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 This government continued until February 16, 1849, when it was superseded by the territorial government provided by Congress under act approved August 14, 1848.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