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The following diagrams illustrate the method: L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grflce d la gAn4rosit6 de: Bibliothdque nationale du Canada (^ images suivantes ont 6t6 reproduites avec le plus grand soln, compte tenu de ia'^pndition et de la netteti de l'exemplaire film«, et en conformity avec les cprenant le nombre | d'images nAcessaire. Les. diagram mes suivants illustrent la mAthode. f.'. •• 1 2 3[ * . --■- - :r. 4» « ** "^ I ■ 4 • 5 y 6 * 'u 1 • ^..^....,... ,1 , '.'i ik^ P' r oC •^^ OR / j> > V„ ;*.: • *■ - A— ^ ^ ■ rt K ^ J* r" r . / I i - /_, — ^k 4. _Lt rirrrMriiiitiiirTT jL^ ^^^^^ • ^ 1 — ~ "" . c^ '♦ f ' r" ■■ ' • 1 • > « « ^A*!^^ ' ^ THE a:- i OREGON TERHIToIry. 5« ^ 4 .1. ,i r » \ -■••,.• ■ • -■ , 1 k * s| 'O- ,l3pt. 'A \ , ii4^it ' tv.f Sv-i *ai£ -^■^^ -"-«ST ^9*"' J i-o <^^ ^S^ • '^I^K ' * ', / i k *^ • 1 J ^ , 'f-' r '■ ' , « ' ^Bi i ■* ' -i -'" -' '^ • T rfJK' « ■ ^wR' ± .. -■■»■ ^ — -,, ~~''-— _ -»«^K V .; _ 'kM^£b.4.-^.i- ' ■ ' V t "*'^*»" Ji ^m^ iik„. - *■«&: » .V J ■<:*■- THE OREGON TERRITORY: ./ 5EOGKAPHICAL AND JHYSICAL ACCOimT, OF THAT COUNTRY AI^D ITS INHABITANTS i^ WITH OUTLlNESiipF ITS HISTORY AND DISCOVERY. #! BY THE REV. C. G. NICOLAY, OF kino's colleok, and member of the royal oeoobaphical SOCIETV, LONDON. s LONDON: CHARLES KNIGHT & CO., LUDGATE STREET. 1846. - ^-* irfvi. M' n; v: •j,^ i. I «v CONTENTS. -^ ■<*{?■ INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I. OTJTLINE OP DISCOVERY . SO CHAPTER II. DESCRIPTION OP COAST AND HAftsOURS • • 41 CHAPTER III. TRAPPEbS AND V0YA6EURS . . 6« CHAPTER IV. PRPGRESS OF DISCOVERY IN THE INTEfttOR 87 CHAPTER V. DE^RIPTION OF THE INTERIOR m- 9 104 ——CHAPTER Vfr ^ =- NATURAL PECULIARITIES . . ..... .184 ■ h ■r- i'^ CONTENTS. ■>J ff*' CHAPTER VII. NATIVE TBIIBEBt-MANNERS, HABITS, &c. CHAPTER VIII. 139 », SKETCH OP THE FUR TRADE— HUDSON'S BAY OOM- ^ • PANY, &c. f r . . • . - 158 r* i CHAPTER IX. ^^igfdTLERS IN OREGON 177 A- I CHAPTER X NATURAL PROi)UCnONS— COMMERCIALCAPABIUTIES. 193 CHAPTER XI. CONCLUSION. ... . . ... . Ill ■Si:.:. • -.I- MAP "#■ • <^> • Tofiusepa^ im, V °~ '5 T" t:^ ^ ( ' ^ ' -' Jim w. 'f'*^ 'A i5 KoT long ^Bce a vetj gef^rtil^ 1^>ai< ttwfe i i^ gi ci f iirfl g t - respecting tbe westerri^coast ^^<^tti Ameii!ca,aiid' no less general apatbj. With the idea of NootlHb Sound was assoeialed only th«t .ef »»n»e «iibtor« teneous babitatioBS, their roc^s «uppbi!tod by eyl^. drioal beada of colossal dimensions, ^tooned vriecttU|^|low the oafle Hf^ta-ed : not only do sdltarjr tiw^l^ni a^d residilMs '^n^ertain vs with their «xperienc^ tnd6tii|8if ^XpluriHg •« it wercj €«' e««A«rfr^, give^itiore positives 6cription9, whifettie untiring pen of th6 dipleWWBitat •till fii^-mi, naiiijcing perhapsj by liis de^ e^ a0|^ J, % M 8 1NTEOJ)UCTION. f lousrfflearchesafter right and title, confusion only ' TT® ,^<>"^o"n^^ J but our periodical, nay, our daily literature t^ms with reviews, paragraphs, letters, leaders, until the Oregon, the Columbia Vancouver's Island, the Straits of Fuca, the 42 Md 49 parallels, Admiralty Inlet, and Bullfinches' Harbour, are familiar as household words, and we seem to hav# a personal acquaintance with the ^orthies of the western coast, from old Apostolos • Valerianus himself and his Strait of Anian, to the stately Spaniards and pessevering Englishmen who more perfectly discovered the coast, arid their ^rthy successors, whether English or American- Why then, it may be asked, increase the number ? : liet It be sufficient to reply— the potage, k h Meg Jlerrilies, which so excited the worthy Dominie's • blfactoiy nerves and gastronomic propensiUes, de- rived its savour, not from the virtue of a single ingredient, but from the combined good qualities ofmany. ^ The peculiar interest arising from the desire of knowledge implanted in the human mind, and the love 6f novelty consequent upon it, which attaches itself to the idea of a new country as such, ex- ^ elusive of aj^thing national or personal, make the irfquiry into its comparative excellences, whether i of climate, situation, or produce, an agreeable oc- ^ cupation to all. But when, in addition to this, there 18 an interest arising froni connection, whether physical or local, such inquiries cannot fail to excite in the mind corresponding emotions. ■^^lK* t hi s b^ Jnifl^^ i^ origin, there is scarce one, if there be one, among us whK> must not recognise there some ties of kindred and affection j or if this is wanting, at the b2 iijfegfijr^! w -1^ ^-.^ ^ '^Ciw^Mip^ J*, 10 IKTJftODUCTION. lea«i none can be uninterested in the progress of civilwatioa, arts, and sciences, which it has been the honoured office of our race to spread over the world, and i« the kindred spirit of the institutiowi which It has established, recognise that relationship where It cannot otherwise be traced, and look for- ward to the consummation of our destinies as the harbingers of that peaceful recq>tion of the gospel of Christ by the world at large which all long for iod all look forward to with hope. _ The natural intimacy which now exists between the two nations, so well becoming their relation- ship to each other, quickened as it is by the ra- pidibr of the communication which steam has established, the mutual dependence it must gene- rate, and the social interests it must originate, serves to heighten and expand those feelings; so that it might well have bfeen anticipated that nothing could • ever arise with sufficient power to disturb the har- niony of their political and commercial relations, but that, encircling the globe, the mother and daughter, hand in hand,, should shed over less favoured nations the blessings of their united in- fluence, and, strong in that union, preserve, against ail who would infringe it, the peace which it is their interest no less than their duty to maintain ^how much desired and striven for by all right- J^' *"*"' "^"^ **°^ ^**^^® *° ^ broken by the predominanq^ of pride, avarice, and ambition, still so fatally prevalent in the world ! ^It not unfrequently happens that those means wkMOk should be conducive to thp nttsinmcntof any oftject are, by the perverseness of man, converted into a serious obstacle to it ; and so in this case it •eems not unlikely that the commercial superiority a INTBO^D^i 11 possessed by England and the United States over ttXi other nations, which should be the fneans ©f .their spreading religion and civilisation, peace and pros- perity over the fiice of the globe, may interfere to stop their progress, and the very energy which has given them their present position be the cause of its destructioa. The progressive propensity of their common nature seeking advance to anything how- ever distant, if only of apparently possible attain- ment, though doubtless a wise dispensation of the Creator, ami, if applied to its proper purposes, as beneficial to others as to themselves, is also one which, bringing with its gratification incitement to many irregular and uiuiecessary desires, may well feed the Same it should be instrumental in extin* guishing. ' ' From the earliest ages, before the ships of Solo^ mon traded to Ophir every three years for goid and silver, ivory, apes and peacocks, the trade of th« East had raised above its fellowt that state wMck possessed tt : in turns it had enriched Phoenicia, Arabia and Palestine, Turkey, Venice, Portugal, Spain, Holland, and England ; and in turn all but our own country have £i.llen in the scale of nations with its loss, and nothing has so frequently beett « the cause of strife and contention among csM' mercial nations, as indcfed the strenuous efforts making at the present tinw by France and Austria to secure the passage of the high road to the East through their respective territories, sufficiently evidcmce. It was the desire fof the acqoisitioB T>f~thfr ^'iflii that animated^ Ihe vo^iagwi iim travellers of the middle ages with an ardour pm- culiarly their own, and led to the knowledge of the continent on that account called the New Woridi ■^r- ,-^T^j - ^ «■% I- t* 1^ "^ INTRODUCTIOiiir. tia possession, ^hich has elevated our merchants to an equality, not in wealth only but in power, with the princes of .the earth, that by inffaminff the animosity of Napoleon Buonaparte against them, led to his first check and ultimate defeat, may now prove the apple Of discord between those whose circums^nces no less than their origin should incline them to unity and concord. ^Thesuccess which has attended our endeavours e> open the trade of China, round which ignorance and prejudice liad erected such apparently imms. sable barriers, while it has directed the attention of the worid to that quarter of Asia especially, has considerably narrowed the interval which separated u} Europe so much las America, and to this the flood of emigration continually setting towards the west has not a little contributed ; so that the countries which were the extreme limits of com- mercia^ intercourse are now in close proximity, and the trade which has till now been carried round the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn must soon find a more direct route across the Pacific, at least for the supply of the interior of America, if the bulk of it do not return to its old channel by the union of that ocean with the Atlantic j a con- ting^ncy which the possibility of a north-west passage round America, and of crossing the isth- mus which unites its north and south continents^ - either by a canal or rail-road, renders doubly im. minent, and which must consequently form an ele- ment of all calculations which have any connection Mthlhat trade. Tiift initiativo^ having 4b»0 hee tr taken by England, may probably have added to the warmth of feeling produced by collision of in^ terests, and the survey of that chain of colonies with 1^ INT«OI?UCTION. ♦ la which she all but girdles the world, have excited- the suspicion that, by securing to heir^elf the western coast of America, she intended to uiiite its two ends by a firm and steadfest clasp, and become what it was desired for one of her kings, by a poet more patriotic tlian euphonious in his verses— a that he should be / Lord round about and ruler of the sea ; and indeed many things in her former policy paight seem to confirm this supposition ; and these con- siderations have doubtless served to quicken the desire of the United States for territories in addi- tion to the vast extent of surface they have ac- quired, and which they have not even now the means of occupying— formed a powerful induce- ment to purchase Louisiana, and urged them on to the occupation and annexation of Texas, which latter had the more value as it more nearly approached the Pacific— originated their demands on Mexico for an approach to it through het territories, aftd on Great Britain for the whole , of that tract called Oregon, who, with becoming moderation', though asserting at least an equal claim to the whole, is willing, from a sense of justice, to require but an equal share of its soil and an equal participation in the advantages its sitiia* tion affords. That these circumstances, which unite to give commercial and political inaportance to the west coast of America, are not exaggerated, may be conceded, when it is remembered thai India liwB pnn fr ihnlr rf hp > r ^har fl t o t h e PolitJC^ ^ l d iscua^ - sions on the subject, and concentrating in itself, as it does at the present moment, the interests of the United States, the Canadas, and Great Britain ; .m \ m n JiNTB0I>CCTl01*. ^ the one for ber a ult,mat« deciMott of tW wl^ (i„volrinff aT t S^fi!* li.^ «tuation. Nor will the inquiry disao- }>6int theur expeotations. The Oregon uJSr ** interest. It will be found to &11 short of h.^ ^^^ I "'-^l!"*' consequent lum.rfe.nce of ve«: tetaon and utility of production, or in the X Mdemble must be 'the interest attaching to th. Jr^'lsJirf^" "^ "'"- -«"*on.'"th5 tare been mads known to us, especially whei ^d the most successful ^^.^g tCn ^t?„1! ^ of our race, but of our country. N^is thb JW J-the course^of its history has pteed it for " long penod. nnder the control of a commercial company, a peculiarity unknown except iHrS tey'^l'""''^"*^ "''« "" East Indt company for the purposes of trade, hag vet ^r Hn^il?"* Wole^l and beneficial authority kZ^m^T 'l^' ^^ "^y '"' i-A'Pendent r«5^r'J^^ t^^' ?'"»«1»«»»ly. b" zeroised - 2rrir^S^r«/'^- To the desire to avoid political discussion mtfst be attributed the absence of notice of diplomatic correspondence, the comparative raeagreness of the history of voyages, and the entire neglect of one important branch of history, viz., that which treats of the effect of individual actions upon the worid at large ; still it is believed that nothing is omitted ^ which could be instrumental in assisting to a suffi- cient knowledge of the truth respecting it, whether as regards discovery or occupation, though the un- certain effects of treaties are not more within its province than the labyrinths of diplomatic corre- spondence. With respect to its final destiny it may be sufficient to remark, that the very amalga- mation of interests from which the dispute arises, no less than tl>e daHy increasing feeling of dependence! on each other which is drawing all parties nearer together, joined to the circumspection this nearer approach 'of opposite nefemtjntrnniBt -of noooesity - generate, while it delays action and increases hesi- tation as to any course to be pursued, insures at the same time the utmost vigour and energy inaccom- « 3 ^ I*' ^^k. ^-^. :tti^iu. ^ hx '^TL%ii^iJitx^f ti.dt^^M.,*^Mj^ ii^ 4 18 IMKODOCTIOR. ^ Jbt plishing It when onc« dctenaiped on; and, to this we may with confidence look as the security fo^ the preservation of our interests in the West. a. it has beenv the source of our present national pro- spenty, restraining or increasing the power of tl^ pountry, whether political or commercial, like the over the sources from whence it proceeds. There ought at the present day to be no doubt that the £Tat^°^Jr'"lf r *^"''y' "»' deduced fri antiquated and abstract notions of right, but Z between man and man, must ultimattdv triumnh ceived po^ible thatf knowing as all do the loss to a 1 which necessarily follows any war, no less thap the miseries It must occasion,- any iiviUzed m^- tion will wantonly incur them. "ft Peace ran, however, only be lasting if b«s«i on c ated i cpnflicting accounts only Create doubtwd distrust, and few have time or inclination to bJaac* ,&r"T'^"' *'•*' *^'' »n■., - r ' - • ■ "."; • * !► . ... • * - ' • , ■ 1 * ' ' ^ m , - _X ■ ■• . ;,; .. " • 1 .■:■■ • ■ .:7,■.^.^. ^/ r i k.*. if # JO ) * ''f'r-»f^ j' >/.»» '»r ■ I 4-^ f ^ 4 ■i'^ I'l- '/:♦>, ;H[ Ki i,^,, '"'j V')' '■■• ■ ' ■ " ■ ''tsy'ri bf.fl/>!) ■ I *. > ■ ,■ Vided into Are ^rt^'"* -^'*"'''«' ""IV ^o*'** «?-• •! fhe most «m»A»M ^ ^P^nthtoi «mtl»w!nt;«' *^°:;'^«™to tl^ southern ext^mkyS^ ^1^- """ %" ''""'«™« breadth oK^ Is #ta?t , I T' **?' of '"Web, the St^S^i *hh itg lakes and trifeutari^the mLi^ AMtepn, aad Plate (the BiTde te S»m« i*«^lil^iltii^ /hi.f'i5!^L^ ?? *^® largest in the l^r^^^^tK^M continent, suit **"P*^^ *^e extended plains td "t f \"' ''V^i f' _ -f-'^Vi'-fT^^i^'^'i "^ T^" 'i : ' OUTIilN^ OP JDI«COyEB|r* thie^ west^ These mountains are 'called in the scmthern contin^t the Andes, and in thc^northern by .the several names of the Anabuac, Oregon, or . Bocky Mountains, of which the term Anahuae ap- plies only to^h^southern pai|l of the range, while the latter i^^|||pd throughout its whole length ; and that of^nijf^^^jmsi be limited to the part which li^s P^^w FfmUels 42 and 54, and divides the- .^^^^pSdlas and lower part of Canada from the ,||||prt) tepitbi^, and is so called fVom having throughout that distance the sources of the largest, river Of the West, the Oregon or€c|lumbia, within its rocky, bosom.jn^:- -.-f«'- '.-'•■■■^ ^- ■■ -•''!.*. n..- These peculiarities will ^elp to aedount £31' the direction taken by the flood^tide of discovery whicb^ ^t the end of. the fifteenth century, bore Co])umbu» to the New World, and whicli rolling first north 1^ south from ^the Gulf of Mexico along tbei exists of the Atlantic, and then flowing round Oh|^ Horn atfd crossing the narrow isthmus which divides it from the Pacific, thread along the soutll«* ern coast lof. th*t ocean, and eventually to, the northern; but the object which he, as well as the Otlkfr ^ly navigators and those who se^ then f<»i%,f|^d i» vif^, jBkust not be fiargo^n^ as it influenced even /|i|k § grea^w degree the counwTiOf " 5Qveiy^, That object Ji^ to secure, by means le im, the trade of the East^ Indies, ^hioh, ^erto cfp^ied on overland, had enriched jthl> west of Asia and east of Europe, and had latterly luised the sm^U republic of Venice to an equality JtiAh-the^pro ^t mnm r^ l ^ f tb o O l d Wo r ldif ^ j?W this purpose the PortngHK had long been engaged in exploring the «oa^ of Africa to the southward; and having obtained from Pope Nicholas V '<|v^ J^^ M ^ gtaiit t^l couirtries to the east, excluded other nationrlrom participating in the advantages of a route lo jhat direction, if they should discover one. Ihtis barred from the object of their wishes by ^ easterly course, the convictton of the rotundity ^ 4he earth's surface, which the dawn of science tod revealed to some, excited the hope that a way ^fiL^.^"^*^ to the west; and when at length, to 1492, the islands known as t*e West Indies were • discovered by Oolumbus^ they tvere so named oh the supposition of their forming part of the con- tinent of Asia, from whence Europe had hithertx^ ^ procured her precious stones and metals, spices, «iiks, and other valuable merchandise*, and of the extent and riches of the eastern kingdoms, of whick travellers had brought back such marvellous ac--^ counts as might well,— in ai? age when the minds "^^ (it men were peculiarly open and accessible i^ no- ' velty, when the arts and sciences were in the rigour of youth, and literature, stimulated by the dis- covery oF^ printing, making rapid strides, and every ihdication of expansion and advance b«iing evident On the face of society,— as mightWell stimulate the exertions and endurance necessary tb'the outfit and conduct of the numerous expeditions despatched in ttiat dAy for this purpose. *' The success of Columbus having secured the centre of America to the Spaniards, and indeed aH miidwtliscovered to the west having beert granted «iemby the pope, as those to the east had been to Wife Portuguese, all who were bold enoujA to cHg^ jcguid his authority M^re^i^M to scek^i^'la^ it not the riches'whicfi the East and West Indie* g^ttced, in other directions, foremost among Ifiose, the English, under John Cabot and hiS m OUTLISIE Of DISCOTERY. ^» son Sebastiaov in 1497, first reached the shores of the northern continent of America, which they called Nova Vesta (Newfoundland), and probabljr the Strait of Labrailor, now called Hudson's Strait, the Portuguese navigator,G4spar Coptereal, havi^, in 1499 or 1500, first reached its bleak and deso- late shores. The partition of the ocean between the Spaniards and Portuguese was limited to a meridian liaie passing 370 leagues west of the Cape Verd Islands. In 1499 the latter, sailing rowid the south part of Africa, now called the Cape of Good Hope, esta- blished themselves in the commerce they hod thus opened with the East Indies ; but having about the same time, in their eadeavours to reach those parts by a western course, discovered the BrazUs, finding them beyond the meridian prescribed, they took possession, tlWis establishing themselves alao on the western coast of Aioirica, which the Spa* niards had hitherto looked upon as their own* > i The value of^ihe copitries thus discovered by them, no less than flie constant assurance given by tlieir inhaMtants of a great sea and rich cotm^ tries toward the setting sun, added new vigour to the adventure of both nations ; and in 1513 Vasco Nanez de Bilboa, governor of the Spanish settle* ment at Darien, beheld for the first time the vast expanse jittering in its golden light.. His 4m» covery of the proximity of the two oceans naturally induced the stipposition that they were connected, Md in the eadtavowar to MC«f^» ^*»*> ^^ ^ ^ ^ ascertained. The search was now difrectetl north and south, and in 1520 Fernando Idbgeilwi, or Magelhaen— ft Fortugi^se, b^ ift. the anvice of ffl THE OSBOON. Spam — discovered the strait which now bears Ills name ; and sailing triumphantly through it to the oc^n discovered by Bilboa, continued his voyage to the East Indies. It was named by him, trom Its state when he entered it, the Pacific 'TJl'o 5^ ^'l® Spaniard ynder Hernando Cortez, in 1513, the rich and powerful empire of Mexico wf^ di«;overed, and shortly after Peru by those under Pizarro ; and their attention being absorbed wLl V^ f ""V^^^ acquisitions, the East. Indies were left for the present to the undisputed posses- sion^ of the Portuguese. The energies of the thousands of ardent spirits whom the news of their discoveries attracted to the west, found full em- pJovment under these active leaders, and especially under Cortez, whq^ caused diligent examination of the Mexican coasts to be made; and even after having been superseded in his government, he sent several expeditions to the north from his own port, Tehuantepec one of which he commanded in person! in these California was discovered ; and his lieu* tenant, Don Francisco de Ulloa, traced the jrulf oH both sides, and ascertained that it was not an island! Subsequently the Spaniards discovered the Colo^ rado river and, traversing the Floridas and south of the Arkansas, descended to the mouth of the Mississippi. Among the leaders of these expedi- tions, * ernando de Soto was conspicuous. Failinir jnall these to discover the rich countries that had toeen anticipated, or a passage between the Atlantic and lacific attempts were again made on the coast, ^-fr 15 48 Bartolomi For r cl o leached a caue Z^'tio^t "^^^ ^?P^ ^^"^''^ ""' Stormy Cape, in ^\C . ^ ■**** observation, of course dependent •n the inaccui||e computations of these dayi. The OUTLINE OF-DISCOVBBY. ^tl^^ limit of his discovery- is uncertain. It had, how- ever, the effect of inducing the Spaniards to dU- continue the search ; but some time after, having seized the Philippine Islands, and ascertained the practicability of a voyage from Asia throuigh the Pacific by taking a northerly course, they suc- ceeded at length in attaining the object of their endeavours, and opening a trade with intern Asia, and their galleons commenced their annual voyages, conveying the produce of the eastern con- tiint to Europe by the path they had opened at&l^ the Western, , f his offered a temptation too strong to be re- sfeted by such as were not sharers in the booty ; and the English, encoiitaged by their Queen, and Unr awed by the Papal bull or the power of their adversaries, attacked on all sides the Spanish settle- ments on the Atlantic, and thus originated Flibus- tiers or Buccaneers, so famous in the naval history of that age, who, at Erst private adventurers, after- wards united in organised bands under chosen commanders, and spread terror and devastation throughout the new world, and their crimes. and cruelties even yet glitter in the meretricious gilding of their romantic adventures, and thdr names— better known than the conquerors of later date— are still the terror of the people of these countries. But the harvest afforded by the Atlan- tic did not long content them, and in 1575 they crossed the isthmus of Panama in search of plun- der, but without success ; shortly after, the famous of A^llan, appeared on the Mexican coasts. With the rich booty he had obtained, in 1579 he endeavoured to discover a north-east passage home, 44 i^m ^ ^^^H 2b TAB DBXaON* I bat having reached the 48th, or as some say, onW ^ wh.f «ir*"t'',"" ^""^ ^ "•« •»!«» to rotors', * »e.e.v^ from the native chief formal ces«m of the wuntry surronmiing it, which he called New Al- ta« m determwing how fer north Drake really Srr^ of hi» v<7age. The first could scarcely bedepended upon if it stood alone, but it i. ^. Z^^'^u' »«™«Te, for .such cold as is de- ^.bed in the account of his voyage, allowi,» suf, fe^ly for «npliftatio„, wouldTot, probaWy, be ^t 2 2!!*''>'"«^ "»" ••« ««'^ We find ,tLT.' ^^ H t®' P^™"y trending westward «ntil the shores of Vancouver's island, in lat. 48i™ "runcontmuallyto the north-W^-l-to use wi own words, as if it went directly to meet Asia ;" and If m addition we consider that the variation if that _ the coast which with that deduction bears nor h by west would, without it, be full n!X west, thus making good the account of Drake and confirming to that navigator the honour of dUciv^ be remark^ by the way, m a collateral p«>of, ?St Seb^tian Wino give, the same account of tb. north-west direction of the land above hit. 42° in hu s«»nd voyage, and the Bassians, «, late as illt' V ""^ P»">lished by order of the g„vera. ^ ^^.SZ-n",;:?^'!-''*' direction to th. -iTa^ ^ ^ rigTifomia, ^ The onl y obje etioir to this determination ia fevour of Drake arises from through SIX degrees of Utilude in two days; but 'd'< OUTLIM* Oy DISCOVERY. 3!^ this \B entirely gratuitoui, for the " famous vc^age^ expressly tells us, " the 5th day of June, being m 43^ N (t e having i^iled about 1 degree m a day and a half) we found the air so cold that our men compl^ned ; and the further we went the more^ incrLsed upon us ; wherefore we thought jt b^ for that time to seek the land, and did so, finding it not mountainous till we came to 38 degrees to- ward the line ;" where it is obvious that the date ip given to show ti*e peculiar severity of the season, for there is no more mention made of the Ume oci cupied in sailing the 5 degrees south than m the uncertain distance they proceeded north oi 4*5 degrees. Nor does the unusual cold they expe- rienced— /robably much exaggerated m the ac- counts, and rendered more severe by their rec«j;t cruise between the tropics — invalidiite this, for the proximity of the range of snowy mountains to the coast, throughout »its whole length betweai those parallels, is quite sufficient to confirm it. i he account therefore given in the * World Encom-. pass^,' " We searched this coast dihgently, even to the 48th degree," may be so far relied on. Driven back, however, by the prevailing north- erly winds, Dr^ke returned to England by the. south. , 1. Second only to Drake in the terror his name inspired, was Thomas Cavendish, who circumnavi- ffated the fflobe in 1587 ; in this voyage, near th« southern extremity of California, he took the bpa^ ish Manilla galleon, * Santa Anna,' with a nd| c ar g o, a n d setting^ho crew on ftbo r e >u rnt t^e sliip ; but she driving on shore, her crew succeeded in repairing and refiuing her sufficiently to enable them to reach the opposite coast Among^ these « Confessor* of Mammon " were two— bebastia4| .r^.- » THE OKIOOir. the cTpL? ^ as discoverer* on these coasts- and the latter, being sent by the viceroy of Mericrl ^erS?r,l° *' "°^''' ■•"»°«iiately ol K^^^y^ trending northtld n^o^^^t,' 4^1'^ IZ irf^dsln »h.f * ?. «'"™2«e. Md he passed divere ,W?fL -J . ^''"K- ^'ng enter^ thus fer *• wto^he said strait, and being comeinto theZrth- eveiywliere, and to be about 30 or 40 leagues wirfJ Lttf^r"! "J "■•' '""i'^ *here he Xld he thought he luid well discharged his oTce and ^hej^e.ets«ilandreturned&Ac^lf"'''S^ ? n&„h^'"-"l'"' «"?<"'™gement fi^.the sZ'^^.i n^ . ?.''^«1 for his CesTthatl^tZ ^_^R>«d to commvd an expedition to %eZi to '"ttjp.me ihe said Strait of AWn, of whteh^e" trl^ ordwa^r reporU had been circulated, as fonaTiJ^ OUTLINE OF DISCOVERY. Iconnection between the Atlantic and Pacific, and Iwhich he did not doubt but that he had discovered. iMr liock strove hard to interest the English go- ivernment— through Sir Walter Baleighand others P In his favour, but without success, and the old [man died ; his story was discredited until later dis- coveries had gone far towards its confirmation, nothing appearing to confute it ; the allowance of th? variation of the compass being made to account ' for that westerly trending of the coast which he, like « Sir Francis Drake, notices. The anxiety to dis- cover a north-west passage to the Pacific doubtless originated the many false reports prevalent at this time, of such a strait called the Strait of Anian; and Urdaneta, Maldonado, and others did not hesi- tate to assert that they had sailed through it, the latter even offering a card or chart descrip- tive of it. But it has been well observed " that, while the accounts of all such voyages yet made public, are now known to be as false, with regard to the principal circumstances related, as those of the discovery of the philosopher's stone, or the elixir vitae, current at the same time in Europe, and the former, like the latter, had their origin, gene- rally, in the knavery or vanity of their authors, though some of them were evidently mere fictions, invented for the purpose of exercising ingenuity, or, testing the credulity of the public ; yet, as the conviction of the possibility of transmuting other metals into gold, and of prolonging life indefi- nitely, led to the knowledge of many of the most imponsnt wcw in^ ciicuhbm jr> o^ **«** *"^ *»*»••%.• -«»*= tlie existence of a north-west passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific serve to accelerate the pro- gress of geographical discovery and fcientific navi- aiftiffi .•I:- f dQ THE OR^GOlf. ' P^. X.ke the assertions of the empirics in. M^^: '^"^^ discoveries otVrZe^Z BWdonado^ ai^ afterwards of De Fonte, attained a ficW^ousimportance, but for a time onl'y ; wh^ S.n»?f ?"«?*«"«» ot De Fuci receive m aS! fcL .K 1. ",.'5* *"*™'*' " estimated the more justace to men of merit whichlas been denied S by tlieir contemporaries. / d6tl^/r/h5«^"?"!,'' P'r^e to other nation, ^^h^^ ^P*"'T'A' "•"' t'" attention of tke «^ Mde of the American continent, where they tad made permanent settlemen^ or, as thev w«% ailed, plantations, and stUl more byThe K^ »»ce^,n finding a north-west passa^ to the M^ ^ ten'dL'^yjr' ^^ffi"'-^ both wWch ^ been d sooyered in the course of the voya»«» S' ?Tu**'"» '." *•■" '■''''* «'P°«» before 3 iK«.ed, haJ been undertalcen witVuow at lenglh ^«ri^n • .""V"* '■"•^ "'" labours of suc- ceeding navigators have been altwnately revived f honour may rewajtl the successful adventirer^ for many yea™ consequenUy the coa^to^WelS An^ca north of lat. ,42oJr«ma.ned m.i^X Z^^o^,^%r-i °°,f"»h«'-. and the com- J«*i«ler» of ;lre Danish galleons, in >heir annual .■-■■^.kiii^M^i^iT. OUTLINE OP DISCOVERT. 31 royao^es, were too anxious to get into port ^h ^eir° valuable cargoes to think of sailing north bf Cape Mendocino, which was their point for baking the coast ; but the acquisition of Canada by Great Britain, and her growing power in North Lmerica, making the discovery of a north-west ^ssaotj daily more important to her, and more to )e feared by the Spaniards, it became an object of mportance to them, if such a passage existed, to )e the first to occupy its western entrance : as a jreliminary step to this they increased the naval jower of Mexico, and established settlements on ihe western coast of California ; of these the prin- jipal were at San Francisco, Monterey, and Sau )iego. 1- In 1774, * in pursuance of this design, J^aIl *erez was senft| and with him Estevan Martinez, as ^)ilot to examine the coast from the 60th degree of latitude southward to Cape Mendocino, but they )nly succeeded in reaching lat. 54°, when they dis- jovered land, which they named Cape San^ Mar- rarita : this is supposed to have be6n the w6st side )f the island now called Queen Charlotte's by the [British, and Washington by the American navi- Igators. Sailing northward, Perez again made land, lat. 49" 30', and discovered a deep bay between two high points, which he named Port Lorenzo, [supposed to have been that afterwards named 'l?y Cook King George's, and now universally termed Nootka Sound. Sailing still northwards, in lat. 47° he observed a lofty mountain covered with [snow, which he named Sierra Santa Rosalia, and lenceTetuTHBdliome without further discoveiyv^" The accounts of this, however, cannot be entirely depended upon, the Spanish government havin^j; ..x V. I' i tl ds T^ osEoeir. ??7r^ k'*"''"* '^'^'^ *° Captain Cook fa tZ;^^ ^3* roadstead which they named Porf « ^ Innidad, and took DossP«»sinn ,»<• *u "^ ""™f" J^^ort ^, the usual formalklr eS^dL « ?r"*'^ ^^'**A> an inqp«««' ""« "o"l' ITL f"''^ ^^ * r^y considerable distance, and having formed settlements in Kamschatka, had opened a trade with China; the Empress Kathe- nne not less alive than her predecessor to the im- portance of the subject, in 1728 fitted out a sma l' vessel in Kamschatka, which was placed under the command of Alexander Behring, who wa^ i„ «tructed « to examine the coast^'north and «i " An,." ''''*"'^'" ]''?? !.•« contiguous to ■ America or not; and ttenAo reach, impossible ■^" " ^ .F rt °f the Europ mns iji the sailic S" u L wuled, tracing the coast as far as lat. 67° 18', and finding ,t then lake a westerly direction, without -' "Sr.. OUTLINE OF PISCOVEKY. 35 land to the north or east, he concluded he luad dis- •overed the north-east point of Asia, and had as- certained the fact of it9 separation froin America, 'hese conclusions time has fully verified, and the Hrait has universally been named after him, Behr- lng*s Strait. The next year Behri^g attempted to reach the American continent, but \^a8 driven back ; )ut Martin Spangberg, who had been his lieutenant, )assed between the Kurile Islands ten years after- i^ards, and in the interim the north coast of .Asia lad been tra,ced in various voyages and jouirneys to the point whence Behring had returned on his first voyage. This stimulated the Russians to another ittempt towards the east ; and in 1740 Behring was jommissioned, by the Empress Anne, to search for [the western pontinent. He sailed in 1741, in two (vessels, the St. Peter and St. Paul, built for the (purpose in Kamschatka; but the St. Paul was {almost immediately separated from her consort, and [Behring proceeded on his voyage alone ; and under [the 60th parallel discovered, at a distance of eighty miles, a mountain, supposed to be that now called Mount St. Elias. Here Behring determined to return, which he did, tracing the coast_and islands [westward, until his course was impeded by the [peninsula of Aliaska, where turning south-west, he followed the course of the archipelago to lat. 53, when storms arising, " they were," he says, " driven about, a sport for the winds, in misery, destitution, a!id almost despair '" till at last making land they deter mined to winter^ on a small island. H ere Jehrihg and thirty of Ihe ere w died, and tlie sur- vivors having made a small vessel vith the wreck of the St. Peter, returned to Kamschatka. This island is in lat, 54^^ to ^6h, about eighty miles ..7 .86 TAB ORJSGON. tI^h r^i?*^*' '^ '' **"^ ^"«d Behring's J^and. By thw voyage some important geoirra.^ phj^l information was acquired, and a stimuli to for her exertio««, for the skin* of the animals tak^n during their winter sojourn on Behring's Island fetched such high prices as to induce mi^y of the seamen to return for more. From this small be- ginnrng a trade of some importance sprumr up whHjh, m 1766, claimed the Tttention of th^Rus: fiaa government, who despatched an expedition of T^^Pi ?"* ""^^^^ '" ^7^' *« ^^ nTrth-west coast of America, neither of which produced any important geographical result. ^ Jhe extension of tlie British dominions in Ca- nada and consequent importance of a communica- te With the Pacific induced tlm governmentTo o»r a reward of 20,000/. for the discovery of a west passage to the north of the 52nd degree of latitude ; and an expedition was fitted out to make the attempt fr* i he aftefwards entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and sailed in t wuth-south-east for fifty miles; it is also stated! though on not very satisfactory evidence, that the •ame sloop under the command of one Kenrick subsequently sailed through the whole length of the Strait, «id to 63th degree north, ascertaining the "'."ly.f':f."^''.^?y''''^the country in which Ngptk. ■ So und 1. . i tu atcd . In 17 » 0, t he Sptnitrd, h>vk« two ve«,ls, he Discovery and the Chatham, «nd2 the command of Captain Vancouver and Lieutenant OUTLINE OF DISCOVERY. w iBroughton, were despatched, under the authority Sf a convention with the Spaniards, to receive the session of them from their officers in the Pacific. They arrived on the coast in 1792, and in the in- lerini the Spaniards made some progress in ascer- aining- the character of the jStrait of Juan de Fuca ; )ne of their officers, Li^utbnant Quimper, having, [n 1791, proceeded to its eastern limit, and ascer- tained the position of the principal openings of the coast in that direction, though it does not appear that he entered them. In the autumn of the same [year Captain Gray, in the Columbia, visited the [more northern coasts, and explored a canal in laf. |54» 33', which is supposed to have been that after- iwards named by Vancouver Portland Canal, and [wintering at Clayqjiot Sound, near Nootka, pro-. ceeded southward in the spring, when he^fell in with Vancouver and JBroughton, after which he discovered Bullfinches* or Gray's Harbour, between tbe Strait of Fuca and Columbia Kiver in lat. 4^ 58', and the day following entered the mouth of that river, and sailed up it about ten miles, from whence he proceeded in boats some fifteen I miles further, and after some delay, succeeded in his endeavour to get to sea. He gave it the name it now bears, and which Vancouver continued on that account, being that of his brig the Columbia, she having been altered from a sloop since her first voyage. Vancouver and Broughton having passed the Columbia River witliout perceiving it, entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca, making a miQute^irvey of the continental ahore^ the fir^ that had been attempted, and which has been in use among voyagers from that time. Having sur- veyed thp southern branches they proceeded north- c3 _. -^■.. .,.. >-■ t >-^ ■*^. . -BaaB^-i.- . .^ THE OBEGO^. ward, and in the Gulf of Georgia met the Spanish exploring vessels under Senors Galiano and Valdez, which had been previously despati^ed from Nootka, and had surveyed the eastern coast of Vancouver, Island ; with them, having surveyed the continental shore to lat. 51° 57' he returned to Nootfea; from thence proceeding southward, he caused Mr. Whid- bey to survey Gray's or Bullfinches* Harbour, and Mr. Broughton the Columbia River, which he did for upwards of one hundred miles io a point which he named Point Vancouver. In 1794 Vancouver completed his survey of the coasts north of 51** 57', and expressed himself well satisfied that the preci- sion with which it had been conducted ^ould re- more every opinion of a north-west passage within its limits, since which time little has been done by succeeding navigators but to substantiate hil dis- coveries. The result of the knowledge of the coast thus obtained will be detailed in the next ^pter. fV 4. 0*1 '' ( 41 ) ^ ( CHAPTEK^I. DESCKIPTION OF COAST Alfb HABBOURS. Ifhom Cape Mendocino, where a spur from the I Snowy Mountain range meets the coast line, to Mat. 42°, one and a half degree to the northward, the boundary conceded to America bjr the Spa- niards In 1819, and where, according to their authorities, the Oregon territory commences, and from thence to t^e mouth of the Columbia m lat. 46^' 2(y, the coast presents a range of lofty hills descending to the shore in sandy cliffs and beaches, through an undulating, hilly country, clothed with luxuriant forests. Its line is broken by projecting headlands rising precipitously from the sea, round which numerous rocks are scattered, the principal of which are Cape Orford, Cape Foulweather, and Cape Look-out, afdby the mouths of the rivers Clamet and Umqua, and some others of less con- sequence, which here fall into the sea, but afford no shelter to vessels; so small are the openings -which they present, that from the sea the coast Appears entirely unbroken, insomuch that Van- couver skiled close to the shore without perceiving any indication of a harbour or the mouth of a river througboit its irhole length, bbcI indeed he paascd IHie Columb&lf^irwifhout being Aware «fit: " This, however, miwt have happened more from the peculiarity of its situation and character than its insigniftcane*. It is in tr»th a »*lii« fiver, 42 THE OBEGON. but frbm the rapidity of its course tKrouffh the mountains, and the quantity 'of debris which its waters carry -with them,, ittf mouth is too much choked with banks of san^I to be ever available as a iport of the first class. Its entrance, between Cape Disappointment on the north and Point Adams on the south, is^in width about seven miles, spreading north and south, and forms two deep bays j but Chinook Point, the eastern extremity of the northern bay, project- . ing before the entrance, and Point Adams conceal- ing the true entrance of the ;river, between Point Chmook and Point George, where it is above fiv« miles wide, the estuary below being formed by the junction of the mouths of two smalf rivers, one on ' tli| south and another on the north, with that of the l.(aumbia, gives a continuous appearance to the coast. The bar is, at the .deepest point, not morq thaii from four and a half to' five fathoms, and the banks of sand o^ which it is composed 8tretcl)ing five-or six miles into the sea, together -with the current of the river, cause a very Solent swe I, arid the water breaking on the height of the banks from each side, one line of breakers over- lapping the other, gives tlie appearance of an unbroken Ime of foam, rendering the entrance even mote dangerous in prospect than it is in r^iity although all autherities agree as to its difficulty, and Lieut. Wilkes, who visited it in , command of the late exploring expedition from the 'n<»"l!.!{Kil^f!!' ?u!!! ^^^ h is opinion that it is only .-j^j£jj3^f3aM.iji.a ~mj^~ (nroQ XHOiiiiMf xyx* the veaiT Xt ISi ^^ «ow6ver, for more than this, but the shallowness 01 the water on the bar, no less than the intricacy of the channel, must always unfit it for ^kfiji:fS9^^ COASTS AND HAEBOUB8. 43 If large vessels. In the two bays above mentioned Ihere is indeed good anehoTage in from five to 3veti fathoms, but being ^posed to the run of the a they are not safe stations for shipping. The entrance of this river has been well known Lnd much frequented both by the vessels of the HudsonVBay Company and American traders since Its discovery, and its principal features have been leveral times laid down in charts ; but as they all differ more or less from each other in the -posi- fcons of the bar and sand-banks, it is ttfbe presumed that they aj-e of a shifting character, and therefore {he continuance of the present capacity of this sntrance cannot be dep^ed upon. In this jpinion M. Duflot de Mofras coincides. The sand- janks occupy the middle of the river for twenty- pive miles above its entrance. On the ^uth side la narrow channel w^s supposed to terminate at iTonffue Point, about ten miles from Point Adams, until Lieut. Wilkes ascertained the existence of one beyond it far better than that generally used, which is on the north, affording a clear though narrow passage for ships to CalUmet or Kallaraet Island, to which the course of the nver 'is nearly east and west. This island divides the river into two channels for five miles, and Puget « Island eitends immediately above it for three more, and for ten mil^ further the river is impeded by several islands ancV sand-banks as far as Mount Coffin, a conspicuous emine^^p on the north shore, and a burial-place of the^Xiylian^, above wMch it receTvesTthe waterr"uf -the ^Qowelitr Bircr, about fifty miles from the sea. To this point its course is circuitous ; frpm thence its direc- tion is north-west and south-east for abou^ ten. ^1 '^^'^mmmmmmmtl a THE OBEOON. mUes,when it again bends east and west till it receives the waters of the WaJlamette T Mu to us mouth. This nver enters it in two channels separated by the Island of Wappatoo (Z^U^ from an edible root with which i? ab^nS ut about ame miles long and five above th^ ^fmouth On the north side of the river is Fort Vancouver the pnncpal settlement of the Huds^XX Company above which the stream narrow" in ite passage through the mountains, and faXoC bv rapids and cascades. To this point the river fana wt'orits-'iTrtlThoJt^ rci^ t t^ray the American merchant captain who sZ witereA^, p^tected from the w^t byThU'w Point %.^ it has tolemWe anchomgeT About Point Adams, at the south of the en- in f::iiU; t"V' '°L''"i«-»''y, but iL^lng vJ^a^ " T*^«^ '^<"» the shore. On Point George, at the opposite or north side of oearing E.S.Vrsix miles, stands Fort Geomre or Clatwp, the Astoria, of the AmericMT^rhf cCr ' *"" '*"'^'"^' '*"' ^ «iv»r anotht, ofJZ I^id 'ir'l.?"'1: " " '^^' ^y 'he mitives ur^n, and which has thus given its iiain« lo *h. territory; «nH h„ >u„ tf-. ■ 8,";° "» ■"» to th« S z; : n^ '!! ;.^ -i^"^^":^^ navigator of that namer^hlTs ^^^dTolhr fi^^ ♦ M. Duflot de Mofras says by the river 120. COASTS AND HAEBOURS. 45 aerceived its mou&if^^s before-mentioned — large jixportations of fuiS have been made yearly by the [udson's Bay Company to Englanflij^nd some laller quantities Iji^e been sent by the Americans China and the Snited States ; there is now also flourishing trade carried on with the Sandwich islands and other parte of the Pacific in lumber and Bhingles, and ' h^re the Russian vessels and others trading on the cOast are supplied with provisions ; t has hitherto b0en the principal if not the only port " )f this district, because the numerous branches )f the Columbia have been the roads by which the peltries (furs), the chief and at one time the only [exports of the country, were brought to the sea. I With a change of circumstances its position mts^t change also, and the emporium of the West musib^ I be looked for elsewhere. Cape Disappointment, ia the north of the mouth ^ of the Columbia, is a high rocky blutf covered with pine-trees, joined to the main land by a low narrow strip of sand, to which it slopes gradually : its lati- tude is 46'' 19'. From the mouth of the Columbia forty-five miles of unlSroken coast reaches Whidbey's Bay, called by the Americans Bullfinches' Harbour, and not ynfreijuently Gray's Bay, which, with an entrance of scarce t\vo miles and a half, spreads seven miles long and nine broad, forming two deep bayfl like the Columbia ; here there is secure anchorage be*- hind Point Hanson to the south and Pojnt Brown to the north, but the capacity of the bay ia lessened to one-third of its size by the sandbanks which encroach on It in every direction . Like the Columbia, its mouth is obstructed by a bar which has not more than four fathoms jvater, and as it stretches some three miles to seaward, with breakers 1-^1 t ^jaw*' ' ""^ -^''■.^'{^r*"" f^r^^ff^'*: 46 THE OBEOOlr. on each side, exf nding tlie whole war to the shore, the difficulty pf Intrance is incZed. it hes nearly eaat and west, and receives from the east the waters of the river Chikelis, having it^ frl M** ''r^.f ""^ ">?"«««!"«, ^vhich, stretcM^K from Mount Olympus in, the north, divide th! coast from Puget's Sound. F,y,m Whidbey's Bay ZnTe\^ ^°^*, """"Portant, break the iron 2" of .the coast, which rising gradually ihto lofty mountains is clowned in hoiry grandeur bv tie «now-clad peaks of Mou.t OlyJiip^. cL F'a - tery called also Cape Classet, is a conspicuous pro- ^ S li^T "*• f° 27''.*'*^°"'^ it. distant Ce Zr^nH^ Tatouches Island, a large flat rock, with perpendicular sides, producing a few trees snr rnedl'.r"."''y'^*'^= " il^one mile In /eng^h; Shi 1 * ''""^''y ^ ''^ "'■ '•°<='"' '^nd a mile further, leaving a clear passage between them, is L^s" W ''^■Pr""?"^! ^"^ ««■•« commences in tet. 48 30', that mighty arm of the sea, which has S^";,-*;!? f ""'"«'> fro™ i'« fii^t discoverer, the • r^i uu ^* ^"''*' *"'' *'''<='' "■e have seen Cook pa^ whhout perceiving it, indulging at the ultation over the old Greek pUot, who had so long thf P.X"f '.k" P*"'"'Jy '■o'- *''« <■"*"«> fleets of rL^f . 5* emporium of Western America. 3w.l. iT"* ?^ 'i'" '""^'' '■' o'^"' ten miles in ar oTis :we:^viani:tr?.rejn- givesntn it-line on the Pa.iifUr'-Tun.rinTrf S- «.»terly direction for upwards of^one hu^Cl :l^:f^ i«5j5»» COASTS AND HARBOURS. 47 liles, its further progress is suddenly stopped by "^ I range of snow-clad mountains, at the base of *-hich, spreading abroad its mighty arms to the lorth and south, it gives to the continent the ap- pearance of a vast archipelago. . J ., ,, The southern shore of this strait is described by ''ancouver as being composed of sandy cliffs of ..loderate height, falling perpendicularly into the «sea, from the top of which the land takes a further fcentle ascent, where it is entirely covered with trees, chiefly of the pi^- tribe, until the forest reaches a range of jOg^ craggy mountains which 1 seem to rise from the woodland in a very abrupt manner, with a few scattered trees on their sterile sides, and their tops covered with snow. On the north the shore is not so high, the ascent more gradual from then<» to the tops of the mountains, which are less covefed with snow than those to the south. They haveJOtom the strait the appearance of a Compact range. Proceeding up the strait about seventy miles, a long low sandy point at- tracted Vancouver's attention; from its resem- blance to Dungeness, on the coast ol> Kent, he named it New Dungeness, and found within it good anchorage in from ten to three fathoms : beyond this the coast forms a deep bay about nine miles across ; and three miles from its eastern j^oint lies Protection Island, so named from the position it occupies at the entrance of Port Discovery. Vaur couver landed on it on the 1st of May, 1792, and thus describes its appearahce :— " On landing on the ^e8t end, and iBcending its emineHee, whieh wag a^ nearly perpendicular cliff, our attention was imme- diately called to a landscApe almost as enchantingly beautiful as the most elegantly finished pleasure- 48 TH£ OREGON. grounds in Europe. The summit of this island presented nearly a horizontal surface, interspersed with some inequalities of ground, which produced a beautiful variety on an extensive lawn covered with luxuriant grass and diversified with abundance of flowers. To the north-westward was a coppice of pine trees, and shrubs of various sorts, that seemed as if it had been planted for the purpose of pro- tecting from the north-west winds this delightful meadow, over which were promiscuously scattered a few clumpsW trees that Would have puzzled the most ingenious designer of pleasure-grounds to have arranged more agreeably. While we stopped to contemplate these several beauties of nature in a prospect no less pleasing tjjan unexpected, we gathered some gooseberries jsand roses in a state of considerable forwardness." , Lieut. Wilkes, who visited this spot in April, 1841, writes thus: — *' The description of Vancouver is so exactly appli- cable to the present state of this port, that it is difficult to believe that almost half a century has elapsed since it was written. The beaptiful woods and lawns of Protection Island remain unchanged. The lawns nioduce the same beautiful flowers and shrubs, andalthough they are surrounded by dense woods, do not seem to have been encroached upon by their luxuriant growth, although there is no apparent reason why it should not long ere this have overrun them." He adds, '> this island covers Port Discovery completely to the north, and would render it e asil y defensible against th e m ost formi- daldir atSct.^*^ — ^^ „___-_-__ From this island, lying at the entrance of Port Discovery, comm^iees the maritime importance of the territory^^U^, mya Yanc^ver, bs lane & bar- kji. w-.-,/«Sifei«S. , tJ^ COASTS AND HAEBOURS. 49 Lur as any in the world, though subsequently he \ward8 the palm to its neighbour Port Hudson ; and imong the many harbours on the coast m more lorthlrn latitudes, which afterwards presented to iim their varied advantages, it is probable he found >thers as worthy. But, in tri^th, lUtle more can be desired than this affords ; for m addition to the ffoadstead, which, protected by the island before [named, affords secure anchorage in deep water without rock or shoal, the harbour itself extends above nine miles inland in a partly winding direc- Ition north and south, with an average width ot Umethinff less than two mtles, shoaling from thirty- six fathoms at one-half its length to twenty-eight i and three-quarters, and thence gradually to seven at its extremity, where it receives the waters ot a considerable stream. Its shores and scenery have been thus described by Vancouver. " The delightful serenity of the weather greatly aided the beautiful scenery that was now presented; the surface of the sea yraa perfect^ smooth, and the cduntry before us presented all that bounteous nature could be expected to draw into one point ot view. As we had no reason to imagine that this f countwc had ever been indebted for any of its de- j corations to the hand of man, I could not. pos- ''^ibly believe that any uncultivated country had ever been discovered exhibiting so rich a pictuill The land which interrupted the horizon bdow the north-west aud north quairters seemed to be much broken, from wh^ce its ea stern extent round to south-east w^ boundeTby a ndge of snowy muuii- tains, appearing to lie nearly in a north and south di- rection, on which Mount Baker rose conspicuously, remarkable |fiMr ito height and tte snowy mountains "^ r ^ m *HE OREGON. and was well coverfirf ^iiu ^'^'''^J'.^^""*; «8cent, w dern«^\f/''1 """"J'y «» one uninterrupted m pleasing oould not ftil to caJl to our rem.r .Tif!S?r'?'?'°'" ^""^ Discovery Inl* bya narrow broad, which trending to the,*art' protecto it f«^ the north and west, i. Eo/tlSudron hav „rS wh^hth, h K '"°™ '^ °"* ""''« broad, Cm for«K. . r"^°"',*'"*'®«' in a semicircular foiT • for atl °" ""'*" ^i"*""^' »"<' th^n fenS ^or about snt more, affords excellent shelter and *i\ rr 'IT*"* I" '""" '«" '» tweny fathom. It Srwilf""" "f '""•'• ^' " "> be rema^k^ nillM and a quarter loi.^ -"•" ■■"""'"r oniy iUM» that the m Ju^Int^C to eTw^^r^ oeing lormed of two narrow tongues of land t^ COA8T9 AND HASBOUBS. lloBing a narrow canal of equal length vfith. the rbour, and having " a snug little port" at the Northern, and a passage for boats at their southern ctremity, practicable from' half flood to half ebb, it dry at low wat^;^ These tongues, projecting ito the arm of the sea which bends south from the trait of Juan de Fuca, are almost isolated, being rashed on the south side by the water of a deep ly, in which t^so there is secure anchorage, and ^ arming altogether a combination of maritime ad- i^antages rarely, iilever, to be met with elsewhere. Tere nature seems to have made meet preparation ^r the future foundation of the capital of the west, md " here," says an American writer, " whatever !ourse emigration may for the present take, the commercial operations of the territory will event- tally centre ;" the great rise and fall of the tides >ifering unsurpassed facilities for Dtiiiding maritime itablisliments, and the passage of the strait being tnever obstructed, while o the country affords every linducement to occupation and cultivation, the soil [being, for the most part, a light sandy loam, in Imany places of very considerable depth, and abun- mtly mixed with decayed vegetables. The vigour md luxuriance of its productions sufficiently attest [its fertility ; it abounds with all useful timbers ; the woods are filled with g^me, and the waters teem [with fish, and are covered during the season with jaquattc fowl ; the hills contain iron, and coal is lot far distant, so that there is no want even of [civilized man which its prolific soil does not supply.' In lat. 4 8Q 16^the watw of the gtrait^tro^4iv4ded by a high white sandy cliff, with verdant lawns on each side; this was named by Vancouver Point > Partridge. It forms the western extremity of aa 6^ TOE OREGON. mt, kfland^long, low, verdsfft, and well wooded, lying close to the coast, and having its south end at the month of a river rising in those mountains whinorth. It is navigable for seventy^ miles, but vessels drawing more tfen twelve feet water cannot pass the bar at its mouth, and Its course is, like that <^f the Columbia, im' peded by sandbanks. The Hudson's Bay Company b^e a fort galled Langley, twenty miles from its mouth. Here the gulf is open, and the naviffa. tion unimpeded, excepr by a few islands on Sie north shor^ ; one of them, named by the Spaniawis de l?eveda, deserves notice ; it is parallel with the shore, narrow^ and about thirty miles lone. In this part of the gulf, in the month of June, Vancouver saw a great number of whales ; and her^ also he met, as we have seen, the Spanish vessels, Subtil and Mexicana, despatched for that purpose from Nootka Sound, under the com- mand of Senors Galiano and Yaldez, who, havino already examined the south-western shore of the plf, proceeded to assist him in prpsecutine L toquiry.into the character of the north-eastern? The peculiar feature of this continenUl shore is the long narrow channels of deep water, from this 6ircmnstance called canaU, which wind circuitously Jound the base of its rocky mountains j towards the north-west they get longer and more intricate ; •fee gulf becomes contracted and blocked up with Wands, and the shores rise abruptly, in high black perpendicular rocks, wearing on the whole so barren »nd .4ir^ry an aspect t ha t t his " ^ " ' T.: ,~-y/ "" '*?ifH^!' ^"»'- i ius part of th»4»t tf^ ^bSfned the name of Desolation Sound. It li, however, probable that the geneml feel. - ■! '»S«V'^ "*•- ■•'" ' tliff^W COASTS AND HARlibUSS. 67 ing of the dreariness of this region proceeds in a gt^t degree from the contrast it affords to the rich aod beautiful country to the south ; for it is de- scribed as highly romantic in character, cleft by deep dells and ravines, down which torrents rave with foam and thunder, high rocks of every variety of fantastic shape, and, above all, snow-covered mountains of massive grandeur ; yet escaping the imputation of being " sublime in barrenness," from the number of fir-trees, which, springing from every crevice, clothe with dark verdure their rocky and precipitous sides. AniOng the natural features of this part of the north? shore of the g^lf, must not be omitted, on account of their singularity, the small salt-water lakes, which are found divided from the sea only by a narrow .ledg^ of rock, having a depth, over it of four feet at high-water. They are consequently replenished by the sea ,every tide, and form salt-water cascades during the ebb and rise of the tides ; some of them, divided into several branches, run through a low swamjpy wood- land country. Here also are streams of water, so warm as to be unpleasant to the hand ; and every feature of this district evidences the violent effort of nature in its production. Except the coast and canals, nothing is known of it ; but its mineral rich^ are scarcely problematical. Xhe channels between the several blands which here obstruct the gulf are narrow, deep, and much impeded by the strength of the tide, which ^^s sufficient in some places to stop the progress of a sieam-vessel, as has been freniiftntly expenencedi by the 1^ CompanJ:^^ steam-boat Beaver ; yet Vancouver found no difficulty in working his vessels through Johnstone's Strait, the passage between these islands d2 * • ». . Sr t» THE OREGON. and the sUthern shore, against a head-wind : beine compelled, as he says, tb perform a complet! traverse from, shore to shore through its whole length, and without meeting the least obstruction from Tocks or shoals. He adds, " the great depth of water, not only heje, but that which is generally found washing the shores of this very brok^ and divided country, must ever be considered a pe- culiar circumstance, and a great inconvenience to Its navigation; we, however, found a sufficient number of stopping-places to answer all oiir put- poses, and in general without goiqg far out of our way. j*rom this archipelago, extending about «xty miles the strait widens into a broad expanse which swells to the north in^a deep sound, filled with islands, called Broughto/s Archipelago. This part was named by Vancouver Queen Charlotte's of the archipelago, but it contracts immediately to S^.h. ^*^''l.^"^^'^^i^ "^^^ ^'^"^ Johnstone Straits joins the Pacific, its northern boundary, tn Fl Q T.^T^ *" ^^^' ^^^ ^^' The entrance to the Sound is choked with rocks and shoals. Here, between Broughton's Archipelago and t^ape Caution, another mountain, called Mount Stephens, conspicuous fropi its irregular form and great elevation, and worthy to be named with those to the south, seems to mount guard over the north- ern entrance to the Straits. o« J^/ ««"thern shore of Queen CharlJ)tte's Gulf and Johnstone s Straits, and the Gulf of Georeria ^d^he northern shore of the Strait of Juan de ■■■e proper, arefomitid by the rast and iouHi sides of a large island, of which the Spaniards, having ^examined th^ coast in 1792, aa Z have seen, U sIlJ'&j • >"-(!»'3'i-^~^-si?^ COASTS'AND HARBO0RS. 59 was named by mutual consent of the English and Spanish, after their commanders, the island of. Vancouver and Quadra. It is in form long and narrow, in length about 250 miles, and in average ' breadth 50, with a surface of upwards of 12,000 square miles. A range of lofty hills extends through its whole length, and it is perhaps even more fertile, and has « more open glades and land fit fbr cultivation, than the southern continental shore. Its western side is pierced by deep canals, and has many excellent ' harbours. Of these, Nootka, Clayquot, and Nitti- nat Sounds are the principal and best known ; but there are others, ^especially one on the south-east side, of great value. This has been described as formed by two bays, each capable of containing a large fleet. Mr. Dunn describes this country, in point of beautiful scenery and fertility of the plains, though not so large, as even superior to the Walla- mette Valley, south of the Columbia, which, with that of the Umqua and Clamet, are considered the garden 6f Oregon. It has beautiful riversof wate^, and clumps and groves of trees of various kinds, scattered through the level lands ; ai\d here, on account of the advantages it afibrds, and theJer- tility of the country round it, the Hudson's &y Company have established a large cattle-iarm and fort which is called Victoria. We have seen that Nootka Sound was discovered by | Captain CJook in 1778. His description, which ^cceed- ing voyagers have confirmed, is as follows:— It is aitiiated at the bottom of a wide b»y» and entered bet ween Wo" TOcTcy^ east-soutB^ east and north-north>west, distant from each other between three and four miles. Within these I 60 THE OREGON. points the sound widens considerably, and extend^ on to the northward four leagues at the least, ex elusive of several branches towards its bottom. I the middle are a number of islands of variou. sizes : the cove in which our ship lay is on the east side of the sound, and the east side of the largest of them. The depth of water in the middle of the sound, and eve^ close down to the shore, is from forty-seven to ninety fathoms. The harbours and anchoring places within its circuit are nume- rous. The land bordering on the sea-coast is of a middling height and level ; but within the sound it ris^ everywhere into steep hills, which agree in their general formation, ending in round or blunted tops, with some sharp though not very prominent ridges on their sides. Some of these hills may be reckoned high, while others of them are of a very moderate height, but even the very highest are entirely covered to their tops with the thickest woods, as well as every flat part towards the sea. He adds, the hills are little more than stupendous rocks, covered with a thin layer of decayed vege- table matter, but qualifies this assertion by stating that the trees in general grow with great vigour, and are all of a large size. The climate is salu- brious, and incomparably milder than that on the east coast of America under the same paralleL Clayquot and Nittinat Sounds partake of the same character; indeed the former has been preferred by some navigators. This, though, as we have seen, the first spot on the coast occupied by Europeans, and contested by the English and Spaniards, is now nearly deserted, the trade in iiiTs not 15emg so ihoi brisk as along the continental shores and northern archipelago. COASTS AND HABBOUB8. 61 At the northern extrenaity t)f this island there is fa large and excellent field of coal. Spanish natu- ralists assert that iron, copper, and silver are to be found in its mountains. Separated only by a very narrow channel from the eastern shore, lie the islands of Galiano and Valdez, hear the entrance or Que^n Charlotte's Sound; of which a group of scattered rocky islands, called Scott's Islands, stretching away tq the north, forms the southern limits. From Cape Caution, oiF which are several groups of rocks to lat. 54" 40', where the Biissian territory commences, the coast has much the same character as that already described between the Gulf of Georgia and the sea, but that its harsher features are occasionally much softened, and its navigation less impeded. Throughout, its whole length it is cut up by long and deep canals, which form various archipelagos of islands, and penetrate deeply and circuitously into the land, which is high, but not so precipitous as about Desolation Sound, and generally covered with trees. The islan(|s lying close to the shore follow its sinuosities, and through the narrow channels thus formed the currents are rapid : those more detached are more fertile: they are all the resort of th% natives durino^ the fishing season. Their formation is granite, tne prevailing rock north of lat. 49°. Distant thirty miles at its nearest and ninety ajt its farthest point from the line of islands whick cover this coast, and under parallels 52° and 54**, lie s Queen Ch arln tte'fl Island, called by t he Ame- ricans Washington. It is in form triangular, about one hundred and fifty miles long, and above sixty at its greatest breadth, and contains upwards of '»«W»*^^- >7^1f 62 THE OBEGOW. four thousand square miles. Possessed of an ex- cellent harbour on its east coast, in lat. 53° 3' al^d another on the north, at Hancock's Kiver (the Port 01 traders. The climate and soil are excellent luU. lofty and well ,vooded, and its coast Sallv on the west side deeply indented by a™T,hI sea, among which may be named Enrfefield Bav and Cartwright's Sound. ' . ^ f^^ Coal and some metaU are said to have been found on this islapd. " ^®" It has been remarked that the principal feature of this coast IS its canals : these are con^^ted wUh ^twZ tL'-r'^' *''^'l ''"'" channels enlS betwden the islands on the coast. Of these ho tween Cape Caution and Cape OmmanT' the" southern point of the -Russian territory, th/^ are four, Fitzhugh, Millbank, Nepean, Jd cSham Sounds At the mouth of Fitzhugh SouS^hS Calvert's Island, above the Pearl and ViX Rockr offCap* Caution. On it there is a mountain «S « a conspicuous object from the entrance to Qu^„ Charlotte's Sound. This sound spreads intS canals, the south of which is divided intlmi channels, called »,ntink's Arms, and of th^H* northern IS remarkable as receiving the waters bf Mackenzie's Salmon River. Her«f after Tr^nt the continent, he found by observation thafh! must be near the Pacific, and made an inscriptio^ the ttTn I'sIa'V"" 7?'^"™ J^""" v£S tne spot m 1 833. Near this place also Vancouver found two good harboure, which he named ~I. ^pjjLPorts. Jahn^ and R^torntion. ntI»X prevailing growth is hard wood beech, m;;!; &; and the feature of the country i„.h s^S ' ■ -^a^'rW/ COASTS AND HARBOUBS. 63 Millbank Sound lies a little to the north of Fitz- hugh Sound, and near it the Hudson's Bay Com- pany have a fort, called Fort H*Loughlin. From Fitzhugh to Nepean Sound the Princess Royal Islands extend for about one hundred miles and are separated from the shore by a very naWow channel. It divides into two a/ms. About^^ southern the country is l-ocky and desolate, but round the northern it is well wooded. Into this a river, which has been called Salmoiilterer MU and it terminates in a valley of con JH^ extent from three to four miles, wide, cc^^Kh tall forest trees, chiefly of the pine tribW"^ ^ Between Nepean and Chatham So^aTTie Pitt's ;f„'. rt^^' ""^j"^ ^^"^^^ '^^ coast-Hne for about one hundred miles, and Banks Island, separaS from It by a very narrow channel about forty milS long: the shores are rocky and covered with 7nZ SV ^-^""f '^' u^"""*^ ^ mountainous/ At Port Essington, on the continental shore, a variation of 13°, from the observatio^is of the previous day was observed in the needltby VanLuvr ind^* F^m" p:rtT^ T'^ chaLteToTtr:i *rom Port Essingtpu another island extends tnv about thirty mile, panaiel to the coa!t ot ib northern point, which Vancouver named MmC fe '^iSt""'' Bay Company have estaW^^ ^fthJ f Simpson. This b the northern limit W «nT ?f '^^ 1"^""^- ^«"» this point two long and wide canals stretch deep into the land in I "?f f ly direction : the western divldttie l(^L The eastern, terminating n Salmon Cove receives the watere of Simpson River ab"ve two hundred niiles north of Mackenzie's Sdmon d3 *' ••.^i \ .-iiia*£.tfl /•,' V j^^TEj!*' "■ ~ I ■ TBK OBEOOir. ,%-^ ■fi , River J and about half way between these another rirer, called also Salmon River, has been noticed ; the three divide the inland country into nearly •qual portions. These canals form an inland navi- ^tion, calj^, it was supposed, from its magnitude, EwenNassjbut more probably aftet the Nass tribe, who inhabit the coast; unless,. indeed, they take their name from it, ^«£^«» signifying great. But it is to be remarlced that teste signifies water, and a mistake of nasg; or ness, for tesse is not improbable on the part of the voyagers^ The country is here well watered and wooded, and abounding with game. North of Chatham Sound is the coast claimed by the Russians for ten leagues inland to Mount Elias, in lat. 60- 15', the interior being part of the British dominions in North America. Beyond that point the north-western part of the continent belongs solely to that country: its features are similar to those that, have been described as pre- vailing north of lat. 51% excepting that the islands are lu^er, the canals wider and deeper, and the harbours more numerous and implortant, until lat. 58% when tfee coast, bending towards the west, pre- sents an unbroken Hne to Point Riou, below Mount Elias, with the exception of one krge and deep inlet, named Behring's Bay, where there is a harbour of some capacity. From this description of th% principal features of this cfest, extending IIGO miles from Cape Mendogino to Cape Ommany, the i^orthem part of Chatham Sound ; ^o the north its iron y^un d coasts and Western Archip^go ; to the Vawftre, Yancouycr'i Island ; tha atraifii n# Fuca ahSPuget^ Inlet ; and to the south the nouth of the Columbia, and the unbroken coast to the DOflli and souil ofx||f the truth of th« ./•■av ':'-x*,/- se another u noticed ; nto nearly iland navi- nagnitude, Nass tribe, they take It. But it iter, and a mprobable try is here ding with ist claimed to Mount tg part of . Beyond continent itur^ are d as pre- he islands ', and the until lat. west, pre- )w Mount and deep a harbour )n of th% ing lieo Ommany, the north hip^go ; StraittiiiP iie mouth At to the ( 66 ). ■*<;; ScaltofMllM. IS W 45 00 -K, L 1,1 H *v • '.*■ V *- <• ' * -^^ J"' AST8 ANQ 9ABB0UBS. 67 tioH before made is most evide^it, viz. that its mari- time importance is entirely confined to the strait of Juande Fucaand southern extremity of Vancouver's Island, — the entrance to the ports^'south of that, limit being embarrassed with sand-banks, and of those to the north impeded by the rapid currents, depth of water, and rocky shores. Here, however, are presented a series^ of harbours unrivalled m quality and capacity, at least ^within the "same < limits ; and here, as has been renmrked, it is evi- dent the future emporium of the f*acific, in West America, will be found ; so that we are iSbt sur- prised to find M. Duflot de Mofras, in his < Bk* ploration du Territoire de FOregon,* saying of it, with whatever truth, but with especial reference to Admiralty Inlet, " C'est le pSint k la conserva- tion duquel tendent tous les efforts de la Oto* pagnie d'Hudsoif, dans les negotiations du gou- vernement Anglais avec les Etats. Clhis pour le rtfglement des fronti^res ;" or Mr. Wilkes, express- ing their character thus briefly biit significantly :-^ « Nothing can exceed the beauty o? these waters and their safety; not a shoal exists within the straits of Juaa de Fuca, Admiralty Inlet^ Puget's Sound, or Hood's Canal, that can in any way in- terrupt their navigation by a '74-gtin ship. I venture nothing in saying there i* no counti^ in the wodd that possesses waters equal to these." ,w a*_ ' I, Kfta^iisMeM^ii^^M 68 « '^ ; ■ CHAPTER III. ' ^^ TBAPPEBS AND VOYAGEUR8. Although there has been always a prestige in favour of the sailor whose adventurous prow has ^firet tracked the waters and jieYietrated the har- bours of strange lands,— .though Smagination warms wjth the delights of the sunny sea, scarce dim- pled by the soft breath of the zephyr,— while the gallant vessel, spreading her white x^nvass to the telmy air, glides swiftly under its influence towards the wished for chores, already beginning to cast their varied and i)icturesque shadows in the ocean's glassy mirror, while sea and sky iare vocal with the not^ of their feathered tenants, and dolphins sport their thousand hues before the stranger's eyes, the beaux of the djfep waters,-H90 that at the thouirht we exclaini with the poet— , *' He who hath iailed upon the deep bine «ea, Hath teen at times, I ween, a full fair sigljt ;" or irepurring to the horrors of the lee-shore and midfflght gale, the surf-covered reefs and iron- bound coast, or the still more terrific tosnado of the tropin, the vessel on her beam-ends, and masts bending like bulrusheaand snapping by the board ; the sea, boiling like a whirlpool, making a clear br each OVPr ^11- mid vat Kv ^^ \ utirV\r aaAtX^ *^.^ ff they live to tell the tale, how the wind changing, or % over-»trai«ed vessel righting, or perchance in TilArFICBS (7AGEURS. 69 open boats they get saf^ to land, and there in val- leys breathing perfume^ limid groves loaded with fruit ands gladdened M[ith the song of birds, they • recruit their weariki bodies, and refit or rebuild theit ocean home, to proceed to new dan^rs and new escapes: although such scenes have thrown a halo round maritime discovery, and led many an ardent spirit t6 ** tempt the brjny foam," yet, if the labours and dangers be considered, the traveller may well claim an- equal share of glory and adrairatioh with the sailor, although it be not heightened by the poetry of the ocean. Not less are his fatigues, not Iks his dangers; nay, he car- ries not with him, snail like, his home and its coftiparative comforts; nor has he the means of escape from dangers when imminent, nor under' difficulty ancLdiscouragement so many comrades to assist and asftre him; strong in himself alone, he must proceed, independent of circumstances, and prepared to iind in the course of his travels those necessaries of life which he is unable to carry with hm ^ > Such ideas naturally suggest thenwelves to the mind when about to i^eview the series of journeys by which the interior, and more especially of the north-west part of America, was opened to the knowledge of the ciyilized world, and which dis- play not only the dangers and di^jj^Uies, but the courage and endurance necessarylS meet them in the brightest colours; and numeroua are the " moving accidents by flood and field "irfuoh the narration of these record. . ^^ Frevwai,lKOweve^;idnBntering on the •ertoi.rit is necessary to advert to the causes which Mio such undertakings in North-West Americsa. They H Si ^■*^-5 s^iit >« 70 may be stat to. discover a THE 0BEG4 ■^^; iefly as springing from the desire [)rtli-west passad;e,^but with respect to the Oregon terrJfbry, moif ^specially 'from the rivalry of the British and i^erican fur traders,^ which has beeii continue in Ifiit of natioqs. ^^ - Canada having been mnsf^jred to. thi fo&ier nation, pd th|IJmtel, States ||aving^^me%i- dejjei^nf, j)e^e l^t loose thi^|^tive|!fets 1|«* whichjM^ had fouiid employm^pl^ maii|%f them souglij^^itement io the liffe^^^ wild ac^i whi«|i|Mwqiads,gpik|IS||i»id AmX)iMiains sfflSi andl^plliqfe^ llfci^hm ^^as given , by dang4ir ai:i)rf«|^^fc|ii Mpp|)eaa^, Wiid the natiilafi* maraud! ^i^^le^l^ &fe*li^^ who inhabit tham. '^^li^Jay 84^^ tdil and danger, an^^ to 8H|h*ii hibit of s^^eny^as Wqpjd reduce the sum J^ opt^fB B^c^riier (^ life to a very com«^ paratively trifflrig amount, the hunters and trapl^ pen^ into ^4P» the soldiers of the war had been' -]ai«ferted, s^»d theWseives .over the north and frojotiers, «|id while, la many cases, enriching _isi<4y«8»t the expense of the Indian, and J <^usl^fedrful scenes of :op|)res8ion on the one hand, ^ and rWliation on the other, scepes grateful only to the lifevelist, who ha4 rather, paint the conquest ,^of Irian tiver his fellowmen than over himself— l|w% nevertheless the pionee^^ of civilization and icience ; and, to use an expression familiar at least \to tiiem, <',broke ground^* for their successorsY" whose^'lttwted' efforts completed what their indi- vidual s^ength and energy had be^n. Such men .haveibeen in all cases the guides of tlie exploring parti^t^ h e ir un se ltl ed 4tfej cuusequeul ou th e -9 . "^ pursuit of game, giving them the necessary ^ local kxiowledge^ aod th^ self-dependent existence en- *» X TRAik>ElElS AN© VOtAbEURS. I t •tl? )ling them to meet and overcome the difficulties dangers incident to such ejcpeditions. Of these |)roduces three classes — the hunter of J^ests arid lakes, the voyageur of the nprth- %yid the trapper of the western moun- )rairies ; yet to all these perhaps equally bdong 'th^ characteristics of the borderer, un- blenchiriJ|couraffp, untiring energy, arid unerring •""^^i^fflp of jud^iient in case of uncertainty ; ift^cteristiok of the borderer not only in the i^lj |lit universally, whether, ad in days of yore, eiifwi our o^n b(^ders, they " Cheere^ the dark bloodhound on hjs way % Or wit]^ the bugle roused the fray ;" or, as at present, on the shores of the Baltic, the plains of Africa, or the ghauts of India, modified only by locf^l circumstances and the influence of cli- mate ; in short, a development of the animal facul- ties resultii^g from constant cultivation, to the exclu- sion of all ttiental, excepting such as are necessary to the cultivation of the other^^or, from want of know- ledge are evidenced only in morbid affections Hke superstition, the natural result of the solitude and silence which during a great part of their time surround them, and the sources of natural sub- limity among which they pass thejr days. Another c.entury, and their jJlace will know them n6 more ; they will exist but in the pages of history and romance; in productions of the imagination too strange fot truth, and truth stranger than fiction. It will not appe a t "strangft i)m superstitio i t,^ ^ one characteristic of the bordered, eV^n to para- lyzing his courage, weakening his perception, and ^abridging his powers of* endurancf. »Wftd ^ ■ - . . / . -.4 . - ' C-*'.^' -: . \ ^j I ■ff- 72 TBE OREGON. that has passed, if but ' one night, amid the . solitudes of the primasval forests, and seen the shades gathering slowly around the stately pillars that support their ribbed roofs of Naturefs vault- ing, but must have acknowledged hfs own insig- nilficance, and the presence of superior intelligences, whose aspirations might befit so mighty a temple, and rise accepted by its maker,— who, that has listened till his sense of hearing, travelling the deep profound, hath in the lowest depth attained a lower still, until consciousness, tuned to the highest pitch, responds to the rustle of a leaf, op the slightest breath which gives it motion ; whose ®y®» fathoming the gloom, grows Conversant with shades of darkiless^and measures its depths until imagination peoples its immensity, and establishes a kingdom of shadows, but must have felt the chill power of that undefined fear which acknowledges the connexion of matter with mind, ^nd body with spirit, the visible with the invisible ; and even if rebuked by reason and education, his mind rebels ; yet still he feels the icy chain wrapped diose arOund him, paralyzing his attempts at resistance, till he confesses that what is called superstition is in- - herent in human nature. Who that has felt this, but must acknowledge the mighty influence she must exert over those whose house is of Nature's - bualding, whose associates are her productions, whose communings are of the lessons sh6 teaches. Who that has watch^ the broad expanse of a transatlantic lake flinging back IrOm the trans- parent emeralds which deck her sunny bosom the -^ieveHtp^t- or the declining orB^rdi7;ti^^^^^^ rosy hues of the autumnal woods deepen into purple, and th$ hoarse croak of the frog and night- \ > 'V. ■'irAiJstS-l«iii..fiiil^ ; !■ '"-'"?-; TRAPFEBS AND VOYAQ^UBS. • 7^ hawk are hushed to silence, as iii oue broad blush of crimson li^ht the glorious luminary sinks to rest, And as the shades grow deeper and the out- lines melt in softer shadows, myriads of fairy lamps, flitting from side to side, enliven without enlighten- ing the scene, till the eye is fixed on one without motion which glistens with softer light and deeper scintillafions ;^ and the broad disk of the Queen of Kight rising slowly over the darkening \^oods, silvering their leafy sides, abd reflected by the calm depth of the silent lake, pales all the lesser fires, and reveals her harbinger ; and as she pours her silver floods on hill and vale, on wood and wave, again revealing all that had been lost — ** In fond imaginingi, has thought it meet For the abode of rarer spirits, or has deemed In such a world his soul might ever dwell. There rove the everlasting woods, and quench His thirst in foiints of immortality T or is it strange that the wilder scenes, where nature'6 Vast convulsions seem to have prepared a fitting place for the dwelling of wilder habitants, have been, by the same imaginative process, peopled with darker and fiercer spirits, whose hatred of man^ kind is emulated by the wild beasts, and natives as wijd as they? or that the spirits of the dead still haunt the scene of murder, and glide ghastly over the grass waving dark and rank from th^ll own blood ? or that from father to son the memoiy of such deeds is handed down, and the feud be- queathed as a sacredf trust to be executed at a fitting opportujiityi or that m ronversant with daw and uncertain of fife, the heart should grow harder and th^ feeling^^Q^ome blunged, and human suf- fering be but yigb% es^pe^, much less |hat of te i iA. »Li^^..„f^W^ 'M % : -5 • ■ A '^ I'Hfi OREGON^ the brute creation ? is it not rather to be wondered at that any sense of res p oiMt&||fa-.JB retained, that any kindly feelings ^mKKHtmh&t iiol tinfre- quently the deeds o|JM|P^ana heroic self- devotion should eniu)|jf those of bodily endurance and animal courage f Here is no morality but that -of the heart, no religion but that of nature : here no Sabbath bells awak^ the soul y^Mlf^$li0l% hm- mcyny to a gla4 reception of the woraJdfpe^ce ^d love; in the i^^rt there is no God of grace but as he is so i||^lfested in the works of nature. If then we rea^p* have read, of a want of the out- Ward circi^i^asices of religion among the trappers and huntcpfcf the west ; if superstition enchains their min^a^nd quenches their manly courage id childish fedr ; if tl;^ §ercer passions arfe most pro^ minent, aid ihe sQiter and more amiable lessjre- quently developed, iet not the childreft of civi tion and luxury recoil from them as unworthy the name of pothers, %t rather consider wheSier the many vicesr%hich,pr^v^ among theipseives are not a greater disgrace to humanity than the harsher lines which darken the features o^he lonely inha- bitant of the desert, like the dlgfep-^hadows ^'his native rocks and woo^ormhetlTer his vii|ues, which, though perhaps flUbeiiRiful ^n the softer Tects of cultivation, ^^re not yet indications; of rpefior energy and strenoto On the%reat plains afSe foot-p Mountains the trapper is, equestrian : " the Mountaineers " of the xdma With hijiblanket and traps on md rifle,J|nd Jis faithfi4 ftorse, , most independent of human l)eings!p«.,v. v..^ a^^vut with iplbh he will pursue his solitary labour from ihe Roc! ^|Se siftQ ^he^est., hiiLwelL- rhaps the the ardour -t i-<-'_: -''r-fmi TBAPPEBS AND VQYAGEURS. V ts year to year in wilds and deserts, through pathless woods and over trackless mountains — now stem- ming the swollen river, now galloping over the fer-extended prairie — at night lying down by the embers of his fire, uncertain what the morrow may bring forth, but prepared at ^all events to overcome its difficulties and dangers by fresh exertions of his indon^table courage and perseverance. A Of the trappers there are two kinds ; one in the regular pa;;^ of the Hudson's Bay Company, now the usual sour^ of employment in the West; the "other the free trapper. The foi^mer is supplied with all necessaries for his sojourn in^he desert from the Comoany's stores, and returns to them all the skins he |^)cures. The latter is paid so much per skin.- These generally leave the fort near or in whit^h they have wintered in parties of fifty or sixty, who,^ring their search after the fur-bearing Animals, ke^sufficiently ntning and shouting round '"him: do^n again and up to breathe, and pn he swani with lo^g and powerful sweeps. The pursuit was long, but al last, he Entered the chasitt which he had explored, plunged along the cascade as near as he dared, clung to a shrub that "grew from the crevice of the rock, and lay under water Ipr the approach of his pursuers. On ,, they fkm^^; they passed, they shriekied,- and plunged ftjJr e^r into the; abyss of mist." " But afl^ tRe^aummer hunt, with t^e winter thej^ return ^cpi^t^e 'Company's fortef or to some hill- embosomkijmj^j where they may rest safe from its storms ; wlrei^ although the snow lies thick on the mountain^, and the winter blasts howj .over thdt rocky sides, tli^ir hoi%es can crop the greeh grajp of the riyer. bank, and round the table, 'smoki^ 'with th^,fat Tolns of the,,moiilitaiti sheep, tney forget, the trials th^ have undergone, and recruit their strength fpi;;:^ thg . next campaign; Stic h a place is onevcallcd l^ipbwn's Hol•«'♦ « * ^^s~j^:^ST^ ^r SMiM i«.,..^^fli^.gf.i^^..^^^--r-^ 1' i^ •5^-s mmaBm 80* THE OREGON. ' elevation k ^bout 8000 fee| above the sea, about six miles in diameter, shut m in all directions by dark frowning^ mountains rising 1000 feet above it. ^The river sweeps through it in a beautiful curve to the south-west, when it rushes through a narrow channel > of lofty cliffs. The plain is rich with n^ountain grass, even in the winter, and " dotted ; with little copses of cotton wood and willow." Around it the Snake Indians often winter, and the trappers collecting pass the time together in animal enjoyment atid wild revelry. In the centre is a little fort, named Fort David Crocket. But the race is giving place to the squatter, and he again will be supplanted by the farmer and me- chanic. The cultivation af mind and soil will pro- gress together, and as the country is made more accessible by their labours, and they become less wanted, they will gradually cease from among men. The race of trappers, says Fremont, has; 'almost entirely disappeared— dwindled to a few scattered individaals — some one or two of whom are regu- larly killed in the course of each year by the Iri- dififns. J J .. The voyageurs, more fortunate in their extended usefulness, teontinue their enterprising and active lives. The trappers are of all countriea, the voyageurs principally French Canadians ; the for- mer of a solitary and thoughtful forecasting character, cold and immoveable as his Blackfoo^t adversary ; the latter with not less powers of en- durance, not leaecoujage: pursuing their contest with floods and rapids in company, are mqre lively and ejtcitable, and not unfrequently do the lofty rocks and Qverhanging woods rin^ with fhmr wjf ' rocks and overhanging woods rin^ with fhmr wild harmony, and the joyous chorus oft heir boat •ongs, 1^ X; trIppers and vorAOEU|i8. Jpr aatheir canoes or batteaux dance madly over the foam of the torrent, to the inexperienced eye threatening immediate destruction, and which, indeed, even their skill and courage cannot always prevent. Such a scene has been described by a late traveller' and illustrates not less forcibly the character of the men than of the dangers and difficulties they en- counter. It is subjoined in his own words : " We re-embarked at. nine o'clock, and in about twenty minutes reached the next canon (this word pronounced kany^, is of Spanish origin, signifying a hollow tube). Landing on the rocky shore at Its commencement,^ we ascended a ridge to recon- noitre. Portage was out of the question. So far as we could see, tlie jagged rocks pointed out the course of the canon, on a winding line of seven or eight miles. It was simply a narrow dark chasm m the rock ; and here the perpendicular faces were much higher than in the preceding pass, beinjr at this end two to three hundred, and further down as we afterwards ascertained, five hundred feet in vertical height. Our previoiis success had mad« us bold, and we determined again to run thecano^. iLverythirtg was secured as firmly as possible, and ^ having divested ourselves of the greater part ofj our clothing, we pushed into the stream. To save ''' our chronometer, Mr. Preuss took it, and at- . tempted to proceed along the shore on masses 0%'^ rock, which in places were piled up on either side :^ but, after he had walked about five minutes', every- thing like shore had disappeared, and the verticil^ wall came squarely d6wn into the water. He J«y before us ; we made fast to the stern of the boat a strong rope about fifty feet long, and three « 2 1/ .., jw ....«.' ^ . **!^ , ^:- I "'•"Sisf 82 THE OREQON. men clambered along among the rocks, and with this rope let her clown slowly through the pass. In several places high rocks lay scattered about in the channel ; and in the narrows it requirecl all our strength and skill to avoid staving the boat (it waa '*of Indian rubber material, fitted with air-cases at the sides) on tfie sharp rocks. In one of tjjese the boat proved a Jittle too broad, and stuck fast for an instaiit, while the water flew over us ; fortu- nately, it was but for an instant, as our United strengths, forced her immediately through. Th^ water swept overboard only a sextant and a pair of saddle-bags. I caught the sextant as it passed by me, but the saddle-bags became a prey to the whirl- pools. 'We reached the place where Mr. Preus^ was standing, took hjm on board, and with the aid of the boat, put the men with the rope on the suc- ceeding pile of rocks. We found this passage much worsjB than the previous one, and our con- dition was rather a bad one. To go back was im- possible ; before us the cataract was a^sheet of foam, and, shut up in. the chasm by thj^rocks, which in spmiB places seemed almost to meet tfv>8riiead, the roar of the' water was deafening. We pushed off again, but after making a little distance the force of the current became too great for the men on the shore, and two of them let go the rope : Lajeunesse, the third man, hung on and was jerked head fore- most into the river from a rock a^out twelve feet high, and down the boat shot like- an arrow, Basil folio wing us in the rapid current, and exerting all his strength to keep in the mid-channel— his head Btwn f>orftsionallv like a black suot in the only. white foam. How far we wdnt I do not eajfictly know, but we succeeded in turning the boat iatct #' -■\ , \ TRAPPERS AND VOYAjGEURS. 83 •t- an eddy below : " 'Ore Dieu," said Basil Lajeu- nesse, as he arrived immediately after us; "je crois bien que j'ai nage un demi mille." He had owed his life to his skill as -^swimmer, and I de- termined tp take him and the. two others on board, and trust to skill and fortune to reach the other end in safety. We placed ourselves on our knees, with short paddles in our hands, the most skilful boatman being in the bow ; and again we com- menced our rapid descent. We 'clew^ rock after rock, and shot past fall after fall, our little boat seeming to play with the cataract. We became flushed with success, and familiar with the danger, and yielding to the excitement of the occasion^ broke forth together into a Canadian boat-song. ' Singing or rather shouting, we dashSd along; and were, I believe, in the mid§t of the chorus, when the boat struck a concealed rock immediately at the foot of. a fall, which whirled hef over in an instant. Three of my men could not swim, and my first feeling was to assist them, and savd some of our effects ; but a sharp concussion or two con- vinced me that I had not yet saved myself. A few strokes brought me into an eddy, and I landed on a pile of rocks on the left side. I^ooking round). I saw that Mr. Prenss had gained the shore, on the same side, about twenty yards below, and a little climbing and swimming soon brought him to my side. On the opposite side against the wall lay m^ bmi, bottom up ; and Lambert was in the act of 8avii% JDescouteaux, w^iom he had griped bjr tim hair, and who could not swim. " Liche mtds loftr»«f the ayond TRAPPERS AND VOYAOEURS. 85 our expectations, all our registers had been reco- vered, with the ejtception of one of niy journals, which contained notea and incidents of travel, topo- graphical descriptions, and pi nytaib^r of scattered ajtiti^nomical observations ; in addition to these we saved the circle^ and thes<^ with a few blankets cbngti'tuteQ everything that had been rescued from the waters.*' I'lieir dangers by water thus over, they had got others in prospect by land; the story is thus continued :—" The day was running rapidly away, and it was necessary to reach Coat Island, whither the party had proceeded on^, before night. In this uncertain country the traveller is so muck in the power of chance, that we became somewhat une^y in regard to them. Should anything have occurred, irt the brief interval of our separation, to prevent our rejoining them, our situation would be rather a desperate one. . We had not a morsel of provisions — our arms and ammunition were gone, and we were entirely at the mercy of any strag- gling party of savages, and not A little in danger of starvatioii. We therefore ^t out at once. Climbing out of the canon, we found ourselves in a very broken country, where we were not able to recognize any locality. The scenery was extremely picturesque, and tiotwithstanding our forlorn con- dition, we were frequentlv obliged to stop jftbd ad- mire it. At one point of the canon the red argil- laceous salidstone rose in a wall of five hundred feet, iiurmounted by a stratum of white sandstone ; and in an opposite ravine, a column of red sand- stone rose, in form like a steeple, about one hun- fift y fe et high* Our progrooB was not very rapid. We had emerged from the water half nalMd, and oii^ arriving at the top of the precipie^ '<-r'. 31 ^^^^ii^^^ ^smm^ ^^m^i^^fima^ i^i^tta^h^^ p \n. m THE OREGON". I found myself with only one moccasin. The frag- ments of rock made walking painful; and I was frequently obliged to $top and pull out the thorns of the cactus, here the prevailing plant, and with which a fewminutas' walk covered the bottom of my foot. We crossed the river repeatedly, some- times able to ford it, and sometimes swimming, climbed over the ridges of two more canons, and towards evening reached the cut, which was named the Hot Spring Gate. Leaving this Thermopylce of the west, in a short walk we reached the red ridge, which has been described as lying just above C:ioat Island. A shout from the man who first reached the top of the ridge, respond^d^o /rom below, informed us that our friends were all on the island ; aiid we were soon among them. We found some pieces of bu#dlo standing round the fire for us, and managed to get some dry clothes among the people. A sudden storm of rain drove us into the best shelter we could find, where we i slept soundly, after one of the most fatiguing days I have ever experienced." Amid such scenes and their accompanying difl^iculties and dangers, and by men so competent to overcome them, was the west-., ern part of the interior of North America discovered. ' i 1 r P''iRSfKwsw?>^?w;^ ( 87 ) he frag- 1 I was e thorns nd with )ttoni of ^, some- mmin^, ns, and i named mbpylae the red it above ho first to /rom I On the e found fire for ong the us into '^ei slept days I les and and by le west-., overed. CHAPTER IV. PROGRESS OF DISCOVERT IN THE IN-iTERIOR. The fur traders of Canada having, through their J dissensions with the Hudson*s Bay Company, and, indeed, among" thfenselves, previous to the esta- blishment of the North- Western Compapy, reduced the number of fur-bearing animals in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the great lakes, pushed their operations in all direptions into the Indian couiitfy, and having established forts on the Sas- catchewan, Athabasca, and Re(i Rivers, as well as the head waters of the Mississippi, stretched north- ward to the Lake of the Hills, wherfe they erected the trading fort, since then so well known as the starting point of expeditions for discovery of the interior and ^north coast of the American conti- nent, by the name of Fort Chippewayan. Alexander Mackenzie, who had risen to the s tion of ^ partner in that Company, and was evei among them remarkable for Iris energy and ac- tivity both of body and min(\, having, with others of the leading partnifers, imbibed very extensive ^Hews of the commercial importance and capabilities of Canada, and considering that the discovery of a passage by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific would contribute greatfy to open and enlarge it, jmdertook the task^ the country to-th e^ north of the extreme point occupied by the fvi^ traders. This^ he ctdculated on doing by means of •^ 88 TEX OREGON. ♦ a river r|pc«ted by the Jj^SmTprBtiw from the Slave Lwte into the sea, to the liri^lst of the Copper Mine River, Whieftrhad, in 1771, ^^^'^ discovered by Hearne. For this purpose, in the year 1789, he left Fort Chippewayan, in lat. 58° ^Sy N. ; and crossing the Lak# of the Hills in fi, canoe, entered the Peace River, or rather, the river connecting the Lake of the Hills with the ^ve Lake, now called the Slave River, into which the Peace River flows. Following its course, he passed through the Slave Laice^ and entered a river, until this time unknown to Europeans, except by report, which has been called by his name Mackenzie River ; and follow- ing its course, arrived in the end of July at its mouth, in lat. 69°. Having thus established the feet of the continuation westward of that northern oce^n which Hearne had, in 1771, discovered moreth the eastward, J|||^j|^turned home. As this journey «Sij|not directly affect the country to the west P* 0ie Rocky Mountains, a more extended^ not^s^^ unnecessary. It may, however, be mentioneoFthat in their recent dis- coveries Mr. Bell and Mr. Isbister have ascertained the source of the Peel and the Rat tributaries of Mackenzie's River. The former, rising near the sources of the northern head waters of the Peace River, in lat. 63° 40', and running in a north-western direction, joins Maclfenzie's River near iU mouth. The oth^er, having its sources in a chain of lakes near the Russian boundary, about, lat. . 65**, by a northerly and easterly course joina the -Peel ^vitk ono^-jnouth. and 4 hft^ Mackenzie, qlose to the sea, M'ith the other. The character of the country lying between these rivers # ! '■;'■ PB0GBE88 OF DISCOVERT. 89 being low and swampy, and covered with lakes, and the continuation of the Rocky Mountain chain here developing itself in limestone strata, all serve t6^direct us to the west as the continuation of the main line of those mountains. Mackenzie's views of commerce in the north- west of America led him to desire the knowledge of a communication with the Pacific, if one existed (which he did not doubt), equally with the northern ocean ; and accordingly, in Oct., 1792, he lettH Fort Chippewayan on an expedition for the purpo^PF of obtaining it. In order to commence his discoveries as early in the spring as possible, he had determined to pro- ceed to the most distant settlement of the traders \towards the west in the autumn, and accordingly ascended the Peace, or, as it is called by the Indians, the Unijah River, for upwards of two hundred miles, where he built a log house, in lat. 56« 9')and long. 117*' 35' W.: here he spent the v winter. Leaving this place on the 9th of May, 1793, he continued his course up the river, which he found flowing through a delightful and verdant country ;; but as they approached the mountains the banks^ became higher, the current more rapid, and the forests denser. After not a few difficulties and^ dangers, which were overcome more by his own courage and< self-possession than the constancy of his Canadians, he reached the source of the Peace River in the beginning of the riionth of June. This he found in a small lake situated in a deep ~ snowy valley ,~einbo80in©d "in woody The lake is about two miles in length, and from three to five hundred yards wide : he found in it -^^^!. < V % «&. '^ 4 '*>*v J • t 1 ( > l' f n. 1 t '' t ■ \ . ^ « > •A. J" / ; \ nV v\:r- •- - ^ *- ■ '• — .- ^ - - nil- ■ ■ !» . « •■ ^^fc- ■.*' '•«» w. • •• ' • 11 V w. , .. ' H -?=^.=' >. / ^ i^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 'I i- {,. ■r* %^ • 1.0 I.I ly lU u 140 11.25 iu llA 1.6 <*S?i£> Olographic _ScMices Corporation 33 WIST MAIN STMfT WmMTII,N.Y. I4SM (7U) t7i|.4»0a f^" iV \\ ^ #*«i^. o^ '^glV K > Jif. ** ^ r yt%s> .<*' .*-'" % -6^ ^ .^^ ■^•^ ^*1^-?-- ^ ''" "^' -^V^^-5. — .^§=-- — -' it THE OKEOON. trout and carp, and its banks were clothed with spruce, white birch, willow, and alder: it is in lat. 64* 24', long. 121** W., by his computation. This is the principal water of Mackenzie River ; which, after its junction with the Elk River below the Lake of the Hills, having already run a dis- tance of upwards of five hundred miles, reaches, Undef the names of Slave River and Ma^enzie River, the Arctic Ocean after a further course of one thousand miles. From this lake he Ibupd a beaten path leading over a low ridge of land of eight hundred and seventeen paces in length to another lake rather smaller than the last. It is situated in a valley- about a quarter of a mile wide, with precipitous rocks on either side, down which fall cascades, feeding both laker with the melting snows of the mountains. Passing over this lake, he entered a fmall river, which, however, soon gathered strength from its tributary mountain streams, and rushed ' with great impetuosity over a bed of flat stones : these are the head waters of the Tatouche Tesse, or Frazer's River. In following its course he met with many difficulties and dangers from the ex- treme rapidity of the current, its many falls and mpids. He found the Indians here differing little from the Rocky Mountain Indians, whom he had seen on his first journey, but much from the Chip- pewayans, Knistenaux, and other Indians .with whom he had been in communication in Canada : they dwelt in semi-subterranean houses, and are now laUled the Carriers. The country he describes as intifiil afte r rea c hin g t he m o re open p M ft ^ of tne river : it rose rather abruptly about twenty- five fiNly^when the precipice was succeeded by ap i^. ,„.A»ii»,..'3t«>* .^i<-i ' 4 » » PROGRESS Of DISCOVERY. ^ 91 ^ inclined plain to the foot of another steep, yrhich was followed by another extent of gently rbing ground,— these objects, which were shaded With groves of fir, presenting themselves alterna^y to a. considerable distance^ \»/<^ ^ Having received from the natives a description of the river, he continued his journey to lat. 52^°, when, altering his original intention, he returned up its course to lat. 53i°, and prepared to go from thence toward the Pacific by land. Building a log*; house to contain his canoe and such articles as could not be carried, Mackenzie and his companions started on their land journey, each carrying a load of pemmican, and having, besides their arms, am- munition, instruments for astroiiomieal observations, and articles for presents. According to the report of the Indians, it did not require more than six days to reach a country where they bi^rtered their furs for ironj and that from thence to the sea re* quired only two days more. Among them he found two halfpence, one the coin of Great Britain, the othj^r V the State of Massachusetts, coined in 1787, six years before. Proceeding westward, he found women clothed in matted bark, edged with the skin of the sea-otter. Here, in July, he found the mountains covered with compact snow; and yet the weather was warm, "and the valleys beautinil. Descending from these, probably the main chain of the Rocky Moun* tains, among the precipitous sides of which two rivers have their rise, and unite at the base, hn found the country covered with large trees, pinei^ ynice^ hemloc k , bimh> a n d abounding in aiumjjjtol- ^d lower down the river he observed the loftiest elder and cedar trees he had ever seen. Following •t'ilii^ti'Si^i,'^ . V* y THE ORXOOir. t^eiBouMe of the river through a deep ravine, he reached an Indian village, where the river abounded . in salmon. Here he commenced his voyage down it towards the Pacific, having obtained a large canoe from the natives. This he found adorned with the teeth of theksea-otter I and as the chief t(S whom it belonged affirmed that he had some years before seen on the coast large canoes full of white men, Mackenzie conceived that the similarity which these teeth bear te those of man would account for Cook's report that the natives of "the coast decorated their canoes with human teeth, especially as these Indians corresponded in dress and manner with those described by him. On the l^th July he arrived where the river discharges itself into a^^narrow arm of the sea. On the 21st, continuing his voyage along the coast, and across the sound, to that point which Van* couver, as lately as the 4th of June preceding, had named P«^mt Menzies, he met an Indian, ^who told him, that a Jarge" canoe had come into the bay, filled with white people; that one of them called Macubah had fired on him and his friends. This was, perhaps, one of Van- '( IJouver's vessels, but the transaction cannot be^ ia«ntifie4 , i- On tb« south-east fiice of the rocks bordering what he subsequently ascertained to be the Gas- cade Canal of Vancouver, Mackenzie inscribed in large characters with vermilion, mixed in melted grease, this brief memorial v — " Alexander Mac* ienzie, from Canada, by land, tfie twenty-second of j^ly, €»• tiHWiiMid icveni hundred a nd nin«rty-fnai>,';^ i m computed the latitude at 62° 21' N. On the reached the mouth of the river whence he 4.i %— - PBOORESS OF DISCOVERT. Oceans frbm the mouth of^ackenzie's river to Cas- mner lies under the 135th had set out, and from thence returned Irf the' Tatouche and Peace rivers to Can^a. The result^ of this journey were important, more especially when taken in connexion with his former discoveries, and Vancouver's and Cork's surveys of the coast, proving beyond doubt that there could be no communication, bet ween the Atlantic and Pacific- of|Ij cade CaMtH'IBin^'a s the f tmni meridian of longitude, it in a great measure con- firmed Vancouver's opinion, so decidedly expressed, that none would be found on th^^ N. YL coast. It is to be observed that, from the description of' the natives, Mackenzie imagined the Tatouche to be the Ck>lu&ibia, a mistake which, when the con- tiguity of -their sources and channels are considered, n^d not much surpri^ us.. In 1766, Captain Jonathan Carver of Connec-' ticut, a soldier of the Canadian war, left Boston ^ way of Detroit and Michilimackina^ for the waters of the Upper Mississippi ; here he spent two years among the Indians. His avowed object was to cross the continent, ali§ having accomplished tHb, to induce the gdvemmf^ of £ngland to establish a fort on some part of the Strait of Anian, which having, he addk, been dis-' covered by Sir F. Drake, of course belongs to the British. The course he pvbposed to hkve taken was by the Lake of the Woods and Lake Winipeg to the head waters of the great river of the West, which falls into the Strait of Anian. This he mentions more than once as the Or^non, and he appears to have derived his^knowledge from the Indfams, and, oonsTdenngTts sources, it is not incorrect Hestatw that the fbnr most capital rivers in America have % *¥^ # ..%..ii ~mtL '' i~ yih^.iti / TBS ORBOOW. ftp their sources near each other— this shows that these parts are the highest in America.— He calk theiii the Shining Mountains, and his description of them, excepting in regard to latitude, which must have tieen with him only estimated by guess, is suffi- ciently accurate to Identify them with'the Snowy and Kocky Mountains. It is certain, however, that his is the first account of the river, an(i that it offered a stimulus to further discovery. „ The cession of Louisiana to the Uijited States by the French directed the attention oRbe' govern- ment of that country to the head waters of the Missouri and Mississippi, with the view, doubtless, of extending their territories as far to the west as possible. For this purpose President Jeflterson or- ganised an expedition of discovery to those regions, which he placed under the command of Captains licwis and Clarke, with instructions to proceed from thence across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific^ In May, 1804, they were afloat on the Missouri, their party consisting of forty-five; and having traced its waters to lat. W in the country of the Mandan Indians, they built a fqrt in which to pass the winter. ' In April, 1805, they left- Fort Mandan, and as- itnding the stream, passed the Yellowstone River, the Roche Jaune of tlie French traders. Above this they came to the great Falls of the Missouri, where for many miles it foiyns a contiguous series of rapids, and in one place throws itself in an un- broken sheet over a shelving rock, which crosses t h ft wKole breadth of the riv »r , On the 19th of July they came to the pass which j^ r ^' "K^T-'a^ >^ f^*^*-,^ ' V^^TlJ^^rK^'i^ ".^v^- ^%^^tWX'^; PBOGBE^S OF DI8Cen- dicularly from the water's edge, and for three njtites there is no possibility of passage on either side. /The river is here 350 yawls wide, and forms one o^ the most^'ftublime scenes in nature, the dark rocks i^hich overhang its mighty waters frowning fearfully/on the daring intruder. / Delayed by the rapidity and windings/ of the river, Capt. Clarke went forward on foot tp explore the route, and pierced into the recesseis of the mountkins, until the stream becai^e so small that one of the party, in a fit of enthusiasm, " thanked God he had lived to bestride the Missouri." At length they reached a chasm in the mountain, from one side of which welled out the spring-head of the mighty river whose course they had traced for more than three thousand miles; " They had .pow reached the hidden sources of that river which had never yet been seen by civilized man ^ and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain, as they sat by the side of the little rivulet, thev felt rewarded for all their labours ana difficulties. ' Crossing the rocky barrier that was before them, thijsy soon descended into the country^ west of the mountain. Here they fell in with some women- of the Shoshones or Snkke Indians, and conciliating them by presents, gained the confidence of the tribe. Having smoked the calumet with them, Capt. Lewkt succeeded in prevailing on some pf them to go to the assistance of his companions, whom he had left with the canoes. A great in- t 4&^ ibmn to rcndwr 4ht8- aasis t aHtie w(m \ found in the knowledge that with them there wafl lil*^ W* with curled hair. ^ II .T<»!5»^'*^tffl^ '96 ^ i ■ Tnm hence thej stiiicrihe waten of tl«. k™,- drerftodee, reacted to the main brtnch of the Snak^ which they caUed Lewi, BiveT Thw ,uS »T^i, *.f' rP^** lay, and the want of food ^d puSf H** ""T 1" "" """ »' their hSS and purchase dogs^of the natives for food. From ^•^ *fy <*t«i»^^l>e «briquet of dog^lte" fl»m the Indian8,lrh6, howeve?, were not wl" S &h^ ' ^"'*~"'* ^'}' -^^^ *••« "'"'^ fc^ of i.JPU''*.^*'?, ''"''*' *«y built canoes, and soon jmved at the Great Fallsf The firet d^tTaS A mue belo^ the nver shot rapidly over a IpHcw* i't'" ^«''VK''°Ti''» Vd^p^d thi: STof fh^^ ^^'^ ^ "°^ P^''"' *« first pitoJi of the Alls. The next day they came to thp «^ml, where the riverforces itself thwuX^^ P««ge of only forty-five feet, having a^hZ^^ ^J^-™"1°" "'*'■•"• "**«• Seeing no pZhrJ of carrying: the canoes aftd luggagfover^g „J7 cipioe, they determined to shSSihe f^l, Id'^ to ^,TT^Z' .u 'K^"^!^' piloted their fi,n Bd^w th^"^ !""'«*' J**" '■°»"'"«r *hirllHx.ls. iJe|ow they passed another bad rapid; and at ength they arrived at the Great N«re;8,There of from fifty to one hundred yards wide. Thev had, however, gained confidence by their formw •"«?-. «»d though the current rished ove^S roclcy bed with fearful n»pidi»«ri,t,,ribron,i^' ^•^^^a^-^safdy^thrpugh.. they descended the rivw its channel widened -i*i i,iSjt. ' ^ ^iil^Lt^U^ :l '• '";4b'^;<'^'-''*"4"^^^f''^^ ^'i'sifj'V^"''*'^'¥i^^>'^,i^^jif:-il^^^ f j3g!:^,-«iT PBOOIIBSS OF DISCOVEST. 97 graduaJly, and shortly they perceiyed the tides. Ascending a hUl, they enjoyed a view of that ecewi which they proudly imagined was to be the only bamer to the spread of American dominion towards the west. It took them, however, a fort- night more to reach the river's mouth and esta- blish themselves for the winter. They first landed at Cape Disappointment, but finding thi& not suit- able, fix)m the rise of the water, crossed th6 river to Port Adams. Here they built a fort, which 4hey called Fort Clatsop. From this point they only' succeeded in reaching the coast thirty mil^ below the mouth of the river, near Cape Look-out, and in March, 1806, commenced their homeward journey by the same route as they had arrived. On reaching the Koos-kooskee at the point where they had embarked, they took a due easterly a)ur8e, and struck the waters of the Flat-head Kiver, which they named Clarke's River, near where the forty-seventh parallel crosses it; and Capt. Clarke proceeded up the river and across the Rocky Mountains to the sources of the Yellowstone River, down which hQ floated in canoes to its junction with the Missouri; while Capt. Lewis, descending the nver for some distance, crossed the mountains in lat. 47io to Maria's River, one of the sources ot the Missouri ; and following its course, found hw connpanions at the mouth of the Yellowstone, when they proceeded home together. The account 01 ^his journey abounds in romandc incidents, and is generally well known. It was important in a geographical point of view, as affording correct informfttio n^ of the ^a»« « ^^^ *v^ ^j- ■ „^ „ source of the MissonlT Xellowstone, and more particularly of the Co- lunibia, and the territories through which they flow. J^tae^ paMerwere also ascertained am existing in • ' » . " \ . ^ .-:* -■;■** iliife:-. i^ i '"'i"'\''V^^fZM 98 THE OBEOON. uUrl "%"'*' ^''y Mountain Chiln. hot, to prove the practicabalty of reaching bv them the shores of the Pacific. ^ oy tl^em The spirit of enteiyrise induced by the for trade n»* began to extend a knowledge of the countrv to tta west of the Roclcy Mounbfns.US inT^ r*^iZT?^' "TT^ ""* chain and established a trading forton alaice*t the head of theTatouche h2^ ''^. *^." '•■!'" "■^«''» I^« and river, one hundred miles to the north of Mackenzie's track. Fort. n°!f. consequent 6„ the compelled cession of Forte Detroit and Michilimackinac to the American North W^^' ""^ "■ •. «°"'«1"«'" contraction of the In l^s *?''?Sr'y '?P?™*''"^t°""^*«''esouth. -..M- 1^ the^Missouri American Fur Company established a fort on the Snake Eiver bv thdr 1^°''. Mr. Hen>7, but the enmity of thelvi^ - fen-fj*'" *""*?*"■ ""™P'' '^'''ch also proved a oil5„T^ T"". *^ *''^''"^'' " '«««ng fort on ffivpr r •'. "^1 u"'Y ""''^ "P 'he Columbia ■ SL T ■"' *^"'^ '^''''- But the competition of d^ni^r^'^l "^^" *'* ""«'' C*-""!"" rivals wh„?» * ^P rfJ * "'''*"'« *"• monopolizing the wlM e trade of the territory west of the ^cky aZ al^iV""- **'"°*?« ■' «=«'«« tho ocean to ^N^ V 1, kT; *^ *'" """^ ye»r broached at Sp^hJ. ^y Mr John Jacob Astor, a German ■ Whant residing there, who had for iany years tad accumulated a large fortune. ^■ • . fri'J!'"'""?^''.*.'"'' P'"*' J"* engaged the assist- •nee of several British subjects aclu^med to the iHiA" -yJJhai^ufe " 4^11^6!/ ,v -, ^ t^K ^ /"■I S'^t-' ft"" "V **?**Sf''^"i'|^'^v»^'*^**i^5^">''-MV'f^^ JPBOORE88 OF DlBCOYERlt, 99 fur trade, three of whom had belonged to the North West Company, and the English Consul at New rork agreed that in the event of wi«^their property should be respected as that of British subjectfti Voyageurs and others were also engaged, man^r from the rival company, others American citizens, and in September, 1810, the * Tonquin,V under the command of Captain Rous, proceeded with the first detachment to the mouth Of the Columbia," and in the January following another party started for the same point by way of the Missouri and Rocky JS^Iountains. The * Tonquin' arrived at the mouth of the river and crossed the bar on the 24th of March. This was not effected however without much danger and difficulty, and the loss of three men, who tried to find the entrance in the ship's boat. They immediately commenced building a fort and wharf at Point George, intending to establish the chief factory of the company there. They named it Astoria in honour of Mr. Astor, and com- menced trade with the Indians. , .^l® North West Company was not mu(t?h be- hmdhand in its exertions. Aware of the im- portince of the object of the Ameri^ns, Mr. David Thompson, their astronomer, n^^nt with a party across the Rocky MountaiiS, but the severity, of the winter delayed him there, and he did not reach, Astoria till July. He^ had fol- lowed the course of the Columbia from the 52nd parallel^ and was the first white man wW navi- gated its northern branch : having acconiplished the pnrpowft of hi s nussioa, 4ifr ^ F eturned ^faost immediately. The party which had been despatched overkral /" ,tJi!mfi^^iini&&iltL\^Mt 200 THX ORXOOir.' did not arrive at Astork tiUthe beginning of 1812, having been mrre than a year in their iwr- ney from the Mississippi. Their progress had been retarded not only by the usual difficulties, but by - theMissoun Fur Company before mentioned, who seem to have been more directly opposed td- them than the North West Company: ™ They took a different route from* Lewis and Clarke, bearing to the south for fear of the Black- feet Indians to lat.. 40«, whence proceed W with a 'north-west qourse, they struck one of the head waters of th^ Snake. Here some of their party quailed before the difficulties whicb pres^ted themselves and returned to the States. .iJow only thirty m number, « they commenced their ^yaire downwards, but from the rapidity of the cu^t . and number of ^pids, they determined, ifter hav- ing lost one man and a portion of their bainraffe, to aband feet." _ The Canaibns , in the bitterness of t heir rego1.__ IccUuus, denoinin^t^r this river "la maudite ri- viiie enragtte." ' ^ ..a. •v -^ -p-rt^T" ^j^'^^'^'i^'' y' PBOOBSSS'OF DlflCOVksr. W- The other party did not suffer io much, f^m occasionally meeting thfe natives, who however ' always fled from them, leaving their Wrses behind : some of these the^ kiUed for food, leaving goods in payment. . <, ^ ^ ' 5 Kv««in After a separation of some days the two parties cjme;^ sight of each other on diflferent banks of the river; m attempting to.unite by means of a canoe formed of a horse's^in, one f oyageur was drowned, and, th^ 'att^pT'was given i^subse- quently, however, both parties reached Astoria in ' safety by the help of the Indians. The sufferings experienced in 1^ journey save ^a ted name to Mie l^d waters of the Snake river. In June, 1812, a party from Fort Astoria, among whpm was Mr. Boss Cox, who has left an account of these transactions, proceeded up the nver m batteaux and wooden canoes to the fork -' and thence up the Snake river j siibsequently they established a fort qn the Spokane riveif, audit tEi moutj of the Okanagan, from whence thX ex. plored a considerable portion of the coumry^in that direction. But i^ar with Great Britail b4ik- 11% out, and a party of the Nc^h West Company's servants, headed by Messrs. MacTavish and La-^ roque, arriving with„the news, the head partners at Ajtona agreed to the sale of the Pacific Com- pany s stations and furs to the North West Com- pany, and their establishments were eyentuallv ' broken up. This measure has been ahiiiadverted upon as unnecessary^ but it appears to have offered the onl/indemnificati^n for the expenses of the ^&ti^ a^il^e^ English were mast^ of the i^|,=^ cihc, and had jlespatched a vessel to ^destroy tho eettlemente on the ColuiAbia- All trade the4)» "^ ' J ■ * ■•• ". '^ ■■ • / • . - .|!r tiuj^ji^ ^., -Tf. itm .1. VHS OREG(>%- ¥ \ y^utm end, and although the Company wm in a the ve8«b sailing under the Amenoan flag,^ well MB the forta which hoisted it, were l«We to tfeuure. ^ After this, although at ^^^^^\^^l^''.:'Jc,^^ r^ was provisional)' restored to the U^J*^ S^tes, yet they Ver took possession f it, and the whde Su^ remained under thelnrfuence of theNorth w4 Company, which wa« much extended after it. i^ion wi^ the Huckon'S;;Bay Company, and ^^ Americans did not appear in Oregoa J«^ftft^ ^Xl827, Mr. Pilcher, im Ameri^ '"^^fj?^ terinit the south pass proceedH ""^'""^ I ' S Iver to FTbthaul 1-3. On tlu. b«u- tifal water he remained during the «"»<»;.««> moceeded to Fort ColviUe, then a recent e.U- buThmeat of the Hud*)?:^ Bay Conxv^p^^ Columbia, a Uttle below the union (^ FJatbesd Eiver with the main stream. • , , In 1832, Captain BonnevUle with a large party paill ^.nl^Ze in M Oregon; but b«le^ S«»hical knowledge ia to be obtamed &<>"»««" waroes or from the missionary or en»K™°' "P?" • Stions which have of late f'^"«»"y ««rf„*5^' Bocky Mountains. The path i. open, but Ihe only iaforiationof any value r^peetmg «t» to be de- rived from the accounts of Me«»»- Sp»W">g. f °*»" Il^d, a^d Farnham, from 1834 to 1840,^«.d from ^recent expediUons to the Bo^ Mountains iSd down the Columbia to Fort V.»«H»ver, and •thenoe into California, <««»^«°,'^.^h^^ moBt, for the government of the Unitwl »t»M». oL:impoft»nt^6«tu™jl^_Utter_^^^^ '■fcS^^^_V' • % [J wM to a bjecto, y«t ag, wwell to B^sizure. war Asto-" ted States, the vhde r the North aided after ny, and the trader, en- ard by the tliifl beau- ivinter, and. ecent esta- any on the ^ Flathead ■■•"'*, • ■ large party i little geo- from these igrant expe- crossed the but Hie only ; IB to be de- ding, Town- 10, Mid from ' fountains loouvor, and >y Mf . Fi-e- nite. 'TmXiUBSS <|V iDlISCOySRT. 103 land lying between the Snowy and Roeky Moun- tains and the rivers Colorado and Sacramento, tenmnating in a point at the head of the Qulf of California, thus demonstrating that the only value which' can attach to that country is confin6d to its coast, to the west of the snowy rang«, and that the Colorado and Sacramento are reflectively itg connecting Unks with the Texas and Or^n die- ,n.: .{■ ' i Urn w;U.r;ni.T«.f - ' — ^-^ --a^.ig..zi.>..j^lffi.Saa.i3B£^.£^i^Tr.^I..^^^.a^^^ e two main fi chain of between the ibutary Uie Mountains he Cascade irs between Jmqua and ibutaries of cade range ^ the inland uca Straits, lion of the iver. difficulties I to the sea, ^pids and lent's range who have f the chief ►m lat 42^" i line of the spurs from y the terri- atersof the ich striking )f Georgia, Charlotte's rectionj-^i- of Frazer's Mackenzie ioast of the le psrfaUeTs : east round DESCEIPTION OF, INtERIOR. - |#f tliose of Simpson's River, joins the Babine and Peak ranges, which stretch north and west bejrond the limits of the territory. These, froM recent disco- veries of the course of the west tributaries to Mac- kenzie's River, may justly be considered the main branch of the Rocky Mountains, dividing the waters of the rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean from thbse falling into the Pacific. The consi- deration of these mountain ranges will, in some measure, indicate the course of the rivers, the two princip^ of which, the Columbia and Fraier's river, having their rise in the Rocky Mountains east, and fed by tributaries from the Blue and middle ranges on the west, aad from the Babine and Snowy Mountains on the north and south, by thef united forces of ther hifndred streams, breaking for themselves a passage, through the giant barrier of the Cascade or Presidents' range, find their war respectively into ther Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Georgia ; there is, however, another range of moun- tains which runs close to the coast, as for as Mount Olympus, and passing through the eijtire length of Vancouter's Island and the ^if^Archipelago^ unites with the north-east branch of the Cascade or Presidents'^ range, which is joined by the Babine and Peak Mountains, at Mount Fairweather, in lat. Ssi^ and continues thence north-east to Mount St. Elias. from which fcbe various ranges seem to originate, and whose Cyclopean rocks and snow-covered summits afford a fitting barrier betwe^ the two mighty empires of Britain and Russia, the dominions of which, embracing the globe from the east to the ^vest^ unite at4t»b«jei Wherever 1iwiiQKd-^VRi;tenr of the rivers on' the east and west sides of the Rocky Mountains a|)proach nearest each other, there have *>' \ » ' ^^m mmBmMm^mm,,>«,m^„^* ,^ ^^i^^ mmmmSMm.een found passes throueh th^. ■ «<• ti ■ ■ • the most iiipMtant rfhVAT.L *""** P*'"""?* Snowy MounS L™ wl^l*'' P^' *''«'« the Mom^Ons Z^ X '^ Jf^ by the Wind Eiver «fatei^heTve« floliii^T'.'^^"^'* the head the California IndZ^^!:"'^'''* Gulf of Mexico, is the commo,; i^ ^^5^^^^^ ^r " '^''"'"^h this We, by which rt^ i^^ .***'>"""« Praetica- Ste'tes Lrrheir^^rr'H'' ^™'" ""« ^""^d to the OrlWtS^ »„ "* property in waggons the highest p^Xh^ """^ "■« er^e^t P"^ries; Fremontin hM,^^^^ ^ '"'" calculated by Mr feet above" tt ^roftK" V'""' '^''^« pa««esa littletoihe n«wt i.^ f ''*'* "« two of the MisLuri onT. ' '*^"'**^"•« head-wate™ Wjptia<4.^oTnorth' bS Tr th?'«?^ ■"" which thgsnaae.^f Lewis „ri„i° „ * .^"° *° whole, is usualll^nn^T' P"?"'*''? g»ven to fhe -«t«>ken\t5Lran7G,^k; :n7T '^ ward lournev • anW «~L" V * ' ^" *"®*'* home- • Sasfcat^hawaJ'^^'^^^y-betw^n those of the Biver and. the CduJJl^iar'tCt^^t-!"™^'' northerly still, between nr '™ west; and more ,Ho6fcer, in arsH" ^ "5L' ^""'" '^ Mount tween the ofe^MdeZn wJ""""'^*'"" be- Columbia vSh^biS^hl*' fehe waters of the ■ which, aoZ^gl^^I^^V^'¥ Sarsatchawan, access to HndL's RnTT^ ,^T'P^, gives easy ther north si" 'th?^„^,Vtte^t ^'"■ the flow of the ri v".! C^f/ J!P"°^'? '«°ge ; but BlOh w hich has be^S l "* *"" ' " '^ "cethe-opT: ' Deen before expressed, that it does Mft**-*!) ■"5 5E^- -^JS't^af^^.r ■.f'K? hese perhaps 8, where the Wind River erf the head f of Mexico, through this re practica- the United in waggons at prairies; ited by Mr. )out 13,570 re are two lead-waters ithead and Saptin to iven to t^ were tQ_ leir home- se of the gillivray's and more nd Mount important nation be- ers of the itchawan, ives easy Bs. Far- ver gives i's River ^ what is 'ff ; but ttre opi- t it does ) ■ ., ■ . • ■ DEScRirrion op ihtebiob. 109 not run from Mackenae's Eiv«r northward, but IS continued in the Peak an^ ^bine range^more tinuabon forming a branch of them,^d separatinK . Fl^n" ''^'f^ """ '•y ™riou,S,u«JiBto t^ Frozen Ocean, like the White Mountains on the south those that fall into the Gulf of Mexfco. They R,^l the^Kocky Mountains is probably Mount wSrW ♦h^^ ^^'T^T" high. Mount Hooker nas nearly the same altitude. The heijfht of the Snowy Mountains has neve«» ^en accurately tested, but Wareconsiderrby Mr Fremont to b^ higher tt,an the. Eocky MoiiS^ ^eZX^^T"^*^, "'"K 2000 feet abore Ct^^' "l"*".*^ ^y "■« Americans, Mount «Td St Voo^V\"^;™'*«" ^°"'" Shaste, i« tte snow l^-i*^ !ri;.'^''« "■«. 'ovel of th^s«,. has been oal- , 7/ — -^K «*fwvo tilt; le ? f"i"' ''"« of these mountains ?ulated at 6500 feet. - a*^T «°""* ■^'" t""* PresideW range or ^scade Mountains are brojc^rf int*> many My f fHin&ih^^^^ the names iriven them be^Sl ~ ^Helen's is perhaps the most oeautiful, if not the highest ; it is of a conical form, abou t I7nnn p^r w.^l . .:.■,* Sr"*^* »he iBtricate courses of the mountain chain. / X "SA'- i&dkjatlng, as they must da, tfcose of the rivers it wili not app^r strange that for the most part they Bhvtm be found yery irregular also, 1, TIMS is to be particularly remarked of the Co- ftimbia. It has two principal branches, the south- ernmost of which has been mentioned as having Its sources under the 42nd parallel, not far from those of the great waters of South America^ It is called the Nezperces, Saptin, or Snake River, and bendmg to the west and north flows with a serpentme course for nearly 800 miles, to lat 46° where it joins the north branch, and their united course IS continued for upwai^ of 250 more to the s^, foiting a passage through the Cascade Mountains to about half that distance, up to which point, not far above Fort Vancouver, the river is navigable, and the tides of tlm, ocean are ap- parent, Jpr ^ '^ The principal -tributaries to the south branch are the Malheur River, having Jts rise in the Blue Mountains, and flowing under parallel 44"», about half-way from the source, the Waptiacoos or north branchf, now usually called Lewis? River, havinjr its sojirces not &r north of those of the main branclf and tjie Kooskooskee or Salmon Rtver, whose head-waters closely approach those gf i' Flathead or south arm of the nfl|j^ern branch the Columbia, Besides these, ime are numeric <^ers d^wnding from the Snowy Mountains on the sooth, the Blue Mountains on the west, and the spuFB of %j^Jlocky Mountains on the east, among ^"'^'^ "mentioned the Boisais, flowing *^^^ alcove tlie Mafetmrr ibur which Into ifafl from the hav€L a f< l^udson's Bay Company near W mouth. The course ""V. ^' -4V ■I'v-fes PESCBIPTION OF IltTERIO t f of w north -branjch is very pecuHwr; ityhas its Boarce under the 50th parallel, whence flowing north along the base of the Rocky Mounti^s, in about lat. 52° 10', it unites with the water of Canoe River, which ^se^ to the north in lat. 53**, near the head-^ft||i!i! 1^ iVazer*s Rivera and another branch, All^; ' jl i ioj in the north-west between Mouiitisj|r^m ana Hooker, ^^h^ its source near |hej[jfiiad-wa£ers of the Athabasca, wl^ich flows inlflK chain of l&kes through which the Mac- kenzie ^livi^r* discharges its waters into the Arctic Sea. Here, as before mentioned, amibng the most awful ^tures of mountain scen^y, lies the great northern outlet of the territory, resembling the ' Southern in many of its features, with even more sublimity of character, but especially in having . the sources of several great rivers within a very^ short distance of each other. Here are tl»€ head- waters of the Athabasca and north tributaries of the SaskatcTiawan, which falls into Lake Winnipeg, and ^ on the east the northern waters _^of the Co- lumbia and the eastern branch of Fraell^s River,- , near a deep cleft in the mountains, which has been called by the British traders ** The Committee's vPunchbowl." ° - ^' l>^- > l^rom the point of union of these three irtreamsf wHph, lias been called Boat Encampment, this, w^IJi' mA^ • DC considered the main jjranch of the Columbia, flows in a course nearly due south foe upwards of 250 miles, in the northern part of which it rushes through defiles of /the mountain^, , but under the 50th parallel it spreads into a large lake or chain of lakes; Mwl tower still ««gtheg, "BeloiFwlnch It rec« v«8^the waters of M*G1Ifiv- , nqr'« River, which having its rise to the north-west » f^ \ ' 1\2 '■ TSEQjIlbOir.M ill- I' I ' of the. heii^-waters of the main branch rnnning fouth as it ddl» north along the base of the Rocky Mountains, bends to the west, below parallel 4^ whence taking a semicircular course to the north! through a large lake, it joins the main branch about four htindred miles from its source. T& these, not far to the south, are added the waters of the Flathead, or Clarke's River, which, from its sources in a great bend of the Rocky Mountains, a little to the north of those of the Lewis River, under the forty-sixth parallel, skirts the base of that range in a north-westerly direction to Fort Flathead, in lat. 47° 40', when it continues the same course through a great lake till it joins the northern bran^ch of the Columbia, about thirty miles below M'^'^^^f-^'t^T^??r«^J^ n which DESCRIPTION OP INTERIOR. nf alsospring the Chekelis, which falls into Bullfinches* or Gray s Harbour, and those flowing into Puget's Sound, and which thus, in a measure, unite the Pa- cific and the Columbia with Admiralty Inlet^inthe Strait of Juan de Fuca. The mountainous country through which, for 4he most part, all these rivers flow, contracts their channels and quickens their currents, frequently breaking them into falls and cascades : in manv places they run in deep clefts worn in the solid ^ rock,. and in others are compressed between walls of rock. Such features, though contributing to the picturesque, do not add to the navigable quali^^yo^ t'lese waters : they are, however, gene- r^ily^Uavigable by canoes and batteaux, which are carried round the falls and rapids. The other rivers of South Oregon, besides the tributaries of the Columbia, ar^ the Umqua and Clamet. These, having their souribes at the foot of the Cascade and Snowy Mountain ranges, flow through fertile and fragrant valleys to the sea, in latitudes respectively 43° 50' and 42° 40', the one close Ito Cape Gregory, and the other immediately south of Cape Orford, the two most remarkable promontories of the coast. The district watered by these and the Wallamette has been esteemed the Garden of the West. The head waters of Frazer's River, or TatQiiche Tesse, have been mentioned as rising near those of Canoe River, the most northern branch of the Columbia, in lat.SS^**: their united waters flow with a western course about one hundred and fifty •""'" - vhen thoyr o cwve^tbe Sainton River fium thc " north. To th6 sources of which, those of the Unijah or Peace River closely approach, in one place being only three hundred and seventeen yardu ..iiUSk^ I' |f»rn^^»«f 114 THS OKEOOK. distant; this river having its rise, as has been remarked, within the limits usually assigned to the Oregon territory, breaking the chains of the Rocky Mountains, falls into Lake Athabasca, and then, by Mackenzie's River, unites with the Arctic Ocean. A little below Salibon River the waters of Stmit*s River are added from the north-west, after w|iiGh it flows in a circuitous course till it unites with the northern branch, or Thompson's River, which, rising near the source of QuesneFs River, flows at the base of the mountains which bound the Columbia to the west : this receive* the waters of several lakes in a course 6f above three hundred miles. ,The principal of these is Thompson's, •bove which it is joined by the Shouschwap, which has its rise between the Okanagan Lakes and main •treams of the Columbia. Below parallel fifty, binding to the west, it breaks through the Cascade Ranffe and fails into the Gulf. of Georgia. Its whole course, though frequently stated at only three hundred and fifty, probably exceeds six hun- dred miles in length. Its character diflPers from the Columbia generally, though assimilating par- tially with the northern branch of that river, flow- ing through marshy lands and Jakes, among which Stuart's, on the tributary of that name, and Ques- nel's, on one from the east, and Chilcotin on the west, onder parallel fifty-three, Thompson's on the North River, and Shouschwap on a branch of the same, are the most remarkable. The river is na- vigable for seventy miles up to Fort Langley. Its character near the Cascade Range is similar to that of ihm Columbia. Of ihe iwo riveraTolRiliorth, the Sahnoa .and Simpson, little is known. At the mountain ranges indicate by their courses ■ ' • V. " !« •--"\»*,r . ,«;' -S«- « » *'" •"?-'«^,'^*kr'^-i«-*jyv>r»"!"<'^ has been signed to ns of the »asca, and he Arctic waters of rest, after it unites I's River, 1*8 River, :h bound he waters ) hundred oinpson's, ip, which and main tlel fifty, 9 Cascade ■gia. Its at only six hun- Fers from ting par- ser, flow- ig which nd Ques- n on die I's on the !h of the er M na- ley. its X to that moB^and r courses DESCEIPTION OF IHTEBIOB. US -* those of the rivers, separating them from each other, so they divide the Oregon territory into dis- tricts as essentially different in character as they are distinct in locality. Th«i number of these has usually been stated as three, but it is to be pre- sumed this is with reference almost exclusively to the Lower Oregon, or at most to the valfeys of the Columbia and its tributaries. It is only b%low lat. 49*» fliat they may be distinctly traced. Of these the first, and by far the best, lies be- tweeji the Cascade Range and the sea : in it the lap^ fertile, the forests of the most gigantic wpy^, single pine-trees occuiring more than two kiiiidred feet without a branch, and upwards of three hundred feet high, while ^rime sound trees from two hundred to two hundred and eighty feet in height and forty feet in circumference are by no means uncommon : it is richly diversified with hi% and dale, well watered by numerous streams/^ abounding in game and fish, and backed by the lofty peaks of the snow-covered mountains, offers a prospect no less delightful fbr the luxuriance of lU productions than the beauty of its scenery, heightened as both are by the fragrance of the myrtaceous plants, whose slightest movement in the summer breeze perfumes the valleys. This district extends from the Clamet on the south to Van- couver's Island, and, indeed, may be said to be continued through the whole length of the western archipelago, but gradually losing iU fertility as it reaches the higher latitudes. The opinion of that great navigator respecting the district about Ad- mira l ty InlH ha s been record e d, and t h ai to t he south IS in no way inferior. Its superficial extent may be forty thousand square miles, exclusive of Q .ii^iaiayL.. '^imt.t.l^ THE OBEOON. i^lj^^^ O^lTrf */''?'^- ^""""e the northern islands Queen Charlotte's partakes most strongly of the character of this region. "^ ' Of the southern part ofthis district Lieut. Wilkes the Uni ed States government, says, " Few portions of the globe are so rich in soil, so divemfied in su^' &ce, or so capable of being rendered the happy hom^ of an industrious and civilized communiT •For beauty of scenery and salubrity of climate It cannot be surpassed. It is peculiarly adapH for an agricultund and pastoral people, and no p^tio^ of he world beyond the tropics can be found tha" W.11 yield so readUy with moderate labour to the wante of nlan." It may be added that catt?e iVcre^^ X"^r.f ^' r»%™"'tiply rapidly in thew^ Idl™hl '?l^"/^^*'"' «°"""yand climate is grimirably suited to European constitutions, the Tatter being subject to no violent extremes, though It ,s dry, bu* little rain felling from Apri^ toX vember, while the other three months form a ndmr season With all its fertility it has not pAbTwy more than one person for every-five square mU« of soil. Into this district abo extend ^e ,^" m^ inlete and har^urs which have been descXd™ ,h^ I.™ f i^""*- "■"* ""« ""»■">» of the rivers! though m the lower part, south of the Columbia, it has no mariume or mercantile advantages to b(4st f ;. L"^"* fj*'^ '?'"'*'^ ^'"' *^^ P^P«Me8 being centred m Adminilty Inlet. The whole of thU district IS naturaHy connected with the volcanoes minemls^rfl* Range, and appears as rich in productions 1 of all of Hiwe nobce will be Uken in a subsequent chapter. n islands y of the .Wilkfes, on under portions d in sur- e happy imunity. iimate it pted for portion ind that r to the increasis 5 woods, mate is >ns, the though toNo- a rainy robably B miles aritime ibed in rivers, dbia, it > boast 3 being of this canoes ich in inimal fen in DE8CBIPTION OP INTEBIOB. 117 *i. '^if ^i!^^^ ^^^^ lies between the Cascade and the Blue Mountains on the south of the Columbia, and the Cascade and spurs of the Rocky Mountains on the north-west. Its lower part, through which puns the Fall nver^consists of terraced plains, pro- jecting from the mountains, the sides of which are covered with thick forests. It is a beautiful and fer- tile distnct. Its upper part, north of the Columbia, expands, and the plains occupy the entire space between the Flathead and Snake rivers, forming a ' tnangle upwards of two hundred miles in length, and about one hundred in breadth, and extend to the west of the main branch, and north between it and the OkMikgan to lat. 49°. The sotl is chiefly a sandy clay, /dnd is covered with grass, and would altord food to innumerable flocks and herds. The undulations are however covered with small shrubs and prickly pears ; the bqttoms near the rivers are ncher, having good grass ; these are found princi- " pally m the south parts of the district, where the usual sandy clay is mixed with vegetable mould. Ihe cljinate is dry, the days warm and the nights cool, and the absence of moisture renders it even more salubrious than the western district. The nuny season, though as long, is not so severe ; snow seldom lies in this region. It has, however, one serious want, viz., wood, of which its northern part hJu I ^^^. '"^"''' destitute. Ross Cox, who built ^ort Okanagan, at the junction of the river of that name with the Columbia, at the northern extremity of this district, found there a large tmct d2!'^/^'*^.'^*^ «"«i«'««^Jy watered by thi heavy J j ftws^ thereoaailsa^ood land about Fort^olvJUa more to the west ; also on the Spokain river, and westward neai: the base of the Rocky Mouniainis 3?' _^ ^1. >-^-><»l I- *c ■B^, *HE ORBOOir. ^V ■*l «he Columbia have thlk ril'''"V'^ '"^'"'''Oe. of a more recent traveller J^L . **""'«"». howewer, by what he ^U "thT^".^"^ ^" *«^ into a not ve^ pLsiJt d«crinr°"!, ^f^<^ti^" but he admits the fe^"f J^/^''""/ »*» plai™, the south a. »ear hf rit^,^ of 't^?;?' *" ""^^ '^ CoUimbia. Of the SpSn r^vi ^'i'"^" and •peaks in hia-herfT™! .!^ "verand its valley be ■ ff «owin7tot^ig£"7nrffi'"'**«^'^ - « sparsely covered irit h „.v ^ '*°''' Mountain,, «»/'spu«f,„;X^rMo^i-'^r °' "fi"^' this might almMtbed^sidp^^ *k",*"^"'" ''«*««' thini dUtrict, but aro^d ^tr ,^°^^'"» "> «"« through whidh it flows about^X^-.*^ ^«' • source, are Some ^ Zl ^ ""'" *"»" ^^ and wild fruito. S I-kl '• "f ^ '^^'^ 'oot., long by twelve b-^a" ^'on'a r^'^-""" -»"<» course of the stream " h» .^ f< ^^ remaining tervals productivTsMt, L ??' /" «»"«* at i* sidentble^ine I™ c^r tiS" ''"v'''^™ '" «on. % hills, L,d near the "ol'umW;1'^* "•'^'^"- growing on sandy nlain. !^ . '"** -forests valley «n be exteffivisSL?"^' ^'"' ^P""""" . but ito agrioultumi i«™KM^ ^ * grazing district, dHtrictt c^^s'r;' ':«rj'ti- ^"^ • ^^™X''^.7n!:,S^^^^ Or^n , through which the upper watTrTa^^^P ff"8«' th e m ai n ri,^„ r>..b^Z :^^^t^ '^^ ^L^_ '.» -" ^ ^T^fy^rTW-w ooded, espe- ributarie* of nij however, een wearied desolation" the plaiiM, s as well to »nagan and 8 valley fae >e describes naoiintains, 8 of a fine. Jn ; indeed fing to the eart Lake, ' from itfl thle roots, five miles remaining und at in- ng mode- re is con- ^ighbour- pe .forests Spokain • district, d. ^his t te nver^ r-ground •egon is gprges, tarieaof f-V DESCEIPTIOS OF WTEBWB. capable of culUv^dorSi^r^i"^ P^'"™«« ""d case about. Pointed Helrt w'"''* t*" '" >« the Clarkes or Flathead W a^l'i " ?' '^ »'"» "n parallel 45 the c Wtit Jti." i?^*' ""*««» "l^ve tures may be deri^li,„ ffc""' """"n of ita fe»- by traveUere of tbrfi^T W 1^"P«»» afforded Passes. "* 8^' Northern and Southern ^' noe river :_" ©n thT^r" •"'® "°'""'7 round Ca- a 'hick mist Itilte^^f the 29th of May, the awful solitude of S^ "*' ,V^ "«dered impressive ; it app^riS^^'^f ? '"^'«y peculiarly by the foot of S^™ti?7r *° '■»^« bee^trodde^ British co»„erTa;i:^l,«« from As the mis^r^^gt'yj''««"°ftheeolumbi^ surrounding scenery OnX. '"f ' '"«'' of the of^«ountain\thSye^ver^«^"°j;'';«™ »*«?« ««" cedar trees, towered to aT^ '"^ P*"* and ^^iic the 'south^™ p^;t^"'r!r~"*' ''"■»'"' «>cl» of immense altuS !«r,tf^ •*'P««'icular ■noss, stunted pine, &c ov^ ^ 'u**"*"^ *ith CMcades of seven wethJfc^ *J"i* "t interval. exc^t u, the intervals betwepn ^1 i ^'^^ *""» This grand c^, or pripcipa. belt, over whicfc 120 THE OBEOON. h "i the north ^ ascends, he thus describes :_« At th^r^lS *'"'''*.*'«' .»""•"" of the hill ^t Ihev f^ .u""^ ^""^^ twenty-five or thirty yi'nl^l "" *.''* "X"* 1«^«' part of the heisht ?^e tfceir nse, which pursue different courses and fa/wtZJTf rr*'' '"" «"' -ind"Tntorhe vallqr we liad lately left, and after ioininff the On! umbia empti« itself into the North Pacic whit bLT'%\^^.'*'^ Bocky MountirRiC a IZft ^ Athabasca, follows first an^ter^ S^n wfth theTw™. """S*- •"■«' " fo""" ^"n™ .w r >. ^"'^ °^ ^«ace K"CT. This fell. p^rance of desolation that can wellTe TiZinX SSf ZL „> I ?'"'"Sf brightness over the cha. °!'.l'^^„f ^°fa^ «. -"d'How. by which we well "irruunaoaj g1us6 lo our Bneftnipm^nt one Bieanf i^ mountain of a conical fom, towered magnm^nt? bes : — " At ' enormous ended they )f the hill We com- nd a half, inimit, and ogfess lay ve had to Sided men. 8, between few hun- J distance i or thirty he height mense cut wo rivers irses, and ( into the ^ the Co- ific, while River, a I eastern 8 a junc- ^his falls 'hich are ' to the encariip- rific ap- lagined; pendous the cha- tvewerft rigantic ficently DESCftiPTION OP INTEBIOK. 121 which, after Se "n^etalh d'Srbed^;fi^' resembling the Si! % ^"^^^^"^ <"^''' ™°« dispe«i5„^„r'^raL''rr;. '^ sWrthi "i? ^"^ =et^:fXo^- „r¥'^ '^« ?= tW /hi ^ ^''^ ^^''^ such a glory to the Al^ that these impress the mind hnf h^ • ^' sfirinn™ „/!!, conveyed is borne out br his de- and crossing ."'^rtavTirfi" "I *" ""^« «'°"» ' to the cJoZiT -^ u ""^ ^'^""> Mhntuy . mountains; Sl.^'aS^n^'tieTor th" ^^ °f "•" mantio beauty met ouf eL T 5* ™2" "*■ the vast exoanJ. J , ®^f ' . '^'"«<* »« "'^i from laL, and Ll^'teHrt-S^r^Sn^rJ^ > Z^i^^E^-)^ )l rose precipitously fire hundred or a tliousand feet, covered with the dark green of the balsam pine relieved on the border of the lake by the Lht -foliage of the aspen. They all communicated with each other, and the green of their wat^, common to mountain lakes of great depth, showed it woulj be impossible to cross them. Descending the hilL we proceeded to .make our way along the marffin to the southern extremity. A narrow strip of an- gular fragments of rock sometimes afforded arouffh pathway for our mules ; but generally we rcSe along the shelving sides, occasionally scramblinff up at a cohsiderable risk of falling back into thi lake. Ihfe slope was frequently 60^; the pines grew densely together, and the ground was covered with branches and trunks of trees. The air was ?^^'*! J'^^ J^® ^*^^"^ ^^ *^® Pnes ; and M^ ahzwi this delightful morning the pleasur^^ breathing that mountain air which makes a con- stant theme of the hunter's praise, and which now made us feel as if we bad all been drinking som« exhilarating gas. The depths of this unexplored forest were a place to delight the heart of a bo- tanist ; there waa a rich undergrowth of plants and numerous gay-coloured flowers in brilliant bloom. IlJTf^ *^.?. """^^^^ ** ^^^^^ ^'^^re some freshly barked willows that lay in the water showed the beaver had been recently at work. The hills on the southern end were loW, and the lake looked like a mimic sea, as the waves broke on the sandy beach m the force of a strong breeze. In search ot smoother ground we rode a little inland, and paasing through groves of aspen, smvn found,,eu&_ -wiv^amongHie pines ; emerging from th^,"^ struck the. summit of the ridge above the upper Li-1..i«.iJ^JAi^>i.>i.^'^i» i'i.'-it.T' /'--'7VV ' c y s ■ ■,)1' .«?-^«7BTi DESCBIFTION OF INTIftllOE. ^ en^ of the lake. We reached a very elevated spot ;' and in the valley below, and among the hills, were a number of lakes of different levels, sdme two or three hundred feet above others, with which they communicated by foaming torrents ; even to our great height the roar of the cataracts came up, and we could see them leaping down in lines of ^nowy foam. From this scene of busy waters we turned abruptly into the stillness of a forest, where we rode among the open bolls of the pines, over a lawn of verdant grass, having strikingly the air of cultivated grounds : this led us, after a time, among masses of rock which had no vegetable earth but in hollows and crevices, though still the pine forest continued. Towards evening we reached a defile, or rather a hole in the mountain, entirely shut in by dark piiie-cov«rie(l rocks. A small stream with a scarcely perceptible current flowed through a level bottom of perhaps eighty yards' width, where the grass was saturated with water ; ascending a peak, we saw that the little defile in which we lay communicated with the long, green valley of some stream, w)iich, here locked up in the mountains, far away to the south found its way in a dense forest to the plains. We made our bivouac among the pines: the surrounding masses were all of granite. Among all the strange places on which we had occasion to encamp^uring our long journey, none has left so vivid an impression on my mind as the camp of this evening; the disorder of the masses which surrounded us, the little hole through which we saw the stars overhead, the dark pines wh ere we slept, and the ro cks lit u p with the crlarft 01 our fires, made a night picture of wild beauty worthy tJie pencil of Salvator Rosa. ■# t , '■lE^^^^*!^ i'flSff^^ .^ ( 124 ) CHAPTEli VI. "^ - -^■\ ^- _ . ^ . /- ■ ^ -- NATUEA'l. PJBCULIABITIES. . TaE whole territory w^t of t)ie Rocky Mountains, having peen subject ta volcanic action, presents, as has been observed, great diversity in surface and the quality of its soil. To this cause it owes the -picturesque magnificence of its general outlines, the lofty mountain p6aks, the precipitous ravines, the rapid torrents which characterise its romantic scenery, and perhaps not less the fertility of its valleys, the gigantic growth of its forests, and the verdure of its plains. Consequent also upon this are many curious natural features and phenomena which should not be passed over unnoticed. And first, among those as more particularly in- dicative of their origin, may be mentioned the Soda Springs, or, as they are called from their acid taste and eflfervescence, the Beer Springs, near the southern pass. VThey are situated at the bottom of a deep valley formed by a circular bend of the mountain, at the foot of which the river flows, and close to a grove of cedars, at the sowrce of Bear River, a tributary of the Great Salt Lake, known only by reports of the trappers until lately visited by Mir. Fremont. The principal springs lie in six circular hollows, s unk about two feet^HtiH l tfr grmtiid,and"wveni)Y eight feet in diameter, each containing a number of : §fef" . V\^'*-ij\'*"'7^ } NATlTBAIi PXCUMARmilS. 125 fountains discharging gas and water With a noise resembling the boiling of immense caldrons. In th^ pools the -water is clear, though some are- tufted witfr coarsfe grass, among which the water wells up continually. They are also very abun- dant m the bed of the river, and- for the space of several hundred yards its surface is agitated by the effervescing gas into countless little bubbling columns. ^ ° About a quarter of a mile lower down the river the most remarkable of these springs is found. It is called the Steam-boat Spring, having been so named by different parties at different times, from recalling to the recollection of each individually the hoise and appearance of a steam-boat in motioni the gas, pent up in a cavernous receptacle bLlowi escapes from a small hole in the surface, in inter- mitting jets, with much the same sound as steam from the escape-pipe of a high-pressure engine. Above from the rock— which, gathered up in an urn-hke form, with a small basin at the top, ap- pears to have been formed by continual deposits, and IS coloured bright red with oxide of iron— the water is discharged in a scattered jet of some three feet high, at irregular intervals, dependent on the temperature of the spring, which is usually about blood heat. The gas, from the orifice produces a sensation of giddiness and nausea when smelt. The following analyses of the deported rock are given by^Mr. Fremont :■— Carbonate of lime » magnesia Oxide of iron -Silicttyt4tuaaifl% w a ters 92*55 0*42 1-05 ^i^ #■ 100*00 m, THE OEEGON. *• The \*ater contains, by his computation, Sulphate of magnesia . M of lime .\ . Carbonate of lime . 12* 10 grains. 212 3-86 3-22 1-33 1-12 M magnesia CWoride of calcium . M ma^esium »> sodium . ^ Vegetable matter . . o-85 The carbonic acid, escaping before the analyses, could not be taken into consideration. He thought them 1^ highly flavoured than those at the foot of I'lkes P^k, niore to the eastward, which are also ot a much higft^r temperature. Near this place is another very jemarkable spring, contained in a basm about fifty yards in circumference, the sides . Ti "^ *''® ^^ calcareous tufa, composed prin- cipally of the remains of mosses, rising from three to ten feet m height, and supporting the water above the surface of the ground about it. It is clear and pure, and about three or four feet deep. At the base of a small hill in this neighbourhood 18 another peculiar feature, consisting of nume- rous small limestone columns, tapering towards the top, from whence the water welling ovot is constantly increaeing the height of those natural obelisks. They are from three to four feet hiffh. and about one foot in diameter at the base This valley is wildly beautiful, walled in on ail sides with dark mountains rearing their craggy peaks high into the air, and between their softibre walls the verdant valley and limpid river wind in soft and mel ow beauty. The scenery and phenomena ot the plAce inspired Mr. Farnha m with propheUc •miona, fti,J l„ the dim fuiurtiy or second-sJtiplil he ■ftw the springs surrounded by the lofty architecture „£fa>2^jok_ t>c<^:Jiy| ^S^^l'J'ifUM.-i HiMi • ' ' NATiTEAL PECULIARITIES. >n 127 rams. e analyses, ie thought the foot of :h are also lis place is ined in a ) the sides osed prin- from three the water it. It is eet deep, ibourhood of nume- f towards g ov«r is je natural feet high, «e. This all sides •gy peaks bre walls d ill soft lenomena prophetic -KigrM he hitecture of baths and assembly-rooms, among which the rank and fashion of the Oregon and Missouri, Texas and Cahforma, flitted like gay insects in the sunbeam, seeking m the various modes of excitement offered a refuge from ennui, or in the vigour-bestowing properties of the water an escape from the lassitude and indolence of body and mind which the same debilitating vanities in their own countries had in- duced, and sent them there to alleviate, if not to cure. ^ . J «-w And that some such fate may await this locality 11 "?T ".lli* o^^y • '^*"^*^^ ^" *^« direct road from the United States to the Columbia and California, and at the h^ of the valleys of the Arkansas, Rio Bravo del Norte, and Colorado, and not far from the coast, it must ultimately form the nucleus of lour great roads connecting tJie Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico with the United States. What may hap- peam the meantime is perhaps less easy to foretell. fw^^'fi ''^^'.i^*'^', *^'^"»^ * ^«^«1 P^»»« about twenty.five miles in length, which it enters through a uanon Gap, opposite where it receives the waters of the Roseaux or Reed River, which rises in ground fi led with saline springs. This plain is situated about four thousand five hundred feet above tiie level of the sea, between rocky mountains whose snowy peaks are lost in the clouds four thousand ieet above ; below, the river, winding through grassy bottoms for fifteen miles, almost loses itself amon^ small pools and swamps abounding in wild-fdwl and Innged with stunted willows and rushes; in these extensive marshes which f orm Hm m ftnth. the ground is covOT^ with saline ^ores^^wUh only a narrow strip of vegetatio/i, where sun-i floweri, roses, and flowering trees spring from the^ ' • o Wf^l -^ ^ » ^-^ "'' 'i '.f^'^ f^t™"- 128 THE oBEaosr/ verdant grass, which is fringed on the marsh with saline plants. Near its mouth Jlktjp. Fremont found a stream of remarkably clear water" ftcm|ng into Bear River, and from this place he directed his course to a lofty hill having the appearance of a peninsula, where he hoped to gain the shores of the lake; near this, in a gorge of the mountains, he found a well-timbered stream about a hundred and fifty yards' wide, with high banks and clear water, without any indications of salt ; at the foot of the mountains, however, he found hot saline springs, where the therm9meter rose above 130*^, and which ^tood in pools on the ground, coloured bright red with oxide of iron, and having one- fiftieth of its "components "-Carbonate of lime. From the top of this peninsula he saw for the first time the waters of the Great Salt Lake " stretching in still and solitary grandeur far beyond the limits of vision ; several islands raised their rocky heads out of the waves ;" along the shores was not the semblance of tree or bu^h, and but little appearance of grass, and even on the river they had just left the timber gathered into groves, and at last disap- peared entirely as they approached the lake. A sudden squall, however, ru£(hing down from the mountains, entirely shut out from their view distant objects, and left, them ttill a prey to the excite- ment of imagination. Having left some of his party in charge of the horses and baggnge, Mr. Fremont with the rest embarked on the lake in an India-rubber canoe eighteen feet long, and provided with air-tiirht -ylir'- ^ . .. . -. ft ^Cyl jn dfii3Llto increflfle its buoyancy. Sitting ||y their camp-fire— the summer frogs chirping rouAd them— under a mild autumn sky, glowing with the ♦ NATURAL PECULIABITIE8. 129 marsh with mont found 09iing into lirected his ranee of a lores of the antains, he indred and :lear water, foot of the ne springs, 130^, and i, coloured aving one- te of lime. For the first * stretching 1 the limits ocky heads ^as not the appearance ad just left last disap- i lake. A I from the 'iew distant the excite- irge of the h the rest bber canoe 1 air-tight Sitting— ^y — ping rouid ig wilh the brilliant orange and green of the setting sun, they had the evening beS)re been speculating on the events the morrow would bring forth ; in these busy conjectures they fancied they^ould find every one of the large islands a tanged \dlderness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with game of every descrip- tion that the neighbouring region afforded, and which had never been violated by the foot of white man o^Indian. Frequently during the day clouds had r^ed on the summits of these lofty mountains, and they indulged in anticipations of the luxurious repast with which they should be indemnified for their past- privationsi, among their verdant groves and limpid streams. Nor were the mysterious dangers with which, in Indian traditionary ig|ory, its shores are haunted, nor the mighty whirlpool which, terrible as CharySdis — ji; " imo barathri ter gurgiteVastoB Sorbet in abruptum Ductus, rursusque sub auras Erigit alternos, et sidera verberat unda" — lessened by the discovery that their boat, Instead of being strongly sewed (like that which had the pre- ceding year rode triumphantly through the Canons of the Upper Great Platte River), was only pasted together, and this added to the impression of dan- ger arising from the prospect of an undertaking which had never before been attempted, naturally gave a serious turn to the conversation ; and the view they had obtained of the lake the day before, its gr^t extent and mountainous islands dimly seen among its dark waters in the obscurity of a ^sttttttt^ stttrni, wjw wen t^i idea of unde^ned danger with which it had been usually associated. At night the trappers had o 2 130 THE OREGON. ominous dreams, and with gloom oi^tlieir counte- nances but gai€fty on their tongues they prepared for the adventure. Having passed a^ge of fetid mud dividing the fre6h water ofikf^iver from the salt water of the lake, they steered for one of the islands ; but as the water dee|)ened, and the waves rosp, the spray dashed oyer them, and in the distance the white breakers rising high above the surface recalled to their minds the whirlpool tra- dition ; and their frail boat, having burst two divi- sions of its cylinders, requiring a constant supply of air to keep it afloat, their efl'orts at gaiety became subdued. Their bark, however, floated over the Vaves like a water-bird, and they slowly reached an island, the shores of which they founfl covered with salt deposited by the spray of the waves. At noon they landed on a broad beach ; here they found a bank from ten to twenty fe*et in breadth and one foot in depth, composed of the larvae of insects about the size of a grain of oats, which had been washed up by the waters of the lake, and ascertained that the insects which had inhabited them formed an article of food amoijg the Indians.. On the summit of this island, eight hundred feet high, they enjoyed an extended wiew of the lake enclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, sometiipes projecting in bold precipitous bluffs, at others separated from the lake by marshy flats; towards the south several peninsular mountains, of from three thousand to four thousand feet high, entered the lake, appearing to be connected by flats or low ridges w i t h theJmQimtaiji H i n their r e ar. These are probably the islands usually indicated on map6 of this region ; and as it is possible that ^-#' «f^ NATURAL iPECULIABlTIES. 131 eir counte- y prepared Ige of fetid jr from the one of the the waves nd in the above the irlpool tra- it two divi- ant supply at gaiety er, floated hey slowly they founa ray of the ad beach ; nty feet in sed of the lin of oats, ers of the ivhich had Eimong the t hundred Bw of the nountalns, I bluffs, at •shy flafs ; jn tains, of feet high, ed by flats heir dicated on sible that dunng the high watera^ the spring the low grounds and marshes are Verflowed, they may then bear that character. >^ Their day-dreams of fertile islands entirely va- nished in the prospect of the ruggted rocks which alone broke the surface of the lake\; yet, as they gazed on the vast expanse of its waters they could hardly resist their desire to continue their explora- tions; the lateness of the season, howeve^r, com- pelled them to desist. The waters of this lake are highly impregnated t«^ith salt, and those which flow into the lake from the east, as well as those which are tributary to the Colorado, pass through clifl& of rock-salt. Mr. Fremont in returning to the shore was unable, from the strength of the gale which op- posed him, to obtain the depth of the water of the lake, or the character of. its bed in deep water, which, however, was of clay near the shore. The mountains to the north of the lake seem principally of blue limestone and ^granular quartz. The bottoms by the rivers are verdant and extensive, soil good, and timber suflSfcient. The mountain sides bear good grasses. The salt-mines which mig^t be openlfl in this district wbuld make It as valuable, in a commercial point of view, as Mr. ^Fj'emont's description would lead to the' opinion of its eligibility for the habitation of a pastoral peqple. Its connexion with the Ignited States is easy, and the pass in the mountains dividing Bear River from the head-waters of the Snake River, though steep, ianot difficult, being not more than tw o t bouaand feet above the lak^w^liich he estimafed as six thousand five hundred £eet above the Gulf of Mexico. . 1^ i^ 132 THE OREGON. B^l^ I.- uf "^''"' "« the Trois Butfes or Buttes, which form another very remarkable fefirl .n theeountiy and evidence of volcanirictim,". The nver here enters those apparently hewn ohannes m the rock which can be traced ™duX - \"<"^'>gm deptb from hence to ThrM^^ J^utTh' Ik'""^*" " >ig'' plain, bordered o^Z Z no^y t'hrf-"^-"'* S-^-y Mountains. To bv t^e'sSmn; 2^.''^P'""*« 'he '""th is bounded bnt ,L^ ^'.''*'" ™"S«' in front of which alL " n P'on»nently out from it, the " S fA ori^ P?"^'"*^ P«""' P^bably volca™c he iZlT^^' '* 'T* "'" "■""'and fm above the level of the ground around them. Their baa^ Dureiing trom their summits irradiate their dark the'pW ir-"! ^''^' *'"'"'"<' eo^inu^'afong Thf^V ^*"" '?•»"« "»»a"y covered with snow IfnZ-" !?*"* " P«<="'i" ' in an elevated moul" ^nrZrt"H ' '*'^^'°" "^ "»*"«»' existing to ; ve^r great degree, diversified only by these th~« hu|i masses .^ring themselves out "V t^e plaT ^>ks o/'a^tK'"* ."'«™ i-nn-ovable, IreTke who b«for« 7t .. . • "' " "* " "J' t" cMefl alM, ih« ..nrfi .i?* "itrusion of the white men. roved the undisputed master, of the plains ihe plains to is Buttes or able feature c actiom ° *■ ently hewn d gradually the Dalles, red on the I tains. To ►ken np by •. Fremont, usand feet lake River t suddenly iceous ba- the water is bounded of which, he " Trois Y volcanic eet above h,eir bases imall rills heir dark ued along nth snow, ed moun- ;ing to a Bse three he plain, - lore like ili fit to liiefiaifisV Jn, roved NATURAL PECULIARITIES. The French word " butte," which has been natu- rah^d among these rocky mountains, serves fully to identify the objects to which it refers j its pecu- liarities of use are similar to the English butt, which IS no doubt derivable from it. Its local application is to the detached hills or ridges which rise abruptly, reaching t6o high to be called hills and not high enough to be called mountains. Mr Fremont thinks the word knob, as applied in the Western Stktes, is the most descriptive term in i^nglish, forgetting our application of the very word to the mounds which formerly were the n^arks for practice with the long-bow, and wM6h have afforded local names to many places in Eng- land ^ Cerro," he says, "is the Spanish ter^, but thinks no paraphrase or translation would, pre' serve the identity of these picturesque landmarks, dl^nce ^^ *^*^e"«^» and often seen at a great On the south side of the Snake River, below its junction with the Salmon or Lewis River, is an- other very remarkable nattiral feature, called the Gmnde-ronde ;" it is a mountain valley sur- rounded by a wall of basaltic rock, as its name intimat^, circular, having a diameter of about twenty-five miles, forming a beautiful level basin covered jith luifruriarft grass, and well watored by a tributary of the Snake River, which has its nse within its circuit, and takes its name from it. Ihe soil 18 nch, and the hills above covered with magnificent timber, principally larch; at its north- west side IS also a" heayybi%o f tim be r," do scendiiig mto the plain about the head of a verv deep and still creek. From Grande-rond^ thtf stream flows through a fertile valley of the same « v-^ -■ 134 THE OEEOON. character, but well woodwi mi •* r ,; . Saptin. Here fh. .n^ ' I " '^"^ "ito the , tribe every /rr to K > "^ •"" "^"^^e exchange forCts^ir^!f '*'""'" *" a t J^^^' ^""^ *"' ""'' ''"A'alo fa worth recording '™^t.on took glace which „ When Messrs. Lewii anH m. i Cayuse or SIcyuse tribe ,h * "'*''* """"^ ""e an America^ C cdi^L"^7 P'«ented,them with how far it has eZ'^lZ such t^r'n" °'P^« = need not now be inq^laireTinto i ^.^"k ""''""^ the Cayuse tribe received it' ^t,™"''} however, their allifes, been before th^J,- n*^ ^' '»'**'' the Shoshones, but th? latterh "•''"^f ""'**"• flag was in thrir poss^fo' if k^ "'*' '""^ » <«nt brosght and pSTn 'the r«''X """f "<"- the consequence of which wa, ,tl . '"''«*' the jourLr'^rThrsrtheir*'"' ""r" "^ munications with them Z,w' *.''*'' general com- pearance, either a tSc^ ',"«^ ''"''' '» »" ap- what wa^ ess:mMVh row„*''"try''*y<>"<' progress of their exp^ition " "^"'^ '""^ »'"« wiTmeric^'rfr"'" "1"'* "•« "^''^ of' been '>otio^'"TheZn^T''-'^y compressed have Mess™. Lewis and Clarke JrF °^ ""' J''"™ey of called by the PanaW^ and Fremont ; they are ColumbiJ alt ve^"remarlaSe '*:.; 'i"^ "'" "^ pressed into ave?y^rm„ 'h' ^! "^^^ " ""n.- WiJkeax^mjHrte^'^ "^;^^ channel, ^^h'Ch T,i^.t. NAT^BAiL PECTTMABITIfflT 135 ch^nillV.: ""■ ^''*' *''« *"?' "''o^e this narrow finf 1**^ r''«''.»''«lW in a semicircular form filling the basiftof a ba«Jtic amphitheatre extendi mflation^^ff'^^^ :e '^^ ""'"'-west. The accu- roar ot the pent up waters struggling to fescane that in Z'^""'" ""'"'•^ '««*- to the conclusion that m former times the whole body of water passed-over the rocks, until having gmdU l won*' us present deep channel, it sunk tekw theiJk^^ and btX ■".!?•> ";* Weamnce of the countiy, ' sMe of fh ^''.''"""'^l ^""'ller channeU on each side of the main stream, through which the water Hows during the freshets : indeed its whole surface ZtT^ ""^ ""F"'^ chamcterof theColumbUto conttZn^*" ™t''«V^' 0^ " <='«'••' of lakes than a ahn^? k' 'r'.' "?" •' «»P««ially to be remarked above John Day's river, not fer from the Dalles, where the- country is flat, sandy, and the rive; lrtZir%^^"^'- It ■•» «>tirely destitute ot trees, and, produces grass and a small sort of cactus, in many places mixed with pebbles rounded aL tht '•".°-,r'*"'' "'abounds in large hares and the p.n-tailed grouse, which are m tame as to permit a very near approach. There are also on the north branch of the river two similar but n»n Tt^"' """"* ""« Upper and Lower Dalles; and below its junction wi&i the Flathe^ .■■•,„: x- • — *"^'°, ^*i p ui uie greatest _ -^nositw m the eountiy. X» bed o? ♦Tl .V, ""^ T""? ^^^ ^»'^«^' ^"d being harder than the rocks above and below, has formed a o3 136 •r ■, THE OREGON. basin, which renders the name' not inappropriate, Ihe mam fall at this place is about fifteen feet high; where, boiling and foaming in the hollow , rock. It givea additional force to the application. Ak)ve, the water fells fifty feet in^ series of rapids, sufficiently broken to permit the passage of boats. 1 he river here is above two thousand feet wide and the current runs fourmil^ per hour; the land is about two thousand two llundred feet above the level of the sea. Some miles Iqwer down the river IS anoUier remarkable place, denominated the Grande Coulee :" this is a broad chasm between ba^ tic palisades, of from seven to eight hundred feet m hAght ; it varies from two to three miles in width, and IS about forty-five miles long, runninff nearly north and south. The cliffs in some places arf broken in with tributary valleys- of the skme cha- racter The bottom is a plain, in appearance per- lectly level, but having some irregularities; iu the north part there are several granitic knolls re- sembling islands, above seven hundred feet hieh cj^ed with basalt: they are called Isles de^ l-ierres There are in it three lakes ; one on the top ot the mountain side, another lower down, and a third between two of the knolls; this is the largest, and may be about a mile in length by three hundred feet in breadth ; they have no visible out- i^i^K 1- """^^ *^® ^'^'""^'•y ^^*^"n^ is covered with sahne eflaoresceiices, they are perfectly fresh and abound in wild-fowl. From the Cxmnd Coulee a gently undulating prairie country, affording pasture for sheep, leads to the Coulee des l^ierres, the features of which we very similar to Jho s e of tho Gr and Ct n tl^, fat ^n g^Her scaK- runnmg for two miles in the same direction ; it it&i lappropriate, ; fifteen feet I the hollow application, es of rapids, ge of boats, id feet wide, ir ; the land t above the vn the river linated the 5m between ^ht hundred 'ee miles in ig, running 3 places are same cha- rance per- es; in the knolls re- feet high. Isles des ne on the iown, and his is the 1 by three isible out- !i covered perfectly om the country, oulee des imilar to er _.., ction; it NATURAL PECULIARITIES. 1 37 countenanc^ bv 0^!' ^ opinion ,n some measure its southernlxtrem^t f,?"*"^ ?«^ granite found at character nearer X^!*t .u*"'^ "° "^^ °f that eveT^ffordTo sLt^"i^r K«™i ""« ™«k' bo^- the passage of ?riv^! f "^'°° consequent on that it y,l conneTtld ' tu '**"" •'""'^ P"'^^^^ of lakes, wCe torie^ h • ' T**'"*^ » »y»te» vuWon/found aZS^ fn!"f ^T V°'»« «»"- southerk chan^era.' [he CoTu™Z"""T«'' *'"« roboration of thU niair^i„ •• '^olumbia. In cor- the enti^ce of the r J!' h'"^*'' ?f "*"«'''«' ""« Many places occur on the banks of fhp r^i V- S'hen theriver!^"<^lTemmJ^';"h^r land-slide., on which the ^nil ♦),«* *u ^ ^ **' '"® oase placed, or the TaL tUl '.• '""t' «™* '" ""^ . or me water percolating between it and i.. ^^^■^fifilMH !9«il ■" \ 138 THE OBEOON. -«•- the strata upon which it lies, has produced the same effect, that, from whatever cause, is evident ; for Mr. Fremont observed in one place on the right bank a portion of one of those slides, which seamed to have planted itself with all the evergreen ft)Iiage and vegetation of the neighbouring hill directly amid the falling and yellow leaves of the river trees. ^ All their peculiar features, indicative of great convulsions and volcanic action, serve to show the great alteration the face of the country may hav^ undergone within, perhaps, no very re- mote period : they impress it i^ith the evidence of mighty energies in nature, and afford the prospect of the equal operation in the development of its natural resources and the physical and moral energy of its future population. i ( 139 ) iced the evident ; the right h seemed n fbliage directly he river of great to show country very re- idence of prospect nt of its il energy CHAPTER VII. NATIVE TRIBES- MANNERS, HABITS, ETC. It is a sad reflection, that before the advance of civilization, savage life melts away like snow before the beams of spring, — that the forces of the two are so antagonistic, that, instead of imparting mutually vigour and intelligence, instead of the development of the functions of the body assisting the progress of the operations of the mind, the animal sinks be- fore the mental, and that not by its direct opera- tion, but, by the extraneous force it imparts to the same animal development in others, it gives it for the time the masftery, to be disf^ced in its turn, by that from which it received its power ; thus the trapper and hunter teaching the Indians the wants of civilization, open also a maj*ket for its lux- uries, and with the introduction of artificial wants engrail the vices of civilization and their fruits on those of nature, until, having engrossed the profits of Indian labour, the squatter and emigrant occupy that soil which should have yielded its produce to him, and, thus oppressed by the arts, not of war, but of peace, he is overwhelmed in the flood. How different from the end he would have chosen, how self-destructive his confidence, how parasitical the embrace of his concealed enemy, how surely, ie pea^iluT calumer wi th th¥" wise men from the sun-rising— the Sagamores of the East — would the war dance and death song .<* .ii£^-^ <> '^^^» ■.*>, u^' "^ ^ ■'f!^^^- \ W THE OfiEaON, :(,*. T^^nt be ruled by poetry or romance, and in'the ntncteit juatice not (nferior to many to whom even r f '"fi^p- have been the prelude to a war of extermination and •!P?*';^ ^"^ "^^^^y ^^ *^e Providence of God withhold from us the knowledge of the'end, while - employmg man as a means to that which was pur- posed froni the beg,nning~-the greatest and most evident reflection of the !)eity must take the place «f nh • ,?^*-C!,V"^tion must be the pioneer InnZ^J'^'H ^^\ *^^ ^^^ ^ fi"«^ with the knowledge of the glory of God as the water covers i<*jie sea* •■ ' nnlT^l'M^.^ reflection modified and softened not S. ^J^^^^""^?^ ^"* ^y its more particular efiects^^^ 1. Though the nations M^Wch had reigned^ undisturbed Jords over the land are disappearing, the scarce perceived am^g^mation o| their races hsa frequently resulted i^ire ad- vancement of the descendants of the Xriirines a«d many occupy places of honour aShtnSt anions "" ^ **^^ of civilization, wealth, and intellectual refinement, whose lathers dwel^W the canopy of heaven, to whom the ri«SV Croesus would have had no more value th& so much tinsel, and who expressed m the in^tive rhetoric of niture the want^ which they fdfand the passions which excited them.. This. i# a source TconsolaS when we recur to th0 extinct races of the eastern " ^* -^»»?ri<», the glory of her forests and 1, when, in traditionary recollection, we hear again the soft dove-like sounds which floated softly over the council-fires of the ehivalric Delaware*, breathing lore and friendship to those who so soon were to be the exterminatore of the race, whi ahould we not i^y nf hprofln ^ heroes indr il' .■■-u tiiiation and ice of God end, while ;h was pur- : and most e the place ie pioneer with the iter covers ftened not particular ^hich had land are Isramation ad- 'rigines, ; among itellectual e caijopy us would insel, and )f nature >ns which nsolation e eastern rests and we hear ed softly slawares, > so soon ice, why UVUUy II id in the om even WATITE TRIBES. 141 « modern inteUigence^^and morality have awarded Stripped, however, of all fictitious ornaments, savage life, though it has natural beauties, yet the darker shadows of its vices overcome the lustre of its virtues ; and though we may regret individual loss, we cannot but rejoice in the universal advantage and progress. The mill and the factory of the white man may be less picturesque than the deer-skin lodge of the red J the smoky steamer, as, panting and rattling, she cuts through the lakes or rivers, less in harmony with their features than the undu- lations of the buoyant canoe— the blackened clear- ing less grateful to the eye than the woodland glade, the dusty road than the forest trail—but the perfection to which they lead, the bright day of peace and love, of which they are. the harbingers— though but faintly discernible in the long pei- jpectiveof years to come— is too pregnant with the happiness of the human race, and the glory of the Deity, to leave any serious pain, from the means by which it is of necessity to be obtained, upon the mmd which looks forward' to iU The rapidity of the advance of civilization\> the west has,_ in the rapid development of its vices, obscured the poetry of its savage li% insomuch that the very knowledge of the existence of tho tribes inhabiting it was coupled with thit of their demoralization and degradation. .Even the gentle- manly Mandans of Catlin werefeund by Lewk and Clarke, among the earliest oK their visitors, ' far inferior to many of tht eastern^ t rihpa, a^ ■'- many 4e! scnDcd bylhe earlie^ tracers and in the annals of history ; while of the Sioux, Blackfeet, and the great minority of the tribes of the west, tha I c 'W THE OEEGOIf. sway, that character which mieht have h»H the 8ubhmity of terror or fear, if poSed bv tK^ »nly, was rendered hateful ind^d^TnXy th" addition of the meaner propen8ities,-priSf, anwr and revenge being joined to lus , ivwi-ce S - d«cept.on, and their mutually attendant W ■ *?u r.""?''* ^'^ ''^^e l^n the casb to the wte.t of the Roclcy Mountains, as indeedThi ta sZ measure had not the peculiarities of their siZ Xlte°na^ g^g™phically but politlllVC- Jh^ !f .1, ""* "'''^'"tants of that territory from wiin tnat of the avant couriers " of civilizRtion ^« wliich^Tfllt" r- "-If™'""*' -"ch of "e evil wnich IS flagrant m the east made ranid v.? L j""* *''®"" attendant, prosperitv k*vo ■ JBttjed down over the length' an^ bSofT »Jtnr^'\tT''l!"^^^^I'^""'"^ the useful S 1,^ „n? *^'"'' '■'*. ''•^'y 'ff**'' of their latea and whole -tribes destroyed. The small L^ Sdy a oh ef on !t M°*" ^"*«^ ^™™ "^at ma- "jay, a Chief on the Missouri survived his familv children, and his whole tribe, but to find thZma ft^ from despair-™,, in the Galley of "he Columw! ciutt^ s^ta^ .• **" "'""•"■°" of the forest cian.,-Hi «,Utary lingerer among their tomb», but » r.£4^lA^ *W^"iu..*' ;h unbridled have had ed by them ting by the ride, anger, i^arice, and vices. to the west tas in some heir situa- ically Bepa- •itory from t identical ivilization, them; and uch of the lade rapid tive peace, ity, have dth of the the useful 8 of their evident in » hfought I depopu- jmall-pox and as it that ma- 8 family, the bame Columbia giiryivor fie forest hbf but a NATIVE TBIBE8. 143 and hiTrif^L P.] k"^""^*^^' ^''^^ *»>« woods Tanc^tr the^^^^^^^ ^°^ '^1 *>*"« «^ Fort TK^ • . ,vPe of his race and its destinv Umquar^^es'ffivS' T?.1'' ^^'^' ^'<"°«t. the Cascade MounZr^£°!"?^'l' ^^ ">« w«tof and Nezperoes triSBftk V* Shoshones or Snafce of the C&iTw;?"' '5* "?""'«™ bmnch river of thatZ^. T 5'"**^« '"''«''« O" the the Stmit of F^»;h,^':««» *h« Columbia and Sachet about pZe™^?^ L w P^^overy; the or Points Hi^^bttt"; "hLSZ ttf''"' names ( the Chm naouns Zl TkI^ * "™'' tween the Cascade mn™ «"rf Chanwappans be- of the Columbk^!hr^^. ■ *^* "*"■* ■*•»"«•» north about Oka^? Mountains ;- and to the Carrier tribe Of & "TI""" '"*"«''«» "^ **» and on Vw^^uver 1^^°° .""' T' '° ""' "orth Tk-i '"""ouver Island not much is Icnown Jheir numbers may be stated at a ..ultimate On the Snake Hirer ;nd It^ ^et tttbtttei Wrnnhia and StraitofBe 2,500 1,600 Fltt-head, &c Puca a,ooo 1,500 1,500 1*900 i^ifr-.(J-j3..Ji/^ S-IL* '»Jtj*'-r *- .u, *\ .' .. r. 144 THE OREGON. Okanagan /|P «- . . Northward . • • • • Vancoaveir's and Queen Charlotte's Island Possession Sound . »' • Frazer's "River / ■,' • . • On the coast of the Gulf of Georgia . 2,500 5,000 660 500 500 23,600 This is, however, six thousand lesys than wias re- ported to the Congress of the United States, and fouF thousand more than Mr. Wilkes's calculation. That there are error* in his there can be no doubt ; anil it is probj^ble that some smaller tribeii may be omitted in the above calculation ; the number, therefore, between parallels 42" and 54° 40' may be roughly estimated at thirty thousand. Through the care of the Hudson's^y Company and the semi-civiliac* habits they have adopted, the number of Indians to the north of the Columbia is not on the decrease; to the south it is; and the total must be very considerably less than it was before the settlement was ^ade among them. The Indian nations in Oregon may be divided into three classes, differing injhabits and character ac- cording to their locality and means of sustenance -r-Xhe Indians of the coast, the mountains, and the plains. The first feed mostly on fish, and weave cloth .for clothing fi^m the wool or hair of the native sheep, having to a gre^t extent settled rfesi- dences, though these last characteristics are rapidly disappearing ; the second, trappers and hunters, wandering for the most part in pursuit of game ; and the thiiti, the equestrian tribe^, who, on the great ^plains about the waters of th« ifven, chiie on thair fleet horses the gigantic bison, whose flesh iupplies them with food, and whose hide covers I ^^^a^,,,^s,smg^^.^a^^„^ ^^^^^ r„„^ ,.nf.| r^i.iL>>feH„.w.il«-iM.a^ii^ =55^3* -S mmmmm V* 146 THE OREGON. lower part, is worn: it covers the arms to thp' elbows. Their head is covered ivith a cap conical but truncated, j,ade of fine m^itting, ornaiSS": ' the top with a knot or tassels. Besides the Above dress common to both sexes, the men frequeiitlv thro^^over their garments the skin of a b J wolf fL T'^'T"' ''''^. '^^ ^"'' ^^*^*^*^^ '• • their' w^r the hair loose, unless tied up in the scalping-lock •' they cover tftSmselves with paint, arid swarm whh vermin; upon the paint they strew liiica to make U glitter. They perforate the nose ancf ears, ^d put variolas ornaments into them. But besides these common habits, they havef official and ceremonious occ^ions, on which thev wear b«i«tiful fu,^ and thea^ical dresses aod ^l guis^ including large masks ; anc^ their war-dress Formedof a thick doubled leathern mantleofein; K- ^.u '"j fr«q»««t*y with a cloak over it, on ' which the hoofs of horees were strung, makes an almost impervious cuirass. Their love for music ^"t ^'""ll dispositions, except from provX' tion, but determination in avenging insult or wrong, is testified by all. ^ ^ ^ook also gives a full description of their houses and manner of life. Of the foVmer, he says they TvZfl ?^. «P^»t boards, and large enough for wveral feniilies who occupy small pens on each pide of tlie interior. They have bench«, and boxes, and many of their utensils, such a« pipes, &c., are frequently carved ; as a^ also gi^ntic humn feces on arge trunks of tfees, which they set up for posts to their dwellings. ^ Tn the ir pCT8on»and gwtwMMhey were filthy in" the extreme; in their habits lazy; but the womeir were modest and industrious. Their principal foo4 $ ^I^J.!^. '5W?»S^'''f'|;\B f "^ tWBPW-^^WJs'''^' -"""* ' ms to the' ;ap, conical amenied at 5 the d,boye frequently bear, wolf, they wear, ping-lock : ' ivarm with a to make ears, and they have hich they } and dis- war-dress, 3 of elk or ' i^er it, on ' makes an ror music, provoca- insult or iir houses Miys they ough for on each id boxes, <&c., are * human y set up Wthjr in 5 womew ipalfooil WATIVE TRIBES. was fish, but they had edible roots and game from the land. A favourite article of food was also the roe of herrings, dried on pine-branches or sea-weed. Their weapons were spears, ariigws, slings, and clubs, similar to the New Zealanders ; also an axe, not dissimilar to the North American tomahawk, . the handle of which is usually carved. They made garments of pine-bark beaten fine; these were made by hand with plaited thread and woollen, so closely wove as to resemble cloth, and frequently, had worked on them figures of men and animals ; on one was the whole process of the whale-fishery. Their aptitude for the imitative arts was very great. Their canoes w^re rather elegantly formed out of trees, with rising prow, frequently carved in figures. They differ from those of the Pacific generally, in having neither sails nor outriggers ; they had harpoons and spears for whale -fishing. Vancouver, when at Port Dis- covery,, saw some long poles placed upright on. the beach at equal distances, the object of which he could not discover, and it was not till the last voy- :- age of (tiscovery despatched from the United States under Commodore Wilkes, that th^y wfere ascer- tained to have been used for hanging net» upon, to catch wild-fowl by night -, their ingenuity in this and in netting salmon is very remarkable. They have two nets, the drawing and casting net^ made of a silky grass found on the banks of the Columbia, . or the fibres of the roots of trees, or of the inner bark of the white cedar. The salmon-fishing on the Columbia commences in June, the main body, «• TheySfwhal^ d^„f K^'T" '»''' *•"" *eir hoU8^ were S^l)^ ^'^'' '™* «""« cohstruotive arV »7i2 ?%*d in the.r erection; as was mtioh InU^uft *^„?,r^ ""u"; *"■ tW contrived to f^ fees with a rough chisel and Pallet. The ho«^ made of centre-posts about eighteen S .."''""" "''<' ") But not more than iive feet fivM^ the ground , to the«> again, cro» pol^are «toc^ '^'' ; -r" '^^j^ff bag-net, not landing-net, as take* their ected for the to the river float, down ascend. By fr also stake- '; they also sometimes, Their mode The line, trees, is at- t down over his purpose at most in him gently th a heavy y kill him ; ► jerk a fish ired side of tch whales ►ladders at- Bay Com- )Use8 were art is dis- ingenuity v«re intro' ed to fell !^he hdtises teen feet i^ing the feet from I attached) NATIVE TBIBES. 149 • similarly dU^rthrS„t t^ dZ i:"^ '^th^ r^"''"^.' theatricals, danc^, I^d wnS more genm^n^Xlf\ ^">?.^«'ay before tl,e s«bstUuVed^^?reS!f fh"" "«'?"«'<""-lJr sometimes in a Su^"^^ ^£^£'^5.'''*^' ground, with arms and oC necZrS^Set E?l!^ 11 ^"« '*°'«"' ■« 'f «•«? thought tC Stale i'^'an^rw^r t'"'."'-^^ theiffonSS jii 18 about HBevef» Kit>»4^«i4^^V^ ^T "^ "^"^'^ " ^^ ^ ^t™on k w^rr!^^^ ^^' and quite iso. the nkt'es in e^e^ ^U^^l/'f eanoe-coffins of .eveiy stage of decay; they were C^ilC J,,iji.. IvW. * 150 ■■■■MHHp THE OBEGON. 'f-W.-Ti^/^i Cr L, /T^'^'y "'^ *■'« Columbia is, how- SJ?^ destroyed, for tlie American sailore under WJltes neglecting to put out their cooldng-fir^ t spread over the whole mountain and conffnuS to rage hrough the night till all was bu™t A few small presents appeased the Indians^Tho biu remlC" '"'r T'^ ""'^ have, dro'wn^i the remembrance of such, a national diarrace in the blood of those who caused it. _^ Among the tribes about the lower part of the Sir.'^n 1^' ''"«"'"' <="«""» of flatten ni the h^ sfll t,revails, though not to the extent iL did^formerly, Mr. Dunn thus describes the ^^^ in 'In "nhf '"*'*'y ^^'■ *''« "■■* 'he infant is laid in an oblong wooden trough, by way of cradle with moss under the head ; th'e end on which tfe " head reposes is raised higher than the rest ; a pad ding IS then.placed on the infant's foreS K p^ece of cedar-barfc over it; it is pressed dow" by trouX l/t? '^"'»Sh holes on'^^h side of th^ i^LouJ^ ''?'"«'"''g.»f the padding and S^ h. 1 ^f .'lg™d»»'. the process is said not to be attended with much pain. The anm», Mce of the infant, however, ^hile under^rT; ri^cking : Its Uttle black eyes seem ready to start W their socketo; the mouth exhibita aU the an- pearance of internal convulsion; and it oiLX appea« that the face is undergo ng a pro^eS of unnatural configuration. About a ye^l^Zim « sufficient to pfoduce the desired effect thelS ^ikw-*HWtty» itrtt to nature, this ^eiormitv is rnn «quently a mark of free birth. Th™lLi!^ns ^' .L .^^t^ . f^-^^^ a,^'^ *'!^^ t from the 'ia is, how- lors under oking-fire, continued t)urnt. A I, who but •wned the ce in the irt of the jning the extent it_^ ^»e opera- nt is laid f cradle, , ^hich the ; a pad- ■d with a down by ieof the ing and s is said appear- >r it, is to start the ap. clearly )cess of ►ressure le head IS con- ans On NATIVE TiriBBS. !n.li?f u'Tf ^^^^ ^^^ characteristics of the southern, but harsher and more boldly defined-! they are of fiercer and more treacherous dis^ J tions. Indeed, those of tl/e south SveTdtp^^on to merriment ajid lighVhearted good Z^ou^ Thejr nciechaiMcal ingenuity is more remarkably d^i^^ played in the carving on their pipes, and eVSw m working iron and steel. The Indians^f the coast^are doubtless all from the same stock, mo^i^ fied by circumstances and locality. Thos^ W- ever, to the south of the Columbia, ab^ut the waters of the rivers Klamet and Umq*ah nlr take largely of the chamcteristics ofX Lidikns of the plains, their country having prdries a^dZm selves possessing horses: the/are remarTable ^^ Tk^^'"^ ^»i '^'^^ determined Lsti^y town's tt ^ whites Idleness and filth are invetemte a^' a 1 three, but among the Indians of the plains thefe is fish, indeed, and dried for winter, but not enSelv LT^ T'^^"^ by venison than on the S' ^nH /" '^^''^^^^ by roots, which „ they diffTp and lay by m store. They live more in Lvlble tents, and to the south their great weaK^e r iK)!^; theyai^not,KkethecLtIndians,(^smdl come W '"f'^'^^ '"^^^ ^^' remarCleTor comeliness of person and elegance of carriae^ They are equestrian in their habits, and^w^ great advantage on horseback. The DnwTnni 7hJifl u ^*'^^" ^^^ ^«'«^«r and the Blackfeet Krthrr^"""^rS, TheShoshonesdwel Detween the Rocky and BIha Tifoimtain rai.irpi,- the Walla. walla about the river of thaT^^^^^^ Bl^ieet at the foot of the Rocky^Sgv il' ' J ' T>"'. 152 THE OBEOON. principally, but not entirely, on the eastern side. Warlike and independent, ' the Blackfeet had for a long time the advantage, having been earlier in- troduced to the use of fire-arms ; but % the instru- mentality of the Hudson's Bay Company they have been of late years more on an equality : they are friendly to the whites, but the Blackfeet, their mortal q^nemies, and their hill-forts overhanging the passes of the Rocky Mountains, make the future safety of the journey to the United States depend on the temper of this fickle and bloodthirsty na- tion, who^ have been well ternied the Arabs of the West, for truly their hand is against every man, and every ^man's hand against them, and though seriously lessened in number by war and disease, they still dwell in the presence of all their brethren. The Shoshones feed frequently on horse-flefeh, and have also large quantities of edible roots, which stand them in great stead during the winter. When the men are fishing for salmon, the women arfij^- ployed in digging and preserving the roots, 1^, is indeed one tribe inhabiting the country of salt lakes and springs to. the sou|:h of the hd waters of the Snake or S^tin River, who havje 110 wish beyond these roots, living in the most bestial manner possible; these,, from their single occupation, have beeiiina,med Diggers. Above the Walla-walla also there is a tribe called the JBasket people, from their using a basket in fishing for salmon. The apparatus ponsists of a large wicker basket, supported by long poles inserted into it, Und fixed iii the rocks ; to the basket is joined a long fram6, spreading Abave, agains t wh ich th ft sh, in attempting to leap the falls, strike and &11 /litito the basket; it is taken up three times a day, ■r ' I iiMbimibJiul ti:: WM '^alfj^p NATIVE TRIBfiS. 153 tern side, had for a earlier in- he instru- >any they lity: tliey :feet, their inging the the future es defend hirsty na- abs of the irery man, d though d (disease, brethren, fiel^h, and ts, which sr. When n argjip- *' W.' try^ oft the head- who havje tHe most eif single kboye the le Basket shing for je wicker 1 into it, joined a hifih t he. 3 and &11 les a day, and at each haul not unfrequently contains three hundred fine fish. The Flatheads d\yelling abou-t tlie river of that name are the most northern of the equestrian tribes ; their characteristics are intelli- gence and aptitude for civilization, yet in the early history of the country their fierceness and barbarity in their OSS Cox f these deer- fringes in war could not be exceeded, espe retaliation on the Blackfeet, of gives a horrible account. The us tribes is a shirt, leggings, and moi skin, frequently much ornamenti^d of beads, and formerly in the* "Waves** with scalps; a cap or handkerchief generally covers the head, but the Shoshones twist their long black hair into a natural helmet, more useful as a protection than many artificial defences: in winter a bufialo robe is added to the usual clothing. Horses abdiCind among them, and they are usually well arftied. Through the in- fluence of the Hudson's Bay Company, these tribes are becoming amalgamated by intermarriage, and will doubtless, from their pliability of dis- position, readiness of perception, and capability, for improvement generally, no less than their friendship for the whites and devotion to the Com- pany, gradually lose their identity in acquired habits and knowledge, and become the peaceful proprietors of a country rich in flocks and herds, even very much cattle. The more northern In- dians inhabiting the mountainous country round the head-waters of Oregon River and the branches of the Columbia evidence an origin simil.ar to the tipp^ wayaa t r ib es on tlieeast^of the Rocky Moun- - tains. Mackenzie found but little difiference, when travelling from one to the other^jmd his ^uideis ^ s''tS-out animals loose, and loaded my packs upon his own ; gaye me a splendid saddle-horse to rfde, and inti- mated, by significant gestures, that we would go a short distance that afternoon. I gave ray assent, and we were soon on our way ; having made about ten mileii, #e encamped for the night. X^otice'''" "I * > '-* NATIVE TBtBES. 157 n, lost the aade their orthy pa-> ntude for 8 old, and ther only vilderness igacity (if the brook > hundred this feat, f^ri, were ' received elation of tent was e buffalo ere laid ted him- «de, and ghtly in iig ablu- sen ted a ' myself. herself >wed his ivage in of Jesus '• io his While rehovah nanner. an- Mean- 8 travel aclmonished me to seek rest. I had"* slumbered, I knew not how long, when a strain of music awoke me. s *' The Indian family^was engaged in its evening ^ devotions. They were singing^ hymn in tlS JNez Perct^s language. Having finished, they all knelt and bowed their faces upDn the buffalo robes, and Creekie prayed long and fei-|fentlv. Afterwards they sang another hymn, and retired . To hospitality, family affection, and devotion Cree- ki^ added honesty and cleanliness to a great de- greej manifesting by these fruits; m contrary to the nature and habits of his tribe, the beautiful influ- ence of the work gf grace on the ^art. How ac- ceptable that prayer and praise must ^e ascended to the Creator, though poured forth beneath the silent heaven from the lips of one so-called savage, and how the honour rendered by him tqi^od was re- , turned into his Own bosom a hundredfold in peace and prosperity, let those say whose ideas of prayer and praise are coupled to sanctified places and con- ventional rites, and who would confine the |iresence of the omnipresent Creator to their tempWof stone, and not the living temple of tfie heart ofliis faithful people." ^ . * *, t3 S ^ Ji..&LijI . SifU, riiiiffi -T^P^^mpr^ ( 158 ) « CHAPTER Vllf^ SKETCH OP PDK TRADE— ]^D^SOn'8 BAY COM- . '^ tr PAKY, ETC, The fur of animals has from the earliest jwiods been used by men for > clothing, and those found in the »«ore northern regions, from the thickness, Bottness, lehgth, and consequent warmth or deli- cacy of theirf^urs, have been more sought after as articles of commerce ; indeed most furs now used for warmth or ornament by civilized nations ire Jr5!i^*''^r""*^*^»*»^t'»«f the fortieth parallel of latitude. The value of furs depends not Vnly on the aboveWtioned useful qualities, but aW on the raorr arbitrary distinction of colour. First k value for both reasons stands the royal ermine ; its dazzling whiteness set off by the glossy, black of Its tail, gives It a richness of contrast not to be foi»d m any others ; then follow the marten, sable, foxes, red, silver, and black, the beaver, sea-otter racoon weasel and muskrat ; of these tlie last is collected in the largest quantities, and with the beaver and otter used in the manufacture of hats. comfort, fashion, and luxury, according to its quality or beauty ; but in Russia, Chfna, and lurkey thiey form part of the official costume of ?^^?^Jl^^?^JS9^^Tnmmt (a s jndml th ey do iH-some sort even among ourselves), and arethT^ uutiajruishioflr characteristic «f ♦!.« -i^u __j _ .1 .1: 4' .T. , ""i""^ uuis«ive8i, ana are the distingfuishing characteristic of the rich and noble. ■1 "^* • V'f- T COM- se found bicknes", or 'deli- ght after low u^ed ions are parallel only on also on First k line; its >lack of t to be 1, sable, la-otter, last is ith the )f hats, tide of to its a, and ime of are the noble, SRETdb 10F FUR TRADE. 159 even of the male sex. The gradual ^imilation of* Russia and Turkey to the dress, and manners of the west of £^urope has sensibly decreased the demand for furs, as no doubt will also the entrance now obtained for European manufactures, a thing , to be desired, as the supply has long been on the decrease. This supply is kept up principally by the Hudson's Bay Company, the Russian Fur Com* pany, and the individual traders in the western part' of the -United States, through the ports of London, Canton, and New York, and t^jp Russian settle-, ments in Northern Asia. All these draw some, of their supplies from the north-west part of North America, Jout the trade of the citizens of the United States, excepting on the border of California, has been snatched frcrtn them by the giant grasp of the Hudson's Bay Company. ; Of the Russian Fur Company mention has al- TGEidy been made in the accoont given of Voyages of Discovery. Their trade is entirely carried on through the nativ^ndians, and Iheir supplies are obtained from' the Hiklson's Bay Company by con» tract. Their principal settlement is at Skka, called New Archangel,-^tthe Norfolk Sound of Cook^ in King George the Third's A|||«pelago,jat about 57^". The Russians having received much an* noyance from the intrusion of Ano^rican vessels, whose territories extend from Hudson'p Bay on tjie east to Mount Saint Elias on the west, from the Arctic Ocean to l at. MM O', w n d for nU^irading purposes unimpeded by arty rival to lat. 42". This Comi)any was established in the reign of M 3 ^ \ ■ t&^\^: 160 "!^ l-HE OREGON. ^ Charles II., A.B..1669, by r^l charter, granted to Prjuce Rupert, the Jrst ^vernor, the Ltuke of Albemarle, Lord Cra%n, a%l Lord AflinAn, whq, with other persoii^ of no^; in arf'.^entllii, constituted the^lSrst committee, fe '^-A^ ■•\^ fer waillH-anted Th are sage trad comm intentioj%;|b«t' theif oyv.f '"^'^ forgo^en^j civilizilLpn ct^ for wf ich this defined :— the disceveiy of a n jSouth Se^J^an^^r^he ifidin^ *nd other cojis^derj n totlxefite commerclilf|» ;M&f^^reat Britain and ?trf tM natives was not "» jLi|4^' n and as notj.. cer bays, rivers, lakes, Hd sounds,-4W^wh|tsoever latitude they _ that lie wiljhin the entrance of the straiti, commonly called -Hudson's Straits, together with ;j|5^^*<^ lands, countries, and territories upon ^ts and confines of the seas, straits, bays, ics and rivei*s, creeks and sounds aforesaid, 3vp(|h are not now actually possessed by any other hls^tian prince or state. Of these lands and terri- tories the CompBiy was proprietor by free and common soccage; had po^r, as such, to receive and'^njoy all rents, and possess and retain all pri- vileges^ liberties, and franchises thereto belonging i and to have jurisdiction over such their territories, being empowered to make such laws and regula- tions for the government of their possessions as may be reasonable, and are not repugnant to the laws, statutes, and customs of England. The Company was also empowered fa send ships and ybuild forti-* fications for the defence of its possessions, and to make war or peace with all nations, not being Chrii^tian, inhabiting those territories ; and all others of the king's subjects were forbidden to " visit, haunt, frequent, trade, or traffic "^ therein, under heavy penalties. According to the stript letter of this cliarter, the Company's dominions extend from Hudson's liay, south of lat. 60** W. to the sources of the Athabasca and Saskatcnawan,^i^^id the Unijah or, Peace River beyond the Rocky Monntain Range, and to the Arctic Sea on the north, besides the country lying east of Hudson's Bay ; an^ the area miles : liy the union with the North-west Company thetradeof the Qregpn district has be^ lidded ta tl^s. / .*. t» ^^ ■^ k *' .-■M, ■I •^.1 iS^BHS ^ 'mmm 162 THE OREGON. It was Styled the Honourable Company of Adventurers of England trading to Hudson's Bay, and Its management was vested in a governor * deputy governor, and committee of seven members! rheir original sto<;k was, in 1676, 10,5001. This was trebled in 1690, and in 1720 this was asain mc^ased^ by subscription to 103,950/. ; the clear profits of the trade for ten years amoiiiTted to 63,646/. 15s. 4d., realizing a dividend of about 6 per cent. Notwithstanding this, the progress of the Com- pany was slow and heavy— jealousy, the true cha- racteristic of monopoly, paralyzing all its proceed- ings,- nor, if we may trust contemporary accounts, were the dealings of the Company's servants with the Indians altogether in accordance with the purposes Of its incorporation. It is not on record that they took any care to introduce the Indians . to the knowledge of Christianity, but they very soon did to the use of ardent spirits, consequent on which much evil and disease resulted. Nor was ^ the mixtare of its servants with the Indian race productive of just ideas of morality, more than their mode of traffic, which, by introduciw a com- mercial medium of arbitrary valu^, an#reducinff all others to it, left the Indian completely at their mercy. This standard/ measure of the Company was the beaver-skin : and the comparative value of this may serve to show the source of the Company's profits and its manner of dealing, l^ Mhich it put the Indians at the mercy of the factors and traders. In a table given by Umfraville, we find the fol- lowing equivalents for a beaver-skin :—half a po ^m d ISTglaas ^eoHs, one pound of powder, one comb one small burning-glass, twelve needles, one file] ■rSMi^Jl^^'i:: f^'^^^ 'V — — — ■■ SKETCH OP FUR TRADE. 163 one ice-chM, and one quart of brandy. Now, taking the last as an instance, one quart of brandy of the usual strength was worth one beaver-skiu ; but by being half water, the price is made two. Now for spirits the Company pay at the rate of 20*. a gallon: this produces eight beav/Br-skins, weighing about tea pounds, which, at the medium of exchange, supposing it to be I2s. per pound, amounts to 6/. sterling; if the brandy were traded for other skins, the return would be about 8/. This calculation is considerably below the present prices. A fourpenny comb, says that writer, will barter for a bear's-skin worth 21. The absence of compe- tition and the absolute dependence of the Indians for what had, by the Company's means, become to them necessaries — fire-arms and ammunition,— not to say blankets, beads, and spirits, enabled its traded to keep up these prices. This state of things did not, however, long continue. The con- quest of Canada by the English had opened a new field of commercial enterprise and speculation ; and it being presumed that the Hudson's Bay Company's charter could not affect that territory, an association, principally consisting of Scotchmen, was formed at Montreal, numbering amotjg its original members the names of Mackenzie and Frazer. Perceiving the want of spirit in the operations of the Hudson's Bay Company, arising from the absence of irrterest, the employ^, having no prospect of advance- ment in the service, they established their new Company on^^rv^ry different footing. The ranks ^. Q^ the \North -w^st Qf ^ mny were recruited from ^ T^specIabBTamines irfflnada by offerfng to the clerks a salary of 100/., exclusive of maimenance, during t/ieir apprentice of seven years; then a t IN J 64 THE OEEGON. salary of from mU^gBmmnd bv Dermif h-no- partners, on their^fiCle junL^^^^^^^^ to fil their pW|,fhus giving a stimulus to thfe whole body, whfei was entireV wanting to the older society, whose writers, when out of their ap- prenticeship, received only 15^,p(i«i|,n|^„L fly and t^ ultimate but mosflErSiTobPct of their hop^^ .being the obtaining the situation of ^T.f" W* fort at 150/. per annum. 1 Qnr ^^^^-west Company thus established in f^^JSS^^^fe'"^ 'y'^^™ ^^ *^^d« as opposite from tl^udsoh^ Bay Company as their consti- utions A^erp different. The old Company indnjbed the Indians to,|esort to the factories for tilde, whereby they made the risk of hunting and car- nage of skins rail on them ; buT thi C^ddian . traders followed the Indies to their lodges and / '^""^'"^^^^^""ds^nd traded with them4ere. A generaF^eetii^g ^«^held every summer near the Cxrand Portage, at the north-western extremity of Uke Superior, when the partes decided on the plan of operation, and the «ter% and trjiiers re- ceived their mstructiags, a*i^ after some dm^ fes- tivities, proceeded to^ tlMn in ^lecution. "It has been remarked ^h^t no system could have been better devised to infus^^vity- intc^jpvexy d^rt- ment, ar^ so extend thelSience of ^ C^pXy ."^ Ihis Its members sUccec^ded in doin^ite^Jian*^ exteii% that it employed^wb thgis jT^aKeiu-s ^ #t 40/, la year each, whoseJ|^wWge^of the frontier ;j|ndjonnectioi» with tWlMs^ vT^f'C^J^?"^^^^^'*^^^ tWTTiAiis enabled !l^'\S|^Jf^h service to Gr^ Britain during the ^ with America ^ Jfeck^^ g^i,;^ thB-folfewIng account of the imoer of skins colleotpH in ^no „««-. ) immfer of skins collected in one year : — . ti.. .i' j.^ ^ li.-t'JtiiJi . /,- ,^. SKETCH OP FUR TRADE. 165 •ermitting members lis to th(B g to the their ap- object of iation of lished in opposite r consti- indaJbed )r trade, ai^ car- ^Etdian . fges and ^ ere. A lear the emity of on the iiers re- ai^s' fes- n. "It ive been d^rt*. ,^ "^Pariy."^ such an jrageiws . "^ of the enabredt during of the '"'^ f- 106,000 beaver 2,100 bear '1,000 fox 4,000 kitt fox 4,600 otter 17,000 musquash 32,000 marten 1,800 mink 6,000 lynx 600 wolverine 1,650 fisher 100 racoon 3,800 wolf 700 elk 750 deer , „ , , , 1»200 deer dressed Dullalo robes and a quantity of castorum. And comparing this with the table given by BJiss m 1831, the increase appears to be chiefly in the smaller animals, and not so great asmiffht-have been expec%d : — h , . 126.994 beaver . „ 34 teazel 375,731 musk rat - 9,298 mink ^?'^J2^^°,^ ' • 325 racoon 5,94fe|yolf , , .> 2,290 tails 5,85 I'he total 9^. Od. Th \ 1,744 wolverine 645 deer lese has been reckoned at 203,316/. nasjieen, however, a great increase * in. the buffalo robeM This account is nf doubt incorrect, for in the average of its first ten years "the Company pdr- cliased seventy thousand bear-skins and nineteen thousand marten-skins, an item not mentioned in it. Notwithstanding the closeness which marked the dealings of the Hudson's Bay Company tvith the Indians, there had been much regularity and good faith, so that a corresponding fidelity was generated in mm ; but, by degrees, tbe new ^ode of trading introduced by the North-we^t Company, and the unlimited use of spirits, changed the face of things. The Indian . n asgi on atelW ' of gambling, and, indeed, of excitement of any kind, supplied the demand by all or any means, ■w: I fm I '! 7 /Pf f •i ^WT»T "X* THK OBEOON. Mreri W killing the young animals, so that the new syi em becameas injurious to the trade as to Jiimselt, tor the life thus led offered to youne aj^ent men every inducement to excess; and thf mS/th''®'"'^ ^. ^'*«' »; induce- ment for those who had no other recommendation uig credit to its servants for goods supplied until^ m many cases, there was but one stepS the Company's service to the debtor's prison- k w^ 1 '*'^"™' *" ''«.^»nde'ed at that, whin the two companies came into collision, serious out- rages were perpetrated. - In 1 806 we have seen the North-west Company stretching across the Eocky Mountains, and S blishmg a fort on Frazer's Lake. In the Ship year at B^ I^ke, near Albany factor J° and inT^ Hudson's Bay territonr, the North-wi Company having established a fort, attacked one belonging t'^ the Hudson s Bay Company, situated very neaFit, and carried o» all the furs contained in if the same thing happelieS at Red Lake. From robber^ they proceeded to personal violence, and a successio^ of excesses ended in a skirmish near Eagle Lake in . 'fy^f' I ." J ' ^ f'^fff^''"" '" 'V-^'nyr SKETCH OP FUB TRADE. > that the trade as to the trader to young ; and the e induce- mendation :8; allow- supplied, step from prison : it ising. It when the ious out- Company and esta- the same nd in the Company, mging to "f near it, i it: the I robbery iccession :Ie Lake, my's ser- 3 North- irsuit, by bis affair t of the Montreal, months* branded Irese the 167 North-west Company's servants were aggressors, and the mterest of the partners at Montr^l appears to have operated invariably in behalf of the servants. 1 he character of the operations of the two Companies may beimagmed from Ross Cox's (afterwards intheir service) description of the essentials for the Norths west Company's service :—^' Courage was an in- dispensable qualification, not merTly for casual encounters with the Indians, but to intimidate any competitor m the trade with whom he might happen to come ,n collision. Success was looked upon as the great criterion of the trader's fitness, and pro- vided he obtained for his outfit of merchandise What was considered a good return of furs, the ff ^k'I"!^'' '^^PP^^ ^^ inquii^&^out the means by which they were acquired." He adds : « The lludson s Bay Company, on the contrary, presented no inducement to extra exertion, on^he part of its oftcers. Some of them, whose courage was un- (^iibted, when challanged to single (Jombat by a JVor-wester, refused, alleging as a reason that they were engaged to trade in furs and not to fight with their fellow-subjects. The character of the « eii- ^ges, as the canoemen were called, gave the new L^ompany a decided advantage over the old, the V Canadian voyageurs having been initiated into the mysteries of the Indian trade from early youth, and lol ?i 4"^.^''!f"^y™^"'^*»« fo^^^ the greater-: part of the Hudson's Bay Compan^i^l^ants, having . ^ learn them^ after their arriva.jrthe country. 1 his more than counterbalancea M ^advantages derived by the HudsonV Bay_Oompany from "^ ^. . ' ri^^':^„ """son s imruompany fro m affe l«^fer ngRls: The-^feth-^ Cor^pa^ m 1812 cari^mg the trade to the mouth of the v^oiumbia, their activity was soon manifested by the '/.*:/ ■>iM^^i.l ' /;.' 7 'Wf- '\ I. \: 1 t 168 THE OREGON 'f , purchase of the forts of the citizens of the United bt^tes^t Astoria, Spokain, and Okamigan. f In 1811, Lord Selkirk having obtained fropi. the Hudson's Bay Company a grant of J| 00,000 square miles for the establishment of agricultural colonies, made a settlement on the Red River. This the North-west Company resisted, and the colDnists retreated in ala|pi ; they however returned next year, and open W^r brokfe out between the parties, which ended in the dispersion of the colonists. This was brought before the British parliament some time after, and resulted in the amal- gamation of the two bodies, the exrensiQp of the jurisdiction of the Canada Courts, to ttie Pacific or, as it is warded, *< other parts of Artierica not withirt the limits of either of the provinces of Upper or Lower Cafiada, or of any civil jrovern- . ment of the United States." Having thus mven consistency to the united bodies, their trade rabidly spread, ajid the American traders and trappers, ex- ' cepting such as enlisted under their barirters, were driven from the country West of the Rocky Moun,- ' tains, and they reigned in undisturbed ^ecu^y for many years^, Th^malgamatlon took Mjte in 1824, and aVtefr^^oriK a new charter was ^mn for the period oAt^enty-ori^ years, by which the same privileges wA-e confined to the united Company under the old hame of the Hudson's Bay Company, but containing a reservation to the Crown of power to colpnise in ortinnex any t)ortion of t^ieir terri- tories to any existjng province or colony, but- not of right, to thejndian trade. This last Act, how- ever, was n ot paw sp d^ti ll Mn/3Q, 4 ^ 38. It eon^ firms all the privileges of the former grant, with tli^ above reservation. * . y* m. ■ . f~ #» > u vice, > United fed fropi. 100,000 cultural River, find the •eturned een the of the Britisn learnal- of the Pacific, irtierica inces of jovern- } given rapidly Brs, ex- ' ft, were . }f.ounr Uty for lee in ^n for e same mpany npany, 'power terri- ut.not ♦ how- fr coil" "^ iththe , ■ ^ .-■■• ' J- ,,,,,: :>efcW;^|*l^;r;',^ SKETCH OP PUR TRADE. ■""^i iyfi":^ 169 It frilly carries out the spirit of the original charter, n]^ing 'provision not only for the good order and government of the'terrifoi^harilig an ex^r^ss stipulation *' for gradually diminishing and ' ultimately preventing the sale ^d distribution of .* spirits among the Indians, and als^ for their moral and , religious improvement^ as well as for the re- medy of any eyib which hAd before been known to exist. The>ComWny entered into a bond f^ 5000/. with the goyernmieiit of Great Britain for the due- exer- cise of th^ir powers under thefr oharter, especially with respect to the right of arrest and imprison- ' ment granted to it in cases of debt under 200/., as well as in moire serious offences, * ; \The tinion of the two Companies, the authority thus gijk^ep th«m by government, and the weight of put^lic 'b^ij|io)i in^ngland— for the quarrels of the opposing pj^ties had brought the evil's of the exist- ing sy||em'of trade to light, by rendering it nc^less dan^f0|S«gian iTnpecessary-^tombinfed to intr6duce more 6£^dlpj*pirit of the original charter into the I, Company 'd^roSeedings ; and *the result Vas shortly** apparent in a retup to ^ood order and regularity not only ftmong their own servants, bufamoi^the . natives-; aijd their system ))eine now one «j^fair .V trado^and reciprocal advantage^ the use of ardent spirits as a brib^, or even the sale of tliem to the Inoians, wasdis^^raged andgraduaHy disco);jtiriued. Among tl^ iji^ijtiinl^ orders of the^Company is the . foUowuig:^ * . " That tfite IhcKahs be treated with ki ndnest and- indulgences . and mlld^nd^ conciliatory nxfma iW * wrtea to, it% oh' - --: • . ■* vice, and ♦ • f- ','■': i(lr (mi»' "«" efo h /.!,:.» u J^ '^"''*^ *'■*' "JJ other objects of their ^tt^'^r^r•'"'"""^''r'"^ '"' ^-''-the matter of religion especially we may discover much remissness; there have been il i= ,°^^ 1 /.I...,! ■ ■ . . **"> " 18 true, oc-, HJd.on'. & '.1 1 '^^ P''""''*' 'tation; in iittrthfi%..'K''J'''.'°''«""' ""'• "'oy '■»ve H^n/^a!. Ri **"?!'>"'"7 «»ciety at their eta- Hon, of Retl Bi verand P nm h»rla r. d Hou se , and — W.p«ed to do ~ to..tirrrerexr„Uf that Society .hauld he enabled to iccompIW.'-," ; J^„'| .:Jtl ■>^TT,p"" •■'^fF'^fm^ mm SKETCH OF FUB TRADE. 171 ed in the < and that requisite ammuni- lying for •mpany is t detract buted the JndianS) iy reign } the fol- n^ since ompany, udicious end, has^ of abo- rs as an ave not r juris- jed into ith the hat the ith the ceforth P- )f their in the Iscover ue, 00- ons in ' have sir sta- jntention8,,as also the missionarfes of the various htates in the Oregon, and more especially of the Roman Catholic church both in the QregU and Upper Canada, or perhaps properly Rupert* Land ; n^te^^^n J?"** .'"'*.! '^" "e.u'ltoiy'and uncon! nected ; nothing has been done yet by the Com- dhtlfV'^K™"''"' "'^^ I«dia„s%nd lUt!!^ very Ujtle, for the instruction and protection from he temptations with which they are surrounded?of their own servants, and consequently their moral not to say spiritual condition, as well as that of their Indian dependants, is at best at a low ebb. Schools hJhal?r"i ^"f *"? '"'^''^^ *■"' "-e educaUon of But auL.^'l? ■""* "^P""^ oWIdren of the Indians. IJut. although much remains to be done, still much tdl r ''T \'^^ Company; and 'it has Zn well observed, that no stronger proof of the than that, while peace and decorum mark the tte- f •'7' «°»duct of the northern (and, it may to " ftii''*,*'''^™) »"''«»' bloodshed rapine, anJ- unhndled lust are the characteristics if the fi^e between the Saskatchawan and Missouri rivers and and this IS not less applicable to those living- stil ' far her south, at the head-waters of the Yellowstone and Arkansas, the Klamet and the Umqua. . therl^jT^^i'^ "*"' °^ "■« ^"^y Mountain. Fo«.*pl^*/'fT*r *"^ "» dependencies:— » I'orts George (la), the Astoria of the American. ' =r a v-% - • >-''*B^V.m;;.-,-^ \f'. l72 TUE OREGON. near the mouth of the Columbia; and Umqua ■<^ ,W'nf k' 'rf ^ «( that river, both on the south side of the Columbia. Forts Hall (ic) in tha Snake countiy at the head-waters olF the soutlT branch, and Boisee (Id), on the tributary of that name. ,Fort^ Cowelitz (i.), on the river of that name, about fifteen toiles from its mouth yn the north side Nisqually (1/), on Puget'a Sound, and Nezperces (1^,), near the great fork of the Columbia. /. lre Dr. M^I^ughriu, the governor of th^ tenaorv, resides, and, h?re k the principal dep6t of the Qoinpany,. in whioh ^U the gobds brought t ■e. < y . i-*"- ■--rj'' .. ' .....s^ i Umqua the south ) in th^ he south •y of that IT of that h ^n the •und, and 'olumbia. ?ing into icouver*8 7 in lat. -ioughlin and Ta- the Flat- E?pendent id Flat- I. Frazer's it river ; '; ChiJ- 5 of the iction of and St. Babine d Peace itory. he prin- r of thft SKE-rCH OF PUR TRAPE. ^ 173 from Wgland and furs ^llected in the interior are waVehoused ; it is indeed the emporium of tmde from Kamschatka to California. huS-l[anVfi^" '^^P/ a parallelogratf,, abbut two Wh pn 1 ^\y^'^' J««& by a hundred and fifty pickets or large beams firmly fixed in the ground and closely fitted together, twenty feet hi|h ahd strongly secukd on the inside by buttresses the ^fficV; Thf '^"^' -d surrounded' bf^ and ' otlices, the governor:s residence being- in tht^ .#1 rft:k^"'"".^-^'^P^^^"^«^^«^^- /he officer ^ of the Company dme together in tlw fcommon hall, tLtT/TP'^'^l.^"?^ ^'"'^*^'^« b.en remarked hfp ' blf r^'.f ^^^'' ^'^'' ^"^ «'^« f^^»^ales of o th? ifi ""'"' ^'^ '^' *^^^^ ^^^« "^* contril,ute Duh ,V 'ffuT M '"^""^'«- There is also I pu^,lic batchelors' hall," where after dinner the^ time IS parsed m conversation and smoking, but the pitality of Fort Vancouver and its. governor has ith?Jd'l7""^' "^r ^"y ^y ^"--- -^ters S7^ '"^ of regret at leaving the society it aimrds .peak, much in praise of the officers of the governor'' "'* ^'" '^^"" '^^ ^^^ ^^'^^ V the hc^Tli'^K f''^ r ^^T ^'^"*"^« «"^ ^«re. • the vl^ ifl which the servants of the Company Wde; inai,, the residents may be seven hundred. In the village is an hospital. d depot brought ferm ^ f t crF o rt V a nco u v^ i is a magmficent farm of more t^n three thousand acres ; . slw-mills^ ctttring many hMmjf^ thousand feet pe* mimumi ■',>■ 174 THE OREGON. grist-mills, and every pther requisite for commerce and agriculture. Vessels of fourtepn feet draught can come abreast of it at low water (says Lieutenant Wilkes), and at the store of the Company every necessary can be supplied as cheap as iU/the United Stetet J ihis however must be taken with considA-- atte.iimitation, and refers probably to the English goo^ Jn particular. From hence the Company --^Hps on a lucrative trade with California, tiie Iwich Islands, and the Russian settlements, k» its expojTts to England ; but of this notice be taken in another chapter. :The Conij^ny's servants are principally S<|dtch arjid Canadians, but there is also a great number of half-breeds, children Qf the Company's servants and Indian women. These are generally a well- featured race, ingenious, athletic, and remarkably good horsemen ; the men make excellent trappers, > and the women, who frequently marry officers of" the Company, make clever, faithful, and attentive wivfii they are ingenious needlewomen, atid good., managers. They frequently attend their husbands in their trading excursions', in which they are most useful; they retain some peculiarities of their Indian ancestors, among which is the not unfre- quent use of the moccasin, though usually it is made of ornamented cloth, instead of deer-skin. The approach to this the principaLestabl^shinent of the Hudson's Bay Company in the west gives the stranger a high idea of ite prosperity and import- ance ; the thickly peopled village, the highly cul^ tivated fields, the absence of all guards and de- fences, the guns of the fort having long since been ditimountud, the civillged appeaiance Tffjts^ interior, and the afctivity and energy which eveiy- ,«" icers of" ttentive »d good., usbands re most f their unfre- ly it is er-skin. ment of ives the Import- ily cul** ind d«> ; since ■^ I uf iu evfiigr- SlfETCH OP .^UB TRADBf. 175 where prevail,— the nob|e river, here seventeen hundred yards wide, on wfiich perhaps some of tlie .Company's vessels, brfgs^ or steamers, well ap- pointed, manned, and arined, are at anchor; and tfiese are heightened in their effect by the mag- nificent scenery by whidh it is surrounded j the noble woods flanking ihe mighty stream, arid backed by lofty mouritains, the snow-covered peaks of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens towering over all ; while the wild flowers and fruits in their season carpet the gtoiind in wild luxuriance. ^ This fort was established by Governor Simpson in 1824, and its present importance justifieci his selection of its site. Here is, and doubtless will continue, the chief trade of Western America, until the increasing demands of commerce and national industry transport it to the shores of Juan de ^^uca Straits and Admiralty Inlet ; yet even then, as the only naval and mercantile station in South Oregon and as receiving the trade of all branches of the Columbia, and having immediate and rapid con- nection with Puget's Sound by the Cowelitz ^nd Nisqiially, and with Gray's Harbour by the Chfkelis—thus connecting the great fresh-water with the great salt-water navigation ; the Columbia with the Strait of Fuca— it will occupy only the second place. Sir H. Pelly,in his' letter to Lord Glenelg, in 1837, gives this account of the state of the Company : — The Company now occupy the country between the Rocky Mountmns and the Paciflc by six permanent establishments on the coast, sixteen in the interipr country, besides several migratory and hunting parties, and th^ y maint ain a >»ffrinf _^: — ... ., ,..., — ■-■ •. . —1 , :..z.:.~.^-. -j^z^- :■■ ■ ■—■ 11 1 1 1 1 H I I I lie ot Six armed vessels and a steam-vesrael on the coast Their principal establishment and dep6t for tht THE OBEOON^ . trade of the coast dnd interior is situated ninety miles from the Pacific, on the northern banks of th6 Columbia river, and called Vancouver, in honour of that celebrated navigator ; in the neighbourhood they have large pasture and grain farms, affordinff most abundantly every species of agricultural pro- duce, and maintaining large herds of stock of every description : these have been gradually established, and It is the intention of the Company still further not only to augment and increase them, and to es- tablish an export trade in wool, talW, hides, and other things, but to encourage the^tlement of their retired servants and the emigrants under their protection ; and he asserts farther, that the soil, climate, and other circumstances of the country, are as much, if not more adapted to agri- cultural purposes th^n any other spot in ^merica. 1 v Vl ^ 1 ninety ksof th^ honour oifrhood iffording ral pro- of every iblished, i further d'to ce- des, and ment of i under that the of the to agri- lerica. < 177 ) r V- CHAPTER IX. I ' SETTLEBS IN OREGON. I The presence of missionaries among the natives of ■ the territory has already been mentionedv and some notice taken of their success. One resiilt how- everf remains to be considered. It seems but tiie right and proper order of things that the missionary in uncivilized lands should be the harbinger not only of the blessings of the Chris- tian religion, but of civilizatipn also, and therefore that he should be followed in his track by the set- tler and fermer,^ the mechanic and artisan, wjio ob- tain as the reward of their superior intelligenee and knowledge the wealth and independence wh» in their own country theii' simple equality w'itri' Others could not expect; and 'this is just, the benefit they confer is incalculable : it does not de- .^^^e Its value that Others in distant lands possess ttt«5^ same, but ratlier increases it as the means whereby they mayV raised to the sanle eminence, r^ow though this is to be expected and desired, it has ever 1)een thought a just ground of complaint against men whose lives are devoted to the servicg of^od and t^e spread of hi^ Gospel, if they llf other occupations interfere with that which ought ■^!^_ul^.^j^f'^"?^u"^^ orseejk to make ^'k gain of to them, in consequence of their importi ~ " and sacred office, be converted into an ' -^ \ pp wmm . o ' v«l-j^. "Vr^ 'ITS .^^ t- \THij~(>i'ji:aD4 ' ^ ^ ,Ji|' political ptirposesV or they teach other doctrine with respect to our aeighbours than the words of the Apt)stle—" Follow peace with all men " In reviewing the history of the isettlers in Or^ gon, all this will appear by their own showing tl lie at the door of the American missionaries who have established themselves there; and the necessity for drawing attention to it is this, that no satisfac- tory accAUnt of Oregon could be given without sdme notice of the Wallamette Settlement, and certamly no true statement of affair^ there can be given without these facts being referred to/ In' their settlements at Okanagan, Walla -walla, Cowelitz, and Nisqually this charge is so far true U^t their principal attention, as Lieut. Wilkes tallies,, is devot^gift. agriculture, but on the Wal- i,political agents and would* ;he history of that settlement rn6e. ur u A .u . V '?'s Bay Company had esta- blished their authority over the Oregon by the expulsion of American traders, the country began to be esteemed by their servants residing there as ' British. The peculiar mode1)f life to which the- are of necessity subject, renders the inhabitaiTti of the west scarcely fit to returia to the abodes of refinement or civilization, and these considerations induced many, whose engagements with the Com- pany w^re at an end, to determine on settling in that country, for existence in which they were fully qualified, aird to which they had become in a mau- the valley of the Wall amette as mosj elig ible^,i».H lii^civ^ every, assistance Trom the. Company in promoting their , intentions. Their* success Jed mm 7 ^"^ ' ^^ lamette they sini be legislators.^ will suflficientij When the Hu( X ' "^^'^^iMv \ Ml X 8ETTI«ER8 in QEEGON. 179 some of the Company's officers to establish farms - there^also Mill retaining their connexion with it, V. and thus the germ^f a colony of some prospective importance wa3 formed. ..Indeed the situation selected was highly advan- ^geous, ^ well for present cultivation as for fht^ mercantile connexion not only with other distal Of Oregon, but with the Pacific generally. The Wallamette riv^, having its rise below the 44th parallel, flows, in a northerly coui-se between the basciade Mountains alhd the coast range, and falls into, the Columbia five miles below Fort Vancou- ver, forming by the two chajihels into which it sepaq^tes, as has been stated, a large island, called ,;>y the natives. WappatoO from an edible root of >^hat name growing there in great quantities. This river is navigable for about twenty-five miles to the mouth of a small tributary, the Klackamus, for vessels of moderate size: here there is a rapid when the vyater is low, and in addition this river rushes with^such rapidity from its mountain source as to create ^, heavy and dangerous swell ; the Wailaraette is hera five hundred yards wide. Three miles above this it is broken by three separate falls, in which the water is precipitated through deep channels worn in the black trap rocks, and cross- ing the river diagonally; the resistance thus giien produces columns of spray, t^e eflfect of which j»^ beautiful in the extreme ; they are about twenty . feet m height. The banks of the river to this j30int are irregular and rocky, but beyond undu- lating table-land, covered with luxuriant oak-groves -0^ whke-^^eeies, veiy^ham and et^^^ above for about fifteen miles the mountains rise ^precipitously from the river's bank, clothed with f> J ' o y 0- / /•:::/:■/ '/ ; / 'hK-t Jik. Y t>: > IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) h / V t i< o 4" 4" f— -^ N r^ *v tx) ^u& k ■tt lU 12.2 I.I 1.25 £ L£ 12.0 1.4 11.6 ^:^*' ''W \ r O^ ^. ^Sdaices Corporation n WIST MAIN STRUT WMSTM,N.Y. I4SM (7U) •7^-4S03 .^V ^ \ 180 CBE 0&E60Jrk'i;pi# Uiis again the country opens, the banks &11 geatly towards the riTerj and ridi verdant undulating plains spread to a great extent on either nde^ Jkt this point, about fifty miles from the mouth of thi river, the Wallamette ^tlemeni was establi^cC The' success of the experiment spread through Hke territory, and wfw not long in passing the Rocky Mountdns, by means of the free tref^iefB wm «till kept up their communipation with the States, and riiortly reached the seat of government, «nd the principal cities ol tin MHt dMSt. It may be femembered ^hat hitherto all efforts made by Asm- rioan eitiswiB to get a footing in Oregon had proved abortive, beoanse they had entered into ccnnf^ tiiion with a body to whose capital and organiai* tion they could offer no suffici^it opposition.' ik, new line was now open, and as they had retired %Wk th« country foiled, but ready to take advan- tage eif any opportunity to return, a new pka €f opentions was prepared to accord with the new and fiivourable cirounwtancet which had thus arisen. And in saying this no blame is attach^ to the parties who originateri it, but rather to those who look advantage of it to divert fh>m its pri- mary intention a work of OhHstian benevolence and charity% j kM • rU * ' The destitute state of the country, and irren at die Company's servants, with respect to the amiii •I attaining not only rdigious but secular kiie^i ledge, was well known } and to remove this raiv* tkm^m^wmm f^j <» theiy arrival they legeifad lMViMki**-^m beiiune their pit^essed olyject } boA^ as it jjiii^biiQ observed, '" -^ - ... - geotly [ulatlng of tlii t>lislMC Ig^ 1i» Rocky m wIm Statei, at, «iid may be f Aiii#» proyed comfit- )n.- a retir«d advait» plan «f m new i thus ttaohiid tothoM its pri- ^olence ih SETTLERS IH OKKOOIT. 1^1 f ptpcio^ ll^'eeiiiteai^ tcsident fiurnaers, lAlkching, it is true, the natives the great elemeots ef Ghristianity iind fwrms erf piayer, but uiiBg tbeir gratuitous labour in tha cidtivation of llieir fields.* The reports soit home by them induced otbero to follow their mmepabe, which led to the iitablisbmtnt of other adssionary stations, and the acee68i(»i to the Wallamette settlement of some few American fitrmers and others to whom the Oregon offered advantages not to be ibund to the east of the Sboky Movmtains; or the excitement necessary tlfthe irritable and roving dispositioB of the iahabitwits of the back settHments. From this begiwiiiw the polofty/ iaoreised, tiH, when Lieutenant WOkes visited |r lo 1841, it counted sixty fiunilies, who, he saya, connsted of American missionariesv trappers, and Canadians, who were fonneriy servanbi of the Hudson's Bay Company; and that the origin of the Mttkment has been &irly stated, may be gathered from the liHiclusioii be arrived at concerning it. All of them appealed to be doing well ; but he was, he eays, '* oa the whole disappointed, from the reports iwhioh had been made to me, aot to find the settle^ ment In a greater state of forwaidncw, censideriRg the BiivwBlages the missionariei havie had /'-<-4h°UB imking the prosperity and advancement of the ■ettlqpejnt depend ki a great measure, if not en- lliely, upon them : but that^their misskmary in* Itations have merged in a great measure in others more closely oomifCtBd with ease and comfort^ ki etai nMpi piaJnly eyidance d by the foUowl mmt^mmb^yimid th» Wwwviaifhiim lliiii i IftThe fauids of the Methodist Mi«kfti are situated mt tl» banla ^ the Wallamette riv^^ on a rich fel^t^'1*' ^ ■r^vrwjfitvw^. iSi f THE OREGON. If^ plain adjacent to fine forests of oak and pine. I They are about eight miles beyond the Catholic |: Mission, in a southern directifc ■.,i4feiia.u>".li^*'u'.;" .>aii-vK«';;, i!-.,.*iil. ■■»■■ w ' pm r .* ' - >fc -'^.W' S^TTLBBB IN OREGON. 187 through the year three times as much in the United States to gain the sa^ie* competency. The care of stock, which occupies so much time with us, requires no attention here, and on the increase alone a man might find support" And although this has been animadverted on by Mr. Farnham and others, it must be remembered that he at least held, ^t the time when he drew up and subsequently presented to Congress the memorial of the settlers in the Wal- lamette, a very different opinion from that which he has lately expressed ; it moreover agrees with the account given by Sir George Simpson, the In- spector-General of the Hudson's Bay Company's forts and settlements. ^ The Wallamette settlement, and its younger sirter, Oregon city, begin to wear some little ap- pearance of civilization, having chapels and school- houses, an hospital (though this is used for mis- sionary purposes), besides public buildings. The extent of land, however, iinder cultivation does not probably exceed the Company's farm at Fort Van- couver, and certainly cannot' be -compared to it in management and appearance, or comparative pro- duce ; and when estimated by the amount of their forming and grazing establishments put together, it is but insignificant. *. The farm at Vancouver is about nine mi}es square; on this there are two dairies and above one hundred cows ; here are one thousand acres fenced into fields, sprinkled with dairy-houses and cottagtis ; by the labour of one hundred half-breeds and Iroquois, with twenty or thirty ploughs and eqosi proportion ". i.« ^„ acres are tilled in a day ; there are ten acres di ^^i^m-^tk9 ms^ sA the &»rt> and a larg« 4r ^ Q^-'-^^' I$8 THE ORSOON. garden aboundii^ in every edible necessary and luxury; on Wappatoo Jsland there are also two dairies, where butter and cheese are made for the .Russian settlements from a hundred and fifty cows. u On the form at Vancouver there are above three ithougand head of cattle, two thousand five hundred sheep, and t^»m hundred brood mares. The milk and butter are excellent ; the fleeces heavy, but not very fine. In 1841 the yield of wheat was three thousand bushels, averaging siaty-three pounds to the bushel ; ^ -r The cattle thrive on natural hay ; for the grass, which in the beginning of the summer grows rapidly, is afterwards converted by the heat and drought into hay ; it is very nutritious, all its Jiuces being preserved. The prairies along the nver have two luxuriant growths of grass, as General M^Carver describes, in the Wallamette; the first in the spring, and the second soon after the overflowing of the river subsides, which is generally in July and August. This last remams through the season. The cattle require no shelter, though they are penned for protection against the wolv^, and to manure the land. Of the scenery of this farm Lieutenant Wijkes speaks in terms of the highest admiration ; he says it was one of the most b^utifol rides he had yet taken, through fine praines adorned with large oaks and pines ; these are of gigantic dimensions, with their branches drooping to the ground. The prairies have such an appearance of being artificially kept that they never cease to create surprise, and it is diflScult to believe that t hejb and of taste a nd refinement h«a "Bol^een at work upon them. The' ground is co- vered with columbine, lupins, and cammass flawen. «^i^~,'i *ny hundred cattle, with seventy\ milch ^ 't '"J*J^'*/-!,J5 490 ^ TAe obeoon. L^ .. . cows ; large crops of wheat, peas, oats, and' pota- toes. On the 1 5th of May «iieut. Wilkes saw peas . afoot high, strawberries and gooseberries in full bloom, and some of the former nearly ripe, witJi salad that liad gone to seed. This is the principal establishment of the !Puget's Sound Agriculturai f-^^ompany, as has been already^nientioned. '^ ^ On the Fallatry Plains, near the moutjj of the Wallamette, «tnd at Fort Langley, there are also' •ferms. ^ '.. ,u ■■■.,., J^ .•,.:^:_/.":-......y,V. Frdm these comparative accounts it will be seen that the Hudson's Bay Company have many times more land under cultivation than at Wallaipette, and that putting the Fur Trade out of the question, their stoke in the country is so mucf larger. ^ Having been obliged t& show the consequence of this departure of the missionaries on the Walla- mette from tbeir proper sphere of duty, it is both pleasant and profitable to offer, in concluding this subject, an example of the effects pf another and more suitable line df conduct. At Lapwai, on -the Kooskooskee, Mr. Spalding, an American missionary, has established himself. We find him, indeed, in a two-story house with board floors (a^ great advance in civilization for the back settle- ments), with a grist and sawWU, and, that these ar6 the work of his own hands ; "that he haa^ twenty acres of fine wheai and potatoes, pumplkins, corn, melons, peas, and bean^ ipi.fine order ; but we also find him instructing the Indians in agri^ culture, lending them ploughs and other imple-t ments, and assiiStinff fehem to cultivate farms of their own^so that on He was^ rdised, in 184d, four Irandrerf bushelr of poTal6es7and^lbrty-five busHelaT"" of wheat ; and Mrs. Spalding teacliipg their wiveft !i.JlB^-lf*A«fc«i'^ 'J-j -.Ui-- !*.S>jl*iiJ?[^ *^'- fc- J 6ETTLSBS IN OBfiKJION. 191 on (squawsjio longer) to spin, lo knit, and assist in household work. Both he. and bin wife are in the .winter constantly Engaged in teaching. They appear to have made considerable progress with the natives— so % ind«Ni,ifehat-with s map thev w>uld comprehend th^ course of the United Stati .Exploring Expedftidn. Still the progress of the people in religious knowledge does not seemgrea|,aQjf tHeirexpk^iopg - ^ of It being pnncipally tlirough prayers and hymns, arenot very satisfactory; still it may be hoped^ that soniethmg is done— as much, perhanfe as this union of occupations will all0w. • ^^ Atihe Walla-walk station, however, more suc- cess IS apparent ; about lorty or fifty families may - be under mstructioa^ and assemble reffularlv for worship on the Lord's Day, while raiding hear the mission, but their wandering propensities^ are not^t entirely overcome. At the Dalles also, on the Columbia, the missionaries have occasiori to exercise much self-denial, aqd are said to livS ^ m constant Igftr, this being the resort o^all the . ^ worst characters among the Indians. * But thev aTC located on a rich alluvial plaitt of some two thousand acres, where they raise good crops of wheat and potatoes : of the former theV had two , jJJ^e ^ ^"^^^^^^^ The harvest is in the month of \u ^w ?? ^^^ P^* y^*" *^® number of settlers on tlie Wallamette must have increased considerablv-^ for we hear, through the medium of the public press, not only of Oregon city, but of the city of MultoBOmak and^h o t o wn o f Lintoii, of bulldiDgi worth seven thousand dollars, luisea by individual!. 01 a coujrt of jui^ice and ficadetoical building^ ^, -*,. ^Si v._^ %92 OBBOOHT^ Wlilfe ft mUitajy cofpi II Miilr^^^^t^ fKls might weH excite a smile did we not know from how small b^nnings great thipgg arise in the for mttt: but whatever oi>iiiion may be f^nrmed *5 7. >)" ''?'^'!. i->J <.i) t J I '*'i.t l'> .'h-'.^ i / ^7) tf '• /} Jj (.r-vl ".;,r • <"**-»>i * ! t f ^ f* pp»fir»M» ' . . 1 : 'if ' b I J^ * ♦ a If J\ ^ J i- r ■K, * • ■ ' ^ ^ .■ r-^' ' t' ■ { •*' ift In kiv j^tKftjff^-hr. >«r? fit mb :pw the natural productions of the Oregon territory duly a general idea can be given, and thia may lj0 formed from what has been already s^. In H^ €arly days of its discovery scientific men i^ BeWom travellers, and since they have been an fMcntial Inanch of every expedition of diacovery/ few but those residing in the district have visfted th« interior, besides the United States' expedition, commanded by Mr. Wilkes, «nd the particular ki- formation collected by him has not as yet been made The animals foimtf ^ ii^m^ofihi'fM^ Mountains do not differ essentially from those im- • ai^xiiately to the east. The elk, several species lof deer, antelopes, mountain-sheep, goats, and the dif- ferent fur-bearing animals, lynxes, foxes, red, ctoss, and silver, minks, musquash, marten, wolverine, beavers, otters, marmots, and, above all, the ermine. In Southern Oregon a speciee of leopaid spreads ^^Tor and destruction among the flocks 5 and iiroughout the taiddleiwid western region wolves are numerous ; the bhwjk and brown bear are oom- gMVf^^spe^ri^^ft ^ho Rocky Mo u n t a in s the terriUe grizzly bear, whose strengtfif, ferocity, and ttoa«ity of life form the theme of so many romantic ^JiiidMiti in the lives of the trappers, and have been r-7i ■f. m \' 194 THK OBEGON. ■\ t-M! 4 layered familiar by the accounts of so many tra- vellers.^. u The dog is tBrcompanion, and not unfrequenfly lliefood of the Indians; it is of the same species as the Esquimaux dog, bjit not, as by them, tr^ed to useful purposes. *^ «^ i w; ^Snakes are numerous; the principal of them is the rattlesnake : they are not, however, found either on the coast or mountainous districts. On the plains of the middle district horses abound; they^are a fine race of animals, of a moderate height, but with good shoulders, muscular loins, fine limbs and small feet, strong action, of immense powers of e^idurance, considerable speed, and ©quailing the mule in sureneM of foot. Everv variety of colour is found among them ; not only the more uncommon mixtures, roan, piebald, and ^tted, but these again varied with other colours. Mr. Farnham saw a roan with bay ears and white mane ^nd tail ; and some spotted with white on a ^fmk or bay or sorrel ground, with t&il and ears tipped with black. ' . ■ - ., ?*, The Indians, and especially the Cayuse or Skyuse, possess large herds, even the poorest having several. The same writer thinks them better trained to the saddle than those of dvi- liaed countries. He thus describes the pwoemif^ catching and taming the wild animals:^ t ,^'? " When an Indian wislps to increase the mimbcr''^ of his working horses, he mounts the fleetest ll#^^ has, and, lasso in hand, rushoi^to the ba^d^of wild animals, throws it upon tlf oeok of the ohoMi onfi^itnd chdces him^downTTRHtirtittF.., „ „^^„ ^^ insensibility ties the hind and fore feet firmly ^M^^k^ TOmjxjnflciousneasr^eturngjtlMwimal ■>:» '^- ■."iwri ^ATUMAUfMQDVCTiomiik' 195 struggles violently, but in vain, to get loose. His .fear is then acted upon by throwing bear-skins- wolf-skins, and blankets at his head, till he becomes quiet ; he is then loosened from the cords, and rears and plunges furiously at the end of a long rope, ^and receives another introduction to bear-skins, &c.' After this he is approached and handled, and if still too wild, he is again beat with blankets and bearskins as before, until he is docile. The cap- tive 18 then initiated into the mysteries of the bridle and saddle, and, after the same mode practised in South America, frequently forced a't full gallftp " ^ the armed heel *' until thoroughly ** subdued." , In this mode of horse-breaking the Indians are most admirably proficient, and by it they make of the wild horse the most pleasant, docile, and fear- less animal in existence. Of their speed and powers of endurance some estimate may be formed from the following story, related by Mr. Cox :-^ In the spring of 1813, before the dissolution of the Pacific Fur Company, while I was stationed at bpokane House, with Mr. Clarke, he received a letter from Mr. Famham, who had charge of the party sent to the Flatheads, stating that he had arnved at the Flathead portage, .». distance of seventy-two miles from Spokane House, where he should be obliged to remain a few days to recruyk his^ horses; that his trading goods were exhauste<^ *iid that he was entirely out of tobacco ; that % party of Flatheads were following them with B quantity of valuably #kins ; that his rival, Mg^ McDenald, wm aUo WHwppUed with tobacco t that t'i whichever of^ them goTlhe^rst suppTjrof that article would, by treating the Indians to a grand *'ftft j ^.j' jg ma tch, succeed in getting the produce of JL A "w -m^ i9is th^r hant, and that in order to attain ihdr object it was absolutely necessary the tobacco required should be with him that night, lest the natives, should go over ia a bod^f 40 Mr. McDonald, with whom they had been longer acquainted, at 'tjkr I'me* -r^MJi was eleven o'clock in the forenoon when this letter reached us, and Mr. Clarke thoi^ht it im« possible for any horse to go a distance of seventy- two miles during the remainder of the day ; at all events he knew that none of the Company's hoi'ses were fit for such a task, and was about giving up the idea as hopeless, when I offered to undertake it with a celebrated horse of his own, named 'Le Bleu#l v^TJie case was important ; a blow was necessary to be struck ; and although he prized the horse above all his chattels in the Indian country, be at once determined to sacrifice his private feel- ings to the interests of the Company. Two men were selected to accompany me, and ordure were given ito catch h seeing' the^ht. knewhis tesk was at an ei^,2id gallop^ up in 6ne style to Mr. Famham's t^t, Xn^ was immediately let loose to regale himilf on the f^T®; li ^ .brought a few fethoms of thick twist tobacco with me, on hearing which the In- dians crowded round us, «id in a few seconds each man 8 head was enveloped in clouds of smoke! Ihejr promised that we should have aU their skins,, Dut m order to make assurance doubly sure, ml requested them to bring their respective paclca««i to the tent and deposit them th«*in untU B^rn^ This was at ouce complied with, alter wh^ smoking recommenced. About two hours afUmt two of our rivals came in with a quantity of ^ bacco ; tl^ had started from Spokane Housi shortlit* after us, but were never able to overtake tha^wti •1 ?ir- ?^^ w«"e much better acquainted wood than I was, and if their horses had he^ equal to mine, it is very probable the rewilt wouUI, liave been diflerent : they were much chagrined m our^success, and on t i^ the IndJan s wl JovlaS kIi !? is ** . "^'^^BfSWrth^ replied, thi^ Whig the first to satisfy their hungry craving^ afteri tobattso^tha/ could do no more 4hao give^ t^ '^1 * ^ Its u^l^ims OBEGOKaC p^erence; but added that they would punctually pay them aay debts which they had contracted with. Mr. M*I)onald, which promise they faithftiUy kept. About midnight the two men whom I had lefl behind me reached the encampment ; they also, were for some time lost in the wood, and, like pcgpr self, wete obliged to depend on the sagacity of their horses to set them xight. , " We returned to Sopkane House by easy stages,' but I did not ride the Bleu. In less than a week after he was perfectly,rrecovefed from the fatigue of his journeys and in the summer of the same year beat the fleetest horses of both Companies on the race-course." n . 'It should *be remarked that the Indian horses are not shod, and owing to this circumstance the hoofs, particularly of such as are in constant work, are nearly worn away before they are ten or eleven years old ; they are never taught to trot, but their pace is a canter or hand-gallop. The Indians ride them with hair-rope bridles and pad- ded deer-skin saddles, which are not only severe, but cruel in their operation. Their average price may be stated at 2/., and they unite an herds of some- times three or four thousand. In the south their increase is so rapid, that in 1812 the Spaniards at San Francisco were obliged to kill thirty thousand im^rocure grass for the buffiilo, the fat of which li»« staple commodity. It is killed in immense -iaiumbers for the sake of its skin, and on the great prairies still more for food, where the skin^and bones and inferior parts are left for the birds and Mv olv e s. The rapidity with which the buffaloes are disappearing is remarked by all travellers in the westera prairies; two circumstances^cpmbine ^^^z^^fiLti^ t.^ii^i.^t^'t^tUd'-A. i^ .-i,ii . ' ^ t /■ NATUSAL PBODUCTIONS. ^1^ to their destruction; — the Indians every year making fresh lodges of their skins, and the busi- ilfesa of the American trading posts being almost ^xclusivelyconfined^to them. The average annual number of skins traded is given by Mr. Fremont, aalbllowair-^^ V, ::^liJ^^ American Fur Company Hudson's Bay Company Other Companies BobWt 70,000 10,000 10,000 90,000 But to this large number must be added those killed without their skins being taken. The Ca- n^anchees, whose country abounds in bu&lo, trade in skins, and the greatest number killed on the prairies is during the summer months, when their skins are valueless to traders, as it is only from November to March that they are fit for dressing : the skins of bulls are never taken or dressed* From these data some notion may be attained of the number killed annually. West of the Rocky Mountains, the bufialo is now only found to the,, south of the Great Pass; formerly the hunting-' grounds extended ove> all the south and west head- waters Qf the Colun^ia as^ far as the Dalles. It is probable, however, that the period of their first crossing the mountain is not very remote, as in the jegion to the west the " great highways" made by them in passing from river to river or across the mountain ranges are never met with. The Snake Indians attribute their crossing to the Ame- rican trappers. To the south, on the Colorado ^nd jiead- wat era of Rio del Norte^ they x ^^y^f exlended^ any considerable distance. At the pre- sent time they are for the most part confined to a •^w. ^mmifWKMmnh very limited range along the east base of the Kocky Mountains, sometimes extending into the .•jphtinB of the Platte and Arkansas, and along the ^eastern frontier of Mexico as far as Texas. Of the animal productioi^s of Oregon the fur4»ear- ing animals are at j^esent of mosf importance, their skins forming the staple trade of the terri- tory ; but many considerations combine to induce the conclusion that it will not long continue so : indeed tire operations of the Company by which it is carried on impress this forcibly upon the ^ind ; . j|e»- KhUe in its conduct economy is the order of "•the "day, and the receipts are said to be on the de- 'lerease, insomuch that the expense of procuring the itir is not n|uch exceeded by^^the proceeds of ite iiale, the farming and grazing operatiois of its ^ofibpring, the Puget's Inlet Agrieultural :Society, are carried on with much spirit, and it has its agents not only in England, but in OaiifiMrniaaRd the Sandwich Islands. Latterly, however, the Coi|apany has reduced the expenses of coliecti|ig furs by supplying the trappiii parties with food from the Company's farms. The present annual •piUtie of the fun exported from the Columbia has ibeen very differently stated $ it may, however, safely be reckoned as l»etween forty mm! fifty thou* sand. This is, however, a lar^ amount when the smallness of the means employed is considered. The nmnber of the Compuny's forts has been already stated as about thirty. It has on the ^KMUt eix. vessds and a Reamer, and its imnwdiate servants smd dependants do not probably exceed fifteen, hundred. ,,h : f v "Bttt whateverJte^ ftlie stele of thto hf mch o f Irad r^ tit present, it cannot continue long in it. Every ■,« ^\.£& ^^i-by . '^t- Jt & »-'99**'W 'i/vj* -.-Jftl^-CJiV* W liew iettler, ev€ry fresh locatknirrcdiwes, if but a filittla, the number of iur^bearing aomKOs; and 4hoi^g^ the marten tribe, frequenting principftlly Ihe mountainous districts, especially New Cale- donia, may continue to be, for some time, of im- jwtance in commerce, the beaver and all animals lahabiting the more fertile districts must soon be- come extinct. That this is the inevitable conse- quence of the occupation and cultivation, the con- stant occurrence of deserted beaver-dams and entire absence of the animal itself from the eastern shores of the continent, sufficiently prove, and it therefore becomes probable that at no distant period the fe- trade of the Oregon wijl be carried on 49>> the smaller animals only. " • It is, however, obviously the policy of the Hud- son's Bay Company to prevent this, and aeoord- jngly great care is tal^n not to exhaust any district by over hunting; so that, when the fur-bearing animals have become scarce in any particular J4>cality, the post established there is temporarily relinquished ; and so strictly is this policy adhered to, that Lieut. Wilkes exonerates even their mi- gratory trapping parties in Lower Oregon and the borders of California, and round Fort Hall, from <;he blame which has usually attached to them of filling all fitM^-bearing animfik without respect to ^e, although they cannot hOpe to retain t^hose disU'icts long in their own hands. .,^^;^ .^^ One source from which skins may bS ob0ned has been as yet comparatively untried. The coa#t •warms with amphibious animals of thes^ kind, j["o^P ^ the vulgar names of sea-lion , sea-el^ ph^^t, a^ «ea-cow ; b»t, above sjl, with the eei»-. moB seal : the traffic to be deriveijl frxim theie in m .1 i 1 *i.j. ''f iss5.jaa- sssspas^ _' -=Si*-^ :iisr— ~~' MiM i ttBi B^^^^ i^iai^Bi i ; .„■■ *. •n^ %f^ 202 :?^m THE OREGON, t skins, oil, &c., could not but be lucrative. To this niay be added the whale-fisheryi both the black and spermaceti whales being found in the North Paciiic, and from which large supplies of oil arid cetine may always fee obtaihed. ■ ■ h; Great advantages would be derived by carryirig on this trade from the shores of the Pacific: not only would the demoralizing effect 9f so long an absence from home^ usually three; years, to which the whale-fishers are how subject, be avoided, but * also the expenses attending the outfit and mafhter ' nance of such large vessels as are necessary for the trade at present ; for by building them on the spot, a great proportion of their first cost would be saved. i. ■ • ' * ■ ; ' ■' : -About twenty whales are killed annually in the straits of Juan de Fuca. Vancouver, in the montfc*^ of June, met with numbers in the Gulf of Georgia ; and De Mofras places the new whaling-ground r fronr the equator to the Aleutian Archipelago, parallel to the coast of North America. *. Lieut. Wilkes makes the parallels 30° south and* north' the principal grounds in the Pacific in direct lines from Asia to America ; the coast of South America from lat, 50 S. to 40® N. off California; and the entire^ line' of Jafianese ^nd Aleutian Islands ; so that the harbours of the Oregon are most admirably situated with respect 'to the northern grounds, as New Zealand is to the southern. The causes which he assigns for thQ chofce of these localities %f the whale are ^i^portant; m they go for to prove that these grounds will never b« d ^erted. He thinks he has established as a t,"^that the conrsFDf the great icorrentsonBe 9Pean, sweeping with them the proper food of the ..,.T ITATUBAL PBODUGTIONS. 208 great cetaceotis animals, ddterinihes not only the places to which they are in the hiabit of resorting, but the seasons at which they .are tOvbe found fre- quenting them." His theory, basedNtq^ obser-^ rations mac^e during his extended and (^rcuitpiis exploring voyage, is thisj that towards the westeri^ sides of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, . streams of heated water, making their way from low to high latitudes, prevail. Those in the two northern oceans become easterlfy, settfng towards the opposite continent, causing, beyond all question, the comparatively equable and elevated temperature ' that is found on their western coasts, and which si^t peculiarly distinguishes the climated the Britbh Islands? , To keep up tl^e equilibrium of the ocean, the body of water tbus,thrown from the equator to- . wards the poles must, after being cooled and ren*' dered more dense in higher latitudes, return to- wards the equator ; and the mode in which at first sight it might be expected tm fRe|^ biesktes the benefit* le ^sasters aod> '"' .9 " W .f^^f^i l"^,: ^f'jf' V 7 5* 1>^" NATumAii rmoDcrcnoifs. owners firom having^ a moral and trustworthy ">^f^^ one/lndeed which cannot be too Ugbly as" timaled. The advantdge to the sailors theed^. selves, by deprivmg them of their chief incentive to immorality, and . releasing the natives of the islands of the Pacified frojpa tb^ evil influence, and removing a S^'^^-J^^W ^'o°> the profession of Christianity — ^^ip^^joterations combine to p&t- suade that ^i^^^lflw i^tation on ^ the western coast of AmerlcpL^oilcPle most valuable^ especially to the nJtijIplho may first establish iu . . n:h.Xh - Of thisP^ofitable trade the citizens of the United Stfttes possess at present kll but a monopoly. / Their whaling fleet consists of six himdred and seven ty- five vessels, most of them of four |iundi«d tons burden^ and amounting in all to one hundred thousand toiis. The. majority of them cruize in the Pacific. ' It requires between fifteen thousand and sixteen thousai^d men to man them* Their value is estimated at twenty-five million dollare, yielding an annual return of five mtUioii, or twenty p&t cent. The quantity of oil imported is about ibur hundred thousand barrels, of which one-haif is sperm. ■-■ -i^fv----^^. :, vn-i-i v%:-lr^.^^- ,;f/- -i-.^rl • Respecting the importance of this trade, Mr. X Wilk^ remark*—** The number of thqae on shore /to whom this branch of business gives emplqyment ^11 readily be admitted to be twice as gpreat as that Tthe crewft." ,>* _ '"hen iPpadd to this profitable occupation for many persons, «he value of the domestic products consumed by them, and the benefit that is thus ^mn ferred upon bot h our a grjeiilt ii ral and m ann- facturing interests, the importance of this branch (^business will appear greatly enhanced. ^.y Ki'.iafeiv'fSi ^\. «--^ ;•-'=, S , . . «■% T ^■ 20® ■.« TUK ORJgGON. y^' ^1- *k ' .* J^'f^ ™aJonty of persons Tl is believed that Jhe >vhale fisheryis a mere lottery, in which suc- cess IS m^ owing to^gbod hick than good manage- ment. Those, however, who entertain such an opinion are in error. There is perhaps no em- ployment on the ocean where a sound judgment is moi^ necessary, and no business whose success de- pends more on t|ie experience, enterprise, and in- dustry of the cominander, than that of whaling. rhe whaling fleet oHhe United States has been fi^Vr ^^^^^-^^^^Ted and seventy-five . vessels, •if England and her colonies may be con- sidered as not exceeding one hundred and fifty. The remarks of Mr. Alexander Simpson on the subject, with Reference to the Sandwich Islands, are equally appropriate to the west coast of America. I he formation of a British colony in the very centre of the fishery, which would serve as a start- ing point for the cruising vessels, and whence the oil could be shipped to market soon after it has been taken, would secure for England a large |hare of this valuable branch of trade, and obviate many of Ito present^ils. Thirteen whaling v^els (of whose fishings I have a record), which\ sailed frem the port of Hoolulu, in the spring of\l842, procured, during their summer cruize, four hundred ^ and twenty -four tons of spermaceti, and eight hundred and fifty-fi^ve tons of black oil ; these cruises^veraged one hundred and sixty-five days, and the value of their fishings 4500/. per vcm^I " These thirteen include English and Ainerican, and are rather below than above the usual success. ihe evils to which he refers, a n d w hiflh have ^ri already alluded to, are consequent on the distance of the ship's port from tlWofishing grounds, BIS ^^ i^ed that ich suc- nanage- (uch an no em- ment is ;es8 de- and in- ling. as been vessels. )e con- d fifty, on the ids, are iherica. e very I start- tee the it has large >bviate vessels sailed 1842, i^dred ^ eight these ft ^1 Bssel. n, and iccess. m the mncU, ■■■( ■ - --■ p-, % ^ ■, NATUBAL PBOBUCTION8. ^ «hl*^ *'?® "^J*"^^ '*'' ***** ^^'c^""* the vessels are absent and perhaps not a little on the share which all hands teke in the interest and profits of the voyage; giving it all the excitement, as well as the uncer^inty of gambling, and in Consequence personal skill is all that is required in theXers! w»!i^*iK^ *^^™ *^ '"*"y ""^^^^ characters Hnn' y^A .^^'t^'^^"* of the voyage and dissipa- tion of the time spent on shore, seek to dissip^e the recollection of their former lives o^f'^'^'''^^ "^^^^^ ^^''^^ *^** «° the banks and cc«st IS important. Cod, halibut, and herring ^ Z"!''' r.^"^'^"' \«d sturgeon near the shot? and mouths of nvers. Already the salmon fishery which, among the Indians, h'as been delS; affords not only a supply for home consumption ^L -^K t'V''^! of commerce, being sent to the band wich Islands ; they are also supplied to the Russian settlements, according to contract. wnii WA^ *^ even !iow export of cattle, w^l, hides, and tallow, as well as salted meat beef and pork, wheat, barley, and Indian com ^plesajid timber. Of these, all are senurtTe ►Sandwich Islands, some to California, and hides and wopl have been sent to England. Those ex- ports are pnncipally in connection with the Puiret's Inlet Apicultural Society, of whose forms Tme account has been given. ' .i^Ti?**x?TPTyu''"^"*"y f«""«^ of "ervants of the Hudson s Bay Company-its charter, and consequently its capital, being confined to trade moooVu?:^^^ f ^!'>' ^^ ^W)uuu*^^ntxtravauaule capital is^jly 200 OOOT^ The Company has imported cattle from California" and live stock from England, and is laying the IL 3 ^ -rrrt-inii r-^i|j a^i^^^ B^^Ba ^ai i«undfttion of a pi!c»fitable trade Ihrotigh the medium tof the Hudaon's Bay Company with the Russians «t Sitka, in supplying their aettlemeats with flour, ^uttea*, cheese, &c. ; as wbU as with the Saodwich JsJanda and California. Tiie woodf of Oregon present another fertile mxrce of national wealth, not less important froai , the size than variety of *he timber* they contain. Pine of several kinds, cedar, spruce, oak, ash, birch, beech, maple, arbor vitae, and othews. The haid i.^..^ «. b. .. ^ \i^ *,. medium Etussians th flour, aodwioli r fertile li&t froBi contain, ^^bircb, be bald e enor- excited ^nfessed coarser )mpara- . Tiie )Urhood much to )jn, aoid Q coast timber das aud ^ value derived eloping open a %t co^t 4 with B weat- ove tbe Island, coviery^, apany's '"'■ifi\jiyf jt ifjjwT-'^jr NATuiuxr vmfton^movB, mm t^ ^^ ""^^^^ «^«' ^'- Fifllaywn, hm '^j^7^T55!:^<^^«i^™«f« """^fT"- • -51^1 (' > CIIAPTjER XL CONCLUSION. t AiTBocoH it is not the intention to enter on the thorny pathg of political controverey, yet,°n ac! cordance with the objects of this workV t may be expected that some notice should be taken of ti^e geographical rtlations and consequent compa- ZtZ:^"" "^ "'«.'««■«">■" parts of the Ore^n ^-^ "O'-nection with the propositions that StThiT."™^" *"/"'* «'"'*'°«"' °f the dispute ?hL s,S^ .!! c?n<^>fned. It is much to be wished imofZr '=»™«1«™«<>™ entered more frequently we^^t j:^P^''"«,'~r'''"y ""«»' «<» 'hot they tZLl *^ commonly formed according to meri tempora^r or extraneous interests , or, as if to save ouL "^A""* /'J'"'^'" «"eh a cou^sTwlK! geographical, i, «., the natural features of a country, by running an arbitrary line across the man S vering as is almost certain to be the ca.^.S^ most closely connected by nature, and^ic^L if wise important tracts of country. Such a line r^tl\T "^ "•" .^'^y Moulins now J^! rates the sources of the northern tributaries of still stmnovtr rva«««~.:^„ i. _ . If » woue wim Jaoose Kiver from the main stream of tb* r - M <. ^ A '"c'W^tu^i! '.^ ••;:»-. 2i^ THE ORHOOlT. Assiniboin, but fer the more considerable portion of the Red River from their united waters, which fell into Lake Winnipeg— an example forcibly illus- tratiye of the absurdity of a system which it is desired to perpetuate in the west, and which, if carried out, would be followed by perhaps even greater inconveniences and inconsistencies. As an illustration of this, it may be observed that the value of water power, which is more fre- quently found on the head-wateriS of the tributaries of the larger rivers, is, especially if used fop flawing, entirely cjependent oh the fecility which - the streams themselves afford for carrying the ppo- f duce of the mills to market. This every one who- hafr travelled \n America must be fully aware of. In such cases, therefore, the cutting off the tipper waters of a ^tream from the lower by a boundary- Ike nuist neutralize any advantage to be derived^ , ffom their possession ; md if, as ia most probable^ the floods which some years sinee did so much damage in the Red River district were caused by ' the overflowing of the Missouri into the Moose River, it is easy to conceive that hereafter^ on the opcurrenoe of sueh a calaiftity^ it might cause a collision of interests, one party desiring that thei ^rplus waters should find an outlet in that difee- tion, and the other naturally anxious that th^ should be kept in their proper ebannek It may be concluded, from the desenption already givtin of the Oregon tejJritory, that Sir George . Simpson *8 opinion, aa expressed in the account give^ by him in his letter to 8ir Henry Pelly ot? the lenewal of the Hudion'a Bay Company V chartey^ rwpeotlng Ifie atate^f the eouA^at^^aflun^ an^ whicl^ baf beei^ pvint ^«W«awy$ionr, •^ V mf^ mth the otheir pepera relating tQ it, is subst^iitially correct, VIZ., tM the only pwt of it north of the .golumbm at present valuaWe for '^y purpose ^xcept the fur trade is between that river Q ^^r s, iwjluding, of course, the lands surroundinir A^i^niralty iilet, Puget's Sound, &c. In thS twct IS contained ajl the land in the country fit for cultivation, the more Northern parts of New Cale- ' doaia affording little dse but mountain and flood, W)ck*nd wat^; and aUhough they may h«-e,ifW JBipport a hardy population similar to that of oth^^ highland districts, they offer uo advantages to tempt the settiler, and must ever be in a greatlneasufe d^ pendent on the more favoured districts to the south, where we have seen ^fertile land of every descrip- ^w^not wanting whether rich amble, as on the ^t 4wtrict, or. abundant pasture on the plains, liot to mention the, tobacco to he found on the more^ elevated tahle-lands, the heavy growth of the forests, or the universality of edible i^ts. Already fixportiuffy^ as it 4o^, a cojisideiAble quantity of the produce of the soil, ite fertility is beyond doubt J and although there may be diiputc« ^ to J^ comparative amount-wliether we, with Mr. fY« if^^^ '^ ""^'■^ ^^^"« by ti^ times thau the Umt^ States, or wilA others, con«der it C so than Canada-there can be none as to iu cap*. Wities for 8^pporling a large population in ease and comfort, wiOi the enjoyment 8erved on the (uently an ad- respect is so having of the le that nercial ^; and 215 rations which mrtie^oJ'^„" !!■," ""■"" r'* ^y the contending Kf;^ 1 ?K-^* settlement of their dispute; and al- though th,s is presented naturally to the m tod 1 ^"Torf ir"'"*'^'y *'*'■ ''"' objects of The pr^ »ent work Its importance, as a general consideration t^T, ^ l'^'^'-'}'^-- for, as abstract ^sTt appears to have been abandoned as a means of de- ciding the question, how can it be settled eiceot on a basis of reciprocal advantage ? ^ The truth, therefore, which fa now involved i. *n«^ '/°'."'"'*^"'* U""**' States now claim the • entire temtory. Great Britain has never fth^^h mad^'an^f e h*^'"' '" """' J"^' «"« *» thVwhot) The diffi^ endeavour to obtain more than a part. Ihe difficulty is to apportion it. '^ h* the Columbia as a line of compromise. Tliis, while it secures to her eyery navigable i)arbour« does not leave us one." - Wiih, reference to the eountrv east o{ the main ffftk of the riyer, it may be remarked, that on the f>iains of this district it is that the faetoae more par* iicularlj abounds ; and that, with respect to the abandonment of them, and especially of the Flat- Jbead country, a question of xaorality as w^i as ^interest is involved, o. * fci We have seen that the Indians inhabiting it are" lof a far more civilized character, or, at least, fyir more capable of civilization, tlian those of the coast »or northern districts ; and that under thennfiuence 4}f American missionaries they are improving in social condition, if in nothing else: nevertheless th^y are yet in a great measure dependent on the Hudson's Bay Company for many necessaries of life, and still consider them the rulers of the untry, if not its lawful possessors ; they there- fore trust to them and in them to Great Britain (perhaps not unmindfiil of the conduet of the United States to their brethren on the east of the Rocky Mountains) for protection and support; they have prospered under our rule, and seem to afford a prospect of being exceptions to the general rule of their race, and likely to preserve their identity, even under the supremacy of the wbite man. How then shall we leave them to the un* certain &te attefidant on the cession of their country to the United States, the prolmble chances of a war of extermination,^ ai^ the certainty -that individual settlers, seeking each his ow;i livelihood -^^ow agrioulture, ean ever ^ ifr Uiem^-4»-Uie day • ^ Adversity, what the Hudson's Bay Company has •* , j^t. . « -ft ff "^ ^Sf^^'?**' 8. This, the main it OD the (lore par- :t to the the Flat- I w^i as Dg k arer least, lair the coast influence oving in ertheless [t on the saries of 3 of the ly there- t Britain t of the it of the support ; seem to I general ve their le wliite > the un* [>f their i chance inty 4hat vefihood ■ 1 ' * ** ^ ^ ■ ■ pany has ^ 1 ■'" , $ coircLvsioir. »Hrht in the Jtr«dlbT«uTre^'tl: how mu^' mo™ i!'l''H^]:; ""^ •" ^ '"''bari^H, so I~,„ „ w 5*^ ** debtoni to those who hava so long consWered themselves the alliea TfLT! subject., of Great Britain ^^ if not the teen '^^'^T ?"Po«rfble that had thew thin« a^Jflli S^''' ""*' oonsidemtion no eoci oSj ticulan.^^r,T ' '" "^^''OB to there pa.. .ideS wh"h ^j^f"^ f<«"»pj.io.i z: . •Muiw wnicft militate strongly affaimt it -TDM uioancam chain runs north-WMt *« #k^ southern point, of the Babine and P^ P^n ^ separating Frazer's River and ite f^. ^"*^' *hey do the Uniiah o/p^Iu! »• f"b»^»«», W and the hLl wi^L nfTr^a/^'7''' '** *"»>"tarieg, the .nnn.JHl!:'g,^?^ ?^e Pacific, thus dlvidinff -Ui^^ c Tf^ f^^^ ' >^ hich ^i'ii^^Z "•i 'r^: 222 THE OBEOON. their sources, and affording no access to the sea between the parallels 49*^ aiBi 51^^ so that it must be a considerable period before any intimate connexion can exist between settlers in these dis- tricts ; and It may well become a question whether there is any probability of their being inhabited, if disconnected by any circumstance from the more : fertile districts of the south, and the supplies which may so easily be conveyed to them from thence by sea. It is remarkable also, that on the south, m 1ms been observed, the Great Salt plains between the Snowy Mountain ranges confine the culti- Vateable part of California to the comparatively narrow strip between their western range and the racific^so tljat it is cutoff from all connexion with the east, except by the vaHey of the Colorado, while It is most intimately connected with Southern Oregon by that of the Sacramento. Its excellent harbours, especially San Francisco, seem to offer a more fitting outlet for its produce than those to the north. This the Americans perceiving, are not remiss in their endeavours to annex that country as they have already done the Texas ; and If political speculations could here be indulged in, it would not be difficult to show that an arrange- ment which reserved the ports north of the Co- lumbia to Great Britain, giving those of California to the Ui^ited States, would be most advantageous to both parties, and might probably be effected without trouble or opposftion from Mexico, whose hold on that province has long since been relaxed. This would, however, be out of place h^re ; but the intimate connection of the future destinies of the Or egon and^aUfofma n iay e xc use thgfemaflc — wat the value of San Francisco as a naval station ih^t,^ .it J^ ^ 'tl -^^-"Y the sea > that it intimate hese dis- whether bited, if lie more !s which ence by ' outh, as between e culti- ratively |nd the ton with >Iorado, outhern ccellent . to offer hose to ig, are ;x that is; and gedin, rrange- :he Co- [ifornia Ageoiis effected whose elaxed. e; but nies of •emark "^ station coNc;.usiON. 223 has probably been very much overrated: indeed " Vancouver may be credit^—o^^ u- .™» than the fa^hj 0^^. ' ? r ^rC '^ '" ""y ?'<«=«» ""approachable, and thn«Dwatn channel consequently much e«po^ andT foTl^ these reasons it must proFe diffi?,T^J- j 2 ' ''i IS connerlpd uritu « *u- ***"una ii . it moreover ofwhiolT»,ri ^ y""® "^«" flowing into it pearl-fisheries Xnot ^now to ^ K"":"'"? «nd cause, accordimr tTtwL J ^ considered, be- gold has never £.,»nif* "^ifP^^^'b, a mine of fhe latter\rrfZlti;"v:A^":.r °^"°PP«'' "«» tain • hiif thJt^u ^ nature, moat uncer- of D; FuLtt o^^r "'. '''t''"S'« of the St4 iSfeaiS ~l rr;?sr£ course ihttn^ihl^' ®' °^ ^'^^^'^ has a lonaer ^^aluabTe a country '«4,np7,:i ^ter so iumbia, its coi«v?i"mXrci:.f„:t i ^1 ?cr- J I 224 *«F^-Tj.'-^-; THE OREGON. ar^ Of fif. ^J" ^^^}''on Vresenimg an available n^f 1 H '^}^^ ^y^"& ^^«^« a»d compact hKtwo channels, affording perfect security for vesse-C and without rock or shoal, besides the extensive faci- lities and advantages offered by the various har- bours of Admiralty Inlet, without mentioning those on the opposite shore of Vancouver's IslanI one of which at least, viz., that on which the Hud- 8on s Bay Company have established their Fort Victoria, ,s of a very high character. It is worthy Sl'n/7Tr^T^ ^^^^ '^ ^^'^ Francisco were in the hands of the British, as some desire it should be, It would be totally isolated, and destitute in itself otanyineansjof defence except at its entrance, and must therefore, cause great expense in protecting It artificial^; but possessed by the Ai^ericans, and resting tofhe right on their part of the Oregon, it could be supported on the left by the Valley of he Colorado, which, by the Gulf of California, would connect the- Texas with the Pacific; while the facilities of defence at Ports Discovery and Hudson have been the theme of universal praise, and if.sur- r^ded by a British territory, must render them impregnable. Thes^considerations force themselves upon us iler a survey of the position and natural features f the country. It may be asked. If so, what do we f Already the American settlers number their thousands, whil^ the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company are principally Indians and half-breeds. We have at home a sujierabundant population, sub- ject to a ver y rapid increase on any^redu otinn nf '^ rpnuei TTTSut oTlhe hecessarfes of life-^i^ canf it be better employed than in seeking with its -,, « i .vailable lels, and ive faci- us har- itioning Island, le Hud- Ir Fort worthy in the uld be, n itself ce, and tecting ns, and gon, it of the would le the [udson ifi^sur- [• them )on us atures baido • their s Bay reeds. I, sub- r>n nf how th its . coNOLusiom _ 225 .of our free insH^n#/-r...= V , ^' *"® spread it may weTl be ast^ ?'' ?'™»°"ta"<=«« ? Where, the leeling of responsibility which Dromn^J^ .1 diftinterested Brav ? T^ c^- w"it.n prompted the former if nof ^^/i ,,^'' ^^'"^^^^^« "« to follow the destinies of le Pa ;«: ''«»''"fd 'o control The admirably situatpHfnl!! ^"'"^ »'*'« " nation, wUh two of t^fr*.* P°**"^"' "»"«»« that w Uhi?th7stm:.i f T' P"/*^ in the world, Francisco Th» . °^ ^"*" ''^ ^"<=a «nd San as well as the countriMi nf c„. ^i. » "' ^-^ "'Jfoesia, onesi^CandcS .K^Sl-r '''^'"*"<=« o" »<>« and Ne^ ZwIanZ; ,if ^''''■PP"'^*. New Holland, • before man™ „ltV.^Vt!?r^ ""« ^^''^ vaiious clima to^ijr7 HJJ^gl»d^ '^" P" "' S " "' course that mn.r^fr "'^ P™''"<'t«, and an inter- , rse tnat must in time become immense j While i r" 226 pONCLUSION. this western