Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/38

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EPOCH I
35

was explored by General Joel Palmer, soon after arriving upon his first visit to Oregon in 1845. The ascent of Mount Hood was made (1854) by Judge Cyrus Olney, Major Granville O. Haller, U. S. A., Thomas J. Dryer, Wells Lake, Captain T. O. Travailot, Samuel K. Barlow, and an Indian guide. In August, 1867, the first white women ascended the mountain. They were the Misses Fannie Case, Mary Robinson, and Lucy Hay. Although prior to 1845 it was regarded an impossibility to ascend Mount Hood, the summit has come to be the annual playground of the Oregon Mazamas and other mountain climbers.

Naming the Columbia River. The Columbia River has been known by various names. It was called "Wauna" by the Indians." The Spaniards called it "La Roque" (or La Roc), from the cape near the entrance of the river into the ocean. It was then known as "Thegayo" and later as "Rio de Aguilar." But the Americans first thought of it as the "River of the West." Jonathan Carver, as early as 1778; referred to it as the "Oregon," a name which it is believed he heard while among the Indians near the Great Lakes.Afterwards it was called the "Columbia" by Captain Gray, in honor of the good ship that first sailed upon its waters.