THE RIVER OF THE WEST.
100
er, though in his narrative he lays claim
to a more extended journey westward.
In 1776, in London, he published an al
leged account uf his adventures, which
has been proved to consist chiefly of ex
tracts from the previous narratives of
the French explorers and missionaries.
In this account he calls the River of the
West, the Oregon, the first use of that
name ever made in literature. He does
not claim to have seen the river, but to
have received information in regard to
it from the Indians. It was this name
whose poetic sound, associated with the
idea of an almost unknown wilderness
of forest and mountain, gave Bryant in
spiration for these lines in "Thanatop
sis:" Take the winjra
Of morning, the Ilarcan dwrt iierre,
Or low thyself in the continuous wood
Where roll the Oregon, ami hear no wound,
Save liin own danhingH
One year before Captain Carver pub
lished his book, and thus added a new
name to this River of the West, the
mouth of the stream was observed by a
Spanish navigator. On August 15th,
1775, Captain Bruno Heceta, command
ing the Santiago, while returning along
the coast from a voyage of exploration
to the northward, noticed an opening in
the land, from which flowed a stream of
water with great force. He endeavored
to enter, but the current baffled his ef
forts for an entire day. He naturally
supposed it to be the Rio de Aguilar,
but as he could not enter sufficiently to
prove that it was a river, he called it an
inlet, and entered it on hi chart as the
Ensenada de Asuncion. The point of
land to the north he christened Cabo de
San Roque, and that to the south Cabo
de Frondoso. The next adventurous
navigator to observe and attempt to en
ter the Columbia, was Captain John
Mearea, an Englishman engaged in the
fur trade. In his teas!, the FeUc A d-
rmturcr, he arrived off the mouth of
the river on the sixth of July, 1788.
After making several vain effort to ap
proach tho shore, he concluded that the
inlet was only a shallow lay, and named
it Deception bay. He also changed the
name of the promontory of Kan Roque,
to Cape Disappointment, and entering
on his journal tho conclusion that "there
is no such river as that of Kt Roo exist
as laid down on the Hjuntsh chart, he
sailed away, disapjiointed.
In 17W Captain Oeorgn Vancouver,
in the i'jmviti, and Lieutenant W. R.
Broughton, in the Chatham, appeared
on the Oregon const, and after a vain
search for tho River Aguilar, arrive! off
the Columbia on April 27th, but after
olwerving the entrance, came to the con
clusion that it was but a tmy, into which
one or more small rivers discharged
their waters, and consequently, sailed
away, deeming it unworthy his further
attention. Two days later he fell in
with the American ship ('alumina iV7.
n'm, commanded by Captain Robert
Gray, who told him that he was positive
there was a great river discharging into
Deception bay, as he hail endeavored for
several days to enter it, and hail been
prevented by tho forco of the current.
Vancouver was still incredulous, and
they separated. On May lllh, 17W, the
Columbia cross! the lmr, and sailing U n
miles up the stream, cast anchor in the
broad estuary Mow Tongu point To
the great river he thus proved to exiat,
Oray gave the name of hi vesmd. He
also bestowed the name Hancock um
the cape previously called Han Roque by
HeoU, and Disappointment by Captain
Meare. Cape Frondoso he rwbriatened
Point Adams. He remain! nine ilsys,
during which time be sailed up th river
twenty-five mile from the bar. On the
nineteenth of the following October,
Vancouver again appeared off th mouth
of the river, provided with a rough map