Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/70

 62 Soilttn I'll ///.v/o/'/Vv// Son'rfi/ I'll fit />.

steamer " Columbia," bound for Astoria, Oregon. Among the pas- sengers were my Uncle John Adair and his oldest daughter, Capt. George B. McClellan, U. S. A., Major Larned, U. S. A., and several other officers of the army, besides two companies of the - infantry. [I thintk the 4th. E. A. A.] After passing the bar at the mouth of the Columbia a reckoning was taken between my wife and myself of the state of finances. It was ascertained that the sum total on hand was exactly one dollar ! [Paper money would not pass on that coast. E. A. A.] It would not pay for landing our trunks at Astoria, which place was then in* sight and was our present destination. I threw the dollar into the raging Columbia and began to whistle to keep my courage up. An officer came on deck whom I had not seen at the table or elsewhere during the voy- age. He inquired if Colonel Anderson was in the crowd. I replied and introduced myself to him. He made himself known as Lieut. Rufus Saxon, U. S. A., and said he had left New York on the steamer that came out a fortnight after I had left New Orleans, and that he had an official communication for me from the Secretary of the Interior, at the same time handing me a paper in a large official envelope. Taking it in my hand I began to deposit it in my coat pocket without breaking the seal, when he requested that I would open it and see whether he had brought it and contents safely to hand. On opening it I found it contained instructions for me as United States marshal to proceed at once to take a census of the in- habitants of the new Territory of Washington, and also a Treas- ury draft for a thousand dollars, to defray my expenses in the work ! This was a piece of good fortune in the nick of time, for in two min- utes more the steamer dropped her anchor off the city of Astoria, and soon we disembarked. My wife remained at the house of our uncle at Astoria and I started in a few days to Puget Sound to commence the official labors assigned me. I reached Olympia on the 4th of fuly and on the 5th started through the Territory to take the census. The only mode of travel then known in the country was by canoe with Indians as watermen or on foot. For two months I was con- stantly engaged in this way, frequently walking as much as twenty- five miles per day, and carrying my blanket, provisions, and papers on my back. My health was already robust and the work was a pleasure.

On completing the census, my wife accompanied me in a canoe, &c., up the Cowlitz river to Olympia, where the capital of the Territory was likely to be established and where I had determined to settle. At