· iﬂrrt ‘ am old oregon was a mighty sweep of country, and a most romantic one. from the...

EarlynDay s

OldOregon

By

KATHARINE BERRY JUD SON,M .A.

Author of“Myths and Legends of Cal ifornia and the O ld Southwest,

“Myths and Legends of the Mississipp i Valley and the Great Lakes,”“Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, etc.

WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS

FOUR MAPS

CH ICAGO

A. C. McCLURG 85 CO .

19 16

Publ ished June, 1916

Copyrighted

! 0LA4 3 1 7 1 8

iflrrt‘

am

OLD OREGON was a m ighty sweep o f country, and

a mo st romanti c one . From the northe rn bo rder

o f Mexi can Ca l i fo rn i a to nea r S i tka in Russ i a n Amer ica i t

stretched , ne a rly e ight hundred m ile s . Eastwa rd i t stretched

ove r a country o f m ighty mounta in range s from which a t

regula r in te rva l s ro s e the snow peaks , eve r gl i sten ing

white , ove r a country o f dense fo re sts , o f m ighty r ive rs

and fo am ing mounta in to rrents , ove r a country o f sand

and sageb ru sh , and on sti l l e a stwa rd ove r the cut-rock

dese rt where “ men had songs fo r suppe r ” and whe re

no game could l ive , on and on ea stwa rd nea rly a thou

sand m ile s unti l th e l im its of the Oregon country, a t

the crest o f the ma in range o f the Rocki e s , met the

old-time , unknown Lou i s i ana .

The romance eve r l inge rs . Sti l l , a s one stands on the

green p ra i r i e a t Fo rt Vancouve r , fo r so many yea rs the

cente r o f c ivi l i z a tion on the lon ely coa st o f Oregon,one

hea r s e choe s o f the B r igade o f Boats coming down the Co

lumb i a ; st i l l one hea rs the gay vo ice s o f the voyag eurs s ing

ing in t im e to the dip o f the paddle . Romance sti l l l inge rs

in vagu e ta le s o f the blu e-co a ted , b ra s s-buttoned Hudson’ s

Bay Company men who followed th e fo re s t tra il s . Ro

mance st i l l l inge rs a t old Fo rt Asto ri a , whe re a repl i ca o f

PREFACE

the famous o ld fo rt— a t iny th ing fo r a protection in the

wilde rnes s— ha s b een bu il t in memory o f the old days o f

a centu ry ago .

“When my grandfathe r came a cro s s the pla in s

even now one hea rs that remark ; and romance b rings to

s ight the long l in e o f white-winged p ra i r i e schooners wind

ing the i r slow way over the endle s s green waves o f the

p ra i r i e s , then over the long level o f the pla in s , and the

cra sh ing and bump ing a s they p lunged up and down the

mounta in s ide s— bound fo r Oregon .

But what do the chi ldren o f the p re sent day know

o f the days o f these grandfathers ! What books have

they to tel l them o f the old romance ! None whateve r .

They know only tha t whi ch they gl ean from someone

e l se ’ s r emembrance o f what the i r grandfathe rs sa id . One

o r two t ime- tab le h i sto r i e s , written enti re ly from seconda ry

sou rce s , and with many faulty statements , e speci a lly with

rega rd to the c la ims o f the B r iti sh and American s to the

Old Oregon country— tha t i s a l l they have .

I have given fou r yea rs o f devoted study to Oregon

h i sto ry , thre e o f them among the speci a l collecti on s o f

the No rthwest, and over a yea r in London . In Eng

land I had ful l a cce s s to the documents o f the Publ i c

Reco rd Ofli ce, i ncluding unpubl i shed accounts o f the

va r iou s exp lo ration s,and al so

,what was a fa r ra re r

p r ivi lege , a cces s to the j ourna ls , dia r i e s , and lett e rs o f

the Hudson ’ s Bay Company.

S imple a s thi s book i s,every sta tement is ba sed on

o r igina l author ity. Comment on the Brit i sh and Amer

PREFACE

ican cl a ims to the country i s founded enti rely upon

sou rce s . Thes e sou rce s include j ou rna l s wri tten by

fu r- traders i n the mounta in s and on the march , p r ivate

lette r s b e tween themselve s , offi c i a l repo rts o f ch i e f fa cto rs

to the i r Company in London , dip lomati c co rre spondence

o f Amer ican and Engl i sh diplomats , and pub l i shed works ,i n o r igina l ed it i ons , o f explo rat ion and d i scovery.

I t ha s been my a im to make th i s vo lume a clea r , stra ight

fo rwa rd a ccount of the romanti c d i scovery and settlement

o f Old Oregon , e speci a lly intended fo r ch i ldren . Yet

teache r s o f much h ighe r grades , and perchance even thos e

in co llege wo rk , will find in the “Summary” a t the end ,a s wel l a s in the two chapte rs ,

“Who Owned the Oregon

Country ,” and “Fo rt Vancouve r and Dr . John McLoug h

l in ,” materi a l from sou rce s which have neve r b e fo re been

made a cce s s ibl e .

K . B . J .

Sub-L ibrarian of History ,New York S tate Library ,

Albany , N. Y.

CHAPTERII I

I I I

IVVVIVI IVI I IIX!

X IX I IX I I IX IVXVXVIXVI IXVI I IX IXXX

XX IXXI I

XXI I I

The F irst White Man’

s ShipCaptain Cook’

s AdventuresCaptain M eares at Nootka Sound . Launching ofthe Northwest Am erzca

The Battle in the Straits of San Juan de Fuca

When Captain Gray Crossed the Terrib le BarThe Adventures of Lew is and C larkHow They Built AstoriaThat

“ Ind ian”Thief

An Exciting Horse Race

Adventures in the Yakim a Val leyD anger at Fort Wal la WallaFort Vancouver and D r. JohnMcLoug hlin

The First App le in the Oregon Country

The Adventures of the Whitm ans

The Oregon T rai l

Who Owned the Oregon Country ” P

Through the Nachess PassThe Beginnings o f Cities

Early Adventures in SeattleThe L ife of the ChildrenThe Great Counci l at Wal la Wal la

The Battle of Seattle

HOW the Ind ians LivedAppend ix—A B rief Summ ary of the History of the

Old Oregon Country from Original Sources

B ib liographyIndex

A B lackfeet Ind ian travois

Captain Meares in San Juan de Fuca StraitsLaunching of the Northwest d m erica

The Lew is and C lark l ine of exp loration

Fort OkanoganAn Ind ian buffalo huntInd ians stalking buffaloReclaim ing Eastern Oregon

A war partyAn Ind ian danceFal ls of the Wi l lam ette

The Oregon Country

The D al lesThe Wi l lam ette Val leyM t. Hood from The D al les of Colum b iaOld Oregon and the d isputed section

Am erican p 1oncer cabin

Oregon C ity in early daysOregon City in 1845

Haul ing the logsT ransportation by ox team

The fal len m onarch of the woodsOcean-go ing log raftSnoqualm ie Fal ls, Washington

Ind ian housesAn Ind ian canoe tomb

M t. Rainier

PAGEFrontisp z

'

eee

22 1/

Early D ay s in Old Oreg on

CHAPTER I

THE F IRST WH ITE MAN’ S S H IP

N Indi an woman wa s one day walking along the

sho re , nea r Sea s ide , Oregon , on he r way ba ck to the

Clatsop vi llage . Her son had been ki lled in b a ttl e the

yea r b e fo re , and she o ften walked a long th i s b each , wa i l ing

fo r h im,a s Indi an s wa i l fo r the i r dead . Suddenly she

saw someth ing ly ing on the beach . She thought i t m ight

b e a whale and went towa rd i t , becau se at tha t po int he r

tr ib e caught many whale s . When she came nea r i t , she

saw two tre e s stand ing up in th is Thing. She thought :“Behold ! I t i s no whal e ! I t i s a monste r ! ”

Then she rea ched tha t Th ing that l ay on the b ea ch .

All the outs ide wa s sh in ing, a s coppe r sh ine s . Rope s we re

t i ed to tho se t ree s , and there were many p i ece s o f i ron

s ti ck ing into it. 1 Then a bea r came out o f i t. He stood

on the Thing , nea r the tre e s . He looked j u st l ike a b ea r ,yet h i s fa ce wa s l ike tha t o f a man .

The woman was amazed . She thought th i s strange

Thing had come from the Gho st-Land , b ecau se Indi ans

bel i eve in gho sts . So she a t once tu rned away and went

1Ind ians along the Northwest Coast used to pu l l out w ith their

teeth from the p lankm g of a ship any nai l s which had b ecom e at allloosened, so eag er were they for m etal .

[ I ]

EARLY DAYS IN OLD OREGON

home , fo r she wa s a fra id . As she walked on,she b egan

to weep fo r her dead son. She wa i led,

“ Oh,my son i s

dead , and the Thing we hea r about in ta le s i s lying on the

beach ! ”

As she nea red the Clatsop vi llage , he r people hea rd the

long , wa i l ing cry . The Clatsop s sa id,Oh

,a person comes

crying ! Perhap s someone has s truck her ! ” They took

down the i r bows and a rrows , th inking an enemy must b e

nea r .

An old man sa id , Li sten !

The Indi an wom an wa s sti l l weep ing . She wa il ed,Oh

,

my son i s dead , and the Thing we hea r about in tale s i s

lying on the b each ! ”

The Indi an s sa id , What can i t b e !” They went run

n ing toward her , and sa id ,“What i s i t ! ”

The woman repl i ed ,“ A Thing l i e s on the beach . And

there a re two bea rs in i t ; but they look l ike people .

At once the wa rr io rs ran down the beach to th i s Thing .

There i t l ay ! Then the two “ b ea rs ” came out o f i t with

coppe r kettle s in the i r hands . They put thei r hands to

the i r mouths and po inted inl and , giving the i r kettle s to

the Indians . They were a sk ing fo r wate r .

5Lme o f the Indi ans took the kettles and ran inl and to

a sp ring o r stream , but o the rs h id themselve s behind logs

because they were a fra id . A few were brave enough ,howeve r , to cl imb up into th i s Thing. They found i t l ike

a very l a rge cano e , and when they went down ins ide i t

s eemed full o f boxes . One man who went down into the

hold found the re a str ing o f b ra s s buttons . B ra ss button s

[ 2 ]

THE F IRST WHITE MAN ’S SHIP

had great va lu e to his tr ib e , and he exci tedly went outs ide

to ca l l h i s relat ive s . But they had a l ready set the ship

on fi re . They burned thi s sh ip becau se they wanted the

meta l in i t .

All the Indian s a long the No rthwes t Coa st knew meta l- knew b ra ss , and i ron , and coppe r— and were very eage r

fo r i t . Where they lea rn ed about i t no one knows , fo r

the ea rl i e s t explo rer s found them will ing to trade fu rs fo r

b its o f metal o f any kind. When , the re fo re , they saw th i s

sh ip , with i ts coppe r bottom and the na i l s i n i t, and the

i ronwork in the rop es , they a t once set i t afire to get the

metal . I t bu rned to the wate r’ s edge in a ve ry sho rt t ime

burned j u st l ike fa t, so the Indi an s s a id .

The Clatsop Indi ans a lso made p r i soners o f the two

bea rs . They looked a t them very ha rd . One o f the

ch i e fs went up to them a s they stood on the b each . He

looked at the i r face s . He looked a t the i r hands , and then

put out h i s own hand . Soon he sa id to h i s p eople tha t

they we re not bea rs , but men . The Indi an s had thought

they were b ea rs b ecause they were bea rded men . No

Indi an eve r wea rs a musta che o r a b ea rd— at l e a s t not

unt i l he become s c ivi l i z ed .

There wa s grea t exci tement among the nea r-by tr ib e s

when they hea rd abou t the s trange cano e with two tre e s in

i t, and a l l the metal . Othe r tr ibe s wanted some o f i t .

They came down in the i r canoe s and began trading. Much

o f the meta l wa s u sed fo r o rnaments , fo r b racel e ts and

anklets and great heavy ea rdrop s . A strip o f coppe r two

fingers wide and long enough to go a round the a rm was

[ 3 ]


valu able enough to buy a slave . A na i l would buy a good

dre ss ed dee rskin . Several n a i l s would buy a str ing o f‘

b idoua shel l s , which were the Indi an money .

The two sa i lo r s , o f cours e , were made slave s . The

Cla tsop chi e f thought he ought to have both o f them,but

the Willapa chi e f demanded one , and the trib e s a lmost

went to wa r over i t. At l a st the Wi llap a chi e f took one

slave , and the Cla tsop chi e f kept the othe r .

Whose ship wa s th i s ! No one knows . Ship s we re

blown acro s s the ocean from Japan , but i t doe s no t seem

l ikely these men were Japanese . They might have been

Span i a rds,o r po ss ibly Engl i shmen . Indeed , no one would

eve r have known anyth ing at a l l about th i s ship except

tha t when the white men came into Oregon , the Indians

themselves told them the sto ry o f th i s Thing which lay on

the beach many , many yea r s b e fo re .

[ 4 ]

CHAPTER I I

CAPTAI N cook’s ADVENTURES

OWN from the no rth came a r ip-ro a r ing wind , and

the two l ittle s a i l ing ship s tha t , i n Ma rch , 1 77 8 ,

were off the Oregon co ast had to tu rn and run . Ree f

the i r sa i l s and scud be fo re the m ighty bla sts— that was

a ll capta in s could do in thos e days . The sh ip s we re very

small . Without steam powe r , the wind blew them th i s

way and tha t ; and wind and tide togethe r o ften sent them

cra shing on the rocks am idst ro a r ing b reake rs .

50 Capta in Cook’ s two sa i l ing ship s , the R esolution and

the D iscovery , went scudding to the south , unde r b a re

pole s , whil e the Sto rm King o f the No rth b lew the wave s

o f the Pacifi c mounta in-high . Then when the sto rm was

ove r , the doughty capta in un fu rl ed h i s sa i l s and let anothe r

b re ez e blow him north aga in . But squal ls came , so tack

ing was nece s sa ry. Capta in Cook had to stay fa r out a t

sea l e st the wind and tide should send h im among the

whi te-capped b reaker s he s aw through h i s te l e scop e on the

Oregon shore . “ Our sh ip s comp la ined , wrote one o f

the offi ce rs o f the c reaking , groan ing ship s , blown by high

winds and waves .

Stop and think o f the date . I t wa s 1 7 7 8. Ove r on

the North Atlanti c co a st the Ameri can co lon i e s we re fi g ht

[ 5 ]


ing the Revolutiona ry War with Grea t B ri ta in . But o f

th e North Pac ifi c co a st no one knew anything a t a l l . I t

i s tru e a few Span i sh explo re rs had been sent up th i s co a st ,but the i r reports were poo r . Worse ye t , they had not

b een pr in ted ; so the world knew l i ttle enough about the

Span i sh explo rat ion s on thi s co a st.

We know now , however , that one Span i sh explo re r was

su re he saw a r iver mouth , o r a“ bay

,

” on that North

Pacifi c co a st . There were sand ba rs a cro s s the mouth o f

th i s b ay , and the wave s b roke high over them . He did not

da re to c ro s s the ba r . Sti l l , he named i t the R io San

Roque ; that i s , the River o f Sa int Roque .

Bes ides th i s rather unce rta in r iver , i t was thought that

there wa s an inlet , o r stra i t , somewhere along thi s coa st .

All tha t anyone knew was that some two hundred yea rs

befo re , in 1 592 , an o ld Portuguese named Juan de Fuca

had sa id that he had been in th i s pa rt o f the wor ld , and

that there was an inle t the re whi ch connected the At lanti c

Ocean with the Pacific . But no one el s e had eve r seen i t ,and no one knows to thi s day whethe r Juan de Fuca really

saw tho se stra i ts o r not .

All nations wer e looking a t th i s t ime fo r an inl et ca lled

the“ Stra i ts o f Ah i an ” some wate r pa ssage between the

two great o ceans which l i e ea st and west o f America . No

such stra i ts ever exi sted . Yet no t many yea rs ago an

Arcti c explo re r found stra i ts fa r no rth leading into the

Arcti c Ocean , so that a ship actually can go from the

Atlanti c to the Pacifi c now , i f i t goes by way o f the

i cebe rgs and b i tte r co ld o f the Arcti c Ocean .

[ 6 ]

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The Indi an s had been watching them , but pa id l ittle

a ttention to them tha t evening , though many canoes pad

dled a round them . The next day they welcomed the sh ip

i n grea t sta te . Three canoes fi rst came out. In the fo re

most were ten men , i n the second s ix , and in the la st were

two . All were dres sed in long rob es o f sea-otter skin s ,reach ing from the i r necks to the i r knees . There were no

sleeves o f cou rs e . The robes were only skin s fa stened

togethe r. The i r face s and l egs were pa inted with red

and bla ck , i n str ipe s and squa re s . Thei r long bla ck ha i r

was bunched up in club fa sh ion on the top o f the i r heads ,and mixed in with i t were sp ruce twigs . The green leaves

o f the sp ruce showed through the b l ack ha i r . Ove r a l l

th i s , downy white feathe rs were str ewed . An Engl i sh boy ,who was a pr i sone r among them some yea rs late r , te ll s u s

exactly how they dre ssed when vi s i to rs came .

As these cano es nea red the sh ip , a chief a ro se in the

fo remo st one to make a speech . He had a rattle in h i s

hand whi ch he shook when he ta lked . He talked a long

time , i ndeed , i n a ve ry loud vo i ce , and strewed the wate r

about h im with downy white feathe rs . That was a ce re

m ony o f welcome . Othe r Indians in the two canoe s

b eh ind h im strewed the wate r with a reddi sh powde r .

By all th i s,the Engl i shmen unde rstood they were invi ted

to come on sho re .

When the fi rst chi e f b ecame ti red , anothe r a ro se and

talked in the s ame loud tone , st i ll motion ing the white men

to the sho re. These Indi an s we re not in the l ea st a fra id

o f the i r whi te vi s i to rs . Then a fte r a whil e the men began

[ 8 ]

CAPTAIN COOK’S ADVENTURES

to s ing on e o f the i r songs . I t wa s a so ft , p l ea s ing melody ,sung in per fect t ime , and they kept t im e to i t by str iking

the cano e s with the i r paddle s .

The Engl i sh planned to stay in th i s p lea sant ha rbo r fo r

a wh il e . They needed fre sh wate r and new masts ; th ey

needed al so fre sh meat , such as game and fi sh , and vegeta

b le s o r green s o f some kind . B es ide s th i s , the sh ip s wer e

go ing into the Ala skan wate r s where i t wa s b itte rly co ld .

When they saw the Indi an s with many fu rs they b egan to

trade fo r them , fo r the men would need wa rm cloth ing and

warm bedding such a s b ea rskin rugs .

When Cook and h i s offi ce r s began to trade fo r fu rs , to

the i r a ston i shment the Indi ans would no t a ccept a s p ayment

the bell s and b eads and looking gla s se s wh ich the South

Sea I sl anders and the Hawa i i an s had taken . Nothing wa s

a ccepted by thes e Nootka Sound Indi an s but meta l . Like

the Indi an s who bu rned the fi rs t whi te men ’ s sh ip they

saw fo r the metal in i t , so the se red men were eage r fo r

b ra s s and coppe r and i ron . And fo r a l i ttl e meta l they

were wi ll ing to give many furs .

You can gues s wha t happened . The sa i lo rs so ld the

meta l buttons off the i r co ats ; the b ra ss handle s were taken

off the i r bu reau s ; candle sti cks , t in can s , copp e r kettle s ,small kn ive s , b its o f i ron , eve ryth ing that wa s metal on

the ship wa s so ld to the Indi ans fo r fu rs . And some

th ings were no t sold ; fo r the Indian s would stea l many

b i ts they could not buy . They cut the blocks out o f the

tackle ; even heavy i ron p i ece s we re cut from the ropes

and to ssed to a nea r-by cano e .

[ 9 ]


They were cl eve r th i eve s , the capta in sa id . One Indi an

would ta lk to the sent in el on duty , while anothe r , a t a

l ittle d i stance , would pul l the i ronwork off and to ss i t

overboa rd to some fr i end .

But the Indi an s sold quanti t i e s o f furs o f a ll kinds

wol f , bea r , fox , dee r , marten , and many others , be s ide s

the beauti ful s e a otte r skin s and robe s . The sa i lo r s

bought mo re than they needed because the Indi ans we re

so eage r to sell ; and they knew tha t a t lea st they would

be wa rm in the no rth .

So when al l repa i r s were made , new spa rs put in place ,fre sh wate r i n a l l th e wate r ca sks

,fre sh game and fi sh on

boa rd fo r a few days , the men rested by the i r s tay on

land , and al l was ready, the two l i ttl e ship s s a i l ed out o f

the ha rbo r northwa rd .

Afte r a long time in the no rth , explo ring , they went

ove r on the As i a t i c s ide. There , at Kam schatka, they

found Russ ian fu r trade rs who wanted to buy thei r fu rs .

As Capta in Cook wa s go ing to China then , the men and

sa i lo r s d id not n eed the fu rs longe r and many were sold

to the Russ i ans . But the sa i lo rs did not know the valu e

o f these fu rs and d id not a sk h igh p r i ce s . Bes ide s the re

we re no shop s in which to spend the money , and they d id

not know what to do with i t. Russ i an s i lve r roubles

se emed o f so l i ttl e valu e that the s e p i ece s o f money were

ki cked about the decks l ike chip s o f wood .

Then the ship s s a i led southward and some time a fte r

reached China .

Now the Chinese we re j u st a s anxiou s fo r tho se fu rs a s

[ 10 ]

CAPTAIN COOK ’S ADVENTURES

the Indians o f Nootka Sound had been fo r b its o f metal .

The sa i lo r s were amazed a t the p ri ce s p a id to them , and

yet very few o f the fu rs we re pe r fect. Some had been

u sed fo r blankets in the i r bunks , some were pa rt ly worn

when they bought them from the nat ive s , and othe rs aga in

had been wo rn on deck and were spotted wi th ta r and

grea se . Yet the Chinese bought them .

Now when the sa i lo r s l e a rned the h igh valu e o f the

fu rs , they were eage r to re tu rn to Nootka Sound fo r mo re .

They could make the i r fo rtune s so ea s i ly ! They a lmo st

mutin i ed when the offi ce rs r e fu sed to a l low them to go

b ack . But th i s wa s a roya l explo r ing expedi tion , no t a

fu r- trading voyage . So b ack to London they went , a rr iv

ing the re in 1 780 .

Capta in Cook had b een ki l led a t th e Sandwich I sl ands ,but the j ou rna l s o f the expedit i on were publ i shed a t once .

Bes ide s tha t , th e s a i lo r s to ld everyone they met o f the

great wea lth to b e s ecu red by trading wi th the Indians a t

Nootka Sound— how the Indi ans would s ell furs fo r b i ts

o f metal , and the Chine se would pay h igh p r i ce s fo r the

fu rs . That wa s the beginn ing o f the fu r trade a long the

no rth Pac ifi c co a st .

Soon a fte r the se j ou rna l s were publ i shed , sh ip s began

to go to Nootka Sound fo r fu rs . The fi rst we re Engl i sh

ship s s a i l ing from Indi a and China . Capta in Mea res,o f

whom we wi ll hea r late r , was an Engl i sh t rader from

Indi a . Immedi ately a fte r , Yanke e cap ta in s began to go

from Boston and from othe r c i ti e s on the no rth Atlanti c

co a st. The Revolutiona ry War was ove r and the ve s sel s

[ H ]

were a lmo st idle . Captain Robert Gray was one o f the se

New England capta i ns . Both he and Capta 1n Mea res

some inte re sting adventure s a s the next few chapte rs

wi ll show.

[ 12 ]

CHAPTER II I

CAPTAI N MEARE S AT NOOTKA SO‘

UND . LAUNCIIING OF

THE “NORTHWE ST AMERICA ”

N a bright May day in 1 7 88 two l i ttl e trad ing ship s

s a i led into Nootka Sound . I t was j u st ten yea r s

a fte r Capta in Cook , with h i s two explo ring ship s , had

ente red th i s same Sound . All the wo rld by thi s t ime knew

about th i s fu r trade , and Ship s we re beginn ing to go up the

No rthwe st Coa st o f Ameri ca on trading voyage s .

The la rger o f the se two trading ship s wa s commanded

by Capta in John Mea re s , though both were owned by

hi s company and unde r hi s contro l . Thi s wa s the cap

ta in ’ s s econd voyage . His fi rs t had been up to Ala ska ,where he had be en caught i n the i ce a ll winte r and with

al l h i s m en had come nea r dying from the co ld . But two

other Engl i sh capta in s had found him there and help ed

him out.

On hi s way south in tha t fi rs t voyage , a fte r getting out

o f the i ce , Meare s had stopped at Nootka Sound , and

aga in at the Sandwich I sl ands , a s the Hawa i i an I slands

we re then ca lled . At Nootka Sound he found a chi e f cal led

Co-m e-ke- l a , a b rothe r o f the grea t ch i e f Maquinna, who

wanted to s e e the world . Meare s took Co-me-ke- l a on

board . At Oahu he found a Sandwich I s land chi e f ,

[ 1 3 ]


Tianna , who al so wanted to go s ight- se e ing . So Meare s

took him al so and they sa i led away fo r China .

Now , on th i s b r ight May day in 1 7 88, Capta in Meare s

wa s ente r ing Nootka Sound on h i s s econd fu r-trad ing

voyage, and Co-me-ke- l a and Tianna were both on boa rd ;so were many Chine se ca rpenters . His crew were La sca r s

from the As i a ti c co a st. Meare s had a cu r iou s ship lo ad

wi th h im .

They came to ancho r i n tha t same Fri endly Cove in th e

Sound whe re Capta in Cook had found Shelte r ten yea r s

be fo re . Maquinna, the chi e f , came to welcome h im with

a l l h i s peop le . Capta in M ea re s went on sho re . He sa id

Co -me—ke-l a would sho rtly land . So the Indi ans a l l s tood'

about to see th i s much- traveled chi e f.

When he did step off shipboa rd , he wa s a wonder fully

dre ssed Indian . His tr ib esmen gasped wi th a ston i shment .

Co-me-ke- l a wore a red m i l i ta ry coat , with many bra s s

buttons on i t . On hi s head wa s a tu rned-back m i l i ta ry

hat with a b ig b r ight cockade on it . His shi rt wa s l inen

and hi s trouse r s o f da rk cloth . But th e most wonder fu l

th ing was th i s : many scrap s o f b right copper , gleaming

l ike gold— p i ece s which he had begged and stolen— were

fa stened a l l ove r that b r ight red coa t . A hal f sheet o f

sh in ing copper fo rmed a b rea stpla te . Coppe r o rnaments

hung from hi s e a rs . Hi s ha i r was long and b lack and

bra ided . Fastened to thi s long b la ck queue were so many

coppe r handles from sauce-pans and frying-pan s tha t he

could not bend h i s head . By the i r we ight and stiffne s s

they bent h i s head back unti l h i s neck ached , and he wa s

[ 14 ]


Afte r the hou se was fin i shed , the Chinese ca rpenter s

we re put to work bu i lding a small sh ip , o f fo rty o r fi fty

tons . Thi s was to be a co a ste r — to run into and out

o f l i ttl e ha rbo rs and cre eks a long the co a st and buy furs

a t the Indi an vi llage s . Wh i l e they were bu i ld ing thi s ,Capta in Mea res s ent the sma l l e r o f hi s two s a i l ing ship s

no rth to explo re and buy furs , whi le he went south i n the

l a rge r one to do the s ame thing . Chie f Maquinna s a id

he would take ca re o f the ca rp ente rs and the few white

men left b ehind .

Coa sting slowly southward , on a plea sant June day

in 1 7 88 , Capta in Mea re s came to the entrance o f a grea t

inle t . I t stretched fa r to the ea stwa rd , and one could not

s e e land a t the o the r end . I t had been seen the yea r

b e fo re by Capta i n Barkeley , who named i t, told othe r cap

ta in s about i t , and wrote about it in hi s log book . Capta in

Barkeley thought i t m ight b e the Stra i ts o f Juan de Fuca ;he a l so ca lled th i s b road inlet by that name . Both

capta in s thought th i s inle t must lead e i th e r stra ight a cro s s

to the Atlanti c Ocean , o r e l s e connect with r ivers tha t

empti ed into that ocean . Look at the map and se e i f i t

doe s th i s .

Thi s was the very same inlet whi ch Capta in Cook had

looked fo r,but could no t see. He thought i t low ma rshy

ground .

The b ree z e blew Capta in Mea re s slowly southwa rd ,unti l , nea r Cape Fl atte ry , he came to a ro cky i sland .

Canoe s soon were al l abou t them , fi ll ed with savage

Iooking redskins . The face s o f the se men were grim

[ 15 ]

LAUNCHING OF NORTHWEST AMERICA

enough , but red and bla ck ochre and whale o i l made them

grimme r yet . The i r l a rge cano e s held from twenty to

th i rty men , and e ach wa rr io r wa s a rmed with how and

a rrows,the a r rows tipped with b i ts o f ragged bone . Thei r

la rge sp ea rs we re a l so tipped with kn i fe- l ike edge s o f

mussel shel l . Yet thes e s avage , red-pa inted , o i ly Indian s

wore superb robe s o f b eauti fu l s e a o tte r skins , which

they re fu sed a t a l l t ime s to s ell .

The ch ief ’ s name wa s Tatoosh , and h i s name wa s given

to th i s rocky i s land . He came on boa rd , a su rly- looking

fellow,no t at a ll l ike the handsome , dign ified Indi an

ch iefs o f many o f the land tr ib e s . M ea re s made gi fts to

h im . The surly Tatoosh did no t even thank the Eng

l i shman,l e t a lon e retu rn ing gi ft fo r gi ft , a s was the

Indi an custom . More than tha t , he would not a llow any

o f hi s p eople to s el l fu rs to the traders .

The capta in looked about h im . I t wa s a wi ld scene .

Thi s l ittl e i s l and wa s crowded and swa rm ing with Ind ians,

yet a s ide from fi sh ing the re could b e no way o f gett ing

food . Even roots would not grow on thes e b a rren ro cks .

The surf bea t on the ro cky Sho re s o f the stra i ts , both

no rth and south . Above the dense bla ck fo re sts , which

cam e down almost to the wate r ’ s edge , ro se the snowy

ridge o f the O lympi c Mounta in s .

Capta in Mea re s sent the longboat to find an anchor ing

pla ce,a s he wanted to t rade fo r sea otter rob e s . But a t

once war cano e s gathered a round the longboat , whi le

Indi an s tr i ed to j ump into i t and stea l the small trading

a rti cl e s lying there . They j ee red at the sa i lo r s , who

[ 1 7 ]


were so en raged they wanted to fight . But the offi ce r

kept them qu iet , e l s e pe rhaps not a man on e ithe r the

sh ip o r in the longboa t might have e scaped . The boa t

wa s reca l led immedi ately .

But now the b ree ze had d ied down . Meare s sp read

h i s sa i l s and hoped to go fa rther south , but the sa i l s hung

l i fel e s s . The next mo rn ing the ship was not fou r hun

dred feet from where i t had been the n ight be fo re .

Tatoosh and h i s wa rr io r s , fou r hundred strong , came out

in the i r war canoes and paddled a round and a round the

ship . They seemed to admi re i t ve ry much , but the

capta in took pa ins not to invi te any o f them on boa rd .

Then the Indi an s began to s ing. I t was a s imple l ittle

melody , ye t sung in exact t ime , and with so many vo ices ,i n the open a i r , i t wa s very sweet . I t a lmost made the

Engl i shmen homes i ck .

At noon the b reeze sp rang up . The capta in s a i led

southward . He tr ied to ente r Shoalwater Bay , but the

wate r wa s too Shallow on the b a r. Then he sa i led on

unti l he came to what seemed to b e an open ing in the

co a st , l ike a r ive r. He saw what might b e a b ay , o r

perhap s a r ive r mouth .

The bay wa s shut off from the ocean by long sand

ba rs . Tremendous wave s thundered over the ba r . The

grea t whi tecap s we re dangerous to any sa i l ing ship . Cap

ta i n Mea re s stee red in toward thi s “ bay ” But the

wate r began to grow shallow.

“ Nine fa thoms ,” ca lled the m en with the sounding

l eads . “ Eight fathoms ,” they call ed . Sti l l i t grew Shal

[ 18 ]


lower . “Seven fathoms ,

” they shouted— and the b reakers

we re r ight ahead . Capta i n Mea re s stee red out . He wa s

so di sappo inted tha t he ca l l ed a high cap e on the no rth

s ide o f the bay Cape D i sappo intment. The bay ” he

cal led Decep tion B ay because he had been dece ived— so

he thought— into bel i eving i t m ight b e a r ive r mouth .

Then he sa id in h i s log book , without the s l ighte st re sp ect

fo r Engl i sh grammar , We can now with sa fety a s se rt

that th er e i s no such r ive r a s tha t o f S a in t Roc ex i sts , a s

la id down in the Span i sh cha rts .” Then the ung ram

m atical capta in turned a round and sa i l ed back to Nootka

Sound .

Thi s happened fou r yea r s be fo re Capta in Robert Gray ,from Boston , da r ingly sa i led into tha t

“ bay and found

i t wa s the mouth o f the Columb i a R ive r . But the name

Cape Disappo intment st i cks to tha t headland even today .

When Capta in Mea res r ea ched Nootka Sound aga in he

wa s much plea sed to find the new l i ttle co a st ing ves sel , th e

Northwest Am erica,a lmos t re ady fo r launch ing . Every

th ing wa s a l l r ight . The Indi an s had been fr i endly . They

had even made a tra i l through the rough fo re s t,becaus e

the tree s which the Chinese ca rpente rs needed fo r bu i lding

tha t l i ttle Ship were back in the woods . The tre e s ne a r by

were too la rge .

But in the Sound a l so were Ameri can s , j u s t out from

Bo ston . Capta in Robert Gray , i n the Lady lVashing ton,was there when Mea re s a rr ived ; and sho rtly a fte r , Cap

ta in John Kendr i ck , o f the Colum b ia,s a i led in . And

thes e Americans we re much su rp ri sed to find, on tha t wi ld ,

[ I 9 ]


lonely sho re , Chine se ca rpente rs hard a t work bu i lding a

Ship , whi le a house flying the B r it i sh fl ag stood on the

sho re .

At la st, l a te in Septembe r tha t same yea r , 1 7 88, the

Northwest Am erica was ready fo r launching. The Brit i sh

fl ag wa s ho i sted and the tide wa s at ju st the r ight he ight .

Maquinna and Co-me-ke- l a , with a l l the i r wild tr ib e smen ,had come from the i r winte r house s b ack in the fo rest .

Tianna , the Sandwich I sland ch ief , was on boa rd the new

ship . Hawai i ans l ive in the wate r , l ike ducks , and Ti anna

thought thi s wa s good fun .

A gun wa s fi red . The ca rp ente rs knocked down the

p rops , and l ike a sho t the l i ttl e ship sta rted from the

ways . She sl ipped into the wate r with such sp eed , and

da shed acro s s the ha rbo r so wildly , tha t she ran ha l fway

out towa rd the open ocean . Nobody there knew much

about launch ing a Ship . Capta in Meare s says he did not ,and no one would expect i t o f Chinese ca rpenters . So they

ent i rely fo rgot to put a cabl e and ancho r on he r. But she

had no sa i l s ye t , so small boats went out and towed her

back to the dock .

Tianna , on boa rd , was much plea sed . He capered

about on deck a s she da shed acro s s the l i ttle cove , clapp ing

hi s hands glee fu lly and shouting ,“ Mighty ! Mighty ! ”

And so wa s l aunched the fi rs t Ship bu i lt on the North

west Coa st of America— the country had no othe r name

ye t— and i t wa s a curiou s scene .

I t wa s a fu r- trad ing ship , bu il t by Chinese ca rpente rs

fo r an Engl i sh capta in , who , with his Lasca r crew , o ften

[ 20 ]


sa i l ed unde r the Po rtuguese fl ag . I t wa s bu i l t on a wi ld ,l onely sho re , uninhab i ted by whi te people , and launched

unde r the su rp ri sed eye s o f Yankee s j u st out from Boston ,and o f Nootka Sound chi e fs with a ll the i r red-pa inted

fo llowers ; and i t had on bo a rd , a s i t da shed into the

wate r , a Sandwich I sland ch i e f who wa s fond o f t ravel

wanted world .

[ 2 1 ]

CHAPTER IV

THE BATTLE IN THE STRAITS or SAN JUAN DE FUCA

APTAIN BARKELEY was the fi r st man to se e the

Stra i ts o f San Juan de Fuca , so fa r a s we know ,

and Barkeley named them , s ince he knew o f tha t old Po r

tug uese sa i lo r who cla imed to have seen such stra i ts on the

we ste rn coa st o f Ameri ca . Capta in Meare s cla imed that

he himsel f named them , but thi s i s i nco rrect .

But j u st b e fo re go ing north to l aunch the Northwest

Hm erica,that late summer o f 1 7 88, Capta in Meare s

s a i l ed h i s sh ip into a ha rbo r j u s t no rth o f the Stra i ts , and

s ent the longbo at with one offi ce r and thi rte en men to

explo re the inlet. Did it lead to the Atlanti c Ocean !

How fa r away was the Atlanti c Ocean from the po int

where they were ! Or did thi s inl e t l e ad to Hudson B ay ,o r to some r ive r which empti ed into the Atlanti c Ocean !

No one knew. But eve ryone , fu r trade r o r explo re r , who

s aw a new b it o f the country , cl a imed i t i n the name o f

h i s own nat ion .

When Meare s sent h i s longboa t into the Stra i ts tha t

July, there fo re , he wrote to the offi ce r :“ You will take

po ss e s s i on o f th i s s tra i t and the lands adj o in ing in the

name o f the King and Crown o f Great B r i ta in .

” He

wrote th i s , i n ste ad o f s aying i t, becau se he wanted i t on

reco rd .

[ 22 ]

BATTLE IN STRAITS OF SAN JUAN DE FUCA

The longboa t p a rty sa i led and p a rtly rowed the short

d i stance back to the Stra i ts . There wa s Tatoosh , the

rocky i s land , aga in , swarming with Indi ans and crowded

with the rough huts o f the redskin s . And the sho re s a l l

a round the entrance o f the stra i ts we re dotted with thes e

s ame small , rough , boa rd house s .

Paying no attention to the Indi an s , the men rowed into

the inl et , j u st how fa r we do no t know , but up a long the

no rthe rn sho re . The Ind ian s a t fi rst pa id l ittl e a ttent ion

to them , but a s they sa i led fa rthe r in th ings b ecame mo re

dangerous . One morn ing , a s they were nea r the sho re ,the Indi an s b egan to Show fight. Two canoe s , with pe r

hap s fi fty wa rrio r s in a ll , came di re ctly up to the long

boa t . They intended to captur e i t , and make the s a i lo rs

s laves . Othe r canoes stood at a l i tt l e d i s tance , to help

i f they could . The sho re was thronged with men , women ,and chi ldren , most o f them a rmed with sl ings and stone s .

SO began the battl e . The canoe wa rr io rs , a rmed with

bone - t ipp ed a rrows and shell-tipped sp ea rs , b egan the

attack . They tr i ed to j ump into the longboa t and throw

the sa i lo r s overboa rd ; but they were fo rced ba ck . Then

the cano e s drew back , whi le from the sho re and the

cano e s fl ew showe rs o f a rrows into the boat and among

the men . One Ind i an l i fted a long sp ea r to hurl i t at

the boa tswa in , not fa r from him . As he wa s about to

throw i t , the Offi ce r in command drew h is p i sto l and sho t

the Indian . Then the canoe s al l d rew off a l i ttl e,whil e

anothe r showe r o f a rrows came among the sa i lo r ‘s .

At la st , a fte r sha rp fighting, the longboa t gradua lly

[ 23 ]


got out o f reach o f the sl ings and a rrows from the shore ,and made i ts way down to the entrance o f the stra i ts

aga in , pas t Tatoosh I sland , out in to the o cean , and no rth

wa rd to the wa it ing ship .

Capta i n Meare s was wa iting anxiou sly fo r the boat .

When i t came into the ha rbor where he wa s he counted

the crew . A l l were there . But a s the boa t came neare r,he saw som e were b adly wounded , and th e boa t damaged

by a rrows and stones . Yet none o f the men were ki l l ed .

One thing in p a rti cul a r had saved the s a i lo rs . Over

the back o f the longboa t they had dropped the awning

whi ch , i f d rawn up , pa rtly covered the boa t. Sa i lo rs

sp end whole weeks in such boats , ea ting and sleep ing

there , hot , sunny days and co ld , ra iny n ights ; so they

needed such an awning. Into thi s loo se canva s many

a rrows had stuck . The awning a lso b roke the fo rce o f

the stones thrown by the people on Shore with the i r sl ings .

Anothe r thing which had helped wa s that , by the motion

o f the wave s,both the canoe s o f the Indian s and the

longboa t o f the s a i lo r s were in constant motion , so tha t

the i r a im wa s poo r .

So ended thi s battl e o f the Stra i ts .

In la ter yea rs , however , a fte r American s ettl e r s had

come into the Oregon country , and many had bu i l t hou se s

i n the l i tt le vi ll age s a round Puget Sound , a small a rmed

American ship wa s su rrounded by the canoes o f thes e

Indi an s and captu red . The Indian s no t only captu red the

ship , but de stroyed i t.

[ 24 ]

CHAPTER V

WHEN CAPTA IN GRAY CROS SED THE TERRIBLE BAR

UT from Bo ston Ha rbo r,i n S eptembe r , 1 7 90 , went

a l i ttl e s a i l ing ship,l aden with many things , bound

fo r the No rthwest Co ast o f Ameri ca . On boa rd wa s a

ca rgo o f coffee , te a , choco la te , suga r , flou r , s alt bee f , sal t

po rk , butte r , chee se , mola s s e s , and twenty- s even thou sand

pounds o f ha rd , dry sh ip’ s b read . Be s ide s food , Capta in

Gray had a lso on boa rd sea co al , b a r s o f i ron and ba rs o f

le ad , gunpowde r , sho t , guns , Ind ian trad ing goods , ta r

and p i tch,and two thou sand b ri cks . The re were th i rty

men in the crew , and the ve ss el wa s a rmed with ten la rge

Ship s ’ guns . These we re fo r de fens e aga in st p i ra te s and

Ind ians :

Thi s wa s the s econd voyage o f Capta in Robert Gray

to Nootka Sound . The fi rs t t ime,two yea rs befo re th i s ,

was when he stood with h i s c rew and watched , i n ama z e

ment , the launching o f Capta in Mea re s’ s co as t ing ve s sel ,

th e Northwest Am erica.

Gray and Kendri ck , who were sent out by the same

fi rm Of Sh ipowne rs and fu r trade rs , had exchanged ves s el s

tha t fa l l . Kendrick now had the smalle r Ship , the LadyWashing ton, whil e Gray had th e l a rge r , the Colum b ia.

Capta in Gray , in the Colum bia, had taken the fu rs o f tha t

[ 25 ]


fi rs t voyage ove r to China , sold them the re , bought tea ,and had taken that a round the Horn to Boston . Now he

was off fo r hi s se cond voyage , with i ron and le ad and

b ri cks in h i s hold .

The lead was fo r bullets . The i ron was fo r trading ,a fte r the blacksm ith had made i t into smal l a rt i cl e s such

a s fishhooks , a rmlets and b racelets , ch i sel s , and many

othe r things . But can you imagine why he took b r i cks !

Fancy ca rrying two thousand b r i cks from Boston , down

the ea ste rn S ide o f both North and South America,then

a round the dangerous Horn , and al l the way up the west

e rn s ide o f the two Amer i ca s aga in ! Two thou sand b r i cks

a re j u st enough to bu i ld a chimney . Capta in Gray intended

to bu i ld a small fo rt , s im i la r to Capta in Mea res’ s ,

becau se he was in tending to rema in on the coa st that

next winte r . He did bu ild a log cab in a t Clayoquo t

Sound , and spent the winte r there .

Now , when Capta in Gray , j u s t out from Boston on his

second voyage , rea ched Oregon , he began trad ing up and

down the coa st , runn ing into the l ittle inl ets and ha rbo rs

and bays whe reve r he saw an Indi an vi l lage. Like al l

o the r capta ins,he wa s a lways on the lookout fo r a fr i endly

s a i l i n tho se lonely wate rs . One morn ing , j u st a t dawn ,i n th e sp ring o f 1 792 , he was ha i led by a B ri ti sh explo ring

vess el . I t wa s unde r the command o f Capta in Geo rge

Vancouver, who had with h im a smalle r Ship a s a tende r.

Vancouve r invi ted Gray to vi s i t h im , so the Yankee went

abo a rd the B ri ti sh ve ssel fo r a fr i endly chat. They

sa i led into the Stra i ts , i n a th i ck mi sting ra in , and whil e

[ 26 ]

WHEN CAPTAIN GRAY CROSSED THE BAR

the capta in s and o ffi ce r s ta lked o f po s s ib le r ive rs and

b ays and i sl ands,the c rews fi shed in va in from the wet,

s l ippe ry decks fo r a mes s o f fi sh . Vancouve r wanted to

know whether Nootka Sound wa s on an i sl and . He

ta lked a lso about a myste r iou s R ive r o f the West wh ich

wa s suppo sed to b e nea r the re . Gray sa id tha t a few

days b e fo re , nea r he had stopped at a la rge “ bay ”

which he thought must b e the mouth o f a l a rge r ive r .

The ocean wate r nea r by wa s di sco lo red with mud , and

tha t wa s a p roo f .

But Vancouve r had a lso pa s s ed tha t b ay a few

days be fo re . He sa i d the muddy wate r m ight come from

some small r ive r nea r by , but the re wa s no la rge r ive r

the re .

Now thi s b ay o r was i t a r ive r ! — nea r 4 6° was

the very one which had puzz led so many o the r p eople .

The Span i sh explo re r had sa id i t wa s a r ive r , and named

i t the R io San R oque. Capta in Cook saw nothing at a l l .

Capta in Mea re s thought i t wa s a r ive r , tr i ed to sa i l i nto

i t , was a fra id o f the b reakers , and sa i led away , s aying i t

was a bay o f the o cean . Capta in Gray thought i t must be

the mouth o f a l a rge r ive r . Capta in Vancouve r wa s su re

i t was only a sa l t-wate r. bay .

Now Gray wa s a Yanke e , and rathe r an independent

man . I f that rea lly was a r ive r , he wanted to know i t ;and there must b e many fu rs in i t . SO when h i s Ship

s a i l ed out o f the Stra i ts o f San Juan de Fuca , a fte r h i s

v i s it with Vancouve r wa s ove r , he went s tra ight south to

tha t b ay.

[ 27 ]


Back Gray went . He had wa ited the re b e fo re,trying

to get in ; now he wa ited aga in . Indeed he wa ited fo r

s eve ra l days , becau se the wind was blowing and the

waves were h igh .

Gray ’ s plan was da r ing . Seven m i le s long were tho se

s and ba rs , outs ide the r ive r mouth , and three mi les

wide , with only a na rrow, winding channe l between them ,

a s he found a fte rwards . All the mouth o f the r ive r

was choked with the se s and ba rs , fa r outs ide o f Cape

D i sappo intment . The ru shing wate r from the r ive r m et

the wave s th rown upon the ba r by wind and t ide,and the

b reakers were te rr ific. Roa ring and thunder ing , day a fte r

day , the white waves cra shed and bea t over the ba rs . In

the qu i et o f the fo re sted h il l s , the upro a r o f the water s

could b e hea rd fo r m ile s . I t wa s ce rta i n death to anyone

caught in thos e white,fo am ing b reake rs .

Then one day , May 1 1 , 1 792 , the wind qu i eted down ,the waves we re a l ittle ca lme r

,and though the b reakers

s ti l l da shed and thundered , Gray thought he cou ld see a

channel . In went the l i ttl e s a i l ing ship,depending only

upon the b reez e and the ski l l o f the capta in— in through

tha t na rrow , winding , unknown channel into the unknown

bay. Ca re ful ly Gray stee red whil e h i s men sounded the

depth o f wa te r , unti l a t la st they were through the

b reake rs and ins ide . Then the sa i lo rs found at once , a s

they d ipped up the wate r,that i t wa s sweet , fre sh , r ive r

wate r and not sal t wate r . Had i t b een mere ly a bay , the

Wa te r would have been sal t .

Capta in Robert Gray had di scove red the Rive r o f the

[ 28 ]


Oregon country . There were a few p ine s a long the

Columb i a R ive r , though not many ; but a l l the h il l s which

ro ll ed back from thi s b ro ad , glo r i ou s stream were b lack

with dense fo re sts o f othe r cone-bea r ing tre e s— sp ruce

and fi r and hemlock .

Anothe r inte re sting th ing i s that th i s r ive r on the

western coa st wa s d i scovered ju st thre e hundred yea rs

a fte r Columbu s d i scove red Ameri ca ( 1 492 and 1 792 )and tha t the United State s wa s only n ine yea rs o ld when

the Ameri can fl ag wa s ho i sted in the r ive r and on the sho re .

Capta in Gray stayed in the r ive r some ten days , t rading

with the swa rms o f Indian s who came out to h i s sh ip , and

gett ing a fre sh sta rt. The old log book told just which

days were b right and sunny and which were cloudy o r

ra iny. But the o ld log doe s not tel l u s hal f a s much a s

we want to know about the wonderful cro ss ing o f tha t

te rr ib l e b a r,and o f the stay in the r ive r . Gray’ s da ring

in fa c ing tho se b reakers and ente r ing the r ive r gave the

United State s the ve ry fi r st r ight she had to cla im any

pa rt o f the Oregon country ; be fo re tha t , Spa in and Grea t

B ri ta in were the only one s having any rea l r ight to i t .

The cro s s ing o f tha t fea rsome ba r was a da ring thing

to do , with onl y a sa i l ing vessel , to s sed thi s way and that

by the wind o r the cu rrents , to face those te rr ific b reakers

whi ch ro a red and dashed and thunde red at the entrance

o f the Columb i a .

In 1 80 5 the Lewi s and Cla rk exped it ion came ove r

l and from St. Lou i s , and they di scovered and explo red

pa rt o f the r ive r from the othe r d i rection .

[ 30 ]

CHAPTER VI

THE ADVENTURE S OF LEWI S AND CLARK

HIRTEEN yea rs a fte r Capta in Gray ente red the

Co lumb ia R ive r,a pa rty o f th i rty-two men and one

woman , nea rly a l l Ameri cans , were coming up the M is

sou r i R ive r on an explo r ing exped it ion . Capta in Me ri

wethe r Lewi s and Capta in Will i am Cla rk were the two

l e aders , and nea rly a l l the i r m en were Ameri can so ld i e r s .

All were whi te excep t three . One o f these wa s a s lende r

l ittl e Indi an woman o f e ighte en o r n ineteen , with he r t iny

papoo se strapped on her back . A second wa s he r hu s

band , the gu ide , who was ha l f Indian and ha l f French .

The thi rd wa s a bl ack , black Negro .

Up the M i ssou r i R ive r,in 1 80 5 , came th i s p a rty in the

b r ight Spr ing sunshin e . The wide pla in s on each s ide

we re green with gra s s and black with buffa lo e s . Wild

flowers were b loom ing , b i rds S ing ing , the sky wa s blue

overhead , and the green tree s bo rder ing the r ive r waved

the i r long b ranche s in the fre sh p ra i r i e b re eze . Some

t imes , i t i s t rue, the weather wa s sto rmy and ra iny , yet

much Of the t ime it wa s b eauti fu l .

One thing these men were to do wa s to cro s s , and

explo re a s they cro s sed , th e new Lou is i ana Purcha se, a

va st s tretch o f country westwa rd from the M i s s i s s ipp i

[ 3 1 ]


“R ive r to the Rocky Mounta ins . Its northern bo rde r was

then undecided . Another th ing , was to c ro s s the moun

ta ins and va lleys and go th rough the Oregon country to

the Pacifi c Ocean .

Oregon , i n those days , was that unknown stretch o f

mounta ins and valleys beyond the Rocky Mounta ins and

no rth o f Cal i fo rn i a . I t extended a s fa r north a s “ Russ i an

America , which i s now Ala ska ; so i t was a thousand

m i l e s wide , ea st and we st , along i ts southern bo rder . I t

was not so wide a t the no rth because the Rocky Mounta ins

t rend no rthwestward , and the Oregon bounda ry followed

the mounta ins . Along the se acoa st i t was about e ight

hundred mi le s long .

No one had exp lo red Oregon at a l l,except a few B rit i sh

fu r traders i n the no rth . In the southern pa rt , Capta in

Gray had di scovered the mouth o f the Co lumb ia R ive r .

Up and down the co a st B ri t i sh and Ameri can fu r-trad ing

ships , l ike Capta in M ea re s ’ s and Gray ’ s and Kendri ck ’ s ,had sa i l ed

,and they had found that Nootka Sound wa s on

an i s land— but that was about a l l that anybody knew

about i t a t tha t time .

SO Lewi s and C la rk were to explo re the southe rn pa rt Of

Old Oregon , a long the Co lumb i a R ive r . Day a fte r day ,tha t plea sant sp r ing o f 1 80 5 , they fo l lowed the windings o f

the muddy Mi ssou r i . Sometimes a t n ight they camped

upon an i sl and in m id stream , feel ing sa fe r there from the

Indi ans ; sometimes they camped on sho re . There were

many danger s,from drowning , from Indians , and from

othe r cause s . But they had , on the Mis sou r i R ive r ,

[ 32 ]

{THE ADVENTURES OF LEWIS AND CLARK

abundance o f food . Herds o f dee r , a s we l l a s black

throngs o f buffalo e s , gra zed on the b ro ad , gra s sy pla in s

a round them . Wi ld gee se and ducks floated on the r ive r,o r whirrerl ove r i t when fr ightened .

As the r ive r na rrowed ( i n wha t i s now Montana ) , they

watched fo r a grea t water fa ll , becau se the Indi an s told

them thi s fa l l wa s on the tru e M i ssou r i , and they were

a fra id o f gett ing into some branch o f the r ive r .

Walking a long the b ank one morn ing, Capta in Cla rk

hea rd a di stant roa r l ike thunde r ; then he saw a cloud o f

m i st b low ove r the p la in s . Hurrying happ i ly to i t , he

found tha t i t was i ndeed the ro a r o f fal l ing water s and

mi sty sp ray dr iven by a June b reeze . Very much exci ted ,he sat down on a rock nea r by and wa i ted fo r the

boats , with h i s men and Capta in Lewi s , to come up . He

named the place the Grea t Fa ll s o f the M i s sou r i , and

the c ity whi ch stands nea r the re today i s named Great

Fal l s .

But now the troubl e s o f the explo re rs b egan . The June

sunshin e wa s glo r iou s , with fre sh b reez e s from the moun

ta ins , th e gra s s wa s green and the wild fl owers beauti ful .

Buffaloe s we r e pl enti fu l a round them , al so , so that the re

wa s no lack o f food . Yet the i r t rouble s fo r the next

twenty m ile s we re endle s s .

Fi rs t , on a ccount o f the fa ll s which thunde red down

the r ive r in ca scade s and in fa ll s fo r nea rly e ighteen

m i le s , they had to go overl and . Boats , Ind i an trading

goods , the i r wr itten repo rts , th e i r su rveying instruments

eve rything had to be ca rr i ed fo r twenty mile s to smooth

[ 33 ]


wate r . They needed a rough wagon ; but a wagon must

have wheel s . Afte r whol e days o f sea rch , they found the

only tre e with in twenty m ile s o f them that was l a rge

enough . They were in a tree le s s country . They cut down

that tree , s awed off round p i ece s , bored a hole in the cente r

o f these S l ab s , and behold ! the re wer e the wheels— but

such clumsy Wheel s ! Then cro ssp i ece s held the whole

togethe r , and the canoe s were loaded on . The men ha r

nessed themselve s to drag i t a l l . Can you imagin e the

ha rdsh ip s ! Up hi ll s they went and down ravine s and

a cro s s gull i e s . The so ft wood o f the cro s s-p i ece s and the

wh iffl etree b roke constantly. Worse than that , the ground

was cove red with p ri ckly p ea r ca ctu s , and the hooked

thorns cut through the i r mocca s in s . Thei r Shoe s had long

s ince b een worn out.

Bes ide s a l l th i s , the ground wa s the kind known a s

gumbo .

” I t was so ft and sti cky du ring ra ins . Buffalo e s

had tramped ove r i t whil e i t was wet and so ft , and had

cut up the ea rth with the i r sha rp hoo fs into sha rp , fine

po ints . In the sunshine th i s ground dri ed a s ha rd a s a‘

ro ck , and sha rp po ints cut l ike p in s and needle s . Nor was

tha t a l l . They had a te rr ific ha i l sto rm in travel ing that

short d i stance . The ha i l stones we re l a rge enough to knock

some o f the men down ; everyone was b ru i sed by them .

Yet a ctually the i r wo rst enemy was th e gri zzly bea r.

Gri z z l i e s a re a lways s avage , but the se bea rs we re so u sed

to atta cking l a rge an imal s , such a s elk and buffalo , that

they were no t in the lea st a fra id o f men . And they were

ve ry strong . Even a fte r they had b een shot aga in and

[ 34 ]

THE ADVENTURES OF LEWIS AND CLARK

aga in— when wounded with six o r e ight bullets— they

would run a fte r the hunte rs . With blaz ing eye s , open

m onth, and ro a ring loudly, they would ru sh a fte r them

with grea t speed and with outsp read claws . The talons

on some o f thes e b ea rs were fou r and one-hal f inche s

long. Aga in and aga in the hunte rs o f the exp edi tion

e scaped only with the i r l ive s— j ump ing down high b luffs ,with the b ea r tumbl ing heavi ly a fte r them .

Those twenty m ile s o f cact i , gumbo so i l , ha i l sto rms ,gri z z ly be a rs , blaz ing hot sunsh ine , steep h i ll s and rav in es ,and the i r he avy , clumsy , home-made wagon with its round

wooden wheel s , fa i rly wo re the men ou t . Two weeks they

spent in th i s way .

But a fte r tha t trying two weeks , the explo re rs put the i r

canoe s into the wate r aga in and p addled up the r ive r .'

At l a s t the wate r became so shallow , and the re we re so

m any rap ids , they h id the cano e s and s ta rted off on foo t.

They a lso cached a l l the Indian goods , and the powder and

l ead wh ich they could not take with them . A cache,a s th e

wo rd wa s u s ed in tho se old days , was a h iding pl a ce dug

ca re fully in the e a rth . The hole was l ined with small

b ranche s o f tree s and underb rush , to keep the goods from

the dampnes s , sometimes l ined a lso with buffalo rob es .

Then the goods were put in , cove red with othe r rob e s ,o the r b ranche s , and ea rth thrown ove r the top . Every

th ing wa s done a s ca re ful ly as po s s ib le , so a s not to Show

that a cache had been made .

Day a fte r day they fol lowed the l i ttle stream,fo r the

“Missour i R ive r wa s only a cre ek now. One morn ing

[ 55 ]


Sacaj awea ,“ the B i rd Woman ,

” po inted out the place

where she had been taken p ri sone r by the B l ackfeet about

s ix yea r s b e fo re . NOW , with the Ameri cans , and W i th her

t iny baby on he r b ack , she was retu rn ing to he r gi rlhood

home .

The explo re rs were go ing di rectly toward the Three

Fo rks o f the M issou r i— a po int where three s treams ,

m eeting , fo rmed the upper wate rs o f the M i ssou ri . They

were on dangerous ground . Becau se th i s was a country

famou s fo r i ts hunting , i t wa s a l so a famous battle ground .

From the no rth came the te rr ible B lackfeet ; from the

south the Sho shones , o r Snakes , the tr ib e o f Sacaj awea ;from the e a st the Crows , famous fo r the i r expert th ievery

and thei r long ha i r ; from the west the Flatheads , a lways

fr i endly to the wh ite men , and the Nez Percés . The Nez

Pe rcé s came ove r the mounta in s o f the B itte r Root , and

through the va l l eys o f the Rocky Mounta ins , on hunting

expedit ions .

Lewi s and Cla rk now wanted to mee t fri endly Indi an s .

They needed to know how to cro s s the “ Stony Mounta in s ”

wh i ch Ioomed up be fo re them . They needed a lso to buy

horse s . They d id everyth ing to Show fri endl in e s s , i n ca se

Indi an s Should be watch ing them , unknown . The fact that

they had a woman and he r b aby with them Showed that

they were not a war pa rty ; so the B i rd Woman was nea r

the leade rs o f the pa rty .

At la st Capta in Lewi s , trudging along with two men ,

saw on a hi l ltop an Indi an wa rrio r , some women , and a'

dog. Taking h i s bl anket from hi s ba ck , he threw i t ove r

[ 36 ]


They s ent fo r Sacaj awea . When she came , she suddenly

recogni z ed that ch i e f a s he r own brothe r .

Afte r th i s the Indian s we re very fr i endly indeed . They

sold ho rse s , gave the explo re rs food which they really

needed themselve s , and showed them how to cro s s the

mounta in s and which was the b est tra i l . Soon , the re fo re ,a fter meet ing wi th thes e fr i endly Sho shone s the explo re rs

sta rted ove r the t ra i l to the westwa rd . We call the se

mounta in s now the Rocky Mounta ins ; but Lewi s and

Cla rk cal l ed them , a s did the traders and trappe rs and

hunters fo r yea rs a fte rwards , the Stony Mounta ins , the

Rock Mounta in s,the Snowy Mounta ins , and a l so the

Shin ing Mounta ins,becau se when the sun shone on the

snowy r idge s they gleamed b r ightly .

All a long the route the Indian s had been fr i endly . Thi s

wa s becau se th i s pa rty had been fr i endly to them , had

given them p resents , been kind to them , and had taken

advantage o f them in no way . So al so the Flathead

Indi ans , who l ived in the Flathead Valley and on the s lope s

o f the B itte r Root Mounta in s and in the B itte r Root

Valley , were fr i endly.

The Flatheads so ld the Ameri cans food , showed them

the b e st t ra i l ove r the B itte r Root Mounta in s,and were

kind to them .

The B itter Roo t Mounta ins a re so cal led b ecau se o f the

b i tte r l ittl e root with p ink flowers whi ch grew all ove r those

mounta ins . The explo re rs called them “ savage ” moun

ta in s , becau s e they had such a fea rful time cro ss ing them ,

on the tra i l o r off i t . The mounta in s ides we re ve ry steep ;

[ 38 ]


they were densely fo re sted , and even the tra i l wa s con

stantly blocked by fal len tree s , lying one upon ano the r .

The stre ams ran in deep go rge s , thunder ing and fo am ing

fa r b eneath them ; and there were no b r idge s . The

mounta in to rrents , ra c ing down th e mounta in s ide s in

sp ring and summer , were lower now , and some o f them

dri ed up . They could not a lways find fre sh wate r . In

cl imb ing up and down the ste ep mounta in s ide s , ho rse s

fel l down with the i r lo ads— sometimes lo st the i r foo ting

and toppled ove r , down the mounta in s ide o r into a go rge .

Winding among the ro cky knob s , on the h igher l eve l s ,they lo st thei r tra i l . I t wa s now Septembe r , and the

snow in the mounta ins wa s a foot and a hal f deep . There

was no game , and the dr i ed buffa lo mea t b rought with

them was a lmo s t gone .

Weary and wo rn and nea rly sta rved , with some ho rse s

l e ft behind them , dying with sta rvation and too weak to

travel fa rthe r , the explo re rs a t l a st rea ched the othe r s i de

o f the mounta ins and the lowe r level s . Here they saw

thre e Indi an boys at pl ay , fo r i t was summe r in tha t

country , though winte r on the he ights above . They offe red

r ibbon s to the boys i f they would go to the V i l l age and

tel l the i r tr ib e tha t whi te men we re sta rv ing and needed

the i r help .

In th i s way the Ameri can s met the fr i endly Ne z Pe rcé s .

In this ‘

way they secu red help and food and fre sh ho rse s to

ca rry the i r b aggage . In payment fo r the ho rse s they gave

the Indi an s s ca rlet l eggin s , handke rch i e fs , tob acco , kn ives ,and o the r th ings . They gave a ch i e f a l aced r ed co at.


In the even ings , among these fr i endly red peopl e , they

took out the i r fiddles and played and danced , whil e the

Indi an s laughed , j u st a s a l l the Indi an s on the pla ins and

on the Mi ssou r i R ive r had laughed when the white men

fiddled to them .

Then they j ou rneyed on .

They traveled down the C le a rwate r to the Snake R ive r,

and then on to the Columb i a . When they understood that

they a t l a st had reached that R ive r o f the West wh ich

fl owed into the B itte r Wate rs , they b egan to bu i ld cano es .

Travel by wate r i s much qu i cke r and e a s i e r than by land

i n a new country . When ready to go down by boat,they

gave the i r ho rse s to the ca re o f a fr i endly ch i e f and

p addled away .

The Columb i a i ts el f wa s smooth enough , yet the voyage

had i ts ha rdship s . At Cel i lo Fall s , aga in at The Dalle s ,and aga in a t the Cascade Rap ids , they had to ca rry the i r

boats and a ll the i r baggage ; and the tr ib e s here were not

so fr i endly a s the Sho shones and Flathe ads and Nez

Percés had been . They we re more degraded , l iv ing idle

l ive s,depending on fi sh , and on the trading whi ch pa ssed

through the i r hands . The Indi ans above traded buffalo

meat,dried o r j erked , and pemmican with the Indi ans o f

the lowe r r ive r , fo r dr i ed fish. Thus the ho rse Indians

traded with the cano e Indi ans , and the two cl a sse s we re

very diffe rent. There i s much more about them in othe r

chapters . But these Indians a t the po rtages were robbe r

Indi ans,steal ing from every boatlo ad , and demanding tol l

from eve ry pe rson who pa ssed up o r down the Columb ia .

[ 40 ]

T h e L ew i s and C lark l ine o f ex p loration, w est of th e R ock ym ountains . T h i s w as th e m o st no rth e rl y p o int o f e x p lo rat ion m ad e

b y Am e ri cans . A l l th e c ountry s h ow n. furth er north . h ad b een d i s

co vered and ex p lored b y th e B ri ti sh .

[ 4 1 ]


From the t ime they set the i r canoes afloat upon the

Columb i a the explo re rs V i s i ted every Indi an vi l lage theysaw , cro ss ing the r ive r constantly , making p resents a t e ach

pla ce , and te l l ing the Indi an s they were fr i ends . So they

traveled on through Octob er .

From the Ca scade s down to the Willamette there wa s

only the b ro ad , smooth r ive r , dotted he re and there on its

banks with vi l lage s , and the r ive r wa s glo ri ou s in the

sunl ight , the sun Shin ing on the h igh hi ll s , fo rest-cov

e red , on ea ch s ide . Snowy peaks gl eamed here and

there .

But on the lower r ive r the winter ra in s had b egun , fo r

i t wa s Novembe r . On they went,ra in o r sh ine

,unti l one

day they saw the b reakers da sh ing fu riou sly over the

ba r at the mouth o f the Columb ia,and hea rd the

thunder o f the cra sh ing white wate rs . They had reached

the end o f the i r j ou rney . B eyond lay the Pacifi c

Ocean .

But i t wa s November ! It ra ined and ra ined and ra ined .

All day and a l l n ight the cold ra in came down , whi le h igh

winds blew h igh waves upon the m ighty r iver , and penned

the men up fo r thre e o r fou r days a t a time upon some

na rrow po int o f land . On Po int Ell i ce th ey had to encamp

on a na rrow shel f. Above them ro se sheer rocks which

they could not cl imb . But the ra in-loo sen ed rocks could

and did fall down upon them . They could not e scape by

following the b ank o f the r ive r , fo r ro cks ro se sheer out

o f the wate r on e ithe r s ide o f them . The wave s we re too

high to ventu re into the r iver with the i r smal l canoe s .

[ 742 ]


The i r Indi an goods and baggage they had placed above

the t ide , but the ra ins soaked them through and ru ined

pa rt o f them .

Thei r canoe s were fa stened a lmo st a t the i r feet , but the

h igh wave s and the tide s ca rr i ed gre at dr i ftwood logs

among the boa ts , so that the men had constantly to push

away the logs tha t the cano e s might not b e cru shed . Such

an acc ident would have been fa ta l . And the re Lewi s and

Cla rk and the i r men stayed fo r days , without a tent o r

even an umbrella , in that co ld , chee rle s s ra in . Dres sed

only in le athe r , the chi l l ing winds and ra in a lmost fro z e‘

them .

At la st , one day , the re came a b reak in the sto rm , and

in qu i e te r wate rs they packed thei r b aggage into the i r

cano es and p addled away . Cro ss ing to the south s ide o f

the r ive r , they a t la s t dec ided to bu i ld the i r winte r fo rt on

what i s now Lewi s and Cla rk R ive r , a s tream flowing into

the Co lumb i a . There they bu i l t s even log cab ins , a fte r

wa rds p ro tected by a high , sp iked log wall— a pal i sade

to keep out Indian th ieve s o r Indi an enem i e s .

Though many elk were in the fo re sts a round them , the

explo re r s we re ha l f sta rved tha t winte r . The hunte r s

ki l led game , but b e fo re they could get i t through the tan

gled fo re st to the fo rt i t would spo i l . The winte r s the re

a re no t cold ; only the ch il l o f the ra in and winds i s ha rd

fo r people l iving in the op en a i r a s thes e men did . They

could not explo re in the constant ra in and fog , so they

had to wa i t fo r the sp r ing to come . Explo r ing , o f cou rse ,

was the i r only rea son fo r b e ing in the Oregon country a t

[ 43 ]


a ll . They were o rdered to find out eve rything they could

about i t.

By thi s time the i r supply o f sa l t had given out . Down

on the o cean , nea r what i s now the vi l lage o f Se a s ide , they

m ade sa l t by bo i l ing down sal t s e a wate r .

In the spr ing they had to retu rn to the United State s .

The i r trading goods were almo st gone,and they were not

ce rta i n whethe r they had enough to buy the fr i endship o f

the tr ib e s a s they retu rned . But the re wa s no time fo r

explo r ing the Oregon country , o r go ing up and down the

coa st even on land .

I t was a long homewa rd tra i l , up the Columb i a R ive r

i n the i r canoe s , back to the fr i endly ch ie f who had taken

good ca re o f the i r ho rses , paying everywhe re fo r fi sh and

game and roo ts with the i r heads and pa int and kn ives and

r ibbons and blankets , and he re and there a s ca rlet l a ced

coat . On they went, ove r tho se savage B itte r Root Moun

ta in s aga in , then ove r the Rocki e s , down the M i ssou ri

R ive r , th rough the gre at p la in s . The homeward tra i l wa s

very long indeed . But a ll the way back the Indi ans were

fr iendly and kindly and help ful , becau se the explo re rs had

b e en so to them on the i r way out . Indi ans have a keen

sense o f j u st i ce , and the white men a re to b lame fo r many

o f ou r Indian trouble s .

Becau s e o f tha t long j ou rney , the Un ited State s wa s

able to cla im , by rea son o f explo rat ion , the country

through which the explo re rs had traveled . Gray had di s

cove red the mouth of the Columb i a R ive r th i rte en yea rs

b e fo re . Now Lewi s and Clark had di scovered and j ou r

[ 44 ]


ments fo r mea su r ing the mounta in s , she came to the re scue .

She held he r b aby fi rmly in one hand and reached out with

the othe r and steadi ed the canoe,and p i cked the paper s

off the wate r a s they floated by . Without these papers ,

and the steadying o f the cano e whi ch saved the mea su ring

instruments , the explo re rs cou ld not have gone fa rthe r

they would have had to re tu rn . So the b rave l ittle B i rd

Woman saved the expedi tion .

Fu r trader s fol lowed the explo rers the very yea r a fter .

Miss iona ries and sett le r s fol lowed the fu r traders and

trappe rs . And so , within fo rty yea rs , the re we re many

Amer ican s l iving in the Oregon country , a long the Colum

b i a R ive r , and down the Willamette R ive r . That meant

the settlement o f the whole country and the grea t c it i e s

whi ch a re now planted where the Indian s p i tched the i r

tep ee s .

[ 46 ]

CHAPTER VI I

HOW THEY BU ILT A STORIA

UTSIDE the te rr ibl e b a r o f the Co lumb i a to s sed

a l ittle s a i l ing sh ip,on e gray Ma rch day in 1 8 1 1 .

Thi s was j u s t five yea rs a fte r Lewi s and C la rk had le ft

the mouth o f the Co lumb i a and had gone back ac ro s s the

p la in s and the mounta ins to St. Lou i s . Thi s ship wa s the

Tonquin. On boa rd were the pa rtne rs and cle rks o f the

fu r company . She was wa iting fo r a fa i r wind to ca rry

he r through the channel am idst the b reake rs on the b a r .

The men on that Ship looked in di smay a t the s cene a round

them .

Di rectly in front o f them fo r m i l e s , da shed and thun

de red and pounded the wh ite wave s on the ba r , becau se

the wind was strong. Once in among tho s e b reake rs ,the l i ttl e sa i l ing ve ss el would b e ca rr i ed th i s way and

tha t , perhap s pounding upon a b a r wi th grea t wh ite

combe r s cra shing ove r he r— and go down , a s many a

sh ip ha s done S ince.

And thi s wa s the ve ry pla ce , o f cou rse , where Capta i n

Robe rt Gray , nea rly twenty yea rs be fo re , had s a i led ove r

that famou s ba r . Beyond the ba r wa s a gre a t open“ bay ,

” where the water was l e s s rough .

At la st the sh ip lowered a small boat with fou r men

[ 47 ]


i n i t , and sent i t to find the channel . Both crew and

p as senge rs on the Tonquin watched i t anx i ou s ly . The

sma l l boat went in towa rd the channe l , wa s caught in the

waves , strugg l ed awhi l e , and then went down . No one

eve r aga in saw tha t bo at o r any man that wa s in i t .

The next day another bo a t wa s lowered , with fou r men ,b ecau s e tha t channel had to b e found . Tha t , too , was

caught by the b re akers , and went down . Only one o f the

m en was saved . He wa s wa shed a sho re and found la te r ,nea r ly dead .

What were they to do ! The pa s sengers on the Tonquin

were fu r trade rs , and they had come to bu i ld a fur-trad ing

po st a t the mouth o f the Columb i a . They had to get into

that r ive r.

At la st , a t a favo rable tu rn o f the t ide , when the wind

had died down a l i ttle and the b ree z e came from the

right di rect ion , Capta in Jonathan Thorn tr i ed to sa i l in ,through What s eemed to b e the channel . And though it

was night, yet somehow— they never knew j ust how— the

ship s lipped through tha t na rrow,winding channel among

the sand b a rs , and dr i fted into Baker’ s B ay .

The next mo rn ing , the very fi rst th ing they did was to

go a sho re and bu ild a p igpen ! The Tonquin was crowded ,no t only with people

,including Kanaka s whom they had

engaged a t the Sandwich I slands , but al so with p igs and

cows whi ch they had bought there . There was l i ttle room

fo r anybody . The an imal s had to he l anded , and they

were, i n a ve ry sho rt t ime , so that the crowded ship wa s

more com fortab le .

[ 48 ]

HOW THEY BUILT ASTORIA

The next s tep wa s to find a s i te fo r the fo rt . All about

them , on both s ide s o f the r ive r , the dens e b la ck fo re sts

came down to the water ’ s edge . The banks o f the r ive r

were qu ite ste ep . Fo r a fo rt they needed to have , clo s e

a t hand , logs o f the right S i z e fo r cab ins . They needed

the r ive r fo r the i r sh ip s , sp r ing wate r o r e l se r ive r wate r

n ea r by fo r dr inking a s well a s fo r wa sh ing and cooking.

They needed space fo r a ga rden , and fo r the i r l ive sto ck ,and they needed a lso a fa i rly l evel spa ce on whi ch to

e rect the i r cab in s,which they would have to fence in .

None o f the pla ce s nea r the sh ip s eemed to b e su i tab le .

The pa rtner s went up the r ive r and down , and ove r to the

south s ide , whi le Capta in Thorn scolded about“ smoking

and p i cn i c p a rt i e s . The ste rn capta in ins i s ted they must

find a pla ce qu i ckly o r e ls e he would l and the trad ing goods

and eve ryth ing els e , and sa i l away to trade fo r fu rs a long

the co a st no rth o f them . So they hurr i ed to find a good

spo t nea r by.

Two o f the pa rtne rs went up the r ive r from Bake r ’ s

B ay , where the ship wa s ancho red , p rom i s ing to b e back

on a ce rta in day . They m et an old , one- eyed chi e f named

Com com ly , a funny o ld fel low , who was ve ry fr i endly to

them . Afte r ta lking to h im , by S i gns , and sp ending sev

e ra l days s ea rch ing a long the sho re fo r a good s i te , they

sta rted back to the Ship . The wind had r i sen and the

wate r wa s rough . Com com ly warned them not to go . But

the pa rtne rs had p rom ised , and they were rathe r a fra id

o f Capta in Thorn , so back they sta rted . The wave s were

h igh ; the r ive r wa s cove red with whi tecap s . They had

[ 49 ]


gone only a m i le when up dashed a b ig wave— and down

went the boa t ! But Com com ly’

s Indi an tr ibesmen had

be en tra i l ing them down the r ive r and were not fa r away.

Out stretched the long red a rms o f the Chinooks , i n sp i te

o f the to ss ing , high wave s , and caught the white men

struggl ing in the wa te r . Then they pulled them into the i r

cano e . The Indi an s o f the Columb i a were expe rt oa rs

men . But the pa rtne rs had to go b ack to the o ld chi e f ’ s

camp and stay the re unti l the sto rm was over , and that wa s

two o r th re e days.

Sho rtly a fte r the i r r etu rn to the sh ip i t wa s decided to

bu i ld thei r l i ttle fo rt on the south S i de o f the r ive r , upon

a po int they named Po int Geo rge , j u st where the c i ty o f

Asto ri a i s today . The new po st i ts el f , howeve r , they called

Fort Asto ri a . Mr . John Jacob Asto r , o f New York

C ity , was the head o f the fu r company , which was ca l led

the Pacifi c Fu r Company. But u sually hi s men were ca lled

Astorians .

”

But the po int se lected was not a pa rt i cula rly good one ,a fte r a l l the i r trouble. The bu i lding o f the fo rt wa s ha rd

and dange rous wo rk . Po int Geo rge was on a ste ep hi l l

s ide,cove red with eno rmous tree s . Many were two hun

dred fee t h igh and more . Some were s ix and e ight fe et

i n d iamete r . Every man had to begin tre e-chopp ing,whethe r he knew anyth ing about i t o r not— and few did

know how . The trade rs , the cl e rks , the canoem en, the

Kanaka s from the Sandwich I s lands— a ll went to wo rk

to cl e a r the spot o f thes e tremendou s tre es .

Alexande r Ross— and you wi ll find him in othe r chap

[ 50 ]


ters o f th i s book— tell s the sto ry o f the bu i lding o f Fo rt

Asto r i a .

Fi rs t they p icked ou t a tre e they could g et a t , fo r the

t rees were a l l c los e togethe r and the underb rush was high .

Then they bu i lt a s caffold a round i t , so tha t they could

stand above the rocks among the roots . Four men would

begin to chop such a tree , none knowing how . Some had

short-hand led axes , and o the rs l ong-hand led one s . Thi s

made the chopp ing ha rder . The i r guns they re sted aga in st

a ne a r-by tr e e whi le they chopped . But the woods a round

them were full o f Indi ans , and eve ry t ime they hea rd a

rustl ing in the j ungl e o f underb ru sh they dropped the i r

axes and p icked up the i r g uns . That made slow wo rk .

At la st , a fte r much to i l , when the b ig tre e wa s cu t

through so that i t should fal l , i t would b egin to toppl e

ove r. But behold ! i t would catch in the top o f anothe r

immense tre e and hang there , a dange r to everyone . There

wa s not room enough fo r i t to fa l l . Anothe r would b e

cut , and begin to fal l in ju st the same way , ca tch ing In

anothe r tre e . And so three o r fou r o f thes e gre at gi ant

trees would hang togethe r , i n mo st dange rou s fa sh ion .

At la st they would cut anothe r , and then a t l a st , when

the i r we ight ca r r i ed them down , two o r three o r fou r

tre e s wou ld fal l , a l l togethe r , with a cra sh wh i ch echo ed

a cro s s the r ive r and ba ck aga in , and through the dens e

fo rests a round them . Even then the logs we re so b ig

nothing could b e done wi th them . They had to be blown

to p i ece s with gunpowde r , and the chunks ro l led into the

rive r. Severa l men were hu rt by gunpowde r a ccidents .

[ 5 1 ]


Yet al l th i s time the se men , i n tu rn , had to stand gua rd

at n ight fo r fe a r o f Indians . With a l l the i r to i l and work

and s leeple s snes s and the wet weather , they had no tents

in whi ch to sle ep , and ve ry poo r food . They had only

bo i led fi sh and the roots whi ch the Indi ans b rought to

s el l to them . Worse than al l , i t was ea r ly in the sp r ing

and the weathe r wa s wet and cold .

“ Every o ther day

was a day o f ra in ,” Ross sa id . Even when i t d id not ra in ,

the lower ing gray ski e s , the d rea r ine s s , made the men

unhappy, and the damp fogs ch i l led them through .

I t wa s indeed a lonely spot , with the wide r ive r in front ,bo rde red on both s ide s with da rk fo re sts , fu l l o f Indians .

To the westwa rd lay that te rr ibl e ba r , and day and night

they hea rd the fea r ful c ra shing o f the b reakers . To the

e a stwa rd , somewhere , even though two thousand mi le s

away acro s s mounta in s and deserts,l ay the United States .

So some o f the m en deserted , trying to get home over land .

But the Ind i ans fa rther up the r ive r captu red them a s

they trudged towa rd the Ca scade s , and made them s laves.

Then the offi ce r i n cha rge , Mr. Duncan McD oug all , had to

buy them back wi th many gi fts to th e Indi ans .

At l a st , with al l the i r wo rk , wi th the lack o f sle ep and

of good food , i n sp i te o f the sul lennes s o f McD oug all and

the sco ldings o f Capta in Thorn , who l ived on hi s sh ip and

traded wi th the Indi ans— at l a st enough ground was

cl ea red fo r the i r fo rt. A bu i lding wa s put up fo r a trad

ing shop and a s a warehou se fo r the suppl i e s o f a l l kinds .

Then,on June 1

, Capta in Tho rn c l ea red hi s decks and

m ade ready fo r sa i l ing on tha t coa sting voyage fo r which

[ 52 ]


small e r tree s . But the re were no ho rses o r mule s o r oxen .

So th e workm en had to ha rnes s themselve s a s an imal s , and

six o r e ight o f them , pul l ing togethe r , would drag a log

out o f the fo re s t into the stockade . I t wa s exceedingly

ha rd work . Indeed , they worked so ha rd and so ca re fully

that the next yea r when the second ship , the B eaver, came

in , with more suppl i e s and more men , they had a fa i rly

good fo rt.

Ins ide the stockade , when the Beaver a rr ived , the re were

more dwell ings fo r the men and a ca rpente r ’ s Shop , be

s ide s othe r sto rehou se s . By thi s t ime the stockade was

well gua rded , a s cannon had been put into the b lockhou se s ,and muskets were kept in the s econd s to ry to be used , i f

nece s sa ry , through the loophole s .

Outs ide the sto ckade wa s a l i ttl e ga rden , though i t d id

no t succeed well . Potato e s flouri shed and a few turn ip s ,but the m ice a te a l l the radi shes , and the tu rn ip s went to

se ed too qu ickly . The so i l wa s too co ld and the weathe r

too chi l ly fo r ga rden ing a t that po int .

But long b e fo re the B eaver came in , i n that second yea r ,the t raders began to be wo rr i ed becau se the Tonquin did

not return . Late in the summer o f 1 8 1 1 rumors floated

about among the Indi an s that she had b een de stroyed .

Late r , M cD oug all and o the r traders began to hea r thi s .

Things began to look se r iou s .

Behind these few cab ins in th i s stockade ro se a towering

fo re st o f sp ruce,

fi rs,hemlock , and p ine . The unde rbrush

was so th i ck and dense that one could pa s s through i t only

on the Indian tra i l s . And thi s fo re st, a s well as the dens e

[ 54 ]


black woods al l a long the r ive r , on both S ide s— al l about

them everywhere— swa rmed wi th Indi ans . They would

be only too glad to ki l l the whi te men and captu re the fo rt

fo r the s ake o f the guns and bullets and powde r , fo r the

b lankets and pa int and coppe r kettle s , tha t we re in i t. At

thi s time the fr i endly Indian s b egan to b e shy , which wa s

a b ad s ign . Then great numbers o f strange Indi an s came

into Baker ’ s B ay from the north . They were the sul l en ,savage , grim- looking Ind ian s whom Capta in Mea re s had

s een a round Tatoosh I sland and the Stra i ts o f San Juan

de Fuca . Thes e Ind i ans p retended they came fo r the stu r

geon fi shing ; but they held long counci l s . Things looked

ser iou s indeed .

Duncan M cD oug all saw the dange r , and he was an o ld

Indi an trade r . He at once ca lled a counc i l o f a ll the ch iefs

o f the nea r-by tr ib e s . When they were a ll squa tt ing on

thei r heel s , i n a semi c i rcl e , i n Indi an fa sh i on , and had

smoked the i r counci l p ip e , he pulled a smal l bo ttl e ou t o f

hi s pocket . McD oug all handled the bottle wi th grea t

ca re , and the Indian s watched h im keenly .

“ In th i s bottl e ,” sa id trader M cD oug all , I hold a

great s i ckne ss . I f I draw the co rk , a l l o f you wil l have

i t . But i f you wi l l b e fr i ends to the wh ite men,I wi ll l e t

no ha rm come among you .

”

The Indi ans qu i ckly p rom i sed to b e fri endly . Perhap s

the white trade r s saved themselve s in th i s way . We do

not know exactly. But th i s ru se was no t ne a rly so ple a sant

o r so funny a s the one which Dr . John M cLoug hlin u sed

a t Fo rt Vancouve r fi fteen yea rs la ter .

[ 55 ]


Later on , th e traders knew the whol e truth . How

Capta in Thorn wa s so rough with the Indi ans that he

had angered them , and they had come on deck one day ,p retending to sel l fu rs , and when many were on ship

bo ard they had ki lled the crew and the t rade rs . Not a

man rema ined to tel l the s to ry. The Indian inte rp rete r

who had gone with them told i t, l a te r on , to the Indians

n ea r Fo rt Asto r i a .

Afte r the B eaver came , i t s eemed a s though a l l would

go well . Fo rt Okanogan wa s bu il t that fi rst summer,

1 8 1 1 , and now , a fte r the B eaver came in , Fort Spokane

was bu i lt , 1 8 1 2 ; and both these fo rts In the upper country

we re succe s s fu l in trading. You wi ll r ead about adven

tu re s there in l ate r chapte rs .

But the ve ry yea r a fte r tha t , 1 8 1 3 , becaus e wa r had

been decla red between Grea t B ri ta in and the United

State s , the Astorians were fo rced to sel l the i r three fo rts

to th e Canad ian fu r traders , the North West Company o f

Montre al . They were shut off from all the world , s ince

they had no sh ip and could not go home overl and . The

Indi ans were threa ten ing aga in ; the i r trading goods were

running low , and they could ha rdly buy food , and d id not

da re to u s e the goods in trad ing fo r fu rs . The sa l e o f

the fo rt ha s been cal led trea chery , but i t wa s not .

I f you vi s i t Asto r i a today , in the pa rk on the h i l l top you

wil l find a fo rt bu il t there , with a stockade o f sp iked logs

around i t. I t i s thought to b e a clo s e copy o f tha t t iny

fo rt bu ilt a t Asto ri a a hundred yea rs ago . The fi rst one,

howeve r , was bu i lt a t the wate r’ s edge , with dense fo re sts

[ 56 ]

F rom an o ld pu nt

FORT OKA NOGA N

F rom an o ld [ U'

l l l t

AN IN D I AN BUFFALO HUNT

all around i t . I t looked ou t ov’e-r the bro ad Columb i a and!

ou look a t i t ca re

ful ly , you will see what a ve ry small fo rt It was to stand

£ 57 ]

CHAPTER VII I

THAT I ND IAN TH I EF

SMALL log cab in,a lone ly man

,a dog— and some

thing els e . What was the something els e ” That

was what Alexande r Ro ss d id not know , and that wa s whyhe wa s fr ightened .

I t wa s in the winte r o f 1 8 1 1 - 1 2 , the very winte r a fte r

Asto ri a wa s founded , and it happened in th i s wayAfte r the American s had fini shed bu i ld ing, o r nea rly

fin i shed , Fo rt Asto r i a , i n the summer o f 1 8 1 1 , they decided

to bu i ld a new post on the uppe r Columb i a somewhe re .

Just where , nobody knew ; none o f them had eve r b een

the re. But a r iva l company,the No rth West Company

o f Montreal , had come a cro s s the mounta ins and bu i lt a

fo rt somewhere on the uppe r Columbi a .

In July o f that yea r , the re fo re , the cano es we re made

ready fo r the men go ing up the r ive r to found the new

post. The cle rks and pa rtne rs d id not know wha t so rt

o f a voyage to expect , and some o f them came to the r ive r

bank a s though go ing on a p i cn i c. One had a cloak , and

anothe r h i s umbrella . Others had books and papers ,intending to read pl ea santly a s the canoem en padd led them

up the b eauti ful r ive r . The sun was b r ight and the

weathe r se rene .

[ 58 ]


drag the canoe s from po int to po int by the bu she s and

ove rhang ing trees . At the Cascades they had to make a

po rtage— or a “ca rry”— a s well a s a t The Dalle s , andaga in a t Cel i lo Fal l s , b ecau se a t these place s the r ive r wa s

so swi ft and so rough they could no t go upstream . And

th ey had to unload the i r canoe s , ca rry the goods overland ,

and the cano e s a s well,a t the se po rtages , i n a land o f

th i evi sh Indi an s, who tr i ed constantly to stea l small pa r

cel s o f goods whi ch they would rip out o f the bale s .

Afte r the Astorians had pa ssed through the go rge o f

the Columb i a,where the mounta ins s eem

”

to have b een

sp l i t ap a rt to le t th e r ive r rol l through , they found that

they had le ft the fo re sts b eh ind them . This new country,ea st o f the Ca scade Mounta ins , was one o f wide-ro l l ing ,t reel e s s b rown hi lls . Except a s they ba rte red with the

I ndian s,i t wa s ha rd to get wood enough to cook the i r

food . And the August sun was hot in th i s l and o f sand

and sageb ru sh .

Afte r Six weeks o f paddl ing up the r ive r , they reached

the Okanogan , a plea sant r ive r flowing into the Columb i a

from the no rth,and here the pa rtne r , Mr. Stua rt , bu ilt

h i s fo rt. His men cut down the cottonwood tree s which

bo rdered the Okanogan fo r thi s log cab in fo rt . There

were no tree s a long the Columb i a . Othe r logs were

pulled from dri ftwood in a bend o f the Columb i a nea r

by .

The moment they landed and began the i r log cab in ,Indi ans came about them . All ta lking wa s done by s igns .

Mr . Stua rt and Mr . Ross opened a bale o f tobacco , and

[ 60 ]

THAT INDIAN THIEF

Indi an s and white men togethe r had a grand smoke . The

traders opened a lso the i r ba le o f goods , and sa id by s igns

tha t thes e p a ints and cotton s and blankets and kettle s wou ld

b e given in exchange fo r fu rs . The Okanogan Indi an s sent

runne rs to othe r tr ib e s and soon throngs o f Indi ans came

and set up the i r tepee s th e re , staying fo r seve ra l weeks

and hold ing endle s s counc i l s .

By the t ime the V i s it ing Ind i an s wen t home , some furs

had b een traded and a sta rt m ade on bu s ine s s . The cab in

was a lmo st fini shed . So Mr . Stu a rt s ent fou r men back to

Asto r i a to say tha t a l l wa s well . He took thre e more with

h im and went no rth with trading goods . Alexande r Ross

was l e ft a lon e , with h i s l i ttle Span i sh te r r i e r , Weasel , i n

th e unfin i shed log cab in . Fo r Fo rt Okanogan wa s no t

rea lly a fo rt a t a ll . Fo r s eve ral yea rs i t wa s nothing mo re

than a log cab in , s ixteen fe et wide and twenty feet long .

Ro s s tel l s a l l about tha t winte r . Although the Indi an s

we re fr i endly, he wa s a l i ttl e a fra id o f them ; and he wa s

lonely. But i t wa s a land o f b r ight sunshine , o f clea r b lu e

ski e s , even i f i t wa s a l so a land o f snow and cold . Ross

l iked tha t, and he l iked to look out on the two gre a t r ive rs

ru sh ing by , unti l winte r came and they froz e ove r.

Fi rst , he“ patched up the hou s e a b i t ,

” so he says . In

the daytime he t raded with the s low , never-hurry ing In

di ans , and tha t took much tim e . They were sh rewd

traders , to o , and knew exa ctly wha t they wanted . They

a sked fo r guns , with which to Shoot the i r enemi e s , a s wel l

a s to hunt ; kettl e s i n whi ch to bo i l wate r ; looking gla s se s ;

yellow and red pa int fo r the i r fa ces ; and fo r kn ives and

[ 61 ]


blankets . The squaws wanted beads and thimble s , ca l i co e s ,and many other th ings .

But the Indi ans were kindly enough to leave the fo rt

at sundown and go to the i r own tep ees . Ross then locked

the doo r and tr i ed to wri te down the Indi an words he

had l ea rned during the day. And in the lonel ine s s o f tha t

wi nte r , he says the B ib le wa s a grea t comfort to h im .

But the n ights wer e truly awful . All Indi an s a re con

stantly i n fea r o f some enemy creep ing up on them in the

n ight. The Okanogans were a lways po sse s s ed with th i s

fea r , so tha t i f on e o f them hea rd the sl ighte st sound in

the n ight, he would give the war whoop . Others would

qu i ckly awaken and begin to yel l and whoop . Yet the re

neve r was an enemy there . Ross neve r knew whethe r

the se ne a r-by Indi an s we re b e ing a tta cked o r not ; he only

hea rd the ra cket. But the upro a r fr ightened h im awake

and he expected every moment to see h i s doo r batte red in .

His ha i r grew gray , he says , becau se o f h i s fea rs .

Then came that “ something el s e .”

One n ight when everything wa s qui e t , Ro ss was awak

ened by Wea se l ’ s fu r iou s ba rking. The exc ited dog wa s

danc ing about on the cab in floo r , and racing up and down .

Ro ss wa s ce rta i n that an Indi an th i e f was i n h i s cab in ;but he lay pe rfectly sti l l fo r a few moments trying to think

wha t to do .

I f he rema ined qu i et , eve ry Indian knew where h i s bunk

wa s , and tha t would no t save h im . He thought o f sev

era l plans . He could take the ram rod o f h i s gun , which

he had in h i s bunk , and poke up the fi re whi ch wa s not

[ 62 ]

THAT INDIAN THIEF

fa r away . Yet i f he sti r red the hot a she s into a glow , the

Indi an would see him . Or , he could fi r e into the da rk ;

but he d id no t want to do that . At la s t he re a ched out

and st i r red the fire. I t b l azed up a l i ttl e and he saw no

one wa s the re . But Wease l wa s rac ing b ack and fo rth

ove r a small t rap -doo r,ba rking fu ri ou sly. Ros s unde r

s tood at once . Some Indian had found out about a l ittl e

s ecre t cell a r he had made under the cab in , and wa s h id ing

the re !

Ros s a t once l i t a candl e and s et i t whe re the l ight would

Shine into the cell a r . Then he took a p i sto l in one hand ,and with the other caut iou s ly l i fted the trap-doo r . Som e

thing was the re ! Someth ing da rk was s itt ing on a b ale o f

toba cco .

Ros s fi red . In anothe r moment he knew it wa s no

Indi an . I t was a skunk !

But tha t wa s only the b eginn ing . The Indi an s had been

awakened by Weas el ’ s b a rking . Then they saw the l ight

and hea rd the shot . Someth ing was happen ing to the i r

fr i end , the whi te man ! They rushed to h i s cab in , broke

down the doo r , and pou red into the l i ttl e room .

The re , i n the fl i cke ring candle- l i ght , s tood Ro ss with h i s

smoking p i sto l , and a t h i s fe et the yelp ing , exci ted dog .

They knew a t once , o f course , tha t he had shot a skunk ,but b e ing Indi ans they didn ’ t m ind tha t . The s er iou s th ingwas tha t they saw the s ecre t cell a r , with the b a le s o f

coveted tobacco and trading goods . Ro ss unde rstood the

m i sch i e f o f tha t . But th ings qu i eted down a fte r a whi l e

and the Indian s went back to the i r tepee s .

[ 63 ]


Afte r that n ight the Indians b egan to b e a l ittle un

fri endly . They would not hunt fo r fu rs . Strange Indi an s

came about the fo rt and set up the i r tepee s there . Long

counci l s were held , day a fte r day , whi le the old , fr i end ly

Indi an s b ecame very shy . That wa s a b ad S i gn . Ross

unde rstood the whole th ing pe rfectly. They were plo tting

to get r id o f h im .

Ross d id at once the only sa fe th ing to do . He call ed

a counci l o f the ch i e fs . They came in the i r pa int and

feathe rs,and squatted solemnly on the i r heel s in a hal f

c i rcl e . Fi rst they smoked the ce remon i a l p ip e . Then Ross

talked to them , pa rtly in the i r own tongue . Mr . Stu a rt ,

when he le ft in Octobe r , had expected to return in one

moon ; fou r and five moons had gone by , yet he had not

returned . Ross expla ined tha t th i s was b ecause there

were so many fu rs in the north country that Mr . Stua rt

had gone back to the Whi te Man ’ s Country , by the B it

te r Wate rs ( Fort Asto ri a , nea r the ocean ) , fo r more

t rading goods . Yet Ro ss d id not rea l ly know . He was

himse l f a fra id that Mr . Stu a rt had been ki ll ed in the north .

The Indi an s wa ited . Su re enough , when spring came ,down from the no rth came Mr . Stua rt , lo aded with furs .

He had been snowed in al l winte r , two hundred mile s no rth

of Fo rt Okanogan .

Mr . Stua rt had many furs . Ro s s b rought out h i s . He

had bought that lonely winte r fi fte en hundred b eaver

skins , b es ide s o the r pelts . They locked up the i r log cab in

fo rt , and told the Indian s to take good ca re o f i t unti l

they returned i n the summer . So in the b right May sun

[ 64 ]

THAT INDIAN THIEF

Shine o f 1 8 1 2 , with the l ight b ree z e blowing , they stepped

Into thei r canoe s , loaded with fu rs , and paddl ed down the

Co lumb i a to Asto ri a .

Severa l yea rs a fter’

, when another fo rt had to b e bu i lt ,th e fu r trade rs changed the locat ion . They bu i lt a l so a

stockaded wal l o f sp iked logs , i n s ide o f which were sev

e ra l house s . When the gate s we re locked the Indi ans

cou ld no t ente r , but they were a lways fr i endly. They neve r

[ 65 ]

CHAPTER IX

AN E ! C ITING HORSE RACE

OX ,

” called Mr . Cla rke , the American partne r i n

cha rge o f Fo rt Spokane , Cox , come here .” Ross

Cox dropped h i s wo rk and went to where Mr . Clarke was

s tanding. The pa rtner held an open lette r in h i s hand , but

he wa s looking out o f the doo r with worry in hi s face .

Cox , a cle rk— a l i ttle , red-headed , good-natu red I r i shman—knew at once i t wa s something about fu rs .

Now thi s was l i ttle more than a yea r a fte r Alexande r

Ro ss had been fr ightened by the skunk in the cell a r . Dur

ing that ye a r the Astorians had bu i lt anothe r trading post

clo se to the Spokane House o f the North West Company

o f Montre al , and not fa r from where the c i ty o f Spokane

now is. I t wa s keen work be tween the Ameri can s and the

Canadi an s to s ee whi ch could secure the greate st numbe r

o f fu rs from the Indi an s .

Cox ,” sa id Mr . Cla rk , I have a l ette r from Farnham ,

who ha s b een trading in the Flathead country . He says

he i s now a t the Coeu r d’

Aléne River . He has only a few

fu rs now , bu t the Flathead Indi an s following him are

loaded down with b eave r skins . They wil l not s el l except

fo r tobacco— and Fa rnham ha s no tobacco .

“ And I suppo se ,” answe red Cox

,

“ tha t the Spokane

House trade r i s r ight the re , too .

[ 66 ]


The l ight-hea rted French-Canadians gave many a clever

name in the Pac ifi c No rthwest to r ive rs to mounta ins

and to Indi ans .

Co i l s o f rop e tobacco hung from the pommel o f Cox ’ s

s addle , as he cante red off with hi s men , j u st a few minute s

ahead o f a s im il a r p a rty which he saw s ta rting from the

nea r-by Spokane Hou se . I t wa s go ing to b e n ip and tuck

between the r iva l fo rts fo r tho se furs .

I t wa s indeed an exc i t ing race . Cox , on h i s b eauti ful

ho rse , sp ed swi ftly a long the ha rd Indi an tra i l which

wound fo r s ixty m i les a cro s s the ro l l ing p la ins . At a di s

tance l ay the mounta in s,dark with the evergre en fo re sts ;

but in the sunl ight o f that glo r iou s May day they were

only a so ft ma s s o f da rk b lue . On al l s ide s str etched the

sunl i t country , green with fre sh , tende r gra ss , and b r ight

with sh in ing patche s o f wi ld fl owers— red and blue and

yel low and whi te . A light, so ft b re e z e was blowing , and

the sky was very blue .

On and on cantered L e B leu through the glo ry o f the

sp r ingtime . On and on came Cox ’ s two men , though grad

ually dropp ing beh ind . And beh ind them , ra cing ove r

tho se s ame sunl it“

pla in s and a long the s ame ha rd Indian

tra i l , with tob acco co i led a round the pommel o f the i r sad

dl e s , came the two Canadi ans from Spokane House . They

al so we re dete rmined to secu re those fu rs .

Gradually the sun s ank in the west , and Cox , glanc ing

b ack , could not see the others . But now the ea sy pa rt o f

the ra ce wa s ove r. Ahead o f h im lay ten m i le s through a

thi ck fo res t, dark becau se the sun had set , and Cox did no t

[ 68 ]

AN EXCITING HORSE RACE

know the tra i l . Yet Le B leu,sp lendi d ho rs e , s e emed st i l l

qu i te fre sh . So into the woods they went .

Now even in b right sunl i ght the fo re st s o f the Pac ific

Northwest a re dim , becaus e the grea t tree s towe r two hun

dred feet o r mo re , a lmost b ranchle s s , and topped with

a so ft gre en crown which keep s out the l ight . Afte r sun

set, the fo re sts a re ve ry da rk indeed .

Cox at fi rs t tr i ed to gu ide the ho rse . But aga in and

aga in man and ho rs e found themselve s tangl ed in a dense

unde rgrowth , o r in b rushwood , o r trying to crowd between

t ree s so clo se togethe r the ho rse could no t pa s s through .

Aga in and aga in , r ight i n front o f them , l ay the grea t

trunk o f some fallen tre e , a gloomy ma ss in the fo re st

b la cknes s . They go t off the tra i l s o o ften tha t Cox began

to b e a fra id the Canadi an s m ight win . They knew the

tra i l well . Suppose they caught up with h im , and even

p a ssed h im ! While he wonde red , he wa s a lmo st scraped

off h i s ho rse by pa s s ing too clo s e to a tre e trunk . A

moment la te r , a low-hanging b ranch o f a stray popla r tre e

caught h i s head and Shoulde r s and almo st l i fted h im off

hi s ho rse .

By tha t t ime , Cox dec ided tha t L e B leu knew that tra i l

a s wel l a s h e , fo r he did no t know i t a t a l l . They we re

qu i te lo st. So he held a loo se re in and let Le B leu go hi s

own way . The ho rse qu ickly found the tra i l and kep t i t .

On and on they went , s lowly , plunging ahead into tha t

dens e da rknes s , whi l e Cox wondered about the o the r men

and the fu rs .

Then , suddenly , out o f tha t p itch bl a ckne s s , they came

[ 69 ]


to the r ive r . All a long the b ank were the graceful , taper

ing tepee s o f the Indians . In front o f a long l in e o f camp

fi re s the r ive r swi rl ed and r ippl ed , white with fo am ,a fte r

having dashed down the rap ids above . I t spa rkled wi th

the l ights from the campfi re s . I t was a p re tty s ight : the

tiny campfi re s l ighting up the darknes s , gleam ing in the

r ive r beyond , and making gre at , fl i cker ing shadows to

move among the ta l l tree s . As the fl ames ro se and fell ,giganti c figure s s eemed to come and go among th e tre e

trunks .

Cox shouted when he saw those l ights . Le B leu l i fted

h i s droop ing head and galloped up to Fa rnham ’ s tent in

fine style .

Cox j umped off h i s ho rse , shouted to Fa rnham ,pull ed

off the pommel the th i ck twi sts o f rop e tob acco— and

instantly found himse l f the center o f a throng o f Indi ans ,wild fo r tob a cco . At the fi rst s ight o f ho rseman and

tobacco they had ru shed fo r h im .

Cox threw the tob acco to Fa rnham , and then took the

saddle off the ti red ho rse and tu rned the sp lendid fellow

loo s e in some gra s s nea r by .

Farnham di rected the Indi an s to b ring the i r fu rs to his

tent . When they were s a fely stacked up , he gave tobacco

to the red men . In an in stant eve ry head was lo s t in a

cloud o f blue smoke . The next morn ing the fu rs we re

so rted ove r and t raded fo r in the u sual way.

Two hours a fte r Le B leu came in , the Canadi an s from

Spokane House gallop ed up the tra i l to that l in e o f fl i ck

ering l ights a long the r ive r bank. Both they and the i r

[ 70 ]

AN EXCITING HORSE RACE

ho rse s knew the way through the fo re s t and had kept th e

tra i l much bette r than Cox had . Yet thei r ho rse s we re

not so good . At m idnight i n came Cox ’ s two men , and

gl ad indeed were they to se e the spa rkl ing campfi re s .

The next day the C anadi an s sco lded the Indi an s for

s ell ing the i r fu rs to the Ame rican s , becaus e the Indi an s had

traded with the No rth West Company and had known

them much longe r . But the Indi an s s a id they we re “a

‘

very long tim e hungry fo r a smoke ,” and tha t they had a

r ight to s el l the fu rs to the fi rs t t rade r who brought them

tob acco .

So Le B leu won th e race , and th e Americans won the

fu rs . And the b est o f i t wa s tha t the sp lendid ho rs e was

no t inj u red by h i s ha rd run . Afte r a week ’ s re s t h e was

a s fre sh a s eve r . When he went back ove r tha t tra i l w ith

the fu r traders and a ll tho se fu rs , he had no r ide r on h i s

b ack and took th ings qu ite a t le i su re , one m ight say .

[ 7 1 ]

CHAPTER X

ADVENTURE S IN THE YAK IMA VALLEY

WO yea rs a fte r Cox ’ s ho rse ra ce , th e fu r trade rs hadanothe r adventu re which had to do W1th ho rse s .

On account o f the Wa r o f 1 8 1 2 , the Ameri cans had so ld

out thei r fu r po sts to the Canadian fu r t raders,and went

back to “ the State s ” e i the r by land o r wate r . Alexander

Ross , howeve r , s igned a contra ct with the North West

Company o f Montreal ( the Canadi an company ) , and

s tayed in the Oregon country .

I t wa s th re e yea rs now s ince he had had his adventure

with the skunk , and he had l ea rned a good dea l about

Oregon Indians and how to deal with them . Thi s sp r ing

o f 1 8 1 5 , the B rigade o f Bo ats , having b rought the furs

down from the upper country to Asto r i a , o r Fo rt Geo rge ,were go ing up agai n . The name o f the fo rt had b een

changed by the North West Company . They had the i r

trading goods fo r the next yea r— pots and pans , kn ive s

and pa int , guns and powde r , blankets and ca l i co and dres s

goods . The North West Company had bought Fo rt

Okanogan and Fort Spokane o f the Ameri cans , but they

had trading po sts o f the i r own in wha t i s now B ri ti sh

Columbi a . The packs o f trading goods had to be taken

north from Fort Okanogan by ho rse s .

[ 72 ]

ADVENTURES IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY

When the trade rs that sp ring rea ched Okanogan , they

found the re were no t enough ho rse s to ca rry the i r goods

north aga in . I t was a s e r iou s matte r. Without ho rse s ,no trading goods could go to the Indi ans . Without goods ,the Indi an s would sell no fu rs . Without furs , they would

lo se money in the i r bu s ine s s . The i r whol e bus ine s s in tha t

country wa s to secu re fu rs .

The le ade r s a id ,“We must buy mo re ho rse s . Someone

will have to go to the Yakima Valley .

” So he s ent Alex

ande r Ro ss . Ross was s ent b ecaus e he had been the re

once b e fo re to buy ho rse s .

Every yea r in the Yakima Valley the Indi an s ea st o f

the Ca scade Mounta in s held a great fa i r . Thousands and

thou sands o f them tra i led ove r the h i l l s and over the

b rown treele s s pla in s o f the Co lumb i a to the gra s sy val ley.

I t wa s no t a t a l l s a fe fo r a few white men to go among

them a t th i s t ime . Thi s sp r ing , 1 8 1 5 , i t was r e al ly dan

g erous because the fu r trad ers , i n com ing and go ing up and

down the r ive r , had qua rre led with the Indi ans . White

men and red had been ki l l ed on the uppe r Columb i a . But

dange r o r not , ho rse s had to b e bought. Ros s sta rted off

with Tom M cKay , a cl e rk ; and with two French-Canadians

and the i r Indi an wive s .‘

The women were to help in

dr iving the ho rse s .

On the fourth n ight , a s they rode southwa rd from

Okanogan towa rd the Yakima Valley , a fr i endly ch i e f

l ea rned where they were go ing . He knew the i r danger, so

he sent wa rr io rs to wa rn them .

Too worri ed to s leep , Ro s s l ay wide awake i n his camp

[ 73 ]


i n the da rkness . They a ll s lep t on the ground in the open

a i r , with the i r fee t to the fire. Ross knew they were al l

l ike ly to lo se the i r l ive s i f they went on . Sudden ly , he

hea rd fa int , ru stl ing sounds nea r h im ,l ike some one cre ep

ing a long the ground . Up he sp rang in gre at a la rm ,

shouting to h i s men . But a t once , i n low tone s , Indian

vo i ce s ca lled ou t warn ingly : “White man ! White man !

Turn back ! Turn back ! You a re al l dead men ! ”

{I’

hey were the fr i endly wa rr io rs .

That was sta rtl ing . Ross knew then that the dange r

was greate r than he had expected— that p e rhap s the

Indian s i n the Yak ima Valley were plotting di rectly aga inst

h im . But he to ld the fr i endly Indi an s tha t the trade rs

needed ho rs e s . He had to go on . They went back to

the i r ch i e f. The next morn ing , with a heavy hea rt, Ro ss

s ta rted off aga in . Two days l a te r the trade rs entered the

Yakima Valley.

The Indi an fa i r a t a d i stance wa s a very beauti ful s ight.

Thousands o f slende r , grace fu l tep ee s we re p itched i n

cluste r s in the b ro ad sweep o f the wide gra s sy va lley and

a long th e r ive r ’ s b ank. I n a ll , the camp was about s ix

m i le s squ a re . Three thou sand Indian wa rri o rs we re there ,be s ide s the women and chi ldren . On the wide-sp reading

s lop es , n ibbl ing a t the green gra s s and the br ight wild

fl owers , were ten thousand ho rse s . These tr ibe s we re all

ri ch i n ho rse s .

The Indi an s we re having a glo r iou s time in the br ight‘May sunsh ine . In one place they were rac ing ho rse s , yel l

ing wi ldly ; others we re ra cing on foot. In the tepee s , or

[ 74 ]

-ADVENTURES IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY

sitt ing on the warm ground in the b right sunsh ine , wrapped

in the i r b lankets,brave s we re gambl ing with di ce and the

gambl ing sticks . In some o f the tepee s , so lemn counc i l s

we re be ing held by the olde r wa rr io r s and ch i e fs . Fea sts

were be ing no i s i ly eaten in o thers . Back from the moun

ta ins to the westwa rd came hunte rs with fre sh game , which

the squaws cut up and cooked a t once fo r fea sts . In other

pla ce s Indi an s were trad ing cama s root and dried sa lmon,o r swapp ing ho rse s . Here and there squ aws were scrap

ing h ides , o r cooking on the l i ttl e fi re s which gl immered

on the ground . And all through the camp Indian s were

s inging, dancing, drumming on the tom -tom s,yell ing and

whoop ing.

Thi s wa s th e p i ctu re whi ch Ross saw a s he ente red the

val ley. He wondered whethe r he would l e ave i t a l ive .

The trade rs spu rred On the i r ho rse s and rode towa rd

the cente r o f the camp , whe re they knew the gre ate r ch i e fs

would p i tch the i r tep ees. They s e emed to se e no one . But

the Indians saw them , and fo l lowed them , with angry looks

and words , a s wel l a s wi th ha s ty fee t. The moment they

rea ched the ch i e fs ’ tepee s the trade rs di smounted ; a t once ,with yell s and wa r whoop s , the wa rr i o r s se i z ed the i r ho rse s

and drove them away.

But even the chi e fs we re ho st i l e . Refe rr ing to the qua r

rel s on the uppe r Columb ia , they sa id :“ These a re the men

who kil l ou r re la tion s . These a re the p eopl e who make

u s ra i s e the death-wa il . Then Ro s s knew , as he tell s u s ,tha t he “ stood on very sl ippe ry ground .

”

Ro s s p a id no attent ion to the words o f the chi e f. He

[ 75 ]


opened h i s trading goods , expla in ing tha t he wi shed to

trade fo r hors es .

The j ee r ing Indi ans a t once drove up a ho rs e . They

traded i t a t a high p r i ce , took the trad ing goods , and then

took the horse , too . Ros s showed ne ithe r anger no r fea r .

H is men stood qu i etly by. {They a l l knew thei r l ive s we re

a t s take . The Indi an s b rought up anothe r ho rse . Ro ss

t raded fo r i t qu ietly. The moment the p ri ce was pa id ,the Indi an s took the goods and the ho rs e . So it went on .

Every trade wa s made in the m idst o f wi ld upro a r , i n a

c i rcl e o f angry Indians who j ee red and yel led , knowing,a s they did , that the trade rs were enti re ly in the i r power.

Horse a fte r ho rse , bought and pa id fo r , was dr iven away

wi th whoop s and laughte r .

Fo r two days Ro s s s tood in tha t one spot and traded

fo r ho rse s . The Indi an s we re about a s much dur ing the

n ight a s du ring the day . The traders could se e the sun

set, the da rknes s gradually fal l , and the glow o f th e many

campfi re s . Even the smel l o f cooking food came to them ;

yet they had ne ithe r l ight , no r food , nor re st . The Indian s

re fu sed them any food . They da red no t sleep .

The dange r grew greate r . On the th i rd day Ros s hea rd

the Indians plann ing to ki ll o r make slave s o f the two

Indi an women who were the wive s o f the French-Cana

d ians . There se emed no chance o f e scape , fo r throngs

o f Indi an s su rrounded them in that grea t camp . Miles to

the r ight o f them,to the l e ft o f them , i n front and beh ind ,

almo st a s fa r a s the eye could se e even in that clea r b right

a i r,were the tape r ing , slende r Indian tep ee s .

[ 76 ]


The only chance o f s aving the women was to send them

by an unknown tra i l in the mounta in s to the westwa rd , and

then to the no rth . Yet even i f they e scaped they might

sta rve on the way . Ross gave them o rder s how to go , and

to ld them to wa i t fou r days a t the mouth o f a certa in

r ive r . I f he d i d no t come then , they were to retu rn to

Fo rt Okanogan and tel l the traders the re wha t had hap

pened . The re was l i ttl e chance tha t the women would

eve r re ach i t .

That n ight , a s soon a s i t wa s da rk , the two women , i n

the i r Indi an dre s s,with b lankets ove r the i r heads , s l ipped

through the camp , up the wide Yakima Valley i nto the

mounta in s . But the next day th e Indi an s found they

had e scaped ! They turned ove r a l l th e p a rce l s , s e a rched

every nook and co rne r , yet could not find them . The

dange r o f the t rade rs was greate r than eve r .

The Indians tr i ed to ange r Ro ss ’ s men . The i r gun s

we re sna tched , fi red off a t the i r feet , and then with wi ld

l aughte r the Indi an s threw the guns down . They snatched

the ha ts off the men , put them on the i r own heads , and

strutted about mockingly . Then , j eer ing , flung them back

a t the i r owne rs . Ro s s wa s the ch i e f ; so they da red not

yet touch him .

The fou rth day , hal f sta rved , Ross o rdered h i s men to

cook someth ing fo r him and fo r themselve s . A l l they had

had to e a t fo r these days had been a few raw roots . These

they had pulled up out o f the ground a round them when ,fo r a moment , the attent ion o f the Indi an s wa s di stra cted .

[The French-Canadi ans took out a kettl e . The moment

[ 77 ]


the kettl e wa s on the fire, five o r s ix Indian spea rs we re

thrust unde r the handle , the kettle pulled off, the wate r

thrown out , and the kettl e flung to one s ide . To give

fu rther wa rn ing , th i rty o r fo rty Indi an s standing about

fi red into the glowing co al s . A great cloud o f a she s ,smoke , spa rks , and dust a ro se . I t wa s a strong h int not

to put the kettl e on aga in .

I f Ros s o r h i s men ha d at any t ime shown fea r o r ange r

they would not have l ived more than a few hou rs . The

Indian s we re del ib e rately trying to make them angry ,becau se ange r puts one a t such a d i sadvantage . But so

long a s the men were p e r fectly coo l , the Indi an s were

a lmost a fra id to touch them . One rea son was that they

fea red the ange r o f the traders a t the po sts . They could

not buy shot , o r powde r , o r guns . Neithe r could they

trade fo r anyth ing else . And yet a moment ’ s ange r would

have ended eve ry th ing .

At thi s moment , the Canadian who had put the kettl e

on the fi re took h i s kn i fe out to cu t off a p i ece o f dri ed

ven i son . A Yakima ch i e f snatched i t out o f h i s hand .

Ross ’ s man lo st h i s tempe r. He sa id i n an angry vo i ce ,“ I ’ l l h ave my kni fe from tha t vi ll a in , l i fe o r death !

”

NO ! ” s a id Ross .

The ch i e f , noting how angry the man wa s , took a step

fo rwa rd . He threw back hi s b lanket and ra i sed hi s a rm

with the kn i fe in his fist. The po int was downward . He

made a motion a s i f to stab the unlucky Canadian .

That would s ettle th ings , one way o r anothe r. The

yel l s o f the Ind i an s cea sed . They crowded a round the

[ 78 ]


fou r men . There was dead s i lence . The suspense was

te r r ibl e a s the chi e f stood there , with hand upra i sed to

str ike . The only th ing to do , Ross thought , was to s el l

the i r l ive s a s dea rly a s po ss ibl e .

He put h i s hand to his belt to pul l out h i s p i sto l and

moved a step fo rwa rd . But even a s he put down h i s foot ,anothe r thought fl a shed a cro s s h im . In stead o f h i s p i stol ,he drew out h i s own kn i fe .

“ Here , my fri end ,” he sa id qu i etly to the ch i e f , i s a

whi te ch i e f ’ s kn i fe . I give i t to you . That i s no t a chi e f ’ s

kn i fe . Give It back to the man .

”

The ch i e f took Ros s ’ s kni fe and stood there sull enly .

Ros s s a id a fte rwa rd s the i r l ive s hung by a thread . Every

Indi an watched Ro s s and the ch i e f, s i l ent , wa iting fo r

what would happen . Suddenly the ch i e f handed to the

Canadi an h i s kn i fe , and held up Ro s s’ s kn i fe to h i s p eopl e

,

much as a plea sed ch i ld would .

“ Look , my fr i ends ,” he sa id with del ight. Look a t

the ch i e f ’ s kn i fe .”

The Indi an s c rowded a round him to see th e kn i fe . I n

h i s sudden j oy the ch i e f began to say tha t the wh ite m en

were hi s fr i ends . At once , othe r chi e fs began to say to

the i r wa rri o rs tha t the white men we re the i r fr i ends . Fo r

the moment the dange r wa s ove r .

The ch ie fs a t once ca lled a counci l . They squatted on

the i r heel s in a ha l f- c i rcl e on the ground and began to

smoke the p ipe o f p ea ce . As the p ipe pa s sed from one

chi e f to anothe r, each taking a whiff, Ros s gave to e ach

of the six l e ading ch i e fs a smal l looking-gla s s , with paper

[ 79 ]


backing and cove r , and a l ittle red pa int . The chi e fs , a s

a return f g ift, gave to Ros s two ho rs e s and twelve beaver

skins . But best o f a ll , Indian women brought in food fo r

the hal f- sta rved men .

Afte r the p ip e had gone a round once,Ross made a

sp eech to the Indi ans . He a sked them what he should

tel l the grea t wh ite ch i e f when he a sked where the ho rse s

were . Ross s a id ,“He will a sk ,

‘Where a re a l l the ho rse s

you bought from the

The Indian s we re a shamed .

Tell h im ,

” a Yakima chi e f s a i d a t l a st , tha t we have

but one mouth and one wo rd . All the horse s you bought

a re you rs . They sha ll b e given to you .

”

By thi s t ime i t wa s sunset . Ross wanted to get h i s

ho rse s togethe r and e scap e b e fo re the Indians became

unfri endly aga in . And bes ide s , every day o f delay fo r the

fu r trade rs who were wa i ting fo r the ho rse s meant a lo s s

in trade . Thi s l a st rea son he gave to the ch i e f .

The Yakima at once mounted h i s ho rse , told Ros s to

mount one o f tho se given a s a p re sent , and di rected h i s son

to take cha rge o f Ross ’ s men unti l he retu rned . They

rode off.

Such a night a s that was ! All through the hou rs o f

da rkne s s Ro s s and the chie f rode f rom one group o f

tepee s to anothe r , the Yakima call ing out ,“ Del ive r up

the ho rse s .” They V i s i ted every section o f that great

camp , sp read fo r m i le s ove r the wide sweep o f the green

vall ey . Such a din. and ro a r and c ra sh o f sound ! Scalp

dance s he re and the re , with hideou s yell s as the dance rs

[ 80 ]


with the chi e fs . When he did a t la st get away , on an

ugly, re stive ho rse which kept t rying to throw him , his.

men were fa r ahead . As he rode on , he saw three Indi ans

com ing a t ful l sp eed on the i r ho rs e s towa rd h im .

Ro s s qu ickly da shed down a ravine , swam hi s ho rse

a cro s s the s tream at the bottom,and h id b ehind a rock

while he p r imed his gun . He thought they were enemi e s .

The moment the Indi an s got to the oppo s i te bank o f the

stream , Ros s mot ioned them to stay the re , o r he would

fi re . But the Indians ca lled out ,“ You r fr i ends ! You r

fr i ends ! ”

Sure enough ! They were wa rr io rs s ent out by tha t

fr i endly ch ie f who had wa rned h im . He knew the ho s

tility o f that grea t camp and he had s ent his warr io r s to

help the wh ite men i f they could .

I t took seve ral days to reach Fort Okanogan . On

the i r way they found the two Ind i an wive s who had

escaped through the mounta in s , and , between them all ,they drove that unruly b and o f ho rse s to the fort .

[ 82 ]

CHAPTER X I

DANGER AT FORT WALLA WALLA

SHALL bu ild a trading fo rt nea r the Fo rks o f the

Columb i a ,” s a id Donald M cKenz ie to the offi ce r s o f

the North West Company a t Fo rt Geo rge (Asto ri a ) .

“ The Fo rks a re the most dange rou s po int on the Co lum

b i a R ive r . I sha l l make the Indi an s see tha t we a re

fr i ends , not enem ie s .”

By the Fo rks o f the Co lumb i a , McKenz ie meant the

po in t whe re the Snake R ive r flows into the Columb i a .

Thi s wa s in 1 8 1 8 , only thre e yea r s a fte r Alexande r Ro s s

had had h i s ho rs e-buying adventure in the Yakima Valley.

The Indi an s had sa id to Ros s then ,“ These a re the men

who ki ll ou r rela tions ,” and the re had been sha rp l i ttl e

fights s ince then . The Forks were no t so very fa r b e low

the Yakima Valley .

So Donald McKenz ie began to plan fo r h i s fo rt. He

was a b ig , powerful man , and the Ind i an s admi red h im

much because o f h i s s i ze. But they d id not want a fo rt

a t the Columb i a , and that was why Fo rt Wall a Walla

Fort Nez Percé s i t wa s somet ime s ca l led— wa s a dan

gerons po int .

M cKenz ie had only n inety-five men with h im , and many

o f them could not b e tru sted . Some were I roquo i s Indi an s

[ 83 ]


from the ea ste rn pa rt o f Canada , a long the St . Lawrence ;some were Kanaka s from the Sandwich I slands ; a few

were French-Canadi an boatmen ; only a ha l f-dozen o r

fewer were B ri ti sh . Alexande r Ross wa s McKenz ie’

s fi rst

o fli cer, and he tell s the sto ry.

Hal f a m ile no rth o f the p retty l ittle Wa l l a Walla

R ive r , and about n in e m ile s south o f the Snake R ive r , the

B rigade o f Boats from Fo rt Geo rge , with ninety-five

m en, drew up to land . Many Ind ian s we re encamped

there .

Now , usually , when the wh ite men landed anywhere , the

Indi ans went to meet them— but not th i s t ime . Not an

Indian put out h i s hand to the white man ; not the le a st

j oy wa s Shown ; not even a request fo r tobacco . In the i r

tepee s o f buffalo hides the red men stayed , o r lounged

about on the sandy ground . That meant trouble .

M cKenz ie pa id no attention to th i s co ldnes s . He or

de red h i s own tent set up and the boats unlo aded . The

food and trading goods and guns had to b e gua rded and

a fo rt had to b e bu i l t.

Not a p i ece o f wood was the re a t that po int with which

to bu i ld a fo rt. I t was a dry , sandy , treele s s spo t . There

was not a tree fo r m ile s . Fa r to the southea st lay the

so ft , sh immer ing b lu e mass o f the Blue Mounta ins , and

the re were trees the re . But tha t was a long way off.

There were no b ri cks ; th ere we re not enough stones to

bu ild a fo rt,and even i f the re had been , they we re not

reg ula r enough in s i z e . The re was no morta r o r pla ste r

to hold the stone s togethe r . Yet a fo rt wa s to be bu il t

[ 84 ]


s a id to e ach o the r ,“What do these people want here !

l i fe they go ing to ki l l mo re o f ou r rela tive s ! ” Sti l l mo re

Indian s paddled down th e r ive r in dugouts , o r came

ove r the brown , ro ll ing h i ll s on the i r ho rse s .

Then the s e thou sands o f Indi ans b egan to demand

p re sents . They s a id the white men should not u s e the i r

l and fo r a fo rt ; they should not take the i r dr i ftwood out

o f the r ive r ; Should not catch the Indi an s’ fi sh ; should

not cut the tree s o f the Indi an s on the mounta in s . The

Indi an s cla imed owne rsh ip o f eve ryth ing.

Too many trading goods would not have b een s a fe unt i l

h e had a fo rt bu i lt , so Ross had b rought few with h im .

I f he gave even a ve ry small gi ft to ea ch wa rr io r , the re

would no t b e enough to go a round . if hat would make

even mo re trouble .

When the Indi an s demanded gi fts , the re fo re , McKenz ie

sa id ,“ No .

” He sa id i t wa s a good thing fo r the Indi an s

to have a fo rt where they could trade a t any t ime . Othe r

Ind ians l iked i t , he to ld them . He would give them no

p resents .

A few Indi an s had b een sell ing them a l ittle food ; » now

th i s stopped . Grea t counci l s were held . M cKenz ie saw

th e dange r and sent out fo r his s catte red men .

The I roquo i s and the Kanaka s and the French-Cana

d ian s came down from the mounta in s and from the river

banks where they had been s ecu ring wood . The baggage

was p i l ed up to fo rm a hollow squa re . As the Indian s

one day suddenly b ecame very threaten ing, M cKenz ie

o rdered h i s men to stand on a l l s ide s o f tha t squa re , with

[ 86 ]


the i r b acks to the baggage and each othe r. The i r guns

had been cleaned and were ready fo r us e . The i r kn iveswere sha rpened . I f there was to b e a fight , none o f them

could e scape . But they thought that by b e ing re ady fo r

ba ttle , and showing no fea r , perhap s they could avo id an

actua l fight.

The Indi ans a round demanded g i fts . M cKenz ie re

fu sed . Fo r five days and n ights the men stood gua rd ,a l ert eve ry moment. No food could b e bought , and the

la st n ight the re wa s noth ing to e a t a t a ll . They da red

not l e ave the camp long enough to catch the fi sh l eap ing

i n the r ive r . Without shade o r shelte r , i n the bl az ing

Augu st sun, i n tha t hot , sandy country , they kept watch .

Desp ite the dange r and the wea r ine s s o f the hungry

men , M cKenz ie told the Indi an s h e would give them no

p re sents . They seemed so bold and so fea rles s , a t l a st

the Ind i an s yi elded . They told M cKenz ie he might bu i ld

h i s fo rt. They even b rought food to the sta rv ing men and

sold i t to them .

if hat ended the fi rst dange r .

Sti l l , the Indi an s m ight change aga in , might aga in de

mand gi fts and might atta ck them . Yet McKenz ie divided

h i s men a s b e fo re , s ending some to the B lue Mounta ins ,some to the b end fo r dr i ftwood , and kept a g ua rd to

p rotect the trad ing goods . When wood enough had b een

floated down the Columb i a and the Walla Walla to bui ld

a fo rt , th e men came i n and b egan the a ctua l wo rk o f

e recting i t .

Because the Fo rks wa s su ch a dange rou s p la ce , Fort

[ 87 ]


Walla Walla was the stronge st o f al l the Old Oregon

trad ing posts .

The fo rt wa s squa re , and the wal ls o f ve ry heavy slab s .

These slab s , cut from the dr i ftwood caught , and the logs

s ent down the r ive rs , were set in two rows . They were

so set tha t ea ch S lab o f one row protected the crack

between any two slab s o f the other row , i n th i s way °

The wall s were twenty fee t h igh . On the ins ide o f thi s

s to ckade , five feet be low the top , was bui l t a na rrow

platform , runn ing a ll a round the wall s , so that a gua rd ,i n ca se o f dange r , might patro l the wall s , and p e rhap s

look over . On each co rne r was bu i lt a b lo ckhou se , two

sto r i e s h igh , and thu s h ighe r than the wall s . In the

b lockhou se s , with the i r l oophole s fo r g uns , and the i r sup

ply of guns standing in the co rne rs , were great tanks o f

wate r . The country was such a dry one , with gale s o f

wind tha t swi rl ed the du st and sand into gre at clouds , that

the trade rs fe a red fire more than anyth ing el s e . There

were small cannon on the wall s , ove r the ga te , and i n the

blo ckhou se s .

Ins ide the stockade , a heavy wall o f sp iked logs d ivided

the space into two . In the inne r section we re the log

cab in s where the men l ived , the bl a cksm ith’ s shop , and a

few othe r smal l bu i ldings . The Indian shop , whe re pay

m ent wa s made fo r the fu rs , was j u st on the ins ide o f th is

[ 88 ]


w indow which could be op ened fo r that purpo se,the

Indian would say ,“ Give me a gun .

” But he had nothing

anothe r wou ldto pay fo r i t. “ G ive me some powde r,

’

say . Sti l l anothe r would demand ,“ Give me a kni fe .”

I f the cl e rk in cha rge gave to one,he would have to

give to a ll . The trader s we re the re to buy and sell , not

to make an endles s numbe r o f p re s ents . But i f Ros s

re fu sed , a s he u sually d id , they became re sentful .“Why a re the white men so st ing y !

” they would say .

Get off ou r l ands . ”

Sometimes an Ind i an would come and rap a t the gate .

When Ro ss an swe red , he would say ,“ I want to trade ,

”

and then j e e r a t Ro s s . He did not want to trade a t a ll ;he had no goods and only wanted to bothe r .

These Indi an s were the Walla Walla s , the Cayuse s , the

Yakima s , the Nez Pe rcé s , and othe rs o f e a ste rn Wash ing

ton and Oregon . They were the bo ld , da ring“ ho rse

Indi ans ,” and very diffe rent f rom the “ canoe Indi an s ” o f

the lowe r Columb i a and o f Puget Sound . They did noth

ing but hunt, gamble , ra ce ho rse s , o r go to wa r , and a fte r

wa rds have the i r s calp-dance s . Except when fighting o r

hunting, they we re a lways idle . Ross could se e them , on

eve ry l ittl e knoll , a l l day long , pa int ing thei r fa ce s with

red and yellow and green and black . They se emed a lways

to have a pa int b ru sh in one hand and a looking gla s s in

the othe r .

Afte r a few yea rs , howeve r , the Indi an s o f th i s s ecti on

found tha t i t re al ly wa s a good th ing to have a fu r-trading

post on the i r l ands . They found that the se whi te m en

[ 90 ]

From the P ai nting by Charles M R us s e l l

A WAR PA RTY

P hotOg m p l i by L ee llf oorhous e from an o ld p r int

AN I ND I A N D A NC E


day , when he saw the young Indian taking more saddle

wood , he s ent a cl e rk named Todd to stop h im .

Todd went towa rd the s addle r ’ s shop and ente red.

Befo re you could say“ Jack Rob in son ”— so McK inlay

s a id in tell ing the sto ry a fte rwa rds— he saw Todd and

the Indi an plunge through the doorway fight ing .

M cKinlay ran to sepa rate them , but be fo re he could

reach them , Todd had thrown the Indi an to the ground.

M cKinlay demanded the Indian’ s n ame , fo r chi e f

’ s son

though he wa s he wa s not known a t the fo rt .

He was the son o f Peo -peo -m ox-m ox, he sa id . At once

M cKinlay knew there would be t rouble . To knock down

a chi e f ’ s son ! The new fo rt , o f adob e mud-br i cks , was

n ea rly fini shed , but there were ye t no gate s . Al l the m en

o f the fo rt were in the fi elds , ten m ile s away . M cKinlay ,

Todd , and the sadd le r were the only white m en there .

An hou r la te r , Peo -peo -m ox-m ox and h i s son,with fi fty

o r s ixty angry Indi ans , swa rmed into the gatele s s wal l s o f

the fo rt, and trooped into the dwell ing , through the

ki tchen , in to McKinlay’

s room . M cKinlay , with grea t

po l i tene s s , offe red the ch i e f a cha i r. Igno r ing the cha i r ,th e chi e f sp rang pa st h im and caught Todd . He l i fted

h i s tomahawk high . M cKinlay caught h i s a rm j u st in

t ime to p revent h i s b r inging i t down on Todd ’ s head .

Peo -peo -m ox -m ox tu rned on McKinlay , and the two ch i e fs ,red and white, began to struggl e . The othe r Indi ans l e t

go o f Todd and stood back , watching the leaders . Mc

Kinlay , i n the fight,managed to drag the ch i e f towa rd h i s

desk whe re the re we re thre e p i stol s ; yet he wa s no t su re

[ 92 ]


tha t they we re loaded . H e caught them , to s sed one to

Todd,but o rdered him no t to fi re without a command .

Suddenly Peo-peo -m ox-m ox fr e ed h imse l f from Mc

Kinlay’

s gra sp and drew back. He opened hi s b lanket,b a ring h i s chest.

“ Shoot me ! ” he sa id s co rn fully . You shoo t a m an!”

I don ’ t want to shoot you ,” s a id M cKinlay .

“ But i f

you ra i s e that tomahawk aga in , I ce rtainly wi l l fi re .”

Then they talked a whi l e about the matte r . The chi e f

in s i sted that Todd must b e thra shed . To do that , o f

cou rs e , would b e a grea t d i sgrace i n the eye s o f the

Ind i an s, who looked upon the white men a s supe rio r

b e ings . And o f course the Hudson ’ s B ay Company would

have to send out o f the country a man who wa s looked

down upon by the Indi ans .

While they ta lked , a young wa rr io r struck M cKinlay .

That wa s su ch an insult that McKinlay caught h im by the

ha i r,intending to str ike h im . But tha t , he remembe red ,

would be su re death fo r h imsel f and Todd , would caus e

a war between the wh ite s and the Indi ans , and make

troub le tha t would la s t fo r ye a rs . There would be no

chance o f e scape , fo r the room wa s crowded with Indi an s

and only the two whi te men there .

Suddenly a thought came to h im . He sp rang into the

next room , s e i zed a keg o f gunpowde r , and pull ed i t to

the doo r . Wrench ing off the top , he held ove r i t a fl i n t

and ste el , ready to str ike . Fl ints and ste el s were u sed in

o lden times to make a spa rk , be fo re matche s came into

u se . I f he had struck— if a s ingl e sp a rk had fal len into

[ 93 ]


that keg of powde r— wel l , anybody knows what would

have happened . The Indi an s knew it ce rta inly . In a

twink l ing the re wa s not a redskin in the fo rt except o ld

Peo-peo -m ox-m ox and h i s son. The rest fl ed— out

through the kitchen , through the ya rd o f the fo rt and the

gatele s s walls into the free space b eyond .

The ch i e f stood st i ll fo r a moment. Then he sa id ,s co rn ful ly

“ Don ’ t you think you a re smart to fr ighten my young

men so ! I have hea rd that you white people fight duels.

Now let ’ s you and I fight .”

McKinlay answe red— and he h imsel f tell s the sto ry

There a re only s ix white men a t th i s fo rt and six hun

dred o f you r peopl e . Now i f you ki l l me , the re i s no

othe r white ch i e f to take my pla ce . But i f I ki l l you ,the r e a re plenty o f warr io r s in you r trib e who would“

make a s good a chi e f a s you are.

The o ld ch i e f went off a t once in grea t anger .

A day o r two la te r anothe r chief , F ive Crows , cam e

into,the fo rt . He had not hea rd o f the t roubl e , so

McKinlay to ld him . He sa id , I t i s a grea t di sgra ce fo r

a ch i e f ’ s son to be thra shed . I t wi ll make trouble . ”

Yet Five C rows wa s fr i endly to the fu r trade rs . Afte r

a few days o f really ha rd trying , he made peace b etween

Chi e f Peo -peo -m ox-m ox and M cKinlay . The trader gave

a su i t o f clothes to the chi e f ; the ch ief gave the t rader a

fine ho rs e . So they smoked the p ipe o f peace .

When the m i ss iona r ie s came a cro s s the p la in s , beg i n

CHAPTER XI I

FORT VANCOUVER AND DR . JOH N M’

LOUGHLIN

BOUT three yea rs a fte r Donald McKenz ie, in th e

employ o f the North West Company o f Montre al ,had bu i lt Fo rt Wa l la Wa l la , that company un i ted with the

Hudson ’ s B ay Company. Thi s Engl i sh company was very

famous . I ts cha rte r had been granted fo r a hundred and

fi fty yea rs , but all i ts t rading had been in the country

who se wate rs flowed into Hudson ’ s B ay. Now by merg

ing with the North West Company , they had a l i cense to

t rade i n the Oregon country.

Many changes wer e made in the trading fo rts with in the

fi r st few yea rs . In 1 824 the Hudson’ s B ay Company

dec ided to ab andon Fo rt Asto r i a a t the mouth o f the

Columbi a , and bu i ld a centra l fo rt fa rthe r up the r ive r.

There were many rea sons fo r th i s . One wa s that Asto r i a

was too damp fo r the fu rs . In the damp coolnes s o f the

lowe r r ive r,a l so , fa rm ing was poo r ; the re fo re a l l the

food suppl ies had to be sent from England . This was

expens ive . Another rea son wa s tha t fu rs would keep

b ette r in the drier , sunn i e r cl imate a t the new po int . This

new place,now the c ity o f Vancouve r , on the Columb i a ,

was nea re r the uppe r country. The b rigades would not

have so fa r to come , and they would b e nea re r many

Indi an tr ib e s who had many furs .

[ 96 ]

FORT VANCOUVER AND JOHN MCLOUGHLIN

Dr . John M cLoug hlin, Six feet ta ll and mo re , b lueeyed ,ro sy-che cked , Whi te-ha i red , was s ent to take cha rge o f

th e fu r trade o f the Oregon country. He it was who

decided to bu ild the new fo rt, and he cal led i t Fo rt Van

couve r .

Nea rly a m i le b ack from the r ive r , on a b ro ad , h igh

p ra i r i e , they bu i lt the fi rs t Fo rt Vancouve r . Thi s was

b eg un about December , 1 824 . All the men were up the re‘

and a ll the fu rs had been ca rr i ed the re by May , 1 825 ,

although the fo rt wa s no t completed .

Fo rt Vancouver had no blockhouse s , fo r the canoe

Indi an s o f the Columb i a R ive r were rathe r fr i endly to

them . They we re not so wa rl ike a s the “ ho rs e Indi an s ”

e a st o f the Ca scade s . Sti l l the r e was dange r in the ea rl i e r

yea rs o f the fo rt.

Not long a fter com ing to the new fo rt , Dr . McLoug hlin

hea rd that many Indian counci l s were b e ing held in the

fo re sts nea r by. Many strange Indians appea red . I f the

Indi ans cou ld get a l l tho se t rading goods without bothe r

ing to t rap beavers , so much the b ette r ! B eave r skins

we re u sed to pay fo r the goods . The white men were

few ; the Indi an s were countl es s .

At once Dr . M cLoug hlin s aw the dange r . He sent out

Indi an runne rs , ca ll ing a counci l o f the tr ib e s with whom

they traded . The ch iefs came. Wild and savage,wrapped

in the i r b l ankets , they ente red the gate s o f the new fo rt

and squatted on the i r heel s , Indian fa sh i on , i n a la rge

s em ic i rcl e . After a whi le , in the i r slow way , they we re

ready fo r a counc i l . But Dr . McLoug hlin was not. He

[ 97 ]


knew how to manage Indi ans . He wanted thes e great

ch i e fs to understand that he wa s a very great ch i e f— so

he kep t them wa iting fo r h im an hour . But a s they

wa ited , squatting in tha t c i rc le i n the fo rt ya rd , he s ent

out a Scotch trader , who was. a lso a bagp ipe r . Up and

down the fo rt ya rd the Scot strode , with tho se wa i l ing ,squeaking b agp ip es clapp ed unde r h i s a rm , playing fo r

tho se Indi ans . They watched that canny Scot with grea t

adm i rat ion . The mus i c o f the p ip e s p l ayed by that b a re

kneed p ip e r cha rmed them . The grea t white ch i e f had

won . When Dr . McLoug hlin came among them , they

wer e only too ready to p rom i se p eace and fri endsh ip and

fu rs . The Indi ans came a s enemie s . They went away a s

fr i ends .

Thi s V i cto ry wa s not a l l due to the b agp ip es . Dr .

McLoug hlinwas a man o f whom the Indians stood in awe.

He was the “White-Eagle Chi e f ,” becau se o f hi s long

whi te h a i r. He was very commanding in manne r , and

s ince he knew how to deal with Indi ans , he kept p eace

with them and kept them qui et. Thi s made many furs

fo r the fu r trade . But a l so when American settlers fi rs t

came into Oregon , i t made i t po ss ibl e fo r them to take

up fa rms without b e ing murdered . Only a t n ight a t Fo rt

Vancouve r we re the gates o f the stockade shut . The

Indi an s never d id atta ck the fo rt .

Four yea rs a fte r the bu ilding o f the fi rst fo rt , i t was

abandoned . The new fo rt was a t the s ame po int , bu t

nea re r the r ive r . All the fu rs com ing from the B rigade

o f Boats , o r from the Indian s who came to br ing them ,

[ 98 ]


hap s i t was a l i ttl e ha rd on the fu rs and the blankets , i f

the weathe r was no t fine .

The l i fe o f the traders a t the fo rt was a bu sy one . The

gardene r was busy in h i s ga rden , among the vegetab le s o r

among the fru i t tre e s , s etting out new trees , pruning the

old , and gua rding them . Fru i t wa s p rec i ou s in those days .

Eight thou sand m ile s o f ocean and two thousand m i les

o f l and lay between Fort Vancouve r and the fru i t tree s

o f England , o r o f“ the State s . ” “Ameri ca was a long ,

long way from Oregon .

The fa rmers ploughed the pla in s nea r the fo rt . Rye

and wheat and oats and pea se and potato e s were sowed

whereve r the so i l wa s good . Swineherds looked a fte r the

l a rge drove s o f p igs . Herders tr i ed to manage and tame

the cattl e which had been dr iven up from Mexican Cal i

fornia, ove r the mounta ins and a cro s s the r ive rs , hundreds

o f m i le s , to Fort Vancouve r. Some o f the b est we re sent

by sh ip from London . Logge rs were cutting'

down the

t ree s , so that more l and m ight b e cl ea red fo r the whea t

and rye . The sawmil l s we re busy sawing timber , which

they so ld in the Hawa i i an I slands .

I n the fo rt i tsel f men were a lways busy . There were

fu rs to b e b eaten and b rushed to keep them from b ecom

ing mouldy , o r eaten by in sects . In the Indi an shop , the

trade r stood a t h i s l i ttl e window and bought the fu rs the

Indi ans b rought in , paying in blankets and kettle s and

guns . Indian s were com ing and go ing , and the b right

gleam o f paddle s from canoes cro ss ing the r ive r , o r pad

dling up and down , fl a shed in the sunshine . There wa s

[ 100 ]


even a b ake r the re,with a grea t out-of-doo rs oven , who

was busy b aking b read a s well a s meats fo r the hungry

men . Often the re we re two hundred men bu sy a t the fo rt

and a round i t.

There were two great events every yea r at Fo rt Van

couve r . The fi rs t one was when the B r igade o f Boats

came down the r ive r ; the second , when the“ home Ship ”

came m from England .

The B rigade o f Boa ts came down the r ive r e ach sum

mer,i n Jun e

,to Fo rt Vancouve r . I t was the fl eet o f

canoe s wh ich b rought the fu rs down from the uppe r

country. From fa r away in the no rth , on ho rseb ack , a t

a ce rta i n da te,would sta rt the men In cha rge o f the fo rt

fa rthest away . They came to the next fo rt , where more

m en and furs j o ined them . So down they came through

what i s now B ri t i sh Columb i a , to the fo rt fa rthest no rth

on the Columb i a R ive r . Here they le ft th e ho rse s

and stacked the fu r s in the canoe s . On they paddled,

s inging cheer i ly , to the next fo rt , and so on down , p i cking

up fu rs and men a l l the way to Fo rt Vancouve r . Fo rt

Walla Walla was the l a st fo rt on the southe rn pa rt o f the

j ou rney , and from the re down they stopp ed only a t n ight .

The B rigade came down when the r ive r was high,i n the

b right June sunsh ine . Afte r a yea r o f lonel in e s s,o f co ld

,

o f dange r , sometimes o f hunge r , in the i r no rthe rn po sts

among the Indi an s , the l ight-hea rted French-Canadians

we re very happy. At each po st they came In S ing Ing ,

dres s ed gayly in the i r bes t .

Fo rt Vancouve r knew just when to exp ect th e B rigade

[ 10 1 ]


o f Boats . The watchman wa s on the ale rt . The B ri

gade ! The B rigade ! ” he would Shout a s h i s eye caught

the fi rs t gl imps e o f the c ano es on the r ive r— j u st a l ine o f

t iny da rk specks . And from white -ha i red D r. M cLoug hlin

to the l i ttl e hal f- Indi an children playing about in the fi elds ,eve ryone rushed to the r ive r b ank .

Down the b road blu e r ive r swept the canoes , sometimes

twenty ab rea st , and in pe rfect l in e , l ed by the s ingle

cano e o f the offi ce r in cha rge . The Union Jack o f Great

B r ita in floated from the offi cer ’ s ma sthead . I t was on a

sca rle t b ackground and at the bottom o f i t , i n white , wasa ha l f-monogram

, I'BC. The boatmen were dres sed inthe i r finest , hats a lmost cove red with feathe rs o r with

bunche s o f b right r ibbon , and the i r beaded Indi an pouche s

dangl ing from the i r gay sa shes . B rightly co lored hand

kerch i e fs we re knotted about the i r throats .

I t was a b eauti ful s ight a s wel l a s a striking one— the

b ro ad green pla ins a round the fo rt, th e cha rming green

i s lands i n the r ive r , the da rk , bla cki sh fo re st s coming

down to the wate r ’ s edge. Ove r them ro se the snowy

peaks o f Mount Hood . The r ive r spa rkled and gleamed

in the June sunl ight a s the gay fl e et o f canoe s came down

with flutter ing fl ags and plumes and r ibbons . The da rk

skinned , bla ck-eyed boatmen sang togethe r some gay boat

ing song , and sang in t ime to the dip o f the paddle s .

Nea re r and nea rer they cam e, louder and louder wa s the

cho ru s o f song , whi le the men on sho re shouted thei r

welcome . Then the canoes , sti l l i n pe r fect o rder , sti l l out

i n the m iddle o f the blue r ive r , wheeled in pe rfect l in e ,

[ 1 02 ]


flutte r ing and plumes waving , unti l on e could

small sp ecks on the b lu e wate r , and hea r only

sound o f song— such wa s the i r go ing.

The second excit ing time was i later in the summe r , when

the home ship from England came in . On th i s ship cam e

the lette rs and newspapers from England . Everyone

wa i ted eagerly fo r i t.

From the t ime i t l e ft England unti l the sh ip rea ched the

long l in e o f foaming b reake rs a t the mouth o f the b a r ,was e ight o r n ine months . Once ove r the b a r , the sh ip

came to ancho r 1n Baker ’ s B ay , and s ent a longboat a cro s s

the r ive r to the log cab ins sti l l a t Asto r i a . The Corn

pany’

s men held th i s p l ace , but now only fo r the conven

ience o f the ocean-go ing ship s . A boa t wa s ready there,

with Indi an paddler s , and the ma il came up the r ive r in

that way . I f the wind was contra ry , i t would take a sh ip

one o r two o r even thre e weeks to come from Asto r i a to

Fo rt Vancouve r .

The ch i ldren were on the a le rt fo r the po stman who

came in th i s cano e . The moment they saw the canoe they

shouted , The Packet ! The Packet l ”

From the boat sp rang the ofli cer with the ma i l , and up

to the fo rt h e went. Everyone wa ited the re fo r the ma il .

Dr . McLoug hlin shook hands with h im , and with a wave

o f the hand sent h im— where ! To the kitchen ! He

had been on tha t sh ip fo r months with sal t meat and ship ’ s

ha rd b re ad , and the ki tchen with a l l the good things the

cook had ready fo r h im there was the best place .

[ 104 ]


But the l ette rs ! Every man dropped h i s wo rk and

crowded to the offi ce where the white-ha i red , blue-eyed

Dr . McLoug hlin so rted them ove r . The doo rs were full

o f e age r m en, crowding each othe r . The windows were

ful l o f heads , tw i sted thi s way and that to make out an

addres s . When so rted , the ma i l wa s handed out . All

was s i l ent as e a ch man read h i s l ette rs . But a t d inne r

tha t n ight— such a hubbub ! Each man wa s bu sy tell ing

h i s ne ighbo r a l l the news in h i s l ette r , fo r many o f the s e

men came from the same ne ighbo rhood in Scotland ; the i r

famil i e s knew each othe r .

The dinne r tabl e at Fo rt Vancouve r wa s ha rdly wha t

one would exp ect in a fu r-trading fo rt in the wild ern es s .

I t wa s enti re ly diffe rent from any fo rt tha t the Ameri can s

eve r had .

At the head o f the long tab le s a t D r. M cLoug hlin; on

e i the r s ide o f h im were h i s le ad ing offi ce r s . The other s

sat i n o rde r o f rank and impo rtance down the tabl e on

each s ide . The meal s were good , with ven i son o r b ee f ,vegetab le s o f a l l k inds , and with fru its . The se rvants

we re all men . The dinne r wa s se rved in cours e s , and

u sually the higher offi ce r s wo re even ing dre s s . These

offi ce rs we re nea rly a ll un ive rs i ty graduate s . The fur

trade o f the Hudson ’ s Bay Company wa s a regul a r bus i

n e s s , ca re ful ly managed unde r educa ted men . I t wa s not

managed l ike the Ameri can fu r trade .

Afte r dinne r the offi ce rs and clerks gathe red in the

B achelo rs ’ Hall , a s they cal led the i r grea t smoking- room .

The wall s we re deco ra ted with e lks ’ heads and antl e rs.


The cha i rs we re made by the ca rpente r a t the fo rt . The re

wa s a l ibra ry o f good books the re,and new books were

sent ove r from England eve ry yea r . Indeed , nea rly every

fo rt, even in the fa r no rth , had i ts l i ttle travel ing l ib ra ry ,which was changed every yea r .

In th i s gre a t smoking- room,a fte r d inne r , the men

talked o f Europ e , and what wa s happen ing there . They

were always a yea r b ehind t ime . They wonder ed i f war

might have b roken out . They talked o f books and

autho rs , o f ga rden ing, and o f the fu r trade . They talked

o f a l l kinds o f inte re st ing th ings,whil e the grea t fi re

ro a red in the open fi repla ce and the room became b lu e

with tobacco smoke . Candle s we re the only l ights in

those days , and when good-n ights ” were sa id ea ch man

took hi s candle and the fi re wa s covered .

There were no white women a t the fo rt . No man

knew when he m ight b e s ent in land to some po st , among

the Indi an s , and the l i fe o f a fu r trader was too ha rd fo r

a whi te woman . The wive s o f the offi ce rs were pa rt

Indi an , but they were qu i e t , l ady l ike women , o ften very

beauti ful , and dre ss ing l ike white women . (They o ften

wa rned the i r husbands o f some Indian plo t.

Thi s i s the way Fort Vancouve r looked when Capta in

Wilkes , o f an Amer i can explo r ing expedit ion , vi s i ted i t

in 1 84 1

Ins ide the sto ckaded wa l l s were fou r a cre s o f ground ,and with in these wooden wall s we re nea rly fo rty bu ilding s ,including a gre at b ake-oven . Outs ide the wa l l s we re the

ki tchen ga rdens . Beyond were b road fields o f Wheat , ba r

[ 106 ]


r ive r bank to watch fo r them . The Indi ans we re watch ing

too .

As Dr . McLoug hlin s tood on the rive r b ank , he hea rd

an Indi an nea r by say ,“ I t would be good fo r u s to ki ll

the se white dogs .

! u ick a s a fl a sh , th e Docto r ru shed toward the Indi an .

He knew the remark had been made to te st h im . He

upra i sed h i s can e a s though to str ike h im .

“What i s that you say ! ” he thundered .

The Indi an b egan to shake a t the ange r o f th i s White

Eagle ch i e f.“ That i s what The Dalle s Ind i an s sa id , he answered .

The Dalle s Indi an s a re dogs ! ” s a id Dr . McLoug hlin.

Then he made the Indi an understand that whi te men

stand by each othe r , whethe r they were King Geo rge

men (Engl i shmen ) o r were“ Boston men (Ameri cans ) .

But fo r the generou s kindne ss o f D r . M cLoug hlin,

King o f the Columb i a ,” a s some whi te men called him ,

and the shelte r and a id he gave to the Ameri cans , whethe r

m i ss i ona r i e s l ike Whitman o r immigrants who cam e to

settl e , the re would have b een much suffe ring from starva

t i on , from expo su re , and from Indians . Many o f h i s le t

te r s which have never b een publ i shed Show how kindly he

fel t towa rd the Amer i can s , and how truly he tr i ed to help

them . But i t i s not tru e , a s h i s own l ette rs show , tha t

the Hudson ’ s B ay Company were angry with him fo r the

help he gave the Ameri can s , o r that he gave up h i s work

becaus e o f that.

The greate st help he gave the Ameri cans was i n h i s

[ 108]

CHAPTER XI I I

THE F IRST APP LE I N THE OREGON COUNTRY

O capta in knew when he sta rted from London to

Fo rt Vancouver on the Columb i a R ive r whethe r he

would be wrecked in rounding the Horn , o r b e caught in

some fea r ful sto rm in the South Sea s ; o r even whether ,at the entrance o f the Co lumb i a

,h i s sh ip m ight not b e

drawn , by the swi rl o f the cu rrent o r some adve rse wind ,on the ba r . I t was a long , dangerou s voyage . So , be fo re

the yea rly sh ip l e ft London,a d inne r wa s o ften given to

the cap tahL“ Capta in , sa id a lady a t a dinne r given to Capta in

S impson , i n London , when you reach tha t wi lde rne ss on

the Northwest Coa st o f Amer i ca , plant these apple s e eds .”

And then , hal f in fun , she gave h im the seeds she had

ju st taken out o f an apple . Thi s wa s probably about 1 825 ,

o r 1 826. The capta in sa id he would su rely p lant them .

Then he put them in h i s pocket and fo rgot a ll about

theh L

The next day he sta rted off on that long voyage o f

seven o r e ight months . He sa iled a round the Horn, up

the weste rn s ide o f South Ameri ca and o f No rth Ameri ca ,cro ssed the te r r ibl e b a r o f the Columb i a with i ts thunder

ing white-capp ed waves , and sa i led up to Fo rt Vancouve r.

[ 1 10 ]


That fi rst apple wa s a green one , but the next yea r there

were mo re apple s and they were red . And the s eeds o f

every apple we re saved , planted , and tended , so th at they

became va luab le apple tre e s .

When the m i s s iona ri e s came , s eve ra l yea rs a fte r tha t

fi r s t s eed was planted , they found a cha rm ing apple o rcha rd

a t Fo rt Vancouver , with many a tree covered in the sp ring

with b eauti ful , fragrant , p ink blo s soms , and fal l

wi th red app les.

[ 1 12 ]

CHAPTER X IV

THE ADVE NTURE S OF THE WHITMAN S

EVE ! Leve l (Ari s e ! That was th e

French-Canadi an ca ll e a rly one summer morn ing

out on the grea t p la ins , and i t awakened an enti re camp .

I t wa s only fou r o ’clo ck and the sun was j u st r i s ing out

o f the p ra i r i e gra s s , but the camp a ro se .

They had to a r i se . Fo r one th ing , they had to b e on

the ma rch . Fo r anothe r , no one could sl eep through such

a racket , mule s b raying and trampl ing about and men

shouting to e ach othe r . And th i s happened every mo rn

ing , to every camp cro ss ing the pla in s .

In th i s camp there we re two d iffe rent p a rti e s , t ravel ing

togethe r fo r s a fety. One wa s a m i s s iona ry pa rty , with

Dr . Marcu s Whitman and h i s W i fe , Mr. Spa ld ing and h i s

w i fe , and Mr . G ray , a ca rpente r , who was with them .

The o ther was a fu r- trading p a rty o f the Ameri can Fu r

Company , who were go ing to the Rocky Mounta in s to

t rade b eads and pa ints and kettle s , guns and powde r and

bull ets , and many othe r th ings , with the Indians fo r fu rs .

The fu r traders were u sed to th i s wild way o f l iving,but the m i s s iona r i e s we re no t . They had l ived a lways in

small v i l l age s o r i n the la rger towns . I t wa s a new th ing,e spec i a lly fo r the two lad i e s , to spend week a fte r week

[ 1 1 3 ]


on the long , ro ll ing, gra ssy p ra i r i e s . I t was not an ea sy

l i fe , even on the p ra i r i e s . Fa rthe r on i t wa s ha rder

because they had to cro s s the b a re,b rown , tre eles s pl a in s ,

and then the mounta ins .

Afte r the gu ide ca lled , and whil e the mule s and ho rse s

made such an up ro a r , and camp -keepers and mulete er s

shouted at e ach othe r , eve ryone dres sed qu ickly. Then

came breakfa st.

In the m i ss iona ry pa rty , Mrs . Whitman cooked i t ,whil e the men col lected the i r own ho rse s and m ilked the i r

own cows . There was l i ttl e to cook— coffee and buffa lo

meat . B read was b aked a long the road bes ide an open

campfi re wheneve r they could get a chance . Fo r table

cloth , they u s ed a rubber cloth . Plate s and cup s we re o f

t in . Forks were o f i ron . They sat on the ground .

Among the fu r traders , th ings were roughe r yet.

Then the day’ s j ou rney began . Many a day on the

pra i ri e s , the re was nothing but the long rumble o f the

wagon and the thud o f the ho rse s ’ feet. The hot sun

poured down upon them , but noth ing a t a l l happened from

sunr i se to sunset. Sometime s they had adventu re s .

One day the ca ravan o f traders and mi s s iona r i e s was

j ogging slowly onwa rd . There were seven wagons ,heavily loaded ; th ere were fou r hundred an imals , includ

ing ho rse s , mule s , and cows ; the re we re about s eventy-five

peopl e .

Sudden ly , a s they pas sed a fo ld in the hi l l s , nea r Inde

p endence Rock , they sta rt led a herd o f buffa lo feeding

the re . Out came the leaders , mad with fea r , fo llowed by

[ 1 14 ]


They grunted and groaned a s they thundered along,making the ea rth tremble with the tramp o f the i r countl es s

hoo fs .

The ca ravan wa s saved !

American fu r t raders a t tha t time s eldom went b eyond

the Rocky Mounta in s . Thes e m i s s i ona ri e s were go ing a

thousand m ile s beyond , i nto the Oregon country . As it

was not s a fe fo r them to travel a lone , soon a fte r they

l e ft the Ameri can fur trade rs they j o ined the B rit i sh , 3

small p a rty from the Hudson ’ s B ay Company . Thi s com

pany, you wi l l remembe r , had i ts fo rts a l l through the

Oregon country , and a t Fo rt Vancouver ruled Dr . John

McLoug hl in. The offi cer s o f th i s Company were always

ve ry kind to Amer ican m i s s iona r i e s .

Soon a fte r l e aving the Rocky Mounta in s they had to

c ro ss a l and with no tree s , and few streams . The hea t

o f the summer sun wa s te rr ib le . When they stopped

fo r luncheon , the m i ss i ona ri e s fa stened a b lanket to the

top s o f fou r sti cks stuck in the ground , o r a cro s s sage

b ru sh , so tha t they m ight have a l i ttle shelte r from the

sun .

The i r fi rs t s topp ing po int, a fte r j o in ing the pa rty o f the

Hudson ’ s B ay Company , was a t Fo rt Hall , about fo rty

m i le s from where Fo rt Hall C ity i s today.

The Whitmans and Spaldings re ached Fo rt Hall a fte r

days o f fea rfu l heat. The fo rt was a small one , but the

welcome given them wa s co rdia l . Tree s grew along the

banks o f the l i ttl e s tream , which r ippled and chatte red

ove r its ro cky bed . There were bunks to sl eep in and

[ 1 16 ]

THE ADVENTURES OF THE WHITMANS

cha i rs in whi ch to s i t. The trader in cha rge gave them

fre sh b read and fi sh , with vegetab le s and chee se and butte r

They had been wi thout such food fo r many weeks .

The very worst o f the j ou rney lay ahead o f them , the

offi ce r to ld them . That se emed rather ha rd a fte r the

long weeks and months , fi rst on the wave - l ike p ra i r i e s ,and then on the fl a t , t reeles s pl a ins . But ahead o f them

l ay a ro cky , sandy country . The rocks we re both la rge

and small , with sha rp edge s wh ich cu t sho e s o r mocca s in s

l ike a kn i fe . I t wa s so drea ry tha t no game l ived in i t .

An Ameri can sa id a fte rwa rds tha t i t wa s a l and where“ men had songs fo r suppe r the food had u su al ly

given out when they rea ched the re , and they could not

buy o r catch o r shoot any.

Through thi s country the tra i l wa s a mere tra ck

through sageb rush and wormwood a s high a s the backs

o f the ho rse s . Dr . Whitman wonde red about the two

wagon s h e had with h im . The offi ce r to ld h im , with

enti re hone sty , tha t i t would b e impo s s ib l e to take the

wagons with him . Every offi ce r o f the Hudson ’ s B ay Com

pany would have sa id the s ame th ing . In the i r p r ivate

letter s to e ach othe r they sa id i t wa s impo s s ib l e to get a

wagon through from Fo rt Hall to Oregon .

But Dr . Whitman thought he would see what he could

do . Mrs . Sp a ld ing was i l l , and he felt he had to have a

wagon fo r he r . He took off the wagon beds and made a

two -wheeled ca rt . On th i s he packed su ch goods a s he

cou ld , yet then there wa s no room fo r e i ther o f the lad i e s .

There wa s noth ing els e to do , so they went on ho rs eback .

[ 1 1 7 ]


So off went the Whitm an pa rty to the next fo rt , Fort

Bo i s é , Dr . Whitman h imsel f taking ca re o f that ca rt .

He had a te rr ibl e t ime with i t , i n the s truggle to get

i t through , on tha t rocky , rough ro ad , so ove rgrown with

ta l l s ageb rush and wormwood . His wi fe , aga in and aga in ,u rged h im to l et i t go . The docto r would come into camp

hou rs a fte r the o the rs had re ached i t , and tell them how

many tim es i t had been ove rtu rned . When they reached

Fort Bo i s é , the docto r d id leave i t b eh ind h im . From

thi s fo rt , a few yea rs l ate r , th e o ld ca rt wa s dr iven

through to Fo rt Walla Wall a by an old “ mounta in man ”

with h i s Indi an wi fe and ch i ldren , but he had such a time

with i t tha t he wi shed many a t ime he had neve r unde r

taken to do i t.

Yet the dr iving o f tha t ca rt through to Fort Wall a

Walla , ha rd a s i t wa s , p roved that i t could b e done . I t

p roved that i t wa s po ss ib l e to get wagons through from

the State s ” to the Columb i a R ive r . And th i s opened

the way fo r the l a te r immigrants who b rought with them

the i r wive s and ch i ldren , and could not have come without

wagons . I t wa s six yea rs , howeve r , a fte r the Whitmans

went to Oregon be fo re Ameri can wives and ch i ldren

began to go to the Oregon country with the men .

But whi l e the m i ss iona r i e s we re struggl ing with the i r ca rt

on the road to Fort Bo i s é , and res ting the re , some Indi an s

to the west we re making some ve ry in te re sting plans .

The Nez Pe rcés Indi ans , a lways a fr i endly tr ib’ e , hea rd

tha t two white women were cro ss ing the pla in s and the

mounta in s . Now the s e Nez Pe rcé s , many yea rs b e fo re ,

[ 1 18 ]


stuck eagle fe athe rs in i t , and sometim es a b right b i t o f

r ibbon . They put on the i r be aded buckskin sh i rts and

leggin s .

The pon i e s were gay with b lankets o f r ed and blue .

Some o f them were pa inted , yellow and blu e . Thei r b eau

tifully beaded saddle blankets we re edged with long fr inge

wh ich swept the ground .

Guns were a l l n ewly cle aned . The drummers took the i r

tom -tom s— th e Indian rawhide drums . A l l wa s ready .

When the scouts , l ooking ove r a low hi ll , saw the m i s

sionary ca ravan in s ight , with the fu r traders , the s igna l

was given . The gay Indi an s ru shed to the i r ho rse s .

Then away they went ! Spu rr ing the i r poni e s , r id ing

with mad spe ed , ye l l ing , whoop ing , Shouting , they da shed

fo rwa rd with wi ld motion s . War drums cra shed ; guns

banged ; eve ry wa rr i o r whooped l ike a demon .

On they da shed , fa ste r and fa ste r , yell ing loude r and

loude r . Bang ! Bang ! Bang ! went the guns . When they

had a lmost rea ched the m i ss i ona r i e s , they suddenly pul l ed

up the i r pon i e s and stood pe rfectly sti ll . I t was a tr ick

fo r whi ch the pon i es had been tra ined .

This wa s the welcome o f the Indi an reception committee .

But the m i s s iona r i e s ! Flutte r ing b i ts o f whi te a t the

ends o f the guns told the trade rs the sto ry a t once . They

only took ca re the ho rse s were not stampeded . There

was no t ime to tel l the m i ss iona r i e s , who thought i t was a

b and o f ho sti l e Indi an s com ing down upon them . They

sta rted to drive the i r cows and horse s to a sa fe p lace

among the wagons , caught up the i r g uns , and made ready

[ 120 ]


fo r defens e . But when Dr . Whitman understood i t , he

thought i t wa s great fun and was a s del ighted a s a boy.

The Indi an s wanted to se e the white women . One o f

the squaws touched thei r skin so ftly , to s e e i f the white was

pa int. Then she ki s sed he r n ew white fr i ends . Mrs .

Whitman wa s blue-eyed and go lden-ha i red . Mrs . Spa ld ing

was sl ighte r, da rk-ha i r ed , and very gentl e . The cows and

ca lve s came in fo r many quest ions ; the Indi an s thought

they were tame buffa lo .

And what a welcom e d id the traders give the se ladi e s !

Well,one o f them had no t se en a white woman in n ine

yea rs . These white traders l ived in the wilde rne s s j u st

l ike Indi ans .

Then the whol e throng— miss iona r i e s , Ind i an s , Amer i

can trappe rs , and B ri ti sh trade rs— rode on ove r the

rough , stony country and through the mounta in s . The

B r it i sh t rader s and the m i ss iona r i e s went to Fo rt Wall a

Walla , which wa s in the Nez Pe rcé s country .

But a t Fo rt Wall a Wall a the ho rse s o f the m i s s iona r i e s

wou ld not even r ide up to the gate ! Turkeys gobbled

a round the fo rt ya rd , gee se quacked , and hen s cackl ed .

That was too much fo r ho rse s whi ch had been fo r months

on the pla in s .

Eve ry kindne s s wa s shown the m i s s iona ri e s a t the fo rt .

Wooden bunks fa stened on the wall s , the rough wood bot

tom cove red wi th Indian blankets ; cha i r s , rough axe-hewn

s lab s , cut from tree s in the B lue Mounta ins ; tab le s made

from hewn sl ab s aga in— such were th e fu rn i sh ings a t the

fo rt . But they were offe red with a kindnes s which wa s

[ 12 1 ]


genu in e , and i t wa s much bette r than camp ing out o f doo rs .

Fre sh salmon , b read , butte r , te a , potato e s , melons , and

vegetable s o f a ll kinds we re offe red to the guests . Indian

runners had told the fo rt they were com ing , so , when they

wanted to go fa rthe r , boa ts we re ready , with the boa tmen ,to take them down the r ive r to Fo rt Vancouve r .

I t took two o r three days to go down the r ive r , r id ing

smooth ly over the b ro ad blue wate r i n dayt ime and

camp ing at n ight on the Sho re o r on some i sl and in m id

stre am .

On the rive r bank,when they reached Fort Vancouve r,

stood Dr M cLoug hlin to welcome them , the s ame kindly ,gen i a l White -Eagle Chi e f ” whom many white men loved .

The good docto r tu rned some o f the younge r cl e rks out o f

the i r own rooms so that the m i ss i ona ri e s m ight have them .

They sa t a t that long tab le in the grea t d in ing hall a t the

fo rt , wa ited upon with men s ervants , with the dinne rs

s e rved in cou rse s . Good dinne rs they we re , with game

no ro a st be e f , yet , becau se cows were too few— and fi sh ,with cabbage s , pea s , onion s , beans , rad i shes , b eets , pota

toes ; with pudd ings , and with fru i ts from B ruce’ s ca re ful ly

tended ga rden— apple s and peache s and p rune s .

Dr . McLoug hlin took them out to see tha t o rcha rd

the only one west o f the M is s i s s ipp i R ive r . He was p roud

o f i t . He took them a ll ove r the fa rm , with hundreds

o f a cre s o f p ea s , ba rley , oa ts , and wheat . In the smal l

ponds cattle waded,o r le i su re ly ate the gra s s in the fields ,

whi l e in the great da i r i e s , both a t Fo rt Vancouve r and on

the i sl and in the r ive r— Multnomah I sland—busy women

[ 122 ]


s i on unti l l ate r,and they came out from New York a round

the Horn by sh ip .

Eleven yea rs a fte r the Whitmans came , i n 1 847 , the

Indi an s began to be ve ry angry becau se many settl e r s were

com ing into the i r country. Thousands o f immigrants were

c ro s s ing the pla in s eve ry yea r now , and they had marked

out tha t “ Great Medic in e Road o f the White s ,” a s the

Indi an s ca l led the Oregon tra i l . The yea r b e fo re , the

treaty had been S i gned d ividing Oregon between Grea t

B ri ta in and Ameri ca . The Indi an s knew thi s . They l iked

the B r i ti sh fu r trade rs , who did not bu ild log cab in s , did

not fa rm , did not cu t down tre e s and fence in the sp r ings ,d id not dr ive away the wi ld game so tha t the red man

sta rved . I t wa s the Boston men , the Amer icans , who

did thes e th ings . There fo re the Indi an s ha ted the Amer

icans.

Now things b ecame wors e . With the imm igration o f

1 84 7 came much s i cknes s . The tra ins o f t i red people

s topped at the Whitman m i ss ion , and some o f the s i ck

were l e ft th ere . S icknes s Sp read into the camps o f the

Indi ans , and becau se they did not know what to do , many

d ied . In the da rkne s s and s i lence o f the n ight , from

lonely tep ee s a long l i ttl e stream s,could one hea r the death

cry and the l ong wa i l o f Indi an women mourn ing fo r the i r

dead . Sti l l the s i ckne s s sp re ad .

The Indi an s sa id the “ Boston men were to b lame fo r

the s i cknes s . They had brought i t among the tepees so

that the wh i te man might have the l ands o f the red man .

So angry they became that,a fte r long plott ing, they ki lled

[ 124 ]


Mrs. Whitman and he r husb and , and s eve ra l other p eo

p le who were l iving with them . All the o the rs were cap

tured and made p r i sone rs .

No one knew Wha t to do . The Ameri can s a t the Wi lla

m ette we re help le s s . I f they sent an a rmy o f men , the

Indi an s wou ld ki ll a l l the p r i sone rs , o r ca rry them into the

uppe r country . I f they s ent only a few , s ince the Ind i an s

we re on the wa r-path , they would not b e strong enough to

re scu e the p r i sone rs a t Waiilatpu. No one could help

except the Hudson ’ s Bay Company .

Without even wa iting to se e what the Amer i can s would

do , Pete r Skeen Ogden , a t rade r well known among the

Indi an s up the r ive r , and tru sted by them , s ta rted from

Fo rt Vancouver fo r the mis s ion . He took wi th h im many

blankets and kettle s and pa int ; took things whi ch the In

di an s l iked . He traveled in such a way a s to make the

Indi an s th ink he knew noth ing about the ma ssa c re . In one

cano e , with hi s voyag eurs , he sta rted up the r iver , s topp ing

at the u sua l camp ing pla ces , making p re sents , a ct ing a s

though noth ing had happened . They knew , o f cou rs e .

They did not know tha t he did . I f Ogden had hu rri ed ,and the Indi ans thought he wa s a fra id , he could have done

nothing.

When Ogden reached Fort Wal l a Walla , he ca lled a

counci l o f the ch iefs,and demanded the fre edom o f the

p ri sone rs . The ch i e fs re fus ed . I t took days o f t ime and

many blankets be fo re Ogden could p e rsuade the Indi an s

to give up the i r p ri sone rs . The moment they d id , he pa id

ove r the b lankets and othe r p re sents , bundled the unhappy

[ 125 ]


p eopl e into canoe s , and sta rted down the r ive r a s fa st a s

they could go . So the poo r pr i sone r s we re saved . But

the Indian s sa id , and the Ameri can s a l so admitted , that

no one could have saved thes e Amer i can pr i soner s except

the Hudson ’ s B ay Company,b ecause o f the i r power with

the Indi ans . And tha t powe r was ba sed upon the i r rul e

o f j u st i ce and fi rmnes s .

Afte r the p r i sone rs were sa fe,the American s sent a

sma ll a rmy up the r ive r . That i s , they sent a rmed men ,fo r they had no tra ined so ldi e rs . Thus began the Yakima

war. I t la sted only a yea r , but many colon i sts were ki ll ed

and the whole country up set by i t. In the end the Indi ans

had to a sk fo r pea ce . The five men who had murdered

the Whitman s were hanged .

And so ended the m i s s ion whi ch had begun eleven yea r s

b e fo re , when Mrs. Whitman and her husband , with the

Spa ldings , had cro ss ed the pla in s and the mounta in s to the

Oregon country.

[ 126 ]

CHAPTER XV

THE OREGON TRAIL

F a l ive ly mule kicked off the coffe e pot wh i le you were

c ro s s ing the Oregon tra i l , where would you get an

othe r ! From the M is sou r i R ive r to Fo rt Hall , bu i lt i n

1 834 , the re wa s no pla ce a t whi ch you could buy anyth ing .

Only Indi ans roamed the ro ll ing p ra i r i e s,th e l evel p la ins ,

o r the rugged mounta in s , and l ittle could b e t raded from

them except fu rs . I t wa s qu ite the o the r way , i ndeed , fo r

Indian s wanted kettle s and pots . So gre a t wa s th i s ne ed

tha t late r Fo rt La ram i e wa s bu i lt in the Rocky Moun

ta ins , but a lthough bu i lt a s a t rad ing po st fo r immigrants ,i ts suppl i e s we re l im i ted and i ts p r ice s sky

-high . Be fo r e

Fo rt Hall wa s bu i lt the re wa s no stopp ing pla ce between

the M issou r i R ive r and Fort Wall a Wa l l a . Look a t the

map on the next p age and see how long a tra i l that wa s , and

how many oppo rtun it i e s fo r lo ss in cro ss ing the r ive rs and

creeks and cl imb ing th e rugged mounta ins .

At fi r st no one went to Oregon , and so the re rea lly wa s

no “ Oregon t ra i l . ” There wa s only the tra i l fo r the fu r

traders and trappe rs who went to the Rocky Mounta in s

with the i r trading goods and came back with the packs o f

fu rs . Immigrants o f late r yea rs , go ing to the Co lumbi a

R ive r , fo llowed that s ame old fu r-trad ing route , and so i t

came to b e ca lled the “ Oregon tra i l .”

[ 1 27 ]


At fi rst , only men and boys went on the fu r-trade tra il ,with the i r traps and the i r trading goods . They u sed pack

ho rse s o r mule s only— no wagon s . Mea t was suppl i ed

T h e Ore g on C ountry , s h ow ing th e und e term inate no rth ern b order,th e Hud son B ay T rai l , and th e O re g on T ra i l . T h e b lack

do tted l ines re p re sent th e trai l s .

by the buffalo and deer on the pla ins , but ea ch camp ca r

r i ed i ts own coffee , suga r , bacon , flou r , and pe rhap s a few

books . Each camp ca rr i ed a l so i ts own tin plates and cup s ,i ts own i ron fo rks and spoons , i t s own frying pan s and

coffe e pots . So i f that l ively mule k icked off hi s pack in

[ 128 ]


p resent . That was the ea s i e s t way out o f a bad scrape ,Sublette thought , and he a t once agreed . The presents

we re given and the Indi an s rode away .

Suble tte neve r knew whethe r they admi red h i s men fo r

the i r coo lnes s , o r whether they were a l i ttl e a fra i d to

a tta ck thos e s ixty gr im - looking , dete rm ined white t rappers .

At any ra te , i t wa s cheaper fo r the Indi ans no t to fight ,and much sa fe r fo r th e white men .

The ve ry fi rs t women to cro s s the p la in s , you wi ll

remembe r , were Mrs . Spa ld ing and Mrs . Whitman in

1 836. Afte r that went a few othe r women , al so m i s s ion

a ri e s . Late r a few Indi an women , with the i r Ameri can

trapp er-husbands , su ch a s the we l l-known Jo Meek , and

the i r ch i ldren , went from the Rocky Mounta in s into the

Oregon country . The mounta in fu r trade wa s “done fo r ,”

they sa id ; nea rly a l l the fu r-bea r ing an imal s we re ki l led

o ff, e speci a lly the b eave r . I t wa s 1 84 1 and 1 84 2 be fo re

whi te women settl e rs began to cro s s th e Oregon tra i l to

the Oregon country .

When i t was found tha t women could go to Oregon ,whol e fam i l i e s b egan to go , i ncluding l i ttle ch i ldren and

even the bab ies . They travel ed in b ig , canvas- covered

wagons ca lled p ra i r i e schoone rs . The l ine s o f wh ite can

vas wagon- top s c ro s s ing the rol l ing green p ra i r i e s made a

p retty p ictu re , much l ike the white s a i l s o f ship s on the

rol l ing green wave s o f the o cean .

Ins ide ea ch wagon wa s pa cked a l l the fu rn iture : cha i rs ,fea the r beds , bu reau s , trunks , bundle s o f bedding and

cloth ing , and perhap s even a stove . The mother , with the

[ 1 30 ]

THE OREGON TRAIL

very l i ttl e ch ildren,rode ins ide o r up on the se at . The

la rge r chi ldren raced with e ach othe r , p icked wild flowers ,and p layed wi th the i r dogs , fo r the fam i ly dogs went too .

The fathe rs walked along the dusty tra i l , swinging the

bla ck ox-hide go ad,dr iv ing the s low , clumsy oxen a s they

dragged the heavy wagon s ove r that long , long tra i l .

Creak! Creak! Creak .’ Ove r the gra s sy wave s o f th e

p ra i r i e s , and ove r the fl atnes s o f the ba re , tre el e s s p la in s ,sometime s fa r from water , sometimes by the s ide o f the

muddy wate rs o f the Platte , with i ts shallow banks— oh

and on ro l led the wagons . From Westpo rt , now a pa rt o f

Kansa s C i ty , the immigrants p a ss ed up the Platte R ive r

i nto that land whe re no tree s were— a country where a

man could “hide beh ind noth ing but h i s own shadow .

”

Indian s sometimes attacked the immigrants , but only

to dr ive off the ho rse s and stea l what they could . These

were usu a lly ca lled “ fr i endly ” Indi an s ! I n a r ea l fight,

hosti l e Indi an s c i rcled round and round the ca ravan on

the i r tra ined pon i e s . They sho t from unde r the ho rse ’ s

n eck , each man lying so low on hi s pony’ s b ack that he

se emed to be a p a rt o f the l ittl e an imal . The i r yel l ing

and whoop ing fr ightened no t only the t ravele rs but the

ho rse s and mule s . Sno rting with fe a r , the an imal s would

b reak loo s e . Then the Indian s cou ld e a s i ly drive them off.

Sometimes in such fights men and women were ki l led,and

the tra in o f wagons had to stop long enough to bu ry

the dead .

At noon the travel ers stopped only long enough fo r a

qu i ck luncheon . The oxen and ho rse s we re not unyoked.

[ 1 3 1 ]


At n ight , the wagons a t sunset fo rmed a grea t c i rcl e .

To defea t Indi an atta cks the whiffl etree o f ea ch wagon

was fa stened with a strong cha in to the b ack wheel o f the

wagon in front. Inside '

the c i rcl e we re the ho rse s , mules ,and oxen . I t would be ha rd fo r the Indi ans to b reak

through that c i rcle o f cha in s and wagons .

Supp er wa s cooked by the mother s a t the l i ttle fi re s

which gl immered a l l a round the c i rcl e , on the ground .

The great heavy i ron frying p ans , with the i r long i ron

handle s— so heavy that one cou ld l i ft them only with an

effo rt— were taken out o f the wagons . Bacon was fr i ed ;and perhap s the co a rs e flou r and wate r , with sa lt , was

mixed and fr i ed in the b acon grea se a l so , fo r b re ad .

The re wa s not a sepa ra te pot and pan fo r eve ryth ing.

In the museum o f the Oregon H i sto r i ca l Asso ci a tion , a t

Po rtland , i s a wooden trough which was u s ed , on one long

j ou rney acro s s the pla in s , as a ba thtub fo r the baby ; a s a

wa sh ba s in ; a s a chopp ing bowl ; i t wa s u sed fo r m ix ing

b re ad-dough ; and sometimes food was packed away in i t.

Afte r suppe r everyone wa s ready fo r play o r fo r b ed .

There was nea rly a lways a fiddle r in the l a rge r t ra in s , and

sometime s the olde r boys and gi rl s , and young men and

women , would dance on the gra ss . But the smal le r ch i l

d ren were glad enough to go to sleep . The olde r boys

s lept , a s d id the men , on the ground unde r the wagon .

The mothers and the gi rl s , with the wee l i ttl e boys , s lept

in the wagon b ed. The n ight a i r wa s cool and sweet. If

boys o r gi rl s were awake in the n ight , they cou ld look up

a t the sta r s sh in ing in the qu i et sky above them ; and in

[ 1 32 ]


fell , and di ed out. On the black ea rth le ft by the b ack

fi re there wa s noth ing mo re to burn , so the fi re would

sweep by on e ithe r s ide o f the traveler s , yet l e ave them

s a fe .

I f the fi re burned the s tretch ahead o f them , the an i

m al s a lmo st sta rved . The re was no gra s s le ft to eat , no

food a t a ll fo r oxen and ho rs e s . And the re might b e

no food fo r th e t ravel er s e ithe r , fo r the fi re s drove

away the buffalo , the dee r , and even rabb i ts and small e r

an imals .

An arti s t n amed Catl in was travel ing ove r the p ra i r i es

i n ea rly days , with two o r thre e fr i ends and an Indi an

gu ide . They wanted to fo llow a tra i l to a certa in h i ll ,lying blu e in the di stance . S ince the day wa s fine , they

set off i n h igh sp i r i ts . The p ra i ri e gra s s , howeve r , was

very dry and Ve ry high . I t was so high tha t the men had

to stand in the i r st i rrup s to see we l l ove r i t , and i t was

fi l led with the wild-pea V ine , i n which the ho rse s we re

l ikely to entangl e the i r feet .

Afte r they had sta rted , Red Thunde r , the gu ide , got off

h i s ho rse and la id h imsel f fl at on the ground , with hi s

face in the d i rt. The white men laughed a t h im a l i ttle ,saying tha t he was “making medicin e .” But when he

a ro se Red Thunde r s a id ,“ Ove r thi s pla in dwell s a lways

the Sp i r i t o f Fi re . He rides in the cloud . The Fi re-bow

i s in h i s hand .

”

Red Thunde r sa id tha t from the smel l o f the wind

he wa s a fra id that the Fi re Sp i ri t was awake . But the

white men could not smel l smoke ; the re was no S ign of

[ 1 34 ]

THE OREGON TRAIL

e i the r fire o r smoke anywhe re on tha t wide- sweep ing pla in ,lying so green and beauti fu l in the glo r iou s sunsh ine .

So Red Thunder l ed the way , a s they went on , and they

traveled unti l noonday . While the o the r s were eat ing the i r

luncheon,Red Thunder l ay down aga in on the ground .

He seemed to b e l istemng . Then he a ro se and h i s b la ck

eye s looked clo sely a ll a round the ho ri zon . Suddenly he

cri ed, t ite m an! See that small cloud ! The Fire Sp irit

is awake !”

In a second al l had j umped upon the i r pon i e s . Then

away ove r the tra i l they ra ced towa rd the b lu e h i l l whi ch

st i l l s e emed so ve ry fa r away . Soon the ho rse s could

smell the smoke o f the di stant fi re , and fa ste r and faster

they sped . The wind was blowing ha rd now , and the

fi re could b e s een . Then they could hea r it— the te rr ibl e

ro a ring , l ike a great wate r fa l l . Pa st them fl ed the wi ld

an imal s o f the p ra i ri e s , fl e e ing l ike themselve s from

the ter r ibl e F i re Sp i r i t . The whi te men da red no t look

beh ind them . The he avens were bla ck and the smoke

suffocat ing.

At la st Red Thunde r rea ched the b luff towa rd wh ich

they had been rac ing. He gave a yel l a s h i s pony strug

gled up— up on the ba re ea rth , where the re wa s no

gra s s to bu rn . The other ho rs e s , too , with a la s t exhau sted

effo rt , sp rang up the hi l l . As Catl in looked down he saw ,

only a few fee t below him , a sea o f l iv ing fire. There wa s

a fea rful ro a r and the red fl ame s swept pa st ; then clouds

o f da rk , a cr id smoke ro se from the pla in . That,too

,

pa s sed on . Instead o f the ro l l ing green o f the beauti ful

[ 1 35 ]


p ra i r i e , the re lay below them only a smoking , bla ck , deso

l ate p la in . And the glo r iou s sunsh ine , the blue sky , and

the so ft whi te fl eecy clouds above made i t only the more

drea ry .

A great many immigrants did not s ee a p ra i r i e fi re . But

th rough the many months o f travel , a s the slow oxen

p lodded on , the sun wa s hot , the t ra i l du sty , ho rs e s and

oxen wore out and had to b e le ft b eh ind to the chance o f

sta rvation o r wolves . Men , women , and chi ldren di ed

from s ickne s s and exhau st ion . A l l a long the Oregon tra i l

were grave s . You could have fo l lowed that b ro ad , wind

ing road ove r the pra i r i e s and p la in s by the whitened bone s

o f the an imal s whi ch had died by the s ide o f i t , and by the

many wooden cro sse s wh ich ma rked the grave o f som e

human being. The Indians ca ll ed that road , worn b a re o f

gra s s by the thousands o f wagons which Went ove r i t

through the yea rs , the“ Grea t Medi c in e Road o f the

Whites . They we re u sed only to the na rrow tra i l s o f

the i r own people , and that wide road , worn so whi te and so

ba re , was a grea t wonde r to them .

As the immigrants nea red the mounta ins , they threw

away everything they could to l ighten the load a s the

weary oxen pulled i t up the steep , rough mounta in road .

They even shortened the wagon beds , to reduce the weight .

Necess a ry a rti cl e s were thrown out : bu reau s , with clo th ing

in them ; trunks , fi l led with clothing ; wagons were ab ana

cloned . At the campfi re s the wea ry peopl e fo rgot the i r

frying pans and coffee pots and many othe r th ings .

The smalle r a rt icle s were p i cked up by the Indians,fo r

[ 136 ]


Even a s Fo rt Hall had help ed the Whitmans when they

pa ssed through i t i n 1 836, so the offi ce rs helped the immi

grants of la te r yea rs . But i t wa s not an ea sy ta sk . The

fo rt be longed to a B rit i sh company— the Hudson ’ s B ay

Company. So when the offi ce rs told the immigrants o f the

hardship s ahead , and advi sed them to go to Cal i fo rn i a ,whi ch wa s rea lly an ea s i e r route , the Ameri cans thought

i t wa s b ecause the Br i t i sh were trying to keep the country.

Thi s wa s not true . The o ffi ce rs wro te back to London

j u st exactly the same repo rts that they made to the Ameri

cans . They actua lly thought it wild in the Amer ican s to

try to get through with the i r wagon s and ch i ldren . Be

s ide s , so many Ameri can s came in la te r ye a rs tha t the re

we re not suppl i e s enough a t the fo rt to p rovide fo r al l o f

them . The Ameri cans grumbled about that . But i f the

B r iti sh had not b een kindly they would not have help ed

them a t a ll .

Afte r th e travelers l e ft the fo rt , the re wa s no game ,l i ttl e wate r , rough roads , hot sun , dust, cut-rocks , s age

b rush , b roken wagons , worn-out p eople— on and on ove r

the Blu e Mounta in s , with the i r s teep s ide s , and through the

Grande Ronde , to Fo rt Wall a Walla . But there we re al so

Indians , and the fo rt wa rned the traveler s aga in st them .

After one pa rty had pa s sed Fo rt Hal l and wa s travel

ing along the Snake R ive r , a b and o f Indi an s , black heads

bobb ing about i n the wate r , swam acro s s to the i r s ide .

They ran on foo t towa rd them , shout ing , Stop ! Stop ! ”

These immigrants had been wa rned by the B r i ti sh at the

fo rt. Knowing they were th i eves , they drove on , and

[ 138I

THE OREGON TRAIL

drove rap idly. Then the Indi ans dodged in and out o f the

ta l l s ageb rush , a s h igh a s the ho rs e s’ backs , and began to

shoo t. The fr ightened women and ch ild ren huddled down

in the boxe s o f the wagons,whi l e th e men whipp ed up the

ho rs e s and mule s . See ing that , the Indi ans ran along the

r ive r bank , unde r a bluff, to stop the wagons a t the foo t

o f a h il l . The dr ive rs da shed on . Such a r ide a s tha t

was ! Down the long h i l l they plunged , without b rake s ,th e wagon s bouncing from th i s s i de to that , str iking aga ins t

smal l stone s and almo st th rowing the chi ldren out. Down

tha t h il l they to re and up the n ext one , expect ing eve ry

moment tha t the Indi an s would app ea r , shoot aga in , o r

in some way s top them .

That n ight , a s they drove rap idly on , they caught up

wi th anothe r p a rty which had be en ju st ahead o f them , s o

the two group s camped togethe r . They bu i lt fi r e s fo r

cooking and the mother s b egan to get suppe r . The m en

unha rne s sed the ho rse s and mule s and fed them a s be st

they could . Then they smoked a round the campfi re s , keep

ing the chi ld ren in full V i ew . They expected every mo

ment , a s they sat th e re i n the l i ght o f the fi r e , to b e Shot

a t from the da rkne s s a round them . The next mo rn ing

they d id find Indi an footp r ints in the s and nea r the i r camp .

They had been fo l lowed , su re enough . But p robably th e

Ind ian s we re a fra id to atta ck the two pa rt i e s togethe r .

When they came over the B lue Mounta in s and into the

G rande Ronde - the G rea t C i rcl e,a s the French-Cana

di an s had ca ll ed i t , becau se i t was a l a rge and round va lley

travele r s had a ha rd t ime with the i r wagons . The

[ 139 ]


mounta in s ide s were so ste ep they had to ti e a rop e to

the hind wheels o f e ach wagon in go ing down . Thi s rop e

they twi sted a round a tre e , so tha t a s i t was pa id out the

heavy wagon moved slowly and could not so ea s i ly up set.

Ropes u sed in th i s way cut a screw- l ike cu rve in the tree s ,and these may be s een even to thi s day. Even the pack

ho rse s had a ha rd time on the ste ep tra i l s , s etting thei r

feet clo se together somet ime s and sl id ing down . Every

now and then someone had to stop to mend a b roken axl e

o r a b roken ha rnes s . So the immigrants c rawled up the

steep mounta in s ide s and almost cra shed down them , fo rd

ing r ive rs even where the cu rrent wa s qu i te swi ft and the

wate r deep , unti l they were s a fely pa st the Grande

Ronde .

From there i t wa s s and and sagebrush aga in unt i l they

reached Fort Wal l a Wal la . Or , perhap s , i f they fel t ho s

t i l e to the B r iti sh trader s there , they would go to the

Whitman miss ion and buy vegetab le s and melons and flou r ,fo r Dr . Whitman ’ s m i s s i on fa rmed much land and there

were suppl i e s wh i ch he so ld to the t ravel er s . Indi ans

b rought fi sh to them al so— l a rge sa lmon , taken fre sh from

the wate r. One woman took off the b ig ki tchen ap ron she

wore and gave i t in p ayment to an Indi an fo r a l a rge

s a lmon . That was much bette r than money , i n Indian

eyes .

From Fort Walla Walla the re were two ways o f go ing

down the r ive r to Fo rt Vancouve r . One was by wate r , i f

there we re boats ; the othe r wa s ove r a rough mounta in

tra i l , through bands o f robb e r Indi ans , along the banks

[ 140 ]


rough l i fe a cro s s the pla in s , and they were sometime s

ch i lled and half- fro zen .

They came down the river to Fo rt Vancouve r where D r .

McLoug hlin gave them a welcome .“ I could not have

done more fo r them i f they had been my own b rothe rs

and s i s te r s , he wrote in late r yea rs . He gave them food

and cloth ing , wa iting yea rs fo r payment ; he le t them have

cattl e fo r plowing and seed gra in ; axe s to cut down trees

that they m ight bu i ld the i r log cab in s . He tru sted men to

rep ay h im when they could ra i se the i r c rop s , a fte r the i r

cab in s were bu i lt and the i r fam il i e s taken ca re o f . He gave

work to many men,buying the sh ingle s which they sp l i t,

buying the gra in w hich they ra i sed . He did a l l in his

powe r to help them . Some o f the Ameri can s—many o fthem— did rep ay h im . Othe rs hated h im becau s e he was

B r i t i sh , and let the i r debts go unpa id .

So th i s i s how the ea rly settl e r s came into the Old Ore

gon country . They settl ed fi r st in the Wi l lamette Vall ey.

Later they came into what i s now Washington , and bu i lt

the i r log cab in s a round Puget Sound.

[ 112 ]


did not fi rst d i scover , did explo re . All j ou rna l s and repo rts

o f Cook ’ s voyage s we re immedia tely publ i shed in London .

B ri ti sh fu r traders , i n 1 7 85 , began regula r trading a t

Nootka Sound and northwa rd . Great B r i ta in explo red

Puget Sound in 1 792 . The only s ettlements made on the

co a st were tempora ry fu r po sts,l ike Capta in Mea re s ’ s ,

but they al so were B ri ti sh .

Grea t B r ita in , by land , had even bette r cla ims . In

1 793 , Alexande r M cKenz ie, a Canadian fu r trade r , cro ss ed

the Rocky Mounta ins , paddled up the Peace R ive r to i ts

sou rce , then down the head wate rs o f the Fraz e r R ive r.

Befo re he rea ched the mouth o f that r ive r , which he

thought was the Columb i a , hi s suppl i e s gave out and hi s

men were almost s ta rving. He le ft the r ive r and went

s tra ight ove rland to the Pac ific Ocean , nea r the mouth o f

the Bel l a Coola R ive r. Here the Indi an s told h im o f

white men , l ike h imsel f , who came in floating house s to

buy the i r fu rs . The mouth o f the Fra ze r R ive r wa s di s

cove red by the Brit i sh ih 1 824 . The B ri ti sh and Canadi an

fu r traders planted l i ttl e trading po sts a l l ove r the Cana

dian Rockies , a long the head wate rs o f the Columb ia , and

even where the c ity o f Spokane now i s . In all thi s , they

were ahead o f the Americans . So , by land , th rough

d i scove ry,explo rat ion , and settl ement , Great B rita in had

a good right to the no rthe rn s ect ion o f the Oregon

country .

America cl a imed Oregon becau se the da r ing Capta in

Gray,i n 1 792 , fi rst cro ssed the ba r o f the Columb i a and

proved tha t the “ bay ”was the mouth o f a r ive r . Thi r

[ 144 ]

WHO OWNED THE OREGON COUNTRY

teen yea rs l a te r , Lewi s and Cla rk di scovered the lower

Columb i a from the o the r d i rect i on , from the l and s ide ,a fte r they had cro s s ed the mounta in s from the head water s

o f the Mi ssou r i R ive r. The fi r s t fu r trad ing po st on the

lowe r Co lumbi a wa s Ameri can . Thi s was Fort Asto ri a ,founded in 1 8 1 1 . Thus , i n the southe rn end o f the

grea t Oregon country , America had cla im s a l so by di s

covery , by explo rat ion , and by s ettl ement.

France cla imed i t on the ground o f contigu ity ; tha t i s ,becaus e Oregon lay next to the o ld- t ime Lou i s i ana .

Russ i a cla imed i t b ecause she had di scove red A l a ska and

the no rthe rn co a sts o f the Pacifi c . But Russ i a had not

the s l ighte s t r ight to i t. She admitted th i s in 1 824 .

Final ly many o f thes e cla im s faded ou t. France sold

Lou i s i ana to the Un ited State s ; so that the Un ited Sta tes

cla imed Oregon by contig u i ty.

Spa in so ld the Flo r ida s to Ameri ca in 1 8 1 9 , and at tha t

time so ld a l l h e r r ights to Oregon to America .

So Russ i a , Spa in , and France were out o f the ra ce . Only

Grea t B r ita i n and America rema ined— but both cla imed

Oregon .

Oregon at tha t t ime included a l l the country which today

we ca l l B ri ti sh Co lumb ia , Oregon , Washington , Idaho ,and northweste rn Montana . North and south i t wa s

about e ight hundred m iles . East and west i t wa s nea r ly a

thousand mi le s a long the southe rn bo rde r . Along the

no rthern bo rde r i t wa s na rrower , becaus e the Rocky

Mounta ins trend towa rd the s ea .

Nobody knew much about Oregon in tho se days . The

[ 145 ]


geograph i e s did not descr ib e i t, becaus e no one could put i t

i n the geographi e s .

Great B ri ta in s a id Oregon belonged to her . She thought

o f Cook , Vancouve r , Meare s , McKenz ie, and others , a l l

o f whom had explo red in the uppe r two-th i rds o f the coun

try. The United Sta te s s a i d Oregon belonged to he r ,and she thought o f Capta in Gray , o f Lewi s and Cla rk,and o f the fu r post a t Asto ri a , al l in the south .

But Engl and didn ’ t know anything about Gray ’ s di s

covery o f the Columb i a . He was a pr ivate fu r trade r ,and h i s log book belonged to himsel f . He repo rted the

r ive r to h i s owners , but the Uni ted State s Gove rnment only

hea rd o f i t by in fo rmal repo rt , o r by chance . Great B r i t

a in had publ i shed the explo ra tion o f he r men ; the United

State s had no t publ i shed th e explo ration o f he rs , except

tha t o f Lewi s a nd C l a rk , becaus e they we re traders .

So i t i s e a sy to understand the con fu s ion .

I n the sto ry o f Fort Asto ri a , i t i s to ld tha t the Ameri

can s sold the fo rt becau se they fe a red a B r it i sh wa rsh ip

would come and capture i t. One was on the way, and

did ente r the Columb i a a fte r the fo rt wa s sold. But the

fo rt wa s not cap tured.

Afte r the wa r , America cl a imed the retu rn o f Fo rt

Asto r i a,s aying i t wa s captu red . Grea t B rita in obj ected ,

and rightly. But st i ll , l i ttl e wa s known about the country ;i t was unsettled , and finally , to save ha rd feel ing, Great

B ri ta in retu rned the fu r po st. But only the fu r post ; she

s a id she did not retu rn Oregon , o r any pa rt o f i t, because

Oregon belonged to Great B r ita in .

[ 146 ]


Engl i sh too , a t fi rst , but the Engl i sh won by thei r fi rmnes s

and j u st i ce and the i r wonderful o rgan i zat ion . The Eng

l i sh pulled togethe r , becau se the re was only one company .

The Ameri can s fought each other .

Fo r th i s r ea son , and fo r no othe r , the Amer ican fu r

trade rs who went into Oregon could not succeed aga inst

the B r it i sh . One such was Nathan i e l Wyeth . He planned

to s end a sh ip to the Columb i a with trading goods , and

retu rn i t to Bo ston fi l l ed with salted sa lmon . He himsel f ,with h i s comrade s , went overland .

They were a ll “ tende rfeet ,” and they knew nothing

about fu r trading o r s almon fi sh ing o r Indians . They had

ve ry l i ttl e cap i ta l , and that wa s bo rrowed . So when

Wyeth ’ s companion s de se rted h im and went back from the

great pl a in s , o r the mounta ins ; o r dese rted him in Oregon

and went to fa rm ing ; when hi s fi rs t ship s ank in the ocean ,and the Indi ans would not hunt fu rs fo r h im ; when eve ry

thing went wrong— why , one can only b lame Wyeth’ s

badly l a id plan s and not the B r iti sh . The second time he

tr ied was in 1 834 . Hi s sh ip rea ched the Columb i a sa fely,

and the Hudson ’ s B ay Company d id not inte r fe re with

h im . But the Indi an s knew and tru sted the B r iti sh a t the

fo rt,and at the fo rt they could sel l the i r fu rs fo r j u st

the very things they were u sed to buying in tha t way . At

th e fo rt were the i r fr i ends , and men who could ta lk the i r

language, i nstead o f making motion s . So the Indi an s did

not trade with Wyeth , the American . And even the fi sh

consp i red aga inst h im . The run wa s poo r that yea r— only

about hal f the usual run— and the Indi ans who were not

[ 148]

WHO OWNED THE “ OREGON COUNTRY .

too la zy to fi sh so ld the i r fi sh to Fo rt Vancouver ; othe rs

were busy fi sh ing fo r themselve s . Wyeth cou ld secu re only

ha l f a sh ipload o f fi sh , and s ince h e d i d not know how

to cu re them p rop erly, some o f tho se were spo i led .

I t ha s a lways been thought that the B r it i sh ki l l ed the

American ’ s trade ; but even p r ivate co rrespondence among

the ofli cers shows th i s wa s no t so. They saw he knew

nothing o f the bu s ine s s and l et h im “ hang himsel f ,” a s

the saying go es . Everyth ing was aga in s t h im , but ch i efly

the fact that he wa s undertaking a bus ine s s o f whi ch he

knew nothing.

With Wyeth,on hi s l a st j ou rn ey , were Ja son Lee and

h i s nephew ,Daniel Le e , with othe r m i s s iona ri e s , who went

i nto the Willamette Valley to tea ch the Indi an s the re . But

a gre a t s i ckness a few yea rs b e fo re had ki lled off the

Indi ans so that few were l iv ing , and tho se d id not want to

lea rn anything . But Lee and hi s fr i ends wrote to Amer i

cans in “ the State s o f the b eauti fu l country o f the

Willamette .

The Willamette Vall ey was very fe rti l e , with cha rm ing

l ittl e p ra i r i e s he re and there , s ep a rated by sho rt stretche s

o f woodland . The r ive r , ful l o f fi sh , was a t the i r doo rs ;th e re wa s game in the fo re s t ; the cl imate wa s m i ld ; ca ttl e

could l ive out o f doo rs al l winte r . Yet , except the m is

sionaries , the re we re no s ettl e r s but a few old se rvants o f

the Hudson ’ s B ay Company , who had wanted to stay in

tha t m i lde r cl imate a fte r the i r ye a rs o f ha rd work fo r the

company , Instead o f go ing back to Canada . The laws o f

Great Br i ta in compelled th e Hudson ’ s Bay Company to

[ 1 49 ]


return a l l s e rvants whose contra ct s h ad exp i red to the i r

homes i n Canada o r England . But the se m en were old ,and they loved the Oregon country. They wanted to stay

there and fa rm . I f they went ba ck a s s trangers , into the

severe cl imate o f Canada , i t would p erhap s ki ll them . So

Dr . McLoug hlin a llowed them to fa rm the re , with the i r

p rom i s e tha t they would obey the u sua l company rule s .

I f they made troubl e , he would b e obl iged to s end them

to Canada . The fi rs t settle r in the Willamette Vall ey was

a French-Canadi an , named Eti enne Luc i e r , i n 1 829 .

The Amer i cans thought thes e French-Canadi ans were

s ettl ing the Willamette Va l l ey i n o rder to make i t B r i ti sh ,and hold i t fo r Great B rita in . But how could they hold a

country which the B r i t i sh Government did not cla im ! In

1 822 , i f no t b e fo re , the offi ce r s o f the Hudson’ s B ay Com

pany we re notifi ed by th e B r it i sh Government that they

would make no cla im to the country south o f the Columb i a ,and to put the i r fo rts on the no rth s ide o f the r ive r . Thi s

was done a t Fo rt Vancouver , and a l so a t o the r po ints

where the l and would al low o f a l i ttl e fa rm ing . I f the so i l

on the south s ide o f the r ive r was bette r , a s a t Fo rt Col

v i l l e , they put the fo rt th ere , so a s to have a ga rden ; not

so a s to cla im the country .

The Ameri cans d id not know thi s a t a ll , and d id not

understand the rea l condit ion o f th ings .

Oth e r Ameri can s b egan to come in , from 1 830 o r 1 83 1 .

Some came by ship , by way o f the Sandwich I s lands :

some were des e rte rs from whal ing ship s ; some were fu r

t rader s from the Rocky Mounta in s , —Ameri cans , ca ll ed

[ 150 ]

WHO OWNED THE OREGON COUNTRY”!

mounta in men . Fu r trad i ng was poo r , and in Oregon

the cl imate wa s mi ld and they could get a fa rm fo r the

taking.Bes ide s

,Fo rt Vancouve r was the re , to se l l s e eds

and ploughs and clothing. They were s afe from the In

dians,because D r . M cLoug hl in and the othe r offi ce r s o f

the Hudson ’ s Bay Company held the Indi an s in check.

The Ameri can s were anx iou s and re sentfu l b ecau s e

Great B r ita in cla imed “ Oregon .

” They sa id “ Oregon”

belonged to Ameri ca . I n 1 84 1 , when the Un ited State s

Gove rnment s ent Capta in Wilke s the re to explo re , the

capta in went down into the Willamette Valley whe re the

Ameri can s we re . They a t once a sked h i s advi ce about

fo rm ing an Amer ican government . He rem inded them

tha t they l ived under a j o int-occupancy ” t reaty , and that

the B rit i sh had a s much r ight the re a s they had . The

question must b e settl ed by the two gove rnments . He told

them also tha t so l a rge a numbe r o f mi s s i ona ri e s ought to

be ab le to keep o rde r in so small a s ettl ement. Sti l l , they

wanted Ameri can gove rnment , and used eve ry a rgument

they could think o f .

Thes e m i s s i ona r i e s wrote to the i r fr i ends tha t a lthough

Oregon belonged to the Un ited State s , yet they were unde r

B r iti sh l aw . Now the French-Canadi an s were unde r B rit i sh

l aw ; they were B ri ti sh Subj ects , and they were a llowed to

go into the Willamette Valley inste ad o f b e ing s ent b ack

to Canada under the condit ion tha t they would b e peace

ab le and obey B r it i sh l aws . But nobody eve r tr i ed to make

the American s obey B rit i sh laws ; and there wa s not much

difference in the l aws o f the two countr i e s anyway.

[ 1 5 1 ]


More people came ih — more dese rte rs from whale rs,

more “ mounta in men .

” There came a lso law-breakers,

e scap ing from j ust i ce in the States ;” men who were in

debt and wanted to g et a new sta rt and pay up ; men who

l ived in s lave state s and were a fra id o f a negro rebel l ion ;adventu re rs from the Sandwich I s lands ; and a lso the b es t

kind o f people , who cro ss ed the pla in s b ecause they were

looking fo r new homes .

But thes e Ameri cans j umped each other ’ s cla ims .

They qua rrel ed with the Indi ans . They sometime s s tole

e ach othe r ’ s ho rses . Peopl e cannot l ive in a country with

out l aws : something had to be done . There would have

b een se r iou s trouble , except tha t the b ette r cla s s o f Amer i

cans and the Hudson ’ s B ay Company, working together

a s well a s they could , had a very strong and a ve ry good

influen ce fo r l aw and o rde r.

Yet everyone saw that laws were needed .

In a ll p ioneer countr i e s , where wolves a re many , sheep

and ca lves are ki l led by them in la rge numbers . The lo s s

o f the se sheep and calves was ve ry s er iou s to a peop l e

so fa r from civi l i z at ion , and with a l l the expenses and diffi

culties o f a new country . The colon i sts held meetings to

di scu ss the payment o f a rewa rd , o r bounty , to eve ryone

who killed a wol f . While they talked about the i r catt l e ,they sa id also ,

“We are taking good care o f ou r sheep and

cattle , but a re we taking a s good ca re o f ou r fami l i e s when

we l ive in a l and without laws ! ” These meetings were

ca l led “Wolf meetings ,” but they ta lked about l aws fo r

themselve s more than they did about wolves .

[ 1 52 ]


One o f the men who l ived at tha t t ime— a man who

di ed only a few yea rs ago— was the la st man to step

ove r the l ine . You can see i f he had not , that there would

have b een fifty-one on each s ide . That wou ld have been

a “ t i e ,” o r a “ draw ,

” a s i t i s ca lled . Thi s man wa s

Franco i s Matth i eu . When he di ed , the newspapers sa id

tha t Matthieu had saved Oregon to the United State s .

Now you cannot save a man from drowning i f he i s on dry

land and doesn ’ t ne ed saving . A man cannot b e saved

from be ing run ove r by an automob i le i f the re i sn ’ t one

within a thousand m i le s o f h im . Ne i the r could a m an“ s ave Oregon ” when the section in whi ch he l ived , and

where the government was fo rmed , was a cknowledged by

Grea t B ri ta in to b e American .

I t i s a lso sa id o f Dr . Whitman , the mi ss iona ry , that he

saved Oregon ” when he cro ssed the cont inent in winte r ,i n a wi ld , dar ing r ide , to the Atlanti c coa st . No one eve r

took the t roubl e to go to Grea t B rita in and find out j us t

the truth o f th i s ; o r , i f someone did , they did not tell o f

the state papers found there .

Thi s i s the re a l truth o f the Whitman-saved-Oregon

sto ry. Dr. Whitman was a rea l Ameri can , ea rne st , enthu

siastic, and he wanted the b eauti ful Oregon country to b e

Ameri can , and he sa id the Ameri cans had the b est cla im to

i t . They did have the bette r cla im to the south ; Grea t

B ri ta in had the b ette r cla im to the north . Yet a l l the

country wa s ca ll ed Oregon .

The Indi ans had been unruly in ea ste rn Washington ,where the Whitman mi ss ion wa s ; and the m i ss i ona r i e s had

[ 1 54 ]

WHO OWNED THE OREGON COUNTRY ”!

themselve s been qua rre l ing a l i ttle . The Boa rd in the ea st

o rdered the mi ss ion clo sed . Now Dr . Whitman thought

i f h e cou ld on ly keep hi s m i s s ion , he could make Chr i st i an s

o f those Indi ans . Bes ide s , the m i s s ion wa s a great help

to the immigrants . Dr. Whitman thought Oregon b e

longed to America , and did not know tha t Grea t B r i ta in

cla imed only pa rt o f i t . So he rode e a st one winte r ,th rough te rr ib l e sto rms— rode cle a r a cro s s the mounta in s

and pla in s to St. Lou i s to save h i s m i ss ion . I t was a

da r ing th ing to do . Then he went on to Washington .

But Whitman ta lked Oregon to everyone he met . He

was intense ly inte re sted in having the country Ameri can .

He ta lked to the Secreta ry o f S tate a t Washington , Dan

iel Webste r , so i t i s s a id . Becau se he i s sa id to have don e“ s aved Oregon , because theyth i s , many people th ink he

say Webste r wa s go ing to trade off Oregon fo r fi sh ing

r ights a round Nova Scoti a , on the Atlant i c coa st .

Now in London the re a re lette r s from the B r i ti sh m in

i ster whi ch show th i s wa s not so . Thi s i s what Secreta ry

Webste r did have in m ind

The United Sta te s needed a good ha rbo r on the Pacifi c

coa st, so that when i t wa s po ss ib l e to ca r ry on a l a rger

trade with As i a , sh ip s could come and go ea s i ly . Ship s

could no t ente r and p as s out r eadi ly from the Columb i a

R ive r , becau se in that day they were a l l s a i l ing ship s , a t

the mercy o f wind and t ide , and b ecause o f tha t te rr ibl e

ba r at the mouth o f the Columbi a . I f Grea t B r ita in took

the country no rth o f the Columb i a— and she had a good

r ight to much o f it— the Puget Sound ha rbo rs would b e

[ 155 ]


long to her . Cal i fo rn i a a t that t ime belonged to Mexi co ,and San Franci sco wa s a Mexican harbo r . So where would

Ameri ca find a good harbo r !

Secre ta ry Webste r d id tel l th e Engl i sh tha t he might

give up a l l cl a im to the country no rth o f the Columb i a ifhe could make some a rrangement with Mex ico so tha t

i t would sel l the ha rbo r o f San Franci sco to Ameri ca .

He sa id th i s in 1 84 2 . Now he a l so sa id i t aga in in 1 843 ,

a fte r Whitman had been to Washington . And th i s shows

tha t Whitman had ve ry l i ttl e influence . Webste r d id

not try to push the a rrangement then , b ecau se he exp ected

to go to G reat B ri ta in a s m in i ste r , o r perhap s on a spec i a l

emba ssy . But the war with Mex ico b roke out , and

Cal i fo rn i a b ecame Amer ican . Then in the trea ty o f

1 846 with Ameri ca , Grea t B r i ta in put the bounda ry a t

the fo rty-n inth p a ral lel , j u st a s i t wa s fo r a long di stance

ea st o f the Rocki e s,and so America ha s many good ha r

bo rs on the weste rn co a st : San Franci sco , Seattl e , Tacoma ,Bell ingham , and others , be s ide s the Columb i a Rive r ha r

bor s , e spec i a lly Po rtland .

All the country that wa s eve r rea lly in d i spute between

G reat B r ita in and America was that s ect ion which i s the

western hal f o f the state o f Washington— tha t section

no rth and west o f the Columb i a R ive r . No othe r pa rt o f

the Oregon country wa s eve r rea l ly d i sputed .

I t i s true that in 1 845 the country shouted Fi fty- fou r

fo rty o r fig ht !” which meant tha t American s cla imed a l l

the country almo st to S i tka , then Russ ian Ameri ca . But

yea rs be fo re , Amer i ca had sa id ove r and ove r aga in

[ 1 56 ]


that she would be contented with the l ine o f the fo rty -ninth

pa ra ll e l , and tha t cry was merely pol i t i ca l .

Now to go back to the p rovi s iona l government in the

Wi llamette Va l l ey , in 1 843 .

Dr . M cLoug hlin wrote to the Hudson’ s B ay Company

a t London that i t wa s a ve ry wi se step and he was glad

th e Amer i cans had taken i t , because i t would keep o rde r .

There we re many rough men in the Oregon country , and

the docto r had trouble with them . Three o f them came

on the company’ s l and one day , with su rveyo rs’ cha ins , and

to ld h im tha t the fo rt wa s on Ameri can so i l ; that they had

a s good right the re a s he . They mea su red off some land ,put a few logs togethe r a s a rough hut , and po sted a noti ce

s aying tha t i t was the i r cla im . Thi s was so lawles s that

the Ameri cans themselve s took the s ide o f the B riti sh com

pany and o rdered the men to keep away from the lands

and fo rt o f the Hudson ’ s B ay Company . Yet it made

ha rd feel ing among the rougher cla s s .

Forty o f these roughe r men planned to dr ive all the

white men ou t o f the va lley who had Indi an wives . Most

o f these men we re French-Canadi an , but some were Ameri

can . The French-Canadians had been there many yea rs ;the i r lands we re wel l cul tivated , and the i r cab ins good . I t

wou ld be an easy way fo r l awles s men to get a good cab in

and fa rm . The French-Canadi ans , who were pa rt Indian ,got the i r guns ready , and so did many o f the Americans

who had Indi an wive s . But the bette r element re fused to

j o in the se law-breake rs ; the re were not enough o f them to

[ 1 58 ]


fo rce the squaw-men out , and so the plo t fel l through .

Others , aga in , p lanned to burn Fo rt Vancouver , so a s to

dr ive the B ri ti sh off“ Ameri can so i l . ” But the ownersh ip

o f the land no rth o f the Co lumb ia had not been settled by

the gove rnments . I f the Ameri can Gove rnment had sa id ,unde r that j o int-occupancy treaty

,that the B r it i sh had a s

much r ight to settl e the re as Amer i can s , why should Ameri

c an c it i z en s obj ect !

There were two hundred men working a t the fo rt

French-Canadian ha l f-b reeds , farm hands and canoem en,

with Indi an help e r s , and e ight o r ten offi cers , who were

Sco tch o r Engl i sh . I t would b e ha rd to de fend the fo rt ,b ecaus e i t would be ha rd to keep sentinel s on duty . Men

could not do fa rm work al l day and be sentin el s at n ight .

I t would b e ea sy to bu rn the fo rt , with i ts wooden wall s

and i ts wooden bu i ldings , and i t s few men— a s compa red

with the numbe r o f settle rs— and Dr . M cLoug hlin knew

it . Yea r a fte r ye a r , a s the immigrants had come in , from

tha t fo rt had come kindnes s and help . From Fo rt Van

couve r had come s eeds and cattl e and plows , flou r and

cloth ing and axes , and somet ime s even medic ine s . Yet

some men would bu rn i t b ecau se i t wa s B rit i sh .

Dr . M cLoug hl in thought the wi se st th ing to do wa s to

s end fo r B r it i sh help , but not to Show fea r . There fo re

no sentin el s were set, no change made i n th e l i fe a t the

fo rt , a lthough every ofli cer was constantly on the a lert.

The B r it i sh v ice- consu l a t the Sandwich I slands wa s a sked

to s end a ship to p rotect the fo rt .

In 1 84 5 the sh ip came , a small , fou rth-cla s s ship-of-war .


She had a crew o f one hundred and fi fteen ; she had

a lso on boa rd seventeen ma rine s and th i rteen boys who

were unde r s ixteen . No one today would th ink tha t very

much o f a wa rship . There w e re thousands o f men and

boys in the Willamette Valley . But the p re sence o f the

sh ip rem inded the roughe r cl a s s o f American s that Grea t

B r ita in d id have some r ight,unti l the bounda ry was settled ,

to trading posts no rth o f the r ive r .

The pre sence o f the sh ip added some fun to l i fe in the

val ley. Dance s were given on sh ipboa rd and the Ameri

cans invited . Sometimes the Ameri cans gave dances i n

the b igge st ba rn they could find , and invi ted the sh ip’ s

offi ce rs . The th i rteen boys wandered about on sho re when

on sho re- l e ave , and made fr i ends with the Ameri can boys

o f the i r own age . I t wa s the hab i t,i n old t imes , fo r B r it

i sh gentlemen to send the i r boys aboa rd on a wa rsh ip ,pa rtly to see the world , pa rtly fo r the t ra in ing, and o ften

becau se many o f them were to b e nava l o ffi ce rs in the

futu re . I t wa s a very p racti ca l school and the re wa s an

actua l school on shipboa rd . The boys were a ll o f good

fami l i e s .

50 fo r a yea r and hal f,even a fte r the bounda ry wa s

final ly settl ed , the M odeste stayed in the r ive r , ancho red

nea r Fo rt Vancouve r. When the king o r the queen had a

b i rthday , the ship’ s cannon boomed out it s s a lute . The

cra sh o f the guns echoed among the dens e fo re sts and

acro s s the blue r ive r . I t wa s a B r it i sh s a lute to a B rit i sh

government. When the Fourth o f July came , Ameri can

boys and men planted powde r in the stumps o f the great

[ 160 ]


tri ed to find a tra i l ove r the mounta ins . They did find one

l a te r .

Why did Great B r ita in agree to the bounda ry o f the

fo rty-n inth pa ra l lel , when she had really a good r ight to a

mo re southe rn one !

These a re the rea sons : Grea t B ri ta in and America

had had two wa rs . The fi rs t , the Ameri can s won ; that

was the Revolut ion . In the second , the Wa r o f 1 8 1 2 ,

nothing wa s really settled ; but a fte r fou r yea rs the two

countr i e s agreed to s top fighting. The Americans we re

b itte r aga inst the mothe r country. But G re at B r ita in sa id ,i n a roundabout way : “ Ameri ca and Great B r ita in a re

rea lly one people . We have had two wa rs with Amer ica ,

and we want he r fr i endship . Thi s b it o f country , covered

wi th fo re s ts , i s no t wo rth fighting about . Let America

have the boundary l ine she wants .”

I f you stop to th ink o f i t , Gre a t B r i ta in and America

have the s ame language ; almost the same l aws ; the same

l i te ratu re ; and one cannot understand Ameri can h i sto ry

without s tudying Engl i sh h i sto ry. Thi s i s becau se Ameri ca

was an Engl i sh colony fo r a hundred and fi fty yea rs , and

b ecause so many Ameri can s— that i s , the i r ancesto rs

came from England .

Why did Grea t B ri ta in say , This b i t o f country i s no t

worth fighting fo r ” !

There i s an interest ing sto ry , whi ch some people b e

l i eve,about a Capta in Go rdon , o f the B rit i sh sh ip Am erica

,

who was s ent by the B riti sh Government to repo rt on

Oregon . The sto ry says that capta in came into the

[ 1 62 ]


Stra i ts o f San Juan de Fuca ea rly i n June , 1 845 . He was

very fond o f shooting and fi sh ing ; but the sa lmon woul d

not r i s e to h i s fly , and the dee r ran into th ickets whe re he

could not get a t them . There fo re he was di sg usted , so the

sto ry goes,and sa id to an o ffi ce r o f the Hudson ’ s B ay

Company,I would no t give the bleakest moo r in Sco t

land fo r a l l th i s country I se e about me .” There fo re , i t

i s s a id,he repo rted to the B ri ti sh government tha t the

Oregon country was not wo rth fighting fo r .

Now , i n truth , Capta in Gordon came into the Stra its in

Septembe r , 1 845 , and there is eve ry re a son to bel i eve he

s ent a confidenti a l repo rt to G rea t B r ita in s aying tha t the

countrV was not wo rth fighting fo r ; but no t b e cau se the

fi sh ing and hunting were poo r . He had tha t op in ion long

be fo re he came into the Oregon country . And many

Ameri can s thought the s am e th ing.

Many peopl e , you wi l l remembe r , hea r ing o f the fe rti l e

va lley o f the Co lumb i a— it re a lly wa s the Willamette

with i ts be auti ful , mild cl imate and i ts fr i endly fa rm ing

l ands , went acro s s the pla in s to the Oregon country .

Imagine the i r su rp r i s e when they found the vall ey o f the

Columb i a cove red with dense fo re sts o f eno rmous t re e s ;the fr i endly fa rm ing lands in the Willamette , i n the Tuala

t in , the Clackamus , and other adj o in ing va lleys , a l l taken

up , except sections a t a grea t d i s tance o r o f a poo r so i l .

And the beauti ful , mild cl imate ! Why , i t ra ined al l win

te r— a l ight , so ft ra in , with low gray skies and endle s s

m i sts , and dampne ss which penetra ted the t iny log cab in s

and everything i n them . These p eop le loved the sunshine .

163 ]


They had expected to find fe rt i l e p ra i r i e s where they could

ea s i ly fa rm in a warm , b r ight , plea sant country .

So they went on . Di sappo inted , they went to the Sand

wi ch I slands and down to Cal i fo rn i a . Sometimes they

pa ssed d i rectly through,without stopp ing in Oregon at a l l ;

sometime s they stayed there a winte r , and sa id the cl imate

was“ awful ! ”

Now the Sandwich I sl ands in tho se days were a regul a r

center o f go ss ip . All the sh ip s p a s s ing from Boston and

New York to China stopped a t the Sandwich I sl ands fo r

masts fo r wood and wate r fo r fresh vegetabl e s fo r san

dalwood and fru its ; sometimes they were there fo r two

o r thre e weeks . These sh ip s s eldom came to Oregon o r

Cal i fo rn i a . Cal i fo rn i a b elonged to Mexi co , and the laws

were so trouble some they d id not t rade the re . Other

whal ing sh ip s from the no rth went to the I sl ands fo r sup

pl i e s . The B ri ti sh men-of-war had the i r h eadqua rte rs

the re . A Briti sh consu l l ived there , and rece ived regula r

d i spatche s from England ; the American consul there re

ceived di sp atche s from Ameri ca . Hudson ’ s B ay Company

ship s from Oregon took lumbe r the re . All sh ip s cente red

there , and al l cl a s se s o f men met the re . Sometimes there

we re five o r s ix hundred ship s stopp ing a t the i sl ands

with in a few months . There fo re a ll the n ews go ing was

to b e hea rd in the Sandwich I slands . We call them the

Hawa i i an I slands now .

Now in th ese sunny I sl ands the B r it i sh offi ce rs o f the

wa r ship s , di scu ss ing Oregon— everyone di scu s sed Oregon ,i n tho s e days , a l l a long the co a st— hea rd o f the dampness

[ 1 64 ]

not worth a war. And the sma l l s ecti on a ctua l ly in d i s

pute re a lly was no t worth a wa r— no t under any c i rcumstance s .

The treaty wa s s igned in June , 1 846.

One can be g lad that i t wa s s ettled p l ea santly. The

fri endsh ip b etween Ameri ca and Grea t B r i ta in today 18

ve ry clo se , a s i t should b e ; and we may a l l b e glad that

Great B ri ta in gave up hal f a sta te , to whi ch she had

a s good a right a s we , rathe r than a rouse hatred tha t

a lways fo llows a

[ 166 ]

CHAPTER XVI I

THROUGH THE NACHE S S PAS S

N early days a l l em igrants , a fte r cro ss ing the pla in s and

the mounta in s to Fo rt Walla Wall a , went down the

Columb i a R iver to the Willamette Va lley , by tra i l o r by

boa t. At fi rst no s ettlements a t a l l were made anywhe re

el s e than in the Willamette Va l l ey and the adj o in ing val

leys , such a s the Clackam us and the Tual atin .

The fi rst settle rs in the Puget Sound country went the re

in 1 84 5 . Michael S immons , a rough though honest man ,was one o f them ; and Geo rge Bush , a mulatto , was an

othe r. There were only a hal f-do z en a l togethe r. Emi

grants had not gone no rth b e fo re that b ecau se th e B ri t i sh

exp ected to b e given the country no rth o f the Columb i a ,and they d id no t encou rage emigration the re . Two other

Important re a sons we re , tha t the re wa s no fa rming country

op en to s ettlement no rth o f the r ive r , and the Indi ans were

wi lder , so the re wa s mo re dange r . North o f the Colum

b i a , except the l ands u s ed by the Hudson ’ s Bay Company

fo r thei r fa rming , there we re only dense fo rests . Lum

ber ing and fi sh ing were the only po s s ib le ways open to

emigrants o f e a rn ing money .

When the bounda ry l ine wa s settl ed , howeve r , in 1 846 ,

the Columb i a R ive r wa s not the divid ing l ine . Most o f

[ 167 ]


the Puget Sound country was given to Ameri ca . The di s

covery o f go ld in Cal i fo rn i a made t imbe r and p i le s and

sh ingl e s neces sa ry , and settl e r s b egan to log-off the lands

a round Puget Sound . They wrote e a st to the i r f r i ends o f

the pl eas ant cl imate and the b eauti ful country and the

great tra cts o f land to b e had fo r the taking . Many

emigrants fo r the Puget Sound country , the re fo re , came

a cro s s the pla in s to Fo rt Vancouve r , then up the Cowl itz

R ive r and ove r the o ld Cowli tz tra i l to Olymp i a .

There had long been a rumo r o f a good Indi an tra il

from Fort Walla Walla a cro ss the Cascade Mounta ins to

Puget Sound . I f thi s wa s t rue i t would save much tim e

and travel , fo r em igrants could cro s s the mounta in s from

the Yakima Val ley and s ave perhap s two hundred mi le s o r

more . In 1 853 , word was sent to imm igrants , even befo re

they re ached the Blu e Mounta in s o f Oregon , tha t a ro ad

had been cut through the fo re sts o f the Ca scade Moun

ta ins,and that i t would b e e a s i e r fo r them to reach the

Sound by the old Indi an tra i l and the new road than by

way o f Fo rt Vancouver . So many travele rs o f that ye a r

tr i ed to re ach the Sound country di r ect by the route

through the Nache ss Pa ss .

One summer n ight a pa rty wa s camp ing i n the Grande

Ronde, that“ Grea t C i rcle,

” in the Blue Mounta in s .

The broad , gra ssy va l ley wa s twenty m ile s acro s s , walled

by high mounta ins . Through the green Va ll ey ran

stre ams o f i ce- cold water , del ic iou s a fte r the dust o f

the wate rle s s l ava pla in s . Many tal l tree s grew there,

though the fo re st was not dense . Wild-fl owers glowed

[ 168 ]


buy something . And what do you suppo se they wanted !

That b lueeyed , ye l low-ha i red baby ! The famous chi e f

h ad watched Geo rge play with he r so tha t he m ight know

how to do i t a fter he had bought he r .

Baby ’ s mothe r s a id “No !

” Not fo r hundreds o f

ponies would She se ll he r b aby gi rl . And the great ch i e f

who had come to get he r rode so rrowfu l ly away , str iking

h i s chest and saying , My hea rt i s ve ry s i ck .

”

As soon a s b reakfa st wa s ove r that morn ing, the p ro

ce ss i on o f wagons sta rted on aga in . There we re th i rty- s ix

o f them , and one hundred and fo rty-five persons , inc luding

the l ittl e ch i ldren . They le ft the Grande Ronde , pas sed

on by Fort Walla Walla , and sta rted fo r Puget Sound by

th i s new road ove r the mounta ins . The yea r wa s 1 853 .

Fi rst they had to cro s s the Columb ia R ive r . There was

no boat there to u s e a s a ferry . I t took fou r days to saw

pl anks out o f dr i ftwood , j u st to make a c lumsy ra ft to get

a cro ss the r ive r .

Once acro s s that r ive r , the p roce s s ion o f p ra i r i e

s chooners went no rth to the Yakima Va l ley , fo l lowing the

Yakima R iver up through that va l ley where Alexander

Ro s s had traded fo r ho rs e s with the Indi an s th i rty-five

yea rs be fo re . The r ive r banks were h ighe r , sometimes

on one s ide and sometimes on another , so they had to

c ro s s the r ive r e ight t ime s to keep a s much a s po ss ib le on

fa i rly level ground .

Then the travel e r s came to the Naches s R ive r , a s i t

wound and twi sted through the mounta ins— and how

many times do you think they cro ssed that ! S ixty-e ight

[ 1 70 ]

THROUGH THE NACHESS PASS

times . One dr ive r cut a notch in h i s whip-hand le every

time they cro ssed . Others counted up to fi fty and then

lo st count . Somet imes , in stead even o f cro ss ing stra ight

over , they had to dr ive up the r iver b ed , with the oxen

s tumb l ing about in the loo se stone s and p lunging now and

then into deepe r wate r— travel up the r ive r fo r a m i le

befo re they could find a bank low enough to a l low them

to land . Where the wate r wa s high , i t came into the

wagon box and th ings got wet.

B es ide s cro ss ing tha t r ive r so many t imes , they had to

trave l through sageb ru sh a s h igh a s the wagon . The oxen

had to cru sh i t down be fo re they could pa s s th rough i t .

The wo rst o f i t wa s tha t the poo r b ea sts had a lmost

noth ing to e at . Fo r fi fty mi l e s on the ea s t s ide o f the

mounta ins the re wa s no gra s s— noth ing but the t ip s o f

a lde r and maple t rees a long the r iver b ank . Both the

oxen and the p eopl e we re wo rn ou t by the t ime they

reached the fo re s t.

I f these immigrants had been fu r trader s with pa ck

ho rse s , and with no women o r chi ldren , th e p roblem wou ld

have b een much ea s i e r than i t was . The tra i l rea l ly wa s

wel l known and much u sed by the Indians . But i t i s one

th ing to go through such a country with pack ponies,how

eve r heavi ly l aden , and qu i te another to drive oxen pull ing

the i r heavy , cumbersome wagons , with fou r great c lumsy

wheel s . An Ind i an pony cou ld travel fo rty m i l e s o r more

whi le such a wagon was go ing fou r.

When the s e immigrants re ached the dense fo rests o f

the Ca scade Mounta ins , wo rds cannot tel l the i r ha rdship s .

[ 1 7 1 ]


They l ea rned a fte rwa rds that settl e rs on Puget Sound had

sent out men to cu t the tree s and clea r a road through the

fo rest . Indi ans,howeve r , told these men , befo re they

had done much work,that the white people had gone

down the Columb i a , on the u sua l route . So the road

make rs shoulde red the i r axe s and went home .

Many immigrants had indeed tha t summer gone down

the Columbi a ; but these th i rty- s ix wagons had not.

These poo r p eople could not go b ack . They could not

travel aga in down the Naches s Valley and the Yakima

with the i r sta rved oxen . The oxen would have died on the

way , and p rob ably many o f the p eople a l so . At best , i t

would b e full winte r b e fo re any o f them could reach Fort

Vancouve r . There was nothing to do but cut the i r way

through that fo re st.

Every man , woman , and child had to help in that awful

road-making. The stronge r men went ahead with axe s

and cut down the tree s ; others pulled the smal ler trunks ,when cut down , to one s ide , o r chopped a pa ssage through

the la rge r one s . Tree s whi ch had fa llen yea rs be fo re ,and which blocked the fo re st i n eve ry d i rect ion , had to b e

cut through o r clea red away. Then the women and ch i l

d ren came a fter , hacking away at the unde rgrowth and

the sapl ings , and pull ing the l ighte r rubb i sh out o f the

way . Hungry and ragged , ba re footed and almost naked ,the l i ttle ch i ldren , with the i r hatchets , hacked away at the

underb rush .

I t wa s fea r ful wo rk . The t ree s we re l a rge , and even

the stumps le ft by the choppers were a lmost too h igh to

[ 1 72 ]


and e ighty fee t long . He had co i led i t unde r the wagon

box when he left the Mi s sou ri R ive r , not knowing when

o r whe re i t m ight be needed . Now when i t wa s so badly

needed , he drew out the staple s that fa stened i t . Yet when

a man took one end o f i t and sl id down the h il l to see i f

i t was long enough , they saw i t wa s too sho rt .

One o f the immigrants , James By le s , sa id :

Ki l l one o f the poo re st o f my oxen . Make a rope o f

h i s h ide , and fa sten i t to the end o f th i s rope.

”

They d id so . Yet the rope wa s sti ll too sho rt. They

ki l led anothe r ox , and anothe r , and sti l l anothe r. Four

oxen they ki l l ed in a l l , cutt ing the green h ide into strip s ,knott ing the ends togethe r , and fa stening a l l to the end o f

the rop e . At la st the re was enough .

1

In getting down the wagons , great ca re had to b e taken .

All the oxen but one pa i r we re taken off the fo remost

wagon . One end o f the rop e wa s t ied to the h ind wheel

the rop e twi sted a round a nea r by tree and pa i d out

s lowly , to p revent the wagon from plunging“

down the hi l l .

The oxen put the i r fee t togethe r and s l i d down the b luff

on the i r haunches— it was too steep to go down any othe r

way . The wagon was held from cra sh ing down upon them

by the rope . Afte r they got to the end o f the rope,the

wheel s o f the wag on were rough- locked ”; then smal l

t rees , with the b ranches sti ll on , were cu t down and fa s

1 Th is ox -h ide rope story is d isputed b y a few of the o ld p ioneers .

Those w ith the b est m em ories , however, rem em b er the inc identc learl y ; and it is vouched for by Mr. Geo rge H . H im es , as s istant

secretary o f the Oregon H istorical A s soc iation, who,inc idental l y , is

the b oy Georg e m entioned in this chapter.

[ 1 74 ]

THROUGH THE NACHESS PASS

tened to the rea r wheel s . These acted a s a drag and the

b ranche s increa s ed the re s i stance . 50 the oxen dragged

the wagon down a qua rter o f a m ile fa rther to the foot o f

the h il l,where camp was made fo r the n ight.

Each wagon had to go down in tha t way , and i t was

slow,s low work . Two wagons were wrecked , and some

p rovi s i on s lo st . The wreck o f the wagons wa s not so

s e r iou s , but the lo s s o f the food was .

Afte r reach ing the bottom o f th i s h i l l , the immigrants

were a lmost a t the foo t o f the Ca scade Mounta in s . Yet

they were sti l l a long di stance , with such teams a s thei r s

were then , from Puget Sound . The oxen were un fa sten ed

and driven fo rwa rd to a p ra i r i e , a fte rwa rds known a s

Connel l ’ s p ra i r i e , to feed . They were too weak to pull

anyth ing. The men stayed with the oxen . The women

and chi ldren stayed with the wagon s in the fo rest . A few

days l a te r the oxen were b rought back and h i tched to the

wagons , bu t they we re st i l l ve ry weak . So eve ryone

wa lked .

By thi s t ime , th ings were de spe rate . The food had

given out and the traveler s we re a lmost s ta rved . M en

were s ent ahead on ho rseback to a sk the s ett le rs a round

Puget Sound to s end them food . But no one knew whether

the mes senge rs would - reach the sett le rs , o r whethe r help

could come . The messenge rs m ight even b e lo s t in the

fo re st.

The ho rse s and oxen b elonging to G eo rge ’ s fa the r we re

so worn ou t he decided to stay with them on the pra i r i e s

fo r a few days . Even had he gone back with them,

- the

[ 1 75 ]


fam ily would have had to walk , j u st a s eve ryone d id . So

ten-yea r-old George wa s le ft to take ca re o f hi s mothe r ,the baby s i ste r , a l i ttl e s i ste r o f seven , and a small b rother

o f three . Eating a few berr i e s on the way , a s they could

find them , the travele rs sta rted on foot fo r Connel l’ s

p ra i r i e . George sometimes ca rr i ed the baby , sometimes

loaded h i s l i ttl e b ro the r on h i s b ack,whi l e the mothe r

ca rr i ed the baby , and the s even-yea r-old s i ste r kept clo se

by .

One a fternoon they came to the White R ive r . I t wa s

too deep to fo rd , so the teams had to go down stream a

m i le to find a fo rd . One o f the men cut down a tree to

s erve a s a br idge . I t wa s so l a rge a tre e tha t i t c ro s sed

the r ive r , but a t the fa rthe r end the tip wa s pa rtly under

wate r and the cu rrent made i t sway .

When they came to that tre e-br idge , eve ryone wa s

ahead o f Geo rge and h i s mothe r and the chi ldren . The

mothe r sa id she must re st ; so George took the l i ttl e s i ste r

a cro s s on the log , se t her down in the bu she s , and came

back fo r h i s b rothe r . With tho se two sa fely a cro s s , he

took the baby over and le ft he r with the othe r chi ldren .

Then he went b ack aga in fo r hi s mothe r.

George took h i s mother ’ s hand and help ed he r ove r,

but she was ve ry t i red . When she r ea ched the fa rther end

o f the log , where i t swayed in the cu rrent , She lo st he r ba l

ance and fel l into the r ive r . George qu ick ly caught a t

some bushe s with one hand and hi s mothe r’ s dres s wi th

the othe r . He held he r unti l she could cl imb up on the log

aga in . She wrung out her wet ski rts and they went on

[ 1 76 ]

CHAPTER XVII I

THE BEGINN INGS OF C ITIE S

HILE San Franc i sco was ha rdly more than a V1!

l age , i n 1 848, a man came r id ing down the street

one day , swinging a bottl e o f yel low dust in h i s hand , and

shounng“ Gold ! Go ld ! Gold from the Ameri can R iver !

He had found gold in the sand o f tha t r iver . Soon the

n ews sp read,not only th roughout Cal i fo rn i a , but a ll ove r

the states bo rder ing on the Atlanti c . Throngs o f men

cro s sed to the gold fi e lds . Tens o f thou sands came in

1 849 , ca lled the“ Fo rty-mine r s .”

There were many cattle ranche s in Cal i fo rn i a , so bee f

was plenti ful . But the re we re few fa rmers , and p rac

t i ca lly no sto re s . The nea re s t sto re s fo r general suppl i e s

were in the Sandwich I sl ands and in the Old Oregon coun

try . Lumber , needed fo r m in ing , could b e found only

a long the north Pacifi c co a st .

One day , i n 1 848, a sh ip ente red the Wi l lamette R ive r.

The capta in was rather S i l ent a s to h i s bus ine ss , but the

settl e r s noti ced tha t he bought many shovel s and p i cks .

He also bought grea t quanti t ies o f flou r and wheat,o f

sa lmon and othe r fi sh . He asked fo r pota to es . The set

tlers began to qu i z h im . Then he to ld them that gold had

[ 1 78 ]

AM ER I CA N P ION E E R CAB I N

From an old print

OR EGON C ITY I N EA RLY D AYS


Some o f the settle rs in Oregon dropped thei r fa rmingand ru shed to the go ld fi elds . Others p lowed b roade r

fields and sowed la rge r crop s , fo r p ri ce s pa i d we re high .

New immigrants ea s i ly found work help ing to load the

sh ip s , and in fa rm ing. Othe rs went to logging in the fo r

e sts , o r in the sh ingle bus ine s s . Payment was made in

gold du st .

Li ttle by l i ttl e , although many went to the go ld fie lds ,the settlements in Old Oregon grew .

Some yea rs be fo re gold wa s found , Portl and was j ust a

conven ient camping pla ce between Oregon C ity and Fort

Vancouve r . Late r , fo r the conven i ence o f pa sse rs-by , a

log cab in wa s bu i lt the re . Afte r a whi l e the re were sev

e ra l log cab in s , and then a small s to re with a few things

fo r s a l e . Yet the pl ace had no name ; i t wa s s imply a

conven i ent camp ing p lace .

Two m en who had cla im s the re decided one day to

name th i s camp ing pla ce . One man came from Po rtland ,Maine ; the othe r from Boston , Massachu setts . Each

wanted to name i t fo r h i s home city . At la st they agreed

to to s s up a co in— “Heads , Portland ; ta i l s , Bo ston .

Heads won, so the l i ttl e hamlet was ca lled Po rtland .

Many p eopl e have thought that Multnomah , the Indi an

name,would have b een bette r.

Portland , b eginning with its few log cab in s and a sma l l

sto re,grew rap idly . I t wa s nea rer the Columb i a than

Oregon C ity wa s , the wate r wa s deepe r , and lumbe r from

the hil l s a long the r ive r j u s t a s good . So i t was ea s i e r

[ 180 ]

THE BEGINNINGS OF CITIES

fo r sh ip s to l and the re . Soon a sawmil l wa s bu i l t the re .

Othe r cab in s ro se among the fi r s and sp ruces and hem

lo cks ; then othe r s to re s . San Franc i s co needed a great

many suppl i e s and a gre a t de al o f lumbe r . Many more

ship s came . In 1 84 8 , befo re gold was di scove red , only

th re e o r fou r ve ss el s ente red the r ive r during the whol e

yea r . In 1 850 , ther e were fi fty sh ip s .

So the hamlet b ecame a vill age , and the v i l lage a town ;then the town becam e a small c i ty, and that grew to a l a rge

c i ty. Ste amboats , soon a fte r the di scove ry o f gold , began

to run reg ula rly from Po rtland down the co a st to Cal i

fornia. Othe r boats went from Portland up the r ive r to

the fert i l e l ands ea st o f the mounta in s where white men

were b eginn ing to s ettl e a long the r ive rs and to pl ant

thei r o rcha rds and fa rm s . They ca rr i ed to the se s ettler s

p lows and s eeds and othe r suppl i e s , such a s gro ce r i e s and

d re s s goods . Then ra i l roads came a cro s s the continent.

Street ca rs came , and el ectr i c l ights , l a rge facto r i e s , grea t

ofli ce bu i ld ings , and a ll the bu sy l i f e whi ch make s up a

l a rge c i ty .

The Columb i a R ive r st i l l s ends out i ts logs to countri e s

whe re the re a re few tre e s . Even today the great log

boom s a re floated down the r ive r , and then down the

co a st to Cal i fo rn ia . They a re ca re fully put togethe r,

s trongly cha in ed , and drawn by a tugboa t. Lying on the

wate r , they look a t a di stance l ike a long, broad c iga r.

I n sp i te o f ca re , howeve r , an oce an sto rm wil l somet imes

b reak one to p i ece s and scatte r the logs wi ldly up and

down the co a st , cau s ing great lo s s to the owners .

[ 1 81 ]


But good timbe r was al so to b e found on Puget Sound ,and many ship s came to the ea st co a st where Seattl e and

Tacoma and Olympi a a re . They came fo r t imbe r and

p i les and sh ingle s . Farm lands in western Washington

were very sca rce . The only po ss ib le bus ine s s fo r most o f

the settle rs was logging. That wa s the lead ing industry

fo r many yea rs— a lmost the only i ndu stry.

Men with the i r ox teams went into the fo re sts and

fe ll ed the eno rmous tre e s . They cut off the b ranches and

d ivided the long trunk into sho rte r p i ece s . Oxen hauled

the logs to some po int where they could b e pushed into the

wate r . Sp lash ! Into the wate r they went, to b e towed

down a s a boom to the nea re st m il l , where they were sawn

into boa rds ; o r p erhap s a small boom o f the l ighte r logs

was towed di rectly to the sh ip , to b e sold a s p i le s . These

smal l booms were not ra fted togethe r and cha ined a s were

the o ce an-go ing booms . They were merely enclo sed in a

c i rcle o f many logs , cha ined togethe r at the ends , and

floated down .

The fi rst sawmi ll at Seattle , bu i lt by Henry Yesle r ,began i ts work in 1 853 . Othe r m ill s soon came , more

hands fo r the mil l s , more loggers fo r the fo re sts , more

hou se s fo r the p eopl e who were working , more sto re s to

supply the i r needs . So Seattl e grew , j u st a s Portland had

done , unti l i t b ecame a l a rge c ity .

In 1 854 , a p ionee r cru i sed a round Puget Sound looking

for good fa rm land . Everywhe re th e land was densely

fo re sted , and fa rm lands ha rd to find. When he entered

[ 182 ]

TH E FALL E N MONA RCH OF THE WOODS

OC EA N -GO I NG LOG RA FT


the Puyal lup R ive r he found i t ful l o f logs which were

be ing floated down to the Sound . A littl e fa rthe r no rth,

on Commencement B ay , was a sawmill . Thi s m i ll wa s not

a ve ry perfect one . Through some de fect in the ma

chine ry , th e bo a rds we re a lways th icke r a t one end than

the othe r ; o r somet imes they were th icke r in the m iddle .

But tha t s awmi l l was the fi rst bu ild ing on the spot now

occup i ed by the c i ty o f Tacoma , a lthough the rea l b egin

n ing o f the c i ty wa s no t made unti l mo re than ten yea r s

late r.

On Bell ingham Bay , i n that s ame yea r , 1 854 , two men

were logging. One n ight a ha rd sto rm blew down a great

fi r tre e and the roots were up tu rn ed on the ea rth . R ight

unde rneath that tre e wa s a ve in o f co a l which could b e

pla in ly se en when the tree wa s uprooted . That wa s the

beginn ing o f B ell ingham , fo r coa l was needed on the

Sound and the Columb i a R ive r , and immedi ately m ine rs

went the re to m ine i t . Sh ip s went the re to lo ad i t ; hou se s

had to b e bu i lt fo r the m ine rs , and wharve s fo r the sh ip s .

Sto re s were bu i lt the re , because the needs o f the m ine r s

and the i r fam i l i e s must b e suppl i ed . Late r on fi sh were

caught in va st numbe rs , sal ted , and shipped ; then can

me r is s were bu i l t. So Bell ingham grew into a c ity. At

fi rst the re we re two towns , clo s e to each othe r , one named

Fa i rhaven, the other Whatcom . These grew togethe r and

were made one c ity , now call ed B ell ingham .

Ea st o f the Ca scade mounta ins , the country wa s not

a ttra ctive to the immigrants . They reached i t a fte r

[ 183 ]


month s o f ha rdsh ip . I t wa s dry and dusty , covered with

s and and s ageb rush ; th e sun was sco rch ing hot , there was

no wate r , and they, t i red and worn a s they were , ca l led

i t a dese rt. They were s eeking the fert i l e va l leys and the

green fo re sts o f the co a st .

Dr . Whitman had di scovered very e a rly tha t , with

wate r , del i c iou s fru i ts and vegetable s would grow in that

drea ry-looking sand . We know now tha t i t i s no t rea l

s and , but a l ava - so i l . Along the Walla Walla R iver , the

Touchet , and othe r s treams , l a te r settl e rs bu i lt thei r log

cab ins , ch i efly at fi rs t to ente r into trade with the pa s s ing

immigrants . Late r gold was di scove red a t Fort Colvi l le ,and a t once m ine rs ru shed into the Colvi ll e Vall ey from

the Willamette and some even from Cal i fo rn i a . Othe r

m ine s were d i scove red . The number o f travel e rs in

c rea sed , and so hou s e s had to be bu i l t— p ionee r hotel s

they were , a lthough only log cab in s— fo r these m iners .

Vegetable s we re ra i s ed , and fru its . Cattl e throve on the

ju i cy gra s s o f the Pla ins o f the Columb i a . I t was a coun

try where ho rse s l ived in va st numbers , fo r the wealth o f

the ho rs e Indi ans was i n the i r pon i e s . G radua l ly the

country became mo re and more settled , and though the

grea t Yakima war o f 1 856- 1 857 put an end to its s ettl e

ment fo r a whi l e , a fte r the Indian s b ecame qu i e t aga in

white fa rme r s flocked into i t . Now the apple s o f th e

Yakima Valley and the Wenatchee Valley a re known a ll

ove r the world , a s a l so the fru i t o f the Hood River Val

ley . I t i s a wealthy fa rm ing country .

The i rr igation cana l s o f the Government have made

[ 184 ]


Fall s in 1 846 and bu i l t a m il l a t the fa ll s , s eve ral m i l e s

from Puget Sound . But i t was a bothe r to haul the i r

suppl i e s e i the r from the Sound o r overland from the

Columbi a to Tumwate r , so i t was not long be fo re seve ra l

cab in s were bu i lt a t the mouth o f the l i tt l e stream on

Puget Sound , where they could get the i r suppl i e s o f cloth

ing and suga r and flou r di rect f rom the pa s s ing sh ip s .

Soon the re wa s a sto re there , and the place wa s ca l led

Newmarket. Afterwa rds , b ecau se i t wa s on the t ra i l from

the Columb i a R iver to Seattl e and the vi llage s fa rthe r

no rth , a log-cab in hote l wa s bu i lt a t Newmarket. That

made i t pos s ibl e fo r people to stay there fo r a few days ,while wa it ing fo r a Ship , o r wa i ting fo r fr i ends who were

coming to j o in them from the Columb i a R ive r , fo r many

fa rmers moved from the Columb i a and the Willamette

into the Puge t Sound country . Gradually the vi ll age grew .

The sh ipp ing wa s never exten s ive , fo r the mud fl ats we re

too b ro ad , and ship s could not go clo se to shore , a s they

could a t Seattl e and Tacoma . So Olymp ia , though the

state cap ita l , i s not yet a ve ry la rge ci ty .

When Washington became a sepa rate te rri to ry , how

eve r, in 1 853 , Olymp ia wa s the la rge st town in i t , and

very centra l ; so i t b ecame the cap i ta l .

Befo re the steam ra il ro ads came , p ionee rs u sed very

p rim itive ra i l roads , when it saved expens e in haul ing. At

fi rst the ra i l roads were s imply wooden b eams , fa stened

togethe r , and set a s fi rmly a s po ss ibl e , ove r which la rge ,heavy ca rs , with gre a t he avy wooden wheel s , could be

[ 1 86 ]


d rawn by oxen . The wood o f the ra i l s spl inte red b adly ,having no p rotect ion

,and where t in p la te o r any othe r

meta l wa s conven i ent the top s o f the ra i l s we re cove red

with the metal . Another p l an , where t in cou ld not be had ,wa s to cove r the ra i l s wi th cowhide .

Walla Walla once had such a ra i l ro ad . Walla Walla ,nea r the o ld fo rt and the o ld Whitman m i s s ion , was on

the Oregon tra i l . A few fa rmer s s ettled nea r by , ra i s ing

fru its and vegetabl es,and own ing drove s o f cattle , with

l a rge he rds o f ho rse s,which they traded with p a ss ing

immigrants . Gradua lly othe r fa rme rs came,s to re s with

suppl i e s fo r the settle rs and the immigrants , unti l a l i tt l e

town wa s bu i lt up a t that po int .

But a ll the suppl i e s fo r Wall a Wall a had to come up

the rive r from Po rtland , and the l i ttle town wa s s ix m ile s

b ack . The re fo re the settle rs bu i lt a six-mi le ra i l ro ad , so

tha t the i r plows , the i r b a rrel s o f suga r and flou r and sacks

o f coffe e , with na i l s and Shingle s , and a l l th e many othe r

th ings ne eded , might rea ch them more e a s i ly than by haul

ing them by teams . The Wal la Walla Ra i l ro ad wa s cov

e red with rawhide . One winte r , when i t wa s b itte rly

co ld , the wolve s came down from the h ighe r mounta in s

and p rowled a round the fa rms and vi llages,e at ing young

ca lve s and anyth ing they could find . So hungry were thes e

wolve s tha t they even ate the cowhide off the ra i l ro ad

tra cks , and the settle r s to ld , i n a fte r ye a rs , how the

wolve s “ ate up the ra i l ro ad .

[ 187 ]

CHAPTER X IX

EARLY ADVENTURE S IN SEATTLE

WO young men,one morn ing in Octob e r , 1 85 1 , were

cutting logs on a long po int o f land now called A lki

Po int: I t i s j us t a cro s s Ell i o t B ay from Seattle , and a

p a rt o f Wes t Seattle . I t had not even a name then , and

thes e two youths,Lee Terry and David Denny , were

enti re ly a lone . That pa rt o f Puget Sound wa s not settled

a t a ll , except fo r one o r two fa rmers who had bu i lt cab in s

on fe rt i le l ands on the Duwanish Rive r.

The fam i l ies o f the two boys had j u st come a cro ss the

pla in s to the Columb i a R ive r. Most o f the ferti l e l ands

on the,

Willamette and in the Tuala tin Valley had been

taken up , and the two boys , with Denny’ s b rothe r , had

come up from Vancouve r ove r the Cowl itz Tra i l , to

sea rch fo r l ands . Ferti l e fa rm ing land on Puget Sound

wa s ha rdly to b e found , and knowing o f the Ca l i fo rn i a

trade in lumbe r , the o lde r Denny had decided to settl e on

Alki Po int and go to logging. He had gone back to the

Columb i a to get h i s fam ily and the Terrys , who were

rela t ive s . The two boys were alone , trying to bu ild a log

cab in . One wa s n inete en,the o the r twenty-one .

Suddenly , out from the gray mi st wh ich hung over the

wate r that mo rning, came the b lack end o f an Indian cano e .

[ 188 ]


l i ttle, b itte r , red Indi an potato . But everyth ing had to b e

cooked in a s ingle t in pa i l . Thei r b re ad , mixed in the u sua l

way , o f co a rse flou r and water , with salt , was cooked on a

fl a t bo a rd befo re the op en fi re . Meat wa s ro a sted on a

sp i t , and so were fi sh, unle s s sp l i t open and cooked on a

plank .

Not long a fte r th i s l i ttle Indi an adventu re , Terry had

to go to Olymp ia . That would take severa l days , fo r he

e ithe r had to go by tra il , o r the usua l way , by Indi an

cano e , camp ing a t n ight on the b each . David Denny ,n ineteen yea rs old

,was l eft enti rely a lone a t A lki Po int

fo r thre e weeks , working a s be st he could with the heavytimbe r and getting the cab in re ady.

He wa s ti red o f the lon el ine s s , when one morn ing he

was awakened by hea ring the rattle o f the cha in o f a

sh ip ’ s ancho r . Push ing a s ide the boa rds he had set up in

the Unfini shed cab in to ke ep Indi ans and wolve s out , the

boy ran down to the beach . There he found a l i ttl e

steam erf’

the E xact,l anding h i s brother and othe r rela tive s

and the Terry fami ly .

Sh ip s were not u sual in Puget Sound a t that t ime , buf

s eve ra l go ld-s eekers had cha rter ed th i s boat to take them

to the ! ueen Cha rlotte I sl ands , and the p ion eers had

su cce eded in getting pa s sage . But i t had taken them a

week to go down the Co lumb i a R ive r from Fort Van

couve r , up the co a st , and through the Stra its o f San Juan

de Fuca to Alki Po int. The boa t wa s ove rcrowded and

everyone sea s ick , and i t had been a ha rd voyage .

So now they had reached the i r new home— th i s lonely,

[ 1 90 ]

EARLY ADVENTURES IN SEATTLE

tree-cove red po int . The sky was gray and the ra in wa s

fa ll ing . The low,gray m i st shut out the long l in e o f

snowy Olymp ics wh i ch a re so glo r iou s when the sun sh ine s .

The wate r lapp ing the b each a t the i r feet wa s gray . Life

i ts e l f se emed gray to some o f tho se lonely , homes ick

women . I t wa s so fo rlo rn some o f them sat down on logs

in the ra in on the b each and cr i ed . The men were bu sy

a t once pull ing back the baggage and ba rrel s o f sa l t po rk

to p revent the r i s ing t ide from ca rry ing i t away .

With a ll the se newcomers , the re were twenty- fou r p eo

p le— twelve ch i ldren and twelve grown people . Yet the re

wa s only th i s one t iny log cab in,

‘ and tha t unfin i shed . The

roo f wa s not yet a l l on , and there wa s no doo r . The

ra iny s ea son had begun , fo r they landed on Novembe r 1 3 ,1 85 1 . Day a fte r day ra in fel l so ftly and gently

,and

day a fte r day the gray wate rs o f Puget Sound rol led

in front o f the i r cab in and the gray m i st hung low . A

second cab in wa s b egun a t once , but i t wa s weeks b e fo re

i t wa s fin i shed . Even so , twelve peopl e in ea ch cab in wa s

fa r from be ing com fo rtab le .

The Indian s were fr i end ly , but cu r iou s . They came in

throngs , se tt ing up the i r tepe e s clo s e a round the log

cab ins . They were so inte re sted in eve ryth ing the wh ite

men did that i t wa s impo s s ibl e to ke ep them out o f the

cab ins .

The settl e r s a t l a st so lved tha t p roblem by cutt ing the

doo r in ha lve s , an uppe r ha l f and a lower ha l f . I t wa s

the styl e o f doo r u s ed by the ea rly Dutch s ettle rs a l so,i n

New Yo rk and other ea ste rn state s . I t i s u sua lly ca ll ed a

[ 1 9 1 ]


Dutch doo r . The lower ha l f was fa stened clo se to the

ground by a wooden p in ; the upper hal f wa s open fo r

l ight and a i r. The Indi an s , a fte r th i s wa s done , cou ld

stand a t the doo r and watch the white peopl e , but i t wa s

not ne a rly so e a sy to get in .

Befo re the Dutch doo rs we re u sed , the cu r io s i ty o f the

Indi an s wa s ve ry trying to the mothers .

One day a mother wa s frying some fresh fi sh at the

open fi repla ce . An Indi an wa lked in and sat down on a

stoo l by the fi re . The fragrance o f the fre sh fi sh made

h im hungry , and a fte r a few moments he put out a long ,red finger to s tea l a p iece from the pan . The mothe r

l i fted he r kn i fe qu ickly,a s though to str ike h im with the

b road s ide o f i t , and the Indi an pu shed back h i s stoo l .

Another day , a mother wa s baking some bre ad on a

boa rd in front o f the open fi re . An Indi an , s i tt ing clo se

by the fi repl ace , sta rted to poke hi s finge r into i t . She

p icked up a wooden fire- shove l , qu ickly st i rred up the hot

coa l s with i t,and then l ike a fl a sh s lapped the Indi an ha rd

on h i s b a re l egs wi th that hot shovel . Out o f the doo r ,with a ye l l , went tha t r edskin . The fr ightened mothe r

s a t down on a stoo l and wept. The Indian s were not

wa r l ike , yet she wonde red i f he would come back and

sca lp her.

B ack they did come , su re enough . She hea rd the j ab

b er ing o f a crowd o f Indians , ta lking in the i r own lan

guage,and b rave ly she stepped to the doo r . There the

red men stood,with thi s fel low in front , po inting he r out .

They did not attack he r , but she found a fte rwa rds tha t

[ 1 92 ]


to load sh ip s there . Early in the sp r ing , two o r th re e

settler s , i n a cano e p addled by Indi ans , went over to

Ell i ott B ay to sound the depth o f wate r , a s tha t s eemed

a bette r lo cat ion . With a ho rse sho e fa stened to the end

o f a cotton clothe s l ine , they sounded the b ay and found

the wate r ve ry deep , even clo se to the sho re .

The sp ring and summer o f 1 852 , there fo re , nea rly al l

the membe rs o f thes e two fam il i e s moved ove r on the

sho re o f Ell i o tt B ay , wher e Seattl e now stands . They le ft

the po int , which they had fi rst ca ll ed New York . After

they moved to the new lo cat ion , th ey call ed the old one

N ew York Alki— allei 1 be ing the Indi an wo rd fo r by-and

by . Now it i s s imply known a s Alki Po int .

The winte r a fte r the fi rst cab ins at Seattl e were bu il t ,1 852- 1 853 , one settle r bought two ba rrel s o f salt po rk

fo r fo rty-five dolla rs each , and pa id twenty dolla r s fo r a

b a rrel o f flou r . Pri ce s were very high , a s they always a re

in p i onee r countr i e s . The pork , howeve r , was hal f o f i t

lo s t to the settle r s . One ba rrel was left h igh and dry

above the tide ma rk unti l i t should b e needed , whi le the

o the r was opened fo r u se . A winte r sto rm , dr iving the

wave s high one n ight, swept away the second po rk b a rrel ,which was neve r seen aga in . A torchl ight sea rch fo r i t

,

and seve ra l days o f daylight s ea rch , fa i led to find i t . Yet

th ere was food enough at hand in the fi sh and game, and

no one suffe red .

The l i fe o f the p ionee rs was a ve ry busy one . B es ide s

the i r day ’ s wo rk in the fo re st , the men made most o f the i r

1Pronounced so that it alm ost rhym es with s i lky .

[ 1 94 ]

EARLY ADVENTURES IN SEATTLE

own fu rn itu re . They made table s , cha i rs , low stoo ls , and

bedste ads with wooden planks in stead o f with sp r ings .

But the wooden planks we re covered with b ig feathe r b eds ,so they were no t uncomfo rtable . Feathers were re adi ly

bought from the Indian s , and a few had b rought the fe athe r

beds with them ove r the pl a in s and the mounta ins . The

tables we re long, wide planks , spl i t from the tre e s . They

were hinged a t the s ide so tha t they hung down aga inst

th e wal l when not in u s e , a s the cab ins we re so small .

Small round sl abs from logs , with the b a rk peeled off ,s e rved a s stoo ls . Highe r one s were sometimes u sed at the

fi rs t , fo r cha i rs . I t wa s ju st l ike s itt ing on a smoothed

off stump tha t could b e moved about . Othe r cha i r s we r e

made from ba rre l s , with fea the r cu sh ions . Chi ldren slep t

on a very low b ed , which dur ing the daytim e wa s pushed

unde r the b ig b ed .

The fi rst l amps we-re shel l s , o r sometime s cup s , fi ll ed

with dog-fish o i l , bought from the Indi ans . A b i t o f

cotton rag s e rved a s a wick . The strongest l ight came

from the open fi repla ce .

Seattle wa s named a fte r the fr i endly Indi an ch i e f,

Seattl e . He did not want h i s name u sed a t fi rst , becau se

the Indi ans fe a r to have the i r name spoken a fte r they a re

dead . Old Sea ttl e wa s a fra id h i s sp i r i t would b e t roub led

in the Gho st-Land , becaus e he would hea r i t eve ry time

the name wa s spoken a loud . But the Amer i cans made the

kindly o ld ch i e f so many presents that he wa s wi ll ing to

take the r i sk . They to ld him , a lso , tha t i t was a ve ry

great hono r .


The fi rst po st offi ce in Seattl e wa s opened in 1 853 ; i t

was only a log cab in . The settlers had to pay twenty-five

cents fo r e a ch l ette r b rought to S eattle from Olympia ;thi s wa s in addi ti on to the postage pa id in th e b eginn ing

by the p e rson who s ent the lette r . The ma i l boat from

Olympia wa s an Indi an canoe . The trip took two days

e ach way i n summer , bu t when i t wa s s to rmy and i n

W inte r , when the Indi ans had to camp on the b each at

n ight,the tr ip took three days .

On retu rn l ette r s , the settle rs had to pay twenty-five

cents to get the l etter to Olymp ia , b es ide s the regula r

postage from Olympia to its addre s s in “ the State s .” Thi s

regula r po stage was from twenty-five to fi fty cents . R ate

o f po stage in tho se days was governed by the d i stance .

[ 1 96 ]


the sho re by the retreat ing tide the hot sun W i l ts i t down

unti l i t i s j u s t l ike a wi lted old cucumb e r , and a lmo st a s

so ft a s j e lly. There were small crab s whi ch scampered

about madly i f one ove rtu rned the middl e-s i zed stones .

There we re the o the r la rge r c rab s whi ch mothe r wa s glad

to get fo r the tabl e . I t was great fun to play on the

sho re s o f Puget Sound. Sometimes there was dange r ,howeve r .

One fam ily o f ch ildren , one b r ight sp r ing day , were

a llowed to go to the beach with the i r dog Watch . They

were not to go beyond the “ three b ig stone s .” P i cking

flowers from the edge o f the woods , watching the rol l o f

the b road stretch o f wate r , and the gl eam ing snowy peaks

a cro ss Puget Sound , the s e ch i ld ren wandered fa rthe r than

tho se stones . Two o f them climbed the b ank , nea r an old

log lying fl at on the ground , to p i ck wi ld cu rrant blo s

soms . But no sooner were the red blo s soms in the i r hands

than they noti ced the strange b ehavio r o f Watch . His

b ri stle s stood on end , fea r and rage were in h i s a ct i ons ,hi s muscle s were qu ive r ing , a s ve ry slowly he b acked

toward the ch i ldren . Frightened by the dog’ s strange

a ctions , the ch i ldren tumb led down the low bank and ran

b ack to thei r old playground along the b each , fo r they

had gone b eyond tho se three stones . A few days late r,

Indi an s a sked them to come to the i r camp , not fa r away ,and there was a coug a r about n ine fee t long which had

been ki lled nea r that o ld log beyond the stone s . I t i s no t

unl ikely that the great b ea st was hidden in the hollow log,

o r clo se b es ide i t , and the fr ightened dog had known i t.

[ 1 98 ]

THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN

The re were wi ld flowers in the woods— tr i l l iums and

rhododendrons and wild syringa , bes ide s the b right red

flower s o f the cu rrant , and many another . But ch i ldren

went ve ry l i ttle in to the da rk , coo l woods , with i ts towe r

ing grea t tre e s,because o f the wi ld an imal s whi ch might

b e there .

Waterways were the only ro ads , except the na rrow

Indian tra i l s through the dim fo re sts . So chi ldren le a rned

ea rly how to paddle and swim , and the wate rs we re fu l l

o f fi sh, j u st a s the sho re s abounded in c rab s and cl ams .

When the chi ldren fi rs t came to the Oregon Country ,they wore cloth ing o f cotton and wool . But i f tha t wo re

out , and there we re no sto re s n e a r by , how were they to

dres s ! At fi rst , you remembe r , when there wa s only an

elk skin hung in the op en doo rway , Ind i an s pushed i t a s ide

and walked in . They wanted to see how white p eopl e

l ived . Late r , when the lowe r ha l f doo r kept them out ,they leaned ove r i t , and Indi an mothers watched the white

mothe rs wa sh and i ron and sew and da rn and patch the i r

ch i ldren ’ s cloth ing. But when i t was qu ite wo rn ou t, and

patch ing did no good , the whit e mothers had to watch the

Indi ans . They saw tha t the Indi an women wo re buckski n

clo thing ; that they u sed dee r s inew instead o f th read .

And the wh ite mothe rs had to lea rn from the i r red

ne ighbo rs .

At fi rst they were not succe s s ful . I he buckski n when

wet behaved dre adfu lly. I f th e boys wer e caught in a

l i ght ra in in the woods whi l e p i cking s al a l be rr i e s o r

Oregon grap e s so tha t mothe r could make most del i c iou s

[ 199 ]

EARLYJ DAYS IN OLD OREGON

j am , o r the o lde r boys , dres sed in buckskin a l so , were

ra ined upon when cutting b ru sh in the cl ea r ing , o r logging

with the i r fa thers , the i r trou se rs would stretch unt i l the

heel s d ragged on the ground . Then , when they stood

b e fo re a fi re and dr i ed the buckskin , i t became a s ha rd and

stiff a s t in . White women lea rned a fter a whi le tha t buck

skin must b e p rop erly smoked , a s the Indi ans smoked i t ,e l se i t wa s u sel es s fo r cloth ing.

When a few sto res came , even i f the re wa s no thread ,m othe rs bought heavy canvas , and the ch ildren raveled

i t out fo r thread ; but dee r s in ew had to b e used fo r

s trong thread .

Even befo re s chool s came the days were bu sy one s , fo r

the gi rl s helped mother with the hou sework and with the

l i ttle ch i ldren,while the boys help ed in burn ing the twigs

and smal l b ranche s in the clea r ing a round the cab in , i n

cutting underb ru sh , in m ilking the cows and tending the

horses , and in al l the endle s s wo rk tha t there i s in a‘

p ioneer homestead .

At night , i f they read a t a ll , i t wa s stretched out on the

floo r be fo re the open fi repla ce , j u st a s Abraham Lincoln

had done when a boy in h i s log-cab in home on the I l l ino i s

p ra i r i e . The l amps o f dog fish o i l gave very l ittl e l ight .

But the ch i ldren , a fte r a bu sy day , were too sleepy to stay

up la te . And even a fter they went to b ed , they hea rd on ly

fo r a sho rt t ime the lonely cry o f the loon , o r perhap s the

song o f an Indi an mother nea r by , s inging to he r papoo se.

Settl e rs when they fi rst came had to put up with many

ha rdship s . Nea r the N i squal ly R iver , one fall , came a

[ z oo ]


At fi rst , Mary l ived at Mound Pra i r ie, where she u sed

to wander about with othe r children pi cking sala l b e rr i e s

a nd Oregon grap es . At fi rst they did not know whethe r

the b e rr i e s were po i sonou s o r not , so they watched the i r

p e t p ig who followed them about l ike a dog. I f the p ig

ate the b e rr i e s , the children d id .

Then Mary’ s fa the r moved out on the no rthe rn po int

of Gray ’ s Ha rbo r. She could look out through a few

tree s,and beyond see the b road wate rs o f the Pac ifi c

Ocean . Her fathe r and mothe r and b rothe r , with one o r

two hi red men , were a l l the whi te people a t that po int .

One mo rn ing Mary was help ing he r mother a round the

cab in , when , glancing out o f the doo r , he r eye caught the

fl a sh o f paddle s . She watched fo r a moment , and then

saw two long canoe s ful l o f Indi an s draw up on the beach

j u st below the cab in .

“ Mother , ca l l ed the fr ightened fou rte en -yea r-old gi rl

the Indi ans a re com ing .

”

Mother wa s an Eng l i shwoman and a ve ry b rave l ittl e

l ady. By the time she got to the cab in doo r the Indians

h ad reached i t . There were th i rty o r more o f them , b ig ,s trong men from the no rthe rn coa st , bold and da ring.

They were not a t a ll l ike the Puget Sound cano e Indian s .

These no rthe rn Indians c rowded into the l i ttle cab in,

offe ring no ha rm to Mary and her mother , but p icking up

everyth ing they saw , handl ing everything, cu r iou s about

eve rything.

Afte r a whi l e,one o f the Indi ans , u s ing the Chinook

j a rgon , a sked where the men were . Mrs . James answe red

[ 202 ]

THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN

ca re le s sly ,“ Oh

,they a re ju st outs ide . They will b e here

i n a few minute s .

But she knew , even a s she spoke , tha t Mr . James wa s

six mile s away , with the men , cutting hay i n a meadow .

There wa s no chance at a l l o f the i r coming. And Mrs.

James knew tha t he r dange r and Mary’ s wa s ve ry

se r iou s . These Indi an s we re l ikely to stea l them and take

them north in the wa r canoe s tha t l ay outs ide on th e

b each .

Mary wa s very much fr ightened . She wa s very whi te

and th e Indi an s saw i t. They b egan to ta lk about he r .

She knew they were from the way i n whi ch they looked

a t he r . Even he r l ip s grew white .

Mary,” sa id her mothe r qu ickly , se e ing the dange r ,

play on the melodeon . Play someth ing at once .

In the co rne r stood the l i ttle me lodeon which the Jame s

fam i ly had b rought from England with them , fi rst to Wi s

cons in , then a cro s s the pla in s to Mound Pra i r i e , and now

out to the co a st. Mary’ s mus i c te a che r , whil e they l ived

a t Mound Pra i r i e , had been a drummer in Napoleon’ s

a rmy in France .

The l i ttle gi rl sat down and tr i ed to play ; but he r

finge rs were st iff and cold . Sti l l , she could pu sh down a

key o r two and make some no i se . At once the Indi an s

b ecame inte re sted in the melodeon . They fo rgo t Ma ry,

so she b ecame l e s s a fra id . Grad ua lly he r finge r s lo s t the i r

stiffne s s and she played mo re ea s i ly . The Indi an s we re

amazed . Where d id the mus i c come from ! They got

down on the floo r and looked unde r the melodeon , and

[ 203 ]

EARLY DAYS IN ‘OLD OREGON

unde r he r cha i r— looked eve rywhere except in the r ight

pl a ce .

The Indi an s we re so cha rmed tha t some o f them went

out to the i r cano e and brought in quant i t i e s o f hiaqua

shel ls , the Indi an money ; they brought in mats and ba skets

and o the r trea su re s , and p robably al so fi sh . Everything

they la i d down in the cente r o f the cab in floo r . Then they

told Mrs . James they wanted to buy Mary fo r a wi fe fo r

the i r ch i e f— with the me lodeon , o f cou rse .

Mrs . Jame s was very b rave and very qu i et . She sa id ,Oh

,no

,Mary i s too young.

” She ta lked to them plea s

antly , yet fi rmly , and made them some p resents , and a t

la st the Indians went away . They went in a fr i endly way,

and le ft without do ing any a t a l l .

[ 204 ]

CHAPTER XX I

THE GREAT COUNCIL AT WALLA WALLA

HE very yea r in wh ich the fi rst immigrants hacked

thei r way th rough the Naches s Pa s s , i n 1 853 , Wash

ing ton was set off from the Old Oregon country a s a te r r i

to ry. I ts l im i ts we re not , howeve r , j u s t what the stat e

l im its a re today. Two yea rs late r,i n 1 855 , the gove rno r,

I sa a c I . Stevens , tr i ed to make tre at i e s with the Indi an s

so tha t the new white s ettle r s m ight have the i r lands .

The fi rs t tre at ies we re made a round Puget Sound . The

Indi an s d i d not ca re much about i t. In that country ,where the l ight canoe s da rted ea s i ly through the wate r ,and l i fe wa s ea sy becaus e o f the fi sh i n the wate rs , the

native s ca red l i ttle about l and . B es ide s , the trea t i e s gave

them the r ight to fi sh , and to hunt dee r in the fo re s ts .

Even i f th ey sold a l l the i r l ands , they would have

enough to ea t. There were trout , smelt , flounde rs,cod

,

s a lmon , and many anothe r fi sh , even whale s , i n the wate rs ;and crab s and clams and goey-ducks in the sandy beache s .

Wapato roots and camas roots grew abundantly . There

were many be rr i e s— sa la l , hucklebe r ry , wild ra spb e rry,and blackbe rry , a s wel l a s the Oregon grape ; wild crab

apple s and wild che rr i e s were al so found . Flying ove r

the wate r , o r swimming i n i t , were ducks and geese and

[ 205 ]


othe r wi ld fowl s . So these canoe Indians pa id l e s s

a ttention to sell ing the i r l ands than the ho rse Indians .

The ho rs e Indi an s,i n the inte r io r

,ea st o f the mounta ins ,

l ived a ve ry diffe rent l i fe . Horse s were the i r wealth . The

impo rtance o f a ch i e f lay in the numbe r o f Indi an poni e s

he pos se s sed , and some had he rds o f th ree thousand o r

more , graz ing on the ri ch gra sse s whi ch grew out o f the

s andy so i l . Pa inted pon i e s , o r cal ico pon i e s a s they were

call ed , were the p r ide o f the Indi an s ; that i s , ho rse s hav

i ng la rge spots o f co lo r , su ch a s a b rown pony with la rge

spots o f white , o r a white pony with blu i sh spots .

These Indi an s a l so l ived by hunting. They cha sed the

e lk and dee r , and the Nez Percé s even cro ss ed two moun

ta in ranges— the B itte r Root and the Rocki e s— to cha s e

buffa lo on the Great Pla in s . There we re dee r and elk

among the i r mounta in s . But the streams were b roken by

fa ll s , so that the s a lmon could not penetra te b eyond cer

ta in rocky b a rr i e r s which we re too high fo r fi sh to j ump .

Becau se they were ho rse and hunting Indian s , they had to

have wide stretche s o f country . Sel l ing the i r l ands wa s

qu i te a d ifferent matte r .

So the fi rst trea ti e s we re made , and rathe r ea s i ly , a round

Puget Sound . The othe rs we re to be made with the In

di ans ea st o f the Ca scade Mounta ins , and Governo r

Stevens had cal led a great counc i l o f a ll the chi e fs .

Forty sold ie r s , with ofl icers , were sent from Fo rt Dalle s ,and they went up the r ive r in boa ts , while s e rvants drove

up a smal l he rd o f ha l f-wi ld cattl e . On the backs o f pon ies

and in ca rts we re grea t heap s o f potato es . In othe r

[ 206 ]


long fr inge o f buckskin swept the ground . Plumes were

fa sten ed in the ho rse s ’ manes .

Afte r gallop ing fo rward a short d i stance i n th i s long

l ine— and r iding two by two i t stretched a cro ss the val ley— a ll stopped a t a s ignal . The head ch i e f , Lawye r , withtwo othe r ch ie fs , a fte r r id ing fo rwa rd , sp rang off the i r

pon i e s and shook hands with the treaty-maker s . Twenty

five les se r ch i e fs then d id the same . Then the long l in e

o f wa rr io rs gal loped forwa rd .

With their b rightly pa inted faces and bodi e s , with

plumes waving on themselves and the i r gay poni e s , up they

da shed ! They came yel l ing and whoop ing , beating thei r

wa r drums , fi ring off the i r guns , cra sh ing the i r he avy ,smoked-rawhide sh i e lds together , in a wi ld uproa r o f no i se.

On and on they came l The whi te men were almo st dea f

ened by the banging o f guns , the cra sh ing o f shi e lds , the

hollow booming o f the wa r drums , and the whoop ing .

They da shed clo se up to the group o f treaty-maker s a s

though they wou ld r ide over them —then in an instant

tu rned the i r cl eve rly tra ined poni e s and wheeled backwa rd .

Aga in they dashed madly fo rwa rd , and aga in , at a S ignal ,the poni e s s topped st i ll , in stantly. The warr io r s sp rang off

the i r ho rses,and stood bes ide the i r ch i e fs .

Thi s wa s the Nez Percé s welcome to the Ameri cans . I t

wa s done to show off the i r b eaut i ful pon ies , and thei r ski l l

i n managing them . I t wa s j u st the s ame so rt o f welcome

the se Nez Percé s had given to the Whitmans,nea rly

twenty yea rs befo re .

Some o f the young warr io r s fo rmed a r ing , then , and

[ 208 ]


began a wi ld dance,moving a rms and fee t and legs whil e

keep ing t im e to the mus i c. The tom -tom— an Indi an drum

made o f rawhide— was beaten by fou r b rave s , squatting on

the i r heel s on the ground , and the drummers and the

dancers kept time in that wi ld , hal f-wa il ing Ai-oi-oi—oi-oi-oi-oi

o f Indi an mus i c .

I t was great fun to fourteen-yea r-old Haza rd Stevens .

While the men were dancing, the busy squaws , a l l gayly

dre ssed,were sett ing up the tepee pole s and making

camp .

Then othe r tr ib e s came in . But these tr ibes , the Walla

Walla s,the Umatil l a s , the Cayuse s , and the Yakima s , were

not so fr i endly. Some came in with a wild da sh , l ike the

Ne z Percé s , but with l e s s fr i endl in e s s . Other s came sul

lenly , refu s ing to shake hands , refus ing la te r to a ccept

gi fts , o r even to take any food a s a gi ft. These p eop le

kept away from the fea sts a lmost a l togethe r .

A fea st came fi rs t. B eeve s were ki l led and dre ss ed .

Huge fi res we re bu i lt i n some pl ace s , and the enti re an i

mal s ro a sted on sp i ts b e fo re the b la z e . Othe rs wer e cu t

up , and cooked by Indi an s a t smal l fi re s nea r the i r

tepee s .

The table fo r the ch i e fs wa s a very long one,made o f

spl i t boa rds , smoothed on top , with t in p la te s and cups .

Hunting knive s we re u sed wi th which to cut . Here the

ch i e fs , with the treaty-makers , had the i r fea sts , under an

awn ing to p rotect them from the sun. Governo r Stevens,

du ring the fi rst fea st , ca rved a t one end o f the tab le , and

anothe r ofli cer at the o the r . But the re we re so many

[ 209 ]


chie fs , and the b ig t in pl ate s came back so rap idly , tha t

h e o rdered anothe r ofli cer, at the late r fea sts , to take h i s

p lace . Carving fo r that throng o f Indi ans , with Indi an

appeti te s , was ha rd work , he s a id .

Then the counc i l wa s held . The tents o f the Ameri cans

were p itched among the wi ld flowers and the green gra s s

by the s ide o f a cha rming l i ttle stream . Here Gove rno r

Stevens had a la rge tent . In front o f i t wa s an a rbo r bu i lt

o f t ree b ranches . And he re s a t the semic i rcle o f ch i e fs ,squatting on the i r h eel s , wild and savage in the i r p a int and

fe athe rs .

And here , aga in and aga in , the Indi ans s a id they would

not sel l thei r l ands .

Day a fte r day the counc i l met . Sometimes the sun shone

and the wide-sweep ing va lley , with i ts thou sand o r more

o f tepee s , i t s droves o f ho rse s and he rds o f cattl e fe ed ing

on the fre sh green gra s s , was glo riou s in i ts May beauty.

And sometimes the r a in fel l and the Indian s sulked in the i r

damp tepee s and talked among themselve s .

Nothing a t a l l se emed to b e done , yet the Indi ans com

pla in ed that the white men were in too much o f a hu rry.

I t did se em a s though time might b e given to th ink i t ove r,

fo r the Americans were a sking the Indi ans to give up the i r

home lands,to give up eve ryth ing in the world they had ;

fo r tha t wa s what i t meant to give up the l ands o f the i r

tr ibe s and go on a re se rvation . Bes ide s , i t m eant giving

up the i r freedom . Suppo s ing white men were a sked to

make a tre aty by wh ich they were obl iged , and a l l the i r

chi ldren a fte r them , to l ive j u st in one small county

[ 2 10 ]


the white man , b ecau se a great change must come into the i r

own ways o f l iving. Lawyer was a wi se ch i e f .

Then anothe r fea st wa s held . Thi rty chi e fs aga in sa t a t

the long tabl e . The ofli cers ca rved the roa st bee f and p i led

up the t in pl ate s with bee f and potato es . The ch i e fs ate

l ike s ta rved wolves .

Yet in sp i te o f a l l the fea sts and the counci ls , nothing

could b e done . The Cayuse Indi ans and others were b itter

towa rd the white s , and s ecret meet ings wer e being held

among the tep ee s .

Suddenly , la te one n ight , Lawyer came to Governo r

Stevens’s tent . He sa id the Cayuse Indians we re plott ing

to ki l l a l l th e white men , so tha t they should not have to

se ll the i r l ands . They had a sked the Nez Pe rcés ch i e fs to

have thei r tr ib e j o in the plot . Lawye r had re fu s ed qu i ckly .

I t was a fte r m idnight , yet the fa i thful Indi an o rdered

h i s wive s to pull down h i s tep ee and se t i t up in the m idst

o f the Ameri can camp . Thu s the Indian s could not atta ck

the Ameri cans without attacking Lawye r al so ; tha t would

mean a wa r among the tr ib e s . Without the warn ing, the

Gove rno r and h i s sold i e r s would p robab ly have b een mas

sac red . There were fewe r than a hundred white men ,i nclud ing a l l . There were thousands o f a rmed Ind ians .

Aga in the fe a sts were held , and counci l s . The Grea t

Fathe r a t Wash ington , Gove rno r Stevens told th e Indians ,would give them money every yea r ; would give them lands

whi ch could neve r b e taken away from them ; would a l low

them to hunt over the country unti l i t wa s se ttl ed ; would

bu ild fo r them mill s , and s end them teachers o f fa rming ;

[ 2 12 ]


would bu i ld s chool s fo r the i r ch i ldren ; would give them

b lankets and clothing eve ry yea r. I t was the s ame p rom i se

tha t was made to the Puget Sound Ind i ans .

At la st the Indi ans agreed to se l l thei r l ands . They

really could not help themselve s . They were fo rced into

s aying “ Yes . ” Therefo re some o f the ch iefs real ly d id no t

mean to give up the i r lands . They were plott ing revenge .

Just as eve rything seemed s ettled , up rode anothe r Nez

Pe rcés ch i e f , Looking-Gla s s . He came with a wa r pa rty ,shouting and whoop ing and to ss ing h igh on coup

-sticks the

fresh sca lp s they had taken .

‘

He had neve r b een a fr i end

o f the Ameri can s .“My people , what have you done !

” he demanded , when

told o f the treaty they were j u s t making.

“While I wa s

gone , you have so ld my country ! I have come home and

the re i s not le ft to me a pla ce in whi ch to p i tch my tepee .

Go back to your lod ges ! I wi l l tallsbto you .

So Looking-Gla s s ta lked to h i s peopl e ; and aga in they

we re al l unwil l ing to make a tre aty . At la st , howeve r ,most o f the Indi an chi e fs s i gned the treaty paper . They

had so ld the i r lands . As yet they had rece ived only a few

p resents ; i t wa s yea rs b efo re they rece ived p ayment , and

then i t wa s not a s p romi sed .

Thu s the counci l ended . The la st fe a st was held , and

fo r the la st t im e the plate s were heap ed high with ro a s t

b eef and potatoe s . The tents were struck . The tepe es

we re pul l ed down .

So the Indi ans rode away . All the tra i l s l ead ing ou t o f

the val l ey were fi lled with thi s wild , p i ctu re sque p ro ce s s ion .

[ 2 13 ]


The ho rs e s we re sti l l b r ightly pa inted , with plumes in the i r

ta i l s and manes ; the warrio r s we re in sca rle t blankets and

l eggins ; the squaws and papoo se s had b right ca l ico ski rt s

and gaudy handkerch i e fs .

When the Indi an s re ached the i r vi llage s , here and the re

i n the wide- sp reading country , they began to talk about the

treaty . They did not l ike be ing fo rced to give up the i r

lands . They began to buy powde r and guns from the

Ameri can and the B r it i sh trader s . Afte r a few months , the

whole country ea st o f the Ca scade s wa s abla ze with an

Indi an war. There wa s no longe r fe a sting— it was wa r

whoop and tomahawk .

I f we look a t th ings fa i rly and squa rely , we cannot wel l

b lame tho se Indi an people s .

The war l a sted le s s than two yea rs , and there were a

numbe r o f b attl e s a t The Dalles and ea st o f the mounta ins .

I t wa s not unti l 1 856 tha t there wa s any t rouble west o f

the mounta in s , and then the ho rse Indi an s came over and

pe rsu aded the cano e Indians to go on the wa rpath . But

there was l i ttl e fighting , except in the battle o f S eattl e .

Yet Ameri can s were shot and scalped whe rever they ap

p eared, whi le B ri ti sh traders , i n the i r b lu e co ats and b ra s s

button s,could go anywhere . Fo r thi s rea son many peopl e

thought the B ri ti sh were help ing the Indi ans and were

them selve s aga inst the Amer ican s . Thi s i s no t tru e . The

Indi an s knew that the B riti sh t raders d id not want the i r

l ands— that they were trade rs only. Bes ide s , those trader s

had l ived among them fo r fo rty yea rs wi thout ha rming

them— without dr iv ing away the game o r making them sel l

[ 2 1 4 ]

CHAPTER XXI I

THE BATTLE or SEATTLE

OO ! Whoa ! Whoa An ofli cer o f the war

sh ip D ecatur,who was on shore duty a t Seattle on

a very da rk n ight , thought he hea rd an owl . This was la te

in Janua ry , 1 856. Blacknes s lay ove r the waters o f Puget

Sound ; b la ckne ss l ay ove r the sho re and th e nea r-by fo r

e sts . All the peopl e in the l i ttl e s awmi ll town o f S eattl e

we re a sl eep , except a few anx iou s ones . Were the Indi ansa sl eep , o r were they plann ing an a ttack ! No one knew .

There fo re the offi ce r p r i cked up h i s ea rs and l i stened , fo r

the hooting had come out o f the fo re st on h i s r ight.“Whoa ! Whoa ! Whoa That hooting came out

o f the woods on the othe r s ide . The ofli cer l i stened anx

iously , fo r the hooting o f an owl was an old Indi an s igna l .“Whoa ! Whoa ! Whoa There i t was aga in , on

the r ight-hand s ide , but nea re r than the fi rst hoot.“Whoa ! Whoa ! Whoa Thi s t im e i t wa s on the

le ft , and a l so nea re r .“ No owl about that

,s a id the offi ce r to h imsel f .

Those owl s a re Indi an s . I gu e s s we a re in fo r i t.”

One yea r b e fo re , Gove rno r Stevens had made h i s trea

t i e s with the Puget Sound Indi ans , and then other treaties

a t the Great Counci l a t Walla Walla . But the Indi ans

[ 2 16 ]

THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE

were not sa ti sfi ed with the treat i e s fo r seve ra l rea sons : the

l ands given them were not the b est ; two o r three tr ib e s ,

eterna l enem i es,had been pla ced upon the s ame rese rva

tion , and that meant constant troub le ; and b e s ide s , al

though the Indian s had given up the i r l ands , and the

white peopl e were bu i ld ing the i r cab in s,fencing the l ands ,

cutting down tree s , and taking po s ses s i on , the G reat Fathe r

a t Wash ington had not s ent one penny o f payment to h i s

Indi an chi ldren in Washington . The Indi an s thought

themselve s tr i cked . Indi an s from othe r pa rts o f the coun

try who happened to come into th e west told them that

the white men always did so .

Anothe r rea son wa s th i s : the Indi ans fo r fo rty yea rs had

been dea l ing with the Hudson ’ s B ay Company . Dr .

M cLoug hlin, the“White-Eagle Chie f ,

” and James Doug

la s , who fol lowed him in the management o f the fu r trade ,had powe r . I f they made a p romi se to the Ind ians , they

a lso kept i t . The Indi an s held them respons ib le . When

Gove rno r Stevens made the treat i e s with th e Indi ans , he

made the p romi se s . But i t was Congres s who had to keep

them . Sometime s Congre ss was s low in do ing thi s , and

sometime s d id no t do it a t a l l . Thi s wa s something the

Indi an s could no t unde rstand .

I f they had been le ft a lone , the l a zy Puget Sound

Indi ans might have compla ined and been troub le some , but

pe rhap s they would not have gone to wa r. They l iked

b ette r to squat in the bottoms o f the i r cano es and fi sh ; o r

to camp on the sho re s o f Puget Sound and d ig clams out

o f the beach ; o r to catch crab s . But the ho rse Indi an s

[ 2 1 7 ]


from ea st o f the mounta in s we re very warl ike,and they

were angry ove r the t reati e s .

All thes e Indi an s knew well the diffe rence between the

King George men and the Boston men .

” They were

not angry with the B r i ti sh , who bought the i r fu rs . They

were angry with the Ameri can s who had taken the i r l ands

and driven the game away . There wa s danger o f Indi an

a ttack on Seattle ; the re fo re the hooting made the offi ce r

anxiou s .

In Octob e r o f the yea r b e fo re , Indi an s had ki lled sev

e ra l fam il ies in the White R ive r Valley , not so very fa r

f rom Seattl e . All the loggers and fa rmer s from the

nea r-by country had come into Seattl e fo r s a fe ty . A block

house had been bu i l t— j u st a la rge log cab in . Women

and chi ldren were to run to i t i f Indi an s came .

Afte r the massacre o f Octobe r , the Indi ans s eemed to

have qu ieted down . Some people scoffed , and sa id ,“ Oh ,

the re ’ s no danger ! ” A warship , the D ecatur,l ay in

E l l io tt B ay , and these people even thought i t ought to go

on its cru i s e . Other s s a id ,“ Yes , the re i s danger . Don

’ t

you see a ll the s e strange Indi ans about ! ”

There wer e inde ed a great many strange Indi an s a round

the l i ttle m i l l ing town . They were ta l l , wel l-bu i lt , ath let i c

Indians,bold and da r ing in appea rance ; they were very

d iffe rent from the sho rt , bow—legged cano e Indians . Most

people knew a t once tha t the s e strange Indi an s we re the

ho rse Indians from ea st o f the Ca scade Mounta in s . And

what were they do ing vi s i t ing tr ibe s whom they desp i s ed

a s “fish-eate r s ” !

[ 2 18 ]


retu rned to the D ecatur. I t wa s b reakfa st t ime and eve ry

one , a fte r a s l eep le s s , anxious n ight , was ti red . There

were no sentinel s on duty .

About e ight o ’clock , Jim’ s s i ste r , Nancy , came down

into the vi ll age . Nancy was exc i ted , and was shouting

something a s she waddled a long , fo r she was a ve ry fa t

Indi an .

“What’ s the matte r , Nancy !” ca l led some o f the

s ettl e rs .“H i-hi-hz

'

u Kli cki ta ts behind Tom Pepper ’ s hou se ,screamed the o ld Indian .

“ Many , m ai‘

zy Indi an s ,”was

what the j a rgon meant .

At once wo rd wa s sent to the D ecatur. Capta in

Ganz evoort had had many fa ls e a l a rms ; some o f h i s ofli

ce r s thought th i s m ight b e anothe r.“ Never m ind ,

” sa id the capta in , who had no t ye t had

hi s b re akfa st . “ I ’d rathe r b e fooled twenty t ime s than be

caught napp ing once . ” He o rdered a shell to b e a imed

b ehind Tom Pepper ’ s hou se .

B oom ! thunde red the b ig gun . The shel l s creamed i ts

way through the a i r ove r the log cab in s and exploded with

a cra sh behind Tom Pepper ’ s hou se .

Warwhoop s and yElls from a thou sand Indi ans wa s the

answe r . Then the cra sh and bang o f hundreds o f Indian

guns echoed through the fo re sts , while a shower o f whis

tl ing bu l lets fe l l l ike ha i l among the scu rrying settle r s .

Fo r a t the fi rst boom o f the gun , out from the cab in s

ru shed the settle rs . B reakfa sts we re l e ft on the table,

uneaten o r ha l f-eaten , o r even on the stoves ha l f-cooked .

[ 220 ]

THE BATTLE OF SEATTLE

The settle rs we re no t a ll even fu lly dre ssed . And , cu r i

ously enough , no one wa s hurt du r ing that wi ld run b e

cause the Indian s had to stop to relo ad the i r guns .

So began the b attle o f Sea ttle .

The men who had guns went r ight out into the open

into the stre ets b e fo re the i r hou s e s , hid ing beh ind the

stumps o f grea t tree s l e ft the re . The women and ch i ldren

were hu rr i ed off to a lumb er ve s s el lying in the harbo r

which had come in a few days b e fo re to get p i le s and sawed

lumbe r fo r Cal i fo rn i a .

Seattle , i n tho se days , wa s nothing but a few log hou se s

s catte red in and out among the o ld stumps between what

i s now Second Avenue and the water s o f Puget Sound .

When Mr . Yesl e r bu ilt h i s sawmi ll , i n 1 853 , he had bu i lt

i t on a l ittl e p en in su la nea r what i s now the foot o f Ye sl e r

Way . The na rrow neck o f l and connect ing i t wi th the

ma inl and he had widened and he ightened by heap s o f

sawdust , making a dry l ittl e knoll the re . That wa s al l

the re was to the town .

Up the h i ll from Second Avenu e , much ste epe r then

than now , wa s a dens e fo re st o f heavy tre e s , with dense

unde rb rush , and in the fo re s t the Indi an s we re secu re ly

h idden and qu ite s a fe from bulle ts .

Yet the b attl e went on— the steady ro a r o f the cannon

from the wa rsh ip , the sh ri eking o f the she ll s , and the

cra sh o f the i r explo s ion in the woods . And mingled wi th

th i s up roa r was the b ang o f the guns , the wild whoops o f

Indi an wa rrio rs , and the yel l ing o f the squaws who u rged

them on .

[ 221 ]


Indian bullets cut up the ground a round the Americans ,to re the i r clothe s

,cu t through the i r hats , and whi stled ,

th i ck a s a swa rm o f bees , i n the a i r ; ye t few white men

we re touched .

The Americans a imed more accu ra tely than the Indians .

And the shel l s from the fire- sh ip fr ightened the wa rr io r s

rather badly. They could not understand how a gun

could shoot twi ce ” ; tha t i s , a fte r the roa r o f leaving the

gun , the shel l exploded with a second cra sh when i t reached

i ts ma rk . An Indi an b eh ind a tree had a lock o f ha i r cut

off by the fragment o f a she ll . He sa i d a fterwa rds he

could no t unde rstand how a gun could “ shoot a round the

cornerf’

The fighting and yell ing went on . Hundreds o f Indi ans

j u st a t noon da shed down upon fou rteen Amer i cans who

s tood a t one po int. The white men stood the i r ground , i n

sp i te o f the yel l ing redskin s who came within a few feet

o f them . And tha t wa s the cri t i ca l moment o f the day.

The Amer icans re fused to be a fra id ; and that made the

Indi an s a l i ttl e a fra id . Had tho se fou rteen run away , th e

settlers would p robably have lo st the day .

Meanwhile the settle rs fought without having had even

thei r b reakfa st . The Indi an s d id not . They a te the b reak

fa sts they found in the log cab ins , and then set fi re to them .

The settl e r s,with guns in the i r hands , saw the fl ame s and

smoke o f the i r bu rn ing homes . Sti l l they fought on .

In the a fte rnoon , fewe r shots came from the fo re st .

At once , a s the Indian shoot ing faded out , the s ettle rs

feared treachery. They watched the fo rest more clo sely

[ 222 ]

CHAPTER XXI I I

HOW THE IND IAN S LIVED 1

GH I They a re fi sh eater s ! The i r teeth a re fu l l

o f s and ! The i r teeth are al l ground down !

They are fi sh eater s ! Ugh !”

Such was the op in ion which the horse Indi an s had o f

the canoe Indi an s . Of course the canoe Indian s ate fi sh !

Why shou ld they l ive on the water and not do so ! They

l ived on Puget Sound,on the Columb ia , Wil lamette ,

Puyallup,Black , Duwami sh , and many anothe r r iver .

These stream s were fu l l o f ca rp,ha l ibut , sa lmon , white

fi sh , and many other k inds . And th e shore s o f Puget

Sound were fu l l o f c lams . At low wate r the crab s and

small oysters o f the Northwest could b e caught .

But the se fi sh e aters were a la zy set— so i t was

s a id .

Do you know how they l ived , a long the fr inges o f the

great fo re sts tha t bo rdered the many r ive rs and Puget

Sound ! Fo r one th ing , they l ived in winte r in hou ses ,i nstead o f tepee s . A l l about them we re ta l l tre e s— trem en

dous tree s . Some o f the ho l lowed trunks were a s la rge

1 This chap ter is necessari ly brief , because the various tribes d ifferedcons iderab ly in their hab its

,throughout the vast extent of Old Oregon.

B ut in the b ib l iography c itations to various works w i l l b e found wh ichw i l l enab le a teacher or reader to g et detai l s on any tribe or section.

[ 224 ]

HOW THE INDIANS LIVED

a s an o rdina ry- s i zed room . To bu i ld house s , the smal le r

o f the s e tre e s had to be cut down , yet befo re the white

m en came , the nat ive s had no tools— no axes , saws , o r

ha tchets o f any kind . These fi sh-eat ing Indi an s cu t the i r

tree s down by burn ing them . They set a fi re a round the

b a s e o f the trunk , but d id not a l low it to run up the

tre e . Then slowly,a fte r days and n ights o f burn ing ,

when the fi re had eaten through the tre e , i t fe ll . Afte r

i t wa s down , they cut i t into l engths in tha t same way .

They usu ally u s ed ceda r tre e s b ecause the wood wa s

so fte r and the gra in sp l i t stra ight. Then , with great to i l

and ca re , they spl i t the logs into rough , th ick bo a rds .

And with the se rough boa rds they bu i lt the i r hou se s .

I f you wil l look a t the p i ctu re o f the Indi an hou se ,you wi l l see that the floo r was lowe r than the ea rth out

s ide. Usua l ly i t wa s from two to five feet l owe r . They

dug i t thi s way in o rde r to make the cab in dr ier and

wa rme r in winte r , a s they could not bu ild foundation

wa l l s . On the l i ttl e ra i s ed pla tfo rm s a round the cab in,

they la id the i r beds o f mats and skin s . The fi r e wa s in

the centre o f the hou se , i n a pla ce sl ightly ho l lowed out ;and the boards at the end o f the hou se

,o r somet imes

boa rds in the centr e o f the roo f , were l e ft open so tha t

the smoke could get out . There were no windows,and

only the one doo r . Often in the cab in long str ings o f

fi sh would hang about , drying in the smoky a i r . Thes e

huts were not at a l l clean . No white pe rson would rea lly

want to sleep in one , though white peopl e d id , when

vi s i t ing the Indians , i f the weather wa s bad .

[ 225 ]


Sometimes three o r fou r fami l i e s l ived in one such

cab in ; sometimes a band o f Indi ans would bu ild a very

long house , two hundred o r even five hundred feet long ,and s ixty o r seventy fee t wide , where many fam i l i e s could

l ive , e spec i al ly when they were holding a“potlatch” o r

gi ft fe stiva l . Fo r such grea t houses l a rge tree trunks

would b e u sed a s suppo rts , and these would be ca rved

and pa inted by the Indians into strange , grotesque shap es .

Cooking in winter was done at the l ittl e fi re in the

center o f the cab in . But in summer , when the Indians

roamed about , l iv ing in tep ee s o f ru shes and ba rk o r

tule re eds , put up ju st whe re they happened to be fo r

a few days o r weeks , they cooked on the ground out o f

doors . ;They cooked in— what do you suppo se ! — in

ba skets and boxe s . The Indi an s cu t ve ry nea t squa re o r

oblong boxe s from the wood about them , ca rv ing them

o ften , and in l ater yea rs the boxes sometimes had a cove r .

Into such a box would be put a fi sh o r othe r meat to b e

bo il ed , then cold wate r . Afte r tha t , inste ad o f sett ing the

box on the fi re , as we set a pan o r kettle , they put red

hot stone s into the box , unti l the wate r bo i led and the fi sh

wa s cooked . Many o f the s e tr ibes could make b a skets o f

sp ruce roots which wer e wate r-tight , and they could cook

fi sh o r elk meat in such a b a sket without burn ing i t.

Indi an food was j u st about the s ame a s that whi ch the

white people had in early days , excep t tha t the s ettle r s

u sua lly tr i ed to have flou r , suga r , and tea and coffee ,with perhap s s alt po rk , and these th ings the Indi an s d id

not have . But the re we re dee r and elk in the fo re st,

[ 226 ]


there we re wi ld p igeons , gee se , and ducks o f a ll kinds

on the wate rs and ove rhead , clams and crab s in the

beache s,and many kinds o f fi sh i n the wate rs . In the

ea rth grew roots , al so , o f wh ich the Indians we re fond ,such a s the wapato— the l i ttle , round , red , b itte r Indi an

potato . But the Indi an s had a lso ou r I r i sh potato e s,

becau se the Hudson ’ s B ay Company had taught them to

plant such , and the red men had grea t fi elds o f them .

They ate the roo t o f ce rta in fern s , a nd the a rrowroo t ,but the mo st inte resting roo t , and one o f whi ch they were

very fond , was the cama s roo t . Cama s plants l iked so ft ,damp , o r wet ea rth , and in the

“cama s p ra i r i e s a l l

through the No rthwest , sp r ing b rought glo r i ou s sheets

o f beauti ful b lu e fl owers— blu e l ike the fl ax— sh in ing

among the fre sh gre ennes s o f the sp ring . These were

the cama s blo ssoms .

When , i n the fa ll and summer , th e roots were l a rge

enough to pull , the Indi an s encamped a round the se cama s

p ra i r i e s . Ind ian women waded out into the so ft , wet ,swampy lands , fe lt fo r the roots with the i r to e s , caught

hold o f one , and pulled i t up with the i r to e s . At once

i t floated upon the su r fa ce o f the wate r , so they could

p ick i t up with the i r hands and to s s i t into the b a sket on

the i r b ack , whi le the i r bu sy to e s were fe el ing fo r anothe r

roo t and pull ing i t up .

The cama s roo t looked l ike a round on ion,but was

sl ightly sweet . They were b aked in the ea rth . Into a

hole dug no t very deep , twigs , b ranche s , and faggot s

we re p i l ed , and burned unti l'

there wa s only a bed o f

[ 227 ]


red-hot co al s . Ove r the se , damp leave s were placed ,and then the cama s roots were p iled in

,covered over

with othe r damp leave s , then with ea rth , and a fi re bu i l t

on top o f It a l l . In two o r thre e days the camas roots

we re cooked , and would keep fo r a long t ime .

M en and women dre ss ed in b lankets,made sometime s

o f elk skins o r dee r skins o r pe rhaps o f a rough woolen

cloth wh ich a few tr ibe s wove out o f the long ha i r o f

woolly dogs ro aming about the camps . There were no

ca ts o r ho rse s o r any animal s among the se canoe Indian s

except dogs . Sho rt ski rts were made by the women out

o f the inn e r b a rk o f the fi r tr ee , beaten into shreds ,and then made into heavy str ing- l ike co rds . These

were caught togethe r by a bel t and u sed a s a short ski rt .

Many o f these tr ibes wo re hats , which were woven ru shes ,o r roots , con i ca l in shape , and ending in a knob about

fou r inches in d i ameter , something l ike a Co rean ha t.

But nearly a lways these hats were o rnamented .

M en and women wore a ll th e n ecklace s and beads

they could , and o ften the neckla ce s we re a rt i st i c , in a

crude way . Bea rs ’ cl aws made good neck lace s , and pro

cla imed the b ravery o f the hunter . Elk tee th neckla ce s

we re highly va lu ed , a s we re str ings o f b lag ua, the Indian

money,o r beads bought from the trade rs , o r sometime s

the small j o ints o f b i rds strung in b road bands on dee r

s inew , inte rmixed wi th b right beads . They also cut clam

shel l s into round di sks about a s l a rge a s one’ s finge rna il ,making a tiny ho le through the cente r , and str inging these

a l so on s inew . These she l l n ecklace s were known a s

[ 228 ]


Of i t was a round he r b ig to e and the othe r on the baby

boa rd . Thus she could rock the b aby gently by moving

he r foo t up and down and no t u s ing he r hands . She ca r

r i ed he r baby on her back , o f cou rse , a s a l l Indi an mothe rs

do . Only whi te mother s take the i r b ab i e s in the i r a rms .

But Indi an mothers loved the i r b ab i es , and in the long

twil ights o f tha t no rthe rn country, where the sun sets

so l a te and da rknes s come s so slowly, Ind ian mothers

i n thei r huts o r tepee s would s ing to the i r b ab i e s , so ftly ,and many a l i ttl e whi te chi ld ha s been sung to sle ep

,

i n e a rly p ionee r days , by the crooning song o f an

Indi an mothe r , not fa r away , s inging to her own baby .

When thei r fr i ends and rela tive s we re ki ll ed in battl e,

o r di ed , Indi ans did not bu ry them in the ground a s we

do . Some tr ib e s wrapped the body in skin s , and placed

i t in a cano e , set among tre e b ranches ; perhap s , i f th e

p e rson wa s r i ch o r impo rtant, anothe r canoe wa s pla ced

up s ide down ove r the fi rst one . Othe r tr ib e s along the CO

lumb i a had bu ri a l grounds . They bui lt t iny sheds in whi ch

the canoe , o r pe rhap s a ca rved box , was placed . At the

head o f such grave s were the tr ea su re s Of the pe rson who

had di ed , bu t al l ca re fully b roken so no one would' ste a l

them , o r el se put i n the cano e and the wrapp ing skins .

But the most wonde rful th ings about these cano e

Indians were the i r canoes . Every cano e was a dugout ,a s i t wa s ca l l ed— tha t i s , a canoe dug out o f the trunk

o f a b ig t re e . Befo re the t raders came wi th axes and

hatchets and other meta l too ls , making a cano e wa s ha rd ,S low wo rk , and yet they made perfect canoe s .

[ 230 ]


A grea t tre e wa s se lected , one with stra ight gra in , and

cut down by lett ing fi re eat i ts way through . Then the

top was cut Off i n the s ame way . From th i s log they

were to dig out the i r cano e . Slow fi re s were bu i l t on

each side , so a s to e a t down the b ig trunk . A ful l log

would b e round , and would not p a s s through the wate r

e a s i ly . The log had to b e shaped int V , so the boa t

would have a keel . As the fi re s ate sl owly into the log ,ski l l ful wo rkers

,watch ing ca re ful ly , chipped away the

cha rred wood , so a s to get exactly th e r ight shap e . I t

took weeks to make such a canoe , and it was ha rd , tediou s

work . Each tr ibe had men who were expert cano e

makers . When the cano e wa s fini shed , i t wa s shap ely ,wel l-ba lanced , bla ck a s ink outs ide and ins ide . I t wa s

rubbed on the outs i de with reeds and gra ss e s unti l i t

was a s smooth a s gla s s , and withou t a sp l inte r . Such

canoes sl ipp ed through the wate r with great sp eed .

Then came the o rnamentat ion . Small shell s,pa inted

red , were u s ed to deco rate the ins ide , and pe rhap s a row

would b e a round the outs ide a lso . A headp i ece,Shaped

l ike the head o f a b i rd , and pa inted p erhap s a b r ight

green , was fa stened into the dugout by dee r s inews .

Then a s im i la r p i ece , shaped l ike a b i rd’ s ta i l

,wa s

fa stened on the o the r end , and a lso p a inted . Sometimes

o the r quee r figu re s were pa inted on . With such canoe s

the Indian s would face any rough wate r , fea ring noth ing ;and in ca lm weather they l iked to s ing

,keep ing t ime to

the i r mus i c with the cl ip o f the i r p addle s .

Such were u sual ly the wa r cano es , which would hold

[ 23 1 ]


th i rty o r fo rty men , o r b e u sed by a great ch ie f , paddled

by h i s sl ave s , when he went to v i s i t anothe r red ch i e f ,o r perhap s some trade r .

The no rthe rn Indi an s , e spec i ally tho se a round the

! ue en Charlotte’ s I s lands , were head hunters and can

nibals. They had beauti fu l wa r canoe s , hold ing Often

seventy men , o r more , and moving through the wate r

with the speed o f an exp res s tra in . The Puget Sound

Indi an s we re much a fra id o f these fie rce no rthe rn Indi ans ,and would fl e e into the woods wheneve r they caught s ight ,acro s s the wate r , o f the wa r cano es . The canoe Indi an s

were not grea t wa rr io rs . They real ly d id l ike to paddle

about la z i ly in the i r canoes , crouched on the i r sho rt ,defo rmed legs— because they squatted so much in these

canoes the i r l egs b ecame crooked . They l iked to paddle

about in the sunsh ine , o r fi sh , o r camp on the b ea ch and

d ig fo r cl ams . I t wa s b ette r fo r the white s ettle rs that

they were not warrio r s , el se more blood would have b een

shed in the s ettlement o f the Oregon country .

Bes ide s the se wa r canoe s , the re we re two othe r kinds ,one a small l ight cano e fo r fi shing , hold ing only two o r

thre e pe rson s ; the o the r the fam ily canoe , fa i rly la rge

and wide , so that boxe s and cloth ing and household goods ,bes ide s pe rson s , could b e paddled about when the Indi an s

wi shed to move .

A potlatch was a fea st given by some Indian , a t

whi ch he gave away eve rything he po s se s sed in the world

to the fr i ends whom he invited . An Indi an would send

out a not ice o f a potlatch , invi ting al l h i s tr ib e ; and

[ 232 ]


buffalo roamed in grea t he rds . They were glad enough,

too , desp i te the i r contempt fo r cano e Indians , to trade

with the coa st tr ibe s fo r dri ed fi sh , o r to put we i rs and

nets in the r ive r to catch the s almon a s they came up .

These Indi an s had about the s ame food a s the cano e

Indi ans , but more meat and le s s fi sh ; yet they , too ,a te the camas root and the roots o f fe rn s . They were

fond o f fight ing, and we re a lways a t war with some other

tr ib e, com ing home from an expedi ti on b eaten , o r pe rhap s

to s s ing scalp s h igh on the i r “ coup - sti cks .” When an

Indi an ki ll ed an enemy in battl e , the fi rst man to touch

him with the long sti ck whi ch each ca rr i ed , had the b est

r ight to the sca lp , b ecau se he had fi rst st ruck the enemy.

Coup i s the French word fo r blow.

The hors e Indi ans bu ri ed the i r dead , a fte r wrapp ing

them in skins , on high plat fo rms , s tanding a lone on a

pla in o r pe rhap s set in the crotch o f a tre e . There were

few tree s in the lands o f the ho rse Ind ians , fo r , i n general ,they l ived in the b rown

,ro ll ing

,treele s s country e a st o f

the Ca scade mounta ins .

Each trib e had diffe rent cu stom s and hab i ts , and each

l ived its own l i fe i n i t s own way , unti l the white man

came . Then a ll the o ld ways began to vani sh . Afte r

s eve ra l wa rs aga in st the white s , the Indian s went on

re se rvation s ; they lea rned to u se ho rse s and wagons , to

fa rm , and many o f them today a re good fa rmers . But

the Old days and the o ld ways a re gone .

[ 234 ]

from Orig ina l Sources

APPEND I!

A BR I EF SUMMARY OF THE H I STORY OF THE OLD OREGON COUNTRYFROM OR IGINAL SOURCES .

Up to the tim e that the British colonists in Am erica, in 1 778,were engaged in that great war which we know as the Revolution,nothing whatever was known of the Northwest Coast Of Am erica

and l ittle indeed even of the Californian coast except that Spanishm issions had been p lanted there.

The exped ition headed by Captain Cook— he him sel f was ki l ledat the Sandw ich Islands , and never returned to Eng land— pub l isheda brief one-volum e report Of the voyage imm ed iately upon its returnin 1 780 . A com plete three-volum e report was pub l ished in 1 784 ,and Whi le this laid no great stress upon the fur trade , it verified thereports of Offi cers and crew , whose interest had been so great thatafter the sale of their furs in China they alm ost m utinied in their

determ ination to g o again to the Northwest Coast for furs.

In 1 785 British adventurers entered the trade. F irst across the

broad Pacific , from China, crept the sixty- ton Sea Otter, CaptainHanna, who returned w ithin six m onths w ith twenty thousand dollars’ worth of sm ooth , beautifu l sea-otter skins. That sam e year otheradventurers sailed for K ing George’

s Sound , or Nootka Sound as

we know it. Som e sailed from London, such as Portlock and D ixon,

others from the Orient , as did John Meares , and others from conti

mental ports , as Barkeley , from Ostend . The prob lem w ith all of

them was the fact that this trade in the Pacific ocean would confl ictw ith the chartered m onopoly of the East Ind ia Com pany

,Since the

best m arket for the furs was at Canton, China. The fur- traderstried to g et around this in various ways : som e secured licenses fromthe East Ind ia Com pany , which left them W ithout danger, but alsow ithout freedom in sel ling their furs, and a consequent loss of profits,for all sales to the Chinese were m ade in the Oriental fashion of'

d ickering ; others sai led under foreign flags, as Barkeley under the

[ 237 ]


Austrian; but Great B ritain could not c laim the results of the

explorations of such, and the Britons them selves did not like it ;sti l l others, as Meares , used doub le sets of flags. Meares had both the

Portuguese and the Engl ish flags. Where it was safe, he used the

Eng lish ; where he was l ikely to encounter the East Ind ia Com pany ,or any of their offi cers, he used the Portuguese.

Not until 1 787 did the Am ericans appear— fi rst Gray and Ken

drick, fol lowed alm ost imm ed iately by Captain Ingraham , of the

brig Good Hope, and m any another. Am erican ships, imm ed iatelyafter the Revolution, were lying id le, and as Am ericans were not

ham pered by the chartered m onopoly Of the East Ind ia Com pany , andthe fur trade was profitab le, they soon contro l led the business to a

very large extent. The Am erican p lan was to sail to the Sandw ichIslands, cut sandal wood and g et fresh vegetab les and supp l ies , g oup the coast for sea-otter skins , walrus ivory , and seal skins , then g oover to the South Sea Islands, barter w ith the natives for ed ib leb irds’ nests for Chinese soups, and other rarities , such as beach- le-m er,

and sai l for China w ith their varied assortm ent Of products , receiv ingpaym ent in teas, silks , em broideries , and strange China ware , now so

ord inary to us, but SO quaint in those days, w ith perhaps a few

Chinese gods to add flavor to the cargo. By 1 81 2 or 1 814 the

British were fairly driven Off the Northwest coast.

Yet it m ust be noted , that although Am ericans developed this

trade, ow ing to freedom Of actionwhich the B ritish traders did notpossess, Great Britain had scored first in both d iscovery and exp loration, not only by sea but by land . That is, had scored first afterSpain— and Spanish explorations w ere very S l ightly known, and

were very superficial . Great Britain, in her trad ing along the coast,

fol low ing up her d iscoveries , was soon fo l lowed by Am ericans. On

land she not only scored first,but was not fo l lowed by any nation

at all . Hearn d iscovered the Copperm ine R iver in the far north ;

Mackenz ie, afterwards Sir Alexander, d iscovered and explored thePeace R iver in 1 789 ; in 1 793 he exp lored the headwaters of the

Peace R iver, and fo l lowed down the headwaters of the Frazer, as faras the fi fty-second paral lel , then crossing overland to the Pacific , nearthe m outh of the Bel la Coola R iver. He thought this last riverwasthe Columb ia, em ptying into the ocean about latitude forty-sixdegrees, and nam ed it the T atooch T esse, know ing nothing of Gray ’

s

d iscovery of the year before. The lower Frazer was later explored

[ 238]


But Washington Irv ing is not correct in his Astoria on anythingwhich touches the rivalry between the B ritish and the Am ericans for

the fur trade. He practical ly worked in col laboration w ith Astor,brings out none of that m iserly genius’s m istakes, and b lam es all

d iffi cu lties and the final failure upon the treachery ”of the Am eri

can partners. Years of carefu l study Of docum ents , letters , etc. , aswel las a thorough know ledge of the Colum b ia R iver, have convinced thewriter that there was no treachery in the sale.

The Nor’WesterS , hearing through Montreal of the sai ling of the

Racoon, sloop of w ar, w ith the I saac Taa’

a’

, an arm ed supply Ship ,cam e down the Colum b ia w ith song and good cheer from Fort Spokane

, to tel l the Astorians Of their fate. The Nor’westers had no

food and no amm unition, yet encam ped j ust outside Fort Astoria,outnum bering the Astorian party. Most Of the latter were alsoB ritish subj ects and inno m ood to fight against their king and countryfor a m an from whose m istakes and susp icion they had su ffered so

m uch, SO the Am erican trad ing party in the fort kept on as goodterm s w ith the Nor

’Westers as possib le.

NO furs were bought for nine m onths from the Ind ians by the

Astorians because all trad ing goods had to be kept to p ay the Ind iansfor food . Am munitionwas supp lied to their B ritish enem ies outside,and peace was m aintained to the cred it of both parties. Meanwhile,Wi lson Price Hunt, Astor

’

s personal agent , was always away whenm ost needed , and during these long m onths Of waiting and tension,

the Astorians sold Fort Astoria, w ith Fort Okanogan and Fort Spokane

, to their rivals. The bargain was not to be c losed unti l Hunt’sreturn, and although he obj ected at the start to the sale

, yet as soon

as he real ized the hopelessness of their position, he assented both to

the sale and the prices. This is a fact which Irving ignores , if indeed he knew it ; but the journal of Alexander Henry , in the vol

um es known as the Thompson-Henry Journals, brings out the

point c learly .

The Tonquin had been b lownup by the Ind ians inC layoquot harbor ; the B eaver, by reason of an over-cautious captain, never re

turned ; the Lark was w recked in the South Seas ; a fourth ship ,about to be sent out, had to be w ithheld . SO w ith no Ship , and w ithno m eans of getting their furs across two thousand m iles Of savagehaunted deserts, w ith trad ing goods grow ing scarce, w ith l ittle am

munition and no food except what could be secured from the Ind ians

[ 240 ]

BR IEF HISTORY FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES

w ith paym ents of trad ing goods , their position was hopeless. Franchére

’

s argum ent of easy escape is chi ld ish. NO one can stand at the

m outh of the Colum b ia today and not understand the hopelessnessof the Am erican position.

The price paid by the North West Com pany for Astor’s beaverwas a pound , the usual Canad ian or British price. Astor

c laim ed he shou ld have received p er pound , which was the

highest price paid in New York, as wel l as by the Chinese in Canton. Sea otters were sold at a sacrifice also , as wel l as other furs.

The prices were as high as cou ld have been Obtained anywhere at

auction. Astor always c laim ed , on all furs, the highest price paidat Canton, China. But the Astorians were three thousand m ilesfrom China, across a storm y ocean, w ith no Ship , and w ith a navalwar in progress. Values at Canton and am ong the help less partnersat Astoria, were necessarily not the sam e, even om itting the ex

pense it would have been to g et the furs across the ocean—the

cost of crew s and traders, food , tim e, etc . , and danger Of capture as a

prize— and the c laim is absurd . One of the Strongest proofs Of thehelp lessness of the Am ericans was that the Canad ian traders had notonly their furs , but their fears. The journal Of Alexander Henry ,the Younger, Show s that had an Am erican ship appeared after the

sale the Canad ians could not have saved their furs.

In a letter to the secretary of state in later years Astor c laim edthat the m en had all becom e natural ized . That was utterly untrue,and the statem ent only m ade to secure him sel f from criticism , as he

knew , when he engaged them and contracted w ith them , that war

between the two countries was imm inent. O ther statem ents , of

Sim i lar nature, do not bear investigation.

However, to g o back two years , in that first summ er of 1 81 1 ,after the Tanquin had gone north , never to return, a sm al l party went

up the Colum b ia to found an interior trad ing post. This was FortOkanogan. The fol low ing sum m er, 1 81 2 , the Astorians estab lishedFort Spokane, im m ed iately adjoining Spokane House, built in 1 810

by the Canad ian Com pany , the North West Com pany , of Montreal .Other exp lorations , w ithout perm anent resu lts , were m ade by the

Am ericans along the Snake R iver, and in the W i l lam ette Val ley .

On the basis Of these two fur posts in the upper country , theAm ericans claim ed the entire OregonVal ley , or Co lum b ia Val ley , inthe controversy over the border. Yet the British had been ahead Of

[ 24 1 ]


the Americans on the upper Colum b ia. In 1 807 D avid Thom pson,geographer, astronom er, and fur- trader for the North West Com

pany , had crossed the Canad ian Rockies, after Spend ing years in battling against its difl i culties and the coward ice of his voyag eurs, who

were adm irab le boatm en but no fighters. He exp lored the sourcesOf the Colum b ia and the country of the Pend d ’

Oreilles, the Coeurd

’

Alene'

S , and the Kootenais. He cam e farther down, and by 1 810

had founded Spokane House.

At the c lose of the war, the Canad ian fur-traders were in ful lpossession of the trade of O ld Oregon, but they had no m onopoly asagainst either British or Am ericans. I t was a field for open com petitionand rivalry ; stil l no Am ericans cam e into the country , althoughtheir ships cruised along the coast, trad ing in the harbors and inletsand rivers, but found ing no posts and doing no inland trade. Then,

in rather spectacu lar fashion, and only on a rather extraord inaryinterpretation of the T reaty of Ghent, Fort Astoria was restored toAm erica in 1 81 8. The d ip lom atic restoration was verbal , and for

the fort only , not the country ; later, the Am ericans c laim ed the

restoration of the country , and there was no legal paper or docum entary proof of the fact that only the fort had been restored . As

a m atter of fact, the treaty provided for the return of forts capturedduring the war ; Astoria was bought and paid for, even though itwas through fear Of capture.

But the North West Com pany did not find the Oregon countryone of m uch profit. They were in serious difl iculties w ith the Hud

son’

s Bay Com pany in the R ed R iver country of Canada ; food and

supp lies and m en cou ld not be brought read i ly over that long , longtrai l from Montreal to the Pacific , includ ing the high passes Of the

Canad ian Rockies , and it was m ost expensive to send them from eitherMontreal or from England around the Horn to Oregon. Evenw ithout that, the trade was not wel l m anaged . The traders w ere

always in d iffi culties of one kind or another w ith the Ind ians , throughthe law lessness of the lower c lasses of servants, which m ade it difli cultfor sm al l parties to be sent out, and hard to coax the Indians intohunting for pelts. The c l im ate of Astoria was not good : the dam pness m ildewed the furs and the clothing ; the m ud seem ed bottom less ;the chil ly , gray , foggy days depressed the hungry , d iscontented m en.

O fli cers of the com pany at Fort W i l liam were alm ost d isposed to

give up the country , when, in 1 8 1 8, they sent out D onald McKenz ie

[ 242 ]


belonged to M exico unti l w ithin a year Of the settling of the boundaryprob lem .

Year after year, one Senator or another brought into Congress a

b il l for the “occupation Of the Oregon which received m ore or less

d iscussion, but fai led . The M issouri senators were m ost vigorous inthis , because M issouri was interested in the fur trade, and their j ealousy was b itter toward Great Britain’

s success in getting it. Feelingat that tim e was very b itter towards the British on all points.

Senator Benton’

s false statem ents m ade in Congress, his charges thatthe British were m urdering thousands of Am erican trappers and

traders, that they were instigating the Ind ians against the Am ericans,

that they were c laim ing a country which was ind isputab ly Am erican,

cam e near bringing Am erica into a third war w ith Great Britain, andalm ost every statem ent he m ade, based on the al legations Of j ealoustraders them selves, are now shown by original docum ents to havebeen entirely false. Senator Lynn tried to carry the Oregon b il l ,because, as his congressional friends frankly adm itted , his re-electiondepended uponhis efforts in this d irection, and he had no other m eans

of earning his liv ing than that of senator. He was a likab le m an,

breezy and friend ly , and his senatorial friends wanted to help himearn his l iving , so m any of them , on one occasion, voted for his b il l ,though it was in defiance of the treaty w ith Great Britain.

Am erica said Oregon in those days and thought of the Colum b iaR iver and Astoria and Robert Gray , as wel l as the fur- traders whohad sai led up and down the coast ; Great B ritain said Oregon and

thought of M ackenz ie and Hearn and Frazer, of Captain Cook and

Vancouver who exp lored Puget Sound in 1 792 ,and Of M eares and

Portlock and D ixon. One country thought of the lower one- third ,the other of the northern two- thirds. Each said “

Oregon.

”The

geography of the country was little known. NO wonder each countrywas surprised at the c laim s of the other.

Even before 1 822 , however, Great Britain gave up all claim to

Oregon south of the Colum b ia R iver. In 1 81 8 at the time that

Fort Astoria was restored , she had entered into a joint-occupancy ”

treaty w ith the United States , by which it was decided to al lowtraders and trappers and settlers and fishing vessels to trade or settlein the country , whether B ritish or Am erican, because they could notdecide the possession Of the country . This treaty was for ten years.

In 1 827 it was repeated , this tim e indefinitely , either country to end

[ 244 ]

BRIEF HISTORY FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES

it by a year’s notice. This c leared things up , because the two other

countries which had had claim s, had surrendered them to the UnitedStates. Spain surrendered all those under the Nootka Sound Convention when she so ld the Floridas in 1 8 1 9 ; and Spain had c laim edOregon to the far north, except as lim ited or left undeterm ined bythat Convention.

France had had rights Of contigu ity , because Oregon lay imm edi

ately w est of Lou isiana, but those had passed to the United States in1 803 , when She sold Old- tim e Lou isiana. Now suddenly

, in 1 82 1 ,R ussia appeared , claim ing Oregon, and the North Pacific as a c losedsea. This was settled by treaties between Russia and Great Britain,and Russia and Am erica, in 1 824 and 1 825 , by which the Czaraccepted fi fty - four degrees and forty m inu tes as his southern boundary ,and left Great B ritain and Am erica to settle the d ivision of the coast

between them .

But it was the Spanish c laim s ( even though l im ited yet left umsettled by the Nootka Sound Convention) sold to the United States ,and also this treaty w ith Russia, that led the Am erican people—that

is, the people as a whole— to bel ieve that Am erican rightsextended into the far north. That led , in 1 845 , to the cry ,

Fi fty- four forty , or fight ! It wou ld have been a m ost unrighteouswar for Am erica, for she had no m ore right, either by d iscovery ,exp loration, or settlem ent

, to the northern section Of the O ld Oregoncountry than she had to the B ritish Isles. Her rightfu l c laim s w ere

al l south Of the forty-ninth paral lel , and the best inform ed m en knew

this. Even in 1 81 8, again in 1 824 , and again in 1 827 , Am erica had

Offered Great B ritain the boundary l ine of the forty-ninth paral lel— j ust where it is today— because Am erica wanted the great harborsof Puget Sound ; otherw ise the forty-eighth paral lel m ight have beenoffered , for w e had no real right north Of that. The harbors w ere

a com m ercial necessity and the country was determ ined to havethem .

It w il l be seen, therefore; Since Great B ritain before 1 822 gave upal l c laim to the country south of the Co lum b ia, and Am erica from1 8 1 8 on unti l 1 845 m ade no claim to anything north of latitudeforty-nine degrees , that Oregon never was in danger Of being lost , asa whole. The only section of the whole country about which there

was any d ispute at all was that south and west of the Co lum b ia R iver,l!\ as it w inds and turns like a pair of stairs through the state ; that is,

[ 245 ]


the only section at stake was the western hal f of the present stateofWashington.

The num ber Of m en who saved Oregon has been increasing as

rap id ly as the vast am ount of furniture which cam e over in the M ay

flower. NO one saved Oregon, because Oregonwas never in dangerof being lost. Only hal f a present-day state was in d ispute, and from1 81 5 onwards there was no chance of that being given up for the

statesm en, as their letters and papers Show , were determ ined to havethose harbors on Puget Sound . The Co lum b ia was a

“barred river,

”

and unsafe during m uch Of the year. SanFrancisco harbor belongedto M exico. The trad ition of

“Whitm an saved Oregon” grew out

of fear. Webster did, at one tim e, think that he would give up any

c laim to the Puget Sound ports if Mexico could be induced to giveup the harbor of San Francisco. His Op inions on this subj ect werethe sam e after Whitm an v isited Washington, D . C .

—whether he

saw Webster or not is not the question— as they were beforeWhitm an left Oregon. There w as a rum or of a

“trade,

”and popular

Op inion said Webster was planning to trade Oregon for the fishingrights of the Northeast Coast. There was no truth in this.Am erican fur- traders did not appear in the Oregon country unti l

wel l into the 1 820s, when they trapped through the Snake R ivercountries, and final ly , by 1 827 , reached Fort Flathead on the north

ern Flathead R iver. Then others cam e, but only on trad ing trips.

Nathaniel J . Wyeth , 2 Cam bridge m an, cam e in 1 832 , going directly to the heart of things by m aking his way to Fort Vancouver.

He had high hopes and great enthusiasm , no experience, a sm al l , borrowed cap ital , and plans which looked w ell on paper. He had a

few fol lowers as inexperienced as him sel f , som e of whom desertedhim en route, the rest imm ed iately upon their arrival in Oregon.

Their arrival at Fort Vancouver was late in the fal l , a m ost inter

esting story , but never yet pub lished . His ship , due in the Colum b iaR iver, had beenw recked in the South Seas. He was dependent uponthe generous hosp ital ity of D r. McLoug hlin, and the fine character

of both m en is shown in the warm friendship between them , lastinglong after Wyeth’

s return to the East, although Wyeth had goneinto the Oregon country to overturn the great Eng lish com pany ifhe could , or at least to com pete for the fur trade.

Wyeth , as stated , had a sm al l borrowed cap ital . The Hudson’

s

Bay Com pany was an imm ensely wealthy corporation, m anaged on

[ 246 ]

EARLY] DAYS IN OLD OREGON

every assistance and kindness from Fort Vancouver, and a few yearslater num erous add itions were m ade to the m ission, even though a

fever of preced ing years had alm ost w iped out the Ind ians in the val

ley . Jason Lee’

s unpub lished defense Of him sel f states c learly that helooked upon this body Of m issionaries as an Am erican co lony

,in

tended to hold the country for Am erica. Good farm s received m ore

attention from them than actual m ission work, yet the m ission exer

ciz ed a good rel igious influence, SO to speak, was a rel igious center

for the white settlers when they cam e in, and later becam e an

academ y .

Po l itical ly , however, this m ission m ade much troub le. Jealous ofthe British , fearing lest the attractive country w ith its Open, p leasant prairies and its forested tracts— for the W i l lam ette is today a

charm ing country— should fal l to the B ritish , Am ericans sent petition after petition to Congress , urging it to extend the law s of the

United States over the country , and m aking m any serious m isrep re

sentations against Fort Vancouver and al leged British am b itions ,while refraining from acknow ledging the cord ial and unlim ited as

sistance in cred it and supp lies given them by the agents of the B ritishCom pany . They appealed for aid against the Indians and others

who wou ld do them harm .

In 1 836 M arcus Whitm an,the devoted m issionary Of Wai i latpu ,

w ith his charm ing , devoted w ife, w ith D r. and M rs. Spald ing , andW . H . Gray , a carpenter ( the author Of perhaps the m ost m al icioushistory ever w ritten) , cam e over the p lains , and settled am ong a

nob le type of Ind ians near FortWal laWal la. They devoted themselves to their w ork, receiv ing their reward eleven years later indeath at the hands of the Ind ians , because the angry tribesm en be

l ieved them selves about to be w iped out by the d isease brought intothe country by the throngs Of im m igrants. The m assacre cam e, be

it noted , after the fi rm hand of contro l exercised by the Hudson’

s

Bay Com pany had been l ifted by the T reaty of 1846. The Ind iansknew then that the Am ericans, whom they hated , were to have theircountry . It was Peter Skeen Ogden, chief factor Of the Hudson’

s

Bay Com pany , who, taking trad ing goods from the Com pany ’s postat Fort Vancouver, w ent up the Co lum b ia, at the risk of his l ife, andalm ost single-handed forced the Ind ians to give up nearly three scorecaptives, doom ed to death or slavery. ,The letter of acknow ledgm ent

from the provisional governm ent at OregonCity adm its this fact.

[ 248 ]

BR IEF H ISTORY FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES

M eanwhi le, the W il lam ette Val ley was being settled . By 1 838

and 1 839 , Am erican“m ountain m en

” —trappers from the R ockyM ountains -w -w ith their Ind ian w ives and l ittle hal f- breed chi ldren,drifted into the W i l lam ette Val ley , for the fur- bearing anim als of

the Rocky M ountains had becom e practical ly annihi lated . The

1 8403 saw the beginning of a stream Of genuine settlers crossingthe p lains, the prairies, and the m ountains, w ith their white-w ingedschooners , their ox- team s tugging at the heavy loads whi le the b lackox-goad sang in their ears.

M any of the newcom ers , reaching Oregon late in the fal l , had all

they could do to shelter their heads and feed their fam i lies duringthe _ w inter, and but for the generous help given them by the b lueeyed

, rosy-cheeked, white-haired m an in charge of Fort Vancouver,

they cou ld not have surv ived their first few m onths of hardship inthis chil ly , rainy c l im ate

,after the strain of long m onths in crossing

the continent. Many did g o on to the Sandw ich Islands and to Cal iformia

, som e hav ing changed their route while crossing the plains ,and others drifted down from the north d issatisfied w ith the m ore

g loom y northern c l im ate. The ill reports of Oregon brought downinto Cal ifornia by hundreds of these im m igrants, reaching the ears

Of B ritish consuls and v ice- consuls there, as wel l as in the Sandw ichIslands—which was the rendez vous for every ship in the Pacific and

a general center Of gossip— led to representations to the BritishForeignOffice by their own subord inates that Oregonwas not worth

fighting for, that it was better to give up part Of the country thanto quarrel over it.M any of these im m igrants in the W il lam ette c laim ed that they

cam e to“save Oregon —cam e because Of their love for their native

land . Know ing before they cam e that they could g et a m ile squareof good farm ing land for the asking , perhaps w ith som e Of them the

word “native” m ight be left out. Such a m an as Peter H . Burnett ,

for instance, one Of the finest characters who cam e to Oregon, ad

m itted frankly he cam e for the land . He was heavily in deb t inM issouri , his fam ily Shaking w ith chil ls and fever, there was no trade,and his only chance for getting financial ly on his feet again was his

xarrangem ent w ith his cred itors that he be al lowed to com e to Ore

gon and take up all the land al lowed for him sel f , his w ife , and each

of h is several children— a trem endous tract Of ferti le country to behad sim ply for the taking.

[ 249 ]


D ays were rough , as in all p ioneer countries, but not nearly so

rough as they w ere in m any Of the western states. Sti l l , by 1 843 ,

the needs of law s w ere apparent and a provisional governm ent was

form ed by the Am ericans, and the laws of Iowa used as a basis, untilsom e settlem ent should be m ade as to the border. Two years later,because Of the encroachm ents and d ifficu lties created by a law lesstype of settler against the Hudson’

s Bay Com pany , the provisionalgovernm ent was re-organized so that the English Com pany m ightjoin in w ith them w ithout losing national ity , or affecting their rightsas Engl ishm en. This gave the Com pany a certain protection,

but

gave also to the Am ericans the force of the Com pany ’s influence and

power, both in connectionw ith their control over the Ind ians— as the

Am ericans had antagonized the natives—and their trade w ith their

system of trad ing posts, as wel l as the fact that Fort Vancouver was anecessity to the Am ericans for suppl ies and protection.

Am ong these early settlers were deserters from whalers , lawbreakers and fugitives from j ustice, Old fur trappers who hated the

British Com pany , hated the red fl ag of B ritain’

s comm erce which

fl ew over that wooden-wal led fort, w ith the white, hal f m onogram

[B C on the lower edge Of the red folds. Such m en as these threat

ened to drive out every m an in the val ley who had an Ind ianw ifesom e Am ericans, but chiefly French-Canad ians, Old servants of the

Com pany who had til led their farm s for years and had com fortab lehouses—and threatened also to burn down Fort Vancouver. Som e

were adventurers from the Sandw ich Islands. And w ith them all

was a goodly num ber of the finest c lass Of Am erican p ioneers— m en

determ ined , honest , hard-working , law -ab id ing , good husbands and

good fathers , seeking better Opportunities for them selves and betterfutures for their chi ldren. Such m en as these gave the predom inantstam p to the country , and by their industry developed it so that it hasgrown at a m arvelous pace , aided by its attractive scenery and de

l ightfu l c l im ate—developed it so that a few years later other de

sirab le m en, bankers, business m en

,the professional c lasses who lacked

the l iking for the rough edge Of a p ioneer’s l ife, fo l low ed in their

footsteps and bu i lt up the country . T oday this O ld Oregon country m akes up the states of Oregon, Washington, I daho , Northwest

ern Montana, and all of British Co lum b ia.

Of all the characters which stand out in the history of early Ore

g on, for nob i lity and grandeur, the m ost striking is that of D r. John

[ 250 ]


m ost rom antic history of any Section of the United States, and the

fascination of it l ies in the fact that the Old history stil l echoes

through the forests and along the broad stream s of the country , andg leam s in the snowy peaks. The grandchildren Of m any a m an who

helped to settle the Old Oregon country are stil l young people, barelyout Of school . Som e Of a younger generation are sti l l m ere childrenin schoo l . It is but right they should know its early history.

[ 252 ]

B IB LIOGRAPHY

BANCROFT , HUBERT HOWE . H istory of the Northwest Coast.

2 vols. San Francisco ,1 884.

A very com prehensive history of th e Pacifi c Northw est, from the days ofi ts im aginary geography to the end of j oint occupation in 1 846. Im portant forh istorical work on account of footnotes and c itations of authorities , but p resupposes a fair know l edge of the history. A b ib l iography Of seventeen p agescontains references to m any m anuscripts as w e l l as to rare books.

H istory of Oreg on. 2 vo ls. San Francisco, 1 888.

Vol . 1 covers 1 834- 1 848, and vol . 2 , 1 848- 1 888. The fi rst vo lum e, beginning

w ith the period just p rior to the com ing of the m i ssionaries, covers in detai lthe events of the next fourteen years, both secu lar and c l erical . The found ingof al l Of the early m i ssions in Old Oregon, Cath o l ic and Protestant, i s g ivenin d etai l . The second vo lum e, beginning w ith the c lose of the j oint occupation, covers m ore narrow ly the h istory of the present Oregon.

Native Races of the Pacific States of North Am erica. 5 vols.

San Francisco.

Vol . 1, w i l d tribes , vol . 2 , civi l ized nations ; vol . 3, m yths and languages

vo l . 4 , antiquities ; vol . 5, p rim itive h i story .

Vo lum es 1 and 3 are of value In the study of the tribes on the Co lum b iaand along the Pacific coast. Chapters 2 to 5 of vol . 3 g ive brief summ ariesof a num ber of Northw estern myths and l egends.

Washing ton, Idaho, and M ontana, 1 845 - 1 889 . San Francisco ,

1 890 .

A brief history of Wash ington,beg inning w ith the end Of j oint occupa

tion in 1 846, and end ing w ith statehood in 1 889 . The h istory of Wash ingtoncom p rises 392 pages, but only 300 are h istory p rop er. Footnotes, citations ,and a b ib l iography of ten p ages m ake it of unusual value to the historian.

BOURN E , EDWARD GAYLORD . E ssays in H istorical Criticism .

Charles Scribner’

s Sons, New York, 1 90 1 .

The fi rst essay,covering pages 3 - 1 09, is entitled “The Legend of Marcus

Whitm an.

” In it are given para l l el accounts of the Spal d ing and the Graynarratives SO far as they touch upon the purpose of Whitm an

’s fam ous ride.

I t i s a very clear statem ent of the anti -Wh itm an side.

[ 253 ]


CO! , ROSS . Adventures on the Colum b ia R iver : A Narrative ofSix Years’ R esidence on the Western Side of the R ockyM ountains .

This gives much about the l ife of the Ind ian tribes, but i s not suitab leread ing for any but adu lts.

D ENNY , ARTHUR A. P ioneer D ays on Pug et Sound. Alice Harri

m an Co. , Seattle, 1 908. 1 03 pp .

Incidents of early p ioneer l ife, esp ecial ly the found ing of Seattle and thesettlem ent on the Sound . Esp ecial ly usefu l for early Seattle history. T he

p resent ed ition is a rep rint.

D ENNY , EM I LY IN E ! . B laz ing the Way : True Stories, Song s, andSketches of Pug et Sound and Other P ioneers. Rainier PrintingCo. , Seattle, 1 909 . 504 pp .

Hom e l ife in the earl iest days on the Sound , as rel ated by the daughter Ofone of the p ioneers who founded Seattle. The author i s not a trained w riter

,

but the book contains detai l s which are of real value as a record of the earlydays.

More than hal f the book is givenUp to a b iographical account of D avi dT . D enny.

EE LLS , R EV. MYRON . Marcus Whitman, Pathfinder and Patriot.Al ice Harrim an Co. , Seattle, 1 909 . 347 pp .

Th is is d istinctly the best book on the p ro-Whitm an side. The tone is

m oderate and D r. Ee l l s does not hes itate to state that m any assert ions m adeby both Spald ing and Gray are incorrect. The author i s the son of the R ev .

Cushing Eel l s , who , as head Of the Spokane m ission, knew Whitm an p erson

a l ly and worked w i th h im in the m iss ion fi eld .

The descriptions given in M rs. Wh itm an’s l etters of the crossing of the

continent and the Green R iver rendezvous are unusual ly good . T he rel ig iouss ide is rather prom inent, but the book is entertaining . The type is large. The

index is inadequate.

FRANCHERE , GABR I EL . Voyag e to the Northwest Coast, 1 8 1 1 - 1 81 4 .

Reprinted in Thwaites’ Early Western Travels .

I s a cheery, bright account, w ritten for friends, of the found ing Of

A storia,its sale, and the author’s j ourney hom e. He was In Oregon only

w ith the Astori ans.

HOLM AN ,FREDERICK V. D r. John M cLaug hlin, the Father of

Oreg on. A. H. C lark Co. , C leveland , 1 907 . 286 pp .

A description of Fort Vancouver, the hab its of l ife there, but esp ecial ly acarefu l study of D r. McLoug hl in and his infl uence over the Ind ians and h is

relation to the developm ent of Old Oregon. The b iograph ical section occup iesl ittle m ore thanhal f the book, the rem ainder being an ap pend ix of i l lustrativedocum ents . Good index.

The book is carefu l ly w ritten, but the description Of l ife at Old Fort Vancouver i s rather colorl ess. It cou ld wel l b e supp l em ented by M rs. Victor’sR iver of the West.

[ 254 ]


Subj ect Index to the H istory of the Pacific Northw est and Alaska,

as Found in the United States Governm ent D ocum ents,

Cong ressional Series, in the Am erican State Papers, and in

Other D ocum ents, 1 789 to 1 881 . Washington State

Library , O lym p ia, Wash.

B esides being an index to docum ents purely p ol itical , the cross references m ake th is index im portant on econom ic and social m aterial s. Under“Ind ians, Manners and Custom s

,

”w i l l b e found m uch of value on any part

of the Oregon country.

LAUT , AGN ES C. The Story of the Trapper. D . Appleton 86 Co. ,

New York, 1 902 . 284 pp .

M iss Laut g ives a vivid p icture Of th e l ife and the peri l s of the trappers ,w ith num erous incidents . T he book i s w el l w orth read ing and i s, in general ,accurate, but trappers have b itterly resented the characterization she has

g iven them as law l ess and imm oral . Part of this d ifference of Op inion i s dueto the fact that the author and the trappers represent two stages of c ivi l ization

,and part to the fact that she has stated the case against the trappers

rather too strong ly.

Viking s of the Pacific : The Adventures of the E xp lorers whoCam e from the West, Eastward . The M acm il lan Company , 1 905 . 368 pp .

Part 1 , the early Russian exp lorers beginning w ith B ehring, who dis

covered and exp lored the northern Pac ific coast to 54'

Part 2 , T he Am erican and Eng l ish exp lorers ; D rake, Cook, Gray,Led

yard , and Vancouver.

Part 3 , T he fur trade, espec ial ly as carried on by the Russians .

Large type, attractive m ake-up , and entertaining read ing . T he book as

a who le i s not rel iab l e, because the im aginative touch which M iss Laut addsd estroys its value as authentic history. The index i s satisfactory.

LEW I S , ALB ERT BUELL . Tribes of the Colum b ia Val ley and the

Coast of Washing ton and Oreg on. Vol . 1, part 2 , M em oirs of

the Am erican Anthropo logical Association. New Era PrintingCo . , Lancaster, Pa. ,

1 906. 204 pp . 65C, paper.

Takes up the l ife and custom s of the“canoe Ind ians” alm ost exclusively.

The treatm ent i s brief b ut authoritative. T he b ib l iography,how ever,

inc ludes works on the Ind ians of Northern Cal ifornia.

LEWIS , W I LL IAM , and CLARK , M ERR IWETHER . Journals. Historyof an Exped ition to the Source of the M issouri R iver,Thence Across the R ocky M ountains and D own the Colum bia

R iver to the Pacific OceanD uring the Years 1 804- 1 806.

The best of the cheaper ed itions is probab ly the 3-volum e ed ition of

A . S . Barnes 8: Co .,New York, 1 904 , at each . Th is i s ed ited by John

B ach McM aster.

The m ost serviceab l e ed ition is probab ly that ed ited by Jam es K . Hosm er,

in 2 vo lum es, pub l ished by A . C . McClurg Co., Chicago, 1 902, The

[ 256 ]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

type is large, the p aper of good qual ity, and the detai l ed head ings to each

chapter are very usefu l .T he m ost scho larly ed ition, w ith the orig inal spel l ing

,i s the 4

-vo lum e

ed i tion ed ited by D r. E l l iott Coues , pub l ished by Frances P . Harp er, NewYork, 1 883 , at Few sm al l l ibraries, how ever, wou l d find thi s a

p racticab le ed ition.

LORD , W I LL IAM ROGERS . A First B ook Up on the B irds of Oreg on

and Washing ton. R evised ed ition. J . K . Gil l Co., Portland ,

Ore. 297 pp . 75C.

Intended p rim ari ly for ch i l dren and young p eop le, but wou l d do verygood service for any one just beg inning to study the b irds Of thi s section.

The photograph ic i l lustrations are Of l ittl e value. The type i s good and thebook sm al l enough to s l ip into the p ocket.

LYMAN ,W I LL IAM D . The Colum b ia R iver; I ts H istory , its l l/I y ths,its Scenery , and its Com m erce. W ith 80 i l lustrations and a m ap .

G . P . Putnam ’

s Sons, 1 909 . 409 pp .

A description of “the land w here the river fl ow s

,

” fol low ed by earlyexp lorations

,Ind ian l egends, the fur traders, and the occupation Of Old

Oregon. Part I I i s a p l easing descrip tion Of del ightfu l exp loring and

cam p ing trip s.

T he book i s w e l l printed and w el l i l lustrated , w ith good index.

The author is p rofessor at Whitm an Co l lege, and has sp ent his l ife alongthe Co lum b ia River.

MARSHALL , W I LLIAM I . H istory vs. the Whitm an-Saved-Oreg on

Story . Three essay s toward a true history of the acquisition ofthe Old Oreg on territory . B lakeley Printing Co. , Chicago , 1 902 .

236 pp . 50c c loth, 25c paper.

Chapter 1,

“S trange Treatm ent of Original Resources ( reprinted fromOreg onian of Septem ber 3 , is a very critical review of Mow ry

’s M arcus

Whitman and the E arly D ays of Oreg on. The review inc ludes a lso a

thorough d iscuss ion of orig inal sources .

Chap ter 2,

“D r. Eel l s’ S earch for Truth ,” being a review of Myron

Eel l s’ rep ly to chap ter 1,as pub l ished in the Oreg onian.

Chapter 3 i s a d iscussion of P rofessor B ourne’

s paper.

M r. Marsha l l w as the first m an to attack the Whitm an- saved -Oregonstory

,by com paring the facts as stated by Spa l d ing and Gray w ith the

vo lum inous correspondence of Whitm an h im sel f , M rs. Whitm an,and others .

He had h im sel f bel ieved the story, he states, and del ivered m any l ectures inh igh p raise of Wh itm an

’s heroic ride to save Oregon.

Th is book i s very necessary to any l ibrary for its thorough d i scussion ofthe question.

The Acquisition of Oreg on.

Th is is carefu l ly w orked out,not only to g ive the history of Oregon,

b ut to d i sp rove the Wh itm an- saved -Oregon m yth . It i s the best book on the

anti -Wh itm an s ide as E el l s’ work i s the best p ro-Wh itm an w ork. Both are

fairly good Oregon h istories as taken from secondary sources and im p erfect

[ 257 ]


and b iased p rim ary sources. Neither one does justice to the Hudson B ayCom pany, and neither p ays any attention to the Briti sh S ide of the Oregoncontroversy.

MASON , OT I S T . B asket Work of North Am erican Aborig ines .

National M useum R ep ort, Sm ithsonian Institution, Washington,D . C . ,

1 894 .

Th is i s the standard work on basketry.

Cradles of the North Am erican Aborig ines ; Head-flattening inOreg on; Cradles of Oreg on and Alaska. National M useum

R ep ort, Sm ithsonian Institution, 1 887 .

Hum an B easts of B urden; Yokes and Carry ing Baskets of theOreg on Country and Alaska. National M useum R eport,Sm ithsonian Institution, 1887 .

MEEK ER , E ! RA . P ioneer R em iniscences of Pug et Sound . The

Trag edy of Leschi . Seattle, 1 909 . 840 pp .

P ersonal m em ories of early exp eriences by one who cam e over the Trai lin 1 853, settl ing first In the forests on the Co lum b ia River and l ater on PugetSound . The chapter, “Crui se on Puget Sound ,” g ives a very good descriptionOf the Sound

,a l ive w ith Ind ian canoes, whi le O lym p ia w as hard ly m ore

than a nam e, Tacom a an unnam ed cam p ing ground , and S eattle a few logcab ins c lustered around a sawm i l l . A good description of a trip throughthe Nachess Pass 1 5 given.

The account g iven of the Ind ian w ars of 1 855 56 i s b iased , the b lam e

for the w ar being shou ldered upon Governor Stevens. The attitude of the

w riter tow ard the Ind ians, and especial ly tow ard Lesch i , on the other hand ,i s unusual ly sym pathetic .

C . B . Bag ley’s “In the Beginning occup ies the last 1 00 p ages.

PARKMAN , FRANC I S . The Oreg on Trail . I l lustrated by FredericR em ington. Little , Brown 86 Co. , 1 906. 4 1 1 pp .

AS Parkm an never crossed the Rocky Mountains , his v ivid descriptionsend w ith Fort B ent, y et a know l edge Of the Trai l as it w ound over the p lainsi s essential to a know ledge of the h istory of the Northw est. For charm of

sty le and beauty of description, the vo lum e can never b e equal led , since the

o ld days Of the Trai l have p assed aw ay . T he book i s popu lar w ith boys .

There are m any ed itions, from 7 5c upw ards, but the one m entioned above i svery attractive and a serviceab le l ibrary ed ition.

PHELPS , R EAR-ADM I RAL T . S. R em iniscences ofSeattle D uring the

Indian lVar of 1 855 -5 6. Al iceHarrim anCo. ,1 908. 48 pp . 6oc.

An offi cer on the D ecatur during the Ind ian attack, Adm iral Phel ps givesa detai led description Of the enti i e affair. Orig inal ly pub l ished In the United

States M ag az ine, th is account of the battl e seem s to have been the basis fornearly al l others.

[ 258 ]


V ICTOR , M RS . FRANCES F R iver of the West; L ife and Adventuresin the R ocky M ountains and Oreg on. 1 870 .

A b iography Of Joseph Meek, one of the m ost p icturesque of them ounta in m en. Meek w andered from the great p lains to the coast, andm any Of the stories Of the Old trapper’

s fights w ith B lackfeet and Shoshonesare to l d in his own w ords . The book is now out of p rint, but worth securingfor the graph ic p ictures Of frontier and p ioneer l ife.

The Early Indian Wars of Oreg on, Com p iled from Oreg on

Archives and Other Orig inal Saurces, w ith M uster R ol ls . State

printer, Salem , Ore. , 1 894 . 700 pp .

M rs . V ictor w as comm iss ioned by the l egislature of Oregon w ith the

record ing of the early w ars in O ld Oregon. T he book covers the Cayusew ar

,the R ogue River w ars

,and the Y akim a w ar. Footnotes and Citations

are given. Personal experiences are g iven to the exc lus ion of purely m i l itarytactics

,and the book gains thereby in hum an intei est. Chapter head ings are

analyzed , and the index i s very com p lete.

WHEELER , OL IN D . The Trail of L iw is and Clark. With 200

i l lustrations. 2 vols. G . P . Putnam ’

s Sons , 1 904 .

A most entertaining account of a j ourney over the trai l of Lew is and

C lark one hundred years later. ! uotations from the j ournals of the fam ousexped ition

,location Of the trai l s and cam p s , w ith carefu l photograph ic work

,

m ake these vo lum es a l so of great value. T he type is large, the pap er of goodqua l i ty, and the i l lustrations c l ear. The index i s very com p l ete and w el lanalyzed .

W INTHROP , T HEODORE . The Canoe and the Saddle. D odd , MeadSc Co .

, New York. 3 75 pp .

A w him s ical , entertaining account of a trip m ade in 1 853 by canoe and

horseback, from Port Townsend , on Puget Sound , a long the Co lum b ia and

across the m ountains . T he hardsh ips and p eri l s Of the trip are alm ost con

cealed by the p ervad ing hum or of the author,who occas ional ly had to trust

to h is horse’

s hee l s and h is Co l t revo lver for h is personal safety.

W inthrop is cred ited w ith having first l earned from the natives the

Ind ian nam e for the Sound , and for the doub ly-nam ed m ountain—Whulg e,and Takhom a.

[ 260 ]

INDE!

A lki Point, 1 88, 1 93Am erica, British sh ip , 1 62 , 1 63App l es, the first in the Oregon country , 1 1 0

—1 1 2Astor

,John Jacob

, 50 , 239Astoria

,bu i ld ing Of the post, 47 - 57 ;

abandoned , 96 ; so ld to North West

Com pany, 239, 240 ; restored to

United States, 242Astorians

,and Okanogan, 56, 60 ; and

Fort Sp okane, 66

B arkeley , Captain, 1 6, 237B eaver, arrives at Astoria, 54B el l ingham

,1 83

B itter R oot Mountains, 38, 44B lue Mountains, 1 38, 1 39B onnev i l le, Irving’ s, 247“Brigade of Boats

,

”7 2 ; annua l ar

rival at Fort Vancouver, 1 0 1—1 04

Catl in,the artist

,and prairie fi re,

1 34—1 36

Ch i l dren, l ife of the p ioneer, 1 97—204

C larke, of the Astoria Com pany , 66Coal

,d i scovery Of, 1 83

Colum bia, K endrick’s and Gray’s

sh ip , 1 9, 25 ; first across theCo lum b ia R iver b ar, 25—30Co lum b ia River, b ar, 47 ; b ar

crossed by Captain Gray, 25 30 ;

river, 29 , 30 , 32, 40 , 4 5, 60 ; and

Fort Vancouver, 97—1 0 1 ; and set

tlers , 1 4 1 ; forests of the, 1 63 ; lum

b ering on, 1 8 1Cook

,Captain

,adventures along the

Oregon coast, 5—1 2, 27 , 237

D al l es, The, 60 , 95, 1 4 1

D ecatur, w arsh ip, 2 1 8

D enny,D avid

,p ioneer, 1 88 , 1 89

D iscov ery , Captain Cook’s ship

, 5

Early settl ers, types Of, 250

E arly Western Travels, 239

“Fifty- four- forty or fi ght,

”1 56, 245

F irst wh ite m an’s ship

,1 - 4

Franchére, story Of the Northwest,

239Furs, secured by Captain Cook’

s m en,

9 , 1 0 ; a race for, 66-

7 1 ; and c l i

m ate, 96 ; early prices for, 24 1Fur-trad ing, 1 1 , 1 3, 1 7 , 97 ;

“BrigadeOf Boats” and, 1 0 1—1 04 ; m ountaintrade ended , 1 30 ; beg innings Of

,

237 , 238 ; and Ind ians, 242

Ganz evoort, Cap tain, of the D ecatur,

2 1 9George, Fort, 72, 83Go ld

,d i scovery in Cal ifornia, 1 68,

1 78 ; in Oregon,1 84

Good Hope, brig, 238Gordon

,Cap tain, of the Am erica,

1 62, 1 63Gray, Captain Robert, 1 2 ; sai l s overthe Co lum b ia River b ar, 1 9, 25

—30 ,

239Great Britain, Op inion of Oregon,

1 65, 249 ; g ives up c laim s to Ore

g on, 244» 245

Hal l,Fort

, 1 1 6, 1 1 7 , 1 27 , 1 37Hiaqua shel l , 228, 229“Hom e sh ip” from Eng land

,arriva l

at Fort Vancouver, 1 04Hud son’

s B ay Com pany , 96, 1 47 , 1 49and the Ind ians, 2 1 7

Imm igrants,com ing Of the, 95 ; exp e

riences on the Nachess Pass route,I 67Ind ians

,Wal la Wal la treaty w ith,

20 5—2 1 5 ; how they l ived , 224—234

Ind ian w ar,2 14 ; battl e of S eatt le,

2 1 6—223Ingraham

,Cap tain, of the Good Hop e,

238

I rv ing,Wash ington,

240 ; B onnev i l le, 247

Astoria, 239,


Joint Occup ancy Treaty of 1 81 8, 147 ,1 5 1 , I S9, 244

K endrick, Captain John, Of the Co

lum bia, and Lady Washing ton, 1 9,

Lady Washing ton, Gray ’s and K en

drick’s sh ip

,1 9, 25

Laram ie, Fort, 1 27Lee, R ev . D aniel , 1 23, 149Lee, R ev . Jason, 1 23, 1 49, 248Lew is and C lark Exped ition, 30 , 3 1

Lum bering in Oregon, 1 64, 1 65, 1 68,1 78, 1 7 9, 1 8 1 , 1 88

McD oug al l, D uncan, 52, 54 , 55McK enz ie, A lexander, fur trader, 1 44McK enz ie, D onald , Of the North West

Com pany. 83. 96. 243McLaug hl in, D r. John, takes chargeof Oregon Country fur trade, 971 09, 243 ; l ife at Fort Vancouver,1 04

- 1 09, 1 1 1 ; w e lcom es m ission

aries, 1 22, and imm igrants,

1 42 ;and the p rovisional governm ent,1 58 ; deal ings w ith the Ind ians, 2 1 7 ;character and work

, 250 , 2 5 1

Meares , Captain John, 1 1 , at Nootka

Sound,1 3—2 1 , 22 , 27 , 32 , 237 , 238

Meek, Jo, trap p er, 1 30Metal , value to Ind ians, 3, 9M iss ionaries, com ing of the, 94 ; ad

ventures Of the Whitm ans, 1 1 3- 1 26

M issouri,Great Fal l s of the, 33 ; the

river, 32. 33. 36M odeste, Eng l ish w arsh ip

,1 60 , 1 61

Nachess Pass, imm igrant adventuresby the, 1 67—1 7 7

Nootka Sound , 7 , 1 1 , 1 3 , 32 ; Conven

fi on. 239. 24 s

Northwest Am erica, launching of the,1 9—2 1 , 22, 25

Northwest Coast, early d iscoveries,238

North West Com pany , 56, 58, 59, 96,1 47 ; buys Astoria, 240 , 24 1 m ergesw ith the Hudson’

s B ay Com pany,243

Ogden, Peter Skeen, rescues whites

from Ind ians, 1 2 5, 248

Okanogan, Fort, 56, 60, 24 1O lym p ia

, 1 85, 1 86

Oregon, Of the early days, 32, 1 45,

1 54 ; who owned , 143—1 66 ; Joint

Occupancy Treaty,1 47 , 1 5 1 , 1 59 ;

Am erican Provi sional Governm ent,1 53, 1 58 ; and Wh itm an

, 1 54, 1 55 ;and Webster, 1 55, 1 56 ; reputationInEng land

,1 65, 249 ; boundary l ine

settlem ent, 1 61, 1 62

,1 66, 1 67 ; lum

bering in, 1 64 , 1 65, 1 68 ; beg inningof cities, 1 78

—1 87 ; p ioneer exp lorers

, 1 88- 1 96 ; l ife of the p ioneerchi l dren

,1 97—204 ; b i l l s for occup a

tion of, 244 , 248 ; indeterm inate

boundaries of, 244 ; Sp anish andRussian c laim s

, 245Oregon C ity

,1 79

OregonTrai l,the, 1 24, 1 27

- 142

Pacific Fur Com p any, 50P ioneer

,settl ers, 1 50

- 1 52 ; exp eriences

,1 67—1 77 , 1 88- 1 96, 200 , 20 1 ;

ch i ldren, 1 97- 204Portland

, 1 80 , 1 8 1“Potlatch ,” Ind ian custom

, 232, 233Prairie fi re, 1 33- 1 36Provi sional governm ent in Oregon,

1 58, 250

Puget Sound country, 1 67 ; tim ber,1 82 ; first treaties, 20 5 ; productions,20 5, 206 ; Ind ians of

, 2 1 7

R esolution, CaptainCook’s sh ip

, 5R io San Roque, 6“River of theWest,

”

7 , 28, 40

Rocky Mountains, 38, 1 1 6

Ross,A l exander, w ith the Astorians ,

50 ; adventures at Okanogan, 58—65 ;w ith North West Com pany, 72 ;story of the Northw est, 2 39Russia’

s c laim to Oregon, 245

Sacaj aw ea,the

“B ird Wom an, 3 1 ,

36, 4SSandw ich I s land s , 1 64 , 1 7 8, 238San Juan de Fuca S traits, 7 , 1 6, 1 63battle in, 22—24

“Saving Oregon,

”246

Sea Otter, fur- trad ing ship , 237Seatt le, 1 82 ; early adventures in, 1 88

1 96 ; nam e, 1 96 ; battle of, 2 1 6- 223

Settlers , see Imm igrantsShark, Am ericanwarship , 1 61

[ 262 ]

· iﬂrrt ‘ am old oregon was a mighty sweep of country, and a most romantic one. from the...

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