These Canoes,
Again, We Might Exchange For Horses With The Natives Of The Plains,
Till We Should Obtain Enough To
Travel altogether by land.
On reaching the southeast branch of the Columbia, four or five men
could be sent on
To the Chopunnish to have our horses in readiness;
and thus we should have a stock of horses sufficient both to transport
our baggage and supply us with food, as we now perceived that they
would form our only certain dependance for subsistence."
On the third of April this entry is made: -
"A considerable number of Indians crowded about us to-day,
many of whom came from the upper part of the river.
These poor wretches confirm the reports of scarcity among the
nations above; which, indeed, their appearance sufficiently proved,
for they seemed almost starved, and greedily picked the bones
and refuse meat thrown away by us.
"In the evening Captain Clark returned from an excursion. On setting
out yesterday at half-past eleven o'clock, he directed his course along
the south side of the [Columbia] river, where, at the distance of eight miles,
he passed a village of the Nechacohee tribe, belonging to the Eloot nation.
The village itself is small, and being situated behind Diamond Island,
was concealed from our view as we passed both times along the northern shore.
He continued till three o'clock, when he landed at the single house already
mentioned as the only remains of a village of twenty-four straw huts.
Along the shore were great numbers of small canoes for gathering wappatoo,
which were left by the Shahalas, who visit the place annually.
The present inhabitants of the house are part of the Neerchokioo tribe of
the same [Shahala] nation. On entering one of the apartments of the house,
Captain Clark offered several articles to the Indians in exchange
for wappatoo; but they appeared sullen and ill-humored, and refused to give
him any. He therefore sat down by the fire opposite the men, and taking
a port-fire match from his pocket, threw a small piece of it into the flame;
at the same time he took his pocket-compass, and by means of a magnet,
which happened to be in his inkhorn, made the needle turn round very briskly.
The match now took fire and burned violently, on which the Indians,
terrified at this strange exhibition, immediately brought a quantity
of wappatoo and laid it at his feet, begging him to put out the bad fire,
while an old woman continued to speak with great vehemence, as if praying
and imploring protection. Having received the roots, Captain Clark put up
the compass, and as the match went out of itself tranquillity was restored,
though the women and children still took refuge in their beds and behind
the men. He now paid them for what he had used, and after lighting his pipe
and smoking with them, continued down the river."
The excursion from which Captain Clark had returned, as noted in this extract,
was up the Multnomah River. As we have already seen, the explorers missed
that stream when they came down the Columbia; and they had now passed
it again unnoticed, owing to the number of straggling islands that hide
its junction with the Columbia. Convinced that a considerable river must
drain the region to the south, Captain Clark went back alone and penetrating
the intricate channels among the islands, found the mouth of the Multnomah,
now better known as the Willamette. He was surprised to find that the depth
of water in the river was so great that large vessels might enter it.
He would have been much more surprised if he had been told that a large city,
the largest in Oregon, would some day be built on the site of the Indian huts
which he saw. Here Captain Clark found a house occupied by several families
of the Neechecolee nation. Their mansion was two hundred and twenty-six feet
long and was divided into apartments thirty feet square.
The most important point in this region of the Columbia was named
Wappatoo Island by the explorers. This is a large extent of country
lying between the Willamette and an arm of the Columbia which they called
Wappatoo Inlet, but which is now known as Willamette Slough. It is twenty
miles long and from five to ten miles wide. Here is an interesting
description of the manner of gathering the roots of the wappatoo,
of which we have heard so much in this region of country: -
"The chief wealth of this island consists of the numerous ponds in
the interior, abounding with the common arrowhead (sagittaria sagittifolia)
to the root of which is attached a bulb growing beneath it in the mud.
This bulb, to which the Indians give the name of wappatoo,[1] is
the great article of food, and almost the staple article of commerce on
the Columbia. It is never out of season; so that at all times of the year
the valley is frequented by the neighboring Indians who come to gather it.
It is collected chiefly by the women, who employ for the purpose canoes from
ten to fourteen feet in length, about two feet wide and nine inches deep,
and tapering from the middle, where they are about twenty inches wide.
They are sufficient to contain a single person and several bushels
of roots, yet so very light that a woman can carry them with ease.
She takes one of these canoes into a pond where the water is as high
as the breast, and by means of her toes separates from the root this bulb,
which on being freed from the mud rises immediately to the surface
of the water, and is thrown into the canoe. In this manner these patient
females remain in the water for several hours, even in the depth of winter.
This plant is found through the whole extent of the valley in which we
now are, but does not grow on the Columbia farther eastward."
[1] In the Chinook jargon "Wappatoo" stands for potato.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 75 of 105
Words from 77792 to 78810
of 110166
