# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 19/News and Comment number 1

NEWS AND COMMENT
THE NAME COQUILLE
Coquille River, near Coos Bay, is entitled to the right pronunciation of its name, whether French ko-keel or Indian ko-quell, but the pronunciation has been in dispute for, lo, these many years. Mr. S. B. Cathcart, pioneer of 1853, wrote to The Oregonian February 22 last, that the word should be spoken ko-quell, in reply to that newspaper's acceptance of the other pronunciation.
The question seems to hang on the origin of the name, and that is disputed. If the French word coquille, meaning "shell," is the source, then ko-keel is as near as the American tongue can say it. Scoquel is the form of the name appearing in The Oregonian January 7, 1854, in an advertisement of Perry B. Marple, whose Coose Bay Company of adventurers, from Jacksonville, was then exploring and exploiting Coos Bay. Marple said in the advertisement that Scoquel River was the Indian name of an eel, and that he hoped Coquell would not supplant Scoquel. In Walling's History of Jackson, Josephine, Douglas and Curry Counties (p. 496), the source of the name is given as Nes-sa-til-cut. Like many other paleface theories pertaining to the dusky Indians, this relating to Coquille may be only partly true or wholly fanciful.
In the earliest map known to contain the name of this river, that of John B. Preston, Surveyor General of Oregon in 185154, it appears Coquette, under date of October 20, 1851. This form, Coquette, could easily have been an error in place of Coquille. The name appears Coquille in a map, dated 1 1856, of J. W. Trutch (assistant to Surveyor General Preston, and the surveyor who located the base line of all surveys in the Pacific Northwest) and G. W. Hyde. Coquille also appears in a map of 1855, made by G. H. Goddard, "from explorations of Governor Stevens," and published at San Francisco by Britton and Rey.
B. J. Pengra, Surveyor General of Oregon in 1861, made ​a map in that year, showing Coquille, and a similar map in 1863. In 1869 Harvey W. Scott "wrote up" the Coos Bay and Coquille country in The Oregonian, and brought back the pronunciation ko-keel. A recent letter from Binger Hermann, whose life-long familiarity with Coos Bay matters makes him an authority, likewise favors ko-keel. He cites the similar French word, and suggests that the name may have come from the French-Canadian trappers of the North-West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company, who scoured the coast country from a time perhaps earlier than 1815. These trappers may have left the word coquille among the Indians. The latter may have imitated the word in ko-quell, which early white settlers in Coquille Valley yet pronounce that way. Frequent names in Oregon have mysterious origin, and efforts to derive them from French or Spanish or Indian forms are not satisfactory. Oregon is such a name, and Rickreall and Luckiamute and Long Tom. Meanwhile, as to ko-quell or ko-keel, the evidence seems to favor the latter. The accepted spelling is Coquille.
THE LATE HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT
Mr. Bancroft, the most voluminous of Pacific West historians, may have left a fame more enduring in the long lapse of time than that of any other person who has lived and wrought in this area. His thirty-nine volumes show immense labor and perseverance, and represent large sacrifice of personal fortune. His death took place March 2, 1918, near San Francisco, at the age of 86 years.
His work did not escape criticism, for there have been many persons who delighted in picking errors or in finding fault with Mr. Bancroft's "compilation" methods history by wholesale contrasted with the "digestive" methods of more skillful historians. But the volumes are a reference library that will last for all time, and if Mr. Bancroft had not devoted his fortune and his energy to them, they would not have been published, nor would the great Bancroft Collection, now the ​property of the University of California, be in existence. Much of the labor of collecting and writing he assigned to his assistants, for its magnitude was beyond the powers of any one person.
Among the writers who will be remembered along with Mr. Bancroft is the Oregon author and historian, Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor. She was the ablest of his assistants, and it is fair to both of them, in paying tribute to the Bancroft publications, to point out that she contributed much to their success. "At least six of the volumes which today pass as the works of Hubert Howe Bancroft were written by her," says William A. Morris, one of Bancroft's editors, in the Quarterly of December, 1902 (Vol. III, No. 4). "These are the History of Oregon, in two volumes, the History of Washington, Idaho and Montana (in one volume), the History of Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming (in one volume) and the sixth and seventh volumes of the History of California. . . . Parts of the Bancroft History of the Northwest Coast and numerous biographies throughout the series are also from her pen." The Quarterly, in recording the great and indispensable service of Mr. Bancroft, has thought it fitting to remember also that of Frances Fuller Victor.
ZIGZAG RIVER
That the name Zigzag River originally was applied not to the present stream, along the Barlow Road below Laurel Hill, but to a stream east of Government Camp, is asserted by Mr. Ed. C. Ross, of Portland, a well known writer on pioneer subjects, who cites, as his authority, the testimony of members of the Barlow party (1845-46). Mr. Ross believes that the name Zigzag originally designated the present Barlow Creek, tributary of White River and the Deschutes.
The streams east and southeast of Government Camp along the Barlow Road are Salmon River and its tributaries, Red Creek and Sand Creek, all of whose waters flow into Sandy River; and on the east side of the divide, Barlow Creek, ​Barlow Camp, on the latter stream, where the Barlow party cached its wagons, in the winter of 1845-46, is some thirteen miles southeast of Government Camp. The first crossing of the present Zigzag River was some seven miles west of Government Camp. So that, if Mr. Ross is correct, the old name Zigzag was used about twenty miles distant from the old road crossing of the stream that now bears the name. This seems a wide stretch of probability. Names are rarely so readily changed in geographical nomenclature. In fact, names have been known to survive the ravages of time almost as firmly as mountains themselves.
The writer has found the name Zigzag, in its present location, as far back as 1852, in the pioneer journal of John T. Kerns, printed in the Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association (1914). For September 29, 1852, the Kerns journal reads: "Descended the remainder of Laurel Hill, drove five miles, crossed one fork of Zigzag Creek, then two miles more and crossed it twice in succession."
The question is, however, not of great importance, and the name is now attached to a well-known stream, where it will remain for all time. The history of the name is unknown. Joel Palmer, in his Journal, who, by the way, explored the course of the Barlow Road ahead of the Barlows and led the way through the Cascade Mountains, uses the word zigzag to designate the manner of descent to one of the streams flowing from Mount Hood. This was in the proximity of Zigzag River, not of Barlow Creek.
MARKING THE MULLAN ROAD
The Mullan Road in Montana recently has been marked by installation of eight monuments, and work is under way to mark it in Idaho, a monument having been already placed at Kellogg. This road, originally an Indian trail, was opened in 1859-62, by Captain John Mullan, with Government funds, between Fort Benton, head of steam navigation of the Missouri ​River, and Wallula, on the Columbia River, 624 miles. The road was intended not only to connect the navigable waters of the two great rivers, across the continental divide, but also to provide a shorter route from Fort Laramie into the Pacific Northwest. The road was not a successful through highway, but served the uses of local progress and has important historical significance.
DEATH OF HIRAM M. CHITTENDEN
LATOURELL FALLS AS A MONUMENT
Latourell Falls, the scenic cataract of the Columbia River Highway, will live as a memorial to Joseph and Grace Latourell, whose name it bears. This couple was separated by death November 2, 1911, when the husband passed away, and, on March 6, 1917, the wife also joined the silent majority. Both were early pioneers, who made their home near the falls after their marriage February 14, 1859. Mr. Latourell was born at Keesville, New York, in 1831. He came to Oregon in 1855, and settled near the falls that bear his name in 1857. Grace Ough, who became his wife, was born in the Tualatin country in 1843. Her father was an employe of the Hudson's Bay Company, named Richard Ough, who came to Oregon in 1838, Guy W. Talbot, of Portland, presented Latourell Falls to the State of Oregon in 1914.
Joseph Latourell was the best known settler between Troutdale and Lower Cascades during many years of the pioneer period. He engaged in farming and mercantile business, and served as postmaster thirteen years at Latourell. Four of eight children survive: H. A. Latourell, of Gresham; J. C. and Clara E. Latourell, of Troutdale; Alice J. Courter, of Latourell.
PIONEER FAMILY JOURNAL OF JOHN TUCKER SCOTT
"Across the Plains in 1852," journeyed by the family of John Tucker Scott, is recorded in the extant journal of Abigail Scott Duniway and is expected in the near future to be published. Among others of the family, well known in Oregon affairs, were Harvey W. Scott and Catharine A. Coburn. The family of eleven members started from Groveland, Illinois, April 2, 1852, with five wagons and sixteen yoke of oxen, and arrived at Oregon City September 28, 1852, after losing on the journey the mother, the youngest child, of four years, many of their oxen, and practically all of their worldly possessions. The father of John Tucker Scott had been the first ​settler in Groveland township, Illinois, in 1824, from Kentucky, and it seemed natural for the next generation in 1852 to join the early settlers in Oregon. The journal, as recorded by Abigail Scott, then seventeen years of age, contains some 35,000 words, and would fill a volume of nearly 100 printed pages, if not abridged. It is in the possession of Dr. Clyde A. Duniway, son of Mrs. Dunivvay, president of Colorado College, at Colorado Springs, who will edit and annotate it for publication.
ANNUAL DINNER OF THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS
Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers had their annual dinner at Portland in the main dining room of the Chamber of Commerce, February 14, Oregon's anniversary of statehood. The attendance of pioneer descendants at this gathering was large, and betokened the growing importance of this organization amid the changing times that are giving the places of the commonwealth builders to their sons and daughters. Mrs. David P. Thompson, as president of the organization, arranged the event. Frederick V. Holman, president of the Oregon Historical Society, acted as toastmaster. The chief speakers were Frederick W. Mulkey, on "Oregon's Fifty-ninth Birthday"; Milton A. Miller, on "Oregon Pioneer Statesmen," and George H. Himes, on "Oregon's Historic Spots." Mr. Mulkey reviewed the pioneer and later progress of Oregon. Mr. Miller recalled the services of Oregon's most distinguished men, including Joseph Lane, Jesse Applegate and John McLoughlin, and paid particular tribute to Harvey W. Scott. This dinner of the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers will be repeated each year on February 14.
ANGUS MCDONALD REMINISCENCES
Publication of reminiscences of Angus McDonald, in the Quarterly of the Washington Historical Society July, 1917, is a ​recent history contribution of value. The text is a narrative, written in 1881 by Mr. McDonald during and after a journey made by him in that year from his home on the Flathead Indian reservation, in Montana, to Victoria, British Columbia. The narrative contains observations and reminiscences running back forty years. For more than thirty years he served the Hudson's Bay Company as clerk and chief trader. He was the last in charge of that company's post at Fort Colvile, on the Columbia River, in which capacity he annually exchanged furs for trading goods at Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia River, then at Fort Nisqually, at Puget Sound, and later, at Fort Hope and Victoria, in British Columbia. His service was contemporary with the placer gold activities of British Columbia and the Columbia River country, the beginning of territorial government in Washington, Idaho and Montana, and the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad to the Coast. His participation in the events of his time and his many associations, together with a rather unexpected knowledge of classical literature and a lively imagination enabled him to write a very interesting narrative. The text is copiously annotated by three close readers of Northwest History. The manuscript is preserved in the State Historical Library at Helena, Montana. The editors are Judge F. W. Howay, William S. Lewis and Jacob A. Meyers. The title is, "Angus McDonald: A Few Items of the West."
THIS YEAR'S DEATHS IN THE SOCIETY
Death has claimed six members of the Oregon Historical Society so far this year: Charles W. Fulton, William W. Cotton, David C. Burns and Theodore B. Wilcox, of Portland, and Nathaniel Webb, of Walla Walla, and Charles W. Young, of Eugene.
Mr. Fulton passed away January 27, aged 65 years. He came to Oregon in 1876, and represented this state in the United States Senate in 1903-09. He was widely beloved and ​had a larger personal following, probably, than anybody else in political life in this commonwealth. Mr. Cotton was a foremost lawyer of Oregon, a kindly and lovable man, and his passing is deeply regretted. He died at Los Angeles March 13, 1918. His residence in Oregon began in 1889. His native state was Iowa, where he was born in 1859. Mr. Cotton's eminence in his profession and in the railroal world never barred him from the approach of deserving persons, or caused him to overlook the little acts of kindness which men and women and children admire and carry in their hearts.
Mr. Burns died February 19. He was a resident of Portland since 1880, in which year he came from Scotland. He engaged in the grocery business and was highly esteemed. He represented Multnomah County in the Legislature.
Theodore Burvey Wilcox came to Portland forty-one years ago, as a bank clerk, and, in a few years, became a very valuable asset of the Ladd and Tilton Bank, and assistant to William S. Ladd. His organizing and enterprising talents brought him into the flour milling business, and he made it one of the leading industries of Portland, both in production and commerce. Production of wheat and trade and transportation of this cereal, and the manufacture of flour have been activities vital to the whole Northwest country. Mr. Wilcox may be considered the most active figure in the progress of this great industry. His importance is not a posthumous realization; it won him the attention of his fellow citizens many years before his death. His is one of the big names of the Northwest.
THE PIONEER DEATH LIST
Many pioneers have yielded to the final summons this year. Those who have passed out since the year began have been recorded in the lists of the Oregon Historical Society as follows:
Burns, Mrs. Milicent Conyers, b. Ky., 1826; 1852; d. March 17, 1918. Casey, James, b. Ireland, 1827; 1851; d. March 20, 1918.
Chapman, George, 1852; d. March 16, 1918.
Cheadle, Raphael, b. Ohio, 1829; 1852; d. Feb. 26, 1918.
Clark, B. S., 1853; d. Jan., 1918.
Cornelius, Mrs. Rachel McKinney, b. Ind., 1833; 1845; d. Feb. 22, 1918.
Debel, Mrs. Margaret, b. 1828; 1858; d. March 21, 1918.
Devlin, John, b. Ireland, 1835; 1858; d. March 2, 1918.
Drewry David T., b. Ky., 1837; 1853; d. Thurston Co., Wn., Jan. 15, 1918.
Dofflemyer, Cyrus W., b. W. T., 1858; d. Portland, Jan. 22, 1918.
Gile, Henry S., b ; 1851; d. March 20, 1918.
Ground, Luther, b. 111., 1841; 1853; d. Feb. 20, 1918.
Ground, Robert, b. 111., 1840; 1853; d. Jan. 4, 1918.
Griffin, Mrs. Catherine, b. Cal., 1853; d. Feb. 5, 1918.
Hailey Mrs. Louisa Griffin, b. Mo., 1833; 1847 d. Boise, Ida., Feb. i, 1918.
Hall, Mrs. Mary A., b. 111., 1838; 1852; d. Feb. 5, 1918.
Hill, W. G., b. 1832; 1847; d. Feb. 25, 1918.
Humason, Mrs. Margaret Burke, b. Portland, 1854; d. Cal., Feb 14, 1918.
Inman, Mrs. Sarah J., b. Portland, 1852; d. Eugene, Jan. 3, 1918.
Johns, Mrs. Julia, b. Va., 1824; 1851; d. March 7, 1918.
Tones, William L., Or.; 1855; d. Jan. 27, 1918.
Latourell, Mrs. Grace Ough, b. Or. 1843; d. March 6, 1918.
Litchfield, Mrs. Mary A. Craft, b. Or., 1847; d. Salem, Feb. 3, 1918.
Lotan, Mrs. Emma Carroll, b. Mass., 1852; 1854; d. Jan, 23, 1918.
Lowden, Francis M., b. Ky., 1832; 1849; d. Feb. 28, 1918.
Mays, William Burton, b. Or., 1854; d. Pendleton, Jan. 6, 1918.
McQuowen, Mrs. Mary, b. Or., 1847; d. Jan. 15, 1918.
Moreland, Julius C., b. Tenn., 1844; 1852; d. Salem, Feb. 2, 1918.
Miller, Mrs. Betsy A., b. Mo., 1832; 1850; d. Portland, Feb. 18, 1918.
Newland, Thompson W., 1828; 1853; d. Tacoma, Wn., Jan. 8, 1918.
Powell, William S., Ohio, 1831; 1853; d. Portland, Jan. 24, 1918.
Riggs, Mrs. Talitha Cumi Bowman, b. Ky., 1837; ^44; d. Orchard, Wn., Feb. 4, 1918.
Robinette, Mrs. Tempy Walker, b. Ark^ 1850; 1852; d. Wasco, Feb. 17, 1918.
Shelton, J. L., b. Mo., 1842; 1844; d. Cottage Grove, Jan. 3, 1918.
Spurgeon, Matthias, b. Iowa, 1838; 1852; d. March 12, 1918.
Stouder, Jacob, b. 1827; 1852; d. March 9, 1918.
Thomas, L. H., b. 1840; 1848; d. Feb. 7, 1918.
Thompson, Robert Henry, b. Or., 1850 d. Los Gatos, Cal., Jan. 12, 1918.
Thompson, Mrs. Rebecca Jane, b. Ark., 1841; 1845; d. Feb. 20, 1918.
Wait, Mrs. Ellen M. Campbell, b. Mass., 1836; 1849; d. March 3, 1918.
Webb, Nathaniel, b. Conn., 1833; Cal., 1855 Oregon, 1863; d. Walla Walla, Mar. 9, 1918.
Westcott, Mrs. Christina, b. 1842; 1857; d. Portland, Jan. 16, 1918.
White, Mrs. Nancy M. Hoffman, b. 111., 1841; 1852; d. March 3, 1918.
Williamson, Mrs. Jennie Kerns, b. Ind, 1841; 1852; d. Oakland, Cal., Feb.
13, 1918.
Wood, Hiram, b. Mo., 1827; 1852; d. March 6, 1918.
Woodard, Alonzo B., b. Mich., 1840; 1852; d. Olympia, Feb. 24, 1918.
Wyatt, E. F., 1852; d. Sierra Madre, Cal, Feb., 1918.
Young, Charles Walker, b. Mo., 1830; 1852; d. Dec. 28, 1917.
THE HALL J. KELLEY NARRATIVE
"Hall Jackson Kelley, Prophet of Oregon," written by Fred Wilbur Powell and published in the Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society as a serial in the four issues of the year 1917 (Vol. XVIII), has been reprinted as a monograph by the publishers of the Quarterly in 185 pages. The author has made a close study of the New England schoolmaster and his ​relation to settlement of the Oregon Country and has written the most important biographical narrative that has yet appeared. Mr. Powell quotes from Harvey W. Scott's tribute to the queer schoolmaster: "This strange, eccentric man can almost be called the prophet of Oregon, the father of emigration to Oregon, the man who hastened the fulfillment of Oregon's destiny." The edition is limited to one hundred copies and copies available for outside distribution will be rare.
PIONEER MONUMENT AT VANCOUVER
The pioneer monument at Vancouver, Washington, erected in June, 1916, has been replaced on new foundations. The first foundations were damaged by the summer flood of the Columbia in the year 1917. The monument stands at the north end of the inter-state bridge. It is the gift of the Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. The inscription reads: "In Memory of the Pioneers of the Oregon Trail, 1844." Two water founts are attached, and water flows from cups supported on the horns of bronze buffalo heads. This is one of several pioneer monuments placed in the State of Washington by Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution. For mention of the others see the Quarterly, September, 1917.
Y. M. C. A. JUBILEE AT PORTLAND
HISTORICAL MISCELLANY
Old Oregon Trail marking in Nebraska has been one of the important activities of the Nebraska State Historical Society, as shown in volume XVIII of its Publications, recently issued, covering the years 1908-16, inclusive. The volume narrates frequent anecdotes of travel on the Old Oregon Trail. The historical society has had the co-operation of the state legislature, the Daughters of the American Revolution and numerous other patriotic societies. The trail crosses fifteen counties in Nebraska.
A centennial celebration of statehood will be held this year, on an extensive scale, in Illinois. The state was admitted into the Union in December, 1818. The state board of agriculture is planning a great fair and exposition, and the city of Springfield is making extensive preparations. Several counties have formed centennial associations. Numerous pageants will be displayed. A special state commission is making the general plans.
Reminiscences of William Craig, the frontier trapper and plainsman, associate of Joseph L. Meek, Robert Newell and Joseph Gale, well known figures in early Northwest affairs, appear in the Lewiston Morning Tribune of March 3, 1918, written by Thomas J. Beall. Craig was engaged in the Rocky Mountain fur trade, first went to the Lewiston country in 1829 and died there in September, 1868. The reminiscences contain numerous interesting narratives of the life of Craig.
Rescue of the Georgiana party of Americans from Indians of Queen Charlotte Islands, in December, 1851, was so expensive that its propriety was questioned by the Treasury Department, on the ground that the rescue should not have been effected by Simpson P. Moses, collector of customs at Olympia, but either by the territorial officers of Washington or by the navy. The cost, according to report rendered by Moses, was $11,017.01. A letter defending his action, written by Mr. Moses and directed to the Secretary of the Treasury, dated ​June 29, 1852, will be reproduced in an early issue of the Quarterly. The American victims of the Indians, about 28 in number, were wrecked on the shore, while on a gold-seeking expedition, and were held for ransom by the Indians 54 days in November and December, 1851.
Joseph Burr Tyrrell has received the Murchison medal from the Geological Society in London. He is one of Canada's foremost geologists, explorers and mining engineers, an Ontario man by birth and a graduate of Toronto University. The medal is founded in memory of Sir Robert Impey Murchison, a famous British geologist, who died in 1871. Tyrrell has done much exploratory work for the geological survey of Canada. He has practiced mining engineering extensively in the Yukon. Ontario's five-mile railway strip through the wilds of Keewatin to Hudson's Bay was located by him.
"California; the Name," is the title of a 72-page publication of the University of California, December 19, 1917, written by Ruth Putnam, in collaboration with Herbert I. Priestly, assistant professor of history in that institution. This study of the name California is a far-reaching one.
A review of the Revolutionary period of the Ohio River country, entitled, "Frontier Retreat on the Upper Ohio," 17791781, being a symposium of letters and documents edited by Louise Phelps Kellogg, of the Wisconsin Historical Society, has been published by that society at Madison, Wisconsin.
Captain Robert Gray, discoverer of the Columbia River, in 1792, had aboard his ship Columbia a ship's painter named George Davidson, who was something of a pencil artist. Photographs of two of Davidson's sketches have come to the Oregon Historical Society from Mrs. Gertrude Peabody, great granddaughter of Robert Gray, of Boston.
"Origin of Washington Geographic Names" is the title of a noteworthy series of articles written by Edmond S. Meany, of Seattle, and running in the Quarterly of the Washington Uni​versity State Historical Society, of which he is editor. The series began in the issue of July, 1917, has continued in the subsequent issues and promises to run through numerous numbers in the future. "It is proposed to continue this series of articles until all the important geographic names in the state are published," says the foreword to the issues of January, 1918.
The American Historical Association held its thirty-third annual meeting at Philadelphia December 27-29, 1917. Kenneth S. Latourette, professor of history in Denison University, a native Oregonian, whose home is at Oregon City, spoke on "American Scholarship in Chinese History." Frank A. Colder, of the Washington State College, spoke on the Russian revolution of March, 1917.
Daughters of the American Revolution in Oregon held their fifth annual conference at Portland March 15-16. They elected Mrs. F. M. Wilkins, of Eugene, state regent; Mrs. Walter F. Burrell, of Portland, vice-regent; Mrs. Pearl Gregory Cartlidge, of Oregon City, recording secretary; Miss Bertha Cummings, of Eugene, corresponding secretary; Mrs. W. E. Pearson, of Portland, treasurer; Mrs. J. Thorburn Ross, historian; Mrs. Charles Worrell, of Coos Bay, auditor; Mrs. Levi Tracey, Bancroft is the Oregon author and historian, Frances Fuller of Albany, chaplain; Mrs. John Porter Gibson, of Portland, consulting registrar.
Oregon derived from Wau-re-gon, Indian for "beautiful water," is the explanation given by Dean Alward Chamberlain, of Saint Michael's cathedral, Boise, as quoted in the Statesman of that city, March 11, 1917. This explanation has freshness and novelty, if other merit be lacking. It should be said, however, that the name Oregon was first recorded by Jonathan Carver, from his travels in the Minnesota country in 1766-68.
Mazama, the official magazine of the mountain-climbing club of that name, has been issued for December, 1917, with special features devoted to Mount Jefferson.
​A new and revised edition of Joseph Shafer's History of the Pacific Northwest is one of the new offerings of the Macmillan Company. Professor Shafer is head of the department of history in the University of Oregon. He wrote the original book in 1905 and has rewritten the new edition. Delivery of the new book has been delayed by railroad congestion, and the writer of these lines has not yet obtained a copy for review.