The old journals of Vancouver lie before us.  In these we read: 

“From this direction, round by the north and northwest, the high, distant land formed, like detached islands, among which the lofty mountains discovered in the afternoon by the third lieutenant, and in compliment to him called by me Mount Baker, rose to a very conspicuous object.”

It was on Monday, April 30, 1792, that Mount Baker was thus discovered and named.  In May, 1792, Vancouver states that he came to a “very safe” and “capatious” harbor, and that “to this port I gave the name of Port Townshend, in honor of the noble marquis of that name.”

Again, on Thursday, May 29, 1792, Vancouver discovered another excellent port, and says: 

“This harbor, after the gentleman who discovered it, obtained the name of Port Orchard.”

In May, 1792, he makes the following very important historical note: 

“Thus by our joint efforts we had completely explored every turning of this extensive inlet; and, to commemorate Mr. Puget’s exertions, the fourth extremity of it I named Puget Sound.”

A very interesting officer seems to have been this lieutenant, Peter Puget, whose soundings gave the name to the American Mediterranean.  Once, after the firing of muskets to overawe hostile Indians, who merely pouted out their lips, and uttered, “Poo hoo! poo hoo!” he ordered the discharge of a heavy gun, and was amused to note the silence that followed.  It was in April and May, 1792, that Puget explored the violet waters of the great inland sea, a work which he seems to have done with the enthusiasm of a romancer as well as of a naval officer.

Mount Hood was named for Lord Hood, and Mount Saint Helens was named in 1792, in the month of October, “in honor of his Britannic Majesty’s ambassador at the court of Madrid.”  But one of the most interesting of all of Vancouver’s notes is the following: 

“The weather was serene and pleasant, and the country continued to exhibit the same luxuriant appearance.  At its northern extremity Mount Baker bore compass; the round, snowy mountain, now forming its southern extremity, after my friend Rear-Admiral Ranier, I distinguished by the name of Mount Ranier, May, 1792.”  This mountain is now Mount Tacoma.

The spring of 1892 ought to be historically very interesting to the State of Washington, and it is likely to be so.

II.

THE OREGON TRAIL.

“There is the East.  There lies the road to India.”

Such was Senator Thomas H. Benton’s view of the coast and harbors of Oregon.  He saw the advantage of securing to the United States the Columbia River and its great basin, and the Puget Sea; and he made himself the champion of Oregon and Washington.