Palmer's Journal of Travels Over the Rocky Mountains, 1845-1846

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Oregon Territory, which under the treaty of 1818 was held in joint occupation by the United States and Great Britain, had been brought into prominence by the presidential campaign of 1844, and the belligerent message of President Polk at his inauguration in March, 1845. Emigration thither for the year 1845 exceeded that of any previous season and consisted of nearly three thousand persons, largely from Missouri and the frontier states of the Old Northwest.—Ed.

[2] Blue River, in central Indiana, flowing through Rush and Shelby counties, is part of the White River system.—Ed.

[3] For a note on the founding of Indianapolis see our volume ix, p. 190, note 100.—Ed.

[4] Mount Meridian is a small village in Jefferson township, Putnam County, Indiana. It was laid out in 1833 and at first named Carthage.—Ed.

[5] For St. Charles see our volume v, p. 39, note 9.—Ed.

[6] By the term "Lute creek," Palmer intends Loutre River, rising in northeast Callaway County, and flowing south and southwest through Montgomery County into the Missouri, at Loutre Island. See our volume v, p. 47, note 19.—Ed.

[7] Williamsburgh, a village in the township of Nine Mile Prairie, Callaway County, was laid out in 1836. For Fulton see our volume xxi, p. 131, note 7.—Ed.

[8] Columbia and Rocheport are noted in our volume xxi, p. 133, note 8; Boonville, ibid., p. 89, note 59. Palmer probably crossed the Missouri at Boonville. Townsend went by a similar route from St. Louis to Boonville. See his Narrative in our volume xxi, pp. 125-134.—Ed.

[9] Marshall was in 1839 set off as the county seat of Saline, and in 1900 had a population of 5086. It was named in honor of the chief justice of the United States, who died shortly before the incorporation of the town.—Ed.

[10] For Independence see our volume xix, p. 189, note 34. Gregg gives a much fuller description of this town as an outfitting place, than does our present author; ibid., pp. 188-192.—Ed.

[11] On the bounds of this territory, see our volume xxi, p. 50, note 31.—Ed.

[12] Walkarusa Creek rises in several branches in Wabaunsee County, and flows east through Shawnee and Douglas into Kansas River. The crossing of the Oregon Trail was almost directly south of Lawrence. The trail thence followed the divide between the creek and river to about the present site of Topeka. During the Free Soil troubles in Kansas, a bloodless campaign (1855) along this creek toward Lawrence was known as the "Walkarusa War."

Kansas River is noted in our volume xiv, p. 174, note 140.—Ed.

[13] For the Kansa Indians see our volume v, p. 67, note 37; also our volume xxviii, p. 140, note 84. Wyeth notes their village in his Oregon, our volume xxi, pp. 48, 49.—Ed.

[14] For this stream see De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 197, note 74.—Ed.

[15] This was probably a local publication of the journal or notes of William Gilpin, who went to Oregon with FrÉmont's party in 1843. Gilpin was a Pennsylvanian, appointed cadet at West Point in 1834. Two years later he became lieutenant in the 2nd dragoons, and saw frontier service, resigning from the army in 1838. He accompanied FrÉmont as far as the Dalles of the Columbia, and passed the winter of 1843-44 in the Willamette valley, returning overland to the states in 1844. As an intelligent observer his reports on the Oregon country were much sought (see Niles' Register, lxvii, p. 161). Gilpin afterwards served in the Mexican War, and earnestly urged the building of a Pacific railway. In 1861 he was appointed first territorial governor of Colorado, in recognition of "his services as an explorer of the Great West," and lived until 1894.—Ed.

[16] Stephen Hall Meek was a brother of Colonel Joseph Meek so well known as an Oregon pioneer (see our volume xxviii, p. 290, note 171). Stephen began his career as a trapper under Captain Bonneville in 1832, and accompanied Joseph Walker to California in 1833-34. He was in the Willamette valley in 1841, where he purchased of Dr. John McLoughlin the first lot sold on the site of Oregon City. In 1842 he guided the emigrant caravan from Fort Laramie. His unfortunate experience in attempting a "cut off" with a party of emigrants in 1845 (related post by Palmer), discredited his abilities as a guide. At the time of the gold excitement (1848-49) he returned to California, where he made his later home in Siskiyou County.—Ed.

[17] Little is known of Dr. Presley Welch save as related by Palmer—that he was from Indiana, was chosen captain of the caravan, and was without authority after the formation of the independent companies. H. H. Bancroft (History of Oregon, i, p. 612) notes that he was candidate for governor in 1846. George H. Himes, assistant secretary of the Oregon Historical Society, writes to the Editor: "In all my efforts to make a roll of Pioneers by years, I have not so far been able to find anything about Dr. Welch; hence I conclude he either left the country at an early date or died soon after his arrival here."—Ed.

[18] For this stream see our volume xxi, p. 149, note 20. Townsend also describes the same Kansa village, ibid., pp. 148, 149.—Ed.

[19] The Big Vermillion is now known as the Black Vermillion, an eastern tributary of the Big Blue, in Marshall County, Kansas. The usual crossing was near the site of the present town of Bigelow. Bee Creek is a small stream in Marshall County. The Big Blue is noted in our volume xiv, p. 185, note 154; also in our volume xxi, p. 142, note 15.—Ed.

[20] For a biographical note on Colonel Stephen W. Kearny see our volume xvii, p. 12, note 4. In the summer of 1845 the general of the army ordered Kearny to take five companies of dragoons and proceed from Fort Leavenworth via the Oregon Trail to South Pass, returning by way of the Arkansas and the Santa FÉ Trail. The object was both to impress the Indians, and to report upon the feasibility of an advanced military post near Fort Laramie. Leaving their encampment May 18, they were upon the Little Blue by the twenty-sixth of the month. See report in Senate Docs., 29 Cong., 1 sess., 1, pp. 210-213. This was the first regular military campaign into the land of the Great West, and strongly impressed the Indians of that region. Kearny's recommendations were against the establishment of a post because of the difficulty of supplying it—advising instead, a biennial or triennial campaign similar to his own.—Ed.

[21] By the "Republican Fork of Blue River" Palmer intends the stream known usually as the Little Blue. Republican River, farther west, is an important branch of Kansas River, and for a portion of its course nearly parallels the Little Blue. The Oregon Trail, however, followed the latter stream, and the distances given by Palmer preclude the possibility of a detour via the Republican River. The name of this stream, as well as that applied by Palmer to the Little Blue, is derived from the tribe of Republican Pawnee, for which see our volume xiv, p. 233, note 179.—Ed.

[22] There were two routes across from the head of Little Blue River to the Platte. The first left the trail near the site of Leroy, Nebraska, and came in to the Platte about twenty miles below Grand Island; the second continued farther west, about ten miles, then crossed northwest to the Platte near the site of Fort Kearney. See military map of Nebraska and Dakota, prepared in 1855-57 by Lieutenant G. K. Warren of the topographical engineer corps. For the Platte River see our volume xiv, p. 219, note 170.—Ed.

[23] For this tribe, see our volume vi, p. 61, note 17; also our volume xv, pp. 143-165; and xxviii, p. 149, note 94.—Ed.

[24] Thomas Fulton Stephens joined the Oregon caravan from Illinois. The year after his arrival in Oregon he took up donation land near the site of Portland and erected thereon a saw-mill. His death occurred in 1884.—Ed.

[25] John Foster was born in Ohio in 1822, removed to Missouri in early life, and in 1897 was still residing in Oregon.—Ed.

[26] Orville Risley was born in New York state about 1807. In early life he removed to Ohio, where he joined the Oregon emigrants of 1845. Upon reaching the Willamette valley he took up land in Clackamas County, and later was a merchant at Lafayette. In his last years he resided principally at Portland, where he was known as Judge Risley, from having once held the office of justice of the peace. His death occurred at his Clackamas farm in 1884.—Ed.

[27] For the fords of the South Platte see our volume xxi, p. 173, note 27.—Ed.

[28] Ash Hollow, called by FrÉmont CoulÉe des FrÊnes, was a well known landmark, where the Oregon Trail crossed the North Platte. It is now known as Ash Creek, in Deuel County, Nebraska.—Ed.

[29] Spring Creek was probably the one now known as Rush, formed by springs issuing in Cheyenne County, Nebraska. The second creek was that now entitled Pumpkinseed. In the days of trail-travelling it was called Gonneville, from a trapper who had been killed thereon. The Solitary Tower is on its bank—a huge mass of indurated clay, more frequently known as the Court House or the Castle.—Ed.

[30] For a note on Chimney Rock consult De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 219, note 89. See also engraving in FrÉmont's "Exploring Tour," Senate Docs., 28 Cong., 2 sess., 174, p. 38.—Ed.

[31] This story is told with variations by many writers, notably Washington Irving in his Rocky Mountains (Philadelphia, 1837), i, pp. 45, 46. The event appears to have occurred about 1830. The range of bluffs, about nine hundred yards in length, still retains the name. It is situated on the western borders of Nebraska, in a county of the same name.—Ed.

[32] The usual habitat of the Dakota or Sioux was along the Missouri River or eastward. The Teton Sioux were in the habit of wandering westward for summer hunts, and this was probably a band of the Oglala or BrulÉ Teton, who frequently were encountered in this region. For the Teton subdivisions see our volume xxii, p. 326, note 287.—Ed.

[33] The succession of trading posts on the Laramie branch of Platte River is somewhat confusing, due to differences in nomenclature. Consult our volume xxi, p. 181, note 30. The fort here described appears to be the new Fort Laramie (which must thus have been built in 1845, not 1846). Alexander Culbertson, who was at one time in command for the American Fur Company, says that this post cost $10,000, and was the best built stronghold in the company's possession. Fort John was the old American Fur Company's post. How a rival company had secured it, seems a mystery; possibly Palmer has confused it with Fort Platte, which FrÉmont notes in 1842 at the mouth of the Laramie, belonging to Sybille, Adams, and Company. See his "Exploring Tour" (cited in note 30, ante), p. 35.—Ed.

[34] Since the above was written, the North American Fur Company has purchased Fort John, and demolished it.—Palmer.

[35] The trail lay back from the river, for some distance above Fort Laramie. Big Spring was frequently known as Warm Spring, and the coulÉe, in Laramie County, Wyoming, still retains the name of Warm Spring CaÑon.—Ed.

[36] On the general use of the term Black Hills see our volume xxiii, p. 244, note 204. The stream called Fourche AmÈre (bitter fork) by FrÉmont is now known simply as Cottonwood Creek.—Ed.

[37] Retaining the same name, Horseshoe Creek is a considerable wooded stream in western Laramie County, Wyoming.—Ed.

[38] This is now known as Lower Platte CaÑon, and is traversed by the Wyoming branch of the Colorado and Southern Railway.—Ed.

[39] Big Timber Creek was called La Fourche BoisÉe by FrÉmont; more frequently it was known by the name it still retains—La BontÉ Creek, in Converse County, Wyoming. The cut-off recommended by Palmer would be by way of Elkhorn Creek and an affluent of La BontÉ.—Ed.

[40] Deer Creek is the largest southern affluent of the Platte, between the Laramie and the Sweetwater. It is well-timbered, and its mouth was a familiar camping place on the Oregon Trail. It is in the western part of Converse County, Wyoming, about 770 miles from the starting point at Independence.—Ed.

[41] The best ford in this stretch of the river; it averaged only about three feet in depth at the ordinary stage of water, and its width varied from eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet. It was a little above the present town of Casper, Wyoming.—Ed.

[42] The Mineral Spring was usually called Red Spring, near Poison Spider Creek, and shows traces of petroleum. For a description of Red Buttes see our volume xxi, p. 183.—Ed.

[43] For Independence Rock and Sweetwater River see our volume xxi, p. 53, notes 33, 34.—Ed.

[44] For this gap, or caÑon, see De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 241, note 113.—Ed.

[45] The Wind River Mountains are noted in our volume xxi, p. 184, note 35. The trail along the Sweetwater is for the most part over a rough, undulating prairie, but at times the hills force the road close to the river valley. At one place, about thirty-six miles above the river's mouth, the route grows rugged and crosses the river three times. This was usually known as the Three Crossings, and is probably the stretch that Palmer calls the Narrows.—Ed.

[46] Joseph R. Walker was born (1798) in Tennessee. In early 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.

[116] William Gilbert Buffum was born in Vermont in 1804. When eleven years of age his family removed to Ashtabula County, Ohio. In 1825 Buffum went to Illinois to work in the mines, later settling in Fulton County, and removing to Missouri in 1841. His wife, Caroline Thurman, was born in Ohio in 1814. After their long journey to Oregon, the Buffums settled in Yamhill County, near Amity, where they afterwards resided, with the exception of a year spent in the California gold fields. Buffum was still living in Amity in 1898. See his reminiscences in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1889, pp. 42-44.

Mrs. Miriam A. Thompson (nÉe Robinson) was born in Illinois (1826) and married the year before the migration to Oregon. After reaching the Willamette she settled in Yamhill County, thence removing to Clatsop Plains, where in 1848 her husband left her for California. There he was murdered, and in 1850 his widow married Jeremiah H. Tuller, after 1880 living in Douglas County. For her own account of her adventures, and especially this trip across the Cascade Mountains, see Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1895, pp. 87-90.—Ed.

[117] Jacob C. Caplinger was born in Virginia in 1815, of German descent. In 1837 he removed to Illinois, in 1841 marrying Jane Woodsides. After reaching the settlements, the Caplingers remained at Oregon City until 1847, when they purchased a farm near Salem, where they were living in 1892.—Ed.

[118] Matthew (not N.) Gilmore came out in 1843, settling on the Tualatin Plains, where he was chosen delegate to the provisional legislature of 1844. Gilmore was a farmer, not prominent in public life.

Charles Gilmore appears to have been of the migration of 1844.

Peter G. Stewart came with the Applegate party of 1843, and was one of the executive committee of three, chosen in 1844. He was a man of calm, dispassionate temper, who had been a jeweler in the states. In 1853 he was port surveyor at Pacific City.—Ed.

[119] According to H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon, i, pp. 525, 526, these were the families of Andrew Hood and Sharp C. Senters. Rev. Theophilus Powell was born in Kentucky, left for Oregon from Missouri, and died in Marion County, Oregon, in 1861.—Ed.

[120] Several members of the party of 1845 bore the name of Smith; probably this was Simeon, born in Ohio in 1823, removed to Missouri in 1838, and settled in Marion County, finally making his home in Salem, where he died in 1878. See reference in Stephen Staats's address, in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1877, p. 55; also ibid., 1878, pp. 92, 93.—Ed.

[121] Colonel James Taylor was born in Pennsylvania (1809), of Scotch-Irish ancestry. In 1823 he removed to Ohio, where he was active in the state militia and connected with the Indian trade. His wife was Esther d'Armon, who came with him to Oregon. See her biography in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1897, pp. 103-105, wherein is recounted her experience in crossing the Cascades. Colonel Taylor removed in 1846 to Clatsop Plains, but at the outbreak of the Cayuse War (1847) carried his family back to Oregon City, while he served in the extempore army as assistant commissary to General Palmer. In 1849-51 Taylor was chosen first territorial treasurer. About 1850 the Taylors returned to Clatsop, removing to Astoria about 1855, where they passed the remainder of their lives, both dying in 1893.—Ed.

[122] Samuel McSwain, of the emigration of 1844.—Ed.

[123] Peter H. Hatch, who came to Oregon by sea in 1843.—Ed.

[124] The Clackamas Indians were a branch of the Upper Chinook, which had long inhabited the river valley called by their name. Lewis and Clark reported (1806) that there were eleven villages of this tribe, with a population of eight hundred. See Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (New York, 1905), iv, p. 255; vi, p. 118. The Indian agent for 1851 estimated their number at eighty-eight. The village where Palmer tarried was the one visited in 1841 by members of the Wilkes exploring expedition. A conflict for influence over this tribe was in progress at the time, between the Catholic and Methodist missionaries stationed at the Falls of the Willamette. Captain William Clark thus describes their huts: "they build their houses in the same form with those of the Columbian vally of wide split boa[r]ds and covered with the bark of the white cedar which is the entire length of one side of the roof and jut over at the eve about 18 inches."—Ed.

[125] For the founding of Oregon City see De Smet's Oregon Missions, in our volume xxix, p. 180, note 76.—Ed.

[126] For a sketch of Dr. John McLoughlin see our volume xxi, p. 296, note 81.—Ed.

[127] De Smet describes the building of the Catholic church in his Oregon Missions, our volume xxix, p. 167.—Ed.

[128] In 1842 the Wallamet Milling Company was organized and proceeded to erect both flour and grist mills on an island near the falls, in order to accommodate the settlers, who before their erection had been dependent upon the Hudson's Bay Company's mills near Vancouver. The founders of this enterprise were members of the Methodist mission.

Governor George Abernethy of New York (born in 1807) came to Oregon as steward of the party of reinforcement arriving in the "Lausanne" (1840). His business capacity was appreciated by the members of the mission, and he was soon established as a merchant at Oregon City. Here he took prominent part in the organization of the provisional government, of which he was elected governor in 1845. Re-elected the following year, Abernethy continued in this office until the arrival of Governor Joseph Lane (1849), sent out as first territorial governor by the United States. During the troubles incident to the Whitman massacre, Governor Abernethy acted with discretion and promptness, and retained the good will of Oregonians during his entire term of office. After retiring from public service he continued in mercantile pursuits, dying at Portland in 1877. See his portrait in H. S. Lyman, History of Oregon, iii, p. 286. For Alanson Beers see Farnham's Travels in our volume xxix, p. 21, note 14.—Ed.

[129] In 1844 the Oregon Printing Association was formed, and George Abernethy sent to New York for a press upon which was printed the first number of the Oregon Spectator, February 6, 1846. Its first editor was Colonel William G. T'Vault, a pioneer of 1845; he was succeeded by Henry A. G. Lee, George L. Curry, Aaron E. Wait, and Rev. Wilson Blain, successively. Although several times suspended for brief periods, the Spectator was published until 1855. For an account see George H. Himes, "The History of the Press of Oregon, 1839-1850," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, iii, pp. 327-370.—Ed.

[130] See descriptions of this game in Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iv, p. 37; and in Ross's Oregon Settlers, our volume vii, pp. 291-293.—Ed.

[131] William Engle, of German descent, was born near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, in 1789, and served as a volunteer in the War of 1812-15. Having lived for some years in St. Clair County, Illinois, he went out with the train of 1845 for Oregon, settling first at Oregon City. The following year he took up donation land in Clackamas County, where he resided until 1866, being chosen member of the legislature of 1847, and for two years serving as county judge. Having sold his farm in Clackamas, he removed to Marion County, where he died in 1868. Engle was by trade a carpenter; his experiment as a foundryman does not appear to have been successful.—Ed.

[132] Lewis F. Linn was born in 1796 near Louisville, where he studied medicine and afterwards volunteered for the War of 1812-15. At its close he removed to Ste. GeneviÈve, Missouri, where he began active practice. In 1827 he was elected to the state senate, and in 1833 was appointed to the United States senate to fill out the term of a deceased senator. Thrice elected thereto by the Missouri legislature, he served until his own death in 1843, being known in the senate as a champion of Oregon interests.

The town opposite Oregon City was known as Linn City. It consisted in December, 1844, of two log buildings and many tents, wherein the emigrants of 1844 made their headquarters. In 1861 all the buildings were swept away by a flood. It has now no separate existence.—Ed.

[133] Robert Moore was born in Pennsylvania in 1781, served in the War of 1812-15, and in 1822 emigrated to Ste. GeneviÈve, Missouri, whence he was sent to the state legislature. In 1835 he removed to Illinois, where in 1839 he joined the Peoria party for emigration to Oregon. See preface to Farnham's Travels, in our volume xxviii. Moore was one of the seceders who went off from Bent's Fort to Fort St. Vrain, where he spent the winter of 1839-40. Arrived in Oregon he purchased land of the Indians on the west side of the Willamette, naming his place the "Robin's Nest," being visited there by Commodore Wilkes in 1841. Moore served on a committee of the provisional government, and held a commission as justice of the peace. He died in Oregon September 1, 1857.—Ed.

[134] Hugh Burns was a blacksmith who came to Oregon in 1842, in the party of Medorem Crawford. The same year he was made a magistrate, and concerned himself with public affairs until his return to Missouri in 1846.

For the Multinoma Indians see our volume vi, p. 247, note 53.—Ed.

[135] The right to establish public ferries was granted by the provisional legislature of 1844 to Robert Moore and Hugh Burns.—Ed.

[136] The site of Portland was unoccupied until November, 1843, when William Overton, from Tennessee, and Asa L. Lovejoy staked off claims of three hundred and twenty acres each. In 1844 Overton sold out to F. W. Pettygrove of Maine for $50, and the first log cabin was built. In 1845 the place was named and a town platted; the growth was slow, however, and by 1849 there were only about a hundred inhabitants. Two years later the town was incorporated, at that time claiming a population of a thousand. After that the growth became more rapid. In 1873 Portland suffered a disastrous conflagration. The city's success is due to its position at the head of tidewater navigation for the Columbia and Willamette valleys, and as being the terminus of eastern and southern trunk railways.—Ed.

[137] The Willamette is navigable in high water for small steamers as far as Eugene, a hundred and thirty-eight miles above Portland. The first steamers on the upper Willamette were the "Hoosier" and "Yamhill," built in 1851. Since railways have followed both banks of the stream, river navigation has been of minor importance.—Ed.

[138] The mountains of the Coast range extend at the highest from four thousand to five thousand feet above sea level, with lower levels half as great. Several passes run through from the Pacific, notably that afforded by the Yaquina and Mary's rivers, through which runs the Oregon Central Railway.—Ed.

[139] By this paragraph, Palmer intends to describe Tualatin River and plains. The name is derived from a local Indian word said to signify "smooth and slowly-flowing stream." The land known to the early settlers as Tualatin Plains is now embraced in Washington County—a famous fruit-and wheat-raising region. The plains are encircled by hills, giving the appearance of a large amphitheatre. The earliest settlers in this region were three independent missionaries, Harvey Clark, Alvin T. Smith, and P. B. Littlejohn, who crossed the continent in 1840, and the following spring settled at Tualatin. About the same time, several mountain men, such as Joseph L. Meek and Robert Newell, made their homes in the region. The Red River settlers who had come under the auspices of the Puget Sound Agricultural Association in 1841, being dissatisfied with lands north of the Columbia, gradually drifted south, a number settling at Dairy Creek, in the Tualatin country.

For the Tualatin River see Farnham's Travels in our volume xxix, p. 16, note 5.—Ed.

[140] This stream is usually known as the Chehalem, the significance of the name being unknown. Among the earliest settlers in this fertile valley were Ewing Young (see our volume xx, p. 23, note 2), and Sidney Smith (for whom see our volume xxviii, p. 91, note 41). Several mountain men also had farms in the region, as well as Archibald McKinley, a member of the Hudson's Bay Company.—Ed.

[141] Yamhill is said to be a corruption of Cheamhill, a name signifying "bald hills." Among the earliest settlers were Francis Fletcher and Amos Cook, of the Peoria party of 1839. Medorem Crawford (1842) settled near what is now Dayton for the first years of his Oregon life. General Palmer himself chose this valley for his future home, and in 1850 founded therein the town of Dayton. See preface to the present volume.—Ed.

[142] Rickerall (commonly Rickreall) is a corruption of La Creole, the name now usually applied to this stream, which drains Polk County and though not navigable has many mill sites and waters a fertile region.—Ed.

[143] Known as Polk County Hills, forming a charming background for the western view from Salem.—Ed.

[144] Jesse, Charles, and Lindsey Applegate were natives of Kentucky who emigrated to Oregon in 1843, and became leaders in its development. The eldest, Jesse, was a man of marked peculiarities, but accredited with much wisdom and indomitable perseverance, and a natural leader of men. His influence was considerable in forming the provisional government. In 1846 he explored for a southern route into Willamette valley, and thence led emigrants south of Klamath Lake. About 1849 he settled in the Umpqua country, near the site whence he obtained his title as "sage of Yoncalla." A disastrous business venture sent him for a time to the mountains of northern California. During the Rogue River and Modoc Indian wars his knowledge of the character of the aborigines was valuable, and several times he served as special Indian agent, dying in Douglas County in 1888.

Charles Applegate was born in 1806, removed to St. Louis about 1820, migrated to Oregon in 1843, and accompanied his brother Jesse to Douglas County, where he died in 1879.

Lindsey Applegate accompanied General W. H. Ashley on his Arikara campaign of 1823 (see our volume xxiii, p. 224, note 177), wherein he was taken ill. After returning to St. Louis he worked in the Illinois lead mines, and saw service in the Black Hawk War (1832). After his migration to Oregon (1843), he became only second to his eldest brother in services to the young commonwealth. He made his home in the southern part of the state, near Ashland, in Jackson County, where he was living in 1885.—Ed.

[145] This name should be Hembree, that of a pioneer family from Tennessee, who came out in 1843. Absalom J. Hembree was a member of the legislature from 1846 to 1855. In the latter year he raised a company for the Yakima War, in which he was killed. Many descendants of this family live near Lafayette and other Yamhill County towns.—Ed.

[146] These were members of the immigration of 1844, of which Cornelius Gilliam was chosen leader. He had served in both the Black Hawk and Seminole wars, and had been sheriff and member of the legislature in Missouri. His command of the emigrant train did not last through the entire trip, the party breaking into smaller companies, two of which were commanded by William Shaw and Nathaniel Ford. Gilliam was colonel of the regiment raised to avenge the Whitman massacre, and was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun.

William Shaw was born (1795) near Raleigh, North Carolina. When a boy he emigrated to Tennessee and took part in Jackson's campaign before New Orleans (1814-15). About 1819 he removed to Missouri, where he married a sister of Colonel Gilliam. He was captain in the Cayuse War of 1848, and member of the territorial legislature from Marion County, ten miles above Salem, where he made his permanent home.

Nathaniel Ford was a native of Virginia (1795), but was reared in Kentucky, and after coming out to Oregon settled in Polk County, where he died in 1870.—Ed.

[147] George Gay was an English sailor. Born in Gloucestershire (1810), he served as ship's apprentice when eleven years of age. In 1832 he reached California on the "Kitty," and there joined Ewing Young's trapping party to the mountains of northern California, returning without entering Oregon. In 1835 he formed one of a party of eight men under the leadership of John Turner, who coming overland to Oregon were attacked by the Rogue River Indians, all being wounded and two killed. Gay reached the settlements after a trip filled with great hardships, and thenceforth made Oregon his home, taking an Indian wife and settling high up on the Willamette, near the southern boundary of Yamhill County. Here he built the first brick house in the territory, and with unbounded hospitality opened it to new emigrants. Wilkes (1841) describes him as a dashing, gay "vaquero," half-Indian in his characteristics, but very useful to the new community. At one time he had considerable wealth in horses and cattle, but died poor in 1882.

Daniel Matheny, of the emigration of 1843, was born in Virginia in 1793. Successive removals carried him to Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, where he served in the War of 1812-15, and that of Black Hawk (1832). Having settled near Gay in 1844, he afterwards kept a public ferry, dying on his farm in 1872. Several of his family accompanied him to Oregon.—Ed.

[148] Luckiamute is the modern spelling of this name of Indian origin, derived from a branch of the Kalapuya tribe that formerly inhabited this valley. In 1851, federal commissioners made a treaty with this tribe whereby they ceded their lands, and retired soon afterwards to the Grande Ronde reservation. By Mouse River Palmer means the stream now known as Mary's River—a name given by J. C. Avery, the founder of Corvallis, in honor of his wife.—Ed.

[149] Mount Jefferson, Hayrick Mountain, Mount Washington, and the Three Sisters, with neighboring peaks.—Ed.

[150] Our author here intends the Coast (not the Cascade) range, of which Mary's Peak, between the two forks of Mary's (Mouse) River is the highest, rising about five thousand feet above sea level.—Ed.

[151] The Alsea, in Lincoln County, flows into a bay of that name, where small coasting steamers enter and ascend the stream some eighteen or twenty miles. The name is derived from an Indian tribe—one of the Kalapuya stock.—Ed.

[152] In the early days of Oregon settlement more frequently spelled Longtonguebuff (properly Lungtumler), from a branch of the Kalapuya tribe that inhabited its banks. The stream is now known simply as Long Tom River, rising in Lane County and flowing nearly north into Benton County, entering the Willamette not far above Peoria.—Ed.

[153] Palmer here refers to Molala River, a stream of southwestern Clackamas County, that took its name from a tribe of Indians once roaming upon its banks. Governor Lane in 1850 refers to this tribe as Mole Alley; and the liquid letters "m" and "p" being nearly interchangeable in the Indian dialect, Palmer gave it the form Pole Alley. The Molala tribe was an offshoot of the Cayuse, that had its home west of the Cascades. The early settlers testified to their superior physique and stronger qualities, compared with the degraded Chinook by whom they were surrounded. In 1851 their tribal lands were purchased, when their number was reported at 123. The remnant removed to Douglas County, and in 1888 a few calling themselves Molala were found on the Grande Ronde reservation.—Ed.

[154] The aboriginal name of this stream was Hanteuc. Two differing accounts are given of the origin of the present name. Elijah White (Ten Years in Oregon, p. 70) says a party of Hudson's Bay trappers lost their way upon this stream and were forced to kill their horses for sustenance, making pudding of the blood. Others give the derivation as "Put in"—the stream that puts in just below the early French settlement, thence degenerated to Pudding. The river rises in the foothills near the centre of Marion County, and flows nearly north, a sluggish, crooked stream from eighty to a hundred feet in width.—Ed.

[155] The Butte was a landmark on the upper Willamette, a high escarpment prominent from the river. Here was formerly a landing for the settlers of French Prairie, whose farms lay south and east of this point. The town of Butteville was laid out by merchants of Oregon City—Abernethy and Beers—to facilitate the commerce in wheat. F. X. Matthieu took up land here as early as 1846, and in 1850 kept a store. He still lives at Butteville, which in 1900 had a population of 483.—Ed.

[156] For Champoeg see De Smet's Oregon Missions in our volume xxix, p. 179, note 75. The early meetings of the provisional government were held at this place, which was the centre for the old Canadian-French inhabitants of the country.

Dr. Robert Newell was born in 1807 at Zanesville, Ohio. His fur-trapping experiences were under the auspices of the American Fur Company (not the Hudson's Bay Company), as companion of Joseph L. Meek. See F. T. Victor, River of the West (Hartford, 1870). His first settlement (1840) after the migration to Oregon, was at Tualatin Plains; but before 1842 he removed to Champoeg, where by his influence over the settlers he became the political as well as social leader. Possibly also Newell laid out a town at this place, but he was by no means the founder of the village. Newell represented Champoeg in the provisional government for several years, and in 1846 was speaker of the lower house of the state legislature. After the Whitman massacre (1847) he was chosen one of the commissioners, with Palmer, to treat with the Indians. He also raised a company for the Indian war of 1856. In later life he was connected with railway projects and died at Lewiston, Idaho, in 1869.—Ed.

[157] For the early settlement of French Prairie, see De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, p. 386, note 203; also our volume vii, p. 231, note 83. For the Chinook jargon see our volume vi, p. 240, note 40; also pp. 264-270 of the present volume.—Ed.

[158] For the earliest site of the Methodist mission see our volume xxi, p. 299, note 84. Matheny's Ferry is mentioned in note 147, ante, p. 174.—Ed.

[159] For Jason Lee see our volume xxi, p. 138, note 13. His first wife was Anna Maria Pitman, who came out from New York in 1837, the marriage taking place soon after her arrival in May of that year. The following spring Lee returned to the United States. Upon his journey a messenger overtook him, announcing the death of Mrs. Lee on June 26, 1838. The first interment was at the old mission, as here stated. Later the grave was removed to Salem. H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon, i, p. 170, gives the inscription on the tombstone.—Ed.

[160] For the origin of the Willamette Institute see De Smet's Oregon Missions in our volume xxix, p. 165, note 62.—Ed.

[161] In 1843 the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal church decided that the Oregon mission, being no longer useful for the conversion of Indians, should be closed, and the charges organized into a mission conference for whites. In pursuance of this resolve, Rev. George Gary of Black River Conference, New York, was appointed to supersede Jason Lee as superintendent. Early in June, 1844, Gary settled the affairs of the mission, dismissing the lay members, who immediately bought in the mills and other property of the mission. Gary remained in Oregon until 1847, making his headquarters at Oregon City.

The native name of the site at Salem—Chemekata—was interpreted by Rev. David Leslie as having the same significance as the term Salem—i. e., rest, or peace. The site was chosen in 1840 for the erection of mills on Mill Creek. The trustees of Oregon Institute laid out the town, which grew slowly until in 1851 it became the territorial capital. By the terms of the state constitution the capital was located by popular vote, which resulted in favor of Salem. Its population in 1900 was 4,258.—Ed.

[162] The Santiam River takes its name from the head chief (Sandeam) of the Kalapuya Indians, who dwelt upon its banks. April 16, 1851, the federal commissioners made a treaty with the Santiam branch of the tribe, whereby the latter ceded to the whites a large portion of their lands. Their number at this time was a hundred and fifty-five. Santiam River drains a considerable portion of Marion and Linn counties, its North Fork forming the boundary between the two. The road up this fork leads to Minto Pass; the South Fork formed the line for the Willamette and Cascade Military Road. Palmer's use of the term "Santa Anna" for this stream, in the two following paragraphs, would seem to indicate his ignorance of the Indian origin of the term, and an idea that it had been named for the Mexican general of that period.—Ed.

[163] Joel P. Walker was a brother of Joseph R. Walker (see note 46, ante, p. 70). Of Virginian birth he removed at an early age to Tennessee, whence he went out under Andrew Jackson against the Alabama Indians (1814), and later against the Florida Seminole. Some time before 1822, he removed to Missouri, where he married, and engaged in the early Santa FÉ trade with Stephen Cooper (see our volume xix, p. 178, note 16). Walker removed with his family to Oregon in 1840—one of the first families of settlers who came independent of the missionary movement. Wilkes met him on the Willamette in 1841, when he expressed his dissatisfaction with the climate and the conditions. See Wilkes's Exploring Expedition, iv, p. 388. That same year he went overland to California, where he worked for Captain Sutter, coming back to Oregon some time before Palmer's visit, with a herd of cattle for sale. This time he remained in Oregon several years, being chosen justice of the peace for Yamhill County (about 1845). In 1848 he returned to California, where he was a member from Napa of the constitutional convention of 1849. In 1853 he removed to Sonoma County where he spent the remainder of his life, dying sometime after 1878.—Ed.

[164] For the Umpqua River see our volume vii, p. 231, note 82; the fort is noted in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 59, note 79.—Ed.

[165] For Rogue River see ibid., p. 82, note 104. The mountains lie directly north of the river valley in Coos and Curry counties, Oregon. The first settlers in this valley came there in 1851. See William V. Colvig, "Indian Wars of Southern Oregon," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, iv, pp. 227-240.—Ed.

[166] By the "Klamet" Mountains, Palmer refers to the chain lying north of Klamath River valley, now usually spoken of as the Siskiyou range. Klamath River is described in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 46, note 56. The trail into this region followed nearly the route of the Southern Pacific Railway.—Ed.

[167] The Indians of Southern Oregon had always been disposed to molest white wayfarers. Witness the troubles of Jedidiah H. Smith in 1828, the massacre of the Turner family in 1835, and the attack on a cattle train in 1837. After 1848, the passage of gold-seekers to and from California intensified the difficulty, whereupon a long series of contests ensued, resulting in open wars, in which Palmer bore an important part. The war of 1853 was terminated by a treaty (September 10) secured by Generals Lane and Palmer; that of 1855 was more serious, being participated in by regular troops as well as Oregon militia. For Palmer's relation to these wars see preface to this volume.-Ed.

[168] For Point Adams see our volume vi, p. 233, note 37. The term Clatsop was given for an Indian tribe—ibid., p. 239, note 39. Clatsop Plains were first visited in the winter of 1805-06 by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who erected a cairn for the making of salt, in the neighborhood of the present resort known as Seaside. The settlement of this region was begun in 1840 by members of the Methodist mission, reinforced by Solomon H. Smith and Calvin Tibbitts of the Wyeth party, who had married daughters of the Clatsop chief Cobaway (Lewis and Clark spelled it Comowool). J. W. Perry took up a farm in 1842, and several members of the immigration of 1843 settled on the Clatsop Plains. See "Pioneer Women of Clatsop County," in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1897, pp. 77-84. These plains are composed of a sandy loam well adapted for fruit and vegetables, but especially suited to grazing, so that dairying is a leading industry of this region.

Cape Lookout, in Tillamook County, is a conspicuous headland. It was first sighted by Heceta in 1775, and named by Captain Meares in 1789. See our volume xxviii, p. 32, note 9; also our volume vii, p. 112, note 17. The point, however, which Palmer designates as Cape Lookout, is in reality that called by the Lewis and Clark expedition "Clark's Point of View," but now known as Tillamook Head.—Ed.

[169] The Necanican River, called by Lewis and Clark the Clatsop, has a roundabout course, as indicated by Palmer, and drains the southern end of Clatsop Plains.—Ed.

[170] Saddle Mountain, the highest point in Clatsop County, shows three peaks as viewed from the Columbia, and takes this name from its form. The aboriginal name was Swollalachost. Lewis and Clark found it covered with snow during most of the winter season of 1805-06.—Ed.

[171] For the Tillamook (Kilamook) Indians see our volume vi, p. 258, note 67. Mount Rainier is noted in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 33, note 30.—Ed.

[172] On Tillamook Rock, a large boulder in the ocean, opposite Tillamook Head, a lighthouse was erected in 1879-81. It was a work of much difficulty, the engineers narrowly escaping being washed into the sea.—Ed.

[173] Palmer probably obtained his information of these Indian traditions from Celiast (or Helen) Smith, daughter of the Clatsop chief, whose son Silas B. Smith has furnished much material for recent historical works. This story of the wreck of the ship carrying beeswax, differs slightly from the version given in Lyman, History of Oregon, i, pp. 167-169. Lyman conjectures that it may have been the Spanish ship "San Jose," carrying stores (1769) to San Diego, California, which was never after heard from. Some of the cakes of wax found bore the letters I. H. S.—Ed.

[174] For Young's Bay see our volume vi, p. 259, note 69. Skipanon is a small creek, a branch of which Clark crossed on a log during his trip from Fort Clatsop to the seacoast. The site of Fort Clatsop was definitely determined by Olin D. Wheeler in 1899 (see his Trail of Lewis and Clark, ii, pp. 195, 198), and the Oregon Historical Society in 1900 (see Proceedings for 1900). The plan of the fort was discovered by the present Editor among the Clark papers in 1904. See Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iii, pp. 268, 298. The river upon which the fort was located was known by the native name of Netul, now called Lewis and Clark River, a tributary of Young's Bay west of Young's River.—Ed.

[175] Young's River was called by Lewis and Clark Kilhawanackkle, and is the largest stream in Clatsop County. The falls are at the head of tidewater and flow over a black basalt cliff. The eastern tributary is the Klaskanine River. See Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iv, p. 137.—Ed.

[176] For the history of this place see FranchÈre's Narrative in our volume vi, and Ross's Oregon Settlers in our volume vii. The later history of Fort George is sketched in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 57, note 74.—Ed.

[177] For Cape Disappointment and Baker's Bay see our volume vi, pp. 233, 234, notes 36, 38. Chinook Point was the site of a populous village of that tribe just west of Point Ellice, which is the southernmost promontory between Gray's and Baker's Bay. Lewis and Clark found the village deserted, but in early Astorian times it was populated—see our volumes vi, p. 240; vii, p. 87.—Ed.

[178] For Peter Skeen Ogden see our volume xxi, p. 314, note 99. The United States government has recently chosen this site for a fort now (1906) in process of erection, to be known as Fort Columbia.—Ed.

[179] Astoria, as an American town, began in 1846 with the settlement of James Welch, who defied the Hudson's Bay Company officers to drive him from the site. The post-office was begun in 1847, and a custom house two years later. In 1856 a town government was established, while twenty years later Astoria was incorporated as a city. Its population is now about ten thousand, with good prospects for a large growth in the near future.—Ed.

[180] For James Birnie see our volume xxi, p. 361, note 130.—Ed.

[181] Elbridge Trask came to Oregon in 1842, apparently a sailor on an American vessel. He lived for a time at Clatsop Plains. Probably his companion was Captain Alexander Duncan, commander of the "Dryad," and a friend of James Birnie.—Ed.

[182] For Tongue Point, which takes its name from its peculiar shape, see our volume vi, p. 242, note 44. Gray's Bay is noted in volume vii, p. 116, note 20.—Ed.

[183] By Swan Bay, Palmer intends that stretch of the river lying between Tongue and Catalamet points, which is more usually known as Catalamet Bay. The river is the John Day (aboriginal name, Kekemarke), which should not be confused with the larger stream of this name in eastern Oregon. See our volume v, p. 181, note 104.—Ed.

[184] For Catalamet Point see our volume vii, p. 116, note 20. The old village of the Catalamet Indians which was located near the present town of Knappa, was visited by Lewis and Clark on their outward journey (1805); see Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iii, p. 252. The stream was that now known as Tillasqua Creek.—Ed.

[185] This mill was erected by Henry Hunt, one of the emigrants of 1843, for the purpose of preparing lumber for the Pacific market, especially that of the Sandwich Islands. See letter of Tallmadge B. Wood in Oregon Historical Quarterly, iii, pp. 394-398. Later, salmon barrels were made at this place, the men employed at the task being the only settlers between Astoria and Linnton on the Willamette; and sometimes they were summoned to serve as a sheriff's posse. See Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1890, p. 73. Hunt's Mill Point is marked on the federal land office map of 1897 as being opposite the lower end of Puget Island.—Ed.

[186] At Oak Point was made the first American settlement in Oregon; see our volume xxi, pp. 261, 287, notes 74, 94. The stream on the south side is the Clatskanie River, in Columbia County, Oregon, flowing southwest and entering the river opposite Wallace Island. For the origin of this word and its relation to the Klaskanine River see H. S. Lyman, "Indian Names," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, i, p. 322. The mill stream of the northern bank is Nequally Creek in Cowlitz County, Washington.—Ed.

[187] For a brief historical sketch of Fort Vancouver see our volume xxi, p. 297, note 82.—Ed.

[188] Colonel John McClure came to Oregon from New Orleans some time before 1842. In 1843 he settled at Astoria, where he had a cabin on the site of the first Astoria mill. He married a native woman, and his portion of the early town was known as McClure's Astoria. He is described as having been an old man in 1845, and he had died before 1867.—Ed.

[189] The British ship of war "ModestÉ," Captain Baillie commanding, first visited Fort Vancouver in July, 1844. Governor McLoughlin was offered no protection at this time; but the situation having grown more intense, the vessel was ordered to the Columbia in October, 1845, and remained to protect British interests until April, 1847. The officers sought to conciliate the American pioneers, but there was on the whole little intercourse between the two nationalities. Theatrical entertainments were planned and given in the winter of 1845-46, and a ball arranged by these officers was the occasion of an expression of a majority sentiment for the American cause. See Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1874, pp. 26, 27.—Ed.

[190] For Fraser River and Vancouver Island see Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, pp. 43, 75, notes 52, 91.—Ed.

[191] For Puget's Sound see ibid., p. 90, note 108. The first road over the Cascades was built in 1853, from Olympia to Walla Walla.—Ed.

[192] For Gray's Harbor see our volume vi, p. 256, note 64; the Chehalis River is described in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 81, note 103.—Ed.

[193] For the Cowlitz settlement see our volume xxvii, p. 386, note 203.—Ed.

[194] Much has been written on the provisional government of Oregon, which was shadowed forth in the action of 1841, and actually established July 5, 1843. Consult J. Quinn Thornton, "History of the Provisional Government," in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1874, pp. 43-96; J. Henry Brown, Political History of Oregon (Portland, 1892); James R. Robertson, "Genesis of Political Authority in Oregon," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, i, pp. 1-59; and H. W. Scott, "Formation and Administration of the Provisional Government of Oregon," ibid., ii, pp. 95-118. Palmer's brief synopsis is a summary of the revised organic law, drafted by a committee appointed by the legislature in June, 1845, endorsed by popular vote on July 26, and put in operation August 5 (see appendix to the present volume). This government continued until February 16, 1849, when it was superseded by the territorial government provided by Congress under act approved August 14, 1848. The code of Iowa laws appears to have been adopted because of the existence of a copy of Iowa statutes in the country. See F. I. Herriott, "Transplanting Iowa's Laws to Oregon," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, v, pp. 139-150.—Ed.

[195] The legislature of 1843 erected four districts for the purpose of local government—i. e., Tualatin (read for Quality), Yamhill, Champoeg (read for Shampoic), and Clackamas. That of 1845 changed the title to counties and created four more—Clatsop, Polk, Vancouver, and Lewis. Palmer gives their location properly.—Ed.

[196] For the location of Spaulding's mission see our volume xxviii, p. 338, note 215.

William Craig was a mountain man who came to Oregon in 1842. He married among the Nez PercÉs, and established a farm just east of the Lapwai mission, where he had great influence with this tribe. In 1855 his land was reserved to him by treaty, the Nez PercÉs "having expressed in council a desire that William Craig should continue to live with them, having uniformly shown himself their friend." In 1856 he was made lieutenant-colonel of Washington volunteers, and in 1857-59, Indian agent at Walla Walla.—Ed.

[197] For the beginnings of Portland see note 136, ante, p. 166.

Francis W. Pettygrove was born in Calais, Maine, in 1812. Having engaged in mercantile business he carried a cargo of goods valued at $15,000 to Oregon by sea, establishing a store at Oregon City (1843). It was due to his wish that the newly-founded town near the mouth of the Willamette received the name of Portland. In 1848 Pettygrove sold his interest in the Portland town site, going to California, where he speculated in land at Benicia. In 1851 he was one of the founders of Port Townsend, in Washington.—Ed.

[198] The town of Linnton was founded in 1843 by M. M. McCarver and Peter H. Burnett, emigrants of that year, who supposed they had chosen a site that would be the head of ship navigation. They spent the first spring cutting the road to Tualatin Plains; but not finding Linnton a profitable speculation, they removed to the Plains and began farming. The town has continued to exist until the present, its population in 1900 being 384.—Ed.

[199] The stream is the Washougal River of Clarke County, Washington whose source is not as far north as Mount St. Helens, but near Saddle Peak in Skamania County. A number of the immigrants of 1844 stopped here and established winter quarters, going on the next year to settle at Puget Sound. Chief among these was Colonel Michael T. Simmons, this title being bestowed because he was second in command of the caravan of 1844. Born in Kentucky in 1814, he had in 1840 removed to Missouri where he built and ran a saw mill, which he sold to obtain his outfit for the Oregon journey. He explored the Puget Sound region in the spring of 1845, settling at Tumwater, where he died in 1867. Simmons is known as the father of Washington; he was sub-Indian agent for several years, and much concerned in building up the settlement.—Ed.

[200] For this landmark see our volume xxi, p. 346, note 120.—Ed.

[201] For the Cascades see our volume xxviii, p. 371, note 233.—Ed.

[202] This is an alternate name for Deschutes River, for which see ante, p. 119, note 102.—Ed.

[203] For this fort see our volume xxi, p. 278, note 73. The chief of the Wallawalla was Peupeumoxmox, or Yellow Serpent. He early came under missionary influence, and sent one of his sons to the Willamette to be educated under Methodist influences. This young man was christened Elijah Hedding, for a bishop of the church. He remained with the missionaries for over six years and acquired a command of English. In the autumn of 1844 a number of Cayuse, Nez PercÉ, and Wallawalla chiefs decided to visit the California settlements in order to trade for cattle. From Sutter's fort they made a raid into the interior, capturing some horses from a band of thieves. These animals were claimed by the Spanish and American settlers while the Indians maintained that they were their own property. In the course of the dispute Elijah was shot and killed. The Oregon Indians were greatly exasperated by this incident, threatening to raise a war-party against California, or to make reprisal upon any or all whites. The affair was quieted by the Hudson's Bay agent and the missionaries, but was undoubtedly one of the causes of the Whitman massacre. Yellow Serpent took no part in this latter event, but was active in the war of 1855, in which he perished while a hostage in the hands of the whites.

John Augustus Sutter was a German-Swiss born in 1803. After serving in the Franco-Swiss guards (1823-24) he came to America (1834) and embarked in the Santa FÉ trade (1835-37). In 1838 he started for California, going via Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, and Alaska. Arriving in San Francisco Bay (1839) he secured from the Mexican government a concession on the Sacramento River, where he built a fort (1842-44) and named his possessions New Helvetia. In 1841 Sutter bought the Russian establishment known as Ross (see our volume xviii, p. 283, note 121), whose materials he used in fitting up his own fort. Sutter was friendly to the American cause, and received emigrants with hospitality. He aided FrÉmont in the revolt against Mexican authority. In 1848 gold was discovered upon his property. He profited but little by this event, however, and became so poor that he was pensioned by the California legislature. About 1865 he went East to live, dying in Washington, D. C., in 1880. H. H. Bancroft secured from Sutter, by means of interviews, a detailed narrative of his career, and the manuscript is now in the Bancroft Library, purchased for the University of California in November 1905.—Ed.

[204] Ellis (or Ellice) was the son of Bloody Chief. Having been educated by the Hudson's Bay Company, he had acquired much influence with his tribe. In 1842, being then about thirty-two years old, he was, at the instigation of Dr. Elijah White, Indian sub-agent, chosen head chief of the Nez PercÉs, and ruled with considerable tact and wisdom, being favorable to the whites. During the Cayuse War of 1848, Ellis was reported as hunting in the buffalo country; later, it was stated that having gone with sixty braves to the mountains for elk, they all perished from an epidemic of measles. Lawyer was chosen as head-chief in Ellis's place.—Ed.

[205] For the location of Whitman's mission, see our volume xxviii, p. 333, note 210.—Ed.

[206] For the Blue Mountains see our volume xxi, p. 273, note 71. The stream was probably Touchet River, the largest affluent of the Walla Walla. Rising in the Blue Mountains in Columbia County, Washington, it flows northwest to Dayton, then turns southwest and south, debouching into the Walla Walla at the present town of Touchet.—Ed.

[207] For this stream see Farnham's Travels in our volume xxix, p. 79, note 98.—Ed.

[208] See Appendix.—Palmer.

[209] For the history of the printing press in use at this mission, see our volume xxviii, p. 333, note 211. The first book in the Nez PercÉ language was a little compilation of texts, consisting of eight pages. The translation of Matthew was printed at Lapwai; that of John was later published by the American Bible Society.—Ed.

[210] For this mission and its missionaries see our volume xxvii, p. 367, note 187. The farmer at Lapwai mission was Isaac N. Gilbert, who was born in New York (1818). He early emigrated to Illinois, and came to Oregon with the party of 1844. Late in 1846 he proceeded to the Willamette valley, and settled near Salem, where he was county clerk and surveyor, dying in 1879. See Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1878, pp. 82, 83.—Ed.

[211] For these missions see De Smet's reports in our volumes xxvii, p. 365, note 184; xxix, p. 178, note 73.—Ed.

[212] For this landmark see our volume xxviii, p. 324, note 204.—Ed.

[213] For the Crow Indians see our volume v, p. 226, note 121.—Ed.

[214] Mike's Head is probably a popular name for the rush of the Equisetum species, known as "horsetail." The creek is known by the French form of this plant—À la PrÊle; it is a tributary of the Platte, in Converse County, Wyoming.—Ed.

[215] Hiram Smith was born in New York, early emigrated to Ohio, and crossed the Plains with the party of 1845. Having returned with Palmer he remained in the states until 1851, coming again to Oregon with a large drove of cattle and horses. He settled at Portland, and became wealthy and influential. He crossed again to the states, returning in 1862—in all, making six journeys of this character. He died in San Francisco in 1870.—Ed.

[216] The Oregon immigration of 1846 was not as large as that of the previous year. Apparently reliable estimates make the number about two thousand that finally reached that territory. For a description of these emigrants see Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail (Boston, 1849, and later editions), chapters i, vi, vii. See also an itinerary of the journey by J. Quinn Thornton, Oregon and California (New York, 1849). Among the California emigrants of this year were the ill-fated Donner party, many of whom perished in the Sierras.—Ed.

[217] Probably this was Fabritus R. Smith, a native of Rochester, New York (1819). Settling at Salem, Oregon, he was in the state legislature of 1876, and still living at Salem in 1896.—Ed.

[218] This unfortunate victim of the Pawnee Indians was Edward Trimble of Henry County, Iowa. See another account of his death in Niles' Register, lxx, p. 341.—Ed.

[219] On this return journey, Palmer took the St. Joseph Trail, which branched off from the usual Oregon Trail near the Little Blue, and followed the valley of the Great Nemaha through the Iowa, Sauk, and Fox reservation to the Missouri opposite St. Joseph. An excellent map of Nebraska and Kansas, presumably issued in 1854, but lacking name of place or publisher, plainly indicates this road. For the removal of these Indians to the reservation in northeast Kansas and southeast Nebraska see our volume xxviii, pp. 141, 145, notes 87, 89. The agency was known as the Great Nemaha; it was situated near the mission begun (1837) by the Presbyterians under the direction of Rev. S. M. Irvin. He crossed from Missouri with the Indians, and established his mission twenty-six miles west of St. Joseph, not far from the site of the present Highland, Doniphan County, Kansas. At the time of Palmer's visit, Irvin was being assisted by William Hamilton, and a mission school was in course of establishment.—Ed.

[220] For St. Joseph see our volume xxii, p. 257, note 210. This was not a mission site, but a trading post. The first church built (1845) was the Presbyterian, under the care of Rev. T. S. Reeve.—Ed.

[221] For a contemporary notice of Palmer's arrival in St. Louis, see Niles' Register, lxx, pp. 341, 416.—Ed.

[222] Since this letter was written, the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude has been established by treaty as the boundary line between the governments of Great Britain and the United States—except that portion of Vancouver's island south of 49°, which continues under the jurisdiction of Great Britain.—Palmer.

[223] Flowers have been seen in the last winter, and winter before, from the 20th of January.—M. W.

[224] The first creek is that now called Alpowa, in Asotin and Garfield counties, Washington; it is a southwestern tributary of the Lewis. Tukanon River, in Columbia County, Washington, the largest southern affluent of the Lewis west of Lewiston, was known by Lewis and Clark as the Kimooenem.—Ed.

[225] At present it will require one man to a thousand in the winter to protect from wolves. But Strycknine is a sure poison with which to destroy them.—M. W.

[226] These rivers have all been noted in the text, ante. By "Rose" the author intends Rogue River.—Ed.

[227] Clover (native) is more abundant in June.—M. W.

[228] Probably what are called species here, are in many cases only a variety of the same species.—M. W.

[229] This clause was introduced into the "Organic Law" of the provisional government in order to secure the Hudson's Bay traders, and hold their allegiance to the newly-established league of order. A copy was sent to Governor McLoughlin, who having examined the document and finding "that this compact does not interfere with our duties and allegiance to our respective governments," wrote "we the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, consent to become parties to the articles of compact." See H. H. Bancroft, History of Oregon, i, p. 495, note 31.—Ed.

[230] For note on Long, see De Smet's Oregon Missions in our volume xxix, p. 280, note 174.—Ed.

Transcriber's note:

- The words 'Pa-pa' and 'Papa' have very different meanings; therefore remain unchanged.
- The words 'Yamhill' and 'Yam-hill' are used in different contexts; therefore remain unchanged.
- The words 'Ya-ka' and 'Yaka' have very different meanings; therefore remain unchanged.

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