The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its CommerceLyman, William Denison
History
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce
Lyman, William Denison
Columbia River; Columbia River -- Description and travel; Columbia River -- History
From Walla Walla we take a flying trip through the continued wheat belt on
the Umatilla and its branches in Northern Oregon, a region similar to that
around Walla Walla, rich and fruitful. Of this part of Oregon, Pendleton
on the Umatilla is the metropolis. The Umatilla Indian Reservation, one of
the most important in the history of this country, adjoins it. One of the
most interesting persons in North-west history, now deceased, lived at
Pendleton many years, Dr. William C. McKay, the son of Thomas McKay, and
grandson of Alexander McKay, the last named being that one of the Astor
company who lost his life on the _Tonquin_. Dr. William McKay was a
three-quarter-blood Indian, but he was well educated and one of the most
interesting men in our history. Another noted man, still living in the
prime of life, is Major Lee Moorehouse, famous in earlier times as an
Indian fighter and agent, and more recently as one of the most successful
students and photographers of Indian life. Some of his pictures have
gained national fame, and the publishers of this volume are indebted to
his courtesy for their appearance here. Another interesting fact in
connection with Pendleton is that here the Pendleton Indian robes and
blankets are manufactured, and these have borne the name of their home
place to all parts of the United States and even the world.
While in this part of Oregon we must take advantage of the opportunity to
visit Lake Wallowa, with its tragic and pathetic memories of Indian war
and early settlement and with its glorious scenery, almost equal to that
of Chelan. Right over the lake, deep-set in precipitous mountain walls,
towers the battlemented crest of Eagle Cap, which the people of Wallowa
now declare to be the highest mountain in Oregon, 12,000 feet in
elevation. Wallowa Lake is the veritable jewel of the Blue Mountains, a
chain which, while not in general equal to the Cascades for height,
grandeur, and variety, possesses in the Wallowa Basin a group of
attractions not surpassed in any part of the North-west.
[Illustration: Memorial Building, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
Photo. by W. D. Chapman.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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