​

THE QUARTERLY

«(liM

Oregon Historical Society

Volume XVIU DBCBMBER, 1917 Number 4

Comnrifflit 1«17, b7 tb«Ovivon mstorieal SoelttF TlwQMMPt<riydfa > fawii«ipo iiribiW tytorth»podtioMtaktnbyootttitt«toctt>ttip>^

THE LOG OF H. M. S. "CHATHAM"

By T. C. Eluott.

If any one cause has served more than another to advertise Oregon unfavorably, and to retard the physical and commer- cial growth of Oregon and indirectly of the entire Coltmibia River Basin, it has been the existence of the bar of sand across the mouth of the Coltmibia River. From the beginning of recorded trade (the founding of Astoria in 1811) the inability of easy entrance to the river has not only occasioned delay and dread and danger to ship owners, mariners and passengers, but has diverted commerce to other ports, and has kept back appropriations by the Federal Government for the improvement of the channels of the upper river. But now, after more than one hundred years of commerce in and out of the river, it has become possible to truthfully say (in the words of a veteran pilot at Astoria last summer) that "there is no bar at the mouth of the Colvaahiai.'* Deep sea shipping now uses a channel containing forty feet of water, and danger comes only during thick weather, which is common to any port The Chamber of Commerce of Portland has celebrated this accompUshed fact and in 1916 published for general dis- tribution a large folding map showing the soundings of the channel from the light buoys off the river's mouth to the ​

232 T. C Eluott

wharves of Astoria and Portland. The present, therefore, seems a fitting time to hark back to the years of exploratioa, discovery and first survey of the mouth of the Columbia River ; and in this connecticm it is possible to present for the first time in print the log of the vessel in which the first survey was made.

For a clearer understanding by the many readers not famil- iar with topographical conditions at the mouth of the Columbia it is well to state that there are now two lighthouses on Cape Disappointment (Cape Hancock) ; the northerly and westerly, called North Head Light, and the southerly, which overlooks the river's mouth, called Canby Light. These two lights are less than two miles apart in an air line, but are not visible to each other because of the longer curvature of the rugged shore line and intervening headlands. Near to Canby Light there is a low neck or isthmus across which the ocean is visible from Baker's Bay inside the Cape. From off Canby Light westerly lies a broad bar of sand known as Peacock Spit, so named because of the loss there in 1841 of the slo(q>-of-war Peacock, of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, under Lieut Charles Wilkes. From the isthmus into the ocean and across this spit has been built the North Jetty, between one and two miles in length.

Five miles southeast from Canby Light lies Point Adams, which is now more popularly called Fort Stevens. This point is low and sandy and in former years trees and brush grew upon it close to its extreme end, and hence by Heceta it was designated as Capo Frondoso, or the Leafy Cape. From Point Ajdams into the ocean extends Clatsop Spit, and over this spit has been built the South Jetty, nearly eight miles long.

When first known to pilots the crest or top of the bar extended from Canby Light to Point Adams. At the present time the crest of the bar would be just beyond the two jetties about three miles further out, the jetties at their outer ends being about two mfles zpaxt. ​

Log of the "Chatham 233

In its final twenty-five mile stretch the deep water channel of the river crosses obliquely from Harrington Point on the north side to Tongue Point on the south side, and then along t^ Astoria and Point Adams and into the ocean close to the end of the South Jetty. But until later than 1880 Baker's Bay was the anchorage for all shipping and the channel turned across the river at Point Adams, leaving Desdemona Sands Light to the starboard, and then turned west into that bay. Deep sea vessels came in across the bar by either a south or a north channel and passed close under the headland of Canby Light into the bay. But at the present time it is impossible for even the power boat of the Canby Life Saving Station to pass from Bdcer's Bay directly into the deep water channel at certain stages of summer tides. Sand Island, which now lies southeast of the cape and the bay, formerly was on the south side of the deep water channel and was connected at very low water with Point Adams, and for this reason Sand Island is still a political part of the State of Oregon, but is gradually becoming connected physically with Cape Disappointment.

It happens that although the course of exploration and dis- covery in the Pacific Ocean was from the south northward, the earliest known approach to the mouth of the Columbia was from the north. This was due to the fact that the harbor first charted on the North Pacific coast was at Nootka, Vancouver Island, and for many years all sea captains gathered there and exchanged the latest information as to new discoveries, etc.

Commander Bruno Heceta, a Spaniard, was the first navi- gator to make the acquaintance of the Columbia River bar. In the summer of 1775, in a ship-rigged frigate named the Santiago, which normally carried more than eighty officers and men— tonnage unknown— had been north as far as Vancouver Island and was returning toward Mexico, the crew much de- pleted by scurvy. Of the 17th of August of that year Heceta has left this record : "On the evening of this day I discovered a large bay, to which I gave the name 'Assumption Bay.' * * * Having arrived opposite this bay at six in the evening and ​

234 T. C Eluott

placed the ship nearly midway between the two capes, I sounded and found bottom in twenty-four brazas (?). The currents and eddies were so strong that notwithstanding a press of sailit was difficult to get out clear of the northern cape toward which the current ran, though its direction was eastward in consequence of the tide being at flood. These currents and eddies caused me to believe that the place is the mouth of some great river, or of some passage to another sea." He goes on to say that he was dissuaded from entering the bay by his officers because of inability, with the depleted crew, to anchor and use the long boat to sound the channel. The lateness of the hour of day prevented more extended observa- tion, and it is evident that the ship narrowly escaped being wrecked on Peacock Spit. He charted the entrance as "the Rio de San Roque," lay to at three leagues off the capes and was carried away to the south during the night by the strong ciurents caused, he thought, by the ebb tides out of the river. Thus Bruno Heceta actually discovered the mouth of the Columbia River and now is generally accorded that honor.

Heceta's record, as copied for Greenhow, reads: "sond6 en viente y cuatro brazas," translated "found bottom in twenty- four brazas." The Spanish braza is equivalent to about five feet nine inches and it is not within reason to suppose that Heceta considered himself in danger when in nearly 140 feet of water. He probably intended to record or the translation should be BETWEEN twenty and four brazas, or in twenty TO four brazas.

Thirteen years now elapse until 'an Englishman, Captain John Meares, previously a lieutenant in the British navy, but at the time engaged in the fur trade and in ccnnmand of the Felice, a vessel with two masts square rigged and a gunter mast with spanker, of two hundred and thirty tons burden, and carrying a crew of fifty seamen and artisans, sailed south from Nootka Sound for the express purpose of entering the reported river of San Roque. His acooqnt states that on July 5th, 1788, at 11 :30 AL M., he was off the river in perfectly clear weather ​

Log of the "Chatham^' 235

and about three miles from the rocky headland forming the cape on the north and where the mouth of the river and the high lands back of the cape could be plainly seen. He con- tinues: "As we steered in the water shoaled to nine, eight, and seven fathoms, when breakers were seen from the deck right ahead, and from the mast head they were observed to extend across the bay ; we, therefore, hauled out and directed our course to the opposite shore to see if there was any channel or if we could discover any port. * * * We can now with safety assert that there is no such river as that of St. Roc exists, as laid down in the Spanish charts." Captain Meares appears to have approached the outer end of Peacock Spit and then crossed over to the outer end of Clatsop Spit, and then departed, without going in even as far as did the Santiago. With a clear view up the river to Tongue Point and Chinook Point and beyond, it seems incredible that he could have recorded such a conclusion as he did. By reason of other reports he made concerning events of that period along the coast, he has by some been called "the mendacious Meares.'*

Four years later Capt. Robert Gray, of Boston, in the ship Columbia, also engaged in the fur trade, after three days spent in Gray's (Bulfinch) Harbor, on the 11th of May, 1792, at 4:00 A. M. sighted the entrance of the river "bearing east- south-east, distance six leagues." The ship's log states : "At eight A. M. being a little to the windward of the entrance of the Harbor, bore away and run in east-north-east between the breakers, having from five to seven fathoms of water. When we were over the bar we found this to be a large river of fresh water, up which we steered," etc. At one o'clock that afternoon he anchored one-half mile from the north bank just west of Point Ellice, northwest of Astoria, and close to a large village of Chinook Indians. There he proceeded to fill his casks with fresh water from the river, this being possible because the spring freshets were then on. A day or so later he sailed twelve or fifteen miles further up the river, follow- ing a narrow channel along the north side, until the ship ​

236 T. C. Eluott

grounded near what is now Harrington Point, which is the easterly point of entrance to Gra/s Bay.

On the 20th he sailed out of the river, having meantime dropped down to an anchorage near Chinook Point (Fort Columbia), and his log gives more details: "Gentle breezes and pleasant weather. Alt 1 P. M. (being full sea) took up the anchor and made sail, standing down river. At two the wind left us, we being on the bar, with a very strong tide which set on the breakers ; it was now not possible to get out without a breeze to shoot her across the tide; so we were obliged to bring up in three and a half fathoms, the tide run- ning five knots. At three-quarters past two a fresh wind came in from seaward ; we immediately came to sail and beat over the bar, having from five to seven fathoms of water in the channel. At five P. M. we were out, clear of all the bars, and in twenty fathoms water. A breeze came from the south- ward ; we bore away to the northward ; set all sail to the best advantage. At eight Cape Hancock bore south-east distant three leagues."

The Collector of the District of Boston certified the Colum- bia to ht 2. ship of burden two hundred and twelve tons or thereabouts, navigated with thirty men, mounted with ten guns, and an accepted print shows her to have carried three masts, square rigged but the gunter mast carrying a spanker. Capt. Gray had knowledge of the previous attempts of Heceta and Meares and he certainly possessed both courage and skill to safely take this ship in between Peacock Spit on the north and Qatsop Spit on the south, which are shown on the chart reproduced with this narrative. Pilots at Astoria have assured the writer that freshet conditions in the river have little or no effect upon the depth of water on the bar, although the water is often colored for a distance out at sea. Capt. Gra/s account is silent as to any use of small boats to sound the clumnel ahead of his ship, and the time consumed would suggest that he did not.

That same year Capt. George Vancouver, of the British ​

Log of the "Chatham 237

Royal Navy, first visited the coast on his famous voyage of discovery and passed by bound north within six miles of Cape Disappointment about noon on April 27th. He, too, was familiar with the previous visits of both Heceta and Meares. His course was close to where the outer edge of the bar would now be, and he even recognized the presence of river water around his ship; but the day was showery and the breakers appeared to extend entirely across the entrance to the inlet and he did not care to stop to examine more closely then ; in fact, recorded a positive statement that no nver existed there. Captain Gray, however, later in the year, at Nootka, informed him that a river actually existed here and furnished a rude sketch (the sketch does not appear to have been pre- served for public use) of the channel for a distance of about twenty-five miles inland. To verify this information and to more fully carry out his own instructions, Capt. Vancouver in the Discovery, and Lieut. Broughton in the "armed tender Chatham," arrived off the river on October 20th, 1792. The Discovery is described officially as a sloop-of-war of 340 tons, ship-rigged, carrying 10 four-pounders and 10 swivels, her officers and crew numbering 134. The Chatham was a brig, of 135 tons burden, carrying 4 three-pounders and 6 swivels, with officers and crew numbering 55. The Chatham, there- fore, was considerably smaller and more easily managed than the Columbia, the Felice, or the Santiago.

As Capt Vancouvr, himself, attempted to enter the river with the Discovery, his narrative for each day will be inserted by way of footnotes to the entries of the Log of the Chatham. The log is now confined to the five days preceding the depart- ure of Lieut Broughton in small boats for the further exam- ination of the river. The original log has recently been found in the Public Record Office at London, and has been copied for the writer through the courtesy of Mr. J. F. Parry of the Hydrographic Office of the English Ajdmiralty, at the request of Mr. J. Scott Keltic and Mr. J. B. Tyrrell of the Royal Geo- graphical Society of London. ​

238 T. C Elliott

LOG* OF CAPTAIN OF H. M. S. "CHATHAM:'

Saturday, October 20th [1792]— At 4 (p. m.) shortened sail and sent a boat on board the "Discovery." Bore up and made sail to lead into the Columbia river (or river of La Roque). At 6 made the signal for having 4 fathoms, with a gun (which was answered), with an apparent chain of break- ers across the entrance occasioned by a strong tide crossing the bar. At 7 (p. m.) the tide running with great rapidity and not getting ahead, came to^ with a small bower in 4 fathoms, and veered to J4 cable. A heavy sea stove in the jolly boat ; found the tide to run 4 knots. Found here the "Jenny"* of Bristol.*

I Entries made durins the abccnce of the captain indicate that this lox was Ken br Mr; Thomas Manby, the liCaster of the vesseL The bearings are r« ' ings of tne compass and do not indicate true north and south. A discrepancy

written br Mr; Thomas Manby, the Master of the vesseL The bearings are read- ings of tne compass and do not indicate true north and south. A discrepancy of one day in dates will be observed in the records as given by Broughton anJ by

Vancouver.

2 The Chatham seems to have crossed the bar through what pilots of later years knew as the North ChanneL This anchorage seems to have been on the

edge of Peacock Spit, west of the end of t^' ^^ --•- ' — ' ihich place a view

could be had into Baker's Bay» where the

3 The Jennv, a schooner of lighter to he Chatham, from

■tol, Englana, Tames Baker, Captain. in the slave trade

but n-owing legislation and sentiment af ed the owners to

send oer on this, her first trip in the fur \ coast of America.

She had arrived at Nootka on October 6th there transferred

to Captain Vancouver two maidetis who v to their homes at

the Sandwich Islands, and their case is d t>l. ii, pp. aad-ajt.

It was Captain Baker's declared intentio igland, but he is

now founa in the Columbia river; and e "in the earlier

part of the year'* (vol. ii, p. 73), but loubtful. He left

Nootka one day in advance ot Captain Vai .. . js again at Nootka

in September, 1794* under a different captain. For more as to the career of the Jenny in 1792 consult "A New Vancouver Journal" in the Washington Hittoricai Quarterly, vol. vi, pp. 57-8 and p. 88.

4 Vancouver'x Voyagg/' vol. i, pp. 419-20, recites:

Friday, Octo. loth, 179J. With a |>lcasant gale and fine weather we coasted along this delightful and apparently fertile part of New Georgia, at a distance of about a lea^e from the shoals, havin|( soundings from ten to sixteen fathoms, until four m the afternoon, when having nearly reached Cape Disapf>ointment, which forms the north point of entrance into Columbia river, so named by Mr. Gray, I directed the Chatham to lead into it, and on her arrival at the bar should no more than 4 fathoms of water be found, the si|;nal for danger was to be made; but if the channel appeared to be further navigable, then to proceed. As we followed the Chatham the depth of water decreased to 4 fathoms, in which we sailed some little time without being able to distinguish the entrance into the river, the sea breaking in a greater or le» degree from shore to shore; bat as the Chatnam continued to pursue her course, I concluded she was iu a fair channel. We, however, soon arrived in 3 fathoms, and as the water was becoming less deep, and breaking in all directions around us, I hauled to the westward m order to escape the threatened danfl^r. In doin^ this we were assisted by a verv strong ebb tide that sat out of the nver, and which opposing a very heavy swell that rolled from the westward directly on the shore, caused an irregular and dangerous sea. By seven, our depth of water had increased to 10 fathoms, where conceiving our- selves in safety, we anchored for the night, which passed very uncomfortably, owing to the violent motion of the vessel, and anxiety for the safety of the Chatham, from which a signal was made at the moment we hauled out of the breakers, which we were fearful might have been for assistance, as the closing in of the day prevented our accurately distinsulshing the color of the flags; but as she appeared to be perfectly under command, and as the rapidity of the tide and the heavy aea rendered any assistance from us impracticable, I was willing to hope the ncnal might have been for the ber, which, at daylight the next morning, was proved to be the cast bv her being seen riding in perfect safety, about two miles within tbe ​

Log of the "Chatham" 239

October 21st— Anchorage bearings. Extremes of land from N. 15* W* to S. 55* £.,• Mt OIyn^)us & a low point^ N. 7* W.. Cape Disappointment^ N. 5* E., Eastern extreme* of ditto N. 80* E. Latitude observed 46* 17'*« N. ^ past 12 (p. m.). Answered the signal to lead into Port. J4 past 1, weighed and made sail with the first of the flood to the Eastward. Sent the launch ahead to sound. J4 past 4 made the signal for 9 fathoms with a gun. At 5 brought up the stream anchored" in 5 fathoms, the ebb tide having made. Our soundings from last anchorage were generally 5 to 7 fathoms with a hard sandy bottom. Observed a well sheltered cove^ to the back of Cape Disappointment in which the schooner lay. Larboard outer point of entrance N. 7V W.,^ Starboard ditto S. 59* E.,^* Larboard inner point N. 81* E.,^ Starboard ditto N. 87* E.," South extreme of the land S. 24* E.,^^ Rock of ditto S. 26* E."

5 Pt GrenTille (?)

6 Tillamook Head.

7 Pt. Lcadbetter at mouth of Willapa Harbor.

8 North Head.

9 Caoby Light.

10 One mintite too far north.

11 This anchorage was near to the center of Sand Island, as now located, and a little N. W. of the wreck of the Great Republic as shown on government cnarti. That steamer was wrecked in 1879 on the southwest end of Sand Island, as then located.

13 Baker's Bay.

13 Cape Disappointment.

14 Point Adams.

15 Point Ellice.

16 Tongue Point

17 Tillamook Head and Rock, but an evident error in copying or text here, as Tillainook Head is further east than Tillamook Rock.

t8 Vancouver's "Voyag$** vol. i,pp. 4^0-31, recites:

Saturday, 30. The morning was calm and fair, yet the heavy cross swell continued, and within the Chatham the breakers seemed to extend without the least interruption from shore to shore. Anxious however to ascertain this fact, I sent Lieut. Swaine, in the cutter, to sound between us and the Chatham, and to acquire such information from Mr. Broughton as he might be able to communicate: but a fresh eastwardly breeze prevented his reaching our consort, and obliged him to return; in consequence a signal was made for the lieutenant of the Chatham, and was answered by Mr. Johnstone, who sounded as he came out, but found no bar, as we had been given to understand. The bottom was a dead flat within a quarter of a mite of our anchorage From Mr. Johnstone I received the unpleasant intelligence, that by the violence of the surf, which, during the proceeding night had broken over the decks of the Chatham, her small boat had beien dashed to pieces. Mr. Tohnstone was clearly of opinion, that had the Discovery anchored where the Chatham did. she must have struck with great violence. Under this circumstance we undoubteahr experienced a most providential escape in hauling from the breakers. My former opinion of the port bang inaccessible to vessels of our burthen was now fully confirmed, with this exoepnon, that in very fine weather, with moderate winds, and a smooth sea, vessels not exceeding four hundred tons, might, so far as ​

240 T. C Elliott

October 22nd^* — Light breezes and cloudy with a great swell from the Southward. At 6 (a. m,) saw the Discovery get under way. Fresh breezes and squally with rain. At 9 (a. m.) lost sight of the Discovery. Washed and smoked below. Carpenters repairing cutter. Latitude observed 46' 18" N. (Noon) Not seeing the Discovery supposed she had stood off to sea. ^ past 1 weighed and made sail with the flood tide and stood up the river with very irregular sound- ings. At 3 p. m. got on a bank at ^ths miles from the shore. Hoist out cutter and carried stream anchor into 5 fathoms ^ a cable's length in shore of us and hove her off. Weighed the stream and stood within % mile from the shore and came to^

we were enabled to judge, gain admittance. The Daedalus, however, being directed to search for us here, iwaa induced to persevere; particularly as, towards noon, a thick haze which before had in a great degree obscured the land, cleared away, and the heavy swell having much subsided, gave us a more perfect view of our situation, and showed this opening in the coast to be much more extensive than I had formerly imagined. Mount Oljrmpus, the northernmost land in sight, bore by compas N. 7 W.; Oipe Disappointment N. 61 E., 2 miles, the breakers extending from its shore S. 87 E. about half a league distant; those on the southern or oopo- site side of the entrance into the river S. 76 £.: between these is the channel into the river, where at this time the sea did not break. The coast was seen to the southward as far as S. 31 E. The observed latitude 46 20', whkh placed Oipe Disappointment one mile further north than did our former observations. Toe flood at one o'clock making in our favor we weighed, with a signal as before for the Chatham to lead. With boats sounding ahead we made all sail to windward, in 4 to 6 fathoms water. The Chatham being further advanced in the channel, and having more wind and tide, made a greater progress than the Discovery. About three o'clock a gun was fired from behind a point that projected from the inner part of Cape Disappointment, forming to all appearance, a ver^ snug cove; this was answered by the hoisting of the Chatham's colours, an J firing a gun to leaward, by which we concluded some vessel was there at anchor, boon after- wards soundings were denoted by the Chatham to be 6 and 7 fathoms, and at four she anchored apparently in a tolerably snug berth. Towards sunset, the ebb making strongly against u^ with scarcely sufficient wind to command the ship, we were driven out of the channel into 13 fathoms water, where we anchored for the night; the serenity of which flattered us with the hope of getting in the next day.

The clearness of the atmosphere enabled us to see the high round snowy mountain, noticed when in the southern parts of Admiralty inlet, to the south- ward of Mount Rainier; from this station it bore by compas N. 77 E., and, 10ce Mount Rainier^ seemed covered with perpetual snow, as low down •& the intervening country permitted it to be seen. This I have distinguished by the name of MOUNT ST. HELENS, in honor of his Brittanic Majesty's ambassador at the court of Madrid. It is situated in latitude 46* 9', and in longitude ^38^ 4', ac- cording to our obaenrations.

19 Vancouver's **Voyag$,*' vol i, p. 42a, recites:

Sunday, ai. All hopes of getting into Columbia river vanished on Sunday morning, which brought with it a fresh gale from the S. E., and every appearance oiF approaching bad weather, which the falling of the mercury in the barometer •lao indicated. We therefore weighed and stood to sea.

ao Relatively the same anchorage as that of the Columbia on May nth of this same year; a little west of Point Ellice. Astoria lies across the nver about 3 miles disunt, east of south.

a I This long, wide bar of shifting sand occupying the middle of the river from Harrington Point to Desdemona Li^t, near Pt Adams, is practically the same now as in 1793. The channel on the north side is still used for boats of moderate draft ai far as the Qoarantiiie Station and Knappton, but abore that only river- boats of 1i|^t draft can navigate, ​

Log of the "Chatham 241

in 10 fathoms. Found the bank on which we struck to be a long Middle Ground,^ with not 1 & ^ fathoms in many parts, extended a considerable way up the river.

October 23rd — Moderate breezes and cloudy with rain. 9 a. m. sent the launch and the cutter to explore^ the mouth of the river which was found everywhere to abound in shoals, except near the breakers on the N. W. entrance, in which is a passage near 1 mile broad with 4 to 5 fathoms, it being the only communication to that river, you may always observe it clear. Breakers in fine weather. (Noon) Moderate breezes and clear. 6 (p. m.) The boats still absent from the ship. 8 (p. m.) Fresh breezes and clear, let go the best bower and veered about l/3rd cable. 10 (p. m.) Hoist a light and fired a musquet every half hour as a signal for the boats.

October 24th — 8 (a. m.) Observed the boats tracing along the S. E. shore^ fired two swivels which was returned. Mod- erate breezes and cloudy. 11 (a. m.) Weighed the best bower, found the cable much rubbed and — ? — At noon the launch returned.* At 3 (p. m.) the cutter returned with the Captain.** A|t 4 (p. m.) weighed and came to sail standing up the river. Sent the launch sAead to sound ; at 54 before 5 she made the signal for 3 fathoms. Let go the stream anchor. At j4 P^t 5 p. m. weighed the stream and stood up with very severe

22 Mr. Broughton was in personal charge of this exploring party which spent the night in camp on Young's Kiver, south of Astoria. For complete account see ▼oL fi. pp. S3-54-S5.

33 When at Point George (Smith Point, Astoria). Mr. Broughton sent the launch on board, with orders to sound in a direct line to the Qiatham, then anchored off the deserted village.*'

a4 Vancouver's account (vol. ii, pp. 55*6), is as follows:

From Point (jcorge "Mr. Broughton proceeded in the cutter at a moderate distance from the shore, with sounding of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 fathoms to Tongue Point On the eastern side of this pomt the shores first fall to the southward, and then stretch nearly E. N. £. From this point was seen the center of a deep Bay, lying at the distance of seven miles, N. 26 E. This Bay terminated the re- searches of Mr. Gray; and to commemorate his discovery it was named after him Gray's Bay. Mr. Broughton now returned on board, in the hope of being able to proceed the next flood tide higher up the inlet In the afternoon he reached the Chatham, finding in his way thither a continuation of the same shoal upon which she had grounded, with a narrow channel on each side between it and the shores of the inlet; on this middle sround the depth of water was in overfals from 3 fathoms to 4 feet. Mr. Broughton got the Chatham immediatelv under weigh, with a boat ahead to direct her course. His progress was greatly retarded by the shoalness of the water. A channel was found close to the northern shore, where, about dark, he anchored for the night in 7 fathoms of water, about two miles from the former place of anchorage."

2$ Off Oiff Point near U. S. Qtiarantiiic Sution. four miles across the river from Astoria. Here the Chatham remained while Mr. Broughton ascended the river in small boats. ​

242 T. C. Eluott

gales, soundings J4 past 5 came to^ with the stream in 5 fathoms.

October 25th'* — Fresh breezes with heavy rain, thunder and lightning. At 4 a. m. the ship tailed on the middle ground. Hove her off with the stream. Sent the launch away to explore to the N. E. At 8 the ship tailed on the bank. Car- ried out the kedge and hove her well in shore. Weighed the stream and let it go within 2 cables length of the shore in 7 fathoms. Veered to a whole cable and let go the bower and moored J4 cable each way. 11 a. m. the launch returned, having met with narrow channels and innumerable shoals. A canoe came alongside with 25 men, women and children who traffic in salmon for copper, knives and other trinkets. [The boats were provisioned and sent away to survey.]

The charts reproduced herewith are taken from Vol. IV of Vancouver's "Voyage of Discovery." One of these was inad- vertently omitted in the printing of No. 2 (June, 1917) of this Vol. of this Quarterly, in which appears a brief discussion under the title, "Where Is Point Vancouver?** and is more pertinent to that title, but also shows the anchorage of the Discovery on Oct. 20th-21st, and her track when going north in April, 1792. Captain Vancouver credits Captain Gray with having named the river, but argues that the river proper ends at the lower end of Tenas-IUihee Island between Cathlamet Point and Skamokawa, and designates all below that as an inlet.

This log and chart raise a question as to the existence in 1792 of any deep water channel from Harrington Point to Tongue Point. Mr. Broughton's survey would indicate none, but not positively so. The ships of the fur traders were not accus- tomed to anchor off Astoria (Port George), but remained either in Baker's Bay or in the lea of Point Ellice, and the

26 Vancouver's account (vol. ii, p. 56), is as follows:

"Before daybreak the next morning the vessel, tending to the tide, tailed on a bank; this, however, was of no consequence, as heaving short, she was aooo afloat again. At da^rlight, Mr. Manby was sent to sound the channel up to Orasr's Bav where m Mr. Gray's sketch, an anchor is placed. But on Mrs. Manbjr't return he reported the channel to be vm intricate, and the depth of water in general very shallow. This induced Mr. Broughton to give up the ide* of removing the Chatham further up the inlet, the cxammation or which he deter- mined to pursue in boats.'*

Log of the "Chatham" 243 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​cargoes were lightered across the river. Alex. Henry and Duncan McTavish were drowned in May, 1814, when cross- ings the river to the ship. The WUliom and Ann, which brought David Douglas into the river in April, 1825, anchored off Point Ellice. There was no occasion for ships to navigate the river higher up until after the building of Fort Vancouver in 1825, but soon after that date we begin to find record of the use of the "Point Tongue channel," and of vessels dropping down to Baker's Bay by way of the "Sandy Island." ​ ​

THE PIONEER CHARACTER OF OREGON PROGRESS

Seuctd WftiTiNGS or

. HARVEY W. SCOTT

Forty Years Editor-in-Chief Morning Ortgonian of Portland, Oregon.

TOPICS. The Later Character of Oregon a Product of Pioneer Life. Habits of Oregon in the Early Time. Retrospect and Outlook. The Pioneer Spirit. Merits and Demerits. The Sluggish Willamette Valley. Contrasts, Oregon and Washington.

THE CHARACTER OF OREGON A RESULTANT OF PIONEER UFE.

(From an Address at Astoria April 1

8, 1901, before the Clat- sop County Teachers Institute.)

Oregon, from the circumstances of its settlement and its long isolation, and through natural interaction of the materials slowly brought together, has a character peculiarly its own. In some respects that character is admirable; in others it is open to criticism. Our situation has made for us a little world in which strong traits of character peculiarly our own have been developed; it has also left us somewhat — ^indeed, too much— out of touch with the world at large. We do not adjust ourselves readily to the conditions that surrotmd us in the world of opinion and action — forces now pressing in upon us, steadily, from all sides.

Under operation of forces that press upon us from contact with the world at large, and under the law of our own internal develoiHnent, we are moving rapidly away f rwn old conditions. Pioneer life is now but a memory ; it will soon be but a legend or tradition. Modern society has no fixity. Nothing abides in present forms. See how complete has been the transformation ​

246 Harvey W. Scott

of New England within twenty-five years ! A similar process is now in rapid movement among owselves in the Pacific Northwest. Once we had here a little world of our own. We shall have it no more. The horizon that once was bounded by our own board enlarges to the horizon of man.

The story of the toilsome march of the wagon trains over the plains will be received by future generations almost as a l^end on the borderland of myth, rather than of veritable history. It will be accepted, indeed, but scarcely understood. Even now, to those who made the journey, the realities of it seem half fabulous. It no longer seems to have been a rational undertaking. The n4)id transit of the present time appears almost to relegate the story to the land of fable. No longer can we understand the motives that urged our pioneers to- ward the indefinite horizon that seemed to verge on the unknown. Mystery was in the movement ; mystery surrounded it. It was the last effort of that profound impulse which, from a time far preceding the dawn of history, has pushed the race, to which we belong, to discovery and occupation of Western lands.^

HABITS OF OREGON IN THE EARLY TIME. (The Jewish Tribime, December 17, 1909.)

My earliest recollections go back to conditions in the Upper Mississippi Valley. There, three-score years ago, the people were just beginning to emerge from the conditions of pioneer life. The chief agency that affected this change was improved methods of communication. On these all progress depends. People in isolation adapt themselves to their circumstances. They make themselves content with what they are and with what they have. They become very serious, they are tied to a deep religiosity, yet become extremely narrow and provin-

I Mr. Scott "crossed the pUins" vrith his father. John Tncker Scott, in iSs^* from Peoria, Illinois, at the age of fourteen years. He often spoke of the ioumer as not a "rational undertaking." His mother and a l>rotber died on the journty iad the family was reduced to poverty. f ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 247

cial. They come to think they "know it all." Oregon got this notion in the days of its long isolation. It has not yet wholly recovered from the notion. Too fond it is still of the crude and restricted ideas that grew up in its early time. Man, cen- tered on himself, always looks with suspicion, usually wilii disdain, upon the larger outward world.

In the middle of the Upper Mississippi Valley, in the states of Kentucky, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois, the people, at the time my observations began, were just beginning their change from the first pioneer conditions to the more varied life that resulted from growth of population, and from partial subjugation of the original forces of nature to the slow advance of town life.* They, through whom the change was effected, mostly came from the older states— from New England and New York. They brought "Yankee" cust(»ns into the West. They were mercantile traders or speculators, mostly ; at first they were a class apart from the rough pioneers. They didn't like the rough life of the Woods or farms, but took up the pro- fessions or "kept store." They showed some study and refine- ment of dress, managed to afford better furniture — ^though, indeed, it was poor enough — ^and held their religious meetings quietly, while the pioneers liked the Cumberland Presbyterian revivals or Methodist camp meetings. There was little money. The hospitality of pioneer life caused things to be shared almost in common. In going about, the wayfarer stayed over- night at any house he met and was always welcome. Here and there an Eastern man — a man from the East — had set up a place where he kept travelers overnight, and charged them for the service. Such incidents were the talk of the neighbor- hood.

When we came to Oregon we found the conditions much changed. In many ways life here, sixty years ago, was more primitive than it was in the early times in Illinois and Mis^ souri. But in others it was far more advanced. The differ- ence was due to our proximity in Or^;on to the sea. Naviga-

2 Mr. Scott was born near Peoria, lUinoiti^ Fabmary i, iSjt. ​

248 Harvey W. Scott

tion of the sea has always been a main factor in the promotiou and growth of civilization.

The early settlement of the Middle West was based wholly on nature. Garments were homespun. There were no naik or glass, and the fewest books. In the earliest settlement of Oregon, down to 1850. it wa.*; the same. But the discovery of gold in California started an active movement to our Pacific Coast, not only by land but by sea.* We could get the world's commodities here which could not be had, then, or scarcely at all, in the interior of Illinois or Missouri. Before we began to grow wheat in Oregon sufficient to supply our bread, we got flour from Chile; beans from Chile, and sugar from Manila. From Oregon, even in that early day, we could get a view, through commerce, of the wide world. In the first and last analysis all progress of mankind depends upon the sea, for the sea is the medium of universal communication. And, probably, all life on our planet began in the sea.

Native life in this country at the time when the pioneers came was adjusted stridtly to the environment. The Indian probably had reached his limit of progress. Without assist- ance from outside sources, man in America could have got on no further. He had not the means of additional attainment. It was necessary to have help from a world beyond him. Nature had done little for the Western Hemisphere, except in giving fertility to the soil. Here were no animals that could be domesticated and made to do the work which man required. Think what this means. It means that the basis of agricultural life, which is the beginning of all civilization, was denied to primitive man in America. The horse, the ox and cow, the sheep and pig, brought from Europe, were to constitute the basis of pioneer life, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. On the domestic animals we depended absolutely, in the settlement of the Oregon country. We could do nothing without them.

Life here corresponded with the primitive conditions estab-

3 This movonent began ia 1848. ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 249

lished by the contact of the new forces, introduced by man, with the forces of nature found here, yet hitherto unused-. This contact with primitive nature, experienced by the pioneers, produced an exaltation of the spirits that cannot now be re- peated nor imagined. It was a situation in contact with the freshness of nature, wherein being was bliss. It belongs to memory, and never can be realized again.

Unrelated opinions of all sorts g^w rank and ran wild in this situation. They were uncorrected by influence of the outer world. It is this fact that made older Oregon what it was, and makes it so difficult to correct or to modify the ideas established then. Through active communication with the larger world, the change is coming now, but still it is extremely difficult to move the Oregon people of the olden time out of their ways of thought and action. There is a solid opposition that may not seem to resist, yet is practically immovable. Hence new methods of industry and culture gain but slowly. Yet they are making sure progress.

The political opinions, social usages and industrial methods of the early time conformed strictly to the conditions that per- tained or belonged to such situation. Everything was a spon- taneous outgrowth; but nature ruled over all. Social life was free and easy, where there were no classes, and no social gradations. Opinions on religious and social questions were cast in very much the same mould, all about us; and inde- pendence of thought and action, on such subjects, was almost unknown. Only on political questions was real difference of opinion asserted. This difference came on the one side from our Northern people ; on the other from our Southern settlers. The Kansas-Nebraska struggle in politics was fought in Ore- gon as in Massachusetts and Missouri — even though we were at a continental distance irom the scene of conflict.

Except in the Puget Sound region, the Indians in the Ore- gon country never were so numerous as they had been in some other parts of our American territory ; nor were they at all an agricultural class. They lived on game and fish and the wild ​

250 Haevby W. Scott

fruits of the country ; and, for such a life, Puget Sound was the Indian's true paradise. As a rule, too, they were less ferocious there, and less troublesome to the whites, than in other Pacific Coast regions. Yet there was "one fierce Indian outbreak at Puget Sound.^ Contact with the whites, in various parts of the Oregon country, which bad begun with the Lewis and Clark expedition, introduced omditions which, within a few years, b^^an the decimation of the Indian tribes. It is believed that two-thirds of the Indians had perished before 1852, and, soon after that, only a small moiety of the entire race remained. Intermixture of the whites with the Indians was not favorable to either race ; and, with few exceptions, the vitality of the mixed offspring was low. Yet there are per- sons among us in whose veins runs Indian blood who have sound physical constitutions and excellent moral fiber; and Indian blood exists in individuals in whom it would not be noticed at all.

The social customs of the pioneer of Or^jon were those mainly of the states from which they came, modified, how- ever, by conditions and peculiarities that spring up in every new country. Change of situation always has upon a people an effect of this kind. People who came to Oregon did not do things in just the same ways they had been accustomed to do them in their former seats; and the change often caused closest friends who had come to the country together to draw apart. It is one of the phenomena of the ascendancy of nature over man. Change of feeling and of disposition had been effected by so radical a change of situation.

In early Oregon there was no land speculation, as there had been in the states of the Mississippi Valley. Doubtless it was prevented by the donation land laws, which made ample provision for every settler, yet required him to live on the Ismd four years, by which time each one had become attached to the soil and did not wish to sell. Again, the future value of land was scarcely foreseai then; the value of timber, not at all.

4 This WM the Indian war of iSss-S^' In the Rogue River country Indians gaye trouble during aeveral jrears previbvily. ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 251

It was indeed well understood that there were great natural resources here; but the demand for consumption of them, or the modern market, was unknown. Many towns were founded, but it was scarcely expected that any one of them would become a great city. The effect of this impression is seen today in the manner in which Portland is laid out. It is a village plan, rather than a city plan. The small block was intended for a single house and its vegetable garden.*

The wealth lying in woods and fisheries passed unnoticed ; but, after the discovery of gold in California, demand for lum- ber there created some traffic between San Francisco and the Columbia River and Puget Sound. The sawmills, however, were of the most primitive description, and their output was extremely small. Squared timber was prepared with the axe. Very small vessels sufficed for the trade, and their north- bound cargoes consisted of provisions and the ordinary goods required in pioneer life. Some wheat was grown in the Ore- gon country at an early day, but not nearly enough for the demand that ensued after rapid settlement began. Five dol- lars a bushel was no unusual price for wheat, and pork in the barrel, shipped round Cape Horn, was a great price. Money, after 1850, when California gold began to appear, was com- paratively abundant, as may be inferred from the prices of commodities. Oregon set up a mint of its own,^ but pieces stamped by private firms, in California, was a long time the principal money supply. Gold dust was, however, often weighed out for pajrments. In some localities this, indeed, lasted many years. The treasure of gold found in California stimulated the search for supply in Or^on, which, in various localities, was rewarded largely. During many years the country produced little for sale but gold ; and it is an economic law that this product alone is never a source of permanent wealth to the country that yields it. It is spent for consump-

5 The blocks are 200 by aoo fe«t, with an area of nearly an acre.

6 The Oregon mint was owned by a partnership consistinir of W. K. Kilbome, Theopbilus Maernder, James Taylor, George Abemethy, W. H. Willaoo, W. H. Rector, J. G. Campbell and No3res Smith. Tb« coins of the company, made in 1849, were called "Beaver" money. ​

252 Harvey W. Scott

tion ; and exhaustion of the mines leaves the producing coun- try no richer, or but little richer, than if the gold had re- mained in the beds where nature had placed it.

The Indian missionary work of the early time terminated in failure of the purposes for which it was intended, but it bore fruit of inestimable value, through its conversion into educational and religious work among the white inhabitants, rapidly increasing in members. Our first schools were thus founded, long time antedating the beginning of our public educational system. The original missionary enterprises, moreover, were among the main influences that settled the Or^on Question in favor of the United States. That we saved so much of our claim as we did was due largely to the early misionary effort, which, though defeated in its first purpose and endeavor, sowed for a harvest of a far more val- uable kind.

Soon after the settlement began the mercantile class became active here; for the mercantile class also was an important factor. Indeed, the mercantile class came early, for trade with the natives — the Astor people first, then Wyeth, and the Hud- son's Bay Company as more permanent traders. When the American settlement began, the chances of profit in trade opened opportunity to all who noted them and could take advantage of them. Foundation of not a few fortunes and families were laid thus — which continue to this present day, and undoubtedly will have much longer continuance. The Jewish mercantile spirit, ever alert for new opporttmity, ap- peared in Oregon at an early time. It was active in every town. At Portland, Vancouver, Olympia, Lafayette, Salem, Roseburg, Oregon City, it pushed to the front. From the gen- eral mercantile class it was more distinct than it is now. That was because of the agricultural pioneer, who lived on the lap of nature, did not understand at the time the higher civiliza- tion, represented then by the mercantile class. The Oregonian

7 la 1846. ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 253

then was full of sneers about the Jews * The whole mercan- tile class> indeed, was regarded with suspicion, with distrust, and with consequent dislike, by the provincial pioneer mind. It is described with accuracy by Mr. Roosevelt in one of his volumes on the settlement of the West in these words, viz. :

"The pioneer in his constant struggle with poverty was prone to look with puzzled anger at those who made more money than he did, and whose lives were easier. The back- woods farmer or planter of that day looked upon the merchant with the same suspicion now felt by his successor for the banker or the railroad ms^^ate. He did not quite understand how it was that the merchant who seemed to work less hard than he did should make money ; and, being ignorant and sus- picious, he usually followed some hopelessly wrong-headed course when he tried to remedy his wrongs."^

Some pictures have long-lasting colors. Here and there men then engaged in mercantile business, who had no knowledge whatever of the requirements of the business. They sold their land and engaged in trade, supposing they might com- pete with and triumph over others to whom knowledge of the business had come through experience, or as an hereditary possession. They failed, of course. They knew nothing about the laws of trade, of bu)dng and selling, of credit among the farmers or of credit at bank. But they thought they could imitate the "store keeper," and this was the height of their purpose or ambition. It was an exceedingly primitive state however, might be indefinitely extended; but this would not of society that could produce examples of this kind.

But perhaps I have written enough in this line. The essay, be the time or place. I have simply responded to a request for an article made by The Jewish Trihutve. All of us together have made this country ; and it is not what any single g^oup of us would have made it, nor what any single group of us could have expected it would be. The greatest of the changes, probably, are still to come.

8 For narrative of Jewish pioneers in the Pacific Northwest, see Th§ Oregonion, December r. 1903, p. 10.

9 See Theodore Roosevelt's The Winning of thg West, vol. iv., p. 344. ​

254 Harvey W. Scott

RETROSPECT AND OUTLOOK.

(From an address at the eleventh annual banquet of the Port- land Commercial Qub, January 29, 1905.)

We can best understand where we are by some retrospect of what we have been. This is the fifty-third year of my residence in Oregon. Portland, when I first saw it, numbered perhaps eight hundred inhabitants, and was much the largest town in the Oregon country.^® Outside the Willamette Valley there were very few settlers — a few hundred in Southern Ore- gCMi and a few hundred at Puget Sound. To one who has not actual recollection of the condition of that period, it is next to impossible to form a conception of the narrowness of con- ditions, of the slowness and difficulty of communication. And, indeed, for a good many years afterwards it was no better. It would have been pertinent, perhaps, had I told the railroad men last night** how we used to travel on foot all over this country for hundreds of miles, invariably carrying a blanket for the night's sleep, but usually taking chances on the obtain- ment of food. My father made our first settlement at Paget sound.** Communication between the Columbia River and Puget Sound was by the Cowlitz trail, over which we trudged, waded and swam many a time. Between Rainier and Olympia I have consumed' three weeks, all the time making utmost efforts to get on. In the Fall of 1856 I had occasion to return to Oregon, and, on the last day of September of that year, set out on foot from Olympia to Portland.** I was just one week on the journey, and I think I was the only passenger tfiat week on the trail. Of course, "slept out" o' nights.

This reminiscence is merely personal. Now let me give an historical example : At the beginning of the year 1859 I was at Oregon City grubbing for roots under a tutor, so I might

10 In 1852.

1 1 Railroad traffic men conferred with Portland iobWnR merchants, and Mr. Scott spoke at the dinner given for them, by the Portland Qiamber of Commerce. January 28, 1005.

IS Tohn Tucker Scott settled on Scott's Ptdrie, near Shelton, in i8s4. 13 Mr. Scott, then eighteen years of age, returned from Paget Sotmd in 1856, to attend sdiool at Forest Grove and Oregon City. ​

Pioneer Character Orboon Progress 255

read Horace and Homer, and supporting myself by chopping cordwood.^^ The act that made Oregon a state had been passed by Congress in the month of February in that year. But it was more than a month before we could know of it, and, when known, it excited little interest or attention. The news came to this coast by way of the overland stage from Saint Louis, and by steamer from San Francisco to Portland. That steamer arrived at Portland one afternoon late in the month of March.** At Oregon City the news that OregcMi was a state did not arrive until nearly noon the next day. A few persons talked about it with a languid interest, and wondered when the government of the state would be set in operation. Perhaps it would be another week before it would be known at the capital (Salem) that Oregon was now a sovereign state, and the pioneer Governor-elect, John Whiteaker, might not hear of it at his farm in Lane County for a month to come. An announcement, that now would be instantly made at every telegraph station and would call forth the boom of guns and the peal of bells, paired almost unnoticed. But it occurred to a young man at Oregon City, named Stephen Senter, that there were persons at Salem who might wish to have the news, so he mounted a horse and started as messenger. At that time of the year it was not easy to ride. Molalla and Pudding rivers were to be crossed, both were out over the banks, and, needless to say, the mud was at its worst. But this courier and herald of the state persevered, and^ after an effcMt of thirty hours, reached Salem with the news. Naturally, the announcement was re- ceived with more interest at the capital than elsewhere, for it meant that the state government would supersede the terri- torial ; but the people at large evinced littie or no interest in it, and a letter from Salem, printed in The Oregonian, then a weekly paper, some ten days later, said the state arrived there on horseback last Wednesday afternoon, and that was all. But it should not be inferred, from the simplicity of our

.14 Mr Scott borrowed an ax for this work from Tom Charman* whom he repaid by choppmg cordwood.

IS The steamer Brother. Jonathan arrived at Portland Mareb ij, 1850. The orerland suge left Saint Louia February 14 and arrived at San Frane&eo March xo. ​

256 Harvey W, Scott

manners of that time, that the constitution which had been made for our state was an immature work. ' It was a product of preceding experience in government, adapted to our times and conditions. So ripe was it, so complete, that it has answered our purposes ever since. Permanent principles are fixed in it. It contains little that could be called temporary, and that little passes almost unnoticed, for what is unnec- essary in constitutions and laws quickly becomes obsolete.

Yet life had" its special attractions. We were content with little, and were not poor, because we had few wants. We were, I think, more cordial and hearty toward each other; for in- tense devotion to our various pursuits had not then thrown all the energies of each into a single channel, and so to an extent separated us from each other, as now. True, we had to work to live, but each one felt that we had a little time for the intercourse of social life. There is not much of that sort of leisure now. Yet there might better be. Nature requires us to work, but has ways of punishing excesses in that direction, too. If she does it in no other way, she makes success itself useless, for her wreath often covers hair that has grown gray, and fame comes when the hearts it should have thrilled are numb. The greatest of all moral writers has said : "They lose it that do buy it with much care."

Many are yet living who have seen the wool that made the family clothing carded and spun in the house ; who have seen the spinning wheel and the loom, indispensable portions of the domestic plant, occup3ring a large part of the space in a small cabin; who have seen the dye pots standing in the chimney comers at the open fire where the meals of the family were cooked ; who have been members of households where every part of the work about house and farm was done in a partic- ular way with clocklike regularity — ^the management of crops, the care of animals, the making of soap, the curing of meats, and attention to all the arts and duties of independent family life. Scarcely anything was bought ; each family supplied its ​own wants, and, though there was plenty of a kind, it surprises us now to think how few things were necessary.

Out of this mode of life we have passed, because we could not remain in it. New conditions have grown up around us, to which of necessity we conform. Society is in a perpetual flux, and though we look back to the past for instruction, we accept the present without regret, and look forward to the future with an eager but undefined expectation. We talk of successive generations of men, but, looking at society in a mass, the generations do not come and go. One unites with another, and there is no line of separation. But the whole living organism, to which we belong, is carried forward by impulses that lie within the laws of its own existence. The changes are assumed only by degrees, and not with abruptness; they come as a ctunulative effect, yet that effect cannot abide or remain in any state of fixity, but must pass on.

Familiar as I am and, during a long period, have been, with the growth and progress of the Oregon country, and, indeed, of all our Pacific Coast states, I am yet, upon review of this growth and progress, astonished at what has been accomplished, within the period of my own observation. We who observed the slowness of the growth, during a long period of time, could not imagine we should live to see what we have seen; and yet all that heretofore has been accomplished is as nothing to the prospect that opens before us. Industry and production are the factors of our material progress, in peace, as iron and gold are the two main nerves of war. Industry, operating on the resources of nature, in a country so favored as ours, will do all things. Labor omnia vincit remains as true as in the olden time, and truer; for man now is able to make the forces of nature serve him in innumerable ways formerly unknown.

Our states of the Pacific Coast are linked together in a common interest. Together they have risen; together they still will rise and grow. Forces within them and without them, whether similar or common, or not, all work toward the same ​

258 Harvey W. Scott

end. Industry, production and commerce are at work with more than the hundred hands of Briareus.

Note our situation on the Pacific seaboard. Note also that the changes of recent times have virtually made the Pacific an American sea. The active theatre of the world's new effort is now in Asia and Western America. The two hemi- spheres, heretofore in communication only across the Atlantic, are now rapidly developing an intercourse over the Pacific. Many steamships, and an increasing number, on regular lines, now sail between our Pacific ports and the ports of the Orient, and, of "tramp" steamers and sailing vessels, a large and con- tinually growing fleet. Pressure of Russia and of other nations upon China and Japan iis creating a prodigious activ- ity, and is sure to result in vast transformations there. Eng- Umd, France and Germany have their spheres of active influ- ence in diat same enormous field. We are in touch, then, with a movement that includes more than one-half the human race. We are in the Philippine Islands ourselves, an incom- parable station for observation and commerce. Participation in the results that are to come from the transformation of the Orient will be had through the ports of our Pacific states — the way stations en route to lands across the Pacific.

Of this mighty development now just beginning to appear, our country should take all proper advantage. It means a commerce on the Pacific which will rival that of the Atlantic. It means mighty industrial and commercial progress for our states of the western side of the continent. Where now are four millions of people there may be fifty million by the ctese of thii century, with every kind of mtellectual and moral de- velopment comparaUe with the material prosperity.

From review of the past and observation of the present, we may see the promise of the future. Like the old Welsh bard, with all the past impressed upon his soul and looking down the historical vista to a wonderful future, one may echo the exdamalkm:

'"Visions of glory, spare my aching sight; Ye unborn agts, crowd not on my soulT ​

Pioneer Charactbr Oregon Progress 2S9

THE PIONEER SPIRIT. (The Oregonim, April 23, 1899.)

The charge agamst the pioneer spirit, of which a good deal has been heard lately, is that it is an influence unfavorable to a highly organized and cooperative industrial development. This theory is based upon the extreme individualism of pio- neer life — its lack of cooperative dependence, its freedom from systematic labors and its perfect personal liberty. The dem- onstration of it, we think, is found in the tardiness of the Wil- lamette Valley in the matter of industrial progress. Other countries, less favorably situated for agricultural and other forms of organized industry, take on new ways and get ahead rapidly in population and wealth, while the Willamette Valley moves along in the old grooves, being today in essentials largely what it was thirty years ago, namely, a pioneer country. Those who have imagined that, in noting this condition and in set- ting forth the reasons for it as above. The Oregonian is broadly condemning the valley population and indulging a wicked venom of malice and contempt, but poorly conceive either facts or motives. In its whole spirit and character The Oregonian is, itself, of the pioneer world Its roots lie deep -in the pioneer life. In these facts, perhaps, and in the under- standing and S3rmpathy which they imply, lie the secret of its continued acceptance and support by a people not at all times in accord with its judgments.

It cannot, we think, be denied that the pioneer spirit makes a slow country in a material sense ; but there are other inter- ests in community life far above increase of commodities and multiplication of towns ; and it is in its relation to these higher interests that the pioneer spirit is seen in its best character. If it be asked what has the pioneer spirit done for Oregon, it is only necessary to point to the conditions which differentiate Oregon from the other Pacific states. A(t the very threshold of our organic social life, while the criminal element and the vigilance committee in turn controlled the affairs of neigh- boring communities, there was created for Or^[on, by the ​

260 Harvey W. Scott

morality, the intelligence and the force of its pioneer popula- tion, a provisional system embodying everything which modern statecraft deems essential to the welfare of the people." Framed with small ceremony by frontiersmen in buckskin breeches to meet the necessities of a handful of people in a wilderness, it was made to accord with the conclusions of the most advanced political science. For public and private rights it afforded complete protection. It met every want of the time ; it suppressed' not alone crime, but, in large measure, vice as well ; while the cost of administration was relatively a mere fraction of what states commonly pay for worse service. If the capacity for wise self-government be in truth, as it is declared to be, the highest virtue of a people, multiplied honors are due to the pioneer spirit which created and accepted the provisional system of government — a system related, as the parent is related to the child, to the state government which continues to serve our needs.

The social and moral coordination which is so notable of Oregon life — especially notable when Oregon is contrasted with neighboring communities — is a direct achievement of the pioneer spirit. The sympathy which makes of Western Ore- gon a homogeneous community; the mutual understanding which checks the energies of social disorder before it rises to the degree of social menace ; the friendliness of one "old Ore- gonian" for another; the respect for leadership which has continuously recognized and supported certain men of large talents in quasi-public relationships — these qualities have their foundation in the pioneer spirit. It is, too, the pioneer spirit that makes the fine social austerity which so pervades the moral atmosphere. It frowns upon a sensational and unclean press; it banishes gambling, even in its minor forms, from respect- able circles; it knows not the lottery ticket; it ostracizes the trade in liquors and all who have to do with it. Of course, all this is provincial ; that is undeniable ; but a provincialism which has saved Oregon from public extravagance, which has built

1 6 The provitiooAl govemmeiit of Oregon was cretted at Champoeg May 2, 1843. ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 261

up its commercial credit, which has protected against the dom- ination of the socialistic political demagogue and tfie machina- tions of the professional boomer, which has made education universal, which has conserved the good offices of religion and which has promoted the higher interests of civilization — such a provincialism is a saving salt which any community may thank God for. Oregon has it, and it is to the pioneer spirit that Oregon owes it.

Oregon is curiously faithful to those who redeemed it from the wilderness. Since 1856 the population of the state has multiplied five-fold. Every country and every race have con- tributed to the expansion; but the forces which started with the earlier years have continued to dominate. Habits planted at the beginning still rule the land. A thousand influences have intruded themselves, but they have bent to the conditions which existed before them. We have now at the end of the century a very different Or^jon from the Oregon of the "fifties"; but it has been wrought out by evolution, not by revolution. The Oregon of today is the true child of the earlier Oregon, with the family likeness strong, with the family traits predominating. The pioneer makes, now as ever, the spirit of the country. Others have prospered, in a material sense, more largely than the pioneer. But from him have come, broadly speaking, the lawgivers, the teachers and the preachers of the country. This is the pioneer's land, and his spirit rules it. And the land might be far worse.

THE SLUGGISH WILLAMETTE VALLEY. (The Oregonian, March 25, 1899.)

The only immediate hope of such a wake-up and shake-up of the Willamette Valley as will stir its latent forces and bring the country into line with modern industrial life and spirit, lies in the possibility of effort from the outside. The valley will do little for itself. The power of adaptation to new ways ​

262 Harvey W. Scott

and new uses lies not within the present population. If the successors x>f the pioneer had his push and hardihood some- thing mig^t be expected from them ; but they have only his stubborn bias toward an intense individualism. They decline the enterprise that calls for cooperative effort, and will not yield to the steady grind of systematic industry. They are not a lazy people, for they are capable of prodigies of energy when it suits their mood; but they are an undisciplined peo- ple. The country stagnates in their hands because they will not do the things essential to its thrift and progress. This is not said in the spirit of fault-finding. The Oregonian is not among those who sneer at the picxieer spirit It thinks it knows the Willamette people as well and possibly better than they know themselves; and it dares say without mincing words what it conceives to be the truth in explanation of why the country does not attract new population, and why it lags in the general movement of industrial progress.

There is land to be had in the Willamette Valley in great bodies and at small price. It would be worth the while of the Southern Pacific Railroad, since it has a great invested stake in the valley, to buy up a whole district and repeople it with a view to an experiment in industrial regeneration. It would be interesting and, we believe, vastly profitable, if there could be set in the heart of this dormant country a community of strictly modern farmers, large enough to oi^nize the indus- tries and to maintain the cooperative spirit of systematic agri- culture. Such a community would be very useful to the coun- try as an object lesson ; and of especial service in assisting the organization of other and similar communities. We know of no better locality for such an effort than that of Southern Yamhill and Northern Polk, named in a recent writing in these columns, where a syndicate operator finds that 40,000 acres of choice and improved farm lands can be bought for a price averaging less than twenty dollars an acre.

Exploitation is what the Willamette Valley needs. It lacks no gift of nature fitting it for the home of thrift and fortune. ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 263

But with all its great endowment it has made less progress in recent years than any district of even relative hnportance in the Northwest. "Your Willamette Valley/' remarked an Eastern railway traffic expert recently to an Oreganian writer, is the puzzle of the railway world. It yields les& iraffic than any similar territory in the United States, less than that of any other community of equal numbers." It ought to be worth an effort on the part of those who have Targe capital bound up in the country to bring about a better order of thii^s.

CONTRASTS, OREGON AND WASHINGTON. (The Oregonian, September 3, 1901.)

Tber^ is no doubt that, during several years, population, business, industry and wealth in the State of Washington have been growing faster than in the State of Oregon ; and there is no mystery why.

Or^ion, by comparison, is old. Washington is new. A great proportion of the population of Oregon was bom in Ore- gon. A small proportion of the population of Washington was bom in Washington.

What is the result of these simple facts? The bulk of Washington's population came recently from the East. The bulk of Oregon's population came here in early times, or was bom here. Coming recently from the East, the population of Washington has retained its touch with the East. Every new- comer into Washington left friends behind him who took interest in him, who was anxious for his welfare, to whom he wrote accounts of the country, to whom he sent Washington newspapers. Persons who came to Washington wrote back to their "home paper," giving an account of the country, always a glowing one. They were anxious, of course, to justify themselves for their removal to the new state. Parents who had sent their sons out to Washington were glad to hear from them and glad to tell neighbors how fortunate the venture had ​

264 Harvey W. Scott

been. All this together made a force that beats all the immi- gration efforts than can possibly be organized at this end of the line. Washington, therefore, received, and receives, pop- ulation.

But how was it and how is it in Oregon? The old settlers had been separated so long from their Eastern friends that they had been totally forgotten. They had ceased, long since, to "write home." Years and years ago the early settlers had sent letters to their "home paper," pving accounts of the country; but long since they had ceased to do it. Long isola- tion had almost completely cut Oregon off from intercourse with the Eastern States.

When the new development began, Washington was com- paratively new. Two great railroads were built into the state, across the continent, and proclaimed the discovery of a new country. People began to rush in. They fotmd the coimtry unoccupied; they settled down and wrote for their friends. People came out with a rush — people who had seen the recent development in Eastern states, and who knew how to do things. They knew how to take hold of the new resources, to go into the lumber business, to hunt for coal and to apply new methods of agriculture. But to a g^eat part of the people of Oregon, long settled here, the methods of these new move- ments were all unknown.

The people of early Oregon had come out of the pioneer conditions in the then pioneer states of the Mississippi Valley, had been forgotten by their old friends there, forgotten even by their own relatives, had not kept up with the new develop- ment, and indeed had no means of doing so. On the other hand, in Washington a new people had come, out of the newer development of the Eastern States, in new and quick touch with the people from whence they came. Every newcomer into Washington was therefore an active and enthusiastic immigration agent But in Oregon, where most of the de- sirable places for settlement had long been taken, there were not so many first-rate opportunities; the railroads were less ​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress 265

energetic than those of Washington — indeed could not be so energetic

In the circumstances, the new population could settle in Washington, hitherto unoccupied, with more advantage; and every one who settled there wrote to his friends to come on, and wrote to the paper at his old home a glowing account of the situation. Then, after a while, followed the marvelous tales of gold discovery in Alaska and British Northwest terri- tory. This set an immense tide of movement through the State of Washington and ports of Puget Sound, since the shortest route lay that way. Immigration and trade were enormously developed through these movements, of whose benefits the State of Washington was so fortunately situated as to receive the largest share. These are the facts that account for the more rapid recent growth of the State of Washington, as compared with the State of Oregon.

The Oregonian has thought proper to set forth these things with its customary plainness. It is the misfortune of Oregon that it has some stupid people who, without this plain presenta- tion, are unable to understand them. Some even blame The Oregonian for a general condition, which, of course, it has been unable to change or control. It has worked, however, at all times to the utmost of its power, and it believes that it may without immodesty say that its voice has ever been the main factor, as it today is the main factor, in keeping the name of Oregon before the world.

(The Oregonian, June 16, 1909.)

The remarkable sea basin of Western Washington, the great estuary of Puget Sound, was of slight importance in the early time. Agriculture, cattle, grazing, were all in all. The valleys of Western Oregon from the Columbia River to the Siskiyou Mountains furnished these opportunities. The poor grazing and the poor agricultural possibilities of the ​

266 Harvey W. Scott

Pugct Sound country left that r^on, in the days of the pio- neers, far behind. All the lands, or nearly all, in the Puget Sound basin, that possessed fertility, were covered with heavy growths of timber. The labor and expense of bringing these lands into cultivation was and is inunense. The valleys of Western Oregon, south of the Columbia River, between the Cascade and Coast ranges of mountains, had large areas of open plains. In them the settlement naturally began.

But after a while — it was long years — the idea of trans- continental railroads got into action. First, for California; and San Francisco was the center of everything for the Pacific Coast.*^ Later, for the Oregon country;^® and connection in the north from the east with the open ocean, by the easiest way for shipping, carried the thoughts of men to Puget Sound. The transcontinental railroads, on Northern routes, sought that connection with the open ocean.^ Conditions of pioneer life were superseded by the new movement; and the greater energy, that formerly had been exerted upon the line of pio- ner effort — whose basis was ag^culture and cattle — shifted gradually to the north, where commerce was the leading idea. Railroads were rushed across the country, on northern lines. Our connection in Oregon and at Portland, with California, was earlier, but it left us in subordinate position. It was at a later time that we got the Oregon Short Line and the direct connection with Eastern cities and states.

The phenomenon has simply been the transformation from one basis of life to another — from the ag^cultural life, which was simplicity, to the more highly specialized and developed life — ^the product of human evolution, which has no stopping place. It must be admitted that Oregon, founded on old con- ditions and established on old ideals, has been behind hitherto in this movement. It was a necessary consequence of the ccmi- ditions. Naturally, therefore, it has been hard to move the

17 The tranacontanenul railroad to Sm Francisco was opened in i860.

iS The railroad between Portland and Sacramento was opened in 1887: Union Pacific railroad connections, with Portland, in 1884.

19 The Northern Pacific transcontinental line to Puget Soimd was ODcncd in 1887; the Great Nortbcra, im i8»3. t-i— ^ «. ​

Pioneer Charactbr Orbgon Progress 267

people of Western Oregon. They were established on the prinritive or pioneer basis. But long ago die primitive people of Western Washii^on were overrun, submerged, drowned by the incoming flood. Frank Henry's "Old Pioneer"' remains a literary monument over the grave of the early settler there.

Two things have pushed the State of Washington ahead of the State of Oregon. First, the rush of the railroads to reach Puget Sound. Second, the transformation from pioneer and agriculttual conditions to commercial conditions, the more rapid sulmiergence ot the early settler in Washington than in Oregon, and the outburst of Alaska. The inundation in Washington thus far, therefore, has been more rapid and com- plete. Yet doubtless we still have people in Oregon who regret even the slow change here. But the movement is inex- orable. Our push clubs have its impulse; the Rose Fair at Portland is a manifestation of it ; the eagerness of increasing numbers of our people to get into the current instead of drift- ing about in the eddy attests it. Oregon, too, therefore, presses forward to the mark of its high calling, forgetting the things which are behind! Not forgetting them, either, for that is not necessary. But the new and cmcoming generations must set their faces towards the morning. The old existence was idyllic, indeed, and may be remembered as ideal; but no state or stage of life, especially in a new country, is fixed and permanent; nor ought it to be. Yet the old principles of industry and of prudence never with safety can be abandoned.

Oregon now is feeling the rush of new tides of life. There has been progress always, indeed, but the current at times has been checked ; even at times there has seemed to be almost a refluent movement Prudence sometimes outdoes itself on one side, as ambition often overleaps itself on the other. But it is apparent that Oregon is making greater progress in these ten years than in any other two decades of its history. The significance of this fact is apparent, and, moreover, it is pre- sageful. Still, there is one fact: Till Oregon obtains the railxpad development that Washington has, our state will ​

268 Harvey W. Scott

not be able to attain to a degree of similar or comparative progress. The natural resources of Oregon are not inferior; yet the census of next year will show not much more than 600,000 inhabitants in Oregon to nearly 1,000,000 in Wash- ington.*^

(The Oregonian, May 31, 1908.)

It was natural and necessary that Western Oregon should have been the first part of the Oregon country to attract set- tlers. The Willamette Valley was a paradise for pioneers. Nature had endowed it with every possible attraction. More- over, through the rivers, it was accessible from the sea. The first settlers were agriculturists, and the valley of Willamette opened to them finer opportunities than elsewhere in the region of Oregon. California was still Mexican territory. The Puget Sound country, though accessible from the sea, was not accessible from the land, and the pioneers, making their way across the continent, were unable to reach it. The early immigrants could not remain in the interior region, in the upper valley of the Columbia, for commuication with the' sea was necessary, and the Indians of the interior were more inclined to hostility.

The immigrants, therefore, spread over the Willamette and other valleys of Western Oregon, and later passed into the Puget Sound country from the Columbia, by way of the Cow- litz. Expulsion of the missionaries from the upper valley of the Columbia by hostile Indians left that great region without settlement for many years ; till finally discoveries of gold took a white population there and slowly gave it permanent estab- lishment. Military posts protected the people, and, after the railroad came, the population grew rapidly and towns and cities appeared Extension of railroads across the mountains to Puget Sound led to quick and enormous development of the country about that great estuary, and to creation of ports of commerce there. But Western Oregon, the seat of the orig​

Pioneer Character Oregon Progress ; 269

inal settlement, has made slow progress. Portland is its one large town. Development of the coast region of Oregon has lagged from want of roads and railroads, and, for the like reason, the ports of the coast region have been neglected. Progress, indeed, all the time has been made by Western Ore- gon, but it has been slower than might have been supposed ; while Eastern Oregon yet contains an immense region that scarcely has been more than visited! by explorers, or at best partly occupied by herdsmen.

There is a difference between Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington, much in favor of the latter. The elevation of Eastern Washington is much less; it is better watered; the Columbia River traverses the whole breadth of it, and, with its tributaries, has cut down the general level of the country below that of Eastern Oregon. Again, the great railroad systems, terminating at Puget Sound, have covered Eastern Washing- ton with a network of lines and branches; while in Eastern Oregon there has been no railroad to compare with it. These facts explain why Eastern Oregon has fallen in its develop- ment far behind Eastern Washington. In Western Wash- ington there is little agriculture compared with that of West- em Oregon, but exploitation of the resources of timber and coal have been much greater; and Puget Sound has the bulk of the Alaskan trade. By the census of 1900, the population of Oregon was 413,536; that of Washington was 518,103. The difference, then, in favor of Washington was 104,567. It will probably exceed 200,000 by 1910.** Washington first appeared in the census of 1860, with a population of 11,594. Oregon, which had become a state in 1859, had, in 1860, 52,465. Washington first passed Oregon in 1890; its population then was 349,390, while that of Oregon was 313767.

From 1870 to 1880, the growth of population in Oregon was 93,865; from 1880 to 1890, 138.999; from 1890 to 1900, 99769. The increase during the presetot decade may be esti-

so The census of loio wm: Oregon, 672,76%; Washington. 1,141,900. ji By the censos of 1910, Washinifton pofmlstion exceeded that of Oregon by 46g,jJS. ​

270 Hakvby W. Sonr

mated conservathrely at 200,000. It wotdd be more if actiTtty m railroad constmction shotdd be renewed within a year. Settlers will not go into iscdated parts without the railroad or prospect of it. Our coast counties, which have resources for support of halt a million people, are yet almost unoccu- pied; and, though Eastern Oregon contains much land yet classed as desert, great tracts will surely be redaimed, as soon as possibility of transportatioo shall make k worth while to do it. Formerly, development preceded the railroad. But that day is past Few now will live in places remote from the movements of Ufe and business.

The timber of Oregon is still almost untouched, and, within a few years, will become the basis of an immense activity; while a large part of the timber of Washington is gone already. Or^fon, therefore, has an industry coming which in Wash- ington within a few 3rears will be practically exhausted. There is a probability that, within a period not exceeding twenty-five years, the population of Oregon may again exceed diat of Washington, since relatively in this state so little has been done upon the resources which nature has offered to industry and enterprise. ​

c>

HALL JACKSON KELLEY— Prophet op Oregon

APPENDIX. Mr. Kelley's Memoir^

Boston, January 31, 1839.

Sir: In compliance with yotir request, I shall willingly communicate to you a brief account of my connexion with the Oregon country, and of such facts in regard to that valuable portion of our national domain, and of adjoining regions, as have come within my observation and are of public interest.

The perusal of Lewis and Qark's journal, personal confer- ence with intelligent navigators and hunters who had visited and explored the territory beyond the Rocky mountains, and facts derived from other sources entitled to credit, many years ago, satisfied me that this region must, at no remote period, become of vast importance to our Government, and of deep and general interest. Possessing, so far as I could learn, a salubrious climate, a productive soil, and all the other natural dements of wealth, and by its position in reference to divers most important channels of traffic, as well as its configura- tion of coast, and variety of native productions, being admir- ably adapted to become a great commercial country, I foresaw that Oregon must, eventually, become a favorite field of mod- cm e nt erpr i se, and the abode of civilization.

With these views constantly and vividly before me, I could but desire most earnestly to communicate them to the public, and impress them upon the Government. And, to accomplish these objects, I have done and suffered much; having been particulariy attentive to it for many years, and wholly devoted^ to it a large part of my time.

One great object of my labors has been to induce Congress, in the exercise of a sound discretion and foresight, and in

I Coramittee On Foreign Affairt, Si]|»plemental report, Ttrritory of Orggon, Appendix O; 47-6'* ^5 cong. 3 teet. H. rep. loi. ​

272 Fred Wilbur Powell

conformity with good faith towards Great Britain, to extend the active jurisdiction and guardianship of the General Gov- ernment over this territory, so that it might be brought under the restraints and protection of political organization and of law, by the country to which it justly belongs.

Another of my objects has been to give my fellow-citizens correct information, and thus induce a full and free emigration to this territory, of temperate, orderly, and industrious men; such men as might most certainly carry thither all the ad- vantages of civilization, and lay the foundations of a virtuous community; and thus to convert the wilderness into a [47] garden, the wild retreats of Indians and roving hunters into the smiling abodes of knowledge and Christianity.

/ longed and labored, also, for the highest interests of the native owners of the g^eat West ; for their social, intellectual, and moral culture; and my objects were not less benevolent than commercial, and looked as much to the elevation and melioration of the red race as to the benefit of the white.

And, finally, I desired most earnestly that the United States should secure to their western frontier the ocean as its de- fense, and thus remove from one of our borders, at least, the dangers arising from the vicinity of foreign states — ^an object which I deemed of vast importance, and upon which I need not enlarge.

These were the objects to whose accomplishment I looked forward, and from which I confidently anticipated many bene- fits: such as a more friendly and profitable intercourse be- tween our people and the various Indian tribes ; the immediate occupation of the harbors and havens of the Oregon, and the use of its abundant ship timber ; great profit from the whale and salmon fisheries of the northwest coast ; a free and grow- ing commerce with the islands' and coasts of the Pacific, with worlds should be united, and their wealth interchanged and speedy line of communication over land from the Mississippi to the Oregon, by means of which the Eastern and Western China, and India, and th(p Southern America ; a certain and ​

Hall Jackson Kelley 273

increased; and many other particular benefits, which I need not enumerate.

It is not necessary for me to enter, on this occasion, into a narrative of the obstacles which I encountered in the prosecu- tion of my views, and of the many sacrifices which I incurred in order to accomplish objects which I considered as of the highest public utility. Suffice it to say here, that, induced by the considerations I have stated, in 1833 I started from New Orleans for Vera Cruz and Mexico, and after remain- ing some time in Mexico, I proceeded through Upper Cali- fornia to Oregon.

I shall confine myself, in this communication, to the results of my study and inspection within the Oregon territory, and the adjoining province of High California.

I extend my remarks to this part of California, because it has been, and may again be, made the subject of conference and negotiation between Mexico and the United States; and because its future addition to our western possessions is, most unqu'-'jtionably, a matter to be desired.

HIGH CALIFORNIA.

Commencing my remarks, therefore, at Monterey, a sea- port town situated in latitude 36 deg. 37 min. north, where I spent the months of June and July, 1834, I intend to pro- ceed with these, in the route of my travels, northward, to the Columbia river. During my route, I was accompanied by Captain Young, a veteran hunter, who had repeatedly tra- versed this country, and was familiar with most of its features.

Adopting such an arrangement of facts as will, I trust, prove convenient to the committee, I will now call their atten- tion to a brief geographical account of the northern portion of High California,

This tract of country extends from the 37th to the 42nd parallel north latitude, and forms a portion of the Mexican territories, except some few patches on the coast ; it has never ​

274 Pud Wilbuk Powell

been improved by the hand of civiliza-[48]tion. K lofty range, called the Snowy mountains, divides it from Or^ion. This range extends from the Pacific octsai, eastwardly, to the Rocky mountains, is broken into a great number of sub- ordinate ranges, spurs, and detached peaks. It is bounded by the valley of the Colorado, and by rugged walls of rocky highlands on the east, and its surface is diversified by groups of wooded hills, extensive prairies and marshes, and a multi- tude of streams, some of which are rapid and others sluggish in their currents. The Colorado drains this district on the east, and empties its waters into the gulf of CaUfomia. Sev- eral rivers on the west flow into the bay of San Francisco.

The prairies, which form perhaps one half of the surface of this region, differ widely in character, extent, in formation, and fertility; but in general they are covered with a deep and rich soil, andf with an exuberant vegetation. Their uni- formity is broken by numerous well-wooded hills and hillocks, and by those belts of forest which stretch along all the water- courses.

The mountainous regions are, in general, heavily timbered ; but occasionally, instead of forests, we find tracts of utter barrenness, bearing the strongest marks of volcanic action, and destitute of all appearance of vegetable life.

There is one continuous line of prairie extending from the gulf of California to the 39th parallel, sometimes a hundred miles wide, and seldom less than ten, opening to the ocean only at the bay of San Francisco, its surface so diversified by fringes of trees along the borders of its streams, and by the wooded capes and peninsulas which break the uniformity of its outline, as to present the appearance of a chain of prairies of every conceivable size and form. Here, amidst the luxuriant grasses and native oats which cover its surface, immense herds of cattle, and wild game, and droves of horsts, find abundant pasturage.

Although most of these prairies are very fertile, my obeerva- tipn led me to doqbt whether they could all be readily and ​

Hall Jackson Kbllby 275

profitably cultivated The soil is in many places strongly impregnated with the muriate <rf soda, and in others it abounds with asphaltum, by which it is rendered too compact, especially during the excessive heats of the dry season, for tillage. The experiment has been tried on these soils, with fruit trees and esculent roots, and has repeatedly failed. Thus the apple and the potato have both been introduced, and to both the prairie has been found uncongenial, although they both flourish in the hilly region, and near the seashore. My belief is that these prairies are the results of ancient volcanic action, in which respect they do not differ from all the rest of that territory. But while the conformation of the hilly country, has aided the efforts of nature, by rains, and dews, and streams of water, to carry off these salts and other elements which are unfriendly to vegetation, and hasten the return of fertility and productiveness, the level prairie has advanced much more slowly in the same direction, retaining for ages, in defiance of the tardy process of leaching and infiltration, vast quantities of mineral substance, destructive to vegetable life. Without the aids of agricultural science, centuries more must elapse before the pure waters of the skies shall wash out from the soil of the prairie these poisonous relics of that awful con- vulsion of nature which, in ages far beyond human tradition, overwhelmed the western shores of our continent. Immediately along the banks of the rivers by which the prairie is inter- sected, as if to [49] demonstrate the correctness of my h3rpothesis, there is always found a strip of tiie choicest alluvion.

The seasons of this country are two— ^hc wet and the dry. The wet or winter seascm extends from November to March, covering about five months of the year. Durii^ this period it rains without cessation for many days or weeks together; and during the rest of the year Ae rain seldom or never falls, and nothing but the heavy dews of the short summer nights relieves the fiery monotony of those seven long months. By the abundant waters of the rainy season, immense tracts of ​

276 Fred Wilbur Powbll

low prairie land are submerged, and thus for awhile con- verted into lakes, which gradually subside as the summer advances, contributing by their stagnant pools and putrid exhalations to render those lowlands exceedingly unhealthy. Some travellers, misled by these temporary floods, have spoken of vast lakes and ponds in the interior of California, instead of which their astonished successors of the following summer have discovered only arid plains or sedgy pools and marshes.

I was told that about once in every ten years it happens that little or no rain falls during the winter season; and that, in consequence of this drought, the whole country is dried up, vegetable life is almost annihilated, and the beasts of the field perish of thirst and starvation.

Along the coast, where the seabreezes have easy and con- stant access, the climate throughout the year is salubrious and delightful, differing in temperature many degrees, during the dry season, from the prairie lands, which lie beyond the first range of hills, where the ardor of the sun is mitigated by no cooling wind. The range of hills shuts out the western breezes, and the surrounding masses of forest exclude all other winds, and render ventilation impossible on the prairies, so that, while the inhabitants of the coast are enjo3ring all the delights of a serene and benignant climate, the panting traveller upon these burning plains is suffering all the dis- comforts of the torrid zone. In crossing from the prairies in the latitude of 38 deg. 30 min., during the month of August, I found that for several successive days the mercury ranged at 110 deg. (Fahrenheit) in the shade; and sealing wax de- posited in one of my boxes was converted into an almost semi-fluid state. At the same time, and in the same parallel, on the borders of the Pacific, the thermometer seldom ex- hibited a greater temperature than 75 deg., and in the evening a fire was frequently essential to comfort.

This difference of temperature is accompanied by a corre- sponding diversity of healthfulness. The coast is always healthy; but during the heat of summer the prairies of the interior are pestilential, and diseases abound. ​

Hall Jackson {Celley T!tJ

The principal harbors which I visited on the Pacific coast of this province (and I speak only of what I actually saw) are Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The former, about lat. 37 deg. north, is open to the sea, and exposed at times to a tremendous surf. On the northern side of the harbor lies the small town of Santa Cruz.

San Francisco bay or harbor is very spacious, and furnishes several safe and convenient havens and roadsteads. It lies some forty miles north of Santa Cruz. Its entrance, latitude 37 deg. 49 min., is two miles wide, and admits ships of the largest draught and burden. From its entrance it stretches twenty miles towards the north, and thirty miles [SO] south- easterly, the southern branch of the bay being sheltered by a range of high hills. Throughout the bay the anchorage is safe, so that a more commodious harbor could not be desired. Excepting one in De Fuca straits, it is considered the best in Northwestern America. A number of important streams find an outlet in the harbors above named. Of these, the St. Joaquin may be particularized. It rises in a large lake near the 36th deg. north, moves with a deep, slow, and tranquil current through several hundred miles of praine, receiving the tribute of many lesser streams from the mountains on the east, and at last discharges its transparent waters into the northerly part of the bay of San Francisco. This tranquil river must eventually become productive of vast benefit to California, not merely as a convenient and ready inlet for commercial purpose, but as a great outlet through which shall be drained diose superfluous waters by which so much of the prairie is converted into a marsh, and rendered fruitful only of disease and death. It is indeed a vast canal, constructed by an Abnighty Architect, and destined, I doubt not, in future ages, to transport the countless products of a mighty empire.

Another river of note is called the Sacrament. Next to the Columbia it is the largest stream on the western side of the continent. Its head waters are in the Snowy mountains (of which I have already spdcen), and almost mingle with those ​

278 Fred Wilbur Powell

of three other mighty rivers — ^the Colorado, the Rio Del Norte, and the Columbia. Its tributaries flow also from the range of mountains which flank the valley of the Colorado. It empties into the bay of San Francisco, and is navigable for vessels of small burden to its first fork, about eigh^ miles from its mouth. The branches which unite at that point are both rapid mountain streams; too rapid for easy navigation, but admirably adapted to float down to the waters of the Pacific the valuable timber which covers the mountains where they rise. The Sacrament, in the rainy season, rises fifteen or twenty feet, overflows its banks, assumes the appearance of a succession of lakes, and fertilizes with its alluvion im- mense tracts of champagne country. Of its numerous branches, and their countless tributary rivers and rivulets, I need not here make mention.

I crossed the rapids of the Scarament at what was said U> be its lowest ford, in latitude 39 deg. 35 min. Several of our horses were borne away by the torrent. The width of the river at that point exceeded 100 yards, and its depth varied from two to four feet. The streams west of this crossii^ place are said to be full of rapids. The western branch of the river is nearly equal in size to the eastern ; but its tribu- taries are, however, less copious.

It may be advisable to say something more of the aspect of this territory.

The Snowy mountains (Sierras Nevadas, as Vasquez named them in 1540), extending from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, are drained by the largest rivers of North America, From these mountains a spur of rugged hills extends south- wardly, between the principal branches of the Sacrament, to that fork of the river of which I have spoken. These hills are manifestly of volcanic origin, and they might well be named the "Volcanic ridge." They abound in basaltic and vitrified stones, scoria, and many other products of volcanic action. Along their base stretches [51] a beautiful chain of prairies, for 70 or 80 miles, watered by numerous streams and rivulets. ​

Hall Jackson Kbll^y V9

North of the 39tl;i deg, of latitude, the whole character and aspect of the country changes suddenly, a^d decidedly for the tetter. At this latitude commences the southerly slope of the Snowy mountains. The soil upon most of the hills seems admirably adapted to the growth of forest trees, and the prairies and pleasant valleys which there abound furnish the best possible land for farming purposes. Now and then, however, occurs a hill destitute of vegetation, scattered over which are to be found dark-cplored iron stores, of all shapes, with sharp edges, resembling clinkers in the arches of a brick kiln ; and reddish clay and gravel, like pulverized brick.

In this volcanic ridge I found a stratimi of earth which the Mexicans called tepetate, and which forms a sort of cenwnt. When covered by water, or buried so far below the earth as to retain moisture, it is so soft as tQ ^ easily penetrated by an iron bar, but it becomes as solid and impenetrable as a rock on being exposed to the sun or wind.

The prairies in this hilly region arc narrow vales, which stretch like beautiful ribbons along the basis of the high- lands and the margins of rivers. They are variegated with an infinite variety, and abundance of vegetable productions, gay with a thousand blossoms, and fragrant with countless per- fumes. Among the grasses which, in the month of September, were in full growth and vigor, I noticed the red clover, wild rye, wild oats, and a peculiar species of coarse grass, whose seed furnished the native with their most common article of food.

The timber trees of this region are numerous and valuable and deserve some notice.

About the highlands of the Sacrament, I discovered abun- dance of the white pine. But this species, though of great size and value, does not compare with the prodigious size and towering height of the Lambert pine ; (pinus Lambertiana) or pino Colorado. Cabrillo, in 1542, gave the name of "Bahia de los Pino^" to the harbor of Monterey, undoubtedly with ref- erence to this splendid species of the coniferee. The dimensions ​

280 Fred Wilbur Powell

of the Lambert pine may be inferred from the fact that I found near Santa Cruz an extensive forest, the full-g^own trees of which, at the height of twenty feet from the ground, in their diameter, would average from five to six feet. Their trunks nm up like the spars of a ship, without branches, to a prodigious height. The wood of this pine has the color of red cedar, as might be inferred from the Spanish name, (Colorado,) and the rift and softness of white pine. I ex- amined one of the trees which had been felled, and by its concentric laminae ascertained its age to be 510 years.

These majestic towers of evergreen continue as far north- ward as 40 degrees.

There are several kinds of oak. Of these, the most common is in California called white oak, (encina blanca,) rising to the average height of forty feet, its trunk measuring from six to eight feet in girth, with numerous branches, which g^ow together with such compactness as to furnish an im- penetrable retreat to those who seek concealment therein, and in perfect symmetry of form, like the rounded tops of an apple orchard ; these oaks present a very pleasing appearance to the eye.

The live oak (quercus virens) is likewise found in great abundance. [52] It is said to grow only on the highlands ; in this respect differing from the live oak of Florida. It has a diameter of three or four feet, and an altitude of sixty or seventy. For solidity, strength, and durability, judging from specimens in my possession, I deem it equal to any in the world. This invaluable timber extends northward beyond the 40th parallel.

But the most lordly species of oak here found is the white oak, {q. navalis.) It abounds on the river banks, and covers the low hills on the prairies. It not infrequently gives a diameter of five feet, measured at a height of ten or twelve feet above the ground, and its branches attain to corresponding dimensions, and extend a prodigious distance horizontally from the stem. ​

Hall Jackson Kbllby 281

I might pursue to much greater length my statements in regard to this interesting region ; so as to speak of its towns, villages, missions, population, and of all its natural features and productions, more fully and minutely. But while I felt boimd to allude, as I have, to the most remarkable facts which I observed during my travels in High California, I have avoided going into details, or making statements which my own inspection has not enabled me to verify. A few words more concerning the native tribes of California, and I will pass northward to the Or^;on.

Most of the native Indians have perished, or have gone into the missions about the bay of San Francisco. ^ Many tribes are utterly extinct ; in places where I was told that, in 1832, there was a population of a thousand or fifteen hundred souls, I found sometimes but one hundred, sometimes not more than fifty, and sometimes none ; and not a vestige of their habita- tions, save a pile of discolored stones, or a slight depression of the soil. Pestilence and the wrath of man have combined in the work of extermination, until, of the ancient owners of this most interesting territory, very few now occupy its fertile fields. I do not believe, and I speak after due investigaticm, that the whole Indian population between the Colorado and the Pacific, in 1834, exceeded three thousand souls. But along the Sacrament and elsewhere, there is abundant evidence that, in former times^ a teeming and crowded population was spread over that now desolate region.

When I remember the exuberant fertility, the exhaustless natural wealth, the abundant streams and admirable harbors, and the advantageous shape and position of High California, I cannot but believe that at no very distant day a swarming multitude of human beings will again people the solitude, and that the monuments of civilization will throng along those streams whose waters now murmur to the desert, and cover those fertile vales — whose tumuli now record the idolatrous worship and commemorate the former existence of innumerable savage generations. ​

2S2 FitED WiuiyA Powexx

OREGON.

I will now present to the committee, in brief, the facts which I gathered during a residence of five months in the Oregon territory, and which relate to the aspect, mountains, rivers and other waters, climate, soil, productions, trade and population of that coimtry. My inspecticm having been confined to the southwesterly portion of Oregon, I shall limit my statements accordingly.

The eastern section of the district referred to is bordered by a mountain range, running nearly parallel to the spine of the Rocky mountains [53] and to the coast, and which, from the number of its elevated peaks, I am inclined to call the President's range.*

There is a great uniformity of aspect among these peaks. They all resemble the frustum of a cone, the declivity forming an angle of from thirty to thirty-five degrees with the hori- zon. They lift their bold summits several thousand feet from their mountain bases, are thinly wooded near the bottom, but from mid-distance upward present their barren sides in the naked deformity of rock, lava, cinders, or whatever else might have come glowing, at some former period, from the deep- cavemed volcanic cauldrons below. I did not ascend them; but if it be safe to reason on the analogy furnished by the Mexican peaks, whose summits I did explore, and whose forms are precisely similar, these elevated simmiits are the chimneys of extinct volcanoes, and retain the vestiges of those craters from which the fiery discharges and eruptions were wont to be made.

I encamped for some time at the base of Mount Jackson, and was equally moved by the sublime spectacle of its abrupt ascent and towering grandeur, and by the beautiful diversity of its aspect and colors, engirdled as it was below with suc-

• These isolated an4 remarkabl* cones, which are now called amon^ the hnnters

of the Hudson's Bay Company by other names, I have christened after our ex- Presidents, viz: I. Washington, latitude 46 deg. 15 min.; 2. Adams, latitude 45 deg. 10 minutes; 3- Jefferson, latitude 44 deg., ^o min.; 4. MadiSon, latitude 43 deg. 50 min.; s> Monroe, latitude 43 deg. so mm.; 6. J. Q. A^ama, latitude 4s deg. 10 min.; and 7. Jackson, latitude 41 dtg, 40 min. ​

Hall Jackson Kellev 283

ccssive belts of forest, shrub and hardy |rfant, and terminating aloft in perpetual frost and unbroken desolation. It was my misfortune at this time to be disabled by ill health, so far as to be prevented both from ascending this peak, and from meas- uring its altitude and fixing its exact latitude.

From the Presidents' range there are two chains of hills extending to the Pacific ocean; one of them branching off from the base of J. Q. Adams peak, flanked on the north by the Umpqua river, and on the south by the Oamet, and ter- minating on the coast, m latitude , in high bluffs ; and

the other chain running from Adams peak nearly parallel with the Columbia river, until it reaches the ocean in a lofty summit, called by Lewis and Oark "Clark's Point of View/'

In all these chains of hills, and conical peaks, and isolated piles, whether springing from the heart of the prairie or clus- tering amongst the highlands, I feel confident that we dis- cover unquestionable proof that in former ages this western portion of our continent was convulsed, rent asunder, and thrown into wild disorder, by earthquakes and the operation of subterranean fires.

The first important river in Oregon, on the northerly side of the Snowy mountains, is the Qamet. It is formed of two branches, one of which rises in a lake of the same name, measuring some fifteen or twenty miles over; the other in Mount Monroe.

Both these branches are motmtain torrents, rushing furiously over rocky beds to their confluence. After breaking through a ridge of low rocky hills, some thirty miles from the coast, the Qamet proceeds in a northwesterly direction, and with a moderated current to the Pacific.

Next northwardly from the Qamet is the river Umpqua, very Similar in size, character and direction, rapid during most of its course, but passing through the level country near its embouchure with slackened ^peed. [54]

These two rivers are divided, as I have before stated, by one of the spurs of the Presidents^ range. Their marghis ​

284 Fred Wilbuk Powell

are finely wooded and timbered, broken into an agreeable variety of hill and dale, and covered with an excellent soiL The pine, oak and other timber is very abundant and very heavy, not only along the main stream of these rivers, but among all the highlands where they and their tributaries rise.

The Wallamette, an important branch of the Columbia river, has its headwaters near the sources of the Umpqua, receives numerous tributary streams from the Presidents' range, to which its course runs nearly parallel, and pours its floods into the Columbia, about eighty miles from the ocean. On its upper course it is said to be broken into several beautiful cat- aracts. For the last hundred miles above its junction it tra- verses a comparatively level and open coimtry; and, with the exception of one short portage, is navigable for this whole distance by boats drawing three or four feet of water. It penetrates the ridge of hills bordering the southern shore of the Columbia, and at that place falls over three several terraces of basaltic rock, making in all a descent of twenty- five feet. These falls are twenty miles irom the Columbia. Below this point its banks are low, are subject to inundation in the season of the "freshets" or vernal floods. It has two mouths, formed by the position of a gfroup of three islands whose longitudinal extent is sixteen miles, and which, though lying chiefly in the Columbia, project into the current of the Wallamette, and divide its waters in the manner described. This river has been sometimes misnamed the "Multnomah," with reference to a tribe of Indians, now extinct, who formerly occupied the land lying around its northern entrance into* the Columbia.

In beauty of scenery, fertility of soil, and other natural advantages, no portion of our country surpasses that which is found upon the Wallamette. The whole valley of this river abounds in white oak and other valuable timber. Fringes of trees grow along the margin of the stream, and back of these are rich bottom lands or prairie ground of inexhaustible fer​

Hall Jackson Kelley 285

tility, and adorned with all the wealth of vegetation. From these prairies, which arc sometimes a few rods and sometimes several miles wide, often rise round isolated hills, heavily wooded, and presenting a lovely contrast to the sea of grass and flowers from which they spring.

I have now reached the Columbia river. The few statements which I propose to make concerning this noble stream will refer to matters which may not come within the knowledge of the committee from other sources.

I made surveys of the Columbia from the Wallamette to the ocean, the results of which appear upon the map which I had the honor to transmit to the committee.

For about 100 miles above its mouth the banks of the Colum- bia are generally above the reach of inundation. The period- ical floods begin about the first of May, and subside about the middle of June ; and of the distance of which I have spoken, it may be that one-tenth part is reached by the waters.

During all seasons of the year the entrance into the Colum- bia is both difficult and dangerous. Flats and sand bars stretch nearly the whole distance between its two headlands, Point Adams and Cape Hancock ("Disappointment") leaving only a narrow channel near the point last named This chan- nel, however, furnishes at all times more than twenty feet of water. [55]

From October to April, the prevalence of strong westerly winds increases the difficulty of threading this channel. The waves are driven landward with great violence, and break upon the shoals and bars with tremendous force and deafening roar. It sometimes happens, therefore, that vessels are driven by the force of the waves from the channel, and dashed hope- lessly upon those treacherous sands.

There are several harbors, formed by the curvature of the river banks, which deserve mention.

Of these, Chenook harbor, on the northerly shore, is a spa- cious bay, directly back of Cape Hancock, having deep sound- ings and a good bottom, the outer part of which is somewhat exposed, but within it is Weltered by the cape. ​

286 F»BD WtLBtnt Powell

Gray's harbor, on the same side of the river, ^tboat tto mfles fr6m the cape, is better protected than Chtoook, but it is com- paratively shaltew, except f6r a short distance, where the i^f^ measufes three and iotxt fathoms. It must become a great place for shipbuilding, in consequence of the vicinity ti im- mense quantities of ship timber.

Nearly opposite is Astor harbor, lying a little south of "Tongue point." Though not wholly defended from the westerly winds, it is the best of the harbors yet mentioned, having soundings of from four to seven fathoms, and a muddy bottom. From Astor harbor to Cape Hancock the direct dis- tance is eleven miles; but by the channel it is mcreased to something over fourteen.

Directly over against Chenook harbor is Meriwether bay, a deep opening behind Point Adams, inaccessible to vessels of large size, by reason of sand bars, but furnishing a secure anchorage to the smaller craft.

It would be easy to improve the entrance of the Columbia by cutting a ship channel across a narrow strip of lowland from Chenook bay to a small but deep harbor which lies north of Cape Hancock. The distance does not exceed a hundred rods ; a creek extends nearly across, and the spring flood flows quite over it. My belief is that, at some former period, the waters of the Columbia had a free outlet at this place, but that the gradual deposits of sand and alluvwn have choked up the channel.

So also might a canal be cut at small expense from Chenook harbor, some thirty miles northwestwardly, to Bulfinch's bay, by which the navigation would be greatly facilitated. The in- tervening land invites this enterprise ; for it is not only low and level, but, for a considerable portion of the distance, ponds and natural channels of water furnish great facilities to such a work.

The Columbia is, at all seasons, navigable for ships to the head of tide water, which is two miles fr6nl its outlet. Tfie brig Convoy, Cai!>tain Thompson, in the Reason of the freshet, ascended forty miles further to the falfe. ​

Hall Jackson Kelley 287

The cKmate of this region is mild, salubrious and healthful, fhiring the whole winter of 1834-5, settlers on the Columbia were engaged in ploughing and sowing their lands, and cattle were grazing on the prairies. One of the factors of the Hud- son's Bay Company, who cultivated an extensive farm on the northern bank of the Columbia, informed me that he sowed one hundred and fifty bushels of wheat during the months of January and February. I knew of but three falls of snow dur- ing that winter in the vicinity of the river. These occurred hi February, and neither of them exceeded three inches in depth. The 28th [56] of February was the coldest day in the season; rain fell during the forenoon. It then cleared off cold and, for a few hours, houses, trees and fields sparkled in an icy covering.

During the winter, nearly every day witnessed an alternation of sunshine and rain ; the forenoons being mild and clear, and the afternoons ending in showers or drizzling rain.

The healthfulncss of this country is unquestionable. With the exception of some few low and swampy spots on the banks of the Columbia, at and below the junction of the Wallamette, the whole region of the Columbia enjoys a clear and fine atmosphere, and an exemption from all the ordinary causes of endemic disease. It is said that till the year 1830 fever and SLgvtt had not been known. In that year, as I was informed, the Indians suffered from intermittent fevers. But there was no reasoi^ to attribute this mortality to climate. On the other hand, it is believed that the excessive filth and slovenly habits of the inhabitants of the English settlement at Vancouver were the occasion of the disease. Vancouver itself is situated on a high, delightful and salubrious spot, and nothing but gross and unpardonable habits of life could render it unwholesome.

All veritable evidence speaks favorably of the climate of this beautiful tract of country, and none but ignorant or deceitful witnesses have ever testified to the contrary.

The valley of the Wallamette is the finest country I ever saw, whether for the gratificati6n of the eye or the substantial ​

288 Fred Wilbur Powell

comforts of life, for all the natural elements of wealth or for its adaptation to the wants and happiness of civilized man. It declares to the intelligent observer, beyond the power of doubt, that it is intended to be the habitation of myriads of civilized and happy men.

So far as I could learn from intelligent and credible wit- nesses, the country north of the Columbia, to the 54th paral- lel, possesses nearly the same character which I have described as belonging to the region which I myself traversed.

The Hudson's Bay Company, who have long occupied this territory, and endeavored to monopolize the benefits of its trade, it is believed, possesses greater capital, and employs a larger number of men in its various departments of service than any other association, excepting, perhaps, the East India Company, under the auspices of the British Government.

For nearly twenty years, ever since, in 1821, the Northwest Company was finally broken up, the Hudson's Bay Company have exercised an almost unlimited control over the Indian tribes and the trade of th^ whole country west of the Rocky mountains.

It has made great progress in settling that region. In 1834 it had over 2,000 men engaged in trading, farming, mechanical and commercial operations. Of these individuals, the major part had taken Indian women to wife, by whom they had children of all ages, from infancy to manhood. The company exercises full authority over all, whether Indians, English, or Americans, who are in its service, and in a manner always injurious, and generally disastrous, to all others who under- take to trade or settle in that territory. It may be said in fact that Americans, except associated with this ccnnpany, are not permitted to carry on a traffic within several hundred miles of the company's posts. I cannot state how long the mland trade has been cut off. But within the last season, our [57] merchants, since 1834, have not been allowed to participate in the lucrative trade and commerce of the northwest coast While I was at Vancouver, in that year, the American ship ​

. Hall Jackson Kelley 289

Europa, Captain Allen, of Boston, was on that coast. The Hudson's Bay Company, in pursuance of their regular policy, immediately fitted out the brig Llama, and instructed her cap- tain, McNeil (as he himself informed me), to follow the Europa from port to port, and harbor to harbor, and drive her off the coast at any sacrifice, by underselling her, no matter what her prices, whenever she should open a trade. It has been declared by Mr. Simpson, who was at the head of the company's marine, that they were resolved, even at the cost of a hundred thousand pounds, to expel the Americans from traffic on that coast.

I am informed that in November last (1838) the brig Joseph Peabody, of New York, was fitted and sent out to attempt once more the northwest fur trade. The voyage is regarded as an experiment, and her chance of success depends on her finding the company unprepared for her arrival. So Icwig as our Government slumbers on her rights, so long must the enterprise of our citizens, even within our own territorial limits, even within American sovereignty, be rendered abortive by the force or fraud of foreign monopolists.

In their intercourse with the Indians, the company are gov- erned by no higher principle than self-interest, and are fre- quently guilty of the most arbitrary acts. While I was there, the company surgeon at Vancouver deliberately seized an Indian who had been guilty of some indecency, and proceeded to mutilate his person, and for this wrong, neither the victim nor his friends dared to ask for redress, or even to make any complaint.

The number of trading posts in Oregon, belonging to this company, in 1834, exceeded twenty. They are called "forts," but they are mostly regular villages, such as Vancouver, Wallawallah, Oakenagen, Colville, Neperces, &c. At these places are seen houses, stores, workshops, traders, farmers, artisans, herds of cattle, and cultivated farms, waving with abundant harvests; in short, every appearance of permanent and flourishing settlements. Of these farming establishments, ​

290 Pm^ WnjBim Powell

full accounts are already supplied by Mr. Slacnm. I will only add a few facts in regard to this subject. I saw at Vancouver a large and splendid bam, in which was a thrashing machine that cost $1,500, and was worked by oxen. Connected with the same farming establishment I saw also more than 1,000 head of neat cattle, grazing on the ever-verdant prairie, and flocks of sheep, swine and horses, and domestic fowls of various kinds, both in and around the village.

The stocks of grain on that farm exceeded anything of the kind that I had evei* seen in the United States. Twelve thou- sand bushels of wheat, at a very moderate computation^ re- mained in the sheaf at the time of my leaving Vancouver in the spring.

Six miles above Vancouver, on the same side of the river, was a lai^e sawmill, capable of cutting from 20 to 25 thousand feet of boards per day, throughout the year. It can be readily inferred that, with this and other such mills, vast havoc would soon be made in the timber of this region, and the banks of the rivers and streams be cleared of that which is at once the most valuable and the most accessible.

The town of Vancouver, as I have stated, stands on a high and healthy [58] spot. I might, with propriety, dwell for a moment upon its picturesque and beautiful landscape. Directly back of the village the ground rises considerably, forming a kind of "steppe" or pUieau, from which the prospect is one of the loveliest oft which my eye ever r^ed, diversified by all that is wild, rugged and sublime, m forest and mountain scenery, or soft and smiling in lowland and meadow, river and plain ; all that the bounty of nature or the skill of man combined can furnish to surprise of delight th^ eye and the taste of the beholder. In the distance, yet lo(4dng as though withm reach, are the snowy peaks of the Rbcfcy mountains, whose frosty mantle defies the hottest sun of summer. Nearer at hand is a vast ocean of forest, variegated with every hue known to the foliage of trees, whether deciduous or evergreen. At your feet are a thousand appearances of industry, wealth and pros​

Hali. Jackson I(ellev 291

perity, and before you are the valleys of both the Wallamette and Colombia, spreading* and winding afar, and almost weary- ing the eye with cotmtless varieties of aspect and innumerable forms of loveliness.

Amongst the other forms of industry at Vancouver, ship- building should not be omitted There was a shipyard there in 1834, where several vessels had been built, and where all the vessels of the Hudson's Bay Company were repaired. The neighboring forests abound in timber adapted to naval pur- poses, such as oak, cedar, si^ruce and firs, of gigantic growth. There is, in particular, an extensive forest of white oak within a small distance of the fort.

I found that a canal had been commenced at the falls of the Wallamette by the company, for the purpose of making the head of water available for practical purposes — the propulsion of machinery, &c.

Families who had settled in the valley of the Wallamette continued under the government and contrd of the company, receiving therefrom, on loan^ all the stock, stores and imple- ments of agriculture, in consideration of which they stipulated that all the marketable products of their farms should be sold exclusively to the company. Oxen and cows were furnished in like manner, it being the settled policy of the company not to kill or sell any cattle until the country should become well stocked.

All these circumstances indicated a disposition to form per- manent interests and estaUishments on the part of this great association and its members and servants ; and I was assured that, whatever may be the result of the disputed question of sovereignty and occupancy, most of the people of tiiis territory will remain quietly fixed in thmf residences.

The fisheries of this territory have been comparatively neg- lected by the company. They might be made immensely pro- ductive and profitable, for diere are several species of fish, particularly salmon, which swim in eountless numbers in the Columbia and its branches, and are easily taken and prepared ​

292 Fred Wilbur Powell

for exportation. Formerly they put up 500 or 1,000 barrck of salmon per year at Vancouver alone, and a much larger quantity at Fort Langley.

The trade of the company consists of furs, lumber, flour, fish, grain and potatoes. The amount of traffic in furs I have no accurate means of computation; but that it is enor- mous may be safely inferred from the fact that a single indi- vidual at Astoria, in 1834, collected more than 1,800 beaver skins, although that post was nearly deserted.

The furs and peltries are shipped to London. Other exports find a ready market in California and the Sandwich Islands, such as fir boards [59] and other lumber, white oak ship tim- ber, spruce knees and spars, and white ash oars. In return, the company receives provisions, salt, sugar, molasses, spirits, &c. They obtain beef cattle from California, at three dollars per head, and pay for them in lumber, at sixty to one hundred dollars per M.

Some notion of the amount of lumber exported may be obtained from the fact that the vessel which bore me from Oregon to the Sandwich Islands brought out the complement of a quantity of boards contracted for at the price of twenty thousand dollars.

The value of flour at the Russian settlements varied from fifteen to twenty dollars per barrel. In more southerly mar- kets, salmon were worth twenty dollars per barrel, and sixty dollars per M was the minimum price of merchantable boards.

I arrived at Vancouver unwell, and was hospitably welcomed by Mr. McLaughlin, the chief factor. Medical aid was ren- dered me; a house in the village was furnished for my use, and all my physical wants were supplied ; but I was forbidden to enter the fort. Before I had been long in the country, I learned that the factor and his agents were preparing, in every artful way, to render my abode there uncomfortable and unsafe. The most preposterous calumnies and slanders were set on foot in regard to my character, conduct and designs. All my move- ments were watched, and, in some instances, I was threatened ​

Hall Jackson Kelley 293

with violence by persons who had been instigated, as I had reason to believe, by the company. Had I been willing to place myself under the direction and control of the company, all would have been peace ; but so long as I was resolved to act independently, as an American on American soil, seeking authentic information for general diffusion, and pursuing the avowed purpose of opening the trade ^of the territory to gen- eral competition, and the wealth of the country to general participation and enjoyment, so long was I an object of dread and dislike to the grasping monopolists of the Hudson's Bay Company,

My abode in Oregon was thus rendered very disagreeable. The loss of my property on the route had obliged me to vary my original plans, and limit my enterprise to such an examina- tion of the country as would enable me to enlighten the Ameri- can public on my return to the United States. I remained, therefore, in Or^;on no longer than was needful to satisfy myself on the desired points of inquiry ; and so long as I did remain, I was treated very much like a prisoner of war, although not subjected to actual confinement.

When I left the Oregon country, I took passage in the brig Dryad, Captain Keplin, for the Sandwich Islands.

The petition recently presented to the Senate of the United States, signed by residents of Oregon, will fortify my views in regard to the necessity for some degree of protection on the part of the Government over the people of that territory.

I come now, in conclusion, to say something of the Indians of Oregon,

This unfortunate race of men, as on the eastern so on the western coast of America, perish and pass away at the ap- proach of white men, like those who are swept off by pesti- lence. By the accounts of voyagers and travellers who visited Oregon 30 or 40 years ago, it is made evident that the Indian population was very numeroiis. But of their hundred tribes, sovereign or subordinate, including probably one hundred and fifty thousand souls, but a small fraction now remains. [60] ​

294 Fred Wilbur Powell

In 1804, within 100 miles upward from the mouth of Jhe Columbia, there were no less than eight Indian tribes, with an average population of nearly a thousand persons to each tribe. In 1834 nothing remained but the remnants of these tribes, including less than four hundred Indians. Two-thirds of all the tribes ever known in Oregon are utterly extinct, and the names of them are scarcely remembered.

The Multnomahs, who formerly occupied the Waw>atoo islands, and the country around the mouth of the Wallamette, and who numbered 3,000 souls, are all dead, and their villages reduced to desolation. The once numerous Qatsops have lost their national existence, the few who survive seeking a shelter amongst the Chenooks, who are also reduced to less than one- fourth of their former numbers.

All the remaining Indians below Vancouver live in the most brutal, sottish and degraded manner, addicted to the grossest intemperance, and associating with the whites in such manner that there can scarcely be found among them a full-bloode4 Indian child. Rum and other intoxicating liquors are used ^ the besom of destruction among the miserable victims of the white man's cruelty. While I was on board pne of the com- pany's vessels, at the mouth of the Columbia, I saw the captain dealing out rum by the bucket to the chief of the Chenooks^ in return for wild game. I saw the chief, with his family of eight persons, intoxicated on the shore.

Such has been the result of the intercourse between the untutored children of the wild and the inhabitants of civilised and Christian communities.

In concluding this imperfect letter, I ought, in justice to myself, to state that it was not disappointment in regard to the natural advantages of Oregon which prevented my form- ing a permanent connexion with that region; but I was im- pelled by a determination to do all in my power, by constant effort in the United States, to lead our Government to extend over Oregon that paternal care which alone is needed to render it the very nucleus of emigration, and the most attractive portion of our national domain. ​

Hall Jackson Kelley 295

Having, by the hardships and exposures of a lonely and long continued adventure of life, been deprived in a great degfree of the use of my eyes, my health broken down, and my constitu- tion shattered, I have, of course, since my return, found my exertions restricted and impaired, but by no means terminated. It is consoling to me, in the midst of poverty and suffering, to believe that my fellow-citizens and my country are at last beginning to appreciate the value of the objects and measures for which I have sacrificed my possessions, my health, and the best portion of my life. It is also a matter of congratu- lation to me that some of those whom my persuasion induced to emigrate to Oregon have there fotaid prosperous settle- ments, and are now asking Congress to accept them and pro- tect them as citizens ; and that I have, therefore, been instru- mental in planting the seed of American empire in a soil where it shall take root and spring up and flourish like the luxuriant productions there scattered by the bounty of nature.

I have the honor to be, dear sir, yours, with the highest con- sideration and respect Hall J. Kelley.

Hon. Caleb Cushing. [61]

1

NEWS AND COMMENT

THE PIONEER PARK AT CHAMPOEG.

Champoeg, overlooking Willamette River, the place where the Oregon provisional government was founded May 2, 1843, will always be a center of Northwest history, and a marker of National expansion. A pioneer memorial building will rise at the site of Champoeg this year, built with $5,000 state fimds, appropriated by the Legislature at last year's session. The site of this structure is in an enclosure of twelve acres, which was deeded to the State of Oregon in 1913, by Mr. P. H. D'Arcy, of Salem, trustee of nimierous fund contributors, who gave the money for purchase o ​f ​the land. The sum paid was $1,265, and the deed of Mr. D'Arcy's bears date of November 10, 1913. A monument to the provisional government, dedi- cated May 2, 1901, stands in the enclosure.

Purchase of the land for the state and erection of the pioneer building will make complete the long-time plans of members of the Oregon Pioneer Association and the Oregon Historical Society. The architectural plans have been prepared by George M. Post of Salem, for the State Board of Control, consisting of Governor James Withycombe, Secretary of State Ben W. Olcott and State Treasurer Thomas Kay. An advisory com- mittee has consisted of Mr. P. H. D'Arcy, formerly president of the Oregon Pioneer Association and organizer of many annual celebrations at Champoeg, and Mr. George H. Himes, curator and assistant secretary of the Oregon Historical So- ciety.

The Quarterly takes pleasure in announcing the near realiza- tion of the plans for the Champoeg memorial and in commend- ing the unselfish work of those who have served in its behalf.

A MONUMENT OF YAKIMA PIONEERS.

Yakima pioneers presented a large monument to the State of Washington in Wenas Valley, near Selah, September 20, 1917, at the farm of David Longmire, member of the 1853 ​

298 News and Comment

party that opened the Naches trail to Puget Sound, across Cascade Mountains, and president of the Yakima Pioneers' Association. The site of the monimient is a camping place ef that pioneer party near Yakima. The inscription reads :

Chief OW-Hi's Gardens

First Emigrant Train

From East

Longmire's Train

Encamped Here

Sept. 20, 1853

McClellan's Headquarters

Flag First Unfurled

In Yakima Country

August, 1853

Erected by Yakima Pioneer Ass'n ^

Sept 20, 1917 ^

H. J. Snively acted as chairman of the ceremonies. The Reverend Mr. Lingenfelter, of Selah, delivered the opening prayer. David Longmire made an address reminiscent of pio- neer times. Governor Ernest Lister accepted the monument in behalf of the State of Washington. Other speakers were Professor Edmond S. Meany, of Seattle, and Thomas B. Hill, of Yakima. A committee was named by President Longfmire, to organize a Yakima memorial association, as follows : A. D. Sloan, Fred Parker, Ernest D. Fear, T. B. Hill, F. C. Hall, A. E. Larson, Wallace Wiley, H. Stanley Coffin, Phil Ditter and Fred Chandler.

VALUABLE ARTICLES BY MR. T. C ELUOTT.

The articles appearing in this volume of the Quarterly en- titled, "Where Is Point Vancouver?" and "Log of H. M. S. Chatham," serve to bring to the notice of the present genera- tion the dates and circumstances of the naming of two of our prominent snow peaks : Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens. It is not commonly known that Saint Helens was named from ​

Npvs 4m CQ¥¥WT 299

the deck of a ves3€l lying off t^ mouth of the Columbia river ; or that Mount Hood was so designated on October 30th, 1792, by Ueutenant Brougbton lyhen standing on the sand bar at the mouth of the Sandy river. The secukr press would do well to popularize the3e dates.

PIONEER ROADS ACROSS BLUE MOUNTAINS.

Progress of highway improvement across Blue Mountains has brought to many minds remembrance of the ox team route of the pioneers, and desire to mak^ that remembrance perma- nent. The state highway commission of Oregon has been re- quested to designate the pioneer road "Old Oregon Trait" The road of heavy travel for o^ teams, but not the early route, was that by way of Lee'f Encampment [Meacham], and this later was an active trade highway in the gold mining period, beginning about 1862. But an earlier route passed near Elgin, Weston and Milton, and this became later the favorite trade route of Walla Walla merchants. It came to be known as the Toll Gate road, as contrasted with the Meacham-Uraatilla road of the ox team immigrants. It was also the route of the Thomas & Rucklis's stage. It began as an Indian trail, con- necting the valleys of Walla Walla and Grande Ronde rivers, and was used by fur traders in 1819-34, between Fort Walla Walla [Wallula] and the Snake River Country. When J. C. Fremont came to Oregon in 1843 he followed the large emi- gration of that year, and his printed report, together with the map of the route afterwards published as drawn by hi§ engi- neer, Preuss, furnishes the best data available for research concerning this earlier route of the Old Oregon Trail across Blue Mountains. Improvement of this route for automobile service is now proposed, so as to reach the mountain summit by easy grades from both Weston and Milton, Oregon, for the traffic of Walla Walla, Umatilla and Grande Ronde val- leys. The Meacham road of today, following the general course of the ox team road was changed ^d improved in the gold mining period. It will be improved again according to ​

300 News and Comment

the general plan of highway betterment in this state and desig- nated "Old Oregon Trail" by the Oregon Highway CcHnmis- sion. From the confluence of Umatilla River with the Colum- bia, the highway will pass through Hermiston, Stanfield, Echo, Pendleton, Meacham, Kamela, Hilgard and La Grande. The older trail via Milton, Elgin and La Grande is listed for con- sideration as a forest road by the highway. commissiwi.

Officers of the Oregon Historical Society.

Ten years as president of the Oregon Historical Society, and beginning his eleventh, Mr. Frederick V. Holman has served longer than any of his predecessors. Harvey W. Scott was the first president, 1898-1901. Charles B. Bellinger was head of the society, 1901-05; William D. Fenton, 1905-07. Mr. Holman followed in 1907 and has held the post continu- ously since. His latest term began at the annual meeting of the society, held at Portland in the new city Auditorium, October 27 last. Leslie M. Scott was re-elected vice-president ; F. G. Yotmg, secretary ; George H. Himes, assistant secretary and curator; Charles H. Carey and S. B. Huston, directors. Mr. Huston succeeded William D. Fenton. The society adopted resolutions of sympathy on account of the ill health of Mr. Fenton.

New Quarters of the Society.

The society, at last, is housed in a fireproof building — the Auditorium of the City of Portland. Rooms have been per- manently assigned for the society's uses by Mayor George L. Baker and members of the city commission. Authority comes from the electors of the city by popular vote. The floor space awarded is some 8000 square feet, on the south side of the Auditorium. The main rooms are. on the second floor. Re- moval from the old quarters in Second Street, south of Taylor, was effected in October, directed by Mr. George H. Himes. The Legislature appropriated funds for removal last Winter. Other funds from the Legislature will be expended for new furniture^ chiefly filing cabinets. The new establishment ​

News AND Comment 301

marks a notable advance for the society. More space could be used to good advantage for the displays. The society dwells in hope of occupying, some day, its own commodious building.

The Work of the SoaExv. Twenty years of historical work in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest will be the record of the Oregon Historical Society at the end of the current year, which the society began last month. One of the most permanent productions has been the Quarterly, which began in March, 1900, and is now in its eighteenth volume. The society has made a great collection of pioneer and Indian relics, newspapers, letters and "original sources." It may be said that this collection is surpassed no- where in the West. Among the classifications may be noted the following: Newspapers (not bound), 197,000; newspaper files (boimd), 297; documentary pieces, 14,038; pamphlets, 20,000; letters, 27,881; books of reference, 14,267; account books, 358; maps and charts, 352; relics of pioneer days, 13,065; Indian relics (chiefly stone), 1,937; Indian pioneer and scenic pictures, 7,000; lantern slides, 889.

BiNGER Hermann's Reminiscences of Southern Oregon. Pioneer beginnings of the Umpqua-Rogue River country were narrated at the latest annual meeting October 27, 1917, by Mr. Dinger Hermann, formerly Commissfoner of the Gen- eral Land Office. The society was glad of the opportunity afforded by Mr. Hermann to review the history of the Southern Oregon region. The title of the address was "Southern Ore- gon, Incidents and Actors In Its History." The Quarterly will reproduce the narrative in the next ntunber. The gold activities of the Northwest, which started its progress, began in the valleys of Rogue and Umpqua rivers. Mr. Hermann came of a pioneer family and his narrative feels the pioneer spirit.

Death Roll of the SoaETY.

»

Death carried off eighteen members of the society in 1917. ​

309 iijm.9 4m OmuMiit

Tbe Oregop Pion^r Associatipp recoi-ded 368 (kaths of pio- neers in tbe Northwest betwc^en June 1, 1916, an4 May 31, 1917, of yfhom 300 bad never eproUed in tbe association. This necrology is printed annually in the association Transactions* That of the Oregc^n Historical Society may be noted as fol- lows for the year 1917 :

Anderson, Thomas M. — Bngadier-geneir^l U. S. A.; died May 8, 1917 ; served in civil war and Philippine war.

Breyman, Werner — Died November 20, 1916 ; pioneer mer- chant of Salem; came to Oregon, 185Q.

Brents, Thomas H.— Died October 23, 1916; delegate to Congress fxqm Washington Tierrjtory ; came to Oregon, 1852.

Butterfield, Horace S. — ^Died April 4, 1917 ; merchant jew- eler of Portland; invoitor of the Butterfield azimuth chro- nometer, used in navigation.

Cardwell, Dr. James R. — ^Died November 5, 1916; pioneer dentist of Portland; came to Oregon, 1852.

Craig, David Watson — Dutd December 17, 1916; pioneer journalist; came to Oregon^ 1853.

De Hart, Edward J. — ^Died November 18, 1916; pioneer hardware merchant of Portland ; came to Oregon, 1855.

Heilner, Sigmund A. — ^Died September 17, 1917; |Moneer merchant of Baker City; came to Oregon, 1852.

Isaacs, Mrs. Lucia Fulton — Died November 20, 1916; daughter of James Fulton, pioneer of Wasco County; came to Oregon, 1847.

Jackson, James — ^Brigadier-general U. S. A. ; died October 21, 1916; distinguished in Modoc Indian war, 1873.

Keady, William P.— Died September 16, 1917; formerly State Printer of Oregon ; frequent member of the Oregon Ltg- islature.

Lane, Harry— Died May 23, 1917; United States Senator from Oregon; bom in €>r^;oa, 1855.

Luckey, Mrs. Eunice Waters Robins — Died January 21, 1917; worker in early Indian schools.

Packwood, WiUiam H.— Died September 21, 1917; last sur​

News and Comment 303

vivor of the Oregon Constitutional Convention of 1857 ; came to Or^;on, 1850.

Peaslee, George Livingston— Died March 30, 1917; many years an employing printer of Portland.

Schrdber, George R.— Died May 14, 1917; teacher.

Splawn, Andrew Jackson — Died March 2, 1917; formerly mayor of North Yakima; came to Oregon, 1852.

Wbealdon, Nathan — ^Died June 15, 1917; frequent member of Oregon Legislature; bom in Oregon, 1850. ​ ​

STATE fflSTORICAL ACTIVITIES

Several states to which Oregon naturally looks for suggest tions are exhibiting interesting new developments in the organization and the work of their historical agencies. Thor- ough and systematic surveys are being conducted for locating and listing the source materials of their local and state his- tory ; and movements are started that will insure the safe-keep- ing and the use of the newly disclosed means to a more ade- quate history.

California Historical Survey Commission — Our neigh- bor on the south, California, has provided a historical survey commission to investigate the documents in local depositories and in the possession of private individuals and other sources of original information on the early history of the state. A scientific record will be made of all sources thus disclosed. This commission began its work in October, 1915. It is composed of three members. One was nominated by the regents of the University of California and one by the board of general officers of the Order of Native Sons of the Golden West. An advisory committee of eight members, composed of persons "of recog- nized ability and experience in dealing with materials of Cali- fornia history," is co-operating with the commission. A sec- retary and archivist has general supervision of its field work.

The preliminary report of this historical survey commission was issued in March, 1917. In it the commission protests emphatically that it is not writing a history of the state, nor is it engaged in the collection of historical documents. Its work is simply "to investigate documents and to compile and keep a report of such information as may be found in local depos- itories, in the possession of individuals and elsewhere, relating to the early history of the state."

It began its survey with the records of the various county archives and expects to extend its activities to the archives of the state and to the local federal offices. It is also listing ​

306 F. G. Young

the collections of public libraries, historical societies and other institutions, as well as documents in the possession of private individuals, as fast as its time and resources permit. Early newspaper files, the records of religious and social institu- tions and of business concerns are not being overlooked.

In connection with its work on the county archives it is concerned with determining their historical value and in indi- cating how they may be used by the student of the social sci- ences. It is applying the principles of archive science toward securing the best form and filing of records in the public offices, but also to make sure of their preservation. "While it is a felony for an official to destroy any public record en- trusted to his care, an investigation of the courthouses will show that many records of value to the research worker, often involving even such vital matters as land titles, are being crowded into damp basements, dusty, mice-infested attics, or into outbuildings used for wood, oil and even gasoline."

At the time of making its preliminary report the commission had about finished its work on the county archives and in- tended to turn to newspaper files and other lines of investiga- tion, mainly the records of the United States land offices and other local federal offices. Documents in private hands and in local public libraries have also been listed. It did not con- sider that such important collections as those in the State Library at Sacramento, the Bancroft collection at Berkeley, the Sutro collection, and that of the Golden Gate Park needed its immediate attention. They were ^afely housed and fairly well known. Nor ha4 it the me^ns to undertake so large a task.

The commission uses the second part of its preliminary report to give an historical analysis of tl^e archives of the county clerk. This is done for the purpose of illustrating one typical phase of the work connected with the survey of the county archives. In the third part a full report on the archives of Humboldt County is given as a sample of what the commis- sion will have for its final report, and also as an example of well preserved county archives. ​

State Histoucal Activities 307

As the commission has already discovered many documents of unique value in possession of private individuals and in local depositories, the suggesition of tiie publication of the texts of these naturally arises, in order that the results of the commis- sion's labors may be brought to full fruition.

Historical Field Work in the Middle West — ^The his- torical survey activity as conducted by the California commis- sion is but historical field work toned up to desirable standards of efficiency, thoroughness and continuity. The historical agencies of Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota have been active in recent years with this up-to-date field work. Instead of intermittent forays in search of materials, regular and sus- tained campaigns have been in progress in these states. Field work has been transformed into org^ized effort "to exhaust all practical possibilities" having "to do with the thoroughgoing conservation of the vast, yet unexplored and neglected histor- ical resources which abound, widely scattered, in every com- munity." The immediate object of this new systematized field work is to make known and permanently accessible, preferably in public depositories, all discoverable materials of history in a community. The ultimate aim must be to arouse the interest and to secure the co-operation of the community itself. The ideal conditions are achieved when each community is placed in permanent possession of all its historical treasures and is made permanently mindful of their value.

A changing conception of history and of their functions is impelling the historical agencies in these Middle West states to adopt this more scientific and intensive method with their field work. If history is to portray "the vast ongoing common life" of a community, no phase of community life, whether it be political, social, economic or otherwise. Can be overlooked. The realization of the ideal history of any community can be expected only after the accumulation, or at least tfie bringing to light, of all discoverable materials relating to the life of that community. Much as the increased demand for metals and the improved processes of ore reduction make profitable the use of low percentage and refractory ore beds, previously ​

308 F. G. Young

regarded as without value, so the broader conceptions of his- tory and the keener powers of interpretation of sources have developed a sense of need for this intensive and exhaustive field work. Regularly organized campaigns of search and education in the field in Middle West states are in progress in pursuance of this new appreciation of historical sources.

In Minnesota the work is still in its initial stages. A field agent of the state historical society is to visit each county and make an inventory of the county archives. He is also to search for material of historical value in private hands, securing the same for the society whenever possible, and finally he is to encourage in every possible way local historical activity. The more definite task of this field agent is to inventory the county archives ; his attention to other objects depends upon develop- ments in the field. These are reported as most encouraging. A guide book to the county records will be realized Condi- tions of the records, of keeping and preserving them, are noted, with the view of effecting improvements and enhancing their usefulness for administration and for historical pur- poses.

A definite effort is made also to enlist the interest of some one person in each locality, who will agree to keep on the look- out for material ; one who will either take steps to secure such material, or inform the society about it ; one, in short, who will act as a sort of representative of the society in his community.

In Illinois this line of investigation has attained a more advanced stage. In 1915 a volume on County Archives of the State of Illinois, as Vol. 12 of the Illinois Historical Collec- tions, was issued. The Illinois Historical Survey has the work in charge.

In Michigan the historical commission is placing special reliance upon county and other local historical societies in carrying out the purposes of systematic field work. Under an elaborate system of accrediting county historical societies will be invited to co-operate in collecting manuscripts and printed materials now widely scattered in private homes. The first ​

State Historical Activitibs 309

issue of the Michigan Historical Magasine, dated Jidy, 1917, includes extensive reports on the organization and activities of county and other local historical societies, and on the his- torical work of local chapters of the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution.

In line with this general campaign to make available the materials relating to Michigan history, the historical commis- sion has nearly completed a bibliography of the printed mate- rials. This was accomplished in co-operation with the local libraries in the state and with the Library of Congress. This bibliography, with the index planned for it, will enable the user to find readily all material relating to any event in the life of the state. The entries will show in what libraries the specific items may be consulted.

The first publication of the University series of the commis- sion's publications is Economic and Social History of Michi- gan. It is a careful study of settlement of the lower peninsula during the territorial period, 1806-1837.

The Indiana Centennial of Statehood— To promote the proper observance of the centennial of Indiana's admission to the Union the Indiana Historical Commission was created in 1915. The formal celebration took place at Indianapolis on December 11, 1916. The centennial address was delivered by James A. Woodbum of the department of history of the State University, on the theme, "The Foundation of the Com- monwealth." A centennial ode was read by William D. Foulke. The permanent tangible results of the commission's work are appearing in a series of bulletins and in a series of volumes containing documentary material relating to different phases of the state's history. These include one on Indiana as Seen by Early Travelers, a collection of reprints from books of travel, letters and diaries, prior to 1830. Two of these volumes constitute a set on Constitution Making i/n Indiana, a source book of constitutional documents with historical introduction and critical notes. The material centers about the two consti- tutions under which Indiana has been governed in the course

^ ​

310 P. O. Yotmfe

<rf 6nc htindrtd y^d**i— the cotldtitutioii of 1816 and that of 1857. Two idditioiiftl vohimes ar6 fAamiled to iiidtide llie message of th^ governors from territorial days to 1851.

Plai^ toit Tfifi Illikois CfeNTKNNiAL CELEflaAtiOH— Throc historical agencies in Illinois are concentrating their energies on the preparation for the celebration of the stitehood centen- nial anniversary in 1918. A general state-wide and local cele- brations are planned. Episodes in Illinois history will be staged by suitable pageantry. A centennial history of five volomes has been contracted for. The preliminary vohame sm^tyfng Illinois conditions in 1818 is published. The centemfial memo- rial building commission has raised the $100,000 to be added to the $125,000 appropriated by the geneial assembly Idr the erection of a montmient to the state's progress in tl^ la^ one htmdnsd years. ​ ​

INDEX ​

INDEX TO VOLUME XVin

AbemcCby, ^^^i•Il^ •bituanF of, 145*6. Agriculture m Oregon, beguwingt of,

56-7. Amcncsa Society lor Eacotiriiginf the

Settleneat of the Oregon Territory,

j|*43; its contentioai^as to the right

Dtacee to from its aettlement set forth at length,

soTereignt/ over Oregon territory ' mationu advnnt

to rctnft

a6-30.

B

Barlow Road, an examination of, 227.

Benton, Thomas H., urges opening of transcontinental route to the Comm- bia rirer country. 14-18; probable sources of early agitation by others of Oregon occupation, 19-20; sources of Benton's information on Oregon, ao.

Blue Mountains, pioneer roads across,

BracKenridge as source of information on the Columbia river country, and on overland route thither, i6-i8.

Broughton, Lieutenant, survey of lower Columbia river by, 73-5; gives name to Mt. Hood, Oct. 30, 1792, 73; his account of his movements at terminus of his exploratien of tiie river, 77-81.

California historical survey commissi«a, work of, 3os>

Camel, use of, suggested for transporta^ tion across the continent, 18-19.

Champoeg, pioneer park at, 207.

Chatham, Thi Log 9f the H. M. S., 331-243.

Columbia river, early maps of, 7S'7i improvement of, 231-3; topograpbkw conditions at mouth of, 232-3; his- tory of exploration of, 233-7.

Crtig, David Wataon, obituary of, 140-3.

Dye, Mrs. Eva Emery, presents manu- script collection to Society, 229.

Everett, Edward c<mvinoed of practk- ability of Kelley's plan, 21-2; acts in tiM interest of Kelley's project, 26, 30.

Flcgrd, John, activity of. for securing the occupation of the Columbia river country, 13; circumstances that led to bis interest in the Oregon country, 20.

Framboise, Michel l«, aids Kelley on his way to Oregon, 125-6.

Gold, ths Pxomn Stimulus op, 147- 160: wide range of the influence of gold ^kin|r* 147; primitive conditions and isolation prior to gold mining activity. i47-8; estimate of yield of gold mines, 148; limits of settlements prior to gold period, -49: gold discov- eries, 149-52 { range of exploration and prospecting during gold move- ment, 152-4; industry and traffic re- sultSng from mining development, 154- 7: main freight routes, 157-9; stage and mail routes and telegraph lines, 159-60; political and social develop- ments resulting, i6o-i; gold mine yields, 161 -6; gold digging localities listed, 163-^.

Gray, Captain Robert, relics of, 228; first to enter the Columbia river,

H

Hailcv, John, c om ments of, on origin ana use of name Idaho, 89.

Hcceta, Commander Bruno, discovers mouai of the Columbia river, 233-4.

Hermann, Binger, addresses the annual meeting of the Oregon Historical So- ciety. 301.

gisTORiCAL AcTivmn, State, 30<-io. ogs, introduction of different breeds into Oregon. 64-5.

Hood, Mt., circumstances and daU of naming, S98-9.

Hudson's Bay Company's occupation and development of Oregon, 288-93.

Idaho — ^Its MEAWiifO, Obioin and Ap- KJCATION, 83-92; its present mean- ing, 83; origin as Shoshoni Indian exclamation, 83; meanings of compo- nent parta, 84; meaning as a whole, 84-s; name familiar in Colorado rc- gm, 86-7; Comanche were an off- shoot of the Shoshoni, 86-7; Idaho used as name of steamboats, 87; Joa» quin Miller restores proper orthogra- phy of, 68; used as name of county. 89; John Hailey comments on use

ad priirin of name, 89; Mrs. William Wallaoe claims honor of first ap- plying name to territory, 89; name agreed upon at Pierce City. 1861, 90-1; Senator Henry Wilson ot Msssachu- setts selects name in course of legis- lation for organizing territory, 91-2.

niinoi^ the plans for celebrating een- (cnntal of statehood of, 310.

Indian life in Oregon, 243-9.

(818) ​

Index.

Indiana, the centennial of statehood of,

309-10. Indians, condition of, in California, as

described by Kelley, 281: condition of

in Oregon, as described by Kelley,

^93-4.

Kbllxy, Hall J. — Prophet of Osbgon, I-S3; .93-139; 167-224; 271-29$; birth and lineage, i; youth, education and early interests, 1-5; career as teacher and educational activities, 4-7; busi- ness interests, 7-8; his svstem of geo- graphical and topographical survey- ing, 8*9; his part in the projected enterprise at Three Rivers, 9-10; Great Britain's attitude as to relin- quishment of the Astor post at the mouth of the Columbia nver arouses interest in the Pacific Northwest, 11: gets information from journals of Lewis and Qark and from confer- ences with former traders to this re- gion^ 1 1 -1 2; statement of first con- ception of plan of colonization. 12-13; diplomatic and other events that em- phasized need of action with this pro- ject, 13-14; annotmces his intention to settle Oregon. 14; author of me- morial praying for grant of land on the Oregon nver. 20-1; adversaries persecute him to delay his enterprise, 22-3 : carefully chooses name "Amer- ican for his organization for the set- tlement of Oregon, 25; lectures as publicity agent for it, 25-6; memorial of his American Society presented to Congress, 26; memorial reproduced at length, 26-30; publishes a Geograph- ical Sketch of • • Oregon, 30; comments on question of title to Ore- gon, 31; sets forth advantages to re- sult from settlement, 31-4; his de- scription of resources of region.

from settlement, 31-4; ion of resources of region, J4-S: his general circular as manual of

Oregon expedition gives plans for emigration and organization of set- tlement^ 34-42; postponement of date of starting, 43; wide range of location of those interested in the expeditioni 43-4; his influence upon Nathaniel J. Wycth, 44; effect of his writings upon the popular mind. 45; develops interest ox religious bodies, 45-6; op- ponents are active to counteract his influence, 46-50; cause of failure of his projected emigration, 51; plans circuitous route to Oregon through Mexico, 93; his account of troubles en route up to arrival at Vera Cruz. 9^-1 00; account of experiences and observations in passing through Mex- ico, I0I-II6; meets Ewing Young and gets Young to accompmy him to Ore- gon, 118; the party sets out for Ore- gon. 119; account of trip through wilderness to Oregon, 120-6; arrival at Fort Vancouver, 126-9: his experi- ences as an unwelcome guest at Fort Vancouver, 131-7; his experiences on his homeward voyage, 137-9; situation

as to health, finances and marital af- fairs, on arrival at Boston, 1836, 167- 8; takes up surveving, 168; confers with William A. Slacum, but gets no mention in Slacum's memorial, 168-

Jo; project for settlement at New ^ungeness on Strait of Juan de Fuca, 170; his project ridiculed in the Old American Almanac of 1837, 171; his writings used by Senator Lewis F. Linn in report made on his bill, 172; prepares in 1839 for Caleb Cushing a memoir on Ore^n and California, which appeared in Cushing's supple- mental report on **The Territory of Oregon," 172; memorializes Congress for grant of land as author of first permanent American settlements west of the Rocky mountains, 172-^; turns to project of railroad across toe Isth- mus of Panama, 173-4; agitates for transcontinental railroad. 174-6: his habits as hermit at Three Rivers, 177-8; persists in applications to Con- i^ress for grant of land as compensa- tion for services in Oregon coloniza- tion, 178-84: publishes pamphlets to supplement his applications for con- gressional bounty, 183-9; the nature of his afflictions portrayed in them, i8v8; his spirit of altruism endures, 188-9; his writings, 191-201; esti- mates of writings, 193-4; takes pride only in memoir on Oreffon prepared for Caleb Cushing, 195; nis pamphlets characterized, 190-201; denunciations of Hudson's Bay Company and relig- ious phraseology encumber all, 201; the man Kelley and his place in his- tory. 203-23; kindling of his interest in Oregon, 271; objects of his labors for Oregon stated, 271-3; geograph- ical description of northern Califor- nia. 273-81; conditions of California Indians, 281; results of exertions for Oregon settlement stated, 295.

Lane, the letters of Joseph, calendared,

227. Livestock industry in Oregon, begin<

nings of, 61-3. Louisiana citizens petition for grants of

land on the Columbia river, 1828,

21-2.

Maryland farmers petition for passage

of^Uie Floyd bill, 1823, 20. Meares, Captain John, visits the month

of the Columbia river, 23A-5. Middle West, historical field work in.

207-9. Miller, Joaquin, identifies meaning of

Idaho. 88. Mills, Robert, advocates railroad be- tween sources of Yellowstone and

Columbia rivers, 19. Mining in Pacific Northwest — Sec 'The

Pioneer Stimulus of Gold."

[8U] ​

Indbz.

Mississippi Valley, recoUectlons of earlj

life in upper, 246-8. Murphy, John Miller, obituary of, 143-5*

Oregon, first formal action in Congress with regard to, 20; proceedings in twentieth Congress, idaS, affecting,

20-2.

Oregon and Washington contrasted, a6o- 70.

Oregon, Old, expansion of British agri- cultural activity in, $7-%; pioneer American fanners in. «8-p.

Oreson, introduction 01 different breeds of hogs into, 63-^; beginnings of live- stock industry in, 61 3; growth of sheep industry in, 63-4: improvement of horse through breeding in, 65-6; introduction of harvesting machinery into, 66-7; orifi^n of fruit industry in, 67-8; conditions that led to slow development and slip-shod habits of farming^ 68-9.

Oregon pioneers, forty-fifth annual re- union of, 229-30.

OsBCON Progress, thb Piohesr Char- acter OF, 245-o; the character of Oregon a resultant of pioneer life, 245-6; Oregon migrations as part of westward movement, 246; develop- ment and character of public opinion in early Oregon, 248-50; social cus- toms of the pioneers. 250-1; Indian missionary work in, 251-2; the ap- pearance of the mercaqtite element, 252-3; reception of the news of Ore- gon's admission as a state, 254-5; the Oregon constitution. 255-6; the simple life in Oregon, 250-7; Oregon's loca- tion on the Pacific, 258-9; tne pioneer spirit in Oregon, 259-61; the slug- gish Willamette Valley, 261-^.

Oregon, geographical description of, 282-8.

Oregon Historical Society, officers of, 300-1; work of, 301; death roll of, 301-3.

President's range (Cascade mountains) named by Hall J. Kelley, 214-15; 282-3.

s

Saint Helens, circumstances and date

of naming of, 240; 298-9. Sheep raising industry in Oregon,

growth of, 63-4. Slicum. William A., confers with

Charles Bulfinch and Hall J. Kelley

at Boston in 1837, 168. Spokane, history workers at, 221.

Teal, Joseph N., presents weapons to

museum, 229. Trimble, Will J., researches of, 228.

Vancouver, Captain Georfl[e, sails into and explores the Columbia river, 236- 7; extracts from "Voyage," 238, 9, 40, I, 2.

Vancouver, Fort, early agricultural ac- tivity at, 56-7.

Vancouver. Where Is Point, 73-82; reasons that make exact determination of location important, 73-4; causes of lack of knowledge of. 74-5; iden- tification of location of, 82.

Virginia colonv, eaHy projected, for settlement of Oregon, 15-16.

w

Wheat raising, beginnings' of, in Ore- gon^ 56-7: extension of. into outlving sections from the Willamette valley. 59-60; wheat the favored product of the pioneer farmers, 60.

WlLLAlfETTB VaLLEY SoIL RePAIR LxS-

SONS IN, ^5-69; problem of continuous soil rei>air in, <5; the restorers of humus in its soil, 61. Withycombe, James, as governor exem- plifies state's need of attention to

soil repair, 56. ' • B., « 

, _ ritings, 193.

Wyeth, Nathaniel J.,^ the influence of

Wyeth, John B., comment of on Hall J. Kelley *s writinas, 193

Kelley upon, most important, 44; rea- sons for drawing away from Kelley expedition, 51-3; results of his expedi- tions. 53-4.

Yakima picmeers, movement of, 2 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​