The Pacific Monthly/Volume 6/Early Pilotage on the Columbia River

by P. W. Gillette

The Pacific Monthly.

Early Pilotage on the Columbia River,By P.W. Gillette.

ON the 17th day of August, 1775, Captain "Brono Heceta," an enterprising Spanish navigator, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River and named it "Rio de San Roque." It is shown on the old Spanish charts of the North American coast in the proper latitude for the Columbia. Heceta did not enter the river because, he said, the "current between the two points (meaning Cape Hancock and Point Adams) was too strong for his ship to stem. He said in his journal:

"The current and the eddies of the water caused me to believe the place to be the mouth of some great river, or some passage into another sea." Captain Heceta was evidently in close so that he could observe the tremendous outflow of the great river.

Three years later Captain John Meares, of the British Navy, went south from the Straits of Fuca purposely to see and verify the Rio de San Roque of Heceta. On the 5th day of July, 1778, he discovered and entered Shoalwater Bay and named the cape at its entrance "Cape Shoalwater." A few days later, while yet the summer freshet from melting snow was pouring its mighty flood into the ocean, he reached the mouth of Heceta's river and gave it a most careful inspection, and found to his satisfaction there was no river there; so he named the promontory overlooking what Heceta had supposed to be the mouth of a river, "Cape Disappointment," and the mouth of the river, itself he named "Deception Bay," because it had deceived the wily old Spaniard by making him believe it to be the mouth of a river. His journal reads: "We can now safely assert that no such river as San Roque exists, as laid down on the chart of Heceta." The cape that he named is still known as Cape Disappointment, although Captain Robert Gray named it Cape Hancock, and it is so described on the map. In this locality it is generally called Disappointment.

Fourteen years later George Vancouver, a famous navigator and an officer of the English Navy, in passing north along the Oregon coast, diligently hunting for the great unknown river of the West, says in his journal: "April 27, 1792—Nown brought us up into a conspicuous point of land, comprised of a cluster of hummocks, moderately high and extending into the sea."

Those hummocks were the point on which the old lighthouse stands, "McKenzie's Head," nearly a mile north, and the "North Head," on which the new lighthouse stands, two miles further north.

"On the south side of the promontory was the appearance of an inlet or small river, the land not indicating it to be of any great extent, nor did it seem to be accessible for vessels of our burden, as the breakers extended from above the point to three miles into the ocean, while they joined those on the beach nearly four leagues further south. On reference to Meares' description of the coast south of the promontory, I was first induced to believe it was Cape Shoalwater, but upon ascertaining its latitude, I found it to be what he called 'Cape Disappointment,' and the opening south of it 'Deception Bay.' This was found to be in latitude 46 degrees, 19 minutes. The sea had now changed from natural to river-colored water, the probable consequence of some stream falling into the bay. Not considering this open- ing worthy of our attention, I continued our pursuit to the northwest, being desirous to embrace the advantages of the now prevailing breezes and pleasant weather so favorable to examination of the coast."

So Vancouver, as Meares had done be- fore him, lost the greatest opportunity of life; lost the honor and distinction of finding and naming the second largest river in North America. And so England lost an empire.

Captain Robert Gray, of Boston, in the ship Columbia, had only a few days before Vancouver been off the mouth of the river, and spent nine days in trying to enter it, but owing to light wind and the strong outflow of the river's current, he was unable to get in. About two weeks after Vancouver had left the mouth of the river on his northwest journey Gray returned and entered the river without any trouble, thus securing to himself the honor of making the discovery and to the United States the empire that England lost by Vancouver's want of discretion and perseverance.

Captain Gray ran so close into the bar that he could plainly see the channel from his masthead. So enormous is the dis- charge of water and so plainly marked is the channel of the Columbia that no storm can make its waters so rough that its channel cannot be easily distinguished from any point from which it might be seen.

Captain Heceta, the first discoverer, had a far better understanding and a clearer conception of the place than either Meares or Vancouver. He knew from the strong current and great eddies the place was the mouth of some great river, or an entrance to another sea. Both Meares and Vancouver went there with all the information that He- ceta's charts had thrown on the subject, yet each, after a careful examination of the place, went away believing there was

nothing there worthy of their attention. Vancouver plainly saw the sea discolored by river water, but very unwisely concluded that it was "in consequence of some small river falling into the bay."

From the date of Gray's discovery down for many years but few ships entered the Columbia. In 1806 the Clatsop Indians gave to Lewis and Clark the names of some eight or ten captains of ships who had visited the Columbia. Of course, there were no pilots, each captain having to find his way in. In 1811, when Captain Thorne, with Mr. Astor's ship Tonquin, approached the mouth of the river, he made the same mistake that Meares and Vancouver had made by standing too far off shore. He hove to "three leagues off the bar as the water seemed to be breaking clear across the mouth of the river." He manned a small whaleboat with five men and dispatched her to find and sound the channel. On the following day his ship had drifted so close in to the bar that the man at the masthead saw the channel and she came in. This performance on the part of Captain Thorne was as cruel, stupid and foolish as had been his career in general from the day he left New York until its tragic close, when, by his gross carelessness and unwise conduct, he so needlessly allowed the savages of Puget Sound to slaughter himself and his crew.

For many years after 1811 there was but little traffic in the Columbia. As the business of the Hudson Bay Company increased they had two or three ships making regular trips, but during all those years there is no record of any pilot at the bar. The company kept among their servants some one who was capable of piloting their vessels in and out. Along in the '30s they had in their service a Kanaka who sometimes acted as pilot. But there was not business enough at the mouth of the river for one pilot until about 1847. Alexander Lottie was among the first, if not the first, pilot on the bar. He was also a river pilot, and took the Hudson Bay Company's ships up to Vancouver. As near as I can learn he came to Astoria some time from 1825 to 1830. After that. company became pretty well established on the Columbia some one of their people acted as pilot. Lottie was captain of the steamship Beaver for several years. It will be remembered the Beaver was the first steamship ever seen on the Pacific Ocean. She is an historic craft. A prominent lady now living in Portland was born on the Beaver while Mr. Lottie was captain of her, Lottie was a Scotchman, a large and powerful man. After Major James Birnie retired from the service of the Hudson Bay Company at Astoria to his farm at Cathlamet, Mr. Lottie succeeded him in charge of their affairs at that point. A feud existed between Lottie and Colonel John McClure, an American, who had taken up a claim joining the old Astor place on the west, and which later on became the principal business portion of Astoria. McClure was an ill-tempered and dangerous man when under the influence of intoxicating drink. During one of his sprees he went up to Hudson's Bay headquarters and wrapped on Mr. Lottie's door. When Mr. Lottie opened the door, McClure said with an oath: "I have come to kill you," and commenced shooting at Lottie, who seized an old saber encased in a heavy iron scabbard, with which he knocked McClure down, injuring him severely. When McClure's friends called to take him home, Lottie refused to give him up, saying: "The Colonel is my guest, and I will take good care of him until he can go home." Lottie was not blamed in this case, as he had a right to defend himself. Mr. Lottie was drowned in the Columbia River below Vancouver some years later, and Colonel McClure sold out his town site to Judge Cyrus Olney, late in the '50s, and returned to Indiana, his native state, where he died many years ago.

Captain John Scarborough, an Englishman, was also one of the earliest pilots. He resided at Scarborough Head in 1844, and doubtless had been there much longer, but I find no record of him before that time. His home was near where Fort Columbia now stands. He died in 1856.

When Captain Charles Wilks, of the United States Exploring Expedition, with the sloop of war Peacock, entered the Columbia in 1841, she came in over the bar without a pilot and was met just inside the cape by several prominent Oregonians, who recommended a colored man, who lived at or near the cape, as a pilot, but he ran the ship aground on the Chinook sands. He lived afterward in Astoria as late as 1857. His name was George Washington. His wife was a Chinook woman, a sister of the wife of Colonel John McClure, one of the proprietors of Astoria. "Old George," as he was called, was very fond of speaking of "Con'el McCloo, my broder-in-law, sah." George was very old, and once, when asked his age, said: "I doan kno' 'zactly how ole I is, sah; but I war jis' 18 year ole when de British laid de barge on de tea."

The first pilot-boat on the bar was the launch of the sloop of war Peacock. She was wrecked on the bar as she was departing from the Columbia, on the i8th day of July, 1841, and "Peacock Spit" still bears her name. Her launch was saved and Captain Wilks left it with Dr. John McLaughlin, chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, with instructions that it should only be used as a pilot-boat and to assist mariners at the mouth of the river. The "provisional" Legislature of Oregon some time after passed an act requiring Dr. McLaughlin to deliver the launch up to the legislative authority, and Governor Abernethy made a formal demand, which McLaughlin ignored by referring to the positive orders of Captain Wilks, at the same time claiming that the "provisional Legislature" could not act for the Government of the United States. Finally, to avoid trouble. Dr. McLaughlin turned her over to Lieutenant Niel M. Howison, of the United States Navy, and he sold her to an Astoria pilot, whose name I have not been able to learn. She was not nearly as seaworthy nor so fit for a pilot-boat as a good, large Chinook Indian canoe.

The first pilot on the bar of the Columbia not connected with or under the influence of the Hudson Bay Company was one Captain Reives. In May, 1848, he took a crew of Indians and went outside to bring the Hudson Bay Company's bark Vancouver, but lost her on the bar. He figured but little as a pilot and was soon lost sight of.

Some time in 1849 Captain White and his son, Cornelius, bought the schooner Mary Taylor and put her on the bar as pilot-boat, with himself and J. G. Hustler as pilots. She was really the first craft acting as pilot-boat on the bar worthy of the name and position. Both Captain White and Hustler hailed from New York.

Not long after the Mary Taylor made her appearance. Captain George Flavel arrived in from San Francisco with the fine schooner California, and put her on the bar as an opposition pilot-boat. Aided by a longer purse and perhaps better management, the Mary Taylor was forced to retire. I think she went to Puget Sound. After that, for more than a quarter of a century. Captain Flavel had almost undisputed possession of the pilotage at the mouth of the Columbia, which was notorious as a dangerous bar, principally from the description of it as given by Washingtotn Irving in relating the stupid adventures of Captain Thorne, while trying to get the Tonquin in. Irving's glib pen, vivid descriptions and fascinating style, though doubtless unintentional, gave the Columbia bar a bad name and did it great damage. The first legislation in Oregon territory regulating pilotage on the Columbia bar allowed enormous fees for such service. Prior to 1862 the fee for piloting a ship in over the bar and up to Astoria or from Astoria out over the bar was $15 per foot draft up to 12 feet and $18 per foot draft for every foot above 12 feet draft.

That year, 1862, I was chosen to represent the counties of Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook in the Legislature. At that time the population of those counties was so small that it took all of them to make a representative district. I will quote from a newspaper article of mine published some years ago on the subject: "Knowing that the commerce of the Columbia River had grown to such a magnitude that the fees allowed by law were excessively high, were oppressive to every industry in the state and were enriching the few to the injury of the many, I introduced a bill, which became the law, reducing pilot fees on the bar and on the river between Astoria and Portland one- third, which still left their fees more than double what they now get. And it left them ample remuneration for their services. They had been so long in possession of the business, and knowing it must pass through their hands anyway, they had become too independent and too neglectful of their duty. They seldom ever went outside in bad weather to look for ships, no matter how many were due, or how important a speedy arrival might be. Vessels often had to lay outside in stormy weather one, two, three, four, five and sometimes six weeks, waiting the pleasure of the pilots.

In 1864 I was again elected to the same position, and believing that the growing commerce of the state required an improved system of pilotage, introduced a bill, which soon became the law, giving the exclusive right to pilot on the Columbia River bar to the owner or owners of a steam tug of sufficient power to tow ships in or out of the river. Heretofore only small sailing schooners had been used as pilot-boats. At the same session I had a "joint memorial" adopted by both houses, asking the Washington territory Legislature to enact a similar law, so as to prevent the pilots from getting license on the Washington side, to use sail vessels for pilot-boats on the bar. Fearing that Legislature might not act promptly in the matter, I went to Olympia on the 1st of December, 1864, over those almost impassable roads, in person, to ask the passage of this important measure. In ten days my bill was passed by both houses and was signed by Governor Pickering and was the law of both Washington and Oregon, making it impossible for any one to act as pilot on the Columbia River bar unless he was the owner or connected with a steam tug.

"I will always remember with gratitude, pride and pleasure the promptness with which the Washington Legislature took up my bill, and the kind, courteous and generous manner in which I was treated by them during my stay in Olympia." I insert here what the leading Olympia paper said on the subject to show how willing all of the Sound papers are and always have been to publish the dangers of the Columbia River bar:

"The Hon. P. W. Gillettte, member of the Oregon Legislature from the lower counties of the Columbia, is in this city. Mr. Gillette is here to endeavor to induce our Legislature to enact a law regulating pilotage on the Columbia River Bar so as to give the exclusive right of pilotage to one or more steam tugs, instead of the uncertain sailboats. His bill has passed both branches of the Legislature and is now the law of the land. This is right; the interest of life and commerce demand that the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River — the worst and most dangerous on the continent — should be guarded by steam power. The traveling public may and will be grateful to Mr. Gillette for his sagacity in originating, and his energy in getting so necessary a measure through the Legislature of Oregon, and then coming here through storm and snow to secure its adoption by our legislature."

In less than four months after the passage of my bill through the Oregon Legislature Captain Paul Carno put the powerful steam tug Rabone on the bar as pilot-boat, and she came to stay. Steam tugs have been there ever since and will always be there as long as sailing vessels continue to arrive and depart from the Columbia River.

Captain Flavel's first pilots were J. G. Hustler, Moses Rogers, A. Crosby and A. C. Farnsworth, while Mr. Edwards and Captain Wass came a few years later.

Captains George Flavel, J. G. Hustler and Moses Rogers all married into prominent Astoria families. A. Cole Farnsworth, who died a bachelor, was usually spoken of as Captain "Cole," and was a great society man, a favorite with the ladies, was very polite, companionable and obliging, and always dressed well in garments that were scrupulously clean.

In reviewing this most interesting subject, the discovery of the Columbia, one can but wonder why Heceta, Meares and Vancouver could not but have known that the "opening," as Vancouver called it, was the mouth of some vast river, extending far inland. All of them were there at a time of year when the weather is almost certain to be clear. In clear weather, when opposite the river's mouth, Mount St. Helens may always be seen plainly. The river valley divides the Coast range of mountains, forming, as it were, a broad avenue, with St. Helens in full view at the head of it. To move a mile or two either north or south cuts off the view of St. Helens, the grand old landmark which one can almost imagine had been placed there by nature to mark the position of the river. If any of those navigators saw St. Helens it must have been when they were opposite the mouth of the river, because it is visible from no other point. Heceta was there in August, Meares in July, and Vancouver the last of April, such times as the weather is almost always clear of both clouds and fog. It must have been clear when Vancouver was there, because he saw and named St. Helens, saw the "cluster of hummocks" on Cape Disappointment, saw the breakers on Clatsop beach, extending south 12 leagues, and he said; "There was the appearance of an inlet or some small river, the land not indicating it to be of any great extent."

But time has wrapped her dusky veil about them, leaving us nothing to judge them by, save the brief mention in their journals. So little was then known of this far-off land or of the vast ocean, whose billows lashed its lonely shores, that none can but admire those brave old navigators for their courage, skill and daring perseverance.