CHAPTER I
The Lewis and Clark Centenary Exposition in Portland. The Great Captains. Their Guides, Hoe Noo Chee and Sacajawea (The Bird-Woman).
A great Exposition of the arts and industries of the whole wide world is to be held this summer in the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon. It is to commemorate the grand achievement of a few brave men and one brave woman, who lived, labored, and conquered a century ago. At the call of their commander, they exiled themselves from home and friends; they crossed the wide deserts, climbed through gorges and peaks of the "great Stony Mountains," struggled through the pathless forests of giant firs, lived among wild beasts, and wilder men, until they reached the pathless Pacific Ocean—that was then but a waste of water, where great whales sported and the seals found abundance of food amid rocky shores and islands for safe homes. Now teeming multitudes inhabit the fertile plains; through the rugged mountains pass the great highways of the world—along the charted coast are many ports, where white-winged fleets lie at anchor and the great black freighters load and unload the commerce of many lands. But Portland still retains many of the old landmarks. The beautiful Columbia River still flows by it to the sea, forests are not far away, and "the everlasting hills" are about it, with their white-capped peaks piercing the sky.
A hundred years ago, a vast and unknown wilderness stretched from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean—it was a land of mystery of unknown extent. Millions of wild cattle that we call buffaloes roamed over its plains, wild beasts hid away in its mountain fastnesses, the beavers and otters built their homes along its rivers, and wild tribes of savage men made pitiless war upon each other, though not destitute of many noble traits of character. The young republic of United States had far more territory east of the Mississippi than they could manage or protect, so gave small care or thought to what lay beyond. But one thing they had learned, that, for their own safety from foreign aggression, and the protection of their commerce, they must gain possession and control of the great river. Thomas Jefferson, that wise and far-seeing statesman whose name and fame grow as the years go on, was President at that memorable time of great opportunities, and through his influence with Congress induced them to make the great Louisiana purchase, which gave to our government the Southern and Gulf states, the control of the Mississippi River, and, as Jefferson believed and claimed, the whole country to the Pacific Ocean. He had, perhaps, but little knowledge of its vastness or its value, but it has been said that his friend, the great naturalist Audubon, who wandered up and down the world searching out its wonders and beauties, had told him many things about the great western country. So he again appealed to Congress for an appropriation to send out an expedition to learn something of the nature and value of their new possessions. The pitiful sum of two thousand five hundred dollars was allowed. Captains Lewis and Clark of the United States army were selected to lead the expedition, and with them were sent a botanist, a geologist, an engineer, and some soldiers, who were required each to make a full report of their journey, which took three years to accomplish. It is significant of the indifference of the government in the matter that these reports were sent to Washington and were laid aside for several years when—through Jefferson's influence again—the captains' reports were handed over to Richard Biddle of Philadelphia, who made a brief abstract of them, constituting one small volume, that passed for many years as an account of the Lewis and Clark exploration, and it has not been until within the past three years that any genuine copy of these reports has ever been published. It is small wonder then that thirty years later Oregon remained an almost unknown and unclaimed country. The young captains and their company, full of enthusiasm for their work, made their preparations and purchased their supplies, mostly at their own expense, and left the last marks of civilization at St. Louis in the spring of 1804.
SACAJAWEA (THE BIRD-WOMAN).
Guide of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
The heroic little company made its first winter camp at Fort Mandan on the Upper Missouri, ready for an early start in the spring. The success of the expedition in a strange land through the long line of savage tribes was dependent largely upon a good guide and interpreter. Lewis and Clark had secured Toussaint Chabonneau, a Frenchman, who had renounced civilized life, married, and settled among the Indians. He had traveled over wide stretches of country, and had a small knowledge of the language of several tribes. Sacajawea, the wife of Chabonneau, was a handsome Indian girl of seventeen years. She had been captured by the Minitaree Indians when a small child, from the Shoshone Indians far up in the Rocky Mountain region, held by them as a slave, and sold to the Frenchman who made her his wife. Sacajawea was delighted with the prospect of again journeying toward her old home, but continued to do the menial work for the company, as is customary for Indian women. Captains Lewis and Clark, before many weeks upon their journey, saw that their real guide and interpreter was not Chabonneau, but Sacajawea, his wife. Their way along the great river proved the identical route which the captive child had taken from her home into slavery, and with Indian nature and sagacity, every notable spot remained in her memory. She told them of the streams in advance that flowed into the great river, and the tribes through which they were to pass; she told them her history; she was the daughter of the great chief of the Shoshone Indians, who were rich in land and horses. They owned large possessions reaching to the foot of the Rockies, to which they came during the summer months. It was there where she became a prisoner. When they reached the place she ran like a child and pointed out the spot in the bushes where she hid to escape her enemies.
Captain Lewis said: "Our hope now is to find these Shoshones and their horses. Here we must leave our boats and prepare for mountain and land travel." Sacajawea explained the habits of her tribe the best she could, but it was a vast wilderness by which the company was surrounded. Both Captains Lewis and Clark with their best men scoured the country, and finally succeeded in finding the Shoshones, who had fled from their supposed enemies. They were led before the great chief Cameahowait. There they told of Sacajawea as best they could, which at once aroused attention. The chief ordered horses and provisions, and with many friends of the lost princess they went with Captain Lewis and his men to camp. Sacajawea recognized her brother, now head chief of the tribe, and as well the playmates of her childhood, and with tears in her eyes, and dancing with joy, she embraced them. The talk was long, for the Indian girl had to learn the fate of her family and friends. Had she desired she might have remained and resumed an easy life with her tribe.