Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 24.djvu/281

 John Work's Journey to Umpqua River, 1834 259 June 16. Fine. Proceeded down river to below its discharge into the Umquah 9 miles. The river which the road runs along runs through a valley enclosed by hills. Soil fine & clothed with pasturage, grass & clover. The old chief Satarna (opposite to whose house we are en- camped) with several of his people visited us in the even- ing. The hunters had no success. June 17. Fine. Employed most of the day trading with the Indians & traded only 21 large beaver, 2 small do & 5 otters, which I believe is all they have. They are troublesome to deal with. They suppose, or affect to suppose, that they are harder dealt with than usual. News arrived again that Michell & his party were all killed. The Indian who brought this news had heard it from another, who had received the information from [209] a third far off; and again it is stated that our peo- ple have killed 25 more of the Indians. Most probably the whole story is a falsehood. The Umquah here is about 150 yds wide & runs over a rocky bottom of soft slatey rock & is not very deep. A horse can ford it at present. A little below our station, the mountains which are steep & ragged strike close into the river. Where we are en- camped there are a few plains on both sides of the river. The rock on the high ground is a sort of a freestone. June 18. Fine. Returned to our station of the 17th [15th?]. There we met a party of Indians from the head of the Willamet, headed by a man named Charles who Comments June 16. The day's journey ended below the junction of Umpqua River and Calapooya Creek, probably the site of "Umpqua old fort." June 18. Beginning the return, the party journeyed up Calapooya Creek to the camping place of June 15. A person named Charles is mentioned in "Ewing Young and His Estate," Oregon Historical Society Quartely, XXI, 219, 267, 280.