[193] Mrs. Narcissa Prentice Whitman was a native of Pittsburgh, Steuben County, New York, and married Dr. Whitman just before his journey across the plains (1836). She was of much assistance to him in the mission work, and perished in the massacre of 1847. See her letters and "Journal" in Oregon Pioneer Association Transactions (1891). She and Mrs. Spalding were the first white women to cross the plains to Oregon.
Mrs. Spalding (née Eliza Hart) was born in Connecticut (1807) and reared in Ontario County, New York. She was less strong than Mrs. Whitman, and her journey at first fatigued her so greatly that it was feared she would not reach its end. Her health improved after passing the mountains, and she was an efficient aid in the mission, learning the Indian languages with great aptitude. After the Whitman massacre she never recovered from the shock, and died in 1851.—Ed.
[194] For the pioneer in whose honor this river was named, see Bradbury's Travels in our volume v, p. 181, note 104. The John Day River rises in the Blue Mountains and flows west and northwest, entering the Columbia a few miles above the falls. It is an important stream for central Oregon, forming the boundary, in part, of several counties.—Ed.
[195] James Birnie was a native of Aberdeen, Scotland. Coming early to America he entered the North West Company's employ and was on the Columbia before 1820, when he was in charge of the post at the Dalles. He was then retained by the Hudson's Bay Company, and given command at Fort George (Astoria) where he remained many years. Later he became a naturalized American, and resided at Cathlamet.—Ed.
[196] For Young's Bay, see Franchére's Narrative, our volume vi, p. 259, note 69.—Ed.
[197] This is an interesting description of the place, seen thirty years later, where the explorers passed the dismal winter months of 1805-06. For a ground plan of the fort, known as Fort Clatsop, see Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, iii, pp. 282, 283, 298.—Ed.
[198] A close description of the medals carried by the expedition. See engraving in O. D. Wheeler, On the Trail of Lewis and Clark (New York, 1904), ii, pp. 123, 124.—Ed.
[199] The site of this Chinook village opposite Astoria, was probably that of the present Fort Columbia, built to protect the entrance to the river.—Ed.
Transcriber's note:
The section "NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER" does not include a chapter XI in the table of contents on page 115, or in the book itself.