THE WEST SHORE.
June, 1879
164
the left buna of the South Fork of the
American river, at a place called by the
Indians, Calloomak, by the Califor
niuns, Colomu, 107 milch northeast of
San Fruncisco, in a straight line. The
mill-kite was probably one-fourth of a
mile below the present village of Co
lomu. The river at thin point curve
between two ranges of hills, and the
spray from it rapidly fliding waters is
viiblc in the picture above its shallow
banks. The mill beside it was owned
by Sutler Marshall, and constructed
as nearly to completion us it ever
reached, by the latter in the autumn of
of 1(47, The mill has long since van
ished, having been destroyed or ucd
by the miners, or carried away by
travelers n mementoes of the place
where the ureal modern discovery of
gold was (Irst made. These specimen
are now to be found in many an East
ern household, and remind one of the
beginning of a new era in '.he wealth
of mankind. Thi discovery of ((old
also hastened thai in Australia and else
where. In (he centre of the engraving
is the mill Itself, which look entirely
in keeping with such a structure on the
Pacific coast : year ago. The two
miner! licsidc the race may be seen
pointing down to the very sjot where
lames V. Marshall picked up the very
tirl nuggel of gold, on lauuary lUth,
lSS. 'I hi nugget was, by him, pre
sentcil in Mr. relet I.. w enter, in
whose possession it still remains.
A t'KNTl'RV Alio
A ccntuiy since the Willamette val
ley lay bathed in lunlighl or in shadow ,
as night and day, sun and cloud, turn
1 ii 1 and w inlet, came ami went, mid
through ils length the Multnomah's
were supreme. It w as thus from an
c i v III days. The Molallas occupied the
mountains to the east, and from the
great Colombia to the shores of the
Klamalh the) knew (he mountain
paths, hunted dm, beat and elk, and
slew the wildcat and panther. They
lived the life that was ulleicd them b
the great langes and deep goiges, and
the mountain torrents s.mg the suites
that lulled their sleep. Their hocnOS
11. on live mountain shores of Klam
ath lake ami their medicine men gath
etcd inspired wisdum ami the spirit of
prophesy as they worshipped the tin-.11
Spirit ami studied the wonder of na
ture by the mystrnous and high. walled
waieis of Crater Lake.
Hut from where the Culipooia ridges
crossed from range to range to form
Ihe southern boundary of the Willam
etie floods, to where the river leaps
over the rinks and then broadly flows
on lo Join the Columbia, through all
the valley and rolling hills that fill the
intervale from east to west, where val-
eys border the Rickrcalor Luckimutc,
or wind in among the ranges where
tin- Bandana flows down with many
irandus, as well as on all other streams
that leave the encircling hllll to wind,
like threads of silver, through attendant
vales, lived, loved, hunted and fished
the great people of the Multnomahs.
The grass was untrodden on the prai
ries and grew runk upon the borders of
the streams, and the wild clover scented
the hillsides, only cropped here and
there by Indian ponies that antedated
the white man's coming.
The Indian, a century ago, had no
home hut his lodge and no clothing
save that inane irom smoKC tanned
skins; bows and arrows did noiseless
laughter among the deer, and answered
for war when needed. They found
the wild deer on every side and salmon
tilled the streams. Life was not labor
with Ihe Multnomahs, and they so
ived until the spirit of peace oppressed
them and they almost forgot the arts
of wai .
From the south, over the mountain
wall that shuts off Unipqua waters
horn the most beautiful ol all Western
alleys, came the Calipooias. They
spied out the land in its almost untrod
den beauty, and the first comers carried
back a rumor of its wonderful riches.
They were ambitious ami warlike and
poured over the rim of the basin and
commenced a war for possession.
l'hc sun shone dow n no longer on
only scenes of beaut) and homes of
peace. The whistle of the arrow's
flight had the dread accompaniment of
the buttle cry and fierce wanshoop. The
snowy peaks looked down on savage
Combats and saw the Multnomahs re
cede and give up the land, until in time
they tallied at the north, where
the mists of the falls rise, and the
voice of the river sounded in anger.
Tin RMght in vsin along these rockv
ledges, ami again receded to make their
last stand on the shres where, to-day,
wc watch the great ships wend their
way inland from the ocean.
So the Multnomahs fdd from the
earth. Their name would be forgotten
if the ages had not revived it at our
bidding. The Calipooias ruled in their
stead, and their's were the green pas
tures, the fishing grounds and the ranges
where the wild deer roved. History is
uncertain as to the past of the nations
who lived here before us, but the tra
ditions of the Indians, handed down
through earliest sources obtainable,
give us the general fact that the Mult
nomahs owned the beautiful Willam
ette valley, and that the Molallas were
mountain dwellers; that the Calipooias
came from the south and drove out the
peaceful residents.
Of old, the commerce of the West.
em tribes resulted in great fairs, held
at Yainax, beyond the Klamath lakes,
to the east, on Spraguc river. Here
the Pitt river Indians brought their
wonderful bows and arrows for sale,
for tradition among Klamaths and Mo
docs still tells how the Pitt river tribe,
in Northern California, were skillful
artificers in aboriginal weapons of war.
Here, at Yainax, the great tribes sent
emissaries to plan peace or to make
war, at the base of a butte so named,
that stands in the Sprague river valley.
Within sight of that butte I have held
long talks with Modoc and Klamath
chieftains, who have woven the tradi
tions of their tribes into form lor my
satisfaction. At the great Yainax fair
the Molulla brought his contribution of
skins and furs; the Columbia river In
dians their smoked salmon; the Klam
aths their stores of roots and food and
dried meats; the Cayuscs and Net
Pcrccs their swift-footed ponies. All
contributed, so that here were repre
sented the interests of an immense ter
ritory, where trade and commerce in
cluded all things known to the wants
of Indian life. Here bonfires blazed
at night while the tribes held high fes
tival; the race course, by day, called
out all the passions of savage nature, as
it docs the vices of more civilized peo
ple; and the gambling scenes, by day
and night, possessed all the fierceness
of avarice and passion that human na
ture is capable of.
The Multnomahs made their last
stand on the shores of the Lower Wil
lamette. We have the word of caiiy
comers, who belonged to the fur com
panies, that three-quarters of a century
ago Indian villages thronged the shores
of the rivers where the Willamette