Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 18/Hall Jackson Kelley, Part 4
Boston, January 31, 1839.
Sir: In compliance with your request, I shall willingly communicate to you a brief account of my connexion with the Oregon country, and of such facts in regard to that valuable portion of our national domain, and of adjoining regions, as have come within my observation and are of public interest.
The perusal of Lewis and Clark's journal, personal conference with intelligent navigators and hunters who had visited and explored the territory beyond the Rocky mountains, and facts derived from other sources entitled to credit, many years ago, satisfied me that this region must, at no remote period, become of vast importance to our Government, and of deep and general interest. Possessing, so far as I could learn, a salubrious climate, a productive soil, and all the other natural dements of wealth, and by its position in reference to divers most important channels of traffic, as well as its configuration of coast, and variety of native productions, being admirably adapted to become a great commercial country, I foresaw that Oregon must, eventually, become a favorite field of modern enterprise, and the abode of civilization.
With these views constantly and vividly before me, I could but desire most earnestly to communicate them to the public, and impress them upon the Government. And, to accomplish these objects, I have done and suffered much; having been particularly attentive to it for many years, and wholly devoted to it a large part of my time.
One great object of my labors has been to induce Congress, in the exercise of a sound discretion and foresight, and in
272 Fred Wilbur Powell
conformity with good faith towards Great Britain, to extend the active jurisdiction and guardianship of the General Gov- ernment over this territory, so that it might be brought under the restraints and protection of political organization and of law, by the country to which it justly belongs.
Another of my objects has been to give my fellow-citizens correct information, and thus induce a full and free emigration to this territory, of temperate, orderly, and industrious men; such men as might most certainly carry thither all the ad- vantages of civilization, and lay the foundations of a virtuous community; and thus to convert the wilderness into a [47] garden, the wild retreats of Indians and roving hunters into the smiling abodes of knowledge and Christianity.
/ longed and labored, also, for the highest interests of the native owners of the g^eat West ; for their social, intellectual, and moral culture; and my objects were not less benevolent than commercial, and looked as much to the elevation and melioration of the red race as to the benefit of the white.
And, finally, I desired most earnestly that the United States should secure to their western frontier the ocean as its de- fense, and thus remove from one of our borders, at least, the dangers arising from the vicinity of foreign states — ^an object which I deemed of vast importance, and upon which I need not enlarge.
These were the objects to whose accomplishment I looked forward, and from which I confidently anticipated many bene- fits: such as a more friendly and profitable intercourse be- tween our people and the various Indian tribes ; the immediate occupation of the harbors and havens of the Oregon, and the use of its abundant ship timber ; great profit from the whale and salmon fisheries of the northwest coast ; a free and grow- ing commerce with the islands' and coasts of the Pacific, with worlds should be united, and their wealth interchanged and speedy line of communication over land from the Mississippi to the Oregon, by means of which the Eastern and Western China, and India, and th(p Southern America ; a certain and increased; and many other particular benefits, which I need not enumerate.
It is not necessary for me to enter, on this occasion, into a narrative of the obstacles which I encountered in the prosecution of my views, and of the many sacrifices which I incurred in order to accomplish objects which I considered as of the highest public utility. Suffice it to say here, that, induced by the considerations I have stated, in 1833 I started from New Orleans for Vera Cruz and Mexico, and after remaining some time in Mexico, I proceeded through Upper California to Oregon.
I shall confine myself, in this communication, to the results of my study and inspection within the Oregon territory, and the adjoining province of High California.
I extend my remarks to this part of California, because it has been, and may again be, made the subject of conference and negotiation between Mexico and the United States; and because its future addition to our western possessions is, most unquestionably, a matter to be desired.
HIGH CALIFORNIA.
Commencing my remarks, therefore, at Monterey, a sea- port town situated in latitude 36 deg. 37 min. north, where I spent the months of June and July, 1834, I intend to proceed with these, in the route of my travels, northward, to the Columbia river. During my route, I was accompanied by Captain Young, a veteran hunter, who had repeatedly traversed this country, and was familiar with most of its features.
Adopting such an arrangement of facts as will, I trust, prove convenient to the committee, I will now call their attention to a brief geographical account of the northern portion of High California.
This tract of country extends from the 37th to the 42nd parallel north latitude, and forms a portion of the Mexican territories, except some few patches on the coast ; it has never been improved by the hand of civiliza-[48]tion. A lofty range, called the Snowy mountains, divides it from Oregon. This range extends from the Pacific ocean, eastwardly, to the Rocky mountains, is broken into a great number of subordinate ranges, spurs, and detached peaks. It is bounded by the valley of the Colorado, and by rugged walls of rocky highlands on the east, and its surface is diversified by groups of wooded hills, extensive prairies and marshes, and a multitude of streams, some of which are rapid and others sluggish in their currents. The Colorado drains this district on the east, and empties its waters into the gulf of California. Several rivers on the west flow into the bay of San Francisco.
The prairies, which form perhaps one half of the surface of this region, differ widely in character, extent, in formation, and fertility; but in general they are covered with a deep and rich soil, andf with an exuberant vegetation. Their uniformity is broken by numerous well-wooded hills and hillocks, and by those belts of forest which stretch along all the water-courses.
The mountainous regions are, in general, heavily timbered; but occasionally, instead of forests, we find tracts of utter barrenness, bearing the strongest marks of volcanic action, and destitute of all appearance of vegetable life.
There is one continuous line of prairie extending from the gulf of California to the 39th parallel, sometimes a hundred miles wide, and seldom less than ten, opening to the ocean only at the bay of San Francisco, its surface so diversified by fringes of trees along the borders of its streams, and by the wooded capes and peninsulas which break the uniformity of its outline, as to present the appearance of a chain of prairies of every conceivable size and form. Here, amidst the luxuriant grasses and native oats which cover its surface, immense herds of cattle, and wild game, and droves of horsts, find abundant pasturage.
Although most of these prairies are very fertile, my observation led me to doubt whether they could all be readily and profitably cultivated The soil is in many places strongly impregnated with the muriate pf soda, and in others it abounds with asphaltum, by which it is rendered too compact, especially during the excessive heats of the dry season, for tillage. The experiment has been tried on these soils, with fruit trees and esculent roots, and has repeatedly failed. Thus the apple and the potato have both been introduced, and to both the prairie has been found uncongenial, although they both flourish in the hilly region, and near the seashore. My belief is that these prairies are the results of ancient volcanic action, in which respect they do not differ from all the rest of that territory. But while the conformation of the hilly country, has aided the efforts of nature, by rains, and dews, and streams of water, to carry off these salts and other elements which are unfriendly to vegetation, and hasten the return of fertility and productiveness, the level prairie has advanced much more slowly in the same direction, retaining for ages, in defiance of the tardy process of leaching and infiltration, vast quantities of mineral substance, destructive to vegetable life. Without the aids of agricultural science, centuries more must elapse before the pure waters of the skies shall wash out from the soil of the prairie these poisonous relics of that awful convulsion of nature which, in ages far beyond human tradition, overwhelmed the western shores of our continent. Immediately along the banks of the rivers by which the prairie is intersected, as if to [49] demonstrate the correctness of my hypothesis, there is always found a strip of the choicest alluvion.
The seasons of this country are two—the wet and the dry. The wet or winter season extends from November to March, covering about five months of the year. During this period it rains without cessation for many days or weeks together; and during the rest of the year the rain seldom or never falls, and nothing but the heavy dews of the short summer nights relieves the fiery monotony of those seven long months. By the abundant waters of the rainy season, immense tracts of
276 Fred Wilbur Powbll
low prairie land are submerged, and thus for awhile con- verted into lakes, which gradually subside as the summer advances, contributing by their stagnant pools and putrid exhalations to render those lowlands exceedingly unhealthy. Some travellers, misled by these temporary floods, have spoken of vast lakes and ponds in the interior of California, instead of which their astonished successors of the following summer have discovered only arid plains or sedgy pools and marshes.
I was told that about once in every ten years it happens that little or no rain falls during the winter season; and that, in consequence of this drought, the whole country is dried up, vegetable life is almost annihilated, and the beasts of the field perish of thirst and starvation.
Along the coast, where the seabreezes have easy and con- stant access, the climate throughout the year is salubrious and delightful, differing in temperature many degrees, during the dry season, from the prairie lands, which lie beyond the first range of hills, where the ardor of the sun is mitigated by no cooling wind. The range of hills shuts out the western breezes, and the surrounding masses of forest exclude all other winds, and render ventilation impossible on the prairies, so that, while the inhabitants of the coast are enjo3ring all the delights of a serene and benignant climate, the panting traveller upon these burning plains is suffering all the dis- comforts of the torrid zone. In crossing from the prairies in the latitude of 38 deg. 30 min., during the month of August, I found that for several successive days the mercury ranged at 110 deg. (Fahrenheit) in the shade; and sealing wax de- posited in one of my boxes was converted into an almost semi-fluid state. At the same time, and in the same parallel, on the borders of the Pacific, the thermometer seldom ex- hibited a greater temperature than 75 deg., and in the evening a fire was frequently essential to comfort.
This difference of temperature is accompanied by a corre- sponding diversity of healthfulness. The coast is always healthy; but during the heat of summer the prairies of the interior are pestilential, and diseases abound.
Hall Jackson {Celley T!tJ
The principal harbors which I visited on the Pacific coast of this province (and I speak only of what I actually saw) are Santa Cruz and San Francisco. The former, about lat. 37 deg. north, is open to the sea, and exposed at times to a tremendous surf. On the northern side of the harbor lies the small town of Santa Cruz.
San Francisco bay or harbor is very spacious, and furnishes several safe and convenient havens and roadsteads. It lies some forty miles north of Santa Cruz. Its entrance, latitude 37 deg. 49 min., is two miles wide, and admits ships of the largest draught and burden. From its entrance it stretches twenty miles towards the north, and thirty miles [SO] south- easterly, the southern branch of the bay being sheltered by a range of high hills. Throughout the bay the anchorage is safe, so that a more commodious harbor could not be desired. Excepting one in De Fuca straits, it is considered the best in Northwestern America. A number of important streams find an outlet in the harbors above named. Of these, the St. Joaquin may be particularized. It rises in a large lake near the 36th deg. north, moves with a deep, slow, and tranquil current through several hundred miles of praine, receiving the tribute of many lesser streams from the mountains on the east, and at last discharges its transparent waters into the northerly part of the bay of San Francisco. This tranquil river must eventually become productive of vast benefit to California, not merely as a convenient and ready inlet for commercial purpose, but as a great outlet through which shall be drained diose superfluous waters by which so much of the prairie is converted into a marsh, and rendered fruitful only of disease and death. It is indeed a vast canal, constructed by an Abnighty Architect, and destined, I doubt not, in future ages, to transport the countless products of a mighty empire.
Another river of note is called the Sacrament. Next to the Columbia it is the largest stream on the western side of the continent. Its head waters are in the Snowy mountains (of which I have already spdcen), and almost mingle with those
278 Fred Wilbur Powell
of three other mighty rivers — ^the Colorado, the Rio Del Norte, and the Columbia. Its tributaries flow also from the range of mountains which flank the valley of the Colorado. It empties into the bay of San Francisco, and is navigable for vessels of small burden to its first fork, about eigh^ miles from its mouth. The branches which unite at that point are both rapid mountain streams; too rapid for easy navigation, but admirably adapted to float down to the waters of the Pacific the valuable timber which covers the mountains where they rise. The Sacrament, in the rainy season, rises fifteen or twenty feet, overflows its banks, assumes the appearance of a succession of lakes, and fertilizes with its alluvion im- mense tracts of champagne country. Of its numerous branches, and their countless tributary rivers and rivulets, I need not here make mention.
I crossed the rapids of the Scarament at what was said U> be its lowest ford, in latitude 39 deg. 35 min. Several of our horses were borne away by the torrent. The width of the river at that point exceeded 100 yards, and its depth varied from two to four feet. The streams west of this crossii^ place are said to be full of rapids. The western branch of the river is nearly equal in size to the eastern ; but its tribu- taries are, however, less copious.
It may be advisable to say something more of the aspect of this territory.
The Snowy mountains (Sierras Nevadas, as Vasquez named them in 1540), extending from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, are drained by the largest rivers of North America, From these mountains a spur of rugged hills extends south- wardly, between the principal branches of the Sacrament, to that fork of the river of which I have spoken. These hills are manifestly of volcanic origin, and they might well be named the "Volcanic ridge." They abound in basaltic and vitrified stones, scoria, and many other products of volcanic action. Along their base stretches [51] a beautiful chain of prairies, for 70 or 80 miles, watered by numerous streams and rivulets.
Hall Jackson Kbll^y V9
North of the 39tl;i deg, of latitude, the whole character and aspect of the country changes suddenly, a^d decidedly for the tetter. At this latitude commences the southerly slope of the Snowy mountains. The soil upon most of the hills seems admirably adapted to the growth of forest trees, and the prairies and pleasant valleys which there abound furnish the best possible land for farming purposes. Now and then, however, occurs a hill destitute of vegetation, scattered over which are to be found dark-cplored iron stores, of all shapes, with sharp edges, resembling clinkers in the arches of a brick kiln ; and reddish clay and gravel, like pulverized brick.
In this volcanic ridge I found a stratimi of earth which the Mexicans called tepetate, and which forms a sort of cenwnt. When covered by water, or buried so far below the earth as to retain moisture, it is so soft as tQ ^ easily penetrated by an iron bar, but it becomes as solid and impenetrable as a rock on being exposed to the sun or wind.
The prairies in this hilly region arc narrow vales, which stretch like beautiful ribbons along the basis of the high- lands and the margins of rivers. They are variegated with an infinite variety, and abundance of vegetable productions, gay with a thousand blossoms, and fragrant with countless per- fumes. Among the grasses which, in the month of September, were in full growth and vigor, I noticed the red clover, wild rye, wild oats, and a peculiar species of coarse grass, whose seed furnished the native with their most common article of food.
The timber trees of this region are numerous and valuable and deserve some notice.
About the highlands of the Sacrament, I discovered abun- dance of the white pine. But this species, though of great size and value, does not compare with the prodigious size and towering height of the Lambert pine ; (pinus Lambertiana) or pino Colorado. Cabrillo, in 1542, gave the name of "Bahia de los Pino^" to the harbor of Monterey, undoubtedly with ref- erence to this splendid species of the coniferee. The dimensions
280 Fred Wilbur Powell
of the Lambert pine may be inferred from the fact that I found near Santa Cruz an extensive forest, the full-g^own trees of which, at the height of twenty feet from the ground, in their diameter, would average from five to six feet. Their trunks nm up like the spars of a ship, without branches, to a prodigious height. The wood of this pine has the color of red cedar, as might be inferred from the Spanish name, (Colorado,) and the rift and softness of white pine. I ex- amined one of the trees which had been felled, and by its concentric laminae ascertained its age to be 510 years.
These majestic towers of evergreen continue as far north- ward as 40 degrees.
There are several kinds of oak. Of these, the most common is in California called white oak, (encina blanca,) rising to the average height of forty feet, its trunk measuring from six to eight feet in girth, with numerous branches, which g^ow together with such compactness as to furnish an im- penetrable retreat to those who seek concealment therein, and in perfect symmetry of form, like the rounded tops of an apple orchard ; these oaks present a very pleasing appearance to the eye.
The live oak (quercus virens) is likewise found in great abundance. [52] It is said to grow only on the highlands ; in this respect differing from the live oak of Florida. It has a diameter of three or four feet, and an altitude of sixty or seventy. For solidity, strength, and durability, judging from specimens in my possession, I deem it equal to any in the world. This invaluable timber extends northward beyond the 40th parallel.
But the most lordly species of oak here found is the white oak, {q. navalis.) It abounds on the river banks, and covers the low hills on the prairies. It not infrequently gives a diameter of five feet, measured at a height of ten or twelve feet above the ground, and its branches attain to corresponding dimensions, and extend a prodigious distance horizontally from the stem.
Hall Jackson Kbllby 281
I might pursue to much greater length my statements in regard to this interesting region ; so as to speak of its towns, villages, missions, population, and of all its natural features and productions, more fully and minutely. But while I felt boimd to allude, as I have, to the most remarkable facts which I observed during my travels in High California, I have avoided going into details, or making statements which my own inspection has not enabled me to verify. A few words more concerning the native tribes of California, and I will pass northward to the Or^;on.
Most of the native Indians have perished, or have gone into the missions about the bay of San Francisco. ^ Many tribes are utterly extinct ; in places where I was told that, in 1832, there was a population of a thousand or fifteen hundred souls, I found sometimes but one hundred, sometimes not more than fifty, and sometimes none ; and not a vestige of their habita- tions, save a pile of discolored stones, or a slight depression of the soil. Pestilence and the wrath of man have combined in the work of extermination, until, of the ancient owners of this most interesting territory, very few now occupy its fertile fields. I do not believe, and I speak after due investigaticm, that the whole Indian population between the Colorado and the Pacific, in 1834, exceeded three thousand souls. But along the Sacrament and elsewhere, there is abundant evidence that, in former times^ a teeming and crowded population was spread over that now desolate region.
When I remember the exuberant fertility, the exhaustless natural wealth, the abundant streams and admirable harbors, and the advantageous shape and position of High California, I cannot but believe that at no very distant day a swarming multitude of human beings will again people the solitude, and that the monuments of civilization will throng along those streams whose waters now murmur to the desert, and cover those fertile vales — whose tumuli now record the idolatrous worship and commemorate the former existence of innumerable savage generations.
2S2 FitED WiuiyA Powexx
OREGON.
I will now present to the committee, in brief, the facts which I gathered during a residence of five months in the Oregon territory, and which relate to the aspect, mountains, rivers and other waters, climate, soil, productions, trade and population of that coimtry. My inspecticm having been confined to the southwesterly portion of Oregon, I shall limit my statements accordingly.
The eastern section of the district referred to is bordered by a mountain range, running nearly parallel to the spine of the Rocky mountains [53] and to the coast, and which, from the number of its elevated peaks, I am inclined to call the President's range.*
There is a great uniformity of aspect among these peaks. They all resemble the frustum of a cone, the declivity forming an angle of from thirty to thirty-five degrees with the hori- zon. They lift their bold summits several thousand feet from their mountain bases, are thinly wooded near the bottom, but from mid-distance upward present their barren sides in the naked deformity of rock, lava, cinders, or whatever else might have come glowing, at some former period, from the deep- cavemed volcanic cauldrons below. I did not ascend them; but if it be safe to reason on the analogy furnished by the Mexican peaks, whose summits I did explore, and whose forms are precisely similar, these elevated simmiits are the chimneys of extinct volcanoes, and retain the vestiges of those craters from which the fiery discharges and eruptions were wont to be made.
I encamped for some time at the base of Mount Jackson, and was equally moved by the sublime spectacle of its abrupt ascent and towering grandeur, and by the beautiful diversity of its aspect and colors, engirdled as it was below with suc-
- These isolated an4 remarkabl* cones, which are now called amon^ the hnnters
of the Hudson's Bay Company by other names, I have christened after our ex- Presidents, viz: I. Washington, latitude 46 deg. 15 min.; 2. Adams, latitude 45 deg. 10 minutes; 3- Jefferson, latitude 44 deg., ^o min.; 4. MadiSon, latitude 43 deg. 50 min.; s> Monroe, latitude 43 deg. so mm.; 6. J. Q. A^ama, latitude 4s deg. 10 min.; and 7. Jackson, latitude 41 dtg, 40 min.
Hall Jackson Kellev 283
ccssive belts of forest, shrub and hardy |rfant, and terminating aloft in perpetual frost and unbroken desolation. It was my misfortune at this time to be disabled by ill health, so far as to be prevented both from ascending this peak, and from meas- uring its altitude and fixing its exact latitude.
From the Presidents' range there are two chains of hills extending to the Pacific ocean; one of them branching off from the base of J. Q. Adams peak, flanked on the north by the Umpqua river, and on the south by the Oamet, and ter- minating on the coast, m latitude , in high bluffs ; and
the other chain running from Adams peak nearly parallel with the Columbia river, until it reaches the ocean in a lofty summit, called by Lewis and Oark "Clark's Point of View/'
In all these chains of hills, and conical peaks, and isolated piles, whether springing from the heart of the prairie or clus- tering amongst the highlands, I feel confident that we dis- cover unquestionable proof that in former ages this western portion of our continent was convulsed, rent asunder, and thrown into wild disorder, by earthquakes and the operation of subterranean fires.
The first important river in Oregon, on the northerly side of the Snowy mountains, is the Qamet. It is formed of two branches, one of which rises in a lake of the same name, measuring some fifteen or twenty miles over; the other in Mount Monroe.
Both these branches are motmtain torrents, rushing furiously over rocky beds to their confluence. After breaking through a ridge of low rocky hills, some thirty miles from the coast, the Qamet proceeds in a northwesterly direction, and with a moderated current to the Pacific.
Next northwardly from the Qamet is the river Umpqua, very Similar in size, character and direction, rapid during most of its course, but passing through the level country near its embouchure with slackened ^peed. [54]
These two rivers are divided, as I have before stated, by one of the spurs of the Presidents^ range. Their marghis
284 Fred Wilbuk Powell
are finely wooded and timbered, broken into an agreeable variety of hill and dale, and covered with an excellent soiL The pine, oak and other timber is very abundant and very heavy, not only along the main stream of these rivers, but among all the highlands where they and their tributaries rise.
The Wallamette, an important branch of the Columbia river, has its headwaters near the sources of the Umpqua, receives numerous tributary streams from the Presidents' range, to which its course runs nearly parallel, and pours its floods into the Columbia, about eighty miles from the ocean. On its upper course it is said to be broken into several beautiful cat- aracts. For the last hundred miles above its junction it tra- verses a comparatively level and open coimtry; and, with the exception of one short portage, is navigable for this whole distance by boats drawing three or four feet of water. It penetrates the ridge of hills bordering the southern shore of the Columbia, and at that place falls over three several terraces of basaltic rock, making in all a descent of twenty- five feet. These falls are twenty miles irom the Columbia. Below this point its banks are low, are subject to inundation in the season of the "freshets" or vernal floods. It has two mouths, formed by the position of a gfroup of three islands whose longitudinal extent is sixteen miles, and which, though lying chiefly in the Columbia, project into the current of the Wallamette, and divide its waters in the manner described. This river has been sometimes misnamed the "Multnomah," with reference to a tribe of Indians, now extinct, who formerly occupied the land lying around its northern entrance into* the Columbia.
In beauty of scenery, fertility of soil, and other natural advantages, no portion of our country surpasses that which is found upon the Wallamette. The whole valley of this river abounds in white oak and other valuable timber. Fringes of trees grow along the margin of the stream, and back of these are rich bottom lands or prairie ground of inexhaustible fer
Hall Jackson Kelley 285
tility, and adorned with all the wealth of vegetation. From these prairies, which arc sometimes a few rods and sometimes several miles wide, often rise round isolated hills, heavily wooded, and presenting a lovely contrast to the sea of grass and flowers from which they spring.
I have now reached the Columbia river. The few statements which I propose to make concerning this noble stream will refer to matters which may not come within the knowledge of the committee from other sources.
I made surveys of the Columbia from the Wallamette to the ocean, the results of which appear upon the map which I had the honor to transmit to the committee.
For about 100 miles above its mouth the banks of the Colum- bia are generally above the reach of inundation. The period- ical floods begin about the first of May, and subside about the middle of June ; and of the distance of which I have spoken, it may be that one-tenth part is reached by the waters.
During all seasons of the year the entrance into the Colum- bia is both difficult and dangerous. Flats and sand bars stretch nearly the whole distance between its two headlands, Point Adams and Cape Hancock ("Disappointment") leaving only a narrow channel near the point last named This chan- nel, however, furnishes at all times more than twenty feet of water. [55]
From October to April, the prevalence of strong westerly winds increases the difficulty of threading this channel. The waves are driven landward with great violence, and break upon the shoals and bars with tremendous force and deafening roar. It sometimes happens, therefore, that vessels are driven by the force of the waves from the channel, and dashed hope- lessly upon those treacherous sands.
There are several harbors, formed by the curvature of the river banks, which deserve mention.
Of these, Chenook harbor, on the northerly shore, is a spa- cious bay, directly back of Cape Hancock, having deep sound- ings and a good bottom, the outer part of which is somewhat exposed, but within it is Weltered by the cape.
286 F»BD WtLBtnt Powell
Gray's harbor, on the same side of the river, ^tboat tto mfles fr6m the cape, is better protected than Chtoook, but it is com- paratively shaltew, except f6r a short distance, where the i^f^ measufes three and iotxt fathoms. It must become a great place for shipbuilding, in consequence of the vicinity ti im- mense quantities of ship timber.
Nearly opposite is Astor harbor, lying a little south of "Tongue point." Though not wholly defended from the westerly winds, it is the best of the harbors yet mentioned, having soundings of from four to seven fathoms, and a muddy bottom. From Astor harbor to Cape Hancock the direct dis- tance is eleven miles; but by the channel it is mcreased to something over fourteen.
Directly over against Chenook harbor is Meriwether bay, a deep opening behind Point Adams, inaccessible to vessels of large size, by reason of sand bars, but furnishing a secure anchorage to the smaller craft.
It would be easy to improve the entrance of the Columbia by cutting a ship channel across a narrow strip of lowland from Chenook bay to a small but deep harbor which lies north of Cape Hancock. The distance does not exceed a hundred rods ; a creek extends nearly across, and the spring flood flows quite over it. My belief is that, at some former period, the waters of the Columbia had a free outlet at this place, but that the gradual deposits of sand and alluvwn have choked up the channel.
So also might a canal be cut at small expense from Chenook harbor, some thirty miles northwestwardly, to Bulfinch's bay, by which the navigation would be greatly facilitated. The in- tervening land invites this enterprise ; for it is not only low and level, but, for a considerable portion of the distance, ponds and natural channels of water furnish great facilities to such a work.
The Columbia is, at all seasons, navigable for ships to the head of tide water, which is two miles fr6nl its outlet. Tfie brig Convoy, Cai!>tain Thompson, in the Reason of the freshet, ascended forty miles further to the falfe.
Hall Jackson Kelley 287
The cKmate of this region is mild, salubrious and healthful, fhiring the whole winter of 1834-5, settlers on the Columbia were engaged in ploughing and sowing their lands, and cattle were grazing on the prairies. One of the factors of the Hud- son's Bay Company, who cultivated an extensive farm on the northern bank of the Columbia, informed me that he sowed one hundred and fifty bushels of wheat during the months of January and February. I knew of but three falls of snow dur- ing that winter in the vicinity of the river. These occurred hi February, and neither of them exceeded three inches in depth. The 28th [56] of February was the coldest day in the season; rain fell during the forenoon. It then cleared off cold and, for a few hours, houses, trees and fields sparkled in an icy covering.
During the winter, nearly every day witnessed an alternation of sunshine and rain ; the forenoons being mild and clear, and the afternoons ending in showers or drizzling rain.
The healthfulncss of this country is unquestionable. With the exception of some few low and swampy spots on the banks of the Columbia, at and below the junction of the Wallamette, the whole region of the Columbia enjoys a clear and fine atmosphere, and an exemption from all the ordinary causes of endemic disease. It is said that till the year 1830 fever and SLgvtt had not been known. In that year, as I was informed, the Indians suffered from intermittent fevers. But there was no reasoi^ to attribute this mortality to climate. On the other hand, it is believed that the excessive filth and slovenly habits of the inhabitants of the English settlement at Vancouver were the occasion of the disease. Vancouver itself is situated on a high, delightful and salubrious spot, and nothing but gross and unpardonable habits of life could render it unwholesome.
All veritable evidence speaks favorably of the climate of this beautiful tract of country, and none but ignorant or deceitful witnesses have ever testified to the contrary.
The valley of the Wallamette is the finest country I ever saw, whether for the gratificati6n of the eye or the substantial
288 Fred Wilbur Powell
comforts of life, for all the natural elements of wealth or for its adaptation to the wants and happiness of civilized man. It declares to the intelligent observer, beyond the power of doubt, that it is intended to be the habitation of myriads of civilized and happy men.
So far as I could learn from intelligent and credible wit- nesses, the country north of the Columbia, to the 54th paral- lel, possesses nearly the same character which I have described as belonging to the region which I myself traversed.
The Hudson's Bay Company, who have long occupied this territory, and endeavored to monopolize the benefits of its trade, it is believed, possesses greater capital, and employs a larger number of men in its various departments of service than any other association, excepting, perhaps, the East India Company, under the auspices of the British Government.
For nearly twenty years, ever since, in 1821, the Northwest Company was finally broken up, the Hudson's Bay Company have exercised an almost unlimited control over the Indian tribes and the trade of th^ whole country west of the Rocky mountains.
It has made great progress in settling that region. In 1834 it had over 2,000 men engaged in trading, farming, mechanical and commercial operations. Of these individuals, the major part had taken Indian women to wife, by whom they had children of all ages, from infancy to manhood. The company exercises full authority over all, whether Indians, English, or Americans, who are in its service, and in a manner always injurious, and generally disastrous, to all others who under- take to trade or settle in that territory. It may be said in fact that Americans, except associated with this ccnnpany, are not permitted to carry on a traffic within several hundred miles of the company's posts. I cannot state how long the mland trade has been cut off. But within the last season, our [57] merchants, since 1834, have not been allowed to participate in the lucrative trade and commerce of the northwest coast While I was at Vancouver, in that year, the American ship
. Hall Jackson Kelley 289
Europa, Captain Allen, of Boston, was on that coast. The Hudson's Bay Company, in pursuance of their regular policy, immediately fitted out the brig Llama, and instructed her cap- tain, McNeil (as he himself informed me), to follow the Europa from port to port, and harbor to harbor, and drive her off the coast at any sacrifice, by underselling her, no matter what her prices, whenever she should open a trade. It has been declared by Mr. Simpson, who was at the head of the company's marine, that they were resolved, even at the cost of a hundred thousand pounds, to expel the Americans from traffic on that coast.
I am informed that in November last (1838) the brig Joseph Peabody, of New York, was fitted and sent out to attempt once more the northwest fur trade. The voyage is regarded as an experiment, and her chance of success depends on her finding the company unprepared for her arrival. So Icwig as our Government slumbers on her rights, so long must the enterprise of our citizens, even within our own territorial limits, even within American sovereignty, be rendered abortive by the force or fraud of foreign monopolists.
In their intercourse with the Indians, the company are gov- erned by no higher principle than self-interest, and are fre- quently guilty of the most arbitrary acts. While I was there, the company surgeon at Vancouver deliberately seized an Indian who had been guilty of some indecency, and proceeded to mutilate his person, and for this wrong, neither the victim nor his friends dared to ask for redress, or even to make any complaint.
The number of trading posts in Oregon, belonging to this company, in 1834, exceeded twenty. They are called "forts," but they are mostly regular villages, such as Vancouver, Wallawallah, Oakenagen, Colville, Neperces, &c. At these places are seen houses, stores, workshops, traders, farmers, artisans, herds of cattle, and cultivated farms, waving with abundant harvests; in short, every appearance of permanent and flourishing settlements. Of these farming establishments,
290 Pm^ WnjBim Powell
full accounts are already supplied by Mr. Slacnm. I will only add a few facts in regard to this subject. I saw at Vancouver a large and splendid bam, in which was a thrashing machine that cost $1,500, and was worked by oxen. Connected with the same farming establishment I saw also more than 1,000 head of neat cattle, grazing on the ever-verdant prairie, and flocks of sheep, swine and horses, and domestic fowls of various kinds, both in and around the village.
The stocks of grain on that farm exceeded anything of the kind that I had evei* seen in the United States. Twelve thou- sand bushels of wheat, at a very moderate computation^ re- mained in the sheaf at the time of my leaving Vancouver in the spring.
Six miles above Vancouver, on the same side of the river, was a lai^e sawmill, capable of cutting from 20 to 25 thousand feet of boards per day, throughout the year. It can be readily inferred that, with this and other such mills, vast havoc would soon be made in the timber of this region, and the banks of the rivers and streams be cleared of that which is at once the most valuable and the most accessible.
The town of Vancouver, as I have stated, stands on a high and healthy [58] spot. I might, with propriety, dwell for a moment upon its picturesque and beautiful landscape. Directly back of the village the ground rises considerably, forming a kind of "steppe" or pUieau, from which the prospect is one of the loveliest oft which my eye ever r^ed, diversified by all that is wild, rugged and sublime, m forest and mountain scenery, or soft and smiling in lowland and meadow, river and plain ; all that the bounty of nature or the skill of man combined can furnish to surprise of delight th^ eye and the taste of the beholder. In the distance, yet lo(4dng as though withm reach, are the snowy peaks of the Rbcfcy mountains, whose frosty mantle defies the hottest sun of summer. Nearer at hand is a vast ocean of forest, variegated with every hue known to the foliage of trees, whether deciduous or evergreen. At your feet are a thousand appearances of industry, wealth and pros
Hali. Jackson I(ellev 291
perity, and before you are the valleys of both the Wallamette and Colombia, spreading* and winding afar, and almost weary- ing the eye with cotmtless varieties of aspect and innumerable forms of loveliness.
Amongst the other forms of industry at Vancouver, ship- building should not be omitted There was a shipyard there in 1834, where several vessels had been built, and where all the vessels of the Hudson's Bay Company were repaired. The neighboring forests abound in timber adapted to naval pur- poses, such as oak, cedar, si^ruce and firs, of gigantic growth. There is, in particular, an extensive forest of white oak within a small distance of the fort.
I found that a canal had been commenced at the falls of the Wallamette by the company, for the purpose of making the head of water available for practical purposes — the propulsion of machinery, &c.
Families who had settled in the valley of the Wallamette continued under the government and contrd of the company, receiving therefrom, on loan^ all the stock, stores and imple- ments of agriculture, in consideration of which they stipulated that all the marketable products of their farms should be sold exclusively to the company. Oxen and cows were furnished in like manner, it being the settled policy of the company not to kill or sell any cattle until the country should become well stocked.
All these circumstances indicated a disposition to form per- manent interests and estaUishments on the part of this great association and its members and servants ; and I was assured that, whatever may be the result of the disputed question of sovereignty and occupancy, most of the people of tiiis territory will remain quietly fixed in thmf residences.
The fisheries of this territory have been comparatively neg- lected by the company. They might be made immensely pro- ductive and profitable, for diere are several species of fish, particularly salmon, which swim in eountless numbers in the Columbia and its branches, and are easily taken and prepared
292 Fred Wilbur Powell
for exportation. Formerly they put up 500 or 1,000 barrck of salmon per year at Vancouver alone, and a much larger quantity at Fort Langley.
The trade of the company consists of furs, lumber, flour, fish, grain and potatoes. The amount of traffic in furs I have no accurate means of computation; but that it is enor- mous may be safely inferred from the fact that a single indi- vidual at Astoria, in 1834, collected more than 1,800 beaver skins, although that post was nearly deserted.
The furs and peltries are shipped to London. Other exports find a ready market in California and the Sandwich Islands, such as fir boards [59] and other lumber, white oak ship tim- ber, spruce knees and spars, and white ash oars. In return, the company receives provisions, salt, sugar, molasses, spirits, &c. They obtain beef cattle from California, at three dollars per head, and pay for them in lumber, at sixty to one hundred dollars per M.
Some notion of the amount of lumber exported may be obtained from the fact that the vessel which bore me from Oregon to the Sandwich Islands brought out the complement of a quantity of boards contracted for at the price of twenty thousand dollars.
The value of flour at the Russian settlements varied from fifteen to twenty dollars per barrel. In more southerly mar- kets, salmon were worth twenty dollars per barrel, and sixty dollars per M was the minimum price of merchantable boards.
I arrived at Vancouver unwell, and was hospitably welcomed by Mr. McLaughlin, the chief factor. Medical aid was ren- dered me; a house in the village was furnished for my use, and all my physical wants were supplied ; but I was forbidden to enter the fort. Before I had been long in the country, I learned that the factor and his agents were preparing, in every artful way, to render my abode there uncomfortable and unsafe. The most preposterous calumnies and slanders were set on foot in regard to my character, conduct and designs. All my move- ments were watched, and, in some instances, I was threatened
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with violence by persons who had been instigated, as I had reason to believe, by the company. Had I been willing to place myself under the direction and control of the company, all would have been peace ; but so long as I was resolved to act independently, as an American on American soil, seeking authentic information for general diffusion, and pursuing the avowed purpose of opening the trade ^of the territory to gen- eral competition, and the wealth of the country to general participation and enjoyment, so long was I an object of dread and dislike to the grasping monopolists of the Hudson's Bay Company,
My abode in Oregon was thus rendered very disagreeable. The loss of my property on the route had obliged me to vary my original plans, and limit my enterprise to such an examina- tion of the country as would enable me to enlighten the Ameri- can public on my return to the United States. I remained, therefore, in Or^;on no longer than was needful to satisfy myself on the desired points of inquiry ; and so long as I did remain, I was treated very much like a prisoner of war, although not subjected to actual confinement.
When I left the Oregon country, I took passage in the brig Dryad, Captain Keplin, for the Sandwich Islands.
The petition recently presented to the Senate of the United States, signed by residents of Oregon, will fortify my views in regard to the necessity for some degree of protection on the part of the Government over the people of that territory.
I come now, in conclusion, to say something of the Indians of Oregon,
This unfortunate race of men, as on the eastern so on the western coast of America, perish and pass away at the ap- proach of white men, like those who are swept off by pesti- lence. By the accounts of voyagers and travellers who visited Oregon 30 or 40 years ago, it is made evident that the Indian population was very numeroiis. But of their hundred tribes, sovereign or subordinate, including probably one hundred and fifty thousand souls, but a small fraction now remains. [60]
294 Fred Wilbur Powell
In 1804, within 100 miles upward from the mouth of Jhe Columbia, there were no less than eight Indian tribes, with an average population of nearly a thousand persons to each tribe. In 1834 nothing remained but the remnants of these tribes, including less than four hundred Indians. Two-thirds of all the tribes ever known in Oregon are utterly extinct, and the names of them are scarcely remembered.
The Multnomahs, who formerly occupied the Waw>atoo islands, and the country around the mouth of the Wallamette, and who numbered 3,000 souls, are all dead, and their villages reduced to desolation. The once numerous Qatsops have lost their national existence, the few who survive seeking a shelter amongst the Chenooks, who are also reduced to less than one- fourth of their former numbers.
All the remaining Indians below Vancouver live in the most brutal, sottish and degraded manner, addicted to the grossest intemperance, and associating with the whites in such manner that there can scarcely be found among them a full-bloode4 Indian child. Rum and other intoxicating liquors are used ^ the besom of destruction among the miserable victims of the white man's cruelty. While I was on board pne of the com- pany's vessels, at the mouth of the Columbia, I saw the captain dealing out rum by the bucket to the chief of the Chenooks^ in return for wild game. I saw the chief, with his family of eight persons, intoxicated on the shore.
Such has been the result of the intercourse between the untutored children of the wild and the inhabitants of civilised and Christian communities.
In concluding this imperfect letter, I ought, in justice to myself, to state that it was not disappointment in regard to the natural advantages of Oregon which prevented my form- ing a permanent connexion with that region; but I was im- pelled by a determination to do all in my power, by constant effort in the United States, to lead our Government to extend over Oregon that paternal care which alone is needed to render it the very nucleus of emigration, and the most attractive portion of our national domain. Having, by the hardships and exposures of a lonely and long continued adventure of life, been deprived in a great degfree of the use of my eyes, my health broken down, and my constitu- tion shattered, I have, of course, since my return, found my exertions restricted and impaired, but by no means terminated. It is consoling to me, in the midst of poverty and suffering, to believe that my fellow-citizens and my country are at last beginning to appreciate the value of the objects and measures for which I have sacrificed my possessions, my health, and the best portion of my life. It is also a matter of congratu- lation to me that some of those whom my persuasion induced to emigrate to Oregon have there fotaid prosperous settle- ments, and are now asking Congress to accept them and pro- tect them as citizens ; and that I have, therefore, been instru- mental in planting the seed of American empire in a soil where it shall take root and spring up and flourish like the luxuriant productions there scattered by the bounty of nature.
I have the honor to be, dear sir, yours, with the highest con- sideration and respectHall J. Kelley.
Hon. Caleb Cushing. [61]
- ↑ Committee On Foreign Affairs, Supplemental report, Territory of Oregon, Appendix O; 47-61. 25 cong. 3 sess. H. rep. 101.