The Portland daily press., 1888-01-16
THE CHINOOK.
Gov. semple Describes the Blessed
Wind OF the Northwest.

One of the most curious and interesting
features of the report of Gov. Semple Of
Washington Territory to the secretary OF
the interior, just printed, is the bit of tradi-
tion and rhetoric which he weaves about a
zephyr that blows through the mountains.
"The east wind" he says, the drying OF
chilling wind, according to the season, that
blows down the Columbia River with great
force sometimes, was called by them the Wal.
la Walla wind, because it came to them from
the direction of the Walla Walla country.
In the winter this wind brings freezing wea-
ther, and sometimes will close the streams
with ice. In the summer it is parching
wind, and its approach can be noted for long
distances as it lifts the dust and debris high
in the air. 1t is an odious wind, andno one
wishes it to blow upon him. Fortunately its
reign is always short. 1t rarely prevails for
more than few hours, but will sometimes
continue for three or four days.
ITS enemy is the Chinook wind, so called
by the Indians alluded to above, because il
came to them from the direction of the coun-
try of the Chinooks. This is a balmy wind,
coming from the Kuro Siwo. or great Jap
anese current of the Pacific Ocean. In the
summer IL is a cool wind, and tempers the
heat OF summer so that nowhere In Washing
ton Territory do people fall down with sun
strokes. In the winter it is warm, moist
wind, and is sometimes slightly odoriferous,
as if spice-laden from the tropics. 1t is so
gentle upon ordinary occasions that its pres
is almost miraculous in its effects Snow
and ice disappear before it with rapidity,
and It seems to blow for long distances be-
tween walls of colder air without parting
with its heat. Sometimes it constitutes an
upper current, in which case the remarkable
spectacle Is witnessed of snow melting from
the mountain tops while thermometers in
the valleys register below the freezing point
At other times it is the surface current, and
follows the valleys and gorges as a food
might follow them. 1t seems to bear healing
upon its wings, like Sandalphon, the Angel
of Prayer, and it is not difficult to conceive
that the Indians would wish to personify it in
order to fix upon it their devotions.
This wind sometimes penetrates as far as
the upper stretches of the Missouri, and even
tempers the air on the plains of Dakota be-
yond the Rocky Mountains. Wherever it
goes the chains of winter are unloosed, and
the lce-bound rivers are set free. The Chin
ook is the natural enemy of the odious east
wind, and while, ordinarily, it wields its in
fuence as gently as the zephyrs that watt
the thistle down in autumn, still there are
times when the two winds engage in giant
conflicts, and fight for supremacy. now in
the upper, then in the lower, strata, on the
mountains and in the valleys, alternately
driving each other back and forth, swaying
the trees tossing the leaves, and swirling the
rain drops or the crystals of snow as the one
or the other advances. But the combat is
never long, and the victory is always
with the Chinook. The Inhabitants east of
the Cascade Mountains, when winter has
seized them.and the east wind dashes snow
in their faces, pray for the Chinook to come.
They look by day for its moist front and
listen by night for the noise of its combat
with the east wind, and when it reaches
them they rejoice.
''Such is the Chinook wind, the blessed
wind of the far Northwest"