Vancouver,
a little above the mouth of the Willamette River.

The famous exploring expedition under Captains Lewis and Clark
wintered at the mouth of the Columbia in 1804-1805, in a group
of rude log cabins known as Fort Clatsop. The first settlement
in the vicinity was made in 1811, when a fur company organized by
John Jacob Astor attempted to establish a trading post upon the
Columbia. Two parties were sent out from New York. One travelled
by water around Cape Horn, while the other, with great difficulty,
crossed the continent by the way of the Missouri, Snake, and Columbia
rivers. The undertaking proved unsuccessful, for after the War of
1812 began supplies could no longer be sent safely to the post.

The Astor company finally surrendered its establishment to an English
company, and in this way the control of the river was transferred
to England. With the return of peace the post was restored to the
United States, and its location is marked now by the city of Astoria.

[Illustration: FIG. 40.--TILLAMOOK ROCK

Near the mouth of the Columbia River]

What small things sometimes determine the trend of great events!
A little more care and energy on the part of Vancouver or Meares
would have placed the Columbia River in the hands of the English.
The existence of an open river mouth without any breaking bar would
have brought about the same result.

The Spaniards came first to the Pacific slope, claiming the whole
coast as far north as the Russian possessions. Later the United
States, by treaty with Spain and Russia, acquired a right to all
that portion of the Pacific coast of North America which lies between
California and the Russian possessions. But because of the greater
energy of the English, and the failure upon the part of the United
States to realize the value of this vast region, a considerable
section was again lost by the terms of the treaty which made the
forty-ninth parallel the boundary line. The intelligence and energy
of Captain Gray alone preserved to us the rich lands of Washington.

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--ASTORIA, OREGON

At the mouth of the Columbia River]

THE GREAT BASIN AND ITS PECULIAR LAKES

As our country was slowly being explored and settled, one region
was brought to light which Nature seemed to have left unfinished
and in a desolate condition. This barren stretch of country was once
marked upon the maps as the Great American Desert, and included a
large part of the extensive