# Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 15/Number 4

THE QUARTERLY
of the
Oregon Historical Society
VOLUME XV DECEMBER, 1914 NUMBER 4
The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages
HISTORY OF ASTORIA RAILROAD
By LESLIE M. SCOTT
A railroad, speeding ahead of the drifting Columbia River to the sea, or gliding back up its toilsome currents, was a dream of nearly half a century ere it came true. The canoe of Indians, explorers and fur traders, the row-boat of pioneer settlers, were relegated in 1850 by the river steamboat. Right afterward came the railroad idea but not the railroad for yet many a waiting year.
It seems natural enough now that the steam locomotive should follow the river to the ocean; one may wonder at the long delay. But railroads, like each other pioneer improvement in Oregon, grew slowly from their beginnings in 1868-9 ; the down-Columbia line reached Goble not until 1883; and halted there fifteen years before going on to Astoria, fifty-eight miles further.
These latter years were restive ones for that city by the sea. Its efforts were persistent; its offerings to railroad builders continuous. It wished to be the seaport and railroad terminus of the Columbia River Basin to win that place from Portland. It finally got the railroad, but has not realized the other ambi- tion. Its success in winning this much was the result of or- ganized self-help. As an example of self-dependence and pub- lic achievement the completion of this railroad deserves to go down in the annals of things highly praiseworthy in Oregon. The people of Astoria, knowing from repeated failures that they must help themselves, offered a land prize, and enlarged ​the prize as one would-be builder succeeded another, until finally A. B. Hammond appeared, for whom the land bounty was swelled to a value though problematical and speculative moderately estimated at between $500,000 and $1,000,000. The only other sacrifice that has ever equaled this in our commonwealth was probably the $100,000 gift from Portland citizens to Ben Holladay in 1870, for the "West Side" railroad—a tremendous public achievement for the time. Like the Portland citizens of 1870, the Astoria citizens were determined and put forth tremendous effort.
The Astoria project took many forms and suffered many vicissitudes; only brief outline can be given here; probably such outline is better because of wearisome detail otherwise. Oregon's biggest railroad men considered the project—Joseph Gaston, Ben Holladay, Henry Villard, C. P. Huntington, Wm. Reid. It may aid the memory to divide the promotion period into two parts—the one leading up to 1887, when Astoria adopted the self-help or bonus plan; the other continuing the project until the "last spike" (April 3, 1898), or the first "through train" (May 16, 1898.)
I.
Talk of the "Astoria railroad" started in 1853, at the time of the surveys then made by Governor I. I. Stevens, of Washington Territory, for the Northern Pacific. Although Governor Stevens' survey crossed the Cascade Mountains to Puget Sound, it was considered likely that the proposed road would follow the Columbia River. For many years afterward, this choice was undetermined. If the Columbia route, what more natural than a terminus at Astoria, next door to the sea, the oldest American settlement on the Pacific Coast? Why not there the great mart of the Columbia Basin? This, at least, in the thoughts of Clatsop citizens.
That Governor Stevens' survey stimulated railroad schemes in Oregon is seen in the railroad acts of the Territorial Legislature of Oregon in 1853–4. These were the beginnings of the subject in this commonwealth. Evidently the Oregon pro​
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jects then initiated aimed to connect directly or indirectly with the Northern Pacific transcontinental line. The Oregon Legislature in 1853-4 incorporated four railroad companies : (1) The Willamette Valley Railroad, Portland to Corvallis, $1,000,000 capital (special laws 1854, p. 87; (2) The Oregon & California Railroad not that of 1870 of the same name Eugene to a point below Oregon City, $4,000,000 capital (ibid p. 81) ; (3) Cincinnati Railroad, Polk County, $250,000 cap- ital (ibid p. 27) ; (4) Clackamas Railroad, Canemah to point below Oregon City, $400,000 capital (ibid p. 58.)
None of the companies materialized, nor for yet four years (1858) did Astoria and Clatsop County residents initiate a railroad project. They were thinking the matter over, how- ever, as actively as their brethren in Portland, Oregon City, Salem and Eugene. Meanwhile they were trying to carry out wagon road plans between Clatsop County and Tualatin. The Legislatures of 1847, 1850, 1851, 1852 and 1853 appointed commissions to locate such a road. The Legislature of 1866 awarded to the Astoria and Tillamook Road Company, any grant of land that Congress would offer for a military wagon road to Astoria, but Congress never made the grant. The Leg- islature of 1872 appropriated $20,000 for the wagon road, and the Legislature of 1889 appropriated $15,000 for the same pur- pose. In 1855-58 Congress took up the project for a military wagon road from Salem to Astoria through the Coast Range, and appropriated $70,000 therefor, but the highway was never finished and was not traversed its entire length, between Forest Grove and Astoria, until 1895, by Rev. William Travis (Oregonian, July 31, 1900). These wagon road plans suggested a route for a railroad and many projects for a line were attempted, until in 1894 Mr. Ham- mond adopted the other route along the Columbia, via Coble. It is to be expected that in the future a railroad will follow the older surveys, via upper Nehalem, through the most prolific timber in America.
Various localities in Oregon obtained from the Legislature in the 50s incorporation of railroad companies; so in 1858 ​
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it came the turn of Clatsop County to urge, for a charter, the Astoria & Willamette Valley Railroad, $5,000,000 capital, between Eugene and Astoria (special laws 1858, p. 24). The ^corporators numbered 70 persons, representing Clatsop and Willamette Valley counties. It need not be added that this enterprise was premature; the Territory could not build such a road; the capitalization, however necessary, was excessive amid pioneer conditions ; nothing came of the company. Next appearance of the idea occurred in 1864, when the Legisla- ture pledged a loan of $200,000 for 100 miles of railroad in Willamette Valley (Session Laws, p. 77). At this time a subsidy bill was in Congress to aid a railroad from a connec- tion with the Central Pacific, then building, through California and Oregon to the Columbia River. Such a bill passed Con- gress in 1866 (Act of July 25, 1866) ; out of this act grew the Oregon Central and the Oregon & California Railroad, and, four years later, a second similar act (May 4, 1870), pro- viding a land bounty for a railroad from Portland to McMinn- ville and Astoria.
In the continuity of this early railroad development of Ore- gon, we see the Astoria project ever present. Owing to the lethargy of the Northern Pacific (construction not begun until 1870; opened to Portland not until 1883). Oregon directed its hopes for first transcontinental connections toward the Union Pacific and Central Pacific (opened to California in 1869). In 1863 the people of Oregon were delighted to hear that surveys toward Oregon were progressing up Sacramento Valley under Simon G. Elliott, of Marysville, Cal. ; George H. Belden and Charles Barry. Next year the surveys continued to Portland under Barry. In that same year the Oregon Legis- lature offered a $200,000 loan for a railroad in Willamette Valley, as already noted; also a bill appeared in Congress, as a forerunner to the Act of 1866 providing a land bonus for a railroad between Marysville and Portland. This act also led to the land grant act of 1870, allowing a land subsidy, this time for a railroad from Portland to McMinnville and Astoria.
We need not narrate the long controversy between the rival ​
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"East Side" and the "West Side" railroad companies, to each of which was assigned one of these two land grants. In this controversy Astoria citizens took active part. They hoped that the second grant would enable them to secure connections with the Central Pacific, from Winnemucca via Klamath Lakes, Pengra Pass, Eugene and McMinnville. They incor- porated the Astoria & Winnemucca Railroad in 1870, to con- nect with the Pengra route (Oregon Branch Pacific Rail- road) and began surveys (Oregonian, May 17, 1898). But they were doomed to disappointment. The East Side Com- pany, controlled by Ben Holladay, absorbed the West Side Company (August 15, 1870), thus bottling up the West Side Astoria project ; later in the year, the Astoria effort for a land grant between Eugene and Winnemucca (Oregon Branch Pacific Railroad) was foiled in Congress by Senator George H. Williams, who caused the proposed land grant route to be directed via Rogue River; whereupon the whole scheme in Congress and elsewhere collapsed. Senator Williams' rea- sons were two : First, the Astoria-Eugene- Winnemucca route, he thought, would damage or ruin the Holladay line, then building toward California, for which much money had been expended (finished from Portland to Salem September 28, 1870) ; second, he believed that, if successful, the new project would certainly halt the Holladay road at Eugene, thus depriv- ing Umpqua and Rogue River valleys populous areas of railroad connections. Moreover, the Legislature in 1870, by joint resolution, called upon Congress to sustain the Rogue River routing and the "Williams Amendment" (Session Laws, p. 180.)
Much bitterness, political and persona!, followed this action of Senator Williams. Joseph Gaston, leading promoter of the West Side-Astoria- Winnemucca route, insisted up to the last days of his life that, but for this action, his railroad would certainly have been built, that Oregon would have had short connections with the Union Pacific, instead of by Holladay's round-about line to Sacramento, that Astoria would have had a railroad twenty years sooner, and that Oregon would have ​
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been stimulated to a much more rapid development. But Mr. Gaston's optimism was always somewhat exuberant; he was ever playing to "hard luck" with his railroad rivals and theirs was usually the mastery; his Oregon Central schemes were always just about to be financed when they fell through ; his Astoria- Winnemucca enterprise may have been likewise ready, as he said it was, or it may not. But it should go down in his- tory that Oregon wished this railroad and Holladay's both routed through Rogue River Valley, and wished not to imperil the Holladay road for the sake of the dubious Gaston scheme, as is evidenced by the joint resolution of the Legislature of 1870, and that Senator Williams was actuated by high-minded motives, in this matter as in others, of his distinguished and honorable career. It should be added, however, that the Winnemucca route would have afforded Oregon as a whole more direct connections, probably more satisfactory and more promotive of progress, than the Holladay line did. It would have eliminated Oregon's dependence on California, which during many years, retarded the growth of this common- wealth.
Ben Holladay, Oregon's first great builder of railroads, now had at his disposal a large land bounty for the line from Port- land to Astoria. He was at the height of his power in 1870-3, in which period he built the East Side road to Roseburg and the West Side road to Yamhill River, near McMinnville. He had not the financial means, however, to build to Astoria; moreover, the time was too early for the land grant to develop much value for mortgage and bonding uses. He caused sur- veys to be made ; that was all. His plans fell in 1874 and his active career ended.
Holladay's successor, Henry Villard, Oregon's greatest rail- road builder, extended Holladay's lines to Ashland and Cor- vallis, built the Columbia River line of the O. R. & N. east of Portland, and finished the Northern Pacific but neglected the Astoria road. In Villard's opinion the latter road was not essential ; the Columbia River channel to Portland was cheaper for transport and shortened railroad construction mileage. It ​
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may be added that Columbia River history thus far has vin- dicated his idea that ocean ships will sail as far inland as pos- sible, regardless of seaward railroads paralleling the river channel.
Villard did more than "neglect" the Astoria railroad. His headship of the Oregon & California (Portland^-Roseburg and Portland-McMinnville lines) which Holladay relinquished to him, required him to resist a Huntington project for con- nections with the Central Pacific at Reno or Winnemucca via Pengra Pass, Eugene, the "narrow gauge" "Scotch" road of William Reid's to Astoria this in 1881. Villard throttled this project in May, 1881, by leasing the narrow gauge road from its owners in Dundee, Scotland, through secret negotiations carried on by J. B. Montgomery, at the very time that William Reid was trying to effect a lease with Collis P. Huntington, head of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific. At this time, Huntington had no road in Oregon, and was evidently looking for an entrance into this state. Villard held the Oregon and California Railroad East Side and West Side lines in alliance with the O. R. & N. and Northern Pacific. Hunting- ton was understood to be projecting a narrow gauge road north from Reno, on the Central Pacific, to Goose Lake, in Oregon, with probable further extension, via Pengra Pass to Eugene, Portland and Astoria. Naturally, this project would unite with the narrow gauge lines which Reid was building, Port- land- Airlie (West Side) and Portland-Coburg (East Side), and which were giving Villard anxiety. This narrow gauge in Oregon had been started in 1878 by Joseph Gaston, who built it between Dayton and Sheridan, with a branch to Dallas. The Astorians had in mind to connect with this Gaston road and push it forward to connect with the Central Pacific at Winnemucca, for which they incorporated, May 8, 1879, the Astoria and Winnemucca Railroad, pursuing their earlier pro- ject of 1870. The Oregon Legislature offered in 1874, for the Winnemucca-Columbia river line (via Goose Lake, Sprague River, Middle Fork of Willamette River, Springfield and Portland) free right of way through all State lands (Act of ​
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October 24, 1874; session laws, page 15). The project was then promoted by the Oregon Central Pacific Railway Com- pany, of Oregon, incorporated September 16, 1874. The Leg- islature renewed this offer in 1880, to the Astoria and Win- nemucca Railway Company (session laws, page 55). These tenders lapsed. The "narrow gauge," construction of which began in 1878 under Gaston, pursued, in Willamette Valley, the Winnemucca idea of 1870 and 1874. In 1880 William Reid, representing Scotch buyers, rescued the Gaston road from bankruptcy, extended it in 1880-81 south to Airlie and north to Dundee, near Portland, and built a new line from Wil- lamette River near Woodburn, south to Coburg (both lines Southern Pacific since 1887). The project from its beginning aimed at Central Pacific connections and Astoria hoped to be its terminus.
Villard went to the wall in 1884, and in November of that year the O. R. & N. Co. repudiated the "narrow gauge" lease. The hapless Scotch system, run down and dilapidated, re- verted to its foreign owners and to William Reid. Nor could the scheme of Central Pacific connections be then renewed, for Huntington was preparing to secure control of the Oregon & California which he effected in March, 1887.
Thus ended the twenty-year-old plan of connecting Oregon with the Central Pacific in Nevada; never since has it been revived.
Astoria did not give up, however, in 1881, when Villard killed the narrow gauge-Central Pacific project; it kept after him so persistently that near the end of his regime, in 1883, he caused surveys to be run under H. G. Hurlburt In Sep- tember, 1883, when Villard came to Portland with the "last spike" excursion of the Northern Pacific, he found his en- gineers had estimated the cost of the Astoria line at $50,000 a mile a prohibitive figure; whereupon he wrote to E. C. Holden, secretary of the Astoria Chamber of Commerce : "We must, therefore, abandon the project." (Oregonian, Septem- ber 17, 1883). Villard was then at the end of his resources and could not build the Astoria road, however cheaply. He ​
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had already exceeded the available funds of the Northern Pacific by $14,000,000 and a crash was soon to break over his head. He finished the Northern Pacific from Portland to Goble within 58 miles of Astoria, but at this time no exten- sion to Astoria was proposed.
Then ensued a piece of folly at Astoria. Citizens of that town were incensed by the long- lethargy of Holladay and Vil- lard; they bethought them to spur action or take reprisal by repeal of the unused land grant. This they believed would bring Villard up with a round turn, and force him to build quickly. They memorialized Congress for the repeal (Ore- gonian, December 6, 1883), and Oregon's Representative in Congress, M. C. George, introduced the repealing measure. The Legislature of Oregon memorialized Congress in 1882, urging the repeal. The bill passed a year later, in January, 1885. Loss of this bonus delayed the Astoria railroad by a decade. Unaided thereafter by the Government, Astoria citi- zens had to make up a bounty out of their own pockets. Ac- cordingly, in 1887 they offered a bonus of $150,000. This marked the beginning of the new and finally successful period of the Astoria project.
II.
Now at last Astoria citizens resolved to do for themselves; they had leaned on Holladay and Villard and got unfulfilled promises. Portland was the meeting point of the transcon- tinental Northern Pacific and Union Pacific and the ocean- going ships of the Columbia River since 1883-4; now (1887) the Astoria men made up their minds they would bring that meeting point nearer the sea to Astoria in their view, the logical place.
They could not build the 100-mile railroad themselves ; they had not the $2,000,000 for that. But they could put up one- tenth that sum as a cash bounty, although such money meant to them big sacrifice; it was a large sum and Astoria was a small town. Furthermore, they would form their own com- pany, give it a start and hand it over to capitalists who could carry it through. ​
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So they formed the Astoria & South Coast Railway in August, 1888; incorporators, M. J. Kinney, W. W. Parker, J. W. Conn, E. A. Noyes, M. C. Crosby, H. B. Parker and James Taylor. Branches were to run to Tillamook, perhaps to Salem or Albeny ; connections were proposed with an ambi- tious company known as Salem, Tillamook & Astoria Railroad, incorporated January 9, 1889, by John G. Wright, I. A. Man- ning, W. F. Boothby, B. S. Cook, J. W. Maxwell. Astoria pledged a bonus of $175,000. The route was to run southward along Clatsop Beach, up Lewis and Clark River, across the mountain divide to Nehalem River, thence to Forest Grove or Hillsboro. The Astoria & South Coast drove its "first spike" at Skipanon May 11, 1889.
The Astorians were delighted, at this juncture, to receive, as their builder and financier, the man who had constructed the "narrow gauge" for the Dundee capitalists, and who had almost brought Huntington in 1881 into the Winnemucca- Astoria scheme William Reid. They made him president of their company, forthwith, in June, 1889. By this time ten miles of roadbed was graded south of Spikanon, under Henry B. Thielsen, engineer (Oregonian, May 26; June 7, 1889). The road was to be finished by September 15, 1891, to a junc- tion with the Southern Pacific, in Washington or Yamhill County (Oregonian, June 15, 1889). Reid selected Hillsboro as the junction point (Oregonian, September 6, 1889; October 11, 1889). His engineers were E. E. Cooper and R. A. Haber- sham. Construction began at Hillsboro in November, 1889, and at Astoria in December, 1889. Reid was supposed to have the support of Huntington, and as Reid later wrote in The Oregonian (June 27, 1891). Reid supposed so, too. The pro- ject was stimulated by possibility of an alliance with the Oregon Pacific (Yaquina Railroad, then building in Cascade Moun- tains toward Eastern Oregon, through Santiam Pass) and some transcontinental line either Union Pacific or Northern Pacific, which were in sharp rivalry. The Astorians hoped to connect with this parent railroad of the Yaquina line. They were encouraged also by incorporation of several companies ​
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which seemed subsidiaries of the unseen railroad that was seeking an outlet by the Yaquina route the Albany & Astoria Railway, J. L. Cowan, president, for which surveys were car- ried on in the summer of 1890 under W. B. Barr (Oregonian, November 17, 1889), and the Salem, Astoria & Eastern Rail- way, headed at Salem by H. W. Cottle, E. M. Waite, Squire Farrar, William England, H. J. Minthorn, J. H. Albert, J. A. Baker, J. O. Wilson. For a Tillamook connection, the Astoria Seashore & Eastern was incorporated March 15, 1890, by W. H. Smith, Oliver Stewart, E. C. Jeffers, D. N. Stewart and George Eckler. Each of these companies had flimsy backing; the Albany and the Salem schemes came to naught; the Yaquina road soon went into bankruptcy and Reid's Astoria Company shortly fell into financial difficulties and halted. Reid had failed to bring in the "outside capital ;" he could not "float" the bonds in New York, and his Scotch friends of Dundee had had enough experience in the "narrow gauge."
First of Reid's efforts was enlistment of Huntington in the enterprise. Nearly three years had elapsed since Huntington acquired the Oregon & California lines in Oregon and the Southern Pacific chief was interested in Reid's proposals and took a six months' option after May 6, 1890, to buy the Astoria & South Coast. His terms were : The Astorians to pay off the $175,000 claims against their company and turn it over to him, together with a $200,000 bonus, terminal facili- ties at Astoria and the Seaside branch line (finished by Reid in July, 1890, between Young's Bay and Seaside) ; Hunting- ton was to put up a preliminary $60,000 to complete the Sea- side line. The six months were to enable him to make survey of the route and verify the Astoria estimates of cost. Hunt- ington attended the negotiations at Astoria in May, 1890. The agreement dated May 6 (text in Oregonian, May 24, 1901, page 5), was signed by Huntington and by Reid, as president of the Astoria & South Coast, but was not confirmed by the directors of Reid's Company, and the deal fell through. It looked as if, before this juncture, a builder had appeared, Huntington, who would bring to Astoria what that town had ​
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long wished; Huntington was willing to build; the $200,000 subsidy was raised by Astoria citizens in twenty-four hours (Oregonian, May 8, 1890) ; Huntington supposed the deal consummated and put surveyors on the route in June, 1890, and promised by letter soon to begin construction. The As- torians approved the terms of Huntington, but wished to get rid of Reid, and in their pulling and hauling, lost Huntington. In commenting, eleven years later, on this fiasco, Reid wrote in The Oregonian (May 24, 1901) : "Astoria never got its railway into the Nehalem Valley, via Hillsboro to Portland, I lost the $155,000 I had invested in that railway and Mr. Hunt- ington lost his pet scheme via Nehalem to Portland."
Astoria thus lost a rich opportunity in the Nehalem country. This route undoubtedly would have brought larger advantages to that city than the Columbia River route did later ; besides, the river route probably would have been built soon afterward, thus affording two railroads and the opening of much tribu- tary country. This loss will always be a source of regret; it was unnecessary; the railroad was Astoria's, but for the approval of a contract which Huntington had signed and to the terms of which Astoria had agreed. And there was no man so able to build the road as he.
Much criticism and abuse were heaped upon Reid for what was called in Astoria his "grasping" nature, or stubborn re- sistance to Astoria wishes. But it is fair to say in his behalf, that it was his money, and only his, that carried forward the Hillsboro-Clatsop division, up to the Huntington negotiations, the amount as he later stated it being $170,000, some $15,000 of which was afterward regained (Oregonian, June 27, 1891 ; May 24, 1901 ) . Besides, Reid advanced to the Seaside division $8,000 which was returned to him on his separation from the project in 1891. Reid's operations made a big real estate boom in Astoria, from which some of his critics "realized" hand- somely, but others suffered losses in the resultant "slump." It seems at this historical distance that Reid was entitled to better treatment in exchange for his service in enlisting Hunt- ington and in investing heavily his own funds. "Not a soul," ​
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he wrote (Oregonian, June 27, 1891), "has ever put one dollar between these points (Hillsboro and Clatsop City) ex- cepting myself." The loss to Reid was heavy and he never fully recovered.
After Huntington withdrew, Reid went to work to get other financial backing (Oregonian, May 31, 1890, VI). He turned to English capitalists. It was announced October 9, 1890, at Astoria, that an English syndicate had agreed to take $3,000,000 bonds for a subsidy of between $275,000 and $300,000 for payment of the first two years' interest (Ore- gonian, October 11, 1890). Their engineer, James McNaught, reported that the route presented no serious engineering diffi- culties (report in Oregonian, May 19, 1891). The plan was to build into the Willamette Valley; also to connect with the Northern Pacific. To finance the Astoria and the Willamette Valley divisions, Reid incorporated August 18, 1890, the Port- land, Salem & Astoria Railway, Edward T. Johnson and J. H. Smith being the other incorporators.
The Englishmen failed to perfect the deal, however, and in January, 1891, Reid could go no farther, and dropped out. He had graded eight miles out of Hillsboro and seven and one-half miles up Lewis and Clark River (work described in Oregonian, January 1, 1891). Reid tried to keep the project alive by organizing a new company of his own, the Portland, Nehalem & Astoria Railroad, to which the Astoria & South Coast conveyed its right of way between Hillsboro and Clatsop City, upon which division Reid had expended his own money (Oregonian, June 27, 1891). It was Reid's plan to build the road independently of the Astoria interests, but he did not succeed. The Seaside division, with some $55,000 debts, re- verted to the Astorians, and was kept alive by D. K. Warren and other creditors, until early in 1892, when it was taken over by the Schofield-Goss Syndicate, to be mentioned here- after.
Astoria now turned temporarily to the Goble route, for which was organized in July, 1891, the Columbia River & Astoria Railway, by B. Van Dusen, D. K. Warren, Walter C. ​
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Smith, Benjamin Young, E. A. Seeley (Oregonian, April 23, 1891). Surveys were made in August, 1891, by W. H. Ken- nedy, who estimated the cost of the line at $26,000 or $27,000 a mile, for fifty-eight miles (Oregonian, December 7, 1891), to connection with the Northern Pacific at Goble. The Northern Pacific line from Portland to Goble, built by Villard, had been opened in 1883. Citizens of Astoria now made up a subsidy of 1,000 acres of land. To build the line, the Astoria Improvement & Construction Company was organized July 23, by J. H. Smith, Ezra and Walter C. Smith, D. K. Warren, Benjamin Young, H. G. Van Dusen. This scheme also col- lapsed; negotiations with the Northern Pacific were fruitless, and very soon the Nehalem route was revived by C. W. Schofield and George Goss, of Salt Lake, early in 1892.
These men had been in the Gould service in the building of the Rio Grande System, and it was a natural guess that Gould was aiming at Astoria for a terminus. They were re- ceived with great enthusiasm at Astoria; a subsidy was pledged, $300,000 cash and lands for right of way and ter- minals to the probable additional value of $200,000. As the Astorians had more land than cash and land was easier to get for a subsidy, the bounty raisers formed a special company to take the land pledged for the Goble project and convert it into money The Astoria Subsidy Guarantee Company, in- corporated March 10, 1892, by C. R. Thompson, George Hill, J. A. Fulton, G. W. Sanborn, James W. Welch and F. L. Parker. To the new projectors was handed over the Seaside line, which had been sold by the sheriff February 26, 1892, for its debts, $55,550. These debts the new promoters as- sumed (Oregonian, May 4, 1892). A new company, The Astoria & Portland Railway, was incorporated at Portland, March 16, 1892, by Henry Failing, T. F. Osborn, J. Frank Watson, Charles H. Dodd, of Portland ; D. K. Warren, I. W. Case, M. M. Ketchum, of Astoria; J. M. Schultz and Thomas H. Tongue, of Hillsboro. Officers of the company were: John Sheehan, the New York Tammany leader, president; ​
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C. W. Schofield, vice-president; E. M. Watson, treasurer; George Goss, chief engineer and manager; H. Goss, superin- tendent.
The new project did not follow the Reid route to Clatsop City. It rounded Smith Point, at Astoria, crossed Young's River and ascended Lewis and Clark River from Stavebolt Landing (Oregonian, April 21, 1892). Some 14,000 feet of trestle was constructed round Smith Point and up Young's Bay, costing $90,000 ; seventeen miles of grading was built up to Saddle Mountain ready for the rails, a tunnel was started in Saddle Mountain all this in the summer of 1892. Between 900 and 1,100 men were employed by the contractors (work described in Oregonian, August 21, 1892 ; September 26, 1892). The vigor of Schofield and Goss delighted the people of Astoria ; now at last the pet railroad was assured ; there could be no doubt ; the builders had much money, perhaps Gould's.
Suddenly, in September, 1892, construction stopped. There was no money. Goss disappeared over night, nobody knew whither. Contractors resorted to liens. To finish the road $1,500,000 was needed. The awakening was sudden and rude. The project went to ruin. Its remains still lie bleaching in the rain and sun.
The Astorians were shocked, but not dismayed. They went to work on their subsidy again to make it bigger than ever. They sent invitations broadcast over the land, to wouldbe rail- road builders, announcing their tempting offer. In the ensu- ing two years "promoters," "agents," "capitalists" of many stripes and of high and low degree hied to Astoria to capture the bounty prize. Like heroes of mythology, they offered themselves as candidates for the venture and the fair reward. The Astoria custodians of the county were now wise in their generation and turned off the fortune hunters one after an- other each time, however, giving a fair trial.
At this juncture a rival to Astoria sprang up Flavel "boomed" by S. H. Brown, Jr., L. B. Seeley, N. G. Read and E. L. Dwyer, who incorporated the Flavel Land & Develop- ment Company at Salem, September 1, 1892, to build a rail​
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road from Salem to Flavel via Sheridan and Tillamook; also to sell town lots on the peninsula adjoining Fort Stevens, where the Hill roads are now building a terminal for connections with their fast new steamships soon to ply to and from San Francisco. Flavel, from that day to this, has been an ambi- tious rival of Astoria, without as yet, however, upbuilding itself or trenching upon Astoria. Here the townsite company laid big plans for railroad terminals and shipping. Astoria was to be but a way-station. In 1897 a fine hotel was opened there, which was attended during the summer of that year by the "society" elite of Portland.
After the Schofield^Goss fiasco, Astoria reverted to the Gpble route. G. L. Blackman and W. H. Milliken appeared and then vanished; ditto a so-called Astoria & Eastern Rail- way, incorporated November 10, 1892, capitalization $3,000,000.
A new pair of promoters arrived at Astoria, January 19, 1893 P. P. Dickinson and R. B. Hammond, of New York, accompanied by their attorney, Milliken. Hammond was said to be president of the New York & Long Island Railroad. On December 15, 1892, these men entered into a contract with the Subsidy Guarantee Company to begin construction of the Goble road before April 1, 1892, and to finish the fifty-eight- mile road before October 1, 1892. They were to receive a bonus of 2,000 acres of land at Astoria (Oregonian, January 14, 1893). The estimated cost of the line was $1,500,000. They were also to build from Goble to Portland, the cost of which division was estimated at $2,000,000 additional. Their supposed backers were William H. Stein way, of New York, the piano manufacturer, and John Hudson, a London capitalist. But like its predecessors, this project fell by the wayside and Astoria had to forget these promoters also.
Two months later William H. Remington and W. H. Wattis arrived at Astoria from Salt Lake (April 25, 1893) in quest of the golden fleece. Their backer was the same Hudson who had favored Dickinson and Hammond; it was even guessed that Gould had sent forth these two latest Jasons. Their scheme was to finish the old project of the Astoria and South ​
HISTORY OF ASTORIA RAILROAD 237
Coast, which had been attempted by Reid and then by Schofield and Goss. They entered into a contract with the Subsidy Com- pany to begin construction within ninety days after July 6, 1894. But in September Remington dashed the Astoria hopes by wiring that he could not proceed (Oregonian, September 2, 1893.)
But next month Astoria's drooping spirits were revived by J. C. Stanton and J. S. Smith, who came to Astoria, offering to build two railroads both the Nehalem and the Goble routes for a subsidy of 3,000 acres of land and forty-foot right of way through the river front of Astoria. These hopeful visitors had already formed a construction company in New York to do the job, capital $1,000,000. But they, too, soon faded away. Next came E. L. Dwyer, M. Robinson and St. John Robinson, who at Astoria, January 20-22, 1894, representing "English capital" said they could build Astoria a railroad in twelve months.
Shortly afterward a project of substantial promise developed, supported by the Union Pacific, and authorized by its Board of Directors. The general manager of the Union Pacific, Edward Dickinson, caused to be incorporated in March, 1894, to build the road, The Columbia River Railroad Company, by R. W. Baxter, general superintendent of the Pacific Division of the Union Pacific; A. J. Borie, superintendent of the Ore- gon Division, and E. S. Van Kuran. The capital was to be $3,000,000. The route was from Goble to Astoria and to Tillamook and Nehalem. Work of securing right of way began at once. On March 16, 1894, Baxter asked Astoria citizens to meet him at Portland to sign the subsidy contract. Financial depression soon ended the negotiations.
Another promoter, attracted by the subsidy, was Edward Browne, a New York attorney, who came to Astoria in May, 1894, offering to put up $300,000 to be secured by mortgage of the land subsidy and saying he had $350,000 in hand. But in June a more substantial offer came from J. C. Stanton and J. T. Campbell, professing to have $2,000,000 in New York for immediate construction and to be supported by large stock- holders of the Union Pacific (Oregonian, June 22, 1894.) ​
238 LESLIE M. SCOTT
Next in line came M. Lutz and E. L. Dwyer, "representing French capital," and offering the Goble line. In September, 1894, Campbell, a Detroit contractor, took an option on the subsidy, but let it lapse.
In November, 1894, came the climax of all these protracted negotiations, in an agreement with A. B. Hammond, who built the Goble road. He was preceded by two parties of promoters, the one headed by C. T. Karr of Chicago, the other by J. C. Stanton, of New York; H. I. Kimball, of Atlanta, Ga.; John H. Bryant, of New York, and J. T. Campbell, of Detroit. All three parties were at Astoria together in November and nego- tiated with the subsidy company at the same time. Karr of- fered to put up $500,000 within fifteen days and $500,000 more within fifteen days thereafter, and all the additional money needed to build the road, with the subsidy trustees, but he talked too big and the latter declined November 22, 1894, after advices from New York. Soon afterward Stanton with- drew his offer, in favor of Hammond.
The way was now open to accept the terms of A. B. Ham- mond, who, with E. L. Bonner, of Missoula, was the most satisfactory of the prospective railroad builders. Hammond had built the Bitter Root and the Drummond branches of the Northern Pacific, and had supplied the ties, lumber and bridge materials for the Rocky Mountain division of that railroad. He had come to Oregon to inspect the Yaquina Railroad, a property that had cost $5,250,000, and which Hammond bought a month late, at sheriff's sale, December 22, 1894, for $100,000. Pending the sale he went to Astoria out of curiosity, or for information, and soon found himself launched in the Astoria enterprise. He told the writer twenty years afterward that he had made no plans to go into this enterprise, accepted it dubiously and then, on account of "hard times" and money stringency, wished himself out of it. Whereupon he demanded more stringent terms, in the hope that the Astorians would refuse them and release him, but they yielded and held him.
The subsidy contract with Hammond, as first executed on December 1, 1894, required him to begin construction not later ​
HISTORY OF ASTORIA RAILROAD 239
than April 1, 1895, and to complete the line (to Goble) before October 30, 1896, and spend $50,000 a month. But shortly before April 1, 1895, Hammond returned to Astoria and de- manded in addition free right of way from Goble to Flavel, sixty-six miles; elimination of the $50,000 a month require- ment, and three years for construction. These new terms were granted with a readiness that surprised him. The subsidy, including 3,000 acres of land at Astoria and 1,500 acres at Flavel, was made complete by the Astorians July 23, 1895, and Hammond announced from Portland in reply that he would at once go to Astoria and begin construction. He praised the energy of Astoria citizens in these words (Oregonian, July 23, 1895) : "The people of Astoria every one of them can stand up and feel that their individual work secured the road. I never saw such patriotism and energy. They deserve a rail- road if any community ever did." To celebrate the comple- tion of the subsidy a public demonstration was held at Astoria July 25, at which Hammond said (Oregonian, July 26-27, 1895) : "We propose to give you value received when this rail- road is built. It will be second to none on the Coast." A special excursion was run from Portland to Astoria on the steamer "Telephone" by U. B. Scott and L. B. Seeley.
Construction began in August. The engineers were T. H. Curtis and J. C. Jameson. In July, 1894, Hammond bought the Seashore road, which he finished to Astoria, August 3, 1896. Hammond's associates in the preliminaries Bonner and Stanton, Kimball and J. T. Campbell backed out, leaving him alone (Oregonian, December 4, 1894). Later he enlisted the aid of Thomas H. Hubbard and Collis P. Huntington. The company was called the Astoria & Columbia River Rail- road. Hammond negotiated with the Northern Pacific a 99- year lease of the latter's tracks between Goble and Portland.
The "last spike" was driven April 3, 1898, near Clatskanie, and April 11, 1898, the subsidy committee rode over the line to Goble and returned to Astoria. They unanimously voted that Hammond had fulfilled his agreement and was entitled to the subsidy. Members of the committee in the party were : ​
240 LESLIE M. SCOTT
Alfred C. Kinney, president; J. Q. A. Bowlby, vice-president; B. Van Dusen, secretary ; John C. Dement, F. J. Taylor, C. H. Page, J. W. Welch, J. A. Fulton, W. C. Smith, John Adair, George Hill, C. W. Shively, C. R. Thompson, E. A. Seeley, D. K. Warren, H. B. Parker, Gabriel Wingate, W. G. Howell, G. W. Sanborn, S. D. Adair, P. A. Trullinger.
On August 7, 1899, Henry Villard, who had opposed As- toria's ambition twenty years before, rode over the line to that city as the guest of Hammond. In 1899 the track was extended two miles from Flavel to Fort Stevens. In Septem- ber of this year a rate war was started against the road by the O. R. & N. steamboats, and the fare was cut to twenty-five cents between Portland and Astoria. The war lasted twenty- two months, until June 1, 1901.
The road gained steadily in earnings with the succeeding years and grew in value, although it did not bring to Astoria the commercial lead that the city was ambitious to win. Ex- tension to Nehalem and Tillamook was announced by Mr. Hammond July 25, 1906, and was formally authorized by the directors of the company October 22 of that year, with a fur- ther extension to Yaquina. But before the new project was developed Hammond sold the road to James J. Hill for the Great Northern and the Northern Pacific on December 19, 1907, the purchase price being $5,000,000. The cost of the road had been less than $2,500,000. This sale stopped exten- sion plans. The road was later transferred to the Spokane, Portland & Seattle (North Bank Line) which has since operated it.
The first projected railroad through Nehalem to Astoria is not yet built. In 1907, William Reid made an unsuccessful effort to carry through his old plans via Nehalem and Lewis and Clark river. His company at that time was the Portland, Oregon, Seacoast Railway. His twenty-five year endeavor for
Photo, by H. Ries. Aug. 1912
The Source of the Columbia River
View looking South across the Portage to Kootenay River
See page 245 ​
THE FUR TRADE IN THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN PRIOR TO 1811
By T. C. ELLIOTT*
One of the present activities of the historical societies of Oregon and Washington is the publication of source material relating to the early fur trade along the Columbia River. It has been a popular and to an extent a scientific habit to refer to the city of Astoria as the oldest trade center of the Old Oregon Country; some of our histories furnish evidence to that effect. It was on the 12th of April, 1811, that the officers and employees of the Pacific Fur Company were landed from the ship Tonquin and established a temporary encampment on the south side of the Columbia River, ten miles from Cape Disappointment, and immediately thereafter began the erec- tion of the trading post named by them Fort Astoria. On the 15th of July, four months later, David Thompson, the North- West Company fur trader and astronomer, coming from the source of the river recorded in his journal: "At 1 P. M., thank God for our safe arrival, we came to the house of Mr. Astor's Company, Messrs. McDougall, Stuart and Stuart, who received me in the most polite manner." And in another con- nection Mr. Thompson has recorded that the establishment then consisted of "four low log huts." It is the purpose of this paper to designate ad seriatim the trading posts that had been built and in use west of the Rocky Mountains prior to the founding of Astoria and to briefly sketch the beginnings of the fur trade on the waters of the mighty Columbia River.
The first barter with white people by the natives residing on the Columbia River was with the masters of trading vessels along the Coast, of which little record has been left to us. When Captains Lewis and Clark, the explorers, descended the river in the fall of 1805 they found among Indians living quite a distance in the interior "sundry articles which must have been procured from the white people, such as scarlet and blue
Historical Association at the University of Washington, Seattle, May 2ist, 1914.
P241I] ​
242 T. C. ELLIOTT
cloth, a sword, jacket and hat;" and in their journals also appears a list of the names of about a dozen traders who had been accustomed to frequent the Coast at the mouth of the river. When Lieut. Broughton, of the British Royal Navy, in the Chatham sailed cautiously into the Columbia River in the early afternoon of October 21, 1792, he passed at anchor behind Cape Disappointment a trading brig named the Jenny, one Captain Baker in command (after whom Baker's Bay takes its name) and Broughton records that this captain had been there earlier in the same year. The name of Captain Baker does not appear on the list of names set down by Lewis and Clark; by them this same bay was named Haley's Bay, after a trader then best known to the Chinook Indians. These brief recitals in authentic records have led some to an unanswered inquiry as to whether some itinerant trader may not have actually sailed into the Columbia River in advance of its dis- covery by Captain Robert Gray in May, 1792. The diplomats of Great Britain raised no such claim in connection with the dispute over the Oregon boundary line, however.
Turning now to the sources of the Columbia an interesting contrast exists between the beginning of trade there with that on the upper Missouri River, across the Rocky Mountain range. Manual Lisa is the name prominently conected with the Mis- souri River at that period ; immediately following the return of the Lewis and Clark expedition Lisa built a trading post on the Yellowstone River at the mouth of the Big Horn and began to purchase furs for transport to St. Louis; that was during the summer of 1807. At the same time David Thompson, a partner of the North-West Company of Canada, was building an establishment at the head waters of the Columbia from which he transported furs to the Rainy Lakes, and Fort Wil- liam on Lake Superior. Manual Lisa had troubles enough with snags and Indians along the Missouri and was resourceful to overcome them. David Thompson experienced even greater difficulties in crossing the Rocky Mountains and descending the long course of the Saskatchewan River to Lake Winnipeg. David Thompson is one of the most remarkable figures con​
FUR TRADE IN COLUMBIA BASIN PRIOR TO 1811 243
nected with the history of the Columbia River; the record of his career written with his own hand is not only of great scientific value, but an inspiration to any earnest student of the history of this Pacific Northwest. He has been described as the greatest land geographer the English race has ever pro- duced.
The Columbia River is estimated to be 1,300 miles in length and Kettle Falls, in the State of Washington, about forty miles below the Canadian boundary, marks very closely the half-way point on the river. It may be said rather broadly, then, that one-half of the river is in British Columbia and one-half in the United States, speaking of the main river and not of its branches. The statesmen who decided the Oregon boundary question did not have this equal division in mind, but nature has furnished this suggestion of their fairness.
As if to purposely render our history romantic the first trading post upon any of the waters of the Columbia River, including its branches, was built almost at the very source of the main river, near the outlet of the chain of small lakes which resolve themselves into the river. Tobey Creek, flowing east- ward from the glaciers of Mt. Nelson, of the Selkirk Range, enters the Columbia River from the west about one mile below the outlet of Lake Windermere, in the political division of British Columbia known as the East Kootenay District. Upon an open gravelly point overlooking Tobey Creek and "a long half mile" (quoting from David Thompson's original survey notes) from the Columbia stood the stockade and build- ings marking the beginning of commerce in the interior of "Old Oregon." The exact site of this house has recently be- come known by the unearthing of the old chimneys of the buildings, as well as by Indian tradition. An earlier location on Canterbury Point, Lake Windermere, at first selected was abandoned before any buildings were completed, because of exposure in procuring water for domestic use (compare with Lyman's History of the Columbia River, Putnam's Sons, 1911, page 282). "Kootenae House" was the name given to this trading post, and it is not to be confounded with the Fort ​
244 T. C. ELLIOTT
Kootenay of a later date and different location. Nor are we to forget that on the waters of the Fraser River Basin trading posts had been established in the year 1806 by Simon Fraser and his partners.
In this romantic locality David Thompson spent the fall, winter and spring of 1807-8 in company with his clerk, Finan McDonald, and six servants. He put out his thermometer and set down the first record of the weather in interior British Columbia. With other scientific instruments he determined the latitude and longitude of the House and of the lakes. He bestowed the name upon Mt. Nelson (now locally known as Mt. Hammond), which looms up so grandly to the westward of Lake Windermere, and determined its altitude. He found bands of wild horses roaming over the hills and caught some of them; he observed and made record of the habits of the salmon spawning in the river. He gathered in trade one hun- dred skins of the wild mountain goat, which brought a guinea apiece in the London market. He was besieged for some weeks by a band of Piegan Indians who crossed the Rocky Moun- tains with instructions to kill him, because the prairie Indians did not wish to have the Kootenaes supplied with firearms, powder and ball. In March, 1808, Mr. James McMillan visited him from Rocky Mt. House, on the Saskatchewan, with dog teams and sleds, bringing more trading goods and carrying back as many packs of furs. His trade was with the Kootenaes of the vicinity, and from as far south as Northwestern Mon- tana, of the United States. In April, 1808, he made an explor- ing trip down the Kootenay River as far as Kootenay Lake, and in June recrossed the Rocky Mountains with his furs and carried them to Rainy Lake House before again returning to Kootenae House for another winter. The government of British Columbia could well afford to permanently mark the site of Kootenae House in honor of this remarkable trader, astronomer and pathfinder.
At the beginning of the second winter at Kootenae House, Mr. Thompson felt sufficiently acquainted with the country
Photo. by H. Ries and T. C. Elliott
Site of "Kootenae House" near Lake Windermere, British Columbia
View looking Northeast across Valley of Columbia River
Photo. shows Michel Pete, a full blooded Kootenay Indian, standing among excavated chimney bottoms ​The Kootenay River, taking its rise in the main range of the Rocky Mountains, flows southward into the United States in Montana, and in its course passes within a mile and a half of the lake out of which as its real source the waters of the Columbia River flow northward for 200 miles before turning to the south. The divide between Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River is not a ridge or a mountain, but a level flat of gravelly soil not at all heavily timbered, which affords a very easy portage for canoes. Across this portage in November, 1808, went Finan McDonald, Mr. Thompson's clerk, with a load of trading goods, and descended the Kootenay River to a point on the north bank, just above Kootenay Falls, and nearly opposite to the town of Libby, which is the county seat of Lincoln County, Montana, and there set up two leather lodges for himself and his men, and built a log house to protect the goods and furs and spent the winter, being joined later by James McMillan, already mentioned. Here, during the winter of 1808–9, were carried on the first commercial transactions of white men south of the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, and in that part of the Old Oregon Country which afterward became a part of the United States.
News travels rapidly among the Indians and later events indicate that furs must have been brought to this winter camp from the Saleesh or Flathead country to the southeast, and from the region of Pend d'Oreille Lake to the southwest. About three years later, at a point a few miles further up the Kootenay River, but on the same side (nearly opposite Jennings, Montana), the North-West Company erected a more permanent trading post, known as Fort Kootenay, in opposition to which, in 1812, the Pacific Fur Company built another fort near by. At Fort Kootenay took place the bloodless duel between Nicholas Montour and Francis Pillet "with pocket pistols at six paces; both hits; one in the collar of the coat, and the other in the leg of the trousers. Two of their men acted as seconds, and the tailor speedily healed their wounds." This is the story told by the facile pen of Ross Cox.
​The year 1809 brought to the active notice of the North-Westers the intention of John Jacob Astor to occupy the mouth of the Columbia River, and the records of the House of Commons in London show a petition from the North- West Company for a charter which would give them prior rights to trade upon Columbian waters. David Thompson, however, was not waiting for charters, but prepared to act according to the teachings of the later David Harum, that is "to do to the other fellow as he would do to you and do it fust." He knew from the results of the winter trade at Kootenay Falls that there were Indians of a friendly disposition living to the south of the Kootenay, and doubtless he also had already some knowledge of the route of the Lewis and Clark party on their return trip in 1806, for the following year he had a copy of Patrick Gass' Journal with him as he traveled. So after a trip across the Rocky Mountains to leave his furs and obtain more trading goods, he returned to the Columbia during the summer of 1809, and from there descended the Kootenay River as far as the present site of Bonner's Ferry, in Idaho, where his goods were transferred to pack animals and taken southward across the regular Indian trail (the "Lake Indian Road," as he called it) to Pend d'Oreille Lake. And on the 10th of September, 1809, upon one of the points jutting out into the lake near the town of Hope, Idaho, he set up his leather lodge or tent upon the site of the next: trading post upon Columbian waters, which was called "Kullyspell House." A substantial log house was at once built for the protection of the goods and furs and another for the officers and men, and Mr. Finan McDonald placed in charge. Kullyspell House did not remain in active use for more than two winters, probably, other posts to the eastward and westward being found sufficient to care for the trade; but business was lively there during the season of 1809–10. Ross Cox, who passed that way in the fall of 1812, makes no mention of this Post, but John Work, when crossing the lake in 1825, mentions a camp at "the Old Fort." No trace of its site has been found in these later years. ​ ​ ​
FUR TRADE IN COLUMBIA BASIN PRIOR TO 1811 247
No sooner had the buildings of Kullyspell House been well begun than David Thompson set off again, to the southeast- ward up the Clark's Fork of the Columbia River, in the direc- tion of the principal habitat of the Saleesh Indians, a tribe more commonly but less properly known as the Flatheads. He traveled about seventy-five miles up the river to a small plain ever since known as Thompson's Prairie, and on a bench overlooking the north bank of Clark's Fork River, located his next trading post, called Saleesh House. Three miles below is Thompson's Falls and two miles above is Thompson River, and to the State of Montana alone belongs the distinction of preserving to history in its nomenclature a permanent refer- ence to this indefatigable and remarkable man. Thompson's Prairie appears to have been in olden times a refuge of the Saleesh Indians when pursued by their enemies, the roving Piegans or Blackfeet. Just above the prairie to the south- eastward the hills again hug the river on either side, and there is a stretch of shell or sliding rock over which the Indian trail passed. This place is locally known to the Indians as Bad Rock and across it the Piegans did not dare to pass ; and Mr. Thompson carefully placed his "House" on the safe side of Bad Rock. After acquiring firearms the Saleesh were on more of an equality with the Piegans and able to defend themselves in battle, both when hunting the buffalo along the Missouri River and in their own country. So in later years this trading post was, temporarily at least, removed further up the river beyond Bad Rock. In 1824-25 it was located where the North- ern Pacific Railroad station named Eddy now is, and later it was near Weekesville, a few miles further up the river. About 1847 Angus McDonald removed it to Post Creek, near the St. Ignatius Mission, in the beautiful Flathead Valley. Wherever located, it was the scene every winter of very lively and exten- sive trade, the Saleesh being of all the tribes of Indians the most moral and friendly in their relations with the whites, not even the Nez Perces being excepted. Missoula, Montana, today succeeds Saleesh House as the commercial center of the Flathead Country, and as a city exceeds Astoria in both popu​
248 T. d ELLIOTT
lation and batik deposits. David Thompson spent the winter of 1809-10 at this trading post, in company with his clerk, James McMillan, who arrived in November by way of Kootenay River with additional trading goods. Again, in 1811-12, after his famous journey to the mouth of the Columbia, Mr. Thomp- son wintered here.
When in April, 1810, he started on his annual journey across the Rocky Mountains, Mr. McMillan accompanying him, by the usual long and wearisome series of canoe routes and port- ages, Mr. Thompson expected to be back again in the early fall, and he left Finan McDonald in charge of Saleesh House, with instructions or permission to assist the Saleesh Indians in the use of their newly-acquired firearms. Such an activity was very much to the liking of that restless Highlander, and he even accompanied the tribe on their annual buffalo hunt and took part in a successful battle with the Piegans on the plains along the Missouri River. The Piegans were so angered by this that they at once made trouble on the Saskatchewan River, further north, and prevented Mr. Thompson's party from returning over the usual mountain pass. He was com- pelled to seek a route through the Athabasca Pass, and as a result did not arrive at the Columbia at all until the middle of January, 1811, and was ice-bound for the rest of the winter at the mouth of Canoe River.
In April, 1810, when at Kullyspell House, Mr. Thompson had also engaged the services for the summer of one Jaco Finlay (whose full name was Jacques Raphael Finlay) an in- telligent half-breed, who seems to have been already living in the Saleesh country as a sort of free-hunter; and the pre- sumption is that he authorized Finlay to push the trade further west into the Skeetshoo, which would be the Coeur d'Alene Country. At any rate, when Mr. Thompson returned to the Saleesh Country in June, 1811, he found no one there nor at Kullyspell House ; but he did find both Jaco Finlay and Finan McDonald residing and trading at a new post designated as Spokane House. To Jaco Finlay, then, possibly assisted by or
Photo. by T. C. Elliott Site of "Spokane House," built in 1810 View looking West: Little Spokane river in foreground and Spokane River beyond ​
FUR TRADE IN COLUMBIA BASIN PRIOR TO 1811 249
selecting the site and erecting the first buildings at Spokane House, located on a beautiful and sheltered peninsula at the junction of the Spokane (then known as the Skeetshoo River) and the Little Spokane rivers, a spot where the Indians were accustomed to gather in large numbers to dry their fish. The location was nine or ten miles northwest of the present flour- ishing city of Spokane, which has succeeded it as a natural trade center and which today outranks Astoria in both popula- tion and commercial importance. Alex. Henry states in his journal that Spokane House was established in the summer of 1810. It was maintained as the principal distributing point in the interior by the North- West Company and later by the Hudson's Bay Company until the spring of 1826, but was then abandoned in favor of a new post at Kettle Falls (Fort Col- vile) on the direct route of travel up and down the Columbia. The cellar holes of the buildings at Spokane House can still be indistinctly seen by those who know where to look for them. In 1812, a very short distance from these buildings, the Pacific Fur Company built a rival establishment, which was maintained until the dissolution of that company in the fall of 1813.
There remain to be mentioned three other valid attempts to establish trade relations in the basin of the Columbia, the first of which may have antedated the building of Spokane House by a brief period. This was the enterprise of the Win- ships of Boston, who sailed into the river in the spring of 1810 and began to erect some buildings on the Oregon shore at Oak Point, about fifty miles from the sea. This attempt was abandoned almost immediately because of the sudden rise of the river with the melting of the snows inland; it was a mat- ter of weeks only and possibly of days. The second was the temporary residence of Andrew Henry, of the Missouri Fur Company, during the winter months of 1810-11 on the upper waters of the Snake River, near the present town of St. An- thony, Idaho (compare with Lyman's Hist, of the Columbia River, page 109). The overland party of Astorians found his abandoned cabins upon their arrival in the early fall of 1811, and it was many years afterward before Fort Hall was built ​
250 T. C. ELLIOTT
as a trading post in that general locality. The -third was the only attempt of the Hudson's Bay Company to compete with their rival, the North-West Company, for the Indian trade west of the Rocky Mountains. Alexander Henry makes mention in his journal of the starting off of this expedition from Rocky Mountain House on the Saskatchewan in the summer of 1810, under the charge of Joseph Howse, and states that James Mc- Millan was sent to follow and keep watch of them. David Thompson, when near the source of the Columbia in May, 1811, on his way from Canoe River to the Saleesh Country and beyond, met an Indian who told him that this Hudson's Bay Company party was already returning and was then at Flathead Lake. It is not positive where this party spent the winter, but in his "Fur Hunters of the Far West" (Vol. 2, p. 9), Alexander Ross places them on Jocko Creek in Missoula County, Montana, near where the town of Ravalli is now sit- uated ; while an early edition of the Arrowsmith map of British North America (which maps were dedicated to the Hudson's Bay Company, and purported to contain the latest informa- tion furnished by that company), shows their trading post at the head of Flathead Lake very near to where the city of Kalispell, Montana, now is.
The editor of a prominent newspaper in Montana, upon read- ing of the establishment of Saleesh House by David Thomp- son in the year 1809, wrote that they were beginning to feel quite antiquated in Western Montana. Trade in the Kootenay District of British Columbia antedated the building of Astoria by three and a half years, and that in the Flathead Country of Montana by one and a half years, and that at Spokane, Washington, by at least six months. The cities that have become the commercial centers of these interior districts have not been built upon the exact sites of the early trading posts unless that may be said as to Spokane, Washington, but have all been built along the same established Indian trails or roads, and these have become the transcontinental railroads of today.
Search for the existing records of these early enterprises
SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF GENERAL E. L. APPLEGATE
By Author:George Stowell of Sitka, Alaska
"Lish" Applegate is a familiar name to the pioneers of the "Emerald State." At one time his fame was as extended as its borders. He was by all odds the most picturesque figure that has appeared on the stage of Oregon history. His personal appearance was of a sort immediately to attract attention. His physique was lithe and willowy—tall and somewhat gaunt, his manner of speech unique and his mental traits peculiar—indeed, he was "Lish" Applegate and has had no double.
I became acquainted with him during the winter of 1859-60. I was then living with my parents in Eugene, and he came there that winter to edit the People's Press, a Republican journal which had been recently established in that thriving young town by B. J. Pengra and some other "free soilers."
"Lish" was in the springtime of life then, and surcharged with the abounding vigor which characterized the young men of pioneer days. His avocation, coupled with the fact of his being a scion of a prominent and influential family, gave him immediate access to all the homes in the town and he was soon a conspicuous figure at nearly every social gathering.
He was gifted with a remarkable memory, had a vivid imagination, a keen sense of humor and was master of a picturesque style of speech. Although his vocabulary was extensive, his pronunciation was not hampered by the rules of lexicographers. These gifts and oddities made him a very interesting raconteur and he never permitted a strict adherence to verities to mar a narrative. He had seen a good deal of pioneer life in its various phases, and his experiences among those early settlers formed the texture of his stories. The droll and graphic manner in which those experiences were related, together with the drawling tone, startling pronunciation of familiar words, and the subtle tinge of the ludicrous imparted to them by a semi-grotesque imagination made him the central figure of all the social gatherings he attended.
​In those days Eugene was a Methodist stronghold, consequently it was necessary at our social gatheings to devise other means of entertainment than dancing and card playing, as these amusements were then under the ban of that church. Singing was found to be the best substitute for these inhibited frivolities, and therefore became quite a feature of those social parties. In order to meet this condition a few of the young people made it a point to practice singing together sufficiently to enable them to reach the end of a tune simultaneously. Applegate, although unable to sing even a note, was fond of music, and our singing, the writer of this being one of those warblers, pleased him so well that he would intermit his rehearsals occasionally for the purpose of listening to it. Notwithstanding his inability to sing he had some music in his soul, and considerable poetry in his nature. One day just after one of those social gatherings he met me on the street, and after the usual greeting asked if I knew he was a poet. Upon receiving a negative reply, he remarked, that although not a special favorite of the muse, it visited him occasionally. He said that when attending his father's toll road in southern Oregon, he lived alone in a rude cabin in the depths of a forest, and that at one time the divine afflatus so influenced him that he was moved to compose a lyric poem, which he proceeded to draw from his coat pocket and read without further ceremony. The production was not without merit, but it has all passed from my memory excepting the first four lines, which were as follows:
"Whilst reposing one night in my cabin alone
I thought on the sadness of a bachelor's life— What a desolate place for a man to call home
That slumbers all silent of children and wife."
He said the meter fitted the tune of "Family Bible," which was somewhat in vogue then, and requested me to sing it at our next sociable, and that favorable mention of it would appear in the following issue of his paper; but as I was not seeking fame along that line the request was not favorably considered.
​As an editorial writer he was a success. Some of his leaders written that winter were powerful, their texture being a combination of logic, wit, sarcasm and eloquence. It was a golden era for political writers. The country was stirred to its depths over fundamental principles of government, involving, as they did, social and moral problems. "Lish" was a champion of the Republican party. That party was young then and stood for great principles. The purpose of its organization was to withstand the aggressive policy of the slave holders. Although believing slavery was morally wrong and an industrial mistake, still it did not propose to interfere with it in the States where it existed, but was strenuously opposed to its extension. Its principles were of a kind to enlist the young and generous, and in its formative period was largely a young men's party.
He did his work so well as an editor that upon the opening of the Presidential campaign of 1860 he was employed by the Republican Central Committee to canvass the State for Abraham Lincoln. In this role he was also a success. Indeed, he was the peer of any of the speakers of that campaign, in Oregon, with the exception of that renowned orator, Col. E. D. Baker. His success was so marked that his friends predicted a brilliant future for him. Indeed, the outlook was bright, but coming years developed that in that campaign he reached the zenith of success and ceased to grow in intellectual power. It is true he continued to be an important factor in Oregon politics for many years thereafter, but he never attained the prominence in the councils of his party or in the affairs of state that his friends predicted he would. The cause of this arrest of development was lack of application and over-indulgence in intellectual whimsies. The science of political economy and the true principles of statesmanship do not come by intuition even to the most acute and luminous minds. The old maxim "there is no excellence without great labor" applies to everyone, no matter how great his intellect may be. Furthermore, an ever increasing tendency to grotesqueness and buffoonery in the discussion of all sorts of subjects seemed gradually to sap his ​
RECOLLECTIONS OF E. L. APPLEGATE 255
power for that close and lucid thinking which characterized his earlier efforts, until his mind became the habitat of divers sorts of sophisms and vagaries.
Soon after Lincoln's inauguration, B. J. Pengra was ap- pointed Surveyor General of Oregon, and Applegate accepted a position as transcribing clerk in his office, at a salary of twelve hundred a year. That a man who had gained such plaudits by his tongue and pen in the field of political debate should accept such a subordinate position is almost unthinkable by the men of this generation, but it was different then. Such positions were considered posts of honor in those days. Some prominent men accepted clerkships at that period. Indeed, one such Hon. J. H. D. Henderson vaulted directly from a transcribing clerk's desk, in the same office, to a seat in Con- gress.
It is quite probable that the character of the work per- formed by the subject of this sketch would not have met with the hearty approbation of a modern civil service expert. Nev- ertheless he retained the place for a year or two, that is, until lack of appropriations necessitated a heavy reduction in the clerical force of the office. After leaving the office he moved to Southern Oregon and remained there until the spring of 1865, when he was appointed Surveyor General, taking the place of Pengra, who declined to be a candidate for reappoint- ment. He held the position almost six years nearly two years after his appointment expired. His administration of the affairs of the office was creditable. Although almost entirely devoid of executive ability himself he had the sagacity to select for his chief clerk, Mr. Joel Ware, a remarkably clear headed man, who possessed fine clerical, executive and administrative ability.
At one period of his incumbency he seemed in imminent dan- ger of losing his official head. It was when Andrew Johnson turned turtle and was engaged in a mortal political combat with the United States Senate. It was a period that tried office- holders' souls. They did, indeed, seem to be "between the devil and the deep sea." As the contest between the executive ​
256 GEORGE STOWELL
and legislative branches of the Government thickened, the silence of the average office-holder deepened. Not so with Applegate. He believed Johnson was wrong and perversely so, and he had the courage of his convictions. He believed the pol- icy of Johnson was pernicious, and he was unsparing of his criticisms of it. He was instant in season and out of season in his denunciations. A street corner, a store or public square served for a forum, and one or two persons were considered a sufficient nucleus for an audience. In that he was not mis- taken, for in those days, whenever he began to talk on political subjects, quite a number would gather around him. On one occasion when he had been more than ordinarily severe in his criticisms of the President, some one asked him if he were not afraid of losing his official head in consequence of such intem- perate arraignment of the administration. With a look and tone of intense scorn he replied, "Afraid of losing my official head; afraid of losing my official head! Does any one have such a mean opinion of me as that ? Does any one believe that I have sunk so low that I would barter my intellectual freedom and my prerogative as an American citizen for a little official pap ? Perish the thought ! When I reach that stage of degen- eration may a thunderbolt from heaven, red with uncommon wrath, smite me, and leave no trace or memory of me on the earth." "That is all well enough, General," remarked a by- stander, "but what would you do for a living if you should lose your position?" "What would I do to make a living?" he ex- claimed, his eyes again ablaze with supreme scorn, and then answered, "I would dig potatoes for Smith, cut cordwood for Jones, haul manure for Davidson ; and if the worst descended to a profounder worst, I might consent to accept a clerkship in Mr. - 's dry goods store." The tenure of office act
which came into effect shortly after this incident probably pre- vented his political cranium from rolling into the headman's basket.
It was during his term of office that I entered the service. Although spasmodic in the conduct of business and at times unduly exacting, taking it altogether he was not a hard task​
RECOLLECTIONS OF E. L. APPLEGATE 257
master. His fondness for talking prevented such a misfor- tune for his assistants. He would frequently regale his clerks with stories, the merits of which did not often consist of their brevity. Occasionally he would take them into his confidence and tell them of some great project he had in view.
One morning he announced that he had concluded to write a book on logic. In it would be enunciated an original syllo- gism which he was confident would startle the philosophic world and place the author on a pedestal of enduring fame. This new syllogism would demonstrate that instinct is superior to defective reason. He said he would prove the soundness of his proposition by arguments adduced from facts, with which all observant people of that community, at least, were familiar. In short, he remarked, "I will prove by Mr. , a promi-
nent merchant of Eugene, and the farmers of the surrounding country, that my position is unassailable. It is a deplorable fact," he continued, "that there lurks in almost every human breast the desire to get the best of a bargain in plain words, to cheat somebody, and even the horny-handed farmers, I am loth to say, are not entirely clear of this iniquitous taint. These farmers come to our town to buy supplies for themselves and families. Upon reaching the burg they decry their merchant, whose stupid appearance attracts their attention and excites their curiosity. He immediately becomes a subject of their inquiry and they are delighted to learn that he is a merchant and has a store in town. The moral taint that was lying dor- mant in their natures begins to ferment at once and a process of sinister reasoning is the result. Their ratiocinations are from the premises suggested by the merchant's appearance and the facts relating to his general mentality which they gather from casual conversations about him on the street. Their
line of reasoning is as follows : Here is Mr. . He is
witless and stupid. He is a merchant engaged in trade here. I will go to his place of business to make my purchases, and my superior mentality will do the rest. Now this reasoning is seemingly sound, but in reality it is defective, in that it over- looks an important factor in the case. In their reasoning they ​
258 GEORGE STOWELL
do not take into consideration the law of heredity and the fact
that Mr. 's ancestors have been merchants for a
thousand years, and although almost devoid of intellect he is thoroughly saturated with 'calico instinct.' Defective rea- soning brings these farmers to his store, and leads them across
the threshold. At this point they confront Mr. 's
hereditary instinct and in due time emerge from his establish- ment shorn closer than a summer lawn. Consequently, we see, and must concede that instinct is superior to defective reason-
ing."
I never heard him mention the matter thereafter, nor have I. seen a book or treatise on logic, bearing his name as author, and it is presumed he abandoned his purpose of reaching the abode of the immortals by that pathway.
Later on he announced his intention of producing a great poem a cosmic epic the world and its history to be its all- embracing subject. Indeed, he said he had commonced writ- ing it already. Upon our solicitations he consented to repeat what he had written, which was as follows :
"In the olden time when the world was new and tribes of men were fierce and few" and then remarked that that was all he had yet composed, but would report progress as he pn> ceeded. Inasmuch, however, as he never again made any ref- erence to the matter it is surmised that this great purpose went "darkling in the trackless void" also.
In the spring of 1871 his successor in the office was ap- pointed and "Lish" moved to the Mohawk Valley in the north- eastern part of Lane county, and made his abode on a farm he had purchased a short time before his retirement from the pub- lic service, and turned his attention, or nominally so, to agri- cultural pursuits. His success in that line of endeavor was not so brilliant as to inspire the admiration of his friends for his ability in bucolic pursuits.
While in Eugene one day during his residence on the farm he called at the office, for the purpose, he said, of obtaining an interpretation of the "Golden Rule," and upon being told that it was believed to mean just what it said, and that any ​
RECOLLECTIONS OF E. L. APPLEGATE 259
attempted explanation or interpretation of it would be more likely to befog than elucidate, he exclaimed, "Well, well; no light to be obtained here ! You are like the great multitude just read right along, swallowing it as you go, without taking into consideration what has gone before, or thought of what may come after in the book you are perusing. What an unre- flecting and inconsiderate generation ! Does not the book in which the golden rule appears admonish us that we must think no evil of our fellow men ; should have charity for all and put the best possible construction upon all their acts?" It was admitted that such was its teachings. "Well, then," he contin- ued, "am I not bound to believe that whatsoever a person does to me is what he wishes me to do to him. Is not this assump- tion a fair logical deduction from the premises?" It was sur- mised that some incident had caused him to weave this web, and some one asked him for the reason of his inquiry. "Well," he replied, "a few days ago a neighbor rode across my pasture, left the fence down and permitted my cattle and horses to stray away. When the fact was discovered by me this teaching of Holy Writ came to my mind, was deeply pondered, and the more I pondered the more charitably disposed I became, until at last I reached the conclusion that what he had done to me was what he wanted me to do to him, and therefore I rode across his pasture, left his fence down and let his stock stray away." In June, 1872, the regular biennial election of county officers occurred. "Lish" deposited his vote early in the morning at the polling place for Mohawk precinct and then came to Eugene to be at Republican headquarters when the returns were com- ing in. One of the candidates on the Republican ticket was not his choice. His favorite, although a staunch Republican, was running as an independent candidate. "Lish's" mental attitude being generally known, he was accused upon his arrival in town of not having voted the "straight" Republican ticket. He vigorously resented the allegation, and vehemently averred that he voted it as straight as a shingle. About midnight a messenger from Mohawk came to Republican headquarters bearing a report of the result of the election in that precinct. ​
260 GEORGE STOW ELL
Applegate was present when the report was read, and mani- fested some symptoms of dismay when it was announced that that particular candidate had not received a vote. Upon being requested to explain the discrepancy between his state- ment and the returns, he said that when taking the ballot and stretching it to its full length he noticed a crook in it, and straightened it out before voting it. The report, as it was ascer- tained later, was not correct in that particular, but the drinks was on "Lish" just the same.
It was during this period that he prepared his lecture on Mohammed and the Koran. He conceived the notion that a lecture upon that dual subject would "take well" with the peo- ple. He took unusual care in its preparation. It was quite an able production, and being generously studded with ludicrous observations and quaint similes it was, on that account, well received by people who knew nothing and cared less, about the subject under discussion. The plaudits it received from his friends and neighbors induced him to believe that its presenta- tion in the Eastern States would be successful. With this pur- pose in view, he subjected it to some revisions, and greater elaboration of preparation. He also trained himself in voice culture, not in the way of its finer modulation, but in the devel- opment of its power, so that it might be heard by a vast audi- ence. He carried out his purpose and went East, but perhaps his success in the lecture field was not as great as he and his friends had hoped. His tour did not result in considerable addi- tion to his fame or fortune.
After a few years of rural life he removed his family to Al- bany in order that his children might have better educational advantages ; and soon afterwards he accepted a position in the U. S. Custom Service at Portland. It was while occupying this place that he was nominated for Presidential elector by the Republican State Convention of 1880. His nomination was a surprise, and came without his seeking or any considerable effort on the part of his friends until a few hours before it was made. ​
RECOLLECTIONS OF E. L. APPLEGATE 261
The convention had finished all of its preliminary business and adjourned until a certain hour in order that the committee on platform might have time to prepare a report. When the convention reconvened the committee had not completed its work, and asked for more time. While waiting, speakers were called upon to address the convention, and among them was Applegate. He responded, with a speech of great vigor replete with wit and eloquence and bristling with telling points. He had been in retirement for so many years that he was a stranger to a majority of the delegates, and they were so im- pressed with his effort that the notion that he would be a good standard bearer took possession of them and when the ballot- ting for electors took place he was one of the chosen. His speeches during that campaign added nothing to his fame, and after its close he went into comparative retirement for several years. In 1888, however, he stepped into the arena again, and took a part in the Presidential contest of that year. Shortly after the inauguration of Harrison he was appointed agent for the Klamath Indian Reservation in Southeastern Oregon. It was perhaps a place he was least suited to fill, of all the offices in Oregon which were at the disposal of the President. At any rate it soon developed that he was not the man for the position, not because of lack of general ability or financial honesty, for there was never a suspicion of crookedness that I ever heard of in connection with his administration of the financial affairs of his office, but he lacked the tact and the self-restraint which are so essential in a position of that kind. It was not long after assuming the duties of his office that there was friction between him and the church authorities that had supervision of the educational and religious work among the Indians on the reservation, and after a time it became so serious that a change was required and a successor to Applegate was ap- pointed. On account of this action "Lish" considered that he had been unjustly treated by the administration and was in- tensely embittered. His resentment was about equally divided between President Harrison, who performed the act, and the church that occasioned it. He was heard to say after the con​
262 GEORGE STOW ELL
test was over, that thus far in his career he had been able to "withstand the world, the flesh and the Devil, but I find now that the Methodist Church is a little too much for me."
After this event he ceased to affiliate with the Republican party, and soon entered the fold of Populism. The reserva- tion episode and its result was probably the occasion and not the cause of his leaving the Republican party and casting in his lot with the Populists, for even when a nominal Republican he was in sympathy with some of their cherished doctrines. In the days when resumption of specie payment was an issue he vigorously opposed it and was what was termed a "Green- backer," and as a logical sequence, was an advocate of the free coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1 when that question be- came an issue.
In the campaign of 1892 he was strenuous in his opposition to the re-election of General Harrison, and rejoiced over his defeat. Notwithstanding his defection from its ranks, he still retained a warm spot in his heart for the old party which he had helped to organize and build up, and which had been the pride of his youth, and when his new political associates were exulting over its tremendous defeat, he manifested but little elation remarking to a friend that an exhibition of hilarity over it would savor too much of merry making at the funeral of an old friend, although he was gratified at the downfall of Harrison. With this campaign his active participation in poli- tics ceased, although he continued loyal to his later political affinity until his death, which occurred at Ashland in the autumn of 1895.
The announcement of his passing quickened a train of sad reflections in the minds of his friends of earlier years. Their thoughts went back to the days of his young manhood, when the possibilities of the future for him seemed almost boundless, and the pathway to a glorious fame appeared unobstructed; and then traced his career, with its ever diminishing promise, until it ended in disappointment and comparative failure, and their hearts were made heavy by the thought of what he might but did not attain. Indeed, this blight of a bright promise was ​profoundly regretted by the companions of his young manhood, for they realized that the great mental powers with which nature had endowed him had been frittered away or injudiciously used; that a career which resulted in such meager fruitage and ended in eclipse might have been renowned for its usefulness and long remembered for its great achievements.
PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF SAMUEL L. SIMPSON
By W. W. FIDLER.
My first meeting with Oregon's sweetest singer, Samuel L. Simpson, was wholly unexpected. I had been in the habit for many years of treasuring up the superior specimens of poetry, with which he so greatly enriched our earlier literature, but had about abandoned the hope of ever making his personal acquaintance, when unlooked-for circumstances brought him to my very door. I was sitting alone in my lonesome cabin, away back in the mountains near the head of Williams Creek, Jackson County, quietly musing, as is the wont of single gentlemen similarly circumstanced, when "there came a sudden rapping at my chamber door," the same as came to Edgar Allen Poe in days of yore. I obeyed the summons with reasonable alacrity, when in walked a young lad I knew as George Huffer, followed by a medium-sized man of some thirty odd years of age, whom he introduced as "Mr. Simpson." "What, not the poet?" said I. On being assured that my implied guess was correct, I toned down my excitement as gracefully as possible, and proceeded to make them welcome. The conversation first turned to practical, matter-of-fact affairs, and not to poetry. Mr. Simpson and his companion were on an expedition to the recently discovered Josephine County caves; they had camped down by the creek and wanted some feed for their pony. Although they already had their blankets spread for a night's ​repose upon mother earth, I induced them to move up to the house, promising to go with them and show them the way to the caves.
Just why this brilliant writer of incomparable verse should have chosen that particular time and that particular route to visit a spot which, as yet, had excited no great furore among sightseers, never fully penetrated my comprehension until some years later, when I learned that it was a ruse of J. H. Huffer's, an uncle of Sam's by marriage, to get the author of "Beautiful Willamette" weaned off from a protracted spree that he had been cultivating with disastrous assiduity for many, many years. For it may as well be admitted right here at the beginning of our story, that this exceptional genius was sadly handicapped in his efforts to do something worthy the fame of so rare an intellect, by a master failing that mocks at noble effort, and that trails the highest ambition in the dust. And that good old charitable maxim that tells us we should "say nothing but good of the dead," cannot always be observed with the strictest fidelity. When you say nothing but good of a man, you are apt to get a misfit biography. No man has a right to assume that his worst mistakes will not be remembered and repeated against him as a warning to future generations. It is thus that we get some of our most impressive temperance sermons. The life-failure of such a man as Samuel Leonidas Simpson should be accounted for historically and truthfully, and the cause of it all is summed up in that one word we are forced to use with so much reluctance inebriate. Somebody has already described him in print as "the most drunken poet, and the most poetical drunkard that ever made the Muses smile or weep," and I am not authorized to dispute the arraignment.
But now for the caves. The next day we packed our bedding and commissary stores on the pony and took it afoot over the rough mountain ranges that separated us from the scene of our destination. "Old Grayback," as the principal mountain is fitly called, is no trivial elevation for a man to tackle whose equestrian feats have been mainly restricted to the rid​ing of a Pegasus winged or otherwise. Its lofty summit is streaked with snow nearly the entire summer, and it is of itself one of the most picturesque and prominent landmarks of the surrounding country. From its higher altitudes you get a splendid glimpse of what Joaquin Miller would call:
Snow-topped towers that crush the clouds And break the still abode of stars,
Like sudden ghosts in snowy shrouds,
Now broken through their earthy bars.
Scenery to inspire poetical imagery in the dullest mind greets the visitor to these Alpine heights. If our comrade with the Pegasus habit failed to take advantage of the situation, it was not the fault of the scenery. Possibly he was too busy with other reflections. And then big mountains are too common, and too hard to climb, for all to get a front seat in our literature at the start. To be satisfied that Sam could do good work in this line, one has only to read his royal tributes to "Hood" and other peaks. And after he has once clothed a subject, be it mountain peak, gurgling brook, flowing river or waterfall -- with the classical garniture so richly provided by his poetic fancy, it is a little bit discouraging for any other genius to try to handle the same subject. Hence I am led to regret that our "Old Grayback" -- despite its unlyrical name -- did not get a poetical lift at his hand. That is about the only important "lift" it is now seriously in need of.
It was after a hard day's travel that we reached the caves, oil a western spur of Old Grayback, and struck camp in the heart of the Siskiyous. But alas for the man who was subject to bibulous temptation, some parties had been there just ahead of us and left a part of a bottle of liquor leaning up against the rocks, with its mouth open, ready to make a most tantalizing appeal to any comer afflicted with a chronic thirst. We watched Sam carefully as he eyed his familiar enemy, but he soon turned his attention to something else, with the remark that if he had run across that a day or two sooner he would have felt forced to make use of it. During the night he got up, ​ostensibly to look after the pony, or after the bottle, I'm not sure which. Anyhow, the pony charged his hardship with unlooked-for equine ferocity, apparently for no other reason than that Sam had once lampooned the whole Cayuse species in a poem published in the Overland. Fortunately for the poet, the steed brought up at the end of his tether and our bard was spared to write and run again.
Our examination of the caves next day was only cursory and perfunctory, and didn't tend to confirm my hope that a literary masterpiece, somewhat after George D. Prentice's immortal tribute to Mammoth Cave, would be the result. Simpson did subsequently write a piece of fiction that dealt with his trip to the caves, but it was too full of fiction to be of any worth as a description of the place, and was hardly worthy of the author of "The Lost Cabin."
On our return to my place of residence, I prevailed on Sam to stop over with me for the winter and try to get out an edition of his poems. This he readily assented to, but, to my surprise, he confessed that he did not have a single scrap of one of his poems with him. Fortunately I had many of his choicer pieces pasted away for my own personal enjoyment, and these became a nucleus to begin with. We gathered up some in the neighborhood, and his sister sent him some we didn't have. But it was the understanding between us that he was to get his muse, his Pegasus, his divine afflatus, or whatever we may choose to call it, in working order and swell the volume with new gems fresh from the mint. As a preliminary he started in reading all the books in my library, and many of them were first-class poetical works, like Homer, Virgil, Pope, Byron, Wordsworth, Praed, Swinburne and others. Beside, I had some classical works that were all Greek, or Latin, which was just as bad, to me, but of splendid service to a man of his education. He very soon made me aware of the fact that he was an omnivorous reader. Book after book was gone through, and yet no addition to the volume of original verse. I tried to encourage him to get down to business, even though he didn't produce something equal to his best.
​"You think you must not write anything unless it is as good as 'The Beautiful Willamette,'" I remarked to him, one day. "That has exercised a sort of tyranny over me," was the reply.
For the first time, perhaps, in many years, our favorite bard was now thoroughly sobered up and continued so all winter, for the very sufficient reason that there was nothing there of an intoxicating nature for him to get hold of, and he didn't have ready cash enough about him to buy even a plug of tobacco, though he craved it intensely. It was no doubt the most abstemious period of his life. But it was the making of a man of him once more; he felt it and talked it. With a little financial assistance just at that moment, he might have stood forth rehabilitated and strong enough to ward off temptation. I know from his conversation that this was what he looked forward to with keenest hope. But no matter how excellent poetry he might write, the market seemed completely stalled, so far as his offerings were concerned. In the language of another singer no doubt similarly circumstanced, he might have exclaimed:
Ah, who will take my outcast rhymes— That knew nor name nor hearth; But rained like crowding autumn leaves, Upon a glutted earth!
He took a notion at one time that he would help me in my work of making rails. Not a very brilliant vocation of course, for a man of his brilliancy, who had been used to drawing a one-hundred-and-fifty-dollar salary as a writer on Bancroft's History of the Pacific Coast, but it showed good intentions. Abraham Lincoln had made rails successfully, and had rode on that reputation largely, into the White House; why, then, should an Oregon poet scorn such an humble task? But his judgment in selecting rail timber I could not commend. He went out one day alone, and cut down and cut up a tree that would just about twist clear around in the length of a rail cut. I explained to him the embarrassing difficulties of opening such a cut, and he very wisely took my word for it, without trying to test the matter experimentally. He also wanted to ​try his hand at mining, but knew as little about that as he did about making rails. At last, however, he got settled down to writing poetry and was then in his proper element.
In the first place, he had the education and scholastic training necessary to enable him to put his thoughts on paper in a manner that could defy the critics; and this enabled him to say what he had to say with boldness and freedom. He worked as I have seldom seen men work before or since, barely stopping long enough to eat and help with the culinary chores. If genius is "the faculty of taking infinite pains," as some one describes it, he had it to perfection. Often, on going in at noon or at night, I would hear him, long before I got near the house, going over his numbers to be sure they had the right sound and rhythm before he would transmit them to paper. When once he had his lines put down, they were apt to be in every way correct and as he wanted them to remain. Seldom was it that he had to interline or reconstruct a stanza after it was written, though he often threw away a good verse, containing an excellent poetical idea, because of his failure to get a suitable rhyme. For he, like most of our Oregon poets, recognized the controlling influence of certain fixed rules for the construction of poetry. He did not, as did Walt Whitman, repudiate such trammels, that he might soar more easily to imperial heights. Any performance is apt to be noteworthy in proportion to the difficulties in the way of its accomplishment. Still there are people in the world men of unquestioned literary attainments and seemingly in their natural senses who are capable of saying that Walt Whitman wrote poetry. He did observe one rule, and I believe only one he was very particular to have every line commence with a capital letter, without regard to length or rhythm. But as for sound, his lucubrations might just as well have been called prose. Or, if the rules of construction can be pushed aside for one author upon such things, people should make allowance for those writers who accept the handicap of rules and those who do not. Once let all writers be equally emancipated from the conventional thraldom of the rules, think ​what flood-gates of alleged poesy would be opened up! Any sort of "barbaric yaup" could then pass muster as poetry. May the "sacred Nine" forever and a day forbid!
One day Sam accosted me with the remark: "I believe you say you like anapestic verse the best." I assented to the correctness of the surmise, when he added that it "had a better swing." Then he told me he was writing a poem in that measure and wanted to know if I knew anything about the miners of Jacksonville having, in an early day, executed an Indian by hanging. After refreshing my memory a little, I told him it was not the miners who hung him, but the military, under direction of Col. C. S. Drew. Indian George had been arrested for some alleged depredation, and without any trial by the civil authorities, was taken to Camp Baker, near Phoenix, and made a good Indian of, as Col. Drew expressed it at the time. This was not done, however, without some protest from the Indian agent, Rogers, and from many of the prominent citizens. Arriving at Camp Baker, matters proceeded expeditiously. A number of persons went up from Jacksonville to witness the strangulation. ToH. B. Oatman, I believe, was accorded the privilege of driving the wagon out from under the Indian. The Oatman family had been pretty much all massacred on the plains by the Apaches, hence the pleasure its surviving member took in the grewsome work of making "good Indians" out of bad ones whenever opportunity offered. And with that family, Indians were nearly all bad.
On this occasion, Indian George gave a loud war whoop as the wagon began to move out from under him, and the surrounding hills perhaps the only thing present in sympathy with the victim echoed the cry for a brief second of time, when the slowly tightening noose completed the work of life extinguishment. But what cared Col. Drew. As Simpson states it:
He was only an Indian, the son of Old Mary,
Swarthy and wild, with a midnight of hair
That arose, as he sped to the Lethean ferry,
Like a raven of doom in the quivering air. ​Ah, his crime? I've forgotten, it was something or other Judge Lynch's decisions were never compiled;
But we left him, at last, with his forest-born mother,
And she camped by the tree that had strangled her child.
Historically speaking, this is not strictly accurate. Old Mary did not camp "by the tree that had strangled her child," but had him removed near her wigwam on the hill east of Jacksonville, where the vigil that Sam so pathetically described in his poem was carried on. Sam had his version of the affair from W. A. McPherson, another poet and journalist, who must have got his information second hand also, and did not get it very straight. After my explanation of the incident, Simpson saw he was a little off, but said he would let it go at that.
He gave the piece the title of "Jacksonville Mary," at first, but when I expressed dissatisfaction with the name, he changed it to the strikingly appropriate one that it now bears, "The Mother's Vigil." It contained twelve full stanzas originally, of which the following three were the concluding ones:
Alone when the sombre and skeleton branches Thrilled in the rush of the ship-wrecking storm, And the glad little children, in hamlets and ranches, Laughed at the ingle-side, ruddy and warm;
Alone, the sibyls of springtime, returning,
Flung over the forests an emerald mist;
And alone, when the stars of midsummer were burning, And the musk roses dreamed of the god they had kissed.
While the years have gone on, and the flush times have faded, Forever the smoke of her vigil ascends,
And the oak, all the while, that poor altar has shaded,
Like a penitent soul that would make some amends.
And still, from his ashes, the dead day arises
A blossoming wonder of beauty and truth,
And the myrtle-wreathed moon, in all gentle disguises,
Remembers, and twines her a chaplet of ruth. ​Te Deums may roll in the gloom of old arches,
Where the white-handed preacher coquettes with his God,
But Truth finds her own in long battles and marches,
And the flowers will shine on that tear-sprinkled sod.
When the fire has gone out and the vigil is ended,
Poor Mary may sleep with the loved and the leal,
For the stars will mount guard over the ashes she tended,
And the beauty of morning return there to kneel.
Some of these predictions have certainly been realized ere this. "Poor Mary" no doubt sleeps, as it was said she would, and the flowers, if happily left to the laws of, nature, perhaps regularly "shine o'er that tear-sprinkled sod." But not least of the tributes paid to such marked fidelity, is the immortal chaplet of verse which Oregon's truest and best poet has thus paid to the memory of an unfortunate member of an unfortunate race, and Jacksonville Mary now seems as imperishably enshrined in literature as are Pocahontas and Minnehaha.
When the poem was first tendered me to peruse, I did not catch its full beauty, owing to the difficulty I had in making out Sam's excellent handwriting, and it was not until we obtained a printed copy that my admiration rose to a full sense of its superior excellence. But the printed copy was a long time reaching us. When a copy finally did reach us, it showed that a portion of the second verse, for some unaccountable reason, had been left out, and it is not likely that anyone at this time has the full poem in his possession.
With the work of writing original verse now thoroughly under way, there was no occasion for trying to encourage the poet to greater diligence. His application to work gave assurance of a speedy accomplishment of the task he had in hand. He turned off poem after poem without any attempt at intermission or rest. "The Mother's Vigil" was speedily followed by "Milliarium Aureum," "The First Fall of Snow," "Sayonara," "Jump-off-Joe," "Williamsburg," "Forever," "Love Will Surely Come Tomorrow" and "Campfires of the Pioneers," till he had a creditable sized volume ready for the printer. But to find a publisher there was the rub. Like ​members of the craft generally, our poet laureate was too poor to bear the expense himself, and if he had any zealous friends among the book folk or moneyed people, they didn't exhibit a great deal of expedition in showing up. This was perhaps largely due to the fact that, while he could write the best of verse, he was not well versed in thrifty business methods.
The temples of youth are decaying
In Beulah, the beautiful vale,
While life has been wearily straying
Away from its radiant pale
To the waters of Marah, all sobbing,
The sorrow of desolate years.
The sorrow and tremulous throbbing
Of hopes that have darkened to fears.
"Forever, forever, forever!"
Is the song of a dolorous river— The wail of the river of tears.
Where mountains in desolate places
Are crouching, bare-kneed, in the sand,
Hoary sphinxes, with mystical faces,
Wide gazing in revery grand;
The garlands I twine by the river
Are fillets of flame on my brow,
And the crystalline chime of Forever
Is the dirge of Elysium now.
"Forever, forever, forever!"
Was the chant of the musical river,
That sang me a treacherous vow,
There's an odor of death in the flowers
That droop in this chaplet of mine,— Believe me, in sunnier hours
They breathed an aroma divine!
And so I shall wear them forever,
Unlovely endearments of death,
As I turn with sick lips and a shiver
From love's indestructible wraith.
"Forever, forever, forever!"
O sing to me, shadowy river.
And heal the old sorrows of faith."
Appreciation of Simpson's genius was not wholly wanting even from the beginning. "Ad Willamettam," when first published, received the valuable endorsement of Calvin B. ​McDonald, known to the newspaper world as the "Triple Thunderer," certainly one of the ablest writers at that time on the Pacific Slope. Equally valuable testimony was rendered by Judge J. H. Reed, an able lawyer, with strong literary leanings and conspicuously identified with the early history of the state. The money he acquired through his profession was largely expended in the mineral development of the state, especially the southern part of it. In writing from Kangaroo Camp, in the cinnabar section on the Klamath, over the nom de plume of "Bevens," he pays a tribute to our poet that I deem worth quoting in its entirety. This was as far back as December 8, 1877. He had been writing of mines and matters geological, when he suddenly turns his attention to poetry, the mail having just brought him a paper containing the poem he alludes to.
"A bas with geology ! To the dogs with diorite and porphyry and feldspar and mica schist! I have just picked up a paper containing Simpson's poem to "Hood," and hard granite and hard luck have disappeared in company, and the poem acts like the 'insane root which takes the reason prisoner.' It is what opium is to the smoker, the lotus to its eaters and hasheesh to the Oriental dreamer. It excites and it allays, and produces mental activity and intellectual voluptuousness. To us 'laymen and unlearned' as we are, it gives pleasure, and whatever in literature or art produces pleasure must be beautiful in its degree. If a higher amount of refinement or cultivation could not enjoy it, we are thankful for our crudeness. Will its author have to go abroad and get the endorsement of Walt Whitman before his countrymen will admire him and stamp him a poet or not? * * * Has Whittier or even Tennyson a better line than the following:
"The stars' sweet-eyed eternity, "Or this: "And sunset's last and ling'ring ray, Dropt by the weary hand of Day
Upon thy regal brow doth fade.
White despot of the wild Cascades!
"We know not if Simpson will ever be the fashion, but his pieces are always welcome at our camp."
And while I am making quotations I am tempted to use one more, to close with, that is as appropriate now as it was fifty years ago, when it was first uttered. Congressman Keitt, of South Carolina, in paying a most eloquent tribute to a deceased Senator, had this to say:
"The children of genius are bound together by household ties and the great of earth make but a single family. From earliest to latest of those who wear the glories of mind, there rolls a river of ancestral blood; it rolls through priest and warrior, through bard and king, through generations and empires and history, with all her wealth. There are kings of action as well as kings of thought, and both are emblazoned in the heraldry of this immortal descent."
And is it not a source of supreme pride to the State of Oregon that it had, at so early a date, a man fit for such emblazonry, and whose "raptured lines" are apt to live so long as her mountains stand, and her rivers seek the sea?
NOTE. Samuel Leonidas Simpson was born in Missouri November 10, 1845, and was the second son of Benjamin and Nancy Cooper Simpson. His father was born in Tennessee on March 29, 1818, of Scotch ancestry. His mother was a granddaughter of Col. Cooper, who was a companion of Daniel Boone in Kentucky. He crossed the plains to Oregon with his parents in 1846. His mother taught him the alphabet when he was four years old by tracing letters in the ashes on the hearthstone of the primitive cabin in Marion county in which the family lived in the early days, and then taught him to read. The first poems he ever read, as he once informed the writer of this note, was a much worn volume of Robert Burns which was given to his mother at Oregon City by Dr. John McLoughlin where the Simpson family spent the first winter. An occasional 'country school three months in the year afforded the only opportunity he had for education until he was fifteen years old. Then he was employed as a clerk in the sutler's store of his father at Fort Yamhill, a military post near the Grand Ronde Indian Reservation. It was here that he became acquainted with Lieut. Philip H. Sheridan (afterwards General), an intimate friend of his father's, and here it was that he received a copy of Byron's poems from Sheridan. When sixteen years old Mr. Simpson entered Willamette University, Salem, and was graduated in the class of 1865. Soon afterwards he became editor of the Oregon Statesman, in which his father had an interest at that time, and continued in that relation until the close of 1866. Meanwhile he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867, and began practicing; but clients were few, besides the profession of law was not to his liking, hence he entered the journalistic field, that being more to his taste, and followed that the remainder of his life. He was married to Miss Julia Humphrey, of Portland, in 1868, who bore him two sons. He died in Portland June 14, 1900, and was buried in Lone Fir Cemetery.—George H. Himes, Assistant Secretary, Oregon Historical Society.
THE INFLUENCE OF CANADIAN FRENCH ON THE EARLIEST DEVELOPMENT OF OREGON
This year of 1914 is the centennial year of the abandonment of Fort Astor, so called by the employees of John Jacob Astor. It was Fort George from 1813 to 1846. The change of the national master was the result of the visit of H. M. Sloop-of-War Raccoon. It caused the substitution of the British for the American flag. The men in charge held a meeting and resolved to go back to Fort William and their native Canada. It may be stated here that there were already two distinct classes of men in the fur trade beginning as a direct trade in furs to China. The first were a class of Highland Scots who had already become prominent in the fur trade, from which Mr. Astor chose some of his partners. These were already share owners of the Canadian North-West Company. The men with "Me" prefixed to their names—as McKay, McDougall, McKenzie—were of Highland Scotch lineage, probably prominent by the natural selection of circumstances, as Alexander McKay was the most notable man of the North-West Company, whom Astor chose as a partner in his Pacific Association. His life was sacrificed through the folly of Captain Thorn's treatment of the natives on the Tonquin. There were men not Highland born, as the Stuarts, Manson, Birnie, Black, Douglas, Simpson, Tolmie and Ogden—men of business education ; men whom it was not intended to feed on the flesh of horses or dogs.
Of the men we suppose John Jacob Astor selected from the North-West Company as partners, all were from Canada, as follows: Alexander McKay, Duncan McDougall, David and Robert Stuart ; of clerks, there were eleven,—three Americans,—James Lewis and William W. Matthews, of New York, and Russell Farhham, of Massachusetts, and eight—Alexander Ross, Donald McGillis, Uvide de Montigny, Francis B. Pillot, Donald McLennan, William Wallace, Thomas McKay and Gabriel Franchere three Canadian French and five Scotch ​
278 JOHN MINTO
Canadians; of boatmen and mechanics, eighteen in number; thirty rank and file, all Canadians and ex-North-Westers. These, had they not been used to discipline, would have killed Captain Thorn at Terra del Fuego. These men of all the grades of the fur trade they covered were used to obeying the orders of their superiors.
Fur hunting was a pursuit of chances of feast or famine, the latter from 1810 to 1830 much predominating. From Franchere's narrative I learn the North-Westers at Post Okanogan ate the flesh of ninety dogs during the winter of 1812-13. Messrs. Wallace and Halsey formed winter camps in the Willamette Valley to relieve the stringency for food at Astoria, and even then Mr. Frahchere was detailed to fish for sturgeon in the Columbia River, and mentions the relief so obtained from such contributions as apparently preventing the agonies of death by starvation.
The overland arrival of Wilson P. Hunt conduced to make Astoria the gathering point of the "needy west of the Rocky Mountains, and of the upcasts of the Pacific Ocean, though the debris from the various posts and parties of Canadian North- Westers seem to have caused accessions to the num- ber fed at Astoria. The sick with scurvy were sent to Fran- chere's camp. Franchere notes under date March 20 that Reed and Seaton led a starving band from Astoria to the hunt- ing camps of Wallace and Halsey on the Willamette, and re- turned to Astoria with a supply of dried venison.
April 11, McTavish and La Roche arrived at Fort George with nineteen voyageurs to meet the Isaac Todd loaded in Lon- don with goods for the North-West Company. The month of May was employed in preparing for return to Canada, but Clarke and Stuart (wintering partners) said there was not time to prepare, so it went over to 1814, and thus for another ten years no preparation would be made on the Pacific slope to give local support of agriculture to the profitable collec- tion of furs and peltries.
It is hard to find when and by whom agriculture locally was used in the drainage basin of the great Columbia Valley. Ex​
INFLUENCE OF CANADIAN FRENCH IN OREGON 279
perience had already proven that a New York merchant, how- ever able, could not completely conduct the fur business in a humane manner. It is proposed to follow these Canadians to the ruling power of their own organization. We will follow Mr. Franchere's party, using his inimitable narrative, from Fort George, or Astoria, to the place and the tactics that fur- nished permanent food supply. There is one point that I press upon the attention of my readers. It is that the great majority of the ruling class of the North-West Company in the field service were either Scotch by birth or descent, and largely Highlanders. From the time of the break up of clans by the military order against the McDonalds, there was time for resolute men to place themselves in a chosen line of effort, and to that influence I ascribe the large proportion of High- land Scots named in the Canadian North-West Company. After Prince Rupert's Colony was formed, McKenzie, a trader whose cache had been found and looted at the mouth of the stream now called for him, spent May, 1813, collecting salmon, dried on the skin and baled for food, in the journey back to Canada, which the wintering partners, Clarke and David Stuart, said should not be undertaken till 1814. Mr. Hunt, who had gone up the North-West coast on August 4, 1812, returned in May, 1813, from Sandwich Islands. A man of great energy, he had been to Sitka and to East Kamchatka, and had collected 80,000 skins of fur seals. But owing to the loss of the Tonquin and Alexander McKay, his presence at Astoria had been greatly needed. He welcomed them now with salt beef, pork, rice and taro root which he had brought with him. But his order to continue on was not obeyed, and he will be held largely responsible for Astor's, or the Pacific Fur Company's, failure. His neglect to provide for Fort As- toria, when he first arrived there overland, was little short of dishonor on Hunt's part.
It is to the credit of the Canadians that they refused to con- tinue occupants of Fort Astoria, and when Irving's romance is decayed, international good-will will increase. Ninety men left on April 4, 1814, and six days later bought four horses ​and thirty dogs for food. On July 14, 1814, they reached Fort William, headquarters of the Canadian North- West Company, encompassed by well cultivated grain fields under promising crops of "barley, pease and oats." Franchere notes the successful cultivation of potatoes at Astoria, also the farming and livestock extending west from Fort William towards Winnipeg, and the strife already beginning for the food from the field.
We hear or see little history of Astoria, or Fort George, for ten years after Franchere's narrative leaves it. The replacement of the American flag only causes a laugh by the occupiers in 1818, but a historical event is never a proper subject of laughter. Ten years' time was needed to compress the Canadian North-West Company into union with the Hon. Hudson's Bay Company. Then Astoria was restored, but called Fort George. The Company was now filled with men of business education, from North Britain largely, but there was heed for the most capable man they had to supervise the field service of the Oregon country, and it found him in Dr. John McLoughlin, chief trader at Fort William on Lake Superior. He was chosen chief by an association "which was composed and controlled by very active, practical and forceful men." I choose and endorse the words of F. V. Holman. Dr. John McLoughlin was chosen in 1821 to rule over such men at Fort George, or Astoria, and came to the appointment in the fall of 1824. The laborers were chiefly Canadian French, trappers and voyageurs, with a few Scottish Highlanders and less Hawaiian Islanders. The Scots were best for individual trust, and in directing Kanakas handling lumber or wheat; the French to catch and care for fur and peltries. There never were men more docile to do and to endure movement by land or water, fatigue, cold or hunger.
A Gaelic Canadian boat song, sung on the St. Lawrence by a crew of Scotch Canadians, and taken by a retiring Hud- son's Bay Company's officer to Scotland in 1824 and translated by John Wilson. The crew were six pullers and captain steerer:
The above was revived and quoted by a Colonel Berrie, near Toronto, Canada, to fill a regiment of Highland Scots to go to India against some troublesome Sikhs about 1885, and read by a wounded piper sitting in a pass of the Himalayas playing the "Cock of the North." If this story be true, the date of its making was 1829, the date of Dr. McLoughlin's claim to the site of Oregon City.
Not a word of war spirit, but a country as large as Europe, was abandoned, so far as known, on the 4th of April, 1814. The energy and practical good sense, which men esteem, left Fort George, or Astoria, and arrived at Fort William with the Franchere party on the 14th of July, and returned to Fort George in the autumn of 1824, in the person of Dr. John McLoughlin, who left the Chief Factorship of Fort William. He had the service of Peter Skene Ogden as chief trader. The first seed came to Dr. McLoughlin from Fort York and was sown near Vancouver while the new fort was under way. The most common date agreed upon of McLoughlin's beginning to plant his ex-engagees on farms in 1825.
JOHN MINTO.
CHAMPOEG, MARION COUNTY, THE FIRST GRAIN MARKET IN OREGON
By John Minto
It was named by the natives from an edible root, good for winter food, found on the south face of the Chehalem hills, on the west side of the Willamette river, opposite. The location was chosen as the site of a grain market for the Canadian farmers whom Dr. John McLoughlin induced to settle in what is now the north part of Marion county, as a market and shipping point, which position it held from 1830 to 1860. In 1843 it was chosen as an adjourned meeting place to form a provisional civil American government, which was done. So that from and after May 2, 1843, food was provided for the first important overland immigration, through the kindness of the chief factor, Dr. McLoughlin, in selling, loaning or giving food supplies at Fort Vancouver; upward of 800 of whom had that year arrived in Oregon, more than doubling the power of the provisional government. There was no serious privation in the winter of 1842–43. The great McLoughlin was incessant in 1844 in urging and aiding the growing of wheat, which was also used by him in the fall and winter of 1844–45, with like kind liberality. In 1845 Dr. McLoughlin went to London, to give an account of his stewardship, and he was forbidden in future to make such loans to American immigrants, as above related; in consequence he resigned his position and pay of $12,000 a year rather than obey. There was sufficient wheat produced in 1845, '46, '47, '48, and '49, to meet all wants.
When the Indians murdered Dr. Whitman, his wife, and twelve others, in frenzy of superstitious hate and fear, no company sent to punish them was more effective than the French
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843
In spite of the great distance which separates the two regions there are many points of contact in the history of Iowa and the history of the Oregon country the area now included in the States of Washington, Oregon, [Idaho and parts of Montana and Wyoming]. Especially interesting is the fact that a number of the men and women who helped to found the earliest communities within the present State of Iowa at an early day joined emigrant bands toiled over the long trail to Oregon, thus becoming pioneers of two Commonwealths. Scarcely had the eastern border of Iowa been settled before many of the settlers who had so lately crossed the Mississippi began to look to the Far West, to the much-discussed Oregon country.
There had been tides of emigration to Oregon from the Mississippi Valley and from the Eastern states in 1841 and 1842, but the movement seems to have attracted special interest in Iowa in the spring of 1843. Emigrant associations were formed, plans were made, routes were investigated, and finally a number of settlers from different parts of the Territory of Iowa departed for the Oregon country. In some cases it may have been pure love of adventure or the desire of the typical American frontiersman to escape the restraints of advancing civilization which induced these men to brave the dangers and hardships of the long overland journey. The hope of bettering their financial condition and of gaining better homes may have attracted others to the new Northwest. But aside from these personal motives there seems to have been a patriotic desire on the part of many to aid in the movement to settle the Oregon country and thus establish forever the claim of the United States to that rich and resourceful region.
Below are printed accounts of the organization of two of the so-called Oregon Emigrant Associations, together with instructions to prospective emigrants, copied verbatim from ​
286 "IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
newspapers of the period. These accounts illustrate the ear- nestness of the emigrants and the thoroughness with which they made preparations for the overland journey.
OREGON MEETING
[The following account of a meeting in Johnson County is reprinted literally from the Iowa Capitol Reporter (Iowa City), Vol. II, No. 14, March n, 1843. EDITOR.]
At a meeting held on the 3d of March, 1843, of the citizens of Clear Creek precinct, Johnson County, at the house of Mr. A. Gilliland, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of organizing a company to emigrate to Oregon, and devise rules by which said company shall be governed. The meeting was organized by calling John Conn, Esq., to the chair, and choosing Bryan Dennis secretary. Mr. Gilliland then explained the object of the meeting and presented a series of resolutions for the consideration of the meeting, which underwent several amendments and were adopted as a guide for the formation of a constitution.
Resolved, That the company shall draft and adopt a con- stitution for their government which shall provide for elect- ing the following officers and defining their duties, viz. : One president, two vice-presidents, four trustees, one recording sec- retary and one corresponding secretary, who shall be treasurer ex officio.
Resolved, That it shall be the duty of the trustees to inquire into the character of all applicants who wish to join the com- pany, and reject all intemperate and immoral characters. They shall also open books to receive subscriptions of stock, con- sisting of shares of fifty dollars each to be paid in cash, mate- rials or labor, as will best suit the subscribers for the purpose of building a grist and sawmill for the company, and also a schooner or sloop, if funds sufficient can be raised.
Resolved, That as soon as the company shall number twenty male members between the ages of 18 and 45, they shall hold an election and elect one captain and five subordinate officers, whose duty it shall be to drill and command the company. After the above officers are elected, the company shall meet once per month for the purpose of drilling said company. ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 287
Resolved, That before the company commences their march, they shall elect a council of twelve persons who shall assemble in council with the officers of the company, who shall deliber- ate on and decide all matters pertaining to the company during their march.
Resolved, That there shall be hunting parties chosen who shall hunt for the company alternately while on their march.
Resolved, That each family and single person shall furnish a sufficient quantity of provisions and means of conveyance for the same and themselves while on their march.
Resolved, That the male members of the company between the ages of 18 and 45 shall be disciplined, armed and equipped to act on the defensive if necessary.
Resolved, That a committee of seven be appointed by the meeting to draft a constitution and report at the next meeting.
Resolved, That the following persons shall constitute said committee: A. Gilliland, John Conn, Bryan Dennis, G. N. Headley, G. L. Frost, David Switzer, Asa Caukin (Calkin.)
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman and secretary, and published in both of the newspapers of Iowa City.
On motion, the meeting adjourned until the 18th instant, to meet at the house of Ja[r]vis H. Frost at 12 o'clock, M.
JOHN CONN, Ch'n. BRYAN DENNIS, Sec.
OREGON EMIGRATION MEETING
[The proceedings of the adjourned meeting above provided for are reprinted literally from the Iowa Standard (Iowa City), Vol. Ill, No. 16, March 23, 1843. EDITOR.
A meeting of the citizens of Clear Creek, favorable to the settlement of Oregon Territory, was held at the house of Jarvis H. Frost on Saturday, the 18th inst. The meeting was organized by the election of the customary officers, when A. Calkins, Esq., briefly stated the object of the meeting it being called for the purpose of hearing and considering the report of a committee appointed at a previous meeting, to draft a constitution and by-laws, for the formation, regulation and government of an Oregon Emigration society. ​
288 "IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
Mr. Calkin from the committee appointed for that purpose, reported the following:
CONSTITUTION OF THE OREGON EMIGRATION SOCIETY OF IOWA TERRITORY, AT IOWA CITY.
Whereas a number of the citizens of Iowa Territory, have it in contemplation to remove to, and settle in the Territory of Oregon, west of the Rocky Mountains and whereas it is desirable and necessary, in order to secure union and concert of action, insure trahquility, and promote the general welfare, that there should be some fixed and permanent rules for the government of the Society, during the preparation for said removal, and also during its march. We do therefore ordain and establish the following constitution, or form of govern- ment, and do mutually agree with each other, to abide by and support the same :
ARTICLE I.
1. The Legislative authority of this Society shall be vested in four Trustees, and twelve Councilmen, to be elected by the male members of this Society, entitled to a vote for civil officers under this Constitution.
2. The Trustees shall be elected on the eighteenth day of March, eighteen hundred and forty-three, at an election to be held for that purpose, at the house of Jarvis H. Frost (provided there shall be fifteen members present who shall be entitled to a vote), who shall hold their office until the first Monday of May, A. D. 1843, and until others are chosen in their place.
3. The Trustees and Councilmen shall be elected annually, on the first Monday in May, and shall hold their offices until others are elected in their place. The first election of civil officers shall be held at Iowa City on the first Monday of May, A. D. 1843. Provided there shall be at that time forty-five members who are entitled to a vote.
4. No person shall be eligible to the office of Trustee or Councilman, who shall not at the time of his election have attained the age of 25 years, and be a member of this Society. ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 289
5. It shall be the duty of the Trustees and Councilmen to make, ordain a'nd publish all such by-laws, rules and regula- tions, for the government of the Society, as in their opinion, or the opinion of a majority of the whole number, would be expedient and subserve the best interest of, and promote the general welfare of the Society.
6. They shall keep a journal of all their proceedings, and the yeas and nays of the members, on ariy question, shall at the desire of any two members be entered on the journals. The journals shall at all times be open to the examination of any member of the Society.
7. Any member of the Trustees and Council shall have the liberty to dissent from and protest against any act or resolu- tion which he may think injurious to the general welfare of the Society, or any individual, and have the reasons of such dissent entered on the journal.
8. They shall have power to provide for the incidental ex- penses of the Society, by levying a tax, or establishing an initiation fee to audit all accounts, and make appropriation for the same ; arid no payment shall be made bythe treasurer, except upon the appropriation of the Trustees and Council, and order of the president.
9. They shall also, when on the march, meet in council, and consult with the military officers of the company, and a majority of the whole shall determine the course to be pur- sued in any case of emergency.
10. They shall have power to appoint hunting parties from time to time, while ori the march (whose duty it shall be to hunt and procure game, and provisions for the general use of the Society) , and to determine their duties and term of service.
11. They shall also have power to impeach, try, and for good cause to remove from office the president, or any other civil officer who is elected by the Society.
12. They shall also have a general supervision over, and regulation of the military, and have appellate jurisdiction of any decision of the military officers of the company. ​
290 "IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
13. They shall also have power to hear, try and determine all complaints against any member of the Society, for dis- honesty, immoral or improper conduct, and to dismiss any member from the Society who shall wilfully disobey or violate any of the provisions of this Constitution or the By-laws of this Society, or be guilty of any immoral, dishonest or improper conduct, or for other good cause.
14. They shall use their influence to encourage the emigra- tion with this Society, of ministers of the gospel, teachers, artizans and physicians.
15. It shall be the duty of the Trustees especially to exam- ine all applicants for admission into the Society, and shall make report of the result of such examination at each regular meeting of the Society, and no person shall be finally admitted or rejected except by a vote of the Society, and no person of intemperate habits, dishonest, or immoral character shall be entitled to admission into this Society.
16. The said Trustees shall also open books for the sub- scription of stock, as provided in the second resolution adopted at a meeting erf the citizens, held on the 3d day of March, 1843, at the house of Archibald Gilleland, and until otherwise pro- vided by law, they shall be governed in their duties by said resolution.
ARTICLE II.
1. The executive power shall be vested in one president and two vice-presidents, who shall be chosen annually on the first Monday in May, by the male members of this Society, entitled to vote for civil officers under this Constitution, and shall hold their offices for one year, and until others are chosen in their places.
2. It shall be the duty of the president to preside at all public meetings of the Society, and at all meetings of the Trustees and Council, and also, when on the march, at all meetings of the Trustees and Council, with the military officers of the company. He shall not, however, be entitled to a vote upon any question before the meeting, except in case of a tie, when he shall give the casting vote. ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 291
3. The president shall have power to nominate, and by and with the consent of the Trustees and Council, to appoint one recording secretary, who shall be ex officio clerk of the Board of Trustees and Council, and one corresponding sec- retary, who shall be treasurer ex officio.
4. It shall be the duty of the first vice-president to preside in the absence of the president, and in case of a vacancy of the office of president, he shall fill the office and perform all the duties of the president, until the vacancy shall be filled.
5. It shall be the duty of the second vice-president to pre- side in the absence of both the president and first vice-presi- dent.
6. No person shall be eligible to the office of president, or vice-president, who shall not have attained the age of 30 years, and be a member of this Society at the time of his elec- tion.
ARTICLE III.
1. The military authority of this Society shall be vested in one captain, two lieutenants and three sergeants, who shall be elected by the male members of this Society, between the ages of 45 and 17 years, whose duties it shall be to drill and exercise the company in military tactics, and who shall be elected in the manner provided by law.
2. Every able-bodied male member of this Society, between the ages of 45 and 17 years, shall be disciplined, and shall arm and equip themselves, and be liable to do military duty, under the rules and regulations provided by law, except the civil officers while on the march.
ARTICLE IV.
1. Every male member of this Society over the age of 17 years, shall be entitled to vote for the election of the said civil officers of this Society.
2. In case of a vacancy from any cause whatever, in any of the civil offices, there shall be an election held to fill the vacancy, at such time and place, as shall be designated by the president, who shall give twenty days' previous public ​
292 "IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
notice of the time and place of holding such election, and of the office to be filled, by publication in one or more of the public newspapers printed in Iowa City.
3. In case of vacancy in the office of, or in the absence of the president, the first vice-president shall give the requisite notices for such election; and in case of the absence of both the president and first vice-president, then the said notice shall be given by the second vice-president.
ARTICLE V.
1. No person shall be entitled to become a member of this Society who shall not have attained the age of 21 years, unless he shall at the time of making his application present to the Trustees the written consent of his parents or guardian.
2. No person of intemperate or immoral habits or prin- ciples, shall under any circumstances whatever, be admitted as members of this Society.
3. No Black or Mulatto person shall, in any case or any circumstances whatever, be admitted into this Society, or per- mitted to emigrate with it.
ARTICLE VI.
The President, Vice-Presidents, Trustees, Councilmen and other civil officers, shall be exempt from performing actual military service on the march. They shall, however, fully arm and equip themselves, and when on the march, in any case of emergency, shall remain with and protect the families and baggage.
ARTICLE VII.
This Constitution may be altered or amended at any time, twenty days' previous notice being given by the president, by publication in one or more of the public newspapers printed in Iowa City, of the time and place of meeting of the mem- bers of this Society, for that purpose: Provided, That two- thirds of all the members present shall concur therein.
The above title, preamble, constitution and by-laws, were unanimously adopted, and a large number of citizens present subscribed their names to the same. ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 293
On motion : Resolved, That the Society now proceed to the election of four Trustees.
Whereupon, A. Calkin, David Switzer, Israel L. Clark and J. L. Frost, were unanimously elected.
Resolved, That A. Calkin, Esq., be requested to deliver a public address before the society, at its next meeting.
Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be pub- lished in the newspapers in Iowa City.
Resolved, That the meeting adjourn to meet in Iowa City, on the first Monday in May next.
OREGON MEETING AT BLOOMINGTON
[The following account of a meeting at Bloomington (now Muscatine) is reprinted literally from the Iowa Standard (Iowa City), Vol. Ill, No. 17, March 30, 1843. EDITOR.]
At a public meeting held at the school house in Blooming- ton, on Saturday, 19th inst. for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of organizing a company to emi- grate to Oregon Territory, the Rev. Geo. M. Hinkle, of Louisa County, was called to the chair, and Wm. F. Smith appointed secretary. The chairman having explained the object of the meeting, Mr. Jno. C. Irwin, chairman of the committee ap- pointed for that purpose at a previous meeting, made the fol- lowing report:
Your committee who were appointed to draft a report to be made to this meeting, beg leave to submit the following, to wit: that from the information they have obtained from various sources, they believe the Oregon Territory to be far superior in many respects, to any other portion of the United States they believe it to be superior in climate, in health, in water privileges, in timber, in convenience to market arid in many other respects ; they believe it to be well adapted to agri- culture and stock raising, also holding out great inducements to mechanics of the various branches; they would therefore recommend to every person possessing the enterprise and patriotic spirit of the true American citizen to emigrate to Oregon Territory at as early a day as possible, and thereby ​
294 "IOWA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
secure to themselves, a permanent and happy home, and to their country, one of the fairest portions of her domain. In order to bring this subject more fairly before this meeting, your committee beg leave to submit the following resolutions for consideration and adoption :
Resolved, That the company here forming, start from this place (Bloomington) on the 10th day of March next, on their journey to Oregon.
Resolved, That the route taken by the company shall be from here to Iowa City, from thence to Council Bluffs, and from thence to the most suitable point on the road from Inde- pendence to Oregon, from thence by way of the Independence road to Oregon.
Resolved, That the company leave or pass through Iowa City oh the 12th day of May next, and invite other companies to join, etc.
Resolved, That each and every individual as an outfit, pro- vide himself with 100 Ibs. flour, 30 Ibs. bacon, 1 peck salt, 3 Ibs. powder in horns or canteens, 12 Ibs. lead or shot, and one good tent cloth to every six persons. Every man well armed and equipped with gun, tomahawk, knife, etc.
Resolved, That all persons taking teams be advised to take oxen or mules, also that [every] single mah provide himself with a mule or poney.
Resolved, That we now appoint a corresponding secretary, whose name shall be made public, whose duty it shall be to correspond with individuals in this county and with companies at a distance, receive and communicate all the information that he may deem expedient.
Resolved, That the members of the Association meet on the last Saturday in April next, for the purpose of a more com- plete organization.
On motion of Mr. Purcell,
Resolved, That the resolutions just offered be taken up and read separately, which was agreed to, from the first to the seventh article were voted for unanimously, with the request that those who wished to join the company, would particularly look to the 4th and 5th resolutions. ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 295
TWO O'CLOCK, p. M.
Pursuant to adjournment, the meeting met, and being called to order, proceeded to the regular business of the day, Rev. Mr. Fisher, Gen. Clark, Rev. G. M. Hinkle, Judge Williams, Stephen Whicher, Esq. and J. B. Barker, Esq. addressed the meeting with very eloquent and appropriate addresses in be- half of those persons who wish to emigrate to Oregon.
On motion of Mr. Irwin, Gen. Clark was requested to act as corresponding secretary for the company until its final or- ganization and departure for Oregon. Also, that committee of three be appointed to act in conjunction with the correspond- ing secretary in the transaction of any business for the advance- ment of the interests of the company. Jno. W. Humphreys, Barton Lee, and Tho's Gartland, were appointed said com- mittee.
On motion, Resolved, That the ladies, and all others friendly to the settlement of Oregon, be respectfully invited to attend, and that the Rev. Mr. Hinkle and others be invited to address the assembly.
On motion, Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman and Secretary, and published in the Bloomington Herald.
On motion of the Rev. Mr. Fisher, the meeting adjourned till Friday 31st inst.
G. M. HINKLE, Pre't. W. F. SMITH, Sec'y.
ADVICE TO PROSPECTIVE EMIGRANTS TO OREGON
[The following communication is reprinted literally from the Iowa Capitol Reporter (Iowa City), Vol. II, No. 16, March 25, 1843. EDITOR.]
There seems to be at this time a strong inclination on the part of many of our citizens to emigrate to the Territory of Oregon. It therefore seems to me that a plan of operations should be laid out by some person, and I have been anxiously waiting for full a twelve-month, in the expectation that some individual would perform the task, but having been disap- pointed in that expectation, I feel it my interest and duty to ​
296 "lowA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
lay before the public my imperfect plan in hopes that some one will thereby be induced to offer amendments until the plan of operations shall be perfected.
I have made every inquiry of those who have visited that region of country, and have read all perhaps, that has been written, of the character of the country, and have come to the conclusion that the distance from Burlington to Council Bluffs is 350 miles from the Bluffs west, on the north side of Big Platt river, by way of the Pawnee villages, to the foot of the Rocky Mountains at the old pass, where Captain Bonne- ville passed with his loaded wagons, is 500 miles, and no stream to cross except the Loupe fork of Platt. The pass to which I allude is in about latitude 41 deg. 30 min. north, from thence take a west course, or nearly so, to the Wallamet river; the distance is about 500 miles, making in all about 1300 or 1400 miles travel. By an inspection of the maps you will discover that the whole route will vary but little from a direct line.
My plan for outfit, etc., is as follows : With oxen and mules you will travel with a caravan of say 100 persons, 15 miles per day, which, if you lose no time, you will accomplish the journey in 100 days, but make reasonable allowance for accidents and delay, and say 150 days.
FOR THE OUTFIT AND ORGANIZATION
100 men should be armed and equipped with a good rifle gun of large bore, carrying not less than 60 bullets to the pound 4 pounds of powder, 12 of lead (flint locks are to be preferred,) caps and flints in proportion and good knife and a small tomahawk. Those who go with a view to hunting and trapping ought to have along half a dozen traps suitable for catching beaver and otter. Percushion guns should have with them a spare tube in case of accident of one bursting ; also, canteens. As to provisions necessary for the journey, say 150 pounds of side bacon, 1 barrel of flour, a half bushel of beans, 10 pounds of rice, 20 pounds of coffee, 20 pounds of sugar, one year's stock of coarse and durable ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 297
cloth, 2 blankets, and to every five men a tent the same size and form of the infantry tents in the regular army; they should be made of cotton drilling or dark cloth. To every five men there should be a wagon and team sufficient to transport two thousand pounds, hauled by three or four yoke of oxen; they should be shod and spare shoes and nails taken along, and a water keg to contain at least ten gallons to each wagon; each man should have the necessary implements of husbandry to go right to work, and each mechanic should take his tools with him; also in addition, each man ought to have a good poney or a mule to ride, (if he is able,) & that should be well equipped for packing and riding, a Spanish saddle and a picket line to tie your horse when feeding saddles should have cruppers for this service. In addition, every man should take as many cows with him as he can get, they are scarce in Oregon, they might be learnt to work in yoke the same as oxen. With this outfit they ought each to have not less than from $20 to $50 in cash when you go to the country your labor will produce cash everything there commands cash, and common labor is very high. It will be necessary in such a company, that they should be completely organized like a company of regular soldiers; and I would advise that they agree (after choosing their officers) that they, while on their march thither, shall subject themselves to be governed by the rules and articles of war of the United States, so far as they shall apply to that service. I would recommend that to 100 men, they elect one Captain, who should carry a spy glass, four Sergeants, and four Corporals and there ought to be a Bugler to give the signals, and if one cannot be had, there should be a drum and fife. Guides and buffalo hunters will be required who will have to be paid a reasonable sum, as it will not do for every one to go hunting and shooting at pleasure.
Prices at this time. Wheat is nominally worth $1 per bushel, beef 6 cents per pound, pork 10 cents, cows are worth $50, oxen by the pair $60, horses $35, potatoes 25 cents per bushel, common labor is worth $35 per month and boarding, ​
298 "lowA JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND POLITICS"
etc. found. I should recommend those who wish to emigrate, to be ready at this place by the first to the tenth of May. This route will be found much shorter and easier than any other which has been travelled. There are on this side of the moun- tains to cross, first Skunk, Des Moines, and then the Missouri, after that you will cross the Loupe Forke of Big Platt, this last stream is quite shallow at a common stage of water, say about from 18 inches to 3 feet has a quick sand bottom, and ought to be crossed with double teams and they should be hurried on fast. 1
A party of the above description should take with them 2 good cross-cut saws and 2 whip saws, spikes and oakum that in case they could do no better, they could in two days build a ferry boat, say 30 feet long and 10 feet wide, but they will hardly be reduced to that necessity, because there is no stream on the whole route, except the Missouri river, but what you can ford in a common stage of water during the summer months and I believe there is a ferry kept at or near the Council Bluffs. Take all the cattle you can, they will travel as fast as your teams and keep fat. Also, have plenty of seines and fishing tackle, hooks, lines, etc.
I speak of Burlington as a very suitable point to start from, because we have an abundance of the necessary supplies, and an excellent and very commodious steam ferry boat for those who are east of us. Companies ought not to be less than fifty
i The undersigned was an eye-witness to the engulfing of an emigrant wagon and one yoke of oxen at a crossing of the Platte river in June, 1853. The emigrant had a wife and two children. His outfit consisted of a wagon and four yoke of oxen and a good supply of provisions. He was on the south side of the river, and decided to cross to the north side. The water at this crossing was referred to as being about two feet deep. He drove his team into the water, wading beside the same. About half way across, the two yoke in the lead turned completely around, facing the wagon. Before he could get them straightened into line the wagon sank in the sand, also the two rear yoke, beyond extrication. Other emigrants, seeing the impending peril, drove teams slowly by the sinking wagon, one after another, and rescued the family, saved the provisions and three yoke of oxen; but the wagon and wheel yoke of oxen sank under the turbid waters of the Platte. The customary way of crossing the Platte was for a horseman to attach a line to the lead yoke of oxen, and thus the team would be kept in a straight line and in constant motion, thus avoiding danger. The emigrant who suffered the loss was told that it was risky for him to attempt to cross the river without assistance; but, as it was reported at the time, he replied by saying "That I guess I know my own business, and if I want any help I will let you know." GEORGE H. HIMES, Assistant ​
EMIGRATION FROM IOWA TO OREGON IN 1843 299
efficient fighting men, but 100 would be better ; there are some Indians who are rather hostile, and they might attack a small party for plunder.
ONE WHO INTENDS TO EMIGRATE. N. B. Newspapers friendly to the enterprise are requested to give the above an insertion. ​ ​ ​
INDEX TO VOL. XV
Agricultural statistics for Oregon for the year 1831, 206.
Ague, fever and, in Oregon, 1830, 206.
ALMANAC, AN, OF 1776, 147-52.
ANDERSON, CAUFIELD, had charge of Okanogan and an interesting witness for Hudson's Bay Company at inquiry for adjustment of its claims, 27.
APPLEGATE, GENERAL E. L., Some rec- ollections of, 252.
APPLEGATE, JESSE, Letter of J. M. Peck tells of his earnestness and promise when a boy of 16 or 17, 1827, in attendance at Rock Springs Seminary (later Shurtleff College), 208-9.
ASTOR, JOHN JACOB, his enterprise to secure to the United States the trade and possessions of the Pacific North- west, 2-3.
Astoria in 1811, 104; David Thomp- son's reception at, 1811, 241.
Astoria, council of partners and situa- tion at, in the summer of 1813, 17; outbound brigades leave for up coun- try posts, July 5, 1913, 17; McDougall authorized to sell to Northwest Com- pany when situation should become desperate, 18; sale effected Novem- ber, 1813, 18.
ASTORIA RAILROAD, HISTORY OF, 221-40; the half-century agitation for, 221; completed to Astoria in 1898, 221-2; A. B. Hammond, the builder, 222. Choice between crossing the Cas- cade Mountains and following the Columbia River for reaching coast long undetermined, 223; first project for, originated in 1858, 223-4; mili- tary wagon road locations and ap- propriations the earliest phases of transportation activities, 223; route via Forest Grove, 223; Astoria project fig- ures in early land grant legislation, 224; Astoria and Winnemucca project, 225 ; Senator Geo. H. Williams causes proposed land grant to be diverted to Rogue River valley route, 225; this conflicts with schemes of Joseph Gaston, 225-6.
Henry Villard not only slights As- toria's railroad aspirations but also thwarts efforts for Reno-Eugene-Port- land-Astoria line, 226-8; Joseph Gas- ton and William Reid have parts in this narrow-gauge Central Pacific project, 228; Astoria takes reprisal in pressing for repeal of railway land grant, 229; Astoria citizens resolve upon self-help, 229-30; William Reid's aid enlisted, 230; connections with Yaouina line planned and projects from Albany and from Salem organ- ized, but all fell through, 230-1; ar- rangements with Huntingdon seemed almost complete, but not ratified and the Astoria and South Coast project halts, 231-2; other plans of Reid fail
to mature, 233; Astoria turned tem- porarily to Goble route, 233-4; Ne- halem route again attempted, build- ing operations oegun under supposedly Gould auspices, but suddenly sus'- pended in Sept., 1892, 234-5; Flavel terminal boomed for Salem-Sheridan- Tillamook line, 235-6; a procession of railway promoters who failed to make connections, 236-8: progress with the project under A. B. Hammond, 238-9; completion of the road and extensions merged with it, 240; sale of road to James T. Hill and transfer of it to Xorth Bank Line, 240; road on orig- inal Nehalem route not yet built, 240.
B
BAKER, CAPTAIN, for whom Baker's Bay is named, 242.
Block houses, as symbols of the pioneer past, 69.
BROOKS, QUINCY ADAMS, biographical sketch of, 210; narrates vividly ex- periences in crossing plains to Ore- gon in 1851, including conditions in stampedes, etc., 210-5.
Buffaloes in the Okanogan country, 31; theory as to influences that controlled spread of the species, 32.
BUSH, ASAHEL, expresses interest in Oregon, 199, 202.
c
Canadians in fur trade, 277-80; their boat songs, 280-2.
Champoeg, the first grain market in Oregon, 282-3.
Chinook language, the experiences of Governor Salomon with, 68; purposes it served and disappearance of it, 69.
Clataop Plains Church, 94.
Columbia river one-half in British Co- lumbia and one-half in the United States, 243.
COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN, FUR TRADE IN THE, prior to 1811, 241-250; Kootenay House the first trading post in the, 243-
Cox, Ross, succeeds Alexander Ross in charge of Fort Okanogan, 1816, 19; describes remodelling and rebuilding of it, 19.
D
Dayton City Park, the site of the Grand Ronde Military Block House, 64-70.
Democratic party, 1844, composed of diverse elements, Southern, Northeast- ern and Northwestern groups, 138; attitude of each group toward the Texas and Oregon issues, 138-9; course of each group in campaign of 1844, 139-41; increase of divergencies be- tween groups in session of Congress following, 141-4; resentment of North- western group because of Oregon boundary treaty, 1846, 144; bad faith ​
INDEX
of Southern group on Oregon ques- tion led to determination that no more slave territory should come into Union with consent of Northwestern group, 145-6; conclusion and summary as to cause of development of jealous rival- ry between free-soil and slave-soil sec- tions of the Union, 145-6.
FIN LAY, JACQUES RAPHAEL, erects first
buildings at Spokane House, 1810,
248-9. FRENCH CANADIANS, THE INFLUENCE OF
ON THE EARLIEST DEVELOPMENT OF
OREGON, 277. FUR TRADE, THE, IN THE COLUMBIA
RIVER BASIN PRIOR TO 1819, 241-252.
GINGRAS, JEAN, in charge of Okanogan post and later a settler in the Wil- lamette Valley, voting against organi- zation at Champoeg, May 2, 1843, 21.
GRANDE RONDE MILITARY BLOCK HOUSE (Fort Yamhill), aadress at dedication of, August, 1912, 64-70; built in the winter of 1855-6, 64; General Joel Palmer has a force of United States troops stationed in it, 64; Captain Philip H. Sheridan in command of post early in 1856, 63; Sheridan's experi- ences there and at Fort Hoskins, 65-6; Lieutenant Wm. B. Hazen had pre- ceded him, 65; prominent civilians connected with post, 66.
GRAY, W. H., secular manager of Whit- man Mission, 83; returns east for re- inforcements, 84.
H
HANNA, J. A., account of experiences
of pioneer preacher, 226. HENRY, ALEXANDER, has temporary resi- dence on upper Snake river, 1810-11,
HOLLADAY, BEN, Oregon's first great
builder of railroads, 226. Hope Trail, Fort, opening of in 1848, 29. Horses probably reached Columbia plain
Indians 150 years before time of
Lewis and Clark, 36. Hudson's Bay Company's attempt to
compete for fur trade west of Rocky
Mountains, 250.
I
Indians, a specimen account of trade among, 15.
Indians, Okanogan, of Saleesh stock, 31; horses among, 31.
INGALLS, GENERAL RUFUS, on necessity of having a good wagon road from Vancouver to The Dalles, 135-6.
IOWA EMIGRATION FROM TO OREGON IN 1843, 286-98; Oregon meetings in Iowa and their proceedings, 286-95; an lowan s advice to prospective emi- grants to Oregon, 295-8.
Kamloops, David Stewart establishes post at, 1812, 15-16; friendly relations with neighboring Northwest post, 16.
Kootenay House, the first trading post on the Columbia, 243.
i-i
LA PRATT, LA PRADE or LA PRATE, in charge of Okanogan post in the thir- ties. 20.
LE FLEUR, in charge of Okanogan post from about 1843 till about i8;-?, 21; identifies site of Old Fort Okanogar 23-5; interviewed, 24-5; reminiscent of notables among fur traders, 25-6.
M
MCDONALD, ARCHIBALD, ON THE TRAGEDY ON THE STICKEEN, 132.
MCDONALD, FINAN, clerk for David Thompson in Kootenay and Saleesh country, 243-7.
McDouGAL, DUNCAN, as head factor at Astoria, sells out to Northwest Com- pany, Nov., 1813, 18.
McLouGHLiN, JOHN, letter ' of to Ed- ward Ermatinger detailing circumstan- ces attending the murder of his son John at Stickeen and the failure of Sir George Simpson to inquire fully into the affair, 126-31; in letter to John McLeod, March i, 1832, states yield of Vancouver farm and ravages of fever and ague in 1830, 206-7.
MCMILLAN, JAMES, from Rocky Mt. House on Saskatchewan joins David Thompson at Kootenay House and extend trade south of 49, 244-5; with Thompson at Saleesh House, 1809-10, 247.
MATTHIEU, FRANCIS XAyiER, tribute to his memory. Memorial address by Charles R. Moores, 73-80; his lineage, 73; enlists among "Sons of Liberty," 74; drifts westward and engages in service of American Fur Company, 74; joins Oregon emigration of 1842 at Fort Laramie, 74; settles on French Prairie, 74-5; character exhibited in his vote on organization, 78; one of founders of Oregon Pioneer As- sociation, 78; chance friendship with Lucier involved large destiny, 78-9.
N
Nez Perce chiefs visit St. Louis in quest of missionary aid, 81.
NESMITH, SENATOR JAMES W., letters to from General George Wright and from General Ruf us Ingalls, 133-6.
Northwest Company, supposed plan of, to head off the Astoria expedition, 3-6.
1304] ​
INDEX
OGDEN, PETER SKENE, reminiscences of, by old folks on Colville and Spokane reservations, 25.
Okanogan country, geographical nomen- clature of, 32-3.
OKANOGAN, OLD FORT, AND THE OKAN- OGAN TRAIL, 1-38; incidents attending establishment of, 1811, 13-4; remod- elled and rebuilt, 1816, 19; becomes gateway for travel to and from New Caledonia, 19-20; a great horse ren- dezvous, 20; moved to Keremeos in British Columbia, 1860, 22; sources of history of, listed, 26-7; evidence of state of fort and date of abandonment of, 26-7; notables who have stopped over at, 28; causes of almost complete disappearance of traces of, 35-6; gen- eral bibliography of, 36-7; manuscript bibliography, 38.
Okanogan Trail, travel over and aban- donment of, by fur traders, 1848, 28- 9; use of, by Fraser river gold seek- ers, 29-30; course of trail, 33.
Old Oregon, first actual American oc- cupancy of, 1-2.
Oregon Constitutional Convention, 1857, biographical register of delegates to, 217-8.
Oregon mail facilities, mail route bids, 1849, 159; Rowland and Aspinwall steamers land Oregon mail at mouth of Klamath river, 166-7; mail steam- ers ordered to proceed to Astoria ^and to Nesqually, 170; need of provisions of mail carriage from Astoria to Ore- gon City, 177.
Oregon meetings in Iowa for organiz- ing emigration societies, 286-91; ad- vice to prospective emigrants to Ore- gon, 295-8.
Oregon slandered by article sent from Vancouver to Boston Courier, 165.
Oregon railroads, first schemes for, 222- 3; development of projects leading to building of Oregon and California R. R., 224-5; Ben Holladay, Oregon's first great railroad builder, 226; Hen- ry Villard, Oregon's greatest railroad builder, 226.
PALMER, JOEL, uses Okanogan and Fort Hope trails in 1858-9, 34; describes in Oregon Statesman of Feb. 14, 1860, trips over Okanogan trail in 1858 and 9, 34-5.
PRESBYTERIAN ISM, FIRST THINGS PER- TAINING TO ON THE PACIFIC COAST, 81-103; first church in the Pacific Northwest, 85-90; Clatsop Plains church, 94; Presbytery meets in Port- land, 96; organization of First Pres- byterian Church of Portland, 98-101; membership of when organized, 101; First Church reorganized, 102-3.
Priest Rapids named for Indian by Stewart party proceeding up Colum- bia, 1811, 12.
Printing press, first in Oregon, 90-1.
REID, WILLIAM, has charge of narrow gauge Scotch road (Portland-Airlie, VVest Side and Portland-Coburg, East Side), 226-8; is made president of Astoria and South Coast R. R., 230; connections with Yaquina line and projects from Albany and from Salem planned, but all fell through, 230-1 ; arrangements with Huntington seemed almost complete, but not ratified and the Astoria and South Coast project halts, 231-2; loses heavily in the col- lapse, 232-3; turns to English cap- italists for financing proposed Port- land, Salem and Astoria railway, but does not succeed, 233 ; last effort to build on Nehalem route to Astoria and death, 240.
Scotch, two classes of, in fur trade, 277-8.
SHERIDAN, PHILIP, his life and services at Forts Yamhill and Hoskins, 65-6; his delight in Chinook, 67.
SIMPSON, SAMUEL L., personal reminis- cences of (W. W. Fidler), 264-76; biographical sketch of (Geo. H. Himes), 276.
Spokane, Fort, post of Pacific Fur Com- pany alongside Spokane House, 16.
Spokane House, post of Northwest Com- pany, 4.
STEVENSON, ROBERT, describes conditions at Fort Okanogan in 1860, 22-3.
STUART, DAVID, leads Astoria party up the Columbia, 1811, for establishment of Old Fort Okanogan, 4-15; proceeds to Astoria and returns to Fort Okan- ogan in summer, 1812, 15; establishes Kamloops post, 16-7; sets out with Ross from Ckanogan to Walla Walla, 1813, 16; arrives at Astoria to join in council of partners, June, 1813, 17.
STUART, ROBERT, leads party of Astori- ans with supplies to Fort Okanogan, IS-
STICKEEN, A TRAGEDY ON THE, IN 1842, 126-32.
THOMPSON, DAVID, journal of, 39-63; an account of the circumstances bring- ing out the fact of the existence of the journal, and of the securing of a transcript of it, 39-40; some explan- ations to aid in the understanding of the journal. 41-2; description of a meeting Simpoil Indians, 44-7; enter- tained by Nespalenv chief and tribe, 49-50; Methow Indians met, 51-2.
[305] ​
INDEX
THOMPSON, DAVID, in his supposed race to beat the Astoria Expedition to the mouth of the Columbia, 3-6; at As- toria, 1811, 6; record of trip down the Columbia, 1811, 8-12; his ac- count of Astoria, in 1811; autobiogra- phy of, 104; completes exploration and survey of entire length of Colum- bia River from source to mouth be- tween April and October, 1811, 124; journal of disproves conclusion that he was instructed to anticipate arrival of the Astor or Pacific Fur Company's expedition at mouth of Columbia to establish trading post, 125. trading operations of, from Kootenay House as base, 1807, 244-5; at Kullyspell House, 1808-9, 246: at Saleesh House, 1809-10, 247.
THURSTON, SAMUEL ROYAL, diary of, . 153-^05; territorial vote at time of his election, 153; biographical sketch of, 153-4; some territorial finances of 1849, 156-8; wregon mail route bids, 159; how Oregon mail carried by nowland and Aspinwall came to be landed at the mouth of Klamath river, 166-7; mail steamers ordered to touch at Astoria and Nesqually, 170; an article in the Boston Courier slander- ing Oregon, 165; the Oregon City claim, 189-90; on the diversion of the overland route from Oregon to Cali- fornia, 198; Asahel Bush interested in Oregon, 199-202; Thurston has a dream that is prophetic, 201-2; at work on donation land law bill and its consideration by committee, 203.
V
ViLLARD, HENRY, Oregon's greatest rail- road builder, 226: blocks narrow-gauge
Central Pacific for Reno-Eugene-Port- land-Astoria route, 227-8; his resour- ces exhausted in 1883, 228; Astoria takes reprisal in pressing for repeal of railroad land grant, 229; visits As- toria as guest of Hammond, 240.
w
WHITMAN, DR. MARCUS, as a Presby- terian, 82-4; his ride across the con- tinent, 91-2; Applegate on Whitman, 93-
Whitman and Spalding missions, 85.
Whitman massacre, 94.
WILMOT Proviso, "THE BARGAIN OF 1844," as the origin of, 137-46; origin due to the breaking of bargain of 1844, 138.
WILSON, MRS. ELIZABETH MILLAR, father of, requests information about Ore- gon from Thurston, 190.
Winships attempt of, to erect trading station on the Columbia, 1810, 1-2, 949.
Women, first white in Oregon, 94-5.
WORK, JOHN, journals of, the most valu- able original sources of the history of Fort Okanogan, 26.
WRIGHT, GENERAL GEORGE, on national crisis because of relations between North and South in 1861, 133-5.
Yamhill, Fort (Grande Ronde Military Block House), 63-70; Sheridan, Rus- sell, Hazen and others in command of at different times, 65-6.
* ↑ Mr. William W. Fidler was born in Indiana in 1842, and a few years later his parents removed to Iowa. In 1849 his father went to the California mines. The next year he came to Oregon and took up a donation claim in Lane county where Coburg now stands. In 1852 he sold out for $600, returned to "The States" and brought his family across the plains in 1853, and settled on the Willamette river at Spores' ferry, where young William served as ferryman for awhile. In 1856 the Fidler family removed to Jackson county. In 1857 Mr. Fidler returned to Eugene to enter Columbia College, of which Rev. E. P. Henderson was the principal. [[Author:Cincinnatus Hiner Miller}}, better known as "Joaquin" Miller, Judge James Finley Watson, and a number of other well known men were students at that early institution. The college building burned down in the winter of 1857–58, and soon afterwards Mr. Fidler returned to Jackson county, remaining until 1870, when he removed to Josephine county and took up a homestead, and at the present time he is a resident of Grants Pass. Since his permanent residence in southern Oregon Mr. Fidler has been engaged in mining, journalism, teaching and fanning. George H. Himes, Assistant Secretary, Oregon Historical Society.
* ↑ A relative of the Royse Oatman family, seven of whom were massacred by the Apache Indians in 1851.
* ↑ In this connection it should be noted that the site of Champoeg, or "Champooick," as it was originally known, was the only point between the Willamette Falls and Salem where a trail or road could be opened to the river without having to cut through a heavy body of timber. In 1901 David McLoughlin, the youngest son of Dr. John McLoughlin, told me that was the reason why his father selected that place as the site of his warehouse in which to store the wheat he expected to secure from the French-Canadian trappers to whom he gave seed wheat in the spring of 1830.—George H. Himes.
* ↑ Reprinted from "The Iowa Journal of History and Politics," July, 1912.