A History of Transportation in Nineteenth Century Umatilla County, Oregon

Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 4-26-1996 A History of Transportation in Nineteenth Century Umatilla County, Oregon Gary Kenneth Miller Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Miller, Gary Kenneth, "A History of Transportation in Nineteenth Century Umatilla County, Oregon" (1996). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 5159. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.7035 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. THESIS APPROVAL The abstract and thesis of Gary Kenneth Miller for the Master of Arts in History were presented April 26, 1996, and accepted by the thesis committee and the department. COMMITTEE APPROVALS: Friedrich Schuler Candice L. Gou Representative ~f the Office of Graduate Stu dies DEPARTMENT APPROVAL: David A(Johnson, Chair Department of History ******************************************************************* ACCEPTED FOR PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY BY THE LIBRARY B on /6.7/:?a<r /99~ AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Gary Kenneth Miller for the Master of Arts in History presented April 26, 1996. Title: A History of Transportation in Nineteenth Century Umatilla County, Oregon. An examination of the history of transportation in Umatilla County, Oregon, will provide an understanding of its role in the colonization and economic development of this remote and arid reg10n. This study begins with a description of the movement of Umatilla, Walla Walla, and Cayuse Indians in the Umatilla Country to establish the patterns of transportation at the beginning of the nineteenth century. From this basis, significant changes in transportation technology and patterns of movement can be identified and analyzed. Primary sources are reviewed to establish existing routes and conditions of travel. Immigrant accounts and pioneer reminiscences reveal that difficulties with transportation were identified very early as the major obstacle to the development of an agriculture-based market economy. Umatilla County archives provide a clear record of the actions taken by the county government to lay out and maintain wagon roads. 2 Three significant changes are identified in nineteenth century transportation in Umatilla County: introduction of the horse, introduction of wheeled vehicles, and the coming of steam powered vessels and trains. Each of these three developments were revolutionary, adding to the capacity and range of the existing transportation system. The sudden demands for transportation as a result of gold strikes east and south of Umatilla County created the need to expand the regional transportation system. That expanded system was then available to new settlers. As the dominant land use was transformed from livestock grazing to dryland wheat farming, the need for railroads, in addition to Columbia River steamboats, became clearly evident. Feeder roads remained very important, as did animal traction to pull the wagons to the warehouses and loading docks along the rail lines. The location of major routes of travel across the Umatilla Indian Reservation resulted in significant problems for the transportation system. The system to establish and maintain county roads, mandated by state law, involved direct participation of individuals residing adjacent to the roads. Throughout the nineteenth century, the patterns of movement remained remarkably unchanged. Based on ancient Indian trails, the transportation system was the crucial element m the economic development of Umatilla County. A HISTORY OF TRANSPORTATION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY UMATILLA COUNTY, OREGON by GARY KENNETH MILLER · A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY Portland State University 1996 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Several individuals have given generous assistance and encouragement toward the completion of this thesis. I have had the good fortune to have as my academic advisor Professor Gordon B. Dodds. In Umatilla County, the help and hospitality of the following individuals made my research visits fruitful and enjoyable: Thomas E. Bailor, Cultural Resources Technician, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Julie Alford, Cartographer, Planning Department, Umatilla County; and Jeanne Gorham of the Roadmaster's Office, Umatilla County. Finally, Donald McManman of West Richland, Washington, provided unstinting logistical support and encouragement. I am pleased to offer my thanks. THE HISTORY OF TRANSPORTATION IN NINETEENTH CENTURY UMATILLA COUNTY, OREGON TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page Acknowledgements ---------------------- iii 1 Introduction 1 2 Native American Transportation --------- 6 3 Movement of Explorers, Trappers, and Traders --------------------------- 1 3 4 Miss10nanes. I I mpact -------------------- 28 5 The Mining Frontier --------------------- 48 6 Stagecoach and Express Travel ---------- 75 7 Movement of Livestock 87 8 Establishment of Governmental, Social, and Commercial Institutions ------ 108 9 Farm-to-Market Transportation and the Impact of Railroads ----------- 145 1 0 Conclusion ------------------------------- 167 Appendices A County Court of Umatilla County Preamble and Resolution in the Matter of Roads ------------------- 173 v Appendices Page B In the Matter of Establishing a County Road ------------------------------ 175 C Report, Survey & Plat of Co. Road from Umatilla City via McKay Cr. to Blue Mts. on Meacham Road ------------------------------ 177 D Maps Map 1, Umatilla County in Oregon ---------------------------- 180 Map 2, Roads over the Blue Mountains ------------------------ 181 Map 3, Roads in Western Umatilla County ------------------- 18 3 Map 4, Railroads in Umatilla County ---------------------------- 185 Map 5, Walla Walla-Wallula Railroads -------------------------- 186 Bibliography 188 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION From ancient to modern times, transportation has been critical to sustainable human habitation in the Great Columbia Plain of the Pacific Northwest. Routes and patterns of travel have developed in clear stages within this distinctive geographical area that resembles a rough triangle with the apex in the north at the mouth of the Okanogan River, and the southern line running from the Deschutes area of Oregon tilting upward to the Camas Prairie of northern Idaho. I The scarcity of both population and natural resources focuses attention on human activities in the reg10n. The Columbia River was, and remains, the great highway of the Northwest. The river and its tributaries provided life-giving water to an arid land. It furnished salmon and a medium of transportation for inhabitants: one a staple food and cultural necessity, the other a means of trade and movement. People moved in purposeful patterns along its tributaries and on overland trails expanding outward from the Columbia. D. W. Meinig, The Great Columbia Plain, A Historical Geography, 1805- 1910, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1968), 4. This rich work is a primary source for information regarding the patterns of human movement studied in this thesis. 2 Umatilla County provides a useful subject for the study of the history of transportation in the inland area of the Pacific Northwest (see Appendix D, Map 1). It was one of the last areas of the continental United States to be settled. Because its settlement was so recent, archival records and personal remembrances are numerous. Umatilla County is bordered on the northwest and heavily influenced by the Columbia River. Just across the state line in Washington the Whitman Mission at Waiilatpu and later the city of Walla Walla exerted influence as centers of commerce and transportation. Various branches of the Oregon Trail and other pioneer roads penetrated the Blue Mountains to the east and south, a formidable but permeable natural obstacle to travel. Umatilla Landing, and later Pendleton, served as centers of communications in a growing agricultural reg10n. Umatilla County did not come into being as a distinct political entity until 1862, when it was split off from Wasco County. For purposes of this study, Umatilla County is essentially synonymous with Umatilla Country, the term used when referring to pre-1862 history. Also, while the Whitman Mission and Walla Walla are across the arbitrarily drawn state line, a transportation history of Umatilla County could not be written without reference to their significant influence. Various early explorers and trappers, Robert Stuart of the Hudson's Bay Company and Colonel John C. Fremont, for example, 3 were famed as "pathmakers" or "trailblazers."2 It is not meant to denigrate the courage or accomplishments of these men to say that to follow a path is not to make one. Archer B. Hulbert, writing in 1920 of Indian trails declared: "To a larger degree than has ever been realized, the explorers, conquerors, and settlers of any portion of this country were indebted to the narrow trail of the Indian" and "Today the main lines of travel and transportation for the most part still cling to these primeval pathways. "3 The Venango Trail became an early colonial military road, and is now the route of the highway between Erie and Watertown, Pennsylvania. Daniel Boone won fame for opening the Wilderness

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