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CLOSE OF THE METHODIST RÉGIME.
of the fort[1] From this point White returned to the Mission, and Lee and Hines continued their journey toward the coast.
The Umpqua River.
Hines, who is the journalist of this expedition, particularly mentions that Gagnier was unwilling that they should go alone amongst the coast tribes, telling them of Jedediah Smith's adventure near the mouth of the river. It happened, however, that while the subject was under discussion, a party of natives arrived at the fort from the coast, in charge of a brother of Gagnier's Indian wife; and Lee proposed that this fellow should go with them as guide, and to explain the object of their visit. It was finally agreed that the wife of Gagnier should also be of the party; and
- ↑ Fort Umpqua at this period was a substantial storehouse of hewn slabs, a miserable dwelling, and a barn enclosed in a stockade. About eighty acres of land were enclosed, but very little improvement of any kind was ever made at this post, the farming being confined to cultivating a few vegetables and raising cattle. U. S. Ev., H. B. Co. Claims, 12–14, 21–3.
