Kate Mulhall A romance of the Oregon Trail
the greater pleasure of returning home sooner as a filial duty.
[1] Along the Burnt River in northeastern Oregon--the subject of
"Westward Ho!" the painting by Emanuel Leutze in the Capitol,
Washington, D.C. While somewhat exaggerated in details, it is a fair
representation of the difficulties encountered by the pioneers on
that part of the overland trip in the early 60s. E.M.
[2] One of the little twins in the early chapters of this story.
[3] Those four parallel wagon tracks, worn nearly hub deep across a
ledge of rock on the Oregon Trail, may be seen to this day in the
Sweetwater Valley near Split Rock, Fremont County, Wyoming; see
photograph opposite page 217. E.M.
[4] Which they did at from thirty to forty miles an hour, almost
continuously day and night, over substantially the same ground they
had traversed half a century before by ox-teams at two miles an hour
for an average of about eight hours a day, with frequent stops to
rest the stock, or on account of bad roads, river crossings or other
hazards of early emigration. E.M.
[5] The beginning of the old Trail to the west-bound traveler
crossing from the Iowa side into the "Indian Country" of the
60s.--E.M.
{235}
APPENDIX
THE MISSIONARY'S STORY
THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION; FOUR INDIANS FROM THE NORTHWEST
JOURNEY TO ST. LOUIS IN SEARCH OF THE WHITE MAN'S RELIGION; OPENING
AND SETTLEMENT OF THE OREGON COUNTRY; HISTORIC CHARACTERS--JASON LEE,
NATHANIEL J. WYETH, MARCUS AND NARCISSA WHITMAN, AND OTHERS;
WHITMAN'S RIDE; MASSACRE AT THE WHITMAN MISSION; NOTABLE INCIDENTS OF
THE EARLY MIGRATION TO OREGON.
A little before sundown a few days after the neighborhood party
described in the first chapter, a stranger rode leisurely up the road
toward the Mulhall farmhouse. Seeing the owner of the place doing
some chores in front of the barn, he accosted him and asked if it
were possible to secure accommodations for himself and mount for the
night. The Squire answered, "Well, stranger, you can see for
yourself that our accommodations are none too good; but if you are
willing to put up with such as they are, you are entirely welcome.
We will do the best we can under the circumstances."
"It is not necessary to put yourself to any extra trouble on my
account," said the stranger, "for I have led a wayfaring life and am
accustomed to roughing it in the broadest meaning of that word."
{236} Mulhall suggested that he dismount, go to the cabin and rest
while he would unsaddle the horse and take it to the barn.
The stranger replied, "My good friend, I truly appreciate your
courtesy; but I have always made it a point to bestow the first care
and attention upon the beast that carries me. Now if you will show
me where to stable him, I will do the rest myself. This faithful
animal has borne me many a long mile upon his back, and it is only
right that I should repay him by devoting a little time to his
comfort."
After hanging up the saddle and bridle, he took from the saddle-bags
a currycomb and brush, which he said he never failed to take along,
and gave the noble animal a thorough cleaning. Then after seeing
that the horse had plenty of hay and grain for the night, he
accompanied Mulhall to the house.
By this time the owner of the place had surmised that his guest was a
clergyman; his language was too precise and his delivery too easy and
natural for the ordinary man found in that part of the world. This
conclusion was verified beyond question when, just before leaving the
barn, he took a well worn Testament from his saddle-bags.
It did not take Catherine and Kate long to prepare a good and
appetizing meal to which the reverend stranger, after asking the
blessing, did ample justice. During the supper Mulhall informed the
guest that he and the family were about to leave their little farm
for the Oregon Country, where conditions {237} were said to be much
more favorable for getting along in the world than in Missouri.
At the mention of Oregon the stranger's face brightened, plainly
indicating that the news was pleasing to him; and said, "You are
doing a wise thing, for that is a grand country with a wonderful
future. The journey ahead of you is long, difficult and more or less
dangerous; but if you get safely through--as I hope and trust you
will--you will be amply repaid for all the hardships and sacrifices
endured. I tell you this advisedly, for I have spent many years in
that favored region, being among the first of our nation to cross the
Continent for the purpose of carrying the light of the gospel to the
benighted savages who dwelt there."
After hearing this statement, every member of the Mulhall family
exhibited the greatest surprise and pleasure at having under their
roof one able to give them first-hand information of the distant
region where they intended to cast their lot; and begged him to tell
them all about it. Heretofore all the knowledge they had of Oregon
was through one or two letters received from parties who had gone out
there a year or two before; and these contained very little
information except that it was a good country for industrious people,
with a mild climate and good market for farm produce.
That was more than they had in Missouri; so they had already
determined to make the venture. But with an unexpected opportunity
to acquire full {238} and accurate information regarding it, they
wished--if he would be kind enough to take the trouble--to hear from
his lips everything of consequence concerning what was to them a
practically unknown country.
The clergyman replied, "My good friends, nothing except expounding
the word of God gives me greater satisfaction and keener pleasure
than to talk about Oregon, and recount the difficulties, tribulations
and heroic actions of those who were in the vanguard of its
settlement; it is a subject of surpassing interest, and has had a
remarkable influence upon the rapid development and material welfare
of our country. The narrative will take considerable time, and
perhaps tire your patience before I am through; but I deem it to your
advantage to have a correct outline of the principal historical
incidents relating to its exploration and settlement.
"It certainly affords me greater satisfaction to go into the subject
thoroughly than to give merely a short summary of those very
important events. If you are willing, when the meal is ended and
everything put away, we will gather around your cheerful and cozy
fireplace; and I will do my best to both entertain and enlighten you."
Soon after supper, the younger children climbed the ladder to their
sleeping quarters while David Mulhall, Catherine and Kate arranged
seats in a semi-circle before the glowing fireplace where the large
backlog furnished sufficient heat and light for {239} the little
cabin. There is no place where a good story can be as effectively
told as before a blazing fireplace on a chilly evening in the mellow
light of the crackling logs, with eager and attentive listeners. In
such a pleasant atmosphere the itinerant missionary now began his
recital:
Half a century ago[1] that vast region known as the "Oregon Country"
had never, as far as any one knows, been penetrated by a white man.
It is true that Captain Robert Gray of Boston, in the good ship
"Columbia" entered the mouth of the great river in 1792, crossed the
dangerous bar and sailed upstream about a dozen miles, naming it
Columbia's River after his vessel.
A few months afterwards Lieutenant W. R. Broughton, of the British
Navy, also entered and proceeded up the mighty river about 100 miles.
But nothing more was known of the "Far Northwest" until the
celebrated exploring expedition of Lewis and Clark crossed the
Continent in 1804-5, arriving at the mouth of the Columbia in
November of the latter year.
While it would be impossible in this recital to give a detailed
account of that memorable expedition, or do justice to the dauntless
courage and perseverance of the remarkable men who conducted it, one
surpassing incident that happened on the journey was primarily the
cause of bringing all that extensive territory under the American
flag. I must crave your patience for devoting some extra time to
describing this most interesting event.
That exploring expedition, as you doubtless know, was conceived by
one of our greatest presidents years before he came to that high
office; but the opportunity for carrying it out did not exist until
he became President. The men chosen to organize and lead the
expedition were selected with fine discrimination for the stupendous
task {240} assigned them, and proved worthy of the trust and
confidence reposed in them by Thomas Jefferson.
After their departure from near St. Louis in the spring of 1804, they
spent about a year and a half ascending the Missouri River, crossing
the mighty "Stony Mountain" range and later the yet more rugged and
precipitous "Bitter Root" Mountains, before reaching the beautiful
open and undulating country on the Clearwater River. It was a joyful
experience for the tired, half famished explorers, descending from
the rugged and inhospitable mountains where game was scarce and
pasturage scant, to find ahead of them as far as the eye could see,
rolling hills carpeted with an abundant growth of bunch-grass, and
watercourses with groves of cottonwood and quaking asp along the
river bottoms. They also found game quite plentiful, and excellent
trout and salmon fishing in the streams.
Before proceeding very far in this region, they suddenly came upon a
few native women and children picking berries. Observing the party
of strange looking beings garbed in unusual attire and carrying
weapons never seen before, the simple-minded natives were terrified.
The women ran, and the children sought refuge under bunch-grass and
bushes, from what they imagined to be supernatural intruders.
In a short time the men caught up with a couple of the squaws, who
expected nothing else than swift and sure death at the hands of these
fierce looking strangers, and bowed their heads in anticipation of
the fatal stroke. By signs and kind words they soon dispelled the
fears of these women of the Nez Perces tribe, which then occupied all
that part of the country. They were dismissed with many presents,
and told by signs to have some of their head men come out to the camp
for an interview.
In a few hours a party of Indians garbed in native finery and armed
with bows and arrows, arrived; but they made no hostile
demonstrations, and were evidently in a friendly mood. Cordial
relations were soon established {241} between the explorers and the
Indians, the latter inviting the white men to their village to
partake of their crude hospitalities.
The explorers were fortunate in having with them as the wife of
Toussaint Chaboneau, their French-Canadian guide, a young and
handsome Indian woman of the Snake tribe--Sahcajahweah, meaning
"bird-woman," commonly known in later history by the shortened and
simplified name "Sacajawea." By her courage, fidelity, tact and
intimate knowledge of aboriginal habits, this remarkable girl wife
assisted materially in extricating the explorers from the many almost
insurmountable difficulties that beset the journey over the Rocky
Mountains and Bitter Root range. It is no exaggeration to say that
but for her, Lewis and Clark might never have reached the shores of
the Pacific.
At the present juncture she was of great assistance. Though not
understanding the Nez Perces tongue, her familiarity with the native
sign language enabled her to make known to the Indians whatever the
white leaders wished to communicate, and explain to her companions
what the former were desirous of expressing. She completely removed