The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1914-09-24
INTERESTING HISTORY
OF HOOD RIVER

nual reunion Of the Hood River Pioneer
Association, Thursday, September II,
l9l4.)
When Lewis and Clarke passed down
the Columbia river in October, 1906, !
they gave the name Labishe to our
river, that being the name of the hunt
er who discovered il. the first white
man to tread its soil. The party of
Wilson Price Hunt, 1910. hunters and
trappers from the Hudson Bay Co.,
missionaries to the Indians and emf
grants on their way to the Willamette
valley-all travelled across that portion
of our country which borders the Co.
lumba river. Sometime in the early |
fOrties, three men separated from their
company, were maroOned on a strip OF
land east of the mouth of Labishe Tiv-
er. Getting out of provisions, they |
killed and ate their dog, Towser. To
commemorate this incident they called |
the river Dog river and so it remained |
until Mrs. Coe, with a finer sense of
the fitness of things, renamed II from |
| the grand old mountain from whose |
glaciers it flows. Would the peaches, |
apples and Strawberries taste as good, |
or find as ready sale in the markets |
of the world. if they were raised in
Dog River?
When the territorial government was
organized IN lS43, Oregon extended
from the Pacific on the west, to the
Rocky mountains on the east, from
British Columbia on the north to Cali |
| forna on the south In 1853 Washing |
ton territory was cut from the northern
portion, the dividing line being the Co.
lumbia river, as far east as its inter-
section with the 46th parallel of lati
| tude, thence east to the summit of the
| Rocky mountains. In 1854 Wasco coun-
| ty was organized and contained all ter
ritory in Oregon east of the Cascades, |
extending across Idaho and MOnana and
near where Butte is located, thence
souhterly, including a portion of Yel
lowstone park in Wyoming, to the
northern line of California, thence west
| to the Cascade mountains, thence north
to place of beginning, making approx
ately lis, 200 square miles. This was
divided into four precincts; the first
reached from Cascades to Dog River,
the second from Dog River to Five
! Mile creek, the third from Five Mile
creek to John Day and the fourth in
cluded all territory east of John Day
River.
The precincts were large. but the
settlers were few. Joseph Lavendue
claimed the first land in Wasco county
in 1916. He built a cabin and fenced
| few acres on what was later known as
the Chrsman place. When gold was
discovered in California he abandoned
his home to hunt gold. Nathan Olney
was the second settler. but not until
the gold excitement had subsidized, did
the real settlement begin. The soldiers
were stationed at The Dalles, and on
account of the reserve, or five mile
limit, land could not be taken near
there.
In 1852 W. C. Laugbiln and DR..
Farnsworth old time friends in the
east, came to Dog River. bringing with
them several hundred head of stock.
Other parties were winterng bands of
stock at Mitchell's Point. DR.. Farms
worth took land and built comfort
able house on what is known as the
Adams place. W. c. Laughlin built
his home on land just east, later known
as the Coe place. Heavy SHOWS came
early and lasted long; the weather was
extremely cold and before spring the
stock had all perished but IA head. The
discouraged settlers abandoned their
homes, the Laughins going back to
The Dalles and settling there. He and
his family later became prominent in
Wasco county, and much of our knowl-
edge of early days has been gathered
from the diary of W. c. Laughlin and
"Reminiscences" by his daughter, Mrs.
Elizabeth Lord.
Amos Underwood was in this country
in 1852, his home being on the north
bank of the Columbia. In 1854 Ma
thaniel Coe, a government employe, in
the postal department, visited Dog
River and was so we'll pleased that his
family came in September and with
them came VIM. jenkins and family
and N. S. Benson. The Goes took the
Laughlin place and built near the
abandoned cabin. jenkins took the
Farnsworth place and N. S. Benson the
Button place. james Benson came in
November and took land on Indian
creek. VIM. Benson, another brother,
came still later. Unlike the winter of
80 the weather was mild, the grass
was green on the hills and buttercups
and sisyrinchums blossomed at their
feet. BY invitation, they all ate dinner
on New Years day with .the Joslyns,
their neighbors across the Columbia.
Prompted by the mild weather, they
planted their gardens in February
seeds of apples, pears, etc. were also
J planted. Mrs. Coe obtained the apple
seeds by peeling a bushel of apples for
parties living at Cascades, and saving
the seeds. Everything grew luxuriant-
ly and nothing came to mar their hap
piness until the winter of '55, when
mutterirgs from the Indians began to
be heard. The Joslyns, becoming
alarmed, moved to Portland, leaving a
man named Galentine and boy named
Hawks to care for their place. These
| took refuge at the COe home. Sol
diers were sent from The Dalles to pro-
tect the settlement.
Amos Underwood, coming from The
DaIes on his cayuse saw the house in
flames. He stayed over night with the
Goes, going on to the Cascades the next
day. A band of the hostile Indians
crossed the river that night and at
! tackled the friendly Klickitats, whose
camp was near where the railroad now
| is. puOlS WGlC diSO CAIhollS%d WIN
the soldiers on guard, but when morn
ing dawned the Indians were gone. The
cause of their disappearance became
clear when news of the terrible butch
cry at the Cascades was received.
Lawrence Coe was at the Cascades,
Noel Palmer was among the slain, and
no one knew what horrors awaited.
To reach place of safety was imper-
ative, and one dark night, near the
midnight hour, the little band stole
safely to the river s edge and embarked
in canoe for The Dalles. In that
canoe were the Hawks boy, Henry Coe,
Mrs. Mary Coe, Mrs. Jenkins, VIM.
jenkins, James Benson, N. S. Benson,
Mr.. Galentine, E. F. Coe, Chas. COe
and Nathaniel Coe. So quietly did they
, work that their escape was not discov'
J cred until daylight revealed them to
the Indians stationed on the bluffs.
Cries and shots from the Indians fol
lowed the discovery, but The Dalles
was reached in safety and when the