indian legends, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> +<br /> +Bodega, first voyage, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">later voyage, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bonneville, Capt. E. L. E., organises trading company, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes explorations on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meets Washington Irving, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Bradford, Daniel, steamboat building on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Bradford & Co., steamboat line on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Broughton, Lieut. W. R., in command of the <i>Chatham</i>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">entrance of Columbia River and exploration, <a href="#Page_66">66-67</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">erroneous statements, <a href="#Page_67">67-68</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Buchanan, James, course in regard to boundary of Oregon, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /> +<br /> +Bullfinch, account of American fur-trade, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Burnett, Peter, speech to immigrants, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">governor of California, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">opinion in regard to Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">C</span><br /> +<br /> +Cabinet Rapids, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br /> +<br /> +Cabrillo, navigator on coast of California, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +<br /> +Calhoun, John C., attitude on Oregon question, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">peculiar situation of, <a href="#Page_198">198-199</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cameahwait, chief of Shoshone Indians, meeting with Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">finding Sacajawea, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Canadian boatmen, their skill and gayety, <a href="#Page_132">132-133</a><br /> +<br /> +Canadian Pacific Railroad, route of, over Rocky Mts., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">over Selkirks, <a href="#Page_285">285-286</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">excellence of management, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">steamboats on lakes, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Canadian Rockies, character of, and steepness of descent, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /> +<br /> +Canoes, <a href="#Page_133">133</a><br /> +<br /> +Cape Horn, <a href="#Page_349">349</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Carolina</i>, steamer crossing Columbia Bar, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Cascades, a dividing line, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">historic and physical interest of, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">locks, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first notice of tide, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fish-wheels and spearmen, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cascade Mountains, general description, <a href="#Page_12">12-13</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the great peaks, <a href="#Page_13">13-14</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">valleys on east side, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">valleys on west side, <a href="#Page_15">15-16</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cleft by Columbia River, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cass, Senator, speech in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_199">199</a><br /> +<br /> +Castle Rock, unique appearance, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ascents of, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cave and arrowheads, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Catlin, George, account of Indians who sought “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_138">138</a><br /> +<br /> +Cayuse War, beginning, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">ending, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Celiast, Indian woman, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> +<br /> +Champoeg, meetings for Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_192">192-193</a><br /> +<br /> +Chelan Lake, type of Columbian lakes, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first appearance, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">glacial origin, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">depth of cañon, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">comparison with other scenes, <a href="#Page_300">300-301</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">storms on, <a href="#Page_301">301-302</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sunset on, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Chemeketa, the Indian council ground, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<br /> +Chinook wind, legend of, <a href="#Page_24">24-27</a><br /> +<br /> +Chittenden, Major H. M., book on American fur-trade, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> +<br /> +Choteau, Pierre and Auguste, founding of St. Louis, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Christian Advocate</i>, account of Indians looking for “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Clark, William, lieutenant of exploring party, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Indians think him “medicine man,” <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Indians looking for “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_136">136-137</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Clarke, Gen. N. S., in command of Columbia, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> +<br /> +Clatsop Plains, favourite resort of Indians, <a href="#Page_34">34</a><br /> +<br /> +Clay, Henry, attitude on Oregon question, <a href="#Page_186">186</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span><br /> +Coe, Capt. Lawrence, building steamer <i>Colonel Wright</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of first trip on upper Columbia and Snake Rivers, <a href="#Page_243">243-244</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cœur d’Alene, Lake, as a resort, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its mines, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Colleges founded as result of missions, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Colonel Wright</i>, the steamer, on upper Columbia, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes first trip on upper rivers, <a href="#Page_243">243-244</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Columbia Basin, forces that wrought it, <a href="#Page_6">6-7</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">general description, <a href="#Page_10">10-15</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">climate, <a href="#Page_17">17-18</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Columbia River, many names, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">early attracts attention, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">connection with Kootenai River, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tomanowas bridge, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">damming at Cascades, <a href="#Page_21">21-22</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">discovery by Heceta, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">discovered and named by Robert Gray, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">results of discovery, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first navigation by Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">falls passed by party, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">submerged forests, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">descent by Lewis and Clark, <a href="#Page_84">84-85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first sight by Hunt’s party, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Tonquin</i> on bar, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forts on, <a href="#Page_129">129-131</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">crossing of Bar by the ship, <i>L’Indefatigable</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">descent by immigrants of 1843, <a href="#Page_172">172-174</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of Bar by Provost, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">massacres upon, by Indians, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">steamboat business, <a href="#Page_239">239</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first steamboats on lower part, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on upper part, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">railroads along, <a href="#Page_261">261-262</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">navigability of, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prospective traffic of, <a href="#Page_267">267-269</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">character above Golden, <a href="#Page_278">278</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">character below Golden, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lakes of, <a href="#Page_291">291</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">from Robson to Kettle Falls, <a href="#Page_296">296</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">from Kettle Falls to Wenatchee, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rapids and shores from Wenatchee to Pasco, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">irrigating enterprises, <a href="#Page_323">323-324</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between Pasco and The Dalles, <a href="#Page_328">328-329</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">canal, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">section beginning at The Dalles, <a href="#Page_234">234-236</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">peculiar character at Cascades, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tomanowas bridge, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">compared with other scenes, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appearance below Rooster Rock, <a href="#Page_374">374</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">between Portland and the ocean, <a href="#Page_387">387-389</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">farewell to, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Columbia River Navigation Co., <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Columbia</i>, the steamer, on River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Condon, Professor Thomas, geological theories, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br /> +<br /> +Cook, Capt. James, journey on Oregon coast, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_56">56</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Cortereal, Gaspar, Straits of Anian, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +<br /> +Coxe, account of fur-trade, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +<br /> +Coyote god, fight with Kamiah monster, <a href="#Page_19">19-21</a><br /> +<br /> +Coyote Head, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> +<br /> +Crooks, Ramsay, partner of Pacific Fur Co., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">hard experience with Indians, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Culliby Lake, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +<br /> +Cultee, Charley, Indian story teller, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> +<br /> +Curry, Governor, calling for volunteers, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">D</span><br /> +<br /> +Dalles, The, historical interest of, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">varied resources of, <a href="#Page_330">330-331</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">scenery, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Day, John, treatment by Indians and death, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a><br /> +<br /> +Dayton, Congressman, expressions about Oregon, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +<br /> +Dawson, Professor, explanation of sources of Columbia, <a href="#Page_278">278</a><br /> +<br /> +De Haro at Nootka, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +De May in battle of Pine Creek, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +<br /> +Demers, Rev. Modest, missionary to Indians, <a href="#Page_155">155</a><br /> +<br /> +De Smet, Rev. Pierre J., books on Catholic missions, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Northern Idaho, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Europe for reinforcements, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">crossing Bar, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Disoway, G. P., account of Indians who sought “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Dixson, figures on profits of fur-trade, <a href="#Page_102">102</a><br /> +<br /> +Donation Land Law attracts immigration, <a href="#Page_177">177</a><br /> +<br /> +Dorion, Madame, desperate situation in Blue Mountains, <a href="#Page_126">126</a><br /> +<br /> +Drake, Francis, explorations, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">E</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Eagle</i>, steamer above Cascades, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rescuing victims of Indian war, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Edwards, Rev. P. L., associate missionary, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<br /> +Eells, Rev. Cushing, missionary to Oregon Indians, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">locating at Tshimakain, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Elliott, S. G., first railroad surveys, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> +<br /> +England, difficulty with Spain over Nootka Sound, <a href="#Page_62">62</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">F</span><br /> +<br /> +Farnham, T. J., in command of Peoria party, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">history of Oregon and California, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ferrelo, explorations on the coast, <a href="#Page_43">43</a><br /> +<br /> +Field, mountain resort, <a href="#Page_276">276</a><br /> +<br /> +Fiske, Wilbur, leading missionary movements, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<br /> +Florida Treaty with Spain, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Fonte, extravagant stories, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Fort Clatsop built by Lewis and Clark, <a href="#Page_85">85</a><br /> +<br /> +France, assistance to American colonies, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<br /> +Franchère, Gabriel, history of Pacific Fur Co., <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">founding of Astoria, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of destruction of <i>Tonquin</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Fuca, Juan de, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<br /> +Fur-trade, beginnings, <a href="#Page_56">56-57</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Oregon coast, <a href="#Page_60">60-61</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">connection with discoveries, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">historical importance, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">financial profits of, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">G</span><br /> +<br /> +Gale, Joseph, building of <i>Star of Oregon</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sails to California, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on Executive Committee of Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Gale, William, on ship <i>Albatross</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">extract from journal, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Galiano, voyage around Vancouver Island, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +Garnett, Major, in Yakima War, <a href="#Page_225">225</a><br /> +<br /> +Gaston, Lieutenant, in battle of Pine Creek, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> +<br /> +Gervais, Joseph, location in Oregon, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<br /> +Ghent, Treaty of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a><br /> +<br /> +Gilliam, Cornelius, in Cayuse War, <a href="#Page_201">201</a><br /> +<br /> +Glacier, Canadian resort, <a href="#Page_286">286-287</a><br /> +<br /> +Glacier Lake, <a href="#Page_310">310</a><br /> +<br /> +Glacier Peak, <a href="#Page_311">311</a><br /> +<br /> +Golden on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> +<br /> +Grande Ronde Valley, first view by Hunt Party, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br /> +<br /> +Grant, Captain, attempting to keep back American immigration, <a href="#Page_171">171</a><br /> +<br /> +Gray, Capt. Robert, in command of <i>Lady Washington</i>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as a fur-trader, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">discovers Columbia River, <a href="#Page_64">64</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Gray, W. H., history of Oregon, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">characteristics, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">four sons, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">estimate of population, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_190">190-191</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">steamboat enterprises, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">adventure on Snake River <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Gray, Capt. Wm. P., story of ascent of Snake River, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">trip down Snake River, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Great Britain, claims to Oregon, <a href="#Page_180">180-181</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">H</span><br /> +<br /> +Halhaltlossot, or Lawyer, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> +<br /> +Hallakallakeen (Joseph), summer camp, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> +<br /> +Hard winter of 1861, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Hassalo</i>, the steamer, <a href="#Page_235">235-237</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Hassalo, No. 2</i>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<br /> +Hathaway, Felix, building schooner, <i>Star of Oregon</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Heceta, first voyage, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">discovery of Columbia River, <a href="#Page_52">52-54</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Henry, Andrew, trading post on Snake River, <a href="#Page_108">108-109</a><br /> +<br /> +Hickey, Capt. F., at restoration of Astoria, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Hill, David, on Executive Committee of Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +Hill, J. J., railroad builder, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> +<br /> +Holladay, Ben, president of Oregon Central Railroad, <a href="#Page_259">259</a><br /> +<br /> +Holmes, Oliver W., quotation, <a href="#Page_275">275</a><br /> +<br /> +Hood, Mount, origin of, in Indian myth, <a href="#Page_22">22-24</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first appearance of, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">elevation, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">approach to, <a href="#Page_354">354</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cloud Cap Inn, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">view from, <a href="#Page_356">356</a>;</span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">historic character of view, <a href="#Page_357">357</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appearance from La Camas, <a href="#Page_376">376</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Hood River and Valley, appearance and productions of, <a href="#Page_238">238</a><br /> +<br /> +Howard, General O. O., in Nez Percé War of 1877, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of Joseph, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Hudson’s Bay Company, organisation of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">joined with North-western Fur Co., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">forts, <a href="#Page_128">128</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">boats and boatmen, <a href="#Page_131">131-134</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">policy toward Americans, <a href="#Page_150">150-153</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attitude toward Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">treatment of Dr. McLoughlin, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Hunt, Wilson P., forms land division of Pacific Fur Co., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leader in journey, <a href="#Page_92">92</a> <i>et seq.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">I</span><br /> +<br /> +Idaho, name of, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reached by Lewis and Clark, <a href="#Page_79">79-81</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first steamboat, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">gold discoveries, <a href="#Page_252">252</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">university, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">irrigation systems, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Illecillewaet River, <a href="#Page_287">287</a><br /> +<br /> +Immigration of 1843, beginnings, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Fort Hall, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">constructing flatboats on Columbia, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disasters on River, <a href="#Page_174">174-175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">succoured by Dr. McLoughlin, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">settlement in Willamette Valley, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Indians, sad history, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">myths, <a href="#Page_19">19</a> <i>et seq.</i>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">names, <a href="#Page_31">31-32</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">traders in furs, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Indians’, the three Nez Percé, quest for the “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +<br /> +Indian War of 1855, beginning, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">battle at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unsatisfactory end, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Indian War of 1858, <a href="#Page_225">225</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> +<br /> +Inland Empire, origin, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">general description, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Intelligencer, National</i>, expressions in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +<br /> +Irving, Washington, author of <i>Astoria</i>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">J</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Jason P. Flint</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Jefferson, Thomas, connection with Pacific Coast, <a href="#Page_69">69-70</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">organisation of Lewis and Clark expedition, <a href="#Page_72">72-73</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">instructions to party, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Jenny Clark</i>, steamer on Willamette, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Jetty, at mouth of River, construction, <a href="#Page_395">395</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prospective results, <a href="#Page_396">396</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Joint Occupation Treaty, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Joseph, Indian chief, in Walla Walla council, <a href="#Page_217">217-218</a><br /> +<br /> +Joseph (Hallakallakeen), in great war of 1877, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">captured, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">later life and character, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Joseph War of 1877, <a href="#Page_229">229</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">K</span><br /> +<br /> +Kamiah monster, myth of, <a href="#Page_19">19-21</a><br /> +<br /> +Kamiakin, Yakima chief, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Walla Walla Council, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conspiracy to kill Governor Stevens, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of by Stevens, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">breaking up of treaties, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">new force of warriors, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">apparent success, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kamm, Jacob, engineer on steamer <i>Lot Whitcomb</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Keith, J., at restoration of Astoria, <a href="#Page_125">125</a><br /> +<br /> +Kelley, Hall J., home and character, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">expedition to California and Oregon, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">return to New England, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kelley, Col. J. K., in battle of the Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_221">221</a><br /> +<br /> +Kendrick, Capt. John, in command of the <i>Columbia Rediviva</i>, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in fur-trade, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kettle Falls, historic interest, <a href="#Page_296">296</a><br /> +<br /> +Kennewick, <a href="#Page_227">227</a><br /> +<br /> +Kicking Horse River (Wapta), origin of name, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> +<br /> +Kilbourne, Ralph, builder of <i>Star of Oregon</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a><br /> +<br /> +Kimooenim River, or Snake River, first view by Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> +<br /> +Kip, Lieutenant, account of Walla Walla Council, <a href="#Page_214">214-215</a><br /> +<br /> +Klickitat Indians, legends, <a href="#Page_28">28-30</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">atrocities of, at Cascades, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kobaiway, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_35">35</a><br /> +<br /> +Konapee, story of, <a href="#Page_37">37-39</a><br /> +<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>Kooskooskie River, discovered by the Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">navigation on, by Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kootenai River, character of navigation, <a href="#Page_280">280-281</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bonnington Falls of, <a href="#Page_294">294</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Kootenai Lake, description of, <a href="#Page_295">295-296</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sporting on, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">L</span><br /> +<br /> +La Camas, paper mill, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Ladd, Carrie</i>, steamer on Willamette, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Lamazee, or Lamazu, brings news of destruction of <i>Tonquin</i>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Lark</i>, wreck of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Lausanne</i>, Methodist mission ship, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<br /> +Lawyer, Indian chief favourable to whites, <a href="#Page_214">214-216</a><br /> +<br /> +Le Breton, G. W., part in founding Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Ledyard, John, connection with Jefferson, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">comprehension of fur-trade, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lee, Rev. Daniel, missionary to Indians, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mission at The Dalles, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lee, Rev. Jason, missionary to Indians, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">locating mission at Chemawa, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in the East for reinforcements, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">connection with Ewing Young, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">memorial to Congress, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">influence, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">lecture at Peoria, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">chairman of meeting of settlers, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lewis and Clark expedition, its inception by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">summary by Captain Lewis, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mention of, by Jefferson, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lewis, Jo, part in Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> +<br /> +Lewis, Meriwether, selection by Jefferson for leader of party, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of crossing Divide, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lewiston, founding of, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br /> +<br /> +Linn Senator, presenting memorials to Congress, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his death, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Lisa, Manuel, organises the Missouri Fur Company, <a href="#Page_108">108</a><br /> +<br /> +Looking Glass, famous speech, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Lot Whitcomb</i>, the steamer, on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +Louise, Lake, beauties of, <a href="#Page_274">274</a><br /> +<br /> +Louisiana Purchase, significance, <a href="#Page_71">71</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">M</span><br /> +<br /> +Macbeth, Miss Kate, opinion about Indians who looked for “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_136">136-137</a><br /> +<br /> +Mackenzie, Alexander, expedition to Pacific Coast, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">journey to the Arctic Ocean, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reaches Pacific Ocean, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></span><br /> +<br /> +McBean, Wm., account of Walla Walla Council, <a href="#Page_217">217</a><br /> +<br /> +McCellan, Robert, partner of Pacific Fur Company, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +McClellan, Geo. B., assists Stevens in reconnaissance for Pacific Railroad, <a href="#Page_260">260</a><br /> +<br /> +McDougall, Duncan, smallpox bottle, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">marries daughter of Comcomly, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sells out Company, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></span><br /> +<br /> +McKay, Dr. W. C., physician at Pendleton, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> +<br /> +McKenzie, Donald, partner of Pacific Fur Company, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leads division of party, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sells out Company, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></span><br /> +<br /> +McKinley, Allen, building of steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +McLoughlin, Dr. John, as factor of Hudson’s Bay Company, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reception of Methodist missionaries, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meets the Whitman party of missionaries, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">connection with building <i>Star of Oregon</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sees approaching success of Americans, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">stories connecting him with Americans, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">becomes an American citizen, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">land troubles, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sadness of old age, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">summary of character, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Maldonado, extravagant stories, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">map, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Maquinna, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_202">202</a><br /> +<br /> +Martinez, voyage on coast of Oregon, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Mary</i>, steamer on Upper Columbia, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rescues victims of Indian war, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on her regular route, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span><br /> +Mazama Club, influence of, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br /> +<br /> +Meares, Capt. John, English explorer, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">voyages to Oregon Coast, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at mouth of Columbia, <a href="#Page_59">59-60</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Meek, Jo, part in founding Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Memaloose Island, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> +<br /> +Miller, Joseph, partner of Pacific Fur Company, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +Minto, John, account of founding of Provisional Government, <a href="#Page_190">190</a><br /> +<br /> +Montcachabe, Indian who first crossed the continent, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Moody, Mary</i>, steamer, first steamer on Pend Oreille Lake, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br /> +<br /> +Moody, Z. F., builds steamer, <a href="#Page_245">245</a><br /> +<br /> +Moorehouse, Major Lee, Indian photographer, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> +<br /> +Morigeau, Baptiste, pioneer on Lake Windermere, <a href="#Page_283">283</a><br /> +<br /> +Moscow, site of University of Idaho, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> +<br /> +Moses, Indian chief, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Mountain Buck</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Mountaineers’ Club, purpose and location, <a href="#Page_353">353</a><br /> +<br /> +Mowry, Wm., report of speech by Nez Percé Indian, <a href="#Page_139">139</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Multnomah</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Multnomah Falls, <a href="#Page_348">348</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">N</span><br /> +<br /> +Nekahni, Mt., location of, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">beauty of, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the “treasure ship,” <a href="#Page_40">40-41</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Nelson, metropolis of the Kootenai, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fruit industries of, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">mines of, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transportation of, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Nesmith, J. W., extract on immigration of 1843, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of Indian guide, Sticcus, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in Indian War of 1855, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Nez Percé Indians, origin of, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first meeting with Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">looking for “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Nootka Sound, discovery of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">important centre, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">as a cause of dispute between England and Spain, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br /> +<br /> +North Bank Railroad, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">cost of, <a href="#Page_377">377</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">bridge, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></span><br /> +<br /> +North-west Fur Company, organisation, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">unites with Hudson’s Bay Company, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">in possession of Columbia Basin, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">O</span><br /> +<br /> +Oak Point founded by Winship brothers, <a href="#Page_110">110</a><br /> +<br /> +Ogden, Peter Skeen, ransoms survivors of Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Okanogan</i>, the steamer, first to run Tumwater Falls, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> +<br /> +Okanogan Indians, story of, <a href="#Page_284">284-285</a><br /> +<br /> +Oneonta Gorge, <a href="#Page_347">347</a><br /> +<br /> +Oregon, name of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a><br /> +<br /> +Oregon Question, its complicated and momentous character, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co. organised, <a href="#Page_246">246</a><br /> +<br /> +Oregon Short Line Railroad, <a href="#Page_262">262</a><br /> +<br /> +Oregon Steam Navigation Co. organised, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">development of business, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its portages, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sells out, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Oregon Transportation Co. organised, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Oregonian</i>, newspaper, influence of, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> +<br /> +Osborne, Mr., escape from Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_207">207</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">P</span><br /> +<br /> +Pacific Fur Co., organisation of, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">its dissolution, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Paha Cliffs, <a href="#Page_336">336</a><br /> +<br /> +Pakenham, British envoy, and his course in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_199">199-200</a><br /> +<br /> +Pambrun, Pierre, instructed Indians in Catholic faith, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Parker, Rev. Samuel, in Oregon to investigate condition of Indians, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his traits, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">book, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Pasco, lands around, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">prospects of, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Patriot, Illinois</i>, report of the Indians looking for “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Peacock</i>, ship of Wilkes Expedition lost on Columbia Bar, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span><br /> +Pearce, E. D., connection with discovery of gold in Idaho, <a href="#Page_252">252</a><br /> +<br /> +Pearson, express rider, rides to notify Stevens of Great Yakima War, <a href="#Page_219">219-220</a><br /> +<br /> +Pendleton, its industries and some of its citizens, <a href="#Page_319">319-320</a><br /> +<br /> +Peoria party of immigrants, <a href="#Page_163">163</a><br /> +<br /> +Perez, voyage of, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<br /> +Perkins, Rev. H. K. W., mission at The Dalles, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<br /> +Peupeumoxmox, Indian chief in war of 1855, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">leads force to Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">killed, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Polk, President, management of Oregon Question, <a href="#Page_199">199-200</a><br /> +<br /> +Poppleton, Irene Lincoln, article in <i>Oregon Historical Quarterly</i>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<br /> +Portland developed by discovery of gold in California, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">location, <a href="#Page_381">381</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">transportation facilities, <a href="#Page_382">382</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">commerce, <a href="#Page_382">382-383</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">buildings, <a href="#Page_384">384</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">artistic character of, <a href="#Page_385">385</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Historical Society, <a href="#Page_385">385-386</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Potter, T. J.</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<br /> +Priest Rapids, character of, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">origin of name, <a href="#Page_322">322</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">power for pumping, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Provisional Government, origin of, <a href="#Page_190">190-192</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">organisation of, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">officers of, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">state house for, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Provost, J. B., at restoration of Astoria, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">agent of United States for receiving Astoria from Great Britain, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes Columbia Bar, <a href="#Page_182">182-183</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Pullman, site of State College, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">R</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Raccoon</i>, British man-of-war at Astoria, <a href="#Page_124">124</a><br /> +<br /> +Railroad Creek, scenery about, <a href="#Page_309">309-310</a><br /> +<br /> +Rainier, Mt., origin of name, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> +<br /> +Rector, Wm., road across Cascade Mountains, <a href="#Page_176">176</a><br /> +<br /> +Revelstoke, character as a junction, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><br /> +<br /> +Rock Island Rapids, <a href="#Page_321">321</a><br /> +<br /> +Roosevelt, Theodore, view of Calhoun’s policy in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reference to Columbia River, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Rooster Rock, appearance of, <a href="#Page_349">349-350</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">River below, <a href="#Page_375">375</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Rosalia, monument of Steptoe, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> +<br /> +Ross, Alexander, adventure in Yakima country, <a href="#Page_126">126-127</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">narration of profits in fur-trade, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on blowing up of <i>Tonquin</i>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Ruckle and Olmstead put steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Russia, entrance upon American exploration, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">S</span><br /> +<br /> +Sacajawea, with Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">sees the whale, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">finds her brother, Cameahwait, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> +<br /> +St. Helens, Mt., origin of, in Indian myth, <a href="#Page_22">22-24</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Joe River, its beauties, <a href="#Page_297">297</a><br /> +<br /> +St. Peter’s Dome, <a href="#Page_346">346</a><br /> +<br /> +Salmon River, Lewis and Clark party at the head of, <a href="#Page_79">79</a><br /> +<br /> +Saltese, Cœur d’Alene chief, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>San José</i>, ship connected with Indian story, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +<br /> +Scott, Harvey, character and influence as an editor, <a href="#Page_386">386</a><br /> +<br /> +Sea-otter, importance in the fur-trade, <a href="#Page_100">100</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Señorita</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Shakspere, his location of Caliban and Ariel in the Far West, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +Shaw, Col. B. F., battle of Grande Ronde, <a href="#Page_222">222</a><br /> +<br /> +Shepard, Rev. Cyrus, missionary to Indians, <a href="#Page_141">141</a><br /> +<br /> +Sheridan, battle at Cascades, <a href="#Page_22">22</a><br /> +<br /> +Shoshone Indians, meeting with Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_76">76-78</a><br /> +<br /> +Shuswap Indians, story of, <a href="#Page_284">284-285</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Sierra Nevada</i>, the steamship, its cargo of treasure, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> +<br /> +Simpson, S. L., extract from poem of, <a href="#Page_380">380</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, Rev. A. B., minister to Oregon Indians, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Kamiah, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span><br /> +Smith, J. C., connection with gold mines in Idaho, <a href="#Page_253">253</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, Jedediah, American trapper thought to have taught religion to Indians, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Smith, William, mate on <i>Albatross</i>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br /> +<br /> +Snake River, orchards of, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">heat, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">irrigation systems of, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shoshone Falls of, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Snow-peaks, general group of, <a href="#Page_353">353</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">zones of, <a href="#Page_370">370-372</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Snickster, adventure in Steptoe expedition, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> +<br /> +Sowles, Capt. Cornelius, character of, <a href="#Page_116">116</a><br /> +<br /> +Spain, connection with Oregon exploration, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">downfall, <a href="#Page_48">48-49</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">settlement of California, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">favouring conditions for exploration, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conflict with England over Nootka, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">character of claims to Oregon, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Spalding, Rev. H. H., in Oregon as missionary, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his traits of character, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">among Nez Percés, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">first printing press west of Rocky Mountains, <a href="#Page_152">152</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Spalding, Mrs. H. H., characteristics, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Speelyei, Indian god, struggle with Wishpoosh, <a href="#Page_8">8-9</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">creates Indian tribes, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Spencer Chas. D.</i>, steamer on Columbia, <a href="#Page_248">248</a><br /> +<br /> +Spokane, remarkable character as a city, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">water power of Falls, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">grandeur as spectacle, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">railway system, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Spokane House, location of, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> +<br /> +Spotted Eagle, remarkable speech, <a href="#Page_223">223</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Star of Oregon</i>, schooner built on Willamette River, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">trip to San Francisco, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Stark, Benjamin, in steamboat business, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Statesman, Washington</i>, extracts in regard to Idaho mines, <a href="#Page_255">255-256</a><br /> +<br /> +Stehekin River, cañon of, <a href="#Page_303">303</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rainbow Falls of, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Horseshoe Basin of, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Steptoe, Col. E. J., dissension with Stevens, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">fort at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">disastrous expedition to Spokane, <a href="#Page_225">225</a> <i>et seq.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +Stevens, Hazard, account of Walla Walla Council, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +Stevens, I. I., appointed Governor of Washington, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes treatise, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Council at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">goes to northern country to make treaties, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">describes Kamiakin, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">makes treaty with Flatheads, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">returns to Olympia, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">organises volunteers, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">second Council at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">trouble with Steptoe, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">trouble with Wool, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">battle at Walla Walla, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">reconnaissance for railroad in 1853, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Sticcus, Indian guide of immigrants, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tries to save the Whitman Mission, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Stuart, David, founding of Fort Okanogan, <a href="#Page_121">121</a><br /> +<br /> +Stump, Capt. T. J., on first steamer down Tumwater Falls, <a href="#Page_242">242</a><br /> +<br /> +Sturgis, profits of fur-trade, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +<br /> +Sutter, Captain, connection with discovery of gold, <a href="#Page_250">250</a><br /> +<br /> +Swan, data on income of furs, <a href="#Page_103">103</a><br /> +<br /> +Swift, Jonathan, placing of Gulliver near the coast of Oregon, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">T</span><br /> +<br /> +“Takhoma, Mt.,” origin of name, <a href="#Page_32">32</a><br /> +<br /> +Tallapus, Indian deity, <a href="#Page_33">33</a><br /> +<br /> +Tamahas, part in Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> +<br /> +Tamsaky, in Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">killed, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Taylor, Captain, part in battle of Pine Creek, <a href="#Page_226">226</a><br /> +<br /> +Telaukait, part in Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Tenino</i>, the steamer, value of its business, <a href="#Page_239">239</a><br /> +<br /> +Tetons, Three, first seen by Hunt party, <a href="#Page_81">81</a><br /> +<br /> +Thompson, David, crossing the continent, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Astoria, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">remains of his fort on Lake Windermere, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Thompson, R. R., builds steamer <i>Colonel Wright</i>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span><br /> +Thorn, Jonathan, disposition as captain of <i>Tonquin</i>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tyrannical course in entering Columbia River, <a href="#Page_117">117-118</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Thornton, J. Quinn, description of Oregon State House, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +Timothy, Nez Percé Indian guide to Steptoe’s command, save command, <a href="#Page_226">226-227</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Tonquin</i>, fitting out for Astoria, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">entrance of Columbia River, <a href="#Page_118">118-119</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">destroyed by Indians, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">account of capture, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Touchet Valley, adaptability to orchards, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> +<br /> +Trappers, two general classes of, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Treaty with England in regard to Oregon, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Trevett, Vic, tomb of, <a href="#Page_337">337</a><br /> +<br /> +Troup, Capt. James, skill in running rapids, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">on <i>D. S. Baker</i> over The Dalles, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">U</span><br /> +<br /> +Umatilla Plains first seen by the Hunt expedition, <a href="#Page_94">94</a><br /> +<br /> +Umatilla Rapids, singular character of, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> +<br /> +Union Transportation Co. organised, <a href="#Page_237">237</a><br /> +<br /> +United States, character of claims to Oregon, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">notifies Great Britain to regain Astoria, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">V</span><br /> +<br /> +Valdez, circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, <a href="#Page_55">55</a><br /> +<br /> +Vancouver, Capt. George, as English commissioner, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">equipment for exploration, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at mouth of Columbia River, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">meets Gray, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Columbia Bar, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Vancouver Island, location of important explorations, <a href="#Page_56">56-57</a><br /> +<br /> +Vancouver, Fort, its condition as a Hudson’s Bay post, <a href="#Page_128">128-129</a><br /> +<br /> +Vancouver, city of historic interest, <a href="#Page_376">376</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">scenery, <a href="#Page_377">377</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<i>Venture</i>, the steamer, carried over Cascades, <a href="#Page_236">236</a><br /> +<br /> +Verendrye, first European to enter Rocky Mountains, <a href="#Page_70">70</a><br /> +<br /> +Villard, Henry, first arrival in Oregon, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">railroad on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">financial disasters, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Vizcaino, commander of Spanish fleet of exploration, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<br /> +Von Holst, opinion in regard to Calhoun’s management of the Oregon matter, <a href="#Page_198">198</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">W</span><br /> +<br /> +Walker, Rev. Elkanah, missionary to Oregon Indians, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">at Tshimakain, <a href="#Page_151">151</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Walker’s Prairie, location of first church, <a href="#Page_315">315</a><br /> +<br /> +Walker, Wm., account of Indians who sought the “Book of Life,” <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Walla Walla, Fort, arrival at, by immigrants of 1843, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> +<br /> +Walla Walla City, historic nature of, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">appearance and surroundings, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Whitman Mission, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Walla Walla Council of Stevens with Indians, <a href="#Page_213">213</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> +<br /> +Wallowa Lake, beauty and historic interest of, <a href="#Page_320">320</a><br /> +<br /> +Wallula, <a href="#Page_328">328</a><br /> +<br /> +Wapatoo Island, first seen by Lewis and Clark party, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">description of, <a href="#Page_378">378</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Wapta River, <a href="#Page_277">277</a><br /> +<br /> +<i>Wasco</i>, steamer built on Columbia, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rescues victims of Indian War, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">under new management, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Washington, State, evidences of development, <a href="#Page_314">314</a> <i>et seq.</i>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">views of, from Mt. Adams, <a href="#Page_366">366</a> <i>et seq.</i></span><br /> +<br /> +Washington Territory, created by Congress, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">volunteers for Indian War, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Washougal, historic interest of, <a href="#Page_375">375</a><br /> +<br /> +Webster, Daniel, attitude on Oregon question, <a href="#Page_186">186-187</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">inclined to yield to England, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Wehatpolitan, story of, <a href="#Page_345">345</a><br /> +<br /> +Wenatchee, interest as an irrigated region, <a href="#Page_314">314</a><br /> +<br /> +Whitcomb, Lot, builds steamer of same name, <a href="#Page_235">235</a><br /> +<br /> +White, Dr. Elijah, in Oregon in 1837 as Indian agent, <a href="#Page_142">142</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span><br /> +White, Capt. Lew, commands steamer <i>Colonel Wright</i> on trip up Columbia, <a href="#Page_243">243-244</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">launches steamer <i>Forty-nine</i> on Columbia, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Whitman, Dr. Marcus, entrance upon work for Oregon Indians, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">popularity with trappers, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">return to New York, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">marriage and return to Oregon, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">his appearance and character, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">getting waggon across continent, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">among Cayuses, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">conception of value of Oregon, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">journey in midwinter to St. Louis, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">helps organise immigration of 1843, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">guides immigrants, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">doctors Indians for measles, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assassinated, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">connection with Dr. McLoughlin, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Whitman, Mrs. Narcissa, appearance and qualities, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">her death, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Whitman massacre, <a href="#Page_206">206-208</a><br /> +<br /> +Whitman College, <a href="#Page_319">319</a><br /> +<br /> +Whitman County, agricultural resources of, <a href="#Page_316">316</a><br /> +<br /> +White Salmon River and Valley, <a href="#Page_338">338</a><br /> +<br /> +Wilkes, Lieut. Chas., commands expedition to Columbia River, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">establishes idea of unity of Pacific Coast, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">assists in equipping schooner <i>Star of Oregon</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">advice to settlers about a government, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Willamette River, scenery around mouth, <a href="#Page_378">378</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">tributaries and Valley, <a href="#Page_380">380</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">apostrophe to, by S. L. Simpson, <a href="#Page_380">380</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Willamette Valley, general view, <a href="#Page_15">15</a><br /> +<br /> +Willamette University grows out of mission to Indians, <a href="#Page_143">143</a><br /> +<br /> +Williams in the Steptoe retreat, <a href="#Page_228">228</a><br /> +<br /> +Windermere Lake, <a href="#Page_280">280</a><br /> +<br /> +Winship brothers, project for trading company on Columbia River, <a href="#Page_109">109-113</a><br /> +<br /> +Wishpoosh, the Beaver, Indian legend, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +Wool, Gen. J. E., discord with Stevens, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a><br /> +<br /> +Wright, Colonel, campaign against Spokane Indians, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a><br /> +<br /> +Wyeth, Nathaniel, takes Methodist missionary party across continent in 1834, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">commendation by Lowell, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">plans great enterprise on Columbia, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">builds fort at mouth of Willamette, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">attracts attention to Oregon, <a href="#Page_163">163</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">Y</span><br /> +<br /> +Yakima Valley, productive capacity of, <a href="#Page_325">325</a><br /> +<br /> +Yaktana, Indian chief in adventure with Ross, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +<br /> +Young, Ewing, in California, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">drives cattle to Oregon, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">death of, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class="huge">Z</span><br /> +<br /> +Zaltieri, map of America, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +</p> + + +<p> </p><p><a name="maps" id="maps"></a> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img93tmb.jpg" alt="COLUMBIA RIVER ENTRANCE" /><br /> +<a href="images/img93.jpg"><small>Larger Image</small></a></div> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/img94tmb.jpg" alt="THE COLUMBIA RIVER And Surrounding Country" /><br /> +<a href="images/img94.jpg"><small>Larger Image</small></a></div> +<p> </p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<div class="vertsbox"> +<p class="center"><span class="giant"><i>American Waterways</i></span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Romance of the Colorado River</span></p> + +<p class="note">The Story of its Discovery in 1540, with an account of the Later +Explorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through +the Line of the Great Canyons.</p> + +<p class="center">By Frederick S. Dellenbaugh</p> +<p class="center">Member of the United States Colorado River Expedition of 1871 and 1872</p> +<p class="center"><i>435 pages, with 200 Illustrations, and Frontispiece in Color. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>“His scientific training, his long experience in this region, and his eye +for natural scenery enable him to make this account of the Colorado River +most graphic and interesting. No other book equally good can be written +for many years to come—not until our knowledge of the river is greatly +enlarged.”—<i>The Boston Herald.</i></p> + +<p>“Mr. Dellenbaugh writes with enthusiasm and balance about his chief, and +of the canyon with a fascination that make him disinclined to leave it, +and brings him thirty years later to its description with undiminished +interest.”—<i>New York Tribune.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Ohio River</span></p> +<p class="center">A COURSE OF EMPIRE</p> +<p class="center">By Archer B. Hulbert<br /> +Associate Professor of American History, Marietta College,<br />Author of +“Historic Highways of America,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>390 pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>An interesting description from a fresh point of view of the international +struggle which ended with the English conquest of the Ohio Basin, and +includes many interesting details of the pioneer movement on the Ohio. The +most widely read students of the Ohio Valley will find a unique and +unexpected interest in Mr. Hulbert’s chapters dealing with the Ohio River +in the Revolution, the rise of the cities of Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and +Louisville, the fighting Virginians, the old-time methods of navigation, +etc.</p> + +<p>“A wonderfully comprehensive and entirely fascinating book.”—<i>Chicago +Inter-Ocean.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">Narragansett Bay</span></p> +<p class="center"><i>Its Historic and Romantic Associations and Picturesque Setting</i></p> +<p class="center">By Edgar Mayhew Bacon<br /> +Author of “The Hudson River,” “Chronicles of Tarrytown,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>340 pages, with 50 Drawings by the Author,<br />and with Numerous Photographs and a Map. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>Impressed by the important and singular part played by the settlers of +Narragansett in the development of American ideas and ideals, and strongly +attracted by the romantic tales that are inwoven with the warp of history, +as well as by the incomparable setting the great bay affords for such a +subject, the author offers this result of his labor as a contribution to +the story of great American Waterways, with the hope that his readers may +be imbued with somewhat of his own enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>“An attractive description of the picturesque part of Rhode Island. Mr. +Bacon dwells on the natural beauties, the legendary and historical +associations, rather than the present appearance of the shores.”—<i>N. Y. +Sun.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Great Lakes</span></p> +<p class="center"><i>Vessels That Plough Them, Their Owners, Their Sailors, and Their Cargoes;<br /> +together with A Brief History of Our Inland Seas</i></p> +<p class="center">By James Oliver Curwood</p> +<p class="center"><i>With about 80 Full-page Illustrations, $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>This profusely illustrated book, as entertaining as it is informing, has +the twofold advantage of being written by a man who knows the Lakes and +their shores as well as what has been written about them. The general +reader will enjoy the romance attaching to the past history of the Lakes +and not less the romance of the present—the story of the great commercial +fleets that plough our inland seas, created to transport the fruits of the +earth and the metals that are dug from the bowels of the earth. To the +business man who has interests in or about the Lakes, or to the +prospective investor in Great Lakes enterprises, the book will be found +suggestive. Comparatively little has been written of these fresh-water +seas, and many of his readers will be amazed at the wonderful story which +this volume tells.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The St. Lawrence River</span></p> +<p class="center"><i>Historical—Legendary—Picturesque</i></p> +<p class="center">By George Waldo Browne<br /> +Author of “Japan—the Place and the People,” “Paradise of the Pacific,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>385 pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>While the St. Lawrence River has been the scene of many important events +connected with the discovery and development of a large portion of North +America, no attempt has heretofore been made to collect and embody in one +volume a complete and comprehensive narrative of this great waterway. This +is not denying that considerable has been written relating to it, but the +various offerings have been scattered through many volumes, and most of +these have become inaccessible to the general reader.</p> + +<p>This work presents in a consecutive narrative the most important historic +incidents connected with the river, combined with descriptions of some of +its most picturesque scenery and delightful excursions into to its +legendary lore. In selecting the hundred illustrations care has been taken +to give as wide a scope as possible to the views belonging to the river.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Niagara River</span></p> +<p class="center">By Archer Butler Hulbert<br /> +Professor of American History, Marietta College;<br />author of “The Ohio +River,” “Historic Highways of America,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>350 pages, with 70 Illustrations and Maps. $3,50 net</i></p> + +<p>Professor Hulbert tells all that is best worth recording of the history of +the river which gives the book its title, and of its commercial present +and its great commercial future. An immense amount of carefully ordered +information is here brought together into a most entertaining and +informing book. No mention of this volume can be quite adequate that fails +to take into account the extraordinary chapter which is given to +chronicling the mad achievements of that company of dare-devil bipeds of +both sexes who for decades have been sweeping over the Falls in barrels +and other receptacles, or who have gone dancing their dizzy way on ropes +or wires stretched from shore to shore above the boiling, leaping water +beneath.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Hudson River</span></p> +<p class="center">FROM OCEAN TO SOURCE</p> +<p class="center"><i>Historical—Legendary—Picturesque</i></p> +<p class="center">By Edgar Mayhew Bacon<br /> +Author of “Chronicles of Tarrytown,” “Narragansett Bay,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>600 Pages, with 100 Illustrations,<br />including a Sectional Map of the Hudson River. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>“The value of this handsome quarto does not depend solely on the +attractiveness with which Mr. Bacon has invested the whole subject, it is +a kind of footnote to the more conventional histories, because it throws +light upon the life and habits of the earliest settlers. It is a study of +Dutch civilization in the New World, severe enough in intentions to be +accurate, but easy enough in temper to make a great deal of humor, and to +comment upon those characteristic customs and habits which, while they +escape the attention of the formal historian, are full of +significance.”—<i>Outlook.</i></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Connecticut River</span><br /> +AND THE<br /> +<span class="huge">Valley of the Connecticut</span></p> +<p class="center">THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES FROM MOUNTAIN TO SEA</p> +<p class="center"><i>Historical and Descriptive</i></p> +<p class="center">By Edwin Munroe Bacon<br /> +Author of “Walks and Rides in the Country Round About Boston,” etc.</p> +<p class="center"><i>500 Pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net</i></p> + +<p>From ocean to source every mile of the Connecticut is crowded with +reminders of the early explorers, of the Indian wars, of the struggle of +the Colonies, and of the quaint, peaceful village existence of the early +days of the Republic. Beginning with the Dutch discovery, Mr. Bacon traces +the interesting movements and events which are associated with this chief +river of New England.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">The Columbia River</span></p> +<p class="center"><i>Its History—Its Myths—Its Scenery—Its Commerce</i></p> +<p class="center">By William Denison Lyman<br /> +Professor of History in Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington</p> +<p class="center"><i>Fully Illustrated</i></p> + +<p>This is the first effort to present a book distinctively on the Columbia +River. It is the intention of the author to give some special prominence +to Nelson and the magnificent lake district by which it is surrounded. As +the joint possession of the United States and British Columbia, and as the +grandest scenic river of the continent, the Columbia is worthy of special +attention.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p><strong><i>In Preparation:</i></strong></p> + +<p><i>Each will be fully illustrated and will probably be published at $3.50 +net</i></p> + +<p><span class="huge">1.—Inland Waterways</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">By Herbert Quick</span></p> + +<p><span class="huge">2.—The Mississippi River</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">By Julius Chambers</span></p> + +<p><span class="huge">3.—The Story of the Chesapeake</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">By Ruthella Mory Bibbins</span></p> + +<p><span class="huge">4.—Lake George and Lake Champlain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">By W. Max Reid</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;">Author of “The Mohawk Valley,” “The Story of Old Fort Johnson,” etc.</span></p></div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Columbia River, by William Denison Lyman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COLUMBIA RIVER *** + +***** This file should be named 39388-h.htm or 39388-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/8/39388/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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