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Gc 979.5 C55 v.1 1195023
M. L:
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
= 3 1833 01149 6350
S. A. CLARKE
Born in Gibara, Cuba, March 8, 1827; went to Oregon in 1850.
PIONEER DAYS OF OREGON HISTORY
By
S. A. CLARKE
VOLUME I
PORTLAND J. K. GILL COMPANY 1905
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY S. A. CLARKE
BURR PRINTING HOUSE NEW YORK
Rosenstock 25,00 (2 VOIS)
1195023
NOTICE
TWENTY years ago, I devoted several years to studying the story of pioneer days, getting facts from the actors who were then living, thus saving much of value that might have been lost by the passing away of those I interviewed. I have always intended to revise this matter-of which several hundred columns appeared in the Ore- gonian-and compile the story, to leave as my last tribute to the readers of the Pacific Northwest, who for half a century have been my kind and indulgent friends. Having utilized my leisure time while Law Librarian of the General Land Office, I can offer two hand- some volumes, well illustrated, at a price that will bring it within reach of every home in the region that was the original Oregon.
To avoid the charges made by publishers, I have become my own publisher, and am having the work done by the Burr Printing House, one of the greatest printing houses in New York City, to be able to offer it for less than half any popular publishing house would charge. I desire to bring it within reach of every home in this Pacific North- west, and attract many of those who will visit the Lewis and Clark Exposition, where I hope to meet many of my old friends among the pioneers and their families, as well as those who have come of later day.
S. A. CLARKE.
AS TO ILLUSTRATIONS
WHEN it was decided to have this work published there was no time to secure illustrations, but I found a few that are choice pic- tures as works of art. I hope readers will bear in mind that I have done the best possible under existing conditions, as I took cold and lad a fearful turn of the grip that made me incapable to read proof properly. Under the circumstances the work has been very well and carefully done by the Burr Printing House.
S. A. CLARKE.
PREFACE
A FEW words will explain the conformation of the region known, from the earliest time, when the far Northwest had a history, as Oregon. It embraced all the territory of the United States north of the 42° of latitude, and west of the Rocky Mountains. This region is naturally divided by the Cascade Range, that is a continuation of the Sierra Nevadas of California, reaching to the Arctic Circle. Their summits average about an hundred miles from the ocean, presenting a barrier that retains to the coast valleys the warm breath of the ocean currents of the Pacific, also holds back the colder conditions that prevail in the Inland Empire, to the east- ward. East of the Cascades much of the country is arid, or semi-arid, with fertile valleys that are immensely pro- ductive, producing to-day the tens of millions of bushels of wheat that the Inland Empire sends to the world's mar- kets. There are also extensive ranges-too dry for culti- vation-where graze the immense flocks and herds that form the wealth of that region.
Between the greater Cascades and the coast mountains are rich valleys in Washington and Oregon, also California, that possess a mild and salubrious climate and are as beauti- ful and fertile as the vales of Araby the Blest. These have a well-defined rainy season from October to May. Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming are west of the Great Divide and complete the area of what is known as the In- land Empire.
vi
Preface
This imperial region-500 miles from north to south, and 1,000 from east to west-from the Western Ocean to the Continental Divide-formed the original Oregon, the home of romance and scene of adventure.
One who went there when the pioneer era was but com- mencing to fade, and civilization viewed its earliest dawn; who camped and sojourned with the trader, the trapper, the mountaineer, and with the earliest pioneers ; who devoted years of his prime to acquiring, publishing and preserving the graphic features of that time and of the men and women who gave it lustre, in his old age has resumed the pen to complete the labors of those bygone years and weave a con- nected narrative that shall include features of In- dian legendary, life and manners, with the story of early voyages, travel, hardship and adventures ; to be full of mis- haps, as well as fortunes and romance, that deserve to be pen-pictured and preserved for generations that are to come.
If rapt interest and soulful intention can deserve success, then this work should succeed, for these blend in the en- deavor. The field is only too extensive ; to weave its parts together in brief but definite and graphic form and sense, requires a mind and pen with more qualifications than can readily be called into existence.
As it is, I hope to put into brief utterance the interest- ing story of that early time: to bring it down to the period when the United States-after years of impatient waiting- at last recognized the pioneers of Oregon and honored the wisdom, courage and prowess of the men and women who preserved this imperial region for their country, made their own laws, founded their own government, fought their own battles, paid their own expenses, and so created a page of
vii
Preface
history, full of fact and romance, that has no parallel in American life and time; at last dividing into great States the original domain that was Oregon.
My work as a writer had the encouragement and assist- ance that association and inspiration with another soul can afford, and for forty years had depended on. She, who had aided and inspired whatever success had been attained, planned that we should work together to mould the histori- cal labors of the past into connected form. It was a beauti- ful suggestion, that our labors should close with such effort, and the result remains a joint tribute for posterity. Death sundered that alliance and left me for years discouraged as well as suffering from nervous prostration. But there comes to me, after all these years of waiting, the ambition to com- plete the work as she had planned it ; to leave the product as an humble monument to the past of which it will treat, also as remembrance of the lovely character and beautiful soul of the woman whose life was blended with mine, and was a blessing to all who knew her.
SOURCES OF THIS HISTORY
IN preparing this work I have had the benefit of various reports published by explorers and those connected with the Fur Companies, also statements taken from all those sources that constitute H. H. Bancroft's History. I also find, in a volume published before Bancroft, by A. G. Walling, of Portland, purporting to be a History of the Counties of Southwestern Oregon, a very excellent résumé of early his- tory made by writers he employed, probably the most credit- able historical work done to that date in Oregon. It seems to be complete, so far as it pretends, and written in classic style and with graphic force that compares favorably with any work done since. It is also fair, and does not "set down" on characters whose worst fault seems to have been that they put faith in this region, worked disinterestedly for years, throwing away fortune in vain effort, receiving only abuse because they failed-as was the case with Hall J. Kelley.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
PREFACE
V
I. THE NAME OREGON 1
II. STRAITS OF ANIAN
6
III. MONACHT APE.
10
IV. EARLY VOYAGES OF THE NORTH PACIFIC 16
V. VOYAGES OF THE SHIP COLUMBIA
24
VI. DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA
28
VII. LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION, 1804-6
33
VIII. OAK POINT SETTLEMENT
39
IX. THE ASTOR EXPEDITION
41
X. ALEXANDER ROSS AND ROSS Cox
58
XI. THE NORTHWESTERS.
66
XII. LIFE AMONG THE INDIANS
84
XIII.
THE GREAT FALL HUNT OF THE WIL-
LAMETTE
89
XIV.
INDIANS AND MISSIONARIES
100
XV.
FEATURES OF INDIAN LIFE
109
XVI.
GREAT ANNUAL FAIRS OF THE INDIANS
115
XVII. STORY OF THE MULTNOMAHS
126
XVIII. STORY OF THE MOLALLAS
133
XIX. THE BRIDGE OF THE GODS.
A LEGEND OF
THE CASCADES
138
X
Contents
CHAPTER
PAGE
XX. LEGEND OF NEHALEM.
142
XXI.
PREHISTORIC WRECKS
155
XXII. JAPANESE WRECKS
177
XXIII.
VANCOUVER AND THE
HUDSON'S BAY
COMPANY
180
XXIV.
THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY
197
XXV. LIFE AND TIMES OF DR. JOHN Mc- LOUGHLIN 208
XXVI.
McLOUGHLIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
214
XXVII.
WASCOS ON THE WAR-PATH
231
XXVIII. FREE TRAPPERS AND MOUNTAIN MEN.
237
XXIX. HALL J. KELLEY
267
XXX. NATHANIEL J. WYETH 277
XXXI. THE MACEDONIAN CRY-THE MISSION- ARY MOVEMENT 286
XXXII. EWING YOUNG.
294
XXXIII. WALLAMET CATTLE COMPANY 304
XXXIV. THE KLICKITAT NATION-THE IRO- QUOIS OF THE PACIFIC. 312
XXXV.
THE METHODIST MISSION OF 1843.
335
XXXVI. THE METHODIST REINFORCEMENT
344
PIONEER DAYS OF OREGON HISTORY
CHAPTER I
THE NAME OREGON
THE earliest explorer of the far west-who evidently had followed where traders and missionaries led the way-was Jonathan Carver, a native of Connecticut, who had served Great Britain in the French War, and when Canada fell into British hands made an expedition to the headwaters of the Mississippi. As he stated it, his object was "after gaining knowledge of the manners, customs, languages, soils, and natural productions of the different nations who inhabit the banks of the Mississippi, to ascertain the breadth of the vast continent which extends from the Atlantic to the Pa- cific Ocean in its broadest part." Had he been successful, he intended to propose to the British Government to estab- lish posts along the west coast, especially on the Straits of Anian, which he erroneously supposed had been discovered two centuries and a half before by Gaspar Cortereal. He hoped thus to facilitate the discovery of a Northwest pas- sage, from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific.
He left Boston in 1766, and his narrative was published by his friends, many years after, to relieve his needs. His work seems to have been mostly translations from the writ- ings of French explorers. His name would probably never
2
Pioneer Days of Oregon History
have been remembered with consideration but for a single paragraph that makes the first mention in all history of the word "Oregon." He also alludes to the fact that the fountain head of the great rivers of this continent lies in the same group of mountain summits ; it reads as follows:
From the natives, as well as by my own observation, I learned that the four most capital rivers on the continent of North America-the St. Lawrence, the Mississippi, the River Bourbon (Red River of the North) and Oregon, or River of the West-have their sources in the same neighborhood. The waters of the three first are within thirty miles of each other; the last, however, is further west, showing that these parts are highest in North America. It is an instance, not to be paralleled in the other three-quarters of the globe, that four rivers of such magnitude should take their rise together, and after running separate courses discharge their waters into different oceans at a distance of two thousand miles from their sources.
All that is reliable and veritable in Carver's story he could have gathered from French explorers, and probably did so derive it. But the mention of the name Oregon, so confi- dently, as that of the River of the West, must be accepted as romance or genius, as by its invention, or mention, it has been handed down, and connected with his own name one of the world's greatest rivers as well as regions.
The farthest limit of Carver's travels was the sources of the Mississippi, almost a thousand miles east of the sources of the Oregon, or Columbia. Maps published prior to his journey had defined such a stream, so its existence was known, but all that gave his narrative force, or even excuse, was the use of the name Oregon, that thus became the designation of the North Pacific region and the christening of a great State. He claimed to have acquired the Chip- pewa language and learned his facts from them after full
3
The Name Oregon
discussion. It is possible that these Indians had knowledge of the west coast and knew by hearsay of such a river, for there was always communication between Indians east and west of the Rocky Mountains; they exchanged products, and Flatheads, Nez Percés, and even Klickitats of old used to go east of the range to hunt buffalo; those east of the Rockies made trips west for similar purpose, so the Chip- pewas knew something of the Pacific.
It has been suggested that early Spanish voyagers found the plant organum growing on the shores of Puget Sound, and so named the region ; but that would be far-fetched. The late Bishop Blanchet in 1863 contributed another opin- ion, after spending two years in Bolivia, where he met an English scholar who suggested that the early Spaniards saw the natives with elongated ears, caused by wearing heavy ear ornaments. The word for ear was oreja, and for big ear orejon, so they may have named the country, as well as the natives, to correspond. This seems far-fetched, espe- cially if carried by Indians and passed from one tribe to an- other until it reached the Chippewas in far Dakota. But such suggestions are absurd; it is more reasonable to be- lieve that Carver had a genius for invention and used it here.
Having, during a life of work, written much concerning the early history of the Northwest of the Pacific-the same region which Jonathan Carver, in 1766, named "the region of the Oregon," or "River of the West"-I have gathered much desultory material, and am so interested in the times and incidents related, that I have determined to weave in connected form available information as to the prehistoric as well as the known history of the Northwest Coast.
4
Pioneer Days of Oregon History
There was a time of adventure when companies, by sea and land, outfitted from the Atlantic shores of Europe and America for trade in furs with Indians of the North Pacific, with as much avidity as adventurers of Spain and Portugal made their expeditions to spoil the Antilles and the West- ern Main of their treasures of gold and silver three cen- turies before.
At that time there was wealth of romance, as well as of purse, in developing the New World; then many wrote, for eager readers' enjoyment, their tales of adventure, and from thesc, and what direct information can be acquired of the early days of the present century, it should be possible to find matter of connected interest to please the world of to- day. My intention is not so much to write tedious details as to group together incidents and features of that age, blending character with events, having no prejudice, no desire but to do justice to the eminent persons thus devel- oped, whether British or American actors, so that, while giving the reader veritable truth of history as the ages have told it, yet garnishing history with the flavor and vivid col- oring such times have for one who was, in some sense, a par- ticipant, or, at least, saw the curtain fall on the last act of the drama and witnessed its closing scenes.
There was glamour left on the boards when I came on the stage; I traded at Vancouver when the Hudson Bay Com- pany was yet in possession, and landed at "Fort George" when the name was yet in use. Before that time, in New York City, I had seen John Jacob Astor, the author of the enterprise that ended so disastrously. Here, in Oregon, I somewhat knew Dr. McLoughlin and other leading men of the Hudson Bay Company, who were yet in active life.
5
The Name Oregon
Years of life's prime were devoted to working up the story of Pioneer Days, contributing hundreds of columns to the leading journals of the nation.
It is, then, a labor of love for me to gather the scat- tered and wandering data of which history is made, leaving the dry-as-dust work of the thorough-going historian to be done, as time shall direct, by those who are to come; not ignoring the great work done by Hubert H. Bancroft, to which I shall be greatly indebted.
I invite the expectant reader to join in this congenial re- search, not waiting to build the exact proportions of the comb that shall contain the fragrant honey. It shall be his- tory, too, but glimpses that shall resemble the busy bee's gleaning as it extracts from the most luscious of all the flowering world the richest nectar.
The theme is waiting, and is inviting. It is only necessary to bring to it the artist's ability to pen-picture and do it jus- tice. The poets of the future will be inspired by it. Ro- mance will find full play there when the shores of the Co- lumbia shall have become classic ground. Artists need not wait for coming ages to appreciate its graphic features, for they invite both pen and pencil now.
CHAPTER II
STRAITS OF ANIAN
THE discovery of the Straits of Magellan, by which vessels circumnavigated the continent and found what Balboa named the South Sea, proved that another continent lay to the west of Europe, between the Atlantic Ocean and Asia. It also caused explorers to believe that a similar passage ex- isted on the north and induced them to search for straits by which to reach the same western ocean, to the north of America. As early as 1500 Gaspar Cortereal, a Portuguese navigator-who first explored the coast of Labrador --- claimed to have discovered what he called "The Straits of Anian," by which he passed through to a western ocean, then returned and made his way back home. The particulars of this voyage were published and explorers tried vainly to lo- cate these same straits without success. If Cortereal really inade such a voyage, it was by some strait that entered Hudson Bay from the north, and if he had kept on he would have left this great bay by the greater southern entrance, by which Hudson, the English explorer, made his discov- ery.
In 1609 another Portuguese, Maldonado, claimed that twenty-one years before, in 1588, he passed through these same Straits of Anian, and modestly asked to be rewarded for his enterprise. There is proof that Maldonado was a tremendous liar ; no attention was paid to his claims. 1.2
١١ ٧٠٠٠
Fort
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Fort
Lookout+
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Lookout +
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River
Fine Port
MALDONADO'S STRAIT OF ANIAN, 1609
7
Straits of Anian
The mythical story of Juan de Fuca comes next. He told Michael Lock, an Englishman, in Venice, in April, 1596, that in 1592 he made a voyage on the Pacific, for the Vice- roy of Mexico, and about the 47º of latitude entered straits and sailed through them for twenty days until he came out into a north sea ; thinking he had found a solution of the problem of the North Passage he returned to Mexico. Not receiving the recompense he deserved, he was willing to lead another expedition for England. Correspondence passed on the subject with Lord Cecil and Sir Walter Raleigh, but the old man died and nothing came of it.
While De Fuca's story corresponds in a general way with the lay of the straits that now bear his name and the passage between Vancouver Island and the main shore, so that he may possibly have voyaged around that island to reach the open sea to the north of it, there are too many errors of detail, as he gives data, to leave the story reliable. Instead of being at the 47º, the straits are twenty miles north of the 48°. In many essentials the inland passage he describes proves untrue. However, there is something at- tractive in his story, and it is not impossible that he made such a voyage and was ignored by the Viceroy of Mexico. Spain had then full possession of the richest parts of North and South America, where treasure abounded, so had no use for the northwest passage while the narrow isthmus route answered all her needs.
The opening of such a route on the north could only work ill for Spanish monopoly. So long as Spain had but the narrow Strait of Magellan to guard, she could possess the Pacific trade in peace ; but Dutch navigators soon dis- covered the open sea around Cape Horn, and then English,
8
Pioneer Days of Oregon History
Dutch and French buccaneers entered the Pacific and made prizes of rich galleons trading between Panama and China, or the Philippines, capturing cargoes of silks, spices and teas, as well as silver ingots. The Netherlanders, especially, had cause of hate for the tyranny endured from Spain under Alva.
To be yet more able to cope with Spain, Captain Francis Drake, about 1580, having done his full share at spoiling the commerce of Spain, thought it might be safer voyaging to the north rather than risk meeting Spanish men of war rounding the southern cape or passing through the Straits of Magellan. As we shall see, he failed in this attempted discovery.
When the Hudson's Bay Company incorporated, in 1670, almost a century later, its avowed objects, as set down in the charter, were "those of trade and for the discovery of a passage into the Pacific Ocean." It was believed that such passage existed in connection with Hudson Bay. The de- sire to achieve this discovery was one of the leading ambi- tions of that time. The mythical "Straits of Anian" were. based on belief that had little foundation, save hope that. such straits did exist.
A century passed after the Hudson's Bay Company was chartered and no discovery was made; almost two centuries. had gone since Cortereal imagined he had discovered the North Passage, when, in 1766, Jonathan Carver left Boston intending to cross the continent in the widest part, hoping to induce the English Government to establish posts in or about the Straits of Anian.
In 1728, Behring, a Russian explorer, visited the coast of Alaska, saw and named Mt. St. Elias, and passed through
9
Straits of Anian
the narrow strait that bears his name, without knowing that it was a divide between two continents. So, when at last the much-looked-for Straits of Anian were found, they were- not recognized ; they were much farther north than had been supposed. Russian discovery was slow in making use of the knowledge gained. But the Russian title to Alaska was safe by prior occupancy and was eventually sold to the United States.
In 1745, and again in 1776, the British Parliament offered twenty thousand pounds reward to any Englishman sailing through any passage from the Atlantic to the Pa- cific, which offer no doubt induced the effort of Drake and other English navigators in that century. This act of Par- liament showed that faith still existed in the story of the straits that had originated 276 years before. From the time of Captain Cook's voyage the idea of these straits must have been abandoned, and the old stories current for cen- turies were relegated to the domain of romance. On the 9th of August, 1778, Captain Cook reached the western cape of North America, entered Behring Straits-only fifty miles wide-and landed on the coast of Asia; then entered the Arctic Ocean and traced both shores of the passage Behring unconsciously traversed fifty years before.
This exploration of Captain Cook solved the long-disputed question of the northern passage so far as to decide that there were no Straits of Anian, and prove that early stories were erroneous or manufactured.
CHAPTER III
MONACHT APÉ
ONE of the most interesting, and seemingly best verified stories of early travel, comes from testimony of a French scholar and writer of the past century-M. le Page du Pratz-who was then trying to solve the question of the origin of the race that peopled America. At that time Louisiana and the region west was claimed by France, and the French occupied the Lower Mississippi region. In his travels there this philosopher, who was inquiring as to all traditions, found an ancient Yazoo Indian, known as "The Interpreter," as he spoke many languages. Among his own people he was called "Monacht Apé," that signifies, "He who kills trouble and fatigue." If there is anything in a name this man should have been a philosopher, and so the French savant found him.
Monacht Apé was a remarkable man, and for his time and opportunity showed uncommon qualities. He studied nature from his own observation, having no education nor teaching, save that of the native Yazoo nation. He deter- mined to see in person and know the world. Having heard of the Atlantic Ocean, he made his way eastward, probably to the Carolina shore, to see for himself. His own story of it is as graphic as words can be put together : "When I first saw it I was so delighted that I could not speak ; my eyes were too small for my soul's ease. The wind so disturbed
11
Monacht Apé
the great water that I thought it would beat the land to pieces."
While he stood there the tide was coming in and its move- ments both worried and puzzled him. He was camped on the sands, and as the tide came up he thought the waves would swallow all. He found food for thought and inquired why the days grew longer as one went north, and shortened as one went south, but no one he met could tell him. Finally, this French philosopher explained those matters by use of his instruments. Thus it was that the two philosophers be- came acquainted and M. le Page du Pratz drew from Mon- acht Apé the story of his travels to the Atlantic, and after- wards yet farther, how he journeyed to the farthest west on the shores of the Pacific.
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