Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/91



THE CENTENNIAL HISTOKV OF OREGON ;{r,

thruuiilioiil llic United States. 'I'he liiiiul)lest oi' its citizens li.-id taken a lively interest in the issue oi" this journey aiul looked forward with iiiipat icncc to the information it would bring." The expedition had ai-i-oniplishccl a Lireat work, for it ojiened the door not only into the far wrst, Imt to the shores ot the j;reat Taeilie, ami laid llir roinidation of n just national claim to all the regions west of the Rocky iiioiintains, lairth of the ('alifoniia line, up to the ixussian posses- sions. There is no othei- I'xpedition like it. oi- cipial to it, iu the history of civ- ilization: and i'Vfiy iiiciiiher of it returned to their homes as heroes of a great historical deetl. The ('resident [irouiptl.v I'cwardcd the two leaders with just recognition, appointing Captain Lewis governoi' cd' Loiiisiaua tcri-itory. and making Captain Clark governor and Indian agent of .Missouri territory. The oidy regretable eircunistanees of the whole great work was the untimely death of Sergeant Floyd, which took place, as before stated, before the expedition- got fairly started on the way. A great monument has been erected to his memory at the location of his burial near Sioux City, Iowa. The only miscarriage of .iustiee was the neglect of the brave and patient little Indian heroine, Sacaja- wea, who received no reward whatever. Both Lewis and Clark, so far as words could go, recognized the great service of the woman to the fullest extent, but gave no reward. The services of Sacajawea were equal to that of any of the whole party, and much greater than those of most of the party. She had not only paddled the canoes, trudged where walking was neeessaiy, and in every event done as much as a man. and that, too, with her infant babe on her back, but she had rendered that greater service which no one else could render — shv. had made friends for the party when they were in dire straits in the mountains, and secured from her tribe assistance in horses and provisions which no other per- son could have commanded, and when in doubt as to what course they should take to reach safety towards the headwaters of the Columbia, Sacajawea pointed out the route through the mountain defiles. And it was left to the noble women of Oregon — and to their great honor they nobly performed the duty— of raising to this Indian benefactress of the great northwest the first and fitting monument to perpetuate her name and unselfish labors — the heroic size bronze statue of the woman at Lewis and Clark exposition, and now standing in the City Park at Portland.

Many persons have entertained the idea, that, with the exception of the leaders, who were educated, and came from distinguished families in old Vir- ginia, the rank and file were rough and inconsequential characters, picked up around St. Louis. This is a great mistake : for they were, nearly all of them, men of great natural force and ability and selected by their leaders be- cause of their inherent force of chai'acter. As the author of this history was pei'- sonally acquainted with one mend)e, of tlie party, and with the family of an- other mendier of the party, the following sketches of them are given as fair samples of the whole force, and which will show the reader what character of men it was that braved the dangers of the unknown wilderness, and risked their lives in the most dangerous and arduous toils to navigate wild streams and scale frowning mountain bai-riei-s to uncover and uuike known to the world this old Oregon of ours.

Patrick (!ass: This mend)er of the Lewis and Clark expedition was un- doubtedly the most vigorous and energetic character of, the entire party; and