Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/124



society. This, however, did not recommend him to the free-handed trapper and pioneer, or the straight-coated missionary ; but rather otherwise ; and he was subjected to groundless suspicions from the company he kept. Dr. McLoughlin, head man of the Hudson's Bay Company furnished Wilkes and his part}' with a comfortable boat, well provisioned and men to man and propel it, for a trip up the AVillamette river to see the great valley and its settlers and missions. At the AVillamette Falls the distinguished party was most hospitably entertained by Rev. A. F. AA'^aller (the man of the old gray hat and for long years agent of the Willamette University) and his charming wife, who played the part of cook and hostess equal to any city lady. After the dinner, all hands repaired to the "Falls" then in all their natural beauty unmarred by the hideous work of paper mill plutocrats in their rage for more money, and there witnessed the native Indian spearing the salmon as he had done for uncounted centuries. Proceeding up the Willamette the Wilkes party was entertained again at old Champoeg by William Johnson, one of the Champoeg heroes of 1843. Johnson had an Indian woman for a wife which Wilkes declared to be worth six civilized wives ; and notwithstanding everj'thing was very raw and crude, Wilkes was soon on the most familiar terms in Johnson's cabin, for Johnson himself had formerly been a "Man of War's Man" in the U. S. navy, having fought on the Constitution — "Old Ironsides" — in the War of 1812. Here they left their boats and took to horses, provided bj^ the settlers eager to show Wilkes everything and proceeded by land over the open prairies up the valley, and made their first stop at the Cath- olic Mission of St. Paul, then presided over by Rev. Francis Norbert Blanchet, afterwards the Catholic archbishop of Oregon Cit}'.

From the Catholic mission the Wilkes party extended its trip farther south to the Methodist mission which was then located about twelve miles north of the present eitj' of Salem. Here the party was entertained by Abernethy, Babcock, and other leading Methodists. Proceeding farther south the party visited the flouring mill erected by the Methodists; and from this point they crossed over the Willamette river, near the present village of Wheatland and returned back to the Falls of the Willamette after visiting American settlers in the settlements where now is found old Lafayette, Dayton, McMinnville, Yamhill and Newberg. From the settlers at all these points, and from the Hudson's Bay Company em- ployees, probably not more than forty or fifty white men all told, Wilkes gleaned all the information he could about the country. And while he did not himself see any of the country east of the Cascade mountains, he sent his subordinate, Dray- ton, up the Columbia as far east as Dr. Whitman's mission, to gather all the in- formation possible. Wilkes obtained from Peter Skene Ogden a full description of all the Oregon country east of the Cascade mountains ; and Ogden was at that time the most reliable and best informed man in all the Oregon country as to all its characteristics and resources. In addition to his trip up the Willamette valley, Wilkes made an excursion into the valley of the Cowlitz, going as far as the Hud- son's Bay Company's farms. The only other work done bj' Wilkes Avorthy of mention was a survey of the Columbia river for navigation purposes. The surve.y amounted to nothing in value, although the party had ample means to have charted the river and rendered a great service to Oregon and the country. Beyond this work was a trip into the Yakima country by Lieut. Johnson, and an overland trip to California by Lieutenant Emmons. On all this there was a large sum of goV'