The nature and annual value of the Hudson Bay Company’s business in the territory which they occupy, may be learned from the following table, extracted from Bliss’s work on the trade and industry of British America, in 1831:[66]

Some idea may be formed of the net profit of this business, from the facts that the shares of the company’s stock, which originally cost £100, are at 100 per cent premium, and that the dividends range from ten per cent upward, and this too while they are creating out of the net proceeds an immense reserve fund, to be {255} expended in keeping other persons out of the trade.

In 1805 the Missouri Fur Company established a trading-post on the headwaters of the Saptin.[67] In 1806 the North-West Fur Company of Canada established one on Frazer’s Lake, near the northern line of Oregon.[68] In March, 1811, the American Pacific Fur Company built Fort Astoria, near the mouth of the Columbia.[69] In July of the same year, a partner of the North-West Fur Company of Canada descended the great northern branch of the Columbia to Astoria. This was the first appearance of the British fur traders in the valleys drained by this river.[70]

On the 16th of October, 1813, (while war was raging between England and the States) the Pacific Fur Company sold all its establishments in Oregon to the North-West Fur Company of Canada. On the 1st of December following, the British sloop of war Raccoon, Captain Black commanding, entered the Columbia, took formal possession of Astoria, and changed its name to Fort George.[71] On the 1st of October, 1818, Fort George was surrendered by the British Government to the Government of the States, according to a stipulation in the Treaty of Ghent.[72]

{256} By the same treaty, British subjects were granted the same rights of trade and settlement in Oregon as belonged to the citizens of the Republic, for the term of ten years; under the condition, that as both nations claimed Oregon the occupancy thus authorized should in no form affect the question as to the title to the country. This stipulation was by treaty of London, August 6, 1827, indefinitely extended; under the condition that it should cease to be in force twelve months from the date of a notice of either of the contracting powers to the other, to annul and abrogate it; provided such notice should not be given till after the 20th of October, 1828.[73] And this is the manner in which the British Hudson’s Bay Company, after its union with the North-West Fur Company of Canada, came into Oregon.

They have now in the territory the following trading posts: Fort Vancouver, on the north bank of the Columbia, ninety miles from the Ocean, in latitude 45½°, longitude 122° 30′; Fort George, (formerly Astoria), near the mouth of the same river;[74] Fort Nasqually, on Puget’s Sound, latitude 47°; Fort Langly, at the outlet of Fraser’s River, latitude 49° 25′; Fort McLaughlin, on the Millbank Sound, latitude 52°;[75] Fort {257} Simpson, on Dundas Island, latitude 54½°.[76] Frazer’s Fort, Fort James, McLeod’s Fort, Fort Chilcotin, and Fort Alexandria, on Frazer’s river and its branches between the 51st and 54½ parallels of latitude;[77] Thompson’s Fort, on Thompson’s River, a tributary of Frazer’s River, putting into it in latitude 50° and odd minutes; Kootania Fort, on Flatbow River; Flathead Fort, on Flathead River; Forts Hall and Boisais, on the Saptin; Forts Colville and Oakanagan, on the Columbia, above its junction with the Saptin; Fort Nez Percés or Wallawalla, a few miles below the junction;[78] Fort McKay, at the mouth of the Umpqua river, latitude 43° 30′, and longitude 124° west.[79]

They also have two migratory trading and trapping establishments of fifty or sixty men each. The one traps and trades in Upper California; the other in the country lying west, south, and east of Fort Hall. They also have a steam-vessel, heavily armed, which runs along the coast, and among its bays and inlets, for the twofold purpose of trading with the natives in places where they have no post, and of outbidding and outselling any American vessel that attempts to trade in those seas. They likewise have five sailing vessels, measuring from one hundred to five hundred tons {258} burthen, and armed with cannon, muskets, cutlasses, &c. These are employed a part of the year in various kinds of trade about the coast and the islands of the North Pacific, and the remainder of the time in bringing goods from London, and bearing back the furs for which they are exchanged.

One of these ships arrives at Fort Vancouver in the spring of each year, laden with coarse woollens, cloths, baizes, and blankets; hardware and cutlery; cotton cloths, calicoes, and cotton handkerchiefs; tea, sugar, coffee and cocoa; rice, tobacco, soap, beads, guns, powder, lead, rum, wine, brandy, gin, and playing cards; boots, shoes, and ready-made clothing, &c.; also, every description of sea stores, canvas, cordage, paints, oils, chains and chain cables, anchors, &c. Having discharged these “supplies,” it takes a cargo of lumber to the Sandwich Islands, or of flour and goods to the Russians at Sitka or Kamskatka; returns in August; receives the furs collected at Fort Vancouver, and sails again for England.

The value of peltries annually collected in Oregon, by the Hudson Bay Comp., is about £140,000 in the London or New York market. The prime cost of the goods exchanged {259} for them is about £20,000. To this must be added the per centage of the officers as governors, factors, &c. the wages and food of about four hundred men, the expense of shipping to bring supplies of goods and take back the returns of furs, and two years’ interest on the investments. The Company made arrangements in 1839 with the Russians at Sitka and at other ports, about the sea of Kamskatka, to supply them with flour and goods at fixed prices. As they are now opening large farms on the Cowelitz, the Umpqua, and in other parts of the Territory, for the production of wheat for that market; and as they can afford to sell goods purchased in England under a contract of fifty years’ standing, 20 or 30 per cent cheaper than American merchants can, there seems a certainty that the Hudson’s Bay Company will engross the entire trade of the North Pacific, as it has that of Oregon.

Soon after the union of the North-West and Hudson’s Bay Companies, the British Parliament passed an act extending the jurisdiction of the Canadian courts over the territories occupied by these fur traders, whether it were “owned” or “claimed by Great Britain.” Under this act, certain {260} gentlemen of the fur company were appointed justices of the peace, and empowered to entertain prosecutions for minor offences, arrest and send to Canada criminals of a higher order, and try, render judgment, and grant execution in civil suits where the amount in issue should not exceed £200; and in case of non-payment, to imprison the debtor at their own forts, or in the jails of Canada.

It is thus shown that the trade, and the civil and criminal jurisdiction in Oregon are held by British subjects; that American citizens are deprived of their own commercial rights; that they are liable to be arrested on their own territory by officers of British courts, tried in the American domain by British judges, and imprisoned or hung according to the laws of the British empire, for acts done within the territorial limits of the Republic.

It has frequently been asked if Oregon will hereafter assume great importance as a thoroughfare between the States and China? The answer is as follows:

The Straits de Fuca, and arms of the sea to the eastward of it, furnish the only good harbours on the Oregon coast. Those in Puget’s Sound offer every requisite facility {261} for the most extensive commerce. Ships beat out and into the straits with any winds of the coast, and find in summer and winter fine anchorage at short intervals on both shores; and among the islands of the Sound, a safe harbour from the prevailing storms. From Puget’s Sound eastward, there is a possible route for a railroad to the navigable waters of the Missouri; flanked with an abundance of fuel and other necessary materials. Its length would be about six hundred miles. Whether it would answer the desired end, would depend very much upon the navigation of the Missouri.[80]

As, however, the principal weight and bulk of cargoes in the Chinese trade would belong to the homeward voyage, and as the lumber used in constructing proper boats on the upper Missouri would sell in Saint Louis for something like the cost of construction, it may perhaps be presumed that the trade between China and the States could be conducted through such an overland communication.

The first day of the winter months came with bright skies over the beautiful valleys of Oregon. Mounts Washington and Jefferson reared their vast pyramids of ice and {262} snow among the fresh green forests of the lower hills, and overlooked the Willamette, the lower Columbia, and the distant sea. The herds of California cattle were lowing on the meadows, and the flocks of sheep from the downs of England were scampering and bleating around their shepherds on the plain; and the plane of the carpenter, the adze of the cooper, the hammer of the tinman, and the anvil of the blacksmith within the pickets, were all awake when I arose to breakfast for the last time at Fort Vancouver.

The beauty of the day, and the busy hum of life around me, accorded well with the feelings of joy with which I made preparations to return to my family and home. And yet when I met at the table Dr. McLaughlin, Mr. Douglas, and others with whom I had passed many pleasant hours, and from whom I had received many kindnesses, a sense of sorrow mingled strongly with the delight which the occasion naturally inspired. I was to leave Vancouver for the Sandwich Islands, and see them no more. I confess that it has seldom been my lot to feel so deeply pained at parting with those whom I had known so little time. But it became me to hasten {263} my departure; for the ship had dropped down to the mouth of the river, and awaited the arrival of Mr. Simpson, one of the company’s clerks,[81] Mr. Johnson, an American from St. Louis, and myself. While we are making the lower mouth of the Willamette, the reader will perhaps be amused with the sketch of life at Fort Vancouver.

Fort Vancouver is, as has been already intimated, the depot at which are brought the furs collected west of the Rocky Mountains, and from which they are shipped to England; the place also at which all the goods for the trade are landed; and from which they are distributed to the various posts of that territory by vessels, bateaux, or pack animals, as the various routes permit. It was established by Governor Simpson, in 1824, as the great centre of all commercial operations in Oregon;[82] is situated in a beautiful plain on the north bank of the Columbia, ninety miles from the sea, in latitude 45½° north, and in longitude 122° west; and stands four hundred yards from the water side. The noble river before it is sixteen hundred and seventy yards wide, and from five to seven fathoms in depth; the whole surrounding country is covered with {264} forests of pine, cedar, and fir, &c., interspersed here and there with small open spots; all overlooked by the vast snowy pyramids of the President’s Range, thirty-five miles in the east.

The fort itself is an oblong square two hundred and fifty yards in length, by one hundred and fifty in breadth, enclosed by pickets twenty feet in height. The area within is divided into two courts, around which are arranged thirty-five wooden buildings, used as officers’ dwellings, lodging apartment for clerks, storehouses for furs, goods, and grains; and as workshops for carpenters, blacksmiths, coopers, tinners, wheelwrights, &c. One building near the rear gate is occupied as a school-house; and a brick structure as a powder-magazine. The wooden buildings are constructed in the following manner. Posts are raised at convenient intervals, with grooves in the facing sides; in these grooves planks are inserted horizontally; and the walls are complete. Rafters raised upon plates in the usual way, and covered with boards, form the roofs.

Six hundred yards below the fort, and on the bank of the river, is a village of fifty-three wooden houses, generally constructed {265} like those within the pickets. In these live the Company’s servants. Among them is a hospital, in which those who become diseased are humanely treated. At the back, and a little east of the fort, is a barn containing a mammoth threshing machine; and near this are a number of long sheds, used for storing grain in the sheaf. And behold the Vancouver farm, stretching up and down the river (3,000 acres, fenced into beautiful fields) sprinkled with dairy houses, and herdsmen and shepherds’ cottages! A busy place.

The farmer on horseback at break of day, summons one hundred half-breeds and Iroquois Indians from their cabins to the fields. Twenty or thirty ploughs tear open the generous soil; the sowers follow with their seed, and pressing on them come a dozen harrows to cover it; and thus thirty or forty acres are planted in a day, till the immense farm is under crop. The season passes on, teeming with daily industry, until the harvest waves on all these fields. Then sickle and hoe glisten in tireless activity to gather in the rich reward of this toil; the food of seven hundred at this post, and of thousands more at the posts on the deserts in the east and {266} north. The saw mill, too, is a scene of constant toil. Thirty or forty Sandwich Islanders are felling the pines and dragging them to the mill; sets of hands are plying two gangs of saws by night and day. Three thousand feet of lumber per day; nine hundred thousand feet per annum; are constantly being shipped to foreign ports.

The grist mill is not idle. It must furnish bread stuff for the posts, and the Russian market in the north-west. And its deep music is heard daily and nightly half the year.

We will now enter the fort. The blacksmith is repairing ploughshares, harrow teeth, chains and mill irons; the tinman is making cups for the Indians, and camp-kettles, &c.; the wheelwright is making waggons, and the wood parts of ploughs and harrows; the carpenter is repairing houses and building new ones; the cooper is making barrels for pickling salmon and packing furs; the clerks are posting books, and preparing the annual returns to the board in London; the salesmen are receiving beaver and dealing out goods. Listen to the voices of those children from the school house. They are the half-breed offspring of the gentlemen and servants of {267} the Company, educated at the Company’s expense, preparatory to their being apprenticed to trades in Canada. They learn the English language, writing, arithmetic and geography. The gardener, too, is singing out his honest satisfaction, as he surveys from the northern gate ten acres of apple trees laden with fruit, his bowers of grapevines, his beds of vegetables and flowers. The bell rings for dinner; we will now pay a visit to the “Hall” and its convivialities.

The dining-hall is a spacious room on the second floor, ceiled with pine above and at the sides. In the southwest corner of it is a large close stove, giving out sufficient caloric to make it comfortable.

At the end of a table twenty feet in length stands Governor McLaughlin, directing guests and gentlemen from neighbouring posts to their places; and chief-traders, traders, the physician, clerks, and the farmer, slide respectfully to their places, at distances from the Governor corresponding to the dignity of their rank in the service. Thanks are given to God, and all are seated. Roast beef and pork, boiled mutton, baked salmon, boiled ham; beets, carrots, turnips, cabbage and potatoes, and wheaten bread, are tastefully distributed {268} over the table among a dinner-set of elegant queen’s ware, burnished with glittering glasses and decanters of various-coloured Italian wines. Course after course goes round, and the Governor fills to his guests and friends; and each gentleman in turn vies with him in diffusing around the board a most generous allowance of viands, wines, and warm fellow-feeling. The cloth and wines are removed together, cigars are lighted, and a strolling smoke about the premises, enlivened by a courteous discussion of some mooted point of natural history or politics, closes the ceremonies of the dinner hour at Fort Vancouver. These are some of the incidents of life at Vancouver.

But we moor on the lower point of Wappatoo Island, to regale ourselves with food and fire. This is the highest point of it, and is said to be never overflown. A bold rocky shore, and the water is deep enough to float the largest vessels, indicate it to be a site for the commercial mart of the island. But the southern shore of the river, half a mile below, is past a doubt the most important point for a town site on the Columbia.[83] It lies at the lower mouth of the Willamette, the natural outlet of the best agricultural district of {269} Oregon. It is a hillside of gentle acclivity, covered with pine forests. There is a gorge in the mountains through which a road from it to the prairies on the south can easily be constructed. At this place the Hudson’s Bay Company have erected a house, and occupy it with one of their servants.

Having eaten our cold lunch, we left Wappatoo Island to the dominion of its wild hogs, and took again to our boat. It was a drizzly, cheerless day. The clouds ran fast from the south-west, and obscured the sun. The wind fell in irregular gusts upon the water, and made it difficult to keep our boat afloat. But we had a sturdy old Sandwich Islander at one oar, and some four or five able-bodied Indians at others, and despite winds and waves, slept that night a dozen miles below the Cowelitz. Thus far below Vancouver, the Columbia was generally more than one thousand yards wide, girded on either side by mountains rising very generally, from the water side, two or three thousand feet in height, and covered with dense forests of pine and fir. These mountains are used by the Chinooks as burial-places. During the epidemic fever of 1832, which almost swept this {270} portion of the Columbia valley of its inhabitants, vast numbers of the dead were placed among them. They were usually wrapped in skins, placed in the canoes, and hung from the boughs of trees six or eight feet from the ground. Thousands of these were seen.[84]

They hung in groups near the water side. One of them had a canoe inverted over the one containing the dead, and lashed tightly to it. We were often driven close to the shore by the heavy wind, and always noticed that these sepulchral canoes were perforated at the bottom. I was informed that this is always done for the twofold purpose of letting out the water which the rains may deposit in them, and of preventing their ever being used again by the living.

The 3rd was a boisterous day. The southerly winds drove in a heavy tide from the Pacific, and lashed the Columbia into foam; but by keeping under the windward shore, we made steady progress till sunset, when the increased expanse of the river indicated that we were about fifteen miles from the sea. The wind died away, and we pushed on rapidly; but the darkness was so great that we lost our course, and grounded upon a sand-bar three miles to the {271} north of Tongue Point.[85] After considerable trouble, we succeeded in getting off, steered to the northern shore, and in half an hour were again in deep water. But “the ship, the ship,” was on every tongue. Was it above or below Tongue Point? If the latter, we could not reach it that night, for the wind freshened again every instant, and the waves grew angry and fearful, and dashed into the boat at every sweep of the paddles.

We were beginning to calculate our prospects of another hour’s breathing when the shadowy outline of the ship was brought between us and the open horizon of the mouth of the river, a half mile below us. The oars struck fast and powerfully now, and the frail boat shot over the whitened waves for a few minutes, and lay dancing and surging under the lee of the noble “Vancouver.” A rope was hastily thrown us, and we stood upon her beautiful deck, manifestly barely saved from a watery grave. For now the sounding waves broke awfully all around us. Captain Duncan received us very kindly, and introduced us immediately to the cordial hospitalities of his cabin. The next morning we dropped down to Astoria, and anchored one hundred {272} yards from the shore. The captain and passengers landed about ten o’clock; and as I felt peculiar interest in the spot, immortalized no less by the genius of Irving than the enterprize of John Jacob Astor, I spent my time very industriously in exploring it.

The site of this place is three quarters of a mile above the point of land between the Columbia and Clatsop Bay. It is a hillside, formerly covered with a very heavy forest. The space which has been cleared may amount to four acres. It is rendered too wet for cultivation by numberless springs bursting from the surface. The back ground is still a forest rising over lofty hills; in the foreground is the Columbia, and the broken pine hills of the opposite shore. The Pacific opens in the west.

Astoria has passed away; nothing is left of its buildings but an old batten cedar door; nothing remaining of its bastions and pickets, but half a dozen of the latter, tottering among the underbrush. While scrambling over the grounds, we came upon the trunk of an immense tree, long since prostrated, which measured between six and seven fathoms in circumference. No information {273} could be obtained as to the length of time it had been decaying.

The Hudson’s Bay Company are in possession, and call the post Fort George. They have erected three log buildings, and occupy them with a clerk,[86] who acts as a telegraph keeper of events at the mouth of the river. If a vessel arrives, or is seen laying off and on, information of the fact is sent to Vancouver, with all the rapidity which can be extracted from arms and paddles.

This individual also carries on a limited trade with the Chinook and Clatsop Indians; such is his influence over them, that he bears among the Company’s gentlemen the very distinguished title of “King of the Chinooks.” He is a fine, lusty, companionable fellow, and I am disposed to believe, wears the crown with quite as little injury to his subjects as to himself.

In the afternoon we bade adieu to Astoria, and dropped down toward Cape Disappointment.—The channel of the river runs from the fort in a north-western direction to the point of the Cape, and thence close under it in a south-westerly course the distance of four miles, where it crosses the bar. The wind was quite baffling while we {274} were crossing to the northern side; and we consequently began to anticipate a long residence in Baker’s Bay.[87] But as we neared the Cape, a delightful breeze sprang up in the east, filled every sail, and drove the stately ship through the heavy seas and swells most merrily.

The lead is dipping, and the sailors are chanting each measure as they take it; we approach the bar; the soundings decrease; every shout grows more and more awful! the keel of the Vancouver is within fifteen inches of the bar! Every breath is suspended, and every eye fixed on the leads, as they are quickly thrown again! They sink; and the chant for five fathoms enables us to breathe freely. We have passed the bar; Captain Duncan grasps his passengers by the hand warmly, and congratulates them at having escaped being lost in those wild waters, where many a noble ship and brave heart have sunk together and for ever.

Off the mouth of the Columbia—on the deep, long swells of the Pacific seas. The rolling surges boom along the mountainous shores. Up the vale one hundred miles the white pyramid of Mount Washington towers above the clouds, and the green {275} forest of Lower Oregon. That scene I shall never forget. It was too wild, too unearthly to be described. It was seen at sunset; and a night of horrid tempest shut in upon this, the author’s last view of Oregon.

The following abstract of Commander Wilkes’ Report on Oregon came to hand while this work was in the press, and the author takes great pleasure in appending it to his work. Mr. Wilkes’ statistics of the Territory, it will be seen, agree in all essential particulars with those given in previous pages. There is one point only of any importance that needs to be named, in regard to which truth requires a protest; and that is contained in the commander’s concluding remarks. It will be seen on reference to them, that the agricultural capabilities of Oregon are placed above those of any part of the world beyond the tropics. This is a most surprising conclusion; at war with his own account of the several sections which he visited, and denied by every intelligent man living in the territory. What! Oregon, in this respect, equal to California, or the Valley of the Mississippi! This can never be, until Oregon be blessed with a vast increase of productive soil, and California {276} and our own unequalled Valley be greatly changed.

Extracts from the Report of Lieutenant Wilkes to the Secretary of the Navy, of the examination, by the Exploring Expedition, of the Oregon Territory.[88]

The Territory embraced under the name of Oregon, extends from latitude 42° north to that of 53° 40′ north, and west of the Rocky Mountains. Its natural boundaries, were they attended to, would confine it within the above geographical boundaries.

On the east it has the range of Rocky Mountains along its whole extent; on the south those of the Klamet range, running on the parallel of 42° and dividing it from California; on the west the Pacific Ocean; and on the north the western trend of the Rocky Mountains, and the chain of lakes near and along the parallels of 54° and 55° north, dividing it from the British territory. It is remarkable that, within these limits, all the rivers which flow through the Territory take their rise.

The Territory is divided into three natural belts or sections, viz:

{277} 1st. That between the Pacific Ocean and Cascade Mountains, (President’s range) or western section;

2nd. That between the Cascade mountains and blue mountain range, or middle section;

3rd. That between the Blue and Rocky Mountain chains, or eastern section.

And this division will equally apply to the soil, climate, and productions.

The mountain ranges run, for the most part, in parallel lines with the coast, and, rising in many places above the snow line (here found to be 6,500 feet), would naturally produce a difference of temperature between them, and also affect their productions.

Our surveys and explorations were confined, for the most part, to the two first, claiming more interest from being less known, and more in accordance with my instructions.

Mountains.—The Cascade range, or that nearest the coast, runs from the southern boundary, on a parallel with the sea coast, the whole length of the territory, north and south, rising, in many places, in high peaks, from twelve to fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, in regular cones. Their {278} distance from the coast line is from one hundred to a hundred and fifty miles, and they almost interrupt the communication between the sections, except where the two great rivers, the Columbia and Frazer’s, force a passage through them.

There are a few mountain passes, but they are difficult, and only to be attempted late in the spring and summer.

A small range (the Claset) lies to the northward of the Columbia, between the coast and the waters of Puget’s Sound, and along the strait of Juan de Fuca. This has several high peaks, which rise above the snow line, but, from their proximity to the sea, they are not at all times covered.[89]

Their general direction is north and south, but there are many spurs or offsets that cause this portion to be very rugged.

The Blue mountains are irregular in their course, and occasionally interrupted, but generally tend from north by east to north-east, and from south to south-west.

In some parts they may be traced as spurs or offsets of the Rocky Mountains. Near the southern boundary they unite with the Klamet range, which runs east and west from the rocky mountains.[90]

{279} The Rocky Mountains are too well known to need description. The different passes will, however, claim attention hereafter. North of 48° the ranges are nearly parallel and have the rivers flowing between them.

Islands.—Attached to the territory are groups of islands, bordering its northern coast. Among these are the large islands of Vancouver and Washington or Queen Charlotte; the former being two hundred and sixty miles in length, and fifty in width, containing about fifteen thousand square miles, and the latter a hundred and fifty miles in length and thirty in breadth, containing four thousand square miles.[91]

Though somewhat broken in surface, their soil is said to be well adapted to agriculture.

They have many good harbours, and have long been the resort of those engaged in the fur trade; they enjoy a mild and salubrious climate, and have an abundance of fine fish frequenting their waters, which are taken in large quantities by the natives. Coal of good quality is found, specimens of which I obtained. The Hudson’s Bay Company have made a trial of it, but, owing to its having been taken from near the surface, it {280} was not very highly spoken of. Veins of minerals are also said to exist by those acquainted with these islands.

They both appear to be more densely inhabited than other portions of the territory. The natives are considered a treacherous race, particularly those in the vicinity of Johnson’s Straits,[92] and are to be closely watched when dealing with them.

At the south-east end of Vancouver’s, there is a small archipelago of islands, through which the canal de Arro runs.[93] They are for the most part uninhabited, well wooded, and composed of granite and pudding stone, which appear to be the prevailing rock to the northward of a line east from the strait of Juan de Fuca. They are generally destitute of fresh water, have but few anchorages, and strong currents render navigation among them difficult.

The islands nearer the main land, called on the maps Pitt’s Banks, or the Prince Royal islands, are of the same character, and are only occasionally resorted to by the Indians, for the purpose of fishing.[94]

The coast of the mainland, north of the parallel of 49°, is broken up by numerous inlets called canals, having perpendicular sides, and very deep water in them, affording {281} no harbours, and but few commercial inducements to frequent them.

The land is equally cut up by spurs from the Cascade range, which here intersects the country in all directions, and prevents its adaptation for agriculture.

Its value is principally in its timber, and it is believed that few if any countries can compare with it in this respect.

There is no part on this coast where a settlement could be formed between Frazer’s river, or 49° north, and the northern boundary of 54° 40′ north, that would be able to supply its own wants.

The Hudson’s Bay Company have posts within this section of the country: Fort McLaughlin, in Millbank sound, in latitude 52° 10′ north, and Fort Simpson, in latitude 54° 30′ north, within Dundas island, and at the entrance of Chatham sound; but they are only posts for the fur trade of the coast, and are supplied twice a year with provisions, &c.

It is believed that the Company have yet no establishment on any of the islands; but I understood it was in contemplation to make one on Vancouver’s island, in the vicinity of Nootka sound, or that of Clayoquot.[95]

{282} Owing to the dense fogs, the coast is extremely dangerous; and they render it at all times difficult to approach and navigate it. The interior of this portion of the territory is traversed by the three ranges of mountains, with the several rivers which take their rise in them, and is probably unequalled for its ruggedness, and from all accounts incapable of anything like cultivation.

The Columbia in its trend to the westward, along the parallel of 48°, cuts off the central or Blue mountain range, which is not again met with until on the parallel of 45°. From 45° they trend away to the southward and westward, until they fall into the Klamet range. This latter portion is but partially wooded.

Rivers.—The Columbia claims the first notice. Its northern branch takes its rise in the Rocky mountains, in latitude 50° north, longitude 116° west; from thence it pursues a northern route to near McGillivray’s Pass, in the Rocky mountains.[96] At the boat encampment, the river is three thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea (here it receives two small tributaries, the Canoe river and that from the Committee’s Punch Bowl), from thence it {283} turns south, having some obstructions to its safe navigation, and receiving many tributaries in its course to Colville, among which are the Kootanie, or Flat Bow, and the Flat Head or Clarke river from the east, and that of Colville from the west.

This great river is bounded thus far on its course by a range of high mountains, well-wooded, and in places expands into a line of lakes before it reaches Colville, where it is two thousand and forty-nine feet above the level of the sea, having a fall of five hundred and fifty feet in two hundred and twenty miles. To the south of this it trends to the westward, receiving the Spokan river from the east, which is not navigable, and takes its rise in the Lake of Cœur d’Alène. Thence it pursues a westerly course for about sixty miles, receiving several smaller streams, and at its bend to the south it is joined by the Okanagan, a river that has its source in a line of lakes, affording canoe and boat navigation for a considerable extent to the northward.

The Columbia thence passes to the southward until it reaches Wallawalla, in the latitude of 45° a distance of one hundred and sixty miles, receiving the Piscous, Y’Akama, and Point de Boise, or Entyatecoom,[97] from {284} the west, which take their rise in the Cascade range, and also its great south-eastern branch, the Saptin or Lewis, which has its source in the Rocky mountains, near our southern boundary, and being a large quantity of water to increase the volume of the main stream. The Lewis is not navigable, even for canoes, except in reaches. The rapids are extensive and of frequent occurrence. It generally passes between the Rocky mountain spurs and the Blue mountains. It receives the Koos-koos-ke, Salmon, and several other rivers, from the east and west (the former from the Rocky mountains, the latter from the Blue mountains)[98] and, were it navigable, would much facilitate the intercourse with this part of the country. Its length to its junction with the Columbia is five hundred and twenty miles.

The Columbia at Wallawalla is one thousand two hundred and eighty-six feet above the level of the sea, and about three thousand five hundred wide; it now takes its last turn to the westward, receiving the Umatilla, Quisnel’s, John Day’s, and de Chute rivers from the south, and Cathlatate’s from the north,[99] pursuing its rapid course of eighty miles, previous to passing through the range of Cascade mountains, in {285} a series of falls and rapids that obstruct its flow, and form insurmountable barriers to the passage of boats by water during the floods. These difficulties, however, are overcome by portages.

From thence there is a still water navigation for forty miles, when its course is again obstructed by rapids.

Thence to the ocean, one hundred and twenty miles, it is navigable for vessels of twelve feet draught of water at the lowest state of the river, though obstructed by many sand-bars.

In this part it receives the Willamette from the south, and the Cowelitz from the north. The former is navigable for small vessels twenty miles, to the mouth of the Klackamus, three miles below its falls; the latter cannot be called navigable except for a small part of the year, during the floods, and then only for canoes and barges.[100]

The width of the Columbia, within twenty miles of its mouth, is much increased, and it joins the ocean between Cape Disappointment and Point Adams, forming a sand-pit from each by deposit, and causing a dangerous bar, which greatly impedes its navigation and entrance.

Frazer’s river next claims attention. It {286} takes its rise in the Rocky mountain, near the source of Canoe river, taking a north-western course of eighty miles; it then turns to the southward, receiving the waters of Stuart’s river, which rises in a chain of lakes near the northern boundary of the Territory.[101]

It then pursues a southerly course, receiving the waters of the Chilcotin, Pinkslitsa, and several smaller streams, from the west, and those of Thompson’s river, Quisnell’s[102] and other streams, from the east, (these take their rise in lakes, and are navigable in canoes, by making portages); and under the parallel of 49° it breaks through the Cascade range in a succession of falls and rapids, and, after a westerly course of seventy miles it empties itself into the gulf of Georgia, in the latitude of 49° 07′ north. This latter portion is navigable for vessels that can pass its bar drawing twelve feet water; its whole length being three hundred and fifty miles.

The Chikeelis is next in importance. It has three sources among the range of hills that intersect the country north of the Columbia river. After a very tortuous course, and receiving some small streams issuing from the lakes in the high ground near the {287} headquarters of Hood’s canal and Puget’s Sound, it disembogues in Grey’s harbour;[103] it is not navigable except for canoes; its current is rapid, and the stream much obstructed.

To the south of the Columbia there are many small streams, three of which only deserve the name of rivers: the Umpqua, Too-too-tut-na, or Rogues’ river, and the Klamet, which latter empties itself into the ocean south of the parallel of 42°.[104] None of these form harbours capable of receiving a vessel of more than eight feet draught of water, and the bars for most part of the year are impassable from the surf that sets in on the coast. The character of the great rivers is peculiar—rapid and sunken much below the level of the country, with perpendicular banks; indeed they are, as it were, in trenches, it being extremely difficult to get at the water in many places, owing to the steep basaltic walls; and during the rise they are in many places confined by dalles, which back the water some distance, submerging islands and tracts of low prairie, giving the appearance of extensive lakes.

Lakes.—There are in the various sections of the country many lakes. The Okanagan, Stuart’s, Quisnell’s, and Kamloop’s are the largest in the northern section.[105]

{288} The Flat Bow, Cœur d’Alène, and Kulluspelm, in the middle section, and those forming the head-waters of the large rivers in the eastern section.[106] The country is well watered, and there are but few places where an abundance of water, either from rivers, springs, or rivulets, cannot be obtained.

The smaller lakes add much to the picturesque beauty of the country. They are generally at the head-waters of the smaller streams. The map will point out more particularly their extent and locality.

Harbours.—All the harbours formed by the rivers on the sea-coast are obstructed by extensive sand-bars, which make them difficult to enter. The rivers bring down large quantities of sand, which is deposited on meeting with the ocean, causing a gradual increase of the impediments already existing at their mouths. None of them can be deemed safe ports to enter. The entrance to the Columbia is impracticable two-thirds of the year, and the difficulty of leaving is equally great.

The north sands are rapidly increasing, and extending further to the southward. In the memory of several of those who have been longest in the country, Cape Disappointment has been encroached upon some {289} hundred feet by the sea, and, during my short experience, nearly half an acre of the middle sands was washed away in a few days. These sands are known to change every season.

The exploration made of the Clatsop, or South channel, it is believed, will give more safety to vessels capable of entering the river. The depth of water on the bar seems not to have changed, though the passage has become somewhat narrow.

Grey’s harbour will admit of vessels of light draught of water, (ten feet), but there is but little room in it, on account of the extensive mud and sand flats. A survey was made of it, to which I refer for particulars.

This, however, is not the case with the harbours formed within the straits of Juan de Fuca, of which there are many; and no part of the world affords finer inland sounds or a greater number of harbours than can be found here, capable of receiving the largest class of vessels, and without a danger in them which is not visible. From the rise and fall of the tides, (eighteen feet), every facility is afforded for the erection of works for a great maritime nation. For {290} further information, our extensive surveys of these waters are referred to.

Climate.—That of the western section is mild throughout the year, neither experiencing the cold of winter nor the heat of summer. By my experiments, the mean temperature was found to be 54° of Fahrenheit.

The prevailing winds in the summer are from the northward and westward, and in the winter, from the southward and westward, and south-east, which are tempestuous. The winter is supposed to last from December to February; rains usually begin to fall in November, and last till March, but they are not heavy though frequent.

Snow sometimes falls, but it seldom lies more than three days. The frosts are early, occurring in the latter part of August; this, however, is to be accounted for by the proximity of the mountains. A mountain or easterly wind invariably causes a great fall in the temperature; these winds are not frequent. During the summer of our operations, I found but three days noted of easterly winds.

The nights are cold, and affect the vegetation so far, that Indian corn will not ripen. Fruit-trees blossom early in April {291} at Nisqually and Vancouver; and at the former place, on the 12th of May, peas were a foot high, strawberries in full blossom, and salad had already gone to seed.

The mean height of the barometer, during our stay at Nisqually, was 30.046 inches, and of the thermometer 66° 58′ Fahrenheit. The thermometer at 4 A. M. on the 4th of July, was at 50° Fahrenheit, and on the same day, at 2 P. M., 90° Fahrenheit. The lowest degree was 39° at 4 A. M., May 22d, and at 5 P. M. of the same day, the temperature was 72° of Fahrenheit.

From June to September at Vancouver the mean height of the barometer was 30.32 inches, and the thermometer 66° 33′ of Fahrenheit. Out of one hundred and six days, seventy-six were fair, nineteen cloudy, and eleven rainy. The rains are light; this is evident from the hills not being washed, and having a sward to their tops, although of great declivity.

The second, or middle section, is subject to droughts. During the summer the atmosphere is much drier and warmer, and the winter much colder than in the western section. Its extremes of heat and cold are more frequent and greater, the mercury at times falling as low as minus 18° of {292} Fahrenheit in the winter, and rising to 180° [sic] in the shade in summer; the daily difference of temperature is about 40° Fahrenheit. It has, however, been found extremely salubrious, possessing a pure and healthy air.

The stations of the missionaries and posts of the Hudson’s Bay Company, have afforded me the means of obtaining information relative to the climate. Although full data have not been kept, yet these observations afford a tolerably good knowledge of the weather.

In summer the atmosphere is cooled by the strong westerly breezes, which replace the vacuum produced by the heated prairie grounds. No dews fall in this section.

The climate of the third, or eastern section, is extremely variable. The temperature during the day, differing from 50° to 60°, renders it unfit for agriculture, and there are but few places in its northern part where the climate would not effectually put a stop to its ever becoming settled.

In each day, from the best accounts, all the changes are experienced incident to spring, summer, autumn, and winter. There are places where small farms might be located, but they are few in number.

{293} Soil.—That of the first, or western section varies in the northern parts from a light brown loam to a thin vegetable earth, with gravel and sand as a sub-soil: in the middle parts, from a rich heavy loam and unctuous clay to a deep heavy black loam on a trap rock; and in the southern, the soil is generally good, varying from a black vegetable loam to decomposed basalt, with stiff clay, and portions of loose gravel soil. The hills are generally basalt, and stone, and slate.

Between the Umpqua and the boundary, the rocks are primitive, consisting of talcon slate, hornblende, and granite, which produce a gritty and poor soil; some places of rich prairie however, occur covered with oaks.

The soil of the second, or middle section, is for the most part a light sandy loam, in the valleys rich alluvial, and the hills are generally barren.

The third, or eastern section, is a rocky, broken, and barren country. Stupendous mountain spurs traverse it in all directions, affording little level ground; snow lies on the mountains nearly, if not quite, the year through.

Agriculture, Productions, &c.—The {294} first section, for the most part, is a well-timbered country; it is intersected with the spurs, or offsets, from the Cascade mountains, which render its surface much broken: these are covered with a dense forest. It is well-watered, and communication between the northern, southern, and middle parts is difficult, on account of the various rivers, spurs of mountains, &c.

The timber consists of pines, firs, spruce, oaks, (red and white), ash, arbutus, arbor vitæ, cedar, poplar, maple, willow, cherry, and tew, with a close undergrowth of hazel, rubus, roses, &c. The richest and best soil is found on the second or middle prairie, and is best adapted for agriculture, the high and low being excellent for pasture land.

The pine woods run on the east side, and near the foot of the Cascade range. The climate and soil are admirably adapted for all kinds of grain, wheat, rye, oats, barley, peas, &c. Indian corn does not thrive in any part of this territory where it has been tried. Many fruits appear to succeed well, particularly the apple and pear. Vegetables grow exceedingly well, and yield most abundantly.

The surface of the middle section is about one thousand feet above the level of the first {295} or western section, and is generally a rolling prairie country. That part lying to the north of the parallel of 48° is very much broken with mountain chains and rivers, consequently barren and very rugged. From the great and frequent changes in its temperature, it is totally unfit for agriculture, but is well supplied with game of all the kinds which are found in the country.

The mountain chains on the parallel of 48° are cut off by the Columbia, as before stated, leaving an extensive rolling country in the centre of the Territory, which is well adapted for grazing.

The southern part of this section is destitute of timber or wood, unless the wormwood (artimesia) may be so called. To the northward of the parallel of 49° it is covered with forests. Wheat and other grains grow well in the bottoms, where they can be irrigated. The soil in such places is rich, and capable of producing almost any thing.

The missionaries have succeeded in raising good crops. Stock succeeds here even better than in the lower country. Notwithstanding the severe cold, the cattle are not housed, nor is provender laid in for them, the country being sufficiently supplied with fodder in the natural hay that is abundant {296} everywhere in the prairie, which is preferred by the cattle to the fresh grass at the bottoms.

No attempts at agriculture have been made in the third section, except at Fort Hall. The small grains thrive tolerably well, together with vegetables, and a sufficient quantity has been obtained to supply the wants of the post. The ground is well adapted for grazing in the prairies, and, despite its changeable climate, stock is found to thrive well and endure the severity of the winter without protection.

This section is exceedingly dry and arid, rains seldom falling, and but little snow. The country is partially timbered, and the soil much impregnated with salts. The missionary station on the Koos-koos-ke, near the western line of this section, is thought by the missionaries to be a wet climate.[107]

The soil along the river bottoms is generally alluvial, and would yield good crops, were it not for the overflowing of the rivers, which check and kill the grain. Some of the finest portions of the land are thus unfit for cultivation; they are generally covered with water before the banks are {297} overflown, in consequence of the quicksands which exist in them, and through which the water percolates.

The rivers of this Territory afford no fertilizing properties to the soil, but, on the contrary, are destitute of all substances. The temperature of the Columbia in the latter part of May was 42°, and in September 68°.

The rise of the streams flowing from the Cascade mountains takes place twice a-year, in February and November, from the rains; that of the Columbia in May and June, from the melting of the snows. Sometimes the rise of the latter is very sudden, if heavy rains occur at that period; but usually it is gradual, and reaches its greatest height from the 6th to the 15th of June. Its perpendicular rise is from eighteen to twenty feet at Vancouver, where a line of embankment has been thrown up to protect the lower prairie; but it has been generally flooded, and the crops in most cases destroyed. It is the intention to abandon its cultivation, and devote it to pasturage.

The greatest rise in the Willamette takes place in February; and I was informed that it rose sometimes twenty to twenty-five feet, {298} and quite suddenly, but soon subsides. It occasionally causes much damage.

Both the Willamette and the Cowelitz are much swollen by the backing of their waters during the height of the Columbia, and all their lower grounds submerged. This puts an effectual bar to their prairies being used for any thing but pasturage, which is fine throughout the year, excepting in the season of the floods, when the cattle are driven to the high grounds.

My knowledge of the agriculture of this Territory it will be well to mention, is derived from visits made to the various settlements, except Fort Langley and Fort Hall.

The Indians on the different islands in Puget’s Sound and Admiralty Inlet cultivate potatoes principally, which are extremely fine, and raised in great abundance, and now constitute a large portion of their food.[108]

At Nisqually the Hudson’s Bay Company had fine crops of wheat, oats, peas, potatoes, &c. The wheat, it was supposed, would yield fifteen bushels to the acre. The farm has been two years under cultivation, and is principally intended for a grazing and dairy farm. They have now seventy milch cows, and make butter, &c., to supply their contract with the Russians.

{299} The Cowelitz farm is also in the western section. The produce of wheat is good—about twenty bushels to the acre. The ground, however, has just been brought under cultivation. The Company have here six hundred acres, which are situated on the Cowelitz river, about thirty miles from the Columbia, and on the former are erecting a saw and grist mill. The farm is finely situated, and the harvest of 1841 produced seven thousand bushels of wheat.[109]

Several Canadians are also established here, who told me that they succeeded well with but little work. They have erected buildings, live comfortably, and work small farms of fifty acres.

I was told that the stock on these farms did not thrive so well as elsewhere. There are no low prairie grounds on the river in this vicinity, and it is too far for them to resort to the Kamas plains, a fine grazing country, but a few miles distant. The wolves make sad depredations with the increase of their flock, if not well watched.

The hilly portion of the country, although its soil in many places is very good, is yet so heavily timbered as to make it, in the present state of the country, valueless: this is also the case with many fine portions of {300} level ground. There are, however, large tracts of fine prairie, suitable for cultivation, and ready for the plough.

The Willamette valley is supposed to be the finest portion of the country, though I am of opinion that many parts of the southern portion of the territory will be found far superior to it. The largest settlement is in the northern part of the valley, some fifteen miles above the falls. About sixty families are settled there, the industrious of whom appear to be thriving. They are composed of American missionaries, trappers, and Canadians, who were formerly servants of the Hudson’s Bay Company. All of them appeared to be doing well; but I was on the whole disappointed, from the reports that had been made to me, not to find the settlement in a state of greater forwardness, considering the advantages the missionaries have had.

In comparison with our own country, I would say that the labour necessary in this territory to acquire wealth or subsistence is in the proportion of one to three; or in other words, a man must work through the year three times as much in the United States, to gain the like competency. The care of stock, which occupies so much time {301} with us, requires no attention there, and on the increase only a man might find support.

The wheat of this valley yields thirty-five to forty bushels for one sown, or twenty to thirty bushels to the acre; its quality is superior to that grown in the United States, and its weight nearly four pounds to the bushel heavier. The above is the yield of new land; but it is believed it will greatly exceed this after the third crop, when the land has been broken up and well tilled.

After passing into the middle section, the climate undergoes a decided change; in place of the cool and moist atmosphere, one that is dry and arid is entered, and the crops suffer from drought.

The only wood or bush seen, is the wormwood, (artimesia), and this only in places. All cultivation has to be more or less carried on by irrigation.

The country bordering the Columbia, above the Dalles, to the north and south of the river, is the poorest in the territory, and has no doubt led many to look upon the middle section as perfectly useless to man. Twenty or thirty miles on either side of the river are so; but beyond that a fine grazing country exists, and in very many places there are portions of it that might be advantageously {302} farmed. On the banks of the Wallawalla, a small stream emptying into the Columbia, about twenty-five miles from the Company’s post, a missionary is established who raises very fine wheat on the low bottoms, by using its waters for the purpose of irrigation. This is also the case at the mission station at Lapwai, on the Koos-koos-ke, where fine crops are raised; grains, vegetables and some fruits thrive remarkably well. In the northern part of this section, at Chimekaine, there is another missionary station. Near the Spokan, and at Colville, the country is well adapted for agriculture, and it is successfully carried on. Colville supplies all the northern posts, and the missionaries in its vicinity are doing well. The northern part of this section will be able to supply the whole southern part with wood. At Colville the changes of temperature are great during the twenty-four hours, but are not injurious to the small grain. The cultivation of fruit has been successful.

Fisheries.—It will be almost impossible to give an idea of the extensive fisheries in the rivers and on the coast. They all abound in salmon of the finest flavour, which run twice a year, beginning in May {303} and October, and appear inexhaustible; the whole population live upon them. The Columbia produces the largest, and probably affords the greatest numbers. There are some few of the branches of the Columbia that the spring fish do not enter, but they are plentifully supplied in the fall.

The great fishery of the Columbia is at the Dalles; but all the rivers are well supplied. The last one on the northern branch of the Columbia is near Colville, at the Kettle falls; but salmon are found above this in the river and its tributaries.

In Frazer’s river the salmon are said to be very numerous, but not large; they are unable to get above the falls some eighty miles from the sea.

In the rivers and sounds are found several kinds of salmon, salmon-trout, sturgeon, cod, carp, sole, flounders, ray, perch, herring, lamprey eels, and a kind of smelt, called “shrow,” in great abundance; also large quantities of shell fish, viz: crabs, clams, oysters, muscles, &c., which are all used by the natives, and constitute the greater proportion of their food.

Whales in numbers are found along the coast, and are frequently captured by the {304} Indians in and at the mouth of the straits of Juan de Fuca.

Game.—Abundance of game exists, such as elk, deer, antelope, bears, wolves, foxes, musk-rats, martins, bears and siffleurs, which are eaten by the Canadians. In the middle section, or that designated as the rolling prairie, no game is found. The fur-bearing animals are decreasing in numbers yearly, particularly south of the parallel of 48°; indeed it is very doubtful whether they are sufficiently numerous to repay the expense of hunting them.

The Hudson’s Bay Company have almost the exclusive monopoly of this business. They have decreased, owing to being hunted without regard to season. This is not, however, the case to the north; there the Company have been left to exercise their own rule, and prevent the indiscriminate slaughter of either old or young, out of the proper season.

In the spring and fall, the rivers are literally covered with geese, ducks, and other water fowl.

In the eastern section, the buffalo abound, and are hunted by the Oregon Indians, as well as the Blackfeet. Wolves are troublesome to the settlers, but they are not so {305} numerous as formerly. From the advantages this country possesses, it bids fair to have an extensive commerce on advantageous terms with most ports of the Pacific. It is well calculated to produce the following which, in a few years after its settlement, would become its staples, viz: furs, salted beef and pork, fish, grain, flour, wool, hides, tallow, lumber, and perhaps coal. A ready market for all these is now to be found in the Pacific; and in return for them sugar, coffee and other tropical productions, may be had at the Sandwich Islands—advantages that few new countries possess, viz: the facility of a market, and one that in time must become of immense extent.

Manufacturing power.—This country, it is believed, affords as many sites for water power as any other, and in many places within reach of navigable waters. The timber of the western section, to the south of 49°, is not so good as that of the north. This is imputed to the climate being milder and more changeable. A great difference is found between the north and south sides of the trees, the one being of a hard and close grain, while the other is open and spongy.

To the north of the parallel 49°, on Frazer’s River, an abundance of fine timber {306} for spars of any dimensions is easily obtained.

There will always be a demand for the timber of this country at high prices throughout the Pacific. The oak is well adapted for ship timber, and abundance of ash, cedar, cypress and arbor vitæ, may be had for fuel, fencing, &c.; and, although the southern part of the middle section is destitute of timber, it may be supplied from the eastern or northern sections by water carriage.

Intercommunication would at first appear to be difficult between the different parts of the country, but I take a different view of it.

Stock of all kinds thrive exceedingly well, and they will in consequence always abound in the territory. The soil affords every advantage for making good roads, and, in process of time, transportation must become comparatively cheap.

Settlements.—They consist principally of those belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and where the missionaries have established themselves. They are as follows: In the western section, Fort Simpson, Fort McLaughlin, Fort Langley, Nisqually, Cowelitz, Fort George, Vancouver, and Umpqua; Fort St. James, Barbine, Alexandria, Chilcothin, Kamloop’s, (on Thompson’s {307} River); Okanagan, Colville and Wallawalla, in the middle; and in the eastern, Kootanie and Fort Hall. Fort Boise has been abandoned, as has also Kaima, a missionary settlement on the Koos-koos-ke.[110]