Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-04-17
wuITMANs OLD WAGON.
From New York Herald

The Oregon question finally turned
.-s.sIs. Even Webster and Ashbur-
-. ~, the hioh contracting parties 70 ST.
~ ~ The International boundary on the
s.,th from ocean TO ocean, could carry
.Ss line Of division no further west than
- Koeky mountains. Their diplomacy,
w III engineering and the two nations
-, concerned had to wait for the
,c,s- M The taking OF one through
a.ssisnd 10 the Columbia, by DR.. Whit
IN vaa the most important act in all
...i;m inaries in the settlement Of the
rssoon controversy, At first only two
80 took a proper view of q wagon
0,aoon-Marcus Whitman and the
Tnds N Bay company. In 1896 there as
East Hail and Fort Boise, 1t, with its
go vomsu. suggested TO the company,
- family ana a civilized home and
s..,manent settlement in Oregon, and a
p;ahuay from the Missouri TO that set
.isr,snt that others could follow, The
sn,nnanv. therefore, determined TO turn
shs vaoon back or direct 1t To Califor-
s,s m stop It absolutely. DIR. Whitman
s1scs the same view of tho wagon, and,
therefore. concluded 20 take it through
- oregon. But We must go back lit
lie in the story.
~ wisn ~ Tie fur traders and the mis-
.;ocsrv uaxty arrived at Fort La1anie,
= ~.s assumed, az q matter Of course.
that ali wagons and carts would. a. as
nai ~ abandoned, as IL was thought
;,nn,scticsbls to proceed further with
sh.,n The doctor had been brought up
10 Nev England where there is much
nstnral antsQonism between wheels and
,n"untains. and he had been educated
a. oysrcome it. He was not, therefore,
d;snosrd 10 give no to the Rocky noun
tai,s. He objected TO the abandonment
~ tI,e wagons, The doctor had par
chased two for the party at Liberty on
ths Missouri, and now il seemed very
d~irabIe, ON account OF the ladies, to
m along at least one Of them. There
- much discussion over II between
the missionaries and the traders, and
tnaliy the latter consented ~ make the
sxuer,ment, and ut the same time added
one Of their carts to the mission wagon.
DIR. Whitman was put In charge OF tho
carriages, and the fifst night out from
Fort Laramie he came into camp late,
warm and pulling, and CHEEKY too, for
Ia had had only one upset with the
wagon and two with tho cart. 30 affairs
UfO4fo8H6u Will SbkAOuo 0OOAo0nbo 0xlu
Incidents to wagon and cart, now u cap-
size and now repair, now a man and
now mule ObjectiDR, and with equal
Roman firmness till they arrived at the
great fair grounds of traders and Indi-
ans In the mountains.
When they put out from the rendez-
yous, all parties and persons except the
Flatheads advised them TO leave tho
wagon. However, after camp was made,
the doctor came in. and, 10 the general
surprise, with his f0ur-wheeled com
panion. HE was totally alone" says
Gray, the historian, one Of his company,
'in his determinAtio ~ get his old
wagon through TO the waters Of the Co
lumbia and the mission station that
might be established, no ono knew
where"
There Is no sound like that made by a
stout loaded wagon on u rough road;
ana now, after 600 years or 50 Of still
nesss in these wild regions, these sounds
woke the echoes of tho grand old noun
tains. Perhaps out Of respect to the
prehistoric Americans who are patiently
waiting for American antiquaries to re-
turn froIn the old world and ask a few
home questions, We ought to double
that GOO. We can hear them now, III
our mental car, those Whitman wagons,
aud it will help the hearing If one will
pronounce aloud the name that the In
diana gave the wagons. They put into
jsrky syiiablos tho sounds 1t made ~ it
rose and fell and stopped In the soft
grass and among tho rocks, and called
1t ''chick- chick -shani-le- kal kash." On
the caravan moves, trader aud Indian
and preacher and women, mules, pack
saddles and ponies--the wagon far in
the rear, now saying on the grass land
"Chick chick" and now among the
rocks "hal kash." MIR. Gray Hlys: ut
Ia due 70 DR.. Whitman to say, n0twith-
standing that this was the most difficult
route We had TO travel, yot he persevered
with his old wagon, without any par
ticular assistance. From boda Springs
70 Fort Hall his labor was Immense, yet
he overcame every difficulty and brought
il safe through. have since travelled
the same route three times, and con-
feo cannot zee how he did Il"
Arrived At Fort Hall, about 100 miles
north Of Salt Lake, all baggage and
luggage IL reduced N much as possible
and repacked. Here the parties mis-
sion and Hudson Bay, and the post
men, OO--combine 10 say that the
wagon can b hauled no further. The
terrible cauons and bottomless creeks
In the Snake plains make il impossible.
But tho iron doctor il imaovaolc. Then
they cav that he must at least take 10
apart and pack Il II he Roes on. Finally
the indomitable man makes a oompru-
mise, converts the wagon into = cart,
loads In the duplicate wheels and axle
trees, and starts again, On wheels, for
The Columbia. More clumsy conpro-
miass between religious creeds and
political platforms have bean made,
aud, after all, 1t was the sauie thing.
whether IL went forward on two wheels
or four, be Il a wagon or q cart, II II
carried the substance Of doctrine and
the wheels echoed ''chick- chick" on the
aoft grass aud the "kAl l.kash" Of
the rocks meant the same thing-she
ono wagon and the ono load. True,
when they came to the Snake River,
both the cart and lis driver had 70 do
some swimming. but they both came
0ut on the west bank. and 80 much
nearer to Oregon. So they finally enter
Fort Boise, two miles below Boise City.
This 10 20 rude An inclosure that it
vouA hardly pass for cattle pan or
mule corral. Here the cart took on q
very serious look, and so did every man
when he looked az il. The expressions
OF opinion as TO its further advance be-
came more decided, and some Of them
terse and brief, and 70 missionary cars,
more insleRant than 20 mountainesrs.
The escort Of Hudson Hay men had
eopped at Fort Hall, and all bat the
ooceur felt the need Of moving on In .
naas and compact and very defensible
Stoer. u was again suRRcsted to take
apart and pack Il through. II the
moies carrying it would not slide from
soe psscipices they would have to scale
and deacend.
finally, another compromise was ef-
te@ec. The wagon should be left at
Sott boiae till somo one could como
olok ana take Il ON to the established
aon. This was done, anc Judgments
0afmonixed soon after the 'old Wagon''
vent through, the first to paas the plains
ne ~ mountains % far toward ORE
Ihue the irrepreasible energy Of this
no pioneered for q carriage way tu
aeeon In 1886. The year before the
lrss Aouse had been built in San Fran
clsoA seeam cars had run ont from Bos-
sSn toward Lowell and Worcester and
aoences and this year l27S milea ol