First appearance of tide water in the Columbia
river--description of the Quicksand river--some account of the
Skilloot Indians--the party pass the river Coweliske--some
account of the Washkiacum Indians--arrival on the borders of
the Pacific--disagreeable and critical situation of the party
when first encamped--their distress occasioned by the incessant
torrents of rain--exposed for thirty days to this drenching
deluge, during which time their provisions are spoiled, and
most of their few articles of merchandise destroyed--distress
of the party--adventure of Shannon and his danger from the
Washkiacums--difficulty of finding a place suitable for a
permanent encampment--visited by several Indians of different
tribes, on whom medals are bestowed.
Saturday, November 2. We now examined the rapid below more
particularly, and the danger appearing to be too great for the loaded
canoes, all those who could not swim were sent with the baggage by
land. The canoes then passed safely, and were reloaded; at the foot of
the rapid we took a meridian altitude of 59° 45´ 45´´. Just as we were
setting out seven squaws arrived across the portage loaded with dried
fish and bear-grass, neatly packed in bundles, and soon after four
Indians came down the rapid in a large canoe. After breakfasting we
left our camp at one o’clock, passed the upper point of an island which
is separated from the right shore by a narrow channel, through which
in high tides the water passes. But at present it contains no running
water, and a creek which falls into it from the mountains on the right,
is in the same dry condition, though it has the marks of discharging
immense torrents at some seasons. The island thus made is three miles
in length and about one in width; its situation is high and open, the
land rich, and at this time covered with grass and a great number of
strawberry vines, from which we gave it the name of Strawberry island.
In several places we observed that the Indians had been digging for
roots, and indeed the whole island bears every appearance of having
been at some period in a state of cultivation. On the left side of
the river the low ground is narrow and open: the rapid which we have
just passed is the last of all the descents of the Columbia. At this
place the first tide-water commences, and the river in consequence
widened immediately below the rapid. As we descended, we reached at
the distance of one mile from the rapid a creek under a bluff on the
left, at three miles is the lower point of Strawberry island. To this
immediately succeed three small islands covered with wood; in the
meadow to the right, and at some distance from the hills, stands a high
perpendicular rock, about eight hundred feet high, and four hundred
yards round the base; this we called the Beacon rock. Just below is an
Indian village of nine houses, situated between two small creeks.
At this village the river widens to nearly a mile in extent, the low
grounds too become wider, and they as well as the mountains on each
side are covered with pine, spruce-pine, cottonwood, a species of ash,
and some alder. After being so long accustomed to the dreary nakedness
of the country above, the change is as grateful to the eye, as it is
useful in supplying us with fuel. Four miles from the village is a
point of land on the right, where the hills become lower, but are still
thickly timbered. The river is now about two miles wide, the current
smooth and gentle, and the effect of the tide has been sensible since
leaving the rapid. Six miles lower is a rock rising from the middle of
the river to the height of one hundred feet, and about eighty yards
at its base. We continued six miles further, and halted for the night
under a high projecting rock on the left side of the river opposite the
point of a large meadow. The mountains, which from the great shoot to
this place are high, rugged, and thickly covered with timber chiefly of
the pine species, here leave the river on each side; the river becomes
two and a half miles in width, and the low grounds are extensive and
well supplied with wood. The Indians whom we left at the portage passed
us, on their way down the river, and seven others who were descending
in a canoe for the purpose of trading below, encamped with us. We had
made from the foot of the great shoot twenty-nine miles to-day. The
ebb-tide rose at our camp about nine inches, the flood must rise much
higher. We saw great numbers of water-fowl, such as swan, geese, ducks
of various kinds, gulls, plover, and the white and gray brant, of which
last we killed eighteen.
Sunday 3. We were detained until ten o’clock by a fog so thick that a
man would not be discerned at the distance of fifty steps. As soon as
it cleared off we set out in company with our new Indian acquaintances,
who came from a village near the great falls. The low grounds along
the river are covered so thickly with rushes, vines, and other small
growth, that they are almost impassable. At the distance of three miles
we reached the mouth of a river on the left, which seemed to lose
its waters in a sandbar opposite; the stream itself being only a few
inches in depth. But on attempting to wade across, we discovered that
the bed was a very bad quicksand, too deep to be passed on foot. We
went up a mile and a half to examine this river, and found it to be at
this distance a very considerable stream one hundred and twenty yards
wide at its narrowest part, with several small islands. Its character
resembles very much that of the river Platte. It drives its quicksand
over the low grounds with great impetuosity, and such is the quantity
of coarse sand which it discharges, that the accumulation has formed a
large sandbar or island, three miles long, and a mile and a half wide,
which divides the waters of the Quicksand river into two channels. This
sand island compresses the Columbia within a space of half a mile,
and throws its whole current against the right shore. Opposite to
this river, which we call Quicksand river, is a large creek to which
we gave the name of Seal river. The first appears to pass through the
low country, at the foot of the high range of mountains towards the
southeast, while the second as well as all the large creeks on the
right side of the Columbia, rise in the same ridge of mountains N.N.E.
from this place. The mountain, which we have supposed to be the mount
Hood of Vancouver, bears S. 85° E. about forty-seven miles from the
mouth of the Quicksand river. After dinner we proceeded, and at the
distance of three miles reached the lower mouth of Quicksand river. On
the opposite side a large creek falls in near the head of an island,
which extends for three miles and a half down the river; it is a mile
and a half in width, rocky at the upper end, has some timber round its
borders, but in the middle is open and has several ponds. Half a mile
lower is another island in the middle of the river, to which from its
appearance we gave the name of Diamond island. Here we met fifteen
Indians ascending the river in two canoes, but the only information we
could procure from them was, that they had seen three vessels, which we
presume to be European, at the mouth of the Columbia. We went along its
right side for three miles, and encamped opposite to it, after making
to-day thirteen miles. A canoe soon after arrived from the village at
the foot of the last rapid, with an Indian and his family, consisting
of a wife, three children, and a woman who had been taken prisoner
from the Snake Indians, living on a river from the south, which we
afterwards found to be the Multnomah. Sacajawea was immediately
introduced to her, in hopes that being a Snake Indian also, they
might understand each other, but their language was not sufficiently
intelligible to permit them to converse together. The Indian had a gun
with a brass barrel and cock, which he appeared to value very highly.
Below Quicksand river the country is low, rich and thickly wooded on
each side of the river: the islands have less timber, but are furnished
with a number of ponds near which are vast quantities of fowls, such
as swan, geese, brants, cranes, storks, white gulls, cormorants and
plover. The river is wide, and contains a great number of sea otters.
In the evening the hunters brought in game for a sumptuous supper,
which we shared with the Indians, both parties of whom spent the night
with us.
Monday 4. The weather was cloudy and cool, and the wind from the west.
During the night, the tide rose eighteen inches near our camp. We set
out about eight o’clock, and at the distance of three miles came to
the lower end of Diamond island. It is six miles long, nearly three in
width, and like the other islands, thinly covered with timber, and has
a number of ponds or small lakes scattered over its surface. Besides
the animals already mentioned we shot a deer on it this morning.
Near the end of Diamond island are two others, separated by a narrow
channel filled at high tides only, which continue on the right for
the distance of three miles, and like the adjacent low grounds, are
thickly covered with pine. Just below the last, we landed on the left
bank of the river, at a village of twenty five houses; all of these
were thatched with straw, and built of bark, except one which was
about fifty feet long, built of boards in the form of those higher up
the river, from which it differed however, in being completely above
ground, and covered with broad split boards; this village contains
about two hundred men of the Skilloot nation, who seem well provided
with canoes, of which there were at least fifty-two, and some of them
very large, drawn up in front of the village. On landing we found the
Indian from above, who had left us this morning, and who now invited
us into a lodge of which he appeared to own a part. Here he treated
us with a root, round in shape, and about the size of a small Irish
potatoe, which they call wappatoo, it is the common arrowhead or
sagittifolia, so much cultivated by the Chinese, and when roasted in
the embers till it becomes soft, has an agreeable taste, and is a
very good substitute for bread. After purchasing some more of this
root, we resumed our journey, and at seven miles distance came to the
head of a large island near the left. On the right shore is a fine
open prairie for about a mile, back of which the country rises, and
is supplied with timber, such as white oak, pine of different kinds,
wild crab, and several species of undergrowth, while along the borders
of the river, there are only a few cottonwood and ash trees. In this
prairie were also signs of deer and elk. When we landed for dinner, a
number of Indians from the last village, came down for the purpose,
as we supposed, of paying us a friendly visit, as they had put on
their favourite dresses. In addition to their usual covering they had
scarlet and blue blankets, sailors’ jackets and trowsers, shirts and
hats. They had all of them either war axes, spears and bow arrows, or
muskets and pistols, with tin powder flasks. We smoked with them and
endeavoured to show them every attention, but we soon found them very
assuming and disagreeable companions. While we were eating they stole
the pipe with which they were smoking, and the great coat of one of the
men. We immediately searched them all, and discovered the coat stuffed
under the root of a tree near where they were sitting; but the pipe we
could not recover. Finding us determined not to suffer any imposition,
and discontented with them, they showed their displeasure in the only
way which they dared, by returning in an ill humour to their village.
We then proceeded and soon met two canoes with twelve men of the same
Skilloot nation, who were on their way from below. The larger of the
canoes was ornamented with the figure of a bear in the bow, and a
man in the stern, both nearly as large as life, both made of painted
wood, and very neatly fixed to the boat. In the same canoe were two
Indians finely dressed and with round hats. This circumstance induced
us to give the name of Image canoe to the large island, the lower end
of which we now passed at the distance of nine miles from its head.
We had seen two smaller islands to the right, and three more near its
lower extremity. The Indians in the canoe here made signs that there
was a village behind those islands, and indeed we presumed there was
a channel on that side of the river, for one of the canoes passed in
that direction between the small islands, but we were anxious to press
forward, and therefore did not stop to examine more minutely. The river
was now about a mile and a half in width, with a gentle current, the
bottoms extensive and low, but not subject to be overflowed. Three
miles below the Image canoe island we came to four large houses on the
left side, at which place we had a full view of the mountain which
we first saw on the 19th of October, from the Muscleshell rapid, and
which we now find to be the mount St. Helen of Vancouver. It bears
north 25° east, about ninety miles distant; it rises in the form of a
sugar-loaf to a very great height, and is covered with snow. A mile
lower we passed a single house on the left, and another on the right.
The Indians had now learnt so much of us, that their curiosity was
without any mixture of fear, and their visits became very frequent and
troublesome. We therefore continued on till after night, in hopes of
getting rid of them; but after passing a village on each side, which on
account of the lateness of the hour we saw indistinctly, we found there
was no escaping from their importunities. We therefore landed at the
distance of seven miles below Image canoe island, and encamped near a
single house on the right, having made during the day twenty-nine miles.
The Skilloots whom we passed to-day, speak a language somewhat
different from that of the Echeloots or Chilluekittequaws near the long
narrows. Their dress is similar, except that the Skilloots possess
more articles procured from the white traders; and there is further
difference between them, inasmuch as the Skilloots, both males and
females, have the head flattened. Their principal food is fish, and
wappatoo roots, and some elk and deer, in killing which with their
arrows, they seem very expert, for during the short time we remained
at the village three deer were brought in. We also observed there a
tame brairo.
As soon as we landed we were visited by two canoes loaded with
Indians, from whom we purchased a few roots. The grounds along the
river continue low and rich, and the shrubs which cover them is a
large quantity of vines resembling the raspberry. On the right the low
grounds are terminated at the distance of five miles by a range of high
hills covered with tall timber, and running southeast and northwest.
The game as usual very abundant, and among other birds we observe some
white geese with a part of their wings black.
Tuesday, 5. Our choice of a camp had been very unfortunate; for on a
sand island opposite to us were immense numbers of geese, swan-ducks,
and other wild fowl, who, during the whole night, serenaded us with a
confusion of noises which completely prevented our sleeping. During the
latter part of the night it rained, and we therefore willingly left our
encampment at an early hour. We passed at three miles a small prairie,
where the river is only three quarters of a mile in width, and soon
after two houses on the left, half a mile distant from each other; from
one of which three men came in a canoe merely to look at us, and having
done so returned home. At eight miles we came to the lower point of an
island, separated from the right side by a narrow channel, on which,
a short distance above the end of the island, is situated a large
village: it is built more compactly than the generality of the Indian
villages, and the front has fourteen houses, which are ranged for a
quarter of a mile along the channel. As soon as we were discovered
seven canoes came out to see us, and after some traffic during which
they seemed well-disposed and orderly, accompanied us a short distance
below. The river here again widens to the space of a mile and a half.
As we descended we soon observed, behind a sharp point of rocks, a
channel a quarter of a mile wide, which we suppose must be the one
taken by the canoes yesterday on leaving Image-canoe island. A mile
below the channel are some low cliffs of rocks, near which is a large
island on the right side, and two small islands a little further on.
Here we met two canoes ascending the river. At this place the shore on
the right becomes bold and rocky, and the bank is bordered by a range
of high hills covered with a thick growth of pine: on the other side
is an extensive low island, separated from the left side by a narrow
channel. Here we stopped to dine, and found the island open, with an
abundant growth of grass, and a number of ponds well supplied with
fowls; and at the lower extremity are the remains of an old village. We
procured a swan, several ducks, and a brant, and saw some deer on the
island. Besides this island, the lower extremity of which is seventeen
miles from the channel just mentioned, we passed two or three smaller
ones in the same distance. Here the hills on the right retire from the
river, leaving a high plain, between which, on the left bank, a range
of high hills running southeast and covered with pine, forms a bold
and rocky shore. At the distance of six miles, however, these hills
again return and close the river on both sides. We proceeded on, and at
four miles reached a creek on the right, about twenty yards in width,
immediately below which is an old village. Three miles further, and at
the distance of thirty-two miles from our camp of last night, we halted
under a point of highland, with thick pine trees on the left bank of
the river. Before landing we met two canoes, the largest of which had
at the bow the image of a bear, and that of a man on the stern: there
were twenty-six Indians on board, but they all proceeded upwards, and
we were left, for the first time since we reached the waters of the
Columbia, without any of the natives with us during the night. Besides
the game already mentioned, we killed a grouse much larger than the
common size, and observed along the shore a number of striped snakes.
The river is here deep, and about a mile and a half in width. Here
too the ridge of low mountains running northwest and southeast, cross
the river, and form the western boundary of the plain through which we
have just passed. This great plain or valley begins above the mouth
of Quicksand river, and is about sixty miles wide in a straight line,
while on the right and left it extends to a great distance: it is a
fertile and delightful country, shaded by thick groves of tall timber,
watered by small ponds, and running on both sides of the river. The
soil is rich, and capable of any species of culture; but in the present
condition of the Indians, its chief production is the wappatoo root,
which grows spontaneously and exclusively in this region. Sheltered
as it is on both sides, the temperature is much milder than that of
the surrounding country; for even at this season of the year, we
observe very little appearance of frost. During its whole extent it
is inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians, who either reside in it
permanently, or visit its waters in quest of fish and wappatoo roots:
we gave it the name of the Columbia valley.
Wednesday, 6. The morning was cool, wet, and rainy. We proceeded at an
early hour between the high hills on both sides of the river, till at
the distance of four miles we came to two tents of Indians in a small
plain on the left, where the hills on the right recede a few miles from
the river, and a long narrow island stretches along the right shore.
Behind this island is the mouth of a large river a hundred and fifty
yards wide, and called by the Indians, Coweliske. We halted for dinner
on the island, but the red wood and green briars are so interwoven with
the pine, alder, ash, a species of beech, and other trees, that the
woods form a thicket, which our hunters could not penetrate. Below the
mouth of the Coweliske a very remarkable knob rises from the water’s
edge to the height of eighty feet, being two hundred paces round the
base; and as it is in a low part of the island, and some distance from
the high grounds, the appearance of it is very singular. On setting
out after dinner we overtook two canoes going down to trade: one of
the Indians, who spoke a few words of English, mentioned, that the
principal person who traded with them was a Mr. Haley, and he showed a
bow of iron and several other things which he said Mr. Haley had given
him. Nine miles below that river is a creek on the same; and between
them three smaller islands; one on the left shore, the other about the
middle of the river; and a third near the lower end of the long narrow
island, and opposite a high cliff of black rocks on the left, sixteen
miles from our camp. Here we were overtaken by the Indians from the two
tents we passed in the morning, from whom we now purchased wappatoo
roots, salmon, trout, and two beaver skins, for which last we gave five
small fish-hooks. At these cliffs the mountains, which had continued
high and rugged on the left, retired from the river, and as the hills
on the other side had left the water at the Coweliske, a beautiful
extensive plain now presented itself before us: for a few miles we
passed along side of an island a mile in width and three miles long,
below which is a smaller island, where the high rugged hills, thickly
covered with timber, border the right bank of the river, and terminate
the low grounds: these were supplied with common rushes, grass, and
nettles; in the moister parts with bullrushes and flags, and along the
water’s edge some willows. Here also were two ancient villages, now
abandoned by their inhabitants, of whom no vestige remains, except
two small dogs almost starved, and a prodigious quantity of fleas.
After crossing the plain and making five miles, we proceeded through
the hills for eight miles. The river is about a mile in width, and
the hills so steep that we could not for several miles find a place
sufficiently level to suffer us to sleep in a level position: at
length, by removing the large stones, we cleared a place fit for our
purpose above the reach of the tide, and after a journey of twenty-nine
miles slept among the smaller stones under a mountain to the right. The
weather was rainy during the whole day: we therefore made large fires
to dry our bedding and to kill the fleas, who have accumulated upon us
at every old village we have passed.
Thursday 7. The morning was rainy and the fog so thick that we could
not see across the river. We observed however, opposite to our camp,
the upper point of an island, between which and the steep hills on the
right we proceeded for five miles. Three miles lower is the beginning
of an island separated from the right shore by a narrow channel; down
this we proceeded under the direction of some Indians whom we had just
met going up the river, and who returned in order to show us their
village. It consists of four houses only, situated on this channel
behind several marshy islands formed by two small creeks. On our
arrival they gave us some fish, and we afterwards purchased wappatoo
roots, fish, three dogs, and two otter skins, for which we gave
fish-hooks chiefly, that being an article of which they are very fond.
These people seem to be of a different nation from those we have just
passed: they are low in stature, ill shaped, and all have their heads
flattened. They call themselves Wahkiacum, and their language differs
from that of the tribes above, with whom they trade for wappatoo roots.
The houses too are built in a different style, being raised entirely
above ground, with the eaves about five feet high, and the door at
the corner. Near the end opposite to this door is a single fireplace,
round which are the beds, raised four feet from the floor of earth;
over the fire are hung the fresh fish, and when dried they are stowed
away with the wappatoo roots under the beds. The dress of the men is
like that of the people above, but the women are clad in a peculiar
manner, the robe not reaching lower than the hip, and the body being
covered in cold weather by a sort of corset of fur, curiously plaited,
and reaching from the arms to the hip; added to this is a sort of
petticoat, or rather tissue of white cedar bark, bruised or broken
into small strands, and woven into a girdle by several cords of the
same material. Being tied round the middle, these strands hang down as
low as the knee in front, and to midleg behind, and are of sufficient
thickness to answer the purpose of concealment whilst the female
stands in an erect position, but in any other attitude is but a very
ineffectual defence. Sometimes the tissue is strings of silk grass,
twisted and knotted at the end.
After remaining with them about an hour, we proceeded down the channel
with an Indian dressed in a sailor’s jacket for our pilot, and on
reaching the main channel were visited by some Indians who have a
temporary residence on a marshy island in the middle of the river,
where is a great abundance of water fowl. Here the mountainous country
again approaches the river on the left, and a higher mountain is
distinguished towards the southwest. At a distance of twenty miles
from our camp we halted at a village of Wahkiacums, consisting of
seven ill-looking houses, built in the same form with those above,
and situated at the foot of the high hills on the right, behind two
small marshy islands. We merely stopped to purchase some food and two
beaver skins, and then proceeded. Opposite to these islands the hills
on the left retire, and the river widens into a kind of bay crowded
with low islands, subject to be overflowed occasionally by the tide.
We had not gone far from this village when the fog cleared off, and we
enjoyed the delightful prospect of the ocean; that ocean, the object
of all our labours, the reward of all our anxieties. This cheering
view exhilarated the spirits of all the party, who were still more
delighted on hearing the distant roar of the breakers. We went on with
cheerfulness under the high, mountainous country which continued along
the right bank; the shore was however so bold and rocky, that we could
not, until after going fourteen miles from the last village, find any
spot fit for an encampment. At that distance, having made during the
day thirty-four miles, we spread our mats on the ground, and passed the
night in the rain. Here we were joined by our small canoe, which had
been separated from us during the fog this morning. Two Indians from
the last village also accompanied us to the camp, but, having detected
them in stealing a knife, they were sent off.
[Illustration: Mouth of Columbia River]
Friday 8. It rained this morning; and having changed the clothing which
had been wet during yesterday’s rain, we did not set out till nine
o’clock. Immediately opposite our camp is a rock at the distance of a
mile in the river, about twenty feet in diameter and fifty in height,
and towards the southwest some high mountains, one of which is covered
with snow at the top. We proceeded past several low islands in the
bay or bend of the river to the left, which is here five or six miles
wide. We were here overtaken by three Indians in a canoe who had salmon
to sell. On the right side we passed an old village, and then, at the
distance of three miles, entered an inlet or niche about six miles
across, and making a deep bend of nearly five miles into the hills
on the right shore, where it receives the waters of several creeks.
We coasted along this inlet, which, from its little depth, we called
Shallow bay, and at the bottom of it halted to dine near the remains of
an old village, from which, however, we kept at a cautious distance, as
it was occupied by great numbers of fleas. At this place we observed a
number of fowl, among which we killed a goose and two ducks, exactly
resembling in appearance and flavour the canvass-back duck of the
Susquehannah. After dinner the three Indians left us, and we then took
advantage of the returning tide, to go on about three miles to a point
on the right, eight miles distant from our camp; but here the waves
ran so high, and dashed about our canoes so much, that several of the
men became seasick. It was therefore judged imprudent to go on in the
present state of the weather, and we landed at the point. The situation
was extremely uncomfortable; the high hills jutted in so closely that
there was not room for us to lie level, nor to secure our baggage free
from the tide; and the water of the river is too salt to be used; but
the waves increasing every moment so much, that we could not move from
the spot with safety: we therefore fixed ourselves on the beach left
by the ebb-tide, and having raised the baggage on poles, passed a
disagreeable night, the rain during the day having wet us completely,
as indeed we have been for some days past.
Saturday 9. Fortunately for us, the tide did not rise as high as our
camp during the night; but being accompanied by high winds from the
south, the canoes, which we could not place beyond its reach, were
filled with water, and were saved with much difficulty; our position
was very uncomfortable, but as it was impossible to move from it, we
waited for a change of weather. It rained, however, during the whole
day, and at two o’clock in the afternoon, the flood tide set in,
accompanied by a high wind from the south, which, about four o’clock,
shifted to the southwest, and blew almost a gale directly from the sea.
The immense waves now broke over the place where we were encamped, and
the large trees, some of them five or six feet thick, which had lodged
at the point, were drifted over our camp, and the utmost vigilance of
every man could scarcely save our canoes from being crushed to pieces.
We remained in the water and drenched with rain during the rest of the
day; our only food being some dried fish, and some rain-water which we
caught. Yet, though wet and cold, and some of them sick from using the
salt-water, the men are cheerful, and full of anxiety to see more of
the ocean. The rain continued all night, and,
Sunday 10th, the following morning, the wind, however, lulled, and
the waves not being so high, we loaded our canoes and proceeded. The
mountains on the right are high, covered with timber, chiefly pine,
and descend in a bold and rocky shore to the water. We went through a
deep niche and several inlets on the right, while on the opposite side
is a large bay, above which the hills are close on the river. At the
distance of ten miles the wind rose from the northwest and the waves
became so high that we were forced to return for two miles to a place
where we could with safety unload. Here we landed at the mouth of a
small run, and having placed our baggage on a pile of drifted logs
waited until low water. The river then appeared more calm: we therefore
started, but after going a mile found the waves too high for our canoes
and were obliged to put to shore. We unloaded the canoes, and having
placed the baggage on a rock above the reach of the tide, encamped on
some drift logs which formed the only place where we could lie, the
hills rising steep over our heads to the height of five hundred feet.
All our baggage as well as ourselves were thoroughly wet with the rain,
which did not cease during the day; it continued violently during the
night, in the course of which the tide reached the logs on which we
lay, and set them afloat.
Monday, 11. The wind was still high from the southwest, and drove the
waves against the shore with great fury: the rain too fell in torrents,
and not only drenched us to the skin, but loosened the stones on the
hill sides, which then came rolling down upon us. In this comfortless
situation we remained all day wet, cold, with nothing but dried fish to
satisfy our hunger; the canoes in one place at the mercy of the waves;
the baggage in another, and all the men scattered on floating logs,
or sheltering themselves in the crevices of the rocks and hill sides.
A hunter was despatched in hopes of finding some fresh meat, but the
hills were so steep, and covered with undergrowth and fallen timber,
that he could not penetrate them, and he was forced to return. About
twelve o’clock we were visited by five Indians in a canoe: they came
from above this place on the opposite side of the river, and their
language much resembles that of the Wahkiacum: they called themselves
_Cathlamahs_. In person they are small, ill made, and badly clothed;
though one of them had on a sailor’s round jacket and pantaloons,
which, as he explained by signs, he had received from the whites below
the point: we purchased from them thirteen red charr, a fish which we
found very excellent. After some time they went on board the boat, and
crossed the river, which is here five miles wide, through a very heavy
sea.
Tuesday, 12. About three o’clock a tremendous gale of wind arose,
accompanied with lightning, thunder, and hail: at six it became light
for a short time, but a violent rain soon began and lasted during the
day. During this storm one of our boats, secured by being sunk with
great quantities of stone, got loose, but drifting against a rock, was
recovered without having received much injury. Our situation became now
much more dangerous, for the waves were driven with fury against the
rocks and trees, which till now had afforded us refuge: we therefore
took advantage of a low tide, and moved about half a mile round a point
to a small brook, which we had not observed till now on account of the
thick bushes and driftwood which concealed its mouth. Here we were more
safe; but still cold and wet, our clothes and bedding rotten as well
as wet, our baggage at a distance, and the canoes, our only means of
escape from this place, at the mercy of the waves: we were, however,
fortunate enough to enjoy good health, and even had the luxury of
getting some fresh salmon and three salmon trout in the brook. Three of
the men attempted to go round a point in our small Indian canoe, but
the high waves rendered her quite unmanageable; these boats requiring
the seamanship of the natives themselves to make them live in so rough
a sea.
Wednesday, 13. During the night we had short intervals of fair weather,
but it began to rain in the morning, and continued through the day. In
order to obtain a view of the country below, captain Clarke followed
up the course of the brook, and with much fatigue, and after walking
three miles, ascended the first spur of the mountains. The whole lower
country was covered with almost impenetrable thickets of small pine,
with which is mixed a species of plant resembling arrowwood; twelve
or fifteen feet high, with a thorny stem, almost interwoven with
each other, and scattered among the fern and fallen timber: there is
also a red berry, somewhat like the solomon’s seal, which is called
by the natives, solme, and used as an article of diet. This thick
growth rendered travelling almost impossible, and it was rendered more
fatiguing by the steepness of the mountain, which was so great as to
oblige him to draw himself up by means of the bushes. The timber on the
hills is chiefly of a large tall species of pine, many of them eight
or ten feet in diameter at the stump, and rising sometimes more than
one hundred feet in height. The hail which fell two nights since is
still to be seen on the mountains: there was no game, and no traces of
any, except some old signs of elk: the cloudy weather prevented his
seeing to any distance, and he therefore returned to camp, and sent
three men in the Indian canoe to try if they could double the point and
find some safer harbour for our canoes. At every flood-tide the seas
break in great swells against the rocks, and drifts the trees among our
establishment, so as to render it very insecure. We were confined as
usual to dried fish, which is our last resource.
Thursday, 14. It rained without intermission during last night and
to-day; the wind too is very high, and one of our canoes much injured
by being dashed against rocks. Five Indians from below came to us in
a canoe, and three of them having landed, informed us that they had
seen the men sent down yesterday. At this moment one of them arrived,
and informed us that these Indians had stolen his gig and basket: we
therefore ordered the two women who remained in the canoe, to restore
them; but this they refused, till we threatened to shoot, when they
gave back the articles, and we then ordered them to leave us. They
were of the Wahkiacum nation. The man now informed us that they had
gone round the point as far as the high sea would suffer them in the
canoe, and then landed, and that in the night he had separated from
his companions, who had gone further down: that at no great distance
from where we are is a beautiful sand beach and a good harbour. Captain
Lewis concluded to examine more minutely the lower part of the bay,
and taking one of the large canoes was landed at the point, whence he
proceeded by land with four men, and the canoe returned nearly filled
with water.
Friday, 15. It continued raining all night, but in the morning the
weather became calm and fair: we therefore began to prepare for setting
out, but before we were ready a high wind sprang up from the southeast,
and obliged us to remain. The sun shone until one o’clock, and we were
thus enabled to dry our bedding and examine our baggage. The rain,
which has continued for the last ten days without an interval of more
than two hours, has completely wet all our merchandise, and spoiled
some of our fish, destroyed the robes, and rotted nearly one half
of our few remaining articles of clothing, particularly the leather
dresses. About three o’clock the wind fell, and we instantly loaded
the canoes, and left the miserable spot to which we have been confined
the last six days. On turning the point we came to the sand beach,
through which runs a small stream from the hills; at the mouth of which
is an ancient village of thirty-six houses, which has at present no
inhabitants except fleas. Here we met Shannon, who had been sent back
to meet us by captain Lewis. The day Shannon left us in the canoe,
he and Willard proceeded on till they met a party of twenty Indians,
who never having heard of us, did not know where they came from: they
however behaved with so much civility, and seemed so anxious that
the men should go with them towards the sea, that their suspicions
were excited, and they declined going on: the Indians, however, would
not leave them, and the men being confirmed in their suspicions, and
fearful if they went into the woods to sleep they would be cut to
pieces in the night, thought it best to pass the night in the midst of
the Indians: they therefore made a fire, and after talking with them
to a late hour, laid down with their rifles under their heads. As they
awoke this morning they found that the Indians had stolen and concealed
their guns: having demanded them in vain, Shannon seized a club, and
was about assaulting one of the Indians whom he suspected as a thief,
when another Indian began to load a fowling piece with an intention
of shooting him. He therefore stopped and explained by signs, that if
they did not give up the guns, a large party would come down the river
before the sun rose to such a height, and put every one of them to
death. Fortunately, captain Lewis and his party appeared at this time,
and the terrified Indians immediately brought the guns, and five of
them came on with Shannon. To these men we declared, that if ever any
of their nation stole any thing from us he should be instantly shot.
They reside to the north of this place, and speak a language different
from that of the people higher up the river. It was now apparent that
the sea was at all times too rough for us to proceed further down the
bay by water: we therefore landed, and having chosen the best spot we
could select, made our camp of boards from the old village. We were
now situated comfortably, and being visited by four Wahkiacums with
wappatoo roots, were enabled to make an agreeable addition to our food.
Saturday 16. The morning was clear and beautiful. We therefore, put
out all our baggage to dry, and sent several of the party to hunt. Our
camp is in full view of the ocean, on the bay laid down by Vancouver,
which we distinguish by the name of Haley’s bay, from a trader who
visits the Indians here, and is a great favourite among them. The
meridian altitude of this day gave 46° 19´ 11´´ ⁷/₁₀ as the latitude of
our camp. The wind was strong from the southwest, and the waves very
high, yet the Indians were passing up and down the bay in canoes, and
several of them encamped near us. We smoked with them, but after our
recent experience of their thievish disposition, treated them with
caution. Though so much exposed to the bad weather, none of the party
have suffered, except one, who has a violent cold, in consequence of
sleeping for several nights in wet leather. The hunters brought in two
deer, a crane, some geese and ducks, and several brant, three of which
were white, except a black part of the wing, and much larger than the
gray brant, which is itself a size beyond the duck.
Sunday 17. A fair cool morning and easterly wind. The tide rises at
this place eight feet six inches in height, and rolls over the beach in
great waves.
About one o’clock captain Lewis returned, after having coasted down
Haley’s bay to cape Disappointment, and some distance to the north
along the sea coast. He was followed by several Chinnooks, among whom
were the principal chief and his family. They made us a present of a
boiled root, very much like the common liquorice in taste and size, and
called culwhamo: in return we gave double the value of their present,
and now learnt the danger of accepting any thing from them, since no
return, even if ten times the value of their gift, can satisfy them.
We were chiefly occupied in hunting, and were able to procure three
deer, four brant and two ducks, and also saw some signs of elk. Captain
Clarke now prepared for an excursion down the bay, and accordingly
started,
Monday 18, at daylight, accompanied by eleven men. He proceeded along
the beach one mile to a point of rocks about forty feet high, where the
hills retire, leaving a wide beach, and a number of ponds covered with
water-fowl, between which and the mountain is a narrow bottom of alder
and small balsam trees. Seven miles from the rocks is the entrance of
a creek, or rather drain from the ponds and hills, where is a cabin of
Chinnooks. The cabin contained some children, and four women, one of
whom was in a most miserable state, covered with ulcers, proceeding
as we imagine, from the venereal disease, with which several of the
Chinnooks we have seen appear to be afflicted. We were taken across in
a canoe by two squaws, to each of whom we gave a fish-hook, and then
coasting along the bay, passed at two miles the low bluff of a small
hill, below which are the ruins of some old huts, and close to it the
remains of a whale. The country is low, open and marshy; interspersed
with some high pine and a thick undergrowth. Five miles from the creek,
we came to a stream forty yards wide at low water, which we called
Chinnook river. The hills up this river and towards the bay are not
high, but very thickly covered with large pine of several species:
in many places pine trees, three or four feet in thickness, are seen
growing on the bodies of large trees, which though fallen and covered
with moss, were in part sound. Here we dined on some brant and plover,
killed as we came along, and after crossing in a boat lying in the sand
near some old houses, proceeded along a bluff of yellow clay and soft
stone to a little bay or harbour, into which a drain from some ponds
empties: at this harbour the land is low, but as we went on it rose to
hills of eighty or ninety feet above the water. At the distance of one
mile is a second bay, and a mile beyond it, a small rocky island in a
deep bend, which seems to afford a very good harbour, and where the
natives inform us European vessels anchor for the purpose of trading.
We went on round another bay, in which is a second small island of
rocks, and crossed a small stream, which rises in a pond near the
sea coast, and after running through a low isthmus empties into the
bay. This narrow low ground, about two or three hundred yards wide,
separates from the main hills a kind of peninsula, the extremity of
which is two miles from the anchoring place; and this spot, which was
called cape Disappointment, is an elevated, circular knob, rising with
a steep ascent one hundred and fifty or one hundred and sixty feet
above the water, formed like the whole shore of the bay, as well as
of the seacoast, and covered with thick timber on the inner side, but
open and grassy in the exposure next the sea. From this cape a high
point of land bears south 20° west, about twenty-five miles distant.
In the range between these two eminences, is the opposite point of
the bay, a very low ground, which has been variously called cape Rond
by Lapeyrouse, and point Adams by Vancouver. The water for a great
distance off the mouth of the river, appears very shallow, and within
the mouth nearest to point Adams, is a large sandbar, almost covered at
high tide. We could not ascertain the direction of the deepest channel,
for the waves break with tremendous force the whole distance across
the bay, but the Indians point nearer to the opposite side as the best
passage. After remaining for some time on this elevation, we descended
across the low isthmus, and reached the ocean at the foot of a high
hill, about a mile in circumference, and projecting into the sea. We
crossed this hill, which is open and has a growth of high coarse grass,
and encamped on the north side of it, having made nineteen miles.
Besides the pounded fish and brant, we had for supper a flounder, which
we picked up on the beach.
Tuesday 19. In the night it began to rain, and continued till eleven
o’clock. Two hunters were sent on to kill something for breakfast, and
the rest of the party after drying their blankets soon followed. At
three miles we overtook the hunters, and breakfasted on a small deer,
which they had been fortunate enough to kill. This, like all those we
have seen on this coast, are much darker than our common deer. Their
bodies too, are deeper, their legs shorter, and their eyes larger. The
branches of the horns are similar, but the upper part of the tail is
black, from the root to the end, and they do not leap, but jump like
a sheep frightened. We then continued over rugged hills and steep
hollows, near the sea, on a course about north 20° west, in a direct
line from the cape, till at the distance of five miles, we reached a
point of high land, below which a sandy beach extends, in a direction
north 10° west, to another high point about twenty miles distant. This
eminence we distinguished by the name of point Lewis. It is there that
the highlands, which at the commencement of the sandy beach, recede
towards Chinnook river, again approach the ocean. The intermediate
country is low, with many small ponds, crowded with birds, and watered
by the Chinnook, on the borders of which resides the nation of the same
name. We went four miles along the sandy beach to a small pine tree, on
which captain Clarke marked his name, with the year and day, and then
returned to the foot of the hills, passing on the shore a sturgeon ten
feet long, and several joints of the back bone of a whale, both which
seem to have been thrown ashore and foundered. After dining on the
remains of the small deer, we crossed in a southeastern direction to
the bay, where we arrived at the distance of two miles, then continued
along the bay, crossed Chinnook river, and encamped on its upper side,
in a sandy bottom.
Wednesday 20. It rained in the course of the night. A hunter despatched
early to kill some food, returned with eight ducks, on which we
breakfasted, and then followed the course of the bay to the creek or
outlet of the ponds. It was now high tide, the stream three hundred
yards wide, and no person in the cabin to take us across. We therefore
made a small raft, on which one of the men passed and brought a canoe
to carry us over. As we went along the beach we were overtaken by
several Indians, who gave us dried sturgeon and wappatoo roots, and
soon met several parties of Chinnooks returning from the camp. When we
arrived there we found many Chinnooks, and two of them being chiefs, we
went through the ceremony of giving to each a medal, and to the most
distinguished a flag. Their names were Comcommoly and Chillahlawil. One
of the Indians had a robe made of two sea-otter skins, the fur of which
was the most beautiful we had ever seen; the owner resisted every
temptation to part with it, but at length could not resist the offer
of a belt of blue beads which Chaboneau’s wife wore round her waist.
During our absence the camp had been visited by many Indians, and the
men who had been employed in hunting killed several deer, and a variety
of wild fowls.
Thursday 21. The morning was cloudy, and from noon till night it
rained. The wind too was high from the southeast, and the sea so rough
that the water reached our camp. Most of the Chinnooks returned home,
but we were visited in the course of the day by people of different
bands in the neighbourhood, among whom are the Chiltz, a nation
residing on the seacoast near Point Lewis, and the Clatsops, who live
immediately opposite on the south side of the Columbia. A chief from
the grand rapid also came to see us, and we gave him a medal. To each
of our visitors we made a present of a small piece of riband, and
purchased some cranberries and some articles of their manufacture, such
as mats, and household furniture, for all which we paid high prices.
After we had been relieved from these Indians, we were surprised at a
visit of a different kind; an old woman who is the wife of a Chinnook
chief, came with six young women, her daughters and nieces, and having
deliberately encamped near us, proceeded to cultivate an intimacy
between our men and her fair wards.