THE "JARGON," 



TRADE-LANGUAGE OF OREGON. 



A VERY singular phenomenon in philology is ihe trade-language, or, as it is generally 

 called, ihe Jurgon, in use on the Northwest Coast, and in the Oregon Territory. The 

 circumstances to which it owes its origin are probably as follows: When the British 

 and American treding-ahrpa first appeared on the coast, about sixty years ago, they 

 found there many tribes shaking distinct languages. Had it chanced that any one of 

 these had been of easy acquisition, and very generally diffused, like the Chippeway 

 among the eastern tribes, the Malay in the Indian Archipelago, and the Italian in the 

 Mediterranean, it would no doubt have been adopted as the medium of communication 

 between the whites and the natives. Unfortunately, all these languages, the Nootka, 

 Nasquale, Tshinuk, Tsihailish, &c., were alike harsh in pronunciation, complex in 

 structure, and spoken over a very limited space. The foreigners, therefore, took no 

 pains to become acquainted with any of them. But as the harbour of Nootka was, at 

 that time, the head-quarters or principal depot of the trade, it was necessarily the case 

 that some words of the dialect there spoken became known to the traders, and that the 

 Indians, on the other hand, were made familiar with a few English words. These, with 

 the assistance of signs, were sufficient for the slight intercourse that was then main- 

 tained. Afterwards, the traders began to frequent the Columbia River, and naturally 

 attempted to communicate with the natives there by means of the words which they had 

 found intelligible at Nootka. The Chinooks, who are quick in catching sounds, soon 

 acquired these words, both Nootka and English, and we find that they were in use 

 among them as early as the visit of Lewis and Clarke, in 1804. 



But when, at a later period, the whiles established themselves in Oregon, it was soon 

 found that the scanty list of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, then in use, was not sufficient 

 for the purposes of the more constant and general intercourse that began to take place. 

 A real language, complete in all its parts, however limited in extent, was required ; and 

 it was formed by drawing upon the Tshinuk for such words as were necessary to add to 



