Governor Simpson noted that the salmon entered the Cowlitz River in the autumn on their way from the sea, but never in the spring.
The emerging American enterprises developing along the Lower Cowlitz River in the 1850s offered the members of the tribe new means of subsistence. In 1845, John Jackson and Michael Simmons opened up a road from Vancouver to Olympia known as the Cowlitz Trail. In 1853, settlers built a road from Walla Walla to Fort Steilacoom via Natchez Pass, but nobody used it. It was known as a military road. In 1851, government mail runs were established by canoe from the mouth of the Cowlitz River, up to Cowlitz Landing, and then overland to Olympia. This mail run expanded into a general transportation service. Captain Jack and his wife, Jackie Wannassay’s great-grandparents, carried mail by canoe from Kelso to Toledo. Jackie once said, “To me, owning an allotment is like being a prisoner of the government.”
Land clearing was a major focus of activities for most early Euro-American residents of the area, and logging with saw-milling became early important industries. Morton and Kosmos, in particular, were early saw-milling centers. This growing industrial base was first reached by a branch of the Tacoma Eastern Railroad in 1910. By the early 20th century, sufficient lands had been cleared so that agricultural activities became more important; dairy farming and orchards both being prominent.
By 1853, Warbass and Townsend (the two store owners) were conducting a thriving business, with some of the bateaux large enough to carry a wagon. According to the records: “A crew of one of these large but light craft consisted of eight or ten expert Indians who could bring a heavily loaded bateaux up the river to Cowlitz landing in about three days.”
By 1854, A. Clark, F. Clark, D. Bush, R. Smith and W. Simmons had all sought a share in the lucrative Cowlitz bateaux business. William Simmons’ advertisement of June 30, 1854, provides a fine example of the facilities available during the period: “The undersigned will run a regular line of canoes up and down the Cowlitz River, starting from Rainier and Monticello (Longview) on the arrival of steamers from San Francisco and Oregon and starting from Cowlitz landing to connect with the above steamers at the mouth of the Cowlitz. Also extras always ready. I have engaged the best Indians, and shall accompany the canoes myself.”
It can be seen that the Cowlitz Indians began moving into a new era of economics and subsistence. Some of the stops that were made between Monticello and Cowlitz Landing were at Gardner’s Hotel at the mouth of the Toutle River, and at Humphrey’s Landing at the confluence of Olequa Creek and the Cowlitz River. These locations were situated near the four Lower Cowlitz villages: Mansala (Kelso), Nilwi (Castle Rock), Kamtsi (Olequa), and Matup (Toledo).
Four years after Fathers Blanchet and Demers arrived in 1838, a young French priest, Father S. B. Z. Balduc, was sent to the Cowlitz Mission, and in his journal he wrote of his trip through the Cowlitz Corridor: “On the 28th we began to ascend the Cowlitz River, which would not be difficult if it were not for the rapids. Most of the way it is necessary to use poles and even then one strains greatly to advance a few yards.”
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Next week: The Cowlitz
Corridor —Part Three
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Roy I. Rochon Wilson was an elected leader of the Cowlitz Tribe for three decades and is the author of more than 30 books, including several histories of the Cowlitz Tribe. He is a retired ordained Methodist minister and current spiritual leader of the tribe. Wilson lives near Winlock.
