Page:Oregon, her history, her great men, her literature.djvu/114

112 of the "white sail." The heat was so intense at Coos Bay that the Indians were driven into the water for protection.

At the close of the interview, Chief Cutlip's account of the intolerable heat was confimed by Salmon River John another aged Indian who weighed his words carefully as he spoke. He said the fire was so great that the flames leaped across Yaquina Bay, that many of the Indians perished, and that only those were saved who took refuge in the water; and even they suffered much while their heads were exposed to the heat.

'''The Greatest Forest Fire in Oregon. (1848).''' There have been so many destructive fires in the immense forests of Oregon since its first settlement that it is difficult to name the greatest. But there appears to be no doubt that the fire which swept over both the Cascade and the Coast Ranges late in the summer of 1848 covered a wider area and ruined more timber than any other before or since. Then, as now, it was often impossible to trace a forest fire to its actual beginning. But in those days there were numerous bands of Indians roaming the mountains in quest of game; and, doubtless, the fire of 1848, originated through the carelessness of Indian hunters. It was also the practice of the Indians to fire the brush growth, that grass might become plentiful for the wild game. At any rate, the fire of that year was more destructive, in the opinion of those who saw it, than any that has followed. Men are yet living who remember that in eastern MalheurMarion [sic] County in the region of Silver Creek Falls the atmosphere became so hot that it