378 



COLUMBIA OR OREGON. 



principal or J^orthern Fork rises near the heads of the Colorado, and is the great southern 

 route of the trappers and traders across the mountains ; wagons have been carried through from 

 Missouri to Lewis's River by tliis route, which follows up the valley of the Sweet Water or 

 northern branch of the fork. " Two hours' ride," says a traveler, on quitting the Sweet 

 Water, "over a smooth prairie and slight swell, now brought us on to water flowing into the 

 Pacific Ocean ; not, however, as our geographers would lead one to expect, upon the waters 

 of the Columbia, but those of the Colorado of the Gulf of California." 



4. Inhabitants. This region is entirely in the possession of the native tribes, most of whom 

 lead a wandering life, at least during the greater part of the year. Unlike the nomadic hordes 

 of Tartary, they have no domestic animals except the horse and the dog, but they roam in pur- 

 suit of the bison, which is the principal source of subsistence of many of the tribes. The 

 women, however, generally raise some Indian corn. The skins and furs of the wild animals 

 also furnish them an important source of traffic with the whites, who scour all parts of the 

 country. There are several forts or fortified trading-posts of the American Fur Company 

 within its limits ; such are Fort William, on the Nebraska, at the base of the Black Hills ; 

 Fort Union, on the Missouri, 6 miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone ; Fort Mackenzie, 

 near the Great Falls, 600 miles above the mouth of the Yellowstone, and Fort Cass, on the 

 Yellowstone, below the mouth of the Bighorn. 



The country on the lower part of the Missouri is occupied by erratic bands of Sioux, who 

 roam westward to the Bighorn, and to the base of the Rocky Mountains, in pursuit of the 

 bison or buffalo. Higher up are the Cheyennes, and Arickarees or Rees. The Mandans and 

 Minnetarees have lately been exterminated by the smallpox. The Assinaboins, Crees, and 

 Gros Ventres or Big Paunch Indians, north of the Missouri, and the Crows or Upsarokas of 

 the Yellowstone, pursue a wandering life without any fixed place of residence ; they live by 

 the chase, and their food is meat, roots, and berries. Their shelters are lodges formed of 

 the raw skins of elks and buflaloes ; they are generally well supplied with horses, and travel 

 and hunt entirely on horseback ; they raise no horses themselves, but supply themselves by 

 robbing and stealing from the whites, and from other tribes of Indians. The Blackfeet roam 

 and hunt on both sides of the mountains, and of the northern frontier. 



CHAPTER XL. COLUMBIA OR OREGON. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. The region extending westward from the Rocky Mountains, 

 and known by the name of the great river which drains it, is claimed by the United States and 

 Great Britain. The former rest their claim on priority of discovery, exploration, and occu- 

 pation, and on cession by Spain. The Columbia was first entered by the ship Columbia from 

 Boston, Captain Gray, in 1792 ; and in 1S05, Lewis and Clarke descended from its heads to 

 the sea, and built a fort at its mouth. By a convention between the United States and Rus- 

 sia, in 1824, it was agreed, that the latter power should not extend its settlements south of 54° 

 40' north latitude, and by treaty between the United States and Spain, in 1819, the Mexican 

 boundary beyond the mountains, was fixed along the parallel of 42'^ north. This treaty is 

 considered as equivalent to a cession of the Spanish claims to the United States, and it is con- 

 tended by the latter power, that Spain alone, of the European powers, had a rightful claim, 

 founded on discovery, to this region. Great Britain, however, makes pretensions to at least a 

 part of this tract, and the area belonging to the United States must depend upon the settle- 

 ment of the question, whether the northern boundary shall be fixed in 54° 40', or at some oth- 

 er less remote point. The British have proposed to fix it on the parallel of 49° from the 

 mountains to the Columbia, and thence down that river to the sea ; and the Americans have 

 offered to adopt that parallel from the mountains to the ocean as their northern limit, but neith- 

 er power has accepted the proposal of the other. The whole tract caimed by the United 

 States is about 850 miles in length, from north to south, and from 700 to 400 miles in breadth, 

 with an area of upwards of 350,000 square miles ; if limited to the parahel of 49°, the length 

 would be nearly 500 miles, the area about 250,000 square miles. 



2. Mountains. Face of the Countrxj. One of the most striking features of this region is 

 the huge mass of mountains that occupies a considerable portion of its surface. The Rocky 

 Mountains., sometimes called the Chippeu-ayan^ or the Stony Mountains, consist of several 

 parallel ridges, running nearly northwest and southeast, and of numerous transverse chains, 

 shooting off eastwardly and westvvardly into the lofty plains that spread out at their base. Both 



