{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_39388/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_39388","id":"gutenberg_39388","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39388","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Environmental Issues","Category: History - Other","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Columbia River","Columbia River -- Description and travel","Columbia River -- History"],"text":"Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n  The Columbia River\n\n  Its History, Its Myths,\n  Its Scenery, Its Commerce\n\n\n  By William Denison Lyman\n  Professor of History in Whitman College,\n  Walla Walla, Washington\n\n\n  _With 80 Illustrations and a Map_\n\n\n  G. P. Putnam's Sons\n  New York and London\n  The Knickerbocker Press\n  1909\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1909\n  BY\n  G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS\n\n  The Knickerbocker Press, New York\n\n\n\n\n  TO MY PARENTS\n  Horace Lyman and Mary Denison Lyman\n  PIONEERS OF 1849, WHO BORE THEIR PART IN LAYING THE\n  FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION UPON THE BANKS OF\n  THE COLUMBIA, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED\n  BY THE AUTHOR\n\n\n\n\n    I see the living tide roll on,\n    It crowns with rosy towers\n    The icy capes of Labrador,\n    The Spaniard's land of flowers;\n    It streams beyond the splintered ridge\n    That parts the northern showers.\n    From eastern rock to sunset wave,\n    The Continent is ours.\n                              HOLMES.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nAs one of the American Waterways series, this volume is designed to be a\nhistory and description of the Columbia River. The author has sought to\nconvey to his reader a lively sense of the romance, the heroism, and the\nadventure which belong to this great stream and the parts of the\nNorth-west about it, and he has aimed to breathe into his narrative\nsomething of the spirit and sentiment--a spirit and sentiment more easily\nrecognised than analysed--which we call \"Western.\" With this end in view,\nhis treatment of the subject has been general rather than detailed, and\npopular rather than recondite. While he has spared no pains to secure\nhistorical accuracy, he has not made it a leading aim to settle\ncontroverted points, or to present the minutiae of historical research and\ncriticism. In short, the book is rather for the general reader than for\nthe specialist. The author hopes so to impress his readers with the\nmajesty of the Columbia as to fill their minds with a longing to see it\nface to face.\n\nFrequent reference in the body of the book to authorities renders it\nunnecessary to name them here. Suffice it to say that the author has\nconsulted the standard works of history and description dealing with\nOregon--the old Oregon--and its River, and from the voluminous matter\nthere gathered has selected the facts that best combine to make a\nconnected and picturesque narrative. He has treated the subject\ntopically, but there is a general progression throughout, and the\nendeavour has been to find a natural jointure of chapter to chapter and\nera to era.\n\nWhile the book has necessarily been based largely on other books, it may\nbe said that the author has derived his chief inspiration from his own\nobservations along the shores of the River and amid the mountains of\nOregon and Washington, where his life has mainly been spent, and from\nfamiliar conversations in the cabins of pioneers, or at camp-fires of\nhunters, or around Indian tepees, or in the pilot-houses of steamboats. In\nsuch ways and places one can best catch the spirit of the River and its\nhistory.\n\nThe author gladly takes this opportunity of making his grateful\nacknowledgments to Prof. F. G. Young, of Oregon University, for his\nkindness in reading the manuscript and in making suggestions which his\nfull knowledge and ripe judgment render especially valuable. He wishes\nalso to express his warmest thanks to Mr. Harvey W. Scott, editor of the\n_Oregonian_, for invaluable counsel. Similar gratitude is due to Prof.\nHenry Landes of Washington University for important assistance in regard\nto some of the scientific features of the first chapter.\n\nW. D. L.\n\n  WHITMAN COLLEGE,\n    WALLA WALLA, WASH.,\n      1909.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n  PART I.--THE HISTORY\n\n  CHAPTER I\n    THE LAND WHERE THE RIVER FLOWS                                       3\n\n  CHAPTER II\n    TALES OF THE FIRST WHITE MEN ALONG THE COAST                        33\n\n  CHAPTER III\n    HOW ALL NATIONS SOUGHT THE RIVER FROM THE SEA AND HOW THEY\n    FOUND IT                                                            43\n\n  CHAPTER IV\n    FIRST STEPS ACROSS THE WILDERNESS IN SEARCH OF THE RIVER            69\n\n  CHAPTER V\n    THE FUR-TRADERS, THEIR BATEAUX, AND THEIR STATIONS                  98\n\n  CHAPTER VI\n    THE COMING OF THE MISSIONARIES TO THE TRIBES OF THE RIVER          136\n\n  CHAPTER VII\n    THE ERA OF THE PIONEERS, THEIR OX-TEAMS, AND THEIR FLATBOATS       159\n\n  CHAPTER VIII\n    CONFLICT OF NATIONS FOR POSSESSION OF THE RIVER                    179\n\n  CHAPTER IX\n    THE TIMES OF TOMAHAWK AND FIREBRAND                                202\n\n  CHAPTER X\n    WHEN THE \"FIRE-CANOES\" TOOK THE PLACE OF THE LOG-CANOES            234\n\n  CHAPTER XI\n    ERA OF THE MINER, THE COWBOY, THE FARMER, THE BOOMER, AND THE\n    RAILROAD-BUILDER                                                   249\n\n  CHAPTER XII\n    THE PRESENT AGE OF EXPANSION AND WORLD COMMERCE                    265\n\n\n  PART II.--A JOURNEY DOWN THE RIVER\n\n  CHAPTER I\n    IN THE HEART OF THE CANADIAN ROCKIES                               273\n\n  CHAPTER II\n    THE LAKES FROM THE ARROW LAKES TO CHELAN                           290\n\n  CHAPTER III\n    IN THE LAND OF WHEAT-FIELD, ORCHARD, AND GARDEN                    313\n\n  CHAPTER IV\n    WHERE RIVER AND MOUNTAIN MEET, AND THE TRACES OF THE BRIDGE\n    OF THE GODS                                                        332\n\n  CHAPTER V\n    A SIDE TRIP TO SOME OF THE GREAT SNOW-PEAKS                        352\n\n  CHAPTER VI\n    THE LOWER RIVER AND THE OCEAN TIDES                                374\n\n\n  INDEX                                                                399\n\n\n\n\nILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n                                                                      PAGE\n\n  ST. PETER'S DOME, COLUMBIA RIVER, 2300 FEET HIGH          _Frontispiece_\n    Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.\n\n  MOUNT ADAMS FROM THE SOUTH                                            74\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  CAPT. ROBERT GRAY                                                     76\n\n  THE \"COLUMBIA REDIVIVA\"                                               76\n\n  MOUNT HOOD FROM LOST LAKE                                             82\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  ELIOT GLACIER, MT. HOOD                                               84\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  ASTORIA IN 1845                                                      116\n    From an old print.\n\n  ASTORIA, LOOKING UP AND ACROSS THE COLUMBIA RIVER                    116\n    Photo. by Woodfield.\n\n  ONE OF THE LAGOONS OF THE UPPER COLUMBIA RIVER, NEAR GOLDEN B. C.    120\n    Photo. by C. F. Yates, Golden.\n\n  SADDLE MOUNTAIN, OR SWALLALOCHORT NEAR ASTORIA, FAMOUS IN INDIAN\n  MYTH                                                                 120\n    Photo. by Woodfield.\n\n  STEAMER \"BEAVER,\" THE FIRST STEAMER ON THE PACIFIC, 1836             124\n\n  PORTLAND, OREGON, IN 1851                                            124\n    From an old print.\n\n  GRAVE OF MARCUS WHITMAN AND HIS ASSOCIATE MARTYRS AT WAIILATPU       210\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  CAYUSE BABIES--1                                                     212\n    Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.\n\n  CAYUSE BABIES--2                                                     212\n    Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.\n\n  COL. B. F. SHAW, WHO WON THE BATTLE OF GRANDE RONDE IN 1856          222\n    By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.\n\n  FORT SHERIDAN ON THE GRANDE RONDE, BUILT BY PHILIP SHERIDAN IN\n  1855                                                                 224\n    By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.\n\n  TULLUX HOLLIQUILLA, A WARM SPRINGS INDIAN CHIEF, FAMOUS IN THE\n  MODOC WAR AS A SCOUT FOR U. S. TROOPS                                228\n    By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.\n\n  HALLAKALLAKEEN (EAGLE WING) OR JOSEPH, THE NEZ PERCE CHIEF           230\n    By T. W. Tolman.\n\n  CAMP OF CHIEF JOSEPH ON THE NESPILEM, WASH.                          232\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  TIRZAH TRASK, A UMATILLA INDIAN GIRL--TAKEN AS AN IDEAL OF\n  SACAJAWEA                                                            234\n    Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.\n\n  OREGON PIONEER IN HIS CABIN                                          256\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  OLD PORTAGE RAILROAD AT CASCADES IN 1860                             258\n\n  A LOG-BOOM DOWN THE RIVER FOR SAN FRANCISCO                          258\n    Photo. by Woodfield.\n\n  LUMBER MILL AND STEAMBOAT LANDING AT GOLDEN, B. C.                   260\n    Photo. by C. F. Yates.\n\n  A TYPICAL LUMBER CAMP                                                262\n    Photo. by Trueman.\n\n  A LOGGING RAILROAD, NEAR ASTORIA                                     264\n    Photo. by Woodfield.\n\n  NATURAL BRIDGE, KICKING HORSE OR WAPTA RIVER, AND MT. STEPHEN,\n  B. C.                                                                276\n    Photo. by C. F. Yates.\n\n  SUNRISE ON COLUMBIA RIVER, NEAR WASHOUGAL                            276\n    Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.\n\n  LAKE WINDERMERE, UPPER COLUMBIA, WHERE DAVID THOMPSON'S FORT\n  WAS BUILT IN 1810                                                    280\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  MT. BURGESS AND EMERALD LAKE, ONE OF THE SOURCES OF THE WAPTA\n  RIVER, B. C.                                                         282\n    Photo. by C. F. Yates.\n\n  BONNINGTON FALLS IN KOOTENAI RIVER, NEAR NELSON                      284\n    Photo. by Allan Lean.\n\n  BRIDGE CREEK, A TRIBUTARY OF LAKE CHELAN, WASH.                      286\n    Photo. by F. N. Kneeland, Northampton, Mass.\n\n  KOOTENAI LAKE, FROM PROCTOR, B. C.                                   288\n    Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.\n\n  LOWER ARROW LAKE, B. C.                                              290\n    Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.\n\n  BRIDAL VEIL FALLS ON COLUMBIA RIVER                                  292\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  SHOSHONE FALLS, IN SNAKE RIVER, 212 FEET HIGH                        294\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  LAKE PEND OREILLE, IDAHO                                             296\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  LAKE COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO                                            296\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  THE \"SHADOWY ST. JOE,\" IDAHO                                         298\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  ON THE COEUR D'ALENE RIVER, IDAHO                                    300\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  GORGE OF CHELAN RIVER, THE OUTLET OF LAKE CHELAN                     302\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  HEAD OF LAKE CHELAN--LOOKING UP STEHEKIN CANYON                      304\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  CASCADE PASS AT HEAD OF STEHEKIN RIVER, WASH.                        306\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  DOUBTFUL LAKE, CASCADE RANGE, WASHINGTON, NEAR LAKE CHELAN           308\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane, Wash.\n\n  HORSESHOE BASIN THROUGH A ROCK GAP, STEHEKIN CANYON                  310\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  LAKE CHELAN                                                          312\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  A HARVEST OUTFIT, DAYTON, WASH.                                      314\n    _Sunset Magazine._\n\n  A COMBINED HARVESTER, NEAR WALLA WALLA                               314\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  INLAND EMPIRE SYSTEM'S POWER PLANT, NEAR SPOKANE, 20,000\n  HORSE-POWER                                                          316\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  LOWER SPOKANE FALLS                                                  316\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  CANYON OF THE STEHEKIN, NEAR LAKE CHELAN                             318\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  MEMORIAL BUILDING, WHITMAN COLLEGE, WALLA WALLA                      320\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  STARTING THE PLOUGHS IN THE WHEAT LAND, WALLA WALLA, WASH.           322\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.\n\n  ON THE HISTORIC WALLA WALLA RIVER                                    324\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  BLALOCK FRUIT RANCH OF A THOUSAND ACRES AT WALLA WALLA, WASH.        326\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  WITCH'S HEAD, NEAR OLD WISHRAM VILLAGE. THE INDIAN SUPERSTITION\n  IS THAT THESE EYES WILL FOLLOW ANY UNFAITHFUL WOMAN                  328\n    By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse.\n\n  CABBAGE ROCK, FOUR MILES NORTH OF THE DALLES                         330\n    Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.\n\n  EAGLE ROCK, JUST ABOVE SHOSHONE FALLS IN SNAKE RIVER                 332\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  STEHEKIN CANYON, 5000 FEET DEEP                                      334\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  STEAMER \"DALLES CITY,\" DESCENDING THE CASCADES OF THE COLUMBIA       336\n\n  MEMALOOSE ISLAND, COLUMBIA RIVER                                     338\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  HORSESHOE BASIN NEAR LAKE CHELAN, WASH.                              340\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  CASTLE ROCK, COLUMBIA RIVER                                          342\n    Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.\n\n  THE LYMAN GLACIER AND GLACIER LAKE IN NORTH STAR PARK, NEAR\n  LAKE CHELAN                                                          344\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  HUNTERS ON LAKE CHELAN, WITH THEIR SPOILS                            346\n    Photo. by W. D. Lyman.\n\n  A MORNING'S CATCH ON THE TOUCHET, NEAR DAYTON, WASH.                 346\n    _Sunset Magazine._\n\n  ONEONTA GORGE--LOOKING IN                                            348\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  CAPE HORN, COLUMBIA RIVER--LOOKING UP                                350\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.\n\n  LOOKING UP THE COLUMBIA RIVER FROM THE CLIFF ABOVE MULTNOMAH\n  FALLS, ORE.                                                          352\n    Copyright, 1902, by Kiser Photograph Co.\n\n  SPOKANE FALLS AND CITY, 1886                                         354\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  SPOKANE FALLS AND CITY, 1908                                         354\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  IN THE HEART OF THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS, ABOVE LAKE CHELAN, WASH.      360\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.\n\n  BIRCH-TREE CHANNEL, UPPER COLUMBIA, NEAR GOLDEN, B. C.               362\n    Photo by C. F. Yates, Golden.\n\n  TYPICAL MOUNTAIN MEADOW, STEHEKIN VALLEY, WASH.                      364\n    Photo. by T. W. Tolman.\n\n  HIGH SCHOOL, WALLA WALLA, WASH.                                      366\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.\n\n  LAKE CHELAN                                                          368\n    Photo. by F. N. Kneeland.\n\n  ON THE BANKS OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER, NEAR HOOD RIVER                  370\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  ROOSTER ROCK, COLUMBIA RIVER--LOOKING UP                             372\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.\n\n  BAND OF ELK ON W. P. RESER'S RANCH, WALLA WALLA, WASH.               374\n    Photo. by W. D. Chapman.\n\n  OREGON CITY IN 1845                                                  376\n    From an old print.\n\n  FORT VANCOUVER IN 1845                                               376\n\n  LONE ROCK, COLUMBIA RIVER, ABOUT FIFTY MILES EAST OF PORTLAND        378\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.\n\n  WILLAMETTE FALLS, OREGON CITY, ORE.                                  380\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  AMONG THE BIG SPRUCE TREES, NEAR ASTORIA, OREGON                     382\n    Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.\n\n  PORTLAND IN 1908. MT. ST. HELENS SIXTY-FIVE MILES DISTANT            384\n\n  PORTLAND HARBOUR, OREGON                                             386\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.\n\n  FISH RIVER ROAD IN UPPER COLUMBIA REGION, B. C.                      388\n    Photo. by Trueman, Victoria.\n\n  MULTNOMAH FALLS, 840 FEET HIGH, ON SOUTH SIDE OF COLUMBIA RIVER\n  ABOUT SIXTY MILES ABOVE PORTLAND                                     390\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.\n\n  CHINOOK SALMON, WEIGHT 80 POUNDS                                     392\n    Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria.\n\n  LAKE ADELA, NEAR HEAD OF COLUMBIA RIVER, B. C.                       394\n    Photo. by C. F. Yates.\n\n  BRIDAL VEIL BLUFF, COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON                            396\n    Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.\n\n  BAND OF KOOTENAI INDIANS, B. C.                                      398\n    Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.\n\n  MAPS                                                            _At End_\n\n\n\n\nPART I\n\nThe History\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nThe Land where the River Flows\n\n    Contrasts--The Two Islands--Uplift--Volcanic Action--Flood--Age of\n    Ice--Story of Wishpoosh and Creation of the Tribes--Outline of the\n    Mountain Systems--Peculiar Interlocking of the Columbia and the\n    Kootenai--The Cascade Range--The Inland Empire--The Valleys West of\n    the Cascade Mountains--The Forests--The Climate--The Native Races and\n    Some of their Myths--Story of the Kamiah Monster--The Tomanowas Bridge\n    at the Cascades--Origin of Three Great Mountains--The Chinook\n    Wind--Myths of the Unseen Life--Klickitat Story of the Spirit\n    Baby--Beauty of the Native Names.\n\n\nWonderfully varied though rivers are, each has a physiognomy of its own.\nEach preserves its characteristics even in the midst of constant\ndiversity. We recognise it, as we recognise a person in different changes\nof dress. The Ohio has one face, the Hudson another, and each keeps its\nessential identity. The traveller would not confuse the Rhine with the\nDanube, or the Nile with the Volga.\n\nEven more distinctive than most rivers in form and feature is the\nColumbia, the old Oregon that now hears far other sounds than \"his own\ndashings,\" the River of the West, the Thegayo, the Rio de los Reyes, the\nRio Estrachos, the Rio de Aguilar, the many-named river which unites all\nparts of the Pacific North-west. It is to its records of romance and\nheroism, of legend and history, as well as to its alternating scenes of\nstormy grandeur and tranquil majesty that the reader's attention is now\ninvited. Though among the latest of American rivers to be brought under\nthe control of civilised men, the Columbia was among the earliest to\nattract the interest of the explorers of all nations, and the struggles of\ninternational diplomacy over possession were among the most momentous in\nhistory. The distance of the Columbia from the centres of population and\nthe difficulty of reaching it made its development slow, and for this\nreason its pioneer stage lasted longer than would otherwise have been the\ncase. In this part of its history there was a record of pathos, tragedy,\nand achievement not surpassed in any of the annals of our country, while,\nin its later phases, the North-west has had the sweep and energy of growth\nand power characteristic of genuine American development. Finally, by\nreason of scenic grandeur, absorbing interest of physical features, the\nmajesty and mystery of its origin in the greatest of American mountains,\nthe swift might of its flow through some of the wildest as well as some of\nthe most beautiful regions of the globe, and at the last by the peculiar\ngrandeur of its entrance into the greatest of the oceans, this \"Achilles\nof Rivers\" attracts alike historian, scientist, poet, statesman, and lover\nof nature.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"A land of old upheaven from the abyss,\" a land of deepest deeps and\nhighest heights, of richest verdure here, and barest desolation there, of\ndense forest on one side, and wide extended prairies on the other; a land,\nin brief, of contrasts, contrasts in contour, hues, productions, and\nhistory;--such is that imperial domain watered by the Columbia River and\nits affluents. To the artist, the poet, the scientist, and the sportsman,\nthis region presents noble and varied scenes of shore, of mountain, of\nriver, of lake, while to the romancer and historian it offers a wealth of\nnative legend and of record from the heroic ages of American history.\n\nAs a fit introduction to the picture of the land as it now appears, there\nmay be presented a brief record of the manner in which it was wrought into\nits present form. Professor Thomas Condon of Oregon thought that the first\nland to rise on the Pacific Coast was composed of two islands, one in the\nregion of the Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California and Southern\nOregon, and the other in the heart of what are now the Blue Mountains and\nSaw-tooth Mountains of North-eastern Oregon, South-eastern Washington, and\nWestern Idaho. Other geologists have doubted the existence of the second\nof these two islands.\n\nThose islands, if both existed, were the nuclei of the Pacific Coast\nregion. The rock consisted of the earlier granite, sandstone, and\nlimestone crust of the earth. For long ages these two islands, washed by\nthe warm seas of that early age, and bearing a life now found in the\ntropics, were slowly rising and widening their boundaries in all\ndirections.\n\nNext, or perhaps as early, to respond to the pressure of the shrinking\ncrust of the earth and to appear above the sea, was the vast cordon of\npinnacled peaks which compose the present Okanogan and Chelan uplift,\ngranite and porphyry, broken by volcanic outflow. These peaks are veined\nwith gold, silver, and copper.\n\nThat first age of mountain uplift was ended by the coming on of the age of\nfire. The granite upheaval of the Blue and the Cascade Mountains was blown\napart and cracked asunder by volcanic eruption and seismic force. A vast\noutflow of basalt and andesite swept westward from the Blue Mountains to\nmeet a similar outflow moving eastward from the Cascades. Thus, throughout\nthe Columbia Basin, the surface is mainly of volcanic rock overlying the\nshattered fragments of the original earth crust. At many points, however,\nthe primeval granite or sandstone surface was not covered, while at\nfrequent intervals the breaking forth of the fiery floods transformed\nthose original rocks into various forms of gneiss, porphyry, and marble.\nBut the greatest result of the age of volcanic outflow was the elevation\nof the stupendous isolated snow peaks which now constitute so striking a\nfeature of Columbian landscapes.\n\nWith the close of the age of fire, the mountain chains were in place, as\nthey now stand, but the plains and valleys were not yet fashioned. Another\nseries of forces must needs come to elaborate the rude outlines of the\nland. And so came on the third great age, the age of flood. The upheaval\nof the mingled granite and volcanic masses of the Cascade and Blue\nMountains, while at the same time the Rockies were undergoing the same\nprocess, imprisoned a vast sea over the region now known by Westerners as\nthe Inland Empire. In the depths of this sea the sediment from a thousand\ntorrents was deposited to fashion the smooth and level valleys of the\nYakima, the Walla Walla, the Spokane, and lesser streams, while a similar\nprocess fashioned the valleys of the Willamette and other streams between\nthe Cascades and the Coast Mountains westward.\n\nBut while the age of flood was shaping the great valley systems, a fourth\nage--the age of ice--was working still other changes upon the plastic\nland. The mountains had been reared by upheaval and volcanic outflow to a\nstupendous height. Then they became glaciated. The whole Northern\nHemisphere, in fact, took on the character of the present Greenland.\nEnormous glaciers descended the flanks of the mountains, gouging and\nploughing out the abysmal canyons which now awe the beholder, and scooping\nout the deeps where Chelan, Coeur d'Alene, Pend Oreille, Kaniksu, and\nother great lakes delight the vision of the present day.\n\nSuch were the forces that wrought the physical features of the land where\nthe River flows. We do not mean to convey the impression that there was a\nsingle age of each, and that they followed each other in regular\nchronological order. As a matter of fact there were several eras of each,\ninterlocked with each other: upheaval, fire, flood, and frost. But as the\nresultant of all, the Columbia Basin assumed its present form. The great\nforces which have thus fashioned this land manifested themselves on a\nscale of vast energy. Evidences of upheaval, fire, flood, and glacier are\nexhibited on every side, and these evidences constitute a testimony of\ngeological history of the most interesting nature. Long before this record\nof the rocks had found a white reader, the native red man had read the\nopen pages, and interpreted them in the light of his ardent fancy.\n\nThe Indian conception of the flood, involving also that of the creation\nof the native tribes, is one of the most fantastic native legends. This is\nthe story of the great beaver, Wishpoosh, of Lake Kichelos. According to\nthis myth the beaver Wishpoosh inhabited that lake on the summit of the\nCascade Mountains, the source of the Yakima River.\n\nIn the time of the Watetash (animal people) before the advent of men, the\nking beaver, Wishpoosh, of enormous size and voracious appetite, was in\nthe evil habit of seizing and devouring the lesser creatures and even the\nvegetation. So destructive did he become that Speelyei, the coyote god of\nthe mid-Columbia region, undertook to check his rapacities.\n\nThe struggle only made the monster more insatiate, and in his wrath he\ntore out the banks of the lake. The gathered floods swept on down the\ncanyon and formed another great lake in the region now known as the\nKittitas Valley.\n\nBut the struggle between Wishpoosh and Speelyei did not end, and the\nformer in his mad fury went on thrashing around in this greater lake. For\na long time the rocky barriers of the Umtanum restrained the flood, but at\nlast they gave way before the onslaughts of the wrathful beaver, and the\nloosened waters swept on down and filled the great basin now occupied by\nthe fruit and garden ranches of the Cowiche, Natchees, and Atahnum. In\nlike fashion the restraining wall at the gap just below Yakima city was\ntorn out, and a yet greater lake was formed over all the space where we\nnow see the level plains of the Simcoe and Toppenish. The next lake formed\nin the process covered the yet vaster region at the juncture of the\nYakima, Snake and Columbia rivers. For a long time it was dammed in by\nthe Umatilla highlands, but in process of time it, too, was drained by the\nbursting of the rocky wall before the well-directed attacks of Wishpoosh.\nThe yet greater lake, the greatest of all, now formed between the Umatilla\non the east and the Cascade Mountains on the west. But even the towering\nwall of the Cascades gave way in time and the accumulated floods poured on\nwithout further hindrance to the open sea.\n\nThus was the series of great lakes drained, the level valleys left, and\nthe Great River suffered to flow in its present course. But there is a\nsequel to the story of the flood. For Wishpoosh, being now in the ocean,\nlaid about him with such fury that he devoured the fish and whales and so\nthreatened all creation that Speelyei perceived that the time had come to\nend it all. Transforming himself into a floating branch, he drifted to\nWishpoosh and was swallowed. Once inside the monster, the wily god resumed\nhis proper size and power; and with his keen-edged knife proceeded to cut\nthe vitals of the belligerent beaver, until at last all life ceased, and\nthe huge carcass was cast up by the tide on Clatsop beach, just south of\nthe mouth of the Great River. And now what to do with the carcass?\nSpeelyei solved the problem by cutting it up and from its different parts\nfashioning the tribes as each part was adapted. From the head he made the\nNez Perces, great in council and oratory. From the arms came the Cayuses,\npowerful with the bow and war-club. The Klickitats were the product of the\nlegs, and they were the runners of the land. The belly was transformed\ninto the gluttonous Chinooks. At the last there was left an indiscriminate\nmass of hair and gore. This Speelyei hurled up the far distance to the\neast, and out of it sprung the Snake River Indians.\n\nSuch is the native physiography and anthropogenesis of the land of the\nOregon.\n\nIf now one could rise on the pinions of the Chinook wind (the warm south\nwind of the Columbia Basin, of which more anon), and from the southern\nsprings of the Owyhee and the Malheur could wing his way to the snowy\npeaks in British Columbia, from whose fastnesses there issues the foaming\ntorrent of Canoe River, the most northerly of all the tributaries of the\nGreat River, he would obtain, in a noble panorama, a view of the land\nwhere the River flows, in its present aspect, as fashioned by the\nelemental forces of which we have spoken. But not to many is it given thus\nto be \"horsed on the sightless couriers of the air,\" and we must needs use\nimagination in lieu of them. Even a map will be the safest guide for most.\nInspection of the map will show that the distance to which we have\nreferred covers twelve degrees of latitude, while the distance from the\nsource of the Snake River in the Yellowstone National Park to the Pacific\nrequires a span of fifteen degrees of longitude. The south-eastern part of\nthis vast area occupying Southern Idaho is mainly an arid plain; arid,\nindeed, in its natural condition, but, when touched by the vivifying\nwaters in union with the ardent sun, it blossoms like a garden of the\nLord. Upon these vast plains where the volcanic dust has drifted for ages,\nnow looking so dismal in their monotonous garb of sage-brush, the millions\nof the future will some time live in peace and plenty, each under his own\nvine and apple-tree. On the eastern boundary, all the way from Western\nWyoming to Eastern British Columbia, stand cordons of stupendous\nmountains, the western outposts of the great Continental Divide. These\nconstitute one spur after another, from whose profound canyons issues river\nafter river to swell the torrents of the turbid and impetuous Snake on its\nthousand-mile journey to join the Columbia. Among these tributary streams\nare the Payette, the Boise, the Salmon, and the Clearwater. Yet farther\nnorth, beyond the system of the Snake, are the Bitter Root, the Missoula,\nthe Pend Oreille, the Spokane, and the Kootenai (we follow here the\nAmerican spelling, the Canadian being Kootenay), with almost innumerable\naffluents, draining the huge labyrinths of the Bitter Root Mountains and\nthe Silver Bow.\n\nThus our northward flight carries us to the international boundary in\nlatitude 49 degrees.\n\nFar beyond that parallel stretches chain after chain of divisions of the\ngreat Continental Range, the Selkirks, the Gold Range, Purcell's Range,\nsky-piercing heights, snow-clad and glaciated. Up and down these\ninterlocking chains the Columbia and the Kootenai, with their great lakes\nand unexplored tributaries, seem to be playing at hide-and-seek with each\nother. These rivers form here one of the most singular geographical\nphenomena of the world, for so strangely are the parallel chains of\nmountains tilted that the Kootenai, rising in a small lake on the western\nflank of the main chain of the Canadian Rockies and flowing south, passes\nwithin a mile of the source of the Columbia at Columbia Lake, separated\nonly by a nearly level valley. Connection, in fact, is so easy that a\ncanal once joined the two rivers. From that point of contact the Kootenai\nflows far south into Idaho, then makes a grand wheel to the north-west,\nforming Kootenai Lake on the way, then wheeling again in its tortuous\ncourse to the west, it joins the greater stream in the midst of the\nmajestic mountain chains which stand guard over the Arrow Lakes. And\nmeanwhile where has the Columbia itself been journeying? After the parting\nfrom the Kootenai it flows directly north-west between two stupendous\nchains of mountains. Reaching its highest northern point in latitude 52\ndegrees, where it receives the Canoe River, which has come two hundred\nmiles or more from the north, it turns sharply westward, finding a\npassageway cleft in the mountain wall. Thence making a grand wheel toward\nthe south, it casts its turbid floods into the long expanse of the Arrow\nLakes, from which it emerges, clear and bright, soon to join the Kootenai.\nAnd how far have they journeyed since they parted? The Columbia about six\nhundred miles, and the Kootenai hardly less, though having passed within a\nmile of each other, flowing in opposite directions.\n\nIt will be readily seen from this description that the mountains which\nfeed the Columbian system of rivers on the east and north, are of singular\ngrandeur and interest. But now as we bear our way southward again we\ndiscover that another mountain system, yet grander and of more curious\ninterest, forms the western boundary of the upper Columbia Basin. This is\nthe Cascade Range. Sublime, majestic, mysterious, this noble chain of\nmountains, with its tiaras of ice, its girdles of waterfalls, its\ndraperies of forest, its jewels of lakes, must make one search long to\nfind its parallel in any land for all the general features of mountain\ncharm. But over and beyond those more usual delights of the mountains,\nthe Cascade Range has a unique feature, one in which it stands unrivalled\namong all the mountains of the earth, with the exception possibly of the\nAndes. This is the feature of the great isolated snow peaks, stationed\nlike sentinels at intervals of from thirty to sixty miles all the way from\nthe British line to California. There is nothing like this elsewhere on\nthe North American continent. The Sierras of California are sublime, but\ntheir great peaks are not isolated monarchs like those of the Cascades.\nThe high Sierras are blended together in one mountain wall, in which no\nsingle peak dominates any wide extended space. But in the long array of\nthe Cascades, five hundred miles and more from the international boundary\nto the California line, one glorious peak after another uplifts the banner\nand sets its regal crown toward sunrise or sunset, king of earth and air\nto the border where the shadow of the next mountain monarch mingles with\nits own. Hence these great Cascade peaks have an individuality which gives\nthem a kind of living personality in the life of any one who has lived for\nany length of time within sight of them.\n\nFrom the north, moving south, we might gaze at these great peaks, and find\nno two alike. Baker--how much finer is the native name, Kulshan, the Great\nWhite Watcher--first on the north; Shuksan next, the place where the\nstorm-winds gather, in the native tongue; then Glacier Peak, with its\ngirdle of ice, thirteen great glaciers; Stewart next with its dizzy horn\nof rock set in a field of snow; then the great king-peak of all, Rainier,\nbetter named by the natives, Takhoma, the fountain breast of milk-white\nwaters; and after this, Adams, or in the Indian, Klickitat, with St.\nHelens or Loowit near at hand on the west; then, across the Great River,\nHood or Wiyeast, with its pinnacled crest; next southward, Jefferson with\nits sharp chimney whose top has never yet been touched by human foot; yet\nbeyond, the marvellous group of the Three Sisters, each with its separate\npersonality and yet all together combining in one superb whole; then Mt.\nScott, Mt. Thielson, Diamond Peak, Mt. Pitt, and with them we might well\ninclude the truncated cone of Mt. Mazama, once the lordliest of the chain,\nbut by some mighty convulsion of nature, shorn of crown and head, and now\nbearing on its summit instead the most singular body of water, Crater\nLake, on all the American continent.\n\nFifteen is the number of the great peaks named, but there are dozens of\nlesser heights, snow-crowned and regal. The great Cascade chain is,\ntherefore, the noblest and most significant feature of the topography of\nthe land of the Columbia. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Cascades\nlies what is locally known as the Inland Empire, mainly a continuous\nprairie or series of prairies and valleys, wheat land, orchard land,\ngarden land, fertile, beautiful, attractive, broken by an occasional\nmountain spur, as the irregular mass of the Blue Mountains, but\nsubstantially an inhabited land, reaching from Colville, Spokane, and the\nOkanogan on the north to the Klamath valleys on the south, a region five\nhundred miles long by two hundred wide, a goodly land, one difficult to\nexcel in all the potentialities of use for human needs.\n\nSuch are the distinguishing features of the Columbia Basin on the east\nside of the Cascade Mountains.\n\nTo the west of those mountains is another vast expanse of interior\nvalleys, not so large indeed and not more fertile, but even more\nbeautiful, and by reason of earlier settlement and contiguity to the\nocean, better developed.\n\nThis series of valleys is enclosed between the Cascade Mountains and the\nCoast Range, and in a general way parallels the Inland Empire already\ndescribed. But this statement should be qualified by the explanation that\nNorth-western Washington consists of the Puget Sound Basin, which is a\ndistinct geographical system, while South-western Oregon consists of the\nUmpqua and Rogue River valleys, and these valleys though commercially and\npolitically a part of the Columbia system, are geographically separate,\nsince they debouch directly into the Pacific Ocean. There is left,\ntherefore, for the Columbia region proper west of the Cascade Mountains,\nthe Willamette Valley in Oregon, and the valleys of the Lewis, Kalama, and\nCowlitz in Washington, with several smaller valleys on each side. The\nWillamette Valley is the great distinguishing feature of this part of the\nColumbia Basin. A more attractive region is hard to find. Mountains\nsnow-clad and majestic, the great peaks of the Cascades already described,\nguard it on the east, while westward the gentler slopes of the Coast Range\nseparate it from the sea. Between the two ranges lies the valley, two\nhundred miles long by about a hundred broad, including the foot-hills, a\nsuccession of level plains, oak-crowned hills, and fertile bottoms. Not\nGreece nor Italy nor the Vale of Cashmere can surpass this earthly\nparadise in all the features that compose the beautiful and grand in\nnature.\n\nGeologists tell us that this Willamette region was once a counterpart of\nPuget Sound, only with less depth of water, and that, as the result of\ncenturies of change, the old-time Willamette Sound has become the\nWillamette Valley. It has now become the most thickly settled farming\nregion of the Columbia Basin, and, as its fitting metropolis, Portland\nsits at the gateway of the Willamette and Columbia, the \"Rose City,\"\nhandsomest of all Western cities, to welcome the commerce of the world.\n\nThe valleys on the Washington side of the Columbia make up together a\nregion of great beauty, fertility, and productiveness, perhaps a hundred\nmiles square, and, though yet but partially developed, contain many\nbeautiful homes.\n\nThe larger part of the Columbia Valley west of the Cascade Mountains is,\nin its natural state, densely timbered. Here are found \"the continuous\nwoods where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound but his own dashings.\"\nThese great fir, spruce, cedar, and pine forests, extending a thousand\nmiles along the Pacific Coast from Central California to the Straits of\nFuca (and indeed they continue, though the trees gradually diminish in\nsize, for nearly another thousand miles up the Alaska coast), constitute\nthe world's largest timber supply. The demands upon it have been\ntremendous during the past twenty years, and the stately growths of\ncenturies have vanished largely from all places in the near vicinity of\nshipping points. Yet one can still find primeval woods where the coronals\nof green are borne three hundred feet above the damp and perfumed earth,\nand where the pillars of the wood sustain so continuous a canopy of\nfoliage that the sunlight is stopped or filters through only in pale and\nwatery rays. Hence all manner of vines and shrubs grow with almost tropic\nprofusion, though with weak and straggling stems.\n\nThroughout the entire Pacific North-west the soil is of extraordinary\nfertility. It is largely of volcanic dust as fine as flour and seems to\ncontain the constituents of plant life in inexhaustible abundance. Even in\nthe arid belts of Eastern Oregon, where to the eye of the stranger the\nappearance is of a hopeless waste, those same elements of plant food\nexist, and with water every manner of tree or vine or flower bursts\nquickly into perfect life.\n\nThe climate of the Columbia Basin is a puzzle to the stranger, but in most\nof its aspects it quickly becomes an equal delight. As is well known, the\nJapan ocean current exercises upon the Pacific Coast an effect similar to\nthat of the Gulf Stream on Ireland and England. Hence the states of the\nColumbia Valley are much warmer in winter than regions of the same\nlatitude on the Atlantic Coast or in the Mississippi Valley. Though the\naverage temperature is higher, yet it is cooler in summer on the Pacific\nCoast than on the Atlantic. The Pacific climate has much less of extremes.\nThe State of Washington has about the same isothermal line as North\nCarolina. There is, however, another feature of the Columbia climate not\nso well known to non-residents, which is worthy of a passing paragraph.\nThis is the division of the country by the Cascade Mountains into a humid\nwestern section and a dry eastern one. The mountain wall intercepts the\nlarger part of the vapour rising from the Pacific and flying eastward, and\nthese warm masses of vapour are condensed by the icy barrier and fall in\nrain on the western side. Hence Western Oregon and Washington are damp and\nsoft, with frequent clouds and fogs. The rainfall, though varying much, is\nin most places from forty to fifty inches a year. But east of the mountain\nwall which has \"milked the clouds,\" the air is clear and bright, the sun\nshines most of the year from cloudless skies, and there seems to be more\nof tingle and electricity in the atmosphere. The rainfall ranges from ten\nto thirty inches, and in the drier parts vegetation does not flourish\nwithout irrigation.\n\nAny view of primeval Oregon would be incomplete without a glimpse of the\nnative race, that melancholy people, possessed of so many interesting and\neven noble traits, whose sad lot it has mainly been to struggle against\nthe advent of a civilisation which they could not understand nor resist,\nand before which they have melted away in pitiful impotency. But they have\nat least had the highest dignity of defeat, for they have died fighting.\nThey have realised the conception of the Roman Emperor: \"_Me stantem mori\noportet_.\"\n\nThe Oregon Indians have essentially the same characteristic traits as\nother Indians, secretiveness, patience, vindictiveness, stoicism; and, in\ntheir best state, fidelity and boundless generosity to friends.\n\nThe poor broken fragments of the once populous tribes along the Columbia\ncannot but affect the present-day observer with pity. Most of the tangible\nmemorials of this fallen race have vanished with them. Not many of the\nconquerors have been sympathetic or even rational in their treatment of\nthe Indians. Hence memorials of memory and imagination which might have\nbeen drawn from them and treasured up have vanished with them into the\ndarkness. Yet many Indian legends have been preserved in one manner and\nanother, and these are sufficient to convince us that the native races are\nof the same nature as ourselves. Some of the legends which students of\nIndian lore have gathered, will, perhaps, prove interesting to the reader.\n\nA quaint Nez-Perce myth accounts for the creation as follows: There was\nduring the time of the Watetash a monster living in the country of Kamiah\nin Central Idaho. This monster had the peculiar property of an\nirresistible breath, so that when it inhaled, the winds and grass and\ntrees and even different animals would be sucked into its devouring maw.\nThe Coyote god, being grieved for the destruction wrought by this monster,\nmade a coil of rope out of grass and with this went to the summit of\nWallowa Mountains to test the suction power of the monster. Appearing like\na tiny spear of grass upon the mountain, he blew a challenge to the\nmonster. Descrying the small object in the distance Kamiah began to draw\nthe air inward. But strange to say, Coyote did not move. \"Ugh, that is a\ngreat medicine,\" said the monster. Coyote now took his station upon the\nmountains of the Seven Devils, a good deal closer, and blew his challenge\nagain. Again the Kamiah monster tried to breathe so deeply as to draw the\nstrange challenger into his grasp, but again he failed. \"He is a very big\nmedicine,\" he said once more. And now Coyote mounted the top of the Salmon\nRiver Mountains, somewhere near the Buffalo Hump of the present time, and\nagain the monster's breath failed to draw him. The baffled Kamiah was now\nsure that this was most extraordinary medicine. In reality, Coyote had\neach time held himself by a grass rope tied to the mountain.\n\nCoyote now called into counsel Kotskots, the fox. Providing him with five\nknives, Kotskots advised Coyote to force an entrance into the interior of\nthe monster. Entering in, Coyote found people in all stages of emaciation,\nevidently having had their life gradually sucked out of them. It was also\nso cold and dark in the interior that they were chilled into almost a\ncondition of insensibility. Looking about him, Coyote began to see great\nchunks of fat and pitch in the vitals of the monster, and accordingly he\nrubbed sticks together and started a fire, which being fed with the fat\nand pitch, soon grew into a cheerful glow. Now, armed with his knives, he\nascended the vast interior until he reached the heart. He had already\ndirected Kotskots to rouse up and gather together all the emaciated\nstowaways and provide that when the monster was cut open they should see\nhow to rush out into the sunlight. Great as was the monster Kamiah, he\ncould not stop the persistent hacking away at his heart which Coyote now\nentered upon. When the fifth knife was nearly gone, the heart dropped down\nand Kamiah collapsed into a lifeless mass. The people under the guidance\nof Kotskots, burst out into the sunshine and scattered themselves abroad.\nIt must be remembered that these were animal people, not human. Coyote\ncalled upon them to wait until he should have shown them a last wonder,\nfor, cutting the monster in pieces, he now began to fashion from the\npieces a new race of beings to be called men. The portion which he cut\nfrom the head he flung northward, and of this was fashioned the Flathead\ntribe. The feet he cast eastward, making them the Blackfeet. So he\ncontinued, making new tribes here and there. But at the last Kotskots\ninterposed an objection. \"You have made no people,\" he said, \"for the\nvalley of the Lapwai, which is the most beautiful of all.\" Realising the\nforce of the suggestion, Coyote mixed the blood of the monster with water\nand sprinkled it in a rain over the entire valley of the Clearwater. From\nthese drops of blood and water, the Nez Perce tribe was formed. The heart\nof the monster is still to be seen by all travellers in that country,\nbeing a heart-shaped hill in the valley of Kamiah.\n\nPerhaps the most perfect and beautiful of all Indian fire myths of the\nColumbia, is that connected with the famous \"tomanowas bridge\" at the\nCascades. This myth not only treats of fire, but it also endeavours to\naccount for the peculiar formation of the river and for the great snow\npeaks in the near vicinity. This myth has various forms, and in order that\nit may be the better understood, we shall say a word with respect to the\npeculiar physical features in that part of the Columbia. The River, after\nhaving traversed over a thousand miles from its source in the heart of the\ngreat Rocky Mountains of Canada, has cleft the Cascade Range asunder with\na canyon three thousand feet in depth. While generally swift, that portion\nbetween The Dalles and the Cascades is deep and sluggish. There are,\nmoreover, sunken forests on both sides visible at low water, which seem\nplainly to indicate that at that point the river was dammed up by some\ngreat rock slide or volcanic convulsion. Some of the Indians affirm that\ntheir grandfathers have told them that there was a time when the river at\nthat point passed under an immense natural bridge, and that there were no\nobstructions to the passage of boats under the bridge. At the present time\nthere is a cascade of forty feet at that point. This is now overcome by\ngovernment locks. Among other evidences of some such actual occurrence as\nthe Indians relate, is the fact that the banks at that point are gradually\nsliding into the river. The prodigious volume of the Columbia, which here\nrises from fifty to seventy-five feet during the summer flood, is\ncontinually eating into the banks. The railroad has slid several inches a\nyear at this point toward the river and requires frequent readjustment. It\nis obvious at a slight inspection that this weird and sublime point has\nbeen the scene of terrific volcanic and probably seismic action. One\nIndian legend, probably the best known of their stories, is to the effect\nthat the downfall of the bridge and consequent damming of the river was\ndue to a battle between Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams,--or, some say, Mt. St.\nHelens--in which Mt. Hood hurled a great rock at his antagonist; but,\nfalling short of the mark, the rock demolished the bridge instead. This\nevent has been made use of by Frederick Balch in his story, _The Bridge of\nthe Gods_.\n\nBut the finer, though less known legend, which unites both the physical\nconformation of the Cascades and the three great snow mountains of Hood,\nAdams, and St. Helens, with the origin of fire, is to this effect.\nAccording to the Klickitats, there was once a father and two sons who came\nfrom the east down the Columbia to the region in which Dalles City is now\nlocated, and there the two sons quarrelled as to who should possess the\nland. The father, to settle the dispute, shot two arrows, one to the\nnorth and one to the west. He told one son to find the arrow to the north\nand the other the one to the west, and there to settle and bring up their\nfamilies. The first son, going northward, over what was then a beautiful\nplain, became the progenitor of the Klickitat tribe, while the other son\nwas the founder of the great Multnomah nation of the Willamette Valley. To\nseparate the two tribes more effectively, Sahale, the Great Spirit, reared\nthe chain of the Cascades, though without any great peaks, and for a long\ntime all things went in harmony. But for convenience' sake, Sahale had\ncreated the great tomanowas bridge under which the waters of the Columbia\nflowed, and on this bridge he had stationed a witch woman called Loowit,\nwho was to take charge of the fire. This was the only fire in the world.\nAs time passed on Loowit observed the deplorable condition of the Indians,\ndestitute of fire and the conveniences which it might bring. She therefore\nbesought Sahale to allow her to bestow fire upon the Indians. Sahale,\ngreatly pleased by the faithfulness and benevolence of Loowit, finally\ngranted her request. The lot of the Indians was wonderfully improved by\nthe acquisition of fire. They began to make better lodges and clothes and\nhad a variety of food and implements, and, in short, were marvellously\nbenefited by the bounteous gift.\n\nBut Sahale, in order to show his appreciation of the care with which\nLoowit had guarded the sacred fire, now determined to offer her any gift\nshe might desire as a reward. Accordingly, in response to his offer,\nLoowit asked that she be transformed into a young and beautiful girl. This\nwas accordingly affected, and now, as might have been expected, all the\nIndian chiefs fell deeply in love with the guardian of the tomanowas\nbridge. Loowit paid little heed to any of them, until finally there came\ntwo chiefs, one from the north called Klickitat and one from the south\ncalled Wiyeast. Loowit was uncertain which of these two she most desired,\nand as a result a bitter strife arose between the two. This waxed hotter\nand hotter, until, with their respective warriors, they entered upon a\ndesperate war. The land was ravaged, all their new comforts were marred,\nand misery and wretchedness ensued. Sahale repented that he had allowed\nLoowit to bestow fire upon the Indians, and determined to undo all his\nwork in so far as he could. Accordingly he broke down the tomanowas\nbridge, which dammed up the river with an impassable reef, and put to\ndeath Loowit, Klickitat, and Wiyeast. But, inasmuch as they had been noble\nand beautiful in life, he determined to give them a fitting commemoration\nafter death. Therefore he reared over them as monuments, the great snow\npeaks; over Loowit, what we now call Mt. St. Helens; over Wiyeast, the\nmodern Mt. Hood; and, above Klickitat, the great dome which we now call\nMt. Adams.\n\nOf the miscellaneous myths which pertain to the forces of nature, one of\nthe best is that accounting for the Chinook wind. All people who have\nlived long in Oregon or Washington have a conception of that marvellous\nwarm wind which in January and February suddenly sends them almost summer\nheat amid snow banks and ice-locked streams, and causes all nature to\nrejoice as with a resurrection of spring time. Scarcely anything can be\nimagined in nature more picturesque and dramatic than this Chinook wind.\nThe thermometer may be down nearly to zero, a foot of snow may rest like a\npall on the earth, or a deadly fog may wrap the earth, when suddenly, as\nif by the breath of inspiration, the fog parts, the peaks of the mountains\nmay be seen half stripped of snow, and then, roaring and whistling, the\nwarm south wind comes like an army. The snow begins to drip like a pressed\nsponge, the thermometer goes with a jump to sixty, and within two hours we\nfind ourselves in the climate of Southern California. No wonder the\nIndians personified this wind. We personify it ourselves.\n\nThe Yakima account of the Chinook wind was to the effect that it was\ncaused by five brothers who lived on the Columbia River, not far from the\npresent town of Columbus. Now there is at rare intervals in this country a\ncold north-east wind, which the Indians on the lower Columbia call the\nWalla Walla wind because it comes from the north-east. The cold wind was\ncaused by another set of brothers. Both these sets of brothers had\ngrandparents who lived near what is now Umatilla. The two groups of\nbrothers were continually fighting each other, sweeping one way or the\nother over the country, alternately freezing or thawing it, blowing down\ntrees and causing the dust to fly in clouds, and rendering the country\ngenerally very uncomfortable. Finally, the Walla Walla brothers sent a\nchallenge to the Chinook brothers to undertake a wrestling match, the\ncondition being that those who were defeated should forfeit their lives.\nIt was agreed that Speelyei should act as umpire and should inflict the\npenalty by decapitating the losers. Speelyei secretly advised the\ngrandparents of the Chinook brothers to throw oil on the wrestling ground\nso that their sons might not fall. In like manner he secretly advised the\ngrandparents of the Walla Walla brothers to throw ice on the ground.\nBetween the ice and the oil it was so slippery that it would be hard for\nany one to keep upright, but inasmuch as the Walla Walla grandfather got\nice on the ground last, the Chinook brothers were all thrown and killed.\n\nThe eldest Chinook had an infant baby at home, whose mother brought him up\nwith one sole purpose in view, and that was that he must avenge the death\nof his father and uncles. By continual practice in pulling up trees he\nbecame prodigiously strong, insomuch that he could pull up the largest fir\ntrees and throw them about like weeds. The young man finally reached such\na degree of strength that he felt that the time had come for him to\nperform his great mission. Therefore he went up the Columbia, pulling up\ntrees and tossing them around in different places, and finally passed over\ninto the valley of the Yakima, where he lay down to rest by the creek\ncalled the Setas. There he rested for a day and a night, and the marks of\nhis couch are still plainly visible on the mountain side.\n\nNow, turning back again to the Columbia, he sought the hut of his\ngrandparents, and when he had found it, he found also that they were in a\nmost deplorable condition. The Walla Walla brothers had been having it all\ntheir own way during these years and had imposed most shamefully upon the\nold people. When he learned this, the young Chinook told his grandfather\nto go out into the Columbia to fish for sturgeon, while he in the meantime\nwould lie down in the bottom of the boat and watch for the Walla Walla\nwind. It was the habit of these tormenting Walla Walla wind brothers to\nwait until the old man had got his boat filled with fish, and then they,\nissuing swiftly and silently from the shore, would beset and rob him. This\ntime they started out from the shore as usual, but to their great\nastonishment, just as they were about to catch him, the boat would shoot\non at miraculous speed and leave them far behind. So the old man landed\nsafely and brought his fish to the hut. The young Chinook then took his\ngrandparents to a stream and washed from them the filth which had gathered\nupon them during all those years of suffering. Strange to say, the filth\nbecame transformed into trout, and this is the origin of all the trout\nalong the Columbia.\n\nAs soon as the news became known abroad that there was another Chinook\nchampion in the field, the Walla Walla brothers began to demand a new\nwrestling match. Young Chinook very gladly accepted the challenge, though\nhe had to meet all five. But now Speelyei secretly suggested to the\nChinook grandfather that he should wait about throwing the oil on the\nground until the ice had all been used up. By means of this change of\npractice, the Walla Walla brothers fell speedily before the young Chinook.\nOne after another was thrown and beheaded until only the youngest was\nleft. His courage failing, he surrendered without a struggle. Speelyei\nthen pronounced sentence upon him, telling him that he must live, but\ncould henceforth only blow lightly, and never have power to freeze people\nto death. Speelyei also decreed that in order to keep Chinook within\nbounds he should blow his hardest at night time, and should blow upon the\nmountain ridges first in order to prepare people for his coming. Thus\nthere came to be moderation in the winds, but Chinook was always the\nvictor in the end. And thus at the present time, in the perpetual flux and\nreflux of the oceans of the air, when the north wind sweeps down from the\nchilly zones of Canada upon the Columbia Basin, his triumph is but\ntransient. For within a few hours, or days at most, while the cattle are\nthreatened with destruction and while ranchers are gazing anxiously about,\nthey will discern a blue-black line upon the southern horizon. In a short\ntime the mountain ridges can be seen bare of snow, and deliverance is at\nhand. For the next morning, rushing and roaring from the South, comes the\nblessed Chinook, and the icy grip of the North melts as before a blast\nfrom a furnace. The struggle is short and Chinook's victory is sure.\n\nNearly all our native races had a more or less coherent idea of a future\nstate of rewards and punishments. \"The happy hunting ground\" of the\nIndians is often referred to in connection with the Indians of the older\npart of the United States. Our Indians have ideas in general quite\nsimilar. Some believe that there is a hell and a heaven. The Siskiyou\nIndians in Southern Oregon have a curious idea similar to that of the\nancient Egyptians as well as of the Mohammedans. This is to the effect\nthat the regions of the blessed are on the other side of an enormously\ndeep chasm. To pass over this, one must cross on a very narrow and\nslippery pole. The good can pass, but the bad fall off into empty space,\nwhence they reappear again upon the earth as beasts or birds.\n\nThe Klickitat Indians, living along The Dalles of the Columbia have a fine\nlegend of the land of spirits. There lived a young chief and a girl who\nwere devoted to each other and seemed to be the happiest people in the\ntribe, but suddenly he sickened and died. The girl mourned for him almost\nto the point of death, and he, having reached the land of the spirits,\ncould find no happiness there for thinking of her. And so it came to pass\nthat a vision began to appear to the girl at night, telling her that she\nmust herself go into the land of the spirits in order to console her\nlover. Now there is, near that place, one of the most weird and funereal\nof all the various \"memaloose\" islands, or death islands, of the Columbia.\nThe writer himself has been upon this island and its spectral and volcanic\ndesolation makes it a fitting location for ghostly tales. It lies just\nbelow the \"great chute,\" and even yet has many skeletons upon it. In\naccordance with the directions of the vision, the girl's father made ready\na canoe, placed her in it, and passed out into the Great River by night,\nto the memaloose island. As the father and his child rowed across the dark\nand forbidding waters, they began to hear the sounds of singing and\ndancing and great joy. Upon the shore of the island they were met by four\nspirit people, who took the girl, but bade the father return, as it was\nnot for him to see into the spirit country. Accordingly the girl was\nconducted to the great dance-house of the spirits, and there she met her\nlover, far stronger and more beautiful than when upon earth. That night\nthey spent in unspeakable bliss, but when the light began to break in the\neast and the song of the robins was heard from the willows on the shore,\nthe singers and the dancers fell asleep.\n\nThe girl, too, had gone to sleep, but not soundly like the spirits. When\nthe sun had reached the meridian, she woke, and now, to her horror, she\nsaw that instead of being in the midst of beautiful spirits, she was\nsurrounded by hideous skeletons and loathsome, decaying bodies. Around her\nwaist were the bony arms and skeleton fingers of her lover, and his\ngrinning teeth and gaping eye-sockets seemed to be turned in mockery upon\nher. Screaming with horror, she leaped up and ran to the edge of the\nisland, where, after hunting a long time, she found a boat, in which she\npaddled across to the Indian village. Having presented herself to her\nastonished parents, they became fearful that some great calamity would\nvisit the tribe on account of her return, and accordingly her father took\nher the next night back to the memaloose island as before. There she met\nagain the happy spirits of the blessed, and there again her lover and she\nspent another night in ecstatic bliss. In the course of time a child was\nborn to the girl, beautiful beyond description, being half spirit and half\nhuman. The spirit bridegroom, being anxious that his mother should see the\nchild, sent a spirit messenger to the village, desiring his mother to come\nby night to the memaloose island to visit them. She was told, however,\nthat she must not look at the child until ten days had passed. But after\nthe old woman had reached the island, her desire to see the wonderful\nchild was so intense that she took advantage of a moment's inattention on\nthe part of the guard, and, lifting the cloth from the baby board, she\nstole a look at the sleeping infant. And then, dreadful to relate, the\nbaby died in consequence of this premature human look. Grieved and\ndispleased by this foolish act, the spirit people decreed that the dead\nshould never again return nor hold any communication with the living.\n\nIn concluding this chapter we cannot forbear to call the attention of our\nreaders to the rare beauty of many of the native Indian names of\nlocalities. These names always have some significance, and ordinarily\nthere is some such poetic or figurative conception involved in the name as\nplainly reveals the fact that these rude and unfortunate natives have the\nsouls of poets beneath their savage exterior. It is truly lamentable that\nsome of the sonorous and poetic native names have been thrust aside for\nthe commonplace and oft-repeated names of Eastern or European localities\nor the still less attractive names of discoverers or their unimportant\nfriends.\n\nThink of using the names Salem and Portland for Chemeketa and Multnomah,\nthe native names. Chemeketa means \"Here we Rest,\" or, some say, the \"Place\nof Peace,\" for it was the council ground of the Willamette Valley Indians.\nBut the Methodist missionaries thought that it would have a more Biblical\nsound and conduce to the spiritual welfare of the natives to translate the\nword into its equivalent, Salem. So they spoiled the wild native beauty of\nthe name for all time. Multnomah means \"Down the Waters.\" But two Yankee\nsea captains, with a sad deficiency of poetry in them, tossed up a coin to\ndecide whether to employ the name of Boston or Portland, the native town\nof each, and the latter won the toss.\n\nOregon has been more fortunate than Washington in its State name, for it\nhas the unique name, stately and sonorous, which old Jonathan Carver first\nused for the River and which is one of the most distinctive of all the\nnames of States. But whether Oregon is Indian, Spanish, French, or a\ncorruption of something else, or a pure invention of Carver's is one of\nthe mooted points in our history. Idaho, too, has one of the most\nmellifluous of names, meaning the \"Gem of the Mountains.\"\n\nAll three States have many beautiful and appropriate names of rivers,\nlakes, mountains, and cities. Such are Chelan, \"Beautiful Water\";\nUmatilla, \"The Wind-blown Sand\"; Walla Walla, \"Where the Waters Meet\";\nShuksan, \"The Place of the Storm Winds\"; Spokane, \"The People of the Sun\";\nKulshan, \"The Great White Watcher\"; Snoqualmie, \"The Falls of the Moon\nGod.\" Seattle derives its name from the old chief Seattle, or Sealth.\n\nThe most bitterly disputed name of all is Tacoma _vs._ Rainier, as the\nname of the greatest of our mountains. The name of Rainier was derived by\nVancouver from that of an officer of the British navy, a man who never\nknew anything of Oregon and had no part or lot in its discovery or\ndevelopment. Tacoma, or more accurately, _Takhoma_ (a peculiar guttural\nwhich we cannot fully indicate), was the native Indian name, meaning,\naccording to some, \"The Great White Mountain,\" and according to others\nmeaning \"The Fountain-breast of Milk-white Waters.\"\n\nWith these glances at the character of the land, and its native\ninhabitants, we are now ready to see how they became known to the world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nTales of the First White Men along the Coast\n\n    Nekahni Mountain and Tallapus--Quootshoi and Toulux--Original Beauty\n    of Clatsop Plains--The Story Told by Celiast and Cultee--Casting of\n    the \"Thing\" upon the Beach--The Pop-corn--Burning of the\n    Ship--Konapee, the Iron-worker--Franchere's Account of Soto--The\n    Treasure Ship on the Beach at Nekahni Mountain--The Black Spook and\n    Mysterious Chest--The Inscription Still Found on the Rock--The Beeswax\n    Ship--Quiaculliby.\n\n\nWe have told something of the mountains, rivers, and lakes which make up\nthe framework of our Pacific North-west. We have also tried to see the\nland through the eyes of the native red men, and have called back a few of\nthe grotesque, fantastic, sometimes heroic, sometimes pathetic legends\nwhich they associated with every phase of their country.\n\nNow the very centre of Indian lore, the Parnassus, the Delphi, the Dodona,\nof the lower Columbia River Indians, is the stretch of mingled bluff,\nplain, lake, sand-dune, and mountain, marvellously diversified, from the\nsouth shore of the Columbia's mouth to the sacred Nekahni Mountain. It is\na wonderously picturesque region. From it came Tallapus, the Hermes\nTrismegistus of the Oregon Indians. Its forests were haunted by the\nSkookums and Cheatcos. From the volcanic pinnacles of Swallallochast, now\nknown as Saddle Mountain, the thunder bird went forth on its daily quest\nof a whale, while at the mountain's foot Quootshoi and Toulux produced the\nfirst men from the monstrous eggs of that same great bird. In short, that\nregion was rich in legend, as it was, and still is, in scenic beauty.\n\nIt is said by the Indians that a hundred years or more ago it was much\nfiner than now, for the entire breadth of Clatsop Plains was sodded with\ndeep green grass and bright with flowers almost the whole year through.\nThis bright-hued plain lay open to the sea, and across its southern end\nflowed three tide streams, having the aboriginal names of Nekanikum,\nOhanna, and Neahcoxie.\n\nIt was a veritable paradise for the Indians. The forests were filled with\nelk (moosmoos) and deer (mowitch), while fish of almost every variety\nthronged the waters, from that king of all fish now known as the royal\nchinook of the Columbia down to such smaller fry as the smelt and the\nherring, which even now sometimes so throng the lesser streams that the\nreceding tide leaves them by the thousands on the muddy flats. On the\nbeach were infinite numbers of clams; and as an evidence of their\nabundance we can now see shell mounds by the acre, in such quantity,\nindeed, that some of the modern roads have been paved with shells.\n\nThis favoured region was the home of the Clatsops. There, too, according\nto the legends, the first white men landed. The story of the first\nappearance of the white men has reached our own times in various forms,\nbut the most coherent account is through the word of Celiast, an Indian\nwoman who died many years ago, but who became the wife of one of the\nearliest white settlers and the mother of Silas Smith, now dead, but known\nin his time as one of the best authorities on Indian history. Celiast was\nthe daughter of Kobaiway, a chieftain whose sway extended over the land of\nthe Clatsops in the time of the Astor Company a century ago. Celiast was\nin fact the best authority for many of the Indian legends. But she is not\nalone in the knowledge of this appearance of the white men, for a number\nof other Indians tell the substance of the same tale. Among others an old\nIndian of Bay Centre, Washington, by the name of Charlie Cultee, related\nthe story to Dr. Franz Boas, whose work in the Smithsonian Institute is\nknown as among the best on the native races. This is the story, a\ncomposite of that of Celiast and that of Cultee.\n\nIt appears that an old woman living near the ancient Indian village of\nNe-Ahkstow, about two miles south of the mouth of the Great River (the\nColumbia) had lost her son. \"She wailed for a whole year, and then she\nstopped.\" One day, after her usual custom, she went to the seaside, and\nwalked along the shore towards Clatsop. While on the way she saw something\nvery strange. At first it seemed like a whale, but, when the old woman\ncame close, she saw that it had two trees standing upright in it. She\nsaid, \"This is no whale; it is a monster.\" The outside was all covered\nover with something bright, which they afterwards found was copper. Ropes\nwere tied all over the two trees, and the inside of the Thing was full of\niron.\n\nWhile the old woman gazed in silent wonder, a being that looked like a\nbear, but had a human face, though with long hair all over it, came out of\nthe Thing that lay there. Then the old woman hastened home in great fear.\nShe thought this bearlike creature must be the spirit of her son, and that\nthe Thing was that about which they had heard in the Ekanum tales.\n\nThe people, when they had heard the strange story, hastened with bows and\narrows to the spot. There, sure enough, lay the Thing upon the shore, just\nas the old woman had said. Only instead of one bear there were two\nstanding on the Thing. These two creatures,--whether bears or people the\nIndians were not sure,--were just at the point of going down the Thing\n(which they now began to understand was an immense canoe with two trees\ndriven into it) to the beach, with kettles in their hands.\n\nAs the bewildered people watched them they started a fire and put corn\ninto the kettles. Very soon it began to pop and fly with great rapidity up\nand down in the kettles. The pop-corn (the nature of which the Clatsops\ndid not then understand) struck them with more surprise than anything\nelse,--and this is the one part of the story preserved in every version.\n\nThen the corn-popping strangers made signs that they wanted water. The\nchief sent men to supply them with all their needs, and in the meantime he\nmade a careful examination of the strangers. Finding that their hands were\nthe same as his own, he became satisfied that they were indeed men. One of\nthe Indians ran and climbed up and entered the Thing. Looking into the\ninterior, he found it full of boxes. There were also many strings of\nbuttons half a fathom long. He went out to call in his relatives, but,\nbefore he could return, the ship had been set on fire. Or, in the\nlanguage of Charlie Cultee, \"It burnt just like fat.\" As a result of the\nburning of the ship, the Clatsops got possession of the iron, copper, and\nbrass.\n\nNow the news of this strange event became noised abroad, and the Indians\nfrom all the region thronged to Clatsop to see and feel of these strange\nmen with hands and feet just like ordinary men, yet with long beards and\nwith such peculiar garb as to seem in no sense men. There arose great\nstrife as to who should receive and care for the strange men. Each tribe\nor village was very anxious to have them, or at least one of them. The\nQuienaults, the Chehales, and the Willapas, from the beach on the north\nside, came to press their claims. From up the river came the Cowlitz, the\nCascades, and even the Far-off Klickitat. The different tribes almost had\na battle for possession, but, according to one account, it was finally\nsettled that one of the strange visitors should stay with the Clatsop\nchief, and that one should go with the Willapas on the north side of the\nGreat River. According to another, they both stayed at Clatsop.\n\nFrom this first arrival of white men, the Indians called them all\n\"Tlehonnipts,\" that is, \"Of those who drift ashore.\" One of the men\npossessed the magical art of taking pieces of iron and making knives and\nhatchets. It was indeed to the poor Indians a marvellous gift of Tallapus,\ntheir god, that they should have a man among them that could perform that\npriceless labour, for the possession of iron knives and hatchets meant the\nindefinite multiplying of canoes, huts, bows and arrows, weapons, and\nimplements of every sort. The iron-maker's name was Konapee. The Indians\nkept close watch of him for many days and made him work incessantly. But,\nas the tokens of his skill became numerous, his captors held him in great\nfavour and allowed him more liberty. Being permitted to select a site for\na house, he chose a spot on the Columbia which became known to the\nIndians, even down to the white occupancy of the region, as \"Konapee.\"\n\nAmong other possessions, Konapee had a large number of pieces of money,\nwhich, from the description, must have been Chinese \"cash.\" From this some\nhave inferred that Konapee must have been a Chinaman, and the wrecked ship\na Chinese or Japanese junk. This does not, however, follow. For the\nSpaniards had become entirely familiar with China, and any Spanish vessel\nreturning from the Philippine Islands or from China would have been likely\nto have a supply of Chinese money on board.\n\nThere is an interesting bit of testimony which seems to belong to this\nsame story of Konapee. It is found in the book by Gabriel Franchere in\nregard to the founding of Astoria, the book which was the chief authority\nof Irving in his fascinating narrative entitled _Astoria_. Franchere\ndescribes meeting an old man, eighty years old, in 1811, at the Cascades,\nwhose name was Soto, and who said that his father was one of four\nSpaniards wrecked on Clatsop beach many years before. His father had tried\nto reach the land of the sunrise by going eastward, but having reached the\nCascades was prevented from going farther and had there married an Indian\nwoman, Soto's mother. It is thought likely that the father of Soto was\nKonapee. The two stories seem to fit quite well. If this be true, it is\nlikely that Konapee's landing was as early as 1725. If all the details of\nKonapee's life could be known, what a romance might be made of it! There\nis no reason to suppose that he ever saw other white men or ever got away\nfrom the region where the fortune of shipwreck had cast him. Yet he was in\npossession of one of the greatest geographical secrets of that country,\nfor the hope of the discovery of some great \"River of the West,\" the\nelusive stream which many believed to be a pure fabrication of Aguilar and\nother old navigators, had enticed many a \"marinere\" from many a far\n\"countree.\"\n\nIn any event it is probable that the Columbia River Indians had got a\ngeneral knowledge of the whites and their arts from Konapee long before\nthe authentic discovery of the river was made. Especially it seems that\nfrom him they got a knowledge of iron and implements fashioned from it.\nCaptain Cook mentions that when he visited the coast in 1780 the Indians\nmanifested no surprise at the weapons or implements of iron. In fact even\nall whites who supposed themselves to be the first to visit this coast\nfound the Indians ready to trade and especially eager to get iron. A new\nera of trade and business seems to have been inaugurated among these\nClatsops and Chinooks dating from about the supposed time of Konapee. But\nhe was by no means the only one of his race to be cast upon the Oregon\nshore. There is a story of a treasure ship cast upon the beach near\nNekahni Mountain. This mountain, the original home of Tallapus, while on\nits summit the great chief god Nekahni himself dwelt, is one of the\nnoblest pieces of Nature's art all along the shore. Fronting the ocean\nwith a precipitous rampart of rock five hundred feet high and thence\nrising in a wide sweeping park clad in thick turf, and dotted here and\nthere with beautiful spruce and fir trees, to an elevation of twenty-five\nhundred feet, the sacred Nekahni presents as fine a combination of the\nbeautiful and sublime as can be seen upon a whole thousand miles of coast.\nIt was a favourite spot with the natives. For lying upon its open and\nturfy slopes they could gaze upon many miles of sea, and could no doubt\nlight up their signal fires which might be seen over a wide expanse of\nbeach. Very likely there, too, they celebrated the mysterious rites of\nNekahni and Tallapus.\n\nOne pleasant afternoon in early summer, a large group of natives assembled\nupon the lower part of Nekahni, almost upon the edge of the precipitous\ncliff with which it fronts the sea. Gazing into the offing they saw a\ngreat object like a huge bird drawing near from the outer sea. It\napproached the shore, and then from it a small boat with a number of men\nand a large black box put out to land. Coming to the beach the men took\nout the box and also a black man whom the Indians supposed to be a spook\nor evil demon. Going a little way up the beach the men dug a hole into\nwhich they lowered the box, and then having struck down the black man they\nthrew him on top of the box and, covering it up, they returned to the\nship, which soon disappeared from sight. On account of the black man\nburied with the box, the superstitious Indians dared not undertake to\nexhume the contents of the grave. But the story was handed from one\ngeneration to another, and it came to constitute the story of the\n\"treasure ship.\"\n\nIn recent times the idea that here some chest, with gold and jewels in\nthe most approved style of buried fortunes, might be found has caused much\nsearching. The ground has been dug over for the sight of the regulation\nrusty handle which is to lead to the great iron-bound chest with its\ndoubloons of gold and crucifixes of pearls. Parties have come from the\nEastern States to join the search. One party even secured the guidance of\nspirits who professed to locate the treasure. But though the spirit-led\nenthusiasts turned over every stone and dug up the sand for many feet\nalong the beach, they found never an iron-bound chest, and never a sign of\nthe treasure. There is, however, in plain sight now, on a rock at the foot\nof Nekahni Mountain, a character cut in the rock bearing a rude\nresemblance to a cross. Some think it looks more like the letters, I.H.S.,\nthe sacred emblem of the Catholic Church. There is also what seems to be\nquite a distinct arrow pointing in a certain direction. But the treasure\nremains unfound.\n\nThe next legend of the prehistoric white man is that of the \"Beeswax\nShip.\" This, too, has a real confirmation in the presence of large\nquantities of beeswax at a point also near Nekahni Mountain, just north of\nthe mouth of the Nehalem River. Some naturalists claimed at one time that\nthis substance was simply the natural paraffine produced from the products\nof coal or petroleum. But more recently cakes of the substance stamped\nwith the sacred letters, \"I.H.S.,\" together with tapers, and even one\npiece with a bee plainly visible within, may be considered incontestable\nproof that this is indeed beeswax, while the letters, \"I.H.S.\" denote\nplainly enough the origin of the substance in some Spanish colony. An\ninteresting point in connection with this is the historical fact that on\nJune 16, 1769, the ship _San Jose_ left La Paz, Lower California, for San\nDiego, and was never heard from again. Some have conjectured that the _San\nJose_ was the \"Beeswax Ship,\" driven far north by some storm or mutiny. As\nto the peculiar fact that a ship should have been entirely loaded with\nbeeswax it has been conjectured that some of the good padres of the\nSpanish Missions meant to provide a new station with a large amount of wax\nfor the sake of providing tapers for their service, the lighted candles\nproving then, as they do now, a matter of marvel and wonder to the\nnatives, and, with other features of ceremonial worship, having a great\neffect to bring them into subjection to the Church.\n\nThe Indian legend runs on to the effect that several white men were saved\nfrom the wreck of the \"Beeswax Ship,\" and that they lived with them. But\nhaving infringed upon the family rights of the natives, they became\nobnoxious, and were all cut off by an attack from them. One story,\nhowever, asserts that there was one man left, a blue-eyed, golden-haired\nman, that he took a Nehalem woman, and that from him was descended a\nfair-complexioned progeny, of which a certain chieftain who lived at a\nbeautiful little lake on Clatsop plains, now known as Culliby Lake, was\nour Quiaculliby.\n\nSuch in brief survey, are some of the stories which preserve the record of\nthe space betwixt the Indian age of myth and the period of authentic\ndiscovery.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nHow all Nations Sought the River from the Sea and how they Found it\n\n    Search for Gold--Economic Effects--Early Extension of Exploration\n    Westward--Cortez--Magellan--Aguilar--Fables of the Sea--Shakspere and\n    Swift--Maps--Great Wars of the Seventeenth Century and Downfall of\n    Spain--Long Delay--Resumption of Exploration--Spanish Settlement of\n    California--Russia and\n    Behring--Perez--Heceta--Cook--Fur-trade--Gathering of Nations--The\n    Yankees--Gray and Kendrick--Meares and Vancouver--The Complete\n    Discovery--Strife between England and the United States.\n\n\nThe period of the Renaissance is one, which by reason of splendid\nachievements in literature, in art, in science, and in discovery, can\nhardly be duplicated. We are here especially concerned with the\ndiscoverers. A mingling of motives impelled those dauntless spirits\nonward, and among the most potent was the greed for gold. Much American\nhistory is bound up with the mad rush for the precious metals, and the\nspread of exploration from the West Indies and Mexico, the first centres\nof Spanish power, was one of its results. Only eight years after the\nlanding of Columbus on San Salvador, the Portuguese Gaspar Cortereal had\nconceived the idea of a north-west passage, which in some unexplained\nmanner became known as the Strait of Anian. In 1543, the Spaniards\nCabrillo and Ferrelo coasted along the shores of California, and the\nlatter was doubtless the first white man to look upon the coast of Oregon.\nIn 1577, England appeared in the person of that boldest and most\npicturesque of the half-discoverers, half-pirates, of that time, Francis\nDrake. In that year he set forth on the wonderful voyage in which he\nplundered the treasures of the Spanish Main, cut the golden girdle of\nManila, queen of the Spanish Orient, skirted along the coast of California\nand Oregon, and at last circumnavigated the globe. Brilliant as were\nDrake's exploits, they did not result in the discovery of our Great River.\nIn 1592, just a century after Columbus, Juan de Fuca, whose name is now\npreserved in the strait leading to Puget Sound, is said to have made that\nvoyage which is regarded by most historians as a myth, but which affords\nso fascinating a bit of narration that it ought to be true. Two hundred\nyears later John Meares, the English navigator, attached the name of the\nstout old Greek pilot to that inlet now familiar to ships of all nations.\nWith the passage of a few years more, explorations upon the western shore\nof America began to assume a more definite form. In 1602 the best equipped\nsquadron thus far sent out left Acapulco under command of Vizcaino, with\nthe aim of carrying out Monterey's great purpose for the northward\nextension of Spanish power. The fleet being scattered by storm, the\n_fragata_ in command of Martin Aguilar ran up the coast as far as latitude\n43 degrees. There they found a cape to which they attached the name still\nheld, Cape Blanco. From that point, following the north-westerly trending\nof the coast, they soon came abreast of a \"rapid and abundant river, with\nash trees, willows, and brambles, and other trees of Castile upon its\nbanks.\" This they endeavoured to enter, but from the strength of the\ncurrent could not. \"And seeing that they had already reached a higher\nlatitude than had been ordered by the viceroy and that the number of the\nsick was great, they decided to return to Acapulco.\" Torquemada, the\nhistorian, from whom the account is taken, goes on to say:\n\n    It is supposed that this river is one leading to a great city, which\n    was discovered by the Dutch when they were driven thither by storms,\n    and that it is the Strait of Anian, through which the vessels passed\n    in sailing from the North Sea to the South Sea; and that the city\n    called Quivera is in those parts; and that this is the region referred\n    to in the account which His Majesty read, and which induced him to\n    order this expedition.\n\nThe interesting question arises, Was the river the Columbia? It is the\nonly large river on the Oregon coast, though the Umpqua, if at flood\nstage, might have given the impression of size. The latitude is not right,\neither, though the Spanish narrator does not say how far north of Cape\nBlanco they went. But whether or not Aguilar really went so far north as\nthe Columbia, his voyage was one of much interest. It gave Spain a warrant\nto claim the western coast of America; it still further strengthened the\nidea of the Strait of Anian; it seemed to confirm the romantic conception\nof a great city or group of cities with civilised inhabitants along that\npassage way, and it gave the first name to the river, the Rio de Aguilar.\n\nThenceforth the navigators of all nations accepted as the primary object\nof their search some great river of the West. Hidden in the fogs of fancy,\nas it lay shrouded in truth in the mists of the ocean, the supposed Rio\nde Aguilar yet held the spell of enchantment over many an \"ancient\nmariner\" of many a land. Whatsoever nation could actually find the river\nand establish a definite claim to first discovery, would have, by the\ngenerally accepted usage of nations, the right of occupation and\nownership.\n\nThat was a fruitful time for fables of the sea, and around the Great River\nmany of them gathered. The original of Baron Munchausen seems to have\nexisted in the persons of Captain Lorenzo Ferrer de Maldonado and Admiral\nPedro Bartolome de Fonte. The first of these worthies, whose voyage was\nsaid to have been made in 1588, describes in a very circumstantial manner\nhis passage through the Strait of Anian and his exit upon the Asiatic side\nof the continent. This he averred was marked with a very remarkable rocky\neminence which rendered it wonderfully adapted to fortification and\ndefence, the mountain being so steep, in fact, that a missile dropped from\nthe summit would fall directly upon a ship in mid-channel. It is thought\nby some students that some unchronicled Spanish navigator may have\nactually made the inland passage up the Alaskan coast and that some report\nof it may have become transformed into Maldonado's story. Fonte's story\nseems to have first appeared in a London publication in 1708, though his\nvoyage was alleged to have been made in 1640. He told a marvellous tale of\na great river which led to a magnificent lake on whose banks stood a great\ncity. The river he located in latitude 53 degrees, and he named it the Rio\nde los Reyes, or River of Kings. This is far north of the Columbia, but\nthe account persisted in popular idea for a long time. The name became\nassociated with those of the Rio de Aguilar and the River of the West.\n\nThese and other similar tales, the flotsam and jetsam of ocean myths, gave\nsomething of inspiration and suggestion to literature. For even long\nbefore the alleged exploits of Fonte, the fertile mind of Shakspere had\nconceived of Caliban and Ariel and other fancies of the age of Western\nadventure. And in the next century the prince of political satirists,\nJonathan Swift, had located almost exactly at the mouth of the Rio de\nAguilar, the land of the Brobdingnagians, while the countries into which\nthe veracious Gulliver was thrown at a later time, Luggnagg and\nBlubdubrib, were in the Pacific at a somewhat indefinite distance from the\nland of the Giants.\n\nThe land of the Oregon was in short, the land of the great unexplored and\nof boundless fancy. Some of the old maps illustrating that period are of\nmuch interest. Zaltieri's map of 1566 shows a generally accurate\nconception of the eastern part of America and of the western coast of\nMexico and California, but the entire continent above about latitude 60\ndegrees is occupied with a _mare septentrionale incognito_. Luck's map of\n1582 presents a fairly good conception of Florida and Mexico, but is\nentirely astray on the western coast. The Wytfliet-Ptolemy map of 1597 has\na singularly indented coast running nearly east and west in the location\nof Oregon, while Cape Blanco and a river, the Rio de los Estrachos, in\nabout latitude 51 degrees, seem to be an attempt to denote Aguilar's cape\nof 1543, and to locate the river by still another name, though in a\nhigher latitude. Maldonado's map of the Strait of Anian of 1609 is\nmanifestly manufactured to suit the occasion, and is interesting only as\nshowing how far mendacity and gullibility could travel hand in hand.\n\nBut now the first age of discovery on the coast of Oregon drew to a close.\nIt cannot be said that much of tangible knowledge had been attained.\nPuzzling questions had been raised. Labyrinths of conjecture, with no\ndefinite clues for exit, had been entered. Fascinating romances had been\nso interwoven with probable fact that no one could untangle them. A\ngeneral conception of a great river and a great north-west passage had\nbeen held up with some distinctness as the goal of navigators. Finally,\nmost important of all, what had been seen was of so enticingly interesting\na nature and seemed to promise results so important, that they furnished a\nmotive for continued exploration. It certainly looked as though the\nnations would continue the search for the Great River of the West. Spain\nhad the inside track of all, though Drake and Cavendish and Hawkins had\nrun down many a richly laden treasure galleon and had laid the booty at\nthe feet of the Virgin Queen, and many an embittered buccaneer of French\nor English race had hounded the flag of Spain across the breadth of half\nthe seas.\n\nBut a great change was impending. There was a new shuffle of the cards in\nthe hands of the Fates and the Furies as the seventeenth century moved on\napace. Spain's time had come. Her cup of iniquity was now full. Her whole\nmeasure of national policy had been the sword for the pagan and the\ninquisition for the heretic. The banished Moors of Granada and the\nmurdered \"Beggars\" of Holland and the wasted Incas and Montezumas of\nAmerica united to call down the vengeance of Nemesis upon the destroyer of\na fair world's peace.\n\nThe stupendous struggles engendered by the Reformation, culminating in the\nThirty Years' War, went on almost without pause for over a century. That\nstrife, ending at Westphalia in 1648, saw Spain prostrate and the\nprinciple of religious toleration triumphant. But almost immediately\nanother struggle arose, the natural successor of the first, the struggle\nagainst the absolute monarchy of the Bourbons. As may well be seen, the\nnations of Europe were so enchained in the strife against Pope and King\nthat they had little thought for new discoveries. Over a hundred and sixty\nyears passed after the voyage of Aguilar before there was another serious\nmovement of discovery on the coast of Oregon.\n\nThis new movement of Pacific exploration, destined to continue with no\ncessation to our own day, was ushered in by Spain. There was even yet much\nvitality in the fallen mistress of the world. Impelled by both religious\nzeal and hope of material gain, the immigration of 1769 went forth from La\nPaz to San Diego and Monterey. That inaugurated the singular and poetic,\nin some aspects even beautiful, history of Spanish California, an era\nwhich has provided so much of romance and poetry for literature in the\nCalifornia of our own times. The march of events had made it plain to the\nSpanish Government that, if it was to retain a hold on the Pacific Coast,\nit must bestir itself. Russia, England, and France, released in a measure\nfrom the pressure of European struggles, were fitting out expeditions to\nresume the arrested efforts of the sixteenth century. It seemed plain also\nthat colonial America was going to be an active rival on the seas. And\nwell may it have so seemed, for, in the sign of the Yankee sailor, the\nconquest was to be made.\n\nBut just at that important juncture a most favouring condition arose for\nSpain. The government of England precipitated the struggle of the American\nRevolution. France soon joined to strike her island rival a deadly blow by\nassisting in the liberation of the colonies. For the time, Spain had\nnearly a clear field for Pacific discovery, so far as England and France\nwere concerned. As for Russia, the danger was more imminent. Russia had,\nindeed, begun to look in the direction of Pacific expansion a long time\nprior to the Spanish immigration to California. That vast monarchy,\ntransformed by the genius of Peter the Great, had stretched its arms from\nthe Baltic to the Aleutian Archipelago, and had looked from the frozen\nseas of Siberia to the open Pacific as a fairer field for expansion. Many\nyears elapsed, however, before Peter's great designs could be fulfilled.\nNot till 1741 did Vitus Behring thread the thousand islands of Sitka and\ngaze upon the glaciated crest of Mt. St. Elias. And it was not till thirty\nyears later that it became understood that the Bay of Avatcha was\nconnected by the open sea with China. In 1771 the first cargo of furs was\nshipped directly from Avatcha to Canton. Then first the vastness of the\nPacific Ocean was comprehended. Then first it was understood that the same\nwaters which lashed the frozen ramparts of Kamchatka encircled the coral\nislands of the South Sea and roared against the stormy barriers of Cape\nHorn.\n\nThe Russians had not found the Great River, though it appears that Behring\nin 1771 had gone as far south as latitude 46 degrees, just the parallel of\nthe mouth of the Columbia. But he was so far off the coast as not to see\nit.\n\nThree Spanish voyages followed in rapid succession: that of Perez in 1774,\nof Heceta in 1775, and of Bodega in 1779. The only notable things in\nconnection with the voyage of Perez were his discovery of Queen\nCharlotte's Island, with the sea-otter furs traded by the natives, the\nfirst sight of that superb group of mountains which we now call the\nOlympic, but which the Spaniards named the Sierra de Santa Rosalia, and\nfinally the fine harbour of Nootka on Vancouver Island, named by Perez\nPort San Lorenzo, for years the centre of the fur-trade and the general\nrendezvous of ships of all nations. But no river was found.\n\nWith another year a still completer expedition was fitted out, Bruno\nHeceta being commander and Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, second in\ncommand. This voyage was the most important and interesting thus far in\nthe history of the Columbia River exploration. For Heceta actually found\nthe Great River, so long sought and so constantly eluding discovery. On\nJune 10, 1775, Heceta passed Cape Mendocino, and entered a small bay just\nnorthward. There he entered into friendly relations with the natives and\ntook solemn possession of the country in the name of His Catholic Majesty\nof Spain. Sailing thence northward, he again touched land just south of\nthe Straits of Fuca, but there he met disaster at the ill-omened point\nsubsequently named Destruction Island. For there his boat landing for\nexploration was set upon by the savage inhabitants, and the entire\nboat-load murdered. Moving southward again, on August 15th, in latitude 46\ndegrees 10 minutes, Heceta found himself abreast of some great river.\nDeciding that this must be indeed the mysterious Strait of Fuca, or the\nlong concealed river of the other ancient navigators, he made two efforts\nto enter, but the powerful current and uncertain depths deterred him, and\nhe at last gave up the effort and bore away for Monterey. Three additional\nnames were bestowed upon the River at this time. Thinking the entrance a\nbay, Heceta named it, in honour of the day, Ensenada de Asuncion. Later it\nwas more commonly known as Ensenada de Heceta, while the Spanish charts\ndesignated the river as Rio de San Roque. The name of Cabo de Frondoso\n(Leafy Cape) was bestowed upon the low promontory on the south, now known\nas Point Adams, while upon the picturesque headland on the north which we\nnow designate as Cape Hancock, the devout Spaniards conferred the name of\nCabo de San Roque, August 16th being the day sacred to that saint.\n\nThe original account given by Heceta is so interesting that we insert it\nhere:\n\n    On the 17th day of August I sailed along the coast to the 46th degree,\n    and observed that from the latitude 47 degrees 4 minutes to that of 46\n    degrees 10 minutes, it runs in the angle of 18 degrees of the second\n    quadrant, and from that latitude to 46 degrees 4 minutes, in the angle\n    of 12 degrees of the same quadrant; the soundings, the shore, the\n    wooded character of the country, and the little islands, being the\n    same as on the preceding days.\n\n    On the evening of this day I discovered a large bay, to which I gave\n    the name Assumption Bay, and a plan of which will be found in this\n    journal. Its latitude and longitude are determined according to the\n    most exact means afforded by theory and practice. The latitudes of the\n    two most prominent capes of this bay are calculated from the\n    observations of this day.\n\n    Having arrived opposite this bay at six in the evening, and placed the\n    ship nearly midway between the two capes, I sounded and found bottom\n    in four brazas [nearly four fathoms]. The currents and eddies were so\n    strong that, notwithstanding a press of sail, it was difficult to get\n    out clear of the northern cape, towards which the current ran, though\n    its direction was eastward in consequence of the tide being at flood.\n    These currents and eddies caused me to believe that the place is the\n    mouth of some great river, or of some passage to another sea. Had I\n    not been certain of the latitude of this bay, from my observations of\n    the same day, I might easily have believed it to be the passage\n    discovered by Juan de Fuca, in 1592, which is placed on the charts\n    between the 47th and the 48th degrees; where I am certain no such\n    strait exists; because I anchored on the 14th day of July midway\n    between these latitudes, and carefully examined everything around.\n    Notwithstanding the great difference between this bay and the passage\n    mentioned by De Fuca, I have little difficulty in conceiving they may\n    be the same, having observed equal or greater differences in the\n    latitudes of other capes and ports on this coast, as I will show at\n    the proper time; and in all cases latitudes thus assigned are higher\n    than the real ones.\n\n    I did not enter and anchor in this port, which in my plan I suppose to\n    be formed by an island, notwithstanding my strong desire to do so;\n    because, having consulted with the second captain, Don Juan Perez, and\n    the pilot Don Christoval Revilla, they insisted I ought not to attempt\n    it, as, if we let go the anchor, we should not have men enough to get\n    it up, and to attend to the other operations which would be thereby\n    necessary. Considering this, and also, that in order to reach the\n    anchorage, I should be obliged to lower my long boat (the only boat I\n    had) and to man it with at least fourteen of the crew, as I could not\n    manage with fewer, and also as it was then late in the day, I resolved\n    to put out; and at the distance of three leagues I lay to. In the\n    course of that night, I experienced heavy currents to the south-west,\n    which made it impossible to enter the bay on the following morning, as\n    I was far to leeward. These currents, however, convinced me that a\n    great quantity of water rushed from this bay on the ebb of the tide.\n\n    The two capes which I name in my plan, Cape San Roque and Cape\n    Frondoso, lie in the angle of 10 degrees of the third quadrant. They\n    are both faced with red earth and are of little elevation.\n\n    On the 18th I observed Cape Frondoso, with another cape, to which I\n    gave the name of Cape Falcon, situated in the latitude of 45 degrees\n    43 minutes, and they lay at an angle of 22 degrees of the third\n    quadrant, and from the last mentioned cape I traced the coast running\n    in the angle of 5 degrees of the second quadrant. This land is\n    mountainous, but not very high, nor so well wooded as that lying\n    between the latitudes of 48 degrees 30 minutes, and 46 degrees. On\n    sounding I found great differences: at a distance of seven leagues I\n    got bottom at 84 brazas; and nearer the coast I sometimes found no\n    bottom; from which I am inclined to believe there are reefs or shoals\n    on these coasts, which is also shown by the colour of the water. In\n    some places the coast presents a beach, in others, it is rocky.\n\n    A flat-topped mountain, which I named the Table, will enable any\n    navigator to know the position of Cape Falcon without observing it; as\n    it is in the latitude of 45 degrees 28 minutes, and may be seen at a\n    great distance, being somewhat elevated.\n\nIt may be added that the Cape Falcon of Heceta was the bold elevation\nfronting the sea, known now as Tillamook Head, while the Table Mountain\nwas doubtless what we now call Nekahni Mountain, both points especially\nthe scenes of Indian myth.\n\nSuch was the actual discovery of the Columbia River, and as such the\nSpaniards justly laid claim to Oregon. Their treaty with the United States\nin 1819 was the formal conveyance of their claims to us. Nevertheless\nHeceta only half discovered the River. It seems very strange that with the\nall-important object of two centuries' search before him, he should so\nreadily have succumbed to the fear of the powerful outstanding current.\nBut the Spaniards were not in general the patient and persistent students\nof the shores that the English and Americans were. Their charts were in\ngeneral worthless. Nevertheless Spain came nearest \"making good\" of any of\nthe European powers. In 1779 Bodega and Arteaga sailed far north and\nsighted a vast snow peak \"higher than Orizaba,\" which was doubtless St.\nElias. In the same year Martinez and De Haro established themselves at\nNootka. Subsequent voyages of Bodega, Valdez, and Galiano, and their first\ncircumnavigation of Vancouver Island (named by them Quadra's Island, but,\nby mutual courtesy and good-will of the British and Spanish rivals,\ndesignated Vancouver's and Quadra's Island), gave them a clear title to\nthe Pacific Coast of North America from latitude 60 degrees to Mexico.\n\nBut \"that is another story.\" What of the Great River? In the very year of\nthe declaration of American independence, the most elaborate expedition\nyet fitted out for western discovery, set forth from England in command of\nthat Columbus of the eighteenth century, Captain James Cook. After nearly\ntwo years of important movements in the Southern Hemisphere and among the\nPacific Islands, Cook turned to that goal of all nations, the coast of\nOregon. But the same singular fatality which had baffled many of the\nexplorers thus far, attended this most skilful navigator and best equipped\nsquadron thus far seen on Pacific waters. For Cook passed and repassed the\nnear vicinity of both the Straits of Fuca and the Columbia River, but\nwithout finding either. Killed by the treacherous natives of Hawaii in\n1778, Cook left a great name, a more intelligent conception of world\ngeography than was known before, and greatly strengthened claims by Great\nBritain to the ownership of pivotal points of the Pacific. Of all the\ngreat English navigators, Cook is perhaps best entitled to join the grand\nchorus that sings the _Songs of Seven Seas_. But he did not see the Great\nRiver of the West. What had become of it? After the fleeting vision which\nit accorded to Heceta, it seemed to have gone into hiding.\n\nBut a new set of motives came into play immediately after Cook's voyage.\nThe two ships, the _Resolution_ and _Discovery_, took with them to China a\nquantity of furs from Nootka. A few years earlier, as previously stated,\nthe Russian fur-trade from Avatcha to China had been inaugurated. A great\ndemand for peltries sprang up at once. A new regime dawned in Chinese and\nEast India trade. Gold, silver, and jewels had not thus far rewarded the\nsearch of explorers. They were reserved for our later days of need. But\nthe fur-trade was as good as gold. The North Pacific Coast, already\ninteresting, assumed a new importance in the eyes of Europeans. The\n\"struggle for possession\" was on. The ships of all nations converged upon\nthe fabled Strait and River of Oregon. English, Dutch, French, Portuguese,\nSpanish, Americans, began in the decade of the eighties to crowd to the\nland where the sea-otter, beaver, seal, and many other of the most\nprofitable furs could be obtained for a trifle. The dangers of trading and\nthe chances of the sea were great, but the profits of success were yet\ngreater.\n\nThe fur-trade began to take the place of the gold hunt as a matter of\ninternational strife. The manner in which our own country, weak and\ndiscordant as its different members were when just emerging from the\nRevolutionary War, entered the lists, and by the marvellous allotment of\nFortune or the design of Providence, slipped in between the greater\nnations and secured the prize of Oregon, is one of the epics of history,\none which ought to have some native Tasso or Calderon to celebrate its\ntriumph.\n\nFollowing quickly upon the conclusion of the American War, came a series\nof British, French, and Russian voyages, which gradually centred more\nparticularly about Vancouver Island and Nootka Sound. The British exceeded\nthe others in numbers and enterprise. Among them we find names now\npreserved at many conspicuous points on the northern coast: as Portlock,\nHanna, Dixon, Duncan, and Barclay. The most notable of the French was La\nPerouse, who was best equipped for scientific research of any one. A\nnumber of Russian names appear at that period, most of which may yet be\nfound upon the maps of Alaska, as Schelikoff, Ismyloff, Betschareff,\nResanoff, Krustenstern, and Baranoff.\n\nBut none of them set eyes on the River, and it seemed more mythical than\never. As a result, however, of their various expeditions, incomplete\nthough they were, each nation followed the usual practice of claiming\neverything in sight, either in sight of the eye or the imagination, and\ndemanded the whole coast by priority of discovery.\n\nNever did a geographical entity seem so to play the _ignis fatuus_ with\nthe world as did the River. Thirteen years elapsed from the discovery of\nthe Rio San Roque by Heceta before any one of the dozens who had meanwhile\npassed up and down the coast, looked in again between the Cabo de Frondoso\nand the Cabo de San Roque. Then there came on one negative and two\npositive discoveries, and the elusive stream was really found never to be\nlost again.\n\nThe negative discovery was that of Captain John Meares in 1788. Since\nEngland afterwards endeavoured to make the voyages of Meares an important\nlink in her chain of proof to the ownership of Oregon, it is worthy of\nsome special attention. It happened on this wise. Meares came first to the\ncoast of Oregon in 1786, in command of the _Nootka_ to trade for furs for\nthe East India Company. With the _Nootka_ was the _Sea-Otter_, in command\nof Captain Walter Tipping. Both seem to have been brave and capable\nseamen. But disaster followed on their track. For having sailed far up the\ncoast, they followed the Aleutian Archipelago eastward to Prince William's\nSound. Separated on the journey, the _Nootka_ reached a safe haven, but\nher consort never arrived, nor was she ever heard of more. The _Nootka_,\nafter an Arctic winter of distress and after losing a large part of the\ncrew through the ravages of scurvy, abandoned the trade and returned to\nChina. Discouraged by the outcome, the East India Company abandoned the\nAmerican trade and confined themselves henceforth to India.\n\nBut Meares, finding that the Portuguese had special privileges in the\nfur-trade and in the harbour of Nootka, entered into an arrangement with\nsome Portuguese traders whereby he went nominally as supercargo, but\nreally as captain of the _Felice_, under the Portuguese flag. With her\nsailed the _Iphigenia_ with William Douglas occupying a place similar to\nthat of Meares. In estimating the subsequent pretensions of Great Britain,\nthe student of history may well remember that these two mariners, though\nEnglishmen, were sailing under the flag of Portugal.\n\nReaching again the coast of Oregon, Meares looked in, June 29, 1788, at\nthe broad entrance of an extensive strait which he believed to be the\nmythical Strait of Juan de Fuca of two centuries earlier, but which he did\nnot pause to explore. He had resolved to solve the riddle of the Rio San\nRoque or the Ensenada de Asuncion or de Heceta, and turned his prow\nsouthward. On July 5th, in latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, he perceived a\ndeep bay which he considered at once to be the object of his search.\nEssaying to enter, he found the water shoaling with dangerous rapidity and\na prodigious easterly swell breaking on the shore. From the masthead it\nseemed that the breakers extended clear across the entrance. With rather\ncurious timidity for a bold Briton right on the eve of a discovery for\nwhich all nations had been looking, Meares lost courage and hauled out,\nattaching the name Deception Bay to the inlet and Cape Disappointment to\nthe northern promontory, the last a name still officially used.\n\nMeares left as his final conclusion in the matter, the following\nmemorandum: \"We can now assert that there is no such river as that of St.\nRoc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts.\" In view of this statement\nof the case it would certainly seem that he could not be accepted as a\nwitness for English discovery, even if the Portuguese flag had not been\nflying at his masthead.\n\nAfter bestowing the name of Lookout upon the great headland christened\nCape Falcon by Heceta and known to us as Tillamook Head, Meares squared\naway for Nootka, and there he spent a very profitable season in the\nfur-trade.\n\nBut into the harbour of Nootka that same year of 1788, there sailed the\nship of destiny, the _Columbia Rediviva_, in command of John Kendrick.\nWith the _Columbia_ came the _Lady Washington_, commanded by Robert Gray.\nThese were the advance guard of Yankee ships which the energies of our\nliberated forefathers were sending forth as an earnest of the coming\nconquest of Oregon by the universal Yankee nation.\n\nGray and Kendrick were engaged in the fur-trade, and their energy and\nintelligence made it speedily profitable. It took a long time and a long\narm, sure enough, in that day, to complete the great circuit of the\noutfitting, the bartering, the transferring, the return trip, and the\nfinal sale;--three years in all. The ship would be fitted out in Boston or\nNew York with trinkets, axes, hatchets, and tobacco, and proceed by the\nHorn to the coast of Oregon,--six months or sometimes eight. Then up and\ndown the coast, as far as known, they would trade with natives for the\nprecious furs, making a profit of a thousand per cent. on the investment.\nGray on one occasion got for an axe a quantity of furs worth $8000. The\nfur-barter would take another six or eight months. Then with hold packed\nwith bales of furs, the ship would square away for Macao or Canton, six or\neight months more. In China, the cargo of furs would go out and a cargo of\nnankeens, teas, and silks go in, with a great margin of profit at both\nends. Then away again to Boston, there to sell the proceeds of that three\nyears' \"round-up\" of the seas, for probably ten times the entire cost of\noutfitting and subsistence. The glory, fascination, and gain of the ocean\nwere in it, and also its dangers. Of this sufficient witness is found in\nvanished ships, murdered crews, storm, scurvy, famine, and war. But it was\na great age. Gray and Kendrick were as good specimens of their keen,\nfacile, far-sighted countrymen, as Meares and Vancouver were of the\nself-opinionated, determined, yet withal manly and thorough Britons.\n\nAmong other pressing matters, such as looking out for good fur-trade in\norder to recoup the Boston merchants who had put their good money into the\nventure, and looking out for the health of their crew, steering clear of\nthe uncharted reefs and avoiding the treacherous natives, Gray and\nKendrick remembered that they were also good Americans. They must see that\nthe new Stars and Stripes had their due upon the new coast.\n\nThe first voyage of the two Yankee skippers was ended and they set forth\nfor another round in 1791, but with ships exchanged, Gray commanding the\n_Columbia_ on this second voyage. The year 1792 was now come, and it was a\ngreat year in the annals of Oregon, three hundred years from Columbus,\ntwo hundred from Juan de Fuca. The struggle between England and Spain over\nconflicting rights at Nootka, which at one time threatened war, had been\nsettled with a measure of amicability. As a commissioner to represent\nGreat Britain, Captain George Vancouver was sent out, while Bodega y\nQuadra was empowered to act in like capacity for Spain. Spaniards and\nBritons alike realised that, whatever the Nootka treaty may have been,\npossession was nine points of the law, and both redoubled their efforts to\npush discovery, and especially to make the first complete exploration of\nthe Straits of Fuca and the supposed Great River. There were great names\namong the Spaniards in that year, some of which still commemorate some of\nthe most interesting geographical points, as Quimper, Malaspina, Fidalgo,\nCaamano, Elisa, Bustamente, Valdez, and Galiano. A list of British names\nnow applied to many points, as Vancouver, Puget, Georgia, Baker, Hood,\nRainier, St. Helens, Whidby, Vashon, Townsend, and others, attests the\nname-bestowing care of the British commander.\n\nIn going to Nootka as British commissioner, Vancouver was under\ninstructions to make the most careful examination of the coast, especially\nof the rivers or any interoceanic channels, and thereby clear up the many\nconundrums of the ocean on that shore. With the best ship, the war sloop\n_Discovery_, accompanied by the armed tender _Chatham_, in command of\nLieutenant W. R. Broughton, and with the best crew and best general\nequipment yet seen on the coast, it would have been expected that the\ndoughty Briton would have found all the important places yet unfound.\nThat the Americans beat him in finding the River and that the Spaniards\nbeat him in the race through the Straits and around Vancouver Island, may\nbe regarded as due partly to a little British obstinacy at a critical\ntime, but mainly due to the appointment of the Fates.\n\nOn April 27, 1792, Vancouver passed a \"conspicuous point of land composed\nof a cluster of hummocks, moderately high and projecting into the sea.\"\nThis cape was in latitude 46 degrees 19 minutes, and Vancouver decided\nthat here were doubtless the Cape Disappointment and Deception Bay of\nMeares. In spite of the significant fact that the sea here changed its\ncolour, the British commander was so prepossessed with the idea that\nMeares must have decided correctly the nature of the entrance (for how was\nit possible for an English sailor to be wrong and a Spaniard right?) that\nhe decided that the opening was not worthy of more attention and passed on\nup the coast. So the English lost their second great chance of being first\nto enter the River.\n\nTwo days later the lookout reported a sail, and as the ships drew\ntogether, the newcomer was seen to be flying the Stars and Stripes. It was\nthe _Columbia Rediviva_, Captain Robert Gray, of Boston. In response to\nVancouver's rather patronising queries, the Yankee skipper gave a summary\nof his log for some months past. Among other things he stated that he had\npassed what seemed to be a powerful river in latitude 46 degrees 10\nminutes, which for nine days he had tried in vain to enter, being repelled\nby the strength of the current. He now proposed returning to that point\nand renewing his effort. Vancouver declined to reconsider his previous\ndecision that there could be no large river, and passed on to make his\nvery elaborate exploration of the Straits of Fuca and their connected\nwaters, and to discover to his great chagrin, that the Spaniards had\nforestalled him in point of time.\n\nThe vessels parted. Gray sailed south and on May 10, 1792, paused abreast\nof the same reflex of water where before for nine days he had tried vainly\nto enter. The morning of the 11th dawned clear and favourable, light wind,\ngentle sea, a broad, clear channel, plainly of sufficient depth. The time\nwas now come. The man and the occasion met. Gray seems from the first to\nhave been ready to take some chances for the sake of some great success.\nHe always hugged the shore closely enough to be on intimate terms with it.\nAnd he was ready boldly to seize and use favouring circumstances. So, as\nlaconically stated in his log-book, he ran in with all sail set, and at\nten o'clock found himself in a large river of fresh water, at a point\nabout twenty miles from the ocean.\n\nThe geographical Sphinx was answered. Gray was its Oedipus, though unlike\nthe ancient Theban myth there was no need that either the Sphinx of the\nOregon coast or its discoverer perish. The River recognised and welcomed\nits master.\n\nThe next day the _Columbia_ moved fifteen miles up the stream. Finding\nthat he was out of the channel, Gray stopped further progress and turned\nagain seaward. Natives, apparently friendly disposed, thronged in canoes\nround the ship, and a large quantity of furs was secured.\n\nThe River already bore many names, but Gray added another, and it was the\none that has remained, the name of his good ship _Columbia_. Upon the\nsouthern cape he bestowed the name of Adams, and upon the northern, the\nname Hancock. These also remain.\n\nThe great exploit was completed. The long sought River of the West was\nfound, and by an American. The path of destiny for the new Republic of the\nWest was made secure. Without Oregon we probably would not have acquired\nCalifornia, and without a Pacific Coast, the United States would\ninevitably have been but a second-class power, the prey to European\nintrigue. The vast importance of the issue then becomes clear. Gray's\nhappy voyage, that Yankee foresight and confidence in his seamanship and\nintuitive suiting of times and conditions to results which marks the vital\nturning points of history, differentiate Gray's discovery from all others\nupon our north-west coast.\n\nAs we view the matter now, a century and more later, we can see that our\nnational destiny, and especially the vast part that we now seem at the\npoint of taking in world interests through the commerce of the Pacific,\nhung in the balance to a certain extent upon the stubborn adherence by\nVancouver, the Briton, to the preconceived opinion that there was no\nimportant river at the point designated by his Spanish predecessor, and\nthe contrasted readiness of the American Gray to embrace boldly the\nchances of some great discovery. It is true that the \"Oregon Question\" was\nnot to be settled for several decades. Much diplomacy and contention,\nalmost to the verge of war, were yet to come, but Gray's fortunate dash,\n\"with all sail set, in between the breakers to a large river of fresh\nwater,\" gave our nation a lead in the ultimate adjustment of the case,\nwhich we never lost.\n\nWe have said that there was one negative discovery--that of Meares--and\ntwo positive ones. Gray's was one of the two, and that of Broughton, in\ncommand of the _Chatham_ accompanying Vancouver, was the other.\n\nOn the 20th of May, the _Columbia Rediviva_--a most auspicious name--bade\nadieu to the scene of her glory, and with the Stars and Stripes floating\nin triumph at her mizzen-mast, turned northward. Again the American\ncaptain encountered Vancouver and narrated to him his discovery of the\nColumbia. With deep chagrin at his own failure in the two most important\nobjects of discovery in his voyage, the British commander directed\nBroughton to return to latitude 46 degrees 10 minutes, enter the river,\nand proceed as far up as time allowed.\n\nAccordingly, on October 21st, the companion ships parted at the mouth of\nthe River, the _Discovery_ proceeding to Monterey, while the _Chatham_\ncrossed the bar, described by Broughton as very bad, and endeavoured to\nascend the bay that stretched out beautiful and broad before them. But\nfinding the channel intricate and soundings variable, the lieutenant\ndeemed it advisable to leave the ship at a point which must have been\nabout twenty miles from the ocean, and to proceed thence in the cutter.\n\nThere is one thing observable in Vancouver's account of this expedition of\nBroughton, and that is extreme solicitude to establish these two\npropositions:--first, that the lower part of the Columbia is a bay and\nthat its true mouth is at a point above that reached by Gray; and second,\nthat the River is much smaller than it really is. It is hard to reconcile\nthe language used in Broughton's report as given by Vancouver with the\nsupposition of candour and honesty. For while it is true that the lower\npart of the River is of bay-like expanse from four to nine miles in width,\nyet it is entirely fresh and has all river characteristics. One of the\npoints especially made by Gray was that he filled his casks with fresh\nwater. Moreover, the bar is entirely at the ocean limit. So completely\ndoes the River debouch into the Ocean, in fact, that in the great flood of\n1894 the clams were killed on the ocean beaches for a distance of several\nmiles on either side of the outer headlands through the freshening of the\nsea.\n\nAs to the size of the River, Broughton gives its width repeatedly as half\na mile or a quarter of a mile, whereas it is at almost no point below the\nCascades less than a mile in width, and a mile and a half is more usual.\nBroughton expresses the conviction that it can never be used for\nnavigation by vessels of any size. In view of the vast commerce now\nconstantly passing in and out, the absurdity of that idea is and has been\nfor years sufficiently exhibited. The animus of the British explorers is\nobvious. By showing that the mouth of the River was really an inlet of the\nsea, they hoped to lay a claim to British occupancy as against Gray's\ndiscovery, and by belittling the size of the River they hoped to save\ntheir own credit with the British Admiralty for having lost so great a\nchance for first occupation.\n\nBroughton ascended the River to a point near the modern town of Washougal.\nHe bestowed British names after the general fashion, as Mt. Hood, Cape\nGeorge, Vancouver Point, Puget's Island, Young's Bay, Menzies' Island,\nand Whidby's River. With true British assurance, he felt that he had\n\"every reason to believe that the subjects of no other civilised nation or\nstate had ever entered this river before; in this opinion he was confirmed\nby Mr. Gray's sketch, in which it does not appear that Mr. Gray either saw\nor was ever within five leagues of its entrance.\" Therefore he \"took\npossession of the river, and the country in its vicinity, in His Britannic\nMajesty's name.\"\n\nIn view of all the circumstances of Gray's discovery, and his impartation\nof it to the British, this language of Vancouver has a coolness, as John\nFiske remarks, which would be very refreshing on a hot day.\n\nOn November 10th, the _Chatham_ crossed the bar outward bound for Monterey\nto join the _Discovery_.\n\nSuch, in rapid view, were the essential facts in the long and curiously\ncomplicated finding of our River. We see that various nations bore each a\npart. We see the foundation of the subsequent contention between Great\nBritain and the United States.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nThe First Steps across the Wilderness in Search of the River\n\n    Jefferson and Ledyard--Verendrye--Montcachabe, the Indian--The\n    Indians--The Canadians--Results of the Louisiana Purchase--Fitting out\n    the Lewis and Clark Expedition--The Winter with the Mandans--Crossing\n    of the Great Divide--Meeting of Sacajawea and Cameahwait--Descent from\n    the Mountains to the Clearwater and Kimooenim--Canoe Journey Down the\n    Snake and Columbia--First Sight of Mt. Hood--Clark in the Role of a\n    Magician--The Timm or Great Falls--The Sunken Forests--First\n    Appearances of the Tide--The Winter of 1805-06 at Fort Clatsop--The\n    Beginning of the Return Trip--Faithfulness of the Indians--Reception\n    of Lewis and Clark in the States--The Hunt Expedition--The _Voyageurs_\n    and Trappers--Slow Progress to the Snake River--Disasters and Distress\n    along the \"Accursed Mad River\"--Starvation--New Year's Day of 1812--A\n    Respite from Suffering in the Umatilla--First Sight of the Columbia\n    and the Mid-winter Descent to Astoria--Melancholy Lot of Crooks and\n    Day--Results of the Hunt Expedition.\n\n\nThe Pacific North-west was discovered both by land and by sea. To Thomas\nJefferson, the great apostle of Democracy, is due the gathering of\nAmerican interests in the far West, and the opening of the road by which\nAmerican sovereignty was to reach the Pacific. His great mind outran that\nof the ordinary statesman of his time, and, with what seems at first sight\nthe strangest inconsistency in our political history, he was the\nState-rights theorist and at the same time the creator of nationality\nbeyond any other one of our early statesmen. Away back in 1786, Jefferson\nmet John Ledyard, one of Cook's associates in his great voyage to the\nPacific Ocean, and grasped from the eager and energetic Yankee sailor, the\nidea of American destiny on the Pacific Coast. The fertile mind of\nJefferson may justly be considered as the fountain of American exploration\nup the Missouri, across the crest of the Shining Mountains, as they then\ncalled the Rockies, and down the Columbia to the Pacific. Although\nJefferson never himself took any steps beyond the Alleghanies, he was the\ninspiration of all the Americans who did take those steps.\n\nSince we are speaking of first steps across the wilderness we should not\nforget that those of other nationalities than ours first crossed the\nAmerican continent. The honour of the pioneer expedition to the crest of\nthe Rocky Mountains belongs to the Frenchman, Verendrye. In 1773 he set\nforth from Montreal for the Rocky Mountains, and made many important\nexplorations. His party is said to have reached the vicinity of the site\nof Helena, but never saw the sunset side of the Great Divide.\n\nWe are told by the interesting French writer, La Page, that the first man\nto proceed across the continent to the shores of the Pacific was a Yazoo\nIndian, Montcachabe or Montcacht Ape by name. According to the story, his\ntwo-year journey across the great wilderness through every species of\nperil and hardship, savage beasts and forbidding mountains and deserts,\nhostile Indians often barring his progress for many days, was one of the\nmost remarkable explorations ever made by man. This Yazoo Indian with the\nlong name was a veritable Columbus in the nature of his achievements. But\nresults for the world could hardly follow his enterprise.\n\nThe first traveller to lead a party of civilised men through the Shining,\nor the Stony Mountains, finally known as Rocky Mountains, to the Pacific\nOcean, was Alexander Mackenzie, a canny Scotchman, leading a party of\nScotch and French Canadian explorers. In 1793 he reached the Pacific Coast\nat the point of 52 degrees 24 minutes 48 seconds north latitude. His\ninscription upon a rock with letters of vermilion and grease, were read\nmany years afterwards: \"Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada by land, July 22,\n1793.\"\n\nBut the explorations of Canadians were too far north to come within the\nscope of the Pacific North-west of our day. We must therefore take up the\nAmerican expeditions which proceeded from the master mind of Jefferson.\nThe first of these was the expedition of Lewis and Clark. This expedition\ndid more to broaden the American mind and to fix our national destiny than\nany similar event in our whole history.\n\nAs soon as Jefferson was inaugurated president, he had urged upon Congress\nthe fitting out of an expedition \"to explore the Missouri River and such\nprincipal streams of it as, by its course of communication with the waters\nof the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other\nriver, may offer the most direct and practical water communication across\nthe continent, for the purposes of commerce.\"\n\nBut before anything had actually been accomplished in the way of\nexploration, that vast and important event, the Louisiana Purchase, had\nbeen effected. The significance of this event was but little understood at\nthe time, even by statesmen, but Jefferson realised that a great thing\nhad been accomplished towards the development of the nation. His\nenthusiasm and hopefulness spread to Congress and to the leaders of\nopinion throughout the land. A like enthusiasm soon possessed the mass of\npopulation, and emigration westward began. Already the older West was\nteeming with that race of pioneers which has made up the life and the\ngrandeur of the nineteenth century. The American hive began to swarm. \"Out\nWest\" began to mean something more than Ohio and Kentucky. The distant\nsources of the Missouri and the heights of the Shining Mountains, with all\nthe fantastic tales that had been told of them, were drawing our\ngrandfathers farther and farther from the old colonial America of the\neastern coast, and were beginning to modify the whole course of American\nhistory. The atmosphere of boundless expectation gathered over farm and\ntown in the older States and the proposed expedition of Lewis and Clark\nfascinated the people as much as the voyage of Columbus fascinated the\nSpain of his day.\n\nAnd what manner of men were in charge of this expedition, thus filled with\nboth interest and peril? Meriwether Lewis was the leader of the party. He\nwas a captain in the U. S. Army who was well known to Jefferson and who\nhad been selected by him as possessed of the endurance, boldness, and\nenergy which made him the fittest man within Jefferson's knowledge for the\nduties of commander. His whole life, from his boyhood days in Virginia,\nhad been one of bold adventure. It is related that at the tender age of\neight, he was already illustrious for successful midnight forays upon the\ncoon and possum. He had not received a scientific education, but\nimmediately upon receiving the appointment of commander of the expedition,\nhe entered with great energy upon the acquisition of knowledge along\ngeographical lines which would best fit him for preserving an accurate\nrecord of his journey. William Clark, the lieutenant of the expedition,\nwas also a United States officer, a man of very good judgment, boldness,\nand skill in organising his work, and readiness in meeting every kind of\nemergency. The party was made up of fourteen United States regular\nsoldiers, nine Kentucky volunteers, two French voyageurs, a hunter, an\ninterpreter and a negro servant. The soldiers were offered the munificent\nbounty of retirement upon full pay, with a grant of land. By Jefferson's\ndirections, the party were encouraged to keep complete records of all they\nsaw and did. They carried out the instruction so fully that seven journals\nbesides those of Lewis and Clark themselves, were carefully kept, and in\nthem a record was made of every important, as well as unimportant,\ndiscovery, even down to the ingredients of their meals and their doses of\nmedicine. It is safe to say that no expedition was ever more fully or\naccurately reported. Although not a single one of the party possessed\nliterary attainments, there is nevertheless a singular charm about the\ncombined record which has been recognised to this day by repeated editions\nof the work. It was well understood that the success of the expedition\ndepended largely upon making friends with the Indians, and the explorers\nwere therefore completely fitted out with beads, mirrors, knives, and all\nmanner of trinkets.\n\nThe summer of 1804 was spent in an easy and uneventful journey of five\nmonths up the Missouri to the country of the Mandan Indians, in what is\nnow Dakota. There they determined to winter. The winter was devoted to\nmaking the acquaintance of Indians and to collecting botanical and\nzooelogical specimens, of which they sent President Jefferson a large\namount by a portion of the party which now left them and descended the\nRiver. And, while speaking of their relations to Indians, it is very\ninteresting to note the attitude Jefferson instructed them to take in\nrespect to the native tribes. He insisted upon a policy of peace and\ngood-will toward all the tribes upon the route. It is observable that\nJefferson refers in a most considerate and friendly manner to the Indians,\nand instructs the explorers to arrange, if possible, to have some of the\nmore important chiefs induced to come back with the explorers to the city\nof Washington. He also points out the desirability of urging any bright\nyoung Indians to receive such arts as might be useful to them when in\ncontact with the white men. Jefferson even goes so far as to advise the\nexplorers to take along vaccine matter that the Indians might be\ninstructed in the advantages of vaccination. A number of medallion medals\nwere made that were intended to be given as presents to Indian chiefs, the\ninscription of which was \"Peace and Friendship,\" with the design of\nclasped hands. These medals, it may be remarked, seem to have been prized\nby the Indians as among their greatest treasures. Several of them have\nbeen found in Indian graves; one even in a grave of the Nez Perce Indians\nin Idaho.\n\nWhile among the Mandans, the expedition was joined by the most attractive\npersonage in it, that is to say, Sacajawea. This young Indian woman, the\nonly woman in the expedition, seems to have furnished the picturesque\nelement in the composition of the party, and she has in later days become\nthe subject of great interest on the part of students of Pacific Coast\nhistory.\n\n[Illustration: Mt. Adams from the South. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\nOn April 7th, everything was in readiness for resuming their journey up\nthe River. The explorers embarked again in a squadron of six canoes and\ntwo pirogues.\n\nOn the twelfth day of August, an advance party of the explorers crossed\nthe Great Divide of the Rocky Mountains, the birthplace of mighty rivers.\nDescending the western slope, they found themselves in the country of the\nShoshone Indians. Captain Lewis was leading this advance expedition, and,\nas he neared the highest point of the pass, he realised the significance\nof the transition from the waters of the Missouri to those of the\nColumbia. A quotation from his narrative at this most interesting point of\nthe journey gives the reader a better conception than any description\ncould, of the feelings of the explorers:\n\n    The road was still plain, and as it led directly toward the mountains,\n    the stream gradually became smaller, till after their advancing two\n    miles further, it had so greatly diminished in width that one of the\n    men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the rivulet,\n    thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri. As they\n    proceeded, their hope of seeing the waters of the Columbia rose to\n    almost painful anxiety; when at the distance of four miles from the\n    last abrupt turn of the stream, they reached a small gap formed by the\n    high mountains which recede on either side, leaving room for the\n    Indian road. From the foot of one of the lowest of these mountains,\n    which arises with a gentle ascent of about half a mile, issued the\n    remotest water of the Missouri. They had now reached the hidden\n    sources of that river, which had never before been seen by civilised\n    man; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy\n    fountain,--as they sat down by the brink of that little rivulet, which\n    yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean,--they felt\n    themselves rewarded for all their labours and difficulties. They left\n    reluctantly this interesting spot, and pursuing the Indian road\n    through the interval of the hills, arrived at the top of a ridge from\n    which they saw high mountains, partially covered with snow, still to\n    the west of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing\n    line between the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. They\n    found the descent much steeper than on the eastern side, and at the\n    distance of three-quarters of a mile, reached a handsome, bold creek\n    of cold, clear water running to the westward. They stopped to taste\n    for the first time the waters of the Columbia.\n\nThe party was now upon the western slope of the Great Divide, in the\nvicinity of the present Fort Lemhi in Eastern Idaho. They supposed that\nthey were almost to the Pacific, not realising that a thousand miles of\ndifficult and dangerous travel and more than two months of time still\nseparated them from their wished-for goal. The journey, in fact, from the\nsprings of the Missouri to the navigable waters of the Columbia, proved to\nbe the most critical of the whole series.\n\nSoon after passing the crest of the mountains, the party encountered a\nband of sixty Indians of the Shoshone tribe, coming to meet them at full\nspeed, upon fine horses, and armed for battle. Captain Lewis, who always\nshowed great discretion with Indians, took the Stars and Stripes in his\nhand, and advanced alone to meet the party. As soon as the Indians\nperceived that he was a white man, they showed signs of great rejoicing,\nand the three leaders of the war-party, dismounting, embraced the American\ncaptain with great exuberance, shouting words which he afterwards\ndiscovered meant, \"We are rejoiced! We are rejoiced!\" The valiant captain,\nhowever, was much more pleased with the hearty good-will of their\nintentions than in the manner of its expression, inasmuch as they had\ntransferred a good portion of the war paint from their own faces to his.\nLewis now brought up his companions and entered upon a long and friendly\nconference with the chief of the party, whose name was Cameahwait. Captain\nLewis, as the representative of the great American nation, set forth to\nthe eager listeners about him, a glowing report as to the benevolence of\nthe Great Father at Washington, and his desire that his brothers of the\nWest should come into friendly relations with him and trade their furs for\nthe beads and blankets and knives which the Indians so highly prize. He\nalso explained to them that they would receive from his government guns\nand ammunition which would enable them to cope with the dreaded Sioux or\nthe pitiless Blackfeet. Captain Lewis also greatly aroused the curiosity\nof these Indians by indicating to them that he had with him a woman of\ntheir tribe, and also a man who was perfectly black and yet not painted.\nHe now made a proposition to Cameahwait to go back with him and his\ncompanions to the forks of the Missouri where they had left the main party\nwith their goods and boats. Cameahwait very gladly agreed to do this and\nalso to provide them with horses for the journey westward to the navigable\nwaters of the Columbia.\n\n[Illustration: Capt. Robert Gray.]\n\n[Illustration: The _Columbia Rediviva_.]\n\nAfter a journey of several days upon the back trail, the party found\nthemselves again at the forks of the Missouri, but, somewhat to their\nsurprise and consternation, the main party was not there. The Indians at\nfirst were very much excited, and, believing that they had been deceived\nand that the white men were enticing them to destruction, they were at the\npoint of wreaking vengeance upon them. But with great tact and boldness,\nLewis gave the chief his gun and ammunition, telling him that if it proved\nthat he had been a deceiver, they might instantly kill him. Reassured, the\nIndians proceeded onward and in a short time they could descry the boats,\nmaking their way slowly up the impetuous stream toward a bold promontory\nwhere the Indians were stationed. In the bow of the foremost boat was\nseated Sacajawea, clad in her bright red blanket, and gazing eagerly at\nthe group of Indians, thinking it possible that they might be of her own\ntribe. As the boat approached the band, the keen-sighted little Indian\nwoman soon perceived that these people were indeed of her own Shoshone\ntribe. Quickly disembarking, she made her way to them, when suddenly her\neyes fell upon the chief, Cameahwait. Then to the astonishment of the\nwhite men who were with her, she broke forth suddenly into a torrent of\ntears which were soon changed into joyful smiles as the chief, with almost\nas much emotion as herself, rushed forward to embrace her. She then\nexplained to Captain Lewis that Cameahwait was her own brother, whom she\nhad not seen since, as a little girl, she had been seized by the Mandans\nand carried into captivity.\n\nOf course there was now the kindliest feeling between the party of\nexplorers and the Indians. They found everything that they needed, horses,\nprovisions, and guides, placed at their disposal. They were at that time,\nas would be seen by an inspection of the map, at the head waters of Salmon\nRiver. They hoped that they might find a route down that powerful stream\nto navigable water. But the Indians assured them that the river was white\nwith foam for many miles and disappeared in a chain of terrific snowy\nmountains. It became necessary, therefore, to find a more northerly route,\nand on the last day of August, with twenty-nine horses, having bidden a\nhearty good-bye to the hospitable Shoshones, they turned north-westward\nand soon became entangled in the savage ridges and defiles, already\nspotted with snow, of the Bitter Root Mountains.\n\nThey were at this time among some of the upper branches of the second\nlargest tributary of the Columbia, named by them Clark's Fork, though at\nthe present time more commonly known by the more rhythmic title of Pend\nOreille. After several days of the most difficult, and indeed dangerous,\njourneying of their entire trip, they abandoned the northern route, turned\nsouthward, and soon reached the wild and beautiful stream which they\ncalled the Kooskooskie, commonly known to modern times as the Clearwater,\none of the finest of all the fine rivers of Idaho, the \"Gem of the\nMountains.\"\n\nBut they were not yet by any means clear of danger. The country still\nfrowned on them with the same forbidding crags, and the same blinding snow\nstorms as before. They were approaching the starvation point. The craggy\nprecipices were marked with almost daily accidents to men and beasts.\nTheir only food was the flesh of their precious horses. Under these\nharassing circumstances, it was decided that the wisest thing was for\nCaptain Clark to take six of his best men and press rapidly forward in\nsearch of game and a more favourable country. After a hard journey of\ntwenty miles, he found himself upon the crest of a towering cliff, from\nwhich stretched in front a vast open plain. This was the great plain, now\ncovered with wheat-fields and orchards, lying east and north of the\npresent city of Lewiston, Idaho. Having made their way down the\ndeclivities of the Bitter Root Mountains to the prairie, where they found\na climate that seemed almost tropical after the bitter cold of the high\nmountains, the advance guard camped and waited for the main party to come\nup.\n\nRejoicing at their release from the distressing conditions of their\npassage of the Bitter Root Mountains, they passed onward to a beautiful\nmountain-enclosed valley, which must have been in the near vicinity of\nwhat is known as the Kamiah Valley of the present time. Here they found\nthemselves with a large body of Indians who became known subsequently as\nthe Nez Perces. These Indians appeared to be the most honest, intelligent,\nand attractive they had yet met,--eager to assist them, kind and helpful,\nalthough shrewd and business-like in their trading.\n\nThe Nez Perces imparted to them the joyful news that the Great River was\nnot far distant. Seeing the Clearwater to be a fine, navigable stream, the\nexplorers determined to abandon the weary land journey and once more\ncommit their fortunes to the waters. They left their horses with the Nez\nPerces, asking that they should meet them at that point in the following\nspring when they expected to be on their return trip. The scrupulous\nfidelity with which the Nez Perces carried out their trust is some\nevidence of the oft-made assertion that the treachery characteristic of\nthe Indians was learned afterwards from the whites.\n\nWith five large and well-filled canoes, and with a good supply of eatables\nand all the other necessaries of life, the explorers now cast themselves\nupon the clear, swift current of the Kooskooskie, and on the 10th of\nOctober reached that striking and interesting place where the beautiful\nmodern town of Lewiston is located, at the junction of the Clearwater and\nthe Snake. The turbid, angry, sullen Snake, so striking a contrast with\nthe lesser stream, received from the explorers the name of Kimooenim, its\nIndian name. Subsequently they christened it Lewis's Fork, but the still\nless attractive name of Snake is the one by which it is universally known.\n\nThe journey of a hundred and twenty miles from the junction of the\nClearwater and the Snake to the junction of the latter stream with the\nmighty Columbia, seems to have been a calm and uneventful journey, though\nthe explorers record every manner of event, whether important or\nunimportant. Knowledge of their approach seems to have reached the Indian\nworld, and when on October 16th they reached the point where the modern\ncity of Pasco is located, they were met by a regular procession of two\nhundred Indians. The two great rivers were then at their lowest point in\nthe year, and they found by measurement that the Columbia was 960 yards in\nwidth and the Snake, 575 yards. In the glimmering haze of the pleasant\nOctober day they noted how the vast, bare prairie stretched southward\nuntil it was broken by the rounded summits of the Blue Mountains. To their\nastonishment, they found that the Sohulks, who lived at the junction of\nthe rivers, so differed from other Indians that the men were content with\none wife and that they would actually assist her in the drudgery of the\nfamily life. After several days spent in rest and getting fish, which\nseemed to throng the river in almost countless numbers, they resumed their\njourney upon the magnificent flood of the Columbia. Soon after passing\nwhat we now call the Umatilla Highland, they caught their first glimpse,\nclear-cut against the horizon of the south-west, of the bold cone of Mt.\nHood, glistening with its eternal snows. Landing upon the broad prairie\nnear where Umatilla is now located, Captain Clark shot a crane and a duck.\nHe then perceived a group of Indians who were almost paralysed with terror\nand yet able to make their way with considerable expedition to a little\ngroup of tepees. Having entered one of these, Captain Clark discovered\nthirty-two Indians, men, women, and children, all of whom seemed to be in\nthe greatest terror, wailing and wringing their hands. Endeavouring by\nkind looks and gestures to soothe their perturbation, Captain Clark held\nup a burning glass to catch a stray sunbeam with which to light his pipe.\nWhereupon the consternation of the Indians was redoubled, to be soothed\nonly by the arrival of the two Indian guides who were accompanying the\nparty. The terrified Indians explained to the guides that they knew that\nCaptain Clark must have some bad medicine about him, for he had dropped\nout of the sky with a dead crane and a duck, accompanied by a terrible\nnoise.\n\n[Illustration: Mt. Hood from Lost Lake. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.]\n\nThe Indians being now convinced that he was a mortal man, and, moreover,\nhaving heard the sound of the violin which the negro servant carried with\nhim, became so enamoured with the strangers that they stayed up with them\nall night, and in the morning collected by hundreds to bid them good-bye.\n\nThe Indians had now given them to understand that in a short time they\nwould reach the place which they knew as \"Timm.\" This seems to have been\nan Indian word for falls. It still appears in the name Tumwater Falls\napplied to the falls at Celilo on the Columbia. A weird, savage place this\nproved to be; crags of basalt, thrust through the soil, like clenched\nhands, seemed almost to grasp the rushing river. Making several portages,\nthe voyagers reached that extraordinary place now called The Dalles, or\nthe \"big chute,\" where all the waters of the Columbia are squeezed into a\ncrack only a hundred and fifty feet in width. The River, in fact, is\n\"turned on edge.\" The explorers, finding the shore so rough that it was\ndifficult to carry their boats over, steered boldly through that witch's\ncaldron. Though they must have been carried with frightful rapidity\nthrough the boiling stream, they reached the end of the cataract without\naccident. At this point they began to be aware of the fact that they were\nreaching the sphere of the white traders from the ocean, for they began to\nsee blankets, axes, brass kettles, and other articles of civilised\nmanufacture. The Indians, too, were more saucy, suspicious, and\ntreacherous than those of the upper country.\n\nBeing launched upon the calm, deep flood of the River below The Dalles,\nthey observed the phenomenon of the submerged forest, which at a low state\nof water is still conspicuous. They correctly inferred that this indicated\na damming up of the River at some recent time. They thought indeed that it\ncould not have been more than twenty years previous. We know, however,\nthat submerged trees or piles, as indicated by remains of old Roman\nwharves in Britain, may remain intact for hundreds of years. This place on\nthe Columbia is, however, one of the most interesting of its many\ninteresting phenomena. It is evident that within very recent times,\ngeologically speaking, there was a prodigious rock-slide from the\nmountains which closed the River, producing the cataract of the Cascades\nand raising the River above, some forty feet.\n\nHere the explorers had their last portage. On the second day of November\nthey reached the foot of the Cascades and perceived the movement of the\ntide, which made it plain to them that the ocean was near at hand. Yet, in\nreality, it was much farther than they thought, for the majestic lower\nRiver extends one hundred and sixty miles from the foot of the last\ncataract to the Pacific. It is interesting to notice comments made by the\nexplorers upon the green and fertile islands at the lower end of the\nCascades, and that spired and turreted volcanic cliff which they called\nBeacon Rock, but which we know now as Castle Rock.\n\nThe rest of the journey of Lewis and Clark was a calm floating down the\ntranquil flood of the lower Columbia in the midst of the fog and clouds\nwhich at that season of the year generally embrace all objects. On\nNovember 7th the mist suddenly broke away before them, the bold\nmountainous shores vanished in front, and, through the parted headlands,\nthey looked forth into the expanse of the ocean.\n\n[Illustration: Eliot Glacier, Mt. Hood. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.]\n\nTheir journey was now ended. They had demonstrated the possibility of\ncrossing the continent and of linking together the waters of the Missouri\nand the Columbia.\n\nThe winter of 1805-06 was spent in log buildings at a point named by the\nexplorers, Fort Clatsop, situated on the Lewis and Clark River at the\nsouth side of the Columbia a few miles from the present site of Astoria.\nThe location of this fort has been identified in modern times, as has also\nthe location of the salt cairn, upon what is now known as the Seaside\nBeach, commemorated by an inscription.\n\nOne of the interesting little human touches in the narrative of Captain\nLewis describes the casting of a whale upon Clatsop Beach and the journey\nof the party to see the great marine curiosity, as well as to secure some\nof its fat and blubber. The Indian woman, Sacajawea, was to be left behind\nto keep camp while they were all at the beach, but she put up the earnest\nplea that inasmuch as she had never seen any such curiosity as the \"big\nfish,\" and as she had journeyed all those weary miles from the country of\nthe Mandans, it seemed hard that she should be denied the privilege of\nsatisfying her eyes with a view of the whale. Lewis remarks that the\nrequest of the poor woman seemed so reasonable that they at once fixed up\ncamp in such manner that it could be left, and took her with them, to her\nintense satisfaction.\n\nAfter four months spent in the fogs and mists of the coast, and without\nseeing any of the ships which the Indians said were accustomed to come in\nconsiderable numbers during the spring and summer, the party turned their\nfaces homeward on the 23d of March, 1806. The commander posted upon the\nfort a notice which read as follows:\n\n    The object of this last is that through the medium of some civilised\n    person who may see the same, it may be made known to the world that\n    the party consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed\n    and who were sent out by the Government of the United States to\n    explore the interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate\n    the same by way of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers, to the discharge\n    of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, at which they arrived on the\n    14th day of November, 1805, and departed on their return to the United\n    States by the same route by which they had come.\n\nThey also gave to the chiefs of the Clatsops and Chinooks certificates, to\nwhich they attached great importance and which were afterwards exhibited\nto other explorers, setting forth the just and hospitable treatment which\nthese Indians had accorded the party.\n\nThe return from Fort Clatsop to the Missouri was in the main a pleasant\nand successful journey without extraordinary event, except the fact that\nupon their return they discovered the Willamette River, which, strange to\nsay, had eluded their observation on their journey down the River in\nNovember. The journal contains the somewhat quaint statement that the\nchief cultivable region which they discovered in Oregon was Wapatoo\nIsland, now known as Sauvie's Island, at the mouth of the Willamette. They\nexpress the conviction that that fertile tract of country and the region\nadjoining might sometime support a population of fifty thousand people.\nThey seem to regard this as an extraordinary prophecy of prosperity.\nInasmuch as there are already over four times that number of people in the\ncity of Portland, it would seem that Lewis and Clark were hardly \"boomers\"\nin the modern sense of the word.\n\nOne interesting thing in connection with the Lewis and Clark expedition\nreceives special emphasis from them in the account of their return\njourney, and that is, the faithfulness, honesty, and devotion of the\nIndians when entrusted with any charge, as the care of horses or canoes.\nThis character of the Indians was so marked that one can hardly avoid the\nconclusion that the subsequent troubles with the Indians were due very\nlargely to abuse by the whites.\n\nNo better summary can be given of the scope of this historic journey than\nthat by Captain Lewis himself in his journal. He says:\n\n    The road by which we went out by way of the Missouri to its head is\n    three thousand ninety-six miles; thence by land by way of Lewis River\n    over to Clark's River and down that to the entrance of Traveller's\n    Rest Creek, where all the roads from different routes meet; thence\n    across the rugged part of the Rocky Mountains to the navigable waters\n    of the Columbia, three hundred and ninety-eight miles, thence down the\n    river six hundred and forty miles to the Pacific Ocean, making a total\n    distance of four thousand one hundred and thirty-four miles. On our\n    return in 1806 we reduced the distance from the Mississippi to the\n    Pacific Ocean to three thousand five hundred and fifty-five miles.\n\nThe safe return of the explorers to their homes created a sensation\nthroughout the United States and the world. Leaders and men were suitably\nrewarded. Though the expedition was not marked by many remarkable\nadventures or dramatic events, and though the narration given by the\nexplorers is of a plain and simple kind with no attempt at literary\nornamentation, yet occurring, as the expedition did, at such a peculiar\njuncture in our history, and having such an effect to bridge the chasm\nbetween the old time and the new, this Lewis and Clark expedition has\ncontinued to receive, and justly, more attention than any other journey in\nour history. President Jefferson, paying a tribute to Captain Lewis in\n1813, expressed himself thus:\n\n    Never did a similar event excite more joy throughout the United\n    States; the humblest of its citizens have taken a lively interest in\n    the issue of this journey and looked with impatience for the\n    information it would furnish. Nothing short of the official journals\n    of this extraordinary and interesting journey will exhibit the\n    importance of the service, the courage, devotion, zeal, and\n    perseverance, under circumstances calculated to discourage, which\n    animated this little band of heroes, throughout the long dangerous,\n    and tedious travel.\n\nThe expedition of Lewis and Clark may justly be considered as constituting\nthe first steps across the wilderness. The breadth of the American\ncontinent was now known. The general relations of its rivers and mountain\nsystems and prairies were understood. Something of its prodigality of\nresources became set forth to the world. A dim consciousness of the\nconnection of this vast Pacific domain with the progress of American\ndestiny appeared to our grandfathers. And although the wilderness\ntraversed by this complete expedition did not come into possession of the\nUnited States for many years, yet it might well be said that our\nsubsequent acquirement of it was due to the Lewis and Clark expedition.\n\nOf the many remarkable explorations which followed, with all of their\nadventure and tragedy, we cannot here speak. For several years all the\nexpeditions to the far West were the outgrowth of the fur-trade. Most\nremarkable of these early journeys was that of the Hunt party which was\nthe land division of the great Astor movement to establish the Pacific Fur\nCompany. That company was established by John Jacob Astor of New York for\nthe purpose of making a bold and far-reaching attempt to control the\nfur-trade of the Pacific Coast in the interests of the United States.\nWhile the sea division was upon its journey around Cape Horn, the land\ndivision was in process of organisation at St. Louis. Wilson Price Hunt,\nthe commander of this division, was the second partner in the Astor\ncompany. He had been merchandising for some years at St. Louis, and had\nbecome impressed with the financial profits of the fur-trade as well as\nwith the vast possibilities of American development on the continent. Hunt\nwas a fine type of the pioneer promoter of that age. Brave, humane,\ncheerful, and resolute, he appears to us as the very flower of the\nadventurous Argonauts who were searching for the seal and beaver fleeces\nof the far West.\n\nWith Hunt were associated four other partners of the expedition, Crooks,\nMcKenzie, Miller, and McCellan. Accompanying the party were two English\nnaturalists, Bradbury and Nuttall, who did the first scientific study of\nthe Rocky Mountain region. There were forty Canadian _voyageurs_ whose\nduties consisted of rowing, transporting, cooking, and general drudgery.\nThe remaining twelve of the party consisted of a group of American hunters\nand trappers, the leader of whom was a Virginian named John Day. The\ncompany was in all respects fitted out most bountifully.\n\nThere were at that time two great classes of trappers. The first and most\nnumerous were the Canadian _voyageurs_. These were mainly of French\ndescent, many of them being half-breeds. Almost amphibious by nature and\ntraining, gay and amiable in disposition, with true French vivacity and\ningenuity, gliding over every harsh experience with laugh and song,\npossessed of quick sympathies and humane instincts which enabled them to\nreadily find the best side of the Indians,--these French _voyageurs_\nconstituted a most interesting as well as indispensable class in the\ntrapper's business.\n\nThe free trappers were an entirely different class of men. They were\nusually American by birth, Virginia and Kentucky being the homes of most\nof them. Patient and indefatigable in their work of trapping, yet, when on\ntheir annual trip to the towns, given to wild dissipation and savage\nrevellings, indifferent to sympathy or company, harsh and cruel to the\nIndians, bold and overbearing, with blood always in their eyes, thunder in\ntheir voices, and guns in their hands, yet underneath all of their harsh\nexterior having noble hearts, could they but be reached, these now\nvanished trappers have gone to a place in history alongside of the old\nSpartans and the followers of Pizarro and Cortez in Spanish conquest.\n\nOf the many adventures of the Hunt party on the journey up the Missouri,\nwe cannot speak. For some reason, although taking a more direct route than\ndid Lewis and Clark, and having, to all appearance, a better equipped\nparty, they did not make so good time. Guided by Indians, they crossed\nchain after chain of mountains, supposing each to be the summit, only to\nfind another yet to succeed. At last on the 15th of September, they stood\nupon a lofty eminence over which they could gaze both eastward and\nwestward. Scanning attentively the western horizon, the guide pointed out\nthree shining peaks, whose bases, he told them, were touched by a\ntributary of the Columbia River. These peaks are now known as the Three\nTetons.\n\nAnd now the party set forth upon the long descent of the western slope,\npassing mountain after mountain and stream after stream, some of the way\nin boats which the _voyageurs_ made from the green timber of the forests,\nand much of the way being obliged to carry their effects around cataracts\nand rapids, and thus losing much time. Nevertheless, they found one long\nstretch of over a hundred miles upon the upper Snake which they navigated\nwith comparative ease. But having reached what is now known as the Seven\nDevils country in South-western Idaho, they found themselves in a chain of\nrapids and precipitous bluffs where neither boats nor horses, apparently\nnothing but wings, could be of service. This was in fact the beginning of\nover a hundred miles of the most ragged and inaccessible region upon the\nwhole course of the Snake River, a region which even to this day contains\nneither road nor steamboat route, and by which the great State of Idaho is\nseparated into two divisions, neither directly accessible to the other by\nany ordinary modes of travel.\n\nAfter a forty-mile tramp up and down the river, Hunt decided that the only\nway to escape the difficulties with which they were surrounded, was to\ndivide the party into four divisions, hoping that one of them might find\ngame and a way out of the forbidding volcanic wastes in which they were\nbeleaguered. Two of the parties soon returned. One, being in charge of\nMcKenzie, continued upon its course northward and reached the mouth of the\nColumbia, without ever again seeing the main party.\n\nDuring the weeks that followed, the main party, lost amid the great\nmountains which lie eastward from the present vicinity of Baker City and\nWallowa Lake, suffered all the torments of famine and cold. In places the\nriver ran through volcanic sluiceways, roaring and raging; in some cases,\nalthough within hearing, yet entirely inaccessible, so that although\nwithin sound of its angry raving, the travellers were often obliged to lie\ndown with tongues parched and swollen for lack of water. The party applied\nto this long volcanic \"chute\" the name of the Devil's Scuttle-hole, and to\nthe river they applied the name _La Riviere Maudite Enragee_, or \"Accursed\nMad River.\"\n\nThe lives of the party were evidently at stake. In the emergency Hunt\ndetermined to divide his force into two divisions, one on the north and\none on the south side of the river. From the 9th of November until the\nfirst part of December they urged on this dismal and heart-sickening\nmarch. They passed a few wretched Indian camps where they managed to\nsecure dogs for food, and once they got a few horses. The frightened and\nhalf-starved Indians could give them no clear information as to the\nlocation of the Great River, but they signified that they supposed it to\nbe yet a long way off. The party was evidently approaching something, for\ngigantic snowy mountains now loomed dimly through the winter mists.\nFinding it impossible to make headway against blinding snowstorms and up\nthe icy crags, they turned their course down to the river itself and made\na cheerless camp. In the morning they were startled by seeing upon the\nopposite side of the river, a group of men more wretched and desolate than\nthemselves. It soon appeared that this was the other party, which had\nentirely failed in finding either food or guidance from the Indians.\nFinding it necessary that some provision should be made for these dying\nmen, Hunt constructed a rude canoe from the limbs of trees and the skin of\none of the horses. In this crazy craft one of the daring Canadian\n_voyageurs_ made his way with some of the horse meat, which, poor as it\nwas, was sufficient to save life for the time.\n\nWith their little remaining strength, they pressed on down the river until\nthey reached another small village of the wretched Snake Indians. Urging\nthese Indians to provide for them a guide, and at last securing one by the\nmost bounteous offers of rewards, Hunt succeeded in gathering all of his\nparty together, with the exception of six sick men whom they were obliged\nto leave to the tender mercies of the Indians.\n\nFor another fortnight, the cold and hungry party floundered painfully\nthrough the snow across the rugged mountains which lie between what we now\nknow as the Powder River Valley and the Grande Ronde. Reaching a lofty\nmountain height on the last day of December, they looked far down into a\nfair and snowless prairie, bathed in sunshine and appearing to the\nwinter-worn travellers like a gleam of summer. Moreover, they soon\ndiscerned a group of Indian lodges which they judged were well supplied\nwith dogs and horses. Thither hastening eagerly, they soon found\nthemselves in a beautiful valley, which from their description must have\nbeen the Grande Ronde Valley. Beautiful at all times, it must have seemed\ntrebly so to these ragged and famished wanderers.\n\nThe next morning the new year of 1812 shone in upon them bright and\ncheerful, as if to make amends for the stern severity of the outgoing\nyear. And now the Canadians insisted upon having their New Year's holiday.\nNot even death and famine could rob the light-hearted _voyageurs_ of their\nfestivals. So with dance and song and with dog meat, roasted, boiled,\nfried, and fricasseed, they met the newly-crowned year with their Gallic\nhappiness and abandon.\n\nThe Indians assured them that they could reach the Great River within\nthree days. But they found it twice that, and their way led across another\nlofty chain of snowy mountains, before the canopy of clouds which hung\nabove them parted. There, looking far down from their snowy eyre, they\nbeheld the boundless and sunny plains of the Great River. Swiftly\ndescending the slopes of the mountains, they emerged upon that finest land\nof all Eastern Oregon, the plains of the Umatilla. Here they found the\ntribe of the Tushepaw Indians with thirty-four lodges and two hundred\nhorses. More significant than these to Hunt were axes, kettles, and other\nimplements of white construction, indicating that these Indians had\nalready come into communication with the traders upon the lower River. In\nanswer to his eager questions, the Tushepaws informed him that the Great\nRiver was but two days distant and that a small party of white men had\njust descended it. Being now certain that this was the advance guard which\nhad left him at the Devil's Scuttle-hole, Hunt felt sure that they were\nsafe and was therefore relieved of one great anxiety.\n\nAfter a few days' rest upon the pleasant prairies and in the comparatively\ngenial climate of the Umatilla, the party set forth upon horses obtained\nfrom the Tushepaws, and after a pleasant ride of two days across the\nrolling prairie, they beheld flowing at their feet, a majestic stream,\ndeep and blue, a mile in width, sweeping toward the sunset, evidently the\nColumbia. At the great falls of the River, known to the Indians as the\nTimm or the Tumwater, just above what we now call Dalles City, Hunt\nexchanged his horses for canoes. This last stage of two hundred and twenty\nmiles by boat down the River, was calm and peaceful and a refreshing rest\nafter the distress and disaster of their winter journey through the\nmountains. Not till the 15th of February, however, did they reach the\nnewly christened town of Astoria. Rounding the bluffs of Tongue Point,\nthey beheld with full hearts the Stars and Stripes floating over the only\ncivilised abode west of St. Louis. Westward they saw the parted headlands\nbetween which the River pours its floods into the ocean. As the boats drew\nnear the shore, the whole population, trappers, sailors, and Indians, came\ndown to meet them. Foremost in the crowd they saw the members of the party\nwhich had gone on ahead through the Snake River Mountains. Having had no\nhope that Hunt and his men could survive the famine and the cold, these\nmembers of the advance guard were the more rejoiced to see them. The\nCanadians, with their French vivacity, rushed into each other's arms,\nsobbing and hugging like so many schoolgirls. Even the nonchalant\nAmericans and the stiff-jawed Scotchmen smiled and gave themselves up to\nthe gladness of the hour. The next two or three days were mainly devoted\nto eating and telling stories.\n\nAs we have seen, they had lost several of their number from starvation and\ndrowning along the banks of the Snake River. They had also left six sick\nmen with the Indians in the heart of the mountains. They had little hope\nof ever seeing these again, but the next summer the party on their way up\nthe Columbia River, saw two wretched looking beings, naked and haggard,\nwandering on the river bank near the mouth of the Umatilla. Stopping to\ninvestigate, they discovered that these were Day and Crooks, the leaders\nof the party which they had left behind. Their forlorn plight was relieved\nwith food and clothes, and, having been taken into the boat, they related\ntheir dismal tale. It appeared that they had been provided sufficiently by\nthe Indians to sustain their lives through the winter. In the spring they\nhad left the Canadians among the Indians, and had set forth in the hope of\nreaching the Great River. But having reached The Dalles, they had been\nrobbed of rifles and ammunition, stripped of their clothing, and driven\nforth into the wilderness. They were almost at the point of a final\nsurrender to ill-fortune when they beheld the rescuing boat. So, with\njoyful hearts, they turned their boat's prow to Astoria, which they\nreached in safety. But poor Day never regained his health. His mind was\nshattered by the hardships of his journey, and he soon pined away and\ndied. The barren and rugged shores of the John Day River in Eastern Oregon\ntake on an added interest in view of the sad story of the brave hunter who\ndiscovered them, and who wandered in destitution for so many days beside\nthem. Strange to say, the four Canadians who remained among the Indians\nwere afterwards found alive, though utterly destitute of all things. Hence\nit appears that the loss of life in this difficult journey was not great.\n\nThe journeys here narrated may be considered as covering what we have\ndesignated as the first steps across the wilderness. Within a few years,\nmany parties of trappers, explorers, and adventurers, with some\nscientists, and a little later, parties of missionaries, made their way\nover the great plains, through the defiles of the mountains, and down the\nbarren shores of the Snake River to the Columbia and the sea. Each party\nhad its special experiences, and made its special contribution to\ngeographical or commercial advancement. But to the parties led by Lewis\nand Clark and by Hunt, we must accord the greatest meed of praise for\nhaving broken the first pathways across the continent and for having\nlinked the two oceans by the footsteps of civilised men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nThe Fur-Traders, their Bateaux, and their Stations\n\n    Importance of the Fur-trade as Connected with all Other Parts of the\n    History--Fur-hunters Compared with Gold-hunters--Sea-otter--Ledyard's\n    Exploration--The European Inaugurators of the Trade--Beginnings of the\n    American Trade--The Great British Companies and their Struggles with\n    the French--Mackenzie's Journey across the Continent--Thompson's\n    Descent of the Columbia--Union of the Two Great Canadian\n    Companies--The American Fur Companies--Henry's Fort--The Winship\n    Enterprise on the River--John Jacob Astor and the Pacific Fur\n    Company--Rivalry with the North-westers--Arrangements for Expeditions\n    by Land and Sea, and the Personnel of these--Voyage of the _Tonquin_\n    and her Disastrous Approach of the River--Founding of\n    Astoria--Appearance of Thompson and the North-westers--Interior\n    Expedition and Founding of Fort Okonogan--McDougall, the Smallpox\n    Chief and Bridegroom of the Indian Princess--Evil Tidings in Regard to\n    the _Tonquin_--Other Disasters--War of 1812 and Sale of Astoria to the\n    North-westers--Restoration of Astoria to the Americans--Monopolisation\n    of the River by the Hudson's Bay Company--Their Expeditions--Hard Lot\n    of Madame Dorion and her Children--Adventures of Alexander Ross--The\n    Forts and General Plan of Work--Fort Vancouver and its Remarkable\n    Advantages--Dr. McLoughlin, or the \"White Eagle\"--Profits of the\n    Fur-trade--The Canoes and Bateaux and the _Voyageurs_--The Routes of\n    the Brigades--Later Americans.\n\n\nAs the reader will doubtless already have discovered, we are presenting\nthe history of the River topically rather than chronologically. The\nvarious great stages of progress, discovery by sea, discovery by land,\nfur-trade, Indian wars, missionary undertakings, international contests,\nbeginnings of steamboat navigation, and settlement, overlap each other,\nand each topic compels us in a measure to anticipate its successors. This\nis especially true of the topic treated of in this chapter.\n\nThe fur-trade was an important factor in the eras of discovery both by\nland and by sea, in the Indian wars and in the era of settlement, while\nthe strife of nations for the possession of the land of Oregon is almost a\nhistory of the fur companies and their international policies. Remembering\nthis synthetic nature of these features of our history, we shall\nendeavour, with as little repetition as possible, to present a coherent\npicture of that great era of the fur-traders.\n\nWithout doubt one of the earliest uses to which man has put the lower\nanimals is that of clothing his body in their captured skins. The\nacquisition of furs has been a special feature of the colder climes. It is\nobviously also a feature of discovery and conquest, for it is the\nwilderness only which yields any considerable number of fur-producing\nanimals. Thus navigation, commerce, discovery, invention, economics,\nfinally international wars and policies, have been rooted to a large\ndegree in this primal business. The fur-hunters have held the hunters of\ngold and precious stones and spicery a close race in the rank of world\nmovers. Indeed it may well be questioned whether results of greater moment\nto humanity have not proceeded from the quest for furs than from that for\ngold.\n\nThe Spaniards expended their energies in the gold and silver hunt in\nMexico and Peru and annihilated the races of those lands in their pitiless\nrapacity. The other great exploring nations of the sixteenth century,\nespecially the French, while not indifferent to the possibility of\nencountering the precious metals, found more certain and permanent results\nin the less feverish and dazzling pursuit of the wild animals of the\nwilderness. Neither the hunters for gold nor those for peltries were the\nstate-builders and home-builders without whom our American Union would not\nexist. But they were the avant-couriers of both. Our land of Oregon has\nhad the peculiar fortune of being opened by both for both.\n\nChina furnished the most active and convenient market for furs to those\nwho secured their supplies on the Pacific Coast of North America. The\nRussians were the first Europeans to enter the Chinese market, and they\nbegan their voyages as early as 1741.\n\nThe sea-otter seems to have had its chief habitat on the Pacific shore\nfrom Oregon to Alaska, and, as the ships of all nations began to crowd\nupon the location of the fabled Strait of Anian, the trade with the\nnatives for these precious furs became constantly augmented, until the\ncurious and interesting creatures, so fatally attractive, were added to\nthe long list of \"lower creatures\" whom the greed of the \"higher\ncreatures\" has exterminated. A book by Coxe published in London in 1787\nfirst made known to the English-speaking people the rich profits of the\nRussians from the transportation of the sea-otter skins to China. He\ninstanced a case of a profit of $50,000 from a single cargo. It had,\nhowever, been known in 1785 from the report of the voyage of Captain Cook\nthat the North-west Coast of America contained a new source of wealth from\nthe accumulation of these furs by the Indians and their eager desire to\ntrade them for trinkets and implements of civilised manufacture.\n\nThe first American to comprehend the greatness of the fur-trade on the\nNorth-west Coast of the Pacific, both as a means of profit to himself and\nas a patriotic impulse to direct his own nation into the channels of\nwestward expansion, was John Ledyard. Thomas Jefferson and John Paul Jones\nbecame deeply interested in Ledyard's extravagant hopes of future wealth\nand glory, but all his efforts came to naught, and in 1788 this brilliant\nadventurer, just on the eve of setting out to explore the interior of\nAfrica, suddenly put an end to his own life at Cairo, Egypt. Ledyard\nshould always be remembered by his countrymen, for, though his glowing\nvisions were unfulfilled, he was an important link in the great chain\nwhich bound Oregon to our own country.\n\nDuring these same years, several Englishmen, already noted in the chapter\non discovery, Portlock, Dixon, Hanna, Barclay, and Meares, were actively\nengaged in the fur-trade, while the voyages of La Perouse and Marchand\ncarried the flag of France on the same quest, and Spain's once illustrious\nemblem of world dominion was borne by Quadra, Valdes, Galiano, Fidalgo,\nQuimper, Caamano, and several others. While these explorers all were\nimpelled in part by national pride and diplomacy, the hope of sharing the\nspoils of the sea-otter droves was the chief lure to the tempestuous seas\nof the North Pacific.\n\nIn Bullfinch's _Oregon and El Dorado_ is a very interesting narration of\nthe inception of the American part in the fur-trade of Oregon. In a\nbuilding known as the Coolidge Building in Boston a company were gathered\ntogether in 1787 discussing the reports, then first made public, of Cook's\nvoyages. Mr. Joseph Barrell, a rich merchant of Boston, was much impressed\nwith Cook's account of the chances of barter with the Indians for furs and\nthe disposal of them in China for yet more profitable cargoes of teas,\nsilks, and other characteristic commodities of that land. As a result of\nthis conference, a company was formed in Boston to prosecute such\nenterprise, the members of the company, Messrs. Barrell, Brown, Bulfinch,\nDarby, Hatch, and Pintard, being among the foremost of the business men in\nBoston in that good year of the creation of the American Constitution.\n\nThe enterprising Yankees rapidly drew to the front, so that during the\nyears from 1790 to 1818, the records show one hundred and eight American\nvessels regularly engaged in the business, while only twenty-two English,\nwith a few Portuguese and French are found. It should, of course be\nremembered that the tremendous strife of the Napoleonic Wars was\nengrossing the attention of European nations during that time. So well\nknown did the Boston navigators become in that period that the common name\nof Americans used by the Oregon Indians was \"Bostons.\" Robert Gray, the\ndiscoverer of the Columbia River, was fitted out by Bulfinch and others of\nthe first Boston Company. During the period under consideration the\nprofits of the traffic were usually very great, though variable, sometimes\nactual losses being incurred, while disaster from wreck, storm, scurvy,\nand murderous Indians was frequent. During the two years, 1786 and 1787,\nif Dixon is to be followed, there were sold in Canton five thousand eight\nhundred sea-otter hides for $160,700. Swan figures that with the four\nyears ending with 1802, forty-eight thousand five hundred skins were sold.\nSturgis states that he knew a capital of $50,000 to yield a gross income\nof $284,000. He relates that he had collected as high as six thousand fine\nskins in a single voyage and once secured five hundred and sixty of the\nbest quality in one day. The Indians, however, learned to become very\nexpert traders, and as they discovered the eagerness with which the whites\nsought their furs, they raised the price. They became, moreover, very\ncapricious and unreliable, so that the phenomenal profits could no longer\nbe obtained.\n\nThe stage of the history of the fur-trade of which we have thus far spoken\nmay be called its first era of a free-for-all rush to the new seas, with\nno vast moneyed interests in any position of leadership. But commercial\nconditions were already in existence which were bound to reverse the\nsituation.\n\nGreat operators, gigantic companies, foreshadowings of the great trusts of\nthe present, with monopolistic aims, were seeking the ear of the British\nGovernment, while enterprises, larger, though not so monopolistic, were\nrapidly forming in the United States. The great monopolies of Europe had\nindeed existed long prior to the period of the Oregon fur-traders. As far\nback as the beginning of the sixteenth century, De Monts, Pontgrave,\nChamplain, and other great French explorers had secured monopolies on the\nfur-trade from Louis XIII. and his minister, Richelieu. Later La Salle,\nHennepin, D'Iberville, and others had the same advantages. The St.\nLawrence, the Great Lakes, and the upper Mississippi were the great\n\"preserve\" of these great concessionaires. The English and their American\nColonists set themselves in battle array against the monopolistic Bourbon\nmethods of handling the vast domain which the genius and enterprise of De\nMonts and Champlain had won for France, with the result that upon the\nheights of Abraham the Fleur-de-Lis was lowered before the Cross of St.\nGeorge, and North America became English instead of Gallic, and one of the\nworld's milestones was set for good. Then by one of those beautiful\nironies of history which baffle all prescience, victorious Britain\nviolated the principles of her own conquest and adopted the methods of\nBourbon tyranny and monopoly, with the result that another milestone was\nset on the highway of liberty and the new continent became American\ninstead of European.\n\nBut out of the struggles of that century, French, English, and American,\nout of the final distribution of territory, by which England retained\nCanada and with it a large French and Indian population, mingled with\nEnglish and Scotch,--out of these curious comminglings, economic,\ncommercial, political, religious, and ethnic, grew the great English fur\ncompanies, whose history was largely wrought out on the shores of the\nColumbia, and from whose juxtaposition with the American State-builder the\nromance and epic grandeur of the history of the River largely comes.\n\nMany enterprises were started by the French and English in the seventeenth\ncentury, but the Hudson's Bay Company became the Goliath of them all. The\nfirst charter of this gigantic organisation was granted in 1670 by Charles\nII. to Prince Rupert and seventeen others, with a capital stock of ten\nthousand five hundred pounds. From this small beginning, the profits were\nso great that, notwithstanding the loss of two hundred thousand pounds\nfrom the French wars during the latter part of the century, the Company\ndeclared dividends of from twenty-five to fifty per cent.\n\nThe field of operations was gradually extended from the south-eastern\nregions contiguous to Hudson's Bay until it embraced the vast and dreary\nexpanses of snowy prairie traversed by the Saskatchewan, the Athabasca,\nthe Peace, and finally the Mackenzie. Many of the greatest expeditions by\nland under British auspices which resulted in great geographical\ndiscoveries were primarily designed for the expansion of the fur-trade.\n\nJust at the critical moment, both for the great Canadian Fur Company, as\nwell as for discovery and acquisition in the region of the Columbia, a\nmost important and remarkable champion entered the lists. This was the\nNorth-west Fur Company of Montreal. It was one of the legitimate\nconsequences of the treaty of Paris in 1763, ceding Canada to Great\nBritain. The French in Canada became British subjects by that treaty, and\nmany of them had extensive interests as well as experience in the fur\nbusiness. Furthermore a number of Scotchmen of great enterprise and\nintelligence betook themselves to Canada, eager to partake of the\nboundless opportunities offered by the new shuffle of the cards. These\nScotchmen and Frenchmen became natural partners in the foundation of\nenterprises independent of the Hudson's Bay monopoly. In 1783 a group of\nthe boldest and most energetic of these active spirits, of whom the\nleaders were McGillivray, McTavish, Benjamin and Joseph Frobisher,\nRechebleve, Thain, and Frazer, united in the formation of the North-west\nFur Company. Bitter rivalry soon arose between the new company and the old\nmonopoly. Following the usual history of special privilege, the old\ncompany, which had now been in existence one hundred and thirteen years,\nhad learned to depend more on privilege than on enterprise, and had become\nsomewhat degenerate. The North-westers \"rustled\" for new business in new\nregions. In 1789 Alexander Mackenzie, as one of the North-westers, made\nhis way, with incredible hardship, down the river which bears his name to\nthe Frozen Ocean. A few years later he made the first journey to the shore\nof the Pacific, commemorating his course by painting on a rock on the\nshore of the Cascade Inlet, north-east of Vancouver Island, these words:\n\"Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one\nthousand seven hundred and ninety-three.\"\n\nAs a result of the new undertakings set on foot by the North-westers and\nthe reawakened Hudson's Bay Company, both companies entered the Columbia\nValley. The struggle for possession of Oregon between the English and\nAmerican fur companies and their government was on. In the summer of 1810\nDavid Thompson of the North-west company crossed the continental divide by\nthe Athabasca Pass in latitude 52 deg. 25'. The North-westers had heard of the\nAstor enterprise in New York and realised that they must be up and doing\nif they would control the land of the Oregon. Although the character of\nsoil, climate, and productions of the Columbia Valley was but imperfectly\nknown, enough had been derived from Lewis and Clark, and from ocean\ndiscoveries to make it plain that the Columbia furnished the most\nconvenient access to the interior from the sea, and that its numerous\ntributaries furnished a network of boatable waters unequalled on the\nWestern slope, while there was every reason to suppose that its forests\nabounded in fur-bearing animals and that its climate would admit of much\nlonger seasons of work than was possible in the biting winters of the\nAthabasca. It became vital to the continental magnitude of the designs of\nthe Canadian companies that they control Oregon.\n\nFor greater topical clearness we will anticipate a little at this point\nand state that after several years of intense rivalry it became plain to\nthe British Parliament that it was suicidal to allow a policy of division\nin the face of a common enemy. Hence in 1821, by act of Parliament, the\ntwo companies were reorganised and united under a charter which was to\nlast twenty-one years (and as a matter of fact was renewed at the end of\nthat time), and under the provisions of which the North-westers were to\nhave equal shares in both stock and offices, though the name of the\nHudson's Bay Company, was retained. It will be remembered therefore, that\nup to the year 1821, the two great Canadian companies were distinct, and\nthat during that time the North-west Company was much the more active and\naggressive in the Columbia Valley, but that after that date the entire\nforce of the Canadian Companies was combined under the name of the old\nmonopoly. But however bitter the first enmity of the Canadian rivals, they\nagreed on the general proposition that the Americans must be checkmated,\nand during the score of years prior to their coalition they were seizing\nthe pivotal points of the Oregon country. During the next two decades\nthey created a vast network of forts and stations, and reduced the country\ncontiguous to the River and its tributaries to a system so elaborate and\ninteresting as to be worthy of extended study. We can sketch only its more\ngeneral features. And the more perfectly to understand them, we must\narrest here the story of the great Canadian monopoly and bring up the\nmovement of the American fur companies.\n\nIt may be noted, first of all, that by reason of the quicker colonisation\nand settlement and consequent establishment of agriculture and other arts\npertaining to home life, the region of the United States east of the\nMississippi never became the natural habitat of the trapper and fur-trader\nto anything like the degree of Canada and the western part of our own\nland. Nevertheless extensive fur interests grew up on the Mississippi\nduring the French regime, and in 1763-4 August and Pierre Choteau located\na trading post on the present site of St. Louis, and the fascinating\nhistory of that great capital began.\n\nMost of the American trading companies confined their operations to the\neast side of the Rocky Mountains. But the Missouri Fur Company of St.\nLouis, composed of a miscellaneous group of Americans and\nHispano-Gallo-Americans, under the presidency of Manuel Lisa, a bold and\nenterprising Spaniard, took a step over the crest of the mountains and\nestablished the first trading post upon the waters of the Columbia. This\nwas in 1809. Andrew Henry, one of the partners of the aforesaid company,\ncrossed the mountains in that year and a year later built a fort on a\nbranch of Snake River. This seems to have been on what subsequently\nbecame known as Henry's River. It was in one of the wildest and grandest\nregions of all that wild grand section of Snake River. Henry's River\ndrains the north side of the Three Tetons, while the south branch, known\nafterwards as Lewis and finally as Snake River, drains the south of that\ngroup of mountains. _Henry must be remembered as the first American and\nthe first white man recorded in history who built any structure upon any\ntributary of our River, and the year was 1810._ Both Henry and his Company\nhad hopes of accomplishing great things in the way of the fur-trade in\nthat very favourable region. But the next year the Indians were so\nthreatening that the fort was forsaken and the party returned to the\nMissouri. When the Hunt party in the fall of 1811 sought refuge at this\npoint they found only a group of abandoned huts, with no provisions or\nequipment of which they could make any use.\n\nBut though Henry's fort was but a transient matter, his American\ncountrymen were beginning to press through the open gateways of both\nmountain and sea. In the early part of 1809 the Winship brothers of\nBoston, together with several other keen-sighted Yankees, formed a project\nfor a definite post on the Columbia River, proposing to reach their\ndestination by ship. Accordingly they fitted out an old vessel known as\nthe _Albatross_, with Nathan Winship as captain, William Gale as captain's\nassistant, and William Smith as first mate. Captain Gale kept a journal of\nthe entire enterprise, and it is one of the most interesting and valuable\nof the many ship's records of the North-western Coast.\n\nSetting sail with a crew of twenty-two men and an excellent supply of\nstores and ammunition, and abundance of tools and hardware for erecting\nneedful buildings, the _Albatross_ left Boston in the summer of 1809.\nAfter a slow and tedious, but very healthful and comfortable voyage,\nstopping at the Hawaiian Islands on the route, the _Albatross_ reached the\nmouth of the Columbia River on May 26, 1810. Many American and other ships\nhad entered the mouth of the River prior to that date, but so far as known\nnone had ascended any considerable distance. Apparently Gray and Broughton\nwere the only shipmasters who had ascended above the wide expanse now\nknown as Gray's Bay, while the Lewis and Clark expedition contained the\nonly white men who had seen the river above tide-water. The Winship\nenterprise may be regarded with great interest, therefore, as the first\nreal attempt to plant a permanent establishment on the banks of the River.\n\nWinship and his companions spent some days in careful examination of the\nriver banks and as a result of their search they decided on a strip of\nvalley land formed by a narrowing of the River on the north and an\nindentation of the mountain on the south. This pleasant strip of fertile\nland is located on the south bank of the lordly stream, and its lower end\nis about forty-five miles from the ocean. Being partially covered with a\nbeautiful grove of oak trees, the first to be seen on the ascent of the\nRiver, the place received the name of Oak Point. It may be noted that this\nname was subsequently transferred to a promontory nearly opposite on the\nnorth bank, and this circumstance has led many to locate erroneously the\nsite of the first buildings designed for permanent use on the banks of\nthe Columbia. And such these were, for the Lewis and Clark structures at\nwhat they called Fort Clatsop, erected four and a half years earlier, were\nmeant only for a winter's use. But the Winship party had glowing visions\nof a great emporium of the fur-trade, another Montreal or St. Louis, to\ninaugurate a new era for their country and themselves. They designed\npaying the Indians for their lands and in every way treating them justly.\nThey seem in short to have had a very high conception of the dignity and\nworth of their enterprise. They were worthy of the highest success, and\nthe student of to-day cannot but grieve that their high hopes were dashed\nwith disaster.\n\nTying the _Albatross_ to the bank on June 4th, they entered at once with\ngreat energy on the task of felling trees, rearing a large log house,\nclearing a garden spot, in which they at once began the planting of seeds,\nand getting ready to trade with the natives. But within four days the\nRiver began to rise rapidly, and the busy fort-builders perceived to their\ndismay that they had located on land subject to inundation. All the work\nthus far done went for naught, and they pulled their fort to pieces and\nfloated the logs down stream a quarter of a mile to a higher place. There\nthey resumed their buildings with redoubled energy. But within a week a\nmuch more dangerous situation again, and this time permanently, arrested\ntheir grand project. This time it was the very men toward whom they had\nentertained such just and benevolent designs, the Indians, who thwarted\nthe plans. For, as Captain Gale narrates in a most entertaining manner, a\nlarge body of Chinooks and Cheheeles, armed with bows and arrows, and some\nmuskets, made their appearance, announcing that they were on their way to\nwar against the Culaworth tribe who had killed one of their chiefs a year\nbefore. But the next day the Indians massing themselves about the whites,\ngave such plain indications that the previous declaration was a pretence\nthat the party hastily got into a position of defence. Their cannon on\nboard the _Albatross_ had already been loaded in anticipation of\nemergencies, and so plain was it that they could make a deadly defence\nthat the threatened attack did not come. A long \"pow-wow\" ensued instead,\nand the Chinooks insisted that the builders must select a site lower down\nthe river. After due consideration the party decided that any determined\nopposition by the Indians would so impair their enterprise, even though\nthey might be able to defend themselves, that it would be best to seek a\nnew location. Accordingly they reloaded their effects, dropped down the\nRiver, and finally decided to make a voyage down the California coast and\nreturn the next year. Return they did, but by that time the next year the\nPacific Fur Company had already located at Astoria the first permanent\nAmerican settlement, and the Winship enterprise faded away. That the\ndesign of the Winships was not at all chimerical is apparent from the fact\nthat within twenty years the Hudson's Bay Company had made of Vancouver,\nsixty miles farther up the River, the very kind of a trading entrepot of\nwhich the Winships had dreamed. Their dream was reasonable, but the time\nand place were unpropitious.\n\nA quotation from Captain Gale's journal will give a conception of his\nfeelings:\n\n    June 12th.--The ship dropped further down the River, and it was now\n    determined to abandon all attempts to force a settlement. We have\n    taken off the goats and hogs which were left on shore for the use of\n    the settlement, and thus we have to abandon the business, after\n    having, with great difficulty and labour, got about forty-five miles\n    above Cape Disappointment; and with great trouble began to clear the\n    land and build a house a second time, after cutting timber enough to\n    finish nearly one-half, and having two of our hands disabled in the\n    work. It is, indeed, cutting to be obliged to knuckle to those whom\n    you have not the least fear of, but whom, from motives of prudence,\n    you are obliged to treat with forbearance. What can be more\n    disagreeable than to sit at the table with a number of these rascally\n    chiefs, who while they supply their greedy mouths with your food with\n    one hand, their bloods boil within them to cut your throat with the\n    other, without the least provocation.\n\nOn the way out of the River Captain Winship learned that the Chinooks\ndesigned capturing his vessel, and would doubtless have done so, had not\nhis vigilance prevented.\n\nWhile the crew of the _Albatross_ were engaged in these adventures the\nlargest American Fur Company yet formed was getting ready to effect a\nlodgment on the shores of the Columbia. This was the Pacific Fur Company.\nJohn Jacob Astor was the founder of this enterprise. Though unfortunate in\nalmost every feature of its history and its final outcome, this company\nhad a magnificent conception, a royal grandeur of opportunity, and it\npossessed also the felicity, shared by no one of its predecessors, of the\ngenius of a great literary star to illuminate its records. To Washington\nIrving it owes much of its fame. Yet the commercial genius of Astor could\nnot prevent errors of judgment by the management any more than the\nliterary genius of Irving was able to conceal their errors, or the genius\nof American liberty able to order events so as to prevent victory for a\ntime by the \"Britishers.\" As we view the history in the large it may be\nthat we shall conclude that the British triumph at first was the best\nintroduction to American triumph in the end.\n\nJohn Jacob Astor may, perhaps, be justly regarded as the first of the\ngreat promoters or financial magnates who have made the United States the\nworld's El Dorado. Coming from Germany to this land of opportunity after\nthe close of the Revolutionary War, he soon manifested that keen intuition\nin money matters, as well as intense devotion to accumulation, which has\nled to the colossal fortunes of his own descendants and of the other\nmultimillionaires of this age. Having made quite a fortune by transporting\nfurs to London, Mr. Astor turned to larger fields. With his broad and keen\ngeographical and commercial insight, he could readily grasp the same fact\nwhich the North-westers of Montreal were also considering, that the\nColumbia River might well become the key to an international fur-trade, as\nwell as a strategic point for American expansion westward. He made\novertures to the North-westers for a partnership, but they declined. Then\nhe determined to be the chief manager, and to associate individual\nAmericans and Canadians with himself. With the promptitude of the skilful\ngeneral, he proceeded to form his company and make his plan of campaign in\ntime to anticipate the apparent designs of the active Canadians. They saw,\nas well as Astor did, the magnitude of the stake and at once made ready to\nplay their part. For, as already noted, David Thompson crossed the Rockies\nby the Athabasca Pass in 1810, spent the winter at Lake Windermere on the\nColumbia River, and in the summer of 1811 reached Astoria, only to find\nthe Astor Company already established there. It should be especially noted\nthat the Thompson party was the first to descend the River from near its\nsource to the ocean, although of course Lewis and Clark had anticipated\nthem on the portion below the junction of the Snake with the main River.\n\nMr. Astor's plans provided for an expedition by sea and one by land. The\nfirst was to convey stores and equipment for founding and defending the\nproposed capital of the empire of the fur-traders. Of the expedition by\nland under Hunt we have already given a full account in the preceding\nchapter, since its events rather allied it to the era of exploration than\nthat of the traders. The organisation of Mr. Astor's company provided that\nthere should be a capital stock of a hundred shares, of which he should\nhold half and his associates half. Mr. Astor was to furnish the money,\nthough not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars, and was to bear all\nlosses for five years. The term of the association was fixed at twenty\nyears, though with the privilege of dissolving it in five years if it\nproved unprofitable. The general plan and the details of the expedition\nhad been decided upon by the master mind of the founder with statesmanlike\nability. It comes, therefore, as a surprise to the reader that Mr. Astor\nshould have made a capital mistake at the very beginning of his\nundertaking. This mistake was in the selection of his associates and the\ncaptains of some of his ships. Of the partners, five were Americans and\nfive were Canadians. Two only of the Americans remained with the company\nlong enough to have any determining influence on its policies. Take the\nfact that the majority of the active partners and almost all the clerks,\ntrappers, and other employees of the company were Canadians, and put it\nbeside the other fact that war was imminent with Great Britain and did\nactually break out within two years, and the dangerous nature of the\nsituation can be seen. Of the ship-captains, the first one, Captain\nJonathan Thorn of the _Tonquin_, was a man of such overbearing and\nobstinate nature that disaster seemed to be fairly invited by placing him\nin such vitally responsible a position. The captain of the second ship,\nthe _Beaver_, was Cornelius Sowles, and he seems to have been as timid and\nirresolute as Captain Thorn was bold and implacable. Both lacked judgment.\nIt was probably natural that Mr. Astor, having had his main prior\nexperience as a fur-dealer in connection with the Canadians centring at\nMontreal, should have looked in that direction for associates. But\ninasmuch as war between England and the United States seemed a practical\ncertainty, it was a great error, in founding a vast enterprise in remote\nregions whose ownership was not yet definitely recognised, to share with\ncitizens of Great Britain the determination of the important issues of the\nenterprise. It would have saved Mr. Astor great loss and chagrin if he had\nobserved the maxim: \"Put none but Americans on guard.\" As to the captains\nof the two vessels, that was an error that any one might have made. Yet\nfor a man of Astor's exceptional ability and shrewdness to err so\nconspicuously in judging the character of the men appointed to such\nimportant places seems indeed strange.\n\n[Illustration: Astoria in 1845. From an Old Print.]\n\n[Illustration: Astoria. Looking up and across the Columbia River. Photo.\nby Woodfield.]\n\nTo these facts in regard to the personnel of the partners, the captains,\nand the force, must be added two others; _i. e._, war and shipwreck. The\ncombination of all these conditions made the history of the Astoria\nenterprise what it was. Yet, with all of its adversity, this was one of\nthe best conceived, and, in most of its details, the best equipped and\nexecuted of all the great enterprises which have appeared in the\ncommercial history of our country. As an element in the development of the\nland of the Oregon, it must be accorded the first place after the period\nof discovery.\n\nThe _Tonquin_ left New York on September 6, 1810. She carried a fine\nequipment of all things needed for founding the proposed emporium. She was\nmanned by a crew of twenty-one and conveyed members of the fur-trading\nforce to the number of thirty-three. Stopping at the Sandwich Islands, an\nadded force of twenty-four natives was taken aboard. At various times on\nthe journey the rigid ideas of naval discipline and the imperious temper\nof Captain Thorn came near producing mutiny among the partners and clerks.\nWhen the _Tonquin_ hove to off the mouth of the Columbia on March 22,\n1811, the eager voyagers saw little to attract. The wind was blowing in\nheavy squalls, and the sea ran high. Nevertheless the hard-hearted Captain\nissued orders to the first mate, Fox, with a boat's crew of four men, to\ngo into the foaming waves and sound the channel. The boat was\ninsufficiently provided, and it seemed scarcely short of murder to\ndespatch a crew under such circumstances. But the tyrannical captain would\nlisten to no remonstrances, and the poor little boat went tossing over the\nbillows on her forlorn hope. Such indeed it proved to be, for neither\nboat nor any one of the crew was ever heard of again. This was a wholly\nunnecessary sacrifice of life, for the _Tonquin_ was in no danger, and\ntime could just as well have been taken for more propitious weather.\n\nThe next day, the wind and sea having abated, the _Tonquin_ drew near the\ndreaded bar, but, no entrance that satisfied the captain appearing, the\nship again stood off to spend the night in deep water. On the next day,\nthe 24th, the wind fell and a serene sky seemed to invite another attempt.\nThe pinnace in command of Mr. Aikin, with two white men and two Kanakas,\nwas sent out to find the channel. Following the pinnace the ship moved in\nso rapidly under a freshening breeze that she passed the pinnace, the\nunfortunate men on board finding it impossible to effect an entrance and\nbeing borne by the refluent current into the mad surge where ocean tide\nand outflowing river met in foamy strife. So the pinnace disappeared. But\nmeanwhile the crew had all their energies engaged to save the _Tonquin_.\nFor the wind failed at the critical moment and the ship struck the sands\nwith violence. Night came on. Had the men been classically trained (as in\nfact Franchere was) they might have remembered Virgil, _Ponto nox incubat\natra_. But they had no time for classical or other quotations. Hastily\ndropping the anchors they lay to in the midst of the tumult of waters, in\nthat worst of situations, on an unknown coast in the dark and in storm.\nBut as Franchere expresses it, Providence came to their succour, and the\ntide flooding and the wind rising, they weighed the anchors, and in spite\nof the obscurity of the night, they gained a safe harbour in a little\ncove inside of Cape Disappointment, apparently just about abreast of the\npresent town of Ilwaco.\n\nThus the _Tonquin_ was saved, and with the light of morning it could be\nseen that she was fairly within the bar. Natives soon made their\nappearance, desirous of trading beaver-skins. But the crew were in no mood\nfor commerce while any hope existed for finding the lost sailors. Taking a\ncourse toward the shore by what must have been nearly the present route\nfrom Ilwaco to Long Beach, the captain and a party with him, began a\nsearch and soon found Weeks, one of the crew of the pinnace. He was stark\nnaked and suffering intensely from the cold. As soon as sufficiently\nrevived he narrated the loss of the pinnace in the breakers, the death of\nthree of the crew, and the casting of himself and one of the Kanakas upon\nthe beach. The point where they were cast would seem to have been near the\npresent location of the life-saving station.\n\nThe two survivors of the ill-fated pinnace having been revived, the party\nreturned to the _Tonquin_, which was now riding safely at anchor in the\nbay on the north side of the river, named Baker's Bay by Broughton\nnineteen years before. Joy for their own escape from such imminent perils\nwas mingled with melancholy at the loss of their eight companions of the\ntwo boats, and with the melancholy there was a sense of bitterness toward\nthe captain, who was to blame, at least for the loss of the small boat.\n\nBut now the new land was all before them where to choose, and since\nCaptain Thorn was in great haste to depart and begin his trading cruise\nalong the coast, the partners on the _Tonquin_, Messrs. McKay, McDougal,\nDavid Stuart, and Robert Stuart, decided somewhat hurriedly to locate at\nthe point which had received from Lieutenant Broughton the name of Point\nGeorge. Franchere gives a pleasant picture of the beauty of the trees and\nsky, and the surprise of the party to find that, though it was only the\n12th of April when they set to work upon the great trees which covered the\nsite of their chosen capital, yet spring was already far advanced. They\ndid not then understand the effect of the Japan current upon the Pacific\nCoast climate.\n\nAn incident of special interest soon after landing was the appearance on\nJune 15th of two strange Indians, a man and a woman, bearing a letter\naddressed to _Mr. John Stuart, Fort Estekatadene, New Caledonia_. These\ntwo Indians wore long robes of dressed deerskins with leggings and\nmoccasins more like the Indians of the Rocky Mountains. They could not\nunderstand the speech of the Astoria Indians nor of any of the mixture of\ndialects which the white men tried on them, until one of the Canadian\nclerks addressed them in the Knisteneaux language with which they seemed\nto be partially familiar. After several days of stay at the fort the two\nwandering Indians succeeded in making it clear to the traders that they\nhad been sent out by a clerk named Finnan McDonald of the North-west Fur\nCompany from a fort which that company had just established on the Spokane\nRiver. They said that they had lost their way and in consequence had\ndescended the _Tacousah-Tessah_ (and this Franchere understood to be the\nIndian name for the Columbia, though the general impression among the\nIndians is that Tacousah-Tessah, or Tacoutche-Tesse, signified Frazer\nRiver). From the revelation gradually drawn from these two Indians (and\nthe surprising discovery was made that they were both women) the very\nimportant conclusion was drawn that the North-west Fur Company was already\nprepared to contest with the Astor Company the possession of the River.\nThe peculiar feature of the situation was that the most of the Astorians,\nthough American by the existing business tie, were Canadian and British by\nblood and sympathy, and hence were very likely to fraternise with the\nMontreal traders.\n\n[Illustration: One of the Lagoons of the Upper Columbia River, near\nGolden, B. C. Photo. by C. F. Yates, Golden.]\n\n[Illustration: Saddle Mt., or Swallalochost, near Astoria, Famous in\nIndian Myth. Photo. by Woodfield.]\n\nHowever the Astorians decided to send an expedition into the interior to\nverify the story given by the two Indian women, but, just as they were\nready to go, a large canoe with the British flag floating from her stern\nappeared, from which, when it had reached the landing, there leaped ashore\nan active, well-dressed man who introduced himself as David Thompson, of\nthe North-west Company. This was the same man, the reader will remember,\nwho had crossed the Rocky Mountains the year before, had wintered near the\nhead of the River, and had then descended it, seeking a location for the\nColumbia River emporium of the Canadian company. But he was too late. It\nwas quite strange by what narrow margins on several occasions the British\nfailed to forestall the Yankees.\n\nOn July 23d the delayed expedition of the Astorians set forth far to the\ninterior, and as a result of their investigations, David Stuart, in charge\nof the party, began the erection of a trading house at the mouth of the\nOkanogan, five hundred and forty miles above Astoria. It was on September\n2, 1811, that this post was begun, and hence Fort Okanogan may be\nregarded as the first American establishment in the present State of\nWashington. It was antedated a few months by the post of the North-west\nCompany at the entrance of the Little Spokane into the Spokane, near the\npresent site of the City of Spokane.\n\nDuring the fall of 1811 the Indians around Astoria became very\nthreatening. Direful rumours, too, in regard to the destruction of the\n_Tonquin_ began to disquiet the Astorians. In the emergency the wary\nMcDougall, then acting as the head of the Company, bethought himself of a\nvery effective expedient. He had learned that dreadful loss of life among\nthe Indians had resulted a few years before from smallpox and that the\nIndians were mortally afraid of it. Calling into his room several of the\nprincipal chiefs, he asked if they remembered the smallpox. Their serious\nfaces were sufficient proof that they did. McDougall then held up a small\nvial and continued with awful solemnity: \"Listen to me. I am the great\nsmallpox chief. In this little bottle I keep the smallpox. If I uncork the\nbottle and let it out I will kill every man, woman, and child of the\nIndians. Now go in peace, but if you make war upon us I will open the\nbottle, and you will die.\" The chiefs filed out in terror, and peace was\npreserved.\n\nMcDougall still further cemented the bond of union with the natives by\nbecoming united in wedlock with the daughter of Comcomly, the one-eyed\nchieftain of the Chinooks. After numerous and thorough ablutions had\nsomewhat mitigated the oiliness and general fishiness of the Chinook\nprincess, she was clad in the most brilliant style of the native beauty, a\ngrand holiday was declared at Astoria, and white men and Indians joined\nin the wedding feast and made the welkin ring with their demonstrations.\nThus did the daughter of Comcomly become the first lady of the land, and\nthus did peace brood over the broad waters of the lower River.\n\nDuring the winter of 1811-12 the two instalments of the Hunt party made\ntheir appearance, after their distressful journey from St. Louis as\nalready narrated in Chapter IV. In May, 1812, the company's ship _Beaver_\narrived from New York, loaded with stores and trading equipment, and\nbringing a considerable addition to the force of men. In the following\nmonth sixty men were despatched up-river, and by them a trading post was\nlocated at Spokane and another on the Snake River somewhere near the\npresent site of Lewiston, while one section of the party went across the\nmountains and down the Missouri to convey dispatches to Mr. Astor.\n\nAt this stage of the history of the Astoria enterprise, every aspect was\nencouraging. The trade in furs on the Spokane, the Okanogan, the Snake,\nthe Coeur d'Alene was excellent, a successful cruise along the coast by\nthe _Beaver_ seemed sure, and the Indians about the mouth of the River\nwere friendly and well disposed. Mr. Astor's great undertaking seemed sure\nto be crowned with success. In the midst of all the signs of hope came\ntidings of dismay. It became known with certainty that the _Tonquin_ had\nbeen destroyed. This appalling disaster was related directly to the\nAstoria Company by the only survivor. This was an Indian of the Chehalis\ntribe whose name is given by Irving as Lamazee, by Ross as Lamazu, and by\nBancroft as Lamanse. He had escaped from the Indians who had held him\nafter the destruction of the _Tonquin_ and had finally found his way to\nAstoria, there to tell his tale, one of the most sanguinary in the long\nroll of struggles with the Indians. The next great disaster was the\nwrecking of the _Lark_, the third of the Company's ships from New York.\nDuring the same period Mr. Hunt, the partner next in rank to Mr. Astor and\nthe one above all who could have acted wisely and patriotically in the\nforthcoming crisis, had gone in the _Beaver_ on a trading cruise among the\nRussians of Sitka, and by a most remarkable series of detentions he had\nbeen kept away from Astoria for over a year.\n\nTo cap the climax of misfortunes, the War of 1812 burst upon the knowledge\nof the fur-traders and seemed to force upon such of the partners as were\nof British nationality the question of their paramount duty. As a result\nof the crisis, McDougal and McKenzie, although against the wishes of the\nother partners present, sold out to the agent of the North-westers, who\nhad repaired at once to Astoria upon knowledge of the declaration of war.\nThus the great Astoria enterprise was abandoned, and the Stars and Stripes\nwent down and the Union Jack went up. Soon after the transfer, the British\nman-of-war _Raccoon_, Captain Black, arrived at Astoria, expecting to have\nseized the place as a rich prize of war. Imagine the disgust of the\nexpectant British mariners to discover that the post had already been sold\nto British subjects, that their long journey was useless, and that their\nhopes of prize money had vanished.\n\nWith the close of the War of 1812 a series of negotiations between the\nministers of the two countries took place in regard to the possession of\nthe River, by which it was finally decided that Astoria should be restored\nto the United States. Accordingly, on the 6th of October, 1818, the\nBritish Commissioners, Captain F. Hickey, of His Majesty's Ship _Blossom_,\nand J. Keith, representing the North-west Fur Company, signed an act of\ndelivery restoring Fort George (Astoria) to the United States. Mr. J. B.\nPrevost, Commissioner for the United States, signed the act of acceptance.\nAstoria was once again American property.\n\n[Illustration: Steamer _Beaver_, the First Steamer on the Pacific, 1836.]\n\n[Illustration: Portland, Oregon, in 1851. From an Old Print.]\n\nWhile the River was now nominally in possession of the United States, it\nwas practically under the control of the British fur companies. The\nPacific Fur Company ceased to operate, and the North-westers entered upon\nactive work both by sea and land in exploring the vast and profitable\ndomain which the misfortunes of their American rivals, supplemented in a\nmost timely manner by the treachery of McDougall and McKenzie, had put\nwithin their power. The canny Scotchmen, McDougall, McTavish, McKenzie,\nMcDonald, and the various other Macs who now guided the plans of the\nNorth-westers, signalled their entrance into power by despatching\ncompanies to the various pivotal points of the great Columbia Basin, the\nWalla Walla, Yakima, Okanogan, Spokane, and Snake rivers. Two incidents\nmay be related to illustrate the character of people and the conditions of\nthat wilderness period.\n\nA party of ninety men in ten canoes left Astoria for up-river points on\nApril 4, 1814. While passing the mouth of the Yakima, about three hundred\nand fifty miles up the River, the men were surprised to see three canoes\nputting out from shore and to hear a child's voice calling out, \"_Arretez\ndonc! arretez donc!_\" Stopping to investigate, the party found in one of\nthe boats the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, with her children. Dorion,\nwith five other Canadians, had gone the previous summer with a party under\ncommand of John Reed of the Astor Company. While trapping and hunting,\ndeep in the mountains of Snake River, the party had been massacred by\nIndians. The woman and her two boys had alone escaped the massacre. It was\nthe dead of winter and the snows lay deep on the Blue Mountains. But the\nwife of Dorion found shelter in a remote fastness of the mountains,\nputting up a bark hut for a shelter and subsisting on the carcasses of\nsome of her horses. In the spring, the pitiful little company of mother\nand children descended to Walla Walla and found there more kindly disposed\nnatives, who cared for them and turned them over to the protection of the\nwhites. A more thrilling story of suffering and heroism than this of\nMadame Dorion and her children has never come up from the chronicles of\nthe wild West.\n\nEqually illustrative of the life of the fur-traders is the account given\nby Alexander Ross of one of his many adventures in the Columbia country.\nIn 1814 Ross went from Okanogan to Yakima to secure horses. With him were\nfour other whites and three Indian women. The Yakima Valley was then as\nnow a paradise of the Indians. There the tribes gathered by the thousands\nin the spring to dig camas, to race horses, and to gamble, as well as to\nform alliances and make plans for war. When the little company of traders\nreached the encampment, they discovered to their astonishment that it was\na veritable city. Six thousand men, women, and children, with ten thousand\nhorses, and uncounted dogs and many shackled bears and wolves, were strewn\nacross the plain. It was a dangerous situation for the traders, for it\nbecame plain to them that the Indians were unfriendly. But assuming an air\nof careless bravado, Ross proceeded to display his store of trinkets for\nthe purpose of starting a traffic in horses. Assuming a very hilarious\nmanner the Indians would seize and drive away the animals as fast as the\nwhite men got them. Then the Indians began to deprive them of clothes and\nfood. Finally they made ready to seize their three women as slaves. Ross\nmanaged to have the women escape temporarily, but then the savages were\nworse than ever. Matters reached a crisis when an obstreperous chief named\nYaktana snatched a knife from the hands of one of the Canadians. A\ndesperate struggle was just at the point of breaking out, which would\ninevitably have resulted in the death of all the white men, when a sudden\nintuition flashed through the quick mind of Ross, and rushing between the\ncombatants he handed his own knife, a much more elegant one, to Yaktana,\nsaying in a friendly tone, \"This is a chief's knife. Take it and give back\nthe other.\" There was an instant revulsion. Yaktana was so much flattered\nthat he turned at once into a stanch supporter of the shrewd trader. Food\nwas brought. The horses were restored. Equipment was provided. The three\nwomen were regained, and the company made their way without further\ntrouble to Okanogan.\n\nWe have already mentioned the important fact that in 1821 the two great\nCanadian Companies, the North-western and the Hudson's Bay, decided to\nunite. With the union, the great era of fur-trade in the Columbia Basin\nfairly began, to continue about twenty-five years, yielding then to the\nAmerican immigrant. That twenty-five years of the dominance of the great\nFur Company contained nearly all the poetry and romance as well as the\nprofit and statesmanship of the business. The entire region of the River,\nas well as that of the Puget Sound country, was mapped out in a most\nsystematic manner with one chief central fort, Vancouver on the Columbia.\nA more magnificent location for the purpose cannot be conceived. It is now\nthe site of a flourishing city and of the United States Fort Headquarters\nfor the North-west, generally conceded to be the finest fort location in\nthe United States. Fort Vancouver was established in 1825 upon a superb\nbench of land gently sloping back from the River for two miles. Great\ntrees fringed the site, Mt. Hood lifted its pinnacled majesty sixty miles\nto the eastward, the sinuous mazes of the Willamette Valley stretched out\nfar southward, while the lordly River was in full view a dozen miles up\nand down. Every natural advantage and delight which wild nature could\noffer was here in fullness. Ships could readily ascend the hundred miles\nfrom the ocean to unload their merchandise and take on their cargoes of\nprecious furs, the furs collected at the outlay of so much toil and\nsuffering over the area of hundreds of miles. Every species of game and\nfish abounded in the waters and along the banks of the River. Deer and elk\ntossed their antlers between the stately firs of the upland, and pheasant\nand grouse whirred among the branches. Geese, cranes, ducks, and swans, in\ncountless numbers, darkened the lagoons amid the many islands enclosed by\nthe mouths of the Willamette and the adjacent waters of the larger stream.\nFish of many varieties, the royal Chinook salmon, king of food fish, being\nat the head in beauty and edibility, though surpassed in size by the\ngigantic sturgeon, which sometimes weighed a thousand pounds, abounded in\nthe River. No epicure of the world's capitals could command such viands as\nnature brought to the doors of the denizens of Fort Vancouver.\n\nThe fort itself was laid out on a scale of amplitude suitable to the\nspaciousness of the site. It was enclosed with a picket wall twenty feet\nhigh, with massive buttresses of timber inside. This enclosure was a\nparallelogram seven hundred and fifty by five hundred feet. Inside were\nabout forty buildings, the governor's residence of generous dimensions\nbeing in the centre. Two chapels provided for the spiritual needs of the\ncompany, while schoolhouse, stores, \"bachelors' halls,\" and shops of\nvarious kinds attested the variety of the needs. Along the bank of the\nRiver, outside the enclosure, lay quite a village of cottages for the\nmarried employees, together with hospital, boathouses, granaries,\nwarehouses, threshing mills, and dairy buildings.\n\nTaken altogether Fort Vancouver was the model fort of the western slope.\nMoreover, the fertile soil and genial, humid climate soon encouraged the\nfactors of the Company to experiment with gardens and orchards, and,\nwithin a few years after founding, fifteen hundred acres of land were in\nthe finest state of productivity, while three thousand head of cattle,\ntwenty-five hundred sheep, three hundred brood mares, and over a hundred\nmilch cows, added their bounteous contributions to the already plentiful\nresources of the fort.\n\nWith this rich larder, with the spacious buildings, with the annual\narrivals and departures of ships by sea and fleets of bateaux by river,\nwith hunting trips and Indian policies, with the intercoast traffic with\nthe Russians on the north and the Spaniards on the south,--there was as\nmuch to engage and delight the minds of these people as if they had lived\nin the heart of civilisation.\n\nAny account of Fort Vancouver would be incomplete without some reference\nto Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Company in the Columbia\ndistrict from 1824 to the time of his retirement from the Company in 1846\nand settlement at Oregon City, Oregon, as an American citizen. Rarely has\nany one in the stormy history of the Columbia Basin received such\nunvarying and unqualified praise as has this truly great man. Physically,\nmentally, and morally, Dr. McLoughlin was altogether exceptional among the\nmixed population that gathered about the emporium of the traders. Six feet\nfour inches in height, his noble and expressive face crowned with a great\ncascade of snowy hair, firm yet kindly, prompt and businesslike yet\nsympathetic and helpful, \"Old Whitehead\" or \"White Eagle,\" as the Indians\ncalled him, was a true-born king of men.\n\nWe have said that Fort Vancouver was the great central fort. The others\ncommanding the pivotal points upon the River and its tributaries were\nFort Hall and Fort Boise on the Snake, Spokane House on the Spokane near\nthe present metropolis of the Inland Empire, Fort Colville on the river of\nthe same name near its junction with the Columbia, Fort Okanogan at the\njunction of the stream of that name with the great River, Fort Owen in the\nCoeur d'Alene region, Fort Simcoe in the Yakima country, Fort Walla\nWalla, first known as Fort Nez Perce, on the Columbia at the mouth of the\nWalla Walla, and Fort George on the former site of Astoria. These forts\nwere all laid out in the same general fashion as Fort Vancouver, though no\none was so large, elaborate, or comfortable. Besides the forts there were\na number of small trading posts. The chief furs procured in the interior\nwere beaver, and those on the coast were sea-otter. Many others, as the\nmink, sharp-toothed otter, fox, lynx, raccoon, were found in abundance.\n\nThe profits of the business were immense. Alexander Ross relates that he\nsecured one morning before breakfast one hundred and ten beaver skins for\na single yard of white cloth. Ross spent one hundred and eighty-eight days\nalone in the Yakima country. During that time he collected one thousand\nfive hundred and fifty beavers, besides other peltries, worth in the\nCanton market two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds, which cost him in\nhis objects of trade only thirty-five pounds. That was while Ross was\nconnected with the Astor Company.\n\nIn completing this necessarily hurried chapter on the fascinating era of\nthe fur-traders, we cannot omit a brief reference to the movements of the\nregular brigades of boats up and down the River, for these comprised a\ngreat part of both the business and the romance of the age. The course of\nthese brigades was from the southern shores of Hudson Bay, through\nManitoba, to the crest of the Rockies at the head of the Columbia. Water\nwas utilised to the greatest possible extent, while at the portages and\nacross the mountains horse-power and man-power were employed. Once afloat\nupon the Columbia, the brigades braved most of the rapids, paying\noccasional toll of men and goods to the envious deities of the waters, yet\nwith marvellous skill and general fortune making their way down the\nthousand or more miles from Boat Encampment to Fort Vancouver. The descent\nwas easy compared with the ascent. The first journey of the east-bound\nbrigade of the North-westers from Astoria to Montreal was in 1814, and it\nrequired the time from April 4th to May 11th to reach the mouth of Canoe\nRiver, the point at which they entered upon the mountain climb to the head\nof the Athabasca.\n\nThe boatmen were French-Canadians, a hardy, mercurial, light-hearted race,\nhalf French, with the natural grace and politeness of their race, and\nhaving the pleasant patois which has made them the theme of much popular\npresent-day literature. They were half Indian, either in tastes and\nmanners or in blood, with the atmosphere of forests and streams clinging\nto every word and gesture. They were perhaps the best boatmen in the\nworld. Upon those matchless lakes into which the Columbia and its\ntributaries expand at intervals the fur-laden boats would glide at ease,\nwhile the wild songs of the _coureurs des bois_ would echo from shore to\nshore in lazy sibilations, apparently betokening no thought of serious or\nearnest business. But once the rapids were reached, the gay and\nrollicking knight of the paddle became all attention. With keen eyes fixed\non every swirl or rock, he guided the light craft with a ready skill which\nwould be inconceivable to one less daring and experienced. The brigades\nwould run almost all the rapids from Death Rapids to the sea, making\nportages at Kettle Falls, Tumwater or Celilo Falls, and the Cascades,\nthough at some stages of the water they could run down even them. They\nalways had to carry around those points in ascending the River. In spite\nof all the skill of the _voyageurs_ the Columbia and the Snake, the Pend\nOreille and the Kootenai have exacted a heavy toll of life from those who\nhave laid their compelling hands upon the white manes of chute and\ncataract. Many, even of the _voyageurs_, are the human skeletons that have\nwhitened the volcanic beds of the great streams.\n\nThe boats used by the fur brigades were either log canoes obtained of the\nIndians or bateaux. The former were hollowed from the magnificent cedars\nwhich grew on the banks of the River, sometimes fifty or sixty feet long,\nwith prow carved in fantastic, even beautiful fashion. They would hold\nfrom six to twenty persons with from half a ton to two or three tons of\nload, yet were so light that two men could carry one of the medium size\nwhile four could handle one of any size around a portage. But the\n_voyageurs_ never took quite so much to the canoes as did the Indians,\nwhose skill in handling them in high waves is described by Ross and\nFranchere as something astonishing. And even the Indians of the present\nshow much the same ability, though the splendid cedar canoes are no\nlonger made, and only here and there can one of the picturesque survivors\nbe seen.\n\nThe bateaux were boats of peculiar shape, being built very high and broad\nso that in an unloaded condition they seemed to rest on the water almost\nlike a paper shell. Both ends were high and pointed as prows. They were\npropelled with oars and steered with paddles. One of the usual size was\nabout thirty feet long and five feet wide. Being of light-draft,\ndouble-enders, capable of holding large loads and yet easily conveyed\naround portages, more steady and roomy than canoes, these bateaux were the\ntypical Columbia River medium of commerce during the era of the\nfur-traders. They, too, have mainly vanished from the scenes of their\nformer glory. Canoes, bateaux, cries and yells of Indians, songs of\n_voyageurs_, have gone into the engulfing limbo of the bygone, along with\nthe keen-eyed Scotch factor and the sharp-featured Yankee skipper. Yet the\nswans and geese and ducks still darken the more placid expanses of the\nRiver and the salmon still start the widening circles in almost\nundiminished numbers, while the glaciated heights of Hood and Adams and\nSt. Helens (we would rather say Wiyeast, Klickitat, and Loowit) still\nstand guard over the unchanging waters.\n\nThis part of our topic has mainly centred upon the British possession of\nthe River. A full history of the fur era on the River would demand a\nchapter on the later attempts of three remarkable men to reestablish\nAmerican interests in the disputed territory. These men were Jedediah\nSmith, Capt. E. L. Bonneville, and Nathaniel J. Wyeth. But though these\nmen belong properly to this era, their efforts in the fur-trade were\nrelatively unimportant in comparison with the influence of their lives in\nthe direction of permanent American occupation. It seemed the appointment\nof destiny that the American should play second fiddle to his British\nrival in the fur-trade. But as tenfold, a thousandfold compensation, the\nAmerican farmers, home-builders, and tradesmen were to acquire final\npossession of one of the goodliest lands on which the Stars and Stripes\nhas ever floated. The bateaux and canoes must needs give way to the\nsteamboat and the launch, the _coureur des bois_ to the lumberman and the\nminer and farmer, and the picturesque emporium of the British fur-trader\non the River to the modern American city. We shall, therefore, more\nfittingly chronicle the later American fur-traders as a part of the march\nof their countrymen to permanent ownership of Oregon.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nThe Coming of the Missionaries to the Tribes of the River\n\n    Journey of the Nez Perce Chiefs to Find the White Man's Book of\n    Life--Interest Excited among Christian People by this Event--Methodist\n    Church Leads in Preparing for a Missionary Party--Jason Lee and his\n    Mission near Chemeketa--The Reinforcement by the\n    _Lausanne_--Importance of Jason Lee as a Force in Oregon History--The\n    Missions of the American Board at Walla Walla, Lapwai, and\n    Tshimakain--Preliminary Journey of Whitman and Parker in 1835--The\n    Wedding Journey from Missouri to the Columbia in 1836--Dr. Whitman and\n    his Associates and their Traits of Character--On the Summit of South\n    Pass--Whitman's Waggon--Arrival at Vancouver and Conference with\n    McLoughlin--Locations of the Missionaries--Reinforcement in\n    1838--Friendship of the Nez Perces--First Printing Press--Whitman's\n    Ride in 1842-43--The Catholic Missions--Fathers Blanchet, Demers, and\n    De Smet--Influence of the Missions.\n\n\nIn 1832 a strange thing happened. Four Indians appeared in St. Louis\nseeking the \"White Man's Book of Life.\" At that time General William Clark\nwas superintendent of Indian affairs, located at St. Louis. He was\nfamiliar with the Western Indians and had greatly sympathised with them.\n\nLearning of these strange Indians and their stranger quest, General Clark\nsought them, and entered into communication with them. It is usually\nstated that these Indians were Flatheads from the Pend Oreille region, but\nMiss Kate Macbeth, a missionary for many years to the Nez Perces, became\nconvinced that three were Nez Perces and the fourth a Flathead. How they\nhad learned that the white man had a \"Book of Life\" is not known. Captain\nBonneville's journal states that Pierre Pambrun had given many of the\nOregon Indians instruction in the rudiments of the Catholic worship. Some\nhave conjectured that Jedediah Smith, a noted American trapper, and, most\nremarkable of all, a devout Christian, may have imparted religious\nthoughts to them. Miss Macbeth believed that the motive of the mission was\nto find Lewis and Clark, the explorers, whose visit in 1804-05 had\nproduced a profound impression on the Nez Perces. The first published\naccount of these four Indians appeared in the _New York Christian\nAdvocate_ for March 1, 1833. This was in the form of a letter from G. P.\nDisoway, in which he enclosed a letter to himself from his agent, William\nWalker, an interpreter for the Wyandotte Indians. Walker was at St. Louis\nat the time, and met these four Indians in General Clark's office. He was\nmuch impressed with their appearance, and learned that General Clark had\ngiven them as full an account as possible of the nature and history of\nman, of the advent of the Saviour, and of His work for men. Walker states\nthat two of the four men died in St. Louis, and as to whether the others\nreached their native land he did not know.\n\nIn the _Illinois Patriot_ of October, 1833, the same topic was taken up,\ntogether with the statement that Walker's report had excited so much\ninterest that a committee of the Illinois Synod had been appointed to\ninvestigate and report on what seemed the duty of the churches in the\npremises. The committee accordingly went to St. Louis and confirmed the\naccount by conference with General Clark. They also made it an object to\nlearn all available facts in regard to the general conditions among the\nIndians west of the Rocky Mountains.\n\nOne of the most valuable records in respect to these Indians is from\nGeorge Catlin, the noted painter and student of Indian life. Catlin was on\nthe steamer going up the Missouri toward Fort Benton with these two\nremaining Indians on their homeward journey. His account of them in the\n_Smithsonian Report_ for 1885 is thus:\n\n    These two men, when I painted them, were in beautiful Sioux dresses\n    which had been presented to them in a talk with the Sioux, who treated\n    them very kindly, while passing through the Sioux country. These two\n    men were part of a delegation that came across the mountains to St.\n    Louis, a few years since, to inquire for the truth of representation\n    which they said some white man had made among them, that our religion\n    was better than theirs, and that they would all be lost if they did\n    not embrace it. Two old and venerable men of this party died in St.\n    Louis, and I travelled two thousand miles, companion with these two\n    fellows, toward their own country, and became much pleased with their\n    manners and dispositions. When I first heard the objects of their\n    extraordinary mission across the mountains, I could scarcely believe\n    it; but, on conversing with General Clark on a future occasion, I was\n    fully convinced of the fact.\n\nIt appears from still another account of the matter that the two surviving\nIndians were disappointed in that they did not actually get possession of\nthe \"Book.\" A speech of one of the chiefs as he left General Clark has\nbeen published in a number of books, and is well worthy of preservation.\nIt should be stated, however, that this speech has no authentic source,\nnor does it appear anywhere how it was obtained. It is commonly stated\nthat it was \"taken down\" at the time by one of the clerks in General\nClark's office. The historian Mowry is authority for the statement that\none of the Indians gave the substance of the speech to the missionary,\nSpalding, at a later time. It has, also, a somewhat conventionalised\nsound. Yet with whatever discredit may be cast upon it, it possesses so\nmany elements of interest that it may well be given here. This is the\nreported speech.\n\n    I come to you over the trail of many moons from the setting sun. You\n    were the friend of my fathers, who have all gone the long way. I came\n    with an eye partly open for my people, who sit in darkness. I go back\n    with both eyes closed. How can I go back blind, to my blind people? I\n    made my way to you with strong arms through many enemies and strange\n    lands that I might carry back much to them. I go back with both arms\n    broken and empty. Two fathers came with us. They were the braves of\n    many winters and wars. We leave them asleep here by your great water\n    and wigwams. They were tired in many moons and their moccasins wore\n    out.\n\n    My people sent me to get the White Man's Book of Heaven. You took me\n    to where you allow your women to dance, as we do not ours, and the\n    book was not there. You took me to where they worship the great Spirit\n    with candles, and the book was not there. You showed me images of the\n    good spirits and the pictures of the good land beyond, but the book\n    was not among them to tell us the way. I am going back the long and\n    sad trail to my people in the dark land. You make my feet heavy with\n    gifts and my moccasins will grow old in carrying them, yet the book is\n    not among them. When I tell my poor blind people after one more snow,\n    in the big council, that I did not bring the book, no word will be\n    spoken by our old men or by our young braves. One by one they will\n    rise up and go out in silence. My people will die in darkness, and\n    they will go on a long path to other hunting grounds. No white man\n    will go with them, and no White Man's Book to make the way plain. I\n    have no more words.\n\nTaken altogether, it may be said that this event, as preserved in these\nvarious ways, constitutes one of the most pleasing and significant, though\npathetic, incidents in Indian history. It was, moreover, pregnant with\nresults. It might almost be said that it was the key to American\npossession of Oregon. For upon the acquisition of the story by the\nChristian people of the United States, there rose an immediate demand that\nsomething be done to carry the Gospel to the Indians of the Oregon\ncountry. This story was interpreted as a Macedonian cry. The period was\none of strong religious feeling, as well as missionary zeal. The\nwarm-hearted followers of the Cross felt at once that here was a\nprovidential opening to honour that Cross and to advance its kingdom upon\nthe western border of civilisation.\n\nThe Methodist Church was first to take up the work of sending forth\nmissionaries to the Oregon Indians. To Wilbur Fiske of Wesleyan University\nseems due the credit of the first move. He enlisted the interest of Jason\nLee, a former student at Wesleyan University, but then engaged in\nmissionary work in the province of Quebec. Lee was a tall, athletic young\nman, full of zeal and consecration, not polished or graceful in manner,\nbut powerful in spirit. He grasped at once the great possibilities in the\nproposition of Dr. Fiske, and, going to Boston, became appointed by the\nNew England Conference as superintendent of a mission to Oregon. Daniel\nLee, Cyrus Shepard, and P. L. Edwards were named his associates.\n\nIn 1834, this mission band learned that Nathaniel Wyeth, famous as a\nfur-trader, was expecting to cross the continent, sending his goods by the\nbrig _May Dacre_ to the Columbia River. Such an opportunity was too\nfavourable to be lost, and the Methodist Board at once opened negotiations\nwith Captain Wyeth, with the result that this first missionary company to\nOregon went with him and arrived safely at Vancouver on the Columbia, the\nheadquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company. The _May Dacre_ reached her\ndestination soon after, and thus Mr. Lee and his comrades found themselves\nat the threshold of their labours. The first intention had been to locate\namong the Nez Perces and Flatheads, the ones from whom the Macedonian cry\nhad gone up. But Dr. McLoughlin, the chief factor at Vancouver, who had\nreceived them with the utmost interest and cordiality, persuaded them that\nthe Willamette Valley would be a more promising field. Its advantages were\nobvious. It was directly on water navigation to the sea, and within easy\ndistance of it. It was so near the chief entrepot of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany as to be comparatively safe and accessible to all mails. The\nvalley was of extraordinary scenic charm and salubrious climate. The\nnatives, moreover, seemed more tractable and peaceful than those of the\nupper valley. Accordingly the Methodist brethren ascended the Willamette\nto a point near a group of farms which had been located by French\nemployees of the Hudson's Bay Company on what is known now as French\nPrairie. One of these Frenchmen was Joseph Gervais, and from him the\nsubsequent town of Gervais was named. The mission was located on the\nWillamette near Chemawa, the present site of the United States Indian\nSchool. It was ten miles north of Chemeketa, which was the great Indian\nCouncil Ground, or Peace Ground, from which fact the missionary applied to\nit the name of Salem,--a change of name more commendable for piety than\nfor taste.\n\nJason Lee set to work at once with zeal, patience, and intelligence, to\ninaugurate the work to which he had consecrated his life. At times his\nefforts seemed to be well rewarded. Then pestilence would attack the\nIndians, followed by suspicion and excitement, as a result of which all\nthe gains would be lost. The work among the whites and their half-breed\nfamilies was more encouraging than that with the Indians. At the best,\nIndians have been inconstant and unreliable in respect to religious\ninstruction.\n\nIn 1837 a strong reinforcement arrived, among whom were Dr. Elijah White,\ndestined to become a man of note as Superintendent of Indian Affairs.\n\nIn 1838, Rev. Daniel Lee and Rev. H. K. W. Perkins established a new\nstation at Wascopum, now the location of The Dalles. In the same year\nJason Lee returned East to secure an addition to the mission. His efforts\nwere crowned with success. Five missionaries, one physician, six\nmechanics, four farmers, one steward, and four female teachers, with a\nnumber unclassified,--in all thirty-six adults and seventeen\nchildren,--reached the Columbia River on the good ship _Lausanne_, under\ncharge of Captain Spalding, on May 21, 1840. This was the most notable\ncompany that had yet reached our Great River. Among them were men and\nwomen who contributed in a great degree to the subsequent growth of\nOregon. Of the number were Revs. Gustavus Hines, Alvin Waller, J. P.\nRichmond, and J. H. Frost; Dr. Ira L. Babcock, George Abernethy,\nafterwards governor of the territory, J. L. Parrish, and L. H. Judson. All\nthe men were accompanied by their wives, and most of them had children.\nThey were, in short, the advance guard of the American home-builders in\nOregon, and as such they deserve a special place on the roll of honour.\n\nWith this added force, it was possible to enlarge the work, in both\nsecular and religious lines, both among the whites and the Indians. A\nmission was started at Clatsop on the south side of the mouth of the\nColumbia under Mr. Parrish, one at the falls of the Willamette, and\nanother on Tualatin Plains, under Mr. Hines, while still another was\nlocated by Mr. Richmond at Nisqually on Puget Sound.\n\nAs time passed on, it became more and more evident that this work was to\nbecome less for Indians and more for the incoming whites. The whole aspect\nof it changed. The Methodist Board in New England decided that they were\nnot justified in maintaining the missions, and these were discontinued\nduring the decade of the forties.\n\nOut of the mission at Chemeketa grew Willamette University, one of the\nmost prominent educational institutions of Oregon.\n\nJason Lee returned to the East and died in Canada in 1845. His life,\nthough short, was heroic and influential. He looms large on the background\nof the history of the Columbia. In brief retrospect, it may be said of\nhim that he combined religious zeal with shrewd common sense and capacity\nto see and adapt himself to the business and political conditions of his\ntime and place. This capacity is illustrated by his shrewd management of a\nbold and enterprising character named Ewing Young. This man was about\nstarting a distillery in the Willamette Valley. Knowing the ruinous\neffects of intoxicants on Indians, the missionaries strongly opposed the\nenterprise. But knowing also that Young was a man of force and capacity\nand much more valuable as a friend than as an enemy, Mr. Lee accomplished\nthe abandonment of the distillery by indirection, and at the same time\ngained one of the most important steps in the development of the country.\nFor he induced Young to undertake the great work of driving into the\nWillamette Valley a large herd of cattle from California. To the settlers\nbeginning to locate on the fat pasture land along the Willamette and its\ntributaries, this was a stage in history of priceless moment. Up to that\ntime the only cattle in the country belonged to the Hudson's Bay Company\nand it was not their policy to encourage American settlers.\n\nAnother fact in connection with Jason Lee constitutes a landmark in the\nhistory of American acquisition of Oregon. This was a memorial prepared by\nhim, with the assistance of P. L. Edwards and David Leslie, and signed by\npractically all the adult men then accessible in the Willamette Valley,\nthirty-six in number, addressed to the United States Congress and praying\nthat the Government would consider the importance of the Columbia River\ncountry and the question of acquisition. This memorial was dated March\n16, 1838, and was taken by Mr. Lee to the East and given to Senator Linn\nof Missouri, in January, 1839. Senator Linn was so aroused over the\nboundless possibilities offered to westward expansion that he introduced a\nbill in the Senate calling for the establishment of Oregon Territory and\nthe occupation of it by the military forces of the United States. Though\nthis bill did not become a law, it constituted a rallying cry for the\nfriends of American possession, which had results of utmost importance.\n\nIn short, to Jason Lee, more than to any other one, unless we except Dr.\nMarcus Whitman, of whom we shall speak later, must be attributed the\ninauguration of that remarkable chain of causes and effects, a long line\nof sequences, by which Oregon and our Pacific Coast in general became\nAmerican possessions, and the international destiny of our nation was\nsecured.\n\nFrom the Methodist missions of Lower Columbia we turn to the Presbyterian\nand Congregational missions of the upper River and its tributaries. The\nAmerican Board of Foreign Missions was at that time under the joint\ncontrol of three religious bodies, Presbyterian, Congregational, and Dutch\nReformed. At the instance of the last named body, the Board in 1835\ncommissioned Rev. Samuel Parker of Ithaca, N. Y., and Marcus Whitman,\nM.D., of Rushville, N. Y., to make a reconnaissance of the country of the\nColumbia, with the view of a mission. Under the protection of the American\nFur Company, the two spiritual prospectors journeyed as far as Green\nRiver. There deciding that what they learned of the land beyond the Rocky\nMountains warranted the carrying out of the missionary project, they\ndetermined to part company, Dr. Whitman returning to the \"States\" for\nreinforcements, and Dr. Parker going onward through Oregon to the mouth of\nthe Columbia, and proceeding thence by ship to Honolulu, whence he\nreturned by water to his home. Dr. Parker was an elderly man, somewhat\npedantic and notional in his ways, but withal full of energy and zeal in\nthe cause. He was not so popular with trappers and frontiersmen as his\ncompanion. For Whitman was a young, athletic man, capable of any degree of\nfatigue, very ready in proffering his professional or other services to\nthose in need. There was a bonhommie and general disregard of the\nconventionalities in Whitman that caused the rough spirits of the border\nto \"take to\" him at once, while they rather looked askance at the more\nstraight-laced ecclesiastic. But Parker was a man worthy of all respect\nfor his qualities both of mind and purpose. He was a keen observer, and\nhas left us, as his contribution to history, his _Travels beyond the Rocky\nMountains_, one of the most readable and valuable books of travel in our\nwestern literature. His journey was, in fact, the first one across the\ncontinent, after that of Lewis and Clark, which produced a book of high\nstandard.\n\nDr. Whitman made his way at once to his home in New York, accompanied by\ntwo Nez Perce Indians. Arriving late on Saturday night he stopped with his\nbrother, and no one else of the village knew of his arrival, until at the\nhour of service the next morning, he appeared in the aisle followed by his\ntwo Indians. His appearance was so like that of an apparition that his\nusually staid and proper mother lost her head entirely, and leaped to her\nfeet, shouting \"Why, there is Marcus!\" The equilibrium of the meeting was\nfor the time almost destroyed.\n\nWithin a few months, Dr. Whitman was married to Narcissa Prentiss. He\npersuaded Rev. H. H. Spalding and wife, who had hitherto planned to go as\nmissionaries to the Osage Indians, to join them for Oregon. W. H. Gray was\nsecured to go with the party as secular manager.\n\nAnd now began the famous \"Wedding Journey\" from New York to the banks of\nthe Columbia. It included within itself the romance, the pathos, the\ndevotion, the heroism, and at the last, the tragedy of missions.\n\n_The History of Oregon_, by W. H. Gray, is the chief original authority\nfor this journey, though the women of the party kept journals which are of\ngreat value. It would seem that all the members of the party were of\nmarked personality. Dr. Whitman was a tall, spare man, with deep blue\neyes, wide mouth, iron-grey hair, of inflexible resolution, and very set\nwhen his mind was once made up, though flexible and even variable till\nthat point had been reached. He was of enormous physical strength and\nendurance, with a constitution, as one who knew him later told the writer,\n\"like a saw-mill.\"\n\nMrs. Whitman was a woman of liberal education for those times, large,\nfair-haired, blue-eyed, dignified, and somewhat reserved (rather\n\"starchy,\" the mountain men thought her), very ladylike, refined, and\nattractive. One of the pathetic and interesting things about her is\nrelated by Mrs. Martha J. Lamb in the _Magazine of American History_, in\n1884. This relates the fact that the church of which Miss Prentiss (Mrs.\nWhitman) was a member in Plattsburg, N. Y., held a farewell service for\nher, and in the course of it the minister gave out the hymn:\n\n    Yes, my native land, I love thee,\n    All thy scenes, I love them well;\n    Friends, connections, happy country,\n    Can I bid you all farewell.\n\nThe entire congregation joined heartily in singing, but before the hymn\nwas ended voice after voice was choked with sobs, and in the last words\nthe clear, sweet soprano voice of Miss Prentiss was heard alone,\nunwavering, like a peal of triumph.\n\nMr. Spalding was a very different man from Dr. Whitman and has not been so\nwell treated by historians. He is said to have been more nervous and\ncrotchety, though of remarkable industry and intense likes and dislikes,\nwhich he never scrupled to express in vigorous fashion. The fact remains,\nhowever, that his mission was altogether the most successful of all those\nfounded in Oregon.\n\nMrs. Spalding was tall, dark, rather coarse featured, and of fragile\nhealth. It is truly wonderful that with such a handicap she should have\nbeen able to accomplish the arduous journey to Oregon. She was less\nfastidious and reserved than Mrs. Whitman and adopted the policy of taking\nthe habits and manners of the Indians in greater degree, whereas her more\ndignified sister believed in the policy of trying to raise the Indians to\nher own level. The Indians therefore understood Mrs. Spalding better. The\nIndians always desired the privilege of entering Mrs. Whitman's private\nroom unannounced, and, if possible, of seeing her at her bath or toilette.\nHer natural objection to such intrusion was a chronic grievance which\nresulted in the suspicion by the Indians that she was conspiring against\nthem.\n\nW. H. Gray, the secular agent, was a young, fine-looking, daring, and\nathletic man, very skilful in making and handling boats, teams, waggons,\nand anything else of a practical nature. He was so positive and even\nviolent in his views as to alienate many with whom he came in contact. Yet\nhe was one of the manliest men that ever came to Oregon, and was\nintimately connected with nearly every important event in the history of\nthe Columbia River, navigation included. His four sons, all born in\nOregon, became steamboat captains and pilots, and without question, no one\nfamily has been so intimately associated with the River as has the Gray\nfamily. If any one group of people could be said to have filed a claim on\nthe River, it is the family of W. H. Gray. Gray's history is of high\nvalue, yet so intense was his hatred of the Hudson's Bay Company and of\nthe British in general, as well as of Roman Catholics, that his book has\nbeen subjected to unsparing criticism by later writers.\n\nThe little missionary band of five, accompanied by the two Nez Perce\nIndians who had gone East with Whitman the year before, joined the\nwestbound caravan of the American Fur Company, and journeyed with them the\ngreater part of the way. One of the most thrilling and suggestive moments\nin their journey was when they stood on the summit of the Rockies at South\nPass. There they looked down the westward maze of mountains and valleys\ndrained by the Snake River and its tributaries as these swept west to join\nthe Columbia and thence proceed to the Pacific. With that vision before\nthem, they spread the Stars and Stripes to the breeze and kneeling upon\nthe turf, they took possession of the great unknown to the westward in the\nname of God and the American Union. Nobly was the claim maintained, though\nwith it came the crown of martyrdom.\n\nWhitman desired above all other things to demonstrate the feasibility of a\nwaggon road to the Pacific. He therefore insisted on taking his\nwaggon,--\"_Chick-chick-shaile-kikash_,\" the Indians called it, in\nattempted onomatopoeia. His demonstration was successful, though the\ntrouble was infinite. He was compelled to leave the waggon at the Hudson's\nBay Fort on the Boise, near the present site of Boise City, with the\nintention of getting it the next year. The Hudson's Bay people used every\neffort to discourage Whitman in his waggon enterprise, though according to\nGray, they made much use of the vehicle in their fort.\n\nOn September 2, 1836, the mission party reached the Hudson's Bay Company's\nfort at the mouth of the Walla Walla, a little more than four months and\ntwo thousand two hundred miles from the banks of the Missouri to those of\nthe Columbia.\n\nBut the journey was not complete, for their definite location must yet be\nselected. They proceeded now in bateaux down the Great River to Vancouver,\nthe headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company's empire. There Dr.\nMcLoughlin, the chief factor, met them with his own peculiar cordiality,\nand yet with the dignity befitting the head of so great an establishment.\nHe was a noble man, and though business considerations and the orders of\nthe directors of the company would have led him to \"freeze out\" the\nAmericans, yet humanity and his own genial nature forbade him to withhold\nthe cordial hand from the mission band. The fort and two ships in the\nriver were arrayed in gala attire in honour of the event. Dr. McLoughlin\ndid the honours of his spacious hall to Mrs. Whitman and Mrs. Spalding in\na style that would have graced a baronial mansion.\n\nBy Dr. McLoughlin's advice, since the Methodist mission had been located\nin the Willamette Valley, Whitman decided to establish himself among the\nCayuses in the beautiful and fertile valley of the Walla Walla, at\nWaiilatpu, the \"Place of the Rye-grass.\" Spalding accepted the urgent\nappeal of the Nez Perces to go a hundred and twenty-five miles eastward to\nLapwai on the Clearwater, near the modern site of Lewiston. Both stations\nwere fair to look upon, with every natural advantage. It proved, however,\nthat the Cayuses were fierce and intractable, while the Nez Perces, though\nwarlike and manly, were also docile, ambitious to learn, and predisposed\nto friendly relations with the Americans.\n\nIn 1838, the American Board of Foreign Missions sent a reinforcement to\nthe field, consisting of Revs. Elkanah Walker, Cushing Eells, A. B. Smith,\nand their wives. Mr. Gray, who had returned the previous year in order to\norganise this reinforcement, had found a wife, and with her was now\naccompanying this second missionary band to Oregon.\n\nMessrs. Walker and Eells located at Tshimakain, on what is now called\nWalker's Prairie, near Spokane. Mr. Smith went to Kamiah up the\nClearwater, about sixty miles from Mr. Spalding's station at Lapwai.\n\nTime fails to speak of the many interesting events marking each of the\nmissions. They were all located in singularly attractive spots, and every\none of the missionaries made great progress in cultivating the ground,\nbuilding mills, houses, and fences, and interesting the Indians in the\narts of peace. It is true that when the novelty of the white man's ways\nhad passed, many of the natives lost all interest. Yet upon the Spokanes\nand the Nez Perces, lasting influences were wrought. The Nez Perces in\nparticular, under the influence of their noble and intelligent chief,\nHal-hal-tlos-sot, or Lawyer, almost decided the fate of American\ninstitutions in the upper Columbia River region for years.\n\nOne of the especially interesting events in connection with the Nez Perce\nmission was the acquisition by Mr. Spalding of the first printing-press\nused west of the Rocky Mountains. This was donated by the church of Rev.\nH. Bingham at Honolulu in 1839. The indefatigable Spalding, with the\nassistance of his wife, who had unusual powers as a linguist, began at\nonce reducing the Nez Perce language to a written form and printing in it\ntranslations of hymns and portions of the Bible. Some of these first books\nof the Columbia River are still in existence. The venerable printing-press\nis in the museum of the Oregon Pioneer Society at Portland.\n\nThe most dramatic and influential event in connection with the missions of\nthe Columbia, one of the most so in all American history, was Dr.\nWhitman's mid-winter ride in 1842-43 from Waiilatpu to St. Louis. Dr.\nWhitman, in common with Jason Lee, soon began to perceive that the\nColumbia Valley possessed resources and a location which would inevitably\nmake it the seat of a civilised population. The corollary of this was that\nthe mission must conform to the movements of the whites and in time cease\nto be simply an Indian mission. He perceived another thing. That was the\npurpose of the Hudson's Bay Company to hold Oregon under English\npossession and keep it a wilderness for the sake of the fur-trade. The\ncorollary of that was that, if American families could be induced to\nlocate in Oregon, they would in time topple the scale in favour of\nAmerican ownership.\n\nThe value of Oregon was then but dimly understood among the Americans.\nWebster, Benton, and others of the great statesmen are on record in the\n_Congressional Globe_ with many disparaging remarks upon \"that worthless\nColumbia River country.\"\n\nWhitman watched all signs with anxious eye. Negotiations between England\nand the United States indicated a probable surrender to the former. The\nAmerican Board was considering the abandonment of the mission. Looking\nover the broad field of the future of the American nation with a\nstatesman's vision, Dr. Whitman readily saw that the interests of his\ncountry and of Christian civilisation demanded the acquisition of Oregon.\nThose interests were in jeopardy. He made the great resolution to proceed\nat once to the \"States\" with the threefold aim: confer with the officers\nof the American Board on the retention of the mission, confer with\nPresident Tyler, Secretary Webster, and such others of the officers of\ngovernment as he could see at Washington, and finally help organise and\nlead back to Oregon an American immigration. His fellow-missionaries\nstrongly opposed his purpose. They felt that it was abandoning the\nreligious aims of the mission to take up political questions. But he\ndeclared that he had not expatriated himself by becoming a missionary. Go\nhe would. The undertaking seemed chimerical, even desperate. But Whitman\nwas bold, athletic, persistent, possessing all the qualities of a hero.\n\nWith a single white companion, A. L. Lovejoy, and one or more Indian\nguides, he left Waiilatpu on October 3, 1842. His journey through snow,\nice, wind, hunger, peril, and deprivation of every sort, has been ofttimes\ndescribed. The extent of his influence in securing the adoption by our\nGovernment of the policy of retaining Oregon has become the theme of\nearnest, even acrimonious discussion. The simple fact remains that Oregon\nwas \"saved\" to the American Union. The missionaries Lee and Whitman bore,\neach his part, and a great one, in the great final result. It is not too\nmuch to say that of the various lines of influence by which the valley of\nthe Columbia became American territory, that of missions was one of the\nstrongest.\n\nThe Catholic missions of the Columbia Valley have found several\nchroniclers, of whom the most valuable are Rev. F. N. Blanchet and Rev.\nPierre J. De Smet. The former in his book, _The Catholic Church in\nOregon_, gives a clear and circumstantial account of the founding and\ncarrying on of the work in the Willamette Valley. The latter in his\n_Oregon Missions_, and _Western Missions and Missionaries_, has given a\nsingularly graphic and interesting report on religious progress, and with\nit many charming descriptions of the scenery and other natural conditions\nof the country.\n\nFather Blanchet, in company with Rev. Modest Demers, went from Montreal to\nVancouver, a journey of over four thousand miles, in 1837. At the Little\nDalles of the Columbia, near the present Northport, a lamentable disaster\ncost the lives of twelve of the company with whom they were travelling.\nReaching Vancouver on November 24, 1837, they received from Dr.\nMcLoughlin, who had himself been brought up a Catholic, a most cordial\nwelcome, though apparently not more cordial than the good man had given\nLee, the Methodist, and Whitman, the Presbyterian. The fact that there\nwere so many French Canadians in the country made the way of the Catholic\nFathers easier than that of the other missionaries. For the French, with\ntheir gayety, sociability, and usual habit of intermarriage with the\nIndians, were much more popular with them than were the more harsh and\nreserved British and Americans. In fact the Catholic Fathers found a\nbuilding all ready for their use at the historic town of Champoeg on the\nWillamette, thirty miles above Portland. There in 1836, the French\nsettlers had built a log church, the first church building in Oregon. It\nis rather sad to relate that petty dissensions and jealousies marred the\nrelations between the Catholics and the Methodists. But both alike were\nzealous and indefatigable in promoting the secular and religious interests\nof both red men and white men.\n\nWhile Fathers Blanchet and Demers and their associates were busily engaged\nin the Willamette Valley, Father de Smet had come in 1840 into the\nFlathead country, in what is now Northern Idaho. His first mission was\nSt. Mary's, on the Flathead River, founded by the planting of the cross on\nSeptember 24, 1841. Other missions were soon established on Coeur\nd'Alene Lake and Pend Oreille Lake. Branching out from them were missions\nin Colville, and ultimately in the Walla Walla, Yakima, Wenatchee, and\nChelan valleys.\n\nDe Smet greatly overestimated the number of Indians, reckoning those in\nOregon at one hundred and ten thousand. He numbered his converts by the\nthousands. So pressing seemed the needs that in 1843, he went to Europe\nfor reinforcements. He was very successful in his quest, returning the\nfollowing year in the ship _L'Indefatigable_, from Antwerp, accompanied by\nfour fathers, six sisters, and several lay brothers. He gives a thrilling\naccount of his entrance of the Columbia River on July 31, 1844. He vividly\nportrays the terrors of the bar with the mighty surges dashing across the\nentrance. The captain did not understand the channel and became diverted\nfrom the true course, which was then by the north channel, and got into\nthe south. The latter is now the main channel, but then was dangerous. De\nSmet piously regards their escape from wreck as due to the special\ninterposition of divine providence, and to the favour extended to them\nbecause of its being the day sacred to St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of\ntheir order. De Smet's brilliant and poetical descriptions of the grandeur\nof the river and its forests denote a keen appreciation of nature and a\nfacile pen.\n\nDemers, De Smet, and Blanchet entered upon their work with such energy\nthat by the time of De Smet's report in 1844 there had been established\nfour dioceses in the region tributary to the Columbia; viz., Oregon City,\nWalla Walla, Fort Hall, and Colville. Oregon City was the Metropolitan See\nand in charge of Rev. F. N. Blanchet. Walla Walla was under the direction\nof Rev. Magloire Blanchet, who at that date had charge also of Forts Hall\nand Colville. Eleven chapels had been erected at different points; five in\nthe Willamette Valley, one at Vancouver, one on the Cowlitz, one on\nCoeur d'Alene Lake, one on Pend Oreille Lake, one at Kettle Falls on the\nColumbia near Colville, and one near Calispell among the Flatheads. There\nwere three schools; one being St. Mary's among the Flatheads, while at St.\nPaul's on the Willamette, there were two, a college for boys, still the\nsite of a college, and a girls' academy. Twelve clergymen were engaged at\nthat time in the work, and the number was soon increased to twenty-six by\nanother reinforcement from Europe. With the reinforcement were also seven\nfemale teachers.\n\nEach of these three chief groups of missions had its special aims,\nmethods, and results. The Catholic was more exclusively religious, while\nthe Protestants passed over readily from their initial religious aims to\nthe domain of political and educational interest. The net result was\ntremendous in the history of the country.\n\nAmong the educational institutions growing directly out of the labours of\nthe missionaries we may mention Willamette University at Salem, the direct\nsuccessor of the Methodist mission at Chemeketa; Whitman College at Walla\nWalla, founded by Cushing Eells as a memorial to Marcus Whitman; Pacific\nUniversity at Forest Grove, Oregon, founded by a later set of\nCongregational Home Missionaries; and the Catholic College at St. Paul's,\nthe successor of the school founded in 1839 by Blanchet.\n\n    They rest from their labours and their works do follow them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nThe Era of the Pioneers: their Ox-teams and their Flatboats\n\n    Events and Men who led the Way to the Pioneer Age--Kelley, Wyeth, and\n    Bonneville--Ewing Young--Farnham, Shortess, and the \"Oregon\n    Dragoons\"--The Wilkes Expedition--The _Star of Oregon_, and the Cattle\n    Enterprise--Dr. John McLoughlin and the Americans--Dr. Marcus Whitman\n    and his Winter Ride, and the Immigration of 1843--Retrospect of J. W.\n    Nesmith--Features of the Journey across the Plains--Whitman's\n    Services--Getting the Waggons across the Plains--Reaching the River\n    and Building Boats--Delights and then Distress of the Descent of the\n    River--Battle with the River--Condition in which they Reached\n    Vancouver, and their Reception by Dr. McLoughlin--Subsequent\n    Immigrations--The Barlow Road--The Donation Land Law--Quotation from\n    Jesse Applegate.\n\n\nThe pioneer era was ushered in by the coming to Oregon of fur-hunters,\nmissionaries, and little bands of adventurers, who together composed the\nnucleus of that American community which formed the Provisional Government\nof 1843. There were certain individuals, too, whose agency in leading the\nway to the immigration movement was so unique as to deserve mention.\n\nOne of these was Hall J. Kelley of Boston. He was a native of New\nHampshire and a Harvard graduate. As early as 1815, when seventeen years\nold, he conceived the idea of the colonisation of Americans in Oregon. He\nwas a man of high scholarship, philanthropic spirit, and patriotic\npurpose. He was a dreamer and idealist, planning to form a community on\nthe Columbia, as one of the Utopias which minds of that stamp, from Plato\ndown, have been fond of locating somewhere in the unexplored West. After\nmaking a great effort, with partial success, to enlist Congress in his\nschemes, he succeeded in organising a company of several hundred, and by\n1828 shaped the definite plan of going to St. Louis and following the\nroute of the fur companies across the plains to the River of Oregon. But\nopposition by those same fur companies, and adverse criticism by the press\nbroke up his enterprise for that time. In 1832 he started with a small\nparty for the land of his dreams by the route through Mexico and\nCalifornia. In California, he met with Ewing Young, an American of great\nnatural abilities and some education. Young and Kelley, brainy and\noriginal men, the former from shrewd commercial instinct and the latter\nfrom philanthropic dreams, formed a little company, and proceeded overland\nfrom California to Oregon. This was in the autumn of 1834. When, after\nsome disasters, the company of eleven reached the Columbia, Young took up\na great tract of land in the Chehalem Valley, where he devoted himself to\nstock-raising. Kelley, having become an invalid, went in distress to Fort\nVancouver, where Dr. McLoughlin treated him with kindness, though the\nexclusive \"Britishers\" would not admit him to \"social equality.\" The other\nmembers of the company were scattered in various directions, but some of\nthem remained till American occupancy became an accomplished fact.\n\nThis company of 1834,--the same year that the Methodist missionaries\nunder Jason Lee arrived--may be considered the advance guard of American\nimmigration. Kelley, upon his return to New England by way of the Sandwich\nIslands, disseminated much useful information about Oregon. To him,\nwithout doubt, is to be attributed much of the subsequent wave of interest\nwhich swept on toward American immigration. As first a New England college\nman, educator, and social theoriser, and then a leader of the pioneer\nmovement to Oregon, Hall J. Kelley is worthy of permanent remembrance.\n\nEwing Young became distinguished for leading the party which in 1837 drove\na band of seven hundred cattle from California to Oregon. This even marked\nan epoch in preparing for immigration and subsequent American possession.\nOne of the peculiarly noteworthy facts in connection with Young's\nenterprise, is that Dr. McLoughlin, the Hudson's Bay Company's magnate,\nwho had at first discountenanced Young on account of a charge of stealing\nbrought against him from California, and who frowned upon the cattle\nenterprise for fear of American influence, became reconciled to both Young\nand the cattle, and subscribed liberally to the enterprise.\n\nNearly contemporary with Kelley and Young were Bonneville and Wyeth.\n\nBonneville was a well-educated French-American, a West Pointer, and\nholding the commission of captain in the United States Army. His ardent\nand imaginative disposition became fired with the thought of a far western\nexpedition, and in 1832 he organised a fur-traders' company of a hundred\nand ten men. Though not realising his dreams of a fortune in furs,\nBonneville made many interesting and valuable observations upon the\nSalmon, Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia rivers. He became thoroughly\nimbued with the romance and scenic grandeur of the far West. Upon his\nreturn to New York, he had the good fortune to meet Washington Irving at\nthe home of John Jacob Astor. Irving had already felt the irresistible\nfascination which the River of Oregon has wrought upon all poetical\nnatures, and the result of this meeting was one of Irving's most charming\nvolumes, _Bonneville's Adventures_, a volume which became another potent\nforce in turning toward the Pacific slope the thoughts of the eager,\nrestless people of the frontier.\n\nStill another in the group of men who led the way to immigration was\nNathaniel Wyeth. He was a talented, well-educated, and energetic\nBostonian. So distinguished a personage as James Russell Lowell has said\nof him: \"He was a very remarkable person, whose conversation I valued\nhighly. A born leader of men, he was fitly called Captain Nathaniel Wyeth\nas long as he lived.\"\n\nWyeth conceived the idea of a great trading company on the Columbia, whose\noperations would necessarily create rivalry with the British. His design\nwas to send companies across the continent to the Columbia head-waters and\nto maintain also ship connection by way of Cape Horn. He believed that a\nship load of salmon from the Columbia River to the Atlantic sea-board\nwould be a paying venture. On so large a scale did he lay out his\nenterprise that he expected soon to have a business of two hundred\nthousand dollars a year. But he looked beyond the fur and salmon business\nto American possession and settlement, at least south of the River to the\nCalifornia line. He therefore embraced in his view the building of\nenterprises which should lead up to and then profit by American\nimmigration. Wyeth spent five years in Oregon, having many interesting\nadventures, and as many business reverses. As was the case with Astor, the\nBritish fur-traders proved too powerful for the Yankee. Among other\nundertakings, he built a fort on Sauvie's Island at the mouth of the\nWillamette, which he called Fort William. He desired to make this the\nbasis of his trade, and he expected the Indians to go there to trade. But\nsuch was the influence of the Hudson's Bay people and their employees with\nthe Indians that Wyeth's fort had no trade. It was during those years that\na frightful pestilence swept the natives away like flies, and there was\ngreat fear among them that Wyeth's fort might harbour the scourge. The\nperiod of Wyeth's enterprise in Oregon extended from the spring of 1832 to\nthe autumn of 1836. Though not a business success, it had a great bearing\non the creation of an interest in Oregon, and on preparing for immigration\na few years later. It opened the eyes of many Americans to the attractions\nof Oregon and to the tremendous power and profits of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany.\n\nThe next movement may be called a real immigration to Oregon. It consisted\nof a party of nineteen, commonly known as the \"Peoria party,\" since they\nwent from Peoria, Ill. Jason Lee, the missionary of Chemeketa, delivered a\nlecture at that place in 1838, and so much interest in Oregon was aroused\nthat in the year following, the Peoria party, the first regular party\nfrom the Mississippi Valley, set forth for the River of the West. Their\nleader, T. J. Farnham, christened his followers the \"Oregon Dragoons\" and\nMrs. Farnham gave them a flag with the inscription, \"Oregon or the Grave.\"\nFarnham declared his purpose to seize Oregon for the United States.\n\nThe Peoria party had the good fortune to have two writers in the number,\nwhose accounts possess rare interest. These writers were the leader\nFarnham, and Robert Shortess. The party went to pieces at Bent's Fort on\nthe Arkansas, but its members reached Oregon somewhat in driblets during\nthat year, and the one following. Shortess reached the Whitman Mission at\nWalla Walla in the fall of 1839, and there he remained until the following\nspring, when he went down the River to The Dalles. From The Dalles, he\nmade his way over the Cascade Mountains to the Willamette Valley, and\nthere he lived many years. Farnham also finally reached Oregon, but his\navowed mission was unfulfilled. Shortess says of him: \"Instead of raising\nthe American flag and turning the Hudson's Bay Company out-of-doors, he\naccepted the gift of a suit of clothes and a passage to the Sandwich\nIslands, and took a final leave of Oregon.\" But upon his return to the\n\"States,\" Farnham published a _Pictorial History of Oregon and\nCalifornia_, a book of many interesting features, and one which played a\nworthy part in waking the people of the Mississippi Valley to the\nattractions of the Pacific Coast.\n\nSoon after the close of Wyeth's enterprise, there were two notable\ngovernment expeditions to the Columbia River. One was commanded by Sir\nEdward Belcher of the British Navy, and the other by Lieutenant Charles\nWilkes of the American Navy. The Wilkes expedition was one of the most\ninteresting and important ever undertaken by the United States Government.\nThe squadron consisted of two sloops-of-war, the _Peacock_ and the\n_Vincennes_, the store ship, _Relief_, the brig, _Porpoise_, and the\nschooners, _Sea Gull_ and _Flying Fish_. This fine squadron took up its\nprincipal station on Puget Sound, from which extensive surveys were made,\none across the mountains to Fort Okanogan; another of the Cowlitz Valley\nand the Columbia River as far as Wallula.\n\nOne of the most important results of this elaborate Wilkes expedition was\nto establish in the minds of officers of the Government the essential\nunity of all parts of the Pacific Coast and the boundless opportunities\noffered to American immigration. Wilkes and his intelligent officers\nreadily grasped, and conveyed through an elaborate report to the\ngovernment, the idea that Puget Sound was an inherent and integral part of\nOregon and that the Columbia Basin was essential to the proper development\nof American commerce upon the Pacific. They may also have forecast the\ntime when California with her girdles of gold and chaplets of freedom\nwould spring, Athena-like, from the Zeus brain of American enterprise. The\ncontrol of the River was the key to the control of the entire coast from\nSan Diego to the Straits of Fuca;--and American ownership should have\nextended to Sitka.\n\nA memorable calamity occurred to the squadron upon its entrance to the\nRiver, and that was the loss of the _Peacock_ on the Columbia River bar.\nThe oft-depicted terrors of the River were realised at that time, and yet\nit was not the River's fault for the _Peacock_ was out of the channel.\nThe spit is known as \"Peacock Spit\" to this day.\n\nAmong the many episodes connecting Wilkes with the early immigration was\nthe building of the schooner _Star of Oregon_ and her voyage to California\nfor cattle. This was in 1842. It will be remembered that Ewing Young had\nmade a successful trip from California with cattle. But as the population\nof the Columbia had increased, there was a great desire among the settlers\nto obtain a larger number of cattle to let loose upon the rich pasture\nlands of the Willamette Valley. A little group of Americans conceived the\nadventurous project of building a schooner of Oregon timber, sailing with\nher to California, exchanging her there for stock, and driving the band\nacross the country home again. The schooner was built by Felix Hathaway,\nJoseph Gale, and Ralph Kilbourne. The oak and fir timber of which the\nvessel was built was cut on Sauvie's Island, at the mouth of the\nWillamette, and in due time she was launched and taken to Willamette Falls\nfor fitting. A difficulty arose. Dr. McLoughlin refused to sell sails,\ncordage, and other materials. He had the only supply in Oregon. In despair\nthe enterprising ship-builders appealed to Lieutenant Wilkes. He felt a\nkeen interest in their laudable undertaking and made a visit to McLoughlin\nto try to change his resolution. By assuring the Doctor that he would be\nresponsible both for all the bills, as well as for the good conduct of the\nparty, he induced him to allow the requisition for all materials necessary\nto complete the gallant craft. Gale was the only sailor in the party.\nHaving satisfied Wilkes that he was qualified to command a ship, and\nhaving received from him a present of a flag, an ensign, a compass,\nkedge-anchor, hawser, log line, and two log glasses, the captain flung the\nflag to the Oregon breeze and turned the prow of the _Star of Oregon_\ntoward the River's mouth. She may be remembered as the first sea-going\nvessel built of Oregon timber. Crossing the Bar in a storm, she sped\nsouthward in a spanking breeze, all hands seasick except Gale. He held the\nwheel thirty-six hours continuously, and in five days \"dashed through the\nportals of the Golden Gate like an arrow, September 17, 1842.\"\n\nAs it was too late to get the cattle back to Oregon that fall, the party\nsold their schooner for three hundred and fifty cows, wintered in\nCalifornia, and the next spring drove to the Columbia twelve hundred and\nfifty head of cattle, six hundred head of mules and horses, and three\nthousand sheep. This was an achievement which made the way for immigration\nclearer than ever before, and in a most effective manner united the\nAmerican settlers with the American government. Some of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany people could begin to see the handwriting on the wall. Dr.\nMcLoughlin saw most quickly and most clearly, and as elsewhere narrated,\nbegan to transfer his interests to the American side. This fine old man\nwas big-brained, big-bodied, and big-souled, a natural American, though\ncompelled to work for the British fur monopolists for the time. He admired\nthe independent spirit of the incoming Yankee immigrants, even when the\njoke was on him. He afterwards told with much gusto of an American named\nWoods crossing the Columbia to Vancouver to try to get goods. He found his\ncredit shaky, and somewhat piqued, he exclaimed: \"Well, never mind, I\nhave an uncle back East rich enough to buy out the whole of your old\nHudson's Bay Company!\" \"Well, well, Mr. Woods,\" demanded the autocrat,\n\"who may this very rich uncle of yours be?\" \"Uncle Sam,\" was the unabashed\nand characteristic American reply. \"Old Whitehead\" also appreciated,\nthough he was obliged to manifest a dignified disapproval, when two young\nmen from New York, having reached the fort on the River, were asked about\ntheir passports. Laying their hands on their rifles they replied, \"These\nare an American's passports.\"\n\nThese small miscellaneous immigrations were in continuance from about 1830\nto 1842. In the latter year a hundred came. In 1843, as elsewhere related,\nthe Provisional Government was instituted. At the very same time, the\nimmigration of 1843 was on its way to the River.\n\nThis immigration of 1843 was in many respects the most remarkable of all.\nIt was the first large one, and it was a type of all. It will be\nremembered that Dr. Marcus Whitman had made his great winter ride in\n1842-43 across the Rockies to St. Louis, with a double aim. First he\nwished to see the officers of the American Board of Missions, and then to\nenlist the American government and people in the policy of holding Oregon\nagainst the manifest aims of the British. There was already a tremendous\ninterest felt in Oregon among the people of Missouri, Illinois, and the\nother great prairie States. Whitman's opportune arrival and his announced\npurpose to guide an immigration to the Columbia became widely known, and\nbrought to a focus many vaguely-considered plans.\n\nJ. W. Nesmith, subsequently one of the most prominent pioneers and a\nmember of each House of Congress from Oregon, has given a humorous account\nof the manner of starting this immigration of 1843, of which he was a\nmember, which is so characteristic that we quote it here.\n\n    Mr. Burnett, or as he was more familiarly styled, \"Pete,\" was called\n    upon for a speech. Mounting a log the glib-tongued orator delivered a\n    glowing florid address. He commenced by showing his audience that the\n    then western tier of states and territories were crowded with a\n    redundant population, who had not sufficient elbow room for the\n    expansion of their enterprise and genius, and it was a duty they owed\n    to themselves and posterity to strike out in search of a more expanded\n    field and a more genial climate, where the soil yielded the richest\n    return for the slightest amount of cultivation,--where the trees were\n    loaded with perennial fruit,--and where a good substitute for bread,\n    called La Camash, grew in the ground; where salmon and other fish\n    crowded the streams; and where the principal labour of the settlers\n    would be confined to keeping their gardens free from the inroads of\n    buffalo, elk, deer, and wild turkeys. He appealed to our patriotism by\n    picturing forth the glorious empire we should establish upon the\n    shores of the Pacific,--how with our trusty rifles we should drive out\n    the British usurpers who claimed the soil, and defend the country from\n    the avarice and pretensions of the British Lion,--and how posterity\n    would honour us for placing the fairest portion of the land under the\n    Stars and Stripes.... Other speeches were made full of glowing\n    descriptions of the fair land of promise, the far-away Oregon, which\n    no one in the assemblage had ever seen, and about which not more than\n    half a dozen had ever read any account. After the election of Mr.\n    Burnett as captain, and other necessary officers, the meeting, as\n    motley and primitive a one as ever assembled, adjourned with \"three\n    cheers\" for Captain Burnett and Oregon.\n\nPeter Burnett to whom Nesmith here refers, was the same who became the\nfirst governor of California.\n\nBy the walnut hearth-fires in many a home of the prairie States and at the\ncorn-huskings and quilting bees the talk of Oregon and the forests of the\nColumbia, and the rich pasture lands of the Willamette, and the salmon and\ngame, and genial climate and majestic mountains, went the rounds. Interest\ngrew into enthusiasm, enthusiasm waxed hot, and in the early spring the\ngreat immigration of 1843 set forth from Westport, Missouri, for the\nColumbia waters. Though the immigration of 1843 was the earliest of any\nsize and the first with any number of women and children, it had perhaps\nthe least trouble and misfortune and the most romance and gayety and\nenthusiasm of any. The experience of crossing the plains was one which\nnothing else could duplicate;--the hasty rising in the chill damp of the\nmorning, the preparing the cattle and horses for the long, hard drive, the\nrounds of the waggons to strengthen bolts and tires and tongues, the\nloading of the rifles for possible hostile Indians or buffalo, the setting\nforth of the scouts on horseback, the long train strung across the dusty\nplain, the occasional bands of wild Indians emerging like a whirlwind from\nthe broad expanse, and then the approaching cool of night with its hurried\nrest on the rough prairie sod. Sometimes there were nights of storm and\nstampede and darkness. Sometimes savage beasts and savage men startled the\ntrain, or one of the stupendous herds of buffalo went thundering across\nthe prairie. Then came the first glimpse of snowy heights, then of deep\ncanyons, and then the summit was attained, and far westward stretched the\nmaze of plains and mountains through which the Snake River, the greatest\nof the tributaries of the Columbia, took its swift way.\n\nDuring most of the journey, Dr. Marcus Whitman was guide, physician, and\nfriend. While severe controversy has arisen as to the extent of his\nservices in organising the immigration, the testimony is unvarying as to\nthe value of his presence with the train. Last to bed at night and first\nup in the morning, attending both people, cattle, and horses in their\nsicknesses and accidents, ahead of the train on horseback to find the\npasses of the hills and the fords of the rivers, the watcher by night and\nthe pilot by day, the missionary doctor was the veritable \"Mr. Greatheart\"\nof the immigration.\n\nGreat was the astonishment of Captain Grant, commandant of the Hudson's\nBay Fort Hall on Snake River, near the present Pocatello, when the long\ntrain filed past the enclosure. Grant had known Whitman before and was\naware of his stubborn determination and patriotic purpose. But Grant\nattempted just the same to dissuade the immigrants of 1843 from going\nfarther with their waggons, declaring the Blue Mountains to be impassable.\nThe doughty doctor simply laughed quietly and told the immigrants to push\non, and he would see them through. But just as they were entering the\nrough defiles of the Blue Mountains, a band of Indians from Waiilatpu,\nheaded by Sticcus, came to meet the train, searching for Whitman, telling\nhim that his medical services were in great demand at Lapwai. The\nmuch-needed guide turned over the pilotage of the train to Sticcus, and he\nhimself hastened on to minister to the sick at Lapwai. As he passed\nthrough Waiilatpu he learned that the threatening conduct of the Indians\nhad led Mrs. Whitman to go to Vancouver, and that during his absence the\nIndians had burned his mill and committed other depredations. But it was\nhis lot to labour and suffer. He had become accustomed to it.\n\nThe event proved that Sticcus was a thoroughly capable guide. For, though\nnot speaking a word of English, he made his directions so well understood\nby pantomime that, as Mr. Nesmith has said, he led them safely over the\nroughest mountain road that they ever saw. And so in due time the train\nemerged from the screen of timber on the Blue Mountains. Stretched wide\nbefore them, lay the plains of Umatilla and Walla Walla, while in the far\ndistance the River of the West poured through the arid waste. Yet farther\nthe snow summits of the Cascades ridged the western sky. After a brief\npause at Waiilatpu, the train reached the banks of the River. The\nimmediate vicinity of the section of the River first reached is very dry\nin autumn. Aside from the River itself, the immediate scene is desolate\nand forbidding. But probably those immigrants of '43 gazed upon the blue\nflood, a mile wide and hastening to the western ocean, with feelings\nalmost akin to those which swelled the hearts of the Pilgrims landing from\nthe _Mayflower_. This was another epic of state-making, and one generation\nafter another of the Americans who have wrought such achievement may well\nturn back to join hands with those before.\n\nDoubtless the immigrants, as they stood by the River in the pleasant haze\nof the October afternoon, felt as though their journey was substantially\nat an end. Being now at Fort Walla Walla on the river of that name, they\npaused to make ready for the last stage of the journey, little realising\nwhat perils and sufferings it would entail. Dr. Whitman and Archibald\nMcKinley, the chief factor at the fort, advised them to leave their cattle\nand waggons to winter on the Walla Walla, while they pursued their way\ndown the stream on flatboats. Part of the company accepted the advice, but\na number determined to keep all their belongings together and to take\ntheir road along the bank of the River to The Dalles, and there make their\nflatboats.\n\nTo those who remained on the Walla Walla now fell the difficult task of\nconstructing flatboats. Huge, uncouth, structures they were, made of\ntimber gathered on the river bank. But when loaded and pushed out into the\nswift current, steered with immense sweeps in the stern, these flatboats\nafforded to the footsore and exhausted immigrants a delightful change. Out\nof the dust, off the rocks, away from the sage-brush, with more of laugh\nand song than they had had for many a day, they swept gaily on. For a\nhundred miles or more the elements were propitious. With the bright\nsunshine, the clear, cool water, the majestic snow-peaks in the distance,\nthe easily gliding boats,--this seemed the pleasantest part of the entire\njourney. But after The Dalles had been reached and the two divisions of\nthe company were again united and on their way down the River to the\nCascades, disaster began to haunt them. At the Cascades, a boat with\nseveral members of the Applegate family, one of the most prominent in the\nimmigration as well as afterwards, was overturned in the rapids, and three\nof the party drowned in the boiling surge. Two were saved in a way that\nseems almost miraculous. One of these was a young boy, the other a young\nman. The boy was very active and an excellent swimmer. After the\noverturning of the boat he was carried two miles in the current, part of\nthe time being entirely sucked under by the whirling under-current. After\nbeing tossed with violence betwixt rock and wave till it seemed that he\nmust expire, he was suddenly spewed forth upon a ledge of slippery rock,\nto which he clung desperately till he had recovered breath. Then he drew\nhimself up on a narrow shelf, and at the same instant saw the young man\nswept by. Reaching forth, the brave boy managed to bring the struggling\nman to the same shelter with himself. But when they had regained\nsufficient strength to examine their surroundings, they discovered that\nthey were on a rocky niche from which they could find no ascent of the\nragged precipitous cliff. They were in a trap. Looking across the River,\nthey could see that the bank was smooth and that on that side lay the\ntrail. Young Applegate saw that a reef extended a considerable part of the\nway across the River, and desperate as the attempt seemed, he resolved to\npick his way along the reef to a point whence he might swim to the other\nshore. It was his only chance for life. Fearful as were the odds, the\ndaring lad accomplished his aim. He emerged on the further end of the\nreef. Looking around, he discovered that his comrade had not possessed the\nnerve to follow. And then,--most wonderful of all,--back he went to assist\nhis more timid fellow. In this, too, he succeeded, and after a return in\nwhich they should have been drowned a dozen times, they both reached the\nfarther end of the reef. There casting themselves again into the\ninhospitable flood, they buffeted their way to shore. Battered, bruised,\nexhausted, they yet recovered and lived to a good old age to tell the tale\nof their fight with the Columbia River.\n\nFrom the Cascades to Vancouver, the company suffered more than in all the\nrest of their journey. The fall rains were at hand, and it poured with an\nunremitting energy such as no one can realise who has not seen a rain\nstorm on the lower River. Food had become almost exhausted. Clothing was\nin rags. Tired, hungry, wet, cold, disheartened, the immigrants who had so\njauntily descended the River to this \"Strait of Horrors,\" presented a most\nwoful appearance. It actually seemed that many must perish. But in the\ncrisis, help came. One of the party managed to procure a canoe and\nhastened down the River to Fort Vancouver. As soon as Dr. McLoughlin\nlearned that nearly nine hundred men, women, and children were beleaguered\nin the mist and chill, he equipped boats with flour, meat, and tea, and in\nhis choleric excitement, waving his huge cane, bade the boatman hurry to\nthe rescue. It was not business for the good Doctor to thus aid and abet\nAmerican immigrants, and the directors of the Hudson's Bay Company and the\ncold-blooded Sir George Simpson, Governor-in-chief, disapproved. But it\nwas humanity, and that ever predominated in the mind of \"Old Whitehead.\"\nThe next night he caused vast bonfires to be alight along the bank, and\ngathered all the eatables and blankets that the place afforded. When the\nboat loads of the battered, but rescued Americans drew near, the Doctor\nwas on the bank to meet them, to hand out the women and children, to\nadminister the balm of cheery words and warmth and food. Few were the\ntravellers on the River, none were the immigrants of '43, who would not\nrise up and call him blessed.\n\nAfter this happy pause at Vancouver, the immigration passed on to the\nWillamette Falls, then the centre of operations in Oregon, and there they\nwere soon joined by the chosen men who had driven their thirteen hundred\nhead of cattle by the trail over the Cascade Mountains, a task toilsome\nand even distressing, but one that was accomplished. After an inactive\nwinter in the mild, muggy, misty Oregon climate, the immigrants of '43\nspread abroad in the opening spring to secure land, each his square mile,\nas the Provisional Government provided, and as the American government was\ncontemplating.\n\nSuch was the coming of the immigrants to the River. Subsequent\nimmigrations bore a general resemblance to that of 1843. Each had its\nspecial feature. That of 1845 was conspicuous for its size. It was three\nthousand strong. It was also illustrious for the laying out of the road\nacross the Cascade Mountains near the southern flank of Mt. Hood. This\nnoble and difficult undertaking was carried through by S. K. Barlow and\nWilliam Rector. It was a terrific task, and was not completed the first\nyear. Canyons, precipitous rocks, morasses, sand-hills, tangled forests,\nfallen trees, criss-crossed and interlaced with briars and vines and\nshrubbery of tropical luxuriance, such as no one can appreciate who has\nnot seen an Oregon jungle,--these were the obstructions to the Barlow\nRoad. But they were vanquished and in 1846 and thence onward the\nimmigrants made this the regular route to the Willamette Valley. So steep\nwas Laurel Hill on the western slope that waggons had to be let down by\nropes from level to level. The marks of the ropes or chains are still seen\non the trees of Laurel Hill. The immigration of 1852 was sadly conspicuous\nfor the devastations of cholera. Many a family was broken in sunder and\nsome even were entirely eliminated by the dreadful plague. The\nimmigrations of 1854 and 1855 were notable for the Indian outbreaks, and\nespecially for the atrocious butchery of the Ward family near Boise in the\nearlier year, the most pitiless Indian outrage in Oregon history.\n\nFrom 1850 onward for some years the Donation Land Law of Congress was a\ngreat lure to immigrants, for by it a man and wife could obtain a section\nof land. A single man could take up half a section. That situation\nencouraged early marriages. Girls were in great demand. It was not\nuncommon to see fourteen-year-old brides. Some narrators relate having\nfound married women in the woods of the Columbia who were playing with\ntheir dolls! But though the immigrations varied in special features, they\nwere all alike in their mingling of mirth and melancholy, of toil and\nrest, of suffering and enjoyment, of heroism, and self-sacrifice. They\nembodied an epoch of American history that can never come again. To have\nbeen an immigrant from the Missouri to the Columbia was an experience to\nwhich nothing else on earth is comparable. It confers a title of American\nnobility by the side of which the coronets of some European dukes are\ntawdry and contemptible. Perhaps no one ever better phrased the spirit of\nOregon immigration than Jesse Applegate of the train of '43, one of the\nforemost of Oregon's builders, long known as the \"Sage of Yoncalla.\" So\nfitting do we deem his language that we quote here an extract from one of\nhis addresses.\n\n    The Western pioneer had probably crossed the Blue Ridge or the\n    Cumberland Mountains when a boy and was now in his prime. Rugged,\n    hardy, and powerful of frame, he was full to overflowing with the love\n    of adventure, and animated by a brave soul that scorned the very idea\n    of fear. All had heard of the perpetually green hills and plains of\n    Western Oregon, and how the warm breath of the vast Pacific tempered\n    the air to the genial degree and drove winter back to the North. Many\n    of them contrasted in imagination the open stretch of a mile square of\n    rich, green, and grassy land, where the strawberry plant bloomed\n    through every winter month, with their circumscribed clearings in the\n    Missouri bottoms. Of long winter evenings neighbours visited each\n    other, and before the big shell-bark hickory fire, the seasoned walnut\n    fire, the dry black-jack fire, or the roaring dead elm fire, they\n    talked these things over; and as a natural consequence, under these\n    favourable circumstances, the spirit of emigration warmed up; and the\n    \"Oregon fever\" became as a household expression. Thus originated the\n    vast cavalcade, or emigrant train, stretching its serpentine length\n    for miles, enveloped in vast pillars of dust, patiently wending its\n    toilsome way across the American continent.\n\n    How familiar these scenes and experiences with the old pioneers! The\n    vast plains, the uncountable herds of buffalo; the swift-footed\n    antelope; the bands of mounted, painted warriors; the rugged\n    snow-capped mountain ranges; the deep, swift, and dangerous rivers;\n    the lonesome howl of the wild wolf; the midnight yell of the\n    assaulting savage; the awful panic and stampede; the solemn and silent\n    funeral at the dead hour of night, and the lonely and hidden grave of\n    departed friends,--what memories are associated with the Plains\n    across!\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nConflict of Nations for Possession of the River\n\n    The Six Nations at First Engaged in the Conflict--The Three Left in\n    it--Claims by Sea of Spain, England, and the United States--Claims by\n    Land--Rivalries of the Great Fur Companies--Capture of Astoria by the\n    English--Its Restoration to the United States--Appearance of Fort\n    George in 1818--Joint Occupation Treaty of 1818--Florida Treaty of\n    1819--Treaty with Russia in 1825--Forces on the Side of England and\n    those on the side of the United States--American Triumph\n    Inevitable--Policy of the Hudson's Bay Company in Contrast with that\n    of the American Immigration--Indifference of the American\n    Government--Utterances of Some American Statesmen--Doings of the\n    American People--Gathering of the Little American Colony in the\n    Willamette Valley--Need of Government--First Meeting at\n    Champoeg--Advice of Commodore Wilkes that they Delay--The \"Wolf\n    Meetings\"--Second Meeting at Champoeg, and Establishment of the\n    Provisional Government--Its Chief Provisions--Thornton's Account of\n    the \"Hall\" at Champoeg--Peter H. Burnett--Dr. McLoughlin's\n    Position--Triumphs of the American Immigrant over the Great Fur\n    Company--McLoughlin and Whitman--Movements of Diplomacy between\n    England and the United States--Webster, Linn, Benton, and\n    Calhoun--Inconsistent Positions of the Democratic Party--Polk and the\n    Platform of 54 Degrees 40 Minutes, or Fight--Near Approach of\n    War--Compromise on the Line of 49 Degrees--Momentous Nature of the\n    Issue--Triumph of American Home-builders.\n\n\nEarlier chapters of this volume have already developed some of the\nessential elements in the complicated strife of the maritime nations of\nthe world for possession of the land of the Oregon. This brief chapter\nwill endeavour to recapitulate and group those steps, and to trace the\ncourse of events by which the line finally was drawn on the parallel of 49\ndegrees.\n\nAs we have seen, the many-named river, and the fact that it was the key to\na vast region and that the shores of the ocean contiguous to it seemed to\nabound in the finest of furs, was a lure to Portuguese, Frenchman,\nRussian, Spaniard, Englishman, and American. The first three became early\neliminated from the conflict, and the last three fought the triangular\nbattle to its ending with the final result that Uncle Sam inserted his\nbroad shoulders between Mexico and the 49th parallel, and thus controls\nthe choicest land of the sunset slope of the continent.\n\nSpain, England, and the United States each had a valid claim to Oregon.\nSpain, by the partial discovery of the River by Heceta in 1775, by the\nvoyages of Bodega and Arteaga in the same year and again in 1779, and by\nthe voyage of Valdez and Galiano around Vancouver Island in 1792, together\nwith many other voyages of a less definite nature by illustrious\nnavigators, as Malaspina, Bustamente, Elisa, and others, had a strong\nposition. Yet she had failed to clinch her discoveries or to take\neffective possession.\n\nGreat Britain could point to the elaborate examinations of Cook and\nVancouver. The latter had made a minute investigation of the noble group\nof waters whose outlet preserves the name of the old Greek pilot of\nCephalonia, Juan de Fuca; and his Lieutenant Broughton had entered the\nColumbia River and proceeded over a hundred miles up the stream. The\nnomenclature given to both the River and the Sound regions by Vancouver\nhad been the first in any sense complete. So England, too, had a strong\nclaim.\n\nAnd what were the claims of the United States? First and foremost was the\ndiscovery by Robert Gray of the River and his actual twenty-five-mile\nascension of it in May, 1792. He had gone much farther than Heceta, who\nhad only looked in, but he had not gone so far as Broughton. The latter\nindeed, claimed, and his government followed him in the claim, that Gray\nhad not really been in the River at all, but was only in an estuary of the\nsea into which the River flowed. But that, to any one who has seen the\nRiver, is too much of a forced construction to stand serious examination.\nMoreover, Gray antedated Broughton by some months.\n\nTurning from sea claims to land claims, England could point to Alexander\nMackenzie as having crossed the continent in 1792, and as having reached\nthe veritable ocean at Cascade Inlet. But it again was a very strained\nconstruction to extend that claim so far as to include the lower Columbia\nValley. The United States could justly advance as a sufficient offset, the\nexpedition of Lewis and Clark in 1804. In 1811 David Thompson had\ntraversed the entire length of the Columbia for the British flag, only to\nfind the Astor Company already established under the Stars and Stripes at\nthe mouth of the River. From these essential facts out of many, we can\neasily draw the conclusion that no one of these three contestants could\njustly be too arrogant and exclusive. Some degree of modesty was befitting\neach.\n\nWe have already seen the rivalries of the great fur companies, the\nHudson's Bay and the North-western of the British, and the Pacific of the\nAmericans, and the effect of the War of 1812 on their fortunes. As a\nresult of that war the Pacific Fur Company sold out to the North-westers,\nand a few years later the North-westers united with the Hudson's Bay\nCompany under the name of the latter. To all appearance the Yankee was\nworsted, and the Briton in possession of the River.\n\nBut the Treaty of Ghent in 1815, closing the War of 1812, provided that\nall territory taken by either party should be restored. The boundary line\nwest of the Lake of the Woods was left undrawn. John Jacob Astor now\napplied to the Government to restore his captured property on the\nColumbia, stating that if again in possession, he would resume his former\noperations. The United States Government accordingly notified Great\nBritain of its intention to re-occupy the fort at the Columbia's mouth.\nFor two years the communication lay unanswered. In September, 1817, the\nsloop-of-war, _Ontario_, Captain J. Biddle, was despatched to the Columbia\nwith Mr. J. B. Provost as special agent, under instructions to assert the\nclaim of the United States to the territory of the River. This decisive\nmove compelled Great Britain to come out from under cover. A long and\ntedious diplomatic warfare ensued. Meanwhile the _Ontario_ was pursuing\nher long journey around Cape Horn. In 1818, an agreement was reached to\nthe effect that Astoria should be formally restored to the United States,\nbut that the North-western Fur Company should be allowed to remain in\nactual possession. Captain Biddle of the _Ontario_ had left Mr. Provost in\nChile and had proceeded to the Columbia to take possession. Captain\nSheriff, commandant of the British ships in the Pacific, being in\nValparaiso, in H. M. S. _Blossom_, learning of Mr. Provost's presence\nthere, conceived the happy thought that it would be an international\ncourtesy to invite Mr. Provost to accompany him to Astoria. Accordingly on\nOctober 1, 1818, the _Blossom_ pushed her bow across the Bar, and on the\n6th the formal ceremony of transfer from the Union Jack to the Stars and\nStripes took place. Captain J. Hickey of the _Blossom_ represented Great\nBritain, Mr. J. Keith acted for the North-west Fur Company, while Mr.\nProvost stood for the United States. It seems to have been a very\ngood-natured affair throughout. Placards were posted at the capes on both\nsides of the River declaring the change of sovereignty. Fort George was\nquite a powerful structure at that time, consisting of a strong stockade\nof fir logs twelve feet high, enclosing a parallelogram one hundred and\nfifty by two hundred and fifty feet, having within it dwellings, shops,\nstore houses, and magazines. On the walls were two eighteen-pound cannon,\nsix six-pounders, four four-pound carronades, two six-pound cohorns, and\nseven swivels. The day of transfer must have been a very picturesque day\namong the many such in Astoria's history. We can imagine the soft October\nhaze floating over Cape Hancock, and the long, lazy swell of six thousand\nmiles of sea, thundering across Point Adams.\n\nOne interesting feature of Mr. Provost's presence at Astoria was his\nobservation of the bar at the entrance of the River. This had generally\nbeen represented to the world as something frightful. It is often so\nrepresented at the present time. Mr. Provost in a letter to Secretary of\nState, John Quincy Adams, says that there is a spacious bay, by no means\nso difficult of ingress as has been represented. He states that there is\na bar across the mouth of the River, at either extremity of which there\nare sometimes appalling breakers; but that there is a channel of nearly a\nleague in width with a depth of twenty-one feet at the lowest tides. He\nthinks, therefore, that with proper buoys the access to vessels of almost\nany tonnage may be rendered secure. This statement in regard to the Bar is\nof much interest as furnishing a basis for comparison with the present\nconditions. The depth at low tide now is about twenty-six feet, the\nincrease probably being due to the jetty.\n\nThe logic of the restoration of Astoria to the United States, while at the\nsame time the British Fur Company was left in practical possession, was\nrealised in the Joint Occupation Treaty of 1818. By this singular\narrangement it was agreed that any country on the north-west coast of\nAmerica that may be claimed by either power shall be open for ten years to\nthe vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers.\n\nIn 1819 another very important step was taken; viz.: the Florida Treaty\nwith Spain. By this, Spain retired to the line of 42 degrees, ceding to\nthe American Republic all her rights above that line. With her own claims\njoined to those of Spain, the Republic would seem to be able to snap her\nfingers at England. But, with characteristic tenacity, the latter power\nmade ready to insist all the more strenuously upon her claims. In 1825\nEngland and the United States agreed with Russia upon the line of 54\ndegrees 40 minutes, as the southern line of Russian claims. With Spain and\nRussia out of it, Oregon was left for England and the United States to\nfight over. The Joint Occupation Treaty was to last ten years, with the\nprivilege of renewal. Meanwhile what were the factors in the struggle for\npossession? There was on the side of England the Briarean monopoly of the\nHudson's Bay Company, supported by a disciplined and intelligent\ngovernment. But the English people were not in it. On the American side\nthe Government was strangely indifferent. There were several ambitious\nattempts to control the situation by American trading and fur companies.\nBut the essential forces were the American immigrant, the American\nmissionary, the Declaration of Independence, and the ox-team. Those were\nthe champions of America. They were the Davids against the Goliaths of\nBritish monopoly. At first thought it seemed that Goliath would have a\n\"walk-over.\" The case seemed hopeless for the Americans.\n\nBut to the deeper observer, American triumph was inevitable. It was the\nAge of Democracy. The conception both of popular government and of\nindividual ownership of land, with which went the corollary of \"equal\nopportunities for all men and special privileges for none,\" was graven\ndeep upon American character. With these things there went, of necessity,\nthe disapproval of slavery and the support of free labour. Still further\nthere went, by the same logic, the doctrine of unity and continental\nexpansion. These various influences have constituted the broad foundation\non which were reared the towers and battlements of American nationality.\n\nIn previous chapters we have outlined the operations of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany, the coming of the missionaries, and the immigrations of\nAmericans. The policy of the Hudson's Bay Company was to keep the country\na wilderness, to maintain amicable relations with the Indians, and to\ndepend mainly on the fur-trade for the great profits of their enterprise.\nThe policy of the American immigrants was to build homes, cities, roads,\nsteamboats, mills, develop the country, crowd out the natives, and depend\non mining, farming, stock-raising, lumbering, for their profits; not\nprofits of a monopoly located in a distant money centre, but profits of\nthe individual worker on his own land. The difference was world-wide. It\nrepresented two different conceptions of government and of life itself.\n\nBut though the American people had the manifest destiny of expanding to\nthe Pacific, the Government was strangely supine. We say \"strangely,\" but\nit was not so strange after all. Congress was dominated by the South in\nthe interest of slavery, and by the East in the interest of the tariff.\nCalhoun usually led the South, and he weighed everything in the scales of\nslavery. Webster governed Eastern sentiment largely, and he spoke for New\nEngland manufacturers. It is true that Clay was at all times a power in\nthe councils of the nation, and Clay's constant word was nationalisation\nand expansion. But even Clay was so committed to the tariff that he did\nnot always appreciate the possibilities of the \"West-most West.\" The\nPresidents of the period from 1819 to 1846 were from the South or the\nAtlantic seaboard and not usually inclined to regard the far West with\nspecial interest.\n\nThe American people were away ahead of the American government in the\nstruggle for possession of Oregon. A few of the utterances of leading\nstatesmen of that period as significant of their conception of Oregon,\nmay be given here. Benton, who became later the greatest champion of\nOregon, was so imperfectly informed in 1825 that he spoke thus: \"The ridge\nof the Rocky Mountains may be named as a convenient, natural, and\neverlasting boundary. Along this ridge the western limit of the Republic\nshould be drawn, and the statue of the fabled god Terminus should be\nerected on its highest peak, never to be thrown down.\" But Benton\nimproved, for later referring to the Columbia, he said, \"That way lies the\nOrient.\" Webster said of Oregon: \"What do we want of this vast, worthless\narea, this region of savages and wild beasts, of shifting sands and\nwhirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs. To what use could we ever\nhope to put these great deserts or these great mountain ranges,\nimpenetrable and covered to their base with eternal snow? What can we ever\nhope to do with the western coast, a coast of three thousand miles,\nrock-bound, cheerless, and uninviting, and not a harbour on it? What use\nhave we of such a country? Mr. President, I will never vote one cent from\nthe public treasury to place the Pacific Coast one inch nearer Boston than\nit is now.\" And that was \"God-like Dan!\" Dayton expressed himself thus:\n\"God forbid that the time should ever come when a State on the shores of\nthe Pacific, with interests and tendencies of trade all looking toward the\nAsiatic nations of the East, shall add its jarring claims to our\ndistracted and already overburdened confederacy.\" The _National\nIntelligencer_ doubtless expressed a common sentiment in the following:\n\"Of all the countries upon the face of the earth, Oregon is one of the\nleast favoured by nature. It is almost as barren as Sahara and quite as\nunhealthy as the campagna of Italy.\"\n\nSuch an estimate by American statesmen was all right to the Hudson's Bay\nCompany. They wished such an estimate and had taken pains to foster it.\nBut while the gullible American statesmen were thus accepting just the\nversion which their rivals were disseminating, the hard-handed and\nhard-headed, though not hard-hearted frontiersmen of Missouri and Illinois\nand Iowa were packing their ox-teams and starting across the desert for\nthat Sahara on the Columbia River. Also one Marcus Whitman, a missionary\nphysician of the Walla Walla, was floundering in the snows of the Sierra\nMadre and crossing the Arkansas through broken ice, in order to tell the\nbenighted statesmen what the land of the Oregon really was like. The\nAmerican people were busy, and the statesmen looked askance. And so, a few\nhere and a few there, by trail or ship, adventurers, missionaries,\nsailors, trappers, there was formed a gathering in the Willamette of the\nadvance guard of American home-builders. They began to call out of the\nwilderness to Uncle Sam.\n\nAs a result of the coming of the missionaries and of the small\nimmigrations of the thirties and early forties, together with the\nsettlement in the Willamette Valley of various French-Canadian employees\nof the Hudson's Bay Company, there was enough of a population to demand\nsome sort of organised society.\n\nW. H. Gray made a summary of population in 1840 to consist of two hundred\npersons, of whom a hundred and thirty-seven were American and sixty-three\nCanadian. Up to 1839 the only law was the rules of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany. In that year the Methodist missionaries suggested that two\npersons be named as magistrates to administer justice according to the\nordinary rules of American law. This was the first move looking to\nAmerican political organisation. In 1839 and 1840 memorials were presented\nto the Senate by Senator Linn of Missouri at the request of American\nsettlers praying for the attention of Congress to their needs. But, not\ncontent with lifting their voices to the home land, they proceeded to\norganise for themselves.\n\nAt that time, Champoeg, a few miles above the falls of the Willamette and\nlocated pleasantly on the west bank of that river, was the chief\nsettlement. There, on the seventh of February, 1841, a gathering of the\nsettlers was held \"for the purpose of consulting upon steps necessary to\nbe taken for the formation of laws, and the election of officers to\nexecute them.\" Jason Lee, the Methodist missionary, was chairman of the\nmeeting, and he outlined what he deemed the needed method of establishing\na reign of law and order. The meeting proved rather a conference than an\norganisation and the people dispersed to meet again at the call of the\nchairman.\n\nA week later an event occurred which brought most forcibly to the minds of\nthe settlers the need of better organisation. This was the death of Ewing\nYoung, one of the most prominent men of the little community. He left\nconsiderable property, with no known heirs and no one to act as\nadministrator. It became clear that some legal status must be established\nfor the settlement. Another meeting was held, in which it was determined\nthat a government be instituted, having the officers usual in an American\nlocality. The work of framing a constitution was entrusted to a committee,\nin which the five different elements, the Methodist missionaries, the\nCatholics, the French Canadians, the independent American settlers, and\nthe English, had representation. The committee was instructed to confer\nwith Commodore Wilkes of the American Exploring Squadron, just at that\ntime in the River, and Dr. McLoughlin, the Hudson's Bay magnate. Wilkes\nadvised the settlers to wait for added strength and for the United States\nGovernment to throw its mantle over them. The committee decided that his\nadvice was sound and indefinitely adjourned. Constitution building rested\nfor a time along the shores of the Willamette.\n\nIn 1841 and 1842, two hundred and twenty Americans reached Oregon,\ndoubling the population.\n\nThe Americans were ill at ease without a government and kept agitating the\nquestion of another meeting. But the English and the Catholic influences\nopposed this. Some diplomacy was needed. The irrepressible Yankees were\nequal to it. They determined to draw the settlers together under the\nannouncement of a meeting for the purpose of discussing the means of\nprotecting themselves against the ravages of the numerous wild beasts of\nthe valley. W. H. Gray was the leading spirit in this enterprise. In a\nmost picturesque and valuable account of it, John Minto has developed the\nthought that the founding of the Oregon State bore a striking resemblance\nto that stage in the Roman state, subsequently celebrated in the festival\nof Lupercalia, wherein the first organisation was for defence against the\nwild beasts. So the Willamette witnessed again the gathering of the\nclans, Americans, English, French, half-breeds, Catholics, Protestants,\nIndependents, all coming together to protect themselves against the bears,\ncougars, and wolves. The meetings were usually known thereafter as the\n\"wolf meetings.\"\n\nJames O'Neil was made chairman of this historic gathering. With the\nastuteness characteristic of American politicians, a previous\nunderstanding had been made between Mr. O'Neil and the little coterie of\nwhich Mr. Gray was the manager, that everything should be shaped to the\nultimate end of raising the question of a government. As soon, therefore,\nas the ostensible aim of the meeting had been attained, W. H. Gray arose\nand broached the all-important issue. After declaring that no one could\nquestion the wisdom and rightfulness of the measures looking to protecting\ntheir herds from wild beasts, he continued:\n\n    How is it, fellow-citizens, with you and me, and our wives and\n    children? Have we any organisation on which we can rely for mutual\n    protection? Is there any power in the country sufficient to protect us\n    and all that we hold dear, from the worse than wild beasts that\n    threaten and occasionally destroy our cattle? We have mutually and\n    unitedly agreed to defend and protect our cattle and domestic animals;\n    now, therefore, fellow-citizens, I submit and move the adoption of the\n    two following resolutions, that we may have protection for our lives\n    and persons, as well as our cattle and herds: _Resolved_ that a\n    committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of\n    taking measures for the civil and military protection of this colony;\n    _Resolved_ that this committee consist of twelve persons.\n\nThere spoke the true voice of the American state-builder, the voice of the\nDeclaration of Independence and the Constitution. The resolutions were\npassed and the committee of twelve appointed, mainly Americans. The\ncommittee met at the Falls of the Willamette, which by that time was\nbecoming known as Oregon City. Unable to arrive at a definite decision,\nthe committee issued a call for a general meeting at Champoeg on May 2d.\n\nPending the meeting, there was a general policy of opposition developed\namong the French Canadians in the interest of the Hudson's Bay Company and\nEngland. This opposition threatened the overthrow of the entire plan. It\nwas, however, checkmated in an interesting fashion. George W. Le Breton\nwas one of the leading settlers and occupied a peculiar position. He was\nof French origin, from Baltimore to Oregon, and had been a Catholic. His\nexisting affiliations were with the Americans. He was keen, facile, and\nwell educated. He discovered that the Canadians had been drilled to vote\n\"No\" on all questions, irrespective of the bearing which such a vote might\nhave on the leading issue. Le Breton accordingly proposed that measures be\nintroduced upon which the Canadians ought to vote \"Yes.\" These tactics\nwere carried out. The Canadians were confused thereby. Le Breton watched\ndevelopments carefully and, becoming satisfied that he could command a\nmajority, rose and exclaimed, \"We can risk it, let us divide and count!\"\nGray shouted, \"I second the motion!\" Jo Meek, famous as one of the\nMountain Men, stepped out of the crowd and said, \"Who is for a divide? All\nin favour of an organisation, follow me!\" The Americans speedily gathered\nbehind the tall form of the erstwhile trapper. A count followed. It was a\nclose vote. Fifty-two voted for, and fifty against. The Americans would\nhave been outvoted had it not been that Le Breton, with two French\nCanadians, Francois Matthieu and Etienne Lucier, voted with them. The\ndefeated Canadians withdrew, and the Indians, who lined the banks of the\nRiver to discover what strange proceedings the white men were engaged in,\nperceived from the loud shouts of triumph that the \"Bostons\" had won.\nThough the victory was gained by so scanty a margin, it was gained, and it\nwas decisive. It was one of the most interesting events in the history of\nOregon or the United States, for it illustrates most vividly the inborn\ncapacity of the American for self-government.\n\nThe new government went at once into effect. The constitution formulated\nby the committee and adopted by the meeting at Champoeg provided that the\npeople of Oregon should adopt laws and regulations until the United States\nextended its jurisdiction over them. Freedom of worship, habeas corpus,\ntrial by jury, proportionate representation, and the usual civil rights of\nAmericans were guaranteed. Education should be encouraged, lands and\nproperty should not be taken from Indians without their consent. Slavery\nor involuntary servitude should not exist.\n\nThe officers of government consisted of a legislative body of nine\npersons, an executive body of three, and a judiciary of a supreme judge\nand two justices of the peace, with a probate court and its justices, and\na recorder and treasurer. Every white man of twenty-one years or more\ncould vote. The laws of Iowa were designated to be followed in common\npractice. Marriage was allowed to males at sixteen and females at\nfourteen. One of the most important provisions was the land law. This\npermitted any individual to claim a mile square, provided it be not on a\ntown site or water-power, and that any mission claims already made be not\naffected, up to the limit of six miles square. This land law was framed\nupon the general conception of the proposed Linn bill already brought\nbefore Congress. The land law allowed land to be taken in any form, but\nsince there was no existing survey, each man had to make his own survey.\n\nThe first elected executive committee consisted of David Hill, Alanson\nBeers, and Joseph Gale. Within a year an amendment was made to the\nconstitution providing for a governor. George Abernethy, a former member\nof the Methodist mission, was chosen to fill the place.\n\nOuter things were pretty crude in the little colony on the Willamette,\nthough brains and energy were there in abundance. J. Quinn Thornton\nexpressed himself as follows on the \"Oregon State House,\" which he says\nwas in several respects different from that in which laws are made at\nWashington City:\n\n    The Oregon State House was built with posts set upright, one end set\n    in the ground, grooved on two sides, and filled in with poles and\n    split timber, such as would be suitable for fence rails, with plates\n    and poles across the top. Rafters and horizontal poles, instead of\n    iron ribs, held the cedar bark which was used instead of thick copper\n    for roofing. It was twenty by forty feet and therefore did not cover\n    three acres and a half. At one end some puncheons were put up for a\n    platform for the president; some poles and slabs were placed around\n    for seats; three planks, about a foot wide and twelve feet long,\n    placed upon a sort of stake platform for a table, were all that was\n    believed necessary for the use of the legislative committee and the\n    clerks.\n\nThere are several facts in connection with the inauguration of this\nProvisional Government of Oregon which are almost equal to itself in\ninterest. One of these is that Peter H. Burnett, a lawyer and the most\nnotable member of the emigration of 1843, rendered the opinion that, by\nthe spirit of American institutions, the Provisional Government might be\nregarded as possessing valid authority. Going in a few years to\nCalifornia, Mr. Burnett incorporated the same principles into the\ngovernment of that State and became its first governor.\n\nAnother most significant fact was the attitude of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany. That great organisation was of course opposed to American\nownership and to the Provisional Government. At first, the management\nunder Sir James Douglas (Dr. McLoughlin had been superseded by Douglas\nbecause of his supposed leaning toward the Americans) affected to ignore\nthe government framed at Champoeg, declaring loftily that the company\ncould protect itself. Dr. McLoughlin, in his very interesting account of\nthis, says that the Americans adopted in 1845 a provision in the\nconstitution that no one should be called to do any act contrary to his\nallegiance. This provision struck him as designed to enable British\nsubjects to join the organisation. Dr. McLoughlin was so pleased with the\nwise and liberal spirit which this evinced that he prevailed on Douglas to\njoin the Provisional Government. The family was now complete. The American\nfarmers and immigrants and missionaries had triumphed over the autocratic\ngovernment of the great fur company. The American idea--government of the\npeople, by the people, and for the people--was vindicated. The local\nbattle was won for the Yankee.\n\nBefore leaving this great epoch of the history of the River, it will\ninterest the reader to know that Dr. McLoughlin, so conspicuous in the\nstory thus far, removed to Oregon City, and became an avowed American\ncitizen, living on the claim on which he filed at the Falls. Much trouble\nsubsequently arose between him and the Methodist mission people\nrepresented by Rev. A. F. Waller. Harder yet, Congress was led by Delegate\nThurston of Oregon, to exclude him from the benefit of the Donation Land\nLaw. The final result was that the great-hearted ex-king of the Columbia\nlost the most of his claim on the ground that he was an alien at the time\nof taking it. The Hudson's Bay Company directors chose to disapprove his\nacts in bestowing provisions upon the weary and hungry and ragged American\nimmigrants, and they charged him personally with the cost. This, in\naddition to the loss of his claim, rendered him almost penniless and sadly\nembittered his old age. He said that he supposed he was becoming an\nAmerican, but found that he was neither American nor British, but was\nwithout a country. It is pleasant to be able to record the fact that the\nOregon Legislature restored his land in so far as the State controlled it,\nbut this was only just before his death.\n\nOf all the brave and big-souled men who bore their part in redeeming\nOregon and the Columbia from the wilderness, John McLoughlin has stood at\nthe head of the column, side by side with Marcus Whitman, the American\nphysician and missionary. Though identified at first with rival interests\nand conflicting aims, McLoughlin and Whitman had many traits in common,\nand the story of their lives and life-work in Oregon should be written in\none chapter. No one that ever knew or sympathised with Oregon history has\nfailed to give his meed of praise to both Whitman and McLoughlin. No one\never stood on the hill at Waiilatpu and viewed the mission home of Whitman\nin the fertile vale of the Walla Walla, the scene of martyrdom and\nanguish, without joining it in mind with the expanse of the Columbia at\nVancouver and recalling \"Old Whitehead,\" and his large-minded and humane\nlordship for twenty years of the land of the Oregon. Nor can one withhold\nthe thrill of indignation at the cold-blooded commercialism of the\nHudson's Bay Company, and at the petty ingratitude of some Americans,\nwhich together brought darkness to the old hero's last days.\n\nBut though American Democracy was winning a bloodless triumph on the\nColumbia, it seemed by no means certain that American diplomacy would win\non the Potomac. Webster, as Secretary of State under Harrison and during\npart of Tyler's administration, represented the conservative councils of\nthe New England seaboard, and was inclined to yield to England in respect\nto the Oregon boundary.\n\nSenator Linn of Missouri was the most steadfast friend of American\noccupancy. He was the one to frame land bills to encourage American\nimmigration, and in his hands the memorials of the settlers on the\nColumbia had been placed. But in 1843, he died, with his work undone.\nBenton, his colleague, had meanwhile become fully as pronounced, and he\npursued the same policy with uncompromising and volcanic energy.\n\nBut a curious and anomalistic alignment of interests and parties now\narose. The Oregon question became entangled with those of Texas and\nslavery. Calhoun became Tyler's Secretary of State upon Webster's\nresignation. While the Democrats in general were more inclined to western\nexpansion than the Whigs, yet the slaveholders of the South were much more\ninterested in Texas than in Oregon. The Provisional Government of Oregon\nhad prohibited slavery. Calhoun was ready to fight Mexico for the\npossession of Texas, but he did not want to fight England for possession\nof Oregon. Nevertheless, he did not dare to offend the West by a square\nback-down on Oregon. He therefore adopted a policy of \"masterly\ninactivity.\" He believed that if war arose with England, we would lose\n\"every inch of Oregon,\" for England could hurry a fleet to the Columbia\nRiver from China in six weeks, whereas American ships would have to double\nCape Horn, and an American army would have to cross the continent under\nevery disadvantage of transportation. But time, he believed, would win all\nfor the Americans.\n\nIn this conception, Von Holst thinks Calhoun was wise. Roosevelt in his\n_Life of Benton_, thinks that the war, if there had been war, would have\nbeen fought out in Canada, and that, while Calhoun was not wrong in\ndesiring delay, he should never have abated one jot in demanding all of\nOregon up to 54 degrees 40 minutes.\n\nThe Democratic platform on which Polk was elected President, demanded \"54\ndegrees 40 minutes,\" and, in popular clamour, the words, \"or fight,\" were\nadded. Oregon, Texas, and slavery were practically the issues on which\nPolk was elected. His inaugural address declared our title to Oregon to be\n\"clear and unquestionable.\" Great excitement ensued, for if Congress stood\nby the President, war was almost inevitable, unless England yielded. To\nthe surprise of the world, however, James Buchanan, the yielding, not to\nsay shifty, Secretary of State under the new administration, now announced\nthe willingness of our Government to compromise on the line of 49 degrees.\nBut here another complication ensued. Pakenham, the British envoy,\ndeclined, in almost insulting terms, to accept 49 degrees. Polk thereupon\nwithdrew the proposition and in his next message stated that \"no\ncompromise which the United States ought to accept can be effected.\" At\nthe same time he advised the cancellation of the Joint Occupation Treaty.\nIt seemed now that the conflict between the nations for the possession of\nthe River would surely eventuate in war. Senator Cass of Michigan fanned\nthe flame by a speech declaring that \"War is almost upon us.\" The\ncommittees on Foreign Relations in both House and Senate proposed\nresolutions to notify England at once of the close of the Joint Occupation\nTreaty. Excitement rose to fierce heat, and the standing of marine risks\nand commercial ventures at once showed the popular sentiment. \"Fifty-four,\nforty, or fight!\" was the spirit of Congress.\n\nBut now Calhoun found himself betwixt the devil and the deep sea. He did\nnot really wish to get all of Oregon, for fear of the effect on slavery.\nYet he dared not throw cold water on the tremendous spirits of patriotism\nand ambition in the West demanding Oregon. A compromise was the only\nrecourse. Powerful men of the \"Moderates\" in both England and the United\nStates brought their influence to bear. Calhoun caused Lord Aberdeen,\nForeign Secretary of England, to understand that the President would again\ntake up the line of 49 degrees. Lord Aberdeen directed Pakenham to revive\nthe negotiations which had been somewhat rudely broken off. The Senate\nreconsidered the situation more calmly and opened the way to a new treaty.\nThis was consummated and signed by President Polk on June 15, 1846, and\nconfirmed by the Senate on June 19th. The line of 49 degrees was accepted.\nThe Great River was divided by that line nearly equally between the two\nnations, there being about seven hundred and fifty miles in American\nterritory and six hundred and fifty in British.\n\nThe decision of the ownership of the River was one of the most momentous\nin American history. If we had not got Oregon, we probably would not have\ngot California. And without the Pacific Coast, the history of the Great\nRepublic would be essentially different, and the history of the world\nwould be essentially different.\n\nThe Oregon Question owed much of its interest to its very complicated\nnature. It was at first a question between the governments of five\ndifferent nations, England, France, Russia, Spain, and the United States.\nIn time it became a question between England and the United States. Then\nit was a question between Oregon immigrants and British Fur Company. Then\nit became a question between slavery and freedom. This was still further\ncomplicated by the fact that it was also a question between West, East,\nand South. Different factions of different parties still further\ncomplicated it. It was in truth a manifold question, and in its final\nsolution we read some of the most vital of American traits and movements.\nOut of it all the settlers of the River may justly be said to have emerged\nwith highest credit. The American home-builder, the great Democracy of the\nWest, the inborn impulse to expand and to nationalise,--these were the\nessential factors in the triumph. The settlers on the Willamette, the\nconstitution-makers of Champoeg, the immigrants and the missionaries, had\nalready gained the day before diplomacy took it up.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nThe Times of Tomahawk and Fire-Brand\n\n    Extent of Indian Troubles in the Region of the Columbia--Destruction\n    of the _Tonquin_--Conflicting Policies of the British and the\n    Americans in Regard to the Fur-trade--Advances in Settlement by\n    Americans, and Indian Opposition--The Whitman Mission and its\n    Relations to the Indians, and to the Hudson's Bay Company--The\n    Pestilence of 1847--The Whitman Massacre--Mr. Osborne's\n    Reminiscences--Saving of the Lapwai and Tshimakain Missions--The\n    Cayuse War--Great War of 1855-56--Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox--Governor\n    I. I. Stevens of Washington Territory and his Efforts to Make\n    Treaties--The Walla Walla Council and the Division among the\n    Indians--Pearson and his Ride--Outburst of Hostilities and the\n    Destruction that Followed--Conflict between the Regulars and the\n    Volunteers--Battles of Walla Walla, Cascades, and Grande Ronde--Second\n    Walla Walla Council--An Unsatisfactory Peace--Continued Incoming of\n    Prospectors and Land-seekers--Third Indian War--Disastrous Steptoe\n    Campaign--Garnett's Campaign in the Yakima--Wright's Campaign to\n    Spokane and Overthrow of Indian Power--Peace Proclaimed and the\n    Country Thrown Open to Settlement--Nez Perce War of\n    1877--Hallakallakeen, or Joseph, the Indian Warchief--His Melancholy\n    Fate--The Bannock War.\n\n\nColumbia River history has had its full share of Indian wars. To narrate\nthese in full would transcend the limits of this chapter. Even during the\nera of discovery desperate affrays with the natives were a common\nexperience of explorers. Captain Gray of the _Columbia_ lost a boat's crew\nof seamen at Tillamook. The ship _Boston_ was seized in 1803 by the wily\nold chief Maquinna at Nootka.\n\nIn 1812 the _Tonquin_, the first vessel of the Pacific Fur Company, in\ncommand of Captain Thorn, was captured at some point to the north of the\nColumbia River, variously known as Eyuck Whoola on Newcetu Bay, or Newity\nBay, or Newcetee. She was, as a result of the capture, blown up by the\nexplosion of her own powder magazine. Gabriel Franchere and Alexander\nRoss, of the Astoria party, are the original authorities for this dramatic\nstory. Irving has made the event a leading feature of his charming\n_Astoria_. H. H. Bancroft has discussed it at length in his history of the\nPacific Coast. In recent years Major H. M. Chittenden in his valuable\nbook, _History of the American Fur Trade_, presents new testimony of much\ninterest. But whatever discrepencies existed in the records, the general\ntruth remains that the ship and all her crew, with the exception of one\nIndian, disappeared, and great was the loss to the traders at Astoria as a\nresult.\n\nFor more than three decades after the destruction of the _Tonquin_ there\nwere no serious Indian conflicts. The Hudson's Bay Company carried out\nconsistently the general policy of harmony with the natives. Most of the\nemployees were of French Canadian origin, and, with their general\nsociability, they were more popular with the Indians than the Americans\nusually have been. But with the incoming of American missionaries,\ntrappers, explorers, and immigrants, the situation changed. Conflicts of\ninterests, ambitions, and national aims led both Americans and British to\nbe somewhat more ready to encourage the hostile and suspicious disposition\nof the natives. Chiefly, however, the cause of the changing attitude of\nthe natives must be attributed to the perception by the more intelligent\nof the fact that the actual occupation of the country by white farmers,\nhome builders, and land owners, meant their own destruction. Though this\ntruth dawned on them only vaguely and gradually, they had begun to be\nsomewhat familiar with it by the decade of the thirties.\n\nThe founding of American missions during that decade, as narrated earlier,\nat Chemeketa, Walla Walla, Lapwai, and Tshimakain, and, during the years\nfollowing, the obvious intent of the Americans to draw immigration to the\ncountry, prepared the way for the first and perhaps the most ferocious,\nthough by no means the greatest, of the four principal wars which we plan\nto consider. This first one was the war connected with the Whitman\nmassacre.\n\nWe have already described the founding of the Whitman Mission at\nWaiilatpu, six miles from the present site of Walla Walla, and twenty-six\nmiles from the Hudson's Bay fort on the Columbia, known as Fort Walla\nWalla. We have also told of Whitman's journey across the continent in the\nmid-winter of 1842-43, of his efforts to secure the attention of Congress\nand of the Executive to the importance of the Oregon country, and of his\nreturn to Walla Walla in 1843, with the first large immigration of\nAmerican settlers.\n\nAfter the incoming of this immigration, it became more than ever clear to\nthe more intelligent Indians that this movement of settlers portended a\nchange in their whole condition. Their wild life could not co-exist with\nfarming, houses, and the fixed and narrowed limits of the white man's\nlife. Moreover, since they saw the antagonism between the Americans and\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, and since the latter was obviously more\nfavourable to perpetuating the life of the wilderness, the natives were\nnaturally drawn into sympathy with the latter. Still further, since the\nAmericans were Protestants and naturally affiliated with the Whitman\nMission and its associated missions, and since the Hudson's Bay people\nwere mainly Catholics and interested in maintaining the missionary methods\nadapted to the regime of the fur-traders, there became injected into the\nsituation the dangerous element of religious jealousy.\n\nDr. Whitman perceived that he was standing on the edge of a powder\nmagazine, and, during the summer of 1847, he arranged to acquire the\nmission property of the Methodists at The Dalles, a hundred and sixty\nmiles down the River, intending to remove thither in the spring. But\nmeanwhile, the explosives being all ready, the spark was prepared for\nigniting them.\n\nDuring the summer of 1847 measles became epidemic among the Indians. Their\nmethod of treating any disease of which fever was a part was to enter a\npit into which hot rocks had been thrown, then casting water on the rocks,\nto create a dense vapour, in which, stripped of clothing, they would\nremain until thoroughly steamed. Thence issuing, stark naked and dripping\nwith perspiration, they would plunge into an icy cold stream. Death was\nthe almost inevitable result in case of measles. Whitman, who was, it\nshould be remembered, a physician, not a clergyman, was skilful and\ndevoted in his attentions, yet many died. Now just at that time a\nrenegade half-breed known as Jo Lewis seems to have become possessed with\nthe diabolical mania of massacre. He made the Indians think that Whitman\nwas poisoning them. Istickus or Sticcus, a Umatilla Indian and a warm\nfriend of Whitman, had formed some impression of the plot and suggested\nthe danger. Whitman's intrepid spirit laughed at this, but Mrs. Whitman,\nthough equally intrepid, seems to have felt some premonition of the swift\ncoming doom, for the mission children found her in tears for the first\ntime since the death of her beloved little girl eight years before. The\nDoctor tried to soothe her by declaring that he would arrange to go down\nthe River at once. But on that very day, November 28, 1847, the\npicturesque little hill rising a hundred feet above the mission ground,\nnow surmounted by the granite shaft of the Whitman monument, was observed\nto be black with Indians. It was evident from various sinister aspects\nthat something was impending.\n\nOn the next day, November 29th, at about one o'clock, while Dr. Whitman\nsat reading, a number of Indians entered the room. Having gained his\nattention by the usual request for medicines, one of them, afterwards said\nby some to have been Tamahas, and by others have been Tamsaky, rushed\nsuddenly upon the Doctor and struck his head with a tomahawk. Another\nwretch named Telaukait, to whom the Doctor had been the kindest friend,\nthen cut and hacked the noble face of the philanthropist. The work of\nmurder thus inaugurated went on with savage energy. The men about the\nmission were speedily slain, with the exception of a few who were in\nremote places and managed by special fortune to elude observation. Mrs.\nWhitman, bravely coming forward to succour her dying husband, was shot in\nthe breast and sank to the floor. She did not die at once, and it is said\nby some of the survivors, then children, that she lingered some time,\nbeing heard to murmur most tender prayers for her parents and children.\nMrs. Whitman was the only woman killed. The other women and girls were\ncruelly outraged and held in captivity for several days.\n\nWilliam McBean was at that time in charge of the fort at Walla Walla, and\nwith a strange disregard of humane feelings, he shut the door of the fort\nin the face of one of the escaped Americans, and a little later served the\nOsborne family in the same manner. McBean sent a courier down the River to\nconvey the tidings to Vancouver, but this courier did not even stop at The\nDalles to warn the people, though they were not attacked. James Douglas\nwas then chief factor at Vancouver, as successor to Dr. McLoughlin. As\nsoon as he was apprised of the massacre, he sent Peter Skeen Ogden with a\nforce to rescue the survivors. Ogden acted with promptness and efficiency,\nand by the use of several hundred dollars' worth of commodities ransomed\nforty-seven women and children. Thirteen persons had been murdered.\n\nOne of the most distressing experiences was that of the Osborne family. Of\nthis Mr. Osborne says:\n\n    As the guns fired and the yells commenced I leaned my head upon the\n    bed and committed myself and family to my Maker. My wife removed the\n    loose floor. I dropped under the floor with my sick family in their\n    night clothes, taking only two woollen sheets, a piece of bread, and\n    some cold mush, and pulled the floor over us. In five minutes the room\n    was full of Indians, but they did not discover us. The roar of guns,\n    the yells of the savages, and the crash of clubs and knives and the\n    groans of the dying continued till dark. We distinctly heard the dying\n    groans of Mrs. Whitman, Mr. Rogers, and Francis, till they died away\n    one after the other. We heard the last words of Mr. Rogers in a slow\n    voice calling \"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.\" Soon after this I\n    removed the floor and we went out. We saw the white face of Francis by\n    the door. It was warm as we laid our hand upon it, but he was dead. I\n    carried my two youngest children, who were sick, and my wife held on\n    to my clothes in her great weakness. We had all been sick with\n    measles. Two infants had died. She had not left her bed in six weeks\n    till that day, when she stood up a few minutes. The naked, painted\n    Indians were dancing the scalp dance around a large fire at a little\n    distance. There seemed no hope for us and we knew not which way to go,\n    but bent our steps toward Fort Walla Walla. A dense cold fog shut out\n    every star and the darkness was complete. We could see no trail and\n    not even the hand before the face. We had to feel out the trail with\n    our feet. My wife almost fainted but staggered along. Mill Creek,\n    which we had to wade, was high with late rains and came up to the\n    waist. My wife in her great weakness came nigh washing down, but held\n    to my clothes. I braced myself with a stick, holding a child in one\n    arm. I had to cross five times for the children. The water was icy\n    cold and the air freezing some. Staggering along about two miles, Mrs.\n    Osborne fainted and could go no farther, and we hid ourselves in the\n    brush of the Walla Walla River, not far below Tamsukey's (a chief)\n    lodges, who was very active at the commencement of the butchery. We\n    were thoroughly wet, and the cold fog like snow was about us. The cold\n    mud was partially frozen as we crawled, feeling our way, into the dark\n    brush. We could see nothing, the darkness was so extreme. I spread one\n    wet sheet down on the frozen ground; wife and children crouched upon\n    it. I covered the other over them. I thought they must soon perish as\n    they were shaking and their teeth rattling with cold. I kneeled down\n    and commended us to my Maker. The day finally dawned and we could see\n    the Indians riding furiously up and down the trail. Sometimes they\n    would come close to the brush and our blood would warm and the shaking\n    would stop from fear for a moment. The day seemed a week. Expected\n    every moment my wife would breathe her last. Tuesday night, felt our\n    way to the trail and staggered along to Sutucksnina (Dog Creek), which\n    we waded as we did the other creek, and kept on about two miles when\n    my wife fainted and could go no farther. Crawled into the brush and\n    frozen mud to shake and suffer on from hunger and cold, and without\n    sleep. The children, too, wet and cold, called incessantly for food,\n    but the shock of groans and yells at first so frightened them that\n    they did not speak loud. Wednesday night my wife was too weak to\n    stand. I took our second child and started for Walla Walla; had to\n    wade the Touchet; stopped frequently in the brush from weakness; had\n    not recovered from measles. Heard a horseman pass and repass as I lay\n    concealed in the willows. Have since learned that it was Mr. Spalding.\n    Reached Fort Walla Walla after daylight; begged Mr. McBean for horses\n    to get my family, for food, for blankets, and clothing to take to\n    them, and to take care of my child till I could bring my family in,\n    should I live to find them alive. Mr. McBean told me I could not bring\n    my family to his fort.\n\n    Mr. Hall came in on Monday night, but he could not have an American in\n    his fort, and he had put him over the Columbia River; that he could\n    not let me have horses or anything for my wife and children, and I\n    must go to Umatilla. I insisted on bringing my family to the fort, but\n    he refused; said he would not let us in. I next begged the priests to\n    show pity, as my wife and children must perish and the Indians\n    undoubtedly would kill me, with no success. I then begged to leave my\n    child who was not safe in the fort, but they refused.\n\n    There were many priests in the fort. Mr. McBean gave me breakfast, but\n    I saved most of it for my family. Providentially Mr. Stanley, an\n    artist, came in from Colville, narrowly escaped the Cayuse Indians by\n    telling them he was \"Alain\" H. B. He let me have his two horses, some\n    food he had left from Rev. Eells and Walker's mission; also a cap, a\n    pair of socks, a shirt, and handkerchief, and Mr. McBean furnished an\n    Indian who proved most faithful, and Thursday night we started back,\n    taking my child, but with a sad heart that I could not find mercy at\n    the hands of the priests of God. The Indian guided me in the thick\n    darkness to where I supposed I had left my dear wife and children. We\n    could see nothing and dared not call aloud. Daylight came and I was\n    exposed to Indians, but we continued to search till I was about to\n    give up in despair when the Indian discovered one of the twigs I had\n    broken as a guide in coming out to the trail. Following these he soon\n    found my wife and children still alive. I distributed what little food\n    and clothing I had, and we started for the Umatilla, the guide leading\n    the way to a ford.\n\n    Mr. McBean came and asked who was there. I replied. He said he could\n    not let us in; we must go to Umatilla or he would put us over the\n    river, as he had Mr. Hall. My wife replied she would die at the gate\n    but she would not leave. He finally opened and took us into a secret\n    room and sent an allowance of food for us every day. Next day I asked\n    him for blankets for my sick wife to lie on. He had nothing. Next day\n    I urged again. He had nothing to give, but would sell a blanket out of\n    the store. I told him I had lost everything, and had nothing to pay;\n    but if I should live to get to the Willamette I would pay. He\n    consented. But the hip-bones of my dear wife wore through the skin on\n    the hard floor. Stickus, the chief, came in one day and took the cap\n    from his head and gave it to me, and a handkerchief to my child.\n\nThe Whitman massacre was a prelude to the Cayuse War. It should be\nremembered that, the year before the massacre, the Oregon country had, by\ntreaty with Great Britain, become the property of the United States. No\nregular government had yet been inaugurated, but the Provisional\nGovernment already instituted by the Americans met on December 9th and\nprovided for sending fourteen companies of volunteers to the Walla Walla.\nThese were immigrants who had come to seek homes and their section of\nland, and it was a great sacrifice for them to leave their families and\nstart in mid-winter for the upper Columbia. But they bravely and\ncheerfully obeyed the call of duty and set forth, furnishing mainly their\nown equipment, without a thought of pecuniary gain or even reimbursement.\nCornelius Gilliam, an immigrant of 1845 from Missouri, was chosen colonel\nof the regiment. He was a man of great energy and courage, and though not\na professional soldier,--none of them were,--had the frontier American's\ncapacity for warfare. The command pushed rapidly forward, their way being\ndisputed at various points. At Sand Hollows the Indians, led by Five Crows\nand War Eagle, made an especially tenacious attempt to prevent the\ncrossing of the Umatilla River. Five Crows claimed to have wizard powers\nby which he could stop all bullets, and War Eagle declared that he could\nswallow all balls fired at him. But at the first onset the wizard was so\nbadly wounded that he had to retire and \"Swallow Ball\" was killed. Tom\nMcKay had levelled his rifle and said, \"Let him swallow this.\"\n\n[Illustration: Grave of Marcus Whitman and his Associate Martyrs at\nWaiilatpu. Photo. by W. D. Chapman.]\n\nThe way was now clear to Waiilatpu, which the command reached on March\n4th. The mangled remains of the victims of the massacre had been hastily\ninterred by the Ogden party, but coyotes had partially exhumed them. The\nremains were brought together by the volunteers and reverently, though\nrudely, buried at a point near the mission, a place where a marble crypt\nnow encloses the commingled bones of the martyrs. A lock of long, fair\nhair was found near the ruined mission ground which was thought surely to\nbe from the head of Mrs. Whitman. It was preserved by one of the\nvolunteers and is now one of the precious relics in the historical museum\nof Whitman College.\n\nThe Cayuse War dragged along in a desultory fashion for nearly three\nyears. The refusal of the Nez Perces and Spokanes and the indifference of\nthe Yakimas to join the Cayuses made their cause hopeless, though there\nwere several fierce fights with them and much severe campaigning. In 1850\na band of friendly Umatilla Indians undertook to capture the chief band of\nthe Cayuses under Tamsaky, which had taken a strong position about the\nhead waters of the John Day River. After a savage battle Tamsaky was\nkilled and most of the warriors captured. Of these, five, charged with the\nleading part in the Whitman massacre, were hanged at Oregon City on June\n3, 1850. It remains a question to this day, however, whether the victims\nof the gallows were really the guilty ones. The Cayuse Indians were quite\nfirm in their assertion that Tamahas, who, by one version, struck Dr.\nWhitman the first blow, was the only one of the five concerned in the\nmurder.\n\nThus ended the first principal war in the Columbia Basin. It was quickly\nfollowed by another, which was so extensive that it may be well called\nuniversal. This was the War of 1855-56. This was the greatest Indian war\nin the entire history of the Columbia River.\n\nAs we have seen, the American home-builders had outmatched the English\nfur-traders in the struggle for possession. On the 3d of March, 1853,\nWashington Territory, embracing the present States of Washington and\nIdaho, with parts of Wyoming and Montana, was created by Act of Congress,\nand Isaac I. Stevens was appointed governor. This remarkable man entered\nwith tremendous energy upon his task of organising the chaos of his great\ndomain. The Indian problem was obviously the most dangerous and pressing\none. There were at that time two remarkable chiefs of the mid-Columbia\nregion, natural successors of Philip, Pontiac, Black Hawk, and Tecumseh,\npossessing those Indian traits of mingled nobleness and treachery which\nhave made the best specimens of the race such interesting objects of\nstudy. These Indians were Kamiakin of the Yakimas, and Peupeumoxmox of the\nWalla Wallas.\n\n[Illustration: Cayuse Babies 1. (Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.)]\n\n[Illustration: Cayuse Babies 2. (Copyright by Lee Moorehouse, 1898.)]\n\nIn 1855 the great war broke out almost simultaneously at different points.\nThere were six widely scattered regions especially concerned. Four of\nthese, the Cascades, the Yakima Valley, the Walla Walla, and the Grande\nRonde, were on or adjacent to the River. The others were the Rogue River\nregion and Puget Sound. So wide was the area of this war that intelligent\nco-operation among the Indians proved impracticable. This, in fact, was\nthe thing that saved the whites. For there were probably not less than\nfour thousand Indians on the war-path, and if they had co-operated, the\nsmaller settlements, possibly all in the country except those in the\nWillamette Valley, might have been annihilated.\n\nThe first efforts of Governor Stevens were to secure treaties with the\nIndians. Having negotiated several treaties in 1854 with the Puget Sound\nIndians, the governor passed over the Cascade Mountains to Walla Walla in\nMay, 1855. There during the latter part of May and first part of June, he\nheld a great council with representatives of seventeen tribes. Lieutenant\nKip, U. S. A., has preserved a vivid account of this great gathering, one\nof the most important ever held in the annals of Indian history. According\nto Lieutenant Kip, there were but about fifty men in the escort of the\ndaring governor, and if he had been a man sensible to fear he might well\nhave been startled when there came an army of twenty-five hundred Nez\nPerces under Halhaltlossot, known as Lawyer by the whites. Two days later\nthree hundred Cayuses, those worst of the Columbia River Indians, surly\nand scowling, led by Five Crows and Young Chief, made their appearance.\nTwo days later a force of two thousand Yakimas, Umatillas, and Walla\nWallas came in sight under Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox. The council was soon\norganised. Governor Stevens and General Palmer, the latter the Indian\nAgent for Oregon, set forth their plan of reservations, all their speeches\nbeing translated and retranslated until they had filtered down among the\ngeneral mass of the Indians. Then there must be a great \"wawa,\" or\ndiscussion by the Indians. It soon became apparent that there were two\nbitterly contesting parties. One was a large faction of Nez Perces led by\nLawyer, who favoured the whites. The other faction of the Nez Perces, with\nall the remaining tribes, were set against any treaty. With remarkable\nskill and patience, Governor Stevens, with the powerful assistance of\nLawyer, had brought the Indians to a point of general agreement to the\ncreation of a system of reservations. But suddenly there was a commotion.\nInto the midst of the council there burst the old chief Looking Glass\n(Apashwahayikt), second only to Lawyer in influence among the Nez Perces.\nHe had made a desperate ride of three hundred miles in seven days,\nfollowing a buffalo hunt and a raid against the Blackfeet, and as he now\nburst into the midst, there dangled from his belt the scalps of several\nslaughtered Blackfeet. As quoted in Hazard Stevens's _Life of Governor\nStevens_, he began his harangue thus: \"My people, what have you done?\nWhile I was gone you sold my country. I have come home and there is not\nleft me a place on which to pitch my lodge. Go home to your lodges. I will\ntalk with you.\" Lieutenant Kip declares that though he could understand\nnothing of the speech of Looking Glass to his own tribe, which followed,\nthe effect was tremendous. All the evidence showed that Looking Glass was\na veritable Demosthenes. The work of Governor Stevens was all undone.\n\nBut later the Governor and Lawyer succeeded in rallying their forces and\ngaining the acquiescence of the Indians to the setting aside of three\ngreat reservations, one on the Umatilla, one on the Yakima, and the third\non the Clearwater and the Snake. These reservations still exist, imperial\ndomains in themselves, though now divided into individual allotments. The\nacquiescence of the Indians in this treaty, as the sequel proved, was\nfeigned by a number of them, but for the time it seemed a great triumph\nfor Governor Stevens. From Walla Walla the Governor departed to the\nCoeur d'Alene, the Pend Oreille, and the Missoula regions to continue\nhis arduous task of negotiating treaties.\n\nThis great Walla Walla Council cannot be dismissed without brief reference\nto an event, not fully known at the time, but which subsequent\ninvestigation made clear, and stamped as one of the most dramatic in the\nentire history of Indian warfare. This event was the conspiracy of the\nCayuses and Yakimas to kill Governor Stevens and his entire band, and then\nexterminate the whites throughout the country. While the acceptance of the\ntreaty was still pending, Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox were framing the\ndetails of this wide-reaching plot, which was indeed but the culmination\nof their great scheme of years. Kamiahkin was the soul of the conspiracy.\nHe was a remarkable Indian. He was of superb stature, and proportions,\nover six feet high, sinewy and active. Governor Stevens said of him: \"He\nis a peculiar man, reminding me of the panther and the grizzly bear. His\ncountenance has an extraordinary play, one moment in frowns, the next in\nsmiles, flashing with light and black as Erebus the same instant. His\npantomime is great, and his gesticulation much and characteristic. He\ntalks mostly in his face and with his hands and arms.\" He was withal a\ntypical Indian in treachery and secretiveness. Peupeumoxmox was similar in\nnature, but was older and less capable.\n\nExactly opposite to these was Halhaltlossot, or Lawyer, the Solon of the\nNez Perces. Lawyer became convinced of the existence of this conspiracy\nand went by night to the camp of Governor Stevens and revealed it. He\nconcluded his revelation by saying: \"I will come with my family and pitch\nmy lodge in the midst of your camp, that those Cayuses may see that you\nand your party are under the protection of the head chief of the Nez\nPerces.\" When it became clear to the conspiring Cayuses and Yakimas that\nLawyer's powerful division of the Nez Perces was sustaining the little\nband of whites, they did not execute their design. Lawyer and his Nez\nPerces saved the day for the whites.\n\nAnd yet the sequel is one of the most lamentable examples of the\nmiscarriage of justice in Indian affairs that we have any record of. The\nfriendly Nez Perces saved the whites. The unfriendly faction of the Nez\nPerces, led by Joseph and Looking Glass, finally yielded and accepted the\ntreaty. But they did this with certain expectations in regard to their\nreservation. This was set forth to the author by William McBean, a\nhalf-breed Indian, son of the McBean who was the commandant of the\nHudson's Bay post at Wallula. McBean the younger was a boy at the time of\nthe council at Walla Walla. He was familiar with all the Indian languages\nspoken at the council and in appearance was so much of an Indian that he\ncould pass unquestioned anywhere. Governor Stevens asked him to spy out\nthe situation and learn what the Nez Perces were going to decide. The\nresult of his investigations was to show that the whole decision hinged on\nthe understanding by Joseph's faction that, if they acquiesced in the\ntreaty and turned their support to the whites, they might retain perpetual\npossession of the Wallowa country in North-eastern Oregon as their special\nallotment. Becoming finally satisfied that this would be granted them,\nthey yielded to the Lawyer faction and thus the entire Nez Perce tribe\nmade common cause with the whites, rendering the execution of the great\nplot of Kamiakin and Peupeumoxmox a foredoomed failure. But now for the\nsequel. Though it was thus clear in the minds of Joseph and his division\nof the Nez Perces that the loved Wallowa (one of the fairest regions that\never the sun shone on and a perfect land for Indians) was to be their\npermanent home, yet the stipulation, if indeed it were intended by\nGovernor Stevens, never became definitely set down in the \"Great Father's\"\nrecords at Washington. The result was that when, twenty years later, the\nmanifold attractions of the Wallowa country began to draw white\nimmigration, the Indians, now under Young Joseph, son of the former chief,\nstood by their supposed rights and the great Nez Perce War of 1877 ensued.\n\nAnd now, to resume the thread of our discourse, we may note that Governor\nStevens proceeded on his laborious mission to the Flatheads in the region\nof the Coeur d'Alene and Pend Oreille lakes in what is now Northern\nIdaho. After protracted and at times excited discussion, a treaty was\naccepted by which an immense tract of a million and a quarter acres was\nset apart for a reservation. From Pend Oreille, Governor Stevens with his\nlittle force, now reduced to twenty-two, crossed the Rockies to Fort\nBenton.\n\nBut what was happening on the Walla Walla? No sooner was the governor\nfairly out of sight across the flower-bespangled plains which extended two\nhundred miles north-east from Walla Walla, than the wily Kamiakin began to\nresume his plots. So successful was he, with the valuable assistance of\nPeupeumoxmox, Young Chief, and Five Crows, that the treaties, just\nratified, were torn to shreds, and the flame of savage warfare burst forth\nacross the entire Columbia Valley.\n\nHazard Stevens, in his invaluable history of his father, gives a vivid\npicture of how the news reached them in their camp thirty-five miles up\nthe Missouri from Fort Benton. Summer had now passed into autumn. A\nfavourable treaty had been made with the Blackfeet. On October 29th, the\nlittle party were gathered around their campfire in the frosty air of fall\nin that high latitude, when they discerned a solitary rider making his way\nslowly toward them. As he drew near they soon saw that it was Pearson, the\nexpress rider. Pearson was one of the best examples of those scouts whose\nlives were spent in conveying messages from forts to parties in the field.\nHe usually travelled alone, and his life was always in his hand. He seemed\nto be made of steel springs, and it had been thought that he could endure\nanything. \"He could ride anything that wore hair.\" He rode seventeen\nhundred and fifty miles in twenty-eight days at one time, one stage of two\nhundred and sixty miles having been made in three days. But as he slowly\ndrew up to the party in the cold evening light, it was seen that even\nPearson was \"done.\" His horse staggered and fell, and he himself could not\nstand or speak for some time. After he had been revived he told his story,\nand a story of disaster and foreboding it was, sure enough.\n\nAll the great tribes of the Columbia plains west of the Nez Perces had\nbroken out, the Cayuses, Yakimas, Palouses, Walla Wallas, Umatillas, and\nKlickitats. They had swept the country clean of whites. The ride of\nPearson from The Dalles to the point where he reached Governor Stevens is\none of the most thrilling in the annals of the River. By riding all day\nand night, he reached a horse ranch on the Umatilla belonging to a noted\nhalf-breed Indian, William McKay, but he found the place deserted. Seeing\na splendid horse in the bunch near by, he lassoed and saddled him. Though\nthe horse was as wild as air, Pearson managed to mount and start on. Just\nthen there swept into view a force of Indians who, instantly divining what\nPearson was trying to do, gave chase. Up and down hill, through vale, and\nacross the rim-rock, they followed, sending frequent bullets after him,\nand yelling like demons, \"Whupsiah si-ah-poo, Whup-si-ah!\" (\"Kill the\nwhite man!\") But the wild horse which the intrepid rider bestrode proved\nhis salvation, for he gradually outran all his pursuers. Travelling\nthrough the Walla Walla at night Pearson reached the camp of friendly Nez\nPerce Red Wolf on the Alpowa the next day, having ridden two hundred miles\nfrom The Dalles without stopping except the brief time changing horses.\nSnow and hunger now impeded his course. Part of the way he had to go on\nsnowshoes without a horse. But with unflinching resolution he passed on,\nand so now here he was with his dismal tidings.\n\nThe despatches warned Governor Stevens that Kamiakin with a thousand\nwarriors was in the Walla Walla Valley and that it would be impossible for\nhim to get through by that route, and that he must therefore return to the\nEast by the Missouri and come back to his Territory by the steamer route\nof Panama. That meant six months' delay. With characteristic boldness,\nGovernor Stevens at once rejected the more cautious course and went right\nback to Spokane by the Coeur d'Alene Pass, deep already with the winter\nsnows, suffering intensely with cold and hunger, but avoiding by that\nroute the Indians sent out to intercept him. With extraordinary address,\nhe succeeded in turning the Spokane Indians to his side. The Nez Perces,\nthanks to Lawyer's fidelity, were still friendly, and with these two\npowerful tribes arrayed against the Yakimas, there was still hope of\nholding the Columbia Valley.\n\nAfter many adventures, Governor Stevens reached Olympia in safety.\nGovernor Curry of Oregon had already called a force of volunteers into the\nfield. The Oregon volunteers were divided into two divisions, one under\nColonel J. W. Nesmith, which went into the Yakima country, and the other\nunder Lieutenant-Colonel J. K. Kelley, which went to Walla Walla. The\nlatter force fought the decisive battle of the campaign on the 7th, 8th,\n9th, and 10th of December, 1855. It was a series of engagements occurring\nin the heart of the Walla Walla Valley, a \"running fight\" culminating at\nwhat is now called Frenchtown, ten miles west of the present city of Walla\nWalla. The most important feature of it all was the death of the great\nWalla Walla chieftain, Peupeumoxmox. But though defeated and losing so\nimportant a chief, the Indians scattered across the rivers and were still\nunsubdued.\n\nIn March, 1856, the sublime section of the Columbia lying between The\nDalles and the Cascades became the scene of a series of atrocities the\nmost distressing in the entire war. The Klickitats swooped down upon the\ndefenceless settlers and massacred them with revolting cruelty. They\nvanished like a whirlwind, but men whom the writer has known have related\nto him how the volunteers, returning to the scenes of desolation, found\nall houses destroyed and the carcasses of cattle thrown into the springs\nand wells. They found the naked bodies of the girls and women with stakes\ndriven through, and those of men horribly mutilated. In savage humour, the\nIndians had killed the hogs and left parts of human bodies in their\nmouths. One interesting fact connected with the campaign at the Cascades\nis that General Phil Sheridan fought his first battle there. The old Block\nHouse on the north side of the River, nearly opposite the present Cascade\nLocks, existed until a few years ago, and there was Sheridan's first\nbattle.\n\nMeanwhile Governor Stevens had organised a force of Washington volunteers.\nAs the year 1856 progressed, it seemed more plain that the discord which\ndeveloped between the regulars under command of General John E. Wool and\nthe volunteers would result in fatal weakness. Nevertheless Governor\nStevens and Governor Curry kept pressing the movements of their backwoods\nsoldiers with unflagging energy. They were at last rewarded with a measure\nof success. For Colonel B. F. Shaw, commanding the Washington volunteers,\nlearning that the hostiles were camped in force in the Grande Ronde\nValley, made a rapid march from Walla Walla across the western spur of the\nBlue Mountains and struck the collected force of Indians a deadly blow,\nscattering them in all directions and ending the war in that quarter.\n\nBut the end had not yet come in Walla Walla. Governor Stevens determined\nto hold another great council at the site of the first. Leaving The Dalles\non August 19th, he pressed on to Shaw's camp, two miles above the\npresent location of Walla Walla. On September 5th, Colonel E. J. Steptoe,\nwith four companies of regulars, arrived at the same place and made camp\non the site of the present fort.\n\n[Illustration: Col. B. F. Shaw, who Won the Battle of Grande Ronde in\n1856. By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.]\n\nAnd now came on the second great Walla Walla council. The tribes were\ngathered as before, and were aligned as before. The division of Nez Perces\nunder Lawyer stood firmly by Stevens and the treaty. The others did not.\nThe most unfortunate feature of the entire matter was that Colonel\nSteptoe, acting under General Wool's instructions, thus far kept secret,\nrefused to grant Stevens adequate support and subjected him to\nhumiliations which galled the fiery Governor to the limit. In fact, had it\nnot been for the vigilance of the faithful Nez Perces of Lawyer's band,\nStevens and his force would surely have met the doom prepared for them at\nthe first council. The debt of gratitude due Lawyer is incalculable.\nSpotted Eagle ought to be recorded, too, as of similar devotion and\nwatchfulness. Governor Stevens afterward declared that a speech by him in\nfavour of the whites was equal in feeling, truth, and courage to any\nspeech that he ever heard from any orator whatever.\n\nBut in spite of oratory, zeal, and argument, nothing could overcome the\ninfluence of Kamiakin, Owhi, Quelchen, Five Crows, and others of the\nYakimas and Cayuses. Nothing was gained. They stood just where they were a\nyear before. The fatal results of divided counsels between regulars and\nvolunteers were apparent.\n\nThe baffled Governor now started on his way down the River, but not\nwithout another battle. For, as he was marching a short distance south of\nwhat is now Walla Walla city, the Indians burst upon his small force with\nthe evident intention of ending all scores then and there. But Colonel\nSteptoe came to the rescue, and with united forces the Indians were\nrepulsed.\n\nThat was the last battle on the Walla Walla. Colonel Steptoe established a\nrude stockade fort on Mill Creek in what is now the heart of the present\nWalla Walla city, and went into winter quarters there in 1856-57. Governor\nStevens returned to Olympia and launched forth a bitter arraignment\nagainst Wool. The latter, however, was in a position of vantage and issued\na proclamation commanding all whites in the upper country to go down the\nRiver and leave the Cascade Mountains as the eastern limit of the white\nsettlement. Thus ended for a time this unsatisfactory and distressing war.\nTo all appearances Kamiakin and his adherents had accomplished all they\nwanted.\n\nBut this was not the end. Gold had been discovered in Eastern Washington.\nVast possibilities of cattle raising were evident on those endless\nbunch-grass hills. Although there was as yet little conception of the\nfuture developments of the Inland Empire in agriculture and gardening, yet\nthe keen-eyed immigrants and volunteers had scanned the pleasant vales and\nabounding streams of the Walla Walla and the Umatilla and the Palouse, and\nhad decided in their own minds that, Wool or no Wool, this land must be\nopened. In 1857 the Government decided on a change of policy and sent\nGeneral N. S. Clarke to take Wool's place. General Clarke opened the\ngates, and the impatient army of land hunters and gold hunters began to\nmove in. Meanwhile, Colonel Wright and Colonel Steptoe, though formerly\nthey had closely followed Wool's policy, now began to experience a change\nof heart. Out of these conditions the third Indian war, in 1858, quickly\nsucceeded the second, being indeed its inevitable sequence.\n\n[Illustration: Fort Sheridan on the Grande Ronde, Built by Philip Sheridan\nin 1855. By Courtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.]\n\nThree campaigns marked this third war. The first was conducted by Colonel\nSteptoe against the Spokanes and Coeur d'Alenes, and ended in his\nhumiliating and disastrous defeat. The second was directed by Major\nGarnett against the Yakimas, resulting in their permanent overthrow. The\nthird was conducted by Colonel Wright against the Spokanes and other\nnorthern tribes who had defeated Steptoe. This was the Waterloo of the\nIndians, and it ushered in the occupation and settlement of the upper\nColumbia country.\n\nThe Steptoe expedition was the most ill-starred event in the whole history\nof the North-west, unless we except that of the destruction of the\n_Tonquin_. Colonel Wright was then in command of the new Fort Walla Walla,\nlocated in 1857 on the present ground. Perceiving his former error in\ngiving the turbulent and treacherous natives undisputed sway, he ordered\nColonel Steptoe to go with two hundred dragoons to the Spokane region and\nsubject the restless tribes centring there. Steptoe's force was well\nequipped in every way except one. The pack train was heavily laden, and an\ninebriated quartermaster conceived the brilliant idea of lessening the\nburden by _leaving out the larger part of the ammunition_. Even aside from\nthis fatal blunder, Colonel Steptoe seems to have had no adequate\nconception of the vigour and resources of the Indians.\n\nAs before, the Nez Perces were the faithful friends of the whites.\nTimothy, a Nez Perce chief living on Snake River at the mouth of the\nAlpowa, put them across the wicked stream, then running high with the May\nfreshet, and went on with them as guide.\n\nOn May 16, 1858, the force reached a point near four lakes, probably the\ngroup of which Silver Lake and Medical Lake are the chief ones, a few\nmiles west of Spokane. Here was gathered a formidable array, Spokanes,\nPend Oreilles, Coeur d'Alenes, Okanogans, and Colvilles, the hosts of\nthe upper country. Steptoe was soldier enough to perceive that it was time\nfor caution, and he halted for a parley. Saltese, a brawny chief of the\nCoeur d'Alenes, declared to him that the Indians were ready to dispute\nhis farther progress, but that if the white men would retire the Indians\nwould not molest them. A friendly Nez Perce, seeing the duplicity of\nSaltese, struck his mouth, exclaiming, \"You speak with a double tongue.\"\n\nThe force turned back and that night all seemed well. But at nine o'clock\nthe next morning, while the soldiers were descending a canyon to Pine\nCreek, near the present site of Rosalia, a large force of Indians burst\nupon them like a cyclone. As the battle began to wax hot, the terrible\nconsequences of the error of lack of ammunition began to become manifest.\nMan after man had to cease firing. Captain O. H. P. Taylor and Lieutenant\nGaston commanded the rear-guard. With extraordinary skill and devotion\nthey held the line intact and foiled the efforts of the savages to burst\nthrough. Meanwhile the whole force was moving as rapidly as consistent\nwith formation on their way southward. Taylor and Gaston sent a messenger\nforward, begging Steptoe to halt the line and give them a chance to load.\nBut the commander felt that the safety of the whole force depended on\npressing on. Soon a fierce rush of Indians followed, and, when the surge\nhad passed, the gallant rear-guard was buried under it. One notable figure\nin the death-grapple was De May, a Frenchman, trained in the Crimea and\nAlgeria, and an expert fencer. For some time he used his gun barrel as a\nsword and swept the Indians down by dozens with his terrific sweeps. But\nat last he fell before numbers, and one of his surviving comrades relates\nthat he heard him shouting his last words, \"O, my God, my God, for a\nsabre!\"\n\nBut the lost rear-guard saved the rest. For they managed to hold back the\nswarm of foes until nightfall, when they reached a somewhat defensible\nposition a few miles from the towering cone of what is now known as\nSteptoe Butte. There they spent part of a dark, rainy, and dismal night,\nanticipating a savage attack. But the Indians, sure of their prey, waited\ntill morning. Surely the first light would have revealed a massacre equal\nto the Custer massacre of later date, had not the unexpected happened. And\nthe unexpected was that old Timothy, the Nez Perce guide, knew a trail\nthrough a rough canyon, the only possible exit without discovery. In the\ndarkness of midnight the shattered command mounted and followed at a\ngallop the faithful Timothy on whose keen eyes and mind their salvation\nrested. The wounded and a few footmen were dropped at intervals along the\ntrail. After an eighty-mile gallop during the day and night following, the\nyellow flood of Snake River suddenly broke before them between its\ndesolate banks. Saved! The unwearied Timothy threw out his own warriors as\na screen against the pursuing foe, and set his women to ferrying the\nsoldiers across the turbulent stream.\n\nThus the larger part of the command reached Fort Walla Walla alive.\n\nOne of the most extraordinary individual experiences connected with the\nSteptoe retreat, was that of Snickster and Williams. Some of the survivors\nquestion the correctness of this, and others vouch for its accuracy. It\nperhaps should not be set down as proven history. Snickster and Williams\nwere riding one horse, and could not keep up with the main body. The\nIndians, therefore, overtook and seized them before they reached the Snake\nRiver. In a rage because of having been balked of their prey, the Indians\ndetermined to have some amusement out of the unfortunate pair, and told\nthem to go into the river with their horse and try to swim across. Into\nthe dangerous stream, two thousand feet wide, almost ice-cold, and with a\npowerful current, they went. As soon as they were out a score of yards,\nthe Indians began their fun by making a target of them. The horse was\nalmost immediately killed. Williams was struck and sank. Snickster's arm\nwas broken by a ball, but diving under the dead horse, and keeping himself\non the farther side till somewhat out of range, and then boldly striking\nacross the current, which foamed with Indian bullets, he reached the south\nside of the river and was drawn out, almost dead, by some of Timothy's\nNez Perce Indians.\n\n[Illustration: Tullux Holiquilla, a Warm Springs Indian Chief, Famous in\nthe Modoc War as a Scout for U. S. Troops. By Courtesy of Major Lee\nMoorehouse.]\n\nWith the defeat of Steptoe, the Indians may well have felt that they were\ninvincible. But their exultation was short-lived. As already noted,\nGarnett crushed the Yakimas at one blow, and Wright a little later\nrepeated Steptoe's march to Spokane, but did not repeat his retreat. For\nin the battle of Four Lakes on September 1st, and that of Spokane Plains\non September 5th, Wright broke for ever the power and spirits of the\nnorthern Indians.\n\nThe treaties were thus established at last by war. The reservations,\nembracing the finest parts of the Umatilla, Yakima, Clearwater, and\nCoeur d'Alene regions, were set apart, and to them after considerable\ndelay and difficulty the tribes were gathered.\n\nWith the end of this third great Indian war and the public announcement by\nGeneral Clarke that the country might now be considered open to\nsettlement, immigration began to pour in, and on ranch and river, in mine\nand forest, the well-known labours of the American state-builders and\nhome-builders became displayed. The ever-new West was repeating itself.\n\nThe Valley of the Columbia now rested from serious strife for a number of\nyears. But in 1877, an echo of the war of 1855 suddenly startled the\ncountry, and provided an event to which lovers of the tragic and romantic\nin history have ever since turned with deep interest. This was the \"Joseph\nWar\" in the Wallowa. Our readers will recall that the so-called Joseph\nband of Nez Perces opposed the Walla Walla Treaty at first, but finally\nacquiesced, with what they understood was the stipulation that they\nshould possess the Wallowa country as their permanent home. The Joseph of\nthat time was succeeded by his son, whose Indian name was Hallakallakeen,\n\"Eagle Wing.\" He was the finest specimen of the native red man ever\nproduced in the Columbia Valley. Of magnificent stature and proportions,\nwith a rare dignity and nobility, which wider opportunities would have\nmade remarkable, and with a career of mingled light and shade, pathos and\ntragedy, Hallakallakeen will go down into history with a record of\npassionate devotion from his followers and unstinted encomiums from most\nof his opponents.\n\nJoseph loved the Wallowa with a passionate affection, and made at first\nevery effort to maintain amity with his white neighbours. But when the\nGovernment violated what he had regarded its sacred pledge and permitted\nentrance upon the lands which he claimed, he refused to abide by the\ndecision and led out his warriors to battle. The Nez Perces, though few in\nnumber, could fight face to face with white men, and could use white men's\nweapons and white men's tactics. At a desperate battle at White Bird Canyon\nthey routed the detachment in command of Colonel Perry. The result was to\nput arms, ammunition, and provisions in abundance into the hands of the\nIndians and hope into their hearts.\n\nGeneral O. O. Howard, then commanding the department of the Columbia, now\nassumed command and began so vigorous a campaign against Joseph that the\nIndian chief plainly saw that with all his activity he could not avoid\nbeing seized in the closing arms of Howard's command. The interesting\ndetails of the marches, countermarches, desperate encounters, sometimes\nfavourable to white man and sometimes to red, are to be found in General\nHoward's own book. At last, with marvellous skill and good fortune, Joseph\neluded capture and adopted the desperate resolution of crossing the Bitter\nRoot Mountains by the Lolo trail, descending the Missouri, and ultimately\nreaching the Canadian line beyond the land of the Sioux. Encumbered as he\nwas with his women, children, and entire movable possessions, obliged to\nforage and hunt on the way, and avoiding pursuers in rear as well as\nforces coming to meet him in front, fighting frequent and some of the time\nsuccessful battles,--the Nez Perce chieftain exhibited qualities of\nleadership and resources of mind and body which offer materials for a\nhistorical romance equal to De Quincey's _Flight of the Kalmuck Tartars_.\n\n[Illustration: Hallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) or Joseph, the Nez Perce Chief.\nBy T. W. Tolman.]\n\nHoward's tireless pursuit in the rear and the active and intelligent\nco-operation of Gibbon and Miles, who ascended the Missouri to meet the\nfleeing Nez Perces, resulted at last in their capture at Bear Paw Mountain\non the Milk River in Montana.\n\nGeneral Howard says that the campaign from the beginning of the Indian\npursuit across the Lolo trail until the embarkation on the Missouri for\nthe homeward journey, including all stoppages and halts, extended from\nJuly 27th to October 10th, during which time his command marched one\nthousand three hundred and twenty-one miles. He says that Joseph,\nencumbered with women, children, and possessions, traversed even greater\ndistances, \"for he had to make many a loop in his skein, many a deviation\ninto a tangled thicket, to avoid or deceive his enemy.\" Howard pays the\nhighest tribute to his Indian foe and declares that some of his\noperations are not often equalled in warfare.\n\nJoseph's subsequent career was a melancholy one. Transported with his band\nto Oklahoma, the wild eagle of the Wallowa so pined away on the flat\nprairie and begged so piteously to be allowed to return to the waters of\nthe Columbia, that his request was granted. But so intense was the feeling\namong the people who had suffered from their dangerous enemy that this\npoor fragment of the Nez Perces was placed on the Colville Reservation in\nNorthern Washington. There the restless heart of the Nez Perce Bonaparte\nwas eaten out by bitter yearnings for his loved Wallowa.\n\nHe had an occasional proud and interesting hour. At the time of General\nGrant's obsequies at New York, Joseph was in Washington to see the \"Great\nFather\" about his reservation. General Miles, who greatly admired the hero\nof the Lolo trail, asked him to ride with himself at the head of the\nfuneral procession. Mounted on a magnificent charger, Joseph rode solemnly\nthrough the streets of the metropolis by the side of the conqueror of Bear\nPaw Mountain, and there were not wanting those who said that the Indian\nwas the finer horseman and the finer-looking man.\n\nBut Joseph died at his camp on the Nespilem without ever seeing Wallowa.\nHis last request was that he be buried there. He remained an Indian to the\nlast, not ordinarily living in a house or wearing civilised costume or\neven speaking English, though perfectly able to do so. His life might have\nbeen happier had he never been known to fame.\n\n[Illustration: Camp of Chief Joseph on the Nespilem, Wash. Photo. by T. W.\nTolman, Spokane.]\n\nThe next year after the Joseph War, or in 1878, occurred the Bannock War,\nthe scene of which was mainly Umatilla County in Oregon and other parts\nadjoining the River. Though at first, as has happened so many times, the\nIndians met with successes, the end was their inevitable defeat.\n\nWith the close of the Bannock War it may be said that Indian warfare\npractically ended. The war-whoop ceased to be heard and the tomahawk was\nbrandished no more along the Columbia.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nWhen the Fire-Canoes Took the Place of the Log-Canoes\n\n    Variety of Craft that have Navigated the Columbia--The _Beaver_,\n    _Carolina_, _Columbia_, and _Lot Whitcomb_--Beginning of Steamboating\n    above the Cascades--Steamboats above The Dalles--Rival Companies on\n    the River--The Oregon Steam Navigation Company--Great Business\n    Developments of the Decade of the Sixties--Specimen Shipments in\n    1862--The Steamboat Ride from Portland to Lewiston--Some of the\n    Steamboat Men of the Period--Story of W. H. Gray and his Sailboat on\n    the Snake River--Descending The Dalles--Captain Coe's Account of the\n    First Steamboat Ride on the Upper Columbia and the Snake--Navigation\n    above Colville and on the Lakes--The Locks and Prospects of Future\n    Navigation--Remarkable Trips on the River--Some Steamboats of the\n    Present.\n\n\nWe have learned that our River has been navigated by boats of almost every\ndescription. At one time it was the hollowed cedar-log canoes of the\naborgines. Again, the bateaux of the trappers were the chief craft to cut\nthe blue lakes and the white rapids. At yet other times it was the\nflat-boats of the immigrants. Sailing ships of every sort--frigates,\ngalleons, caravels, men-of-war, full-rigged ships, barks, brigs,\nschooners, and sloops--crowded early to the silver gate of the River.\n\nIn due process of time the \"Fire-canoes,\" as the natives called steamers,\nlet loose their trails of smoke amid the tops of the \"continuous woods.\"\nThe _Beaver_, a small steamship belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company\nand sent from England, entered the River in 1836, the first steamer to ply\nthese waters. The Company afterwards sent her to Puget Sound, and, if we\nare correctly informed, she is still afloat on the Gulf of Georgia. In\n1850 the first American steamship, the _Carolina_, crossed the Bar. In the\nsame year a little double-ender, called the _Columbia_, began running\nbetween Portland and Astoria.\n\n[Illustration: Tirzah Trask, a Umatilla Indian Girl--Taken as an Ideal of\nSacajawea. Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton.]\n\nThe first river steamer of any size to ply upon the Willamette and\nColumbia was the _Lot Whitcomb_. This steamer was built by Whitcomb and\nJennings. J. C. Ainsworth was the first captain, and Jacob Kamm was the\nfirst engineer. Both these men became leaders in every species of\nsteamboating enterprise. In 1851 Dan Bradford and B. B. Bishop inaugurated\na movement to connect the up-river region with the lower river by getting\na small iron propeller called the _Jason P. Flint_ from the East and\nputting her together at the Cascades, whence she made the run to Portland.\nThe _Flint_ has been named as first to run above the Cascades, but the\nauthor has the authority of Mr. Bishop for stating that the first steamer\nto run above the Cascades was the _Eagle_. That steamer was brought in\nsections by Allen McKinley to the upper Cascades in 1853, there put\ntogether, and set to plying on the part of the river between the Cascades\nand The Dalles. In 1854, the _Mary_ was built and launched above the\nCascades, the next year the _Wasco_ followed, and in 1856 the _Hassalo_\nbegan to toot her jubilant horn at the precipices of the mid-Columbia. In\n1859 R. R. Thompson and Lawrence Coe built the _Colonel Wright_, the\nfirst steamer on the upper section of the River. In the same year the same\nmen built at the upper Cascades a steamer called the _Venture_. This craft\nmet with a curious catastrophe. For on her very first trip she swung too\nfar into the channel and was carried over the upper Cascades, at the point\nwhere the Cascade Locks are now located. She was subsequently raised,\nrebuilt, and rechristened the _Umatilla_.\n\nThis part of the period of steamboat building was cotemporary with the\nIndian wars of 1855 and 1856. The steamers, _Wasco_, _Mary_, and _Eagle_\nwere of much service in rescuing victims of the murderous assault on the\nCascades by the Klickitats.\n\nWhile the enterprising steamboat builders were thus making their way\nup-river in the very teeth of Indian warfare, steamboats were in course of\nconstruction on the Willamette. The _Jennie Clark_ in 1854 and the _Carrie\nLadd_ in 1858 were built for the firm of Abernethy, Clark & Company. These\nboth, the latter especially, were really elegant steamers for the time.\n\nThe close of the Indian wars in 1859 saw a quite well-organised steamer\nservice between Portland and The Dalles, and the great rush into the upper\ncountry was just beginning. The _Senorita_, the _Belle_, and the\n_Multnomah_, under the management of Benjamin Stark, were on the run from\nPortland to the Cascades. A rival steamer, the _Mountain Buck_, owned by\nRuckle and Olmstead, was on the same route. These steamers connected with\nboats on the Cascades-Dalles section by means of portages five miles long\naround the rapids. There was a portage on each side of the River. That on\nthe north side was operated by Bradford & Company, and their steamers\nwere the _Hassalo_ and the _Mary_. Ruckle and Olmstead owned the portage\non the south side of the River, and their steamer was the _Wasco_. Sharp\ncompetition arose between the Bradford and Stark interests on one side and\nRuckle and Olmstead on the other. The Stark Company was known as the\nColumbia River Navigation Company, and the rival was the Oregon\nTransportation Company. J. C. Ainsworth now joined the Stark party with\nthe _Carrie Ladd_. So efficient did this reinforcement prove to be that\nthe Transportation Company proposed to them a combination. This was\neffected in April, 1859, and the new organisation became known as the\nUnion Transportation Company. This was soon found to be too loose a\nconsolidation to accomplish the desired ends, and the parties interested\nset about a new combination to embrace all the steamboat men from Celilo\nto Astoria. The result was the formation of the Oregon Steam Navigation\nCompany, which came into legal existence on December 20, 1860. Its stock\nin steamboats, sailboats, wharf-boats, and miscellaneous property was\nstated at $172,500.\n\nSuch was the genesis of the \"O. S. N. Co.\" In a valuable article by Irene\nLincoln Poppleton in the _Oregon Historical Quarterly_ for September,\n1908, to which we here make acknowledgments, it is said that no assessment\nwas ever levied on the stock of this company, but that from the proceeds\nof the business the management expended in gold nearly three million\ndollars in developing their property, besides paying to the stockholders\nin dividends over two million and a half dollars. Never perhaps was there\nsuch a record of money-making on such a capitalisation.\n\nThe source of the enormous business of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company\nwas the rush into Idaho, Montana, and Eastern Oregon and Washington by the\nminers, cowboys, speculators, and adventurers of the early sixties. The\nup-river country, as described more at length in another chapter, wakened\nsuddenly from the lethargy of centuries, and the wilderness teemed with\nlife. That was the great steamboat age. Money flowed in streams. Fortunes\nwere made and lost in a day.\n\nWhen first organised in 1860, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company had a\nnondescript lot of steamers, mainly small and weak. The two portages, one\nof five miles around the Cascades and the other of fourteen miles from The\nDalles to Celilo Falls, were unequal to their task. The portages at the\nCascades on both sides of the River were made by very inadequate wooden\ntramways. That at The Dalles was made by teams. Such quantities of freight\nwere discharged from the steamers that sometimes the whole portage was\nlined with freight from end to end. The portages were not acquired by the\ncompany with the steamboat property, and as a result the portage owners\nreaped the larger share of the profits. During high water the portage on\nthe Oregon side at the Cascades had a monopoly of the business, and it\ntook one-half the freight income from Portland to The Dalles. This was\nholding the whip-hand with a vengeance, and the vigorous directors of the\nsteamboat company could not endure it. Accordingly, they absorbed the\nrights of the portage owners, built a railroad from Celilo to The Dalles\non the Oregon side, and one around the Cascades on the Washington side.\nThe company was reorganised under the laws of Oregon in October, 1862,\nwith a declared capitalisation of two million dollars.\n\nBusiness on the River in 1863 was something enormous. Hardly ever did a\nsteamer make a trip with less than two hundred passengers. Freight was\noffered in such quantities at Portland that trucks had to stand in line\nfor blocks, waiting to deliver and receive their loads. New boats were\nbuilt of a much better class. Two rival companies, the Independent Line\nand the People's Transportation Line, made a vigorous struggle to secure a\nshare of the business, but they were eventually overpowered. Some\nconception of the amount of business may be gained from the fact that the\nsteamers transported passengers to an amount of fares running from $1000\nto $6000 a trip. On April 29, 1862, the _Tenino_, leaving Celilo for the\nLewiston trip, had a passenger load amounting to $10,945, and a few trips\nlater reported receipts of $18,000, for freight, passengers, meals, and\nberths. The steamships sailing from Portland to San Francisco showed\nequally remarkable records. On June 25, 1861, the _Sierra Nevada_ conveyed\na treasure shipment of $228,000; July 14th, $110,000; August 24th,\n$195,558; December 5th, $750,000. The number of passengers carried on The\nDalles-Lewiston route in 1864 was 36,000 and the tons of freight were\n21,834.\n\nIt was a magnificent steamboat ride in those days from Portland to\nLewiston. The fare was sixty dollars; meals and berths, one dollar each. A\ntraveller would leave Portland at five A.M. on, perhaps, the _Wilson G.\nHunt_, reach the Cascades sixty-five miles distant at eleven A.M., proceed\nby rail five miles to the upper Cascades, there transfer to the _Oneonta_\nor _Idaho_ for The Dalles, passing in that run from the humid, low-lying,\nheavily timbered West-of-the-mountains, to the dry, breezy, hilly\nEast-of-the-mountains. Reaching The Dalles, fifty miles farther east, he\nwould be conveyed by another portage railroad, fourteen miles more, to\nCelilo. There the _Tenino_, _Yakima_, _Nez Perce Chief_, or _Owyhee_ was\nwaiting. With the earliest light of the morning the steamer would head\nright into the impetuous current of the River, bound for Lewiston, two\nhundred and eighty miles farther yet, taking two days, sometimes three,\nthough only one to return. Those steamers were mainly of the\nlight-draught, stern-wheel structure, which still characterises the\nColumbia River boats. They were swift and roomy and well adapted to the\nturbulent waters of the upper River.\n\nThe captains, pilots, and pursers of that period were as fine a set of men\nas ever turned a wheel. Bold, bluff, genial, hearty, and obliging they\nwere, even though given to occasional outbursts of expletives and\npossessing voluminous repertoires of \"cuss-words\" such as would startle\nthe effete East. Any old Oregonian who may chance to cast his eyes upon\nthese pages will recall, as with the pangs of childhood homesickness, the\nforms and features of steamboat men of that day; the polite yet determined\nAinsworth, the brusque and rotund Reed, the bluff and hearty Knaggs, the\nfrolicsome and never disconcerted Ingalls, the dark, powerful, and\nnonchalant Coe, the patriarchal beard of Stump, the loquacious\n\"Commodore\" Wolf, who used to point out to astonished tourists the\n\"diabolical strata\" on the banks of the River, the massive and\ngood-natured Strang, the genial and elegant O'Neil, the suave and witty\nSnow, the tall and handsome Sampson, the rich Scotch brogue of McNulty,\nand dozens of others, whose combined adventures would fill a volume. One\nof the most experienced pilots of the upper River was Captain \"Eph\"\nBaughman, who has been running on the Snake and Columbia rivers for fifty\nyears, and is yet active at the date of this publication. W. H. Gray, who\ncame to Waiilatpu with Whitman as secular agent of the mission, became a\nriver man of much skill. He gave four sons, John, William, Alfred, and\nJames, to the service of the River, all four of them being skilled\ncaptains. A story narrated to the author by Captain William Gray, now of\nPasco, Washington, well illustrates the character of the old Columbia\nRiver navigators. W. H. Gray was the first man to run a sailboat of much\nsize with regular freight up Snake River. That was in 1860 before any\nsteamers were running on that stream. Mr. Gray built his boat, a fifty-ton\nsloop, on Oosyoos Lake on the Okanogan River. In it he descended that\nriver to its entrance into the Columbia. Thence be descended the Columbia,\nrunning down the Entiat, Rock Island, Cabinet, and Priest Rapids, no mean\nundertaking of itself. Reaching the mouth of the Snake, he took on a load\nof freight and started up the swift stream. At Five-mile Rapids he found\nthat his sail was insufficient to carry the sloop up. Men had said that it\nwas impossible. His crew all prophesied disaster. The stubborn captain\nmerely declared, \"There is no such word as fail in my dictionary.\" He\ndirected his son and another of the crew to take the small boat, load her\nwith a long coil of rope, make their way up the stream until they got\nabove the rapid, there to land on an islet of rock, fasten the rope to\nthat rock, then pay it out till it was swept down the rapid. They were\nthen to descend the rapid in the small boat. \"Very likely you may be\nupset,\" added the skipper encouragingly, \"but if you are, you know how to\nswim.\" They were upset, sure enough, but they did know how to swim. They\nrighted their boat, picked up the end of the floating rope, and reached\nthe sloop with it. The rope was attached to the capstan, and the sloop was\nwound up by it above the swiftest part of the rapid to a point where the\nsail was sufficient to carry, and on they went rejoicing. Any account of\nsteamboating on the Columbia would be incomplete without reference to\nCaptain James Troup, who was born on the Columbia, and almost from early\nboyhood ran steamers upon it and its tributaries. He made a specialty of\nrunning steamers down the Dalles and the Cascades, an undertaking\nsometimes rendered necessary by the fact that more boats were built in\nproportion to demand on the upper than the lower River. These were taken\ndown the Dalles, and sometimes down the Cascades. Once down, they could\nnot return. The first steamer to run down the Tumwater Falls was the\n_Okanogan_, on May 22, 1866, piloted by Captain T. J. Stump.\n\nThe author enjoyed the great privilege of descending the Dalles in the _D.\nS. Baker_ in the year 1888, Captain Troup being in command. At that\nstrange point in the River, the whole vast volume is compressed into a\nchannel but one hundred and sixty feet wide at low water and much deeper\nthan wide. Like a huge mill-race this channel continues nearly straight\nfor two miles, when it is hurled with frightful force against a massive\nbluff. Deflected from the bluff, it turns at a sharp angle to be split in\nsunder by a low reef of rock. When the _Baker_ was drawn into the suck of\nthe current at the head of the \"chute\" she swept down the channel, which\nwas almost black, with streaks of foam, to the bluff, two miles in four\nminutes. There feeling the tremendous refluent wave, she went careening\nover and over toward the sunken reef. The skilled captain had her\nperfectly in hand, and precisely at the right moment, rang the signal\nbell, \"Ahead, full speed,\" and ahead she went, just barely scratching her\nside on the rock. Thus close was it necessary to calculate distance. If\nthe steamer had struck the tooth-like point of the reef broadside on, she\nwould have been broken in two and carried in fragments on either side.\nHaving passed this danger point, she glided into the beautiful calm bay\nbelow and the feat was accomplished. Captain J. C. Ainsworth and Captain\nJames Troup were the two captains above all others to whom the company\nentrusted the critical task of running steamers over the rapids.\n\nIn the _Overland Monthly_ of June, 1886, there is a valuable account by\nCaptain Lawrence Coe of the maiden journey of the _Colonel Wright_ from\nCelilo up what they then termed the upper Columbia.\n\nThis first journey on that section of the River was made in April, 1859.\nThe pilot was Captain Lew White. The highest point reached was Wallula,\nthe site of the old Hudson's Bay fort. The current was a powerful one to\nwithstand, no soundings had ever been made, and no boats except canoes,\nbateaux, flatboats, and a few small sailboats, had ever made the trip. No\none had any conception of the location of a channel adapted to a\nsteamboat. No difficulty was experienced, however, except at the Umatilla\nRapids. This is a most singular obstruction. Three separate reefs, at\nintervals of half a mile, extend right across the River. There are narrow\nbreaks in these reefs, but not in line with each other. Through them the\nwater pours with tremendous velocity, and on account of their irregular\nlocations a steamer must zigzag across the River at imminent risk of being\nborne broadside on to the reef. The passage of the Umatilla Rapids is not\ndifficult at high water, for then the steamer glides over the rocks in a\nstraight course.\n\nIn the August _Overland_ of the same year, Captain Coe narrates the first\nsteamboat trip up Snake River. This was in June, 1860, just at the time of\nthe beginning of the gold excitement. The _Colonel Wright_ was loaded with\npicks, rockers, and other mining implements, as well as provisions and\npassengers. Most of the freight and passengers were put off at Wallula, to\ngo thence overland. Part continued on to test the experiment of making way\nagainst the wicked-looking current of Snake River. After three days and a\nhalf from the starting point a few miles above Celilo, the _Colonel\nWright_ halted at a place which was called Slaterville, thirty-seven miles\nup the Clearwater from its junction with the Snake. There the remainder\nof the cargo was discharged, to be hauled in waggons to the Oro Fino\nmines. The steamer _Okanogan_ followed the _Colonel Wright_ within a few\nweeks, and navigation on the Snake may be said to have fairly begun.\nDuring that same time the city of Lewiston, named in honour of Meriwether\nLewis, the explorer, was founded at the junction of the Snake and\nClearwater rivers.\n\nWhile parts of the Columbia and it chief tributary, the Snake, were thus\nopened to navigation by 1860, no \"fire-canoe\" had yet appeared on that\nmagnificent stretch of navigable water from Colville into the Arrow Lakes.\nFrom contemporary files of the _Daily Mountaineer_ of The Dalles, we learn\nthat Captain Lew White launched the _Forty-nine_ in November, 1865, at\nColville. In December the _Forty-nine_ ascended the Columbia one hundred\nand sixty miles, nearly to the head of lower Arrow Lake, whence, meeting\nfloating ice, she returned. From the _Mountaineer_ we learn also that in\nthe early months of 1866 a steamer was constructed at the mouth of Boise\nRiver for navigation of the far upper Snake. At the same time also the\nsteamer _Mary Moody_ was constructed by Z. F. Moody, on Pend Oreille Lake,\nthe first steamer on any of the lakes except the Arrow Lakes of the\nColumbia.\n\nWith the close of the decade of the sixties, it may be said that the\nColumbia and its tributaries had fairly entered upon the steamboat era.\nWhile many steamers were added within the succeeding years, the steamboat\nbusiness was never so active on the upper River as during that early age.\nAfter the building of the railroads along the River and into interior\nvalleys and eastward, it became apparent that the heavy handicap of\nrehandling freight at two portages would forbid the steamers from\ncompeting with the railroads. In 1879 the Oregon Steam Navigation Company\nsold out to the Villard interests for $5,000,000, and the Oregon Railroad\nand Navigation Company was the result.\n\nSince that time there have been few steamboats on that part of the River\nabove The Dalles. The section between The Dalles and the Cascades was\njoined to the tide-water section by the opening of the Government locks at\nthe Cascades in 1896, and since that time many of the finest steamers on\nthe River do an immense tourist business between The Dalles and Portland.\nIt is only a question of a few years till the locks at Celilo will be\ncompleted, and then the whole vast Inland Empire, with its enormous\nproduction, will be thrown open to the sea. Then there will come on a new\nage of steamboat navigation, and with it the electric railroad. The\nsteamer and the trolley car will set the whole Columbia Basin next door to\ntide-water. When improvements now in view by Government are completed, our\nRiver will be one of the most superb steamer courses in the world. That\nmay truthfully be said already of the two hundred and twenty miles from\nThe Dalles to the Ocean, as well as of the three hundred miles from Kettle\nFalls, Washington, to Death Rapids, B. C.\n\nThe Government engineers in Senate Document, 344, February, 1890, name the\namount of navigable water on the Columbia and its tributaries at 1664\nmiles. This may, perhaps, be an underestimation, since President Roosevelt\nhas recently referred to it as twenty-five hundred miles, in which he\nprobably included the lakes. Generally speaking, the rivers of the Pacific\nslope descend from high altitudes in comparatively short distances, and\nare necessarily swift. Hence we can expect no such vast extent of\nnavigable water on them as the Mississippi and its affluents offer. Aside\nfrom the Columbia itself, the main streams, east of the Cascade Mountains\noffering steamboat transportation, are the Snake, Okanogan, and Kootenai,\ntogether with Lakes Pend Oreille, Chelan, Coeur d'Alene, Flathead,\nOkanogan, Kootenai, Arrow, Christina, and Slocan. On the west side are the\nWillamette, Cowlitz, and Lewis rivers.\n\nIt would fill a volume to narrate even a tithe of the thrilling tales of\ndaring and tragedy which gather around the subject of boating in all its\nforms on the Columbia.\n\nOne of the most remarkable steamboat journeys was that elsewhere described\nin this work, under command of Captain F. P. Armstrong, of the _North\nStar_, from Jennings, Montana, on the Kootenai to Canal Flats and thence\nthrough the canal to Lake Columbia. With that should be coupled as equally\ndaring and more difficult, the trip down Snake River, from the Seven\nDevils to Lewiston, in a steamer piloted by Captain W. P. Gray.\n\nUndoubtedly the most remarkable journey in any other sort of craft than a\nsteamboat was that undertaken by a party of eighteen miners in 1865. They\nbuilt a large sailing boat at Colville and in her ran up the entire course\nof the River, never having their boat entirely out of water, though our\ninformant says that they must have had her on skids part of the way. They\nreached the very head of the Columbia, over seven hundred miles above\ntheir starting point, hauled their boat across Canal Flats, launched her\nagain on the Kootenai, and so descended that furious stream to Fort Steele\non Wild Horse Creek. The full history of that journey would be deserving\nof a place in any record of daring exploration.\n\nIn concluding this chapter, it may be said that there are now upon the\nlower Columbia some of the swiftest and most beautiful \"fire-canoes\" in\nthe world. These ply on the two great scenic routes, one from Portland to\nAstoria, and the other from Portland to The Dalles. The most noted of\nthese swift steamers at present writing are the _Hassalo_ (No. 2), the _T.\nJ. Potter_, the _Charles D. Spencer_, and the _Bailey Gatzert_.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nEra of the Miner, the Cowboy, the Farmer, the Boomer, and the Railroad\nBuilder\n\n    Early Gold-hunters--Gold in California--Effects of that Discovery on\n    the Columbia River Country--Growth of Towns on the Columbia--Discovery\n    of Gold in the Colville Country--Gold on the Clearwater--Stampede to\n    the Idaho Mines--Cowboys Rush in with the Miners--Sudden Development\n    of Industries at Walla Walla, Lewiston, and Other Towns--Profits and\n    Fare in the Mines in 1861--The Hard Winter--Development of the Farming\n    Industry--The Boomers--The Hard Times--The Railroad Age--Beginning of\n    Railroading in the Willamette Valley--Ben Holladay--Transcontinental\n    Railways--Henry Villard--His Great Building and his Downfall--The\n    Present Railroads on the River--Dr. D. S. Baker and the Pioneer\n    Railroad on the Upper River.\n\n\nThe age of gold in the Columbia pressed hard upon that of the trappers.\nBut it dawned first far south.\n\nThe Spaniards had sought the precious metals with boundless energy. Richly\nhad the treasures of the Montezumas and the Incas rewarded their reckless\ncupidity. But as they moved northward they met with nothing but\ndisappointment. The El Dorados of their ardent fancy had vanished as they\nturned toward Oregon and California.\n\nIn 1848 the guns of Stockton and Fremont thundered the salvos of American\noccupation over the Sierras. Just as the sovereignty of Uncle Sam was\nacknowledged, the long-sought discovery of gold startled the world.\n\nIn 1838 a gay, mercurial Switzer, Captain Sutter, had made his way with a\nband of trappers across the plains to Oregon, and thence had gone to\nCalifornia. A dashing adventurer, without money, but with boundless\n_sang-froid_ and _bonhommie_, Sutter had marvellously interested all whom\nhe met and in some inexplicable manner had got money and credit sufficient\nto build a fort and start an immense ranch on the Sacramento, almost on\nthe site of the present capital of the Golden State. \"Sutter's fort\"\nbecame one of the most notable places in California. In 1844 James W.\nMarshall went to the Columbia, but after only a year's stay made his way\nto California. In 1847 he entered into partnership with Sutter in a\nsawmill enterprise at Coloma on the south fork of the American River.\nThere, while at work in the mill-race on the 19th of January, 1848,\nMarshall discovered shining particles. Gold!\n\nThe discovery was made, and soon the secret was out. And then--! There\nnever was anything quite comparable to what followed. The first and\ngreatest of the great stampedes for gold took place.\n\nWhen the tidings reached Oregon it was as though a prairie fire were\nrunning over the country. Men went fairly mad. Throngs, hardly stopping to\ntake their ploughs from the furrow, mounted their horses, galloped off up\nthe Willamette, through the lonely valleys of the Umpqua and the Rogue\nRiver, over the Siskiyou, and down the Sacramento, where a fortune could\nbe had for the digging.\n\nAll the stress and strain of American life and history reached the utmost\nintensity in the fever strife for gold on the Sacramento. The Willamette\nand Columbia were almost equally stirred. During the first two years of\nthe gold excitement homes on the Columbia were well-nigh deserted. Then\nthe Oregonians began to drift back again. Some came with gold-bricks in\ntheir pockets and sacks of gold-dust in their packs. Some came broken in\nhealth and spirits, sick with disappointment. Some did not come at all,\nand their bones found unmarked graves in the pestilential ditches of the\nSacramento.\n\nBut the shrewder Oregonians perceived that they had better than a gold\nmine in the trade with California. Grain, fruit, eggs, lumber,--these were\nin such demand that frequently twenty ships at a time were moored by the\ndense forests of the lower Willamette waiting for cargoes. Gold-dust was\nthe universal medium, and it seemed to be cheaper than anything else. Four\nbushels of Oregon apples brought five hundred dollars in gold-dust in San\nFrancisco. Tons of eggs were sold for a dollar apiece in the gold mines.\n\nPortland, the lonely little village on the Willamette, with just enough of\na foothold by the edge of the forest to keep from rolling into the River,\nsprang at a bound into the rank of a city. The huge firs were dug out, and\nwharves went in. The face of nature, even, as well as that of industry and\npolitics, was transformed by that gold-dust in Marshall's mill-race on the\nSacramento.\n\nBut, most of all, the disposition of the people was changed. The serene,\nidyllic, pastoral age passed, and the fierce lust for wealth, the\nboundless imagination, the fever in the veins, came on. Why should there\nnot be gold as well by the Columbia as by the Sacramento! The men who had\ncome down the Columbia in search for homes and grass-land for cattle, now\nbegan to retrace their steps and turn again up the River in search of the\nprecious metals. Nor was it long before discovery of gold in the region\ntributary to Colville was made known. The first discovery was at the mouth\nof the Pend Oreille River. A regular stampede ensued. Other discoveries on\na greater scale were soon to follow. During the early days of the gold\nexcitement of California, a Nez Perce Indian had wandered on to the\nSacramento. He made acquaintance with a group of miners, who became\nimpressed with his general force and dignity. Among these miners was E. D.\nPearce, and to him the Indian gave a vivid account of his home in the\nwilds of what is now Idaho. He told also a tale of how he with two\ncompanions were once in the high mountains, when they beheld in the night\na light of dazzling brilliance, with the appearance of a refulgent star.\nThe Indians looked at this with awe as the eye of the Great Spirit. But in\nthe morning they summoned courage sufficient to investigate, and found a\nglittering ball that looked like glass. It was so embedded in the rock\nthat they could not dislodge it. It was clear to them that this was some\ngreat \"tomanowas.\" On hearing this fantastic story, the mind of Pearce was\nkindled with the idea that perhaps the Indians had found an immense\ndiamond. He determined to seek it. After several years he made his way up\nthe Columbia and reached Walla Walla. From that point he ranged the\nmountains of Idaho, but for a long time met no success. With a company of\nseven men, he entered upon an elaborate search, which finally so much\naroused the suspicion of the Indians that they ordered him from the\ncountry. Nothing daunted, however, he induced a Nez Perce woman to guide\nthe party from the Palouse to the Lolo trail, from which they reached an\nunfrequented valley on the north fork of the Clearwater. There one of the\nparty, W. F. Bassett, tried washing a pan of dirt, with the result that he\ngot a \"colour.\" This was the first discovery of gold in Idaho, and the\nspot was where Oro Fino afterwards stood.\n\nFall was coming on, and after digging out a small amount of dust, the\nparty deemed it wise to return to the settlements for a more thorough\noutfitting. Accordingly, they went to Walla Walla and located with J. C.\nSmith, to whom they imparted their secret. So impressed was Mr. Smith with\nthe tidings that he organised a party of fifteen, with whom he returned\njust at the opening of the winter of that same year, 1860. Soon shut in by\ndeep snows in inaccessible mountains, the little company built five rude\nhuts, and in the intervals of the storms they dug for gold along the\nstreams, meeting with such success that in March Mr. Smith made his way to\nWalla Walla with $800 in gold-dust. The dust was sent to Portland. Now\nensued another gold excitement and stampede almost equal to that of '49 in\nCalifornia.\n\nAs the miners rushed into Idaho, every other species of industry rushed up\nthe River with them. The cowboy came side by side with the miner. In fact,\nalready following close on the heels of the Indian war, had come an\ninrush of cattle, horses, and sheep. During the last years of the decade\nof the fifties, stockmen had driven from the Willamette Valley thousands\nof head of stock to the rich pasture lands of the Walla Walla, Umatilla,\nand Yakima. When the gold discoveries of 1860 and 1861 became known, the\nactivities of the cowboys were multiplied, added bands of stock were\ndriven in, all the wild and extravagant features of a combined cowboy and\nmining age, vendors of \"chain-lightning and forty-rod,\" gamblers,\nprostitutes, murderers,--and with them missionaries and teachers,--became\nreproduced again on the shores of the Columbia, Snake, Clearwater, Salmon,\nWalla Walla, and other rivers of the Inland Empire. It was another of\nthose wild eras in which the worst and the best that are in human nature\njostled each other at every turn.\n\nTransportation problems followed close upon the cowboy and the miner. The\nOregon Steam Navigation Company, organised in 1860, began within a year to\nrun steamboats from Portland to Lewiston, with portage railroads around\nthe Cascades and the Dalles. Stage lines were started from Umatilla, Walla\nWalla, and Lewiston, within a year or two after the gold discoveries of\nOro Fino. Prairie-schooners, huge waggons, sometimes three in tandem\nfashion, drawn by a team of twenty mules, with jingling bells, driven with\na \"single line,\" formed the approved system of hauling freight over the\nmountain roads. In addition to the stages and prairie-schooners, however,\nthousands of mules and horses were driven with pack-saddles over the\ntrails and roads. Then was the time when \"throwing the diamond hitch\"\nbecame a fine art. Then was the time, too, when it behooved stage-drivers\nand packers to be handy with a \"gun,\" for \"road-agents\" were plentiful and\nvigilant. Many a man with a pack-saddle loaded with gold-dust, or\nsometimes with whiskey or even \"canned goods,\" \"passed in his checks\"\nunder some over-shadowing tree or behind some sheltering rock.\n\nBoth the distresses and the successes of that epoch are well illustrated\nby extracts from some of the newspapers of the time. From issues of the\n_Washington Statesman_ of Walla Walla, we learn that flour was at one time\na dollar a pound; beef, thirty to fifty cents a pound; bacon, sixty;\nbeans, thirty; rice, fifty; tea a dollar and a half; tobacco, a dollar and\na half; sugar, fifty cents; candles, a dollar. Some of these staples could\nnot be had at all. Physicians, when they got into the mines, would charge\ntwenty dollars a visit. Board was from five to ten dollars a day,\nfrequently more.\n\nBut as an offset to the expense and frequent positive suffering, we gather\nthe following item from an issue of the _Statesman_ in December, 1861:\n\n    S. F. Ledyard arrived last evening from the Salmon River mines, and\n    from him it is learned that some six hundred miners would winter\n    there; that some two hundred had gone to the south side of the river,\n    where two streams head that empty into the Salmon, some thirty miles\n    south-east of the present mining camp. Coarse gold is found, and as\n    high as one hundred dollars per day to the man has been taken out. The\n    big mining claim of the old locality belongs to Mr. Weiser of Oregon,\n    from which two thousand six hundred and eighty dollars were taken out\n    on the 20th, with two rockers. On the 21st, three thousand three\n    hundred and sixty dollars were taken out with the same machines.\n\nThe _Statesman_ for December 13, 1861, contains the following:\n\n    During the week past not less than two hundred and twenty-five pack\n    animals, heavily laden with provisions, have left this city for the\n    mines. A report in relation to a rich strike by Mr. Bridges of Oregon\n    City seems to come well authenticated. The first day he worked on his\n    claim (near Baboon Gulch) he took out fifty-seven ounces; the second\n    day he took out one hundred and fifty-seven ounces; the third day, two\n    hundred and fourteen ounces; and the fourth day, two hundred ounces in\n    two hours.\n\nAs an ounce of gold was worth sixteen dollars, it will be seen that Mr.\nBridges of Oregon City had truly \"struck it rich.\"\n\nWithin a year, a million and a half dollars in gold-dust had been taken\nfrom those mines. Anticipated demands led cattlemen to rush still larger\nnumbers of stock into the upper Columbia Basin, and traders brought in yet\nlarger supplies of goods into Walla Walla and Lewiston, as well as the\nmining camps themselves. A considerable part of these goods, we regret to\nnarrate, consisted of material for spirituous refreshments. That the said\nrefreshments were of a stalwart character may be inferred from a\nreminiscence of a traveller to Walla Walla, who relates that upon going\ninto one of the numerous saloons, he found the floor covered with sawdust,\nand upon asking for whiskey, he received with it a whisk-broom. Feeling\npuzzled as to the intent of the latter, and not wishing to reveal his\nignorance, he waited till another man came in. Waiting for developments,\nhe found that the object of the broom was to sweep off a place on the\nfloor to have a fit on, for the whiskey was sure to produce one. After\nhaving got through his fit, the happy (?) purchaser would return the broom\nand go on his way.\n\n[Illustration: An Oregon Pioneer in his Cabin. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse.]\n\nJust as miners, cowboys, and traders were plunging eagerly into every form\nof enterprise, the famous \"hard winter\" of '61 descended upon the country.\nIt was almost a Minnesota winter. There was snow on the ground from\nDecember 1st to March 22d, something never known before or since in the\nColumbia Basin. Cattle could find no food and perished by the thousands.\nMiners were found frozen into the stiff crust. In the rude cabins, with\nwide cracks into which the snow drifted, the few women and children in the\nInland Empire fought a distressing and frequently losing fight. Even in\nthe Willamette Valley where houses were more comfortable, supplies more\nplentiful, and the weather less severe, the conditions were hard enough.\nAt Portland the price of hay was eighty dollars a ton. In Eastern Oregon\nit could not be obtained for any price, and the maintenance of life by\ncattle depended entirely on their endurance.\n\nBut with the coming on of tardy spring, the rush up the River was resumed,\nand the game went on. Seven millions in gold was reported in 1862, besides\nalmost as much, as was estimated, taken out in ways of which no record was\nreported.\n\nAt Florence in February, 1862, flour was a dollar a pound; butter, three\ndollars; sugar, a dollar and a quarter; coffee, two dollars; boots, thirty\ndollars a pair.\n\nThe enormous profits, as well as enormous expense, of developing those\nmines hastened the coming of the farmer. Among the throng that passed\nmadly into the mountains for gold, and among the throng that drove the\nwide-horned cattle over the bunch-grass hills, there were a few keen-eyed\nobservers who asked themselves if wheat and corn and potatoes and barley\nand fruit-trees might not grow on those broad prairies, and especially\nalong the numerous watercourses descending from the Blue Mountains.\n\nA farm here and there at some favourable point beside some favouring\nstream, followed in two or three years by a flour-mill, then a few apples\nwhose bright red cheeks and fragrant smell showed that the upper Columbia\nlands could match those of the Willamette, then an experimental\nwheat-field or barley-field on the high bunch-grass prairies,--and, almost\nbefore people realised it, the farmer was standing up beside the miner and\nthe stockman, as tall and broad and important as either. The plough and\nthe hoe and the mowing-machine took their places beside the pick and\ngold-pan and quirt and schapps and spurs as symbols of Columbia River\nnobility.\n\nThe \"boomer\" was the logical result of the development of mine and range\nand farm and garden and orchard. If people were going to eat and travel\nand raise wheat and cattle, they must inevitably buy and sell. And if they\nwere going to buy and sell, they must needs \"boom.\" The decade of the\neighties was the great age of the boom in real estate along the Columbia\nand its tributaries. Then, as also upon Puget Sound, cities were founded\nwith most extravagant size and expectations--on paper. Farm lands changed\nhands rapidly. If a man could raise nothing else on his land, he could at\nleast raise the price. That was the time when the boomer boomed, the\npromoter promoted, and the sucker sucked. It was a great age, but alas, it\nwas followed by an awakening, similar to that which follows a night of\ncarousal, when the next day brings a dark-brown taste in the mouth and a\nvery heavy head. The decade of the nineties was dolorous along the River\nand in the mines and forests and farms and town-lots and additions and\nsuburbs adjoining.\n\n[Illustration: Old Portage Railroad at Cascades in 1860.]\n\n[Illustration: A Log-boom Down the River for San Francisco. Photo. by\nWoodfield.]\n\nInterlocked with the days of miner, cowboy, rancher, and boomer, was\nanother age of equal importance and one that was both result and cause of\nthe others. This was the age of the railroad builder.\n\nTransportation by the River was a great feature of traffic in the fifties\nand sixties. But, during the second of those decades, the people of\nPortland began to realise that the time had arrived for rails as well as\nsails. The first great transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific and\nCentral Pacific, was in active process of building between California and\nOmaha. A fever of railroad building spread to the Columbia River people.\nRailroads were projected from Portland on both sides of the Willamette, up\nthe valley, with the view of ultimate connection with California. Surveys\nwere made by S. G. Elliott from Marysville, California, to Portland in\n1863. It was October, 1870, when the first train reached Salem, the\ncapital of the State. The road was known as the Oregon Central Railroad,\nand its manager and ultimately its chief owner was Ben Holladay, the most\nfamous railroad man of that period in Oregon. In 1871 and 1872, railroad\nbuilding was extended on the west side of the Willamette. The lines on\nboth sides were reorganised under Mr. Holladay's control as the Oregon\nand California Railroad.\n\nMeanwhile the air was full of discussion of a transcontinental line to the\nPacific Northwest. The conception of a Northern Pacific railroad was\nnothing new. Away back in 1853, Governor I. I. Stevens and Captain George\nB. McClellan had made a reconnaissance across the Rocky and Cascade\nMountains and over the great plains of the Columbia, for the purpose of\nascertaining a route for a northern line. They pronounced the route\nfeasible, but the time had not yet come for such an undertaking. In a\nletter to McClellan of April 5, 1853, Governor Stevens states the route to\nbe from St. Paul to Puget Sound by the great bend of the Missouri River.\nIt is interesting to note that this is nearly the course afterwards\nfollowed.\n\nWork on the Northern Pacific was begun in the vicinity of Kalama on the\nColumbia in 1870. The financial panic of 1873 resulted in the failure of\nJay Cooke & Company, the backers of the enterprise, and for several years\nrailroad work was at a standstill.\n\nIn 1879 there came to Oregon the greatest railroad builder of that era,\nHenry Villard. He was a true financial genius, daring, far-seeing,\npersistent, and self-reliant. With the quick grasp of a statesman, Mr.\nVillard perceived that the Columbia River was the key to a boundless\nopportunity. He saw that a central line up the Columbia with branches\nnorth, east, and south-east, might be thrust like a wedge between the\nNorthern Pacific and the Union Pacific and control both. In pursuance of\nthis conception he made three rapid moves. The first was the\nincorporation of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The second was\nthe formation of the \"blind pool\" and the Oregon and Transcontinental\nCompany. The third was the acquisition of a controlling interest in the\nNorthern Pacific Railroad. The three years up to and including 1883 were\nyears of almost feverish activity along the River. The line of the Oregon\nRailroad and Navigation Company between Wallula and Portland was pushed on\nwith tireless energy. Rock bluffs were split off by enormous charges of\ndynamite, or were tunnelled through. The road was indeed built so hastily\nand the curves were in some cases so extreme that much work had to be done\nover at later times.\n\n[Illustration: Lumber Mill and Steamboat Landing at Golden, B. C. Photo.\nby C. F. Yates.]\n\nA part of Villard's plan in pushing the work so hastily was to divert the\nNorthern Pacific system to the River, and make Portland rather than Puget\nSound the western terminus. The undertaking seemed to be crowned with\nsuccess. The connection was made. A gorgeous celebration, the greatest\never held in the Columbia River country, commemorated, in October, 1883,\nthe completion of the transcontinental railroad to tide-water on the\nColumbia River. But in the very hour of victory, the sceptre fell from\nVillard's hands. His downfall was as sudden and dramatic as his rise. By\nclever jobbing of the market, the Wright interests regained possession of\nthe majority of the Northern Pacific stock, the transcontinental pool\nbroke, and at the very time that Mr. Villard was being worshipped at\nPortland as the financial god of the North-west, he learned that his\ngigantic enterprise had fallen into the hands of the enemy. But in spite\nof defeat the work of Villard was assured, and his name and fame as the\nchampion railroad builder of the Columbia River was established.\n\nAfter the Wright interests had regained possession of the Northern\nPacific, that great system was pushed to Puget Sound. The Oregon Short\nLine was carried to a connection with the Union Pacific system. Thus two\nindependent transcontinental lines reached the River. Yet later the\nSouthern Pacific system acquired control of the Oregon and California\nRailroad, and, by joining the sections, connected the Columbia River with\nthe Golden Gate. Through connecting lines the Canadian Pacific Railroad\ngained access to the Columbia River. There are, therefore, four distinct\ntranscontinental railroad systems into the valley of our River. Two more\nare rapidly approaching completion. As a logical result, too, many local\nand connecting lines have been built. The Astoria and Columbia River\nRailroad, on the Oregon side of the River, joins Portland to Astoria and\nSeaside and the other resorts of the ocean beach. The Oregon Railway and\nNavigation Company has continuous connection on the south side of the\nColumbia and Snake rivers to Riparia on the latter stream, and thence by a\nroad on the north side, owned jointly with the Northern Pacific, to\nLewiston, Idaho. The most remarkable of all these connecting and joint\nroads is the Portland, Seattle, and Spokane Railroad, commonly called the\n\"North Bank Road.\" This is supposed to be the joint property of the\nNorthern Pacific and Great Northern railroads. It is one of the many\nmonuments in the West to the financial genius and tireless energy of James\nJ. Hill. It was completed in 1908, between Pasco and Portland, and at\nthe first of the year following, from Pasco to Spokane. It is said to be\nthe most expensively and scientifically built road in the United States,\nhaving curves and grades reduced to a minimum, being, in fact, a\ncontinuous descent from near Spokane to tide-water. Its builders evidently\nexpect stupendous traffic, and every feature of the line is adjusted to\nsuch expectation.\n\n[Illustration: A Typical Lumber Camp. Photo. by Trueman.]\n\nAny account of the great railroads joining the Inland Empire to the River\nand thence to the seaboard would be incomplete without reference to the\npioneer of them all, the \"Strap-iron\" narrow-gauge from Walla Walla to\nWallula. This line was forced by the exigencies of the times, but it\ncommemorates the rare commercial foresight and ability of a man, who, in\nnative business genius, ranks with the foremost in the history of the\nColumbia Valley. This man was Dr. D. S. Baker, a native of Illinois, an\nimmigrant to the Columbia in 1848, and a settler in Walla Walla in 1860.\nPerceiving the vast latent resources of the Inland Empire, he invested in\nland, founded a bank, became a partner in a store, and during much of the\ntime was also actively engaged in his profession of medicine.\n\nIn 1863, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company was running boats from\nPortland to Lewiston, over four hundred miles, having short railroad\nportages at the Cascades and The Dalles. That was the most active era of\nthe mines in Idaho. Rates from Portland to up-river points were as\nfollows: freight from Portland to Wallula, $50.00 per ton; to Lewiston,\n$90.00; fare from Portland to Wallula, $18.00; to Lewiston, $28.00. (The\nrates had been much higher a year or two earlier.) From Wallula to Walla\nWalla, freight was hauled by prairie-schooners at from $10.00 to $12.00 a\nton, thirty miles. Needless to say, the company piled up a fortune.\n\nDr. Baker saw the possibilities of the region and, almost unaided, with\nevery difficulty and discouragement, constructed a narrow gauge, with\nwooden rails, on which strap-iron was fastened. An astonishing amount of\nbusiness was soon developed, steel rails were substituted, and the\nbusiness made a fortune for its builder. It was absorbed by the Oregon\nSteam Navigation Company. But Dr. Baker's strap-iron road may be\nconsidered the true progenitor of the railroads of the upper Columbia.\n\nDuring these first years of the twentieth century, the shores of the River\nhave echoed with the sound of whistles on many a new road, but the\ndistinguishing mark has been the construction of electric roads. The lower\nWillamette Valley, centring at Portland, has become fairly swarming with\nelectric roads. Spokane has become almost an equal centre of electric\nlines, while Walla Walla is following close behind her larger sisters in\nthe procession. When lines already constructed from Spokane southward are\njoined to a system projected from Walla Walla northward and westward,\nthere will be a complete system of independent electric lines from all\nparts of Eastern Washington and North-eastern Oregon to steamboat\nconnections on the River, and thence to tide-water. The significance of\nthis as a commercial fact cannot be realised as yet.\n\n[Illustration: A Logging Railroad, near Astoria. Photo. by Woodfield.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nThe Present Age of Expansion and World Commerce\n\n    Population and Productions of the Region on the River and its\n    Tributaries--Extent of its Navigability--Improvements Needed--Kinds of\n    Traffic--Local Traffic--Transcontinental Traffic--World\n    Traffic--Advantages of the River Route for these Kinds of Traffic--The\n    Bar--The Competition of Puget Sound--The Combination of River Route\n    and Sound Route.\n\n\nWe have traced the successive eras which have brought the land of the\nOregon from a wilderness to a group of powerful young American States,\nabounding in resources and filled to the brim with hope and enthusiasm. We\nhave followed the River through its eras of canoe, bateau, flatboat,\nsail-ship, and steamboat, and we have seen railroads built along its\nbanks. It remains only to cast a brief final glance at the River in its\npresent age, and to forecast something of what seems its sure future.\n\nIt may be said that the population of those parts of Oregon, Washington,\nIdaho, Wyoming, and Montana, which are embraced in the watershed of the\nColumbia, is probably nearly a million and a quarter. The population of\nthe area in British Columbia is scanty, but rapidly increasing.\n\nThe productive capacity is very great. A rough estimate of production in\nthe valley of the Columbia for the year 1908 would probably give a grain\nproduction of seventy million bushels, a lumber output of three billion\nfeet, a mineral output worth sixty million dollars, and a combined output\nof pastoral, horticultural, fishing, and miscellaneous industries of fifty\nmillions of dollars.\n\nSuch figures indicate that the Columbia River is already a factor in world\ncommerce. Yet its development is but begun. What is to be its part in the\nworld commerce of the future?\n\nInspection of a map will show that the Columbia possesses the only\nwater-level route from the vast productive regions of the Inland Empire to\nthe seaboard. As has been shown in the course of this volume, the River is\nnavigable throughout the larger part of its course from Revelstoke in\nBritish Columbia to the ocean. In that distance there is one canal, with\nlocks. That is at the Cascades, sixty-five miles from Portland. Before the\nRiver can be continuously navigable it will be necessary that a canal be\nconstructed to overcome the obstructions at the Dalles, a few miles above\nthe city of that name, another at Priest Rapids, seventy miles above\nPasco, and still another at Kettle Falls. The Government is already\nengaged in the first of these works. The second seems comparatively near\nof accomplishment by reason of work done and projected by a powerful\nirrigation company. Nothing has yet been done at Kettle Falls, but it\nwould be comparatively a light task to provide canal and locks at that\npoint. Besides these larger obstructions there are several rapids at\npoints between Kettle Falls and the Dalles which impede navigation at\ncertain stages of water. The Government has made surveys of these\nsections of the River, and has announced that with comparatively small\noutlay the rocks and reefs may be removed, the channels deepened and\nstraightened, and the River made navigable. One thing may be emphasised in\nthis connection, and this is that the Columbia River has mainly a rocky\nbed, and hence work on the channels is permanent. It will not cut and\nfill, nor pile up islands and bars as does the Missouri.\n\nIn view of the capability of the River to carry great water traffic, and\nin view of the fact that railroad traffic is seeking and will still more\nseek the down-hill grade to the sea, it becomes a question of great\ninterest what the future commerce of the River will be.\n\nIt is evident that there will be three kinds of traffic: local,\ntranscontinental, world-wide. Each is bound to be vast beyond the\ncalculations or even the imagination of the present. The local traffic is\nsure to be immense, for it is estimated that there is a million acres of\nland immediately contiguous to the River, irrigable and adapted to\nintensive farming. Present experience shows that five or ten acres of such\nland are sufficient to support a family. Many cities and towns are sure to\ngrow upon the banks of the River. Its banks will sometime become populated\nlike those of ancient Nile. Besides the immediate region of the River,\nthere are millions upon millions of acres of land more remote, the great\nwheat fields and stock ranges and valley lands of tributary streams, and\nthese broad areas will seek the river route. Much of this immense local\ntraffic of the future will be conveyed by steamboats and barges.\n\nThe second class of traffic will be the transcontinental. All the\nrailroads across the continent, except those down the Columbia, are\nobliged to climb the Cascade Mountains, four thousand feet or more in\nheight. With difficulty two powerful locomotives pull a freight train of\nforty cars up the grades, and at some points even a third is needed. But a\nsingle locomotive will pull eighty cars on the level grades of the River\nroads. In the even keener competition bound to come, this advantage of\ngrades and curves will be a factor of immense importance.\n\nThe third class of future commerce is the world-wide. No western American\ncan contemplate the future of the world without being persuaded that the\nPacific Ocean and its shores will be the scene of the greatest problems of\nthe twentieth century. If this prove true, that world commerce of the\nPacific will seek that point of the American continent which most swiftly\nand cheaply communicates with the eastern side of the continent and with\nEurope. Granting that a large part of world commerce will pass through the\nPanama Canal, there will still be, without question, an immense trade\nbetween the Orient and such points in our own country as are so far from\nthe Atlantic seaboard that a transcontinental route is a necessity.\nMoreover, even for our Atlantic seaboard and for Europe, there will be\nlarge amounts of products, for the transit of which time will be a great\nobject. Hence we may be sure that there will be extensive world commerce\nacross the American continent. If so, where will it cross? Inspection of a\nglobe demonstrates that the Columbia River route is shortest, and, for\nreasons already given, it is cheapest of all.\n\nPuget Sound is its only present competitor. But the water-grade through\nthe Cascade Mountains, along the banks of the Columbia, constitutes an\nadvantage beyond the reach of permanent competition. Here, however, the\ncritic comes in and claims that the Bar at the mouth of the River forbids\nentrance of the largest ships. This in a measure is true, though the\ndifficulties of the Columbia Bar have been grossly exaggerated. There are\nover twenty-five feet of water on the Bar at the lowest tide. The\nflood-tide adds from six to twelve feet. In any ordinary weather, forty\nfeet of water is safe enough for any vessel. But if marine architecture is\ngoing to keep pace with growing commerce, we may soon have ships drawing\nforty or fifty feet of water. If so, the Bar may indeed seriously block\nthe heaviest commerce. Some observers have, therefore, believed that the\nbig freights of the future will enter the Straits of Fuca, go to some one\nof the Puget Sound ports, thence pass by rail across the low tract of\ncountry between the Sound and the Columbia River, and proceed thence by\nthe River route to the interior and eastward. This would combine the\nadvantages of the two great routes of the Pacific North-west, abundant\ndepth of water, low altitudes, and easy grades. This would, in truth, come\nnearest to realising the dream of the old navigators, the Strait of Anian.\nIn any event, the future world will look to our River as the goal of\nmarkets as well as of vision, and as a highway of nations both for\nfreights and for tourists.\n\n\n\n\nPART II\n\nA Journey Down the River\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nIn the Heart of the Canadian Rockies\n\n    Extent of Navigation on the River--Attractions of a Canoe Journey--The\n    Canadian Pacific Railroad--Banff and Lake Louise--Summit of the\n    Rockies--The Continental Divide and its Western Descent--Field and the\n    Wapta River--Golden and the Upper Columbia--Peculiar Interlocking of\n    the Columbia and the Kootenai, and Professor Dawson's Explanation of\n    this--Views of the Selkirks and the Rockies--Some Steamboat Men and\n    their Tales--Captain Armstrong's Adventures on the Kootenai--The\n    Picture Rocks--Lake Windermere--The Location of the Old Thompson\n    Fort--Baptiste Morigeau and his Stories of Pioneer Days--The War\n    between the Shuswaps and the Okanogans--Down the River from\n    Golden--Rapids and Navigation--By the Canadian Pacific through the\n    Selkirks--Glacier and the Illecillewaet--Revelstoke and the River\n    again--Wise Management of the Canadian Government and the Railroad.\n\n\nA journey upon the River may best begin with its source and end with the\nocean. It is about fourteen hundred miles by the windings of the stream\nfrom its origin in the upper Columbia Lake to the Pacific. It descends\ntwenty-five hundred feet in that distance. It is therefore swift in many\nplaces. Yet it would be possible to descend almost the entire length of\nthe River in a small boat. Nor can one imagine a more fascinating journey,\nespecially if he could conjure back the shades of the great _voyageurs_ of\nseventy years ago, as Monique and Charlefoux, famous in Dr. McLoughlin's\ntime, and listen to their gay song, mingling with the plash of oars:\n\n    Rouli, roulant, ma boule roulant,\n    En roulant, ma boule roulant.\n\nThe way of approach for the Eastern tourist to a journey down the Columbia\nis by the Canadian Pacific Railway, a magnificent road in a gallery of\nmasterpieces. Wonders begin before he reaches the western watershed. He\nwill see Banff, with its hot springs, its immense hotel, its Bow River and\nFalls and Valley. He will see the gem of the Canadian Rockies, one of the\ngems of the earth, Lake Louise. Imagine a glistening wall of purest white,\nMts. Lefroy and Victoria, with a vast glacier descending from them, great\nbastions of variously tinted rock closing on either side as a frame of the\nsnowy picture, and in front a lake, small indeed, but of perfect form, a\nmirror in which the snowy wall, the glacier, the rocky ramparts, find a\nduplication as distinct as themselves.\n\nA few miles farther west, and the traveller will find himself at one of\nthe most significant of all places, the Continental Divide. Eastward the\nwater flows into the Bow, thence into the Saskatchewan, and ultimately\ninto the Atlantic. Westward the springs find their way to the branches of\nthe Wapta, thence to the Columbia and the Pacific. The long westward\nascent which we have followed all the way from Winnipeg ends at last. The\ntrack becomes level. We are at the summit. Looking southward we can see\ndescending the steep slope, a clear mountain stream, which is parted into\ntwo branches by a little wall of stone. One branch goes east to the\nAtlantic, the other west to the Pacific.\n\nIt must have been of some such place, though farther north, that Holmes\nwas imagining when he wrote:\n\n    Yon stream, whose sources run\n      Turned by a pebble's edge,\n    Is Athabasca, rolling toward the sun,\n      Through the cleft mountain-ledge.\n\n    The slender rill had strayed\n      But for the slanting stone,\n    To evening's ocean, with the tangled braid\n      Of foam-flecked Oregon.\n\nAt the parting of the streams, a pretty rustic framework has been erected,\nbearing the words, \"The Continental Divide.\"\n\nWe are now on the Columbia's waters. We are also in the heart of the\nCanadian Rockies, and in the midst of a perfect sea of mountains. It has\nbeen said that British Columbia is \"fifty or sixty Switzerlands rolled\ninto one.\" Here are five distinct ridges, up and down, and through and\naround which, the Columbia and its affluents chase each other in a dizzy\ndance.\n\nThe descent of the west side of the Divide is appallingly steep. From\nStephen to Field is a drop of one thousand two hundred and fifty-seven\nfeet in ten miles. In that distance are several places which reach two\nhundred and thirty-six feet to the mile. Most explicit directions are\ngiven to engineers in respect to handling trains on this grade. A speed of\nonly six miles an hour is allowed, and frequent stops and tests of\nair-brakes and signals are required. By reason of the exceeding care, no\nserious accident has ever occurred. In ascending three locomotives are\nrequired for an ordinary train.\n\nThere are several splendid resorts on the line of the Canadian railroad.\nBanff and Lake Louise are the resorts on the east side of the Divide. The\nfirst one west of that point is Field. There, as at all the other resorts,\nthe hotels are managed by the Canadian Pacific Railroad Company. They are\nconducted with great skill and elegance, and may well be regarded as a\ntribute to the business ability and artistic taste of the managers.\n\nAs we descend the steep grade from Stephen to Field, we catch glimpses of\npeak after peak, range after range, valley after valley, glacier after\nglacier, purple, saffron, red, dazzling white, glistening greens and\nblues. Mt. Stephen lifts its great wall over a mile of almost\nperpendicular height, and nearly opposite is the spire of Mt. Burgess.\nMountain wonders and attractions of every sort lie in all directions from\nField. Perhaps the finest is Yoho Valley. There are the Takkakaw Falls,\ntwelve hundred feet high. There is the Wapta Glacier, itself a part of a\nprodigious ice-field, known as Wahputekh, lying between the towering\nheights of Mts. Gordon, Balfour, and Tralltinderne.\n\nLeaving Field, the road runs between two chains of mountains, the\nOttertail on the north and the Van Horne on the south. The former is bold\nand spire-like in outline, with the snow-fields and ice pinnacles of Mt.\nGoodwin closing the vista. The latter is less bold in contour, but has a\ncolouring of yellow rock-slopes in beautiful contrast with the rich purple\nof the lower forests.\n\nPassing between those sublime mountain chains, we soon plunge into the\nWapta canyon, with its perpendicular walls of rock rising hundreds of\nfeet on either side. The Wapta is more commonly known as the Kicking\nHorse. It received that name in this wise. The Palliser exploring\nexpedition of 1858 had been seeking unsuccessfully a feasible route\nthrough the Rockies. In the progress of the search, Sir James Hector, then\nin charge of the party, pitched camp on the Wapta. While there a vicious\nhorse kicked him with such effect that he was left on the ground\napparently dead. The three Indians with him had, in fact, dug his grave.\nBut while they were conveying him to it, he suddenly came to himself.\nHaving recovered, he became curious to follow the stream where he had met\nwith the disaster. As a result he discovered the canyon and a short route\nthrough the main chain. Upon the pass he bestowed the name of \"Kicking\nHorse,\" and this has latterly been bestowed upon the river itself. The\nriver is one of the most remarkable of the tributaries of the upper\nColumbia. It drains a cordon of glaciated peaks, from which it bears a\nvast volume of water, foaming and frothing with frequent cataracts down\nthe steep descent, from fifty to a hundred feet to the mile.\n\n[Illustration: Natural Bridge Kicking Horse or Wapta River, and Mt.\nStephen, B. C. Photo. by C. F. Yates.]\n\n[Illustration: Sunrise on Columbia River, near Washougal. (Copyright,\n1902, by Kiser Photograph Co.)]\n\nForty-five miles west of the Divide we reach Golden on the Columbia. It is\nindeed a thrilling moment to the traveller when he first sets eyes upon\nthese head-waters of the River of the West. Golden is a pleasant little\ntown, a hundred and fifty miles below the upper Columbia Lake and twelve\nhundred and fifty by the windings of the River from its destination in the\nPacific.\n\nAt Golden we must pause and make ready for our first journey on the River.\nThe greater part of the tourist travel passes by Golden, not realising\nthat between that pretty town and the lakes lie some of the most charming\nscenes in all the vast play-ground of British Columbia.\n\nWe find at Golden several steamboats in command of captains who are very\nprinces of good fellows, as Captain Armstrong of the _Ptarmigan_ and\nCaptain Blakeney of the _Isabel_, with whom we may journey from Golden to\nLake Windermere. Over the hundred miles between these two points the\nColumbia is a slack-water stream, having a descent of but fifty feet in\nthe distance from the extreme head waters to Golden. Over considerable\npart of this distance the River runs in bayous. These bayous or channels\nwind their serpentine courses through low flats, flooded at high water,\nand exposing fair expanses of vivid green at the subsidence of the waters.\n\nProfessor Dawson, the eminent Canadian geologist, made a study of this\nsection of the River some years before his death, and as a result\nexpressed the opinion that the section of the Columbia above the mouth of\nBlue River, some thirty miles below Golden, formerly united with the\nKootenai. But owing to some convulsion of nature, the surface was tilted\njust sufficiently to turn the section of the stream from Columbia Lake\ntoward the north instead of the south, with the result that we have this\nslack-water system of lagoons and lakes constituting this marvellously\npicturesque division of the River. Now in confirmation of this theory of\nProfessor Dawson we have in the relations of the Columbia and Kootenai the\nsingular geographical phenomenon already referred to in an earlier\nchapter. The Kootenai runs through \"Canal Flats,\" in which the upper\nColumbia Lake is situated, and comes within a mile of that lake. It is\nnine feet higher than the lake, but there is no high land there, and at\none time a canal joined the Kootenai with the lake. This canal was wrecked\nin the great flood of 1894, but steamboats had run through it from the\nKootenai to the Columbia, and it would be entirely feasible to reconstruct\nit. After having thus passed within a mile of each other and evidently\nhaving once been actually connected, the two rivers part company. The\nColumbia flows north and the Kootenai south. Each makes a vast bend. Again\nthey reverse directions, the Columbia flowing south and the Kootenai\nnorth, and then come together many miles from their point of separation.\n\nAside from the unique beauty of the lagoons and the grassy shores, the eye\nof the traveller is delighted with the two mountain chains which confront\neach other across those glassy channels throughout the entire stretch from\nGolden to Windermere. On the east side is the main chain of the Rockies,\nand on the west are the Selkirks.\n\nAs we proceed on the deep, still stream, gliding from channel to channel,\nwe may find ourselves mightily entertained by the conversation of such a\nnavigator as Captain Armstrong or Captain Blakeney. For each can command a\nfund of historical and descriptive matter of rare interest.\n\nCaptain Armstrong was one of the earliest pilots on the Kootenai. In 1894\nhe built the _North Star_ at Jennings, Montana, ran her up the wild stream\nto Canal Flats, thence through the canal to the Columbia lakes, and into\nthe River itself. A more exquisite stretch of river navigation than that\nthrough Columbia Lake, Lake Adela, and Lake Windermere, and from them into\nthe lagoons of the River, can scarcely be found or even imagined, and it\nwas the lot of the _North Star_ to ply upon that route until her unhappy\ndestruction by fire in 1900.\n\nThere is little danger of accident on the placid water of the uppermost\nColumbia, but it is far different on the Kootenai. We heard many a tale of\nsteamboating adventure from these pilots.\n\nOne of these so well illustrates those old-time conditions that we repeat\nhere its chief points. Captain Armstrong owned two steamers, the _Ruth_\nand the _Gwendoline_. Both were engaged in transporting freight by way of\nJennings to Fort Steele and the various mining camps in that district. The\nbusiness was enormously profitable, for the boats received two and one\nhalf cents a pound. At that particular time there were twenty-six cars on\nthe Great Northern Railway awaiting shipments.\n\nFrom his two steamers Captain Armstrong sometimes made two thousand\ndollars a day in gross receipts. But though profitable, the business was\nalso correspondingly risky. The Jennings Canyon, above Bonner's Ferry, is,\nperhaps, the worst piece of water that has ever been navigated on the\nColumbia or its tributaries. A strip of water, foaming-white, down-hill\nalmost as on a steep roof, hardly wider than the steamboat, savage-looking\nrocks waiting to catch hold of any unwary craft that might venture\nthrough,--so forbidding in fact was that route that Captain Armstrong\nfound no insurance agent that felt disposed to insure his boats and cargo.\nAt last he induced a San Francisco agent to make the trip with him and\nto offer a rate. After sitting in silence on the deck while the steamer\nwhirled down the Jennings Canyon, the agent stated that his rate would be\ntwenty-five per cent. of the cargo. The daring captain decided to take the\nrisk himself. He had made a number of trips with entire success and\nimmense profit. But just at the height of the season, when the twenty-six\ncars were on the track and a sack full of gold was waiting for him, the\ncaptain got into too much of a hurry. He was running the _Gwendoline_; one\nof his best pilots, the _Ruth_. The _Ruth_ was ahead. Both were making\ntheir best possible time down the canyon to get a cargo. Captain Armstrong,\nat the wheel of the _Gwendoline_, was whizzing down the canyon at a rate\nwhich made stopping impossible, when to his dismay he saw the _Ruth_ right\nahead of him in a narrow turn, lying across the channel, wedged in the\nrocks. To stop was impossible. To select any comfortable landing-place was\nequally so. The _Gwendoline_ piled right on top of the _Ruth_. Both were\ntotal wrecks, without a dollar of insurance. A two-thousand-dollar cargo\ngone in five minutes, to say nothing of boats and business that could not\nbe replaced and a fortune within grasp that would never be so near again.\n\n[Illustration: Lake Windermere, Upper Columbia, where David Thompson's\nFort was Built in 1810. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\nBut such were the risks of steamboating on the Kootenai.\n\nThere are two historical notes of special interest to be made in\nconnection with the journey to Windermere. One of these is a prehistoric\ndrawing in some kind of red pigment on the smooth surface of a rock on the\nupper Columbia Lake. It seems to represent a battle scene, and, though\nrude, denotes some conception of picture art. The Indians think that it\nwas made prior to Indian times. Apparently it belongs to the same order of\npictures as the drawings on the rocks of Lake Chelan and other places in\nthe north-west, furnishing a worthy theme for the antiquarian.\n\nThe other object of historical interest is the remains of the temporary\nfort built by David Thompson of the North-west Fur Company in 1810.\nThompson crossed the Rockies in that year in order to descend the Columbia\nand gain possession of its territory for his fur company. He was a brave,\nintelligent, and enterprising man with considerable knowledge of\nastronomy. But he waited one season too long. For, finding it late in the\nyear 1810 when he had reached the sources of the Columbia, he decided to\nwinter there and descend the River in the spring. He selected a beautiful\nspot capable of defence on all sides on Lake Windermere and there built a\nrude fort, the trench and mound of which still remain. In the spring of\n1811 he went down the river (and this was the first party to traverse the\nentire course of the Columbia) full of hope that he might take possession\nfor Great Britain and the North-westers, only to find that the Astor party\nof Americans had preceded them by three months in effecting what might be\ncalled permanent occupation.\n\nThis was one of the important links in the history of the control of the\nNorth-west. Doubt has been raised as to the authenticity of this\nWindermere location, but there are certainly the remains of mound and\ntrench, and the tradition has it that here was the place of the Thompson\nparty of 1810, the first place located by white men on the upper Columbia.\n\n\n\n[Illustration: Mt. Burgess and Emerald Lake, One of the Sources of the\nWapta River. B. C. Photo. by C. F. Yates.]\n\nAn interesting character lives on the shore of Lake Windermere in the\nperson of Baptiste Morigeau. He is a man of sixty-six, the son of a French\nfather and Indian mother. The father, Francis Morigeau, was born at Quebec\nin 1797, and came to the upper Columbia region as a free trapper in 1820.\nHe trapped up and down the Columbia for many years, selling his catches to\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, usually at Fort Colville. Baptiste was born at\nWindermere in 1842. Three years after that the father with his numerous\nfamily went to Colville. He had a number of horses and cattle, a large\nsupply of valuable furs, ammunition, and traps. He located at Colville at\njust the right time. For, having taken up a large body of the rich land in\nthat valley, he began raising hay and grain. His stock increased. He was\nsurrounded with every species of rude plenty, and just at the most\nprofitable time for him the gold discoveries began in 1854, followed the\nnext year by the great Indian war. The fat cattle, the horses, the grain,\nhay, and vegetables of the Morigeaus were in great and immediate demand.\nMoney came in to them by the handful. Baptiste states that they took in\none hundred and fifty thousand dollars during the five years of Indian\nwars and settlement. Their lives were often in peril, but with good\nfortune, aided by their own connection with the natives, they escaped any\nserious harm.\n\nOn one occasion Indians were about to plunder them of their valuables and\ntake possession of the barn where several of the family were thrashing\ngrain with flails, when the oldest son, Aleck, suddenly turned his flail\nupon the marauders. So vigorously did he lay about him and so astonished\nwere the Indians at the novel assault that they gave way and retreated.\n\nMorigeau told us the interesting fact that there were practically no\nIndians living in the Windermere district until about a century ago. At\nthat time some branches of the Shuswaps and of the Kootenais came in.\nTheir relations were usually very amicable, but between the Shuswaps and\nthe Okanogans was deadly and long-continued enmity. This was ended in a\ncurious and interesting manner by the following event. The Shuswaps had\ncaptured the only daughter of the Okanogan chief. She was led with other\ncaptives into the Shuswap camp. The boasting warriors were gloating over\nthe poor victim, and the squaws were discussing the greatest possible\nindignities and tortures for her, when an aged, white-haired chief got the\nattention of the crowd. He declared that his heart had been opened, and\nthat he now saw that torture and death ought to end. He proposed that\ninstead of shame and torture they should confer honour on the chieftain's\nchild. He said: \"I can hear the old chief and his squaw weeping all the\nnight for their lost daughter.\" He then proposed that they adorn the\ncaptive with flowers, put her in a procession, with all the chiefs loaded\nwith presents, and restore her to her father.\n\nThe girl meanwhile, who did not understand a word of the language, was\nawaiting torture or death. What was her astonishment to find herself\ndecorated with honour, and sent with the gift-laden chiefs toward her\nfather's camp. On the next day the mourning chief of the Okanogans and his\nwife, looking from their desolate lodge, saw a large procession\napproaching, and they said: \"They are coming to demand a ransom.\"\n\n[Illustration: Bonnington Falls in Kootenai River, near Nelson. Photo by\nAllan Lean.]\n\nAs the procession drew nearer, one of their men said that it looked like a\nwoman adorned with flowers in the midst of the men with presents of robes\nand necklaces. Then they cried out: \"It is our child, and she is restored\nto us.\" So they met the procession with rejoicing and heard the speech of\nthe old Shuswap chief. And after that there was peace between the Shuswaps\nand the Okanogans.\n\nHaving returned from Lake Windermere to Golden by small boat,--one of the\nmost charming of all water trips,--we are prepared to make a new start\ndown the River.\n\nThe River from Golden holds a general north-westerly course to its highest\nnorthern point in latitude 52 degrees. There having received its northmost\ntributary, Canoe River, a furious mountain stream, it makes a grand wheel\nsouthward, forming what is known as the Big Bend. This section of the\nRiver was navigated by the bateaux of the trappers and the canoes of the\nIndians. There are, however, several bad rapids, of which Surprise Rapids,\nKimbasket Rapids, and Death Rapids, are the worst. These cannot be passed\nby steamboats. The _voyageurs_ seem to have run them sometimes, though\nthey ordinarily made portages. A Golden steamboat captain assures us that\nnone but fools ever ran Death Rapids,--and they were mostly drowned.\n\nThe Canadian Pacific Railroad follows the Columbia from Golden to\nBeavermouth, then turns up the Beaver to cross the Selkirk Mountains. The\nBeaver is a magnificent mountain stream, and from the railroad, high on\nthe mountain side, the traveller can at many points look down hundreds of\nfeet upon the river. Though the Selkirks are not quite so high as the main\nchain of the Rockies, they are even grander. The snowfall is materially\ngreater in the Selkirks, and the glaciers are vast in extent. It is said\nthat the snowfall at Glacier averages thirty-five feet during the winter,\nand that it lies from four to eight feet deep from October to April. There\nare thirty immense snowsheds on this section of the railroad.\n\nGlacier is the great resort in the Selkirks. This splendid resort has\nattractions in some respects superior to those of Banff, Lake Louise, or\nField. It is in the very heart of the Selkirks. The Great Glacier is only\na mile and a half distant, a glacier which is said to cover an area of two\nhundred square miles; more than all the glaciers of Switzerland combined.\nFrom the watch tower at Glacier, this mass of ice, twisted and contorted,\nwith all the colours of the rainbow playing upon it, is one of those\nvisions of elemental force which only great mountains reveal. Like all the\nglaciers of the Northern Hemisphere, this is receding at a rapid rate. A\nrecord on the rock indicates the point to which the ice attained in July,\n1887, and the ice is now over seven hundred feet distant from that point.\n\nThe Asulkan Glacier is a more beautiful sight, as viewed from Abbott\nrampart, than the Great Glacier. Every traveller should climb the trail to\nAbbott in order to get that sight. And with it he will view the twin peaks\nof Castor and Pollux yet farther south, while to the north the splendid\npeaks of Cheops, Hermit, and Cougar dominate the majestic wilderness.\n\n[Illustration: Bridge Creek, a Tributary of Lake Chelan, Wash. Photo. by\nF. N. Kneeland, Northampton, Mass.]\n\nBut the most striking single sight is the granite monolith of Sir Donald.\nThis is almost a counterpart of the Matterhorn of Switzerland, though not\nso high. It rises in one huge block to a height of 10,808 feet. It has\nbeen climbed, though this is one of the most daring and difficult of\nclimbs. From the dizzy spire there is visible a perfect map of peaks,\nrivers, valleys, and lakes. It is said that a hundred and twenty glaciers\ncan be seen.\n\nFrom Sir Donald and the Great Glacier issues the Illecillewaet River,\nwell-named, for this means the \"swift flowing.\" From its source in the\nGreat Glacier to its entrance of the Columbia it descends thirty-five\nhundred feet in forty-five miles. It is swift. One of the most interesting\nplaces on this section of the road is the \"Loops,\" a place where the track\nhas to descend five hundred and twenty-two feet in seven miles. To\naccomplish this, it has been carried in a \"double S\" around the bases of\nMts. Ross and Bonney. So close are the tracks that the two parts of the\nloop a mile in length are not more than eighty feet apart, one being\nalmost perpendicularly above the other. Some miles farther down is the\nAlbert Canyon on the Illecillewaet. On this point the distinction has been\nconferred of a complete pause of the train, while from it the passengers\nhasten to a platform to gaze down the perpendicular walls three hundred\nfeet to the white torrent tearing its way through the rock.\n\nSoon Revelstoke is reached, and we are again on the navigable waters of\nthe Columbia. Every traveller, as he leaves the line of the Canadian\nPacific Railroad, must pay his tribute of respect to the skill, energy,\nand intelligence with which this superb road is conducted. It has been\nsaid that English money supplied this road, Scotch energy built it, and\nIrish keenness and adaptability run it. Sir Thomas Shaughnessey, the\nmanager, is certainly entitled to the respect and gratitude of thousands\nof tourists.\n\nWith the railroad, all tourists will associate the Canadian Park managers.\nThe Canadian Government is a singularly intelligent one. It has grasped\nthe possibilities in these vast and varied scenic charms, and has used\nexceedingly good judgment in rendering them accessible to the travelling\npublic. This entire mountain area bordering the railroad, to an extent of\nfive thousand seven hundred and thirty-two square miles, has been set\napart as a park, in charge of the Department of the Interior. Superb roads\nare constructed in available places, and improvements are continually in\nprogress about the springs and falls and lakes and other points of\ninterest. The Government, in fact, exercises entire control, but grants\nconcessions to the railroad company in the matter of hotels and other\nconveniences.\n\nAs we bid good-bye to the Canadian Rockies, we may say that perhaps the\nworld offers nowhere else such a sea of mountains, such knots and clusters\nand cordons of elevations, as in this strange and sublime region where the\nColumbia and its tributaries, the Kootenai, the Illecillewaet, the Wapta,\nthe Beaver, the Canoe, seem to be playing hide-and-seek with the Thompson\nand the Fraser. There are not less than five distinct snowy ridges between\nthe head waters of the Saskatchewan and the Pacific Ocean. The existence\nof this immense watershed of snowy mountains accounts for the vast volume\nof the Columbia. Although not half as long as the Mississippi, the\nColumbia equals it in volume.\n\n[Illustration: Kootenai Lake, from Proctor, B. C. Photo. by Allan Lean.]\n\nWell joined, in truth, are the sublime River and the sublime mountains.\nOne cannot fully understand the River unless he has seen its cradle and\nthe cradle of its affluents beneath the shadows of the great peaks of\nBritish Columbia.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nThe Lakes from the Arrow Lakes to Chelan\n\n    The Lake Plateau--The Glacial Origin of the Lakes--Down the Arrow\n    Lakes from Revelstoke--The Fine Steamers--Characteristics of the\n    Scenery--By Rail from Robson to Nelson--Agricultural, Mineral, and\n    Lumbering Resources around Nelson--Kootenai Lake and its Charms--On\n    the River from Robson to Kettle Falls--Historic Features around Kettle\n    Falls--On Lakes Coeur d'Alene, Pend Oreille, and Kaniksu in Northern\n    Idaho--From Kettle Falls to Chelan--Appearance of Chelan River--First\n    View of the Lake--Delights of a Boat Ride up the Lake--Comparison of\n    Chelan with other Great Scenes--Storm on the Lake--Goat\n    Mountain--Views from Railroad Creek--The Red Drawings--Rainbow Falls\n    and Stehekin Canyon--The Wrecked Cabin and its Story--Railroad Creek\n    and North Star Park--Cloudy Pass and Glacier Peak.\n\n\nIn the progress of our journey down the River on the route of the old-time\nfur brigades, we have passed over what may be considered the first two\nstages of the stream. The first is the lagoon-like expanse of the section\nfrom Canal Flats to Golden, one hundred and fifty miles. The second is the\nmore swift and turbulent part from Golden to Revelstoke, two hundred and\nfifty miles. At the latter place we enter upon a third stage of the River,\nthe lake stage.\n\nThe region of the lakes constitutes one of the most unique and delightful\nof all parts of the River. Let the reader consult the map and he will find\nan area of probably one hundred thousand square miles in British Columbia,\nWashington, Idaho, and Montana filled with lakes. This lake region\nconstitutes a plateau, crossed indeed by mountains and somewhat rough in\nsurface, but of a uniform general elevation. It constitutes a sort of\ndebatable region between the two great slopes, one from the Rocky summits\nto the lakes and the other from the lakes to tide-water. On those slopes\nthe white waters of cataract and rapid are found; on the plateau, the\ndeep, still lakes. A glance at the map reveals the fact that the larger of\nthese lakes are long and narrow, and lie on north and south lines. A\njourney on them reveals the fact that they are deep and clear and cold.\nJoin these facts with the additional one that they are surrounded by snowy\nmountains, and you have no difficulty in deciding their origin. They are\nglacial. At some time in the glacial ages, stupendous ploughshares of ice\ndescending from Rockies, Selkirks, Gold Range, Cascades, and Bitter Roots,\ngouged out profound canyons in the rents already wrought by earthquakes,\nand these became the lake beds.\n\n[Illustration: Lower Arrow Lake, B. C. Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson.]\n\nEach one of the branches of the River in this plateau region has one or\nmore of these expansions. On the Columbia itself are the Arrow Lakes.\nKootenai Lake is an enlargement of the River of the same name. Okanogan\nLake is likewise an expansion of its river. Christina Lake is the source\nof Kettle River. The Slocan River derives its icy torrents from Slocan\nLake. Flathead, Kaniksu, and Pend Oreille lakes feed Clark's Fork, now\nmore commonly known in its lower section as Pend Oreille River. Coeur\nd'Alene Lake supplies the Spokane River. Chelan pours its cold flood into\nthe Columbia through a river of the same sweet sounding name. Wenatchee\nLake gives life to the Wenatchee River.\n\nWe find at Revelstoke that the chief current of tourist travel follows the\nmain line of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Nevertheless, there is a\nrapidly increasing movement of travellers on the branch by steamboat over\nthe Arrow Lakes and the Kootenai to what is known as the Crow's Nest line\nfrom Spokane to Calgary, Winnipeg, and other points east.\n\nThe Canadian Pacific line has excellent steamers, the _Rossland_, the\n_Kootenai_, the _Kaslo_, the _Kuskanook_, and others of similar grade. The\njourney on the _Rossland_ or _Kootenai_ down the Arrow Lakes from\nArrowhead to Robson is one to dream of, one to recall in waking hours, and\neven, we almost suspect, in another life. The two lakes together\nconstitute one hundred and thirty miles of steamboating, and every mile\nhas its special charm. It was the peculiar joy of the _voyageurs_, after\nhaving toiled over the snowy and wind-swept Athabasca Pass and buffeted\nthe foamy descent of Death Rapids, to reach the Arrow Lakes and lazily\npaddle down their tranquil deeps. In fact, pleasant as is our journey on\nthe _Rossland_, we would rather reconstruct the bateaux of 1840 and in\nthem make the whole long journey to the sea, a thousand miles away.\n\nThe traveller learns from the captain, if he can persuade that busy\npersonage to indulge in conversation, that the Arrow Lakes derived their\nname from the fact that in early times great bundles of arrows could be\nseen stuck in the clay banks or in the crevices of the rocks at the head\nof the upper lake. The upper Arrow Lake has mountain banks rising\nthousands of feet to the zone of eternal snow. The shores are usually\nprecipitous, though it is not uncommon to see smooth slopes furnishing\ntimbered margins to enchanting little bays. At various places along the\nshores we see the beginnings of fruit and dairy ranches. It is only within\nfour or five years that anything has been done here in the way of\ncultivation. The results thus far attained prove the wonderful\nadaptability of soil and climate to choice fruits. And the\nflowers,--Heaven bless them!--the sweetest and biggest and brightest of\nroses, pinks, sweet peas, larkspurs,--every kind that grows, are seen in\nprofusion at almost every point where there has been any cultivation. By a\nlittle conversation with people at the landings we learn that the\nnew-fledged ranches are very profitable. One tells us that he has made a\nnet profit of two dollars and twenty-five cents per crate on his\nstrawberries, or five hundred dollars an acre.\n\n[Illustration: Bridal Veil Falls on Columbia River. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse.]\n\nPerhaps the most attractive place on the Arrow Lakes is the point where\nthe upper lake narrows into the stretch of fifteen miles of river joining\nthe two lakes. The mountains on either hand, in great billows of forest\ngreen and blue, rise ever upward till they break against the eternal\nfrost. The shores are clothed in dense forests, and on either hand bold\npromontories enclose sheltered bays, the very beau ideals of camping\nplaces.\n\nWe find the lower Arrow Lake of a gentler type of scenery than the upper.\nThe mountains no longer bear snow-peaks and glaciers on their crests, and\nthere are no longer to be seen the stupendous rocky walls which in places\nenclose the upper lake. But as a compensation for the loss of this\npre-eminent grandeur, the lower lake possesses a charm of colouring, both\nof water and shore, a richness of mountain outline and tints, and a\ncertain serenity which may well make it an equal of its grander companion.\n\nAt the lower end of the Arrow Lakes the steamer stops and transfers her\nfreight and passengers to the trains running from Robson to Nelson. This\nis necessitated by the fact that the Kootenai River, which enters the\nColumbia just below Robson, has a descent from Nelson of over two hundred\nfeet. The railroad follows the Kootenai, which almost rivals the Columbia\nin magnitude. We pass the Bonnington Falls, the noblest waterfall on the\nentire system of Columbia's tributaries, with the exception of the Great\nShoshone of the Snake.\n\nReaching Nelson, the metropolis of this entire lake country, we find a\nbustling, active, well-built little city of seven thousand people. The\nleading industries centring at Nelson are mining and lumbering. It has\nbeen discovered very recently, however, that the soil and air and climate\nare peculiarly adapted to choice berries and fruits. The shores of the\nriver and lake at this point are rugged and rocky, at first thought ill\nadapted to horticulture. But it is well known that rough locations produce\nchoicer fruit. Between the boulders or nestling against the hillsides, the\npeach and apple take on an added blush, absorb a more delicate nectar,\nexhale a more exquisite perfume. We are told that during the season of\n1908 there were twenty thousand crates of berries, mainly strawberries,\nshipped from Nelson, at a price of two to three dollars per crate.\n\nIn every direction from Nelson is mineral wealth of untold quantity.\nAlmost every mineral known, gold, silver, copper, zinc, lead, to say\nnothing of every kind of fine building stone, including marble, besides\ncoal and iron, is found east, west, north, and south of Nelson. The town\nitself was founded by reason of the Silver King mine, which can be seen\nhigh up on the mountain side south of the place. The output of these mines\nhas been immense. In spite of the comparatively hard times, the output of\nthe three districts of the Kootenai, Rossland, and Boundary, was estimated\nat $21,025,500 in 1907. One interesting fact connected with the mining\nindustry in the lake country is that at Nelson is located an electric zinc\nsmelter, the only one of the kind in the world. Zinc is found in\nassociation with gold, silver, and copper, and, though valuable, is quite\nan impediment to the mining of the gold and silver. This unique smelter\nworks by what is called the Snyder process, an electrical system, which,\nif it accomplishes all that is hoped for, will open every mine on the\nKootenai.\n\n[Illustration: Shoshone Falls, in Snake River, 212 Feet High. Photo. by W.\nD. Lyman.]\n\nFrom Nelson we find the way open by fine steamers to all parts of the\nKootenai. This largest of all the lakes of the Columbia system, containing\n141,120 acres of surface, bears a general resemblance to the Arrow Lakes,\nclear, deep, cold, with lofty mountains on either side and vast stretches\nof purple forests crowding to the very margin of the water. This lake\nconsists of three arms, northern, southern, and western. The Kootenai\nRiver enters by the southern and leaves by the western.\n\nThe northern part of the Kootenai region, especially around Kaslo,\npossesses vast mineral wealth. A railroad proceeds from Kaslo to Sandon in\nthe heart of the mountains, and to Slocan Lake and thence to Nakusp on\nthe upper Arrow Lake. The scenery of Slocan Lake is even more wild and\nrugged than that of the Kootenai. Both abound in fine trout. We saw a lake\ntrout at Nelson of a weight of twenty-two pounds. Ducks and geese and swan\nare common on the water, limitless grouse and pheasants are found in the\nwoods, while deer, elk, and bear are common in the wild maze of mountains\nand canyons;--a sportsman's paradise.\n\nTourists taking the route eastward go from Nelson on the elegant steamer\n_Kuskanook_ to Kootenai Landing and there take up again the railway route\nby the Crow's Nest. Such as desire to go to Spokane can leave the line at\nCurzon and go southward to a connection with the Spokane International.\nThere is also a rail connection more directly between Nelson and Spokane\nby the Spokane and Northern. This pursues more nearly the course of the\nColumbia River, of which the traveller obtains delightful glimpses at\nintervals. But for ourselves, we would rather go by rowboat from Robson\ndown the River over the historical route of the old _voyageurs_. No rail\nroute compares with the water.\n\nThe River is a superb water-way from Robson, British Columbia, to Kettle\nFalls, Washington, about ninety miles. In fact, the section of the River\nfrom Death Rapids above Revelstoke to Kettle Falls, including the Arrow\nLakes, is the longest unbroken stretch of deep, still water on the entire\nRiver, being about three hundred miles.\n\nKettle Falls, too, is a historic spot. For here was Fort Colville of the\nAmericans and also the old Hudson's Bay post. Here was the greatest\ncentring of the fur-trade on the upper River. Here were the strongest of\nall the Catholic missions, and here were the most fertile fields and the\nearliest cultivated of any on the upper River. Here is the Colville Indian\nReservation, and here for many years the wily and untamable old savage\nMoses herded his bands of \"cuitans,\" watched the incoming whites with\njealous eye, and, as opportunity offered, made way with such wandering\nprospectors or stockmen as he could find off their guard in rocky glen or\nforest depth. (And none ever knew what became of them.) Here\nHallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) the great Nez Perce chief, commonly known as\nJoseph, who waged the Wallowa War of 1877 to its bitter conclusion,\ncarried on the sad remnant of his days, and not far distant on the wild\nNespilem, he held his summer camp. In all directions around Colville and\nKettle Falls, up the Sans Poil and Kettle rivers, are opening mines and\nfarms, one of the most promising sections of all the promising State of\nWashington.\n\n[Illustration: Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho. Photo by T. W. Tolman.]\n\n[Illustration: Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Photo. by T. W. Tolman.]\n\nTime forbids us to visit all the lakes in this wonderful lake section. But\nwe must see the most important. While at Spokane, we should not fail to\ngo, by trolley or train or auto or horseback, to the greatest of all\nSpokane resorts, Coeur d'Alene Lake. Of its beauties and delights, and\nof the \"shadowy St. Joe River,\" and of the canoeing and fishing and\nhunting which may be found there galore, some of our pictures speak. And\nof them any one who has ever been there will also speak in no uncertain\ntone. It seems no whit short of the unpardonable sin to give no longer\nspace to that wonderland of lakes, Coeur d'Alene, Pend Oreille, and\nKaniksu, in Northern Idaho, each the centre of every conceivable scenic\nattraction. In their near vicinity, too, lie the great mines of the\nCoeur d'Alene district, the greatest silver lead mines in the world,\nwhose fabulous wealth (forty million dollars a year) has built many a\nstone mansion at Spokane, or sent the prospectors of yesterday to the ends\nof the earth for the pleasure or display of to-day. But the limits of this\nchapter forbid description of these masterpieces. Though each lake has its\nindividual character, there is a general similarity. All have the\ncharacteristics of their common glacial origin and mountainous\nsurroundings.\n\nWe may therefore make one visit and give descriptions of the one great\ninclusive scene or group of scenes which may be said to express the\nbeauty, the sublimity, the wonder of the lakes of the Columbia River. And\nthis one typical lake, the all-inclusive, is Chelan, \"Beautiful Water.\"\n\nTrue to our purpose of following the River from source to sea, we turn\nback now from Spokane in order to go from Kettle Falls to Chelan by boat.\nThere are no regular steamboats running from Kettle Falls to Brewster at\nthe mouth of the Okanogan, but from the last named point to Wenatchee the\nsteamboat is the regular and indeed only means of public travel.\nThroughout the entire course of two hundred miles from Kettle Falls to\nWenatchee the river is wild and swift. Yet steamers have traversed the\nentire distance, and Government engineers are now engaged in surveys\nlooking to improvements such as will make steamboat traffic easy and\nprofitable. We pass numberless points of interest, but \"Chelan, Chelan,\"\n\"Beautiful Water, Beautiful Water,\" is our goal.\n\n[Illustration: The \"Shadowy St. Joe,\" Idaho. Photo. by T. W. Tolman.]\n\nWe had thought that the Columbia was clear, but we did not then know what\nclear water really was. When we reach the mouth of Chelan River we know.\nWe see a streak of blue cutting right across the impetuous downflow of the\nRiver. As we push our way into it we discover that it is so clear as to\nmake little more obstruction to the view of rocks and fish below than does\nthe air itself. This transparent torrent is the outlet of the lake. It is\nonly four miles long and descends three hundred and eighty feet in that\ndistance. It furnishes one hundred and twenty-five thousand horse-power at\nlow water. The canyon, riven and tortured, through which it descends, is a\nfitting approach to the lake, unique Chelan. For having traversed the four\nmiles, we find the lake outstretched before us.\n\nAt this first view the lake has that look of a serene obliviousness to the\nflight of passing centuries, that impressure of eternity, that belongs to\nall great works of God or man. But majestic as is the view at the lower\nend of the lake, we are not content to remain there. \"_Neskika Klatawa\nsahale_,\" cry we with a single voice, which being interpreted is, \"Let us\ngo up higher,\" the motto, by the way, of our Mazama (Mountain-Climbers')\nClub of the Pacific North-west. In skiffs, well-laden with provisions and\nammunition, we set forth on our sixty-mile pull toward \"where the spectral\nglaciers shone.\"\n\nDelightful, delightful, almost ecstatic in truth, this rocking on the\nglassy swell; this bed of romantic spruce and pine boughs on the beach;\nthis star-lit sky which is our only roof; this murmur of cascades falling\nfrom the bluffs; this trolling for five-pound trout; this disembarking on\nsome rocky point and climbing a granite pinnacle from which a perfect maze\nof mountains, streams, and forests, lies extended below; this experience\nof the deadly attack of \"buck-ague\" which paralyses our arms as some goat\nor deer dashes by; and then the inexpressible delight with which we,\n\"stepping down by zigzag paths and juts of pointed rock, came on the\nshining levels of the lake.\" We do not wish to hurry our oars. We must\ntake time to look into the heavenly blue of the waters through the\nfoam-streaks left by our advancing prows. We must suspend the oar-dip\nentirely at times while we gaze dizzied, with strained necks, up, up,\nthousands of feet, toward \"Death and Morning on the Silverhorns.\" We must\nstudy shore and water as we pass slowly by, finding therein ample\nconfirmation of the theory of glacial origin.\n\nThis is one of the deepest canyons on earth. Not such another furrow has\nTime wrought on the face of the Western Hemisphere, at least. At some\npoints the granite walls rise almost vertically six thousand feet from the\nwater's edge. Here, too, soundings of seventeen hundred feet have been\nnecessary to touch bottom. Over a mile and a half of verticality! This\nsurpasses in depth Yosemite, Yellowstone, Columbia, or even Colorado\nCanyon. As compared with those more familiar wonders, Chelan lacks the\nincomparable symmetry and completeness of Yosemite; it has not such a\nmultitude of waterfalls and groups of \"castled crags\" as are seen within\nthe basaltic gates of the Columbia; it does not display that variety of\ncolouring, especially of the lighter and warmer hues, which astonishes the\nbeholder of the Colorado or the Yellowstone, and it has no especially\ncurious feature like the geysers of the last; but for immensity, for a\ncertain chaotic sublimity, for the rich and sombre grandeur of the purple\nand garnet, dusky, and indigo-tinted shore views, Chelan surpasses any of\nthe others, while in its water views,--such colourings and such blendings,\nlight-green, ultramarine, lapis lazuli, violet, indigo, almost\nblack,--such light and shade, \"sea of glass mingled with fire,\" where\nevery cloud in the changing sky and all the untold majesty of the hills\nfind their perfect mirror, all hues and forms, a kaleidoscope of earth and\nheaven, beyond imagination to conceive or pen to describe or brush to\nportray,--in all this, Chelan is without a rival.\n\n[Illustration: On the Coeur d' Alene River, Idaho. Photo. by T. W.\nTolman.]\n\nAs we round a shaggy promontory, there the snow-peaks stand in battle\narray, azure, purple, amethystine, with lines and masses of glistening\nwhite, flushed on their topmost pinnacles with rosy light from the\nwestering sun, solemn, solitary, very oracles of mountain revelation, so\ngrand, so beautiful, so true, looking as though they had been there\nforever waiting for an interpreter,--before that scene we bow the head and\nmake involuntary obeisance, the homage of the true in man to the true in\nnature, that is, the recognition of a common brotherhood in one divine\norigin.\n\nNot of every scene on this lake of wonders can we speak. Yet every mile\nbrought its special revelation. Sometimes we found the lake in storms. As\nwe rowed in what seemed a summer calm, Winter from his throne eight\nthousand feet above sent forth his cloud-legions, which, like the \"thunder\nbirds\" of Indian story, spread their wings and came down. The thunder\nclash went echoing in long reverberations \"from peak to peak, the\nrattling crags among.\" \"If a squall ever strikes you, put for the first\ncrack in the bank that you see,\" had been the parting injunction of the\nlake sailors when we started on our cruise. We observed the warning and\nmade the best possible time to a cranny in the ill-omened \"Windy Cape.\"\nAnd there we lay till morning, when the tumult fell as suddenly as it\nrose, and lake and sky smiled as serenely at each other as ever.\n\nThe chief point on the lake, for photographing, hunting, fishing, and\nclimbing, is Railroad Creek, fifty miles up the lake. Railroad Creek comes\nfrom the \"Roof of the World,\" having its source in the very heart of a\ngreat group of glaciers. It descends probably six thousand feet in\ntwenty-five miles. It is swift! The fury with which it hurls logs and even\nboulders down its cataract bed is fairly appalling. The very earth quivers\nbeneath its flail-like strokes.\n\nNowhere, perhaps, can one see more work done by rivers than here. The\nentire course of one of these rivers can be traced from the lake. Rising\nin a snow bank six thousand feet above, its route marked by a streak of\nfoam, sometimes falling in spray hundreds of feet, then hiding behind a\ncliff, to burst forth in snow-white \"chute,\" augmented by similar streams\nfrom lateral canyons, it plunges into the lake with a perfect delirium of\nmotion. So great is the erosion that were not the lake of enormous depth,\nit would soon be filled with the jetsam and flotsam of the hills.\n\nThe sunset effects looking up the lake from Railroad Creek are marvellous,\nthough, alas, the cool black and white of the photograph cannot preserve\nthe wealth of colouring, \"the illumination of all gems,\" which for a few\ntranscendent moments fills the mighty canyon \"bank-full\" with such radiance\nthat one might think it the grand gathering place of all the rainbows of\nearth. The light greens and blues of the shallower water shade into\ndeepest indigo toward the centre, reflecting the ever-changing hues of the\ncanyon walls, a deep, rich, and sombre purple on the shaded side, while on\nthe sun-lit side are poured forth upon the shaggy mountain slopes perfect\ninundations of orange, carmine, and saffron. From these floods of glory\nthere falls into the lake a seeming rain of pearls and rubies, barred with\nstripes of gold and crimson. But the sun drops lower and the splendour\nfades, the conflagration of the sky is quenched, and it seems as though\nten thousand ships, \"all decked with funeral scarfs from stem to stern,\"\nwere putting out from the glooming western shores, strewing darkness as\nthey move,--and night is at hand.\n\n[Illustration: Gorge of Chelan River, the Outlet of Lake Chelan. Photo. by\nT. W. Tolman, Spokane.]\n\nLike all travellers to Lake Chelan, we must make a journey to the head of\nthe lake, to the Stehekin River, and to Rainbow Falls. The view up the\ncanyon of the Stehekin is the crowning glory of this panorama of\nsublimities. A forest of almost tropical luxuriance covers the morass\nthrough which the impetuous river makes its way. On either side tower the\ncanyon walls, capped with snow. The background consists of glittering\npinnacles of some of the Glacier Range. Majesty, might, elemental force,\neternity,--such are the only words to express the emotions excited by this\nscene.\n\nOne curious thing to be seen at the mouth of the Stehekin, and at several\nother places on the lake is a series of rude drawings on the smooth,\nwhite surface of the granite bluff, the work of some prehistoric artist,\nunknown to the Indians, and of so ancient date that the lake is now twenty\nfeet below their level. The drawings are of men, goats, tents, and trees,\nand are in strong red colours, of some very enduring nature. One is\nashamed to record that alleged human beings in the form of white tourists\nhave used these curious relics of bygone days as targets to shoot at from\ntheir boats, and have ruined some of the finest. Also that some vandal has\ndesecrated the place by painting a glaring advertisement of his ferry\nunderneath.\n\nAlthough it may well seem to the tourist who has attained the head of Lake\nChelan that nature has reached her acme of grandeur, and that it would tax\nhis powers of belief to be informed that there is grander yet, we shall\nrun the risk of saying just that, and bid him join us on side journeys up\nthe mighty canyons of the Stehekin River and Railroad Creek. Lake Chelan\nbeing, as already indicated, in the very heart of the Cascade Mountains,\nand these mountains here attaining an average elevation of seven or eight\nthousand feet, with dozens of peaks of ten thousand or more, and the\ncountless impetuous streams from those snowy heights having cut their way\ndeep down toward the lake level, it follows as a matter of course that the\nentire Chelan region, for an area of probably ten thousand square miles,\nis perfectly gridironed with canyons. Many of them have never been explored\nor even entered. In them are myriads of lakes, waterfalls, parks,\nglaciers, and, in fact, every species of mountain attraction. There is no\nquestion that within this vast cordon of mountains there are more\nglaciers than in all the rest of the United States combined, and, with the\nexception of the Sierras and the Canadian Rockies, there is certainly no\nother region on this continent that can for a moment enter into\ncompetition with it. Travellers have assured the author that the Alps in\nno respect except historical association, surpass, and some say, do not\nequal this crowning glory of our great North-west State.\n\n[Illustration: Head of Lake Chelan--Looking up Stehekin Canyon. Photo. by\nW. D. Lyman.]\n\nAmid the bewildering profusion of great canyons radiating from the lake,\nthe two most accessible are those of the Stehekin River and Railroad\nCreek. The former enters the head of the lake, after a course of probably\nfifty miles from Skagit Pass. To ascend this canyon we must commit our\nlives and fortunes to cayuse ponies and a mountain trail, which, though\ngood enough to the initiated, is a terror to the \"tenderfoot.\"\n\nFour miles up the Stehekin we reach Rainbow Falls, heralded by distant\ngusts and eddies of mist, which at first seem to be from woods on fire.\nBut a dull roar, a harsh rumble, then a lighter splash,--and we see that\nwhat at first had seemed smoke eddying out of the canyon wall is the mist\ndriven before the gusts created by the falling torrents. With a few more\nhurried steps we find ourselves before a fall three hundred and fifty feet\nhigh. Its clouds of spray swirl like a thunder-shower, drenching the rocks\nand trees far around. Picking our way amid the pelting mist to the top of\na slippery hillock from which we can look right down into the very heart\nof the fall, we see, swinging against the mist, a perfect rainbow, a\ncomplete double circle, a blaze of lustre. The thrilling roar deepens as\nwe hang over the slippery verge, and sounds like voices, trampling of\narmies, clatter of innumerable hoofs, rattling of artillery, all the\ngrandeur and frenzy of conflict, seem to rise from that wild gorge. Now\nthe mist eddies forth and blurs the vision, and then falls back, and that\ndazzling bow hangs there unmarred. The bridge of Iris or Heimdall, we\nsay,--but no; it is no more a bridge, it is a perfect circle, the symbol\nof eternity. The symbol also of peace, for eternity is peace. That\nmist-hung bow becomes to us an emblem of the harmony of all jarring sounds\nand discordant forces. And so with that bow of peace swaying behind us,\nand the deep thunder fading in musical diminuendo, we pass on to the next\nwonder; and this is not far, for every mile brings its special revelation.\n\nTime forbids that we pause for more than one added scene on the Stehekin,\nand this is the Horseshoe Basin, thirty miles up the river. This is in the\nupper canyon. Imagine yourself perched upon a granite pinnacle, looking\npossibly a little anxiously for bear in the thick copses at its bases, for\nthis is said to be the greatest bear region in the country, but soon\nlifting your eyes to the heights on either side. Six thousand feet deep is\nthat stupendous gorge. On the south side you see the \"castled crags,\"\nglacier-crested, while on the north, Horseshoe Basin stands revealed. A\nlong line of dark-red minarets, at whose foot stretches two miles of\nglistening and twisted ice, then below that a great terrace, vivid green\nwith spring foliage, and over it falling a perfect symposium of\nwaterfalls, if we may be allowed such an expression. Twenty-one falls and\ncataracts all in one view. They vary in descent from two hundred to two\nthousand feet. Joining at the foot of the terrace in one foaming torrent\nthe waters of the Basin plunge in one fall of two hundred feet, thence\npass under a snow tunnel and down a rocky chute swept clean by the flood\nto augment the already raging waters of the Stehekin. The Horseshoe Basin,\nthough not grander, not so sublimely terrible, in fact, as some other\nscenes in the canyon, has that indescribable look of perfectness which\nbelongs to the immortal works of nature and art. It has a symmetry of form\nand colour beyond any other in the entire region. The dark-red minarets\nwhich form the outer escarpment, ten thousand feet above sea-level, form a\nmarvellous contrast and yet harmony with the green and blue and white of\nthe glacier and the snow-field, and this in turn is margined with the\ndeep-green and olive hues of the lower terrace, while joining and unifying\nall is the flashing and opalescent splendour of the cataracts.\n\n[Illustration: Cascade Pass at Head of Stehekin River, Wash. Photo. by T.\nW. Tolman, Spokane.]\n\nAt the mouth of the Horseshoe Creek, lodged on a little rocky island, is a\nshattered cabin. We camp near this, and while we are engaged in preparing\nan appetising meal of fish and venison, a grizzled prospector appears\ncoming down the trail. After the manner of the mountains, he makes himself\nat home and camps with us for the night. In the course of his conversation\nhe narrates many stories of this wild region and of the prospecting and\nhunting adventures that have happened in it. Finally he tells us the story\nof the lost cabin, a story that certainly contains all the elements of a\nromance. It appears that some years ago two young fellows from the East,\ncousins, had come to the Stehekin to prospect. The old man who told us the\nstory was then the only prospector in the canyon, and he soon made friends\nwith the two adventurers. From broken pieces of conversation and finally\nsome confidences on the part of one of the boys, he learned something of\ntheir story. They had been bosom friends all their lives, but had fallen\nin love with the same girl. The poor girl, not knowing which she did like\nbest, told them that the only thing was for both to leave her for two\nyears, and at the end of the time she would decide in favour of the one\nthat had showed himself the braver and more successful man. Each kept his\ndestination a perfect secret, but to their astonishment, within a month\nafter, they found each other in Spokane. They concluded that it was the\nappointment of fate, and so went together to the wild country of Chelan,\nto seek a fortune.\n\nAfter they had been there a short time they found a mutual distrust\nspringing up, and finally, by the advice of the old man, they agreed to\nseparate. George was to stay below. He was the more sullen and selfish of\nthe two, and it was due to him that they had fallen out. Harry was of a\nfrank and generous nature, and when it became evident that they must part\nhe insisted that he should help build a cabin for George. And the cabin\nthat they built was the very one that we now saw lodged against the rocks.\nHarry went up the canyon toward the Skagit Pass, and there in the lonely\ngrandeur of the glaciers he plied his pick and shovel.\n\nA few months later there came a mighty Chinook, the warm wind of the\nCascades, which strips the peaks of snow within a day, transforms the\ncreeks into raging torrents, and sends floods down every dry gulch. The\nnight after the wind began to blow the old miner came to George's cabin,\nand in the intense darkness of the cloudy night they listened to the\nhurtling of the storm and the roar of the rapidly growing river. About\nmidnight there came suddenly a succession of rifle shots near at hand, and\nin a few minutes a thunder and roar of water beyond anything that they had\nheard. Rushing out they saw that the water was already surrounding the\ncabin and they had to run in the darkness for their lives. Stumbling among\nthe rocks they reached at last land high enough for safety, while the\nfloods went tearing by. With the first light they looked out to see that\nthe cabin had gone adrift, but sadder to tell, they soon found Harry,\nmangled, tortured, at the point of death, just strong enough to tell them\nthat from his situation he had seen that a fearful flood was coming and he\nwas trying to save George. But he had fallen in the darkness and crashed\nupon the rocks, and even in his suffering he had fired his rifle as a\nwarning, hoping that it might be heard and save, and so it did. And the\nfaithful fellow died content. \"We tell the tale as it was told us.\" But\nthe poor old wreck of a cabin took on something of a new significance as\nit leaned up against the rocks, while the restless river sobbed and\nfrothed about it.\n\n[Illustration: Doubtful Lake, Cascade Range, Washington, near Lake Chelan.\nPhoto. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.]\n\nThere is great strife among the Chelan people as to which is the grander\nsection, the Stehekin or Railroad Creek. As a matter of fact, both are so\nsuperlatively magnificent that whichever place one is in, that he thinks\nthe finer. But there is one feature of the case, and this is that the\ngrandest part of Railroad Creek is seldom visited. Few have ever been to\nGlacier Lake, North Star Park, and Cloudy Pass, at the extreme head of\nthe creek, and these are the central features of the scenery. They are\nabout twenty-five miles from Lake Chelan, and the road and trail are\nmainly good, so that the journey to the head of the creek and return can\nbe made very comfortably in four days.\n\nNeither words nor pictures are adequate to convey any true conception of\nGlacier Lake and its surroundings. Imagine a park of four or five thousand\nacres, set with grass and flowers, filled with ice-cold streams of water\nclear as crystal, and dotted here and there with trees of the most\nexquisite beauty. On every side except the one down which the creek\ndescends, stupendous, glacier-crowned, and pinnacled peaks penetrate the\nblue-black sky at an elevation of ten or eleven thousand feet. At the\nsouth side of the park lies Glacier Lake, a mile long and half as wide,\nmargined with vivid grass, brilliant flowers, and trees of the Alpine\ntype, clear as crystal, unless darkened by some sudden scud from the\nheights. At the southern end of the lake is a bold bluff of five hundred\nfeet, over which fall the waters of Railroad Creek, a white band across\nthe darkness of the bluff. Above may be seen the source of this stream. It\nissues from a smaller lake, which lies in the very end of a vast glacier,\na mass of ice two miles wide and about four miles long.\n\nPassing west of Glacier Lake through the enchanted North Star Park, a\nveritable land of Beulah (at least when the sun is shining), we climb a\nthousand or twelve hundred feet higher, and find ourselves at one of those\nthrilling points in the mountains, a \"divide.\" We are on the crest of the\nCascade Mountains. To the east the water flows to Lake Chelan, thence to\nthe Columbia, and thence to the Pacific by a journey of six hundred miles.\nTo the west the water descends through the Sauk and the Skagit to Puget\nSound, only a hundred and fifty miles away. This pass is almost always\nwrapped in clouds, and it is fittingly known as Cloudy Pass. The masses of\nwarm vapour rising from the Pacific are hurled against the icy crowns of\nGlacier Peak, Mt. Nixon, Mt. Le Conte, North Star Peak, Bonanza Peak, and\nthe rest of the wintry brotherhood, most not yet even named, and make of\nthem a genuine \"_patriam nimborum_,\" in Virgil's phrase.\n\n[Illustration: Horseshoe Basin through a Rock Gap, Stehekin Canyon. Photo.\nby T. W. Tolman.]\n\nThis is the breeding place of tempests. We had just reached the pass on\none occasion, with a smiling sky below, and were just getting our cameras\nready to catch the westward maze of peaks, when almost instantly there\nbegan to wheel and whirl above us great cloud-masses, seemingly from\nnowhere, formed right there, in fact, and before we had time to think, we\nwere wrapped in a furious blizzard. With difficulty, benumbed, drenched,\nand exhausted, we managed to pick our way to camp, four miles below. This\nwas in the early part of August. To be caught in a Chelan snowstorm is a\nserious matter at any time, and later in the year, may be all a man's life\nis worth.\n\nBut the greatest sight, the crowning feature, of all this panorama of\nsublimities is Glacier Peak seen from Cloudy Pass. This is pre-eminently\nthe storm-king, the \"Cloud-Compeller\" (_Nephelegereta_, in the sounding\nword of Homer), and rarely can one catch an unobstructed view of its\nglistening cone. After much watching and waiting we caught the base and\npart of the double crown of the mighty mass. Glacier Peak is the \"Great\nUnknown\" among our Washington peaks. Every one has heard of Rainier, most\npeople know of Adams, St. Helens, Baker, and Stewart, but Glacier Peak,\nalone in its solitary grandeur, not visible from the cities or routes of\ntravel, is little known even to the people of the State. As its name\ndenotes, it is the centre of a vast glacial system. To any tourist with a\ntaste for adventure, Glacier Peak affords the finest field, while it\noffers an almost untouched mark for the scientist.\n\n[Illustration: Lake Chelan. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nIn the Land of Wheat-field, Orchard, and Garden\n\n    Increasing Population and Cultivation as we go South--Chelan and\n    Wenatchee Orchards--The Wheat-plains East of Wenatchee to\n    Spokane--Spokane, the Metropolis of the Inland Empire--The Falls and\n    their Power--Interesting Points in and around Spokane--The Palouse\n    Farming Country--Snake River and its Orchards--Vast Irrigating\n    Enterprises of the Upper Snake--Shoshone Falls--Walla Walla--Waiilatpu\n    and Whitman Monument--Whitman College--Pendleton and its Wheat-fields\n    and Historical Characters--Wallowa Lake--From Wenatchee to Priest\n    Rapids--Origin of Name of Priest Rapids--Irrigating Enterprises below\n    Priest Rapids--By Steamboat from Priest Rapids to Pasco--The Yakima\n    Valley, its Fruits and Towns--Pasco and Kennewick and the Meeting of\n    the Waters--Prospects of the Future for the Irrigable Country--From\n    Pasco to Celilo--The Umatilla Palisades--Umatilla Rapids--Tumwater\n    Falls--The Canal and Locks at Celilo--What Will be Accomplished by\n    them for the Inland Empire--The Dalles--Its Historic Interest--Its\n    Wool Business, its Horticultural and Agricultural Resources, its\n    Scenery.\n\n\nOur journey on the River thus far has been mainly in those sections where\nscenery is the greatest product, and where the country, scantily\ninhabited, has almost as primitive an appearance as when the gay songs of\nthe _voyageurs_ raised the echoes against the rock-walls of the lakes,\nwhile paddles and bateau-prows started correspondent ripples on the clear\nsurface.\n\nBut as we proceed southward into the State of Washington, we find more\nand more evidences of cultivation and inhabitancy. At the mouths of the\nstreams and on the frequent \"benches\" and islands, orchards and gardens\nattest the enterprise and patience of the settlers. Around the lower end\nof Lake Chelan the big red apple, luscious peaches, plethoric pears, huge\nbunches of grapes, like the grapes of Eschol, make a picture of\nfruitfulness and delight. When we reach Wenatchee on the Columbia,--a\nriver, a lake, and a town of the same name, meaning in the native tongue\nthe \"butterfly,\"--we find ourselves in the uppermost of those belts of\nfruit land which have made the River so famous. As we stroll through these\nmodel orchards and vines and berry patches and gardens, and see the\nwonders wrought on the arid soil by the life-giving waters of the\nWenatchee, we are almost ready to join the throng that are continually\naccepting the invitation to \"be independent on ten acres of land and find\nhealth, wealth, and happiness in Wenatchee.\" In truth, these irrigated\nlands are marvels of productiveness. The valley of the Wenatchee is small,\nand not over twelve thousand acres are yet in productive bearing; but in\n1907 not less than five hundred carloads of fruit and vegetables were\nshipped.\n\nLike all the irrigated regions, Wenatchee is a place of pleasant homes,\ngood schools and social advantages, and all the accompaniments of the\nfinest type of genuine, whole-souled, ambitious Americanism. At Wenatchee\nwe are on the main line of the Great Northern Railroad, and by it we can\ngo west through the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound, or east to Spokane.\nWe must return again to Wenatchee in order to resume our journey down\nthe River, but we will first turn eastward and make a tour of the great\n\"Inland Empire\" of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.\n\n[Illustration: A Harvest Outfit, Dayton, Wash. _Sunset Magazine._]\n\n[Illustration: A Combined Harvester, near Walla Walla. Photo. by W. D.\nChapman.]\n\nOne must necessarily visit Spokane on a journey through the great wheat\ncountry. Spokane, the metropolis and the pride of Eastern Washington, is a\nwonder to the Eastern tourist. Such a city, over one hundred thousand\npeople, with costly brick and stone buildings, four, six, ten stories\nhigh, impressive public buildings, schools, churches, hotels, hundred-foot\navenues well-paved, private dwellings of architectural excellence,--and\nhardly a soul there thirty years ago!\n\nA grand spectacle the falls offered the eye in old Spokane, but now, alas,\nso cribbed and cabined is the noble stream by the march of industrial and\nelectrical power that its wild energy is well-nigh gone except at the\nhighest water. The total fall in the Spokane River is one hundred and\nforty-six feet, and the horse-power capacity at low water is forty\nthousand, at high water over half a million.\n\nMany points of interest must be hastily passed. The author feels great\nreluctance to omit a visit to the State College of Washington at Pullman,\nand the University of Idaho at Moscow. There are also historic spots, as\none at Rosalia where a monument has recently been erected in commemoration\nof the Steptoe defeat in 1858, and the site of the first church in Eastern\nWashington on Walker's Prairie, where Eells and Walker started a mission\nfor the Spokane Indians in 1838. There is also at the junction of the\nSpokane and Little Spokane, the site of Spokane House, a post of the\nHudson's Bay Company, started in 1811. One might also well desire to visit\nthe location of the old Spokane Bridge, where Colonel Wright crushed\nforever the pride and power of the Spokanes by killing eight hundred of\ntheir choicest horses.\n\nOn whatever side viewed, either past or present, or in the forecast of the\nfuture, Spokane is worthy of careful study. Its extensive railroad system\nand its network of electric lines reaching the many lakes, garden and\nfruit tracts, and rapidly developing suburbs, are concentrating the\ninterests of a vast and wealthy region. But there are other cities to see\nand other boomers to hear and other bright futures to forecast, and so we\nturn our faces southward on the line of the O. R. & N. Railway, passing\nthrough vale after vale between the swelling prairies, with wheat, wheat,\nwheat, oats, oats, oats, hay, hay, hay, cattle, horses, hogs, apple trees,\nand sugar beets, elegant farmhouses on the knolls and spacious barns in\nthe hollows,--the great Palouse farming country, one of the most\nproductive in the world. Whitman County has produced eight million bushels\nof wheat in a season, besides vast quantities of other products.\n\nA hundred and forty miles from Spokane the great wheat plateau is broken\nby the profound abyss of Snake River. Dark, turbid, sullen, not so\nbeautiful as the northern branches flowing out of the lakes, this largest\nof all the tributaries of the River goes on its swift and treacherous\ncourse to the union with the Columbia. Snake River is famous for its\norchards. Almota, Penewawa, Alpowa, Kelly's Bar, Clarkston, Asotin, are\nthe most prominent among many points where the cherries, peaches,\nnectarines, apricots, berries, grapes, go out by the carload and\nsteamerload, earlier than anywhere else except on the banks of the\nColumbia itself, to all parts of the West and even at times to Chicago and\nNew York. The region of these enormously productive fruit ranches is a\nnarrow ribbon of fertile land at the bottom of a canyon fifteen hundred\nfeet deep. Hot? Yes, hot! They say the mercury sometimes boils out of the\ntop of the thermometer. But heat and water and good soil make the rich\njuice and bright cheeks of the peach and nectarine. Hundreds of miles up\nSnake River in the wide expanses of Southern Idaho the waters are being\ndiverted for some of the largest irrigation enterprises on earth. There\nthe Twin Falls canal, one hundred feet wide and deep enough for a\nsteamboat, conveys the water to two hundred and eighty thousand acres of\nland. The Minidoka canal covers almost as much. That part of the Snake\nRiver Valley, three hundred miles long by fifty miles wide, will ere long\ncount its inhabitants by the million.\n\n[Illustration: Inland Empire System's Power Plant, near Spokane, 20,000\nHorse-Power. Photo. by T. W. Tolman.]\n\n[Illustration: Lower Spokane Falls. Photo. by T. W. Tolman.]\n\nNo one could consider that he had really seen Snake River unless he had\nvisited the Great Shoshone Falls, or \"Pahchulaka.\" This sublime\nmanifestation of nature's power is about forty miles from the town of\nShoshone on the Oregon Short Line. The total descent is nearly three\nhundred feet, of which eighty consists of cataracts and chutes broken by\nrocky islands, while the entire stream unites in the one final plunge of\ntwo hundred and twelve feet. It is ten hundred and fifty feet wide, and\nthe walls of basaltic rock rise perpendicularly a thousand feet. Niagara\nis the only waterfall on the American continent that can be compared with\nShoshone. Niagara is much wider but not so high. Its banks are tame,\nwhile those of Shoshone are wildly sublime.\n\nThe spectres of history rise up at every stage of a journey along Snake\nRiver. But we cannot pause. We pass on from the crossing of Snake River\nand soon find ourselves approaching Walla Walla. This is the most historic\ncity of the Inland Empire and the oldest of the entire State of\nWashington, with the exception of Vancouver. The pleasant-sounding name\nsignifies in the native tongue \"Many Waters,\" though more literally, as\nthe author has been told by an old Cayuse Indian, \"Place where four creeks\nmeet.\" The city of Walla Walla is thirty-two miles from the Columbia River\nin the midst of a broad and fertile valley, through which dozens of clear\nrivulets issuing from springs make their way through the birches and\ncottonwoods. The warm climate, rich soil, and abundant water, with\nmultitudes of trees, give the \"Garden City\" an appearance of almost\ntropical luxuriance. On all sides for many miles stretch the wheat-fields,\norchards, gardens, and alfalfa-fields. It is a land of plenty. It is\ncommonly said that Walla Walla has more automobiles, more bicycles, more\npianos, more flowers, and more pretty girls in proportion to population,\nthan any other town in the North-west.\n\nThe special historic interest of Walla Walla is found in the fact that it\nwas the location of the Whitman Mission and that the Whitman massacre took\nplace at the Mission Station, Waiilatpu, six miles from the city. That\nspot is now marked with a marble crypt in which the bones of the martyrs\nrest, and a plain but imposing granite shaft stands upon the crest of the\nhill just above.\n\n[Illustration: Canyon of the Stehekin, near Lake Chelan. Photo. by T. W.\nTolman.]\n\nA more living monument to the missionary is found in Whitman College. This\ninstitution, planned on the model of Amherst, Yale, and Williams, though\nco-educational, was founded by Rev. Cushing Eells in 1859 as an academy.\nIt was not till 1883 that college work was undertaken. During that period\nthe self-denying missionary and his family supported the infant\ninstitution by selling the products of their farm and devoting to it all\nexcept what was absolutely necessary for their own support. During years\nof slow, patient growth under very discouraging conditions, Whitman\nCollege has made friends East and West, and within the last few years it\nhas become equipped with buildings and general facilities of high grade.\nAn effort is now in progress, apparently sure of fulfilment, to raise two\nmillion dollars for buildings and general endowment. Walla Walla is\nbecoming peculiarly known as the educational centre and the home city of\nthe Inland Empire.\n\nFrom Walla Walla we take a flying trip through the continued wheat belt on\nthe Umatilla and its branches in Northern Oregon, a region similar to that\naround Walla Walla, rich and fruitful. Of this part of Oregon, Pendleton\non the Umatilla is the metropolis. The Umatilla Indian Reservation, one of\nthe most important in the history of this country, adjoins it. One of the\nmost interesting persons in North-west history, now deceased, lived at\nPendleton many years, Dr. William C. McKay, the son of Thomas McKay, and\ngrandson of Alexander McKay, the last named being that one of the Astor\ncompany who lost his life on the _Tonquin_. Dr. William McKay was a\nthree-quarter-blood Indian, but he was well educated and one of the most\ninteresting men in our history. Another noted man, still living in the\nprime of life, is Major Lee Moorehouse, famous in earlier times as an\nIndian fighter and agent, and more recently as one of the most successful\nstudents and photographers of Indian life. Some of his pictures have\ngained national fame, and the publishers of this volume are indebted to\nhis courtesy for their appearance here. Another interesting fact in\nconnection with Pendleton is that here the Pendleton Indian robes and\nblankets are manufactured, and these have borne the name of their home\nplace to all parts of the United States and even the world.\n\nWhile in this part of Oregon we must take advantage of the opportunity to\nvisit Lake Wallowa, with its tragic and pathetic memories of Indian war\nand early settlement and with its glorious scenery, almost equal to that\nof Chelan. Right over the lake, deep-set in precipitous mountain walls,\ntowers the battlemented crest of Eagle Cap, which the people of Wallowa\nnow declare to be the highest mountain in Oregon, 12,000 feet in\nelevation. Wallowa Lake is the veritable jewel of the Blue Mountains, a\nchain which, while not in general equal to the Cascades for height,\ngrandeur, and variety, possesses in the Wallowa Basin a group of\nattractions not surpassed in any part of the North-west.\n\n[Illustration: Memorial Building, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.\nPhoto. by W. D. Chapman.]\n\nAnd now we must retrace our course after this long detour through the\nproductive land bordering the tributaries of the River or we can in\nimagination fly on the wings of the south wind, which almost always blows\nacross the Inland Empire, and find ourselves again at Wenatchee in order\nto resume our interrupted journey down the River. From Wenatchee to the\nfoot of Priest Rapids, about sixty miles, there is no regular steamboat\ncommunication. We can, however, use the same means of transportation that\nwe have hitherto used so liberally, imagination, and upon that airy and\nconvenient ship we can descend the swift and tortuous stream. The fur\nbrigades used to trust themselves to the skill of their paddles and boldly\ndescend the rapids, seldom meeting with disaster. There are three\nprincipal rapids in this section of the River, Rock Island, Cabinet, and\nPriest. In the first the River is very narrow and split in sunder by\nragged pinnacles of basaltic rock. At first observation it looks a\nreckless thing to push a boat out into the white water whirling through\nthese fantastic points of rock. Yet a bateau or canoe skilfully handled\nwill plunge like a race-horse down the foaming stretch, and emerge below\nbow down with little water aboard and inmates intact. Steamboats have both\ndescended and ascended this rapid, though it is considered a somewhat\ndangerous performance. Cabinet Rapids are less picturesque and interesting\nthan Rock Island, but they offer even more serious obstacles to\nnavigation, the channel being narrow and the water shallow. The river has\ncut this part of its course through the great plateau, and its banks on\neither side are rocky walls a thousand feet high, with occasional sandy\nstretches, sad, barren, and monotonous. There is, in fact, not so much to\ncatch the eye or enlist the interest of the tourist (if he were here) in\nthis dismal expanse of rock and sand as there is either above or below. It\nis practically uninhabited. But as we proceed upon our way the banks fall\naway, wider expanses of land appear, and we discover an occasional band\nof cattle or a settler's hut on the generally bare, brown prairie. We are\nnow approaching the longest rapid and the most serious impediment to\nnavigation in the whole course of the River from Kettle Falls to Tumwater\nFalls. This is Priest Rapids. It is ten miles in length and represents a\ndescent in the River of seventy feet. It would certainly be impossible of\nnavigation by steamboats, were it not that the descent is distributed\nquite uniformly over the ten miles and the River in general is quite\nstraight and with a fair depth of water throughout. The old _voyageurs_\nhad little difficulty in racing down, and they seem to have usually\nascended by _cordelling_ their bateaux beside the rocks, and at some\nespecially difficult places by lightening the load and carrying around.\nSteamers have both ascended and descended, but it is so slow and tedious\n(on one occasion requiring a steamer three days to ascend the ten miles)\nthat it cannot be considered commercially navigable. It will doubtless\nbecome necessary to construct a canal and locks at this point to render\nthe River continuously and profitably navigable.\n\nAlexander Ross, in his _Adventures on the Columbia_, tells us how Priest\nRapids came to be named. The first expedition of the Pacific Fur Company,\nof which Ross was a member, was making its way from Astoria up the River\nin 1811, and had reached the lower end of this fall. While reconnoitring\nand making preparations for proceeding, a large body of Indians gathered,\nwatching operations with great interest. Among them was a fantastically\ndressed individual, with many feathers on his head, who was going\nthrough some kind of a performance which the explorers conceived to have\na religious significance. Considering him a priest, they named the rapids\nthus.\n\n[Illustration: Starting the Ploughs in the Wheat Land, Walla Walla, Wash.\nPhoto. by W. D. Chapman, Walla Walla.]\n\nThe country around Priest Rapids is barren and unpromising in its natural\nstate, but just below the foot of the rapids is one of the most\ninteresting irrigation projects in the State. Along the west side of the\nRiver for twenty-five miles extends a belt of the most fertile land. An\nimmense pumping plant run by electricity, which in turn is generated by\nthe current, has been put in at the foot of the rapids. By this the water\nis conducted over the twenty thousand or more acres of land available, and\nit is the expectation that within a few years a dense population will line\nthe river bank and repeat on a larger and finer scale the miracle of\nredemption by water already performed at various points on the River and\nits tributaries. Several town sites, of which the chief is Hanford, named\nfrom the president of the company, have already been laid out, and\ninvestments both in town property and orchard land are being rapidly made.\nThe same process of irrigating is becoming inaugurated at many points from\nHanford for a hundred and fifty miles down the River. It is plain to the\nobserver that it is but a question of time when the shores of the River in\nthis arid section will bloom and blossom like the rose, and repeat the\nhistory of Old Nile in massing of population and creation of cities and\ntowns. It has been estimated that there are about a million acres of\nirrigable land contiguous to the River between Chelan and The Dalles.\nSince from five to twenty acres of irrigated land are ample to maintain a\nfamily, and since cities and villages are bound to grow on such tracts\ncommensurate with their productive capacity, it seems probable that a\nmillion people will sometime live on this long belt of fertile soil\nredeemed by the River.\n\nThe beauty of irrigation on the Columbia is that it can be made to pump\nitself. For by taking advantage of such a fall as that of Priest Rapids (a\nhalf million horse-power at ordinary water), electric power can be\ngenerated by which limitless water can be raised sufficiently to cover any\ndesired amount of land. Some have expressed the opinion that this process\nwould exhaust the River, but this is hardly possible. For the great\ndemands are in June and July when the River is at its flood. It has been\nestimated that at low water the Columbia at Celilo discharges 125,000\ncubic feet per second, and at extreme high water, 1,600,000 cubic feet per\nsecond. Such a prodigious volume of water would be scarcely at all\naffected by any possible withdrawals.\n\nThe River from the foot of Priest Rapids is regularly navigated by several\nsteamers connecting the new lands and towns with Pasco, the railroad\ncentre seventy miles below. This section of the River is deep and\ntranquil, a superb watercourse. Below Hanford the River receives the\nYakima River, which is the important agent in the irrigation of the great\nYakima Valley. No one could say that he knew the Columbia River or the\nState of Washington without a visit to that valley, the largest in the\nState and the scene of the most extensive development in irrigated lands\nanywhere in the North-west. Three thousand carloads of fruit and\nvegetables were shipped from the Yakima in 1907. Buyers of Yakima fruits\ncome from all parts of the East, from England, and even from France.\nFortunes have been made in that fair land,--a fair land when supplied with\nwater, but an arid waste without it. The United States Government has\nacquired control of most of the water system of the Yakima, and by means\nof storage basins in the mountain lakes where the Yakima and its branches\nrise, will be able to supply water for over a million acres of land.\n\n[Illustration: On the Historic Walla Walla River. Photo. by W. D.\nChapman.]\n\nThe productive capacity of these fat lands when softened with an\nirrigating ditch and tickled with a hoe or cultivator is almost beyond\nbelief. In 1907 an orchardist in what is known as Parker Bottom in the\nYakima Valley raised on fifty-eight pear trees a crop of pears which was\nsold for over three thousand dollars. This statement is well attested,\nextraordinary as it sounds. It should be understood that such production\ndoes not represent an average yield. The trees were of large size and of\nthe choicest variety, while conditions of production, price, and sale were\nof the best. Yet similar records may be found in Wenatchee, Hood River,\nWalla Walla, and others of the fine fruit-producing regions of the\nColumbia Valley. A man in the Touchet Valley near Dayton, who had been for\ntwenty years a teacher at an average salary of a thousand a year, became\ndiscontented with his narrow conditions, and by making credit arrangements\nfor a rich body of land has devoted himself for some years to the\ndevelopment of an apple orchard. He has a hundred acres of trees, young\nand of choice varieties, from which in the year 1907 he sold thirty-four\nthousand boxes of fruit for approximately fifty thousand dollars.\n\nBut while we have been flying in imagination over the spacious valley of\nthe Yakima, our steamer has been speeding down the broad River, and we are\nnow within sight of a vast prairie stretching east and south, bounded on\nthe southern horizon by the azure wall, ridged with white, of the Blue\nMountains. To the east, this great plain melts into the sky. In fact it\nextends to the Bitter Root Mountains, a distance of over two hundred\nmiles. On the west bank of the River we see a narrower plain bounded by a\nsteep treeless ridge. On either bank we see taking shape before us houses\nand trees, while extended over the River, like threads of gossamer in the\ndistance, a bridge is outlined against the sky. We soon discover that we\nare near Pasco on the east bank and Kennewick on the west bank of the\nRiver. The bridge is that of the Northern Pacific and Spokane, Portland,\nand Seattle Railroads. A mile below the bridge the Snake River joins its\ngreater brother.\n\nThis point is the very hub of the Inland Empire. Here the two great rivers\nunite. Here steamboating on a vast scale will take place in the near\nfuture. As soon as the locks are placed in the River at Celilo, a hundred\nand thirty miles below, steamers can move freely to the ocean. Here three\ntranscontinental railroads pass, two down the River and one to Puget\nSound. Another is in process of construction to Puget Sound. Here a body\nof the richest soil, on both sides of both rivers, embracing at least a\nhundred and fifty thousand acres, waits only for water to bloom and yield\nas Wenatchee and Yakima have already done. Here the long, hot summer\ninsures the earliest production of any part of the North-west, and in\nearly production the profit is found.\n\n[Illustration: Blalock Fruit Ranch of a Thousand Acres at Walla Walla,\nWash. Photo. by W. D. Chapman.]\n\nIt is, in fact, obvious at a glance that here at the junction of the\nColumbia and Snake Rivers, at the crossings of the great railroads, and at\nthe point of the greatest area of irrigable land in one body, with every\nadvantage of soil, climate, and transportation, there is bound to be in\nthe near future a large city. Already on the west side of the Columbia the\nbeautiful little town of Kennewick, of three thousand inhabitants, where\nsix years ago the jack-rabbits, coyotes, and sage-hens held sway, shows\nwhat can be done with water. For at that point the first irrigating canal\nwas put through the waste, and the traveller can now see the results.\n\nOther irrigating enterprises are now in progress, and by the time the\nreaders of this volume come to descend the River in the splendid\nsteamboats which will sometime run through canals and locks the whole\nlength from Revelstoke to the ocean, there will be one of the most\nsplendid cities in the North-west at this meeting of the waters. Pasco is\nlikely to be the location of the big city. From Pasco there are steamers\nrunning to Celilo, conveying wheat. The traveller who desires to know the\nRiver from its surface should take passage on such a steamer. We see the\nsame characteristic features of the inauguration of irrigating enterprises\nfrom point to point, but mainly the shores are still uninhabited and\nbarren, and the River, mainly untouched by sail or steamer, sweeps on its\nswift course, as lonely as when Lewis and Clark first turned their canoe\nprows westward.\n\nAs we pass the desolate sand heaps near the disconsolate little old town\nof Wallula, we can recall the old Hudson's Bay fort, the Indian wars, the\nstruggle for possession, the missions, the incoming immigrants, all the\ntragedy and striving which marked the century just closed. Below Wallula\nthe Umatilla highlands throw a barrier eight hundred feet high athwart the\ncourse of the stream, and the bold escarpments of rock, palisades grander\nthan those of the Hudson, attest the energy with which the River fulfilled\nhis mission of cleaving the intercepting barrier in two. Below these\npalisades, a vast plain extends many miles on the south to where the\npurple line of the Blue Mountains cuts the horizon. On the margin of this\nplain the little town of Irrigon (where is published a paper with the\nalliterative title of the _Irrigon Irrigationist of Irrigon, Oregon_),\ngreen and flowery in the wide aridity, shows us again what part water\nplays in reclamation of land. Of similar interest is Blalock Island,\ncommemorating the name of Dr. N. G. Blalock of Walla Walla, whom the\nNorth-west honours as the father of great enterprises.\n\nWe pass several rapids on this section of the River, the chief of which\nare the Umatilla, John Day, and Hell-gate. These are somewhat serious\nimpediments to navigation at low water. The Umatilla Rapid presents the\ncurious feature of a reef extending almost directly across the River with\nthe channel running parallel to it and at right angles to the course of\nthe stream. Hence when the water is so low that the reef cannot be passed\ndirectly over, the steamer pilot must follow a channel running right\nacross the current, a current which tends to throw him broadside onto the\nreef. The Government is at present engaged in blasting a channel\ndirectly through this reef. The country becomes more rugged as we descend,\nand at various points, if the sky be clear, we can see the great peaks of\nthe Cascades to the west. Passing through the wild water of Hell-gate,\nwhere the steamer quivers as though great hands were reaching up from\nbelow and shaking her, we soon find ourselves at Celilo.\n\n[Illustration: Witch's Head, near Old Wishram Village. The Indian\nSuperstition Is that these Eyes will Follow Any Unfaithful Woman. By\nCourtesy of Major Lee Moorehouse.]\n\nThis is the beginning of the greatest series of obstructions on the River\nand the point where the Government is now constructing a canal, by means\nof which the entire upper course of the River will be brought into\nconnection with the lower. In the distance of twelve miles the River falls\neighty-one feet at low water and sixty feet at high water. The Tumwater\nFalls at the head of this series of obstructions has a descent of twenty\nfeet at low water, but at high water the volume of the River is so great\nthat it passes directly over the fall and a boat can shoot over the steep\nslope. Here was one of the most famous places in early history. On the\nnorth side was the Wishram village, noted in Irving's _Astoria_. This,\ntoo, was the greatest place for fishing on the upper River. Even now the\nIndians gather in autumn in great numbers and can be seen spearing the\nsalmon. Several immense fish-wheels also can be seen upon the verge of the\nfalls.\n\nThe most remarkable of all these obstructions is Five-Mile Rapids. This is\nthe place to which in the first place the French _voyageurs_ applied the\nname _Dalles_, meaning a trough through the flat plates of rock. It is\nsometimes called the \"Big Chute.\"\n\nIt is planned by the Government to overcome these obstructions by a canal\nand locks. The expense is estimated at four and a half million dollars.\nThe resulting advantages will be vast. The greater part of the Inland\nEmpire will be thrown open to steamer competition with the railroads. The\nfreight tariff at the present time is heavier than in any other part of\nthe United States. If the productive capacity of the region were not\nextraordinary, it could not have developed as it has with such a handicap.\nIt is estimated that by the reduction of freight which will follow\nsteamboat navigation, the Inland Empire will save not less than two\nmillion dollars annually. In the tremendous movement now sweeping over our\ncountry to improve waterways, the Columbia will bear its part and receive\nits improvement. It will be a great day for the storied and scenic River\nof the West when some magnificent excursion steamer descends the thousand\nmiles from Revelstoke to the outer headlands. And with canals at Celilo,\nPriest Rapids, and Kettle Falls, with some improvements at minor points,\nat no immoderate expense, the thing can be done.\n\nAnd now we reach the city of The Dalles. The traveller will find this a\nplace hardly surpassed in historic interest by any other on the River. The\nold trading posts, the United States fort, the missions, the Indian wars,\nthe early immigrations, the steamboat enterprises, all unite to give rare\nvalue to this picturesque \"capital of the sheep country.\" For, aside from\nhistoric interest, The Dalles surpasses any other point in the United\nStates as a wool shipping station. It is now becoming also the centre of a\nfarming and orchard country. For it is now understood that the rolling\nhill land for many miles is adapted to wheat raising and to fruit of the\nfinest quality. If our visitors to the River should happen to be in The\nDalles in autumn they would find at the Wasco County Horticultural Fair\none of the most attractive and appetising displays of fruit that the whole\ncountry affords.\n\n[Illustration: Cabbage Rock, Four Miles North of The Dalles. Photo. by Lee\nMoorehouse, Pendleton.]\n\nThe scenery about The Dalles, with the majestic River, the great white\ncones of Hood and Adams, and wide sweeps of rolling prairie and hollowed\nhills, is noble and inspiring. It may be considered the gateway of the\nopen prairie to the east and the passage of the Cascade Mountains by the\nRiver to the west.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nWhere River and Mountain Meet, and the Traces of the Bridge of the Gods\n\n    The Most Unique Point yet on the River--River, Mountains, and\n    Tide--The Only Place where the Cascade Range is Cleft--Distant View of\n    Mt. Hood and Gradual Appearance of Lesser Heights--Limits of Region\n    where River and Mountain Meet--Geological Character of this\n    Region--Forces of Upheaval and Erosion and Volcano--We May Journey by\n    Rail, by Steamboat, Horseback, Waggon, or Afoot, but we Prefer a\n    Rowboat--Paha Cliffs--On the Track of Speelyei--Memaloose Island--Hood\n    River and White Salmon Valleys and their Fruit--Beginnings of the\n    Great Heights--The Sunken Forest--The Bridge of the Gods--Loowit,\n    Wiyeast, and Klickitat--Difference in Climate between the\n    East-of-the-Mountains and the West--Sheridan's Old Blockhouse--Passing\n    the Locks--Petrified Trees--Fish-wheels--Castle Rock--Ascent of Castle\n    Rock--Story of Wehatpolitan--St. Peter's Dome--Oneonta\n    Gorge--Multnomah Falls--Cape Horn--Getting out of the Mountains--Cape\n    Eternity and Rooster Rock--This Section of the Journey\n    Ended--Comparison of the River with Other Great Scenes.\n\n\nIn the long journey down our River we have had a panoramic view of\ntowering mountains and broad plains, foaming cataracts and tranquil lakes,\nfruitful valleys and volcanic desolations, growing cities and lonely\nwastes. All illustrate that infinite variety of the River which imparts\nits unrivalled charm.\n\nBut now we are approaching a point which is unique even in the midst of\nthe unique, varied in never-ending variety, sublime even in almost\ncontinuous sublimity, singular even upon our most singular River. This\nplace is where the mountains and the River meet. By mountains we mean the\ngreat chain of the Cascades, which under various names parallels the\nPacific Coast all the way from Alaska to Southern California. But not only\ndo mountains and River meet here, but the ocean sends his greetings, for\nat the lower end of the rapids which here mark the gateway of the\nmountains, the first pulse-beat of the Pacific, the first throb of the\ntide, is discernible, though it is a hundred and sixty miles farther to\nwhere the River is lost in that greatest of the oceans. River, Mountains,\nOcean,--a very symposium of sublimities.\n\n[Illustration: Eagle Rock, just above Shoshone Falls in Snake River.\nPhoto. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\nThere is, too, another especially interesting feature of this spot, and\nthat is, it is the only place for twelve hundred miles where the\nCascade-Sierra Range is cleft asunder. In fact it is the only place in the\nentire extent of the range where it is cut squarely across. This fact\nimparts not only scenic interest, but commercial value. It is the only\nwater-level route from the seacoast to the Inland Empire.\n\nThe place where River and mountains meet had been heralded to us long\nbefore we reached it. For as we passed the plains of the Umatilla we got\nan intimation of the mountain majesty which we were approaching.\nClear-limned against the south-western horizon, a glistening cone,\ncold-white in the earliest morning, rosy-red with the rising dawn, and\nwarm with the yellow halo of noon, fixes our eyes and bids us realise that\nfrom the far vision of a hundred miles we can see and worship at the\nshrine of Oregon's noblest and most historic peak, Mt. Hood. As we speed\non down the current we begin to see long lines of lesser peaks rising to\nthe westward. The prairies of the Umatilla have been succeeded by\npicturesque bare hills, and these by ragged palisades of columnar basalt,\nwith higher hills yet, crowned with gnarled oak-trees. Of the wheat-fields\nand orchards and sheep ranges centring at The Dalles, we have already\nspoken, and we have paused at Celilo and gazed on the historic \"Timm,\" or\nthe Tumwater Falls, and the \"Big Chute,\" observing especially the\nGovernment canal and locks now started, from whose completion such vast\ncommercial possibilities are plainly foreshadowed. Our present quest is\ntherefore yet farther on, to the gateway of the mountains. This is found\nat the \"Cascade Locks,\" fifty miles below Dalles City. The section of\nriver which we have styled \"Where River and Mountain Meet\" may be\nconsidered as extending from the mouth of the Klickitat River, a few miles\nwest of Dalles City, to Rooster Rock, about thirty miles east of\nVancouver. The distance between these points is about fifty miles, and\nthrough this space we may see all the evidences of a titanic struggle\nbetween the master forces of fire and water and upheaval. As we descend\nthe majestic stream with the majestic banks on either hand and mark the\napparent ancient water-marks hundreds of feet above our heads, we recall\nthe Indian myth of Wishpoosh in an earlier chapter. The opinion of\ngeologists in regard to this extraordinary passageway of the River is that\nit represents ages of gradual elevation of the mountain chain and a\ncotemporary erosion by the River, so that as the heights became higher,\nthe river bed became deeper. The one-time shore slowly mounted skyward,\nand as the new upheavals rose from the ocean deeps the lines of erosion\nwere in turn wrought on them, and river shore succeeded river shore\nthrough long ages. With these fundamental forces of upheaval and erosion\nthere were eras of local seismic and volcanic activity, more cataclysmic\nin nature, from which there came the magnificent pillars of columnar\nbasalt and the first trenching of the profound chasms which subsequent\nlateral streams carved through the rising base of the great range.\n\n[Illustration: Stehekin Canyon, 5000 Feet Deep. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\nTo view this great picture gallery of history and physiography, we may\nhave the choice of nearly every method of travel, horseback, afoot, by\nteam (though the waggon roads are not continuous), or by train, on either\nbank. The river himself offers his broad back for any kind of craft.\nSeveral swift and elegant steamers make daily trips between Portland and\nThe Dalles, passing through the Government canal and lock at the Cascades.\nLaunches, scows, sailing craft of almost every kind, are in constant\nmovement, loaded with every sort of commodity. Of all the means of\ntransit, however, we will, if you please, float down the stately stream in\nour well-tried skiff. Independent as the Coyote god Speelyei when he used\nto pass up and down the river, transforming presumptuous beasts or mortals\ninto rock at will, we will drift with the current, partaking of the very\nlife of the rich and multifarious nature about us. We can pause as we wish\non jutting crag or fir-crowned promontory or at the foot of spouting\ncataract. We can camp for the night beneath some wide-spreading pine, and\nbreathe the balsamic fragrance of the \"continuous woods.\" We can trace the\nhistoric stages of bateaux or canoes or immigrant flatboats, and open and\nshut the camera at will amid the open volumes of our heroic age of\ndiscovery and settlement, or the yet vaster and grander epoch of Nature's\ncreative day. No palace car or even floating palace of steamer for us when\nwe can have two or three days of such unalloyed bliss in an open skiff\nmoving at our own sweet will.\n\nWe shall find here a marked change in the movement of the river as\ncompared with its prevailing character in the five hundred miles from the\nBritish line to The Dalles. The impetuous might above has become\ntransformed into a slow and stately majesty. With the exception of the\nfive miles at the Cascades round which the canal passes, the river below\nThe Dalles is deep and calm, seldom less than a mile in width.\n\nOf the almost numberless objects at which we level eye and camera, we can\nhere describe but few.\n\nA fitting introduction to this stage of our journey is found in Paha\nCliffs at the mouth of the Klickitat, a perpendicular bastion of lava\nrock, not remarkable for height, but of such regularity and symmetry as to\nseem the work of men's hands. A short distance below the Paha Cliffs, also\non the Washington side of the river, is a most singular semicircular wall\nof gigantic area, surrounding on the west what seems to be an immense\nsunken enclosure. The Indians have a story to the effect that once\nSpeelyei, being on his way up the river before this wall existed, paused\nhere to perform some unworthy deed (for Speelyei was a curious mixture of\nthe noble and the base). Having done the deed, he began to fear that it\nwould become known. So he hurriedly built a wall to keep in the report.\nBut while he was engaged in building on the west, the report got out on\nthe east. The wall that we now see is the remains of his building. Of a\nsimilar order of Indian fancy is the \"Baby-on-the-Board\" and the \"Coyote\nHead\" farther down the river, also on the north side. The Coyote Head is\nnear White Salmon. It commemorates the transformation of a presumptuous\nKlickitat chief who wished to proclaim himself equal to Speelyei, so he\ncrowned himself with a coyote skin and took his station on the great rock\nwall above the mouth of the White Salmon. And there he remains still, for\nSpeelyei with a wave of the hand transformed the offending chieftain into\nrock.\n\n[Illustration: Steamer _Dalles City_ Descending the Cascades of the\nColumbia.]\n\nA few miles below the mouth of the Klickitat, there stands in mid-channel\none of the most curious and interesting objects on the river, \"Memaloose\nIsland.\" This desolate islet of basalt was one of the most noted of the\nfrequent \"death\" or burial places of the Indians. They were accustomed to\nbuild platforms and place the dead upon them. Apparently this island was\nused for its gruesome purpose for centuries. A large white marble monument\nfacing the south attracts the attention of all travellers, and as we pass\nwe see that it is sacred to the memory of Vic Trevett. He was a prominent\npioneer of The Dalles, and in the course of his various experiences became\na special friend of the Indians, who looked upon him with such love and\nreverence that when his end approached he gave directions that his\npermanent burial-place and monument should be on the place sacred to his\naboriginal friends.\n\nWe have spoken of the region between the mouth of the Klickitat and\nRooster Rock as the mountain section of the river. But as we move on down\nthe stream we discover that there are numerous nooks and glens adjoining\nit which are the choicest locations for fruit and garden ranches. At a\npoint just about midway from The Dalles to the Cascades there is a\nremarkable break in the otherwise unbroken and constantly rising mountain\nwalls. This break constitutes one of the most charming residence regions\non the Columbia shores, and at the same time the avenue of approach to the\nmost magnificent of mountains. There are here two great valleys. One of\nthese is that of Hood River, better called by its musical Indian name\nWaukoma, \"The Place of Cottonwoods.\" It proceeds directly from the foot of\nMt. Hood, twenty-five miles distant to the south. The valley on the north\nbears a similar relation to Mt. Adams, forty miles distant, and is drained\nby the White Salmon River. From favourable points on the River, or from\nthe heights which border it, we obtain views of the two peaks which create\nan unappeasable longing to tread their crags and snow-fields. Though truly\nmountain valleys, these two valleys are of spacious extent. They are\nmoreover so richly provided with sun and water and all the ingredients of\nsoil necessary to produce the choicest fruit that they have become the\nvery paradise of the orchardist. The Hood River apples grace the tables of\nroyalty in the old world and delight the palates of epicures in both\nhemispheres, while to the eyes and the nostrils of any one of delicate\nsensibilities their colour and fragrance impart a still more aesthetic\ncharm.\n\nAs we pass on down the river from those two vales of beauty and plenty, we\nbegin to see the first of those lofty crags on either hand, the basaltic\npinnacles, turretted, spired, castellated, which make the distinguishing\nfeature of Columbia River scenery for these fifty miles. Mitchell's Point,\nShell Mountain, Wind Mountain, Bald Mountain, and Mt. Defiance are the\nfirst group. The lowest of the group attains an elevation of nearly two\nthousand feet, almost perpendicular, while at the summit of the crags rise\na thousand feet higher yet long grassy slopes alternating with splendid\nforests.\n\n[Illustration: Memaloose Island, Columbia River. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse.]\n\nAs we near the Cascades we note another curious phenomenon. This is the\nsunken forest on either side. At low water these old tree trunks become\nvery observable, and their general appearance suggests at once that they\nare the remains of a former forest submerged by a permanent rise in the\nriver. This explanation is confirmed by the fact that from The Dalles to\nthe Cascades the river is very deep and sluggish. When we reach the\nCascades a third fact is revealed and that is that at the chief cataract\nthe river bank is continually sliding into the river. Trees are thrown\ndown by this slow sliding process, railroad tracks require frequent\nadjustment, and on clear, still nights there is sometimes heard a grinding\nsound, while a tremor from the subterranean regions seems to indicate that\nthe upper stratum is sliding over the lower toward the river. In fact, the\nmighty force of the stream is all the time eating into the bank and\ngradually drawing it down.\n\nFrom those and other indications the conclusion has been drawn that some\nprodigious avalanche of rock at a not long distant time dammed the river\nat this point, creating the present Cascades and raising the water above\nso as to submerge the forest, whose remains now attract the attention of\nthe observer at the low stage of water.\n\nTo confirm this theory we have the Indian story of the \"tomanowas bridge,\"\nthe quaintest and most interesting of the long list of native myths.\n\nThe region around the old site of the \"Bridge of the Gods\" may be\nconsidered as the dividing line between the Inland Empire and the Coast\nRegion. Above, it is dry, sunny, breezy, and electrical, the land of\nwheat-field and sheep ranges, cow-boys and horses and mining camps. Below,\nit is cool, cloudy, still, and soft, the region of the clover and the\ndairy, the salmon cannery, the logging camp, and boats of every sort.\nAbove, the rocks look dry and hard, and glitter in the sun. Below, the\nrocks are draped in moss, and from every canyon and ledge there seems to\nissue a foaming torrent. It is, in truth, the meeting place of mountain\nand River.\n\nOn all sides around the Cascades there are objects of natural and historic\ninterest. Stupendous crags, often streaked with snow, lose themselves in\nthe scud of the ocean which is almost constantly flying eastward to be\nabsorbed in the more fervid sunshine of up-river. Perhaps the most\nimpressive of these vast heights is Table Mountain, on the north side of\nthe River, near the locks, said to have been one of the supports of the\n\"Bridge of the Gods.\" Its colours of saffron and crimson add to the\nsplendour and grandeur of its appearance. Just below the locks on the\nnorth side stood the old blockhouse built by a young lieutenant in 1856 as\na defence against the Klickitat Indians. The blockhouse is now in ruins,\nbut the name of its builder has been fairly well preserved, for it\nis--Phil Sheridan.\n\nThe total extent of the cataract at the Cascades is five miles and the\ndescent is about forty-five feet, of which half is at the upper end at the\npoint passed by the locks. We enter the locks in the wake of one of the\nsteamers, and in a few minutes find our craft emerging from the lower end\nof the massive structure into the white water which bears us swiftly down\nthe remaining part of the Cascades. It looks dangerous to commit an open\nboat to that sweeping current, but as a matter of fact the course of the\nriver is straight and deep, though swift, and it is entirely feasible for\nany one of reasonable skill to manage a small boat in the passageway to\nthe tranquil expanses below.\n\n[Illustration: Horseshoe Basin, near Lake Chelan, Wash. Photo. by T. W.\nTolman, Spokane.]\n\nAs we speed swiftly down the river, we note the little station of\nBonneville, named for the historic fur-trader whom the fascinating pages\nof Irving have brought down to this era. A short distance below Bonneville\nour eyes catch sight of a white sign-board bearing the words, \"Petrified\nTree.\" Sure enough, there is the tree, and a marvellously fine specimen of\nsilicification it is, too. When the railroad was built along the river\nbank at this point, the graders ran into a perfect forest of petrified\nwood. The logs and limbs were piled up by the cord near Bonneville, but\nthe larger part has been taken in various directions for cabinets and\nornaments.\n\nBut a short time is needed to fly down the Cascades, and at their lower\nend we reach what may be called the Lower River. For here a slight rise\nand fall of tide betokens the presence of the ocean. No more rapids on the\nRiver, but a tranquil, majestic flood, broadening like a sea toward its\nfinal destination, a hundred and sixty miles away.\n\nIf we were to describe in detail all the marvels of beauty and grandeur\nand physical interest which engage our attention at every stage of the\njourney, our volume would end with this chapter, for there would be no\nroom for anything more. One class of objects of curious interest to almost\nall travellers, though of no special charm to scientist or nature lover,\nis the fish-wheels at the Cascades. These are very ingenious contrivances\nset in the midst of a swift place in the stream and made to revolve by the\ncurrent. As they revolve, the huge vans dipping the water scoop up almost\nincredible numbers of the salmon which have made the Columbia famous the\nworld over. A weir is built to turn the fish from the outside course into\nthe channel of the wheel, with the result that numbers are taken almost\nbeyond belief, sometimes as high as eight tons a day by a single wheel.\nAnother picturesque sight, both at the Celilo Falls and the Cascades, is\nthe Indian fishermen perched upon the rocks and with spear and dip-net\nseeking to fill their larder with the noble salmon.\n\nBut now to contemplate the works of God and Nature rather than those of\nman. We must, as already seen, by the necessities of space, ask our\nreaders to share with us only the masterpieces of this gallery of wonders.\nProbably all visitors to the River would agree that the following scenes\nmost nearly express the spirit and character of the sublime whole: Castle\nRock, St. Peter's Dome, Oneonta Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Cape Horn, and\nRooster Rock. To these individual scenes we should add, as the very crown\nof all, the view at the lower Cascades both up and down the great gorge.\nWith the majestic heights, scarred with the tempests and the earthquakes\nof the ages, swathed in drifting clouds and oftentimes tipped with snow,\nand the shimmering of the River, and the answering grandeur of sky and\nforest,--this grouping of the whole is more inspiring than any one scene.\n\n[Illustration: Castle Rock, Columbia River. (Copyright by Kiser Photograph\nCo., 1902.)]\n\nThe first special object to fix our attention below the Cascades is Castle\nRock. It is an isolated cliff of basalt, nine hundred feet high, covering\nabout seventeen acres, its summit thinly clothed with stunted trees. It\nstands right on the verge of the River, nearly perpendicular on all sides,\nmarvellous for symmetry from every point of view. At first sight one gets\nno conception of its magnitude, for it is dwarfed by the stupendous\npinnacles, three thousand feet high, which compose the walls of the canyon.\nIt is said that some Eastern lady, seeing it from a steamer's deck,\nexclaimed, \"See that fine rock! I wish I had it in my back yard at home.\"\nBeing informed that she would have to find a pretty spacious back yard to\naccommodate an ornament covering seventeen acres, she was too much\nastonished to believe it. But to any one viewing it deliberately and from\nevery point of view, and especially landing, as we in our happy method of\ntravel can do, and going about its base, it becomes evident that Castle\nRock might be called a mountain in almost any other place. It was for a\nlong time regarded as an impossible thing to reach the summit. For some\nyears there was a standing offer of one thousand dollars for any one who\nwould place the Stars and Stripes on the summit. But no one took the dare.\nAt last in 1901, when the rivalry between two steamboat lines was keen,\nFrank Smith of the Regulator Line, with George Purser and Charles Church,\naccomplished the seemingly impossible, and, by ropes and staples and\nfingers and teeth and toenails, scaled the almost perpendicular walls, and\nunfurled the Regulator banner to the breeze where no flag ever flew\nbefore, nor human foot ever trod. It was probably the most risky climb\never taken in the North-west. A little later, by the aid of the experience\nof this party, several others attained the summit. Among these were George\nMaxwell, who set the Oregon Railway and Navigation flag as high as that of\nthe Regulator had gone, and two photographers, W. C. Staatz and George M.\nWeister. With them went a young lady, Lilian White, who, though she did\nnot reach the summit, went higher than any of her sex have gone. Later Mr.\nWhitney, manager of the great McGowan Cannery, went up and placed the\nStars and Stripes upon the top.\n\n[Illustration: The Lyman Glacier and Glacier Lake in North Star Park Near\nLake Chelan. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]\n\nWe said that no earlier human steps had trodden that beetling height and\nthat Miss White had gone higher than any of her sex. But if we accept the\nromantic Indian tale of Wehatpolitan, our statement needs correction. For\nthis story is to the following effect. Wehatpolitan was the beautiful\nchild of the principal chieftain in these parts. She loved and was loved\nby a young chief of a neighbouring tribe. But when she was sought by her\nlover in marriage, the stern father denied the request and killed the\nmessenger. But the lovers were secretly married and met clandestinely at\nvarious times. In course of time the father, thinking the infatuation of\nthe forbidden lovers to be at an end, gave Wehatpolitan to a chief whom he\nhad favoured. The latter kept constant watch of the girl, and one night he\nsaw her stealing steathily away, and tracking her he found the secret of\nher midnight wanderings. As soon as the new lover had imparted to the\nfather these tidings, the latter with deep duplicity sent word to the\nother chieftain that if he would come to the lodge, all would be forgiven\nand he and Wehatpolitan would be duly wed. Rejoicing at the happy outcome\nto all their troubles, the faithful lover hastened to his own, but no\nsooner had he arrived than he was seized upon and slain by the revengeful\nparent. Not long after this the heartbroken girl gave birth to a child,\nbut her father at once decreed that the child must share its father's\nfate. Hearing this pitiless word, Wehatpolitan caught up her child and\ndisappeared. All that day they searched in vain, and on the next day, the\nIndians heard wailings from the top of Castle Rock, from which they soon\ndiscovered that the poor girl with her child had gone to that apparently\ninaccessible height. The old chief, repenting of his harsh course, called\naloud to his daughter to come down and he would forgive her. But fearing\nnew treachery she paid no heed, and the wailings continued. Overcome with\ngrief the remorseful chief offered all kinds of rewards for any one who\nwould climb the rock and save Wehatpolitan and her child. But though many\ntried, none could succeed. On the third day the wailings ceased. Then the\nhalf-crazed father himself essayed to climb. He seemed to succeed, for at\nleast he disappeared among the crevices of the rock high up toward the\nsummit. But he never returned. The Indians thought that he reached the top\nand that finding the lifeless bodies of his daughter and her child he had\nprobably given up all hope of getting down and had lain down and died with\nthem. But even yet heart-breaking wailings come down from time to time,\nespecially when the Chinook blows soft and damp up the river, and these\nwailings have been thought by Indians to be the voice of the spirit of the\nunhappy Wehatpolitan, because it could never descend to the happy hunting\ngrounds of the tribe.\n\nAnother native idea is to the effect that Castle Rock (which ought to be\ncalled Wehatpolitan's gravestone) is hollow and is filled with the bodies\nof former generations now turned to stone. As a matter of fact, the party\nof 1901 found evidence of a great cave, but so far there has been found no\npractical ingress. So the interior is still an unexplored mystery. Immense\nquantities of spear-heads and arrow-heads are found along the river at\nthis point, and these are apparently of an earlier age than most of those\nfound in this country.\n\nLoosing from the enchanted shore of Wehatpolitan's monument, we see for\nseveral miles on the Oregon side a cordon of perpendicular cliffs, red and\npurple in hue, streaked with spray, and touched here and there with the\ndeep green of firs which have rooted themselves with claw-like roots into\nthe crevices. Most symmetrical and beautiful, though not the highest of\nthis line of elevations, is St. Peter's Dome. Its summit is over two\nthousand feet above the river. While in height it is surpassed by certain\ncrags of Chelan or Yosemite, as well as its brothers on the river, it has\nno rival in beauty there, or elsewhere, so far as the author has seen,\namong the wonders of the American continent. Every hour of the day, every\nchange of sky or season, reveals some new and unexpected beauty or\nsublimity in this superb cliff.\n\n[Illustration: Hunters on Lake Chelan, with their Spoils. Photo. by W. D.\nLyman.]\n\n[Illustration: A Morning's Catch on the Touchet, near Dayton, Wash.\n_Sunset Magazine._]\n\nWe are almost sated with sublimities by the time we pass on down below St.\nPeter's Dome, but one of the most unique scenes of all is close at hand.\nThis is Oneonta Gorge. A swift stream issuing from the cliffs on the south\nside of the River attracts our attention, and we moor our boat to the\nroots of a tall cottonwood and make our way inward. The wall is cleft\nasunder, its sides almost meeting above. At places the smooth sides of the\nGorge leave no space except for the passage of the pellucid stream, and we\nhave to wade hip deep to make our way. Showers of spray descend from the\ntowering roof above, and in places we are well-nigh in darkness. Then\nthere is a widening and through the broken wall the lances of sunshine\npierce the gloom with rainbow tints. Marvellous Oneonta with the\nsweet-sounding name! It, too, has its wealth of native myth, of which our\nnarrowing limits forbid us to speak.\n\nAnd now leaving Oneonta, we can see that we have passed the maximum of the\nmountains, and are already looking into a broadening valley, with the yet\nmore lordly volume of the river widening toward the sunset. While our eyes\nare thus drawn toward the river, the diminishing walls of the canyon, and\nthe fair entrance to what may be called the genuine West-of-the-Mountains,\nwe perceive on the Oregon shore a series of waterfalls, higher and grander\nthan has even been the wont, and in the midst of them, far-famed\nMultnomah. A spacious sweep of circling mountains, a perpendicular wall,\nindented with a deep recess, and crowned upon its topmost bastions with a\nrow of frightened looking trees, and partially visible through\nintercepting cottonwoods at the River's margin a moving whiteness,--such\nis the first vision of this matchless waterfall. A short space farther\ncarries us past the screen of cottonwoods, and the whole majestic scene\nlies before us. Like St. Peter's Dome or Castle Rock or Niagara or\nYosemite or Chelan or Mt. \"Takhoma,\" this scene of Multnomah Falls with\nits surroundings wears that aspect of eternity, that look of final\nperfectness, which marks the great works of nature and of art. The cliff\nalmost overhangs, so that except when deflected by the wind against a\nprojecting ledge the water leaps sheer through the air its eight hundred\nfeet of fall. It is mainly spray when it reaches the deep pool within the\nrecess of the mountain, and from that recess the regathered waters pour in\na final plunge, from which the stream takes its way through the\ncottonwoods to the River.\n\nWe disembark and climb to the pool which receives the great fall. We find\nit sunless and almost black in hue from the intensity of the shadows. The\nmaidenhair fern which grows at the edge of the pool is nearly white in its\ncool dark abode. The water falls into the pool with a weird, uncanny\n\"chug,\" rather than a splash, so great is the sheer fall and so largely\ndoes the water consist of spray alternating with \"chunks\"--if we may so\nexpress it--of water. The pool is large enough to hold a steamboat and of\nconsiderable depth. A pretty rustic bridge spans the gorge through which\nthe stream passes on its way from the pool, and below the bridge is the\nfinal fall of seventy-five feet. On account of its proximity to Portland\nand the frequent steamboat excursions, Multnomah has become quite a\nresort. While the creek is only of moderate size in summer, and the fall\nis notable rather for beauty than energy, yet when swollen by the rains\nand melting snows of winter and spring it takes on the dimensions of a\nriver. Then the fall hurling its great volume over the eight hundred feet\nof open space assumes an appalling sublimity.\n\n[Illustration: Oneonta Gorge--Looking In. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse.]\n\nAnd now with the sounds of the fall ringing in our ears and our eyes\nturned back for a final reluctant gaze, we make our way across the River\nand a short distance down to the next wonder on the Washington side. This\nis Cape Horn. It is a long palisade of basalt, not high compared to most\nof the river walls, being only about two hundred feet high, but it is the\nmost complete example of continuous basaltic formation on the River. The\nbeauty and symmetry of the formation, the deeps of the River reflecting\nthe escarpment of rock, the wide-opening vista of hazy islands and\nextending plains down-stream;--all these together compose a scene unique\nin itself and, though so different, placing Cape Horn in the same gallery\nof royal pictures which we have been gathering.\n\nA few miles below Cape Horn it becomes apparent that we are about to issue\nfrom the mountain pass. The heights have fallen away. Deep valleys appear\nand many habitations attest the cultivable character of the region. But as\nif to show that she has not exhausted her resources, wonder-working Nature\nhas set one more masterpiece in the long line, and this is Rooster Rock,\nwith a mighty rampart of rock adjoining and closing the southern horizon.\nTogether they mark the western limit of the mountains. That rampart, which\nwas once well named Cape Eternity, though the name does not seem to have\nbeen preserved, is a sheer massive precipice of a thousand feet. Though\nnot nearly so high as some of the cliffs above, it is not surpassed by any\nfor the appearance of solid and massive power. Rooster Rock is\ndistinguished by a singular and exquisite beauty, rather than magnitude or\ngrandeur. It is only three hundred and fifty feet high, but in form and\ncolour and alternation of rock and trees it is the most beautiful object\non the River.\n\nWith a farewell to Cape Eternity and Rooster Rock we are out of the\nmountains, and this stage of our long journey is at an end. If we were to\ncompare the section of the River which we have described in this chapter\nwith other great scenes in our country, we would say that this section of\nthe Columbia from Paha Cliffs to Rooster Rock possesses a greater variety\nthan any other. Chelan has loftier cliffs, clearer and deeper water, and a\ncertain chaotic and elemental energy beyond comparison. The Yellowstone\nhas a greater richness of colouring and larger waterfalls, together with\nthe unique features of the geysers. Yosemite has loftier waterfalls and\nhas cliffs that in some respects are even more imposing. Puget Sound has\nfiner distant scenes, with lagoons and channels and archipelagoes. Each of\nthese grand exhibitions of nature's works is equal or even superior to the\nColumbia Gorge in some special feature. But the River has every feature.\nIt has cliffs and mountains and waterfalls and cataracts, valleys and\nforests, broad marine views near and distant, colour and form, shore and\nsky, earth and air and water, a commingling of all elements of beauty,\ngrandeur, and physical interest. Add to this, that, up or down, the broad\nwaters of the River are accessible to every form of floating craft, and\nthat Portland, one of the most beautiful and progressive cities of the\nWest, destined to become one of the great cities of the world, sits at the\nvery gates of admission to this symposium of grandeurs and wonders, and we\nhave such an aggregation of charms that we may well suppose that all the\nother great scenic regions would bow before our great River and\nacknowledge him as the king of all.\n\n[Illustration: Cape Horn, Columbia River--Looking Up. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse, Portland.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nA Side Trip to Some of the Great Snow-Peaks\n\n    Attractions of our Mountain Peaks--Relations to the Rivers--Locations\n    of the Greatest and their Positions with Regard to the Cities and the\n    Routes of Travel--The Mountain Clubs--The Peaks, Especially Belonging\n    to the River: Hood, Adams, and St. Helens--A Journey to Hood--Beauty\n    of the Approach through Hood River Valley--Lost Lake--Cloud-Cap Inn\n    and Elliot Glacier--Extreme Steepness of the Ascent--Magnificence of\n    the View--Mt. Adams--The Hunting and Fishing--The Glaciers--The\n    Vegetation about the Snow-Line--The Night Storm--Morning and the\n    Ascent--Views Around, Up, Down--Ascent by the Mazama Club in 1902 and\n    the Transformation Scene--General Similarity of Ascent of our\n    Peaks--Zones of a Snow-Peak.\n\n\"_Nesika Klatawa Sahale_\"\n\n\nMost countries have rivers of beauty and grandeur; many have lakes of\nscenic charm; many have hills and mountain chains; but there is only one\ncountry in the United States that has all of these features, and, in\naddition, a number of isolated giant peaks, clad in permanent ice and\nsnow. That country is the Pacific North-west. Throughout Oregon and\nWashington and extending partly through California is a series of volcanic\npeaks which gather within themselves every feature of natural beauty,\nsublimity, and wonder.\n\nThe fifteen most conspicuous of these peaks, beginning with Baker or\nKulshan on the north, and ending with Pitt on the south, are spaced at\nnearly regular intervals of from thirty to fifty miles, except for the one\ngroup of the Three Sisters, which, though distinct peaks, are separated\nonly by narrow valleys. Most of these great peaks are somewhat remote from\nthe cities or the great routes of public travel, and hence are not easily\naccessible to ordinary tourists. None of them, except Hood and Rainier or\nTacoma, possesses hotel accommodations. The natives are more accustomed to\n\"roughing it,\" and braving the wilderness than most Eastern people are,\nand hence many parties go annually from the chief cities of Oregon and\nWashington to the great peaks. Some of them, as Glacier Peak and Shuksan,\nare so environed with mountain ramparts and almost impassable canyons as to\nbe practically unknown. The most approachable and the most visited are\nHood, Rainier, and Adams.\n\n[Illustration: Looking up the Columbia River from the Cliff above\nMultnomah Falls, Ore. (Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902.)]\n\nThe greatest influence in organising visits to these mountains, and in\ncultivating an appreciation of them among the people of the region, as\nwell as in informing the world regarding them, has existed in the mountain\nclubs. The chief of these are the Mazama (Wild Goat) Club of Portland and\nthe Mountaineers of Seattle. Membership is not confined to those two\ncities, though mainly located there. The Mazama Club may be called the\nhistoric mountain climber's club, and it has done incalculable good in\nfostering a love of mountains and in arranging expeditions to them.\n\nThe three peaks which may be considered as especially belonging to the\nColumbia River are Hood, Adams, and St. Helens. As the traveller on the\nRiver views the unsullied spires and domes of these great temples of\nnature, he longs to worship in their more immediate presence. As a logical\nconsequence of this sentiment, after having floated down the Columbia from\nThe Dalles to Rooster Rock, we feel that life would be at least partly in\nvain if we should fail to plant feet on the topmost snows of at least two\nof these great heights.\n\nWe will first visit Hood. Though not the highest, this is the boldest and\nmost picturesque of all. Moreover by reason of its location, seen\nconspicuously as it is from Portland and the Willamette Valley, and\nbecause of its nearness to the old immigrant road into Oregon, Hood was\nthe first noticed, and the most often described, painted, and berhymed of\nany of the wintry brotherhood. As the Puget Sound region became settled,\nand great cities began to grow up there, Mt. Rainier (\"Takhoma\") began to\nbe a rival in popular estimation. When measurements showed that Rainier\nwas three thousand feet higher, and Adams over one thousand feet higher\nthan the idolised Hood, a wail of grief arose from the Oregonians, and for\na time they could hardly be reconciled. But as they became adjusted to the\nsituation, they planted themselves upon the proposition that, though Hood\nwas not the highest, it was the most beautiful, and that its surroundings\nwere superior to those of any other. For this proposition there is much to\nbe said, though, in truth, we must accept the dictum of Dogberry that\n\"comparisons are odorous\"\n\nThe usual approach to Mt. Hood by the Hood River route is indeed of\nstriking attractiveness. This picturesque orchard valley is like an avenue\nof flowers leading to a marble temple. One of the finest points in the\nvicinity of Hood River, seldom visited because it is off the road and\nburied in forests, is Lost Lake. Perhaps the grandest view of Mt. Hood is\nfrom this lake. The bold pinnacle, rising out of the broad fields of snow,\nthey in turn most wondrously encircled in forests of rich hue, is mirrored\nin the clear water with a perfectness that scarcely can be matched among\nthe many lakes of its kind in all the land. In these days of swift\ntransit, Hood River keeps up with the procession, for there is a regular\nautomobile line from the town to Cloud-Cap Inn at the snow-line of the\ngreat peak, twenty-four miles distant. The distance, though it represents\na rise of seven thousand feet, is traversed all too quickly to fully enjoy\nthe valley, filled with its orchards, and rising in regular gradation from\nthe heat of the lower end to the bracing cold of the upper air. In\nCloud-Cap Inn the traveller may find the daintiest, most unique specimen\nof a mountain resort in our mountains. The Inn is owned by a wealthy\nPortland man, and is maintained rather as an attraction to visitors than\nwith the expectation of making money.\n\n[Illustration: Spokane Falls and City, 1886. Photo. by T. W. Tolman,\nSpokane.]\n\n[Illustration: Spokane Falls and City, 1908. Photo. by T. W. Tolman,\nSpokane.]\n\nFrom the Inn one can climb in a few minutes to Photographer's Point, from\nwhich he can look right down on the Elliot Glacier, not a large, but an\nexceedingly fine specimen of that most interesting of all features of a\ngreat peak.\n\nHood, though so steep, can be ascended from several points. It was for a\nlong time supposed to be unscalable from the north side. But William\nLangille, one of the most daring and successful mountain climbers of\nOregon, soon found his way up the sharp ascent, and, once marked out, that\nroute has been followed by the great majority of climbers. Though very\nsteep, there has never been an accident on this route except in one case,\nwhen a stranger undertook the climb alone and never returned. He probably\nlost his footing and fell into a crevasse. With the usual precautions of\nropes and ice hatchets and caulks, a party can make their way over the\nsteep slope, and its very steepness makes the ascent quicker and less\nexhaustive than to overcome the longer and more gradual ascents of Adams\nor \"Takhoma.\" While it takes but about four or five hours for an average\nparty to go from snow-line to summit of Hood, either of the other\nmountains named demands from seven to ten hours.\n\nAnd having reached the summit, what a view! If the day be entirely\nclear--a rare occurrence--you will behold a domain for an empire. On the\nsouth, the long line of the Cascades, with the occasional great heights,\nJefferson, Three Sisters, Thielson, Diamond, Scott, and, if it be very\nclear, even Pitt. To the north, the giant bulk of Adams, the airy symmetry\nof St. Helens, and the lordly majesty of Rainier, rule sky and earth,\nwhile in mazy undulations the great range, alternately purple and white,\nstretches on and on until it blends into the clouds.\n\nSeemingly almost at the feet of the observer, a dark green sinuosity amid\nthe timbered hills, now strangely flattened, as we stand so high above\nthem, marks the course of the River on its march oceanward. If the day be\nvery clear, a whitish blur far westward shows where the \"Rose City\" on the\nWillamette reigns over her fair domains, while a dim stretch of varied\nhues denotes the Willamette Valley. Some climbers have even asserted that\nlate in the afternoon of extremely clear days the glint of the western sun\ncan be seen upon the Pacific, a hundred and fifty miles distant. Toward\nthe east lie the vast plains of the Inland Empire, marked at their farther\nlimit by the soft curves and lazy swells of the range of the Blue\nMountains.\n\nWhile it is an ungracious and even a fruitless undertaking to compare such\nobjects as the great mountains or the views from the respective summits,\nit may be said that Hood has one conspicuous feature of the view, and that\nis that it is nearest the centre of the great mountain peaks, as well as\nsystems, and also best commands the outlook over the great valley systems\nand river systems of this part of the Columbia Basin. And therefore,\nthough the view is not equal in breadth to that from the summit of Adams\nor Rainier, it is unsurpassed for variety and interest. It may be said to\ncover more history than the view from any other peak. Across the southern\nflank lies the old Barlow Road, over which came the greater part of the\nimmigration in the days of the ox-team conquest of Oregon in the forties\nand fifties. Thirty miles east is The Dalles with its old fur-trader's\nstation, its old United States fort, its mission station, its Indian wars,\nits early settlement, the most historic place in Eastern Oregon. From the\nold town, during all the years from the opening of the century, there\ndescended the River the trappers, missionaries, immigrants, miners,\nsoldiers, hunters, home-seekers, of a later day, adventurers and promoters\nof every species, to say nothing of the generations of Indians who lived\nand died along the banks.\n\nTo the west of our icy eyrie, Portland and Vancouver, with the rich\nvalleys around them, represent the earliest explorations and developments\nof the fur-traders, as well as the earliest days of the era of permanent\nsettlement. There in the westward haze is the little town of Champoeg\nwhere the Provisional Government of Oregon was established. In fact, in\nwhatsoever direction we may look, we see illustrations of the heroic age\nof Old Oregon, the drama of native races, rival powers of Europe and\nAmerica, the march of empire, a section of humanity and the world in the\nmaking.\n\nWhen our visit to Hood is ended we must cross the River and traverse\nanother paradise, the White Salmon Valley, leading to Mt. Adams, the old\nIndian Klickitat. Adams is in such a position that its true elevation and\nmagnitude cannot be understood from Portland or The Dalles or most of the\nroutes of travel. Therefore until comparatively recent times it was\ngenerally supposed that Adams was an insignificant mountain in comparison\nwith Hood, which looms up with such imposing grandeur from every point\nalong the chief highways of commerce. It was discovered by the Mazama Club\nin 1896 that Adams carried his regal crown at a height of twelve thousand\nfour hundred and seventy feet above the level of the sea, while the\npreviously established height of Hood was only eleven thousand two hundred\nand twenty-five. Since then Adams has been held in much greater respect by\nmountain lovers, and many journeys have been made to and on it.\n\nAround Mt. Adams is a region of caves. As one rides through the open\nglades he may often hear the ground rumble beneath his horse's hoofs.\nMouths of Avernus yawn on every side. Some caverns have sunken in, leaving\nserpentine ravines. One cave has been traced three miles without finding\nthe end. Some of these caves are partially filled with ice. There is one\nin particular, fifteen miles south-west of the mountain, which is known as\nIce Cave. This is very small, not over four hundred feet long, but it is a\nmarvel of unique beauty. Its external appearance is that of a huge well,\nat whose edge are bunches of nodding flowers, and from whose dark depths\nissue sudden chilly gusts. Descending by means of a knotty young tree\nwhich previous visitors have let down, we find ourselves on a floor of\nice. The glare of pitch-pine torches reveals a weird and beautiful scene.\nA perfect forest of icicles of both the stalactite and stalagmite forms\nfills the cave. They are from ten to fifteen feet in length and from one\nto three in diameter. From some points of view they look like silvered\norgan-pipes.\n\nThese caves have been formed in some cases by chambers of steam or bubbles\nin the yet pasty rock which hardened enough to maintain their form upon\nthe condensation of the vapour. Others were doubtless produced by a tongue\nof lava as it collected slag and hardened rock upon its moving edge,\nrising up and curling over like a breaker on the sand. Only the \"cave of\nflint\" instead of turning into a \"retreating cloud\" had enough solid\nmatter to sustain the arch and so became permanent. Others were no doubt\nformed by pyroducts. A tongue of flowing lava hardens on the surface. The\ninterior remains fluid. It may continue running until the tongue is all\nemptied, leaving a cavern. Such a cavern, whose upper end reaches the cold\nair of the mountains, might be like a chimney, down which freezing air\nwould descend, turning into ice the water that trickled into the cave,\neven at the lower end.\n\nFor sport, the region about Mt. Adams is unsurpassed. The elk, three kinds\nof deer, the magnificent mule deer, the black-tail, and the graceful\nlittle white-tail, two species of bear, the cinnamon and black, the daring\nand ubiquitous mountain goat, quail, grouse, pheasants, ducks, and cranes,\nare among the attractions to the hunter. Of late years great bands of\nsheep have driven the game somewhat from the south and east sides. In the\ngrassy glades that encircle the snowy pile of Adams no vexatious\nundergrowth impedes the gallop of our fleet cayuse pony or obscures our\nvision. On the background of fragrant greenery the \"dun deer's hide\" is\nthrown with statuesque distinctness, and among the low trees the whirring\ngrouse is easily discerned. Nor is the disciple of Nimrod alone\nconsidered. After our hunt we may move to Trout Lake, and here the very\nghost of the lamented Walton might come as to a paradise. Trout Lake is a\nshallow pool half a mile in length, encircled with pleasant groves and\ngrassy glades, marred now, however, by the encroachment of ranches. Into\nit there come at intervals from the ice-cold mountain inlet perfect shoals\nof the most gamey and delicious trout. On rafts, or the two or three rude\nskiffs that have been placed there, one may find all piscatorial joys and\nmay abundantly supply his larder free of cost. A few ranches here and\nthere furnish accommodations for those who are too delicate to rest on the\nbosom of Mother Earth. But no extended trip can be taken without\ncommitting oneself to the wilderness delights of sleeping with star-dials\nfor roof and flickering camp-fire for hearth. And what healthy human being\nwould exchange those for the feverish, pampered life of the modern house?\nLet us have the barbarism, and with it the bounding pulses and exuberant\nlife of the wilderness.\n\n[Illustration: In the Heart of the Cascade Mountains, above Lake Chelan,\nWash. Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.]\n\nBut now, with stomachs and knapsacks filled, and with that pervasive sense\nof contentment which characterises the successful hunter and angler, we\nmust get up our cayuse ponies from their pastures on the rich grass of the\nopen woods, saddle up, and then off for the mountain, whose giant form now\novertops the very clouds. About two miles from Trout Lake the trail\ncrosses the White Salmon, and we find ourselves at the foot of the\nmountain. For eight miles we follow a trail through open woods, park-like,\nwith huge pines at irregular intervals, and vivid grass and flowers\nbetween, a fair scene, the native home of every kind of game.\n\nAs we journey on delightedly through these glades, rising, terrace after\nterrace, we can read the history of the mountain in the rock beneath our\nfeet and the expanding plains and hills below. All within the ancient\namphitheatre is volcanic. There are four main summits, a central dome,\nvast, symmetrical, majestic, pure-white against the blue-black sky of its\nunsullied height. The three other peaks are broken crags of basalt,\nleaning as for support against the mighty mass at the centre. Around the\nsnow-line of the mountain many minor cones have been blown up. These have\nthe most gaudy and brilliant colouring, mainly yellow and vermilion. One\non the south-east is especially noticeable. From a deep canyon it rises\ntwo thousand feet as steep as broken scoriae can lie. The main part is\nbright red, surmounted by a circular cliff of black rock. Probably the old\nfunnel of the crater became filled with black rock, which, cooling, formed\na solid core. The older material around it having crumbled away, it\nremains a solid shaft.\n\nBut fire has not wrought all the wonders of the mighty peak. Ice has been\nmost active. The mountain was once completely girdled with glaciers. Rocks\nare scratched and grooved five miles below the present snow-line. The\nridges are strewn with planed rocks and glacial shavings and coarse sand.\nSome of the monticules on the flanks of the mountain have been partially\ncut away. Many have been entirely obliterated. But the ice has now greatly\nreceded. Instead of a complete enswathement of ice there are some six or\nseven distinct glaciers, separated by sharp ridges, while the region\nformerly the chief home of the ice is now a series of Alpine meadows. Like\nmost of the snow peaks, Mt. Adams is rudely terraced, and the terraces are\nseparated into compartments by ridges, forming scores and hundreds of\nglades and meads. In some of these are circular ponds, from a few square\nrods to several acres in area. These lakes are found by the hundred around\nthe mountain and in the region north of it. They are one of the charms and\nwonders of the country. About most of them tall grass crowds to the very\nedge of the water. Scattered trees diversify the scene. Throughout these\nglades flow innumerable streams, descending from level to level in\npicturesque cascades, and composed of water so cold and sparkling that the\nvery memory of it cools the after thirst. Sometimes the tough turf grows\nclear over, making a verdant tunnel through which \"the tinkling waters\nslip.\" Here and there streams spout full-grown from frowning precipices.\n\n[Illustration: Birch-Tree Channel; Upper Columbia, Near Golden, B. C.\nPhoto. by C. F. Yates, Golden.]\n\nBut we are not content to stand below and gaze \"upward to that height.\" We\nmust needs ascend. In climbing a snow peak a great deal depends on making\ncamp at a good height and getting a very early start. By a little\nsearching one may find good camping places at an elevation of seven\nthousand or even eight thousand feet altitude. This leaves only four\nthousand or five thousand feet to climb on the great day, and by starting\nat about four o'clock a party may have sixteen hours of daylight. This is\nenough, if there be no accidents, to enable any sound man of average\nmuscle,--or woman either, if she be properly dressed for it,--to gain the\nmighty dome of Adams.\n\nAt the time of our last ascent we camped high on a great ridge on the\nsouth side of the mountain, having for shelter a thick copse of dwarf\nfirs. So fiercely had the winds of centuries swept this exposed point that\nthe trees did not stand erect, but lay horizontal from west to east.\n\nWith pulses bounding from the exhilarating air, and our whole systems\nglowing with the exercise and the wild game of the preceding week, we\nstretch ourselves out for sleep, while the stars blaze from infinite\nheights, and our uneasy camp-fire strives fitfully with the icy air which\nat nightfall always slides down the mountain side.\n\nSweet sleep till midnight, and then we found ourselves awake all at once\nwith a unanimity which at first we scarcely understood, but which a\nmoment's observation made clear enough. A regular mountain gale had\nsuddenly broken upon us. It had waked us up by nearly blowing us out of\nbed. Our camp-fire was aroused to newness of life by the gale, and the\nhuge fire-brands flew down the mountain side, igniting pitchy thickets,\nuntil a fitful glare illuminated the lonely and savage grandeur of the\nscene. The whole sky seemed in motion. Then a cloud struck us. Night,\nglittering as she was a moment before with her tiaras of stars, was\nsuddenly transformed into a dull, whitish blur. The vapour formed at once\ninto thick drops on the trees and was precipitated in turn on us.\nOccasional sleet and snowflakes struck us with almost the sting of flying\nsand when we ventured to peep out. Covering ourselves up, heads and all,\nwe crowded against each other and grimly went to sleep.\n\nWe woke again, chattering with cold, to find it perfectly calm. The\nmorning star was blazing over the spot where day was about to break. The\nsky was absolutely clear, not a mote on its whole concavity. The wind had\nswept and burnished it. The mountain towered above us cold and sharp as a\ncrystal. There was a still, solemn majesty about it in the keen air and\nearly light which struck us with a thrill of fear. The light just before\ndaybreak is far more exact than the scarlet splendour of morning or the\nblinding blaze of noon. The world below us was a level sea of clouds. We\nseemed to be on an island of snow and rock, or on a small planetoid\nwinging its own way in space. Yet beyond the puncturing top of a few of\nthe Simcoe peaks a wavering line that just touched the glowing eastern\nsky, told of clear weather a hundred leagues up the basin of the\nColumbia. Out of the ocean of cloud, the great peaks of Hood and St.\nHelens rose, cold and white, like icebergs on an Arctic sea.\n\n[Illustration: A Typical Mountain Meadow, Stehekin Valley, Wash. Photo. by\nT. W. Tolman, Spokane.]\n\nCoffee, ham, and hardtack, and then out on the ice and snow, just as the\nfirst warm flush of morning is gilding the mighty mass above us. The snow,\nhardened by the freezing morning, affords excellent footing, and in the\nsharp, bracing air we feel capable of any effort. We gain the summit of a\nbright red knob, one of the secondary volcanoes that girdle the mountain.\nAt its peak are purple stones piled up like an altar, as indeed it is,\nthough the incense from it is not of human kindling. The sun is not fairly\nup, but from below the horizon it splits the hemisphere of the sky into a\nhundred segments by its auroral flashes. And now we begin to climb a\nvolcanic ridge, rising like a huge stairway, with blocks of stone as large\nas a piano. This is a tongue of lava, very recent, insomuch that it shows\nno glacial markings, and yet enough soil has accumulated upon it to\nsupport vegetation. It can be seen, a dull red river, three hundred yards\nwide, extending far down the mountain side. How well the old Greek poet\ndescribed the process that must have taken place here: \"AEtna, pillar of\nheaven, nurse of snow, with fountains of fire; a river of fire, bearing\ndown rocks with a crashing sound to the deep sea.\"\n\nThe ridge becomes very steep, at an angle of probably thirty-five or forty\ndegrees, and we climb on all fours from one rock to another. At last we\ndraw ourselves up a huge wedge of phonolite and find ourselves at the\nsummit of the first peak. Six hundred yards beyond, muffled in white\nsilence, rises the great dome. It is probably five hundred feet higher\nthan the first peak. To reach it we climb a bare, steep ridge of shaly,\nfrost-shattered rock, in which we sink ankle deep, a difficult and even\npainful task with the laboured breathing of twelve thousand feet altitude.\n\nBut patience conquers, and at about noon, seven hours and a half from the\ntime of starting, we stand on the very tip of the mountain. Ten minutes\npanting in the cold wind and then we are ready to look around. Within the\ncircle of our vision is an area for an empire. Northward is a wilderness\nof mountains. High above all, Mt. Rainier lifts his white crown unbroken\nto the only majesty above him, the sky. The western horizon, more hazy\nthan the eastern, is punctuated by the smooth dome and steely glitter of\nMt. St. Helens. Far southward, across a wilderness of broken heights,\nrises the sharp pinnacle of Mt. Hood, and far beyond that, its younger\nbrother, Jefferson. Still beyond, are the Alpine peaks of the Three\nSisters, nearly two hundred miles distant. Our vision sweeps a circle\nwhose diameter is probably five hundred miles. Far westward the white haze\nbetokens the presence of the sea. A deep blue line north-eastward, far\nbeyond the smooth dome of St. Helens, stands for Puget Sound. Numerous\nlakes gleam in woody solitudes.\n\nHaving looked around, let us now look down. On the eastern side the\nmountain breaks off in a monstrous chasm of probably four thousand feet,\nmost of it perpendicular. We crawl as we draw near it. Lying down in turn,\nsecured by ropes held behind, fearful as much of the mystic attraction of\nthe abyss as of the slippery snow, we peep over the awful verge. Take\nyour turn, gentle reader, if you would know what it seems to gaze down\nalmost a mile of nearly perpendicular distance. Points of rock jut out\nfrom the pile and eye us darkly. That icy floor nearly a mile below us is\nthe Klickitat glacier. From beneath it a milk-white stream issues and\ncrawls off amid the rocky desolation. At the very edge of the great\nprecipice stands a cone of ice a hundred feet high. Green, blue, yellow,\nred, and golden, the colours play with the circling sunbeams on its\nslippery surface, until one is ready to believe that here is where\nrainbows are made. We roll some rocks from a wind-swept point, and then\nshudder to see them go. They are lost to the eye as their noise to the\near, long before they cease to roll. Silence reigns. There is no echo. The\nthin air makes the voice sound weak. Our loudest shouts are brief bubbles\nof noise in the infinite space. A pistol shot is only a puff of powder.\nEven the rocks we set off are swallowed up and we get no response but the\nfirst reluctant clank as they grind the lip of the precipice. Nor do we\ncare much for boisterous sounds. We are impelled rather to silence and\nworship.\n\n[Illustration: High School, Walla Walla, Wash. Photo. by W. D. Chapman,\nWalla Walla.]\n\nBut now once more to earth and camp! For pure exhilaration, commend me to\ndescending a snow peak. For a good part of Mt. Adams one may descend in\nhuge jumps through the loose scoriae and volcanic ashes. Some of the way\none may slide on the crusty snow, a perfect whiz of descent. How the thin\nwind cuts past us, and how our frames glow with the dizzy speed! Such a\nmanner of descent is not altogether safe. As we are going in one place\nwith flying jumps on the softening snow, a chasm suddenly appears before\nus. It looks ten feet wide, and how deep, no one could guess. To stop is\nout of the question. We make a wild bound and clear it, catching a\nmomentary glance into the bluish-green crack as we fly across. We make the\ndescent in an incredibly short time, only a little more than an hour,\nwhereas it took us over seven hours to ascend. And then the rest and\nmighty feasts of camp, and the abundant and mountainous yarns, and the\nroaring camp-fire, whose shadows flicker on the solemn snow-fields, until\nthe stars claim the heavens, and, while the wailing cry of the cougars\nrises from a jungle far below us, we sleep and perform again in dreams the\nday's exploits.\n\nOf all scenes in connection with Mt. Adams, the most remarkable in all the\nexperience of those who witnessed it, and one of those rare combinations\nwhich the sublimest aspects of nature afford, was at the time of the\nouting of the Mazama Club in 1902. The party had reached the summit in a\ndense fog, cold, bitter, forbidding, and nothing whatever to be seen. All\nwas a dull, whitish blur. In the bitter chill the enthusiasm of some of\nthe climbers evaporated and they turned away down the snowy waste. Others\nremained in the hope of a vanishing of the cloud-cap. And suddenly their\nhopes were realised. A marvellous transformation scene was unveiled like\nthe lifting of a vast curtain. The cloud-cap was split asunder. The great\nred and black pinnacles of the summit sprung forth from the mist like the\nfirst lines in a developing photographic plate. Then the glistening tiaras\nand thrones of ice and snow caught the gleams of the unveiled sun, and lo,\nthere we stood in mid-heaven, seemingly upon an island in space, with no\nearth about us, just the sun and the sky above and a great swaying ocean\nof fog below. But now suddenly that ocean of fog was rent and split. The\nardent sun burned and banished it away. Mountain peak after peak caught\nthe glory. Range after range seemed to rise and stand in battle array. The\ntransformation was complete. A moment before we were swathed in the\ndensest cloud-cap, blinded with the fog. Now we were standing on a mount\nof transfiguration, with a new world below us. Every vestige of smoke or\nfog was gone. We could see the shimmer of the ocean to the west, the\nglistening bands of Puget Sound and the Columbia. Far eastward the plains\nof the Inland Empire lay palpitating in the July sun. The whole long line\nof the great snow-peaks of the Cascades were there revealed, the farthest\na mere speck, yet distinctly discernible, two hundred miles distant. One\nunaccustomed to the mountains would not believe it possible that such an\narea could be caught within the vision from a single point.\n\n[Illustration: Lake Chelan. Photo. by F. N. Kneeland.]\n\nIt may be understood that the description of one of our great snow-peaks\nis, in general terms, a description of all. With every one there are the\nsame azure skies, the same snow-caps, the same crevassed and glistening\nrivers of ice, the same long ridges with their intervening grassy and\nflowery meads, purling streams, and reflecting lakes. With the name of\neach there rises before Mazama or Mountaineer the remembrance of the camp\nof clouds or stars upon the edge of snow-bank, the sound of the bugle at\ntwo o'clock in the morning of the great climb, the hastily swallowed\nbreakfast of coffee and ham, while climbers stand shivering around the\nflickering morning fire, the approaching day with its banners of crimson\nbehind the heights, the daubing of faces with grease-paint and the\nputting on of goggles, amid shouts of laughter from each at the grotesque\nand picturesque ugliness of all the others, then the hastily grasped\nalpenstocks, the forming in line, and at about four o'clock, while the\nfirst rays of the sun are gilding the summit, the word of command and the\nbeginning of the march.\n\nEach great peak has its zones, so significant that each seems a world in\nitself. There is first the zone of summer with its fir and cedar forests\nat the base of the peak, from a thousand feet to twenty-five hundred above\nsea-level. In the case of most of our great peaks this zone consists of\nlong gentle slopes and dense forests, with much undergrowth, though on the\neastern sides there are frequently wide-open spaces of grassy prairie.\nThen comes the zone of pine forest and summer strawberry, with its\nfragrant air and long glades of grass and open aisles of columned trees,\n\"God's first temples,\" pellucid streams babbling over pebbles and white\nsands, and occasionally falling in cascades over ledges of volcanic rock.\nThis zone rises in terraces which attest the ancient lava flow, at an\nincreasing grade over the first, though at most points one might still\ndrive a carriage through the open pine forests. Then comes the third zone,\na zone of parks. The large pine trees now give way to the belts of\nsubalpine fir and mountain pine and larch, exquisite for beauty, enclosing\nthe parks and grouped here and there in clumps like those in some old\nbaronial estate of feudal times. This is the zone of rhododendron,\nshushula, phlox, and painted brush. Through the open glades the ptarmigan\nand deer wander, formerly unafraid of man, but now, alas, under the ban\nof civilisation. The upward slope has now increased to twenty or\ntwenty-five degrees, and to a party of climbers a frequent rest and the\nquaffing of the ice-cold stream that dashes through the woods afford a\nhappy feature of the ascent. At the upper edge of this zone, at an\nelevation of probably seven thousand feet, beside some dashing stream or\nsome clear pool, fed from the snows above, is the place for the camp. And\nsuch a camp! Oh, the beauty of such an unspoiled spot!\n\n[Illustration: On the Banks of the Columbia River, near Hood River. Photo.\nby E. H. Moorehouse.]\n\nIt is from such a camp at the upper edge of the paradise zone that a party\nsets forth at the four o'clock hour to attain the highest. So the march on\nthe great day of a final climb carries us at once into a fourth zone. This\nis the zone of avalanche and glacier, the zone of elemental fury and\nwarfare, a zone of ever-steepening ascent, thirty degrees, a zone of\nalmost winter cold at night, but with such a dazzling brightness and\nfervour in the day as turns the snow-banks to slush and sends the\nfountains tearing and cutting across the glaciers and triturating the\nmoraines. Vegetation has now almost ceased, though the heather still\ndrapes the ledges on the eastern or southern exposures, and occasionally\none of the tenacious mountain pines upholds the banner of spring in some\nsheltered nook. This wind-swept and storm-lashed zone is also the zone of\nthe wild goats and mountain sheep. On the precipitous ridges and along the\nnarrow ledges at the margin of glaciers they can be seen bounding away at\nthe approach of the party, sure-footed and swift at points where the nerve\nof the best human climber might fail. This zone carries the climbers to\nten or eleven thousand feet of elevation on the highest peaks. And here\nis the place for the Mountaineers and Mazamas to take the half-hour rest\non their arduous march. A sweet rest it is. We pick out some sheltered\nplace on the eastern slope, and stretch ourselves at full length on the\nwarm rocks, while the icy wind from the summit goes hurtling above us. And\nhow good the chocolate and the malted milk and the prunes and raisins of\nthe scanty lunch taste, while we rest and feel the might of elemental\nnature again fill our veins and lungs and hearts.\n\nBut then comes a fifth zone, the last, the zone of the Arctic. This is the\nzone of the snow-cap. The glaciers are now below. All life has ceased. The\ngrade has ever steepened, till now it is forty degrees or more. The snow\nis hummocked and granulated. Here is where part of the climbers begin to\nstop. Legs and lungs fail. Camp looks exceedingly good down there at the\nverge of the forests. They feel as though they had lost nothing on the\nsummit worth going up for. A nausea, mountain sickness, attacks some.\nNosebleed attacks others. Things look serious. Icy mists sometimes begin\nto swirl around the presumptous climbers. Frost gathers on hair and\nmustache and eyebrows. The unaccustomed or the less ambitious or weaker\nlose heart and bid the rest go on, for they will turn toward a more\nsummer-like clime. Generally about half an ordinary party drop out at this\nbeginning of the Arctic zone. But the rest shout \"Excelsior,\" take a\nfirmer grasp of alpenstock, stamp feet more vehemently into the snow, and\nwith dogged perseverance move step by step up the final height. Inch by\ninch, usually in the teeth of a biting gale, leaning forward, and panting\nheavily, they force the upward way. And victory at last! There comes a\ntime when we are on the topmost pinnacle, and there is nothing above us\nbut the storms and sun. And then what elation! Nothing seems quite to\nequal the pure delight of such a triumph of lungs and legs and heart and\nwill.\n\n[Illustration: Rooster Rock, Columbia River--Looking Up. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse, Portland.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nThe Lower River and the Ocean Tides\n\n    Remarkable Change in Climate and Topography--Farms and Villages--First\n    View of Mt. Hood on West Side--Vancouver and its Historic\n    Interest--The North Bank Railroad--View at the Mouth of the\n    Willamette--Sauvie's or Wapatoo Island--Beauty of the Willamette and\n    its Tributaries--Simpson's Poem--Approach to Portland--Site of\n    Portland--Transportation Facilities--Portland's Commerce--Homes and\n    Public Buildings--Art in Portland--The Historical Society Museum--The\n    _Oregonian_ and its Editor--Once more on the River--The Fishing and\n    Lumbering Villages--Scenery of the Lower River--Astoria and the\n    Outlook to the Ocean--Industries of Astoria--The Fisheries--The Fleet\n    of Fishing Boats on the Bar--The Ocean Beaches and the Tourist\n    Travel--Through the Outer Headlands to the Pacific.\n\n\nHaving returned from our side trip to the mountain peaks of Hood and Adams\nand having resumed our station on the bank of the River just below Rooster\nRock, we see that we are now in a new world. We are at sea-level. Dense\nforests clothe the shores, except for the places where the axe of the\nsettler or the saws of the lumberman have made inroads. Moss drapes the\nrocks. Ferns and vines take possession wherever the trees have been\nremoved. Even in summer a feeling of humidity usually pervades the air. A\ncertain softness and roundness seems to characterise both the vegetable\nand animal world. The smell of the sea is in the atmosphere, even though\nthe sea is yet distant. No longer do our eyes wander over boundless\nexpanses of rolling prairie, crowned to the highest knolls with\nwheat-fields, as on the other side of the mountains. The mountains fall\naway, and low bottoms, sometimes oozy with the inflowing river or the\ncreeks from the forests, stretch away in the lazy, hazy distance. The\nRiver no longer flows tumultuously and with that militant energy which is\nso characteristic of the long stretches from Kettle Falls to The Dalles.\nIt has a calm and stately majesty, the repose of accomplished warfare and\nvictory. It has hewn its way down to the level of the ocean and no longer\nneeds to fret and storm. It has conquered a peace.\n\n[Illustration: Band of Elk on W. P. Reser's Ranch, Walla Walla, Wash.\nPhoto. by W. D. Chapman.]\n\nBelow Rooster Rock, the shores are flats with low hills in the background,\nand the River expands to a width of from one to two miles. If we still\nimagine ourselves in a small boat, we find the most delightful of\nsensations in gliding past the grassy islands and shores thick with fir or\ncottonwood. Or if we choose to take our way to one of the elegant\nsteamers, _Spencer_ or _Bailey Gatzert_, we shall still partake of the\nsame life and feel the same sense of repose and contentment which belong\nby natural right to this portion of the River.\n\nSoon after leaving Rooster Rock, we begin to pass frequent pleasant farms\non either bank. On the Washington side we see two pretty villages,\nWashougal and La Camas. The first has the historical distinction of being\nat or nearly at the highest spot reached by the English explorer Broughton\nin 1792, and named by him Point Vancouver. La Camas is the location of the\nmost extensive paper mills in the North-west.\n\nIf, while we are in this section of the River and our eyes are bent\neagerly forward to catch the ever-changing shore and river lines, we\nhappen to glance backward, our gaze is fastened as with a magnet, and for\na moment utterance fails. For what do we see? Glistening white, ethereal,\nMt. Hood rises before us, a vision which, of the many mountain visions\nthat we have seen, seems the most beautiful. Mt. Hood indeed is the\nbackground of many a noble scene upon the River, but there is none quite\nequal in amplitude, in variety, to this,--River, forest, shore, foreground\nof timbered hills, Cascade Gorge, distant white and purple chain of\nCascade Mountains, and the volcanic cone overtopping and overawing all.\nThis view of Mt. Hood from the vicinity of La Camas has perhaps been\noftener the subject of painting than any other.\n\nA few miles below La Camas we reach the most historic and perhaps the most\nbeautiful spot upon the Columbia, Vancouver. As the capital for twenty\nyears of the Hudson's Bay Company's Fur Empire, associated with the name\nof Dr. John McLoughlin, the centre of almost every event of importance in\nthe early history, connected with both American and British occupation,\nand later as the location of the United States military post and\npreserving the names of Grant, Sheridan, McClellan, Hooker, and others of\nour famous generals, Vancouver has indeed a rich historic setting. But\naside from such associations with the past, every tourist must note the\nlocation of Vancouver as one of rare beauty. In fact, the spot is almost\nideal for a great city. The splendid River, a mile and a half in width,\noffers limitless facilities for shipping, while, beginning at the water's\nedge, a gradually rising slope of land extends in a superb swell several\nmiles to the north. Every feature of scenery that could delight the\neye--Mt. Hood with the Cascades to the east, the Willamette Valley to the\nsouth, the Portland and Scappoose hills to the west, the River blending\nall--seems to have been lavished on Vancouver. It has been a surprise to\nmany that the great city had not grown here rather than at Portland,\nwhich, though on an equally fine location, is on the tributary and much\nsmaller Willamette. The chief reasons of this were the nearer proximity of\nPortland to the rich farming country of the Tualatin and the presence in\nthe Columbia a mile below Vancouver of a sand-bar which embarrassed\nshipping. This is now removed.\n\n[Illustration: Oregon City in 1845. From an Old Print.]\n\n[Illustration: Fort Vancouver in 1845.]\n\nAt Vancouver the newly-built \"North Bank\" Railroad (Spokane, Portland, and\nSeattle) has constructed across the Columbia a bridge a mile and three\nquarters in length, said to be the largest and costliest of its kind in\nthe world. This same railroad has also bridged the Willamette a few miles\nwest of Vancouver, thus effecting an entrance to Portland. This railroad\nis one of the most interesting and remarkable undertakings of the age. It\nis said that its cost from Spokane to Portland exceeded forty million\ndollars. Vancouver expects much from this road, even anticipating that\nmuch of the shipping hitherto centring in Portland will be diverted to the\nlarger river. However that may prove, it is plain that Vancouver has the\npromise as well as the memory of great things.\n\nSix miles west of Vancouver is one of those imposing scenes in which our\nRiver so abounds. This is the junction of the Willamette with the\nColumbia. This spot was noted by Broughton in 1792 as one of exceptional\nbeauty, and to it he attached the name Belle Vue Point. It is indeed a\ncombination of both historical and scenic interest. The Willamette steals\nshyly and coquettishly through green islands to fall into the strong arms\nof the stately Columbia. The western arm of the Willamette, commonly\ncalled the \"Slough,\" joins the Columbia eighteen miles below at the\npicturesque little town of St. Helens. Between the Columbia and the Slough\nlies Sauvie's Island, named from a Hudson's Bay man, and famous throughout\nHudson's Bay times as well as Indian times. The island was the seat of\npower of the Multnomah tribe. The scene of the book known as the _Bridge\nof the Gods_ by Frederick Balch is mainly upon this island, and in that\nbook will be found some glowing descriptions of this beauty spot. To the\nIndians it was known as Wapatoo Island. In the ponds grew the plant called\nthe wapatoo, an onion-like root, very nutritious and palatable, and, with\nsalmon, constituting the chief food of the natives. Not only so, but the\nMultnomah Indians used the wapatoo as a commercial stock, carrying on\nregular trade with both the coast and the up-river tribes.\n\nAccording to the early explorers there were great annual fairs on Wapatoo\nIsland, when Indians from ocean beach, from valley, from mountains, and\nfrom River, both up and down, would gather to exchange products, to\ngamble, race horses and boats, and have a general period of hilarity and\ngood fellowship.\n\nThe gathering of the wapatoos developed upon the patient \"klootchmen\"\n(women) of the tribe. They would go out in canoes to the shallow water\nwhere the roots grew and then, stripping naked, would hang over the side\nof the boat and dislodge the wapatoos with their toes from the soft mud.\nSoon the surface would be covered with the floating roots. The squaws\nwould gather these into the canoes. Then they would move to another place\nfor another load. Sometimes they would spend almost the whole day in the\nwater. The wapatoo still grows in the ponds and lagoons of the island.\nThese ponds formerly abounded in ducks and geese and cranes and swans.\nEven yet there is fine hunting. During the damp soft days of the Oregon\nwinter, the Nimrods of Portland betake themselves thither in great\nnumbers.\n\n[Illustration: Lone Rock, Columbia River, about Fifty Miles East of\nPortland. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland.]\n\nFrom the steamer, as we enter the mouth of the Willamette, or from the\ngreater elevation of the lighthouse, one may command one of the lordliest\nviews that even this land of lordly views affords. Five snow-peaks, Hood,\nRainier-Tacoma, St. Helens, Adams, and Jefferson, rise snow white from the\npurple forests of the Cascade Range. Up the Columbia the great gorge\nthrough which we have passed stands open to view, while down-river the\nsinuous and hazy lines of low-lying shore betoken the nearer proximity of\nthe ocean. Up the Willamette, enchanting islands, with low watery shores,\noccupy the foreground, while a short distance back from the western bank,\na chain of picturesque hills, heavily timbered, encloses the vista. On the\neast side a low bench with bluffy promontories, crowned with the beautiful\nsmooth-barked madrona tree, rises from the green meadows.\n\nIf we could, from so fair an entrance, ascend the Willamette to its source\nin the Cascade Mountains two hundred miles away, and if we could turn\ninto the Tualatin, the Yamhill, the Clackamas, the Molalla, the La\nCreole, the Santiam, the Calapooia, affluents worthy of union with the\nWillamette, and if we could tarry among the vales and meadows and\noak-crowned hills and distant Coast and Cascade ranges of mountains, all\nacross that superb valley, fifty miles wide by a hundred and fifty long,\nas beautiful as Greece or Italy,--we would then all agree that the\nWillamette deserves a volume by itself and that it is almost a crime to\nintroduce it so briefly here. Every old Oregonian, in thinking of the\nWillamette, at once associates it with the apostrophe to it by S. L.\nSimpson, the gifted and unfortunate poet of Oregon, whose genius deserved\na wider recognition than it ever received. The first stanza of his poem is\nthis:\n\n    From the Cascades' frozen gorges,\n    Leaping like a child at play,\n    Winding, widening through the valley,\n    Bright Willamette glides away.\n      Onward ever, lovely River,\n      Softly calling to the sea,\n    Time that scars us, maims and mars us,\n    Leaves no track or trench on thee.\n\nAnd now that we have fairly entered the Willamette, it becomes speedily\nevident that we are in the near vicinity of a large and prosperous city.\nSteamboats, an occasional steamship, sailing ships, sometimes huge\nfour-masted steel ships towed by coughing tugs, long booms of logs in tow\nof some spluttering stern-wheeler, scows of every description, gasoline\nlaunches, rowboats,--a motley fleet, they seem to be making they way with\nall possible haste upon the stream.\n\n[Illustration: Willamette Falls, Oregon City, Ore. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse.]\n\nWe are indeed approaching Portland, the metropolis of the Columbia, the\n\"Rose City,\" in many respects the most interesting and attractive of\nWestern cities. The approach to Portland is one hard to match for stately\nbeauty. The city occupies both sides of the Willamette, the main business\npart on the west side, but the larger residence part on the east.\n\nThe first settler on the original site of Portland was a man named\nOverton. Lownsdale, Chapman, and Lovejoy bought him out. Then Captain John\nH. Couch in 1845 located a donation land claim on what is now the northern\npart of the west side city. At that time the site was somewhat cut up with\ngulches and clothed in the densest of dense forests, with perfect jungles\nof every species of undergrowth. But duller eyes than those of the gallant\nmariners, Couch, Flanders, Ainsworth, Pettygrove, and Lovejoy, could have\nseen beneath the tangled thickets the making of a city, though it may well\nbe questioned whether even they, in their wildest flights of fancy, ever\npictured the scene of to-day, where the city of these sixty years'\nbuilding now sits, a queen upon her circling throne of hills. The location\nof Portland is almost ideal. The hills to the west rise to a height of\nabout eight hundred feet, but many fine homes are located there, and car\nlines cross the hills in many directions. Above the fogs and smoke these\nhigh-line homes have every possible charm. On the east side of the\nWillamette the land is a level bench with limitless room for expansion.\nThere are a few picturesque elevations on the east side, as Mt. Tabor and\nMt. Scott, and these have been used for homes with the taste which\ncharacterises the entire city.\n\nPortland is the centre of every species of transportation facility. It has\none of the most extensive and well-equipped electric railway systems in\nthe United States. In addition to the urban lines, there are interurban\nlines in every direction, to Vancouver, Troutdale, Oregon City, Milwaukee,\nHillsboro, and Salem, the last named the capital of the State and fifty\nmiles distant. We find also that four transcontinental railroads have a\nterminus in Portland, the Southern Pacific, the Northern Pacific, the\nUnion Pacific, and the Great Northern. Steamship lines run to Alaska,\nPuget Sound, San Francisco and other California ports, to all the\ncoastwise ports of Oregon, to the Hawaiian Islands and the Orient, and to\nMexico and South America. Sailing ships convey the products of the\nNorth-west to all the ports of the world.\n\nAs a result of these facilities for commerce we find such figures as the\nfollowing: During the year 1907 there entered and cleared at Portland\ntwelve hundred and twenty ocean-going vessels, registering more than\n1,700,000 tons, net, and with a carrying capacity of 3,500,000 tons. In\nthe cargoes of this total, were 175,000,000 feet of lumber and 18,000,000\nbushels of wheat, flour included. Portland has in fact reached the front\nrank as a wheat and flour shipping port, being in the class with Galveston\nand New York, some of the time having led both of them. In December, 1907,\nPortland's record of wheat shipments, exclusive of flour, was 3,000,000\nbushels. The Bureau of Statistics of the Department of Commerce and Labor\ngave the value of all breadstuffs shipped from Portland for the eleven\nmonths ending November 30, 1907, at $10,536,234. During the same period\nthe shipments of the same commodities from San Francisco totalled\n$4,143,592, while from the three Puget Sound ports of Seattle, Tacoma, and\nEverett, the aggregate was $13,989,178. During November, 1908, there were\nshipped 903,000 bushels of wheat, 180,145 barrels of flour, 209,246\nbushels of barley, and 9,752,552 feet of lumber. During the year 1908 the\nvalue of wheat and flour reached a total of $18,340,405, while the lumber\nexports aggregated 162,089,998 feet.\n\n[Illustration: Among the Big Spruce Trees, near Astoria, Oregon. Photo. by\nWoodfield, Astoria.]\n\nPerhaps the most gratifying feature of the shipping trade to Portland\npeople has been the increase in the size of ships entering the River. In\n1872 the average wheat cargo exported was 33,615 bushels, while now it is\nfour times as much. The record cargo was that of the British bark\n_Andorinha_, in the fall of 1908, 189,282 bushels. The channel from\nPortland to the Columbia Bar and that across the Bar have so much improved\nthat no lightering was necessary during the year 1908, and ships of\ntwenty-five and twenty-six feet draft have gone from Portland to the ocean\nwithout difficulty. In connection with this fact we are told that in June,\n1907, the International Sailing-ship Owners' Union abolished the\ndifferential of thirty cents per ton which had stood for some years\nagainst Portland. These conditions, together with the completion of the\nNorth Bank Railroad, by which a greatly added traffic from the Inland\nEmpire will be turned to Portland, seem to indicate that Portland is on\nthe direct road to a greater commercial leadership than she has yet known.\nThe lumber industry centring in Portland is as remarkable as that of\ngrain. Oregon's available forests, according to Government estimates,\nreach a total of three hundred billion feet, board measure. It is\nestimated that during the years 1906-8 the lumber cut in Oregon reached\nabout two billion feet each year, of which about one fifth was sawed in\nPortland. It is asserted, in fact, that Portland is the largest lumber\nproducing city in the world. Lumbermen believe that it is only a question\nof a few years when Portland will cut a billion feet of lumber a year.\nWhile grain and lumber are the great articles of export from Portland,\nthere are vast totals of fruit, hay, live-stock, dairy and poultry\nproducts, fish, and manufactured articles of many kinds.\n\nBut to the thoughtful traveller it is of more interest to see the use made\nof wealth than the wealth itself. Portland now contains about two hundred\nthousand people, said to have more per capita wealth than any other city,\nwith two exceptions, in the United States. What are these people doing\nwith their accumulations? For answer the traveller visits the schools, the\npublic buildings, the churches, the stores, the places of amusement, the\nhomes, and he finds every evidence of taste, good judgment, refinement,\nand artistic skill. The Portland Hotel, the _Oregonian_ building, the\nMarquam Grand Theatre, the Marquam building, the Chamber of Commerce\nbuilding, the Corbett block, the Wells-Fargo building, the First\nCongregational, Presbyterian, Catholic, and Baptist churches and Jewish\nSynagogue, the Union Depot, the City Hall, the City Library,--these and\nmany other structures challenge the admiration of travellers from even the\nbest-built cities of the East. During the year 1907, building permits were\nissued to an amount exceeding nine million dollars, of which nearly half\nwas expended for dwelling houses. Portland is indeed a city of homes, and\nworkingmen own their own houses to an unusual degree.\n\n[Illustration: Portland in 1908. Mt. St. Helens, Sixty-five Miles\nDistant.]\n\nAs the visitor traverses Portland's streets, he sees amply demonstrated\nthe propriety of the cognomen, the \"Rose City.\" Almost every yard boasts\nits roses, and on almost every porch the scarlet rambler or some other\nclimber casts its rich colouring. Soil and climate are said to produce an\nideal combination for the finest grades of roses, as well as of many other\nspecies of flowers. The Portland Fair of 1905 was the means of beautifying\na section of the city near Macley Park. While most of the structures were\nof a temporary nature, the unique and interesting Forestry building has\nbeen left, and this is a rare attraction to the Eastern visitor. The two\ntasteful and significant groups of statuary, _The Coming of the White Men_\nand _Sacajawea_, still grace the spot where they were dedicated. Portland\ncontains many other attractive works of art at available points. Among\nthese is the Skidmore Fountain, on one of the most crowded thoroughfares\nof the city, a real gem of art.\n\nNo visitor to Portland should fail to visit the City Hall and the valuable\nand interesting historical collection of the Oregon Historical Society.\nMr. George H. Himes, the Secretary of the Society, has devoted years to\nthe gathering of this museum of pioneer relics. Some of them are\npriceless. Here is the first printing press in Oregon, used for some years\nby Rev. H. M. Spalding at the Nez Perce Mission. Here is Mrs. Whitman's\nwriting desk. Here is Captain Robert Gray's sea-chest. The ages of\ndiscovery, of the fur-traders, of the missionaries, of the pioneers, are\nall lived over again in the inspection of these relics.\n\nProbably most people who have followed the course of public thought and\naction in the West, if asked what agency and what man would first come\ninto their minds at the mention of the name of Portland, would answer at\nonce,--\"The _Oregonian_ and its editor, Harvey Scott.\" This great journal\nand its great editor, associated together most of the time for over forty\nyears, have indeed constituted one of the most potent forces in framing\nthe thoughts and the institutions of the Columbia River people. It is\nfrequently said that Harvey Scott and Henry Watterson are the only great\nAmerican editors yet remaining of the old type, the type of a personal\nintellectual force and a public teacher. The present type of editor is\nrather an advertising manager than a political and social leader, a\nbusiness man rather than a generator of ideas.\n\nThere are many additional features of interest in and around Portland.\nWhether viewed artistically, commercially, financially, socially, or\nhistorically, this fair metropolis of the Columbia River Empire is in a\nclass by herself. Only by personal acquaintance can the student of the\nWest satisfy himself as to Portland.\n\nBut once more we must address ourselves to the River. One may go to\nAstoria by rail down the southern bank, or he may, if he prefer, as we\ncertainly do, go by water. He can go by almost every species of boat known\nto man, from an ocean steamship to one of the lateen-sailed fishing boats\nwhich abound on the lower River.\n\nWhen we have retraced our course to the mouth of the Willamette and have\nagain committed ourselves to the oceanward flow of the Columbia, we find a\ncontinuance of the same low, oozy, and verdant banks, the same timbered\nhills on either side in the middle distance, and the same dominant\nsnow-peaks and unbroken Cascade Range in the farthest background. We pass\nmany little towns, whose leading occupations are manifestly lumbering and\nfishing. We try to live over again the sensations which we think must have\nbeen felt by Lewis and Clark or Broughton, as they, first of civilised\nmen, lifted the veil from this solitude.\n\n[Illustration: Portland Harbour, Oregon. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse,\nPortland.]\n\nIn this section of the River there are no stupendous pinnacles as in the\nGorge of the Cascades. Yet the scenery is infinitely varied, and although\nless bold, it is, in its way, equally attractive with the loftier scene.\nOne unique spot attracts the eye, and almost recalls the beauty of Rooster\nRock. This is Mt. Coffin, on the Washington side, near the mouth of the\nCowlitz River. This was one of the \"Memaloose\" or sepulture places of the\nIndians. There in early times their dead, in great numbers, were deposited\nupon platforms after the usual Indian fashion.\n\nAfter passing the ingress of the Cowlitz, we find the River widening to\nyet grander proportions. Islands become numerous. Among these islands not\na few desperate affrays and even tragedies have occurred among warring\nfishermen, union against non-union. Lurking among these islands, too, are\nnumerous unlicensed vendors of spirits. In the uncertainty as to which of\nthe States may have jurisdiction at places, these illicit traffickers move\nfrom island to island and cove to cove and one overhanging forest to\nanother, evading officers of both States and of Federal Government alike.\nSometime a novelist will be inspired with the poetry and humour and\ntragedy and pathos of this fisher life on the lower River, with its\nmingling of the life of law-breaker and desperado, and this section of our\nRiver will blossom into literature and find a place with the moonshiners\nof the South and the cowboys of the Rockies. All the material is ready.\nThe River waits only for its Owen Wister or Hamlin Garland or Jack London\nto introduce it to the world of readers.\n\nBut the River moves and we must move with it. Many signs indicate to us\nthat we are approaching the ocean. If we are moving in a small boat, we\nmay pause to camp under some one of the thick-topped spruce trees whose\nstiff spicules pierce our unwary hands like pins. If we should spend a\nnight we would find the water heaving and falling two, four, or five feet,\nwith the ocean tides. Broader and broader grows the River. Numerous salmon\ncanneries and seining stations appear. Passing a fishing village on the\nnorth bank called Brookfield, we notice a very curious rock, Pillar Rock,\nin the River a quarter of a mile from shore. It rises forty feet directly\nout of the water. We are told by one versed in Indian lore that this is\nthe transformed body of a chief who tried to imitate the god Speelyei by\nwading across the River. For his presumption he was turned into a rock.\n\nSoon after passing Pillar Rock we see the curious spectacle of a house on\npiles apparently right in the middle of the River. More curious still, we\nsee horses seemingly engaged in drawing a load through the very water\nitself. The mystery is soon solved. The house is built on a sand-bar. It\nis a seining station. The horses are pulling a seine from its moorings at\nthe point of the sand-bar to the point where its load may be discharged.\nLumber, salmon, and water,--this is the world in which we now live and\nmove and have our being.\n\n[Illustration: Fish River Road, in Upper Columbia Region, B. C. Photo. by\nTrueman, Victoria.]\n\nWe next enter a broad expanse of the River, nine miles wide, on the north\nside of which is a deep cove. There is the historic spot in which Robert\nGray on May 3, 1792, paused at his highest point to fill his water casks\nand to float the Stars and Stripes over Oregon, claimed for the United\nStates of America. As we look westward, the headlands seem to part in\nfront of us, and between them sky and water join. The greatest ocean is\nbefore us, though still twenty miles away. The River has reached the end\nof his fourteen-hundred-mile journey. Soon we pass, on the Oregon side,\nthe bold promontory of Tongue Point, and Astoria, the second largest city\non the navigable waters of the Columbia, is before us.\n\nTo the history of this oldest American town west of the Rocky Mountains we\nhave already referred many times. Interesting in so many features of the\npast, Astoria is full of problems and suggestions, commercial and\notherwise, for the present and the future. The city has grown slowly,\nalways wondering why Portland should have so outstripped her. She\ncertainly has such a location that it seems a crime not to utilise it for\na great city. The River is here five miles wide. Upon its ample flood all\nthe navies of the world might ride at anchor, sheltered from the sea by\nthe long low sand-ridge of Point Adams. The site of the city, though\nsomewhat rugged and broken, is entirely capable of reduction to a\nconvenient grade, and is singularly noble and commanding. From the plateau\nthree hundred feet high upon which the splendid waterworks are located, is\na view of imposing grandeur;--River in front, dense forest to rear, with\nthe blue saddle and pinnacled horn of Saddle Mountain,--Swallalochost in\nIndian speech, with its thunder-bird of native myth,--and the ocean to the\nwest. We find Astoria to be a well-built city of about fifteen thousand\npermanent inhabitants, with perhaps five or six thousand more during the\nheight of the fishing season. Almost every resource of industry offers\nitself in this favoured region about the mouth of the River. Though the\ncountry is densely timbered in its native state, the soil is such that\nwhen cleared it is of the finest for dairy and vegetable purposes. The\nmildness of the climate keeps the clover and grass green and the flowers\nin bloom the long year through.\n\nAs might be expected the chief industries as yet developed are lumbering\nand fishing. There are magnificent forests of fir, spruce, cedar, and\nhemlock, in all directions, while in and around Astoria there are six\nimmense establishments for transforming the timber into merchantable\nlumber. This lumber aggregates something like a hundred and twenty million\nfeet annually, and it goes to all the ports of the world. There is\noccasionally floated to the bar and thence to San Francisco, a log-boom\nchained in substantial fashion and containing several million feet of\nlogs. Such a great boom is one of the most curious sights of the\nRiver-mouth. But transcending all else in importance at Astoria is the\nbusiness of canning and drying salmon. What silver is to the Coeur\nd'Alene, what wheat is to Walla Walla, what apples are to Hood River, that\nsalmon are to Astoria. The people think, act, and reason in terms of\nsalmon. And well they may. He who has not seen Chinook salmon from the\nColumbia River has not seen fish. Nay, he cannot even be said to have\nreally lived in the larger sense of the term. Take a genuine Chinook\nsalmon of fifty or sixty pounds, caught in June, fat, rich,\nglistening,--but words are a mockery. Nothing but the actual experience\nwill convey the impression. The salmon output on the River has for some\nyears run from two hundred and fifty thousand to five hundred thousand\ncases per year, twenty-four cans to the case. The amount dried and smoked\nrepresents something like an equal amount. This is for the River from\nAstoria to The Dalles. The great bulk of this, however, is put up at\nAstoria or in its immediate vicinity. It is estimated that from thirty\nmillion to forty million salmon are caught yearly on the Oregon side of\nthe lower River. This represents a value of four or five million dollars,\nabout half of this going to the fishermen and half to the cannerymen. Some\nten thousand men are engaged in fishing about the mouth of the River.\nThese men are largely Finns, Russians, Norsemen, Italians, Sicilians, and\nGreeks. They have various co-operative associations and are independent of\nthe cannerymen, to whom they furnish the fish at some stipulated price,\nusually five cents a pound.\n\n[Illustration: Multnomah Falls, 840 Feet High, on South Side of Columbia\nRiver about Sixty Miles above Portland. Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse,\nPortland.]\n\nThere are many tragedies at the mouth of the River. The best fishing is\njust off the Bar and the best time to draw the nets is at the turn of the\ntide. In a fishing boat in the chill of the early morning, the fishermen\nwill frequently become benumbed and drowsy, and will neglect the critical\nmoment. When the tide fairly turns on the Bar it runs out like a mill\nrace, and woe to the boat that waits too long. It goes out to sea,\nreappearing perhaps, bottom-up, in the course of the day, with owners and\ncargo gone. Some experienced men have asserted that not less than a\nhundred fishermen are lost every summer. Many boats are now fitted with\ngasoline power, and loss of life is lessened thereby.\n\nTo the visitor at the River's mouth the fairest sight of all in connection\nwith the fishing industry is the incoming fleet of boats in the early\nmorning, or the outgoing fleet of evening. On a June night it scarcely\ngrows really dark at all, and as the faint glow of the north turns at two\nor three o'clock into the morning flush, the lateen sails can be seen like\na flock of gulls on the rim of the ocean. When the full radiance of the\ndawn, with its bars of carmine and saffron, has \"turned to yellow gold the\nsalt-green streams,\" the fleet is within the outer headlands. Hundreds,\nsometimes thousands of them, a regular cloud of them, converge from all\nparts of the offing to the wharves of lower Astoria.\n\nWith all its benefits the fishing industry brings almost infinite trouble.\nThe two States of Oregon and Washington never agree on laws governing the\nperiods of lawful fishing. Sometimes Federal authorities bear a part in\nthe imbroglio. Gill-net men, seiners, fish-trap men, union men, non-union\nmen, local, State, and Federal officials, all combine in one great general\nmix-up. In the midst of the confusion the countless salmon pursue their\ncourse up the River and its tributaries in summer, back to the ocean\nagain in autumn. The Federal Government maintains fish hatcheries on a\nnumber of streams, and from them young salmon to the number of millions\nare turned out each year to replenish the diminishing supply.\n\n[Illustration: Chinook Salmon, Weight 80 Pounds. Photo. by Woodfield,\nAstoria.]\n\nA great and constantly growing tide of tourists from all parts of the\nWillamette Valley and the upper Columbia region go to Astoria during the\nsummer. The fine steamers, _T. J. Potter_, _Hassalo_, _Charles D.\nSpencer_, and others of less size, convey these thousands of tourists to\nAstoria, while the railroad from Portland brings yet other thousands. From\nAstoria, the North Beach is reached by steamer to Ilwaco, and thence by\nrail to all points of the fishhook of land which extends from the northern\nheadland of the River to the mouth of Willapa Harbour. During the season\nthis beach is almost a continuous city from Cape Hancock to Leadbetter\nPoint, twenty miles distant. Clatsop Beach on the south side of the River\nis reached by rail from Astoria. Every charm that an ocean resort can\npossess has been lavished on these two beaches on either side of the\nRiver. The bathing, boating, climbing, fishing, hunting, clamming,\ncrabbing,--they are all there. To the population of that part of the River\ncountry east of the Cascades, the transition from the dust and heat of the\nsummer to the cool and rest and freshness of the beach, with its breath\nfrom six thousand miles of unbroken sea, is almost like a change of scenes\nin a play. Both these beaches, especially Clatsop Beach, are the location\nof a rich store of Indian legend and romance. \"Cheatcos\" and \"Skookums\"\nhaunt the forests, and the spirits of Tallapus and Nekahni and Quootshoi\nhave been enthroned on every peak and cape.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAll rivers must reach the sea, and all journeys must end. And so both our\nRiver and our journey find their end in the ocean. From Astoria we can see\nthe outer headlands and the ocean space between. As we survey this merging\nof the Great River with the greater deep, our eyes turn in fancy to that\nclear, bright lake, fourteen hundred miles away in the snowy peaks of\nBritish Columbia, from which the River flows. And in imagination we view\nagain the vistas of lagoons and islands, cliffs and glaciers, lakes and\ncanyons, plains and forests, through which the Columbia takes its course,\nwhile once more the changing scenes of the historical drama associated\nwith that splendid waterway are enacted before our eyes.\n\n[Illustration: Lake Adela, near Head of Columbia River, B. C. Photo. by C.\nF. Yates.]\n\nBut now all these scenes and vistas must be left behind, and we must pass\nbetween the capes. The long sandspit of Point Adams lies on the south, and\nthe bold rock-promontory of Cape Hancock on the north, seven miles apart,\neach crowned with a lighthouse. Between them we secure a view of the great\njetty in course of construction by the Federal Government. This is one of\nthe most important improvements in connection with the River. When this\nwork, together with the canal and locks at Celilo, is completed, the River\nmay be regarded as really navigable on a large scale. The work on the\njetty was inaugurated soon after the jetty-building by Captain Eads at the\nmouth of the Mississippi River had drawn the favourable attention of\npeople and Government to this method of deepening river mouths. The\njetty consists of a double line of piling, filled with rock and mattresses\nof woven willows. This constitutes a solid core against which the current\nof the River on one side piles the silt, while on the other the ocean\nwaves pound the sand into a permanent barrier-reef. The philosophy of it\nis so to narrow the entrance that the accelerated current of the River\nwill scour out the channel to an increased depth. Piles have been set in\nplace by an ingenious system of pneumatic pipes by which compressed air\nbores a hole in the sand. Into this hole the pile is dropped, and the\nsea-waves in a moment fill in and tamp the sand around it. Thus the ocean\nis made to fence itself out. Upon the jetty a railroad has been built, and\na train, loaded with rock and willows, runs out on this every eleven\nminutes for dumping material into the space between the piles. Very\ngratifying results have already been secured. There is now a depth of\ntwenty-six feet on the Bar at low water. The crest of the Bar has been cut\nmuch deeper at several narrow points, and this indicates the progress that\nmay be expected. It is hoped that the completed jetty will maintain a\npermanent channel of forty feet at low water. In stormy weather the work\non the jetty is difficult and dangerous. The impact of the Pacific waves\nwhen lashed by a sixty-mile \"sou'-wester\" is something terrific. Large\nsections of piling have been torn out, and much loss has resulted. But\npatience and money triumph over all obstacles, and the work goes steadily\non. Some conception of the magnitude of the commerce to be accommodated by\nthis great work may be formed from the fact that in the year 1907 the\nfreight handled on the lower River by both river and ocean vessels\namounted to 4,251,681 tons, valued at $76,583,804. This is but a fraction\nof what will come with the full development of the Columbia Valley and\nwith the needed improvements to navigation. The Federal Government\nmaintains life-saving stations on both sides of the River. Many a tale of\ndaring could these heroes of the beach tell, should we stop to question\nthem.\n\nWe are at the point of the jetty. The buoys rise and fall behind us. The\nhorrible blare of the fog-horn sounds across the thunder of the surf, as\nwe cross the imaginary line from headland to headland. Sea-captains tell\nus that ten miles from the River's mouth--so powerfully does the mighty\ncurrent cleave the sea--they can dip up fresh water. But now, to west and\nnorth and south, the deep blue, though crossed by the pale green of the\nRiver water, assures us that we are fairly upon the Bar. The River of the\nWest is all behind us. If it be very clear, we can just discern upon the\nhorizon's verge, cameo-like and glistening white, Mt. Hood, monarch of the\nOregon Cascades, for ever standing guard over the disappearing River.\n\n[Illustration: Bridal Veil Bluff, Columbia River, Ore. Photo. by E. H.\nMoorehouse, Portland.]\n\nAs the shore line grows vague, it would not be difficult for the\nimagination to conjure up the navigators of the Old World who sailed these\nseas, then unknown seas of mystery and romance. Looming up through the\nocean mists we may see strange ships and stranger crews emerge,--junks\nwith Oriental castaways swept hither by storms and ocean currents;\ncaravels with the dauntless sailors of the sixteenth century; buccaneers\nand pirates, a motley flotilla. Then the stout crafts of Drake, Behring,\nHeceta, Cook, Malaspina, Valdez, Bodega, Vancouver, La Perouse; ships of\ndiscovery, of trade, of war, of adventure, of science; flags of Spain, of\nRussia, of Portugal, of France, of England;--on they throng from the hazy\nPacific rim toward the Oregon shore. And soon we seem to see, circling\naround them, canoes with their red-skinned paddlers from the River's\nmouth. But ships and flags, explorers and natives, fade like a dissolving\nview. In their place appears a gallant bark, with banner streaming free.\nWhat ship? What banner? The _Columbia Rediviva_, and the Stars and\nStripes--the flag that still waves over the land of the Oregon.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd now our vessel rises and falls upon the long swell of the Pacific. Our\njourney on the Columbia River is ended, and we are upon the open sea.\n\n[Illustration: Band of Kootenai Indians, B. C. Photo. by Allan Lean,\nNelson.]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n  A\n\n  Abernethy, Clark & Co., builders of steamers on Columbia, 236\n\n  Abernethy, George, first Provisional Governor, 194\n\n  Adams, Mount, origin of, in Indian myth, 22-24;\n    elevation of, 358;\n    caves of, 359;\n    sport in vicinity, 360;\n    structure of, 361-362;\n    storm on, 364;\n    ascent of, 365-366;\n    views from, 366-368\n\n  Aguilar, Martin, Spanish explorer, 44-45\n\n  Ainsworth, J. C., first captain of steamer _Lot Whitcomb_, 235;\n    joins new company, 237;\n    skill in running rapids, 243\n\n  _Albatross_, ship connected with Winship enterprise, 109-11\n\n  American Board of Foreign Missions undertakes work for Oregon Indians,\n      145\n\n  Applegate, Jesse, disasters of family on Columbia River, 174;\n    extract from pioneer address, 178\n\n  Armstrong, Capt. F. P., trip on Kootenai River, 280-281\n\n  Arrow Lakes, steamboat journey on, 292;\n    scenery of, 293 _et seq._\n\n  Arteaga, voyage on the Alaskan coast, 55\n\n  Astor, John Jacob, founder of Pacific Fur Co., 89;\n    establishes company at Astoria, 113;\n    his plans and mistakes, 115-116\n\n  Astoria, founding of, 120;\n    restored to United States, 125, 182;\n    amplitude of harbour, 389;\n    scenery of surroundings, 390;\n    industries of, 390-391;\n    fishing fleets, 392;\n    resorts adjoining, 393\n\n  Astoria and Columbia River Railroad, 362\n\n\n  B\n\n  Baker, Dr. D. S., railroad builder, 363-364\n\n  _Baker, D. S._, the steamer, running the Dalles, 243\n\n  _Bailey Gatzert_, steamer on Columbia River, 248\n\n  Balch, Frederick, his story, _The Bridge of the Gods_, 22\n\n  Bancroft, H. H., discussion of loss of _Tonquin_, 203\n\n  Banff, attraction as a resort, 274\n\n  Bannock Indian War, 233\n\n  Barlow, S. K., building road across Cascade Mountains, 176\n\n  Barrell, Joseph, originator of fur company at Boston, 102\n\n  Bassett, W. F., first gold discovery in Idaho, 253\n\n  Bateaux, description of, 134\n\n  Baughman, Capt., pilot on Columbia and Snake Rivers, 241\n\n  _Beaver_, vessel of the Pacific Fur Company, 123-124\n\n  _Beaver_, first steamship on Columbia River, 235\n\n  Beers, Alanson, members of Executive Committee of Provisional\n      Government, 194\n\n  \"Beeswax Ship,\" story of, 41-42\n\n  Behring, Vitus, explorations on Pacific Coast, 50-51\n\n  Belcher, Sir Edward, expedition to Columbia River, 164\n\n  _Belle_, steamer on Columbia River, 236\n\n  Benton, Thomas H., expressions in regard to Oregon, 187;\n    special advocate for Oregon, 197\n\n  Bishop, B. B., steamboat builder on Columbia River, 235\n\n  Blakeney, Capt., in charge of steamer _Isabel_ on Upper Columbia, 278\n\n  Blalock, Dr. N. G., connection with large enterprises, 328\n\n  Blanchet, Rev. F. N., book on Catholic Missions, 154;\n    journey to Oregon, 155;\n    locates in Willamette Valley, 155\n\n  Blanchet, Rev. Magloire, Catholic Mission at Walla Walla, 157\n\n  Boas, Dr. Franz, investigator of Indian legends, 35\n\n  Bodega, first voyage, 51;\n    later voyage, 55\n\n  Bonneville, Capt. E. L. E., organises trading company, 161;\n    makes explorations on Columbia River, 162;\n    meets Washington Irving, 162\n\n  Bradford, Daniel, steamboat building on Columbia River, 235\n\n  Bradford & Co., steamboat line on Columbia River, 236\n\n  Broughton, Lieut. W. R., in command of the _Chatham_, 62;\n    entrance of Columbia River and exploration, 66-67;\n    erroneous statements, 67-68\n\n  Buchanan, James, course in regard to boundary of Oregon, 199\n\n  Bullfinch, account of American fur-trade, 101\n\n  Burnett, Peter, speech to immigrants, 169;\n    governor of California, 170;\n    opinion in regard to Provisional Government, 195\n\n\n  C\n\n  Cabinet Rapids, 321\n\n  Cabrillo, navigator on coast of California, 43\n\n  Calhoun, John C., attitude on Oregon question, 186;\n    peculiar situation of, 198-199\n\n  Cameahwait, chief of Shoshone Indians, meeting with Lewis and Clark\n      party, 77;\n    finding Sacajawea, 78\n\n  Canadian boatmen, their skill and gayety, 132-133\n\n  Canadian Pacific Railroad, route of, over Rocky Mts., 274;\n    over Selkirks, 285-286;\n    excellence of management, 288;\n    steamboats on lakes, 292\n\n  Canadian Rockies, character of, and steepness of descent, 275\n\n  Canoes, 133\n\n  Cape Horn, 349\n\n  _Carolina_, steamer crossing Columbia Bar, 235\n\n  Cascades, a dividing line, 340;\n    historic and physical interest of, 340;\n    locks, 341;\n    first notice of tide, 341;\n    fish-wheels and spearmen, 342\n\n  Cascade Mountains, general description, 12-13;\n    the great peaks, 13-14;\n    valleys on east side, 14;\n    valleys on west side, 15-16;\n    cleft by Columbia River, 333\n\n  Cass, Senator, speech in regard to Oregon, 199\n\n  Castle Rock, unique appearance, 343;\n    ascents of, 344;\n    cave and arrowheads, 346\n\n  Catlin, George, account of Indians who sought \"Book of Life,\" 138\n\n  Cayuse War, beginning, 210;\n    ending, 212\n\n  Celiast, Indian woman, 34\n\n  Champoeg, meetings for Provisional Government, 192-193\n\n  Chelan Lake, type of Columbian lakes, 298;\n    first appearance, 299;\n    glacial origin, 300;\n    depth of canyon, 300;\n    comparison with other scenes, 300-301;\n    storms on, 301-302;\n    sunset on, 303\n\n  Chemeketa, the Indian council ground, 142\n\n  Chinook wind, legend of, 24-27\n\n  Chittenden, Major H. M., book on American fur-trade, 203\n\n  Choteau, Pierre and Auguste, founding of St. Louis, 108\n\n  _Christian Advocate_, account of Indians looking for \"Book of Life,\" 137\n\n  Clark, William, lieutenant of exploring party, 73;\n    Indians think him \"medicine man,\" 82;\n    Indians looking for \"Book of Life,\" 136-137\n\n  Clarke, Gen. N. S., in command of Columbia, 224\n\n  Clatsop Plains, favourite resort of Indians, 34\n\n  Clay, Henry, attitude on Oregon question, 186\n\n  Coe, Capt. Lawrence, building steamer _Colonel Wright_, 235;\n    account of first trip on upper Columbia and Snake Rivers, 243-244\n\n  Coeur d'Alene, Lake, as a resort, 297;\n    its mines, 298\n\n  Colleges founded as result of missions, 157\n\n  _Colonel Wright_, the steamer, on upper Columbia, 235;\n    makes first trip on upper rivers, 243-244\n\n  Columbia Basin, forces that wrought it, 6-7;\n    general description, 10-15;\n    climate, 17-18\n\n  Columbia River, many names, 3;\n    early attracts attention, 4;\n    connection with Kootenai River, 11;\n    tomanowas bridge, 21;\n    damming at Cascades, 21-22;\n    discovery by Heceta, 55;\n    discovered and named by Robert Gray, 64;\n    results of discovery, 65;\n    first navigation by Lewis and Clark party, 82;\n    falls passed by party, 83;\n    submerged forests, 84;\n    descent by Lewis and Clark, 84-85;\n    first sight by Hunt's party, 95;\n    _Tonquin_ on bar, 117;\n    forts on, 129-131;\n    crossing of Bar by the ship, _L'Indefatigable_, 156;\n    descent by immigrants of 1843, 172-174;\n    description of Bar by Provost, 184;\n    massacres upon, by Indians, 221;\n    steamboat business, 239 _et seq._;\n    first steamboats on lower part, 235;\n    on upper part, 243;\n    railroads along, 261-262;\n    navigability of, 266;\n    prospective traffic of, 267-269;\n    character above Golden, 278 _et seq._;\n    character below Golden, 285;\n    lakes of, 291 _et seq._;\n    from Robson to Kettle Falls, 296;\n    from Kettle Falls to Wenatchee, 298;\n    rapids and shores from Wenatchee to Pasco, 321;\n    irrigating enterprises, 323-324;\n    between Pasco and The Dalles, 328-329;\n    canal, 330;\n    section beginning at The Dalles, 234-236;\n    peculiar character at Cascades, 239;\n    tomanowas bridge, 340;\n    compared with other scenes, 350;\n    appearance below Rooster Rock, 374;\n    between Portland and the ocean, 387-389;\n    farewell to, 396\n\n  Columbia River Navigation Co., 237\n\n  _Columbia_, the steamer, on River, 235\n\n  Condon, Professor Thomas, geological theories, 5\n\n  Cook, Capt. James, journey on Oregon coast, 55;\n    death, 56\n\n  Cortereal, Gaspar, Straits of Anian, 43\n\n  Coxe, account of fur-trade, 100\n\n  Coyote god, fight with Kamiah monster, 19-21\n\n  Coyote Head, 337\n\n  Crooks, Ramsay, partner of Pacific Fur Co., 89;\n    hard experience with Indians, 96\n\n  Culliby Lake, 42\n\n  Cultee, Charley, Indian story teller, 35\n\n  Curry, Governor, calling for volunteers, 221\n\n\n  D\n\n  Dalles, The, historical interest of, 330;\n    varied resources of, 330-331;\n    scenery, 331\n\n  Day, John, treatment by Indians and death, 96-97\n\n  Dayton, Congressman, expressions about Oregon, 187\n\n  Dawson, Professor, explanation of sources of Columbia, 278\n\n  De Haro at Nootka, 55\n\n  De May in battle of Pine Creek, 227\n\n  Demers, Rev. Modest, missionary to Indians, 155\n\n  De Smet, Rev. Pierre J., books on Catholic missions, 154;\n    in Northern Idaho, 155;\n    in Europe for reinforcements, 156;\n    crossing Bar, 156\n\n  Disoway, G. P., account of Indians who sought \"Book of Life,\" 137\n\n  Dixson, figures on profits of fur-trade, 102\n\n  Donation Land Law attracts immigration, 177\n\n  Dorion, Madame, desperate situation in Blue Mountains, 126\n\n  Drake, Francis, explorations, 44\n\n\n  E\n\n  _Eagle_, steamer above Cascades, 235;\n    rescuing victims of Indian war, 236\n\n  Edwards, Rev. P. L., associate missionary, 141\n\n  Eells, Rev. Cushing, missionary to Oregon Indians, 151;\n    locating at Tshimakain, 152\n\n  Elliott, S. G., first railroad surveys, 259\n\n  England, difficulty with Spain over Nootka Sound, 62\n\n\n  F\n\n  Farnham, T. J., in command of Peoria party, 164;\n    history of Oregon and California, 164\n\n  Ferrelo, explorations on the coast, 43\n\n  Field, mountain resort, 276\n\n  Fiske, Wilbur, leading missionary movements, 140\n\n  Florida Treaty with Spain, 184\n\n  Fonte, extravagant stories, 46\n\n  Fort Clatsop built by Lewis and Clark, 85\n\n  France, assistance to American colonies, 50\n\n  Franchere, Gabriel, history of Pacific Fur Co., 118;\n    founding of Astoria, 120;\n    account of destruction of _Tonquin_, 203\n\n  Fuca, Juan de, 44\n\n  Fur-trade, beginnings, 56-57;\n    on Oregon coast, 60-61;\n    connection with discoveries, 89;\n    historical importance, 99;\n    financial profits of, 103\n\n\n  G\n\n  Gale, Joseph, building of _Star of Oregon_, 166;\n    sails to California, 167;\n    on Executive Committee of Provisional Government, 194\n\n  Gale, William, on ship _Albatross_, 109;\n    extract from journal, 113\n\n  Galiano, voyage around Vancouver Island, 55\n\n  Garnett, Major, in Yakima War, 225\n\n  Gaston, Lieutenant, in battle of Pine Creek, 226\n\n  Gervais, Joseph, location in Oregon, 142\n\n  Ghent, Treaty of, 182\n\n  Gilliam, Cornelius, in Cayuse War, 201\n\n  Glacier, Canadian resort, 286-287\n\n  Glacier Lake, 310\n\n  Glacier Peak, 311\n\n  Golden on Columbia River, 277\n\n  Grande Ronde Valley, first view by Hunt Party, 94\n\n  Grant, Captain, attempting to keep back American immigration, 171\n\n  Gray, Capt. Robert, in command of _Lady Washington_, 60;\n    as a fur-trader, 61;\n    discovers Columbia River, 64\n\n  Gray, W. H., history of Oregon, 147;\n    characteristics, 149;\n    four sons, 149;\n    estimate of population, 188;\n    in Provisional Government, 190-191;\n    steamboat enterprises, 241;\n    adventure on Snake River 241\n\n  Gray, Capt. Wm. P., story of ascent of Snake River, 241;\n    trip down Snake River, 247\n\n  Great Britain, claims to Oregon, 180-181\n\n\n  H\n\n  Halhaltlossot, or Lawyer, 151\n\n  Hallakallakeen (Joseph), summer camp, 297\n\n  Hard winter of 1861, 257\n\n  _Hassalo_, the steamer, 235-237\n\n  _Hassalo, No. 2_, 248\n\n  Hathaway, Felix, building schooner, _Star of Oregon_, 166\n\n  Heceta, first voyage, 51;\n    discovery of Columbia River, 52-54\n\n  Henry, Andrew, trading post on Snake River, 108-109\n\n  Hickey, Capt. F., at restoration of Astoria, 125\n\n  Hill, David, on Executive Committee of Provisional Government, 194\n\n  Hill, J. J., railroad builder, 262\n\n  Holladay, Ben, president of Oregon Central Railroad, 259\n\n  Holmes, Oliver W., quotation, 275\n\n  Hood, Mount, origin of, in Indian myth, 22-24;\n    first appearance of, 333;\n    elevation, 354;\n    approach to, 354;\n    Cloud Cap Inn, 355;\n    view from, 356;\n    historic character of view, 357;\n    appearance from La Camas, 376\n\n  Hood River and Valley, appearance and productions of, 238\n\n  Howard, General O. O., in Nez Perce War of 1877, 230;\n    description of Joseph, 231\n\n  Hudson's Bay Company, organisation of, 104;\n    joined with North-western Fur Co., 107;\n    forts, 128 _et seq._;\n    boats and boatmen, 131-134;\n    policy toward Americans, 150-153;\n    attitude toward Provisional Government, 192, 195;\n    treatment of Dr. McLoughlin, 196\n\n  Hunt, Wilson P., forms land division of Pacific Fur Co., 89;\n    leader in journey, 92 _et seq._\n\n\n  I\n\n  Idaho, name of, 32;\n    reached by Lewis and Clark, 79-81;\n    first steamboat, 235;\n    gold discoveries, 252 _et seq._;\n    university, 315;\n    irrigation systems, 317\n\n  Illecillewaet River, 287\n\n  Immigration of 1843, beginnings, 168;\n    at Fort Hall, 171;\n    constructing flatboats on Columbia, 173;\n    disasters on River, 174-175;\n    succoured by Dr. McLoughlin, 176;\n    settlement in Willamette Valley, 176\n\n  Indians, sad history, 18;\n    myths, 19 _et seq._;\n    names, 31-32;\n    traders in furs, 103\n\n  Indians', the three Nez Perce, quest for the \"Book of Life,\" 139\n\n  Indian War of 1855, beginning, 219;\n    battle at Walla Walla, 221;\n    unsatisfactory end, 224\n\n  Indian War of 1858, 225 _et seq._\n\n  Inland Empire, origin, 6;\n    general description, 14\n\n  _Intelligencer, National_, expressions in regard to Oregon, 187\n\n  Irving, Washington, author of _Astoria_, 113\n\n\n  J\n\n  _Jason P. Flint_, steamer on Columbia, 235\n\n  Jefferson, Thomas, connection with Pacific Coast, 69-70;\n    organisation of Lewis and Clark expedition, 72-73;\n    instructions to party, 74\n\n  _Jenny Clark_, steamer on Willamette, 236\n\n  Jetty, at mouth of River, construction, 395;\n    prospective results, 396\n\n  Joint Occupation Treaty, 134\n\n  Joseph, Indian chief, in Walla Walla council, 217-218\n\n  Joseph (Hallakallakeen), in great war of 1877, 229;\n    captured, 231;\n    later life and character, 232\n\n  Joseph War of 1877, 229 _et seq._\n\n\n  K\n\n  Kamiah monster, myth of, 19-21\n\n  Kamiakin, Yakima chief, 213;\n    at Walla Walla Council, 214;\n    conspiracy to kill Governor Stevens, 216;\n    description of by Stevens, 216;\n    breaking up of treaties, 218;\n    new force of warriors, 220;\n    apparent success, 224\n\n  Kamm, Jacob, engineer on steamer _Lot Whitcomb_, 235\n\n  Keith, J., at restoration of Astoria, 125\n\n  Kelley, Hall J., home and character, 159;\n    expedition to California and Oregon, 160;\n    return to New England, 161\n\n  Kelley, Col. J. K., in battle of the Walla Walla, 221\n\n  Kendrick, Capt. John, in command of the _Columbia Rediviva_, 60;\n    in fur-trade, 61\n\n  Kettle Falls, historic interest, 296\n\n  Kennewick, 227\n\n  Kicking Horse River (Wapta), origin of name, 277\n\n  Kilbourne, Ralph, builder of _Star of Oregon_, 166\n\n  Kimooenim River, or Snake River, first view by Lewis and Clark party, 81\n\n  Kip, Lieutenant, account of Walla Walla Council, 214-215\n\n  Klickitat Indians, legends, 28-30;\n    atrocities of, at Cascades, 221\n\n  Kobaiway, Indian chief, 35\n\n  Konapee, story of, 37-39\n\n  Kooskooskie River, discovered by the Lewis and Clark party, 79;\n    navigation on, by Lewis and Clark party, 81\n\n  Kootenai River, character of navigation, 280-281;\n    Bonnington Falls of, 294\n\n  Kootenai Lake, description of, 295-296;\n    sporting on, 296\n\n\n  L\n\n  La Camas, paper mill, 375\n\n  _Ladd, Carrie_, steamer on Willamette, 236\n\n  Lamazee, or Lamazu, brings news of destruction of _Tonquin_, 123\n\n  _Lark_, wreck of, 124\n\n  _Lausanne_, Methodist mission ship, 142\n\n  Lawyer, Indian chief favourable to whites, 214-216\n\n  Le Breton, G. W., part in founding Provisional Government, 192\n\n  Ledyard, John, connection with Jefferson, 70;\n    comprehension of fur-trade, 101\n\n  Lee, Rev. Daniel, missionary to Indians, 141;\n    mission at The Dalles, 142\n\n  Lee, Rev. Jason, missionary to Indians, 140;\n    locating mission at Chemawa, 142;\n    in the East for reinforcements, 142;\n    death, 143;\n    connection with Ewing Young, 144;\n    memorial to Congress, 144;\n    influence, 145;\n    lecture at Peoria, 163;\n    chairman of meeting of settlers, 189\n\n  Lewis and Clark expedition, its inception by Jefferson, 71;\n    summary by Captain Lewis, 87;\n    mention of, by Jefferson, 88\n\n  Lewis, Jo, part in Whitman massacre, 206\n\n  Lewis, Meriwether, selection by Jefferson for leader of party, 72;\n    description of crossing Divide, 75\n\n  Lewiston, founding of, 245\n\n  Linn Senator, presenting memorials to Congress, 189;\n    his death, 197\n\n  Lisa, Manuel, organises the Missouri Fur Company, 108\n\n  Looking Glass, famous speech, 215\n\n  _Lot Whitcomb_, the steamer, on Columbia River, 235\n\n  Louise, Lake, beauties of, 274\n\n  Louisiana Purchase, significance, 71\n\n\n  M\n\n  Macbeth, Miss Kate, opinion about Indians who looked for \"Book of Life,\"\n      136-137\n\n  Mackenzie, Alexander, expedition to Pacific Coast, 71;\n    journey to the Arctic Ocean, 106;\n    reaches Pacific Ocean, 106\n\n  McBean, Wm., account of Walla Walla Council, 217\n\n  McCellan, Robert, partner of Pacific Fur Company, 89\n\n  McClellan, Geo. B., assists Stevens in reconnaissance for Pacific\n      Railroad, 260\n\n  McDougall, Duncan, smallpox bottle, 122;\n    marries daughter of Comcomly, 122;\n    sells out Company, 124\n\n  McKay, Dr. W. C., physician at Pendleton, 319\n\n  McKenzie, Donald, partner of Pacific Fur Company, 89;\n    leads division of party, 92;\n    sells out Company, 124\n\n  McKinley, Allen, building of steamer on Columbia, 235\n\n  McLoughlin, Dr. John, as factor of Hudson's Bay Company, 130;\n    reception of Methodist missionaries, 141;\n    meets the Whitman party of missionaries, 150;\n    connection with building _Star of Oregon_, 166;\n    sees approaching success of Americans, 167;\n    stories connecting him with Americans, 168;\n    account of Provisional Government, 195;\n    becomes an American citizen, 196;\n    land troubles, 196;\n    sadness of old age, 196;\n    summary of character, 197\n\n  Maldonado, extravagant stories, 46;\n    map, 48\n\n  Maquinna, Indian chief, 202\n\n  Martinez, voyage on coast of Oregon, 55\n\n  _Mary_, steamer on Upper Columbia, 235;\n    rescues victims of Indian war, 236;\n    on her regular route, 237\n\n  Mazama Club, influence of, 353\n\n  Meares, Capt. John, English explorer, 44;\n    voyages to Oregon Coast, 58;\n    at mouth of Columbia, 59-60\n\n  Meek, Jo, part in founding Provisional Government, 192\n\n  Memaloose Island, 337\n\n  Miller, Joseph, partner of Pacific Fur Company, 89\n\n  Minto, John, account of founding of Provisional Government, 190\n\n  Montcachabe, Indian who first crossed the continent, 70\n\n  _Moody, Mary_, steamer, first steamer on Pend Oreille Lake, 245\n\n  Moody, Z. F., builds steamer, 245\n\n  Moorehouse, Major Lee, Indian photographer, 320\n\n  Morigeau, Baptiste, pioneer on Lake Windermere, 283\n\n  Moscow, site of University of Idaho, 315\n\n  Moses, Indian chief, 297\n\n  _Mountain Buck_, steamer on Columbia, 236\n\n  Mountaineers' Club, purpose and location, 353\n\n  Mowry, Wm., report of speech by Nez Perce Indian, 139\n\n  _Multnomah_, steamer on Columbia, 236\n\n  Multnomah Falls, 348\n\n\n  N\n\n  Nekahni, Mt., location of, 33;\n    beauty of, 39;\n    the \"treasure ship,\" 40-41\n\n  Nelson, metropolis of the Kootenai, 294;\n    fruit industries of, 294;\n    mines of, 295;\n    transportation of, 295\n\n  Nesmith, J. W., extract on immigration of 1843, 169;\n    account of Indian guide, Sticcus, 172;\n    in Indian War of 1855, 221\n\n  Nez Perce Indians, origin of, 21;\n    first meeting with Lewis and Clark party, 80;\n    looking for \"Book of Life,\" 137\n\n  Nootka Sound, discovery of, 51;\n    important centre, 55;\n    as a cause of dispute between England and Spain, 62\n\n  North Bank Railroad, 262;\n    cost of, 377;\n    bridge, 377\n\n  North-west Fur Company, organisation, 105;\n    unites with Hudson's Bay Company, 107, 128;\n    in possession of Columbia Basin, 125\n\n\n  O\n\n  Oak Point founded by Winship brothers, 110\n\n  Ogden, Peter Skeen, ransoms survivors of Whitman massacre, 207\n\n  _Okanogan_, the steamer, first to run Tumwater Falls, 242\n\n  Okanogan Indians, story of, 284-285\n\n  Oneonta Gorge, 347\n\n  Oregon, name of, 31\n\n  Oregon Question, its complicated and momentous character, 200\n\n  Oregon Railroad and Navigation Co. organised, 246\n\n  Oregon Short Line Railroad, 262\n\n  Oregon Steam Navigation Co. organised, 237;\n    development of business, 238;\n    its portages, 238;\n    sells out, 246\n\n  Oregon Transportation Co. organised, 237\n\n  _Oregonian_, newspaper, influence of, 386\n\n  Osborne, Mr., escape from Whitman massacre, 207\n\n\n  P\n\n  Pacific Fur Co., organisation of, 89;\n    its dissolution, 125\n\n  Paha Cliffs, 336\n\n  Pakenham, British envoy, and his course in regard to Oregon, 199-200\n\n  Pambrun, Pierre, instructed Indians in Catholic faith, 137\n\n  Parker, Rev. Samuel, in Oregon to investigate condition of Indians, 145;\n    his traits, 146;\n    book, 146\n\n  Pasco, lands around, 326;\n    prospects of, 327\n\n  _Patriot, Illinois_, report of the Indians looking for \"Book of Life,\"\n      137\n\n  _Peacock_, ship of Wilkes Expedition lost on Columbia Bar, 165\n\n  Pearce, E. D., connection with discovery of gold in Idaho, 252\n\n  Pearson, express rider, rides to notify Stevens of Great Yakima War,\n      219-220\n\n  Pendleton, its industries and some of its citizens, 319-320\n\n  Peoria party of immigrants, 163\n\n  Perez, voyage of, 51\n\n  Perkins, Rev. H. K. W., mission at The Dalles, 142\n\n  Peupeumoxmox, Indian chief in war of 1855, 213;\n    leads force to Walla Walla, 214;\n    killed, 221\n\n  Polk, President, management of Oregon Question, 199-200\n\n  Poppleton, Irene Lincoln, article in _Oregon Historical Quarterly_, 237\n\n  Portland developed by discovery of gold in California, 251;\n    location, 381;\n    transportation facilities, 382;\n    commerce, 382-383;\n    buildings, 384;\n    artistic character of, 385;\n    Historical Society, 385-386\n\n  _Potter, T. J._, steamer on Columbia, 248\n\n  Priest Rapids, character of, 322;\n    origin of name, 322;\n    power for pumping, 324\n\n  Provisional Government, origin of, 190-192;\n    organisation of, 193;\n    officers of, 194;\n    state house for, 194\n\n  Provost, J. B., at restoration of Astoria, 125;\n    agent of United States for receiving Astoria from Great Britain, 182;\n    describes Columbia Bar, 182-183\n\n  Pullman, site of State College, 315\n\n\n  R\n\n  _Raccoon_, British man-of-war at Astoria, 124\n\n  Railroad Creek, scenery about, 309-310\n\n  Rainier, Mt., origin of name, 32\n\n  Rector, Wm., road across Cascade Mountains, 176\n\n  Revelstoke, character as a junction, 292\n\n  Rock Island Rapids, 321\n\n  Roosevelt, Theodore, view of Calhoun's policy in regard to Oregon, 198;\n    reference to Columbia River, 246\n\n  Rooster Rock, appearance of, 349-350;\n    River below, 375\n\n  Rosalia, monument of Steptoe, 315\n\n  Ross, Alexander, adventure in Yakima country, 126-127;\n    narration of profits in fur-trade, 131;\n    on blowing up of _Tonquin_, 203\n\n  Ruckle and Olmstead put steamer on Columbia, 236\n\n  Russia, entrance upon American exploration, 50-51\n\n\n  S\n\n  Sacajawea, with Lewis and Clark party, 75;\n    sees the whale, 85;\n    finds her brother, Cameahwait, 78\n\n  St. Helens, Mt., origin of, in Indian myth, 22-24\n\n  St. Joe River, its beauties, 297\n\n  St. Peter's Dome, 346\n\n  Salmon River, Lewis and Clark party at the head of, 79\n\n  Saltese, Coeur d'Alene chief, 226\n\n  _San Jose_, ship connected with Indian story, 42\n\n  Scott, Harvey, character and influence as an editor, 386\n\n  Sea-otter, importance in the fur-trade, 100\n\n  _Senorita_, steamer on Columbia, 236\n\n  Shakspere, his location of Caliban and Ariel in the Far West, 47\n\n  Shaw, Col. B. F., battle of Grande Ronde, 222\n\n  Shepard, Rev. Cyrus, missionary to Indians, 141\n\n  Sheridan, battle at Cascades, 22\n\n  Shoshone Indians, meeting with Lewis and Clark party, 76-78\n\n  Shuswap Indians, story of, 284-285\n\n  _Sierra Nevada_, the steamship, its cargo of treasure, 239\n\n  Simpson, S. L., extract from poem of, 380\n\n  Smith, Rev. A. B., minister to Oregon Indians, 151;\n    at Kamiah, 152\n\n  Smith, J. C., connection with gold mines in Idaho, 253\n\n  Smith, Jedediah, American trapper thought to have taught religion to\n      Indians, 137\n\n  Smith, William, mate on _Albatross_, 109\n\n  Snake River, orchards of, 316;\n    heat, 317;\n    irrigation systems of, 317;\n    Shoshone Falls of, 317\n\n  Snow-peaks, general group of, 353;\n    zones of, 370-372\n\n  Snickster, adventure in Steptoe expedition, 228\n\n  Sowles, Capt. Cornelius, character of, 116\n\n  Spain, connection with Oregon exploration, 48;\n    downfall, 48-49;\n    settlement of California, 49;\n    favouring conditions for exploration, 50;\n    conflict with England over Nootka, 62;\n    character of claims to Oregon, 180\n\n  Spalding, Rev. H. H., in Oregon as missionary, 147;\n    his traits of character, 148;\n    among Nez Perces, 151;\n    first printing press west of Rocky Mountains, 152\n\n  Spalding, Mrs. H. H., characteristics, 148\n\n  Speelyei, Indian god, struggle with Wishpoosh, 8-9;\n    creates Indian tribes, 9\n\n  _Spencer Chas. D._, steamer on Columbia, 248\n\n  Spokane, remarkable character as a city, 315;\n    water power of Falls, 315;\n    grandeur as spectacle, 315;\n    railway system, 316\n\n  Spokane House, location of, 315\n\n  Spotted Eagle, remarkable speech, 223\n\n  _Star of Oregon_, schooner built on Willamette River, 166;\n    trip to San Francisco, 167\n\n  Stark, Benjamin, in steamboat business, 236\n\n  _Statesman, Washington_, extracts in regard to Idaho mines, 255-256\n\n  Stehekin River, canyon of, 303;\n    Rainbow Falls of, 305;\n    Horseshoe Basin of, 306\n\n  Steptoe, Col. E. J., dissension with Stevens, 223;\n    fort at Walla Walla, 224;\n    disastrous expedition to Spokane, 225 _et seq._\n\n  Stevens, Hazard, account of Walla Walla Council, 215\n\n  Stevens, I. I., appointed Governor of Washington, 213;\n    makes treatise, 213;\n    Council at Walla Walla, 214;\n    goes to northern country to make treaties, 215;\n    describes Kamiakin, 216;\n    makes treaty with Flatheads, 218;\n    returns to Olympia, 221;\n    organises volunteers, 222;\n    second Council at Walla Walla, 222;\n    trouble with Steptoe, 223;\n    trouble with Wool, 224;\n    battle at Walla Walla, 224;\n    reconnaissance for railroad in 1853, 260\n\n  Sticcus, Indian guide of immigrants, 172;\n    tries to save the Whitman Mission, 206\n\n  Stuart, David, founding of Fort Okanogan, 121\n\n  Stump, Capt. T. J., on first steamer down Tumwater Falls, 242\n\n  Sturgis, profits of fur-trade, 103\n\n  Sutter, Captain, connection with discovery of gold, 250\n\n  Swan, data on income of furs, 103\n\n  Swift, Jonathan, placing of Gulliver near the coast of Oregon, 47\n\n\n  T\n\n  \"Takhoma, Mt.,\" origin of name, 32\n\n  Tallapus, Indian deity, 33\n\n  Tamahas, part in Whitman massacre, 206, 212\n\n  Tamsaky, in Whitman massacre, 206;\n    killed, 212\n\n  Taylor, Captain, part in battle of Pine Creek, 226\n\n  Telaukait, part in Whitman massacre, 206\n\n  _Tenino_, the steamer, value of its business, 239\n\n  Tetons, Three, first seen by Hunt party, 81\n\n  Thompson, David, crossing the continent, 106;\n    at Astoria, 121;\n    remains of his fort on Lake Windermere, 282\n\n  Thompson, R. R., builds steamer _Colonel Wright_, 235\n\n  Thorn, Jonathan, disposition as captain of _Tonquin_, 116;\n    tyrannical course in entering Columbia River, 117-118\n\n  Thornton, J. Quinn, description of Oregon State House, 194\n\n  Timothy, Nez Perce Indian guide to Steptoe's command, save command,\n      226-227\n\n  _Tonquin_, fitting out for Astoria, 117;\n    entrance of Columbia River, 118-119;\n    destroyed by Indians, 124;\n    account of capture, 203\n\n  Touchet Valley, adaptability to orchards, 325\n\n  Trappers, two general classes of, 90\n\n  Treaty with England in regard to Oregon, 200\n\n  Trevett, Vic, tomb of, 337\n\n  Troup, Capt. James, skill in running rapids, 242;\n    on _D. S. Baker_ over The Dalles, 243\n\n\n  U\n\n  Umatilla Plains first seen by the Hunt expedition, 94\n\n  Umatilla Rapids, singular character of, 328\n\n  Union Transportation Co. organised, 237\n\n  United States, character of claims to Oregon, 181;\n    notifies Great Britain to regain Astoria, 182\n\n\n  V\n\n  Valdez, circumnavigation of Vancouver Island, 55\n\n  Vancouver, Capt. George, as English commissioner, 62;\n    equipment for exploration, 62;\n    at mouth of Columbia River, 63;\n    meets Gray, 63;\n    at Columbia Bar, 66\n\n  Vancouver Island, location of important explorations, 56-57\n\n  Vancouver, Fort, its condition as a Hudson's Bay post, 128-129\n\n  Vancouver, city of historic interest, 376;\n    scenery, 377\n\n  _Venture_, the steamer, carried over Cascades, 236\n\n  Verendrye, first European to enter Rocky Mountains, 70\n\n  Villard, Henry, first arrival in Oregon, 260;\n    railroad on Columbia River, 261;\n    financial disasters, 261\n\n  Vizcaino, commander of Spanish fleet of exploration, 44\n\n  Von Holst, opinion in regard to Calhoun's management of the Oregon\n      matter, 198\n\n\n  W\n\n  Walker, Rev. Elkanah, missionary to Oregon Indians, 151;\n    at Tshimakain, 151\n\n  Walker's Prairie, location of first church, 315\n\n  Walker, Wm., account of Indians who sought the \"Book of Life,\" 137\n\n  Walla Walla, Fort, arrival at, by immigrants of 1843, 173\n\n  Walla Walla City, historic nature of, 318;\n    appearance and surroundings, 318;\n    Whitman Mission, 318\n\n  Walla Walla Council of Stevens with Indians, 213 _et seq._\n\n  Wallowa Lake, beauty and historic interest of, 320\n\n  Wallula, 328\n\n  Wapatoo Island, first seen by Lewis and Clark party, 86;\n    description of, 378\n\n  Wapta River, 277\n\n  _Wasco_, steamer built on Columbia, 235;\n    rescues victims of Indian War, 236;\n    under new management, 237\n\n  Washington, State, evidences of development, 314 _et seq._;\n    views of, from Mt. Adams, 366 _et seq._\n\n  Washington Territory, created by Congress, 212;\n    volunteers for Indian War, 222\n\n  Washougal, historic interest of, 375\n\n  Webster, Daniel, attitude on Oregon question, 186-187;\n    inclined to yield to England, 197\n\n  Wehatpolitan, story of, 345\n\n  Wenatchee, interest as an irrigated region, 314\n\n  Whitcomb, Lot, builds steamer of same name, 235\n\n  White, Dr. Elijah, in Oregon in 1837 as Indian agent, 142\n\n  White, Capt. Lew, commands steamer _Colonel Wright_ on trip up Columbia,\n      243-244;\n    launches steamer _Forty-nine_ on Columbia, 245\n\n  Whitman, Dr. Marcus, entrance upon work for Oregon Indians, 145;\n    popularity with trappers, 146;\n    return to New York, 146;\n    marriage and return to Oregon, 147;\n    his appearance and character, 147;\n    getting waggon across continent, 150;\n    among Cayuses, 151;\n    conception of value of Oregon, 153;\n    journey in midwinter to St. Louis, 154;\n    helps organise immigration of 1843, 168;\n    guides immigrants, 171;\n    doctors Indians for measles, 205;\n    assassinated, 206;\n    connection with Dr. McLoughlin, 196\n\n  Whitman, Mrs. Narcissa, appearance and qualities, 147;\n    her death, 207\n\n  Whitman massacre, 206-208\n\n  Whitman College, 319\n\n  Whitman County, agricultural resources of, 316\n\n  White Salmon River and Valley, 338\n\n  Wilkes, Lieut. Chas., commands expedition to Columbia River, 165;\n    establishes idea of unity of Pacific Coast, 165;\n    assists in equipping schooner _Star of Oregon_, 160;\n    advice to settlers about a government, 190\n\n  Willamette River, scenery around mouth, 378;\n    tributaries and Valley, 380;\n    apostrophe to, by S. L. Simpson, 380\n\n  Willamette Valley, general view, 15\n\n  Willamette University grows out of mission to Indians, 143\n\n  Williams in the Steptoe retreat, 228\n\n  Windermere Lake, 280\n\n  Winship brothers, project for trading company on Columbia River, 109-113\n\n  Wishpoosh, the Beaver, Indian legend, 8\n\n  Wool, Gen. J. E., discord with Stevens, 222, 224\n\n  Wright, Colonel, campaign against Spokane Indians, 225, 229\n\n  Wyeth, Nathaniel, takes Methodist missionary party across continent in\n      1834, 141;\n    commendation by Lowell, 162;\n    plans great enterprise on Columbia, 162;\n    builds fort at mouth of Willamette, 163;\n    attracts attention to Oregon, 163\n\n\n  Y\n\n  Yakima Valley, productive capacity of, 325\n\n  Yaktana, Indian chief in adventure with Ross, 127\n\n  Young, Ewing, in California, 160;\n    drives cattle to Oregon, 161;\n    death of, 189\n\n\n  Z\n\n  Zaltieri, map of America, 47\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: COLUMBIA RIVER ENTRANCE]\n\n[Illustration: THE COLUMBIA RIVER And Surrounding Country]\n\n\n\n\n_American Waterways_\n\n\nThe Romance of the Colorado River\n\nThe Story of its Discovery in 1540, with an account of the Later\nExplorations, and with Special Reference to the Voyages of Powell through\nthe Line of the Great Canyons.\n\nBy Frederick S. Dellenbaugh\n\nMember of the United States Colorado River Expedition of 1871 and 1872\n\n_435 pages, with 200 Illustrations, and Frontispiece in Color. $3.50 net_\n\n\"His scientific training, his long experience in this region, and his eye\nfor natural scenery enable him to make this account of the Colorado River\nmost graphic and interesting. No other book equally good can be written\nfor many years to come--not until our knowledge of the river is greatly\nenlarged.\"--_The Boston Herald._\n\n\"Mr. Dellenbaugh writes with enthusiasm and balance about his chief, and\nof the canyon with a fascination that make him disinclined to leave it,\nand brings him thirty years later to its description with undiminished\ninterest.\"--_New York Tribune._\n\n\nThe Ohio River\n\nA COURSE OF EMPIRE\n\nBy Archer B. Hulbert\n\nAssociate Professor of American History, Marietta College, Author of\n\"Historic Highways of America,\" etc.\n\n_390 pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net_\n\nAn interesting description from a fresh point of view of the international\nstruggle which ended with the English conquest of the Ohio Basin, and\nincludes many interesting details of the pioneer movement on the Ohio. The\nmost widely read students of the Ohio Valley will find a unique and\nunexpected interest in Mr. Hulbert's chapters dealing with the Ohio River\nin the Revolution, the rise of the cities of Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and\nLouisville, the fighting Virginians, the old-time methods of navigation,\netc.\n\n\"A wonderfully comprehensive and entirely fascinating book.\"--_Chicago\nInter-Ocean._\n\n\nNarragansett Bay\n\n_Its Historic and Romantic Associations and Picturesque Setting_\n\nBy Edgar Mayhew Bacon\n\nAuthor of \"The Hudson River,\" \"Chronicles of Tarrytown,\" etc.\n\n_340 pages, with 50 Drawings by the Author, and with Numerous Photographs\nand a Map. $3.50 net_\n\nImpressed by the important and singular part played by the settlers of\nNarragansett in the development of American ideas and ideals, and strongly\nattracted by the romantic tales that are inwoven with the warp of history,\nas well as by the incomparable setting the great bay affords for such a\nsubject, the author offers this result of his labor as a contribution to\nthe story of great American Waterways, with the hope that his readers may\nbe imbued with somewhat of his own enthusiasm.\n\n\"An attractive description of the picturesque part of Rhode Island. Mr.\nBacon dwells on the natural beauties, the legendary and historical\nassociations, rather than the present appearance of the shores.\"--_N. Y.\nSun._\n\n\nThe Great Lakes\n\n_Vessels That Plough Them, Their Owners, Their Sailors, and Their Cargoes;\ntogether with A Brief History of Our Inland Seas_\n\nBy James Oliver Curwood\n\n_With about 80 Full-page Illustrations, $3.50 net_\n\nThis profusely illustrated book, as entertaining as it is informing, has\nthe twofold advantage of being written by a man who knows the Lakes and\ntheir shores as well as what has been written about them. The general\nreader will enjoy the romance attaching to the past history of the Lakes\nand not less the romance of the present--the story of the great commercial\nfleets that plough our inland seas, created to transport the fruits of the\nearth and the metals that are dug from the bowels of the earth. To the\nbusiness man who has interests in or about the Lakes, or to the\nprospective investor in Great Lakes enterprises, the book will be found\nsuggestive. Comparatively little has been written of these fresh-water\nseas, and many of his readers will be amazed at the wonderful story which\nthis volume tells.\n\n\nThe St. Lawrence River\n\n_Historical--Legendary--Picturesque_\n\nBy George Waldo Browne\n\nAuthor of \"Japan--the Place and the People,\" \"Paradise of the Pacific,\"\netc.\n\n_385 pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net_\n\nWhile the St. Lawrence River has been the scene of many important events\nconnected with the discovery and development of a large portion of North\nAmerica, no attempt has heretofore been made to collect and embody in one\nvolume a complete and comprehensive narrative of this great waterway. This\nis not denying that considerable has been written relating to it, but the\nvarious offerings have been scattered through many volumes, and most of\nthese have become inaccessible to the general reader.\n\nThis work presents in a consecutive narrative the most important historic\nincidents connected with the river, combined with descriptions of some of\nits most picturesque scenery and delightful excursions into to its\nlegendary lore. In selecting the hundred illustrations care has been taken\nto give as wide a scope as possible to the views belonging to the river.\n\n\nThe Niagara River\n\nBy Archer Butler Hulbert\n\nProfessor of American History, Marietta College; author of \"The Ohio\nRiver,\" \"Historic Highways of America,\" etc.\n\n_350 pages, with 70 Illustrations and Maps. $3,50 net_\n\nProfessor Hulbert tells all that is best worth recording of the history of\nthe river which gives the book its title, and of its commercial present\nand its great commercial future. An immense amount of carefully ordered\ninformation is here brought together into a most entertaining and\ninforming book. No mention of this volume can be quite adequate that fails\nto take into account the extraordinary chapter which is given to\nchronicling the mad achievements of that company of dare-devil bipeds of\nboth sexes who for decades have been sweeping over the Falls in barrels\nand other receptacles, or who have gone dancing their dizzy way on ropes\nor wires stretched from shore to shore above the boiling, leaping water\nbeneath.\n\n\nThe Hudson River\n\nFROM OCEAN TO SOURCE\n\n_Historical--Legendary--Picturesque_\n\nBy Edgar Mayhew Bacon\n\nAuthor of \"Chronicles of Tarrytown,\" \"Narragansett Bay,\" etc.\n\n_600 Pages, with 100 Illustrations, including a Sectional Map of the\nHudson River. $3.50 net_\n\n\"The value of this handsome quarto does not depend solely on the\nattractiveness with which Mr. Bacon has invested the whole subject, it is\na kind of footnote to the more conventional histories, because it throws\nlight upon the life and habits of the earliest settlers. It is a study of\nDutch civilization in the New World, severe enough in intentions to be\naccurate, but easy enough in temper to make a great deal of humor, and to\ncomment upon those characteristic customs and habits which, while they\nescape the attention of the formal historian, are full of\nsignificance.\"--_Outlook._\n\n\nThe Connecticut River and the Valley of the Connecticut\n\nTHREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY MILES FROM MOUNTAIN TO SEA\n\n_Historical and Descriptive_\n\nBy Edwin Munroe Bacon\n\nAuthor of \"Walks and Rides in the Country Round About Boston,\" etc.\n\n_500 Pages, with 100 Illustrations and a Map. $3.50 net_\n\nFrom ocean to source every mile of the Connecticut is crowded with\nreminders of the early explorers, of the Indian wars, of the struggle of\nthe Colonies, and of the quaint, peaceful village existence of the early\ndays of the Republic. Beginning with the Dutch discovery, Mr. Bacon traces\nthe interesting movements and events which are associated with this chief\nriver of New England.\n\n\nThe Columbia River\n\n_Its History--Its Myths--Its Scenery--Its Commerce_\n\nBy William Denison Lyman\n\nProfessor of History in Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington\n\n_Fully Illustrated_\n\nThis is the first effort to present a book distinctively on the Columbia\nRiver. It is the intention of the author to give some special prominence\nto Nelson and the magnificent lake district by which it is surrounded. As\nthe joint possession of the United States and British Columbia, and as the\ngrandest scenic river of the continent, the Columbia is worthy of special\nattention.\n\n\n_In Preparation:_\n\n_Each will be fully illustrated and will probably be published at $3.50\nnet_\n\n  1.--Inland Waterways\n      By Herbert Quick\n\n  2.--The Mississippi River\n      By Julius Chambers\n\n  3.--The Story of the Chesapeake\n      By Ruthella Mory Bibbins\n\n  4.--Lake George and Lake Champlain\n      By W. Max Reid\n        Author of \"The Mohawk Valley,\"\n        \"The Story of Old Fort Johnson,\" etc.","title":"The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":118644}