Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 1.djvu/195

Rh "No," they confessed, "that is too far for us."

Then he answered, "I can see what you do not." By which one of the women was so impressed with the strength of his sight that she immediately wished to swap eyes, and he promptly accepted the proposition; as a result of which he could see even better than before, while she became blind. He then transformed her, for her folly, into a snail, which even to this day feels its way along the ground.

The following are some of the Tallapus stories, which Labonte remembers, found in the Willamette Valley:

According to the Calapooyas, who occupied this valley from near the Pudding River southward, Tallapus came originally from the Rocky Mountain country and went down the Columbia River, and thence southward along the coast and finally over the coast mountains into the Willamette Valley; though his exact birthplace or origin is still a matter of doubt.

Arriving by the Willamette River, he found the tribes of that region in very unhappy circumstances; chiefly from the absence of any good place for catching fish, and also, owing to the depredations of certain gigantic skookums. In order to remedy the first evil, he determined to make a fall in the Willamette River where the salmon would collect and be easily captured. He found a place at the mouth of Pudding River, the Indian name of which is Hanteuc, and here he began erecting the barrier, but finding it not suitable, went further down, leaving only a small riffle. At Rock Island, he began in earnest, but upon further investigation found this also unsuitable, and leaving here a strong rapid, went down to the present site of the Willamette Falls, where he completed his task and made the magnificent cataract