[172] On Tillamook Rock, a large boulder in the ocean, opposite Tillamook Head, a lighthouse was erected in 1879-81. It was a work of much difficulty, the engineers narrowly escaping being washed into the sea.—Ed.
[173] Palmer probably obtained his information of these Indian traditions from Celiast (or Helen) Smith, daughter of the Clatsop chief, whose son Silas B. Smith has furnished much material for recent historical works. This story of the wreck of the ship carrying beeswax, differs slightly from the version given in Lyman, History of Oregon, i, pp. 167-169. Lyman conjectures that it may have been the Spanish ship "San Jose," carrying stores (1769) to San Diego, California, which was never after heard from. Some of the cakes of wax found bore the letters I. H. S.—Ed.
[174] For Young's Bay see our volume vi, p. 259, note 69. Skipanon is a small creek, a branch of which Clark crossed on a log during his trip from Fort Clatsop to the seacoast. The site of Fort Clatsop was definitely determined by Olin D. Wheeler in 1899 (see his Trail of Lewis and Clark, ii, pp. 195, 198), and the Oregon Historical Society in 1900 (see Proceedings for 1900). The plan of the fort was discovered by the present Editor among the Clark papers in 1904. See Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iii, pp. 268, 298. The river upon which the fort was located was known by the native name of Netul, now called Lewis and Clark River, a tributary of Young's Bay west of Young's River.—Ed.
[175] Young's River was called by Lewis and Clark Kilhawanackkle, and is the largest stream in Clatsop County. The falls are at the head of tidewater and flow over a black basalt cliff. The eastern tributary is the Klaskanine River. See Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iv, p. 137.—Ed.
[176] For the history of this place see Franchère's Narrative in our volume vi, and Ross's Oregon Settlers in our volume vii. The later history of Fort George is sketched in Farnham's Travels, our volume xxix, p. 57, note 74.—Ed.
[177] For Cape Disappointment and Baker's Bay see our volume vi, pp. 233, 234, notes 36, 38. Chinook Point was the site of a populous village of that tribe just west of Point Ellice, which is the southernmost promontory between Gray's and Baker's Bay. Lewis and Clark found the village deserted, but in early Astorian times it was populated—see our volumes vi, p. 240; vii, p. 87.—Ed.
[178] For Peter Skeen Ogden see our volume xxi, p. 314, note 99. The United States government has recently chosen this site for a fort now (1906) in process of erection, to be known as Fort Columbia.—Ed.
[179] Astoria, as an American town, began in 1846 with the settlement of James Welch, who defied the Hudson's Bay Company officers to drive him from the site. The post-office was begun in 1847, and a custom house two years later. In 1856 a town government was established, while twenty years later Astoria was incorporated as a city. Its population is now about ten thousand, with good prospects for a large growth in the near future.—Ed.
[180] For James Birnie see our volume xxi, p. 361, note 130.—Ed.
[181] Elbridge Trask came to Oregon in 1842, apparently a sailor on an American vessel. He lived for a time at Clatsop Plains. Probably his companion was Captain Alexander Duncan, commander of the "Dryad," and a friend of James Birnie.—Ed.