Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/125

Rh found their animals so reduced, that they concluded to abandon their two wagons, and Dr. Newell accepted them for his services as guide. In a letter from the Doctor, he says: 'At the time I took the wagons, I had no idea of undertaking to bring them into this country. I exchanged fat horses to these missionaries for their animals, and after they had gone a month or more for Willamette and the American Fur Company had abandoned the country for good, I concluded to hitch up and try the much-dreaded job of bringing a wagon to Oregon. I sold one of those wagons to Mr. Ermatinger at Fort Hall. Mr. Caleb Wilkins had a small wagon which Joel Walker had left at Fort Hall. On the 5th of August, 1840, we put out with three wagons. Joseph L, Meek drove my wagon. In a few days we began to realize the difficulty of the task before us, and found that the continual crashing of the sage under our wagons, which was in many places higher than the mules' backs, was no joke. Seeing our animals begin to fail, we began to light up, finally threw away our wagon beds, and were quite sorry we had undertaken the job. All the consolation we had was that we broke the first sage on that road, and were too proud to eat anything but dried salmon skins after our provisions had become exhausted. In a rather rough and reduced state, we arrived at Dr. Whitman 's mission station in the Walla Walla Valley, where we were met by that hospitable man, and kindly made welcome and feasted accordingly. On hearing me regret that I had undertaken to bring wagons, the Doctor said, "O, you will never regret it. You have broken the ice, and when others see that wagons have passed they too will pass, and in a few years the valley will be full of our people." The Doctor shook me heartily by the hand; Mrs. Whitman too welcomed us, and the Indians walked around the wagons, or what they called "horse canoes," and seemed to give it up. We spent a day or so with the Doctor and then went to Fort Walla Walla, where we were kindly received by Mr. P. C. Pambrum, chief trader of Hudson's Bay Company, superintendent of that post. On the first of October we took leave of those kind people, leaving our wagons and taking the river trail—but we proceeded slowly. * * *

We are further told by Bancroft, that in 1841, Dr. Newell returned and took his wagon down the Columbia, so that it was absolutely the first American wagon to reach the Willamette Valley from across the plains and mountains.