Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 15.djvu/20



12 JUDGE WILLIAM C. BROWN

stock and speak very much the same language as the Okano- gans, Chelans, San Foils, etc., and these tribes were all mutual- ly friendly with each other. We also know that the Okano- gans and their neighboring tribes used to frequently visit the coast in the vicinity of the mouth of the Eraser, going thence sometimes by the Methow route and sometimes by the Simil- kameen route. On the coast they would come in contact with the trading ships, or at least with Indians familiar with the white traders from the ships. Thompson does not, however, mention that they had any guns or other articles of civilized manufacture amongst them, and his silence in that regard indicates that they had none.

Now to return to the Stuart party, which we left on July 31st, a short distance below the Dalles or the long narrows as they called the place at that time. On August 5th, they finally got safely over them, but in making the portage, had some trouble with the Indians gathered there. Day by day Ross chronicles the progress of the canoes of the Stuart party up the Columbia. We will not attempt to follow the itinerary of the party day by day. At "Priest Rapids" they picked up an Indian who was a medicine man and he continued with them to the mouth of the Okanogan in charge of their horses, of which they purchased a goodly number at the various Indian camps they encountered along the river. This Indian, Ross constantly refers to as the priest, and says they named the rapids where they got him "Priest Rapids." On the 24th of August, they reached the mouth of the Pisquowsh river, the Wah-na-a-cha of the Lewis & Clark map, the Weriatshapam of the Yakima language or the Wenatchee of today. The name is Piskowish on Thompson's map and appears as Pis- scows on the map of Ross. Here they met Indians in great numbers and the chief, Sopa, made them a present of two horses and they purchased four more, giving for each one yard of print and two yards of red gartering which was so highly prized by the Indians, that horses from all quarters were brought to them, but they declined to buy more. On August 25th, they passed the mouth of the Intyclook, the Entiat of