Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 13.djvu/295



Among the numerous obstacles overcome by the American frontiersmen in the monumental task of building a wagon road across the continent, the last and one of the greatest was the Cascade Mountains. Unlike the Appalachian and Rocky Mountain ranges, the Cascades presented., to the eager eyes of the road hunter, no natural pass. To those who would cross with wagons, two alternatives were presented; first, the narrow gorge through which the swift turbulent Columbia sweeps and second, the range of steep rocky mountain tops which join the white hooded peaks of the Cascades.

The stalwart pioneers who led the first wagon train of American home makers, from the valley of the Mississippi to the falls of the Willamette did not dare, because the season was late and their stock fagged, to try the mountain heights. With rafts and the few available boats, they descended the troubled stream, suffering severely en route from rapids and storms.

The immigration of the next year followed the same route. The stock of both trains were driven over the rough mountain trails into the Willamette Valley.

During the latter days of September, 1845, the third great company of Western immigrants arrived at The Dalles, then the terminus of the wagon road. The old mission station became a great frontier camp. Hundreds of prairie, wagons, large droves of stock and crowds of way-worn people lined the bleak shore of the Columbia.

Their appearance showed the effects of their long overland journey. Part of their number had suffered severe hardship and nearly lost their lives in following an unreliable guide over a supposed "cut-off" through the dry wastes of Eastern Oregon. Some of the travellers were becoming destitute, of pro-