History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 16

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages:

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PACIFIC COAST.

kenzie continued westward some 200 miles and caught sight of the ocean July 22, 1793, being the first Caucasian, and possibly the first human being, to cross America overland from the Atlantic to the Pacific north of Mexico. The place at which he reached the ocean was in latitude 52 degrees and 20 minutes, and had been explored and named Cascade canal but a few weeks before by Vancouver.

The two journeys of this energetic trader, the careful explorations of Cook and Vancouver, and discovery of the Columbia by Gray, served to enlighten all interested nations in regard to the nature of the American continent, and to prove conclusively that neither the Straits of Anian nor the Rio de los Reyes had any other existence than in the fancy of those who, centuries before, had proclaimed them. The Northwest Company pushed its agents down to the headwaters of the Missouri, while French and Spanish traders ascended that stream from St. Louis, and engaged in trade with the natives and trapped the streams for beaver. Because of the Spanish claim to Louisiana, American traders were much confined in the limits of their operations, and were also restricted by the holding back of posts in the region of the great lakes which Great Britain should have surrendered under the terms of the treaty of 1783. These were surrendered in 1794 by special treaty, which instrument also provided that subjects of Great Britain and the United States should have unrestricted intercourse and rights of trade. From this time American fur traders extended their operations further west- ward and increased the volume of their trade. This was the condition of affairs in America at the close of the eighteenth century.

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CHAPTER XII.

CAPTAINS LEWIS AND CLARKE TRAVERSE THE CONTINENT.

Situation at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century -Colonial Limits of the United States -- The Louisiana Purchase -- England and America Rivals in the West -- Expedition of Lewis and Clarke-Their Winter Among the Mandans-Journey up the Missouri, Across the Rockies, Down Clarke's Fork, Through the Lolo Trail, Down Clearwater, Snake and Columbia Rivers to the Pacific -- They Winter at Fort Clatsop-Discovery of the Willamette-The Walla Wallas, Cayuses and Nez Perces-Arrival in St. Louis -- What the Expedition Accomplished.

"Take the wings

Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness, Or lose thyself in the continuous woods Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound Save his own dashings."

So sang Bryant of the mighty Columbia and the land of "continuous woods," through which it majestically rolls. The name Oregon which Carver had given to the Great River of the West was for years applied to the Columbia and the whole region . through which it passes, stretching from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, and from California indefinitely northward. The name bestowed upon the stream by its discov- erer gradually crowded Carver's title from the field, until it is now recognized as the only proper one, while the significance of Oregon has gradually been contracted until that title now applies only to the state of which we write.

At the dawning of the present century, now rapidly drawing near to the "sear and yellow leaf," three powerful nations claimed dominion on our coast, the indefinite boun- daries of their alleged possessions conflicting and overlapping to such an extent as to be a constant menace of war. England, Spain and Russia claimed territorial sovereignty gained by the discoveries and acts of persons officially empowered by their respective governments, while in common with them representatives of the merchant fleets of the United States, France, Portugal and Austria sought the Pacific waters to reap the har- vest of wealth that lay in the fur trade of the coast.

- Suddenly and almost unexpectedly a new nation stepped upon the plain to contest with her powerful rivals the palm of territorial dominion, and this was the new-born republic, the United States of America. In the few years which had elapsed since her

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long struggle for independence had been crowned with success, and especially since a constitutional bond had firmly cemented the states into one grand, united nation, her growth in population, wealth, power and importance had been wonderful, and she now prepared to assert her natural right to extend her borders in the direction plainly indi- cated by the hand of nature.

The position the United States then occupied in relation to Oregon may be briefly stated as follows: At the treaty of 1783, where Great Britain formally acknowledged the independence of her valiant colonies, her commissioners for a long time refused to relinquish to them that portion of her possessions lying between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi ; but as the colonies had been accustomed to exercise jurisdiction as far west as the great river of DeSoto, being the extreme western limit of British posses- sions since it was the eastern boundary of Louisiana, the American commissioners in- sisted upon that territory being included, and finally carried their point. Even then it was eleven years before England surrendered the seven military posts within that por- tion of the United States and then only after much pressure had been brought to bear. X England was, therefore, only represented in America after the revolution, so far as western exploration and settlement was concerned, by the powerful Hudson's Bay Com- pany, and its new rival, the Northwest Company, whose struggle for possession of the unclaimed fur regions west of Canada and Hudson's bay has been already alluded to and will again occupy attention further on. The boundary agreed upon between England and the United States followed up the St. Lawrence from a certain initial point, through the chain of great lakes and the smaller ones lying west of Superior as far as the Lake of the Woods, whence the line cut across to the headwaters of the Mississippi, and followed down that stream to the Spanish Florida line. This left within the limits of the United States a portion of that extremely desirable region spoken of by Lahontan, Hennepin and others, and but recently described by Captain Jonathan Carver, while the new nation bordered upon the remainder with nothing but the theoretical title of Spain to stand between her and an indefinite extension westward. On the other hand, only above the United States line did Great Britain's possessions border upon this terra incognita and in a region universally recognized as being fit only for the occupation of wandering fur traders.

4 The title to Louisiana which Spain had acquired by purchase from France in 1762, she reconveyed to that powerful nation in 1800} but Napoleon, recognizing the fact that his ambitious designs in Europe would only be hampered by the possession and necessary protection of vast territorial interests in the United States, and desiring to spite England and place her face to face in America with an energetic and powerful rival, sold the whole province with all the right and title of France to the United States in 1803. The eastern boundary was the Mississippi; its southwestern limit the Spanish, Mexican and California possessions, while to the northwest there was no limit whatever. This action, so entirely unexpected by England, changed the whole aspect of affairs in America, and left the United States without any bar whatever to prevent the extension of her dominions toward the Pacific.

4 At the time John Ledyard undertook to organize a company in Paris to engage in the Pacific fur trade, Thomas Jefferson was residing there as representative of the. United States at the court of France, and became deeply interested in his project of

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exploring the northwestern wilderness of America, which was defeated by the Russian traders. Y In 1792 Mr. Jefferson proposed to the American Philosophical Society that a subscription be raised for the purpose of engaging some competent person to explore that region "by ascending the Missouri, crossing the Stony mountains, and descending the nearest river to the Pacific." Meriwether Lewis, a native of Virginia and a lieu- tenant in the United States army, warmly solicited the position, and was selected at the request of Mr. Jefferson. Mr. Andre Michaux, a distinguished French botanist, was chosen as his traveling companion. This gentleman was in the employ of the French government, and when he had proceeded as far as Kentucky upon the overland journey, he was recalled by the French minister, and the expedition was abandoned. On the eighteenth of January, 1803, Mr. Jefferson, as president of the United States, incorporated into a special message to congress on the Indian question a suggestion that such a journey as he had before advocated be made by representatives of the govern- ment. This proposition was approved by congress and an ample appropriation made to carry it into effect. Lewis had then become a captain and was acting in the capacity of private secretary to the president, and upon urgent solicitation received the direction of the enterprise. Captain Lewis selected William Clarke as an associate in command, and that gentleman accordingly received a captain's commission and was detailed for this duty.

In the instructions drawn up for the guidance of the party, the president says: "The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river, and such principal streams of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent, for the purposes of commerce." They were directed to acquire as intimate a knowledge as possible of the extent and number of Indian tribes, their manners, customs and degree of civilization, and to report fully upon the topography, the character of the soil, the natural products, the animal life and minerals, as well as to ascertain by scientific observations and inquiry as much as possible about the climate, and to inquire especially into the fur trade and the needs of commerce. Since Louisiana had not yet been formally conveyed to the United States, Captain Lewis' instructions contained a paragraph saying : "Your mis- sion has been communicated to the ministers here from France, Spain and Great Britain, and through them to their governments; and such assurances given them as to its ob- jects, as we trust will satisfy them. The country of Louisiana having been ceded by Spain to France, the passport you have from the minister of France, the representative of the present sovereign of the country, will be a protection with all its subjects ; and that from the minister of England will entitle you to the friendly aid of any traders of that allegiance with whom you may happen to meet."

All arrangements were completed and Lewis left Washington on the fifth of July, 1803, only a few days subsequent to the receipt of the joyful intelligence that France had ceded Louisiana to the United States. He was joined by Clarke at Louisville, and the two selected their men and repaired to St. Louis, near which they encamped until spring. The party which finally started on this great journey May 14, 1804, consisted of Captain Meriwether Lewis, Captain William Clarke, nine young men from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers, two French watermen, known in the parlance of

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fur traders as voyageurs, an interpreter and hunter and a negro servant of Captain Clarke. Besides these were a number of assistants who accompanied the expedition as far as the Mandan country.

The party ascended the Missouri as far as the region inhabited by the Mandan Indians, with whom they spent the winter, and while there negotiated treaties of peace between their hosts and the Ricarees, and informed themselves carefully upon the con- dition of Indian affairs and the geography of the surrounding country.

In the spring of 1805 the journey westward was resumed, by following up the Missouri, of whose course, tributaries and the great falls they had received very minute and accurate information from their Mandan friends. Passing the mouth of the Yel- lowstone, which name they record as being but a translation of Roche Jaune, the title given it by French-Canadian trappers who had already visited it, they continued up the Missouri, passed the castellated rocks and the great falls and cascades, ascended through the mighty canyon, and reaching the headwaters of the stream crossed the Rocky mountain divide and came upon the stream variously known along its course as Deer Lodge, Hellgate, Bitterroot, Clarke's Fork of the Columbia and Pend d'Oreille river. Upon this they bestowed the name Clarke's river, and so it should be called from its source in the Rocky mountains to where it unites with the main stream in British Columbia. From this river the advance party under Clarke crossed the Bit- terroot mountains by the Lolo trail, suffering intensely from cold and hunger, and on the twentieth of September reached a village of Nez Perce Indians situated on a plain about fifteen miles from the south fork of Clearwater river, where they were received with great hospitality. This first passage of the mountains by representatives of the United States and their warm reception by the Indians, contrast strongly with a scene witnessed by this same Lolo trail, when in 1877 Howard's army hotly pursued Chief Joseph and his little band of hostile Nez Perces, who were fleeing before the avengers from the scene of their many bloody massacres.

The almost famished men partook of such quantities of the food liberally pro- vided by their savage hosts that many of them became ill, among them being Captain Clarke, who was unable to continue the journey until the second day. He then went to the village of Twisted-hair, the chief, situated on an island in the stream mentioned. To the river he gave the name Koos-koos-kee, erroneously supposing it to be its Indian title. The probabilities are that the Nez Perces, in trying to inform Captain Clarke that this river flowed into a still larger one, the one variously known as Lewis, Sahaptin or Snake river, used the words " Koots-koots-kee," meaning "This is the smaller," and were understood to have meant that as the name of the stream. The Nez Perce name is Kaih-kaih-koosh, signifying Clearwater, the name it is gener- ally known by.

Having been united the two parties a few days later journeyed on down the Clear- water. Concerning their deplorable condition and their method of traveling the journal says : "Captain Lewis and two of the men were taken very ill last evening, and to-day he could scarcely sit on his horse, while others were obliged to be put on horse-back and some, from extreme weakness and pain, were forced to lie down along-

side of the road. * * The weather was very hot and oppressive to the party, most of whom are now complaining of sickness. Our situation, indeed, ren-

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dered it necessary to husband our remaining strength and it was determined to proceed down the river in canoes. Captain Clarke, therefore, set out with the Twisted-hair, and two young men, in quest of timber for canoes. *

* * Having resolved to go down to some spot calculated for building canoes, we set out early this morning and proceeded five miles, and encamped on low ground on the south opposite the forks of the river." The canoes being constructed they embarked in the month of October on their journey down the Clearwater and connecting streams for the Pacific, leaving what remained of their horses in charge of the friendly Nez Perces. They had for some time been subsisting upon roots, fish, horse meat and an occasional deer, crow, or wolf, but having left their horses behind them their resort when out of other food now became the wolfish dogs they purchased from the Indians.

Upon reaching Snake river which was named in honor of Captain Lewis, the canoes were turned down that stream, which they followed to the Columbia, naming the Tukannon river Kim-so-emim, a title derived from the Indians, and upon the Pa- louse bestowing the name Drewyer, in honor of the hunter of the party. They then followed down the Columbia passing a number of rapids, and arriving at the Cascades on the twenty-first of October. A portage was made of all their effects and a portion of the canoes, the remainder making the perilous descent of the cascades or falls in safety. The mouth of the Willamette was passed without the addition of so large a stream being noticed. Cape Disappointment was reached November 15, and the eyes of the weary travelers were gladdened with a sight of the graat ocean which had been their goal for more than a year. The season of winter rains having set in, they were soon driven by high water from the low land on the north bank of the stream, eleven miles above the cape, which they had selected for their winter residence. They then left the Chinooks, crossed the river, and built a habitation on the high land on the south side of the stream, which they called Fort Clatsop, in honor of the Indians who inhabited that region. Here they spent the winter, making occasional short excursions along the coast. The departure for home was delayed with the hope that some trading vessel might appear from which sadly-needed supplies might be obtained, but being disappointed in this they loaded their canoes and on March 23, 1806, took final leave of Fort Clatsop. Before going they presented the chiefs of the Chinooks and Clatsops, with certificates of kind and hospitable treatment, and circulated among the natives several papers, posting a copy of the wall of the abandoned fort, which read as follows: "The object of this last is, that through the medium of some civilized person, who may see the same, it may be made known to the world, that the party, consisting of the persons whose names are hereunto annexed, and who were sent out by the Govern- ment of the United States to explore the interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate the same by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the dis- charge of the latter into the Pacific ocean, where they arrived on the fourteenth day of November, 1805, and departed the twenty-third day of March, 1806, on their return to the United States by the same route by which they had come out." To this was appended a list of the members of the expedition. One of these copies was handed by an Indian the following year to a fur trader whose vessel had entered the Columbia, by whom it was taken to China and a transcription of it forwarded to the United

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States ; thus, even had the party perished on the return journey, evidence of the com- pletion of their task was not wanting.

Upon taking an invoice of their possessions before starting upon the return, they found that their goods available for traffic with the Indians consisted of six blue robes, one scarlet robe, one U. S. artillery hat and coat, five robes made from the national ensign, and a few old clothes trimmed with ribbon. Upon these must they depend for purchasing provisions and horses and for winning the hearts of stubborn chiefs.

They proceeded up the south bank of the stream, until they came unexpectedly upon a large river flowing into it from the south, On an island near its mouth, known to the early trappers as Wapatoo and now called Sauvie's island, they came upon an Indian village, where they were refused a supply of food. To impress them with his power, Captain Clarke, entered one of their habitations and cast a few sulphur matches into the fire. The savages were frightened at the blue flame and looked upon the strange visitor as a great medicine man. They implored him to extinguish the " evil fire," and brought all the food he desired. The name of the Indian village was Mult- nomah, but Captain Clarke understood the name to apply to the river, of whose course he made careful inquiry. Upon the map of this expedition the Multnomah is repre- sented as extending southward and eastward into California and Nevada, and the In- dians who resided along the streams that flow from southeastern Oregon into the Snake are represented as living on the upper branches of the Multnomah. The true Indian name of the river and valley is Wallamet, which has been corrupted to Willamette by those who conceived the idea that it was of French origin. The confusion between, Indian, French and English names in this region has resulted in many very pecu- liar and ridiculous appellations.

At the mouth of Lapage river, the stream later named John Day, in memory of the bold mountaineer who met such a tragic fate, the canoes were abandoned, and the party proceeded up the Columbia on foot, packing their baggage upon the backs of a few horses purchased from the natives. Crossing the Umatilla, which they called You-ma-lolam, they arrived at the mouth of the Walla Walla, on the twenty-seventh of April. Yellept, the Walla Walla chief, was a man of unusual capacity and power, and extended to them the most cordial and bountiful hospitality they had enjoyed since leaving the abodes of civilization. How different would have been the reception extended them could the old chief have gazed into the future with prophetic eye, and seen his great successor, Peo-peo-mux-mux, murdered while unjustly a prisoner by members of the same race and tribe to which these white guests belonged! It is related of Yellept that in after years, having seen the last of five noble sons perish in battle or by the hand of disease, he called together the tribe, and throwing himself upon the body of his last son sternly bade them to bury him with his dead. With loud lamentations and heart-broken sobs they did as he commanded, and buried alive the great chief they both loved and feared. This was the man who extended his hospi- talities to Lewis and Clarke, and because of the important part the Walla Wallas and Cayuses played in the after history of this region, the following account given by those gentlemen of their entertainers is presented: Their journal says: "Immediately upon our arrival, Yellept, who proved to be a man of much influence, not only in his own, but in the neighboring nations, collected the inhabitants, and after having made a

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A. G. Walling, Lith. Portland, Or.

FARM RESIDENCE OF E. W. FISHER, ESQ., 2 1-2 Miles North of Corvallis, Benton Co., Oregon.

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harrangue, the purport of which was to induce the nations to treat us hospitably, set them an example, by bringing himself an armful of wood, and a platter containing three roasted mullets. They immediately assented to one part, at least, of the recom- mendation, by furnishing us with an abundance of the only sort of fuel they employ, the stems of shrubs growing in the plains. We then purchased four dogs, on which we supped heartily, having been on short allowance for two days past. When we were disposed to sleep, the Indians retired immediately on our request, and, indeed, uni- formly conducted themselves with great propriety. These people live on roots, which are very abundant in the plains, and catch a few salmon-trout; but at present they seem to subsist chiefly on a species of mullet, weighing from one to three pounds. * x

* Monday, twenty-eighth, we purchased ten dogs. While this trade was carrying on by our men, Yellept brought a fine white horse, and presented him to Captain Clarke, expressing at the same time a wish to have a kettle; but on being informed that we had already disposed of the last kettle we could spare, he said he would be content with any present we should make in return. Captain Clarke, there- fore, gave his sword, for which the chief had before expressed a desire, adding one hundred balls, some powder, and other small articles, with which he appeared perfectly satisfied. We were now anxious to depart, and requested Yellept to lend us canoes for the purpose of crossing the river. But he would not listen to any proposal of leaving the village. He wished us to remain two or three days ; but would not let us go to- day, for he had already sent to invite his neighbors, the Chimnapoos (Cayuses), to come down this evening and join his people in a dance for our amusement. We urged, in vain, that by setting out sooner, we would the earlier return with the articles they desired ; for a day, he observed, would make but little difference. We at length men- tioned, that, as there was no wind, it was now the best time to cross the river, and would merely take the horses over, and return to sleep at their village. To this he assented, and then we crossed with our horses, and having hobbled them, returned to their camp. Fortunately there was among these Wollawollahs, a prisoner belonging to a tribe of Shoshonee or Snake Indians, residing to the south of the Multnomah, and visiting occasionally the heads of the Wollawollah creek. Our Shoshonee woman, Sacajaweah, though she belonged to a tribe near the Missouri, spoke the same language as this prisoner, and by their means we were able to explain ourselves to the Indians, and answer all their inquiries with respect to ourselves and the object of our journey. Our conversation inspired them with much confidence, and they soon brought several sick persons, for whom they requested our assistance. We splintered the broken arm of one, gave some relief to another, whose knee was contracted by rheumatism, and administered what we thought beneficial for ulcers and eruptions of the skin, on various parts of the body, which are very common disorders among them. But our most valu- able medicine was eye-water, which we distributed, and which, indeed, they required very much; the complaint of the eyes, occasioned by living on the water, and increased by the fine sand of the plains, being now universal. A little before sunset, the Chim- napoos, amounting to one hundred men and a few women, came to the village, and joining the Wollawollahs, who were about the same number of men, formed themselves in a circle round our camp, and waited very patiently till our men were disposed to dance, which they did for about an hour, to the tune of the violin. They 12

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History of Benton County, Oregon, Part 16

Author: David D. Fagan Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: David D. Fagan
Publication date: 1885
Publisher:
Number of Pages: