Quote in Shaw

[Jeffrey Kopp]

Hi.  I am preparing Shaw to post on the Web, and am having some
trouble identifying a quote within it.

In his introduction, he begins with four short paragraphs of his own,
and he then quotes extensively from the a few authorities of the day,
beginning with Gibbs.  The following appears between Gibbs' quote and
before a quote attributed to St. Onge.  It might all be St. Onge, but
I'm note sure, as after the section in question, before what appears
to be St. Onge, he closes the quotes, and the heading, "Another
View," appears.

The typography in Shaw is mind-numbing, and such vital clues as
closing quotes and interior quotes are a mishmash.  Shaw's use of
punctuation is also quite inconsistent.  (The printer either did not
have or avail himself the use of any italics, either.)  But the Gibbs
quote appears to have been taken directly from his book, however, and
is set correctly here except for the omission of one comma, so the
printer might have simply done the best job he could with Shaw's
handwriting.

Thanks.

Jeff

This is the section in question:

"CHINOOK."

    "The 'Trade Language,' which came afterwards to be known as the
'Chinook Jargon,' grew into existence. As finally developed, it has
become really an 'international speech' widely diffused among the
fifty tribes of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska, and
of inestimable service, not only to commerce, but to science, to
missionary efforts, and to the convenience of travelers.   *   *   *
The British and American trading ships first appeared on the
northwest coast during the closing years of the last (eighteenth)
century. The great number of languages spoken by the native tribes
proved to be a serious hindrance to their business.   *   *   *
Unfortunately, all these languages-the Nootka, Nisqually, Chinook,
Chihailish, and others-were alike harsh in pronunciation, complex in
structure, and each spoken over a very limited space. But, as the
harbor of Nootka was at that time the headquarters or chief emporium
of the trade, it was necessarily the case that some words of the
dialect there spoken became known to the traders, and the Indians, on
the other hand, were made familiar with a few English words. These,
with the assistance of signs, were sufficient for the slight
intercourse that was then maintained. Afterwards the traders began to
frequent the Columbia River, and naturally attempted to communicate
with the natives there by means of the words with which they had
found intelligible at Nootka. The Chinooks, who are quick in catching
sounds, soon acquired these words, both Nootka and English, and we
find that they were in use among them as early as the visit of Lewis
and Clark in 1804. But when, at a later period, the white traders of
Astor's expeditions, and from other quarters, made permanent
establishments in Oregon, it was soon found that the scanty list of
nouns, verbs, and adjectives then in use was not sufficient for the
more constant and general intercourse which began to take place. A
real language, complete in all its parts, however limited in extent,
was required; and it was found by drawing upon the Chinook for such
words as were requisite, in order to add to the skeleton which they
had already possessed the sinews and tendons, the connecting
ligaments, as it were, of a speech. These consisted of the numerals
(the ten digits and the word for hundred), twelve pronouns (I, thou,
he, we, ye, they, this, other, all, both, who, what), and about
twenty adverbs and prepositions (such as now, then, formerly, soon,
across, ashore, offshore, inland, above, below, to, with, etc.).
Having appropriated these and a few other words of the same tongue,
the Trade Language-or, as it now began to be styled, 'the
Jargon'-assumed a regular shape, and became of great service as a
means of general intercourse. But the new idiom received additions
from other sources. The Canadian voyageurs, as they are called, who
enlisted in the service of the American and British fur companies,
were brought more closely in contact with the Indians than any others
of the foreigners. They did not merely trade, they traveled, hunted,
ate, and, in short, lived with them on terms of familiarity. The
consequence was that several words of the French language were added
to the slender stock of the Jargon. Eight on ten words were made by
what grammarians term onomatopoeia,-that is, were formed by rude
attempts to imitate sound, and are therefore the sole and original
property of the Jargon. All the words thus combined in this
singularly constructed language, at that stage of its existence, were
found to number, according to my computation, about two hundred and
fifty. Of these, eighteen were of Nootka origin, forty-one were
English, thirty-four French, one hundred and eleven Chinook, ten
formed by onomatopoeia, and some thirty-eight were of doubtful
derivation, though probably for the most part either Chinook or
Nootkan. But as might be expected, the language continued to develop.
Its grammar, such as it was, remained the same, but its Lexicon drew
contributions from all the various sources which have been named, and
from some others. In 1863, seventeen years after my list was
published, the Smithsonian Institution put forth a 'Dictionary of the
Chinook Jargon,' prepared by the late George Gibbs, a thoroughly
competent investigator. His collection comprised nearly five hundred
words. Those of Chinook origin had almost doubled, being computed at
two hundred and twenty-one. The French had more than doubled, and
comprised now ninety-four words. The English terms were sixty-seven.
The great Salish or 'Flathead' stock, with whose tribes, next to the
Chinook, the Oregon traders had the largest relations, furnished
thirty-nine words. The Nootka, in its various dialects, now yielded
twenty-four. The others, about forty, were due to the imitation of
natural sounds, or were of casual or undetermined derivation. There
can be no doubt that it will remain a living and useful language so
long as the native tribes continue to speak their own dialects. Rude
and formless as it is, the spontaneous product of the commercial
needs of mingled races, it has been the source of great and varied
benefits. It may well serve, if not as a model, at least as a
finger-post to direct us to some higher invention for subserving the
larger uses of an advanced civilization. Viewed in this light, and
also as presenting one of the most curious specimens of a 'mixed
language' which philologists have had the opportunity of analyzing,
the Jargon seems to merit a somewhat careful study."
    Another View.-"The Chinook Jargon was invented by the Hudson Bay
Company traders, who were mostly French-Canadians. Having to trade
with the numerous tribes inhabiting the countries west of the Rocky
Mountains, it was necessary to have a language understood by all.
Hence, the idea of composing the Chinook Jargon. Fort Vancouver being
the principal post, the traders of the twenty-nine forts belonging to
the company, on the western slope, and the Indians from every part of
that immense country, had to come to Vancouver for the trading
season. They used to learn the Chinook, and then teach it to others.
In this manner it became universally known. The two first
missionaries to Oregon, Rev. F. N. Blanchet, V. G., and his worthy
companion, Rev. Mod. Demers, arrived from Canada to Vancouver on the
24th of November, 1838. They had to instruct numerous tribes of
Indians, and the wives and children of the whites, who spoke only the
Chinook. The two missionaries set to work to learn it, and in a few
weeks Father Demers had mastered it, and began to preach. He composed
a vocabulary which was very useful to other missionaries. He composed
several canticles which the Indians learned and sang with taste and
delight. He also translated all the Christian prayers in the same
language. Such is the origin of the Chinook Jargon, which enabled the
two first missionaries in the country to do a great deal of good
among the Indians and halfbreeds."-Rev. L. N. St. Onge.
    Judge Swan's Opinion: "This Jargon is composed of Chinook, French
and English....