Expedition to the Columbia. 

 Oak Point. Astoria. 



OREGON. 



Expedition to the Columbia. 



283 



broad flowing stream, and was at tins time much 

 swollen. We had, after entering it, about forty 

 miles yet to make, and it was past noon; but we 

 glided briskly on with the current, although it was 

 by no means so rapid as I had expected to have 

 found it. 



About ten miles lower down, we passed Oak 

 Point, where the river turns nearly at right angles, 

 taking its course along a barrier of trap rocks, 

 which it here meets on its west side, and which 

 rises eight hundred feet perpendicularly above its 

 surface. On the other side of the river is one of 

 the remarkable prairies of the country, covered 

 with tall waving grass, and studded with many 

 oaks, from which the point takes its name. What 

 adds additional interest and beauty to the scene is 

 Mount St. Helen's, which may be seen from the 

 sea when eighty miles distant: its height I made 

 nine thousand five hundred and fifty feet. 



In this part of the river, which I named St. 

 Helen's Reach, we met the brig that had brought 

 our stores from Oahu. The master informed me 

 that he had landed them at Astoria, and placed 

 them under the care of Mr. Biruie, who had charge 

 of the Company's fort. By sunset we had reached 

 Termination Island, and had yet twenty miles to 

 make in a very dark night. We had already 

 passed the only place where we could have en- 

 camped, and the natives showed extreme reluc- 

 tance to go on. They soon desired to return; say- 

 ing that the night was very dark, and that the bay 

 would be dangerous. This request was overruled, 

 however, and we continued our course, though 

 under apprehension of disaster. 



I now began to have misgivings that we should 

 pass Astoria, and commenced firing muskets, the 

 usual signal of an arrival. They were immediately 

 answered by others just behind us, and the loud 

 clamour of about forty yelping dogs. These sounds, 

 although discordant, gave us the delightful assur- 

 ance that we had reached our destination, and 

 might now make our escape from the confined and 

 irksome position we had been in a whole day. Mr. 

 Biruie, the agent of the Hudson Bay Company, 

 met us at the landing, with lanterns and every as- 

 sistance, and gave us a truly Scotch welcome. We 

 soon found ourselves in his quarters, where in a 

 short time a fire was burning brightly, and his 

 hospitable board spread with good cheer, although 

 it was past midnight. After partaking of the sup- 

 per, blankets were furnished us, and we were made 

 exceedingly comfortable for the night. 



In the morning we had a view of the somewhat 

 famous Astoria, which is any thing but what I 

 should wish to describe. Half a dozen log houses, 

 with as many sheds and a pig-sty or two, are all 

 that it can boast of, and even these appear to be 

 rapidly going to decay. 



The Company pay little regard to it, aud the idea 

 of holding or improving it as a post, has long since 

 been given up. The head-quarters of their ope- 

 rations have been removed to Vancouver, eighty 

 miles further up the river, since which Astoria has 

 merely been held for the convenience of their ves- 

 sels. It boasts of but one field, and that was in 

 potatoes, which I can, however, vouch for as being 

 very fine. In former times it had its gardens, 

 forts, and banqueting halls; and from all accounts, 

 when it was the head-quarters of the North-west 

 Company, during their rivalship with the Hudson 



Bay Company, there was as jovial a set residing 

 here, as ever were met together. 



In point of beauty of situation, few places will 

 vie with Astoria. It is situated on the south side 

 of the Columbia river, eleven miles from Cape 

 Disappointment, as the crow flies. From Astoria 

 there is a fine view of the high promontory of 

 Cape Disappointment, and the ocean bounding it 

 on the west ; the Chinook Hills and Point Ellice, 

 with its rugged peak, on the north ; Tongue Point 

 and Katalamet Range on the east ; aud a high 

 background, bristling with lofty pines, to the south. 

 The ground rises from the river gradually to the 

 top of a ridge five hundred feet in elevation. This 

 was originally covered with a thick forest of pines: 

 that part reclaimed by the first occupants is again 

 growing up in brushwood. From all parts of the 

 ground the broad surface of the river is in view. 

 The stillness is remarkable, and makes it evident 

 that one is yet far removed from civilized life : the 

 distant though distinct roar of the ocean is the 

 only sound that is heard : this, however, is almost 

 incessant ; for the stream, though rushing onwards 

 in silence to meet the ocean, keeps up an eternal 

 war with it on the bar, producing at times scenes 

 of extraordinary grandeur. 



The Columbia, opposite to Astoria, is four miles 

 wide, but in the middle of the river is an extensive 

 sand-bar, with only a few feet water on it, and at 

 extreme low tides it is bare : the channel is very 

 narrow on each side, and difficult to navigate. At 

 Astoria there is only space for a dozen vessels to 

 lie at anchor, and it would therefore be difficult to 

 accommodate any extensive trade. The point of 

 land extends about half a mile below its site, 

 where Young's river joins the Columbia, and 

 forms a bay. 



Our guide, Plumondon, an expert trapper, in- 

 formed me that the country lying north of the 

 Columbia, between the Cowlitz and Cape Disap- 

 pointment, is generally rough and rugged, with 

 numerous streams of water, and in many places a 

 rich soil : it is extremely well timbered, and is ca- 

 pable, when cleared, of growing grain, and other 

 agricultural produce. 



I witnessed the Columbia at its greatest and 

 least heights, and no idea can be formed of it 

 unless seen at both these epochs. The flood is a 

 very grand sight from the banks of the river at 

 Vancouver, as it passes swiftly by, bearing along 

 the gigantic forest trees, whose immense trunks 

 appear as mere chips. They frequently lodge for 

 a time, in which case others are speedily caught 

 by them, which, obstructing the flow of the water, 

 form rapids, until by a sudden rush the whole is 

 borne off to the ocean, and in time lodged by the 

 currents on some remote and savage island, to 

 supply the natives with canoes. I also witnessed 

 the undermining of large trees on the banks, and 

 occasional strips of soil: thus does the river yearly 

 make inroads on its banks, and changes in its 

 channels. 



From the circumstance of this annual inunda- 

 tion of the river prairies, they will always be unfit 

 for husbandry, yet they are admirably adapted for 

 grazing, except during the periods of high water. 

 There is no precaution that can prevent the inroad 

 of the water. At Vancouver they were at the 

 expense of throwing up a long embankment of 

 earth, but without the desired effect. It has been 



