1855, OR: Where is the fault?
Genuine early-creolized, Grand Ronde area, Chinook Jargon had already crept into Pacific NW English by the time our first newspapers were being published (and complained about).
Underground railroad entrance, or the Robertson tunnel (no relation to me) in Oregon?
(Image credit: Wikipedia)
See what you can make of the commentary in this rather early frontier-era letter to an editor.
“Hias cumtux” here = (A) hayas-kə́mtəks, which literally is ‘very-know’, or (B) háyás(h) kə́mtəks.
If (A), the early-creolized ‘very-‘ prefix, it’s a rarity. This prefix typically goes on adjectives and adverbs, but in a few cases we find it on verbs, like this.
If (B), the adverb for ‘a lot; very much; greatly’, it’s equally easy to understand.
This is a well-established Jargon phrase, found elsewhere in the spellings hyas cumtux and hias cumtux.
Another common expression where it’s hard for us to tell whether it’s (A) or (B) that’s happening is the long-established term for ‘expensive‘, hayas-mákuk / háyás(h) mákuk.
Where is the Fault?
North BEND, Dec. 17, 1855.
Mr. Adams — SIR: I wish to make some inqui-
ry relative to the mail route, contractor, &c., from
Oregon City to Salem. The reason I make the
enquiry is this: during the great Colville [mining] excite-
ment we, the unfortu[n]ates who take THE ARGUS
and Oregonian, could get our papers only once in
two weeks, but as soon as this excitement was over
we got them regulatly each week, and so on until
the present excitement of the Indian war. But
lo and behold, the same old game is played on us
agam. Now, sir, you are accused of having a pe-
culiar art in looking through the earth, or in other
words, hias cumtux underground railways; and
if you are so clear-sighted in that, please look
through or peep around the curtain and point out
the individual, so that we can all take a look at him.
There is certainly a default in the non-arrival of
our weekly papers, but not knowing, I can not say
where the fault is. In the present excitable state
of affairs every good and true-hearted American
citizen should take a deep interest; therefore, we
would like very much to get our papers weekly. —
The office of my address is just forty-five miles
geographically from Oregon City, and fifty-seven
from Portland. Indeed it looks very strange that
subscribers living forty-five miles distant from the
place where the paper is published can’t get it of-
tener than once in two weeks. The fault is cer-
tainly somewhere on the route from Portland to Sa-
lem, because the contractor from Salem to Pleas-
ant Hill makes his trips regularly to my certain
knowledge. You will please excuse the liberty I
take in addressing you this little item; I think it
an indispensable duty from some of your subscri-
bers — therefore I take the privilege. Ever yours in
all such cases. G. H. B
— from the Oregon City (OR) Oregon City Argus of January 5, 1856, page 1, column 4
