# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 18/The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold

THE QUARTERLY
of the
Oregon Historical Society
Copyright, 1917, by the Oregon Historical Society
The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages.
THE PIONEER STIMULUS OF GOLD
By Leslie M. Scott
First of the active forces of pioneer progress on the Pacific Coast was the quest for gold.^ This energy was general in area, from California to the Yukon. It drew world-wide interest and brought a cosmopolitan immigration by land and sea. It started activities not before known. It explored every nook and cranny of this vast region. The oxteam pioneers were a slow moving race before the gold era drove them from Middle-West habits to new industries of various farm production, transportation and trade. The resistant habits were strong in the Willamette Valley of Oregon — a district proverbial for retarded growth.^
The primitive life of the Oregon pioneers prior to the gold movement, the isolation, the remoteness from currents of the world and the Nation ; the hardships of family existence; the absence of nearly all the necessary comforts of the later day; the lack of markets and the narrow range of industry—all this is but faintly realized by the present generation.^
1 ThtgfAd dinrings of the pioneer time were placers, chiefly in the beds of streams. The surface gold was gathered up in a short time in each locality. The workings of cjuartz gold, bv costly machinery, came later and was carried on in special localities; likewise "hydraulic" methods.
2 Settlement of Willamette Valley began some thirty years prior to the gold period.
3 Description of pioneer life, by Harvey W. Scott, appears in the Jewish Tribune, of Portland, December 19, 1909; The Oregonian, June i6, 1881; June 19. 1902.
​The gold movement began the evolution of varied industry that was necessary for the growth of the country.
The value of the gold treasure extracted from the rocks and earth of the interior region of the Pacific Northwest and Montana was very large in the then undeveloped condition of this region. In the best years, 1861-67, the treasure amounted to $20,000,000 in gold a year, or $140,000,000 for the period. British Columbia yielded $3,000,000 more a year. This com- bined gold yield was nearly three-fourths that of California in the same space of time.
Before the gold period which began in 1858-60, the region, of which we are reading, was the most remote, and had the scantiest white population of any part of the Nation. News from the Eastern centers was four to six weeks old when it reached Portland, Oregon, by way of the California overland stage route, and thence by ocean steamship northward. The mails came to Portland by sea twice a month. The admission of Oregon as a state, February 14, 1859, became known in Oregon a month afterwards.'^ Lincoln had been ncnninated four weeks before knowledge of the event reached Oregon and Washington.® The interior region east of Cascade Mountains was an aboriginal wilderness, except at the Hudson's Bay Company's posts, and along the beds of a few streams where "prospectors" had moved the rocks and gravel,* near the Old Oregon Trail and the Barlow Road^^ towards the Willamette, and up and down the travel route of the Columbia River between The
7 News of the admission of Oregon was published in The Oregouian, at Portland; March 19, 1859*
8 News of the nomination of Lincoln was published in The Oregouiam, June 23, i860. The nomination took place May 18, i860.
? Reports of gold by Indians of Kamloops are said to have been made as early <2. The real hunt for gold did not begin until i8S4-55* Frequent reports of gold in 1855 a(>pear in the files of The Oregonian of that year.
10 The Barlow Road, across Cascade Mountains, was opened in 1845-46. ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 149
Dalles*^ and Wallula. Settlers were enjoined from the interior country in 1856, by order of General Wool, commander of the department of the Pacific, U. S. A., who sought thereby to placate the savages."
Frontier settlements existed in the valleys of Willamette, Umpqua, Rogue and Cowlitz rivers and at Puget Sound. Their population was sparse and the people had simple wants, few goods, arduous toil and the realization that they dwelt on the edge of the world. Forests, on every side, baflfled the seekers of the soil, except the strongest and most courageous, who could cut the trees and grub the stumps. Mails were distributed weekly or fortnightly, and the routes were few. Newspapers were few and their contents meager. The Willam- ette River, and the Colvmibia and Cowlitz rivers, served, with steamboats, as almost the only avenues of transportation. Roads were bad and practically impassable in Winter. Occa- sional stage lines were operated in favorable season between the main towns — Portland, Oregon City, Salem, Lafayette, Albany, Winchester (near Roseburg) and Jacksonville, Cres- cent City, Yreka, arid the Klamath and Trinity River mines, and between the head of Cowlitz navigation, near the modern town of Kelso, and 01)rmpia.
The first gold discovery, prior even to that in California, appears to have been in the Malheur country in 1845, on the route of the "Meek cut-oflf party."^' The gold was not then recognized, and subsequent efforts to locate the spot were
11 The Columbia River afforded the earliest route for pioneers between Willamette Valley and the interior country. Wagons were floated down stream on rafts or were hauled ^long a route which followed the Washington side below Cascades.
12 This order, dated August 2, 1856, at Benicia. California, headquarters of the department of the Pacific, directed to Colonel George Wright at The Dalles, and signed W. W. Mackall, assistant adjutant general, is contained in 34th Cong. 3d sess., vol. I, ot. 2, p. 160. The order read: "No emigrants or other whites, except the Hudson's Bay Company, or persons having ceded rights from the Indians, will be permitted to settle or remain in the Indian country, or on land not ceded by treaty, confirmed by the Senate, and approved by the President of the United States. These orders are not, however, to apply to miners engaged in collecting gold at the Colville mines. The miners will, however, be notified that, rtiould they interfere with the Indians or their squaws, they will be punished and sent out of the country." General Woo! thou^t the Cascade Mountains "a most valuable wall of separation between the two races." {Life of Isaac /. Stevens, by Hazard Stevens, vol. ii, p. 226).
13 See The Oregonian. November 1, 1903, p. 28; Februarv 14, 1896, p. 7. The 'Host diggings of 1845*' are supposed to have been on Malheur River. For details of these mines in 1861, see The Oregonian, August 26, 1861. See also note 88, p. 164, following. ​
150 Lesue M. Scott
futile. Nearly three years later, the Sacramento Valley, in California, was the scene of the discovery that began the golden career of that commonwealth.^* Next year, in 1849, a party of Oregonians found gold in Rogue River near Table Rock,^^ but mining did not begin in that valley imtil two years afterwards.** Klamath and Trinity rivers, in Northern Cali- fornia, began yielding in 184S5^In the Umpqua coimtry, the fortune-hunting expedition of Freman Winchester, Dr. Henry Payne and others, to the mouth of that river in August, 1850, in the vessel, Samuel Roberts, though not successful in finding gold, was a very important move of the gold period. This party joined hands with the Oregon pioneers, Levi Scott, Jesse Applegate, and Joseph Sloan, and founded the towns of Umpqua City, Winchester, Elkton, Scottsburg and Gardiner. This exploiting company opened a trail from Scottsburg, near the sea, to Winchester, in the interior valley, in 1851, from which resulted a large trade centering at Scottsburg, and a rapid growth there which promised to produce the metropolis of Oregon. Scottsburg controlled the trade of the Rogue and Umpqua regions for a decade.*^ A similar expedition, in 1851, founded Port Orford, under Captain William Tichenor, for trade with the interior gold fields. Exploration of the Coos Bay Company by miners, from Jacksonville, followed in 1853, resulting in large gold discoveries at the mouth of Coquille
14 Gold was discovered near Coloma, on the north fork of American River, by James W. Marshall. Oregon immigrant of 1844, and Charles Dennett, also an Oregon immigrant ot 1844 (The Oregonian, Tune i3i 1900). News of the discovery reached Portland in August, 1848, by the scnooner Honolulu, Captain Newell, after he had shrewdly bought all the tools and provisions that the limited pioneer market afforded. Thousands of people left Oregon for the California gold fields. William G. Buffum and wife went overland from Amity, Yamhill County, in July, 1848.
15 This party was en route to the California gold fields. A narrative of the party and of the Rogue River discovery, by Lee Laughlin, a member of the partv. appears in Tht Oregonian, January 21. 1900. Gold was discovered at Jacksonville in December, 1851. The town and the gold activities are described in 1855 by Thomas J. Dryer, in The Oregonian, June aj, 1855.
16 For details of pioneer gold mining in Southern Oregon, see The Oregonian. December 21, 1902, p. 25, by D. H. Stovall; August 24, 1902, p. 21, by Luther Hasbrouck; May 21, 1882. p. 2; Mav 21, i88s. P- 8; July 31, 1852; December 18. 1852; December 6, 1885, by Cyrus Olncy (Gold Beach and Crescent City); Febru- ary 19, 1853; March 19* April 16, May 7> i4i August 27, September 3, 1853; April 5, II, 1886; October 28, 1854 (Cow Creek); May 12, 21, 1855; February 4* 1863; December 20, 1856.
17 Scottsburg was founded in i8<;o by Levi Scott, immierant of 1844* The town of Crescent City, founded in 1853, and the opening of a wagon route be- tween Rogue River and that town in the same year, diverted trade from Scotts- burg. Scottsburg in 1855 is described by Thomas J. Dryer, in The Oregenian, June 23, 1855. For narrative of the Samuel Roberts expedition, see the Quarterly. vol. xvii, pp. 341-57- Yreka was founded in 1851. ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 151
River and the establishment of the towns of Empire City and Marshfield.
Scattering appearances of gold, in 1853-54, were aimounced from Burnt River in Eastern Oregon, and from Yakima, Pend Oreille and Coeur d'Alene rivers, but their significance was not then realized.^® "Not enough [gold]- has yet been found to repay the labor of procuring it," wrote Major Benjamin Alvord in 1853.^ Authorities do not agree upon the first discoveries in the interior country, but it is known that the real awakening came from discoveries near Fort Colville, in the Spring of 1855,*^ and on Kootenai River, about the same time. Later in the year the John Day Valley in Oregon was favorably prospected.^
Indian hostilities then delayed pursuit of gold in the interior country, but in 1858 many prospectors were again busy along the waters of Columbia River and on both sides of the Cana- dian boundary. Reports of gold in Thompson and Fraser rivers in 1856-57 produced the gfreat "rush" of 1858 to those streams. Gold-seeking thence spread over British Columbia, and a great development of mining took place in that province in 1860-70. The Idaho mines began activities in 1860,*^ those of John Day^ and Powder River, in Eastern Oregon, in 1861 f^
iSFor gold discoveries of Burnt River, see Th€ Oregonian. July 15, 1854: }\x\y 31, 1855; July 18, September 23, 1861; near Fort Colville and on Pend Oreille River, June 23, 185s, and many issues following; September i, 1855; No- vember 3, 1855, May 16, July 11, 18, September 26, October 3, 1857; January 30, 1858; Yakima River, April 22, 1854.
19 Letter of Major Alvord appears in The Oregonian, April 16. 1853*
20 See Howay's British Columbia, pp. 9-11.
21 For details of the John Dav mmes in 1855, see The Oregonian^ Julv 21, 1855; narrative of discoverv bjr earry fur hunters, and again in 1862, ibtd.. Febru- ary 14, 1806, p. 7. These diggings became widely known in 1861-62. Canyon City was a large town. See The Oregonian, March 18, June 27, August 7, 21, 27, September 8, November 16, 1862; February 11, 14, 1865.
22 The Clearwater mines were discovered in i860; Salmon River mines, in 1 861: those of Boise Basin, in 1862, and of Owyhee, in 1863. Reminiscences of the Idaho mines, by Joaquin Miller, appear in The Oregonian, November 24* 1890, p. 7; history of the mines, by Preston W. Gillette, Jtme 14, 1899, p. 9; July 17. 1899, P* 6; Ke also, ibid., September 21, 1887, January 3, 1890.
23 See note 21.
24 Powder River placers were at their best in 1861-62. The town of Auu^m became the largest in the interior countrv, and was in decline in 1864 (The Orego- nian, April 20, 1864). The celebrateo Auburn ditch, sixteen miles long, was built in 1862-63 bv Portland capital, at a cost of $40,000. For details, see The Oregonian, November 15, 1861; May i, June 5, 11, 17, 19. August 6. 8, 14. Sep- tember 17, 29, October i, 4, 10, November 21, 27. December i<, 1862; January 28, February 23, April 9, May s, 14. June 8, October 7, 1863; April 4, 20, July 16, October 29, 1864; see history of Auburn dig^ngs. Portland Bulletin, February 5, 1873, p. I. Gold was discovered near Baker in 1861 (The Oregonian^ January 27, 1883K Granite Creek was busy in 1863 (The Oregonian, Tune 10, July 23, 1863). Eaffle Credc had placers and quartz ledges (v>id., February 15. 1865). Quartz gola began to be mmed near Auburn in 1864 (tbid., October 29, i864). ​
152 Leslie M. Scott
those of Montana, in 1862.^ Prospectors steadily pushed northward to Skeena River, and, in later years, to the head- waters of the Yukon.
It may thus be seen that the search for the precious metal on the Pacific Coast was a general and wide movement, con- tinuing many years. It had the same aspects on both sides of the Canadian line, but difficulties and privations increased with the northern latitude. Oregon's part in this movement was not a separate one, either in time or method. When Willamette Valley farmers went "stampeding" to the mines of Clearwater,^ Salmon River,^ Boise,^ Owyhee and John Day, thousands of others were going thither also, from many parts of the world, and to Eastern Washington, Montana and British Columbia. The pioneers of Willamette Valley and Cowlitz and Puget Sound hardly stopped to think of the immensity of the gold movement. And it may be added that it included, also, Nevada and Colorado. In gec^^^i^y, indus- try, transportation, politics, the results were far-reaching.
Prospectors explored every river, mountain, lake and plain. They toiled along all the streams and over the intervening ridges. They learned the contours, the possible routes of trade, the lands available for tillage. They were the advance agents of the succeeding farmers, merchants and transporta- tion men, the geodetic surveyors of their time. The remote sources of the Rogue, Umpqua, Willamette, Columbia and Fraser rivers were their objectives. Their needs and those of the miners located trade centers, and routes of traffic, and caused the growth of cities.
25 Grasshopper Credc dinpngg w<re discovered in 1862; Deer Lodge, in i86a: Alder Gulch, in i86j; Last Cnance Gulch, in 1864.
26 For details of th« Qearwater mines, see The Oregonian of i86i; Maj 6. 11. 14, 20, 27, 29, 30; June I, 4. 5. 7t M. iS. \7' iQ, ao, 22, 24, 26, 27; July i, 7. II, 17, 18, 23, 24, 30; August 20, 26; September 3, 4, 7, 9, 11; 1862: February 6, April 28, June 17. July ». ". August 6; June 23, 1863; January 22, 1863; April 30, 1863: April 12, 1893.
27 ror details of the Salmon River diggings, see Tht Oregonian, October 18. 21, 25 ; November <. 14. 18: December 10, 13, 17, i9t ao, 31. 1861; February 6, 20; March 31J April 2, 18, 25; May 8: June 14, 17. 27; J^y 8. 24^ a^, 26; Au- gust 4, 18; September 3, 10, 1862; January 3i, 1863. For description of the routes to Salmon River mines, see The Oregonian, December 20, 1861; May 8,
28 Discoveries of gold in Boise Basin in 1862 caused a "rush** there in 1863- 64 For details, see The Oregonian, November 4, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18, 25, a6, 1862; May 14, X863; September 19* 1863; August 10, 1864. ​
The Pioneer 'Stimulus of Gold 153
Jacksonville, Scottsburg, Crescent City, Yreka became the leading supply points in Southern Oregon and Northern Cali- fornia. Portland soon leaped into pre-eminence, as the metrop- olis of the region, and held the chief rank forty years, until commerce routes of Alaska and the Orient transferred the primacy to Puget Sound. The population of Portland more than doubled, from 1280, in 1857, to 2917, in 1860. It grew to 6000 in 1865, to 9565 in 1870, and to 17,578 in 1880.» Vic- toria grew, beginning in 1858, from a sleepy trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, to be a thriving town, with a large inland trade. Its population in 1857 was a few hundred and, in 1863, 6000,^ New Westminster, founded in 1859, became a leading city on the mainland, and once the capital of the province. The towns of Hope, Yale and Lytton were active in the trade of the Fraser River region.
The trade of the gold fields founded the cities of Jackson- ville, Scottsburg, Roseburg, Lewiston,^^ Boise^ and Helena,^ and many hamlets whose names are suggestive of the mining era. The Dalles" and Walla Walla^ became live centers for supplies and outfits. From those towns parties went to Fraser River in 1858,'* one led by Joel Palmer, who took the first wagons there, from The Dalles, by way of Okanogan River and Kamloops;^ the other, led by Archibald McKinlay and David McLoughlin, from Walla Walla. The latter town con- trolled a large share of the trade of the Qearwater and Salmon
a9 See Htnrey W. Scott's History of Portland, pp. 143. 151, is8. 30 See Howay's British Columbia, p. iS3-
fi Lewiston was founded in 1861. For details of the growth of the town, hs Oregonian, June 4. 1861; June 23, 27, i86a; May 12, 1889: January i, 1900; Quarterly, vol. xvi, pp 1S8-89. 3 J Boise was founded in 1861.
33 Helena was founded in 1864.
34 The Dalles grew from a Methodist mission, established in 1838. The Gov- ernment established a military post there in 1850. For descriptitm ojf the town in i86a. see The Ortgonian, June 11, September 11. 1862; description in 1848, ibid.. April 14, 1868. The town was a boat landing for Oregon Trail pioneers, en route to Willamette Valley. It was incorporated January a6, 1857 (Quarterly, vol. xvi, p. a6).
35 For description of early Walla Walla, see The Oregonian, August 10, November 18, 1861; March 21, June 18. 1862.
36 The mines of Fraser and Thompson rivers and the routes to them are described in The Oregonian. April 10, 24* May i, 15, June 12, 26, July 3. 17,
37' Joel Palmer describes the route to Simillcameen and Rock Creek in the Salem Statesman, February 14. i860; also in The Oregonian, February 4. i860. From Old Fort Okanogan the route was that of the fur trading days of the North-West Company (Quarterly* vol. xv, pp, 1-36, by William C Brown). ​
154 Lesue M. Scott
River mines, beginning in 1860. Umatilla Landing, where the "freighting" road to and from the Boise and Owyhee mines joined the 0)lumbia River, became a large town.*® Helena, which was founded in 1864, had trade connections with both the Missouri and the Columbia rivers.
The earlier gold activities that began in California in 1848, likewise had stimulated affairs of the North Pacific Coast. The Willamette V^ley and Puget Sound then found the markets opening for farm products and lumber. Money be- came abundant and prices soared. The coins were stamped by private firms in California, or by the Oregon Exchange Company, of Oregon City, which coined "Beaver money" in 1849. A local commerce sprang up. Prosperity then visited the Old Oregon Country for the first time. There was then a market for the products that never before had had an outlet. But the second prosperity, coming with the local gold move- ment in 1860, far exceeded that of ten years before.
Fertile areas in the interior grew in usefulness and pro- ductivity, with mining development. The valley of the Walla Walla was one of the earliest localities in this work, beginning in 1858-59. Grand Ronde River valley in Oregon, a very productive district, was first settled probably in 1861.'* Powder River also became a farming district. Payette and Boise River valleys in Idaho, the Bitter Root and Gallatin valleys, in Montana, contributed farm products and livestock to the growth of the country. Such products could not be supplied locally to meet the demand, and commanded high prices, so that, for many persons, farming was more profitable than mining. Woolen manufacture started at Salem in 1857,*^ at Oregon City in 1864,*^ and at Brownville in 1866.^. Agriculture be-
38 The town of Umatilla was laid out in i86^ (Th^ Oregonian, May i6, i86j) as a landing; place for steamboats to connect with the road to Boise and Owyhee. For descriotion of the town, see Thg Oregonian, June 23, 24, 1863; I'ebruary 9, June 24, 1864; March 23, i86<.
39 The town of La Grande began to grow in i86a and had rapid progress in 1863 (Tht Oregonian, November 27, 1862; December 25, 1863).
40 The Willamette Woolen Manufacturing Company was promoted by Joseph Watt. See Transactions of Oregon Pioneer Association for 1875, p. 38; Thi Ore- gonian. May 6, 1876, p. 3.
41 The Oregon Citv Woolen Manufacturing Company. See T^e Oregonian, August o, 1873. p. 3; November 25, 1872. p. 3; November 11, 1865, p. 2.
42 See Himes and Lang's History of the WUlamettg Valley, pp. 579-80; The Oregokian, May 19, 1875* p. 2; June 28, i87Sf P* >• ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 155
came a growing utility in British Columbia.*® The livestock industry grew ahead of farming in the interior country. Large shipments by sea went from Columbia River to Victoria and Fraser River. Cattle and horses were taken up the Columbia River to Idaho and British Columbia, or driven across the Cascade Mountains.^ Ocean ships, bearing cargoes for the needs of the fast-growing population, took return cargoes of lumber, wool, hides, potatoes and grain. Beginnings of iron smelting were made at Oswego, near Portland, in 1866.*^
The need of supplies for prospectors and miners far inland from centers of production and transit, produced large means of transportation. The great highway, the most practicable one, was the Columbia River. A heavy traffic gravitated to this highway, and was monopolized by one transportation com- pany.*® Long lines of transport, by river steamboats, freight wagons and pack animals, led to the interior country from Columbia River, Fraser River, Missouri River, via Fort Bent<m, Sacramento River, and the Old Oregon Trail. Fast and beau- tiful steamboats plied the waters of Columbia and Fraser rivers. More business offered in the rush seasons of 1861-63 than the boats of Columbia River could carry.* This traffic formed the basis of the original stockholders of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which continues to the present time, and has greatly multiplied in recent years. Some of the most sub- stanial fortunes were then founded, including those of Robert R. Thompson, John C. Ains worth (Sr.), William S. Ladd, Jacob Kamm and Simeon G. Reed. The rush to Idaho, as chronicled in 1861-64, exceeded in eagerness and volume any mining rush
^3 For srrowth of agriculture in British Columbia, see Howay's British Co- lumbia, op. 590-60^.
44 See Trimble's Mining Advance, pp. 107-8.
45 The Oregon Iron Company. The plant continued work spasmodically until 1885. The town, Oswego, was platted in 1867. See Tfu Oreganian, February a8, 1865; August 22, 1866; August 27j 1867.
a6 The Oregon Steam Navigation Company. For history of this company, see the Quarterly, vol. v, pp. 120-32, by P. W. Gillette; vol. ix, pp. 274*94> by Irene Lincoln Poppleton •
47 For descnption of Columbia River transportation in 1861, see The Orego- MioMv May 27. 20, 30, June s, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 1861. The press of business is narrated by P. W. uillette in the Quarterly, vol. v, pp. 125-28. "At Portland the rush of freight to the docks was so great that drays and trucks had to form and stand in line to get their turn in delivering their goods" {ibid., p. 128). See also, ibid., vol. ix, pp. 274-79, by Irene Lincoln Poppleton. ​
156 Leslie M. Scott
in the Pacific Northwest, until the rush to the Klondike, in 1897, burst upon an astonished world and exceeded any other similar movement in history since that to California. Farmers of Willamette Valley and Cowlitz and Puget Sound, carpenters and blacksmiths of the towns and villages — there were no cities then — and workingmen in all vocations, dropped their implements (1861), secured pack horses for the journey beyond The Dalles, boarded the river steamers of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company and hied them to the Idaho placer fields.
In the years 1861-64 the Oregon Steam Navigation Company transported to the upper country 60,320 tons, of which nearly 22,000 tons belonged to the year 1864. In this period the num- ber of passengers up and down river was nearly 100,000; 36,000 in 1864.*® Careful estimate places the number of persons in the mining camps of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, in 1862, at 30,000.^ This number greatly increased in the next three years, and especially in Montana. The boats for Portland, up river, in 1862, often carried more than 200 pas- sengers each. In April and May, 1862, the total revenue at The Dalles from passenger trips on three steamboats, then ply- ing the Upper River, was more than $50,000. One steamer took in more than $18,000 for freight and passengers, in one trip.«»
The first steamboat on the Willamette and Lower Columbia rivers, the Columbia, had appeared in 1850;*^* on the Middle River (Cascades-Celilo), the James P. Flint, in 1851 f^ on the Upper River (above Celilo), the Colonel Wright, in 1858, which next year opened navigation to Priest Rapids and above Lewiston.^ On Eraser River, steamboats began running in
48 See the Quarterly^ vol. ix, p. 290; vol. xvi, p. 167.
49 Ihid., p. 156.
50 Ihid.
51 The first steamboat was the Columbia, built at Asltoria, in the Summer of 1850. The second was the Lot IVhiUomb, launched at Milwaukee December as, 1850.
52 The Flint was built by the Bradfords and J. O. Van Bergen (Wriijht'a Marxnt History of the Northwest, p. 34). This boat was taken to the Lower River in 18^2. The next steamboat on the Middle River was the Allan, in i853-«6. owned by Allan, McKinlay and Companv, old Hudson's Bay men (.ibid., p. 38). The third was the Mary, built in 1854 by the Bradfords and Lawrence W. Coe. The fourth was the Hassalo. built bv the Bradfords (tWrf., p. 6s).
53 The Colonel Wright was built by Robert R. Thompson and Lawrence W. Coe at the mouth of Deschutes River. ​
The PioNEpi Stimulus of Gold 157
1858, and the Governor Douglas was built at Victoria that year for business on that river. Many new steamboats were built on Coliunbia and Fraser Rivers after 1860. To facilitate^ traffic, portage railroads were opened at Cascades and Celilo in 1863." The Oregon Steam Navigation Company built steamboats on the upper reaches of Snake and Columbia rivers. At Old Fort Boise, in 1866, it built the Shoshone to operate on Snake River dt)wn to Olds Ferry. In the same year it launched, on Lake Pend Oreille, the Mary Moody. The year before it launched the Forty-Nine to navigate the Columbia River across the Canadian boundary up to Death Rapids. Steamboats on Missouri River offered competition to the Co- lumbia River route in Montana, by steaming up to Fort Benton in 1859 and afterwards, and there connecting with the Mullan Road, built in 1859-62.*"^ But the Missouri route was not dependable, because the steamboats could not every year ascend to Fort Benton. The main freight routes on land were the following: From Umatilla and Wallula, on Coliunbia River, across Blue Mountains, along Old Oregon Trail to Boise Basin, Owyhee and Salt Lake City.**
From The Dalles, on Columbia River, to John Day, Powder River, Burnt River and Malheur River and Owyhee."
54 F. A. Chenow«th built a portage tram road at Cascades (north side) in
_ (P. W. Gillette in Qtuirteriy, vol. v, p. 121). The Bradford brothers (D. F.
and P. F.) rebuilt the road in 1856. In the latter year W. R. Kilbom built a
rival portage on the south bank, which was rebuilt and improved by J. S. Ruckle
i8sc and
and H. Olmsted in May, 1861. The Oregon Steam Navigation Company absorbed the rival portages in 1862 and built a new portage on the north side in 1862-63 (opened April 20, 1863), six miles long. The Celilo portage was a wagon road until the (5regon Steam Navigation Company finished a portage railroad, thirteen miles long, April 23, 1863. For description of the Celilo portage wagon road in 1861, sec The Oregonxan, May 30, June 5. 1861.
55 The distance between Fort Benton and Walla Walla was 624 miles via Mullan Pass, Little Blackfoot River, Hellgate River, Bitter Root River, Sohon Pass and Coeur d'Alene River. The road was intended to provide a shorter route from Fort Laramie into Idaho and Oregon. It was not successful. For description and history, see The Oreffonian, September 18. 1862; August 28, 1862; April 20. 1880. p. 5. The practicability of the route is discussed by Mullan, Robert Newell and Joseph L. Meek, ibid.* April 30, May i, 7* 8, 21. July 22, 1861.
56 A new road was finished between La Grande and Walla Walla in 1863 (TTU Oregonian, July 3X, 1863). Details of the route from Umatilla, ibid,. May 9, 16, 22. 1866; Aug[an II, 1896, p. 3; from Walla Walla, ibid., June 24, 1864. A narrative of the pioneer express between Walla Walla, Lewiston and Boise ap- pears, ibid., August 12, 1906, p. 38; November 22, 30. 1865; August 20, 1883, P«  5. Details of tnese routes are narrated in Hailey's History of Idaho, pp. 95-99t 123-26. The Coitral Pacific railroad diverted traffic from Columbia Kiver, be- ginning in 1869, to Kelton and Winnemucca.
57 This route is described in The Oregonian^ February 6, 1863; March 26. 1864; October 17, 1866, p. 2; March 22^ 1869, p. 3; February 9, 1865. ​
158 Leslie M. Scott
From Priest Rapids or White Bluffs, Wallula or Walla Walla, to Okanogan, Fort Colville and Kootenai; also from Lewiston."
From Fort Benton, on Missouri River, to Helena and Vir- ginia City and Salt Lake.^
From Red Bluff and Chico, in California, to Owyhee f^ also from Sacramento via American River and Humboldt Riyer.
From Yale, on Fraser River, to Barkerville in the Cariboo; from Hope to Similkameen; from Douglas to Lilloet and Cariboo.^
Jacksonville, in Rogue River valley, had routes to Crescent City, Yreka, Sacramento, Winchester (near Roseburg) and Scottsburg. Joel Palmer was a persistent promoter of the route from Priest Rapids to the diggings of Okanogan, Similkameen, Rock Creek and Upper Columbia rivers. Similk- ameen and Rock Creek became famous in 1859 and a big rush took place thither in I860.** Joel Palmer built a road from Priest Rapids, in 1860, and raised a public fund therefor, much of it at Portland. A stage line began the route in 1860. The steamer Colonel Wright ascended to Priest Rapids in 1859, and a town of promise was laid out there,^ but the promise was not fulfilled. Joel Palmer, A. P. Ankeny and others opened a trail for pack trains and cattle through the gorge of the Columbia River on the Oregon side in 1863, as a route to the mines.** This was hardly equal to the present Coltunbia River Highway.*^ The route included ferries at
kB See note 37 preceding for Joel Palmer's description of Ihe Okanogan- Similkameen route. The routes to Kootenai from White Bluffs and Lewiston arc described in Tht Oregonian, March 11, 1865.
59 Steamboat transportation on Missouri River to Fort Benton continued until the opening of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1882-83. See Bancroft's Montomi. pp. 4*3. 752-53. See also note 55, preceding.
60 The stage route from Red Bluff is described in The Orggonian, February
?i, 1865; the Chico route, September 14, 1865, p. 2. John Mullan started a stage ine from Red Bluff to Silver City in 1865. See Hailey*8 History of Idaho, p. 123; The Oregonian, February 9, 1865.
61 These routes are well described in Howay's British Coiuwibia.
.6a Details of these dinings, by Rufus W. Henry, appear in The Oregonian, May 17, 1861. See also tbid., June 29, 1861; February 4^ i860; November »6, 1859, et ^r^., January 14, February 18, 25, June 23, 30, i860.
63 See The Oregontan. July 10, 1863.
64 John F. Miller made the surveys in 1862 (The Oregonian, November 10, 1862). The road was opened to cattle and pack trains early in 1863 iibid., March 21, 1863). The cost was $15,000 (ibid., December 9, 1864).
65 opened in the Summer of 191 5. ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 159
Sandy and Hood rivers. The Mullan Road, between Fort Benton and Walla Walla, led prospectors and miners into Bitter Root Valley from both directions.
The growing business of the mining districts opened the way for a daily stage line, between Sacramento and Portland, in September, 1860.^ This utility was of high value to the whole North Pacific Coast. Teleg^i^ connections, between Portland, Sacramento and the Eastern states, followed in March, 1864.*^ This line was extended to Puget Sound, Victoria and New Westminster,®® and up Columbia River.* It was building toward Alaska and Siberia, for Asiatic and European service, when stopped in 1866 by the invention of the Atlantic cable.^ Lines were extended from Salt Lak6 into Idaho and Montana. The growth of the transportation business up and down the coast prepared for the Oregon- California railroad project of Ben HoUaday, who began con- struction in Willamette Valley in 1868. This was the tirst railroad of the North Pacific Coast, except for the portage railroads at Cascades and Celilo. And it may be added that the railroad progress in the West followed closely the gold activi- ties.
The horse stage was used on many local routes that con- nected with the main roads. Ben Holladay was a leading figure in the business between Salt Lake, Walla Walla, Vir- ginia City and Helena. An overland stage, with United States mail, controlled by Ben Holladay, beg^n running from Salt Lake to Fort Hall, Boise and Walla Walla in the Summer of 1864. The first mail reached Walla Walla by this route
66 The California Stage Company's schedule between Sacramento and Portland was seven days in Summer and twelve days in Winter. For history of the route, see Thi Oregonian. November i, 1865, p. i; details of the route, ibid., January 22, 1868. p^ 3; April 8, 1863, p. 3; July 30, 1869, p. 3; December 25, 1887, p. ^.
67 The first tranfldontinental through message reached San Francisco Septem- ber 24, 1862. Yreka was the terminus of a local line from Sacramento in 18^8. The aaily stage to Portland afterwards carried messages from Yrdca. The line between Portluid and Yreka was built in 186^-64.
68 Communication between Portland and Olympia besan September 4> 1864, and between Portland and Seattle, October 26, 1864. It was opened to New Westminster April 18, 1865.
69 This line was finished to Cascades May 13, 1868, to The Dalles early in June, 1868, and to Boise, in 1869.
70 The line reached the confluence of Skeena and Kispyox Rivers. See Howay*s British Columbia, pp. 195-201. ​
160 Leslie M. Scott
August 8, 1864.'" Three years later, in 1867, the general progress, due to mining, caused the Government to extend the mail service to Portland directly from Salt Lake and Walla Walla, instead of by way of Sacramento, thereby shortening the service some six days. In the same year the Government began mail service between Wallula and Helena, using pack horses between the Columbia River (frequently at White Bluffs) and Lake Pend Oreille, and steamboats on Lake Pend^ Oreille and Carle's Fork. This route began to be used by Portland merchants in 1865, to reach the Montana mines ahead of the uncertain steamboat transportation up Missouri River to Fort Benton from Saint Louis. The trip from Port- land to Helena then consumed seven days.*^
California competed keenly for the trade of Owyhee and Boise. A tri-weekly mail service was established between Chico, California and Ruby City, in Owyhee, in 1866. John Mullan and others established a stage line in 1865 between Red Bluff, California and Silver City, Idaho. These several connections with Boise and Owyhee were supplanted in 1868- 69 by the Central Pacific Railroad. Sharp rivalry existed between the California and the Columbia River stage lines in 1865-66. The Columbia River route used steamboats to Umatilla Landing, stages and freight wagons thence across Blue Mountains to Olds Ferry (near Huntington) on Snake River; thence a steamboat of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, which was finished in May, 1866, the Shoshone, up Snake River. This steamboat lost money heavily; wood for fuel was scarce and it could not steam past Bruneau River. Besides, the stage route between Olds* Ferry and Boise was easier and quicker than the round-about steam- boat travel.^
These large activities necessarily had effects on the political life of the great region. Each mining community resorted to
71 Sec Thg Oregonian, June 24. 1864.
J2 For details of the route see The Oregonian, November 17, 1865, p. j; May 7, 1867, p. -3; June 8, 1867, p. a; May 11. 1867, p. 3.
73 "It cost more to unload and reload and haul over this thirty-three miles (Snake River to Boise) than it did to haul straight through the ninety miles from Olds Ferry to Boise" (Hailey's History of Idaho, p. 124). ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 161
civil organization, sometimes with the aid of the vigilance ccMnmittee. The Territory of Idaho was created in 1863 ; that of McMitana, in 1864. New counties were organized frequently in Or^on, Idaho, Washington and Montana. Roads and bridges were built; public schools established. The whites forever supplanted the Indians. The San Juan boundary dispute with Great Britain was precipitated in 1859 as a re- sult of the rush of American population to the gold diggings and to Puget Sound, and was decided in 1872, in favor of the United States, by the Emperor of Germany.
In British Columbia the mining era was very important for the British. The resultant growth finally established British power on the Pacific. Formerly it was but a fur-bearing domain of the feudalistic Hudson's Bay Company. In the midst of the "gold rush," in 1858, the reign of that Company was supplanted by a provincial government, and the seat of government was established at Fort Langley, the formality of which todk place November 19, 1858.
In the seven years, 1861-67, the areas of Oregon, Wash- ington, Idaho and Montana produced probably a total of $140,000,000. Those of British Columbia yielded probably $21,000,000 more. The gold yield of California in that period, by the same comparison, was $210,000,000.* So that it is evident that the great gold crop of California, though larger than that of the northern mines, was not so much larger as common opinion may judge. The best figures on this sub- ject are but estimates, yet by competent authority the figures here given are considered reliable. The totals are segregated as follows, for the whole producing period ending with 1867 :
Washington $ 10,000,000
Or^on 20,000,000
* Idaho 45,000,000
Montana 65,000,000
Total $140,000,000
74 These ttatittics are taken from Trimble's Mming Advance, pD. 102, 118. See The Oregonitm, Jtmt 6. 1866. p. 3: .January. 15, .ifM. P. 3- E. M. Bamum. in Tk^ Oregonian. March ai, 1867, estimates the yield of Oregon, Washington mmA Idaho, in 1858-66, at $57,000,000, which is probably too conservative. ​
162 Leslie M. Scott
Thes€ statistics were compiled by J. Ross Browne, who, as United States O^mmissioner for the mining region west of Rocky Mountains, made a comprehensive report in 1867.^
The first mines were always placers. The miners were preceded by prospectors, some of whom made fortunes by becoming miners, but the gr^t majority gathered little or nothing, frequently not even a oare living. Their implements were the pan, the rocker and the sluice, each for eliminating matter from the gold particles by washing.®'
The reduction of gold quartz required costly machinery. Such gold deposits baffled the early prospectors and miners. Gold quartz was found in Oregon at Rogue River, Canyon City, Elk Creek, Vincent's, Olive Creek, Granite Creek, -Eagle Creek and Auburn; in Idaho, on Salmon, Boise and Owyhee rivers; and in Canada, along the headwaters of Columbia River and at Cariboo. Silver lodes were frequent along with those of gold. Reduction mills were carried into the districts of Owyhee, Boise and Powder River, beginning in 1864, at great cost, from both San Francisco and Portland.^
Many localities gave "prospects" of gold, in the decade 1850, but did not become productive. There was little gold in Western Oregon, save in the Rogue River and Umpqua country. "Colors" or small quantities were found in the valleys of the Molalla, Santiam and McKenzie rivers,*^ and in Bohemia, the latter at the sources of the Willamette River. Coffee Creek, tributary to the South Umpqua, attracted gold
75 See Trimble's Mining Advance, p. 102. Report of J. Ross Browne.
76 These implements are described in Bancroft's California, vol. vi, pp. 409-18.
77 Four quartz mills were shipped to Owyhee from Portland in 1864, one by T. C. Ainsworth and another by Minear, Fountain, Leffel and Carrico. See The Orezonian, February 21. March 23, June 2, 6, 27, July 9, July 16, August 6, 19, 20, September 10, 12, November 10, 11, 18, December 6, I4f 1864: January 6, n, 25; February xo, 1865. Many Oregon men engaged or were interested in Owyhee ventures. See also The Oregonian, June 6, 1865, p. 2: July 28, 1865, p. 2. A mill of thirty stamps, for the Boise district, went through Portland from New York, in December, 1864 {ibid., December 2^, 1864). Another mill from San Francisco for Boise was shipped through Portland in the Summer of 1864 {ibid., July 12, 13, 1864). Details of the quartz mines of South Boise, ibid., July 13, 23, September 11. 21, October 3, 1864; January 1, 28, March 9, 12, 30, June 10, 19, 23, July 8, 9, 18, 1863; January 18, April 20, May s, 18, 26, August 19, 20, December 28. 1864). A quartz mill was built near Auburn in 1864 (»Wrf., October 29. 1864).
78 The Blue River deposits were discovered in 1863. Ldrse stamp mills were installed, but the ore was low grade. See The Oregonian, December 8, 1863; November 2, Deecember 17. 1889; July 3, 1897. ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 163
seekers in 1858.* Steamboat Creek, of the North Umpqua, was a flitting Eldorado of this period. Coquille River, at its mouth, offered rich diggings — 1853. Sailors' Diggpings, at the present town of Waldo, at the headwaters of Illinois River, tributary of Rogue River, was the scen6 of profitable placers, beginning in 1852. Settlement of Southern Oregon began in 1847-48, contemporaneously with the gold movement of Cali- fornia. Molalla^ and Santiam drew goldseekers in 1860.®^ Bohemia was discovered in 1863.^ These localities afforded poor pay, because the gold was chiefly of tow grade quartz, and they did not continue long in favor, although successive attempts were made to revive them.^
Western Washington was even poorer in gold than Western Oregon. Queen Charlotte Islands afforded discoveries in 1850, and several expeditions of gold hunters went there in the following two years.^l In Eastern Washington, the Yakima®* Valley was favorably prospected in 1854. That district and Wenatchee®** were encouraged by Puget Sound merchants.
79 Cow Creek was prospected in 18^4 with poor returns (The Oregonian, October 28, 1854. letter si^ed "F. D."). Coffee Creek, of South Umpqua, yielded returns in 1858 (t6u/., December x8, 1858).
80 Silver and gold ouartz of Molalla River was discovered in i860, forty- five miles from Oregon City. See Thw Oregonian, September 15, i860; August 16, 1865, p. 2.
81 The Santiam deposits, sixty miles east of Salem, contained gold and silver quartz. Assays ran as nigh as $2500 a ton. Many claims were taken there in i860. Loose gold was discovered in 1864. The town of Quartzville was laid off in 1864. A stamp mill was erected m that year. The route to these mines is described in The Oregonian, July 9, 1864. For details of this district, ibid.. Tune 9i 16, 30; September i, 8, i860; October 14, 23, 1863; June 30* Novenwer 12, 1864; October 29, 1869, p. 3; May 10, 1887; July 3, 1897; October 2, 1889.
8a The Bohemia quartz was discovered in 1863 by "Bohemia" Johnson (The Oregonian, January ao, 1900, p. 5). A road was opened to the mines in 1871. See History of Douglas County, oy A. G. Walling, p. 39a. A quartz mill was operated in 1871-77 oy A. T. Knott. See also The Oregonian, March a6, 1872, p. 3; July 2, 1899, p. 16; March 17, 1900, p. 5: April 26, 1900, p. 5; July 30, 1900; January i, 1901; June 28, 1896, p. 18; July 3, 1897*
83 For narrative of the mines of Clackamas, Marion and Linn counties, see The Oregonian, June 22, 1889. The quartz, of gold and silver, was too low grade for successful operation.
84 The British sent the ship Una to Queen Charlotte Islands from Fort Simpson in 185 1, and the brig Recovery to Gold Harbor, in 1852. The American vessels Georfianna explored for gold in 1851. Eight American Damariscove vessels sailed to Mitchell Harbor in 1852. These expeditions had little or no success.
85 Yakima Vallev attracted prospectors in 1854 {The Oregonian, April 22^ 18C4), and gained large publicitv in 1858 {ibid., July 23, 1858; August Sf 1861). For description in 1873, ibid., December 3, i873t Pw 3-
86 The Wenatchee diggings were active in 1858 {The Oregonian, July 23. 1858). They attracted many fortune hunters in 1861. ​
164 Leslie M. Scx)tt
In Eastern Oregon, Burnt River* and Malheur River^ yielded surface gold.^ The rich diggpings were in none of these places, however. The most famous localities may be listed as follows, with the years of their discovery:
Rogue River (Oregon): Table Rock, 1849; Jacksonville, 1851 ; Gold Beach, 1853.«>
Colville (Washington), 1855; Pend Oreille River »^
Thompson River (British Columbia), 1856-57.***
Fraser River (British Columbia), 1856-57.**
Similkameen River (British Columbia), 1859.**
Rock Creek (British Columbia), 1859.«*
Cariboo (British Columbia), 1860.^
Clearwater River (Idaho), 1860; Oro Fino Creek, Rhodes Creek, Elk City district, French Creek, Canal Gulch.*^
John Day River (Oregon), 1861 .*»
Gold Creek (Montana), 1861.«>
Powder River (Oregon), 1861}^
Salmon River (Idaho), 1861; Warren's Diggings, Flor- ence.^~
Boise Basin (Idaho), 1862.i«2
Grasshopper Creek (Montana), 1862; Bannack.****
Owyhee River (Idaho), 1863; Jordan Creek.i<>*
87 See note i8, preceding.
88 Malheur River was the supposed place of the "lost diggings of 1845." and the diggings were discovered again in 1861. See The OregoniaHf August a6, 1861; September 17, 1861. For details of silver discoveries, ibid., June 24, 1864. See also note 13. P.. 149. „ ^ . ^. ^ .
89 A history of gold nunmg in Eastern Oregon appears in The Oregontan. September 14* 1865, p. 2.
90 Sec note 10, preceding.
91 See note 18, preceding.
92 See note 36. preceding.
93 See note ^6, preceding.
94 See note 62, preceding.
95 See note 62, preceding. „ , ^. ^ . ,
96 See Howay's British Columbia, pp. 73-84; «l«o. The Oregontan. January 13, February 18, 1863; Trimble's Mining Advance, pp. 46-56; Bancroft's British Coiumbia, pp. 472-51 9- ^ ^. -
97 Sec notes 22, 26, preceding.
98 See note 21, preceding. ^ . ,.» , .^ •
99 See Bancroft's Montana, p. 616. Trimble's Mining Advance, p. 79-
100 See note 24. preceding.
101 Sec note 27, preceding.
102 See note 28, preceding.
103 See Trimble's Mininjg Advance, p. 80.
104 See note 77* preceding. ​
The Pioneer Stimulus of Gold 165
Kootenai River (British Columbia), 1863; Finley's Creek; Wild Horse Creek.i<» Deer Lodge River (Montana), 1862}^ Alder Gulch (Montana), 1863}^
Last Chance Gulch (Montana), 1864; Oro Fino; Grizzly .^^ Upper Columbia River (British Columbia), 186S.i^ Heavy shipments of gold dust were made to and from Port- land. This gold came mostly from the Clearwater and the Salmon River mines. The ocean steamer Pacific, sailing for San Francisco, October 11, 1861, took $172,904 in gold. This steamer sailed again December 12, 1861, with $141,820 of gold. The Oregonian, on January 18, 1862, estimated the influx of gold dust into Portland in 1861 at $3,000,000. The river steamer Julia arrived at Portland April 28, 1862, with $100,000 in gold dust. The Carrie Ladd, on May 20,
1862, arrived with $175,000; again on June 25, 1862, this steamer brought $200,000 to Portland. The ocean steamer Tenino sailed August 5, 1862, with $200,000. The ocean steamer Sierra Nez'ada carried from Portland to San Fran- cisco $500,000, sailing October 27, 1862. The Pacific sailed with $250,000 on November 26, 1862. Later treasure ships may be noted as follows: Sierra Nevada, August 24, 1863,^ $195,000; Brother Jonathan, September 25, 1863, $315,000; Sierra Nevada, October 5, 1863, $236,751 ; Brother Jonathan, October 12, 1863, $203,835; Sierra N^evada, November 13,
1863, $500,000; Oregon, December 4, 1863, $750,000; Oregon, June 2, 1864, $330,000; John L. Stephens, June 27, 1864, $515,649; Pacific, July 5, 1864, $213,899; Oregon, August 3,
1864, $321,000; Pacific, August 21, 1864, $366,465; Sierra Nevada, December 2, 1864, $517,250; Brotlier Jonathan, Octo- ber 28, 1864, $500,000; November 15, 1864, $339,000.
The total assays of gold at Portland in September, October
105 For details of the Kootenai mines, see The Oreeonian, December 15, 1863; May 14. 1864; February 7, 1865; June 17, 1864: May 27, 1864; October,
13, 1864: Trimble's Mining Advance, pp. 56-59.
106 For details of the Deer Lodge dirangs, see The Oregontan, AuRUSt
14, 1862; Trimble's Mining Advance, pp. 79-80.
107 See Bancroft's Montana, pp. 629-30.
108 Ibid., p. 721; Trimble* s Mining Advance, p. 82.
109 Sec Trim Die's Mining Advance^ pp 56-60. ​
166 Leslie M. Scott
and November, 1864, aggregated $1,376,678.82, according to Thomas Frazar, United States collector of internal revenue for Oregon. In the year 1863, the total was $4,505731.*^^ The gold production of the entire Pacific Northwest was estimated in 1861 at $1750,000; $9,000,000 in 1862."^
Shipments of bullion, from Portland, by Wells Fargo, arc summarized as follows:
1864, 6,200,000
1865, 5,800,000
1866, 5,400,000
1867, 4,001 ,000*"
This survey of the pioneer gold mining period and of the effects on the early development of the North Pacific regpion, could be extended to much greater length, but the space of the present writing does not permit. Moreover, it is the purpose of the writer to meet the desires of the easy reader. The "loose gold" was gathered up in a few years, just as in every placer country. But the opening of the wilderness and the impulse given to the growth of this region by the new energies of a large new population — ^these are the matters highly im- portant in studying the history of pioneer progress.
no S«e The Oregonian, March lo, 1864.
111 Ibid., December 15, i86a.
112 See the Quarterly, vol. ix, p. 290.
* ↑ "As if by magic the tardy wheels of commerce were unfettered, human thought and energy unshackled and turned loose with determined purpose to meet the great emergency and reap the golden harvest" (P. W. Gillette in the Quarterly, vol. v. p. 125).
* ↑ For further discussion of this matter see later in this article, p. 161.
* ↑ In 1856 there were two steamboat mail routes in Oregon — Portland-Astoria and Portland-Oregon City — a total of 144 miles. There were coach mail routes of 95 miles, and horseback or pack-horse routes of 729 miles (Quarterly, vol. viii, p. 193, by Thomas W. Prosch).