the UARTERDECK
The Shark's crew continued their surveys while waiting for transportation out ofAstoria. This tinted lithograph, illustrating the landscape as it may have appeared to the surveyors, helped spread the image ofthe new lands of the west to curious readers around the nation. "Cape Horn, Columbia River," ca. 1854-61 by Saxony, Major & Knapp, Lithographers (1971.67.2).
question between the United States and Britain was being played out in diplomatic circles. Also at the same time that Osborn and his cronies whiled away the rainy autumn, the renowned explorer John Charles Fremont was leading a detachment of men overland to San Francisco to fight Mexico for the annexation of California. Although the crew did not join Fremont's expedition, they finally left by sea bidding "adieu to Sharkville" to embark aboard the Hudson's Bay Co. schooner Cadboro for a chartered voyage to San Francisco. In an ironic turn of events, after more than two months in Astoria the crew waited almost as long aboard the Cadboro for a chance to leave the Columbia River!
The second part of Osborn's account of Astoria covers a wide variety of topics. He examines Chinookan burial customs, and alludes to cross-cultural misunderstandings between natives and white settlers that almost led to violence. While the shipwrecked American crew sheltered in Fort George with the regular inhabitants of the post, who were in fact British subjects, the boundary
A review and newsletter from the Columbia River Maritime Museum at 1792 Marine Drive in Astoria, Oregon
Vol. 23, No. 1 Winter 1997
ASTORIA IN 1846: ''Sharkville"
These allusions make Osborn's account an historically rich tale. Read it for entertainment, or read it for fact or simply to enjoy a reminiscence of a time when Astoria was a raw, politically uncertain settlement clinging to the edge of a vast and largely unknown continent. Turn to page 6.
In this issue, we return to "Sharkville" to conclude Burr Osborn's account of the wreck of the U.S. Navy Survey Schooner Shark and the crew's subsequent sojourn in the young settlement of Astoria. This is not only an entertaining piece ofreading, but also a significant recollection of a pivotal time. Several references to events in 1846-184 7 reveal that the young man's experience intersected often with significant people and major events in the opening of the West. Indeed, the Shark's very presence on the lower Columbia was part of the U.S. military's effort to map, chart and survey the Oregon Territory, at a time when the decades-long joint occupation with the British was ending.
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from the Wheelhouse
So what should be our focus as we move ahead with our planning? New exhibit themes must communicate the essence of the "Great River of the West" and the stories of its people in ways that deeply involve our visitors. CRMM must be intellectually competitive, of course but we must also be able to compete strongly for the time and imagination of our visitors. This means our efforts must result in a moving and exciting visitor experience that establishes our Museum as a major attraction. This is no simple task, as museums are inherently conservative, and do not want to lose themselves under the pressure to become palaces of entertainment.
As we pursue these issues, I would challenge each of us to think about this Great River of the West from which our Museum draws its name. It is the largest river on the entire western shore of either North or South America. On any warm summer day it flows into the ocean at over a million cubic feet per second. It drains the whole of the Northwestern United States. The largest human structures on earth were constructed to harness the river when Grand Coulee Dam was built in the 1930s. The bar was chosen as the location for the National Motor Lifeboat School and the National Rescue Swimmer School of the U.S. Coast Guard, because it consistently presents the most hazardous and adverse conditions. Lloyds of London today rates the "Bar" as the most hazardous in the world. Thousands of lives and over 2,000 vessels have been lost on its waters. Annually, a half-dozen people perish on the lower river despite the nearby Coast Guard Rescue Station and the National Motor Lifeboat School at Cape Disappointment.
Lora Burnham
Rose Palazzo
Willis Van Dusen
Jack R. Dant
J.W 'Bud' Forrester Jr., Emeritus
Richard G. Reiten
Jon Englund
Herbert Steinmeyer, Secretary
...
Richard T. Carruthers, Emeritus
It is our mission to capture the grandeur, power, and history of this great river. It should also be our goal to impress each and every visitor. To stir the currents of imagination within all ofus, we must make CRMM a compelling major attraction. Ifwe accomplish these tasks, then we will have accomplished our mission.
-Jerry L. Ostermiller, Executive Director
June Spence
Mitch Boyce
Larry Perkins
John Davis
Anne Witty
Karen Carpenter
Anne Morden
Carl Fisher
John McGowan
Rosemarie Damon
Frank M. Warren
Nikki Bryan
Ted Zell
Sid Snyder
Mike Foglia
Cheri Folk
Board of Trustees:
Jim McClaskey
Trish Custard
Rod Leland
Jerry L. Ostermiller, Executive Director
Eugene Lowe
Chet Makinster
Rob Rudd
The Columbia River Maritime Museum is considermg these topics, and many more, as we take the first steps towards expanding the Museum. As part of this process, members of our staff traveled to other museums on both coasts to take a look around We had the unique opportunity to examine some fine museums from the inside out. This informative field survey was made possible through a generous grant from National Endowment for the Humanities.
Chris Bennett
W. Louis Larson
Missions ...
Sali Diamond
Ted Natt, President
Charlotte Jackson
Gillnet fishing in the lower Columbia? Native American trade routes? Shipwreck archaeology? Life and death on the Columbia River bar? Exploration and discovery? Contemporary maritime economics? Shanghaied to Australia?
Robley Mangold, Vice President
Celerino Bebeloni
W Hampton Scudder
Graham Barbey
Charles Shea
All ofus found this field survey extremely interesting. In many respects, it considerably expanded our outlook . For instance, few ofus realized just how challenging it is for a well-established organization to grow successfully. We observed some surprising problems, even in the fine museums we toured. It became clear that expanding an institution of high quality is no simple task. The museums that planned ample time for their growth fared very well, and those that rushed ahead solely on the advice of"consultants" encountered many difficulties. The message was clear, and should be ofno surprise: top-quality projects require a measured pace to be successful. They also demand clear focus and well-thought-out plans by top quality designers and architects.
David Pearson
Rachel Wynne
Peter Brix, Emeritus
Alan C. Goudy
Scott Palmquist
James H. Gilbaugh, Jr.
Don M. Haskell
Museum Staff:
Ward V. Cook, Immediate Past Pres.
Russ Bean
Lynne Leland
Walter Gadsby, Jr.
Jim Nyberg
Alan Green, Jr.
Afterguard
Ted Bugas
Don Magnusen, Treasurer
Elaine Rusinovich
Diane Beeston
Mr. and Mrs. Stephen B. Dudley Mel and Diana Emberland
Mrs. Dorothy G. Butler
Hugh Costello
Mr. and Mrs. Reuben F. Johnson Richard and Pat Johnson Sam and Susan Johnson Waring Jones
Mr. and Mrs. Robert E . Brumm
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Murray Mr. and Mrs. Bob Myers RADM and Mrs. Edward Nelson Jr. Mr and Mrs. Harold C. Nelson Mr. and Mrs. Erling Orwick
Dr. Bernard Berenson
Michael Mathers Eino and Sylvia Mattson PaulN. McCracken
Philip R. Mason Capt. P.F Butler
W.H Dole
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bressler
Dorothy R. Mickelson Clara E. Miles
Grace Gramms Goodall Esther K. Jerrell
John Buckley
Paul Leach
Robert Emrick Ed and Ann Fearey
Gary and Alice Cannon
Don and Pat Cassady
Captain James T. Clune Ward and Lois Cook
John D and Mary Lou Power
Mr. and Mrs. Harold Levitt William R. Lindley Mr. and Mrs. W.A. Lissy David Maki
Mr. Ed Lundholm Ralph 1. Mattila
Robert and Hazel Sealy Charles M Soderberg
Betty L. Korpela Janice G. Langley Ms. Charlotte Langsev Mr. and Mrs. Jack Large Mary L. Larpenteur
Bob and Sally Finzer
Mr. and Mrs. David Fry
Quarterdeck, Vol. 23, No. 1
Marian and Hugh C. Downer
Robert G. Hemphill
Barbara Jean Begleries Pauline McCallum
Dorothy G. Butler Leslie E. Nock
Rick Charlton
Robert and Margaret Chopping
Jerry L. Ostermiller and Lynne A. Johnson Richard R. Palazzo
Sam and Esther Fort C. Edwin Francis
Lady Anne Kerr McDonald Curtis and Jean McKinney R. E. McNannay Mr. and Mrs. Raymond E. Merritt Mr. and Mrs. William R. Meyer
Gifts in memory of: Peter Blankholm
Capt. and Mrs. Nicholas Brower, Jr.
Captain and Mrs. Barry A. Barrett
Anonymous (2)
Joean and Walter Fransen
Capt. Fred B. Jerrell Ragnar and Ruth Johnson Peter A. Johnson
Dorothy G. Butler Capt. W G. McCallum
Geary and Isabel Becker
Capt. Jack C. Dempsey
Robert L. Blankholm Walter F Bruning Muriel Bruning Allen Bue
Ed and Eda Ross
Walter E. and Edna L. Lempea Marilyn J. Anderson Sylvia Lundholm
Michael and Marian Soderberg Mary Spencer and Susan Anderson
Eugene and Nancy Lowe
Mr and Mrs. Fred L. Barnum
Mr. and Mrs. William J. Merzke Nils E. Sagen
Bob and Doris Bulletset
Evelyn and Maurice Georges Mr. and Mrs. Tom Georges
Elizabeth T. DuBois
Mr. and Mrs. Loren K. Johnson
Thomas J. White
RolfKlep
Lisa G. Paterson Mr. and Mrs. Larry Perkins Bob and Susan Perry David and Cathy Perry
Michael and Marian Soderberg James L. Sealy
Carol and Albert Gentner
Gifts in honor of: Paul N. McCracken R.S. Randall Annabell Miller Mrs Maude Nilsen
Red Lion Inn Astoria Mr. and Mrs. Howard Hedrick Mr. and Mrs. C. L. Richrod Garry and Gwyn Helmer
Philip and Ann Bales Bank of America
Mr. and Mrs. Ernest E. Brown
David J. and Christina Williams Robert and Patricia Williamson Anne Witty Woodard Family Foundation Mark Youtsler
Dr. and Mrs. Michael S Carlson
Ken Grant
Bill Dahlberg
Richard and Dorothy I. Green
Joel E. Haggard
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Palmer Edwin K. Parker
Deborah Dempsey
Lee and Dolores Robbins Doug and Denise Ross Bob and Grace Rudd Rob Rudd and Kathryn Bourn Myron and Bonnie Salo Roderick and Alma Sarpola Paul Seamons & Dee Vadnais George and Almeda Siverson Alan J. Skille June Spence Frances Straumfjord Omar M. Susewind Charles Swindells Jonathan Taggart Nelson and Jackie Taylor
J. Dan Webster
Dorothy G. Butler Lora Childs Evelyn Bredleau
Mrs. Susanna von Riebold
Col. and Mrs. Jack A. Osborne De Witt C. Peets
Margaret Ann U'Ren
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Mr. and Mrs. William H. Bishop
George Grebe Jean U. Peterson Mrs. Thomas Hindman Mr. and Mrs. Charles C. Hindman Mary B. Hoffman Mr. and Mrs. David C. Meyer Sherry Goodall Huggins Don Goodall
Hal Ayotte
,. ·~iaRiverMaritimeMusetiqr thanks ourmembers and,fr,ie.µds'wl:lo have made contd 's;L,ibrary CatalogingProjesi Jr · · · ··"" our books for this impo oJate to add your name to th i loging Project. A gift o ging of five important m · texts. Please losed envelope to mak nation today!
Donna M. Gustafson
Robert Drucker
Robert W and Mary Ann Davis
Thomas E. Autzen
Mr. and Mrs. C. A. (Hank) Harrison James Race Marcella L. Hatch
Frank and Roberta Jo Glenn Carl Gohs
Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Forrester, Jr.
Carl and Elnora Hertig Scott and Mary Hinsdale
Capt. Harold and Marguerite Huycke Mr. and Mrs. Albin E. !hander Dennis and Dena Johnson Ethel E. Johnson Folger Johnson
Mr. and Mrs. Sidney 0. Gaustad
Mr. and Mrs. Michael Josephson Chuck and Carol Kanavle
Capt. and Mrs. Paul A. Jackson Vera Gault
Robert Hale
AliceKlep
Ann S. Prince
The Reverend Edgar G. Bletcher
Tim Dalrymple
Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Turner Mr. and Mrs VerneE. Wade Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Weakley Robert Wilhelm Bill Williams
Ruth M. Peets Guy T. Randles
Richard T. and Nancy Carruthers
Phil L. Nock Capt. Robert Osborne
Shirley P. Randles
Mrs. Aina Ivanoff Tennyson
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew D Carlson
Columbia River Maritime Museum News and Notes
In January, the Astoria Rotary Club awarded its Community Service Award to Byron Ruppel. Byron has been a volunteer at the Columbia River Maritime Museum since 1992. During the last four years he has been active in museum outreach to the community by giving maritime history programs to various organizations in Oregon and Washington. Also popular were his historical walking tours at Ft. Stevens State Park, and the annual "Let Freedom Ring " program on July Fourth.
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Astoria exhibits, performed curatorial data entry, built the membership kiosk, and assisted with special events. In all, John has volunteered his talents, time, and energy to nine departments in the Museum. John's current projects include rebuilding a ship model for education programs and a regular shift aboard the lightship Columbia.
Q_tfAR_~_ERD_~_C_'K_
As well as his outreach activities, Byron is a regular speaker for CRMM' s maritime history lecture series, conducts Museum tours as a docent, works on collections data entry and research, and stands a regular watch on the lightship Columbia.
Byron is a graduate of OSU, works in the fields of oceanography and geophysics, and runs his own consulting firm Coriolis Consulting. We join the Rotary Club in congratulating Byron Ruppel!
to strengthen ties between Oregon State University and Astoria youth by bringing faculty and administrators to the Museum for open house evenings.
Legends of the Sea Come to Life in Kern Room
Our spring exhibit will feature colorful paintings of sea myths inspired by West Coast indigenous beliefs. The original works, created by Washington artist d'Elaine Herard Johnson, interpret a wide variety of creation myths, sea creatures, and legends of the sea. In a contemporary and personal style, the paintings are layered with story and meaning. This show will open March 6th and continue through June. It's an exciting departure from traditional marine art- don't miss it!
The QUARTERDECK is published four times a year by the Columbia River Maritime Museum, 1792MarineDr.,Astoria,OR97103. Phone (503) 325-2323, Fax (503) 325-2331.
Volume 23, No. I
Columbia River Maritime Museum Volunteer Wins Rotary Award
CRMM Student Docents. These area 5th graders have completed seven weeks of training to become the Museum's first Student Docents. They will present programs and demonstrations in their schools and the Museum The Student Docent Program is a cooperative effort between the Museum and the Lewis and Clark Grade School to foster leadership, volunteerism and communication skills in students. Our student docents are April Brandon, Heather Coy, Jason Feigenbaum, Christina Guidi, Jim Harrod, Wes Horn, Joshua Kindred, Karen West, and Brittany Zschoche. (Not pictured: John Johnson, Tiffiny Richardson.)
Printed at Anchor Graphics, Astoria, Oregon
Our Fine "Bo's'un" Does Many Jobs Well
Occasionally a person makes such a significant contribution to the Museum that it demands special recognition. John Gaw is one such person. Raised in New Hampshire, John has been interested in woodworking and boats all his life. After a 30-year career as an opticalmechanical engineer, John retired to Astoria and began volunteering at the Museum in April 1995. lnjust 19 months John has contributed an amazing 516 hours of his time to various projects throughout the Museum. He helped with the construction of the Exploradores! and USS
Byron's youth programs include navigation and, in cooperation with the Coast Guard, the popular "Three Bridges" class for high school students. Byron has worked
Editor, Karen Carpenter. Editorial Staff: Jerry Ostermiller, Anne Witty, Patricia Turner Custard, Rob Rudd.
Like a ship's bo's'un, John does his many jobs well. For all he has done, and for all the projects he will accomplish in the future, the staff ofCRMM thank John Gaw for a job well done!
The National Endowment for the Humanities and Columbia River Maritime Museum together: expanding American understanding of human experience and cultural heritage.
This fall and winter, Museum staff, Trustees, and members have had the unique opportunity to step back from daily operations and study the future our future. We embarked on a thematic self-study project funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It's been an exciting enterprise, with a focused goal: to produce a set of long-range themes for the Museum's humanities interpretation and programming. These themes, or ideas, will guide our future exhibit subject areas and techniques, public programs, and collections goals.
Most importantly, the results of the selfstudy herald a bright future for the Columbia River Maritime Museum. We have lots of ideas to explore, unlimited ideas for maritime-related exhibits and programs, and the challenge of weaving these components into a vital institution that continues to offer
educational excellence and insight into our maritime heritage and culture. In short, the NEH self-study starts our planning for the future. (See "From the Wheelhouse," p. 2).
Each site offered unique insights into the many roads open to museums today.
In January, five nationally-recognized scholars came to CRMM to participate in a 2-1/2 day workshop addressing themes and dreams for the future. The panelists included Peter Neill, Director of South Street Seaport Museum; environmental historian Bill Lang of the Center for Columbia River History and Portland State University; Pacific Northwest historian Carlos Schwantes of the Univ. ofldaho; maritime folklife specialist Paula Johnson of the Smithsonian Institution; and interpretation and communications specialist Sam Ham of the Univ. ofldaho. The workshop was crowned by a lively community open forum, moderated by Jim Servino of Astoria, which provided a great opportunity to listen to ideas from about 75 members, neighbors and friends of the Museum.
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Setting A Course for the Future: The Humanities Self-Study Project
Facilities Manager Hampton Scudder at South Street Seaport Museum,NYC
Quarterdeck, Vol. 23, No. I
The self-study project had several components. First, several museum staff members traveled to other institutions to experience first-hand what is new in museums. The five-day in-depth museum tour of several east coast museums included The Mariners' Museum, Nauticus (America's Maritime Center) and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Virginia; South Street Seaport Museum in NYC; and Independence Seaport in Philadelphia. Northwest museum trips took us to The High Desert Museum, The Museum at Warm Springs, the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center, the Washington State History Museum, Naval Undersea Museum, and the Boeing Museum of Flight.
Director Jerry Ostermiller and Curator Anne Witty talk with staff at Nauticus National Maritime Center, Virginia.
Registrar Dave Pearson at Hampton Roads Naval Museum, Virginia
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES
One Sunday George and I took a stroll through nature's park, and ran "alouf' ofan Indian cemetery. They bury their dead in a canoe, and deposit it high up on a scaffold, or by chopping the stumps of trees high enough to keep the body out of the reach of animals. They select a place in the thick forest for this purpose. We had quite a curiosity to see the inside of a recently deposited canoe and while making an examination accidentally capsized the canoe, when out rolled Mr Indian and all of his paraphernalia, consisting of an old musket, bent half double , some brass beads on a wire, a tin pot, pan, spoon, blankets, etc. enough to start him in house keeping in the happy hunting ground We made tracks for camp pretty lively, and were not particularly noticed when we went in, and kept pretty quiet the rest of the day. Near sun down a delega-
After completing our log mansion we moved into it, and divided into messes, or families, of fourteen in a mess , the same as when on' board the ship. We were out of work again and the captain ordered a house built for the officers . The launch was dispatched to [Fort] Vancouver again for supplies, and on their return they brought a cask of tobacco, a present from the Hudson Bay Company to the boys. The captain also ordered a dozen packs of cards for the boys to amuse themselves with. They did not allow us to play on shipboard and the question with us was why they allowed it now. The tobacco was divided equally among us, but within a week some half a dozen men had a comer on it. The tobacco was cut into small plugs about three inches long and a half an inch square. The boys played poker, and antied the tobacco, each plug representing one dollar. It would be kept on a clean cloth while playing, and if any one wanted a chew he took it from one of the plugs. But the rule was to leave half an inch on each plug, and then it would represent a whole one, and if any one undertook to cut the plugs into pieces to make more of it, it was called bogus. We could tell the center pieces from the ends. We finished our house for the officers, and played poker until the tobacco was worn out or chewed up, and the cards worn out. Cards did not attract so much attention as at first. At this time another house was talked of, but all at once the ropes were missing, and could not be found to haul the logs with Some one had made them scarce The boys did not purpose to be made horses of any longer. We had a good, commodious shelter already, and plenty to eat. Beef, salmon and hard-tack was our regular diet.
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tion oflndians, headed by the old missionary, who lived at Astoria, and acted as interpreter, appeared and stated that some of the boys had been desecrating their dead. The boys were questioned in regard to it, but no one seemed to know anything about it. Things were getting quite exciting, and the boys sent to Astoria for the captain. Shortly all the officers were with us. The captain filed us up in front of the Indians, who, by this time, numbered at least three hundred bucks, all in a fighting mood, and armed with muskets, rifles, bows and arrows, spears, etc. All the arms we had were sheath knives. The captain questioned the boys, but as before, no one knew anything about it. It was getting late, and the captain demanded an armistice for thirty-six hours in order to discuss the matter with the officers, and to find out who it was that committed the offense that he might be punished. The Indians willingly granted the request, for they thought they had it their own way, we having no arms They thought it would be short work or big pay. As soon as they left, the captain ordered us to the house and questioned us as to who had been out that day, when he ascertained that nearly the entire crew had been out, but no one had seen the dead Indian. The captain selected a crew for the launch, with orders to make the trip to Vancouver's that night. George and myself among the sixteen selected, with past midshipman Gelespie (poor fellow; he was afterwards killed in battle fighting the Mexicans) in command. Well, we went up to Vancouver that night and got seventy stands of arms, and thirty rounds ofammunition for each of the guns George and I would like to have stayed and went up to our farms, but it would have created distrust, and they would have thought us the miscreants. And besides, we did not think it would be just right to leave our
Sacred Ground
An Eye-Witness Account by Burr Osborn, Part II
When their vessel wrecked in September 1846, Captain Neil Howison and his crew were sailing outbound from the Columbia with orders to San Francisco . In the absence of much news from the "United States," all were anxious to get to California to determine whether rumors of war with Mexico were true. Instead they found themselves stranded in Astoria for almost four months, two of them spent on shipboard awaiting good conditions to leave the river.
As we continue with Burr Osborn's account of Astoria in 1846, we find the 86 members of the stranded crew of the U S. Survey schooner Shark sheltering comfortably but tediously in Astoria. The town was at that time a straggling settlement consisting of a Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post, along with a very few families who had settled here after their overland migration. Lower Chinookan native inhabitants, though greatly reduced in number by the disease epidemics of the 18th and 19th centuries, came and went through the community perched at the edge of the Columbia River.
Autumn in Astoria
Boys Will Be Boys
And so, the next night we returned to Astoria. The following morning, according to agreement with the Indians, the captain met them at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and with him were the boys armed with their new guns. The captain said that if any firing was done, and anybody on our side hurt, it should be the ones that caused the disturbance. George and I felt very cheap to think we had caused such a furor, but at that time we could not help it, and so we kept our peace. There were three hundred warriors on hand, with their minds made up for blood or big presents, but when they saw us armed and ready for a fight, they were very much surprised, for they knew we had saved nothing from the wreck but the boats. Where our guns came from was a conundrum to the warriors. The old missionary was along as an interpreter. The Indians asked the missionary what the captain said, and he told them the captain said he would give them fifteen minutes to get out of sight, and if any of them were there then he would begin to shoot. This created quite a commotion among the bucks, but they were not long in making their decision. They began to scatter; and were soon out of sight. The captain then marched us back to the house, and delivered us a lecture. He told us we had better keep together and not straggle away from camp, for the Indians would shoot us at sight. He said it was a good thing fo r him, because it would keep us at home, and that the Indians would look after us now instead of his having to do it. He said we were becoming wild, and he would have the missionary preach to us on Sunday.
A trading people, the lower Chinookans, like Indians up and down the Northwest coast, relied on salmon and cedar for subsistence and the basis of their wealth. Among their most valuable and useful possessions were fine cedar dugout canoes, created in lengths from 15 to 35 feet long For trading, transportation, food-gathering, prosecuting wars, visiting, and moving from place to place, these canoes were prized items. In addition to being traded throughout the coast, the canoes had great ritual and symbolic value as well.
The canoe also shepherded Chinookan dead into the next world. The lower Chinookan customs were described thus by Hubert Howe Bancroft:
"The body with its wrappings is placed in the best canoe of the deceased, which is washed for the purpose, covered with additional blankets, mats, and property, again covered when the deceased is of a richer class by another inverted canoe The more bulky articles of property, such as utensils, and weapons, are deposited about or hung from the platform, being previously spoiled for use that they may not tempt desecrators among the whites or foreign tribes After about a year, the bones are sometimes taken out and buried, but the canoe and platform are never removed. Chiefs' canoes are often repainted." (H.H. Bancroft, The Native Races of the Pacific States of North America, 1875).
Quarterdeck, Vol. 23, No. 1
officers and the boys to settle a disturbance which we alone created.
Burr Osborn, like many observers of his time, seemed aware of a vast cultural divide between his fellow crew and the aboriginal inhabitants of the area. In an earlier section of his account, he mentions that "Near by was an Indian village of several hundred, but we had strict orders not to go near them under penalty of receiving a dozen [lashes] with the cat-o'-nine-tails." Here, his description of exploring an Indian burial ground and the resulting confrontation provides us with a window into the world and beliefs of the lower Chinookans.
Of course, each group of native peoples had strong beliefs and rituals only hinted at in Osborn's remarks. His observations fall into the category of ethnohistorical account, and, while not entirely reliable (accounting for observer bias and his limited experience), they do bear out what many other explorers, missionaries, and traders of his time recorded. For an overview of Chinookan cultures of the lower Columbia, readers may wish to return to the Quarterdeck, Vol. 18 No. 2 (Winter 1992) for the article "We Have Always Been Here." 1
The Burial Canoe
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Accordingly we had divine service every Sunday twice, both in the morning and afternoon. He told us all about the broad road to ruin and eternal damnation, and the narrow road to bliss and eternal salvation. The missionary kept this up for several Sundays, but the officers never favored us with their presence. Some of the boys became restless under the teachings of the preacher, and proceeded to break it up. For a desk the preacher used an empty flour barrel. We had among our crew a dwarf negro, who was our barber. We arranged with the barber to get under the barrel, and when the preacher was in the height of his
A Confrontation Averted
It was earlier, during the 1840s, John Charles Fremont gained fame as an explorer of the Western frontiers. His three expeditions into the Oregon Territory were acclaimed in the history of Western exploration and expansion.
Soon after this we received orders from overland to join Fremont's expedition, about to pass south of us in a few days en route to San Francisco. Captain Howison said he would never take his men across the mountains at that time of the year, for we were poorly clad, and had no provisions for such a journey. We made several [survey] expeditions up the coast, and up the river. Those expeditions, the captain said, were in the interest of science, but the boys thought was to keep them out of mischief. At all events, we had an opportunity to see the country.
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Among Fremont's writings are Report ofthe Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-44(1845) and Memories of My Life (1887).
Osborn's account refers to the "Fremont expedition" (which his party did not join for fear of the harsh winter mountain conditions). This was a military expedition to California to prosecute the war with Mexico, led by John Charles Fremont, who had already made a name for himself as "The Great Pathfinder" of Western overland exploration.
Between 1842 and 1845, Fremont mapped the Oregon Trail to the mouth of the Columbia River. Then, guided by the scout Kit Carson, the party did what many would have thought impossible: crossed the forbidding Sierra Nevada mountains in midwinter of 1843-44. Fremont's third expedition, in 1845, further explored the Great Basin and the Pacific coast. For a time he was known as the "Great Pathfinder," but more recently it has been pointed out that Fremont actually followed trails of the mountain men, and used experienced mountain men as guides.
enjoyment telling us of our lost condition, and that the devil would be after us, he was to overturn the barrel, and show his teeth to the preacher, while the boys noted its effect. It took instantaneously, for the expounder of divine law took his departure, leaving his books and hat, and his heels could hardly be seen for the dust he raised. He wore a claw hammer coat and both tails stuck straight out until he reached Astoria. In due time, the officers came from the city (as we called Astoria), as we expected. The boys kept watch of them and when within about ten rods of the barracks Jim McKeever, an Irishman, began to exhort the boys to repentance in a very earnest manner, and loud enough for the Lord to hear if he had been a mile away. The officers stopped to listen, so as not to disturb our devotions. Jim wound up his discourse by asking us to sing the hymn "Come thou fount of every blessing," or something similar, and told us to sing heartily, which we did. I am not so sure of the melody, but our voices were strong. The officers approached the door is the last verse was concluded, and of course the boys were greatly surprised to see their captain so suddenly. He asked for the clergyman, and one of the boys said that he had been taken ill in the fore part of the service and had gone home, so the boys concluded to go on with the services themselves. Under the circumstances, the captain did not seem to have anything to say, and so we lost a good lecture by sticking closely to our devotions. The preacher never honored us with his presence after that. It was told by one of the fur men that the preacher was badly frightened by the sailors.
"The Great Pathfinder"
During the Mexican War ( 1846-48), Fremont climbed to Army major as he fought for the annexation of California He went on to an illustrious career in the military and politics. One of the first two senators from California, Fremont was twice a Presidential candidate. (In 1856 he was defeated by James Buchanan, and in 1864 he withdrew in favor of incumbent President Abraham Lincoln). He also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and as governor of the territory of Arizona from 1878 to 1883.
Local Expeditions
Oregon and Washington, next to the coast, are uneven mostly. The valleys are very productive. The Willamette Valley is quite extensive, and has excellent farming
lands. Washington, as it is called now, is very uneven back to the Cascade Mountains. East of the mountains are extensive plains, but the temperature is lower. Oregon and Washington, west of the Cascade Mountains, and especially Washington next to the sea coast, is almost a sub-tropical climate. The mildness of the winter is caused by a sort of gulf stream running up the coast from the tropics, bringing a flow of warm water, thus tempering the atmosphere. It is a great country for fish. The country is well timbered. The fir grows to a great height, sometimes three hundred feet or more, and from ten to fifteen feet in diameter at the base. I measured one that had been blown down back of Astoria that was twelve feet in diameter, four feet from the ground, and three hundred and thirty feet to where it had been cut off to make a road for hauling logs and it was eighteen inches thick where it was cut off. Washington and Oregon were in one territory at this time and the United States and British Governments were trying to establish the boundary line between the British Possessions and Oregon territory. At this time Great Britain claimed all that territory down to the north line of California. The United States claimed it by purchase of the French in 1803, it being a part of Louisiana. This claim was resisted by the British Government, and so both governments held it jointly until 1846, when the United States gave Great Britain notice to withdraw their claim, and during that year [June 1846] the boundary line was established on the 49th parallel. The native animals of this territory are the grizzly, bear, cinnamon bear, and black bear, the grey wolf, cayote, the panther or mountain lion and wild cat, deer, elk, antelope and mountain sheep. In fur animals are the silver fox, beaver, otter, pole cat, musk rat, martin and weasel.
Adieu to Sharkville
The captain chartered a schooner of the Hudson Bay Company to take us to San Francisco. We were transferred on board with our effects, and bade adieu to Sharkville (the name the boys gave our place of abode), and ran down the river to Baker's Bay again. There was just room enough room for all the boys to lie down in the schooner's hold by lying spoon fashion, except two, and they laid on the cabin floor. She carried about fifty tons, and was about the shape of a large wash tub, and decidedly English. Her name was "The
After several weeks of minor surveying work, the officers and crew of the Shark finally resumed their journey to San Francisco. Embarking aboard the Hudson's Bay Company schooner Cadboro (or Cadborough), they got as far as Baker's Bay where they were faced with another lengthy delay. The vessel's log confirms that after leaving Fort George in November, they waited for almost two months for a favorable wind out of the Columbia.
Those interested in the results of the Shark's survey may refer to Neil Howison, Report of Lieutenant Neil M. Howison, USN, to the Commander of the Pacific Squadron; Being the result of an Examination in the Year 1846 ofthe Coast, Harbors, Rivers, Soil, Productions, Climate, and Population ofthe Territory of Oregon (House Exec. Doc. Misc. No. 29, 30 Congress, 1st session, 1848).
And what of the vessel herself? Burr Osborn's rather unflattering description of a vessel "about the shape of a large wash tub, and decidedly English" was in fact a small schooner of about 56 feet and 72 tons, built at Rye, England in 1826, and armed with six guns. Osborn was not alone in his low opinion of her qualities. After her arrival on the Northwest coast in 1827, the Cadboro was deemed too weakly-armed and small to conduct much Company business. In 1829, Company official George Simpson wrote that " a more unseemly Vessel and at same time a vessel less adapted either for Sailing or Stowage, can rarely be found, and to crown her imperfections affected with Dry rot; in short, comparing herself with her cost [800 pounds sterling], it is evident that she was a very bad Bargain." Nonetheless, Lloyds Register for 1827-28 reports the vessel survey gained the Cadboro an A rating.
Our thanks to Judith Hudson Beattie, Keeper of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives, Winnipeg, and James Delgado, Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, for contributing information to this article.
-Anne Witty, Curator
Quarterdeck, Vol. 23, No. 1
Scarborough served as Cadboro's captain from 1838 to 1848, retiring from Hudson's Bay Company employ in 1850. Later, Scarborough took a claim close to Concomley's ancestral lands, near present-day Fort Columbia, and successfully diversified his enterprises, by shipping goods to California and serving occasionally as a bar pilot.
-from Reminiscences of a Voyage Around the World in the Forties by Burr Osborn (Union City, Michigan, 1892).
The Cadboro finally departed the Columbia on January 18, 1847 for San Francisco, returning to the Columbia on February 17th. The chartered voyage, like other incidents recorded by Osborn during that pivotal period in late 1846, illuminates the complicated intersection between the naval survey expedition and the Hudson's Bay Company at a time when joint British-American occupation of the Oregon Territory was being yielded to the Americans. In June 1846, a treaty was concluded setting the international boundary at the 49th parallel, but the Hudson's Bay Company retained "possessor's rights" to areas such as Fort Vancouver and Fort George, or Astoria. Here, as we have read, they proved very hospitable to the stranded American crew of the Shark.
the Fraser River in 1827, then for more than thirty years on the Northwest coast. Finally laid up in 1856-57, the Cadboro was sold in 1860 and used for coal and lumber until lost near Port Angeles in late 1862. She was considered one of the pioneer ships on the Pacific Coast.
Burr Osborn also described San Francisco and Monterey and various local "diversions" such as hunting and horse riding after the war, and he provided some lively accounts of the tricks and pranks of the crew, including the smuggling ofliquor on board U.S. ships on station in California, the Middle East and the Mediterranean in 184 7 and 1848. Burr was an acute observer, providing useful new light where he stuck to his own experience, whether in New Zealand, Hawaii or Oregon, but he later became rather over-concerned with generalizing to convey a broader account of the peoples and countries he had visited: e.g., "India and the Indians." Time had weakened his memory for dates and distances, and he certainly embroidered some of his stories, but his writings were valuable nevertheless for describing with insight and liveliness various little known places at early times. An annotated and expanded version of his account of southern New Zealand in 1846, edited by Rhys Richards, was published by Otago Heritage Books, Dunedin, in 1995.
Catborough" [Cadboro], commanded by Captain [James A.] Scarborough. We remained in Baker's Bay for several weeks, waiting for fair wind to go out through the breakers, for our officers were a little shy of the mouth of the Columbia River. During this time we made several expeditions into the wilderness in the interest of science. We killed some wolves, deers, bears, and a huge elk, whose antlers measured over six feet in length. At last we had a fair wind, and we sailed for San Francisco.
The Hudson's Bay Co. Schooner Cadboro
Her captain at the time of the Shark charter, James A. Scarborough, was himself a notable man in a time full of interesting characters. Scarborough first came out to the Columbia in 1830, as second mate and boatswain aboard the ill-fated brig Isabella (lost at the river's mouth). He was considered a good skipper, suffering no serious mishaps during his long career. An English Catholic, Scarborough married "in country" to one of Chief Concomley's daughters, known as Ann Elizabeth after her own baptism into the Catholic faith. They lived at Fort Vancouver, in a house outside the stockade walls.
9
The Cadboro charter was apparently an unusual occurrence. Normally, the vessel was busy in the coastwise trade redistributing supplies, furs and trade goods among the many Hudson's Bay Company posts around the Northwest. These supplies and goods were brought yearly by larger supply ships from England. But, in the winter of 1846-47, the Cadboro was between duties. Papers of the Hudson's Bay Company archives in Winnipeg, Manitoba confirm Osborn's account that Capt. Howison chartered the vessel. The cost- 500 pounds sterling was a very substantial sum, especially when compared to the modest cost of building the Cadboro in 1826 800 pounds sterling.
-Rhys Richards, Wellington, New Zealand
Postscript
Whatever her shortcomings, the small, stout Cadboro had a long career in and around the Columbia River. Coming out from London via the Sandwich Islands in 1826, she was one of the first of about 18 vessels employed by the Hudson's Bay Co. for the Columbia Department. She served to found Fort Langley on
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Quarterdeck, Vol. 23, No. 1
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Timeless Symbols of the Sea
Dolphins, the quintessential symbols of the sea, cavort in this painting by d'Elaine Herard Johnson of Edmonds, Washington Works selected for her spring exhibit at CRMM depict sea legends, myths and creatures inspired by Northwest native beliefs. The exhibit opens in the Kem Room on March 6th .
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(Photograph: John Laffette)
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