Page:The Pacific Monthly, volumes 5 and 6.djvu/440

4 found it to be what he called 'Cape Disappointment,' and the opening south of it 'Deception Bay.' This was found to be in latitude 46 degrees, 19 minutes. The sea had now changed from natural to river-colored water, the probable consequence of some stream falling into the bay. Not considering this open- ing worthy of our attention, I continued our pursuit to the northwest, being desirous to embrace the advantages of the now prevailing breezes and pleasant weather so favorable to examination of the coast."

So Vancouver, as Meares had done be- fore him, lost the greatest opportunity of life; lost the honor and distinction of finding and naming the second largest river in North America. And so England lost an empire.

Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, in the ship Columbia, had only a few days before Vancouver been off the mouth of the river, and spent nine days in trying to enter it, but owing to light wind and the strong outflow of the river's current, he was unable to get in. About two weeks after Vancouver had left the mouth of the river on his northwest journey Gray returned and entered the river without any trouble, thus securing to himself the honor of making the discovery and to the United States the empire that England lost by Vancouver's want of discretion and perseverance.

Captain Gray ran so close into the bar that he could plainly see the channel from his masthead. So enormous is the dis- charge of water and so plainly marked is the channel of the Columbia that no storm can make its waters so rough that its channel cannot be easily distinguished from any point from which it might be seen.

Captain Heceta, the first discoverer, had a far better understanding and a clearer conception of the place than either Meares or Vancouver. He knew from the strong current and great eddies the place was the mouth of some great river, or an entrance to another sea. Both Meares and Vancouver went there with all the information that He- ceta's charts had thrown on the subject, yet each, after a careful examination of the place, went away believing there was

nothing there worthy of their attention. Vancouver plainly saw the sea discolored by river water, but very unwisely concluded that it was "in consequence of some small river falling into the bay."

From the date of Gray's discovery down for many years but few ships entered the Columbia. In 1806 the Clatsop Indians gave to Lewis and Clark the names of some eight or ten captains of ships who had visited the Columbia. Of course, there were no pilots, each captain having to find his way in. In 1811, when Captain Thorne, with Mr. Astor's ship Tonquin, approached the mouth of the river, he made the same mistake that Meares and Vancouver had made by standing too far off shore. He hove to "three leagues off the bar as the water seemed to be breaking clear across the mouth of the river." He manned a small whaleboat with five men and dispatched her to find and sound the channel. On the following day his ship had drifted so close in to the bar that the man at the masthead saw the channel and she came in. This performance on the part of Captain Thorne was as cruel, stupid and foolish as had been his career in general from the day he left New York until its tragic close, when, by his gross carelessness and unwise conduct, he so needlessly allowed the savages of Puget Sound to slaughter himself and his crew.

For many years after 1811 there was but little traffic in the Columbia. As the business of the Hudson Bay Company increased they had two or three ships making regular trips, but during all those years there is no record of any pilot at the bar. The company kept among their servants some one who was capable of piloting their vessels in and out. Along in the '30s they had in their service a Kanaka who sometimes acted as pilot. But there was not business enough at the mouth of the river for one pilot until about 1847. Alexander Lottie was among the first, if not the first, pilot on the bar. He was also a river pilot, and took the Hudson Bay Company's ships up to Vancouver. As near as I can learn he came to Astoria some time from 1825 to 1830. After that. company became pretty well established on the Co-