Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/272

 250 Leslie M. Scott June 2. Fine. Proceeded 18 miles S & camped at the traverse at Sam [195] Tomeleaf [?] river. We were de- layed some time in the morning fording a traverse where we camped last night, after which the road lay throgh an extensive plain, very level except place [s] & averag- ing from 5 to 7 miles wide. On our left or E side at a short distance lay first the small channel of the Willamet, then a long narrow lake like a canal & then the river where we camped. And to the W extends the chain of mountains, the first range of rising hills with little wood on them. The soil here is of the same description as that passed three days past, but from being mostly a dead level, considerable portions of it appear to have been under water in the rainy season. And in places the grass seems to be less luxuriant than we have observed hither- to, probably owing to the drought having rendered the ground hard & cracked. Along the banks of the lake some places are swampy. The river here is close to the mountains and runs over a bed of rocks over which there are steep clayey banks. On the E side of the [196] river there are extensive plains. By what we can learn from T. Mouria[?] the Islander the Companion of poor Mourio who was drowned coming Comments June 2. Sam Tomeleaf River was Long Tom River. Camp probably was near the site of Monroe. The day's journey, apparently, followed the route of the later South- ern Pacific Railroad. Michel Laframboise was a French- Canadian voyageur and interpreter who arrived in Ore- gon on the Tonquin and established himself in later years on a farm at French Prairie. See Ross, Oregon Settlers, p. 257 ; Franchere's Narrative, pp. 29-30. In 1833-38 he was attached to the Umpqua expeditions. In 1839 and 1841-43 he was listed on the Bonaventura expedition. He served as guide for the Wilkes party. He is listed as an opponent of the American party at Champoeg in 1843.