USA > Oregon > Pioneer days of Oregon history, Vol. I > Part 3
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They left September 28, 1790, and reached Nootka in June, 1791. The same conditions prevailed, and the vessels of the company, that now included material for a sloop, were engaged in the coast trade ; the Lady Washington had gone to China and was changed to be a brig. They had some success and occasional battles with the natives. In the spring of 1792, while Captain Gray was exploring, the aus- picious morn dawned that was to reward his exertions by a discovery that would prove of great importance to his coun- try and of great honor to himself.
CHAPTER VI
DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA
EVEN then, nothing was known of the Columbia, save that in 1775 Perez and Heceta, in latitude 46°, named a cape San Roque, and thought that close to it was a harbor, or the mouth of a river ; had they not lacked the genius of discovery they could have located the entrance of the greatest river of the Pacific. The Indians on Puget Sound always had as- serted that the flow of a great river entered the ocean not far to the south, but were not believed.
The traffic in furs was then only along the coast, and no exploration of the interior was made for years later. Fur traders were in no sense explorers any farther than interest led them to seek fields for traffic. In 1792, Captain George Van- conver, who had been with Captain Cook when he visited the north coast in 1778, was sent by the British Government to take possession of Nootka Sound, just transferred by treaty from Spain, which point he reached and made besides ex- ploration of Puget Sound, giving to prominent features the names they now bear.
All this while the Columbia was pouring its flood into the ocean, scattering over the broad seas the drift the river had brought down each June, even marking the tides with the yellow washings from far inland shores. But no one stopped to trace these back to their source. Perez and Heceta saw there was a harbor, or river entrance; other sea-goers had named the same cape they saw by the title it popularly bears
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to-day-Cape Disappointment-because they did not find there the outlet for the great river they looked for. When they wanted to buy furs of the natives a trading ship would fire a single gun from the offing to let them know they were there ; hearing and seeing this the Indians loaded their canoes in Baker's Bay, or on the South Shore of Clatsop, where they had villages, and put off with cargoes of furs to trade. Even then they had no idea that their vessel was lying off one of the great rivers of the world, and that its waters were flowing past them. This was told me by a descendant of the very Indians who then lived there, and was received by him from his mother, who was wife of one of the first American settlers. Though a full-blood Clatsop Indian she possessed some education and carefully gathered from her people all they knew of the past.
In 1792, there came sailing past this cape the ship Colum- bia, Captain Robert Gray, fitted out at Boston for the In- dian trade. Captain Gray was only a trader and had no mis- sion from his owners or from his government to make dis- coveries or exploration. The spring season is often stormy, and it was some time in April that the Yankee captain lay off the coast for nine days in futile effort to enter where he believed was a river-a belief soon after justified by his dis- covery. The sea must have been rough, for the surf formed an unbroken foam-line and the breakers left no channel where any ship could safely enter.
After that, when channels were known and pilots ready, it was often for weeks-and sometimes for many weeks- that a vessel would lay off and on, waiting for it to be safe to enter. There were three channels, and all were more or less unsafe because floods and tides changed them so often.
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It has been one of the greatest triumphs of our day that government engineers, at expense of millions of money and years of endeavor, have built a jetty from the southern shore, for miles out, that removes that danger and makes the entrance of the Columbia as safe as the harbor of New York. By means of this work, the floods of the Columbia are now confined in one channel and made to dig a deep, safe and unchanging way through the inner sands and past the moon-mad surf to the waiting ocean beyond.
After nine days of tossing and waiting, Captain Gray went northward, met Captain Vancouver, and stopped long enough to inform him that he was convinced that the great river they looked for entered the ocean past the same cape that had been christened Disappointment. Vancouver was no trader, but had been sent by his government to explore and do all in his power to perfect the English title to the Northwest Coast. He listened with incredulity to this report, but declined to accept its conclusions, as only ten days before he had sailed there and saw no opening through the unbroken surf where he thought a ship could enter. So Vancouver put his helm hard up and bore away, missing the one event that would have doubled his fame and made the British title very near perfect.
We can imagine that Captain Gray was not a little piqued at this incredulity, and that his Yankee grit was put on its mettle, for twelve days later he took advantage of smoother sea and less passionate breakers, and that evening, carefully sounding as he went, took his good ship through the breakers and furled his sails as he lay at anchor in Baker's Bay. A century later, they who represent the world's progress and the million people who occupy the Columbia region, met at
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Astoria, where the site overlooks the scene of that long-gone April day, to honor the memory of Captain Gray and the fact that he made this discovery. So long as Time shall write our records and the great river shall keep its pathway to the sea, the centuries will pay homage to the genius of this sailor, and rejoice that in naming the river for his ship it could receive the so appropriate title of the Columbia. Another coincidence was, that this discovery was made on the anniversary of the discovery of America, three centuries before.
As for Vancouver, he did not even accomplish the object of his voyage in accepting the surrender of Nootka Sound. The Spanish commander there, Quadra, and he could not agree as to what the terms of the surrender were, so nothing was surrendered, and England's title failed to receive that much confirmation. All these circumstances contributed to aid the American claim and were part of that providence that was preparing the future of this Northwest-as terri- tory of the United States-helping the Oregon Question to the fortunate conclusion finally arrived at.
While the natives knew by common rumor-if not by actual association-of the whites, the arrival of the Colum- bia must have been a great event. At that time the Chinooks had their village on the beach of the point that bears that name. The Clatsops had villages on the Clatsop shore, a peninsula evidently made of sands thrown up in successive sea beaches through the ages that have seen this western shore slowly rise from the ocean. North of the Columbia, the shores are wooded and mountainous and terminate in Cape Disappointment, that projects seaward and leaves Baker's Bay on the east. Chinook Point partly encloses
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Baker's Bay and is washed by the Columbia. It is twelve miles from Chinook Point to the outer cape. Smith's Point is opposite Chinook, last of the wooded ridges on the south shore. Young's Bay lies between Smith Point and Clatsop peninsula, that divides it from the ocean. This broadens to wide plains, reaching south to Tillamook Head, twenty miles or more, constituting all the level land at the mouth of the Columbia. Astoria is on the side of Smith's Point and over- looks all the lower river and the entrance.
A few days later Vancouver found his way into the mouth of the Columbia and went sailing up its broad flow, but missed the honor of being its discoverer. He sent Broughton to explore further, leaving his own name on the great island to the north, naming the snowy mountains as they are generally known to-day. So his name and those of the men he selected to honor will be thus blazoned for all time.
CHAPTER VII
LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION, 1804-6
THIS work contains mere outlines of the most important fea- tures of the various expeditions, voyages and incidents of the earlier time that led up to the actual settlement and develop- ment of the wide region known as Oregon, that was first made known to the world by the expedition of Lewis and Clark, and the occupancy of the various fur-trading companies that followed it.
Only enough of this is told to form a continuous recital of the most important features of that early time, for the object of my work is to tell the story of "Pioneer Days" as the conclusion of a life spent writing for the people whose American citizenship determined, by their occupancy, the title of the United States to the Pacific Northwest; whose patriotism, courage, energy and enterprise enacted a chap- ter of history unsurpassed in romance, and hardly equalled in the story of time.
At the time the American colonies gained their inde- pendence of Great Britain (1783), France was legally pos- sessed of the territory lying west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, lying south of 49° of latitude. In 1803, Napoleon, anticipating that Great Britain would con- quer this territory, and that he had no ability to defend it while warring with all Europe, conveyed this region to the United States by what is known as the Louisiana Purchase. One consequence of this trade with France was, that our
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government immediately sent an expedition, under com- mand of Captain Merriwether Lewis and Lieutenant Wil- liam Clark, which made the first exploration through the wide mountain region, to discover the sources of the Colum- ·bia and follow its flood of waters to the shores of the Occi- dent. The story of their travels has been told and retold, and their journal, that was carefully kept, was published then and has been more fully republished of late.
While the object of this work is to bring the story of Oregon in the early time together, and give graphic pictur- ings of the early day as contribution to current literature and history, it is necessary to review each important event that led to occupation and settlement and afford a connected view of the chain of circumstances that redeemed the wilder- ness from savagery and made possible this future empire of the Pacific. Others may tell the dull details that make reli- able history, mine is the self-imposed task to gather the gems that strew the way-the romance that gilds that past-the heroism that conquered fate and often encountered savagery in its most barbarous forms. Here, tragedy and comedy are strangely mingled; the material is here-if one has the graphic power to weave it into words.
In May 1804, Lewis and Clark, with a company of thirty persons, fourteen soldiers, nine young men from Kentucky, two Frenchmen as water-men, an interpreter, a hunter and negro servant, started on this long journey of trial, danger, adventure and exploration. They wintered on the upper Missouri, near Mandan ; the next September they crossed the Rockies and found a westward flow that they named the Clark Fork of the Columbia. Following the Lolo trail to the southwest, they came to the Clearwater, that enters Snake
PORTRAITS OF LEWIS AND CLARK
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River above Lewiston, Idaho. Suffering from cold and hun- ger, they reached a Nez Percés village. At this first appear- ance of white men the women and children fled, but the men received them kindly and fed them so well that Captain Clark ate too much and was ill as a result. The plain where the village stood was soon covered with Indians, who came to see the strangers and the strange things they brought.
Their interpreter could not understand, but they managed to tell something of their mission and where they came from ; to assembled chiefs and warriors they made a few presents, traded some, and had nothing to complain of. They had endured exposure, fatigue and hunger, and as a result of the present abundance many more were taken ill. They de- termined to leave their horses with the natives, and built canoes in which to navigate to the Pacific Ocean. About Oc- tober 10th, they had their canoes finished and commenced the long journey down the rivers at a time when the waters were unusually low and rapids frequent. It was especially tedious making portages at Celilo, the Dalles and Cascades ; below there they had a broad majestic flow, bordered mainly by wooded heights, and on November 7th, less than a month after leaving the Clearwater, they saw the morning fog lift and in the distance viewed the broad expanse of the ocean-"that ocean, the object of all our labors, and reward for all our anxieties."
They began their journey in May, 1804, and on the first day of January, 1806, took possession of a fortified post built on Clatsop, south of the entrance to the Columbia, and not far from the ocean. They located there because elk, deer and bear were plentiful on adjoining ranges and roamed at will over the plains around them ; a pleasant change from
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the time when they went hungry for days and were glad to get dog meat as an improvement on wolf and crow-or nothing at all. The dog meat they had traded for with Indians as they descended the Columbia, and were glad to get it. There was abundant fish in the river, and yet more in the bordering ocean ; wild fowl were plentiful, and the Clatsops had great store of roots, dried fruits and herbs. They remained at Clatsop until March, 1806; commencing their weary journey of 4,000 miles March 23d, to return by new paths over the continent they were exploring.
At Clatsop they met a man about twenty-five years of age who had lighter complexion and different features from ordinary natives, with red hair and freckles. They record that he must have had white blood in his veins; it was re- markable that they did not investigate further to learn a story whose romantic features form one of the most inter- esting tales of shipwreck, that long antedated the coming of Captain Gray, or any record kept of the olden time, which will be narrated hereafter.
Lewis and Clark gave the first authentic account of the Indian tribes of the Pacific, but only as they were met on the rivers they traversed, showing little of the country or the people outside that narrow view. They carried back valu- able information that was authentic, as made by officers of the government. Before that, mountaineers and fur traders had not crossed the Rocky Mountains and the region beyond was a terra incognita, only known as offering opportunity to trade for skins and furs with the most ultra savages on the continent.
There were some redeeming features even then ; Lewis and Clark found little to complain of and much to enjoy. Life
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Lewis and Clarke Expedition, 1804-06
at Clatsop was not idyllic; the Nez Percés had cared for their horses during the winter and treated them with great kindness ; but on the way back they had trouble with The Dalles and Des Chuttes Indians, who stole all they could, but the Walla Chief gave them the warmest welcome possible ; gave them food and horses, with kindness manifested that was best of all. A Shoshonee woman visited them there who was able to converse with an Indian woman who came with them from the Missouri River, so they explained their pur- pose in coming, which must have made much difference as to their reception. The kindness and hospitality of these friendly natives formed the pleasantest feature of their ex- perience on the Columbia. This concludes all we need say concerning the coming of Lewis and Clark, or of the existing conditions until, a few years later, the Astor expedition es- tablished the fur trade at Astoria.
The interest felt, even at that early time, was shown by the sending of this expedition to traverse the continent and explore its farthest wilds. When it returned, and facts were made known, the greatest interest was manifested.
In 1809, when suffering from mental derangement it was said, Captain Lewis died before he had completed his narra- tive. Captain Clark lived to be promoted and fill important positions through a long life. Speaking of this wide ex- ploration, Mr. Jefferson said: "Never did a similar event ex- cite more joy throughout the United States. The humblest of its citizens had taken lively interest in the issue of this journey and looked forward with impatience to the informa- tion it would furnish. Their anxiety, too, for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugu- brious rumors, circulated from time to time, on uncertain
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authority and uncontradicted by letters or other informa- tion, from the time they had left the Mandan towns, on their ascent of the river, in April of the preceding year, 1805, un- til their actual return to St. Louis."
This is but a brief sketch of what has proved to be an enterprise that had the most enduring consequences; that added materially to the fame of President Jefferson, who planned its execution and seemsto haveforeseen-though but dimly-the far-reaching results, as not only paving the way for future travel, but as strengthening the claim of the United States for the ownership of Oregon, a most necessary link in the chain of American title, for it connected the Louisiana Purchase with the region west of the continental divide.
If it has lent just fame to President Jefferson and added distinction to his administration, it also showed, in the suc- cess of Lewis and Clark, the determined qualities of Ameri- can character and how men of purpose and will can overcome all obstacles. Lewis and Clark will always stand prominent among the able men of early American history.
CHAPTER VIII
OAK POINT SETTLEMENT
THE first attempt to settle the Columbia was projected in 1809 by Abiel Winship, in his Boston counting house. As result, Captain Nathan Winship made a voyage to this river in the ship Albatross, for the purpose of building a two- story log house, that should serve for fort as well as ware- house, and to cultivate land close by, using all needful pre- caution to preserve peace with the Indians. Mr. Winship of Boston wrote the instructions much as Astor did-to buy land of the natives and recognize their rights ; thereafter to pursue a course that would be honorable and, it was hoped, insure peace, good will and prosperity. At the Sandwich Islands they took on board swine, goats and some Kanakas to work, and entered the Columbia May 26, 1810-the first settlement ever projected in Oregon.
Captain Winship went forty miles up the river and se- lected a beautiful location where oak trees were grouped near the bank, therefore called it Oak Point, and that name it bears to-day-the only vestige that remains of that ven- ture. He said it was the first point where oak trees were to be seen near the river. They commenced work, hewed timber and were making progress, when the June floods warned them that the site was too low ; also, the Indians told them that the freshets always covered that locality. For this reason, and because the Indians became troublesome, and
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what they saw and heard led them tobelieve that the Chinooks only waited for a favorable occasion to capture them all, they concluded not to build, as was intended, but to trade along the coast awhile and leave for future decision the ques- tion of building the fort.
Franchére mentions seeing hewn timbers on the bank there. The ship traded for a year, and then Captain Win- ship saw the arrival of the Tonquin with the Astor company, and did not like to commence opposition to so well-equipped an enterprise.
CHAPTER IX
THE ASTOR EXPEDITION
JOHN JACOB ASTOR, having developed wonderful business sagacity in the fur trade east of the Rocky Mountains, con- ceived the broader view to extend his operations to the shores of the Pacific, making headquarters at the mouth of the Columbia. He took pains to do this under the broad ægis of the nation. Mr. Astor communicated his scheme to Presi- dent Jefferson, soliciting the countenance of the govern- ment, who wrote that he "considered, as a good public acquisition, the commencement of a settlement on that part of the west coast of America, and looked for- ward, with gratification, to the time when its descendants shall have spread themselves through the whole length of that coast, covering it with free and independent Americans, unconnected with us but by the ties of blood and interest, and enjoying, like us, the rights of self-government."
The Jefferson cabinet endorsed the scheme and assurance was given of such protection as, consistent with public policy, could be rendered.
It would be supererogation to tell over the story Irving has told so well, of that disastrous enterprise and of the ex- peditions by land and sea that were to open the wide realm of Oregon and make the future empire of the Pacific pos- sible. The broad-mindedness of the originator was shown in its conception, and the success that had previously attended
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Astor's undertakings-it was supposed-made it safe. Un- fortunately the sea expedition that was to reach the Colum- bia first, and occupy the field before the rival Northwest Company could reach there, was as fearfully mismanaged as was possible. Its managers proved themselves quarrel- some, fault-finding and incompetent from the moment they left New York.
Captain Jonathan Thorne, commander in the navy on furlough, was supposed to be eminently qualified for com- mand of the Tonquin. He proved to be a sea martinet, tyrannical, overbearing, demanding of the partners of the fur company absolute compliance with his whims, while they displayed as much capacity as was possible to aggravate and irritate the ill nature of the commander. Everywhere and all the time it was a game of cross purposes, and never a more ill-conditioned company voyaged together for so many thousand miles. The Tonquin reached the Columbia River March 24th, at a season when conditions are apt to be unfavorable and the breakers aggravated by the unkindly sea. Even here the despotic will of Captain Thorne outdid the elemental war, for he forced to their deaths two boats' crews, sent to find the channel against their own consent. The first boat, with crew of four, was seen by those who stood on the deck, lost among the breakers as they looked on. Fox, the chief mate, bade the partners a sorrowful adieu. He said his uncle had been lost at this entrance a few years before, and now he was also sent to meet the same fate ; thus, overcome by sorrowing presentiment, he met his doom. The next morning another boat, manned by five good men, had found the channel and when returning to the ship-not a pistol shot away, for the Tonquin was following as they
ASTORIA IN ISHI
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The Astor Expedition
indicated-the boat became unmanageable among the breakers, and nothing could be done to save her crew. Two of these unfortunates were afterwards found alive, having undergone fearful horrors and seen their shipmates meet death. One had died from exposure and exhaustion after the boat reached shore. Here was fatality-just as the harbor was in sight, the haven waiting to welcome them that they had come so many thousand miles to find !
After a time of much disagreement and bitterness between the captain and the partners, a stockade and warehouses had been built on the south side, where is now Astoria. The Tonquin went to sea again, to proceed to Sitka, on the Alaskan coast, and open communication with the Russian Fur Company, with whom Mr. Astor had arranged to carry supplies.
At Vancouver Island Captain Thorne took his ship into the harbor of Neweetee, very much against the advice of the Indian interpreter, who told him the natives were very treacherous. When the natives came Thorne found their prices unreasonable and refused to trade ; then an old chief followed him up and down the deck, holding out an otter skin and taunting him with offering mean prices, until the irascible captain snatched the sea otter skin to rub the Indian's face with it and dismiss him over the side of the ship ignominiously.
The interpreter and others who had experience urged him to make sail and away, for fear of what the Indians could do ; but Thorne relied on his cannon and small arms and treated their advice with contempt. The next morning Indians swarmed to the ship, apparently unarmed, with many peltries, offering to trade on any terms. Thus, as the
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ship was getting under weigh, a trade commenced; the decks swarmed with savages, and at a signal yell they commenced to slaughter the crew. Captain Thorne fell at last, sur- rounded by victims of his prowess. Four men managed to get into the cabin, where they procured firearms, made a brave defence and soon cleared the decks. The interpreter was spared, being of their race, but all others had been killed, save the four in the cabin and Mr. Lewis, the clerk, who was desperately wounded. During the night the four men in the cabin put off in the ship's boat, leaving Lewis, who was wounded unto death.
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