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للمجي المصمممممم بإن زالدمار
Gc 979.5 H580 1714762
M. L
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
E ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01149 0940
30 .476
REV. GUSTAVUS HINES.
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS;
COMPRISING A
full History of the Colillamette University,
THE FIRST ESTABLISHED ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
BY REV. GUSTAVUS HINES.
WITH FOUR ENGRAVINGS.
NEW YORK : CARLTON & PORTER, 200 3IULBERRY STREET.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by REV. GUSTAVUS HINES,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.
1714762 INTRODUCTION.
THE home of the author of the following pages is within the limits of the country which he has attempted to describe. A native of the great state of New York, a visitor to every continent on the globe, an admirer of ten thousand beautiful localities in the numerous coun- tries which have come under his observation, he would not exchange his humble sunset home in the delightful valley of the Willamette River, near the blue and placid waters of the great Pacific Ocean, either for mansions of wealth in the crowded city, or for any other spot which he has ever seen upon the surface of this green earth.
Twenty-eight years ago he became a voluntary exile to that far-off land. From that period he has felt that he had an identity of interests with the country of his adoption, and for twenty-one years he has lived and labored and traveled within its bounds, and claims to be thoroughly posted upon all those subjects to which, with all due deference, he would invite the attention of the reading public.
Conscious of his want of power to array his work in that fascinating drapery necessary to charm the reader at once into an unqualified approval, he would endeavor to conciliate him into a purpose to peruse the
4
INTRODUCTION.
volume by assuring him that, in whatever it may be de- ficient as to ornate qualities, its truthfulness and relia- bility are not to be called in question.
In the excitement of the times the public, especially in the Eastern and Middle States, seem almost to have lost sight of Oregon, and one of the primary objects which the author has in view is again to awaken an interest in the community generally, and in the Chris- tian Churches particularly, in relation to that distant and feeble member of this great family of states.
The history of the Willamette University, which has been traced in this volume, cannot fail deeply to enlist the reader's sympathies in behalf of an infant people struggling in their weakness and poverty to lay the foundations of a Christian civilization in the future Pacific empire ; and the author hopes the reader will come to the conclusion that an institution commenced and carried forward under the embarrassments that have pressed upon this one, is worthy of all confidence, and should be sustained by every necessary means.
And now, reader, you need just the information which this book can give you with regard to Oregon and Wash- ington Territory. Read it; though an unpretending book, the instructions conveyed will be more valuable than volumes of fiction.
GUSTAVUS HINES.
NEW YORK, January 10, 1868.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY
II. THE CAPES AND GOAST RANGE OF MOUNTAINS
18
III. THE LOWER VALLEYS AND THE CASCADE MOUNTAINS
25
IV. THE VALLEY OF THE GREAT COLUMBIA
50
V. THE COUNTIES OF OREGON
61
VI. HISTORY OF THE OREGON INSTITUTE AND WILLAMETTE
UNIVERSITY
129
VII. ORGANIZATION OF THE WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY
175
VIII. SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTERNAL HISTORY
193
IX. POPULATION, NEW CONSTITUTION, AND ENDOWMENT
206
X. THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY
225
XI. HISTORY OF THE NEW COLLEGE BUILDING
261
XII. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS CONNECTED WITH OUR HISTORY . 271
XIII. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF FACTS.
284
XIV. REMINISCENCES OF MISSIONARY LIFE
297
Illustrations,
REV. GUSTAVUS HINES
Front
FIRST CHURCH IN OREGON 111
OREGON INSTITUTE.
128
WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY
260
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY.
THE State of Oregon and Washington Territory are mainly embraced within that portion of the great western slope of the North American Continent drained and watered by the Columbia River and its numerous tributaries. There are, however, in the northern part of Washington Territory a few small rivers, watering valleys more or less exten- sive, which take their rise in the cascade range of mountains, and empty directly into the Pacific Ocean ; and there are also a few valleys, watered by independent rivers, in the southern part of the State of Oregon ; but by far the greater part of both Oregon and Washington Territory is compre- hended in the great valley of the Columbia.
In the general description of this country, there- fore, it will be necessary to embrace both of these political divisions in the same account. Oregon and Washington Territory comprehend a vast extent of country, and lie within the following boundary. Com-
8
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
mencing at the northwest corner of said territory, con- sider the north line as extending along the center of the Strait of Juan de Fuca eastward, the distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles ; thence northward till it strikes the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude ; thence due east along said parallel the distance of five hundred and fifty miles, dividing Washington Territory from British Columbia, to the summit of the Rocky Mountains; and on the east, the line extends along the summit of the Rocky Mountains from the forty-ninth to the forty-second degree of north latitude ; and on the south, the line runs along on the forty-second parallel, and near the summit of the Sisku Mountains, and separating Oregon from California, to the Pacific Ocean ; and on the west, the Pacific Ocean is the boundary from Cape Men- docino northward, to the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the place of beginning. These limits embrace Idaho, the "gem of the mountains," which has been taken off from the southeastern part of what was at first Washington Territory, and lies directly east of the state of Oregon.
The northern line, separating this country from British Columbia is a very unnatural one, and greatly to the disadvantage of the United States. Any one in casting his eye over a correct map of the country west of the Rocky Mountains will discover at one glance that a much more appropriate division than the one which has been established between the two countries would have been a line extending from Puget's Sound northeastwardly along the summit of
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OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
the high lands which separate the waters of the Columbia River from those of Frazer's River to the Rocky Mountains, so as to embrace in Oregon and Washington Territory all the country drained by the Columbia River. This would have given a natural boundary to the country on all sides, while the forty-ninth parallel is a very unnatural one, because it cuts the great valley of the Columbia, leaving the upper part of the valley in the British dominions, and the lower part in the United States, thus putting asunder that which the God of nature has joined together.
The extent of the area embraced in the boundary which we have traced will measure four hundred thousand square miles: sufficient for a mighty empire. It will be perceived that we do not take into con- sideration the magnificent state of California, which alone contains one hundred and sixty thousand square miles, our object being simply a clear and reliable description of that portion of our vast sunset domains lying north of California and south of British Colum- bia. This country has six hundred and fifty miles of coast on the Pacific Ocean, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget's Sound.
The coast itself deserves particular notice. The shores of the Strait of Fuca are mainly composed of beaches of sand and stones overhung by sandy and rocky cliffs ; and from these the land ascends grad- ually to the foot of the mountains, which rise abruptly to a great height within a few miles of the ocean. The shores along the Pacific are nearly straight
10
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
from north to south, varying but a few degrees; but in other respects, characterized by great variety. In some places the coast is abrupt, and iron-bound ; in others, it is composed of low sand beaches, which, from appearances, seem to have been widening, either by an accumulation of sand for untold ages, or, according to another theory, by the gradual receding of the ocean from the shore. In many places, along this extended coast, this accumulation of sand has resulted in the formation of undulating plains, which extend back some miles from the ocean, and finally become covered with a dense growth of various grasses, weeds, and shrubbery. A particular descrip- tion of every part of the coast possessing these char- acteristics would extend these remarks to an undne length; and, therefore, as an illustration of this pecul- iarity of the Pacific coast, attention is invited to a somewhat minute account of the Clatsop Plains.
These plains lie on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River, back of that point of land known by the name of Cape Adams. They consti- tute that low tract of country which lies in the form of a triangle, one of whose sides is washed by the waves of the Pacific, and the other by those of Youngs' Bay; while its base rests against the range of mount- ains extending back from Tilamook Head, and its point, or apex, is washed by the south channel of the Columbia River. The height of this triangle, or the distance from Cape Adams back to the mount- ains, is about twenty-five miles, while the mean width is probably not more than four miles. The plains
11
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
themselves, or that portion of this triangle not covered with timber, is about twenty miles long, and from one to two and a half broad, the whole tract containing about seventy or eighty square miles. These plains lie directly on, and open beautifully to, the Pacific Ocean, and command a fine view of all the ships that pass over the bar of the Columbia. The beautiful sand beach, extending their entire length, forms at low water a firm and commodious road. Between these open plains and Youngs' Bay is a tract of timbered land, comprising about twice as much as the plains, but similar in every other respect, except the dense forest of fir, spruce, pine, cedar, hemlock, and alder, by which it is shaded. It is only necessary for one to walk across the isthmus from Youngs' Bay to the Pacific, to be convinced that this entire tract, and all others of a similar character on the coast, have been formed by the vast quantities of sands and vegetable substances which have been conveyed from time imme- morial by the Columbia River to the ocean, and deposited by the ceaseless action of the tide. The evidences of this are, first, the fact that the soil of the plains is of the same alluvial character that ap- pears on the banks of the river above. Secondly, from the several ridges or undulations, which curve precisely with the shores of the ocean, and all of which appear to have successively formed the bound- ary of the great deep. And, thirdly, from the fact that shells and other marine substances are found deeply embedded in the sands, thus deposited in a state of perfect petrifaction. Indeed, there is little
12
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
doubt but that all this tract of land, which now lies but a few feet above the level of the ocean, was once entirely submerged, and by the causes referred to has been redeemed from the ocean bed, and consti- tuted a delightful place for the residence of man.
The foundation of the soil of these plains is sand, and in many places this sand is bare; but even here, where the winds admit of vegetation taking root, its growth shows clearly that this sand is far from being destitute of vegetative properties. Generally, how- ever, the surface of this land is composed of a black mold, which is from six to ten inches deep, and which, doubtless, has been formed by the constant decay of various kinds of vegetation, which here grow in abundance. This black mold, with a portion of the sand beneath, forms a rich and productive soil, which, from its proximity to the ocean, and per- haps from the nature of the soil itself, is not so well adapted to wheat, but produces peas, oats, potatoes, turnips, and, indeed, all kinds of vegetables in great abundance. In connection with these dry plains are extensive tracts of tide land, which are covered with an immense growth of grass and at low water are accessible to stock, so that cattle, horses, and hogs thrive in this region as well as in any part of the country.
Along the extended coast of this country there are many scores, and it would not be varying far from the truth to say hundreds, of miles of land similar in nature to the Clatsop Plains above described. On the weather beach north of the month of the Colum-
13
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
bia, in Washington Territory, and on the Oregon coast at the mouth of Tilamook, Salmon River, Alsea, Silets, Umpqua, Coose, and Coquille Rivers, and at various other points, are to be found tracts of the same kind of land extending back from the shore from one to perhaps five miles, in some places bare of timber, and covered with grass and sallal bushes, and in others with an immense growth of the forest trees which characterize the Pacific coast. There are also many miles of coast both in Washington Terri- tory and Oregon which are rock bound, where the mountains extend to the water's edge, and with their overhanging cliffs frown down upon the ever rolling surges of the Pacific a bold defiance.
There are other portions of this coast different from any that we have described. The land rises above the alluvial deposits already mentioned, and extends back from the ocean in the form of plains, level or inclined, and covered with magnificent forests of fir, spruce, cedar, and hemlock, and varying in width from one to many miles. This portion of the coun- try is considered valuable at present, mostly on account of its lumbering facilities ; but the time will come, doubtless, when the timber will be consumed, and the land, now so wild and forbidding, will be cultivated, and teem with a settled population. The appearance of the coast in approaching it from the ocean is indeed rough and forbidding, but on traversing it from Puget's Sound to Cape Mendocino one be- comes impressed from personal observation with the facilities which it offers for extended settlements and
14
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
improvements, and its natural commercial advan- tages. The harbors or places of refuge for vessels along the coast of Oregon and Washington Territory are not very numerous, and, if we except a few, are not of the first quality. Puget's Sound, with its nu- merous arms and inlets stretching far inland, consti- tutes one of the finest harbors in the known world, and it is sufficiently commodious to accommodate all the navies in existence. There is nothing to bar the way of vessels of the largest class to the safest possi- ble anchorages anywhere in this most beautiful body of water that can be found in any land. At some future day, when railroads shall have been con- structed everywhere, Puget's Sound will doubtless constitute the port of entry for the northwest coast. At present, however, the most important harbor is that formed by the Columbia River, as it forms the grand entrepot to the most valuable portions of the State of Oregon, as also to much of Washington Ter- ritory. This harbor, though difficult of access in the winter season, when the prevailing winds on the coast are from the south and east, may at other seasons be safely entered by vessels drawing not more than eighteen feet. The mouth of this harbor is blockaded by a sand bar, which renders the naviga- tion difficult and dangerous. The channel across this bar, which was formerly used, took a sweep around close under Cape Disappointment, and thence in a southerly direction about three miles, where it united with a south channel, and thus the two chan- nels becoming one, their course across the last and
15
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
most formidable bar of the Columbia, was southwest by west. At present, however, the channel runs not far from Cape Adams in a southwest direction, the old north channel being filled up and entirely for- saken.
From Cape Adams, on the south of the mouth of the Columbia, and from the shore around and a little to the west of Cape Disappointment on the north side, are two immense sand bars, which, converging toward each other, meet at the distance of about four miles from each cape, and form that fearful ob- stacle to the navigation of these waters, the bar of the Columbia. The channel across this bar is five fathoms deep, and a half of a mile wide. When the wind is strong from the south and west, as it gener- ally is in the winter season, the waves of the Pacific Ocean and the rushing torrents of the Columbia River meet upon this with the most terrific violence, producing a line of breakers often extending from one cape to the other, and calculated, from their frightful appearance, to appall even the heart of the storm-beaten sailor. Formerly vessels were often detained at this bar for many days together to wait for an opportunity to cross; but now, by the aid of steam-tugs and skillful pilots, the bar is navigated without much detention, and with very little danger.
While describing the harbors along the coast it will be proper to mention a number of others of less note, some of which are beginning to attract atten- tion. Bulfinch's Harbor, discovered by Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, in 1792, is situated forty
16
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
miles north of the mouth of the Columbia, and by some improvements may be constituted a safe an- chorage. Port Discovery, situated near the southeast angle of the Strait of Fuca, is pronounced perfectly safe, and convenient for ships of any size. It is de- fended from the violence of the ocean storm by Pro- tection Island. Tilamook Bay, some fifty miles south of Cape Adams, is accessible to small craft, and forms an entrepot to a delightful and fertile little valley, which opens beautifully to the Pacific Ocean. At the mouth of the Umpqua River, one hundred miles south of Tilamook Bay, there is a tolerable harbor for small craft, and the channel across the bar will admit of the entrance of vessels drawing eight or ten feet.
The Bay of Yaquina, midway between Tilamook and Umpqua, is now being visited by small vessels, and something of a trade has already been established between it and other portions of the coast. It is easy of access, and will probably one day constitute the . port of entry for Benton County, and perhaps some other portions of the Willamette Valley. It is at- tracting considerable attention, and already improv- ing settlements are springing up on and near the shores of the bay.
Twenty miles south of the Umpqua River you come to Coose Bay, which constitutes a fine harbor for vessels which do not require more than ten or twelve feet of water. This bay is a most beautiful body of water, and extends up into the country forty or fifty miles; and on its shores are already estab-
17
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
lished several extensive lumber manufactories, and quite a trade is carried on between it and San Fran- cisco. This bay is important for various reasons. It not only affords facilities for the exportation of untold quantities of the finest lumber, but is also the channel of entrance to an extensive country watered by the Coose and Coquille rivers and their tributaries, which is destined in the future to contain a very heavy population.
2
18
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
CHAPTER II.
THE CAPES AND COAST RANGE OF MOUNTAINS. -
THERE are but few capes along this extended coast, and none that project far into the ocean. The prin- cipal are Cape Blanco, Cape Hancock, Cape Mendo- cino, Cape Adams, and Cape Flattery. Cape Blanco is a high point of land extending into the ocean be- tween the Rogue and Umpqua Rivers, and nearly under the forty-third parallel of north latitude. Cape Adams is a low sandy point, the terminus of Clatsop Plains, and on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River. Cape Hancock is a high point of land on the north side of the Columbia, and, though three miles inside of the dreaded bar of that river, holds a very prominent place on all our maps and charts, as from its peculiar location, and the appearance of the majestic fir trees which adorn its summit, but more especially from the fact that every night from its rounded top
" The blaze of the lighthouse looks lovely ashore, Like a star in the midst of the ocean,"
it forms an unerring guide to the storm-beaten sailor who is desirous of seeking shelter in the quiet and peaceful waters of Baker's Bay. Cape Flattery is a high point of land marking the ter- minus of Washington Territory on the south side of the month of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Though
19
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
there are other points along the coast called capes, these are all that are worthy of particular mention.
There are no islands of importance along this coast, if you except those situated in the Strait of Fuca and Puget's Sound. Of those in this region Whidby's Island is by far the most valuable. This island forms a county in Washington Territory, and con- tains a population of four hundred souls. It is beau- tiful and fertile, and one of the most delightful and healthy localities imaginable.
Having traced the boundary, and given the dimen- sions, and described to some extent the character of the immediate coast of this magnificent country, we now proceed to examine it in its more general char- acter. The first thing to which attention is directed is its remarkable topography. A just description of the surface of this country-one to the life-so that a person never having been in the country would be able to form a correct idea of it from reading, would probably be impossible; an approximation toward the reality is all that we propose to furnish. The face of this country is indeed most wonderfully diver- sified ; and presents to the eye of the lover of nature every variety of scenery, from the most awfully grand and sublime to the most beautiful and picturesque in nature. Almost everything in relation to the coun- try is upon a grand scale. The mountains are grand, the valleys are grand, the forests are grand, the rivers are grand, and the hills are little mountains.
In Washington Territory, extending back from Puget's Sound for many miles, the country is level
20
OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
and beautiful, a considerable portion of it prairie land, and the remainder covered with magnificent forests ; but on approaching the coast on a vessel at the mouth of the Columbia River ridges of high lands appear on either hand as far as the eye can reach, and the more elevated points serve as land- marks to guide the mariner into a haven of safety. These ridges, which constitute the first land which rises above the surface of the water to one approach- ing the coast from sea, are parts of that range of mountains known as the Coast Range. This range of mountains extends from near Cape Flattery, in Washington Territory, all along the coast to the Columbia River, and thence the whole extent of the State of Oregon to the line of California. It is pierced by all the rivers that flow directly into the Pacific, and hence the outlines of the range appear very broken. At points the waves of the Pacific Ocean dash impotently against their rocky base; but generally along the coast they commence their grad- ual rise from one to five miles from the shore, and continue to rise in the same manner until they attain their highest elevation, which is from four to six thousand feet. They cover a surface from the Pacific back into the interior of from thirty to forty miles in width. A great portion of this extent, however, is comprised in the numerous valleys and depressions in the mountains, more or less extensive, and through which meander the limped brook and rivulet, where the deer and the elk slake their thirst, and in whose waters in their season glisten the silvery sides of the
.
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OREGON AND ITS INSTITUTIONS.
rich and luscious salmon. It will be seen by a slight arithmetical calculation that this mountain range comprehends about fifteen or twenty thousand square miles ; but it must not be supposed that this vast extent of country, larger than some of the states of our Union, is a barren waste, for really, in the val- leys and on the mountain sides, and even upon the tops of the highest mountains, the soil is good. Some of the higher elevations in this range are worthy of particular note.
The most remarkable in the vicinity of the Column- bia River is one called by the Indians Swallalahoost, concerning which they have a singular tradition. One of their great and mighty chiefs a long time ago, according to the tradition, after having accomplished the most wonderful exploits in behalf of his people, was finally killed by his enemies; but after death he assumed the form of a monstrous eagle, and, taking wing, flew to the top of this mountain, and there became the creator of the lightning and the thunder. From this tradition, as well as from the appearance of the mountain, it is supposed by some that it might probably have once been an active volcano. Com- modore Wilkes, on his exploring visit to the country in 1842, gave it the name of "Saddle Mountain," from the resemblance of its top to the shape of a saddle.
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