Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 19/Number 4 News and Comment
NEWS AND COMMENT
By Leslie M. Scott.
FIRST ROADS ACROSS CASCADE MOUNTAINS
Ox-team pioneers found the Cascade Mountains the worst obstacle in their journey to Oregon. The Columbia River gorge through the mountains was too difficult, dangerous and costly a route for transport of families, wagons and cattle. The opening of the Barlow Road south of Mount Hood, in 1845-46, afforded an avenue of transit, although full of hardship. Next came the Scott–Applegate road between Rogue River and Klamath Lake, in 1846, and then the Naches Road to Puget Sound and the Middle Fork Road of Willamette River, both in 1853.
An article by Professor W. D. Lyman, of Whitman College, entitled "The First Roads Across the Cascade Mountains," appearing in The Walla Walla Union of December 15, 1918, suggests this brief review of mountain highway beginnings in the Pacific Northwest. Professor Lyman does not mention the Southern Oregon road of 1846 or the Middle Fork road of 1853, although their hardships and achievements fully equalled those of the Barlow Road and the Naches trail. It is pleasing to note that Professor Lyman gives a full measure of praise to Joel Palmer for leadership in the Barlow Road enterprise of 1845. Palmer went ahead of the Barlow party to lay out the route and did this work with perseverance and precision. His energy took him high up the steeps of Mount Hood to view the mountain contours, in this venture being probably the first precursor of the present-day Mazama mountain climbers. Viewing with alarm the rapid approach of Winter (October, 1845), he pressed the party forward without the wagons and brought to it relief supplies which Willamette Valley settlers had provided. This recognition of Palmer does not disparage the work of Samuel K. Barlow, the organizer of the main party and the chief builder of the road. And it may be important here to record the name of the man who drove the first ox-team and wagon over the route in the Summer of 1846, Reuben Gant, later of Yamhill County, who died December 6, 1916, at Philomath, Benton County, where he had lived for many years.
Professor Lyman's narrative is largely that of Palmer's Journal of Travel Over the Rocky Mountains. His narrative of the Naches trail party of 1853 is chiefly that of George H. Himes, a member of the party.
We assume that, had Professor Lyman's space permitted, he would have included in his review the Southern Oregon and the Middle Fork roads.
NARRATIVES OF THE "SOUTHERN" ROUTE
The "southern" route to Rogue River Valley, first opened in 1846, is well described in the narrative of Tolbert Carter, a member of that year's migration, and in the extant journal of the Stearns party of 1853. The Carter narrative appears in the published Transactions of the Oregon Pioneer Association for 1906; the Stearns journal has recently come in possession of the Oregon Historical Society, amplified by Orson A. Stearns of Corvallis, Oregon, who was ten years old at the time of the journey. These narratives are probably the best extant records of the "southern" route. The Carter narrative shows much severer hardships than the Stearns diary of seven years later.
A BARLOW ROAD MONUMENT
Dedication of a Barlow Road monument at Rhododendron, made July 4, 1918, by Multnomah Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, should have been mentioned in the preceding issue of The Quarterly. This monument consists of a stone, inscribed with a bronze tablet, "The Oregon Trail, 1845." The site is near the confluence of Zig Zag and Sandy Rivers, thirteen miles below the summit of the Cascade Mountains. Participants in the ceremonies were: Mrs. John A. Keating, regent of Multnomah Chapter; Rev. E. E. Gilbert, of Oregon City; W. H. H. Dufur, formerly president of the Oregon Pioneer Association; George H. Himes, secretary of that association and curator of the Oregon Historical Society; Mrs. James N. Davis, past regent of Multnomah Chapter, who read a congratulatory letter of Leslie M. Scott; Mrs. A. H. Breyman, vice-regent, who read a brief statement of her daughter, Mrs. O. M. Ash, regarding selection of the site; Mrs. Mary Barlow Wilkins, past regent, who made the principal address of the occasion; Mrs. Nieta Barlow Lawrence, granddaughter of Mr. Barlow. Imogene Harding Brodie, great-granddaughter, both of Oregon City, who led the singing; little Miss Madeline Brodie, great-great granddaughter of Mr. Barlow, who unveiled the monument; Mrs. Emily Lindsley Ross, of Portland, state historian of the D. A. R., who represented the state organization in the exercises.
One other monument of stone and a bronze tablet marks the Barlow Road, at Abernethy Creek near Oregon City, dedicated October 13, 1917, by Willamette Chapter, D. A. R., of Oregon City. For further details of these markers and of others erected by the D. A. R., in memory of pioneers in Oregon and Washington, see The Quarterly, September, 1917, Vol. XVIII., pp. 225-26.
"FIRST" ASCENT OF MOUNT RAINIER
This honor has been commonly accredited to Hazard Stevens and Philemon B. Van Trump, who scaled the peak August 17, 1870 (narrative in The Oregonian, July 16, 1905, p. 39), but several recorded ascents were made prior to the Stevens–Van Trump expedition in 1870. Dr. William Fraser Tolmie, together with four Indians and horses and pack animals, climbed up the north side in September, 1833. Again in 1852 Colonel Shaw and others ascended the mountain. Colonel Shaw related the episode to Mr. Himes some fifteen years ago. Mr. Himes says that Colonel Shaw related that no other point seemed higher than the one on the mountain where the party stood. An account of this expedition of 1852 is contained in the Columbian, Olympia, Puget's Sound, O. T., September 18, 1852, as follows:
"About four weeks ago, a party of young men, consisting of Messrs. R. S. Bailey, Sidney S. Ford, Jr., and John Edgar undertook an expedition to Mt. Rainier, for the purpose of ascending that mountain as far as circumstances might warrant. Rainier, as all are aware, is situated in the main Cascade range, distant from its base to Olympia about 55 miles. On arriving at the foot of the mountain the party secured their animals, and pursued their way upward by the backbone ridge to the main body of the mountain, and to the height of as near as they could judge, of nine or ten miles the last half mile over snow of a depth probably of fifty feet, but perfectly crusted and solid. The party were two days in reaching their highest altitude, and they described the mountain as extremely rugged, and difficult of ascent; on the slopes and table land they found a luxuriant growth of grass, far exceeding in freshness and vigor any afforded by the prairies below. On some of these table lands they found beautiful lakes—from a half to a mile in circumference formed from mountain streams, and the melting of snow. The party remained at their last camp, upward, two days and two nights, where they fared sumptuously on the game afforded by the mountains, which they found very numerous, in the shape of brown bear, mountain goat, deer, etc., with an endless variety of the feathered genus; the side of the mountain was literally covered with every description of berries, of the most delicious flavor.
"The party had a perfect view of the Sound and surrounding country—recognizing the numerous prairies with which they were familiar, to which were added in their observations, several stranger prairies, of which they had no knowledge, and which, probably, have never been explored. The evenings and mornings were extremely cold, with wind strong and piercing the noonday sun oppressively warm.
"They describe their view of the surrounding country and scenery as most enchanting, and consider themselves richly rewarded for their toil in procuring it. This is the first party of whites, we believe, that has ever attempted to ascend Rainier.
"Not being provided with instruments for taking minute observations, and there being a constant fog and mist along the range of mountains, the party were unable to make any very satisfactory discoveries in relation to a practicable route across them; yet Mr. Ford informs us, that he noticed several passes at intervals through the mountains, which, as far as he could see, gave satisfactory evidence that a good route could be surveyed, and a road cut through with all ease."
This was before a road had been opened across Cascade Mountains north of Columbia River. The Naches Pass route was opened next year in 1853. While doubt has been raised as to whether these climbers of 1852 reached the summit, it is fair to interpret the testimony in a literal sense and assume that they climbed to the topmost elevation. Mount Rainier is difficult and laborious to climb, but the feat was within the prowess of the early pioneers, and they were not the kind of men to attempt the feat without making it successful and complete.
A celebration in honor of the Stevens ascent was held near Paradise Inn on the eve of the forty-eighth anniversary of the event, August 17, 1918. General Stevens was present and related the ascent made by Van Trump and himself in 1870. Other participants were William P. Bonney, secretary of the Washington State Historical Society, Edmond S. Meany and O. B. Sperlin. Next day an anniversary ascent was led up the mountain by Mr. Sperlin. BROSNAN'S HISTORY OF IDAHO
A brief and rapid narrative, entitled History of the State of Idaho, and written for school reading by C. J. Brosnan, superintendent of schools of Nampa, is one of the year's notable publications of the Pacific Northwest. This book of some 230 pages is not only a history of the growth of the commonwealth but also a description of topography, resources and industries. Topical arrangement is unusually good, condensation is skilfully accomplished and dry-as-dust recital is properly avoided. The author has steered clear of pioneer prejudices such as those involved in controversies about the Hudson's Bay Company, Whitman, the missionaries, treatment of Indians, etc. As a good chronicler he has carefully withheld his own personality from the pages. His chapters on geological history and physical contours are especially interesting; also those on the Indians and their wars, the fur traders and the western trails. He recognizes the work of Roman Catholics, Protestants and Mormons without prejudice. As life in the mining camps started the real progress of the inland country that subject is appropriately treated in a special chapter. The cattle days and the sheep era, as distinctive periods of progress, are faithfully portrayed.
Professor Brosnan received much aid and suggestion from contemporaries and it is unfortunate that mention of them by name was omitted in the preface. It is understood, however, that this omission will be corrected in the next edition. The author worked hard for accuracy and cast away pride of composition to rewrite the book in many parts so as to conform with ideas of his critics and to meet his own changes of view. A criticism that may be expected is that the author should have served a longer time in the historical vineyard before assuming the authority of a historian, but, on the whole, he has done his work well and produced the best short history of Idaho yet written, a pleasant contrast to the customary histories of reminiscence. The book is published by Charles Scribner's Sons. DEATH OF HAZARD STEVENS
Hazard Stevens, who died at Goldendale, Washington, October 11, 1918, was a distinguished son of a distinguished father. He rose to the rank of brigadier-general in the Civil War at the age of twenty-three years. His two volumes, Life of General Isaac I. Stevens, besides being a laudable tribute to his father, the first governor of Washington Territory, are a highly valuable contribution to the history of the Pacific Northwest. Hazard Stevens was not only a soldier and author, but also a lawyer, a business man and a farmer, possessing recognized merits, in all these activities. His Cloverfields Farm, near Olympia, contains a model dairy. He was president of the Olympia Light & Power Company. He had served in the house of representatives of Massachusetts. A poem written in his honor by Professor Edmond S. Meany, of the University of Washington, entitled "General Hazard Stevens," was dedicated to the class of 1917 on Junior day, May 6, 1916. The funeral took place at Cloverfields Farm, Ocotber 16, 1918. It was attended by the Thurston County Pioneer and Historical Society, of which the deceased was an active member, and by officers of the Washington State Historical Society, of which he was vice-president. Professor Meany delivered the eulogy.
General Stevens' death followed five days after the dedication of the monument to Andrew J. Bolon, near Goldendale, October 6, 1918. As vice-president of the Washington Historical Society, General Stevens delivered an address in honor of Bolon, but spoke with difficulty, and alarmed his friends with signs of approaching sickness. Next day he suffered a stroke of paralysis. The body was buried at Newport, Rhode Island, beside those of his father and mother.
MONUMENTS TO ANDREW J. BOLON
Two monuments in honor of Andrew Jackson Bolon, Indian agent among the Yakimas under Governor Stevens in 1855, were unveiled Sunday, October 6—one at the scene of Bolon's murder by Indians September 22, 1855, 24 miles from Goldendale, the other at a conspicuous crossroads near the place of the tragedy, some 19 miles from Goldendale. Bolon had investigated Indian depredations in the Yakima country and was returning to The Dalles when he was killed probably for the purpose of destroying evidences that would have led to punishment of friends or kin of the Indians who were accompanying him. Bolon's body, his horse and personal effects were burned. Aged Indians have pointed out the scene of the tragedy. Bolon was well liked by the Yakimas, and General Hazard Stevens, in his dedication address, said Bolon was their best friend among the whites. The Washington State Historical Society conducted the exercises.
DIARIES OF MATTHEW P. DEADY