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Anchorage off Nisqually. 

 Plan of operations. 



OREGON. 



Expedition to the Columbia. 

 Cowlitz river. 



The anchorage off Nisqually is very contracted, 

 in consequence of the rapid shelving of the bank, 

 that soon drops off into deep water. The shore 

 rises abruptly to a height of about two hundred 

 feet, and on the top of the ascent is an extended 

 plain, covered with pine, oak, and ash. Fort Nis- 

 qually, with its out-buildings and enclosure, stands 

 back about half a mile from the edge of the table- 

 land. 



I now put my plans into operation. The Por- 

 poise, with two of the Vincennes' boats, under 

 Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, were directed 

 to take up the survey of Admiralty Inlet. The 

 launch, first cutter, and two boats of the Vincennes, 

 were placed under the command of Lieutenant 

 Case, to survey Hood's Canal. The land party 

 intended to explore the interior, was placed under 

 the command of Lieutenant Johnson of the Por- 

 poise. Eighty days were allowed for the operations 

 of this party, which it was intended should cross 

 the Cascade Range of mountains, towards the 

 Columbia, and on to Fort Colville, and south to 

 Lapwai (the mission station on the Kooskooskee 

 river), thence to Wallawalla, and returning by the 

 way of the Yakima river, repass the mountains to 

 Nisqually. Dr. Pickering and Mr. Brackenridge 

 were of this party. 



The other land party consisted of Messrs. Dray- 

 ton and Waldron of the Vincennes, myself, and 

 two servants. Our intended route lay across the 

 country to the Columbia river. First, I proposed 

 to visit Astoria, then Fort Vancouver, and the 

 Willamette settlement, and to proceed up the 

 river as far as Wallawalla. From Astoria I pro- 

 posed to send parties from the Peacock into the 

 interior, and to set on foot the survey of the 

 Columbia river, by means of her boats. 



The establishment of an observatory also claimed 

 my attention : a suitable site was found on the top 

 of the hill, within hail of the ship. Here the 

 instruments and clocks were landed, and put up in 

 a small clearing, whence the trees had been cut in 

 order to supply the steamer with fuel. 



All these preparations occupied us until the 15th, 

 when the brig was reported as ready, and sailed 

 the same day. 



In returning the visits of Mr. Anderson and 

 Captain M'Niel, I had an opportunity of examining 

 Fort Nisqually. It is constructed of pickets, en- 

 closing a space about two hundred feet square, 

 with four corner bastions. Within this enclosure 

 are the agents' stores, and about half a dozen 

 houses, built of logs, and roofed with bark. This 

 fort was considered quite large when it was first 

 established, but since it has become an agricultural 

 post as well as a trading one, it is found to be too 

 small. Its locality is also ill chosen, on account of 

 the difficulty of obtaining water, which has to be 

 brought from a distance of nearly a mile. I was 

 ^informed that there was now little necessity for 

 *any sort of protection against the Indians, who are 

 but few in number, and very peaceably disposed. 

 Mr. Anderson and Captain M'Niel both reside in 

 the fort with their families : both are married to 

 half-breeds, and have several fine children. 



Having seen the other parties all off, or ready to 

 start, our party for the Columbia river also set out. 

 It was a strange cavalcade, for most of us were but 

 sorry horsemen, and we had every variety of 

 accoutrements, from the saddle and bridle to the 



bare back and halter. We were eight in number: 

 Messrs. Dray ton, Waldron, and myself, two ser- 

 vants, two Indians, and a Canadian guide, with 

 four pack-horses. All the horses and the guide 

 were kindly furnished us by the gentlemen at the 

 fort, to carry us as far as Cowlitz Farms, about 

 sixty miles distant, where we intended taking 

 canoes. 



The direction of our route was nearly south over 

 the plain, passing occasionally a pretty lawn, and 

 groves of oak and ash trees. At the distance of 

 nine miles we reached the river Nisqually, whose 

 channel is sunk three hundred feet below the plain, 

 between almost perpendicular banks. The ravine 

 is about half a mile wide, and is filled with a large 

 growth of timber, which is occasionally uprooted 

 by the torrents that pass down, on the melting of 

 the snows of the mountains. The usual bed of the 

 stream is about one hundred yards wide, with a 

 .rapid current: its course in this place was north- 

 north-west, and its average depth at the ford about 

 three feet. 



After crossing Shute's river, in all respects simi- 

 lar to the Nisqually, we encamped, just before 

 night, having travelled about twenty-two miles. 

 Our tents were pitched, and fires made; but on 

 examining our alforcas (or saddle-bag), we were 

 reminded that we were but novices in such travel- 

 ling, for we found that all our small stores had 

 been destroyed in fording the streams, the sugar 

 being turned into syrup, &c. This was a mishap 

 over which we had a hearty laugh; it rendered the 

 part that was saved doubly precious, and made us 

 enjoy our evening meal. 



In the morning, when we resumed our journey, 

 the park scenery increased in beauty, and it was 

 almost impossible to realize that we were in a 

 savage and wild country, and that nature, not art, 

 had perfected the landscape. Beautiful lakes, with 

 gi'eensward growing to the water edge, with deer 

 feeding fearlessly on their margin, and every tint 

 of flower, many of which were not new to our gar- 

 dens at home, strewn in profusion around ; we 

 could hardly, in galloping along, but expect to see 

 some beautiful mansion, as a fit accompaniment to 

 such scenery. 



The Cowlitz river, the east fork of which we 

 passed at a short distance from our encampment, 

 takes its rise in the Cascade Range, near Mount 

 Rainier, and has many short turns in it. Its banks, 

 until it approaches the Columbia, are tolerably 

 high. 



When I examined the Cowlitz in the month of 

 September following, I found it exhibiting a very 

 different character. A few miles above its mouth 

 there was not water enough to float even a boat, 

 and it was besides filled with rapids. It is not 

 navigable for barges more than three mouths in a 

 year. The distance we passed down the Cowlitz 

 did not exceed twenty-six miles, although we had 

 been told that it was more than forty. 



On entering the Columbia our Indians required 

 some rest, and said they were hungry ; we there- 

 fore concluded to stop for a short time on its 

 banks. If I were to judge of the whole Cowlitz 

 tribe from the specimens we had with us, I should 

 say they were the merriest set of fellows I ever 

 saw, full of fun, and laughing all day long: I be- 

 came at last wearied with their incessant gaiety. 



The Columbia, where the Cowlitz joins it, is a 



