life he migrated to the Missouri frontier, and for many years was a
trapper and trader in the direction of Santa Fé. Once he was captured by
the Mexicans, and afterwards participated in a battle between them and
the Pawnee Indians. In 1832 Captain Bonneville secured Walker as a
member of his trading party, and the following year sent him on an
expedition that explored a route from Salt Lake to California, through
Walker's Pass, which took its name from this explorer. On this journey
he claimed first of any American to have seen the Yosemite. His
knowledge of the West brought his services in demand as a guide or
pilot. In 1843 he led out a small party of emigrants. From Bridger's
Fort, whither he was going when met by Palmer, he joined Frémont's third
exploring expedition, and was sent forward with a portion of the party
by his former route of 1833. The junction with his chief's party was
made after the latter's visit to Monterey. Walker, however, did not
remain to take part in the events that led to the American conquest of
California, but started back to the states with a drove of California
horses for sale, and was again at Fort Bridger in July, 1846. For twenty
years longer he continued his vagrant life in the mountains, finally
settling (1866-67) in Contra Costa County, California, where he died in
1876.--ED.
[47] For South Pass and Green River see our volume xxi, pp.
58-60, notes 37, 38.
The springs were known as Pacific Springs, running into a creek of that
name, affluent of the Big Sandy in Frémont County, Wyoming.--ED.
[48] The dry branch is known as Dry Sandy Creek. For the Little
Sandy see our volume xxi, p. 187, note 36.--ED.
[49] This was known as Sublette's Cut-off; see De Smet's
_Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 242, note 115.--ED.
[50] At this point, Green River bears considerably east of
south, the trail therefore turns southwest, striking Black Fork of
Green, not far from the present Granger, Wyoming, at the junction of the
Union Pacific and Oregon Short Line railways. Black Fork rises in the
extreme southeastern corner of Wyoming, flows northeast, thence east and
southeast, entering the Green in Sweetwater County. It is a shallow,
somewhat sluggish stream, passing through an alkaline country.--ED.
[51] The site of Fort Bridger was chosen by its founder as the
best station for trade with emigrants following the Oregon Trail. Its
building (1843) marked an epoch in Western emigration, showing the
importance of trade with the increasing number of travellers. The place
was an oasis in the desert-like neighborhood, the stream of Black Fork
coming from the Unita Mountains, and in this wooded valley dividing into
several branches. In 1854 Bridger sold his post to a Mormon named Lewis
Robinson, who maintained it until 1858, when United States troops
wintering during the Mormon campaign built at this site a government
post, also known as Fort Bridger, which was garrisoned about twenty
years longer. For Bridger, the founder, see De Smet's _Letters_, in our
volume xxvii, p. 299, note 156. His partner was Louis Vasques (not
Bascus), a Mexican who for many years had been a mountain man. For some
time he was in partnership with Sublette in a trading post on the South
Platte. About 1840 he entered into partnership with Bridger, and is
remembered to have lived with some luxury, riding about the country near
Fort Bridger in a coach and four. See Wyoming Historical Society
_Collections_, i, p. 68.--ED.
[52] For the Snake (Shoshoni) Indians, see our volume v, p.
227, note 123. The Paiute are referred to in our volume xviii, p. 140,
note 70; also in De Smet's _Letters_, in our volume xxvii, pp. 165, 167,
notes 35, 38.--ED.
[53] By the Little Muddy, Palmer refers to the stream now known
as the Muddy, a branch of Black Fork, which would be reached in about
eight miles from Fort Bridger, by travelling northwest. Palmer's "Big
Muddy" is the stream usually known as Ham's Fork, for which see our
volume xxi, p. 197, note 43.--ED.
[54] The divide between the waters of Green and Bear River may
be crossed at several points. Its altitude is about eight thousand feet,
and all travellers speak of the wide view. The mountains to the west are
those of the Bear River range, running between the arms of the river,
for which see our volume xxi, p. 199, note 44.--ED.
[55] The upper road from Green River, usually known as
Sublette's road, comes across by way of Crow Creek, a branch of Ham's
Fork, and Sublette Creek, a tributary of the Bear. Smith's Fork comes
almost directly from the north, its headwaters nearly interlacing with
Salt River branch of Lewis (or Snake) River. It enters Bear River quite
near the dividing line between Wyoming and Idaho.--ED.
[56] The first crossing of Bear River is just above the mouth
of Thomas's Fork. For a detailed map of this stretch of the road see
Frémont's "Exploring Tour" (_op. cit._ in note 30), p. 132.--ED.
[57] The big hill is just beyond the bend of the Bear, below
Thomas's Fork, and the nearest approach the road makes to the valley of
Bear Lake. This lake is evidently the remains of one that occupied a
much larger area, as the marshes at its upper end signify. It now
measures about nineteen miles in length, with an average width of six,
and a depth of from forty to sixty feet. The lower portion of the lake
is in Utah and the upper in Idaho. Its waters are noted for their
exquisite blue tint.--ED.
[58] For the location of these springs see our volume xxi, p.
200, note 45.--ED.
[59] A map of these springs can be found in Frémont's
"Exploring Tour" (_op. cit._ in note 30), p. 135. Steamboat Spring is a
miniature geyser, an analysis of whose waters is given by Frémont, p.
136.--ED.
[60] For a brief note on Salt Lake see our volume xxi, p. 199,
note 44.--ED.
[61] The entire route from Soda Springs at the bend of Bear
River to Fort Hall was about fifty miles in length, crossing the
basaltic, volcanic plateau which Palmer describes, to the waters of
Portneuf River, down which the trail passed to Fort Hall. For the
founding of this post see Townsend's _Narrative_, in our volume xxi, pp.
209-211.--ED.
[62] Captain James Grant was Hudson's Bay factor in charge at
Fort Hall for several years during the immigration movement. Most of the
travellers speak of his courtesy and readiness to assist. He was at this
post in 1842, when Matthieu describes him as a large man, resembling Dr.
McLoughlin--_Oregon Historical Quarterly_, i, p. 84. He seems to have
later settled in Oregon.--ED.
[63] For a brief description of Snake (or Lewis) River, see our
volume xxviii, p. 303, note 179.--ED.
[64] This attempt to deflect Oregon immigrants to California
arose from the unsettled conditions in that Mexican province, and the
determination of earlier American settlers to secure California for the
United States. Caleb Greenwood, who was sent to Fort Hall from Sutter's
Fort (Sacramento), was an aged mountaineer and trapper, who reared a
half-breed family by a wife of the Crow tribe. In 1844 he guided the
Stevens party to California, and during the winter of 1844-45 served in
Sutter's division of Micheltorena's army against Alvarado and Castro.
Sutter wrote in regard to his mission, "I am glad that they meet with
some good pilots at Fort Hall who went there from here to pilot
emigrants by the new road."--ED.
[65] George McDougall was a native of Ohio, but started on his
journey from Indiana. He conducted the advance party of young men known
as the Swasey-Todd party, over the Truckee route to Sutter's, leaving
Fort Hall about August 13, and arriving at New Helvetia late in
September. McDougall served the next year in the California battalion,
and was known to have been at San Francisco in 1847-48. He several times
returned East, and after 1853 became a confirmed wanderer, being found
in Patagonia in 1867. He is thought to have died at Washington, D. C.,
in 1872. He was eccentric, but brave, and a favorite with the frontier
population. Many of the emigrants who turned off at Fort Hall for
California went overland to Oregon the next year. Consult H. H.
Bancroft, _History of Oregon_ (San Francisco, 1886), i, p. 522.--ED.
[66] The writer has recently learned that the emigrants alluded
to, not finding California equal, in point of soil, to their high
wrought anticipations, have made the best of their way to
Oregon.--PALMER.
[67] For another description of Portneuf (not Portneth) River
see De Smet's _Letters_ in our volume xxvii, p. 249, with accompanying
note.--ED.
[68] These falls derive their name from the following
circumstance. A number of American trappers going down this stream in
their canoes, not being aware of their proximity to the falls, were
hurried along by the violence of the current; and passing over the
falls, but one of the number survived.--PALMER.
[69] The trail from Fort Hall led down the eastern and southern
bank of the Lewis; see our volume xxviii, p. 310, note 190. American
Falls is a well-known landmark, flowing over a rock about forty feet in
height; see Frémont's "Exploring Tour" (_op. cit._ in note 30), p. 164,
for an engraving thereof. The once barren land of this region is now
being made fertile by irrigation.--ED.
[70] Fall Creek, in Oneida County, so called by Frémont, and
still known by this name. Its bed is composed of calcareous tufa,
chiefly the remains of reeds and mosses, forming a beautiful succession
of cascades.--ED.
[71] Cassia Creek is an important western affluent of Raft
River, of Cassia County, Idaho. Upon its banks was the earliest
settlement in this region, and the valley is still noted for its farms.
The first party to take this route to California was that of J. B.
Chiles (1843), guided by Joseph Walker. They struck across from the
Snake to Humboldt River, down that stream to its sink, and by the Walker
Pass into California. In 1844 the Stevens party followed a similar
route; crossing the Sierras, however, by Truckee and Bear River road,
the line of the present Central Pacific railway.--ED.
[72] Called by Frémont Swamp Creek, now known as Marsh Creek, a
small southern affluent of the Lewis. It forms a circular basin or
valley, about six miles in diameter, where there was grass and
consequently a good camping place.--ED.
[73] Goose Creek is a deep, rocky stream rising in Goose Creek
range, lying on the border between Idaho and Utah. The creek flows
north, receiving several branches before entering the Lewis in Cassia
County. Placer mines of considerable value have been found on this
creek.--ED.
[74] Dry Creek is still to be found on the maps of Cassia
County. Frémont says of this portion of the trail: "All the day the
course of the river has been between walls of black volcanic rock, a
dark line of the escarpment on the opposite side pointing out its
course, and sweeping along in foam at places where the mountains which
border the valley present always on the left two ranges, the lower one a
spur of the higher; and on the opposite side, the Salmon River mountains
are visible at a great distance." (See _op. cit._, _ante_, in note 30,
p. 167.)--ED.
[75] The falls mentioned by Palmer are the Great Shoshone Falls
of the Lewis River, where the cañon is over eight hundred feet deep: the
first fall has a plunge of thirty feet, and then a sheer descent of a
hundred and ninety. These are, in the United States, exceeded in
grandeur only by Niagara and the Yosemite. Palmer's failure to
appreciate their height and magnificence was probably due to the depth
of the cañon from the top of which he viewed them; or he may not have
seen the lower falls at all, for the trail wound back from the river in
many places.
Rock Creek is a considerable stream, with a swift current, flowing
northwest into the Lewis in Cassia County, Idaho.--ED.
[76] Salmon Falls River is the largest southern affluent of the
Lewis that has been crossed since leaving Fort Hall. It rises in many
branches on the boundaries of Nevada and flows north through a valley
now noted as a hay-and stock-raising section. Salmon Falls (also called
Fishing Falls) is a series of cataracts with sharply inclined planes,
forming a barrier to the ascent of the salmon, and thus a fishing resort
for Indians.--ED.
[77] For this crossing see our volume xxviii, p. 314, note
193.--ED.
[78] The emigrants were in Elmore County, Idaho, where a number
of small streams come from the north into Lewis River; one is known as
Cold Spring Creek, possibly the branch mentioned by Palmer.--ED.
[79] For these springs see Farnham's _Travels_ in our volume
xxviii, p. 314, note 194.--ED.
[80] For Boise River see our volume xxi, p. 249, note 63. The
trail approached this stream near the present site of Boise City, and
followed its banks to Lewis River.--ED.
[81] For a brief sketch of Fort Boise see Farnham's _Travels_
in our volume xxviii, p. 321, note 199.--ED.
[82] This northern and more direct route was followed by Wyeth
in 1834--see Townsend's _Narrative_ in our volume xxi, pp. 231-249. He
found the difficulties of the passage great, and the longer and more
southern route was the one usually followed.--ED.
[83] For Malheur River see our volume xxi, p. 264, note 64. The
Hot Springs are noted in our volume xxviii, p. 323, note 202.--ED.
[84] For a brief sketch of the life of Dr. Elijah White see
Farnham's _Travels_ in our volume xxix, p. 20, note 12. He was at this
time returning to Washington to secure the settlement of his accounts as
Indian sub-agent, and with the hope of securing further preferment--if
possible, the governorship of Oregon. He was the bearer of a memorial
from the provisional government of Oregon, requesting Congress to extend
the sovereignty and laws of the United States over the Oregon
settlements. See _Cong. Globe_, 29 Cong., 1 sess., p. 24. Later advices
from Oregon, however, frustrated the plans of Dr. White, who was retired
to private life. On his return his companions across the plains (1845)
were William Chapman and Orris Brown of the immigration of 1843, and
Joseph Charles Saxton of 1844. Only Brown returned to Oregon; he went
back in 1846 accompanied by his own family, and that of his mother, Mrs.
Tabitha Brown, who was connected with the history of early education
Footnote: in Oregon. The Brown family settled at Forest Grove, the
immigrant of 1843 finally dying at Salem in 1874. White, in his _Ten
Years in Oregon_ (New York, 1859), p. 282, speaks of meeting a party
(Palmer's) near Fort Boise, who brought him important letters, including
one from his wife, the first received in fifteen months.--ED.
[85] Birch Creek (Rivière aux Bouleaux) rises in Burnt River
Mountains and flows southeast into Lewis River, in Malheur County,
Oregon.--ED.
[86] For Burnt River and the course of the trail through its
valley see Townsend's description in our volume xxi, pp. 267, 268.--ED.
[87] For Powder River see our volume xxi, p. 268, note 68. The
mountains seen were the Blue; see a brief description in _ibid._, p.
273, note 71.--ED.
[88] Pronounced Kiwaw or Kioose.--PALMER.
_Comment by Ed._ For the Cayuse see our volume vii, p. 137, note 37.
[89] For the valley of Grande Ronde see our volume xxi, p. 271,
note 69. Consult on camas, _ibid._, p. 247, note 61.--ED.
[90] This northern valley is the lower portion of the Grande
Ronde. Frémont says: "We passed out of the Grand Rond by a fine road
along the creek, which, for a short distance, runs in a kind of rocky
chasm. Crossing a low point, which was a little rocky, the trail
conducted into the open valley of the stream--a handsome place for
farms." (_op. cit._ in note 30, p. 179.) This is now the most
flourishing settlement in eastern Oregon with a railway running through
the valley to Elgin.--ED.
[91] Probably this was the Cayuse chief Tiloukaikt, who had
early come under Dr. Whitman's influence, but nevertheless was
treacherous, and unstable in his professions of Christianity. In 1841 he
had insulted Dr. Whitman because of the punishment of one of his nephews
by a missionary teacher. In 1843 he entered into the treaty with some
reluctance, and in 1847 was one of the principals concerned in the
Whitman massacre. The following year he was one of the five chiefs who
gave themselves up to the civil authorities, and he paid the penalty of
his murderous instincts upon the scaffold.--ED.
[92] For the Nez Percés see Franchère's _Narrative_ in our
volume vi, p. 340, note 145.--ED.
[93] For Whitman and Spaulding see our volume xxi, p. 352, note
125.--ED.
[94] On the crossing of Blue Mountains compare our volume
xxviii, p. 328, note 206.--ED.
[95] For the location of these peaks see our volume vi, pp.
246, 248, notes 50 and 54 respectively. Lee's encampment was the place
upon which Henry A. G. Lee had waited for the immigrants of 1844. Lee,
who was a member of the train of 1843, was commissioned by Dr. Elijah
White as Indian sub-agent to encounter the party of 1844 among the
Cayuse and assist in the trading between Indians and immigrants, and
thus protect both parties. The policy did not prove successful; see
Lee's own letter on the subject in _Oregon Historical Quarterly_, v, p.
300. Lee emigrated from the southwestern states, and immediately became
a leader in Oregon politics. He was elected to the legislature of 1845,
and was an officer in the Cayuse War of 1847-48, during which he was
appointed Indian agent to succeed General Joel Palmer. The following
year he resigned his office, and soon thereafter left for the California
gold mines. He returned to Oregon to enter the mercantile business; but
died on a voyage to New York in 1850.--ED.
[96] For the Umatilla River see our volume vi, p. 338, note
141.
The Indian village was probably that of Five Crows, who in 1843 was
elected head-chief of the Cayuse. His baptismal name was Hezekiah, and
he took no active part in the Whitman massacre (1847); nevertheless he
did nothing to prevent its occurrence and secured the person of some of
the prisoners, notably a Miss Bewley, whom he took as a wife. Five Crows
afterwards was active in the Cayuse War (1878), in which he was severely
wounded.--ED.
[97] For Mrs. Whitman see our volume xxi, p. 355, note
128.--ED.
[98] Mary Ann Bridger and Helen Mar Meek, half-breed children
of James Bridger and Joseph Meek, were brought to the Whitmans before
1842; also a half-breed Spanish boy, David Malin. The migration of 1843
left with Mrs. Whitman two motherless English girls, Ann and Emma
Hobson; while in 1844 seven children of the Sager family, both of whose
parents had died en route across the plains, were adopted by the
Whitmans. Of these children the two eldest Sager boys were killed during
the massacre; the half-breed girls and one of the Sager girls died a few
days later, from exposure and fright.--ED.
[99] For the Wallawalla Indians see our volume vii, p. 137,
note 37.--ED.
[100] Probably Willow Creek, which drains Morrow County and
affords water for stock-raising and sheep-pasturage. Late in the year,
when Palmer passed, the stream was dry. The sandy margin along the
Columbia from the mouth of Umatilla River to the Dalles, has always been
an annoyance to traffic. Sand frequently drifts over the railway track
in this region.--ED.
[101] For a brief note on John Day River see our volume xxi, p.
357, note 129.--ED.
[102] For this river see our volume vii, p. 133, note 32; also
our volume xxviii, p. 354, note 222.--ED.
[103] For the Dalles and the mission there located, consult our
volumes xxi, p. 285, note 77; xxviii, pp. 355, 357, notes 223,
226.--ED.
[104] Samuel Kimborough Barlow was of Scotch descent, the son
of a Kentucky pioneer. Born (1795) in Nicholas County, in that state, he
removed to Indiana (1818), where he married Susanna Lee of South
Carolina. A further move to Fulton County, Illinois, paved the way for
emigration to Oregon in 1845. Arrived in Oregon City, Christmas of that
year, Barlow kept a hotel there until 1848, when he bought land in
Clackamas County of Thomas McKay. Later (1852), he removed to Canemah,
just above Oregon City, where he died in 1867. He was public-spirited
and active in the affairs of the new commonwealth. For an account of the
road constructed over the trail made in 1845, see Mary S. Barlow,
"History of the Barlow Road," in _Oregon Historical Quarterly_, iii, pp.
71-81.
H. M. Knighton was second marshal of Oregon under the provisional
government, and sergeant-at-arms of the house of representatives of
1846. He lived at Oregon City, where he kept an inn. In 1848 he was
settled at St. Helens.--ED.
[105] Moses Harris, usually called Black Harris, was a
well-known scout and trapper who came to Oregon with the emigrant train
of 1844. See an amusing story concerning Harris, related by Peter H.
Burnett in his "Recollections," in _Oregon Historical Quarterly_, iii,
p. 152. While in Oregon Harris joined several exploring expeditions,
notably that of Dr. Elijah White (1845) and that of Levi Scott (1846) in
the attempt to find a shorter route from Lewis River to the Willamette
valley. In 1846 Harris again went to the rescue of the emigrants who
were trying a new route into Oregon; the following year, however, he
returned to the states, dying at Independence, Missouri.--ED.
[106] For other brief descriptions of the experiences of Meek's
party, see H. H. Bancroft, _History of Oregon_, i, pp. 512-516, this
latter being founded upon manuscript accounts, notably that of Samuel
Hancock, a transcript of which is in the possession of Professor Joseph
Schafer of the University of Oregon, who has kindly loaned it to the
present Editor. Consult also Oregon Pioneer Association _Transactions_,
1877, pp. 50-53; 1895, p. 101.--ED.
[107] There had been an Indian trail through the Cascades up
the fork of the Santiam River, and over what is now known as the Minto
Pass. Stephen Meek, who had trapped on the headwaters of John Day River,
and there met Indians from the Willamette, thought that he could find
this trail; but as a matter of fact it was not discovered by whites
until 1873. Dr. White (1845) and Cornelius Gilliam (1846) made essays to
open a road through the eastern barrier of the valley. See John Minto,
"History of the Minto Pass," in _Oregon Historical Quarterly_, iv, pp.
241-250.--ED.
[108] This was Tygh Creek, a western affluent of Deschutes
River, about thirty-five miles above its mouth.--ED.
[109] Marked on the United States land commissioner's map of
Oregon (1897) as an affluent of White River, a branch of the Tygh.--ED.
[110] See an account of this party of cattle drivers and their
adventures in "Occasional Address," by Hon. Stephen Staats, in Oregon
Pioneer Association _Transactions_, 1877, pp. 51, 52. Staats was one of
the party who reached Oregon City in thirteen days from the
Dalles.--ED.
[111] The Little Deschutes, rising on the slopes of Mount Hood.
See reminiscences of William Barlow, son of the leader of this party, in
_Oregon Historical Quarterly_, iii, pp. 71-81. He speaks of the lack of
good tools for opening the road, rusty saws and axes being the only
implements available to the builders. They frequently reverted to firing
the underbrush ahead of them.--ED.
[112] The opinion heretofore entertained, that this peak could
not be ascended to its summit, I found to be erroneous. I, however, did
not arrive at the highest peak, but went sufficiently near to prove its
practicability. I judge the diameter of this peak, at the point where
the snow remains the year round, to be about three miles. At the head of
many of the ravines, are perpendicular cliffs of rocks, apparently
several thousand feet high; and in some places those cliffs rise so
precipitately to the summit, that a passage around is impracticable. I
think the southern side affords the easiest ascent. The dark strips
observable from a distance, are occasioned by blackish rock, so
precipitous as not to admit of the snow lying upon it. The upper strata
are of gray sandstone, and seem to be of original formation. There is no
doubt, but any of the snow peaks upon this range can be ascended to the
summit.--PALMER.
[113] This should read Big Sandy or Quicksand River. Lewis and
Clark gave it the latter name. It is usually known as the Sandy, and in
many branches drains the western slope of Mount Hood, flowing northwest
into the Columbia, in Multinoma County.--ED.
[114] For Clackamas River see our volume xxi, p. 320, note
105.--ED.
[115] William H. Rector settled at Champoeg, which district he
represented in the legislature of 1847. During the gold excitement the
following year, he went to California, but returned to Oregon, where in
1857 he was instrumental in starting the pioneer woolen mill at Salem,
of which for some time he was superintendent. In 1861 he was
commissioner of Indian affairs, with headquarters at Portland. In later
life, Rector was interested in railway enterprises. Popular with Oregon
settlers, he was quite commonly known as "Uncle Billy."--ED.