Tillamook CJ

[Mike Cleven]

David Lewis wrote:
>
> At 07:25 PM 11/2/2001 -0800, you wrote:
> >"Alan H. Hartley" wrote:
> > >
> > > The Salishan Tillamook were apparently using CJ in 1805-6:
> > >
> > > Meriwether Lewis says, on 10 Jan. 1806 (Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped.,
> > > vol. 6, 1990, p. 194) "The Killamucks in their habits customs manners
> > > dress and language differ but little from the Clatsops & Chinnooks."
> >
> >Sounds plausible, save for the vagueness of Lewis' comment; it _could_
> >be that he's alluding only to similar sound systems; if he'd said
> >something like "they speak to one another in their own tongues easily"
> >then we'd have something a bit more precise.  Still, it's logical to
> >assume that the Tillamooks would have had a common argot with their
> >neighbours, being isolated from the Salishan geographic community
> >farther north and east.
> >
> >MC
>
> This last year I was looking through the Congressional Serial Set in the
> library and I came upon an interesting account. If I remember right, in
> 1813 or 1814, the Americans had decided to retake Astoria. At that time the
> fort was held by a Canadian fur company, as it had been sold out from under
> Jacob Astor, without his say so, a few years before. I don't have the
> account in front of me but the United States sent a naval force around the
> horn and they landed in Peru. There, they got a copy of a Jargon language
> text, which had been taken down at Nootka years earlier. They retook Fort
> Astoria, then, proceeded up the Columbia, to the falls, where they report
> being able to use this Nootka text for to talk to the Indians along the
> river... So its not only possible but most probable that Chinook Jargon was
> spoken throughout the Columbia and up to Nootka. I'll try to find my copy
> of this account and reference it here for all to see.

What would be even better to find is this text they found in Peru;
sounds like there may have been a Spanish-Jargon manual (actually you'd
expect there to have been, but the Spanish kept all kinds of things top
secret).

MC