1909: Prominent German salmon man at Salem
Another German talking good Chinuk Wawa in the Pacific Northwest…
And there was a German community in Astoria, eh?
First, third, & fourth from left are prominent Astoria salmon men named Schmidt in 1947 — relatives of Chas.?
(Image credit: Oregon Historical Society)
Any chance it was stimulated by John Jacob Astor having been born in Germany?
PROMINENT SALMON
MAN AT SALEMChas. Schmidt, of Astoria, one of
the most prominent salmon packers
of that city, was in Salem Tuesday
attending the hearing of the State
Fish Commission. Mr. Schmidt is
one of the German-American colony
at Astoria, which is growing larger.
He speaks the language fluently, hav-
ing been educated in Germany, but
he can talk “Chinook” just as well
as he can English, and is a pretty
fair master of three languages spok-
en at Astoria.
— from the Salem (OR) Daily Capital Journal of April 7, 1909, page 2, column 2
Possibly he was a surviving family member of the German-speaking uptopian Aurora Colony, led by William Keil, which had its origins in a German settled area of Missouri, then settled as a “colony” in Willapa Bay, WA, in 1855, then south of Oregon City a few years later. They pretty much dissolved around 1883, after Keil’s death, and former members seemed to scatter into the surrounding area. They interacted a fair amount with communities and people around them; possibly this includes Indigenous residents of the area, where CW may have been used. (Maybe you know of some subtle German influence on CW from that area? 🙂 Sadly, my connections to the Finnish community of Astoria have faded away. They would know who the Germans in town were. Thanks!
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Thanks for your note, Robert! I hadn’t known of this German colony at Willapa Bay. Here’s more info on Aurora Colony / Aurora Mills for my readers.
Dave Robertson
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He sounds like my kind of guy! One of these days, I’d love to go salmon fishing if that is allowed.
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