Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 14.djvu/391



REMINISCENCES OF CAPT. W. P. GRAY 351

"After sizing up the boat and its equipment, I didn't blame Captain Jones for disappearing. However, I had promised them to make the attempt, and I did n't intend to back out. You know they say, 'A poor workman always quarrels with his tools/ so I decided to do the best I could under the circum- stances.

"At Priest Rapids we attempted to lay a line along the shore and fasten it above the lower riffle and attach it to the boat below. I found we couldn't carry the line clear of submerged reefs. The only thing I could do was to sink a dead man to fasten to, so as to pull the steamer over the lower riffle. To do this it was necessary to lay the line down through a rough channel between the reefs. It was a dangerous proposition, and if the small boat was encumbered with the extra line the probability was that the men who were not experienced would be drowned. I decided to make a test trip. I put men enough in the boat to weigh about the same as a line. I had the mate put out extra boats to pick us up below the rapids if we cap- sized. Naturally, I didn't tell the crew of the boat I expected to capsize. After completing the placing of the dead man I ordered the crew I had selected into the small boat, telling them I wished to make a trip across the channel to see if there wasn't a better place to ascend on that side. After ordering the men to take their places, I took the bow of the skiff, shoved it into the current, stood on the shore myself, and held to the stern until it swung across the current, and then jumped in and caught up the steering oar. I ordered the men to row hard, and I headed her for the rapids.

"A Dane named C. E. Hanson, who was one of my deck- hands, but who has since been made captain of a steamer on the upper Columbia, and who is now in charge of the gov- ernment work of improving the Okanogan river, gave me a steady and resolute look, braced himself and began to pull at his oar. I had picked out a Frenchman who was used to raft- ing driftwood, and who I thought had unlimited nerve. He dropped his oar and began praying and crying: Trenchy will surely die. He is going over Priest Rapids.' It seems that his