PREFACE. VII 



naturally enough, those most easily uttered, by all, except, of course, that objects 

 new to the natives found their names in French or English, and such modifications 

 were made iu pronunciation as suited tongues accustomed to different sounds. Thus 

 the gutturals of the Indians were softened or dropped and the /and ?'of the English 

 and French, to them unpronounceable, were modified iuto jj and I. Grammatical 

 forms were reduced to their simplest expression and variations in mood and tense 

 conveyed only by adverbs or by the context. Tlie language continued to receive 

 additions and assumed a more distinct and settled meaning under the Northwest 

 and Hudson's Bay Companies, who succeeded Astor's party, as well as through the 

 American settlers in Oregon. Its advantage was soon perceived by the Indians, and 

 the Jargon became to some extent a means of communicatiou between natives of 

 different speech as well as between them and the whites. It was even used as such 

 between Americans and Canadians. It was at first most in vogue upon the Lower 

 Columbia and the Willamette, whence it spread to Puget Sound and with the 

 extension of trade found its way far up the coast, as well as the Columbia and 

 Fraser rivers; and there are now few tribes between the 42d and 57th parallels of 

 latitude in which there are not to be found interpreters through its medium. Its 

 prevalence and easy acquisition, while of vast convenience to traders and settlers, 

 has tended greatly to hinder the acquirement of the original Indian languages; so 

 much su that, except by a few missionaries and pioneers, hardly one of them is 

 spoken or understood by white men in all Oregon and Washington Territory. Not- 

 Avithstauding its apparent poverty in number of words and the absence of grammat- 

 ical forms, it possesses ravich more flexibility and power of expression than might be 

 imagined and really serves almost every purpose of ordinary intercourse. 



The numljer of words constituting the Jargon proper has been variously stated. 

 Many formerly employed have become in great measure obsolete, while others have 

 been locally introduced. Thus, at The Dalles of the Columbia, various terms are 

 common which would not be intelligible at Astoria or on Puget Sound. In making 

 the following selectiou, I have included all those which, on reference to a number 

 of vocabularies, I have found current at any of these places, rejecting on the, other 

 hand such as individuals partially acquainted with the native languages have 

 employed for their own convenience. The total number falls a little short of five 

 hundred words. 



This international idiom, as it is called by Mr, Hale, is yet a live 

 language, and, though lapsing into disuse — being superseded by the 

 English — in the land of its birth, is gradually extending along the 

 northwest coast, adding to its vocabulary as it travels, until it has 

 become the means of intertribal communication between the Indians 

 speaking different languages and between them and the white dwellers 

 in British Columbia and portions of Alaska. Indeed, there seems 

 to be almost a revival of the early interest shown in it, if we may judge 

 from the amount of manuscript material relating to it now being made 

 ready to put into print. 



One of the most curious and interesting of all the curious attempts 

 which have been made to instruct and benefit the Indians by means of 

 written characters, is that known as the Kamloops Wawa, a periodical 

 described herein at some length under the name of its founder, Pere 

 Le Jeune. Written in an international language, " set up" in steno- 

 graphic characters, and printed on a mimeograph by its inventor, 

 editor, reporter, printer, and publisher all in one, this little weekly 

 seems to leave nothing in the way of novelty to be desired. The account 



