The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1901-04-19
OREGON'S PIONEER DAYS
(ContInued from Third Page)

Gray IN his good ship Columbia We
are NOW soon to have the centennial or
the cNplnrruon which confirmed to Us
the great country reached by the ds.
VnNery The history VI these trans.
actions. ~ the beginning " the Amer
lean empire ON the lN'lnc coast iS a
record ot profound interest |, has its
place among the cyeats or first import
luCc In tho development VI the United
states.
The actual discovery or the mouth
oi thr river was made May II. lias, W
Captain Rob 'rt. Gray. New England
navigator who says In his log book
under that date. "Rrhcld our drtrvd
rort. bearing east sou 'hcast. a distance
ot six leagues. At S a, m, hrinR a
little ,o ,hc wlndward NJ the entrance
" the harbor bore away ana mn
In eaSt-n0rthcast between the breakers,
htVinc from Ave to seven tathomS "
water when We We're over the bar We
found this To be large river ot fresh
water. up whtcn We strrrrd, Captain
Gray remalnci In the river from the
18th to the goth uf May, lie asccnlrd
1t about - miles, Melrcs lrft ~ u
psappo tu the promotury On the
north side
GRAY sailing out II the river tn
the nnrthw rd. met Vancouver. Who had
sailed into the Straits of tNCa. aud
was completing his examination "
Puget snund-so called 10y Vancouver tnr
member ~ his party, Later In the
year Vancouver sailed for the Hay "
san Francisco ,ravlng his livutrn mt.
Broughtnu to examine the columbia
river Brouvhton, In the chatham. en-
tered the river In NuvrWhrr. iias
Finding 70 difficult tn ascend the river
with his bark small ns Il was. he took
his launch and made his way UP the
stream 100 miles. To the ultimate point
hc reached hr gave the name ~ Van.
couver. All the way up ana down NJ
spttnkl'd names plrntlfully. walkers
island was named fpr one of his men,
To Tongue Point he gave the name
Ii hears To this day YuungA river and
bay h" called for Sir George Young NJ
tho British navy To Gray's bay he
gave the name It bears as cnmpll-
m"ut To 'hr dlscoycrcr whose ship had
lain in IL some months before when
Rrru yh'uu entered the river hc found
q small English vessel which had been
up the coast To- the unrthwAri ON a
trading voyage. ana On lts return south
ward hll turned into the Columbia rly.
vr This vessel remained In ihr river
til Bruughtun was ready to sail with
his own brig the chatham IL was th,
bark Jenny, luI her commander was
Captain Baker. His name is perpetual
cd in Bakers hay The chatham ami
The JcHuy went tu sru together and
Baker though disappearing then ami
ther" from history has Ter, his name
to us forever
Tho Importance Go he United States
~ obia.nment ot footing upon the
Pacific was seen even at this early
day, hu, 10 was appreciated only hy a
teW NJ our statesmen. 10 Thomas JET.
f"rsun the honor lS due NJ quick and
early apprehension ul the Ssnlnriucr
~ Gry's discovery Confirmation NJ
our title % Oregon WAS associated In
his mind with the acquisition uf Lou.
iSiann The l"Wis and clark party vas
organized quickly after the Louisiana
purchase. and started up the Missouri
river In the year 1904 Wlntrrlug at
Mandan on the Missouri Il pressed on
In 1908. passed over the Rocky Noun
talns In ihc summer ol that year. des.
crnded the kunskonSkir branch OF he
West til on the Ith ~ November. 1906
the horizon ~ the Pacific ocean burst
upon the view between the two lines NJ
breakers that marked the icbuuch II
the great river into the great Pacific
sea. Tn" country was already called
Oregon though The name had a. yet
obtained very little currency In Gar
ycr's Travels. published IN London In
l''N. the name had hrst app arrd. rho
.H ltFHu b
mas nf history Carver progressed tu
have received 10 from The Indians. In
"a" country uf the Upper Mississippi.
Wh"r' ne had been pushing hi4 rxplp-
r1'ipns. The indians he Stys. told
him II the River Oregon. flowing tu
IN" Western uCcdn. but how much Of
M" tai" WIS Ms own invention Il Ia
impos able 10 say. jefferson used tho
word In his instructions tu Lewis and
clark showing that L WAS beginning
10 nave vogue before 'Thann tUpais"
was written, but II was Bryanrs solemn
poem with It's sOnOrpus verse which
appeir'l IN the year 1917, that famIl.
larlLeI the word Oregon" and coon put
1t on every tongue. Various accounts
~ n" Lewis and clark expedition had
appeared bO.n Ia the United States and
Europe before the appearance Of Than.
atnpsIs," but undoubtedly II wns Bry.
ants rxps .sSion. Where rolls the ore.
gon,' thar did most 10 spread the name
before the world
The men Of the Lewis and Clark rx-
pedltlOn were the first Americans who
cane across thc continent 10 the Ore
gon country md the Pacific ocean.
AleNond"r Mackenzie. twelve years ear
Her had come from Canada, passing
through the continent and over the
mountains from Peace RIcrrs. Mae
kenzle pissed on west 70 the stream
which later took the name OF Fraser
river, and after following this river for
some dlstdnc" struck directly west for
The Pacific. which he reached In July.
l'E. Mackenzie was the first man who
crossed the continent to the Pacific
ocean north Of the Spanish posses-
sions. On the results OF the expcdl-
ton of Mackenzie and Of the voyage Of
vancouver he British government was
already baslng a 'drgc and general
claim 10 sovereignty On the Pacific. |
PRESIDENT Jefferson hastened the organ
lZation 0f the exploring expedition to 20
over land from the United States for
the purpose Of strengthening the rights |
we had acquired through Grays dis |
covery. and Of anticipating further ex- |
neditlons and claims Of Great Britain |
Lewis and Clark were not here too soon. |
for the English already had other expe- |
ditlons in preparation and their explOr- |
crs were on the Upper Columbia but a |
llttlc later than the return Of Lewis |
and Clark from the mouth Of the |
stream. Simon Frlser. In 1868. fol- |
lowed to the sea the river that bears |
his name. believing At first, as Mackin-
Ze before him had believed, that he |
was on the Columbia; and another |
Englishman, David Thompson. whose
name Is perpetuated in the well-know
tributary OF the Fraser. was the first |
man who explored the upper courses Of
the Columbia river. and some years
later he followed Il through its whole