[163] Joel P. Walker was a brother of Joseph R. Walker (see note 46, ante, p. 70). Of Virginian birth he removed at an early age to Tennessee, whence he went out under Andrew Jackson against the Alabama Indians (1814), and later against the Florida Seminole. Some time before 1822, he removed to Missouri, where he married, and engaged in the early Santa Fé trade with Stephen Cooper (see our volume xix, p. 178, note 16). Walker removed with his family to Oregon in 1840—one of the first families of settlers who came independent of the missionary movement. Wilkes met him on the Willamette in 1841, when he expressed his dissatisfaction with the climate and the conditions. See Wilkes's Exploring Expedition, iv, p. 388. That same year he went overland to California, where he worked for Captain Sutter, coming back to Oregon some time before Palmer's visit, with a herd of cattle for sale. This time he remained in Oregon several years, being chosen justice of the peace for Yamhill County (about 1845). In 1848 he returned to California, where he was a member from Napa of the constitutional convention of 1849. In 1853 he removed to Sonoma County where he spent the remainder of his life, dying sometime after 1878.—Ed.
[164] For the Umpqua River see our volume vii, p. 231, note 82; the fort is noted in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 59, note 79.—Ed.
[165] For Rogue River see ibid., p. 82, note 104. The mountains lie directly north of the river valley in Coos and Curry counties, Oregon. The first settlers in this valley came there in 1851. See William V. Colvig, "Indian Wars of Southern Oregon," in Oregon Historical Quarterly, iv, pp. 227-240.—Ed.
[166] By the "Klamet" Mountains, Palmer refers to the chain lying north of Klamath River valley, now usually spoken of as the Siskiyou range. Klamath River is described in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 46, note 56. The trail into this region followed nearly the route of the Southern Pacific Railway.—Ed.
[167] The Indians of Southern Oregon had always been disposed to molest white wayfarers. Witness the troubles of Jedidiah H. Smith in 1828, the massacre of the Turner family in 1835, and the attack on a cattle train in 1837. After 1848, the passage of gold-seekers to and from California intensified the difficulty, whereupon a long series of contests ensued, resulting in open wars, in which Palmer bore an important part. The war of 1853 was terminated by a treaty (September 10) secured by Generals Lane and Palmer; that of 1855 was more serious, being participated in by regular troops as well as Oregon militia. For Palmer's relation to these wars see preface to this volume.-Ed.
[168] For Point Adams see our volume vi, p. 233, note 37. The term Clatsop was given for an Indian tribe—ibid., p. 239, note 39. Clatsop Plains were first visited in the winter of 1805-06 by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who erected a cairn for the making of salt, in the neighborhood of the present resort known as Seaside. The settlement of this region was begun in 1840 by members of the Methodist mission, reinforced by Solomon H. Smith and Calvin Tibbitts of the Wyeth party, who had married daughters of the Clatsop chief Cobaway (Lewis and Clark spelled it Comowool). J. W. Perry took up a farm in 1842, and several members of the immigration of 1843 settled on the Clatsop Plains. See "Pioneer Women of Clatsop County," in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions, 1897, pp. 77-84. These plains are composed of a sandy loam well adapted for fruit and vegetables, but especially suited to grazing, so that dairying is a leading industry of this region.
Cape Lookout, in Tillamook County, is a conspicuous headland. It was first sighted by Heceta in 1775, and named by Captain Meares in 1789. See our volume xxviii, p. 32, note 9; also our volume vii, p. 112, note 17. The point, however, which Palmer designates as Cape Lookout, is in reality that called by the Lewis and Clark expedition "Clark's Point of View," but now known as Tillamook Head.—Ed.
[169] The Necanican River, called by Lewis and Clark the Clatsop, has a roundabout course, as indicated by Palmer, and drains the southern end of Clatsop Plains.—Ed.
[170] Saddle Mountain, the highest point in Clatsop County, shows three peaks as viewed from the Columbia, and takes this name from its form. The aboriginal name was Swollalachost. Lewis and Clark found it covered with snow during most of the winter season of 1805-06.—Ed.
[171] For the Tillamook (Kilamook) Indians see our volume vi, p. 258, note 67. Mount Rainier is noted in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 33, note 30.—Ed.