lties to
those who follow them, should therefore be the wish, as it
is the interest of every citizen of this valley.
To show the necessity of improvements upon the route,
and the means adopted to effect them, I shall briefly refer
to the time and manner in which the three preceding emi
grations have accomplished the journey; and as the latter
part of the road is much the most difficult, as well as most
susceptible of improvement, all improvements worthy of
notice, have been made or attempted west of the Rocky
mountains.
The imigrants of 1 843 were the first who traveled with
wagons below Fort Hall —of these a part reached the Dalles
of the Columbia in the month of November —others left
their wagons and animals at Wallawalla, and a few remained
at Dr. Whitman's Mission through the winter.
When we condiser the scarcity of grass and water along
most of the route, and the making of the road for so great
a distance, over wide plains of sage and sand, and almost
impassable mountains, that they arrived on the Columbia at
all, is a proof of energy and perseverance not often equaled
by those who have followed them.
The obstacles so formidable had not been surmounted
without much labor and loss, both of life and property; yet
though so near the end of their journey, they experienced
by far, more losses, hardship and sufferings in descending
from the Dalles to the Willamette than in all the rest of the
journey together; and almost in sight of the great object of
their wishes, many were relieved from perishing by the be
nevolence of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the timely
and gratuitous assistance of Capt, James Waters, a fellow
emigrant.
The emigrants of 1 844 fared even worse than those of
the preceding year; arriving late in the season, when, by
reason of the snow, the trail by Mount Hood was thought
to be impassable; the greater part of their worn-down ani
mals were swum to the north side of the Columbia, which is
nearly a mile wide, driven down on that side and
