USA > Oregon > The Oregon native son, Vol. I > Part 24
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一
TO OREGON.
Land where the rays of the sunset Bid adieu to a continent vast, And the moon in her silvery circuit Sheds the sheen of her floodlight last, Thou art dear to my heart. though I wander Far away from thy golden shore, And I turn with a thrill of pleasure To glance back o'er the days of yore.
Land where the forests are grander And tower the mountains more high, And the limpid streams meander 'Neath a purer and brighter sky Than that where the brave old Tiber Reflects back the starlit dome, Dear Land of the West, I adore thee, And dream of my dear old home.
My home, where the lake and the river Commingle their waters in one, And the bright-hued maple leaves quiver In the rays of the setting sun, There the song of the spring bird is sweeter And the air breathes a fragrant perfume. Richer far than the zephyrs of Ceylon. Wafted seaward from orange grove bloom.
While Columbia sweeps on to the ocean. And Willamette flows sparkling and bright Through the valleys, in ardent devotion Will I cherish the glorious sight Of meadow, of woodland and mountain, Of forest, e'en Pacific's blue wave Utters music with charms without equal, As its waters thy fair borders lave.
Dear land, thou art mine: I inherit All the title to call thee mine own And share with the friends of my boyhood Within thy grand borders a home. And when the last summons is given. That bids me from labor to rest. All I ask. save an entrance in heaven. Is to sleep on thy broad, fruitful breast. WM. ANGUS M'PHERSON.
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
LA FAYETTE GROVER, A Pioneer of 1851.
Photo by
Browning. MATTHEW P. DEADY, A Pioneer of 1849.
DELAZON SMITH, A Pioneer of 1532.
Browning.
Photo by JAMES W. NESMITH. A Pioneer of 1843.
2
THE MULTNOMAH'S LAST SIGNAL FIRE.
Long before the oxen of the pioneer started on their tiresome march across the plains, some of the then inhabitants of Oregon began a tragedy which was not to know an ending for years to fol- low.
The Wishams had been for a century in undisputed possession of the land which includes the great Tum-Tum, or Celilo falls, which gave them superior facilities for the harvesting of fish dur- ing the time the lordly salmon was wont to seek for spawning grounds in the waters of the upper Columbia and its tributaries. But an hour came when the security of their hold upon this much- prized situation was to be tested in bat- tle. The forerunner of such was the death of their brave and intrepid chief. whose hunting grounds all feared to in- vade while he was alive. Upon his decease his son Cultus inherited his flocks and his right to command, but he possessed no characteristics in keeping. with the station: for, while he proudly wore upon his head the eagle's plumes, he was at heart an arrant coward. This state of affairs had been long hoped for by the Wascos, a neighboring tribe, who for many winters had cast longing eyes upon the location, and in the change of chiefs believed they saw the overthrow of the Wishams and occupancy of the fishing grounds by themselves. The Wascos were the inferior in numbers, but their chief, Kasalka, was a born leader, scarred from many an encounter on the warpath and on the hunt; and cach brave who obeyed his voice was one in whose breast fear was unknown. Considering that the time was ripe for action, he assembled his resolute band _[ .1 __ 1.
ness, began a silent though hasty march to the encampment of the Wishams.
At midnight they had reached a point close to the enemy's camp, where they stopped to rest the tired ponies "and reconnoitre. As the day dawned, Ka- salka and his forces sallied forth from behind the rocks where they had been hidden, and cautiously began to make their way toward the intended goal. The silent march was suddenly interrupted by the barking of a Wisham dog. fol- lowed by the yet more fierce war cry of Kasalka. The ponies were urged at full speed upon the sleeping encampment. As they circled and dashed this way and that, each move was the death struggle of a Wisham. The latter tribe, however. sprang to their defense with a will, and the invaders lost in numbers as well, but fate. in giving them a chief with the heart of a coward, had doomed them to destruction.
As soon as the attack was made, Cul- tus called to his warriors to come to his teepee, and, on their arrival in sufficient force to insure safety for himself, he or- dered a retreat to where the ponies were staked out, and. upon reaching them. it was but the work of a moment to cut loose the swiftest, which he mounted and rapidly left the scene. This desertion by their chief served to create a panic among the Wishams, and they began to give way, following his action by flight. and before the contest was ended but a remnant of the tribe lived to relate its happenings, and those sought refuge far removed from the path of the Wascos. When Cultus so cowardly fled he was followed by one of his women, and they halted not till days after the event had wano h. Thair stonmine place was near
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what is now known as Cape Horn. There they were safe from molestation, because the land there afforded but little to the occupant as a producer, and it was situ- ated in the midst of superstition" made memorable by the god Speelyia, through his punishment of his unfilial sons and of the sorceress Wah-se-ak-li. If there is anything which an Indian approaches with awe, it is a scene in some way linked with the supernatural, and his awe par- takes of fear when the location has a legend of evil in connection therewith. As a test of bravery of those who aspire to leadership among the Wascos, it was required that they should make a trip through these scenes, and, in pursuance of this custom, Maniquon, the 24-year- old son and probable successor of Ka- salka was away on a round of such vis- itation.
About this time, Makiah, the daugh- ter of Cultus, had seen some eighteen summers, and, as she listened to the tale of union between the sexes and the loves the legends of the locality were a part of, she began to sigh for the atten- tions that the warrior bestows upon the maiden. She had been taught that in Rooster Rock was confined a spirit who possessed the gift of foretelling the fu- ture, and she resolved that on the follow- ing day she would test the oracle and learn as to whether or not a brave would her a-wooing come. Hardly had the morning sun bathed the scene with its brightness before she entered her light canoe and by swift plying of the paddle it was soon alongside of the rock. from whose depths the revelation of her fate was expected. Eager as she had been for its learning, the situation, the reputed supernatural connections, and the op- pressive silence caused a thrill of cold- ness to sink in her heart and withdraw
from her pretty face the blush that is the priceless gem in beauty's crown, and with drooping head and lifted hands she shut out from view her surroundings when lo! a chee-chee, a little bird whose presence was ever an omen of good luck. came hopping along among the branches skirting the rock, and alighted upon the bow of her canoe, and began to enliven the hour with its melody.
In the belief that the oracle had spoken favorably to her desires through the chee-chee, she took up the paddle and started for home. As she proceeded up the river the songster for a time cir- cled around her, singing all the while. and then suddenly dropped to the bank with a peculiar cry. Thinking it was hurt, she approached the spot where it had seemingly fallen, when she heard a moan as if coming from one in pain, and. upon closer view, discovered a young man, none other than Maniquon, badly wounded through losing his footing upon the bluff above. Mooring her ca- noe to a limb of a tree, she quickly reached his side, and, with almost super- human effort, raised him and placed him in her boat; then hastily conveyed him. to her father's lodge, where proper dressing of his injuries were received. Some thirty suns set before the warrior was in a condition so that he could again start forth on his travels. During this time he had not only received all the at- tention which the environments of the situation could bestow, but he had also become the image which overshadowed all else in the innocent life of his attend- ant. He had fared in like manner in the latter respect, for the sweet face of the maiden was the only one up to that time which had given him pleasure to look upon, and he resolved again and again that she should be his bride, and as oft
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MULTNOMAH'S LAST SIGNAL FIRE.
'umissed the idea from mind, for the un of Kasalka, the conqueror, could not wod the daughter of Cultus, the coward, without being looked upon by his tribe with contempt almost equal to that in which they held the father of the maiden. The fear of ridicule gaining the ascendant in mind, he prepared to quietly bid good- lie to the old folks without risking a personal word of adieu with Makiah. Fate had willed it otherwise. A canoe ride was suggested, and no sooner men- tioned than they were on their way, up the river. For some distance the con- versation was quite animated and again stilled when the subject of his leaving was mentioned: Throwing doubts and probable derision for his course aside, he for the first time spoke of himself. of the broad acres over which his ponies were scattered in countless numbers; that at his command an army would assemble and a nation bow to him as their chief; that he would to these take her, where she should reign first in his heart if she would be his bride. For answer she placed her trembling hand in his and with lovelit eyes answered his question. Reverently raising her hand, he placed it over his heart, and as he did so said, "The Kishe Manitou sees us."
As they lived their happy hour, they had not noticed the drift of the canoe, and were only awakened to a knowledge of their whereabouts by the jar and stop caused by its prow striking the bank near the doom of "Wah-se-ak-li." The sight of the once golden hair as it fell over the cliffs in luxuriant waves was like a herald of misfortune to Makiah.
Maniquon gazed upon it a moment and then leaped to the shore like one possessed of a demon, turning only to call the innocent maiden a sorceress, and
with a laugh of scorn, said that a Wasco could have nothing but contempt for the daughter of Cultus. With this heartless good-bye he disappeared from her sight. Slowly and sadly Makiah paddled her canoe homeward, resolving the while that revenge implacable and lasting should take the place of the deep and sincere affection which she had known for the scorner.
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The Multnomahs were assembled in numbers on Wapato island, it being the season of the gathering of the wapatos. With them was Skookum, the chief of the nation, together with his wife and son. A few days after his arrival word came to him by a runner that Maniquon, a chief of the Wascos, was coming on a visit, bringing his family, one of whom was a beautiful daughter. On the arrival of the guests the pipe of peace was passed among the warriors. While the women are not considered worthy of participating in this custom, they can. nevertheless, equal the brave in plotting vengeance and in executing its cruel- ties. Such a one was sitting near the circle of warriors, and had resolved that one of them, before leaving for his home. should be made to atone for the wrong he had inflicted upon her in an hour of the past. It was Makiah, the daughter of Cultus, now the wife of Skookum, the chief of the mighty Multnomahs, but so changed that Maniquon did not recog- nize her as his aforetime sweetheart. After a season of feasting, gambling and horse-racing, sight-seeing was proposed. and the following day they set out for the trip. The morning dawned bright and clear, and, after a breakfast of sal- mon and wapatos, the ponies were hal- tered and made to swim to the mainland,
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been conveyed in the canoes. Mounting the ponies, the party traveled up the stream until a point was reached where Portland now stands, when they slowly wended their way along the winding trails on the adjoining hills until their highest point was reached.
There they found sticks and logs piled high as if ready for a bonfire, which, in fact, was the purpose of their collection. The spot was a signal point or place from whence a fire could be seen from every direction by the membership of the tribe, in the event of a call for de- fense of their pastures or for the forma- tion of a war party to invade the hunting grounds of other tribes. The view pre- sented from this eminence was one from which all the beauties of nature in the wide expanse before them could be seen. The snow-capped sentinels to the east. the wooded hills, the verdant valleys, the windings of the great rivers flowing to the sea, and all their attendant glories abounding, lay in one grand, unsur- passed panorama.
Hunger, however, became more press- ing than their desire to feast their eyes upon the charm of landscape; the chiefs gave the word to descend to the level below, where a meal was being prepared. To the wonder of view or craving for refreshment the son of Makiah and the daughter of Maniquon had no thought. From the first they had been drawn toward each other, and during the visit he had improved every opportunity for better understandings and whisperings of love. The rest of the party were nearly down the hillside before their absence was noticed. The first to ob- serve it was Makiah, who quickly hast- ened back to bring up the laggards. As she urged her pony upwards. a retro- spect of the past seemed to possess her,
and the thought that her son was breath- ing vows of endearment in the ears of the daughter of Maniquon was madden- ing. Upon reaching the summit of the hill she found her fears were fully real- ized, for there the lover held the hated one to his breast, and in mutual pressure of lips they were enacting the old story of youth in its happiest hour. Makiah was so wrought up with passion by the dis- covery that she snatched bow and arrow hanging by deerskin thongs to the neck of her pony and let fly. the death-dealing messenger. With a moan-her last-the maiden fell from the arms of her lover. pierced to the heart. Before her son could recover from the horror the deed had produced, the murderess was away and out of his reach, and, with that ex- ultation which the frenzied only can know, she hurried to Maniquon. With yells and laughter derisive she told him who she was, and advised him to hasten to his daughter, as she might need him. While her tirade of revenge was being spoken, the signal fire, upon which the form of the dead had been placed, was being kindled. After being sure of its being reduced to ashes, the son of Ma- kiah placed himself by the side of his. loved one, and through a well-directed stab of knife, his spirit joined hers in the beyond.
The rapid consuming of the impro- vised funeral pyre had done its work before the returning Maniquon could interfere, and with lamentations he re- turned to where the remainder of the party were gathered in consultation over the firing of the signal. and not under- stood actions of some of their numbers, determined that Makiah should die. Seeing that she was about to move away. he hastened to intercept her, but, fleet of foot as he was, fear lent speed to her
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:ght and she kept a safe distance in Wance of him till she arrived at the banks of the river. Upon Maniquon's near approach she pointed to the hill :op and cried, "The last signal fire of the Multnomahs has been kindled, and by it the Kishi Manitou summons us to judg- ment. Come!" Then with a bound she .prang far out upon the waters and sank irom sight. Those who followed them found Maniquon lying near the last im- print of her footsteps, and found him dead-he had answered the summons.
The words of Makiah proved prophet- ic, for, on the return to the island, the Indians were startled by the trapper's rifle. and they tell us that the Multno- mahs neither made war nor had cause for gathering to defend after their com- ing. The ashes of the last signal fire were never disturbed until a city beneath had been builded, and one of its people led a party of tourists among the embers to view the scenery. They named the spot "Council Crest," but the Indians and pioneers know it as the place of the signal fire. F. H. SAYLOR.
OREGON BRIEFS. One on Colonel John Kelsey.
All old settlers in Oregon remember the late wholesouled, genial and eccen- tric Colonel John Kelsey, of Corvallis. But it is not generally known that the order promulgated by the supreme court that briefs submitted by attorney's should be printed was due to some cases he was to try before it. The colonel was a good lawyer, but a miserable scribe; in fact, lie could not read his own writ- ing after it got cold, if his mind was not called to the subject of the writing, and no other person would attempt to read his manuscript, hot or cold, with or with- out subject. He had several cases to argue before the court and had prepared written briefs thereon with much elab- oration and great research from author- ities. The time arrived for the trial of the causes before the court and the col- onel packed his grip and, mounting the choice saddle horse, set out for the cap- ital. When he arrived, the court was in ession and case No. I was called for trial. The colonel represented the ap- pellant and the duty devolved upon him to open the argument. He emptied his gripsack on the table and out poured his manuscript, plethoric with profund- its, accumulated by months of toil. He look what he thought was the proper manuscript and, after stretching him- wolf to his usual altitude and placing his
gan. "Ah-m! May it please your hon- ors: ah-m; I say, may it please your honors- Ah-m! (pausing awhile and turning over and over the three ponder- ous written briefs that had become somewhat mixed, he continued) I say, if the court please- I say, ah-m-I say, some one has been tinkering with my briefs. Yes, I say some busybody, I say. has changed my manuscript. I'm con- founded if I-ah-m-can read the stuff." The colonel sat down bewil- dered. Several bystanders came to his rescue and attempted to help him out. The court stretched forward and exam- ined with much patience the great mass of manuscript, shook their heads, and sat down. The cases were continued for the term instanter by order of the court. and the rule was then and there promul- gated that all briefs in the future must be printed, which rule has since been and is still adhered to. In justice to the colonel, be it said that when he arrived home, squared himself in his office, re- opened his gripsack, gazed upon the (lusty volumes of legal lore and con- fused briefs and caught onto his sub- ject, that is, got his proper case and brief together, poured off the hereto- for'e incomprehensible matter with a profundity and an eloquence that would have done honor to a Rufus Choate. manda and still stands
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OREGON NATIVE SON.
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Photo by Moore. JOHN M. BRECK, SR., A Pioneer of 1850.
JAMES A. M. TERWILLIGER, A Pioneer of 1845.
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Photo by Gifford.
S. S. WHITE, A Pioneer of 1845.
Photo by Moore. H. K. HINES, D. D., A Pioneer of 1853.
THE LEGEND OF MT. SHASTA.
The Indians say the Great Spirit made this mountain first of all. Can you not see how it is? they say. He first pushed down snow and ice from the skies through a hole which he made in the blue heavens by turning a stone round and round, till he made this great moun- tain: then he stepped out of the clouds onto the mountain top, and descended and planted the trees all around by put- ting his finger on the ground. Simple and sublime!
The sun melted the snow, and the water ran down and nurtured the trees and made the rivers. After that he made the fish for the rivers out of the small end of his staff. He made the birds by blow- ing some leaves, which he took up from the ground, among the trees. After that he made the beasts out of the remainder of his stick, but made the grizzly bear out of the big end. and made him master over all the others. He made the grizzly wo strong that he feared him himself, and would have to go up on the top of the Mountain out of sight of the forest to sleep at night, lest the grizzly, who, as will be seen, was much more strong and cunning then than now, should assail him in his sleep. Afterwards, the Great Spirit wishing to remain on earth and make the sea and some more land. he converted Mount Shasta by a great deal vi labor into a wigwam, and built a fire in the center of it and made it a pleasant Vome. After that his family came down, anl they all have lived in the mountain ever since. They say that before the white man came they could see the fire ascending from the mountain by night and the smoke by day, every time they chose to look in that direction. They is that one late and severe springtime
many thousand snows ago there was a great storm about the summit of Mount Shasta, and that the Great Spirit sent his youngest and fairest daughter, of whom he was very fond, up to the hole in the top, bidding her to speak to the storm that came up from the sea, and tell it to be more gentle or it would blow the mountain over. He -bade her do this hastily, and not put her head out, lest the wind would catch her in the hair and blow her away. He told her she should only thrust out her long, red arm and make a sign, and then speak to the storm without.
The child hastened to the top, and did as she was bid, and was about to return. but having never yet seen the ocean. where the wind was born, and made his home, when it was white with the storm. she stopped, turned, and put her head out to look that way, when lo! the storm caught in her long red hair, and blew her out and away down and down the mountain side. Here she could not fix her feet in the hard, smooth ice and snow, and so slid on and on down to the dark belt of firs below the snow rim.
Now, the grizzly bears possessed all the wood and all the land. even down to the sea, at that time, and were very nu- merous and very powerful. They were not exactly beasts then, although they were covered with hair, lived in caves. and had sharp claws; but they walked on two legs, and talked, and used clubs to fight with, instead of their teeth and claws as they do now. At this tinie there was a family of grizzlies living close up to the snow. The mother had lately brought forth, and the father was out in quest of food for the young, when, as he returned with his club on his shoul-
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der and a young elk in his left hand, he saw this little child, red like fire, hid under a fir bush, with her long hair trail- ing in the snow, and shivering with .
old mother grizzly, who had things pretty much her own way, bade him leave the child with her, but never men- tioned it to any one, and she would share
fright and cold. Not knowing what to make of her, he took her to the old mother, who was very learned in all things, and asked her what this fair and frail thing was that he had found shiver- ing under a fir bush in the snow: The
lier breast with her, and bring her up with her other children, and maybe some great good would come of it. The old mother reared her as she promised to do. and the old hairy father grizzly went out every day with his club on his shoulder
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LEGEND OF MT. SHASTA.
To get food for his family till they were allgrown up and able to do for them- selvi ..
Now," said the old mother grizzly to the old father grizzly, as he stood his Club by the door and sat down one day, "our oldest son is quite grown up and must have a wife. Now, who shall it be but the little red creature you found in The now under the black fir bush." So the old grizzly father kissed her. said she Was very wise, then took up his club on h. shoulder, and went out and killed sone meat for the marriage feast. They married and were very happy, and " any, many children were born to them. i.ut. being part of the Great Spirit and
part of the grizzly bear, these children si not exactly resemble either of their ; arents, but partook somewhat of the ature and likeness of both. Thuis was E': red man created: for these children arre the first Indians.
All the other grizzlies throughout the Hack forests, even down to the sea, were very proud and very kind, and met to- Ether, and with their united strength built for the lovely little red princess a wigwam close to that of her father, the Great Spirit. This is what is now called Little Mount Shasta." After many :rars the old mother grizzly felt that she woon must die; and, fearing that she had one wrong in detaining the child of the Great Spirit, she could not rest till she ad seen him and restored him his long- ·nt treasure, and asked his forgiveness.
With this object in view, she gathered · wether all the grizzlies at the new mag- · ificent lodge built for the princess and wer children, and then sent her eldest grandson to the summit of Mount shasta. in a cloud, to speak to the Great Spirit and tell him where he could find Lot- long-lost daughter.
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