The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-04-14

carry twenty warriors, down TO the
one-man canoe used In hunting water
FOWL; a vessel so light, Though made
Oh wood, not bark, that the hunter
could pick 1T up and carry II from one
CHANNEL to another. The selns used in
hsn1ng were about 100 feet long. The
lines of which were of cedar bark, and
sometimes the net. There were Irvine
nets, however, made OF material pur-
chased from the white trader, and
some made of native flax purchased of
! the Indians of the interior near the
Cascade range.
The most %pretentlous garment worn
oy rhe women was a Short peaticoat
formed of Strings or twisted cedar
DARK or their native flax, which was
preferred. These were ATTACHED to
uhe waist bolt in such quantity as 70
form a garment of strings about two
lnches thick over the hips and reach
ing TO fuhe knee. When no able to buy
(chum saiD printed cotton, enough to
make a gown like THAT worn by the
WHITE sister, 1.-THE Indian women around
Astoria in 1S44-5 wore a patticoat of
this fashion, n a chinese Of I'M
eache cotton. Very few of them
wore moccasin or shoe in ordinary life. |
Some of 1.-THE chief families had robes of
state, one of which l saw worn with
great grace by THE mother of the chief
OF the Cathlamets. But as a general
statement the Indians of THE lower
ium were a broken people in 1874.
The robe 1 spoke of as seeing worn by
the CaIthNamet chiefs mother, was
Simply put on in Those days Ito Illus
traite the Indian state of TIM long
past.
The terrible epidemic they called
black SICK had decimated the In
dams of the lower Columbia batween
l~SS2-45, and what were left were has
'tening ito degradation and destruction
by adopting the white mans vices
while purchasing his cast-off clothing.
Ihe old and overgrown cemeteries gave
ample evidence that those Indians had
once cared we'll for their dead. Az
une camp we made on Sauvie's Island,
which was the site of The last village
The extinct Mulbnomahs, there was
extensive burial place built of Wide
cedar slabs set upright in the ground,
Into which shelves were fastened, and
on which the dead, tightly wrapped
In cedar bark, were placed. Lower
THE river the method of burial
was to place the bodies wrappe in
cedar bark in canoes.
Their fish law permitted of the catch
ing of as many of the early u of
salmon as they could eat between the
succeeding ~nighltfall and SUNRISE; none
to be left, and none sold. This
THE first close season and lasted
Until the first ripe berries were found |
"hlon, in this region, is THE large see
lies of raspberry, and called for that
'eason, the Salmon berry" usually
dpening about the last of NAV. The
INDIANS were made ito believe hat If
they caught for commercial purposes
before the ripe berry appeared, the
would go Back to The sea for 4fl1a
season.
lhlave given you, Mr.. Edt.or, a ruth
sr desu.tory showing of the means
had ito Gravel on the lower Column
'ia so years ago, and the condition of
he native rae here ac THAT time. {
5oLh Indians as n~avl2al5ors anu the
L. B.. Co.'S power as rulers, raised
lway forever Within five year of 1915; /
he first steamer coming into the river {
think, in 1850. Mrs. 4. H. b. Morrf- I
'on, Captain Lauta's youngest daugh-
is the sole surviving link resident t
lere, of The British trade rule over The {
,Iace formerly known as Fort George. !
md Astoria. One can now come with s
luxurious case in six and one-half
lours as long a distance as lit took US {
n those years nine days through dam .
'erous exposure. s