Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Cook’s Voyages to and from Hawai‘i

Between 1768 and 1778 England’s maritime explorer, James Cook, made three expeditions to the Pacific. Astronomy played a vital role in navigation and coastal cartography, and consequently there were astronomers on all three Pacific expeditions.

Cook’s third (and final) voyage (1776-1779) of discovery was an attempt to locate a North-West Passage, an ice-free sea route which linked the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.  Cook commanded the Resolution while Charles Clerke commanded Discovery.  (State Library, New South Wales)

They left Portsmouth, England in the late evening of July 12, 1776 – almost exactly four years after leaving on the previous successful voyage – a coincidence that some viewed as a favorable omen.

The commander of the second ship, Discovery, was Lieutenant Charles Clerke (1741–1779), who had sailed with Cook on both circumnavigations but was currently in prison for his brother’s debts; he was not released until the end of July, unwittingly having contracted tuberculosis.

Among Cook’s officers were George Vancouver, who would later lead a four-year survey of the northwest coast of America, and William Bligh, destined to be made famous by the storied mutiny on the Bounty. Also on board were Nathaniel Portlock and George Dixon.

After a year among the islands of the South Pacific, many of which he was the first European to make contact, on December 8, 1777, they were in Bora-Bora.

Proceeding north, they discovered the Pacific’s largest atoll, Kiritimati (what Cook called Christmas Island (where they celebrated Christmas)) and Cook observed an eclipse of the sun. After stocking up on over a ton of green turtles, the ships departed on January 2, 1778. (Smithsonian)

Then, “We continued to see birds every day … sometimes in greater numbers than others; and between the latitude of 10° and 11° we saw several turtle. All these are looked upon as signs of the vicinity of land.”

“However, we discovered none till day-break, in the morning of the 18th, when an island made its appearance, bearing northeast by east; and, soon after, we saw more land bearing north, and entirely detached from the former.”  (Cook’s Journal)

Cook’s crew first sighted the Hawaiian Islands in the dawn hours of January 18, 1778.  His two ships were kept at bay by the weather until the next day when they approached Kauai’s southeast coast.

On the afternoon of January 19, native Hawaiians in canoes paddled out to meet Cook’s ships, and so began Hawai’i’s contact with Westerners.  The first Hawaiians to greet Cook were from the Kōloa south shore.

The Hawaiians traded fish and sweet potatoes for pieces of iron and brass that were lowered down from Cook’s ships to the Hawaiians’ canoes.

The Islands “were named by Captain Cook the Sandwich Islands, in honour of the Earl of Sandwich, under whose administration he had enriched geography with so many splendid and important discoveries.” (Captain King’s Journal; Kerr)

Hawaiian lives changed with sudden and lasting impact, when western contact changed the course of history for Hawai’i.

Throughout their stay, the ships were supplied with fresh provisions which were paid for mainly with iron, much of it in the form of long iron daggers made by the ships’ blacksmiths on the pattern of the wooden pāhoa used by the Hawaiians.

After a month’s stay, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific.  The maritime sea-fur industry of the northwestern Pacific coast was almost accidentally begun when in 1778 Captain Cook brought back from the Nootka Sound region a few pelts whose great value was learned in China.

The maritime fur trade in skins of the sea otter (and beaver, seal, etc) was the stimulus for the unofficial earliest explorations of the coast and islands of what is now British Columbia and southern Alaska.

Although seven years passed before Cook was followed by another European vessel, the year 1785 opened a lively period of trade. Within a few years the flags of seven nations were flown in these waters by merchant vessels seeking their booty on uncharted coasts. (US Naval Institute)

After being in the Northwest, Alaska, they headed back to Hawaii to provision (November 1778).   “Dec2d …We got to windward of Mowee & this Morning came to another large Island called by the Natives Ou-why’ee (Hawai‘i:) in the afternoon we stood close in shore & lay to trading with the Natives, who brought us a large quantity of Breadfruit & roots & a few Hogs.”

“We saw many Houses on the low land & Thousands of people collected together to look at the Ships. This Island has a pleasant Appearance, the Land from the Waterside sloping gently upwards to the foot of the Hills. The top of one of the highest mountains is covered with Snow…” (Journal of Captain Cook)

“Jan.16th [1779] … This morning seeing the appearance of a Bay a Boat from each ship was sent to examine it. We have had more Canoes about us to day than in any place this Voyage; …”

“… we counted 150 large sailing Canoes many of which contained thirty & forty men – we reckoned that all together there could not be less about the 2 Ships than 1000 canoes & 10,000 Indians…”   (Journal of Captain James Cook)

“Jan.17th … We entered with both ships, and anchored in the middle of the bay having on one side a town containing about 300 hundred houses called by the inhabitants Kiverua [Ka’awaloa,] and on the other side a town contained 1100 houses, and called Kirekakooa [Kealakekua]…”  (Journal of John Ledyard)

“As soon as the Resolution was moored Capt. Cook went on ashore … the chiefs had each two long white poles which they held upright and waved to the people in the canoes, to make room, and as they passed through the throng, the chief cried out in their language that the great Orono [Lono] was coming …”

“… at which they all bowed and covered their faces with their hands until he was passed, but the moment this was done they resumed their clamorous shouts, closed the vacant place astern, and as many as could crowded upon his rear to the shore. …” (Journal of John Ledyard)

At that time of Cook’s arrival, Kalaniʻōpuʻu was on the island to Maui to contend with Kahekili, king of Maui. The east side of Maui had fallen into the hands of Kalaniʻōpuʻu and Kahekili was fighting with him to gain control.

Kalaniʻōpuʻu returned to Hawaiʻi and met with Cook on January 26, 1779, exchanging gifts, including an ʻahuʻula (feathered cloak) and mahiole (ceremonial feather helmet.)   Cook also received pieces of kapa, feathers, hogs and vegetables.

In return, Cook gave Kalaniʻōpuʻu a linen shirt and a sword; later on, Cook gave other presents to Kalaniʻōpuʻu, among which one of the journals mentions “a complete Tool Chest.”

The natives were permitted to watch the ships’ blacksmiths at work and from their observations gained information of practical value about the working of iron. (Kuykendall)

Shortly thereafter, Cook got under sail again to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. “At midnight, a gale of wind came on, which obliged us to double reef the topsails, and get down the top-gallant yards.”

“On the 8th [of February 1779] at day-break, we found, that the foremast had again given way … and the parts so very defective, as to make it absolutely necessary to replace them, and, of course, to [remove] the mast.”

“In this difficulty, Captain Cook was for some time in doubt, whether he should run the chance of meeting with a harbour in the islands to leeward, or return to Karakakooa [Kealakekua.]”

“In the forenoon, the weather was more moderate, and a few canoes came off to us, from which we learnt, that the late storms had done much mischief; and that several large canoes had been lost.”

“During the remainder of the day we kept beating to windward, and, before night, we were within a mile of the bay; but not choosing to run on, while it was dark, we stood off and on till day-light next morning, when we dropt anchor nearly in the same place as before.”

“Upon coming to anchor, we were surprised to find our reception very different from what it had been on our first arrival ; no shouts, no bustle, no confusion …”

“… but a solitary bay, with only here and there a canoe stealing close along the shore. The impulse of curiosity, which had before operated to so great a degree, might now indeed be supposed to have ceased …”

“… but the hospitable treatment we had invariably met with, and the friendly footing on which we parted, gave us some reason to expect, that they would again have flocked about us with great joy, on our return.”

“… there was something at this time very suspicious in the behaviour of the natives; and that the interdiction of all intercourse with us, on pretence of the king’s absence, was only to give him time to consult with his chiefs in what manner it might be proper to treat us.”

“For though it is not improbable that our sudden return, for which they could see no apparent cause, and the necessity of which we afterward found it very difficult to make them comprehend, might occasion some alarm”.

“[T]he next morning, [Kalaniopuʻu] came immediately to visit Captain Cook, and the consequent return of the natives to their former, friendly intercourse with us, are strong proofs that they neither meant nor apprehended any change of conduct.”

However, “Soon after our return to the tents, we were alarmed by a continued fire of muskets from the Discovery, which we observed to be directed at a canoe, that we saw paddling toward the shore in great haste, pursued by one of our small boats.”

That night a skiff from the Discovery had been stolen.  “It was between seven and eight o’clock when we quitted the ship together; Captain Cook in the pinnace, having Mr Phillips and nine marines with him; and myself in the small boat.”

“Though the enterprise which had carried Captain Cook on shore had now failed, and was abandoned, yet his person did not appear to have been in the least of danger, till an accident happened, which gave a fatal turn to the affair.”

“The boats which had been stationed across the bay, having fired at some canoes that were attempting to get out, unfortunately had killed a chief of first rank.”

“One of the natives, having in his hands a stone, and a long iron spike (which they call a pahooa), came up to the Captain, flourishing his weapon, by way of defiance, and threatening to throw the stone. The Captain desired him to desist ; but the man persisting in his insolence, he was at length provoked to fire a load of small-shot. “

“Our unfortunate Commander, the last time he was seen distinctly, was standing at the water’s edge, and calling out to the boats to cease firing, and to pull in.”

“If it be true, as some of those who were present have imagined, that the marines and boat-men had fired without his orders, and that he was desireous of preventing further bloodshed, it is not improbable that his humanity, on this occasion, proved fatal to him.”

“For it was remarked, that whilst he faced the natives, none of them had offered him any violence, but that having turned about to give his orders to the boats, he was stabbed in the back, and fell with his face in the water.” On February 14, 1779, Cook was killed.

Captain Charles Clerke took over the expedition and they left.  (The quotes are from ‘The Voyages of Captain James Cook,’ recorded by Lieutenant James King (who, following these events was appointed to command HMS Discovery.))

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Maritime Fur Trade

The maritime fur trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly traded in China for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States.  (ESDAW)

Before the European colonization of the Americas, Russia was a major supplier of fur pelts to Western Europe and parts of Asia. Its trade developed in the Early Middle Ages (500-1000 AD), first through exchanges at posts around the Baltic and Black seas.

“We have encountered a divine marvel … There are mountains, which slope down to the arm of the sea, and their height reaches to the heavens …. Within these mountains are heard great cries and the sound of voices and [some people] are struggling to cut their way out of this mountain …”

“Their language is unintelligible. They point at iron objects and make gestures as if to ask for them. If given a knife or an axe, they supply furs in return.” (Primary Chronicle, Etkind in the year 1096)

“In their quest for fur, the Russians colonized a huge, exotic, and inhospitable space, called “the land of darkness” by early Arabic travelers. Combining barter with coercion, the Russians locked the peoples of the Arctic North into a system of trade that led to the extermination of animals and humans.” (Etkind)

The maritime fur trade was pioneered by the Russians, working east from Kamchatka along the Aleutian Islands to the southern coast of Alaska. (ESDAW)

Originally, Russia exported raw furs, consisting in most cases of the pelts of martens, beavers, wolves, foxes, squirrels and hares. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Russians began to settle in Siberia, a region rich in many mammal fur species, such as Arctic fox, lynx, sable, sea otter and stoat (ermine).

In a search for the prized sea otter pelts, first used in China, and later for the northern fur seal, the Russian Empire expanded into North America, notably Alaska.

The European discovery of North America, with its vast forests and wildlife, particularly the beaver, led to the continent becoming a major supplier in the 17th century of fur pelts for the fur felt hat, as beaver hat and fur trimming and garment trades of Europe.

Fur was relied on to make warm clothing, a critical consideration prior to the organization of coal distribution for heating. Portugal and Spain played major roles in fur trading after the 1400s with their business in fur hats.

The North American fur trade began as early as the 1530s was a central part of the early history of contact between Europeans and the native peoples of what is now the United States and Canada.

In 1578 there were 350 European fishing vessels at Newfoundland. Sailors began to trade metal implements (particularly knives) for the natives’ well-worn pelts. The first pelts in demand were beaver and sea otter, as well as occasionally deer, bear, ermine and skunk.

Captain Chauvin made the first organized attempt to control the fur trade in New France. In 1599 he acquired a monopoly from Henry IV and tried to establish a colony near the mouth of the Saguenay River at Tadoussac

 French explorers, voyageurs and Coureur des bois such as Étienne Brûlé, Samuel de Champlain, Radisson, La Salle, and Le Saeur, while seeking routes through the continent, established relationships with Amerindians and continued to expand the trade of fur pelts for items considered ‘common’ by the Europeans.

England was slower to enter the American fur trade than France and Holland, but as soon as English colonies were established, development companies learned that furs provided the best way for the colonists to remit value back to the mother country.

Furs were being dispatched from Virginia soon after 1610, and the Plymouth Colony was sending substantial amounts of beaver to its London agents through the 1620s and 1630s. London merchants tried to take over France’s fur trade in the St Lawrence River valley.

From the 17th through the second half of the 19th century, Russia was the world’s largest supplier of fur. The fur trade played a vital role in the development of Siberia, the Russian Far East and the Russian colonization of the Americas.

The European discovery of North America, with its vast forests and wildlife, particularly the beaver, led to the continent becoming a major supplier in the 17th century of fur pelts for the fur felt hat, as beaver hat and fur trimming and garment trades of Europe. Fur was relied on to make warm clothing, a critical consideration prior to the organization of coal distribution for heating.  (ESDAW)

James Cook’s expedition brought the news about the sea otter. Cook’s sailors traded several pelts on Cook’s river for a few glass beads each, and then sold them to the Chinese in Canton for two thousands pounds. Published in 1784, this story caused new British and French expeditions to Alaska. (Etkind)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Fur Desert

By the sixteenth century, dozens of bands of people lived in present-day Oregon, with concentrated populations along the Columbia River, in the western valleys, and around coastal estuaries and inlets. (Robbins)

Captain James Cook’s Third Voyage to the Pacific in the 1770s took him to the Pacific Northwest Coast. After Cook was killed in Hawai‘i, his associate George Vancouver continued to explore and chart the Northwest Coast.  Commercial traders soon followed, exchanging copper, weapons, liquor, and varied goods for sea otter pelts. (Barbour)

The fur trade was the earliest and longest-enduring economic enterprise in North America. It had an unbroken chain spanning three centuries. During the 1540s on the St. Lawrence River, Jacques Cartier traded European goods, such as axes, cloth, and glass beads, to Indians.

In 1670, King Charles II of England granted a royal charter to create the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), under the governorship of the king’s cousin Prince Rupert of the Rhine. According to the Charter, the HBC received rights to:

“The sole Trade and Commerce of all those Seas, Streights, Bays, Rivers, Lakes, Creeks, and Sounds, in whatsoever Latitude they shall be, that lie within the entrance of the Streights commonly called Hudson’s Streights …”

“together with all the Lands, Countries and Territories, upon the Coasts and Confines of the Seas, Streights, Bays, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks and Sounds, aforesaid, which are not now actually possessed by any of our Subjects, or by the Subjects of any other Christian Prince or State …”

“and that the said Land be from henceforth reckoned and reputed as one of our Plantations or Colonies in America, called Rupert’s Land.”

The Royal Charter of 1670 granted “the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay” exclusive trading rights over the entire Hudson Bay drainage system. It named the area Rupert’s Land in honor of Prince Rupert, cousin to King Charles II and HBC’s first Governor.

Native people provided furs and hides as well as food, equipment, interpreters, guides and protection in exchange for European, Asian, and American manufactures.  A primary object of the terrestrial fur trade was beaver, the soft underfur of which was turned into expensive and sought-after beaver hats.

In quest of “soft gold” (beaver, otter, and other lightweight and highly valuable fine furs), which created fortunes large and small for lucky entrepreneurs, the fur hunters’ rosters included capable explorers who expanded the fur trade’s theater of operations and also shed light on western geography. (Barbour)

Traders drafted many useful maps and wrote reports meant to help their governments secure geopolitical objectives. Similarly, by providing quarters, protection, and aid to scientists and artists at isolated trading posts, fur traders supported the study of Native Nations and natural history. (Barbour)

Later, the North American fur trade became the earliest global economic enterprise. The maritime fur trade focused on acquiring furs of sea otters, seals and other animals from the Pacific Northwest Coast and Alaska. The furs were to be mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain and other Chinese goods to be sold in Europe and the US.

Europe’s interest in the North Pacific quickened in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, as Spanish, British, French, Russian, and eventually ships from the United States came into increasing contact with Native people in coastal estuaries. (Robbins)

Following the American Revolution, the new nation needed money and a vital surge in trade. In 1787, a group of Boston merchants decided to send two ships on a desperate mission around Cape Horn and into the Pacific Ocean, to establish new trade with China, settle an outpost on territory claimed by the Spanish and find the legendary Northwest Passage.

By the close of the eighteenth century, the Northwest Coast had become a place with an emerging global economy. (Robbins)  Needing supplies in their journey, the traders soon realized they could economically barter for provisions in Hawai‘i; for instance any type of iron, a common nail, chisel or knife, could fetch far more fresh fruit meat and water than a large sum of money would in other ports.

A triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China and the Hawaiian Islands to Britain and the United States (especially New England).

The growing competition on the continent became concerning to the Hudson’s Bay Company and it sought to separate its land. The Oregon Country had not become important to the HBC until 1821, when the HBC merged with the rival North West Company.

The HBC accepted the inevitable loss of most of the region to the Americans and focused on retaining the area bounded by the Columbia River on the south and east, the Pacific Ocean on the west, and the forty-ninth parallel on the north, an area encompassing potential Puget Sound ports and the transportation route provided by the Columbia River.

The HBC developed the idea of clearing the Snake River Basin of beaver in order to create a fur desert, or buffer zone, that would discourage the westward flow of American trappers who began to reach the Northern Rockies in substantial numbers in the 1820s.

The fur desert policy began in response to a territorial dispute over the Oregon Country. The Americans sought control of the entire region. The HBC’s experiences across northern North America had taught a painful lesson: competition depleted beaver trapping grounds and, therefore, profits.

During a visit to the Columbia District to determine its usefulness to the HBC, HBC leader George Simpson carried the idea one step further. He wrote in an 1824 journal entry:

“If properly managed no question exists that it would yield handsome profits as we have convincing proof that the country is a rich preserve of Beaver and which for political reasons we should endeavor to destroy as fast as possible.” The fur desert policy had begun.

To protect its interest, between then and 1841, the Hudson’s Bay Company carried out what is known as the fur desert policy – a strategy of clearing the basin of beaver to keep encroaching Americans from coming west of the Continental Divide. (Ott)

The HBC assembled varied groups (brigades) of trappers to go into the Snake Country to trap in the region. Each chief trader who led the Snake Country expeditions during the most important years, from 1823 to 1841, worked under the pressure of the HBC’s expectations of good pelt returns, the exclusion of Americans from the region, and the trapper’s return in time to meet the annual supply ship.

During the critical years when the policy was in place, the HBC took approximately 35,000 beaver out of the region. The 1823 – 1824 brigade alone yielded 4,500 beaver. By 1834, the average annual yield was down to 665 beaver. (Ott)

If there remained any doubt that the trappers intended to “ruin” the rivers and streams, the journals clarify their goal for the area. At the Owhyhee River in 1826, Ogden added this comment to the end of his daily entry: “This day 11 Beaver 1 Otter we have now ruined this quarter we may prepare to Start.”

Two weeks later, at the Burnt River, Ogden wrote George Simpson: “the South side of the South branch of the Columbia [the Snake River] has been examined and now ascertained to be destitute of Beaver.” (Ott)

Through their use of efficient Snake Country trapping brigades, the HBC nearly eradicated beaver in the region and, in the process, redefined the physical space in which people would live.

“From the start, there is a sense that trapping exceeded the resilience of the local beaver population. As time passed, the ransacking done by the trappers produced a widespread effect. The effects of American and Indian trapping also contributed to the success of the fur desert policy.”  (Ott)

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lomi Lomi Salmon

For some, a lūʻau is not a lūʻau without lomi lomi salmon (salmon cubes, diced tomatoes and onion.)

But Hawaiʻi’s waters don’t teem with salmon; so, how did this become a lūʻau staple get into the compartment of our lūʻau plates?

The answer may be found in the export records of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC,) whose regional headquarters was in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1800s.

Back near the turn of the last century, the most valuable commercial fisheries in the world, excepting only the oyster and herring fisheries, were those supported by salmon. (Cobb)

Of these the most important, by far, were the salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast of North America (California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, including also British Columbia.)

Salmon was a mainstay of life of the Northwest Coast Indians. Fresh or preserved salmon, in turn, became a staple food for HBC posts west of the Rocky Mountains.

With the HBC opening of their offices in Honolulu in 1829, the company’s focus turned to marketing two of its home-region’s primary resources, salmon and timber.

By 1830, the HBC was preserving salmon on the Columbia River and at Fort Langley on the Fraser River as well, mainly to feed Company personnel, but with some 200 to 300 barrels of Columbia River salmon exported that year, presumably all to Hawai’i.

Preserved salmon found a ready market on O’ahu, particularly among native Hawaiians.

Just when that notable dish, lomi lomi salmon, first made its appearance is unknown, but if it was in fashion by the 1830s, the HBC can take credit for being the main provider of its principal ingredient.

During the 1830s, HBC sold several hundred barrels of salmon a year in Honolulu. The 1840s saw a major increase in sales; in 1846, 1,530 barrels were shipped to Hawaiʻi and HBC tried to increase salmon exports to 2,000 barrels annually.

The peak year was in 1849, with 2,610 barrels exported to Honolulu.

The Company itself did not fish for salmon, but instead entered into a symbiotic relationship with the Northwest Indians, whereby the latter with their long expertise were the fishermen.

Company records do not give a precise description of the method of salmon preservation, although it is clear they were pickled, the earliest commercial method used on the Pacific Coast. Writing in 1910, Cobb described the method as follows:

“In dressing salmon for pickling the heads are removed, the fish split along the belly, the cut ending with a downward curve at the tail.”

“The viscera and two thirds of the backbone are removed, and the blood gurry, and black stomach membrane scraped away. The fish are then scrubbed and washed in cold water.“

“They are next placed in pickling butts with about 15 pounds of salt for every 100 pounds of fish. The fish remain here for about one week, when they are removed, rubbed clean with a scrub brush and repacked in market barrels, one sack of salt being used for every three barrels of 200 pounds each.”

Of the five species of North Pacific salmon, sockeye salmon was preferred for export, in conformity with Hawaiian tastes. Native Hawaiians also expressed a preference for Fraser River, rather than Columbia River salmon.

The Company exchanged trade goods for their salmon.
Sugar, molasses, coffee and salt were Island products regularly sent to provision the HBC posts. Hawaiian salt was used in preserving the salmon destined for Hawaiian consumption.

The source of the salt shipped by HBC to the Northwest Coast could have come from the Moanalua salt lake on Oʻahu, whose salt was considered the best for salting provisions and as a table salt in Honolulu.

The Honolulu office of HBC during the 1850s began to feel increasing competition of salmon imports from the Russian American Company at Sitka and of American imports from Puget Sound.

The 1853 smallpox epidemic that decimated the Hawaiian population caused a great falling off of salmon sales.

The Hudson’s Bay Company decided to close its Honolulu operations in 1859, and eventually closed a couple years later.

However, the islands’ love of lomi lomi salmon continues today.

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Jargon

“Soon after James Cook’s visit to Vancouver Island in 1778, non-Natives began fur trading in the Northwest. Trade ships, after stopping in Hawaii, sailed to Vancouver Island to trade manufactured goods for sea otter pelts. … Besides sea otter there were beaver and other furs.” (Holton)

“It did not take long for the Northwest Coast fur traders to discover at Hawaii a new medium for the Canton market. That market was, of course, the prime object of our Northwest fur trade.”

“China took nothing that the United States produced; hence Boston traders, in order to obtain the wherewithal to purchase teas and silks at Canton, spent eighteen months or more of each China voyage collecting a cargo of sea-otter skins, highly esteemed by the mandarins.” (Massachusetts Historical Society)

“In the 1800s there were over one hundred different languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest. It was one of the most diverse linguistic areas in the world.” (Holton)

“Every visitor to Oregon will very soon after his arrival, learn that there is in use a new language, which has been created by the necessities of the situation in which emigrants, Hudson Bay Company officers, and others found themselves, in relation to the aborigines of the country.”

“Indians have learned a few English and French words, foreigners have learned a few Indian words, so that ere long a mode of communication was introduced, which answered all the common purposes of trading and intercourse between the Indians and the white population.” (Damon)

“The origin of this Jargon, a conventional language similar to the Lingua Franca of the Mediterranean, the Negro-English-Dutch of Surinam, the Pigeon English of China, and several other mixed tongues”.

“I was particularly struck with the frequent use which was made of this jargon (as this language is called), in the intercourse of the white inhabitants among themselves.” (Damon)

“The peoples of the Northwest Coast traded extensively among themselves and with communities in the interior. A large proportion, if not most, of Chinook Jargon vocabulary was taken from Chinook proper.”

“It is thought that Chinook Jargon predates indigenous contact with Europeans and European Americans, which was initiated in the 18th century pursuant to the fur trade.”

“The English and French elements in the pidgin’s lexicon (vocabulary) seem to be primarily borrowings into Chinook Jargon after it had become widely adopted as the lingua franca for the fur trade.” (Mufwene; Britannica)

“Chinook Jargon is a Native American pidgin language spoken in the Pacific Northwest. The story of Chinook Jargon is the story of Native American culture and Pacific Northwest history.” (Holton)

“‘This is a tongue, spoken by a few in each tribe residing in the middle and lower divisions of Oregon. It is also used by the French, and nearly all old settlers in the country.’” (Palmer’s Journal; Damon)

“The heyday of Chinook Jargon could be referred to as the ‘hop days.’ New agriculture, such as hop farming, changed the economy of the Northwest even more than the fur trade.”

“Changes in the economic and social conditions of Native Americans perpetuated Chinook Jargon and spread it around the Northwest in the later 1800s.”

“The earliest immigrant settlers to the Northwest learned Chinook Jargon out of necessity. Before 1850 these settlers had daily dealings with Native Americans. Much conversation was in Chinook Jargon.”

“After 1850, the spread of Chinook Jargon was based on the new movement and settlement patterns of Native Americans. Native Americans spread Chinook Jargon outward from the Columbia River, Willamette Valley and Puget Sound areas.” (Holton)

“Chinook Jargon was the primary means of communication in many industries in the Northwest from 1860 to 1890. Native Americans furnished the bulk of hired labor for seasonal agriculture, especially hop picking, in Washington and British Columbia until 1890.”

“Fishing, canning, sealing, ranching and timber also employed many Native Americans who used Chinook Jargon as a common language.”

“Non-Natives who worked with Native Americans in these industries learned and used Chinook Jargon. Merchants who served Native Americans spoke Chinook Jargon.” (Holton)

“The conditions that made Chinook Jargon such a vibrant language eventually led to its decline. The expanding economy demanded a more efficient way of moving goods to and from the Northwest.”

“In the first half of the 1800s one had to travel for months by foot, horse, wagon, or sailing ship to get in or out. This restricted immigration to the area.”

“In 1865 this changed with the completion of the first transcontinental train track between the eastern US and California. This was soon followed by track to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. A journey that used to take three months could now be made in a week.”

“Native American communities nurtured Chinook Jargon while mass immigration changed the balance of the economy against them.”

“The official population of Washington jumped from 23,000 in 1870 to 357,000 in 1890. By 1910 it had climbed to 1,141,000. Oregon and British Columbia experienced similar growth. But Native American populations remained level.”

“Native Americans now played a smaller role in a larger economy. New immigrants to the Northwest no longer had to learn Chinook Jargon to survive. The reverse was true. The Native Americans had to learn English.” (Holton)

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