[81]. The Kalapuya, an isolated family, were once a numerous people dwelling at the falls of the Willamette. In 1841 they numbered less than five hundred, and by the middle of the century were practically extinct. In civilization they occupied a middle position between the wandering tribes of the interior and the debased Indians of the coast. It is impossible to reconcile the names of the Kalapuya tribes given by Ross with other lists of lower Willamette Indians. He alone extends the Kalapuya to its mouth, while Lewis and Clark, Morse (Report to the Secretary of War, Washington, 1822), and Hale (United States Exploring Expedition, Philadelphia, 1846, vol. vi) confine them to the falls, and place Chinook tribes below that point.—Ed.
[82]. For an account of this chief, see Franchère, note 51.—Ed.
[83]. This is the Umpqua, the largest river between the Sacramento and the Columbia. It rises in the Cascade Range and empties into the Pacific Ocean about two hundred and twenty-five miles south of the Columbia. The fur-trading post Fort Umpqua, was on the southern bank about forty miles from the ocean.—Ed.
[84]. Joseph Gervais, a French Canadian, came to Astoria with Captain Hunt in 1811. After the abandonment of that post, he became a “free trapper,” and married the daughter of a Clatsop chief. Desiring a more settled life, in 1828 he selected a place on the Willamette, a short distance below the present Salem, and raised wheat. A few years later other French Canadians, retired Hudson’s Bay clerks, became farmers along the Willamette and the district became known as French Prairie. Gervais took an active part in establishing the provisional government of Oregon in 1843. He became prosperous, and lived on French Prairie until his death (1861) at the age of eighty-four years.—Ed.
[85]. For further information regarding Baranoff and the Russian settlements, see Franchère, note 93.—Ed.
[86]. A brief account of Sitka will be found in Franchère, note 68. Sitka and New Archangel were identical. Sitka was destroyed by the Indians in 1802 and in 1804 a post called New Archangel, was built at the same place. It is situated on Sitka Sound, Baranoff Island, in latitude 57° north. St. Paul is on the north-east shore of Kadiak Island, off the coast of Alaska, in latitude 58°.—Ed.
[87]. Astor felt that he had been cheated in the transfer of Astoria, and charged McDougal with betraying his interests. See his letter to John Quincy Adams, January, 1823, in Lyman, History of Oregon, ii, pp. 298–301; also Irving, Astoria, chap. 29. Astor stated that McDougal sold the entire property for about $58,000, less the wages due the men; that beaver was sold for two dollars and otter for fifty cents a skin, both of which were at the time worth five or six dollars each in Canton, China. Altogether he considered the property worth nearly $200,000 above the sum received. Bancroft defends McDougal at length—History of North-west Coast, ii, pp. 221–230. Admitting that the property was sold at a loss, he contends McDougal was justified in thinking Astoria could not be maintained, and that it was better to get what he could for Astor, before fort and furs were captured by a British ship of war.—Ed.
[88]. For a brief discussion of Franchère’s attitude toward the North West Company, see the preface to volume vi of our series.—Ed.
[89]. Michel Laframboise came to Oregon on the “Tonquin.” When Astoria was transferred to the British, he entered the service of the North West Company, and throughout the remainder of his life was with them and the Hudson’s Bay Company. He obtained a small piece of property on French Prairie, but his restless disposition was unsuited to farming. In his later years he conducted exploring parties through the country between the Columbia and California, serving as Captain Wilkes’s guide in 1841.—Ed.
[90]. A brief sketch of John McDonald is given in Franchère, note 104.—Ed.