Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/121

 Alexander Henry, of the English party, came to Astoria November 15, 1813. In his journal he has minutely described the conditions then existing here. He visited the Willamette country, of which he has given a description; in one way or another he mentions every man in the country at that time, and, moreover, he made a special catalogue of their names. His journal terminates abruptly, with an unfinished sentence May 21, 1814. On the following day he was drowned in going from "Fort George" to the ship Isaac Todd, which was lying in the river below. Donald McTavish. one of the old proprietors of the Northwest Company, and five boatmen were drowned at the same time.

Incomparable among those who have contributed to the literature of this time is Irving; but the historical element in his "Astoria" is overlaid on almost every page by the romantie. He is everywhere on the borderland of romance, when not wholly within its realm. But the art is of so high quality, simple and unobtrusive, that the reader scarcely suspects the narrative, which is true, indeed, in its outline, and apparently the perfection of truth, from the way it appeals to the imagination, through the attractive dress in which it is presented. Irving's story is an epic. Of his tale of the journey of the overland party of the Astor expedition, an appreciative reviewer has said: "No story of travel is more familiar to the public than the tale told by Irving of this adventure, because none is more readable as a tale founded on fact. The hardships and sufferings of the undisciplined mob that struggled across the country were terrible; some deserted, some went mad. some were drowned or murdered, and the survivors reached Astoria in pitiable plight, in separate parties, at different times. This was the second transcontinental expedition through the United States, having been preceded only by that of Lewis and Clark; but to this day no one knows exactly the route. Irving plies his golden pen elastically, and from it flows wit and humor, stirring scene and startling incident, character to the life; but he never tells us where these people went, perhaps for the simple reason that he never knew.