1st.--Mount Hood is glowing in the sunlight this morning, and the air
is pleasant, with a temperature of 38°. We continued down the river,
and, passing through a pretty green valley, bounded by high precipitous
rocks, encamped at the lower end.
On the right shore, the banks of the Columbia are very high and steep;
the river is 1,690 feet broad, and dark bluffs of rock give it a
picturesque appearance.
2d.--The river here entered among bluffs, leaving no longer room for a
road; and we accordingly left it, and took a more inland way among the
river hills--on which we had no sooner entered, than we found a great
improvement in the country. The sand had disappeared, and the soil was
good, and covered with excellent grass, although the surface was broken
into high hills, with uncommonly deep valleys. At noon we crossed John
Day's river, a clear and beautiful stream, with a swift current and a
bed of rolled stones. It is sunk in a deep valley, which is
characteristic of all the streams in this region; and the hill we
descended to reach it well deserves the name of mountain. Some of the
emigrants had encamped on the river, and others at the summit of the
farther hill, the ascent of which had probably cost their wagons a
day's labor; and others again had halted for the night a few miles
beyond, where they had slept without water. We also encamped in a
grassy hollow without water; but, as we had been forewarned of this
privation by the guide, the animals had all been watered at the river,
and we had brought with us a sufficient quantity for the night.
3d.--After two hours' ride through a fertile, hilly country, covered,
as all the upland here appears to be, with good green grass, we
descended again into the river bottom, along which we resumed our
sterile road, and in about four miles reached the ford of the Fall
river, (_Rivière aux Chutes_,) a considerable tributary to the
Columbia. We had heard, on reaching the Nez Perce fort, a repetition of
the account in regard to the unsettled character of the Columbia
Indians at the present time; and to our little party they had at
various points manifested a not very friendly disposition, in several
attempts to steal our horses. At this place I expected to find a
badly-disposed band, who had plundered a party of 14 emigrant men a few
days before, and taken away their horses; and accordingly we made the
necessary preparation for our security, but happily met with no
difficulty.
The river was high, divided into several arms, with a rocky island at
its outlet into the Columbia, which at this place it rivalled in size,
and apparently derived its highly characteristic name, which is
received from one of its many falls some forty miles up the river. It
entered the Columbia with a roar of falls and rapids, and is probably a
favorite fishing station among the Indians, with whom both banks of the
river were populous; but they scarcely paid any attention to us. The
ford was very difficult at this time, and, had they entertained any bad
intentions, they were offered a good opportunity to carry them out, as
I drove directly into the river, and during the crossing the howitzer
was occasionally several feet under water, and a number of the men
appeared to be more often below than above. Our guide was well
acquainted with the ford, and we succeeded in getting every thing safe
over to the left bank. We delayed here only a short time to put the gun
in order, and, ascending a long mountain hill, resumed our route again
among the interior hills.
The roar of the _Falls of the Columbia_ is heard from the heights,
where we halted a few moments to enjoy a fine view of the river below.
In the season of high water, it would be a very interesting object to
visit, in order to witness what is related of the annual submerging of
the fall under the waters which back up from the basin below,
constituting a great natural lock at this place. But time had become an
object of serious consideration; and the Falls, in their present state,
had been seen and described by many.
After a day's journey of 17 miles, we encamped among the hills on a
little clear stream, where, as usual, the Indians immediately gathered
round us. Among them was a very old man, almost blind from age, with
long and very white hair. I happened of my own accord to give this old
man a present of tobacco, and was struck with the impression which my
unpropitiated notice made on the Indians, who appeared in a remarkable
manner acquainted with the real value of goods, and to understand the
equivalents of trade. At evening, one of them spoke a few words to his
people, and, telling me that we need entertain no uneasiness in regard
to our animals, as none of them would be disturbed, they went all
quietly away. In the morning, when they again came to the camp, I
expressed to them the gratification we felt at their reasonable
conduct, making them a present of some large knives and a few smaller
articles.
4th.--The road continued among the hills, and, reaching an eminence, we
saw before us, watered by a clear stream, a tolerably large valley,
through which the trail passed.
In comparison with the Indians of the Rocky mountains and the great
eastern plain, these are disagreeably dirty in their habits. Their huts
were crowded with half-naked women and children, and the atmosphere
within was any thing but pleasant to persons who had just been riding
in the fresh morning air. We were somewhat amused with the scanty dress
of a woman, who, in common with the others, rushed out of the huts on
our arrival, and who, in default of other covering, used a child for a
fig-leaf.
The road in about half an hour passed near an elevated point, from
which we overlooked the valley of the Columbia for many miles, and saw
in the distance several houses surrounded by fields, which a chief, who
had accompanied us from the village, pointed out to us as the Methodist
missionary station.
In a few miles we descended to the river, which we reached at one of
its remarkably interesting features, known as the _Dalles of the
Columbia_. The whole volume of the river at this place passed between
the walls of a chasm, which has the appearance of having been rent
through the basaltic strata which form the valley-rock of the region.
At the narrowest place we found the breadth, by measurement, 58 yards,
and the average height of the walls above the water 25 feet; forming a
trough between the rocks--whence the name, probably applied by a
Canadian voyageur. The mass of water, in the present low state of the
river, passed swiftly between, deep and black, and curled into many
small whirlpools and counter currents, but unbroken by foam, and so
still that scarcely the sound of a ripple was heard. The rock, for a
considerable distance from the river, was worn over a large portion of
its surface into circular holes and well-like cavities, by the abrasion
of the river, which, at the season of high waters, is spread out over
the adjoining bottoms.
In the recent passage through this chasm, an unfortunate event had
occurred to Mr. Applegate's party, in the loss of one of their boats,
which had been carried under water in the midst of the _Dalles_, and
two of Mr. Applegate's children and one man drowned. This misfortune
was attributed only to want of skill in the steersman, as at this
season there was no impediment to navigation; although the place is
entirely impassable at high water, when boats pass safely over the
great falls above, in the submerged state in which they then find
themselves.
The basalt here is precisely the same as that which constitutes the
rock of the valley higher up the Columbia, being very compact, with a
few round cavities.
We passed rapidly three or four miles down the level valley and
encamped near the mission. The character of the forest growth here
changes, and we found ourselves, with pleasure, again among oaks and
other forest-trees of the east, to which we had long been strangers;
and the hospitable and kind reception with which we were welcomed among
our country people at the mission, aided the momentary illusion of home.
Two good-looking wooden dwelling-houses, and a large schoolhouse, with
stables, barn, and garden, and large cleared fields between the houses
and the river bank, on which were scattered the wooden huts of an
Indian village, gave to the valley the cheerful and busy air of
civilization, and had in our eyes an appearance of abundant and
enviable comfort.
Our land journey found here its western termination. The delay involved
in getting our camp to the right bank of the Columbia, and in opening a
road through the continuous forest to Vancouver, rendered a journey
along the river impracticable; and on this side the usual road across
the mountain required strong and fresh animals, there being an interval
of three days in which they could obtain no food. I therefore wrote
immediately to Mr. Fitzpatrick, directing him to abandon the carts at
the Walahwalah missionary station, and, as soon as the necessary
pack-saddles could be made, which his party required, meet me at the
Dalles, from which point I proposed to commence our homeward journey.
The day after our arrival being Sunday, no business could be done at
the mission; but on Monday, Mr. Perkins assisted me in procuring from
the Indians a large canoe, in which I designed to complete our journey
to Vancouver, where I expected to obtain the necessary supply of
provisions and stores for our winter journey. Three Indians, from the
family to whom the canoe belonged, were engaged to assist in working
her during the voyage, and, with them, our water party consisted of Mr.
Preuss and myself, with Bernier and Jacob Dodson. In charge of the
party which was to remain at the Dalles I left Carson, with
instructions to occupy the people in making pack-saddles and refitting
their equipage. The village from which we were to take the canoe was on
the right bank of the river, about ten miles below, at the mouth of the
Tinanens creek: and while Mr. Preuss proceeded down the river with the
instruments, in a little canoe paddled by two Indians, Mr. Perkins
accompanied me with the remainder of the party by land. The last of the
emigrants had just left the Dalles at the time of our arrival,
traveling some by water and others by land, making ark-like rafts, on
which they had embarked their families and households, with their large
wagons and other furniture, while their stock were driven along the
shore.
For about five miles below the Dalles, the river is narrow, and
probably very deep; but during this distance it is somewhat open, with
grassy bottoms on the left. Entering, then, among the lower mountains
of the Cascade range, it assumes a general character, and high and
steep rocky hills shut it in on either side, rising abruptly in places,
to the height of fifteen hundred feet above the water, and gradually
acquiring a more mountainous character as the river approaches the
Cascades.
After an hour's travel, when the sun was nearly down, we searched along
the shore for a pleasant place, and halted to prepare supper. We had
been well supplied by our friends at the mission with delicious salted
salmon, which had been taken at the fattest season; also, with
potatoes, bread, coffee, and sugar. We were delighted at a change in
our mode of traveling and living. The canoe sailed smoothly down the
river; at night we encamped upon the shore, and a plentiful supply of
comfortable provisions supplied the first of wants. We enjoyed the
contrast which it presented to our late toilsome marchings, our night
watchings, and our frequent privation of food. We were a motley group,
but all happy: three unknown Indians; Jacob, a colored man; Mr. Preuss,
a German; Bernier, creole French; and myself.
Being now upon the ground explored by the South Sea expedition under
Captain Wilkes, and having accomplished the object of uniting my survey
with his, and thus presenting a connected exploration from the
Mississippi to the Pacific, and the winter being at hand, I deemed it
necessary to economize time by voyaging in the night, as is customary
here, to avoid the high winds, which rise with the morning, and decline
with the day.
Accordingly, after an hour's halt, we again embarked, and resumed our
pleasant voyage down the river. The wind rose to a gale after several
hours; but the moon was very bright, and the wind was fair, and the
canoe glanced rapidly down the stream, the waves breaking into foam
alongside; and our night voyage, as the wind bore us rapidly along
between the dark mountains, was wild and interesting. About midnight we
put to the shore on a rocky beach, behind which was a dark looking pine
forest. We built up large fires among the rocks, which were in large
masses round about; and, arranging our blankets on the most sheltered
places we could find, passed a delightful night.
After an early breakfast, at daylight we resumed our journey, the
weather being clear and beautiful, and the river smooth and still. On
either side the mountains are all pine-timbered, rocky, and high. We
were now approaching one of the marked features of the lower Columbia
where the river forms a great _cascade_, with a series of rapids, in
breaking through the range of mountains to which the lofty peaks of
Mount Hood and St. Helens belong, and which rise as great pillars of
snow on either side of the passage. The main branch of the _Sacramento_
river, and the _Tlamath_, issue in cascades from this range; and the
Columbia, breaking through it in a succession of cascades, gives the
idea of cascades to the whole range; and hence the name of CASCADE
RANGE, which it bears, and distinguishes it from the Coast Range lower
down. In making a short turn to the south, the river forms the cascades
in breaking over a point of agglomerated masses of rock, leaving a
handsome bay to the right, with several rocky, pine-covered islands,
and the mountains sweep at a distance around a cove where several small
streams enter the bay. In less than an hour we halted on the left bank,
about five minutes' walk above the cascades, where there were several
Indian huts, and where our guides signified it was customary to hire
Indians to assist in making the _portage_. When traveling with a boat
as light as a canoe, which may easily be carried on the shoulders of
the Indians, this is much the better side of the river for the portage,
as the ground here is very good and level, being a handsome bottom,
which I remarked was covered (_as was now always the case along the
river_) with a growth of green and fresh-looking grass. It was long
before we could come to an understanding with the Indians; but to
length, when they had first received the price of their assistance in
goods, they went vigorously to work; and, in a shorter time than had
been occupied in making our arrangements, the canoe, instruments, and
baggage, were carried through (a distance of about half a mile) to the
bank below the main cascade, where we again embarked, the water being
white with foam among ugly rocks, and boiling into a thousand
whirlpools. The boat passed with great rapidity, crossing and
recrossing in the eddies of the current. After passing through about
two miles of broken water, we ran some wild-looking rapids, which are
called the Lower Rapids, being the last on the river, which below is
tranquil and smooth--a broad, magnificent stream. On a low broad point
on the right bank of the river, at the lower end of these rapids, were
pitched many tents of the emigrants, who were waiting here for their
friends from above, or for boats and provisions which were expected
from Vancouver. In our passage down the rapids, I had noticed their
camps along the shore, or transporting their goods across the portage.
This portage makes a head of navigation, ascending the river. It is
about two miles in length; and above, to the Dalles, is 45 miles of
smooth and good navigation.
We glided on without further interruption between very rocky and high
steep mountains, which sweep along the river valley at a little
distance, covered with forests of pine, and showing occasionally lofty
escarpments of red rock. Nearer, the shore is bordered by steep
escarped hills end huge vertical rocks, from which the waters of the
mountain reach the river in a variety of beautiful falls, sometimes
several hundred feet in height. Occasionally along the river occurred
pretty bottoms, covered with the greenest verdure of the spring. To a
professional farmer, however, it does not offer many places of
sufficient extent to be valuable for agriculture; and after passing a
few miles below the Dalles, I had scarcely seen a place on the south
shore where wagons could get to the river. The beauty of the scenery
was heightened by the continuance of very delightful weather,
resembling the Indian summer of the Atlantic. A few miles below the
cascades we passed a singular isolated hill; and in the course of the
next six miles occurred five very pretty falls from the heights on the
left bank, one of them being of a very picturesque character; and
towards sunset we reached a remarkable point of rocks, distinguished,
on account of prevailing high winds, and the delay it frequently
occasions to the canoe navigation, by the name of _Cape Horn_. It
borders the river in a high wall of rock, which comes boldly down into
deep water; and in violent gales down the river, and from the opposite
shore, which is the prevailing direction of strong winds, the water is
dashed against it with considerable violence. It appears to form a
serious obstacle to canoe traveling; and I was informed by Mr. Perkins,
that in a voyage up the river he had been detained two weeks at this
place, and was finally obliged to return to Vancouver.
The winds of this region deserve a particular study. They blow in
currents, which show them to be governed by fixed laws; and it is a
problem how far they may come from the mountains, or from the ocean
through the breaks in the mountains which let out the river.
The hills here had lost something of their rocky appearance, and had
already begun to decline. As the sun went down, we searched along the
river for an inviting spot; and, finding a clean rocky beach, where
some large dry trees were lying on the ground, we ran our boat to the
shore; and, after another comfortable supper, ploughed our way along
the river in darkness. Heavy clouds covered the sky this evening, and
the wind began to sweep in gusts among the trees, as if bad weather
were coming. As we advanced, the hills on both sides grew constantly
lower; on the right, retreating from the shore, and forming a somewhat
extensive bottom of intermingled prairie and wooded land. In the course
of a few hours, and opposite to a small stream corning in from the
north, called the _Tea Prairie_ river, the highlands on the left
declined to the plains, and three or four miles more disappeared
entirely on both sides, and the river entered the low country. The
river had gradually expanded; and when we emerged from the highlands,
the opposite shores were so distant as to appear indistinct in the
uncertainty of the light. About ten o'clock our pilots halted,
apparently to confer about the course; and, after a little hesitation,
pulled directly across an open expansion of the river, where the waves
were somewhat rough for a canoe, the wind blowing very fresh. Much to
our surprise, a few minutes afterwards we ran aground. Backing off our
boat, we made repeated trials at various places to cross what appeared
to be a point of shifting sand-bars, where we had attempted to shorten
the way by a cut-off. Finally, one of our Indians got into the water,
and waded about until he found a channel sufficiently deep, through
which we wound along after him, and in a few minutes again entered the
deep water below. As we paddled rapidly down the river, we heard the
noise of a saw-mill at work on the right bank; and, letting our boat
float quietly down, we listened with pleasure to the unusual sounds,
and before midnight, encamped on the bank of the river, about a mile
above Fort Vancouver. Our fine dry weather had given place to a dark
cloudy night. At midnight it began to rain; and we found ourselves
suddenly in the gloomy and humid season, which, in the narrow region
lying between the Pacific and the Cascade mountains, and for a
considerable distance along the coast, supplies the place of winter.
In the morning, the first object that attracted my attention was the
barque Columbia, lying at anchor near the landing. She was about to
start on a voyage to England, and was now ready for sea; being detained
only in waiting the arrival of the express bateaux, which descend the
Columbia and its north fork with the overland mail from Canada and
Hudson's Bay, which had been delayed beyond the usual time. I
immediately waited upon Dr. McLaughlin, the executive officer of the
Hudson Bay Company, in the territory west of the Rocky mountains, who
received me with the courtesy and hospitality for which he has been
eminently distinguished, and which makes a forcible and delightful
impression on a traveler from the long wilderness from which we had
issued. I was immediately supplied by him with the necessary stores and
provisions to refit and support my party in our contemplated winter
journey to the States; and also with a Mackinaw boat and canoes, manned
with Canadian and Iroquois voyageurs and Indians, for their
transportation to the Dalles of the Columbia. In addition to this
efficient kindness in furnishing me with these necessary supplies, I
received from him a warm and gratifying sympathy in the suffering which
his great experience led him to anticipate for us in our homeward
journey, and a letter of recommendation and credit for any officers of
the Hudson Bay Company into whose posts we might be driven by
unexpected misfortune.
Of course, the future supplies for my party were paid for, bills on the
Government of the United States being readily taken; but every
hospitable attention was extended to me, and I accepted an invitation
to take a room in the fort, "_and to make myself at home while I
stayed_."
I found many American emigrants at the fort; others had already crossed
the river into their land of promise--the Walahmette valley. Others
were daily arriving; and all of them have been furnished with shelter,
so far as it could be afforded by the buildings connected with the
establishment. Necessary clothing and provisions (the latter to be
returned in kind from the produce of their labor) were also furnished.
This friendly assistance was of very great value to the emigrants,
whose families were otherwise exposed to much suffering in the winter
rains, which had now commenced; at the same time they were in want of
all the common necessaries of life. Those who had taken a water
conveyance at the Nez Perce fort continued to arrive safely, with no
other accident than has been already mentioned. The party which had
crossed over the Cascade mountains were reported to have lost a number
of their animals; and those who had driven their stock down the
Columbia had brought them safely in, and found for them a ready and
very profitable market, and were already proposing to return to the
States in the spring for another supply. In the space of two days our
preparations had been completed, and we were ready to set out on our
return. It would have been very gratifying to have gone down to the
Pacific, and, solely in the interest and love of geography, to have
seen the ocean on the western as well as on the eastern side of the
continent, so as to give a satisfactory completeness to the
geographical picture which had been formed in our minds; but the rainy
season had now regularly set in, and the air was filled with fogs and
rain, which left no beauty in any scenery, and obstructed observations.
The object of my instructions had been entirely fulfilled in having
connected our reconnoissance with the surveys of Captain Wilkes; and
although it would have been agreeable and satisfactory to terminate
here also our ruder astronomical observations, I was not, for such a
reason, justified to make a delay in waiting for favorable weather.
Near sunset of the 10th, the boats left the fort, and encamped after
making only a few miles. Our flotilla consisted of a Mackinaw barge and
three canoes--one of them that in which we had descended the river; and
a party in all of twenty men. One of the emigrants, Mr. Burnet, of
Missouri, who had left his family and property at the Dalles, availed
himself of the opportunity afforded by the return of our boats to bring
them down to Vancouver. This gentleman, as well as the Messrs.
Applegate, and others of the emigrants whom I saw, possessed
intelligence and character, with the moral and intellectual stamina, as
well as the enterprise, which give solidity and respectability to the
foundation of colonies.
11th.--The morning was rainy and misty. We did not move with the
practised celerity of my own camp; and it was nearly nine o'clock when
our motley crew had finished their breakfast and were ready to start.
Once afloat, however, they worked steadily and well, and we advanced at
a good rate up the river; and in the afternoon a breeze sprung up,
which enabled us to add a sail to the oars. At evening we encamped on a
warm-looking beach, on the right bank, at the foot of the high
river-hill, immediately at the lower end of Cape Horn. On the opposite
shore is said to be a singular hole in the mountain, from which the
Indians believe comes the wind producing these gales. It is called the
Devil's hole; and the Indians, I was told, had been resolving to send
down one of their slaves to explore the region below. At dark, the wind
shifted into its stormy quarter, gradually increasing to a gale from
the southwest; and the sky becoming clear, I obtained a good
observation of an emersion of the first satellite; the result of which
being an absolute observation, I have adopted for the longitude of the
place.
12th.--The wind during the night had increased to so much violence that
the broad river this morning was angry and white; the waves breaking
with considerable force against this rocky wall of the cape. Our old
Iroquois pilot was unwilling to risk the boats around the point, and I
was not disposed to hazard the stores of our voyage for the delay of a
day. Further observations were obtained during the day, giving for the
latitude of the place 45° 33' 09"; and the longitude obtained from the
satellite is 122° 6' 15".
13th.--We had a day of disagreeable and cold rain and, late in the
afternoon, began to approach the rapids of the cascades. There is here
a high timbered island on the left shore, below which, in descending, I
had remarked, in a bluff of the river, the extremities of trunks of
trees, appearing to be imbedded in the rock. Landing here this
afternoon, I found, in the lower part of the escarpment, a stratum of
coal and forest-trees, imbedded between strata of altered clay,
containing the remains of vegetables, the leaves of which indicate that
the plants wore dicotyledonous. Among these, the stems of some of the
ferns are not mineralized, but merely charred, retaining still their
vegetable structure and substance; and in this condition a portion of
the trees remain. The indurated appearance and compactness of the
strata, as well, perhaps, as the mineralized condition of the coal, are
probably due to igneous action. Some portions of the coal precisely
resemble in aspect the canal coal of England, and, with the
accompanying fossils, have been referred to the tertiary formation.
These strata appear to rest upon a mass of agglomerated rock, being but
a few feet above the water of the river; and over them is the
escarpment of perhaps 80 feet, rising gradually in the rear towards the
mountains. The wet and cold evening, and near approach of night,
prevented me from making any other than a slight examination.
The current was now very swift, and we were obliged to _cordelle_ the
boat along the left shore, where the bank was covered with large masses
of rocks. Night overtook us at the upper end of the island, a short
distance below the cascades, and we halted on the open point. In the
mean time, the lighter canoes, paddled altogether by Indians, had
passed ahead, and were out of sight. With them was the lodge, which was
the only shelter we had, with most of the bedding and provisions. We
shouted, and fired guns; but all to no purpose, as it was impossible
for them to hear above the roar of the river; and we remained all night
without shelter, the rain pouring down all the time. The old voyageurs
did not appear to mind it much, but covered themselves up as well as
they could, and lay down on the sand-beach, where they remained quiet
until morning. The rest of us spent a rather miserable night; and, to
add to our discomfort, the incessant rain extinguished our fires; and
we were glad when at last daylight appeared, and we again embarked.
Crossing to the right bank, we _cordelled_ the boat along the shore,
there being no longer any use of the paddles, and put into a little bay
below the upper rapids. Here we found a lodge pitched, and about 20
Indians sitting around a blazing fire within, making a luxurious
breakfast with salmon, bread, butter, sugar, coffee, and other
provisions. In the forest, on the edge of the high bluff overlooking
the river, is an Indian graveyard, consisting of a collection of tombs,
in each of which were the scattered bones of many skeletons. The tombs
were made of boards, which were ornamented with many figures of men and
animals of the natural size--from their appearance, constituting the
armorial device by which, among Indians, the chiefs are usually known.
The masses of rock displayed along the shores of the ravine in the
neighborhood of the cascades, are clearly volcanic products. Between
this cove, which I called Graveyard bay, and another spot of smooth
water above, on the right, called Luders bay, sheltered by a jutting
point of huge rocky masses at the foot of the cascades, the shore along
the intervening rapids is lined with precipices of distinct strata of
red and variously-colored lavas, in inclined positions.
The masses of rock forming the point at Luders bay consist of a porous
trap, or basalt--a volcanic product of a modern period. The rocks
belong to agglomerated masses, which form the immediate ground of the
cascades, and have been already mentioned as constituting a bed of
cemented conglomerate rocks, appearing at various places along the
river. Here they are scattered along the shores, and through the bed of
the river, wearing the character of convulsion, which forms the
impressive and prominent feature of the river at this place.
Wherever we came in contact with the rocks of these mountains, we found
them volcanic, which is probably the character of the range; and at
this time, two of the great snowy cones, Mount Regnier and St. Helens,
were in action. On the 23d of the preceding November, St. Helens had
scattered its ashes, like a white fall of snow, over the Dalles of the
Columbia, 50 miles distant. A specimen of these ashes was given to me
by Mr. Brewer, one of the clergymen at the Dalles.
The lofty range of the Cascade mountains forms a distinct boundary
between the opposite climates of the regions along its western and
eastern bases. On the west, they present a barrier to the clouds of fog
and rain which roll up from the Pacific ocean and beat against their
rugged sides, forming the rainy season of the winter in the country
along the coast. Into the brighter skies of the region along their
eastern base, this rainy winter never penetrates; and at the Dalles of
the Columbia the rainy season is unknown, the brief winter being
limited to a period of about two months, during which the earth is
covered with the slight snows of a climate remarkably mild for so high
a latitude. The Cascade range has an average distance of about 130
miles from the sea-coast. It extends far both north and south of the
Columbia, and is indicated to the distant observer, both in course and
position, by the lofty volcanic peaks which rise out of it, and which
are visible to an immense distance.
During several days of constant rain, it kept our whole force
laboriously employed in getting our barge and canoes to the upper end
of the Cascades. The portage ground was occupied by emigrant families;
their thin and insufficient clothing, bareheaded and barefooted
children, attesting the length of their journey, and showing that they
had, in many instances, set out without a due preparation of what was
indispensable.
A gentleman named Luders, a botanist from the city of Hamburg, arrived
at the bay I have called by his name while we were occupied in bringing
up the boats. I was delighted to meet at such a place a man of kindred
pursuits; but we had only the pleasure of a brief conversation, as his
canoe, under the guidance of two Indians, was about to run the rapids;
and I could not enjoy the satisfaction of regaling him with a
breakfast, which, after his recent journey, would have been an
extraordinary luxury. All of his few instruments and baggage were in
the canoe, and he hurried around by land to meet it at the Graveyard
bay; but he was scarcely out of sight, when, by the carelessness of the
Indians, the boat was drawn into the midst of the rapids, and glanced
down the river, bottom up, with a loss of every thing it contained. In
the natural concern I felt for his misfortune, I gave to the little
cove the name of Luders bay.
15th.--We continued to-day our work at the portage.
About noon, the two barges of the express from Montreal arrived at the
upper portage landing, which, for large boats, is on the right bank of
the river. They were a fine-looking crew, and among them I remarked a
fresh-looking woman and her daughter, emigrants from Canada. It was
satisfactory to see the order and speed with which these experienced
water-men effected the portage, and passed their boats over the
cascades. They had arrived at noon, and in the evening they expected to
reach Vancouver. These bateaux carry the express of the Hudson Bay
Company to the highest navigable point of the North Fork of the
Columbia, whence it is carried by an overland party to Lake Winipec,
where it is divided; part going to Montreal, and part to Hudson Bay.
Thus a regular communication is kept up between three very remote
points.
The Canadian emigrants were much chagrined at the change of climate,
and informed me that, only a few miles above, they had left a country
of bright blue sky and a shining sun. The next morning the upper parts
of the mountains which directly overlook the cascades, were white with
the freshly fallen snow, while it continued to rain steadily below.
Late in the afternoon we finished the portage, and, embarking again,
moved a little distance up the right bank, in order to clear the
smaller rapids of the cascades, and have a smooth river for the next
morning. Though we made but a few miles, the weather improved
immediately; and though the rainy country and the cloudy mountains were
close behind, before us was the bright sky; so distinctly is climate
here marked by a mountain boundary.
17th.--We had to-day an opportunity to complete the sketch of that
portion of the river down which we had come by night.
Many places occur along the river, where the stumps, or rather portions
of the trunks of pine-trees, are standing along the shore, and in the
water, where they may be seen at a considerable depth below the
surface, in the beautifully clear water. These collections of dead
trees are called on the Columbia the _submerged forest_, and are
supposed to have been created by the effects of some convulsion which
formed the cascades, and which, by damming up the river, placed these
trees under water and destroyed them. But I venture to presume that the
cascades are older than the trees; and as these submerged forests occur
at five or six places along the river, I had an opportunity to satisfy
myself that they have been formed by immense landslides from the
mountains, which here closely shut in the river, and which brought down
with them into the river the pines of the mountain. At one place, on
the right bank, I remarked a place where a portion of one of these
slides seemed to have planted itself, with all the evergreen foliage,
and the vegetation of the neighboring hill, directly amidst the falling
and yellow leaves of the river trees. It occurred to me that this would
have been a beautiful illustration to the eye of a botanist.
Following the course of a slide, which was very plainly marked along
the mountain, I found that in the interior parts the trees were in
their usual erect position; but at the extremity of the slide they were
rocked about, and thrown into a confusion of inclinations.
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we passed a sandy bar in the river,
whence we had an unexpected view of Mount Hood, bearing directly south
by compass.
During the day we used oar and sail, and at night had again a
delightful camping ground, and a dry place to sleep upon.
18th.--The day again was pleasant and bright. At 10 o'clock we passed a
rock island, on the right shore of the river, which the Indians use as
a burial ground; and halting for a short time, about an hour
afterwards, at the village of our Indian friends, early in the
afternoon we arrived again at the Dalles.
Carson had removed the camp up the river a little nearer to the hills,
where the animals had better grass. We found every thing in good order,
and arrived just in time to partake of an excellent roast of California
beef. My friend, Mr. Gilpin, had arrived in advance of the party. His
object in visiting this country had been to obtain correct information
of the Walahmette settlements; and he had reached this point in his
journey, highly pleased with the country over which he had traveled,
and with invigorated health. On the following day he continued his
journey, in our returning boats, to Vancouver.
The camp was now occupied in making the necessary preparations for our
homeward journey, which, though homeward, contemplated a new route, and
a great circuit to the south and southeast, and the exploration of the
Great Basin between the Rocky mountains and the _Sierra Nevada_. Three
principal objects were indicated, by report or by maps, as being on
this route; the character or existence of which I wished to ascertain
and which I assumed as landmarks, or leading points, on their projected
line of return. The first of those points was the _Tlamath_ lake, on
the table-land between the head of Fall river, which comes to the
Columbia, and the Sacramento, which goes to the Bay of San Francisco;
and from which lake a river of the same name makes its way westwardly
direct to the ocean. This lake and river are often called _Klamet_, but
I have chosen to write its name according to the Indian pronunciation.
The position of this lake, on the line of inland communication between
Oregon and California; its proximity to the demarcation boundary of
latitude 42°; its imputed double character of lake, or meadow,
according to the season of the year; and the hostile and warlike
character attributed to the Indians about it--all made it a desirable
object to visit and examine. From this lake our course was intended to
be about southeast, to a reported lake called Mary's, at some days'
journey in the Great Basin; and thence, still on southeast, to the
reputed _Buenaventura_ river, which has had a place in so many maps,
and countenanced the belief of the existence of a great river flowing
from the Rocky mountains to the Bay of San Francisco. From the
Buenaventura the next point was intended to be in that section of the
Rocky mountains which includes the heads of Arkansas river, and of the
opposite waters of the Californian gulf; and thence down the Arkansas
to Bent's fort, and home. This was our projected line of return--a
great part of it absolutely new to geographical, botanical, and
geological science--and the subject of reports in relation to lakes,
rivers, deserts, and savages hardly above the condition of mere wild
animals, which inflamed desire to know what this _terra incognita_
really contained.
It was a serious enterprise, at the commencement of winter, to
undertake the traverse of such a region, and with a party consisting
only of twenty-five persons, and they of many nations--American,
French, German, Canadian, Indian, and colored--and most of those young,
several being under twenty-one years of age. All knew that a strange
country was to be explored, and dangers and hardships to be
encountered; but no one blenched at the prospect. On the contrary,
courage and confidence animated the whole party. Cheerfulness,
readiness, subordination, prompt obedience, characterized all; nor did
any extremity of peril and privation, to which we were afterwards
exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine spirit of this brave
and generous commencement. The course of the narrative will show at
what point, and for what reasons, we were prevented from the complete
execution of this plan, after having made considerable progress upon
it, and how we were forced by desert plains and mountain ranges, and
deep snows, far to the south, and near to the Pacific ocean, and along
the western base of the Sierra Nevada, where, indeed, a new and ample
field of exploration opened itself before us. For the present, we must
follow the narrative, which will first lead us south along the valley
of Fall river, and the eastern base of the Cascade range, to the
Tlamath lake, from which, or its margin, three rivers go in three
directions--one west, to the ocean; another north, to the Columbia; the
third south, to California.
For the support of the party, I had provided at Vancouver a supply of
provisions for not less than three months, consisting principally of
flour, peas, and tallow--the latter being used in cooking; and, in
addition to this, I had purchased at the mission some California
cattle, which were to be driven on the hoof. We had 104 mules and
horses--part of the latter procured from the Indians about the mission;
and for the sustenance of which, our reliance was upon the grass which
we should find, and the soft porous wood which was to be substituted
when there was none.
Mr. Fitzpatrick, with Mr. Talbot and the remainder of the party,
arrived on the 21st; and the camp was now closely engaged in the labor
of preparation. Mr. Perkins succeeded in obtaining as a guide to the
Tlamath lake two Indians--one of whom had been there, and bore the
marks of several wounds he had received from some of the Indians in the
neighborhood; and the other went along for company. In order to enable
us to obtain horses, he dispatched messengers to the various Indian
villages in the neighborhood, informing them that we were desirous to
purchase, and appointing a day for them to bring them in.
We made, in the mean time, several excursions in the vicinity. Mr.
Perkins walked with Mr. Preuss and myself to the heights, about nine
miles distant, on the opposite side of the river, whence, in fine
weather, an extensive view may be had over the mountains, including
seven great peaks of the Cascade range; but clouds, on this occasion,
destroyed the anticipated pleasure, and we obtained bearings only to
three that were visible--Mount Regnier, St. Helens, and Mount Hood. On
the heights, about one mile south of the mission, a very fine view may
be had of Mount Hood and St. Helens. In order to determine their
position with as much accuracy as possible, the angular distances of
the peaks were measured with the sextant, at different fixed points
from which they could be seen.
The Indians brought in their horses at the appointed time, and we
succeeded in obtaining a number in exchange for goods; but they were
relatively much higher here, where goods are plenty and at moderate
prices, than we had found them in the more eastern part of our voyage.
Several of the Indians inquired very anxiously to know if we had any
_dollars_; and the horses we procured were much fewer in number than I
had desired, and of thin, inferior quality; the oldest and poorest
being those that were sold to us. These horses, as ever in our journey
you will have occasion to remark, are valuable for hardihood and great
endurance.
24th.--At this place one of the men was discharged; and at the request
of Mr. Perkins, a Chinook Indian, a lad of nineteen, who was extremely
desirous to "see the whites," and make some acquaintance with our
institutions, was received into the party under my special charge, with
the understanding that I would again return him to his friends. He had
lived for some time in the household of Mr. Perkins, and spoke a few
words of the English language.
25th.--We were all up early, in the excitement of turning towards home.
The stars were brilliant, and the morning cold, the thermometer at
daylight 26°.
Our preparations had been fully completed, and to-day we commenced our
journey. The little wagon which had hitherto carried the instruments, I
judged it necessary to abandon; and it was accordingly presented to the
mission. In all our long traveling, it had never been overturned or
injured by any accident of the road; and the only things broken were
the glass lamps, and one of the front panels, which had been kicked out
by an unruly Indian horse. The howitzer was the only wheeled carriage
now remaining. We started about noon, when the weather had become
disagreeably cold, with flurries of snow. Our friend Mr. Perkins, whose
kindness had been active and efficient during our stay, accompanied us
several miles on our road, when he bade us farewell, and consigned us
to the care of our guides. Ascending to the uplands beyond the southern
fork of the _Tinanens_ creek, we found the snow lying on the ground in
frequent patches, although the pasture appeared good, and the new short
grass was fresh and green. We traveled over high, hilly land, and
encamped on a little branch of Tinanens creek, where there were good
grass and timber. The southern bank was covered with snow, which was
scattered over the bottom; and the little creek, its borders lined with
ice, had a chilly and wintry look. A number of Indians had accompanied
us so far on our road, and remained with us during the night. Two
bad-looking fellows, who were detected in stealing, were tied and laid
before the fire, and guard mounted over them during the night. The
night was cold, and partially clear.
26th.--The morning was cloudy and misty, and but a few stars visible.
During the night water froze in the tents, and at sunrise the
thermometer was at 20°. Left camp at 10 o'clock, the road leading along
tributaries of the Tinanens, and being, so far, very good. We turned to
the right at the fork of the trail, ascending by a steep ascent along a
spur to the dividing grounds between this stream and the waters of Fall
river. The creeks we had passed were timbered principally with oak and
other deciduous trees. Snow lies everywhere here on the ground, and we
had a slight fall during the morning; but towards noon the bright sky
yielded to a bright sun.
This morning we had a grand view of St. Helens and Regnier: the latter
appeared of a conical form, and very lofty, leading the eye far up into
the sky. The line of the timbered country is very distinctly marked
here, the bare hills making with it a remarkable contrast. The summit
of the ridge commanded a fine view of the Taih prairie, and the stream
running through it, which is a tributary to the Fall river, the chasm
of which is visible to the right. A steep descent of a mountain hill
brought us down into the valley, and we encamped on the stream after
dark, guided by the light of fires, which some naked Indians, belonging
to a village on the opposite side, were kindling for us on the bank.
This is a large branch of the Fall river. There was a broad band of
thick ice some fifteen feet wide on either bank, and the river current
is swift and bold. The night was cold and clear, and we made our
astronomical observation this evening with the thermometer at 20°.
In anticipation of coming hardship, and to spare our horses, there was
much walking done to-day; and Mr. Fitzpatrick and myself made the day's
journey on foot. Somewhere near the mouth of this stream are the falls
from which the river takes its name.
27th.--A fine view of Mount Hood this morning; a rose-colored mass of
snow, bearing S. 85° W. by compass. The sky is clear, and the air cold;
the thermometer 2.5° below zero, the trees and bushes glittering white,
and the rapid stream filled with floating ice.
_Stiletsi_ and _the White Crane_, two Indian chiefs who had accompanied
us thus far, took their leave, and we resumed our journey at 10
o'clock. We ascended by a steep hill from the river bottom, which is
sandy, to a volcanic plain, around which lofty hills sweep in a regular
form. It is cut up by gullies of basaltic rock, escarpments of which
appear everywhere in the hills. This plain is called the Taih prairie,
and is sprinkled with some scattered pines. The country is now far more
interesting to a traveler than the route along the Snake and Columbia
rivers. To our right we had always the mountains, from the midst of
whose dark pine forests the isolated snowy peaks were looking out like
giants. They served us for grand beacons to show the rate at which we
advanced in our journey. Mount Hood was already becoming an old
acquaintance, and, when we ascended the prairie, we obtained a bearing
to Mount Jefferson, S. 23° W. The Indian superstition has peopled these
lofty peaks with evil spirits, and they have never yet known the tread
of a human foot. Sternly drawn against the sky, they look so high and
steep, so snowy and rocky, that it appears almost impossible to climb
them; but still a trial would have its attractions for the adventurous
traveler. A small trail takes off through the prairie, towards a low
point in the range, and perhaps there is here a pass into the
Wahlamette valley. Crossing the plain, we descended by a rocky hill
into the bed of a tributary of Fall river, and made an early
encampment. The water was in holes, and frozen over; and we were
obliged to cut through the ice for the animals to drink. An ox, which
was rather troublesome to drive, was killed here for food.
The evening was fine, the sky being very clear, and I obtained an
immersion of the third satellite, with a good observation of an
emersion of the first; the latter of which gives for the longitude,
121° 02' 43"; the latitude, by observation, being 45° 06' 45". The
night was cold--the thermometer during the observations standing at 9°.
28th.--The sky was clear in the morning, but suddenly clouded over, and
at sunrise it began to snow, with the thermometer at 18°.
We traversed a broken high country, partly timbered with pine, and
about noon crossed a mountainous ridge, in which, from the rock
occasionally displayed, the formation consists of compact lava.
Frequent tracks of elk were visible in the snow. On our right, in the
afternoon, a high plain, partially covered with pine, extended about
ten miles, to the foot of the Cascade mountains.
At evening we encamped in a basin narrowly surrounded by rocky hills,
after a day's journey of twenty-one miles. The surrounding rocks are
either volcanic products, or highly altered by volcanic action,
consisting of quartz and reddish-colored silicious masses.
29th.--We emerged from the basin, by a narrow pass, upon a considerable
branch of Fall river, running to the eastward through a narrow valley.
The trail, descending this stream, brought us to a locality of hot
springs, which were on either bank. Those on the left, which were
formed into deep handsome basins, would have been delightful baths, if
the outer air had not been so keen, the thermometer in these being at
89°. There were others on the opposite side, at the foot of an
escarpment, in which the temperature of the water was 134°. These
waters deposited around the spring a brecciated mass of quartz and
feldspar, much of it of a reddish color.
We crossed the stream here, and ascended again to a high plain, from an
elevated point of which we obtained a view of six of the great
peaks--Mount Jefferson, followed to the southward by two others of the
same class; and succeeding, at a still greater distance to the
southward, were three other lower peaks, clustering together in a
branch ridge. These, like the great peaks, were snowy masses, secondary
only to them; and, from the best examination our time permitted, we are
inclined to believe that the range to which they belong is a branch
from the great chain which here bears to the westward. The trail,
during the remainder of the day, followed near to the large stream on
the left, which was continuously walled in between high rocky banks. We
halted for the night on a little by-stream.
30th.--Our journey to-day was short. Passing over a high plain, on
which were scattered cedars, with frequent beds of volcanic rock in
fragments interspersed among the grassy grounds, we arrived suddenly on
the verge of the steep and rocky descent to the valley of the stream we
had been following, and which here ran directly across our path,
emerging from the mountains on the right. You will remark that the
country is abundantly watered with large streams, which pour down from
the neighboring range.
These streams are characterized by the narrow and chasm-like valleys in
which they run, generally sunk a thousand feet below the plain. At the
verge of this plain, they frequently commence in vertical precipices of
basaltic rock, and which leave only casual places at which they can be
entered by horses. The road across the country, which would otherwise
be very good, is rendered impracticable for wagons by these streams.
There is another trail among the mountains, usually followed in the
summer, which the snows now compelled us to avoid; and I have reason to
believe that this, passing nearer the heads of these streams, would
afford a much better road.
At such places, the gun-carriage was unlimbered, and separately
descended by hand. Continuing a few miles up the left bank of the
river, we encamped early in an open bottom among the pines, a short
distance below a lodge of Indians. Here, along the river the bluffs
present escarpments seven or eight hundred feet in height, containing
strata of a very fine porcelain clay, overlaid, at the height of about
five hundred feet, by a massive stratum of compact basalt one hundred
feet in thickness, which again is succeeded above by other strata of
volcanic rocks. The clay strata are variously colored, some of them
very nearly as white as chalk, and very fine-grained. Specimens brought
from these have been subjected to microscopical examination by
Professor Bailey, of West Point, and are considered by him to
constitute one of the most remarkable deposites of fluviatile infusoria
on record. While they abound in genera and species which are common in
fresh water, but which rarely thrive where the water is even brackish,
not one decidedly marine form is to be found among them; and their
fresh-water origin is therefore beyond a doubt. It is equally certain
that they lived and died at the situation where they were found, as
they could scarcely have been transported by running waters without an
admixture of sandy particles; from which, however, they are remarkably
free. Fossil infusoria of a fresh-water origin had been previously
detected by Mr. Bailey, in specimens brought by Mr. James D. Dana from
the tertiary formation of Oregon. Most of the species in those
specimens differed so much from those now living and known, that he was
led to infer that they might belong to extinct species, and considered
them also as affording proof of an alteration, in the formation from
which they were obtained, of fresh and salt-water deposites, which,
common enough in Europe, had not hitherto been noticed in the United
States. Coming evidently from a locality entirely different, our
specimens show very few species in common with those brought by Mr.
Dana, but bear a much closer resemblance to those inhabiting the
northeastern states. It is possible that they are from a more recent
deposite; but the presence of a few remarkable forms which are common
to the two localities renders it more probable that there is no great
difference in their age.
I obtained here a good observation of an emersion of the second
satellite; but clouds, which rapidly overspread the sky, prevented the
usual number of observations. Those which we succeeded in obtaining,
are, however, good; and give for the latitude of the place 44° 35' 23",
and for the longitude from the satellite 121° 10' 25".