FLOATING DOWN THE RIVER.[3]
On a September day of 1852 an assemblage of persons could be seen
encamped on the banks of the great Columbia, at The Dalles, now a
city of no small pretensions, but then only a name for the peculiar
configuration of country adjacent to and including the waters of the
great river.
One would soon discover this assemblage was constantly changing. Every
few hours stragglers came in from off the dusty road, begrimed with
the sweat of the brow commingled with particles of dust driven through
the air, sometimes by a gentle breeze and then again by a violent gale
sweeping up the river through the mountain gap of the Cascade Range. A
motley crowd these people were, almost cosmopolitan in nationality, yet
all vestige of race peculiarities or race prejudice ground away in the
mill of adversity and trials common to all alike in common danger. And
yet, the dress and appearance of this assemblage were as varied as the
human countenance and as unique as the great mountain scenery before
them. Some were clad in scanty attire as soiled with the dust as their
brows; others, while with better pretensions, lacked some portions
of dress required in civilized life. Here a matronly dame with clean
apparel would be without shoes, or there, perhaps, the husband without
the hat or perhaps both shoes and hat absent; there the youngsters of
all ages, making no pretensions to genteel clothing other than to cover
their nakedness. An expert's ingenuity would be taxed to the utmost to
discover either the texture or original color of the clothing of either
juvenile or adult, so prevailing was the patch work and so inground the
particles of dust and sand from off the plains.
Some of these people were buoyant and hopeful in the anticipation of
meeting friends whom they knew were awaiting them at their journey's
end, while others were downcast and despondent as their thoughts
went back to their old homes left behind, and the struggle now so
near ended, and forward to the (to them) unknown land ahead. Some had
laid friends and relatives tenderly away in the shifting sands, who
had fallen by the wayside, with the certain knowledge that with many
the spot selected by them would not be the last resting place for the
bones of the loved ones. The hunger of the wolf had been appeased by
the abundance of food from the fallen cattle that lined the trail for
a thousand miles or more, or from the weakened beasts of the emigrants
that constantly submitted to capture by the relentless native animals.
The story of the trip across the plains in 1852 is both interesting and
pathetic, but I have planned to write of life after the journey rather
than much about the journey itself; of the trials that beset the people
after their five months' struggle on the tented field of two thousand
miles of marching were ended, where, like on the very battlefield, the
dead lay in rows of fifties or more; where the trail became so lined
with fallen animals, one could scarcely be out of sight or smell of
carrion; where the sick had no respite from suffering, nor the well
from fatigue. But this oft told story is a subject of itself, treated
briefly to the end we may have space to tell what happened when the
journey was ended.
The constant gathering on the bank of the Columbia and constant
departures of the immigrants did not materially change the numbers
encamped, nor the general appearance. The great trip had moulded this
army of homeseekers into one homogeneous mass, a common brotherhood,
that left a lasting impression upon the participants, and, although
few are left now, not one but will greet an old comrade as a brother
indeed, and in fact, with hearty and oftentimes tearful congratulations.
We camped but two days on the bank of the river. When I say we, let it
be understood that I mean myself, my young wife, and the little baby
boy, who was but seven weeks old when the start was made from near
Eddyville, Iowa. Both were sick, the mother from gradual exhaustion
during the trip incident to motherhood, and the little one in sympathy,
doubtless drawn from the mother's breast.
Did you ever think of the wonderful mystery of the inner action of
the mind, how some impressions once made seem to remain, while others
gradually fade away, like the twilight of a summer sunset, until
finally lost? And then how seemingly trivial incidents will be fastened
upon one's memory while others of more importance we would recall if we
could, but which have faded forever from our grasp? I can well believe
all readers have had this experience, and so will be prepared to
receive with leniency the confession of an elderly gentleman, (I will
not say old), when he says that most of the incidents are forgotten
and few remembered. I do not remember the embarking on the great scow
for the float down the river to the Cascades, but vividly remember,
as though it were but yesterday, incidents of the voyage. We all felt
(I now mean the immigrants who took passage) that now our journey was
ended. The cattle had been unyoked for the last time. The wagons had
been rolled to the last bivouac; the embers of the last camp fire
had died out; the last word of gossip had been spoken, and now, we
were entering a new field with new present experience, and with new
expectancy for the morrow.
The scow or lighter upon which we took passage was decked over, but
without railing, a simple, smooth surface upon which to pile our
belongings, which, in the majority of cases made but a very small
showing. I think there must have been a dozen families, or more, of
sixty or more persons, principally women and children, as the young
men (and some old ones, too) were struggling on the mountain trail to
get the teams through to the west side. The whole deck surface of the
scow was covered with the remnants of the immigrants' outfits, which in
turn were covered by the owners, either sitting or reclining upon their
possessions, leaving but scant room to change position or move about in
any way.
Did you ever, reader, have the experience when some sorrow overtook
you, or when some disappointment had been experienced, or when deferred
hopes had not been realized, or sometimes even without these and from
some unknown, subtle cause, feel that depression of spirits that for
lack of a better name we call "the blues"? When the world ahead looked
dark; when hope seemed extinguished and the future looked like a blank?
Why do I ask this question? I know you all to a greater or less degree
have had just this experience. Can you wonder that after our craft
had been turned loose upon the waters of the great river, and begun
floating lazily down with the current, that such a feeling as that
described would seize us as with an iron grip? We were like an army
that had burned the bridges behind them as they marched, and with scant
knowledge of what lay in the track before them. Here we were, more than
two thousand miles from home, separated by a trackless, uninhabited
waste of country, impossible for us to retrace our steps. Go ahead
we must, no matter what we were to encounter. Then, too, the system
had been strung up for months, to duties that could not be avoided or
delayed, until many were on the verge of collapse. Some were sick and
all reduced in flesh from the urgent call for camp duty, and lack of
variety of food. Such were the feelings and condition of the motley
crowd of sixty persons as we slowly neared that wonderful crevice
through which the great river flows while passing the Cascade mountain
range.
For myself, I can truly say, that the trip had not drawn on my vitality
as I saw with so many. True, I had been worked down in flesh, having
lost nearly twenty pounds on the trip, but what weight I had left was
the bone and sinew of my system, that served me so well on this trip
and has been my comfort in other walks of life at a later period.
And so, if asked, did you experience hardships on the trip across
the plains, I could not answer yes without a mental reservation that
it might have been a great deal worse. I say the same as to after
experience, for these subsequent sixty years or more of pioneer life,
having been blessed with a good constitution, and being now able to say
that in the fifty-eight years of our married life, the wife has never
seen me a day sick in bed. But this is a digression and so we must turn
our attention to the trip on the scow, "floating down the river."
In our company, a party of three, a young married couple and an
unmarried sister, lounged on their belongings, listlessly watching
the ripples on the water, as did also others of the party. But little
conversation was passing. Each seemed to be communing with himself or
herself, but it was easy to see what were the thoughts occupying the
minds of all. The young husband, it was plain to be seen, would soon
complete that greater journey to the unknown beyond, a condition that
weighed so heavily upon the ladies of the party, that they could ill
conceal their solicitude and sorrow. Finally, to cheer up the sick
husband and brother, the ladies began in sweet, subdued voices to
sing the old familiar song of Home, Sweet Home, whereupon others of
the party joined in the chorus with increased volume of sound. As the
echo died away, at the moment of gliding under the shadow of the high
mountain, the second verse was begun, but was never finished. If an
electric shock had startled every individual of the party, there could
have been no more simultaneous effect than when the second line of the
second verse was reached, when instead of song, sobs and outcries of
grief poured forth from all lips. It seemed as if there was a tumult
of despair mingled with prayer pouring forth without restraint. The
rugged boatmen rested upon their oars in awe, and gave away in sympathy
with the scene before them, until it could be truly said no dry eyes
were left nor aching heart but was relieved. Like the downpour of a
summer shower that suddenly clears the atmosphere to welcome the bright
shining sun that follows, so this sudden outburst of grief cleared away
the despondency to be replaced by an exalted exhilarating feeling of
buoyancy and hopefulness. The tears were not dried till mirth took
possession—a real hysterical manifestation of the whole party, that
ended all depression for the remainder of the trip.
But our party was not alone in these trials. It seems to me like the
dream of seeing some immigrants floating on a submerged raft while
on this trip. Perhaps, it is a memory of a memory, or of a long lost
story, the substance remembered, but the source forgotten.
Recently a story was told me by one of the actors in the drama, that
came near a tragic ending. Robert Parker, who still lives at Sumner,
one of the party, has told me of their experience. John Whitacre,
afterwards Governor of Oregon, was the head of the party of nine that
constructed a raft at The Dalles out of dry poles hauled from the
adjacent country. Their stock was then started out over the trail,
their two wagons put upon the raft with their provisions, bedding,
women, and children in the wagons, and the start was made to float
down the river to the Cascades. They had gotten but a few miles until
experience warned them. The waves swept over the raft so heavily that
it was like a submerged foundation upon which their wagons stood. A
landing a few miles out from The Dalles averted a total wreck, and
afforded opportunity to strengthen the buoyancy of their raft by extra
timber packed upon their backs for long distances. And how should they
know when they would reach the falls? Will they be able to discover
the falls and then have time to make a landing? Their fears finally
got the better of them; a line was run ashore and instead of making
a landing, they found themselves hard aground out of reach of land,
except by wading a long distance, and yet many miles above the falls
(Cascades). Finally, a scow was procured, in which they all reached the
head of the Cascades in safety. The old pioneer spoke kindly of this
whole party, one might say affectionately. One, a waif picked up on the
plains, a tender girl of fifteen, fatherless and motherless, and sick—a
wanderer without relatives or acquaintances—all under the sands of the
plains—recalled the trials of the trip vividly. But, he had cheerful
news of her in after life, though impossible at the moment to recall
her name. Such were some of the experiences of the finish of the long,
wearisome trip of those who floated down the river on flatboat and raft.
FOOTNOTE:
[3] A chapter from Pioneer Reminiscences, by the author, published 1905.