Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 12.djvu/177

FIRST-BORN ON OREGON TRAIL 169 Note i. That the route taken by Hunt's party along this portion of their journey has been hitherto uncertain is seen by (1) the map published by the U. S. Dept. of the Interior. "Showing routes of principal explorers," etc., from data prepared by Frank Bond, chief clerk, by I. B. Berthong, chief of drafting division. This map locates routes of "Hunt (Astor) party, 1810-12," through the Wallowa country. (2) Quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, March, 1910, "History of the Oregon Counties," etc., by Frederick V. Holman, p. 59. Speaking of the route of Hunt's party : "On the way from the Snake River to the Columbia, the exact route of the party is not described nor can it be definitely ascertained, but undoubtedly it was through what is now Wal- lowa county, probably south of Wallowa Lake." (3) "The Columbia River," by Wm. D. Lyman of Whitman College, p. 93. In referring to the part of the route after leav- ing Snake River : "In another fortnight the cold and hungry party floundered painfully through the snow across the rugged mountains which lie between what is now known as the Powder River Valley and the Grande Ronde." (4) The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Vol. XXVIII, History of the N. W. Coast, Vol. II, 1800-1846. The History Co., San Francisco, 1886, p. 189: "They were now on Snake River, near where was subsequently old Fort Boise." Note 2. The identification of Baker Valley as the "Fine level valley" reached December 28th, 1811. The valley reached December 30th and in which the Hunt party spent New Year's Day, was undoubtedly the Grande Ronde and is so identified by Lyman in "The Columbia River," p. 94: "Thither hastening eagerly they soon found themselves in a beautiful valley, which from the description must have been the Grande Ronde Valley."