USA > Oregon > Pioneer days of Oregon history, Vol. I > Part 2
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In his inquiry as to the origin of his race, this Yazoo philosopher had invariably been told that native tradition located the cradle of his people to the westward of the Mis- sissippi, so he determined to see for himself the home-land of his fathers. The reader will excuse me for reminding him that the Yazoo country, watered by the river of that name, is in the State of Mississippi and enters the Father of Waters from the east, not far below Vicksburg.
About the year 1745 Monacht Ape resolved to travel, crossed the Mississippi and went north, wintering with the Missouri tribe near where the river of that name enters the Mississippi. There he learned the Kansas language and in the spring took passage up the great river in a pirogue. The Kansas Indians tried to dissuade him from the attempt, considering it visionary ; not succeeding, they kindly did all they could to assist him. They said, that if he made his way up stream for one moon he would come to great moun-
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Pioneer Days of Oregon History
tains ; then he should turn north and go as they directed for several days, when he would reach a stream flowing west that would be eventually lost in the Western Ocean. They told of a nation known as the Otter tribe that he would come to. When he had travelled up stream as directed he came to the Otters; tarried there three days, conversing by signs ; as they were on a buffalo hunt and some were to re- turn home, he went with them.
Monacht Apé must have been an agreeable man and good traveller, as he won the confidence of all the people he met ; learned their language, too, which was a passport to their re- spect. When his Otter friends came to the beautiful river, after tramping in summer heat, they all jumped in, but our traveller had been raised on the Father of Waters and the Yazoo, and had to learn that there were no alligators around before he would venture. When satisfied as to that, he also took a bath. When the others reached their homes he re- mained awhile at the head-waters of the Columbia, learning the language, so he could understand the people he was to go among. He liked them for their sincerity, for, as he ex- pressed it, he found that "as their hearts were so they spoke" -- in other words, they "would do to tie to." As he was bound to go west his friends gave him a canoe, stocked it with deer meat and dried camas, then gave an earnest "God bless you," for farewell.
Then he went sailing down the western slopes of the Pa- cific world, no doubt having a rough time on the riffles and rapids and needing all his skill as a canoeist. The first vil- lage he came to the chief called out roughly, "Who are you? Whence come you? What seek you with long-haired people?" for it seems that the Yazoos did not wear their hair
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Monacht Apé
long. Then this dignified stranger said: "I am Monacht Apé. I come now from the Otter nation on search for knowl- edge. I wish to know, so came to you. My hair is short for convenience-but my heart is good. I ask no favors. I have far to go, for I seek the western sea, but my right arm and well-strung yew win my food as I go my way. I sleep all winter as the bears do. Like the eagle, I fly in summer to see what I can see. Are you afraid here of a single man who comes to you in open day?" So it seems that our trav- elling Yazoo was plain spoken-if he was a long way from home.
The chief on the upper waters of the west did not take kindly to this pursuer after knowledge and answered un- kindly ; then Monacht Apé, as he was about to push off and try his fortunes farther down the stream, called out : "Even bears will rub noses when they meet, but some men are ruder than bears."
He had relieved his mind and was about to push off and go on when he shouted again: "Salt Tears told me to see the Big Roe Buck, for he was a great chief !" Then there came out of the house close by a very old man ; he was so old and blind that some one had to lead him-this was the famous "Roe Buck," father of the young chief, but if he was old he was yet supreme. He told Monacht Apé to come ashore, and kept him two days, explained to him how he was to manage with all the people he would come to ; gave him food and told him all the password he needed was to tell the people below that Big Roe Buck was his friend.
So he went floating down, a wanderer on the River of the West-that could well be called by the Otters "The Beauti- ful River"-until at last he came in sight of another ocean,
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where he found a people who were in terror of their lives, because of white, bearded men who came every year in a great vessel to steal slaves and cut and carry off a yellow, stinking wood that grew near the ocean.
It was then about time to expect the pirates, so they were hiding, and had sent away all the good-looking women and pretty girls, so these pirates should not carry them off. Those people had guns, and that made the natives afraid of them. As a precaution they had been trying to kill off all that yellow wood the pirates came for. They received Monacht Apé because he was of their race, and had travelled so much they hoped he could do something for them. He told them he had smelt "villainous saltpeter" and was not afraid, but believed he could make those people willing to let them alone.
He helped them plan and they waited seventeen days; then, sure enough, a vessel came sailing up and sent ashore two boats loaded with men. According to his plan, the In- dians ambushed them while they gathered the yellow wood they valued so much and were scattered through the forest, and killed eleven of the thirty who landed; then the rest went away. This Yazoo philosopher held a post-mortem and found that the pirates had short bodies, were thick and their heads heavy, their hair cut short, turbans wound around their heads, and dressed with cotton cloth.
This story of the pirate ship, that landed so far back as 1745 on the coast of Oregon, sounds a trifle problematical ; the yellow wood may have been some medicinal growth.
Monacht Apé was gone from home five years and seems to have been a veritable character. Other Indians have been known to travel, but none are known to have made such ex-
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Monacht Apé
tensive journeys as did he. No other went from ocean to ocean.
This interesting story is told in H. H. Bancroft's His- tory of the Pacific Northwest, taken from the works of M. le Page du Pratz, published soon after his return from Louisiana, in Paris, 1858.
CHAPTER IV
EARLY VOYAGES ON THE NORTH PACIFIC
LESS than twenty years after Columbus discovered the West- ern Hemisphere, Balboa, the adventurer, from some salient point of the Isthmian Andes discovered the great Pacific Ocean-or, as he called it, the South Sea-and not long after performed the dramatic act of wading into the waters of the Bay of Panama, to wave his sword over that farthest ocean and claim all its shores as the future empire of Spain.
Then commenced a career of discovery that swept the shores of America. Spanish patriotism-as well as enter- prise-was bounded by the greed that tore three thousand millions of gold and silver in the succeeding century from the rich provinces of Mexico and Peru, supplanting the peaceful rule of the Montezumas and Incas by the inex- orable terrorism and heartless cruelty of Cortez and Pizarro, and the terrors of the Inquisition.
In 1534 the peninsula of Lower California was discov- ered. Eight years later-in 1542-the navigator Cabrillo sailed as far north as latitude 44°, on the Oregon coast, naming Cape Mendocino and the Farallone Islands, off the Bay of San Francisco. But through that century Spain made no further successful exploration on those northern waters. She was hungry for treasure, and the bleak shores of Southern California offered no inducement when she had Mexico and Peru to extort tribute from.
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Early Voyages on the North Pacific
Spain was then enterprising in trade and her commerce with Asia soon became important. Vessels went across the great ocean to China with rich freighting of silver to barter for silks, teas, and other oriental wares. These were un- loaded at Panama, conveyed across the isthmus, and then reshipped to Spain. But at that time Spanish enterprise had the world's freebooters to antagonize, one of the most efficient being Captain Francis Drake, of England. Drake had lost his vessel and cargo by unlawful act of Spain ; fail- ing of redress, as soon as he secured another outfit he pro- ceeded to get even for this loss by depredating on Span- ish commerce on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He passed into the west, around Cape Horn, in 1578; levied contributions on Mexican seaports, captured treasure ships bound for China, as well as galleons loaded with what was then the world's richest merchandise. Not caring to return by the Straits of Magellan or Cape Horn, where he knew that war ships of Spain watched for his coming, he voy- aged to the north, hoping to discover the fabled "Straits of Anian," that should afford him a northern passage back to Europe and give him fame as a world's discoverer. He had on board a Spanish pilot ; it was reported that this pilot was landed at some harbor-supposed to be on the southern coast of Oregon by the latitude given-who then made his way to his home in Mexico as he could. Spanish sources state that he did so return. The story was published in 1626, long afterwards. The padres said he was put on shore near the Straits of Anian. His name was Morena, and he was "very sick, more dead than alive." Recovering health, he wandered through many lands for four years, travelled over five hun- dred leagues, witnessing wondrous countries and strange
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people." This seemed to describe Southern California and its gulf, but there were no such people as he described in existence.
Drake went as far as north as 48°, but June 5th, 1579, gave up this quest and sailed south again. He made the remarkable excuse that it was too cold to be comfortable. His chaplain was historian of the voyage. We must admire the Christian zeal and consistency of this old-time sea-rover, who was so careful of the welfare of the souls of his pirate crew. That was the first introduction of Christianity-per- haps-on the North Pacific. The unusual wintry season of that June seems to have given it a chill reception.
As they bore southward Drake entered a bay that yet bears his name, on the coast a few miles north of San Fran- cisco. It was June; the veracious historian says the sur- rounding hills were covered with snow ; the weather so cold that their hands were numbed ; meat-in process of cooking -would freeze if taken off the fire. It would not be easy to convince any Californian of our day that this could be true of the middle of June. The worthy chaplain was prob- ably inventing chronicles to excuse Captain Drake's giving up his quest for the longed-for Straits of Anian.
This historian also said, that wherever they went they found the soil full of gold and silver ; even the grass roots disclosed fine gold, and all the country was rich in that metal. Drake remained six days in this bay. Adverse winds had driven him back from Cape Flattery, near Puget Sound, or he might have made that discovery. Neither did he discover the harbor of San Francisco, though it was just around the snow-covered hills to the south.
Before that, however, Commodore Anson had discovered,
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Early Voyages on the North Pacific
on a captured galleon, with a million and a half of treas- ure, a chart of the coast on which were seven dots marked "Farallones," opposite a landlocked bay, indicated on the coast, but not named. Thus we know that the harbor of San Francisco was discovered at a very early time by Spanish navigators in the China and Manila trade. Their vessels were occasionally wrecked on this north coast. They had all the world to contend with on the seas, as buccaneering was then honorable-the world thought-and it was prudent for these merchants to conceal the fact that opposite the Farallones was the finest harbor on the entire coast for free- booters to lay in wait.
Chaplain Fletcher records some incidents of their stay; the Indians there had never seen white men and wanted to worship them as superior beings ; ground squirrels occupied the soil-which was about the only time that he found it convenient to tell the truth. He says: "Our necessaire busi- ness being ended, our general, with his companie, travailed up into the country to their villages, where we found herds of deer by one thousand in a companie; being most large and fat of bodie." He also said: "Our general set up a monument of our being there ; as also of her majestie's right and title to the same, viz. : A plate nailed upon a faire, great poste, whereupon was engraved her majestie's name (Queen Elisabeth ), the day and year of our arrival there, with the free giving up of the province and people into her ma jestie's hands, together with her highness' picture and arms, in a piece of current English coin under the plate, whereunder also was written the name of our general."
We have shown that the Spaniards knew of San Fran- cisco Bay, but the first record of any European landing
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on the coast of California, or to the north, was this made by Sir Francis Drake. In 1592, a Greek, named Juan de Fuca, sailing under the flag of Spain, claimed to have dis- covered the strait that enters Puget Sound from the ocean. But this story is so unreliable that it is not safe as history. It seems to have been told among seamen of that day without any official record being made. If he was not employed by Spain, but voyaging on his own account, such omission was not singular. His claim was so well reported, however, that in the actual discovery of Puget Sound the strait that leads in from the ocean was named for him.
So the century passed away and no further effort was made to discover or settle the north coast. No inducements existed for Spanish conquest, as there were no precious metals to confiscate, no trade to enrich. The value of the fur trade was not appreciated at that time and the only in- terest Spanish commerce had was to provide harbors of refuge for their vessels voyaging to the Philippines.
Panama and the Philippines, though thousands of miles apart, are in the same latitude; both were in the "South Sea" and near the equator. It would seem that commerce from one to the other, or between China and Mexico, could be direct ; but equatorial calms made it easier, and practi- cally a surer and shorter route, to voyage to the north and take advantage of the trade winds in their season.
Thus we find that Puget Sound and the Columbia are practically nearer Japan and Asia to-day than even San Francisco. So the old-time commerce of Spain followed the north coast, circling comparatively near the north shores of America and Asia in preference to making direct voyages across the ocean to the Philippines, or to ports in China.
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All the use they had for the north coast was to learn where to find refuge from the fearful storms that at times prevail, and lay in supplies of wood or water, or timber for masts, when they should be needed in times of distress.
In the year 1602, Sebastian Viscaino sailed from Aca- pulco on the 5th of May, and discovered the ports of San Diego and Monterey, while searching for harbors where East India galleons could take refuge and obtain supplies. Not far above Monterey he could have discovered San Fran- cisco Bay, but kept too far to sea and so passed it by. At Point Reys he turned in to the shore to look for the wreck of the San Augustine, lost there in 1595 ; then he continued north, to Cape Mendocino. It had been his intention to sail north to try to discover the fabled Straits of Anian ; then sail back to the Atlantic by that route. But his crew were down with scurvy for want of fresh food. Only six were left able to work the vessel ; many had died in the greatest distress to be conceived of.
This shows the fearful obstacles that beset the navigator who in that day tried to discover new countries in far-away seas. Viscaino got back to Acapulco in March, 1603 ; then, for a century and two-thirds of time, no effort was made to discover further, or even to improve discoveries already made. After a century and a half of exploration on the west coast the work was abandoned ; the years went on ; com- merce went by and made no sign, nor did missions of the Church try to reach the native races who peopled the long shore line, until, in 1769, the Franciscans established mis- sions at San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco-167 years after Viscaino discovered the two first named. Every ship that came north buried most of its men as result of
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scurvy ; no record of human suffering is more pathetic or sorrowful than those handed down of they who manned the ships that sailed this ocean at that time.
In 1774, Juan Perez sailed north to opposite Vancouver's Island. In 1775, he, with Bruno Heceta, went north again ; were opposite the Straits of Fuca when storms drove them back to an island, north of the Columbia, where Indians as- sailed them, killed several of the crew and came near cap- turing the ship. On August 14th, 1775, Heceta discovered a promontory he called San Roque, in latitude 46°. Close to it he saw an opening he thought was a harbor, or mouth of a river. The Columbia was near being then discovered by the Spaniards. He called it Assumption Inlet. At the same time Bodega, who commanded a schooner that accom- panied Heceta, went north to latitude 58° and landed to take possession.
The great English navigator, Captain Cook, in his famous voyage around the world, also made an effort to discover some passage on the north to connect the two oceans. This was in the spring of 1778, but he failed to discern the en- trance to the Columbia or to Puget Sound, and of course found no Straits of Anian.
What his voyage discovered to aid the development of the west coast was that there was a mine of wealth in trad- ing for furs with the Indians. While far north his sailors traded for furs to make bedding warmer and clothing suit- able to that region. When they reached Canton they sold these furs there for fabulous prices. They wanted to re- turn, and almost mutinied because they could not. On reaching England, they found the country engaged in war, so nothing was done until 1784, when the news was pub-
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lished to the world and ships of different nations went there to trade. By this time Russia commenced to traffic for furs at Alaska. The era of adventure on the far northwest may be said to have then commenced.
The entire tale of Juan de Fuca is untrustworthy, for, had he made such discovery, Spain would not have per- mitted him to leave it incomplete. It would have been the triumph of the age to have perfected that discovery and utilized it before others could.
There was a happy mixture of audacity and presumption in the Fuca narrative, for it came within one degree of de- scribing the straits that now bear his name. The name and fame of Juan de Fuca are made permanent for all time, while no authentic proof exists that such a man ever lived, much less voyaged these northern seas.
CHAPTER V
VOYAGES OF THE SHIP COLUMBIA
THE pioneer English-or American-expedition for trade on the Northwest Coast, Bancroft thinks, was that of Captain Hanna, who left China in a brig of sixty tons and traded at Nootka in 1785-seven years after Cook was there; no doubt actuated by news brought by that voyage of the value of furs. This was the first effort for trade by any Euro- pean. The commencement of regular trade only preceded by six years the voyage of Captain Gray, who discovered the Columbia. After 1785 we may consider that trade was opened and voyages constantly made to the Northwest Coast.
The first American traders for this coast were Boston merchants, in 1788, the first time the Stars and Stripes were unfurled there. John Kendrick commanded the ship Colum- bia Redivina, 220 tons, and Captain Robert Gray the sloop Lady Washington, of 90 tons. Their cargoes were chiefly for Indian trade-iron, copper utensils and implements. The owners were J. Barrell, S. Brown, C. Bulfinch, J. Darby, C. Hatch and A. M. Pintard. They left Nantucket Roads, October 1st, 1787. The owners and other Boston mer- chants went down to see them off and bid them God-speed. The vessels were parted off Cape Horn, but were to meet at Nootka. It was August 7, 1888, that Captain Gray saw the shores of New Albion. They found a harbor not far from the Columbia and were well received by the natives, to whom
After un original drawing by Robert Haswell found among the private papers of Captain Robert Gray.
THE SHIP "COLUMBIA" AND THE SLOOP " WASHINGTON "
A
.......
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Voyages of the Ship Columbia
they made presents and from whom they received berries and crabs in plenty, as free gifts. After trading awhile in the most friendly manner for furs, they took wood and water and were ready to leave, when an Indian stole a cut- lass, that was stuck in the sand by a Spanish boy, Marcos Lopez, who served the captain. Lopez pursued, and they asked the chiefs to return the boy in safety, but were told to attend to it themselves. If they had taken the chief and held him hostage, they would have been supreme, but they undertook to rescue the lad, found him surrounded, saw him killed with knives and arrows, and the captain and two who were with him had to defend themselves against a horde of savages. Using their pistols, they killed several of the bold- est ; all three were wounded and escaped with difficulty, wading to their boat and pursued to the vessel, where the swivel gun did some good work on the canoes. All night the Indians howled death dirges on the shore. It was two days before wind and tide served, and it was fight all the time. This was their rather unpleasant introduction to the Indian trade and earliest acquaintance with the natives. Bancroft surmises that Murderers' Bay was Tillamook Bay. The conduct of the natives there was more in accordance with that of the coast Indians north of the Columbia for half of a century after. The latitude given in the sloop's log was a little south of Tillamook ; if it was at Tillamook, the natives would have remembered it. The sloop then pro- ceeded up the coast, trading as they went and meeting noth- ing serious. They passed the Columbia River, as well as the Straits of Fuca, unnoticed, and on September 16th, al- most a year out, they anchored in Nootka Sound, towed in by boats from English vessels commanded by Mears and
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Douglas, that were anchored there. The Columbia had not then arrived.
In about a week the Columbia also came. They were on the pleasantest possible terms with the English navigators, who were kindly disposed to appearance ; helped to make needed repairs, fired a salute on October 1st, when they were celebrating the anniversary of leaving Nantucket, and lied to them, with word of honor annexed, with the most stupen- dous mendacity. They were told it was madness and sure destruction to attempt to winter on the coast; that they had not been able to buy over fifty beaver skins through the season. It was plain to be seen that they were buying more at that time, for the Indians would not trade with Americans for either food or furs ; which they learned was because the English took forcible possession of what the Indians brought them and gave what they chose in return, shooting them down if they objected. When Mears had built a new schooner to leave behind, they helped tow his vessel outside, bound for China, handing him a package of letters for home that he cordially agreed to take and forward, but which was returned to them by the last boat, on pretext that he did not know how to handle them or where he might fetch up.
Later, Captain Douglas's vessel left for the Sandwich Isl- ands and they made arrangements to winter at Nootka. As soon as the Britishers disappeared the Indians came with plenty of food and furs. Nootka was a sad place for thiev- ing ; they had some trouble, but lived there until March, 1789, when they commenced active operations. The voyage has especial interest, as it was the first appearance of an American trader on the Northwest Coast. The sloop Wash- ington, now in charge of Captain Kendrick, went trading
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Voyages of the Ship Columbia
north to Queen Charlotte's Island with much success, as may be surmised when they purchased 200 otter skins, worth $800, for a rusty chisel.
Later, the Columbia sailed for China under Captain Gray, and sold her furs there. She was the first American vessel that sailed round the world, taking a cargo of tea for Boston. As a whole the venture seems not to have been profitable. They had learned the business and concluded to send the ship again, so she was again outfitted.
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