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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1876)
THE WEST SHORE- CAPT. HOYT'S LAST TRIP. TUl! FROZEN COI.IMBIA OK l86l A PERIL OUS TRIP TO ASTORU REMINISCENCES OF AS OLD STEAMBOAT PILOT, As a seasonable treat to the numerous readers of the West Shore, we present below the narrative of an old River Pilot, 41 well known and estimable citizen, who as a participant in the scenes and inci dents related. It will not lie out of jilace here to remark that the winter of 1861-1 was the severest in the intensity and dura tion of the cold weather of any ever ex perienced in Oregon since its settlement by the whites. At that time the strong and staunch little side-wheel steamer Mult nomah, owned and commanded by Capt. Richard Hint, of honored memory and one of the pioneer steamboatmcn on Oregon waters, was employed upon the route between this city and Astoria. For 4lic information of those who were not re sidents here during Capt. Hoyt's lifetime vc will briefly sketch that sturdy, sterling and noblc-soulcd old commander. ( AIT. RICIIAKII I10VT Was in stature hardly up to standard "medium height, but he was powerfully moulded and had a giant's .strength. Tough as heart of live-oak, hardy as iron, p and possessed of a vigor of liotly and an un common elasticity of step and action, he united wilh these robust physical qualities the best characteristics and attributes which attest while tliey adorn superior human iialurc. (If an indomilahle will and the highest order of true bravery, and an unswerving integrity in his dealings wilh men, he was equally noted and beloved for lii.s innate chivalry and great-hearted gen erusily. No terror could daunt, no hard ship deler him, in the performance of what he felt to be his duly; and yet, such was the unaffected simplicity of his nature, it never fucmred to lim,iclf that he had in -any perilous emergency or desperate undertaking done anything csiecially worthy of notice or of praise. Anient in his demonstration of kindness and charity toward any lie deemed worthy, he had nothing of that bisc alloy which icrseculcs the object of its dislike ami adds to hatred the evil quality of vengeance. The l ittle Folk were esiecially proud of him, and vhen as passengers on his bouts with thefr urerts or guardians they were always sure of n glorious mad romp with gallant "Captain Dick," as he was affectionately known tothetn. I lis kiiullv, honest face was ever welcome, and his hearty grip of fcl- f f lowslup was heartily responded to, among kj his hosts of friends wherever he was If known ; ami they all still preserve his memory Iresh and green, and mingle theft. Yi- j.jawi iL.is.im ii'iumisiciiccs wim sorrow j v'. - for his deaih as they recall and fondly though sadly linger over the recollections Elf-, ZJf '' which cluster about his name. And now PV:i ''!tL' .10 resume ihc thread of the narrative of (his last trip on the waters of the Columbia and ihc Willamette, which he had so long and so successfully navigated. Gov. George Abernethy of this city, who was on her way home from a holiday visit here and at Oregon City. On that event ful and perilous trip the young lady proved herself to be as courageous asshe was fair, and as patient as she was amiable and good. The Multnomah encountered no difficulty until after, she had pissed Wil lamette Slough and got into the Columbia, where floating ice covered pretty nearly the w hole surface of the river. In some places it was frozen solid and stationary. A few miles down the steamboat was al most blockaded by the floating masses and was extricated only after a good deal of trouble. In backing her to make space for good headway through the ice right ahead the rudder was badly disabled, and this accident caused much difficulty sub sequently, as it deprived Capt. Hoyt of that perfect command of his vessel which was so verv essential. A PROPOSITION TO Tl'R.N HACK Was at that time made by several of die The steamer's headway was very slow. Snow commenced to fall thick and fast so as to obstruct the vision and make it diffi cult to distinguish the customary land marks the ebb tide bearing down the moving ice with a velocity threatening to the vessel's safety and rendering it next to impossible to keep her to her course, dis abled as she was at the helm ; and, to add to the discomfort and perils of the situ ation, the afternoon was fading away into the uncertain gloom of evening. It was all-important to reach Oak Toiut not only to land Miss Aliernethy, but also there to w ood up and to procure good store of pro visions for the trip, which already began to show tokens that it would not be finished for days to come ; and moreover, it was Capt. Hint's intention to run his vessel in the slip there for the night, and to resume the effort to proceed down the river the next morning in the full light of the day. Hut Oak Point could not be reached, and ti the nest best, or, indeed, the onlv ViltJ-ifV. ' ;r?r" l-t-VJ . ,C1 "M I HIE START KIR ASIXIR1A. The high water of the " Flood" of HVcember, 1801, was succeeded by unpre cedented deep snow in the middle of the nionlh, and by ice in the rivers. Naviga tion had been suspended on the Columbia, and for more tlun two weeks no steam ship from California had ascended the river, nor had any of the river boats made the Hip to Astoria. Capt, Hoyt then owned the line of steamboats uYh plied Uion that route, and of these the Multnomah was best adapted for nuking headway in or against the ice. lie resolved to reopen commu nication wilh the mouth of the river, if it vere sible. Accordingly, on the morn ing of January 4, l S 0 j , with a small num lier of useturcrs on board and provis sioni enough for three days, lie started lor the trial in the stout littte steamer. Among the passengers was the daughter of Mr. Ales. Aberiirthv of Oak Point, brother of passengers to the Captain, but 1I1: sturdy old commander responded : that he had left Portland to make the trip to Astoria: that he still felt convinced he could get the steamer there ; and that he should 11.11 abandon the trial nor turn her head on the return trip until he found he could not ac complish his purpose. His resolute, linn, yet quiet manner, dispelled the doubts and fears of all and inspired them with full confidence in his ability to do what he proposed and with hope for the bed. Hut, as it proved, determination and hope were for men to persist in and cling to; yet Nature could interpose obstructions ini possible to overcome or, if at all, only by means of the invincible resolution to surmount even-obstacle, and by the s'dll and patience and perseverance coinmen urate to the daring and diiTuuii adven ture. TROl llIS AND DASHERS RRKALI. After battling for hours with the floes of thick ice, at last Coffin Rock was passed. thing to do under the circumstances, a landing place was found a few miles further down at the foot of a small island on the Oregon side, where the river was free of moving ice and the only thing to fear was to be frozen in during the night. tRO.KN IS ASOlllKIt I1AV or TOILS. It was a fearfully inclement night. The cold w as intense and the snow storm raged wilh increased violence. As the fast fall ing Hakes fell utwn the water they froze with the rapidly forming ice, and when morning dawned the Multnomah was frozen fast all alwut, and from shore to shore, a mile across, the iceiridge stretched wilh only the small openings known as air holes here and there. The situation was critical and somewhat alarming. The wood was nearly .11 ,. I suuied, the stuck of provisions would serve oronp two u..ys longer, and the weather signs were anything cxceH favorable Dur ing the morning the strong ebb tide caused the ice to break away in the clun. January, nel of the river, and Capt Hoyt resolved to make an effort to cut the steamboat clear of the pack just about her, then to force her through into the open channel way, and from that to push for the most feasible landing place where wood could be got. The passengers, together with the crew fourteen persons in all willingly and with alacrity went to the work, and after considerable exertion they cut the steamer loose in an hour or two. Steam was up, and the channel was successfully made, but not without great danger two or or three times of being encompassed and crushed or wrecked by the large floes of thick and sharp cutting ice which rushed down with the rapid flowing tide. But it was almost dark when this much had been accmplished, and the hopes of nearly all on board began to sink at the dismal and threatening pros pects before them. Capt. Hoyt, however, showed neither lack of confidence in his ability to battle his way to safe haven at Cathlamet then the only place it seemed possible the steamer could reach, nor anything beyond that proper anxiety which a commander ought to have for those under his care and protection. With buoyant spirits and stout heart, and by words of cheer and comfort to his passengers, and inspiriting commands to his crew, he main tained good feeling and thorough disci pline on board. Good fortune attended his unceasing efforts, and just at night-fall, with the last stick of fire wood fed to the boiler and the dimishing steam at low gauge, the Multnomah made a landing, not at Cath-, lamet, but at a point eight miles above, THE THIRD DAY WOOD IT OFF AUAl.W At the earliest light of day next morn ing, all, passengers and crew alike, started to get a supply of wood. An old scow upon the beach was seized on and speedily ' chopied into fuel, and yielded about two cords. In an abandoned cabin covered with snow which was fully four feet deep were found several sacks of, damaged flour, and, underneath the floor were two mall pigs nearly starved, thin as famine could reduce them, but still alive, and 4 as it was ascertained, as lively and vigorous i of foot in trying to escape as wild rabbits. . But their pursuers were in the predicament of the boy who was desperately hunting the woodchuck it was not a question whether they could catch the animals; it was simply imperative that they had to capture them; and they did; though not without a long hunt and tough chase, for the little porkers would dive into the deep now and emerge feet away in a direction opposite to that they had headed, quite as porpoises dive and sport at sea. By the time the wood was put on board and the . prizes for the larder safely stowed, the day had gone, and there remained nothing to do but to tie up again for the night, and await whatever Fate or Fortune should the next day compel or cheer them to do. THE FOl'RTH DAY K0 CATHLAMET YET, The morning broke with discouraging portents, yet all on board felt a better de gree of confidence than had possessed them the morning of the preceding day. The snow-fall continued without abatement, and the frosty surface of the river, with the snow became so thickly crusted that it offered serious obstruction to the steamer'j headway, as Capt. Hoyt labored to get her through the floating ice to Cathlamet. The effort proved fruitless. All that day the battle with the elements was stoutly, persistently, desperately maintained, with all the odds so much against the brave little steamer and her strong-willed, un flinching commander; but at last he had to succumb, and, disappointed and regret ful, but not disheartened nor dismayed, gain he had to seek the inhospitable landing-place of the night before, from which he had started that morning; and again it was made with not another stick of wood left unbumed for steam. A DREARY EIGHTH OF JANUARY, Once more at early daybreak all