The
Columbia River
Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery
Its Commerce
By
William Denison Lyman
Professor of History in Whitman College,
Walla Walla, Washington
With 80 Illustrations and a Map
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
New York and London
The Knickerbocker Press
1909
Copyright, 1909
BY
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
TO MY PARENTS
Horace Lyman and Mary Denison Lyman
PIONEERS OF 1849, WHO BORE THEIR PART IN LAYING THE
FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION UPON THE BANKS OF
THE COLUMBIA, THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHOR
I see the living tide roll on,
It crowns with rosy towers
The icy capes of Labrador,
The Spaniard’s land of flowers;
It streams beyond the splintered ridge
That parts the northern showers.
From eastern rock to sunset wave,
The Continent is ours.
Holmes.
PREFACE
As one of the American Waterways series, this volume is designed to be a history and description of the Columbia River. The author has sought to convey to his reader a lively sense of the romance, the heroism, and the adventure which belong to this great stream and the parts of the North-west about it, and he has aimed to breathe into his narrative something of the spirit and sentiment—a spirit and sentiment more easily recognised than analysed—which we call “Western.” With this end in view, his treatment of the subject has been general rather than detailed, and popular rather than recondite. While he has spared no pains to secure historical accuracy, he has not made it a leading aim to settle controverted points, or to present the minutiæ of historical research and criticism. In short, the book is rather for the general reader than for the specialist. The author hopes so to impress his readers with the majesty of the Columbia as to fill their minds with a longing to see it face to face.
Frequent reference in the body of the book to authorities renders it unnecessary to name them here. Suffice it to say that the author has consulted the standard works of history and description dealing with Oregon—the old Oregon—and its River, and from the voluminous matter there gathered has selected the facts that best combine to make a connected and picturesque narrative. He has treated the subject topically, but there is a general progression throughout, and the endeavour has been to find a natural jointure of chapter to chapter and era to era.
While the book has necessarily been based largely on other books, it may be said that the author has derived his chief inspiration from his own observations along the shores of the River and amid the mountains of Oregon and Washington, where his life has mainly been spent, and from familiar conversations in the cabins of pioneers, or at camp-fires of hunters, or around Indian tepees, or in the pilot-houses of steamboats. In such ways and places one can best catch the spirit of the River and its history.
The author gladly takes this opportunity of making his grateful acknowledgments to Prof. F. G. Young, of Oregon University, for his kindness in reading the manuscript and in making suggestions which his full knowledge and ripe judgment render especially valuable. He wishes also to express his warmest thanks to Mr. Harvey W. Scott, editor of the Oregonian, for invaluable counsel. Similar gratitude is due to Prof. Henry Landes of Washington University for important assistance in regard to some of the scientific features of the first chapter.
W. D. L.
Whitman College,
Walla Walla, Wash.,
1909.
CONTENTS
PAGE PART I.—THE HISTORY CHAPTER I The Land where the River Flows 3 CHAPTER II Tales of the First White Men along the Coast 33 CHAPTER III How All Nations Sought the River from the Sea and how they Found it 43 CHAPTER IV First Steps across the Wilderness in Search of the River 69 CHAPTER V The Fur-Traders, their Bateaux, and their Stations 98 CHAPTER VI The Coming of the Missionaries to the Tribes of the River 136
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE St. Peter’s Dome, Columbia River, 2300 Feet High Frontispiece Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902. Mount Adams from the South 74 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Capt. Robert Gray 76 The “Columbia Rediviva” 76 Mount Hood from Lost Lakeas a Scout for U. S. Troops 228 By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse. Hallakallakeen (Eagle Wing) or Joseph, the Nez Percé Chief 230 By T. W. Tolman. Camp of Chief Joseph on the Nespilem, Wash. 232 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane. Tirzah Trask, a Umatilla Indian Girl—Taken as an Ideal of Sacajawea 234 Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton. Oregon Pioneer in his Cabin 256 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse. Old Portage Railroad at Cascades in 1860 258 A Log-boom down the River for San Francisco 258 Photo. by Woodfield. Lumber Mill and Steamboat Landing at Golden, B. C. 260 Photo. by C. F. Yates. A Typical Lumber Camp 262 Photo. by Trueman. A Logging Railroad, near Astoria 264 Photo. by Woodfield. Natural Bridge, Kicking Horse or Wapta River, and Mt. Stephen, B. C.
in 1810 280 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Mt. Burgess and Emerald Lake, One of the Sources of the Wapta River, B. C. 282 Photo. by C. F. Yates. Bonnington Falls in Kootenai River, near Nelson 284 Photo. by Allan Lean. Bridge Creek, a Tributary of Lake Chelan, Wash. 286 Photo. by F. N. Kneeland, Northampton, Mass. Kootenai Lake, from Proctor, B. C. 288 Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson. Lower Arrow Lake, B. C. 290 Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson. Bridal Veil Falls on Columbia River 292 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse. Shoshone Falls, in Snake River, 212 Feet High 294 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho 296 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. Lake Cœur d’Alene, Idaho 296 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. The “Shadowy St. Joe,” Idaho 298 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. On the Cœur d’Alene River, Idaho 300 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. Gorge of Chelan River, the Outlet of Lake Chelan 302 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane. Head of Lake Chelan—Looking Up Stehekin Cañon 304 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Cascade Pass at Head of Stehekin River, Wash. 306 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane. Doubtful Lake, Cascade Range, Washington, near Lake Chelan 308 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane, Wash. Horseshoe Basin through a Rock Gap, Stehekin Cañon 310 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. Lake Chelan 312 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. A Harvest Outfit, Dayton, Wash. 314 Sunset Magazine. A Combined Harvester, near Walla Walla 314 Photo. by W. D. Chapman. Inland Empire System’s Power Plant, near Spokane, 20,000 Horse-Power 316 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. Lower Spokane Falls
these Eyes will Follow any Unfaithful Woman 328 By courtesy of Lee Moorehouse. Cabbage Rock, Four Miles North of the Dalles 330 Photo. by Lee Moorehouse, Pendleton. Eagle Rock, just above Shoshone Falls in Snake River 332 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Stehekin Cañon, 5000 Feet Deep 334 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Steamer “Dalles City,” Descending the Cascades of the Columbia 336 Memaloose Island, Columbia River 338 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse. Horseshoe Basin near Lake Chelan, Wash. 340 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane. Castle Rock, Columbia River 342 Copyright, Kiser Photograph Co., 1902. The Lyman Glacier and Glacier Lake in North Star Park, near Lake Chelan 344 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. Hunters on Lake Chelan, with their Spoils 346 Photo. by W. D. Lyman. A Morning’s Catch on the Touchet, near Dayton, Wash. 346 Sunset Magazine. Oneonta Gorge—Looking in 348 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse. Cape Horn, Columbia River—Looking up 350 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland. Looking up the Columbia River from the Cliff above Multnomah Falls, Ore. 352 Copyright, 1902, by Kiser Photograph Co. Spokane Falls and City, 1886 354 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane. Spokane Falls and City, 1908 354 Photo. by T. W. Tolman. In the Heart of the Cascade Mountains, above Lake Chelan, Wash. 360 Photo. by T. W. Tolman, Spokane.
Sixty Miles above Portland 390 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse. Chinook Salmon, Weight 80 Pounds 392 Photo. by Woodfield, Astoria. Lake Adela, near Head of Columbia River, B. C. 394 Photo. by C. F. Yates. Bridal Veil Bluff, Columbia River, Oregon 396 Photo. by E. H. Moorehouse, Portland. Band of Kootenai Indians, B. C. 398 Photo. by Allan Lean, Nelson. Maps At End
PART I
The History
CHAPTER I
The Land where the River Flows