The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811–1912/Volume 1/Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII
The first American settlers in Oregon found the country in a state of nature, unmarred and unimproved by the hand of man. The Indians had subsisted here for a long and unknown period on what they found ready to take with their hands, or such crude contrivances of primitive art as would catch fish or ensnare wild animals. Their development had not passed beyond the age of stone mortars with stone pestles for grinding mills of the seed crops of native plants and nuts, and the simple bow and arrow of all ages of barbarism to bring down the wild goose or the unsuspecting deer. Nature furnished not only generous supplies of food, but also the skins and rich furs of wild animals for clothing. What more could be desired? Nothing! And the Indian had no incentive or reason to disturb this order of Providence. And nature was not disturbed, and everywhere herds of elk, deer and antelope, the aristocrats of the wild game world, roved and pastured practically undisturbed by the desires of men. There were here throughout Oregon when the first Christian missionaiy came, an abundance of wild game, elk, deer, antelope, bears, wolves, foxes, beaver, marten, otter, wild goats, wild sheep, muskrats, wild geese, swans, cranes, ducks, pheasants, grouse, quail and smaller birds and animals. And upon this natural provision of nature, and such edible plants, roots and seeds as naturally grew here without cultivation, a population of wild Indians, variously estimated at from twenty to forty thousand lived in all the comfort their imperfect development could comprehend. Various estimates have been made of this native population; but the one given by Lieut. Wilkes, prepared with care to find out the facts, is probably as near correct as any ever made. It is copied here not only to show the number of the Indians, but also to give the names and divisions of them in the year 1842, as near as could be gathered by a competent and painstaking public official:
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Vancouver and Washington Islands
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5,000 |
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From the parallel of 50° to 54° 40' north
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2,000 |
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Penn's Cove, Whidbey's Island, and mainland opposite (Seat-chat)
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650 |
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Hood's Canal (Squamish and Toando)
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500 |
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At and about Okanogan
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300 |
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About Colville, Spokane, etc
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450 |
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Willamette Falls and Valley
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275 |
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Pillar Rock, Oak Point, and Col. R
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300 |
Port Discovery 150
Port Townseucl 70
New Dungeness 200
Walla Walla, including- the Nez Perces, Snakes, etc 1,100
Killamouks, north of Umpqua 400
Closset tribe ; Capt. Flattery, Quiniault, to Pt. Grenville .... 1,250 Blackfeet tribes that make excursions west of the Rocky
Mountains 1,000
Birch Bay 300
Fraser"s River 500
Chenooks 209
Clatsops 220
At the Cascades 150 i
At The Dalles 250
Yakima River 100
Shutes River (Des Chutes) 125
Umpquas 400
Rogue Rivers 500
Klamets. (Klamaths) 300
Shastys. (Shastas) 500
Kalapuyas. (Calapooias) 600
Nisqually 200
Chikeeles and Puget Sound 700
Cowlitz Klackatacs. (Klickitats) 350
Port Orford Suquamish 150
Total 19,204
As the Indians in accounting for their people counted only the adult males and took no aecomit of women and children it is probable that the real popula- tion of all the Indian tribes depending ^^pon nature for support was about fifty thousand. This would give to the Indian estimate one woman to each man, and ten thousand children. Indian families were never large anywhere in North America. The stress of barbaric life, which placed upon the mother not only the burden of child-bearing, but also the greater labor in providing food and clothing and moving from i^lace to place, powerfully repressed any increase of population.
But as it is, it is easy to see what a bountiful provision nature had made for the support of man. And if unaided nature could support the improvidence of fifty thousand Indians, what might have been done with the same resources if they had been thoughtfully conserved and supplemented with the cultivation of the soil and the protecting care of common sense? The white man reversed all the ideas and traditions of the red man in the conservation of natural re- sources. He turned his battery of fire-arms on the half tame elk, deer, and ante- lope, and soon well nigh exterminated the natural stock. He hooked, netted, seined, trapped by every conceivable device, the fish, and sold the pack to foreign lands. He fired the grassy prairies and drove away the pheasants, grouse and quail ; he fired the timber and drove out other game and destroyed their coverts and proleotiug sliultor. lie poisoned the geese and ducks for pulling up his wheat, and killed the remaining ducks for sport. The Indian rebelled and fought to the last ditch for the beauties of nature and his natural food — and when ex- hausted, the white man put him on a Reservation and supported him in idle- ness with national taxes. Wliicli was the wiser of the two races? Later on in tliis chapter it will be seen liow the white man suffered for his folly and sur- rendered to his enemy.
There can be no doubt but that this Oregon country in its state of nature l)e- fore the white man came here was the richest region in animal life on the face of tiie globe : as it was also the richest iu animal life millions of years ago before the i)veseut mountain ranges were elevated from the dej^ths of the ocean. In the lour years from 1834 to 1838, the Hudson's Bay Company shipped from Old Ore- gon over ten million pelts of fur bearing animals to China and England. These pelts were made of the skins of beaver, marten, otter, silver, red and black foxes, niuskrats, bears, ermine, fisher, lynx, mink, wolf, badger, swan, and raccoon, to say nothing of the elk, deer, antelope, wild goats, and sheep that were not killed for their hides.
In the matter of tish anil game the improvidence of Oregouians has not been greater than that of the people of other States; although blessed with a greater abundance of these most attractive and valuable natural sources of food. The art and business of preserving the salmon in all its delicacy for food was per- fected on the Columbia j'iver in Oregon. The first salmon canning establishment was Viuilt on the Columbia in the year 1866, by Hume Brothers ; and from that be- ginning the business rapidly spread along the river and up and down the Pacific coast as far north as the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. And from that little can- nery packing about four thousand cases of fish, the first year, and not knowing whether it could be sold or not, the business has so grown in importance and wealth producing power that the Columbia river shipped 772,668 cases in the year 1911, more than five million dollars worth of fish, and could have sold twice that amount. This is an increase of 33 per cent on the output of canned salmon in 1910, and nearly double the amount of 1909.
The value of the various kinds of salmon shipped from the Columbia river during that period was : 772,688 cases canned salmon, at $5.50 a case, $4,249,674 ; 85,000 tierces of pickled salmon at $100 a tierce, $850,000 ; 800,000 pounds of frozen fish, at 11 cents a pound, $55,000; total value, $5,154,674. In the same period there were 6,575,377 bushels of wheat shipped out of the Columbia river district to various ports, and this at 80 cents a bushel had a value of $5,260,301.- 60, or only about $100,000 more than the value of the salmon.
It seems incomprehensible that the greed and selfishness of mankind, even those most benefited, should have been so short-sighted as to well nigh destroy such a great source of natural wealth — the harvesting of five million dollars worth of a fish crop without owning the river that produced it, or spending a dollar for planting or cultivation. Yet such was the haste and greed for fish that the cannerymen came near exterminating the salmon, fifteen years ago ; and to protect the great industry the towns people, country farmers, and professional iiuni — persons not directly profited by the salmon fisheries — were compelled to unite in demanding of the legislature legislation to protect the salmon, and to keep up the supply of fish with artificial hatcheries. In this way the great salmon fisher}' interests and a great natural source of food for mankind, lias been saved from destruction.
In the same way and by the same unrestrained greed and short-sighted poUcy of handling the sturgeon fishing interest, that most excellent food fish, has been well nigh utterly exhausted in the Columbia river. So plentiful was this fish twenty-five years ago, and so easily taken that thousands of big sturgeon, some of them ten feet in length, were thro-ivn away at the Portland markets for want of a consumer. Now the fish are very scarce and retail in the Portland markets at twenty cents per pound. The same fate has overtaken the prince of all game fish — -the mountain trout. ' ' Game hogs ' ' of every kind and degree have pursued these fish to the head waters of all the streams ; so that now there is nothing be- tween the trout and total extinction except the orderly and scientific control of the trout streams by Government protection and State hatcheries. That ti'out hatcheries can be made as successful as Salmon hatcheries is amplj' proved by the experience of Mr. John Teal, of Dallas, in Polk County, who owns and oper- ates a private hatchery of his own and where he has produced and raised over 100,000 fine trout from ponds fed by spring water.
So far in the history of conservation of fish and game, the legislature has con- sidered only the demands of the sportsmen and the salmon packers. Fish and game as an article and resource for food for the people generally has had very little consideration. The most reliable and instructive document on this sub- ject is the report of Mr. Geqrge H. Cecil, supervisor of forest reserves in the State; and from which is taken for a record of this interest at this date the fol- lowing extracts:
"In the Cascade national forest, it is estimated that 30 elk are in the forests at this time; in the Malheur national forest, elk, which were formerly exceedingly plentiful, have dwindled to 20, which range the high mountain areas ia the north- eastern portion of the forest. Hunters kill on an average of about five annually, but the larger number are destroj'ed by predatory animals.
"In the Oregon national forest there are about 75 elk, and the law is rigidly enforced here and one is rarely taken by hunters. In the Siskiyou national forest there are three bands of elk. These are in the northwestern part of the forest and include about 50 head. Since 1908, none have been killed by hunters, and it is believed they are increasing in number.
"There are probably 200 elk in the Siuslaw, and during the past few years they have seemed neither to increase, nor decrease, predatory animals killing off the per cent of the increase. During the past few years a few elk have been com- ing into the Umatilla forest, and as many as 13 have been counted there. About 125 elk are believed to range in the Whitman national forest, where the hunters kill annually an average of 25, while predatory animals kill a large number and as a result there is a decrease. About 15 elk range in the Crater Lake Forests near the headwaters of the middle fork of the Rogue river, but the gray wolf destroys nearly all of the young and when there are severe winters pull down the weak ones.
"There are 100,000 of the various species of deer in the Oregon forests. Of these the hunters kill about 14,000 annually, while predatory animals kill prac- tically 20,000 in the same length of time. Panthers and wolves kill a large per cent of the fawns, and even the old deer are killed in this way when they are weakened by the severe storms of the winter.
"Antelope are less numerous than in years past, there being probably about 4,800 in the high desert. These are not killed so extensively as deer and, being fleet of foot, are not destroyed by predatory animals so readily, save when young.
"Of game birds, grouse are being killed in great numbers by hunters and birds of prey, while supervisors in the forests report that pheasants gather in great numbers in the low mountains along the river bottoms and small streams. Their number seems to remain about stationary. Quail are found in all the forests, but in smaller numbers than grouse or pheasants, while sage hens and prairie chickens are scarce. The forests, it is estimated, contain about 40 per cent of the productive capacity of game birds."
Water fowl are either decreasing in numbers, or remaining stationary, the reports stating:
"Ducks, geese and swans are found in the lakes, sloughs and streams of the Des Chutes drainage system area. A large number of them nest there each year. Very few are found in the streams west of the summit of the Cascades, as there are no suitable feeding grounds. The geese and swans do not seem to be decreasing, though there is no apparent increase. The present condition seems to be about 85 per cent of the productive capacity. Ducks seem to be decreasing at the rate of about 2% annually, due mainly to hunters.
"The Crater forest seems to be an exceedingly attractive region for the hunter and fisher, including campers and huckleberry pickers.
"It is estimated that there are not less than 5,000 persons who pass from one to six weeks time each season hunting and fishing in this forest. This seemingly large number is due mainly to the fact that the Crater Lake national park is surrounded almost entirely by the Crater national forest, and of course a great number of the persons who visit the lake, do more or less hunting and fishing on their way to the Forest, both going and coming.
"In the national forest area of Oregon there are estimated to be about 24,000 coyotes, 12,000 wildcats, 7,500 bears, 300 cougars (panthers), and 900 wolves, which annually kill stock valued at $120,000, besides being responsible for the destruction of numerous game animals and birds. A cougar will destroy, during its lifetime, on an average, 1,800 to 2,500 deer, while the grey wolf is hardly less destructive. In a snowfall of only two and a half feet, a wolf will easily pull down any deer within a short time. The cougar kills cattle and horses, while the coyotes chief prey is sheep.
"Other species, such as red and grey foxes, lynx and skunks, are very destructive to game birds."
The notice of the fish and game resources of the State in the year 1912 would be imperfect and insufficient if the work of President Taft and State. Game Warden Wm. L. Finley was not duly recognized. On May 6, 1911, the President issued an order making Clear Lake reservoir and site, and contiguous lands owned by the government, in Klamath county, a bird reserve. This will make about 25,000 acres in one body a reserve for wild birds where no pot hunter will be allowed to get in his deadly work. This is a natural breeding place for water fowl. Following up this policy with an intelligent and energetic administration of his office, Mr. Finley has secured all the State lands about the State capital. Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/742 Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/743 Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/744 Page:Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1912, Volume 1.djvu/745 in horse power what he can see in the power of a mountain stream for a year; hut he cannot measure the life of the stream any more than he can determine the age of our planet. Man is wholly powerless to increase or decrease the fundamental unit of a water power. He may for a brief period store up in a reservoir the surplus energy of a stream, and thus increase its value ; but he cannot increase the original unit of value. For these considerations this greatest gift of nature made known to mankind by unravelling the secrets of electricity, should be absolutely controlled and administered by the State for the use of all its citizens on exactly the same terms and conditions. And thus it is seen that the mountains and forest reserves, holding and conserving the great blanket of snow deposited by winter storms, to be turned loose by the summer's heat and sent down the streams to turn innumerable turbine wheels generating electric power, are one of the State 's greatest sources of wealth and power. And by the .just and wise use of this power, furnished and administered under the control of State laws, every household and citizen of Oregon should soon have all the light, heat and power needed to make the house comfortable throughout the year, and do the work of plowing the fields, harvesting the grain and hauling to market the crops at one-fourth of the expense for such necessaries by present methods.
This vast water power is generated by the grand elevations of the Oregon mountains ; which are as follows :
Adams, Mt 12,424 feet Crater Lake : 6,177 feet Crescent Lake 5,025 feet Diamond Peak 8,807 feet Hood, Mt 11,225 feet Jeffei-son, Mt 10,350 feet McLoughlin, Mt 9,760 feet Odell Lake 4,990 feet Pauline Peak 7,387 feet Pilot Rock 6,104 feet Saddle Mountain 6,976 feet Scott Peak 8,938 feet Siskiyou Peak 7,662 feet Sterling Peak 7,377 feet Sugar Loaf 8,415 feet Thielsen, Mt 9,250 feet Three Sisters 10,250 feet Union Peak 7,698 feet Yainax Butte 7,277 feet Tamsay Peak 8,248 feet Eagle Cap 9,686 feet
The United States geological survey has completed a careful estimate of the available water power of Oregon from which is taken the following statistics: Horsepower
Minimum Maximum
Columbia River (proper) 4,060,000 6,250,000 Willamette v 602,000 1,670,000 Deschutes 953,000 1,920,000 Umpqua River 80,000 160,000 Mt. Hood Rivers 200,000 400,000 Rogue River 80,000 160,000 Minor Tributaries Columbia 718,000 1,230,000 Totals 5,975,(H)() 10,560,000
With possibilities of developing 10,000,000 horsepower in Oregon, where less than one-fourth of a million horsepower is now utilized, and when it is considered that only a little more than 5,000,000 horsepower are today utilized in the entire United States, it is argued by the directors of the geological survey that there is not a remote possibility that the water power of this region can ever be monopolized by a single corporation combine or commercial trust. Such a prediction is based upon the hope that justice and common user rights of the gifts of nature may prevail. But experience has already shown, that on account of the controlling power of the money trust of the United States, and the friendly, if not directly interested relations of the managers of the money trust with that of the associated power companies of the Northwest, it is now practically impossible to secure capital to develop water power enterprises in opposition to those now already established. So that the price to the consumer of electric water power service in the State of Oregon is now ten times greater than similar service to the people of Ottawa in the Canadian Dominion. And notwithstanding the vast water power of the State of Oregon, larger than that of all the States of the Union from the Mississippi river to the Atlantic ocean, the people of Oregon are compelled to pay higher rates for light, heat, and power than the people of any other State in the Nation.
For the value and importance of the water power of Oregon, reference is again made to the most valuable public service of State Engineer Lewis. He joins in the opinion that the Des Chutes river is the most wonderful stream in the world, and states the following, facts to prove it and says :
"Between Benham Falls and Cline Falls there is 1,300 feet fall. About sixty per cent of the one million acre feet of water will be discharged through the dam for irrigation purposes, during July and August, and will be available for the development of power which can be transmitted economically from two to four hundred miles for the pumping of water to irrigate other lands say along the Columbia river. This water at a 100 foot drop immediately below the dam will furnish 56,800 horsepower, which at 50 per cent plant efficiency will lift 2,500 second feet, 100 feet above the Columbia river, for the irrigation of 200,000 acres of land. There is another fall of 100 feet a short distance below and above the first diversion for irrigation, and the amount of summer power which can be developed in the 1,300 feet fall to the last diversion at Cline Falls is almost inconceivable."
"Sixteen dam sites have been located on the Des Chutes in the narrow rock walled canyon from the Columbia river up to a point just below the junction with the Metolius. With 4,000 second feet at the 1,300 feet of fall which can be developed at these sites, 600,000 theoretical horse power can be generated. "With the low and high year flow equalized at the Benham Falls reservoir, and with a 120 foot dam in the Crooked river about 40 miles above Prineville, this low water flow can be increased to about 6,000 second feet, and the power to nearly 900,000 horse power. This is about six times the present installed steam and hydro-electric machine capacity in the vicinity of Portland, and about 40 times the low water power development at Oregon City."
This is but one river, and although a wonderful river, Oregon has many others furnishing vast power. Mt. Hood sends down half a dozen rivers, and keeps the flow of water up the whole year round.
RED MAN AND WHITE MAN
When the native red man found the new-comer white man taking possession of his land, killing his game and driving it away, depriving him and his family of their natural God-given sources of sustenance, he went to war; and fought the white man to the best of his ability. He was conquered in battle and placed on a Reservation to keep the peace. Sixty years later this same white man finds an enemy seizing his sources of life, light, heat and comfort through the cunning instrumentalities of legalized monopolies. Does he bravely oppose the new enemy like the Indian? No! But he attends primary elections, and votes this way and that way, and every other way but the right way, and his enemy wins every time, elects the rulers, makes the laws, and charges all the traffic will bear and still leave the worker alive to earn more taxes. The monopoly, the trust combine, the corrupt or incompetent legislature of his own making has captured the white man — and put him on a Reservation.