THE WORKS
OF
HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT.
THE WORKS
OF
HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT.
VOLUME XXVIII.
HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST COAST.
VOL. H. 1800-1846.
SAN FRANCISCO: THE HISTORY COMPANY, PUBLISHERS,
188G.
Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1884, by
HUBERT H. BANCROFT,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
All Riyhls Reserved.
CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION — UP THE MISSOURI.
1804-1805.
Soldiers as Forest Travellers — The Great Unknown Region— John Led- yard in Paris — Exploration Proposed — Andre" Michaux— Jefferson's Plan — Meriwether Lewis — William Clarke — Instructions— Rendez vous on the Mississippi— Outfit— sAstcen-t df the Missouri— At Coun cil Bluffs — The Mahas— The Mandan Country — The Expedition Winters There — Return of Part of the Expedition — At the Yellow stone — Wild Animals — About the Headwaters of the Missouri — Nomenclature — The Dividing Ridge 1
CHAPTEK II.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION— DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
1805.
Among the Shoshones — Council Held — Purchase of Horses — The Journey Continued — Difficulties and Hardships — Lewis River — In the Moun tains — The Clearwater — The Nez Perec's — Purchase of Dogs for Food— Fork of the Columbia— The Walla Walla Country— The Great Falls of the Columbia — Hood River and Mountain — The Cascades — At the Mouth of the Willamette— Sauve* Island— Cowlitz River— The Ocean 28
CHAPTER III.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION — THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
1S05-1S06.
The Estuary of the Columbia— Storms— Lewis and Clarke's Recoimois- sances — Chinooks— Crossing the River— Winter-quarters— Salt-mak ing— Clarke Visits the Coast— White Traders— Clatsops— A Whale— The Neah JJoxie— Killamook Head — Spring-time— Farewell to Fort Clatsop — Return up the Columbia — The Willamette— Wapato Isl and — Snowy Mountains — Buying Horses — The Walla Walla — The
(v)
vi CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Touchet— The Clear-water — Nez Perec's— Horse-stealing — Indian Di plomacy—Address to the Nez Percys — Hunting and Fishing Camp — The Expedition Divides — Lewis' Party — Hell Gate River — Departure of the Guides — The Water-shed — Maria River — The Minnetarees — A Skirmish — The Missouri — Clarke's Party — The Jefferson River — The Yellowstone— Horses Stolen— Pompey's Pillar— The Big Horn- Herds of Buffalo — The Missouri — Expedition Reunited — Mandan Country — End of the Journey — Colter and the Indians — A Race for Life — Review of the Expedition — Honors and Rewards — Death of Lewis — Subsequent Career of Clarke — Conclusion 51
CHAPTER IV.
SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
1797-1806.
James Finlay Ascends Peace River — He gives his Name to its Upper Waters — James McDougall Penetrates to McLeod Lake — Eraser's First Expedition — His Character — Manuscript Journals of Stuart and Fraser — The Northwest Company Push Westward — Stuart at the Rocky Mountain House — Eraser's Journal — Preparations for the Journey — Fraser and Stuart Explore Westward — Arrival at Finlay River — Fraser's Tirade against Mackenzie — They Reach Trout Lake — And Follow Mackenzie's Track up Bad River — Cross to the Fraser — Descend to Stuart River 87
CHAPTER V.
DESCENT OF FRASER, RIVER — DISCOVERY OF THOMPSON RIVER. 1806-1811.
Ascent of Stuart River — Fort St James Founded — They Explore Fraser Lake — And Build Fraser Fort — Fort George Established — Voyage down the Fraser — Spokane House — Flathead House and Fort Koo- tenais Established — David Thompson Appears in New Caledonia — Discovers Thompson River — Desertion of his Men — Winters on Canoe River — Descends the Columbia to Fort Astoria 108
CHAPTER VI.
WILLIAMS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, HENRY ON SNAKE RIVER, ANJU WINSHIP ON THE COLUMBIA.
1807-1812.
Big White's Visit to Washington — His Escort Home — Ezekiel Williams on the Yellowstone and Platte — His Party Cut in Pieces by the Sav ages — Two of the Party Reach Los Angeles — Alexander Henry Builds a Fort West of the Mountains— La Salle's Shipwreck at False Bay— His Journey from the Pacific Ocean to the Red River of Louisiana — Project of the Winship Brothers — The 'Albatross ' Sails from Boston and Enters the Columbia— Winship and Smith, his Mate, Survey
CONTEXTS. vii
PAGE.
the River — Choose a Site for Settlement on Oak Point — Begin Build ing and Planting — Their Garden Destroyed by the Flood — Move down the River — Hostile Attitude of the Natives — Abandonment of the Enterprise 126
CHAPTER VII.
FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
1810-1812.
Astor Arrives in America — Engages in the Fur-trade — Scheme for Mo nopoly West of the Rocky Mountains — The Great Mart on the Co lumbia — Rival Companies — Partners and Servants — The 'Tonquin* and her Commander — Quarrels en Voyage — The Falkland Isles — The Hawaiian Islands — The Columbia River — Fatal Attempts at Cross ing the Bar — Baker Bay — Choosing a Site for the Fort — Friendly Chinooks — Comcomly — Building of the Fort and Warehouse — The 'Tonquin' Bound Northward — Episode of the 'Boston' — Jewitt among the Savages of Nootka Sound — Destruction of the 'Tonquin* and Massacre of her Crew — Strange Indians — The Northwest Com pany — David Thompson — A Fort on the Okauagan — Expedition to Okanagan Lake— The Chinooks at Astoria— Threatened Attack — The 'Small-pox Chief — Expedition up the Willamette— Christmas Festivities, 1811-12 136
CHAPTER VIII.
ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION. 1810-1812.
The Overland Party — Wilson P. Hunt — Rendezvous on the Missouri — New Partners — Ascent of the Missouri — Manuel Lisa — Horses Pur chased at the Ricaras' Village — The Cheyenne Country— The Big Horn Mountains — On Green River — The Shoshone Country — Head waters of the Snake — Unfit for Navigation — A Dissatisfied Part ner — Dangerous Rapids — Party Divided into Four — The Devil's Scut tle-hole — A Terrible Journey — Famine — Horses Bought — New Year's Dance of the Canadians— Feast on Dog-meat— The Blue Mountains — Among the Tushepaws — The Columbia — Arrival at Astoria 178
CHAPTER IX.
AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
1812-1813.
Dissatisfaction at Astoria — Departure of Reed for St Louis — Wahowpum Treachery — Failure of Reed's Expedition — Arrival of the 'Beaver' — Astor and the Russian Fur Company — He Courts the Russian Minis ter at Washington — Stuart Leaves Fort Astoria with Despatches — Trials of Stuart on the Overland Journey — The 'Isaac Todd' and H. M. S. ' PhoDbe '—British Interests in the North Pacific— The U. S. S.
x CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
1824-1829. PAGE.
Negotiations of 1824 — Huskisson and Canning — Adams' Instructions to Rush — Statement of the American and British Claims— Propositions Rejected — Merits of the Case — Monroe Doctrine — Occupation of Oregon in the Senate, 1825 — VieM^s of Bentonand Others — Key-note of American Sentiment — Baylies' Report, 1S2G — Negotiations of 1826-7 — Gallatin versus Huskisson and Addington — Claims and Counter-claims — Exclusive Title of the United States, with British Objections — Discovery — Settlement — Contiguity — Spanish Title — Nootka Convention— Cumulative Title — United States Offer 49° and Navigation of the Columbia — England Offers the Columbia and Southern Shore of Fuca Strait — Not Accepted — Joint Occupancy Indefinitely Extended — Gallatin's Suggestions of Policy — Congres sional Discussion of 1828-9 355
CHAPTEE XVII.
THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
1830-1840.
A Popular Question — American Trappers — The Missionaries — The Gov ernment Seeks Information — Reports on the Oregon Territory — The Agitation Renewed in Congress, 1841 — Senator Linn's Efforts — Pres idents' Messages— Congressional Debates — Patriotic Faith in the Title — Political Campaign of 1844 — Polk's Policy — The Question in Parliament — Hostile Rumors — Speeches and Bills of 1844-5 — Final Debate — A Resolution Passed to Annul the Treaty— Pamphlets Cir culated—Diplomatic Settlement— Great Britain Yields— Treaty of 1846 — Authorities Cited— Greenhow, Twiss, and Other Writers on the Oregon Question 389
CHAPTER XVIII.
OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
1820-1830.
"Is Oregon Worth Having?" — Configuration, Soil, and Climate — Rela tions with China — A Terra Incognita — England to India, by way of the Columbia River — Irreconcilable Opinions — Preparing to Emi grate — Proposal to Make Over the Territory to the Indians — The Whale-fishery — A School for Seamen — Conflicting Statements — A Hesitating Government — Why the British Monopolized the Trade — McLoughlin Succeeds Keith at Astoria — Personal Appearance and Character of McLoughlin — His Administration of Justice — He Ex plores for the Site of a New Post — Fort Vancouver Founded — Agriculture and Commerce — Amalgamation of Fur Companies — Perils of the Fur Trade. . . . 417
CONTENTS. xi
CHAPTER XIX.
EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS.
1821-1830. PAGE.
Ruddock's Journey — Ashley's Operations — Green on the Colorado — Great Salt Lake — Utah Lake— Beck worth's Adventures — Jedediah Smith Enters California aud Journeys thence to the Columbia River — His Discomfiture at the Umpqua— How Black and Turner Escaped the Massacre — Jedediah Smith at Fort Vancouver — McLoughlin's Treat ment of Distressed Strangers — Return of Smith to the Shoshone Country — Peg-leg Smith — Tarascon's Trip — Joseph L. Meek's Adven tures — Pilcher's Expedition — Jackson, Sublette, and Smith Send the First Train of Wagons to the Rocky Mountains — Rendezvous 446
CHAPTER XX.
DOMINATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
1821-1826.
Forts Established-— Alexandria — Thompson — Chilkotin — Babine — Wife- lifting and Revenge — John Tod Appointed to New Caledonia — James McMillan Journeys to Fraser River — John McLeod at Thompson River — Establishing of Colville — James Connolly — First Eastern Bri gade from Fort Vancouver — James Douglas Destroys a Murderer. . . . 460
CHAPTER XXI.
FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
1827.
Advent of the Schooner 'Cadboro' — Her History and her Captain — Occu pation of the Northern Shore — McMillan Proceeds to the Mouth of the Fraser — Enters the Stream— And there Establishes a Fort — The Fort Routine — A Notable Call — The Salmon Trade — James Douglas Explores Connolly River 476
CHAPTER XXII.
CONTINUED DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
1828-1829.
Governor Simpson Visits his Northwest Dominions — Character of the Man— His Antecedents and Personnel— The Party Sets out from Norway House— The Transit at Peace River— Grand Entry at Fort St James— Arrival at Fort Langley— He Returns the Following Year to Canada— John Work Journeys from Colville to Okanagan— Wreck of the 'William and Ann' and Murder of the Crew— Punish ment of the Offenders— Incipient Ideas of Settlement— Era of Epi demic — John McLoughlin Occupies Willamette Falls 489
xii CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER XXIII.
NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
1800-1832. PAGE.
David Douglas, Scientist— His Adventures in the Northwest Coast — Quarrel with Black — Challenge— Xotice of Samuel Black — His Assas sination — John Work's Journey — Conspiracy to Murder McLough- lin— Wreck of the ' Isabel'— Walla Walla— Xew Caledonia— Work's Snake River Expedition — Raids upon them by the Blackfeet — They Visit the Missouri — Results — Ermatiiiger — A Yankee Britisher — William McNeill and his Brig 'Llama' — Enters the Service of the Hudson's Bay Company — Building of Fort Umpqua — Hawaiian Island Agency 507
CHAPTER XXIV.
MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
1833-1841.
Founding of Fort Nisqually — The Coming of Gairdner and Tolmie — Intermittent Fever Rampant — Work Explores the Umpqua Region— The Spring and Autumn Brigades of 1835 — Journeys of Douglas and Ogden — Anderson's Expedition — Asiatic and Island Junks Wrecked on the West Coast — Advent of the Missionaries — The Methodists — The Presbyterians — The Jesuits — The Episcopalians — John Tod — Voyage of Douglas to California 524
CHAPTER XXV.
HALL J. KELLEY, NATHANIEL J. WYETH, AND B. L. E. BONNEVILLE.
1828-1834.
The Hazards of Security — The Boston School-master — Incorporation of a Society for the Settlement of Oregon — The School-master Writes, Lectures, and Buttonholes — And Finally Goes to Oregon by way of Mexico and California — Ewing Young Joins Kelley — His Tribula tions at Vancouver — The Cambridge Ice Man — A Boston Astor Adventure — The Ship ' Sultana' to Meet an Overland Party on the Columbia — Wyeth's First Expedition — Failure and Return — Wreck of the < Sultana '—The French Captain— What He did not Do 542
CHAPTER XXVI.
WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
1834-1837.
The Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company — The ' May Dacre ' Chartered and Freighted for the Columbia — Wyeth with an Over land Party Starts from Independence — Science and Religion en route for Oregon — Townsend — Nuttall — Jason Lee and his Brother
CONTEXTS. xiii
PAGE.
Missionaries — The Journey — Building of Fort Hall — Arrival at Fort Vancouver — The 'May Dacre ' Enters the Columbia — Establishment of Fort William on Wapato Island — Fort Boise Built to Oppose Fort Hall — Failure of Wyeth's Enterprise — Sale of Effects to the All-powerful Monopoly. 576
CHAPTER XXVII.
FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
1830-1839.
The Steamer ' Beaver ' — Small-pox— United States Secret Service— Will iam A. Slacum, Agent — Captain Bancroft — His Hunting Voyage upon the Coast of California — Killed by the Kaiganies — Building in the Valley Willamette — The Oregon Provisional Emigration Soci ety— Farnharn, and the Columbia River City-builders — Sir Edward Belcher's Visit — Cowlitz's Plains and Nisqually Settlements — The Puget Sound Agricultural Company — William Fraser Tolmie— Rod erick Finlayson Arrives 600
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FOUNDING OF THE NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
1831-1835.
Treaty of St Petersburg — Building of the first Fort Simpson — North Coast Commerce — Policy of the Company in regard to Opposition — Found ing of Fort McLoughlin — Indian Disturbances — Fort McLoughlin Removed to Fort Rupert — Expedition to Stikeen — The Russians Interpose Forcible Objections — Abandonment of the first Fort Simp son — Founding of the Second Fort Simpson — Port Essiugton — Fort Mumford — Fort Glenora 622
CHAPTER XXIX.
A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS AND ROUTINE.
1834-1844.
Captain Dominis — The 'Llama' — The 'Joseph Peabody '— Steamer 'Beaver' — Indian Battle — Mutiny — War — The 'Thomas Perkins' — Ingenuousness of the Aboriginal Skin -seller and the European Rum- seller — First Trip Northward of the Steamer ' Beaver ' — Lease of a Ten-league Shore-strip from the Russians — Expedition to Take Pos session — Founding of Fort Durham, or Fort Tako — Finlayson'a Encounter with the Takos — Abandonment of the Tako Post — Com parative Savagism of White Men and Red — Murder of John Mc Loughlin junior by his Men 636
xiv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXX.
TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
1841-1842. PAGB.
The Monarch Moves — Sir George Simpson Circumnavigates the World — The Journey across the Continent — Surveys the Northern Posts — Drops down to San Francisco Bay — Monterey — Honolulu — Sitka and Fort Simpson again — Then Asia is Honored — An Irascible Gaul — French Curiosity — Eugene Duflot cle Mofras — Himself and his Book — From Mexico and California He Proceeds to Honolulu and Fort Vancouver— Simpson does not like his Looks and Snubs Him — Whereat He is Irate, though in his Book Charitable— After Calling again upon the Califomians, whom He Scourges to his Complete Sat isfaction, He Returns to France 654
CHAPTER XXXI.
UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
1S4M842.
Object of the Movement — Ships Employed — Officers — Commander Wilkes — Bibliography of the Voyage — Round Cape Horn — Ha waiian Islands — Cross to Admiralty Inlet — Case Surveys Hood Canal — Riuggold Examines Admiralty Inlet— Excursion of Johnson and Party to Colville and Walla WTalla — Wilkes Calls on McLough- lin — And Visits the Valley Willamette — Wreck of the Peacock at the Mouth of the Columbia — Er.unons' Overland Expedition from Oregon to Oalfornia — The ' Vincennes ' Proceeds to Yerba Buena. . . 668
CHAPTER XXXII.
CURRENT EVENTS.
1840-1844.
London and Fort Vancouver Vessels — McLoughlin in England — Tolmie's Road — Couch's Salmon -fishery — Murder of Kenneth McKay — The Ship ' Thomas Perkins ' — Spaulding — William Glen Rae — Post Estab lished at Yerba Buena — Walla Walla — The Gunpowder Story — Ermatinger's Expedition — Abolition of the Liquor Traffic — The Umpqua Country — Fremont's Expedition 685
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
1842-1846.
Catalogue of Passing Events — Americanization of Oregon — Attitude of Opposing Parties at Fort Hall — Is it Right to Kill Americans?- -Tol mie's Report on the Willamette Plains — American Settlement Begun on Puget Sound — Immigration — Ship ' Modesto ' — Board of Manage ment — Commissioners Warre and Vavasour — Retirement of Mc Loughlin — James Douglas in Command — Ingratitude of Certain American Settlers — The Schooner ' Shark ' — Possessory Rights of the Hudson's Bay Company — What Became of the Fur-trading Es tablishments — Removal to Victoria, . . 697
HISTORY
OF
THE NORTHWEST COAST.
CHAPTEK I.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION— UP THE MISSOURI. 1804-1805.
SOLDIERS AS FOREST TRAVELLERS — THE GREAT UNKNOWN REGION — JOHN LEDYARD IN PARIS— EXPLORATION PROPOSED — ANDRE MICHAUX — JEF FERSON'S PLAN — MERIWETIIER LEWIS — WILLIAM CLARKE — INSTRUC TIONS — RENDEZVOUS ON THE MISSISSIPPI— OUTFIT — ASCENT OF THE MIS SOURI — AT COUNCIL BLUFFS— THE MAHAS — THE MANDAN COUNTRY — THE EXPEDITION WINTERS THERE — RETURN OF PART OF THE EXPEDI TION — AT THE YELLOWSTONE— WILD ANIMALS — ABOUT THE HEAD WATERS OF THE MISSOURI — NOMENCLATURE — THE DIVIDING RIDGE.
THE second expedition made by white men west ward across the Rocky Mountains to the shores of the Pacific, north of California, was that of Lewis and Clarke, who were the first to descend the Columbia from one of its sources to the sea, being in time twelve }7'ears later than Mackenzie, and in latitude five hundred miles and more to the south of his route.
The first was the excursion of a fur-trader, made in a private or a commercial capacity during a short hyper borean summer, in light canoes; the second was a government affair with all its unwieldy accompani ments, and occupied two years. In the course of the narrative we shall see that army captains and soldiers were no match for Scotch fur-traders and Canadian voyageurs in forest travel.
VOL. II. 1
2 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
When Lewis and Clarke set out on their expedition, the great Unknown Region, as it was called, equiva lent to one thousand miles square and more, between the headwaters of the Missouri and the Pacific Ocean, was, if we except the interior of Alaska and the Stikeen country, further removed from civilization than any other part of North America. The Hudson's Bay Company had explored its borders north. Eng lish ships had sailed through many channels in search of Anian Strait and a northern passage, and Hearne had pursued his grumbling way from Fort Churchill to the mouth of the Coppermine. The Canadian merchants had taken possession of the Canadian north-west, and had planted their forts from Lake Superior to Athabasca, while the determined Mac kenzie had followed the river which bears his name to the Arctic Ocean, and had crossed from Peace River to the Pacific. New Mexico was known; California was known; and so were portions of Alaska. Only this central temperate tract remained yet hidden in shadows primeval.
Thomas Jefferson was the father of United States explorations. While lesser minds were absorbed in proximate events, his profound sagacity penetrated forests, and sought to reveal the extent and resources of the new nation. To this he was moved not less by circumstances than by his broad and enlightened judgment. And chief among the incidents which aroused in him a more than ordinary interest in the subject, was the appearance, in 1786, at the United States legation in Paris, while Jefferson was minister to France, of that most remarkable man, John Led- yard of Connecticut.
Ledyard was an ardent, reckless, and always impe cunious enthusiast, with a brilliant mind and winning manners. He was a kind of Yankee John Law, with the Northwest Coast for his Mississippi bubble; but with this difference, his well founded schemes were
LEDYARD AND JEFFERSON".
often regarded as bubbles, whereas John Law's bles were treated as well founded schemes. Led- yard had accompanied Captain Cook in his voyage to the Pacific, had been the first in Europe or America to propose a trading voyage to the Northwest Coast,1 and was now in Paris panting for fresh adventure. The French having been ever foremost in the American fur-trade, he sought to enlist French enterprise and French capital in a mercantile com- pany,having for its field the region beyond the coast of California.
In this he failed, though ever hovering upon the confines of success: once having bepnn. in France the
* O O
purchase of goods for the Northwest Coast traffic, and once having actually embarked in a vessel for the Pacific, he was in every instance doomed to disap pointment. But though himself one of the most luckless of enthusiasts, his failure bore rich fruit. A constant guest, while in Paris, at the table of Jeffer son, that first of American statesmen became in no small degree inspired by the ardent aspirations of this commercial adventurer, whose mind was absorbed in the one idea of the Northwest Coast in its relations to China and to the Atlantic states.2
Hence when Jefferson returned to America in 1789, his imagination was filled with brilliant pictures of the far west, whose early discovery his judgment pro nounced of the highest importance to the common wealth. In 1792, while secretary of state, he proposed to the American Philosophical Society that some com-
1 This was in 1783, in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, and at the very time the Montreal merchants were organizing their great Northwest Company. Robert Morris went so far as to promise Ledyard a ship, but fail ing to find one disengaged the project was abandoned.
2 ' I die with anxiety, ' writes Ledyard from Paris, ' to be on the back of the American states, after having either come from or penetrated to the Pacific Ocean. There is an extensive field for the acquirement of honest fame. A blush of generous regret sits on my cheek when I hear of any dis covery there which I have no part in, and particularly at this auspicious period. The American revolution invites to a thorough discovery of the Con tinent, and the honor of doing it would become a foreigner, but a native only can feel the genuine pleasure of the achievement.' Spurka' Life of Ledyard, 172. See also BulfmcWs Or., 14-1G. On Ledyard, see vol. i. 349-53, this work.
4 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXrEDITIOX.
petent person be engaged to ascend the Missouri, cross the Stony Mountains, and follow the nearest river to the sea; and he suggested that a subscription be set on foot to defray expenses. Meriwether Lewis, a captain in the United States army, then on recruit ing service at Charlottesville, hearing of the proposal earnestly solicited the appointment. Jefferson ex plained to him the plan, that to avoid alarming the natives the explorer was to have but a single com panion;3 yet nothing daunted Lewis continued to urge his request. The choice of the society, however, fell upon another, Andre Michaux,4 the botanist, then in the service of the French government, who im mediately, started westward, but was arrested in his journey before passing Kentucky by the French min ister, who ordered botanical inquiries elsewhere.
Taking his seat as president in 1801, Jefferson never lost sight of his pet project. The rapid change in the ownership of Louisiana, as the great wilderness west of the Mississippi was then called, transferred by Spain to France in 1800, and by France to the United States in 1803, stimulated still more the ardor of the president. But no suitable occasion seemed to offer until eleven years after his former attempt, when the act for the establishing of trading-houses among*
o o o
the aborigines was about to expire, and some modifi cation of it was deemed desirable. By a confidential message of January 18, 1803, the president recom mended to congress the extension of the commercial
facilities embraced in the former act to the tribes on
3 Though conceived by the author of the Declaration of Independence it was a most hare-brained and impracticable scheme. Any fur-hunter might have informed him that travelling from nation to nation was a very different afi'air from the establishing of amicable relations by intermarriage or otherwise with a single people ; and that while it was well not to frighten the savages, force sufficient to carry gifts, and in places provisions, was necessary in order to command respect, and consequent good treatment. The idea probably sug gested itself to Jefferson's mind from Ledyard's fantastic plan of penetrating the continent alone from Nootka Sound, in which he might have progressed half a league before being captured and enslaved by the savages, as were Jewt'tt and Thompson in that same spot a few years later.
4 The distinguished author of Flora Boreall Americana, and Hixtoire des Ch^snes d'Amerique.
CHARACTER OF THE LEADERS. 5
the Missouri; and in order to make more plain the way for the contemplated changes the message pro posed that an expedition be sent to explore the Mis souri to its source,, and thence crossing the continental highlands to the westward flow of waters, follow them to the Pacific. The measure received the sanction of congress, and an appropriation was made to cover estimated expenses.
Again Captain Lewis, who had now been private secretary to the president for two years, preferred his request. He would command the party. Jefferson knew him well. He knew that his firmness of pur pose and undaunted courage were equalled only by his truthfulness and discretion. Bold adventure was born in him. It had been his custom when only eight years of age to rise at midnight and go alone to the forest, hunting the night-feeding raccoon and opossum ; and now with firmly knit sinews and maturer judgment he sought a broader field of adventure. His request was granted ; indeed, it had been understood for years by him and his highly influential friend, that command of the expedition when ready should be his.5
Like Mackenzie, Lewis felt a deficiency in scientific attainments such as would enable him to take astro nomical observations, and properly place the botany and geography of his route before the learned world. Hence no sooner was his appointment secured than he proceeded to Philadelphia and applied himself with such determined industry to a course of technical study as soon made him master of the knowledge necessary to his purpose. In order to place the suc cess of the expedition beyond the risk of accident, he requested that some competent person should be asso-
5 His patron is extravagant in his praise. After reciting a long list of high and absolute virtues, all of which it would be difficult for any one not blinded by friendship to find, he concludes: 'With all these qualifications, as if selected and implanted by nature in one body for this express purpose, I could have no hesitation in confiding the enterprise to him.' Jefferson's Life of Lewis, in Lewis and Clarke's Ex., Am. ed., i. xii. For a biography of Lewis and an account of his election to the leadership, see Perkins' Annals of the West, 755-6.
6 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
ciated with him as second in command, and named Lieutenant William Clarke, also of the United States army, who was consequently appointed to that post with a commission of captain.6
Captain Lewis was now ready for his instructions ; and these, drafted by the president's own hand, were signed the 20th of June, 1803.
By them he was directed to provide himself with arms, ammunition, provisions, boats, tents, and medi cines for ten or twelve men, who were to be selected from such soldiers as volunteered for the service, and over whom he should have the usual authority of a commanding officer. He was likewise to provide him self with instruments for taking astronomical observa tions, and articles for presents or barter with the natives.7
Part of the company's proposed movements being beyond the limits of the United States, passports were obtained from the ministers of France and England, in order to secure the friendly consideration of traders owing allegiance to those nations. Besides obtaining a geographical knowledge of the country, they were to enter into conferences with the natives with a view of establishing commerce with them. They were to study the moral and material interests of the natives, who were at all times to be treated in the most con ciliatory manner possible. " Should you reach the Pacific Ocean," continue the instructions, "inform yourself of the circumstances which may decide whether the furs of those parts may not be collected
6 As a matter of fact Lewis was chief, and had precedent been followed it would have been called Lewis' expedition, Captain Clarke being subordinate throughout the whole of it. The London Quarterly Review, xii. 318, thinks they lacked scientific assistants.
7 'The object of your mission is to explore the Missouri River, and such principal streams of it, as by its course and communication with the waters of the Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregan, Colorado, or any other river, may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across the continent for the purposes of commerce . . . The North River, or Rio Bravo, which runs into the Gulf of Mexico, and the North River, or Rio Colorado, which runs into the Gulf of California, are understood to be the principal streams heading opposite to the waters of the Missouri, and running south wardly.' Jefferson's Instructions in Lewis and Clarke* sExped. i. xiv. and xvi.
INSTRUCTIONS. 7
as advantageously at the head of the Missouri — con venient as is supposed to the waters of the Colorado and Oregan,' or Columbia — as at Nootka Sound, or any other point of that coast; and that trade be con sequently conducted through the Missouri and United States more beneficially than by the circumnavigation now practised."
On reaching the coast two of the company were to return by sea, with a copy of notes taken, either via Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Or if the return overland should be deemed dangerous, then the whole party were to return by water; and as they would be without funds, letters of credit authorizing drafts upon the United States to be made from any part of the world were furnished them. On return ing to the United States those of the men who had served well and desired their discharge should be en titled to it with full pay and a recommendation each to a soldier's grant of land. And to provide for leader ship against the accident of death, the commanding officer might name in writing his successor, who in like manner might determine who should command in the event of his death.
A journal was to be kept in which notes and ob servations were to be accurately entered.8
8 In this, as in other respects, the leaders of the expedition performed their duty well. Their journal, though painfully diffuse and overloaded with irrel evant matter, is clearly written and exact. Their forms of expression, though not so elegant as those of Mackenzie, are more distinctive and precise, and much of that which to-day is wholly worthless, was interesting and valuable when first printed. Besides the official narrative of Lewis and Clarke, jour nal « were kept by Patrick Gass and six others. The leaders encouraged the men to keep diaries, so that what one omitted another might record, and if some were lost, others might be preserved. Jefferson recommended Lewis to write on 'the cuticular membranes of the paper-birch, as less liable to injury from damp than common paper. ' Several editions of the official narrative ap peared both in America and in Europe, of which I have used the following : History of the Expedition under the commands of Captains Lewis and Clark to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains and doivn the Rirer Columbia to the Pacific Ocean, performed during the years 1S04-5-6. BIJ order of the Government of the United States. Prepared for the press by Paul Allen, Esquire. 2 vols. Svo. Philadelphia, 1814. The first volume of this edition contains a life of Lewis by Thomas Jefferson, and the second volume an appen dix by Captain Lewis. An abridgement, with introduction, notes, and maps, was printed in 2 vols. ICmo, New York, 1842, edited by Archibald McVickar.
8 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION".
Ten days after the instructions were signed by President Jefferson, information was received of the consummation at Paris of the treaty placing the United States in possession of the eastern part of the region to be explored, which greatly heightened the interest in the expedition.
On the 5th of July Lewis left Washington for Pittsburg, where a portion of his outfit was to be provided him; but prevented by delays in his descent
Under title of Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and across the Ameri can Continent to the Pacific Ocean appeared two editions in London, one in one volume, 4to, 1814, and the other in 3 vols. Svo, 1815, both of which are without the Life of Lewis by Jefferson, and the appendix by Lewis. It is the quarto English edition I have used for ordinary reference. The notes of Patrick Gass were published in one vol. Svo, Pittsburgh, 1808, and reprinted the same year in London, six years before the appearance of the official report, under title of A Journal of the Voyages and T rave's of <i Corps of Discovery, under the Command, etc. Mr Gass received the highest commendations of Captain Lewis after the return of the expedition to St Louis, and his work may for the most part be deemed accurate. Nevertheless the critic who, in the London Quarterly Review of May, 1809, i. 294, calls it 'a shabby octavo, the production of a mere underling' instead of a 'magnificent quarto, with maps, plates. . .as we had a right to expect from a plan executed under such auspices,' is not far out of the way. 'It is curious,' he continues, 'to observe how ingeniously Mr Gass has avoided whatever could interest or amuse. All he says, we have no doubt, is strictly true : at least, if intolerable dulness be a symptom of truth in narration, he has amply vindicated his veracity. There are so many facts that we care not to know, and so little detail on those we do ; and the two kinds are jumbled in so heterogeneous a compound, that we have seldom under gone a severer trial of patience than in attempting to separate them. The ap- })caraiice of a volcano a thousand miles from the sea, and the death of a gray lorse are recorded in the same breath, and with equal faithfulness, brevity, and indifference.' The dayand hour arc carefully noted when Captain Lewis issued a glass of old whiskey to all the crew ; and when ' Captain Clarke gave the sick a dose of Rush's pills, to see what effect they would have,' and yet this book is no worse than thousands of others from which our history must be extracted. In reviewing the official report of Lewis and Clarke in January 1815, this same journal somewhat ungraciously says: 'Had the expedition been exe cuted under the auspicies of the British government, it would have been fitted out with characteristic liberality ; draftsmen and naturalists \vould have been attached to it, and the official publication might have vied in beauty and ex cellence with that of Cook's voyages. It is both ungrateful and unjust to cen sure an individual traveller if he fail as an artist, or be deficient in those branches of science which would have enriched his observations : every man who contributes to the stock of our knowledge is a benefactor to the public, and entitled to our respect and gratitude. But when expeditions for the
membering that the United States government ^
ished, and that it was entitled to praise for what it had clone rather than blame for what it left undone. Political and other duties caused the postponement of the publication of the official journal until 1814, at which time Captain Lewis died, as the work was passing through the press.
OUTFIT AND DEPARTURE. 9
of the Ohio, he deemed it imprudent to attempt the ascent of the Missouri until the ice should break up in the spring. Besides this the Spanish commander at La Charrette, the highest settlement on the Mis souri, and where it had been their intention to pass the winter, having no official notice of the transfer of the country to the United States, felt obliged to deny strangers admission to the territory. The party encamped, therefore, on the eastern side of the Mis sissippi, opposite the mouth of the Missouri, and the winter was spent disciplining the men. Beside four teen United States soldiers, there were in the party nine young Kentuckians, two French voyageurs, a hunter, an interpreter, and a negro servant of Captain Clarke.
An escort, consisting of six soldiers under a cor poral, with nine boatmen, was detached to accom pany the party to the territory of the Mandans, which was considered the most dangerous part of the jour ney. The stores, packed in seven bales and one box, each containing portions of all as a guard against accident, consisted of clothing, tools, and arms; also ammunition and liquors for themselves and the sav ages.
There were besides, fourteen bales and one box of presents for the natives, divided in like manner, and consisting of laced coats and other rich articles of dress, tomahawks, knives, medals, handkerchiefs, and flags, besides a variety of such luxuries as beads, looking-glasses, and paints.
The 14th of May 1804 the party embarked in three boats; one a keel boat, fifty-five feet in length, drawing three feet of water and carrying one sail and twenty-two oars, the bow and stern covered by decks of ten feet, forming forecastle and cabin, and the mid dle enclosed by lockers which, when opened, formed a breastwork valuable in case of attack. The other two were pirogues, or open boats, of seven and six
10 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION".
oars respectively. Along the bank were led two horses, to be employed in hunting.9
The first commercial transaction with the 'natives was the exchange of two quarts of whiskey for four deer, made the eighth day. Ascending the river at the rate of from ten to fifteen miles a day, some times twenty, notes were taken on climate and soil, and on the people passed, but nothing of importance transpired until the 12th of June, when two rafts from the Sioux nation were encountered, one loaded with furs and the other with buffalo tallow. They now succeeded in engaging one of the party, Mr Dorion, who had lived with the Sioux for twenty years, and was strong in their confidence, to return with them, and see the party safely through the ter ritory of these blood-loving savages. Much trouble was experienced from the constantly shifting banks and bars of the river. There were occasional rapids, and frequently they were obliged to tow the boats. The meeting of rafts and canoes loaded with furs was of common occurrence. Game was plentiful, and easily taken. Elk were seen for the first time two months after leaving the mouth of the river. Some of the men were troubled with dysentery and boils, but the health of the party was generally good.
To the nations along the river the change of gov ernment was announced; whereat some were as pleased as children would be at any change, others were angry; for as a rule eastern savages hated Frenchmen less
O
than either English or Americans.
Passing the river Platte the 21st of July, on the seventh day thereafter their hunter encountered three Missouri Indians dressing an elk. They were all friendly, and one of them accompanied the hunter to the boat. These Missouris were living with the Ottoes, and their camp was about four miles distant.
9 In U. S. Geoy. Surv., Wheeler, Progress Re.pt., 1872, 42, is a map purporting to show the route of Lewis and Clarke ; see also Johnsons R. R. to Pac., 30-9, and map : Warren's Mem., in Pacific R. R. Rept., xi. 17-19; Hunt's Aler. Mag., vi. 313-14; Symons1 Rept. Upper Columbia, 89.
COUNCIL BLUFFS. 11
Next morning he was sent back with an invitation to Uis friends to meet the explorers on the river above, where" a council would be held.
Proceeding, the stream takes a northern bend, with a highland on the south, above which traces of a great hurricane are visible ; ten miles further bring them to a wood on the north. There they spend the night. Early next morning they ascend the river three and a quarter miles, and encamping on the south bank await the appearance of the Ottoes. Round them is a fertile plain covered with grass from five to eight •feet high. Small, light pink flowers cluster here and there; honeysuckles sweeten the air, and from the tall waving grass rise copses of plums and currants, all musical with stinging insects and rattlesnakes. Behind them, separating a lower and a higher prairie, is a woody ridge seventy feet in height, at the end of which the explorers pitch their camp.
From the bluffs adjoining, river and prairie, low sky and glistening landscape, dappled with the pass ing cloud-shadows, unfold a magnificent panorama. Winding amid groves of cottonwood, sycamore, elm, and ash, sprinkled with oak, hickory, and walnut, purple with wild grapes, and folding in its nourishing embrace little shifting willow-islands, creeps the river from the long grass through two parallel highland ranges, whence, in ever varying curves, it wends its way on toward the ocean.
Awaiting here under the bluff with some anxiety the result of their message to the Ottoes, their hunt ers bring in turkeys, geese, deer, and beaver, while the river supplies them with an abundance of fish. At length, about sunset on the 2d of August, is seen in the distance a party of fourteen Ottoes and Mis- souris. They are accompanied by a Frenchman who lives with them, and acts as interpreter. As they ap proach, Captains Lewis and Clarke advance to meet and welcome them. A place is selected for their camp, and a council appointed to be held next morn-
12 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
ing. Meanwhile the explorers send them flour, meal, pork, and a portion of their roasted meat, receiving in return a present of watermelons.
Preparations are then made for the morrow. The main -sail is brought from the boat and spread as an awning, under which the presents to be distributed are paraded. In the morning the exploring party are all drawn up for the occasion. The Indians, six of whom are called chiefs, then present themselves, and are requested to be seated under the awning. A white man first speaks, informs them of the change of government, promises protection, and gives advice. Then each in turn the six red chiefs reply. They are glad of the change ; they hope their new father will
five them arms and rum, and help them to kill the _Iahas. The white men assure them of trade and mediation; then they distribute the presents. The real or principal chief not being present, a medal, a flasf, and some trinkets are sent to him. The medals
O *
are of three grades, and denote the estimation in which the wearer is held abroad. Placed round his neck it is the token of the white man's recognition of the wearer's chieftaincy.
To one Ottoe and to one Missouri medals of the sec ond grade are given, and to the other chiefs present medals of the third grade. Paint, garters, and dress ornaments accompany the medals, and for the whole a canister of powder, a bottle of whiskey, and a few trinkets. These ceremonies concluded, the explorers call the place Council Bluffs, and remark upon the situation as one favorable for a fort or trading-factory, the soil being good for bricks, wood being abundant, and the climate good. It is likewise a central resort of the Ottoes, one day's journey distant; for the Paw nees, one and a half days distant; the Mahas, two days distant; besides being convenient to the Sioux, and only twenty-five days from Santa Fe. Then deemed convenient for Indian traffic, time has proved the place as suitable for a railway centre. In the
SIOUX, TETONS, AND MANDANS. 13
afternoon the party set sail, and encamp five miles up the river on the south side, where they find the mosquitoes very troublesome. All this on the 3d of August 1804.
Arrived among the Mahas a fortnight later, another council was held with the like results. All of this nation that the small-pox had left were willing to die of blankets, tobacco, and whiskey. Up to this time one of the expedition had deserted and one had died. To the river on which they encamped they gave the name of the dead soldier, Floyd.
The 30th of August the Sioux were received under a large oak standing within their territory, and near which the United States flag was flying. Speeches, counsel, and cheap presents were the return for new dominion; but the best of the exercises were the eat ing, drinking, and smoking. The Sioux complained bitterly of their poverty, and Captain Lewis advised Mr Dorion, their friend and interpreter, to take a party of their chiefs to Washington to see the presi dent.
Councils were likewise held with the Tetons," the Ricaras, and the Mandans on entering their respec tive territories. A little impudence with some show of violence was displayed by the Tetons, but without serious results. The Ricaras on being offered liquor declined, saying they were surprised their father should offer them drink which made men fools. As regarded the chastity of their women they were not so particular, for here as well as elsewhere along their route the expedition had no difficulty in pro curing companions for the night. The negro was an object of special favor amongst the fair sex, who often quarrelled for him. When the white men stopped to execute the sentence of court-martial on a soldier by corporal punishment, an Indian chief sitting by was affected to tears. " We kill men for wrong-doing," he exclaimed, " but we will not even whip our children."
14 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
The expedition reached the Mandan country the last of October, and as the weather was becoming very cold they determined to winter there. Some heavy log-houses of cottonwood, elm, and ash were built, being completed about the middle of November, when the party moved into them. During the winter the Mandans were threatened with an attack by the Sioux living on the Missouri above the Cheyenne River; their visitors promised them protection from all their ene mies, and offered to lead them to battle; but as the snow was deep, the Mandans declined fighting that winter. This was bad policy, for the sons of the Great Father to involve themselves in the quarrels of his children.
The 16th of December Mr Haney arrived from the Assiniboine with a letter from Mr Charles Chabouilles of the Northwest Company, offering any service within his power. From Mr Haney Captain Clarke obtained much valuable information regarding the country between the Missouri and the Mississippi, and the various branches of the Sioux family inhabiting it. Corn raised by these natives was freely supplied the expedition. Among others of the Northwest Com pany who visited them, there were Laroche and Mac kenzie. The former wished to accompany the party westward, but his proposal was declined. While at this place the blacksmith of the expedition put up a furnace and made knife-blades, spear-points, and other implements as the easiest method of procuring corn. The savages were specially taken with the bellows, and thought it a very great medicine. Some horses were stolen during the winter by the Sioux, who were pursued by Captain Clarke, but without recovery of the animals.
As spring drew near, preparations were made for moving; the escort, back to St Louis, the expedition, on toward the Pacific. The large boat was to return down the river, so six canoes were made for the upper waters. The articles which had been collected for the
THE UPPER MISSOURI. 15
president were packed in boxes and placed in the barge. They consisted of stuffed specimens of the animals of the country, together with birds, insects, and plants, specimens of earths, salts, and minerals, and native implements.
Simultaneously at 5 o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th of April 1805, the two parties embarked, the westward bound consisting of thirty-two persons10 in six canoes and two pirogues, and the St Louis party of seven soldiers, two Frenchmen, and a pilot, Mr Gravelines, in the barge. The Sioux having openly declared war against the whites, it was expected that the return party would be fired on in passing through the Sioux country, but they were ten well armed, de termined men, with provisions enough in the boat to last them to St Louis; and before their departure Captain Lewis had exacted a pledge that they would not yield while one remained alive. By this boat journals and despatches were sent to the United States, as the eastern country alone was then called.11
On the 10th the overland party overtook three Frenchmen who were hunting beaver. They were meeting with fair success, having trapped twelve thus far; but fearful of the Assiniboins they kept near the exploring party until they reached the Yellowstone. Navigation was here better than on the lower Mis souri. The country consisted of irregular ranges of hills interspersed with low smooth plains, with here and there timber. Fish, geese, prairie-hens, swan, antelope, white bear, and elk furnished abundance of food.
Passing the Little Missouri and the Yellowstone, both of which streams they ascend a short distance, about the first of May they enter a salt-frosted coun try with bluff hills and scattering foliage. Game be-
10 For their names see Hist. Oregon, i. 45, this series.
11 Accompanying the president's message of the 19th of February 1806 is a letter from Lewis dated Fort Mandan 7th April 1805. See also Annals of Cong., 1806-7, app. 1036-1146.
16 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
comes yet more abundant. The white bear is found a terrible creature. Lewis is chased seventy yards by one which had been wounded. Brown bear are very large, and exceedingly tenacious of life. The black bear are smaller.12 Buffalo are very plentiful. Wolves, coyotes, and prairie-dogs appear. Geese begin to lose their wing -feathers, which prevents flight. To a stream whose waters possess a peculiar whiteness they give the name of Milk River. Upon river-beds recently emptied of their waters, the vocabulary of dry names is exhausted. There are Big and Little Dry rivers, and Big and Little Dry creeks, until one won ders at the leathery brains out of which could not be beaten more distinctive terms. And as appellations of aridity become exhausted they fall back upon the names of their men by which to designate streams; and last of all they honor a creek by giving it the name Rattlesnake. A female elk swims a swift river, and the place is called Elk Rapids. Musselshell River was also among their brilliant selections of names.
Yet loftier elevations are interspersed with fertile plains as the party proceeds. The air of the adjacent highlands becomes singularly dry and pure, annihi lating space and bringing distant objects near. Again, the country becomes barren, with little timber save pine and spruce thinly scattered on the summits and hill-sides. Appearances of coal are evident. And now the river becomes rapid, the w^ind strong, the air cold, and game for a time grows scarce. But on emerging from the dreary Black Mountains nature puts on more cheerful robes, and sits on hill and plain in gor geous repose, while birds and beasts and creeping things sound their notes of universal joy.
Ascending a hill on the 2Gth of May, Lewis caught the first glimpse of what the narrative calls "the Rock mountains, the object of all our hopes, and the reward of all our ambition." They camped at an
12 By white bear is meant the grizzly, and by brown bear the cinnamon; of course there are no white bear proper in this latitude.
ABOUT THE HEADWATERS. 17
early hour the 3d of June at the junction of the Missouri with another large river, though which was the main stream and which the branch they could not tell. They deemed it important to know. The Indians had told them that the sources of the Missouri and the Columbia were not far apart. The season here was short, and two months of it were already gone. The wrong stream would lead them off their course, and cause delays which might demoralize the men and jeopardize the success of the expedition. Exploring parties were therefore sent out, but returned no wiser than they went. Others were despatched, and re turned in like manner. Why had not the natives told them of these two large rivers? "The river which scolds at all others" was not a term applicable only to the Missouri, for both streams scolded alike.
Finally, next day, Lewis with six men and Clarke with five set out on a more thorough exploration, the former ascending the north and the latter the south branch. Lewis was absent four clays examining the stream, crossing ravines, and ascending moun tains for observation, travelling meanwhile some eighty or ninety miles, and narrowly escaping destruction with one of his companions by coming unawares upon a precipice. Though his men were of a different opin ion, Captain Lewis pronounced the north branch not the Missouri, and named it Maria River. Clarke was three days out accomplishing a distance equiva lent to forty-five miles in a straight line. He saw the river rolling in for a great distance from the south, with high ridges to the south-east, and he believed it the Missouri, though his men held with the others for the northern branch.
On Sunday the 9th a consultation was held. Cru- zatte, long a boatman in these parts, was sure the north branch was the Missouri. The men would cheerfully follow their leaders, they said, but they could not but hold with Cruzatte. Arrowsmith's map had been studied at Fort Mandan, and Mr Fidler's
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 2
18 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
discoveries noted. To these their own observations were added, and the two captains pronounced in favor of the southern branch. Caching at this point part of their cargo with one of the boats, on the llth the party proceeded, Lewis with four men going by land in advance of the now lightened canoes. Seized that night with dysentery and fever, and having at hand no medicine, with eminent success Lewis experi mented with choke-cherry twigs, boiling them, and drinking the decoction.
The party had not proceeded far on the morning of the 13th when the sound of falling water greeted their ears, and rising above the plain a column of spray was seen, which quickly vanished in the dry transparent air. Lewis went forward, travelling seven miles after first hearing the sound before reaching what proved to be the great falls of the Missouri. Seating himself upon a rock, he gazed upon the stu pendous spectacle until saturated with the sublime; after which he looked about him for the best portage, which was found to be eighteen miles in length. These falls, though different from any others, may be classed among the grandest in the world. The entire descent of the river in sixteen and a half miles is three hundred and fifty- seven feet, separated into four cataracts of twenty- six, forty- seven, nineteen, and eighty-seven feet respectively, with rapids between. Plunging down this uncertain channel between per pendicular abutments three hundred yards asunder, the distracted stream rends the sky with its resounding boom, and sends upward from its boiling bed of white foam fantastic mist-forms and spires of spray, which blush to rainbow hues on meeting the searching in quiry of the sun. And with the clouds of moisture our clouded thoughts ascend. How long had been this river roaring its anthems in the wilderness? Were these magnificent water-works, these grand dis plays of so many forms of liquid beauty, made for
AMONG THE WILD BEASTS. 19
man's enjoyment, or for the benefit of beasts, and trees, and stolid rocks ? And if for man, for what a time had they been waiting his coming! O patient north and west ! But stop ! I hear a voice from out these hallelujahs of waters, saying, Man, though wild, is none the less man than when grown cunning with arts and devilish theologies.
To drag the boats up a creek and there unload; to mend moccasins with which the prickly pear made havoc ; to cut roads and build wagons, using a large cottonwood tree for wheels and the mast of the pirogue, which was left behind, for axle-trees; and with the aid of two such vehicles to drag canoes and cargo above the falls; to cache more goods; to hunt elk, and with their skins construct a boat which, proving a failure, necessitates the making of new canoes above the falls — all this occupies a month.
In a furious hail-storm the men were knocked down and bruised to bleeding. So suddenly the torrent filled a ravine in which Captain Clarke was caught, that he narrowly escaped with his life. Strange noises in the mountains attracted their attention. Stretching southward above the Missouri, the sky presented a broad, bright line alive with wild-fowl. The country here literally swarmed with large and small game, which regarded these white-skinned bipeds as impudent intruders upon their domain. A buffalo was wanted one night for supper; a thousand presented themselves, of which Lewis shot one. Before he had reloaded, a large brown bear stole upon him. The captain ran, the bear followed, gaining on him, and the man saved his life by taking to the water. That same day, which was the 14th of June, returning from a visit to Med icine River, after having shot what he supposed to bo a tiger, three buffalo bulls deliberately left the herd where they were feeding, and came toward him, as if to see what kind of new strange animal it was that had ventured among them. Flight was impossible; so Lewis made toward them, when they turned and
20 LEWIS AOT) CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
went back to their feeding. As if even the reptiles of this region had conspired against the intruders, a large rattlesnake coiled itself round the tree under which Lewis slept that night, and there kept silent watch. White and brown bears chased the men wherever they went, and even invaded their camp. To a cluster of three islands the name White-bear Islands was given, and their portage resting-place was White-bear Camp. Goats, terrapin, gooseberries, and currants were now added to their bill of fare. Fifty buffaloes could be shot almost any afternoon when wanted. All this time not a word was said of Indians, by which one infers that they were not numerous in these parts.
Christmas last, at Fort Mandan, the explorers drank and danced- all day and far into the night, telling the savages not to come near them as that was their great medicine day. Now on the 4th of July, though foot-sore and fatigued, they likewise drank and danced, drank the last drop of drunk-producing liquid they had, leaving none for the poor savage beyond the mountains. Blessed faith! but for which patriotism would be simply stomach.
In eight canoes, on the 1 5th of July, the party con- tinued its journey above the falls. Passing a pleasing river they gave it the name Dearborn, in honor of the secretary of war; another stream they called Ordway Creek, because their sergeant's name was Orclway. Potts likewise had his creek, John Potts, one of the party, not a great man, but then the creek was not a great creek. Wood becoming scarce dried buffalo dung, or bois de vaclte, called later by the emigrants ' buffalo chips,' was used in making fires for cooking or other purposes.
High mountains now approach the river on either side, until for a distance of five miles black granite rooks rise eight, ten, and twelve hundred feet sheer from the water's edge, black at the base, but lighter in color toward the top. The channel here is three hundred and fifty yards in width. Entering between
AT THE THREE FORKS.
21
these perpendicular mountains, seemingly boding dark destruction on curious searchers of their secrets, they call the place the Gates of the Rocky Mountains.13
Passing through the gates they found the sky dark ened with smoke, the natives of that region having taken to the mountains in alarm, after firing the plains. The weather now became warm, 80° in the shade. To Joseph Whitehouse, one of the company, was given a creek, to Patrick Gass another, to Howard another, to Robert Frazier another, and so on. Clarke, preceding the boats by land, reached the three forks
ROUTE FROM THE MISSOURI TO THE COLUMBIA.
of the Missouri the 25th of July. This place having been mentioned by the Indians, had been anxiously looked for. He ascended the north branch thirty- seven miles, and then crossing over 'to the middle branch descended to ^he forks, severely suffering during the journey from illness. Meanwhile the main body came up the river and arrived at the forks. Here the country seems suddenly to expand, and the hills to fall back and subside into meadows and plains.
13 The 'gates of the Rocky Mountains' are 145 miles above the falls, and about 400 miles from the source of the river. 'This name,' says Thomas P. Roberts, in Montana, Hist. Soc. Contnb., 250, 'may do very well, though several other "gates," but none so grand, intervene between it and the final exit of the Missouri river from the mountains, thirty-six miles below.'
22 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
It was on the morning of the 27th that the main party paused at the mouth of the east branch. Land ing, Lewis walked half a mile up the stream, and from a limestone cliff could trace the courses of the three branches for several miles. Descending to breakfast he called this east fork of the Missouri, Gallatin,u in honor, he observes, of the secretary of the treasury. Reembarking, he proceeded to the middle and west branches, where was found fastened to a stick a letter from Clarke, who had not yet returned, stating that the west fork offered the superior attraction to voy agers westward. Lewis agreeing with him, ascended the west branch with his party for a mile, and there camped, waiting for Clarke, who joined him at three o'clock, well nigh exhausted with fever and fatigue. The middle and western branches being so nearly alike, each ninety yards in width, and in depth, cur rent, and character so similar that it was impossible to tell which was the main stream and which the branch, it was determined to drop the name Missouri at the fork, and give the name Madison to the middle chan nel, and the name Jefferson to the west branch.15
For two days Captain Clarke remained ill, but on the 30th of July, being quite recovered, he proceeded with the party to ascend the Jefferson River; at noon they came to a place which the Shoshone wife of Chaboneau recognized as the spot where she had been taken by the Minnetarees of Knife River.16 All were now exceedingly anxious to fall in with some of the Shoshones, or Snake Indians, whose habitat is here about, for through the friendship of the woman whom they were now returning to her relatives they hoped for information and assistance. To this end Lewis set out in advance of the party, lost his way, and at
14 On the plain near the fork now stands the town Gallatin. See Montana Hint. Soc., Contrib., I 236.
10 See Lewis and Clarke's Travels, 235 and 240; Gass' Journal, 168.
10 W. F. Sanders, president of the Historical Society of Montana, says, Montan all-lit. Soc., Contrib. ,i. 100, that this woman 'was captured at the Three Forks of the Missouri, about the year 1800.' The place she here pointed out was cm Jefferson River a short distance above the fork.
LOFTY NOMENCLATURE. 23
night was obliged to sleep alone in the wilderness. Next morning he found his friends, and again left them in search of natives, this time accompanied by three of the men.
Meanwhile nomenclature mounts Pegasus. To a stream flowing in from the south the name Philoso phy17 is given; to a large creek, a little above, the name Frazier,18 from one of the men. A creek yet higher, flowing in from the opposite side, is honored with the name of another of the men, Fields.19 But as the river is ascended the minds of the explorers soar aloft, and to a river coming in from the north the name Wisdom is applied, while one on the oppo site side is called Philanthropy.20
Continuing up the north side of the Jefferson, Lewis on the 1st of August reached the South Bowl-
O
der; taking it for the main channel, he followed it, but on discovering his mistake he crossed over to the Jefferson and continued its ascent, making seventeen miles the first day, twenty-four miles the second, and twenty-three each the third and fourth, but meeting with no natives. This brought him to Wisdom River, Clarke with the main body following a day or two behind.
Although the Wisdom branch presented the more open front, the others were warmer and more turbid, whence Lewis inferred that the waters of the latter had travelled farther and through a more open country than those of the former. He therefore left a letter at the fork, placing it on a pole, directing those below to take the stream to the left.
17 Now Willow Creek.
18 Known at present as the South Bowlder.
19 The North Bowlder.
20 ' The puerile pedantry of calling rivers Independence and Philosophy is inexcusable ; but the consummation of absurdity and loyalty occurs when they arrive at a place near the head of the Missouri, where it divides into three pretty equal branches. It is resolved here that the name Missouri shall be dropt, and the central branch being baptized Jefferson rolls on its presi dential course between the sister streams of Wisdom and Philanthropy.' Lon don Quarterly Review, i. 296. Another name for the Wisdom is to-day Big Hole River, and the Philanthropy River of old now rejoices in the refined appellation of Stinking Water. Above Beaver Head Rock the Jefferson is now called Beaver Head River.
24 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
But a beaver happening to pass that way shortly after, and seeing the pole so neatly trimmed, be thought himself how good a rafter it would make for his house; so he cut it down with his teeth and carried it away, letter and all. The consequence was the party below took the wrong course, and when set right by one of the men in advance they turned back; but in descending the branch the swift current caught and upset one canoe and filled with water two others, thus entailing loss, while one man barely escaped with his life, and all owing to the im pudence of the beaver.
On the 8th of August the canoes reach Philan thropy River.'21 Next day Lewis and two men travel sixteen miles up the Jefferson, here called to-day Beaver Head River, from Beaver Head Rock,22 which point Clarke passes in the canoes the 10th. Lewis meanwhile continues alonsf the left bank until he
O
reaches the upper fork of the Beaver Head,23 from which point both branches are pronounced not navi gable. He therefore fixes upon a dry willow pole a note recommending the party to remain at this fork while he proceeds up the north branch to explore. To this point the canoes slowly approach, passing a creek coming in from the south on the 13th, to which they give the name of one of the men, McNeal,24 and next day another on the north side which they call Track Creek.25 Willard Creek,26 named after Alexan der Willard, one of the men, is passed on the 15th.
21 At this point they were about forty miles north-west from Virginia City. 22A steep cliff ' on the right side of the river, ' the narrative says, meaning the left bank, and about twenty miles below Rattlesnake Creek. 2IJ The junction of Horse Plain Creek and Red Rock Creek.
24 Black Tail Deer Creek.
25 Rattlesnake Creek.
26 The town of Bannock now stands on this stream. ' In 1862, Mr Charles Rumley, not knowing that the stream had before then received a name, christened it Grasshopper creek, from the large numbers of that insect found upon its banks. When it had been identified as the Willard creek of Lewis and Clarke, the vanity and effrontery of Mr J. S. Willard, then living at Bannock, so offended the denizens of that town that the stream is known as "tlie Grasshopper" to this day.' Montana Hist. Soc., Contrib., i. 100.
THE MOUNTED SHOSHONE. 25
Meanwhile Lewis is on Horse Plain Creek, looking for a pass and Indian guides, and for horses to trans port the baggage. The domain of the buffalo is left behind; deer and antelope, beaver and otter, with geese and ducks, and some elk and mountain goats are here provided by nature as food for bears and men. A rich-bottomed grassy valley is found and entered. Scattered among the underbrush that bor ders the river are willow, birch, and cottonwood, with pines upon the elevations. Vegetation here cannot be called luxuriant.
For two days after Lewis was fairly within the territory of the Shoshone nation not a soul was to be seen. On the llth of August, however, to his great delight he perceived across the plain two miles dis tant a man on horseback27 coming toward him. By the aid of his glass he could distinguish the dress and equipment of the warrior, which were different from any he had hitherto encountered. The man was well mounted, and armed with bow and arrows, but rode without a saddle; and for a bridle a small string was attached to the horse's under-jaw. He was surely a Shoshone. The question was how to catch him, for he was exceedingly shy, and the woman they had brought so far to unlock these savage hearts was back with the boats.
The white man and the red both continued to ad vance until within a mile of each other. The latter then halted, whereat the other stopped, took from his knapsack a blanket, and opening it out, held it by the two corners, and in that manner brought it to the ground, a signal common in these parts of spreading a robe on which to meet guests preparatory to friendly intercourse. This was done three times. Unfortu nately Lewis had failed to order his men to remain behind, and these now coming up frightened the wild
27 Though of the equine type America seems to have been the original seat, yet when discovered by Columbus there were no horses in America. Those here found among the natives were from wild southern bands formed by the multiplication of animals which had strayed from the Spaniards.
26 LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION.
man, who thereupon showed signs of uneasiness. Then Lewis laid aside his gun, and taking some beads and a looking-glass advanced unarmed until within two hundred yards of the savage, calling out mean while tabba bone, white man, that he might know the stranger was not an enemy from some adjoining tribe. But when within a hundred yards of him, the com panions of Lewis continuing to advance, the Shoshone suddenly wheeled, leaped his horse across a brook, and vanished among the willows.
It was a disappointment, but they must try again. Mounting a bill they made a fire and breakfasted, placing some trinkets on a stick when they left, that the curious eyes w'hich they felt were not far distant should see that they were white men and friends. Then giving one of his men to carry, as a signal of friendship, a small United States flag fastened to a pole, Lewis again went forward with overtures to whatever in human shape he should meet. Thus civ ilization first wooed savagism in these western wilds.
All next day, the 12th, they hunt, following the tracks of the mounted warrior until no longer visible, following the river's course until it dwindles into a brook so small that one of the men with a foot on either side of it calls out to his companions to behold a man bestriding the Missouri. Less and less grows the rivulet and narrower its bounds until a small gap denotes its puny path ; and here these first of civilized men to see its littleness drink of its chaste waters to its mightiness be]ow. Then, full of glory, they rise and mount the ridge near by that divides the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. Almost these little Colossi can bestride this ridge and touch at the same time the sources of the Missouri and of the Columbia, can bathe in moisture which, had it a snowflake's weight of brains, might trickle to west or east at will, and determine the river's long, long course.
But where are those first undecided drops so soon to manifest western proclivities? Where, hereabout,
THE MOTHER RIDGE OF RIVERS. 27
is this source of the Oregon, the mighty River of the West? In little more than a mile from where spring the modest drops whose destination is the Mexican Gulf, down a steep descent on the western side is a rivulet already proud to be called a tributary of the Columbia. Stricken with ambitious thirst the ex plorers stop to drink again, so great in their minds were these little beginnings
[28
28 ' It is not more than a mile from the head-spring of the Missouri, to the head of one of the branches of the Columbia.' Gass' Journal, 174. 'It is expected to bring the boats of the Missouri and Columbia within five hundred miles of each other.' Victor's River of the West, 578.
CHAPTER II.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION— DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
1805.
AMONG THE SHOSHONES — COUNCIL HELD — PURCHASE OF HORSES — THE JOURNEY CONTINUED — DIFFICULTIES AND HARDSHIPS — LEWIS RIVER — IN THE MOUNTAINS — THE CLEARWATER — THE NEZ PERCES — PURCHASE OF DOGS FOR FOOD — FORK OF THE COLUMBIA — THE WALLA WALLA COUNTRY — THE GREAT FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA — HOOD RIVER AND MOUNTAIN — THE CASCADES — AT THE MOUTH OF THE WILLAMETTE — SAUVE ISLAND — COWLITZ RIVER — THE OCEAN.
FOLLOWING a well beaten Indian trail next day, toward noon a man, two women, and some dogs were sighted upon an eminence a mile distant. Ordering his party to remain behind, Lewis made his approach warily, and when within half a mile laid aside his rifle and unfurled his flag. He then advanced to within a hundred yards, when the natives incontinently fled and took shelter behind the hill. On gaining the
o o
summit not a trace of them was visible, so Lewis signalled his party to rejoin him, and they all started in pursuit. About a mile further they overtook the women, coming upon them so suddenly that only one had time to make her escape. The other, who stood prepared for instant death, was persuaded to conduct them to the Shoshone camp.
When about two miles on their way they met a com pany of sixty mounted warriors, to whom the woman made known the quality of the strangers, whereupon Cameahwait, their chief, and two of his principal men, threw themselves from their horses and embraced the white men, besmearing them with grease and paint, and
(28)
TALK AND TRAFFIC. 29
shouting their delight. The other Indians then dis mounted, and seating themselves in a circle, each drew off his moccasins preparatory to smoking the pipe of peace, which is as much as to say, "May I walk the forest forever barefoot if I break this pledge of friend ship."
It was with exceeding difficulty that Lewis suc ceeded, after spending four days in anxious and har assing attempts, in enticing a company of these savages to his boats, so suspicious were they of treachery. But this difficult feat once accomplished all was easy, for no sooner had the Shoshones beheld among the strangers their countrywoman, Sacajawea, than a mutual recognition took place, followed by the wildest demonstrations of joy. A council was then held, during which the white men made known the cause of their coming and their necessities. It was for the especial good of the Shoshone nation that their great governor and friend at Washington had sent to give them arms, and blankets, and rum; and the simple savages believed it, and promised horses and guides, for which, however, they were to be well paid. The usual presents were distributed, and all were well content; still the Shoshones would have preferred the good Washington man's benefits to his mere promises.
They were so well pleased, however, with twenty- five dollars' worth of trinkets in exchange for four fine horses, that they immediately started for more animals with which to trade on such advantageous terms.
From native reports the explorers feared the descent of the Columbia would prove more hazardous than they had anticipated. But the geographical knowl edge of these Indians, beyond the limits of their restricted migrations, was characteristically vague, all unfamiliar mountains and rivers being impassable.
Their northern neighbors, the Nez Perces, had in formed them that this stream, on whose bank their village rested, led to a large river which discharged
30 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
into a lake, bad -tasted, where white men lived; for themselves, they had never passed the mountains yonder.
It was on the 16th of August 1805 that Captain Lewis, accompanied by his new friends, returned to the fork of the Beaver Head, where Captain Clarke and the canoe party joined him next day. There at the junction of Horse Plain Creek and Red Rock Creek the canoes were left, and on the morning of the 18th Clarke set out with eleven men for the Shoshone village,1 where he was to leave Chaboneau and his wife to collect horses; he was to proceed thence to the navigable waters flowing into the Columbia, and there construct canoes, while Lewis brought forward the remainder of the party and the baggage to the Shoshone village.
Clarke carried with him tools for boat-building, and was accompanied by Cameahwait and his band of warriors. Ascending Horse Plain Creek fifteen miles through a wide valley, woodless but for a few shrubs, the party encamped near a narrow pass where the creek was but ten yards wide.2 Noon next day brought them to the source of the tributaries of Horse Plain Creek.3 They had now reached the great divide, the crown of the continent, near the spot. since chosen for a national park, where in a knot of ridges and peaks culminates the Rocky Mountain system ; a birthplace of mighty rivers, whence spring the Columbia, the Colorado, and the Missouri.4
xNear where since stood Fort Lemhi, on the Mormon branch of Salmon River.
2 This, according to them the highest navigable point of the Missouri, was set down in latitude 43° 30' 43", which does not speak very highly for their scientific attainments, being nearly one and a half degrees too far south.
3 'At one o'clock we dined at the head-spring of the Missouri and Jeffer son rivers, about 25 miles from the place where we had left the canoes, and from which the course is nearly west.' Gass1 Journal, 174.
4 Several abridgments of Lewis and Clarke's journal have been made, but no one of them is what it should be. A condensation, thoroughly and in telligently done, is better to the reader than the original; for the explorers put down much that was not only superfluous but confusing, and with the additional light of three quarters of a century we know better where they
A NATIVE MAP-MAKER. 31
Arriving on the 20th at the Shoshone village/ a council was held in which Cameahwait enforced Clarke's request for horses and guides. An old man attempted to draw a map of the country, but his ability was not equal to his will. The river on which they then were flowed toward the north-west, so Clarke was told in answer to his most searching in quiries, and was joined ten miles below by a branch from the south-west.6 Below the junction the river continued north-west one day's march, after which it
were, and what were their surroundings while on this expedition, than they themselves knew. Neither McVickar's abridgment nor Bulfinch's is a sum mary, or anything more than a collection of clippings. Each has an introduc tion, which, however, throws little light on the history or condition of affairs at the time. The book which Bulfinch calls Oregon and Eldorado, Boston, 1866, is only a slovenly arrangement of extracts from Lewis and Clarke's journal, supposed to stand for the Oregon part. Were all such authors burned with their books the world would be the gainer. The wonders of the Yellow stone, and the establishing of a national park, as well as the discovery of gold in Montana, led to later explorations and consequent publication. Among others was Captain Raynolds of the engineer corps, who examined the Yel lowstone in 1860, and found it less difficult to cross the dividing ridge between the head-waters of the Missouri and those of the Columbia, and back again, than to pass in a direct route from the source of the Missouri to that of the Yellowstone, over the basaltic upheaval five thousand feet in height, between which James Bridger affirmed a bird could not fly without carrying with it a supply of food. Some ten years later, Cook and Folsomo ascended the Yellowstone to Yellowstone Lake, and thence crossed to the Geyser basin of the Madison, and in 1870 General Washburn, Survey or- General of Mon tana, accompanied by a small escort of United States cavalry, under Lieut. G. C. Doane, explored the canons of the Yellowstone. An account of this expedition, by Langford, in the second volume of Scribner's Monthly, and the official report of Doane, J+lst Congress, 3d Sess., 1871, Senate Ex. Doc. No. 51, threw new light on the region. Next year John W. Barlow surveyed the Yellowstone Basin, and after him F. V. Hayden, United States Geologist. In that direction William A. Jones made an excursion in 1873, and Ludlow and Foray th in 1875. Besides Hay den's superb report, many able and im portant works on this region have been issued. Among them may be men tioned Doane's Personal Recollections in Rodenbougli's From Everglade to Canon, 405-20 ; Norton's Wonder Land; Richard-boil's Wonder of the Yel lowstone Region; Jones' Reconnaissance of Western Wyoming in 1873 ; Forsytes Rept. Ex. Yellowstone, 1875; Ludlow's Reconnoissance, 1875 ; and Great Divide. About on a par with Bulfinch's Oregon and Eldorado is a compilation by G. W. Pine, called Beyond the West, which is made up, without credit, from Mrs. Victor's River of the West and similar works. Among interesting and valuable reports bearing upon this part of Lewis and Clarke's route con tained in the Pacific Railway Reports, may be mentioned that of John Lambert, in i. 160-177. See also Pacific R. RepL, xii. pt. i. 234-50.
5 On the night of the 19th, following Gass* Journal, 174-5, Clarke's party was 36 miles west of Beaver Head Fork, where the canoes were left. Four miles further next morning brought them to a village of Indians on the bank of a branch of the Columbia River, about ten yards wide and very rapid.
6 This was the main channel of Salmon River, flowing from the south, and into which Mormon branch enters about twenty miles below Lemhi.
32 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
turned westward and flowed through mountains im passable.
. There happened to be at this village a Shoshone of another tribe, who lived twenty days' march to the south-west. Clarke likewise closely questioned him, and was told that the country in that direction was in places rocky and without game, and in other parts desert.7
The Indian recommended this route, provided the travellers would wait until spring; but Clarke thought it too much to the south of his course; and besides, notwithstanding Lewis boasted he could live any where an Indian could, wintering in that region without a supply of provisions was almost certain death.
Clarke now inquired where the pierced-nosed people, their next neighbors northward, crossed to the Missouri, and was told that their route was some dis tance north of there, and that it traversed a rough, rocky, thickly timbered country devoid of game.
Accompanied by a guide, the party set out, some on horseback and some on foot, at three o'clock that afternoon, and followed a good path down the Mor mon branch of Salmon River some eight miles, where they encamped. Next morning, the 21st, another village five miles further on was reached. Here was a fish-weir, composed of trees thrown across the river, with willow stakes to drive the fish into baskets.8 Continuing their journey, the party encamped below the fork after a day's march of twenty miles. As Lewis had rambled hither a few days previously, and the first white man to behold these waters,
7 'He said that his relations lived at the distance of twenty days' march from this place, on a course a little to the west of south and not far from the whites, with whom they traded for horses, mules, cloth, metal, beads, and the shells here worn as ornaments, and which are those of a species of pearl oyster.' Lewis and Clarke's Exped. , 286-7. From his country to the Stinking Lake, as he called the ocean, wras a great distance, to reach which they had to cross to another river than that on which his people lived ; from all which the explorers inferred that he spoke of the Colorado River and the gulf of California.
^For description of salmon fishing, see Native Races, i., passim.
ON THE SAHAPTIN. 33
Clarke called this Lewis River.9 Captain Clarke's examination of the country amply bore out the asser tion of the natives. So rough was the way with sharp fragments of rock that the feet of men and horses were badly injured. Owing to frequent rapids the river was not navigable for laden canoes, and this character was maintained until it penetrated the mountains by a narrow gap, rushing between perpen dicular rocks impassable by land or water.
Fifteen miles were made on the 22d. After five miles' travel on the morning of the 23d, the track proved beyond the power of the horses, which were left behind, while Captain Clarke with the guide and three men proceeded down the river twelve miles fur ther. Finding the route impracticable, he retraced his steps next day, and with the entire party returned to the lower Indian village near the forks of the river, and encamped with the Shoshones, sending word of the result of his reconnoissance to Lewis at the upper village, who having already received information that canoe travel in that region would be impossible, had begun the purchase of horses. By the 30th twenty- nine animals were procured, on which the baggage and goods being packed, the expedition set out afresh to explore a way to the Columbia.
By the advice of their guide they now took a course down the north side of the river until they came to a creek at a distance of thirty miles from the Shoshone village, up which they proceeded four miles and en camped, the weather being frosty and cold. At this point the trail left the creek, and led by a north-west erly course across a rough country for a distance of eighteen miles to another stream, which they named Fish Creek, on which they encamped, ten miles from its junction with the Salmon River, September 1st.
Following up Fish Creek three and a half miles on the morning of the 2d, they reached the fork of the
9 They were now on the Salmon branch of Snake River, called the Sa- haptin.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 3
34 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
stream, where the trail led away to the east. As their course was toward the north-west they were forced to attempt opening a trail up the west branch, through dense thickets and over slippery rocks, where three of their animals were lost from falling down precipices. After crossing and recrossing this creek a number of times, they continued five miles, encamping on the east bank, and sending back next morning for
O O
the horses crippled by the accidents of the clay before ; after which they proceeded eleven miles along the creek to a point where the mountains came down so abruptly that they were compelled to leave it, and to cross the steep and high ridge where again several of the animals were injured by falling upon the rocks. Their progress on the 3d was fourteen miles, when camp was made on a small branch of Fish Creek.
On the 4th, the ground being covered with snow, the explorers found themselves at the foot of a high ridge, crossing which, at a distance of six miles they came upon the head-waters of a stream10 running in the direction of their course, which they followed six miles, crossing a branch from the east to its junc tion with a stream also from the east,11 upon which they found an encampment of friendly Ootlashoots. With these they remained a day and a half, trading for fresh horses, and making a vocabulary of the language.
On the afternoon of the 6th they continued, and after a mile and a half crossed the west or Nez Perce branch of the Bitter Hoot, which they now perceived to be the main river; they named it Clarke River, Captain Clarke being the first white man to behold it. A march of six and a half miles across the valley and over a pine-covered mountain brought them again to the river, which they followed three and a half miles, crossing it several times on account of the
10 Middle branch of Bitter Root River.
11 Horse branch of Bitter Root River.
ON THE BITTER ROOT. 35
narrowness of the valley, and camping on the right bank ten miles from the Ootlashoot village.
On the 8th their course was along the river, due north eleven miles, and a little west of north twelve miles, which brought them to a large creek with four channels, to which they gave the name of Scattering Creek. Crossing this on the 9th and travelling- till
O O
noon, making only twelve miles, they halted on a small rivulet to cook and eat the game killed during the morning, and to take an observation.12 About four miles from this halting-place, after crossing the Bitter Root to its left bank, they emerged from its wooded bottoms upon an open plain threaded by a dis tinct trail, which according to their guide led to the
* O O
Missouri, distant only four days' journey. That night they encamped on a branch of the Bitter Root,13 having come fifteen miles; and learning from the guide that their route now left the river and led over a rough country, they remained one day in camp preparing food for their journey. To this place and stream they gave the name of Traveller's Rest. On the afternoon of the llth they made seven miles over a good trail.
Next day the road proved very difficult, being through fallen timber, and over high hills, for eleven miles, to the fork of the creek, where, ascending its western branch to a large bend, they once more di verged from it and travelled eight miles over a ridge to the creek again.
On the 13th a distance of two miles brought them to some hot springs. Here were so many trails made by Indians, and elk, and deer, that the guide became confused, and led them several miles astray. On regaining the right track, after twelve rough miles, they emerged from the mountains in which rise the waters of Loulou branch, striking the
] 2 This observation, giving the latitude 46° 41' 38" 9"", agrees very closely with that given on the latest maps.
13 Loulou branch of the Bitter Root River.
36 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
head-waters of a stream flowing in the opposite direc tion among some small open levels, or glades, whence they named the stream Glade Creek.
The travellers were now among high mountains, where at that season snow falls. On the 14th, in a storm of rain and hail, they proceeded down the right bank of Glade Creek, and crossing a high mountain came, in a distance of seven miles,, to another stream equal in size which joined it from the right. At this point they crossed to the left bank of the main stream, and passing another high mountain for nine miles came to a larger stream, which seemed to flow from the snowy mountains to the south-east and south. Two miles farther down they encountered another branch on the right side, at the mouth of which they encamped on a small island. The fatigue of this day's march was emphasized by the want of meat, and to stay their stomachs a colt was slaughtered, a direct consequence of which was the evolution of the eupho nious name of Coltkilled, to designate the stream re cently passed.
Finding the river they were following to be at this point eighty yards wide, with a rapid current, the ex plorers inquired its name of the Indian who accom panied them, receiving in answer the words koos koos Le,14 which they accordingly adopted as its name, calling it the Kooskooskie Biver.15 The difficulty of proceeding was now very great, accidents, hunger, mid sickness being common; the first from the rough ness of the country, the second and last from scarce and inferior food. Twelve miles were made this day, when the party encamped near an old snow-bank on a mountain-top. Pushing on next day in a snow storm which obliterated the trail, they made thirteen miles, reaching a stream from the north where they once more indulged in a supper of horse-flesh.
14 The Indians have no arbitrary names for rivers in this country; not even for the Columbia. The expression koos koos kie was used to explain that this was not the river they sought, but only a branch of one larger than itself.
:5Clearwater River.
ON THE CLEAKVVATER. 37
On the 17th, after a day's journey of ten miles, Clarke resolved to precede the main body with six hunters and look for a more level country, while at the same time seeking game. Making an early start and travelling some twenty miles with the utmost rapidity, he was repaid by the discovery of a great plain stretching toward the west and south-west, beyond which was a high mountain. His hunters do not appear to have met with success, for though the march was continued twelve and a half miles farther, the stream by which they encamped was baptized Hungry Creek, the appellation obviously originating from an empty stomach.
Resuming his march early on the 19th, he came upon a small plain where a horse was grazing. This was quickly killed and served for breakfast, what re mained after the rneal being hung in a tree for the benefit of the party following. Clarke's course this day led him nearly out of the mountain country, the temperature becoming sensibly warmer, and on the following day, the 20th_, he emerged upon a level country, dotted with scattered pines, and reached a village of the Chopunnish, or Nez Perces. By these he was kindly received and furnished with ample pro visions, some of which were sent to meet the party of Lewis who arrived on the 22d.
Clarke meanwhile had not been idle. Gaining the friendship of a chief, he collected information touch ing the Clearwater River, which was fifteen miles from this village. He learned that it forked a short distance below a second village, and united with a larger river yet lower, after which it continued its course to the sea, obstructed only by one great fall. The information he gained, though not wholly correct, was still valuable, as showing that the object of the expedition was attainable, and that within a reasonable time.
Here the change of diet, acting upon frames ex-
38 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
hausted by the hardships they had endured, produced a sickness which nearly disabled the whole party; both leaders and men being so reduced in strength that on reaching the river it was deemed advisable once more to betake themselves to canoes. A camp for canoe -building was therefore established at the confluence of the north branch with the Clearwater.
At this place large numbers of the Nez Perces gathered, proving with the exception of some petty thieving amicable enough. To the chiefs were given the medals provided for the occasion, and to the women suitable trinkets, while other articles were bartered for dried roots, fish, and berries. By the 7th of Oc tober, five canoes being finished, the explorers were ready to proceed upon the last stage of their journey. Having branded their horses they left them in the care of two brothers and a son of a chief,16 who with another chief was to accompany Lewis and Clarke down the river. The saddles and some ammunition were cached.
On the first day one canoe sprung a leak by striking on a rock, and on the second one was sunk from the same cause, the occupants escaping only by the assist ance of those in the other canoes and a friendly Indian. A creek17 which was passed on the right was called Colter Creek, from one of the men. Frightened by these accidents or from some unknown cause, their faithful Shoshone guide deserted them before they embarked next morning without claiming payment for his services.18 Many natives were seen along the river and at the encampments, all appearing friendly.
On the 10th, having travelled sixty miles from the forks of the Clearwater, the explorers encamped just
10 The good faith of the Nez Perec's in taking care of the horses belonging to Lewis and Clarke has ever since been a matter of reference and pride among these people, and Lawyer, their present chief, is fond of boasting that his father was one of those to whom they were intrusted.
17 Potash Creek.
18 When they proposed sending some one after the Shoshone with his pay, the Nez Perc6 chiefs very frankly informed them that it would be of no use, as the goods would all be stolen from him before he got out of their country.
THE GREAT FORK. 39
below its junction with the Lewis or Snake River, which they called the Kimmooenim, where they met a number of natives from whom they purchased some dogs for food.19 Continuing down Snake River, the contrast was noted between its yellowish-green waters and the purity of the Clearwater. It had frequent rapids, and was bounded by high cliffs, with here and there a narrow strip of bottom-land. On the 13th they passed a small stream on the left, which they called Kimmooenim Creek,20 and about four miles further another stream, naming it from one of their men, Drewyer River, at the mouth of which were some bad rapids. Indeed, the navigation of this river proved exceedingly hazardous, especially with inferior canoes. On several occasions one or more of them were filled and some baggage washed away; though to guard against accident as much as possible, one of the commanders continually kept in advance in the smallest
canoe.21
By the 16th the explorers reached a difficult rapid, or "rather a fall," near the confluence of the two great branches of the Columbia. While the men were em ployed in making the necessary portage, the leaders went on to the mouth of the river to apprise the natives of their approach, and to convince them of their friendly intent.
The aspect of the country at this meeting of the waters was low and flat, vast treeless plains extending on either hand, and most extensive in the great tri angle between the Lewis and Clarke branches above the junction. The Indians, who were found in large numbers, proved well disposed toward the travellers, and made no difficulty about permitting their passage through their territory. The scarcity of food had
19 The Nez Percds are not dog-eaters, and ridiculed the strangers for so do ing. For their habits in this respect, see Native Races, i. 317.
'20 Tucaiinon River.
21 The needless caution and want of skill displayed by Lewis and Clarke's men contrasts most unfavorably with the boldness and dexterity of the French- Canadian voyageurs, or with that of the Indians of the lower Columbia, whose address was both admired and envied by the United States soldiers.
40 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
been such that the explorers were driven to open a number of caches along Snake River belonging to the natives, who at this season were absent hunting. Arrived at this camp, however, a market was soon established and a plentiful supply of dogs secured, which with the hares and sage-hens brought in by the hunters, once more replenished their shrunken larder.
Soon the advent of visitors was announced, and the chiefs of the Sokulks and Chi m nap urns22 made their appearance in camp. They were received with cere monious friendship, and having smoked the calumet were decorated with medals and ribbons like any well curled carpet-knight or political partisan in these days of boudoir chivalry and backstairs intrigue. These Indians, though inferior to the ISTez Perces, resembled them in appearance.
The expedition remained in camp until the 18th. A measurement was made of the rivers at their con fluence, when the Snake was found to be five hundred and seventy yards wide, and the Columbia nine hun dred and sixty; the latter a short distance below widened to from one to three miles. An observation being taken at this place, the latitude was found to be 46° 15' 13" 9"". Captain Clarke on the 17th ascended the north branch to an island whence the mouth of a river called the Tapteal23 could be seen, visiting en route many lodges, and returning to camp with a quantity of ducks and prairie-fowl.
On the following morning they took leave of their Nez Perce guides whom they no longer needed, and set out relying upon a chart of the river obtained from one of their newly found friends; still accompanied however by two Nez Perce chiefs. Sixteen miles down the stream the mouth of the Walla Walla was observed, that stream being logged as "a small brook;" the stupendous bluffs that border it also came in for
22 Walla Wallas and Yakimas.
23 The Yakima River.
JOHN DAY RIVER. 41
their share of notice, as did a conical snow-capped mountain to the south-west.
The voyage down to the John Day River, which was named the Lepage in honor of a member of the crew, occupied four days, the whole river being represented as full of rapids and shoals.24 Many Indians appeared upon the banks, sometimes exhib iting a dread of the strangers, but oftener inviting them ashore. Great numbers of horses were seen; and fish were abundant, scaffoldings for drying them being everywhere visible. Fish, indeed, appeared the staple article of commerce among these tribes, who dried and pounded it, making it into conven ient packages for transportation below, where it was exchanged for roots and other commodities. This in dustry was promoted by the explorers, who made some purchases of fish, giving in exchange fish-hooks, ribbons, and other trifles. European manufactures had penetrated even thus far; scarlet and blue blankets, and European clothing, were by no means uncommon objects on the banks of the Columbia.
The surrounding country was a repetition of the broad rolling plains of the Snake River, covered at this season with grass converted into hay by the sun. On the 19th Mount St. Helen was made out and recognized from Vancouver's description. On the 22d the canoes arrived at that place in the river where there would be, according to the Indians, the greatest difficulty in passing.
After quitting their camp on the John Day River, they next reached the mouth of a stream which Lewis calls the Towahnahiooks, and Gass the Kim- mooenim.25 Navigation from the mouth of this river
24 From the frequent mention of shoals in the channel of the Columbia, it would appear either that the season had been a remarkably dry one, or that it has since increased in volume. Steamers constantly navigate both the Columbia and the Snake rivers where Lewis and Clarke's canoes were hindered by shoals.
25 Throughout the whole region from the Shoshone country to the Wil lamette, the Kimmooenim seems ubiquitous. The river to which that name is here applied is that called by the French voyageurs twenty years later La
42 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
was for six miles extremely difficult; below there the stream became impassable, for the great falls of the Columbia now confronted the voyagers, and a halt was called to examine them. Consulting with the natives who as usual flocked about them, and to whom they made trifling presents, they learned that the first rapid was three quarters of a mile long, and that the best portage was on the opposite bank. The canoes were accordingly run across to the north bank and unloaded. The portage of the baggage occupied the remainder of the clay, the camp being pitched at the lower end of the rapid and a guard mounted over the goods, for it was observed that the savages who assisted in carrying them repaid themselves for their labor as they went along.
The task of bringing down the canoes was beo^uii
o o o
on the 23d, under the superintendence of Clarke. In pursuance of aboriginal advice, to avoid a sheer de scent of twenty feet the boats were hauled over a point on the left bank of the river for a quarter of a mile to another fall, eight feet in height, down which they were lowered by means of elk -skin ropes. At the foot of this fall, the day being far advanced, the party encamped.
Here an attack was apprehended, and the Nez Perces showed the greatest alarm, requesting permis sion to return home, but were eventually persuaded to remain on the assurance that no harm should befall them. Weapons were put in order, and a hundred rounds of ammunition served out. However, their valor was not called in question by any more serious assault than that of myriads of fleas, a pest not to be escaped during their wanderings along the Columbia.
Riviere des Chutes, and now known as DCS Chutes. Gass, in his journal, says: ' This is the same river whose head-waters we saw at the Snake nation,' and Lewis also says that this is a large river, ' the first village of the Snake Indians on that river being twelve days' journey on a course about south-east from this place;' from which it would seem that he entertained the same idea. The truth probably is that they were misled by the similar words used to convey the idea of a swift river, and also by the frequent mention made by the Indians on the Columbia of their immemorial enemies, the Shoshones.
THE DALLES. 43
Having gained an acquisition in the shape of an Indian canoe in exchange for the smallest of those brought from the Clear water, the voyage was resumed on the 24th.
The current ran swiftly for three miles, when the channel turned to the left, around "a high black rock, which, rising perpendicularly from the right shore," seems to run entirely across the river and so block the passage. They could not see where the water escaped, though a great roaring was heard.26 Landing near some Indian huts, they went forward to reconnoitre. The channel beyond was only forty-five yards wide; but indications on the rocks showed that when the Columbia was swollen by the spring flood from the mountains, the waters confined within these rocky barriers rose to a great height.27 Even at that low stage the channel was a mass of seething, tossing, broken water.
However, the labor of carrying the canoes was so great that finding there was no danger from sunken rocks it was determined to risk the passage, which to the surprise of the natives was safely accomplished, the distance being half a mile. Only a mile and half of comparatively smooth water intervened before an other bad rapid confronted them, caused by two rocky islands in the middle of the channel. Here the valu able baggage was disembarked, with the men who could not swim, when the canoes were brought through in safety, two only shipping water. Six miles was the distance overcome this day, and the camp was located near a native village.23
26 All that the chiefs of this expedition say concerning their voyage down the Columbia goes to show that the river must have been lower in 1805 than it usually is now, or than it was in ordinary seasons twenty-five years later than Lewis and Clarke descended it. The bateaux of the Hudson's Bay Com pany used to run the narrows, and the rapids between, but only after exam ining the stage of the water. And as for the river, Sir George Simpson says, in his Journey Round the World, ' We reached Les Chutes, where we made a portage, after having run nearly four hundred miles without even lightening our craft. ' In seasons of high water, steamers are sometimes run completely over all the dangerous places, to Celilo, at the mouth of the Des Chutes
27 At the narrowest part of the passage the water in some seasons reaches one hundred feet.
28 A small village of these same Indians still marks this spot, though a railroad passes within a few yards of it.
44 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
Lewis and Clarke improved the occasion presented by the visits of these natives to convince them of the evils of warfare and the blessings of peace, and urging them to make friends with the Nez Perces chiefs. This after some hesitation they consented to do, and amicable relations were established, which have con tinued to the present time. These Indians were called by the explorers Echeloots.29
This village possessed ten thousand pounds of dried fish, some of which was purchased by the exploring party. To the chief was presented a medal denoting his rank.
On the morning of the 25th, the Nez Perec chiefs took leave of Lewis and his followers, who now pre pared to pass those long narrows termed subsequently by the Canadian voyageurs the Dalles.'
30
29 Different writers and travellers have used different names for the same people, which are given with their manners and customs in Native Races, i. 319-20. To modern writers these Indians are known as Yvrascos.
30 The word dal, or daU, or dalle, in the signification of trough or gutter, is somewhat obsolete, and is not found in many modern dictionaries. Yet it is not in this connection wholly Canadian or patois. The present popular meaning of dalle is a stone pavement, such as is frequently found in cathedrals. I>ut it was likewise early applied to slices of fish, instead of the more suitable word darnc. It was anciently employed as a technical marine term for the outward wooden covering of a metal pipe; and again as water-conductors round roofs. In the Arabic we find dalla, a conductor of water; in tho German dola, gutter; in the Spanish dalla, tubo do cobre por el curl pasa cl azucar desde la caldera de refinar d la de cocer; and in the French dalle, tin pipes, troughs, water-ways, or canals. The first voyageurs on their way down the great river of the west, found many little dalles, but this was as they said, Le Grand dall de la Columbia. McKay in the Dalles Mountaineer, 2Sth May, 1SGO. What a happy way a certain class of writers, tourists particularly, have of disposing of knotty questions ! It is so easy to dash off an origin, a legend, or the signification of the names of places as one whirls by them on the train ; for instance, like the meaning of the word Dalles given by John Codman, one of the many wise men of the east, who in his Round Trip, 152, co'olly tells us that 'dalles is an Indian word, signifying a deep, narrow, racing, roaring, boiling, swirling, seething, leaping rush of waters. ' The rude unlettered west must be glad to know its meaning, and to know it means so much; for it is seldom we find Indian words, even in French dictionaries, with so broad a significance. We are grateful, likewise, to the learned John Codman for not leaving us in darkness as to the reason of em ploying this foreign word in preference to an English one, which was because 'it must be a more expressive word than is afforded by our language, and it is wisely retained.' The natives called the place Winquatt, and the island below the rapids Kctpooks. The Wascos — signifying literally horn-basin — were the aboriginal owners of this country, and at their chief village of Win quatt periodically assembled for purposes of fishing and traffic with the tribes contiguous. On the north bank below the falls stood the village of Wishkam.
DIVERS RIVERS. 45
After examination, the men who could not swim were sent by land with the goods a distance of from three to four miles, when the canoes came through very well, only two as before taking in any water. Five miles below the river became smooth, and widened to half a mile. Camp was established under a point of rock near the mouth of a small creek,31 where the explorers remained until the 28th, drying the wet baggage, pur chasing fish, roots, and dogs, cultivating the good-will of the natives, and taking observations. Mount Hood, in all its grandeur and beauty, now appeared in full view.
On the 28th they proceeded, making frequent land ings at the villages and huts of the natives, and pur chasing food whenever opportunity presented itself. European goods were more common upon the lower Columbia than among the natives above, the trading- ships supplying British muskets, cutlasses, teakettles, blankets, etc.
On the 29th a stream was passed which they termed Cataract River,32 and on the same day an island on which was conferred the title of Sepulchre Island33 from the Indian graves upon it. Thirteen miles be low they discovered a river on the left34 coming down from Mount Hood, which now appeared no more than five miles distant, and to which they gave the name of La Bichefrom one of the men. A mile beyond was another stream,35 called Canoe River from the number of canoes lying there, the owners of which were engaged in fishing. They were now among the mountains, whose foot-hills rose gradually from their camp at the narrows. Some of the highest ridges were covered with snow; beautiful cascades precipi tated themselves from mighty cliffs; all nature was luxuriant with verdure; tall trees clothed the hills;
31 Mill Creek, which traverses the township of Dalles.
32 Kliketat River.
33 Memelose Island, an ancient burial-place of the Kliketats, called by them Memelose Illihie, or Land of Shades.
3i Hood River.
35 White Salmon River.
46 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
all was in charming and powerful contrast with the country they had recently passed over, and the local influence of the mountains manifested itself in the weather, which became cool and rainy.
In the afternoon of the 30th the expedition arrived at the lower falls of the Columbia,30 and encamped on an island at the head of the rapids. The river here was a mile wide. To a stream on the ri^ht, and
O '
two and a half miles above the rapids, was given the name of Cruzatte River, in honor of one of the crew.
Clarke set out to examine the river below the island and determine its character. After going three miles he returned to camp, continuing his rcconnoissance next morning, when he found the stream compressed between rocks a hundred and fifty yards apart, with high mountains on the left, and on the right a hill rising from the water's edge.
For the first four hundred yards the river rushed swiftly over sunken rocks with a fall of twenty feet, after which its width increased by about fifty yards, and for a mile and a half its current became less rapid. Below this again was another bad place, the stream dashing over and amidst large rocks, both above and below the surface. Having now discovered the place where the Indians made their portage, Lewis de spatched his chief boatman to ascertain whether the canoes could make the descent, or would have to be landed and dragged over by hand.
Keeping along the river bank he found, a mile below the portage, that the hills on the right receded, leaving an open level between them and the river. Five miles below this spot was the last rapid. Passing some de serted huts and a burial-place, he returned with this intelligence, and found active preparations in progress for making the portage. This proved extremely la borious on account of the high rocks to be climbed, and the state of the weather, which continued rainy. The baggage and the lightest canoe had to be carried
36 Popularly known as the Cascades.
THE CASCADES. 47
over the portage, a distance of four miles, while the other canoes were floated down in side channels and shoved over the rocks with poles, sustaining so much injury in transit that it was found necessary to halt and repair them. At the first attempt only two boats came through, the remainder being managed in the same way on the following day, November 1st. Next day the last rapid wTas overcome by a partial portage, and the party halted for breakfast on a small island, called from the abundance of that fruit, Strawberry Island.
The explorers had now reached tide-water. Reem- barking and descending between grassy meadows and narrow lowlands at the base of high mountains down whose declivities rushed frequent cataracts, they soon passed on their right hand a perpendicular rock, eight hundred feet in height, and rising abruptly out of sandy flats, to which they gave the name of Beacon Rock.37 Below this the river grew considerably wider. Two miles lower they passed another rock/8 rising from the middle of the stream to the height of one hundred feet ; six miles beyond they encamped at the foot of another high rock.39
Their departure on the morning of the 3d was de layed by a dense fog. By ten o'clock, however, they were afloat, passing low meadow-lands and islands, and were now well out of the mountains. About noon they approached a stream on the left, which being shallow the men attempted to wade, but were prevented by the quicksands. Examining the stream for a mile and a half above its mouth, it wras found to be one hundred and twenty yards wide at its narrowest part, and to contain numerous small islands. The force of the water had shifted the quicksands until in the middle of its mouth a large island was formed, three miles
37 Now Castle Rock.
38 Rooster Rock.
39 Gass mentions the existence of one rock which he describes as 'resembling a tower. '
48 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
long and a mile and a half wide, which extending into the Columbia greatly reduced the width of the latter stream. The name of Quicksand River40 was be stowed upon this new discovery, and one flowing in on the opposite side was called Seal River41 from the great number of seals in its vicinity. Here again Mount Hood came in view, being recognized from Vancouver's description.
The river now flowed through low ground on either hand, and was dotted with numerous islets, fringed generally with willow, cotton wood, and ash, and gen erally containing pools of water tenanted by flocks of water-fowl. Huts and villages were frequent, and from one of the natives was gleaned the intelligence that three vessels had lately been lying at the mouth of the river. They encamped on the high ground of the north bank opposite the upper mouth of the Wil lamette, which on account of the number of islands in the Columbia escaped their notice at this time.42
On the morning of the 4th the canoes landed at a village on the left side of the river, where a fleet of upward of fifty canoes was drawn up on shore. Here they found the wapato root in great abundance, from which circumstance they called this the Wapato Val ley, and an island seven miles below Wapato Island.43 Proceeding on their voyage they halted at noon on the north side of the river at a long narrow island which masked the embouchure of a small river.44 From a larffe canoe ornamented on stem and stern with
O
carvings it was nonsensically named Image Canoe
40 Now Sandy Paver.
41 Washongal River.
42 While here they received a visit from a family having with them a woman said to be of the Shoshone nation, but who was found to be unable to converse with their interpreter's wife, who had travelled with them through that country, of which she was an undoubted native. From the descriptions of these natives the explorers make the Multnomah rise in the Rocky Moun tains, a little south of the head-waters of the Snake River, and represent it as flowing through the Cascade Mountains about the 43d parallel. This error is partly due to the incorrectness of the information, and partly, also, to their own misapprehension of the terms used by the Indians.
43Sauv6 Island. See Hist. Or., i. 43, this series. " Lake River.
THE OCEAN. 49
Island.45 Camp was pitched this evening twenty-nine miles beyond that of the previous day, on the low ground between the Lewis and Cathlapootle rivers and the Columbia.
On the 5th the explorers set out early in a rain storm, and after eight miles came to Deer Island, on which was a populous native village, and a few miles further to another island near the mouth of Kalama Creek. Three miles below this camp was pitched, the mountains continually appearing higher as they ap proached the Coast Range.
The mouth of the Cowlitz River was passed early on the 6th, when they observed a remarkable knoll eighty feet in height, rising solitary from the water's edge.40 This night they encamped on the margin of the river where the tide rose four feet, and space for sleeping accommodations was restricted. Indian re ports encouraged them to expect that at the mouth of the river they would meet some white traders, the principal of whom was called by the natives Haley.
Next morning they coasted along a channel on the right bank of the river, between an island and the shore, until in the afternoon the fog lifted, and be tween the two capes at the river's mouth they beheld to their great joy the horizon-line of the Pacific Ocean.
The main purpose of the expedition was now over. Once more it was permitted an intrepid band of ex plorers to open a new way through the trackless wil derness, to open a way of communication overland between the United States and the commerce of the Northwest Coast. The vast Pacific was once more the goal of lofty endurance, the guerdon of noble
45 It was observed that although the Indians along the lower Columbia were very numerous, and possessed a native opulence of houses, clothing, and pro visions, they had not horses like those above, but travelled entirely in canoes, in the building and management of which they were very expert.
46 Mount Coffin.
HIST. N. W. COAST, YOL. II. 4
50 EXPEDITION DOWN THE COLUMBIA.
emprise. That broad sea whose calm smile welcomed Balboa, Magellan, Cortes, which greeted Mackenzie more coldly, which knew not knight in mail from prosaic trader, under its leaden mists now wafted as kindly a welcome to these simple captains and their unromantic followers, who, beckoned by no flimsy fable of romance, added their quota to the world's knowledge of the untrodden west.
CHAPTER III.
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S EXPEDITION— THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
1805-1806.
THE ESTUARY OF THE COLUMBIA — STORMS — LEWIS AND CLARKE'S RECONNOIS- SANCES — CHINOOKS — CROSSING THE RIVER — WINTER-QUARTERS — SALT- MAKING — CLARKE VISITS THE COAST— WHITE TRADERS— CLATSOPS — A WTHALE — THE NEAH-HOXIE — KILLAMOOK HEAD — SPRING-TIME — FAREWELL TO FORT CLATSOP— RETURN UP THE COLUMBIA — THE WILLA METTE — WAPATO ISLAND — SNOWY MOUNTAINS — BUYING HORSES — THE WALLA WALLA — THE TOUCHET — THE CLEARWATER — NEZ PERCES — HORSE-STEALING — INDIAN DIPLOMACY — ADDRESS TO THE NEZ PERCES — HUNTING AND FISHING CAMP — THE EXPEDITION DIVIDES — LEWIS' PARTY — HELL GATE RIVER — DEPARTURE OF THE GUIDES — THE WATER SHED — MARIA RIVER — THE MINNETAREES— A SKIRMISH — THE MIS SOURI — CLARKE'S PARTY — THE JEFFERSON RIVER — THE YELLOWSTONE — • HORSES STOLEN — POMPEY'S PILLAR — THE BIG HORN — HERDS OF BUF FALO — THE MISSOURI — EXPEDITION REUNITED — MANDAN COUNTRY — END OF THE JOURNEY — COLTER AND THE INDIANS— A RACE FOR LIFE— RE VIEW OF THE EXPEDITION— HONORS AND REWARDS— DEATH OF LEWIS — SUBSEQUENT CAREER OF CLARKE— CONCLUSION.
THE appetite for discovery thus whetted, the hard ship of passing another night among the bowlders of the stony beach, this time in a drenching rain, was lightly rated. Next morning, the 8th of November 1805, saw all hands eager for a closer acquaintance with old ocean. Working cautiously along the northern shore they reached Gray Bay, and found it impos sible to get further, their canoes being ill adapted to battle with the winds and waves in the estuary of the Columbia. Here they were forced to remain till the 10th, short of provisions, without fresh- water, the tide flowing up to their camp, and immense logs being cast up on the beach to the imminent peril of their canoes.
(51)
52 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
An attempt was then made to reach the mouth of the river, but after going ten miles they were forced to put back two miles to the mouth of a small stream, and unload the baggage to preserve it from the high tide. Making a fresh start at low water the river was still found too high, and the baggage was once more landed and placed above high-water mark, the men CD camping on some drift-logs.
Next day the storm continued, rocks rolling down. the hill-sides. The hunters endeavored to find some game, but the thickets proved impenetrable. On the day following it was found necessary to sink the canoes with stones to save them from being dashed upon the rocks. On the 13th, Captain Clarke with much difficulty scaled the high ridge in rear of the camp to obtain a view of the surrounding country, and find if possible a way out of their present dilemma. Returning with no cheering intelligence, upon con sultation the commanders determined to send three men in the Indian canoe to learn at any risk whether it was possible to double the point below and find some safer refuge. To the great relief of all, the men returned next clay, having found at no great dis tance a fine sandy beach and a good harbor.
Captain Lewis immediately set out to explore the bay in the direction of the ocean, and ascertain if any white men were to be found at the mouth of the river. Accompanied by four picked men he was car ried round the point in a canoe, and there landed to proceed on foot. The following day the waves having abated the whole party removed to the sandy beach, where out of the ruins of an ancient village a tem porary shelter was constructed by some of the men, while the hunters went in search of water-fowl.
Lewis returned from his reconnoissance on the 17th, having been as far as Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the river, and for some distance up the. coast without discovering any white people. Clarke set out on the following day with eleven men to
MORE NAMINGS. 53
examine the country, which he did as far as Baker Bay, on the river, and along the coast as far as Shoal- water Bay, naming the high point that overlooks it Point Lewis. From the top of Cape Disappointment Clarke surveyed the river and its surroundings, learn ing much of the geography of the country. On re turning he found at the camp two Chinook chiefs, of whom the since famous Comcomly was one. Both had been decorated with medals, Comcomly having been likewise presented with a flag.
The season was now so far advanced that it was a matter of immediate necessity to select winter-quar ters. In deciding upon a location the ruling consid eration was that food should be cheap and plentiful. They determined, therefore, after consulting with the natives, to settle upon the south bank of the river, where there was an abundance of elk whose flesh was considered more nutritious than deer-meat. Up the river deer would be plentiful and the weather better ; but they wished to meet with some trading-vessels, and also to make some salt.
On the 25th then, not venturing to cross the river under the full force of the ocean winds, they headed their canoes up stream, and encamped that night where they had been on the 7th. Next day they crossed the river, passing between low marshy islands which they called Seal Islands, and entered a channel be tween the islands and the southern bank of the river three miles below a point called Samuel. Turning once more down stream they descended the river five miles and encamped near a native village. Getting under way on the 27th they soon passed a little river flowing from the south-east,1 called Kekemahke by the Indians, and shortly afterward a remarkable point/2 which they named William. On rounding this pro jection the water became too rough for the canoes, forcing the party to land upon the narrow neck which
1 John Day River.
2 Tongue Point.
54 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
connected it with the mainland. There they remained that afternoon and the next day, exposed to a furious storm.
So many of the men were ill from poor food and exposure, that on the 29th Lewis determined to take the Indian canoe, the only one it was thought pos sible could live in such a sea, and search for wintering quarters, while the hunters looked for elk. He was absent six days, at the end of which time he returned with the information that a short distance below he had found a river on which they might establish their winter camp, and where there was plenty of game; in proof of which latter assertion he had left two of his men to guard six elk and five deer which they had killed. This discovery was made none too soon. It was already December, a month late enough even in more temperate regions to enter winter-quarters with the hope of providing for a large party. All were impatient to proceed, but again a gale from the south west prevented them.
At length, on the 7th of December, the weather improved sufficiently for the canoes to round a point two miles below the camp into a deep inlet of the Columbia,3 to which was given the name of Meri- wether Bay, in compliment to Captain Lewis, who, they doubted not, was the first white man to survey it.4 The river entering the head of this inlet retained its Indian appellation of Killhowamakel, but the sacred name of Lewis was imposed upon the Netul, the small river whither he was conducting them, and where they arrived that afternoon.
Everybody was now busy, clearing a site for the fort, hunting, and bringing in the game. Although
3 Young Bay.
4 Two sentimental school-girls could scarcely have applied more silly names than did these two captains. They endeavored to perpetuate the names of themselves and all their men, giving some a river, point, and bay apiece; and after exhausting their surnames, they took up the Christian names. Nor are they more happy in applying names suggested by some accident or incident ; for example, Coltkilled, Hungry, and the like. If the names of Lewis and Clarke are not forever perpetuated on this western coast it has been through no fault of theirs.
FORT CLATSOP. 55
for the most part the men were cheerful, their hard ships were many and great, and only the mildness of the climate saved them from severe suffering. It rained almost incessantly. Though elk were plenti ful, hunting them among the woods and bogs of the Clatsop country was no easy matter. When killed, as there were no horses, it was severe labor to bring the meat into camp. Many of the men, also, were half disabled by " dysentery, colds, and boils."
The spot selected for the fort was about two hun dred yards from the bank of Lewis Kiver, near its entrance into the bay. By the 12th were ready for occupation three cabins built of logs, the crevices stopped with mud, and the whole roofed with cedar planks. On the 14th seven were so far completed as to be habitable. The whole was then enclosed with stockades; sentries were posted on guard, and the place was named Fort Clatsop.5
Clarke immediately visited the coast, seven miles distant, to inquire concerning trading-vessels, and to establish friendly relations with the natives. He found all the vessels departed, not to return for three months or more. The Indians gave him the names of a number of \vhite men, chiefly traders,6 most im portant among whom was Haley, a fact taken advan tage of by Clarke in naming the bay formed by the Columbia at its mouth Haley Bay. The natives on. the south bank of the river, about its mouth, were called Clatsops, of whom Clarke found a few families
5 In October 1836, Mr Townsend, the naturalist, paid a visit to Young Bay to see the quarters occupied by the explorers. The logs were found still perfect but the roofs had disappeared, probably carried off by the Indians, and the ground about the fort was 'overgrown with thorn and wild currant bushes.' Townsend's Nar., 256; Francheres Nar., 130. The spot is now covered by a grove of alders and firs. In later times certain map-makers became confused in their location of Fort Clatsop. For example, on Abert'x map of the United States, Territory of Oregon, Washington, 183S, in //. Rcpt. Committee 27th Cong., 3d Sess., No. 31, Astoria is called Fort Astoria, or Clat sop, or Fort George. See also Hunt's Mer. Mag., vi. 314.
c The traders were Haley, Youens, Callalamet, Sivipton, Moore, Mackey, Washington, Mesship, Jackson, Bolch, and Skelley. Davidson came only to hunt elk. Tallamon was not a trader. All came in three-masted vessels, except Moore, whose ship had four masts. All spoke the English language.
56 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
on the beach, who received and entertained him in the most friendly manner. They spoke a few words of English, chiefly names of articles of trade.
As soon as it became known that the explorers had established themselves in winter-quarters, they re ceived frequent visits, not only from the Clatsops, but from the Killamooks, Cathlamets, and Wakiakums, whose chiefs were presented with the customary medals due to their rank.7 All these people were friendly. If they grew presuming, or were guilty of theft, they were quickly and firmly checked. The Chinooks were most annoying from their thievish pro pensities, which at last resulted in their exclusion from the fort. When a Clatsop or Cathlamet approached he stopped a little way off, and shouted, "No Chi nook!"
The weather up to the Gth of January continued so rainy that nothing was attempted in the way of exploration, and the only information obtained was such as the natives could furnish. The energies of the men were devoted to procuring provisions, not only for the present but for the return of the expe dition as soon as spring should open. The absence of vessels from which supplies might be purchased rendered this course imperative. Salt for preserving elk-meat was manufactured from salt-water, the salt- maker's camp being located just above Killamook Head, on Clatsop beach.
It was already past the New Year when an interval of bright weather, and the news that a large whale had been stranded on the beach below Killamook
7 ' One of Mr Berine's children found, a few days since (Oct. 14, 183G), a large silver medal which had been brought here by Lewis and Clarke, and had probably been presented to some chief, who lost it. On one side was a head with the name "Th. Jefferson, President of the United States, 1801." On the other, two hands interlocked, surmounted by a pipe and tomahawk ; and above the words "Peace and Friendship."' TownsencVs N(ir., 250. In Indian Affairs, Report 1854, ~24, mention is made of the medal found; and Gibbs, in U. >S'. Geofj. 8uro., Powell, EthnoL, i. 2oS, speaks of Indian recollec tions of Lewis and Clai'ke as late as I860. Sec further MattJiieiCs Refugee, MS., ],">, 1G.
KILLAMOOK BAY. 57
Head, determined Clarke to visit that part of the coast with the double purpose of learning something about it, and of securing some of the blubber of the whale.
Taking with him twelve men he proceeded down Lewis River to Young Bay, intending to go to the nearest Clatsop village, which was situated about three miles below that river and four miles south-east of Point Adams — the Cabo Frondoso of the Spaniards, and the Cap Rond of the French.
Finding it too rough for the canoes, he put in to Skippanon Creek without a guide. About three miles up the creek he came upon some high ground and an open road where he left the canoes, and fol lowing the path across some marshes reached the Neah-Hoxie near where it makes a sudden bend to the south, crossing it in a canoe found under the bank. Elk signs being seen, they hunted until night, camping at the fork of the Neah-Hoxie.
On the morning of the 7th the party proceeded up the south branch, crossing it on a fallen tree, and found a sandy ridge on the other side separating the stream from the ocean by only three quarters of a mile. Three miles down the beach they came to the mouth of "a beautiful river, with a bold rapid current, eighty- five yards wide, and three feet deep in its shallowest crossings," which was named Clatsop River.8 Two miles below this was the camp of the salt-makers, who were producing about four quarts a day.
Securing a young Indian guide, Clarke and his men began the ascent of the head, which, projecting into the sea more than two miles, and rising to a height of twelve hundred feet, presented an almost insuperable barrier to travel up and down the coast. At great peril from landslides owing to the steepness of the trail,
8 This was the mouth of the Neah-Hoxie, which well deserves the appella tion of beautiful river. It doubles upon itself so as to be running directly north and south at the same time, the two portions being separated by a nar row ridge, and the whole length of the stream being bordered by overhanging trees.
58 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
and from its narrowness where it led along the edge of the cliffs,, they reached the top in two hours. From this eminence Clarke beheld the dull opaque misty ocean, rolling in from the west its all-compelling waves, as far as Cape Disappointment on the north, and south as far as the eye could follow the outline of the coast. After gazing upon the scene for some time, and remarking upon the grandeur of the forest that crowned the mountain, his thoughts reverted to himself; and he gave to this promontory the name of Clarke Point of View. Camp was pitched on the top of the mountain. On the following day, after a diffi cult descent on the south side, they came again to a level beach, and after a two miles' march reached a creek eighty yards wide, just beyond which was the skeleton of a whale one hundred and five feet in length. The name of Escola, or Whale, was given to this creek.
Clarke's principal object, the securing of whale- blubber, was but in a small measure attained, three hundred pounds being all that the Indians could be prevailed on to part with. Before leaving, next day, he procured a delineation of the coast to the south as far as Killamook Bay, which he understood to be a river,9 and named for the tribe living upon its banks. The high point at the south side of Killamook Bay he called Cape Lookout.10
On the 9th the party returned as far as the camp of the salt-makers, and the next day reached Fort Clatsop. That night they were unfortunate enough
9 Clarke says that the Killamooks passed up their river to the Shocatilcum, or Columbia, to trade for wapato roots. This is another misapprehension of the Indian meaning, very natural with so limited a knowledge of their lan guage, tilcum, or more properly, tilicum, being the word denoting person — • any person. Probably they were telling him that they went over into the Willamette Valley to traffic with the people there for wapatos; the shallow lakes in which this root grows being common in the lower end of the valley.
10 ' Clarke, of Clarke and Lewis' expedition, when about five miles south of Tillamook Head, spoke of " Killamuck Bay" as twenty miles further south, into which flowed the Nielee (Nehalem). He made his distances too great; reducing the twenty to thirteen miles, the "Nielee" would be in the proper position of the Nehalem — whence the Indians make a portage, as Clarke states, to the Multnomah. Clai'kc's description of the bay at the mouth of the Nehalem was obtained from the Indians, and was really Tillamook Bay, but located in the wrong place.' Davidson's Coast Pilot, 141.
ADVERTISEMENTS. 59
to have their canoe carried away by the tide. This loss was subsequently made good by the purchase of one from the Clatsops, and the seizure of another in reprisal for some articles stolen by that tribe.
It had been the intention of Lewis and Clarke to remain at Fort Clatsop until April, in the hope of meeting with some foreign traders11 from whom, by means of their letters of credit, they might recruit their stores, which were so diminished that they might all have been tied in two handkerchiefs, they said.
They were obliged, however, to depart on the 23d of March, for the elk, their chief dependence for food, having retreated to the mountains they were in dan ger of famine. Having plenty of ammunition and good guns, it was thought best to proceed slowly up the river, depending on such game as could be found in the woods along the Columbia.
It would not have been consistent with their in structions, or the design of the expedition, to quit the country without in some way advertising to the world the fact that they had been there, in the service of the United States; therefore, in addition to the usual leave-taking, they issued to the most prominent chiefs of the Clatsops and Chinooks certificates of kindness and attention received from them, which they well understood would be exhibited to as much of the world as ever came to the mouth of the Columbia, In ad dition to these the following notice was posted up in the fort: "The object of this last is, that through the medium of some civilized person, who may see the same, it may be made known to the world, that the party consisting of the persons whose names are here unto annexed, and who were sent out by the govern ment of the United States to explore the interior of the continent of North America, did penetrate the
11 'In 1806, soon after Lewis and Clarke left their encampment on their re turn to the United States, the ship Vancouver, Brown, master, entered the river, having been sent out by Thomas Lymaii, of Boston, in expectation of meeting' them. Gray's Hist. Or., 15.
60 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
same by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, to the discharge of the latter into the Pacific Ocean, where they arrived on the 14th day of November 1805, and departed the 23d day of March 1806, on their return to the United States, by the same route by which they had come out." Upon the back of this paper was drawn a sketch of their route across the continent. That same year it fell into the hands of an American captain,12 who carried it to Canton, and thence to the United States. Still further to se cure the friendly offices of Chief Comowool, the cabins and furniture of the fort were presented to him.
At one o'clock on the afternoon of the 23d the expedition left Fort Clatsop for the return voyage up the Columbia. Proceeding slowly they noted the stream that comes in a short distance below the pres ent site of Cathlamet, an island opposite Oak Point13 named Fanny Island, the mouth and valley of the Cowlitz, the Cathlapootle or Lewis River, and finally arrived on the 31st at the mouth of Seal River, .where
0 7
they encamped to remain while the hunters collected meat enough to supply the party until the fishing sea son should begin, in May.
While in camp at this place, opposite Quicksand River, they observed that there was a great extent of country between that stream and the coast, which indicated the existence of some large river, by which and its tributaries the country should be watered. Upon examination they were satisfied that Quick sand River was not that important stream, and upon explaining their doubts to the natives and making inquiries, they first learned of the river,14 called by
12 Captain Hill, of the brig Lydla.
13 The original Oak Point, settled in 1810, was on the south side of the river, near where Fanny Island must have been.
11 The Willamette Kiver. The spelling of the name has occasioned nearly as much controversy as the origin of the word Oregon. The journal of Lewis and Clarke makes no mention of it, they having seen only that part of the river called Multnomah by the Indians, that is, the portion below the falls. Parker's Explormy Tour., 171 ; Dc.ady's Hist. Or., MS., 78. Iiilrving's^lsto/v",, Woltamut is the spelling used; and in his Bonnevilte''s Adv., Wailamut — the
THE WILLAMETTE. 61
them Multnomah/5 a name applied also to one of the villages.
On April 2d Clarke started with a guide to explore the waters beyond the "three small islands "that con cealed from view the mouth of the unknown river. He found, on penetrating the islets and rounding the head of Wapato Island, a stream " appearing to pos sess water enough for the largest ship/' up which he continued, conversing with the people on the shore, to a place not far from the present site of Portland, where he found it five hundred yards in width, and for half the distance across beyond the capacity of his sounding line of five fathoms.
From this point he returned, having enjoyed at one view the sight of five snowy peaks/6 one of which he named after the president, Mount Jefferson. He had
second being probably a correction of the first. In Franchere's Narrative the word is spelled with either an i or an a in the first syllabic, and a or e in the last. lu other French books of an early date we find Ouallamat and Ouallamet. Chief Factor McLoughlin always wrote Wallamette, which appears to have been the established form down to the period of the American immigration. Forbes Barclay, who went to Oregon in 1837, and in his capacity of surgeon and physician was obliged to inquire into and report upon all facts concerning population, and the names of tribes and places, said in answer to an inquiry on the subject that the Indians on the west bank of the river from the Clack- amas Rapids to the falls were called Wallametts. Blanchet favors the spelling adopted by McLoughlin — Wallamette. Tolmie, however, says that its true pronunciation is Waldmet, or more properly Walamt. Puyct Sound, MS., 7. From the usual sound of Indian words in Oregon, this last appears to be the nearest approach to the true orthography; both the i in the first syllable, and the termination ette being French innovations introduced by the Canadians. The early American settlers adopted the Wallamette spelling, with the Walla- met pronunciation, the accent being on the second syllable, and the first a having a broad sound. The word has undergone several transitions, ending in the now customary spelling of Willamette, as resolved in the legislative proceedings of 1874, to be the orthography for all laws and records. Or. House Jour. 1874, 903-4. This is several removes from the original Indian word, and will ultimately lead to an entirely different pronunciation, though the early settlers still pronounce it as of yore — Wallamet, thus sufficiently angli cizing the word without materially changing its true sound, Wali-la-mct. The controversialists on this subject are numerous. The most prominent have been Father Blanchet, J. Quinn Thorton, Wm. Strong, Mrs Victor, Jas. Strong, and Matthew P. Deady, the latter having written a pamphlet entitled Wallamet or Willamette, containing sixty-six pages, with an exhaustive com parison of authorities, and which includes all there is to say concerning the word. See also Blanchet's Oath. Church in Or., 81-4; nines' Or. Hist., 91; Richardson's Miss., 398.
15 Subsequent travellers discovered that Multnomah was a name used to distinguish that part of the Willamette below the falls, and that it was de rived from a family or tribe of that name living along its banks.
10 Rainier, St Helen, Adams, Hood, and Jeli'erson.
62 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
also heard of a river forty miles above the mouth of the Multnomah, having its source in Mount Jefferson, on which lived a tribe called the Clackamas, and in returning he noticed an inlet of the Columbia,17 back of Wapato Island, which he named Wapato Inlet. The island is described as being twenty miles long, and from five to ten miles wide, the land high and fertile, and altogether "the most important spot" in the country thereabouts. He had also learned that the falls of the Multnomah were twenty miles beyond the entrance of the Clackamas River, or sixty miles from the Columbia, and that two tribes of Indians, called the Cushooks and the Chaheowahs, resided there for the convenience of fishing, and of "trading across the mountains and down Killamook River with the nation of Killamooks." The falls were said to be occasioned by the passage of a high range of mountains "beyond which the country stretches into a vast level plain, wholly destitute of timber," inhabited by a nation called the Calapooyas, who numbered forty villages. He recorded the width of Wapato Inlet three hundred yards, which is not far from its actual meas urement, and further describes it as extending ten or twelve miles to the south, where it receives the waters of a small creek, whose sources are not far from those of the Killamook River, and below that to the Colum bia of an unknown width.18
17 It was a grave error of Clarke to call that portion of the Willamette that flows along the highlands an inlet of the Columbia, when common observation reveals the truth. The Willamette water is so different in color during the June rise as to make perceptible a line of demarcation for some distance below the lower end of Sauv(5 Island.
18 The number of errors contained in any description of the country ob tained from the Indians is not infrequently greater than the true statements. In the above two paragraphs are more errors than facts. The falls of the Multnomah or Willamette are twenty-four miles from the upper mouth of the river, the only one recognized by Clarke in his journal, and are not occasioned by passing a mountain range ; the Clackamas River comes in just below the falls, and does not rise in Mount Jefferson ; there is no stream coming into the lower Willamette where it runs behind Sauve" Island, whose sources are further back than the Willamette highlands bordering the river, or within from a quarter of a mile to five miles away ; the island is nowhere ten miles wide ; nor is the Willamette Valley above the falls a vast level plain wholly without timber. Had Captain Clarke learned the true position of the falls, he would probably have visited them and have found dense masses of timber for forty miles above them.
PURCHASE OF HORSES. 63
On the 6th of April they moved the camp a few miles up the river, to the south side, to accommodate the hunters. There they were detained by high winds until the 9th, when they crossed the river again and proceeded as far as an Indian village near Castle Rock. Everywhere on the river the Indians had gone or were just going to the fisheries on the Colum bia and Willamette.
Upon examining the rocks for water -marks, and comparing them with their notes taken in November, they found the river twelve feet higher near the Cas cades than when they passed down. Not being able to get the canoes through the main channel at the low.er rapid, they took them through that which runs to the south of an island which they called Brant Island, and which was narrower and less rough, cross ing again to the north bank above the island.
The second passage of the rapids was by no means easier than the first, and to add to the annoyances of hard labor and rainy weather which they encountered in the heart of the mountains, the Indians proved im pertinent; but by their characteristic prudence and firmness the explorers avoided serious trouble.
In three days only seven miles were accomplished, one of the canoes being lost in the passage; but two smaller ones were purchased at the head of the rapids, and the expedition was enabled to proceed. On the 14th White Salmon River was reached, where were seen the first horses since leaving that neighborhood six months earlier, and these had been captured in "a warlike excursion, which was lately made against the Towanahiooks, a part of the Snake nation living in the upper part of the Multnomah, to the south east of this place. " 19
Wishing to save the labor of taking the canoes again through the narrows, Lewis and Clarke, when they arrived at the Dalles, began to bargain for
19 More misunderstanding of Indian names, or an effort to conform an In dian story to a preconceived and false opinion.
64 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
horses, but found the Indians more difficult to deal with than on their first visit. For a week they con tinued trading, the while having their bargains re scinded or their new purchases stolen, and losing other property by theft. At length, however, the party was once more prepared to start, with nine pack-horses and two canoes, the others having been broken up for firewood.
Above the rapids and falls of the Dalles, the river was found easier of navigation than in the autumn, the water being high enough to cover the rocks and shoals. On the 24th they had purchased horses suffi cient to transport all the baggage, and to enable them to quit the canoes altogether. They were also fortu nate enough to secure a Nez Perce guide, who with the faithfulness of his people conducted them along the south side of the Columbia to the Youmalolam River,20 and thence, still along the Columbia about forty miles, to a village of the Walla Wallas. There they were met by an old acquaintance, to whom a medal had been presented the previous October, and who now insisted on entertaining them for three or four days. Finding that the party lacked riding horses, he generously presented a fine white one to Clarke, receiving in return a sword and some ammu nition. So cordial was the feeling manifested by Yellept, the Walla Walla chief, that it was with dif ficulty the party could get leave to depart. He was at length persuaded to furnish them canoes for trans porting their baggage over the Walla Walla River, which being accomplished on the 29th, they pitched camp on the north side about a mile from the mouth. It was a beautiful stream about fifty yards wide, with clear waters running over a gravelly bed. "Its sources, like those of the Towahnahiooks, Lapage, Youmalolam,21 and Wollawollah, come, as the Indians inform us, from the north side of a range of mountains
w Umatilla River.
21 DCS, Chutes, John Day, and Umatilla rivers.
DIVERS RIVERS.
65
which we see to the east and south-east, and which, commencing to the south of Mount Hood, stretch in a north-eastern direction to the neighborhood of a southern branch of Lewis' River, at some distance from the Rocky Mountains. Two principal branches, however, of the Towahnahiooks, take their rise in Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood, which in fact
LEWIS AND CLARKE'S MAP.
appear to separate the waters of the Multnomah and the Columbia. They arc now about sixty-five or seventy miles from this place, and although covered with snow, do not seem high. To the south of these mountains the Indian prisoner says there is a river, running towards the north-west, as large as the Columbia at this place, which is nearly a mile. This
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. f>
6G THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
account may be exaggerated, but it serves to show that the Multnomah must be a very large river, and that, with the assistance of a south-eastern branch of Lewis' River, passing round the eastern ex tremity of that chain of mountains in which Mounts Hood and Jefferson are so conspicuous, waters the vast tract of country to the south, till its remote sources approach those of the Missouri and Rio del Norde."22
The road followed by the expedition led them to the Touchet, a bold deep stream, ten yards wide, with narrow bottoms covered with cottonwood, birch, and willow trees, and many shrubs, and rose-bushes. The valley of this stream is now known as the most fertile of the many productive valleys of the north-west. Ascending the Touchet, past its junction with the Coppie, near where Waitsburg is now situated, they crossed a high plain to the Kimmooenim or Tucannon,23 and ascended a branch24 of the latter stream eleven miles, when they were met by a Nez Perce chief, who had come with ten of his warriors to escort them to his village on the Clearwater. After camping sup- perless, having eaten the last of their dried meat for dinner, they next day reached a small stream25 which was followed along its course through a ravine to its
22 Lewis and Clarke have so represented the Multnomah, or Willamette, on their map. It comes from the south-east until within about sixty miles of the Columbia, where the falls are supposed to be, and then turns directly north. Its whole length was six or seven hundred miles. Mount Hood was, in fact, one hundred and fifty miles distant, and Mount Jefferson still farther off. The mountains which they saw commencing to the south of Mount Hood, etc., were the Blue Mountains, in which the rivers named above take their rise, the mountains being the water-shed between the Columbia River on the north and the Klamath Basin on the south. The Des Chutes, the largest of the rivers which flow from the south and run into the Columbia, is not more than about one hundred and fifty miles long from its most southerly head-waters. The river referred to by the Indian prisoner was the Snake, with the extent of which the explorers were but little acquainted.
23 The route followed by Lewis and Clarke from the Dalles to the Umatilla and Walla Walla is that commonly followed, but from the mouth of the Walla Walla to their last camp on the Touchet they needlessly lengthened their route by keeping on the north bank, whereas the present road crosses all the branches of the Walla Walla.
24Pataha Creek. 25 Alpowah River.
NATIVE DUPLICITY. 67
junction with the Snake, or Lewis River, seven miles below the mouth of the Clearwater.26
Following a trail alongthe bank of the Snake forthree miles, they arrived at the house of one of the chiefs who had accompanied them to the falls of the Co lumbia, and at that of their old pilot down the river. By their advice the party crossed the Snake at this point, and encamped, next day reaching Colter Creek.
,.L
Among1 the Indians who gathered about them here
-
were three of a nation who lived at the falls of a large river emptying itself into the Columbia on the north side, and who informed Lewis and Clarke that this river had its rise from a large lake in the mountains at no great distance from the falls where they lived. After thus talking with these Indians, the name of Clarke River was bestowed upon this great northern branch, which on their first view of it had been hailed as the Columbia.27
On May 9th the expedition arrived near Twisted- hair's village, the chief with whom their horses had been left the previous autumn, and encamped on a small creek on the south side of the Clearwater.
There now occurred one of those incidents which make dealing with Indians always doubtful, if not dan gerous. Notwithstanding the friendly professions of the Nez Perces, when the white men returned to claim their horses it was found that Twistedhair no longer had them in possession. This circumstance he explained by stating that some of the chiefs who had been absent during the visit of Lewis and Clarke, had on their return grown jealous and
2G Lewis says in his journal, seven miles above the mouth of the Clearwater, which is neither in accordance with his own map nor the facts. In the next paragraph he speaks of being on the west side of the river, which here runs east and west, a carelessness entirely inexcusable in an explorer.
27 In this connection Lewis says in his journal: 'To this river, moreover, which we have hitherto called Clarke's River, which rises in the south-west mountains, we restored the name of Towahnahiooks;' meaning the Des Chutes; but there is no previous mention of their having changed the name before restoring it.
68 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
angry at the particular favor shown to him, and had taken the horses away. Whether this was a piece of Indian diplomacy to obtain pay for returning the property, it was impossible to know; but with that remarkable adroitness which characterized these ex plorers in managing the natives, they suppressed entirely any expression of suspicion, appearing to take for granted all that had been told them, and con senting to visit these discontented chiefs, only taking care to impress upon them the confidence with which they expected the restoration of the horses, and their willingness to pay the price agreed upon for the care of them. This suavity put all the chiefs in good-humor, arid the promise of liberal pay, two guns, and ammu nition, procured speedy action on their part, with a proffer of two gift-horses and other supplies. It turned out, however, that many of the horses returned had been badly used by the young Indians, and were poor, with sore backs; and that about half the saddles cached had been stolen. But as this could not now be helped, and as the chiefs seemed disposed to make amends with presents of fat horses for food, the offence was overlooked.
A number of chiefs being assembled on the llth, it was thought a favorable moment to explain to them the design of the United States in sending
O O
an exploring expedition into their country. This was done by drawing a map of the territory owned by the government, its relation to their territory being pointed out, and the intention announced of establishing trading-posts among them to supply such articles as they desired. All this was interpreted through the medium of several languages; one of the men rendering it into French for a Frenchman; he into Minnetaree for his Indian wife; she into Shoshone for one of that nation, who finally explained it to the Ncz Perces in their own tongue. All seemed pleased with the prospect of having trading establishments among them except the women, some of whom cried
IN THE CLEARWATER COUNTRY. 69
and wrung their hands. A feast was then held, the treaty of friendship ratified, and final presents were exchanged.28
Horses and baggage were then moved down the creek four miles, to the river, with the intention of making a crossing to the north bank, to hunt and fish until the snow was gone in the mountains. This camp was established on the river, half a mile from Collins Creek, whence the hunters went out in all directions in search of game.
In these frequent excursions some discoveries were made. One party went as far as the east branch29 of Lewis River, first ascending the creek on the south side of the Clearwater, where their camp was, a dis tance of twenty miles, thence over a high, rough coun try for thirty miles to the Tommanamah, thence down that river twenty miles to a fishery no great distance above its mouth. This river was described as one hundred and fifty yards wide, with a succession of rapids walled in by high perpendicular rocks.
On the 10th of June, fish not yet appearing in the Clearwater, the camp was transferred to the Quamash Flats,30 east of Chopunnish River, the stream on which the first Nez Perce villages were found the preceding October, and here the hunters were once more set to work. On the IGth, so impatient were the commanders to be on the homeward march, although the snow was two or three feet deep in the hollows and vegetation very backward, that
28 Parker gives an interesting anecdote of the Nez Percys, which probably refers to Lewis and Clarke's expedition. It was told to him of one of tho chiefs of a Nez Perce" tribe. 'He said the first white man he saw was when he was young. It was summer. He said : ' ' These are a new people, they look cold, their faces are white and red ; go make a large fire, and I will ask them to come and warm them." In a short time his people had made a fire and brought new buffalo-robes. The white men came into his lodge, and he wrapped them in the robes, and seated them by the fire that they might be Warm. The robes slipped off; he replaced them. Soon the white men made signs to smoke their pipe. The chief thought they asked for food, and brought them meat. The white men gave him the pipe, and they smoked ; and after this they loved smoke, and they loved the white men, they said they were good.' Jour. Ex. Tour., 303.
2<J Salmon River, called by them Tommanamah.
30 Camass Prairie.
70 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
they determined to proceed, and reached Hungry Creek that afternoon. On going forward over a high ridge next morning, they found the whole country beyond so enveloped in deep snow as to be wholly unrecognizable, rendering it impracticable to proceed without guides, even if the horses and men could be provisioned. Accordingly, after placing the important part of the baggage on scaffoldings, and securing it from the weather, they returned to Hungry Creek.
On the 2Cth, having procured guides, they renewed their attempt to cross the Clear water Mountains, and the snow having settled about four feet, with a smooth but not slippery surface, they found travelling much easier than it had been in the autumn, reaching Travel- ler's Rest Creek31 in three days, and the Bitter Root on the day following. At this point it was determined to divide the party and take separate routes. Lewis with nine men was to proceed by the most direct way to the falls of the Missouri; there to leave three of them to prepare vehicles for the portage around the falls, while he, with the remaining six, ascended Maria River, to ascertain if any branch of it reached north to the 50th parallel. Clarke was to return to Jefferson River, where the canoes and other articles were deposited, and there detach Sergeant Ordway with nine men to descend with them to the falls. His own party would then be reduced to ten, with whom he proposed to proceed to the Yellowstone, at its. nearest approach to the three branches of the Mis souri, where he would make canoes and proceed to the mouth of the Yellowstone to wait for the rest of the party.
On the 3d of July, Lewis set out with his nine men, accompanied by five Indians, and crossing to the north side of Traveller's Rest, kept along the west side of Clarke River for two and a half miles to where a branch32 came in on the same side. At the distance
31 Loulou fork of the Bitter Root.
32 Missoula River.
A NEW ROUTE. 71
of one mile below this, a small stream was observed coming in from the right, and a mile beyond the east ern branch,83 a turbid stream, discharged through two channels. At this point Clarke River was found one hundred and fifty yards wide, running through an ex tensive plain, dotted with pine-trees, and skirted with hills covered with fir, pine, and larch. The crossing of the river being two miles below, they were shown to it by their Indian friends, who also conducted them to camp on a small creek34 three miles up the eastern branch, where, after pointing out the trail to Lewis, they took final leave of the white men, who were now without any guide.35
Traversing the plains on the north of the Hellgate, they crossed another small creek,36 and entered the mountains by a defile two miles in length, which led them to a large prairie. Soon they came upon a branch flowing1 in from the east ,37 described to them
O '
by the Indians as the Cokalahishkit, or " river of the road to the buffalo country," up which they turned ainonof hi^h, wooded hills. Having crossed two streams
O O ' O
to which the names Werner Creek and Seaman Creek were given, they struck the north branch of the Cokalahishkit, and entered the spurs from the Blackfoot and Dearborn divide. Here the road lay along narrow timber- bottoms, to the south-east of which was a plain covered with small knolls, which received the appellation of the Prairie of the Knobs. The most northerly fork of the river was still followed up into the mountains, until it became a small creek, when Lewis quitted it, and pursuing a course first
33 Hellgate River.
34 Higgins Creek, according to Mullan's map of the military road.
35 Captain Lewis remarks that from the circumstance of the Indians, who were going some distance to the south, intending to return by the same trail they had travelled to and from the Nez Percd country, he was satisfied there was no pass through the mountains by way of Clarke River so near nor so good as that one. There certainly was none nearer; but a few years later the hunters and trappers found one much better, almost directly west from the spot where he was led to this conclusion.
3(1 Observatory Creek. 37 Big Blackfoot River.
72 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
north and then cast brought his party to the foot of a mountain, which they crossed by a low gap running north-east, finding it to their great satisfaction the dividing ridge between the affluents of the Missouri and the Columbia. That evening, July 7, 180G, their camp was in one of the lateral valleys of the great water-shed. Next day they crossed the Dearborn, and followed Elk fork to Medicine River. From this point the party pushed on rapidly, through a country well stocked with game, to their old station on White Bear Island, at the head of the falls. There Lewis remained four days, giving instructions to the men who were to make the portage with the baggage cached at the island, and making sketches of the falls. He then left behind three of the men who were to have accompanied him to Maria River, to assist those at the portage, and set out himself with only three companions.
Travelling about due north, he crossed the Tansy River,38 and reaching a small stream, to which was given the name of Buffalo Creek, from the quantity of those animals in sight, lie followed its course in the direction of Maria River, on which he en camped on the 18th. Signs of Indians, supposed to be Minnetarees, were observed, and a sharp lookout was therefore kept.
Convinced from the appearance of the country that he was now above the point to which he had ascended in 1805, Captain Lewis, fearing to miss some branch flowing in from the north, sent two hunters down stream a distance of six miles to look for one. Hearing of none he ascended the river, passing several creeks from the north and south, until reaching the forks, when he kept on up the northern branch until, four days after first striking Maria River, he found an elevation from which the course of the river and its affluents could be traced. Lewis was then able to determine that no branch of Maria River could
38 Teton River.
ADVENTURES OF LEWIS. 73
possibly extend to the 50th parallel. As it was useless to proceed farther, he resolved to remain in camp two days, taking observations and resting the horses. On the following day one of the men was sent to explore the river above, who found that it issued from the mountains within a distance of ten miles, and that its head-waters could not be far off.
Rainy weather setting in, he was disappointed in not being able to take the longitude of this camp, which he intended to make a point of observation, and after remaining until the 2Gth with no change for the better, he set out to return. At a distance of twelve miles he reached a branch of the river coming in from the west, and keeping along its southern side for two miles further met another from the south-west of considerable size, which united with the former, and which he determined to follow- down to its junction with the northern fork, and thence strike across the country obliquely to the Tansy, which he would follow to its junction with Maria River, near the Missouri.
When he had reached a point a mile below the junction, he ascended the hills that border the main river. No sooner had this high ground been reached, than he discovered, a mile away on the left, a troop of horses, thirty in number, half of which were saddled. Their owners soon showed themselves, eight of them mounting and approaching Lewis, who had with him only two men, the third having gone down the river to hunt. The usual cautious approaches being made Lewis received them amicably, and soon discovered that they were the dreaded Minnetarees. On asking for their chief, three were pointed out, to two of whom presents were given, and a medal to the third, with which they were apparently well pleased. That night the Indians encamped with their white brothers, Lewis treating them cordially, telling them he had come a long way to visit them, and urging them to live in peace with the other tribes, with whom, as well as themselves, his people wished to
74 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
trade as soon as posts were established in that country. To all this they assented. At a late hour, the talk being ended, the Indians slept, and Lewis placing two of his men on guard at the tent-door, lay down with the third.
Early in the morning the Indians arose and crowded about the fire, near which the single person now on guard had carelessly laid down his rifle, his comrade sleeping near. One of the savages, ever on the alert, snatched not only the rifle of the guard, but that of his sleeping companion, while another seized those of Lewis and his man Drewyer. The latter being awake, sprang up and recovered his gun. The other men, their attention having been attracted by the struggle, pursued the retreating Indian, and in the fight for possession the savage was stabbed through the heart. Lewis being now aroused, drew a pistol and chased the one who had his gun, ordering him to lay it down, which he did, as two of the men had now overtaken him, and were prepared to serve him as they had served the other thief.
The Indians were now all out of the tent and moving away, which they would have been allowed to do without molestation had they not attempted to drive with them the horses. They were pursued, and pressed so closely that twelve of the horses were cap tured. In the chase an Indian w7as shot, who in re turning the fire came so near hitting Lewis that he felt the wind made tremulous by the passing ball. This contretemps caused the abandonment of any plans for exploring Maria River.
Taking a south-west course, the party struck across the plains, coming in eight miles upon a stream forty yards wide, running toward the river which they crossed, naming it Battle River. At three o'clock sixty- three miles had been travelled on the fresh Indian horses, and after a halt of an hour and a half seventeen miles further, when another halt of two hours was made, and another march of twenty
ON THE EASTERN SLOPE. 75
miles, then at two in the morning a halt until day light. Twent}^-five miles further brought Lewis to the mouth of Maria River, having ridden one hundred and twenty miles in thirty hours. The object of this haste was to give warning to the party at the falls, who it was feared might be attacked by the Indians. On arriving at the Missouri they were found to be safe, and to have been joined by Sergeant Ordway and his nine men, who had come down Jefferson River as agreed, with the canoes and other articles cached there, and had reached the falls of the Missouri on the 19th, two days after the departure of Lewis.
On the 29th, Lewis, with the reunited party of eighteen men, set out in the canoes to descend the Missouri to the mouth of the Yellowstone, where he was to meet Clarke. The current being rapid they travelled fast, and all reached the rendezvous on the 7th of August, except two hunters, who were behind in a small canoe.
Upon examination it was found that Clarke had been there some days before, and had gone, leaving only a few words traced in the sand, telling them that he was a few miles below, on the right side. Leaving a note for the two hunters, the party pro ceeded, making a hundred miles that day without overtaking Clarke. Several times in the course of the next three days they passed his camp, but saw nothing of him. On the llth, stopping to hunt, Lewis was accidentally shot through the hips by Cru- zatte, who mistook him for an elk, as he was dressed in brown leather. Fortunately neither bone nor artery was touched by the ball, though he suffered from fever and soreness. On the 12th, they met two traders named Dickson and Hancock, who informed Lewis they had seen Clarke the day before. While halting for this interview the hunters overtook them> and all proceeding, came up with Clarke that fore noon.
76 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURXEY.
On quitting Traveller's Rest, July 3d, Clarke pro ceeded up the Bitter Root Valley, by much the same route pursued in his journey down it, to the ridge separating the head-waters of that river from those of Wisdom River, and keeping along the west side of the latter stream for some distance crossed to Willard Creek, which he descended to where it enters the mountains, and turning a little east of south, sixteen miles brought the party to the west branch39 of Jef ferson River, turning down which they came in nine miles to the forks where the canoes had been de posited.
On the 10th,40 Clarke passed "the high point of land on the left, to which Beaverhead Valley owes its name," passed Philanthropy River late in the after noon, and encamped at the mouth of Wisdom River. Finding there a canoe that had been abandoned on the journey up Jefferson River, the men converted its sides into paddles, of which they were in need, and leaving one of the canoes, proceeded past Panther and Field creeks to an encampment not far below that of July 31st of the previous year.
By noon of the 13th the canoe party had reached the junction of the Jefferson and Madison, where the party with horses had arrived the same morning. The horses were driven across the Madison and Gallatin rivers, while the canoes were unloaded at the mouth of the latter, the merchandise being packed on the animals. From this point, while Ordway proceeded with the canoes to the falls of the Missouri, Clarke with ten men, besides his interpreter's wife and child,
39 Horse Plain Creek.
40 The company was divided as already agreed upon, Sergeant Ordway and nine men to bring the canoes and baggage down Jelferson River, while Clarke proceeded by land to the Yellowstone. Travelling on the eastern side of the Jefferson, he passed through a small plain, called Service Valley, and over the Rattlesnake Mountain into a beautiful country called by the Indians Beaver- head Valley, fifty miles long and from ten to fifteen wide. At a distance of fifteen miles he halted to dine, and seeing that the canoes could advance faster than the horses, and Sergeant Ordway being still in his company, he deter mined to give the horses into the charge of the sergeant and six men, while he embarked in a canoe. That night he encamped on the east side of the river, opposite Three Thousand Mile Island.
DOWN THE MOUNTAINS. 77
and fifty horses, set out late in the afternoon in a course almost due east from the forks of the Mis souri, camping at a distance from them of four miles, on the bank of the Gallatin.
Proceeding on the 14th, their route lay across sev eral forks and channels of the river, the ground along which was found upturned and broken by the beavers. They encamped at the entrance to a gap in the moun tains through which their road passed. Six miles on the 1 5th brought them to the top of the dividing ridge between the waters of the Yellowstone and the Mis souri, and nine miles further to the Yellowstone itself, a mile and a half from where it leaves the mountains. It was ascertained by this route that the distance from the forks of the Missouri to the Yellowstone was only forty-eight miles, over a good road.
Nine miles down the latter river from the place where they had reached it, a stream was passed coming in from the north-west, which they called Shields River, after one of the men. Crossing a high rocky hill, three miles further brought them to camp in the low ground adjacent to a small creek. On the 16th, still keeping along the north bank of the Yellowstone, which was now quite wide and straight, with many islands, they passed a stream from the south, and en camped after twenty-six miles at the mouth of another small stream on the north side. From the stony nature of the country the horses' feet had become sore, and Clarke desired to make canoes in which to finish the journey to the Missouri, but was not able to find trees of sufficient size.
On the 17th, he crossed a high ridge, and coming into a meadow lowland six and a half miles from camp, where a stream fell into the Yellowstone from each side, he gave them the collective name of Rivers across. Ten and a half miles further brought him to another large creek, which was named Otter River, and nearly opposite on the south side one which he called Beaver River, the waters of both of which
78 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
were of a milky color. Passing a portion of the river where the hills came down very close to the water, he encamped, after a ride of thirty miles, on a piece of lowland.
Next day, finding that the hills excluded him from following the river, which was, besides, very crooked, Clarke struck across the ridges, which were two hun dred feet high, keeping the river in sight, however.
On the 19th, they passed a stream flowing in from the south-east, which Clarke named the Rose River. The party presently stopped on account of an injury received by one of the men to his thigh, which had become so painful that he could not proceed. The rest of the day was spent in search of timber large enough to make a canoe, but the search was with out success, and after journeying nine miles further down the river Clarke halted and sent back for the wounded man.
Next day the construction of two small canoes was begun, which lashed together should convey part of the company down the river, while the rest led the horses to the Mandan country. But on the 21st twenty-four of the horses were missing, and on search being made it was found that they had been driven off by Indians. The party remained in camp two days longer, until the canoes were ready; then they sepa rated, Sergeant Pryor to proceed by land with the horses to the mouth of the Big Horn River, which Clarke believed to be not far distant, and where the land party was to be ferried across the Yellowstone. Twenty-nine miles down the river Clarke came upon the branch which he had believed to be the Big Horn, but which, when the real Big Horn was reached, he called Clarke Fork, being about the twentieth time one or other of the leaders had applied his name to their discoveries. This stream was about one hundred and fifty yards wide at the confluence, but narrower above. Six miles beyond was a large island, where he halted for Pryor and the horses, but seeing nothing
MANY RIVERS. 79
of them he went on to the mouth of a small creek, which he called Horse Creek, just below which the ser geant joined him again. Here the land contingent was ferried across to the south bank, to proceed to the Mandan nation, while the others continued on their way to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Toward even ing a creek thirty -five yards wide was passed, and named Pryor Creek, half a mile below which they encamped after a day's travel of sixty -nine miles. Fifty miles below Clarke halted to examine an iso lated rock on the south bank, two hundred feet high, and accessible on one side only, to which he gave the name of Pompey's Pillar.
Passing next day four small streams, two from each side of the river, he arrived, after sixty-two miles of travel, at the entrance of the real Big Horn River, ascending which for half a mile, he encamped, and walked up its south-western bank seven miles to the confluence of a creek coming in from the north-east, which he called the Muddy, and a few miles further to a bend in the Big Horn, from which point he returned. He found this branch of the Yellowstone to be of about equal breadth with the main river, each being from two hundred to two hundred and twenty yards in extent, though the Yellowstone con tained more water. From his observations, Clarke was satisfied that the Big Horn was the river described by the Indians as rising in the Rocky Mountains, near the sources of the Platte and the Yellowstone.
Taking a last look at the Rocky Mountains, on the 27th Clarke proceeded fifteen miles to a dry creek on the left, which he named Elk Creek, and three miles more to another wide and nearly dry creek, which he called Windsor River, and thirty miles further to a third large river-bed with little water in it, to which he gave the name of La Biche River. After passing several more dry creek-beds, he encamped eighty miles from the Big Horn on a large island.
Proceeding on the 28th, and passing frequent dry
80 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
creeks, he came in six miles to one coming in from the north, eighty yards wide, which he called Little Wolf River, and twenty-nine miles below it to an other from the south, having a number of flat mounds in the plain near it, which he called Table Creek. Four miles below the last was a considerable stream of muddy water, entering from the south, which he supposed to be the Little Big Horn of the Indians.41 Seventy-three miles from the last camp brought him to another stream from the south, called by the Indians Mashaskap, opposite to which he halted for the night. The river at this part was often confined between those cliffs of yellowish rock, from which its name of Rochejaune, or Yellowstone, is derived.
Pursuing the voyage on the 29th, the river being from five hundred yards to half a mile in width, forty- one miles brought him to Tongue River, called by the Indians Lazeka, where camp was pitched opposite its mouth. This river Clarke recorded as rising in the Black Hills,42 near the sources of the Cheyenne River, and judged from the warmth of the milky white water that it flowed through an open country.
On the following day at a distance of fourteen miles from camp, and after passing a stream nearly dry a hundred yards in width, he came to a succession of shoals extending for six miles, of which the last was the worst, and called Buffalo Shoal, from the presence of one of those animals at this place. Twenty miles below was a rapid, and on the cliffs above it a bear, from which circumstance the place was called Bear Rapid. Here was a stream coming in from the north now a tiny rivulet, though it had evidently been a quarter of a mile wide only a short time before. This versatile stream was named York River, in honor of Clarke's negro. Camp was made seven miles below, after
41 This river is put down on recent maps as Rosebud River, and the Little Big Horn as a branch of the large river of that name. Clarke's distances here do not agree with those on the later maps, though his may be more correct than these, which are not made up from actual surveys.
42 It rises further to the west, in the Big Horn Mountains.
DOWN BY THE YELLOWSTONE. 81
passing a stream a hundred yards wide, even in the dry season, containing a great many red stones that gave it the name of Redstone River or Wahasah, which in the Indian tongue has the same signification.
Q O
On the 31st, eighteen miles brought the canoes to a shallow muddy stream on the north, a hundred yards wide, which was supposed to be the one bearing the Indian name Saasha, and five miles below another on the south side, with coal scams showing in the banks, from which it was called Coal River. Eighteen miles
O
further brought them to the mouth of a stream on the right, which was named G ibson River, and twenty- live miles more to camp. August 1st and 2d were marked only by encountering herds of buffalo so im mense that the party was obliged to halt for an hour to let them pass, or run the danger of getting between two herds crossing the river. One hundred and twenty - nine miles were made in two days. On the 3d, after passing Fields Creek, two miles below camp, they came, at two o'clock, to the junction of the Yellow stone with the Missouri, encamping on the spot where they had been April 2G, 1805. So great was the an noyance from mosquitoes at this place, that without waiting for the party coming by land the canoes kept on down the Missouri one day's journey below White Earth River, where on the 8th they were joined by Sergeant Pryor, but without the horses. The animals had been stolen the second night after leaving the Big Horn River, and the men in charge had been compelled to carry the baggage upon their backs to the nearest point on the Yellowstone, which proved to be Pompey's Pillar, where they made two hide canoes, and descended in safety to the point where they overtook their commander. Passing the mouth of the Yellowstone, and supposing that Lewis had passed before him, Pryor removed a note left there on a pole for him by Clarke, and but for the tracing the latter had left in the sand, Lewis would not have known that he had preceded him.
HIST. X. W. COAST, VOL. II. C
82 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
On the 12th, the whole party, being reunited, pro ceeded to the Mandan village, and after holding a council with those people and the neighboring tribes, who promised friendship to American traders, left the Indian country finally, and arrived at St Louis on the 23d of September, having accomplished their journey of nine thousand miles, through a wilderness much of which had never been trodden by white men, and providing themselves food chiefly by means of the rifle. They had lost but one man,43 and had met wi% but few accidents.
Before parting company with the explorers I will give an incident in the subsequent life of one of the men. While at the chief village of the Minnetarees, below the mouth of the Little Missouri, during the return journey, one of the party, John Colter, requested to be discharged from further service. He was no longer required, and if permitted to do so could make a prof itable engagement with some trappers. As he was :a good man, and his help could now be spared, the commanders reluctantly consented, with a proviso that none of the other men should ask a similar favor. It was a life of adventure, truly, that to which he now committed himself. While trapping in the Blackfoot country, Colter and a companion named Potts were in a canoe on one of the streams which form the head- Avaters of the Missouri, when they were attacked by several hundred Indians. Potts was almost instantly killed ; Colter, by a fate one remove less unhappy, was made prisoner. Having stripped him, the chief asked if he could run fast. Knowing the custom, and that he was doomed to the trial of the gauntlet for his life, Colter replied that he was a very poor runner ; where upon the chief gave him a start of three or four hun dred yards.
The terrible whoop of a hundred savages rang in
43 Sergeant Floyd died of bilious colic, August 20, 1804, at a camp on the Missouri, about one hundred miles above Council Bluffs.
A RACE FOR LIFE. 83
his ears as he darted away with a speed no less sur prising to himself than to his pursuers. Never a thought prompted him to look behind until he was half way across a plain six miles in extent, and bristling with prickly-pears that pierced his bare feet at every stride. When he did turn his eyes, however, he saw close upon him an Indian armed with a spear. To outrun this savage lie redoubled his efforts, while the blood gushed from his nostrils and coursed down his breast. Glancing back once more he saw his foe nearly upon him, while the river was yet a mile distant. When the savage was within a few paces a sudden impulse forced him to turn quickly about and spread out his arms. This action, coupled with his wild appearance, seemed to surprise the red man, who at tempted to stay his own headlong pursuit, but stumbled and fell from exhaustion, breaking his spear in the act of throwing it. Colter instantly seized the spear head, and pinned his man to the earth before contin uing his breathless race. A few seconds were gained while the pursuing savages were halting over their dead comrade ; and presently their yell of vengeance fell dull on Colter's ears as the friendly river closed over him. Making for a raft of drift-wood lodged against an island, and diving under it he found a spot where he could obtain air through an opening. There he remained until night, the savages in search of him many times passing above his hiding-place. When it became quite dark he swam some distance down the stream to leave no trail, and then landing travelled for seven days, naked, and with nothing to eat but roots, when he reached the trading-post of Manuel Lisa on the Big* Horn River.
The expedition carried out under the command of Captains Lewis and Clarke was characterized by a degree of humanity, courage, perseverance, and justice honorable alike to officer and soldier. The prudence and wisdom manifested in all their intercourse with
84 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
the natives have never been excelled, even by the most experienced of the British fur companies. No dastardly act blots their record. Without achieving anything very admirable; without enduring sacrifices as great as those of many emigrants ; without enlist ing the sympathy or admiration drawn from us by many of the women of 1842 and subsequent emigra tions, they yet accomplished an important and difficult task. In reading their narrative we can but feel them
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to be men above small things. But for thrilling ex-
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periences, for deeds of great daring, for heart-rending suffering, for romantic adventure we must look else where.
It would, indeed, have endowed them with a greater distinction, and reflected more credit upon the gov ernment, had the expedition been furnished with sev eral scientific attaches, who would have reported more at large upon the country explored, in which case another year at least would have been required for observations. Yet for them to have done more than they did under the circumstances could scarcely have been expected, and there is no reason to believe that they failed to fulfil the hopes of President Jefferson.44
The journal of Lewis and Clarke was not published until 1814, though the news of their return and all that their explorations and successes implied was known much earlier. It was February 1807 before they reached Washington. Congress then being in session made grants of land to each member of the expedition. Clarke became a general of militia in
44 ' The report which they made of their expedition to the United States government created a lively sensation.' Franchrre's ?far., 19. 'The explora tions of Lewis and Clarke made known the two great rivers across the conti nent, the Missouri and the Columbia, and the general character of the country. ' Strceiis' Northwest, 3. 'The happy termination of Lewis and Clarke's expedi tion surprised and delighted. The humblest had been intere^ed in tuc ;e- sn it, and looked impatiently for the news it would bring. Anxiety had been heightened from time to time by ugly, vague rumor..*, unconciadic^ed, iroin their leaving the Manclan towns to their return to »St Louis. The courage, pevt-yveriuice, and discretion <>f the heads, and the fidelity and obedience of the men, drew general approbation, and favorable notice by government.' Huljiiicii'it Or., and El Dorado^ 2ol-2.32.
LAST DAYS OF LEWIS AND CLARKE. 85
Louisiana, and Lewis governor of the same territory, whose capital was St Louis.
On returning to this frontier to assume the duties of his office, he found affairs in a distracted state from the animosities and contentions of officials and their partisans. Having settled these disturbances and re stored harmony, Lewis began to suffer from attacks of a hereditary hypochondria which developed itself alarmingly in a short time, and which was probably augmented by reaction from the severe strain of physical and mental powers caused by the fatigue, hunger, heat, cold, and danger endured in the three years of exploration. Having occasion to go to Washington in the autumn of 1809, he had reached the Chickasaw Bluffs when he was met by Mr Nccly, a^cnt for the Chickasaw Indians, who noticing his dis-
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turbed condition accompanied him to look after his health. At an encampment one day's journey east of the Tennessee River, two of their horses were lost, and Mr Nccly was obliged to return for them. On parting they agreed to meet at the first white settlement on the road, where Governor Lewis was to wait until his friend came up. On arriving at this place, the house of a Mr Grinder, such was the excitability of Lewis, that, to soothe him, he was permitted to occupy the house alone at night, the family and his own servants retiring to another building. This was a fatal error, for when morning came they found him dead by his own hand, at the age of thirty-five.45 Thus to the great grief of the public and his friends, ended a career that, if not brilliant, was in every way useful and honorable.
Clarke, who was associated with Lewis in the gov ernment of Louisiana, as he had been in its explora-
43 Clarke's negro servant, York, mysteriously becomes Lewis, Captain Tom Lewis he called himself, if we may believe the authorities, which say that he \vas found on the road, frozen to death, in Albemaiie County, Virginia, within about a mile of his own home, in the latter part of December, 1878. He was nearly ninety years old. Charlottexville, Va., Chronicle, Jan. 3, 1879, in S. F. Ihdle.fm, Jan. 15, 1S79; S. F. Chronicle, Feb. 0, 1870.
80 THE PACIFIC AND THE RETURN JOURNEY.
tion, was appointed governor of Missouri Territory, by President Madison, in 1813, and remained in that office until it became a state, in 1821. The following year President Monroe appointed him superintendent of Indian affairs, for which he was eminently fitted, and which post he held till his death, which occurred at St Louis in 1838. The results of the united labors of Lewis and Clarke were important, as they opened to the citizens of the United States a broad field for enterprise, which soon became occupied by fur-hunters, followed by other commercial ventures, and finally by permanent settlement.
CHAPTER IV.
SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART. 1797-1806.
JAMES FINLAY ASCENDS PEACE RIVER— HE GIVES HIS NAME TO ITS UPPER WATERS— JAMES McDouGALL PENETRATES TO McLEOD LAKE— ERASER'S FIRST EXPEDITION — His CHARACTER— MANUSCRIPT JOURNALS OF STUART AND ERASER — THE NORTHWEST COMPANY PUSH WESTWARD— STUART AT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE — ERASER'S JOURNAL — PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY— ERASER AND STUART EXPLORE WESTWARD — ARRIVAL AT FINLAY RIVER — ERASER'S TIRADE AGAINST MACKENZIE — THEY REACH TROUT LAKE — AND FOLLOW MACKENZIE'S TRACK UP BAD RIVER — CROSS TO THE ERASER — DESCEND TO STUART RIVER.
JAMES FINLAY ascended Peace River in 1797, and examined the branch to which he gave his name, and which indeed is no branch,, but the main stream, con tinuing as it does nearer the course of the river below than Parsnip River, which comes in from the south ward, besides being larger and longer.1 Thence Mr Finlay turned up Parsnip River, keeping to the left on reaching the branch which leads to McLeod Lake, and ascended that stream to near its source, making an extended tour of general observation.'2
In the spring of 1805 James McDougall made an expedition up Peace and Parsnip rivers to what was then first called McLeod Lake. At the northern end of the lake a fort was soon built, which afterward
1 'It is nearly three hundred miles in length, or at least its source is, I estimate, about that distance by river-course from the pass. ' McLeocVs Peace Rtver, 96.
2 Upon the bank of the stream, says Mr Eraser nine years after, Sve found the old Barbue in the very identical spot he was found by Mr Einlay in the summer of 1797.' Finlatfs Journal, MS., 108. Mr Finlay died at Spokane in May 1828. Work's Journal, MS., 228.
(87 )
SIMOX FRASER AXD JOHN STUART.
went by several names, as Trout Lake House, Fort McDougall, La Malice Fort, and later Fort McLeod. McDou^all continued his investigations as far as the
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great fork of the Fraser, and beyond to the Carriers Lake; so that at least two explorers navigated this stream before him whose name it bears. At this time there was no Lake McLeod, but the region thereabout went by the name of Trout Lake, which term is now applied to the small sheet of water immediately north of McLeod Lake. La Malice was a French Cana-
McLEOD LAKE REGION.
dian who spent a portion of the winter of 1805-6 at the Trout Lake station, during which time it was called La Malice Fort. This was the first fort erected by British- American fur-hunters west of the Rocky Mountains, the first establishment of the kind in New Caledonia, or in the Oregon Country.1''
3 Anderson, Nortliu'pKt Cons', MS., 14, states that McLeod Fort was built on McLeod Lake, l>y Fraser and Stuart, in IS 00, and that it 'served as an entrepot of communication between the posts lying eastward of the mountains and the western posts.' Mr Anderson is clearly in error as to the date, and I am inclined to think also in regard to tlie builder. Compare JJcKinlay's Nar., MS., 7. Stuart in his autograph notes, Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 23,1, states distinctly that the fort 011 McLeod Lake was founded in 1805. Stuart or Friiser may have ordered the work dune, but I believe James McDougall
CHARACTER OF FRxVSER. 89
Simon Fraser 's first expedition into the region west of the Rocky Mountains was in the autumn of 1805, some time after James McDou<jall had visited McLcod Lake, when he ascended Parsnip River, following the tracks of Mr Finlay, and after a superficial survey, returned to the Rocky Mountain portage, and there at its eastern extremity began the erection of the Rocky Mountain House. Fraser was an illiterate, ill-bred, bickering, fault-finding man, of jealous disposition, ambitious, energetic, with considerable conscience, and in the main holding; to honest intentions. But
O
no man can be truly honest who is not just, and no man can be strictly just who is blinded by prejudice, and no man can be free from prejudice who loves to distraction himself, and hates all other men.4
Entering this region of Titanic irregularities, where scarped and hoary mountains rising bald-headed into the clouds play fantastic tricks with worried rivers, and whose blue lakes lapped by pine-clad steeps flinging huge bowlders from craggy fronts into the
built it. The lake and fort were named in honor of Archibald Norman Mc- Leod, of the Northwest Company, a man of high repute for energy and efficiency. After retiring from the service of the company he held the appointment of barrack-master at Belfast, Ireland. Groeiihow, Or. and CaL, 290-1, becomes here quite confused in his statements. He says that the Northwest Company were pushing westward in order to anticipate Lewis and Clarke, of which there is no proof; and he goes 011 to talk about a party under Laroche, which in 1805 ascended the Missouri as for as the Mandan village, saying not a Avord of the doings on Peace River this J7ear, and calling the establishment on Fraser Lake in 1800, ' the first settlement or fort of any kind made by British subjects west of the Rocky Mountains.' For inci dents of life at Fort McLeod, see Tod's New Calf.dnnia, MS., 20 et scq.
4 Though quarrelsome, Fraser was a man of courage. He had been for many years a prominent partner in the Northwest Company. He acted a for ward part in the memorable Red River light, the 19th of June 1810, when the Hudson Bay men, under Governor Semple, met their inglorious defeat. After retiring from the country, he settled at Lachine House, and, according to Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS., 14-15, was there in 1831. But this could not be if what Cox, Adv., vol. ii. 237, says, is true, namely, that Fraser lost his life at Paris, in a quarrel with Mr Warren, in 1829. Warren was tried, and sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment. Harmon met Fraser in company with James McDougall at Dunvegan, in May 1809. Harmon'* Jour nal, 178-9. The author of British North Am., 274, is in error in making Fraser a trader of the Hudson's Bay Company who established Fort Fraser; the fact is the Hudson's Bay Company at this time had scarcely dreamed of the forts west of the Rocky Mountains. They were then too much in the habit of waiting for their Northwest Company rivals to open the way for them, when they would slip in and, if possible, snatch the benefits.
90 SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
valleys below call to mind tlie loclis and bens of their boyhood, naturally enough they call this far north west mountain land New Caledonia, and love to com pare these heights with their own Scotch highlands, and so fancy themselves not so very far from home after all.5
Among the most important records of the early history of British Columbia are the manuscript jour nals and letters of John Stuart and Simon Fraser.6 Yet notwithstanding the intrinsic value of fort rec ords and the journals of fur-traders, containing as they oftentimes do all the information extant concerning particular times and places,, probably no class of material with which the historian has to do is in its crude state drier or more difficult of reduction to readable narrative.7
Stuart dates his journal "at the Rocky Mountains,'* which., but for the fact we already know, namely, that the partners of the Northwest Company are about this time pushing their business westward from Fort Chipcwyan, arid extending their cordon through
5 Tlie limits of what was at first called New Caledonia were on the south Soda Creek, emptying into the Fraser in latitude 52° '20', Peace River and the Pacific being the eastern and the western boundaries. This, according to Anderson, Northwest Coa*t, MS., 3. 'The line of demarcation between Thompson district and New Caledonia was near to Lillooet. ' Finlayson's Hist* V. /.,MS.,8G.
6 Journal of John Stuart from December 20, 1805, to February 28, 1806, Mo.; First Journal of Simon Fraser from April 12 to July 18, 1SOG, MS.; Letters from the Rocky Mountains, from Au'ju^t 1, 180G, to February 10, 1807, In/ Simon Fraser, MS.; Second Journal, of Simon Fraser, from May 30 to. June 10, 1808, MS.
7 In comparing these two persons I should call Stuart the nobler, the more dignified man, but one whose broad, calm intellect had received no more culture than Eraser's. Stuart's courage and powers of endurance were equal in every respect to those of his colleague, and while in temper, tongue, ideas, and bodily motion he was less hasty, within a given time ho would accomplish as much or more than Fraser, and do it better. Loth were exceedingly eccen tric, one quietly so, the other in a more demonstrative way ; but it hap pened that the angularities of one so dovetailed with those of the other that cooperation, harmony, and good-fellowship characterized all their intercourse. Stuart was one of the senior partners in tlie Northwest Company, and for a time was in charge of the Athabasca department. As his territory on the west was boundless, he deemed it his duty to extend the limits of his opera tions. Twice ho traversed the continent, beside multitudes of minor excur sions. In fact, he was almost always on the move. On retiring from the service he settled at Torres, Scotland, where he died in 1840. Anderson' 's North* west Coast, MS., 2, 15, 55-<3; Franklin's Nar., i. 210-11.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 01
Peace River Pass, might mean any point on the con tinental range from Alaska to Mexico. Further than this we know of the carrying-place at the principal bend of Peace River, that it was called the Rocky Mountain Portage, and the post at the eastern end of it, now known as Hudson Hope, was once denomi nated the Rocky Mountain House, and again Old Fort.8 Putting these facts together, and considering their connection with Mr Stuart's opening entry, we may safely infer that this journal was begun at the Rocky Mountain House, then not only the west ernmost distributing depot of the Northwest Com- Emy, but, if we except La Malice Fort at Trout ake, the most westerly post of any kind. It was moreover the last station before crossing the mount ains in corning from the east. We know, furthermore, that on the 20th of December 1805 that post was in progress of construction ; for we find on that day that Mr Fraser accompanied by Mr McDougall dropped down the river to Fort Dunvegan, which for many years past had been the chef-lieu of the Peace River district, and where he had business, leaving instruc tions with Stuart "to get a chimney built in his bedroom, likewise to get wood sawed for a table and cupboard." Consequently, after the departure of Fraser, who it would seem had charge of the post at that time, the men were set to work gathering stones for the chimney, and cutting wood, not only for boards, but for sledges and snow-shoes.
Next day the Indian hunters brought in a few beaver-skins and some grease, which went toward the liquidation of an account. A vast amount of petty detail then follows, which, however interesting to those whose lives and fortunes are made or marred by such means, is of little value to the reader of his tory. For example, on the night of the 21st of De-
8 Mackenzie places on his map in this vicinity the old establishment and new establishment, but the river is traced so inaccurately that it is impossible ta locate from it these posts. See McKinlay's Nar., MS., 7.
92 SIMON FRASER AND JOHX STUART.
cember, certain Indians sing and dance until they drop exhausted; four men the same day visit the cache made by Mr McDougall while last out among the natives, and bring away the goods; some Indian women fall into the river, and are nearly frozen to death; a small axe is given "on credit to the hus band of the woman with sore eyes." Thus day by day arc written clown these little incidents, which in deed comprise the history of the country at the time of its first occupation by white men. The remainder of the month is occupied in finishing the chimney, making snow-shoes, and. securing the meat of some red deer killed by the hunters. On new year's day an extra pint of rum is given to each of the men, accord ing to Eraser's instructions.
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The month of January 180G was employed at the Rocky Mountain House, bringing in the deer which the natives killed, and in dealing out powder, balls, and other articles to the Indians. On the 15th it is recorded that "Gannon is washing Mr Eraser's
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dirty clothes." "As Farcier has frozen his toe, I have kept him home to make mortar to plaster the house."
Fraser and McDougall returned the 18th. The weather was extremely cold, and the men at the in- completed fort suffered from exposure.
The 28th of this month McDougall, with two Canadians and an Indian, set out on a second expedi tion to McLeod Lake, or, as it was then called, to Trout Lake, and into the Carrier country, taking with him a small store of tobacco, beads, and ammunition, yet the provisions necessary for him to carry so im peded his progress that he was two days or more in crossing the portage. From this station there arrived the first of February two men who had been thirteen days on the journey, and who were nearly dead with cold and hunger when Mr McDougall relieved them. From the Rocky Mountain House two men, about this time, were sent into the territory of the Beaver
STUART'S JOURNAL. 93
Indians in order to stimulate the natives to hunt, and also to gain a knowledge of the country.
On the 9th of February, Mr Stuart sent two men, Farcier and Varin, to La Malice at Trout Lake, with axes, knives, and other articles of which the people there were in need. The last journey of Mc- Dougall to that region had been both painful and unprofitable. The cold was intense; his hunter had been unable to bring down deer, having iired thirty- four consecutive shots without killing, and after a fortnight's struggle with the snow he and his men had arrived at La Malice only to find the house de serted. In the house was a considerable amount of property, consisting of fur and trading articles, among which, fortunately, were fifty pounds of flour which kept the men alive until they could return to the Rocky Mountain House. And now on the 24th of February we find La Malice himself turning up at the same place. It then came out why he had abandoned his station at Trout Lake. His men, he said, would not do their duty. They idled about the fort, or if sent to hunt they ate what they killed, and brought little back, particularly one Le Maire, who not only be haved ill himself but influenced the others to do badly. From Trout Lake La Malice went to Bear River, to the south of the Rocky Mountain House. Beaver were plenty, and he could have done exceedingly well had his servants been faithful. Here ends the jour nal of John Stuart.
The first journal of Simon Fraser, who was the superior of John Stuart in position, takes up affairs some six weeks after the journal of the latter drops them.9 Fraser's writings are most important, giving
9 Stuart's Journal is very badly written, by far the worst specimen of literary composition by a fur-hunter I have ever seen, unless it be that of
Fraser, who.follows him. His conceptions are crude, his expressions irregu lar and ungrammatical, and the general tenor of his effort, in which he is not alone, seems to be to convey as little knowledge as possible in his writings.
94 SIMON" FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
us as they do, except the narrow lines marked by Mackenzie's travels, the first account of the dis covery of New Caledonia, and the first establishing of fur-trading posts west of the Rocky Mountains. By his enterprise and daring a vast unknown region was opened to the world, and the beginning was made of that civilized occupation which will end only with the ending of the present order of things on this planet. Eraser's journal would seem to be a continuation of Stuart's. It opens abruptly — all the writings of the fur-traders are abrupt — at the Rocky Mountain House/0 whence at midnight he despatches three men to Fort Dunvegan, sending them at that unreason able hour because of their inability to travel all day on account of its snowing so much.
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It was now April 180G, and Fraser was laying plans for an expedition westward, as soon as the weather should permit; but the season was backward, and the patience of Mr Fraser was well nigh ex hausted waiting for the snow to melt and the ice covering of the river to break up. McLeod was stationed at a post below; Stuart was to accompany Fraser. Five bales of goods were made up, and sent over the portage to the western end, and there cached until the expedition should be ready to start.
There was a famous chief in those parts called Little Head, who liked the good things the white men brought to his forest better then he liked to work for them. Work proper, an Indian will none of; manual labor is for women. It was not his lordly nature, however, to hunt beaver for whiskey. In savage society gentle woman's sphere is neither fighting,
stance it is more valuable. His own criticism of his writings is nearer the truth than authors under like circumstances usually indulge in ; and for this honesty he is entitled to our respect. Writing to Stuart of his journal, he says : 'It is exceedingly ill WTote, worse worded, and not well spelt.'
10 This I gather, after perusal of half the manuscript, from internal and incidental evidence, for the writer never once mentions where he is ; and when after a multitude of carefully recorded tribulations he sets out on his journey, he docs not state either his destination or his object. The latter, however, the reader may readily infer, as travel in those regions in those days by a fur- trader could have but one object.
ERASER'S JOURNAL. 95
hunting, nor drinking, unless indeed there be rum enough first to satisfy her lord, and then she does not usually decline a fiery potation. Little Head was lazy; so Eraser sent John McKinver to stir him up to hunt beaver and bring the skins to the fort, and there exchange them for articles on which the settlers might make six hundred per cent profit. To these Meadow Indians, as they were called, McKinver was therefore sent, and after inducing them to start upon a hunt, he nearly perished in attempting to follow them. After losing himself, and spending several days in the snow without food, he finally found his way back to the fort. These hardships and narrow escapes were almost every -day incidents in the fur- hunter's life, which was too often terminated by some one of them.
Some fifty manuscript pages are filled with detail of insignificant matters about the fort, while making ready for the contemplated expedition, in perusing which the reader wonders at the almost total absence of general information; and yet, as I before remarked, what we can glean from them is most important, be cause it is the very corner-stone of history here. That which alone is history, the writer of fort records is too apt to take for granted the reader knows all about.
Among the most stirring events at the Rocky Mountain House are these: An Indian whom a woman of another tribe followed of her own accord to the fort is stripped of his arms and driven from the place, while the woman after being held prisoner for a time finally effects her escape. Little Head comes to the fort and drinks freely; and certain sav ages are chastised for disobedience. On the 23d of April some Indians arrive from Finlay River, who report that that stream does not begin its course in a series of rapids as had been reported, but that with the exception of some portages it is navigable in canoes to its source, where, after a portage about half as long as the Rocky Mountain portage, is a large lake called Bear Lake "where the salmon come up,
96 SIMON FKASEB, AND JOHN STUART.
and from there is a river that falls into another much larger, according to their report, than ever the Peace River that glides in a north-west direction. In that lake they say there are plenty of fish, and that the salmon are innumerable, with plenty of bears and ani mals of the fur kind thereabout, but no large animals of any kind. It is from that quarter they get their iron works and ornaments, but they represent the navigation beyond that lake as impracticable, and say there are no other Indians excepting a few of their relations that never saw white people thereabout, and to get iron works they must go far beyond it, which they perform in long journeys on foot. We cannot imagine what river this is : by their descrip-
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tion and the course it runs it cannot be the Columbia, and I know of no other excepting Cook's; but what ever river it is, and wherever they get these, their iron works and ornaments are such as I have seen with the Cassuss. Indeed, the Indians of Nakazleh talk of Bear Lake, and their account of the river that flows from it is conformable with that of the Meadow Indians."11
Moose and red deer furnished the occupants of the llocky Mountain House with food not only for im mediate purposes, but for drying and for making into pcmican for the coming expedition. It was the fash ion in this locality when an Indian shot a deer to leave it where it fell, and to report at the station, where he would receive his pay immediately, the fur- traders sending for the carcass at their convenience. They could not let it lie long however, lest it should be devoured by wolves.
There was a growing interest in the minds of Fraser and Stuart as they recruited men, gathered bark and
11 It is Babinc Lake here referred to. Mr Harmon in Ids map lays down a sheet of water immediately north-west of Stuart and Fraser lakes, witli the latitude of 55°, and west of the I'Joth meridian, as large in area as Queen Chin-lotto Island, which he calls Great Bear Lake. It is represented to be at least ten times as lare^e as Babine Lake, and extends much farther to the west ward. Even in Mr Harmon's time, which was from live to twelve years later, this lake had not been explored.
TROUT LAKE. 97
gum for canoes, and laid in stores for the expedition, concerning this unknown river. This may have been the Skeena, or the Salmon, or the Ballacoola; dif ferent natives may have referred to different streams; none of them could reasonably have referred to the Fraser. Other natives arriving on the 25th, " repre sent it as different from the Columbia, but say it is from that quarter they get most part of their goods, and the only place from where they get guns and am munition. From Nakazleh there is a water communi cation with the exception of three portages, and they positively affirm that white people came there in course of the summer, but as they came on discovery they had little goods. I have seen a pistol," continues Fraser, " brass-mounted, with powder and ball, which they say they had from them."
A. McGillivray arrived at the Rocky Mountain House the 27th, to take charge of that post during Fraser's absence. The ice which was "amazing strong and thick" began to break up the 5th of May, but it soon stopped moving, whereupon the river immediately rose some ten feet. The next day La Ramme, Sau cier, and Tercien arrived from Beaver Lake, where they had been unsuccessful in fishing. " By what we could learn from the Indians at different times," writes Fraser, "an establishment would be well placed on the big river12 that falls into the main branch of the Peace River about half-way between this and the Beaver River." Early in the spring McDougall again took his station at Trout Lake. A letter was received from him on the 14th. La Malice was then with him. The messenger reported that the ice in many places- above the portage had not yet broken. McDougall had visited the Carriers' land, three and a half days*
12 Parsnip River, or south branch, on some maps is called Peace River, while Finlay River is put down as a branch, whereas the fact is the reverse. Re garding these streams Fraser says : ' This river at its confluence with the Peace River is large, and appears to contain a large quantity of water, and the Indians say it is navigable a considerable way up, and that beaver, bear, and large animals of all kind are amazing numerous.' Finlay's Journal, MS., 28-30.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL, II. 7
OS SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
march from Trout Lake, and reported that on the borders of a lake which " empties its waters into the Columbia by a small river which is reported to be navigable," he saw fifty men, and that the journey to this lake by water was 'long and intricate.
La Malice came down from Trout Lake, arriving
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at the Rocky Mountain House the 17th. He brought with him an Indian woman for whom he had paid three hundred livres. He was to have accompanied the expedition, but when Fraser refused to take the woman he refused to go. Fraser became indignant, and told him he might join the expedition or go to Montreal as 'he pleased, which latter signified a ter mination of his services. Finally La Malice con sented to go with the expedition, whereat Fraser relented, and told him he might take the woman.
At last, early in the morning of the 20th of May, Fraser took an account of all the property at the Rocky Mountain House, closed the transactions of the year, and turned the command over to Mc- Gillivray. Then, after writing some letters, every thing being prepared for his departure, in com pany with Stuart he crossed the river, and after a journey of fifteen miles, over a very bad road, reached the upper end of the portage that night at ten o'clock.
Arousing all hands long before daybreak next morn ing, the supplies were brought from cache, and two canoes loaded, when it was found that a third boat would be necessary. Fraser and Stuart set forward with the two canoes first filled, leaving La Malice to follow next day in the third. He was not long in overtaking them. All three boats were poorly con structed, especially Stuart's, which had been built under the superintendence of McDougall, who seemed to find little favor in Fraser's eyes about this time. A canoe had been built at Trout Lake by La Malice, but with such lack of skill that it was scarcely safe. Before the end of the first day, and frequently
FRASER ON MACKENZIE. 99
after that, it was found necessary to encamp, unload, and repair and gum the boats.
The first night, the party encamped at the first point; the second day they made but seven miles. The fourth day they reached a rapid, up which they towed their boats, and the next day another. Prog ress was very slow on account of having to stop to gum the leaky boats so frequently. On the 2Gth the travellers overtook a band of Meadow Indians on their way to the Beaver country. Mr Frascr was astonished at the wonderful skill displayed by them in chasing the mountain-sheep as they leaped from crag to crag, or dashed along the mountain-side.
The 27th saw the party at the rapid near Finlay River. Stuart took the courses and made a chart of the river. His first week's memoranda, however, were lost in the river. Next clay they came upon two natives who had never seen white men. They were exceedingly well dressed, and had guns which they obtained from their relatives, the Meadow Ind ians. Former information about Finlay River, the stream that Hows into it, and the country beyond, was confirmed.
Fraser now breaks into a tirade against Mackenzie,
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who, he says, either designedly or otherwise mis represents, having affirmed that the river was bad between the Rocky Mountain portage and the fork, and that he wished to make out that he ascended the river to its source, when in order to do that he must have taken the Finlay branch. Frascr's criticisms seem to me not only unjust but childish.13
About eleven o'clock this same day, the 28th of May, the party turned southward into the south branch, now generally designated Parsnip River. The current was strong, and the banks overflowed;
13 ' The distance does not appear to be much above ninety or one hundred miles at most, and a canoe \vell manned might have performed it in three days,' Fraser' $ Fir*t Journal, MS., 73; and yet Fraser himself occupied eight days in making this distance, and fills more pages with complaints than did Mackenzie in travelling five times the distance.
100 SIMON FBASER AND JOHN STUART.
the water was too deep for poles, which had been used with advantage upon the lower stream. The banks were thickly matted with trees and shrubs, so that hunting was impeded, and the drift-wood brought down by the current rendered navigation dangerous.
Working their way slowly up the stream, here forcing a passage among logs, and again towing their boats up the swift current, or carrying cargoes round rapids, breaking their boats on rocks, limbs, and stumps, and stopping continually to mend them, to say the least their patience was severely tried ; but all was courage ously met, for such was their daily and yearly routine.
The 2d of June, Nation River14 was passed, where one of the canoes was left, its men and cargo being divided between the other two. This was made possible by reason of the consumption of stores. On the 5th, at six o'clock, they encamped two miles "up the river that leads to Trout Lake," having left part of their cargoes below on account of the swiftness of the current. And here again Fraser breaks forth in wrath because Mac kenzie did not see, or failed to mention, certain land marks. The present explorer does not wish to detract from the merits of his predecessor, he says, but in his opinion Sir Alexander was asleep when he went through that country; and even the observations which were made were not his own, but those of the men who were with him.15 At this encampment the
14 ' So called because the upper part of it is inhabited by some of the Big Men, though of a different family from those at .Trout Lake.' Fraser'x First Journal, MS., 78.
15 Simon Fraser was not the most amiable man in the world, as we have seen ail along in this narrative, but his ill-temper we might endure for the sake of his honesty, or of his enterprise. But when through envy he attempts to enlarge himself by cheapening the more brilliant efforts of a better man, he brings upon himself only contempt. It was 110 credit for him to say of one who had so recently done so much for his country and for the Northwest Company that 'I can account for many other omissions, in no other manner than his being asleep at the time lie pretends to have been very exact;' and, again: 'He seldom or never paid the attention he pretends to have clone.' Fraser' s First Journal, MS., 81-2. Alexander Mackenzie, in his life and works, I have ever found honest, courteous, a close observer, and a correct writer. The journal of Simon Fraser will scarcely justify his biographer in saying as much for him. Nevertheless, we will gather in all the good con cerning him that we can find, without attempting to bring him into low esteem, as he sought to do with regard to Mackenzie.
TROUT LAKE. 101
rest of the goods, except such as were destined for Trout Lake, were placed in cache, because the travellers intended soon to return this way, and to follow the course of the east branch or main channel of the river into the country of the Carriers. More than this, the boats were so shattered as to be unsafe, and new ones had become a necessity. Some of the men were left at the cache to watch the property there.
Continuing their journey they crossed a small lake, which was Trout Lake proper as known to-day, and ascended a smaller and swifter stream than any hither to encountered, and encamped within two miles of the fort. Next morning they proceeded to the house, and found McDougall, who had been anxiously expecting them for several days. First of all they set their nets for fish to satisfy their hunger while they could build some new boats. Then they sent for some of the goods which had been placed in cache, leaving there one man, La Garde, to watch the rest. After that they sent out word for the natives to come in and bring fish and furs. The canoes finished, and having selected to accompany them two out of the natives who came to the fort, one of them a brother-in-law of Little Head, on the 23d of June they returned to the encampment where the goods had been cached.
At the fort McDougall was left alone, the only man, Saucier, who was to remain with him having ac companied the Fraser party to the cache encampment in order to bring back some iron utensils and such other goods as were needed at the post. Arrived at the cache, they found the goods all safe with La Garde in attendance. All this time the man had lived well on what he could shoot without touching the allowance left him of dried food. Loading the boats next morning the party dropped down the little stream that leads to McLeocl Lake, and turning into the main channel began its ascent,16
1G 1 would call special attention to this encampment and to the narrative in this connection. Mr Eraser's exact words are : ' We pushed off down the cur-
102 SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
One of the men who had complained of illness be fore starting now gave up, and wished to return. He was immediately sent back with his wife and baggage, in charge of six men, to the cache encampment of the previous night, and there left to finish a pine canoe which Saucier was making in which to take the goods to the fort, and Saucier was taken in his place. Not more than two hours were occupied in making the exchange.
That day and the next, which was the 25th, poling and paddling were good, and fair distances were made. La Malice was now seized with sickness, became de lirious, and caused some delay. In fact, all the men complained of some ailment, or at least Fraser com plained of all except Stuart. The boats and the stream being about what they should be for the pur poses of navigation, there was nothing left but the men to find fault with, and if these were so much below the average Mr Fraser should not have brought
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them.17 Setting out at an early hour on the morning of the 27th, the party breakfasted "at a considerable large river that flows into the main on the left side." Above this was a rapid place three miles in length, then a slack current again. "A little before sunset we found four young men of the Barbins'band exactly
rent until we came to the main river, and then I steered up a strong and rapid- ous stream.' First Journal, MS., 101-2. It has been taken for granted by many that both Mackenzie and Fraser in passing up the Parsnip from Peace River to the Fraser followed the most direct course past Trout Lake, McLeod Lake, Summit Lake, and over Giscome portage, whereas if I am correct in my reckoning it was up the main channel of Parsnip River, past the branch that comes in from McLeod Lake to the upper fork, where taking the western branch they ascended to its source, and thence crossed to the Fraser. The rea sons by which I arrive at this conclusion will be more apparent as we proceed. 17 It is true he excuses himself by saying there were no better men at the Rocky Mountain portage, but if that was true, whose fault was it that there was a lack of good men there? We may be sure that in the Northwest Com pany, of all other associations in the world, good masters were sure to have good men. With every one of them something was the matter, he says, a rupture, an eruption, a sprain, or a fever. Indeed, it docs not seem to have occurred to him that in all this he was censuring only himself for being so poorly pro vided for his expedition. Now, too, he indulges in the strange inconsistency of n:eeting at cveiy turn some object mentioned by Mr Mackenzie in 1793, or by Mr Finlay in 1797, and that too on a route which a short time previous lie doubted they had ever travelled.
THE SEVERAL ROUTES. 103
where Sir Alexander Mackenzie found the first Indians upon his expedition in 1793."18 There they encamped.
Very early next day they passed another large stream flowing in from the east,, and at noon still another on the same side, the last one " as large as the one we navigated." At this fork they came upon an old chief, who for several days had been waiting their arrival at this point, which was the identical spot where Finlay had found the same man nine years before. With him were several natives who had come a long distance to see white people, and who now examined them with great interest and admiration.
Early in the morning of the 30th they passed another stream flowing in from the east, near the place called by Mackenzie Beaver Lodge. A half-mile beyond they passed another small stream, this time on the western side. Before noon they turned from the main channel into a branch that came in from the west.19 This river was clear and deep, but not very wide. Soon they came to a small lake, to enter which they were forced to open a passage through drift wood. One and a half miles up this lake they met an Indian who drew a map of the country for them, and said, were they at Trout Lake he could show them a shorter and better route to the Fraser than that they were on.20
18 1 am thus particular to show, first, that this party is not on the branch that leads to McLeod's Lake, and secondly, that Fraser is here following the track of Mackenzie.
19 Here is a specimen of Eraser's grammar and temper : ' Sir Alexander Mackenzie represents this river as terminating in the mountains near at hand, but if the Indians be allowed to know better than him it is not so, for they say it is navigable much farther, and terminates in a small lake. ' First Journal, MS., 112-13.
20 ' There was a portage of a mile and one half at most from one of the lakes beyond Trout Lake into a fine navigable river, and no rapids, that flows into the Columbia.' Finlaifs Journal, MS., 114. Writing his partners of the route spoken of by the Indian, he says : ' It falls in a little below the Knights' first encampment on the Columbia. It is a fine navigable river with no great current, and report says that there is only a carrying place of about a couple of miles at most from the other lakes beyond Trout Lake to fall into it ; and Mr McDougall has now directions to ascertain the truth of it, which, if exact, will not only shorten the passage, but render it perfectly safe, as it will be the means of avoiding the Bad River.' Fraser's Letters, MS., 4. With Mackenzie, Fraser at this time supposed Fraser River to be the Columbia.
101 SIMON FRASER AXD JOHN STUART.
This Indian was easily prevailed upon to accompany them to the next lake, a short distance beyond, which was the source of this branch of Parsnip River. Here was the Height of Land, as the rid<K} dividing the flow
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of waters toward the east and toward the west was called by the fur-hunters. Mr Eraser thought this not a bad place for an establishment. There were lakes and streams on every side abounding in fish, with fur-bearing animals not far distant. Seven or eight hundred yards beyond this lake, over this low dividing ridge, was another lake whose waters com municated with Eraser River.21
Embarking on this little sheet of water, about three miles in length, the travellers found themselves at last gliding with the current which starting never stops until it reaches the salt Pacific.22 Both Mackenzie and Eraser were here troubled with drift-wood. The out let to this lake was a small stream, yet large enough to iioat a canoe, but so filled with drift-wood as to be impassable. Hence here was another portage of some one hundred and sixty or seventy yards to another
21 The character of this portage and the sources of tlio streams on cither side of it, as well as the channel taken at the branch which leads to McLcod Lake must finally determine the course taken by Mackenzie and Frascr. Mac kenzie, Voyage, 217, says : ' We landed and unloaded, where we found n beaten path leading over a low ridge of land of eight hundred and seventeen paces in length to another small lake. The distance between the two mountain:;; at thi ; place is about a quarter of a mile, rocky precipices presenting themselves on both sides.' Fraser remarks, First Journal, MS., 115: 'Wo continued to the extremity of the lake about three miles, and there unloaded ab the Height of Land, which is one of the finest portages I ever saw, between six and seven hundred yards long, and perhaps the shortest interval of any between the waters that descend into the northern and southern oceans.' These two statements, as well as those which follow after embarking upon the southern lake, are easily reconciled. They are unquestionably the same. Of this spot we have no correct map. but turning to Mr Selwyn's Geological Surce*/ Re port 1875-G, we find an exact map of the entire branch on which is situated McLeod Lake. But here the portage is seven and one fourth miles, or 12,700 paces, which in no wise corresponds with the distance mentioned by both Mac kenzie and Fraser. Giscomc portage likewise terminates on the bank of the Fraser, while both Mackenzie and Frascr speak of a lake and stream which they navigated before coming to the Columbia, as they supposed the large river to be. Finally, although not much reliance for exactness is to bo placed on the astronomical observations of the early explorers, such evidence as we have of that kind is in favor of the eastern portage, which Mackenzie makes in latitude 54° 24', and longitude 121 west from Greenwich.
22 'This lake runs in the same course as the last, but is rather narrower, and not more than half the length.' Mackenzie's Voy., 217.
BAD RIVER. 105
and perhaps a triile smaller lake.23 Here they en camped, and set their net for fish. Their start was late next day, the 2d of July, owing to the inclem ency of the weather, and to fresh troubles with La Malice, who was unreasonable and petulant, complain ing of neglect and ill-treatment, and threatening to remain behind, saying he was in no wise obliged to explore Peace River, much less the waters that de scended to the Pacific. Fraser would not abandon him, however, although he sometimes felt that the man deserved no better treatment. From the second small lake along the streamlet to the large river, though the distance was not far, the time occupied in mailing it by Mackenzie was five clays, and by Fraser eight clays. Nor was there on the entire route a moro difficult or hazardous piece of travel. The stream was aptly called Bad River by these hardy explorers.24
The country was rugged, and the river rocky, stumpy, full of fallen trees and drift-wood, with fre quent rapids, cascades, and shallow places. Again and again the canoes were broken and mended,, until they were little else than patchwork. Sometimes there would be a complete wreck, with half the boat smashed; at which times the men were obliged to plunge into the icy water to save the cargo, remaining there frequently for hours until benumbed by cold and ready to drop with fatigue. Over some places the canoes could carry but part of a load, when sev eral trips would bo made; portages were frequent, sometimes over bluffs, and sometimes through jungles. Excessive labor, attended by frequent exasperating mishaps, brought discouragement to the men, who
-° Mackenzie says this second lake ' is in the same course, and about the same size as that which we have just left.' To reach it he passed over 'a beaten path of only one hundred and seventy-live paces long. ' Fraser s words arc: ' The distance is 100 yards to another lake not quite so large as the last on^.' AFackeiule'x Fc/y., 217-10; Frascr's First Journal, MS., 110.
- ; ' Near its confluence [nic] it divides into three branches, all of which I suppose to be navigable, but the one to the right is the best route.' Fraser'8 First Journal, MS., 13o.
106 SIMON FRASER AND JOHN STUART.
more than once threatened to abandon the enterprise and return ; but by sharing with them both danger and hardship, their leader finally prevailed upon them to continue, though it was indeed a marvellous feat to make this passage in loaded boats.25
On emerging from Bad River the first thing to be done was to encamp, dry the goods, and mend the boats. Five beaver brought in by the hunters were quickly devoured by the men. Again embarking, so swift was the current of the Fraser at this point that twenty-one miles were made before five o'clock next morning, which was the llth of July, and with an early start and a fine run they reached the mouth of
2°I will give the words of both Mackenzie and Fraser on reaching Fraser River : ' At an early hour of the morning we were all employed in cutting a passage of three quarters of a mile, through which we carried our canoe and cargo, when we put her into the water with her lading, but iu a very short time were stopped by the drift-wood, and were obliged to land and carry. In short, we pursued our alternate journies by land and water till noon, when we could proceed no further, from the various small unnavigable channels into which the river branched in every direction ; and no other mode of get ting forward now remained for us but by cutting a road across a neck of land. I accordingly despatched two men to ascertain the exact distance, and we employed the interval of their absence in unloading and getting the canoe out of the water. It was eight in the evening when we arrived at the bank of the great river. This journey was three quarters of a mile east-north-east through a continued swamp, where in many places we waded up to the mid dle of our thighs. Our course in the small river was about south-east by cast three miles. At length we enjoyed, after all our toil and anxiety, the inex pressible satisfaction of finding ourselves on the bank of a navigable river on the west side of the first great range of mountains.' Mackenzie's Voy., 2J7-8. ' This place we suppose to be the low spot where Sir Alexander Mackenzie carried across the neck of land to the large river. He was misinformed in saying it terminated in various branches. Mr Stuart, who was down yester day at the large river, traced this river for some time, and afterward crossed it in many places, is of opinion that we will be able to get to its confluence with the canoes, and the Montague de bauttes [sic] account of it agrees with his. Therefore we intend to continue by water as far as we can. All the goods arc entirely wet, and the provisions are spoiling. When we arrived at this place the canoes were no more able to float, their bottoms being entirely smashed, and after getting bark, and gathering some gum, we patched them up for the present. . .Thursday, 10th July. After the canoes were gummed a little we continued on, and had better going than we had reason to expect. The river — right branch — is narrow, but plenty of water to bear the canoes, and the current is not strong, which enabled us to continue on with both canoes with their full loads on. At 10 A. M. we arrived at the large river opposite an island, without encountering any other difficulty than cutting several trees that laid across the channel, and we were most happy at having exempted the long and bad carrying place, and seeing ourselves once more on the banks of a fine and navigable river.' Eraser's First Journal, MS., J32-3.
FRASER RIVER. 107
the Nechaco, or Stuart River,26 about sunset, and entering it encamped near where now stands Fort George.
26 ' This river is not mentioned by Sir Alexander Mackenzie, which sur prises me not a little, it being full in sight, and a fine large river. . .from what Mr McDougall in his journal of last spring calls the Great Fork. . .flows in from the right. . .leads to the Carrier's Lake where Mr McDougall was last spring.' Frascr's Firat Journal, MS., 138-9. 'We left the Columbia on the llth ultimo, and entered this river, which at its confluence is half as large as the former.' Fraser's Letters, MS., 4. See Hist. NorLhwcst Coast, i. CS3, this series.
CHAPTER V.
DESCENT OF FRASER RIVER— DISCOVERY OF THOMPSON RIVER.
1800-1811.
ASCENT OF STUART RIVER — FORT ST JAMES FOUNDED — THEY EXPLORE FRASER LAKE — AND BUILD FRASER FORT— FORT GEORGE ESTAB LISHED — VOYAGE DOWN THE FRASER — SPOKANE HOUSE — FLATIIEAD HOUSE AND FORT KOOTENAIS ESTABLISHED — DAVID THOMPSON AP PEARS IN NEW CALEDONIA — DISCOVERS THOMPSON RIVER— DESERTION OF ins MEN — WINTERS ON CANOE RIVER — DESCENDS THE COLUMBIA TO FORT ASTORIA.
THUS far Stuart and Frascr had discovered but little new country. They had followed Mackenzie's tracks to and down Fraser River as far as Stuart River ; but from this point we follow them into regions new to European eyes.
Entering Stuart River, the travellers had to con tend with a strong and in parts steady current, with frequent rapids and carrying-places. Fraser was in clined to ascend this stream by what had been told him at Trout Lake by the Carriers who had crossed over from Stuart Lake. Representations were made by these natives concerning the resources of their coun try, and the temper of their people, which fully corrob orated the observations of McDougall made during the spring of the previous year, and these determined Fraser to visit that region and establish posts there before descending the great river to the sea.
On their way up they were troubled somewhat by grizzly bears, two of the men being chased by them. One man was caught and badly torn, the dogs coming up just in time to save his life. The wife of
(108)
STUART RIVER, . 109
one of the hunters escaped a horrible death by throw ing herself flat on her face, the enraged brute in con sequence passing her by in pursuit of her flying husband. In one place they were obliged to cut a road three hundred yards in length round a cascade which dashed down between perpendicular rocks.
No natives were seen until half-way up the river, when on the bank were encountered thirty men arrayed in robes of beaver, cat, and badger skins. The south branch which comes in from Fraser, or as it was then called, Natla Lake,1 was passed by on the left, and on the 26th of July 1806 they came to a large fine body of water which they called at first Sturgeon Lake,2 but afterward Stuart Lake, and the river they had just ascended, Stuart Biver.
Here Fraser has no little fault to find with Mc- Dougall, who, he affirms, pictured the country in all its spring glories, with an abundance of fish and fowl, whereas the fifty miserable natives3 he found there were starving, and the travellers themselves would have suffered had they arrived earlier, the water being even then so high that they could catch few fish. Immedi ately on landing, all hands set to work building, and soon comfortable quarters were secured, which in time developed into the formidable establishment of Fort St James. The site chosen was a peninsula, thus giving the place quite a maritime air.4 La Malice, who had fully recovered, was then sent with letters to McDougall and the partners below, and also to meet expected supplies.5
1 On some maps Natla; Fraser writes it Nalta, and sometimes Natley.
2 Indian name Naughalchun. •
3 ' They are a large, indolent, thievish set of vagabonds of a mild disposi tion. They are amazing fond of goods, which circumstance might lead to imagine that they would work well to get what they seem to be so fond of ; but then they are independent of us, as they get their necessaries from their neighbors who trade with the nativesof the sea-coast. ' Fraser 's Letters, M ^. , 0-7.
4 The post proved pleasant and important; so much so that in 1843, while in charge of the New Caledonian Department, Chief Factor Ogden made his residence there.
5 ' La Malice is the bearer of this who I send down to meet the canoes which probably will be at Fort Chipewyan in order to conduct them up to Trout Lake, and from thence we will be able to get the goods taken across land to this place in the course of the fall and winter.' Fraser's Letters, MS., 8.
110 DESCENT OF ERASER RIVER.
It was now Mr Eraser's plan to continue his route down the Eraser as far as the Atnah Nation, accom panied by Mr Stuart and six men, leaving the rest of his company at Fort St James. If Eraser could find a suitable place to winter, then Stuart would return to Fort St James; if not, both would return, in which case one of them would go over to the other lake westward, that is to say, Eraser Lake, and establish a post there. The failure of the salmon by whose ar rival alone the winter for red men or white in this region is made comfortable, greatly retarded his move ments. " No possible exertion of ours has been want ing," Eraser writes his partner early in August 1806. " We have established the post beyond the mountains, and will establish another in the most conventional place we can find before the fall, where people can live, and this I believe was all that was expected this
summer."
The necessarily limited supplies brought with them were being daily reduced, and new countries could not be explored and forts established without cost; so Eraser said while asking for further men and means, nor were any considerable returns expected by him this year. Yet, if a number of stations could be favorably planted on this western side of the mountains, he did not doubt the result would be satisfactory in the end.
Meanwhile neither salmon nor supplies arriving, the last of August saw the fort-builders subsisting on berries, with a few carp which they could catch, and now and then a beaver. And yet, although so near starvation, Eraser and Stuart felt that they could delay operations no longer. So on the 28th, Stuart, accompanied by two men, set out for the other side of the mountain which intervenes between this and Natla, or Eraser Lake, for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability of establishing a post in that local ity, and to choose a site. He was to meet and report to Mr Eraser in eight days at the junction of the two streams flowing from the respective lakes. To
FRASER LAKE. Ill
this end Fraser left Stuart Lake the 3d of September, Blais remaining in charge until Stuart should arrive,
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while Fraser was to continue exploring down the river. But when the friends met at the junction according to agreement, so favorable was Stuart's account of the district he had just visited that Fraser determined to proceed thither at once and build a house. Besides, to attempt to descend the great river without pro visions or goods would be the height of folly. During the absence of the partners the natives, recognizing very quickly the difference between masters and men, had imposed upon Blais and his comrades, although no damage had been done. McDougall, to the infi nite disgust of Fraser, had fallen from the greatest of expectations for the season to begging from the starving fort-builders five measures of powder and a man to hunt for him to keep him alive.
According to his purpose, Fraser proceeded to Natla, that is to say, Fraser Lake, and with five men began to erect a building in a picturesque position at the eastern end near its discharge into the Ncchacho
O
River, which in time became Fort Fraser. The sal mon now began to come, insuring safety from starva tion during the winter. But the natives of this lake being no less indifferent to the white man's merchandise than those of the other lake, the fort-builders were obliged to leave their labors and to do their own fishing.6 Next, Fraser explored the lake, and found in the hands of the natives at the end opposite that on which he was building, some spoons and a metal pot. During the autumn Stuart crossed over to Trout Lake, hoping to obtain some goods; but as no canoes had arrived so far, all hopes were abandoned of fur ther operations that season.7 When it was too late
6 'I assure you I am tired of living on fish,' now writes Eraser, who a few days before was fearful lest he with the rest should starve on account of the non-arrival of the salmon.
7 'I certainly was highly disappointed and vexed,' writes Fraser to Mc Dougall the 21st of December, 'that no canoes arrived at this quarter, which is a considerable loss to the company, and a severe blow to our discoveries.' Fraser's Letters, MS., 40.
112 DESCENT OF ERASER RIVER.
the goods came, and then Fraser lifted up his lamen tations because the company would be displeased in not receiving fair returns for them, which it was impos sible for him to make.
Quite a scandal arose this winter over the woman La Malice had bought at Trout Lake, in which Mc- Dougall was mixed up to his detriment. It seems in the purchase of this woman some of the company's goods had been employed, contrary to rule or prece dent. Yet all this did not prevent both Fraser and McDougall from picking up temporary wives for the winter.
M can while the fort-building1 went forward to com-
O
fortable completion; and we can but accord these hardy pioneers the highest praise when we remember that these establishments have stood as the most im portant posts of all that region for three quarters of a century.
It was the earnest desire of Mr Fraser to continue his explorations down the river at the earliest possible moment the ensuing spring. He even thought of getting goods over on the ice, so as to be ready to start as soon as the rivers were open. But in this he was disappointed, there not being goods enough this side of the mountains to supply the newly constructed posts, to say nothing of a supply for exploring pur poses. Attention was therefore given the following spring more to fur-gathering than to explorations.
The most notable event in this locality in 1807 was the building of Fort George at the confluence of Stuart and Fraser rivers.8 Upon the lake above there were two establishments planted, but on the Great River as yet there was none; and should this stream become a great highway between the eastern ocean
8 Fort George was placed on the right bank of the Fraser near the junction of the Nechaco, 011 a spot called Thleetleh. One would hardly suppose there could be such poverty of fort nomenclature as to require calling Astoria Fort George, when there was one fort already 011 the western slope rejoicing in that name.
FORT GEORGE.
113
and the western; should it prove to be the Columbia, as Mackenzie had thought, and above all should it prove to be navigable, as from appearances thereabouts there was every indication, then this post would be greatly needed. At all events it was at Fort George that Eraser now gathered his forces and supplies, and it was from this place that he had determined to take his departure on a voyage of discovery down this stream.9
FRASER, RIVER.
In the summer of 1808, then, in company with Stuart, we find Mr Eraser swiftly descending the stream which bears his name, under somewhat more favorable circumstances than those in which the first part of his journey was performed two years previous. Yet at best it was a daring feat, and he, as well as Sir
9 See Tod's New Caledonia, MS., 30; Anderson's Northicest Coast, MS., 13-14, 29-30, and 98; Stuart's Notes, passim, 235; U ittes'Nar. U. S. Ex. Ex., iv. 479; Select Com. House Commons Rept., 367; DIM'S Speeches, i. 46; British North Am., 274; Martin's H. B., 25. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 8
114 DESCENT OF FRASER RIVER.
George Simpson, who followed him twenty years later, are entitled to our hearty admiration.
The party embarked at Fort George in fine condi tion, about the middle of May. At the beginning of his journey Mr Fraser occasionally met a native who had seen Sir Alexander Mackenzie in his journey, but he was soon among those who had never beheld a white man. Animals were reported numerous, and the river little better than a succession of dangerous or impassable rapids and falls. The natives told him that if he would reach the sea he should follow the route of Mackenzie, which some of them well remem bered, but Fraser answered them that whatever the obstacles he should follow that river to its end.
The Indians along the route were well clad, intelli gent, and peaceable. They had often heard of fire arms, but few had ever witnessed their discharge. Often they would ask to have them fired, and on hearing the report they would fall flat on their faces. One day, while firing his swivel for their edification, it burst, wounding the man who fired it. Mr Fraser now attempted to enter in his journal the course of the river after the manner of Mackenzie, though to little purpose.
A notable slave, encountered on the 31st of May, professed to have ascended the whole length of the stream, and attempted to delineate its course, but failed. An Atnah chief, with his slave, accompanied the expedition in the hope that Fraser would build a fort on his land when he returned. This chief's brother bestowed valuable gifts upon Fraser, and charged him to take good care of his kinsman.
The simplicity and coolness with which the fur- traders speak of hardships and dangers, I have re marked upon before, but I am sure I can do no better here than to let Mr Fraser tell how he passed a bad place in the river on the 1st of June. ''Mr Stuart, myself, and six men went to visit the rapid again, while the other remained to take care of the baggage
THRILLING ADVENTURES. 115
and canoes. We found the rapid to be about one and a half miles long, and the rocks on both sides the river contract themselves in some places to within thirty or forty yards of one another; the immense body of water passes through them in a zigzag and turbulent manner, forming numerous gulfs and whirl pools of great depth. However, it was deemed im possible to carry the canoes; it was the general opinion that they ought to be run clown ; indeed, there was no alternative than that or leaving them here. Stuart remained at the lower end with La Garde and Waka to watch the natives, while the others were running the canoes down; though they appeared to be peaceable, it would not be prudent to allow the people to run down the canoes under such a steep and rocky bank without having a guard above, as it would be in the Indians' power to sink them all to the bottom were they ill inclined; and I returned to the upper end to see the people embark. Accordingly five of the best men embarked with only about eleven or twelve pieces. They immediately entered the rapid, but the whirlpools below the first cascade made them wheel about, and they remained a con siderable time without being able to move one way or the other, and every moment on the brink of eternity. However, by the utmost exertion, they went down two others, till between the third and fourth, which is the most turbulent, the eddies and whirlpools caught hold of the canoe, and, in spite of them, brought it ashore in a moment; and fortunately it was it happened so, and that they were not able to get out again, for had they got down the fourth cas cade, it would have been more than likely they would have remained there. Seeing it impossible to go any further, they unloaded upon a small point, in a very steep and high and long hill. Upon my way down to see what had become of the people, I met Stuart coming up, who informed me of their situation, he having seen them from the lower part of the rapids.
116 DESCENT OF ERASER RIVER.
We went down immediately to the place where they were thrown ashore, which we reached with much difficulty on account of the steepness of the banks. I often supported myself by running my dagger into the ground to hold myself by it. Happy we were to find all hands safe after such imminent danger. With much difficulty a road was dug into the hill with a hoc, about the breadth of one foot, and a line tied to the bow of the canoe, and brought up an extraor dinary bad and long bank. Had any of those that carried the canoe missed their step, all would have tumbled into the river in spite of those that hauled the line, and when that was effected, the baggage was brought up."10
The natives now reiterated their assertions that the navigation of the river below was impossible, and the explorers began to believe them. But when the unsophisticated red men were asked to loan or sell some of their horses to transport the effects, which they disliked extremely to do, they thought the river not so bad, and that perhaps it would be better to take the canoe. Frascr would avoid such hazardous risking of life if possible. " The tremendous gulphs and whirlpools," he says, " which are peculiar to this river, are ready every moment to swallow a canoe with all its contents, and the people on board, and the high and perpendicular rocks render it impossible to stop the canoe or get on shore even were it stopped; were the water lower it would be more practicable."
The party now made preparations to leave two canoes, cache a large part of their baggage and pro visions, and follow the road along the bank, which the natives assured them was good. With difficulty they succeeded in obtaining four horses; but on further consideration they determined to make another at tempt to continue in boats. So shouldering the boats and luggage with the assistance of the natives, who
l°Fraser's Second Journal, MS., 13-17. Mr Eraser says, from the top of the rocks looking over into the abyss the rapids do not look as dangerous as they in reality are.
TERRIBLE SCENERY. 117
were more accommodating than hospitable, they next day took up their march, embarking on the stream at every possible opportunity. The natives spoke of having heard of white people who had descended the first large stream flowing in from the left, but whether they referred to Lewis and Clarke, or to the Fort des Prairies people, Fraser could not tell.
Cutting roads and obtaining uncertain charts of the river from the natives soon became tiresome, and after three days of it Fraser again determined to leave the canoes. It was true if they went down by land they would have to return in the same manner. " But to proceed is my present object," said Fraser, "and if fortunate enough in that, we will always find our way back; for to gain that every person will be interested, which perhaps is not so much the case at present/' and no wonder that the men whose courage and obedience were remarkable, thus daily and hourly risking their lives at the command of their masters, as a matter of course, should not be specially eager to plunge into these death -dealing1 charms. The
JL o O
wild rapids they ran and the precipitous portages they made, lifting their luggage and canoes up per pendicular banks where a single misstep would send them all headlong to death, appear to us almost in credible.
On the fifth day they reached a portage where " the rocks contract themselves to within thirty yards of one another, and at the lower end is a rocky island on the left shore. It is terrible to behold the rapidity and turbulency of the immense body of water that passes in this narrow gut, and no less do the numer ous gulphs and whirlpools it forms constantly striking from one rock to another. The rocks are amazing high and craggy, particularly on the right side, and the water in a manner seems to have forced a passage under them, and flows out here and tb^re in numerous whirlpools and eddies that surpass anything of the kind I ever saw." Le Rapid Couvert, as they called
118 DESCENT OF ERASER RIVER.
another similar place below, was, if anything, still narrower and more dangerous.
There was another serious danger attending the navigation of a wild stream like this for the first time, which was not to be apprehended in travelling known routes. Often the boats were caught in the current and carried rapidly forward, when at any moment the navigators might come upon a fall over which they were sure to go to their destruction. Walking on shore, even over the plains, was as dis agreeable as the portages were difficult and the rapids dangerous; for the thistles which pierced the soles of their feet were so bad that a pair of shoes would not last a whole day.
Thus these hardy foresters continued their way, the history of each succeeding day varying but little in hazardous detail from that of its predecessor. At every step, while among the mountains, Mr Fraser was told by the natives that it would be impossible to continue in canoes; but one of his boats was named the Perse verance, and, says Mr Fraser, "as it is my object to determine the practicability of the navigation of this river, though it would be much more safe and expe ditious to go by land, we shall not leave our canoes as long as there will be any possibility of taking them down by water or land." So the brave fellows worked their way through, and were finally rewarded by a sail upon the peaceful waters below. After examining the country thereabout to their satisfaction, mean while regarded with threatening suspicion by the natives, they retraced their steps, and returned to Fort George on the Fraser.11
o
11 It was a long time before I could make up my mind whether Eraser ever reached the mouth of the river or not. The journal breaks suddenly off, leaving the party in the midst of their journey. That, however, implies nothing. Harmon, Journal, 173, who was the next prominent personage on the ground after Stuart and Fraser, states that Fraser went to the coast, where he received ill-treatment from the natives. Then came Simpson's dec laration, Journal, i. IS'2: 'Fraser River had never been wholly descended by whites previously to 1828, when, in order to explore the navigation all the way to the sea, I started from Stuart's Lake with three canoes ; ' and think ing surely the great governor knew everything, and would not wilfully de-
DAVID THOMPSON. 119
Soon after the return to Fort George on the Frascr of the expedition last recorded, Simon Fraser pro ceeded east to report what had thus far been accom plished ; by which easy and pleasant service he secured for the perpetuation of his name the second largest river in this region. Meanwhile John Stuart con tinued to look about him for advantageous sites upon which to plant additional establishments.
Early in 1810 rumors were afloat that John Jacob Astor, whose operations in the then north-western United States were beginning in some small degree to rival those of the British companies across the line, contemplated a fur-trading movement on the lower Columbia, for the purpose at once of securing to himself that virgin field, of establishing a line of communication across the continent, and of opening trade direct between the Northwest Coast and China. However chimerical might be such plans, steps were being taken to carry them into immediate effect. In deed, certain of the disaffected in the service of the Northwest Company had already been allured to his standard by the offer of larger interests and larger prospective gains.
These reports, which culminated in June of this year in the organization of the Pacific Fur Company, stirred the Northwest partners to yet more energetic action in their new north-west. A lar^e and well
O
appointed party under the command of David Thomp son, surveyor and astronomer of the Northwest Com-
ceive, I held to that opinion for several years, until finally coming upon a statement by John Stuart himself, who was one of the party, and should know how far he went, I concluded that the governor was in error. These are Stuart's words : ' The establishment on McLeod's Lake was founded in 1805, those on Stuart's and Eraser's lakes in 1SOG; that of Fort George in 1807, and it was from there that, in 1808, the expedition that traced the Jackanet (meaning the Fraser) River of Sir Alexander Mackenzie down to its mouth, in latitude 49° north, took its departure ; and finding the Jackanet, until then supposed to be identical with the Columbia, to be a distinct river, unconnected with the Columbia,' etc. Stuart's Notes in Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 235. Anderson, indeed, is yet more definite, saying in p. 15 of his dictation: 'In 1808, Fraser and Stuart started with bark canoes to de scend the Fraser, and with great difficulty and perseverance reached a point near to where New Westminster has since been located. ' And again OH p. 56 the same intelligent author says they ' ran down the Fraser in 1808 to the sea/
120 DESCENT OF ERASER RIVER.
pany, was despatched to the western side during the summer of 1810, with instructions to build forts wher ever trade should seem to justify, and narrowly to watch the operations of the new Pacific Company.
The far south-east from Fort George on the Fraser commanded early attention. It was in this district that parties crossing the mountains by way of the
l-'7 .-4) Vii U'5 124 123\W^ja_. 121 J20 ll'J 11s i 117 110 115 }}4 113 ^•^\\ i V I
IrW^^^S^R^
i
..„/•"* ChilcKin Fl!U \ \ . '^ ^.. >3i _^>^ S-iV'*'
ML
AEROWSMITH'S MAP.
Missouri River would naturally first set traps and engage in traffic, and the wide-awake Northwesters intended to be ready for them.
Firman McDonald, a clerk in the Northwest Com pany, was sent to the Spokane River, where, about twenty miles from its mouth, a fort was planted which shortly after assumed considerable importance as the distributing point for the surrounding posts.
THE UPPER COLUMBIA. 121
It was from the Spokane House in May 1811 that we find a letter of Firman McDonald addressed to John Stuart in New Caledonia, intercepted at Fort Astoria, the letter having been sent by two native messengers, who mistook their way intentionally, or otherwise, and finally reached the mouth of the Co lumbia, causing there no small commotion, further account of which will be given hereafter.12
There were likewise posts established about this time on the Flatheacl or Clarke branch of the Co lumbia,13 and on the McGillivray, Flatbow, or Koote- nais River.14 Fort Sheppard at the junction of the Flathead15 and the Columbia, Jasper House, or as it was sometimes called the Rocky Mountain House,18
12 Ross, Fur Hunters, i. 137, rails at the location of this post for six years or more as the depot of this district. He says that goods for the upper country \vere carried two hundred miles out of their way to be distributed from this place, and all by reason of the force of habit. It was quite a gay place iii the days of its glory, with its fine buildings, stockade, raid solid bastions, its ballroom and belles, its race-track and line horses; for it was here the wintering parties met and fitted out, and a little fun must be in dulged in on such occasions. But it was finally found inaccessible ; and they talked of removal first to Walla Walla, and finally to Kettle Falls, which was done in 182G, and the new port called Colville. Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., G-7; Gray's Hist. Or., 43. For a time, as Avas once the case at many of these establishments, there were two posts at Spokane, one conducted by the Northwest Company, and the other by the Pacific Company, between which there was always fierce rivalry. Ross' Adv., 201-2.
13 Flathead House was situated about one hundred and seventy-five miles east of Colville, A rrowsmith's Map. ' Situated on a point formed by the j unction of a bold mountain torrent with the Flathead River, and surrounded on all sides with high and thickly wooded hills covered with pine, spruce, larch, beach, birch, and cedar.' Cox's Columbia River, i. 231. McMillan was in charge of Flathead House in 1813. Prior to the establishment of this fort at this place Cox and Farnham had selected a site forty miles west of the point upon which the fort was actually built. See also House. Commons' Rept. H. n. Co., 367.
11 Fort Kootenais was a little to the east of north from Flathead House, some sixty miles distant. Arrowsmith's Map. South-east of Flatbow Lake. Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 187. Gray, Hist. Or., 43, erroneously places it at the mouth of the river. See also House Common*' Rept. II. D. Co., 367. The post was of little importance save as a means of holding the country. As early as 1812 there were two establishments there, Montour being in charge of that of the Northwest Company, while Pellet acted for the Pacific Company.
15 Arrowsmith places this post at the junction of the Kootenais and the Columbia.
16 There are no less than three establishments by this name, no great dis tance apart, laid down on Arrowsmith's map, one on Peace River, the one now mentioned as Jasper House, and one on the Saskatchewan. Jasper Hov.ae was once of considerable importance, both as the centre of a fur- producing country, and as an important post on the regular line of travel between Norway House and Edmonton on the east, and the New Caledonian
122
DESCENT OF FRASER RIVER.
and Henry House, in Athabasca Pass, were estab lished later.
Over in New Caledonia, at the confluence of the north branch of Thompson River with Thompson River proper was erected a log-house, at first known as Fort Thompson, but which later became Fort Kaniloops.17 Thompson crossed the mountains at
THOMPSON RIVER.
and Columbian districts on the west. Father De Smet, Oregon Missions, 1 27-30, and Grant, Ocean to Ocean, 232, mention Jasper House as an impor tant though then nearly abandoned station. Kane, Wandering*, 153-4, says the place where he saw and made a sketch of it consisted 'of only three mis erable huts,' and was 'only kept tip for the purpose of supplying horses to parties crossing the mountains. '
17 Some time after there were two posts at this point, both at the south eastern extremity of Kaniloops Lake near the entrance of Thompson River and the junction of the north branch. On Trulch's Map 13. C'., 1871, the one on the north and the west sides of the main and north branches is called Old Fort, and the one on the south bank is called II. B. C. Fort. A post was placed here in 1812 by Alexander Ross for the Pacific Fur Company. TiVxs' Adr., 201-2. It is the establishment on the south bank that more properly takes the name of Fort Kamloops. Gray's Hist. Or. 43; Milton and C/icadle's N. W. Pass, 324.
SPECULATIONS. 123
some point south of Peace River — probably he came through Yellowhead Pass to Mount Thompson — and after a preliminary survey of his surroundings he regarded the north branch of Thompson River as more likely to prove an important tributary of the true Tacoutche Tesse of Mackenzie than the stream to which he afterwards gave the name of Canoe River.13 The more he examined this stream the more he became satisfied, from the description given by Stuart and Eraser, that this was not the river descended by them. Nor was it until he had reached Kaniloops Lake, and had there seen all the tributaries of this river taking their decided westward course in one large body toward the defile where he knew the Eraser to be, that he became convinced that he had not been navi gating the Columbia.
Now the configuration of the country began to as sume shape in his mind. Though in the midst of a boundless sea of mountains, with nothing familiar
' O
but the air around and the clouds and stars above, yet his course from this point was clear enough. Mackenzie had examined the region north of him between Peace River and the Pacific; Stuart and Eraser from Mackenzie's westward line had struck southward and traversed the intervening space be tween his newly found river of Thompson and the sea; plainly the one direction where alone he might reasonably expect to find the object of his search was eastward. So retracing his steps to the little stream which sweeps south-eastward from the eastern base of Mount Thompson, he followed it downward to a point some distance above its mouth where he deemed it navigable for canoes, and there encamped.19
18 The upper Fraser and the upper Columbia each have a stream occupy ing similar positions, the former called on Trutch's Map, Canoe Creek, and the other Canoe River. Before Franchere was there in 1814, Regis Bruquier and other boatmen, if we may believe them, had ascended the Canoe River of the Columbia to its source, though their descriptions differ entirely from the map.
19 Franchere recognized the spot in 1814, and indeed found there a sack of pemican, en cache, which proved extremely serviceable.
124 DESCENT OF FRASER RIVER.
It was now too late to think of further operations this year, 1810. Ice was already forming in the streams, and the men were becoming exceedingly dis satisfied over the scientific gyrations of their com mander. Indeed, so mutinous became his people that at last they flatly refused to accompany him further, or even to winter on that side of the moun tains.
It was extremely rare that the servants of the Northwest Company balked at anything. But in Thompson's party there were some raw recruits, and though of bad character and distempered minds, they were sufficiently strong to carry a majority; so that out of his large party only eight of his men remained faithful to him, the others helping them selves to whatever they fancied from the general stores, and taking their way backward across the mountains.
The little party now went into winter-quarters and made themselves as comfortable as might be. There was in reality nothing in their situation or prospects for the deserters to be frightened at.
Early in the spring Thompson was again astir. First a canoe was built, from which circumstance the stream was named Canoe River. Then placing his superfluous effects en cache he raised camp and em barked.
Descending Canoe River to its mouth, he came in broad view of the main northern channel of the Columbia, whose gathered waters, brilliant in fresh beauty, danced downward toward the sea. Continu ing his course from Boat Encampment he passed the Little Dalles and Arrow lakes, also the spot where are now Colville and Okanagan, to the junction of the great southern branch, being the first European to traverse this region in its whole extent. From Walla Walla the party continued down the Columbia until they came upon the Pacific Company's people, who had anticipated the plans of Thompson in building
SOMETHING OF THOMPSON'S LIFE. 125
Fort Astoria, where he arrived the 15th of July, 1811.20
20 David Thompson was an entirely different order of man from the ortho dox fur-trader. Tall and fine looking, of sandy complexion, with large features, deep-set studious eyes, high forehead and broad shoulders, the intellectual was well set upon the physical. His deeds have never been trum peted as those of some of the others, but in the westward explorations of the Northwest Company no man performed more valuable service or estimated his achievements more modestly. Unhappily his last days were not as pleasant as fell to the lot of some of the worn-out members of the company. He retired almost blind to Lachine House, once the head-quarters of the Com pany, where Mr Anderson encountered him in 1831 in a very decrepid condition. Mr Twiss, Or. Ques., 14, pronounces Mr Thompson a highly competent man. Cox, Col. River, i. 85, believes the chief object of the ex pedition to have been the planting of an establishment at the mouth of the river before Astor's party should reach it. Ross, Adv., Ill, says that Donald Mackenzie about this time used ' to start from Montreal and reach the mouth of the Columbia River, or Great Bear Lake the same season, 'but he speaks carelessly. Gray, Hist. Or. 17, with his usual inaccuracy first brings Thompson. to Fort Astoria in 1813.
CHAPTEE VI.
WILLIAMS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, HENRY ON SNAKE RIVER, AND WINSHIP ON THE COLUMBIA.
1807-1812.
BIG WHITE'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON — His ESCORT HOME — EZEKIEL WILLIAMS ON THE YELLOWSTONE AND PLATTE— His PARTY CUT IN PIECES BY TUB SAVAGES— Two OF THE PARTY REACH Los ANGELES— ALEXANDER HENRY BUILDS A FORT WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS— LA SALLE'S SHIPWRECK AT FALSE BAY— His JOURNEY FROM THE PACIFIC OCEAN TO THE RED RIVER OF LOUISIANA— PROJECT OF THE WINSHIP BROTHERS— THE 'ALBATROSS' SAILS FROM BOSTON AND ENTERS THE COLUMBIA — WINSHIP AND SMITH, ins MATE, SURVEY THE RIVER — CHOOSE A SITE FOR SETTLEMENT ON OAK POINT — BEGIN BUILDING AND PLANTING — THEIR GARDEN DESTROYED BY THE FLOOD — MOVE DOWN THE RIVER — HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF THE NATIVES — ABANDONMENT OF THE ENTERPRISE.
As in the north, following Mackenzie's track, Scotch and English trappers from Canada and the Canadian north-west crossed the mountains and located estab lishments on the western slope, so through the middle and southern passes, after Lewis and Clarke had told their story, reckless hunters from the United States frontier found their way, and made the first move toward sweeping those forests of their primitive in habitants.
Big White, chief of the Man dans, on the return of Captain Lew^is from the Pacific, promised to accom pany him with his wife and son to Washington, only upon a sacred promise that an escort should see him safely home. This pledge the government of the United States did not fail to redeem. Chosen for this purpose were twenty hardy Missourians, who under command of Ezekiel Williams set out from
(126)
THE EFFERVESCENT BORDER LAND. 127
St Louis on the 25th of April 1807 with a two years' outfit, intending to trap on the upper Missouri and beyond the mountains. They were a bold, brave band, inured to hardships, and led by an experienced fron tiersman of patient and unflinching energy. Of the party was a wild, impetuous youth, constantly losing himself when out hunting, and running into every manner of danger, not having sense enough to know what fear was. His name was Carson, not Chris topher, although he might easily have been taken for his brother. On reaching the Platte, William Ham ilton, of the company, sickened and died in the deli rium of fever, his mind being filled with home and the loved ones there.
By exercising due vigilance the hostile Sioux were passed in safety; and great wras the joy of the Man- dans to find their chief restored to them. The word of the white man, how bright and strong a thing it was with these savages ! Would it might always have remained so.
After a week's rest Williams and his party left the Mandan village, ascended the Yellowstone until they reached the country of the Blackfoot where beaver were plenty, and there set traps. Most unfortunate was it, indeed, the killing of one of these savages by Lewis and Clarke, for a half century of bloodshed followed it. Unluckily, also, a prowling redskin one day was caught in a beaver-trap, and although he easily made his escape the accident tended in no wise to allay the hate already raging. Shortly after, while making the rounds of their traps, the white men were surprised by over a hundred mounted Blackfoot and five of their number killed, the savages losing but one man. That night the survivors escaped into the Crow country. Captivated by the Crow maidens, and by the thought of establishing there a harem, one of the party named Rose concluded to remain. Rose was a desperado of the most villainous type. With robbery and murder he was on familiar terms, having indulged
128 EXPEDITIONS OF WILLIAMS, HENRY, AND WINSHIP.
in piracy on the islands of the Mississippi as a pro fession. By such an one was European civilization destined to be first represented among the friendly Crows.
Leaving there the renegade Rose, the party pro ceeded to the head-waters of the Platte where they were again attacked by the savages, and five more killed. Caching their furs they set out to leave the country, but on reaching the Arkansas, all but three, Williams, Workman, and Spencer, were cut off by the Comanches. Not knowing where they were, a differ ence of opinion arose as to the best course to pursue, whereupon they separated, Williams descending what he supposed to be Red River, while the two others ascended it, hoping to reach the Spanish country. After many adventures, Williams reached Cooper's Fort, on the Missouri, where he procured aid and re turned for his cached furs. Workman and Spencer on reaching the Rocky Mountains crossed to the Colorado, which they descended until coming to a well travelled trail leading them away to the east ward. Shortly afterward they met a Mexican cara van, consisting of forty men or more, on their way from Santa Fe to Los Angeles in California. Accom panying them they wintered there, 1809—10. With their Mexican friends they went to Santa Fe the fol lowing summer, where they remained fifteen years before returning to the United States.1
At St Louis, in 1808, as already mentioned in the chapter on the United States fur-trade in the preced ing volume of this series, was formed the Missouri Fur Company2 with a capital of forty thousand dollars.
1 David H. Coyner, The Lost Trappers, tells this and much more in a homely but truthful and direct way which commands the reader's respect and confidence. Besides the adventures of these trappers about the sources of the Platte and Colorado, he has much to say of California, and of the Santa F6 trade. Mrs Victor, River of the West, 37-8, places erroneously the number of men killed at twenty-seven, and all at the hands of Blackfoot.
'2The chief partners at this time were Manuel Lisa, Pierre Chouteau Sr., William Clark, Sylvester Labadie, Pierre Menard, and Augusts P. Chouteau. .
FORT HENRY. 129
Among their first movements was to send an expedi tion to the upper Missouri and the Yellowstone under Alexander Henry, who was not only to establish posts on those streams, but was to cross the Rocky Moun tains and open traffic with the nations of the western slope. Erecting an establishment at the forks of the Missouri, Mr Henry there made his head -quarters, but being dislodged by the Blackfoot the following year, he passed over the great divide, and built a house on the north, or Henry branch, of Snake River, one day's journey above its junction with the south or Lewis branch. This cabin, called Henry Fort, built in 1809, was the first establishment erected in this latitude west of the Rocky Mountains.3
Mention is made of one La Salle, said to have been wrecked in 1809, in the ship Sea Otter, at a place called False Bay, one hundred miles south of the entrance to the Columbia River, ancj who journeyed thence overland to the source of the Red River of Louisiana; but so vague and incoherent is the state ment that nothing can be made of it.*
The story of the Winsliip brothers has already been
3 This from an address by Thomas Allen at an anniversary celebration, in February 1847, of the founding of St Louis, printed in De Boi^s Indus trial If csources, iii., 510. Mr Allen's statements are loosely made, it being impossible to determine the meaning of some of them, or the dates of his in cidents. Such, however, of his data as can be dated and fixed, constitute the highest authority as material for history. Waldo, Critiques, MS., says he knew all about these people. Irving, Astoria, 140, quoting without credit from Franchere'a Nar., 146, gives 1810 as the date of establishing Fort Henry. Grcenhow, Or. and Cal., 292, states that the post on the branch of Lewis Paver was abandoned by Mr Henry in 1810. Hunt found the fort vacant in 1811. The Missouri Fur Company being dissolved in 1812, two years later we find Mr Henry in charge of a post in the Willamette Valley, engaged in, curing venison for the Northwest Company at Fort Astoria, and finally a prom inent partner in the Northwest Company. He was drowned in company with Donald McTavish, shortly after the arrival of the Isaac Todd at Astoria. See Franchere's Nar., 221-3, and Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 87.
4 The story lies between Henry R. Schoolcraft and George Gibbs, the former having obtained it from some ship's log. La Salle describes certain earth works on a river called Onalaskala, and the natives inhabiting the country the Onalas, which names smack strongly of the extreme north, though School- craft thinks the word ' denotes the Mollala of the Willamette, ' which is absurd. ^ee Oregon Statesman, Jan. 1, 1853. There is Cape Foul weather on the coast one hundred miles below the mouth of the Columbia, but no False Cape. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 9
130 EXPEDITIONS OF WILLIAMS, HENRY, AND WINSHIP.
told; it only remains for me to add here a few partic ulars regarding their attempted settlement.5
In the early part of 1809, in the counting-room of Abiel Winship, one of the solid men of Boston, was projected the first attempt to establish a settlement on the Columbia. Partners in the project were Abiel Winship, Jonathan Winship who commanded the (yCain in the Pacific trade, Nathan Winship, and Benjamin P. Homer, one or two others having smaller interests.
Particulars were discussed and determined. The old weather-beaten but still stanch ship Albatross was chosen for the adventure, with Nathan Winship as captain, and William Smith6 as chief mate. Every thing necessary for building, planting, and trading was included in the outfit, the prominent idea being permanent settlement. With a crew of twenty-two men the vessel was to proceed round Cape Horn to the Columbia, and ascend that stream some thirty miles, when the captain was to select a site for set-
•' The only full and authentic account of this most important event is given in the manuscript which I have often mentioned called Boston in the North west, whose author had before him at the time he wrote besides the ship's log, the master's journal and the whole plan and particulars of the project. The adventure of the Winships is here presented from an inside view which with many other hitherto obscure points arc now made clear. Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 87, says that Jonathan Winship, of Brighton, projected the enterprise.
G This mate was a remarkable man, and but little less conspicuous as a Northwest Coast navigator than Winship himself. Smith was born in Vir ginia in 1768, went to Boston in 1790, and during the next thirty years made eight voyages round the world, beside one voyage to China and back. See Boston Daily Advertiser, 1st August 1S20 ; Niks' Weekly Register, 12th August 1S20. During this voyage of which I am now speaking, and which lasted eight years, Smith was in command of the Albatross, four years of which time the vessel was employed in carrying sandal-wood for William H. Davis and Jonathan Winship from the Hawaiian Islands to Canton. While hunting seals on the Californian coast he was caught by the Spaniards, and held pris oner for two months. On the 4th of August 1812 the Albatross came sailing boldly across the dreaded bar of the Columbia, greatly to the surprise of the Astorians. When Captain Smith informed them, Franchise's Nar., 177-8, that he had been there in the same vessel in 1810, they understood how he was able to brave the bar. From this circumstance, Greenhow, Or. and CaL, 292, received the impression, wholly erroneous, that Smith was commander of the ship and post at Oak Point in 1810, and subsequent writers, following Greenhow, gave the credit of this attempt to Smith instead of to Winship. The case is ably presented by Evans, H'/st. Or., MS., 89-90. See also John S. Tyler and Timothy Dodd in Port Townsend Message, Jarfy 9, 1868; Swan's Scrap Book, ii. 30.
ADVENTURES OF THE 'ALBATROSS.' 131
tlement. It must be remembered that at this time the lower Columbia had been explored by no white man save the party of Lewis and Clarke, Gray, arid Broughton. The land was to be purchased from the natives, and a large two-story log-house, or fortress, was to be erected, with loop-holes for cannon and mus ketry, and all the conveniences for defence. On the second floor were to be placed all the arms and ammu nition, and to this part of the building no native was ever to be admitted. Entrance to the upper story should be by a single trap-door, and the ladder should be always drawn up after ascending. Land was to bo cleared and cultivated under protection of the guns, and not less than half the men were to be always on guard. Written instructions, embodying full details, were given the captain on sailing. A journal of the expedition was kept by William A. Gale, captain's assistant.7 Meanwhile, Jonathan Winship would be on the coast of California, and would lend his aid if necessary.
The Albatross set sail in July 18 09, and during the sev eral years of her adventures in the Pacific created quite a commotion, being seized on the Californian coast at one time, and blockaded by the British at the Hawai ian Islands during the war. She was so slow a sailer that the grass had ample time to grow on her uncop- pered bottom; but she was manned by humane officers and a good crew, and at her first anchorage, which was the Easter Islands, two hundred days out, there was not a single case of scurvy or other sickness on board.8 After several other stoppages, for wood and water, during one of which ten natives were employed to dive and scrape the ship's bottom of its barnacles, Winship reached the Hawaiian Islands, where he found a letter from his brother of the O'Cain advising him to hasten to the Columbia to cut off the Rus-
7 This journal was before the author of Boston in the Northwest, at the time of his writing.
8 ' There are better ships nowadays, but no better seamen. ' Boston in the Northwest, MS., 31.
132 EXPEDITIONS OF WILLIAMS, HENRY, AND WINSHIP.
sians, who seemed to have a covetous eye upon those parts.9
Further suggestions were likewise made as to con ducting the proposed settlement and as to subsequent joint operations of the brothers. Taking on board some hogs and goats and twenty- five Kanakas for laborers, the Albatross sailed from the Islands the 13th of April 1810, entered the Columbia the 26th of May, and passing the Chinook village, anchored about three miles above it.10 Five days were then spent in sound- in^ the channel, which was found to be intricate, and
O ' ^
the current strong, the ship meanwhile slowly fol lowing the surveying boats up the stream.
The 1st of June, Winship and Smith set out in the whale-boats in search of a site on which to plant the proposed establishment. Ascending five miles from their last anchorage, they came to where the river is suddenly narrowed by a projection of the south bank, forty miles from the sea.11 On this projection grew oak-trees, the first found after entering the river, which fact gave it the name of Oak Point.12 It was a pretty piece of fertile lowland, and they thought it just the place for their purpose. Therefore they returned, reaching the ship at seven o'clock that evening. Head winds and a strong current prevented the ship from reaching the station before the 4th.
O
Preparations were immediately made, and building
9 The point recommended in this letter as most suitable was 'a spot about thirty miles above Gray's Harbor,' meaning Gray Bay on the north side of the Columbia about fifteen miles above its mouth.
10 The Chinook village stood on the north side of the river about six miles above Cape Disappointment, so that the first anchorage was about opposite Knapton, some nine miles from the ocean.
11 'On the south side of the river there is an indentation in the mountain to the south, and a bend in the river to the north, which forms a body of bottom land several miles in width and some ten or twelve miles long, the greater part of which, except a strip varying from a quarter to a half a mile in width next to the river, is Hooded during high-tide. This strip is covered with white-oak and cotton wood timber.' Palmer's Jour., 110.
12 The place known as Oak Point to-day, is on the north side of the river opposite the original Oak Point, so that Mr Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 90, is in error when he says, ' Thus it will appear that the first American settlement attempted on the Columbia River was located in the present territory of Washington, at Oak Point, the site of the mills belonging to A. S. Abernethy.'
GALE'S STATEMENT. 133
begun. Ground was cleared, logs hewn, a garden -spot prepared, and seeds sown. But unfortunately the spot chosen lay so low that the summer freshets covered it with water to the depth of one or two feet before the building was completed. A higher spot was chosen a quarter of a mile below, and the logs floated down to it; but in the mean time the natives became so troublesome that Captain Winship determined for the present to withdraw.13 It was evident the savages
13 1 regard these operations of sufficient importance to give Mr Gale's jour nal complete as it was written from day to day. ' June 4th came to with the best bower in four fathoms, within 15 or 20 yards of the bank where the settlement is to be established, and carried a hawser from the bow and made fast to the trees on shore. Part of the crew employed in unbending the sails. The carpenter, with the rest of the hands, and all the Sandwich Is!;niders, on shore felling and hewing trees for timber for the house. June 5th — Ail hands employed on board and on shore as yesterday, Capt. Winship and the second officer superintending the work on shore, building the log- house, felling and hewing young trees, and clearing and digging up a spot of land to plant, — (The first breaking of soil by a white man in Oregon.) The Gth and 7th all hands employed on shore as above. The ship's tailor at work making clothes for the party who were to be left at the settlement. June 8th — Hands employed in felling trees. At night, heavy rains. The fol lowing morning the rain continuing, found that the river had risen so much that the lot of land appropriated for the settlement was covered with from one to two feet of water, and at the house it was about eighteen inches in. deplh. This proved a very unlucky circumstance, as the building of it had progressed considerably, being already raised in height ten feet with heavy timber, rnd the spot of ground which had been cleared and dug up, in which was already planted the seeds of some vegetables, was, in the course of the forenoon, com pletely overflowed. The whole will now have to be pulled to pieces, and begun afresh if a more convenient place can be found. Mr Smith, with the whale- boat, was sent out to search for one. June 9th — Mr Smith returned to the ship, and it was determined by Captain Winship to pull to pieces that part of the house which had been put up, and float the logs about a quarter of a mile further down-stream on the same side, where the land is somewhat higher. In consequence of the above determination, the gang on shore, consisting of twenty-eight men, were employed in drawing the logs to the water to float them down to the new place. Every day, since arriving in the river, the ship had been visited by the Indians, in their canoes, bringing a few furs and some salmon for trade; but they did not come in large numbers, and had not been troublesome. June 10th — -The people employed as yesterday. This after noon several canoes arrived from Chinook and Chehcelees, containing many natives, all armed with bows and arrows, or muskets ; they informed us that the Cula worth tribe, who had a village close to the place where we are build ing the house, had killed one of their chiefs about ten months since, and that they had now come up the river for the purpose of punishing them, and in tended giving them battle on the morrow. At 4 o'clock the next morning the ;;hore gang was sent on shore to work as usual, which they continued until 11 A. M., when observing that the Indians, with their arms, began to gather where the people were at work, without any apparent design of attacking one another, it was strongly suspected that they were planning to cut oil our people on shore, in which case, if they could have put it in prac tice, ther.- would have been, with the few hands remaining on board, but
134 EXPEDITIONS OF WILLIAMS, HENRY, AND WINSHIP.
could only be restrained by force, and hostilities once declared, an interminable war involving destruction
a bare possibility of escaping with the ship. Some of the shore party were therefore immediately ordered on board, and the others were sent to work opposite to the ship, getting some logs into the water. Here they were under cover of the guns, which, from apprehension of trouble, had been loaded with grape and canister. The Indians continued to muster on shore, yet declared that the quarrel was entirely among themselves, which we very much doubted, as they were all mixed together, or wandering singly about without fear of each other, which increased our suspicion. One thing is certain, the Chinooks are strongly set against our coming up the river, wishing, as they sny, the house should be built among themselves arid the lower tribes, and on another account, as they are in the haoit of purchasing skins of the upper tribes, and reselling them to the ships which occasionally arrive at the river, they are afraid, and certainly with reason, that the settlement being established so far up will tend to injure their own trade, and they are no doubt determined to prevent it if possible. Their inter ference serves only to prevent our work going on as we wish. They might easily be brought to reason by the use of force, but it would last no longer than while the ship was here, and when she left the river those left behind must suffer for it. Any force the ship could leave would not be sufficient to defend the house if the Indians should attack them, while to openly cultivate the ground would give the natives a chance to pick them off easily. June llth — Again the men were sent on shore to resume their work, which they continued for about two hours, when the Indians gathering around them in considerable numbers, and being observed to send their women and children away, with other suspicious circumstances, the hands declared they did not feel safe to be on shore without arms. The officer therefore immediately came on board with them, and we soon after dropped the ship down opposite the new place, intending to go on with our work in the morning. While moving the ship the natives were scattered about among the trees, firing their muskets and shouting. One of the savages pointed a musket at Captain Winship while he was sitting on the tafl'rail, but did not fire. During the night we got the waist-nettings up and loaded all the muskets, intending to give them a warm reception should they make an attempt on the ship. We sent the long-boat on shore to clear away some bushes that lined the bank, but these rascals gathered round with hostile intent, and the party were called on board. Shortly after three chiefs and some other natives came alongside, but the chiefs were not allowed on board. When we spoke to them concerning their conduct, all we could get in reply was they were not afraid of us, but they wanted us to return down the river. Much to our chagrin, we find it is impossible to prosecute the business as we intended, and we have concluded to pass farther down. On making this known to the Chenooks they appeared quite satisfied, and sold us some furs. It is intended, should it not be thought proper to leave the settlers here, if there should occur a chance, to punish these fellows for their insolence as it deserves. June 12th — The ship dropped further down the river, and it was now determined to abandon all attempts to force a settlement. We have taken off the hogs and goats, which were put on shore for the use of the settle ment, and thus we have to abandon the business, after having, with great difficulty and labor, got about forty-five miles above Cape Disappointment ; and with great trouble began to clear the land and build a house a second time, after cutting timber enough to finish nearly one half, and having two of our hands disabled in the work. It is indeed cutting to be obliged to knuckle to those whom you have not the least fear of, but whom, from motives of pru dence, you arc obliged to treat with forbearance. What can be more disagree able than to sit at table with a number of these rascally chiefs, who, while they supply their greedy mouths from your food with one hand, their bloods boil within them to cut your throat with the other, without the least provocation.'
ABANDONMENT OF THE PROJECT. 135
alike to trade and agriculture would be the result. In fact, on dropping down to Gray Bay the 17th of June, Winship was informed by the native pilot that it had been the intention of the Chinooks to capture his vessel, which they would surely have accom plished but for his vigilance. After remaining for a time at Baker Bay, trading, the Albatross sailed away down the Californian coast, leaving upon the bank of the Columbia its first embryo metropolis with all its brilliant collateral conceptions in the form of a few hewn logs.14 Astor's attempts prevented the Win- ships from further efforts the following year.
14 Franchere, Narrative, 178, saw traces of the projected establishment the year following. Gray, Hist. Or., 15, states that Winship 'erected a house;' which was not the fact. A few logs were laid at the point first cleared, but after they were floated clown to the subsequently selected site no building was even begun. Greenhow, Or. and Cal., 292, from whom Gray copied, also incor rectly says that a house was built. 'If Oregon is annexed to the union, Cap tain Winship is certainly entitled to a claim for land as the first American settler upon the banks of the Columbia.' Boston Courier, quoted in Oregon Spectator, April 20th, 1847; see further for brief accounts Hunt's Mer. Mag., xiv. 202; John S. Tyler in Saxton's Or. Ter., MS., 57; Boston Courier, Dec. 81st, 1845; Palmer's Journal, 110; Hist. Northwest Coast, i. 325-6, this series.
CHAPTER VII.
FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA. 1810-1812.
ASTOR ARRIVES IN AMERICA — ENGAGES IN THE FUR-TRADE — SCHEME FOR MONOPOLY WEST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS — THE GREAT MART ON THE COLUMBIA — RIVAL COMPANIES— PARTNERS AND SERVANTS — THE 'ToN-
QUIN ' AND HER COMMANDER— QUARRELS EN VOYAGE — THE FALKLAND
ISLES — THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS — THE COLUMBIA RIVER— FATAL AT TEMPTS AT CROSSING THE BAR — BAKER BAY — CHOOSING A SITE FOR THE FORT — FRIENDLY CHINOOKS — COMCOMLY — BUILDING OF THE FORT AND WAREHOUSE — THE 'TONQUIN' BOUND NORTHWARD — EPISODE OF THE ' BOSTON ' — JEWITT AMONG THE SAVAGES OF NOOTKA SOUND — DESTRUC TION OF THE ' TONQUIN ' AND MASSACRE OF HER CREW— STRANGE IND IANS — THE NORTHWEST COMPANY — DAVID THOMPSON — A FORT ox THE OKANAGAN — EXPEDITION TO OKANAGAN LAKE— THE CHINOOKS AT AS TORIA — THREATENED ATTACK — THE 'SMALL-POX CHIEF' — EXPEDITION UP THE WILLAMETTE — CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES, 1811-1812.
AMONG the earliest to turn their attention to the growing fur-trade of the United States was a young German who came to America during the winter of 1783-4, at the very time the merchants of Montreal were organizing the4 Northwest Company.
Bringing with him a small stock of merchandise, the result of early brokery among the hard heads of London, where he first indulged his juvenile pro pensity for trafficking; bringing with him health, clearness of intellect, and energy; bringing with him above all a determination to become rich, so strong as to assume the forms of premonition and mania, John Jacob Astor seized at once as by instinct upon the traffic which at that time of all others was des tined most rapidly to develop wealth. Sellfcg his
(136)
JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 137
merchandise, he bought furs, took them to London, acquired a further knowledge of the business; and when the restrictions of Great Britain on the trade of her colonies were removed he bought furs largely at Montreal, where he made annual visits, and shipped them to Europe and to China. Thus in a few years he became very rich; the effect of which on such a nature was only to increase the cravings to become still more wealthy.
Early in his career Astor saw the impotent jealousy of the new confederation upon the invasion of her wilds by northern trappers, and determined to profit by it. Without expecting material assistance from the United States government, without indeed de siring to hamper his shrewd activity by the sluggish patronage of public sanction, he still might amass private gain. So he became a citizen of the young commonwealth ; and for its greater comfort he wished it distinctly to understand that thenceforward his money -gettings should be those of a lawful subject of the United States. Under the high-sounding title of the American Fur Company, chartered in 1809 by the legislature of New York, incorporated with a capital of one million dollars, all furnished by one man, with a nominal board of directors, yet all managed by one man, Astor succeeded in almost monopolizing the United States fur-trade south of Lakes Huron and Superior, the Mackinaw Company, under the frowns of his adopted government, being his only serious competitors.
This, hovever, did riot satisfy him. Why should he not become as great and powerful as any of the north ern companies? Beyond the proximate fields of con tention there was an almost untouched west. Patrick Gass had just described it;1 and circumnavigators had told how sea-otters swarmed on the north-west ern shores, and what a price their skins brought in China.
1 Gass' jflirnal was printed in 1807, while the official report by Lewis and Clarke as we have seen did not appear until 1814.
138 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
Here was an idea! This Northwest Coast was near to China, and between it and the east were many beaver and other valuable fur animals, all within United States territory. Now, to establish a line of forts across the continent, with head-quarters near the mouth of the Columbia, would be indeed a grand achievement, and give the great controller of them command not only of the fur-trade of America, but of the world.
Examine the scheme more closely, for it is no ordinary project, emanating from no ordinary mind. Whether success or failure waits on this enterprise, already John Jacob Astor is a great man. Bold, keen, grasping, with a mind no less fertile than saga cious, he is great, not as Newton, Washington, Lin coln, and Peabody; but like Napoleon, or Vanderbilt, a greatness not to be admired but shunned.2
Thus the germ unfolds — stations along the track of Lewis and Clarke, up the Missouri and down the Co lumbia, or south of the old Indian trail between the Dearborn and the Clear water, if a better route may
2 1 cannot agree with Irving in his estimate of Astor's character. There is nothing in Astor's history that would imply him to be more than a respec table and wealthy merchant, of common honesty and uncommon ability, de sirous of increasing his wealth and respectability by every legitimate means at his command. Had this scheme been based on self-sacrifice, or pecuniary loss for the public good, or the promulgation of some great principle, the current of unqualified sycophancy, trickery, sentimentality, and maudlin praise which runs through Astoria might be more bearable. That Mr Astor was an able man there is no doubt; that he was a remarkably patriotic or noble-minded man, actuated by higher than the usual selfish and mercenary motives, there is not the slightest evidence. There are whole pages in Asto ria, abstracted, almost literally from Franchere. Pretending to draw all his information from private sources, the author makes no allusion to the source to which he is most indebted, not even mentioning Franchere 's name once in his whole work. It is with exceeding regret that in Astoria I find myself obliged to take broad exceptions both to the author's integrity of purpose and faithfulness of execution. For half a century Irving hcts been the literary idol of American readers ; and for his writings no one has greater admiration than myself. In my study of his Columbus, I found his treatment of the Spaniards, and their doings at Daricn, for the most part truthful and clear; and up to this time the imputation that he had received money from Mr Astor for writing Astoria I believed to be utterly false, and unworthy of considera tion. ]>ut in closely comparing with original evidence his statements concern ing the New York fur-merchant and his associates of the Northwest Company, I find them so at variance with truth and fairness that I am otherwise at a loss to account for this unusual warp of judgment.
THE GRAND SCHEME. 139
be found; subordinate posts along all the chief tribu taries of the two great streams; the chief fort As toria, the chief of chiefs Astor, the one to rival Fort William, or later even magnificent Montreal, the other to know no peer in America, or beyond. There is the long line of seaboard with its rivers, bays, and islands skirting virgin forests broad as the broad east together, a land as full of wealth as ever the far north in its lusty youth, washed by the self -same waves that beat upon the shores of China and the islands of mid-ocean. From this great mart, seated at the en trance of the mighty River of the West, yielding to none in wealth, magnificence, or position, and impos ing her terms upon the commerce of the coast and inland territory, from this vast emporium should sail vessels of every build and burden, making regular voyages to north and south, to Asia, to Europe, to Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Furs could be taken to the China market in half the time required from Europe, and supplies could be brought hither by vessel at one tenth the cost of carriage overland. It
O
would indeed be a smooth, glittering, golden round, furs from Astoria to Canton, teas and silks and rich Asiatic merchandise to New York, then back again to the Columbia with beads, and bells, and blankets, guns, knives, tobacco, and rum. As the Russians were indeed the only formidable power in these parts, Astor deemed it prudent to be exceedingly polite, to form treaties of traffic with them, defining boundaries and regulating prices, and furnishing them the neces sary supplies at better rates than they had been ac customed to obtain, and so drive off United States visiting and coasting vessels whose transient and irreg ular commerce tempted their supercargoes into many questionable practices demoralizing to the natives and to the fur-hunting business. All this would be grand for Mr Astor; and to it the government of the United States made no objection; so with this view he despatched in 1809 the Enterprise, Captain
140 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
Ebbetts, to the Russian settlements on the North west Coast.3
The thing could be done, and should be; so said
3 Captain V. M. Golovnin, of the Russian man-of-war Diana, in his MS. Report contained in the Sitka archives at Washington, writes that the Enter prise was at Sitka in June-July, 1810, and he gives an interesting anec dote illustrative of Ebbetts' carelessness in handing him documents which Astor had intended for his eyes alone. ' The arrival of American vessels in the harbor gave us an opportunity to be of use to the company. Two of these vessels, the Isabella, Captain Davis, and the Lijdla, Captain Brown, having traded with the savages, had come to Sitka to trade with Mr Baranof, en passant. The third was a very large ship sent out from New York by John Jacob Astor, the Enterprise, Captain John Ebbette, v.ith a crago of goods for our colonies, upon the advice of Mr Dashkof, Russian consul-gen eral at Philadelphia. He brought a letter from Dashkof with proposals to make a contract with Astor, as the most advantageous course for the com pany, and stating that Captain Ebbetts had full powers to arrange matters between tncm. Another letter, written by Astor himself to Baranof, ran do similar proposals, flattering the chief manager by calling him Governor, Count, and Your Excellency, showing that even the free, independent repub licans know how to bestow titles when their interest requires it. The letter was written in French, but as Ebbetts spoke only English, and there was 110 interpreter of any foreign language in the colonies, matters were at a stand still. [Xote of author. An American sailor, who was teaching the boys at Kadiak English (Campbell) without understanding Russian; a- Prussian skipper of one of the company's vessels, and a relative of Baranof, who had picked up a couple of hundred English words, comprised, previous to our arrival, the diplomatic corps of the Russian- American Company's colonies in America. But as the first two were absent, and the third could only speak 011 subjects to which he could point with his fingers, Baranof could not com municate with the foreigners.] Ebbetts had already concluded to leave with out doing anything, but when he heard that we could speak both English and French, ho asked our cooperation, which we freely promised, I and Lieutenant Ricord acting as interpreters. We translated all the letters and documents, and drew up the contracts, bringing the negotiations to a very satisfactory ending. We then concluded another kind of contract with the American, Captain Davis, to take some Aleuts 011 his ship, and hunt sea-otters on joint account. Among other things, I happened to discover that the plan of Mr Astor and Mr Dashkof was not quite as fair as it looked, and not of equal advantage to both parties. It happened in this way. Ebbetts, desiring to let me know how much it cost Astor to build the ship and fit out his expedi tion, gave me three books to look over. Two of them contained the accounts mentioned, but the third was evidently given me by mistake, and contained supplementary instructions to Ebbetts. By the document he was directed to call at certain Spanish ports on the American coast, and trade with the inhabitants, which was then strictly forbidden by the Spanish government, and if he succeeded, to go to Sitka only in ballast to treat with Baranof; and if the latter should ask why he had not brought any goods, he should make some excuses, that he had heard the colonies were fully supplied. He was also told to obtain the most minute details of trade and condirion of colonies, their strength and means of protection, the actual power of Baranof, the re lations between the company and the government. In. brief, Astor wished to ascertain the feasibility of a seizure of these colonies by the United States, should such a course become desirable. I returned the books to Ebbetta without saying anything, but immediately wrote down the gist of the in structions, and laid them before Baranof, who thought it best to send them to the directors, who, with their well-known wisdom, doubtless in course of time made the best use of it for themselves.'
THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY. 141
the autocrat. No\v in all that region there was but one power that Astor feared as an enemy. The United States was 'his friend. With Russians or Spaniards he was satisfied he would have no trouble. The sluggish energy of the Hudson's Bay Company gave him little immediate uneasiness from that quar ter, but the young, powerful, and progressive North west Company it were well to mollify. Already two or three of their forts had been planted in the direc tion of Mackenzie's explorations west of the Rocky Mountains, and the extension of their operations down the Fraser and down the Columbia was but a question of time. One great disadvantage the Mon treal merchants labored under; they could not ship furs direct to China, that trade belonging exclusively to the great East India Company monopoly. More over, for a time at least, their western posts must be supplied like their eastern, from Montreal, a long1 and
J. J_ O
tedious freightage to the westward of the mountains, which would so add to the cost of supplies, with the before-mentioned disadvantage of greater distance
O o
from market, as to render successful competition seem ingly impossible. Then with their powerful rival, the Hudson's Bay Company, on their right, able to crush them by dead weight alone at any time their energies were fairly aroused, they might deem it advisable to join hands with the rising power on their south.
Overtures were finally made them with the proposal that they should take a one third interest in the new company. The agents of the Northwest Company at Montreal took the matter under advisement, but after consulting with their inland wintering1 partners the
O O JL
proposition was declined. Nor was this all. Not only did the Northwest Company decline partnership with Astor, but they resolved that neither he nor any United States fur-trading company should ever gain a foothold on the Northwest Coast, and took imme diate steps to supplant Astor in his purpose of taking possession of the mouth of the Columbia by building
142 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
a fort there before him; and for this purpose they immediately despatched a force thither.
Nothing daunted, Mr Astor proceeded with his plans. The project rwas defined and the money ready — where were the men ? Experienced fort-builders, fur- hunters, and Indian conciliators were necessary; not only men, but men who could command men. Every thing depended upon the agents selected for the un dertaking.
The best material for the purpose was undoubtedly in the Northwest Company, but as this could not be reached in the mass, might not some of its nembers be won to the new enterprise? The trick was worth trying. Several of the best men were approached, and successfully, by offers of high position and large interest, and many minor employes were enticed by promises of liberal pay and speedy promotion. Twenty- seven out of thirty-three who went by water were from Canada, and twenty of the twenty-seven were formerly members, clerks, or servants of the North west Company.
Alexander McKay, one of Mackenzie's most trusted men during his journey to the Pacific in 1793, Duncan McDougall, David Stuart, Robert Stuart, Donald McKenzie — all of Canada — and Wilson Price Hunt of New Jersey were made partners in the new company, and on the 23d of June 1810 these and others associated under the name of the Pacific Pur Company. The stock consisted of one hundred shares, half of which was Astor's, and half divided equally among the others. Mr Astor was to be chief; he was to attend to affairs at the east, and furnish supplies at cost up to the value of four hundred thousand dollars. At the Columbia River the associates were to rule. Annual meetings should be held, and every member, either in person or by proxy, should have the right to vote upon the purposes and policy of the company. For five years Astor was to bear all loss and yet divide the
ORGANIZATION OF EXPEDITIONS. 143
profits; after that the association might be continued for fifteen years, or if unsuccessful it might be dis solved at any time. Mr Hunt was appointed agent for the first five years, to reside at the company's head-quarters on the Pacific coast.
There is little wonder that conditions like these, backed by the ability to carry them out, should entice followers.
In brave style the Canadian voyageurs, who had engaged to embark in this enterprise, presented them selves to the staring burghers of New York. All the way from Montreal, in fact, they created a sensa tion. Taking one of their bark canoes, manned by nine Canadians, with Alexander McKay as com mander and Gabriel Franchere as clerk, they deco rated it gayly, ornamenting their hats with parti colored ribbons and feathers, and flaunting their best attire proceeded by way of Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, conveying the canoe over the land at either end of the lake in wagons, striking up their thrilling Canadian boat-songs as they swept over the smooth waters, and making the hills resound with their shrill savage mirth.
It was arranged that two expeditions should be sent to the mouth of the Columbia simultaneously, one by water from New York, and one by land from St Louis. Preparatory to the departure of the latter, another bark canoe was equipped, and a crew of four teen Canadian boatmen, under Hunt and McKenzie with Perrault as clerk, conveyed it by way of Mack inaw to St Louis engaging more men for the enter prise on their way.
For the ocean expedition a stanch ship of two hundred and ninety tons burden, and mounting ten guns, called the Tonquin, Jonathan Thorn com mander, had been provided, which was to take out part of the company and supplies. Thorn was a lieu tenant in the United States navy, having obtained
14J: FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
leave of absence for this voyage. He was selected by Astor no less for his courage and habits of discipline, than for the prestige a government officer would give to the adventure. It was his business simply to manage the ship; with affairs on shore he had nothing whatever to do.
The Tonquin sailed from New York on the 8th of September 1810 with a crew of twenty-one men and thirty-three passengers, all connected with the Pacific Fur Company. Of the partners were Dun can McDougall, appointed to command in Hunt's ab sence, McKay, and the two Stuarts. Eleven clerks, thirteen boatmen, and five mechanics completed the passenger list.4 Ebenezer D. Fox and John M. Mum- ford were first and second mates, and John Anderson boatswain. On board, likewise, was James Thorn, brother of the captain.
Between Astor and his associates the utmost con fidence did not appear to exist. It was an experiment on both sides. Not without reason could Astor say, " These men have left their old engagements for me; will they not leave me the moment their interests so dictate?" Far-sighted as Astor was, the policy may well be questioned which drew from his most powerful rival, partners, clerks and servants, all foreigners and extremely clannish. Indeed, as we have seen, the Scotch Canadians specially stipulated that Astor for five years should bear all the risk, and if the venture proved a failure, they reserved the right at any time to break the engagement. Besides these precautions the wary Scotchmen consulted with Mr Jackson, agent of the British Government in New York, as to the line of conduct they should pursue in case the threatened war between the United States and Great Britain should break out. The reply was, that in such an
*The names of the clerks were as follows: James Lewis of New York; Russel Farnham of Massachusetts; William VV. Matthews of New York; Alexander Ross, Donald McGillis, Ovide D. Montigny, Francis B. Pellet, Donald McLennan, William Wallace, Thomas McKay, and Gabriel Franchere, Canadians.
THORN AND HIS PASSENGERS. 145
event they would be regarded as British subjects, and their rights as traders respected.5
Rumor having reached As tor that an armed brig from Halifax6 was waiting outside the harbor to im press the British subjects on board the Tonquin for the purpose of delaying the expedition, application was made to the government for an armed escort, and the frigate Constitution accordingly was directed to act as guard until the voyage was safely begun. With final letters to the partners, exhorting them to har mony, and to the captain, cautioning him against trusting the Indians, Astor committed his venture to the deep, and sat down to muse upon the profits.
The voyage was in no way remarkable, unless we recite the bickerings between the captain and his pas sengers. Though brave and honest, Thorn was surly, stiff-necked, and as thoroughly disagreeable a Yankee as ever crossed the path of Scotchmen. Not only
5 It was indeed poor material for the United States government to place dependence upon in securing a foothold on the Pacific. A German speculator employs French and Scotch Canadians to plant fur-trading forts under the United States flag westward from the Mississippi. In all the association there were but five native-born citizens of the United States, and of these one was manager, three were clerks, and one cooper. Irving asserts that Astor 'required that the voyageurs, as they were about to enter into the service of an American association, and to reside within the limits of the United States, should take the oath of naturalization as American citizens. To this they readily agreed, and shortly afterwards assured him that they had actually done so. It was not until after they had sailed that he discovered that they had entirely deceived him in the matter.' This is scarcely credible. The most charitable construction to be placed upon the statement is that Astor's memory failed him. These boatmen were half savages, knew and cared nothing about naturalization, and would as soon swear to one thing as another. They were servants in the strictest old-fashioned sense of the term. Would not a shrewd business man like Astor have rather secured by oath the fealty of their masters, the managers ? With a band of wild foresters about to visit court on important business connected with so vast an enterprise, a New York merchant would naturally have sent a clerk. The fact is, under the circumstances, it would have been next to impossible for these boatmen to have taken, or not to have taken, the oath without Astor's knowing it. Irving and Astor like wise pretended that the visit of McKay to the British Consul was in the highest degree dishonorable, when by their own showing he had a perfect right to do so. I am deeply pained to see Mr Irving lend his brilliant faculties to so base purposes.
G Irving says, and without the slightest foundation for such an assertion, ' probably at the instigation of the Northwest Company.' Astoria, 50. The bias in the author's mind, which leads to constant flings of this kind, is in this instance all the more apparent when we remember that it was based on mere rumor, that there was no brig there sent by the Northwest or any other com pany.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. H. 10
146 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
must ship routine be arbitrarily squared to naval rules, but comfort or consideration for those on board was never thought of. If to any one beside himself he was responsible it was to Astor; these Montreal mongrels, many of whom never before smelled salt-water, were fit only for their forest associates.
On the other hand partners in a large and respect able fur company, accustomed to keep their posts in state, with retinues of servants, and clerks, and aged officers at their command, were not inclined to think lightly of themselves. Least of all were those who had held high positions in the Honorable Northwest Company disposed to brook the insults of a snappish ship-captain who in their service would scarcely have been rated a first-class servant.
We are therefore not surprised to find McDougall and Thorn assuming belligerent attitudes. To all the men except the four partners and two of the clerks were assigned berths in the steerage ; but this the fur- hunters did not mind ; they were servants at best, and used to roughing it, and further they were just now more intent on studying the phenomenon of sea-sick ness, than in finding fault with their quarters. The deck was crowded with goods, all was confusion, and the passengers generally uncomfortable. The first night out, following his naval training, which he ap plied mechanically to all conditions* and emergencies of life, the captain ordered all lights out at eight o'clock. Now it happened that the partners were not accustomed to retire at that hour, nor were they con tent to sit the long evenings of their passage through in total darkness; the ship with all it contained was theirs, and the captain was in truth their agent, nothing more. Therefore they would retain their lights, and put them out when they no longer required them. Thorn turned scarlet, then grew furious; finally he threatened to put the partners in irons.
Now these fur-hunters were of various aspect. Some of them were tall and lank, and moved slowly;
AT THE FALKLAND ISLES. 147
some short and lithe, and quick of action. McDougall was of the latter caste. All were accustomed to de fend themselves, none of them were afraid of wild beast or Indian, and none of them were afraid of Captain Thorn. Drawing his pistol McDougall in formed him that any attempt to carry that threat into execution would assuredly prove disastrous to him. The lights were not extinguished at eio^ht o'clock. In
o o o
a word, the captain before setting sail seems to have clothed himself in disgust, and never afterward to have laid aside his raiment.7
Another incident of the voyage tends to illustrate the character of the captain. At the Falkland Isles the vessel put in for water. Quarters on board were cramped; for a time all had been on short allowance, and now the foresters wandered over the island and revelled for a moment in their old freedom. When ready to sail a gun was fired, but some from the roaring of the sea did not hear it. The captain after waiting the usual time deliberately weighed anchor and was off, leaving ashore with one of the ship's boats, McDougall, David Stuart, and a number of men, who as soon as they saw the vessel was gone threw themselves into the boat and rowed hard after it. For three and a half hours, with highly wrought feelings, these men toiled, the vessel gaining on them the while; and had not Robert Stuart, who was on board, placed his pistol at the captain's head, and threatened to blow his brains out if he did not in stantly heave to and take them on board, he most assuredly Would have abandoned them on that rocky isle.8
7 ' The hopeless confusion and encumberment of the vessel's deck, the great number of strangers among whom I found myself, the brutal style which tlio captain and his subalterns used toward our young Canadians ; all, in a word, conspired to make me augur a vexatious and disagreeable voyage. The sequel will show that I did not deceive myself in that.' Franehere'* Nctr., 34.
8 1 take this from Franchere, who was one of the party left on the island. Irving gives an extract of a letter of Thorn to Astor which speaks for itself : 'Had the wind unfortunately not hauled ahead soon alter leaving tlia harbor's mouth, I should positively have left them; and, indeed, I cannot but think it an unfortunate circumstance for you that it so happened, for the first
148 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
I do not say that the fur men were entirely blame less. In a quarrel seldom is either side wholly right or wholly wrong. Captain Thorn called his passen gers the hardest of names, filthy lubbers, whose smok ing, gossipping, and singing were no less disagreeable than their silence. They kept many journals, wished to stop at every land they passed, and bitterly com plained if they could not have at once and in unlim ited quantities the best to eat and drink that the ship afforded. The partners, too, would sometimes quarrel among themselves on questions of precedence, and about the plans of forts which they would draw, but like children they would make up quickly and be friends
again.
Touching at the Hawaiian Islands the 12th of February 1811, they took on board, beside some hogs, sheep, poultry, and vegetables, twenty-four natives, twelve for land service, and twelve for the use of the ship, and on the 28th sailed for the Columbia River.
The irate captain's malady was now becoming a mania with him. Perceiving that it annoyed him, the frolicsome Scotchmen sometimes conversed in Gaelic, accompanying speech with mysterious gestures which a suspicious person might easily construe into the language of conspiracy. Once, indeed, the part ners wished to open a bale of goods, which proceed ing the captain opposing, the Scotchmen made him distinctly understand that they were the stronger party, and would brook no interference from him. The captain prepared for an outbreak, and in this unhappy humor he reached the mouth of the Colum bia the 22d of March. A heavy squall drove the high waves upon the bar at the entrance of the river
loss in this instance would in my opinion have proved the best, as they seem to have 110 idea of the value of property, nor any apparent regard for your in terest, although interwoven with their own.' Lest the charitable historian might put all this down to braggadocio, and still refuse to believe it possible an officer of the United States Navy could be so wantonly cruel, to prove himself beyond all question a villain, subsequently at the Hawaiian Islands, after unmercifully beating with his own hand one of his ship's crew, he pitched him overboard, leaving him to make the shore as best he could, and sailed away without him.
HEARTLESSNESS AND INFAMY. 149
in a cataract of foam. So formidable did these break ers appear that the captain durst not bring the ship within three leagues of them. Thorn ordered the first mate, Fox, to lower a boat, take Martin, a sail-maker, and three Canadians, with arms and pro visions, sound for a channel, and return as soon as possible. Fox hesitated. He was a good sailor and a brave man, but the boat wTas old and leaky, and with an inexperienced crew the mission was almost certain death. At various times during the voyage the captain had manifested a dislike for this man, as indeed he had for almost every one aboard; and the mate could not help feeling that his life was now un necessarily placed in jeopardy through spite. He begged the captain to give him sailors only for his crew. No; all the men were wanted on board the ship. He then appealed to the passengers. "I am not afraid to die," he said to them. "My uncle lost his life upon this bar not long ago, and I will give mine if necessary."
McDougall and McKay remonstrated with the captain upon the imprudence of sending a boat into such a sea, but this by no means helped matters; nothing could shake his obstinacy. The boat was made ready, the crew pulled lustily away, while the crazy little craft, rising and sinking with the angry sea, lessened in the distance, and finally disappeared from view amonoj1 the breakers. Ni°iit came on, and
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day, then night again, and no tidings from the boat. During the interval the wind once moderated and the ship approached the entrance, which still presented an almost unbroken wall of water; then toward the second evening the ship drew back from the dangor- ous passage, back into the broad sea, while every face was sad, not even excepting the captain's, who had much reason to be afflicted.
That night the wind quieted, and the current car ried the ship near the shore north of Cape Disap pointment, where she anchored in fourteen fathoms
150 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
of water. Yet on the morning of the 24th the sea still flung its waves with violence upon the bar.
It now became necessary to ascertain what had be come of the boat, and to take further steps toward entering the river. Mumford, the second mate, was sent to find a passage, but he returned unsuccessful. McKay and David Stuart then went in search of Fox and his crew, but being unable to land they likewise returned to the ship. A breeze from the west now springing up, the captain determined to feel for a passage with the ship; but when within a league of the breakers, he was frightened at their aspect, and retired. One of the best remaining seamen on board, Aitken, was now directed to take the pinnace, and with John Coles, sail-maker, Stephen Weeks, armorer, and two Kanakas, to go before and sound a passage while the ship should follow. Shortly both boat and ship were among the breakers. Aitken was signalled to come on board, but, with a cry of despair, he was carried so swiftly past the ship by the ebb-tide that his boat was soon out of sight. The sky hung Ipw and lowering, and night soon closed in darkness round them. The ship struck several times, and the waves broke over her. The situation of those on board was becoming exceedingly precarious; they could render Aitken no assistance. Almost miraculously, as they thought, they were driven into Baker Bay, where they passed the night in safety. Next day the sea was still tempestuous. The natives brought beaver- skins, but the unhappy company were in no humor for trading. Eagerly but fruitlessly they asked the savages concerning their lost comrades.
All hands not otherwise engaged now went ashore in search of the missing men, and among them the captain. Were all drowned, or were all or part saved? Presently in the distance they perceived one of those they sought in a strange predicament. It was Weeks, stark naked, and so feeble that he could scarcely stand or speak. Quickly clothing and feeding him they
OUT OF THE DEPTHS. 151
listened to his sad recital. It may be briefly told. Caught in the meeting of the wind-roll with the ebb tide their boat became unmanageable, and finally over turned. Aitken and Coles were immediately swept away never again to be seen. Weeks and the two Islanders threw off their clothes, seized the capsized pinnace, righted it, and by jerks threw out part of the water. One man then got into the boat and bailed out the rest of the water with his two hands, after which the others entered. One oar was found, and with that they attempted to reach land. Night closed in round them black and cold. Weeks urged the Islanders to bestir themselves, to take the paddle and work it in turn, but they were benumbed to in difference. For himself Weeks knew that he must work or die. Toward midnight one of the poor Kanakas died, and the other, throwing himself upon the body, refused to move. At last the horrible night wore away, and when the daylight came Weeks found himself nearer the shore. He at once landed, assisted ashore the Islander, who still showed signs of life, and entered the woods, where they became separated.
Immediately search was made for the Islander, but he was not found until next day, and then more dead than alive. He was finally restored. The dead Ka naka was buried by his countrymen from the ship that night. The other boat was never heard from, although diligent search was made for it. Fox was right when he said they were going to their death.
To choose the site for a fort was now the next thing to be done, while the Tonquin lay in safety in Baker Bay. On the 27th of March the live-stock from the Islands was sent ashore and confined in pens; and on the 30th the captain, with McKay, David Stuart, and two or three of the clerks, embarked in the lon^1-
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boat, which had been well armed, provisioned, and manned for the occasion, to survey the river banks in the vicinity.
Five days were thus occupied, and the party re-
152 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
turned without having agreed upon a location. Only the north bank, however, had been explored; conse quently, McDougall and David Stuart determined to try the south bank.
Embarking on the 5th of April, they promised to return by the 7th. The 7th came, but not the part ners. Meanwhile the peevish patience of the captain had become exhausted, and he swore he would put an end to these sporting excursions, as he called them. On the very day the partners last embarked the cap tain had begun to erect sheds on shore for the pro tection of the cargo, which he threatened to land there at Baker Bay. McDougall, however, would not be balked in his present purposes. The captain might be supreme upon the sea, but on shore he was master. At all events, whatever was done with the goods, he would build no fort until he had found what he regarded as the best site. Hence the?" partners proceeded, as before mentioned, leaving the captain to vent his spleen in whatever direction he pleased.
Their failure to appear at the time named arose from no negligence on their part, as they narrowly escaped with their lives in their endeavor to keep their word. On the 8th, certain Chinooks had re ported the partner's boat capsized. The captain, however, who was not prepared deeply to mourn such an event, took no measures to ascertain the truth of the statement until the 10th, when, while preparing to send in search of them, two large canoes filled with natives made their appearance, Cringing with them McDougall and Stuart.
It appears the two partners, in pursuance of their promise, after having explored the south bank, had started on the 7th to return, though warned by the natives of the danger of such a course. Indeed, from their first appearance among them, the Chinooks had. treated these tempest-tost strangers with every kindness and consideration. Comcomly, their chief, who though having but one eye could see more than
BUILDING OF THE FORT. 153
most men with two, had met the partners on the bank, and given them every information in his power re specting the country, and had entertained them hos pitably at his village during the night. Nay, more, when he saw them bent on what he thought must surely prove their own destruction, this truly noble savage followed them for a mile or more in his light bark, which skimmed the rough waves like a sea-fowl; and when their clumsier craft was struck and over turned by a huge wave, and the white men were struggling for their lives, Comcomly was at hand and saved them. But for him McDougall, at least, who could not swim, would have there found a watery grave.
Taking them back to land the savages built a fire and dried their clothes; after which they conducted them again to their village, and used every effort to render pleasant the three days the storm detained them there. And now they had brought them safely to their ship. Amidst the general rejoicing presents were freely bestowed upon them. But this was not all. Comcomly's kindness McDougall never forgot; and not long afterward he took to wife a dreamy daughter of the Chinook chief.
Though not thoroughly satisfied with their last sur vey, it became necessary to fix upon some spot, and Point George, situated on the south side of the river, some twelve miles from the entrance, was finally selected. There from an elevated spot within a small bay the forest was cleared and the fort built which was called Astoria. A point which projects itself into the river a short distance above, they called Tongue Point.
" It was like Eden," exclaims Franchere, now lib erated from the discomforts and dangers of a long voyage ; " the wild forests seemed to us delightful groves, and the leaves transformed to brilliant flowers." Twelve men first went over from Baker Bay in the launch, with provisions and tools, the 12th of April,
154
FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
and began the fort; the Tonquin followed, threading the channel at convenience, and returning the salute from the fort-builders as heartily as might be as she anchored in the cove.
Trading now begins, and likewise ship-building. The frame timbers for several coasting schooners ready shaped for the purpose had been brought in the Ton quin, and enough for one were now brought out, and the keel of a vessel of thirty tons was laid by John Weeks and Johann Koaster.9
Though the natives came forward in large numbers, they had but little beside a few land and sea otter
FORT ASTORIA.
skins to sell. Curiosity and perhaps some slight pil fering habits prompted frequent and long visits to the ship, on whose decks those glittering trinkets which savages love were temptingly displayed. The con fusion attending this traffic, and the petty advantages derived from it?, kept the captain's wrath constantly aroused. He openly manifested his feelings of dis-
9 ' This schooner was found too small for the purpose. Astor had no idea of the dangers to be met at the mouth of the Columbia, or he would have ordered the frame of a vessel of at l^ast one hundred tons. The frames shipped in New York were used in the construction of this one only, which was employed solely in the river trade.' Franchere's Nar., 117-18. Fran- chere, who was one of the party, says, 101-2 : ' We embarked to the number of twelve.' Irving, 91, says there were sixteen.
THORN AT NOOTKA. 155
gust for Comcomly, of whom McDougall made so much. Angry altercations followed; but the fur- hunters were finally glad to land their effects and live on shore, preferring the discomforts of the weather to the captain's spleen.
Finally a warehouse twenty by sixty-two feet was completed; a portion of the goods were landed, and the rest kept on board for traffic along the coast ac cording to a prearranged programme. The ship crossed over to Baker Bay on the 1st of June, and on the 5th put to sea with Alexander McKay as supercargo and James Lewis for his clerk. Mum- ford, the second mate, was not on board because, strange to say, the captain did not like him; so much the better for Mumford.
Might not Lieutenant Thorn, our most sturdy cap tain, now shake from his feet the dust of Scotch fur- traders and filthy French voyageurs, and on the Tonquiris cleanly scrubbed deck laugh at the dis cordant past, laugh as with his own crew only on board she flew before the breeze, and sw^ept gayly into the coves and estuaries of the admiring savages? Alas ! no ; with his evil temper, evil times forever at tended him. Doomed to destruction, the gods had long since made him mad.
The Tonquin was to coast northward for furs ; after which she was to return to New York, touching at
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the mouth of the Columbia. On board were twenty- nine souls. Passing Gray Harbor, an intelligent Chehalis presented himself in a canoe and offered his services as interpreter, stating that he had twice made the voyage northward in that capacity. Taking him on board, the Tonquin sailed direct for Vancouver Island, and entering Nootka Sound came to anchor before a large Indian village.10
10 The Chehalis, from whom alone we have any direct relation, calls this village Newity, which misleads Irving, who, with Franchere before him, the only place where Lamanse's narrative is given, loosely styles the harbor where the Tonquin anchored, Neweetee. Now on all this island there is not and never has been a place called by any people 'the harbor of Neweetee,'
156 FOUNDING OF FORT
Before proceeding further with the details of the capture of the Tonquin, let us refresh our memory concerning these parts from Jewitt's adventures, already spoken of in this work.
At Nootka Sound, a spot unfortunate to early fur- traders, on the 12th of March 1803 appeared the ship Boston, John Salter master, having on board, as armorer, one John K. Jewitt, who, on his return to civilization as one of the only two survivors of the crew, after a captivity among the savages of over two years, published a narrative of his adventures and sufferings.
Jewitt was a native of Hull, England, where Massa chusetts traders to the Northwest Coast were ac customed to obtain goods suitable to tjieir traffic. Young, ardent, and ingenuous, he was easily persuaded to accompany Captain Salter. Jewitt's father was a blacksmith, and his consent being obtained, he erected for his son, upon a plan of his own invention, an iron forge on deck, for which he subsequently obtained a patent, and fitted a vise-bench in a corner of the steerage, where he might work in bad weather. The young man's wages were thirty dollars a month, and there, as the wind blew and the vessel rolled, he hammered away upon knives and hatchets for the Indians, and put in order the muskets, of which there were some three thousand on board. His father also gave him a little money with which to purchase furs upon the coast, and sell them in China, whither the ship was bound before returning, and where he would invest the proceeds in goods yielding a further profit in England or America.
Beside muskets and fowling-pieces, the ship took on board at Hull cutlasses, pistols, and a large quantity of ammunition; also English cloths and Dutch blankets,
nor even any place on the coast by that name. At the entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound there is the nation of Newitees, but we know the Tonquin never reached that point. In the absence of counter-evidence it is but fair to call the harbor Nootka Sound and the village Newity after Lamanse. See Native It aces, i. I7o, note 46.
T'S NARRATIVE. 157
as well as knives, razors, beads, and looking-glasses from Holland. In addition to the ship's stores, there were twenty hogsheads of rum, and quantities of sugar and molasses.
The village of Nootka, whose king, or generalissimo, Jewitt calls Maquinna, was situated on Friendly Cove, five miles above which the Boston came to anchor, at a place where the captain hoped to wood and water the ship without molestation.
Maquinna was a man of mild aspect and dignified bearing, six feet in height, and straight and well pro portioned as a forest pine. Instead of the usual wide- spreading flaccid nostrils, his nose was roman, and his dark, copper-colored skin was covered from head to foot with red paint, two crescents like new moons being pencilled over his eyes. Arrayed in a magnifi cent robe of sea-otter, extending to his knees, and belted with native cloth of divers colors, his long, black, well oiled hair sprinkled thickly with white down, and accompanied by his principal subordinates similarly attired, Maquinna several times visited the ship, and dined with the captain. The common people had likewise come, bringing with them fresh salmon, which were very acceptable. From intercourse with English and American trading-vessels, Maquinna and several of his people had picked up a few words of English, which, supplemented with their gestures, rendered them fairly understood.
Captain Salter was extremely careful to avoid sur prise, requiring every native before boarding his ship to divest himself of all outward clothing which might conceal weapons; yet the subtle savages at length succeeded in throwing him off his guard. An unfor tunate display of anger on the part of Captain Salter mav have influenced the natives in their design. A
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fowling-piece had been presented to the chief, who returned it next day broken. The captain in a fit of anger cursed the chief for his stupidity, and threw the gun to Jewitt to be mended. Maquinna smoth-
158 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
ered his resentment as best he could, stroking his throat to keep his choler down, but answered never a word.
Ten days had passed since the arrival of the vessel, when Maquinna asked, "When you sail?" " To-mor row/' Salter replied. " You love salmon;" said Ma quinna, "much salmon in Friendly Cove; why not go catch him?" The proposal pleased Salter, who sent the chief mate with nine men in the yawl and jolly- boat with a seine to fish, Maquinna and his chiefs re maining on board to dinner.
This was the 22d. The steward had been ashore in the long-boat to wash the captain's clothes, and re turned about three o'clock in the afternoon, some little time after the fishing party had left for Friendly Cove.
Maquinna and some twenty of his principal men were loitering about the deck. They were un armed, and so meek had been their bearing, and so friendly their conduct, that by this time little atten tion was paid to them. Surrounding the ship were occasional canoes, in which were warriors listlessly watching the movements of those on board.
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While the remaining members of the crew were engaged in hoisting in the long-boat, suddenly the savages, seizing whatever implements lay nearest, sprang upon them, beat them down, and with the sailors' own knives cut their throats. Maquinna him self grappled Salter and threw him overboard, where he was despatched by those in the canoes. The heads of the slaughtered mariners, to the number of twenty- five, were then cut off and ranged in a row on the quarter-deck, their bodies being thrown into the sea. Those who had gone fishing with the chief mate were
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easily disposed of by the warriors at Friendly Cove.
Jewitt escaped as by a miracle. At the time of the attack he was below, cleaning muskets. Hearing the commotion on deck, he rushed up the steerage-ladder only to receive a stroke with an axe which sent him back senseless. When he regained consciousness the
o
SEIZURE OF THE 'BOSTON.' 159
hatch was closed. This had been done, he afterward learned, by order of Maquinna, who when he saw him struck forbade his men to kill him, preferring to re tain as a slave a man so useful in making and repair ing weapons.
Presently the hatch was raised, and Maquinna's voice was heard, ordering Jewitt on deck. Blinded with blood, the trembling armorer appeared, assured that his hour had come, and believing himself spared thus far only to undergo the most refined and pro longed tortures. Upon his faithful promise of obe dience his life was spared. Maquinna then commanded him to take the ship to Friendly Cove, a feat which was accomplished with the aid of the savages, who made, however, but sorry sailors.
It was then ascertained that the sail-maker, Thomp son, was in the hold alive. Him Jewitt saved by feigning him to be his father, and refusing to live unless the other's life was preserved.
Great was the joy of the victors over their brill iant achievement, and from afar their friends arrived to join in their triumph. They stripped the vessel of her rigging and rifled the cargo, decking them selves in coats, cloths, and sacks, men in women's smocks, with stockings drawn upon their heads, and women ornamented with shot-bags, powder-horns, or any article they happened to fancy.
Four days after the tragedy, two ships were de scried standing in to the harbor. The guilty savages were greatly frightened, and seizing their guns ran hither and thither on the shore, hooting and shouting, with many extravagant demonstrations. The vessels, which were the Mary and the Juno of Boston, there upon stood out to sea, and were soon out of sight. Be fore half of the cargo was out of the Boston she was burned, being accidentally fired by a native who was on board at night with a torch for pilfering purposes. *
His wounds healed, Jewitt, with a stone for an anvil, and a wood fire to heat his metal, was soon at
160 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
work making knives for the men and bracelets for the women, which procured him high favor.
Thompson was a native of Philadelphia, a power ful, fearless, violent sailor of about forty years of age. By JeAvitt's intercession alone he twice escaped the murderous vengeance of his masters for striking their children, whom he cordially hated. While at Nootka Jewitt kept a journal in a book which he found in the captain's cabin. For ink Thompson offered blood from his arm, but the writer's preference fell upon boiled blackberry -juice. Maquinna seeing him writing one day, and suspicious lest he should be recording the atrocities of the Nootkas, threatened to burn his book if he ever caught tim writing again.
While on a fishing excursion with the Nootkas to a place they called Tashees, a book was given Jewitt in which were written the names of seven sailors who had some time previously deserted from the ship Man chester of Philadelphia, Brian master. From Ma quinna, who made them slaves, six attempted their escape, but were captured and cruelly put to death. This was told Jewitt as a warning, that he should not desert to the Wicananish neighbor of the Nootkas, who was endeavoring to entice him away.
Instead of wishing to leave him, Jewitt expressed a desire to learn the language, which pleased Maquinna greatly. Then the chief became confidential, and re cited to his captive a catalogue of injuries as the reason why he had seized the ship. One Tawnington, captain of a schooner which had wintered at Friendly Cove, armed his crew and entered the house of Ma quinna while he was absent at the Wicananish pro curing a wife, and carried away forty of his best skins. Four of his chiefs were killed about the same time by Martinez, a Spanish captain. Not long after, for stealing a chisel from the carpenter of the Sea Otter, Hanna, the captain, fired upon their canoes, killing over twenty men, of whom several were chiefs, Ma quinna, who was on board at the time, escaping by
SOUNDS OF DELIVERANCE. 161
leaping overboard and swimming some distance under water. These outrages recalled by Salter's insult, were kindled to a flame by opportunity, and quickly the deed was done.
As time wore on, the common people, especially the Wicananish visitors, became very impertinent to the white slaves, and on Jewitt's complaint to Maquinna of their hard lot the king rejoined that they might kill any who insulted them. This privilege Thompson was not slow to avail himself of, bringing in the head of a Wicananish shortly after, at which Maquinna was highly delighted. Thompson likewise took great pleasure in slaying savages while out with Maquinna's war parties. Jewitt was forced to take a wife and adopt Indian costume, which he did as gracefully as possible, but being seized with illness arising from scanty covering, Maquinna pronounced his conversion a failure, and permitted him to divorce his wife and resume his old dress.
Thus two summers and winters had now come and gone, when one day, in July 1805, while engaged in forging daggers for the king, the reverberant boom of three cannon greeted the ears of the captives. The thrill that these sounds sent to the heart was smoth ered ere it reached the face. They had almost de spaired of deliverance. Jewitt had written a letter which his friends the Wicananish had promised to deliver to some passing vessel, but though seven ships had appeared upon the shore since their capture none had entered Nootka sound, and the letter was never heard of.
The Boston was the largest and best equipped ves sel hitherto fitted out for the Northwest Coast trade, and the destruction of such a ship with its attendant horrors had deterred others from visiting the place, although there was not the slightest danger provided proper care was exercised.
Continuing to assume indifference to the arrival of the ship, Maquinna was thrown off his guard, and
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 11
102 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
would not allow his people to kill the captives, as they desired. He expressed a wish to go on board the ship. His people remonstrated, but he assured them he was not afraid, and that he would go. He thereupon ordered Jewitt to write a letter to the cap tain, which he did, informing him that the bearer was the principal chief, Maquinna, who had destroyed the Boston and killed the crew, and begging him to hold the chief captive until he and his companion should be set at liberty.
Line by line Jewitt pretended 'to explain the epistle to Maquinna, whose sharp ^eyes seemed to penetrate the armorer's hopes through their mask, but the reading was quite the reverse of the writing. " John, you no lie?" earnestly demanded the chief. It was a terrible ordeal for the captive. A word, a gesture, a blush, and his life would pay the forfeit. Gathering strength in measure with his need, Jewitt presently raised his eyes, and answered calmly and firmly: "Ty ee, have you ever known me to lie?" It was enough. This savage possessed a really noble nature. He had treated his captives well, and he believed them firmly attached to him. Yet the lie had been well told which should serve their purpose better than the truth.
Scarcely had Maquinna set his foot on deck when he found himself in irons. Great was the guilty chief's terror, and great the consternation of his people. Jewitt and Thompson were at once permitted to go on board, this being the only way of saving the king's life. The captain wished to put Maquinna to death, but Jewitt pointed out the uselessness of such a course. This was a savage. He had been insulted, his men murdered. He employed such means of re dress as God gave him, revenge. Besides, he had more than once spared the lives of his captives when his followers demanded their blood. So Maquinna was released, and the usual butchery omitted.
The ship proved to be the Lydia, Captain Samuel
AND NOW THE 'TONQUIN.' 163
Hill, from Boston. All that was left of the Boston was secured before Maquinna's deliverance. The Lydia continued her course northward for four months, when she returned, and entering the Columbia for spars, as cended the river ten miles to a native village, from whose inhabitants Jcwitt learned of the visit of Lewis and Clarke a fortnight before, in proof of which medals were shown. Thence the Jjydia again proceeded to Nootka, to trade with Maquinna, who received his old friends with grateful consideration.
Continuing northward until the llth of August 1806, the Lydia then sailed for China, where Jewitt met a fellow -townsman, a sea-captain, who gladly sup plied his necessities, and conveyed to his father the intelligence of his safety. Jewitt remained in the Lydia until she Peached Boston, which was in June 1807, where Francis and Thomas Amory, owners of -the Boston, treated him with every kindness.
Before leaving New York Captain Thorn had been warned by his employer not to trust the natives of the coast too far. " All accidents which have as yet happened there," wrote Astor in his parting injunc tion, "arose in too much confidence in the Indians;" and the interpreter now bears out this caution, and notifies him of the treacherous character of these peo ple in particular. Nevertheless, not only was neg lected the usual precaution taken by traders along these shores of rigging a boarding-netting round the deck so as to prevent too many from coming on board at once, but the captain did not even take the trouble to intimidate the savages by appearing before them properly armed. During the afternoon the natives came on board freely, and by evening apparently the most friendly relations had been established. Mc Kay was cordially invited to spend the night on shore, which he did, reposing luxuriously in the chief tain's house on a bed of otter-skins.
Early next morning, while McKay was yet ashore,
1G4 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
large quantities of furs were brought by the natives to the ship to trade. The goods were properly ar ranged upon the deck, and prices imposed by Lewis and Captain Thorn. But the natives were captious in their bargainings. Prices were too high, and the goods were not of the best kind or quality. For twenty years great ships had come from over the ocean for their furs, and they knewr well enough the ways of white men. There was one old Shylock- featured chief that made himself specially odious to Captain Thorn, who held all savages in supreme con tempt. This fellow seemed to direct the dealings of all the rest; and when the price was laid down for their skins he would treat the offer with contempt, and demand twice as much.
Thorn felt his choler rising; but after afl, it would not sound well in polite circles to have it said that a lieutenant in the navy sailed a peddling-ship all the way round Cape Horn, and then thrashed the sav ages with his own hand because they were more skil- :M traders than he. But the old chief growing more and more insulting, insomuch that all trade was brought to an end, and Thorn's wrath waxing hotter and hotter, he finally ordered the chief to take his traps and leave the ship. Some of the savages pre pared to obey the order, but the old chief stirred not an inch, only the hitherto cunning leer left his face, n :1 a stare of stolid indifference took its place. But when Thorn, overcome with fury on seeing himself thus defied upon his own ship's deck, seized the fellow by the hair, jerked him to his feet, and as he shoved Lira toward the ladder struck him in the face with a roll of furs brought there to trade, a cloud of deadly Late overspread his dusky features, while his eyes shot fire. On the instant the deck was cleared of natives. Not a man of them was to be seen. They quitted the ship as one might recoil from a pestilence.
McKay was greatly troubled when he heard of the fracas. A lucrative traffic had been disgracefully
GENTLEMANLY BRUTALITY. 165
broken up by the captain's irascible imprudence. No enterprise could be successful under such management. This was no way to treat savages. Of what avail is our boasted civilization if it brings no power over passion, if it does not give us an increase of that intellectual superiority which distinguishes men from brutes? Standing there face to face upon that ship's deck the high-spirited gallant Thorn was the savage, and the huckstering redskin his subaltern.
McKay was also alarmed. He knew the Indian character well, and from what he had seen ashore he was satisfied that these were of more than ordinary intelligence, and that they were no less vindictive and cruel than they were cunning. He knew that this blow, this most deadly insult a savage can receive, would sooner or later be avenged. Going at once to the captain he told him this, explained the situation in which they now stood to the people ashore, that henceforth they would be regarded as enemies, that blow being a declaration of war in its most insulting terms. He urged him to depart from that bay, to lose not a moment; the wind was now favorable, let him set sail at once.
Thorn laughed at him; pointed to his guns, and strutted the deck. Pausing a moment before McKay, with features full of savage vindictiveness, he ex claimed: "Do you think I would run before a lot of naked redskins so long as I had a knife or a hand spike?" To the interpreter who now approached him with fear depicted on his face, warning him against further intercourse with people ashore, he deigned no answer.
Nothing unusual happened during the rest of the day, and the night passed without disturbance. Very early next morning, with faces bright as the sun, some twenty natives came alongside the ship in a large pirogue, each holding over his head a roll of furs, thus signifying that they desired to trade. A little smile of triumph broke over the captain's face, as he
106 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
turned to McKay and said, "You see how it works. Treat these fellows gingerly, and they ride over you; show them that you are not afraid of them, and will not put up with their damned impertinence, and they behave themselves."
Admitted at once to the deck, they did indeed con duct themselves in a most circumspect manner, being very respectful and orderly, and making not the slight est objections to the prices given for their skins. Another boat arrived bringing as many more men, all with otter-skins, and of the best quality. The captain was in a glorious good-humor. He loved to triumph, not less over those about him, than over the barba rians ashore.
Moreover, this would enable him all the sooner to finish this business, of which he was heartily tired, and return. In like manner a third pirogue came oif, and a fourth, and a fifth, all being freely ad mitted, until the deck was crowded.
Meanwhile the interpreter and the sailors on watch had become alarmed, not less at the throng of savages admitted on board en masse, than that under their suspicious scrutiny they had observed that while some packages of their furs, and those of the best, they would freely dispose of, other rolls they would keep back, demanding an exorbitant price for them. Moreover, the women kept charge of the canoes; not one of them appeared upon the deck. These suspi cions were communicated to the captain, who now himself became alarmed; for the Indians as if by accident had ranged themselves well round the ship, while the late happy expression on their faces was changing; to one of sombre concern.
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There was no mistaking it ; and what made it worse still, neither the captain nor any of the crew were armed. He would away from there at once, and as if to second the resolve, a favorable breeze just then sprang up which would carry them out finely. Five sailors were ordered aloft to unfurl the sails while the
THE MASSACRE. 167
rest were weighing anchor and making ready to depart.
The savages were leaning listlessly about the ship, apparently unconcerned in what was going on, yet not a movement of the white men escaped their vigilant eye. The captain now ordered them to their boats, as the ship was about to sail. Each savage then rose, picked up his roll of otter-skins and thrust his hand within it, when at a preconcerted signal out came knife and bludgeon, and with a terrific yell they threw themselves upon the captain and his crew. Lewis was first struck, and fell upon a bale of blankets. Two savages who had marked McKay for their own, and had followed him step by step since the order was first given to sail, now fell upon him, knocked him senseless, and pitched him overboard, where the women despatched him with their paddles. Another set en gaged the captain, who drew a clasp-knife and for a time defended himself, but was finally cut to pieces.
Meanwhile the butchery about the ship was gen eral. Four of the sailors who were aloft slipped down the rigging, and dropping through the steerage hatch way, secured themselves below; the other was laid lifeless by a stab in the back as he was descending.
The interpreter, who up to this time had been seated on the poop, now made signs to the women in the canoes that he surrendered himself a slave, and thereupon dropped himself into the water. Taking him up they hid him under some mats, and con veying him to the shore kept him in durance for two years, when he was ransomed by his friends of Gray Harbor. " Soon after," said he, " I heard the discharge of fire-arms, immediately upon which the Indians fled from the vessel, and pulled for the shore as fast as possible; nor did they venture to go along side the ship again the whole of that day/'
As all the rest had been massacred, that is to say, if Lewis was not yet alive, and we have no reason for supposing that he was, undoubtedly the firing was
168 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
done by the four sailors, who dropped from the rig ging below, broke through into the cabin, seized arms, and with them cleared the ship. This shows how easily all might have been prevented if the traders had used ordinary caution, and had simply carried their arms.11
The Indians from the shore, watching the ship as the tiger watches its prey, next day saw four men lower a boat and make for the sea. Instantly a score of pirogues were in chase; "but whether those men were overtaken and murdered," says the interpreter, " or gained the open sea and perished there, I never could learn." They were never afterward heard of.
And now all was silent on board the Tonquin. Her bloody deck was strewn with the bodies of those who had so lately been her life; and there she lay soulless, a sepulchre upon the sea. Warily the savages made their approach, as to a thing living, yet dead. Hound her they swept in their canoes, by degrees narrowing the circle as the absence of life on board stimulated their courage, until in swarms they gathered round and clambered upon her deck. She was now the common prize of all. Huddled on board, and clinging to her sides were five hundred men and women, eager for plunder. Suddenly, with a terrible boom, the vessel blew up, filling the air with the mangled and dismem bered bodies of the savages, two hundred of whom were slain.12 The ship immediately sank, and thus
11 'Captain Smith of the Albatross, who had seen the wreck of the Tonquin, in mentioning to us its sad fate, attributed the cause of the disaster to the rash conduct of Captain Ayres, of Boston. That navigator had taken off ten or a dozen natives of Ncwitty, as hunters, with a promise of bringing them back to their country, which promise he inhumanly broke by leaving them on some deserted island in Sir Francis Drake's Bay. The countrymen of these unfortunates^ indignant at the conduct of the American captain, had sworn to avenge themselves on the first white men who appeared among them.' Fmnchere's Nar., 187.
12 In this fatal disaster of the Tonqum, as in every other matter that comes within my work, I have endeavored to state the unvarnished truth. Here arise perhaps more than the usual difficulties in distinguishing the true from the false, owing to the fact that the most graphic accounts and those which should be the most reliable are misleading. Accuracy is everywhere sacrificed to effect. More than usual if possible in his Astor relation, Irving here
RUMORS OF INTRUDERS. 169
terminated the maritime first part of the Astor project.
To return to Fort Astoria. Prior to the sailing of the Tonquin, and while building was still in progress, rumors reached the fort through the natives, that a company of white men had established themselves above a certain rapid. There was not a doubt that it was the Northwest Company, whose powerful organ ization the Astor party were called upon to combat thus early in their occupation of the Columbia. At all events they would ascertain the meaning of it. Hence on the 2d of May a company, of whom Robert Stuart, Franchere, McKay, and Montigny were lead- gives wings to his brilliant imagination, and permits it to carry him whither soever it will. While acknowledging himself indebted for the facts to the same Gray Harbor interpreter, whose narrative Franchere reports verba tim, he follows him only so far as suits his conception of what a good story ought to be. First he invents names for the chief Indian characters; the interpreter he calls Lamazee, which is the first Chehalis word I have ever encountered with a 'z' in it. There is nothing specially objectionable to Wicananish as the name for a chief, but Nookamis and She wish, by which terms he designates the old aboriginal Shy lock, and the chief's son, would better suit more southern tribes. It is astonishing, this intimate knowledge of the individual members of a band of savages of whose very tribal name and habitat he is entirely ignorant ! The stories of Captain Thorn kicking the peltries, the short fur mantles under which the savages' weapons were con cealed, the selecting of knives in their barter, the finding of Lewis mortally wounded, but not dead, down in the cabin, etc. , are pure romance. One can but admire the facility with which this charming author sends seven men into the rigging, instead of five, in order that he may have two more to graphically kill, and keeps the interpreter on the ship long after he left, so that he might finish his story, and work to heroic pitch the strategic death of Lewis, and his wholesale revenge. Irving's assertion that the four men were caught, brought back, and tortured, and that the interpreter held con versation with them in which they informed him of all the little particulars which occurred after his departure from the ship, and prior to the explosion, have not in them all a word of truth. But it is hardly wise to criticise fiction as though it were fact; I only wish to establish what is fiction, and what fact. For the elegant and philosophic writer of novels I have the most pro found admiration ; but as there are many who have all their lives regarded Irving's Astoria as true history, it is but my duty to inform them that many of its most brilliant passages are pure fiction. Says Franchere : ' It will never be known how or by whom the Tonquin was blown up. Some pretend to say that it was the work of James Lewis, but that is impossible, for it ap pears from the narrative of the Indian that he was one of the first peisous murdered ... It might also have been accidental . . . Or, again, the men before quitting the ship may have lighted a slow train, which is the most likely supposition of all.' The fact that Irving possessed some other information than Franchere, does not in this instance cany much weight, because to this catastrophe there happens to be but one witness, and Franchere gives his narrative in full. See also Hist. Nortlucest Coast, i. 327-8, this series.
170 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
ers, was despatched up the river. On their way they ascended the Cowlitz for a short distance, many of whose people had never before seen white men. Then proceeding up the Columbia as far as the Cascades without learning anything of the intruders they re turned, reaching Fort Astoria on the 14th. Mean while the building approached completion. A dwelling and powder-magazine were put up, all of hewn logs, enclosed, and roofed over with cedar bark.
On the 15th of June 1811, the natives brought in two strange Indians whose dress was totally different from that of the tribes of the Columbia, being of dressed deer -skin, robe, leggings, and moccasins, like those worn to the east of the Rocky Mountains. Neither could they understand the dialects of the lower Co lumbia, but made themselves known by means of the Knisteneaux tongue.
It appeared that the Northwest Company were already on the ground with a determined force, that beside the early establishments about the head-waters of Peace and Fraser rivers which followed Macken zie's exploration, there were already at least two others farther north and west. For these savages said they had been sent with a letter, which they showed, writ ten by Firman McDonald, a clerk of the Northwest Company, from a fort which had been established on the Spokane River. The letter was addressed to Mr John Stuart, Fort Estekatadene, New Caledonia. The messengers, not knowing the exact locality of this post, had lost their way, and had followed the Tacootche Tesse, as they called the Columbia Paver, to the falls, where, learning that white men were below, they doubted not that they should here find him to whom the letter was addressed.13
13 It was afterwards ascertained that these were women, though one of them was dressed as a man, thinking in that garb she would meet with greater respect. They were remarkable characters. They were a sort of uncivilized mountebank.-, and practised skilfully and successfully most of the cheats known to both white men and savages. Among the natives they pro fessed great influence with the fur-hunters, which might secure them great blessings. On the journey with them up the river, which subsequently took
THOMPSON AT FORT ASTORIA. 171
This intelligence was the more unwelcome because the Pacific Company in their present state were un able to plant posts and successfully compete with their more powerful rival for the trade of the interior. Detaining the messengers for several days, however,' and obtaining from them all information possible re garding the country and its people, they determined to attempt to hold their own, and plant post for post with them, until their resources should be wholly exhausted. Hence David Stuart, with the requisite men and merchandise, made ready to return with the two na tives to some spot not far distant from their rivals, where they too would build a fort and open trade.
The 1 5th of July was the day appointed for their de parture. About noon on that day, while loading their canoes, a large canoe propelled by eight white ineri, with flying colors, swept round Tongue Point and made straight for a little wharf which had been built at the landing-place. What apparition was this ' Mr Hunt was to take the route of Lewis and Clarke, and winter as they had done on the Missouri; hence it could not be he. Soon they saw that the flag displayed was British, and the crew Canadian boatmen. As the boat touched the wharf, a well dressed fine-looking man, whose every motion proclaimed the gentleman, sprang ashore, and without ceremony, announced him self as David Thompson, partner and astronomer of the Northwest Company. He was politely received, and quarters within the fort assigned him and his men; for seldom did these foresters permit rivalry in trade to balk their hospitality. Here were men whom they at the time supposed to be sent especially to anticipate or supplant them in the execution of their legitimate purpose, in the consummation of their most important plans; and yet they could not but
Elace, Eoss was unable to account 'for the cordial reception they met with -om the natives, who loaded them for their good tidings with the most valu able articles they possessed, horses, robes, leather, higuas, so that on our arrival at Oakinacken they had no less than twenty-six horses, many of them loaded with the fruits of their false reports.'
172 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
feel as men of one color and language meeting thus in the wilderness, and that there were nobler considera tions which should govern the moment than those of merchandise.
Briefly Mr Thompson gave account of himself. He had crossed the continent the summer before, had started with a large party well equipped and stocked for trade, but had been deserted by all but eight men, from which circumstance, having reached the head waters of the Columbia at the western base of the Rocky Mountains, he was obliged to winter there. As soon as spring had cleared the river of ice he had built a boat, and in it had descended the river to that place. He further stated that the wintering partners would agree to leave in the hands of the Pacific Company the entire traffic west of the Rocky Mountains, abandoning all posts already constructed, provided the Pacific Com pany would not interfere with their trade on the east side. In proof of which he produced a letter from the wintering partners to the Honorable William McGil- livray, chief of the Northwest Company in Canada, Should the Pacific Company decline this offer, the Northwest Company could do nothing less than to press western occupation, and to that end had de spatched a large force to the new field, and had dis tributed the British flag freely to the natives along the route.14
The arrival of Mr Thompson, who as elsewhere stated was the first white man to descend the northern branch of the Columbia, delayed the Stuart expedition
11 Franchere's Nar., 121. Irving says not a word of this offer. In his zeal for Astor, he seems to me unfair to the Northwest Company. He stigmatizes Thompson as 'a spy in the camp,' and already insinuates treachery on the part of McDougall, 'who had a lurking feeling of companionship and good will for all the Northwest Company,' because he extended to one of their members the common courtesies of woodsmen. I cannot understand why this was not a fair proposition, made in au open, manly way, and one which the Pacific Company would have done well to consider, would have done in finitely better to accept. The eastern field was already well nigh exhausted ; the western was new. It was something like the offer made the Franciscans of Mexico by the Dominicans, which the former were prompt to accept, and which gave them in consequence Alta California in exchange for the sterile hills of the peninsula.
FORT OK AN AG AN. 173
eight days. Whatever terms might be arranged for the possession of the Northwest Coast between Mc- Gillivray and Astor, the establishment of interior forts was part of the original plan, which the proposed com promise would not in the least affect. Hence it was resolved that Stuart should proceed as if nothing had happened. It was quite a little fleet that left the fort the 23d of July 1811. Stuart, with four clerks, Pellet, Ross, Montigny, and McLennan, four boat men, Thompson and his crew, and the two native messengers, all in their lisfht canoes under sail. It
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was quite a little commerce the old Columbia was stirring up. Thompson was at once to proceed to Montreal, and by him McDougall despatched a letter to Astor.
Stuart and Thompson continued in company for some distance past the Dalles, when the latter pushed forward, leaving the former to proceed more leisurely in his examination of the country for the selection of a site for a fort. Stuart continued his ascent of the main Columbia until he reached a broad treeless prairie surrounded by high hills. The plain was rich in tall grass. The landscape was open toward the south-east but closed with pine-trees toward the north. It was fragrant with flowers, and musical
O '
with birds; and through it, down from the northern lakes, came a clear cool stream which the natives called Okanagan, and joined its waters with those of the Columbia. At the junction, on the bank of the Okanagan, Stuart determined to place his fort.15
Few spots in all the north-west could have been more favorable for the location of a factory. Besides a delightful climate, friendly natives with multitudes of horses, rivers abounding in fish, and the adjacent forests well stocked with game, natural highways
15 This first interior fort of the Pacific Company was placed on the east bank of the Okanagan a few miles above its mouth. It was the stopping- place of the overland brigade, and in due time became the chief station for the deposit of furs from the New Caledonian district. Finlayson's V. I., IMS., 67; Evans1 Hist. Or., MS., 187; Gray's Hint. Or., 42-3; Franchere's Nar., 131; Ross' Adv., 150, 201.
174 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
were opened far to the north and east, and to the south and west even to the sea. Caught in the bends of the rivers was an abundance of drift-wood, with which, after landing his supplies, Stuart erected as the beginning of an establishment, a log-house sixteen feet by twenty, after which, satisfied that for the winter he could dispense with a portion of his men, and willing to brave the untried perils of the place, he sent back Pillot and McLennan to Astoria, where they arrived the 5th of October. They brought as passengers Regis Bruguier, a wandering Canadian trapper, and an Iroquois hunter named Ignace Shon- owane, with his wife and two children, come hither to try their fortune.
Finding the natives not only friendly but intelli gent, kind, and exceedingly desirous the white men should establish among them a trading-post where they could obtain useful articles, with a courage bor dering on the reckless for so staid and careful a trader as David Stuart, he now determined to leave the post in charge of Ross, with not a solitary companion, while he with Montigny and the two boatmen should make an expedition to the north. The matter was successfully accomplished, Ross keeping solitary vigil throughout the entire winter of 18 1 1-1 2. 16 Ascend ing the Okanagan to its source, the party crossed south-westerly a height which brought them to Thomp son River where, the snow coming upon them, they passed the winter with the Shushwaps.
Finding the natives well disposed and the country abounding in beaver and other furs, Stuart made ar rangements to return the ensuing winter and build a fort there. This was the first expedition of white men into the region round Okanagan Lake. The Astorians were by no means idle ; it is estimated that
16 ' During Mr. Stuart's absence of 188 days I had procured 1,550 beavers, besides other peltries worth in the Canton market 2, 250/. sterling, and which on an average stood the concern in but 5^d. apiece, valuing the merchandise at sterling cost, or in round numbers 35£. sterling; a specimen of our trade among the Indians! ' Iioss' Adv. 150.
COMCOMLY SUSPECTED. 175
during the first year of their occupation of the Colum bia their explorations in various directions numbered ten thousand miles.
The Chinooks about the mouth of the Columbia River upon mature meditation had arrived at two conclusions : they would like their country cleared of white men, and they would like what little merchan dise the white men had stored in that vicinity with out the trouble of so much trapping and trafficking. Briefly, they concluded to take the fortress and kill the occupants. Fortune seemed to favor their design by lessening the force at Astoria, both by the sailing of the Tonquin, and the withdrawal of eight good fighting men by Stuart. Preparatory to attack the entire population withdrew, and for miles around not a native was to be seen where before were hundreds. There was a Judas in their camp, however, a second ary chief friendly to Stuart, who unfolded to him the plot.
All business at the fort was suspended. The entire force was employed preparing for defence. Palisades were put up, and in bastions at either end were mounted four small cannon. A guard was kept day and night. Though Comcomly was as profuse in his profession of friendship for McDougall as ever, he was not wholly free from the suspicion of having a hand in the affair. Red men are much like white men in this regard; business must always take prece dence of friendship.
About the same time savages from Gray Harbor and Juan de Fuca Strait gathered in large numbers at Baker Bay, ostensibly for the purpose of fishing for sturgeon. The Tonquin massacre was freely dis cussed by them, and gave strength to their plans. Thence rumor of the catastrophe reached the fort, but little attention was paid to it, as it w^as thought only a ruse. But later, when certain Chehalis not only confirmed the rumor but detailed in part the cir-
176 FOUNDING OF FORT ASTORIA.
cumstances, the report caused some uneasiness, and yet the thing was not believed possible.
As trade fell off and dangers increased and pro visions became low, McDougall determined to try a stratagem, so as if possible to set forever at rest all those itching propensities of his future father-in-law and his neighbors to strip the scalps and finger the property of the fur-traders.
There was nothing in this or any other world these poor people so feared as the small-pox. There had been enough of it along the coast to show them what it was, and they abominated it as the double-edged scourge of white man and devil. Summoning all the chiefs of that vicinity, McDougall, after solemn ly smoking, informed them that he had something very important to communicate, something which he had never told them, and which no one knew. "You imagine," said he, "that because we are few you can easily kill us, but it is not so; or if you do you only bring the greater evils upon yourselves. The medi cine of the white man dead is mightier than the red man living. It is said that the men on board our ships, twenty in number, are killed; but if this be true, did not the ship alone, unmanned, kill two hun dred of the murderers, ten for one? But what is the white man's ship compared with the white man him self? You know the small-pox. Listen: I am the small-pox chief. In this bottle I have it confined. AJ1 I have to do is to pull the cork, send it forth among you, and you are dead men. But this is for my enemies, and not for my friends." Like children as they were they begged the small-pox chief not to let loose upon them his terrible medicine. The pro posed attack was not made.
Without startling incident the winter wears away. The 2d of October the schooner is launched and named, with the usual formalities, the Dolly. The natives retire from the sea-shore to their winter-quar-
CHRISTMAS. 177
ters in the interior; less and less game is brought in, and finally Robert Stuart makes a voyage up the river for the threefold purpose of trading, cutting staves, and obtaining food. Three men deserting on the 10th of November, Matthews and Frarichere are sent with five natives in search of them. They ascend the river as far as the falls without success, but on starting to return they find the fugitives, who were by no means unwilling to be captured. They reached the fort on the 24th, narrowly escaping shipwreck in a storm just before landing. On the 5th of December, Robert Stuart, with Pellet, McGillis, and Bruguier, set out to examine the Willamette River, and determine if a trading-post should be opened on its banks, the natives having reported many beaver there. The country proved a garden, indeed ; replete with all the beauties of nature, and well stocked with animals, birds, and fish. But for beaver, the great staple of the fur- trader, the Cowlitz, the Blue Mountains, and the country of the Shushwaps afforded greater attrac tions. The time being now past when the Tonquin should have returned, fear grew upon them that the report of the Indians was too true.
The annual Christmas festivities were celebrated, though the fare was poor. The 1st of January 1812, was hailed with a discharge of artillery, and although the allowance of spirits was short, dancing was kept up until a late hour. The festive season over, all hands returned to their ordinary occupations. A barge was built by the carpenter; charcoal was burned for the use of the blacksmith; the cooper was busied upon barrels to supply the need of posts yet unestablished ; while the rest cut timber for additional buildings and stockades. On the evening of the 18th of January there arrived two canoes of white people, being the first detachment of the overland party, whose jour ney we will now briefly trace.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 12
CHAPTER VIII.
ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION. 1810-1812.
THE OVERLAND PARTY — WILSON P. HUNT — RENDEZVOUS ON THE MISSOURI — NEW PARTNERS — ASCENT OF THE MISSOURI — MANUEL LISA — HORSES PURCHASED AT THE RICARAS' VILLAGE — THE CHEYENNE COUNTRY — THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS — ON GREEN RIVER — THE SHOSHONE COUNTRY — HEAD-WATERS OF THE SNAKE — UNFIT FOR NAVIGATION — A DISSATISFIED PARTNER — DANGEROUS RAPIDS — PARTY DIVIDED INTO FOUR — THE DEVIL'S SCUTTLE -HOLE — A TERRIBLE JOURNEY — FAMINE — HORSES BOUGHT — NEW YEAR'S DANCE OF THE CANADIANS — FEAST ON DOG- MEAT — THE BLUE MOUNTAINS — AMONG THE TUSHEPAWS — THE COLUM BIA — ARRIVAL AT ASTORIA.
THE overland party, it will be remembered, was placed by Astor under the direction of Wilson P. Hunt, partner in charge on the Pacific coast, Mc- Dougall acting as chief only during his absence. Hunt was a most able, conscientious, and reliable man. He followed unflinchingly what he deemed the right, and was nobly unselfish in the performance of duty. He stood by Astor when all others deserted him, never allowing his own interests to interfere with those of the company. Up to this time he had had no experience in forest life ; but there are men efficient wherever you place them. Thus his friends represent him, and such I should like to believe him; he must be judged, however, by his own actions.
While effecting arrangements for his expedition, Hunt made his rendezvous near the junction of the Nodowa River with the Missouri, not far from where is now St Joseph. The party numbered about sixty. Besides Hunt there were four other partners, three of
(178)
RENDEZVOUS. 179
whom were added to the company after the departure of the maritime expedition. Donald McKenzie, one of the original partners, had been for ten years in the service of the Northwest Company. He was accus tomed to camp life, proficient in Indian strategy, a good shot, and a good fellow. Engaged in fur-trading on his own account along the Missouri wras a young Scotchman, Ramsay Crooks, formerly of the North west Company, a worthy gentleman of high integrity and enterprise, whom Hunt invited to join as partner. The invitation was accepted. Another, made partner by Hunt, acting for Astor, was Joseph Miller, a native of Baltimore, formerly army officer and trap per; and the fourth, Robert McClellan, a man of fearless, impetuous spirit, with a small muscular frame and a dark fiery eye. He had had much ex perience in fighting Indians, and was the hero of many exploits. Besides these were one clerk, John Reed, forty Canadian boatmen, and several hunters. Among those attached to the expedition worthy of mention was John Day, a Virginian backwoodsman, standing six feet two, and straight as an arrow, with an elastic step, a constitution of steel, and a frank and open face and manner; John Colter, who had been with Lewis and Clarke, and Pierre Dorion, son of Lewis and Clarke's interpreter. Two scientific lights were present in the persons of John Bradbury and Mr Nuttall, both Englishmen and botanists.
In getting this force together Hunt had met with no small difficulty. At Montreal and Mackinaw the Northwest Company opposed him, and at St Louis he had the Missouri Fur Company to throw every obstacle possible in his way. Voyageurs were ob tained very much as sailors are engaged for a cruise, and to secure the managers, guides, interpreters, arid hunters required no small art. But patiently and assiduously Hunt and McKenzie pursued their pur pose, proceeding first to Montreal in July 1810, spend ing part of August at Mackinaw, where they added
180 ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
to their outfit as well as to their numbers, and com pleting their arrangements at St Louis, where they arrived the 3d of September.
A Spaniard was then manager of the Missouri Fur Company at St Louis, Manuel Lisa, by whose enter prise, extraordinary indeed for one of his nationality, posts had been established on the upper Missouri in the track of Lewis and Clarke as early as 1808. While Hunt was busy during the winter gathering his people at Xodowa for an early spring start, Senor Lisa was likewise preparing to ascend the Missouri in the interests of his company.
Breaking camp about the 20th of April 1811, Hunt and his party ascended the Missouri, reaching the mouth of the Platte in a week's travel. Making a halt of a day or two to supply themselves with ash timber for oars and poles, they lost two of the best hunters by desertion. On one occasion they were startled by eleven naked Sioux rushing into their camp, but without serious mishap or any further ad venture the party arrived in the neighborhood of the village of Omaha, where they pitched their camp on the 10th of May.
Intimidated by rumors of hostile tribes above, three more men now deserted, but fortunately their places were supplied by three new men; while some distance higher up the river the party was joined by two ex perienced trappers, Benjamin Jones and Alexander Carson.
Shortly before entering the country of the hostile Sioux, Hunt received a letter despatched by mes senger from Lisa, who left St Louis three weeks later than the Astor party, but had now nearly overtaken them. He requested them now to halt until he came up, that they might pass the hostile territory in com pany. Lisa was bound in search of Henry, who in the year previous had been driven from his fort at the forks of the Missouri by the Blackfoot; his command numbered about twenty-five men, and
UP THE MISSOURI. 181
would prove a valuable accession to the party in advance.
In times past there had been a difficulty between Lisa and McLellan, and the latter now threatened to shoot Lisa the moment they met in the Indian country. Lisa had also been Hunt's opponent at St Louis, and he now feared that further trouble might ensue if they joined company. He therefore re sorted to subterfuge. Writing to inform Lisa that thev would wait for him at the village of the Poncas,
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a short distance above, no sooner was the messenger out of sight than all hands exerted their utmost efforts, and sped up the river, leaving Lisa to make his way through the hostile country as best he might. There was no excuse for this falsehood. It would have been as profitable to hcive declined Seiior Lisa's company in a manly and honorable manner, as to have taken refuge in this cowardly flight.
At their first encampment above the Poncas' vil lage, the two Omaha recruits deserted; but they shortly after fell in with three old trappers, Ken- tuckians, John Hoback, Jacob Rizner, and Edward Robinson, who had been with Henry in the service of the Missouri Company, and who now engaged with the Pacific Company, agreeing to «ive one half of their
. -, " ' V*
peltries in return tor ammunition and supplies.
Up to this time Hunt had intended to continue in the track of Lewis and Clarke, but learning from these men of the strength and hostile attitude of the Blackfoot he determined to leave the Missouri at the village of the Ricaras, purchase horses, and cross the mountains to the southward, near the sources of the Platte and Yellowstone, being the route by which Clarke had returned. A fright from the Indians and a bloodless quarrel with Lisa, who shortly afterward overtook them, were the chief incidents prior to their arrival at their point of debarkation.
Just before reaching the Ricaras' village on the llth of June, the two companies camped as usual at a little
182
ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
distance from each other, both still nursing a sullen reserve. Through the magnanimity of Lisa, at the council held with the Ricaras next day, the suspicions and coldness of Hunt were in a measure removed. Unable to procure sufficient horses from the Ricaras, Hunt gladly accepted the offer of Lisa to send to the Missouri Company's fort, at the village of the Man- dans, one hundred and fifty miles above, and bring down the requisite number, taking his pay in such
HUNT'S ROUTE.
merchandise as might be easily spared. Here the naturalists left the party, Bradbury returning to St Louis with Breckenridgo, who was with Lisa's party, and who, like Bradbury, subsequently published an account of this journey, and Nuttall remaining with Lisa.
Having disposed of his boats and all superfluous baggage, on the 18th of July, with eighty-two well packed horses, most of the men being on foot,1 Hunt
1 ' The veteran trappers and voyageurs of Lisa's party shook their heads as their comrades set out, and took leave of them as of doomed men; and even Lisa himself gave it as his opinion, after the travellers had departed, that they would never reach the shores of the Pacific, but would perish with hunger in the wilderness, or 1)3 cut off by the savages.' Irvintfs Astoria, 221.
GREEN RIVER AND BEYOND. 183
and party left the Ricaras' village and the Missouri . River. Their line of march lay first toward the north west, but soon changed to the south-west. Crossing what was then called Big River, they entered the country of the Cheyennes, where they obtained thirty- six additional horses, which lightened the loads of the others, and gave one horse to every two men to ride alternately.
Skirting the Black Hills, they struck westward along the arid divide between the tributaries of the Missouri and those of the Yellowstone, through a region void of game and vegetation until they gained a valley watered by a branch of the Powder River, where was found abundant grass, the pasture of thou sands of buffalo. By the end of August they had entered the Big Horn Mountains, and traversing the country of the Crows they continued westward to the sterile region of Wind River, up which they toiled for five days. Food becoming scarce, they deviated from the course in order to procure it, marching south-west to a branch of the Colorado, now Green River, once called Spanish River, the latter name being given it by the hunters, because the natives told them that towards its mouth Spaniards lived. Long before reaching Green River, however, from a high elevation the Three Tetons were plainly visible, marking a source of the great Columbia. Mr Hunt called these peaks Pilot Knobs, a name fortunately not retained.
Turning their backs upon Green River, they as cended by one of its small tributaries north-westerly through the Shoshone country, making a five days' halt when they encountered buffalo and grass ; thence over a rido;e for fifteen miles to a stream fiftv feet wide,
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flowing north-westward, which Hoback assured them was a tributary of the Columbia.
At first they called this stream Hoback River, but as along its broken border, over its rocky promon tories, up and down its deep defiles they toiled, the wild water rushing far below, gathering courage from
184 ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
loud babbling tributaries, until it became, as it would seem, so impatient of restraint that it would dash the very mountains asunder in its spasms of wrath, they finally called it Mad River. It is now known as the south or Lewis branch of Snake River, the north branch being Henry River.
Camping the last of September near the base of the Three Tetons where the Macl River, awed to stillness by these mighty sentinels, caressed its overhanging willows, the travellers thought their journey almost over, nothing more being necessary but to build boats and drift with the current to their destination.
Should they build boats here'? A vote was taken, and it was so decided. While hunting logs for ca noes, John Day, John Reed, and Pierre Dorion were sent down the stream to survey it; they returned pro nouncing it totally unfit for navigation. Meanwhile, there being indications of beaver, trappers were sent out in pairs, who were to continue their labors for some months, and then drop down the river to Fort Astoria, or to the company's first fort, should there be one nearer.
It was now thought best to turn from Mad River and take another course, and the men who had been with Henry stated that his fort was near by, on the other branch of the river, and that probably from that point navigation would be better. Without diffi culty they crossed the elevated plateau to Hemy River in four days' travel, and found the fort, but it had been abandoned.
The river here was one hundred yards wide; timber wras plentiful, and the party at once set about con structing canoes. Another party of trappers, consist ing of Hoback, Rizner, Robinson, and Cass, here left the main body, and as Miller, one of the partners, had been for some time dissatisfied, to the chagrin of Hunt and the astonishment of all he voluntarily relinquished his interest in the company and joined the hunters. Descending to the Bear River region
AMONG THE SHOSHONES. 185
they were very successful, and loaded their horses with peltries, but in taking them eastward to market were robbed by the Arapahoes and reduced to the last extremity. Relieved the following summer by a re turn party under Stuart, Miller was thankful for an escort to St Louis, but the others again equipped, plunged into the wilderness, and were finally killed by the Indians.
Leaving the horses in charge of the Shoshones, on the 19th of October Hunt and his party em barked at Fort Henry in fifteen canoes which they had made, and proceeded down the river. Passing the confluence of the Lewis and Henry branches toward evening of the same day, they camped on the main stream of Snake River, here a broad and placid stream.
Hope was high, and far into the night the dis turbed grizzlies growled their distaste of Canadian boat-songs ; but next day, before they were well aware of it, they were among dangerous rapids. One canoe was dashed in pieces; another filled and damaged the lading; but no lives were lost. Next day a toilsome and dangerous portage confronted them, and later a water-fall necessitated another. On proceeding fur ther, the waters whirled and raged among the rocks until another canoe was broken to pieces and one of the men swept away to his death, the rest barely escaping.
This shock aroused the travellers to a sense of their situation. Three men were sent forward on the left bank and Hunt with three others took the right to examine the stream, and they found it as far as they went, forty miles or more, worse than any portion they had passed. Here it plunged in a perpendicular fall, there it roared among the bowlders, whirling in tumultuous vortices at their base, while the whole river compressed into a narrow compass rushed furiously between prec ipices hundreds of feet high. They endeavored to pass some of the canoes down by lines but were un-
186 ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
successful, disaster and loss being the only result. Their way seemed blocked.
Yet they could not remain where they were. Re peated losses and changes had so reduced their stock of provision, that with the present scarcity of game they did not see how they could even remain together. Winter was upon them. Pale famine hovered about the camp, and they must part. Wrapped in the dark ness of primeval wilderness, only uncertainty was be fore them. No white man had ever penetrated these wilds, and the poor Shoshone, whose broadest imagi nation extended scarcely beyond his horizon, trembled with fear when asked about the nature of the country beyond.
It was finally determined that they should separate into four parties. McKenzie, with five men, should strike northward for another branch of the Columbia; Crooks, with the same number, should return to Fort Henry and bring forward the horses ; Reed, with three men, and McClellan, with three more, notwithstanding the perilous difficulties reported, should attempt to follow the downward course of the present Snake River, and ascertain what it was; while Hunt would endeavor to provide for the main body, now reduced to thirty-one men, and the Indian wife and two children of the interpreter, Pierre Dorion, who had accompanied him.
Hunt determined at all events to move. Three days were occupied by his party in concealing their effects in nine caches, when Crooks unexpectedly returned with his companions, discouraged at the thought of spending the winter in executing their dreary errand. Presently two of Reed's men returaed with dismal reports. As far as they went the river boiled and brawled between deep dark channel-walls as grimly as ever. They had just christened the place Caldron Linn, but now they called it the Devil's Scuttle-hole. Hard names, however, do not change the countenance of nature.
A BROKEN PARTY. 187
After due deliberation, Hunt finally determined to descend Snake River; he with Pierre Dorion and family, and eighteen men to follow the right bank, and Crooks with the remainder to follow the left bank. Well was it for them, as in all the dispensations of providence, that they knew not what was before them. The region through which this river ran to the main Columbia was almost desert, almost destitute of game orother subsistence. The pack of each man being re duced to twenty pounds, contained not more than seven and a half pounds of food, while a thousand miles yet lay between them and Fort Astoria.
Setting out on the 9th of November in separate companies, during the entire day Hunt's party were unable to descend the bank for water, but at night they camped where they could with difficulty obtain enough for drinking purposes. The next day it was the same; the third they came upon the habitations of a few half- starved Shoshones, the first they had met for several days. Their course lay alternately over jagged ridges and across tenantless plains. Thus they journeyed, making from three to thirty miles a day, subsisting almost entirely on dried fish, which in the absence of water only aggravated an intolerable thirst, obtaining occasionally a horse or a dog from the natives to feast upon, killing now and then a beaver or a wolf, which gave them change of diet. Yet more painful grew their path as they proceeded. Heavy and dreary was the sky, while the cold rain which had chilled their half- starved bodies, changed to bleak December snows.
Nearly a month had elapsed since Hunt and Crooks had parted company, when one morning shortly after the former had broken camp the voices of white men crying for food were heard from the opposite bank. A boat was improvised by means of sticks, over which was stretched the skin of a horse eaten the previous night, by means of which a little meat was conveyed to them, and Crooks and Le Clerc were brought over.
188 ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
Crooks' party, as the haggard features and emaci ated forms of the two men testified, had endured suf ferings yet more severe than Hunt's. For the first fortnight or more they had lived on a handful of food a day; then they luckily captured a beaver, and found some berries, but were finally reduced to the soles of their moccasins. For the last few days life had been kept in them by the carcass of a clog. Crooks re ported that he had seen Reed and McKenzie a few days before on the opposite side of the river from him, in fair condition and spirits, and that McClellari was attempting to reach the Nez Perce country with probability of success.
Reckoning the sinuosities of the river, the party was about five hundred miles from Henry River. In their present forlorn condition, with snow knee-deep, and from all accounts the river as bad below as above, to proceed was impossible, and Hunt sawr no hope but to retrace their steps, and if possible to obtain horses from some of the savages they had passed to carry them to the Columbia. To do this required no small degree of generalship; for some of the men were ill, and their fewT horses reduced to skeletons. Their first efforts in this direction were attended by failure, disaster, and death. Attempting to pass Crooks and Le Clerc back to their company, they failed. One of Crooks' party, driven by his sufferings to insanity, jumped into a canoe which had crossed to carry food, and on its return danced so frantically at the sight of food that the frail bark was overturned and the unfortunate man drowned. This same boat brought over John Day, who joined Crooks, but he \vas so feeble as scarce! v to be able to stand. Pro visions were so reduced that at one time beaver-skins were resorted to for food, and of these there were but three to seven men, which they divided among them and devoured greedily. Then surprising a village of Shoshones they frightened away the natives, and seizing five of their horses, hastily killed and cooked
IN THE BOISE COUNTRY. 189
one, sending some of the meat across the river to the party of Crooks, who still followed, though they found no natives on that side. These horses were to them, at that juncture, a matter of life or death, but as they never took anything from the natives fraudu lently, they laid down ample pay, and then departed, though doubtless the poor Shoshones must themselves starve before spring.
Crooks, John Day, and Le Clerc were yet ill, and greatly retarded the journey. All the party had gone forward except three, and Crooks urged Hunt to leave him, and attend to the interests of the company, which the latter, with great reluctance, finally consented to do. John Day remained with Crooks, likewise Le Clerc and Dubreuil. Hunt provided for them liberally out of his slender store, and left with them two horses and some meat which he hoped would last until they found more, though he greatly feared he might never see these men a^ain.
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Hurrying forward Hunt overtook his party, and continuing his journey, on the 15th of December they entered a Shoshone village, consisting of twelve or fifteen lodges, and endeavored at once to obtain horses and a guide. Horses could be obtained over the first ridge of mountains they said, but no one had the courage to guide them there. Entreaties and threats were alike fruitless. At length, in addition to a blanket full of glittering trinkets, two horses, three knives, a gun, and a pistol were offered and accepted.
They were now on Snake River, near where was subsequently old Fort Boise, the party still being divided, those who were with Crooks being on the west bank, while Hunt in advance was on the east bank. With great difficulty, the river being full of floating ice, and the men half-starved and half-frozen, weak and dispirited, Hunt crossed with his party to the other side, and joining their old comrades on the 24th of December, they started, pursuing a north westerly course, over mountains, plains, and valleys,
190 ASTOB, OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
buying food from the natives, picking up and carrying the exhausted, who would throw themselves upon the ground, declaring they could die but could not proceed an inch further; and stopping on new year's clay 1812 for the Canadians to have their dance and feast on dog and horse meat,, though some of them could not stand.
Turning due west and entering the Blue Mountains, on the 6th of January they reached the summit, whence descending into a milder climate in two days to their great joy they reach broad fertile pasture- lands, watered by a stream the natives called Umatilla, abounding in beaver.
Thousands of horses are feeding on the short tender grass, and on the bank of the stream is a well pro visioned Indian encampment of thirty-four lodges. They were a band of roving Tushepaws, a race very different from the poor Shoshones, having for their lodges buffalo-robes, and for their dress hunting- shirt and leggings of deerskin, with utensils of brass and iron, kettles, axes, and knives, which proved com mercial intercourse with white people upon the coast. And what rejoiced the travellers next to food was the information that two days more would bring them to the Columbia. The Tushepaws told them further that a party of white men corresponding in number to McClellan's and McKenzie's parties had lately passed down the river, so as to give them hope that these were now at Fort Astoria.
Supplying themselves with an abundance of horses and provisions, on the 20th of January the party continued their journey, reaching the Columbia next day midway between the rivers Umatilla and Walla Walla. Six months of hardship and perils hitherto unparalleled in American mountaineering, since leaving the village of the Ricaras are now happily terminated, leaving, alas ! a few of their number at intervals under the pines. Journeying on horses along the bank of the river to the Dalles, Hunt there procured canoes,
ARRIVAL AT FORT ASTORIA. 191
whence embarking on the 5th of February, in ten days the party reached Fort Astoria.
There are moments, and many of them, in the lives of these inartificial men of the woods that stir their natures to the quick, that touch deep-hidden springs of feeling, and bring to light traits and passions, both good and evil, of whose existence they most of all were before unconscious. Cities full of plodders, bread-winning and money-making machines, come and go, one generation following another with no more development of feeling, or increase of intelli gence, than the millwheels of which they are the type. Here, however, were daily love and hate heaped up, and life and death; not the sepulchral smiles and frowns of conventionalism, but blood-red and un- coffined, such as nature makes, not man. Here were those who had been boys together, had shared a thousand perils, had buried many a common comrade, had been more than brothers often are. Some of them had parted under circumstances the most trying to manhood, and each had not since known whether the other was alive. McKenzie, Reed, and McClellan were there, but they had given up all hope of ever seeing Mr Hunt and his party. They too had nar rowly escaped starvation. In their wanderings they had all met below the Devil's Scuttle-hole, being then eight men besides the three named, and the snow having as yet not fallen heavily, they succeeded in following the river to the Columbia, where they pro cured two canoes and arrived at Fort Astoria the 18th of January.
When therefore shouts arose alike from fort and river, as Hunt's canoes rounded Tongue Point, we may be sure they were no hollow cheers. There was a soul in every sound. And as the party sprang ashore, and the Scotchmen grasped hands, and the more volatile voyageurs embraced and kissed each other, there were tears in many an eye springing from hearts
192 ASTOR OVERLAND EXPEDITION.
now swelled with joy to bursting. It is needless to add that the taste of dog was quickly eradicated from the mouth by copious draughts of rum, and a plenti ful supply of tobacco; articles of luxury from which their palates had been long estranged.
Thus the expeditions of the Pacific Fur Company by land and water were at length consummated.
CHAPTEE IX.
AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA. 1812-1813.
DISSATISFACTION AT ASTORIA — DEPARTURE OF REED FOR ST Louis — WAHOW- PUM TREACHERY — FAILURE OF REED'S EXPEDITION — ARRIVAL OF THE * BEAVER ' — ASTOR AND THE RUSSIAN FUR COMPANY — HE COURTS THE RUSSIAN MINISTER AT WASHINGTON — STUART LEAVES FORT ASTORIA WITH DESPATCHES — TRIALS OF STUART ON THE OVERLAND JOURNEY — THE ' ISAAC TODD ' AND H. M. S. ' PIICEEE ' — BRITISH INTERESTS IN THE NORTH PACIFIC — THE U. S. S. 'ADAMS' — THE ' ENTERPRISE '— ASTOR AND SECRETARY MONROE — WRECK OF THE 'LARK' — MCKENZIE ON THE SAIIAPTIN— CLARKE'S COMPANY— KAMLOOPS — BOULLARD AND THE INDIAN MAID— THE ' BEAVER'— MCTAVISH AND MCKENZIE— DELIBERA TIONS AT FORT ASTORIA — PREPARATIONS TO ABANDON THE POST—
MCKENZIE AND THE NEZ PERCES — THE STOLEN CUP.
BY the late arrival the winter quiet at the fort was broken up, and the activities of spring were soon upon the fur -hunters. Besides Miller there were others dissatisfied with their position and prospects. Among these was McClellan who, as Keecl was about to return to St Louis with despatches, determined to accompany him. Indeed, when we consider the inde pendent, self-willed, and often eccentric and discord ant elements thrown into juxtaposition by camp and fort life, the wonder is how these enormous com panies, with agents and servants scattered among sav ages over thousands of square leagues of wilderness, managed to hold together so long. The Pacific Com pany, however, was yet a new institution, the partners in which were not fairly settled in their respective places, and more than all it was by no means certain of ultimate success.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 13 ( 193 J
194 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
Besides despatching Reed as messenger to report to Astor the progress of affairs thus far, and by whom letters might be sent by those now a year or two from home, fresh supplies must be sent to David Stuart at Fort Okanagan, and the goods cached on Snake River just below the junction of Henry River, must be brought. This business was confided to two clerks, Farnham and McGilles, who with eight men and a guide were to bring the goods to Fort Astoria, while Robert Stuart was to visit Okanagan. With Reed as escort, two boatmen, and a hunter, McKenzie had planned an excursion up the Willamette, with Matthews and five hunters to set out and follow him two days after the others had left.
Under command of Stuart, all destined overland and for the upper Columbia embarked from Astoria the 22d of March 1812 in two canoes, arriving at the Dalles early in April. At the several portages of the Columbia it was now becoming the custom to
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employ natives to assist in carrying the goods from one landing to another, and these were not long in acquiring the art of piracy. The Wahowpums at the Dalles were becoming especially proficient in this art, though their character for dishonesty was not yet established.
Appearing at the landing and offering their ser vices, Stuart readily intrusted them with the bales, which they packed upon their horses and sent for ward convoyed by the party, all well armed. Having no apprehension of treachery on the part of the Wa howpums, the white men were proceeding leisurely along the path, when suddenly up a rocky defile darted one of the loaded horses, then another, and another. Shots were fired over their heads to bring them back, but to this the marauders paid no heed, only hastening forward and out of sight the faster. Pursuit was useless, for the whole attention of the entire party was now needed to prevent a similar stampede of the remainder of the loaded horses. During the
McKENZIE IN THE WILLAMETTE. 195
melee which followed one Indian was killed and another severely wounded. Reed was knocked senseless with a club, and a bright tin box, in which he had secured his letters and despatches for the east, was taken from him, and it was with great difficulty that Stuart succeeded in bringing to the upper landing any part of his lading. By the loss of this box Heed's mis-
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sion was ingloriously terminated. He therefore con tinued with Stuart's party to Okanagan, whence after a few days' sojourn all returned with David Stuart to Fort Astoria, surprising the fort by their sudden ap pearance on the morning of the llth of May. With them arrived Crooks and John Day, who hailed them from the bank as they were descending the river above the Dalles, and were received on board. These men, with the Canadians who left with them, had remained for twenty days at a Shoshone village near where Hunt had left them, John Day being too ill to travel. Setting out at length, they followed Hunt's trail until they lost it in the snow ; then wan dering in the mountains during the winter, living on what they could shoot, dig, or obtain from the na tives, they finally reached the Walla Wallas, who treated them with great kindness, and assisted them to start clown the river. Fearing1 to brave the dan-
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gers of winter travel, the Canadians had all remained with the Shoshones. As Crooks and Day approached the Dalles on their way down, they too had been robbed and left destitute by the Wahowpums and were then on their way back to beg further assistance from the Walla Wallas, when to their great joy they discovered their old comrades in the canoes de scending the river.
In his journey during this spring of 1812, Mc- Kenzie explored the country southward from the Columbia some hundred miles or more, ascending the Willamette to the country of the Calapooyas and to the stream which bears his name to this day. The
196 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
object of this expedition was the examination of the country, its topography, soil, and climate, rather than hunting.
On the way out Jervais, one of McKenzie's men, had beaten a Wakiakum for stealing. This roused the indignation of the tribe, arid their mutterings of ven geance reached McDougall's ears, who immediately despatched a letter telling the party to beware. The message was delivered to McKenzie while at the hos tile camp at the mouth of the Willamette, and where preparations were at that moment being made to sur prise his party. Hastily repairing to their boats to embark, they found the tide so low that they could not leave the bank quickly enough to prevent attack. McKenzie, ever ready come what might, turned to the angry savages a bold front, and began questioning them as to the most suitable place for a fort, saying, after some time, that he would camp there that night, and in the morning look further. This so threw the Wakiakums off their guard that they left the intruders for the present, intending to revisit them in the spirit of vengeance toward morning. But before they reached the camp, the party was well on its way to Astoria, McKenzie availing himself of the first rise of the tide to shove off and be gone.
Two days prior to the arrival of the return party a sail was descried in the offing, which McDougall pro ceeded at once to signal from Cape Disappointment. The vessel seemed at first suspicious lest she might fall into the hands of the savages, but next day sum moned sufficient courage to approach and anchor in Baker Bay. She proved to be the Beaver, a vessel of four hundred and ninety tons, commanded by Captain Cornelius Sowles, who sailed from New York the 10th of the previous October. Having heard at the Ha- waiian Islands of the fate of the Tonquin, and fearing the fort might likewise have fallen into the hands of the savages, who were now by means of friendly sig-
ARRIVAL OF THE 'BEAVER.' 197
nals, which they had learned from their white neigh bors, enticing further prey, the vessel had been hovering about the mouth of the river for three days.
The Beaver had been sent out by Astor with men and merchandise as the annual ship, in pursuance of his original plan; and as he had received no informa tion concerning the previous expeditions, he felt bound to act upon the presumption that all his directions had been carried out. On board wrere a partner, John Clarke, five clerks, among whom wTas Alfred Seton, and George Ehnainger a nephew of Astor, six Cana dian boatmen, twelve Kanakas taken on board at the Hawaiian Islands, and fifteen laborers. As far as possible Astor was now sending citizens of the United States, in order that his establishments might the more have a shade of sanction from that government ; and yet for experienced fur-traders he was obliged to go to Canada. After discharging that portion of her cargo designed for this port, the Beaver was to pro ceed to Sitka and exchange certain other goods at the Russian post of New Archangel for furs, which were to be augmented by trading down the coast. She was then to sail for Canton, and thence to New York. For the purpose of establishing the most friendly relations with the Russian American Fur Company, in March 1811 Astor had despatched an agent to St Petersburg, who made a provisional agree ment with that company, to remain in force for four years, to the effect that neither would trade within the territory of the other, or furnish arms to the natives, except such as were their regular hunters. The Russian Company was to draw all supplies from the Pacific Company, to the exclusion of all interlopers, paying for the same in skins at stipulated prices. The ships of the Pacific Company might be employed to carry Russian furs to Canton, or for any other pur pose, at rates to be agreed upon at the time. A league of friendship and mutual assistance was also entered into between the two companies. Astor also
198 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
cultivated the favorable consideration of the Russian minister at Washington, but without practical results. Before the agreement with the Russian Company was ratified, war had broken out between Great Britain and the United States.
The captain of the Beaier fearing to cross the bar at the mouth of the river with his ship, discharged her by means of a lighter, a tedious process which occupied over a month.
Affairs were brightening at Fort Astoria. The
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arrival of the first annual ship well laden with mer chandise and with new recruits for active service gave that reality to the scheme which in the minds of some it had hitherto lacked. It was Astor's avowed purpose besides these annual ships from New York to have coasting vessels which should make trading excursions from Fort Astoria. Nevertheless, there were yet partners who would not remain in the company for thrice their interest, and of the voyagcurs also there were some, as we have seen, who preferred the wilder ness to the fort. McClellan still adhered to his pur pose of returning east on the first opportunity, and Crooks expressed his determination to accompany him.
The opportunity was at hand ; for first of all it was necessary to forward information in place of that which wras lost, which might govern Astor's move ments in respect to his now rapidly extending inter ests. This important and dangerous mission was this time intrusted to Robert Stuart, a most promising young man, who, with four picked men, John Day, Ben Jones, Vallar, and Le Clerc, made ready to set out immediately. With him were to go the dissatis fied partners Crooks and McClellan.
Three other expeditions were to depart at the same time. Clarke and McKenzie, each with a distinct brigade, were to select sites, and establish forts, one among the Spokanes, and the other among the Nez Perces. David Stuart was to return with supplies to
THE FLOTILLA. 199
Okanagan, after which he was to found another estab lishment above.
It was a beautiful sight, and one which would have warmed the blood of Astor, the first and the last brilliant realization of his entire scheme, to see this fur-hunting flotilla quit this fur-hunting fort, and em bark on the great River of the West; to see these sixty-two men on the 30th of June 1812 set out in ten canoes and two barges from the fort which was how to become the mother of forts and a great city on these broad western waters, and with paddles flying, with shout and so'ng, and the ringing of artil lery strike boldly from their several posts, never pausing to think that they were but as one to a thousand of the Philistines. Yet the enemy which was to destroy them were not of the Philistines, but of their own brethren of the chosen Israel, even the Northwest Company with all Great Britain behind it.
Thus the several parties proceeded, not without some little trouble with the natives at the portages, until they reached the river of the Walla Wallas, where they were to separate. Poor John Day on the voyage became insane, and was sent back to the fort by some Indians. Before a year was gone he was dead.
Robert Stuart found no difficulty in procuring twenty good horses from the friendly Walla Wallas, and on the 31st of July his party of six set out, di recting their course toward the south-east into the Snake River region where some of their number had so lately suffered.
But now they hoped for better times, and it is true that they had not to contend with the snows of winter, total ignorance of the country, and destitution. Every place and season, however, has its trials. Now hills, plains, and ravines were alike arid; and such was their strait at one time that even their clog died of thirst. Their route was essentially the same as that traversed by Hunt's party on its way west, though
200 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
with some unimportant variations. Six of the nine caches made on Snake River below Henry Fort had been rifled. A raid upon them by the Crows left them suddenly unhorsed. The hardships which fol lowed almost equalled those of Hunt's party. McClel- lan's sufferings made him peevish, then stubborn; at length, flinging himself aloof from the party, he held his way alone through the wilderness for a fortnight, when he was found lying half-dead, and with difficulty could be made to stand upon his feet. In this man ner they straggled across the mountains, descending upon the head-waters of the Platte, when, finding it impossible to complete their journey that season, they went into winter-quarters the 2d of November.
There they built a comfortable cabin; but after loading the rafters with dried meat, they were dis covered by the Arapahoes, and forced to continue their journey. Again on the 30th of December they paused in their difficult peregrinations, scarcely know ing where they were, built a hut, and stocked it with buffalo meat. Here they passed the remainder of the winter in quiet.
With the opening of spring they constructed two canoes, but the river proving too shallow even for such navigation, they abandoned their boats, and pro ceeded on foot. It was only when they had reached the establishment of Dorion and Hoi, near the Mis souri, that they knew they had all this time been upon the Platte River. Here they first learned of the war which was so soon to prove the destruction of their dearest hopes. From this point they easily descended the river, and reached St Louis the 30th of April 1813.
Prior to the arrival of Robert Stuart, and before any tidings whatever had been received from any of the expeditions sent, Astor despatched, early in March 1813, another vessel, the Lark, for the Colum bia River. The cause of this action was the break-
THE THREATENING DANGER. 201
ing-out of that war which was to prove so disastrous to Astor's plans on the Pacific. Fearful lest the blockading of New York harbor should prevent the departure of the second annual supply-ship in the fol lowing autumn, and that the interests of the company would materially suffer thereby; fearful also of her capture, this vessel was sent to sea in the spring. Nor would it be safe for the Beaver to return at present to New York. Astor therefore wrote to Captain Sowles, at Canton, with instructions to re turn to Fort Astoria with such articles as the fort should need, and there hold himself subject to the orders of Hunt, or whomsoever should be in command. And now advance in hostile attitude the Northwest Company, clearly perceiving this to be their time to strike, and plant thorns beneath Astor's pillow. In the midst of this mercantile dice-throwing, the staking of one costly expedition after another upon the turn of a card, word reached the autocrat that his great rival was preparing to despatch the Isaac Todd, a stanch vessel, armed with twenty guns, for the mouth of the Columbia, there, with the assistance of the British government, to plant a fortress and dominate that region. This was not all. Flushed with the sudden brightness of their prospects, the Northwest Com pany laid before the British government two me morials on two several occasions, showing the efforts of Astor in the west, and the great results likely to arise from that movement if successful, whereupon the British frigate Phccbe was ordered to accompany the Isaac Todd and assist in the destruction of whatever pretensions the United States might have in that quarter. The United States government now took the alarm, and ordered the frigate Adams to the mouth of the Columbia. On hearing this, Astor fitted out the ship Enterprise, freighted with further supplies. But just as the two ships were ready to sail the crew of the Adams was detailed for other service, and the blockading of New York harbor by a British force
202 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
prevented the sailing of the Enterprise, which other wise would have undertaken the voyage without con voy. In his trouble Astor begged the protection of the United States government, under whose wing he had sought to monopolize the fur-trade of the west, asking only that forty men should be stationed at Fort Astoria, but Secretary Monroe never even replied to his letters. In the Lark, of which Northrop was master, sailed Nicholas G. Ogden as supercargo.
There are enemies, however, to this ill-fated adven ture other than war or commercial rivalry. The voyage of the Lark was prosperous until within a short distance of the Hawaiian Islands. There a gale struck her which threw her on her beam ends, and sent one man overboard. The masts were cut away, and the crew clung to the wreck as best they might, one after another, as they became exhausted, dropping into the surge, until eight were gone. After four days of intolerable suffering, all that were left of them were thrown upon an island, which they afterward learned was one of the Hawaiian group. There they were stripped of their clothing by the natives, while the king of the country seized the wreck. Part of their clothing was after ward returned to them; and they were fed at public expense. In this plight they were found by Mr Hunt the 20th of December.
McKenzie, Clarke, John Reed, and David Stuart, we left at Walla Walla, whence they took their several ways. It was now agreed to make this the general rendezvous. Situated at the mouth of the Walla Walla River, where now stands Walulu, in the midst of vast fur-producing territories, with large streams flowing in from every direction, no situation could have been more favorable. This settled, the several partners went their ways.
Ascending Lewis River to the Sahaptin, which appeared to be the thoroughfare between the Columbia and the buffalo-pastures east of the Rocky Mountains,
THE CHIVALROUS CLARKE. 203
McKenzie followed the latter stream until a favor able site offered itself, when he disembarked, and es tablished a fort among the Nez Perec's. Thence he despatched John Reed with a few men to take caches on Snake River, for the purpose of opening them and of bringing back the contents. A few days after their departure McKenzie learned from two travelling natives that the caches had been opened by some Shoshones, under the direction of certain white men who were living among them. During this excursion Heed fell in with six stragglers from Hunt's party, three of whom had been instrumental in rifling the caches. Though these men and the tribe which had harbored them were enriched by this robbery, the plunder brought them little benefit, for in their first grand hunting excursion thereafter they were stripped by the Blackfoot Indians. These seven men, with the goods remaining in the caches, Reed brought to the new post on the Sahaptin.
From Walla Walla Clarke proceeded for a short distance up Lewis River, to a stream branching toward the north, "to which the Canadians o-ave the
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name of the Pavion," the Palouse of later times. There he purchased horses from the Palouses, and leaving his canoes in charge of the chief, crossed to
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the Spokane, where he located a fort not far from the establishment of the Northwest Company. With Clarke were four clerks, Pellet, Farnham,McClennan, and Cox, the little Irishman, as Ross calls him. As strong competition was expected, Clarke's company and outfit were much larger than any of the others, his straggling cavalcade stretching nearly a mile.
Clarke was a bold, dashing, wide-awake, off-hand fellow, fond of display, and loving to carry affairs with a high hand. Little Cox lagging at the end of the long train, Clarke rode back and peremptorily ordered him to quicken his pace. " Give me a horse," said Cox, " and I'll ride with yourself at the head." Clarke raised his whip, some say he struck him, and then rode away.
204 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
Cox slunk away, and was not seen for thirteen days, when he was brought in by the Indians more dead than alive.
Clarke was called the most extravagant and yet the most able leader in the company. He liked to stand well with the natives, and to be regarded by them as grand and generous. He was a native of the United States, though he had been long in the service of the Northwest Company in Canada, and understood thoroughly all the tricks of the trade. Arriving at the Spokane, he planted himself close beside the op position post and went to work. The manly art was now in order. There were rights to be enforced, and battles to be fought, in which these tangent -shot sparks from civilization's wheel might return to savage and brute instincts. First, four of Clarke's followers were installed as cappers, blusterers, and bullies, who should do the bloody work of the establishment. Feathers were placed in their caps as their insignia of office, and they were retained always near his person. Then he gave a grand feast, exchanged long and hollow speeches with the savages, and was ready for business. Scouts were sent out by both com panies, who manoeuvred among the natives with plots and counterplots, which would have done honor to a Machiavelli. " He that got most skins, never mind ing the cost or the crime, was the cleverest fellow," remarks Ross, while Franchere observes, " The profits of the last establishment (Fort Spokane) were slen der; because the people engaged at it were obliged to subsist on horse-flesh, and they ate ninety horses during the winter."
Nor did Clarke stop here. In the Kootenais coun try was Mantour of the Northwest Company, trading ; Mr Pellet with men arid goods was sent there to oppose him. Both were enterprising travellers, zeal ous traders, and good fighters. Hence both did well for their respective companies; during the winter they bought many skins and fought several duels,
ADVENTURES OF ROSS. 20i
ab/ays having a care, however, not to hurt each other, and parting in the spring the best of friends. Mr Cox mentions one : " Mr Pellet fought a duel with Mantour of the Northwest, with pocket-pistols at six paces; both hits; one in the collar of the coat, and the other in the leg of the trousers. Two of their men acted as seconds, and the tailor speedily healed their wounds."
Farnham was sent to the Flatheads and McClellan was stationed at Pointed Heart or Sketching Lake, now the Cceur d'Alene.
David Stuart reached Okanagan with supplies the 12th of August. During his absence Ross accom panied by one white man, Boullard, and an Indian, set out the 6th of May, with sixteen horses, on a trad ing expedition. Following Stuart's route of the pre vious year, they reached the Shush waps on Thompson River on the tenth day, and encamped below the en trance of the north branch near the upper end of the lake at a place called by the natives Kamloops.
Sending messengers in various directions, soon two thousand natives were present with their skins, and in less than a fortnight the small stock of goods was ex changed for a large stock of furs, so that nothing re mained but to return.1
While the master was driving fine bargains the man had become entangled in love's meshes. Having bought a costly maiden on credit, her father naturally desired his pay before his son-in-law's departure. Boullard demanded from Ross the means wherewith to satisfy the old gentleman, threatening to remain with the Indians if his demand was not satisfied. In real or pretended rage Ross brought a heavy horse whip down upon the fellow's shoulders, under which application the charms of his inamorata fast faded.
1 ' So anxious were they to trade, and so fond of tobacco, that one morning before breakfast I obtained one hundred and ten beavers for leaf-tobacco, at the rate of five leaves per skin; and at last, when I had but one yard of white cotton remaining, one of the chiefs gave me twenty prime-beaver skins for it.' Hosts' Adv., 200.
206 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
Ross reached Okanagan the 12th of July, highly de lighted with his success.
Leaving Ross again in charge, Stuart left Okana gan the 25th of August following, to winter among the Shuslrwaps. During the winter, Ross visited Clarke at Fort Spokane, narrowly escaping death in a snow storm while returning. Nothing daunted, he almost immediately after set out with one man on a journey to Kamloops, where he found Stuart well located, but with a Northwest Company's post in charge of a clerk, M. Laroche, beside him. Competition was as strong as at Spokane, but unlike Clarke, Stuart was precise and sober in business, so that trade was fairly conducted, and the rival establishments were on amicable terms. From Kamloops, Stuart sent out parties in various directions, north-west as far as Fra- ser River, and north-east up the south branch of Thompson River to the main Columbia. They found the country everywhere rich in furs, and the natives friendly. He returned to Okanagan, Ross having pre ceded him, and after ten days spent in packing and pressing the furs, all set out for the rendezvous at Walla Walla, which they reached the 30th of May, 1813.
The several brigades having been despatched to the interior, Hunt, in August, proceeded up the coast in the Beaver, intending to visit Sitka, complete arrange ments with the Russians, and on returning disembark at Fort Astoria, while the vessel should proceed to the Hawaiian Islands and thence to Canton.
All which the contemplative Chinook remarked. Again this white man's house, better stocked than ever with things that warmed the Chinook heart and gratified the Chinook taste, was left comparatively unprotected. Now for a blow for one's country, to say nothing of beads, blankets, and whiskey. It was a time also when the savages along- the coast visited
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the Columbia for fishing purposes. And herein lay
FRANCHERE'S EXPERIENCE. 207
the safety of the fort. It would require the forces of all combined to capture the post, and the wily Com- comly well knew that were once his neighbors in pos session there, his people would be at their mercy. Of the two evils the presence of the white man was the lesser, so Comcomly concluded to be honest. The fort, however, was now better furnished for defence. The bastions were raised, covered ways were thrown up round the palisades inside, and not more than three savages were permitted within the fort at one time.
August and September at Astoria were occupied in erecting a hospital and lodging-house, thirty by forty-five feet. It was now deemed necessary to pro vide subsistence for the winter. Hence, on the 1st of October, Franchere embarked in the schooner with men and merchandise for a trading voyage up the river. Smoked salmon, venison, bear-meat, wild-fowl, and wapato were very abundant, and on the 20th the vessel returned to Fort Astoria laden with provisions and furs, among which were seven hundred and fifty smoked salmon, and four hundred beaver and other skins. A second voyage proved less successful; and on returning, the 15th of November, Franchere found the men suffering severely from scurvy. On the 23d, Halsey and Wallace ascended the Willamette for about one hundred and fifty miles from its con fluence with the Columbia "on a great prairie" as Franchere terms it, and there built a dwelling and trading -house. On the 25th of the following May they returned to Astoria with seventeen packs of furs and thirty-two bales of dried venison.2
Autumn passed, and drizzling, drenching winter, but with no tidings of the Beaver, and fears began to be entertained that she had met the fate of the Ton-
2 It is amusing to observe how Irving avoids the mention of Franchere's name. Franchere was chief clerk at Fort Astoria at this time, and during McDougall's sicknesses, which were frequent, was in full charge. He wafl always a useful and prominent person about the place, and yet the author o» Astoria, who draws so much of his information from the Canadian, alludes xo him only as 'one of the clerks,' 'some men were sent,' and the like.
208 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
quin. McDougall with the others was becoming un happy. Whether the sylvan witchery of Comcomly's dusky daughter preyed upon his mind, or the dim prospects of the fur company dividends, certain it was that he was dissatisfied. Sickness drew even from command its charm, and the despondency of loneliness made the money which he might never get seem contemptible.
McKenzie's unexpected presence at the fort on the 15th of January 1813,3 with a physiognomy long drawn out by misfortune and disgust, tended in no wise to raise the spirits of McDougall. The Xez Perces were not the easiest of men to satisfy, and McKenzie complained that there was but little game in the country. He was therefore on the point of moving his post further up the river, or of aban doning that part of the country altogether, and had gone over to the post of Clarke to consult with him upon the matter, when providence in the similitude of a Scotchman, partner in charge of the Northwest Company's posts on the Pacific, John George Mc- Tavish by name, dropped in upon them, and informed them without tears or hesitation of speech that war had been declared, that he had brought from posts beyond the mountains goods sufficient to stock the whole Pacific coast, that his most honorable company had determined to absorb the western trade, leaving there not so much as a shadow of the autocrat Astor, and what he of his own arm was unable to do the guns of the Isaac Todd, which ere two months had elapsed would command the Columbia, mouth, body, and head, would assist him to accomplish. With that McTavish whipped from his pocket papers con taining the declaration of war and Madison's procla mation, and the work was done. McKenzie needed no further advice. Returning to his post, he cached
3 1 follow Franchere's elates, with whom, indeed, Ross in this instance agrees, he keeping a diary on the spot. I find Mr Irving's days and months somewhat erratic, the 9th of October sometimes falling before and sometimes after the '21st. See Astoria, 277, 280.
EXPLORATIONS. 209
his goods, and with all his men repaired immediately to Fort Astoria.
Over this alarming intelligence the two partners now held close consultation, at which the clerks were invited to express their views upon the situation, and help to determine what should be done. It was ab solutely necessary to adopt a policy, although they had no vote on any question. Hunt was absent. The time was long gone by when the Beaver should have returned. The issue would shortly be upon them; there was no escaping it; and it became them to act as men having at stake, besides their own and Astor's interests, the welfare of the inferior servants of the company.
And this was the result of their present deliber ations. In the absence of any means of conveying furs to market, trade with the natives except for food should cease, and unless there should be some change by spring they would abandon Fort Astoria and re tire with their goods beyond the mountains. Their position was an anomalous one. They were British subjects, but. they were trading under the United States flag. They could not bear arms against their own country, nor yet could they claim her protection of their property as they might do if trading on their own account. Astor could not, if he would, send them supplies while the war lasted, and should the Beaver not return, and should they be obliged to travel east overland, they had barely sufficient for their necessities. Indeed, food was becoming scarce already. Heed and Seton were sent with some of the men to the Willamette to spend the rest of the win ter where game was more plentiful. They penetrated the country as far as the head-waters of the Umpqua, where they found beaver more abundant than on the Willamette, and did well trading; but they found the natives so lazy that they could induce them to hunt but little.
The 31st of March, McKenzie, with Heed and
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. H
210 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
Seton, embarked in two canoes with seventeen men to report McDougall's plans to Clarke and Stuart, to bring away the articles cached, and to buy horses and provisions for the contemplated overland expedition. At the portage they found the natives as usual in a savage humor. Above the Dalles the McKenzie and McTavish parties met and camped together for the night. Among the two crews, now members of opposing companies and serving under hostile governments, were many old comrades, with many old scenes to re vive, and it was late into the night ere their boisterous hilarity was silenced by sleep.
Arrived at his abandoned post, McKenzie found his caches rifled. What made it worse was that with the goods stolen he was to have paid for the horses re quired for the contemplated homeward journey. Mc Kenzie was one absolutely a stranger to fear. Pie knew not what it was. Further than this he was cool and clear-headed in his intercourse with savages, and
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understood their temper and habits of thought thor oughly. At the Dalles, when the feeling against the white men was hottest, on his last journey from Fort Astoria, with two companions he crossed the river, entered a secret conclave of grim warriors even then meditating such harm to fur-hunters as was in their power to put into execution, and with weapons drawn demanded a gun which had been stolen. The gun was not forthcoming, but the white men recrossed the river with their lives, which was a marvel.
And now there was another little drama to be played with the Nez Perces, tragic or comic, as the case might
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be, and McKenzie was ready with his part. Sum moning the chiefs he demanded the goods stolen from the caches. The}7 greatly regretted the robbery but knew nothing of it except that the caches had been opened. The demand and the denial were made twice or thrice and the assembly broke up. The chiefs thought they had heard the last of it; but in this they were
ABORIGINAL BRIG AXD AGE. 211
mistaken. Early next morning McKenzie and his little force suddenly appeared before them in their camp. With drawn weapons Seton and the men stationed themselves before a lodge, while McKenzie and Reed entered it and instituted a search for the stolen prop erty. One lodge examined they proceeded to another, until four or five had been examined with varied suc cess, when the chiefs begged the intruders to retire from the camp, and they would bring them the stolen property. This McKenzie refused to do, well knowing that he was safer there than outside, as Indians never like to fight in camp among women and children. There the stubborn men remained, surrounded by a hundred armed warriors to each one of them, until nearly all the stolen property was returned them, when they marched away with it in triumph. The Nez Perces then retaliated by refusing to sell McKen zie horses. They even withdrew from the vicinity, and ceased to supply food. Nothing daunted, Mc Kenzie determined that rather than starve he would make his own bargains. So whenever the camp re quired meat he tied up in a bundle the full price of a horse, and then proceeded to shoot the animal and bring away the meat, leaving the price on a stake at the head of the carcass. Finally, to get rid of him, the Nez Perces sold McKenzie all the horses he required at fair prices.
Despatching Reed with McDougall's letters to Clarke and Stuart, McKenzie set out for the rendez vous at Walla Walla. Clarke and Stuart soon fol lowed. Both of these partners were opposed to McDougall's proposition to break up the establishment at Astoria. They had done well in their traffic thus far, and the prospects for the future were exceed ingly good. They saw no reason for being frightened. Should the Isaac Todd take Fort Astoria she could not penetrate to all the posts of the interior. Thus far they had been kept well supplied with goods; there would be time enough to talk of breaking up the en-
212 AFFAIRS OF FORT ASTORIA.
terprise when there was nothing left to buy furs with,. or no furs to buy.
An incident of Clarke's journey to Fort Astoria at this time may be worthy of mention, not as illustrative of a general course, but rather as an exception to a just and humane rule. It was the custom of fur-hunters to treat the natives fairly, it being for their interest to do so. But Clarke held the life of an Indian in light esteem. Happily his associates condemned his conduct in this instance unequivocally.
The facts are these : Having left his post in charge of Pi on, with three men, with his furs packed on twenty-eight horses, Clarke arrived at the junction of the Palouse and Lewis rivers on the 1st of June, and was greatly pleased to find the boats he had left with the natives, safe. He made them presents of ammunition and tobacco, and even went so far in his great good-humor as to drink wine with the chiefs out of a silver goblet which had been sent by Astor to Alexander McKay, and which still remained in Clarke's possession. It was a grand affair to drink wine from that cup, as Clarke made it appear, and the eyes of the savages glistened as they regarded it, and saw the value placed upon it by those having it in charge. Truly there must be some singular charm about it.
When about to start next morning, the silver cup was missing. Search was made, but it was useless; the cup had been stolen. Clarke was furious. He swore he would hang the whole tribe if the cup was not immediately forthcoming. The whole tribe was summoned, the case stated, and the chiefs retired in solemn deliberation. Soon they returned with joy de picted upon their faces, for the cup had been found, and was now restored to the white chief All was now serene, the savages thought, for according to their custom the restoration of a stolen article exonerates the culprit.
"Where is the thief?" demanded Clarke.
IMPOLITIC HANGING. 213
" There/' replied the chief, pointing to the criminal.
" I swore," said Clarke, " the thief should die, and the white man never breaks his word."
The savages smiled, thinking it pretty acting. But Clarke was in earnest. The man was hanged to his own lodge-poles. Until the deed was done the na tives could not believe that such had been Clarke's intention. Then the principal chief threw his robe upon the ground, and harangued his people, after which they retired precipitately to inform the neigh boring tribes. Then Clarke became alarmed, and hur ried on to Walla Walla, where he met Stuart and McKcnzie and told them what he had done, expecting praise, but receiving none.
Even while the partners stood there conversing,, Tummeatapam, the old chief of the Walla Wallas, the white man's friend, rode hastily up.
" What have you done, my brothers?" he exclaimed, in great agitation. " You have spilled blood on our lands. How shall I pacify my people?" Then he wheeled and rode rapidly away. The Walla Wallas were greatly shocked at this deed. Not only had they from the first been the true friends of the white men, but prompted seemingly by feelings of pure humanity, they had gone far out of their way to serve them. The faint and weary travellers, the starving strag gler, so easy to cut off, they had always befriended. They were remarkably honest withal; boats, horses, and other property left in their charge had always been cared for and returned. They had regarded the white men as perfect beings. The Palouses were their near neighbors and friends. With them stealing was no crime, but something rather to be proud of. The fur-hunters lost no time in taking their depar ture. All proceeded immediately to Fort Astoria, where they arrived on the 14th of June, bringing with them one hundred and forty packages of furs, being the result of two years' trade at Okanagan and one year's at Spokane.
CHAPTER X.
TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA. 1813.
MCTAVISH AT ASTORIA — A ROYAL MARRIAGE — THE 'ALBATROSS' — ADVEN TURES OF HUNT — CAPTAIN SOWLES, NEITHER WARRIOR NOR TRADER — DEFENCE OF MCDOUGALL— COMMODORE PORTER, U. S. N. — McDouGALL HOLDS COUNCIL — FORT ASTORIA IN BRITISH HANDS — KING COMCOMLY TO THE RESCUE — H. M. S. 'RACCOON' — JOHN MCDONALD IN COMMAND — THE GALLANT CAPTAIN BLACK — FORT GEORGE — FAILURE OF ASTOR'S PACIFIC SCHEME.
DOWN the river on the llth of April 1813, in gay est colors, flying the British flag, come two birch-bark canoes, manned by nineteen Canadian voyageurs, now in full song and chorus, and commanded, one by John George McTavish, and the other by his deputy, Joseph Laroche. Sweeping gracefully round the point, they land under the guns of the fort, and there pitch their camp. McDougall hastens to invite the distinguished stranger to his quarters; the object of his visit he already knows.
McDougall was by nature a cold-blooded man; stolid in body and mind, and like many before him, his good name has suffered in the hands of some by reason of his lack of fire. And yet he seems to have stumbled upon the best course, the only course proper to be pursued throughout the whole of this unpleasant and luckless adventure. Often the weakness of a busi ness man is his strength. Judging from his apparent qualities, either of his associates would have done better for the company in his place, though Me- .Kenzie was not much more persevering than he.
'43
i 214 )
CHARACTER OF THE MANAGERS. 215
Astor was peculiarly unfortunate in his fitting of * character to position. For so shrewd an observer of human nature, his agents were almost to a man ill- chosen. Clarke at the head would have put wrill and energy into the enterprise, though his judgment was not always of the soundest. All things considered, David Stuart, with his mild determination and hu mane fearlessness, would have made the best manager. Hunt's great mistake was in leaving the coast at all. His presence at this time was of the most vital im portance, though it could scarcely have changed the
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drift of affairs.
McTavish in diplomatic skill and artifice is equal to them all. The Honorable Northwest Company never lacked shrewd men, and among them all there never was a more proficient tactician than he. Before he enters the fort, he knows quite well the feelings of every man who has a voice upon the question which brought him there. That any one of them was dis honorable, treacherous, or base, I do not for a moment believe. They were every one of them brought up in the strictest school of business honesty, and chosen for this adventure on account of their good qualities, and not because they were rascals.1
Briefly, affairs stand thus. Between the United States, whose languid protection was Fort Astoria's downfall, and the British, under whose flag the North west Company traded, was war. It might last a year, or twenty years; and terminate in favor of the one power or the other; but while it lasted, or howsoever
1 That these {Scotchmen were bad men, disloyal to Astor by reason of their nationality and former associations, as certain writers would have us believe, is in view of the circumstances absurd. In their agreement with Astor they reserved the right to close the business should their interests seem BO to dictate. Whatever loss might arise from the failure of the enterprise fell on them, in proportion to their share. In case they were obliged to aban don the adventure three laborious years would be lost to every one of them with no prospective gain. ' It was thus,' says one, ' that after having passed the seas and suffered all sorts of fatigues and privations, I lost in a moment all my hopes of fortune.' Franchere's Nar., 103. For half a century United States residents of the north-west have harbored ill-will toward British sub jects of the same locality through such false representations.
216 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
it terminated, supplies, without which business must wholly cease, were sure to be uncertain, if not, in deed, entirely out of the question. The British were the stronger power, having at command more money, men, and ships; the war was on United States soil, which gave United States citizens an advantage. In the Oregon Territory, subsequently disputed ground, and at a distance from the head-quarters of both powers, the British would have the advantage, for their money and ships more easily spanned continents and seas than a young nation's patriotism. The actual leader of this enterprise was absent with the only ship at its command; whether either would ever return was doubtful. In fact, greater risk attended the Beaver s voyage than that of the Tonquin. A hostile ship with letters of marque was hourly expected, which would take the fort without firing half its guns; in which event all the property would be confiscated. For though partners and men were most of them British subjects, they were trading under an enemy's flag; and though their persons might be respected, their property could not be. Three courses lay open to the partners: they might light, or fly, or make terms with the enemy. With an armed vessel at their command, they might adopt the former course; as it was it was impossible. Suppose they should escape to the interior with their goods; half a dozen white men with arms, whiskey, and tobacco could anywhere raise natives enough thirsting for blood and plunder to annihilate them. Hence it would be well to con sider calmly the last alternative. This I believe to be a fair statement of the case.
Under such circumstances McDougall did not deem it wise to treat McTavish as a deadly enemy. Though Stuart and Clarke were not yet reconciled to the abandonment of their project, and could but regard the inroads of the Northwest Company with displeas ure, yet in view of past relations and what might be in the near future, McDougall supplied McTavish
McTAVISH DIPLOMACY. 217
with necessaries from the garrison stores, and influ enced the savages to treat his party as friends.2
It was with great difficulty that Clarke and Stuart could be brought to entertain the thought of aban doning the enterprise. McTavish said little; his presence was his strongest argument. His position was none of the pleasantest, dependent as he was on the enemy's courtesy for subsistence. McDougall all the while treated him with humane consideration, kept vigilant guard lest the post should be surprised, listened to his arguments, and employed them with no small force in the conversion of Clarke and Stuart. This was at last accomplished. They saw clearly enough that if the Beaver did not return, and the annual ships did not arrive, they would be left among savages to shift for themselves.
Meanwhile the perplexities of McTavish increased. He had long waited in vain the arrival of the Isaac Todd, which was to make him master of the situation, until he felt it unsafe for him to wait longer. He therefore applied to the Astor company for goods which would enable him to reach his post on the upper Columbia and do a little trading on the way. After further consultation the partners granted the request, and goods were given him to the amount of eight hundred and fifty-eight dollars, payable in horses the following spring, or in any way the part ners should demand.
McTavish was now ready to depart. Neither force nor threat had been employed to bring the Astor company to terms. A mere statement of probabilities had been placed before them ; that was all. McTavish was about to become a debtor to the company; had the partners anything further to say ? Yes, they had well considered the matter, and all were now agreed to dissolve the company the following year, provided
2 This Mr Irving, writing from Astor's point of view, denominates 'un called-for hospitality.' and intimates that it would have served McTavish right to have set Comcomly and his crew upon him.
218 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
no relief came in the mean time. It was surely long enough to wait upon an uncertainty, and they could scarcely be jointly charged with hasty or ill-advised action in the premises.
"\ This was the arrangement. It was now the 1st of July 1813. If before the 1st of June 1814, no relief should reach them from any quarter, the posts upon the Pacific should be abandoned, and MclJougall be empowered to transfer to the Northwest Company at prices stipulated, all the property, goods, and furs of the Pacific Company, should the former then be disposed to purchase. This as a preliminary arrange ment or resolution wTas signed in triplicate by the four partners, and copies delivered to McTavish, one for the Northwest Company, and one to be forwarded to Astor by the winter express. Meanwhile McDougall with forty men wTas to remain in command at Astoria. Stuart would winter at Shush wap, Clarke at Spokane, and McKenzie in the Willamette Valley. Reed with Pierre Dorion and five Canadians would proceed to the Shoshone country, winter there, and make the best preparations possible for the passage of the main body across the mountains the following summer. All were to meet at Fort Astoria in May, and set out the 5th of July.
The parties for the upper country, with the excep tion of losing a cargo at the Cascades, and the acci dental shooting of Pillot in the leg, all reached Walla Walla, where they found the natives still smarting under the late outrage committed by Clarke. The presence of a brass four-pounder prevented an attack, but Clarke felt constrained to avoid the Palo use River on his way to Spokane, and to take a circuitous route, keeping company with Stuart as far as Okanagan. Reed and party started south-easterly for the Shoshone country. McKenzie made frequent trips from Astoria up the Columbia and Willamette rivers, for dried salmon. At the fort all were busy baling skins and preparing for final departure. McDougall embraced
HUNT'S STORY. 219
this occasion to form a matrimonial alliance with the native sovereign of the country, after the manner of the most successful fur- traders. The daughter of Com- comly thenceforth took up her residence at the fort.
Scarcely had matters at Astoria assumed the tran quillity of a settled policy, when on the. 20th of August, less than two months after the departure of McTavish, Stuart, and Clarke, a vessel entered the river and anchored opposite the fort. Immediately all on shore were thrown into a flutter of excitement. Did this portend war or peace? Was it the Isaac Todd, or a supply-ship ? Their anxiety was somewhat relieved by the display of the United States flag. A salute from the fort was answered by the ship, and McDougall put out in a small boat to board her. Shortly after dark he returned, bringing with him Hunt. The long fathomless mystery was soon ex plained. The strange arrival was the Albatross, Cap tain Smith, last from the Hawaiian Islands. Let us listen to Hunt's story.
The Beaver had sailed from Astoria the 4th of the previous August, so that the chief manager had been absent from his post over a year. Scudding north ward under a favorable wind, in fifteen days the Beaver entered the harbor of New Archangel. Hunt landed and presented himself before the governor, Baranof. Hunt then arranged for furnishing that port with supplies and means of transportation for its furs annually. After forty-five days spent in bar gaining, and in discharging that part of the cargo sold, Baranof found he had not sufficient skins on hand with which to pay for his purchases. Conse quently Hunt was obliged to proceed to the island of St Paul,3 in Bering Sea, the Russian seal-catching establishment, where he arrived the 31st of October, and took in a fine quantity of seal-skins.4
a Tikhmciicf, Istor. Obosr., MS., i. 181.
1 ' Being there informed that some Kodiak hunters had been left on some adjacent isles, called the islands of St Peter and St Paul, and that these
220 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
Ice and heavy gales having strained the ship, and fearing the bar and bad weather at the mouth of the Columbia, Hunt did not go from Kamchatka back to Fort Astoria, as he intended and had been instructed, but stood for the Hawaiian Islands, which he reached late in the season, intending there to take the annual ship to Astoria, while the Beaver should carry her precious cargo to China.
Arrived at Canton, Captain Sowles found there \^ awaiting him a letter from Astor, notice of the war, and instructions to sail forthwith to Fort Astoria with the information, and render the fortress there every assistance in his power. Evidently the captain of the Beaver was not a man of war. There was no Englishman that he knew of whose blood he wished to spill; he was very sure he wished no Englishman to spill his blood. He Avas in the merchant-service, not in the navy. He would wait until the war was over, and then return to New York; so he wrote Astor.
This was not all — the captain was no better busi ness man than warrior. The furs on board his ship had cost twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of goods; when he first arrived he might have sold them for one hundred and fifty thousand, which invested in nan keens would have brought in New York, if they es caped shipwreck and privateers on the way, three hundred thousand dollars. Five hundred per cent profit, however, was not enough for this captain. He held out for more. Furs began to fall; he would wait a little while for them to rise; they fell still lower; then he certainly would not sell, but borrowed money at one and a half per cent, a month on Astor's account, to pay his expenses, and waited for the war to cease.
At the Hawaiian Islands, Hunt was obliged to re main for six months before he found opportunity to sail. The annual vessel did not come. Weary of
hunters had not been visited for three years, they determined to go thither, and having reached those isles, they opened a brisk trade, and secured no less than eighty thousand skins of the South Sea seal.' Franchere'aNar.y 175.
CRITICAL POSITION. 221
waiting he bought a small schooner with which he re solved to tempt the ocean, and was about to embark in it when the Albatross arrived with information of the war. Hunt immediately chartered the vessel and sailed for Fort Astoria.
Mr Hunt was sadly disappointed when he learned the decision of the partners, but when asked to pro pose another measure was at a loss to do so. It was plainly evident that on one side the British, stirred to hot action by the prospect of prize-money, were upon them, while upon the other, their formidable rivals, the Northwest Company, having been refused an amicable adjustment of interests by a division of territory, had now determined to crush them. Escape was impos sible either by sea or land. Cruisers were watching them without, ready even now to pounce upon them; and as well might a rich-laden caravan attempt to fly across the Rocky Mountains, as to escape the Wah- owpum banditti, the estranged Walla Wallas, the outraged Palouses, and the terrible Blackfoot Indians, when instigated, assisted, or encouraged by a few white men. Even if robbed of everything by their enemies, and their forts blown to the winds, they might rally and continue, provided Astor could get supplies to them; but without supplies not only was their traffic at an end, but their lives were in great jeopardy.5 A child might see this; Hunt saw it, and
5 In his Astoria, Mr Irving lays himself open to the severest criticism and censure. This is his line of reasoning: Astor set his heart tipon the acquisition of great power and property on the Pacific Coast ; therefore Astor was a magnanimous man, one to be highly exalted, and whose schemes by their inherent virtues should be successful. They failed. Some one must 'be blamed, but not Astor. McDougall being in charge, and being likewise the first to suggest capitulation, was as fit a person as any. Hence McDougall was a bad man, disloyal to the enterprise from the beginning; in proof of which he gave McTavish food and protection when he might have left him to star vation and the savages; therefore he was in league wdtli McTavish. At the time McDougall endeavors to hold out for another year, allies himself by mar riage with the chief for the greater safety of the establishment, and, when forced to come to terms or see the whole property swept away, makes a better bargain for the Astor company with McTavish than the Northwest Company will ratify, and is obliged to take less — in view of all this his
222 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
was quickly satisfied. He not only indorsed the steps already taken by his partners, but he authorized Mc Dougall, in case of his absence, to conclude arrange ments with McTavish as best he might.6
treachery is clearly apparent. Finally, when McDougall visits the British sloop of war Raccoon he is coldly received by his countrymen, because he had just in, time saved to Astor $80,500, which otherwise would have fallen to them as prize -monejr ; hence he was incompetent, and a villain. On page 475 of Astoria, speaking of the British war- vessels Phoebe, Cherub, and Ilaccoon, then on the way to the Columbia, Mr Irving exclaims, 'Here then was the death-warrant of unfortunate Astoria ! ' And j~et in twenty places with Astor at his elbow he would make McDougall, Sowles, or any other person or thing responsible for the failure. Ruo sibi hunc yladio jitgulo.
c Mark Mr Irving's language in this part of his narrative, who with strange and effeminate inconsistency with his bold assertions, constantly condemns McDougall while his facts exculpate him. 'As a means of facilitating the de spatch of business, Mr McDougall proposed that in case Mr Hunt should not return, the whole arrangement with Mr McTavish should be left solely to him. This was assented to; the contingency being possible but not probable. ' Astoria, 475. It must be remembered that this was after the manifesto of the part ners had been approved by Mr Hunt. And again on the same page he speaks of the coming British men-of-war and the certain destruction of ' unfortunate Astoria.' If these ships were the ruination of the enterprise how shall we blame McDougall for saving what he could ? And yet writing with Astor at his elbow we iind flung in from one end of the book to the other, slurs and innucndos upon the character of the Scotch partners, the Northwest Company, and everybody except ^Nlr Irving and Mr Astor. Even the old Russian com mander, Baranof, who gave S150,000 worth of seal-skins for $25,000 in mer chandise, is blamed by this captious biographer for unduly detaining Hunt with convivial hospitality. Before leaving New York ' the confidence of Mr Astor was abused,' Astoria, 51, because two of the partners, 'both of them Scotchmen, and recently in the service of the Northwest Company,' asked of the New York agent of the British government what would be their position at Astoria in case of war. Now it would be exceedingly difficult for any but the most morbid mind to find ' abuse of Mr Astor ' in this step. ' Captain Thorn was an honest, straightforward, but somewhat dry and dictatorial com mander.' 53. McDougall 'was an active, irritable, fuming, vainglorious little man. ' 54. ' Though Mr Thompson could be considered as little better than a spy in the camp, he was received with great cordiality by Mr McDougall, who had a lurking feeling of companionship and good-will for all the Northwest Com pany.' 97. In the name of humanity and decency why should he not have? And how was it to serve Astor's interests to treat a gentleman, a visitor in the wilderness, an old friend and former associate, though now a business rival, discourteously, or as would have been in this instance regarded by all the fur-hunting community, in a most unmanly, bearish, and insulting manner? Again speaking of another affair : ' Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr Mc Dougall was such as to awaken strong doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause. His old sympathies for the Northwest Company seemed to have re vived. He had received McTavish and his party with uncalled-for hospi tality.' 154. It was through McTavish that McDougall saved to Astor all that was saved from the wreck of the enterprise. The very acts which Irving so insidiously stigmatizes in McDougall, I would select in a biographical sketch as illustrative of nobleness of character. Speaking of the sale of Fort Astoria Irving says, 485 : ' The conduct and motives of Mr McDougall throughout the whole of this proceeding have been strongly questioned by the other part ners.' Irving fails entirely to show how this was so, and if it was the part ners that were as much to blame as McDougall ; for they were on the spot, and
McDOUGALL'S FAITHFULNESS. 223
Franchere thinks the Pacific Fur Company could easily enough have escaped capture by a British
should have prevented fraud, instead of which they acquiesced in all that was done. Says Franchere, 172: 'Our object being to provide ourselves before quitting the country, with the food and horses necessary for the journey, in order, to avoid all opposition on the part of the Northwest Company we en tered into an arrangement with Mr McTavish.' And yet more emphatically Mr Ross, Adv., 2-43, 244: 'The resolutions of Mr McDougall and McKenzie last winter, to abandon the undertaking, were now discussed anew; McKenzie now sided with McDougall.' And on page 240: 'The resolution to abandon the country was adopted, and Messrs Stuart and Clarke gave it their cordial consent.' Ross was on the spot and states what he saw. Irving takes his in formation from Astor, who speaks of what he heard. Nor was Ross at all friendly with McDougall. Nor does the fact that McDougall subsequently joined the Northwest Company, of which so great a handle was made, im peach his integrity in the least. So far as I am able to learn from a careful sifting of all the evidence, McDougall remained faithful at his post to the end, and having made the best terms possible for Astor, keeping back for himself out of all the property he had in charge, not one dollar, with nothing to show for his four years of arduous service, lie was a free man with the right to en gage where he would. Further than this, would the Northwest Company have received him and trusted him had he been traitor to his former trust? The fact is, Astor was exceedingly sore over this failure and must blame some body, anybody, everybody. He wrote Mr Monroe, but ' waited in vain for a reply to this letter,' according to Hunt. Aoid says of Hunt, 474 : ' By degrees, therefore, he was brought to acquiesce in the step taken by his colleagues, as per haps advisable in the exigences of the case.' Of McKenzie and Stuart, Irving himself says, Astoria, 455 : ' In the mean time the non-arrival of the annual ship and the apprehensions entertained of the loss of the tieaver and of Mr Hunt, had their effects upon the mind of Messrs Stuart and Clarke. They began to listen to the desponding representations of McDougall seconded by McKen zie, who inveighed against their situation as desperate and forlorn ; left to shift for themselves or perish upon a barbarous coast; neglected by those who sent them there, and threatened with dangers of every kind. In this way they were brought to consent to the plan of abandoning the country in the ensuing year.' ' Had Hunt been present,' again he says, on page 499, in most disordered logic, 'the transfer in all probability would not have taken place.' And yet he has but just said that if the transfer had not been made just at the time it was, the property surely would have been captured by the British and the proceeds from the sale of it divided as prize-money among the captors; that the disappointment of these officers ' therefore may be easily conceived, when they learned that their warlike attack upon Astoria had been fore stalled by a snug commercial arrangement; that their anticipated booty had become British property in the regular course of traffic,' etc. 487. What shall we say of a' writer who so mixed personal feelings with his facts and fictions ? Hunt ' soon saw reason to repent the resolution he had adopted in altering the destination of the ship... He too proved the danger of departing from ordei-s. The greatest blunder of all was that committed by Captain Sowles.' Astor was likewise ' discouraged by this supiiieness on the part of the gov ernment.' Of all the world Astor alone was faultless. In all this I have no fault to find with Astor. He embarked in a magnificent undertaking, lavish ing money and energy upon it in a way worthj^ of success. Here too it happened success would have been a great gain to the country. He failed through a combination of circumstances, through the special and individual fault of no one man. He was as much to blame himself as any one, in fitting his agents to their woi'k. Let Astor curse his stars, his agents, the president of the United States, or whomsoever lie will. It is often a comfort to find a vent for one's ill-humor, but should we not make some allowance for words spokeu in such a mood ?
224 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
force. "It was only necessary," he says, to get rid of the land party of the Northwest Company, who were completely in our power, then remove our effects up the river upon some small stream, and await the result. The sloop of war arrived, it is true, but as in the case I suppose she would have found nothing; she would have left after setting fire to our deserted houses. None of their boats would have dared fol low us even if the Indians had betrayed to them our lurking-place. Those at the head of affairs had their own fortune to seek, and thought it more for their in terest, doubtless, to act as they did; but that will not clear them in the eyes of the world, and the charge of treason to Mr Astor's interests will always be at tached to their characters." Franchere mi^ht have
O
gone yet further, and have said: With a determined American at the head of affairs backed by Comcornly and his eight hundred warriors, they need scarcely have retired at all, not further certainly than beyond range of the ship's guns. But what would have been their position? What good would such a step have done them? There were few furs to buy about Asto ria or in the Willamette Valley. The Northwest Company with the assistance of the now exasperated Walla Wallas, Palouses, and Blackfoot Indians, could easily not only have stopped all the Kocky Mountain passes, but have driven the Pacific Company from that region. Had such a plan been practicable, why did not Hunt, who was an American and actual com mander of the company's forces, adopt it? His loy alty to Astor's interests has never been questioned; then why did he, who was over all in authority, agree with the other partners in the surrender of the fort, and go in search of a vessel to carry them all away? Because he knew it was impossible to hold the country and obtain supplies with their way blocked up in the mountains and upon the sea. Hence it seems to me unfair to throw the blame upon the partners present, and more particularly upon McDougall, after Hunt
HUNT SAILS TO THE MARQUESAS. 225
had authorized him to act as he did, and assisted him in carrying out his measures.
We may as well, however, set aside what might have been done with a force of United States citizens under a lo}Tal and determined commander, for there was no such body present. Astor did not select men of that character, or for that purpose. It was a commercial troop, and not an army. In a war with the United States, how should Astor expect British to level gun against British in his interests, or even in their own? Hunt saw that neither he, nor Mc- Dougall, nor McKenzie could compel them to it, and so he yielded his assent to a sale. Then why fling odium upon men for not accomplishing impossibilities '? The assertion that McDougall's interests lay in the direction of a partnership in the Northwest Company is idle until proved. In the Pacific Company his interest was larger and his position higher than there there was the slighest probability it ever would be in the Montreal company. The interest of every mem ber was the success of the Pacific Company, and all seemed to act upon that principle. I find not the slightest taint of treachery in this transaction.
In common with McDougall, Hunt now directed his efforts to saving as much from the wreck as possible. A vessel was needed to bring provisions to Fort Astoria, to take back the Hawaiian Islanders, vrhosc contract stipulated that they should be re turned to their homes, and to transport the heavy goods and those of the men who preferred to return by sea to New York. The Albatross was under char- tor to the Marquesas Islands, and therefore was not open to engagement. Hunt therefore embarked in her in company with Clapp on the 2Gth of August, ]i oping to find the vessel he required upon the coast of California. He was carried at once to the Mar quesas, where shortly after his arrival Commodore Porter of the United States frigate Essex entered, bringing with him several British whalers which he
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 13
226 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
had captured. By this arrival came the disheartening intelligence that a British fleet consisting of the sloops of war Raccoon and Cherub, the frigate Phoebe, and a store-ship mounted with machinery suitable for batter ing down forts had sailed from Rio Janeiro the 6th of July for the Northwest Coast. If this was true the end indeed had come.
In his great trouble, Hunt applied to Commodore Porter, offering to purchase one of his prizes; but the price asked, twenty-five thousand dollars, being deemed exorbitant, Hunt refused to pay it, and requested the commodore to send a vessel to the assistance of Fort Astoria, but in the absence of express authority this proposal was likewise rejected. Should he fall in with the enemy, however, the commodore would defeat his plans if he felt able. The fact is, the United States government was taxed to its utmost
o
to sustain itself upon the sea, otherwise its attitude toward this enterprise throughout were indeed pusil lanimous. I see no excuse for Commodore Porter in demanding such a sum in this emergency. Without seamen he could only burn his prizes, and such con duct seemed to Hunt like taking advantage of his distress. Unsuccessful on every side, Hunt sailed in the Albatross the 23d of November for the Hawaiian Islands, where he arrived the 20th of December. There he met Captain Northrop, and was told the melancholy story of the loss of the Lark. Losing no time Hunt bought a brig, the Pedler, for ten thou sand dollars, and placing Northrop in command, sailed for Fort Astoria the 22d of January, hoping to be able to rescue some of the property and carry it to Sitka for safe-keeping.
Returning once more to Fort Astoria, we find, some five weeks after the sailing of the Albatross, McKenzie with Wallace and Seton, in two canoes, with ten men, en route with supplies for the wintering partners.
McTAVISH AGAIN. 227
The fifth day after this departure, which was the 7th of October, greatly to the surprise of the garrison were seen rounding Tongue Point side by side three canoes, the middle one flying the flag of the United States and the two others displaying British colors. In the first were McKenzie and Clarke, supported on either side by John George McTavish and An<nis
«/ O O
Bethune of the Northwest Company. Landing, Mc Tavish presented the commander at Fort Astoria a letter from Angus Shaw, partner in the Northwest Company, and uncle of McDougall, informing him of the sailing in March of the ship Isaac Todd and the frigate Phoebe, with letters of marque and instructions to seize everything American on the Northwest Coast.
It appears that McKenzie had met the squadron near the first rapids. Clarke was with them, having left his post to accompany them. The two parties landed and encamped for the night. Next morning McKenzie and Clarke endeavored to slip away, so as to reach the fort before the others, and give warning of their approach; but McTavish was as wide-awake as they, setting out as early and reaching Fort Asto ria as soon.
A canny Scotch game is now played for the pos session of the Columbia. McTavish with those be hind him is the stronger in numbers and prospects; McDougall in position and possession. The British vessels of war may come at any moment, and they may not come at all; the chances are in favor of their coming, as nothing but capture or shipwreck is likely to prevent them. If they come, they will be like the monkey that eats the cheese. All that belongs to persons trading under the United States flag the British officers and seamen will take without asking, and divide it among them as their lawful prize. The Northwest Company may then have the country, and the Pacific Company may go their way. If they do not come, the latter may keep their posts and their goods.
228 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
McTavish is not so eager to conclude terms as for merly. He fences for time. He would rather see the Pacific Company thoroughly destroyed, so that they would make him no further trouble on the coast, than to purchase their property even at his own price.
On the other hand, McDougall is determined to de prive McTavish of his double chance, or force him to terms, or escape with his goods at the earliest pos sible moment. Of course to wait for Hunt or any one else is out of the question. Calling a council of all present, partners and clerks, next day, the 8th, Mc Dougall reads to them his uncle's letter. A strict guard is kept in the fort to avoid surprise; at the same time McTavish, being short of provisions, is supplied by McDougall.
McDougall now proposes to sell all the goods of the Pacific Company upon the coast at cost and charges, and skins at rates current in the London market, less charges of transportation and sale. This was a most liberal offer under the circumstances, and McTavish accepts. But out of courtesy to his associates, he will await their arrival before consummating the con tract.
On the llth of October, John Stuart and Joseph McGillivray, partners in the Northwest Company, arrive with the eight canoes, the remainder of the fleet of ten, and land in a cove near the factory, form ing a camp of about seventy-five men. A conference is held. The terms of the proposed contract are re stated. John Stuart enters his protest. On behalf of his company he might sanction the purchase at cost and charges for the goods and furs at iixcd rates,7 which should little more than cover their cost at Fort Astoria, the servants of the Pacific Company to bo paid the arrears of their wages, which amount was to bo
7 'The whole of the goods on hand both at Fort Astoria and throughout the interior were delivered over to the Northwest Company at 10 percent on cost and charges.' J'ovs' Adv., 25:2-'>. If Mr Ross means 10 per cent on cost and freight, as he probably does, it would still be no more than cost and charges.
ASTOR GROANS. 229
deducted from the price paid.8 McGillivray sustains John Stuart, affirming that this would be the best he should aoree to. McTavish is of course obliged to
o o
be silent.
Rapidly revolving the matter in his mind, for he has no time to think long, McDougall accepts. He thinks his company should receive more; he accuses the Northwest partners of taking advantage, but he is wholly in their power, and to tell the truth he be lieves even this to be for the best interests of Astor. And he is right. Nor do I think the final offer of the Northwest Company by any means unfair or illiberal, as the sequel shows. It is true they make a profit on the furs, and secure the business; but they are a com mercial company, and sucli is the purpose of com merce. I greatly doubt if Astor, who sorely com plains, would have made a more liberal offer had he been in their place. For close at hand were those who would have taken from the Pacific Company all they had, and paid them nothing.9
Astor, however, is greatly dissatisfied, although I am really at a loss to know why. "Had our place and our property been fairly captured," he moans by the mouth of Irving,10 " I should have preferred it; I
8 ' The following estimate has been made of the articles on hand, and the prices: 17,705 Ibs. of beaver parchment, valued at §2, worth §5; 405 old-coat beaver, valued at $1.66, worth §3.50; 907 land-otter, valued at §.50, worth $5; 68 sea-otter, valued at §12, worth from §45 to §oO; 30 sea-otter, valued at $5, worth §25.' Irvimfs Astoria, 484. ' The furs were valued at so much per skin. The whole sales amounted to §80,500, McTavish giving bills of ex change on the agents for the amount, payable in Canada.' Itoss* Adv., 253.
9 ' This transaction took place on the 16th of October, and was considered fair and equitable on both sides.' Iioss' Adv., 253. 'In a few weeks an amica ble arrangement was made, by which Mr McTavish agreed to purchase all the furs, merchandise, provisions, etc. , of our company at a certain valuation, stipu lating to provide a safe passage back to the United States, either by sea or across the continent, for such members of it as choose to return; and at the same time offering to those who should wish to join the Northwest Company, and remain in the country, the same terms as if they had originally been mem bers of that company. Messrs Ross, McClellan, and I took advantage of these liberal proposals, and some time after, Mr Duncan McDougall, one of the di rectors, also joined the Northwest.' Cox's Columbia Elver, 208. 'The nego tiations were protracted by one party, in the hope that the long expected armed force would arrive to render the purchase unnecessaiy, and were urged forward by the other to conclude the affair before that occurrence should in tervene.' Franchere's Nar., 193.
10 Astoria, 485.
230 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
should not feel as if I were disgraced." In other- words, he might have a large claim for damages.
Still McTavish fences for time, and it was not until McDougall made ready his boats and threatened to move inland up the Willamette River unless the agree ment was legally executed at once, that the North west partners completed the purchase.11 One other hold McDougall had upon his rivals. McTavish and his party obtained their daily supply of provisions from the fort, being indebted to the Pacific Company even for food and ammunition. Accompanying the threat to move was another to cut off supplies, and thus the Northwest Company were brought to terms.12 The contract was signed the 16th of October, and on the 12th of November the Northwest Company took formal possession of Astoria.13 Thus was sealed the death-warrant of the New York millionaire's brilliant scheme. Thus terminated the affairs of the Pacific Fur Company on the Northwest Coast. The greater part of the servants of the Pacific Company entered the service of the Northwest Company; after the affairs of the former were closed, McDougall accepted a partnership in the Northwest Company.14 Toward
11 'McDougall and McKenzic, however, saw through this piece of artifice., and insisted that the business should be ratified at once. McTavish, howevers full of commercial wiles, tried to evade and retard every step taken.' Hos** Adv., 253.
12 'One morning before daylight, Messrs McDougall and McKenzie sum moned all hands together, seventy-two in number, and after a brief statement; of the view of the Northwest in reference to the negotiation, ordered the bas- tions to be manned, the guns to be loaded and pointed, and the matches lighted. In an instant every man was at his post and the gates shut. At eight o'clock a message was sent to McTavish giving him two hours, and no more, either to sign the bills or break off the negotiations altogether, and remove to some other quarters. By eleven o'clock the bills were finally and formally signed, ami Astoria was delivered up to the Northwest Company on the 12th of No vember, after nearly a month of suspense between the drawing and the signing of the bills.' lioss' Adv., 254. This statement is so at variance from Mr Irving's that I am willing to allow a little for exaggeration. That is, McDou gall may have formally assumed this belligerent attitude for effect, but that he ever had any intention of firing on McTavish's camp I cannot for a moment suppose.
13 According to Ross and Irving; Franchere says the 23d of November.
14 This circumstance threw suspicion on his conduct, yet there is not the least proof that he had betrayed his trust. McDougall always bore the char acter of integrity; he was a man of principle, faithful to his word, and punctual
COMCOMLY FOR WAR. 231
the end of October, McKenzie set out with John Stuart for Spokane and Okanagan to deliver those posts to the purchasers.
The arrival at Fort Astoria from Fort William on the 15th of November of two Northwest Company partners, Alexander Stuart and Alexander Henry, in two bark canoes, manned by sixteen voyageurs, did not materially affect the attitude of affairs, but only the more proved the course pursued by McDougall to be correct, and showed the utter hopelessness of the Astor course on the Pacific. The Northwest Com pany were determined to drive them out. They would probably in time have accomplished this without the aid of British war-ships, in the continued absence of help for Astor from the United States. The new arrival reported the British arms thus far in the ascendant.
Scarcely more than a fortnight had passed since the formal delivery of the fortress of Astoria to the Northwest Company, when one day Coincomly came in breathless haste to McDougall, with tidings of a sail seen off the cape, which he was fearful might be a King George ship. "Have we not enough of these people among us?" he exclaimed. "Are you Bostons women that you permit these starving ones to take your fort, your goods, and drive you from the coun try? And now here comes this vessel to enslave us all, but with eight hundred warriors at my back I do not fear them. I will protect you." But McDougall soothed his hotly perspiring and red-painted father- in-law, assured him that the King George men were no longer enemies, and sent him away happy in the possession of a new coat and a pocketful of tobacco, with instructions not to molest white people, who were all brothers.
to his engagements. Jtoss' Adv., 273-4. Khlebnikof, Shizneopissanie, 149, re marks that Clarke went to Sitka after the transfer of Astoria and lived there for two years, acting as tutor to Baranof 's half-breed children ; he also men tions the arrival of Jobson, a gunsmith, and two half-breeds.
232 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
This was the 29th of November. Next morning the vessel, which was no other than the British sloop of war Raccoon, Black, commander, mounting twenty- six guns, came dashing gayly forward, and anchored in Baker Bay. She was immediately boarded by Me- Dougall and his royal father-in-laAV, each with his ret inue ; and it wras pleasing to see the effect of civilization thus far upon the king of the Chinooks; for from a blood-thirsty warrior we find him suddenly trans formed into a crafty courtier. Not knowing exactly why or how, he saw plainly enough that on the Colum bia King George was in the ascendant.
"Ah," he cried to Captain Black, spreading a fine sea-otter skin upon the deck, "the Bostons are brave, but they have no ships like this, no men like these," his eyes running admiringly from the brightly polished guns to the gilt-buttoned officers, and along the line of marines. Next day saw Comcomly approach the little wharf before the fort from the Raccoon, flying the Union Jack at the bow of his canoe, and step ashore in full British uniform. Upon such trifles the destinies of nations often turn.
Passenger by the Raccoon was John McDonald, a senior partner in the Northwest Company, and com monly called Drcts Cruel tc, Crooked Arm, who at once assumed command on the Columbia. Five voy- ageurs accompanied him. Sailing from England in the Phccbe, which had accompanied the Isaac Todd to Rio Janeiro, he there found the British squadron. These two ships with the Raccoon and CJierub de spatched to convoy the Isaac Todd, sailed together, agreeing to rendezvous at the island of Juan Fernan dez. Parted off Cape Horn in a storm, three of the ships came together at the appointed place. After waiting some time in vain for the Isaac Todd, Com modore Hilly cr, hearing of the havoc being commit ted ainono1 British traders and whalers in the Pacific
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by Commodore Porter, set sail with the Cherub and
TAKING POSSESSION. 233
the Pliaibe in search of him, while the Raccoon, to which McDonald was transferred, was sent to destroy Fort Astoria.
Great were the expectations raised in the minds of the officers and men on board the Raccoon, regarding the rich booty which the defenceless post of Astoria was to furnish them. Imagine their disappointment, therefore, when they found the prize had slipped their grasp by legal transfer to British subjects. The officers were loud in their anathemas, no less against the insignificance of the fortress, which they had come so far to lay low, than against the officers of the Northwest Company, who, they averred, had employed them as tools in commercial speculation.
"The Yankees are always beforehand with us," said Captain Black to one of his officers, though what the Yankees had done to warrant his displeasure in this transaction it would be difficult to imagine. But
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it was when he landed and beheld the split-board pickets called palisades, and scarcely arrow-proof bastions and stockades, his ire and irony broke forth. Turning to McDonald he exclaimed: "This, then, was your enemy's stronghold, requiring a navy to conquer. Damn me! with a single four-pounder I would batter it down in two hours."
One harmless little ceremony yet might be per formed before these bright-buttoned King George men should take their departure, a ceremony which even the staid English at this late day did not disdain. Coming on shore the 12th of December 1813, with a lieutenant of marines, four soldiers, and four sailors, Captain Black proceeded to take formal possession of the country, though what that term implied he had no better idea than Comcomly.
An English dinner supplied the place of the Span iard's mass, after which the fur company's servants with guns in their hands were stationed round the flag-staff. Captain Black then caused a British flag, which he had brought on sho/'e for the occasion, to be
234 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
run up, and taking a bottle of Madeira wine of medium quality he broke it manfully upon the flag-staff, cry ing in a loud voice that of that country and of that establishment he took possession in the name of his Britannic Majesty, and that the place hitherto called Fort Astoria should henceforth be known as Fort George. Three rounds were then fired, artillery and musketry bellowing the king's health, which was drunk in liberal bumpers by all present, not excluding a few sable savages who had been admitted to witness a ceremony which confirmed in their minds what before they strongly suspected, namely, that the white men had all gone mad. With the first fair wind the Raccoon took her departure, but not until the officers had made a careful survey of the entrance to the river.
We left Hunt at the Hawaiian Islands, having just purchased the brig Pedlcr and placed in her the cap tain and crew of the lost Lark. Leaving the islands the 22d of January, as before mentioned, the Pedler cast anchor in the Columbia the 28th of February. Hunt expressed great dissatisfaction with regard to the sale, particularly as to the price obtained for the furs. In facing Astor it would be well to have some one upon whom to cast the blame ; and the fact that after the affairs of the Pacific Company were closed McDougall had joined the Northwest Company, might be easily converted into a question of disloyalty. This was anything but manly on the part of Hunt, who represented McDougall's sale as the primary cause of failure, and Astor seems to have accepted these unwarranted statements, and Irving to have propa gated them without the shadow of proof. Directing McKenzie, to whom the papers of the Pacific Com pany had been delivered by McDougall, to forward to Astor the draft received in payment from the North west Company, Hunt addressed a few parting words to his late associates, and taking with him Halsey,
HUNT AT SITKA. 235
Seton, Clapp, and Farnham, be bade a final farewell to the shores of the Pacific, and embarked on board the Pedler the 3d of April.
Directing his course to Sitka, Hunt encountered two United States vessels trading with the natives, and hiding from British cruisers. In which latter at tempt at least, they succeeded well ; for while at Sitka, the British ship Forester, Captain Pigott, arrived with letters of marque from England, having missed the traders to their no small good fortune. W hile at Sitka, Hunt was informed that after the sailing of the Lark, fearing she might be intercepted, Astor had ordered purchased in England a British bottom, to be sent with supplies to Astoria. That Astor might be informed how his interests stood in that quarter, Hunt left Halsey at Sitka, and sailed northward, landing Farnliam on the coast of Kamchatka, with directions to proceed through Asia and across the Atlantic with despatches, which journey he success fully accomplished. Sailing thence southward, the Pedler soon reached the coast of California, where she was seized by the Spanish corvette Tagle in August, but soon released. From San Bias15 Seton was sent by way of Panama" to New York, while the Pedler con tinued her way round Cape Horn. Arriving safely upon the Atlantic seaboard, Hunt took up his resi dence at St Louis, and was subsequently made gov ernor of the state.
Astor was deeply chagrined at the failure of his cherished scheme. Throughout his whole life the dis appointment never left him. He declared he would never give it up, would never abandon that territory to the Northwest Company after their shameful treat ment of him ; though what they had done to him that he would not gladly have done to them, had he pos sessed the power, the impartial student of those times
15 Arch. Cal. Prov. St. Pap. Ben. Mil., MS., xlv. 3-6. She was not, as has been somewhere stated, sent as a prize to San Bias.
236 TRANSFER OF FORT ASTORIA.
fails to discover. These, how eve1", were but the idle threats attending defeat. The departure of Hunt for ever closed the business of Astor upon the Pacific.18
16 In Irving's eyes, Astor's pride and Astor's money were the only losses. Not a bewailing word is said in Astoria of the sacrifice of sixty-three lives in this speculation, not one of which was Astor's. Let us reckon them ; and we shall likewise find that most of these deaths were needless, arising from the ignorance, stupidity, or brutality of Astor's chosen agents. Thorn, of the Tonquin, must alone stand responsible for thirty-three, eight on the bar and twenty-seven at Nootka Sound, the only redeeming feature hero being that he was among them. By the land expedition five were lost ; at Astoria, three; by the shipwreck of the Lark, eight; in the Shoshone country, nine; in the final departure, three. To use t!ie projector's own words, this was the concern which 'was to have annihilated the South Company; extinguished the Hudson's Bay Company; driven the Russians into the Frozen Ocean; and with the resources of China to have enriched America.' lioss1 Adr., 283. Other aiithorities which may be properly mentioned are, Kane's Wanderings, 177; Boston in the Northwest, MS., passim; Lee and Frost's Ten Years in Or., "2-23; Creeuhow's Or. and Cat., 294-300; Harvey's Life of McLowjhlin, MS., 3; Victors Hivcr of the Wcsf, 43; Parker's Exploring Tour, 155; Farn- hain's rict. Travels, 440; Townsend'x Nar., 182; Nine's Or. Hist., 89; Gray's Hist. Or., 19; Butler's Wild North Land, 317; Stevens' Northwest, 4; EUicott's Pu<jet Sound, MS., 17; J. </. Astor, in Hunt's Afcr. Afar/., xi. 153-9; N. Am. Jieview, xliv. 200-4; NUes' Hry., iv. 2G7; Anderson's Northwest (.'oast, MS., 98; TnrL-er's Hist. Or., 32-5; 40-1; Salem Statesman, June 7, 1871; Findlay's JJ! rectory, i. 302; Annettes d&t To?/., xxii. 287-91; Am. Quart. Re<j., iv. 390-4; jyOrbigny, V«y., 473-4; Am. /St. Pap., xxi. 1009-13; Coy ner's Lost Trapper, 222-34; Evans' Or., MS., 97; Thornton's Or. andCal, i. 303; Sproat's Scenes and Studies, 10-11; Twiss' Hi^t. Or., 23-5, 235-9; Swan's Northwest Coast, 223-239; Bay lie's Northwest Coast of America, 10th Cong., 1st Mess., II . Uept.t 213; 27th Gong., 3d Sess., II. Com. Kept. 1, p. 21-2; Annals Congress, 1822-3, 1210-21.
CHAPTER XI.
THE NORTHWEST COAST UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
1813-1814.
THE NORTHWEST COMPANY MASTERS OP THE SITUATION — EXPEDITION TO THE UPPER COLUMBIA — THE TOLL-GATHERERS or THE CASCADES — DIVISION or THE PARTY AT WALLA WALLA — REED TRAPS IN THE SHOSHONE COUNTRY — DOINGS AT OKANAGAN AND SPOKANE — KEITH AND STUART SET OUT FROM FORT GEORGE FOR LAKE SUPERIOR — WAR AT THE CAS CADES — ALEXANDER HENRY IN THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY— NEW SITE SURVEYED FOR FORT GEORGE — FIRST NORTHWEST BRIGADE FROM THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA TO MONTREAL — DESTRUCTION OF REED'S PARTY BY THE SHOSHONES — THRILLING TALE OF PIERRE DORION'S WIFE- ARRIVAL OF THE 'ISAAC TODD' AT FORT GEORGE — THE FIRST WHITE WOMAN IN OREGON — DEATH OF DONALD MCTAVISH THE NEW COM MANDER AT FORT GEORGE.
THE defeat too often attendant on pioneer enter prises is accomplished at Astoria, and the victor has the field. For the present the Montreal merchants may lord it over a measureless area of fur-producing mountains and plains unquestioned; may dominate hordes of their fellow-men, entering in and of their substance slaying and eating. For, ponderous as is the machinery of their rivals round Hudson Bay, its influence west of the Rocky Mountains is yet scarcely felt unless, indeed, it intensifies the energy of the Northwest Company in that quarter. The battle ground of the two &reat British companies lies upon the eastern slope, paving the Northwest Company sole ruler of the western. And as for interference from the United States, British men-of-war will guard the seaward side, ^vhile the remembrance of the hard-
(237)
238 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
ships experienced by Hunt, Crooks, and Stuart in their transmontane expeditions are enough to dampen enterprise for the present in that direction.
The shrewd Scotchmen fully realize the lucky turn in their affairs; they know things cannot remain stationary, and they are determined to improve the present opportunity. Hence, expeditions from Fort Astoria, or, as we must now say, Fort George, rapidly succeed one another.
Mention has already been made of the departure of John Stuart and Donald McKenzie for the posts of the upper Columbia. It was on the 29th of October 1813 that the party set out. Besides the two already named were McGillivray, Laroche, McDonald, Reed, and Cox who writes a narrative of the expedition, with fifty-live men.1
Thrown off their guard at the Cascades by the peaceable demeanor of the natives, the party permitted themselves to be robbed of two bales. Hastening forward with the remainder of their effects, at the village of the toll-gatherers they encountered a for midable band of sixty war-shirted savages, with drawn bows, dancing kangaroo-like their defiance. Halting for all to come up, Stuart undertook to amuse the kangaroo-jumpers, while his men, stealing to the right
1 Among the chief authorities for this epoch are Ross Cox, Adventures on the Columbia Elver, 2 vols. London, 1831, and Alexander Ross, The Fur Hunt ers of the Far Went, 2 vols. London, 1855. Both wrote their narratives upon the spot. In 1811, Cox obtained a clerkship in the Northwest Company, and sailed the same year for Fort Astoria in the ship Beaver. He served at the establishments on the Columbia live years, during which time he made fre- qiient excursions, and engaged iu several battles with the savages. In one of his expeditions he was lost for fourteen days. In April 1816 he was placed in charge of the post of Okanagan, and the following year resigned, and retired to Montreal. Ross was among the first to join the Astor enterprise, which he fully delineates in his A dventures of the Firtt Settlers on the, Oregon, or Co 'unihla, River. He sailed in the Tonquhi in 1810, and spent not less than fifteen years in the Columbia region, after which he settled at Red River, and wrote the best account of Lord Selkirk's efforts at colonization. To offset his many good qualities, he seems somewhat loose in his statements, and displays strong prejudices. He loves to parade to the front all that is bad in men, passing lightly over their good qualities. His descriptions are graphic, and his book contains much to be found nowhere else. Francherc is an excellent authority as far as he goes, but he left the country for Montreal in 1814.
OKANAGAX AND SPOKANE. 239
and left, seized some fifteen of the old men, women, and children, and held them as hostages until the stolen goods were returned.
Arrived at Walla Walla, Reed with eight men and twenty horses turned toward the Shoshone country to trade for beaver. The rest proceeded to Okan- agan and Spokane, though not without molestation from the friends of the man who was hanged by Clarke for stealing his drinking -cup. From these posts wintering parties were despatched to the smaller trading establishments north and east. Cox and Mc Millan were stationed amonsr the chaste and chivalrous
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Flatheads, who peremptorily refused the all-marrying white man wives. Those at the other stations fared but little better. There seemed to be but one lucky suitor in those parts during this winter of 1813—14, and that was Pierre Michel, the hunter, who wooed a beautiful girl of sixteen, and by his blandishments won her before all the gallants of her tribe. But Michel had often helped them in their wars, and they cunningly weighed his future services before consent ing to the alliance. McDonald wintered at Kam- loops, and in December, Montigny left Okanagan and joined him. On the way he was attacked and robbed of some horses; elsewhere in this region the natives were peaceable.
McGillivray, who was in charge, found fort life at Okanagan intolerably dull. His men were part Cana dians and part Kanakas; the latter suffered severely from the cold, to which they were unaccustomed. The snow, which was two or three feet deep, prevented distant excursions, <and the fort boasted few books. Time was divided between sleeping, masticating horse flesh, sipping rum and molasses, and smoking. The natives were pronounced too lazy to trap.
When McKenzie and John Stuart had completed their business at Spokane, they proceeded with Clarke to Okanagan, where they arrived the 15th of Decem ber. There they were joined by David Stuart, who
240 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
had brought the men down from Shushwap. Accom panied by Ross all now set out for the lower Colum bia. On reaching the Cascades, as was now becoming customary, the party was attacked and one man wounded. David Stuart and Clarke remained behind with the loaded canoes, while John Stuart and Mc- Kenzie hastened on to Fort George, where they ar rived the 7th of January 1814.2
A few days before, those who had been sent by the Pacific Fur Company to winter on the Willamette, returned. Nothing had been heard from Reed's party, who were among the Shoshones, and fears were beginning to be entertained for their safety.
After thus gathering the spoil, and planting new engineries for further harvests, the next step of the Northwest Company was to despatch two of their partners, James Keith and Alexander Stuart, with seventeen3 men, all they thought they should require, to carry the gratifying intelligence of their new ac quisition to Fort William on Lake Superior. They were likewise to cause preparations to be made along the route for the accommodation of a larger party, the return wave of the Astor adventure, the follow ing spring. Likewise the fate of Reed's party was, if possible, to be ascertained.
Keith and Stuart embarked in two canoes the 3d of January. Before leaving the fort, they were earnestly advised not to undertake the expedition with so few men. But the eyes of their little world were upon them. There had been boastings and taunts between the servants of the two companies, as to their respective knowledge, skill, and bravery as fur- hunters, and friends and enemies alike were now to bo shown a thing or two. Before reaching the Cascades they met the party under McKenzie and John Stuart, who interposed another warning. "What do you
2 Following Ross; Fraiicherc says the morning of the 6th. But these little differences are wholly unimportant, and as a rule I take no notice of them.
3 According to Cox ; Ross says twenty ; Frunchere, iifteeii.
WAR AT THE CASCADES. 241
take us for? We know the woods; we are North westers!" was the reply. And on they went, making the forest ring with their merry bravado.
When McKenzie reported at Fort George the late determined attack at the Cascades, McDonald became alarmed, and ordered Franchere with a guide and eight good fighting men, well armed, to hasten forward to the assistance of the eastward bound. In less than two hours after McKenzie's arrival, Fran chere was on his way; but he was too late. Before he could reach them the party had been attacked, and Alexander Stuart badly wounded.
The canoes and a portion of the goods had been conveyed to the landing above, where Stuart waited for Keith to come up with the men loaded with the remainder. It was then that a native seized a bag of effects guarded by Stuart, who immediately pursued the thief, and secured the bag. But in returning he was surrounded by savages, who fired upon him, sending one arrow into his shoulder, and into his side another which would have proved fatal had the point not struck against a stone pipe which was in his pocket. Stuart levelled his gun, but being wet it missed fire. Again he levelled it, and shot the nearest as sailant dead. By this time the others were upon him, and he would soon have been despatched had not several rushed to his assistance. Another native was. killed, and the rest retired to their boats and crossed the river. Presently was seen, however, a swarm of canoes filled with warriors crossing from the other side. And all that remained for the travellers now to do was to abandon the goods and one canoe, and with the other to drop down the rapids and save them selves. This they did, mustering below all their num ber but one, an eastern Indian, who was burning to have a shot or two at his western brethren. The party waited for him as long as was safe, and then reluctantly proceeded. Fortunately, the brave fellow
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 16
242 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
found his way to the factory, but in a sad plight. When be found himself abandoned, he dodged from rock to rock until be gained the woods; but while on bis way the flint from bis gun dropped out, and he was on the rerge of starvation. Then he was made prisoner at a village below, and was ransomed by bis friends at the fort.
Mr Stuart's wounds were painful, and for a time considered dangerous. Too late they saw their error, and in not the best of spirits they paddled down the river. They had not proceeded far when they met Franehere, sent to their assistance, and all returned to Fort George, where they arrived the 9th of January at sunrise.
For obvious reasons the white men could not per mit this outrage to pass unnoticed. Amongst the abandoned property were fifty guns and a quantity of ammunition, which it was not safe to leave in the bands of the plunderers. Again, if theft should be come profitable, there would be no safety for the prop erty of the white man. Nor yet would there be for his life, if he inflicted punishment in such a manner as to stir up revenge. No doubt it would be most pleas ing to these fur-hunters to invade the Cascade country in sufficient force to assess a thousand lives for each of Stuart's wounds. But they knew well enough that a serious fight would bring on a general war, which would prove the end of all their glittering prospects.
To piety and the pocket, passion must ever be sac rificed. Hence, while this affair should not be passed by unnoticed, there must be no great bloodshed, for the more savages killed, the more there would be to pay for.
Summoning the native chiefs in that vicinity, a grand council was held at Fort George, and diplomatic war declared. The Chinooks nothing loath accepted an invitation to join the party. Under command of McTavish sixty-two men, armed cap-a-pic, in six
TEEATY OF PEACE. 243
canoes carrying a small brass cannon, embarked on the 10th, and the third day landed on Strawberry Island near the foot of the rapids.
The army now found itself without provisions, chiefly on account of not having brought any. By scouring the banks below, they were able to purchase forty-five dogs and one horse, which were brought in triumph to camp, and the stomach of the expedition was stayed.
Business being next in order, a party was sent fo - ward to reconnoitre. The villages were deserted, but certain stragglers were encountered, who were in formed that if the stolen property was not immedi ately restored, the nation should be annihilated; and by way of illustration the cannon was fired. " Two of our people have been killed," replied the chiefs when told of this. "Deliver us the murderers, and we will give you back all your property."
McTavish then sent an invitation to the chiefs to parley and smoke, but the childlike savages respect fully declined. Next he undertook to catch a chief, and in this he was more successful. Inviting one after an other of the common Indians to smoke, he permitted them to depart, until the principal chief ventured in, when he was seized, firmly bound, and a guard placed over him.
"Now," cried the white men, "bring in the stolen goods, or your chief dies." A distant howl was heard, and presently the plunder came pouring in until all the guns and about one third of the rest of the arti cles were recovered. Then, as they could get no more, it was finally decreed that the natives might have the remainder in payment for their two killed. The pris oner was accordingly released, and a flag given him, which, if he wished to signal peace, he was to present unfurled ; and if hereafter any native approached goods in transit, he should surely be shot. Then all returned to the fort, which they reached the 22d. The truth is, some such course was the only safe one at the
244 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
time; but the Chinook chiefs were ashamed of their white friends' cowardice.
The post upon the Willamette4 was now in charge of Alexander Henry, and thither until the spring brigade should start, repaired the remnant of the Astor adventure. It was a place of fat things and feastings, a place in that day notorious for gorman dizing, as Hoss says, which even before the era of agriculture furnished the fur-hunters throughout the
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whole Columbia region well nigh all they had in the shape of delicacies, unless hunger had made dried salmon and dog-meat delicacies. Hunters were con stantly kept there to bring in deer and elk, and men to dry the meat for the use of the factory.
For the remainder of the winter, after a trip to the Willamette, Franchere was employed in visiting at intervals the fishing-stations of the natives, and trading for salmon, some of which were sent fresh to the fort, and the remainder salted and barrelled. Notwithstanding advantageous offers from the North west Company, Franchere made his final departure with the spring brigade.
Meanwhile, Governor John McDonald, he of the crooked arm, sought in various ways to better the condition of things. The site of the fort he thought had been badly chosen, and after a close survey of both banks of the river for some distance above, he concluded the headland, which the Astorians had called Tongue Point, to be the better situation. Soil and drainage there were good; on either side nature had placed a cove which sheltered boats; and protec tion from enemies by land or sea was better there. In the brain of great men are engendered great ideas.
4 The exact locality of this establishment is nowhere given. Franchere, in visiting it in 1814, says, after passing the falls, ' The banks on either side were bordered with forest-trees, but behind that narrow belt, diversified with prairie, the landscape was magnificent; the hills were of moderate elevation, and rising in an amphitheatre.' From which description one \vould infer the station to have been in the vicinity of where now is situated Corvallis.
EASTERN-BOUND BRIGADE. 245
This pinnacle should be cleared, and on it a fortress raised which should be the Gibraltar of the Northwest Coast. An engineer mounted the rampart and walked over the ground; work was begun; great guns and big black balls were ordered; then the project was abandoned.
Governor John McDonald likewise desired greatly to map out a plan which should regulate the trade of the Columbia as the railway train is ruled, by time tables; but conflict of opinion prevented this, and therefore this gentleman determined to leave the coast with the spring brigade. Here end the achieve ments of John McDonald on these Pacific shores.
It was a grand affair, this journey of the first North west brigade from the mouth of the Columbia to Fort William and Montreal; it was at once a triumph and a dead-march. Ten canoes, five of bark and five of cedar, each carrying a crew of seven and two pas sengers, ninety in all,5 and all well armed, embarked at Fort George on Monday morning, the 4th of April 1814. Of the party were John George McTavish, John McDonald, John Stuart, David Stuart, Clarke, McKenzie, Pillot, Wallace, McGillis, Franchere, and others, some of whom were destined for the upper stations. Short was the leave-taking for so large a company, for there were now not many left at the fort to say farewell. The voyageurs donned their broadest bonnets; arms were glittering, flags flying, the guns sounded their adieu, and midst ringing cheers, in gayest mood the party rounded Tongue Point, and placed their breast against the current.
Reaching the first fall the 10th and there buying and devouring thirty dogs and four horses, the sink-
5 Ross, Fur Hunters, i. 17, places these figures at one hundred and twenty- four men in fourteen boats; but I notice Mr Ross' figures are usually somewhat above those of others, and many of his expressions likewise sound exaggerated, so that a careful writer naturally makes some allowance in repeating them. In this instance there may possibly have been four canoes and thirty-four men destined for other parts not mentioned by any other nar rator, but it is hardly probable.
246 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
ing of McTavisli's canoe next day in doubling a point of rock, the accidental shooting of one of their number at the Dalles so that he died, the arrival at Walla Walla the 16th and the purchasing there for food of more dogs and horses, were among the chief incidents of the voyage.
But now a more momentous story must be told. Soon after passing the Yakima River, not far above the mouth of Snake River, three canoes shot from the shore and a child's voice was heard crying, Arretez done! arrStez done! The party stopped, and found, to their surprise, in one of the boats the wife and children of Pierre Dorion, who, it will be remem bered, had attended as hunter the expedition of John Reed, sent the summer previous by McDougall to the Shoshone region to procure food and transporta tion across the mountains for the eastern-bound bri gade. Mr Reed was likewise to join the hunters, iloback, Rezncr, and Robinson, left by Hunt and Crooks in the vicinity of Fort Henry, and with them to trap beaver. In Reed's party were five Canadians : Landrie, Lc Clerc, Turcot, Delauny, and Chapelle, besides Pierre Dorion and his wife and children. The woman now informed the company, that of them all she and her children alone remained alive.
Then she went on and told how the party had reached Snake River in August and had built a house
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there; how they trapped beaver all the autumn; how Landrie had died from the fall of a horse, and Delauny had been killed while trapping, and how, late in Sep tember, Hoback, Robinson, and Rezner had come into camp in a pitiable condition, having been stripped of everything by the savages.
Not liking that locality, Reed moved up the river and built another house to winter in. Shortly afterward Pierre Dorion and family, with Rezner and Le Clerc, went some four days' journey to a place where beaver were plentiful, and there erected a hut. The woman cooked and dressed the skins while the men trapped.
MADAME DORION'S TALE. 247
They were very successful, and regarded the natives as friendly, until one evening in January Le Clerc staggered into the hut mortally wounded. He had barely strength to tell the woman that her husband and Rezner had been wounded by the savages, when he expired.6
What could the pale-faced, bedizened dame of our civilization have done in such an emergency? With the characteristic self-possession and energy of the native American in times of danger, this woman paused not an instant to mourn this cruel blow, but acting on maternal instinct, she mounted herself and boys on two horses, and fled toward the establishment of Reed. How she listened and trembled as she hastened forward, fancying every sound the signal of approaching death. When she saw savages galloping in the distance, she would draw her treasures under cover, and hide there until the way was clear again. A little food she brought with her, but sometimes all
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night she was without fire or water. The fourth day she reached Reed's. There accumulated horrors met her. The house was burned, the place deserted, and the blood-bespattered ground told too plainly how and why. Reed and the rest had been massacred!
What could the poor woman now do? Where were they waiting and watching who should destroy her and her two precious bo}Ts? There was no time for wailing. Toward the Blue Mountains, now white with deep snow, she fled, and buried herself there for the winter, putting up bark and a few skins which she had brought with her for protection from the
6 It is pure romance on the part of Irving to place this poor fellow on horseback and jolt him horribly for three clays before he permits him to die. See Astoria, 495 ; Cox's Columbia River, i. 278; Franchcre''* Nar., 274. HOPS, Adv., 279, as usual gets matters badly mixed, killing Chapelle with Dorioii and Rezner, and permitting the madam to ride three days because of a fright re ceived from a friendly Indian before she sees Le Clerc at all. It is amusing to compare different accounts of the same story, all gathered from but one original narrator. These things illustrate, nevertheless, the spongy founda tions of all history. In telling this story, Irving takes whole sentences verbatim from Ross and Cox without a sign of acknowledgment; these books, however, were little read in America in Irving's day.
248 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
cold, and killing the horses for food. Thence in the spring she descended to the Walla Wallas, who treated her kindly, and it was they who were now with her.
This was her true story. What fiction shall equal it? There is not a doubt that this wholesale butch ery was in retaliation for the unjust hanging done by Clarke for the stealing of his drinking-cup. So much of evil in this wilderness life may one sense less act of a vain and shallow-headed man bring upon his fellows! The hospitality of the kind-hearted Walla Wallas was well rewarded by the travellers, who also presented the poor woman with certain com forts, and then continued their way.
After leaving some of the party at their respective posts, on the 18th of April the brigade passed Priests Rapids, and arrived on the 23d at Gkanagan where were McGillivray, Ross, and Montigny who had taken service with the Northwest Company. Reembarking the same day, the brigade reached Kettle Falls on the 29th. Here John Stuart and Clarke, who had loft the party nine clays previous for Spokane, to procure horses and provisions, returned unsuccessful.
The brigade then divided, McDonald, John Stuart, and McKeiizie going forward in order to send horses and supplies from the cast side of the mountains. Two days after, Alexander Stuart joined the company, on his way to Slave Lake, his old wintering -place, for the purpose of bringing his family to the Colum bia. Then they continued, until the llth of May saw them at Canoe River. Ascending this stream to the end of canoe navigation, they landed where Thompson had wintered in 1810—11, secured the boats, and divided the baggage and provisions among the men, now reduced in number to twenty -four, each having fifty pounds to carry. Such articles as could not be carried were cached.
Next day, the 12th, the inarch across the moun tains to the head-waters of the Athabasca River was begun. Following the stream upward, first they
THE MOUNTAIN PASS. 249
waded some swamps, then traversed a dense forest, emerging from which they found themselves upon the gravelly bank of Canoe River. Owing to the bluffs which rose at intervals on either side from the water's edge, they were obliged to cross the stream, which here is very swift and often up to the neck, ten times in one day. Four or five feet of snow lay upon the slope, which they were now obliged to face, and softened as it was by the sun the ascent was very difficult. In single file, each must place his foot in the track of his predecessor, until holes were made two feet in depth.
At length they reached an open space which the guide pronounced a frozen snow-covered lake, or rather two of them, the waters of one flowing westward, and the waters of the other eastward, situated between two rocky eminences, one of which rose like a fortress fifteen hundred feet above the lake. Mr J. Henry, the discoverer of this pass, gave it the name of McGillivray Rock. Their route was now through the pass and down the Athabasca River, and though fatiguing was not remarkable. On the 17th, they ar rived at an old post of the Northwest Company abandoned some four years previous, and two days after they reached the Rocky Mountain House, then in charge of Mr Decoigne, where they found Mc Donald, Stuart, and McKenzie, who had arrived two days before them. This post was more a provision depot for the supplying of the Northwest Company's people in their passage of the mountains, than a fur-hunting establishment. The glittering crystal emi nences on which was perched the curved-horn moun tain-goat, beyond the reach even of hungry wolves ; the deep, dense forests, snow-whited and sepulchral; the rushing streams, laughing or raging according as their progress was impeded; the roistering torrent which no cold, dead, calm breath of nature could hush ; these and like superlative beauties met the eye of these foot-sore travellers at every turn.
250 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
It was not the best of hotels; being unaccustomed to so large a number, it could neither feed them nor furnish bark for canoes. Down the river at an old post called Hunter's Lodge, Mr Decoigne said, were canoes en cache, and thither the party proceeded in such boats as they could improvise from skins and sticks, drowning two men, however, on the way, and losing part of their effects.
Just before arriving at Hunter's Lodge, which was reached on the 28th, they met a messenger who brought letters and the news. Four new birch-bark canoes were found at Hunter's Lodge, and in these the party proceeded on the 31st. Then clown the Athabasca, and across to Beaver River, down Beaver to Moore River, and up that stream to Moore Lake, thence to Fort Vermilion on the Saskatchewan, and down past Fort Montee and Cumberland House to English Lake. Across this they went to lakes Bour bon and Winnipeg, up the Winnipeg River to the Lake of the Woods, and over the portage to Fort William, where they arrived on the 14th of July. And here we will leave them to find their several ways to Montreal and elsewhere, and return to our own side of the continent.
In less than a fortnight after the spring brigade had taken its departure, that is to say, the 17th of April 1814, the long looked for Isaac Todd crossed the bar and anchored before Fort George, thirteen months from England. On board as passengers were Donald McTavish and a new John McDonald, not the late governor of the fortress, partners; two Me- lavishes, one Frazer, and one McKenzie, clerks, and a Doctor Swan, who was to grace the fort as its physi cian.
One of the Macs, doomed to the perils of western life yet loath all at once to relinquish every creature comfort, had brought with him some bottled porter, canned beef, cheese, and a blue -eyed, flaxen -haired
MISS JANE BARNES. 251
female companion. It is a pity that the first Euro pean woman to stand upon the banks of the Columbia should have been of so questionable a character. A daughter of Albion, Miss Jane Barnes by name- may it be immortal — at the solicitations of this Mac had resigned her position as bar-maid in a Ports mouth hotel, and had come to this land of doubtful pleasures and profits, where at once she became an object of the deepest interest to all. Anything in the similitude of civilized woman could but call up in the minds of some the tenderest emotions. The more carnal -minded were scandalized that this lecherous Mac should so far break the laws of God and of the Honorable Northwest Company, as to form an unholy alliance with a frail fair one whose father was no chief, when fur -trad ing interests demanded duskier relationships. Make as many unmarried wives as you please of native maidens, and the great interests of commerce shall guard your good name, but to bring hither a white mistress — what will the savages say ?
Mrs McDougall was envious, for pretty Miss Barnes flaunted a new frock almost every day; father Comcomly was curious, and one of his sons who had now but four wives, was amorous, wishing immediately to marry her. Arrayed, in his richest robes, well painted, and redolent of grease, he came and laid at her feet the offering of his heart. One hundred sea- otter skins her owner should have, and she should never carry or dig. She should be queen of the Chinooks, and all his other wives should humble themselves before her. Elk, anchovies, and fat salmon should be heaped upon her lap, and all the livelong day she should sun herself and smoke.
Miss Barnes declined these royal overtures; and, indeed, she found the society of the Columbia unsuited to her taste. She therefore determined to return to England and bar -tending by the ship that brought her out, but at Canton where the vessel touched, she fell in love with a wealthy English gentleman of the
252 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S REGIME.
Honorable East India Company, and consented to grace a splendid establishment which he offered her. The Isaac Todd, it will be remembered, parted company with the three other British war-ships off Cape Horn. Being a dull sailer and beaten by con trary winds, she did not reach the rendezvous at Juan Fernandez Island until the others had sailed. Con tinuing thence her course for the Columbia River, when off California she found herself obliged to put into the port of Monterey for supplies. There the captain was told that a British man-of-war had entered San Francisco Bay in distress. Proceeding thither, he found this vessel to be no other than the Raccoon, which, on leaving the Columbia, had several times struck so heavily as to carry away part of her false-keel, and cause her so to leak that she reached her present anchorage with seven feet of water in the hold. Finding it impossible to repair her, Captain Black had determined to abandon the Raccoon, and to proceed through Mexico to the West Indies, and thence to England; but when the Isaac Todd arrived to his assistance, means were found to careen the vessel and to put her in good sailing order. With which charitable deed accomplished, the Isaac Todd slowly ploughed northward to the Columbia, while the Raccoon took to the broad seas seeking whom she might devour.
Mr Donald McTavish, just arrived by the Isaac Todd, was one of the oldest proprietors in the North west Company. For many years he had been the principal manager of interior affairs, and had now come hither for the purpose of properly organizing this new department of the Columbia. He was a bold, blunt man, sincere as a friend, undisguised as an enemy. He had realized quite a fortune from the profits of the fur-company, had, in fact, retired; and when he had explored this late vast acquisition it was his intention to cross the continent to Canada, and thence to his estate in Scotland.
TRIAL AND EXECUTION. 253
About a month after his arrival, a case came up which well illustrates the fur-hunters' method of in flicting justice.
On the river two miles back of the fort was a char coal-pit, where was employed a half-witted man called Judge. He was from Boston, and had crossed the continent in Hunt's party, suffering so severely on the way as to affect his reason. One day this poor fellow was found dead, his head having been split open with his own axe. The Judge was a harmless man; no reason could be assigned for the murder.
All the neighboring chiefs were summoned by McTavish to assemble immediately at the fort. They came the next day; the matter was discussed, and a reward offered for the murderer. After some time had elapsed, the Clatsop chief informed McTavish that if he would send men to his village he could point out those who did the deed, for there were two of them, though not of his tribe. With no small manoeuvring, the seizure of the accused was accom plished, and they were brought bound to the fort.
And now a day was fixed for trial, and at the time appointed the chiefs with their wives assembled in the large dining-hall, and the prisoners were brought forth. Witnesses were examined, when it was ascertained that two years previous one of the prisoners had at tempted to steal something from a tent in which was the Judge, who, when the thief thrust in his hand, cut it with his knife. Nursing his revenge, at length the time came, and the deed was accomplished. The murderers were unanimously pronounced guilty, and sentenced to be shot next morning, which was done. Amidst loud lamentations the friends took up their dead. Mr McTavish then thanked the chief men and women present for their attendance, paid the promised reward, made presents, smoked the calumet of peace, and dismissed the people, who departed well satisfied to their homes. Was not this a better way than for thirty or forty men to have sallied from the
254 UNDER THE NORTHWEST COMPAN'YS REGIME.
fort and begun the work of indiscriminate slaughter at the first village, shooting down innocent men, women, and children for a crime of whose very existence those thus killed were not aware, and all in the name of humanity and justice?
Another murder trial came up about this time, resulting in the execution of two natives for killing three of the Pacific Company's men in 1811. After that company had laid down its authority the criminals, who had fled at the time, came back and were cap tured and shot. Some of the tribes not relishing such summary proceedings were going to war about it, but the arrival of the Isaac Todd distracted their attention.
Yet a more melancholy event happened shortly after. Donald McTavish, from whom was now ex pected so much, embarked one day with six voyageurs in an open boat for the opposite side of the river, where the Isaac Todd was lying. A gale was blow ing at the time, and when about the middle of the stream, by some mismanagement the sail was caught, and the boat, swinging round, was struck by a wave which filled and sank it. McTavish and all the crew but one were drowned.7
7 'The present Centreville or Knapton was originally called Todd Bay, from the Isaac Todd's anchoring there. The captain had sent word for the men at Astoria to come over and get the goods he had on board for them, as the ship was in the river, and the cargo was to be delivered at tackle's end. McTavish's errand was to induce the captain to bring the vessel over and dis charge the cargo at Astoria. The tombstone which there marks his resting- place, calls to the mind of every visitor the sad events. ' Roberts' Recollections, MS. 36.
CHAPTER XII.
FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS. 1814-1820.
Ross' ADVENTURES IN THE YAKIMA VALLEY — Ross ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE PACIFIC— AFFA IKS AT SPOKANE — PERILOUS POSITION OF THE OKANAGAN BRIGADE — THE SPOKANE BRIGADE — IN COUNCIL AT FORT GEORGE — KEITH IN COMMAND— Ross SURVEYS THE ENTRANCE TO THE COLUMBIA — ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE — HOSTILITIES IN THE WILLAMETTE VAL LEY — SUFFERINGS OF THE EASTERN-BOUND BRIGADE — Ross EXAMINES THE COUNTRY BETWEEN SHUSHWAP AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS — DONALD MCKENZIE ESTABLISHES FORT WALLA WALLA.
Ross, Mc&illivray, and Montigny we left at Okan- agan the 23d of April 1814. At this fort there were no horses to transport inland the goods brought by the brigade, and none were nearer than the Yakima Valley,1 one hundred miles2 to the south-west. Ross had been in this valley before, while in the service of the Pacific Company; hence upon him devolved the duty of bringing thence a supply of pack-horses. The Yakima Valley was then the great aboriginal ren dezvous, where thousands of Cayuses, Nez Perces, and other adjacent tribes met every spring to gather their year's supply of camass, and pelua, a favorite food of the sweet-potato kind, while their chiefs held councils, and determined the policy of peace or war which should govern their movements until they should next meet. They were rich and happy there, having food and clothes, and multitudes of horses.
1 Called in those days the beautiful Eyakema Valley.
2 Ross calls it two hundred miles, which would bring him south of the Dalles; but some credit ia surely due this writer that he does not more than double his distances.
(255)
256 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
With Ross on this expedition were Thomas McKay and three Canadians with their wives, taken to assist in driving the horses, for men were scarce at the fort. The fourth night from Okanagan the party was aroused by two couriers despatched by Sopa, chief of the Pis- quouse, to beg of them to turn back or they were all dead men. But danger was part of the fur-hunters' daily life, and they were not to be swerved from their purpose.
Two days after, they came upon the encampment, which was worth risking one's life to see. Imagine a gathering of six thousand men, women, and children, like threescore tented villages huddled into an un civilized city, with ten thousand horses, covering an area of six miles square, and all making the wild region ring with their shouts of merriment. Some were racing, gambling, dancing, while others were singing, drumming, yelling; the tramping of horses and the barking of dogs, the snarling of tied bears and wolves mingling with the shouts of men and the screams of women and children. The camp was cut by crooked streets, dividing the assemblage into groups, with here rejoicings, and there wailings. One thing only was lacking to lift the savage saturnalia up to the dignity of a white man's inferno — fire-water.
Sopa was right. There was deep danger to the fur- traders in approaching such a company. Ross saw it when too late. Putting on as bold a lace as his sink ing heart would permit, he advanced to the centre of the camp, where stood the tent of the chiefs, to whom he first paid his respects. His reception was cool; the chiefs were sullen; these white men who hanged for stealing were no favorites. To draw their thoughts from bloody abstraction, Ross immediately opened his trinkets and began to trade for horses. But as fast as he bought, the animals, together with those he had brought with him, were spirited away with ribald jeers and yelling. It was glorious to have the white man on the hip. But Ross well knew his life de-
CRITICAL SITUATION. 257
pended on his patience ; so lie affected not to see their insults, and went on trading.
Two anxious days and sleepless nights thus passed, during which the savages would not permit the strangers to cook or eat their own food. They over turned their kettle and put out their fire, took up their guns and fired them off, took from the traders their hats, and putting them on their own heads, strutted about with brutal laughter. The third day, hearing that the women were to be seized as slaves, he sent them secretly away that night. Next day the savages were more insulting than ever. The white men were becoming faint with hunger, and while attempting once more to prepare some food, a trucu lent chief called Yaktana snatched a common hunt ing-knife from the hand of one of the Canadians, who instantly swore he would have it back or kill the thief. "Stop!" shouted Ross, whose hand instantly grasped his pistol, as the chief and Canadian, with eyes blaz ing hatred, prepared for deadly encounter. It was a critical moment, the most critical of their lives, in which a motion, a breath, the winking of an eye, might determine their destiny. They might kill each a man, and then die pierced by a hundred arrows. But suddenly flashed in the mind, of Ross an inspira tion, such as often subtile-witted fur-gatherers had re ceived in dire dilemmas. And now behold how little a thing may turn the hearts of three thousand men. Drawing from his belt a knife of more elaborate workmanship than the other, he said to Yaktana,. " Take this, my friend; it is a chief's knife; and give the other back." Yaktana did as requested. Then ho turned the new knife over in his hand. Gradually the swell of sullen ferocity subsided into a smile of childish gratification, and holding up his prize he exclaimed, "See! it is a chief's knife." Fickle fortune was won. The white men, whose lives so lately hung by a hair, were saved. Yaktana harangued the crowd in behalf of him who had so adroitly tickled his fancy. The
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 17
258 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
pipe of peace was brought, and presents given the chiefs. Approaching business, Ross remarked, "What shall I say to the great white chief when he asks me, 'Where are the horses you bought?"3 "Tell him that every one of them were given you," replied Yaktana, whose pride was touched. To that effect the order went forth ; and as quickly as might be, Ross and his companions escaped with their horses, eighty-five in number. The wives of the Canadians were overtaken; and although on the way back Mc Kay dislocated his hip, which lamed him for life, the party reached Okanagan in safety. Fifty-five horses were then laden for Spokane.
After a visit to his own post at Shushwap, Ross returned to Okanagan and undertook an expedition thence to the Pacific, which he had long had in con templation. With three natives he set out on the 25th of July 1814, and taking a southerly course, afterward turning more to the westward, he pro ceeded one hundred and fifty miles, when his com panions refused to go further, and he was obliged to abandon the journey and return. The guide became demoralized by a storm-cloud which cut a furrow through the forest near by, employing apparently stronger and sharper teeth than the demons of his Okanagan, and nothing could prevail upon him to continue the journey.
In 1814, John George McTavish ruled at Spokane House, which with its several outposts comprised his district.
Sixty men in nine canoes left Fort George the 5th of August, and after the usual interchange of shots with the toll-gatherers of the Cascades, resulting in the killing of one Canadian and several natives, the party passed on to Walla Walla and Okanagan. Cox and McMillan, with a Stuart and a McDonald, went to Spokane.
PROPOSED DUEL. 259
This McDonald was a raw Highlander, standing six feet four, with a powerful frame, broad shoulders, and a profusion of long, red, bushy hair and whiskers, which apparently had neither been cut nor combed these many years. He enjoyed a Spokane wife, whose two children called him father. He was bold, passionate, but below the average Northwester in wisdom. He had not been at Spokane many days when he quarrelled with a chief whom he accused of cheating at gambling, and challenged him to fi^ht a duel. The chief accepted, and told him to go with him to the woods and take his station behind a tree. When McDonald refused, but wished to fi^ht in the
' O
open field, the savage asked, "Do you take me for a fool that I should stand up before my enemy's gun and let him shoot me like a dog?" McDonald was a man of reckless bravery, frequently joining one tribe in their wars against another for the mere love of fighting. Another character sui generis, and the western woods were full of them, was Jacques IToole, shot about this time at the age of ninety-two by the Blackfoot. He was on the Plains of Abraham when Wolfe fell, and had been in other battles. He would not join a trading company, but trapped on his own account.
The summer's trade of Spokane was carried over land to Okanagan this year in October, and thence to Fort George. The return party consisted of Keith, Stuart, Laroche, McTavish, McDonald, McMillan, Cox, Montour, McKay, and McKcnzie, with forty- two voyageurs and six Kanakas. Leathern armor was now put on in passing the Cascades, but no attack was made there at this time. Just above the Walla Walla River, however, an affair occurred which for a time threatened the most serious consequences.
As the party were slowly poling against the cur rent, several canoes filled with natives approached them, and in a friendly way they asked for some tobacco, which was given them. One boat after an-
260 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
other of the brigade passed by, each making its little donation, until from one the natives attempted to take some articles by force, and from another a bale of tobacco was seized, and general plunder seemed deter mined upon. The fur-traders, unwilling to resort to severe measures, repulsed the savages gently at first, striking their hands with the paddles to make them release their hold; but these failing to effect the pur pose, harder blows were given, and aimed at heads as well as hands, until shooting set in, when two natives were killed and another wounded. Thereupon the assailants retired.3
All this was most unpleasant for the traders. Be fore them was a long journey, and the country aroused to hostility, they would be picked off by the arrows of the enemy before three days had passed. Night was approaching. The Columbia here was a mile wide, and near by was an island upon which they intrenched themselves behind sand-banks, not, how ever, until some of them had been struck by arrows. A cold, dismal storm came on, which lasted two days. Vigilant watch was kept, and the camp-fire at night extinguished. But upon the adjacent hills blazed brightly the fires of the enemy, that their prey might not escape them. The fur-traders prepared for the worst ; their arms were put in the best possible order, and messages were written friends to be delivered in case of death.
One of two courses was open, to sell their lives as dearly as possible, or to buy a peace, if the friends of the dead would accept pay. The latter alternative they determined to try first. Embarking from the island, the party landed on the northern bank. Two men were left in each canoe, while the other forty- eight stepped ashore. It was half an hour before any
3 Ross, as usual, tells quite a different story. ' The savages,' he says, 'rode into the river on horses, from which they threw themselves, seized the canoes, and proceeded to rifle them.' Fur Hunters, i. 58. This author, however, was not there, and having an eye-witness for an authority, I shall pay but little attention to Mr Ross.
THE PAYMENT OF DAMAGES. 261
savages made their appearance. When at a distance were discovered a few horsemen, a Canadian was sent forward with a long pole, to the end of which was attached a white handkerchief, which the natives wrell understood to be a request to parley.
Presently two of them approached the envoy, and demanded what he had to say. The answer was that the white chiefs wished to see the savage elders, and talk over their little unpleasantness. The horsemen promised to inform their chiefs; they then wheeled and disappeared.
Soon they returned, and said that the relatives of the deceased and a number of chiefs would be there imme diately. Twenty minutes after, slowly approached on foct one hundred and fifty warriors, with guns, toma hawks, spears, bows, and well filled quivers. Among them were Sokulks, Chmmapums, Umatillas, and Walla Wallas, confederates now against the Shoshones. After the warriors, came forty of the relatives of the deceased, also well armed, with nearly naked bodies painted red, and hair cut short in sign of mourning. As they marched they chanted a death-song of ven geance.4 Behind all was a constantly increasing mul titude of mounted men. The assemblage then fell into the form of an extended crescent with the mourn ing party in the centre.
Keith and Stuart, unarmed, with an interpreter, then advanced half-way and stopped; two chiefs and six of the mourners joined them. Keith offered the calumet, which was coldly refused. The interpreter was then directed to say that the late unfortunate dis turbance of their hitherto friendly relations was deeply regretted by the white men, who were ready to offer compensation for the slain. "What kind of compen sation?" demanded the mourners. "Two chiefs' suits, blankets, tobacco, and ornaments for the women," was
4 ' Rest, brothers, rest ! You shall be avenged. The tears of your widows shall cease to flow when their eyes behold the blood of your murderers; and your young children shall leap with joy, shall sing and shout on seeing their scalps. Kest, brothers, in peace; you shall have blood!'
202 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
the reply. The offer was indignantly refused. If the white men would have peace, two of their number must be given up to sacrifice. Calmly and firmly Keith assured them that that should never be. They were the aggressors, though he was willing1 to believe
oo o o
the attack unpremeditated; but if they would have white men among them they must respect their prop erty rights. Then followed among the natives a long and violent discussion, part wishing to accept payment in goods,, and part demanding blood. It was a painful contest to those whose fate hung upon the result. Gradually the rank's of the moderate party thinned, and those of the bloody-minded increased. Then they fell slowly back. The peace-offering was rejected. White man and red, with a firmer grasp upon their weapons, prepared for the ultimate appeal. A pause ensued, like the calm which precedes a fresh bursting of the storm.
Suddenly the awful stillness was broken by the tramp of horses, as twelve mounted warriors dashed into the space between the belligerents. Throwing
J. O O
themselves from their steeds, the leader, a young chief of noble feature and majestic bearing, warmly greeted Keith, then turning to the assemblage said: "My countrymen, what is this that you would do? But three winters ago we were a miserable people at the mercy of our enemies. Our warriors were killed, our lodges burned, our wives enslaved. Now arc we fed and clothed; now have we horses by thousands, and sweet sleep at night; now are our hearts strong within us. What brought this change?
O O O
The white man. For our horses and furs he gave us hatchets and guns, and taught us how to use them. These make our enemies to fear us; these make us a nation. Why kill the white man? You would rob him; but did he ever rob you? Know you not that he is strong; that if you harm him his friends will come in numbers and cut you off; or else will say that you are bad men and will not come at all. Then shall
THE MORNING STAR. 263
you be left to the mercy of your foes. Take what they offer for your dead; and be it known to you if fighting there be, that I fight on their side."
Had Apollo from Mount Olympus descended to their deliverance, the fur-traders could not have been more surprised or thankful. The Morning Star, the young chieftain was called by the Walla Wallas, who worshipped him, and his oratory would have graced the Areopagus.5 Soaring sometimes into the higher flights of metaphor, the interpreter was unable to follow him. Nor was his bravery overshadowed by his other rare accomplishments. Though but five and twenty, he boasted nineteen scalps, the trophies of his own prowess, and of all that assemblage there was none more feared. For when he now cried, "Let the Walla Wallas and all who love me come and smoke the pipe of peace with the white man," over one hun dred of those whose weapons were already raised against the strangers hastened forward to do as they were bid.
Thus, as by a miracle, a total revolution in feeling and opinion was made. The mourners gladly accepted for themselves the material reward offered them in lieu of their loss of the immaterial part of their friends. Presents were distributed to the principal chiefs, Morning Star receiving as a token of the dis tinguished services rendered by him, a handsome fowling-piece, with which he was greatly pleased.
Proceeding, the party reached Okanagan the 12th of December, and the following day the Spokane brigade of twenty-six loaded horses departed. Snow lay on the ground, and the cold at night was intense, one of the horses freezing to death before reaching its destination.
After the usual spring visit to Fort George, the summer of 1815 passed pleasantly at Spokane. There
5 'His delivery was impassioned; and his action, although sometimes violent, was generally bold, graceful, and energetic. Our admiration at the time knew no bounds.' Cox's Columbia River, ii. 24.
2G4 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
was horse-racing on the plains between Spokane and Pointed Heart, where sometimes thirty steeds strove for high wagers in five-mile heats. At Shushwap a Canadian called Chasette was shot by an Indian boy. The following autumn on returning from Fort
O O
George, Keith, Cox, Montour, and McKenzie with fifty voya^eurs were caught above the falls in the ice.
*j t/ O O
The Canadians, becoming utterly exhausted, refused to proceed further than the Dalles, an almost unheard of attitude for any of that patient fraternity to as sume. By sending to Okanagan for horses Keith succeeded in getting away, but most of the party wintered there, reaching1 Okanagan the 28th of Feb ruary, and Spokane the 9th of March 1816. Thus the years went by, each having its spring and autumn brigade, its several minor expeditions to various posts, and but little else to break the monotony. McTavish, Henry, and Larochc this season went to Fort Will iam, Ross to Fort George, Cox taking his place at Okanagan; McMillan and Montour remained at Spokane, and McDonald at Kamloops, his old quar ters. During the summer, new buildings were erected at Okanagan, the timber for which was floated down the river from a considerable distance above. A dwelling was erected for the person in charge, con taining four rooms and a large dining -hall. Also two houses were built for the men, beside a store house and a trading-shop. The palisades were strong, and fifteen feet in height. They were flanked by two bastions, with loop-holes for musketry above, and in the lower story a light brass four-pounder.
James Keith, Angus Bcthune, and Donald Mc- Kcnzic were the chief partners of the Northwest Company in the Columbia district in 1816. Alexan der Stuart went cast the year previous, and John Stuart was still in New Caledonia. McTavish this year visited San Francisco and Monterey in the com pany's schooner Colonel Allan, lately arrived from
AFFAIRS IN GENERAL. 265
London. On the coast of California he drove a lucra tive business, selling English goods for needed sup plies. The council at Fort George sat for four days; the conclusions arrived at were, that trade was scarcely up to original anticipations. There being no new fields to open, every one was appointed to his old post.
Notwithstanding the generally unfavorable view of trade taken by the western council, since the occupa tion of the Oregon country by the Northwest Com pany, their annual ship with its bulky cargo doubled Cape Horn with the utmost regularity. The agents at Montreal, dissatisfied, sent over the mountains every year partners, clerks, and Canadians new to this district, in the hope that something better might be made of it. But all these could do was to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, without im proving matters materially. The fact is, the richer regions of the farther Northwest were as yet scarcely touched.
Ross openly avows that the Northwest Company, while severely criticising the management of the Pacific Company, took no steps to change or improve the original policy. The fact is, the managers of the two companies were in some instances identical, and all of them were educated in the same school. This writer accuses his associates of lack of energy and enterprise, but I cannot agree with him. Nor were the aggregate results in this quarter on the whole un favorable, though they may have fallen short of the expectations of the more sanguine. Further than this, year by year the yield of peltries increased rather than diminished. There were croakers in the company, some of the partners going so far as to pro pose the total abandonment of the Pacific, but the others would not listen to it. The company was about this time beginning to learn that the same maxims and management would not apply on the western as on the eastern slope. Let the natives of the two regions suddenly change places and both would perish. The
266 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
inhabitants of the thick woods and swamps of the east could no more endure the treeless plains of the Columbia, than those of the warm, dry western slope, with its short winters, its rivers abounding in fish, its forests in game, and its plains in nutritious roots, could thrive in the cold, damp regions of the east. And the wise fur-trader will regulate his affairs, not by precept or tradition, but by the exigencies of the case.
Up to this time New Caledonia had obtained goods from across the mountains to the cast; now it was determined that all supplies for the Northwest should be drawn from the Columbia. And not only should the district of the Columbia supply the Northwest with goods, but California also. To this end the company's schooner traded to the south as well as to the north. It was determined also to build fewer forts, and trust more to trading expeditions. In car rying into effect these new ideas, the department of the Pacific was divided into two parts, an inland and a coast department, with a chief over each. A change was likewise made in the conveyance of goods and the periodical expresses; natives, except in the annual brigade, to take the place of Canadians.
Under the new arrangements, Mr Keith presided at Fort George, with full control of the shipping, general outfitting, and coast trade. To McKenzie, formerly of the Pacific Company, was assigned the direction of inland affairs, though his appointment gave offence to some. Three weeks of the summer of 1816 were occupied by Captain McClellan of the Colonel Allan, assisted by Hoss, in making a survey of the bar at the entrance to the Columbia.' The Colonel Allan sailed from the Columbia for China with furs and specie in August. Before sailing, the ship's surgeon, Mr Downie, committed suicide.6
6 Physicians entering the Columbia, like the early clergy of Victoria, seem to have been peculiarly unfortunate. Before this, Doctor White had jumped overboard in a fit of insanity, and Doctor Crowley of Edinburgh had been sent home to stand his trial for murder.
ON THE COLUMBIA AND THE WILLAMETTE. 267
It was sometimes puzzling to know what to do with criminal offenders in these parts. While the Colonel Allan was lying off Fort George, a Boston ship, Rey nolds, master, entered the river, and sent on shore in irons a Russian renegade, by name Jacob, a black smith, who had been stirring the crew to mutiny. After the ship had sailed, the man, under the most earnest promises of reform, was released and set to work. It was not long, however, before he fell into his old ways, and enticed eighteen Kanakas to desert for California, which place once reached, all were to be as angels in heaven. Keith immediately despatched five natives to join the deserters in disguise, and if possible persuade them to return. They were suc cessful. The Islanders all returned the third day. Jacob then took to thieving as a profession, robbing the fort one night by scaling the palisades, and enter ing it in open day disguised as a native woman. Then joining a disaffected band of natives he stirred them up still more against the white men.
Said Ross to Keith one da}r, "Give me thirty men, and I will bring this villain to }7ou bound." " You shall have fifty," Keith replied. Surprising the camp in the dead of night, Jacob was captured and brought to the fort. There he was kept in chains until op portunity offered to send him to the Hawaiian Islands.
Jealousy or opposition was not often openly mani fested between partners of the Honorable Northwest Company; but Keith did not like Donald McKen- zie's appointment. The latter arrived at Fort George with instructions from Montreal to establish imme diately a post among the Walla Wallas or Nez Perces. "It is too late," said Keith. " Your plans are wild. I have no men." McKenzie replied, " Here are the instructions of the council, obey them, and leave the rest to me."
After much wrangling, McKenzie was given a meagre outfit. So hazardous was this undertaking
268 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
regarded, that not a man about the fort would accom pany McKenzie as his second. It was this very quality of dogged determination and fearless energy, tha,t actuated the council in choosing this man for that mission, hoping thereby to infuse new life into the western business.
With forty men McKenzie embarked from Fort George, and reached the Cascades without accident. There, instead of quarrelling with the natives, as had been the custom of late, he made friends with them; gave presents, took the children by the hand, and ap pointed agents of observation for the purpose of bring ing to punishment those who injured travellers, in which capacity the chiefs were proud to act. So com plete a revolution did this man bring about in one short day, that the valuable cargo of a boat which was wrecked in the rapids, being intrusted to one of the chiefs, was kept untouched, and finally restored at the expiration of six months. After a thorough ex amination of the condition of trade in the interior, McKenzie returned, reaching Fort George the 16th of June 1817.
Meanwhile ten men had been sent to the Wil lamette to trap beaver. The natives demanded tribute for the privilege of hunting on their lands. The trap pers paid no attention to them, but kept their way up the river, and soon the banks were lined with savages. A shower of arrows was answered by a round of shot, which killed a chief, and obliged the trappers to re turn. A party of twenty-five was then sent to pacify the natives, which was clone by paying for the dead man. But scarcely was this compromise effected be fore another quarrel ensued, in which three natives were killed, obliging this party to return with all haste to the fort.
Forty-five men in three boats, with two field-pieces, were then sent, under Ross, as a diplomatic and mili tary embassy. Arrived at the falls, they found the natives there congregated on the west bank to oppose
DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS. 269
their passage. Landing on the opposite side, they planted their guns, and endeavored to open negotia tions. The savages would none of them. White fla^s
O O
and calumets were thrust aside for the death-sons1 and
O
war-dance. Patience was now the white man's, best weapon. Three days were permitted to pass, when the chiefs began to think tobacco-smoking preferable to so long a siege of windy grief. So three warriors crossed the river, and stood at some distance from the white man's camp. Taking his flag, Ross went alone to meet them. The pipe was offered and refused. "What want you here?" asked the savages. " Peace," was the reply. At length the red men deigned to smoke; a quantity of merchandise completed the treaty, and the embassy returned to the Columbia. These were the terms of the treaty, and they were observed for several years thereafter. The white men should be permitted to trap in the Willamette Valley; and if at any time the red men felt themselves ag grieved, they must not resort to violence, but must apply for redress to the white chief at the fort.
As the East India Company debarred for the most part British bottoms, except their own, from the waters of the Indian Ocean, the Northwrest Company found themselves unable to accomplish much in that quarter, and were driven to employ United States shipping in their commercial intercourse with China. Nor w^ere the Red River difficulties without their effect on the affairs of the Columbia by restricting supplies, and distracting the attention of the part ners.
The brigade leaving Fort George the 16th of April 1817, numbering eighty-six men, part destined for the upper Columbia and part for the east, embarked in two barges and nine canoes, under a salute of seven guns. They found the natives all along their route more disaffected than ever before. Almost universally they had of late become possessed with the idea that
270 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
they should have tribute, as lords aboriginal of the soil, from all intruders.
Those of this brigade bound overland were Beth-
O
une, McDougall, McGillivray, Alexander McTavish, and Cox. They intended to cross the mountains to Fort William and Montreal with eighteen men; but on arriving at Canoe River, where the long portage began, so great had been the hardships endured thus far that seven of the men were completely exhausted and too ill to proceed. Hence they were sent back in one of the canoes. But as they were letting their boat down the Dalles des Morts, the line broke and the boat with all their provisions and effects was lost. Starvation stared them in the face. Their only hope was to reach Okanagan three hundred miles distant, which in their emaciated condition was impossible. One after another they fell by the way, the survivors feeding on their flesh, until but one remained, a ghastly object, to reach the fort and tell the talc.
Although many expeditions had been made be tween posts, and from the upper country to the sea, the same paths for the most part were trod, and but a small portion of the great western region had yet been seen by European eyes. I have noticed the abortive attempt of Ross to reach the sea from Okanagan. Subsequently he was delighted in re ceiving orders from head-quarters to examine the country between his post at Shushwap and the Rocky Mountains. Two Canadians and two natives were his companions, and on the 14th of August 1817, the party set out from Shushwap on foot, each man carrying besides his arms, upon which alone dependence was placed for provision, a blanket, awl, lire-steel, needles and thread, tobacco, and six pairs of Indian shoes.
Their course was north for three days, then due east, with Thompson River on the right and Frazer River on the left. Reaching the Rocky Mountains at Canoe River, they spent two days on that stream,
DONALD McKENZIE. 271
following it to its junction with the Columbia, and thence returned to Shushwap the 29th of Sep tember, having met much game, but without notable encounter.
Meanwhile Donald McKenzie was ubiquitous. Now we find him at Fort George, now at Okariagan, Spo kane, Kamloops, or Shushwap, and then at Fort George again. In April 1817, with twenty-two men, he made a tour to the Shoshones, which was prelim inary to the most important movements in that direc tion. In earlier clays his reputation turned more on his abilities as a shot, and an eater of horse and dog flesh, than a business man; but it now appeared that for managing savages and manipulating fur-trading matters, he far surpassed any one in all the North west. During the season of 1817, by his wisdom and prudence, insurrection was prevented, and the country saved to the company. He inspired his sub ordinates with enthusiasm, and displayed a wonderful faculty for accomplishing important results through unconscious agents. And this was the man against whose wild imaginings and impracticable schemes, as they considered them, his methodical and inactive associates so lately railed.
Up to the present time, and contrary to the wishes of the magnates of Fort William, McKenzie's plans for establishing a post among the Walla Wallas had been frustrated by the partners at Fort George. It was plain enough to the mind of any man who would allow his brain to act, that a post near the junction of the two great branches of the Columbia would be de sirable. It was the natural centre of that immense fur-bearing region drained by the Snake River coming in from the south-east, and the Columbia from the north. The Snake, or Shoshone country, hitherto regarded as somewhat dangerous, was attracting more attention of late. Northern brigades from Fort George now made their first stop at Okanagan, and goods for
272 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
Spokane were conveyed in that unnecessarily long and roundabout way, for no other reason than that such a route had been established in earlier times when the country was but little known, and it would now be some trouble to change it.7
Inaccessible as was Spokane, it had become the rendezvous of the country lying between the two '•vent branches of the Columbia. There had been fjoiiio thought of removing this establishment to the
O O
grand fork of the Columbia, but it was needed where ih was; and yet an inland metropolitan post was re quired at the junction of the two rivers. To this pout goods could be brought up from the sea in barges at much less expense than in bark canoes, and thence distributed to the north and south and cast.
I say all this was plain enough to any eyes that would see. The eyes at Fort George, however, were impervious to this light; but not so the council at Fort William. In the summer of 1818, peremptory orders were received at Fort George from head quarters to place at the disposal of McKenzie one hundred men, for the purpose of erecting a fort among the Nez Perces or AValla Wallas,8 and these orders were supplemented by a sharp reproof for the ob-
7 See T?OX.S'' Fur Trader*, i. 137.
8 Ross speaks of this establishment always as located among the Nez Perces, and ii n called on his map Fort Ncz Perc6, and yet it is placed among the Walla Wallas, and was later called Fort Walla Walla. It is located on his mtvp ou tlic cast bank of the Columbia, distant above the Walla Walla River about one third of the way to the mouth of Snake River. Dunn on his map applic-s the name Nez Perce to Snake River, and locates Fort Nez Perce" at tlio junction of Snake River and the Columbia. The exact boundaries of the Ncz Perec territory were at this time unknown. The fact that Snake Ri\ or was sometimes called Nez Perce" River, signifies that the nation was supposed to occupy that river nearer its mouth than ever was the case. Since the earliest times on record the Walla Wallas have inhabited this terri tory, while the Nez Perec's have always lived some distance to the east of them, on both sides of the Clearwater. The term Nez Perc6 River gave the fort its first name, but it soon became known only as Fort Walla Walla, and such I shall hereafter designate it. The site was the north side of Walla Walla River and the cast side of the Columbia, where Wallula now stands. Leans' Hist. Or. , MS., 187-8 ; Gray's Hist. Or., 42. Wilkes' Nar. U. S. Explr. L.f., iv. 418, which gives a cut of it, erroneously states that the post was built owing to an Indian attack on a party under Ogden. Mr Pambrun, when hi charge, planted a garden. Towtixend's Nar. 155; Lee and Frost's Or., 123.
FOUNDING OF FORT WALLA WALLA. 273
stacles which had been thrown in his way these past two years.
The men and means were furnished according to in structions, and on the llth of July 1818, Mr McKen- zie, seconded by Ross, encamped with ninety-five men on the east bank of the Columbia, about half a mile above the Walla Walla River, which was the site selected for the new establishment, called at first Fort Ncz Perec, but shortly afterward Fort Walla Walla. When the country was flooded, the spot was an island; at low water it was a peninsula. It was still famous as the place where Lewis and Clarke ratified a peace by general feasting.
The position was commanding. Before them, as placid as powerful, lay the noble Columbia, here more like a lake than a river. Beyond were verdant hills ; on the south were rugged bluffs between two towering rocks called the Twins, while to the north and east was a wild expanse of plain.
No demonstrations of joy on the part of the lords aboriginal welcomed the new-comers. " What do the white people here?" asked the red bantlings of their red papas. "Are they going to kill us as they did our relatives?" The savages held themselves aloof.
O
It was soon seen that their friendship, if desired, must be paid for.
McKenzie had not many goods, nor provisions. Drift-wood was the only building material accessible^ and this was not fit for all purposes. The greater - part of the timber had to be cut a hundred miles dis tant, and floated down the stream. Meanwhile, the savages congregated about the place in sullen and. speechless multitudes. They wanted pay for the building -material used, and finally refused to sell' the fort-builders food, which caused them no small anxiety.
The work, however, went on to completion. One hundred feet square were enclosed in palisades of sawn timber thirty inches wide by six inches thick and
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 18
274 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS:
twenty feet long. These were topped with a range of balustrades four feet high, with loop-holes and slip- doors. There were two bastions and an inner gallery ; a water-tank, with a capacity of two hundred gallons, was placed at each angle as security against fire. Be side the outer wall was an inner one likewise of sawn timber twelve feet high. Within the inner palisades were houses of drift-logs and one of stone. It differed in this respect from most other establishments, that the natives were not admitted within the fort, but were obliged to trade through an aperture eighteen inches square, communicating with the trading-room, and guarded by an iron door. Trade and exploring expe ditions were next in order. But before much could be accomplished in this direction it was necessary to have an amicable understanding with the natives.
O
With great difficulty and after much smoking and many presents this was finally accomplished. And not only did they promise friendship with the white people, but engaged in a peace treaty with the Sho- shones, whom they delighted above all things to kill. Trade was then opened, and briskly prosecuted. Two hundred horses were bought, and toward the end of September fifty-five men went into the Sho- shone country with three hundred beaver-traps and a supply of trading goods. The expedition wras under the command of McKenzie, while Ross remained in charge of the fort. The oldest and most renowned of the Walla Walla chiefs about this time became greatly disheartened over his affairs. War and •disease had lately taken from him five noble sons, and now another, the last and youngest, his Ben jamin, was taken, and the old man said he should not remain behind. Begging a burial-box from the white man, that his best beloved might be buried in the latest fashion, he directed the grave to be dug and the coffin lowered. Then the heart-broken father threw himself into the grave, and ordered it to be filled, which was done amidst loud laments.
THE GUNPOWDER TRICK. 275
As an apostle of peace, McKenzie crossed the Blue Mountains, and introduced himself to the Snake nation; whereat they were greatly pleased, as indeed savages always are at anything new. Some twenty-five Iroquois of McKenzie's company revolted, and went trapping on their own account. No sooner were they their own masters than they traded all their effects for Shoshone women, and dropped to the lowest depths of demoralization. Tired at length of this, they returned to their alle giance.
After an absence of six months McKenzie re turned to Fort Walla Walla, and in April 1819 with six Canadians he ascended Snake River to the Nez Perce country on another trading tour. To strengthen him in his new position, fifteen additional men were sent him under Kittson, a man with more confidence than discretion. For neglecting to set a watch at night his horses were all stolen. They were caught, however, and returned to him, after two days of anxiety, by McKenzie's men sent to the assistance of the advancing party. Returning in July well laden with furs, Kittson was attacked by a war party, and lost two men. After delivering his furs at the fort, Kittson returned with his men to McKenzie, whose success in these parts was now determined.
But notwithstanding his utmost exertions, Mc Kenzie found it impossible to maintain peace between these fierce mountain tribes, or even to escape their evil designs upon the whites. On one occasion during Kittsori's absence McKenzie was left at his encamp ment with only three men to guard a valuable supply of goods. The opportunity was too tempting to be resisted by those with whom thieving was a national virtue. Collecting about the camp in large numbers, they shoved the white men back and began to take the goods. Seeing that some desperate remedy alone could save them, McKenzie seized a keg of gunpowder,
276 FURTHER OPERATIONS OF THE NORTHWESTERS.
and lighting a match threatened them all with in evitable destruction. Instantly the camp was cleared,9 and with lowering front the savages sneaked away. Kittson, then en route between the camp and the fort, was attacked, and two of his men were killed.
Collecting his scattered forces to the number of seventy-five men, McKenzie, nothing daunted, made from this encampment a second excursion into the Shoshone country. War with the Blackfoot was then fiercely raging, and frequent hostile encounters rendered trapping and traffic anything but safe or agreeable occupations. Three of his Kanakas were murdered by the native banditti. After a season of anxiety McKenzie returned to Walla Walla in June 1820.
In 1820, the belligerent Wascos at the Dalles were so far tamed as to permit the establishing at that point of a trading-post, which was done, and placed in charge of James Birnie. The post was not of long continuance.10
9 It was at this same post that Archibald McKinlay performed a similar feat, making himself out no less a hero of a gunpowder plot story than Mc Kenzie, from whom he may originally have obtained the idea.
™Mididl, in the Dalles Mountaineer, 23d April 1809; McKay, in the Dalles Mountaineer, 28th May 1809. James Birnie was a native of Aberdeen, Scot land. He entered the service of the Northwest Company in 1817. After a year in Montreal he was sent to the Columbia. Engaged in minor duties the first two years, we see him in 1820 establishing a post at the Dalles. Later he was several years in charge of Fort George, Astoria, where he suc ceeded John Dunn, and in 1833 he was appointed to the charge of Fort Simp son. He was again at Fort George from 1840 to 1840. After retiring from the service, he made his home at Cathlamet, where, after his death, Decem ber 21, 1804, at the age of 09 years, his family continued to reside. His many sterling qualities made him highly respected, while his kindly dispo sition and genial manner won the hearts of all who knew him. Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 70-1; Strickland's Missions, 139; Portland Oreyonian, Dec. 29, 1804; Robert's Etc., MS., 100.
CHAPTER XIII.
HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA— RESTORATION OF ASTORIA. 1810-1818.
LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HARMON — His STAY AT MONTAGNE A LA BASSE, STURGEON LAKE, CHIPEWYAN, AND DUNVEGAN — IN COMPANY WITH STUART HE ENTERS NEW CALEDONIA — QUESNEL REESTABLISHES FORT ERASER — A CHIEF CHASTISED — HARMON'S TRAVELS— STUART'S MANAGE MENT — FIRST ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES IN NEW CALEDONIA BY WAY OF THE PACIFIC— HARMON RETURNS HOME— AFFAIRS AT FORT GEORGE — DAS TARDLY ATTACK OF KEITH'S MEN UPON THE COWLITZ AND THE UMP- QUAS — DONALD MCKENZIE — RESTORATION OF ASTORIA, OR FORT GEORGE, TO THE UNITED STATES.
TURN again to the New Caledonian district. On the 28th of April 1800, Daniel Williams Harmon, then clerk, subsequently partner, in the Northwest Com pany, set out from Montreal for the far Northwest. Mr Harmon has left us a printed record.1
His first engagement was seven years' service as clerk. The absence of Christian rites troubled him not a little, for he was one of the few among the fur- traders who carried his religion into the wilderness.2
1A Journal of Voyages and Travels in the Interiour ofNortli America. An- dover, 1820, with portrait and map. In the original deed-poll of coalition between the Northwest and the Hudson's Bay Companies, his name stands beside those of the father and grandfather of Malcolm McLeod. 'A pious Green Mountain Boy, schooled in Vermont, took service in the north, and doing well and bravely his work, was, it would seem, promoted to the charge of the higher plateau now under consideration, and which he retained for several years. He, on retirement, published his journals, and the frequency of reference to his work is evidence of his merit.' McLeod's Peace River, 104. So scarce is Harmon's book that even McLeod had never seen a copy. It is re viewed in the London Quarterly, January 1822, which served Greenhow. Or. and Cal., 291. It is also reviewed in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., xiv. 55-GS. See also Victor's Or., 20- 7.
2 ' Our men play at cards on the Sabbath the same as on any other day. For such improper conduct I once reproved them ; but their reply was, there
(277)
278 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
He did not cross the mountains at once into New Caledonia, but remained on the eastern side, stationed first at one fort and then at another for some ten years. In May 1805, while at Montagne a la Basse, he en tered into an arrangement with Mr Chaboillez to make a tour of discovery to the head-waters of the Missouri. The party, to consist of six or seven Canadians and two or three Indians, was to set out early in June, making the Mandan village on the Mis souri their first stopping- place. Thence they would proceed to the base of the Rocky Mountains in com pany with the Mandans, who went thither every year to meet and trade with the natives from the western slope, and return in November. Owing to ill-health Harmon never undertook the /journey. Laroche, however, attempted the tour, but went no farther west than the village of the Mandans.
The winter of 1807-8, Harmon spent at Stur geon Lake in company with Doctor McLoughlin, whom he found a most agreeable companion. Slowly working his way westward, September 1808 saw him at Fort Chipewyan, the general rendezvous for the Athabasca district, where goods were set apart for the many different posts of that department, and where flocked the fur-traders from a thousand miles northward and westward, from the Mackenzie River and the Pacific seaboard. From the latter region Simon Eraser arrived while Harmon was there.
From Fort Chipewyan Mr Harmon ascended Peace River, reaching Fort Vermillion the 2d of October, Encampment Island Fort the 7th, and Dunvegan the 1 Oth. Here in company with John McGilli vray and the McTavishes he passed the winfer. The well-built fort was pleasantly situated in the midst of open plains, and with buffalo, moose, red deer, and bear meat, a fair supply of vegetables from the kitchen-garden, a good collection of books, and agreeable companions, fur- is no Sabbath in this country, and, they added, no God nor devil; and their behavior but too plainly shows that they spoke as they think.' Journal, Gl.
DIVERS MOVEMENTS. 279
trading became quite bearable. At Fort St John, one hundred and twenty miles up the river, was stationed this winter Mr F. Geodike.
In May 1809, the McTavishes, McGillivray, and Geodike proceeded eastward, while Harmon remained at Dunvegan. Shortly after their departure, Simon Fraser and James McDougall arrived at Dunvegan, the former from the Rocky Mountain Portage, one hundred and eighty miles above, and the latter from New Caledonia, which Harmon pronounced four hun dred and fifty miles from his station. After spend ing most of the day with Harmon they continued their journey in four canoes toward Rainy Lake.
The monotony of the winter in this region had been broken only by the death of Andrew Mackenzie, natural son of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, at Fort Ver- million, and the starvation of several Canadian fami lies who came into these parts free, that is, not belong ing to either of the great companies, to hunt beaver. One man, it was said, killed and ate his wife and child, and then he died. In the spring of 1809, eleven canoes, loaded with furs, were sent east from Fort Dunvegan and the neighboring stations. In June, the garden-seeds were well up, with good prospects for abundant supplies for the ensuing winter. Fine barley was harvested the month following. About this time, John Stuart came over from New Caledonia for a supply of goods, returning in July.
In October, Harmon's heart was made glad by the arrival of letters from his friends, brought by A. R. McLeocl, he and a company in three canoes being on their way to New Caledonia. In those days letters from home were a treat scarcely expected more than once or twice a year; but the Peace River Pass was now becoming quite a thoroughfare between the east and the west, so that facilities for sending letters were more frequent here than in many other so far distant localities.
The following spring, D. McTavish again went east,
280 HARMON IX NEW CALEDONIA.
and also J. Clarke, John Stuart, and H. Faries, with their respective companies.
On the Gth of October 1810, John Stuart arrived at Dun vegan from Fort Chipewyan, with four canoes laden with supplies for the Rocky Mountain Portage and New Caledonia. By this arrival, Harmon received among other letters one signed jointly by three of the Northwest Company partners, requesting him to pro ceed to New Caledonia and take charge of affairs there ; or if he preferred to do so, he might place him self under the command of Stuart until spring, during
L O ' cO
which time he would have acquired sufficient knowl edge of the country to manage matters alone.
Harmon preferred to avail himself of Stuart's ex perience for a time before assuming chief command west of the mountains. Hence on the 7th of October the two traders left Fort Dun vegan, stopping at Fort St John to prepare provisions for New Caledonia. Thence Stuart embarked in three canoes on the llth for Rocky Mountain Portage, Harmon following him next day. There, at the station which is now called Hudson's Hope, they left a portion of their goods, and crossed to the western end of the portage, where they found some of their people of the Northwest Company repairing four old canoes which offered at tractions only to men weary of life. Nevertheless, into them they piled their baggage, and were soon en route again up the river. Arriving at the junc tion of F inlay River, they took the south branch and proceeded to McLeod Fort. There Stuart remained for a time, while Harmon with thirteen laborers crossed over to Stuart Fort, where, after a fortnight's travel, he arrived on the 17th of November.
On the 12th of December, Harmon sent J. M. Quesnel with a small supply of goods to Fraser Lake, to reestablish the post there, as it had been for a time abandoned. On the 18th, Stuart with a small party passed Stuart Fort for Fort Fraser, and shortly afterward Harmon followed him.
NEW FEAR'S DEBAUCHERIES.
281
As these were days of intoxication, before absolute monopoly regulated the morals of the region, new year's day was the signal among the Canadians for a grand debauch, which the sober savage begged leave to witness. Drinking set in, and quarrelling soon followed, whereat the natives hid themselves, saying the white men had run mad. When they saw those who had raved the loudest in the morning becoming quiet in the afternoon, they said the white man's
HARMON'S MAP.
senses had returned to him. Then they went their way, wondering how such superior beings should vol untarily lay aside their reason for a time and become beasts.
In April 1811, Harmon abandoned the Fraser Fort and returned to Fort Stuart. Shortly afterward he sent most of his men to McLeod Fort to prepare for a journey east, and in a few days followed them with Quesnel. A little native boy not yet four years old,
282 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
called George Harmon, of whom he was father, accom panied him on his way to the United States, whither Harmon was sending him, under the charge of Quesnel, to be educated. A daughter was soon after born to him, whom he called Polly Harmon; for this good man's piety did not prevent his propagating the natives of that wilderness wherever he went. Yet to these dusky offspring Harmon was most affectionately at tached, and he always endeavored to do his duty by them. His feelings toward them and his treatment of them in every respect, were the same as if they had been born of a white mother in lawful wedlock. After sending away this boy, as he believed for his good, he returned to Stuart Fort; and so dejected were his spir its in consequence, he says, that he passed four of the most miserable days of his life. And when some two years later, Harmon heard that his boy was dead, he was overwhelmed with grief, while the mother was thrown, if possible, into still greater distress, being delirious the whole night after receiving the intelli gence.
Big Knife was the name the natives gave Harmon, for he sometimes carried a sword; and though during the eleven years he had spent in the Indian country he had never struck an Indian, it now devolved on him to chastise a chief named Quas, or else be called a coward, and lose his influence in those parts. Har mon tells the story at some length. Briefly, it is as follows: Quas, to display his importance before his followers, insisted that Harmon should give credit to an Indian not worthy of it. Harmon refused, where upon Quas bantered Harmon as to his business qual ifications, saying that he managed his affairs as well as any white man. Then he asked credit for a small piece of cloth, which was readily granted; but on showing him one piece of cloth after another, he affected disgust with them all. Then Harmon felt it his duty to punish him, which he did by beating him over the head with a stick. The chief cried to
LEARNS OF FORT ASTORIA. 283
his warriors, several of whom ' were present, to seize his assailant; but they dare not touch him; and there after none among them ranked higher than Big Knife.
In the autumn of 1811 Peace River was frozen be fore the usual supplies were brought up, so that in December Harmon was obliged to bring the goods over with dogs and sledges. He set out on the 20th with twenty men, and returned in time for the first of January festivity, accompanied by McDougall.
During this month of January 1812, Harmon visited the native village of Tachy, situated at the other end of Stuart Lake. He found the people indolent, and consequently poorly fed and clad. Then with McDousfall and twelve of his own men and
O
two Carriers, he made a journey to the territory of the Nateotetains living to the westward. Few of these people had ever before seen white men, and on their approach they showed by warlike gestures how they would defend themselves in case they were attacked. They were armed with bows and arrows, clubs and axes. When informed by the strangers that they had come to supply their necessities and purchase their furs, respect and hospitality were pro fusely proffered.
Continuing their journey, they the next day came upon four other villages, whose people told them how white men ascended their river from the Pacific Ocean and sold goods to their neighbors on the west, from whom they purchased. In February Harmon made an eight days' jaunt to Fraser Lake, and was everywhere well received by the natives.
By a letter from David Thompson, dated at Ilko- yope Falls on the Columbia River the 28th of August 1811, Harmon now first receives intelligence of the fort-builders at the mouth of the Columbia, who call themselves the Pacific Fur Company. This letter had been on the way eight months, when the distance might easily be travelled in thirty days. The reason
284 HABMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
of this was that instead of sending it through direct by a single messenger, it was delivered by Thompson at one of his posts down the Columbia to the ad jacent tribes, with instructions to pass it on to the next tribe, and so on until it should reach its destina tion. The wonder is that it went through at all.
In May, Harmon went to McLeod Lake to despatch his eastern express, and while crossing a small lake on a sledge, one of his men, Pierre Lambert, fell through the ice and was drowned. The winter of 1812-13 was spent by Harmon in company with John Stuart, at Stuart Fort. With them were twenty-one laborers, one interpreter, five women, and a troop of children. While on a fur-trading excursion to Fraser Lake the two friends narrowly escaped being killed by certain Indians,, who were incensed against the interpreter's wife; but courage, coolness, and kind words finally pacified them.
With five voyageurs and a Carrier Indian, Har mon left Stuart Lake the Gth of February 1813 for Fort Dunvegan, for the purpose of transacting some business with McGillivray. There he was informed that the British had taken Niagara and Mackinaw.
Accompanied by six voyageurs and two natives, John Stuart on the 13th of May embarked at Stuart Lake in two canoes with a small stock of goods as pocket-money, and six weeks' provisions, for the pur pose of finding, if possible, water communication between that point and the Columbia River. Should his efforts prove successful, it was the intention of the Northwest partners to obtain supplies and make returns by that route, building vessels somewhere on the Pacific coast to ply between the Columbia River and China, and thus avoid the long land travel from Canada. On reaching the Columbia, Stuart was
O '
to be joined by John G. McTavish, who was to ac company him to the ocean. This left Harmon in the full superintendence of affairs in New Caledonia. At these far interior posts the officers had leisure
A VERY NEW COUNTRY. 285
enough. Harmon says that not more than one fifth of his time was occupied by business. But at every post were books, and among them many that were worth reading. Gloomy reflections sometimes arose as he thought of his civilized home, some thirteen years having now passed since he left it; but most of the time he was contented and cheerful. No small por tion of his time was occupied in religious resolves, which he conscientiously endeavored to carry out.
Joseph La Roche, who had accompanied John G. McTavish to the Pacific the summer previous, arrived at Stuart Lake the 7th of November 1813. The 4th of February following, Donald McLennan arrived with the intelligence of the purchase of the property of the Pacific Fur Company by the Northwest Com pany. ^
During these years, Harmon was chiefly occupied in baling and shipping down Peace River the furs collected at the several posts under his charge, and in receiving and distributing the supplies of goods sent him. It was monotonous enough thus being shut in the wilderness for nineteen years, and an agreeable com panion was most highly prized. "Happy are those," he exclaims, while laboring under the disappointment of losing McLennan, who he had hoped would have remained with him during the summer, "happy are those who have an amiable and intelligent friend with whom they can at pleasure converse !"
The first goods sent into New Caledonia by way of the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River of which Harmon makes mention, arrived at Stuart Fort the 18th of October 1814. They were brought from Fort
-^
George in two canoes by Joseph La Roche, who on arrival was sent by Harmon once more to reestab lish Fort Fraser. La Roche was soon relieved by Harmon himself, who soon after was joined by Stuart and McDougall, who took him with them to Stilla to purchase salmon of the natives. The llth of Janu ary 1815 Harmon set-out with six men and two
286 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
natives to visit the ISTaskootains3 who had never before held intercourse with white men.
As spring came on, a small piece of ground at Fort Fraser was inclosed in palisades for a vegetable gar den, and potatoes, beets, onions, carrots, and parsnips planted, besides a little corn and barley. The summer of 1815 Stuart passed at Stuart Lake, and Harmon at Fraser Lake. The narrative about this time be comes very sentimental and very religious. The writer sighs for companionship like a sick school-girl, and throws in pages of protestations, prayers, and high resolves. Although his desire to return to his old home was never so great as now, yet in the spring of 1816 Harmon agreed with George McDougall4 to remain in the country two years longer as clerk of the Northwest Company.
The winter of 181G— 17 came on early with its cold white coverings. As usual, salmon dried during the
O £3
summer was the chief subsistence alike of white man and red. In December, fifteen sledge -loads of this food were sent by Harmon from Fort Fraser to McLcod Fort to supply the winterers there as well as the spring packers. The summer was very dry, there being not a drop of rain for months. In May, Harmon set out on a visit to Fort Chipewyan, returning the 1st of September. On the 3d of Octo ber Fort Fraser was burned; most of the property, however, was saved.
The year 1818 was partly spent by Harmon in preparations to return to his native land, on which he was now fully determined. To this end George McDougall in February 1819 took his place at Stuart Fort, where of late he had been stationed, while Har mon himself proceeded to McLeod Fort, and thence the following summer to Montreal and Vermont.
3 For full accounts of all the aborigines of this locality, see Native Uaces, i. 114-37, 146.
4 This George McDougall came out from Canada to Red River the summer previous with Lord Selkirk's party. Becoming dissatisfied with the treat ment of John Clarke, his superior, he left the settlement, and joined his brother James McDougall west of the mountains.
PETER SKEEN OGDEN. 287
I have been thus minute in giving the somewhat tame events from Harmon's journal, from the fact that it is the only historical record we have of this region during this period; and as the time was of the earliest, incidents assume importance, which at a later date would be deemed insignificant. One crown ing noble act this man Harmon did on emerging
o o o
from the wilderness, which partners with more gen tlemanly pretensions might well have followed. His uncouth children with their Indian mother he .did not desert, but took them all with him to his old home, made the woman his lawful wife, and educated his children in all his own high and holy principles.
Events call us once more to Fort George. The
O
attention of the magnates there in charge was di vided between the receiving and disbursing of the
O O
annual outfits, and the cultivation of trade with the aboriginals of the Willamette and the Cowlitz. Keith was in many respects an excellent man, but he pos sessed a remarkable faculty for bungling business. I will cite an instance :
Oskononton v/as an Iroquois, one of the twenty- five who had revolted from McKenzie. He crept back an emaciated penitent to Fort Walla Walla, and from there was sent down to Fort George. Shortly afterward he joined a party of his countrymen to trap on the Cowlitz, where, in attempting with some of his wild comrades to force the women, he was killed. The party returned to the fort and represented the affair as an unprovoked murder, whereupon Keith sent thirty Iroquois, under Ogden,5 to investigate the
5 ' Peter Skeen Ogden figures somewhat conspicuously in Northwest Coast affairs. He was a son of Chief Justice Ogdeii of Quebec, and joined the Northwest Company in 1811. His earlier days were spent in the Utah and Shoshone countries, with occasional visits to California. Rising in position in the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1831 he left the Snake country, and in 1835 was chief factor in charge of the district of New Caledonia. At the age of sixty he died at Oregon City, in the house of his son-in-law, Archibald Mc- Kinlay, in 1854. Me K inlay's Nar., MS., 1-4; Anderson's N, Coast, MS., 23; Portland Oregonian, Sept. 30, 1854. Allen, 7?em., MS., 8, says: 'Ogden had been a wild youth, and though possessing much ability, was still fond of tricks in later years.'
288 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
matter, a choice of instruments which no competent manager could by any possibility have made. Arrived at the Cowlitz camp, without awaiting orders from their leader, these eastern barbarians raised their guns and fired, bringing down men, women, and children. Twelve persons wholly innocent of any crime were killed before the eyes of the Cowlitz chief. Howhow, who that moment was assisting Ogden to find the murderer, was sickened, enraged, as well he might be. Ogden attempted to pacify him, begged him to visit the fort where all should be explained and rectified, but all to no purpose. Every other effort proving unavailing, a husband from among the white chiefs at the fort was promised Howhow's beautiful young daughter. This was more than the fond father could withstand. A guard was promised him to and from the fort, as he would have to pass over the lands of his enemies, the Chinooks. The princess was brought to the fort and happily married. After the days of rejoicing were over, Howhow was permitted to leave the fort to return without a guard, being attended only by his own immediate followers. The conse quence was, before they had proceeded three hundred yards, the Cowlitz were fired upon by some Chinooks in ambush. The stupid sentinel cried out that the fort was attacked by Howhow and his men, and against them the guns of the bastion were discharged, wounding two of the Cowlitz. Soon the mistake was discovered and Howhow brought into the fort. Keith attempted to explain, but Howhow was a changed man. In stern and sulky meditation he took leave of his white son-in-law, loaded with presents, but yet suspicious and revengeful.
Thus driven by their own misconduct and stupidity from the Cowlitz, fresh attention was directed toward the Willamette. Already there were trappers enough in that quarter, but the graceless Iroquois must have a hunting-ground somewhere. Hence, sixty men, under two half-breed Canadian clerks, ascended the
DARK DOINGS AT UMPQUA. 289
Willamette, and crossed over to the Umpqua. The natives were peaceful and timid. They did not ob ject to the trapping on their premises, but they did not wish to barter furs, exchange horses, or sell wives. As the white men encroached upon their privacy, the natives retired. One day as the latter were breaking up camp in order to escape their persecutors, the trappers seized the horses of the Indians in order to insure their return. The owners resisted, whereupon the trappers fired upon them, killing fourteen innocent and inoffensive persons, who had not even drawn an arrow in self-defence. The survivors fled, the hunt ers pursuing. How many more were killed in the Hight was never known.6 A guilty fear then seized the wretches, and falling back upon the Willamette, four of their number were sent to Fort George to toll how they had been attacked and well nigh massa cred by the treacherous and blood-thirsty savages of the Umpqua. Ketribution, however, was at hand. Camping while en route at Oak Point, the four mes sengers were murdered by five Tlatskanai, of the same band as that which in 1811 had killed three of the Pacific Company's men. As soon as the Oak Point murder was known at the fort, a party was sent in pursuit of the assassins, who were captured and tried, and four of the five convicted and executed. By these and like mismanagements the returns at Fort George were tliis year, 1819, reduced 4,000 beaver, equivalent in money to £6,000.
Another year was spent by Donald McKenzie in the Snake country, closing on his return to Fort Walla Walla, the 10th of July 1821. Next year he crossed the mountains to York Factory, and was shortly after
G It is with heart-felt sorrow that I find it my duty to register so dastardly an outrage perpetrated under Northwest Company rule. Their excuse would be that the friends who did it were eastern savages, Iroquois, whom they found it extremely difficult to control. We well know that such deeds were disavowed and lamented by the members of the Northwest Company, most of all men.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 19
290 HARMON IX NEW CALEDONIA.
made governor of the Red River Colony, a position second only to that of governor-in-chief. After filling that office for ten years, he removed with his family to Mayville, New York.
In the summer of 1818, there arrived at Astoria the remnant of a party of twenty-five led by Louis Pichette from Canada the year previous, and who had wintered on the plains. Seven of the company had died upon the way. After spending several years each at Forts Vancouver, Colvillc, and Hall, Pichette finally took a farm at Champoeg, where he died in 187G.7
By the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States signed at Ghent the 24th of Decem ber 1814, it was agreed that all territory and places taken by either from the other during the war should be immediately restored. In pursuance of this agree ment, on the 18th of July 1815, James Monroe, secretary of state, notified Mr Baker, charge d'affaires of Great Britain to the United States, that measures would be taken to reoccupy the post of Astoria, on the Columbia River, without delay, at the same time asking a letter to the person in charge, giving orders for its restitution.
Mr Baker replied that he had no authority from his government to furnish such a letter, and referred the secretary to Vice-admiral Dixon, of his majesty's naval forces on the Brazil station, whose command included the Pacific. There the matter rested until September 1817, when the sloop of war Ontario was ordered to the Columbia peaceably to assert the sovereignty of the United States in the territory ad jacent. The captain of the sloop, J. Biddle, and J. B. Prevost were appointed joint commissioners to carry these instructions into effect.8
7 The Salem Statesman, Dec. 22, 1876, claims for him that he was the first white man to settle in Marion county. There are so many claimants to the honor of first settler here and elsewhere, that it is not always easy to de termine the truth.
8 Annals Cong., 1822, app. ii. 2130-1 ; President's Message, April 15, 1822; Gret-nkow's Or. and CaL, 307; E cans'' Hist. Or., MS., 103.
ASTORIA RESTORED. 201
Prevost and Biddle had not been many days absent on their mission when Mr Bagot, the British minister at Washington, addressed inquiries to Mr Adams, secretary of state, relative to the destination of the Ontario, and the purpose of her voyage, which being answered, Bagot remonstrated, saying that the North west Coast was early possessed by Great Britain as part of her dominion, and that the post upon the Columbia was not captured during the war, but was sold by one commercial company to another for a fair consideration, and did not therefore come within the provision of the first article of the Ghent treaty.
Mr Ba^ot lost no time in communicating to his
O o
government the state of affairs, which immediately became a matter of discussion between Lord Castle- reagh, British secretary for foreign affairs, and Mr Kush, United States minister in London. Castlereagh regretted that the British government had not been notified of the intended occupation of the Columbia by the United States before the sailing of the Ontario, as Great Britain claimed dominion over that territory. He now proposed to submit the matter to arbitration. To this Mr Rush objected. He would not admit that there was any ground for an arbitration, any just ground upon which England could claim dominion. Was not the territory in the possession of the United States before the war? he asked. Did it not fall by belligerent pressure? How, then, under treaty stipu lations requiring mutual restitution could possession be withheld? Castlereagh admitted the right of the United States as the party in possession pending ne gotiations. He lamented only the manner of obtaining possession, fearing disturbance in consequence. To prevent misunderstanding in this transfer, he requested the colonial secretary, Lord Bathurst, and the lords of the admiralty to expedite the proper orders to the person in charge of the fort, which was done. Indeed, the British government displayed a magnanimous de sire to avoid any hostile collision between the repre-
292 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
sentatives of the respective governments in these distant parts.
Continuing her voyage the Ontario reached Valpa raiso in February. No orders had yet been received from the British government for the delivery of Fort Coorge, and it was now evident that no British officer -nor any agent of the Northwest Company would as- ;me the responsibility of voluntarily relinquishing the post. Yet the orders of the United States govern- in cut must be obeyed. And the Ontario must com- • :te her mission so far as possible. It was clearly evident, however, that what was now clone at the Columbia River would be empty form, whereas some- tiling might be gained by further conference with British powers. In view of these several aspects of the case, it was finally arranged that while Mr Brevost remained at Valparaiso, Captain Biddle should pro ceed to the Columbia in the Ontario, and take formal possession of Fort Astoria, which was done on the 9th ' August. The Ontario then returned to the South Pacific.
Meanwhile Lord Bathurst's order9 for the surren- Icr of Fort George to the United States had reached o Janeiro, and was sent by Commodore Bowles, commander of the British naval forces in the South ?oa, to his senior officer in the Bacific, Captain Sher iff. Prevost was still at Valparaiso, and Captain Sheriff immediately informed him of his receipt of ')o order, at the same time offering him conveyance
y Which was in these words : ' '±o the partners or ayents of iJce Northwest Company residing on the Columbia,
ll'ircr:
'Intelligence having been received that the United States sloop of war {jiiuiriij has been sent by the American government to establish a settlement on 'lie Columbia River, which was held by that state oil the breaking out of the last war, I am to acquaint you that it is the Prince Regent's pleasure— '"'hout, however, admitting the right of that government to the possession in ruestion — that in pursuance of the first article of the treaty of Ghent, clue fnollity should be given to the inoccupation of the said settlement by tho officers of the United States; and I am to desire that you would contribute, ; ir.uch as lies in your power, to the execution of his Royal Highness' com mands. I have, etc., etc.,
'BATHURST.'
CHANGE OF FLAGS. 293
to the Columbia, which was thankfully accepted. The vessel chosen for this errand was the British frigate Blossom, Captain Hickey.
The Blossom entered the Columbia the 1st of Octo ber, and on the 6th the surrender was made. The British flag was lowered, and that of the United States was hoisted in its place.10 Placards declaratory of the surrender were placed on either side of the en trance to the river, one on Cape Disappointment, and another on Point Adams. These were afterwards re moved by the natives.11 Mr Keith then addressed inquiries to Mr Prevost respecting the position and commercial interests of the Northwest Company on the Columbia, to which Mr Prevost replied that the action of his government he could not determine, but that the Northwest Company might rest assured that their rights would be respected, and that no necessity existed for the immediate abandonment either of the Columbia River or of Fort George.12
™House Com. Rep't, No. 101, 25th Gong. 3d. Seas., p. 7.
11 From Monterey, Mr Prevost wrote the secretary of state the llth of November 1818, with copies of the acts of delivery and acceptance, all of which documents accompanied President Monroe's message to Congress April 17, 1822. The act of delivery by the British Commissioners is in these words :
' In obedience to the commands of his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, signified in a despatch from the Right Honorable Earl Bathurst, addressed to the partners or agents of the Northwest Company, bearing date the 27th of January 1818, and in obedience to subsequent orders, dated the 2Gth of July last, from William H. Sheriff, Esq., captain of his majesty's ship Andromache, we, the undersigned, do, in conformity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent, restore to the government of the United States, through its agent, J. B. Prevost, Esq., the settlement of Fort George on the River Columbia. Given under our hands in triplicate at Fort George, Colum bia River, this Gth day of October, 1818.
' F. HICKEY, Captain of his Majesty's ship Blossom. 'JAMES KEITH, of the Northwest Company.'
The act of acceptance by the United States Commissioner reads as follows: 'I do hereby acknowledge to have this day received, in behalf of the gov ernment of the United States, the possession of the settlement designated above, in conformity to the first article of the treaty of Ghent. Given under my hand in triplicate, at Fort George, Columbia River, this Gth day of Octo ber 1818. J. B. PREVOST, agent for the United States.'
12 This correspondence should be given in full. Mr Keith to Mr Prevost :
' FORT GEORGE, Columbia River, October 6, 1818.
' SIR: Now that the restitution and the settlement have been made, and that the Northwest Company are still allowed to occupy it in the prosecution of
294 HARMON IN NEW CALEDONIA.
The purchase of the Pacific Company by the North west Company was not known by the plenipotentiaries at the treaty of Ghent, yet provision to meet such an emergency had not been neglected. Such an event, or rather the capture of Fort Astoria by the British forces in the Pacific, likely enough had occurred during the war, in which case, or in any case, no claim that might be set up by the British government to the Northwest Coast, or any part of it, should for a moment be recognized.13 The Ghent commissioners,
their commercial pursuits, permit me to submit to you the following important queries, to which I request a candid and explicit reply: Whether or not you feel authorized on behalf of the United States, to tender mo any ass-. ranee, or to afford any security that no abandonment or relinquishment of said set tlement will be claimed by your government in favor of any of its subjects, to t'lc ejectment and exclusion of said Northwest Company, prior to the final decision of the right of sovereignty to the country between our respective gov ernments? And pending such discussion, as also in the event of such sov ereignty being confirmed to the United States, may the Northwest Company implicitly rely on the justice and equity of your government, that adequate allowance will be made for any extension or amelioration of aforesaid settle ment, or of the trade dependent thereon, of which circumstances may from time to time suggest the propriety ? I have the honor, etc.,
' JA^IES KEITH, 'J. B. Prevoat, Exq. Acting for s< If and Northwest Company*
Mr Provost to Mr Keith:
'FoRT GEORGE, Columbia, October G, 1818.
' Sin: In answer to your note of this morning I have the honor to state that the principal object of the president in sending me thus far was to obtain such information of the place, of its access, and of its commercial importance, as might enable him to submit to the consideration of congress measures for the protection and extension of the establishment. From hence you will per ceive that, until the sense of the government may be taken upon my report, any assurance I might offer to meet the wishes expressed by you, would be as unauthorized as unavailing. I, however, sir, have no hesitation in saying that should it hereafter comport with the views of the nation to foster the settlement, any claim of the Northwest Company, justified by the usages of nations, will be liquidated with great liberality; and that, should its policy induce a system of exclusion, it will never extend to your removal without sufficient notice to prevent loss and injury to the company. I cannot take my leave, sir, without expressing my approbation of the manner in which an establishment so precarious has been managed, nor without offering a hope that the same judicious course may be pursued, under the change of flag, for its success, until the pleasure of the president can be known.'
' James Keith. J. B. PREVOST. '
13 Under date of 22d of March 1814, James Monroe, secretary of statei •wrote the plenipotentiaries of the United States, that in the event of a treaty with Great Britain, and a reciprocal restitution of territory, they should have it in recollection that the United States had in their possession at the com mencement of the war, a post at the mouth of the river Columbia, which commanded the river, which ought to be comprised in the stipulation, should the possession have been wrested from us during the war. ' On no pretext can
THE TREATY OF GHENT. 295
on behalf of the United States, had been instructed to recognize no British claim to territory south of the forty-ninth parallel. On the other hand, in the relin- quishment of Fort George, the British government by no means acknowledged the right of the United States to the Oregon territory. By the present trans fer matters were simply placed as before the war, with boundary and title yet to be determined.
Among other questions growing out of the treaty of Ghent, yet unsettled, was that of the partition line between the British American possessions and the United States, west of the Rocky Mountains. An agreement was drawn up between the powers that all differences should be settled by convention, which was signed in London the 20th of October 1818. Then it was agreed that the Northwest Coast, by whichsoever claimed, should, for ten years from the date of the convention, be open to subjects of both nations; nor was this agreement to be to the ultimate prejudice of the claim of either to any part of that territory. The settlement of the boundary question was simply post poned, it being inconvenient and unnecessary to de termine it at that time.14
the British government set up a claim to territory south of the northern boundary of the United States. It is not believed that they have any claim whatever to territory on the Pacific Ocean. You will, however, be careful should a definition of boundary be attempted, not to countenance in any man ner or in any quarter, a pretension in the British government to territory south of that line.' See Annals of Congress, 1814-15, app., 1375.
u Annals of Congress, 1822, ii. 2130-42; Am. State Papers, For. Eel., v. 582; Barton's Debates, v. 399, x. 301; President's Messages, Dec. 29, 1818, Feb. 22, 1819, April 15, 1822, Jan. 31, 1826, and Accompanying Doc.; Evans' Or., MS., 101-4; Greenhow's Or. and Cal, 306-14; Gray's Hist. Or., 20, 37; Vic tor 's River of the West, 32-3; Dix's Speeches, \. 47; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 4, 100.
CHAPTER XIV.
UNION OF THE NORTHWEST AND THE HUDSON'S BAY COM PANIES, AND THE SUBSEQUENT CHARTERS.
1803-1846.
TITLE or THE HUDSON'S BAY' COMPANY TO RUPERT LAND— BOUNDARY, NOT TITLE, THE QUESTION IN DISPUTE — JURISDICTION OF COURTS — RUIN FROM RIVALRY IMMINENT — THE NORTHWEST COMPANY'S OPPOSITION TO LORD SELKIRK AND HIS COLONIZATION SCHEME — THE Two COMPANIES BEFORE PARLIAMENT — THE MINISTRY INTERPOSE MEDIATION — THE QUESTION OF COMPROMISE DEBATED — TERMS OF UNION — PASSAGE OF THE ACT EMPOWERING THE CROWN TO GRANT EXCLUSIVE LICENSE OF TRADE — THE GRANT OF 1821 — THE ASSIGNMENT IN 1824 OF THE NORTH WEST COMPANY — THE DEED-POLL OF 1834 — THE RENEWAL OF LICENSE IN 1838 — THE SETTLEMENT OF THE BOUNDARY QUESTION IN 184G — THE GRANT OF VANCOUVER ISLAND IN 1849.
IT has been many times mentioned that in 1821 the Northwest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company became one corporation ; how the companies were united has nowhere been told. After quiet oc cupancy for a hundred and fifty years, the title of the Hudson's Bay Company to Kupert Land might scarcely be questioned by a rival association. Al though France claimed the country when the charter of Charles II. dated the 2d of May 1670 was made, and although the grant never had been permanently ratified by parliament, the claim of the adventurers of England had been tacitly acknowledged by govern ment in various ways.
In the first place, the incorporators and their suc cessors were made lords proprietors of the lands granted, which were to be held in free and common socage, and not in capite, or by knight's service. It
( 296)
THE CHARTER. 297
was a free and absolute gift, subject to revocation only by the power that made it, exclusive in its terms, and requiring the recognition of royal authority only by a promise to pay the grantor or his successors two elk and two black beaver, whenever one of them should enter the territories so granted. The com pany might colonize wherever they chose, appoint governors, make laws, and administer justice. Over the natives of the granted territory their power was absolute, involving life or death; their own people they might punish in minor matters, or even for high offences if no appeal was made to England. If such appeal was made, the company must send prisoners thither; likewise subjects of Great Britain, other than those employed by the company, found within the territory, might be arrested and sent to England. The fact that King Charles might as righteously have granted his cousin Rupert land in France, or Italy, or Saturn, or the sun, as round Hudson Bay, made no whit difference, so long as the protection which backed his gift was strong enough to break down opposition.
The chief question in dispute between the adven turers of England and the merchants of Montreal was not one of title to Rupert Land, although the North west Company did claim that the grant of Charles II. was invalid, lacking the sanction of parliament. An act confirming the charter was passed by Parlia ment in 1690, but for seven years only, and no longer.1 An attempt was made to renew the charter at the ex-
1 Martin, The Hudson's Bay Territories, 45, asserts that this act makes the grant perpetual, yet in the same breath he admits that it expired at the end of seven years. ' Air M. Martin says ' ' forever. " He puts these words in italics, and would leave readers who do not refer to notes at the foot of a page, in small type, with the belief that the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company was confirmed by Parliament forever. There cannot be anything more grossly un true.' Mtzgerald's V. /., 93. The truth of the matter is that the bill was drawn making the charter to hold forever. The House of Commons decided it should be valid but for ten years. The House of Lords cut the time down to seven years ' and no longer. ' Thus it became a, law ; but instead of drawing a new bill, a rider was attached limiting the time to seven years. Thus Mr Fitzgerald's criticism is just. Mr Martin obviously wished to deceive, and like all who deal in untruths, he made a bungling affair of it.
298 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
piration of the seven years. A bill was introduced, but the company seeing it was going against them withdrew it, lest they should be ruined by defeat. Nevertheless, government regarded the corporation with no special disfavor, recognizing the claims of the adventurers of England when such recognition was
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almost equivalent to a renewal of the charter.2
While the adventurers of England exercised
O
almost sovereign power round Hudson Bay, in the Indian countries, as the region west of Rupert Land was called, their authority was questioned. In order to determine the matter, on the llth of August
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1803, that is to say, in the forty-third year of the reign of George III., an act was passed by parlia ment for extending the jurisdiction, not of the Hud son's Bay Company, but of the Canadian courts of justice over this territory. By this act justices of the peace for the Indian countries might be created by the governor of Lower Canada, who should be empowered to commit offenders until they could be conveyed to Canada for trial. Minor offences, and all offences committed in the Indian countries, were to be tried in the same manner as if committed in Canada. This act remained in force until the union of the Northwest and the Hudson's Bay companies. But it was disputes concerning boundaries rather than those of title, which brought on the bloody conflict between the two companies. Until their fellow-coun trymen, following north-westward the pathway of the great lakes, had penetrated beyond Superior, and even
2 Recognition is found in the treaty of Utrecht in 1713; in the treaty of Ore gon 1846; in various acts of Parliament — as, for example, the 2 William and Mary 1690; 6 Anne, cap. 37; 14 George III., cap. 83; and 1 and 2 George IV., cap. 06. On the other hand, \ve might say that the territory granted did not at the time, under the then recognized law of nations, belong to England, and was not so determined until the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The treaty of Utrecht does not guarantee the company's privileges, but only remunerated them for their losses. The treaty of Ryswick, signed in September 1697, pro vided for the appointment of commissioners to determine whether Rupert Land belonged even then to France or to England. A portion of the Red River territory claimed by the company, the government did not hesitate to yield to the United States, thereby admitting the absence of title.
RIVALRY AND WAR. 299
Winnipeg, the adventurers of England scp&Zofy- left the shores of Hudson Bay. But suddenly their pre tensions assumed broad proportions. At first they were satisfied with the lands drained by streams flow ing immediately into Hudson Bay. But afterwards finding rivers having their sources a thousand miles away, falling into lakes which fed the streams flow ing immediately into Hudson Bay, they thereupon claimed territory equal to twice their original domain, and finally the Pacific and Arctic oceans alone bounded their avarice.
To the Red River country and the region west and north-west of lakes Winnipeg and Athabasca, the Northwest Company deemed their right quite as good as that of the Hudson's Bay Company. The latter was satisfied with nothing short of absolute and unlimited monopoly. Upon these conditions alone could they at once preserve the game and regulate the fur market of the world. There were no doubt advantages arising from such a policy, provided this whole region was to be forever kept alone for fur -producing purposes. Only by some such method could the diseases and demoralizations of civilization be kept from the natives. If under any conditions the existence of a grinding monopoly can be aught else than a curse, it was here, where competition signified intoxicating drink and exter mination of animals.
For some time past it had been clearly evident that if the bitter rivalry of the two great companies was continued much longer, both would be ruined by it. Obviously one would succumb before the other; but victory would come too late Each was inflicting a mortal wound, and success was as fatal as failure. In this emergency the friends of both companies took measures for a reconciliation. Following the Red River affray, attempts were made to bring the more conspicuous among the belligerents on both sides to trial, though without much success. It was extremely
300 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
difficult for the courts of Canada or of England to reach these wars in the distant wilderness. It was almost impossible to apprehend offenders, or to find witnesses when the persons sought did not choose to be found. In the unexplored west were millions of hiding-places safe to the fur-hunter, but fatal to his pursuer.
The Northwest Company, as we have seen, was exceedingly wide-awake and enterprising, and by its superior talent and energy it gradually undermined even the solid foundation of the adventurers of Eng land trading into Hudson Bay. While at the height of their rivalry, before the Hudson's Bay Company had scarcely crossed the Rocky Mountains, the Northwest Company had a thriving establishment on the bank of the Columbia,, with a chain of posts extending from Lake Superior, and trade established on the shore of the Pacific southward to California and northward to New Archangel. By 1817 more than three hundred Canadians were in their service on the western slope alone, and three ships had brought them supplies round Cape Horn, returning with rich cargoes of furs to Canton and London. During the war of 1812 they opposed the United States with a company of their voyageurs, commanded by officers of the com pany, who not only served without pay but furnished their own outfit and stores.
Lord Selkirk's Red River colonization scheme they felt to be as unjust as it was insulting, and they deter mined to resist it to the death. Nor did they attempt to shirk the responsibility of their actions, or the acts of their agents after they had brought matters to a bloody issue. They believed themselves still to be right, and upon their conviction they were willing to stake their lives.
Fortunately, however, for all concerned, there was yet remaining one feature favorable to reconciliation. Red River colonization was the project of Selkirk, and not that of the directors of the Hudson's Bay
RED RIVER AFFAIRS. 301
Company; and although his lordship with his money could buy shares which would enable him to outvote his associates in council, their influence with the gov ernment outweighed his.3
Throughout their entire disagreements each com-
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pany was eager to have its side of the story properly placed before government. The Hudson's Bay Com pany was never without its influence in politics, and there were able men in England to represent the Northwest Company.
During the war with the United States the prop erty and hunting-grounds of the Northwest Company were much more exposed than those of the Hudson's Bay Company. Hence in February 1814 a memo rial was presented the secretary of state for the colo nies, asking that direct communication might be
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opened with their posts through Hudson Bay. At the same time Selkirk was begging the protection of government against dangers threatened by the Ind ians at the instigation of the Northwest Company. In 1815 the government expressed its desire to do justice on both sides, but it felt the subject to be one of great difficulty. Then followed the affray at Red River, when it became absolutely necessary for gov ernment to take action in the matter. In a more defi nite form than ever before, the proceedings of the rival associations were brought before parliament in June 1819, and their affairs closely investigated. In 1820 Lord Selkirk died, and thus was removed the main instrument in the late dissensions.
The question of a settlement of difficulties was thoroughly debated in parliament, but without much success. The breach could never be healed by stat utes which could never be enforced. Finally the min-
3 The Northwest Company were not disposed to excuse their rivals on this score. There was in it all but one object said they, which was ' to drive the Northwest Company from the trade and obtain the monopoly of it; and how ever sincere Lord Selkirk may originally have been in his plans of coloniza tion, the colony was subsequently converted into an engine to effect this object, and to expel every Canadian from the Indian country.' Northwest Company's Narrative of Occurrences, 127.
302 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
istry, deeming the matter of sufficient importance to interpose its mediation, effected a compromise by which the two companies became united under one head.
First of all, an agreement of partnership was entered into on the 2Gth of March 1821, whereby the two com panies should share equally the profits of the trade for a term of twenty-one years, beginning with the outfit of 1821. Each company was to furnish an equal amount of capital, and the profits were to be equally divided.4 Although it was less a merging1 of one into
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the other than a union upon equal terms, the name of the older and chartered company alone was retained, thus giving the new association whatever respectability or benefits attached to it. The interests of the con solidation were divided into one hundred shares, forty of which were held by the chief factors and the chief traders, and the remainder by partners or share holders in Canada and Great Britain. The forty shares, belonging as they did to the active workers of the association, were in some respects privileged; for instance, should loss occur in one year, it was to be made good out of the profits of the following year. A general account accompanied by an inventory was to be made out annually on the 1st of June, and such profits as were not paid to shareholders within fifteen days were to draw five per cent per annum interest. No expenses for colonization purposes or for any other schemes apart from trade should be a charge upon the new association.
The governor and directors of the consolidation, henceforth to be known only as the Hudson's Bay Com pany, were empowered to appoint district governors who should preside at the councils of chief factors,
4 Each contributed either in money or in stock £200,000. The capital stock of the Hudson's Bay Company at this time was but £100,000, and they were obliged to call in a like amount to make their contribution ecpuivalent to that of the Northwest Company. After the union, profits were added to the prin cipal after paying ten percent dividends annually, until the capital stock was £500,000. See House Commons lltyt., 345.
ACT OF PARLIAMENT. 303
and see executed all the acts authorized or imposed by parliament. Three chief factors, in addition to the president, should constitute a council; and in the absence of chief factors, the number might be com pleted by senior chief traders. Two of the three coun cillors should decide any question not vetoed by the governor.
The appointment of twenty-five chief factors and twenty-eight chief traders was rendered necessary by the terms of this deed. These were named from the former servants of each company alternately. Thus in every respect the two companies came to gether upon an equal footing. Eighty-five parts were made of the forty shares to be divided among the chief factors and the chief traders, of which subdivisions two were given to each chief factor, and one to each chief trader. The seven shares left were again sub divided, and distributed as awards among the old and meritorious servants of both associations.
The terms of union being thus agreed on, the next step was to obtain an act of parliament empowering the crown to grant to any person, or body corporate, the exclusive privilege of trading with the natives of any part of hyperborean North America not already granted to the Hudson's Bay Company, and not being any part of the United States, or any part of the ter ritory west of the Stony Mountains, which, by the convention of 1818, it had been stipulated should be open to the subjects of both powers for ten years, or any of the provinces of North America. Thus under the new regime the old question of title was to be first and forever settled.
This act was passed the 2d of July 1821. It was constructed to fit the emergency, and with the sole object of consummating the union of the rival com panies. The license which, under the provisions the crown might grant, should not run for any longer period than twenty-one years. For the first twenty- one years no rents should be received ; after that time
304 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
the government might demand whatsoever rent might be deemed just.5 A record of the names of all persons employed by the company should be sent the secre tary of state each year; and the company should give bonds for the proper delivery for trial of any charged with criminal offence, as well as for the fulfilment of any other stipulation. All minor offences were to be tried by magistrates appointed by the crown. Criminal cases, involving capital punishment and civil suits, where the sum involved should be over two hundred pounds, were to be brought for trial before the court of Upper Canada. Last of all, nothing in this act should affect the rights of the Hudson's Bay Company under their former charter.
All being thus duly prepared, on the 21st of De cember 1821 the king granted the united companies exclusive trade with the Indians of North America according to the provisions of the act of the 2d of July. The grant was made to the Company of Ad venturers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, and to William McGillivray, Simon McGillivray, and Edward Ell ice on behalf of the Northwest Company. The servants of the company were commissioned jus tices of the peace, and the jurisdiction of the courts of Upper Canada was extended to the shore of the Pacific. Thus was secured to every British subject west of the Rocky Mountains the protection of Brit ish law.
Whatever rights or interests yet remained to the Northwest Company were in 1824 formally assigned to the Hudson's Bay Company, in whose name alone the business was thereafter conducted. A deed-poll for ascertaining the lights and prescribing the duties of chief factors and chief traders and for the general management of the business was made the 6th of June 1834.
5 By the actual terms of the grant, no rent was required for the first four years; for the remainder of the term of 21 years, five shillings were to be paid yearly on June 1st, 'into our exchequer.' Greenhow, Or. and CaL, 475.
RENEWAL OF LICENSE. 305
About this time attention began to be once more directed to the question of a north-west passage, which twice before since the charter to Prince Rupert had broken out in spasms; once in 1719, when Cap tain Knight endeavored to sail the frigate Albany and the sloop Discovery from Churchill Factory through the Strait of Anian in order to load them with the gold of California; and again in 1769 when Hearne found the Frozen Ocean. Now come forward Simp son, Dease, and Back and talk of explorations. Al though the subject had always been distasteful to the company, they could not ignore it because it was one of the specified objects of the charter, this and the conversion of the natives to Christianity. But if in vestigation into the nature and extent of contiguous
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domain was to be made, they would rather make it themselves. It was better they reasoned, and cun ningly, that the company should do the seeing and re porting.
A general awakening followed. Arctic explorations were taken under the company's wing; the supply of spirits to the natives was reduced; missionaries were called for, signs were hopeful. Patriotism, piety, and enterprise were all employed by the monopolists as a feint which should guard their privacy. Gathering strength with a renewal of righteousness, the company deemed this opportunity as good as another for the renewal of their charter. Parliament had invested the crown with power, as we have seen, to grant a license of exclusive trade for a term of twenty-one years only. Since the last grant, seventeen years had passed, leaving but four years to run. The end was rapidly approaching. Seeing that the time was favor able to their purpose, they determined to avail them selves of it. What might be -the condition of things four years hence no one could tell. They could now point to their benefactions. Doing good was tiresome and expensive; they could not long exist under the strain. Besides, explorations and conversions broke
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 20
306 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
exclusivencss and interfered with trade. Taking in view all these considerations, the company determined at this time to apply for a renewal of their license, instead of awaiting the expiration of the full term. And they were successful. Upon the surrender of the former grant a royal license of exclusive trade with the Indians in certain parts of North America for a further term of twenty-one years was issued to the Hudson's Bay Company the 30th of May 1838.
After reciting the terms of the grant of 1821, the new license invests the company with all its former powers and privileges, the conditions as to rent re maining unchanged. Right was reserved, as in the former grant, to revoke the grant in so far as the same extended to territories subsequently to be colo nized. This reservation gave the crown the right at any time to form colonies within the territories granted, to establish such government as it should deem best, withdrawing from the control of the com pany such territory as should be necessary for that purpose.
At this time the boundary between the United States and British America west of the Rocky Moun tains was still unsettled. By treaty of the 15th of June 184G, however, the forty-ninth parallel was made the dividing line, thus obliging the fur company to abandon its twelve posts south of that bound.
On condition of promoting its colonization, the Hud son's Bay Company, in ] 849, obtained a crown grant of Vancouver Island, particulars of which will be treated elsewhere. At the expiration of its second charter in 1859, the license of exclusive trade wTas not renewed; British Columbia was erected into a crown colony, and the great monopoly took its place among the rest as a private trading corporation.
DEED POLL. 307
DF.ED POLL r>\* THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF HUDSON'S BAY, WITH BESPECT TO THEIR ClITEF FACTORS AND ClUEF TRADERS FOR. CONDUCTING THEIR TRADE IN RUPERT'S LAND AND NORTH AMERICA, AND FOR ASCER TAINING THE RIGHTS AND PRESCRIBING THE DUTIES OF THOSE OFFICERS.
To all to whom these presents shall come. The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, send greeting. Whereas, his majesty, King Charles the Second, did, by his royal charter, constitute the governor and company of adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay into a body corporate with perpetual succession, and with power to elect a governor and deputy-governor and committee for the management of their trade and affairs. Now, know ye that the governor and company of aclven- tarers of England trading into Hudson's Bay, commonly called the Hudson's Bay Company, being duly assembled according to the provisions of said charter, do make, ordain, and constitute the following laws and ordinances, rules and regulations, and direct them to be observed by all governors, chief factors, chief traders, and other officers and persons appointed by the said governor and company to conduct aiic1 superintend the trade of the said gov ernor and company in their territory of Rupert's Land, or in other places in North America, and they do hereby direct that the said trade shall in future be carried on and conducted under and subject to the articles, provisions, rules, and regulations hereafter mentioned and contained, that is to say:
ARTICLE I. The present and the future chief factors for the time being shall wholly employ themselves in the superintendence of the trade with the Ind ians and other persons, and also of all business relating to the said trade whether within the territory of the said governor and company called Ru pert's Land, or in other places in North America where the said governor and company have the power of carrying on trade with the Indians or other per sons in furs or other articles.
II. The present and future chief traders for the time being shall wholly and exclusively act as traders and conduct the business as such in their respective departments and under the orders and regulations to be from time to time given to them respectively by the respective governors in council of the respective districts, but without entitling any chief trader to sit as a mem ber of council, or to have any vote therein in respect of any matters there discussed except in such special cases as are hereinafter mentioned.
III. The chief factors for the time being during their continuance in office shall, together with any governor or governors to be from time to time appointed by the said governor and company, and in case more than one such governor shall be there present, then together with the senior of such gov ernors, or in case of the absence of all such governors, then together with other person or persons who may be specially appointed by the said governor and company, as president thereof, constitute the councils for regulating the trade and affairs of the said governor and company, as well without as within the limits of their territory; but to constitute a council not less than seven members, whereof three at least shall be chief factors, shall be present, besides the governor or president ; and in case at any time
308 UNIOX OF TPIE TWO COMPANIES.
there shall not be present seven chief factors to constitute such council, then the deficiency in the number of chief factors, over and above three, shall be made up and supplied at the time by or out of the senior chief traders (according to the duties of the commissions), who shall be present at the time and place where the council is intended to be Iioldeu, and they shall be sum moned accordingly, and shall or may set and vote as members of the said council. It being, nevertheless, expressedly understood that in ordinary cases no council shall be deemed to be lawfully constituted unless three chief factors, at least, are present, besides the chief factor, if any, acting as pre -ident.
IV. Each council to be constituted as aforesaid, shall make arrangements with respect to the trading posts and stations, and the respective outfits for carrying 011 the trade, and the wintering resilience of the chief factors and chief traders, and of the clerks, and others in the service of the said company in the territories and places aforesaid, as well under the charter of the said governor and company as otherwise, and the same shall be fixed and settled by the respective governors and council in their respective departments.
V. Each council, constituted as aforesaid, shall, in its department, ascer tain the result of the preceding year's trade at each post within such depart ment, and be guided thereby in regulating the outiit for the then following or current sc;uun.
VI. All matters whatsoever, which may be determined upon by each council, constituted as aforesaid, shall be distinctly and fully minuted in the book to be kept for that purpose, to be called 'The Council Minute Book,' and u, copy of such m ..11 be mude out, and signed by the said gov ernor or presii'-, ent at the council, vouching the same to be a faithful co intes made at such council, which copy shall be rumnnlly transmitted by the governor or president to the governor and company in England, or their committee.
Vli. Each council so constitiited as aforesaid, shall be authorized to make rules and regulations for the management and conduct of the trade, and otherwise- relating thereto, from time to time, us they may think fit; and such rnV's and regulations shall remain in force until objected to by the governor and company in England, or their committee, according to the provision here after contained.
VIII. Each council so constituted as aforesaid, shall have full power and jurisdiction to inquire or cause inquiry to be made into the conduct of the chief factors, chief traders, clerk?, and servants, in the territories and pin CG aforesaid, or of any one or more of them, and to impose such mulcts and lines for misconduct, as the said council shall from time to time think lit, but suea mulcts and fines so imposed may be varied by the governor and corn- puny, or their committee, and shall not be enforced until ratified or varied by the governor and company, or their committee.
IX. If, owing to death or other cause, the governor, or other president appointed by the said governor and company, shall not be present, or if there faiiall be a want of sufficient members, or 011 any other account, the persons v/ho may have met together in council, may adjourn from time to time.
X. In case of the death or absence of all the governors, and of any other
OX GOVERNORS AND CHIEF FACTORS. 300
person especially appointed to preside by the governor and company, as afore said, the senior chief factor of each district, and who shall for the time being be present, shall temporarily preside at such respective council, and if the number of chief factors hereby required to form such respective full council cannot, from the intemperate state of the season, or from any other extra ordinary circumstance, assemble within any given period fixed by the said governor and company, or their committee, at the usual places respectively appointed for holding the councils, whether original or adjourned, then so many of the chief factors of each district or department as can assemble, shall, assisted by as many of the chief traders of the same district or department, as, for the time being, can conveniently be assembled for the purpose, re spectively form a temporary council, to determine the necessary outfits and arrangements of the season, and such temporary council may adjourn, from time to time, as occasion may require; subject, nevertheless, to be superseded by the original council, in case the same can be assembled during the sitting or adjournment of the temporary council.
XI. If any chief factor or chief trader misconduct or misbehave himself so as to injure the said trade in any manner howsoever, and shall thereof be convicted by proof to the satisfaction of the governor and council, or the majority of the members thereof within the district to which the party offend ing shall belong, and which governor and council shall have power to hear and determine all charges of that nature, the governor, with the concurrence of the majority of the council before whom such charges shall be brought, shall have power to expel or remove the chief factor or chief trader so offend ing; and the share or shares belonging to the chief factor or chief trader so offending shall be forfeited; and the same shall thereupon become disposable in such manner, for the benefit of the succeeding chief factor or chief trader to be substituted in the room of the offending party, as the said governor and company, or their committee, shall think fit, provided, nevertheless, no chief factor or chief trader shall be so removed or expelled by the said governor and council unless a majority shall concur in the sentence, and unless such removal or exptilsion shall be subsequently ratified by the governor and com pany, or their committee.
XII. It shall not be competent to any governor or council to dismiss any clerk for misconduct, without first obtaining the sanction of the governor and company, or their committee, in that behalf, except in cases of habitual intox ication or fraudulent or wilful misapplication of property intrusted to him, in either of which last mentioned cases it shall be competent to the governor and council of the department wherein such misconduct may arise, of their own authority to dismiss such clerk at once, and in all other cases of misconduct the governor and council shall or may suspend him from his situation until the pleasure of the governor and company, or their committee, as to his dis posal is made known.
XIII. The chief factors or chief traders who shall from time to time winter in the Indian country, shall deliver or send to the governor and council of the district wherein such chief factors or chief traders shall respectively act, and every year or oftener if required, a true account and inventory of all the goods, provisions, or other effects for the time being in hand, and also of
310 UNIOX OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
the furs, peltries, and of all debts due by Indians and canoemen, and also true accounts of the expenditure of goods and effects committed to their respective charges ; and also such information as may tend to elucidate the state and condition, of the trade under their respective management at the time.
XIV. The chief factors and chief traders shall not on their separate account, distinct from the said trade, enter into any trade, business, or com merce whatever, neither directly nor indirectly, or be in any wise concerned or interested therein, neither with Indians nor with any other person whom soever; and every such chief factor or chief trader so offending, shall for each such offence pay the sum of £1,000 to the governor and company as stated, or liquidated damages.
X'V . The present and future chief factors and chief traders during their continuance to fill such office, and as a compensation for their performance of the duties imposed, or to be hereinafter imposed, on him or them as such chief factor or chief trader, shall have, or be entitled to, such share or shares in the gains and profit of the said trade as are hereinafter specified.
XVI. That for the purpose of ascertaining from time to time the true state and condition of the stock and capital, and of the gains and profits of the said trade, inventories of such trading goods, provisions, and stores as 011 the 1st uay of June 1834, or the usual period of closing the spring trade of the outfit of 1833, and 011 the same clay or usual period in every succeed ing year during the continuance of the said trade, may remain on hand at the several depots, stations, or posts, in the territories and places aforesaid, occu pied in carrying on the said trade, as the part undisposed of to the Indians, of the outfit of the year then immediately preceding, shall be made out as soon a,-3 may be afterwards, and that thereupon the same shall be valued at a tariff, to be from time to time determined upon by the said governor and company; and the amount of such valuation shall be allowed as a credit in the account of the outfit of the year immediately preceding, and shall be made a charge in the accounts of the outfit of the year then next following ; and the same goods, provisions, and stores shall be considered as a part of the outfit of the year then next following, provided always, that in such inventories and valuations shall be included all debts which on such first day of June, or such usual period, may be owing to the said trade from traders, clerks, guides, inter preters, canoemen, and laborers or other persons, except Indians, for ad vances and supplies ; but debts due from Indians shall be included without any valuation being put thereon. And a general account shall on the first day of June 1836, and on every succeeding first day of June during the con tinuance of the said trade, be stated and ma de out in the manner following, that is to say, in stating and making out such account on the first day of June 1836, there shall be placed on the debit side of the said account, the amount of the valuation to be made as before mentioned, of the goods, provisions, stores, supplies, debts, and other articles, of which inventories are to be taken as before mentioned, and which are to form part of the outfit of the year 1834, together with interest at five per cent per annum on such amounts, from the first day of June 1834 to the 1st day of June 1836, and also the amount of the charge for the goods, provisions, and stores, ordered and to be ordered for the outfit of the year 1834, together with
ON KEEPING THE ACCOUNTS. 311
interest at the same rate on the sums forming such amount, from the re spective times of the payment of the same sums to the 1st day of June 1836, and also the amount of the valuation to be made of the Hudson's Bay House in London, with its appointments, including the furniture therein, and of the ships which shall on the same 1st day of June 1834 belong to the said governor and company, together with interest at the same rate on such amount for the period last aforesaid; and also the amounts of such of the expenses to be incurred up to the 1st day of June 1835, in respect of the establishments of the said governor and company, together with interest at the same rate, oil the amount of such expenses from the respective times of the payment thereof up to the 1st day of June 1836. And there should be placed on the credit side of the said account, the amount of the valuation to bo made before mentioned of such trading goods, provisions, and stores, as on the 1st day of June 1835, or the usual period of closing the spring trade of 1835, might remain on hand at the several depots, stations, or posts, as aforesaid, and of the debts to bo included in such valuations as aforesaid, and also the amount of the then value of the Hudson's Bay House for the time being in London, with its appurtenances, and the furniture therein, and an}7 other property which shall belong to the trade on the 1st day of June 1835, together with interest at the rate afore said 011 both amounts from the 1st clay of June 1835 to the 1st day of June 183G, and also the net amount to arise from the sale of the furs, peltries, and other articles, to be received as the returns of the outfit of the year 1834, after deducting all expenses attending or relating to the sale thereof, together with interest at the same rate on the sums forming such net amount, from the re spective prompt days of the sale of the said furs, peltries, and other articles, till the 1st day of June 1836, au^> that the balance of the said general account shall, iu the event of such balance being on the credit side of the said account, be deemed to be the gains and profits in respect of the outfit of the year 1834; and that the general account to be settled and made out on the first day of June 1837, and on every succeeding first day of June during the continuance- of the said trade, shall be stated and made out, adjusted and settled upon the like principle as the account to be stated and made out on the first day of June 1836, and in the same manner as far as circumstances will admit, in re gard to the details or particulars thereof.
XVII. The clear gains and profits arising from the said trade so to be ascertained as aforesaid, shall be considered as divisible into one hundred equal shares, whereof forty shares are and shall be appropriated to such persons as now are chief factors and chief traders, and hereinafter mentioned in articles xix. and xx., and to such persons as shall from time to time hereafter be ap pointed by the said governor and company, chief factors and chief traders to succeed them, or as a temporary provision to chief factors or chief traders, already retired, and as named in article xxi., and such persons as may here after retire or be placed on the retired list, as hereafter mentioned.
XVIII. The said party shares of gains and profits are and shall be sub divided into eighty-five shares of equal amount.
XIX. Each of the present chief factors, namely, Colin Robertson, John George McTavish, Alexander Stewart, John Clarke, George Keith, John Dugald Cameron, John Charles, John Stuart, Edward Smith. John McLoughlin,
312 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
James Keith, Joseph Brioley, Angus Bethune, Donald McKenzie, Alexander Christie, John McBean, William Mclntosh, William Connolly, John Rowand, James McMillan, Allen McDonnell, Peter Warren Dease, John Lee Lewes, Roderick McKenzie senior, and Duncan Finlayson, and also the future chief factors fur the time being, and holding a commission as such, and while he shall continue to fill the office of chief factor, shall have, or be entitled to, two of the said eighty-five shares of gains and profits, as a compensation for his performance of the duties appertaining to the office of chief factor.
XX. Each of the present chief traders, namely, Jacob Corrigal, Thomas McMurray, Donald Mclntosh, John Peter Pruden, Hugh Paries, Augustus Cameron, Simon McGillivray, John McLeod, Alexander Roderick McLeod, Alexander Fisher, Samuel Black, Peter Skcen Ogden, Cuthbcrt Gumming, Francis Heron, John Stevcright, Robert Miles, Colin Campbell, Archibald Mc Donald, John Edward Harriet, Robert Cowie, Donald Ross, John Work, Will- iani Tod, James Hargravc, Nicar Finlayson, Richard Hardisty, John Tod, John McLeod junior, and Murdock McPherson, half shares, and also of the future chief traders for the time being, and holding a commission as such, and while he shall continue to fill the office of chief trader, shall have, or be en titled to, one of the said eighty-five shares of gains and profits, as a com pensation for his performance of the duties appertaining to the office of chief trader.
XXI. The remaining six and a half shares shall be applied for the benefit of James Keith, Alexander Kennedy, Alexander McDonald, John Spencer, Robert McVicar, Joseph Felix Larouhe, Roderick McKenzie, John Warren Dease, Emilius Simpson, Alexander McTavish, and Joseph McGillivray, being chief factors and chief traders who have retired from the service, or their representatives, and to fulfil the condition entered into by the said governor and company with them, and the said shares as they fall in shrill from time to time be applied by the said governor and company according to article xxx.
XXII. The chief factors and chief traders who winter in the interior shall be allowed out of the general stores belonging to the said trade, such articles of personal necessaries as have been customarily allowed, without being charged for the same, and in addition to their respective interest in the trade, and according to the present scale of allowance, as approved by the governor and company, or their committee, and all other articles consumed by the party, or improperly expended by him, shall be charged to the private account of the party by whom the same shall have been consumed, or improperly expended.
XXIII. Any one, or more, of the present or future chief factors and chief traders for the time being, may retire at any time hereafter, upon the following terms, that is to say:
A chief factor for the time being, entitled to two eighty-fifth shares, and a chief trader for the time being, entitled to one eighty-fifth share, shall be permitted to retire upon the following allowances, that is to say, after having held his commission four years, he shall be allowed to hold his share or shares as the case may be, for one year next after his retirement, and half of his share or shares for the next succeeding six years, or which shall, or may be, respec tively held by him or his representatives respectively during the respective
SHARES AND MEMBERS. 313
period mentioned in this article, and in the computation of service as regards the present chief factors and chief traders shall be included the respective times for which they have already served; but no more than three chief factors, or two chief factors and two chief traders, shall be allowed to retire in any one year, nor then, unless he or they respectively, so desirous to retire, shall have given one year's previous notice in writing to the governor and council; and the option of retirement shall only be seniority in each class, ac cording to the dates of their respective commissions; provided always, that whenever there are chief factors and chief traders on the retired list who shall together hold to the extent of twenty-one shares, then and in such cases no other chief factor or chief trader shall be allowed to retire and receive the allowances provided under this article until there is a vacancy by the falling in of a sufficient share or interest for that purpose, unless the said governor and company, or their committee, shall think fit.
XXVII. Three chief factors and two chief traders shall be allowed to leave the territory, or place aforesaid, on furlough in each year, to be regu lated at an annual meeting of the respective council of each district, accord ing to a rotation list, and each such furlough, for the time being, is not to exceed one year without the express consent of the governor and company, or their committee, or unless the party be prevented from returning at the expiration of his furlough from severe illness, and any factor or trader absenting himself after the expiration of such furlough, without leave of the governor and company, or their committee, except from severe illness, to bo proved to the satisfaction of the governor and company, or their committee, shall be deemed and considered as having retired or vacated his situation c:- office.
XXVIII. The chief factors or chief traders not taking advantage of rota tion shall not be entitled to any furlough till it again comes to their turn, but they may exchange their rotation with any other chief factor or chief trader upon obtaining nevertheless the previous consent of the governor and council of their respective districts.
XXIX. The governor and company, or their committee, shall be at lib erty at any time, upon or after the first day of June 1839, to place upon the retiring list the present chief factors and chief traders, or any one or more of them, and from time to time, upon and from the first day of June 1849 or of any subsequent year or years; and also any chief factor or chief trader who shall be hereafter appointed, and who shall have served for the space of four years, and as to each or any of them, upon and from the first clay of June, which shall first happen next after the expiration of such his or their respec tive four years' service, or upon and from the first day of June of any subse quent year or years, but then, and in every such case, such persons, whether chief factors or chief traders, shall be entitled to hold, for the first year of his being placed upon such retired list, under this article, the whole and for the next succeeding six years the one half of his share or shares, according as such person, at the time of being so placed, shall be chief factor or chief trader, it being intended that every chief factor and chief trader shall, in case he lives and fills the office, have, for five years at least, his full share or shares, and one half share or shares for the six next succeeding years.
314 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES.
XXX. That upon the falling in of any of the said eighty-five shares held by any of the chief factors or chief traders or their representatives or parties claiming under them, and mentioned in article xxi. , and the said governor and company shall appoint a person or persons to such share or shares, when the said governor and company, or their committee, shall think it expedient so to do ; and in case of their appointing a chief factor or chief factors, or chief trader or chief traders, then the person or persons to be appointed as chief factor, or as chief factors, shall be selected from the persons then holding the situation of chief traders, and the person or persons to be appointed chief trader or chief traders, from the then clerks of the said governor and com pany.
XXXI. Hegular sets of accounts, made up the preceding 1st day of June, shall be sent out annually by the outward-bound ships of the season, to to be laid before the councils of the said company, and if no objections in writing to the same be transmitted by the homeward-bound ships belonging to the f-aid company in the following year, such accounts shall be considered as approved, and be thenceforth binding and conclusive as a settled account.
XXXII. By the same, or like, outward-bound ships of the season, each chief factor and chief trader and each clerk respectively in the service shall have his private account transmitted to him, and the balance shall be either paid to him by bills drawn by him and made payable in London on every 15th day of April, or bo paid to any person authorized by him as agent to receive the Fame and to settle the account or accounts for the time being, in respect of such balance, on the same being made up on the 1st day of June as afore said, or if the said party prefer to leave such balance in the hands of the said governor and company, and notify the same to them, the governor and com pany will either allow him interest for the same as may be agreed on, or at the option of the said governor and company invest the same in the purchase of parliamentary stock, and receive, and when received credit, his account with the dividend thereof.
XXXIII. No chief factor or chief trader who may retire, nor the repre sentatives of a chief factor or chief trader, shall after such retirement or death be at liberty, or have any right to respect or question the accounts mentioned in article xxxi., but shall respectively be concluded by the certifi cate of the governor and company, or their committee, testifying to their correctness as far as respects their shares and interests therein.
XXXIV. No person becoming entitled as assignee of the share or shares of a retired chief factor or chief trader, or the representatives of a deceased chief factor or chief trader, shall be entitled to derive any benefit therefrom, as such assignee or representative, unless such person within eighteen cal endar months, respectively next after his respective title or claim shall occur, shall give notice thereof to the said governor and company at the Hudson's Bay House in London, or their house in London for the management of their concern ; and cause the several instruments under which he respectively derives title as such assignee or representative to be then duly registered in the books of the said governor and company.
XXXV. The chief factors and chief traders now appointed, and every chief factor and chief trader, from time to time to be appointed by the gov-
DEED-POLL DAMAGES. 315
ernor and company, for the superintendence and management of the said trade or concern, shall within eighteen calendar months, next after the date hereof, with respect to the present chief factors and chief traders here before named, and with respect to all future chief factors and chief traders, shall within twelve calendar months next after the date of their respective com mission, enter into a covenant or agreement with the said governor and com pany, for the due observance and performance by them, the said chief factors and chief traders, of all conditions, agreements, ordinances, rules, regulations, herein mentioned and contained, and also all other ordinances, rules, and regu lations, to be from time to time duly made, and the terms thereof as far as the same are, or shall be, applicable to them respectively, and for payment to the said governor and company of the sum of £1,000 as liquidated damages for every wilful breach of each such conditions, agreements, rules, and regulations by the parties respectively covenanting, and for the acceptance by them respec tively of the several provisions hereby made, or to be made, for them, and every such appointment shall be voidable in case the appointee therein named shall omit or refuse to enter into such covenant or agreement within the time hereinbefore mentioned on that behalf.
And lastly, the said governor and company shall be at liberty, either by a by-law of the said company or in any other manner, to set aside and deter mine, or alter or vary from time to time, any one or more of the several arti cles hereinbefore contained, and cither wholly or in any one or more of the particulars therein mentioned, provided always that the same shall not in any wise disturb nor affect any right to which the person or persons who for the time being shall be chief factor or chief trader of the said governor and company, and in their actual employment at the time, or who having been chief factors or chief traders of the said governor and company, shall for the time being be upon the retired list of the said company or their representa tives or assignees, may be entitled under articles xvii., xviii., xix., xx., xxi., xxiii., xxiv., xxxi., or xxxii., with the consent of the person or persons whose rights shall be so affected, in writing, first had and obtained, but in either respects all and every siich determination, alterations, and variations to be made as aforesaid, shall or may take affect and be carried into execution, any thing hereinbefore contained to the contrary notwithstanding. In witness whereof the said governor and company have caused their common seal to be hereunto affixed, this sixth day of June, in the fourth year of the reign of our sovereign, Lord William the Fourth, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland king, defender of the faith, and in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty four.
CHAPTEK XV.
THE OREGON QUESTION.
1818-24.
INTRODUCTION — CHRONOLOGICAL RESUME OF TITLE-FOUNDATIONS — EPOCHS OP DISCOVERY, EXPLORATION, AND FUR-TRADE—OVERLAND OCCUPATION- TREATIES, CONTROVERSIES, AND COMMENTS — MERITS OF THE CASE BEFORE DISCUSSION — STATEMENT OF CLAIMS, 1817 — RUSH AND GALLATIN VERSUS ROBINSON AND GODLBURN— TREATY OF 1818— JOINT OCCUPATION— ITS TRUE MEANING — BOUNDARY TREATY OF 1819 BETWEEN SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES — THE NORTHWEST COAST IN CONGRESS, 1820-2 — DEBATES OF 1823 — MR BENTON'S WARNING IN THE SENATE — UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA — TREATY OF 1824 — STATEMENT OF AMERICAN CLAIMS — CONGRES SIONAL DEBATES OF 1824 — BILL FOR THE OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA — MONROE DOCTRINE.
WHAT was to be the national ownership of the Northwest Coast? This was the famous Oregon Question, first raised between Great Britain and the United States in 1818, and finally settled by a treaty establishing boundaries in 184G. It was a controversy which throughout the period mentioned, particularly in its later years, was a subject of constant popular agitation, besides giving rise at intervals to diplomatic negotiations and arguments between representatives of the two nations. As the trouble approached solu tion volumes were written and printed on its merits.
Since the cooling of partisan strife, less has been said upon the subject; }ret it is one that richly merits our careful study, one that cannot fail to interest the reader of north-western annals, and one that may now be treated clearly and with all due comprehensiveness in a comparatively brief space. In contemporary dis cussions not a few of the arguments employed on both
(31G \
INTRODUCTORY. 317
sides w^ere weak, including a large amount of irrelevant matter which may now be profitably eliminated. All the facts on which the respective national claims were made to rest, except a few so slightly and indirectly connected with the history of the Pacific States as to require only brief mention, are elsewhere put before the reader with all desirable detail and explanation, notably in the first chapters of the preceding volume devoted to the subject of maritime exploration. Yet I deem it essential to give here, as an introduction to the Oregon Question, in a compact and chronologic order, such facts as figured prominently in the controversy, with such brief comments on their significance as will save repetition and confusion in the pages that follows The quality of right, it is needless to say, was based on relative rights, on the conventional and interna tional codes, and had little to do with inherent or natural right vested alone in the natives.
In 1543, in the interest of Spain, Ferrelo, of Ca- brillo's expedition, sailed up the coast to the latitude of 44° as he reported and believed. In 1579 Drake, an Englishman, reached, according to his belief and that of his companions, a latitude between 40° and 48°, the best supported interpretation of their opinion fixing the limit at 43°. In 1603 A^uilar, commanding one
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of Vizcaino's Spanish exploring vessels, also reached a point which by his observations was in 43°. These latitudes were not questioned in early times, and indeed there was then no good reason to doubt their accuracy. In this first epoch of exploration, therefore, Spain was entitled, so far as discovery could give a title, to about one hundred miles of the Northwest Coast. To-day there is reason to doubt that either of the three navigators named really passed the latitude of 42°; if the doubt is less in the case of Drake than of the others, it is chiefly for want of evidence to the contrary; and the difference, so far as title is con cerned, is in a sense counterbalanced by the doubt
318 THE OREGON QUESTION.
whether the discoveries of Drake as a freebooter, or outlaw, could confer any territorial rights whatever upon his nation. As a matter of fact, not much im portance was attached in later discussions on national title, to the discoveries of these earliest voyagers. The topic was vague, and full of difficulties; neither England nor Spain could derive any definite advantage from it; and it is as well for us to regard the coast above 42° as an undiscovered country throughout the seventeenth century and three fourths of the eigh teenth.
The second epoch of discovery and title-founding included, like the first three expeditions, two Spanish and one English; but unlike the first its events are clearly recorded, and leave no room for doubt or dif ficulty respecting results. Perez in 1774 sailed up to about the latitude of 55°, noted the present Dixon entrance and the islands and points about that strait, followed the coast southward, anchored at Nootka Sound, and sighted the coast at several different points both above and below Nootka. In 1775 Hcceta and Cuadra, in two vessels, extended the Spanish explora tion up to 58°, saw from a short distance nearly the whole extent of the Northwest Coast, discovered the mouth of the Columbia River, and landed to take formal possession in latitude 47° 20', and at two points on the Alaska coast, besides exploring the harbors of Trinidad and Bodega on the California coast. In 1778
O
Captain Cook, in command of a British exploring expedition, touched the coast in latitude 44° 55', and made observations for a hundred miles below, subse quently sighting Cape Flattery, making a careful survey of Nootka, and then proceeding to make an extended exploration of the Alaska coast, already dis covered by the Russians. I think that there can be no doubt that the explorations of 1774-5 gave to Spain as valid a title as mere discovery 6ould give to all the Northwest Coast, and that Cook's later survey, less extensive but in several respects more accurate, gave
SUMMARY OF VOYAGES. 319
to England no title whatever. A country can be dis covered but once. If accuracy of survey is to be taken into the account, large portions of the country in question are still undiscovered. English writers and diplomatists would perhaps never have ventured to base any territorial claims on Cook's voyage if the Spanish voyages had been satisfactorily recorded. Yet not only were the Spaniards the true discoverers, but a printed narrative in English of Heceta's expedition, with allusions to that of Perez, was in circulation before Cook's narrative appeared.
Meanwhile the Russians from the north had dis- coA7ered America, and in 1741 had touched the coast as low as latitude 5G°. There was never any definite settlement of boundaries between Spain and Russia. The former claimed that her possessions extended to Prince William Sound, and the latter at times ex tended her claims to the Columbia; but the respective claims were not zealously urged, and resulting contro versies had very slight bearing at any time on the present subject.
Also preceding the Spanish discovery of 1774-5 were certain acts affecting international boundaries east of the Rocky Mountains, which were made to figure beyond their merits in the Oregon Question. In 1762-3 Canada and all French possessions east of the Mississippi were ceded to great Britain; while the rest of Louisiana — that is of French territory west of the Mississippi — was ceded to Spain. No boundary had ever been established between the French and English possessions. By the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 commissioners were to fix such a boundary so as to give to England all rivers and places belonging to Hudson Bay, that is presumably along the heights separating waters flowing into that bay from those tributary to the St Lawrence and the Mississippi: but no such line was established. No boundary was needed east of the river after 1763, all being English territory. Neither had any western limit ever been
320 THE OREGON QUESTION.
fixed or needed for the English or French possessions. But Louisiana may naturally be regarded as having included all lands drained by western tributaries of the Mississippi. Writers have indulged in long dis cussions respecting some of these points, but I have no room for the differences of opinion, which do not materially affect the question at issue.
By the treaty of 1783, acknowledging the inde pendence of the United States, the north-western boundary was defined by a line running due west from the most north-western point of Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi, and thence down that river. This, though sufficient for the needs of the time, was no boundary at all; for the head-waters of the river are some eighty miles directly south of the lake, to say nothing of the difficulty of finding the most north western point of a lake of such peculiar shape. Whether the dominant idea of the makers was a line between latitudes 49° and 50° or a direct line from the lake to the river at its nearest point was an enigma left for future diplomacy to solve.
In 1785 the English fur-trading voyages began with Hanna's trip. About forty British traders vis ited the coast before 1800. Their local discoveries were extensive in the aggregate, but results were im perfectly recorded. A few details made to figure in later discussions will be noted in their order. These traders founded no settlements or permanent trading- posts which could serve as a base for national claims.
In 1786 La Pcrouso, in the French interest, sailed along the coast from north to south. In its bearing on the matter of title this exploration is similar to that of Cook.
Barclay, in a vessel from Ostend, under the flag of the Austrian East India Company, discovered but did not enter the strait afterward called Fuca, in 1787.
Duncan, an English trader, was the first to sail through the passage between Queen Charlotte Island and the main in 1787—8.
DISCOVERY TITLE. 321
In 1788 the American far-trade began with the voyage of Kendrick and Gray. Before 1800 about forty vessels had visited the coast, and later the Amer icans monopolized the trade. My remarks on the Eng lish traders applv equally to the Boston men so far as
11 discovery and settlement are concerned.
It was also in 1788 that Meares, an English trader, whose vessel for special purposes was under Portu guese colors, erected a small building at Nootka for temporary trading facilities, though he claimed to have purchased lands from the native chiefs. Meares also built and launched this year at Nootka the first vessel ever constructed on the Northwest Coast; and he was the first to enter the strait discovered by Barclay, to which he gave the name of Juan de Fuca. Furthermore he visited the mouth of Heceta's great river, and decided that no river was there. He claimed to have taken possession of the strait for Great Britain, but there is some reason to doubt his statement.
In 1789 Spain sent an expedition to take formal possession of Nootka, to erect a fort, and to found a permanent settlement. This Spanish establishment was maintained for six }^ears, receiving supplies regu larly from San Bias.
*/
This same year Meares and his English company at tempted to found a permanent trading-post at or near Nootka, but were not permitted by the Spaniards to do so; and in the ensuing quarrel three English ves sels were taken as Spanish prizes.
It was claimed that in 1789 Kendrick the Ameri can trader, not only penetrated the Strait of Fuca, but sailed through into the Pacific above. The evi dence is not, however, sufficient to establish this fact.
Great Britain in 1790 not only demanded from Spain a restoration of such property as had been seized at Nootka, but protested against the Spanish claim to exclusive ownership of the Northwest Coast. Spain had to yield both points, and by the con-
HIST . N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 21
322 THE OREGON QUESTION.'
vention of October 28, 1790, it was agreed that in future the whole coast above the places already occupied — that is in spirit, above San Francisco, but literally perhaps above Nootka — should be free to both nations for trade, navigation, and settlement, each nation having also free access to all establish ments of the other.
As to the territorial rights bestowed by mere dis covery, there are many differences of opinion among competent authorities. Most writers hold that dis covery must be followed within a reasonable time by steps toward occupation in order to create a title which other nations are bound to respect. But whatever the nature of the discovery title, it evidently belonged to Spain alone, down to 1790; and it is equally evident that after the Nootka convention Spain relinquished her right to exclusive ownership. She could regain it only by actual occupation of the coast, or by obtain ing a voluntary or enforced acknowledgment of her right from other nations.
From 1790 to 1792 Spain in three successive ex plorations, those of Quimper, Elisa, and Galiano, en tered the Strait of Fuca, and made a thorough survey of the inland waters. In the last year the English explorer, Vancouver, made a like exploration, being for a part of the time in company with Galiano, and being the first to emerge into the Pacific, proving the Nootka region to be an island. Vancouver extended his survey further north; and northern explorations were also made for Spain by Fidalgo in 1790, by Malaspina in 1791, and by Caamafio in 1792. The operations of these three years, especially those of the English explorer, which were more fully made known to the world than the others, were vastly im portant for the advancement of geographical knowl edge ; but they had no importance as bases for national claims to the Northwest Coast. Both English and Spanish explorers took formal possession in the name of their respective sovereigns at several different
THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 323
points; but obviously under the convention of 1790 these ceremonies had no possible force.
In 1791 Captain Kendrick purchased from the native chieftains,, taking deeds signed with their marks and duly witnessed, large tracts of land in the Nootka region. It is remarkable that in later discussions so little prominence was given to Kendrick's purchase as an element of United States title. On it might have been founded a stronger argument, to say the least, than some that were persistently urged. This same year the Americans built a house for winter- quarters at Clayoquot; and built a schooner, which was launched the next spring.
In 1791 Fidalgo founded a Spanish post at Port Nunez Gaona, or Neah Bay, within the strait; but it was abandoned before the end of the year.
Both Gray and Vancouver in 1792, as Heceta and Meares had been before, were at the mouth of the Columbia. The Englishman convinced himself that there was no river, or at least no safe navigable open ing there; while the swift current prevented the American from entering. But in May of the same year Gray returned and crossed the bar, being the first to enter the river, which he ascended some twen ty-five miles, bestowing on it the name of his vessel the Columbia. From the American point of view in later years this was the discovery of the river and the strongest element in the United States title to the coast. The river had, however, been discov ered seventeen years before, and Gray's act, though in reality a re-discovery, must not be allowed to as sume a too great or overwhelming superiority over that of Heceta. However this may be, I have already expressed my conviction that in 1792 there was no field on this coast for such discovery as could alone give national sovereignty. Gray's act might under certain circumstances have been regarded as a step toward occupation conferring title; that is, if he had gone to Boston, and on returning with an American
324 THE OREGOX QUESTION.
colony for the mouth of the Columbia, had found an English post established there by men who had known his plans, his government might plausibly have claimed an exclusive right to settle at that point.
In November of the same year Broughton of Van couver's expedition also entered the Columbia, and followed its course much further than Gray had done. This navigator, making a fine distinction between the
O ' O
river and its estuary, advanced a theory beside which the assurance of the American discovery dwindles into modesty itself: namely, that Gray had never seen the liver nor been within five leagues of its entrance. English diplomats, however, did not found, their claims to any great extent on this theory.
In 1793 was accomplished the first overland expe dition to the Pacific, by Alexander Mackenzie, an English explorer and fur-trader. His route was up the Peace River and clown the Eraser — believed then and later to be the Columbia — crossing from the river
O
to the coast just above latitude 52°.
A treaty of 1704 between Great Britain and the United States provided for a joint survey to regulate the boundary line of 1780, in the region of the upper Mississippi and Lake of the Woods, the geographical absurdity of that line having become somewhat ap parent; but nothing was done in the matter.
In 1794-5 the Nootka controversy in its last phases was settled. The Spanish commissioner had taken the ground that as no property except the ships had been taken from Englishmen in 1789. therefore there
O *
was nothing more to be restored; but the Engiihs commissioner had demanded that the port of Nootka should be given up. By the treaty of 1794, both nations agreed to a formal abandonment of the place, and it was formally abandoned by representatives of both nations in 1795. After this time either Spain or England might settle on, and thus acquire title to, any part of the coast except Nootka. Neither power ever took any steps toward the formation of such
SPAIN AND ENGLAND. 325
settlements; neither power gave any further attention officially to the coast; and soon the region was prac tically forgotten by all but American fur-traders.
War between Great Britain and Spain broke out in 1796, lasting practically until 1809. The effect of this war on the Nootka treaty has been the subject of much discussion. It is generally admitted that as a rule treaty obligations are ended by war between the parties; but also that recognitions of right in a treaty may be perpetual, and that various conventions and compacts may be from their very nature inde pendent of peace or war. On the part of England it was claimed that the Nootka convention, recognizing the right of British subjects to settle on the North west Coast, was permanent in its nature, and could not be affected by a war, unless in that war Great Britain should be forced to definitely relinquish her right. In the American view on the other hand, the convention was but a series of concessions by Spain, England obtaining merely the privilege of establishing posts for temporary purposes of trade in Spanish territory. By this view Spain's exclusive sovereignty and owner ship remained unimpaired, and the privilege of course expired with the declaration of war. Yet the privi lege must not be regarded as a purely commercial one by Americans, because in 1814, before the United States became a party to the question, all commercial treaties in force before 1796 between Spain and Eng land were restored. These two countries never had any controversy on the subject; and the only point at issue is the validity of the title subsequently trans mitted by Spain to the United States.
Though the discussion is of interest I do not deem it necessary to present its intricate complications, because the decision, whatever it may be, has no real bearing on the question of title. If the Nootka con vention remained in force after 1796, of course Spain had no exclusive title to transmit to a third power; but if the convention was ended by the war, it by no
326 THE OREGON QUESTION.
means follows that Spain had such a title, or that England had lost her right to settle on the coast. Spain's title was at its best in 1789. She had then all the title that discovery alone could give, supple mented by actual occupation of Nootka. The discovery title alone was of doubtful validity in the eyes of the world. The occupation of Nootka, though valid and legitimate at the time, was not really intended as the beginning of a permanent and wide-spread extension of Spanish settlement northward, but rather as a temporary expedient to keep foreigners away until the country's value could be ascertained. With the lapse of time, even if Nootka were still held, the purpose of Spain would become apparent, and the nations would by no means admit her right to exclude foreign settlers from a long stretch of coast which she neither occupied nor had any immediate intention of utilizing. Such being the case, what shall be said of Spain's title, when instead of enforcing her exclusive claims she by treaty admitted England to equal rights with herself? when she not only did not extend her posts but abandoned her only establishment on the coast? when she not only failed to exercise her rights of navigation and commerce under the convention, but saw without pro test the fur-trade of the north-west monopolized by Americans ? when high Spanish officials made no secret of the fact that there was no intention to occupy the country? Will the most ardent supporter of the dis covery title claim that its validity could have endured through all this? Can any one believe, for instance, that Spain had a right to prevent the Winships in 1810, or Astor in 1811, from establishing a post on the Columbia?
In 1797 Finlay crossed the mountains by Peace River in about 56°, giving his name to a branch of that stream.
From 1800, as has been stated, the coast fur-trade was almost exclusively in the hands of Americans without official protest from any other nation.
INLAND EXPLORATIONS. 327
In 1800, Louisiana, in all its original extent west of the Mississippi, but without specified boundaries in the north-west, was ceded by Spain back to France.
In 1803 the same territory was ceded by France to the United States. As the boundary on the west was presumably the Rocky Mountains, this acquisi tion gave the United States a new interest in the Pacific territory, now in a sense adjoining her own possessions. It also gave a new importance to the matter of a northern boundary.
In a convention of 1803, never ratified, it was agreed that the boundary between English and Amer ican territory should be from the Lake of the Woods to the Mississippi River by the shortest line.
Spain by no means, howrever, admitted that the Louisiana lately purchased by the United States extended to the Rocky Mountains, as appeared from negotiations on the subject in 1804, which led to no result, but only to hopeless disagreement.
Fraser and Stuart, for the Northwest Company, crossed the mountains, and founded on McLeod Lake the first British post in the territory.
Lewis and Clarke, in 1804-6, accomplished for the United States, what Mackenzie had done before for England, that is, they made an overland exploration to the Pacific. Their route was down the Clearwater, Snake, and Columbia rivers, touching also the Salmon and Clarke branches in the Rocky Mountains, and reaching a latitude somewhat above 47° in the interior. Having spent the winter from November to March in camp on the south bank of the Columbia near its mouth, they returned in 1806 by way of the head waters of the Missouri to the eastern states. This was an official government exploration, but that it "was an announcement to the world of the intention of the American government to occupy and settle the countries explored," as one writer declared, may be questioned. It gave the same kind of a title that Mackenzie's expedition had given to regions further
328 THE OREGON QUESTION.
north, that is, no title at all, unless followed by actual occupation.
In 1806, Russian officials of high rank favored the founding of a post on the Columbia, to prevent that region from falling into American hands, but nothing was accomplished in this direction.
In 180G— 7 the boundary east of the mountains was again the subject of negotiation; and by a treaty, like the preceding ones never ratified, though approved by both governments, it was fixed on the parallel of 49°, as far westward as the possessions of the respective parties might extend, but not to the territory claimed by either beyond the Rocky Mountains. It is notice able that President Jefferson objected to the last con dition as "an offensive intimation to Spain that the claims of the United States extend to the Pacific Ocean." The choice of 49° seems to have originated in an erroneous impression from certain old maps that such was the line fixed between French and English
o
possessions in 1/13.
In 180G two forts were established on Fraser and Stuart lakes respectively, and having founded Fort George in 1807 at the confluence of the Stuart and Fraser rivers, in 1808 the two adventurers who had named those streams went down the latter to its mouth, in latitude 49°.
It was also in 1808 that Russia made some com plaints respecting the movements of American traders; and in the negotiations which resulted, it was stated that the Russian American fur company claimed the whole coast to and beyond the Columbia.
The Missouri fur company having been organized in 1808, Henry, one of its agents, founded in 1809 a trading-post on the Hemy branch of Snake River in about 44°. This was the first establishment by citi zens of the United States west of the Rocky Moun tains; but on account of Indian hostilities it had to be abandoned in 1810.
The Winships of Boston attempted in 1810 to estab-
INTERIOR POSTS. 329
lisli a trading-post on the south bank of the Columbia, about fifty miles above its mouth ; but the scheme was abandoned on account of the hostile attitude of the natives.
In 1 8 1 0 Thompson, of the Northwest Company, after exploring the river that bears his name, wintered near the junction of Canoe River and the main Columbia in about 52°. In the spring of 1811 he continued his journey down the river, taking possession by raising flags and huts at various points, to the Spokane in 48°; and there a post was established by Stuart or Mc Donald, in what month does not appear. Thompson was the first to explore the main Columbia above the mouth of the Snake. He doubtless intended to take possession for his company and for England at the mouth of the Columbia, where he arrived in July; but he was too late.
The Pacific Fur Company of New York, organized by Astor in 1810, sent out by sea a party which in March 1811 founded the post of Astoria on the south bank of the Columbia near its mouth. Later in the year this company sent men up the river to found a post at the mouth of the Okanagan in about 48°; and points on the Clearwater and Willamette were occu pied for a time as stations by parties of trappers.
The most that can be claimed for the acts of Astor's company is that they gave to the United States the same kind of territorial rights as England had gained from the founding of forts Fraser, Stuart, and others in the north; that is, that the founding of Astoria was a legitimate act of occupation, giving a national title — permanent if the settlement should not be abandoned — to a certain territory, the extent of which would depend on subsequent operations of this com pany and others. There was nothing in what had been done that necessarily prevented either the Pacific or Northwest companies from extending their posts north or south, leaving the question of boundaries to be settled later.
330 THE OREGON QUESTION.
In admitting this American claim founded on Astoria, however, it is necessary to overrule some very plausible objections on the English side, to the effect that the Pacific Fur Company was merely a mercantile firm, and as such was not definitely author ized by government to establish posts west of the Rocky Mountains; that a majority of the partners were British subjects, Astor himself being a German by birth; that the British partners obtained from the minister of their nation an assurance that in case of war they would be respected as British subjects and merchants; and that Astor before beginning active operations offered to the Northwest Company a share in the enterprise. Yet whatever force these objections may have had seems to have been lost by the failure of Great Britain to insist on them when, as will be seen, an opportunity presented itself for doing so. That the establishment of the northern trading-posts gave to either of the respective nations any claim to exclusive ownership of the whole coast, or of broad sections of it apart from the points actually occupied, cannot be admitted.
In 1812 the Russian American Fur Company es tablished a post near Bodega on the California coast. This was done without the consent of Spain or of any Spanish official; and the establishment was kept up for about thirty years in spite of oft repeated pro tests from Spain and Mexico. Russia, however, never laid claim to any territorial possessions in California by reason of the company's settlements at Bodega and Ross.
By the terms of partnership the Astor company, if successful, was to continue for at least twenty years, but if unprofitable might be dissolved by the partners at any time within five. In 1813 it was contemplated by members at Astoria to abandon the enterprise on account of the war between England and the United States, and the consequent impossibility of obtaining supplies or protection from New York. Later in the
OCCUPATION OF ASTORIA. 331
same year it was determined, however, instead of simply abandoning the post and dissolving the com pany, to sell out the property to the Northwest Company; and the bargain was concluded, the price being $80,500. Immediately after the sale the British man-of-war Raccoon appeared, and the British flag was raised over Fort George, by which name Astoria was now for a time to be known.
It has been charged that the nationality of the resident partners had an influence in this transaction, though I doubt it. But whether they acted for the best interests of their company, or in good faith toward Astor, is a question that has no bearing on the present discussion, and is fully considered else where. Had they been Americans by birth and in feeling, they might or might not have refused to negotiate a sale, and have held Fort Astoria until forced to abandon it, but I think it would have made little difference. Such action, however, could only have had an influence on the question of title eventu ally, by their success in maintaining themselves in possession of the interior for several years, and a consequent readiness to reoccupy Astoria, and con tinue the original enterprise from 1818. That they would or could have done this seems to me on the whole improbable; but the point is not an essential one, as will presently appear.
Another question of some interest, the importance of which was greatly lessened if not removed by a sub sequent agreement, was whether the Astor company could by a sale of its property transfer the sovereign ty from the United States to England. Apparently not if the original founding had been an act author ized by the government with a view to acquiring title ; but it was not such an act ; it was not done for such a purpose; and the permanent abandonment of the post would have put it in the same category as those of Henry and Winship, so far as title is con cerned.
332 THE OREGON QUESTION.
By the treaty of 1814 Great Britain agreed to restore to the United States all places taken during the war. There was no allusion to territory west of the Rocky Mountains, or to boundaries; though the American plenipotentiaries had been instructed to consent to no claim on the part of England to terri tory south of latitude 49° in the region of the Lake of the Woods.
From 1813 until 1818 the Northwest Company "emainecl in undisturbed possession of Fort Astoria. In 1817 the United States took steps to assert their claim to the post under the treaty. The British minister remonstrated to the effect that the place was not captured during the war, but that it had been abandoned by the Americans who voluntarily sold the property to an English company, so that no claim for its restitution could be founded on the treaty of 1813. The American government insisted, however, on its right to Astoria, and after some discussion both at Washington and London, Great Britain yielded the point, and admitted the American right to be rein stated and to be the party in possession while treating on the title and negotiations on the subject and that of the boundaries were about to be commenced. Ac cordingly Fort Astoria was formally restored, and the fla^ of the United States was raised in Novem-
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ber 1818, though the English company remained for many years in possession.
. That the United States had a right to require and that Great Britian was under a legal obligation to make this concession has been doubted by some, but this doubt has no special bearing on the present topic. It is enough that the restoration was made.
It is important, however, to understand the exact purport of the act, since there was a manifest tendency in later years to exaggerate its importance. It was in no sense a recognition of the American title to the Northwest Coast, or to that part of it tying south of the Columbia. It was merely, as stated, an admission
SUMMARY OF EVIDENCE. 333
of a right of the United States to be the party in possession at Fort Astoria while treating on the title. It had no bearing necessarily on any territory beyond the precincts of Astoria. It was at most an agree ment that if the United States should after investiga tion be deemed by the founding of Astoria or by other earlier acts to have acquired an exclusive ownership of the coast or any part of it, England would not urge the transfer of 1813 as destroying that title; and it implied on the other hand that if the exclusive title was found to belong to England, the United States could not urge the retransfer of 1818. Or to look at the matter from another point of view, if the Amer icans should renew their fur-trading operations, estab lishing posts or settlements as they had a right to do, they could not be deprived by their rivals of the desirable position at the mouth of the Columbia.
Thus in the form of an introduction the Oregon title has been brought down to the date of 1818 when controversy began. I have disposed of each subdi vision briefly, because each expedition has been de scribed in detail before. If in my comments I may seem to have decided in advance the whole question at issue, dismissing somewhat too summarily the lengthy arguments of abler men on several phases of the question, I have to say that this course has been taken deliberately with a view to economize space and avoid useless repetition in what is to follow — in chap ters, not volumes — where the tenor of the arguments will necessarily appear. It is well also to remind the reader that during the discussion from 1818 to 1846, many of the facts in the case were by no means so well known as now. Both parties repeatedly based some of their conclusions on inaccurate statements of fact. And above all it should be remembered that the many able men who wrote on this question were without exception advocates and partisans on one side or the other, whose real opinions we have no
334 THE OREGON QUESTION.
means of knowing, and whose only aim was to win their case.
In 1818 the Northwest Company were the only occupants of this broad territory, where they had sev eral forts, or trading -posts, to the possession of one of which, however, by the voluntary act of Great Britain, the United States was entitled. Neither nation had any just claim to exclusive ownership of the whole or any large part of the territory between 42° and 55°; both had the right to hunt or settle at any unoccupied point ; each had a rightful title to the posts it had already established, and might rightfully found others; either nation might interfere to protect its subjects if wronged in local quarrels; and finally, if neither party withdrew, there must arise a Question of National Boundary, to be settled solely by the ter ritory occupied at the time. Such was the state of affairs in equity before 1818; such it became more practically, and in a sense legally, after that date, as we shall see.
While the correspondence of 1817 was not strictly speaking a part of the main controversy — since the United States demanded and England conceded the
O
restoration of Astoria, not because of a just title to that region, but simply because the place had been occupied by Americans, and had been taken during the war — yet this negotiation was in a sense the beginning of that controversy; for the American commissioners to Fort Astoria were instructed to " assert in a friendly and peaceable manner the claims of the United States to the sovereignty of the adjacent country;" and the British minister in his turn protesting, affirmed that "the territory itself was early taken possession of in his Majesty's name, and had been since considered as forming part of his Majesty's dominions." Moreover, England at the same time in instructions to her representatives declared herself " not prepared to admit the validity of the title of the government of the United States to this
U^DER DISCUSSION. 335
settlement/' and the representative in consenting to the restoration of the post held by the United States at the outbreak of the war was to " assert in suitable terms the claim of Great Britain to that territory, upon which the American settlement must be considered an encroachment." Thus were the respective claims first asserted, though somewhat vaguely; and argu ments were reserved for the future.1
There were several distinct subjects involved in the international negotiations of these years, and settled by the treaty of 1818, only two of which, however, have any connection with the subject under consideration, and those deemed the least important of all. They were the questions of title to the Northwest Coast, and of the boundary west of Lake of the Woods, and both were treated practically as one matter. Richard Rush and Albert Gallatin represented the United States by President Monroe's appointment of May
10n the restoration of Astoria to the United States and the attendant negotiations, the authorities are as follows: President' 's Mess, and Doc., Dec. 29, 1818, April 15, 17, 1822, the last and most important being found in American 'State Papers, For. Eel.,iv. 85l-G;alsoinA?inalsof Congress, 17thCong., Isttiess., 2130-GO; lluskisson and Addington's British Statement, 1826, in Id., vi. 665; Gallatin's American Counter-statement, 1826, in Id., vi. 670; British and Foreign State Papers, 1819-20, 1821-2, as cited by Twiss, Or. Quest. , 197-204, 347-51. The author last named, also Greenhow, Or. and Cal., 306-16, 452-3, give a very satisfactory account of the whole subject. The following ex tract from Secretary Adams' letter of May 20, 1818, to Mr Rush, the American envoy, is interesting as showing the attitude of the United States : ' As it was not anticipated that any disposition existed in the British government to start questions of title with us on the borders of the South Sea, we could have no possible motive for reserve or concealment. In suggesting these ideas to Lord Castlereagh, rather in conversation than in any formal manner, it may be proper to remark the minuteness of the present interests either to Great Britain or to the United States, involved in this concern ; and the unwilling ness, for that reason, of this government to include it among the objects of serious discussion with them. At the same time you might give him to un derstand, though not unless in a manner to avoid everything offensive in the suggestion, that from the nature of things, if in the course of future events it should ever become an object of serious importance to the United States, it can scarcely be supposed that Great Britain would find it useful or advisable to resist their claim to possession by systematic opposition. If the United States leave her in undisturbed enjoyment of all her holds upon Europe, Asia, and Africa, with all her actual possessions in this hemisphere, we may very fairly expect that she will not think it consistent either with a wise or a friendly policy to watch with eyes of jealousy and alarm every possibility of extension to our natural dominion in North America, which she can have no solid interest to prevent until all possibility of her preventing it shall have vanished.' American State Papers, For. Rd., iv. 854.
336 THE OREGON QUESTION.
22, 1818; while the interests of Great Britain were intrusted to Frederick John Robinson and Henry Goulburn. The United States, so far as may be judged by Mr Adams' instructions, did not deem present action on either of the two matters as of pressing importance, especially the determination of rights and boundaries on the Pacific, now that its right to the Astoria post was admitted. Indeed, he declared that in that region, "save pretensions, there is no object to any party worth contending for;" but "from the earnestness with which the British govern ment now returns to the object of fixing this boundary, there is reason to believe that they have some other purpose connected with it, which they do not avow, but which in their estimation gives it an importance not belonging to it, considered in itself."'
The topics that interest us first came up at the third conference in London on the 17th of September. Each party was disposed to think its nation had the better title to the Northwest Coast; but the arguments submitted were brief and superficial. As reported by Gallatin and Hush, "the British plenipotentiaries asserted that former voyages, and principally that of Captain Cook, gave to Great Britain the right derived from discovery ; and they alluded to purchases from the natives south of the Columbia River, which
a Adams to Gallatin and Rush, July 28, 1818. He adds that England having given up her claim to a line to the Mississippi, and even to the navi gation of that river, the north-western boundary would seem of no importance to her; but 'the new pretension of disputing our title to the settlement at the mouth of the Columbia either indicates a design on their part to encroach, by new establishments of their own, upon the 49th parallel of latitude, south of which they can have 110 valid claim upon this continent; or it mani fests a jealousy of the United States, a desire to check the progress of our set tlements. Their projects . . . in 180G . . .and 1814were to take 49° . . .west, as far as the territories of the United States extend in that direction, with a caveat against its extension to the South Sea, or beyond the Stony Mountains, upon which two observations are to bo made. . .secondly, that they always affected to apply the indefinite limit of extension as far as the territories extend, to the territories of the United States, and not to those of Great Britain, leaving a nest-egg for future pretensions on their part south of latitude 49°. The coun ter-projects for the line on our part therefore were. . .along that parallel, due west, as far as the territories of both parties extend in that direction, and adopting the caveat against extension to the Pacific.'
BOUNDARY PROPOSED. 337
they alleged to have been made prior to the American revolution;" and the Americans, "so far as discovery gave a claim, ours to the whole country on the waters of the Columbia River was indisputable. It bad derived its name from that of the American ship com manded by Captain Gray, who had first discovered and entered its mouth. It was first explored, from its sources to the ocean, by Lewis and Clarice, and before the British traders from Canada had reached any of its waters. The settlement at Astoria was also the first permanent establishment made in that quarter;" still "we did not assert that the United States had a per fect right to that country, but insisted that their claim was at least good against Great Britain." The Brit ish plenipotentiaries showed a desire during the whole negotiation to unite the two subjects, being unwilling to agree to a boundary east of the mountains, unless an agreement could be made respecting the western region. Accordingly, the Americans proposed an ex tension of the line clue west on the parallel of 49° to the Pacific Ocean.8 This Robinson and Goulburn would not accede to, intimating that the Columbia
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River would be the most convenient boundary, and declaring that they would agree to none that did not give them the harbor at the river's mouth in common with the United States. This meeting with no favor, they proposed at the conference of October 6th that west of the mountains the territory between latitudes 45° and 49° should be free for purposes of trade to both nations, neither to exercise sovereign authority within those limits, but this agreement was not to prejudice the claims of either or of any other power.4 Rather than assent to this, the Americans preferred to leave
3 Annex B. to protocol of third conference. This was to affect only the rights of the parties without reference to the claims of any other nation. The subjects of both powers were also to have free access with their ships and cargoes, and equal privileges of trade, in all places, ports, and rivers on the Northwest Coast, and the navigation of all rivers flowing into the Pacific and intersected by the boundary was to be free.
4Aimex B. C. to protocol of fifth conference. In connection with the boundary of 49° it stipulated for free navigation of the Mississippi River. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 22
338 THE OREGON QUESTION.
the whole matter on both sides of the mountains in abeyance; but at the next conference they proposed amendments, making the whole western region free for trade instead of that portion between 45° and 49°. The proposition thus amended with other verbal changes was again presented by the Englishmen on October 13th, and after another amendment submitted by the Americans at the eighth conference, by w^hich the agreement was limited to the period of ten years, it was approved by both parties, and the treaty wTas signed on October 20, 1818.
By this convention, or treaty of joint occupation, the Northwest Coast became free to subjects of Great Britain and the United States for a period of ten years. The question of title or national sovereignty was left exactly as it stood before. As far west as the Rocky Mountains the parallel of 49° was made the permanent boundary.5
As I have previously remarked, the treaty of 1818 left the two nations in respect of their rights on the Northwest Coast exactly where they stood before, the natural and equitable right of English or American subjects to trade, hunt, and settle where they pleased being now formally acknowledged. Each party merely reserved the right to prove, or insist on, ten years later, an exclusive ownership, founded on events pre ceding 1818, not to be affected by anything done by either side after that date. There was no quarrel;
5 The treaty negotiations and preliminary correspondence are given in full in the President's Mess, and Doc., Dec. 29, 1818, 15th Cong., 2d Sess., under heading Great, Britain, Convention of October 20, 1818, in American State Papers, For. lid., iv. 348-407. The parts relating particularly to the sub ject are on pp. 371-2, 374, 37G-7, 380-1, 384, 391-3, 305, 397, 406. 'Art. 3. It is agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the Northwest Coast of America westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within the same be free and open, for the term of ten years from the date of the signature of the present convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers, it being well understood that this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim which either of the two high contracting parties may have to any part of the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of any other power or state to any part of the said country ; the only object of the high contracting parties, in that respect, being to prevent dis putes and differences among themselves.'
JOINT OCCUPANCY. 339
but each party reserved the right to quarrel at a later date, and under favorable circumstances, should the country prove worth the trouble. Neither at tached great importance to the subject at the time; neither had much faith in its own exclusive right, beyond a vague idea that it was at least equal to that of the other. Neither really expected ultimately to prove the validity of its old exclusive title, unless possibly it might sometime be enforced by war, or to avert war; but should it appear in the end — and they more than suspected perhaps what the reader knows, that it must so appear — that there was no exclusive title on either side in 1818, then subsequent acts of occupation would become potent, and in this respect each was willing to trust the future. It was not expected, however, that ten years would make any radical change in the situation, and each party hoped for some advantage from the slight modifica tions likely to occur.
England saw the territory in the actual possession of the English Northwest Company, who would nat urally extend their operations; it was doubtful if Astor's, or any other American company, would reenter the field as rivals; it was not likely that set tlers would be attracted to this distant country for many years, especially while the title remained unde termined; and still less likely that the United States government would maintain posts in advance of com mercial and agricultural occupation. The Americans, on the other hand, had little fear that any other Eng lishmen than fur -hunters would occupy the coast; they believed the Pacific Company would renewT its operations; they hoped settlers might be induced to cross the continent; at any rate they had unlim ited faith in the future development of their nation, and were content to leave their rights in abeyance until such time as they might be ready to exercise them. The decision was a wise and equitable one for both parties.
340 THE OREGOX QUESTION.
Throughout the ten years Darned in the treaty the English fur-hunters remained in possession of the territory, their rivals failing to exercise the privileges conceded to them. Meanwhile there occurred a series of events which had an influence on this subject, though the importance of some of them in this respect has generally been exaggerated.
The first was the signing of the Florida treaty between the United States and Spain on Feb. 22, 1819. The negotiations preceding this treaty were long and complicated; but the boundary in northern regions was an unimportant feature in the discussions. In 1805 the United States had proposed a line run ning north from the sources of the lied River; while Spain had preferred a boundary commission to explore the unknown region north of Red River and investi gate documents bearing on the title; but nothing was clone.6 At the beginning of 1818 the Spanish plenipotentiary, Luis cle Onis, wrote: "The right and dominion of the crown of Spain to the Northwest Coast of America as high as the Californias, is not less certain and indisputable, the Spaniards having explored it as far as the 47th degree, in the expedition under Juan de Fuca, in 1592, and in that under the Admiral Fontc to the 55th degree in 1G40." That the Spanish claim was thus founded on the fictitious discoveries of Fuca and Fonte shows how little was known or cared about the matter; the claim was not disputed, and the subject was dropped until the ques tion of boundary came up near the close of the nego tiation. Spain had wished in exchange for Florida to obtain everything west of the Mississippi; but attention was given almost exclusively to the south. On October 31st Mr Adams proposed as a bound ary the Red River, Rocky Mountains, and the line of 41° to the Pacific. This was the first intimation of
6 President's Mess, and Doc., Dec. G, 1805, Sfh Cong. 2d Sess., in American State Papers, For. RcL, ii. GG2, GG5; Twiss, Or. Quest., 231, also cites British and Foreign State Papers, 1817-18, 321, but gives the date of a document cited incorrectly.
SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. 341
a claim to territory west of the mountains; and at first Spain would not listen to anything of the kind, but soon viewed the idea more favorably. In Jan uary 1819, Onis proposed a line from the source of the Missouri to the Columbia, and down that stream to the Pacific. This being rejected, he proposed the upper Arkansas and line of 41° to the Multnomah, or Willamette, and down the river to the ocean. Adams in response offered the upper Arkansas and line of 41° to the Pacific, whereupon Onis suggested 42° from the Arkansas to the Multnomah, and 43° from the latter stream to the ocean. Finally Onis for Spain proposed 42° from the Arkansas to the Pacific, and Adams agreed to this in behalf of the United States. The treaty was signed accordingly.7 By this treaty "His Catholic Majesty cedes to the United States all his rights, claims, and pretensions to any territories east and north of the said line, and . . . renounces all claim to the said territories ' for ever." That is, the United States acquired the Spanish title to the Northwest Coast above the latitude of 42°. I have already shown that Spain had no rights in that territory except that of making settlements in
7 American State Papers, For. Rel, iv. 455, 530-2, 615-23, being the President's Mess, and Doc., Feb. 22, 1819., 15ttiCo»g., 2d.8cw.: Twiss, Or. Quest., 229-43, cites also the British and Foreign State Papers of 1817-20 as containing the same correspondence. 'Art. 3. The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Saline, in the sea, continuing north along tho western bank of that river to the 32d degree of latitude ; thence by a line due north, to the degree of latitude where it strikes the Rio Roxo of Natchi- toches, or Red River; then following the course of the Rio Roxo westward, to the degree of longitude 100 west from London, and 23 from Washington; then crossing the said Red River, and running thence by a line due north to the river Arkansas; thence following the course of the southern bank of the Arkansas to its source, in latitude 42 degrees north; and thence by that parallel of latitude to the South Sea; the whole being as laid down in Melish's map of the United States, published at Philadelphia, improved to the 1st of January 1818. But, if the source of the Arkansas River shall be found to fall north or south of latitude 42 degrees, then the line shall run from the said source, due north or south as the case may be, till it meets the said parallel of latitude 42 degrees.' The previous propositions were also to be according to Melish's map; and had any of them been adopted, great would have been the geographical confusion eventually; but there was no room for trouble in the line as finally determined. This treaty was subsequently ratified by Mexico in 1828.
342 THE OREGON QUESTION.
unoccupied spots, even her ' claims and pretensions' having been virtually abandoned since 1795. The validity of the title acquired in 1819 was, however, the subject of much argument in later years, as we shall see. Immediately after the signing of the treaty, in 1819-20, an exploring expedition was sent out by the United States to the great west.8 "One most impor tant fact, in a political point of view," says Greenhow, "was completely established by the observations of the party; namely, that the whole division of North America drained by the Missouri and the Arkansas, and their tributaries between the meridian of the mouth of the Platte and the Rocky Mountains, is almost entirely unfit for cultivation, and therefore uninhabitable by a people depending upon agriculture for their subsistence. And late observations have shown the adjoining regions, to a great extent west of those mountains, to be still more arid and sterile. These circumstances as they became known through the United States, rendered the people and their repre sentatives in the federal legislature more and more indifferent with regard to the territories on the north-
o
western side of the continent. It became always difficult and generally impossible to engage the atten tion of congress to any matters connected with those countries; emigrants from the populous states of the union would not banish themselves to the distant shores of the Pacific whilst they could obtain the best lands on the Mississippi and its branches at moderate prices; and capitalists would not vest their funds in establishments for the administration and continued possession of which they could have no guarantee. From 1813 until 1823, few if any Amer ican citizens were employed in the countries west of the Rocky Mountains, and ten years more elapsed before any settlement was formed or even attempted in that part of the world."9
sLovg'* Account of Exploring Expedition, 8vo, 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1823. 9 Greenhow 's Or. and Cal , 322-3.
RANDOM STATEMENTS. 343
In 1821 the Northwest Company was merged in the Hudson's Bay Company, the latter remaining in possession of the western country. The change had no bearing whatever on the question of title.
At the end of 1820 the Northwest Coast made its first appearance in the congress of the United States. "On motion of Mr Floyd a committee was appointed to inquire into the situation of the settlements upon the Pacific Ocean, and the expediency of occupying the Columbia River." This was on December 19th, and on January 25, 1821, the report of the committee was read in the house. In this document the question of title was discussed at some length with frequent allu sions to facts of doubtful accuracy. For instance congress was told that "in the year 1785-G an estab lishment was made at the mouth of the Columbia River by Mr Hendricks;" that Lewis and Clarke "built Fort Clatsop, yet to be seen" — really the ex plorer's winter camp — those events being at a time when the Spanish settlements were "in latitude 32° north upon the Colorado of California;" and that five posts besides Astoria had been established by Astor's company. Great force was given to the Spanish exclu sive title, which even England had virtually acknowl edged in 1790 by her willingness "to treat for the enjoyment of privileges on that coast." That the United States through Spain, France, and her own establishments had the undisputed sovereignty of the coast from latitude 60° down to 36° there could be no doubt; and it was equally clear that the occupation of her legitimate territory would be most profitable. Accordingly a bill was introduced in twelve sections for the occupation of the Columbia, grant of lands to settlers, and regulation of Indian affairs.10 The bill was referred to a committee. At the end of the year, on motion of Mr Floyd, another committee was
10 Annals of Congress, IQih Cong., 2d. Ses*., 679, 958-9; Columbia Paver, Occupation ly U. S., 1821, report of committee, Jan. 25th, in Id., 946-58; Bentoii's Abridg. Debates in Congress, vii. 74—81.
344 THE OREGON QUESTION.
appointed to "inquire into the expediency of occupying the Columbia River and the territory of the United States adjacent thereto;" which committee reported in January 1822 with a bill probably like the former, which was read twice and committed as before. Meanwhile a resolution had also been adopted calling for information from the secretary of the navy re specting the expense of surveying Pacific ports of the United States and of transporting artillery to the Columbia.11
At the end of the year, Dec. 17th to 18th, the mat ter came up for discussion in committee of the whole, and after a long speech by Mr Floyd, other members showing no disposition to speak, the bill was reported to the house. In the following debate two members spoke in its favor and one against it; but the house was apathetic and further consideration was deferred. A remarkable feature of the debate was the absence of allusion to the treaty of 1818. There was not the slightest doubt expressed as to the title of the United States to the Northwest Coast. Those that favored the measure dwelt on the value of the fur-trade and the whale-fishery, and the grandeur of a republic stretching from sea to sea; while Mr Tucker opposed it simply because lie did not wish to accelerate the inevitable progress of the population westward, believ ing that the peoples cast and west of the mountains "must have a permanent separation of interest."12
The Columbia project was again discussed in the house of representatives in January 1823, and increased interest wras manifested, though not enough to pass the bill. The debate doubtless had its effect in edu cating the American people into an implicit faith in the validity of their national claim to the Northwest Coast; for as before, no opponent of the measure ex-
11 Annals of Comjrcss, 17th Conr/., 1st Se*$., 529, 553, 5GO-1, 744.
12 Benton's Abridfj. Debates in Congress, vii. 392-407; Annals of Congress, 17th Cony., 2d 8c*3., 355, 396-424, 430. According to amendments it was proposed to occupy the country 'with a military force,' and a salary was named for the ' Governor of Oregon.'
BEFORE CONGRESS. 345
pressed doubt of the perfect right to occupy. They doubted the value of the territory in question ; dwelt on its distance from American civilization; objected to anything like colonization under a republican govern ment; deemed the occupation practicable but inex pedient,, at least for the present; and alluded to the Rocky Mountains as a natural boundary, across which no line of commercial communication could ever extend. The advocates on the other hand affirmed, instead of silently assuming as before, the validity of the title; but no arguments were wasted in proving what nobody doubted; and their eloquence was expended in show ing how glorious, profitable, and politic a thing it would be now to extend the republic across the whole continent. I append a few extracts from the debate.13 The bill was tabled; and by a vote of one hundred to sixty-one the house refused to take it up again. In
all this there was not a hint at the rights of England
. under the treaty of joint occupation.
In February, Mr Benton brought the matter up in the senate, with a motion and a speech. The motion was "that the committee on military affairs be instructed
13 ' The only nations on earth who have ever made any claims to these regions are Spain, Russia, and England. Spain never had any pretensions other than were comprised by her province of Louisiana,' and her rights were trans ferred to the United States above 42°. ' The emperor of Russia will never quarrel with us for anything we may do south of his latitude of 51 Y England ' has never had any possession, and I believe never pretended to any title so low as the mouth of the Columbia. To territory more to the north she had made claims,' but in 1818 she 'would have continued, it may bo presumed, the latitude 49° as the boundary between us beyond the Rocky Mountains, if we would have consented.' 'She restored to us possession of our settlement at the mouth of the Columbia, without the least intimation in all her negotia tions on the subject of any question as to our title.' 'If such a country should be left unoccupied by us, can we believe that other nations will respect our title and refrain from occupying it? If they do not, and we should learn to-morrow that Spain, or Russia, or England had possessed itself of the mouth of the Columbia, what should we do? We should then be obliged to assert our right, and defend the integrity of our territory. We have sworn to sup port the constitution of the United States, and cannot abandon any part of it to any other power. ' C olden of N. Y. ' How often are we reminded of Amer ican enterprise ! It is made a constant boast, and yet we appear to be alarmed at the idea of occupying our own domain!' MaUary of Vt. 'For his part he was satisfied that no extensive civilized settlement would or could be made in that country within any period of time to which as rational and practical men we can extend our views.' 'To my mind, sir, no scheme can appear more visionary than that of an internal commerce between the Hudson and
346 THE OREGON QUESTION.
to inquire into the expediency of making an appro priation to enable the president of the United States to take and retain possession of the territories of the United States on the Northwest Coast of America." Benton's motives and methods of treating the sub ject were radically different from those of congressmen who had spoken before. His aim, he said, "was to prevent the country in question from falling into the hands of another power." He knew that the public mind was tranquil upon this point; but he believed that this tranquillity arose, not from an indifference to the loss of the Columbia River and the great country drained by its waters, but from a belief that our title to it was undisputed, and the possession open to our citizens whenever the government would permit them to enter upon it. The contrary of all this he held to be the fact, and he would undertake to show to the senate : " First, that our claim of sovereignty is dis puted by England. Second, that England is now the party in possession. Third, that she resists the pos session of the United States. Fourth, that the party in possession in 1828 will have the right of possession under the law of nations until the question of sov ereignty shall be decided by war or negotiation." In support of these propositions Benton referred to documents with which the reader is familiar; he re garded the nominal restitution of Fort Astoria as by no means a relinquishment of the English title ; and in
Columbia. The God of nature has interposed obstacles to this connection, which neither the enterprise nor the science of this or any other age can over come.' ' He M'as ready to admit that neither England, Spain, nor Russia had the right, or probably would have the disposition, to complain of the measure.' ' The measure is not called for by any great public interest.' Trucy of N. Y. Mr Mallary oll'ered an amendment, or substitute, of which the first section was: ' That the president be authorized and required to occupy that portion of the territory of the United States on the Pacific Ocean, north of 42J, and west of the Rocky Mountains, with a military force, and to cause a suitable fort to be erected on the Oregon Paver. . .which tract of country is hereby declared to be the territory of Oregon.' 'Gentlemen are talking of natural boundaries. Sir, our natural boundary is the Pacific Ocean.' Baylies of Mass. 'The spirit of migration should rather be repressed in your citizens than encouraged. ' Breckenrldfje of A'//. Mr Little of Maryland presented a petition of farmers and mechanics in favor of the bill. Annals of Congress, 17th Cong., 2d Sess., 583-002, G73-7CO, 1G77-120G.
POSITION OF AMERICAN STATESMEN. 347
support of this third point he noted that the British minister in two interviews with the secretary of state, referring to the bills for the occupation of the Colum bia "suggested that Great Britain had claims on the north-west coast of America, with which he conceived that such occupation on the part of the United States would conflict; and requested to be informed what were the intentions of the government of the United States in this respect."14
While the reader who is acquainted with the facts may not be unduly influenced by the assurance with which American statesmen assumed the unquestion able validity of their country's exclusive title and ridiculed Great Britain's ' pretensions,' and while it is true that the measure urged in some of its features was contrary to treaty obligations, yet it must be borne in mind that the measure was defeated, and that the agitation at this time was in certain respects a legitimate and necessary one. The United States had no title, it is true, but citizens had a right by occupation to lay for their country the foundation of
uBenton's Abridg. Delates of Congress, vii. 303, 3G6-9; Ammls of Con gress, 17th Cong., 2d Sess., 235, 240-51, 271. The committee of foreign relas tions having been substituted for that of military affairs, the motion war agreed to; but on February 25th, that committee was discharged from furthes consideration of the matter. A few additional quotations from Mr Benton't speech may be necessary to show his spirit. 'This' — referring to the las. quotation in my text— 'is resistance and resistance in the most imposing form- It goes the whole length of unqualified opposition. . .England has virtually attempted to arrest the progress of a legislative act in the congress of the United States — an attempt which, if I am not greatly mistaken in the temper of the American people, will accelerate the measure it was intended to im pede. ' In the case before the senate the United States have a right of pos session under the treaty of Ghent' — really only to Astoria by the terms of the restoration — 'and a right of entry under the treaty of 1818; but the latter is already half run out, and the former must be considered as abandoned if not renewed and effectually asserted.' He speaks of two wide-spread errors, ' first that the English recognized the 49th degree as the boundary to the Pacific; and second, that the United States granted to her the use of the Columbia, and the trade of its inhabitants for the period of ten years. The facts are . . . each retains possession by virtue of his own claim to sovereignty, and each agrees to tolerate the possession of the other for ten years.' ' I see the finger of Russia in the treaty itself . . . Every one may see the policy of England, securing to herself the means of strengthening her own pretensions by joining to them the "claims "of all other "powers and states."' 'The republic, partly through its own remissness, partly from the concessions of our ministers in London, but chiefly from the bold pretensions of England, is in imminent danger of losing all its territory beyond the llocky Mountains.'
348 THE OREGON QUESTION.
a legitimate title to a large part of the territory ; and it was important that the people should not be caught napping, and so permit their prospective title to go by default. There doubtless was such a popular impres sion as Benton's warning was intended to remove. His four points were all well made and timely. More over, it was well to create a public sentiment for the time when negotiations for a new treaty would be in order. But for many years the question attracted very little popular attention either in the United States or in England.15
Meanwhile, in 1821—4, there were in progress certain negotiations between the United States and
C3
Russia which should be noticed here.
A dozen years earlier there had been some unsuc cessful negotiations for the regulation of trade, during which the Russians had implied that their possessions rightfully extended at least down to the Columbia, while the United States gave expression to the idea that the Spanish title probably had extended up to G0°. Now on September 4, 1821, the emperor, in a formal edict approving certain rules of the Russian American fur company, declared that the Northwest Coast down to latitude 51° belonged exclusively to Russia, and prohibited all foreign vessels from ap proaching within a hundred Italian miles of any part of that coast. In February 1822, Secretary Adams called on M. Poletica, the Russian envo}^, for an ex-
15 Niles' Register, always reflecting very fully the spirit of the American press, has little on this topic of Northwest Coast occupation before 1830. In 1821, however, xx. 21-5, it takes from the National Intelligencer a communi cation from William D. Robinson dated Jan. 15th, giving an account of the old explorers, urging the importance of further exploration by the United States, and dwelling also on 'the policy and necessity of our government fixing on a place 011 the Pacific Ocean tor a commercial and military post.' To it is joined a shorter article on the same topic written by Commodore Porter in 1815, in which he says, ' We possess a country whose shores are washed by the At lantic and the Pacific.' And as late as 1825 the Register, xxix. 151, says : ' The project of establishing a chain of military posts to the Pacific, and of building up a colony at some point near the mouth of the Columbia Pviver, is again spoken of in the newspapers. "We hope that it will be postponed yet a little while. It is the interest of either the old Atlantic, or of the new states in the west, that a current of population should now be forced beyond the present settled boundaries of the republic.'
THE RUSSIAN SIDE OF IT. 349
planation of that extraordinary edict. In reply, that official defended the right of his nation to the terri tory claimed, on the grounds that the discoveries of Bering and Chirikof in 1741 had extended to 49°; that Haro, in 1789, had found eight Russian estab lishments in latitudes 48° and 49°; and that 51° was midway between Sitka and the Columbia, besides the usual protestations of undisputed rights of discovery and possession. The first two statements were not true, and the third not relevant; to say nothing of there being no possible defence of the hundred-mile prohibition. Mr Adams alluded to the fact that the charter of the fur company did not extend Russian claims below 55°, and trusted that an interdiction manifestly incompatible with American rights would not be enforced; while M. Poletica, with a warning against trouble for which American traders could only accuse their own imprudence, promised to refer the matter to his emperor.16
Resulting negotiations between Russia and the United States were carried on in 1823-4 by Mr Mid- dleton and Count Nesselrode at St Petersburg. Rus-
16 President'1 s Mess, and Doc., April 17, 1822, in Annals of Congress, 17th Cong., 1st Scss., 2130-59; aiso in American State Papers, For. JicL, iv. 856-64. In the Quarterly Review, xxvi. 343-6, of January 1822, some comments were made on the Russian policy and the edict of 1821: 'Whether this wholesale usurpation of 2,000 miles of sea-coast, to the greater part of which Russia can have no possible claim, will be tacitly passed over by England, Spain, and the United States, the three powers most interested in it, we pretend not to know ; but we can scarcely be mistaken in predicting that his Imperial Majesty will discover, at no distant period, that he has assumed an authority and asserted a principle which he will hardly be permitted to exercise.' Two somewhat curious admissions by this English writer are the following: 'On the ground of priority of discovery it is sufficiently clear that England has no claim to territorial possession. On this principle it would jointly belong to Russia and Spain;' and 'the whole country from lat. 56° 30' to the boundary of the United States in latitude 48°, or thereabouts, is now and has
written apparently by Captain William Sturgis. The argument is a sound one, but does not claim territorial sovereignty for the United States, only the privilege of free trade. He says: 'The subject has been recently noticed in the British parliament, and appears to have created considerable excitement.' Niles' Refiistrr, of July 27, 1822, xxii. 349, contains extracts from the London- Times and the Liverpool Mercury. The former says: 'So sunk has the country been by its misfortunes that the imperial document has been permitted to
350 THE OREGON QUESTION.
sia made a feeble effort to substantiate her claims as based on discovery; tried to avoid the issue by the assertion that the boundary question was one between herself arid England, in which the United States had no interest; even set up the plea that the treaty with Spain gave the United States a right only to territory north of 42°, and not to anything west of the merid ian where that line touched the coast ; struggled some what earnestly against every proposition involving free trade on her coasts; and finally consented to a treaty on reasonable terms. So far as her exclusive pretensions below 55° were concerned, Russia was altogether in the wrono1 even if her rival was not
O O 7
entirely in the right; and the intricacies of the nego* tiation have but slight importance in history. The treaty was signed on April 5th (17th), 1824. By it the boundary was fixed at latitude 54° 40', beyond which neither nation was to found any establishment or to resort without permission to those of the other; though for a period of ten years the vessels of either nation were to have free access for trade and fishery to all interior waters of the other's territory. Thus Russia's claims below 54° 40' were relinquished, as had been those of Spain above 42°, to the United States; and the field of controversy between the latter and Great Britain was clearly defined.17 In February 1825 a treaty was concluded between England and Russia, by which the latter again relinquished her claim not only to the region below latitude 54° 40', but to the broad interior up to the frozen ocean.18 The United
pass without one individual of the British parliament having ventured to observe upon it. Luckily for the world the United States of America have not submitted with equal patience to the decrees of the autocrat.' The Her/ister of 1823, xxiv., has references to the matter on pp. 10, 112, 146, 245, 281, 310. This subject attracted much more popular attention than the dispute with Great Britain. In the last item alluded to the debate in the English parlia ment is described, when in regard to a question of Sir James Mclntosh, Mr Canning replied that his government had protested against the Russian ukase, and that negotiations were still pending.
17 All the correspondence, etc., including the treaty, is found in the Presi dent's Mess, and Doc., Dec. 15, 1824, in American State Papers, For. ReL, v. 432-71.
18 The boundary was 54° 40', Portland Channel, to 56°, summit of coast
ENGLISH PRETENSIONS. 351
States made no formal objection, though that power had protested in advance that it would not be bound by any convention made by England separately. But the record of these negotiations, while unim-
O '
portant so far as the Russian aspects of the matter are concerned, had much importance in its bearing on the English pretensions; because, in the first place, it con tained incidentally a much fuller statement of the early title-giving transactions than had before been extant; and secondly, it included very definite assertions, not only of an exclusive claim on the part of the United States, but of the principles constituting what was known later as the Monroe doctrine. It was the desire of the United States, since English interests as well as American were at stake, that a joint convention between the three powers should be formed, similar to that of 1818; and a clause was also suggested to the effect that Russia should found no establishments south of lati tude 55°, the United States none north of 51°, and Great Britain none north of 55°, or south of 51°, though there was indicated a willingness to accept 49° instead of 51°. After some hesitation England
O
refused to join in the negotiations, partly, as we may suppose, because of the latitude suggested, but chiefly because of the recent action of the American congress and promulgation of the Monroe doctrine, which not only was displeasing to Great Britain, but was likely to be equally so to Russia, and might cause a kind of defensive alliance between the two powers against American pretensions. I append a series of brief quotations, to illustrate the position now assumed by the United States.19
mountains, and 141st meridian north to the ocean. Greenhoiv's Or. and Cal, 479-81. This writer claims, pp. 342-3, that this treaty virtually annulled that of 1824 ; but it is to be noted that in the former, Russia had merely agreed not to settle south of the line ; while in the latter that line is called ' the line of demarcation between the possessions of the high contracting parties.'
19 ' The right of the United States from 42° to 49° on the Pacitic Ocean we consider as unquestionable, ' as founded on the treaty of 1819, Gray's discovery of the Columbia, Lewis and Clarke's exploration, and the settlement of Asto ria. ' This territory is to the United States of an importance which no pos session in North America can be to any European nation.' 'It is not to be
852 THE OREGON QUESTION".
In congress the matter was again brought up at the end of 1823, by a motion of Mr Floyd to "inquire into the expediency of occupying the Columbia or Oregon river," and by the committee then appointed a bill was reported in January 1824. An estimate of expense for the transportation of troops was obtained from the quartermaster -general, the amount being §30,000. In April a letter was submitted from General Jesup on the advantages and difficulties of the proposed occupation. This officer strongly favored the measure from a military point of view; expressed the opinion that there should be at least three posts on the Columbia; and added: "They would afford present protection to our traders, and on the expi ration of the privilege granted to British subjects to trade on the waters of the Columbia, would enable
doubted that long before the expiration of that time (ten years) our settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River will become so considerable as to offer means of useful commercial intercourse with the Russian settlements.' The principle of the convention of 1818 w is that the Northwest Coast ' could not be considered as the exclusive property of any European nation.' ' With the exception of the British establishments north of the United States, the remain der of both the American continents must henceforth be left to the manage ment of American hands.' ' The rig] it of the United States to the Columbia River, and to the interior territory washed by its waters, rests upon the dis covery' by Gray, exploration by Lewis and Clarke, settlement of Astoria, and acquisition of the rights of Spain, 'the only European power who, prior to the discovery of the river, had any pretensions to territorial rights ... the waters of the Columbia extend by the Multnomah to 42°. . .and by Clarke's River to 50° or 51° . . . To the territory thus watered, and immediately contigu ous to the original possessions of the United States . . . they consider their right to be now established by all the principles which have ever been applied to European settlements on the American hemisphere.'. . . 'It is not imaginable that in the present condition of the world any European nation should enter tain the project of settling a colony on the Northwest Coast. That the United States should form establishments there with views of absolute territorial right and inland communication, is not only to be expected, but is pointed out by the finger of nature, and has been for many years a subject of serious delibera tion in congress. A plan has for several sessions been before them for estab lishing a territorial government on the borders of the Columbia River. It will undoubtedly be resumed at their next session, and even if then again postponed there cannot be a doubt that in the course of a few years it must be carried into effect. ' ' The American continent henceforth will no longer be subject of colonization. . . the application of colonial principles of exclusion, therefore, cannot be admitted by the United States as lawful upon any part of the Northwest Coast, or as belonging to any European nation. ' Adam*, July 22, 1823. ' It appears probable that these two nations (Spain and England) have not now any possession upon the Northwest Coast between 42° and GO0.' Mld- dleton. ' Great Britain, having no establishment or possession upon any part of the Northwest Coast of America, she can have no right or pretension, except .such as may result from her convention with Spain.' Id., Report to Adams.
IN CONGRESS AGAIN. 353
us to remove them from our territory and to secure the whole to our citizens.""
In the discussions of December some slight allusion was made to English rights under the treaty, but always to temporary rights only, there being no doubt expressed of the title of the United States. Mr Buchanan thought that the free-trade of the treaty was diametrically in opposition to the establishment of the proposed port of entry. Mr Smyth admitted that Eng land had a military post at ths mouth of the Columbia, and a right to retain it until the expiration of the term of ten years. Mr Trimble held that "our rights will cease at the end of ten years; and, instead of our people having the exclusive right to trade there after October 1828, we shall be excluded from the trade entirely; whereas if we take possession now as we ought to do, and have a clear right to do, the rights of the British traders and navigators there will cease in October 1828. England has only the color of a claim, but to this she has wrongfully superadded an actual posses sion; and we must speedily reoccupy the country, or we shall have to treat for its reclamation at an obvi ous disadvantage." Mr Cook even "wished to press upon the house the question whether the establishment of the contemplated post, taking formal and effectual possession of that region, would not be viewed by England as an infraction of the treaty." But for the most part the discussion, as before, related to the expediency rather than the right of occupation, some members also favoring a colony and a territorial gov ernment for Oregon, while others preferred a mere military post. The bill was passed December 23, 1824, by a vote of 113 to 57. As it never became a law it is not necessary to notice its features more fully.21
20 Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., 1st Sess., 890, 1084, 1178, 1203, 1622, 2345. Jcsnp's report was dated April 26, 1824.
21 Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., 3d Sess., 14-27, 30-61; Benton's Abridg. Debates of Congress,' viii. 202-21. Mr Floyd called attention to the Columbia region 'as the only point on the globe where a naval power can reach the
HIST. N. W. COAST. VOL. II. 23
354 THE OREGON QUESTION.
In his message to congress of December 1823, President Monroe had said, referring to the negotia tions affecting the Northwest Coast: "The occasion has been judged proper for asserting as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States
O
are involved,, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have as sumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be con sidered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." This was the subsequently famous ' Monroe doctrine.' Of course this announcement had no effect on the respective rights of Great Britain and the United States ; but it naturally offended the former power, and, as supplemented by the policy of congress, and especially by Jcsup's proposition to " remove British subjects" at the expiration of the ten years, was a most formidable obstacle to the success of the negotiations to be recorded in the next chapter. In his message at the end of 1824, President Monroe suggested "the propriety of establishing a military post at the mouth of the Columbia, or at some other point in that quarter within our acknowledged limits," recommending an appropriation to send a frigate for the necessary exploration.22
East India possessions of our eternal enemy Great Britain. ' By occupying it 'we take the strongest and surest security of Britain for her future good- behavior.' We also 'procure and protect the fur- trade, worth to England three millions of dollars a year.' England 'wants nothing now, to give her the entire control of all the commerce of the world for ages to come, but a position on our western coast, which she will soon have unless you pass this bill.'
22 American State Papers, For. Rel, v. 246, 358.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED. 1824-1829.
NEGOTIATIONS OF 1824 — HUSKISSON AND CANNING — ADAMS' INSTRUCTIONS TO HUSH — STATEMENT OF THE AMERICAN AND BRITISH CLAIMS — PROP OSITIONS REJECTED — MERITS OF THE CASE — MONROE DOCTRINE — OCCU PATION OF OREGON IN THE SENATE, 1825 — VIEWS OF BENTON AND OTHERS — KEY-NOTE OF AMERICAN SENTIMENT — BAYLIES' REPORT, 1826 — NEGOTIATIONS OF 1826-7 — GALLATIN VERSUS HUSKISSON AND ADDING- TON — CLAIMS AND COUNTER-CLAIMS— EXCLUSIVE TITLE OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH BRITISH OBJECTIONS--DISCOVERY — SETTLEMENT— CON TIGUITY — SPANISH TITLE — NOOTKA CONVENTION — CUMULATIVE TITLE — UNITED STATES OFFER 49° AND NAVIGATION OF THE COLUMBIA — ENG LAND OFFERS THE COLUMBIA AND SOUTHERN SHORE OF FUCA STRAIT— NOT ACCEPTED — JOINT OCCUPANCY INDEFINITELY EXTENDED — GALLA- TIN'S SUGGESTIONS OF POLICY — CONGRESSIONAL DISCUSSION OF 1828-9.
IN the negotiations of London, 1824, England was represented by William Huskisson and Stratford Canning, and the United States by Mr Rush. The instructions of Secretary Adams to the latter have already been cited at some length.1 In them it is stated as a reason for opening negotiations so long before the expiration of the existing treaty : " This interest is connected in a manner becoming from day to day more important with our territorial rights; with the boundary relations between us and the Brit ish North American dominions ; with the whole system of our intercourse with the Indian tribes; with the fur- trade; the fisheries in the Pacific Ocean; the com merce with the Sandwich Islands and China; with our boundary upon Mexico; and, lastly, with our political
1 See note 19 of the preceding chapter.
356 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
standing and intercourse with the Russian Empire."5 After Great Britain's refusal to treat for a joint conven tion with the United States and Russia, the American envoy continued his efforts to secure a separate treaty, combining this subject with several others respecting which negotiations were pending. It came up first at the eleventh conference on April 1, 1824, and was discussed, verbally for the most part, at several subse quent conferences, until July 13th. The spirit of the discussion on both sides was shown in Mr Rush's report of August 12th, in which he announced the failure of his efforts.3
Mr Rush, in accordance with his instructions, made a definite announcement of his government's claim to exclusive ownership of the Northwest Coast. From Spain the United States had obtained in 1819 a right "surpassing the right of all other European powers on that coast," Spain having lost "all her exclusive colo nial rights recognized" by the Nootka convention of 1790, both because of the independence of the Spanish American States, and of her renunciation of all claims above latitude 42°. But apart from the right acquired from Spain, "the United States claimed in their own right and as their absolute and exclusive sovereignty and dominion the whole of the country west of the Rocky Mountains from the 42d to at least as far up a:, the 51st degree of north latitude," a right de pending on the discovery of the Columbia by Gray from the sea and by Lewis and Clarke from the inte rior, and on the Astor settlement. Moreover, he an nounced the Monroe doctrine, that no part of the American continent was longer open to colonization by foreigners. Having thus clearly set forth the
2 The instructions of July 22, 1823, are given also in American State Papers, For. Rd.y v. 791-3.
3 American State Papers, For. J?cL, v. 553-64, 582, being the report of llvr-h, protocols of those conferences at which the Northwest Coast was con sidered, and a few other papers on the subject. The whole correspondence on si:; topics of discussion, of which the Northwest Coast was only one, and not a prominent one, is found in Id., 510-82, being the President's Mess, and Doc., Jan. 20, 1S25.
PROPOSALS REJECTED. 357
principles involved, the American envoy proposed as a settlement of the question, an extension of article 3 of the convention of 1818 for an additional period of ten years, with a stipulation that during that time no settlements should be made by the subjects of Great Britain south of latitude 51°, or by Americans north of that line.
The English commissioners refused to accept either principles or proposal. "They said that Great Brit ain considered the whole of the unoccupied parts of America as being open to her future settlements in like manner as heretofore, as well that portion of the Northwest Coast between the 42d and the 51st degrees as any other parts. She had not, by her con vention with Spain in 1790, or at any other period, conceded to that power any exclusive rights on that coast where actual settlements had not been formed. She could not concede to the United States, who held the Spanish title, claims which she had felt herself obliged to resist when advanced by Spain. " Nor would Great Britain admit the validity of the discovery by Captain Gray; or that the entrance of a private indi vidual into a river, even if it were the discovery, could give the United States a claim up and down the coast to regions that had been previously explored by offi cially despatched British expeditions like that of Cook. It was added, in part erroneously, that "on the coast, a few degrees south of the Columbia, Britain had made
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purchases of territory from the natives before the United States were an independent power, and upon that river itself, or upon rivers that flowed into it, her subjects had formed settlements coeval with, if not prior to, the settlement by American citizens at its mouth." Drake's exploration up to 48° was also al luded to, the Americans in reply setting the limit at 43°, and referring to Fuca's voyage and Aguilar's up to 45°. The Englishmen denied most emphatically that the restoration of Fort Astoria under the treaty of Ghent had any bearing on the title ; and also that
358 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
the Nootka convention had recognized or implied any exclusive title belonging to Spain.
Great Britain proposed, however, pretending con cession, to accept as a boundary the line of 49° from the mountains to the north-east branch of the Colum bia, known as McGillivray River, and down the river to the sea, neither party to found establishments be yond this line, but those already founded not to be disturbed for ten years, the whole region to be free for trade to both parties for the same period, and the navigation of the Columbia to be forever free to the vessels of both nations. This was rejected, as was in its turn the amended proposition of the Americans offering the latitude of 49° instead of 51° as a boun dary. Thus nothing was effected by the Americans, and the convention of 1818 remained in force. Mr Rush found the British representatives very inde pendent in their tone, and by no means disposed to be conciliatory, but rather to complain of the attitude recently assumed by the United States.
Thus the United States openly asserted exclusive ownership of the Northwest Coast. The title resting on the Spanish claim and on the operations of Gray, Lewis and Clarke, and Astor was now deemed per fect. Apparently each of the two elements consti tuted about three fourths of a title, the two combined amounting to a title and a half; whereas if either had been perfect, and the other consequently nothing, the sum total would have been only one title. Thus each clement was ingeniously left weak enough to give the other strength. Great Britain disputed the exclusive title of the United States, but claimed none for her self.
Though not presented in its full strength by Hus7 kisson and Canning, who made more blunders than
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Hush, the position assumed was a sound one, how soever the proposition to adopt the Columbia as a boundary might be regarded. That Gray's entry into a river previously discovered, on a coast repeat-
FUR -HUNTERS AND SETTLERS. 359
edly explored by vessels of different , nations, even as supplemented by Lewis' and Clarke's exploration of eastern branches up to 47°, could give to the United States a title to the whole coast north and south to the supposed head-waters of the main Colum bia, first explored for hundreds of miles by British subjects; and of the Multnomah, explored by Eng lish hunters if at all, is a proposition that cannot wholly be sustained.4 The right of Great Britain rested solely on the actual occupation by her fur- hunters of several points in the territory; but occupa tion by fur-hunters is quite different from occupation by settlers. The right of the United States rested on the occupation of Fort Astoria and a few other points, the validity of which had been conceded by England. How long the validity of such a possession would continue without actual occupation is a question that seerns never to have been discussed; perhaps until the expiration of the ten years. Neither right amounted to anything like an exclusive title, but the British was a little less absurd than the American. Had each claimed the right to exclude the other, they would have been about upon an equality. I cannot think that the United States possessed the right to exclude English settlers south of the Colum bia, or that the English had the right to exclude the Americans north of that line ; indeed the latter claimed no such right. At this stage of the proceedings and for these many years it was simply a matter for arbi tration.5
4 It should also be noted that Eraser River, discovered by the Spaniards in or before 1792, was explored for some distance by Mackenzie in 1793. This, according to the American theory of 1824, would certainly give England a better title down to 49° than Lewis and Clarke's later operations could give the United States above that latitude. Twiss, Or. Quest., 284-5, points out the inconvenience of Rush's theory as applied to such streams as the Columbia and Eraser.
5MrGreenhow, Or. and CaL, 340-1, comments as follows on one phase of the negotiation: 'The introduction by him (Mr Rush) of the Nootka conven tion as an element in the controversy was according to express instructions from his government. It appears to have been wholly unnecessary, and was certainly impolitic. No allusion had been made to that arrangement in any of the previous discussions with regard to the north-west coasts, and it was
360 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
The announcement of the Monroe doctrine had, of course, no bearing on the merits of the question, or on the rights of European nations. The United States had a right to announce and maintain this pol icy of self-defence, and by force or a standing threat to employ force, to prevent European colonization on the Northwest Coast, or in any other part of Amer ica, if they possessed the power.6
At the end of 1824, as we have seen, the lower house of congress had passed a bill for the occupation of the Oregon Territory, and President Monroe had recommended the measure in his last message. In February 1825 the bill was discussed in the senate, chiefly by Barbour of Virginia, Dickerson of New Jersey, and Bcnton of Missouri. The two questions considered by Mr Barbour were, Have the United States a right to the territory proposed to be settled? and, Is it politic now to occupy it in the way proposed by the bill? Both of these questions he decided most emphatically in the affirmative, without entering very fully into detail, but referring with approval to the arguments of Mr Rush in the recent negotiations.7
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doubtless considered extinct ; but when it was thus brought forward by the American government in connection with the declaration against European colonisation, as a settlement of general principles with regard to these coasts, an argument was afforded in favor of the subsistence of the convention of which the British government did not fail to take advantage, as will be hereafter shown. If the NooLka convention were, as asserted by the secre tary of state, a definitive settlement of general principles of national law respecting navigation, etc., it would be difficult to resist the pretensions of the British plenipotentiaries with regard to the territories west of the Rocky Mountains.'
°The Monroe doctrine is believed to have been devised secretly by repre sentatives of the United States and England as a measure against the Holy Alliance, to prevent the re-occupation by Spain of her former American col onies. To assert it against England so soon and in so petty a matter was, to say the least, a very peculiar phase of American diplomacy.
7 'If,' as Mr Barbour believed, 'America in the spirit of friendship and for bearance had made a sacrifice to Russia of five degrees of her just claims on the Northwest Coast, and in the same spirit had been willing to make an equal sacrifice to Great Britain ( !),' he hoped 'on her part she would eagerly seize this proof of good-will, ami close with the terms proposed. Be that as it may, the United States can yield no further. As a consequence our claim must be held as unquestionable many degrees to the north of the proposed settlement. As a matter of curiosity, and indeed as connected with the question in hand, one may be permitted to recur to the pretensions of the European nations to the
FRESH DISCUSSIONS. 361
Mr Dickerson in opposing the measure did not doubt the validity of his nation's title, though he more nearly took that ground than any American speaker that had preceded him. " It is true," he said, "by the operation of certain causes we have acquired that territory; but that circumstance surely imposes upon congress no obligation to provide for its occupa tion or population, unless the interests of the United States should require it;"8 and this he denied. "Ore gon can never be one of the United States. If we extend our laws to it, we must consider it as a colony." And he expressly declared that the adoption of the measure "would interfere with existing relations between the British government and ours." "This treaty expires in 1828, until which period it will be highly improper to take possession of this territory by military force, or to establish a port of entry there ; or indeed to exercise any act of possession or occupa tion we did not exercise at the period of making this treaty; more especially in that part of the territory to which the British government laid claim, however unfounded." The measures could but provoke a col lision needlessly; at any rate, diplomatic methods should first be exhausted; and "should the negotia tions occupy many years, it ought to excite no regret, as it would give the unhappy natives of that region a little more time to breathe upon the face of the earth, before the final process of extermination. If the two governments would make a perpetual treaty, to
different portions of the new world. Spain, under whom we claim (?), has un questionably the undivided credit of its first discovery, and to the extent to which this fact goes, the best title, to which she has superadded the grant of the head of the Christian world, in the person of the pope ; and however ridiculous the latter may seem at this time, at the time of the exercise of this high prerogative it was respected by the civilized world.'
8 He describes the bill as follows : ' By the present bill, that portion of country lying on the Pacific Ocean, north of the 4'2d degree, and west of the Hocky Mountains, is to ba erected into the territory of Oregon, without defining its northern boundary. The president to occupy the same with a military force, and cause a suitable fortification to be erected. The Indian title to be extinguished for a tract not exceeding 30 miles square. To erect a port of entry. . .whenever lie shall think the public good may require it, and to appoint officers, ' etc.
362 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
take no further possession of that territory than they now have, they would do more for the cause of humanity than has been done in the present age." On this senator's motion the bill was laid on the table. But it was taken up again a few days later, though it appears from remarks made at the time that there was no intention of passing the bill during this session, in order to give Mr Benton an opportunity of express ing his views. The senator from Missouri regarded Mr Dickerson's speech as "a general assault upon the principle, the policy, and the details of the bill;" and his own avowed purpose was "to expose and confute those parts of the gentleman's argument in which he had favored the pretensions of Great Britain at the ex pense of the rights and interests of his own country." Beginning with the false assumption that Dickerson had admitted the validity of the English title north of the Columbia, the speaker proceeded to indulge in a series of brilliant misrepresentations of the question at issue. The spirit of his remarks and the accuracy of his statements are clearly illustrated by the appended extracts from his speech.9
9 'The moment we discovered it [the Columbia] she [England] claimed it; and without a color of title in her hand she has labored eversince to overreach us in the arts of negotiation, or to bully us out of our discovery by menaces of war. In 1790 Captain Gray of Boston discovered the Columbia; and in 1803 Lewis and Clarke were sent to complete the discovery of the whole river, and to take formal possession in the name of their government. ' No such possession was taken, to say nothing of the inaccurate dates. 'In 1793 Mac- ,
kenzie had been sent to effect the same object; but he missed the sources of the river. . .and struck the Pacific 500 miles north of the Columbia.' Yet he found a river flowing into the Pacific far below the head- waters of the Columbia, as Mr Benton does not add. Having at first alleged the discoveries of Cook and the purchase of lands from the natives, 'in subsequent negotiations the British agents further rested their claim upon the discoveries of Mackenzie in 1793, the seizure of Astoria during the late war' — no such point had been urged — 'and the Nootka Sound treaty of 1790,' which in fact had as yet been mentioned only by the United States. ' Such an exhibition of title is ridiculous, and would be contemptible in the hands of any other power than that of Great Britain. Of the five grounds of claim which she has set up, not one is tenable against the slightest examination. Cook never saw any part of the Northwest Coast in the latitude of the Columbia' — but, yes, in latitudes claimed by the United States. As to the sale of lands, the natives 'are said to have resided to the "south" of the Columbia; by consequence, they did not reside upon it, and could have no right to sell a country of which they were not possessors; ' yet the land was still within the United States claim, or would have been had not the sale and land been entirely mythical. Mackenzie's trip has been
CLAIM TO EXCLUSIVE OWNERSHIP. 363
The argument, like many another presented in later years, derived its force or plausibility from the un founded assumption that England like the United States claimed an exclusive title to the Northwest Coast. Moreover, attention was drawn almost wholly to the mouth of the Columbia and to the post of Astoria. It was not difficult to show that England had no right to expel the Americans from Astoria;
already mentioned. On the seizure of Astoria Mr Benton says: 'Mr Bagot [in 1817] was remonstrating against the occupation by the United States of the Columbia, and reciting that it had been taken possession of in his majesty's name, during the late war, "and had since been considered as forming a part of his Majesty's dominions." The word "since" is exclusive of all previous pretensions; and the Ghent treaty, which stipulates for the restoration of all the captured posts, is a complete extinguisher to this idle pretension. ' Now this is a deliberate misrepresentation. Instead of the words 'during the late war,' Mr Bagot had used tne word ' early,' referring to a period long pre ceding the Avar, as Mr Benton well knew. The clause of the Nootka con vention relied upon by England ' is that which gives the right of landing on parts of the Northwest Coast not already occupied, for the purpose of carrying on commerce and making settlements. The first inquiry is whether the coast in the latitude of the Columbia was unoccupied at the date of the Nootka treaty. The answer is in the afBrmative. The second is, whether the English landed upon this coast while it was so unoccupied. The answer is in the nega tive' — this is not true unless by latitude of the Columbia its mouth only is considered — 'and this answer puts an end to all pretension of British claim founded upon this treaty, without leaving us under the necessity of recurring to the fact that the permission to land and make settlements, so far from con templating an acquisition of territory, was limited by subsequent restrictions.' There were 110 such restrictions to the erection of temporary huts for the per sonal accommodation of fishermen and traders only. 'The truth is, Mr Presi dent, Great Britain has no color of title to the country in question. She sets up none. There is not a paper upon the face of the earth in which a British minister has stated a claim . . . the claim of Great Britain is nothing but a naked pretension, founded in the double prospect of benefiting herself and injuring the United States. The fur-trader, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, is at the bottom of this policy. ' Mr Benton inaccurately stated that the line of 49° was fixed by commissioners under the treaty of Utrecht. ' This boundary was acquiesced in for a hundred years. By proposing to follow it to the summit of the Rocky Mountains the British government admits its validity; by refusing to follow it out they become obnoxious to the charge of inconsistency, ' etc. Benton would not consume the time of the senate in tracing the titles of Spain. They were universally known, to have been valid against Russia to latitude 58°, and against England throughout its whole extent. Having disposed of the ques tion of title, Benton took up that of possession. On this point he took four positions: ' 1. That the United States had the right of possession' — True only so far as the post of Astoria was concerned. '2. That Great Britain had the actual possession. 3. That she resists the possession of the United States' — not the possession of Astoria. '4. That after 1828 the party in possession will have the right of possession until the question of title shall be decided by arms or negotiation.' But for some gross exaggerations of Dickerson's positions, the arguments on these points were similar to those employed by Benton in an early session, as already noted. Finally he presented an argu ment in favor of the desirability and expediency of occupying the territory.
364 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
that she claimed no such right was left entirely out of sight. The real question, the right of the United States to exclude British subjects — who had preceded the Americans on the coast both as explorers and traders, who had been the first to explore a large part of the Columbia, and who were in fur-trading possession of the country — from the broad tract of coast and interior stretching northward to the head waters of the Columbia, a right resting on the facts that Americans had been first to enter the river, to explore its eastern branches, and follow its main course to the sea — this question was not discussed at all. I am well aware that it is not my duty to reply to partisan speeches in congress; but I have noticed this one at considerable length because in it was struck the kev-note of what became later
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the prevalent American sentiment, one of unintelli gent, but for the most part honest, derision of the British ' pretensions' on the Northwest Coast, which made it well nigh treason to doubt the perfect validity of the United States title. Mr Benton concluded by stating that whatever use the republic might eventually decide to make of her Pacific territories, " there were certain preliminary points on which he believed that both the senate and the people of the United States would cordially agree, namely, neither to be tricked nor bullied out of their land, nor to suffer a monarchical power to grow up upon it." Then the bill was again laid on the table.10
President Adams in his message of December 6, 1825, renewed the recommendation of his prede cessor, alluding to the plan of military occupation as "already matured in the deliberations of the last con gress."11
The only other congressional allusion to the subject in 1825, was a resolution introduced in the house
10 Annals of Congress, 18th Cong., %d Sess., 684-714; Bentoris Abridg. De bates of Congress, viii. 183-98.
11 American State Papers. For. Eel., v. 765.
IMPERFECT STATEMENTS. 365
by Baylies of Massachusetts to employ the sloop- of - war Boston to explore the Northwest Coast between latitudes 42° and 49°.12
That portion of the president's message relating to the establishment of a military post at the mouth of the Columbia was referred by the house to a select committee of which Mr Baylies was chairman,13 and which presented two somewhat lengthy reports dated January 16 and May 15, 1826.14 The former was mainly filled with details respecting the country, its geography, soil, climate, productions, the value of its fur -trade, and the probable expenses of its occupa tion. The second contained some additional and, to us, rather startling details of north-western geography, derived from one Samuel Adams Ruddock, who in 1821 made a trip overland to New Mexico and thence to Oregon. Suffice it to say of Ruddock's trip, that his route was by Lake Tiinpanogos, in latitude 42°, the principal source of the River Tiinpanogos, the Mult- iiomah of Lewis and Clarke, and down that river to the Columbia I
But this report was chiefly filled by a narrative of the early voyages of discovery and exploration, and an examination of the question of title. The narrative was naturally not free from petty errors, which I have no space to chronicle. Gali, Fuca, and Fonte are given a place as discoverers whose statements can no longer {30 questioned, the discoveries of the first extending to 57° 30'. The most important errors were the statements that down to 1792, "that long range of coast stretching from 44° 33' to 47° 5', was wholly unknown; it had not even been descried," making Gray the only discoverer; that no British subjects
12 Benton'sAbridg. Debates of Congress,vi\\. 600-3; Cong. Debates, lOthCong., 1st Sess. , 813-15. An amendment urged was to include in the voyage a discov ery of the north-west passage. Mr Jefferson's message on an expedition across the continent (Lewis and Clarke's) was also called for in the house. Id., 823, 828-9, 802.
13 Probably on Dec. 7, 1825. Cong. Debates, 19th Cong., 1st Sexs., 797.
u Northirest Coast of America, Reports of Special Committee of Congress, 1820, in U. S. Gov. Doc., 19th Cong., 1st Sess., II. Repts., No. 35, 213.
366 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
had any posts whatever on the western side of the mountains before the founding of Astoria; and that consequently all the posts of the united Northwest and Hudson's Bay companies "for all national and legal purposes are now and have been for several years in the possession of the United States." With this view of the facts it is not strange that the committee decided the American title to be indis putable; while as to the British claim, "never was a great nation driven to such miserable expedients to cover that inordinate ambition which, not satisfied with half the world, seeks to add this little territory to her unwieldy colonial empire." Drake's voyage is the only element of the English title that is deemed worthy of serious consideration, and naturally presents but few difficulties. "After a careful examination of the British claim the committee have unanimously come to the conclusion that it is wholly unfounded. Nevcrthless, the minute examination which has been made by the English navigators of parts of this coast, ought perhaps to secure to the nation who patronized them something more than could be claimed as a
O
positive right; but we think the offer of Mr Rush to continue the boundary along the 49th parallel of latitude was as great a concession as would be com patible with our interests, our honor, or our rights." And the report concludes as follows: "The indiffer ence of America stimulates the cupidity of Great Britain. Our neglect daily weakens our own claim,
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and strengthens hers; and the day will soon arrive when her title to this territory will be better than ours, unless ours is earnestly and speedily enforced." With these reports a new bill for the execution of the proposed measures seems to have been introduced, but if so it was laid on the table; and there was no further action on the subject till the end of 1828.15
15 The report of May 15th is indorsed as 'referred to the committee of the whole house to which is committed the bill,' etc., showing that there was such bill. And Greenhow, Or. and CaL, 344, says a bill was introduced and
AN AGREEMENT DESIRABLE. 367
There were several special reasons why a definite settlement of the Oregon Question at an early date was desirable to both parties. England looked with much anxiety upon the agitation in congress, indi cating a disposition on the part of the United States to occupy the territory in spite of the treaty. Should such a step be taken it would be necessary either to relinquish, in a manner repugnant to British pride, rights well founded and often boldly asserted, or to use force in defending the possession of a country not worth fighting for. Neither was a collision desirable to the United States. However, there was the warn ing of Senator Benton that after 1828 by the law of nations Great Britain would be the party rightfully in possession if no steps of occupation were taken before that time. But it had become apparent to statesmen that such occupation as the treaty justified, that is the founding of posts at unoccupied spots giving only local title, was not practicable for the government, while no individuals or companies were likely now to enter the field of commerce as rivals of the English company. Settlers might cross the moun tains in time, but not yet. The only way to avoid an undesirable, costly, and disadvantageous quarrel was to obtain from Great Britain an acknowledgment of American rights by a settlement of boundaries, or, that being impracticable, to secure a continuance of the joint occupation of 1818.
Canning, British secretary of foreign affairs, made known in April 1826 to the United States minister, King, the disposition of his government to resume negotiations, and in June Clay sent Gallatin his in structions. He was authorized to offer an extension of the line of 49° to the Pacific as a boundary.
laid on the table. But in the printed record of congressional debates I find not the slightest record of any such bill, nor even of the reception and refer ence of Baylies' reports. And when the matter came up in 1828, the record begins abruptly with the consideration of 'a bill,' etc. Mr Greenhow is evi dently somewhat confused in the matter, for he does not mention the pasasge of the bill in 1824.
368 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
11 This is our ultimatum, and you may so announce it. We can consent to no line more favorable to Great Britain."16 If no boundary could be agreed upon, the treaty of 1818 might be continued in force for an other term of ten years. Huskisson and Addington represented the British government, and the first series of negotiations took place in London in No vember and December 1826.17
In these negotiations, as recorded in the protocols of the different conferences, in the various proposi tions offered on one side or the other, in Gallatin's reports to his government, and in the formal state ments of national claims presented by both parties, the Oregon Question was much more fully and satis factorily discussed than ever before. Errors of fact were largely eliminated, and missing links in title were supplied as a rule by complicated arguments on points of international law, usage, and justice, rather than by misstatements of early explorations. I shall attempt to give as complete a view of the respective claims as is possible without undesirable repetition of what has been said in preceding pages.
For the United States was claimed as before an exclusive ownership of the north-west, founded, first, on the discovery and exploration of the Columbia River by Gray, and Lewis and Clarke.18 On the
10 Yet if the line should be found to cross the Columbia or any of its branches below the head of navigation, British subjects may have the right of navigation to the ocean. Five years may be allowed for removing any set tlements existing beyond the line.
11 President's Mess, and Doc., Dec. 12, 1827, ZOtli Conn., 1st Sess., in Amer ican State Papers, For. lid. , vi. G39-706. Two other topics were negotiated at the same time, a commercial convention and one respecting the north-eastern boundary.
18 By these discoveries the United States had a right to claim against Great Britain and every other nation the whole territory drained by that river and its various branches ; together with a certain portion of the coast north and south of the river, citing the usage of England and other nations in granting charters to all territory watered by certain rivers. ' The extent of territory which would attach to first discovery or settlement might not in every case be precisely determined ; but that the first discovery and subse quent settlement within a reasonable time of the mouth of a river, particularly if none of its branches had been explored prior to such discovery, gave the right of occupancy, and ultimately of sovereignty, to the whole country drained by such river and its several branches, has been generally admitted.'
LATER ARGUMENTS. 369
other hand it was denied that Gray's entry into the river's mouth was anything more than ua step in the progress of discovery," since other navigators, par ticularly Meares, had preceded Gray on that part of the coast, and had even visited and named the bay into which the river flows; while Broughton, imme diately after Gray, made much more extensive explora tions. And especially was it denied that Gray's act, even if it had been the real discovery, could confer a title in exclusive sovereignty to such a vast extent of territory as was claimed. The argument was a conclusive one, though it might have been strength ened by an allusion to Heceta's discovery of the mouth of the Columbia.19
The title of the United States was founded, sec ondly, upon the establishing of Fort Astoria, preced ing that of any other power on the river. On behalf of England it was claimed that some of Thompson's posts on the Columbia were built before Astoria, which was not proven. It was admitted that the United States had a right to Astoria, but denied that such a post at the mouth, any more than Gray's entrance, could give title to so vast a territory. In this con-
19 The charters cited by the United States were declared to be valid only as against other subjects of the power granting them. That is, 'Had the United States thought proper to issue in 1790, by virtue of their national authority, a charter granting to Mr Gray the whole extent of country watered directly or indirectly by the river Columbia, such a charter would no doubt
i, i, _ _ _ i * i • _ TV r__ /"< ?„ r _ *_. .,-L „ n _j_"k „., ~* .*-• ~~, s. ^£ 4-1-. ^ T T« -i J- , -v ,rl
powers — Great Britain and Spain- preparing to contest by arms the possession of the country?' 'As relates to discoveries,' says Gallatin, 'they refer to Meares' and Dixon's voyages to prove that the prior right, as respects the Straits of Fuca or Gulf of Georgia, is incontestably theirs, several English vessels having entered them before Captain Gray did. The inference which I understood them to draw was, that so far as the United States and British discoveries could constitute a title, we could establish none along the sea-coast north of the Columbia, the whole coast having, without reference to Drake or Cook, been explored by British navigators prior to the date of any American discovery.' In defence of Gray's act as a discovery the Americans alleged that ' the fact of the coast extending from 42° to 50° being once known, the sole object of discovery for subsequent navigators was the entrance of straits, or of a large river communicating with the interior of the country. It was what Meares sought and what he failed in, as had been the case with Maurelle, and others of his predecessors, and as was also the case with Vancouver, who had in his journal recorded the fact.'
HIST. N. W. COAST. VOL. II. 24
370 THE OKEGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
nection the Americans claimed that the restoration of Astoria in 1818 was a recognition of the validity of their title, while the others held that the post had been restored under the treaty of Ghent, and had no bearing implied or expressed on the title of adjoining territory. This had been clearly enough expressed verbally and in instructions at the time; but Gallatin considered rather the absence of any written and for mal reservation from the act of restoration.
A third ground on which Gallatin based his country's claim, was that the territory in dispute if not a part of the Louisiana acquired in 1803, was at least contiguous to that region, and therefore belonged more naturally to the United States than to any other power. Occu pants of Atlantic frontage or undefined inland area usually claimed back to the Pacific. Moreover, the destiny of Oregon to be settled from the United States rather than from Europe, was made an element of a kind of natural title. Aldington denied that Louisi ana had ever extended to the Pacific, nor would lie ac cept the theory that contiguity and destiny were to be deemed as solid foundations of exclusive sovereignty.20
Fourthly — I pay no attention to the original order of the propositions — the United States title was that derived from Spain by the treaty of 1819, a
20 ' The United States claimed a natural extension of their territory to the Pacific Ocean, on the ground of contiguity and population, which gave them a better right to the adjacent unoccupied land than that of any other nation. This was strengthened by the doctrine admitted to its fullest extent by Great Britain, as appeared by all her charters, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to colonies established then, only on the borders of the Atlantic. In point of fact the occupancy on which Great Britain principally relied was solely owing to that westwardly extension of their trading settlements of Hudson Bay and its waters.' 'It will not be denied that the extent of con tiguous territory to which an actual settlement gives a prior right, must depend in a considerable degree on the magnitude and population of that settle ment, and on the facilitj^ with which the vacant adjacent; land may, within a short time, be occupied, settled, and cultivated by such population as com pared with the probability of its being thus occupied and settled. ' ' By refer ring to the most authentic French maps it will be seen that New France was made to extend over the territory drained, or supposed to be drained, by rivers emptying into the South Sea.' From 1717 Louisiana 'extended as far as the most northern limit of the French possessions in North America, and thereby west of Canada or New France. The settlement of that northern limit still further strengthens the claim of the United States to the territory west of the Rocky Mountains;' how, is not very apparent.
THE SPANISH TITLE. 371
title regarded as perfect against that of any other European power at the time of transfer, and for a territory extending up to latitude G0°.21 But England denied that Spain had in 1819 any title whatever. If the matter had not otherwise been set at rest, said Mr Huskisson, "nothing would be more easy than to demon strate that the claims of Great Britain to that country as opposed to those of Spain, were so far from vision ary or arbitrarily assumed, that they established more than a parity of title to the possession of the country in question either as against Spain or any other nation." This was hardly true; but Great Britain could not be expected now to admit the validity of a title about which she had been ready to light thirty- six years earlier.
However, the whole question had, it was claimed— and this was the key-stone of the British position in the negotiations of 1826-7 — been definitively set at rest by the Nootka convention of 1790. "Whatever the title may have been, cither on the part of Great Britain, or on the part of Spain, prior to the con vention of 1790, it was from thenceforward no longer to be traced in vague narratives of discoveries, several of them admitted to be apocryphal, but in the text and stipulations of the convention itself.'"'
Previously to that time Spain had asserted an ex clusive right, which England had disputed; but by the treaty the Northwest Coast was thrown open to the subjects of both powers, and practically to those of other nations, for all purposes of commerce and settlement, the sovereignty remaining in abeyance. This convention preceded not only Gray's discovery,
21 Mr Clay says: ' By the renunciation and transfer contained in the treaty with Spain of 1819, our right extended to the COth degree of north latitude.' And Gallatin : ' By virtue of their treaty with Spain, the United States claimed all which Spain might have lawfully claimed north of 42°, either as derived from Spanish discoveries or by virtue of rights of sovereignty acknowledged by other nations, and by Great Britain particularly; ' and again: ' The United States have an undoubted right to claim both by virtue of the Spanish discov eries and their own.'
2- Hnskisson and Addington's Statement, 663. This statement and Gallatin' s Counter -statement are reproduced in Greenhow's Or. and Cal., 446—65.
372 THE OHEGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
but the Spanish transfer of Louisiana, and the later quitclaim above latitude 42°. Therefore with the rights acquired in 1819, they said, "the United States neces sarily succeeded to the limitations by which they were defined and the obligations under which they were to be exercised. From these obligations and limitations, as contracted towards Great Britain, Great Britain cannot be expected gratuitously to release those countries merely because the rights of the party originally bound have been transferred to a third power."-3
This position was a new one, and one to which the American envoy was not prepared to make a full reply. His objections, besides the evasive one that this plea could affect only one of the several elements of the American title, were, however, threefold. First, that the Nootka convention was an instrument merely of a commercial nature, by which Spain without re linquishing her exclusive rights or acknowledging any rights on the part of England, made a series of tem porary concessions in return for others made by Eng land, the settlements permitted being temporary posts for trade with the natives. Second, that even if the word 'settlement' was meant in its most unlimited sense, the stipulations were not made with a view to the ultimate territorial claims of the parties; the promiscuous and intermixed settlements, each free to subjects of either nation, were declared "incompatible with distinct jurisdiction and sovereignty;" and indeed the exclusive dominion was expressly left in abeyance. In other words, the right of exclusive sovereignty
23 Or, as Mr Gallatin puts the British claims: 'The United States cannot claim under their treaty wiLh Spain, any greater right than Spam then had; and as the Nootka convention has no reference to the discoveries, and is un limited in its duration, they cannot resort to any Spanish discovery in support of their presumed title to any part of the country. This convention must be considered generally as having become an international law, at least for the Pacific; superseded the claims ascribed to mere prior discovery; set aside the exclusive pretensions of Spain to the north-west part of America, and opened it to the commerce and settlements of all countries whatever, including the United States. Actual occupancy and regard to mutual convenience are, therefore, the only basis of any arrangement for the establishment of a boun dary, for the partition, between the only powers having settlements or laying claims thereto, of a country which was heretofore held in common. '
EFFECT OF THE NOOTKA CONVENTION. 373
was simpl}^ suspended instead of extinguished, on both sides ; so that when the question of ownership should finally come up, each claimant must refer not to the settlements founded since and under the convention, but to the original rights before the convention. Third, the ISTootka convention, unless of the purely commercial character indicated above, was terminated by the war between Spain and England.
As to the first objection, that the convention of 1790 was a mere commercial and temporary concession, implying an exclusive title on the part of Spain rather than destroying it, and also that the settlements per mitted were not compatible with the exercise of local sovereignty, I have already expressed decided opinion, and said perhaps all that is needed respecting the Nootka convention in all its aspects. The second objection involving the true meaning of the stipula tion which left the sovereignty in abeyance, and the third, that the convention, not being such an acknowl edgment of rights as the British deemed it, was ter minated by war, might give rise to a very complicated discussion on points of international law. The ques tions involved are such as cannot be decided positively. I excuse myself, however, from the discussion, with its confusing net-work of citations from numerous con flicting authorities, because I do not deem the decision in any sense essential. If the Nootka treaty was still in force in 1819, Spain clearly had no exclusive title to transfer to the United States; but if, on account of the war, it was no longer in force, it by no means follows that she had such a title. Whatever may be the interpretation of the treaty, I cannot admit, nor do I believe any intelligent man will claim at this date, that Spain's title resting on discovery was strong enough to remain intact and merit unlimited respect from the nations after formal abandonment of the ter ritory in 1795.24 Spain had the right, in common with
24 Even Mr Greenhow, Or. and Gal., 321, admits, 'Under such circum stances the title of Spain to the countries north of the bay of San Francisco,
374 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
other nations, particularly England, to settle on un occupied parts of the Northwest Coast. This was all the right the United States could obtain from her in 1819; and it was worthless, because that right was already possessed.
Finally Gallatin urged that if no one of the ele ments of United States title was quite perfect, alto gether they had a cumulative force amply sufficient to constitute an exclusive ownership.25 On the other side it was held that one only of the three claims, those based respectively on discovery, acquisition from Spain, and contiguity, could be valid. " They are, in fact, claims obviously incompatible the one with the other. If, for example, the title of Spain, by first discovery, or the title of France as the original possessor of Lou-
however strong it may have been in 1790 or 179G, in virtue of discoveries and settlements, must be allowed to have become considerably weaker in 1819 from disuse, and. from submission to the acts of occupation by other powers. Thus whilst it may be doubted that either of those powers could in justice claim the sovereignty of the country occupied by its subjects without the con sent of Spain, the latter could not have claimed the exclusive possession of such country, or have entered into compacts with a third power respecting trade, navigation, or settlement in it agreeably to any recognized principle of international law. Still less could Great Britain have claimed the right to exclude other nations from the sovereignty of the regions traversed by the Columbia, in which her subjects had made no discoveries, and which had been first occupied by the United States, unless upon the ground of conquest during war, barred by the treaty of Ghent. 'Thus whilst the title. . . derived by the United States from Spain. . .was undoubtedly imperfect, though not from any possible effect of the Nootka convention, yet that title, in addition to those previously possessed by the Americans. . .appears to constitute a right in their favor, stronger than could be alleged by any other nation, if not amounting to an absolute right of sovereignty.'
125 ' To each of them, taken by itself, objections might be made, tending to show that it did not constitute a complete right of sovereignty. Considered together, and supporting each other as they did, they appeared to us to estab lish our claim on the most solid foundation. ' ' But it is the peculiar charac ter of the claim of the United States that it is founded on both principles, which in this case unite both in its support, and convert it into an incontes table right. It is in vain that, in order to avert that conclusion, an attempt is made to consider the several grounds on which that right is urged as incom patible one with the other, as if the United States were obliged to select only one and to abandon the others. In different hands the several claims would conflict one with the other; now, united in the same power, they support each other. The possessors of Louisiana might have contended, on the ground of contiguity, for the adjacent territory on the Pacific, with the discoverers of the coast, or of its main rivers. The several discoveries of the Spanish and Ameri can navigators might separately have been considered as so many steps in the progress of discovery, and giving only imperfect claims to each party. All those various claims, from whatever considerations derived, are now brought united against the pretensions of any other nation. '
CUMULATIVE TITLE. 375
isiana be valid, then must one or the other of these kingdoms have been the lawful possessor of that ter ritory at the moment when the United States claim to have discovered it. If, on the other hand, the Americans were the first discoverers there is neces sarily an end of the Spanish claim ; and if priority of discovery constitutes the title, that of France falls equally to the ground." The objections seem well taken, notwithstanding the ingenious American device of admitting one element to be not quite perfect in order to give some value to others, and secure a large and more than perfect aggregate.
The following quotations from the statement of Huskisson and Adclington will put the British position in a clear light, their arguments in opposition to the American claim having been already presented. "It is highly desirable to mark distinctly the broad differ ence between the nature of the rights claimed. Over a large portion of that territory, namely, from the 42d to the 49th degree, the United States claim full and exclusive sovereignty. Great Britain claims no ex clusive sovereignty over any portion of that territory. Her present claim, not in respect to any part, but to the whole, is limited to a right of joint occupancy in common with other states, leaving the right of exclu sive dominion in abeyance. In other words the pre tensions of the United States tend to the ejection of all other nations, and among the rest, of Great Britain, from all right of settlement. The pretensions of Great Britain, on the contrary, tend to the mere maintenance of her own rights." " It only remains for Great Brit ain to maintain and uphold the qualified rights which she now possesses over the whole of the territory in question. These rights- are recorded and defined in the convention of Nootka. They embrace the right to navigate the waters of those countries; the right to settle in and over any part of them; and the right freely to trade with the inhabitants and occupiers of the same. These rights have been peaceably exercised
376 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
ever since the date of that convention — that is for a period of nearly forty years. Under that convention valuable interests have grown up in those countries. It is fully admitted that the United States possess the same rights, though they have been exercised by them only in a single instance, and have not since the year 1813, been exercised at all; bub beyond these rights they possess none. To the interests and establish ments which British industry and enterprise have created Great Britain owes protection. That pro tection will be given, both as regards settlement and freedom of trade and navigation, with every attention not to infringe the coordinate rights of the United States. Fully sensible at the same time, of the desirableness of a more definite settlement, the British government will be ready at any time to terminate the present state of joint occupancy by an arrange ment of delimitation. But such arrangement only can be admitted as shall not derogate from the right of Great Britain as acknowledged by treaty, nor prejudice the advantages which British subjects, under the same sanction, now enjoy in that part of the world. "2a
Such were the respective views entertained as to title. Mr Gallatin's offer in behalf of his country was
20 ' It is a fact admitted by the United States, that with the exception of the Columbia River, there is no river which opens far into the interior on the whole western coast of the Pacific Ocean. In the interior the subjects of Great Britain have had for many years numerous settlements and trading- posts; several of these posts on the tributary streams of the Columbia itself; some to the northward, and others to the southward of that river; and they navigate the Columbia as the sole channel for the conveyance of their prod uce,' etc. Mr Gallathi in reply denies 'that the trading -posts of the Northwest Company give any title to the territory claimed by America, not only because no such post was established within the limits claimed when the first American settlement was made, but because the title of the United States is considered as having been complete before any of those traders had appeared on the waters of the Columbia. It is also believed that mere factories, established solely for the purpose of trafficking with the natives, and without any view to cultivation and permanent settlement, cannot of themselves, and unsupported by any other consideration, give any better title to dominion and absolute sovereignty than similar establishments in a civilized country.' Mr Twiss, Or. Quest., 31G, cleverly points out that this would utterly undermine any claim of the United States resting on the Astoria set tlement.
SO-CALLED CONCESSIONS. 377
the line of 49° as a boundary from the mountains to the ocean, together with navigation of the Columbia should that river or any of its branches prove to be navigable above the line.27 This offer was made "in a genuine spirit of concession and conciliation;" since by accepting it England would get a clear title to five degrees of latitude on the Pacific, over most of which the United States title properly extended. The only modification of this offer which Mr Gallatin showed any disposition to allow, though it was not formally pro posed, was to give up the southern end of Vancouver island, or the mouth of Fraser River if it should prove to be below latitude 49°, in return for regions above the line in the interior; but this was not approved by Mr Clay.
The British offer was to make the Columbia the boundary up to latitude 49°, accepting that line be tween the river and mountains. The navigation of the river was to be forever free to vessels of both nations.28 This also was offered as a concession, because "to carry into effect this proposal Great Britain would have to give up posts and settlements south of the Columbia. On the part of the United States there could be no reciprocal withdrawing from actual occupation, as there is not, and never has been, a single American citizen settled north of the Colum bia." Mr Gallatin objected that this division would leave England in exclusive naval command of the
O
coast; since the harbor at the river mouth was fitted only for commercial purposes, while north of Fuca Strait the coast abounded with deep ports for naval stations. Whereupon Mr Huskisson, admitting the
27 The line was to be established within fifteen years, and meanwhile the navigation of the river was to be free. It was anticipated that this would prove to be a perpetually free navigation of the Columbia, as there was no doubt that the river was navigable above 49°. There was a chance, however, for dispute as to what should be considered a navigable stream.
28 On the Americans objecting that the channel of the Columbia near its mouth was so close to the northern bank as to give the British entire command of the entrance, the latter offered a stipulation that no works should ever be erected at the mouth or on the banks of the river to hinder the free naviga tion by vessels or boats of either party.
378 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
force of the objection, offered to concede a detached territory, namely the peninsula formed by the Pacific above Gray Harbor, the Strait of Fuca, Admiralty Inlet, and Hood Canal, including the fine harbor of Port Discovery.
Naturally with views of national rights so radically different, neither party would accept the offers of the other; and it soon became apparent that no boundary could be agreed upon.29 Accordingly the other alter native, a continuance of joint occupancy was con sidered. On account of certain conditions desired by England this matter had to be referred to the gov ernment at Washington; and the negotiation was consequently suspended until June 1827, when the conferences were resumed, continuing until August.
' O O
Charles Grant took Husldsson's place before the matter was concluded.
In negotiating for a continuance of joint occupancy the Americans preferred a simple renewal of the treaty of 1818 for an additional period of ten years, without any other alteration than the omission of the clause relating to the claims of other powers, both Spain and Russia having relinquished their claims since the date of the treaty. The British government preferred a longer period, and earnestly contended for the addition of certain conditions. The following additional clause was first proposed : " It is further agreed that, during the said term of fifteen years, neither of the contracting parties shall assume or exer cise any right of exclusive sovereignty or dominion over any part of the said country, nor form therein any establishment in support or furtherance of any such claim."30 Subsequently the latter part of the
™ A settlement of title on parts of the territory, leaving an intermediate space for joint occupancy, was informally proposed by Gallatin, but was not favorably received either by the British representatives or by the United States Government.
30 Says Gallatin: 'The second article is intended not only to prevent the establishment of a territorial government by the United States, but also to establish the general doctrine that no exclusive sovereignty can be assumed or
JOINT OCCUPANCY AGAIN. 379
clause was modified to read: "Nor shall any settle ment which may now exist, or which may be hereafter formed therein by either party during the said term of fifteen years, be at any time adduced in support or furtherance of any claim to such sovereignty or dominion." And finally Addington contended for the insertion in the treaty of some article defining the rights of the parties under the joint occupanc}^, or at least for an expression in the records of the English view respecting those rights. But Gallatin declined to accept anything of the kind. If there was any doubt respecting the rights of his nation under the treaty, that doubt must not be removed.
In these propositions and refusals both parties had in view the action of the United States congress. The proposed occupation of the Columbia was con trary in several respects to the spirit of the treaty, as was well known to both parties; therefore Great Britain desired and the United States opposed an agreement on what steps the latter might legally take. Gallatin clearly thought it might be advantageous for his country in the near future to consider what Eng-
t/ O
land would permit rather than what might be right fully claimed. In the verbal discussions, however, he made one good point in defence of the proposed estab lishment of a territorial government; namely, that as England had already extended her criminal juris diction over the territories occupied by the trading companies, the United States would be obliged to establish some form of government, having no other way of exercising a similar jurisdiction for the pro tection of subjects.31 It was also maintained, and
exercised over any part of the country in its present situation, and, by implica tion, that a concurrent jurisdiction may be exercised sufficient to preserve order among the traders. '
31 Says Mr Clay: 'The form of territorial government is that which is. most approved by our experience ; but such a government might be considered incompatible with the second article if it were agreed to. If there be a simple renewal of the third article of the convention of 1818, Great Britain will have abundant security in the good faith of the United States for the fulfilment of all its stipulations.' And Gallatin: 'I understood it to be the opinion of the British plenipotentiaries that there could be no objection to the estab-
380 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
plausibly, that the proper medium for either party to express its view as to what would be an infringement of the treaty was neither the treaty itself nor the records of the conferences, but a diplomatic note through the ordinary channels.
The English plenipotentiaries refusing their assent to a renewal of the treaty for a fixed period without conditions, and the Americans declining to accept any conditions whatever, a compromise was agreed to at the conference of July 27th, to the effect that the treaty of joint occupation should be indefinitely renewed sub ject to abrogation at any time by either party on twelve months' notice ; and this convention was signed on the 8th of August.32
Thus the question at issue was left exactly in its
lishment of military posts, or to a jurisdiction confided by each power to its own citizens or subjects, and that any outrages committed by either such citizens or subjects on those of the other nation ought not to be considered as acts of national aggression unless authorized by government.' 'Any impedi ment to the free navigation of harbors and rivers, the laying duties or establishment of any custom-house, the removing or disturbing any British settlement, and the exercise of any jurisdiction over British subjects, would be considered as infractions of the condition. But it must be observed that they would be cqunlly considered as infractions of the existing article without the additional condition. ' ' The establishment of a distinct territorial gov ernment west of the Stony Mountains would also be objected to, as an attempt to exercise exclusive sovereignty. . .It was suggested, and seemed to be acquiesced in, that the diillculty might be obviated, provided the erection of a new territory was not confined exclusively to the west of the mountains ; that it should be defined as embracing all the possessions of t]je United States west of a line that should be at some distance and cast of the Stony Moun tains.' ' By the act of parliament of July 2, 18*21, Great Britain has assumed such jurisdiction as suited her own purposes. The United States on their part have not assumed or exercised any sovereignty or jurisdiction. When ever this may become necessary, they have the same right to do it in the manner most suitable to their institutions and to the pursuits of their subjects. The same reliance may be placed on their violating no existing agreement.'
3- 'Article 1. All the provisions of the third article of the convention on the 20th of October ISIS, shall be, and they are hereby indefinitely extended and continued in force, in the same manner as if all the provisions of the said article were herein specifically recited.
' Article 2. It shall be competent, however, to either of the contracting parties, in case either should think fit, at any time after the 20th of October 18-8, on giving clue notice of twelve months to the other contracting party, to annul and abrogate this convention; and it shall in such case, be accordingly entirely annulled and abrogated after the expiration of the said term of notice.
' Article 3. Nothing contained in this convention, or in the third article of the convention of the 20th of October ISIS, hereby continued in force, shall be construed to impair or in any manner affect the claims which either of the contracting parties may have to any part of the country westward of the Stony or Rocky mountains.'
NATIONAL PRIDE, NOT UTILITY. 331
former state. Both nations formally reserved the right to assert their full claims in future unaffected by offers made during the negotiations. The remarks made in the preceding chapter about the settlement of 1818 will for the most part apply equally well to that of 1827. " No unworthy concession was made, no loss of dignity or right was sustained on either side; and to break the amicable and mutually profit able relations then existing between the two countries, on a question of mere title to the possession of terri tories from which neither could derive any immediate benefit of consequence, would have been impolitic and unrighteous," says Greenhow.33 The nature of the respective claims being alone considered, the result was a triumph for Great Britain. That nation had also the advantage of actual possession and of pros pective profits in the fur-trade. But so far as per manent possession was concerned, the advantage was on the side of the United States; for under the arrangement they might defer the final assertion of their pretended exclusive rights until the circum stances should be favorable, permanent settlers being much more likely to come with time from the United States than from England.
Thus each nation obtained what most favored its— own real interests. For it was clearly evident from the spirit of the whole negotiation, and particularly^ from the offer, that neither existing settlements, nor others formed during a period of fifteen years, should ever be adduced in support of title, that Great Britain did not look forward to a permanent possession of the Northwest Coast. Indeed, according to Gallatin's report to Clay, Huskisson in the course of the discus sion several times repeated that there was no inten tion to colonize the country. " They have certainly no other immediate object than that of protecting the
33 Or. and Cal.. 354. 'No settlements could' (were likely to?) 'be formed in the territory beyond the Rocky Moimtains, by which it could acquire a population, while the arrangement subsisted.'
382 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
Northwest Company in her fur-trade." In every other respect the question appeared to be with them rather one of national pride than anything else.34 Again, and exactly to the point: "National pride prevents any abrupt rclinquishment of her pretensions; but Great Britain does not seem indisposed to let the country gradually and silently slide into the hands of the United States, and she is anxious that it should not, in any case, become the cause of a rupture between the two powers."35
In his report of August 10, 1827, in which, as already cited, he explained the national feeling of England respecting the territory in dispute, Mr Gal- latin also took the liberty of making some very perti nent suggestions on the policy that should be observed by the United States under the renewed treaty; that is, as to what steps of occupation might be taken without causing a collision with Great Britain. That nation would, he believed, insist on three restrictive condi tions. First, "that no custom-house should be erected,
31 It was doubtful if the offer respecting the settlement was not intended 'to establish clearly, and to impress on their subjects that Great Britain neither now nor hereafter means to claim such exclusive sovereignty.' 'Not only from them, but from several other distinct quarters, it is certain that their pride was sorely wounded by that part of the late president's message which declared that America was no longer open to European colonisation. Those parts of the second report of a committee of the house at the last session. . .gave great, fresh, and additional offence. I think it not improbable that we might have come to an arrangement had it not been for those causes. The Northwest Company is also very inimical, and has no inconsiderable weight.' Mr Huskisson said that 'the removal by the United States of any set tlement made by British subjects would be considered as an act of aggression ;' but Astoria was considered as in possession of the United States, and had indeed been abandoned in favor of Vancouver across the river. ' In making a final agreement with the United States she considered the whole country as still open equally to both parties, and to be divided as such and on that principle.' 'There was in the course of the convei\sation more susceptibility shown by the British plenipotentiaries than was called for by my observations. That the United States had no right to dispossess a single British subject, or in any way to exercise jurisdiction in any part of the territory in question was again repeated, saying, however, that they claimed no such right on their side. The latter part of the conversation was more conciliatory. '
35 1 have been unable to find 'the gross misstatements with regard to the discoveries of the Americans, the extravagant and unfounded assumptions, and the illogical deductions in the document presented by them (the British plenipotentiaries) to Mr Gallatin,' mentioned by Mr Greenhow, Or. and Cal.t 310.
CONDITIONS. 383
nor any duties or charges on tonnage, merchandise, or commerce, be raised by either party in the territory west of the Rocky Mountains." And this, indeed, would favor the United States by promoting settle ment, especially as, with duties on articles for trade with the Indians, Americans could not compete with the English company. Second, "that the citizens and subjects of the two powers residing in or resorting to the territory in question should be amenable only to the jurisdiction of their own country respectively." This subject should be determined by a positive com pact, as might readily be done.86 Third, "that no military post should be established by either party in the territory." That is, the right of the United States to establish such posts was not denied, but if the right were exercised Great Britain would be obliged to found similar posts ; and with such forts ex isting on both sides, the dangers of collision and the probable difficulties of a peaceful arrangement would be greatly increased. This was as clear from the American as from the British standpoint. "Its real difficulty," says Gallatin frankly, "consists in that Great Britain having a much larger military estab lishment than the United States, may, with no greater inconvenience, make larger detachments for any ser vice of this kind; and that if she once takes posses sion in this way, independent of the collisions it may occasion, it will render an ultimate relinquishment of that portion she would naturally occupy much more difficult on her part." The United States would have preferred that the American military posts should be deemed a kind of equivalent of English trading-posts
36 Respecting the jurisdiction at Astoria, the post naturally to be first occu pied, Mr Gallatin suggests 'that the settlement and restitution of Astoria may be forcibly urged as strengthening the claim of the United States to the whole territory; but that it would be dangerous to adduce those incidents as giving a stronger claim to the absolute sovereignty over that spot than on any other part of the territory. As there can be 110 higher title or right than that of such sovereignty, the argument could not be pressed without acknowl edging that the right of the United States to the residue of the territory was something less than one of absolute sovereignty. '
384 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
for the protection of subjects and citizens; but Great Britain was not likely to appreciate the benefits of such an arrangement.
It was believed by Gallatin, with much reason, that all these conditions might be arranged to the satisfaction of both parties ; that of the military posts, presenting the greatest difficulties, by "the erection of a territory having for its eastern bound a line within the acknowledged limits of the United States, and describing the country over which the jurisdiction was to extend, generally, or in terms similar to those used in the act of parliament." The chief prospective obstacle to the success of this moderate policy, and that which these suggestions were doubtless intended to aid in removing, was the policy of an over-patriotic and excessively anti- British minority in congress. Could these men be kept in the minority by the con tinued union of members who saw the subject in its true light and those who did not believe Oregon to be worth the occupation, the prospects of the United States on the Northwest Coast were very bright.
Before the treaty and negotiations of 1827 were published, there was reported by the congressional committee on the Oregon Territory, of which Floyd was chairman, "a bill to authorize the occupation of the Oregon River," which came up for discussion after the treaty was made public, and occupied the attention of the house of representatives almost ex clusively from Dec. 23, 1828, to Jan. 9, 1829.37 This bill provided for the military occupation of the North west Coast from latitude 42° to 54° 40', and the erec tion of a fort; for the establishment of a territorial government over that extent of country, including the appointment of civil officers; for the establishment of a port of entry, with custom-house, revenue officials,
37 Congressional Debates, 20th Cony., 2d Sess., 125-95; Benton's Abrtdg., x. 273-315. Of this bill, before its appearance in committee of the whole on Dec. 23, I find no record whatever; not even a copy of the bill itself in its original form, its purport having to be made up from the debate.
VALIDITY OF TITLE. 385
and enforcement of United States revenue laws; and for grants of lands to American settlers."3 It appeared that petitions were extant from companies in different states composed of men who were willing to emigrate to Oregon if assured of protection and favored with certain privileges. Accordingly, at an early stage of the debate, an amendment was proposed to grant large tracts of land to these associations, and to a certain extent to take their proposed establishments under government protection.
As to the perfect validity of the United States title to the Northwest Coast no speaker expressed the slightest doubt; but beyond this point there was hopeless divergence of opinion. Floyd, as in earlier times the chief defender of the measure, in several long speeches, with two or three associates, maintained that Oregon was a very desirable possession in ever} respect; that it rightfully belonged to the United States ; that Great Britain would not fight in support of her unfounded pretensions; and that if she did re sist the righteous claims of the republic, so much the worse for Great Britain. They also tried to make it appear that the proposed occupation was not contrary to the spirit of the treaty, being no more than Eng land had already done by the establishment of trading- posts which w^ere really forts, and by extending the jurisdiction of Canada over those regions. r
; •
38 Some friends of the measure claimed, that as no definite time was speci fied for its being carried into effect, it practically provided for the previous abrogation of the treaty by the required notice of twelve months. This was not admitted by its opponents.
39 Mr Floyd said: ' There is nothing more clear than that the title of the United States was good to all the territory west of the Rocky Mountains, from. 3G3 to 61V 'It is the only point on the globe where a strong power can strike at the British possessions in the East Indies.' 'Is it possible for an American congress to submit not only to the murder of our citizens in those regions, but to the daring outrage of the British parliament in passing a law extending the jurisdiction of the courts of upper Canada over the whole Indian country? Sir, my country ought not to submit to this for a single moment. If England has not yet learned to respect the sovereignty and rights of the confederacy, she must be taught that lesson; and, sir, it must and shall be taught her; and that, too, at no distant day, in a way which she will not easily forget.' Mr Richardson deeirjed the title indubitable, and the country well worth the probable cost. He would be ashamed to favor the surrender of such a country
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 25
38(5 THE OKEGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
But few congressmen, however, took this radical ground; and they were apparently outnumbered by those who regarded the Oregon territory as worthless, not worth occupying even if there were no opposition. Let Great Britain have it if she cared for so barren and inaccessible a tract, which was doubtful. More over, they dreaded any future extension of a republic that was already large enough. Bates of Missouri "could not repress the utterance of his solemn wish that the base of the Rocky Mountains were an ocean bounding the United States, instead of the vast wil derness that extended beyond them." That Oregon could ever be a state in the union was not admitted for a moment. Mitchell of Tennessee opposed the measure as involving useless expense, besides the risk of complications with England.
Polk of Tennessee made an able speech to prove that certain portions of the bill — that is, the estab lishment of a territorial government, the enforcement of revenue laws, and the granting of lands to set tlers, were contrary to the treaties of 1818 and 1827, and a violation of the national faith. In this incon trovertible position he was supported by Strong and Storrs of New York, and by others. Some of these men, if not convinced that the bill was a violation of the treaty, did believe it would be so regarded by Great Britain, leading to a useless collision; and they evidently appreciated the advantages of " letting well enough alone," being like Gallatin assured of Eng-
to Great Britain; blithe did not believe England would 'readily wage war with the United States to make conquest of that country;' it would be too risky. Mr Gurley said: The convention 'confers reciprocal rights, and im poses reciprocal obligations. Great Britain has given a practical construction of the convention. She has erected forts, and in 1821 extended her laws and civil jurisdiction over the country.' He thought the United States might do the same. ' If Great Britain had violated the convention, it was no longer binding upon us; if she had not, neither should we by the passage of the bill. ...We would not abandon our rights even at the expense of war. Great Britain had as much to lose by a war as we had. and she had too much prudence and foresight to engage in it unnecessarily. We had come out of two wars with that nation with honor both at home and abroad; and if it was the will of heaven that we should again be involved in that calamity, the same result would follow. '
PROPOSED SETTLEMENT. 387
land's disposition to let the country "gradually and silently slide into the hands of the United States;" or at least they believed it but right to give the required notice of twelve months before taking any steps what ever toward occupation.40
There was a strong opposition to the project of granting lands with special protection and privileges to companies, on the ground that such action would promote monopoly, proprietary government, coloniza tion, and injustice to the mass of immigrants.41 This amendment was therefore defeated; the features ob jected to by Mr Polk were dropped, and other amend ments were adopted; so that the bill was completely changed from its original form when finally submitted to vote. It now provided that the president should be authorized to erect one or more forts west of the mountains, and between latitude 42° and 54° 40', and to garrison them with troops for the protection of citi zens engaged in commercial or other pursuits; that he should cause the country to be explored before sending troops, if he deemed it best; and that the jurisdiction of United States courts should be extended over the country in such a way as to punish all crimes com mitted there. The sum of §25,000 was to be appro priated to carry into effect the provisions of the act.
The measure was now in its strongest form. There was nothing in the bill which the United States might not do in accordance with the treaty; and there were many who felt that the United States ought to make some use of the privilege of joint occupancy, instead of leaving the British in sole possession. So firmly had the Hudson's Bay Company become established in the country that no great American company was likely to enter the field against them. If the country
40 Gorham of Massachusetts pointed out very forcibly that there were at this time no new discoveries respecting the value of the country, no new action on the part of England, and no new circumstances whatever to cause a necessity for any change of policy by the United States.
41 Mr Weems also objected, on the ground of the injustice to be done to the Indians.
388 THE OREGON QUESTION CONTINUED.
was to be occupied at all it must be by individual hunters and small associations. There were absurd reports afloat that American hunters had recently been killed by or at the instigation of the English com pany;42 few perhaps really believed such reports; but it was obviously essential to afford protection for the lives and rights of Americans if they were expected to occupy the country, even if danger from Indians or from each other only was to be apprehended. And there were but few who opposed exploration.
The difficulty was, as Gallatin had suggested, that while the United States had a perfect right to estab- rh military posts, Great Britain had the same right, with superior advantages. With garrisoned forts on both sides the chances of a peaceful settlement, and especially of a peaceful abandonment by England would be much diminished. This view of the matter doubtless influenced many to join their votes to those of the members who did not want Oregon at any price. By a vote of ninety-nine to seventy-five, the house refused to order the bill to its third reading, and thus defeated it.
Tn negotiations and discussions of later date no new
O
^!it whatever was thrown on the Oregon Question; t its real merits were rather obscured by the popu- Irt" excitement in America. It will therefore be no lopger necessary, as in my limited space it would be impossible, to give a detailed resume of discussions in congress and in the public journals, though both speakers and writers succeeded in twisting the subject- matter into a variety of interesting forms.
4- Said Everett: 'The truth is, something should be done to keep pace \viih the British settlements, and to protect our hunters and trappers. The ten Kory is now overrun with the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company. U'n'cr a nominal joint occupancy they monopolize it. They are there in great ran::Vrs; armed of course, supported by a chain of forts, and whenever the V-K'yican trappers, comparatively few in number, and unsupported by any fVivS, make their appearance they are driven off, and if they make resistance, rro hilled.' He had lately heard from reliable sources 'that eight Americans Invc been, shot by the British hunters,' and others to the same effect. Dray- ton, Cambreling, and Ingcrsoll were among the most prominent in urging the measure for protection alone.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED. 1830-1846.
A POPULAR QUESTION — AMERICAN TRAPPERS — THE MISSIONARIES — THE GOV ERNMENT SEEKS INFORMATION — REPORTS ON THE OREGON TERRITORY — • THE AGITATION RENEWED IN CONGRESS, 1841 — SENATOR LINN'S EF FORTS — PRESIDENTS' MESSAGES — CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES— PATRIOTIC FAITH IN THE TITLE — POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1844 — POLK'S POLICY — • THE QUESTION IN PARLIAMENT — HOSTILE RUMORS — SPEECHES AND BILLS OF 1844-5 — FINAL DEBATE — A RESOLUTION PASSED TO ANNUL THE TREATY — PAMPHLETS CIRCULATED — DIPLOMATIC SETTLEMENT — GREAT BRITAIN YIELDS- -TREATY OF 1846 — AUTHORITIES CITED— GREENHOW,
T\VISS, AND OTHER WRITERS ON THE OREGON QUESTION.
FOR about ten years after the discussion noted at the end of the preceding chapter, nothing was said of the Oregon Question in congress; and the topic was much longer neglected in diplomatic circles. Nor did anything occur during this period to affect in the slightest degree the rights of the respective parties to the controversy. Yet though congress, absorbed in other matters, no longer paid attention to the Oregon Question, the people had taken it up, to some extent. Colonization and trading schemes were often pro posed, and so far as the latter were concerned, some times carried out.
The American fur companies, under several names, explored the Rocky Mountains, and ventured to com pete with the Hudson's Bay Company beyond them,1
1 The relinquishment of the Oregon Territory to the Hudson's Bay Company was voluntary on the part of the first American company — that of Smith, Sublette, and Jackson — that went into it. Smith having been attacked on the Urnpqua Eiver by Indians, escaping only with his life, and arriving at Fort Vancouver in a destitute and suffering condition, late in the autumn
1389}
390 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
though inconsiderably for a period of years, or until the increasing number of companies forced all into active rivalry with each other. Of the adventurers who tried their fortunes in this field, Wyeth and Bonneville were conspicuous examples, and failures. Their exploits are elsewhere recorded. Of those who ventured to attempt colonization was Kelley, whose schemes ended in even more disastrous failure. It was not until American missionaries entered in and possessed the country as neither traders nor colonizers, though in reality very willing to become both, that a foothold was gained for the occupation of Oregon by American settlers. For the history of this move ment, and the subsequent emigration to Oregon, the reader is referred also to the History of Oregon. From the time the missionary reports commenced to reach the United States from Oregon, together with the petitions of these and other first settlers in the val ley of the Willamette, congress was frequently re minded of the expectations of the people, up to the time when the first real emigration party set out to cross the plains for the Columbia Hiver.
Though congress had for some time ceased to discuss the Oregon title openly, the government had not been idle, but was collecting information from every source, and placing it within reach of the people, in the form of congressional documents.2 Such was the report of
of 1829, was kindly entertained through the winter, his furs recovered and purchased from him by the Hudson's Bay Company, and he assisted upon his return to the rendezvous in the mountains. Later, a keen competition was carried on all over the middle ground between the head-waters of the Lewis or Snake river and the main Columbia. The story of Jedediah Smith is fully told in chap. xix. this volume. See also Hist. CaL, this series; also Hist. Or., passim.
2 In a note to Greenhow's Or. and CaL, 377, he names several of these gov ernment documents, as the following: 'Report to Senate, with maps, and a Bill for the Occupation of Oregon, presented by Mr Linn, June 6, 1838;' ' Reports of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, of the House of Representa tives, respecting the Territory of Oregon, with a map, presented Jan. 4 and February 16, 1839, by Mr Gushing, accompanied by a bill to provide for the protection of the citizens of the United States residing in that territory, or trading on the Columbia River, and various documents in proof '• — from which I have made several extracts in other parts of this history ; ' Memoir, His torical and Political, on the Northwest Coast of North America, and the
THE CONGRESSIONAL VIEW. 391
the committee on foreign affairs, by Mr Gushing, which contained the reports of Wyeth, Slacum, and Kelley, the letter of Jason Lee, the first petition of the Oregon settlers, and other matter. From this time, bills were annually brought before congress, having for their object the civil and military posses sion of the country. They came up in every shape, in both branches of the national legislature, and ema nated, not as formerly, from one or two individuals, but from many.
In 1842 Lord Ashburton arrived in the United States, furnished with instructions and powers for the settlement of certain questions long pending between the United States and Great Britain; and the im pression generally prevailed both in Great Britain and the United States, that the Oregon Question w^ould be disposed of with the others. In this, how ever, the people were disappointed. The introduction of this subject being known to be prejudicial to nego tiations at that time very important to the nation in other respects, the president regarded it as most advantageous to waive this one, which, though equally important, was not so pressing.3 The exclusion of the Oregon Question from the treaty of August 1842, increased, says Greenhow, the excitement respecting that country in the United States, and an excitement was soon after created in Great Britain.4
As early as January 8, 1841, Linn of Missouri in troduced in the senate a joint resolution to authorize the adoption of measures for the occupation and set tlement of the territory of Oregon, and for extending
adjacent countries, with a map, and a geographical view of those countries, by Robert Greenhow, Translator and Librarian to the Department of State, ' presented Feb. 10, 1840, by Mr Linn; 'Report of Hon. J. R. Poinsett, Sec retary of War, in relation to the establishment of a line of Military Posts from the Missouri River to the Columbia, 1840;' 'Report of the Military Committee of the House of Representatives, on the subject of the Occupa tion and Defence of the Columbia Countries,' presented by Mr Pendleton, Mav 25, 1842.
3 President- s Mess., Dec. G, 1842.
* Greenhow' s Or. andCal., 379.
392 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
certain portions of the laws of the United States over the same. At the beginning of the second session of the same congress he introduced a bill providing for its occupation and settlement; and again in December he reported another bill for the same purpose, making a speech in its support April 13, 1842, and contin uing to bring it up at every opportunity during the session, notwithstanding the pending negotiations concerning the north-eastern boundary, which other senators urged as a reason for remaining silent on this question. This bill, which I have occasion to notice elsewhere, passed the senate early in February 1843, and had the effect of stimulating emigration to Oregon. Many went to Oregon in the belief that they were to receive not only government protection, but a gift of land also, as a reward for occupying the country for the United States in opposition to Great Britain as represented by the Hudson's Bay Company. The failure of any bill to pass both houses left the people of Oregon in that anomalous condition Avhich makes their history unique among the other states of the union.
But every year that now passed added to the interest of the subject. It was not only talked of in congress,5 but in the public prints of England
5 President Tyler, in his message of December 5, 1843, informed that body that the United States Minister at London had, under instructions, again brought the subject of the Oregon boundary to the notice of the government of Great Britain, and that 'while nothing would be done to compromise the rights of the United States, every proper expedient would be resorted to, in order to bring the negotiations in progress of resumption to a speedy and happy termination.' Cony. Globe, 2Sth Cong., 1st Ses*., pt. i. G. On the llth of December Hughes of Missouri gave notice of a bill for the organization of a territorial government, to be called the Oregon Territory; and also a bill for surveying and constructing a military road from Fort Leavenworth to the mouth of the Columbia River, and for establishing military posts on the same. Id., 41. Several attempts were made to have that portion of the president's message that related to Oregon, referred to the committee on territories, in stead of the committee on military affairs, where it made no progress. Dec. 20th Wentworth of Illinois introduced a resolution, ' That the president should be requested to furnish the house, if consistent with the public interest, all the correspondence between the United States Government, or any other power,' in relation to the discovery, possession, title, and boundary of the Oregon Territory. Id. , 54. The correspondence here asked for was afterwards furnished by President Polk to congress, in February 1840, and is to be found
CONGRESSIONAL DISCUSSION. 393
and the United States, as also in those of France arid Germany; and on both sides of the Atlantic books and pamphlets appeared arguing the Oregon title,
in the Cong. Globe, xv. 333-5. On Jan. 4, 1844, Owen of Indiana intro duced a resolution in the house, that the president be required to give the twelve months' notice to Great Britain required by the second article of the convention of 1827, and that on the expiration of that time the United States should annul and abrogate the said convention. Id.* 28th Cong.. 1st Sess., pt. i. 103. The same day Hughes introduced the bill for the organization of Oregon Territory of which he had given notice, which was referred to the committee on territories, and ordered to be printed. On the same day Wentworth's resolution asking for information of the president on the Oregon Question, was considered and adopted. To this request the president replied, on the 18th, that 'all such correspondence had from time to time been laid before congress, except some recent correspondence with our minister near the court of St James, which it was not deemed expedient to lay before con gress on the eve of the arrival of a minister from England, with whom negotiations would be opened at an early period.' Id., 1G3. Hughes, on the 20th, offered a resolution similar to Owen's, requiring the president to give the twelve months' notice, which resolution was negatived. Id., 1G8. On the 23d Ingersoll, from the committee on foreign relations, to which Owen's resolution had been referred, returned answer that it was considered inexpedient for congress, at that time, to act in any manner upon the subject referred to in the said resolution. Li., 178. On the following day Owen made a speech on the Oregon boundary, in which he animadverted upon the practice of senators and others in letting fall remarks which might prejudice the claim of the United States, and quoted a sentence from one of Calhoun's speeches, in which that gentleman had said that ' the portion of territory really in dispute between the two countries was about three degrees of latitude, that is, about one fourth of the whole. ' This, he thought, was leading to an admission concerning the extent of terri tory claimed. Did any one imagine that Packington had not read that speech, or doubt that he would come prepared to take advantage of it? He advocated a more independent position toward Great Britain, and made an eloquent appeal for protection for the Oregon settlers, drawing at the same time a striking picture of the frontiersmen who were taking possession of the country. 'Oregon will soon be occupied — an armed occupation, too. And occupied by whom? Not by smooth-chinned, trim-uniformed cadets from West Point, but by veteran pioneers, from whom old age itself, though it whitens their locks, cannot steal their strength and their fire, by fierce young hunters of the fron tier who heard the warwhoop in their cradles, and who burn to emulate the exploits — to avenge the death, perhaps, of their fathers ; by a partisan army, in short, of Nimrod warriors, who, with their knives at their belts, and their long rifles on their shoulders, fear nothing, reel or white, in the form of a man.' He urgently advocated passing a 'notice' bill, after which it would be unquestionably proper to do for Oregon what its people had a right to expect. Id., ISO. On the llth of March, Brown of Tennessee, chairman of the com mittee on territories, reported a bill extending the civil and criminal juris diction of the courts of the territory of Iowa, south and west of said territory to the Pacific, which was ordered to be printed along with the report of tho committee. The bill extended jurisdiction west of the Rocky Mountains, from latitude 42° to 54° 40' north. It gave 640 acres of land to each inhabitant of any state or territory who might have already removed, or might there after remove to that country and cultivate and use the same for live years. Also 100 acres for the wife of such inhabitant, and the like quantity to each child taken there, or born in the country. It further provided for another judge to 1)e appointed for the territory of Iowa, who should reside in Oregon, and also for the appointment of justices of the peace. The sum of §100,000
394 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
some of which I shall notice presently. It was made the issue on which the presidential campaign of 1844 was founded. Congress had given the initiative to
was appropriated to build forts on the main pass to Oregon, and within it, and to carry into effect the other provisions of the bill. Id., 366. Meantime, the subject was not left out of consideration in the senate. A lengthy debate took place on the 8th of January in which Bentoii as usual took a conspicuous part, and in which Crittenden and Morehead of Kentucky, Archer of Vir ginia, Berrien of Georgia, Allen of Ohio, Woodbury of New Hampshire, Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and others participated. The debate was princi pally upon the subject of the pending negotiations, and was consequent upon a resolution offered by Allen some time before, that the president should be requested to lay before the senate, if in his judgment the public in terests would not be prejudiced by his so doing, a copy of any instructions which may have been given by the executive to the American minister in England on the subject of the title to, and occupation of, Oregon since the 4th day of March 1841, with a copy of any correspondence which might have passed between the United States government and that of Great Britain in relation to that subject since that time. Id. , 2Sfh Conr/., l*t Se-is., pt. ii. 98-104. The tone and manner of this debate show a jealousy in the senate of the power of the executive to place the nation in a certain position toward another power of which it might not approve. Allen referred to a declaration of Lord Palmerston in the house of commons, March 21, 1843, that if the senate had passed a bill, as reported, ' for immediately taking forcible possession of the whole territory of Oregon ; and if the senator who brought in the bill had expressed his conviction that the American claim would immediately be acquiesced in by Great Britain, if it was only urged, in what he was pleased to call a proper manner, it is impossible, I conceive, that this bill should pass the other branches of the legislature; but if it were to pass, and to be acted upon, it would be a declaration of war.' In partial opposition to this Allen also quoted from Sir Robert Peel, who had reminded Lord Palmerston that he had ' made no allowance for the position of a govern ment so open to popular influence as that of America. We, however, deal with the executive government and not with the senate. We have proposed to that government to consider the means of effecting a conciliatory adjustment respecting the Oregon Territory, and have met with no repulse, but have received assurances in reply to our proposition, that the executive govern ment of the United States is anxious to come to an adjustment of that ques tion; and we have every reason to hope that unless we revive the former animosity, and embitter the feelings between the two countries, an attempt to settle the question by negotiation will be satisfactory. The noble lord says the senate has passed a bill which I believe it has not passed. [Linn's bill, passed February 6, 1843.] I think the votes were equally divided; but what ever the seriate may do, it is impossible for the executive government to ap prove of such a bill, after having expressed a desire to negotiate. The noble lord says the adoption of that bill would be a cause of war. I will not discuss hypothetical causes of war, when, as I have said, the executive government has signified to us its desire to maintain peace, and to effect a satisfactory adjustment of the question of the Oregon Territory. I trust in the assurances of the executive government, and I will not believe that it will give its consent to a legislative measure at variance with those assurances.' 'The president is here told,' said Allen, 'that .he has already so far pledged this government to that of England, on the Oregon Question, as to render it im possible for him to sanction such a bill as that which passed the senate. Con gress is here told that its action will be unavailing, as the president stands pledged to Great Britain to interpose the veto power. Now, sir, this declara tion of the English minister is either true, or the contrary; and in either case, and for equal reasons, the president should inform congress of the actual state
THE PRESIDENT'S COURSE. 395
the people in censuring President Tyler's course towards Great Britain, as weakly conciliatory. They wanted an executive not afraid to assert the right of the United States to the whole of Oregon,6 and were
of the facts; because, whether true, or the contrary, it equally relates to the. action of congress.' Allen referred to the sacrifices made of territory in the recent settlement of the north-eastern boundary, from fear of disturbing the harmony of the two countries, and the same sacrifices were likely to occur in the contemplated negotiations. Archer considered Allen's remarks as tantamount to a determination to have war, rather than yield an acre of territory, and thought, that since England wished to negotiate at our own door, during the period of a peace mutually agreed upon, it was an attitude that ought not to be maintained. Mr Morehead considered it only proper under the circumstances, to leave the president to the exercise of his legiti mate functions, and the senate to theirs. He was not so sensitive as the senator from Ohio, to the declarations of the British parliament; they were worth as much as those of the United States senate, and no more, and neither bound their respective governments. Benton spoke in favor of the resolu tion; and contended that the senate had a right to assist in the formation of a treaty before it was made, and consequently a right to know the state of every negotiation before it was concluded. The constitution said the presi dent was to make treaties by and with the advice and consent of the senate. President Washington had given the example of consulting the senate, of which Benton adduced examples. The practice had, however, been departed from. The treaty of 1842 was an. example of this departure; but the treaty was made and ratified, as it would not have been if the senate had been con sulted beforehand. ' In this way a treaty was carried through this body, which was, in fact, almost unanimously disapproved, and which has since subjected us to the keenest ridicule of the British parliament.' A similar case was now pending, and the president had asked no advice; the senate had offered none. There was a bill before the senate, the same as had before been passed, which Sir Robert Peel had pronounced impossible for the president to sign. Why could not the president sign it, if it passed both houses? The facts should be known, if the president is really committed to Great Britain on this point. As regarded the resolution, the right to information was clear. Mr Bcrrien denied the right of the senate to call for any information relative to the presi dent's negotiations with foreign powers, or to throw upon him the responsi bility of refusing it. The right was not expressed in the resolution, which requested the president, if in his judgment he thought best, to furnish the information. The practice of the first president had long since been discon tinued, and would at present be inexpedient. To make public the instructions to the American minister, would have an injurious influence on the proposed negotiations. The instructions of the British government would remain secret, while those of the United States would be exposed. Pie urged the senate, in case the resolution was not withdrawn, to reject it. A sharp discussion fol lowed on the propriety of passing the resolution. Mr Crittenden thought it the right of the senate to do so, if they thought proper, but that it was inex pedient. Mr Buchanan would vote advice to the president, if he should find, after the instructions had been received, that this was necessary to preserve the country from any improper sacrifice. He hoped the author of the resolu tion would permit it to be laid upon the table, and that he would offer a similar one in executive session. The question being taken 011 the adoption of the resolution, it was rejected by 31 nays to 14 yeas. Gong. Globe, 2Sth Cony., IstSess., pt. 2, 98-104.
6 An election tract published by the Democratic Association of Wash ington City, and entitled Oregon, commences : 'Whether Oregon shall remain
S9G THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
willing and anxious to support him in doing so. The election of Mr Polk to the presidency having been secured, increased and strengthened the excitement concerning the title to Oregon, and at the commence ment of the second session of the twenty-eighth con gress/ the question came up almost immediately, in
ours, or is to be surrendered to Great Britain, is one of the questions to be settled in the presidential election of 1844; for whilst James K. Polk is pledged to retain the whole of this great territory, Henry Clay is also pledged to surrender nearly one half of it to England. In his letter of April 23, 1844, James K. Polk declared that ' the authority and laws of the United States be established and maintained' in the Oregon Territory, and 'let the fixed policy of our government be, not to permit Great Britain, or any other foreign power, to plant a colony, or hold dominion over any portion of the people or territory.' The democratic national convention of Baltimore, which nominated Mr Polk for the presidency, unanimously resolved ' that our title to the whole of the territory of Oregon is clear and unquestionable; that no portion of the same ought to be ceded to England or any other power.' On the other hand it was urged against Mr Clay, that in 1820, while secretary of state, in his instructions to Mr Gallatin, he iirst declared that Great Brit ain had not, and could not make out 'even a colorable title to any portion of the Northwest Coast.' Yet in the same communication he had authorized Mr Gallatin to 'propose the annulment of the convention of 1818, and the extension of the line on the parallel of 40°, from the eastern side of the Stony Mountains, where it then terminated, to the Paciiic Ocean,' together with the free navigation of the Columbia, should the 49th parallel cross any navigable branch of that river. The writer held that by this official commu nication Mr Clay was pledged to give up all north of 40', and hence was not a suitable representative of the nation. On such unexpected events do the fortunes of men turn! There is much more in the tract, for which I have not room.
7 Mr Atchison on Dec. 10, 1844, introduced a bill to ' organize the govern ment of Oregon, and for other purposes.' A debate ensued, on an attempt being made to refer it to the committee on foreign relations, which was known to be unfriendly to any bill of like import; Atchison, Bcnton, and Bagby of Alabama, urging its reference to the committee on territories, while Archer, Morchead, and Woodbury opposed it. The bill was finally referred to the committee on foreign relations, where it seems to have been quietly disposed of. ('out/. Globe, XSth Cony., 2d Scss., 38, 48. On Jan. 13, 1845, a petition was presented to the senate by Allen of Ohio, with the proceedings and resolutions of a meeting of the citizens of Zanesville, Ohio, in favor of the annexation of Texas to the United States, and for the extension of the laws of the United States, by the erection of a territorial government over the territory of Oregon. The petition was referred to the committee on foreign j-clations. /</., .128. Meantime the house sent in a bill, which was reported back with an amendment. In February, another bill from the house, for the organization of a territorial government over Oregon, was presented in the senate, and reported back with an amendment, like the former. Id., 256. On the 3d of March, Atchison moved to postpone previous orders, and take up the house bill (439) to organize a territorial government in the Oregon terri tory, and for other purposes. A debate on the propriety of considering such a bill during the pending negotiations and on the last day of the session fol lowed, in which it was evident the measure would be crowded out, as it had been, postponed during the session. On the motion to postpone previous or ders, and take up the Oregon bill, the vote stood 21 for, and 23 against it. Id., 387-8.
FOLK'S MESSAGE. 397
both houses, though in the senate it was not permitted to go beyond an occasional debate on the propriety of discussing the question at all, during the consideration of it by the plenipotentiaries.
All scruples of the nature professed by the senate were weakened, if not removed, by the inaugural address of President Polk, who asserted it to be his duty to " maintain, by all constitutional means, the right of the United States to that portion of our ter ritory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. Our title to the country of Oregon is clear and unques tionable; and already are our people preparing to per fect that title by occupying it with their wives and children." He declared it the duty of congress to protect the Oregon emigrants; and that the laws of the United States should be extended over them in the distant region they had selected for their homes, and that every obligation imposed by treaty or con ventional stipulations should be sacredly respected.8
It is not to be supposed that the agitation in the United States was passing unobserved in England.9 Mr Roebuck asked Sir Robert Peel, in the house of commons, what measures had been taken to counter act the efforts in the United States congress, to annex Oregon; asserting with a spirit even more partisan than that of the Oregon emigrants, that the United
o o
States had no rights west of the Rocky Mountains.10 Lord John Russell also reviewed the title to Oregon, in the house of commons, April 4, 1845, on the ground taken by Falconer, citing also Farnham and Wilkes; saying that he had been informed that there were twenty thousand persons in the Oregon Territory,
*Concj. Globe, 1844-5, 398.
9 The London Times said that 'President Folk's message implied the terms of war, or conclusive negotiation. War was too monstrous to be thought of, except after every effort at a compromise had been exhausted,' etc. Or. Spec tator, Sept. 3, 1846. ' The president's message met with very general favor, and was considered a- fair and statesman-like document, both at home and abroad.' Id., Sept. 17, 1846.
10 Hansard's Parl. Debates, 78, 235-6.
398 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
scarcely one hundred of whom were Americans. He asserted moreover, that there was no port in all Ore gon except the Columbia River, and gave a history of the negotiations of 1824, referring to the declaration of President Monroe, that colonization would not be thereafter allowed on the American continent; which position, as well as the right of the United States to the whole of Oregon, he said the British commission ers had denied, and should continue to deny.11
In answer to a call for information on the subject of the pending negotiations, Sir Robert Peel replied, as he had replied to Mr Roebuck, by professing igno rance of the state of affairs, as the correspondence had not yet been made public.
On the same day, the subject being under discussion in the house of lords, it was inquired by Lord Claren don what course her majesty's government would pursue, under the circumstances,12 and answered by
11 The boundary proposed by Mr Canning in 1824, Lord Russell declared with much reason to be ' giving a very considerable territory to the United States. It was giving them a valley watered by a river as large as the Colum bia where it j oins the McGillivray, called the Willoughley (Willamette?), and all the territory south of the Columbia, and between the Columbia and the 42d parallel, where the British possessions commenced. ' This, Mr Russell thought as fair as the United States could reasonably expect; and it had been rejected, while the United States, instead, claimed the whole; and the president had called upon the people, with their wives and children, to go and occupy it.' No offer should be made granting more than Mr Canning had proposed. Han sard's ParL Debates, Ixxix. 178-201; Id., 1023; /c/.,lxxi. 492; Id., Ixxii. 221).
1a Lord Clarendon resented the tone of Mr Folk's inaugural, on the question of the Oregon boundary, and spoke of this, and other indications, as ' cir cumstances which seem but too probable from the extraordinary tone of the president's address, and the apparently studied neglect of that courtesy and deferential language which the governments of different countries are wont to observe when publicly treating of international questions. It is hardly possible to believe that any negotiations upon this subject are pending, or that they have ever been commenced, or even proposed, if we are to draw from the president's speech the inference which it must naturally suggest; for not only docs he not make the slightest allusion to them, but he formally announces that the right of the Americans to the Oregon Territory is dear and unquestionable ; and it is consequently difficult to understand upon what ground he could justify the right of their government to negotiate at all upon a matter not doubtful; for whatever predilection they may have for acquiring what docs not belong to them, they certainly exhibit none for giving up what is indisputably their own; and if their government accordingly did consent to negotiate, it would seem that it could only be upon the basis that England was unconditionally to surrender her pretensions to whatever might be claimed by the United States.' Lord Aberdeen, to whom the inquiries of Lord Clarendon were addressed, declined going into explanations, but said,
IN PARLIAMENT. 399
Lord Aberdeen, that "England had her rights and dare maintain them," as the sentiment was repeated in Oregon by Lieutenant Peel.
It must be understood that while the diplomatic representatives of both nations expressed their views always calmly and with courtesy, though using all their skill to keep out of sight the weak points in their respective arguments, outside of these negotia tions such moderation was by no means observed. We have presented some specimens of the tone in parlia ment and in congress, and that of newspaper arti cles may be easily imagined. There can be no doubt that many Englishmen and many Americans believed in the justice of their country's exclusive right to Oregon ; and it is therefore not strange that there was much popular declamation, threatening, and even bluster. The Americans proposed to take possession of a country that belonged to them; any hint from English sources at possible resistance was received as an insult and a wrong, and vice versa. The most preposterous rumors of intended outrages on settlers
' I wish to state that the negotiation which has taken place, and is still pending upon this subject, was commenced immediately after the signing of the treaty of Washington in 1842, ' and adverted to President Tyler's answer to the senate, given on February 19, 1845, that the negotiation was being carried on in a very amicable spirit, and there was reason to hope that it might be brought to a close within a short period. This was the latest information he had on the subject. The new cabinet was not yet formed, and nothing was known of its temper. As for Great Britain, her position was the same as in 1818. 'I am accustomed,' said Lord Aberdeen, 'almost daily to see myself characterized as pusillanimous, cowardly, mean, dastardly, truckling, and base. I hope I need not say that I view these appellations with indifference. I view them, indeed, really with satisfaction, because I know perfectly well what they mean, and how they ought to be, and are translated. I feel perfectly satisfied that these vituperative terms are to be translated as applicable to conduct con sistent with j ustice, reason, moderation, and common-sense. My lords, I consider war to be the greatest folly, if not the greatest crime of which a country could be guilty, if lightly entered into.' His lordship concluded by saying that 'we possess rights, which, in our opinion, arc clear and unquestionable ; and by the blessing of God, and your support, those rights we are fully prepared to maintain.' Hansards Par?. Debates, Ixxix. 115-24. Lord Clarendon also quoted the language of President Polk concerning emigration to Oregon, and congratulated himself that Great Britain was not actuated ' by a desire for territorial aggrandizement, but by a sincere love of peace, and a most friendly feeling towards the United States.' But, on the other hand, he was equally sure that the people of Great Britain would be determined not to yield their own undeniable rights to encroachments, or clamor, or menace. Id.
400 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
by British trappers and their savage allies were widely credited. Errors in statement of historical fact, so common on both sides in the earlier stages of the dis pute, were pointed out as deliberate falsehoods, and corrected with an air of triumph. In congress a Mon treal paper was quoted, to the effect that but a ' small meal' would be made of the troops of the 'free and enlightened;' and an old Indian, that the "crows will soon be picking out their eyes."13 In England less was said and written on the subject, and in a quieter tone; yet the friends of the fur company were not in active; and in the little that was said on this topic there appeared from time to time the insulting sneer by which the Briton delights to make himself offen sive, above all men who dwell on earth.
The twenty-ninth congress opened with a message from President Polk, that promised the advocates of 1 all of Oregon or none,' the consummation of their hopes. He gave a full history of the past negotia tions with Great Britain, and declared that the civil ized world would see in these proceedings a spirit of liberal concession on the part of the United States, and that their government would be relieved from all responsibility which might follow the failure to settle the controversy.14
13 Cong. Globe, 2Sth Cony., 1st Ses*., ii. 244.
11 'All attempts at compromise having failed, it becomes the duty of con gress to consider what measures it may be proper to adopt for the security and protection of our citizens now inhabiting, or who may hereafter inhabit, Oregon, and for the maintenance of our just title to that territory. In adopting measures for this purpose, care should be taken that nothing be done to violate the stipulations of the convention of 1327, which is still in force. . . .Under that convention, a year's notice is required to be given by either party to the other, before the joint occupancy shall terminate, and before either can rightfully assert or exercise exclusive jurisdiction over any portion of the ter ritory. This notice it would, in my judgment, be proper to give; and I recommend that provision be made by law for giving it accordingly, and terminating, in this manner, the convention of the Gth of August 1827. It will become proper for congress to determine what legislation they can in the mean time adopt, without violating this convention. Beyond all question, the protection of our laws, and our jurisdiction, civil and criminal, ought to be immediately extended over our citizens in Oregon. They have had just cause to complain of our long neglect in this particular, and have, in conse quence, been compelled, for their own security and protection, to establish a
'FIFTY- FOUR FORTY OR FIGHT.' 401
There is a statement by Holmes of South Car olina, that it was a speech by Calhoun in the senate, that caused "public opinion to wane from its high tone, the pulse of war to beat fainter and fainter, until at last the president perceived there was an energy in the people that must come down like a voice of thunder against his measures;" thus throwing the 'fifty-four forty' party measures upon the shoulders of Polk, instead of upon the people, whom he was trying to follow.
He recommended that notice should be given to Great Britain of the abrogation of the then existing convention, that the laws of the United States should be extended over Oregon, with as little delay as pos sible; that laws governing their intercourse with the Indian tribes of the plains should be extended beyond the Rocky Mountains, and an Indian agency be es tablished in Oregon; that for the protection of emi grants, a suitable number of stockades and block-houses for forts should be erected along the usual route be tween the Missouri frontier and the Rocky Mountains, and that an adequate force of mounted riflemen be raised to guard and protect them on their journey. He recommended also the establishment of an over land mail, to be carried once a month. Whether more than this could be done before the expiration of the year's notice, he left it for congress to decide. He avowed it as his opinion that the pioneers of Oregon should receive donations of land ; that to doubt that this would be done as soon as the convention was annulled, was to doubt the justice of congress; and pending the year's notice, it was worthy of considera tion whether such a promise might not be made to emigrants.
"At the end of the year's notice," said Polk,
provisional government for themselves. They are anxious to have our laws extended over them, and I recommend that this be done by congress, with as little delay as possible, in the full extent to which the British parliament have proceeded in regard to British subjects in that territory, by their act of July 2, 1821.' Cong. "Globe, 20th Cong., 1st Sess., 7. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 26
402 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
should congress think proper to give that notice, "we shall have reached a period when the national rights in Oregon must either be abandoned, or firmly main tained. That they cannot be abandoned without a sacrifice of both national honor and interest, is too clear to admit of doubt." 15
Congress took the president at his word. The first business brought before the house was the considera tion of a petition from the legislature of Oregon.16
The petition asked for all those things which the president had suggested granting, and more. It called for lands to be surveyed as well as donated ; for navy- yards, and for the establishment of commercial regula tions that should enable them to compete successfully with the Hudson's Bay Company. The petition was ordered to be printed, and was afterwards referred to the committee on territories.
On the 19th of December, Douglas of Illinois re ported a bill in the house to protect the rights of American settlers in the territory of Oregon, until the termination of the joint occupancy of the same. Bowlin of Missouri also submitted a number of reso lutions, for surveying the waters of Oregon and explor ing it by land; for sending troops to aid and protect the emigrants; for establishing an Indian agency, and providing for the gradual extinguishment of the Indian title; for commencing the public surveys; for organ izing the militia of Oregon, and arming it for self-de fence; and for establishing a mail to Oregon by means of small detachments of otherwise unemployed soldiers. The resolutions were laid over for debate.
The memorial from the legislature of Oregon was ordered to be printed for reference to the committee of the whole on the state of the union. Douglas on
15 Cong. Globe, xv. 7. Mr Polk here enunciated the doctrines of the demo cratic party of that period. ' The United States, sincerely desiroits of pre serving the relations of good understanding with all nations, cannot in silence permit any European interference on the North American continent, and should any such interference be attempted, will be ready to resist it, at any and all hazards.' Id.
10 Cong. Globe, xv. 12.
BRITISH STATESMEN. 403
the following day offered some resolutions in relation to Oregon.17 On the 9th of January 184G, Bowlin introduced a bill in the house for the organization of a territorial government in Oregon.
The position of affairs with regard to the Oregon Question at the opening of congress, was such that, do what they would, the national legislators could not well make it worse. Negotiations were suspended, owing to the wholly irreconcilable views of the plenipoten tiaries. One party or the other would have to yield, or the question would have to be submitted to arbi tration. This the United States government declined/8 and democratic senators denounced.
Nor were the members of the British parliament silent in those days. Lord John Russell, the leader of the whig party in England, and others, spoke somewhat freely on the subject, so much so as to
17 '.1st. Resolved, That the title to any part of the Oregon territory south of 54° 40' of north latitude is not open to compromise so as to surrender any part of said territory. 2d. Rcsolred, That the question of title to that territory should not be left open to arbitration.' Laid over for debate. Cow/. Globe, xv. SO.
18 'There are obvious considerations into which I need not enter here, grow ing out of the relative situation of that country and ours with those powers of Europe from whom an arbitrator would almost necessarily be selected, and out of the influence she possesses over their counsel, and, I may add, growing- out of the nature of our institutions, and the little favor these enjoy at present upon the eastern continent, which may well have made the government hesi tate to submit important interests, at this particular juncture, to such a tribu nal. It may well have thought it better to hold on to our right, and to hold on also to our remedy, rather than commit both to a royal arbitrator. War is a great calamity, and ought to be avoided by all proper means ; but there arc calamities greater than war, and among these is national dishonor.' Cass, in the senate. Cony. Globe, 29th Cony., 1st tiess., 45. ' I am sure there is no great party, and I trust there are few individuals in this country who are prepared, even in an extreme spirit of compromise, to accept the most liberal offer that England has yet made. Her pretensions and ours are so widely separated that there seems no middle ground on which to meet. Our most moderate claim, and her most liberal offer, leave the parties asunder by seven degrees of latitude, and by a large portion of the territory in question. What then is our condition ? Can we recede ? Can we stand still ; or must we advance? As to receding, it is neither to be discussed nor thought of. I refer to it but to denounce it — a denunciation which will find a response in every American bosom. Nothing is ever gained by national pusillanimity. And the country which seeks to purchase temporary security by yielding to unjust pre tensions, buys present ease at the expense of permanent honor and safety. It sows the wind to reap the whirlwind. I have said elsewhere what I will repeat here, that it is better to fight for the first inch of national territory than for the last. It is better to defend the door-sill than the hearth-stone — the porch than the altar. ' Id.
404 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
render justifiable in the eyes of many the belligerent tone of the twenty-ninth congress.19 The remarks of Cass were made on his introducing some resolutions in the senate, inquiring into the condition of the na tional defences. Mangum of North Carolina, in dis cussing the resolutions, said, that though he should deplore a war, it was to be preferred to surrender ing the rights of the United States or compromising their honor.20 He, however, thought the resolutions unnecessarily pressed on the senate, and was willing to leave everything with the executive. Allen hoped
*9 'The president of the United States has made, as I have already read to the house, a peremptory claim to the whole of this territory. He has claimed 11: o whole possession of it for the United States, and has in an unusual man ner called upon the people of the United States, with their wives and chil- elicn, to occupy that territory. That district is becoming, on account of the ports 011 the Columbia I'ivcr, more important cveiy year. After that state ment of the president of the United States, I consider it impossible that her majesty's government should not endeavor to obtain a speedy solution of this question. I am sure they will find it impossible to allow the present unde- iined and unsettled state of relations between the two countries to continue /Ilhout danger; that the people of the United States, acting upon the sugges tions of the president, may endeavor to disturb British subjects in rights which they hold in virtue of existing treaties, and may produce a state of things (l-.igerous to the peace- of the two countries. For my own part, I will say, in all moderation, that I am not prepared to say that this country ought to put IOL \\ard any arrogant pretensions, i do not pretend to define — what it properly Ix^ongs to her majesty's advisers to define — the diplomatic proposals that should be made, I will not pretend to say what line ought to be laid down; Lr.i thiii I will bay, that I do not think we can make any proposal which will 1 *cv ler-'s than the proposal made by Mr Canning [that was the line on the parallel of 40°, to the Columbia, near its mouth], with any regard for our own interest or our own huiior. [Bringing the 40th parallel near the mouth of the Columbia flows the geographical knowledge of his lordship.] I may be told that it does not matter if this rocky and barren, territory should be claimed or occupied ];y the Unit d States. Yes, sir, I must say it docs matter. It cannot be a matter of indifference that a large territory, to which wo have a better and a juster title-, should be yielded to what I must call a blustering announcement on the part of the president of the United States.' London Morning Chronicle, .A^ril ,~>, 1845, Report of Parliamentary Procec.flinus. Sir Robert Peel also said on the same occasion: 'We trust still to arrive at an amicable adjustment of ov.v claim; but, having exhausted every effort for the settlement, if our rights shall be invaded, we arc resolved, and we are prepared, to maintain them.' Id. , Cony. Globe, xv. 40, Lord Ashburton was of opinion there would be no war. 'It would be madness,' he said, 'to become involved in war for a country worthless in itself, and for a mere question of honor, for it was im possible to deny that both countries had pretensions to the territory in dis pute.' Hansard's Purl. Debases, Lxxxiv. 1112-20.
20 Whenever that extreme measure shall have been determined on, and the vote by yeas and nays recorded on our journals, he believed there would not bn found in the senate, or in the country, a single anti-war man. 'Xo, sir; differ among ourselves on all minor questions as we may, whatever collisions of opinion there maybe among us on mere party topics, or subjects of domestic
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. 405
the resolutions would pass without the obstruction of a solitary vote. To reject them would be to vir tually declare that they would not prepare for any emergency that might arise from their foreign re lations, a position which the United States should not assume. "Great Britain, " he said, " is a power whose policy is known throughout the civilized world, and need not be defined. Great Britain is a power who conducts her negotiations with a fleet upon the coast of the power with whom she negotiates; ever ready to settle questions that cannot be settled b}' words, by resorting in practice to the ancient Gallic maxim of casting a sabre into the scale." On the other hand, the United States, by the very nature of their institutions, were always unprepared for the terrible emergency of war, having no standing army to depend upon. We have, however, he said, a standing militia, a nation with a military organization.21
The resolutions of Cass continued to be debated for several days, the only opposition made being in the form of a protest from Webster, Archer, Berrien, Clayton, and others, against their being considered as a war measure, instead of a peace measure.
On the 16th of December they were put to vote, and adopted unanimously. Correspondence was en tered into with the navy department. Several bills were introduced for the building of steam frigates.22 An increase in the army was attempted, and the as pect of affairs was decidedly warlike throughout the first session. Getting bills as far along as a second reading is comparatively easy, when the topic is a popular one; but passing them, when they involve either money or blood, is a matter of much delibera tion: hence all the bills originating in the Oregon
3 O C5 O
policy, whenever a proud, arrogant, and, he would add, grasping enemy, strikes a blow at us, or by trampling on our rights or honor, compels us to assume a belligerent position, we shall all be found acting together, and presenting an unbroken phalanx, merging all party opposition, and deter mined to resist the aggression.' Cong. Globe, xv. 47.
21 Cong. Globe, xv. 49.
22 Cong. Globe, xv. 220, 252.
406 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
controversy were put off, on one pretence or another, though hardly a day passed during the session, that the Oregon Question was not brought up in some form.
On the 10th of February 1846, the president of the senate announced for debate a series of resolutions. First a joint resolution advising the president of the United States to give notice to the government of Great Britain annulling the convention of the 6th of August 1827. An amendment accompanied the reso lution, reported January 8, 1846, striking out all after "joint resolution," and making it read " to annul and abrogate the convention of the 6th day of August 1827, between the United States of America and Great Britain, relative to the country westward of the Rocky Mountains."
Another joint resolution offered January 26th by Crittenden set forth in very measured terms that a convention had been formed, which it was now desirable to terminate, in order that the territory in question might not longer suffer the evils of a divided allegiance, and that therefore now the necessary steps should be taken to abrogate that convention; and in his resolution authorized the president of the United States, at his discretion, to give the British govern ment the notice required; but provided, that in order to afford ample time, such notice ought not to be given till after the close of the existing session of congress. Other resolutions were submitted on the subject of the recent negotiations, approving the terms offered by the president, as proper for him to make, in the spirit of peace and compromise; and others to the effect that the country included within the parallels of 42° and 54° 40' was the property and part and parcel of the United States, and that the abandon ment or surrender of any portion of territory of Ore gon would be an abandonment of the honor, character, and best interests of the United States.
CONGRESSIONAL DEBATES. 407
Mr Allen of Ohio opened the debate with a few remarks on the conduct of Great Britain toward the United States since the treaty of peace of 1783, and the unfriendly feeling in Europe toward the United States and free institutions. Whether the notice they were about to give Great Britain should lead to war, was not a question to be taken into considera tion; he did not believe she would go to w^ar in this case; her statesmen were too wise for that.23
The discussion of the joint resolution giving notice to Great Britain of the abrogation of the convention of 1827 was carried on until the 27th of April, when the resolution was signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate,24 after considerable controversy concerning its form.
23 The limits of this history will not permit even a partial review of the speeches made on the Oregon Question during the first session of the twenty- ninth congress. They were by every man of any note in either house, '25 senators and 80 representatives.
24 The joint resolution, as passed, was as follows: 'Whereas, by the con vention concluded the 20th day of October 1818, between the United States of America and the king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire land, for the period of ten years, and afterwards indefinitely extended and continued in force by another convention of the same parties, concluded the Gth day of August, in the year of our Lord 1827, it was agreed that any country that may be claimed by either party on the Northwest Coast of America, westward of the Stony or Rocky mountains, now commonly called the Oregon Territory, should, together with its harbors, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers within the same, be free and open to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers; but without prejudice to any claim which either of the parties might have to any part of said country; and with this further provision in the second article of the said convention of the Gth of August 1827, that either party might abrogate and annul said convention on giving notice of twelve months to the other contracting party. And whereas, it has now become desirable that the respective claims of the United States and Great Britain should be definitely settled, and that said territory may no longer than need be remain subject to the evil consequences of the divided allegiance of its American and British population, and of the confusion and conilict of national jurisdictions, dangerous to the cherished peace and good understanding of the two countries. With a view, therefore, that steps be taken for the abrogation of the said convention of the Gth of August 1827, in the mode prescribed in its second article, and that the atten tion of the governments of both countries may be more earnestly directed to the adoption of all proper measures for a speedy and amicable adjustment of the differences and disputes in regard to said territory : Resolved by th<> Sen ate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the president of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized, at his discretion, to give to the government of Great Britain the notice required by the second article of the said convention of the Gth of August 1827, for the abrogation of the same.'
408 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
Those who believed the title of the United States un questionable from the 42cl parallel of north latitude to 54° 40', were unwilling to leave it to the discretion of the president, but wished the president to be re quired by congress to give notice to Great Britain of the abrogation of the convention, and at the same time that measures should be taken to enforce the United States claim at the expiration of the period of twelve months. More moderate counsels, however, prevailed, and the resolution was passed as stated, and immediately approved by the president, wTho caused McLane, the American minister at London, to be instructed to give the requisite notice to the British government; which was done the 22d of May.
Congress and the people understood, at this time, the actual position of affairs between the two govern ments, the late correspondence of the plenipotentiaries having been laid before the house of representatives by the president on the 7th of February 184G, and published.'25 Mr Faran of Ohio, in a speech deliv ered April 14th in the house of representatives, pre sented the case as it stood, very clearly.20 He showed that in the offers of Great Britain, she had not moved from the position of claiming the Columbia River for the boundary line. This was in fact the real subject of the dispute. To possess the Columbia in whole or in part had been the determination of both govern ments from the commencement of negotiations. A climax had now been reached in the struggle, when one or the other must recede from its position.
The conciliatory language of the joint resolution,
25 Con<j. Globe, xv. 333-5.
26 The offers made in the recent negotiations of 1844-5, in addition to what had "been offered in earlier years, were as follows : British offer of August 26, 1844 : 'In addition to the previous offers of July 13, 1824, and December 1, 1820, to make free to the United States any port or ports that the United States might desire, either on the Mainland or on Vancouver's Island, south of latitude 49°. Rejected. United States offer of July 12, 1845: To divide the Oregon Territory by the 49th parallel of north latitude, from the Rocky .Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and to make free to Great Britain any port or ports on Vancouver's Island, south of this parallel, which Great Britain might desire. Rejected.' 20th Coxy., Ixi Scr*., Coi/y. Globe, app.
ENGLISH IGNORANCE. 409
as adopted by congress, and approved by the president, had a good effect in England,27 where the war feeling in the United States, and the numerous publications on the subject of the United States title, had begun to be viewed with some alarm.28 The number of the latter was very great. Many of the speeches of both senators and representatives were printed in pamphlet form, and circulated wherever the United States mail was carried.29
In addition to the congressional documents with which the people were liberally supplied, a number of writers took up the question and discussed it in a variety of forms, which I notice elsewhere. The nature of the subject precluded the possibility of add ing any new facts to those already known. The object of the writers seemed to be to keep the subject before the people, and impress upon them their right to the country in dispute. In this respect the institutions of the United States gave them an advantage over Great Britain. While Englishmen did not disguise their contempt for a government in which the people had a controlling influence,30 it was none the less true that this very intimacy of the people and the govern-
27 Hansard's Par!. Debates, SO, 1424.
28 Lord Clarendon asking for information from the secretary of foreign affairs, on the subject of the negotiations going on in Washington, March 17, 1840, said: 'Your lordship will bear in mind that although the language of the two governments, as far as we are acquainted with it, has been inspired by public sentiment ; and although the information which reaches us from America is of the same character, yet we cannot disguise from ourselves that the two countries appear to be gradually, but invohmtarily, drifting towards war, ' to which Aberdeen replied, that from papers in his possession, ' an inference might fairly be drawn not favorable to the probable future results of the negotiations.' Hansard's Parl. Debates, Ixxxiv. 1112-20.
29 Some of these congressional documents, stained by time, are before me: Owen'sThe Occupation of Oregon, Jan. 23-4, 1844; Crtttenden's Speech on the Ore- yonQuestion, April 10, 1840, 10 pages; Niks' Speech onthe Oregon Question, March 19, 1840, 11 pages; Barrow's Speech on the Oregon Question, oOth of March 1840, 10 pages; Wick's Speech on the Oregon Question, Jan. 30, 1840, 7 pages; Wentworth's Remarks on the Oregon Bill, Jan. 27, 1845, 0 pages; Id., Speech,
Jan. 24, 1844. A conciliatory speech of Webster's, delivered at Boston, on the Oregon Question, is quoted in the Polynesian of March 14, 1840.
30 Roberts, in his Recollections, calls this 'a government from below.' He was annoyed and injured by the way in which American institutions conflicted with personal rights derived from a decaying corporation, toward which they entertained a national antipathy.
410 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
ment was what defeated the pretensions of Great Britain in the settlement of the Oregon Question.
While the people and the parliament of Great Britain were far less well informed on the merits and the progress of the question than the Americans, they also had their writers who took up the subject with partisan zeal, and discussed it with some ability, though with a small degree of fairness.
In the midst of this excitement the question was suddenly brought to a close. On receipt of the notice and joint resolution, the British government, without loss of time, instructed its plenipotentiary, Packington, to make a new proposition for the settlement of the controversy,31 which was accepted with as little loss of time by the United States.
The treaty offered by Great Britain was considered by the senate, to whom the president sent it for advice on the 18th of June,32 when Bentoii made a speech
31 Lord Brougham again desired to know of Lord Aberdeen whether the reports in circulation in the American and English public prints, that the Oregon boundary questions had 'been brought to an amicable conclusion, and one honorable to botli parties,' were true. Aberdeen replied that they were, and said that when ho saw that congress had adopted resolutions of such a con ciliatory and friendly disposition he "did not delay for a moment, but putting aside all ideas of diplomatic etiquette' prepared a draft of a convention which was sent by the packet of May 18th to Packington. to be proposed for the acceptance of the United States government. Packington had written that his proposal had been submitted to the senate by the president, who was advised by that body, after a few hours deliberation on three several days, by a vote of 38 to 12, to accept. The president had immediately acted on the advice, and Buchanan had sent for and informed Packington that 'the condi tions oiTered by her majesty's government were accepted without the addition or alteration of a single word.' Hansard's Purl. J)eb>ites, 87, 1038.
32 Treaty between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, concluded at Washington on the 15th of June 1840.
Article I. From the point of the 49th parallel of north latitude where the boundary laid down in existing treaties and conventions between Great Britain and the United States terminates, the line of boundary between the territories of the United States and those of her Britannic Majesty shall be continued westward along the 49th parallel of north latitude to the middle of the channel which separates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence southerly, through the middle of the said channel, and of Fuca's Straits, to the Pacific Ocean. Provided, however, that the navigation of the whole of the said channel and straits south of the 49th parallel of north latitude remain free and open to both parties.
Article II. From the point at which the 49th parallel of north latitude shall be found to intersect the great northern branch of the Columbia River, the navigation of the said branch shall be free and open to the Hudson's Bay
THE FORTY-NINTH PARALLEL. 411
upon its ratification. The view taken by the senator was, that the 49th parallel was the real line of right and convenience between the two powers; the one offered Great Britain since the time of Jefferson ; and wonderfully adapted to the natural divisions of the country, and the actual possessions of the two countries. It parted the two systems of water- — those of the Columbia and Fraser rivers — as naturally and com- modiously on the west of the mountains, as it parted on the east side of the same mountains the two systems of waters which belonged, on the one hand to the gulf of Mexico, on the other to Hudson Bay; and on both sides of the mountains it conformed to the actual discoveries and settlements of both parties. There was not on the face of the earth, he said, so long a line, and so straight, and so adapted to the rights of the parties and the features of the country. Jefferson had offered it in 1807; Monroe in 1818, and again in 1824; Adams in 1826; Tyler in 1842; and Polk in
Company, and to all British subjects trading with the same, to the point where the said branch meets the main stream of the Columbia, and thence down the said main stream to the ocean, with free access into and through the said river or rivers : it being understood that all the iisual portages along the line thus described shall, in like manner, be free and open. In navigating the said river or rivers, British subjects, with their goods and produce, shall be treated on the same footing as citizens of the United States ; it being, however, always understood that nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing, or intended to prevent, the government of the United States from making any regulations respecting the navigation of the said river or rivers not inconsist ent with the present treaty.
Article III. In the future appropriation of the territory south of the 49th parallel of north latitude, as provided in the first article of this treaty, the possessory rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, and of all British sub jects who may be already in the occupation of land or other property lawfully acquired within the said territory, shall be respected.
Article IV. The farms, lands, and other property of every description belonging to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, on the north side of the Columbia River, shall be confirmed to the said company. In case, however, the situation of those farms and lands should be considered by the United States to be of public and political importance, and the United States government should signify a desire to obtain possession of the whole, or of any part thereof, the property so required shall be ti^ansferred to the said government at a proper valuation, to be agreed upon between the parties.
Article V. The present treaty shall be ratified by the president of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate thereof, and by her Britannic majesty; and the ratification shall be exchanged at London at the expiration of six months from the date hereof, or sooner if possible. Greenliow's Or. and Cal., 482; Oregon Spectator, March 4, 1847; Tribune Al manac, 1847, 16; Oregon, Organic Law and Treaty Limit*, 34-0.
412 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
1845. Thus for a period of about forty years the United States government had tendered this boundary to the government of Great Britain.
The deflection through the Strait of Fuca, leaving out Vancouver Island instead of dividing it, was right and proper also.33 It left the United States all they desired in the waters of Puget Sound and all the bays and inlets connecting therewith; and with them the small cluster of islands, probably of no value, between the Haro channel and the continent.34
Of the second article of the treaty, with regard to the free navigation of the Columbia, Benton said that it fell so far short of what Great Britain had previously demanded, and the United States offered, that it amounted to a relinquishment of the whole pretensions with regard to that river. The navigation was to be free to a few British subjects during the term of the Hudson's Bay Company's present charter, who were to be subject to the laws and regulations applying to United States citizens.35
Respecting the third article of the treaty which regarded the possessory rights of the Hudson's Bay
33 Benton held that the island was worthless, and not necessary for a port, since the- mouth of the Columbia was better known as a good harbor; and that there was no necessity 'to go north three hundred miles to hunt a substi tute port in the remote and desolate coasts of Vancouver Island. That island is not wanted by the United States for any purpose whatever. Above all, the soiith end of it is not wanted to command the Straits of Fuca. It so happens that these straits arc not liable to be commanded, either in fact or in law. They are from fifteen to thirty miles wide — rather too wide for batteries to cross their shot — and wide enough, like all the other great straits of the world, to constitute a part of the high seas, and to be incapable of appropri ation by any nation. We want nothing of that strait but as a boundary, and that the treaty gives us. With that boundary conies all that we want in that quarter, namely, all the waters of Puget's Sound, and the fertile Olympic district which borders upon them.' Cony. Globe, app., 1846, 867.
5iCony. Globe, app., 1846, 867. Mr Benton did not foresee the strife that in a few years was to grow out of the adverse claims to these islands. He also remarks 'neither the Spanish discoveries, nor our own discovery and settlement of the Columbia, would have given us those waters. Their British names indicate their discoverers, and the line of 49° gives them to us. ' Mr Benton, in his desire to have the treaty confirmed, was willing to sacrifice both Spanish and American discoverers, when at another time he might be at great pains to defend their claims.
35 This clause in the second article was overlooked by the British plenipo tentiary, and even Mr Benton does not refer to it in the sense in which it after wards became objectionable to the Hudson's Bay Company, when they were
FINAL TREATY. 413
Company and all British subjects who might be in the occupation of land or other property lawfully ac quired within the said territory, Benton thought that the limitation of a ' lawful acquisition/ to property within the territory, would exclude the company alto gether, as neither the United States laws nor those of Great Britain admitted the validity of Indian sales to individuals; and possessory rights under the joint occupation convention could only continue till the end of the company in 1863. The article, he thought, was meant for the quiet of the company until they could remove.3*3
The fourth article, treating of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, was considered by Benton as leaving it optional with the United States to con firm the lands to the company or to pay for the improvements upon them at an equitable valuation, there being no doubt of the action of the United States in this matter, the government not being likely to consent to the presence of a foreign company on the waters of Puget Sound. Hence the treaty, as a whole, was favorable to the United States, and he, as a constitutional adviser of the president, should urge its ratification. The country at large, and Oregon in particular, required that the long debated question should be settled.
On the vote being taken in the senate, forty-one members were for and fourteen against the ratifica tion of the treaty, one member being absent.37 The
called upon to pay duties on goods imported from England. Roberts, in his Recollection*, 6, says: 'The treaty was very lame, so far as the company was concerned. They never contemplated paying duties at Vancouver; this, coupled \vith the disorganization and demoralization of their men, was the downfall of the company.'
30 'I am willing to understand the article liberally and to execute it gen erously; but in strictness there can be no lawful possessions in Oregon (unless the defunct treaty would impart that character), the persons now there being in the eye of our law intruders and trespassers.' Cong. Globe, app., 1846, 808. This was the doctrine of the American settlers in Oregon from the first.
37 The treaty was signed by Messrs Packingtoii and Buchanan on the loth of June, the advice of the senate being given on the 13th, and the president sign • ing it on the 18th, immediately after its confirmation by the senate. It was signed by the queen of Great Britain on the 17th of Juiy, 1846.
414 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
president without delay acted on the advice of the senate, and in a month from that time the Oregon Question was finally settled by the consent of the queen of Great Britain to the treaty as ratified by the president of the United States.33 The exclusive claim of the United States was not altogether sound ; but the people had been educated into a belief that it was so; they were ready or nearly so, to resort to force in defence of their rights ; and England did not deem her own actual right in the matter worth fighting for. Therefore the country between the Columbia and latitude 49° was peacefully surrendered to the United States.
38 Authorities consulted on the subject-matter of this chapter, not already
? noted, are: American StatePaperSy-zm. 623-4, xiv. 745-G; COIKJ. Globe, 1838-0, ,15; Id., 1837-8, 10-22, app.,5C5; Id., 1839-40,6 ;/cZ., 1840-1,71, 89, 90, 100, app., 105; Id., 1841-2, vi., app., 736; Id., 18-11, vi.; Id., 1842-3, vii., app., iii. 132; Id., 1842-3, vii. xiii. app., iii. iv. ; Id., 1843-4, ix. xix. app., v.; Id., 1844-5, vii. xiii. app., 419; Id., 1845-G, xii. xxix. xxx.; Id., 1845-0, 145, 153; Nilcs' Hey., xxxiii. 213; Ivi. 234-9; Ixx. 341; Id., Ixviii. 151-2. 184, 205-7, 213, 224, 23G-9, 252, 3G4; Cushings Kept, on Or. Tcr., 1839, 2G-51; Hansard's Parl. Delates, Ixxxiv. 1277-9; Ixxxviii. 88, 978, 989, 993; Pousxin's Question de I'Orcgon, 87-88 ; U. S. Charters and Constitution*, ii. 1482-3 ; Irving's As toria, 497; Evens' Hist. Or., MS., 113, 294; Butler's Wild North Land, 350; Cushing's Treaty of Washington, 211-14; North American lieview, vi. 453; Id., xxvii. 49G-512; Id., Ivi.' 453-49G, xviii. 49G-512, Jan. 1840, 94, 103-09, 132-44; Id., xv. 370-94; Edinburgh Review, Ixxxii. 238-265; Southern Quart. Renew, July 1845, 217-43; Perkins' Annals of the We*t,\ii. xxiii.; Robertson's Right and Title to Or., app., i-xxiv.; Saxton's Or. T<r., 30; Sargent's Life of Dr Linn, 195; 1 tines' Ex. to Or., 3G5-375; Rept. Com., No. 31, 27th Cony., 3d Sess.; Victor's Or., 9-34; Tribune Almanac for ISjG, 17-43; 1847, G-7; Farn- liam's Hist. Or., 51: McKay's Recoil.. 3; Laplace, Campagne, vi. 1-39, Zava- lishin, G-7; Giddinys' Speeches, 148-G3; Simpson's Nor., i. 262-6; Humboldt's New Spain, Black, Trans., ii. 31G-18; Winthrop's Speech Or. Quest., 16; K<d- ley's Colonization of Oregon, 17, 42-51; Letter of J. II. Kelley in Thornton's Uist. Or., MS., 84-93; House Rrpt., No. S30, 27th Cong., 2d Sess.; Senate Kept., No. 470, 25th Cong., 2d Sess.; Evans' Northwest Boundary, 1-8; Thorn ton's Or. and Cal., 30-1; Papers Relating to the Treaty of Washington, v. 39-44; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 260; President's Mess., and Doc., 20th Conn., 10-14, 139-93; Hayings' Or., 23; Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc., 18G3-4, 457; Dix's Speeches, 17-59; Pac. R. Ii. Explor. and Surrey, 26; Oregon Spectator, April 1, 1847; Messages and Documents of J. K. Polk, 1846, 1-33; Cong. Globe, 1845-6, 20th Cong., app.; Cong. Globe, 1846-7, app; Das Oregon Gebiet; or the Official Correspondence on the Oregon Question, complete, 1-114; 8. I. Friend, v. 28-9; Nicolay's Or. Ter.; L. F. Grover, in Trans. Or. Pioneer Assoc., 1874, 33-9.
AMONG contemporaneous writers on the Oregon Question, and on the events of Oregon history on which that question depended, Robert Greenhow should deservedly be mentioned in the first place. He was a native of Vir ginia, educated for the medical profession, in 1838 established the Tricolor, a
ROBERT GKEENHOW. 415
republican paper, in New York, and later became translator and librarian to the United States department of state. While so engaged he wrote his Memoir, Historical and Political, of the Northwest Coast of America, and the Adjacent Territories; illustrated by a Map and Geographical View of those Countries. Wash ington, 1840, Svo. xii., 228 pages. This work was written by direction of the secretary of state, and published by order of the senate at the request of Linn, the great champion of Oregon settlement. U. 8. Govt. Doc., 26th Cong., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc., No. 174. Four years later this work, much elaborated, and increased in size, was published as The History of Oregon and California, and the other Territories on the Northivest Coast of America; accompanied by a Geographical View and Map of those Countries, and Number of Documents as Proofs and Illustrations of the History. Boston, 1844. Svo, xviii., 482 pages. It was also issued the same year in England with a London title-page; and a second, third, and fourth editions were published in 1845 and 1847. The last edition contains some additions. The first xviii. 120 pages of this work were separately printed and issued as The Geography of Oregon and California, etc. Boston, 1845; N. Y., 1845. The same author also published in 1845 an Ansiver to the Strictures of Mr Thomas Falconer of Lincoln 's Inn, on the History of Oregon and California. Washington, 1845, Svo, 7 pages. He subsequently went to California as associate law-agent of the United States before the land commission, and died in San Francisco in 1854, at the age of 54 years.
Mr Greenhow was an accomplished man and a writer of ability and in dustry, not without a certain brilliancy of style. Those parts of his works devoted to historical and descriptive matter are worthy of the highest praise ; indeed, in many parts they can hardly be improved at this date, occupying, legitimately in certain respects, the place of standard history. As an argu ment on the title question, the work also deserves praise as the strongest possible presentment of the cause. It was to all intents and purposes a brief in behalf of the United States, though the author denies this in the preface to the last edition in reply to English criticisms in the Quarterly Review, 1845-6, 567; yet for a production of this class it was remarkably free from special pleading and partisan unfairness. The Quarterly's charge that Green- how had displayed 'more art and diligence than candor and accuracy,' being an 'unsafe if not faithless guide,' was exaggerated; yet it is hardly possible that so intelligent a man so well acquainted with the subject should really have believed in all that was claimed by the United States in regard to the Northwest Coast.
Travers Twiss, D. C. L., F. R. S., "professor of political economy in the university of Oxford, and advocate in doctors' commons, "published after the appearance of Greenhow's work, The Oregon Question examined in respect to Facts and the Law of Nations. London, 1846, Svo, ix. 391 pages. It was repub- lished as T/ie Oregon Territory, its History and Discovery, etc. New York, 1846, 12mo, 264 pages. Dr Twiss was in every respect the equal of the Amer ican champion, in ability, knowledge, and freedom from extreme partisanship. In the technicalities of international law he was superior ; he had also the benefit of all Greenhow's researches in addition to his own; and he had, besides, the less ultra side of the argument. As a history of the Northwest Coast his work is not equal to Greenhow's ; but as an argument on the Ore-
416 THE OREGON QUESTION CONCLUDED.
gon Question it is in all essential points fairer, in fact a good work of its class. It contains many mistakes in minor historical points to be corrected ; but like Greenhow's work it is in comparison with those of other writers more free from such errors.
The subject is treated less exhaustively, and in most cases with a more pronounced spirit of partisanship, in the following works : The Oregon Ques tion; r>r a Statement of the British Claims, etc., l>y Thomas Falconer, Esq. Lon don and New York, 1845, three editions. The same author wrote On the Discovery of the Missessip}^, awl on the Southwestern, Oregon, and Northwest ern Boundaries of the United States, London, 1844; and Mr Falconer's Reply to Mr Greenhow's Answer, with Mr Greenhow's Rejoinder. Washington, 1845. We have also from the pen of the United States plenipotentiary in the nego tiations of 1826-9, Letters of Albert Gallatin on the Oregon Question, Wash ington, 1846, 8vo, 30 pages; and The Oregon Question, Nos. 1-5. New York, 1846, 8vo, 78 pages. An ex-officer of the Hudson's Bay Company wrote The Oregon Territory, Claims thereto of England and America considered, by Alex ander Simpson. London, 1846, Svo, 60 pages. See also Robertson's Oregon, our Right and Title, Washington, 1846, Svo, 203 pages; Murdoch's Our True Title to Oregon — that is resting on the Virginia charter; Oregon, the Cost and the Con sequences, Phil. 1846; Tucker's History of Oregon, Buffalo, 1844, made up for the most part from Greenhow; Sturgis' Oregon Question, Boston, 1845, a lec ture; Farnham's History of the Oregon Territory, 1844; Will there be War? By an Adopted Citizen, 1846; also HallJ. Kelley's pamphlets. The British comic papers of the time also presented the great question in cartoons.
CHAPTER XVIII.
OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA. 1820-1830.
"Is OREGON WORTH HAVING?" — CONFIGURATION, SOIL, AND CLIMATE — RELATIONS WITH CHINA — A TERRA INCOGNITA — ENGLAND TO INDIA, BY WAY OF THE COLUMBIA liIVER — IRRECONCILABLE OPINIONS — PREPARING TO EMIGRATE — PROPOSAL TO MAKE OVER THE TERRITORY TO THE INDIANS — THE WHALE-FISHERY — A SCHOOL FOR SEAMEN — CONFLICTING STATE MENTS — A HESITATING GOVERNMENT — WHY THE BRITISH MONOPOLIZED THE TRADE — MCLOUGHLIN SUCCEEDS KEITH AT ASTORIA — PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER OF MCLOUGHLIN — His ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE — HE EXPLORES FOR THE SITE OF A NEW POST — FORT VAN COUVER FOUNDED — AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE — AMALGAMATION OF FUR COMPANIES — PERILS OF THE FUR-TRADE.
"Is Oregon worth having?" This was a question which first assumed importance in 1820, and thencefor ward during ten years exercised the collective wisdom of congress. Many and various were the opinions of legislators who took part in the debates on this sub ject. Many members were entirely unused to the consideration of vast national interests, while not a few were profoundly ignorant of the history and con ditions of the region under consideration. This lack of exact information had its effect in furnishing mate rial for the pleasantry of the better informed mem bers, and endued with unwonted entertainment the usually somewhat dull pages of the Annals of Con gress.
The political aspect of the question has already been considered ; it may not be without interest, however, in this place to cast a retrospective glance over the ideas of more than half a century ago con cerning the nature of the new north-west.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 27 (417)
418 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA,
Configuration, soil, climate, and other conditions governing population were among the most important points upon which both speculation and argument were founded. As early as 1821 it was confidently as serted that "the coast of the Pacific is in its climate more mild than any part of the continent in the same parallel, and many vegetables on that shore grow in great abundance in the native forest which are like wise natives of China."1
The mention of China is in this connection not inappropriate, for in all phases of the Oregon prob lem that empire claims a large share of prominence, whether as a mart for the distribution of coast prod ucts, or a means of peopling the coast itself. "It is believed that population could be easily acquired from China, by which the arts of peace would at once acquire strength and influence, and make visible to the aborigines the manner in which their wants could be supplied . . . And, though the people of that country evince no disposition to emigrate to the territory of adjoining princes, it is believed they would willingly, nay, gladly, embrace the opportunity of a home in America, where they have no prejudices, no fears, no restraint in opinion, labor, or religion."1 The same congressional committee who enunciated the above
O
sentiments supplemented them with the devout hope that an establishment on such conditions "would essen tially benefit the natives, whilst it would give this country the advantage of all its own treasures, which otherwise must be lost forever, or rather never enjoyed ; and from all that can be ascertained relative to its present and increasing value, of more profit to this country than the mines of Potosi."3
Trade with China, which when carried on with
1 Annals of Cong., 16th Cong., 2d Sess., 956.
2 Id., 95G-7.
'•^ Id., 957- The vexed question of the Chinese on the Pacific coast finds a place in another volume, but it may be opportune to remark here that the example of Chinese industry has not aifected the aborigines very appreciably, while the immigrants themselves can 110 longer complain of the absence of prejudice and restraint.
VERY FAR AWAY. 419
eastern seaports involved so long, circuitous, and perilous a voyage, was always confidently pointed to as the most valuable incentive to the development of the region adjacent to the Columbia River.
In December 1822, Floyd of Virginia, one of the warmest advocates for the occupation of the territory, remarked: "The settlement on the Oregon, as con templated by this bill, connecting the trade of that river and coast with the Missouri and Mississippi, is to open a mine of wealth to the shipping interests and the western country, surpassing the hopes even of avarice itself. It consists principally of things which will purchase the manufactures and products of China at a better profit than gold and silver; and if that attention is bestowed upon the country to which its value and position entitle it, it will yield a profit, producing more wealth to the nation than all the shipments which have ever in any one year been made to Canton from the United States."4
Much legislative inaction and apparent coldness to the new-born enthusiasm for Oregon, must be credited to the lack of reliable specific information.5 Its ex treme remoteness, too, appears to have had an appall ing effect upon most minds, though here and there was found an ardent devotee whose advanced ideas triumphed over time and space. "It cannot be denied/' says one of these, "that the distance between the seat of government and the mouth of the Columbia is very great. But in reference to the facility of com munication between the places, the distance must not be estimated by miles, but should be computed by the time required to pass from the one place to the other. If steam -boats were established in all the waters between this and the mouth of the Columbia capable of steam boat navigation, the journey might be made, I do not doubt, in less time, and with greater ease, than the
4 Annals of Cony., 17th Cong., 2d Sess., 398.
0 ' All this space of the western shores of our territory is perfectly unknown to us, and is as much terra incognita as the wilds of Africa.' Annals of Cony., 17th Cong., 2d Sess., 585.
420 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
representative from Missouri, now on this floor, could have come, unless by sea, from his state to this city, only ten years ago."6
The aspirations of sti^h advocates, though neces sarily limited to existing means, contemplated a brill iant future for the unbuilt city of the Columbia.
She was to be more than a mere port of entry, a haven for the whalers battered in an Arctic tempest, an emporium of furs destined for the trans-Pacific trade; she should be the entrepot of European trade with India and China. " We must take into consid eration a trade which, at no distant day, must grow out of the great improvements we have made, and are daily making, in the means of communication and transportation ... I do verily believe, that, in twenty years, and if not in twenty, in fifty years, a person setting out from London to go to India, will find New York, Albany, and Sandusky, post-towns on his route. By pursuing, continually, nearly a west course, he will cross the Atlantic, reach Albany, follow the New York canal, embark on Lake Erie, pass through the Ohio canal, and pursue the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri, to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, over which he will traverse a turnpike of only seventy-five miles, which will bring him to the waters of the Columbia; upon these he will reach the Pacific, and from thence he will cross a ferry to the Asiatic con tinent, a ferry of some two or three thousand miles, I admit, but one which, in reference to steam-boat navi gation, for which those seas arc particularly adapted, would be no more than so many hundred miles would have been some few years since ... Is it not reasonable, then, to suppose that, at some period, not very remote, the eastern trade may be pursued in the course I have designated?"7
So rose-tinted a view could not long hold its own unchallenged. Whatever natural advantages the ter-
«Ammls of Cong., 17th Cony., 2d Sess., 586. 'Id., 585-6.
IMPORTANT THOUGH RUGGED. 421
ritory might or might not possess, its friends were not destined to have matters all their own way. Meagre as were the facts known, they appear to have been equally distributed between the pros and cons, and no sooner had a partisan exhausted plausibility in depicting the resources of the new country, than his opponent was ready with a new array of facts, or the old ones transposed, to controvert his arguments. We now find this much-debated land painted in Rein- brandtesque colors by one who claimed to be possessed of some reliable information, though it was " neither extensive nor precise." This knowledge had been obtained from gentlemen who had spent some time on the Columbia, and was in every way trustworthy. " The coast in the vicinity of the mouth of the Colum bia," said he, " is high, rugged, and to use the techni cal phrase of sailors, iron-bound. The entrance into the river, or rather into the estuary into which the river disembogues, is difficult and dangerous, owing to the bars and shoals which stretch out from capes Disappointment and Adams, the two points which form the bay. These shoals approximate so much as to leave the channel between them too narrow to allow vessels to pass through with safety.8
8J. B. Prevost, United States commissioner at the surrender of Fort George, in his letter to John Quincy Adams, bearing date November 11, 1818, writes concerning the estuary of the Columbia: ' The bay is spacious; contains several anchoring places in a sufficient depth of water; and is by no means so difficult of ingress as has been represented. Those enjoying the exclusive commerce have probably cherished an impression unfavorable to its continu ance, growing out of the incomplete survey of Lieutenant Broughton, made under the orders of Vancouver in 1792. It is true that there is a bar extend ing across the mouth of the river, at either extremity of which are, at times, appalling breakers; but it is equally true that it offers, at the lowest tides, a depth of 21 feet of water through a passage, exempt from them, of nearly a league in width. The Blossom, carrying more guns than the Ontario, encoun tered a change of wind while in the channel; was compelled to let go her anchor; and, when again weighed, to tack and beat, in order to reach the harbor; yet found a greater depth, and met with no difficulty either then or on leaving the bay . . . The bearings, distances, and soundings were taken by Captain Hickey, who was kind enough to lend himself to the examination, and to furnish me with this result. It is the more interesting, as it shows that, with the aid of buoys, the access to vessels of almost any tonnage may be rendered secure.' Id., 1207. Captain Hickey was in command of his Britannic majesty's sloop-of-war Blossom. Prevost 's letter was communi cated to the house of representatives, January 27, 1823.
422 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
" It is only, therefore, with a fair and free wind that a ship can enter; for, without a leading wind, the strong tides which set here, at the rate of five or six miles an hour, would strand her on one or the other of the capes, as the tide should happen to be either at flood or ebb. The anchorage within is tolerably good, except that the great action of the tides is calculated to make the anchors foul, and render much labor necessary to keep the vessel safe at her moorings.
" But as the winds which prevail on the coast are principally from the west, the difficulty in going out is much greater than that of entering. Vessels in the harbor would often be detained for weeks before an opportunity would present for putting to sea. Upon the whole, the harbor must be considered, at all seasons, bad, and during the winter months almost, if not altogether, impracticable. The climate, instead of being, as I have heard it described, bland and salu brious, is bleak and inhospitable. It is true that deep snows or severe frosts arc seldom known during four or five months of the year, but the vapor arising from the ocean, which is driven by the constantly prevail ing west winds on the high mountains, is condensed by the cold, and descends in drenching rains almost unremittingly.
" A dry day at this season is a luxury rarely enjoyed, and the cheering ray of a sunbeam scarcely ever ex perienced. As you ascend the river the period of the rainy season diminishes, and at the first spurs of the Rocky Mountains, a distance of four hundred or five hundred miles, it is almost unknown. But the climate, owing to this excess of humidity at one season, and the feeble influence of the sun in the other, is believed, from experiments which have been made, to be inca pable of nourishing many of the valuable products which are cultivated with success in the corresponding latitudes of the Atlantic. The attempts which were made to cultivate maize wholly failed; and, although turnips, cabbages, and some other culinary vegetables
A LITTLE GOOD LAND. 423
have succeeded, the prospects for wheat, rye, oats, etc., are miserable indeed. The face of the country, for some distance from the ocean, although presenting a strong and deep soil, is rugged, broken, and covered with impenetrable forests of hemlock, spruce, and white- cedar, of prodigious size, and affording the most discouraging prospects to the settlers.
" The country generally continues of this character until you reach the Wallamut River, which enters the Columbia about one hundred miles from the sea. In this distance there are occasionally some small tracts of alluvial land, which, being level and less burdened with timber, might be more easily fitted for cultiva tion than the broken uplands; but even these are often subjected to inundation in summer, when a dis solution of the mountain snows swells the river. It is true, spots might be found above the reach of high water, but they are too insignificant in extent to be considered in relation to this object of forming a com pact and important settlement. There are places along the Columbia where a few families might sit down together, but they are not numerous, nor is there any spot sufficiently large for a considerable population throughout the whole timbered country, which extends a distance of about two hundred miles from the sea. Between this point and the spurs of the Rocky Mountains forest-trees totally disappear, and nothing larger than the common willow is to be seen. This whole intervening tract is one of gravel and sand, with just soil enough to sustain a scanty covering of grass. On the Wallamut, a tract of coun try of moderate extent is found, which affords some advantages of soil and climate superior to those which have just been mentioned; and it is here, and here only, that the least prospects for an agricultural set tlement can be found."1
He readily disposed of the question of the Colum bia becoming1 a link in the chain of communication
o 9/c/., 591-3.
424 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
between Europe and the orient, treating it as an im possible absurdity which could not happen in any case "until the knowledge of ship-building was lost, and the art of navigation forgotten." " When we re flect/' continued he, " that the interposition of the narrow isthmus of Suez, between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, although nothing but a level plain, has interrupted the former intercourse with India, and has for ages turned the whole commerce of Europe with that country into a circuitous voyage of many thousand miles, how can we fancy that we shall ever overcome the infinitely greater obstacles which are presented in this imaginary project?. . .The God of nature has interposed obstacles to this connection, which neither the enterprise nor science of this or any other age can overcome."10
As time went on and open discussion thoroughly ventilated the question, the public mind became inter ested. Persons were found so convinced of the feasi bility of a settlement that they were prepared to emigrate thither with their families,11 undeterred by any evil report they may have heard concerning natives, soil, or climate.12
l°I(.L, 59G. This speech was delivered in January 1823; the Pacific Rail way was an accomplished fact in May 1SGO; and the Suez Canal was opened in November of the same year.
11 ' Eighty enterprising farmers and mechanics,' citizens of Maryland, pre sented a memorial to congress through their representative, Mr Little, pray ing for legislation on the matter of the Oregon settlement. Annals of Cong., 17th Cong., 2d Sess., 1077.
112 One pro-Oregon debatcrcompares the winter rains favorably with the snows of the Atlantic coast, declares the climate one of the best on the globe, and con cludes: 'The humming-bird, one of the most delicate of the feathered tribe, is found on this coast as high as latitude CO0.' Id., G84. Prevost writes thus in his communication to the secretaiy of state: 'It has been observed, by exploring- this coast, that the climate, to the southward of 53 degrees, assumes a mildness unknown in the same latitude on the eastern side of the continent. Without digressing to speculate upon the cause, I will merely state that such is particularly the fact in 4GD 1C', the site of Fort George. The mercury, during the winter, seldom descends below the freezing-point; when it does so* it is rarely stationary for any number of days; and the severity of the season is more determined by the quantity of water than by its congelation. The rains usually commence with November, and continue to fall partially until the latter end of March or beginning of April. A benign spring succeeds; and when the summer heats obtain, they are so tempered by showers as sel dom to suspend vegetation. I found it luxuriant on my arrival, and, during a
GOING AGAINST NATURE. 425
Still, despite the very evident wishes of the people at large, congress would sanction no scheme of coloni zation in accord with the spirit of the many memorials and petitions addressed to that body. The matter was doubtless more complex than the public realized. Though it found much earnest and zealous support, there was still a preponderance of opinion adverse to any official action. The subject of inaccessibility was revived, and treated with a certain amount of sarcasm, notably by Senator Dickerson of New Jersey.13
It was also gravely proposed to secure the territory permanently to the native tribes. "If they were made secure in the possession of this territory, their popu lation would increase . . . The British government are famed for their magnificent plans for ameliorating the condition of the human race. Would they not readily join the government of the United States in any measure that might be necessary to secure the whole territory claimed by both parties west of the Rocky
fortnight's stay, experienced no change of weather to retard its course. The soil is good; all the cereal gramina and tuberous plants maybe cultivated with advantage; and the waters abound in salmon, sturgeon, and other varieties of fish.' /c?., 1208. Prevost arrived in the Columbia on October 1, 1818.
13 ' The distance from the mouth of the Columbia to the mouth of the Missouri is 3,555 miles; from Washington to the mouth of the Missouri is 1,100 miles, making the whole distance from Washington to the mouth of the Columbia River 4, 703 miles, but say 4,650 miles. The distance therefore, that a member of congress of this state of Oregon would be obliged to travel in coming to the seat of government and returning home, would bo 9,300 miles, this, at the rate of eight dollars for every twenty miles, would make his travelling expenses amount to 83,720. Every member of congress ought to see his con stituents once a year. This is already very difficult for those in the most remote parts of the union. At the rate which the members of congress travel according to law — that is, 20 miles per day — it would require, to come to the scat of government from Oregon and return, 465 days; and if he should lie by for Sundays, say GO, it would require 531 days. But if he should travel at the rate of 30 miles per clay, it would require 306 days. Allow for Sundays 44, it would amount to 350 days. This would allow the member a fortnight to rest himself at Washington, before he should commence his journey home. This rate of travelling would be a hard duty, as a greater part of the way is exceedingly bad, and a portion of it over rugged mountains, where Lewis and Clarke found several feet of snow in the latter part of June. Yet a young, able-bodied senator might travel from Oregon to Washington and back once a year; but he could do nothing else. It would be more expeditious, however, to come by water round Cape Horn, or to pass through Behring's Straits round the north coast of this continent to Baffin's Bay, thence through Davis' Straits to the Atlantic, and so on to Washington. It is true, this passage is not yet discovered, except upon our maps; but it will be as soon as Oregon shall be a state.' Congressional Debates, 1824-5, i. 692.
426 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
Mountains to the present possessors of the soil? It is an object worthy of the united exertions of the two governments, of the united exertions of Europe and America . . . As to the Oregon Territory, it can never be of any pecuniary advantage to the United States, but it may be made the means of promoting, in a most signal manner, the cause of humanity."14
In 1828, after eight years continual agitation, another determined effort was made to obtain government pro tection for emigrants to Oregon. At that time there
O O
were three associations, one in Louisiana, another in Massachusetts, and one in Ohio, each prepared to set out for the far west on the most meagre official assur ances. That of Massachusetts comprised "three thou sand individuals, respectable farmers and industrious artisans." Each association had friends in congress, straining every nerve to secure land grants, and the extinction of the Indian title within a certain area. Floyd of Virginia was, as ever, foremost in the cause of the intending emigrants. He was armed with a formidable mass of arguments, facts, and statistics; but the opposition was too powerful. The tide of emigration westward was to flow without the fostering of official power. The enterprise of individuals was to accomplish unaided that which their most ardent champions failed to extort from government.
Even the enormous interests involved in the whale- fisheries of the Northwest Coast were powerless to stir the stagnation, though Floyd made a most stirring appeal in their behalf. " In the year 1818, there was exported of spermaceti oil, 208,464 gallons; of whale- oil, 986,252 gallons, worth 8500,000; 305,162 pounds of spermaceti candles; 9,300 pounds of whalebone;
11 Congressional Debates, 1824-5, i. C94-5. Senator Benton said of these same natives: 'These Indians are estimated at 140,000 souls, possess the finest horses, and are among the best horsemen in the world. The present age has seen the Ccssacs of the Don and Ukraine, ravaging the banks of the Seine and the Loire; the next may see the Cossacs of the Oregon issuing in clouds from the gorges of the Uocky Mountains, and sweeping with the besom of desola tion the banks of the Missouri and Mississippi.' Id., 709.
STATISTICS. 427
534,129 pounds of ginseng; of skins and furs, $808,433 worth; all succeeding years nearly the same, except the exportation of whale-oil, which, in 1823, was 1,453,126 gallons, and in 1824 and 1825, upward of 1,000,000. This document exhibits the articles and their value exported from the United States to the western coast in prosecution of this trade, giving a practical illustration of my ideas of the balance of trade, as exhibited in the original report from the committee, which I had the honor to present to the house many years ago. Thus it appears, we only, in the year 1824, exported to that coast 89,703, for which we got in return what I have already stated, the rest being labor. This may be considered a branch of business which rather creates a revenue than yields a profit, in a commercial point of view. The ship sails from the United States with nothing or but little to
O
sell; that ship goes into the western ocean, where the crew after taking1 whale, and catching seal, and cutting"
O y O O
sandal-wood, go to Canton with the result of their labor, where it is sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars; and yet statesmen are foolish enough to talk about the balance of trade being against us, because we import more than we export. Again, we may look to this branch of commerce to be as well, if not bet ter, calculated to bring up seamen for our navy, than even the cod fisheries, which have been so unwarrant ably fostered at the expense of the treasury and the India trade. One voyage to this ocean will make a man a complete seaman who never before had sailed. The Canton and this trade gives employment to three thousand and upwards of seamen, and brings great wealth home, even though, by act of congress, it pays twenty per cent higher upon any goods from the Cape of Good Hope and beyond it, than for the same arti cles from Europe, or anywhere else."15
All these years of wrangling discussion had not been sufficient to place the Oregon country within the pale
. Deb., v. 194.
428 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
of explored lands. "Nineteen twentieths of the space between the Missouri and the Pacific Ocean, beyond the culturable prairies, which were not above two or three hundred miles, w^as a waste and sterile tract, no better than the desert of Zahara." "It is not merely an extensive region, but. . .a fertile one. If there are rough and barren portions, as there naturally must be in so extensive a tract of country, bounded by one lofty ridge of mountains, and traversed by another parallel to it; there can be no doubt, even if we had not, as we have, abundant testimony of the fact that other portions, the banks of the rivers, some of its numerous islands, and the valley between the two ranges of hills are fertile. In that part of the globe, and in that vicinity to the ocean, if the region be as sterile as it has just been described, it is without ex ample in geography." "It could not be pretended. . . that our country is oppressed by an excessive popula tion, too dense for the extent of our territory, and hence that it has become necessary to give an outlet to those restless spirits, who, as appears, are willing to go into that sterile, snowy, and mountainous country, fit only for the abode of mountain-goats and wild beasts, the most ferocious — a country inhabited by the most degraded of human beings; . . . where nothing awaited the infatuated adventurers who visited it but wretchedness and ruin, and all the horrors of savage life." "The soil for the most part is a light sandy loam, in several places of very considerable depth, and abundantly mixed with decayed vegeta bles. The vigor and luxuriance of its productions prove it to be a rich, fertile mould. This country, regarded in an agricultural view, I should conceive, is capable of high improvement." "The cove is a large, commodious harbor for a fleet; the shores most beau tiful ; soil, where the bears had turned it up in search of roots, ready to melt in its own richness; game in absolute profusion." "The ocean teems with otter, the seal and the whale; while the mainland affords, in in-
TOUCHING PATHOS. 429
numerable quantites, the common otter, the bear, the buffalo, and the whole variety of deer."
"Admit that you shall succeed in planting the pro posed colony. After you have planted it you will be compelled to protect it against war, famine, and pesti lence. You must protect it against war with that great body of armed hunters who are there prosecut ing the fur-trade, and the wretched Indian hordes. Will you be able to sit coolly by, and see the blood of your fellow-citizens streaming from every pore, and attempt to lend them no assistance ? Sir, it is impos sible. The spirit of the nation forbids it; and we must attempt their aid, cost what it may. I say you must defend them against famine. How will they be situated? Among mountains, covered through the winter with masses of snow, which nothing could thaw but the endless torrents and floods of rain which fall there in the spring and early part of the summer. Then these valleys are perfectly inundated; all the works of man are swept away; and when the waters have at length subsided, the remaining season is so short that there is no time to bring anything to per fection. You will therefore be compelled to furnish these people with provisions, by vessels going around Cape Horn; and after such a voyage, half the pro visions would be putrid when they got there. Sir, they will suffer by famine, and famine will quickly bring pestilence in its rear. A barren soil, an inclem ent sky, the want of all things, will soon reduce these people to a situation in which pestilence Avill take what war and famine have left, and you will soon see a destruction of human life unparalleled in the annals of history."
Such were some of the conflicting opinions and state ments through whose mazes the colonists of Oregon threaded their way, led by the clue of shrewd common- sense.
Sagacity after the event is easy. It would be ob viously unjust to expect of any statesman of the era
430 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
under consideration an approximate conception of the present propinquity of the region of the Columbia to the east, a provision of those incomparable though yet imperfect triumphs of science by which the conditions of time and space have been dominated. As a vague problem, an untried experiment, this new territory had terrors for a government which did not exist for individuals, and it was individual action which event ually forced the hands of congress. Within the bound of modern history seldom has a government shown hesitation to acquire territory. The deliberation of the republic is conspicuous.
True descendants of the horse-leech, the kingdoms of the earth are but too prone to the lust of annex ation. It matters little whether the coveted spot is a terrestrial Eden, or an arid desert, a Goshen of flocks and herds, or a polar waste.
Where legislators may, perhaps, be most justly blamed is in underestimating the importance of the then existing and rapidly increasing interests on the Pacific, where the China trade and the fur-trade demanded the establishment of a naval station in the vicinity of their great ocean highway.
Again, they failed to realize the energy and perse verance of their own countrymen, who, without the allurement of the precious metals which lends a fever ish lustre to subsequent emigration westward, dared with their wives and little ones to confront the terrors of the desert journey to the western shore, where they made good their settlement in spite of the oppo sition of foreign trade monopoly and autochthonous savage.
All honor, then, to the hardy emigrants who won for their hesitating country a dominion west of the Rocky Mountains, imperial in its extent, and price less in its intrinsic wealth and its influence upon oriental commerce.
Meanwhile, the Oregon trade was entirely in the hands of British subjects, but simply from the
FOUNDING OF FORT VANCOUVER. 431
fact that Americans had not elected to emigrate thither.16
While time was being wasted in discussion, the great fur monopoly was quietly gathering in its annual harvest in the distant north-west, reaping where it had not sown, and regarding with a jealous eye any interference with its traffic. If the country was not under the exclusive control of the fur gatherers, the trade should be so as far as they could command events. I will now proceed to sketch their position and influence subsequent to 1821, that which I have hitherto said being descriptive of their inner workings rather than a history of their external relations. And to this end we must return and continue that side of our story from the time of the union of the two great associations, the Northwest and the Hudson's Bay companies.
Among the first things to be considered subsequent to the harmonizing of ancient antagonisms, was a new organization, and a new metropolitan post. The former was achieved by George Simpson, and the lat ter by John McLoughlin. As I have before observed, the most desirable elements from both companies were united in their common successor, and those who went their way disaffected and engaged in rival enterprise, either as free trappers or as associations like the Columbia Fur Company, the North American Com pany, the Missouri Company, and the Rocky Moun tain Company, were not strong enough ever greatly
16 It must be borne in mind that the Hudson's Bay Company was present on the Pacific coast by a license to trade, and not by virtue of conquest, purchase, or ownership. Their charter gave them legal existence in perpetuity, and clothed them with corporate powers, but it was only on the east side of the mountains and round Hudson's Bay that any absolute grant or title to land was ever pretended to have been made. Under the treaty of 1818, however, being incorporated, they might as British subjects enter the Oregon Territory, and secure a license of trade which should exclude all other British subjects. Their foothold once secured, their policy thenceforth was first to hold in intellectual and moral subjection the native nations, that they might minister as long as possible to their cupidity ; and secondly, when settlement became evident, to bring into the country as many as possible of their countrymen, so that the territory might eventually be British.
432 OCCUPATION" OF THE COLUMBIA.
to interfere with the plans of the formidable Hudson's Bay Company.
James Keith17 was succeeded at Fort George by John McLoughlin, who had entered the service of the Northwest Company early in the century, and after having spent some years at various eastern posts was appointed in 1823 from Fort Frances at Rainy Lake to take charge of the Columbia District.18
It was not, however, until the spring of 1824 that McLoughlin reached his destination, having waited for Governor Simpson, who had determined to accom pany him for the purpose of newly organizing the Pacific department.19
At an early day in McLoughlin7 s career a natural apti tude for business was manifest, which gradually threw into the shade his professional pretensions. While doctoring for the Northwest Company at Fort Will iam he was frequently given, during winter, little com missions to different trading-posts, which were so well executed as to gain the confidence of McGillivray and Kenneth, and when Mackenzie was lost in Lake Su perior, McLoughlin ruled at Fort William, the duties
17 While partner in the Northwest Company James Keith was at one time stationed at Athabasca, and afterward appointed to Fort George. After the coalition he was given the superintendence of the Montreal department with his head-quarters at Lachine House. Returning to Scotland with a large for tune he married, and after all his perilous wanderings by sea and land, finally died in his native town of Aberdeen, from so trivial an accident as slipping upon an orange peel thrown upon the pavement. George Keith, his brother, likewise partner in the Northwest Company and chief factor in the Hudson's Bay Company, was in 1832 stationed at Lake Superior in charge of the dis trict. Anderson's Northircxt Coast, MS., 55.
18 ' He was probably about forty-five at that time. . .He was to the last an active man.' Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 16. See Hist, Or., i. chap, ii., this series.
19 There has been no place in this history where I have found the evidence so obscure as in this first journey of George Simpson and John McLoughlin to Astoria, and the subsequent founding of Fort Vancouver. Nothing could be made of it from the matter in print. A comparison of authorities tended only to greater confusion. They were vague, contradictory, and wholly erro neous. Nor was the evidence of those now living in various parts of the country, and with whom I placed myself in active correspondence, at the first much more satisfactory. Memories were treacherous. There were none now living who knew the facts from observation, or if there were any they were then children. There is great satisfaction, however, in being able to assure the reader that the facts and dates finally arrived at are correct and reliable beyond a peradventure.
JOHN McLOUGHLIN. 433
of trader thus for the most part absorbing those of physician.20
I shall speak but little here of his personal qualities, as these will be portrayed as the history progresses. The man is known by his works. Suffice it to say, that he was of an altogether different order of hu manity from any who had hitherto appeared upon these shores. Once seen, he was never forgotten. Before or after him, his like was unknown; for he was far above the mercenary fur-trader, or the coarse, illit erate immigrant. As he appeared among his pygmy associates, white or red, there was an almost unearthly grandeur in his presence. Body, mind, and heart were all carved in gigantic proportions. His tall, powerful figure, over six feet in height, and broad in proportion, was usually arrayed in black, and crowned with long snow-white locks, falling over his shoulders after the fashion of the day, which made the name White Eagle the natives gave him singularly appro priate. Likewise he was their King George, while his tramontane associates styled him the Emperor of the West. His eye was indeed that of an eagle, save that there was no murder in it. He was hasty in temper, and yet he seldom forgot himself; on some occasions he would burst into a passion which wras harmless and quickly over, then again he was often calm under the most provoking circumstances; nor would he permit profane or ribald language in his presence.21
20 Harvey's Life of McLouylilin, MS. , 28-9. Mrs Harvey's dictation makes a manuscript of thirty-nine pages, composed chiefly of notes and incidents regarding her father, and life at Fort Vancouver. Though sometimes a little uncertain about her dates, a common fault even of the most practical minds, her statements are generally clear and decided. The daughter of such a father could not but kindle into enthusiasm in calling to mind past glories, and reciting noble deeds. Besides delivering to me her dictation, Mrs Harvey placed in my hands a bundle of her father's private papers, containing, among other things, full accounts of the founding of Oregon City, and McLoughlin's troubles with the missionaries. These documents are quoted as McLoughlin's Private Papers, 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th series. See Hist. Or., chap, ii., this series.
21Applegate in Saxton's Or. Ter., MS., 131-41; Allan' 8 Hem., MS., 4; Town- send, Nar., 109, writing in 1834, calls him 'a large, dignified, and very noble- looking man, with a fine expressive countenance, and remarkably bland and HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 28
'
13i OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
A strict disciplinarian, whose authority was absolute, his subordinates knew what to expect. In the manage ment of forts and the business of the department, not the slightest deviation from fixed rules was allowed.22 Indeed so determined was he in character, so bent upon having his own way, that it was with difficulty the directory in London could control him.23 Origi nally a member of the church of England, Father Blanchet professes to have converted him to Jesuit ism in 184 1.24
His influence over the savage mind was most re- ' markable. Before his coming to the Northwest Coast, as we have observed, it was not safe for white men to travel far except in armed bands. We shall soon see a different state of affairs in this respect under his bonignan t jro]e . We shall see achieved by his wise and humane policy a bloodless revolution, savage foes metamorphosed into steadfast friends, a wilder ness teeming with treachery into a garden of safe repose.
His success in this regard was due to a just appre ciation of Indian character. In his eyes a savage was not a monster but a man, the offspring of our common mother nature, possessed of all the conflicting attri butes of humanity, with an intelligence undisciplined by civilized training, and manners untrammelled by European conventionalities. Being in reality their
pleasing manners. ' His outbursts of passion were so harmless as to be no more than half play, and yet they so frightened the natives as to render them abso lute in their obedience. For example — savages, speaking generally, value only what they can eat or wear, or whatever tends directly toward securing these comforts, yet they can learn to estimate gold or anything they see their civil ized preceptors covet. It happened on one occasion in the early history of Fort Vancouver that a ship required ballasting before sailing, and stones were gathered for that purpose; the natives stood by watching for a time this process, which was utterly beyond their comprehension, when suddenly the scattered rocks upon their domain assumed great value, and they demanded pay for them. This McLoughliii regarded as the most tin justifiable impudence he ever encountered, and he was mildly furious. Seizing a stone and thrusting it into the mouth of the chief, he shouted, ' Pay ? pay ? eat that, you rascal, and then I will pay you for what the ship eats ! '
22 'My father was very particular about ploughing straight.' Harvey's Life of McLoucjUin, MS., 16.
*3 Finlayson's Hist. V. /., MS., 28, 70.
24 Cath. Ch. in Or., 9.
CHIEF FACTOR AND RULER. 435
\ superior, McLouglilin conducted himself as such, treating them as children, kindly, firmly, and dealing with them honestly as became a father. When they did wrong he punished them, if not severely, none the less surely; when they did well he praised and re warded them.25 On one occasion he bought the entire argo of a Yankee skipper, in order that the liquor portion of it might not fall into the hands of the natives.26
His humaneness was in no way more manifest than
1 in the certain punishment of crime, whether perpe trated by white man or red. One of the first cases which came under his jurisdiction was that of Mc Kay, a trader, killed by a native near the mouth of the Columbia. The fact being reported at Fort Van couver by a friendly Indian, an expedition was de spatched to the camp of the murderer, whose person was demanded. A shower of arrows was the reply, which was answered by shots from the attacking party, killing one and wounding several of the natives. The culprit was then surrendered and taken to Fort Van couver, tried, and hanged. The murderers of Young, who lost his life in the Rogue River country, were likewise speedily captured and executed.27
When McLouglilin first arrived at Astoria28 it was in the capacity of chief trader,29 but when fairly in charge, the title of chief factor soon followed. Nor
25 ' I always heard that my father had a good head. He was quick in trad ing with the Indians, and could get on well with them. They were afraid of him.' Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 30.
26Applegate in Saxtorts Or. Ter., MS., 139. The ship was the Thomas Perkins, Captain Varney, which entered the Columbia in 1841. 'It was still spring 1846 in store at Vancouver.' McLoughlin's Private Papers, MS., 2d ser. 10.
27 Hayes' Col. Indians, v. 203.
28 Mrs Harvey, Life of McLoughlin, MS., 1, 2, states that when Mclaugh lin first came, 'Sir George Simpson, accompanied by Dr McLoughlin, left York Factory, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and went down the Columbia to Fort George. ' When this statement was first made to me I found twenty per sons to contradict it. I continued diligently, however, to search out the truth until I found it, and found Mrs Harvey to be right, although she might easily have made a mistake about it, as she was then but a child, and her father was not in the habit of discussing business affairs with the family.
29 Following his daughter Mrs Harvey, Life, of McLoughlin, MS., 5. Fitz gerald, Vancouver /., 13, states that he was made factor in 1821.
436 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
was it long before the position of governor of all the Hudson's Bay Company's affairs west of the Rocky Mountains was accorded him, with power and impor tance constantly increasing, until finally his dealings direct with London overshadowed his accountability to the magnates of the Eastern American slope.30
Among the first necessities of this department, in the opinion of both Simpson and McLoughlin, was a new post to supersede Fort George. Several reasons existed for a removal. In the first place, as inter national affairs then stood, Astoria did not belong to the Hudson's Bay Company. Though their predeces sors had bought and paid for it, yet the United States had compelled them formally to relinquish any exclu sive right to it to which they might pretend. Better for them to choose some spot less open to dispute. Should the Columbia be finally fixed as the dividing line between the possessions of Great Britain and those of the United States, of which event there was then in the minds of the fur company no small probability, the northern bank rather than the southern would be the proper side upon which to plant improvements and means of defence.
Again, both from commercial and agricultural points of view, some locality other than Astoria would be preferable for the metropolitan post. Some point higher on the river would be more accessible from the interior; and it made little difference to sea-going vessels if once obliged to cross the bar, whether their anchorage was at the mouth of the river or at the head of ocean navigation. As to agriculture, although there had been some small farming at Astoria, there were places where both soil and climate were better adapted to this purpose.31
30 Mrs Harvey asserts, Life of McLoughlin, MS., 5, that while Simpson remained governor on the other side, McLoughlin was independent of every- body, and responsible only to London ; but in this she errs. The title of gov ernor never was properly applied to McLoughlin. He was chief factor in charge of a department.
81 See Cushing's Kept., House Kept. 101, 25th Cong., 3d Sess., Feb. 1839, 14-17.
SELECTION OF A SITE. 437
Entertaining such views McLonghlin immediately vSet about their execution. He carefully surveyed the Columbia in small boats, particularly the northern bank, from its mouth to the bluffs of the Cascade foot-hills.32 He then explored the interior, and made himself familiar with the configuration of the country for one hundred miles and more northward; after which he drew a map of the entire region, and placed the result of his investigations before the governor. The place, which united to the fullest degree the three chief requisites of being at once central, agricultural, and approachable by sea-going vessels, was the depres sion on the north side of the Columbia corresponding to that on the soufch side, through which flows the Willamette River. This, therefore, was McLough- lin's selection, and as such placed before Simpson with the map that had been drawn. After full and frequent discussion, it was finally decided that a fort should be built on the north bank of the Columbia, some six miles above the mouth, of the Willamette.33
The spot chosen was some distance from the river, on the bench about a mile easterly from the present site. In the spring of 1825,G4 all these preliminaries
3-If our latter-day scientists are willing to accept Indian tradition, they Must know that once navigation at the Cascades was uninterrupted, as the river flowed peacefully under the mountain through a tunnel which was opened by an earthquake, and the debris form the present obstruction.
33 The Columbia at that time was navigated with case by sea-going vessels, though its character in this respect has since somewhat changed. Simpson and McLoughlin may or may not have been aware of the navigability of the Willamette for some distance. A knowledge of that fact would have made no difference to them in determining the site.
31 Mrs Harvey, Life of McLoucfhlin, MS., 2, 3, places the time of moving into the old fort in March 182G. In his Private Papers, 3d ser., 11, McLough lin himself says, speaking of matters pertaining to Oregon City, ' To me, who have been in the country since 1824,' etc., from which expression we may pretty clearly infer the correct date. The statements of tourists and those who dic tate from memory are somewhat wavering. Thus Parker, Exploring Tour, 184, says: 'This establishment was commenced in the year 1824.' Dunn, The Or. Ter., 141, states: 'It was founded in 1824 by Governor Simpson.' On page 5 of his History of the Northwest Coast, Mr Anderson carelessly places the date of removal 1823, and on page 88 says that Fort Vancouver was founded in 182G. Father Blanchet, Catk. Church in Or., 8, places the date of the establishing of Fort Vancouver 1824, while De Smet, Or. Miss., 17, says that McLoughlin 'went to Oregon in 1824.' We are very sure he did noij
438 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
being fully determined, men were put to work, timber cut, and before the year expired a portion of the build ings and palisades were erected, constituting what was later known as the old fort. The post was aptly named after the famous English navigator, Vancou ver. Thither during the year 1825 were removed from Astoria the stock and effects of the company, the work of building going on all this time, and indeed, at intervals, to a much later period. Fort George was not altogether abandoned ; the houses and fortifications were preserved, but the place was reduced to a lookout station. Three or four men in charge of a clerk were usually living there, who held in subjection the neighboring tribes, gave notice to the interior of the arrival of ships, and assisted in piloting vessels over the bar. But little attention was paid to defence, and trade was insignificant.
Notwithstanding the fact that portions of the tract of low ground between the river and the upland were subject to overflow, so inconvenient was the situation of the old fort at such a distance from the landin^35
o
build the new fort and move Astoria into it the year of his arrival. From all this there can Le no doubt that it was 1826 before the removal of the entire effects from Astoria was consummated. In Work's Journal, MS., 1-48, we find a party of forty men in three provisioned boats embarking from Fort George on an exploring journey to Fraser River, and returning the 30th of December 1824 to the same place; which would hardly be the case if every thing had been then removed to Fort Vancouver. But what settles the mat ter conclusively in my mind are two statements from two reliable sources, one by David Douglas, the botanist, who writes in 1825 : ' I arrived at Fort Van couver on August 5th, and employed myself until the 18th, in drying the specimens I had collected, and making short journeys in quest of seeds and plants ; my labors being materially retarded by the rainy weather. As there were no houses yet built on this new station, I first occupied a tent, which was kindly offered me, and then removed to a larger deerskin tent, which soon, however, became too small for me in consequence of the augmentation of my collections. A hut constructed of the bark of Thuja occidenlalis (oak) was my next habitation, and there I shall probably take up my winter-quarters.' See Overland Monthly, Aug. 1871, 109. This proves beyond a doubt that at the time named the place was occupied, but that there were 110 buildings yet erected. On the other hand, Mr Roderick Finlayson of Victoria, whose evidence is second to none, writes me under date 18th Oct. 1879, ' Sir George Simpson visited the coast in 1824.' The contrary having been told me at least twenty times. Also, ' Fort Vancouver was built by Dr V i;vn in
1825,' and 'The property at Astoria was removed to Fort Vaiioouver Lt. :'S2o.* "5 Besides being so far for the transportation of goods, it !>oi:ig a rnjlc from the river, 'there was a great difficulty about water.' Harvey's Life'ef J/c« jLoughlin, MS., 2, 3.
REMOVAL FROM FORT GEORGE.
439
that after a residence there of three or four years36 a new fort was erected about a mile westerly from the old fort. The new establishment, which remained as the head-quarters of the Hudson's Bay Company dur ing their occupation of the Oregon Territory, and was finally established as a United States military post in 1849, was situated five or six miles east of the confl'u-
Mt.Sf.Keler
THE LOWER COLUMBIA.
ence of the Willamette, and one hundred and twenty miles from the mouth of the Columbia.37
r>6Mrs Harvey, Life of McLoughlin, MS., 2, 3, makes the occupation of the old fort four years from 1826, which places the building of the new fort 1830. In this statement she is alone, but she cannot be far from correct.
37 See Kept. Hygiene U. S. Army, Art. No. 8, War DepL, 488. 'Fort Van couver stands on a point near which Lieutenant Broughtoii, one of Vancouver's officers, turned back from his boat exploration in 1792, and from the beauty of its oosition, with Mount Hood in full view in the distance, named it Bellevue Point.' Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 90.
440 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
The new post is fully described elsewhere. 3S It was well planned and solidly built, and fulfilled its purpose in every particular. Within the picket-wall, which was twenty feet in height, and composed of large and closely fitting beams placed upright,, was an enclosure 450 by 750 feet, containing dwellings, halls, machine-shops, and stores with all the requisite supplies for comfort, and implements of defence. Orchard and garden were in the rear, and grain and pasture-fields beyond. In due time a little village populated by natives, half-breeds, emigrants, and the servants of the fur company and their descendants, sprang up, which increased with the settlement of the country, and finally developed into the beautiful and thriving town of to-day.39
Among other improvements, McLoughlin, more than any one bei'oro him, turned his attention to agri culture. AVith an abundance of good land and idle men enough to cultivate it, lie wondered why Euro peans should content themselves on wild meat and fish. It would seem a small matter for so powerful a company to scatter seeds among its servants, to send them breeding animals, and so have horses, and cattle, and <Taiu. and vegetables, in abundance. But so ab-
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sorbed were they all in gathering furs, so migratory had they become in their business, that little attention had thus far been paid to cultivating the soil on the Pacific slope.
Hitherto the impression had been prevalent on the Northwest Coast, as it was at a much later period in California, that to attempt agriculture on the Pacific coast would be folly. Some land was woody, some sterile. All was wild. It was well enough for savages,
38 See Hist. Northwest. Coa*t, vol. i. chap, xv., on Forts and Fort Lifey 39 See Kane's Wand'-rii'f/s, 171; Whites Or., 05-0; Townsend's Nar., 171;. Evans1 Hist. Or., MS., 185-0; lilacs Ex. Or., chap. vii. ; Dunn's Or., chap/ xi.; Farnkam\<* Trav., 449; Fixlai/so/i'* V. /., MS., G5-G; Anderson's North west Coast, MS., 88; Xillinum's Journal, Jan. 7, 1834; Mfirtin's II. B., 04-8; Parker'.-! Jon rued, 1 48 f JJowjlaJ Pri.-atc Paper*, MS., 1st ser., 7; Allan's Item., MS., '2; History <f Oregon, i. 7, this .scries.
FRUITS AND FARMING.
441
and fur-bearing beasts, but it was unfit for civilized cultivation.
Keith, McLoughlin's predecessor, when asked by the London directory if bread-stuff could not be raised there, answered " No; if you stop supplies from beyond the mountains, you will have to ship provisions round Cape Horn. There is no alternative. This is no agri cultural country."40 But McLoughlin's was a mind above the trammels of fixed impressions. He thought for himself, and then acted upon his judgment.
The first fruit-tree grown on the Columbia sprang from the seed of an apple eaten at a dinner-party in London. The dinner had been given to Captain Simpson, of the company's coast service. One of the ladies present, more in jest than in earnest, took from the apples brought on with the dessert, the seeds ; and dropping them into Simpson's pocket, told him to plant them when he should reach his Northwest wilderness. The captain had forgotten the circumstance until reminded of it while dining at Fort Vancouver in 1 827, by finding in the pocket of the waistcoat which he had worn last in London, the seeds playfully put there by his lady friend. Taking them out he gave them to Bruce, the gardener, who carefully planted them ; and thence within the territory of Oregon began the growth of apple-trees.41
40 'I had heard myself,' writes Finlayson of a much later period, V. /., MS., 72-3, ' that the Columbia region was a bad, barren country; and that the port of San Francisco was possessed with a bad entrance for vessels.'
"See Hist. Or., i. 9, this series; Kept. Committee, 27th Cony., 3d Sess., Rapt. 31, 50; Parker'* Ex. Jour., 184-5; Allan's Bern., MS., 1-3. 'My father and Mr Pambrun and Simpson were together, and they three planted them in little boxes. They kept little boxes in the store somewhere where they could not be touched, and put glass over them. I do not know how long they were there, By and by my father came to me and said, "Now, come and see; we are going to have some apples. " They were all green, and by and by we got apples. Mr Pambrun was Mrs McCracken's father. My father used to watch the garden so that no one should touch them. At first there was only one apple on it, and that every one must taste. Lady Douglas will remember that. The second year we had plenty. They had no apples at Fort William that I can remember. The first one was not a red apple, but the second year we had red apples. It was ripe; the only apple on the littl? tree. It was a great treat, for everybody had just a little slice. There were a good many it had to go round among.' Harvey's Life of J\fcLou'jhlln, MS.* 8,9.
442 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
Astoria stood in the midst of thick woods, while round Fort Vancouver there was good arable open land. After McLoughlin's wise improvements, in stead of the heavy expenses attending the shipment of provisions from England round Cape Horn, laborers were brought from the Hawaiian Islands, from Great Britain, and from Canada, the axe and plough were put to work, corn and cattle were cultivated, and soon enough was produced not only to increase the com forts of the British fur -traders, but to supply the Russian posts also. Soon a flour -mill propelled by oxen was set up behind the fort, and later grist and saw mills were erected and put in operation on Mill Creek five miles above.42 In 1835 twelve saws were running and producing 3,500 feet of inch boards every twenty-four hours. There was likewise raised this year 5,000 bushels of wheat, 1,300 bushels of corn, 1,000 bushels each of barley and oats, and 2,000 bushels of peas, besides a large variety of garden vegetables. There were also in 1835 at this post 450 neat cattle, 100 horses, 200 sheep, 40 goats, and 300 hogs.
In February 1829, the brig Owyliee, Captain Domi- nis, entered the Columbia, and opened trade with the natives. A month later the Convoy, Captain Thomp son, appeared in the river. Both of these vessels were from Boston. During the summer they made a voyage up the coast. In the autumn the Oivyhee returned and wintered in the Columbia, while the Convoy proceeded to Oahu, wintered there, and joined the Oivyhee the following spring.43 Both ships then
42 Douglas' Private Papers, MS., 1st ser., 7; Finlayson's Hist. V. /., MS., 28. In 1833 Mr Allan was in charge of the farms at Fort Vancouver. There were then 700 acres under cultivation, including apple and peach orchards. 'My duty as superintendent of the farms,' he writes, 'consists mainly in seeing the orders of the gentlemen in charge of the establishment carried into effect, and I am therefore almost constantly on foot or horseback during the day.' Allan's Hem., MS., 3, 4.
43 McLoucjldirfa Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 2; House Kept. 101, 25th Cong., 3d Sess., 34; Thornton's Or. and CaL, ii. 15; Applegate in Saxton's Or. Ter.t MS., 98.
CATTLE AND HOGS. 443
took their departure, and were seen in these waters no more.
On his voyage out Captain Dominis touched at the island of Juan Fernandez and brought thence peach-trees which were planted in Oregon. Like wise his vessel was the first that took salmon from the Columbia River to Boston. During a coast and
O
river traffic of nine months, Dominis secured a cargo valued at $96,000. The fever which this year, 1829, broke out and which subsequently desolated the banks of the lower Columbia, was thought by the natives to have been brought by the Owyhee.
When cattle were wanted that their increase might overspread the rich pastures which lay illimitable on every side, for a beginning Captain Dominis was re quested to bring some sheep from California, The captain was a better sailor than stock-raiser. True, he brought the sheep according to orders, a fine large lot of them, and in good condition, but when they were turned ashore and told to multiply, it was dis covered they were all wethers.
It was coarse-wool sheep that were first brought up from California, afterward finer breeds were im ported from Australia. China and the Hawaiian Isl ands furnished hogs, and the Russian settlement at Fort Ross the first cattle. These were driven up along the shore, and considering the inlets, bays, rivers, and mountains, to say nothing of the natives, it was an
' «/ O '
extremely hazardous undertaking.
The trade of the Columbia during this period of its incipiency, besides peltries consisted of fish, lumber, and agricultural products. Salmon sent to London did not at first prove profitable, but part of a cargo collected by the brig May Dacre, in 1835, brought at the Hawaiian Islands twelve dollars, and at Boston seventeen dollars, a barrel. A few hundred barrels of flour were sent to the Islands and to San Francisco, the price received being from ten to twelve dollars. Besides spars and other timber for ships the Hudson's
444 OCCUPATION OF THE COLUMBIA.
Bay Company sent several cargoes of sawn lumber to the Islands, which brought about fifty-five dollars a thousand feet.44
The vessels employed by the company were from two to three hundred tons burden, and armed with from six to ten nine-pound carronades in the waist, and a few swivels and musketoons. Coasters were provided with a ten-foot ratline net and chain, en closing the deck. A few boxes of hand-grenades were always within convenient reach. As a rule native women were freely admitted on board, the canoes which brought them returning for them after their errand had been consummated.45
Failing to convince the United States government that its interests lay in assisting his speculations, after the downfall of the Pacific Fur Company Astor abandoned his efforts on the Pacific, but continued operations about the head-waters of the Missouri under the name of the North American Fur Com pany. In 1822 the discarded and disaffected members of the late Northwest Company and of the Hudson's Bay Company united and formed the Columbia Fur Company. This association was finally absorbed into the North American Company.
It was a perilous occupation, this constant contest with wild men and beasts, and made doubly so by the recklessness of the hunters. In 1820 Henry lost six men and fifty horses on the Missouri; in 1823 the Missouri Fur Company lost seven men and §15,000 in merchandise on the Yellowstone. Between 1825 and 1830 two fifths of all the men hunting and trading in these parts were killed by Indians or accident.
41 In 1833 besides oats, barley, peas, and potatoes in large quantities, there was raised at Fort Vancoiiver 4,000 bushels of wheat. The several plantations of the retired servants of the company on the Willamette and elsewhere raised but little in excess of their immediate wants. See Ciishing's Kept., No. 101, 25th Cong., 3d Sess., Feb. 1839, 17.
K Roberts' Rec., MS., 14; Burnetts Rec., MS., i. 291; 'Salem Unionist, April 18G9.
COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE. 445
Owing to rivalry, lack of system, impositions, and the sale of intoxicating drinks, the loss of life on the United States frontier was fourfold greater than within the territories of the English and Scotch com panies north of the 49th parallel.
CHAPTER XIX.
EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS. 1821-1830.
RUDDOCK'S JOURNEY — ASHLEY'S OPERATIONS — GREEN ON THE COLORADO — GREAT SALT LAKE— UTAH LAKE — BECKWORTH'S ADVENTURES — JEDE- DIAII SMITH ENTERS CALIFORNIA AND JOURNEYS THENCE TO THE COLUM BIA RIVER — His DISCOMFITURE AT THE UMPQUA — How BLACK AND TUR NER ESCAPED THE MASSACRE — JEDEDIAII SMITH AT FORT VANCOUVER — MCLOUGHLIN'S TREATMENT OFDISTRESSED STRANGERS— RETURN or SMITH
TO THE SlIOSIIONE COUNTRY — PEG-LEG SMITH — TARASCON'S TRIP—
JOSEPH L. MEEK'S ADVENTURES — PILCHER'S EXPEDITION — JACKSON, SUB- LETTE, AND SMITH SEND THE FlRST TRAIN OF WAGONS TO THE PtOCKY MOUNTAINS — RENDEZVOUS.
SAMUEL ADAMS RUDDOCK claims to have made the circuit from Council Bluffs, by way of Santa Fe, to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1821. He was one of a trading party which set out the middle of May, forded the Platte just below its fork, and turning southward reached Santa Fe the 8th of June.
O
Crossing the Rio del Norte, they took "a north-west direction on the north bank of the river Chamas, and over the mountains reached Lake Trinidad; and then pursuing the same direction across the upper branches of the Rio Colorado of California, reached Lake Tim- panagos, which is intersected by the 42d parallel of latitude, the boundary between the United States of America and the United States of Mexico. This lake is the principal source of the River Timpanagos, the Multnomah of Lewis and Clarke."1 Notwith standing their route and their geography were both
1 House Repi. 213, 1st Sess., 19th Cong., May 15, 1826.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN COMPANY. 447
so crooked, following their River Timpanagos, which to-day we call Willamette, they reached the mouth of the Columbia the first of August, thus completing the journey from Council Bluffs in seventy-nine days.
The chief of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company2 was William H. Ashley of St Louis, who for many years had been engaged in gathering peltries upon the eastern slope. He was one of the few border men who united bold energy with shrewd caution, and was eminently successful. Assisted by Mr Henry in 1822 he built a fort on the Yellowstone, and sent out his trappers in every direction. In 1823 he determined to push his fortunes across the mountains. With twenty-eight men he set out upon his journey, but before reaching his destination he was attacked by the Ricaras who killed fourteen of the party and wounded ten.
Nothing daunted, the following year,3 accompanied by Mr Green, who gave his name to a branch of the Colorado, he ascended the Platte to its source, ex plored and named its northern branch, the Sweet- water, found the South Pass, afterwards famous as the great national highway, and continued his course through it until he came to Green River. Here was the rendezvous of 1824, where were gathered 300 pack-mules well laden with mountain merchandise. A call for assistance by the Shoshones being made upon the company, 300 mounted trappers, if we may believe Beckwourth, were led by Sublette against the Blackfeet. After six hours fighting, the Shoshones with their white allies returned victorious, with 170 scalps, having sustained a loss of but eleven Shoshones killed, and eight white men wounded.
2 Irving, Bonneville'fi Adv., 23, dates the beginning of this company 1830, which is quite wide of the mark.
3 The date of Mr Ashley's journey is usually given as 1823, but by careful comparison of all the original authorities it is clear to my mind that he did not cross the mountains until 1824. It was autumn when he started on hia first journey, and, following Mr Allen's statement, with his party almost annihilated, he could not possibly have made the passage that winter.
448 EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS.
In 1825, with 120 well mounted men, and a large quantity of merchandise packed on horses, Mr Ashley pursued the same route, and reached Great Salt Lake, South of this brackish sheet he discovered a smaller lake/ to which he gave his own name. There he built a fort, and leaving 100 men, returned to St Louis. Two years later a six-pounder was drawn from St Louis to Fort Ashley, a distance of 1,200 miles, which demonstrated the practicability of a wagon-road across the Rocky Mountains.
Ashley was a thoroughly honest and good-natured man, and to his Yankee shrewdness, with one eye ever on the main chance, he united thoughtful intelligence engendering independent action. But never yet was heaven or earth correctly mapped by meditation alone. In the trackless wilderness of this or other worlds, too much theory may be worse than none. Ashley, for instance, on his return from Utah Lake attempted a somewhat strange feat, which was nothing less than to reach St Louis in boats, by descending the Col orado. I have no doubt he, if any one, could have accomplished it, but unfortunately those waters flowed into the Pacific instead of the Atlantic. Happily he was obliged to relinquish the undertaking at Ashley River, else he might have come upon wrorse grief.5 At the head of a strong party Green explored the country west of Salt Lake, trading and trapping in that vicinity until 1829. So rich in furs was the Snake River region, which afterwards became the favorite rendezvous of the United States trappers, that Ashley in three years secured $180,000 worth of peltries.
In 1826 Ashley retired from the North American Fur Company, having sold his establishments to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company of St Louis, formed that year. Ashley died at his residence on the
*Now called Utah Lake; or by a writer in Hunt's Mer. Mag., vi. 316, Lake Youta. It was discovered by Spaniards in 1776. *> Rocky Mountain Scene*, 202.
JAMES P. BECKWOURTH. 449
La Mine eight miles from Boonville, the 26th of March, 1838.G
With Ashley in several of his expeditions was James P. Beckwourth, a mulatto, whose mother was a slave. Early in his career Beckwourth became famous for his reckless courage and skill in hunting and Indian fighting. The sight of some murdered playfellows while yet a child, made Indians 'pizen' to him; and if compunctions ever troubled his soul, the awful horror that froze him then, arose again before him, and ad ministered its ghastly absolution. Subsequently he was with Sublette and Vasquez, Bent arid Saverine, and others. He played the part of Crow chieftain or white marauder at pleasure, married freely wherever he went, and was not always strict in respecting the rights of property. He played a somewhat conspicu ous part in New Mexico and in southern California during the war. Settling in 1852 as hotel-keeper in a valley of the Sierra Foothills to which he gave his name, he was soon obliged to leave the country on account of undue intimacy with horse-thieves. The year 1859 saw him keeping store at Denver, but he soon sickened of such a life, and finally in 1868, at the advanced age of threescore and ten years retired to the wilderness to die.7
In the summer of 1824 Jedediah S. Smith with a party of five trappers crossed the mountains from the east, and came upon the head-waters of the Snake River. The following winter was passed at the Hudson's Bay Company's post among the Matheads. In 1825 he
6Ebberts' Trapper's Life, MS., 2-7; Niks' Register, xxxi. 229, liv. 81; Hunt's Mer. May. ,vi.31G-, Evans* Or., MS., 197-201; Victor's River of tlieWcst, 33-8; J/ hies* Or. Hist., 408 ; Allen, in De Bow's Lid. Resources, iii. 517; Gray's Hist. Or., 38; Irving'** Bonneville's Adv., 21; Banner's Life of Beck wourth, 23-87, 107-11 ; North Am. Review, Jan. 1840; Tucker's Wat. Or., 52; Greenhow's Or. and Ccd., 357; Am. State Papers, For. Rel., vi. 700.
7 Beckwourth was by no means a bad man, though he had his faults, the greatest of which was being born too late. He should have swam the Sca- mandcr after Grecian horses, captured Ajax when calling for light, or scalped Achilles in his tent. Then had not been denied him the honor of dying like a .Roman on his shield, in a lightning of lances, or a storm of Blackfoot braves. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 29
450 EXPLORATIONS OF UXITED STATES TRAPPERS.
retired eastward, and the following year appeared on Snake River at the head of a still more formidable band of trappers.
Pushing his way westward, trapping as he went, he entered California with his party in 1826.8 In 1827 Smith found himself on the shore of San Francisco Bay. Thence in 1828 he started northward for the Oregon country. The party consisted of nineteen men. The journey is remarkable as having been made along the coast, instead of by the more open route by the Sacramento and Willamette valleys. Reaching the Umpqua one night they encamped on a small island near the mouth of the river, opposite a branch flowing in from the north-east. Both island
O
and branch were named after Smith.
Thus far they had met with remarkable success and carried on their pack-horses not less than §20,000 worth of furs. The natives they now met seemed friendly, and the night was passed in refreshing sleep. Immediately after breakfast next morning, while the party was making ready to move forward, Smith, ac companied by one of the men, left camp in search of a ford. Scarcely were they out of sight when the camp was attacked and fifteen men killed. Hearing the commotion, Smith turned, only to see the party annihilated and his property seized. His safety being in flight alone, he hurried across the river with his companion, and after severe suffering found his way to Fort Vancouver. Two others of the party, Arthur Black and one Turner, who had acted as cook on the fatal morning, saved themselves as by miracle. Black was a powerful fellow, as well as active and light of foot. Hand to hand he fought the foe, until he man aged finally to elude his grasp and hide himself in the forest. Turner slew four savages with a firebrand, a half-burned poplar stick, and so effected his escape.
8 ' Captain Smith was a native of King's County, Ireland, according to Quigley's Irish Race in Cat. , 156. Ebberts, Trapper's Life, MS., 1-3, is of the opinion that Smith was never in California. See, however, Hist. CaL, this series.
JEDEDIAH SMITH AT TOUT VANCOUVER. 451
These two men likewise reached Fort Vancouver in safety, though in a pitiable plight, having on only shirt and pants; and having subsisted while on the way on snails, toads, bugs, and fern-roots.9
It was at a time like this when there came to his fortress an unfortunate stranger, a man of rival nation ality, and a hot business competitor, that the inbred nobility of MeLoughlin's nature blazed out in its most sublime proportions. More dead than alive, bare headed, and foot-sore, Jedediah S. Smith crept into the dining-hall at Fort Vancouver. McLoughlin listened attentively to his story.
"Take men and return immediately to the place of massacre," he said to Smith, "perhaps some of your party are alive; at all events you can recover the property."
"It is of no use," replied Smith, disheartened by misfortune and fatigue.
"Stay with me then," exclaimed McLoughlin, "I will manage it." Taking off his spectacles, he threw them on the table, and snatching his cane, hurried to the porch and shouted: "Mr McKay! Thomas McKay! Tom! where the devil is McKay?" Presently McKay made his appearance, coming out of the store. "Here, Tom, this American has been robbed, his party massacred. Take fifty men. Have the horses driven in. Where is La Framboise, Michel, Baptiste, Jacques;
9 The widely various versions of this affair aptly illustrate the uncertainties of historical data. Robert Newell, writing in the Democratic Herald under date of October 3, I860, says, that in leaving camp 'Smith got upon his horse to go and hunt a place to cross a slough, and to ascend a bluff.' Hines, Expedition, 110, asserts that 'Smith took one of his men and proceeded up the river on foot.' Sir George Simpson, Journey, i. 248, affirms that Smith. ' ascended the stream in a canoe with two companions of his own party, and a native of the neighborhood.' Presently from the shore, in a strange language, an Indian hailed the savage in the canoe, who thereupon upset the boat, and two of the white men escaped under a severe fire to the north bank, the third being shot. Mrs Victor, River of the West, 34, states that Smith was on a raft, and had with him 'a little Englishman and one Indian. When they were in the middle of the river the Indian snatched Smith's gun and jumped into the water. At the same instant a yell from the camp proclaimed that it was attacked. Quick as thought Smith snatched the Englishman's gun and shot dead the Indian in the river.' See j\fcLoU'j/ilin's Private Papers* MS., 2d scr., 1.
452 EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS.
where are all the men? Take twenty pack-horses; those who have no saddles ride on blankets; two blankets to each man; go light, take some salmon, pease, grease, potatoes — now be off,, cross the river to night, and if there be one of you here at sunset I will tie him to the twelve-pounder and give him a dozen." Instantly all is bustle and hurry as the men run hither and thither about the fort making ready, and by the time the commander has his instructions written, McKay is at the door ready for his orders. " Take this paper!" exclaims McLoughlin, "and be off; read it on the way; you'll observe the place is beyond the Umpqua. Good-by, Thomas; God bless you. Be off! be off!"
Sooner than Smith had thought possible, an Indian runner reported McKay returning. Boats were sent across the river to bring over the tired men and horses. Nearly all the stolen furs had been recovered. For this important service rendered, McLoughlin charged Smith four dollars each for such of the horses as were lost on the journey, and for the men's time at the rate of sixty dollars per annum, and for the peltries, at Smith's request, he paid the market price, giving for them a draft on London.10
Returning to the Shoshone country the following season, Jeclediah Smith descended the Colorado trap ping and trading, but in crossing the river on a certain occasion he was again attacked by the savages and lost all. During this expedition, after leaving
10 Robert Newell in the Democratic Herald, Oct. 18G6; ITcLoughUn's Pri vate Papers, MS., 2d ser. ; Cox's Adv., ii. 395, app. What shall we say of a man whose piety and patriotism carry him so far as in the face of the fairest and most convincing evidence, who in the face of such noble deeds as this of McLoughlin 's, wilfully seeks to malign the good name of one of the best of men ? Gray, hist. Or., 207-8, mingling his venom witli the assertions of Hines, the missionary, unblushingly charges the massacre of Smith's party to the Hudson's Bay Company, and indirectly to -McLoughlin. A slave of the Umpqua wife of cue Michel was taught at Fort Vancouver, so says this fair and honest his torian, that nothing would so please the Hudson's Bay Company people as the killing of Bostons or white men from the United States. Xo one knew better than Cray himself when, he wrote it that the statement was basely and unquali fiedly false. Jesse Applegate in making for me some marginal notes upon this blackest of Gray's black pages says: 'I was living iii St Louis ut the time
PEG-LEG SMITH. 453
the Umpqua country, ho fell in with the annual reen- forcement party under Fitzpatrick, numbering fifty- four, and of whom George W. Ebberts was one.11 We shall meet Captain Smith yet many times in thread ing the historical labyrinth of western fur -hunting explorations.
At the San Francisco city hospital in October 18G6, died Thomas L. Smith — sometimes called ' Peg-leg ' Smith because he carried a wooden leg — at the age of sixty-nine years. His life was the type of a class. Born in Kentucky, at the age of sixteen he ran away from a child-beating father, served a term as flatboat- man, made his way into the nearest Indian country as trapper, attended St Vrain on a trip for Laclede and Choteau to Santa Fc, trapped in the Green River country when he discovered and named the Smith branch of Bear River, visited the Navajos and Moquis, trapped in Arizona, trapped again in 1828 with Bridger and Sublette in the Utah country, then worked over on to the Platte River where he lost his leg, in 1829 was again in Utah, after which he carnc to California, and when towns were built he drank his rum in peace, sunned himself on curb-stones, where occasionally would break from his lips one of those wild war-cries to which he had so long been familiar, to the utter confounding of staid passers-by.1'2
Ashley sold his fur interest to Smith, Jackson, and Sublette. The winter Smith was missing, his disappearance was attributed to the Hudson's Bay Company; and his partners, Jackson and Sublette, hired an extra number of men to make war on the Hudson's Bay Company, to avenge the death of their partner, and to make reprisals upon them for the property they were supposed to have taken from him; but after learning the facts, I presume from Smith himself, they were satisfied the Hudson's Bay Company acted toward him not only justly but liberally. A better feeling existed after this between the rival American and English companies.' See Hint. Oregon, this series, where the character of Gray is more fully set forth.
uEbberts' Trapper's Life, MS., 1-3.
12 S. F. Bulletin, Oct. 26, 18GG; in Hayes' Col., ii. 311. Ebberts tells some good stories about the two Smiths, Jedediah and Peg-leg. Jedediah and Arthur Black were trapping one day when the former was attacked by a bear. Black raised his gun and killed the brute. The deed was reported in these wor^s quoting Ebberts: 'Arthur Black told me, says he " Squire, I saved old Smith's life;" says I "did you get anything for it?" says he "no." "Well," says I, " you ought to get a bottle of rum." I believe now that Mr.
454 EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS.
L. A. Tarascon, who in December 1824 asked con gress to open a wagon -road to the Pacific, in the spring of 1826 ascended the Mississippi to the head of steam-boat navigation.13
Of the same age as Ebberts was Joseph L. Meek, who enlisted with Sublette at the same time and place. Meek was from Virginia, and in the same party was Robert Newell from Ohio, also about eighteen years of age.
Up to this time the Rocky Mountain Company had avoided direct collision with the Hudson's Bay Company on the western side of the mountains. But before Smith had set out on his California journey, it had been determined by him and Sublette that the British company had held sole sway in territory claimed by the United States long enough, and they now felt strong enough to cope with them. The result was profitable, as we have seen, except when the rich prizes were captured by the savages. But such was the gratitude of Smith, who was no less conscientious as a Christian, than shrewd as a trader, for the kind services rendered him while in a desti tute and forlorn condition, that on his return to the
Smith willed Arthur Black one thousand dollars when he got home. But Black never got home.' Jedediah Smith was a wealthy trader; Peg-leg Smith was a poor trapper. The latter was once left with the Blackfeet near Brown Hole in the Uiiitah Mountains, left, by his comrades who were starving, with a broken leg to die. 'He amputated his leg himself,' says Ebberts, 'and stayed and cured it up.' Trapper's Life, MS., 3-7. Turner met with an adventure similar to that upon the Umpqua, subsequently at Rogue River. Trapping becoming unprofitable, he finally settled upon a farm in the Willamette Valley. Quigley , IrisJi Race in Gal. .. . 1 56 . erroneously states that Smith lost his life in CaHioriiKU Peg-leg Smith 'was a stout-built man, with black eyes and gray hair. He was a hard drinker, and when under the influence of liquor very liable to get into alight. When he found himself in a tight place his wooden leg proved very serviceable to him, as he had a way of unstrapping it very quickly, and wiien wielded by his muscular arms it proved a weapon not to be despised.' Hobbs' Wild Life, 46.
13 On the 13th of June he writes: ' I do not think I am mistaken, and my opinion is that the way is marked by nature . . . By the St Peters you reach Lake Travers; from thence, now in carriage or wagon, but in time all the way by water, you cross to the mouth of the Chayenne; you ascend said river; you take the Big Horn; you are at the southern gap of the Rocky Mountains in 42°, you descend either Lewis River or the Multnomah, or cross the country; you are in the bay' — meaning the mouth of the Columbia. Nilea' Register, xxx. 331.
JOSEPH L. MEEK. 455
Shoshone country he insisted that his company should for a time retire from the fur-fields west of the Rocky Mountains, and Sublette and the rest re luctantly consented.
Meek, as one of a party of hired trappers, spent the autumn of 1829 in the vicinity of the Henry and Lewis branches of Snake River. In October 1830 Sublette began moving- his camp to the east of the mountains. The furs collected by Jackson's company this year were cached on Wind River, while an expedition was made to Powder River. The following year at the Wind River rendezvous , Smith, Sublette, and Jackson sold their interests in the Rocky Mountain Company to Milton Sublette, James Bridger, Frapp, Fitzpatrick, and Jervais.
There was a small valley in the Bear River Moun tains called Ogden Hole, so named from Peter Skeen Ogden, who was there trading for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1830. A bitter rivalry had finally arisen between the British and United States hunting parties in this vicinity; so that when Fitzpatrick encamped near Ogden Hole and tapped his whiskey-kegs, the scenes which followed were like a revival of the old times of the Northwest Company.
Exorbitant prices were charged by the traders for goods thus brought over roadless prairies, and sold to reckless and improvident trappers, among whom it was not uncommon to see spent at the rendezvous, on women, alcohol, and savage finery, a thousand dollars a day, as long as their peltries lasted.
In the Shoshone country at this time, in return for beaver-skins at §5 a pound, the traders gave tobacco at §2 a pound, alcohol at $2 a pint, three awls for 50 cents, $25 for a capote, or a blanket, §5 for a shirt.
On reaching the borders of the Hudson's Bay Com pany's hunting-grounds, the free trappers, those who were not employed by the United States companies, and who did not owe for outfits, patronized the
456 EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPERS.
British traders, from whom better goods at less prices could be obtained.14
Competition between the Rocky Mountain Com pany and the American 'Company was likewise strong, and it was proposed at one time to divide the country between them. Later there were still further rival- lies among smaller partnerships and associations, each straining every nerve to be first at the rendezvous, and to circumvent the others. After eleven years of trap ping in the Rocky Mountain region, in 1840 Newell and Meek dropped clown into the Willamette Valley and became staid members of the new commonwealth.
Dissolved in 1812, the Missouri Fur Company was revived several years later in the persons of Joshua Pilcher, M. Lisa, Thomas Hcmpstcad, and Mr Per kins. On the Yellowstone, in 1823, a party of this company under Jones and Immuel wore attacked by the Blackfeet, and several persons including the lead ers were killed.
With forty-five men and one hundred horses Pilcher left Council Bluffs in 1827, and crossing the moun tains by the South Pass, wintered on Green River. Upon the opening of spring he crossed to Snake River and followed the western base of the mountains north ward to Flathead Lake, where he wintered in 1828-9. Next year he descended Clarke River to Fort Col- ville, and returned to the United States by way of the northern Columbia, Athabasca, Red River, and the Missouri.15
It was under the auspices of Jackson, Sublette, and Smith, of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company,
11 'The Hudson's Bay blanket was a heap better article, twice as good. They charged us over there ten dollars a yard for scarlet to make leggins, what we call leggins, and here we would give them thirty-two shillings for them. Well, this scarlet would last ten or twelve years, and the other would just go to pieces.' Ebbcris' Trapper'.* Lift-. ^18., 10.
lo To Eaton, secretary of war, Pilcher made a report praising the climate and soil of the Oregon country. See Kdleifs Manual, 3, 4; Evans' Or., MS., 201; Fnfs Traveller* Guide, 112; Gray's (Jr., 39, which says that the party were all cut off but two men besides himself, and Pilchers furs found their Avay to the warerooms of the Hudson's Bay Company. Crecnhow'ts Or. and Cat, 3r>8; De Boi^s I ml. lies., iii. 517; North Am. Eev., Jan. 1840, 118.
WAGONS UPON THE PLAINS. 457
that the first train of wagons made its way to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, an accomplish ment pregnant with important results to the North west Coast.
Setting out from St Louis on the 10th of April 1829, with eighty-one men mounted on mules, ten wagons, each drawn by five mules, and two light mule-carts, the party proceeded due west to the Missouri bound ary, followed the Santa Fe trail forty miles, and thence deviating to the north of west, traced the Platte River to near its source, and on the 16th of July reached the spot where Wind River issues from the mountains.
When between the Arkansas and Platte rivers, a band of one thousand warriors on the war-path came in full charge upon them. The white men thought their time had come, and prepared to sell their lives at as high a cost to the savages as possible. What was their delight when the warriors suddenly drew up and graciously deigned to receive presents instead of bullets.
For food, before reaching the buffalo country, they drove twelve head of cattle, eight of which only they found it necessary to butcher, and one milch cow. The natives troubled them but little, stealing two horses; and accidents were few, one man being killed and another wounded by the falling in of a bank of earth. The health of the men was perfect; and the grass along the route afforded abundant sustenance for the animals. Each wagon carried eighteen hundred pounds of freight, and the distance made was from fifteen to twenty-five miles a clay. Their trackless way was for the most part over open prairie, the chief obstructions to their progress being ravines and the steep bank of streams, which they were obliged to cut down before crossing.
The mountains in their vicinity were covered with snow, but the lowlands and passes were green with grass. Returning in high spirits by the same route
458 EXPLORATIONS OF UNITED STATES TRAPPEKS.
with their wagons loaded with furs, the party reached St Louis on the 10th of October. Reporting this achievement to the secretary of war, the traders as serted that they could easily have crossed the moun tains with their wagons by the South Pass had such been their wish.16 In 1830 Sublette brought out four teen wagons.
There were three rendezvouses this year, 1829, namely, at Pierre Hole in the Teton Mountains, Brown Hole, and on Green River. About this time George W. Ebberts enlisted with the Rocky Mountain Company. He was a character in his way ; indeed, all border men were characters in those days.17 Ken tucky was his native state, and 1828 saw him in St Louis, eighteen years of age, and in love with a pretty French girl. His affections were returned, and they had engaged to marry, when his mother wrote him that the proposed alliance would kill her. He felt that not to marry her would kill him ; yet, to satisfy his mother, he joined Smith, Jackson, and Sublette, and rushed off to the Rocky Mountains. After trap ping on the streams and carousing at the rendezvous for about eight years, Ebberts joined the Hudson's Bay Company and went to Oregon.
The rendezvous in 1830 was at a place called the Blackfoot. There as usual the men divided, some going one way and some another. Jedediah Smith, with a party of trappers, struck out north-west ; Jack son directed his course toward California, while Sub lette went east for supplies. Before breaking camp the rendezvous for the following year was always named. Between the years 1826 and 1829 there
10 See President Jackson's Message to the house of representatives the 25th of January 1831.
17 When I took his narrative at Salem in 1878, he presented a slender, wiry form, about five and a half feet in height, with bushy hair, a wrinkled face cleanly shaven, and full manly voice. His eyes and teeth were bad. Every motion and expression appeared to spring immediately from a warm, artless, and happy heart. By his brother trappers he was called the Black Squire. His dictation, called A Trapper's Life in the Rocky Mountains and in Oregon from 1829 to 1839, consists of forty -five manuscript pages, and is full of border life and stirring incidents.
DEATH OF JEDEDIAH SMITH. 459
were about six hundred American trappers in these parts, and also many belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company. So bitter was competition that it was death for the trappers of one company to sell furs to another company, or to any one other than the person who furnished him with supplies. After some six years of exploration of the country between the Colorado and the Columbia, in 1831 Jedediah Smith fitted out an expedition at St Louis for Santa Fe, during which he was slain by the Comanches on the Cimarron.18
18 See St Louis Beacon, Oct. 7, 1830; Niles' Register, xxxix. 173; De Bow's Ind. Res., iii. 517; Warner, in Hayes' Coll, iii. 19-20; Hist. Or., and Hist. Gal., this series. Mr Craig who died in November 18G9, was trapper for the American Fur Company for fifteen years. He came to the Oregon country in 1830, settled at Lapwai, and rendered good service in treating with the Ind ians — to Governor Stevens, on whose staff he was placed with the rank of colonel. Walla Walla Union and Salem Statesman, Nov. 18G9.
CHAPTER XX.
DOMINATION OF THE NORTHWEST COAST BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
1821-1826.
FORTS ESTABLISHED — ALEXANDRIA — THOMPSON — CHILKOTIN — BABINE — WIPE-LIFTING AND REVENGE — JOHN TOD APPOINTED TO NEW CALE DONIA — JAMES MCMILLAN JOURNEYS TO ERASER RIVER — JOHN Mc- LEOD AT THOMPSON RIVER — ESTABLISHING OF COLVILLE — JAMES CON NOLLY — FIRST EASTERN BRIGADE FROM FORT VANCOUVER — JAMES DOUG LAS DESTROYS A MURDERER.
WE have seen that notwithstanding the restoration of Astoria to the United States authorities in 1818, the subsequent claims of congress, and the pretensions of United States trappers and traders, the Hudson's Bay Company as successors to the Northwest Com pany since 1821 are absolute masters of the situation. That the vital issues of occupation were not sooner precipitated, was owing no less to the wise and benig nant rule of John McLoughlin than to the strength of the adventurers trading into Hudson's Bay, and the weakness of their opposing fur-traffickers.
We have noticed the founding of the establishment on McLeod Lake in 1805, those on Stuart and Eraser lakes in 180G, that of Fort George at the junction of Stuart and Eraser rivers in 1807, besides others at different times in various localities; and we have fol lowed Eraser and his hardy crew down the Tacootche Tesse of Mackenzie to its mouth in 1808.
Communication between the Columbia and Eraser rivers was not opened until 1813, and the }Tear follow ing saw merchandise from the lower posts on the Columbia ascending the upper portion of the Eraser.
460 )
KAMLOOP, ALEXANDRIA, AND CHILKOTIN.
401
Fort Thompson, named for the famous Northwest Company's astronomer, and later called Fort Karn- loop, was then built at the fork of Thompson River. It was a return party with their outfit brought over from the Columbia who in 1821 established Fort Alexandria, so called in honor of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, on the Fraser at the precise point where that explorer turned back in 1793.1
NORTHERN INLAND POSTS.
Chilkotin as an outpost of Alexandria was occupied about the same time as a clerks' station.2 Since 1810—
1 Sir Alexander Mackenzie ' came to the spot on which the fort was biiilt, and was dissuaded by the Indians from following the course of the river to its mouth.' Cox's Adv., ii. 361. Here the navigation of the Fraser is begun by the northward-bound brigade. Wilkcs' Nar. , U. S. Explor. Ex. , iv. 479. It was the residence of a chief trader. Anderson's Hist. Northwest Coast. MS., 98. A large number of horses were kept here. Finlayson's Hist. V. /., MS., 67.
2 Wilkes' Nar. U. 8. Explor. Ex. , iv. 479, places the fort on the Chilkotin branch of Fraser River in latitude 52° 10', while on Trutch's map it is located nearer 52° 20'.
462 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
1 1 winter trading excursions had been made to Babine Lake, and in 18223 a permanent post was planted there no less for the purpose of obtaining a regular supply of superior dried salmon, than for the procur ing of furs.4
The Beaver Indians who inhabited the Rocky Mountains where Peace River flows through them, were a well fed race, and hence bold and warlike. In the autumn of 1823, Guy Hughes and four men were killed at Fort St John for wife-lifting, as stealing women from the natives was technically termed by the fur-traders. Much alarm prevailed at all the posts within a radius of five hundred miles. The establishment was soon deserted. Likewise Fort Dunvegan was abandoned the following year in con sequence, but was reestablished some time afterward by Mr Campbell. It was never known positively who did the killing, although a chief called Sancho had been greatly enraged against Mr Black, the officer in charge of the fort, for taking from him one of his wives a few days prior to the revengeful deed, and had even fired shots at the canoes of Black and Henry as they took their departure from the fort. The natives thereabouts manifested the most friendly feeling at the time and subsequently, although three or four of the St John Indians held themselves aloof forever after. When Governor Simpson passed St John in 1828, the buildings were entire, nothing about them having been molested. But we may be sure the Sabine sport was never again attempted in that region.5
The oldest officer of the Hudson's Bay Company I have had the pleasure of meeting was John Tod, born at Leven, Scotland, in 1793. With other young recruits he enlisted at Glasgow under the Red River
3 Following Stuart, Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS., 99, gives the date of this beginning 1823, and calls the post Fort Kilmaurs. It is known as Fort Babine to-day. It was located near the north-east end of the lake.
4 Stuart's Notes, in Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 236.
5 McLcod's Peace River, 16, 85.
JOHN TOD IN NEW CALEDONIA. 463
banner of Lord Selkirk. After serving at several eastern stations, he was appointed to New Caledonia, whither he proceeded in 1823. This region was then regarded as the Botany Bay of the Hudson's Bay Company's territories so far as residence was con cerned. Mr Tod attributes his appointment to that then undesirable region to one Taylor, a servant of Sir George Simpson's, an arrogant fellow whom all the officers hated, and whom Tod had mortally offended. One day after a quarrel with the menial, Simpson sent for Tod. Taylor was the messenger.
" Sit down, Mr Tod," smilingly said the governor. " I have to inform you, my dear sir, of a new ap pointment by the governor in council."
"Ah, indeed!" returned Tod, "where to, may I ask?"
" New Caledonia," replied the governor.
" The very place of all others I should like to go to," exclaimed Tod, who was determined that no sign of disappointment should cloud his beaming Scotch countenance at that juncture.
With Tod came Stuart. Peter Warren Dease was then in charge at McLeod Lake, and him Tod re lieved. Filling that post nine years, he returned east. Tod related many adventures to me which I have not the space to give. He once set London agog by parading through its streets a shock-headed American in all his native habiliments. After long and faithful service in the company, an accusation of habitual drunkenness was reported by Governor Simpson to the London council, but the charge was finally dis missed.6
By order of the Rupert governor, Simpson, an expe dition was directed northward from Astoria in 1824, for the purpose of discovering by sea the mouth of
6 See Douglas' Private Papers, 1st ser., MS., 80-2; Tod's New Caledonia, MS., passim. Before the occupation of New Caledonia, Norway House was the Siberia of the company, where refractory men and headstrong officers were sent for probationary cooling. Applegate's Views, MS., 11; Saxtorfs Or. Te,:, MS., 12.
464 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Fraser River, finding a situation for a fort, and ascer taining the possibilities of navigation upon that stream. The country along their route between the Columbia and Fraser rivers was to be carefully examined. The expedition consisted of James McMillan, commander; Thomas McKay, F. N". Annance, and John Work,7 clerks; and thirty-six French Canadians, Kanakas, and Iroquois.
Instead of -taking the Cowlitz River route to Puget Sound, the one commonly adopted at a later period, it was determined to enter that sheet by way of the Chehalis. Embarking on the 18th of November in three boats laden with arms and ammunition, besides flour, pork, pease, oatmeal, grease, rum, butter, sugar, biscuit, and pemican, the party proceeded to Baker Bay, where they landed, and to avoid the danger of doubling Cape Disappointment, made the portage by way of a small lake and creek to Shearwater Bay,8 which they reached on the 20th.
Carefully noting their course, and bringing within the range of their acute observation every object of
7 To nono of the Hudson's Bay Company's officers is posterity more indebted than to John Work, whose journals of various expeditions, nowhere else mentioned, fill a gap in history. Irish by birth he entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1314, served for eight years on the eastern slope, crossed the mountains to Astoria, where we find him embarking in the present expedition in 1824. He planted at Colville the first farm west of the Rocky Mountains. In 1828 he journeys from Fort Vancouver to Okanagan, in 1831 he visits the Missouri River, and in 1834 makes a trip southward from Fort Van couver. For fourteen years next following, he is in charge at Fort Simpson. From clerk he rises to the positions of chief trader and chief factor. In 1857 he is made member of the council of Vancouver, which position he fills to the day of his death, in 1801, at which time he was also member of the board of management of the western department at Victoria. Mr Work was a man of strong rather than graceful physique. His mind like his frame was con - structed for practical use and endurance, rather than for beauty or brilliance. Yet that strict integrity which commanded respect was 110 more prominent a characteristic than the kindly disposition which wron all hearts. Near the residence of the family at Hillside, Victoria, stands to-day a spacious log-house in which was peacefully and pleasantly spent the latter part of a useful life, whose earlier portion was fraught in no small degree with privation and peril. It was Mr "Work's request that this log-house should be preserved. Mr Work's Journals, for which I am indebted to Mr Finlayson, comprise 240 pages of most interesting detail without which a complete history of the Northwest Coast could not be written. Allan, Rem., MS., 13, calls Work a kind-hearted and generous Irishman who often amused his associates by his murder of the French tongue.
8'Mr Work calls it Grey's Bay.
EXPEDITION TO ERASER RIVER.
465
interest on sea and shore, the explorers continue their way, landing at intervals and dragging their boats across points deemed unadvisable to pass round.
Arrived at the northern end of Shoalwater Bay, they enter and ascend a small stream, and after a ten-mile portage, meanwhile drenched by a drizzling rain, on the 25th they reach Gray Harbor,9 and ascend
THE CIIEIIALIS ROUTE.
the Chehalis River to a branch which from the color of the water was called Black River. The natives encountered, though they had before met white men, put on an attitude of fear and defence; because, they said, they had been told the fur-hunters had come to
t/
attack them. One of the men becoming seriously ill,, he was given in charge of a Chehalis chief.
9 Called by the travellers Chehalis Bay. HIST . N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 30
466 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Up Black River they shove their boats as far as they will go to Tumwater, the lake which is the river's source. Here they find an Indian portage leading toward the north-west; following which with their effects, they launch their boats the 5th of De cember on Eld Inlet, an arm of Puget Sound.
Continuing their course, they land from time to time to camp, hunt, and consult with the natives, whose language they do not understand. The weather is cold and wet, the sky overcast; indeed it is a most inclement season for such a journey. One of their interpreters fearing to meet the terrible people at what was supposed to be the entrance to Fraser River, refused to go farther. Another is picked up, however, as the party proceeds up the frigid waters, although he can make himself but dimly intelligible to any of the Indians of the party.
Hugging closely the eastern shore, often waiting for the sea to quiet before crossing the inlets, they pass the great islands of the strait, and on the 13th approach the mouth of the great river. Coming to a small stream, by way of which, and connecting with another stream flowing into the Eraser, the natives made a portage, though a difficult one, McMillan was induced to take this cut-off, no less by the representa tions of his guides and interpreters of the ferocious character of the Kwantlums/0 than to avoid the long and somewhat dangerous circuit for small boats round Point Roberts.
Immense flocks of plover now attracted their at tention ; elk and deer were plenty, and signs of beaver frequent.
The portage11 made, the party entered the great
10 Work calls the people at the mouth of the Fraser the Coweechins, and the river the Coweechin. In this he was wholly in error. The Cowichins lived on Vancouver Island opposite the entrance to Fraser River, which stream was never known aboriginally or otherwise as the Co wichin River. See Native. liaces, i., map Columbian Group, 297. It may have been the Cowichins the party were afraid of, and living in that vicinity, their fears may have placed them like so many ogres on the delta of the river guarding the entrance.
11 The stream by which the cut-off was made flowed through a plain whose
AT FRASER RIVER. 467
river " as wide as the Columbia at Oak Point, one thousand yards," they said, at one o'clock on the 1 6th. Opposite them was an island. They did not know how far they were from the entrance, but " from the size and appearance of the river, there is no doubt in our minds," Work writes, "but that it is Frazer's."
Encamping for the remainder of the day, hunters were sent out for elk ; and embarking next morning at eight, the party passed the island opposite, also other islands, and after proceeding up the river in all eighteen miles, they camped at the entrance of a small river. But few natives were met ; the Indian villages consisted of from two to six houses, and though the inmates seemed of an inferior order, some of the houses were large and well made. The simple people were pleased at the prospect of having the white men among them; and the latter took care to make them so.
The next day, the 18th, was very rainy. About nine o'clock the explorers were visited by a party of fifty- one Kwantlums12 who came from their village above and among whom were three women and a boy. These people were friendly; presents were given them, and a few beaver-skins purchased. In their possession were two guns, a new blanket, a pair of trousers, and other European articles brought from tribes above who obtained them from white people. Much infor mation was obtained from them respecting the country and its inhabitants.
Deeming it unnecessary to ascend the river farther, the party dropped down to their previous camp, where they passed the night, and next day, the 19th, descended the river twenty-seven miles.
That night they camped near the mouth of the river. Here they found the native villages more frequent and larger, one consisting of over a hundred houses. Next day the party discovered the several
rich black mould was softened to the consistency of mud by the frequent heavy rains. The portage from stream to stream distance was 7,900 yards N.N.E., 2,970 yards of ascent and 3,930 of descent. 12 Work says of the Cahoulett tribe.
408 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
channels through which the mighty waters discharge, and the many neighboring isles. Carefully observing the peculiarities of the region, the low swampy shores> the distant ridges, the small scattering pines, so dif ferent from those of the dense forests above, and taking soundings on their way, the party passed out through the southernmost channel into the open sea, round Point Roberts and encamped in Birch Bay.
Embarking at six next morning, and following their former track, at two o'clock on the 24th of December they arrived at Chelacom,13 the village of one of their interpreters. Continuing, their former portage lead ing to the Chehalis was completed the 2Gth. One of the boats was left at the village of their guide, whose name was Sinoughton, the crew and effects being taken by the other boats. Next day the party divided. McMillan, Work, an interpreter, and six men, procuring horses from the natives, crossed over to the Cowlitz, where they hired a canoe from the Indians and proceeded thence to Astoria by water, which they reached the 30th of December; while McKay, An- nance, and the remainder of the men followed back their former route down the Chehalis, and through
O
Shoal water to Baker Bay.
Between 1822 and 1825 John McLeod was in charge of the Thompson River district, during most of which time he conducted the brigade of supplies into that region.14 In 1826 he went from Kamloop to Fort Vancouver, and thence across the mountains to Ed monton. He set out from Fort Vancouver for the eastward the 20th of March, left Spokane the 17th of April, and arrived at Boat Encampment ten days later. There he found the snow so deep that he was obliged to cut up his leathern trousers to make snow- shoes. He reached Fort Edmonton safely, however, on the 1 7th of May.
13 Stcilacoom.
14 Those supplies were ' for the whole of the country between the llocky
McLEOD'S EXPEDITION. 469
This journey is memorable as being the first in which calves were taken from Fort Vancouver to the country of the upper Columbia. It seems that the hungry natives at the portages were determined in continently to make meat of the young bovines. What earthly use these creatures were except to kill, the unsophisticated savage could not imagine, and draw ing his bow he would spoil the keepers as well as the calves if they interfered with his lordly purpose. On one occcasion the life of McLeod was saved only by the quickness of James Douglas, who struck from his hand the weapon of an Indian in the act of shooting McLeod in the back. Through all these dangers the
O G
precious calves nevertheless passed in safety to Fort Colville, where they fulfilled their mission, multiply ing rapidly. A leave of absence being granted him, McLeod started east, but finding work on the way needing his attention, he stopped and built Norway House.15
It was during this same year of 182G,16 or 1825, that the post upon the Spokane River was removed to Kettle Falls on the Columbia and called Fort Col ville, after the then London governor of the Hudson's Bay Company. Once fairly established, the accounts of the surrounding posts centered here, thus saving a trip to Fort Vancouver for settlement. Then it was that the days of the New Caledonia brigade began, and the current of supply was at last wholly changed from the Atlantic westward, to the Pacific eastward, entering the interior from Fort Vancouver, even such goods as were destined for the upper Fraser being carried up the Columbia in boats to Fort Col ville, and conveyed thence on horses to Fort Alex- Mountains and the Pacific, from the Columbia River to the Russian boundary, and far beyond.' McLeod's Peace River, 100.
15 McLeocVs Journal, in McLeod's Peace River, 93-4.
10 The exact time of removal is obscure, but in July 1826 we find a party embarking at Fort Vancouver with '72 pieces for Fort Colville,' which shows that this establishment was then in operation. Work's Journal, MS., 49. Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 180, dates the founding of Colville 1825; Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS. , 6, makes the time 1826 ; Wilkes, Nar. U. S. Explor. Ex., iv. 473, says 1825.
470 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
andria, the Fraser between this point and its mouth running through too rugged a country for easy or safe transportation. Dog-sledges as well as horses were used between the posts of New Caledonia in early days, as I have elsewhere remarked. The round trip from Fort Vancouver and return of the New Cale donia brigade usually occupied from the middle of April to the end of September. The navigation of the Columbia was difficult and dangerous; and yet, such were the coolness and skill of the voyageurs and their leaders, comparatively few accidents occurred. The natives had now learned to respect and regard as friends the fur-traders, who took care to hold them in wholesome fear of white men.17
About this time18 a post was established at Lake Connolly, or Bear Lake, by James Douglas, and named by him in honor of his father-in-law, William Connolly. This gentleman had been a 'grey' of the Northwest Company, and was in charge of New Cale donia for several years prior to 1831, when he went to Canada on a furlough.19
James Connolly was a chief factor in the Hudson's Bay Company. His residence was Montreal, though much of his time was spent west of the mountains. He was a man of great energy and bravery, both these qualities being employed in an eminent degree in the arduous and dangerous task of conducting the brigade of supplies from Fort Vancouver to Fort St James.
Later we find in this region Fort Stager20 on the
17 Anderson' 's Northwest Coast MS., 5-8. 'Next in importance to Fort Vancouver, ' says Evans, Hist. Or. , MS. , 186. ' Located on the east bank of the Columbia, south of Clark Fork, latitude 48° 39V See Finlay son's Hist. V. /., MS., 65; into' Nar., U. S. Explor. Ex., iv. 471-3. Two miles above the Kettle Falls. Gray's Hist. Or. , 43.
18 Mr Anderson, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 14, thinks it was in 1826-7, Stuart places the time earlier; but both are uncertain as to the exact date. Fleming on his Mo.p of the Canadian Pacific Railway places it at the head of Bear Lake, one of the sources of the Skeena River.
19 For several years he wintered at Ladousac, below Quebec. Upon hia final retirement, he settled at Montreal, of which city he was afterward elected mayor. Anderson's Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 63.
20 Also called Fort Kispyox.
EASTERN BOUND BRIGADE. 471
left bank of Kispyox, or Collins river, near the mouth of Babine River; Bulkley House, at the northern end of Lacla Lake; Salmon House, on Salmon River, which flows into Dean Channel, and other minor posts.
To give the details of each succeeding brigade would be tiresome and profitless. But I deem it my duty to chronicle every important journey made during this early epoch, as thereby alone may we learn the doings of the Europeans, and the progress of exploration and discovery. And among the im portant journeys wTas that of the interior brigade of 1826, being the first since the entire removal to the new head-quarters.
Under command of Connolly this brigade consisting of nine boats, each manned by six oars, and containing freight for Colville, Thompson River, Nez Perces, and New Caledonia, besides despatches for York Factory, embarked at Fort Vancouver the fifth of July. As passengers went a McDonald, Douglas, Annance, Cortin, and Work; also three women and nine chil dren of the families of McLoughlin, McDonald, and McKay.21
They made the Cascade portage the 7th, and on the llth completed the Dalles portage, where they met F. McDonald, McKay, and Deans, who with two boats and eighteen men were on their way from the Shoshone country and Walla Walla to Fort Van couver. Ogden with part of the men were en route from the same region with horses by way of the Willamette. The brigade reached Fort Nez Perces the 14th. Horses being required for transportation in New Caledonia, several were purchased from the natives, but not as many could be obtained as were wanted, so a horse party was despatched up the Nez Perces River22 while the boats proceeded to Colville.
21 The details of this journey, which I shall mention very briefly, are given by Work in his Journals, MS., 49-84.
" The reader will remember that Fort Walla Walla was first called Fort Nez Percys, and the Snake, or Lewis, branch of the Columbia, Nez Percys River.
472 DOMINATION BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
With the horse-trading party was an interpreter who harangued the natives at their several villages, telling them to bring forth their horses and trade. But the lords of that country preferred to keep their ani mals unless they could get for them exorbitant prices. Nevertheless, after narrowly escaping a general fight, the party succeeded in purchasing seventy-nine horses, and with them proceeded to Spokane, where, dividing the band, some were taken to Colville, and some to Okana^an. At Colville, the 5th of August, Work
O ' O '
examined the results of the late agricultural efforts with some degree of interest. On the whole, expec tations were hardly realized.23
On the 16th of August, Work, accompanied by Kittson and twelve men, set out from Fort Colville, having nine loaded horses, to make the summer trade with the Flatheads, while one man was to cross over to the Kootenais and tell them to meet the traders, on their return, at the lake.
While on the way rumors reached them of the inva sion of the Flathead and N~ez Perec countries by trap pers from the United States.21 They had been joined, it was said, by deserters from British fur-hunting ranks. Although the Hudson's Bay Company had not been troubled by any opposition throughout the vast North west except along the sea-shore, the possibility of unwelcome interference was ever present in their minds. After buying what furs the natives had, these money missionaries exhorted the savages to greater diligence in hunting furs for them, and returned to Colville, where they arrived the 5th of September.25 McDon-
23 ' The potatoes appear pretty well,' Work writes, Journal, MS., 67; ' barley middling. No wheat at all came up, and only a few stalks of Indian corn. Green peas but indifferent. The kitchen garden stuff, turnips, cabbages were so and so. The soil appears to be too dry.' It will be remembered that this was the first attempt at what might be called farming in all that vast region north of San Francisco Bay and west of the Rocky Mountains.
24 It was Ashley and his party who were thus filling the forest with their obnoxious scent.
25 The result of this trip was the following articles secured to the company: 510 large beaver, 149 small beaver, 505 musk-rat, 12 buffalo, 115 deer, 7 otter,
DOUGLAS AND THE SAVAGES. 473
aid and Dease with their families, and the families of McLoughlin and McKay, proceeded eastward.
When Yale was in charge of Fort George, New Caledonia, two natives, who had been employed at the fort, by their diligence and good behavior gained the implicit confidence of the white men. While on a long journey in company with two Canadians, who consti tuted besides Yale almost the entire force then at Fort George, the natives rose one night, slew their companions, and fled. It was impossible at that time to pursue the murderers, as there were none who could be spared from the fort.
A year or two passed, when it became known that one of them had been killed by the Blackfeet. Douglas was then in charge at Fort St James, where were gathered a concourse of natives to celebrate a feast. One night a woman approached the pickets and whis pered to the guard,
"I want to see Mr Douglas."
"What for?"
"I will not tell you."
"Then you cannot see Mr Douglas," replied the guard.
"Promise not to betray me and I will tell you," the woman said. " One of the murderers of Mr Yale's men is at the lodge."
Douglas was called. Taking with him young Con nolly, and another man who affirmed that he could identify the offender, Douglas proceeded to the Indian encampment near by. Save a few old women the lodges were vacant ; but in one of them was a large pile of camp equipage, in turning over which Douglas found his eye in close proximity to an arrow-point. Quick as a flash he drew his pistol and fired. One of his companions rushed up and fired. Connolly then seized the object underneath the baggage by the hair,
and about 200 other skins, besides some 4,500 Ibs. of meat, 21 pack-saddles, 4 pairs leggings, and other small articles.
474 DOMINATION -BY THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
and dragging him forth despatched him with the butt end of his musket. Returning to the fort, the crates
O O
were left open as usual, and each went about his busi ness.
When the Indians returned and found the body of the slaughtered man, they raised a fearful howl. It was not the killing that troubled them so much as the place in which it was done. The man deserved death, and was not of their tribe; but their law was such that for the safety of a stranger in their tent they were responsible. For the life thus taken the relatives of this unhallowed carcass must be paid. Hence the howling. Reason in due time returning, they resolved that as they had not killed him they would not pay for him. Then the howling ceased.
At the fort it was thought the matter was over; when suddenly there entered at the open gate two hun dred savages with blackened faces presaging mischief. While some stood with uplifted weapons over the heads of Connolly and the rest, others seized Douglas, and amidst much struggling and swearing, bound him hand and foot, and carrying him away to the mess room laid him at full length upon the table.
Although a pretty morsel for the gods, the young commander of the fortress did not fancy his situation; so he roared most lustily, and struggled most stren uously, and swore most vehemently that if he was not immediately released he would blast to ashes all New Caledonia.
" Calm yourself," said the ruler of the redskins.
" I tell you," spluttered Douglas, " I will cut your whole nation into mince-meat if you do not instantly release me."
"How if we mince-meat you?" asked the chief. " Nay, if you will not lie quietly we must await your pleasure."
Finally Douglas saw the folly of his fury, and expressed his willingness to parley.
"What do you want?" he demanded.
RELEASE. 475
" Pay for the man you have slain," was the reply.
" I will give you nothing," returned Douglas strug gling to rise and free himself.
" Lie down/' cried the chief, shoving him back. " We want clothing, axes, tobacco, and guns for the father, mother, brothers, and sisters of the deceased, the payment of which we are responsible for, though we know the man was a murderer, and deserved death at your hands."
Seeing the savages in so earnest a mood, and sensi ble withal, the wrath of Douglas left him, so that he finally came to terms with them, pledged his word, the word of a Hudson's Bay officer, which all sav- agedom had learned implicitly to trust, and was re leased.26
26 Tod's New Caledonia, MS. , 25-34. This story has been harped in varia tions by almost as many authors as have given us gunpowder plots. It was a brave, resolute act, and under the then existing state of things it seemed necessary ; but in hunting and killing their savage, I see nothing to call forth special admiration. There was no more noble daring about it than in the slaughter of a bear or a rattlesnake. Most writers throw round the murdered man armed warriors, glaring deadly revenge, and through whose midst the hero stalks unscathed; when the fact is there were only a few old women present when the deed was done; and in the final settlement it seems to me that the childlike savages had rather the better of it. Any one who wishes to take the trouble, may compare such writers as Gray, Hist. Or., 44; Hines, Oregon Hist., 392, et seq.
CHAPTER XXI.
FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY. 1827.
ADVENT or THE SCHOONER 'CADBORO' — HER HISTORY AND HER CAPTAIN — OCCUPATION or THE NORTHERN SHORE — MCMILLAN PROCEEDS TO THE MOUTH or THE FRASER — ENTERS THE STREAM — AND THERE ESTABLISHES A FORT — THE FORT ROUTINE — A NOTABLE CALL — THE SALMON TRADE — JAMES DOUGLAS EXPLORES CONNOLLY RIVER.
AT Vancouver in the spring of 1827 appeared the Hudson's Bay Company's schooner Cadboro, seventy- two tons burden,1 John Pearson Sawn, master, which sailed from London the autumn previous.
The Cadboro is as much an historical character in the early days of Oregon and British Columbia, as McTavish, McLoughlin, or any other man, for in the progress of civilization she did the work of many men. Stanchly built at Bye in 1824, before sinking to her final rest in 1862 she saw buried every human body brought by her from England, save one, John Spence, ship-carpenter, who was seventy when the good old ship yielded up the ghost. In round figures she was fifty-six feet long, seventeen feet in her broadest part, depth of hold eight feet, had two masts, one deck, a standing bowsprit, no galleries, and was what was then technically called square and curve built. Thirty men, including the crew, servants of the com pany, came out in her, and as she took her place in the coast trade, with six guns and a picked crew of thirty-five men, she was the pride of the Pacific.
On reaching Fort Vancouver Sawn relinquished
1 Or, to be exact, 71*4 tons.
(476)
AN HISTORICAL SHIP. 477
command, and was succeeded by Emilius Simpson,2 a naval lieutenant, who was captain until June 1831, when Sinclair took his place. Two years after, Will iam Ryan was installed captain, and in 1835 Brotchie, who held rule until 1838, when James Scarborough took command for the next ten years, and was suc ceeded for six years, after 1848, by James Sangster. In 1854 J. L. Sinclair succeeded Sangster. The ship gave her name to the beautiful Cadboro Bay, the placid waters of which hers was the first keel to ruffle. She was the first vessel to enter Fraser River. Then she plunged headlong in the scramble for gold. Her use fulness and beauty fading, she was sold in 1860 to Howard for $2,450, and made to do duty carrying coal and lumber from the mines and mills to Victoria. Old age creeping on apace, in 1862, to escape a gale, she ran ashore at Port Angeles, and there rested from her labors.3
In the progress of business it became necessary to establish a post which should command the lands and waters in the vicinity of the lower Fraser. To this end, as we have seen, one excursion had been made thither, and now another was planned, and the scheme carried into execution. Twenty -five men were de tailed for this work, and the mission placed in charge of James McMillan, the commander of the original exploration.4
2 For a British tar, and a brave man on duty, dealing rum, molasses, beads, and blankets to savages in the dank, dismal shores for wild beasts' skins, Simpson was excessively the gentleman. Though an efficient officer he was somewhat eccentric. For example, his hands must be incased in kid before he could give an order on his own deck, in the daylight, and if the occasion was perilous or peculiar, his gloves must be of white kid. Form was nine tenths of the law with him, and the other tenth was conformity.
3 Register Schooner Cadboro, MS., London, Sept. 4, 182G; Saxton's Or. Ter., MS., 8; Victoria Chronicle, Oct. 30, 1862.
4 With McMillan were Donald Manson, Fran9ois Aunance, and George Barnston, clerks, and Arquoitte, Baker, Boisvert, Bouchard, Charles, Como, Cornoyer, Dubois, Etten, Faron, Kennedy, Anawiskum, Peopeoh, the Picr- rault brothers, Piette, Plomondeau, Satakarata, Sauv<5, Xavier, and Vincent, servants of the company. Fort Lanyley Journal, MS., 1, 2. See Andtrsoii's Northwest Coast, MS., 13, 83. Most of the information concerning this expe dition is derived from the books of the establishment, than which no source
478 FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
Leaving Fort Vancouver in two boats early on the morning of the 27th of June 1827, the party pro ceeded up the Cowlitz River, arrived next day at the Cowlitz Portage, over which a portion of their effects were transported on horses obtained from the natives to Puget Sound. There they purchased from the natives three canoes, having left those with which they started at the lower end of the long portage.
Embarking the 3d of June, they next day entered Port Orchard, where according to previous arrange ment they were to meet the Cadboro, having on board, besides goods and provisions, implements for the erec tion of buildings, also horses and carts to assist at the labor; but the schooner had not yet arrived. Camping at night upon the shore, and supplying their table by hunting and purchases from the Indians, they con tinued northward until the 10th, when as they came to Whidbey Island they heard the boom of a great gun reverberating through the silent wilderness. Next day, paddling along the western side of Whidbey Island another and nearer gun was heard, and soon off Pro tection Island the Cadboro came in view, which as she dropped anchor, McMillan and Manson boarded, and grasped the gloved hand of her redoubtable master, Simpson.
All the men and effects being transferred from the canoes to the schooner, anchor was weighed on the 12th and the ship's prow pointed to the gulf of Georgia, into which she passed through Rosario Strait, and came to anchor5 in Point Roberts Bay late in the night of the 13th.
of knowledge could be more original or reliable. It was the custom at all the forts, beside books of accounts, to keep a daily record of events, which though filled for the most part with tiresome detail, constitutes, nevertheless, one of the purest springs of history. For the journals of Fort Langley, Fort Simp son, and others I am indebted to Chief Factor Charles, the present head of the Hudson's Bay Company's affairs at Victoria. The Fort Langley register com prises 158 manuscript pages, which cover a period of three years.
5 The route should be noticed in its bearings on the boundary question subsequently to be discussed. The Cadboro on this her first voyage into these parts, passed Point Partridge, the westernmost extremity of Whidbey Island, and proceeded up past Strawberry, now called Cypress, Island.
SURVEY OF THE RIVER. 479
A party of savages were congregated on the shore next morning, when McMillan, with twelve men, landed to seek a site for a fort; the natives were friendly, but the locality did not please the traders. Sunday, the 15th, an effort to get the schooner round Point Roberts into Eraser River failed, the tide being against them. Though the wind was unfavorable, next morning they managed with the flood tide to work out into the gulf, and at change of tide cast anchor near Sturgeon shoal. Another attempt in the after noon, and yet another next morning, to beat up to the entrance of the channel, failed, and again anchor was cast on the edge of the south Sturgeon shoal. Twice that day Simpson and Annance in a small boat in vain sought a channel. On the 18th Sinclair, first mate, was sent to sound, and returning reported a good channel, the lowest depth in any place being two fathoms. Stood across the mouth of the channel next morning, and came to anchor on the edge of the north shoal. During the night the vessel was found to be drifting ; the cable was let out to its full length, eighty fathoms or more, and the ship was with difficulty checked. The various attempts of the 20th failed. Making across to the southward next morning until she had her bearings, the ship then stood in for the en trance, and after grounding on the shoal without dam age, a light breeze from the north-east carried her a mile within the river, and at three o'clock she came to anchor close to the black wooded bluff on the north side.
Captain Simpson called the north point of the entrance Point Garvy; and there at noon on Sunday the 22d an inaccurate observation was made. Mean while Sinclair, who had been despatched up the river to sound, returned and reported deep water as far up as he had gone. During the absence of the sounding party the schooner had been put under weigh, had taken the wrong side of the river, ran into shoal water, and had been obliged to return to her anchor age and await their arrival.
480
FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
Next day all hands were put to work towing the vessel to the other side. In this way the channel was reached, and a breeze springing up from the south west, sail was set, and a distance up the river of one mile was made. Hereabout were several Indian vil lages, aggregating, perhaps, fifteen hundred persons. Scawana, chief of chiefs, spent much of his time on
^!^,^C(1w-\XWs \t
. ^ ^ _jx
VortToU^^VV
THE LOWER FEASER.
board the schooner, watching her progress through the untried channels with intelligent interest.
Eight days had thus been employed in effecting an entrance to the river; henceforth all was smooth sailing. A light breeze from the south-west, on the 24th, sent the schooner quietly up the stream. Passed abreast of the other channel at half past one ; at two a few tents were seen on the south side nearly oppo site where now stands New Westminster; at five o'clock they saw the mouth of the Quoitle;6 passed
e That is to say Pitt River.
A STOLEN AXE. 481
Pine Island, and about seven anchored half a mile above it. Next day as they were slowly ascending the current they saw several native encampments, and a number of canoes appeared around them with the occupants of which they traded a few beaver. Some of them attempting to board the vessel were ordered away, but so persistent were they under the harangues of a determined old man, that they would not cease their efforts until the traders took up their arms. The savages then abruptly departed.
On the 26th they reached a point where on the south bank was, as the record says, " a tolerably good situation for a fort." They hoped for a better how ever; hence the two days following, while the crew with the assistance of the Canadians were warping the schooner up the stream, McMillan with McLeod of the Cadboro, Annance, and a native gentleman name Shoshia, explored the river above for a more eligible situation. And they thought they had found one; and warping the vessel still farther up stream, the 28th, they attempted to bring her to land, but found the water so shallow that she could not come within three hundred yards of the shore. This would not do. Aside from the obvious inconvenience of such a landing, the men for protection while building the fort must be within range of the ship's guns. Therefore dropping down on the 29th to their anchor age of the 2Gth, they determined that there should be planted Fort Langley.7
A theft having been committed, Shoshia was sent for the stolen property. He returned with it the following day, remarking that the Indians were very bad in that vicinity.8
7 The site was on the left bank, 30 miles from the strait, and some 60 miles below where subsequently Fort Hope was planted.
_8Upon the authority of Judge Strong, Ogden related that when he was building the post at Fort Langley one of his men reported one day that the Indians had stolen his axe. The work was immediately stopped, and the Indians called to a council upon the axe. They denied having stolen it, but Ogden insisted that they should find it. As they did not find it, he made them pay a lot of furs before he would allow the work on the fort to proceed. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 31
482 FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
The horses were first to be landed, which was done, after the schooner was brought close to the shore, by slinging them off upon the bank. The poor brutes rejoiced in their liberation. The men began opera tions the 30th, some clearing the ground, and some preparing timbers for a bastion. At first all hands went on board the schooner to sleep at night. Some bark sheds were thrown up which served as imperfect shel ter until the more substantial log-buildings were done.
One of the crew was put in irons for using language tending to incite discontent and disorder. Work pro gressed slowly, as the ground was covered not only with large trees, but with a thick briery undergrowth. The fire kindled to consume the branches and timber- cuttings, communicating with the woods enveloped the fort-builders in smoke, and it was with difficulty the conflagration was checked. Saw-pits were erected; sturgeon, salmon, and berries were procured from the natives; and day by day the w^ork went bravely on. The clerks kept watch at night so that the rest of the laborers might not be broken. A few beaver- skins were bought. Passing and repassing on the river were the boats of the natives, sometimes in large par ties with women and children on hunting excursions, or in bands of staid warriors only, with red-painted visage and bloody intent.
Owing to exposure to a wet climate, and to sub sisting wholly on fish, their other provisions having become exhausted, several of the men fell sick. By the 8th of September, a rectangle forty by forty-five yards was enclosed in pickets, gates were hung, two bastions each twelve feet square built of eight -inch
Next day the workman came and said, "I have found that axe, it was cov ered up in the hill." "Well," said Ogden, ''you go take it and bury it where it will never be found again." "What for?" inquired the man. "We told them they had stolen it," said Ogden, "and if we should say now that we were mistaken we never could make them believe anything again. " Strong'* Hist. Or., MS., C5-6. This is a good story; nor do I know that it is in any wise injured by the facts that Ogden did not build Fort Langley, and was not in the party, being then in the Snake country, that the article stolen was not an axe, but a crow-bar, and finally that the incident did not happen at Fort Langley at all.
BUILDING OF THE FORT. 483
logs, with a lower and an upper floor, the latter occu pied by artillery, were completed; and by the 15th a substantial storehouse roofed with bark was finished. Dwelling-houses were then built, and among them a wintering-house thirty by fifteen feet, and divided into two apartments each having a fireplace and two win dows. The Cadboro then discharged her cargo, took in ballast, and on the 18th, under a salute of three guns, which were returned, she took her departure. On the 23d of November there was felt a slight shock of earthquake, causing not much more commotion than a falling tree would have done. The 26th a flag-staff was raised, work was stopped, and in the names of piety and loyalty the establishment was baptized into the service of selfishness. The fort completed, the men were sent trapping, and the petty details of fort life fill the succeeding pages of the journal.
By the middle of December the weather became extremely cold, and on the 19th the river was covered with ice so thick that the tide did not affect it. On the 24th A. McKenzie, clerk, with four men from Fort Vancouver arrived, bringing the first news from home or friends received within six months.
New Year's day, 1828, afforded as usual an oppor tunity for the men to submerge their intellect in the opaque influence of drink. McKenzie with four men started for Fort Vancouver the 3d of January.
While encamped on Lumni Island they were attacked at night by a party of Clallams from Fuca Strait, and all were killed. Intelligence reaching Fort Vancouver, a party was immediately despatched under Alexander R. McLeod, chief factor, by way of the Cowlitz and Chehalis rivers and Hood's canal, and the Cadboro was sent round by sea. The land party arrived first, and encamped in the vicinity of New Dungeness, near Port Townsend, and shortly afterward the Cadboro arriving anchored off the Clallam village which was in that vicinity. A demand was then made for the mur derers, which was answered by shouts of defiance*
484 FOUNDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
Thereupon fire was opened upon the village, resulting in indiscriminate slaughter. Whether the criminals were killed or not was never known. It was a neces sary punishment; but it is always severe where the innocent are made to suffer for the sins of the guilty. Thenceforth the fur-traders journeyed through that country without molestation.9
During the winter a fair quantity of beaver had been purchased at Fort Langley, and a liberal supply of deer and elk meat brought in by the hunters.
The middle of January a kiln of charcoal was burnt and some sledges made. Indian stragglers from the Kamloop and the Okanagan regions occasionally ap peared at Langley, by whom letters were carried between posts. In February a gallery was constructed round the inside of the pickets. On the 18th an express consisting of seven men under Manson was despatched to Fort Vancouver, returning the 15th of April. In March an attack upon the fort for pur poses of plunder was threatened by the natives, which, however, v;as not carried into effect.
The 18 tli of April the Cadboro again arriving anchored off the fort, discharged her supplies, and on the 22d took her departure. Her next arrival was on the 17th of July. Before the year was out the fort enclosure was increased to one hundred and thirty-five by one hundred and twenty feet; other buildings were erected, and potatoes planted. Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the fur-traders to maintain friendly relations with all the natives, some of the uncouth savages of that vicinity were so insolent that blows and refusals to trade were sometimes found necessary to sustain order. Salmon were much scarcer this year than the last.
From up the river came sounds of singing, about seven o'clock on the night of October 10th, ushering in the governor-in-chief and party. To these watchers
9 Fort Langley Journals, MS., 70, 76, SG; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 2GO-1.
SIMPSON'S ARRIVAL. 485
for beaver-selling redskins in this distant and too often dismal wilderness this appearing was not less than that of the angel to Jacob. Here George Simpson was before his maker: wicked savages would say that the one dealt care-killing liquor, the other cheerless rain and rheumatism.
There were two parties in fact: twenty men with Archibald Macdonald and Doctor Hamlyn comprising that of the governor, and the other consisting of seven men under James Munax Yale from New Caledonia. Yale had lately been at Kamloop and the mouth of Thompson river, and had accompanied the governor down the Fraser, and had found it more inaccessible than had been anticipated; so rough, indeed, as to render, in the opinion of the party, regular com munication with interior tribes by that route imprac ticable.
As was frequently the case on the visit of an august officer of the company to a station, a new deal \vas made as to place and privilege. On this occasion, McMillan availed himself of his rotation of furlough and accompanied Simpson to Fort Vancouver, while McDonald assumed command at Fort Langley. Yale took Hanson's place; Annance continued Indian trader, and the number of men at Langley was reduced from twenty to seventeen. The governor's party, now num bering thirty men, took their departure for the Colum bia by way of Puget Sound the 16th. Consolation for their absence was then administered in the form, of a pint of rum to each man. They did not see much fun, these poor chattels of a corporation; yet the savage finds as many merry-dancing joys in his woods, as does the citizen behind his walls and pavements; in either place are found men who to lift themselves into the seventh heaven to-day, will to-morrow take up their abode in as low a hell, thinking they do well if by the third day the normal equilibrium is restored.
Moved by the persuasive venom of loneliness and
480 FOUNDING OF FORT L ANGLE Y.
propagation, Yale buys himself a wife, choosing for his bosom companion the fragrant daughter of a Haitlin chief, whose virtue sprang from the superior packs of beaver he brought in. But alas for forest morals! It soon came out that the greasy charmer had living another husband, and would willingly marry a white man every day in the year for the price Yale paid for her. A few clays after, Mrs Yale was led to the fort gate, and with a significant motion of the hand hence ward, divorced. But once having tasted the soft connubial sweets of civilization, Mrs Yale could not stay away. Back she came; whereupon she wras informed that the spotless chastity of a Brit- ish fur-trader might not be sullied by any connection which savored of a rival redskin, and was again sent away. But when a short time afterward a poor Canadian sought to assuage his hot unrest in native streams by hoisting his love one dark drunken night in through the bastion embrasure, he would have been ironed had such ornaments been there; as it was he was mulct in the sum of eleven pounds, being six months' pay. Yet again Mrs Yale returned; and one day as her father was passing the fort he begged a blanket, which his daughter quickly handed, and which was as quickly snatched from him by the post- trader, and after her venerable father was driven naked away, Mrs Yale was severely reprimanded In due time she bore her lord a daughter. Under proper tuition it does not take long for a white man to raise himself to the dignity of a savage.
Little remarkable is found in the Fort Langley record of 1829. The Cadboro continued her trips there and to the northward regularly. Though the natives of Vancouver Island and the neighboring shores traded liberally at the post, Fort Langley on the whole did not seem to meet expectations. This led to a gradual reduction of the force, which as the contiguous tribes were dangerous, was regarded as poor policy. The post-trader likewise complained that
SALMON FISHING. 487
the articles kept for traffic were not what they should be either in quantity or quality.1
LO
In August 1829, the salmon trade on the Eraser was quite brisk. Fort Langlay took 7,544 salmon at a cost of £13 175. 2cZ. in goods. More were offered by the natives than could be received.11
Leaving the fort in charge of Yale with seven men, on the 24th of October McDonald with eight men set out on a visit to Fort Vancouver, returning the 23d of November. The object of the journey was to con sult with McLoughlin as to the company's interests in the regions round Fort Langley. It was an im portant point, and yet cut off as it was from the in terior, it could be but little more than a coast station for the present. Nevertheless, even upon this basis it should wield no small influence in those parts. It was now proposed for the gulf and sound trade to attach the schooner Vancouver to this establishment, and thus the better compete with American traders, whose inroads were becoming alarming. A saw-mill at Puget Sound falls12 was likewise talked of, which with the Cowlitz portage was to be placed under Fort Langley superintendence. As a salmon-fishery, if for nothing else, it was thought the strength of the post should be kept up to fifteen men.13
In May 1830, the river rose to a higher point than at any time since the summer freshet of 1820. The musquito pest came on the month following, and so troublesome were they as absolutely to drive the natives to the coast, and prevent the white men from
10 See Finlay son's V. L, MS., 7; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 13; Fort Langley Journal, MS., passim; Gray's Or., 43; Martin's If. B., 26. This post was burned in the spring of 1840, as we shall see, but was immediately rebuilt.
11 * What pity that salt and casks should be wanting,' says the register. Fort Langley Journals, MS., 145. Six years later a large salmon trade with Fort Vancouver and the Hawaiian Islands sprang up at Fort Langley, whence three or four thousand barrels were shipped annually.
12 Tumwater.
13 Inventory taken IGth February, 1830, showed on hand 1,700 skins, for which 210 blankets, 13 guns, 16 shovels, and 30 yards of cloth had been paid.
488 FOUXDING OF FORT LANGLEY.
working by day, or sleeping at night. In July the water was upon them again; and when the flood sub sided they were persecuted by caterpillars, which destroyed the fields of corn and potatoes that had been planted. It is not necessary, at this juncture, to follow further the haps and mishaps at Fort Langley.
In August 1827, James Douglas made a voyage down what he calls Connolly River, the details of which are so trifling and uninteresting as not to be worth recording.14
14 Douglas1 Private Papers, MS., 1st ser.,4-6.
CHAPTER XXII.
CONTINUED DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
1828-1829.
GOVERNOR SIMPSON VISITS HIS NORTHWEST DOMINIONS — CHARACTER OP THE MAN — His ANTECEDENTS AND PERSONNEL — THE PARTY SETS OUT FROM NORWAY HOUSE — THE TRANSIT AT PEACE RIVER — GRAND ENTRY AT FORT ST JAMES — ARRIVAL AT FORT LANGLEY — HE RETURNS THE FOLLOWING YEAR TO CANADA — JOHN WORK JOURNEYS FROM COLVILLE TO OKANAGAN — WRECK OF THE ' WILLIAM AND ANN ' AND MURDER OF THE CREW— PUNISHMENT OF THE OFFENDERS — INCIPIENT IDEAS OF SETTLEMENT — ERA OF EPIDEMIC — JOHN MCLOUGHLIN OCCUPIES WIL LAMETTE FALLS.
WHEN from the sombre chambers in Fenchurch street a fur-traders' peace was promulgated, and all along the American lines from Hudson Bay to the Arctic Ocean, and from Fort William on Lake Supe rior to the Pacific, the so lately fierce contestants were embracing as brothers, young George Simpson was making rapid strides upward from an humble position in the service to the highest in the territory.
An illegitimate son of the eldest brother of the mother of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic explorer, while clerk in a London counting-house George Simpson had attracted the attention of Andrew Col- ville, brother-in-law of the Earl of Selkirk, who sent him to America in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. With a bright, clear intellect, redundant animal spirits, finely-chiselled features lighted by a blazing blue eye, and a figure though not tall, say five feet seven, yet well knit, broad-chested and imposing, plausible in speech and affable in manner, he quickly made his way upward, until in 1820 he found himself
490 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
governor of a district, and shortly after the coalition of the two giant companies, he was made governor- in-chief of all the Hudson's Bay territories in Amer ica. It was a high position, and swiftly attained, but, it was well bestowed, as the faithful and efficient ser vice of some forty continuous years amply testify.
Entering upon the work when the association was prostrated by long and ruinous opposition, by his keen penetration and active energy he rapidly brought order out of confusion, and elevated the company to the highest pitch of prosperity.
During his term of office his rule was absolute, he being responsible for his acts only to the council in London. Part of the time he spent at Red River, part in Oregon, in Athabasca, and at Hudson Bay. He crossed the Rocky Mountains at three different points, and travelled extensively over the vast territory of which he was the commercial sovereign.1
In 1828 he deemed it advisable to make a general survey of the western posts, as well for the purpose of impressing peace and good-will upon the natives, as to more practically learn the necessities and test the efficiency of his associates and servants.
The proposed journey of Mr Simpson2 was from
1 See Life of Thomas Simpson, 40; House Commons ltept.,44, 75; Me- Leod's Peace River; Simpson's Voyaye, 42. Sir John Franklin's Nar., ii. 23, speaks of him in 1820 as principal agent in Athabasca for the Hudson's Bay Company. It was in recognition of his services in organizing the expedi tion under Dease and Simpson for the discovery of a north-west passage, that both he and John Henry Pelly, the London governor of the Hudson's Bay Com pany, received baronetcies in 1839. If we may believe the stories told of George Simpson by his delectable cousin, even this cheap pay was scarcely earned. Says Mr Anderson of him, History Northwest Coast, MS., 47-8: ' Sir George Simpson died at his residence at Lachine, Canada, about 1801. As I have said, the character of Sir George was very energetic, and the intelli gence of his death was received with much regret by all the senior officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, for it had been in his power during his long career to confer many private benefits upon his friends throughout the country. On retiring from active service he purchased the Isle Durnal just above Lachine, and there built a splendid residence. In 1800 hewras honored with a visit from the Prince of Wales, whom he received with all the honors of Hud son Bay courtesy. Highly ornamented birch-bark canoes of enormous size, such as we were in the habit of travelling with, were prepared for this recep tion of the prince' and his party, who were conveyed to the residence of Sir George under the stirring song of the Canadian voyageurs.'
2 Simpson was not yet knighted. His title of governor was unhappily
MACDONALD'S JOURNAL. 491
York Factory to the Pacific. He travelled in some state, having with him a chief factor, Archibald Mac- dona] d, whose journal kept at this time was edited by Malcolm McLeod, and published at Ottawa in 1872,3 and a doctor, Hamlyn by name, the simple presence of a medical man in those days being proof against many evils.
Fourteen commissioned gentlemen, as the chief factors and chief traders were called, and as many clerks, accompanied them to their boats, which were two light canoes with crews of nine men each. On board were two tents, cooking utensils, arms and pro visions, with wine for the officials and spirits for the men. After a hearty hand-shaking the travellers took their seats. Cheers were given as the boats shoved off; then followed a salute of seven guns from the gar rison, after which the voyageurs struck up an inspirit ing air as they breasted the strong tide, and the start was accomplished.
This was Saturday, the 12th of July. Their route was up Hayes River to Norway House at the north- chosen. It would seem that there was a dearth of words signifying domi nance in those days, the term governor being applied to the highest in authority everywhere. He who presided at the London board was governor supreme ; the commanding officer in America was governor-in-chief of the Hudson's Bay Territories; then there were governors of districts, governors of forts, a governor of Rupert Land, a governor of Assiniboine, and sometimes a double governor, as in the case of Douglas at Vancouver Island, who was at once Hudson's Bay Company governor and colonial governor.
3 Peace River. A Canoe Voyage from the Hudsotfs Bay to the Pacific. Con sisting of a journal written by Archibald Macdonald with notes by Malcolm McLeod, a barrister of Aylmcr, Canada. The journal by a chief factor during a flying trip in 1828, is much better written than the notes which are supposed to have been done more deliberately, though the editor offers the usual lame excuse for slovenly work, of lack of time. The writer who has not time to do his best, had better not write. While there is much that we enjoy to know in Mr. McLeod's remarks, there is an unhappy vein of affectation running through them which renders them unpleasant reading. Crimes against liter ary taste are committed on almost every page, which to point out, not being a school-master or a newspaper critic, is no business of mine. Nevertheless, let us be thankful to Mr McLeod for the absolutely original information which he bestows by the publication of Macdonald's journal. During the years 1822 and 1823, Macdonald had been clerk in charge of some of the posts of the Thompson River district. In 182G he took the place of John McLeod as chief trader at Kamloop. In 1828 we find him accompanying Governor Simpson in this expedition. After his death Macdonald's widow gave the notes of his journal to McLeod. See Evans"1 Hist. Or., MS., 222; FranUm's Nar., i. 221; Anderson's II i*t. Northwest Coast, MS., 74.
402 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
ern end of Winnipeg Lake, thence to Cumberland House, La Crosse Lake, and Fort Chipewyan at the western end of Athabasca Lake ; then up Peace River and down the Fraser to Fort Langlcy.
It is not necessary to enter into details of the journey. There were rather fewer than the usual mishaps, and far more than the usual comforts; for food and drink were plenty, and when men and cargo got wet they could stop and have a drying.
At Norway House, where fresh provisions were obtained, his excellency, as the chief factor calls the governor, was preceded by a piper from the landing to the fort, where the officers and a bevy of dusky ladies stood ready to receive him. In the eyes of the narrator the reception was more imposing than any thing hitherto seen in that region. Preparatory to arrival they had landed and made their toilets ; then their approach was made known by the shrill notes of Highland bagpipes in the governor's canoe, and a bugle in the chief factor's, after which, as they neared the landing, was heard the softer, sweeter chant of the boatmen.4
4 The editor was there at the time. ' In the crowd on the bank,' he says, ' standing beside my dear old father — a sturdy Highlander, snuffbox in hand, and with countenance beaming in conscious pride of his work wrell done — I, a little fellow yet in his units, was a gazing spectator, intensely interested, and to this day I remember the scene as if it now flashed before my eyes. On the signal hill of rock, from a tall Xorway-pine shaft, floated the grand old flag. From the hollow rocks, the world of rocks all around us, awoke the wild echoes by the bugle set flying. Then the grand thunder-skirrl of the bagpipes with their "Campbells are coming; hourray ! hourray!" or some such music of our mountain land, long droned out to the very vault of heaven, and then — • as a cadenza of soothing, gladdening, exquisite charm — the deep and soft and so joyously toned voices of those full-throated voyageurs, timed with a stroke so quick, of glittering paddle-blade, singing with such heart their La Claire Fontaine or some such loved air of their native land. All this music, in the rapid, in the deep rocky gorge, mellowed by the waters, and a little by dis tance, entranced us in a sense. For a while wre could but listen, the canoes from our position in the bay being out of sight ; but when the governor's canoe with its grand high prow, rounded and brightly painted, flashed out of the dark rock at the point into our full view, and gracefully turned into the little port at our feet, the heart seemed to swell with admiration and delight at the sight. Never, never had anything; so grand, and splendid, and delightful withal, been seen in those primitive wilds. And the little world there, especially on the bank that day, was one which in its unsullied purity of natural taste for the beautiful in nature and in simple art, could appreciate and enjoy such a scene.' McLeocVs Peace River, app., note xiv.
EN ROUTE. 493
The entire journey was made without loss of life or property. This was due in a great measure to the efficiency of the guide who, en route, is governor even of governors. " He was generally," says McLeod, " some steel-framed, steady, and electric-eyed Iroquois of Caughnawaga, or, as I believe, in this case, was some old French Canadian voyageur, wise exceedingly in his own way, and endowed, one would think, with special instincts for his duty. In canoe he takes the post of honor, that is, of danger and trust, the bow. Between him and his precious charge every nasty, ripping rock, or sunken stick in the way, the shallow way, for going up stream they have ever to hug the shore, there is naught but the thin birch bark and its slender lining."
During the evenings which were spent at the posts along the route, the governor's time was occupied in writing. It was an intricate and widely extended business for one man to manage, yet the length of time Mr Simpson was governor shows the opinion of his associates of his ability. His correspondence with the officers of the company was very great. Added to his administrative capabilities was intense applica tion, which enabled him to perform the labor of three ordinary men. Twelve years later he had so over taxed himself as to be partially blind. At Isle a la Crosse, Fort Chipewyan, and other stations, supplies wTere taken on board as required. One month from the time of starting the party arrived at the last- named port, then in charge of William McGillivray. James Heron now took the place of McGillivray, who with his family accompanied the governor across the mountains. The arrival and departure of the family was attended by the same ceremony at all the posts: music, cheering, the waving of flags, and the firing of guns.
They entered Peace River on the 15th of August. Fort Vermilion, three hundred and twenty miles from the mouth of the river, was then in charge of Paul
494 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
Fraser. Fort Dunvegan was still occupied by Camp bell, who on this occasion was taken by surprise, having but little on the premises to eat. The gover nor could not refrain from bestowing upon the natives a gentle admonition, after the manner of a father- confessor, with regard to the St John murder, no less than the ancient bacchanals, one of which not long since resulted in the death of an Indian.
Passing St John, a cross was seen marking the burial-place of the unfortunate wife-stealers, whose passion for the forest belles had cost them their lives ; for in these wilds, where constant peril made one brotherhood of all creeds, it was the custom to desig nate the spot where dead humanity lay buried, pro vided always the skin had been white, by monuments, which since these many centuries have proclaimed a common origin and a common end.
The path at the portages was in a miserable condi tion, no white people having passed that way for three years. On the 4th of September, the guide with three men narrowly escaped perdition at the foot of a formidable cascade. The llth brought them to McLeod Fort, where they found wreathed in sad smiles the honest face of Mr Tod, for he, alas ! was taken by surprise, which signified in the diction of the day, that the fort contained nothing to eat. He and his two men were on short allowance, the fish having to some extent failed him during the summer.
Here Simpson was called upon to play the judge in a case of assault, the person attacked being suspected of tampering with the assailant's wife. The governor returned the Scotch verdict of not proven. The wife- wooer, however, was advised not to interfere with the marital relations of others in a country where women were so plentiful, and as an -earnest for his future good behavior, he was fined ten shillings, which being offered to the injured husband was indignantly re fused, whereupon it was handed to a third person to buy rum for the men. The servants must be well
ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE. 495
trained indeed who could be satisfied with this quality of justice at the hand of their highest official. Two thousand beaver-skins were annually traded here at this time.
From McLeod the party set out by land for Fort St James, the men with heavy loads upon their backs, making over the bad roads but fifteen or eighteen miles a day, the gentlemen riding on horses ; although I could but regard it as more gentlemanly in the mas ter to have walked, and let his horse carry the burden of a faithful servant. But it was inconsistent with the dignity of officers to treat the voyageurs as men.
To impress the tender mind of the savage it was thought best to make a grand entry into Fort St James, the capital of western Caledonia. Hence, when within a mile of the fort, the party halted, breakfasted, and changed, that is to say, shaved and decorated. Unfurling the British ensign, it was given to the guide, who marched first. After him came the band, consisting of buglers and bagpipers. Next came the governor, mounted, and behind him Hamlyn and Macdonald, also on horses. Twenty loaded men, like beasts of burden, formed the line ; after them a loaded horse; and finally McGillivray with his wife and family5 brought up the rear.
Thus arranged, the imposing body was put in motion. Passing over a gentle elevation they came in full view of the fort, when the bugle sounded, a gun was fired, and the bagpipes struck up the famous march of the clans, Si coma leum cogadh na shea, that is to say, Peace; or, if you so will it, war. James Douglas, who was then in charge of the post, replied with a brisk discharge of wall-pieces and small arms; after which he advanced a short distance in front of the fort, and there received his distinguished guests.
Fort St James was then the chief depot for all the
5 Whether mounted or on foot the narrative does not say, but probably the latter, as otherwise where there were so few horses the writer would have been apt to mention them.
496 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
region north of the Eraser Forks to the Russian boundary, including the Babine country, and hence was a general rendezvous for the fur-traders of multi tudinous degree. Governor Simpson had been there but two hours when Chief Factor James Connolly of Montreal arrived from the shores of the Pacific, which he had left the 23d of June. Yale arrived next day. It was soon decided that Pierre La Course, one of the governor's party, with three men, should proceed immediately to Thompson River, and build a boat to take the travellers to Fort Langley. Yale accom panied them to Fort Alexandria, rendering them every assistance in his power, and to Chief Factor Francis Ermatinger and Mr McDougall were sent letters con taining instructions of like import.
To the great white chief many little red chiefs were introduced, and the white chiefs told the red chiefs that they must not kill white men. There had been one or two murders committed by the Indians lately, for which the murderers were promptly punished as usual; but the governor greatly deplored such pro ceedings, and warned the chiefs that war, with all its horrors, would bo upon them if they did not curb the temper of their people. His imposing mien, his earnest words, and the dauntless fire of his eye never failed to impress the savage mind with awe and reverence.
The 24th of September the party moved forward, and reached Fort Alexandria the fourth day. There they found the two McDougalls, and Yale and party, who arrived five days previous. George McDougall was in charge of the post. After leaving this post the governor was seized with illness, which lasted for several days, and though quite severe it did not pre vent his travelling.
Calling at Kamloop, the governor assembled the na tives in the hall of the post, and there addressed them according to his custom, exhorting them to honesty, frugality, and temperance, and supplementing his ser mon with rolls of tobacco, and other presents far more
WORK'S EXPEDITION. 497
efficacious in promoting good behavior than words. Mr Ermatinger was in charge of this post that season.
Yale had been sent from Fort Alexandria, with fourteen men in two bark canoes to the fork of the Thompson River, where the governor now found them, both parties having on their way run rapids never run before. Down Thompson River to the Eraser, and thence through the water-grooved mountains of rock, over rapids and whirlpools they go ; past Allitza River and Yale River, past dalles and portages, dashing down Simpson falls, a fearful plunge,6 then past Lilli- wh.it, as they called Harrison River, soon after meet ing the tide from the Pacific, then passing Work River and reaching Fort Langley on the evening of the 10th of October. McMillan, Manson, and Annance were there with twenty men. Here Macdonald remained to take the place of McMillan, who accompanied the governor to Fort Vancouver, as wTe have before found recorded in the archives of the fort.7
The following year Simpson returned east by way the Columbia, his party consisting of McMillan, Doc tor Tod, Tom Taylor, and twenty-seven men. The only incident worthy of mention on the trip was an affray with the natives at one of the portages, from which the governor narrowly escaped with his life.8
With six boats and twenty men, on the 20th of May 1828, John Work left Colville for Okanagan, arriving the 22d. Among the cargo was a cage of three pigs for New Caledonia, the route from Colville to that district then being down the Columbia to Okanagan and up the Okanagan River.
6 ' Came to the head of Simpson Falls where the river is choked up by a most solid rock of about half an acre in extent. Examined it along the west shore, but conceived the run on that side extremely dangerous, and owing to the immense rocks all over, to carry was impossible. The east lead was then determined upon, crossed, and run without landing on that side by the guide who rushed on with his bark canoe, and a safe arrival below was effected, but not without much risk in the whirlpools against the enemy the rocks that hung over us. ' MacdonaltVs Journal, in HcLtocTs Peace River, 37-8.
7 See Fort Langley Journal, MS., 122.
8 Simpsoria Overland Journey, i. 165-7.
HIST. N. TV. COAST, VOL. II. 32
498 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
From New Caledonia Ermatin^er arrived at Okan-
O
agan the 24th, Connolly and his people the 26th, and Dease the 27th. A feast was held, at which two horses and some barley were served. Nine boats in command of Connolly then embarked for Fort 'Van couver. In running Priest Rapids, in the lower part one of the boats struck a rock and broke, and three men were drowned. The furs were recovered, the priest assisting; some of them were dried at Walla Walla and the rest at Fort Vancouver.
Returning on the 23d of July, the brigade consisted of nine heavily laden boats with fifty-four men, among whom were Connolly, Work, Yale, Dease, and Erma- tinger. At the Dalles they met Morgan and his party on their way to Fort Vancouver, and also Ogden. McKay was at Walla Walla where Black was in charge. On the way up, the body of one of the men drowned at Priest Rapids was found, and over the remains, before interring them, Connolly read the funeral service. Arrived at Okanagan, Work shortly after made a journey into New Caledonia.9
In attempting to enter the Columbia River, in 1829, the Hudson's Bay Company's ship from London, William and Ann, was wrecked on Sand Island. Those of the crew who escaped landed at Clatsop Point, and were immediately murdered by the natives, that the work of plunder might not be interrupted.10 A large portion of the cargo was then secured by the savages. Tidings of the disaster reaching Van couver, McLouoiilin sent messengers demanding the
o o o
9 Work's Journal, MS., 222-40; Allan's If cm., MS., 19.
10 Gray affirms, Hist. Or., 21, that 'all onboard were murdered;' and at:ain, 191, that in 1834 'there was also in the country a man by the name of Felix Hathaway, saved from the wreck of the William and Ann.'' Koberts, Heco/'lrc- t!on$, ISIS., 15, says that the crew landed with their arms wet, and hence were wholly defenceless, and that all -\vere murdered. Anderson, North west Coaxt, MS., 258, states that the 'Clatsops murdered, or were asserted to have murdered, the survivors of the crew.' Dunn, Or. Tar., 159, 'The whole of the crew perished.' Thornton, Or. and Cal., i. 304, 'All on board perished.'
THE CLATSOPS PUNISHED. 499
restoration of the goods. An old broom11 was there upon sent to the fort with the derisive reply that that was all of the cargo they intended to deliver up.
There were then but few men at the fort, and the Clatsops who had not forgotten their infamous treat ment by Ogclen and his party, were as strong as they were blood-thirsty and treacherous; so that some little time must necessarily elapse before action could be taken. Immediately upon the arrival of the brig ade from the interior about the middle of June, one hundred voyageurs under Connolly were sent to chas tise the villains. First the schooner Cadboro, well armed and manned, was sent clown the river and brought to anchor before the Clatsop village. No demonstration was made on board; on shore the sav ages were defiant. During the night the boat party approached, keeping themselves carefully concealed behind the schooner. At early dawn the signal was given. The schooner opened fire on the village, and striking up a wild, shrill boat-song, the Canadians shot their barks from behind the vessel and landed under cover of her guns.
Shots were exchanged as the boats approached the bank, and a brief encounter occurred on landing ; but the enemy were soon discomfited, and took to flight. Little blood was shed; after the first charge a skulk ing chief was shot; and considering their diabolical deed, the punishment inflicted upon the natives was light. But the effect of even this light chastisement was salutary, and the subsequent good conduct of the Clatsops was secured.12
A schooner of about one hundred and fifty tons was this year, 1829, built at Vancouver, and christened the Vancouver. She was poorly constructed, and proved not very profitable. After making a few trips, she
"Following Anderson, Northwest Coa*t, MS., 258, Dunn says, 'an old broken paper-framed looking-glass' accompanied their impertinent message.
12 See further. Coy's Adv., ii. 395. app.; Victor's River of the Went, 29-30. Parker, Ex. Tour, 160-1, dates the disaster 1828.
500 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
was finally wrecked in the spring of 1834, on Point Rose Spit, at the northern end of Queen Charlotte Islands. Duncan was her captain, and he ran her aground in open daylight.1
13
It may be well to notice here the incipient ideas as to the occupation and cultivation of the soil apart from fur-trading interests, although the history of permanent settlement will form the opening chapters of another volume.
Among the mythologies of Oregon occupation I find the following. Into the Willamette Valley about 1812, there drifted a free French trapper, who, tired of mountaineering and the uncertainty of semi-sav age rovings, determined to seek retirement where skies were propitious and the horizon free from civil ized obstructions, where food might easily be culti vated, and where dusky maids were plenty. Montour was his name, and the spot he chose was French Prairie. Having long entertained the idea, he had carried about with him a few seeds, which he now planted. He then built himself a commodious hut. After giving a few rudimentary lessons in agriculture to his faithful wives, he was a lord for life. Toils and troubles were over, and the fear of hunger forever banished.
For fourteen years continued this lonely elysium; and though mighty changes were taking place beyond the confines of his kingdom, Montour remained un molested until 1S2G. His farming amounted to but little, 3'et it served every purpose, and might be in creased at pleasure. The man and his surroundings were known to the fur-hunters who frequented these parts, but they paid little attention to him except to partake of his hospitality as they passed by.
Then came one Peter Depot, and Montour was ready to depart. There was scarcely room enough in
13 Roberts' JRec., MS., 43. This vessel must not be confounded with the bark Vancouver lost on the Columbia bar in 1848.
TRADITIONAL HISTORY. 501
the Willamette Valley for two farmers of the fur- hunting order. So Montour transferred his interests to Depot, and in 1850 Depot sold to Samuel Brown.1*
The Killamooks have a tradition surpassing even this; namely, that a long time ago five white men landed at Cape Lookout and buried some treasure in the cliff, which has since fallen down and covered it. They then helped themselves to as many women as they desired, and raised a nation of their own, which to-day inhabits the region to the south of them.
However true or false these and other similar stories may have been, there were of a truth those among the half-breed and French Canadian servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, and straggling trappers from the United States, and from California, who now determined to abandon their wilderness ways and begin for themselves and their children a fixed resi dence; and from this time the principal food, which had hitherto been fish and game, began now at the principal posts to be cattle and grain. Round Fort Vancouver, as I have said, were taken up by these persons the first patches for cultivation; the next, and in due time larger farming settlement was on French Prairie in the Willamette Valley,15 and for nine years from the time of our definite knowledge of this settlement, that is to say, 1829, this cluster of farms stood as a pot-flower of civilization in a wilder ness of savagism, the sole effort of independent hus bandry in Oregon.
And strange to say, with these incipient ideas of fixed occupation and their attendant forest-clearings,
UA writer in the Salem Mercury is responsible for this, and the reader may take it at his own valuation. Roberts writes me that Montour, a swarthy half-caste, went from Colville or New Caledonia to French Prairie in 1841.
laSee Hist, Or., this series; also Thornton's Or. andCaL, ii. 10; Finlayson's Hist. V. /., MS., G5. Among other instances, De Smet in his Oregon J\Iis- eions, 17, mentions the case of a Canadian servant of the Hudson's Bay Com pany, who, tired of trapping, in 1829 obtained permission to settle with his family in the Willamette Valley and follow farming, and that others now fol lowed his example. For early affairs at French Prairie see Hist. Or., this aeries.
502 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
house-buildings, and soil-stirrings came civilization's kindly savage-destroyer, disease. Thus mercilessly omnipotence vetoes its earlier work for a later; pro nouncing its creation of red men bad, the lighter color coming now in fashion, all which, reading the future from the tablets of the past, tells us that our cruel superstitions and hypocritical civilization, our religion if you will, or may be if you will not, must in due time give place to another and better religion and civiliza tion; for under the present regime matters are not altogether pure and perfect.
That the ague and fever which in this year of 1829 first awoke the savage nations of the lower Columbia to their death, which became epidemic, and raged with such virulence as with the thousands of red men to carry off scores of white and wholly to de populate certain sections, is to be attributed entirely to the scratching by weak husbandry of a few acres at Fort Vancouver or elsewhere seems to me absurd. And yet such is the general notion entertained of it. Farming is not so unhealthy an occupation; or if it were, the deleterious effluvia arising from a newly upturned garden-patch could not equal the malaria engendered for ages by hundreds of square miles, in hundreds of different localities, foul river-bottoms, swamps, and decaying forests.
But this is a different sort of infection you may say. Very true. The infections of artifice are ahvays dif ferent from those of nature. I do not know why throughout this wide, airy, and heaven-lit region the moment the conception even of fixed residence is en tertained by civilization, all savagism should rise up and rush to their destruction like so many devil- possessed swine. I do not know why the world was originally constructed upon so cruel and unjust a principle, the animal kingdom no less than the man kingdom, the life and progression of the stronger being sustained and made yet more and more sovereign only by the devouring and final total destruction of
EPIDEMIC. 503
the weaker. Nor have I been able to find any one to tell me. According to the measures of right given me, according to any other measure than that what ever is is right, that might is right, I see no right or reason in it. But our wise teachers tell us to wait, and perhaps we shall know more.
But whatever the cause, certain it is that when the soil round Fort Vancouver was first upturned to any considerable extent for cultivation, the fever and ague broke out among the natives in the form of fearful epidemic. White men as well as Indians were seized by it, but the former could in some degree ward off its dangers while the latter fell by thousands before its silent and mysterious shafts. The poor natives, to whom the disease was new, no wiser in this respect than the wThite men, were wholly at a loss to account for its origin; and the brig Owyhee, Captain Dominis, arriving about this time they charged him with having brought among them the hateful infection.16 The fol lowing years there came typhoid fever, whooping- cou<rh, the measles, and other civilized diseases hith-
O '
erto unknown in these parts, so that soon the bewildered savage every autumn would wonder what new damnation the Christians should bring him this year.
During the years 1830, 1831, and 1832 the epi demic was even worse than in 1829,17 and, indeed,
10 Roberts' Rec., MS., 13. Mrs Harvey, Life of McLowjhUn, MS., 15, recollects the first American vessel entering the Columbia in her time as 'that of Captain Thomas in 1829.' The ship was anchored at Astoria while the captain traded for beaver and salmon.
17 Dates as usual disagree. Cushinrfs Report, No. 101,25th Cong., 3d Sess., Feb. 1839, 17, speaks of an intermittent fever in 1829, which nearly depopu lated the banks of the Columbia. In 1829 the plough was first introduced, says Kane, Wandering,*, 174, 'and the locality hitherto considered one of the most healthy, was almost depopulated by the fever and ague.' Doctor Tolmie, Hist. Puijet Sound, MS. , 5, G, says the epidemic first broke out after the plough ing of some rich, alluvial land near the river bank, where the Indians lived; but there must have been some more general and wide-spread cause.' In the U, S. Catholic Almanac, copied byDe Smet in his Missions deV Oregon, 19, we find : ' Quoique le climat de ce pays paraisse tres-salubre, une fievre tremblante et contagieuse qui se dc"clnra cette meme anne"e 1830, enleva pres des deux tiers des habitants, depuis le bas de la riviere Colombie jusqu' aux Cascades.' In his Journal, 1840-1, MS., 3, 4, James Douglas writes: ' Plomondo says that in
504 DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
aside from the extraordinary ravages of disease, "affairs seem dreadfully disordered at present in the Columbia," groans the mercenary scribe at Fort Langley. In July 1829 there were "two or three American vessels in opposition there, and but one beaver obtained for a blanket."18
Simultaneously with the rise of the agricultural interest was felt a need of sawn lumber. One of the best sites for a mill in that whole region was at the falls of the Willamette, where Oregon City now stands. This spot had often been spoken of by passing fur-
1830, the first ague summer, the living sufficed not to bury their dead, but lied in terror to the sea-coast, abandoning the dead and dying to the birds and beasts of prey. Every village presented a scene harrowing to the feelings; the canoes were there drawn up upon the beach, the nets extended on the willow- boughs to dry, the very dogs appeared, as ever, watchful, but there was not heard the cheerful sound of the human voice. The green woods, the music of the birds, the busy humming of the insect tribes, the bright summer sky, spoke of life and happiness, while the abode of man was silent as the grave, like it filled with putrid festering corpses. O God ! wonderful and mys terious are thy ways. Plomondo's account is perhaps overcharged, but in the main I firmly believe correct, as the ague has been a fruitful source of death to every Indian tribe exposed to its attacks.' 'The Chinook tribe,' says Ander son, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 4, 'were very numerous, and continued to be so until about 1831, when the fever and ague broke out and carried a large pop ulation off. ' And again referring to Allan's Hem. , MS. , 14-1G, as good author ity as the best, we lind, ' the fever and ague first broke out on the river in 1829. In the autumn of 1832 the disease was very prevalent at Fort Van couver, and at one time we had over forty men laid up with it, and a great number of Indian applicants for la mcdccinc; and as there was then no phy sician at the fort, Dr McLoughlin himself had to officiate in that capacity, although lie disliked it, as it greatly interferred with his other important duties, until lie was himself attacked with the fever, when he appointed me his deputy; and I well remember my tramps through the men's houses with my pockets lined with vials of quinine, and making my reports of the state of the patients to the doctor. It proved, therefore, a great relief both to him and to mj^self when the annual ship arrived from London, bringing out two young medical men, doctors Gairdner and Tolmie, one of whom wras immedi ately installed into office at Fort Vancouver, and the other despatched to the Nortlrwcst Coast, \vhere the company had lately established several forts. . . One day in making my rounds to the numerous patients, I paid a visit to a half-breed Kanaka boy, and handing him a vial of quinine mixture, pointed with my finger to how much he was to take at one dose; but the fellow mis taking swallowed the whole concern at once, eight or ten doses in one. I was awfully alarmed for a time, but I need not have been, for he soon got w^ell, and never had the ague again as long as I was at Fort Vancouver. '
18 Fort Lanylcy Journal., MS., 143; McLoitghRn's Private Papers, MS., 2d ser. 2; Thornton's Or. ami Ca.L, ii. lo. So Cox writes in July 1829. Adv., ii. 395, app. ' The intelligence from this cDimtry is by no means of a pleasant nature. The number of lives lost last winter is incredible.'
IMPROVEMENTS. 503
traders, and the prophetic eye of McLoughlin had not failed to note the superior advantages of the place.
As early as December 1829, McLoughlin took pos session of the place and began preparations for the erection of a saw-mill there.19 Setting to work a party of his men during the winter, they erected at the falls three log-houses, and made ready the timber for the mill, which they purposed to erect on the west side of the river. This work lasted until May 1830 ; and as it was not McLoughlin's intention to erect the mill at once, work ceased on it for the season. Some potatoes were planted there that spring for the use of the work men, which was the beginning of agriculture in that vicinity. In 1832 they blasted a mill-race from the head of the island.20 But the natives not liking these demonstrations of permanent residence, incontinently burned the log-houses, and the timber for the mill, and only regretted they could not burn the race and the men who had digged it. Had not their forefathers caught salmon here ever since water fell over these rocks? Had they not feasted and fasted upon these banks before ever the skin of these thrice damned Europeans had become bleached by brain-work, and was not the country theirs? Burn! butcher! anni hilate! my gentle redskin, it is the right of gods and men by their own law ordained so to do ; then butcher or burn as thou art able, or be butchered and burned as thy kind heavenly father will have it!
It has been generally believed that the part Mc Loughlin took in the settlement of Oregon, brought
O O ' O
upon him the censure of the company. This is true only as regards the officer in his relation to the corpo ration, which like most bodies organized for money- making purposes was indifferent to any other than mercenary influences. Yet, notwithstanding serious
190r, as Mr El wood Evans, PRst. Or., MS., 202, in my opinion somewhat unfairly, puts it, the Hudson's Bay Company 'seized the present site of Oregon City and other portions of the valley, their establishments anterior to this
[time being confined to the country north of the Columbia. ' 20 McLou(jlill)Cs Private Papers, MS., 1st ser. 1; 4th ser. 7.
50G DOMINATION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.
differences as to the policy of the company in regard to occupation and settlement, never a word was breathed by his most bitter opponent in the Hudson's Bay Company against his ability or integrity.21
21 Hear what Ellice says before the house of commons committee, Rept* 342: 'Dr McLonghlin was rather an amphibious and independent personage; he was a very able man, and, I believe, a very good man; but he had a fancy that he would like to have interests in both countries, both in America and in the English territory . . . While he remained with the Hudson's Bay Com pany he was an excellent servant. '
CHAPTER XXIII.
NOTABLE AFFAIRS. 1830-1832.
DAVID DOUGLAS, SCIENTIST — His ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHWEST COAST — QUARREL WITH BLACK — CHALLENGE — NOTICE OF SAMUEL BLACK — His ASSASSINATION — JOHN WORK'S JOURNEY — CONSPIRACY TO MURDER Mc- LOUGHLIN — WRECK OF THE ' ISABEL ' — WALLA WALLA — NEW CALE DONIA — WORK'S SNAKE RIVER EXPEDITION — RAIDS UPON THEM BY THE BLACKFEET — THEY VISIT THE MISSOURI — RESULTS — ERMATINGER — A YANKEE BRITISHER — WILLIAM McNEiLL AND HIS BRIG 'LLAMA'— ENTERS THE SERVICE OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY — BUILDING OF FORT UMPQUA — HAWAIIAN ISLAND AGENCY.
THERE are other things in heaven and earth than furs — so the scientists, who now and then found their way to this region, seemed to say to the august ad venturers of England and their servants. Although it was not so easy to convert into money the knowl edge of new flora as to sell the skins of wild beasts, yet there were those born in the British Isles who preferred analyzing strange plants to indulging in fine raiment or sumptuous repasts. There were Coulter and Nuttall in Mexico and California, and in the mountains round the head-waters of the Athabasca and the Columbia, Drummond, once with Sir John Franklin. Princely collections were made by these and other botanists.
Here we may more specially mention David Douglas, whose peregrinations in the north-west covered a whole decade, from 1824 to 1834. He left London in the year first named, and was at Fort Vancouver station before the buildings were erected.1
1 He was the subject of a series of lectures delivered some years ago at Portland by Mr Somerville of Victoria, under the title of ' Lectures about an
(507)
508 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
A fair, florid, partially bald-headed Scotchman of medium stature and gentlemanly address, he was twenty-five years of age when first sent out by the Hoyal Horticultural Society of London. He made twTo visits, during the first of which he explored Alta California by permission of the Mexican government, but under promise to make no sketches of what they called their military defences. He was assisted wrhile on the Northwest Coast by George B. Roberts, who with a dozen other boys had been sent from the Greenwich naval school to be reared for the company's coast service. To the botanical vocabulary of the time David Douglas added the names of over one thousand plants.
Thus this devotee of birds and plants wandered among the forests of America, his pack upon his back, a gun across his shoulder, and a shaggy terrier at his heels. How pure must have been the pleasure; how thrilling even the pain that prompted such a life ! The savages let him pass unmolested as a very big medi cine, and the trappers and ranchers held in little less awe the creat ^rass man. So accustomed did he be-
O <T?
come to forest life that he preferred at night the shelter of a fallen tree to the warmest lodge or the fort's best furnished guest-chamber.
His origin was humble. He had been gardener in his younger days for one or two gentlemen, and finally in the botanic garden at Glasgow, where the delight of living with exotic plants might be tempered by the
Early Scotch Hero.' In the Overland Monthly, Aug. 1871, we have for the first article 'An Early Hero of the Pacific,' contributed by the same person. In his mission there was an undoubted field for the display of heroism, but no more than all were called upon to exercise in these parts at that early day. He loved botany, and the traders loved furs; while he would risk his life for his science, there were a thousand who would run equally great risks for money. His may have been the nobler aspiration, but it certainly was not more heroic than the enthusiasm which sent to his death many a poor voy- ageur and lonely trapper. Nevertheless, the botanist, Douglas, shall have all honor. He gave his name to the Abies Douglasii, or Douglas-pine, which so thickly feathers the western slope from Mount Shasta to far beyond St Elias. Stillman mentions him in the Overland Monthly, ii. 2G2. The best source of information concerning him is his own journal published some time after his death by Dr Hooker in the Companion to the Botanical Magazine.
DAVID DOUGLAS. 509
close study of a botanical library. Then he attended the lectures of Sir W. J. Hooker, whose name is made perpetual on our coast by one of the highest mountains in the vicinity of Athabasca Pass.
Douglas soon became the favorite companion of Hooker's rambles, and it was this great master who recommended Douglas to the London Society as a qualified collector. He was much interested in the indigenous tobacco-plant of the Columbia, discovered by him in 1826, and in its cultivation by the natives.2
To say that dangers beset him during his solitary excursions among forest wilds is superfluous. He had many ways of charming into wholesome fear the simple savage mind. To show them his skill in shoot ing he would bring down a bird while flying; by throwing into water an effervescing powder and coolly drinking it off, he told them they had better beware how they angered one who drank boiling water; he could even call fire from heaven, as seen in his light ing a pipe with a lens. He made them afraid of his blue spectacles even; and when they saw him shoot ing from the tall pines the cones he could not other wise obtain, they put him down as a being wholly above or below them, first that he should want such things and then as to the manner of obtaining them.
At last he fell, however, a victim to his curiosity. While at the Hawaiian Islands, on his second return to England, in 1834, in examining the traps prepared for catching wild cattle he lost his footing, and falling headlong into a pit, at the bottom of which was an enraged bullock, was instantly trampled to death. If men may judge, he deserved a better fate.3
2 'I first saw a single plant of it,' lie writes, 'in the hand of an Indian at the great falls of the Columbia, but though I offered two ounces of manu factured tobacco, an enormous remuneration, he would on no account part with it.'
3 Had not Douglas been recalled, or the supplies cut off, it is doubtful if ever he would have left his fascinating forests. A letter from Alexander Seaton, Esq., treasurer of the Horticultural Society, to William Smith, Esq., informs us that 'David Douglas has ceased to be in the service of the society, and that the society will not repay any further advances made to him.' Doug- las' Private Papers, MS., 1st ser. 75.
510 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
For one who had received from the Hudson's Bay Company nothing but kindness, David Douglas was somewhat free with his comments. He did not like to see that powerful organization which was so ready at all times to sacrifice human life on the altar of their own avarice, so cold and selfishly indifferent outside of their money-making to anything affecting the weal or woe of their fellow-creatures. And the shaggy Scotchman was not afraid to tell them so.
Samuel Black was then in command of Fort Kam- loop, and thither David Douglas in his wanderings repaired. While enjoying the lonely hospitality of his brother Scot, and discussing the affairs of the company, Douglas, who was more fiery than politic, exclaimed : " The Hudson's Bay Company is simply a mercenary corporation; there is not an officer in it with a soul above a beaver-skin."
Black was up in arms in a moment. He informed his guest that he was a sneaking reprobate, and chal lenged him to fight. As it was then dark the duel was postponed until next day. Bright and early in the morning Black tapped at the pierced parchment which served as a window to the guest-chamber, and cried out, " Misther Dooglas! are ye ready?" But the man of flowers declined the winning invitation, and saved his life only to yield it not long after in that luckless wild-cattle pit. Black was formerly of the Northwest Company, and on the coalition was pre sented a ring on which was engraved: " To the most worthy of the worthy Northwesters."
Though a fur-trader he was not at all indifferent to science, being therein an exception to the fur-worship pers so scourged by Douglas. Black was an educated man of no small attainments, geology and geography being specially interesting to him. At all events he managed to command the respect of his associates, if not by his learning, then by his enormous stature, his powerful swing of limbs, and his slow, sonorous, and speech. His death was no less sad than
SAMUEL BLACK. 511
that of David Douglas; indeed, many a brave man went hence from this quarter for whose profitless tak ing off the angels never gave adequate excuse. Samuel Black was killed by an Indian boy for having charmed away the life of his uncle.4
* It was a serious affair, the killing of a chief trader in charge of an es tablishment: and as Black's friends mourned for him they could but won der when their turn might come. The autumn of 1841 was when it occurred; Black was at his post at Kamloop, and the circumstances were these : Five miles from Kamloop lived the Shushwaps whose chief the Canadians called Tranquille, for the mildness of his disposition, and his suaviter in modo. Capot Blanc, another chief, among other articles of certain purchase at Kamloop bought a trade gun, which he left at the fort to be exchanged for a horse the first opportunity. Not long after Tranquille came and said that Capot Blanc had authorized him to take away the gun. Black replied that he could not have the gun unless he left a horse for it, such being the condi tions upon which it had been left with him. Tranquille went home a little chagrined, but by no means angry. Soon afterward Tranquille sickened and died.
'I have a good heart, I am a great chief,' he said on his death-bed; 'I am ready to die.'
' An enemy has done this,' growled Tranquille's wife.
' No, no, ' replied Tranquille, well knowing to what she referred. ' If I have a sorrow it is that I may not take by the hand before I die my best friend, Mr Black, and ask his forgiveness for the hasty words spoken when last we met. '
' Subtle and swift is the evil medicine of the white man.'
' Peace, woman ! ' Then turning to his friends he said : ' Pay no heed to what she says. Mr Black's heart is good. Go to him, ask him to send his men and have me buried according to the white man's custom.'
It was done. The request reached Kamloop and a board coffin for the departed chief was immediately made and sent over to the Shushwap village.
Living in Tranquille's lodge was a nephewT, nineteen years of age, an im pulsive, warm-hearted youth, who had greatly loved his uncle. To him, after the chief's death, Tranquille's widow did little else than mourn.
' Ah ! the gentle man, the great chief, ' she moaned, while rocking herself by the fire, with her chin resting on her knees. 'And must thy sweet spirit go to the happy hunting-ground alone? Alas ! that he who sent thee thither may yet bathe in blessed sunlight, whilst thy resting-place is dark and cold.'
' He died fairly, ' sobbed the youth. ' With his last breath did he not tell us so?'
' So noble, so kind was he, not even his murderer would he harm. Ah ! that there should be none to avenge him.'
A day or two in this strain well nigh maddened the young man. He could not rest. Eating or sleeping, a steady stream of woe was poured into his un willing ear by the artful avenger.
'Who now shall be our chief?' she continued. ' All our young men are cowards — :
Enraged beyond endurance, the youth sprang to his feet, and gave the old. woman a smart slap on the cheek.
'Indeed, yes!' she returned. 'Very brave and manly no doubt it is to strike an old woman, but to revenge an uncle's death, that were a different matter.'
Burning with sorrow, wrath, and desperation, the boy arose, threw off his clothes, keeping on him only a piece of olanket, and blackening his face, sig nificant of bloody intentions, he seized his gun and hurried to Kamloop. There he received every kindness; and though warned by the interpreter,,
512 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
To a favorite daughter under a pet name, Black had willed £20,000, but being generally known by another
who feared the youth with the blackened face, abroad in scanty clothing in an unusually cold February day, meditated mischief, Mr Black directed him to the fire in the Indian hall, and sent him food, and pipe and tobacco. Nearly all the afternoon the nephew of the departed chief sat and smoked in moody silence. What war was there beneath that calm exterior? What love, what hate, what deadly desperation! And now in that youthful breast of high, loyal, and affectionate aspirations was the fell work of the demon of ignorance and superstition at length accomplished. Toward evening, as Black was passing through the room, as his hand was on the door, and while his back was toward him, the young savage raised his gun and fired. The chief trader staggered into the adjoining room, and fell dead amidst his wife and children. The murderer escaped. The news spread rapidly to the neigh boring posts. The natives were scarcely less disturbed than the white men. The act was abhorred, even by the friends and relatives of Tranquille. Anderson was at Fort Nisqually at the time. Old John Tod came over from Fort Alex andria, McLean from Fort Colville, and McKinlay and Ennatinger from Fort Okanagan. From Fort Vancouver McLoughlin sent men to hunt to the death the murderer, ordering John Tod to see to it, and at the same time to take charge of Fort Kamloop. Cameron was to assist him. All traffic at the fort must be stopped until the murderer should be delivered up for punishment. This was a great hardship upon the Indians, who had now learned to depend apon the arms and ammunition of the white men to obtain food for their amilies.
Calling the Shushwaps round him Mr Tod informed them that not a hair »f their heads should be hurt, but the guilty person must be found. Then arose Nicola, chief of the Okanagans, and said:
'The winter is cold. Oil all the hills around the deer are plenty; and yet I hear your children crying for food. Why is this? You ask for powder and ball, and they refuse you with a scowl. Why do the white men let your children starve? Look there ! Beneath yon mound of earth lies him who was your friend, your father. The powder and ball he gave you that you might get food for your famishing wives and children. You turned against him. Great heavens ! And are the Shuslrwaps such cowards, dastardly to shoot their benefactor in the back while his face was turned? Yes, alas, you have killed your father ! A mountain has fallen ! The earth is shaken ! The sun is dark ened ! My heart is sad. I cannot look at myself in the glass. I cannot look at you, my neighbors and friends. He is dead, and we poor Indians shall never see his like again. He was just and generous. His heart was larger than yonder mountain, and clearer than the waters of the lake. Warriors do not weep, but sore is my breast, and our wives shall wail for him. Wherefore did you kill him? But you did not. You loved him. And now you must not rest until you have brought to justice his murderer.'
Nicola was an old man, and as he thus spoke in his surpassing native elo quence, so horror-stricken did he appear at this dastardly killing of his old friend, so rigid in attitude and expression was he, that his whole frame and features seemed turned to stone. 'Never shall I forget it,' said Archibald McKinlay, 'It was the grandest speech I ever heard.'
Action quickly followed words. The murderer lay hidden in the moun tains of Cariboo. Cameron with a few picked men started in pursuit. After several days' search they found the poor boy, who expressed himself glad to be taken, as life had become unbearable. Placing him in heavy irons they threw him across a horse and started back to Kamloop. Arriving at the river which they were obliged to cross in a canoe, when in the middle of the stream with a sudden jerk the prisonef capsized the boat, throwing the occu pants into the water. But on the opposite bank was old Nicola, who waited the party there with a band of his warriors} seeing whom the prisoner knew
CONSPIRACY. 513
name her identity was questioned, and the fortune lost to her.5
In the spring of 1830, John Work with thirty-five horses, and accompanied by five men, journeyed from Colville to Walla Walla and thence to Fort Van couver. Departing the 30th of April, they proceeded by way of Spokane, which post they reached the 2d of May, came upon Nez Perces, or Snake, river the 6th, and arrived at Fort Nez Perces the 9th, having lost two horses in crossing the river.
From Black at this post Work received sixteen additional horses. After a delay of two days wait ing for the wind to cease so that they might safely swim the horses across the river, on the 13th of May, attended by heavy showers, the party were fairly en route. It was a somewhat difficult feat safely to con duct a band of half-wild horses down the Columbia at this time. But by giving the toll-gatherers of the Dalles and the Cascades a wide range, and exercising the utmost care in swimming streams, wading bogs, and crossing snowy mountains, the thing was done, with a loss of only two animals, and the party reached Fort Vancouver, men and beasts pretty well worn out, the 31st of May.6
A silly conspiracy against McLoughlin's life, else where alluded to, was revealed by the agent intended to do the deed. Crime is seldom far distant from folly. In the fields adjacent to the fort were employed three bloody-minded Englishmen of low degree, and a Rogue
his hour had come. Heavily manacled as he was, with difficulty he kept him self from sinking, and as he floated down the stream he raised the death-song which was soon hushed by the crack of rifles, and the lifeless body of the unfor tunate youth sank beneath the crimsoned waters.
5 This daughter became the wife of Mr Pambrun of Oregon City, who was a brother of Mrs J. McCracken of Portland. Roberts' Rec., MS., 7, 9, 10. My information regarding Black was obtained from Tod, as found in his Neia Caledonia, MS., 10-19; Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS., 77-82; and McKin- lay, Narrative, MS., 13-17. Allan in his Reminiscences, MS., 18-19, gives an incorrect account of Black's assassination. Sir John Franklin mentions him, Narrative, i. 218.
6 Work's Journal, MS., 85-97.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 33
514 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
River Indian boy. The Englishmen longed for greater license than they found under McLoughlin's rule, which for a new country they regarded as rather strict.
It was the custom of McLoughlin at that time to carry a gun whenever he went into the fields to look after the laborers, and he often used to stand his weapon against a tree while talking with the men. In one way or another at various times they sought to inflame the boy's mind against his master. Natives are by nature averse to labor. Finding the boy asleep over his work one day, the governor roused him with a hearty shaking. The conspirators thought this too good an opportunity to be lost.
"Are you not tired of work?" they asked the boy.
"Yes, why?"
" The master is very cross to us. Suppose when he lays down his gun, you take it and shoot him."
" I am afraid," the boy said.
" You can easily run away to your own country, we will not tell; and you may take our coats and the gun, and anything else you can carry."
Thus many a savage deed has been hatched by white villains, the penalty for which has fallen wholly upon the less culpable instrument. In this instance, however, the boy was not bad enough for the occa sion. Returning to the fort at night he told the cook, who revealed the matter to the governor. When the Englishmen were brought up, they of course denied the charge. Being ironed and confined in separate rooms, they finally acknowledged their guilt, but protested they were not in earnest. The villains were iinally shipped to England for trial, and the boy was sent to his own country.7
Throughout the entire pacification of the North west, but one wide or notable attempt was made by the natives to rid themselves of the Europeans, and that proved so futile as to have passed by almost unheeded. A deputation of the inhabitants of the
'Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 16-19.
VARIOUS MOVEMENTS. 515
lower Columbia one day called at Fort Vancouver and told chief factor that Nisqually was burned and all the inmates killed. McLoughlin did not credit them ; but when he questioned them apart, and when on sending for others of the same tribe all their tes timony harmonized, each corroborating the others, for so they had arranged it, he wavered, and was about sending messengers to learn the truth, when men came from Nisqually and said it was a plot to divide the force at Fort Vancouver, which then misfit
' O
be captured; and if the first and finest post, then all the rest.
Closely connected by marriage with the earl of Selkirk, as I have said, was Andrew Colville, who now succeeded Sir John Henry Pelly as governor in London of the Hudson's Bay Company.8
A greater event than change of London governors occurred at Fort Vancouver in 1830, which was the erection directly back of the fort of a regular mill stone grist-mill run by oxen. It was in 1832 that the mills propelled by water were built upon the stream five miles above.9
The ship Isabel, Captain Ryan, was wrecked on Sand Island while entering the Columbia the 23d of May 1830. Immediately she struck, the crew de serted her. Had they remained at their post, they might have saved the ship, as there was little diffi culty in saving the cargo.10
Up to the spring of 1831, for some time, Fort Walla Walla had been in charge of George Barnston11
8 Colville was once called Wedderburn, but changed his name to reap the advantage of a testamentary bequest. The mercantile firm of Sir James Wedderburn and Company, of which he was head, was engaged in the West India trade. There are other points about the country besides the one near Kettle Falls which bear this man's name.
9 Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 0.
10 Thornton, Or. and Cat., i. 304, dates this disaster 1831. All others, Parker, Tour, 161, Gray, llitt. Or., 39, Roberts, 7,Vc., MS., 15, write it 1830.
11 Edinburgh was his birthplace; and besides possessing great energy, he was a man of good intellectual attainments, and was universally respected. Retiring from the service, he settled at Montreal, where he was subsequently
516 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
who was with McMillan in founding Fort Langley. New Caledonia this year received a new ruler, Peter Warren Dease12 succeeding William Connolly, and pre ceding Peter Skeen Ogden who took his place in 1835.
An expedition to the Missouri River for the purpose of trapping beaver and killing buffalo was planned at Fort Vancouver in 1831, and the command given to John Work, who succeeded Peter Skeen Ogden in the Blackfoot and Shoshone countries.13
There were four boats which left Fort Vancouver the 18th of August, part of which carried men and effects for the Shoshone traffic. With them was a small cannon, taken more for effect than for execution. After the men had enjoyed their usual drunken indul gence for a day or two at the lower mill, on the 20th the party proceeded up the river, and in ten days reached Fort Walla Walla. Here one hundred and twenty horses were required to equip the party, and there were but eighty at the fort. The immense bands in which the Walla Wallas formerly gloried had rapidly diminished of late, and there were now in that vicinity none for sale. A few of a lean and uncertain order were obtained from Fort Colville; and thus poorly provided, on the llth of September the party set out, taking a north-east course alon^ the bank of
O O
Snake River. Then turning to the southward, trading for horses on the way, they crossed Snake River at the Salmon branch on the IGth, journeyed up the last named stream ten days, then crossed through a woody country to a camass plain, where they found
elected president of the society of natural history. Anderson's Coast, MS., 84.
u> After retiring from New Caledonia, Mr Dease was appointed in conjunc tion with Thomas Simpson to define the arctic shore to Point Barrow, which was done. A brother, John Warren Dease, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, died at Colville in 1830, and was buried in Fort Vancouver ceme tery, near where the United States government buildings afterward stood. Anderson's Northwest Coaxt, MS., 50, 242; Franklin's Nar., i. 225.
u For details which I here very greatly condense, see ITor/j'-s Journal, MS., 88-182; Tolmie's Puyet Sound, MS., G; and Allan's Hem., MS., passim.
OVER THE MOUNTAINS. 517
some natives, though no great bargains in the line of trade. Continuing, they struck Bitter Root River the 18th of October, down which they travelled as far as Hellgate, where they engaged in trapping. In that vicinity they found " marks of Americans."
The Blackfeet were likewise troublesome, stealing traps and attacking the trappers; indeed, ft was a dangerous country, and the position of the party was rendered none the less perilous by the desertion of three men, whom Work heartily curses as half Indian and wholly bad. The 30th of October, two of the party were killed, shot by the Blackfeet while trap ping. Beavers were plenty, and there were a few buffaloes ; but the Yankees and Blackfeet had spoiled the hunting-grounds.
The middle of November the party moved south easterly to the Jefferson branch of the Missouri, and camped on a plain, in the very road of the Blackfeet, above Beaver Head,14 where they slaughtered buffaloes for a short time in great numbers. On the 24th their camp was attacked, and one of the guard dangerously wounded. Bearing the invalid on men's shoulders, two days afterward the party moved south-westward, continuing their march in that direction for several days, killing buffaloes as they went, and stopping occa sionally to dry the meat, and rest the sick man, who finally recovered.
It was now war to the death between white man and Blackfoot; each shot the other on sight if within rifle-ball range. There was likewise at this time, as usual, war between the Flatheads and the Blackfeet.
On Salmon River Work thought his party would be somewhat more out of the way of the pestifer ous savages. Arrived there the 16th of December they found a camp of thirty- eight lodges of Flatheads, who informed them that a large party of Americans were encamped at the fork below, and that the Nez Perccs with another party of Americans had gone up
14 Near where now stands Virginia City, Montana.
518 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
one of the other branches of Salmon River. Elks were plentiful hereabouts, but buffaloes were scarce. It was intensely cold, and altogether an uncomfortable and hazardous adventure. On the 21st the Hudson's Bay people were visited by a party of United States trappers from the camp below. Work bought a few beaver skins of them, and they took their departure next day. Another party of Americans passed their camp on the morning of the 30th. They seemed very hungry, and continued their way eagerly bent upon buffaloes. The humane men who hunted under Mc- Loughlin's banner would have been only too glad to relieve their wants.15
Again working eastward, the 5th of January 1832 saw the party on a small branch of the Missouri. A skirmish on the 10th resulted in the supposed killing of two Blackfeet. The firing raised the buffaloes, so that the slaughter was stayed for a day or two. But moving down the river they came upon immense herds, killing on one occasion thirty-three in a single day. The 20th two men arrived from the Pend d'Oreille camp bringing' letters from Fort Vancouver. Five Amer-
O O
icans from Salmon River called next clay. The Black- feet continued troublesome, stealing their horses and firing upon them from the bushes. At break of day on the 30th the camp was attacked by a party of three hundred Blackfeet, who were checked after killing one and wounding two. The cannon burst at the third discharge. The loss of the Blackfeet, who were finally repulsed, was considerable.
By the middle of February the horses became so thin from scarcity of grass that they were unable to follow the buffalo, and several of them died from cold and starvation. Returning westward, April and May were spent in trapping beavers and fighting Blackfeet. Crossing the mountains they continued their occu-
15 ' They did not stop,' writes the simple and kind-hearted Work, 'or they would have been asked to eat by our people. Indeed, it was not known that they were so short of food until they were gone.' Journal, MS., 130.
WILLIAM McNEILL. 519
pation, gradually working westward until July, on the 19th of which month Work with part of his men reached Fort Walla Walla. Two of the party with a boat and valuable cargo were lost while descending Salem River. The remainder of the expedition com ing in, all embarked' early on the morning of the 25th for Fort Vancouver, where they arrived after travel ling day and night, on the afternoon of the 27th.16
Another capital trader and general good-fellow some times despatched to the Snake and Flathead countries, or sent to oppose American traders, was Francis Erina- tinger, a clerk in the service, mentioned elsewhere.17
During the first decade of their occupation of the Columbia, the Hudson's Bay Company were troubled by the United States, government or people, on land or from the sea, scarcely at all. There were a few restless rovers from the east, and along the seaboard now and then a sail, to the thirsty savages significant of whiskey-trading and thrice glorious intoxication. But by treating all in a fair and friendly manner, McLoughlin had succeeded so far in making for his company as much out of these visitors as it lost by them.
Now, however, from both directions interlopers are becoming somewhat more troublesome. The thought of agricultural settlers in the Willamette Valley did not at all trouble McLoughlin, however it might worry his more avaricious London associates. He knew it must soon come to that, and if settlers would keep south of the Columbia it was all he expected or asked. But direct traffic for furs, demoralized by reduced prices and rum, touched to the quick every officer and servant of the great monopoly. If McLoughlin hated any human being it was a Yankee skipper.
16 The party brought back to Fort Walla Walla 215 out of 329 horses with which they started, and subsequently bought, 114 being captured, lost, or starved; 309 buffalo were killed during the trip, and a large quantity of beaver taken.
17 He afterward retired from the service, and joined his brother in Canada, where he died. Allan's Rem.y MS., 20. See Hist. Or., this series.
520 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
About this time came creeping up the Columbia the brig Llama from Boston, commanded by William McNeill, a native of Boston, laden with all sorts of inventions and cunning contrivances made in Boston for the special purpose of winning the native's eye, and rum to warm his heart. There were wooden sol diers and jumping-jacks, little wagons, whistles, and, funniest of all, squeaking cats and dogs.
This McNeill was a sharp one, and so was the house of Sturgis and Company, under whose orders the Llama sailed. The trinkets took amazingly; the mind of the intellectual aboriginal being wholly ade quate to grasp these great ideas. The consequence of the worthless toys thus offered was to render insig nificant in their discriminating eyes the company's staple goods.
After looking in on Fort Vancouver, and adding an idea or two to his already very fair stock, McNeill proceeded to open out and begin his 'dicker.' The King George men employed every means in their power to render null the noble efforts of the Bostons. }3ut all was of no avail. Strange to say, even in the social barterings of European circles we some times see shadow preferred before substance. Finally, in 1832, seeing no other way to rid himself of this nuisance, McLoughlin bought ship, cargo, and all, and enticed the astute captain into the service of the honor able adventurers trading into Hudson Bay.18
18 Besides being an able seaman and a sharp trader, McNeill was a thoroughly honest man, and he served the company well and faithfully. For .several years he had been engaged for Sturgis and Company in the Northwest Coast trade, resorting annually to Honolulu for supplies. He was in Pacific waters — one writing from Victoria to the San Francisco Alia California, the 7th September 187o, says he was on the Pacific coast in 1S1G, but that is not the best authority. He was in Oregon in 1S2G. It was Duncan Finlayson \vlio first proposed the purchase of the Llama, the captain's intimate knowl edge of the coast rendering his services doubly advantageous. 'It was at Fort Vancouver, in the winter of 1832,' writes Anderson in 1877, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 70, 'that I first fell in with Captain McNeill. He continued for some years in command of the Llama, then took a run to London in com mand of the Hudson's Bay Company's ship Nereid, and afterward commanded for some years the steamer Heaver, at that time employed in the fur-trade of the coast. Afterward he was appointed to the charge of Fort Simpson, and finally retired in 1SG1, and settled upon property which he had previously
McLEOD BUILDS FORT UMPQUA. 521
Game in the Willamette Valley was now becoming not quite so plentiful as formerly, and trappers were forced to resort to more inhospitable regions. A good business might be driven in the country round the Umpqua and Rogue rivers, but that the natives were so wild and treacherous. Many trappers and travellers between Oregon and California had been sacrificed to the blood-thirstiness of these savages, and it was now determined to build a fort somewhere in that region, on the spot best for trade, and for hold ing in some degree of awe the bold rascals, as they were called, of these rivers and coast.
Hence in 1832 Chief Trader John McLeod, in company with Michel La Framboise, famous in those days anywhere on the route between Fort Vancouver and San Francisco Bay, was sent to the River Ump qua to plant a post. It was the chief, and, in fact, almost the only post attempted by the Hudson's Bay Company south of the Columbia. The spot chosen was a small plain of about two hundred acres on the south side of the Umpqua, three miles below the mouth of Elk Creek, and forty miles, following the rough trail, from the ocean. In fact it was trade with the coast tribes, for beaver and sea furs, that was now more specially sought, and which this post was to protect.18
The savages in those parts did not relish the idea of
purchased in the vicinity of Victoria, where he died a few years ago, ' that is to say, in 1875. He was also at one time captain of a steam-boat plying be tween Victoria and New Westminster. Before his death he became a British subject. What a change was here from that of a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee to a bluff, queen-worshipping Britisher ! Furthermore, from among the adipose daughters of the Kaiganies he took a bride and began rearing a dusky race. John Dunn, Hist. Or. Ter., 229, coolly affirms that McNeill sold himself and vessel to the Hudson's Bay Company because he could not make trade pay upon his own account, which statement is wholly untrue. See further, Martin's II. /»., 93; Wilke^ Nar., U. 8. Explor. Ex., iv., passim.
19 The buildings consisted of four bark-covered log-huts, enclosed in pickets twelve feet high, with bastions at two of the angles. Forty acres were soon under cultivation. Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 189, gives almost the only knowl edge about Fort Umpqua. Hiiies, Or. Ex. , 99 ; Farnham, Travels, 436 ; and Gray, J/ist. Or., 42, have a smattering of information about it. Jesse Applegate, Margin Notes, Gray's Or., places the fort 45 miles from the ocean, which if correct makes the maps wrong.
522 NOTABLE AFFAIRS.
fixed domination, and used their best endeavors to drive out the unwelcome traders. Straggling trappers they had for many years cut off with impunity, and now they did not hesitate to attack the fort. Several times they made desperate efforts to dislodge the traders, and in 1839 they regularly besieged the for tress. In the fight which ensued several of the besieged were wounded, but the savages were at length com pelled to fly. Transportation between Fort Vancouver and the Umpqua was by pack-animals.
It was now deemed advisable to establish an agency at Honolulu. So many whalers and fur- traders touched there, that besides European goods and Columbia River salmon, the surplus produce of Fort Vancouver and its dependencies found a ready market. Besides flour and fish, sawn lumber now became an important article of export from the Columbia mills to the Islands, the shippers receiving in return coffee, sugar, molasses, rice, and salt which was made by evaporating sea- water. Later the company procured salt from Carmen Island, Lower California.
From this time Fort Vancouver flourished yet more largely. The saw-mills and grist-mills, the stock-rais ing and farming employed a large number of men; and the arrival of produce from other establishments and the shipment of goods to other posts threw around the place an air of busy commerce, such as a fur-trading post had hitherto seldom witnessed.
The Hawaiian Island agency, like that at San Fran cisco Bay established nine years later, was not a regu lar fur-trading establishment under a chief factor, but rather a commercial post. George Pelly in charge of whcm it was first placed, wTas a relative of the London governor, Sir Henry Pelly; he was succeeded in 1839 by Alexander Simpson, cousin of Sir George Simpson.23
Besides superintending the affairs of the Hudson's
20 Dates by Finlayson, Hist., MS., G5-6. Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS., 6, is more general in his statements.
THE HAWAIIAN ISLAND AGENCY. 523
Bay Company, Simpson acted for a time as consul for the British government at the Islands. On the visit of Sir George Simpson to the Islands in 1841, some differences arising between them, Alexander Simpson threw up his commission, and retiring from the service shortly after, settled in Scotland.21
Simpson was succeeded at the Islands in 1842 by Dugald McTavish, a factor, and long connected with the Columbia department both in Oregon and Vic toria.22 It was by way of the Islands that the traders of the Northwest Coast at this time held most fre quent intercourse with the world, and found a market for their superfluous produce.
21 The Simpsons, though bright in intellect, and by no means lacking in energy, were not upon the whole worshipful men. Sir George appears too much the cold, calculating machine of a bloodless corporation to inspire admiration ; a most effective machine, but not a truly noble man like Mc- Loughlin. Thomas Simpson, the Arctic explorer, either killed himself or was killed, and Alexander Simpson received from the British government the pen sion which would have been his. Alexander Simpson was at Lachine House in 1831, and was transferred to the Columbia department in 1838.
22 He was a nephew of John George McTavish, and brother of William McTavish, Hudson's Bay Company's governor at Red River. He succeeded Anderson at Lachine House, where he arrived in 1833. Arriving at the Columbia in 1840, he was stationed for a time at Fort Vancouver, then at the Islands, and finally at Victoria, where, with Finlayson and Tolmie, he was of the board of management. While on the way to England on a fur lough he died in his bath-room at a hotel in Montreal. Though reserved to strangers, he was highly esteemed by those who knew him.
CHAPTER XXIV.
MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS. 1833-1841.
FOUNDING OF FORT NISQUALLY — THE COMING or GAIRDNER AND TOLMIE — INTERMITTENT FEVER RAMPANT — WORK EXPLORES THE UMPQUA REGION — THE SPRING AND AUTUMN BRIGADES or 1835 — JOURNEYS OF DOUGLAS AND OGDEN— ANDERSON'S EXPEDITION — ASIATIC AND ISLAND JUNKS WRECKED ON THE WEST COAST— ADVENT OF THE MISSIONARIES — THE METHODISTS— THE PRESBYTERIANS— THE JESUITS — THE EPISCO PALIANS — JOHN TOD — VOYAGE OF DOUGLAS TO CALIFORNIA.
THUS were these British men, Scotch, Irish, and English, long-headed and deep, with callous courage and steel-tempered limbs, always on the move, most of them at least, from post to post, from one locality to another, and from one duty to another, any attempt entirely to follow them in which would be as futile as foolish. Nevertheless, by giving something of their shiftings may we alone tell their story. For such was their life, and such the history of this vast domain during this epoch.
On the south side near the mouth of a creek which flows into Puget Sound, four or five miles north-east of the Nisqually River, upon a piece of table-land three quarters of a mile from the sound, in 1833 was estab lished a post by Archibald McDonald,1 and called Fort Nisqually. Being on the direct line of overland travel between forts Vancouver and Langley, and at
1 Following Finlay son, Hist. V. /., MS., G; Evans, Hist. Or., MS., 191, says this post was established by Lieutenant Kittson of the voltigeurs, then Hud son's Bay Company's clerk. Kittson assisted, but he could scarcely be called the founder.
( 524 )
MCDONALD BUILDS FORT NISQUALLY. 525
the points where boats and horses were exchanged, the necessity of an establishment here had long been felt.
It may or may not be that the contemplated agri cultural occupation of the Cowlitz River region had something to do with the building of this fort; cer tain it is that Fort Nisqually did good service in its day, in more ways than one. An extensive sheep and cattle farm was soon in operation, which assisted the company materially in fulfilling its Russian American obligations.
Besides the usual bastioned stockade and fort-build ings proper, there were out-buildings, barn, blacksmith shop, and cabins. On the bank of the sound near the mouth of the creek, in 1840, almost immediately after the Puget Sound Agricultural Company had begun operations, was erected a large warehouse. As soon as occasion required the creek was dammed, and admirable arrangements made for washing sheep.
For, unlike forts McLoughlin, Simpson, Stikeen, and those in New Caledonia and the Shoshone region, excepting perhaps one, Colville, Nisqually was not built exclusively for the fur business. From the first its commercial advantages were apparent; and as Langley became early identified with salmon-fishing, so Nisqually made available the extensive grazing tracts adjacent, inviting sheep and cattle, until fur- trading at this point was wholly eclipsed.
In the bark Ganymede, in 1833, under patronage of Sir William Hooker, there came to this coast as surgeons in the service, Gairdner and Tolmie. Gaird- ner, who gave his name to one of our salmon, had studied under Ehrenberg, and the science of infusoria was quite popular at that time.2
All through the year of 1833 intermittent fever was
^ He died at the Hawaiian Islands. Roberts' fiec., MS., 12. Tolmie will be noticed later in connection with the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, with which he became identified. See note 17, chap, xxii., this volume.
526 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
very prevalent. A hospital was erected for Gairdner, in which there were usually from two to three hun dred cases. All through the Shoshone country and thence throughout the region of the hypothetical river Buenaventura, round Klamath and Pyramid lakes and along the Willamette and Columbia rivers the disease raged.3
John Work left Fort Vancouver with twelve men, the 22d of May 1834, on a trading and trapping trip to the southward.4
Crossing in boats to the Willamette, amidst a drench ing rain, they proceeded thence on horses. McLoughlii i and his suite would sometimes accompany these south ward-bound expeditions, in regal state, as I notice elsewhere, for fifty or one hundred miles up the Willa mette, when he would dismiss them with his blessing and return to the fort. He did not often travel, and seldom went far; but on these occasions he indulged his men rather than himself in some little variety. The savages and their near neighbors the Canadians are greatly impressed with glittering show. Hence in order to encourage them, or in order the easier to manage them, he was wont sometimes to indulge in this innocent display.
It pleased Mrs McLoughlin thus to break the monotony of her fort life. Upon a gayly capari soned steed, with silver trappings, and strings of bells on bridle-reins and saddle-skirts, sat the lady of Fort Vancouver, herself arrayed in brilliant colors, and wearing a smile which might cause to blush and hang
3 ' The Snake party have lost two men by the malady, and have all severely suffered.' Tohnie's Journal, MS., 84. It were a pity the disease could not have been confined exclusively to the white men, who brought it into the country. ' The influenza was raging at the time I passed through; the people were dying by hundreds. . .When I arrived at the fort, as the great medicine man, the amount of labor which I had to devote to the subject was something beyond all conception . . . There was not the slightest vaccination in my time, 1833-6.' Kinr/, in House Commons Kept., //. B. Co., 1857, 316-17.
1 This is the last in point of time of Work's journalized expeditions, occu pying pages 183 to 221 of his manuscript. After this in the journal comes the expedition to Okanagan, but it is out of place as regards date.
WORK IN THE WILLAMETTE. 527
its head the broadest, warmest, and most fragrant sunflower. By her side, also gorgeously attired, rode her lord, king of the Columbia, and every inch a king, attended by a train of trappers, under a chief trader, each upon his best behavior. At this time McKay was living near Scappoose Bay; and across the moun tains in Tualatin plain was what they called the beaver ground; after sending some surplus horses to McKay, the party made their way to the latter place. All along the journey Work fills his journal with glowing panegyrics upon the country and its agri cultural possibilities.
There was already a camp of Fort Vancouver trap pers in the Tualatin plain; and to it went Work to learn, if possible, something of the Umpqua trade. Although two of the men at that camp had visited the Umpquas two years before, they could tell little of them. Some people cannot see; some who see cannot tell what they have seen.
They crossed the Yamhill River the 30th of May, and continuing southerly, crossed the Willamette the 3d of June, and continued up the east bank. They had expected ere this to have fallen in with other parties of trappers, but in this were disappointed. They were now near where Maurio embarked on the river, so the Kanaka, his companion, informed them, and was drowned, while on his way from La Fram boise with letters. Some natives told them that all Mitchell's party except himself and one other had been massacred; others that nearly all of La Fram boise's party had been cut off; but of the truth of these statements they entertained doubts.
Oregon is still virgin. Small bands of half-clad red men vegetate upon its rich soil, while here and there a keen-scented wanderer from civilized parts snuffs from afar the dawn of a new era. Nature provides, and man and beast feed; beasts upon the long grass and luxuriant herbage, and men upon the beasts. Never poets sang of a more gorgeous or happy valley
528 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
than the Willamette, bright with dancing waters and carpeted with clover.
The 7th of June the party crossed Elk Mountain5 to Elk Creek, and proceeded down the north side. Next day they went down to the Umpqua, the north bank of which they descended, and thence to the house of Indian Joe, a noted character, a savage much feared in those parts, holding human life in slight esteem. Joe had already seven wives, and threat ening to take seven more. With so many helpmeets he found no difficulty in cultivating a small patch of potatoes. There they found five packs of beaver which had been left by Mitchell, and treated with Joe for one pack more. A letter from La Framboise to McLoughlin, dated 17th of April 1834, informed him of a battle fought a short time previous on the south side of the Umpqua Mountains, by the party under La Framboise and the savages, in which eleven of the latter were slain and several wounded. The white men received no damage.
Leaving Joe's house Work turned up the Umpqua, and on the way traded some beaver with old Grey- head's sons.6 These natives were very shrewd at a bargain, complaining that the buyers did not give as much as formerly, and holding back their skins for higher prices. The articles most in demand were ammunition and strings of hiaqua made of green beads.7 Other kinds of beads or other goods they did not much esteem.
Proceeding south-easterly on the 14th, Work soon reached what he calls the second fork of the Umpqua,8
5 In the Calapooya range.
6 This purchase with what they had brought before made 72 beaver and 25 otter which they had secured thus far.
7 See Native Races, i. 239.
b ' Had arranged,' he writes, 'to proceed to the Umpquah old fort where I understood the natives have a few beaver, but was deterred on account of a child of Champaign's which has been sick some time.' Journals, MS. 20G. From which expression one would infer that the place was not then occupied by white men, and did not amount to much. On tho most essential points of history the journals of fur-traders were often exceedingly dim, they taking for granted that the reader was familiar with all that was known prior to their particular achievements.
EXPEDITION FROM UMPQUA. 529
and camped on the 17th at the junction. There he was informed by a party of natives, whose chief was called Charles, that the region round the head-waters of the Willamette was so rugged that it could be hunted only in canoes, and that no white man had yet visited its source. Beavers were there the natives said, and as Work was accomplishing little elsewhere, he determined to undertake the ascent. So engaging Charles to guide them, they recrossed Elk Mountain to the middle or main branch of the Willamette. The stream was there from eighty to one hundred yards wide. The country was mountainous and thickly wooded, and there was scarcely any grass, which ren dered the journey impracticable for horses. Cedar- trees were thereupon selected, and the men set to work making three canoes. While thus engaged they were visited by Louis, a Willamette freeman, who expressed the belief that the river could be ascended in boats.
All being in readiness, on the 29th Work despatched up the river six Canadians, three Indians, and an in terpreter, with two months' supplies, to trap beavers. Next day Work went with the remainder of his men., all of whom were to share in the results of the canoe expedition the same as if they had accompanied it, to an old house two miles distant, formerly occupied by McKay; and leaving there three men in charge of the men's families and the horses he returned to Fort Van couver, arriving the 10th of July.9
9 The men in the three canoes are left unceremoniously paddling their way up the Willamette; and this, by far the most important part of the expedition, is nowhere further mentioned. Tolmie, Puget Sound, MS., 6, 7, gives rather an unfavorable account of Work's people in their return. First, he states that they ' went south through Oregon and northern California to certain parts of San Francisco Bay, where beaver, then very high-priced, greatly abounded;* and secondly, in returning home in 1834, passing certain native villages where the inhabitants had been carried off in great numbers by disease, 'some of the young men of the party foolishly pillaged a deserted lodge of articles that took their fancy. A fever broke out in the camp; several of the ablest men died, and the mortality was great.' Harassed by the savages en route, 'in great distress they managed to reach the settlement at Champoeg on the Willamette River where their wants were kindly attended to by Jervais, Lu- ciere, and Deslard, old company's trappers who had settled on these beautiful HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 34
530 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
With three boats manned by twenty-nine Canadi ans and Iroquois, on the 3d of March 1835, Douglas, Ogden, and others left Fort Vancouver for Canada. Part of the men were for Fort Colville, and part were retiring from the service, and destined for their early homes.
There is but little of special interest in this journey. At Fort Walla Walla where they arrived the 10th, they found the neighboring tribes convened according to their custom for purposes of pleasure and business. From this point, Douglas with a small mounted party proceeded across the country by way of Spokane House to Fort Colville, while the remainder in boats continued up the river.
The eastern-bound party left Fort Colville the 4th of April, proceeded to Boat Encampment, crossed through Athabasca Pass to Fort Edmonton the 30th, and thence to York Factory, where they arrived the 24th of June. The 1 Gtli of July, the brigade left York Factory for Fort Vancouver, the party increasing en route until it numbered with women and children about thirty-five persons. They reached Edmonton the 17th of September, Boat Encampment the 16th of October, and Walla Walla the 27th.10
From Fort George on the Fraser this same autumn
O
A. C. Anderson, lately in charge of New Caledonia, with eight men was sent by way of the Tete Jaune Pass11 to Jasper House to meet the westward-bound brigade, and bring back the leather and recruits which usually came by this express. Crossing the moun tains on foot, the party reached Jasper House early in October. The brigade arrived shortly after, and the
plains. ' Luciere was one of the Canadian voyageurs who came with the first Astor party. In 1829 he took a claim on the right bank of the Willamette, opposite where Portland was since laid out, but abandoned it the next year. In 1831 he settled at Champoeg and there remained until his death, which occurred in 1852 at the age of sixty-five. Alta CaL, April 22, 1853.
10 Sixty-six manuscript pages, namely, Douglas1 Private Papers, MS., 1st ser. 7-73, are filled with intelligent details of this journey.
11 It was customary every year to bring from the east into New Caledonia by this route some 40 packs of dressed moose-skins for shoe-leather; from which circumstance the Yellow Head Pass was often called Leather Pass.
ANNUAL BRIGADES. 531
men and merchandise destined for New Caledonia were given in charge to Anderson, while the others, among whom were Duncan Finlayson, Douglas, Mc Donald, McKinlay, and John Mclntosh, took the route by Boat Encampment down the Columbia.
Winter came on early this year; so that when Anderson on his return had reached Tete Jaune cache, he found the river frozen. And though there was ice enough to render the stream unnavigable, it was not so frozen as to bear the travellers and their burdens. There were now in the party twenty-two persons, and soon provisions became short; moreover there was present a lady, Mrs Mclntosh, and several small children.
Back to Jasper House, therefore, they all were forced to go, a stray horse from the other party, and a single reindeer coming between them and starvation on the way. This post being emptied of its supplies, they continued to Edmonton, four hundred miles farther, the thermometer at times being 40° below zero, and the people poorly clad. Six red deer, how ever, furnished them food, and on arriving at the fort their sufferings were soon allayed. Anderson, Mc Kinlay, and a portion of the men immediately loaded some dog-sledges and returned, reaching Stuart Lake in forty-six days.12
Many islanders and Asiatics since the world began, more than we know of, have been thrown on our shores, to be enslaved, to be released, to be butchered, or allowed to blend in human propagations the light coppery hue of the oldest east with the dark coppery hue of the newest west.
We remember what the philosophic savage Mon- cacht Ape affirmed he saw on the coast not far from
12 Anderson has given me this and much more in pages 24 to 27 of a thick folio manuscript entitled, History of the Northwest Coast, a volume filled with material nowhere else existing, and of primary importance in a study of the country and times of which it treats. I speak more fully of Anderson and his work elsewhere.
532 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
the Columbia in 1747 or thereabouts, and what his friend told him of the annual visits of the women- stealers, that was given by the author as history; but we know of a certainty of many traditions entertained by the natives up to a late day, or as long as they entertained in their minds anything — instance the tale by Mrs Victor13 obtained from the Nehalems, below the Columbia, of a wrecked vessel where the crew saved their effects and buried them, boxed, near Mt Neahearny, that is to say Saddle Mountain. N"or does credulity very deeply blush in confessing the box to have been sought for. Then long ago the natives of the upper Columbia had their Spanish guest, who came they knew not whence, and went they knew not whither. Japanese wrecks on the shores of Kam chatka and America are reported from an early day.1*
13 Or. and Wash., 53-4.
14 One at Acapulco in 1G17; Bantam Islands, 1613; adrift, 1085; Kam chatka, 1094, 1710, 1729, and 1812, where several other wrecks are alluded to by Mullcr; Aleutian Isles, 1782; stranded junk crew of fifteen rescued by Kruscnstern, 1804; near Sitka, 1805; adrift, 1813; adrift off Santa Barbara, 1815; a junk laden with wax was thrown upon Point Adams in 1820; one wrecked on Queen Charlotte Island in 1831; Hawaiian Islands, 1832; near Cape Flattery, 1833; adrift west of the Hawaiian Isles, 1839; South Sea Isle, 1841; Mexico, 1845; St Peter Isle, 1845; Stapleton Island, 1847; adrift, 1847, 1848, and 1850; Atka Island, 1851; adrift, 1852 and 1853; near Cedros Island, Lower California, 1853; adrift near Hawaiian Isles, 1854; adrift, 1855; Ladrone Islands and Cedros, 1850; two adrift in 1858; one at Ocean Island, and one at Brook Island in 1859; adrift, 1802, two; Baker Island, 1803; Providence Island, 1804; Aleutian Isles, 1809; adrift, 1870, and in 1871 two; Atka, 1871; adrift, 1873; at Alaska, Hawaii, Petropaulski, adrift below San Diego, Nootka Sound, were Japanese wrecks at various elates; adrift, 1875 and 1876. Charles Wolcott Brooks in an able and comprehensive brochure on the Japanese Wrecks, Stranded and Picked up Adrift in the North Pacific Oc?an, prepared for the purpose of illustrating early migrations, made out a list, and at various times I have learned of a few additional. Horace Davis in his ethnological speculations, Record of Japanese Vessels driven upon the North west Coast of America, gives a list of such wrecks as came to his knowledge, which was one of the chief sources of Mr Brooks' information. In the Poly nesian are mentioned three Japanese picked up near the mouth of the Co lumbia in 1829, and a junk adrift in 1846, not catalogued by Brooks. Victor, Or. and Wash., 51, says in the sands round the mouth of the Columbia pieces of wax, washed up during violent storms, were found for years. As for Euro pean and American wTecks on the Northwest Coast we have what was supposed to be a Spanish vessel from Manila in 1772 — Kelley, in Thornton's Or. Hist., MS., 87; Oregon Spectator, Jan. 21, 1847 — with a cargo of beeswax cast ashore on the northern side of the entrance to the Columbia; in 1828, at the entrance of the Columbia, the William and Ann; in 1830, at the entrance to the Columbia, the Isabel; in 1841, at the entrance to the Columbia, the U. S. ship Peacock; in Sept. 1846, at the entrance of the Columbia, the U. S.
JAPANESE JUNKS. 533
One day in the spring of 1834 notice reached Fort Vancouver of the wreck of a junk off Cape Flattery. Thirty men under Thomas McKay were sent overland by way of the Chehalis to .the rescue of the crew. But on reaching the precipitous region round Point Grenville they became disheartened, threw up the business, and retraced their steps. Captain McNeill then undertook the mission in the brig Llama. Ar riving at the wreck, the Llama was boarded by some natives, whom the captain held as hostages until the survivors, three in number, were delivered to him. Brought to Fort Vancouver, the three men were sent home by way of England. The junk was laden with crockery of the flower-pot or willow-ware fashion.15 Likewise many ships have been wrecked in attempting to enter the Columbia, and elsewhere on the North west Coast.
Indeed, so thoroughly disheartened was the com pany over their repeated losses, that on the loss of the ship Vancouver, in 1848, with a cargo valued at £30,000, wrecked after the pilot was on board, they determined to make their next shipment to London in the autumn of that year from Nisqually, whither the furs were sent from Fort Vancouver by way of the Cowlitz.
schooner Shark; in 1848, at the entrance of the Columbia, the bark Vancou ver; in 1849, at mouth of the Columbia, the brig Josephine; likewise else where and at another time, Silva de Grace, and James Warren, the latter fifty miles south of Killamook; in 1851-2, at the mouth of the Umpqua, brig Caleb Curtis, and schooner Nassau; in 1852, near Killamook, schooner Juliet; on Vancover Island, brig Eagle; in 1853, barks Oriofc, T. Merlthew, and Mendora, and brig Vandalla on the Columbia bar; in 1854. at mouth of Co lumbia, steam-tug Fire Fly; steam-boat Castle, boiler exploded; in 1855, near mouth of Umpqua, schooner Loo Choo; in 185G, at Coos Bay, brig Quadratus; brig Fawn bound for Umpqua River, went ashore near the mouth of the Siuslaw; at Port Orford the Iowa and Francisco; in 1857, brig Jackson and bark New World grounded at Coos Bay; bark Desdemona wrecked on Colum bia bar.
15 Roberts' Rec., MS., 13; Belcher's Voy., i. 304; Lee obtained a flower-pot and tea-cup saved from the wreck. Lee and Frost's Or., 107-8; S lean's North west Coast, 20G; Gray's Hist. Or., 40; Parker's Tour, 102. The officers of the Hudson's Bay Company became aware of this disaster in a singular manner. They received a drawing on a piece of China paper, in which were depicted
the shipwrecked persons, with the junk on the rocks, and the Indians engaged in plundering. Wilkes' Nar., U.S.
Explor. Ex., iv. 315-16.
534 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
There was a little blood-letting in these parts from time to time, but on the whole remarkably little. Two of five sailors,16 who deserted from a whaler in 1832 off the coast of California, while on the way overland to Oregon in 1835, were murdered by the natives. The land survives their loss. Six natives were killed in 183G by certain sailors and trappers on the southern Oregon coast. Thus there were six less victims left
O
for influenza, whooping-cough, small-pox, measles, fever and ague, and syphilis, those happy accompaniments of European culture.
Uplifted on the wings of faith, beyond the eastern hills now glistened the first flush of that spirit of proselyting which was destined so quickly to burn to cinders the souls it wrestled to save. With the trappers and stragglers who percolated the mountains from the United States border came missionaries of divers tenets, whose angular intellects polished with opaque doctrines, plotted good-will to man, confusion to Satan. With their coming begins the history proper of Oregon, elsewhere told. I mention them here merely to fix their place in the chain of fur- trading events which closes this volume.
The Methodist missionaries which in 1834 were sent to Oregon by the board of foreign missions, were followed by Presbyterian ministers in 1836, and these by Methodists again in 1837, followed by more Pres byterians in 1838, and by Catholics in 1839. The Methodists settled in the Willamette Valley, and at the Dalles; the Presbyterians among the Cayuses, and on the Walla Walla and Lapwai rivers. There were Catholics among the early settlers who needed only priests; and the English church was represented by Mr Beaver at Fort Vancouver.
To them the fortress of Vancouver was as Mecca
16 George Gray who settled in Polk County, and became respectable, was one, if the San Jose Pioneer of '23d June 1877 speaks truly. McLoughlin, Private Pap' rs, MS., -2d scr. 5, was not specially delighted to see them at Fort Vancouver.
COMING OF THE MISSIONARIES. 535
to fainting pilgrims, and its benignant sovereign as the prophet of Allah ; though there were those among the succored who afterwards cursed him as a priest of Baal. Why, no one knows; but some of God's men are ordained to curse, others to be cursed.17
Jason and Daniel Lee Were the pioneer missionaries of the Northwest Coast. Three lay members of their church accompanied and assisted them. Arriving in September 1834, they began operations by planting a mission on the right bank of the Willamette twelve miles below where Salem now stands.18
The Presbyterians began operations by sending over the mountains in 1835 Samuel Parker and Mar cus Whitman. Parker journeyed extensively through Oregon, visited Queen Charlotte Islands, and return ing by way of the Hawaiian Islands reached home in May 1837. Whitman returned to the United States from Green River, and again came west the following spring with Mrs Whitman, Henry J. Spalding and wife, and William H. Gray, under escort to Green River of the caravan of the American Fur Company. By December 183G, Whitman had established a mission among the Cayuses, twenty-five miles east of Fort Walla Walla, and Spalding among the Nez Perces, on the Clearwater, one hundred and twenty- five miles north-east of Fort Walla Walla, Gray, who was a mechanic, assisted in erecting the buildings at both stations.19
17 Finlaysoii calls McLoughlin the founder of Oregon; and this by reason of his kind treatment to emigrants, furnishing them when homeless, starving, and without a dollar, with cows, horses, and implements with which to begin farming. And to his surprise, in years afterward he saw the newspapers abuse him, not knowing what he had done to merit abuse. Hist. V. I. , MS. , 75.
18 Lodged at the fort until their place was ready. liarvey'it Life of McLough lin, MS., 11; built several comfortable log-houses during the winter 1S34-5, TownseiuVs Nar., 219. McLoughlin, Private Papers, MS., 2d ser. 3-9, had much trouble with them finally. Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 210-34, and Ander son, Ilixt. Northu-c-t Coast, MS., 202 et seq., give lengthy accounts of the missionaries of the Northwest Coast. James Evans, the general superin tendent of Wesleyan Missions in the Hudson's Bay territories at Norway House, had as yet paid but little attention to the conversion of souls west of the Rocky Mountains. See Martin's Hudson's Bay, 126, 130; Holmaris Peoria Parly, MS., 1.
"'Thornton, Or. and Cal. , ii. 23, makes it 1 837 before Whitman was located at Waiilatpu. I follow Evans. Townsend, -A'crr.,233, 243; Victor, River of the
536 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
Among the several English ladies who were each the first to appear upon the coast,20 was the wife of the Itcv. Mr Beaver, noticed elsewhere. Clergymen's wives and settlers' helpmeets were now becoming quite common in these western wilds. Beaver tires of his post and quits the country, leaving the church of England quite shorn of its glories hereabout.21
And now the free Canadian families of the Valley Willamette desire pastoral care, and two Jesuits, Blan- chct and Demers, arc sent them in 1838 from Canada, v/ho, while on their way, baptize many and consecrate the Rocky Mountains to God. Mass is now first celebrated in Oregon; then follow Jesuit missionary
W<*t, 233-4; McLoughlin, Prirate Papers, MS., 2d scr. 5, and Tolmie, Puget tiound, MS., 5, mention Parker and Whitman. It would require a volume as large as Cray's to correct Gray's mistakes. I cannot notice them all. The Whitman family were massacred in 1817. On his return to the cast Parker published a book, Journal of an Exploring Tom- beyond the Rocky Mountains, Ithaca, 1842. The work, which passed through several editions, is accompanied by a large map, and contains much valuable information. It was altogct! ' .iportant hitherto published on this territory.
Parker was an intelligent observer, and a clear, forcible writer. Though a Christian, bound for heaven, he did not forget that he was a man living in this world. 'Had h ;• c< n'incd himself to the results of his own experi ence,' says Grcenhow, Or. (iml CaL, CGI, note, 'and not wandered into the region of history, diplomacy, and. cosmogony, in all of which he is evidently a stranger,' his work would have been better. Crceniiow having entered that domain himself might perhaps praise Parker's book more were its merits lets. De Smet, Letters and <V.'.t'c7/(.v, 212, scourges Parker for breaking down the cross erected over a child's grave. McLouglilin, Private Papers, MS., 2d .scr. G, says: ' Parker appears to mo to be a man of piety and zeal, but iy very unpopular with the other Protestant missionaries in this country, for which I see 110 cause, except that acting differently from them ho has published to the world the manner some of his countrymen act toward Indians, and the very different manner we treat them.'
20 This is Anderson's first, ///>•'. Nortluwxt Coast, MS., 102. Almost every sect and society has the first upon the coast of everything.
'2lJJan-cy'* L'feof McLourjUin, MS.. 11. Gray, Hist. Or., 1G2-3, who hates Beaver and all Episcopal clergymen, and all Englishmen, and all Catholics, and almost everybody but Gray, gives the first chaplain of Fort Vancouver a light complexion, feminine voice with large pretensions to oratory, poor delivery, and no energy. Contact with savages to him was pollution; the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were boors, and the officers lived in open adultery. Peter's early occupation in such a, community he thought preferable to his later one ; hence his enthusiasm ran to fishing instead of to preaching. McLougli lin should give up his Catholic notions and conform to established church rules. He should remarry and stop bastardizing; for which advice the rev erend gentleman received corporal chastisement, it is said, McLoughlin telling him he would marry whom, how, and as much as he pleased. Mrs Beaver of course sympathized with her husband, and they got back to London as fast as they could. Doubtless they were very nice people, but with rather too refined sensibilities for savage soul-saving. See, further, Hist. Or., this series.
THE JESUITS. 537
labors in Colville, Okanagan, Walla Walla, Fort Van couver, and Nisqually. McLoughlin is quickly con verted by Blanchet, and the Jesuits obtain the ear of the governor.22 Afterward Blanchet took his stand in the Willamette Valley, and Demers, after spending some time on the Cowlitz, departed in the spring of 1842 for New Caledonia. There the savages received him with open arms, as if informed by heaven of the benefits he should bestow ; and when he left they shed tears.
Meanwhile Whitman and Spalding are reen forced. In 1838 come Gushing, Eels, and Walker, the last two with their wives, and after wintering at Waiilatpu establish a station among the Flatheads on the Chem- akane branch of the Spokane Biver, forty miles south of Fort Colville.
The Presbyterians were never very expert in im provising providences; therefore when Gray, the Great Untruthful and whilom Christian mission- builder, undertakes to appropriate to the unseen powers of his sect the sending of four native dele gates to St Louis in 1832, begging saviors for tra montane castaways, it is, as most of Gray's affairs are, a failure. The Catholics manage those things better.
The Jesuit Bosati tells how two pious Iroquois in 181623 quarter among the Flatheads, convert them, and live there. Shortly afterward certain Flatheads go to St Louis to see if white men really believed the things the Iroquois had said. They there die redeemed. One of the Christian Iroquois with two children, then, say in 1832, visits St Louis and asks missionaries for his adopted people. On his way back he is killed by wicked Sioux. Finally in 1839 conies another deputation, begging priests — so writes Bosati
2'2De Smet, Or. Miss., 18-29; Blanchet sCath. Ch. in Or., 9-11, 19-67. See De SmeVs Letters and Sketches, passim; Pictures of Missionary Life, passim; Cath. Almanac, in De Smtfs Miss., 32, 34.
23 Blanchet says 1812. Cath. Gh. in Or., 18.
538 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
to Rome — in answer to which Peter John De Smet is sent in 1840 to carry the cross to the Flathead nation, and is so fortunate as to convert six hundred in two months, an average of ten a day.24 The Protestant version is printed in the History of Oregon.
It was under the banner of old John Tod that the priests Demers and Blanchet came. Tod had been on a visit to the east, and was returning from Nor way House to Colville by way of Edmonton, Jasper House, and Boat Encampment at the head of sixty men, among whom were two botanists, Wallace and Banks, sent from London by Sir Joseph Paxton, and the two missionaries. At the Little Dalles, the men preferring to take their chances in the boats, instead of making the portage as was the custom, one of the boats upset, and six persons, including the two bota nists, and the wife of Mr Banks, Sir George Simp son's daughter, were drowned. The ways of science were dangerous in those days.
In 1809 Tod was sent to the Cowlitz plains to assist in the farming operations there. The following 'Summer lie was appointed to New Caledonia, and stationed at Fort Alexandria. The fort, which orig inally had been situated on a hill, was removed for convenience to the river bank, where the miasma speedily engendered fever and ague, attacking white men first and then the natives, until many of the lat ter were swept away. From 1842 to 1849 Tod was in command of Shushwap.
21 Anderson, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 264, gives for the situation in 1842: In the Willamette, a "Wesleyaii and a Catholic station; on the Cowlitz, a Catholic mission; at Clatsop, Nisqually, and the Dalles, Wesleyan missions; in the Nez Perec", Caynse, and Spokane countries, Presbyterian missions; at Fort Vancouver and among the Matheads, Jesuit missions. De Smet, Letters and Sketches, 229-33, places the rival establishments of the Willamette 8 miles apart, and gives the Catholic station, in 1S41, 80 families; the Cow litz Catholics, 5 families; Nisqually, 22 families. There appeared as hot a rivalry in soul-saving as in fur-trading. The pious De Smet prays for strength 'in the midst of so many adversaries, 'meaning, not devils, but Pres byterians; and in another place he thanks God that 'the meeting-houses were almost abandoned.' How important must be the work when missionaries regard as of small moment the conversion of heathens as compared with put- tin g down each other.
DOUGLAS IN CALIFORNIA. 539
During the winter of 1840-1, James Douglas made a voyage to California in the ship Columbia with an adventure of goods. Besides what he calls objects of a political nature, the intention was with the mer chandise to purchase certain products of the country, and to drive up a large herd of live-stock, for which purpose thirty men or more accompanied him.
Leaving Fort Vancouver on the morning of Decem ber 3, 1850, he boarded the vessel at Fort George, but owing to bad weather was not able to cross the bar before the 21st. Narrowly escaping shipwreck on Point Pinos, the ship came to anchor in the afternoon of January 1, 1841, in the bay of Monterey. Two days after, Douglas, accompanied by David Spence as interpreter, held an interview with Governor Alva- rado, w^ho received them with considerable stiffness, which, under the influence of Douglas' conciliatory manner, soon wore off, when the governor entered with much spirit into the matters under discussion. The first topic introduced was concerning the party under La Framboise, who had for several years past trapped in the Tulare Valley by permission of Alva- rado, granted under the treaty of 1837-8. La Fram boise had continued to visit the place every season without interference, until the last summer, when Captain Sutter wrote to the people of Fort Vancou ver forbidding their return. As it was not known
O
whether Sutter was an accredited agent of the govern ment, no notice had been taken of his interference. The governor now said that Sutter had been author ized to act for the government, not in a hostile man ner, but merely to request the withdrawal of the party; and that though he had no complaints to make of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants, yet as the settlements were extending their presence could no longer be tolerated. To this Douglas replied that whenever the wishes of government should be offi cially communicated, they would be followed in every particular.
540 MISCELLANEOUS MOVEMENTS.
The second matter seemed likely to destroy all prospects of trade in California. For a long time the laws of Mexico permitted only foreign vessels to enter certain ports of the republic, where all merchandise from abroad must be landed, thus confining the coast trade to home vessels. This law, however, had never been respected in consequence of there being no home vessels. Just now, the governor informed Douglas, orders had been received to enforce the law at any inconvenience, and he declared his intention to do so. To this Douglas strongly protested, declaring that as they had entered under the old state of affairs time should bo given them before the new law was enforced. Finally the governor was brought to see the justice of this, and not only promised them aid in their undertaking, as far as lay in his power, but gave them permission to trade "with the express sanction of the government." This permit did not, however, relieve them from further difficulties with respect to the purchase of stock, to be driven out of the country, and lie finally made it known that the government would furnish as many as were required, at a high price, which offer Douglas had no alternative but to accept.'25
Thus the interview terminated with mutual pro testations of esteem.
It was something Douglas was little accustomed to, bowing the knee before an arrogant ruler for whom he entertained not the highest respect. Douglas him self was proud and pompous enough, and on the whole he played his part well, though it did not always give him pleasure.26
The following day the ship was cleared by the cus toms officers, who won much praise by their gentle-
25 c Six dollars for choice cows, and two dollars for ewes. ' Douglas1 Journal^ MS., 75.
26 Speaking of it he says, * To resent such conduct would have been more manly, and was the first impulse of my own feelings; but second thoughts are best, and in this instance I found the truth of the old adage,' etc. JJouglaa' Journal, MS., 71. See Hist. CaL, this series.
RETURN OF DOUGLAS. 541
manly behavior, especially their leader, Osio, who was thereupon invited to dinner and entertained while the sales of merchandise were bein^ made.
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Leaving there sufficient men to drive the cattle to the Columbia River and having banqueted the governor and a party of friends on board, on the afternoon of the 19th of January, Douglas left Monterey for San Francisco, taking with him eleven of the company's servants, with McKay and Steel, while an Englishman named Duckworth and a California!! boy acted as guides. They proceeded overland by way of Santa Clara, and reached San Francisco without further adventure, remaining there till the end of February, and arriving in Oregon at the latter part of May.27
27 This part of Douglas' narrative ends abruptly with his arrival at Santa Clara; but it includes a long description of California, its political and social condition, its scenery, climate, and advantages for settlers, all of which has been fully noticed in Hist. California of this series.
CHAPTER XXV.
HALL J. KELLEY, NATHANIEL J. WYETH, AND B. L. E. BOXNEVILLE.
1828-1 834.
THE HAZARDS OF SECURITY — THE BOSTON SCHOOL-MASTER — INCORPORATION OF A SOCIETY FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF OREGON — THE SCHOOL-MASTER WRITES, LECTURES, AND BUTTONHOLES — AND FINALLY GOES TO OREGON"
BY WAY OF MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA — EwiNG YOUNG JOINS KKLLEY —
His TRIBULATIONS AT VANCOUVER — THE CAMBRIDGE ICE MAN — A BOSTON ASTOR ADVENTURE — THE SHIP 'SULTANA 'TO MEET AN OVER LAND PARTY ON THE COLUMBIA — WYETH'S FIRST EXPEDITION — FAILURE AND RETURN — WRECK OF THE 'SULTANA' — THE FRENCH CAPTAIN — WHAT HE DID NOT Do.
IN the pacification of a country where the natives are already peaceful, and in the occupation of a country already occupied, it would seem unnecessary to em ploy extra-hazardous means, or to prepare for over coming superhuman obstacles. It is not the way, however, of ignorance or inexperience to treat too seriously the invisible impediments that strew the pathway to their desires. For oftener do men, even leaders of men, unfit leaders, having themselves more need of a master, rush headlong unprepared into adven tures about which their knowledge and calculations would disgrace a school-odrl.
<T5 O
In the settlement of the Orgeon Territory, as all the region between the head-waters of the Missouri and Pacific Ocean was for yet some time called, there seemed no special call for a display of quixotism. There were no giants there, except one most benig nant giant, who was always kind to worthy strangers, even to those he did not desire to see, whom he
(542)
THE BOSTON SCHOOL-MASTER. 543
heartily would wish had never entered that country to disturb the game,, and demoralize the hunters, and seize on lands already occupied and under cultivation. There was no all-devouring Cyclops standing ready at the South Pass to swallow oxen, wagons, and way worn emigrants as they toiled through ; nor was there dwelling at Walla Walla any Circe to transform them into swine, that is to say, to make them more piggish than they were before. There were not even wind mills in the warm and fragrant Valley Willamette to frighten the cattle withal, or set buzzing crazed brains.
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Here as everywhere, the requisites to success were simply common intelligence, common-sense, the neces sary amount of means with application, patience, and temperance. These simple requisites, I say, within the reach of all, how few possessed them! How few possess them to-day! No need for such an one to emigrate to distant Oregon to seek his fortune; he has it about him.
And yet the occupation of Oregon was not without its knights of La Mancha, whose brains became some what turned, and that by difficulties more imaginary than real. I have mentioned elsewhere that in 1827-8 one Hall J. Kelley, on behalf of himself and certain members of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, peti tioned congress for a grant of land in the Oregon Territory, and protection in its settlement. Kelley was a Boston school-teacher, and while yet a young man became deeply interested in the extension of the United States domain beyond the great continental chain. A fanatic in religion, he became fanatic in his scheme of settlement. All the powers of piety and avarice were employed by him in the attempted execution of plans which grew more wildly dear to him as the years went by and failure became more apparent.
Born at Gilmantown, New Hampshire, in 1789, he graduated at Middlebury, Conn., and was afterward
544 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BOXNEVILLE.
made master of arts at Harvard University. He was early employed as a teacher in the public schools of Boston, and published in 1820 an elementary work entitled the American Instructor, at that time regarded as a valuable contribution to educational literature. He organized, by his own efforts principally, the first Sunday-school in New England, besides writing the first Sunday-school book. The Boston Young Men's Education Society was formed by his aid, and he was its first secretary, and made the first public address in its support. He also, in great part, originated the Penitent Female Refuge Society; from all of which it would appear that he was a man of religious and humane impulses, concerning himself about the public good. At the same time he was occupied in the prosecution of the higher branches of mathematical science, having made what he deemed a discovery in the system of geographical surveying, of which he submitted a memoir to the government in 1829. He also distinguished himself as an engineer.
As early as 1815, being then twenty-six years of age, Kelley began his agitation of the Oregon Ques tion, which he claims led to the restoration of Astoria, and to the saving of the country to the United States.1 In 1824 he gave himself wholly up to the work. Nor did he cease writing and raving, until at the ripe age of eighty-five he was transferred from his New England hermitage, where after his fruitless excursions he had retired to brood in poverty over the wrongs inflicted by a soulless corporation and an ungrateful republic.
The Boston school-master is a character the historian is not particularly proud of. He is neither a great hero nor a great rascal. He is great at nothing, and is remarkable rather for his lack of strength, and
1 If we measure his merits by his claims we must make him at once owner and king of Oregon. Nevertheless his writings did exercise influence, not as great as if they had been moderate, yet exceedingly weighty in these momentous questions so shortly to arise.
EFFORTS AT COLONIZATION. 545
in staggering for fifty years under an idea too big for his brain. He was a born enthusiast and partisan, one of a class of projectors more capable of forming grand schemes than of carrying them to a successful issue. He gathered with avidity all the information that could be obtained concerning Oregon. In these researches he became deeply impressed with two ideas — the value of the country on account of its furs, fisheries, soil, and climate, and the importance of christianizing the Indians. Making diligent inquiry of masters of vessels and leaders of fur companies, he obtained sufficient knowledge of the geographical and commercial points to be able to publish articles about them, with the intent to create an interest concerning them in the public mind. From 1827 to 1831 he was busy making maps, forming plans, and petitioning congress, with the view to the formation of an emi gration society, which in 1828 was instituted, and in 1831 was incorporated in Boston as the American Society for Encouraging a Settlement of the Oregon Territory. This society was Hall J. Kelley. He was the body and brains, the fingers and tongue of it. And thereupon he trumpeted everywhere the benefits therefrom accruing, temporal and spiritual, national and individual. It is God's will, proclaims the prophet; the right of sovereignty is vested in us; shall we remain idle while another enters in and takes posses sion of our rights? In all this there was some truth, and the men of New England were made to feel it.
He was able by his industry and enthusiasm to interest many persons of consequence in the considera tion of his plans; but though he sent his publications to the heads of all the departments at Washington and memorialized congress more than once concerning the value of the Oregon country he failed to secure that support from the government which was neces sary to his undertaking. The only pledge he was able, according to his own statement, to obtain at Washington was, that protection would be given to
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 35
546 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
any settlement he might make in the Oregon Terri tory.
One of Kelley's propositions to congress in 1829 was that twenty-five square miles of the Columbia Valley should be granted to him for purposes of colonization. His land expedition, which Avas to have set out in 1828, having fallen through, he next attempted to engage a party to go with him by sea in 1 832 ; and drew up a bill of rights and a covenant, with a plan for a temporary commonwealth. This expedition was at tempted and failed, Puget Sound being the objective point.
Kclley says that several hundred persons enlisted in the attempted expedition of 1828, which was to have started from St Louis, and that it failed through the opposition of British and American fur-traders. It would seem that he met with considerable opposition from the press, his undertakings being considered rash and not sufficiently secured from failure; an opinion that might well prevail after the disasters that had befallen all the expeditions of American, parties to the Columbia River since that of Lewis and Clarke. This unfriendliness, based doubtless upon a wise caution, appeared to Kellcy to be an under hand movement of the Hudson's Bay and American Fur companies to defeat an attempt at an American settlement which might, nay, which must, injure their trade.
Goaded by this suspicion, he assailed those com panies in strong terms, continuing to print statements to their discredit for several years, and at the same time publicly to urge the United States government to take measures to establish its rights to the Oregon Territory as against those of Great Britain. The inflammatory nature of such writings, supposing them to have fallen into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company's officers in Oregon, under the then existing condition of the Oregon title, can be readily under stood. Whether they were ever read by those offi-
KELLEY EN ROUTE. 547
cers is nowhere recorded.2 It is probable that the London company were kept informed by the British minister at Washington of whatever was said by the public prints upon the subject; and it followed, of course, that the governor of the Oregon Territory received his instructions in accordance with the effect they produced. Whether they influenced in any degree the reception Kelley met in Oregon there is no means of determining; though that he believed they did is repeatedly affirmed in a subsequent peti tion to congress, and in other published documents.3
All this time the school-master was gathering every possible scrap of information relative to the North west Coast, to that end holding long and frequent conferences with fur-traders, explorers, and navigators. This information he laid before statesmen, and dis seminated among the people by tongue and pen ; he claims in fact that for a period of several years not one lecture was delivered, nor a word printed on the Oregon Question of which he was not the author. The winters of 1830-33 he spent in Washington wrestling with legislators.
In the autumn of 1832 Kelley left Boston, deter mined before returning to see Oregon. In the spring of 1833 he set out with a small party for the Colum bia River. He chose, for good reasons, as he says, a circuitous route by the way of Mexico and California. A passport was furnished him through the Mexican states, and a free passage to New Orleans, where his companions forsook him. In his voyage thence to
2 Kelley says that Captain Dominis of the brig Owyhee, who was in the Columbia River in 1829, informed McLoughlin of his plans, and showed him a copy of the General Circular published in that year; a statement that is disproved by the fact that the Oivyhee was there in the month of Febru ary — consequently must have left Boston the previous yea.r.
3 Kelley states in his petition, that he ' arrived at Vancouver on the Columbia River, in October 1834, much depressed in spirits, and under great bodily weakness, then recovering from a violent attack of the fever and ague. He found himself an unwelcome guest at that place; calumnies and slander were propagated about him ; and the persons whom he had induced to come and settle there, were turned against him ; and bloody men more than once threatened his life.'
548 KELLEY, WYETH, AXD BONXEVILLE.
Vera Cruz he states that he experienced incredible hardships. When he arrived in Mexico the goods he was taking with him to the Columbia River were seized for duties, and confiscated. Notwithstanding this treatment he lingered some months in Mexico endeavoring to interest the teachers of that country in the best methods of instruction, and proposed to furnish a plan to the principal of the state institute at Guadalajara.
When he reached California he offered his services to General Figucroa, governor of California, to sur vey the Sacramento Valley, which being declined, he undertook a slight survey of it for himself, and made a map of the country. While in California, in the summer of 1834, he fell in with one Ewing Young, an Amerijan trader, from Taos in New Mexico, and per suaded him to join in an expedition to the Columbia River, together with a party of adventurers, deserted seamen, and others, to the number of about a dozen.4
Kelley now proceeded toward that country he had so long desired to reach, and had advanced as far as the mountains of southern Oregon when he was
4 The number who came to Oregon is variously given even by Kelley him self. McLoughlin in a communication to the home board says that Kelley and _ Young were accompanied by 'eight English and American sailors,' and Daniel Lee says: ' Before our house was done, a party, headed by Mr Ewing Young, an American from one of the western United States, arrived in the Walamet from California, embracing about a dozen persons, most of them from the United -States. Some of them had been sailors, some hunters in the mountains an/ in the regions bordering on California to the south, and one, Mr Kelley, was a traveller, a Kew England man, who entertained some very extravagant notions in regard to Oregon, which he published on his return.' The . -.es of the party who accompanied Kelly and Young are given only in f History of Oregon, and although they remained in Oregon
and became ir ' ated with the American settlement, they cannot be cer tainly sepaT ' i the list of known settlers of that date, many of whom came wit''-" Young's account is as follows: 'I was in California where, I r ,,&& < Hall J- Kelley, on his way to the Columbia River, who repr J_ uy ^e ^ie agent of a colonizing company. He wished my con rr,clt>Ory V 0 many inducements. . .When we set out from the last falle •"' ^ty-seven horses and mules. Kelley and the other live , > . . . .The last nine men that joined the party had fifty-six.' S OI' .-so adventurers dropped off before reaching the Colum- of ^ia^ ^r -^vans> in h's Hi**" Or., MS., 20o-0, states that TXTI i'1 reS011 ky sea from Monterey accompanied by Young and Stood. Whet o that he remained two years in Oregon; all of which >rs, as the authorities I have quoted show. Mr Evans'
KELLEY AT FORT VANCOUVER. 549
attacked with violent intermittent fever, having lin gered too long in the malarious regions of the Sacra mento. He experienced great difficulty and suffering in travelling. At a camp on the Umpqua River, and while Young, who was acting as leader of the party, was absent to recover some straying horses, there arrived at the same place a party of hunters and trap pers in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company on their way from San Francisco, headed by Michel La Framboise, who, seeing the unfortunate condition of the sick man, just then in the grasp of a racking ague fit, at once proceeded to alleviate his distress with hot venison broth and quinine.
For two days La Framboise continued his ministra tions, when finding his patient rapidly convalescing, he sent him by canoe a considerable distance down the river. The voyage proved a pleasant one,5 an.J. Kel- ley was received at the place fixed upon for a rendez vous by one of La Framboise's men, Rondeau, who had been sent to meet and conduct him to camp, a few miles distant. Kelley continued to travel with La Framboise's party, and was overtaken in a few days by Young, the two companies arriving at the Columbia River together. Such was his first recep tion by the Hudson's Bay Company through its em ployes.0
And now, at last, weary and ill from a relapse, he reaches Fort Vancouver in October. H-»w great is his disappointment and surprise, to find the gates of that hospitable place closed to him and rn's associates.
mistake comes from the fact that Kelley in his Narrative^. Colonization oj
Oregon, 57, relates that he had made arrangements at M . with Captain
Thompson and Nathan Spear for them to proceed to Or . ->tice, with
a vessel loaded with supplies for the settlement, and to &- the trade
and commerce of the country. This vessel never came, : e mo u1 "'elley
proceeded overland, as we have seen. r.
5 Kelley says he paid his Indian boatman for his ser Vancoi. \ d a half, a 'fine horse, saddle and bridle, and a scarlet velv fs, and unde. ws that he did not know how to trade with Indians. uhe fever and a^
6 In reference to their conduct toward him, Kelley g4 umnies and slan^ La Framboise as 'this good Samaritan,' and of Rondeau ad induced to con ordinate, who bore me for miles upon his shoulders who ±en more than once at times, to pass rough places, even to ride.'
550 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BOXXEVILLE.
He is informed that word has been sent by Governor Figueroa to Dr McLoughlin informing him that Kelley, Young, and company are a gang of horse- thieves, and cautioning him against them.7
A cruel predicament, surely, for a sick man, and, as he protested, innocent of the charges preferred! And throughout the winter of 1834 he remained at Vancouver, not as an honored guest enjoying its social privileges, but rather as a mendicant, debarred the recognition of a gentleman.8
McLoughlin who met at Fort Vancouver all sorts of people, Americans, Scotch, Irish, English, Indians, Canadians, and Kanakas, and yet whose visitors were not so numerous as not to enable him to know and judge each perfectly, says of Kelley, that when he ar rived there he "was very ill, and out of humanity I placed him in a house, put a man to nurse him, the sur geon of the establishment attended on him, and had his victuals sent him every meal until he left in 183G, when I gave him a passage to Oaliu. On his return to the states, he published a narrative of his voyage, in which, instead of being grateful for the kindness shown him, lie abused me, and falsely stated I had been so alarmed with the dread that he would destrov the Hudson's
7 Doctor McLoughlin in his report to the home board says: 'As Governor Figueroa of California had written to me that Ewing Young and Kelley had stolen horses from the settlers of that place, I would have nothing to do with them, and told them my reasons. Young maintained he stole no horses, but admitted the others had. I told him that might be the case, but as the charge was made, I could have no dealings with him till he cleared it up.' It would appear from what Young told T. J. Tarnham in 1839, that he had been involved in some trouble with the authorities in California, as he alleged that they plundered him of $18,000 or $20,000 worth of furs. The Mexicans in California were in the habit of confiscating the goods of strangers, and even of their own people who attempted to trade in defiance of the law. See Farn- ham's Travels to the Rocky Mountains, 176-7.
8 Says Roberts in his Recollection*, 11: 'I remember the visit of Hall J. Kelley. He vas penniless, and ill-clad, and considered rather too rough for close companionship, and was not invited to the mess. He may have thought this harsh. Our people did not know, or care for, the equality he had perhaps been accustomed to. It should be borne in mind that discipline in those days was rather severe, and a general commingling would not do.' In another place, Mr Roberts says: 'Kelly was live feet nine inches high, wore a white slouched hat, blanket capote, leather pants, with a red stripe down the seam, rather outre even for Vancouver.'
UNDER A CLOUD. 551
Bay Company's trade, that I had kept a constant watch over him."9
Another bitter complaint, incoherently penned after his return to Massachusetts, is of the neglect he suffered at the hands of his countrymen. He accuses them of jealousy of himself, and censures Wyeth severely for ignoring him. But for him Wyeth never would have become interested in the subject of Oregon settlement, he says, nor would his name have appeared on one of Kelley's emigrant rolls; and now he finds Wyeth embracing the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company, anxious to keep all settlers out of the coun try. In truth, Wyeth might readily be suspected of this, for he was on most intimate terms with the offi cers at Fort Vancouver, and took no measures to res cue from the scornful charity of a foreign company an educated countryman, whose character he knew was above that of a horse-thief.
Surely to the missionaries, the Lees, his brother Christians, whom he had influenced to attempt their noble work, he could look for recognition and fellow ship. But even them he charges with having become so infected with the spirit of trade that they did not wish other settlers to come;10 and that they chose to remain oblivious to the fact that the originator of the Oregon movement lay sick in the hospital at Van couver. Particularly does he resent, and not without some show of justice, the very brief notice of himself, amounting to a dozen lines, in Lee and Frost's Oregon, published after the authors had left the country.
The charge of Governor Figueroa against Kelley and Young not being promptly cleared up, they re mained under the ban of a suspicion there was no
9 McLoughlin's Private Papers, pt. ii. 4; Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 205; Thorn ton's Or. and Cal., ii. 13-19; Wyeth's Or., Ex., 3; Eugene City State Journal, Feb. 28, 1874; Kelley's Letters in Thornton's Or. Hist., MS., 78-9; Trans. Or. Pioneer Assoc., 1875, 22-4.
10 'When I was at Vancouver, on the Columbia, he (Lee) often clandestinely left the fort, and came into my cabin and conversed freely about his plans and intentions. He once said he was preparing for a great farming establish ment, where to produce supplies for other stations; and also said he was
552 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
means at hand of removing, McLougblin having had Figueroa's letter posted up in the Willamette Valley to warn the settlers there against the California party. Horse-stealing was a vice very often practised in Cali fornia, and one which the fur magnate was desirous of discouraging in his territory, especially when asked to do so by Governor Figueroa, and therefore we are not bound to agree with Kelley that McLoughlin's conduct was maliciously arbitrary, and that because he thought of becoming an American settler.11
The native Californians, who owned large herds of horses and cattle, were accustomed to brand them with a mark by which alone the herds of one owner could be distinguished from those of another. It sometimes
O
happened that strangers purchasing horses in one part of the country and travelling to another, were arrested a hundred miles from the starting-point by a third party, who claimed the animals because they were branded with a certain mark. Witnesses w^cre not wanting to prove the mark, and there was no alterna tive but to light or yield. Often the persons in pos session of the property were accused of having stolen it, when the design was to return the stock to the very parties from whom it had been bought, and at whose instance the charge had been made.
o
It would not have been impossible for one of the native dealers to accuse Kelley to the governor, had there been any hope of recovering the animals sold to him. But in the case of Kelley and Young, I think the nine men accompanying them were really persons of disreputable character, and horse-thieves, because, in the first place, Kelley in his account of the expecli-
opposed to persons coming to settle in that territory, excepting such as would belong to the missionary family, and aid in missionary enterprise; and he should do nothing contrary to the wishes of Dr McLoughlin, who had agreed to loan him $1,500. About the time of his making these remarks, he received, in my presence, a part of the loan from the company's storehouses.' Hist. Or. , 59-00. See Hist. Or. , i. C7-9, this series.
11 Dunn, in his Or. Ter., 200, insists that Farnham, who saw Young when he was in Oregon, misrepresents the company's actions and motives, and says that they 'judged of him as they had experience of him.'
KELLEY'S FAILURES. 553
tion calls them the ' nine marauders ' whom he said he could riot prevent travelling with him, and in the second place, according to McLoughlin, Young ad mitted to him that there were those in the party who had stolen horses.
Kelley seems to have entertained a very good opinion of Young throughout, though he was much grieved at some differences that occurred between them before leaving Fort Vancouver, and which he attributed to a studied effort on the part of the Hud son's Bay Company to produce dissensions between the American settlers, and so to defeat any permanent organization among them.
However all this may have been, there remains nothing of Kelley 's Oregon expedition to record ex cept failure. He had probably but little means at the outset, when to have carried his plans into effect would have required an immense expenditure. His health was shattered by hardships he had never expected to encounter, and in his very worst condition he found himself dependent upon those he considered his personal enemies, as well as the enemies of his great designs.12 In March 1835 he left Oregon on the Hudson's Bay Company's vessel, the Dryad, having been given a free passage to the Sandwich Islands, whence he made his way to the United States on a whaling vessel. The rude manners of the sailors with whom he was forced to associate, in his feeble state of health were a sore annoyance to him, operating yet more to prejudice his diseased imagination against the company to whom he was indebted for this means of getting out of the country of his misfortunes. A year and a half of travel, much of it through countries little better than a wilderness, the loss of his property,
12 ' When about to leave Oregon, the chief factor of the company pre sented me with a draft of seven pounds sterling, payable at the Sandwich Islands. A part, however, was paid at Vancouver in articles of comfort. This was kind, and I felt grateful for it.' Kelley's Nar., 59; Portland Ore- gonian, March 29, 1873.
554 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
sickness, and disappointment, had heaped their sepa rate burdens into one overwhelming whole, until the sensitive nature of the man sank under it, and he was not in a condition either physical or mental to inspire that respect to which, from other circum stances, and from his own printed statements, he seems to have been entitled.
On his return from Oregon in 1836 Kelley engaged with others in erecting a cotton-mill at Three Rivers,
^ '
Massachusetts, in which enterprise he lost what re mained of his fortune. This calamity, in addition to what had gone before, permanently unsettled his mind. For a period of fifteen years he thought, talked, and wrote of nothing but his Oregon expedition and the oppression and inhumanity of the Hudson's Bay Com pany, imagining that every annoyance of whatever kind he suffered was procured for him by the 'hire lings' of that company. So great was his suspicion of every one, and so irritable had he become, that he drove his wife and children from him, and after wards resided alone on a small piece of land heavily mortgaged, at Three Rivers (Palmer), Massachu setts, where he was designated as The Hermit, and from which the entreaties of his friends were unable to draw him. As he had lived, alone, so he died in 1874, at the advanced age of eighty-five, of paralysis. Throughout his life he vainly endeavored to win from the world that recognition of his intended services that he longed for and felt that he deserved. To the very last he remained the warm friend of Oregon, indignantly denying that he had ever entertained ' extravagant notions' of that country, which he still contended was "the finest on which the sun shines, and possessing natural advantages for agriculture and commerce, unsurpassed in any other part of the earth."
With regard to the services which Kelley rendered the United States, or Oregon, it would be difficult to
OREGON'S OBLIGATIONS. 555
estimate the value. That his published articles and public lectures were the first to call attention to the feasibility of settling the Pacific coast by an overland emigration there can be no dispute, unless we contend that the expedition of Lewis and Clarke settled the practicability of such an enterprise. But Lewis and Clarke were intent only on establishing the existence of a more or less continuous line of water communica tion across the continent, and made, besides, a very imperfect survey of the country after they arrived in it, from the absence of any supply-post, or means of existence for their party in Oregon.
Twenty years later the different American fur companies began their explorations among the Rocky Mountains, and on the Snake River plains, and had become familiar with the existence. of several passes through that range, by one or more of which wagons could be brought to their rendezvous on the west side. Kelley's acquaintance with these facts, set forth in his circular, made his plan an original one. On the other hand, it involved much hardship, and was likely to meet with opposition from all the fur companies, the American as well as the British ; having so many impracticable points about it that it required another decade, and considerable legislative action, to set the scheme really on foot.
It is possible, however, that through his constant agitation of the subject, Floyd of Virginia, and Benton of Missouri, the well known ardent advocates, became interested. Floyd was the author of the first propo sition made in congress, in the session of 1820-2, for the occupation and settlement of the Columbia River as elsewhere stated. In the course of the debates which followed the introduction of this proposition, Benton uttered these words : " Mere adventurers may enter upon it, as ^Eneas entered upon the Tiber, and as our forefathers entered upon the Potomac, the Dela ware, and the Hudson, and renew the phenomenon of individuals laying the foundation of a future empire."
556 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
Whether the importunities of Kelley suggested the thought to Benton, or whether such language in the senate inspired the imagination of the Boston school teacher, I am not able to decide, though if it could be known it would add to or detract from the brill iancy of the undertaking in a considerable degree. He says of himself that he made a complete survey of the Columbia River from Fort Vancouver to its mouth, and he certainly gives in his memoir to congress in 1839 a very correct account of the topography, soil, and climate of both California and Oregon, with many facts concerning the mountains,13 timber, harbors, the Co lumbia River bar and entrance, and possibility of im provements in the latter. He claimed also to have discovered gold, silver, copper, and coal; gave an idea of the ship-building capacities of Puget Sound, and in many things furnished information to the government that should have been of value; and which would have been more properly appreciated, had it been presented disconnected from the recital of his personal sufferings and wrongs, with which all his writings after his visit to Oregon were rendered turgid.14
13 Kelley called the range of mountains dividing eastern from western Oregon, President's Range, naming St Helen, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, McLoughlin, and Shasta, after the ex-presidents in the following order: Wash ington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, and Jackson. U. 8. IL Hep. 101, 25th Cong., 3d Ses*., 53-4.
11 Hall J. Kelley's writings are no less voluminous than peculiar. Being an educated man and an enthusiast, writing was easy. He poured himself out on paper, his hopes, his high achievements, and his woes. He planned and prayed, and blessed his friends, and cursed his enemies by the hilndred pages. Besides pamphlets and newspapers, he wrote letters literally by the bushel. Compute the measure at so many a day for fifty-nine years of lively letter- writing. In print we have first A Geographical Sketch of that Part of North America Called Oregon, Containing an Account of the Indian Title, etc. The discovery of the country, its climate, mountains, rivers, soil, and animals are here given in an octavo of 80 pages, with a map. Boston, 1830. This work reached a second edition that same year. Next is a brochure of 27 pages entitled Manual of the Oregon Expedition, price 12£ cents, on the second page of which is found a list of 37 agents residing in various parts of the United States, H. J. Kelley, Boston, Massachusetts, being general agent. On the third page is the general title, A General Circular to all Persons of Good Character who Wish to Emigrate to the Oregon Territory; Embracing some, Account of the Character and Advantages of the Country, the Right and the Means and the Operations by which it is to be Settled; and all Necessary Direc tions for Becoming an Emigrant, etc. Charlestown, 1831. After announcing that an Oregon settlement was ' to be commenced in the spring of 1832, on the
KELLEY'S WRITINGS. 557
Among others in whom the writings of Kelley awakened interest, as we have seen, was Nathaniel J. Wycth of Cambridge, Massachusetts. An enter prising young man of ardent temperament, he saw from the shores of the Pacific fortune beckoning him; and although surrounded by every comfort, although
delightful and fertile banks of the Columbia River,' the writer proceeds to ex plain under their several headings, Physical Features of that Region, the Right of Settling, the Resources of the Country, the National Advantages of its settle ment, the Survey and Division of Lands, and what the civil government, relig ion, and education of the emigrant should be, and on what their success should depend. Then he talks about the natives, the route thither, when the expe dition would set out, and the money required to embark in it. Opening with the assertion, ever the argument of the madman, that those who advocate the immediate occupation of Oregon are not mad, he goes on to state that the title to the land is vested in the aborigines; ho explains the intentions of the Almighty in the matter, provided they are not interfered with; and ends in a general appeal for assistance. For the stock book, a title was printed, reading, This Book of Htock, Subscriptions, etc., in which shall be Enrolled the Nantes of all Persons Contributing to the Success of Founding a ScUlc/iient iii Oregon, cither by subscriptions, Donations, or Investments in the Society's >*• tock. shall be Preserved in. Perpetration by the Settlement; and a True Copy of the Same shall be Deposited In the Archives of the Government of the United States of America, A. D. 1831. On the second page is an extract of a committee report.
Here we may place Discoveries, Purchases of Lands, etc., on the Nortlnvest Coast, being apart of an Investigation of the American Title to the Oregon Ter ritory. This, in sixteen octavo pages, is called the third and last division of the subject. It is without date, but was printed after 1835. Memorial, ask ing a donation of land for purposes of colonization in the Oregon territory; 110 date. Jlistory of the Colonization of the Oregon Territory, Worcester, 1850, is another of his works. A Narrative of Events and Difficulties in the Coloniza tion of Oregon, and the Settlement of California; and also a History of the Claim of American Citizens to Lands on Quadra's Island; together with an Account of the Troubles and Tribulations Endured between the Years 1S2JJ. and 185'2 by the Writer, IlallJ. Kelley. Boston, 1852. In the 92 pages which follow we can not accuse the writer of any excess of modesty. He opens boldly: ' The colo nization of Oregon was both conceived and achieved by me, and all for the hope of laying a foundation for the advancement of religion and the king dom of Christ.' It was exceedingly difficult, and performed alone; not even the Almighty would assist in the accomplishment of his own work. Ameri cans and British were alike against him, and so on. Then he catalogues his sacrifices; throws in remarkable providences; broods over insults and abuses; comes round to the hackneyed rofe of superficial smatterings of history; dis cusses the United States claim to Oregon; treats of the Nootka difficulty, and the attempts of Spain to colonize northern Oregon; and then breaks forth against the Hudson's Bay Company, and all who have opposed him, or whom he considers should have assisted him. In a series of letters, addressed ' Beloved Brethren,' and written in 1808 and 1869, he reaches the outer con fines of reason, if, indeed, he does not pass the bounds. He shouts his calamities, his ' forty years of persecution, 'more loudly than ever; sees visions and interprets them. His Discoveries, Purchases of Lands, etc., on the Northwest Coast by the Traders of the Boston Company, which fitted out the ships Columbia and Washington in 1787, is very interesting and rare, con taining copies of title deeds from several Indian chiefs to Captain Kendrick, and other singular documents. In House Rept. No. 101, Sup., 25th Cong.,
558 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
certain wealth awaited him by farming during sum mer and a profitable putting-down of ice in winter, though beloved by family and friends of the highest respectability, and having seemingly already all this world can give worth having, yet the flaming words of the Boston school-master so fired the mind of
3d Sess., 47, is a Memoir of 15 pages, by Mr Kelley, dated Boston, January 31, 1839, and addressed to Caleb Gushing. It seems the most sober and intelligent of all his writings. Had the school-master pessessc 1 r.u evenly balanced, practical mind, or had his early training been more of the counting- room, and less of the school-room, he might have made his mark, high and ineffaceable. To one who had the means, and knew how to employ them, it was then 110 difficult task to colonize Oregon, lay the foundation of a prosperous commonwealth, amass wealth, and convert the savages swiftly to heaven, all at once. But there must be means and skill to handle them. This present paper is a temperate description of the country and what the writer saw and did there. Though not without its author's constitutional wail and his usual fling at the Hudson's Bay Company, it is a well written document. Indeed, all of Kellcy's works are well written. His command of language was far above the average.
J. Quinn Thornton in his Oregon History, MS., 98, and elsewhere has much to say of Kelley; and among the very valuable material presented me by Mi- Thornton when in Salem, in the spring of 1878, was a package of Kcllcy's autograph letters, written at Three Pavers during the years 1SGD-71, in which he throws light upon many hitherto indistinct episodes of Oregon history. In his old age, poor and friendless, he seems to have felt called upon to defend himself from the imputation of foolish writing. We may safely bear witness that his writings are not all foolish. When Senator Linn arose upon the floor of congress the champion of the United States for Oregon, the school-master placed in his hands more information from his own writings than the statesman could obtain from all other sources put together. Besides his more prominent printed works he gave him a collection of circulars and advertisements published between 18:29 and 1832; various memorials between 1827 and 1848 begging congress to take possession of the country; a scries of papers on the American claim to Oregon published in the Bunker 11 ill Aurora in 1837, and a collection of documents and newspaper articles in the form of scraps concerning his patriotic enterprise. Into the hands of Caleb Gushing he put a Map of Cali fornia and Oregon, drawn by himself from his own explorations in 1834. He gave Abbott Lawrence a manuscript copy of a History of the Purchase of the J ' ndlan Lands l>y American Citizen*, afterwards published by the house of repre sentatives; also a pile of documents showing the school-master's own services, sacrifices, and sufferings in bringing about the settlement of Oregon, for these remembrances were ever heaped high upon his heart; two volumes of pam phlets and original papers, including a series of letters to a member of congress, published in the American Traveller in 1839, and articles giving plans for a joint missionary and colonization movement, published in the Boston Zion's Herald. Further than this, does not Waterhouse in his Wyctli's Oregon Expedition, and John B. Wyeth likewise, say that but for Kelley's writings that expedition had not been? Do these things look like foolish writing? Thus the old man used to console himself, still going on to recite how Daniel Webster, on receiving a copy of hisGeograp/iical Sketch of Oregon, replied: 'I think much of your project; I will do all I can to sustain it.' And not only by these writings does Kelley claim the settlement of Oregon, but of California like wise, giving himself the credit of saving or securing to the United States the whole of the Pacific domain. But for him Sutter would never have settled in the Sacramento Valley, nor would Wilkes or Fremont ever have been
NATHANIEL J. WYETH. 559
Wyeth as to inspire high hopes not only in him, but through him in twenty-one others whom he persuaded to accompany him in a western pilgrimage. Two relatives, Doctor Jacob Wyeth, brother, and John B. Wyeth, cousin, who returned on reaching the Rocky Mountains, and wrote a book,15 were of the company, the remainder of which was composed of a gunsmith, a blacksmith, two carpenters, two fishermen, and thir teen farmers and laborers. For some time before starting, every Saturday night the company met at
appointed to explore the western slope. As early as 1831, in connection with his western visit, he began the agitation of the Pacific Hallway question. All his influence to every fair extent I am disposed freely to accord him. Had I been congress I would have given the old school-master something to sweeten his second childhood's cup withal, and I would have praised and petted him somewhat in an official way, for he did more than many a well paid officer of the government. But when a human being breaks forth in insensate twaddle like this, 'Let me then be known by the work divinely appointed unto me to do, by th~ manner of life which the Loid Jesus revealed unto me in visions in my youth, oy the eventful, extraordinary, and useful life, which God, according to his foreknowledge, did predestinate,' I do not much blame the republic for giving the poor fellow the cold shoulder.
Most imposing of all is a book before me of 128 pages, entitled A History of the Settlement of Oregon and the Interior of Upper California; mid of Persecu tion* and Afflictions of Forty Years' Continuance, Endured l>ij the Author, Hall J. Kelley, A. J/., Springfield, Mass., 1808, including his memorials to congress
E ray ing for a grant of land or money to reimburse him for losses sustained in is efforts to colonize that country. The appendix rehearses his troubles and persecutions. History, statistics, adventure, and religion arc here flung into the caldron of tribulation which simmers and splutters as young Oregon comes 011 apace and the old man Kelley steps off the stage. There are more than one in California like Vallejo and Alvarado, prominent in the affairs of the nation, who have seen cities rise from under the chaparral of sand-hills, and a palpitating civilization fill the valleys where once they lassoed grizzly bears and chased wild men and women into the mission conversion pens ; there are among the fur-hunters those who have seen the rise of settlement and the wonders of progress in the North west ; but there has been none like poor Kelley who laid upon the altar of his enthusiasm more than half a century of life, who among the first to start the cry, never ceased hallooing until his wilderness was a state. In announcing the death of the hermit of Three Rivers, the Springfield, Massachusetts, Union, of January 23, 1874, reviewed his long life of disappointments, which article was extensively copied by other leading journals throughout the continent.
13 Oregon; or A Khort Account of a Long Journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the lief/ion of the Pacific, by Land; Drawn up from the Notes and Oral In formation of John B. Wyeth, one of the Party icho left Mr Nathaniel J, Wyeth July 28, 1832, Four Days' March beyond the Ridge of the Rocky ^fountains, and the Only One who has Returned to New England. Cambridge, 1833. Thus early overland travellers began to write, which practice has continued to this day, and probably will continue throughout all time. This book is evidently by a working-man, of ordinary mind, not having had more than a common- school education. His conceptions are crude, and there is little method in the telling of his story. It is only by the help of other authorities that I am able to give a correct narrative of this first Wyeth expedition.
560 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BOXXEVILLE.
the house of the captain, as the organizer of this band of Oregon adventurers was now called, and soon every doubt and fear was banished. Each believed what ever the leader believed. It was a joint-stock asso ciation, to continue five years, each member at the outset depositing forty dollars with the leader, who thereupon was to pay all expenses, and to whom im plicit obedience was promised.
For the journey overland three vehicles were con structed, one an amphibious contrivance, dubbed by the wags of Cambridge the Natwyctliium, being a boat thirteen feet long and four feet wide, made of narrow jointed boards and placed on wheels in such a manner that while on land the wheels should carry the boat, on reaching a stream the boat should carry the wheels. Into these three vehicles were placed, beside the accoutrements of the company, articles for the Indian market, axes, beads, paint, knives, buttons, nails, looking-glasses, and the like, giving the Oregon company at the start the appearance of a Yankee ped dling caravan. Those articles were to be exchanged on the way for furs, which, shipped to China after their arrival, were alone to make every man's fortune.
During the course of his preparations Wyeth had revealed his plans to certain Boston merchants inter ested in the Northwest Coast, Hawaiian Islands, and China trade, and had obtained consignments of goods suited to the Indian traffic to be shipped round Cape Horn and disposed of to his best ability for the mutual benefit of the consignors and himself. The ship sent was the Sultana, Captain Lambert, chief mate F. A. Lemont,16 which sailed from Boston early in 1832.
There was everything inspiring in the aspect. Wyeth was a thoroughly good man, with a bright, open countenance, strong limbs, warm of heart, and
16 Lemont first came to the Columbia with Captain Dominis in the Oin/hee in 1830. Next was this attempt; after which he came again in the Ma;/ Dacre in 1834. The later years of his active and useful life were spent at St Helen, Oregon.
WYETH'S JOUENEY. 561
open of hand, thoughtful and determined. There were abundant means and evident good planning. A uniform dress was adopted, heavy cloth pantaloons, striped cotton shirt, coarse woollen jacket, and cow hide boots. In his broad belt each carried a small axe and bayonet; on every shoulder was a musket; all had clasp-knives; some carried a rifle and pistols. Tents were provided, and cooking utensils. What hardy, ambitious New Englander would not like to join such an adventure ! The wonder is a thousand did not wish to go.
After encamping ten days on an island in Boston harbor, on the llth of March 1832 the party took ship for Baltimore, where arriving, they pitched their tents two miles outside the city.
"Yankee all over!" exclaimed the southerners, as they surveyed the neat contrivances significant of bold adventure.
Thence to the foot of the Alleghanies, sixty miles, their equipage was carried by rail. Here was over land railway travel with a vengeance!
By helping to wood and water the Yankees got themselves carried to St Louis by steam-boats at a reduced rate; some of them demurred, this drudgery not being nominated in the bond, but Wyeth was firm. Nor were the sharp and captious Cambridge boys all of them disposed to make due allowance for the ignorance and inexperience of their leader, when after bringing their prairie fleet so far, they were informed by the sage fur-traders of St Louis that such contrivances were wholly inadequate in travers ing hostile mountains, and were forced to sell their wagons at half their cost. " This was not making a fortune," they growled.
By the steam-boat Otter they proceeded to Indepen dence. Luckily they there found William Sublette, ready to start for the mountains with sixty-two men, and upon his advice Wyeth besides horses, brought two yoke of oxen and fifteen sheep, being reserve pro-
HIST. N-W. COAST. VOL. II. 30
562 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNE V1LLE.
vender in case game failed them. Two of the men here turned back, willing to let the others have the whole of Oregon.
Plunging into the prairie and travelling in company with Sublette, at the rate of twenty-five miles a day, at the expiration of a week three more of the stanch Cambridge boys seceded. Hunger sharpened brains, which thereupon began to think for themselves. Along the Plattc and Sweetwater by Independence Rock they came, passing Bonncville's wagons on the way, until they found themselves in a new nest of ills. But for Sublette the party never would have reached the mountains. At the crossing of the Platte, while the fur-traders were making a bull-boat of sewed buf falo-skins stretched over a willow frame, the seams paid with elk-tallow and ashes, Wyeth constructed a raft, and placing on it his effects had the mortification of seeing part swept off and part damaged. Poor food, bad water, fatigue, and sickness now set swearing
y O ' O
those young men so lately from the Cambridge Sun day-school. With gnats, mosquitoes, snakes, wolves, bears, and savages the Boston school-master was .brought under the ban of wild blasphemy.
Scarcely had they entered the mountains when they were attacked by the Blackfeet, and five of their horses captured. Proceeding, the 4th of July saw them at a branch of the Snake River, from whose limpid current, •with melancholy mien they drank the nation's health. At Pierre Hole17 rendezvous they fell in with a trap ping party under Milton Sublette, who more than once afterward saved them from perdition, for the Cam bridge party were becoming sadly demoralized. Three* were so sick that they could scarcely ride, the rest were peevish, and some of them mutinous. Wyeth bore up under the accumulating burdens like a man. When asked to call what would be at home a town-meeting in which to discuss their position he at first refused,
17 A valley between Lewis and Henry forks. Nidever's Life and Adv., MS., 46. See also John Ball in Con. Hist. Soc. Montana, i. 111-12.
DISSENSION IN CAMP. 563
but finally consented to call the roll and let each man speak for himself. His own name was called first.
" I shall go on," he answered with emphasis.
" Shall you trap for beaver or proceed at once to found a colony?" asked he whose name wras next called, before answering.
" You know the original plan," said Wyeth. " The detail must be left to me. I will brook no interference."
" Then I will not go on," was the reply. And so said six others, among whom was Wyeth's brother, now dangerously enfeebled. Two new men joined the expedition at Pierre Hole. It is an exceedingly diffi cult task, that of commanding a band of associated adventurers during a period of distress. Often the very lives of the party depend on union which only army or ship discipline can secure. Fortunately for Wyeth, trappers were near, and the most dangerous part of the mountains was past.
Giving the deserters18 one of the tents, and such arms and implements for catching beaver as he could spare, Wyeth with eleven19 remaining men joined Milton Sublette, and on the 17th of July started toward Salmon River.
Before they were fairly out of Pierre Hole, how ever, Wyeth found himself in the midst of a hot Indian fight, arising from the treachery of a half- breed belonging to Subletted party, in ordering shot a Blackfoot chief while engaged in friendly parley before the pipe of truce. Wyeth could scarcely believe his eyes that saw such damning wickedness. When the savages saw their chief fall, instantly the valley was alive with warriors. Besides Sublette, Campbell,
18 Of these three engaged with Sublette to trap for a year, two of whom were soon killed by the Indians; eight started back for St Louis with William Sublette, with only wisdom and sorrow for their Oregon inheritance.
19 Our astute author starts his expedition with 21 men besides Wyeth, sends back 12, adds none, and has 11 left. In reciting the names of those who continued with Nathaniel, John B. Wyeth makes 10, namely, Smith, Sargent, Abbott, Breck, Burditt, Ball, St Clair, Tibbits, Trumbull, and Whittier. McLoughlin, Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 2, says Wyeth reached Fort Van couver with 11 men.
564 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BOXNEVILLE.
the Sinclair brothers, and several free trappers were then at Pierre Hole, who, when the cries of war were sounded, rushed to the rescue of their partisans.
Securing his horses, Wyeth raised a breastwork with his effects, and after ordering all his men behind it, went forth if necessary to mingle in the fight. The savages had taken to the bush, and there in trenched themselves. An attempt was made to dis lodge them, in which, among others, one of the Sinclairs was shot, Sublette was struck, and Wyeth narrowly escaped. Six white men and seven Nez Perces fell on one side, and twenty-six Blackfeet on the other; thirty-two horses were slain; and this was but the beginning of the evils flowing from this one infamous act of this infamous man. Five days afterward as a party of six white men for the east were passing out of Jackson Hole they were attacked by the Black- feet, and three of the number, one being formerly of Wycth's party, were killed.
Soon after the affray, Sublette and Wyeth passed out of Pierre Hole with their respective parties, and continued in company about a hundred miles south west to the vicinity of the head-waters of the Hum- boldt, when they separated, Wyeth pushing on for the Columbia, exchanging horses for boats at Fort Walla Walla, and arriving at Fort Vancouver the 29th of October, 1832.
Wyeth now finds himself in a most peculiar position. Every dollar of the original investment and more is gone. Having narrowly escaped with their lives the dragons of the wilderness, this remnant of his party are in an utterly destitute condition, dependent for shelter, food, and clothes on the man whom they have come so far permanently to oppose.
And what does McLoughlin? The Yankee advent urer carries in his face testimonials of integrity; his manners are those of an honest man and a gentleman. The noble master of Fort Vancouver needs no inter preter to translate to him the character of strangers.
WYETH AT FORT VANCOUVER. 565
Emaciated through hunger and fatigue, moneyless and ragged, Wyeth knocks at the gate. He tells his story. McLoughlin bids him enter, supplies his necessities, gives him a seat at his own table, and his followers their rations with the company's servants. It reads like romance, and seems more in keeping with the days of Scottish chivalry than with those of Anglo-American scramblings for territory. For this is done in the very face of a suspicion on the part of the Fort Vancouver people that this expedition might be the first wave of a sea of settlers that should roll in from the United "States and submerge the whole Columbia fur interest. The half, however, is not yet told. Comfort and credit are not enough. The adventurers want work;
O *
their leader desires a foothold on the Columbia, not in the way of ruinous competition, or spoliation, but as a benefactor and a civilizer. Hearing their words McLoughlin recognizes the ring of true metal. What can they do? Anything that any men can do; clear ing, cultivating, peddling, preaching. Those little demi-savages, running wild about the fort, would their parents not like them to be taught how to read and write? There is John Ball, a first-rate hand at that. But then, what young Massachusetts man cannot teach school if so disposed? Thus amidst the wilds of the broad Northwest, the Yankee school-master is planted, and John Ball on the 1st day of January 1833 is installed by John McLoughlin pedagogue of Fort Vancouver. Successor to Ball was Solomon H. Smith, who conducted a school at Fort Vancouver for more than eighteen months from the 1st of March 1833, and subsequently became a prosperous farmer at Clat- sop, where he died. Of him more hereafter.
But notwithstanding all this, notwithstanding the hospitality of Fort Vancouver, and the broad human- itarianism of its ruler in the treatment of semi-foreign interlopers, let us not imagine that the keen and cold blooded corporation was hoodwinked into a policy detrimental to its interests, or that their chief factor
566 KELLEY, WYETH, AXD BONXEVILLE.
in charge of the department of the Pacific was a brain less old fogy, or a philanthropic fool. McLoughlin was well enough aware that the people of the United States were moving in their Pacific coast affairs. He had heard of Kelley's writings, and despised the man; and when later the fanatical school-master arrived at Fort Vancouver with the odor of horse-thief about his tattered garments, for Governor Fiimeroa of Cal-
O O
ifornia kindly warned McLoughlin of this man, as we have seen, he found the crate closed against him. But
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Wyeth was not that sort of man ; besides, Kelley had not yet arrived.
McLoughlin with all his goodness was a shrewd enough diplomatist; let alone a Hudson's Bay Com pany Scotchman for that. The Wyeth movement he saw was an important one; more important if any thing, although of less magnitude, than Astor's. The
O ' O O
time was at hand for an open declaration of rights; the agricultural occupation of Oregon was ordained. The adventurers of Ln^land could not arrest it, and
O '
their director at Fort Vancouver knew that they could not. To meet it, therefore, in a spirit of fair ness and liberality was clearly the wisest policy. And yet the keen old kind-hearted man was determined that not one iota of the company's trade should be sacrificed or relinquished sooner than necessary. In a word, McLoughlin determined that Wyeth's advent ure should not succeed, though he would be kind to Wyeth, and employ none but legitimate and honorable means in defeating him.
Of a truth in this first expedition there was little to defeat. Unfortunately for Wyeth and his Boston associates, the Sultana failed to put in an appearance at the time and place appointed. All this winter of 1832-3 Wyeth watched her coming, looking eagerly every day westward into the opaque mists of the Columbia for tidings of her approach, and it was not until after he had given her up and returned to Bos ton that he learned her fate.
WYETH'S RETURN TO BOSTON. 567
Before leaving the Columbia Wyeth made careful observations, and now for the first time learned some thing practical regarding the necessities and possibili ties of Oregon occupation. Trapping for peltries in that vicinity was forever over, though a little might yet be done trading for furs. In agriculture, in con junction with the Fort Vancouver people, something might be done, but salmon-fishing seemed to offer the largest and most immediate returns for the outlay.
Spring saw Wyeth hastening back to Boston full of new projects arising from enlarged experiences. Two men only accompanied him on his return, and their route was overland by way of the Bighorn, and by bull-boat down the Yellowstone, arriving at Can tonment Leaven worth the 27th of September. By traffic on the way, Wyeth accumulated several bundles of fur, which he sold at Fort Cass, a trading-post of the American Fur Company. Down the Yellowstone he had the pleasure of conveying as passenger Milton Sublette, who was busy that year establishing for the Rocky Mountain Company rival establishments near those of the American Company.20
One of the first persons to greet Wyeth on his return was Captain Lambert, who informed him of the wreck of the Sultana on an unknown reef four hundred and fifty miles east of Tahiti. While there they lived on yams, arrow-root, and wild hogs. After remaining on the reef three or four months the cap tain and part of the crew shoved off in the launch and a small boat for Valparaiso. The launch made a fair passage. The boat, however, was sixty-eight days at sea, the crew sustaining life during the latter part of
*° See Saxton's Or. Ter., MS., iii. 99; Etoerts' Trapper's Life, MS., 17; Strong's Hist. Or., MS., 11; Nidever's Life and Adv., MS., 40; Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 5; Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 203; Gray's Or., 39; Victor's River of the West, 3G-8 and 108-9, which says that Wyeth accompanied Subletted party to the head-waters of the Humboldt, whence he proceeded north; Trans. Or. Pioneer Assoc., 187o, 24; McLoughlin's Private Papers, MS., ser. ii. 2, which mixes the incidents of the first expedition with those of the second; Abbo/t's Kit Carson, 121; Peters' Kit Carson, 92; John L 'all in Con. Hist. Soc. Montana, 111-12; limes' Ex. Or., 411; Irriny's Bonneville's Adv., G9-71, 201-3, 348; Thornton'* Or. and Cal., ii. 17; Allan's Earn., MS., 9.
568 KELLEY, WYETII, AND BONNEVILLE.
their perilous passage by eating porpoise-meat and drinking rain- water wrung from their garments. Those left on the reef who would not venture so long a dis tance in open boats were finally taken off and carried to Tahiti by a passing schooner. From Valparaiso the captain and crew took the first ship for the United States.
B. L. E. Bonneville visited the Columbia in 1834. A Frenchman by birth, and a captain in the United States army, being in his coarse way bon-vivant and voluptuary, he preferred lording it in the forest with a troop of white and red savages at his heels, and every fortnight a new unmarried wife flaunting her brave finery, to sitting in the satin sackcloth of conventional parlors and simpering silly nothings. In August 1831 he asked and obtained a two years' leave of absence, for the purpose of engaging in an Indian shooting and fur-hunting expedition in the far west. With the assistance of several associates who wrere led to expect large returns from their outlay, an expedition was fitted out for the captain.21
21 This very commonplace excursion under the title of Adventures of Cap tain Bonnevil'e has been done into elegant romance by Washington Irving, who enlarges the captain's misstatements ad libitum. After the appearance of Irving's book, Bonneville absolutely began to regard himself as a great man filled with heroic purposes, and his trapping failures as grand achievements. 'One of my parties,' he wrote, in Con. Hist. Soc. Montana, 1876, 105-10, 'was sent through the Crow country. . .another party was sent south, and wintered on the shores of Salt Lake [they trapped along the northern shore of the lake]; another journeyed into the Ute's country, further south, until it met the traders and trappers from New Mexico ; another went down Salmon River to Walla Walla, on the Columbia ; another to coast around the Salt Lake ; [this was never done]. . .another party going west, down the waters of Snake River to the base of the California range [to midway between the Blue mountains and the Cascade range] turned south-east and on the way home kept the divide, as near as practicable, between Maria and Snake rivers. ' Then he goes on, ' I was the first to take wagons through the South Pass, and first to recognize Green River as the Colorado of the west,' both of which statements are untrue. Irving met Bonneville at the house of Astor, under whose table the genial writer loved to stretch his legs, and gather inci dents for well paid panegyrics. Bonneville was born in France in 1795, graduated at W^est Point in 1815, fought through the Mexican war, was made colonel of infantry in 1855, retired from active service in 1861, and died a
General at Fort Smith, Arkansas, in 1878, the oldest officer in the United tates army. Exceedingly lucky was Bonneville in finding so eloquent and amiable a biographer as Irving.
BONNE VILLE'S ADVENTURES.
569
From Fort Osage on the Missouri River on the 1st of May 1832, with one hundred and ten men and twenty wagons, Bonneville set out on his adventures, in which he hoped to unite pleasure with profit. To shoot buffalo was rare fun; but men were the nobler game, whom to search out in their retreat and slaughter and scalp was glorious. What were the far-off natives
THE GREEN RIVER COUNTRY.
of the Rocky Mountains doing that this restless, reckless, blood-thirsty, and cruel Frenchman should be permitted to kill them? This, however, was but parallel with the general conduct of the government throughout the entire epoch of aboriginal extermina-
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tions, and which future ages \vill look back upon as
570 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
the foulest blot in the annals of the nation. The vilest agents were permitted to employ the vilest means; and this French butcher finds among our first writers a man to heroify him and to set up his dastardly deeds as models for the young.
Proceeding up the Missouri the party crossed the Kansas, and over what subsequently became the regu lar road, continued to the Platte River, and after two days' journey above the fork, crossed from the south to the north branch, thence up the Sweetwater, through the South Pass to Green River, on the Horse Creek branch of which he planted his wagons and made his grand depot. Then he threw up a breastwork of logs, and pieced out with pickets the enclosure which was dignified with the name of Fort Bonne ville.
It was now the first of August. Bonne ville had been passed while en route by Fontenelle of the American Fur Company, at the head of fifty men on their way from their Yellowstone fort to the Green River rendezvous. William Sublette and Robert Campbell of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who had fallen in with Wyeth's party at Independence, and had brought them thus far on their journey in safety, though not altogether unmolested by the savages, now made their appearance at the rendezvous at Pierre Hole/2 where were also Sinclair and a band of fifteen free trappers. The trapping party of the American Fur Company was this year to be conducted by Vanderburgh and Dripps, while Fitzpatrick and Bridger were to conduct the hunting expedition on behalf of the Rocky Mountain Company. Bonneville and Sinclair were each at the head of their own inde pendent parties. Bonneville, caching his wagons and superfluous effects, raised camp the 22d of August, and proceeded northward to winter, the weather then being milder, and the game more plentiful than on Green River. Passing Jackson Hole and Pierre Hole the party came upon the upper waters of Salmon
22 A valley some thirty miles long and fifteen wide.
SEVERE OPPOSITION. 571
River, down which they continued till five miles be low the principal fork, where they went into winter- quarters.
Meanwile rivalry between the representatives of the two great companies waxed warm. As we have seen in the competitions of British companies within British territory a fiercer opposition existing than that between rival companies of the two different nation alities, so in the competing efforts of these two United States companies there was now a greater animosity than was ever engendered between American and English traders.
Vandeburgh and Dripps, whose offer to divide the country had been rejected, now closely followed Fitz- patrick and Bridger from the rendezvous northward, determined upon their share of the best hunting- grounds. After every effort in vain to elude and shake them off, Fitzpatrick and Bridger resolved to sacrifice the hunt for that season, and teach their rivals a lesson. Turning southward, therefore, into the very heart of the Blackfoot country, where game was scarce and savages hostile, they reached a branch of the Missouri, which they followed downward. Hard after them came the less experienced Dripps and Van- derburgh, falling easy victims into the fated trap so cunningly laid. For they had not proceeded far in this direction, when they were set upon by the terrible Blackfeet, and a number of the party, among whom was Vanderburgh, slain, while the remainder took to flight. Bridger and Fitzpatrick were likewise attacked, but escaped, not, however, until the former had been knocked down and nearly killed by a chief on whom he was raising his gun in friendly parley.
The Blackfeet were called blood- thirsty and treacher ous; but during this one hunting campaign, in two friendly conferences the white men had attacked the foe, murdering one chief before all his people while holding his hand in amity, and preparing to attack another under like circumstances. But what can be
572 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNE VILLE.
expected of men who will ruthlessly lead their own kindred in country and color to their death, in order to secure a winter's traffic to themselves ! And yet for half a century among the Christian, the cultivated, the brave of our land, the cry rings from east to west : Down with the red men! exterminate the reptiles! There is no safety for our high and holy civilization but by sweeping from the earth the people we have robbed, betrayed, and outraged.
Breaking his company, Bonneville sent out detached parties in various directions to trap, and returning southward himself with a portion of the men, they prepared for a spring hunt in the vicinity of Malade and Boise rivers, and were present at the Green River rendezvous in July 1833. One of his men, Walker, was sent with forty trappers to hunt upon the streams emptying into Great Salt Lake. Bonneville then went with fifty-six men to the Bighorn River region, falling in with Wyeth on the way, and making part of the journey with Campbell's company. After a somewhat unsuccessful jaunt Bonneville returned to his Green River caches. Indeed, when sifted of the romance certain writers have chosen to throw around them, his adventures are singularly devoid of incidents and fruits.23
After going into winter-quarters in the vicinity of the Portneuf River, near Fort Hall, Bonneville de termined to visit Fort Walla Walla. Indeed, the captain had some idea of planting a post himself somewhere on the lower Columbia, and entering the field against the Hudson's Bay Company.
Taking with him only three companions he passed down Snake River, through the Grand Ronde, and over the Blue Mountains, reaching Fort Walla Walla the 4th of March, 1834. Though kindly received by Mr Pambrun, and entertained in the most hospitable manner, when Bonneville expressed a wish to purchase
23 Probably there is no greater triumph of a writer than in making a thrill ing narrative of nothing. In this Irving has admirably succeeded.
DASTARDLY PROCEEDINGS. 573
some articles for his camp lie was politely informed by Pambrun that it was not the custom of his company to furnish supplies to rival traders. There upon Bonne ville returned in a pet to Portneuf. His next move was to look after the party sent to Salt Lake.24 After some search he found them on Bear River, and was informed that they had passed by the northern end of Salt Lake to the Humboldt River25 where they set their traps. A trap was missed one morning, whereupon they swore a big round oath that they would shoot the first red man they met. Presently they discovered two poor Shoshones basking in the sun. Immediately a rifle was raised, crack! and one of the natives rolled over dead. Tumbling the body into the river, they permitted the other to escape. Not long after, coming upon a band of these peaceful and inoii?ensive people, an onslaught was made, and twenty- five of them butchered. No attempt at defence was made by the natives, who sought the nearest cover amidst pitiful wailings. Following the Humboldt to its sink, they then crossed the Sierra Nevada to Monterey.26 Then the brave band went back to their captain.
Again on the 3d of July, with twenty-three well mounted men, Bonneville sets out for the Columbia.
24 Bonneville 's biographer here fills his hero with a lofty enthusiasm for scientific exploration, and makes this journey the result of a disinterested desire to extend knowledge in this direction, on reading which the captain doubtless so thought of it for the first time. Had Bonneville really been anxious to explore Salt Lake he would scarcely have sent on such an errand a baud of base murderers, but would have gone himself. Surely there was nothing to prevent his going. He had nothing to do, and did nothing. The lake was near at hand, it would seem that one possessed of common curiosity would have wished to see it. But the fact is the idea does not seem to have occurred to Bonneville until put into his head by Irving when writing his narrative. Irving goes so far in his duplicity as almost to make his hero the discoverer of the lake, calling it Lake Bonneville, etc., when fifty white men had seen it before the Frenchman was there, and when Bonneville never ex- ploi^ed the lake at all. See Pac. R. Rept., xi. 34. Even Townsend, Nar., 79, condemns this barefaced proceeding.
'2'J Then known as Ogden River, Peter Skeen Ogden having been its first discoverer. It was also called the Marie or Mary River. See Hist. Utah, and Hist. Nevada, this series.
26 ]\jr irving enlightens us in his usual happy and authentic vein, as to the geography and history of what he calls New California, which account is cer tainly more eloquent than instructive. Bonneville^ s Adv., 330—6.
574 KELLEY, WYETH, AND BONNEVILLE.
A week after, hearing that Wyeth is in his rear, and anxious to be first in all grassy bottoms and beaver grounds, he caches a portion of his effects, and hastens forward.27 Wyeth, however, overtakes him, and after a friendly bout at the bottle drops again in the rear. The French captain thinks he will go down into the Willamette Valley and do something great, like a French captain ! He will trap by the way and become rich. Then he will build a fortress whose palisades shall enclose all Oregon, and the British shall not enter into it.
But midst these dreams his men hunger, and he has nothing to feed them withal; so about the first of September, as he passes by Walla Walla, some thirty miles to the southward, he sends to the fort, asking food, messengers who are hospitably fed and lodged, but return empty-handed. Neither will the natives on the river below trade him fish, so that presently he is obliged to kill two of his horses to save his party from starvation. Poor captain ! Brags your egotism never so loudly, there are some things you cannot do. You may buckle }^our belt, and drill your hundred men, and shoot off your carbines, and shout, and ges ticulate; that is glory. But these hard-headed, keen witted, bony-featured Scotchmen of sharp eyes, steel sinews, oily tongues, and kind hearts, have been half a century cultivating this trade, have dealt with the simple-minded natives fairly, never cheating, or kill ing, or violating homes, never slaughtering twenty-six innocent and inoffensive human beings, as did your men on Humboldt River, because some one stole a beaver -trap — these men, it would seem, have this trade so secure that fifty-six whiskey-selling woman- scalpers cannot step in and at a moment's notice take it away from them.
27 Here Bonncville is made to meet and make drunk the leader of a Hudson's Bay Company post. It is noticeable that whenever Irving seta two men drinking his hero always acts the gentleman, while the other, especially if a foreigner, gets beastly drunk and disgraces himself. Instance likewise 'Hunt's interview with the governor of Sitka, where the Astor party
THE CAPTAIN RETIRES. 575
So the gallant Bonneville, for self and associates, continues down the bank of the Columbia in a very ill humor. He curses the Scotchmen, the natives, the country. And yet the sky is bright, the forest green, and waters flow. Curse yourself, my little man; you will scarcely find hereabout a more fitting object.
And now, the farther ho penetrates this country the less is he pleased with it. The people, reel and white, everywhere reciprocate his feelings. He con cludes he will not take the Willamette Valley now, for if he does he will starve. So he turns up John Day River, and goes back to his Shoshones, for these are easy to kill and plunder; and what is the need of violence when women sell their favors for a song? Their hunger, however, is not fully satisfied until tow ard the first of November when they reach Portneuf and buffaloes. By way of the Platte River the cap tain, all that is left of him, in soiled and crumpled feathers reaches civilization in August 1835, return ing as rich as he went, though his associates who had paid the expenses of the adventure are several degrees poorer.28
repays the most lavish entertainment by maligning the entertainers. I deem it no praiseworthy part for any writer to play to sacrifice truth in order to gain popularity by fostering the prejudices of his countrymen.
28 In speaking of this trip, Hines, Or. II '1st. , 170-1, mixes his Methodism with Irving's fiction at a sad rate. Townsend, JVar., 147, mentions his meeting Wyeth. Gray, Hist. Or., 39, of course condoles with him because the Hudson's Bay Company did not immediately divide their territory with him and set him up in business. Mrs Victor, River of the West, 158-9, 103, thinks Bonneville's failures the result of his own inexperience, rather than of the failure of others to assist him. She thinks Pambrun quite right in his conduct, and the Hudson's Bay Company's policy the usual course pur sued by mercenary monopolies, and deserving of no special blame. Does the reader desire more he may consult Silliman's Journal, Jan. 1834, where the writer thinks Bonneville pushed enterprise to the verge of absurdity. Evans* Hist. Or., MS., 203; Warren's Mem., in Pac. R. Kept., xi. 33-6; Ebberts' Trapper's Life, MS., 8, 9; U. S. House Rept. 101, 25th Concj., 3d Sess., 57-8; where mention is made of the sharp dealing employed to drive away compe tition; Parker's Ex. Tour, 93-5; Tucker's Hist. Or., 53; White's Travels in Or., 175.
CHAPTER XXYI.
WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE. 1834-1837.
THE COLUMBIA RIVER FISHING AND TRADING COMPANY — THE ' MAY DACRE ' CHARTERED AND FREIGHTED FOR THE COLUMBIA — WYETH WITH AN OVERLAND PARTY STARTS FROM INDEPENDENCE — SCIENCE AND RELIGION EN ROUTE FOR OREGON — TOWNSEND — NUTTALL — JASON LEE AND HIS BROTHER MISSIONARIES— THE JOURNEY— BUILDING OF FORT HALL — ARRIVAL AT FORT VANCOUVER — THE ' MAY DACRE ' ENTERS THE COLUM BIA — ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT WILLIAM ON WAPATO ISLAND — FORT BOISE BUILT TO OPPOSE FORT HALL — FAILURE OF WYETH'S ENTER PRISE — SALE OF EFFECTS TO THE ALL-POWERFUL MONOPOLY.
THE failure of the first of the two adventures which, under the auspices of the solid men of Boston, were destined to prove the forerunner of Christian civiliza tion on the Pacific seaboard, was in no wise charge able upon the agent. Wyeth did his duty well ; ' did all that a man could do. Not having power over the ele ments he could not bring the Sultana safely to port, and when she failed to appear he had only to return. The time of ultimate success or failure, however, had not yet come.
Arrived at Boston from his long and perilous pil grimage, the winter of 1833-4 passed quickly away. With what keen zest come to the returned forest- rover the proud pleasures of home! During the journey between oceans Wyeth had pretty well de termined what he should attempt to do. In brighter hues than ever arose within his mind the old As toria imagery; with this difference, however: while Astor would supply interior trappers from the east,
(576)
THE COLUMBIA RIVER COMPANY. 577
Wyeth would supply them from the west. The land carriage would be shorter, cheaper, and safer in the one case than in the other. With this fur-trade he might profitably combine salmon-fishing, and to these ends fortifications would be essential, two at least, and those at the outset, one somewhere on the lower Columbia, and one in the central interior. Twice round Cape Horn each year his ship would go, bring ing from Boston the products and goods of civilized industry, and carrying back furs and fish.
''Figure it up," he argued, while enlisting the cooperation of the solid men of Boston, "the profit on the salmon alone will pay the expenses of the ship, leaving the cost of carrying out the merchandise noth ing."
Not the slightest difficulty had Wyeth in again enlisting capital, New York being glad to join Boston in a new adventure; or in organizing the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company; or in charter ing the ship May Dacre, with Lambert again for captain, and loading her with articles suitable to the new enterprise; or in raising a second company to follow him overland. Had he not bought experience in the mountains, and should he not sell it to the fat speculators of the city? Besides, Wyeth was an able man, and whether in this enterprise he failed or not, the elements of success were bred in him. They liked him at Boston, and they liked him at Fort Vancouver; they believed in him everywhere.
By the middle of March 1834, Wyeth was at In dependence with fifty men ready for a start. With him were two scientists, Nuttall, an eminent botanist, and John K. Townsend, to whom we are indebted for a narrative of this expedition.1 Like boys just out
1 Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia, River, etc., Philadelphia, 1839. The author is a newly fledged collegian and member of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences. He was a good enough fellow, meaning well, but exceedingly simple, especially at starting. Before he saw Philadelphia again, heat and cold, hunger and thirst, sickness and danger, by sea and land, had served to hammer into his now vapid brain some degree of discrimination. He tells his story in a clear, HIST. N. \V. COAST, VOL. II. 37
578 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
of school these learned men essayed things strange, things mighty, and then rested. Their first freak was to walk from St Louis to Independence, three hundred miles; their second was not long after start ing, to give it up.
Besides our plant-chief and our bird-chief, as the Chinooks subsequently called them, who, though some what old-maidish and mouldy for such young savants — as if their eyes had been nowhere but between covers, and as if they had eaten nothing but books for break fast since infancy — seemed built upon an underlying stratum of sense, there was a fair sprinkling of divinity under titles of Jason Lee, his nephew Daniel Lee, and three lay brethren, P. L. Edwards, Cyrus Shcpard,2 and C. M. Walker, whose religious zeal, if we may believe their fellow-travellers, was in no wise abated because united with exciting adventure. Let us place the live missionaries beside the two scientists, and call them all i>-ood fellows.
o
Wyeth was now peculiarly fitted to lead an expedi tion of this kind. In backwoods operations some thing more and less than common military discipline is requisite; something stronger than the fear of de^th must be employed to govern men. Here the leader must have the confidence, which implies the respect of his followers. He must have their affection, which if seasoned with fear is doubly efficacious. True frontiersmen may be led anywhere by a man willing to receive in some degree their suggestions and share their dangers; but they will not be driven one inch. They all have judgment of their own on which they
straightforward way which engages attention and commands respect, but his science wrought no visible change in the mountains, forests, rivers, or seas of the Northwest. If he was innocent of much good, he was likewise inno cent of evil; may our tombstone tell truthfully the same tale. Birds were the gentle Townsend's pleasing study.
2 Gray, Hist. Or., 107, says that Shepard was a devout man, seeking the advancement of the missions, as well as the general good, and that he never had an enemy in Oregon, which latter is a questionable qualification. For a time after his arrival at Fort Vancouver he taught school, which was attended by the juvenile mongrels of the Hudson's Bay Company's servants. S Or., this series.
OVERLAND ROUTINE. 579
are accustomed to act, and have acted individually in many life and death emergencies, and they will not in time of trial trust themselves alone to commissioned pasteboard. It is enough to say here of Nathaniel J. Wyeth that he knew how to manage such men.
Here also was Wyeth's old friend Milton Sublotte, for twelve years trapper and trader in western parts, now on an expedition to the mountains with twenty of his own well tried mountaineers, any one of whom would not fear fifty redskins in open fight. And Sublette was his men's delight. Cool, courteous, strong in muscle as in mind, considerate, kind, as tender as a woman, fierce as a blood-eating catamount, true to
* o '
his men as the magnet to the pole, ready to share hardships and dangers equally with them, there was not one but would die twenty times, were that pos sible, rather than be seen by him to flinch before danger. He need not trouble himself about their fail ing him under trials ; they worshipped him. And more than once they had been in a body over the present proposed track, so that they were a most desirable accession to any party journeying in that direction. In the vicinity at this time was William Sublette, with, a party of light-footed traffickers, thirty-five in all; but belonging to a rival company, he held him self aloof and communicated his intended movements to no one. A fortnight out, he passed Captain Wy eth's company in the night, thus hastening on before him in order first to secure furs brought to the sum mer rendezvous.
At 10 o'clock on the 28th of April 1834 the party in the gayest of moods began its long march. There were in the caravan seventy men and two hundred and fifty horses. It had been an impossibility to obtain mules here at this time, the Santa Fe traders having secured them all. Wyeth and Sublette rode first, each with a mounted collegian at his side, thus tempering adventure with learning. Then the men followed in double file, each leading two horses laden
580 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
each with two eighty-pound packages of stores, Thing, Wyeth's assistant, bringing up the rear. The mission aries with a band of horned cattle hovered about the flank.
Men and beasts were flushed with enthusiasm. Our staid professor hardly knew whether he was in the flesh or out of it, but left his important post and clashed his charger up and down the line, joining in the uproarious mirth and the snatches of gay song which greeted his ear on every side with the most un- scholarly abandon.3
It being a large body, only twenty miles a day were made. The camp was divided into nine messes, each mess having one tent; also a captain, usually an ex perienced frontiersman, and a cook. Rations were given out to mess-captains every morning. The cap tain of the company selected spots for encampments, and designated where each mess should place its tent. He also directed the packers w^here to unload, so that, if need be, fortifications could be quickly improvised from the bales of goods. In times of danger the camp was formed into a hollow square with the horses staked inside; a guard of seven men was then formed, which was posted by the mess-captain, and relieved three times during the night. The hour was regularly called, and 'All's well!' went the rounds of the guard every fifteen minutes. The penalty for sleeping on guard was three days' foot travel.4
O *J
3 ' As we rode out from the encampment, our horses prancing and neighing, and pawing the ground, it was altogether so exciting that I could scarcely contain myself.' Townsen(Ts Nar., 27.
4 The second clay a hail-storm stampeded their stock, and after it was brought up the horses were staked. In discussing this operation the pro fessor gravely remarks that the horse must have a strong leathern halter, to the chin-strap of which is attached an iron ring, to which is tied a hemp or leathern rope just twenty-two feet long, the other end of which is fastened to an iron-tipped wooden stake two and a half feet long, driven full length into the ground. If the horse is hoppled he is staked all the better. It was regarded as very necessary at the same time to observe that a horse should be assigned a spot where it might obtain grass to eat, and that they should not be staked so near together as to interfere with each other. Another fact it would be well to note. A blanket placed upon ground so wet as to thoroughly .saturate it with water before one could fairly stretch one's self on it is not so Comfortable as a spring-bed in a first-class Philadelphia hotel.
PRAIRIE AND MOUNTAIN. 581
At the principal rivers the horses were stripped of their cargoes and saddles, and sent swimming over, being caught and corralled as they arrived at the opposite bank. The goods and men were then taken over on a flatboat. About a fortnight out a gloom was cast on the party by the illness of Sublette, who for a long time had been suffering from a fungus in his leg, now grown so much worse from riding that he found himself obliged to return to the settlement. Subsequently his leg was twice amputated, but the disease lingered, and a few years afterward he died.
Their route was from Independence west over rolling prairie dotted with groves of timber to the Kansas River, which was crossed the sixth day; then through tall luxuriant grass to reach the fork of Platte River, where they arrived the twentieth day; continu ing for six days along the south branch over the level prairie swarming with buffalo, with a range of sand- bluffs to the east; when, fording the stream, which is here as elsewhere broad and shallow, they cross through a salty, sandy waste to the northern branch; up the right bank of which over rugged hills past the Chimney obelisk and the castellated Scott Bluffs/ and through umbrageous forests they proceed to the Laramie Fork, where later was placed Fort Laramie. Here two free trappers cut loose from the train, and set themselves adrift in the wilderness. Crossing the Laramie branch the 1st of June, next clay they enter the frowning Black Hills, ascend to cooler latitudes, then pass clown on the side to the barren prairie beyond, where the arid soil is sapped by the twisted and aro matic wormwood. On the 7th the Red Buttes, con sisting of two or three cliffs of brownish red rising from the ferruginous soil some two thousand feet, are passed; after which leaving the Platte, they pass a desolate desert and encamp on the 9th at noon at
5 ' These are called Scott Bluffs; so named from an unfortunate trader who perished here from disease and hunger many years ago. He was deserted by his companions; and the year following his crumbling bones were found in this spot.' Townsend's Nar., 62, note.
582 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
Independence Hook on the bank of the Sweetwater. Cut into this mass of rounded granite some fifty feet in height, they find the names of the two Sublettes,also those of Fontenelle, Bonneville, and Serre; and to these they add their own, for of such is glory, and these mountain bourgeois of a truth possess the same right to distinguishment as Napoleon whose monu ments must be made by hands, while nature here prepares one for the children of the wilderness.
Fifteen feet is now the width of the stream, which when they first encountered it was two miles wide, and shallow, and twisting everywhere. Looking away ninety miles to the north-west, they sec the Wind River Mountains with their lofty peaks of dazzling whiteness.
Sweet indeed is the stream to the poor starving brutes, for on its banks they find luxuriant pasture. Behind were left wolves, wild horses, buffaloes, and antelopes; now we have the mountain-goat and griz zly bear. Alkaline efflorescences increase to a snowy whiteness and incrust the edges of the little salt-pools which cover these plains, while the strata of the fine grained sandstone are nearly horizontal, and standing scattered here and there are those rhomboidal rock masses, out of which imagination may carve castles with moat and drawbridge, turrets, embrasures, and loop-holes, to say nothing of the sky, the cliff, the stream, and the humble village beside it, or of the giant owner about to enter, and carrying in his hand mountain-mutton, the animal having been just caught and strangled for his supper.
From the Sweetwater on the 14th, they crossed south-westerly to Sandy River, where they arrived at nine o'clock at night, after a toilsome march over a country where there was neither water nor grass. Here the train became broken. Some of the animals became exhausted ; others following their instincts left the trail in spite of their drivers, and sought and found water. Lee and his brother missionaries with their
AT THE RENDEZVOUS. 583
cattle were obliged to halt before reaching camp, but came up without serious loss next morning.
Down this stream they went with nothing for their stock but short dry grass, which however poor for civilized animals sustained large herds of buffaloes, which were here seen. They reached Green River, sometimes called the Siskadee, and again the Seeds- keeder, clear, deep, rapid, and beautiful, on the 19th. Here, roaming the thoughtful solitude, gun in hand, our professor spent the day, while the company unex pectedly moved on to better pastures. In following them the unfortunate ornithologist was obliged to swim his horse across the stream, in which perform ance his coat, containing his notes, was lost, and a fever contracted which resulted in several days of severe suffering. Wyeth's party had now reached the rendezvous, which was in a small rich valley or basin sunk into the plain and surrounded by low, yellow, clay bluffs, in the vicinity of Green River and Plain Branch. Beyond the little bluffs on every side stretched out the broad prairie broken only by scatter ing buttes and distant mountain peaks. The river was full of fish, and the plains of buffalo, antelope, and elk.
At the rendezvous there were the usual feasting, fighting, and trafficking. The Shoshones, Nez Perces, and Bannacks, besides half-breeds, voyageurs, and free trappers were there, with the results of their year's hunting, hungry for the intoxication of rum and other excitement. Besides Wyeth, many other leaders were there, Fitzpatrick, Serre, and William Sublette, the last-arrived company encamping about a mile distant from the others. Two English pleasure-seekers joined Captain Wyeth's party at the rendezvous, Stewart, nobleman and gentleman, and one Ashworth.
There was the usual mixture of mirth and murder brooding, of obstreperous jollity, whooping, roaring, and wolfish snarling. The cataracts of hybrid oaths in the hiccoughed jargon of Indian, French, and English, were enough to puzzle Satan.
684 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
Prices of goods packed so far to this point, attended by all the risks and discomforts of a two months' journey, were enormous. Upon a beaver-skin stand ard, which naturally placed the price of peltries far below their cash value in the eastern market, alcohol diluted with water, which was the current intoxicat ing liquid, sold at three dollars a pint, and tobacco worth ten cents a pound in Philadelphia here brought two dollars. Other things were in proportion, though these were staples; it would be indeed tame trading without liquor and tobacco, something which for a moment would demonize the man and make him lunatic. Reason they regarded ordinarily a good thing, but on occasions it was grand to lay it aside.
Striking tents the 2d of July, with refreshed horses though without the letters it was hoped subsequent arrivals would bring from home, Wyeth and party took up their journey westward along Ham Branch through an open hilly plain relieved by clumps of cot- tonwood and poplar, and willow water fringes.
They cross the hills to the north-west on the 4th and strike Muddy Creek,6 an humble tributary of Bear River, which flows into the sombre Great Salt Lake; then on until they enter a cooing meadow of tall waving grass, under cover of which gently throbs one of nature's tiny pellucid veins, a purling brook, where camping and knocking the heads out of the liquor-kegs the bacchanals of the rendezvous are reunacted in honor of the clay. Strange that our mind-awakening and soul-elevating institutions cannot be adequately remembered even in forest festivities without liquid brain-besotting poison, packed on horses a thousand miles and more through a savage wilder ness! Look where we will throughout the realm of nature, only in mind-developing man do we find the ripest fools.
To avoid the great bend in Bear River they here, on
0 This name has since been thrown westward about ten leagues across the great bend, where it alighted on another stream south of Logan.
SITE OF FORT HALL. 585
the 5th, cross through lofty hills, round basalt cliffs and columns, and between rugged valleys and dusty alluvial plains covered with a short dry grass so poor that a ton of it would scarcely bring back to the bare ribs of the poor animals a pound of the flesh which they had lost, and encamp the 8th near the white clay pits on Bear Kiver, where little mounds of cal careous sinter mingled with eruptive thermal springs and waterless gas-jets cover the sickly plain.
Next day there came into camp Thomas McKay, whose party of Indians and Canadians were hunting in the vicinity. These wilds at present were almost as full of business as an exchange. On the 10th was encountered Bonneville's party resting in a sunken spot on the lava plain, which was here surrounded by high basaltic dikes full of large caves. These men had been upon a long march, and they were now lolling with tethered horses, napping, playing cards, or other wise passing the time.
Wyeth and Stewart called upon the Bald Chief in his lodge. A keg of metheglin, a choice drink in these thirsty parts, was placed before the visitors, who never rose to go until a hollow sound from the keg and the host's lugubrious smile warned them of the approaching end of the precious beverage.
The party encamped the llth on a branch of the Blackfoot, near the Portneuf, with the three Buttes, or Tetons, in sight, the 12th on Ross River, and the 14th on Snake River. Here they rested, for Wyeth had now reached the country where he thought his interior post should be located. A charming spot for the purpose was found in the midst of a rich grassy plain on the south bank of the Portneuf River, the opposite side of which was covered with large cotton- wood and willow trees rising from a thick undergrowth of the same, mixed with currant and service -berry bushes.7
7 Fort Hall, as permanently placed, was on the east bank of Snake River, a little distance north of the Portneuf.
586 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
All was now activity. Part were put to work fell ing trees, squaring logs, making corrals for the horses and houses for the men. A party of twelve, composed of those less averse to the gentlemanly avocation of fighting and hunting than to log hewing and rolling, were sent out to bring in food for the camp. The Blackfeet were here hostile. Seldom United States trappers were without a savage enemy ; the Canadians and English managed things differently.
While the hunting party were eating a buffalo which they had killed at their first halting-place on Ross River, one of their number, a little Welshman, who had been sent to watch the horses, came rushing back crying in affrighted falsetto, " Indians ! Indians ! " Instantly every man was on his feet with gun in hand ready to repel attack. Presently a loud laugh and muttered curse simultaneously broke from Richardson, the leader of the party, as the main body of McKay's retainers hobbled warily in view.
Falstaff's recruits were a handsome set beside them. On Richardson's shouting a jargon greeting, the leader of McKay's band, a Canadian of tamed coyote phys iognomy, gaudily arrayed in scarlet sash and ribboned hat, and two Indian aids likewise decked in rainbow hues, dashed into camp, threw themselves from their horses, and attacked the remaining viands with hearty cordiality. Soon the rest of the party, consisting of some thirty half-blanketed natives and mongrel young men, came up flaunting their tawdry apparel, which in some instances was so torn as scarcely to cover the wearers. And rapidly down their throats disappeared huge masses of savory hump-rib, side-rib, and fleece meat, the Canadians eating voraciously like wolves, the savages with a sedate dignity filling themselves more slowly but none the less thoroughly.
Ten days sufficed the hunters to kill and dry all the buffalo-meat their animals could carry to the newly erected fort. When a buffalo was killed, the best parts were cut into strips and placed on scaffolds to dry,
FOUNDING OF FORT HALL. 587
after which the meat was tied up in hundred-pound bales ready for use or transportation. The food of the hunters consisted of nothing but fresh buffalo-meat
O
and water, and this our scientists and pleasure-loving gentlemen now pronounced the best food in the world. Possibly in that rough life of exciting exercise in mountain air their stomachs might even have digested good roast beef and plum-pudding. The evenings they spent in telling stories, each striving to be best by telling the biggest ; though now and then the speaker's tremulous voice and dimmed eye as he spoke of distant wife or mother, or of a friend brutishly slaughtered for his furs by some lurking foe or trusted companion, denoted more feeling than the speaker cared to show. A mountain salute, that is, all the guns fired one after the other in quick succession as they approached the fort, brought every man to his feet, for they had been fasting and were then on short allowance. Me-
o
Kay's party was camped a short distance from the fort. Although the fort-builders had few tools, they did remarkably good work as the new finished stockade and two bastions testified. It was named Fort Hall, and became famous in overland emigrant travel.
Cantonment Leavenworth on the Missouri was prior to this the frontier post of the United States. The building, at this time, of a substantial fort mid way between Leavenworth and the mouth of the Columbia by Americans, though the establishment afterward fell into the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company, for a time was a very important affair. It was more than a mere half-way house for trappers ; it signified occupation, domination. All this region was still debatable ground, and every move of this kind had its influence in subsequently fixing the dividing line between British and United States domain.8
8 The post became famous, and performed good service during the several great overland emigrations. The emigrant trail was made to pass by it ; it was near to the Great Salt Lake, was central, and valuable in scores of ways. From this point in time radiated roads in every direction : to Missouri, to Cal ifornia, to Utah, to Oregon, and to British Columbia. In his testimony, H.
588 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
The admirable training of McKay's men was sub ject of remark, being different as regarded subor dination and decorum from Wyeth's, and indeed any United States company. It was composed nearly half of Indians, and so religious were they that from one to two hours were often spent at their devotions, which were conducted earnestly, soberly, and wholly after their own fashion.
Sunday, the 27th of July 1834, Jason Lee,9 by request, preached before the two companies in the forest adjacent, being the first Christian religious ser vices performed at Fort Hall.
Lee and his brother missionaries, in order that his horned cattle might have more time for their weary journey, left Fort Hall for Fort Vancouver on the 30th of July in company with Stewart and McKay's party. Cheers and three volleys of fire-arms, expressive of hearty good wishes, followed them as they rode off.
The fort was completed. The 5th of August at sun rise the United States flag floated from the flag-staff, round which the entire company collected while a salute was fired. One more mammon temple had been reared in the wilderness. In the region round, about as much of man and as little of God as possible here after should follow. In the dedication of the temple the day was given up to debauchery. Vilely immoral men were given as much vile drink as they could stagger under; and when the sun set on a day of besotted indulgence with its pistollings, fisticuffings, head-mashings, and eye-gougings, commerce was satis-
23. Co. Ev.,H.B. Co. Claims, 153, in 1865, Angus McDonald valued the fort and lands belonging to it at $1,000,000. It was near the old war ground of the Blackfeet, Snake, and Crows, and prevented many a massacre. It was sev eral times attacked and nearly burned, but stood to its duty nobly.
9 ' Mr Lee is a great favorite with the men, deservedly so, and there are probably few persons to whose preaching they would have listened with so much complaisance. I have often been amused and pleased by Mr Lee's man ner of reproving them for the coarseness and profanity of expression which is so universal amongst them. The reproof, although decided, clear, and strong, is always characterized by the mildness and affectionate manner peculiar to the man, and although the good effect of the advice may not be discernible, yet it is always treated with respect, audits utility acknowledged. ' See Hist. Or. , this series.
IN THE MOUNTAINS. 589
fied. It seems that the devil does not reserve all wickedness for religion.
Leaving a few men in charge, Wyeth and his com pany, consisting now of thirty men, some Indian women, and one hundred and sixteen horses, set out from Fort Hall at 11 o'clock the Gth of August. Crossing Snake River, which is here as wide as the Missouri at Independence, and proceeding westward through a sandy plain, jagged with lava masses and covered with wormwood, they enter the heart of the Blackfoot country, the most dangerous wild west of the Rocky Mountains. Nor is it less scourging than dangerous. There are days when not a shrub is seen to break the rays of the merciless sun, nor yet a blade of grass or a drop of water. Men chew bullets and pebbles to keep their tongues from cracking, and the poor brutes stagger from iaintness.
On Goddin Creek, so called from a Canadian killed there by the Blackfeet, they find some good pasture; then over a lava and wormwood plain again, and through an exceedingly rugged mountain defile into a well watered grassy plain filled with currant and berry bushes, and bordered by snow-topped ridges yielding greenstone, chalcedony, and agate. They now enter the plains of endless sage with here willow-fringed streamlets and little oases of vegetation, and there a surface absolutely denuded; and after a gap between high mountains thickly covered with pines, a rest in a western Eden is attained, while Wyeth and Richard son explore the inexorable mountains in which they now find themselves locked, but failing to discover an outlet they return to camp. Turning back the 13th they follow their track of yesterday until out of the mountains, when they try another passage of the ridge with better success, and camp that night on the Malade River in a willow-covered valley filled with frolicsome beavers. Some friendly Shoshones on their way to the buffalo country visit Wyeth's camp, and smoke, receive presents, and direct him on his way.
590 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
Camass Prairie abounding in the esculent root10 which gives it the name, is reached the 17th, where camping on the bank of the Malade the company is quickly scattered over the patch, digging with their fingers and rilling their kettles with this palatable and wholesome vegetable.
On the 19th, Boise River, crammed with salmon, is reached, along the high rocky bank of which they travel next day, meeting several bands of Shoshones, who seem delighted at the coming of the white man to give them beads, blankets, and rum.
They cross Snake River near old Fort Boise, on the 23d, and the next day camp on the rich plains of Malheur River. Thence Richardson with eight men is despatched on a trapping expedition up the river and across the country, with orders to join Wyeth at the fort on the Columbia early the following winter.
They reached Powder River the 28th, and on the 31st arrived at Grande Roncle, where they found Bonneville and his company. This amateur forester, with a troop of Nez Forces and Cayuses at his heels, visited Wyeth's camp, and by his broad genial good- humor, which then happily possessed him, and his French manners, created a favorable impression. Meanwhile flitting in the distance astride a sleek bay horse gayly caparisoned, the mane and tail tied full of scarlet and blue ribbons, was a beautiful damsel glittering in finery, loaded with bells, beads, and rings fastened to broad bands of scarlet cloth, and who managed her horse as being part of it, but held aloof as the property of one who brooked no familiarity in the matter of mistresses.
Midst much suffering from thirst the zigzag pas sage of the Blue Mountains, an extensive and densely pine-covered chain, difficult in overcoming, and thrown across the trail between the great dividing ridge and the Cascades for the further perfection of emigrant
10 Somewhat resembles the taste of the common potato. This as well as auother root when fermented and baked is much esteemed by the Indians. Townsend's Nar., 126.
ARRIVAL AT FORT VANCOUVER. 591
patience, is made by the 1st of September. Next day they reach the Umatilla River, where, preparatory to meeting Pacific slope nabobs, they shave, leaving the lower part of the face white as a woman's while the upper part is as swarthy as that of an Indian.
Away from rugged mountains, over a broad undu lating country, under a bright sun, and under dry, bracing, elastic air, on the 3d they reach the Walla Walla River, between whose willow-shaded banks the happy salmon leap in delight. Resting the horses for an hour in a delightful pasture, they continue along the stream, and shortly after, on ascending a sandy eminence, the generous Columbia reveals itself.
Lewis and Clarke and their wintering of 1805-6 was the first thought, for their Travels was the Ore gon adventurer's text -book then. It was, indeed, a pleasant sight this princely stream, after four months of desert and wilderness wanderings. Before them on its bank stood the fort, while the cattle of good Par son Lee luxuriated under the grassy shade of little Walla Walla's willows. Stewed hare was set before the newcomers by the hospitable missionary, whose journey from Fort Hall had been without startling incident.
The missionaries had already engaged a barge to take them and their baggage down the river; Wyeth, Stewart, and Ashworth accompanied them, but the two scientists were obliged to make the journey to the Dalles on horseback, there being no room for them in the boat. Indian life, a somewhat monotonous trail, a few wild horses, and a little trading occupied the observation of travellers at this time. At the Dalles the people left their horses in charge of an Indian chief, pronounced trustworthy by Wyeth who knew him.
Below the Dalles canoes were provided, most of which were dashed in pieces in the Cascades, Wyeth and his crew having to battle for their lives. Just below the Cascades, the missionaries, in a bedraggled
592 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
condition, were overtaken by the rear party. Finally canoes were procured from the natives and they were taken to Fort Vancouver, where they arrived the 16th of September 1834. Lee had preceded the scien tists and was on the bank in front of the fort with McLoughlin,to receive and introduce them.
The Lees proceeded at once in search of a place for a station, and found what seemed suitable above the falls of the Willamette, about sixty miles south of Fort Vancouver. Then they returned and held divine service at the fort the 25th of September.
Wyeth did not tarry long at Fort Vancouver, but hastened down the river to meet Captain Lambert and the May Dacre; for luckily the overland party and the brig arrived at the mouth of the Columbia almost simultaneously. Besides the freight for the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company, on board this ship were the goods of the missionaries, and all were in great glee over the opportune arrival. Mooring his vessel fore and aft to a large rock near the lower entrance to the Willamette, Wyeth was soon after seen rowing up the river in fine style in one of the ship's boats manned by eight oarsmen, five of whom were Kanakas.
Wyeth's first duty now was to determine upon the location of his establishment. He had made some observations to that end, but he was not yet wholly satisfied. Taking with him the two scientists, he embarked in his boat the 29th, passed round Wapa- to Island, and began the ascent of the Willamette, carefully examining the banks on either side. He would prefer for his station the head of ocean naviga tion on the Willamette, as better commanding the valley and being more beyond the immediate influence of the Hudson's Bay Company. The falls of the Willamette, where now stands Oregon City, would have suited him in many respects, but he did not wish directly to interfere with the plans of McLoughlin. All things considered, he finally fixed upon the lower
FORT WILLIAM. £93
end of Wapato, now called Sauve, Island, near where his vessel was moored, as the place for the future American metropolis on the Columbia.
Returning to the vessel he made immediate prepara^ tions for occupying that point. Erecting a temporary storehouse of twigs thatched with grass, the live stock was first landed, then the goods; and soon the place presented an unique appearance. More ground was cleared and other huts thrown up on either side of what some clay should be a street, through which now roamed at large pigs and poultry, sheep and goats. The carpenter, the cooper, the blacksmith, and other artisans were soon at work. Logs and boards for more solid structures were gotten out, and the wild- tangled river bank was being rapidly transformed into a place habitable for civilized man. The scientists domiciled themselves with Wyeth on the brig, and thence pursued their researches, pressing plants, and shooting birds and quadrupeds and preparing their skins for preservation; the natives at first refused to visit the vessel lest they should catch a disease11 then prevalent, but in time their fears were dissipated, and their presence became more troublesome than had been their absence.
Meanwhile it was arranged that while Wyeth returned to Fort Hall to look after matters there, the brig should make a voyage to the Sandwich Islands, and the scientists resolved to accompany it. Think ing to try Kanakas with forest life, Wyeth took with him twelve, but they deserted him at Walla Walla, each taking a horse to ride. Wyeth immediately wrote McLoughlin of the circumstance.
The 3d of December, as the May Dacre dropped down the river, a one-eyed Cowlitz named George boarded the vessel, and presented credentials signed by Captain McNeill of the Hudson's Bay Company,
11 A species of the ague and fever then raging. ' The symptoms are a gen eral coldness, soreness, and stiffness of the limbs and the body, with violent tertian ague.' Towiisend's Nar., 178. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 38
594 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
recommending the bearer as a pilot. An engagement was quickly made, in effect that for four bottles of rum George was safely to guide the vessel to the ocean, and for every time she struck one bottle was to be deducted. Taking his position upon the bow, he proved fully as efficient as those who now, for form's sake, and to secure an unearned fee, pilot ves sels into and out of well known and safe harbors. One single word was sufficient, ookook, here; his finger did the rest, and told where 'here' was.
Anchoring off Astoria on the 8th, a visit was made to Fort George, already well nigh lost under the foliage of the encroaching forest.12 A little trading was still carried on with the natives by the solitary white man who occupied the old hewn board house, but most of the traffic went to Fort Vancouver. As they were passing out at the mouth of the river they met a Hudson's Bay Company's coaster, having on board Chief Factor Ogden, two months from Nass, usually an eight days' voyage.
On the 16th of April 1835, the May Dacre en tered the Columbia, just returned from the Hawaiian Islands. Townsend made many excursions for birds, beasts, and fishes in various directions. Finally set ting sail in the Hudson's Bay Company's bark Colum bia, Captain Royal, the 21st of November 1836, he again visited the Hawaiian Islands, and thence pro ceeded to Valparaiso, where on the 22d of August 1837 he reembarked on board the brig B. Mezick, Captain Martin, for Philadelphia, where he landed the 17th of November.
Work% continued on Wapato Island during the win ter of 1834-5; a salmon fishery was started, and sev eral substantial log-houses were erected, over which Wyeth, on his return, raised the United States flag, and christened the place Fort William. In Wyeth's
12 ' The spot where once the fine parterre overlooked the river, and the bold stockade enclosed the neat and substantial fort, is now overgrown with weeds and bushes, and can scarce be distinguished from the primeval forest which surrounds it on every side.' TownseiuTs Nar., 182.
WESTERN DIPLOMACY. 595
absence Walker, the quasi missionary, acted as super intendent, turning as many men as possible into coop ers, and keeping them closely at work making barrels for the anticipated great catch.
But the business was not profitable. While the people at Fort Vancouver extended to him every cour tesy, they could not look with favor upon a large com peting establishment so nearly opposite them on the river. Salmon-catching they did not so much object to, but they would not see their fur-trade ruined if they could prevent it. Though they liked Wyeth well enough, he should not undersell them; he should not draw the natives from them. Hence, against this powerful organization, with a score or so of posts, with hundreds of experienced servants, and a thor oughly systematized business, it was plain to perceive that buying peltries could not be made profitable.
How was it with regard to single individuals? The
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condition of a man cut loose from the protection of the Hudson's Bay Company in Oregon, at this period, unless employed and furnished by one of the American companies, of whom there were none ex cept Wyeth's on the lower Columbia, was worse than that of the savage. For the savage having grown up in the endurance of privations is better able to submit to them, and when compelled to live upon the scant bounty of uncivilized naftire, or to clothe himself with skins of animals and bark of trees, accepts the necessity with resignation, and suffers but little in comparison with the miseries of his white brother under the same circumstances.
From the very first, McLoughlin was satisfied that the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company would prove a failure ; nay, he was determined it should be so. Besides discouraging the natives of the^lower Colum bia from trading at Fort William or assisting in catching salmon for the Americans, immediately after the erection of Fort Hall the Hudson's Bay Com pany planted a rival establishment in that vicinity.
596 WYETH'S SECOND ADVENTURE.
They did not build immediately contiguous, as was often the case elsewhere, but placed Fort Boise,13 as they called the post, on the east bank of the Snake River, midway between Boise and Payette rivers, thinking that by taking a position somewhat to the wcstvrard of the American post, they might the better cut off and oppose the Pacific trade.
The missionaries blamed McLoughlin for this, but Wyeth did not. His business instincts and native manliness told him that his Port Vancouver friend could not do otherwise; that the manager of Hudson's Bay affairs must act with all honorable aggression for his company. To certain practices growing out of the strong competition on Snake River, Wyeth in a memorial to congress took exceptions. He did not hesitate freely to condemn purchasing furs from hired men. Here the Americans did the same, he said, but the English began it. As for McLoughlin sanc tioning such a practice, Wyeth well knew that the old rontleman would as soon have thought of setting
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up a shop for the purchase of stolen goods.
Salmon-fishing alone of all their brilliant schemes was then left to the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company; and this industry in order to be profitable on a large scale required experience and proper appliances. The Chinook could take three fish out of the Columbia while the New England er took out one; but instead of assisting the Bostons of Wapato Island, the Chinooks opposed them. Then the nets of the New Englanders were not of the right kind; other of their appliances would not work; some quar relled.14 some were murdered, eight were drowned at
13 A parallelogram 100 feet on one side, adobe walls. Gray, Hist. Or., 140, who was there in 1830, calls it a miserable pen of a place, consisting of cotton- wood poles and crooked sticks set in a trench. It certainly possessed no importance, except in the way of opposition, and fell into decay soon after the purchase by the Hudson's Lay Company of Fort Hall. See further, Lev and Frost's Or., 210; Evans' Hist. Or., .MS., 189.
14 Here is one incident illustrative of the insane way men will sometimes behave in such an emergency. Thornburg, the tailor at Fort William, was a vindictive man and general bad character. So strong were his cravings for the sweets of intoxication, that in the absence of the owner he drank the
FAILURES. 597
one time; and before half a cargo for the May Dacre had been secured, Wyeth feared for the pockets of his Boston associates.
Trapping in the region round Fort Hall met with no better success. A band of Blackfeet fell upon a party under Thing, and after killing several of the men, secured a large booty. Emaciated, pale, and apparently seven years older than the season before, Thing came down to Fort William in July 1835, only to add his dismal story to the other misadventures. About the same time there arrived from the south Mr Bailey, wrecked in mind and body, having been fear fully bruised and gashed by the natives of the Rogue River region while en route from California to join Young, every one of his seven companions having been massacred.
Wyeth put forth all his powers for the accomplish ment of his high anticipations, but though he battled bravely ill-luck everywhere attended his efforts. The May Dacre sailed away with her half cargo of fish and a few furs, all the returns from money, goods, and incessant toil the first year could show, but not until after experiencing two successive years of dearth of salmon would Wyeth recognize the blank ruin that stared him in the face.
Finally breaking up his establishment on Wapato Island in 1836 he returned to Boston. After consult ing his associates, he wrote the directors of the Hud son's Bay Company in London offering for sale the property and establishments of Fort Hall and Fort William. The matter was referred from London to Fort Vancouver, and Wyeth was again obliged to visit
alcohol from the naturalist's jar of preserved lizards and snakes, and was happy for a day over it. Between this man and Hubbard, the gunsmith, there had been for some time a dispute, and more than one had heard Thorn- burg say he would kill Hubbard. Early on the morning of the 4th of July 1835, Thornburg, armed with a gun and knife, entered the room of Hubbard, cocked the gun, and prepared to level it upon his intended victim. But Hub bard awakening, drew his pistol and fired on Thornburg, who died in a few minutes. The matter was fully examined by the officers of the company, and a written certificate given Hubbard exonerating him wholly. See Hist. Or., this series.
598 WYETH'S SECOJSD ADVENTUEE.
the coast. At last in 1837 the sale was consummated, and Wyeth and his agent left the Columbia in one of the company's vessels for Honolulu. Most of Wyeth's men remained in Oregon. On this third and final return of Wyeth from Oregon to Boston the Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company was dissolved, and the late manager embarked in other and more lucrative business.
Though to himself, and pecuniarily, Wyeth's Oregon adventures were a failure, his influence on Oregon occupation and settlement was second to none. The flag of the United States was planted by him simul taneously in the heart of the continent and on the seaboard of the Pacific. He it was who, more directly than any other man, marked the way for the ox-teams which were so shortly to bring the Americanized civ ilization of Europe across the roadless continent. Thus may we easily trace the direct influence of Boston, far greater than that of New York with its Astor, upon American Pacific possession, first in the coast fur-traders, then in the agitations of Kelley, the school-master, and finally in the enterprise of Wyeth, the Cambridge ice-dealer. And most happy are we to know that after his hardships and losses in Oregon enterprise Wyeth established a large business for the exportation of ice from Boston to Calcutta which was in every way successful.15
After the abandonment by Wyeth of Fort William a dairy was established on Wapato Island, which soon became quite extensive. It was given in charge to a
K Strong's Hist. Or., MS., 11; Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 204; Anderson's North west Coast', M.S., 121; Trans. Or. Pioneer Assoc., 1875, 24; Townsend's Nar., passim; Parker's Tour., 139, 149, 180; Victor's River of the West, 36-8; Nines' Ex. Or., 411-12. John Dunn, Or. Ter., 140, states that the ' company offered him every facility,' which is not true. McLoughlin, Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 2, speaks of a vessel which was wrecked, having been sent out to meet the first expedition, wiiich is a mistake. Gray, Hist. Or., 622, falsely changes the Hudson's Bay Company with having driven Wyeth hence by dis honorable means. Wilkes, Nar. U. S. Explor. Ex., v. 128, mentions Warrior's Poinb as 'the locality where Wyeth proposed to erect his great city of the west.' See also Tucker's Hist. Or., 53; Hunt's Mer. May., vi. 318; Greenhow's Or. and Gal. , 359. Religion not being an exact science the missionaries acquire such a habit of looseness in their statements as to render them very unreliable
SUAVE ISLAND. 599
faithful French Canadian named Jean Baptiste Sauvd, from which circumstance the island became known as Sauve Island, which name it bears to this day. Between the island and Fort Vancouver a little schooner made regular trips twice a week.16
in regard to historical facts. Thus Hines, Ex. Or., 412, says that 'scores of lives were lost in Wyeth's expeditions.' Now a score is 20, scores must mean at least 40. On his first expedition Wyeth brought but 16 men into the mountains, and of these 4 returned east immediately, and 9 were brought to Fort Vancouver, leaving 3 in the mountains. Of the 50 comprising the second expedition 33 were left in the mountains, so that if every one of them was killed, the number would not amount to scores. A still more extravagant statement made by the same writer is, ' of 200 men whom he had led into Oregon, but 40 were known to be alive.' In Saxtoii's Or. Ter., MS., 100, it ia stated that Wyeth left Oregon finally in 1838.
16 In the report to congress of Mr Gushing, from the committee on foreign affairs, printed as U. 8. House Rept. No. 101, 25th Cong., 3d Sess., 6-22, is an interesting memoir of Mr Wyeth's, dated Cambridge, Feb. 4, 1839, giving clear and correct descriptions of the climate, soil, geography, trade, and agri culture of the Columbia. The capabilities of the country and the power of the Hudson's Bay Company are both pronounced extensive. Roberts, Eec., MS., 12, says that Townsend was given the berth of surgeon at Fort Van couver one winter, 'to make him more at ease at the establishment,' the refinement of hospitality, truly. Speaking generally of the Boston advent ure the same shrewd observer says: ' McLoughlin was required by the com pany to put down poor Wyeth, that is, in a fair, honorable, legitimate way. The bargain that did his business was something like this : He was not to oppose in the lower country, and we were not to oppose in the interior. But where he had one party we had -two, and then much better goods. Think of the Cascades, the Dalles, and the almost impassable difficulties, want of com mand over people, and who can be astonished at his failure.' See Hist Or., this series, passim.
CHAPTER XXVII.
FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL. 1836-1839.
THE STEAMER 'BEAVER'— SMALL-POX— UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE— WILLIAM A. SLACUM, AGENT — CAPTAIN BANCROFT — His HUNTING VOY AGE UPON THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA — KILLED BY THE KAIGANIES — BUILDING IN THE VALLEY WILLAMETTE — THE OREGON PROVISIONAL EMIGRATION SOCIETY — FARNHAM, AND THE COLUMBIA RIVER CITY- BUILDERS—SIR EDWARD BELCHER'S VISIT— COWLITZ PLAINS AND Nis- QUALLY SETTLEMENTS — THE PUGET SOUND AGRICULTURAL COMPANY- WILLIAM FRASER TOLMIE — RODERICK FINLAYSON ARRIVES.
BEHOLD now the advent of a new power in North western waters ; that giant servant and civilizer, steam, screeching heavenward its portentous hallelujahs, while the forest reverberates the cry, and the denizens of the sea lift to the surface their heads in stolid astonish ment 1
The first steam -vessel upon the north Pacific1 was the Hudson's Bay Company's steamer Beaver built at Blackwall in 1835, sailing round Cape Horn from England, carrying in her hold her own machinery, and arriving at Fort Vancouver in the spring of 1836. There her steam machinery was set up in her. Though clumsy, she was most substantially put together, l*er oak timbers being unusually heavy. Her small wheels were placed far forward like the fins of a seal; her square poop stood high out of the water, slanting toward the rudder.
It is not a little singular that shortly after her arrival the Beaver should turn her back upon the
1 She has been called the first steamer to come round Cape Horn, but when coming out she was not a steamer.
(GOO)
HISTORICAL SHIPS.
glories of head-quarters for the inhospitable wilderness of northern waters, should deliberately steam down the Columbia never to enter that stream again.
Long before Victoria was dreamed of, this little black Beaver was plying her paddles through the glis tening waters of cold, placid sounds and bays round Vancouver Island and far to the northward. She was early to enter the harbors of Victoria and Esquimalt, the schooner Cadboro being after her.
Every year, with the utmost regularity, the Beaver made her rounds among the northern stations, leaving Victoria, after the establishment was there, in April and returning in November. The natives of the va rious localities knew almost to a day where to expect her, and so were always on hand with their skins to trade for clothing, blankets, arms, and tobacco, a full supply of which the little steamer always carried. The goods were in charge of a chief trader, whose office was distinct from that of navigator. Thirty men was her complement, and she was armed with four six -pounders and plenty of small weapons. A rope netting round her deck prevented invasion by the natives, not over thirty of whom were allowed to come on board at one time unless accompanied by their families. No man-of-war ever maintained stricter dis cipline, and hence she was never taken by surprise.
Thus, from point to point she went, watching, dis tributing, gathering. Her northern depot was Fort Simpson, to which port she carried six cargoes gath ered from different localities during each voyage. The steamer Beaver was followed by the steamer Otter, which sailed from England in 1852, the trade having meanwhile grown beyond the dimensions of the for mer vessel. The Otter usually assisted the Beaver in bringing down'the harvest. A cabinet of curiosities was kept on the Beaver, curious to strangers, but of little interest to the savages who made them.2
2 Oli/mpia Pioneer and Democrat, Jan. 7, 1859; fiaxton's Or. Ter., MS., 80; Victoria Chronicle, Oct. 30, 1862; Ei-ans' Hist. Or., MS., 185-G; Leu-is, in B. G. Sketches, MS., 4; Finlaysoii's Hwt. V. I., MS., 97; HaycJ Col. Cal. Notes, iii. 18.
602 FURTHER AFFAIRS IX GENERAL.
The summer brigade which left Fort Vancouver the 25th of June 183G consisted of sixty men in nine boats, under Peter Skeen Ogden, chief factor, New Caledonia; Samuel Black, Kamloop; and Archibald McDonald, Colville.
This year the small-pox made its appearance, and attacking the natives with all its early virulence, endeavored as far as possible to complete the work so promisingly begun by fever and ague, and measles. With the advent of the more dire disease, however, it must not be supposed that the lesser ones retired. As long as there remained native communities in any considerable numbers the poisons of civilization were never for a moment absent.3
William A. Slacum, who the llth of November 1835 was instructed by John Forsyth, secretary of state, to drop in upon the people of the Oregon River region unofficially, in the guise of a private observer, being then about to visit the Pacific, and who, that he might while there be independent of the Hudson's Bay Company, chartered at Oalm the brig Lot-lot, Captain Bancroft, reported to the United States gov ernment the 2 6 th of March 1837 the appearance on board his vessel immediately it entered the Columbia, of Chenamus, chief of the Chi nooks, with a present of wild-fowl. The savage then demanded if that was a King George or a Boston ship. This was in Decem ber 1836. From Fort George Mr Birnie despatched a canoe to Fort Vancouver, notifying McLoughlin of the arrival of the vessel.4 By the messenger Slacum wrote to Duncan Finlayson, whom he had met at the Hawaiian Islands, asking a pilot and a stove, which
were sent him with a polite invitation to visit the
•
3 Beckwourth,the negro, was accused, I do not know how justly, of wilfully sowing small-pox among the pestiferous Blackfeet, }>y disposing to them of certain infected articles brought from St Louis.
4 ' On arriving, he pretended, 'says McLoughlin, Private Papers. MS.,2dser., 0, 'he was a private gentleman, and that he came to meet Murray and com panions who had left th« states to visit this country. But this did not deceive me.' See ///'*/. (//•., this series.
WILLIAM A. SLACUM. 603
fort. Shortly afterward, Douglas came down in a boat manned by nine voyageurs, and took Slacum to Fort Vancouver, where he was hospitably greeted by Mc- Loughlin and Finlayson. Mr Slacum further reports three thousand acres fenced and under cultivation at Fort Vancouver, where there were employed one hun dred men, under as strict regulations as in the best appointed military garrison.
Expressing a desire to see the Willamette Valley, McLoughlin sent him up the river in a boat to Camp Maud du Sable, as he terms the Encampment du Sable, the landing-place of the French settlement, where he found McKay/ and was visited by Jason Lee, who came from his station eighteen miles distant for that purpose. Lee, as well in felling timber, fenc ing, and planting, as in establishing schools and churches, was doing much for Christ and for the United States. He found Ewing Young, in excuse for starting a distillery, raving against McLoughlin. He encouraged the organization of the Willamette Cattle Company, offering such as chose to go free passage on the Loriot to California, and did carry ten settlers to Bodega after loaning Lee $500 wherewith to buy cattle. The worst charge he seemed able to bring against the Hudson's Bay Company was their
5 Jean Baptiste Desportez McKoy, as Slacum calls him, who came with the Astor company and pitched his tent permanently at this place six years prior to Slacum's visit. Thomas McKay, son of Alexander McKay, who crossed the continent with McKcnzie and perished in the Tonquin massacre, likewise set tled in the Willamette Valley, where, according to Anderson, Northwest Coast, MS., 74, he died in 1845. Thomas McKay was a character whose adventures would fill a volume. He was celebrated as a rifle shot, and like many half-breeds, though naturally gentle and courteous, he was exceedingly vin dictive. 'I have of ten heard McKay speak of the tragical fate of his parents. Says Townsend, Nar., 82, note, 'and with the bitter animosity and love of revenge inherited from his Indian mother I have heard him declare that he will yet be known on the coast as the avenger of blood.' This was very fine, and no doubt occasional shots in the Snake country greatly relieved the bur den placed upon his heart by the savages of the west coast of Vancouver Isl and. As McLoughlin did not sanction the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent persons for the deeds of the guilty, our brave and boastful half-breed was obliged to go all his life blood-thirsty, for of such men McLoughlin was the natural master. Of McKay I speak elsewhere. See Hist. Northwest Coast and Hist. Or., passim.
604 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
forbidding their people or dependents to dispose of furs to strangers.6
Captain Bancroft was an Englishman, and the owner and commander of his vessel.7 He was in no way connected with the Hudson's Bay Company, but conducted business on his own account. Though sea- otter were now scarce everywhere, they appeared to be more plentiful south than north of the Columbia. Old traders have assured me that owing to the more diligent use of fire-arms on the Northwest Coast these water beasts had in no inconsiderable numbers mi grated to the shores of California. The earlier custom became to some extent revived, of sailing to Sitka or the coast thereabouts, and taking thence natives to hunt on the shores of southern Oregon and northern California, carrying the catch to the Islands, where the proceeds would be divided, or returning the hunters to their own country after having purchased from them their share of skins. While prosecuting this trade in 1837, Captain Bancroft came to grief. Sail ing from Honolulu to Prince of Wales Island, he took
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on board some Kaiganie hunters with their implements, canoes, and provisions, the last consisting chiefly of dried fish and fish-oil not particularly agreeable to refined olfactory nerves, and such were undoubtedly those of the Kanaka lady, or by courtesy in fur-trad ing parlance wife, of Captain Bancroft, who one would think had never smelled fish in her favored isle, and who unfortunately was a passenger on this occasion. For
6 A party from the Loriot boarded the Llama in Baker Bay, where they found Chief Trader McLeod. 'It was mentioned in the course of conversa tion that a Madame Perand, wife of one of the Canadian settlers on the Wil lamette, had just come in with 20 to 30 fine beaver-skins. Some one of the party remarked, turning toward Captain Bancroft of the Loriot, 'There is a line chance for a bargain.' McLeod quickly replied, 'Damn the skin shall Madame Perand sell to cross the bar of the Columbia.' U, S. Home Rept. 101, 25th Cong., 3d tiess., 35. Though full of errors and somewhat warped by patriotism, Slacum's report on the whole was intelligent and fairly rendered. It should be compared with McLou'jhlin's Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 7.
7 This is Anderson's statement. Lee says Captain Bancroft was an Ameri can, and Slacum calls his ship an American vessel.
CAPTAIN BANCROFT. 605
as they sailed south, hunting as they went, she pelted the captain with her complaints until he became exas perated and vented his spleen most imprudently on those northern lords aboriginal. Driven on by the sickly smiles of the dark thick-lipped arid suffocating beauty, Captain Bancroft did not hesitate sometimes even to seize the obnoxious food and throw it into the sea, and otherwise to insult them. Though the rank of the Kaiganies might be offensive, it was none the less high, and they determined to put down Anglo-Kanaka impu dence. Having well laid their plans, the hyperboreans rose suddenly upon the signal, knocked senseless the seamen, and stabbed the captain on the quarter-deck. One other man besides the captain was killed. Even the frail dark one did not escape punishment in the way of bruises.
Having thus obtained possession of the ship, the Kaiganies ordered the mate to take them home, as suring1 him if in the least he valued his life not to
O
trifle with them, or attempt to pursue other than the most direct course. The mate obeyed. Indeed, he thought it best; for these people were both intelli gent and cunning. They knew the north star and the significance of the mariner's compass, and they watched the steersman night and day. Arrived at their isle, they took from the vessel their effects, with their share of the skins only, and after a present to the mate for courteous conduct under trying circumstances, they sent the vessel on its way.
But, lest the murderous Kaiganies should rise too high in reputation for honesty, it may be well to say that in February 1842 tidings reached Fort Simpson that an American schooner, visiting their place for hunters for a California expedition, and being forced by stress of weather to return to her anchorage after having once departed, was pillaged, and the crew left with little more than the bare ship to pursue fortune as best they might.
Turning to the Fort Simpson journals, I find re-
606 FURTHER AFFAIRS IX GENERAL.
corded by Chief Factor Work, under date 21st Sep tember 1837, the information that he had received " letters from Captain Bancroft dated 9th instant, and a letter from Mr Pelly dated August 3d, stating that the accompanying accounts between Captain Bancroft and the company were forwarded. Captain Bancroft states that he does not think he will return here, but go direct to the Islands from California." Two years pass, a long interval in the recording of a brief tragedy; but these slow, steady traders were accustomed to wide intervals of time and to far-reaching distances. The 15th of September 1839 Work writes: "Captain McNeill's sister-in-law is among the Kaigany people who arrived yesterday. She confirms the report we have heard at different times, for some time past, relative to Captain Bancroft being killed by some of his hunters. By her account the Indians say that the captain had become much addicted to drinking, that he had only five white men on board, the rest of his crew being all Sandwich Islanders; that he had his wife, a Sandwich Island woman, on board, that lat terly he tyrannized greatly and was very harsh, not only to his officers and men, but also to the Indians, whom he not only scrimped in provisions when they were unsuccessful in hunting, but gave them bad powder with which they could not kill the otters."
The following April there came to Fort Simpson the treacherous Kaiganies with their California skins for sale. Then the cunningly conscientious British men began to reason with themselves, wishing as usual to reconcile with their pecuniary interests what they thought to be wrong. The question was, Should the honorable adventurers from England, with a baronet for a London governor, and another baronet for an American governor, with prayer and statute books, with courts and clergy, and all the paraphernalia of redemption, buy from the savages furs obtained by means of mutiny and murder? Let us hear what the ingenious chief factor says of it, writing in his ever
INCONVENIENT CONSCIENCE. 607
faithful journal, of the grammar of which we will say nothing: "From the way these skins were come by, I regret seeing them come here, and traded them with reluctance. But what can we do if we don't take them; not only them but all the other furs the whole tribe might have would be taken to our opponents, the Russians, not only this year, but probably years to come." Done into intelligible speech Work's prayer that night would be, We know, O God, that it is sin; but really we cannot afford not to do it.
In the spring of 1838 another small house was built at the falls of the Willamette, where in 1827 Mc- Loughlin had begun preparations for erecting a saw-mill. Again timber was squared and hauled to the place, and again the building of the mill for various reasons vvas deferred. Then in 1840 came Jason Lee, super intendent of the Methodist Mission in Oregon, and asked a loan for the purpose of building a mission house at the falls, of the timber McLoughlin had cut, which request was granted; and after him other mis sionaries came and attempted to drive away McLough lin, all of which will be fully narrated in my history of Oregon, to which all doings of the permanent set tlers properly belong.8
" Only to glorify God, and to promote on earth the interests of piety," if we may believe their constitu tion, was formed at Lynn, Massachusetts, in August 1838, the Oregon Provisional Emigration Society. For the very small sum of three dollars a year, this being the full sum any one member was to pay, much credit was to be purchased in the after-life by sending men and women to Oregon to convert the natives and subdue the land. Considering how quickly the country was swept of its happy aborigines, and how the messengers of glad tidings fell to fighting
8 A full account of these troubles may be found in McLougJdin's Private Papers, MS., 1st and 4th series.
60S FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
each other for precedence, and the property raised by old women's sewing-societies, and at the monthly con ference meetings, it would seem that these good people might almost as well have kept their annual three dollars.
Not every one who travels and writes a book belongs to history. Thomas J. Farnham wrote two books, one of travels and the other of unseasoned gushings,9 and yet Farnham merits but little of our attention. His chief virtue lies in the age in which he lived. Ten years later, had he travelled thrice round the world, seeing all that Bayard Taylor failed to see, and had written twenty books, I should be obliged to pass him by. ,
The eighteen armed and mounted Illinoisans, who, following a flag on which was emblazoned "Oregon or the Grave!"10 and followed by a covered baggage- wagon, rode up before the Peoria court-house the 1st of May 1839, and after bowing their heads a moment passed on toward the western frontier, were neither fur-traders, missionaries, nor professional Indian-fight ers. They were about to embark in a line of business
9Thc first is entitled Travels in the Great Western Prairies, the Anahuac and Jiocky Mountains, and in the Oregon Territory, published at Pouglikcepsie in 1841 ; the second work appears in two editions, one, Life and Adventures in California, an octavo, New York, 1840, the other printed in Philadelphia in 12mo, I860, a bookseller's trick, to meet the demand for new accounts of the western coast, tinder the title of The Early Days of California. Besides these a pictorial edition Svo was issued in New York in 1857, and a pamphlet of 80 pages entitled History of Oregon Territory. It being a Demonstration of tlte Title of the United States rfj^orfh America to the Same, accompanied lya Map. New York, 1844. It is to be noticed that from Mexico is brought the time- honored name of Anahuac, which is here given to the mountains between the Arkansas and Colorado rivers northward. One thing shall be said of Farii- ham in his first book, he speaks well of everybody, missionaries and settlers, fur-hunters and sailors, Catholic and Protestant, English and American, an exceedingly rare accomplishment in those disputatious days of early Oregon. I will forgive him a day lost in the study of his worthless narrative for his delightful parade of the good qualities alone of mixed men. Descending to the California volume the scene changes. All his wrath while north seems to have been reserved that he might have the more to vent on the unhappy Cali- fornians. McLoughlin, Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 8, says that behind Farnham were others waiting to come to Oregon if his report should prove favorable.
10 The gift of Mrs Farnham, who accompanied them three days' journey ' to give them encouragement.' Uohnan'' s Peoria Party, MS., 4.
THOMAS J. FARNHAM. 609
new on the Northwest Coast, that of city-building. Others had dreamed of a city at the mouth of the Columbia, but here were the men to make one. Whence was to come the money for erecting houses, and paving streets; whence the people to fill the new city; how should prosper a town planted in a wilder ness, with forests for plantations and savages for money-changers, were matters for the future. First build the city. And it should be built. With heaven's blessing all things were possible; and heaven's bless ing on a city to be reared immediately on the pine- clad bank of the lower Columbia was asked beforehand by the good man of the town; and now all to be done was to wait and see what heaven should do for these fourteen armed and mounted city-builders. Should heaven deign to hear their prayer, assuredly it would be a cheap way of building a city, for this prayer and that wagon-load of clothing and food was their entire capital.
Well, to make the story short, after calling on Joseph Smith at Quincy, and making an excursion over the Santa Fe road from Independence to Bent Fort, the Peoria company disbanded, whereat some ten of them affirmed that they never intended to go to Oregon at all, while the others, now only four in num ber, after wintering in the vicinity of Bear River went northward the following spring, and by way of forts Hall and Boise passed on to Walla Walla. After visiting the missionaries thereabout, and the people of Willa mette Valley, early in December Farnham sailed in the ship Vancouver, Captain Duncan, to Honolulu, and thence proceeded by way of California and through Mexico to the United States. Farnham's three com panions take up their abode in Oregon, but their me tropolis remains unbuilt to this day.11
11 Farnham 'carried a huge blank-book buckled and strapped to his back, and every night he wrote up his travels . . . His duties as captain were well dis charged.' Hotmail's Peoria Party, MS., 4. Joseph Holmau, a member of the party, being a mechanic, employed his time during the winter in making saddle-trees and new gunstocks for the Shoshones, receiving his pay in beaver- HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 39
€10 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
Among the few exceptions to that great army of trappers and traders who roamed the Rocky Moun tains and died leaving no sign, was James Bridgcr, christened by the savages — if savages can christen— the Blanket Chief. If it be of advantage to a dead man Laving his name in living men's mouths, then Bridger was more fortunate than his fellows, for one of his paths across the mountains became known as Bridger Pass, and one of his trading-posts was famous in the clays of the great emigrations as Bridger Fort.
We encounter Bridger several times in our re-
o
spective mountaineerings, first as trapper, guide, and trader, then as discoverer of Great Salt Lake, and then at the rendezvous in 1830, with Milton Sublettc, Fitzpatrick, Frapp, and Jervais, buying from Smith, Sublettc, and Jackson their interest in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. Trapping hither and thither through forests and over mountains, among the head waters and affluents of the Yellowstone, Snake, Bear, and Green rivers, now with a party of the North American Company at their heels, spying their move ments and anticipating their plans, and now brought face to face with a Pludson's Bay party, whereupon each immediately begins to tamper with the hunters of the other; then we find Bridger and his Rocky Mountain party in 1836 attacked by eleven hundred Blackfeet on the Yellowstone, where he had a tempo rary fort. After this he went to Green River again. In 183G he was at the Pierre Hole rendezvous, but times were now so hard that an infatuated trapper could not spend a thousand dollars a day on his women, horses, and alcohol, chiefly for the reason that he did not have it. Wintering on the Missouri in 1837, Bridger was at the Wind River rendezvous. In 1837-8 he win tered on Powder River, and in the spring of the next year led his men through the Yellowstone country
skins. He tells his story in a clear concise narrative, taken for me by S. A. Clarke of Salem, for which, together with many other favors, I still remain his debtor.
SIR EDWARD BELCHER. 611
to the rendezvous near the Yellowstone Lake. This summer the American company held its last rendez vous in the Rocky Mountains at Bonneville's old fort on Green River. There were too few beavers for so strong competition.
Bridger now began to think of locating himself more permanently at some one of his many tempo rary forts or camping-grounds. Now that game was so scarce he could do better by thus establishing him self and let the trappers come to him, than by lead ing parties from place to place and supplying their necessities at their several hunting-camps. The spot finally chosen was on the Black branch of Green River, one hundred miles directly south of Fort Bonne ville. There Bryant found him in company with Vasquez, in July 1846.r
i :
During his voyage of maritime discovery in the ship Sulphur, 1836-42, Edward Belcher explored the Pacific, visited the Russian American establishments in 1837, touched at Nootka, and then set sail for San Francisco Bay. In 1839 he was again at Sitka, and thence proceeded to the mouth of the Columbia,, where he found Lieutenant Kellett, with the Starling of the same expedition, who was then surveying the mouth of the river, and who having descried Belcher's ap proach had stood out to meet him. In entering the river the Starling lost her rudder, and was obliged to pro ceed to Fort Vancouver for repairs. At the dilapi-
12 Fort Bridger, as it is called, is a small trading-fort, established, and now occupied by Bridger and Vasquez. The buildings are two or three miserable log-cabins, rudely constructed, and bearing but a faint resemblance to habita ble houses. Bryant's What I Saw in California, 142; Peter*' Kit Carson, 127- 31; Victor's River of the West, passim; White's Or., 143; Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 342-3. Colonel Dodge with 117 men made an expedition during the sum mer of 1835 from Fort Leavenworth up the South Platte to Pike's Peak, and on the Arkansas. U. S. Sen. Doc. 200, 24th Cong., 1st Sess.; American State Papers, Military Affairs, new ed. , vi. 130-46. F. X. Matthieu, in his Refu gee, Trapper, and Settler, a manuscript dictated before to me my stenog rapher, gives a clear, intelligent narrative of what constitues part of that maze of events occurring in the Rocky Mountain region in 1820-40, events as mazy as the mountains themselves, and utterly impossible to spin into one continuous thread.
612 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
dated port of Astoria they had found Mr Birnie ready to render them every assistance.
Sir Edward speaks in condescending terms of the establishment on the Columbia, and compares it flat teringly with Russian American head-quarters; but he expresses his surprise that pilots are not kept in wait ing tj guide vessels in, and breaks forth into disgust when informed that the fort had not cattle for his crew, although plenty of good beef was placed before the commander. This he was sorry he had eaten when afterward he was shown over the premises, and saw plenty for his men which had been denied him.13
As usual Gray is hard to please. If Americans were snubbed at Fort Vancouver, it was because they were Americans; if an Englishman received cool treat ment, it was part of the duplicity of that company in their effort to deceive their own countrymen as to the value of the country over which they had ruled so long. Such inferences are no less childish than false.
All things being equal, British subjects prefer that their farming interests should bo within British ter ritory. Hence after the opinion became current that the Columbia River would eventually be the dividing line between the lands of the two nations, though the attractions were in some respects inferior to those offered by the Willamette plains, attention was di rected to the lands lying between the Columbia and
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Puget Sound.
Simon Plomondeau14 had been sixteen years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. He was then advised by McLoughlin to go to the lower end of Cowlitz prairie and become a farmer. McLoughlin
13 Belcher's Voy., i. 92-114, 270-311. ' The advent of Sir E. Belcher and Kellett with the surveying ships, the ^al^Jia/- and Starling, ostensibly to sur vey the river and cross the sound, that is Sitka, was probably to protect the company and to overawe the Russians. Bel^uT thought lie was slighted, but I think Douglas was only carrying uu!: his orders.' Robert^ Rec., MS., 8.
14 Plomondeau could neither ivutl nor write; ho did not even keep the run of time, and could not tell the yo-ir in whk-h he made his most important movement. P. -S'. Co. Z>., //. 13. C'o. C7a ';/,>.•, 11- 15.
THE COWLITZ FARM. 613
loaned him animals, gave him permission to take up land, and ordered the natives not to molest him. This was in 1837. Plomondeau went, and with him Fain- cant, who planted himself there at the same time. Two years afterward, Douglas, Work, and Ross proceeded to the prairies, measured off about four thousand acres, beginning at the river bank, and made a map of the tract. Half was wooded, and half open. This map assisted the company greatly in establishing its claims before the joint commission. The year following, the Jesuits, Blanchet and Deniers, settled on the land between Plomondeau and the Puget Sound Com pany's claim. Large portions of this plain were gravelly; some were sandy; these were pronounced lit only for grazing. About one fourth of the land was suitable for cultivation.
The company's farm was opened immediately after the survey; many people were employed there, and the quantity of land under cultivation was increased from year to year, until in 184G there were 1,500 acres fenced and under cultivation, 11 barns, and in the vicinity 1,000 cattle, 200 horses, 100 swine, and 2,000 sheep.'15 A saw-mill was erected, which was burned before it was finished. The English continued to occupy these lands until 1853-4, at which time there was quite a rush of American settlers, and the English were so encroached upon that they made no further attempts at farming. For not only did the settlers take the ground, but the fence-rails and improvements as well; and acting in unison it was understood among them that any inter ference on the part of the British company should be resisted by force; for which purpose they carried guns and pistols when ploughing, planting, and fencing.
In charge of the Cowlitz farm for the British com pany, in 1.845, was Charles Forrest, who was suc ceeded in 1847 by George B. Roberts, and he by H. N. Peers and William Sinclair. Soon after 1851 the
15 The horses were Indian and half-breeds worth $40 each ; the sheep were tolerably good, and Mrorth four dollars each.
614 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
settlers before mentioned appeared, claiming under the donation law. E. L. Finch and J. H. Pierson came first, and after them William Lemon, George Hoi- sapple, and Jackson Barton. Those were the first16 to settle upon the British company's lands, and when ordered off by Peers, then the British agent in charge, they refused to go.
But little farming was done on Puget Sound prior to 1839, after which time Fort Nisqually became the principal depot for curing meat and loading vessels for the Russian American posts. The lands of the Cow- litz farm and round Fort Nisqually being better suited to pastoral purposes than to cultivation, comparatively little grain was raised there.17
As the commercial and agricultural interests of the Hudson's Bay Company developed, there were those a in or;0" the old fur-trading members who thought that
o o o
at the least farming, which was so diametrically opposed to fur-cultivating, should be abolished. At all events they said the two adventures need not be united; segregate them, and let those engage in either who would.
This advice was duly acted upon, and led in 1838 to the organization of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, which in the settling of the northern bank of the lower Columbia, was second only in historical importance to the Hudson's Bay Company.
Indeed the latter association,, though totally distinct from the former, was but an offshoot from it. The shares were held almost exclusively by stockholders of the Hudson's Bay Company ; its officers were chosen
10 About the same time came James Galloway, Lemuel Whittaker, and James Morgan, each claiming 160 acres, and J. 13. Brouchard C40 acres. P. S. Co. ED., 11. B. Co. Claims, 32.
17 Still the amount was not inconsiderable, if we may believe Wilkes, who writing in 1841 says, Nar. U. S. Explor. Ex., iv. 328: 'In connection with the company's establishment at Kisqually they have a large dairy, several hun dred head of cattle, and among them seventy milch cows, which yield a large supply of butter and cheese; they have also large crops of wheat, pease, and oats, and were preparing the ground for potatoes.'
WILLIAM ERASER TOLMIE. 615
from the officers of that corporation; and its rights were recognized by the boundary treaty of 184G.
It was in 1837 that the subject seriously presented itself at Fort Vancouver. The formation of the Willamette Cattle Company by United States set tlers, and the encouragement afforded that association
O
by Slacum, the secret agent of the United States, stimulated this movement. Surely the British had need of cattle as much as the Americans; they could handle them better, and more readily find a market for them. Further than this, if not, indeed, first of all, by laying claim to and stocking large tracts of land, by extensive building, fencing, and planting, they might show a footing in the country which would materially assist England in the coming partition.
Two purposes were served in making this company distinct from that of the old adventurers of Eng land trading into Hudson's Bay. First, the profits, if any, would not be subject to such small subdivi sions; and secondly, there might be some in the company who thought that the original fur business should be more strictly adhered to, and v/lio did not care to engage in stock-raising and agriculture.
Therefore a prospectus was issued, signed by \V. F. Tolmie,18 Forbes Barclay, and George B. Roberts,
18 William Fraser Tolmic was born at Inverness, Scotland, educated at Glasgow, botany being bis special predilection. He entered the Hudson's Bay Company's service as physician in 1832, and arrived at Fort Vancouver by way of Cape Horn from London in the spring of 1833. Sent to assist at the founding of Fort McLoughlin at Milbank Sound the following summer, in consequence of an accident to one of the party Tolmie was detained at Nis- qually until November, when with the party he proceeded to Milbank Sound. The year following he was appointed surgeon to the expedition sent under Ogden to establish a post on the Stikeen River, which expedition failing he assisted at the removal of Fort Simpson. During the summer of 1834 he acted as Indian trader, and in the autumn took his place as surgeon at Milbank Sound, where he remained until February 1830. Back at Fort Vancouver where settlers now came for medical advice as well as for supplies, he was both doctor and trader. Obtaining in 1840 a year's respite from medical duties, he spent the time travelling over the Willamette plains and elsewhere, establishing cattle and dairy farms, and procuring wheat for the Russians. He encouraged the natives to engage in useful pursuits, so that many of them became good boatmen, ploughmen, and herdsmen. A visit to Scotland in 1841 involved a journey up the Columbia, the accountant in charge of the spring express that year being George T. Allan who afterward settled at Cathlamet. The mountains were crossed on snow-shoes, each traveller being
616 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
setting forth the plan. The country between the head-waters of the Cowlitz and Pu^et Sound, it said,
O '
was specially adapted for producing wool, hides, and tallow. It then proposed organization under the auspices of the Hudson's Bay Company, the capital stock to be £200,000 in £ioO shares. Until the Oregon title should be denned, directors resident in London should have primary control, and such direc tors should be John Henry Polly, Andrew Colville, and George Simpson. Stockholders' meetings should be held in London every December, beginning in 1840.
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The Puget Sound Company should purchase of the Hudson's Bay Company all their sheep, horses, cat tle, ,-nid implements of husbandry in the districts of their future operations, thus separating in a great measure fur-trading and farming1 in these parts. The
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three London director's were to appoint local managers and agents, but always so that the Puget Sound Com pany should invariably be under officers of the Hud son's Bay Company; nor should the Puget Sound
loaded with a pack. After his return from Europe by way of Cape Horn in 1843, Tolniic continued ;;tier.ding to the -wheat business for the company. During his absence abroad ho had studied Spanish with the view of taking charge of the post at Ycrba Buena; in place of which, however, lie was DOW given the superintendency of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company at Nisqually. There he remained until lf>~>f), when he moved to Victoria, and was placed upon the board of management of Hudson's Bay Company afl'airs, still retaining the superinteiidency of the Puget Sound Company. At the request of his associates in 1800 Tclmic became a member of the house of legislative assembly, which position he occupied for five years. His most important work during that term was the abolition of the free-port system. In person Tolmie was rather below medium height, broad-shoul dered and stout, with a large round head partially bald, high forehead, coarse features, round deep-set eyes glittering from under shaggy brows, large round ruby nose; in intellect shrewd rather than lofty; in "temper hot and unfor giving; and yet a man warm in his friendships, devoted to his family, honest in his dealings, a good Christian barring occasional oaths, and a patriotic citizen, especially where patriotism was profitable. To the literature of the coast, and to my library, Tolmie has contributed two manuscript volumes; one a copy of the journal kept at Nisqually House, Fort McLotiglilin, and Fort Vancouver in 1833-G, and the other a History of Puf/et Sound innl the North- U'c.st ( 'oast. The first contains comparatively little valuable information, though composed of m:my words; the other is in answer to direct questions, written for the most part by Mrs Bancroft and myself during our visit to Victoria in 1878. We found Tolmie rather a difficult subject. He could have told more than he did, and would have done so but for his diplomatic instincts, and dislike to full, free, straightforward statements. Nevertheless, for what he did give us, which is most valuable, let us be duly thankful.
THE PUGET SOUND COMPANY. 617
Company be allowed to deal in furs. As regarded the engaging and restriction of agents and servants, and all unspecified conditions, the regulations of the Hudson's Bay Company were to be taken as a model. Should Great Britain finally become possessed of the sovereignty of the lands occupied by the Puget Sound Company, application should then be made for an act of incorporation. Meanwhile a deed of settlement was to be executed by the London agency, defining the duties of officers and rules of management.
O
The originators presented their scheme, the condi tions of which were in the main adopted, though the members of the company were destined to remain only copartners on the joint -stock principle, and never reach the dignity of an incorporated body.
By virtue of their position as chief factors directing the affairs of the Hudson's Bay Company on the Northwest Coast, John McLoughlin was first manager of the Puget Sound Company, and James Douglas the second, receiving therefor in addition to their salary and interest in the Hudson's Bay Company a further consideration of $2,500 per annum.
John McLoughlin was in London in 1838-9, and he brought the matter before the Hudson's Bay directors, and a general plan was determined upon, and thus it was that the Cowlitz farm and all the agricultural and grazing lands together with the live-stock and implements at first the property of the Hudson's Bay Company, were about 1840 transferred to the Puget Sound Company, which later secured for themselves an establishment at Esquimalt, on Vancouver Island.
In 1841 Tolmie went to England, and made further arrangements for the fuller carrying out of the pur poses of the Puget Sound Company on the North west Coast. By permission of the Mexican goverment sheep were purchased in California, some of which were brought up by land and some by sea.19 Horned-
19 Evans says 5,000 in all; 3,000 of which were driven up overland through Oregon, and 2,000 sent by sailing-vessel. But from what Tolmie told me, I think the number exaggerated.
618 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
cattle were likewise obtained in California; and pigs, and improved breeds of sheep, Leicester, Southdown, and Cheviot, from England, to cross with the coarser breeds from California. Old servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were encouraged to take shares and assist the new company, and skilled farmers and shepherds were brought from England and Canada.
In July 1859 Tolniie removed to Victoria, leaving in charge of affairs at Nisqually Edward Huggings, who thereafter conducted the affairs of the Puget Sound Company until its abandonment of Nisqually, when he became an American citizen, recorded the land on which Fort Nisqually stood as a donation claim, and purchased from the company such of its trading goods and live-stock as he required. During this same year, James Douglas severed his connection with the Hudson's Bay and Puget Sound companies, when the remnant of the affairs of the Puget Sound Company were removed to Victoria and placed in charge of Tolniie, who acted in this instance without salary.
The Puget Sound Company did not prove profitable to its shareholders. Of the two thousand shares com posing its stock, six hundred and forty were never sold, and on the other shares not more than ten per cent was ever paid in.20 Yet the little that was paid proved almost a total loss to the holders.21 From their
20 When Wilkes, Nar. U. S. Explor. Ex., iv., 329, says that < the capital of the Puget Sound Company is £500,000, divided into shares of £100 each; only £200,000 of this has been paid,' either he or the officers of the company are greatly in error.
21 ' Two shares according to my status in the service were allotted to me, which I disposed of six years ago, realizing little more than the capital with out interest. There were, I think, only three small dividends paid. I have no doubt theirs was a political object in starting the company, with an eye to the future; that is they could urge they had farms, fisheries, etc., all over the country, and the virtual possession. Had the company taken Whidbey Island instead of Cowlitz farm it would have been much more to their inter est, and at the treaty carried over that island. Douglas himself remarked this to me.' I Roberts" Rec., MS., 9. My chief authorities on the affairs of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company arc: Tolmie's Puget Sound, MS., pas sim; Fh/fa;/«oii\i V. I , MS., passim; Evidence before t/te British and American Joint C'CWK.V.'.S.S-V'O/.', passim; House (Commons Rept., 1857, 294-6; Oregon, Argus, Marc1.! 8, 18G2; JIcLcod's Peace River, 109; Fitzgerald's V. I., 259; Martin's
RODERICK FINLAYSON. 619
long experience and great advantages one would think they should have made money. But they did not. It is true that several annual dividends of from five to ten per cent on the amount paid in were made, but there was little profit in this. The time was unpro- pitious. They had no title to their lands, and soon in dividuals began to appropriate them. Their men, hired at from one to three hundred a year, could do much better in Oregon, where finer lands which they could hold for their wives and children were given them upon the simple condition that they should live on and improve them. The natives broke out in open Avar, after which, between them and the settlers, six thousand head of the company's stock were found to have been destroyed. In order the better to sustain their claim against the United States they contin ued their business at an actual loss for several years. Finally, when in 18G7, after losses and long delays, the claims of the Puget Sound and Hudson's Bay com panies were determined and paid by the United States, the shareholders were scattered, some of them dead, and the little dividend was not of much benefit to any one.
When [Roderick Finlayson arrived at Fort Van couver in the autumn of 1839 as clerk in the com pany's service, he was an ardent, aspiring youth, brimful of energy and honesty, but with more enthusi asm than experience.
Shortly after his arrival he was placed in charge of the new grist-mill five miles above the fort, with thirty -two men under him. It was part of his duty to render at the fort a weekly account of operations every Saturday night. On one occasion, when things had gone wrong at the mill, and he was exceedingly anxious to clear up satisfactorily the week's work be-
H. B., 147-8; B. C. Colonist, Dec. 26, 1868; March 29, 1871; Bees' Letter, Sept. 18, 1879; Cornwallis* New Eldorado, 38; Barrett- Lennard's Trav., 283-4; Wilkes1 Nar. U. S. Explor. Ex., iv. 327-30.
620 FURTHER AFFAIRS IN GENERAL.
fore handing in his report, he arrived at the fort in a heavy winter's rain, and greatly fatigued, for he had walked all the way, and was so late that he was obliged to hail the watchman to let him in at the f^ate. This
O
was wholly contrary to rule. The sharp ear of Mc- Loughlin caught the summons, and ordering the de linquent into his august presence, he rated him soundly for his tardiness. "We shall have to teach you young gentlemen from the east discipline," he continued. Finlayson then explained to him the combination of circumstances which had detained him. "And after my work was done, I had to walk five miles sir," stam mered the clerk. "Yes, yes, I know all about that," replied the governor. But when the sovereign saw the shivering youth, cold, wet, and hungry, and whose greatest crime was zeal in the performance of duty, the old man's heart relented; he spoke kindly to the zeal ous clerk, and turning to Douglas remarked: "You had better let him have a horse." Finlayson bowed his thanks and walked away. "A horse," cried out the doctor after him, "a horse, but mind you, no sad dle; you must furnish your own saddle."
The next Monday Finlayson selected a spirited horse, and bought himself a good saddle and bridle, with Mexican spurs and gay trappings. Thus sud denly transformed to a dashing cavalier, the young man's head became a little flighty; and when return ing early the following Saturday in high spirits and with his accounts all in perfect order, so great was his good opinion of himself that on arriving at the fort, and seeing the gate open, he reined his prancing steed within the palisade that others might behold and admire his horsemanship.
While thus engaged, suddenly there fell upon his ear stentorian sounds :
"Who the devil is that daring to break the rules of the establishment by coming into the square in that fashion?"
Radiant in his achievement, and cap in hand, the
FINLAYSON ON McLOUGHLIN. 621
young man pulled up before the governor and an nounced himself. He was immediately ordered to dismount. Then after a severe lecture his horse was taken from him, and throughout the remainder of that winter he was obliged to wade through the mud between the mill and the fort as a warning to others. After telling me this story of himself, his fine face the meanwhile overflowing with good- humor, Fin- layson exclaims: "I cannot but express my utmost admiration of his character."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
FOUNDING OF THE NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
1831-1835.
TREATY or ST PETERSBURG — BUILDING OF THE FIRST FORT SIMPSON — NORTH COAST COMMERCE — POLICY OF THE COMPANY IN REGARD TO OPPO SITION — FOUNDING OF FORT McLoucnLiN — INDIAN DISTURBANCES — FORT McLoUGHLIN R.EMOVED TO FORT RUPERT — EXPEDITION TO STIKEEN — THE RUSSIANS INTERPOSE FORCIBLE OBJECTIONS — ABANDONMENT OF THE FIRST FORT SIMPSON— FOUNDING OF THE SECOND FORT SIMPSON— PORT ESSINGTON— FORT MUM FORD— FORT GLENORA.
BY convention between Russia and Great Britain, signed at St Petersburg the 28th of February 1825, it was agreed that the -subjects of both governments might navigate the Pacific at pleasure, and trade with the natives of any shore not already occupied by Europeans. Wherever there was a Russian post Englishmen should not land except for shelter or repairs, without permission of the governor, and vice versa. The southern end of Prince of Wales Island in latitude 54° 40' should be the southern limit of Russian American seaboard; and the boundary line should run thence easterly to Portland Canal, along whose channel it should proceed northerly until it struck the continent,1 when it should ascend to the summit of the Coast Range, and should follow said summit parallel to the coast as far as longitude 141°, which line it should follow to the Arctic Ocean. It was further stipulated that Prince of Wales Island should belong wholly to Russia, and that wherever the summit of the mountains from the 56th parallel
1 The treaty says in latitude 56°, but the channel does not extend so far.
i622)
NORTHERN POSTS. 623
to longitude 141'* .should be distant from the ocean more than ten marine leagues, the dividing line should
o 7 o
curve with the curvature of the shore.. so that the shore- strip should nowhere be more than ten leagues wide. British vessels might frequent for purposes of trade, except in spirituous liquors and arms and ammunition, all the inland seas, gulfs, and creeks of this shore- strip, including the port of Sitka, for ten years, and all streams running through this strip should be open to British navigation forever.
Fort Langley had been planted at Fraser River, as we have seen: but along the seaboard beyond, up to this time, the Hudson's l3ay Company had not carried their trading operations, but had left that traffic to cer tain Indian merchants who made a business of ^oin^f from place to place in boats gathering the periodical harvests.
McLoughlin now determined to enter and occupy that field, which policy was begun by sending Peter Skeen Ogden and Donald Manson with a party of men to the mouth of the river Xass, where in 1:31 was built the first Fort Simpson, another establish ment of that name being founded later, as we shall see.2
For successfully to compete along the coast with Boston traders, the Hudson's Bav Company required permanent posts, with fast sailing schooners to ply between them. Then, whenever information of the presence of an American trader in its vicinity reached any one of these posts, there might be despatched to the place a loaded vessel, and arms, liquors, and other articles offered the natives at lower prices, less, in deed, than cost in London or Boston if by that means opposition might be crushed out. We have seen one of these vessels, the Vancouver, already built at Fort Vancouver in 1 ?29. Lieutenant Simpson of the Royal Xavy was superintending the building of another when he died at the first Fort Simpson in 1831. Ship-
JV 'orthv&t Cc-oi*. MIS., 9, 10, 70-7.
624 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
building, however, was not the fur-hunter's forte. As a rule, the company found that they could buy better and cheaper vessels than they could build.3
A small force sufficed to begin the great work of occupying this new six hundred miles of shore limit, six hundred miles as the ship sails, but as the sea beats upon it, with all the straits, inlets, and bays of mainland and islands, six thousand miles or more.
Early in the season the party sailed along up the coast, passed through. Portland Inlet, and entered Nass Harbor. After an examination of the sur rounding country the vessel proceeded up the Nass River some six miles, and there upon the northern bank landed her supplies. A stockade and buildings were begun, and indeed carried forward so far as to leave a mark for many years thereafter; but the spot
* Roberts' fiec., MS., 7. This policy, which continued for many years, in fact up to the time of the gold-discovery and settlement of the country, was even more firmly fixed in the minds of the managers, as may be seen by the following instructions from the London office to the officer in charge of the Northwest Coast: 'We have given an attentive consideration to your obser vations upon the affairs of the country to the west of the Rocky Mountains generally, and have had several conversations with Mr Ch. F. Finlaysoii who seems to take a comprehensive and sound view of the trade of that country. We think by proper arrangements it may be made to produce very considerable profits, and we think it good policy not to exercise too close economy in guarding both the coast and interior trade from opposition. With this view we send out the steam-vessel, and we think that she and two sailing-vessels should be kept employed upon the coast (unless experience should prove that one sailing-vessel with the steam-boat is sufficient), for the purpose of carry ing on the trade and watching any opposition which may arrive on the coast. Wo do not think under present circumstances, that any new access from the sea-coast to New Caledonia would be of any material advantage to our trade, which is supplied by the present route at a moderate cost, and it would be safer from opposition, and be less likely to excite any feeling 011 the part of the Russian company, than if you endeavored to intercept the trade of furs from the interior to their ten leagues of country on the coast, by extending your posts from the interior rather than by establishments supplied from the coast. The steam-vessel may enable the gentleman who may be in charge of the district to examine accurately the different inlets on the coast, and we trust will also enable him to obtain a trade along the coast to the northward, and in time they may be able to connect the two points of the coast reached by captains Beechy and Sir John Franklin. It appears that Mr French, an American at the Sandwich Islands, carries on intercourse with the Russian Company, and has a contract with them for the supply of certain articles; and that he combines with this a fur-trade along the coast, on the return of the ship to the Sandwich Islands. It would be of importance, if it can be accomplished, without loss, to interrupt this intercourse by offering to supply the Russians on better terms. And an extension of your cultivation might enable you to do this.'
FORTS SIMPSON AND McLOUGHLIN. G25
was not well chosen. It was not accessible. It was too far north, and too far inland. Some other point nearer the open ocean would be better, would com mand a much wider area of both sea and land. Hence before the post was fairly finished it was determined to move it.
The next post north of Langley established by the Hudson's Bay Company on the Northwest Coast after the beginning of the first Fort Simpson at Nass Harbor was placed on Milbank Sound and called Fort McLoughlin.
Under Duncan Finlayson,4 assisted by Daniel Man- son5 and A. C. Anderson, in the brig Dryad, Captain Kipling, in the spring of 1833 the expedition, consist ing of forty landsmen, set sail from Fort Vancouver.6 Of the party was John Dunn,7 who acted as interpreter and Indian manager.
After some delay in crossing the bar of the Colum bia, the Dryad proceeded to the river Nass, and after taking from the first Fort Simpson certain supplies dropped down to Milbank Sound, where the party was joined by Captain McNeill in his ship Llama.. Reconnoitring finished, under protection of the ship's; guns, and assisted by the crews of both vessels, the
4 Chief factor and uncle of Roderick Finlayson; came to Fort Vancouver in 1831, had no special post assigned him, but by his experience and good judgment he contributed greatly to the success of the company on the North west Coast, where he remained until 1837. In 1840 he was in charge of Norway House. See Anderson's Northwest Coast, 17, 22; Mart ill's //. 13., 125.
5 Manson entered the service of the Hudson's Lay Company in 1818; spent, several years on the Saskatchewan; in 1827 was with Chief Factor Black explor ing Finlay River; after which he spent some time on the Columbia between.! Astoria and Fort Vancouver. Still later he was placed in charge of the Newr Caledonia district. On retiring from the service he settled at Champoeg in; 1854. Tolmie's Puget Sound, MS., 3; Anderson^ Northwest Coast, MS., 22, 76-7.
6 Finlayson, Hist. V. I. , MS. , 8, who is usually very correct, dates the founding of Fort McLoughlin 1532. This error is much more remarkable than, that Martin, //. B., 28, should place the post in latitude 25° 5' north, and found it in 1837. Perhaps we should forgive him the error of date, as he copied it from Sir George Simpson.
7 Author of History of the Oregon Territory, a book riot remarkable for sound sense or truthfulness.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 40
626 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
work of fort-building began in June, and was com pleted for safe occupation by October.8
The square enclosed in pickets eighteen feet long and two feet in circumference, mortised into a square log sunk into the earth, was one hundred and twenty feet on each side. Inside the pickets ran a gallery, and in each of the two bastions were mounted four nine-pounders, with small-arms and ammunition. The usual buildings were erected within. Watch was kept night and day, for the savages here were dangerous.
Several years previous an American vessel visiting Milbank Sound was attacked by the Bellacoolas, and the captain and part of the crew were killed. The deed was done about 9 o'clock in the morning, while most of the crew were aloft airing the wet sails. Round the ship a fleet of canoes displayed quantities of tempt ing furs. With culpable carelessness the savages were admitted on deck armed. Having stationed themselves to suit their purpose, the chief, Tyeet, calling the captain to the gangway to look at the furs, drew his knife, plunged it into his side, and pitched the body overboard, where it was cut in pieces with paddles. This was the signal for a general attack. The crew fought for their lives, and at last cleared the deck and slipped out to sea.9
The Llama was the first to sail, and afterward the Dryad, Finlayson returning to Fort Vancouver in the latter vessel, leaving Manson in charge.
Up to this time, inspired by wholesome fear, the natives had behaved well enough, and seemed to en tertain no thought of treachery. It happened one day, however, not long after the departure of the Dryad, that a man was missing, Hichard by name,
8 Sir George Simpson says the site must originally have been uneven and rugged rock, which by blasting, levelling, and gravelling was made suitable for a fortress, and, when garrisoned by twenty men, might safely defy all the natives on the coast.
9 Dunn, Or. Ter., 259-61, with exceeding bad taste seems partly to accept the excuse of Tyeet, who said it was not so much pillage that prompted the massacre, as that the Americans were mean, unprincipled men, so different from the English, etc., ad nauseam.
INDIAN ATTACK. 627
whom it was afterward ascertained had deserted the fort for the superior allurements of savagism. A chief, Tyeet himself, was seized and held as hostage until the backslider should be returned to them.
The days passed by. It was deemed imprudent to stir far from the fort ; but on a Sunday, when primeval stillness pervaded the forest, and not a human being was in sight save a solitary Indian seated by a fire on the opposite bank of the bay, evening came quietly on, and the men asked and obtained permission to go for water. Anderson did not approve of the meas ure; to one acquainted with the Indian character such tranquillity was in itself suspicious; but instead of ex postulating with Manson he belted on his pistols and accompanied the men, thinking to assist them if at tacked. He had not long to wait, for just as the men had reached the water, and were stooping down to fill their vessels, suddenly from behind every bush sprang a black-painted warrior, and all with simultaneous yells rushed for the open gate. Close behind and mingling with them were Anderson and his men. Tyeet, seeing it all, was wild with excitement.
" Bind your prisoner ! " shouted Anderson to Tyeet's guard. And to the men in the bastion, "Fire your guns!"
Both orders were obeyed. The savages were thrown into confusion, and after several of them were killed, the fort was cleared of the assailants. When An derson and his companions had regained entrance they found one of their number wounded, while one was missing. The watch was doubled, and all put in order for the best defence. About ten o'clock from out the darkness came a voice. "Mr Manson! Mr Manson !"
It was the voice of the missing man.
"Who are you?" was the reply.
"I'm Gregoire," he cried, "bound in a canoe; and unless Tyeet is safe these devils say I am to be sacri- ficed."
628 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
Tyeet was summoned to a bastion and made to tell this people that he was well, and that they should come the following morning and bring their prisoner. It was done, and the exchange made. It was subse quently ascertained that Richard was stoned to death by some Indian boys, which operation was more de lightful to the savage urchins than to the new con vert to sylvan seductions.
It was the custom of the company, as I have before remarked, when one of its officers had experienced trouble with the natives of one locality, to remove him to another post, that he might not remain a mark of offence to the much-tempted children of the forest; hence shortly after the Indian disturbance in which he had slain at least one savage, Anderson was sent
o *
back to the Columbia.
In November 1833 W. F. Tolmie left Nisqually for Fort McLoughlin, where he took the place of Anderson, remaining until May 1834.10
Manson remained in charge of this post until the autumn of 1839, when he was succeeded by Charles Ross.11 Milbank Sound was not long afterward aban doned, Fort McLoughlin being removed to the north-
10 It is well nigh heart-rending to see the fires of struggling genius smothered by the very vastness of the surrounding vacuum ; to see ideas dissipated, melting into nothingness by reason of the rarity and illimitableness of their mental atmosphere. Tolmie's Journal, kept at Nisqually House in 1833, at Fort McLoughlin in 1834-5, and at Fort Vancouver in 1830, is an example. Educated only through the medium of books, the mind cut and trimmed by the conventionalities of old societies, when thrown upon its own resources and left alone with nature it had nothing to think of, nothing to say. Hence this shrewd young Scotch medical man, instead of telling us something of himself, the strange new country he is in, the people, white and copper skinned, their aims, failures, and destinies, sighs over what he did this day a year ago in Scotland. Then he goes on with scores of pages of nothings, covering months of non-existence, until the reader wonders afresh how it were possible for so wise a man to write so much and say so little. No small por tion of the writer's time was now spent in reading such books as Paley, Dwight, and Guthrie, upon which he piously discourses, and with much learning for so young a man. What a pity that as we grow old we must know less and do worse. A good young man is the most beautiful sight in nature — except two good young men. But none like Tolmie at Nisqually can be found in all the noble army of north-west traffickers. Then, too, how interesting disserta tions on theology and history make the otherwise insipid journal of the young and ardent fur-trading doctor.
11 Appointed to superintend Fort Victoria in 1843, Charles Ross died .shortly afterward, and was succeeded at Victoria by Roderick Finlayson.
RUSSIAN AMERICA. 629
ern end of Vancouver Island and rechristened Fort Rupert.12
Notwithstanding by the treaty of 1825 it had been agreed between the Russian and British governments that British traders should have the right forever to freely navigate all rivers crossing the Russian shore- strip; yet when in 1834 an expedition was fitted out at Fort Vancouver to establish a trading-post on the Stikeen River, above Russian territory, and some forty or fifty miles from any Russian post, the British found a Russian block-house erected at the mouth of the river, and a Russian corvette13 the Tally-lio and two fourteen-oared gun-boats stationed there for bidding entrance. The Russian American governor, Baron Wrangel, had heard of it, and was ready for them.
The mission was important. Hence the expedition comprised all the men and machinery necessary for building and equipping a station of sufficient strength to protect itself nearly a thousand miles from the source of supply, not only from savages but from rivals. Many of our old friends we find composing the company, which had for their conveyance the bark Dryad. Peter Skeeii Ogden was in command, and was ably assisted by A. C. Anderson, George B. Roberts, and W. F. Tolmie, the latter acting as sur geon as well as trader.
If the armed vessel which opposed their entrance to the river was not enough, other obstacles would have prevented the accomplishment of their design. It is extremely doubtful if they could have passed the ten-league Russian shore-strip on the Stikeen River, and conveyed themselves and their supplies through Russian and into British territory. Then the natives,
12 Ross could scarcely have remained there through the winter, for we find Finlayson, V. /., MS., G-S, touching there in the steamer Bearer in the spring of 1840, at which time he finds 'marks of that fort still remaining.'
13 Anderson's Hist. Northicest Coast, MS., 11, says two vessels; other au thorities limit themselves to one.
630 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
the Stikeens proper, inhabiting the coast, were ex tremely jealous of their trade with the interior tribes, and would not tamely see the white men spoil their commerce.
However stood the right of the matter, the facts are these. Passing up Clarence Strait the Dryad turned into the channel between Zarembo and Etho- line islands, and on the 18th of June 1834 came to anchor seven miles off Point Highfield, near the northern end of Wrangel Island, and a little south of the entrance to the Stikeen River. From the ship's deck was plainly visible the Redoubt St Dio- nysius, begun by the Russians in 1832, a few hundred yards from the spot where later Fort Wrangel was erected by the United States government. To the eyes of the English this fortress presented itself a shapeless mass of logs and planks.14 The truth is, that there was then on the grassy point a large block house in course of construction, and a saw-pit where eight or ten men were at work.
Scarcely was the anchor cast when was seen ap proaching from the shore a long whale-boat, with four oars, and a swivel in the bow. The officer in charge, who was little more than a boy in years, soon reached the deck of the Dryad, and presented Ogden a large paper, which proved to be a proclamation issued by Governor Wrangel prohibiting English and American vessels from trading in Clarence Strait.
"We have no intention of trading in Clarence Strait," said Ogden.
The youni? man who was unable to understand or
t/ O
speak a word of English, French, or Spanish modestly retired. But as he was leaving the vessel Ogden mo-
11 The Redoubt St Dionysius was built upon some rocks which formed a small peninsula, and which at high-tide was an island. The Hudson's Bay Company subsequently occupied the Russian post. Fort Wrangel of the United States was placed on the island. Simpson, Journey, i. 209, says the site was badly chosen ; that the peninsula was ' barely large enough for the necessary buildings, while the tide, by overflowing the isthmus at high water, rendered any artificial extension of the premises almost impractica ble; and the slime that was periodically deposited by the receding sea was
REDOUBT ST DIONYSIUS. 631
tioned him to wait, and addressing to Baron Wrangel a formal protest to his proclamation, and more particu larly against armed obstruction at the entrance of the river, he handed it to the young man, who signified his entire comprehension of what was to be done, and rapidly rowed away. Next came out in a biclarka, paddled by two men, a Russian officer and an Indian interpreter. The former was a thin, dark-complex ioned, elderly man, in a blue surtout and white vest, who, with his companion, on reaching the ship, wTas ushered into the cabin, and brandy was placed before them, of which during the interview that followed, if Tolmie speaks truly, the officer alone drank over a pint. He was wholly able, however, notwithstanding his potations/5 to transact his business, and was ex ceedingly polite in doing so.
"You read the proclamation, I presume? " he asked blandly.
"It does not affect us," replied Ogden, "We are simply using the river by which to enter our own ter ritory according to treaty," replied Ogden.
"A fort here or thirty miles from here is all the same; it carries the trade with it," smiled the Russian between glasses.
"That I cannot help/' blustered Ogden; "I shall use the river, as I have a right to it."
aided by the putridity and filth of the native villages in the neighborhood, in oppressing the atmosphere with a most nauseous perfume. The harbor, moreover, was so narrow that a vessel of one hundred tons instead of swing ing at anchor was under the necessit}^ of mooring stem and stern, and the supply of fresh water was brought by a wooden aqueduct, which the savages might at any time destroy, from a stream about two hundred yards distant. ' lj As I have elsewhere remarked, it is a little singular how the hardest drinkers in the English fur-hunting ranks, whenever they come in contact with the Russians, always accused them of deep drinking. Now I have seen old Hudson's Bay officers so drunk that they could not speak, so drunk as to fall from the chair while trying to tell me of the palmy days long gone by, and yet I never went out of my way to parade their drunkenness upon an un- pitying world. As a rule, the Hudson's Bay men did not drink to intoxi cation; but when seated in a ship's cabin round a table on which was standing a brandy-bottle and glasses, I have not the slightest doubt that they did their share as well as the Russian officer; and I am not at all sure Tolmie did not take some of that pint he speaks of, for I have seen the doctor ' prescribe for himself ' quite liberally upon occasions.
632 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
"Very sorry to be obliged to fire upon you in case you attempt to enter it," answered the affable officer as he drank a final good-health and good-night, and danced down the ladder to his bidarka.
Early in the morning another appeared; this time a tall, thin, fierce-looking fellow, in a threadbare surtout buttoned close under his chin, most of all remarkable for declining to drink. He came in the whale-boat and mounted the deck with one attendant to deliver Ogden an invitation to visit his commander, Lieutenant Zar- embo, ashore. Ogden thanked the officer, and said Tolmie should go after breakfast.
Armed to the teeth with pistols, knives, and blun derbuss, and accompanied by Captain Duncan, Tolmie sallied forth. After rounding the point live miles dis tant, which partially concealed the fort from view, Tolmie in the ship's mcr was directed bv si<ms to the
i o o ^ </ a o
brief moored near the fort; boarding which, he was
O o
ushered into the cabin by Zarembo, arrayed in full uni form, who informed him that Ogdcn's protest had been forwarded by bidarka to Sitka the evening previous, that a reply could not be expected within eight or ten days, and that in the mean time the English vessel could not be allowed to enter the river.
Tolmie was not long returned to his own vessel when a message reached him from Zarembo, informing him that another boat was about to start for Sitka, and would take any message if desired. By this conveyance Osrdeu wrote more at length to Governor Wrangel.
O O O
Meanwhile interviews were held with Seix, the Stikecn chief, a tall, fat potentate, of dignified de meanor, with Grecian features, fringed with locks of flowing jet, and surmounted by bushy, black whiskers, very grand as he sat arrayed in fox-skin robes. His village was not for from the mouth of the river; and although he was perfectly willing Odgeii, Zarembo, or any one else should settle on the sea-shore, they must not enter his domain, or spoil his commerce with interior tribes. Zarembo also gave Ogden further a
EVACUATION OF OLD FORT SIMPSON. 633
written prohibition from trading or ascending the river. Thus matters stood until the 29th of June, when word came from Zarembo that Wrangel was absent from Sitka at Cook River, and that Lieuten ant Etholin, deputy-governor at Sitka, in reply to Ogden, stated that Zarembo must act in accordance with the articles of the convention, which in his, Etholin's, opinion forbade Britons from navigating waters where Russian posts were planted. At all events they should not enter the river, so said the Russians, and so said the savages.
As the treaty stipulations referred all differences arisin^ from the infraction of any article of the con-
O «/
vent ion to higher powers, Ogden and his men could not legally fight the matter out on the spot, even bad they been so disposed, and physically able. Hence nothing remained for them but to retire.
O
Subsequently, armed with copies of the letters and protests, and a long bill of losses, the British pre sented themselves before their government with loud complaints begging redress.16 Nesselrode and Palm- erston urged the disputants to amicable adjustment. The result was damages to the amount of £20,000, the cession of Fort Wrangel, and the leasing by the Russians to the British of the shore-strip before de scribed, with the Stikeen post, and permission to build an establishment still further to the north on the Tako River. Of this I shall speak in another place.
Meanwhile that the expedition might not prove wholly fruitless Ogden determined to change the posi tion of Fort Simpson. Therefore, dropping down the coast to Nass Harbor, the Dryad entered the river and moored before the old fort. All that was there of any value was then placed on board the Dryad, and the post abandoned.
It was done; but it proved not so easy a task as
16 As a matter of course ' great indignation was expressed in the public press of London.' Anderson's Northwest Coast, MS., 12. See also Belcher's Voy., i. 299-300.
634 NORTHERN COAST ESTABLISHMENTS.
one might think. The savages did not like to see their rum-sellers retiring; for in competition with the Russians the English then sold fire-water to these natives. Excuse enough to do wrong is that our neighbor does wrong,
It was Saturday, the 30th of August, that old Fort Simpson was evacuated. Early in the morning the sale of rum began. The savages realized that it was
O O
their last chance, and they determined to make the most of it. Drunkenness without bloodshed among forest gentlemen is a tame affair. A quarrel is as easily found by them, as by white people, inter pocula. Kennedy acted as master of ceremonies. The posi tion of the fort had been taken with such judgment that the savages had only to stand upon a hill over looking it, and shoot down upon the occupants. As they warmed with drink, they longed for a little fight. A scalp or two would be better than nothing. A party took possession of the hill, and pointing their guns over the palisades they did not shoot. Outside the pickets the Indians armed with guns, boarding- pikes, and knives crowded round the men as they rolled the barrels of celestial drink down to the land ing, and with wild intimidating yells threatened to cut each one of them into a million pieces. But they did not; that is, if we may believe Tolmie, who was there, and who says they did not, and displays a whole human body in proof of it; and who further states that with his own right hand holding a cutlass he drove away forty, or four hundred of them, he forgets which. Finally, as balls began to whiz freely and as there remained nothing within the fortress but one barrel more of liquor, the white men gave it to the savages, who, intoxicated as they were, were still too shrewd to try to divide it among themselves, knowing that bloodshed would be the consequence. And after all their bluster about butchery they actually took the cask to the ship to be divided for them. All night, as the white men lay on board the ship, they heard
FORTS MUMFOKD AND GLENORA. 635
the sound of hammer and axe as the natives were knocking down the pickets to secure the iron spikes.
The Dryad finally cleared herself of the place, when she proceeded some forty miles south-west to a small bay, since called Port Simpson,17 at the northern end of the Chimsyan Peninsula, where the permanent Fort Simpson was to be planted. Before the ship was fairly at anchor on the 12th of July, Birnie and Anderson were off in one boat, and Duncan and Tolmie in an other, seeking a site, which was soon found ; and before two days had passed the fort-builders were all ashore, the men in brush -huts and the officers in tents, and round them all a barricade of felled trees.18
In April 1835 a party set out from Fort Simpson, and proceeding to the mouth of Skeena River they there erected an establishment which they called Port Essington.
Two posts were established up the Stikeen River by the Hudson's Bay Company in British territory after their repulsion at Redoubt St Dionysius — one, Fort Mumford, sixty miles from the mouth, and the other, Fort Glenora, one hundred and forty miles from the ocean. When the gold-hunters came and frightened away the game these posts were abandoned.
17 Known at first as McLoughlin Harbor, under which name the earlier Fort Simpson journals are dated.
18 Speaking in his Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 59, Sir James Douglas gives the following interesting information respecting aboriginal commerce at this point: 'The Chimsyans on their route from Pearl Harbor, Skeena, and other places south of there to Nass River reach the fort early in February, and generally stay there until the beginning of March, when the oolaghans enter the river. After the fishing is over, they return with the fish and oil they have procured, which forms part of the ensuing winter's provisions, about the latter part of May, and make another sojourn at the fort until July, when they disperse, some for the Skeena, others go as far south as Gardiner's Canal, where they are constantly employed about their salmon-fisheries during the summer. They likewise hunt and trade with the natives in the interior canals, and procure quantities of herring spawn from the people of Milbank Sound, and do not visit the fort in a body until the following February; so that June and February are the only months when there are large assemblies of Indians at the fort. They set a great value on oolaghan oil, as it forms the condiment of almost every dish, being used with their dried fish and spawn, with roots and all kinds of native fruits. Two cases of this oil, containing fourteen gallons, are valued at a beaver.'
CHAPTER XXIX.
A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS AND ROUTINE. 1834-1844.
CAPTAIN DOMINIS — THE 'LLAMA' — THE 'JOSEPH PEAEODY' — STEAMER 'BEAVER'— INDIAN BATTLE — MUTINY — WAP. — THE ' THOMAS PERKINS' — INGENUOUSNESS OF THE ABORIGINAL SKIN-SELLER AND THE EUROPEAN RUM-SELLER— FIRST TRIP NORTHWARD OF THE STEAMER 'BEAVER' — LEASE or A TEN-LEAGUE SHORE -STRIP FROM THE RUSSIANS — EXPE DITION TO TAKE POSSESSION — FOUNDING OF FORT DURHAM, OR FORT TAKO — FINLAYSON'S ENCOUNTER WITH THE TAKOS — ABANDONMENT OP THE TAKO POST — COMPARATIVE SAVAGISM OF WHITE MEN AND RED — MURDER OF JOHN McLouGiiLiN JUNIOR BY HIS MEN.
TURN now to the record of their doings from day to day, kept by the fur-traders themselves.1
Routine in these parts differed but little from fort life elsewhere on the Northwest Coast. Breaking the dead monotony were occasional incidents worth men tioning.
The 8th of August 1834, Captain Dominis, now of the Hawaiian bark Bolivar Liberator, by agreement with the Russian American Company sails with twenty Tungass to hunt sea-otter on the cousts of
1In the summer of 1878 I sent Ivan Petroff to Alaska for materials for history. Oil his return he reported a number of Hudson's Bay Company journals yet remaining at Fort Simpson. I immediately applied to Chief Factor Charles of Victoria, who very kindly shipped them all clown to me. I found them to consist of two volumes dated McLoughlin Harbor, covering a period from the founding of the fort in July 1834 to the 10th of June 1840. Of the later journals, portions of which are used in the history of British Columbia, there were five volumes, beginning in March 1840 and ending December 18GG. Though the information abstracted from this large mass of manuscript is meagre, it is of some importance, being nowhere else found. Nearly the entire details of these voluminous records consist of descriptions of the weather, movements of the white men and savages, and the numbers of skins secured, matters of paramount importance to those whose dreary life it was, but wholly devoid of general interest.
(636)
FOKT SIMPSON JOURNALS. 637
southern Oregon and northern California. Ten days later John Kennedy arrives at Fort Simpson with his family, his wife being the first white woman — that is to say if she was white — in these parts.2 The follow ing summer Dominis and his Bolivar return, and placing at defiance both English and Russians he opens trade along the coast, exchanging rum for furs.
The 3d of February 1835 the natives threaten to burn Fort Simpson. Four days later they throw stones at the sentries, and on the 4th of March those who enter to trade become so insolent that the fur- buyers are obliged to use force to clear their store of them. The 1st of April the assembled tribes en gage in a little fight, in which nine are killed and many wounded. In May of the following year they congregate around the fort in large numbers and are prevented from an attack only by the opportune arrival of the Llama. Meanwhile affairs are not altogether harmonious among the white men. A party of English sent to Tungass for spars in July 1834 are driven away by the Russians. Captain McNeill is ordered by the Russians to keep the Llama clear of their coast; and in their turn the Fort Simpson people, seeing the American brig Lewis off Point Wales, send out the bark to drive her away. In February 1836 the Llama arrives at Fort Simpson with a large number of skins purchased on Russian territory, and in June a Russian vessel is stationed at Tungass to prevent such traffic. Thus like vultures these representatives of Christian civilization wrangle over their prey.
The winter passes quietly. Trade is fair. A few articles are stolen; and one day in May the chief in attempting to recover an axe taken by one of his tribe is killed, and for a short time the traders think it not best to leave their intrenchment. Contrary to their
2 The fact is, some of these northern tribes are full as white as the half- breeds of Canada and the Columbia; and, as a rule, possessed of far more mental force.
638 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
usual policy, they do not deem it advisable to compel the return of the stolen articles, as such a course would lead to bloodshed, which sadly interferes with trade.
The 20th of February 1836 the Llama drops in on them with Work, Tolmie, and McNeill on board. In April the American brig Joseph Peabody comes to Fort Simpson from Sitka to hunt sea- otter with the Kaiganies. Later a native dying of small-pox, and wishing to take with him to the next world for a servant his brother's two-year old child, entices it to his side and strangles it, whereupon the people at the fort seeing that life is not wholly extinct, apply rem edies and finally restore it to its mother's arms. For thus saving the child's life they have to pay a coat, pants, and shirt.
The Ucore-r is now upon her regular trips. A battle ensues the 27th of January 1837. The Nass Indians would waylay and kill the traders, and as overtures fail, both fort and steamer open their big guns upon the savages, who reply with a volley of musketry. No damage is done. I3ac^cs of aboriginal infelicities
o o o
iill the fort journals, and by simply stating that such are the normal conditions of northern coast fur-trading I dispose of volumes of detail.3
McNeill, now captain of the Beaver, is in January 1838 at McLoughlin Harbor, ill. Rising from his sick-bed he flogs two seamen for disobedience, where upon the crew mutiny and refuse to sail under a foreign captain. Factor Work in charge of the fort is obliged to go on board and play the role of commander in order to get the steamer back to Nis- qually. Work is absent from his post two months,
3 1 will give the results of one month's trade at Fort Simpson, the month of August 1837, which was much larger than the average: 7 large black bear,
9 small black bear, 2 small brown bear, 581 large beaver, 234 small beaver, 23 pup and cutting beaver, 6 fishers, 1 cross-fox, 16 lynx, 1 lynx-robe (8 skins), 736 martens, 9 marten-robes, 96 mink, 70 musquash, 39 large land-otter, 5 small land-otter, 1 small sea-otter, 1 pup sea-otter, 2 wolverines, 2 meat of beaver, 85 pounds deer's tallow, 28^ bushels of potatoes, 154 halibut, 58 deer5
10 geese, 1,033 fresh and half dry salmon, 395 dry salmon, 23 seal-skins.
ABSTRACT FROM THE RECORDS. 639
greatly to his disgust, having to humor the mutineers. The crew, however, do not get rid of their captain; though not being himself a British subject, he places Stoddard's name on the ship's papers as master. A lull in opposition in May of this year enables the com pany to advance their prices. Hitherto a gallon of powder was given for a beaver, but now only a quart. Indeed Chief Factor McLoughlin orders stopped the sale of arms and ammunition to the natives of the north coast, but Work remonstrating, on the ground both of extreme cruelty and injury to trade, the sale is con tinued, but at quadruple rates.
War among the neighboring tribes was continued through 1839. The 16th of June tidings reaching Fort Simpson that white men, probably of the Hud son's Bay Company from the Mackenzie River, having established themselves in the interior of Stikeen, are, together with the natives, in a starving condition, they are relieved by a boat-load of provisions sent them by the Russians. Thereupon the wild men express surprise that opponents should assist oppo nents ; and are told that the white men's opposition is not like that of the red men's, but extends only to trade. Putting which charity beside certain other unaccountable doings of civilization, savagism won ders. Off Dundas Island, to the no small disturbance of both English and Russians, in August appears the brig Thomas Perkins, Farnham and Fry, New York, owners, with Varney as captain, and Swan as super cargo. Dominis sails from Sitka to Kamchatka. Up go the prices of fur, to the supreme satisfaction of the unsophisticated savage, who the moment he sees a strange sail approaching immediately stops trading until the white men shall have ceased bidding. Cour tesies are interchanged; the English visit the vessel and the Americans the fort. Each learns as much as possible of the other's affairs, and communicates as little as possible in return.
The next morning the ball begins. The Americans
S40 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
oifer for a beaver one blanket and five gallons of mixed rum. The English name two blankets, one gallon of mixed rum, and three fourths of a pound of leaf- tobacco. "These are enormous prices," writes John Work in the fort journal, " and would never do to l>r continued. Yet, making these sacrifices will, it onfidently expected, be ultimately advantageous." ] Notwithstanding the fate of Captain Bancroft, Snow i ; ready to embark in the California coast trade, and I ivi'cTs Kaiganie hunters to any others. The little rer proves so serviceable in these waters that the ]• i;;;siaiis promise themselves a steamer, and the Sitka ernor sends word to Work that he may expect a • >m him in his own steam-vessel the following , unm; in which he is disappointed, as the first Rus- . oamer which appears on this coast, and which lilt at Sitka, is not finished till 1853.4 Practical John Work meditates upon the advisa- v of sending the Nereid with trading goods after 'r/i.omax PerLinx, but as Captain Varney bought u potatoes from Work, and would not, therefore, .bliged to stop at Skiddegate or Cumshewas, where iiii's would also be sold, the chief factor concludes he save his company that expense. Honest John \V< rk is much pleased that his opponents are having trouble with their Indian hunters shipped for the Cali- i'cTiiia coast; that they get very drunk on the mixed rii.ii advanced, and that the rank-smelling lords de- (•11:10 the attendance of their ladies in their hunting excursions to California.5
1 That is to say, unless we class as a steamer the little tug built at Sitka in !''•}<). christened the Alexander Bardnof, sold to the United States, rechris-
L<1 the J'ose, and wrecked in 1879.
' These hunting voyages from Russian America to California usually occu-
1 from four to live months, seldom more than GO days being spent upon
Colifornian coast. 'They engage the Indians here to hunt,' says Work,
ri Him pson Journal, MS., Aug. 19, 1839, 'furnish them with provisions,
[i "i. '.civilly such as dry salmon, small fish, grease, etc., ammunition, and
c:: noes, and give them one third or one fourth of what they kill ; the other two
thirds or three fourths belong to the vessel. The hunter's one third or one
f. u. l!i, as the bargain may be, is also to be given to the vessel at a stipulated
1 rice.' Snow told Work that 300 sea-otter would pay expenses, and that 400
would make a good voyage of it.
RUM AND THE RUSSIANS. 641
But the chief factor does not like so well to be told that the Russians are now contracting with the Americans for supplies, four thousand gallons of rum being one of the items to be furnished by Snow. He is glad, however, that the Russians and the Yankees quarrel over their traffickings just like other people, and that Snow puts off on the Sitka governor a large quantity of molasses, being part of a contract made with one Thompson who turned it over to Farnham and Fry, and of which article the Russians have already an oversupply. Then the chief factor prays to his company's god Mammon, and reasons with him, say ing : " Should the Americans have sufficient success in the sea-otter hunting to induce them to continue in it, it will be of immense injury to us, for they will still be here once or twice a year returning their Indian hunters and taking others; and though they may make trade on the coast only a secondary con sideration, they will still have goods with them, and pick up some furs; and we will have to continue the high prices, or the savages will hold their furs for the arrival of our opponents and give them a greater chance of getting them." Then he asks Mammon if the company shall not send out from divers posts well laden canoes and give the Yankees enough of com petition. But Mammon says " No; it is not necessary. I will attend to it, and see that my most faithful ser vants do not too severely suffer."
Long after the departure of the Americans, how ever, the effects of their evil ways remain; for the- savages once tasting high prices are not sweet-tem pered or graceful in accepting lesser rates. After the departure of Varney, Captain Dominis is ex pected, and the simple savages say, " We will wait until the Americans come, when we will get more for our skins." And again they reason in their inno cent way: "The Thomas Perkins must bring back the Kaiganies she carried away, so we shall cer tainly see her again; we will wait." Whereat the
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 41
642 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
fortified fur-buyers groan throughout the remainder of the year.
To go back a little. John Dunn left Fort Mc- L<oughlin in the brig Dryad in 1834 for the Columbia, where he remained two years, part of the time at Fort Vancouver and part at Fort George, acting as superintendent. In the summer of 183G he returned to Fort McLoughlin in the steamer Beaver, where he was again trader and interpreter under Manson. Though he had with him but few men, Manson had cleared quite a space round the fort, which he had planted in vegetables. Several additional buildings had been erected within the palisades; the natives were quiet, and all betokened thrift and good man agement.
This was the first northward trip of the Beaver, and as she ploughed those waters, blackening the air with her smoke and calling upon the wilderness with shrill shrieks to awaken from primeval lethargy, the siofht was scarcely loss stirring to white men than it
O *s O
was novel and mysterious to the red.
On board was Chief Factor Finlayson, reconnoi tring the coast. Home commanded, and Dodd was chief mate. The traders were now enabled to enter many intricate inlets that interlace the coast, and which had baffled the efforts of sailors. Thus they were able to penetrate the interior and visit inland tribes that had never before seen white men, to say nothing of their wonderfully strange fire -vomiting vessel.
John Work, commanding Fort Simpson, assisted 'by John Kennedy, had also his potato -patch and vegetable-garden adjoining the establishment. The Nass Indians had been subjected to the dreadful ravages of small-pox the year previous, and as they suspiciously eyed the Beaver they wondered what this new infernal medicine was that the white men had brought upon them.
TOO LITTLE TERRITORY. 643
It would seem that his company of British traffick ers might have been satisfied with the extent of their unpaid-for domain, equivalent as it was to more than all Europe in extent. But such was not the case. Nor would content have sat amongst their councils had their lands and waters covered the globe, or ten globes. Men are not so made. Each wants all; and to get it, following human instinct, will, if necessary and within the possibilities, kill all the rest.
Seeing profit in the fields of their less enterprising northern neighbors, in 1839 the adventurers of EnGf-
O O
land asked and obtained of the Russian Fur Company a ten years' lease for trading purposes, of a strip of land ten leagues wide, extending north from latitude
O O
54° 40', and lying between British territory and the ocean, paying therefor two thousand cast-side land- otter, worth thirty- two shillings and sixpence each. It was McLoughlin who suggested it, and British statesmen wondered what the company wanted, with ten leagues of Russian seaboard.6
But the object of the company was not alone traffic with the natives. They thought to make a customer of the Russians as well for European goods, which
6 Roberts, Recollections, MS., 8, says the rent was paid in wheat, butter, and east-side otter. Either the terms of this stipulation were in his mind confused with those of the contract for the sale of produce, or some part of the payments were made in the articles mentioned according to convenience. Sir George Simpson, before the house of commons commission, Kept. 11. B. Co., 1857, CO, states that a misunderstanding about the establishing of a post on one .of the rivers arising, serious difficulties ensued, and a long cor respondence on the subject ended in the lease of the territory. Finlayson, JJist. V. /., MS., 33, names 2,GCO east-side otter-skins as the annual price paid. In Anderson's Jj'l-st. North/rest Coaxt, MS., 103-4, we find that 'in addition a large quantity of furs of various descriptions, which were specially in demand by the Russian American Company, were sold to them annually, a great proportion of which were transported from York factory and other parts in that vicinity overland by the route of the annual express to Fort Vancouver, and thence sent to Sitka. The relations between ourselves and the Russians, indeed, with the solitary exception referred to, were always of the most friendly character. We supplied them annually with large quan tities of wheat and other produce, some of which was raised on the farm at Fort Vancouver, and the remainder purchased from the settlers who then inhabited the Willamette Valley, or purchased in California from the Spanish inhabitants there. Every courtesy was extended by the Russian officials to any of the Hudson's Bay Company officers who chanced to call at Sitka; and when Sir George Simpson passed there in 1841-2, on his way to St Peters-
644 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
they could bring in any quantities from England, as for the products of the soil, which the inclemency of the northern regions prevented the Russians from raising, and which the Hudson's Bay Company now determined to cultivate.
The Russians on the whole were not the best of business men. Their ethics and energy were much below the Scotch standard. Their establishments were more military and naval than those of the Hud son's Bay Company, an admiral being usually in com mand. Even with their magnificent seal monopoly they could not make their business profitable, so the Sitka governor himself asserted, but for their trade with China, which in exchange for furs gave them tea to pay their men with at an enormous profit. A small sum in the shape of wages must needs content their serfs, who lived on rye-bread, train-oil, and fish ; and who for the love of liquor were ready at any time almost to lay down their lives or take those of their neighbor.
In pursuance of this arrangement a party7 was organized at Montreal in 1839 to take possession of the land thus leased. Setting out from York Factory in July they proceeded to Edmonton, then the head quarters of the district, and thence by way of Jasper House, Boat Encampment, Colville, and Walla Walla came to Fort Vancouver, wrhere their arrival on the 7th was followed by a grand feast. After spending the winter at this post, in the spring of 1840 the party was reorganized with Douglas8 in command, assisted
burg by way of Okhotsk overland, a ship was placed at his disposal which conveyed him to the last-named place, and the most cordial attentions were shown to him. Being aided by the authority of an imperial ukaze, the sub sequent journey of Sir George across the Asiatic continent to St Petersburg was greatly expedited.' See also Tolmie's Puyet Sound, MS., 20. In U. A'. //. Sept. 31, %lth Cong., 3d Sess., GO, it is stated that the Hudson's Bay Com pany's contract with the Russians in regard to London goods was to supply them at 25 per cent advance on London cost, adding nothing for freight.
7 Of this party was Roderick Finlayson, then a clerk in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and to whom I am indebted for the narrative of this expedition.
8 It is a little interesting to note how the methodical Douglas went about a piece of work of this kind. Carefully written out in his Private Papers, MS.,
LEASE FROM THE RUSSIANS. 645
by W. G. Rae, John Kennedy, John McLoughlin junior, Roderick Finlayson, and fifty men.
Embarking, the party proceeded by way of the Co w- litz River to Fort Nisqually on Puget Sound, where the Beaver awaited them. Thence down the pine- enveloped sound, and through the gulf of Georgia they steamed, little dreaming that the great island of Vancouver on their left was the destined future home of so many of them.
Entering Eraser River they ascended to Fort Lang- ley, only to find that post in ruins, it having been burned several days previous. Mr Yale, then in com mand, was living with his men in tents, and sur rounded by savages whose plans for an attack were frustrated by the opportune arrival of the steamer. All hands disembarked and set to work with a will to rebuild the fort; nor did they leave their fellow- traders until they saw them all safely housed and fortified again. Then dropping clown the river they steamed up the gulf, and passing through Queen Charlotte Sound came to Milbank Sound, where they found remaining marks of Fort McLoughlin. Then they went to Fort Simpson at the northern end of the Chimsyan Peninsula, just within the British 54° 40' boundary line, where they remained several days, taking in wood and provisions; after which they proceeded to the Redoubt St Dionysius, or, as it was thereafter called, Fort Stikeen — the Russian post on
2d ser., 58, we find first: 'Sundries required for my use in establishing a new fort.' Then the articles are enumerated: 1 stove with pipe, 5 cwt. fine bread, 2 cwt. flour, 2 kegs wine, 1 do. brandy, 1 tent with poles, 2 oil cloths, 2 decanters, 1 basket furnished, a table, 2 chairs, 2 kegs butter. ' Xot much building material, surely, to say nothing of tools, ammunition, and arms, which he probably regards as matters of course. Nevertheless, he thinks fur ther of '12 spikes for erecting stockades, 4,000 5-inch spike-nails for roofing building, and 2 wrenches for bolt nuts;' and remarks that 'the breadth and thickness of the fort gates to be ascertained before the irons are made, so that the bolts and hinges be made of the proper length. ' The business must be conducted with due dignity and decorum. 'The largest and most commo dious berth in the cabin to be at my entire disposal, no person having the right to invite company, or dispense hospitalities during my residence on board. Business to be strictly attended to, and not pleasure; the master to absent him self as seldom as possible, '
646 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
Point Highfield at the mouth of the Stikeen River.9 The place where the fort was built was an island at high-tide, and communication was had with the main land by means of a small bridge, over which water as well as provisions had to be transported.
Here was to be the British head-quarters of the leased territory. In charge of the fort the new comers found a Russian officer with fifty men, guarded by a brig carrying thirty -two guns. When John McLoughlin junior and W. G. Rac, who had been appointed to the new charge, signified their intention of remaining with only eighteen men, the Russian officer demurred, saying that the savages were troub- : ic, and that the chief had many slaves skilled in >i nation, and forced to do his bidding under pain of death. But the brave British men made light of the Russian's fears, and said, "Other forts we rule with twenty men, and we will hold Stikeen."
So the Russian turned the place over to them, and with his men departed in his brig to Sitka, whither lie was soon followed by the leaver carrying Douglas, Kennedy, and Finlayson with the remainder of their party. Arriving at the Russian head -quarters,10 a salute of nine guns was given and returned, and they were received in royal style by the governor and his officers. An entertainment and week's stay followed, during which the Hudson's Bay Company was formally placed in possession of the leased territory according to terms stipulated. Then sailed the Beaver south ward, her mission accomplished.
The destruction of Fort Langiey by fire in April 1840, in which not only the houses, utensils, and fur niture were destroyed, but also a large stock of salt provisions and the seasoned barrel-staves for the salmon-fishing of the approaching season, was severely
9 On Arrowsmith's map this post is called Highficld Fort.
10 ' The fort at Sitkca was then manned by over 500 men with two or more guardships. . . We found about eight ships in the harbor at the time. Coast ing-vessels were stationed up Bering Strait and among the Aleutian Isles.' FinlasoH's V. /.. MS., 10, 11.
FOUNDING OF FORT TAKO. 647
felt by the north-coast establishments. The actual loss, besides the buildings, was £1,800, and the pros pective loss was still greater. It became a serious question whether the occupation of the Stikeen post and the erection of an establishment at Tako were practicable, in view of the dependence of these posts on Langley for salt provisions. The coasting-vessels likewise must suffer; new arrangements must be made with the Russians, and permission obtained to pur chase venison at Tungass and Port Stewart.11
The steamer leaver sailed from Sitka May 29, 1840, falling in with and taking in tow the Hudson's Bay Company's bark Vancouver, laden with trading goods and a year's supply of provisions. On board the steamer were Douglas, director; Kennedy, doctor; and Finlayson, secretary.12 Their destination was the Tako River, and their object was to plant a post there.
Arrived at the entrance to the river the steamer came to anchor. Small boats were launched and a party ascended the stream for a distance of fifty miles, but so rough and mountainous was the region that there could not be found, if we may believe Finlayson, a level spot sufficiently large for the requirements of a fort. Moreover, the ice which floated about the river warned them that the summer was short, and that by far the greater part of the year the river was not navigable.
While thus engaged in their profitless search, they encountered an Indian slave, whose master with others was inland, hunting, and whom they pleased to call Locality. This poor chattel of a savage on learning their wants took them down the coast to a small bay about ten miles south of the entrance to the river. It was a good harbor, with tolerable surroundings, and there the traffic-monarchs determined to erect a cita-
11 Douglas1 Journal, 1840-1, MS., 1, 2.
12 Finlayson possessed qualities far superior to those of scribe, judging from his manuscript, which I sometimes find it most difficult to decipher.
648 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
del. So the bark and steamer were brought to anchor in the bay, and the workmen landed. Log -houses were put up, and an eighteen-foot stockade with two bastions was thrown round a space one hundred and fifty yards square. The supplies were then taken from the bark and placed in the storehouse, and the carronades and small -arms taken to the bastions. Finally Douglas pronounced the place defensible, named it Fort Durham, after the carl of Durham, then governor-general of Canada, though it was oftcner called Tako; and placing Kennedy in charge, with Fin layson as his assistant, and eighteen men, he sailed with his bark and the Ik^rcr southward.
They were a brave, sullen race these Takos. A Boston trader quarrelled with them in 1838, and sailed away after firing several destructive shots into their canoes. Finlayson came very near losing his life there. On account of opposition the Hudson's Bay people were at this time dispensing ardent spirits to the natives. So numerous and strong were they, and the drink made them so wild, that but two or three were allowed within the fort to trade at one time. One day the savages congregated round the gate, and as one was passing out the crowd pushed aside the gate-keeper, overpowering him ; seeing which Finlayson ran to his assistance and was greeted by a stunning blow from the foremost savage. This so en raged the Scotchman that on recovering himself he imprudently followed the savage out of the gate alone, into the midst of the angry crowd, and began ham mering his head with his pistol. Instantly Finlayson was seized by the hair, stripped of half his clothes, and was rapidly being dragged toward the water, when he cried to Kennedy to fire blank-cartridges from the big guns, which was done, and this so frightened the savages that they dropped their prey and fled. Fin layson returned to the fort; the gates were closed and all trade stopped until the natives had paid in furs the penalty for their outrage.
TAKO ABANDONED. G49
In those days every chief worthy the name possessed from fifty to one hundred slaves, worth thirty blankets each, generally purchased from the natives of Queen Charlotte Island, the great slave-mart of the North west Coast. The chiefs took no small delight in kill ing their slaves at their feasts, which was a mark of greatness. While Finlayson was at Fort Tako the savages assembled at Tako Gulf one day in the summer of 1840, and having finished their trading they held a grand feast. Warmed to a proper pitch of egotism by the white man's rum, one of the chiefs arose and made a speech: " I am a mighty man, a most valiant chief, and wealthy withal, having so much property I know scarcely what to do with it. So rich am I that often I amuse myself thus"-— with which words he drew a pistol and shot dead one of his slaves. Another chief not to be outdone made a longer, braver speech, and shot two slaves. Catching1 the cruel mania others
O
followed, until ten poor wretches lay dead. Next clay Finlayson with a well armed posse went out and buried them, for the lordly savage would not touch a dead slave, but would leave him to rot v/licre he fell. Then ho told them that those who indulged in such dastardly acts in the future should not be allowed to trade at the fort.
In the summer of 1841, W. G. Rae having been removed from the Stikeen post to Yerba Buena, Fin layson was sent from Tako to take his place. During Rae's rule at Stikeen an attempt had been made by the savages to scale the stockade and take the fort. The assailants were fired upon ; some few were wounded, but none killed. During Finlaysori's time the natives destroyed the bridge, thus cutting off the water. A captured chief was held as hostage until the damage was repaired and peace made. Again the place was besieged, and although the fortress suffered, a little brackish water to drink was obtained by digging.
On the whole the occupation of the Tako post proved unsatisfactory. Hence in the opening of 1843 orders
650 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
were given for the abandonment of that establishment, and the distribution of its men and officers to other places. Thereafter traffic at Tako and the neighbor ing isles was conducted by the steamer Beaver, as a trading- vessel. Douglas made a voyage of surveillance up the coast and put the new regulation into effect, and Finlayson was transferred from Fort Simpson to the Beaver.
With the instructions from Governor Simpson for the abandonment of Fort Tako, came orders likewise for the abandonment of Fort McLoughlin on Milbank Sound.
The Hudson's Bay Company found the tribes sur rounding these northern posts to be more dangerous than any others encountered by them throughout the Northwest Coast. In the first place the northern nations were by nature fierce and independent, and secondly their warlike mood had by no means been quieted by intercourse with the Europeans. Brute force had been the policy of the Russians, many of whom were scarcely more Christian or humane than the savages, and the intoxicating draught now freely offered alike by English, American, and Russian traders, frequently maddened them, and made them too often turn the white man's firelock against him self. And white men can be as insanely savage upon emergency as red men. The cruelties of civilization may be a little more direct, may be somewhat less simple, more refined, but they are none the less devilish. The follies of civilization are absolutely unmatched by savagism, the reason being chiefly that the former has more inventions for originating and propagating evil than the latter.
It has always seemed to me that the heaviest pen alty the servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were obliged to pay for the wealth and authority advance ment gave them, was the wives they were expected to marry and the progeny they should rear. What
THE FUR -TRADERS' CURSE. 651
greater happiness to the father, what greater benefit to mankind than noble children ! I never could under stand how such men as John McLoughlin, James Douglas, Ogden, Finlayson, Work, Tolmie, and the rest could endure the thought of having their name and honors descend to a degenerate posterity. Surely they were possessed of sufficient intelligence to know that by giving their children Indian or half-breed
\J O O
mothers, their own old Scotch, Irish, or English blood would in them be greatly debased, and hence that they were doing all concerned a great wrong. Perish all the Hudson's Bay Company thrice over, I would say, sooner than bring upon my own offspring such foul corruption, sooner than bring into being offspring sub ject to such a curse.
Place John McLoughlin father beside John Mc Loughlin son, and tell me what there is in all the wide universe that would pay this strong, high-souled gen tleman for having taken so vile a copy of himself. Not that the son was so very bad, or any worse than the average in such cases, or than the father might expect. The superior intellectuality of the father developed in the son as superior brutality. Instead of benevolence and justice as the dominant motives, we have selfishness and passion. Nor is the son so much to blame that the miscegenation of white and red should result in black rather than golden, as the father who thus reduces to ashes a beautiful structure.
When Rae was called from Stikeen to Yerba Buena, of which event I elsewhere speak fully, John Mc Loughlin junior was left in full command of the post. Of an arbitrary, sombre, and morose disposition, with vindictiveness the foundation of his ethics, the strong love of spirituous liquors a passion, and varied concu piscence a chief delight, superstitious and low-minded, he was nevertheless honest, courageous, and not al-
O •*
ways intemperate. With his antecedents and envi ronment it was impossible he should be wholly bestial. He would like to do his best, but he was not made
652 A DECADE OF NORTHERN INCIDENTS.
for much well doing. Simpson saw this, and did not like it because McLoughlin had given him an estab lishment.
Probably no post in the service needed abler man agement than Stikeen, and young McLoughlin was not the ablest manager in the service. The savages, who thereabouts were both treacherous and ferocious, made their abode in the vicinity in large numbers, having not the slighest hesitation in openly proclaim ing their intention to take the fort, or anything in it, as the opportunity offered. Hence, McLoughlin was obliged to hold his men in close restraint, so close that they often broke the rules, and were severely punished. This exasperated them, and made them ripe for any crime, for they were a villainous crew. There were twenty-two in all, part Canadians and part Kanakas. Contrary to the rules, some of them held nightly inter course with the women of the neighboring lodges:
o o o *
some made themselves drunk on liquor obtained from the natives, which was the irony of intoxication, buy ing spirits from savages who first bought it from them selves. McLoughlin drank freely, and sometimes when the fit was on him would not only give the men liquor, but force them to drink themselves insensible. Thus as time went on McLoughlin became more cruel and tyrannical, and the men more mutinous, until they threatened to take his life.
Finally, on the night of the 20th of April 1842, John McLoughlin junior was shot dead by a Cana dian, Urbainc Heroux. The fort was in a general state of misrule at the time; most of the men were drunk, McLoughlin with his own hand having dealt out liquor freely, and being not altogether sober himself. Several had openly sworn to do the deed; others had fired their guns at the master or at each other, and the murderer was not more criminal than some of the others. Throughout the afternoon and evening McLoughlin had been bellowing about the establish ment that he was to be killed that night, and that he
McLOUGHLIN JUNIOR'S DEATH. 653
should die like a man. Altogether it was no less silly than sickening; and it was no wonder that when Governor Simpson arrived at the fort five days later he was disgusted, or that the dead man's father was angry when the governor blamed the master almost as much as the men. Such disgraceful occurrences
o
were not common in the service.13
At the expiration of the ten years' lease the con tract with the Russian American Company was re newed,14 and the Hudson's Bay Company continued to hold the country up to a few years prior to the pur chase of Alaska by the United States.15
13 ' The chary way in which Sir George behaved about this death envenomed the doctor against him.' llobertJ Rcc., MS., 8. ' Hincs' account,' says Jesse Applcgate in Saxtou'a Or. Ter., MS., 138, 'is calculated to create a wrong impression of the discipline and conduct of the Hudson's Bay Company.' Simpson was certainly much more slack in bringing the offenders to justice than he would have been had they been natives and the murdered -man one of his own numerous illegitimate progeny. ' In my opinion,' he says, Uvcr- land Journey, i. lb'2, 'the jurisdiction of Canada, as established by 43 Ceo. III., c. 138, and 1 and 2 Ceo. IV., c. GO, did not extend to Russian America; and on the other hand, I knew that the Russians had no court of criminal jurisdiction in America; while at the same time, I was by no means certain that even if they had such a tribunal, they would take any cognizance of a crime that did not concern them. So giving charge of the establishment to Mr Dodd, chief mate of the ship Coiditz, which brought him there, with a sailor, Blenkinsop, for an assistant, he carried Heroux to Sitka and there turned him over to the Russians, though he had just admitted that he did not expect them to punish him.
14 llence Roberts, lice., MS., 9, is mistaken when he says the arrangement proved unprofitable to his company, and that the country was abandoned upon the termination of the lease.
15 There was another Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River, at the junction of the Riviere aux Liards. See Richardson's Journal, i. 103-7. My material for this and the foregoing chapter is derived from Tolmie's Journal, MS., 89, where it is stated that Manson beat the man Richard at Fort McLoughlin until he wished himself a free savage. See also Tolmie's Journal, MS., app., passim; To! mie'sPuyet Sound, MS., 3-5, 59; Anderson's Northicest Coast, MS., 11-23, 103-5; Finlayson's Hist. V. /., MS., 9; Douglas* Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 58-01; Fo rt Simpson Jo urnal, MS., passim; Dunn's Or. Ter., 278; Iltnes' Or. Hist., 394-406; Gray's Or., 40-54; Martin's II. B., 28-30, whose errors of dates and facts it is idle to notice; Roberts'1 Rec., MS., 7, 8; Sazton'* Or. Ter., MS., 138; Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 20; Townsend's Nar.,2G5.
CHAPTER XXX.
TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
1841-1842.
THE MONARCH MOVES — SIR GEORGE SIMPSON CIRCUMNAVIGATES THE WORLD — TIIK JOURNEY ACROSS THE CONTINENT — SURVEYS THE NORTHERN POSTS — DROPS DOXVN TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY — MONTEREY — HONOLULU — SITKA AND FOKT SIMPSON AGAIN— THEN ASIA is HONORED— AN IRASCIBLE GAUL— FRENCH CURIOSITY— EUGENE DUFLOT DE MOFRAS— HIMSELF AND ins BOOK — FROM MEXICO AND CALIFORNIA HE PROCEEDS TO HONOLULU AND FOI:T VANCOUVER — SIMPSON DOES NOT LIKE HIS LOOKS AND SNUBS HIM — WHEREAT HE is IRATE, THOUGH IN ins BOOK CHARITABLE — AFTER CALLING AGAIN UPON Tini CALIFORNIANS, WHOM HE SCOURGES TO HIS COM PLETE SATISFACTION, HE HETURNS TO FRANCE.
IN a journey round the world, made in 1841-2, Sir George Simpson, govcrnor-in-chief of the Hudson's Bay territories in North America, paid the Pacific coast a second visit worthy of brief mention.1
Outlined, the journey was from London to Boston, thence to Montreal, and by way of Lake Superior and the Assiniboinc and Saskatchewan rivers to Edmon ton House, and from there to forts Kootenai, Col- ville, Okanaffan. and Vancouver. After visiting Sitka
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he took ship to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and across to the Hawaiian Islands, and from there to Sitka again. Thence he sailed to Okhotsk on the coast of Siberia, crossed Asia by way of Yakutsk, Irkutsk, and Tobolsk, to Moscow and St Petersburg, and through the Baltic by way of Hamburg back to London.
1 His Narrative, of a- Journey round the World during the Yearsl841 and 1S4%, 2 vols., SYO, London, 1847, was not piinted until five years after his return, owing to absorbing duties connected with the affairs of the company.
(654)
SIMPSON'S JOURNEY. 655
The date of his departure from London was the 3d of March 1841, and he reached Edmonton House in the latter part of July. Simpson's journey through the continent of America at this time was not unlike the march of a monarch. He was virtually king of this rude region, the chief of a commercial despotism.
Forty-five horses was his mount from Edmonton the 28th of July, and eight o'clock at night saw him sixty miles from his starting-point. He was accom panied by Mr Ho wand, for many years in charge of the Saskatchewan district, and eighteen selected men. Fresh animals were furnished at intervals along the route.
At Fort Colville, then in charge of Mr Mc Donald, the horses were abandoned for a six-oared canoe besides bowman and steersman, in which one hundred miles were made the first day and one hun dred and twenty the second. This boat becoming leaky w^as exchanged at Walla Walla for another.
»/ O
Mr McKinlay, then in charge, also furnished an inter preter for the tribes below.
The party now consisted of McMillan, Todd, Tay lor, and twenty-seven men, part of whom were Ha waiian Islanders. On the way down the Columbia Simpson was informed by a friendly native that the savages were preparing to attack him at the portage of Les Chutes, which however were passed without accident, though not without hostile demonstrations. Calling at Wascopam2 where was the Methodist mis sion, Simpson was politely met by Lee, who honored the travellers by eating with them. After a moon light bath the governor wrapped himself in his cloak, and stretching himself on the bottom of his boat com posed himself to sleep while being rapidly propelled down the picturesque Columbia.
Breakfasting at the Cascades the party proceeded, meeting a boat with letters en route from Fort Van couver to Walla Walla at two o'clock, and calling at
2 Called Whaspicum by Simpson.
656 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
sunset at the company's saw and grist mills, five miles above the fort, where they were honored by a salute from the company's schooner Cadboro, which was also a signal of their arrival to their expectant friends at the fort. " Being anxious to approach head-quarters in proper style/' writes the governor, " our men here exchanged the oar for the paddle, which, besides being more orthodox in itself, was better adapted to the quick notes of the voyageur songs. In less than an hour afterwards we landed on the beach, having thus crossed the continent of North America at its widest part, by a route of about five thousand miles, in the space of twelve weeks of actual travelling." Mc- Loughlin being absent at Puget Sound the party was here received by Douglas.
Simpson found at Fort Vancouver two vessels of the United States exploring squadron, which made a week's stay all the more pleasant. Taking cordial leave of Wilkcs and his officers, and accompanied by Douglas, on the 1st of September Simpson and party embarked in a bateau with a crew of ten men, passed swiftly over to the upper mouth of the Willamette, and rounding Sauve Island3 landed on the west side five miles from its southern end, where was the com pany's dairy. Three or four families resided there at the time, having in charge about one hundred milch cows and three hundred breeding cattle. Passing clown the lower channel of the Willamette, sunset saw them again on the Columbia, and in the morning they were slowly ascending the Cowlitz. Since Simpson's visit in 1828 fever had swept the banks of this stream of a large population, and there were few now left to mourn the departed.
Taking with him some Chinooks,on the morning of the 3d Douglas went forward to Cowlitz farm, ten miles from the landing, and when the party reached the spot they found him there ready with the animals.
3 Called by Simpson Multonomah, and again ' Meltonomah, or Wappatoo, Island. '
ON THE SOUND. 657
Horses were a delightful relief after forty-eight hours in a canoe, and the party were soon at the farm, which was well stocked, and had a thousand acres under cul tivation. Besides this establishment there was another farm on Puget Sound, and a Catholic mission with one hundred and sixty acres under cultivation.
Spending Sunday at Fort Nisqually inspecting the farm and dairy and visiting the Methodist missionary Richmond, next day the Gth of September the party embarked on board the company's steamer Beaver, Captain McNeill, Hopkins and Heath being in tem porary charge of Nisqually, and under a salute of seven guns started down the sound. Next morn ing they were off the southern end of Vancouver Island, which did not fail to attract the attention of the keen-sighted Simpson, who remarked upon its advantages for commerce and cultivation. Up the inner passage through the strait of Georgia the little steamer ploughed her way, occupying nearly as much time taking in wood as in burning it. Stopping at McNeill harbor to trade, thirty or forty canoes crowded round the steamer, and by noon next day beaver, mar ten, raccoon, bear, lynx, and otter skins, to the value of £500, were taken on board in exchange for tobacco, blankets, cloth, vermilion, knives, files, guns, and am munition.
Passing through Queen Charlotte Sound, the Bea ver again stopped to trade at the upper end of Van couver Island, where furs to the value of £200 were secured. Fort McLoughlin, when Charles Ross was in command, and Fort Simpson, then in charge of Work, were next visited. Continuing their voyage the afternoon of the 18th, the little steamer anchored for the night at the Canal de Revilla. Passing through Clarence Strait on the morning of the 20th, the party were welcomed by young McLoughlin at Fort Stikeen. Here Rowand, who had been stricken by fever, was left. Through Wrangel Strait and Frederick Sound the vessel plied next day, anchoring
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 42
658 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
for the night at the entrance of Stephen passage. In the afternoon of the 22d they came to Fort Tako, governed by Kennedy, with one assistant and twenty- two men. Passing round the northern end of Ad miralty Island they entered Chatham Strait, sailed down to Peril Strait, and thence to the Kussian American Company's establishment of New Arch angel at Sitka.
While salutes were being exchanged Captain Lin- denberg presented himself on board with Governor Etholin's compliments, soon after which Simpson and Douglas landed and called upon the governor. Next morning, in full uniform, his excellency visited the Bearer in his six-oared mi? and was received with
O o '
a salute. During their lour days' stay at Sitka the visitors spent the day ashore and slept on board. Simpson, always sensitive to the charms of woman, seemed struck by the beauty of Madame Etholin, the governor's wife, Kathrine, the tailor's daughter, and others. Weighing anchor the 30th of September, he returned through the labyrinth of waters by the way he came to Xisqually and Vancouver.
After visiting the settlement on the Willamette, Simpson embarked on the Coiclttz for California, with M. dc Mofras, Hale of the United States exploring squadron, and Mrs Rae and family as compaynons dc voyage, going on board at Fort George the 3d of December. Among his own party were McLoughlin, Hopkins, and Rowand, who had been brought back from Stikeen by the Beaver on her return. Sailing 'down the coast the fur governor dwells lovingly on whatever here has been English. Entering the strait which we now call the Golden Gate on the 30th, the Cowlitz passes the dismantled fort on her right, and the presidio,4 then in command of Prado Mesa, a short distance beyond.
Lying in Whalers' Harbor, as Simpson calls Sau-
4 'A square of huts distinguished by the lofty title of the Presidio of San Francisco.' ^'impsow's -Var., i. 277-8.
SIMPSON IN CALIFORNIA. 659
zalito, were two vessels, the schooner California and the Russian brig Constantine, the latter just ready to sail for Sitka with the remnant of the Ross colony, consisting of about one hundred men, wTomen, and children. Hopkins was despatched by Simpson to the Russians with his compliments. It was here first ascertained at San Francisco Bay by the Englishmen coming from the east and the Russians from the west that there was a day's difference between them; for while it was Thursday with the former, it was Friday with the latter. Rounding Clark Point, the Cowlitz dropped anchor before Yerba Buena5 where were lying the United States bark Alert and brig Bolivar, the British bark Index, and the Mexican bri^ Catalina.
O *
and after firing a salute Simpson hastened ashore to see Mr Rac, then in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company's interests at this place.
Next clay the Bolivar sailed for Monterey, having on board Mr Hale and M. de Mofras en route for Mexico. After despatching a courier overland to Monterey for the purpose of asking Governor Alva- rado's permission to land certain articles without first visiting the seat of government, and after duly cele brating New Year's day, on the 3d of January 1842 Simpson accompanied by Rae and Forbes proceeded in the long and jolly boats by way of San Rafael to visit General Vail ejo at Sonoma. There they found de lightful entertainment. A ride round the valley under escort of Salvador Vallejo and several vaqueros who won the admiration of the strangers by their feats of horsemanship was followed by dinner, after which was dancing to the music of the guitar played by Salvador and one of his men.
Returning to Yerba Buena on the 6th, four clays after ward, Simpson visited the mission of San Francisco, of late under the stewardship of Francisco Guerrero.
5 'A prettly little bay,' says the Narrative, 283-4. 'Whose shores are doubtless destined under better auspices to be the site of a flourishing town, though at present they contain only eight or nine houses in addition to the Hudson's Bay Company's establishment. '
660 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
Meanwhile the messenger returned from Monterey with Alvarado's refusal to permit the landing of any goods until the duties had first been paid at Monterey. To this port the Cowlitz therefore proceeded, leaving Yerba Buena on the 12th, and coming to anchor before the capital on the evening of the 15th. A salute of seven guns was next evening exchanged with the castle, which, says Simpson, "was at present so flush of gun powder as to return our compliment without borrow ing from us." Then boarded the ship six customs officers with countenances of radiant expectation until informed that tonnage had been paid at San Francisco, and that there was no cargo to land at Monterey, whereat their faces fell.
The sights were the church where mass was being said when the strangers landed, and the christening of a newly erected bridge now gayly decorated for that purpose. At the church door Simpson made the acquaintance of Spencc, who conducted him to the unpretentious house of the governor, and introduced him to the other notables of the town. While return ing to his boat Simpson was saluted by a horseman in California!! costume whom, after penetrating the dis guise, he found to be Ermatinger, who at his request had come from the Sacramento Valley to give such information as he possessed relative to the company's interests in southern Oregon and northern California.
During the night the Cowlitz was closely watched by two customs officers, and in the morning arrange ments were consummated for sending by the Llama, then in that port, such portion of the Cowlitz cargo as was destined for Yerba Buena. On the 1 7th the Cat- alina arrived from San Francisco, making six vessels then in Monterey Harbor.
Setting sail the 19th the Cowlitz continued down the coast to Santa Barbara, where the fur governor landed and paid his respects to the inhabitants, after which his vessol crossed over to Honolulu, where it came to anchor the 12th of February. A house had
THE STIKEEN TRAGEDY. 661
been prepared for the distinguished visitor by Sir John Pclly, the representative of the Hudson's Bay Com pany at this port, which indeed was nothing less than a royal palace, the residence of royalty prior to the retirement of the court from Honolulu to Lahaina. Pelly's residence was a cottage four miles up a gentle ascent in the valley of Nuannau where the air was pure and the temperature cooler than at Honolulu.
Next day the company's ship Vancouver came into port, bound for the Columbia, and on her McLougk- lin, Ho wand, and Hopkins embarked. After creating some stir among the white and dusky society of the Islands, on the 24th of March Simpson embarked for Sitka, where he arrived the IGth of April.
As the vessel destined to carry him to Okhotsk was not ready to sail, Simpson determined to make another visit to his company's forts in that vicinity. Chartering the Russian steam-tusf to tow the Cowlitz through the
O O
channels, the fur governor sailed from Sitka through Peril Strait and Chatham Sound to Fort Tako, where the vessel took on furs and fuel, arid then proceeded through Wrangel Strait to Fort Stikeen, where she arrived the 25th of April.
Two flags, the Russian and the English, at half- mast as they came in sight of the fort awakened in the minds of the travellers serious apprehensions, which were more than realized on landing. Five days had elapsed since the killing of McLoughlin junior. Twenty-two white men were left within the fort, and outside the palisades were congregated two thousand savages waiting, as Simpson claims, a favorable oppor tunity to seize the establishment and massacre the men. At which critical juncture the two vessels ar rived, thus saving atrocities. But of this there is no proof.6
6 Simpson says that four of the principal chiefs ' while repudiating any imputation of the kind for themselves, admitted that an attack on the fort had been recommended by some rash youths, but had been opposed by the wiser and older heads.' The fur governor wishing to make his arrival appear most opportune would have it inferred that his coming saved the garrison and goods,
662 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
Placing the post in charge of Dodd, chief mate of the Cowlitz, with a sailor, Blenkinsop, as an assist ant, and taking with him the murderer, Simpson left Stikeen the 28th, and after towing the Cowlitz from her anchorage, cast her off and proceeded to Sitka in the steamer. Shortly after his arrival there a drunken quarrel occurred among the natives, resulting in the loss of three lives and nearly approaching to an out break. The evils of intoxication being thus almost simultaneously brought home to the fur governors, after due consideration they entered into a compact, to take effect at Sitka immediately, and at the other posts as soon as notice could be conveyed to them, discontinuing the traffic in spirituous liquors with the natives of the American coast.
Having changed his calendar from the English to
O O O
the Russian by subtracting twelve days, on the 9th of May Simpson embarked on board the Russian ship Alexander Bardnof for Okhotsk, where he arrived the 24th of June. Proceeding thence across Asia he reached London after an absence of nineteen months and twenty-six days, which at that time was as great a feat as is a voyage round the world in eighty clays at present.7
The voyages and explorations of La Perouse, La place, and others, indicate that the French have more than once had a desire to establish intercourse with the Northwest Coast of America, and it is even sup- but the savage words of rash youths was something far from an attack on the fort. In the Fort Simpson journal under the date of Sunday, May 1, 1842, I find entered: ' Sir George came direct from the Islands to Sitka in the L'ow/itz, and got the Russian steamer [meaning the steam-tug Alexander Bardnof} to take her to Stikeen round by Tako. He is to return in the Hussiaii steamer to Sitka, and send the Coiditz 011 here, where he desires her not to be detained more than a day, and directs our furs to be packed, and 50 or GO tons of ballast collected ready for shipment.' They must be awake, for his eyes are on them.
7 The two octavo volumes, Narrative of a Journey round tJie World, in which Simpson narrates the incidents of his journey, are a model record of travels. The author was an exceedingly able man, a keen observer, quick in thought and action, with a mind overflowing with general intelligence, and possessed of every means that earthly power could give to facilitate his move ments. His command of words is excellent, and his style is no less terse than graceful.
EUGENE DUFLOT DE MOFRAS. 663
posed that they have looked with a longing eye on California. The visit in 1841-2 of Eugene Duflot de Mofras gave decided strength to these views, and so did the annual cruise of French men-of-war along the coast, about the same period.8 Mofras, who had for three years been attached to the French legation at Madrid, and there acquired a knowledge of Spanish language and customs, and was accordingly well fitted for a mission to the Spanish Americans, was trans ferred at the close of 1839 to the legation of Mexico, with instructions to visit the west coasts of Mexico, the Californias, and Oregon, and report upon their civil and political condition and resources, with a view to commercial relations.9 He was provided with let ters of recommendation to officials and leading men, and received from the minister of foreign relations at Mexico a passport for a scientific tour, instructions being issued to provincial governors to render him every aid.
Mofras' own book is devoted entirely to the re sults of the mission, with scarcely a reference to the incidents of his voyage; but so notable an event as the visit of a French official has not been over looked by the isolated settler in California, and his character, at least, is fully discussed in more than one memoir on my shelves. After a tour through the north-western states of the present Mexican republic, he embarked at Mazatlan for California, arriving at San Diego April 13, 1841. 10 He hurried to Mon-
8 In a letter addressed in 1841 to the father-president of California, Mofras states that for the future he expects that one or two French war- vessels will visit this coast every year. Plo Pico, Doc., MS., torn. ii. 13. Mofras admits in the preface to his work that the great prospects of the Northwest Coast, the whale-fishery, and other interests had long attracted the attention of his government. Duflot de Mofras, Exploration dn Territoire de VOregon, des Cali- fornies, et de la vier Vermetlle, torn. i. vii.-viii. A few years after this a reg ular party appeared in California, which advocated a French protectorate for the country, but it never attained to any strength.
} ' De rechercher enfin, inde'pendamment du point de vue politique, quels avantages pourraieiit offrir & notre commerce et t\ notre navigation des expe ditions mercantiles, et la fondation de comptoirs dans ces regions.' Mofras, Explor., torn. i. ix.
10 The instructions of the minister at Mexico to the governor of California, to give Mofras every aid that he might require, are dated May 21, 1840, so
664 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
terey to present himself to the governor, and there upon set out on a journey through the missions and towns, examining archives, making inquiries, and ob serving affairs generally. Aware of the influence of the fathers, and the need for their assistance, he had brought an order from the San Fernando college, at Mexico, requiring the friars to open their archives and to afford him every aid. He also took care to gain their good- will by means of presents in the shape of images and other appropriate articles, and by show ing them a respectful attention. The copious informa tion be obtained proves that these efforts were not in vain. From Sonoma, the residence of General Yallejo and the most northern settlement of the Mexicans, he crossed to Fort Ross, then on the eve of being evacuated by the Russians. Deviating from the usual silence concerning his movements, he refers to two visits made to this place, and dwells on the frank hospitality with which he was received. He extols the able and humane policy of the Russians, and the excellent arrangements of the forts; and he is charmed with the beautiful gardens and the picturesque sur roundings. A reason for this special eulogy may bo found in the presence of a cultured lady, the charming wife of Governor Alexander Rotchef, nee Princess Gagarin, who had renounced the gaycties of the court to follow her husband to this remote corner of the world.
Shortly after this, Mofras proceeded to Oregon by way of the Sandwich Islands, and would no doubt have been cordially welcomed at Fort Vancouver by the liberal-minded McLoughlin, to whom he brought a letter of introduction from the agent, Rae, of San Francisco. Sir George Simpson, wTho had arrived there a few days before on his tour round the world, did not appear pleased with the presence of a French
that his tour- in lower Mexican provinces must have been quite lengthy. Arch. Gal. Dcpt. State Papers, Aug., MS., torn. xi. 118-19; Id., torn. iv. 83; Vol- lejo, Doc., MS., torn. x. 130. See further Hist. CaL, this series.
MOFRAS AND SIMPSON. 665
agent, and the result was a coldness in intercourse which Mofras does not fail to place in contrast with the hearty reception accorded to him by the Russians. Another object of the governor's animadversion was Mr Hale of the United States exploring expedition, who had remained with the professed purpose of studying Indian languages, but in reality, says Mofras, to watch the Hudson's Bay Company on behalf of his government.11
Mofras gives a concise review of the geography of the country, and of the historic data which bear upon the title of possession, adding his own observations on the settlements and social institutions. Astoria is depicted as a miserable squatter's place, invested by the rival English and American factions with the pom pous name of Fort George and town of Astoria, the fort being represented by a bald spot from which the vestige of buildings had long since disappeared, and the town by a cabin and a shed. Occasionally fringed with a few Indian lodges somewhat higher up the Columbia, on Oak Point he notices a small salmon- curing establishment, belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and then comes Fort Vancouver, to which he refers with complimentary minuteness. He en ters freely into the history and trade system of the company, but refrains from comments on its monopo lizing policy. Despite the rebuff from Sir George Simpson, he refers to him as an intelligent chief; of McLoughlin, however, whose French mother had imbued him with sympathies for la grande nation, he speaks more fully and in the highest terms. He dwells on the zeal and ability of the French mission aries and on their influence over the French Canadian employes and settlers. The latter received him with
11 Mofras, Ex., torn. ii. 195-6. Sir George shows his dislike to Mofras by declaring that he preferred talking of his own equestrian exploits rather than listening to information, and to linger by the fireside, instead of collecting data. Nor could he exhibit credentials. Simpson's JVa?*., i. 245. Simpson is evidently prejudiced, for the California archives prove at least that Mofraa was well provided with official recommendations and passport.
666 TWO NOTABLE VISITORS.
delight at their prosperous farms on the Cowlitz and Willamette, and were quite demonstrative in expres sions of love for the mother country, declaring that nothing could equal that which pertains to France.
Such ideas fostered by the almost general use of the French language, were not apt to create a leaning toward their exclusive English masters, and Mofras expresses a hope that the race may combine some day and shake off the hated yoke, in Canada as well as on the Pacific coast, and become at least semi- independent under the American flag. Despite his sympathy with Americans, he expresses a conviction that the English hold the best title to Oregon.
Mofras returned to California by the Cowlitz in company with Simpson, and arrived December 30, 1841, at San Francisco, whence he hastened to Mon terey to prepare for a second tour through the prov ince. California pleased him best, for in the character of a French nobleman, recommended by the Mexican government, he became the lion wherever he appeared. There was a round of feasting and amusements, less refined no doubt than those of the European capitals, but nevertheless a source of pleasure from their very novelty; and then to be the centre of the ladies' admiration and of the men's envy, this sufficed for a Frenchman to cover a multitude of discrepancies. He shone at bull-baits and horse-races, balls and parties, and had every prospect of leaving a brilliant record. But faults arose to dim his fame, and charges were made of the most reprehensible conduct. He is said to have been arrogant toward the Californians, and openly expressed his contempt for them; but this must have taken place when he succumbed to his partiality for strong drink. Some of his prominent accusers concentrated their feeling against him in the word ' crazy,' while the more charitable suppose that a hasty temper and pride at times overcame his naturally generous impulses, and that he had been imbued with the false idea of regarding Californians
MOFRAS IN CALIFORNIA. 667
as little better than Indians. At San Antonio Mis sion it is said, and probably falsely, the administrator placed him under arrest for rude language and per sonal violence, and was upheld by the government in this course.12
Duflot de Mofras is not less complimentary in stamping the Californians as an indolent, lounging, smoking, and hard-drinking race, caring for no other exercise than riding and dancing, and leaving all hard work to the long-suffering women. He gives due credit to their hospitable and social character, how ever, and predicts a glorious future for a country so richly endowed by nature.13
12 Vallejo, in Hist. Cal, MS., torn. iv. 245; Id. Doc., MS., torn, xxxvi. 204, 285; Alvarado, Hist. Cal., MS., torn. iv. 175-9, 208; HartneWs Nar., MS., 14-20; Fernandez, Cosas de Cal., MS., 87; Cal. Pioneer*, No. 2, MS.; Pio Pico, Doc., MS., torn. ii. 13-15; 8. Vallejo, Notas Hist., MS., 129-30; Vallejo, Corrrx., MS., 28; Cerrutis Ramblinns, MS., 195-G; Misc. Hist. Papers, MS., doc. 36; Arch. Cal. Dept. Stale Papers, Pref. y Juzy., MS., v. 13; 8. Dieyo, Arch., MS., 201.
13 Mofras returned to Paris in 1842, where his collection of well written facts was published two years later in two volumes, by order of the king. They are dedicated to Marshal Soult, president of the council of ministers, by whom he had been charged with the mission, and presumed to be a continu ation of Humboldt's description of the same region. In the bulletin de la Societe de Gcoyraphie, torn. xix. 5-37, is printed Fragment (Tun voyaye en Cal if ornie lu d la stance generate du 80 Dccembre 18 J$.
CHAPTER XXXI.
HOTTED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 1841-1842.
OBJECT OF THE MOVEMENT — SHIPS EMPLOYED — OFFICERS — COMMANDER "YViLKES — BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE VOYAGE — ROUND CAPE HORN — HA WAIIAN ISLANDS — CROSS TO ADMIRALTY INLET — CASE SURVEYS HOOD CANAL — RINGGOLD EXAMINES ADMIRALTY INLET — EXCURSION OF JOHN SON AND PARTY TO COLVILLE AND WALLA WALLA — WILKES CALLS ON McLouGiiLiN — AND VISITS THE VALLEY WILLAMETTE — WRECK OF THE 'PEACOCK' AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA — EMMONS' OVERLAND EX PEDITION FROM OREGON TO CALIFORNIA — THE 'VINCENNES' PROCEEDS TO YERBA BUENA.
UNDER the command of Charles Wilkes, of the United States navy, was sent by congress in 1838 to the South Sea and round the world an exploring ex pedition, whose operations terminated in 1842.
The object of this movement was the examination of islands, reefs, and harbors, and the protection of commerce, particularly of the whale-fishing interests in the Pacific. Instructions dated the 1 1th of August 1838, and signed by J. K. Paulding, secretary of the navy, directed the expedition to sail from Norfolk to Rio de Janeiro, Tierra del Fuego, and Valparaiso; thence proceed to examine the Navigator group and the Fiji Islands; achieve, if possible, the Antarctic region, after which visit the Hawaiian Islands; then survey the Northwest Coast, examine the Columbia River, and note specially the bay of San Francisco; after which the coast of Japan was to be visited, then the port of Singapore; when this was accomplished the expedition was to return to the United States by way of Cape Good Hope. No traffic was permitted
(668)
PERSONNEL OF THE EXPEDITION. 669
with either civilized or savage peoples, except for necessaries or curiosities.
The squadron consisted of the sloops of war Vin- cennes and Peacock, the brig Porpoise, the ship Relief, and tenders Sea Gull and Flying Fish. Store-ships with fresh supplies were to be sent to Valparaiso, the Hawaiian Islands, and Singapore. Although benefit to commerce was the primary object, the interests of science were not to be neglected. Attached to the expedition was a corps of learned gentlemen, whose duty it was to gather knowledge, each in his special field.1
The first attempt to organize a national expedition had failed, and the movement now was not a very popular one.2 Nor did the commander then or subse quently wholly escape reproach.3 For himself he
1 Their names were as follows : In the ship Vincennes, Charles Pickering and Joseph P. Couthouy, naturalists; Joseph Dray ton, artist; J. D. Bracken- ridge, assistant botanist; John G. Brown, mathematical instrument maker; John W. W. Dyes, assistant taxidermist. In the ship Peacock, James D. Dana, mineralogist; T. R. Peale. naturalist; Horatio Hale, philologist; F. L. Davenport, interpreter. In the Relief, William Rich, botanist, and Alfred S. Agate, artist.
2 J. N. Reynolds of New York was the originator of the expedition, and the act of congress authorizing it was under the administration of President Jackson, and passed the 14th of May 1S3G. Of Reynolds, Carroll says, Star of the Went, 10: 'He received from the scientific professions and the country, the highest evidences of honor it was in their power to bestow. ' ' In return for years of study and travel in connection with the subject, when the expedition which he had called into being was ready to sail, Reynolds was denied position or even passage in it. The failure of its first organization had exposed the whole affair to ridicule, and had seriously impaired the confidence and ardor of its officers and friends.' North Am. llevlcw, July 1845, 55.
3 Charles Wilkes was born in New York in 1801, served in the Mediterra nean in 1819, in the Pacific in 1821, and in 1830 was appointed to the depart ment of charts and instruments. On his return from the present expedition charges were preferred against him by his officers, of all which a court-mar tial acquitted him except the illegal punishment of seamen, for which he was reprimanded. While commanding the frigate San Jacinto in 1801 in the West Indies, looking for the confederate steamer Sumter, he forcibly took the con federate commissioners Mason, and Slidell from the British mail steamer Trent, for which he received the thanks of congress, though the president finally disapproved the course and surrendered the commissioners to England. Among the principal officers of the exploring expedition were lieutenants Thomas T. Craven, Overtoil Carr, Robert E. Johnson, James Alden, William L. Maury, and acting master of the Vincenne*, James H. North; William L. Hudson, commander of the Peacock; Lieutenant A. K. Long, commander of the Relief; Lieutenant Cadwalader Ringgold, commander of the Porpoise; and James W. E. Reid and Samuel R. Knox, in charge of the tenders Sea Gull and Flying Fish.
670 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
claimed that many impediments were thrown in his way, while his officers accused him of arbitrary and illegal rule.4 Be this as it may the objects of the expedition were accomplished to the high honor of the nation, and the results given in several editions of printed reports both public and private.5
Sailing from Norfolk the 18th of August 1838, the squadron touched at Madeira, stopped a month and more at Kio de Janeiro, visited Tierra del Fuego, and thence after a southern cruise proceeded to Valparaiso, where it arrived the middle of May 1839. The Sea Gull was lost- off Cape Horn. Callao was the next
4 Wilkes was even accused of purchasing his command. Though this was never piTjvcn, there were hot political proceedings with some sprinkle of infamy in appointing a commander for the expedition. V\Tilkcs was ridiculed as a lieutenant-commodore, because being a subordinate he was promoted to this important command over the heads of his superiors. His impudence was greater than his talents. It is said that he was chosen for tlio command more on account of his scientific pi than his ability as a naval ol'iiccr. Says
the Xd-th Am. /A view, July 1845, 55, while looking with national pride upon the results 'we have no intention of expressing an opinion either as to the manner of his appointment or as to the conduct of other officers.'
"First there was the illustrated ollkial edition in IS vols. 4to and 8 vols. folio, printed for presentation by government to public institutions. Of some of these volumes but 10 J copies were printed, and there arc few if any complete sets in existence to-day. The titles are as follows: Vols. i. to v. j\"arrn/n-e of (he United States Exploring Expedition during the year* 1838-42, by Char/es ll'ilke*, Philadelphia, 1644; vol. vi. Ethnography and Philology by > Jfale, Philadelphia, 184G; vol. vii. Zoophytes, ly James I). J'ana, Philadelphia, 1S4G; vol. viii. Mammal/a cr.id Ornithology, by Titian R. Peale, Philadelphia, 1848; vol. viii. bi*, Mammalogy and Ornithology, by John Cassin, Philadelphia, 1858, with folio atlas of 53 plates; vol. ix. The Paces of Man, and the'r Geographical Distribution, by Charles Pickering, Philadelphia, 1818: vol. x. Geology, by James 1). Darin, with atlas of 21 plates, Philadelphia, 1849; vol. xi. Meteorology, by Charles Wittes, Philadelphia, 1851; vol. xii. Mol/usca and Shells, by Augustus A. Gould, Philadelphia, 1852, an atlas of plates an nounced but never published; vol. xiii. Crustacea, by James D. Dana, Phila delphia, 1852; with folio atlas of 98 plates, Philadelphia, 1855; vol. xv.
folio atlas of 46 plates, Philadelphia, 1855; vols. xvii., xviii., and xix., nev published; vol. xx. Jlerpetology, by S. F. Baird, with folio atlas of 32 plate Philadelphia, 1858. Burnet numbers the volumes quite differently, and giv the place of publication of some of them "NTp.w York, nnrl snmfi Boston. F«
LX., never elates, . gives
the place of publication of some of them New York, and some Boston. For example, vol. xiv. is Phanerogamia, by Asa Gray, New York, 1854; vol. xv. The Geographical Distribution of Animals and Man, by Charles Pickering, Boston, 1854, etc. ' Une partie des excmplaires des 16 volumes de cette pre- cieuse collection ont et6 envoyes en cadeau aux principaux gouvernements et aux grands establissements scientifiques des deux mondes.' An illustrated 8vo edition of the Narrative in 5 volumes appeared in Philadelphia in 1845, another in 1849, another in New York in 1852. A condensed edition in one
MOVEMENTS OF THE VESSELS. C71
port made. From this point the Relief was sent home by way of the Hawaiian Islands and Sydney. A cruise in the South Pacific and the Antarctic then followed with the Hawaiian Islands as a rendezvous. It was the 24th of September 1840 that the Vin- cennes reached Honolulu, after which the other ves- rels came straggling in, but too late for operations on the Northwest Coast that winter. To fill up the time excursions about the Hawaiian group were made, the Porpoise meanwhile cruising in the vicinity of the Society Islands, while to the Peacock and Flying Fish were given other south sea missions.
volume octavo appeared in London in 1845, and one in 18,50. In 1850 there was printed at Auburn, New York, in one octavo volume, Voyage of the United Slates Exploring Squadron, commanded by Captain Charles Wilkes; and in 1851, a condensation in one volume octavo was printed in New York, entitled Voyage round the World, Embracing the Principal Events of the Nar rative of the United States E.''),loring Expedition, with 170 illustrations. After the discovery of gold in California, selections were made from the Narrative and published in Philadelphia in 1849, under the title of Western America, including California and Oregon, with Maps of those Ileyions and of the Sacra mento Valley.
Before any of the regular editions of the Narrative and its collateral scientific volumes appeared, however, there was printed a Synopsis of the Cruise of the U. S. E.rplor. Ex. daring the Years 1SL1S—J/1, Ddiver<d b'forc the National Institute by its Commander, Charles Wilkes, on the 20th of June IS 42. 'The results of this expedition,' says the North Am. Review, April 1843, ' will be the first contribution to science offered to the world by the govern ment of the United States;' and yet it never excited much public atten tion, and no public enthusiasm. There was too much political jobbery about it, too much struggle for self-aggrandizement for the men or the movement ever to be deemed great or glorious. On his return, in answer to the charges brought against him, with unblushing effrontery he endeavored to make it appear that the command was conferred upon him without solicitation on his part. But however disgraceful some of the attendant circumstances, the expedition itself and its results were regarded on all sides as most important, and as highly honorable to the nation. Says the Bulletin de la Socicic de Geographic, torn. xix. 1843, 37: 'Ce voyage est un des plus irnportants qui aient etc cntrepris.' Wilkes' style as a writer is far from good; besides being slovenly, he is often ungrammatical. As one of a hundred illustrations which might be brought forward, I will quote a line from the North Am. Review, July 1845, 57, where that journal is speaking of the commander's account of Brazil : ' Captain Wilkes has devoted, very unnecessarily, as we conceive, two chapters of his work to a description of Bio de Janeiro, and an account of the political condition of the Brazilians. Seeing that he has made so liberal use of the facts of Mr Armitage's history, he ought to have bor rowed also some of that writer's liberality and candor. ' A somewhat strict order was embodied in the instructions to the effect that all information obtained by the expedition was the property of the United States, and must not be given in any form to any not belonging to the party. At the termi nation of the expedition, each person was obliged to surrender all journals, memoranda, and drawings in his possession.
672 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
Proceeding from the Islands the 5th of April 1841? the Vincennes and Porpoise arrived off the mouth of the Columbia on the 28th; but owing to the rough ness of the water on the bar6 the commander turned his vessels northward, and entering the strait of Juan cle Fuca with a view of beginning his survey of the coast in that quarter came to anchor in Port Discov ery the 2d of May.
The chief of a Clallum canoe party, who boarded the vessels next morning, demanded if those were Boston or King George ships, and thought it exceed ingly strange that these white men would not buy furs. Fish and game were plentifully supplied by the natives in exchange for tobacco and trinkets.
A native was immediately despatched to Fort Nis- qually at the head of Puget Sound with a letter to the officer in charge requesting a pilot. Four days were occupied in examining the harbor, during which time the botanists found a new and attractive field ashore. Receiving no ivply to his letter, Lieutenant Wilkes weighed anchor on the Gth, and proceeded to Port Townsend, which he examined next clay, and on the 8th moved his ships up eight miles to an anchor age at the entrance to Hood Canal, which place he called Port Lawrence. On the following day Wilkes brought his ships to a cove on the west side of Admi ralty Inlet opposite the south end of Whidbey Island, and being there met by the mate of the Beaver, sent to his assistance by the Hudson's Bay Company, he called the place Pilot Cove.
Early on the morning of the 9th, under direction of the pilot, the two vessels continue their way up the inlet, passing a place named by the commander Appletree Cove from the number of those trees blos soming there, and at night anchoring near a fine bay
! ' Mere description can give little idea of the terrors of the bar of the Columbia; all who have seen it have spoken of the \vildncss of the scene, and the incessant roar of the waters, representing it as one of the most fear ful sights that can possibly meet the eye of the sailor.' Wilkes' Nar., iv. 313.
SURVEYING PARTIES. 673
on the west shore, which he calls Port Madison.7 Continuing next day under the shadow of Hudson River scenery, taking the passage to the west of Vashon Island, the vessels pause for the night just below the narrows leading into Puget Sound, which by the assistance of the tide they shoot on the llth, and anchor off Nisqually that night.
Mr Anderson was in charge of the establishment at the time, and Captain McNeill was also there repairing his little steamer; and it is needless to say that the strangers were welcomed, meat and milk being sent them from the fort. Richmond and Wilson were at the Methodist mission. Officers and men were enthusiastic over the beauties of those waters, which they pronounced unqualifiedly the finest in the world.
A scientific campaign was now planned in which all were to take a part. Lieutenant Case with the boats of the Vincennes was to examine Hood Canal, and Ringgold with the Porpoise, Admiralty Inlet. Lieutenant Johnson, accompanied by Pickering, T. W. Waldron, Brackenridge, and three men, was to make an excursion to forts Colville, Lapwai, and Walla Walla, returning by way of the Yakima River, two months being allowed for the trip. Wilkes, with Dray- ton, R. R. Waldron, and two men, was to cross to the Columbia, visit Astoria, Fort Vancouver, and the Wil lamette settlement, and ascend the river to Walla Walla. Should the Peacock enter the Columbia in safety, her boats were to survey the river. The instru ments and clocks were landed from the Vincennes, and an observatory planted on a hill -top within hail of the ship.
The surveying parties under Case and Ringgold were first despatched, after which horses were bought and the land expeditions equipped. After Johnson
7 All these places Wilkes says he surveyed, though we are scarcely to understand by that term, when we consider the time spent and the results, what would be called surveying beside the thorough work of Davidson, Law- son, or Ellicott.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 43
674 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
had started, the Wilkes party was sent by Anderson on horses with a Canadian guide through a park-like country to Cowlitz Farm, sixty miles south, whence they were sent by the superintendent, Mr Forrest, in a canoe in charge of Simon Plomondeau to Astoria. On their way clown the Columbia they met the brig Waie, which had brought them some stores from the Hawaiian Islands, and which had left them at Astoria in charge of the Hudson's Bay Company's agent, Birnie.
Sunday the 23d, Birnie proposed a trip to the Clat- sop village and the missionary station at Point Adams, which invitation Lieutenant Wilkes gladly accepted. Besides Mr and Mrs Frost in charge of the mission, there were two settlers from the United States, Tib- bits and Smith, who were building themselves houses, and a farm four miles distant belonging to Mr Frost and a brother clergyman, Mr Koen.
Leaving Waldron at Astoria to await the arrival of the Peacock, the party, still guided by Plomondeau, pro ceeded by canoe to Fort Vancouver by way of Lake Biver, to avoid the current of the Columbia. They were captivated, as all men were, by Dr McLough- lin's courtesy and kindness. Quite a company of mis sionaries were at the time enjoying the fur-traders' hospitality; there were the Smiths, the Griffiths, the Clarkes, Mr Waller, and others. Excursions were made to the dairy farm, the grist and saw mills, and no pains were spared to show the exploring party every object of interest.
Furnished by McLoughlin with a large boat bounte ously provisioned, on the 3d of June Wilkes and his companions left Vancouver for the Willamette Valley. On the bank of the Willamette they found encamped under two small tents Jason Lee, accompanied by Mrs Lee and the Whit corn family en route for Clatsop. On Oak Island, near where Portland now stands, they found busily at work the eight young boat-builders of whom I make mention elsewhere.
WILKES IN OREGON. 675
At the falls, now Oregon City, they found Waller, the missionary in charge, quarrelling with the Hud son's Bay Company, who had a post there, over busi ness matters. Mrs Waller played the part of cook and hostess to perfection, and after dinner they went out to see the natives catch salmon at the falls. Eighteen miles above the falls, at Champoeg, they were entertained in a rude way by Mr Johnson, a re tired Hudson's Bay Company trapper, who had a farm there, and whose Indian woman in his opinion was worth six civilized wives. Johnson had been in the navy, and found in Wilkes rare companionship. His three or four neighbors came forward and paid their respects to the distinguished strangers, the burden of their conversation being mostly of laws and govern ment in which accursed necessities they were lacking.
Even yet within the range of McLoughlin's hos pitable influence, next morning the explorers found ready with horses at their door Michel la Framboise, who had come to this region in the Tonquin, and who knew the country thoroughly, as he often had charge of trapping parties to California and back.
Mounting, they proceeded up the valley, calling on Blanchet8 at the Catholic mission twelve miles from Champoeg. On reaching his own house shortly after ward Michel left the party, Plomondeau, Johnson, and others being yet with them as guides.
Entering the grounds of the Methodist mission, eight miles beyond the Catholic mission and eighteen miles from Champoeg, the attention of the travellers was arrested by a patent threshing-machine rotting in the road, which did not speak well for the thrift of the missionaries. There they were entertained by the Abernethys and visited by Doctor Babcock.
Declining an invitation to be present at a 4th of July dinner tendered by the settlers, the party rode over to the mill nine miles south-east from the mission.
8 Wilkes calls him Bachel6t, and takes particular care to accent the last e. Like most early government work his Narrative is badly printed.
G76 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
There they dined with Mr Raymond; before which, however, Mr Hines took them to the site selected for a seminary, two miles distant, where his family was encamped under some oak-trees. Wilkes could not understand what savages wanted with semi naries.
After a visit to the old Mission site on the bank of the Willamette, the party crossed the river and encamped near O'Neill's farm, formerly belonging to Mr Leslie, and the best in the country. It was now the 8th of June 1841. Next day the party started for the Yam Hills where were a number of settlers, the most remote of whom on that side of the river was George Gay, an Indianized white man and a most unsettled settler. Two brick-kilns were passed on the way thither. The farms of McLoughlin, La Bonte, Young, and Bailey were examined, after which Wilkes returned to Vancouver, leaving Drayton at the falls of the Willamette, to make further additions to his collections in natural history.
During Wilkes' absence, Fort Vancouver had been enlivened by the presence of Peter Skeen Ogdcn, chief factor of the northern district, and his brigade of gay voyageurs. From Ogden Wilkes learned much of the upper country, which he did not fail to record. Meanwhile the Peacock not appearing, Wilkes deter mined to return to Nisqually, Ogden offering him a seat in his boat, manned by fourteen ribboned and plumed voyageurs, as far as Cowlitz farm, and at the same time requesting Drayton's company to Walla Walla. Both of these invitations were gladly accepted. The party from the Peacock which Lieu tenant Wilkes had thought of sending up the Colum bia, would have visited Walla Walla, and thence have crossed the mountains to the Yellowstone; but fears were now entertained for the safety of that vessel, and it was deemed best not to postpone fur ther the examination of so important a part of the country.
JOHNSON'S EXCURSION. 677
Ogdcn's brigade, which Drayton had been invited to accompany, consisted of nine boats navigated by sixty voyageurs, of whom eight were accompanied by their wives. Of the party were Mr and Mrs McKin- lay, on their way to take charge of Fort Walla Walla, and Mr Cameron, en route for Black's station. About one quarter of the boatmen were Iroquois, the re mainder Canadians.
Embarking at Fort Vancouver the 26th of June, they camped the second night at the Cascades, where the ancient aboriginal called Slyboots came forward and received his annual present of some tobacco and a shirt for once having saved Ogden and his party from attack by giving timely warning. A cheap reward. At the Methodist mission near the Dalles Drayton was welcomed by Mr Perkins and Daniel Lee. Arrived at Walla Walla, Drayton learned that Lieutenant Johnson's party had passed that point a week before on their way to Nisqually. After a visit to the Waiilatpu mission, where were Dr Whitman and Mr and Mrs Gray, and an excursion to the Blue Mountains, Drayton returned by horse to the Dalles, and thence by boat to Vancouver.
The 4th of July was heartily celebrated at Fort Nisqually by a barbecue on shore. Dr McLoughlin was expected to be present, but did not arrive until next day; when he visited the Vincennes, the first man-of-war on which he had ever set foot. On leav ing he was heartily cheered by the crew.
The middle of July Lieutenant Johnson returned from his Okanagan excursion, which I will now briefly notice. With riding and pack horses, and Pierre Charles and Bercier as guides, the party set out from Nisqually the 19th of May, crossed the Puyallup, and continued easterly through Nahches Pass to the Yakima country, where they met old Tidias, a chief tain cunning in horse-dealing. Thence taking a more northerly direction, on the 2d of June they reached
678
UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
the Yakinia River, which being too deep for loaded horses to ford, they crossed their luggage on india- rubber balsas. Continuing northward they struck the
O \J
Columbia just below the Menache,9 and on the 8th of June arrived at Okanagan. In charge of the post was Le Pratt, and on the 9th Maxwell arrived from Colville with forty laden horses for Ogden's brigade. Both of these officers cordially extended their hospitality.
„ \
JOHNSON'S EXCURSION.
Leaving Okanagan the 10th, the party crossed the Columbia,10 and taking an easterly course passed over the Grande Coulee, crossed the Spokane at its junc tion with the Columbia, and after a visit to the Chimi-
9 Called by Wilkes the Pisclicms.
10 Indulging in somewhat too liberal potations at parting, or else over come by his private bottle, Johnson became separated from his party, and lay the first night out upon the ground, alone, dead-drunk.
DIVERS SURVEYS. 679
kaine mission, arrived at Fort Colville on the 16th. At Chimikaine they found the native chief, pious Cornelius, and the wives of Walker and Eels, their husbands being absent on a visit to Walla Walla. McDonald was then master at Colville.
Three days were spent at this post refreshing them selves and their horses, and repairing their pack-sad dles. The fort furnished all their requirements, taking orders on the ship in payment. Departing and pur suing a southerly course they came again to Chimi kaine, where they found the missionaries returned, from whom, as well as from the fur-traders, they learned much about the country and the people. Thence they passed through the Spokane country to Lapwai, where they found Spalding, who expounded to his people the doctrine of the expedition. Spald- irig gave the party fresh horses, taking their tired-out animals in exchange.
O
Leaving Lapwai the 26th, the party proceeded to Walla Walla, whence after remaining a few days, they returned to Nisqually by way of the Yakima River. Subsequently Hale, who was left in the country by the expedition, went from Waiilatpu, by way of the Palouse River, to Chimikaine and Colville, thus com pleting a pretty thorough survey of that region.
On his return from his Okanagan tour Johnson was ordered to cross the country to the Chehalis River, descend that stream to the ocean, and make a survey of Gray Harbor. But refusing to take passed mid shipman Eld, who was to accompany him, into his deliberations, Johnson was placed under arrest, and the command given to Eld, who, with the assistance of Colvocoresis, performed the service to the entire satisfaction of his commander.
The Peacock and Flying Fish, not yet returned from their South Sea cruise, were nowthree months overdue, and the explorers were becoming exceedingly anxious for their safety. To complete the survey of those
680 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
shores and hasten the squadron to other posts was all that could be done.
The Porpoise, which had left Nisqually the 15th of May, began her survey at the mouth of the Puyallup River, from which circumstances the place was called Commencement Bay.11 Thence the work was carried northward.
Communication by water was discovered between Port Orchard and Port Madison, and Lieutenant Maury sent to survey it. Near this place was a Catholic mission. Perm Cove was next examined; after which the brig moved through Deception Pas sage to the northern outlet of Possession Sound. The 4th of July found the surveyors near Point Roberts, and next day they were at the mouth of the Fraser. The brig joined the Vincennes on the 20th at New Dungeness.
Soon after embarking on another extensive system of survey, including Haro Strait, Fraser River, to Fort Langlcy, and the southern end of Vancouver Island, tidings were received by way of Nisqually of the loss of the Peacock, beaten in pieces on the bar of the Columbia on the 18th of July, but without loss of life. The surveys were soon cut short, as the ship wrecked mariners demanded attention. Mr Waldron was sent with letters by way of Nisqually to Astoria, where Captain Hudson and his crew had taken refuge, and the ships, after completing certain surveys, got out to sea, and arrived off the mouth of the Columbia the Gth of August. The whale-ship Orozimbo was there; likewise the Flying Fish. Hudson reported on board the Vincennes, and Wilkes proceeded at once to make such disposition of the squadron as should
11 Professor Davidson, in his Pacific Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, 1SG9, 240, says: 'It was named in 1792 by Vancouver, who thought this the entrance to some large arm of the inlet, on account of
-page steel illustration. What Vancouver says flattered ourselves we should find the inlet take an extensive easterly course,' in which he was disappointed; but not a word about Commencement Bay by that or any other name.
OVERLAND TO CALIFORNIA. 681
meet the present emergency. He would despatch a party overland by way of the Willamette and Sac ramento valleys to San Francisco. He would survey the Columbia to the head of navigation, but he would not jeopardize the Vincennes in crossing the bar. He therefore shifted his pennant to the Porpoise, and sent the Vincennes in charge of Ringgokl to San Francisco. Then with the Porpoise, guided by Ramsey, a Chi nook pilot, he crossed the bar in safety, the tender following, and anchored before Astoria. Lying there was the brig TJiomas H. Perkins, Yarney, master, which he bought for $9,000, put her in thorough repair, and changed the name to Oregon. The trip across the Rocky Mountains to the Yellowstone, which was to have been under Mr Dana, was abandoned.
Ordering the boats of the wrecked Peacock manned on the 9th of August 1841, the survey of the Colum bia was begun, though it was the 18th before the Por poise and the Oregon left Astoria to ascend the river. At Fort Vancouver were Sir George Simpson, and Von Freeman of the Russian company. A formal dinner was given, which the explorers pronounced stiff; evidently they enjoyed their first visit better. Simp son was more suspicious than McLoughlin. The so- called survey of the Columbia which followed amounted to little.12 The middle of October the squadron left the Columbia and joined the Vincennes at San Fran cisco Bay.
Meanwhile a party had been despatched under Lieutenant Emmons13 overland, from Oregon to Cali-
12 1 have no doubt this visit of these sailors to the Pacific coast at this juncture was worth to the United States all it cost ; but as for observation I venture to say that two or three intelligent private gentlemen of average ability would have accumulated more valuable knowledge than all these hundreds with their fine ships and costly outfit and public parade. The most remarkable feature of this memorable expedition was the amount of knowledge which it everywhere left untouched. Their surveys were nothing like as thorough as Vancouver's before them, or of those of the United States at a later period. •
13 At this writing Rear-admiral Emmons. In a letter to me dated Nov. 1, 1879, he states that 'the land expedition grew partly out of the loss of the Peacock. '
682 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
fornia, which left the Columbia the latter part of August. This party consisted of thirty-nine persons with seventy-six horses. Beside seamen and guides there were of the votaries of science, Peale, Rich, Dana, Agate, and Brackenridge, and several families, by name Walker, Burrows, Nichols, and Warfields, who joined for escort.
Their route w^as along the now well established trail up the Willamette and across the rivers and mountains of Umpqua, Rogue, and Klamath, to the valley of the Sacramento. The narrative of this ex pedition is filled with trifling detail of little value to history. While listening at the mission to a sermon from Mr Leslie, one of the men, Tibbits, in nodding by an open window, knocked out the support, and let the sash down on his neck. At Champoeg, they engaged Thomas McKay, a noted character in those parts, as guide.
Arrived at Elk Creek the 16th of September, Em- mons visited Fort Umpqua, fourteen miles distant, where he found the officer in charge, Mr Gangriere, in great fear of attack by the natives on account of their losses by small-pox, introduced by Hudson's Bay Company parties under La Framboise and McKay. Elks were plentiful everywhere; the first grizzly bears seen were on the Umpqua River. The country through which they were now passing was regarded as hostile. On the 22d they were on the Umpqua Mountains, and three days afterward they encamped on Rogue River. Many of the party were suffering with ague. The Klamath River was crossed on the 1st of October; and thus without incident worthy of mention they passed on over the mountains until they came to the Sacramento River, which they followed to Sutter Fort, arriving there the 19th of October. There they found the Vincennes launch, in which part of the company embarked, the remainder proceeding by way of San Jose to San Francisco Bay. Josd An tonio Estrada at San Jose, to whom they took a letter
DEPARTURE OF THE SQUADRON. 683
from Captain Sutter, did not seem overpowered with joy at seeing them. Ephraim Travel, however, a little Yankee tailor belonging to the mission, showed them the sights. Arrived at Yerba Buena their horses and accoutrements were sold by auction, bringing from one and a half to five dollars each for the animals, the sale aggregating two hundred and ten dollars.
Lieutenant Ringgold sailing in the Vincennes from the Columbia River anchored off Yerba Buena the 14th of August. By the advice of Richardson, cap tain of the port, he removed the ship three days after to Whalers Harbor, or Sauzalito, water being diffi cult to obtain at Yerba Buena. Neither the country, the towns, nor the people of California seem to have struck Lieutenant Wilkes favorably, nor were the Californians overwhelmed with joy on beholding Lieu tenant Wilkes.14
In six boats provisioned for thirty days Ringgold with a party from the Vincennes set out the 20th of August on an excursion up the Sacramento, and arrived at New Helvetia, or Sutter Fort, the third day. Here four sailors, attracted by the charms of the voluptuous valley, deserted, a common occurrence on these shores, even at that early day. Ascending the river to the vicinity of Colusa, they found them selves in a country swarming with game and full of interesting phenomena. Thence they returned, reach ing the Vincennes the 9th of September.
When Lieutenant Wilkes arrived from the Colum bia he attended a fete and bull-fight given the 24th of October by the Irishman, Murphy, at San Rafael. He likewise visited the missions at San Francisco and Santa Clara. On the 1st of November 1841 the squadron weighed anchor for Manila, by way of the
14 From Forbes'' California and other sources accessible to the United States government on easier terms than sending to the Pacific a squadron for them, Wilkes fills some fifty pages of his narrative with facts so mingled with prejudices as to contain little absolute knowledge.
684 UNITED STATES EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
Hawaiian Islands. At Singapore the Flying Fish was sold. The Vincennes after stopping at Cape Town and St Helena reached New York the 10th of June 1842, the Porpoise and Oregon arriving shortly after, having crossed the south Atlantic to Bio de Janeiro. Meagre as was the knowledge gathered by this expedition, its influence upon the affairs of the Pacific territory of the United States in their then incipient state was important. The country then was little known ; and what Wilkes and his associates said of it was for the most part not only true but bore a great nation's stamp of authenticity. These shores, which hitherto were little more than myths in the world's mind, were now clothed in reality. The selection for the honorable part of commander of a man void of true nobility of feeling, and more conspicuous for puerile petulance than manly ability, as before remarked, while it detracted from the dignity of the enterprise, did not wholly hinder its usefulness. The benefits to the coast were most important, and to the young government for its lofty endeavor the highest praise was due. Though exceedingly imperfect15 in their material and execution the published reports of this expedition formed by far the most important literary work hitherto issued by the United States government.
15 ' The injudicious manner in which the volumes have been crammed with matters having no relation to the duties or events of the expedition is a proper subject of criticism. A work of oppressive dimensions has been constructed, and the real narrative of the cruise, a story of surpassing interest, is crushed under a weight of irrelevant matter, enough to change the native hue of reso lution in the most determined reader. We are aware that one object of the expedition was to promote the acquisition of knowledge, but not of knowl edge acquired from the stores of libraries ; and it would'be ridiculous to deny that a large portion of this work was prepared by Captain Wilkes, or his friends, in the closet at home.' North American Review, July 1845, 100.
CHAPTER XXXII.
CURRENT EVENTS. 1840-1844.
LONDON AND FORT VANCOUVER VESSELS — McLouGHLiN IN ENGLAND — TOL- MIE'S ROAD — COUCH'S SALMON-FISHERY — MURDER OF KENNETH McKAY — THE SHIP 'THOMAS PERKINS' — SPAULDING — WILLIAM GLEN RAE — POST ESTABLISHED AT YERBA BUENA — WALLA WALLA — THE GUNPOWDER STORY — ERMATINGER'S EXPEDITION — ABOLITION OF THE LIQUOR TRAF FIC—THE UMPQUA COUNTRY — FREMONT'S EXPEDITION.
THERE were three barks at this time regularly engaged in the London and Pacific coast trade, one outward bound, one homeward bound, and one in reserve at Fort Vancouver. In 1837-8 McLough- lin was absent in England, explaining his industrial projects, not all of which his associates seemed heart ily to approve. Nevertheless he was far too valu able a man for the company to dispense with. The fact is, McLoughlin's judgment in Northwest Coast matters was better, and safer to be followed, than would be that of the directorship of London and Can ada combined.1
A few English men and women now began to cross the mountains from Canada, and settle on the plains of Oregon. Four families came in 1839. It was during this same year that the American settlers in Oregon petitioned congress to extend the jurisdiction of the United States over that territory.2 In 1841-2 there was quite an emigration of half-breeds from the
1 His projected operations with the Russians met the highest encourage ment from the directors, if we may credit Finlayson's Hist. V.I., MS., 73-4. Or. Tcr., MS., 7, 38; Tolmie's Pugel Sound, MS., 24,
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686 CURRENT EVENTS.
Red River settlement, their destination being chiefly Nisqually.
With a boat party of Iroquois and Kliketats in 1840 Tolmie cut a cart-road round the falls of the Willa mette at Oregon City; that is to say, from the navi gable waters below to the navigable waters above. The year previous Tolmie had been in charge of Fort Walla Walla.
Another Columbia River salmon-fishery was now attempted by Boston people, who sent out the ship Maryland, Captain Couch, with trading goods and the necessary implements. It was during the year 1840 that Couch arrived and made his observations, after which he opened a small store at Oregon City; then he sailed away for Boston, returning to Oregon in the Chenamus in the spring of 1842.3
One Sunday morning, while Kenneth McKay, who was this year curing salmon for the company at Pillar Rock, was sleeping in his tent, Whalaki, a slave from the west coast of Vancouver Island, accompanied by a Cape Flattery savage, entered, and after slaying the sleeper pillaged the tent.4 Acting under Mc- Loughlin's advice, American settlers as well as British fur -hunters joined the experienced Indian-fighters sent under Tolmie for the capture of the criminals. Whalaki was ambuscaded and shot. His accessary was surrendered, and hanged at Astoria with a lead line from an American brig then lying in the stream, every person present, white or copper-colored, pulling at the rope.
There came in 1841 the ship Tliomas H. Perkins, Cap tain Varney, of Boston, the second American vessel
3 Tolmie 's Puyet Sound, MS., 15; Finlay son's V. /., MS., C9.
4 Tolmie's Pugct Sound, MS., 8. This is the last Indian outrage com mitted on the Columbia I am called upon to chronicle in this volume; and, considering all things connected with the fur-hunting discipline and the occupation of the country, I must say there was remarkably little violence or bloodshed on either side.
VESSELS IN THE COLUMBIA. 687
entering the Columbia specially to trade since the sail ing hence of the May Dacre in 1835, the Maryland, Captain Couch, being the first.5
In his journal, 1841, Captain Spaulding of the ship Lausanne speaks of the universal courtesy extended him by the officers and servants of the Hudson's Bay Company, especially Ban-it, in charge of Astoria, and McLoughlin at Fort Vancouver. Captain Humphries of the Columbia piloted him in. McLoughlin, as ever tireless in good acts, sent on board a bag of fresh bread and a tub of fresh butter, and afterward invited the whole crew, fifty-four men, to dine on shore.6
Clerk at Fort Vancouver in 1837 was William Glen Rae, native of the Orkney Islands, who came from York Factory in 1834, and after serving at Colville, Okanagan, and Walla Walla, was appointed to head quarters, where he won the heart of the fair Eloise, daughter of McLoughlin, and married her in 1838. In March 1841, as we have seen, Kae was sent to the Stikeen Biver. After an absence of a few months he returned, made preparations for establishing a post at
5 The reader will distinguish between vessels which came to trade and missionary vessels, or those which entered simply to land passengers, as well as between English and American ships. The Owyhee, Captain Domiriis, which entered the Columbia in 1829, was the first American trading- vessel after 1814. The Convoy, Captain Thompson, belonging to the same Boston firm, arrived a month later. Both vessels coasted during summer ; the Owyhee wintered in the Columbia, and the Convoy at Oahu. In the spring of 1S30 the Convoy again entered the Columbia, and in the summer both vessels sailed away, and neither of them ever returned. Then the May Dacre, Captain Lambert, in 1834 made a voyage to the Islands during winter, returned to the Columbia in the spring, and left in the summer with half a cargo of salmon. After the May Dacre, was the Diana, Captain Hincklcy, who after ward settled in California and married a native Californian lady. He arrived in May 1837, bringing besides White and wife, one bachelor and three single women, as yet married only to heaven, but not unwilling to entertain an earthly spouse should one suitable offer. The Sumatra from Boston arrived in September 1837. The Lausanne, Captain Spaulding, was chartered and tilled with missionaries, under Jason Lee, who having returned cast brought out this cargo of co-workers with their effects. Then came the United States squadron under Wilkes, and the Thomas 21. Perkins, Captain Varney.
6 Accompanying these graceful acknowledgments, Spaulding, U. S. House Rept. 31, 27th Cong., 3d Sens., 5G-61, lays before congress a wild and incoherent account of illicit commerce and atrocities wholly inconsistent with facts.
688 CURRENT EVENTS.
Yerba Buena Cove in the bay of Sail Francisco, and proceeded thence by way of the Hawaiian Islands, where his outfit was made.
Rae had not been long at Yerba Buena when the bark Cowlitz from the Columbia River dropped in upon him bringing the magnates of his company, Simpson, McLoughlin, and Rowand, and best of all Mrs Rae. By this same arrival came also Mr Hale of the United States exploring squadron, and M. Eugene Duflot de Mofras. His visit to California completed, Simpson sailed in the Cowlitz for Sitka, touching at Honolulu, McLoughlin and Rowand still accompanying him. It happened the day of their arrival at Honolulu, that the Vancouver came into port on her way to the Columbia, and on her McLoughlin and Rowand took passage for their respective posts.7
The August following Rae's arrival his company purchased from Jacob P. Lease the large frame building which he had built three years previous on the beach of Yerba Buena Cove, where is now the corner of Montgomery and Commercial streets, and established there an agency for the purchase of hides, tallow, horses, cattle, and sheep with European com modities. For a year or two subsequent to the date of this purchase the record of the company's trans actions constitutes the history of San Francisco. The servants of the company then composed almost the entire population of the place.
During the existence of the establishment at Yerba Buena Cove, both free trappers and the company's traders found it very convenient to drop down from the interior for their supplies. Indeed, Englishmen
7 Says Roberts in a letter to me: ' On (lit that on their arrival at the Islands Simpson asked Dr McLoughlin what had brought him there. They went from here in the bark Columbia. Mr Allan was of the party; also Chief Factor Rowand and son from Fort Desprairie. Sir George Simpson and the doctor were not on the best of terms. ' This is all wrong, as McLoughlin accompanied Simpson to the Islands, and the Columbia was then on her way to England. See Simpson'' s Journal, i. 253; ii. 143. Roberts' remembrance is worthy of notice only, as showing the state of feeling between the governor and the Northwest Coast managers, as some such remark was probably made on some occasion. See also Ifan'ey's Life, McLouyklin, MS., 23.
THE YERBA BUENA POST. 689
much preferred doing business with their own people, or even with the rough swaggerer from the United States frontier, rather than with the Californians, who were denominated a wild, lawless lot, with an alcalde as irregular and unreliable as the worst of them.
In 1845, Governor Simpson sent word to Mc- Loughlin to abandon Yerba Buena, the post being not profitable. "No," said McLoughlin, "do not abandon it ; though a loss thus far, it will surely prove profitable in time. We can give the Californians for their hides and tallow our London goods at our own prices. It is an important post; do not abandon it."
Had the wise men of the east and Europe listened to this far-seeing sage and taken advantage of their opportunity, they might have doubled their capital stock twice over during the next five years. In 1846 the company sold the establishment, and retired forever from San Francisco Bay.
Died at Fort Walla Walla in 1841, Pierre S. Pam- brun,8 there commanding for several years past. Visitors often spoke of him as an intelligent and able gentleman. As an example of the latter quality I will quote an incident: Tawatowe on reaching the grand chieftaincy of the Cay uses became insolent, and began to dictate policy and prices to the Hudson's Bay Company. Aided by his brother chiefs, he even went so far as to seize Pambrun one day, bind him, and refuse to release him, until he had promised to increase the tariff, that is the prices in goods that he would pay for furs. Pambrun said little, but gradually he drew round him lesser chiefs, young men aspiring to chieftaincies, and began to treat them with formal courtesy, and to show the people that these were the men of rising power whom the great corporation would in the near future recognize as their rulers. Mean-
8 A Franco-Canadian by birth, and among the very few of that race rising to command. Pambrun held a commission in the Canadian forces duriag the war of 1812, and was an officer in both the Northwest and Hudson's Bay com- panics. His death was caused by a fall from a vicious horse. HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL." II. 11
690 cuRnirrr EVENTS.
while the presents which he had been accustomed to distribute to Tawatowe and his co-conspirators he gave to the new favorites, so that the faiio^s of the former
* o
were soon extracted and their influence in their nation destroyed. It was a familiar practice of the company everywhere when a chief became obnoxious to break his influence by raising others, and to put down one tribe by elevating another.
Successor to Painbrun was Archibald McKinlay. In 1842 Fort Walla Walla was burned and was re built with adobe in 1843.
While there in charge McKinlay had occasion one day to visit the saddler's when lie observed that the stock of seasoned birch used by that functionary was gradually diminishing. Being informed that natives and white men alike were in the habit of appropri ating the seasoned wood out of which to make whip- handles, McKinlay forbade it. Some days after the saddler informed McKinlay that a young Indian had just taken a piece of wood and refused to yield it up. McKinlay sent a clerk, William Tod, to settle the matter. Soon he heard loud voices, and running to the door saw the clerk and the native struggling over the wood. The combatants were separated, but not until the native had been badly bruised.
An hour after, the young Indian's father, who was a chief, came with fifty warriors to take Tod and punish him. For White he said, the great Boston chief from Washington, had made a rule that if an Indian assaulted a white man the Indian should be flogged, and if a white man struck an Indian the white man should be flogged. McKinlay refusing to give up the clerk the chief endeavored to take Tod's life upon the spot. Parrying a blow aimed at Tod's head by the enraged chief McKinlay sprang to arms, and present ing two pistols at the chief's breast, held him at bay.
Then undertook the chief the difficult task of making the white man blush.
"Oh ! you magnanimous man," he cried, " who would
THE GUNPOWDER STORY. G9l
kill a chief for taking a little piece of wood which you first stole from his forest. Shoot brave chief!"
"I do not want to kill }rou," McKinlay said, "but you must not touch my clerk who was only obeying my orders."
Just then the chief's son, who had slipped round behind McKinlay, struck him a severe blow upon the side. McKinlay whirled and seized him by the hair. The enraged savages made a rush at McKinlay, who saw that bloodshed could be stayed only by resorting to some desperate remedy.
Hurling the young man against the advancing foe he shouted "Stop!" Then slipping through the door into the adjoining room,, quick as lightning he re turned with a copper keg which he placed upon the table. Opening it he showed them the contents, which was some sixty pounds of powder. Then tak ing his flint and steel he stood over it ready to fire the. blast.
"You think to frighten us because we are few and you are many," he exclaimed. "You call yourselves braves, but you are dogs and I defy you. Lift but a finger against my young man and we will all perish together. See now who is afraid to die !"
Instinctively the savages felt that McKinlay was in earnest, and one by one they slunk away.
A day or two after Tawatowe, a friendly Cayuse, warned McKinlay.
" What a fool you are/' he said. " Do you not know that unless you send the young man away there will surely be bloodshed?"
"Are you a chief?" asked McKinlay.
"Ask the enemies of my people," was the reply.
"And would you, contrary to your conscience, send one of your young men away through fear of one who hated him?"
Thus often was the native wrath assuaged by the white man's cunning, who by skillfully playing one passion against another, brought about friendship and
692 CURRENT EVENTS.
gift-making where otherwise were butchery and scalp- taking.9
In the autumn of 1841, Mr Ermatinger, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company, left Fort Vancouver for California in command of the annual trapping ex pedition. Proceeding up the Willamette Valley the party crossed over to the waters of the Sacramento by way of Pit Mountain,10 where they suffered much from the cold, as did a party of trappers ten years previous, who lost in a storm all their furs and some three hundred horses. While on the bank of the Sacramento, Ermatinger received a letter from Sir George Simpson, written while on a visit to General Vallcjo at Sonoma, requesting him to meet him at Yerba Buena or Monterey, in order to confer on business. Simpson having left San Francisco Say just before his arrival, Ermatinger followed him to Monterey.11
At various times the Hudson's Bay Company had applied to the British government for protection in their coast traffic, to which applications the reply had
a Archibald McKinlay. Narrative of a Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Cowjjc.ny, MS., Victoria, 1878. In the matter of dates and all other facts not falliu;.;1 within the immediate cognizance of the narrator but little reliance should bo placed upon what is given under Lis name. He states things par tially and inaccurately, from Lick of knowledge, or that and a lack of con- p.cicreo combined, though not intentionally misleading. His accounts of Black's death and of the rencounters with Piopio Mochmucli, Tranquille, and Xicola give original and good authority, throwing light upon the character of the great men of the country before the advent of the whites. McKinlay was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1811 and entered the Hudson's Bay Com pany's service in 1831 at York Factory. Thence he went to Fort Geary, now Manitoba, two years later to Fort St James on Stuart's Lake west of the Roeky Mountains, travelling that year 2,5U) miles oil snow-shoes, in company with A. C. Anderson. He was left in command at Fort St James for six months, while Peter Skeen Ogdcn was absent, lie was then placed in charge at Fort Ccorge, and while .there was in the habit of travelling COO miles every win ter. He was next transferred to Fort Alexandria, and thence to Fort Hall. In IS 10 he married Sarah Julia, daughter of Peter S. Ogden, who was the iirsli white woman to live in the Salt Lake country. From 1841 to 18-16 he was the neighbor — 25 miles distant— of Dr Whitman at Walla Walla. He was at Victoria in 1878 during my visit to that place.
10 Often erroneously written Pitt. The mountain was not named from the English statesman, but from the many pitfalls dug by the natives for trapping animals.
11 An account of this journey is embodied in Simpson's Nar., i. 350-52.
LIQUOR TRAFFIC. 693
ever been that vessels of war could not be sent so far for such a purpose, and that the fur-traders must pro tect themselves. For some time past the Boston traders had pressed so hard their traffic on the North west Coast that the English and Russians determined finally to combine and get rid of them. To accom plish this purpose they felt obliged to employ the weapon most effectually used by their competitors, whiskey. Whenever a Boston trader appeared upon the coast, messengers were despatched in small boats from fort to fort, notifying the several posts of the presence and probable destination of their rival. Trad ing goods with plentiful supplies of liquor were then sent to the neighborhood in which the foreign vessel was trafficking, and all the furs bought up at any price the purchasers were obliged to pay. These superior attractions brought from afar the lords of the soil, who for a time wallowed in debasing bliss. Under this opposition the foreigners finding the trade unprofitable quitted the coast, whereupon the posses sors of the field returned to the larger gains of virtue and temperance. In the autumn of 1842, under an agreement between the Russians and English the liquor trade was discontinued for a term of ten years. It is needless to say that the liquor-loving savages did not relish this arrangement. But for their own
O
safety, to say nothing of profits, the Europeans were forced to this course. For while intoxicating drink was * freely sold it wTas unsafe for white men to appear at any distance from their forts except in armed bands. So reluctant were the savages to conform to this regulation that for a time they held back their furs, refusing to sell them at any price, unless they could have liquor. Finlayson states that while a trader at Fort Simpson, in order to induce him to open the liquor trade, on one occasion the natives assembled in large numbers arid spread before the fort a tempting display of sea otter, beaver, and silver fox, carpeting P large space with these rich furs, and offering them
694 CURRENT EVENTS.
at the purchasers' own price, if only the pay was in ruin. Finding the white men firm in their intentions, they threatened to storm the fort. Prayers and threats being alike unavailing they went to Sitka and made the same efforts there and with like failure. The poor thirsty savage thus forced to total abstinence finally began to trade again, first for ammunition and then for blankets. This happy state of things con tinued until the country was overrun with gold-seekers in 1848, when bedlam broke loose again, and the noble red man sank forever in the slough of civilized enter prise.
-
About this time there was a Hudson's Bay Company station established below the old fort near the mouth of the Umpqua by Paul Fraser. Joseph W. McKay immediately after his arrival in the country in 1844 was ordered to join Fraser, whom he found in a state of alarm by reason of the influx in that vicinity of so many United States emigrants. Several trains arrived during the winter of 1844-5, and the fur business
O
became very poor. As lias always been the case, many who came were disgusted with the country, the climate, and society, and threatened to return, and indeed some did go back.12
In order to connect a reconnoissance made by him •in 1842 along Platte River to the Rocky Mountains, with the surveys of Wilkes on the Pacific Coast in the spring of 1843, J. C. Fremont, captain of topo graphical engineers, with thirty-nine men, Creoles, French Canadians, and Americans, with the assistance of Charles Preuss, two or three scientists, and two Delawares as hunters, guided by Thomas Fitzpatrick, and obsequiously served by black Jacob Dobson, in the summer of 1843 marched up the Republican branch of the Kansas, crossed the Platte, saw Pike Peak, came upon Laramie plains, and following the
12 McKay >s Rec., MS., 3; Finlayson's V. /., MS., 20.
FREMONT IN OREGON. 695
emigrant road by Fort Briclger, arrived on the Gth of September at Salt Lake, where he took a boat ride. Nothing occurred to mar the pleasure of the journey. At Fort St Vrain, Kit Carson had joined the 'party, thus relieving any anxiety as to the Avay through this now well known region, which might linger in the mind of the great pathfinder. Part of the men were sent back, so large a party being found unnecessary.
By way of Fort Hall the expedition continued to the mission of Whitman, called at Fort Walla Walla where they came upon Applegate's emigrants who had preceded them, and reached Fort Vancouver early in November.13
His important mission accomplished, Fremont was ready to return. Leaving Fort Vancouver the 10th of November, the party reached the Dalles the 18th. From this point they struck southward to Klamath Lake, driving with them a supply of fat cattle for food. The party now consisted of twenty-five men, with over a hundred horses and mules, carrying sup plies and dragging a heavy gun, and their intended route was to the mythical Buenaventura River, and thence through the Great Basin and across the Rocky Mountains to the Arkansas River.
It was the 10th of December when they reached Klamath Lake, having accomplished with ease and pleasure the journey thus far in fine weather and through a level country of alternate forest and open plain. Then proceeding due east over the mountains, in the vicinity of Pit River, at that time well whi tened with snow, they next turned southward, and continued along the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada to Pyramid Lake, where they encamped the 14th of January 1844. Searching in vain for the far-famed
13 So void of information or results was this expedition that it would be unworthy of mention in this connection, were it not for the fact that the ex penses were borne by the United States government, and that much political capital has been made of it by ignorant or designing men. On his return he accidentally fell into trouble, which adds a little interest to the narrative, as we shall see.
096 CURRENT EVENTS.
Buenaventura, the party continued their way along a well beaten Indian road south-eastward, until they im agined themselves seventy miles due east from Sutter Fort, and near where the parties of Chiles14 and Walker had two years before passed over the Sierra. Carson was sure of his bearings, as he had visited the valley of California fifteen years ago. The tempta tion to see California was too strong to be resisted;
O *
and making a pretext of the condition of his horses' feet, Fremont determined to cross the Sierra. Taking now a long breath, they p]uriged into the snow-em bosomed mountains, and after a well fought battle with environment, came down on Fort Sutter, where they arrived the 6th of March in a somewhat dilap idated condition, but without having sustained serious damage.
After rest and refreshment at New Helvetia, the party proceeded southward up the San Joaquin Val ley, passed by Tulare Lake, and about the middle of April crossed to the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, and from San Bernardino proceeded to Salt Lake, and thence returned home. In 1845, Fremont found himself again in the Klamath region, where several of his men were killed by the natives/
16
14 A part of the Chiles company had descended the Sacramento from its head-waters, which would have been the better way for Fremont to have taken.
15 Fremont' 'sExplor. Ex., 105-290; Evans' Hist. Or., MS., 271-2; McLough- Un's Private Papers, MS., 2d ser., 13.
CHAPTEE XXXIII.
THE END AND THE BEGINNING. 1842-1846.
CATALOGUE or PASSING EVENTS — AMERICANIZATION or OREGON — ATTITUDE or OPPOSING PARTIES AT FORT HALL — Is IT RIGHT TO KILL AMERICANS ?— TOLMIE'S REPORT ON THE WILLAMETTE PLAINS — AMERICAN SETTLEMENT BEGUN ON PUGET SOUND — IMMIGRATION — SHIP 'MODESTE' — BOARD OF MANAGEMENT — COMMISSIONERS WARRE AND VAVASOUR — RETIREMENT
OF MCLOUGHLIN — JAMES DOUGLAS IN COMMAND — INGRATITUDE OF CER TAIN AMERICAN SETTLERS — THE SCHOONER * SHARK' — POSSESSORY RIGHTS OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY— WHAT BECAME OF THE FUR-TRADING ESTABLISHMENTS — REMOVAL TO VICTORIA.
THE end of the old regime, the beginning of the new. We are now amidst the closing scenes of pacifica tion in the Oregon proper part of the Northwest Coast, and at the threshold of an era of quiet occupation.
There is yet some international snarling to be done in the partition of territory, but peoples often think themselves derelict in duty, as well as cowardly in appearance, if they do not bluster. The reader, how ever, need not be frightened. The mother and child who this century or two have been so busy killing and stealing in North America, will not fight over a trifle of the spoil, although at first they both swear they will. One says " Fifty-four forty or fight;" there are others who would fight any way now the western limit of rapine is reached. And yet the mother and child will not fight. They know each other too well, they are too nearly like, they have tried it.
Briefly, then, to complete our catalogue, the lead ing events that transpired in the Oregon Territory
(C97)
698 THE EXD AXD THE BEGINNING.
while the trappers and fur-traders were making ready to retire, and the tradesman, the shopkeeper, the ploughboy, and the school-mistress were coming in to take their places; briefly, I say, because the era of savagism, though the savages are yet not quite all dead, is practically closed, and the things relating to permanent occupation will be repeated at length in other volumes.
The events of 1842 and 1843 affecting the interests of the United States in Oregon were the sending of Elijah White as Indian agent to the Northwest Coast, by Senator Linn of Missouri; the permission given Fremont to make a tramontane tour; the first emi gration proper into Oregon, and which first brought wagons west of Fort Hall; the crystallization of the American sentiment and corresponding decay of hith erto omnipotent corporation influence, as manifest in the invitation by United States settlers in the Wil lamette Valley to the Canadians settled there, to join them in organizing a temporary government, and on their refusal the resolution to organize without their aid; the hostile combination of Walla Wallas, Cayuses, and Nez Perccs against the American missions and settlements in their vicinity, and the effectual quieting of the same by Agent White and others ; the passage of a bill in the United States senate, granting lands to settlers; the attempts of the Willamette Cana dians to defeat the Americans in their provisional government efforts; the sitting of the first legisla tive assembly and constitutional convention; and the founding of Victoria on Vancouver Island, all stand ing prominently amidst a multitude of collateral in cidents.
The chief happenings from 1844 to 1846 hereafter to be properly considered, are the conduct of the Ore- gonians under their provisional government; Indian depredations at Willamette Falls; first American set tlement north of the Columbia; the organization of a municipality, and the incorporation of an institute: the
INCOMING OF SETTLERS. G99
election of governor, and the petitioning of the united congress by the provisional government; the wreck of the Shark, whose captain gave her colors to the as pirants for federal forms. Last of all was that eventful treaty between Great Britain and the United States, which designated the dividing line in North America between English and United States domain.
Although the Americanization of Oregon fell more to the missionaries and agriculturists, the influence of the free trappers of the United States border should not be overlooked. Above conventional rules the freedom and daring of their hunting life excited their minds to bold measures, and fostered in them a spirit of independence and a love of self-government; and the nearer akin it was to non-statutory govern ment or no-law rule, the better. This element of sys tematized lawlessness proved an important factor in the new settlement. Should the unwelcome necessity of government be finally forced upon them, let it be under the lax authority of the distant and unprotect- ive states' confederacy, and altogether away from the strict military discipline of an omnipotent and grind ing corporation.
Nor was the organization of American citizens on the northern frontier under the name of the Hunters' Association, growing out of the insurrectionary move ment in Canada, and denounced by proclamation of President Tyler in 1841, without its influence in the distant north-west. Multitudes in the United States were in sympathy with the insurrection, and after the failure of Mackenzie at Toronto many crossed the border from Canada, some of whom found their way to the western frontier and across the Rocky Moun tains. Thus the Canadians themselves, with the Americanization of Oregon, were to some small ex tent becoming Americanized.
At Fort Hall, which was still in the possession of the Hudson's Bay Company, there were some high-
700 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
handed proceedings, partly in fun, but yet so sober that mischief might easily have come of it.
A party of trappers arriving, the British flag was hoisted as usual. The Americans there present took umbrage and demanded that the United States flag should be allowed to wave beside the British colors. This the commandant declined to do, whereupon a deputation of Americans demanded the removal of the British flag and the hoisting of the American, "else," said they, "we will make the substitute our selves." This modest request being likewise denied, a force of Americans soon appeared before the fort and demanded its surrender. The answer came from the bastions in the form of shots fired over the heads of the assailants. The attacking party returned the fire and several shots were exchanged, but with careful and intentional aim on both sides to do the enemy no dam age. Finally the assailants forced open the gate. The commander barricaded himself in his room. The sur render of the fort was then ordered on the following terms: The United States flag should be hoisted, and a barrel of whiskey should be rolled into the yard and tapped for the free use of the people present. The terms were complied with, and the country was saved.1
Though not particularly pleased with the original appearing in their midst of the fur-traders, the natives were much more disgusted when they sa\v farmers driving stakes into their hunting-grounds.
" Is it right for us to kill the Americans?" asked a Cascade chief of McLoughlin one day.
"What!" roared the Doctor.
" They or we must die," the chief calmly continued. " Not only do they spoil our forests and drive away our game, thus depriving us of food and clothing, but with their accursed morals and religion they sow broadcast the seeds of disease and death. Shall we kill them or let them kill us?"
1 Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, 228.
ON THE SOUND. 701
" Only a dog would talk so," replied McLoughlin, ineffable scorn conspicuous in voice and features. "You are not a gentleman; you are not a chief; you are only a little man; never speak to me again; I will not look at you."
The savage slunk abashed away, and never again was seen at Fort Vancouver. Notwithstanding which, who shall say that the poor heathen had not the best of the argument; who shall say he had not the right of the matter, as right go.s, if backed by sufficient strength?2
Visiting the Willamette Plains in 1843 for the pur pose of collecting debts due the company, which were usually paid in wheat, there being now no money, and in farming sections very few furs, Tolmie saw every where signs of increasing population and progress. And not only were the settlers here and elsewhere, in many instances, slow in making returns for the seed- grain, breeding-cattle, and farming implements given them by McLoughlin when they were penniless and oftentimes starving, but they caused the fur-traders much annoyance by encroaching on the company's cultivated and well stocked lands at and around Fort Vancouver, Cowlitz, and Nisqually.3
Indications were apparent of American settlements on Puget Sound. To the better behaved of United States frontiersmen it had been the custom of Mc Loughlin to give employment. Among other in dustries that of shingle -making was introduced. Shingles were wanted for the old buildings as well as for those now constantly being built; they were like wise wanted for the Hawaiian Islands. The Yankees were expert shingle-makers; and in 1844 several of them, Kimball, Crockett, Jones, Gordon, and Bush, the last named having a black skin, under the encour-
2 Harvey's Life of McLoughlin, MS., 30-1. 8 Tolmie }s Puget Sound, MS., 14, 15.
702 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
agement of McLoughlin proceeded to Puget Sound and there engaged in the manufacture of shingles. At their head was Michael Simmons, who erected the first saw-mill on Puget Sound; since which time boards enough have been shipped hence to house a nation.4
Emigrants were now flocking in from the United States in such numbers as greatly to overshadow the English; McLoughlin became somewhat nervous in view of the invasion. " If you would not lose the country," he writes to England, " you must protect your rights here." Then he added some bastions to the fortress, and mounting more guns awaited the reply. It finally came in the form of her majesty's ship Modcste, Captain Baillie, which entered the Columbia in 1845, and anchoring before Fort Vancouver remained there some eighteen months, or until after the treaty was made. Baillie was the first English naval commander in the Columbia after Captain Hickey. Not long after the arrival of the Modeste came the Belgian ship Indefatigable, the first vessel of that nationality ever in the Columbia, bringing some Jesuits, monks, and nuns, under Father De Smet, who were to establish a station among the Flatheads, and build a convent for the half-breeds of the Willamette.
McLoughlin had now reached the height of his power, from which position fate ever ordains decline. Not that he was a man ambitious of authority; pat ronage fell to him naturally, and by force of circum stances. He was a born sovereign; and his rule, mingled as it was with a broad humanity, was not such as in all cases met the approval of his more mercenary London associates. Indeed there were now those who wished his retirement, who would prefer one less liberal, less philanthropic, of narrower views favoring a more selfish policy. This man, they said, is becoming more American than English, more farmer than fur-trader. Two commissioners, Warre
4 Tolmie's Puget Sound, MS., 21.
McLOUGHLIN AND DOUGLAS. 703
and Vavasour, were sent out in 1845 to examine into McLoughlin's policy and proceedings, and the state of the country generally. They despatched their re port without showing it to McLoughlin, which hurt his feelings greatly, implying as it did that his con duct had been unfavorably criticised by the commis sioners.
Finally in order to curtail his power, and eventually to drive him from his position, a board of manage ment for Pacific coast affairs was organized by the London directors.5 This board consisted of three members, all chief factors, one of whom presided, and who among other duties conducted the correspond ence with the London directors.6
At McLoughlin's request during the year 1845 James Douglas, who had now for some time been
O '
chief factor, acted as his colleague at Fort Vancouver.
As Douglas had long before his elevation to the position of chief factor been the subordinate and associ ate of McLoughlin, under whose immediate eye in fact he had grown from youth to maturity, and as he had ably seconded him in his schemes of fur-trading, farm ing, and settlement, the same practice and policy were continued, and with similar results. Indeed the com mand fell upon one ripe in experience and full of promise. Nor was the company or people, in the main, doomed to disappointment.
It is true that McLoughlin was often pained by the politic spirit of his colleague, which led Douglas to complain of McLoughlin, and take sides against him in questions of policy such as he was pretty sure would please the London directors. Sir George Simpson also treated McLoughlin badly during his latter days.
5Tolmie, Puget Sound, MS., 47, thinks this board was first organized in 1842 or 1843. Lowe testifies, IT. B. Co. Ev., IT. B. Co. Claims, 21, that the change occurred in 1845. McLoughlin, Ogden, and Douglas composed the first board. On McLoughlin's retirement Work took his place in the board, and Douglas in the management of Fort Vancouver.
6 ' It was supposed by the juniors that this was done to curtail the power of Dr John McLoughlin, formerly sole manager, and perhaps with a view of inducing him to retire.' Tolmie's Puytt Mound, MS., 47.
704 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
McLoughlin finally retired in the spring of 1846, to Oregon City, where he died in 1857.7
It is not so easy as it was to worship men. It is not so easy as it was to worship anything — except money. The world is getting old and rheumatic ; and with a sense of its own infirmities comes a sense of infirmity in all things. We used to adore nature, bathing in sunshine, revelling in woods, and floating down calm currents. But with the balmy air come now flying bugs; rattlesnakes creep through the wav ing grass; and beneath the placid sun-silvered waters the big fish are all devouring the little fish. Why are men made like fishes? Nature is no longer adorable. Nature is a fascinating fraud. Nature is a failure.
Now, were I in the worshipful mood, before this man I might bend my stiff knee, nor heed its crack ing. Why? What is there of great-man-ism about him? He is not a statesman, for his hands are clean, his tongue is single, and self comes not always before duty. He is not a money magnate, for looking into his breast and then beyond the stars he sees some things more brightly fair, more worthy the attention of immortal mind than golden calves. He is not a divinity man, nor a conventional morality man; he teaches and preaches only as does a shining mark upon a hill-top beckoning pilgrims onward and up ward; furthermore, he walks within no circle of tradi tion, and opens not his mouth with musty sayings to ears attuned to unreason and conventional hypocrisy. He is not a subsidy-seeking railway incorporator, nor a mine manipulator, nor an agitator; before any of these the unservile knee refuses to bend.
I think of him as if present; and so he is, though he were dead this quarter century and more. I never saw him, and yet I see him; I never heard him, and yet he speaks to me now; I never grasped his hand, but I feel his presence, and am the better for it. The
7 Anderson, Hist. Northwest Coast, MS., 16, erroneously places his retire ment in 1S45, and his death in 1850.
EULOGY ON McLOUGHLIN. 705
good that a man does lives after him, saith the seer; and in writing this volume, in writing any volume that I ever have written, I have encountered few characters which stand out in such grand and majestic propor tions. Few persons have done him justice. His life should be written by the recording angel and pillared at the crossing of the two chief highways of the universe. His fiery gentleness, his mild energy, his innate goodness and nobleness of heart, his magna nimity, his benevolence, his unfathomable integrity, and his clearness and firmness of intellect have all been told. Search these shores from Darien to Alaska, and you find none such; take your books and study them from the coming of Europeans to your last municipal or state election, and you will discover no such person portrayed. His life though quiet and untrumpetecl was full of glory; yet, like many another good man his end was not a happy one, for in his old age he was caught in a web of legal technicalities which proved his winding-sheet.
It was the sad ending of a long career of usefulness and benevolence. His record is one of which any man, however high or holy, might be proud. It is abso lutely stainless, wholly noble ; of how many of his judges can as much be said? Englishmen as well as Americans may blush for their treatment of him, for their heaping of sorrow upon his venerable head, for their lacerating of his pure and sensitive heart. Said an umpire in an arbitration to me once: "Both sides were dissatisfied ; therefore I could not have been far from right." McLoughlin's associates, whom he had served for more than a quarter of a century with in telligent zeal and strict fidelity, raising his depart ment from a comparatively low estate to wealth, power, and importance second to none, disliked him, reproached him, if indeed they did not spurn him because out of the purest dictates only of a humane heart he befriended famishing strangers, the United States settlers, whose presence they hated.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 45
700 THE EXD AXD THE BEGINNING.
Nor was this always a pleasing task, even for the kind-hearted Scotchman. These lean, cadaverous, dirt-tanned ox-drivers, with bushy heads, and dull unintelligent eyes sunken in sorrow, followed by famine-visaged women and children, cold and ill, bare footed, and with only rags for raiment, arriving in the wet autumn absolutely without a dollar in any kind of property, having lost their all upon the way, and many of their former companions even their lives, what were they going to do in this cold cheerless wilderness, without house or tent, or hut even, without blankets, or clothes, or meat, or bread ? Simply starve. And this was exactly what the Hudson's Bay Company as a conscienceless corporation would have them do. It was to the interest of the company to have these emigrants die as fast as they arrived. As a corpora tion, I say, they would assuredly have left them to die; but as men, and eye-witnesses of those sufferings, there never was a Scotchman or an Englishman that traded furs in America or held stock in any British fur company who would have turned his back upon them. McLoughlin could not do it, not for all Eng land could he, and yet his company theoretically blamed him for not doing what not one of them indi vidually could have been brought to do under any circumstances. How sharp-edged is corporation intel lect on the side of interest ; how slow of wit and illogical, not to say stolidly brutish and mercilessly cruel when God or humanity calls for sacrifice ! Happy money-makers who can thus sink the moral responsi bility of the individual in the bloodless body of a cor poration !
But what shall I say of the poor wretches Mc Loughlin saved from death? Better have let them die, some of them. Some of them were good and true, working with a will, they and their wives and their children, until their benefactor was every dollar paid, and ever after holding his name in grateful remem brance. These were the salt of Oregon ; and let their
INGRATITUDE. 707
posterity over call them blessed. But of those who in their dire distress received the old man's kindness and never after repaid it, never tried to repay it, never acknowledged it; of those who received kind ness and repaid it only in vilifying their benefactor, I say, better tenfold those men had been left to die, and that no offspring upon whom the disgrace of such parentage had fallen should ever have encumbered the earth.
And after all their wretched robbery of goods and good name, the simple-hearted old man seemed still to have confidence in them, to trust them. " In the summer of 1843," he writes, "a number of the immi grants of last year, headed by Mr Hastings, not being satisfied with this country, left for California. As they were in want of means, I made them some ad vances which they were to pay to the late Mr Rac at San Francisco; but few did so." This was a second advance, it must be remembered, for many of these men he had succored once on their arrival, and assisted again on their departure, no further attention being- paid to either obligation in many instances, after leaving the country.
While the boundary question remained in abeyance, no great predilection was shown for the north side of the Columbia as a place of settlement until the arrival of the United States schooner Shark in 1846, Captain Howison, whose presence caused quite a flutter among them, seemingly indicating American possession to the 49th parallel, although the conduct of the captain in no wise warranted such expectation. Many Americans at this time left the Willamette and examined the lands round Fort Vancouver and elsewhere, ready to pounce upon a farm at a moment's notice, but no overt acts of trespass were committed.8
After the United States had come into possession
8 Letter of Orjden and Douglas to Captain Duntze of the Fisyuard, 7th Sept 184G, in Martin's II. B., 37.
708 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
of the country, the Hudson's Bay Company still held possessory rights which were respected by the treaty of 1846. They had claims at Walla Walla, Boise, Hall, Vancouver, and Nisqually. Pending the final adjustment of their claims the company's settlers could not obtain titles to their lands, and in the begin ning of towns, a good location was sometimes aban doned for a poorer one. Thus Fort Vancouver, everything considered, would have been a better situ ation for the metropolitan city of Oregon than the site of the present Portland.9
What ultimately became of the palisades and build ings that served so good a purpose in fur-hunting and emigrating times? Some yet stand; some have fallen into decay ; some were dismantled, abandoned, or de stroyed.
At Umpqua in 1851 the stockade with two bastions was standing, and J. 13. Gagnier in charge. The fort was then in good repair. After Gagnier, King was placed in charge. Then the settlers came in and killed the company's cattle and squatted on the land.
Before 1854 the stockade was taken down, leaving 01 Oy the dwelling, barns, and out-houses. The lands thereabout were then in a fine state of cultivation. Tho company's buildings at Champoeg were carried away by the flood the 3d of December 1861. Grad ually after 1846 the profits of forts Hall and Boisd fell off, owing to troubles between the whites and Ind ians, and finally they were abandoned by the fur- tra/Jers. The Hudson's Bay Company's effects at
r:t Hall, owing to Indian hostilities, were in 1856 removed to the Flathead post. After the destruction Boise by the remarkable rise of Snake River in 1853, the place was only partially repaired. Owing to the Indian massacre in that vicinity in 1854, the fort was abandoned in 1855.
In the settlement of claims it was shown that in
9 Finlaymon's V. /., MS., SI.
FORT PROPERTY. 709
1846, besides Sauve Island and its dairies, the com pany had in use for farming and pasturage a frontage on the north bank of the Columbia, of thirty-one miles by a depth of from three to fifteen miles, the tract, consisting of open plains intersected by belts of timber, and extending from two miles above the saw-mill to the small stream opposite where now is St Helen. The grist-mill and saw-mill were running
O O
finely, and two thousand barrels of salmon were cured annually for use and exportation.
Thomas Lowe10 estimated the tract to contain 250 square miles, or 160,000 acres, which he thought worth in 1846 at least two and a half dollars an acre, and the fort, barns, dairies, and mills, based upon their value to a business like that of the Hudson's Bay Company, $500,000 more. The balance sheet of the business of the company west of the Rocky Moun tains showed a profit then of from £25,000 to £35,- 000 per annum. The profits on the Indian trade south of the 49th parallel was £7,000 per annum.
Some of the buildings at Fort Vancouver were burned; others were torn down, and before the com pany abandoned the place the mills first built had fallen into decay, and others had been erected. The lands were taken possession of by settlers under United States donation laws. The quarters occupied by the company became gradually curtailed as the land and buildings were taken by the settlers, until between military and civilians but little was left them. This being regarded by many as the best site for a city, a town was laid out and the lots partially sold for the benefit of the county. But the claims of the Hud son's Bay Company being yet unsettled, a satisfactory title could not be given. Meanwhile Portland sprang up, took the lead, and maintained it.
Major Hathaway was in command of two com-
10 Hudson's Bay Company's clerk, Fort Vancouver, from 1841 to 1850, when he went to Oregon City and did a commission business until 1860, at which time he settled as a merchant at Victoria.
710 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
panics of United States artillery at Fort Vancouver in 1841. He was succeeded by Colonel Loring. The staff-officers were quartered in buildings rented from the Hudson's Bay Company, while the other officers and men occupied tents. In 1850 quarters were con structed for the military by the government.
By I860 the company's force at Fort Vancouver was reduced to fourteen, officers and men. While Chief Trader Work was in charge, Mr Grahame then being absent, the fields yet remaining in possession of the company on the west side of the fort were taken by General Harncy for military purposes. Work was permitted to remove from the ground designated what ever he pleased, but there was comparatively little which could be removed. It was not pleasant to the eyes of the old servants to see the place razed, the ancient landmarks uprooted, fences torn down, and buildings, even those dilapidated and wiiolly worthless, fired. Grahame arriving the 25th protested against what, notwithstanding treaties and reimbursements, he could but feel to be vandalic. Finally, about the middle of June 18 GO Grahame and his subordinates withdrew from the Vancouver establishment, leaving at last their fair Columbia to the Yankees. Thus departed forever the glory of Fort Vancouver; thus terminated the magnificent career of the adventurers of England in the now restricted territory of the Oregon.
All the wild cattle north of the Columbia were bought by W. W. Chapman, but as it was very difficult to find them, or to catch them when found, he made little by his bargain. The tame cattle round the several stations were otherwise disposed of by the company. Some of the wild cattle were shot by hunters, and sold in the markets under the name of elk; but not so many were thus made way with as was claimed by the company.
The company's lands, buildings, and river-landing at Champoeg Mr Lowe thought worth §19,000. Fort
GOVERNMENT. 711
Walla Walla, its lands and buildings based upon their cost, he thought worth $50,000; Okanagan, $25,000; Colville, $120,000."
Part of the company's buildings at Colville were torn down or seized by the settlers, and part were held for the company by Angus McDonald, who was stationed there from 1852 to 1857, and after 1859. This post became the centre of supply for the Colum bia River mines above Priest Rapids, as well as those of Pend d'Oreille River, Salmon Fork, Kootenai, Rock Creek, American Creek, Similkameen, Northern Idaho, Thompson River, and Cariboo. The old posts of Kootenai and Okanagan were about 1859 removed north of the line, most of the effects of the latter going to Similkameen. Angus McDonald partially occupied the Flathead post in 1847-9, when it was finally abandoned by the company. Walla Walla with all its goods was abandoned in 1855 by James Sinclair, then in charge, upon an order from Nathan Olney, Indian agent, given for fear the place would fall into the hands of the savages. Gradually the stockade and buildings comprising Fort George were torn down and removed as the town of Astoria advanced.
Notwithstanding the proclamation of federal pro clivities, and the inauguration of self-government under federal forms on the plains of the Willamette, the whole country continued up to this time, virtually in possession of the English. There was now to be a vital change, so far as the Oregon Territory was con cerned, a revolution none the less real and thorough
11 Mr Anderson's estimate was much higher; namely, Okanagan, $50,000; Colville, $500,000; Fort Vancouver, its lands and dependencies, $1,000.000. Me Arthur raised Lowe's estimate of Walla Walla to $100,000, valued Fort Boise" at $150,000, and put the price of Fort Hall at $150,000 besides $20 an acre for all land under cultivation and $1 an acre for wild lands, the whole tract there claimed by the Hudson's Bay Company being 9 by 20 mi-.es, at which rate fort-building and land-stealing assuredly must have been profitable. The Flathead post was valued at $8,000. McKinlay raises Fort Vancouver to $1,600,000. The prices placed upon these and other properties by witnesses for the United States was much less ; in some instances not more than one tenth of the estimates of the Hudson's Buy oiiicers.
712 THE END AND THE BEGINNING.
because peaceful. How can it be of different con sequence to governments and peoples whether lands and dominions be regulated by bloody arbitrament or solemn conference? Is history only battles and butch ery? And is the record of Oregon's beginning less important because brute-passion failed to crimson the greensward of the lovely Valley Willamette? All honor to the fair honesty and Christian intelligence of the two nations that made the early history of Oregon so peaceful arid pleasing!
After the settlement of the question of boundary most of the Hudson's Bay Company's stores on the Columbia were transferred to Fort Victoria on Van couver Island, but for several years thereafter a sub ordinate officer, with a few men, remained at Fort Vancouver. Upon the final settlement of the posses sory rights of the English corporation in Oregon and Washington, their farms and improvements were sold and the operations of the company thereafter centred at Victoria.
And now the spoliation of its aboriginal occupants being practically complete, and the spoilers having partitioned the prey, the Northwest Coast, or any part of it, ceases for whatsoever time it may to be Debatable Ground.
INDEX.
Aa, Pieter Vander, map, 1707, i. 115. Abbott, with Wyeth's exped., ii. 563. Aberdeen, Lord, on Or. question, ii.
398, 409-10.
Abernetiiy, Or. missionary, ii. 675. Aburcos, kingdom of, i. 91. Acadia, limits, 1598, i. 383; colonized
i. 385-6; French driven from, i. 400. Acadie, see Nova Scotia, i. 22. Acosta, on north-west passage, i. 68-9. 'Activa,' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 283;
atXootka, 1792, i. 289; 1795, i. 301. 'Active, 'cruise in north-west, 1828-30,
i. 341.
Acuco, town of Quivira, i. 110. Adams Cape, Heceta sights, i. 163. Adams Mount, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 01. Adams Point, see Lewis and C. exped. ,
ii. 57. Adams, sec'y, Astoria restored, ii. 291;
letter to Rush on Astoria restored,
ii. 335-6; on title N. W. coast, ii.
336, 340, 348, 355, 364. Adarnson, Capt. John, voyages, 1792,
i. 265; at Nootka, 1794, i. 297. Atldington, commissioner to the N. W.
coast, ii. 368, 370, 375, 379, 380. Admiral de Font, straits of, Gray re discovers, 1789, i. 206. Admiralty Inlet, Rlnggold explores,
ii. 673. 'Adventure, ' sloop, cruise, 1792, i.259,
261, 263-4. 'Adventurer,' on northwest coast,
1788, i. 192, 202. Agate, A. S. , on exploring exped., ii.
1Q69, 682.
Agncse, map, 1536, i. 42-3. Agreda, Maria de Jesus de, Mange
and Kino hear of, 1699, i. 113. Agriculture, N. W. coast, beginning,
ii. 440-2, 500-1; H. Bay Co., ii.
440-4, 501, 504; at Fort Colville, ii.
472; Willamette Valley, beginning,
ii. 500; Fort Vancouver, LS37, ii.
603; Cowlitz Valley, 1837-45, ii.
612-14. Aguilar, M. de, explorations of Pacific
coast, 1603, i. 88, 146-9. Aguilar Entrance, Jefferys' map, 1768,
i. 132. Aguilar Rio de, Aguilar names, i. 88;
see Columbia, i. 611. Aguilar River, Perez seeks, 1773, i. 156. Agustin, San, Spaniards found fort
at, 1565, i. 19.
Abacus, Niza's report of, 1536. i. 43. Ahijados, province, 1662, i. 109. Aillon, V. de, explorations, i. 12. Aitkcn, on N. W. coast, ii. 150-1. Alabama, Spaniards explore, 1540, i.
15; Coxe ascends, i. 123. Alaminos, expedition, 1519, i. 11. Alarcon, explorations, 1540-3, i. 14,
16, 17, 44, 46. Alaska, History of, 1728-78, i. 29-31;
Spaniards explore, 1779, i. 173; La
P6rouse explores, i. 175 ; Meares'
exped. to 1786, i. 177; Portlock
reaches, 1786, i. 178; physical fea tures, i. 409-10. Alaska Commercial Co., monopoly, i.
458.
Alaskan Ranges, passes of, i. 625-6. Alava, J., commissioner Nootka con troversy, i. 295, 299, 301. Albany Fort, attacked, i. 443. 'Albany,' frigate, in Hudson Bay,
1719J ii. 305. 'Albatross,' 1809, ii. 130-5; on X. W.
coast, 1810-11, i. 325; 1812, i. 328;
ii. 219, 221, 225-6; 1813, i. 330;
1816, i. 331; on Cal. coast, 1S16, i.
335.
Albert, Fort, see Fort Victoria, i. 492. Albion, Nova, in de Laet's map, 1633,
i. 106.
Alden, Jas., on explo. exped., ii. 669. Alder, Lieut., on N. W. coast, 1792,
i. 265, 279. 'Alert,' cruise in north-west, 1798, i.
306; 1800, i. 308; 1802, i. 311; 1803,
i. 318.
(713)
714
INDEX.
'Alert,' bark, in S. F. Bay, 1841, ii. 659.
Aleutian Inlands, Nevodchikof at,
1745. i. 30. Aleuts, on Cal. coast, 1803, i. 319;
1805, i. 3:23. 'Alexander, 'cruise, 1798, i. 306; 1800,
i. 308;
'Alexander JjV tug, ii. 640. Alexander, S^^^pattacks French, i.
390. Alexandria, F^^Vost H. Bay Co., i.
448; fouiidc<^^^P 401; removed ii.
538.
Algonquin^., fur^Ble with, i. 504. AJkm, at Fort Vdlbouver, ii. 442; re
marks. etc., ii. 504. Allen, 011 Or. question, ii. 407. llen, Paul,
work, ii. 7.
Allen, Paul, edits Lewis and Clark's
Alpowah River, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 06. Alta California, Spaniards settle, 1 750-
1800, i. '27- explore, 1709, i. '28. Alvarado, Pedro, licensed to explore,
1538, i. 46. Alvarado, Gov. , Douglas interviews,
ii. 53;>; Cal., 1841, ii. 659. Ainacava Indians, sec Mojaves, i. 90. Amazons, fabled island of, 1522, i. 3!);
story of, i. 41; Is. of Cal. i. 42. America, British, fur-yield, 1835, i.
503-4. America, Xorth, summary of explora
tion, 1550-1800, i. 1-31: settled by
English, i. 22; geographical knowl
edge of, 1550, i. 33; conjectures re
garding, i. 34-69; first printed map
of, i. 48-9; an island, 1655, i. 110;
system of fur-trade in, i. 302-3;
changes in ownership, i. 379, 400-3;
hydrographical basins, i. 405-6; con
figuration, i. 400-11 ; climate, i. 408-
11 : animals, i. 411-13; beginning of
present century, i. 613; apex, i. 679,
ii. 20-7, 30. American Fur Co., Astor forms, i. 51'2,
ii. 137; competition with Rocky Mt.
Fur Co., ii. 456, 567, 570-1. American Soc. for encouraging a set
tlement in Or., ii. 545. Americans, early explorations, i. 3;
explore for Straits of Anian, i. 9. 'Amethyst,' on N. W. coast, 1811, i.
3-26.
Amhcrst, opposes French, i. 400-1. A moor, mines discovered, 1650, i. 29. Amoretti, on term Anian, i. 5(J ; on
Anian Strait, i. 67; works, i. 94, 136;
on Maldonado memorial, i. 94.
Anawiskum, at Fort Langley, ii. 477
Anderson, A. C., Black's death, ii. 512; in New Caledonia, 1834, ii. 330 ; Hist. N. W. coast, ii. 531; builds Fort McLoughlin, ii. 625-8; fort- building exped., 1834, ii. 629, 835; among Indians, ii. 627; at Fort Nis- qually, ii. 673; estimates value of H. Bay Co. forts, ii. 711.
Anderson, J. , voyage to N. W. coast, 1809, ii. 144.
Andrede, John de Barros, his voyages, 1792, i. 266.
Ania, province of, i. 55.
Anian, Ortelius' map, i. 53-4; a prov ince of Tartary, 1655, i. 110.
Anian otrait, see early maps, i.; loca tion, i. 3; exploration for, i. 5-10, ii. 2; reported discovery by Corte- rc;il, i. 30, 56, 81, 85-6; m course of evolution, i. 37-8, 41; imposed upon Menendez, i. 51; origin of name, i. 53-6; Ladrillero's report of, i. 57; map of 159<), i. 67; Fuca hunts for. i. 71 ; reported passage of, i. 87; As cension's location of, i. 89; Torque- mada's location, i. 89; Malclonaclo's description of, i. 96-7 ; Cardona's opinion of, i. 102; Salmeron on, i. 105; supposed discoverers of, i. 108; in J;i55, i. 110; 1710, i. 119; 1710, i. 120; Pec-he's story of, i. 11] ; Uhk'feld's voyage to, 'l773, i. 134.
Animals, of the Northern Territory, i. 411-13; dressing skins of, i. 413- 14; Upper Missouri, ii. 15. 16; Lewis and ('. exped., ii. 10, 19, 20, 25.
Annancc, F. N.. on exploring exped., ii. 464-8; witli fur-brigade, ii. 471; at Fort Langley, ii. 477, 485, 497.
Annapolis, see Port Royal, i. 386.
Anno Xuevo, Pro de, in Jefferys' map, 1768, i. 132.
'Anson,' privateer, in Pacific, i. 25.
Antelope, habitat, i. 412.
Aiiza, explorations, 1774, i. 127; ex ped. of 1770, i. 28, 656.
Apache Pass, description, i. 639.
Apex, continental, N. A., description, i. 404-5; Mackenzie at, i. 679; ii. 30.
Apianus, Peter, map of, 1575, i. 56.
Applegate, J., route to Or., i. 634; discovers Modoc lakes, i. C42.
Appletree Cove named, ii. 672.
'Arab,' on N. W. coast, 1821, i. 340.
Arago Cape, see Cape Gregory, i. 169.
'Aranzazu, ' on N. W. coast. 1791, i. 248; 1792, i. 267, 279, 283; 1794, i. 295-6.
Arapahoes, rob Hunt's exped., ii. 185.
INDEX.
715
Archer, on Or. question, ii. 394, 405.
Arctic Ocean, approached, 1750-1800, i. '27; Mackenzie reaches, i. 008.
Argall, S., destroys Port Royal, 1013, i. 387.
'Argonaut,' on X. W. coast, 1789, i. 210-12, 217-18,2-20-7; 1790, i. 243.
Arizpe, Jesuits reach, 1000, i. 21.
Arizona, Cardenas*'eachcs, 1540, i. 1C; explored, 1540-3, i. 44; 1004, i. 90; in Wytfliet-Ptolemy map, i. 82; fur- trade, i. 527-8.
Arkansas, Spaniards explore, 1543, i. 15.
Arkansas River, Joliet and Marquette explore, 1673, i. 23.
Arqucitte, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
Arrowsmith's map, ii. 120.
Arteaga, Ignacio, explores north-west, 1770, i. 173.
Ascension, Padre, on Drake's exped., i. 02; on Fuca's voyage, i. 77; loca tion of Cal. and Anian strait, i. 89, 101 ; on Vizcaino's voyage, i. 147.
Ashburtoii, Lord, commissioner to U. 8.. ii. 391; on Or. question, ii. 404.
Ashley, W. H., partner, American Fur Co., i. 514; character, ii. 447-8; trapping journey, 1882-7, ii. 447-9; trapping tour, ii. 472.
Ashle}^ Lake, named, ii. 448.
Ashworth, joins Wyeth's exped., ii. 583, 591.
Astablan. in Purchas' map, 1025; see Aztatlan, i. 103.
Astor, J. J. , fur-trader, i. 330; projects, i. 512-14; organizes American Fur Co., i. 512; forms Pacific Fur Co., i. 513, ii. 329; South-west Co., i. 513 ; buys British posts, i. 513; forms X. American Fur Co., i. 514; sells fur-trade, i. 515; result of pro jects, i. 520; operations on X. W. coast, ii. 119; arrives in America, ii. 130; aims, ii. 137-9; character, ii. 138; proposes partnership with X. TV. Co., ii. 141; on transfer Fort Astoria, ii. 223, 235-0; abandons Pacih'c fur-trade, ii. 444.
Astor, overland exped., see Hunt's exped.
Astoria, Fort, founding of, i. 327, ii. 130-77, 153, 109-70, 320, 329-30, 337; sold to X. W. Co., i. 331; de livered to U. S., i. 339; view of, ii. 150; affairs at, 1812-13, ii. 193-230; hospital erected, ii. 207; remarks on transfer, ii. 221-5; bargain be tween rival companies for, ii. 227-
31; restored, ii. 290-5, 332, 334; in X. W. question, ii. 357-9, 309; Mof- ras on, 184!, ii. 005. .
'Astrolabe,' on X. W. coast, 1780, i. 175.
Asuncion, Bahia de la, named by Heceta, Aug. 17, 1715, i. 103.
'Atahualpa,'oiiX. YJigfeast, 1801, i. 310; 1802, i. 312^^K, i. 320, 3G5.
'Atala,' on Cal. co^HlO, i. 335.
Atchisoii, on Or. q^^^K>n, ii. 390.
Athabasca Pass, d^^Btion. i. C21-2.
Atlantic, in Home^^Biap, 1558, i. 50.
Atlantic coast, e;;^^Pitions, 1550, i. 10-12.
Atlantis, Sir H. GPjert upon, i. 58.
'Atlas,' see 'Atala,' i. 335.
Atnah nation, Fraser's exped., ii. 110.
'Atrevida,' corvette, on X. W. coast, 1791, i. 249-50.
Attimospiquais, La France story, i. 592.
Aubert, explores northward, i. 11; fur- monopoly of, i. 395.
Austrian East India Co., X. W. fur- trade, i. 182, 354; ii. 320.
Aviles, A. P. M. do (Menendez), story of Northwest, i. 51.
Ayers, G. W., on X. W. coast, 1808- 9, i. 324; 1810-11, i. 325-0.
Aztatian, discovery of, 1532, i. 4-1.
Aztec tribes, tradition of migration, i. 8.
B
Babcock, Dr., Or. missionary, ii. 675.
Babe, explorations, i. 591.
Babine, Fort, founded, ii. 402.
Babines, post, Hudson Bay Co., i. 448.
Bacalaos, name, i. 11; Newfoundland, i. 11,43; Ruscelli's map, i. 47; Mini ster's map, i. 4S.
Baccalearean, map of Apianus, 1575, i. 56.
Badger, habitat, i. 412.
Bad River, Mackenzie's voyage, i. 679- 82; Fraser's voyage, ii. 105-6.
Baffin, explores Hudson Bay, 1015; ex plores Baffin Bay and Smith Sound, 1016, i. 23.
Bagot, British minister, ii. 291.
Bailey, escapes Indians, ii. 597; Or. settler, ii. 676.
Baillie, Capt., on Columbia, 1845, ii. 702.
Baja California, Jesuits established in, i. 25.
Baker, charge d'affaires, ii. 290.
Baker, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
716
INDEX.
Baker, James, Capt., his voyages,
179-2, ii. 205. Baker Bay, named, i. 281; Clarke
reaches, ii. 53.
Baker Island, named, i. 281. Balboa, Ya.sco Xufiez de, discovers
Paeiiic Ocean, i. 3, 13, 663. Ball, J., wii/h Wyeth's exped, ii. 562;
teacher, Fort Vancouver, ii. 505. Baltimore, Lord, colonizes Maryland,
1034, i. '2-2. Bancroft, Capt., on X. W. coast, 1S3G,
i. 341, ii. 002; 1837-8, i. 341-2;
death, ii. 004-0. Banderas Bay, Mazuela returns to, i.
14. Bank of France, connection with Miss.
Co., i. 391.
Banks, botanist, drowned, ii. 538. Bannock, die, ii. "24. Baranof, A., at Sitka, ii. 140, 602;
Gov. Xew Archangel, ii. 211). Barbour, on. title N. \V. coast, ii. 300. Barclay, Capt., leaves Ostend 1780, i.
1 6'2; voyage, 17i>2, i. 20.''; 011 N. W.
coas!:, 1786-7; i. 353-4, ii. 320;
Indians attack, i. 304. Barclay, F., prospectus Puget Sound
A. Co., ii. 015.. Barclay, Mrs, on X. W. coast, 1787;
i. 183. Barclay .Sound, Ileccta's voyage, 1775,
i. 10J; Barclay discovers, i. 182;
Gray approaches, 1788, i. 11)0; Meares
reaches, 1788. i. 198. Baring Island, named, i. 281. Barkc:-, .Seth, voyage, 1828-30, i. 341;
1837, i. 342. Bariow, seeks Strait of Anian, 1719, i.
121.
Barlow, defends Fort Albany, i. 443. Burloxv, J. W., surveys Yellowstone,
ii. 31.
Barnarda, see Bonarda, i. 110. Barnes, Miss Jane, at Astoria, 1814,
i. 251, 333. Burnett, on N. W. coast, 1789, i. 217;
his voyages, 1792, i. 205. Barnston, G., at Fort Langley, ii. 477;
fort Walla Walla, ii. 515. Barrel, Jos., Boston merchant, i. 358. Ban-it, at Astoria, 1841, ii. 687. Barton, J. , settler, Cowlitz valley, ii.
614.
Bastidas, voyage in 1501, i. 10. Bates, on title N. W. coast, ii. 386. Bathurst, Lord, Astoria restored, ii.
291-2.
Battcau, construction, i. 424. Battle River, named, ii. 74.
Baylies, on question X. W. coast, ii. 346, 365.
Beacon Rock, named, ii. 47.
Beale, Cape, Meares names, i. 198.
Beales, Daniel, agent, i. J93.
Bear Lake, iron and coal found, i. 609; Indians' account of, ii. 95-6.
Bear Rapid, named, ii. 80.
Bears, habitat, i. 412.
Beauchamp, J., Mackenzie's exped., i. 073.
Beaudieux, F., Mackenzie's exped., i. 073.
Beauharnais, supports Verendrye, i. 596.
Beaver, habitat, i. 411.
' Beaver,' on X. W. coast, 1812, i. 329; 1S13: i. 329; 1830, i. 342, ii. 042; on Columbia, ii. 190-8; on X. W. coast, ii. 201, 200-7, ii. 219-20; ar rives on X. W. coast, ii. 000-1; at tacked by Indians, 1837, ii. 038; on X. W. coast, 1841, ii. 057-8; at FortStikecn, 1840, ii. 045-0; at Fort Tako, 1840, ii. 047.
Beaver Head, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 24, 30.
Beaver Head River, Lewis and C. exped.. ii. 23-4.
Heaver Indians, traders among, ii. 92.
Beaver Lodge, Fraser's exped., ii. 103.
Beaver Lodge Mountain, Mackenzie's voyage, ii. 078.
Beaver, Rev., at Fort Vancouver, ii. 534.
Beaver River, named, ii. 77.
Heaver skins, as currency, i. 458-9.
' Beaver, ' sloop, sails to Moose river, 1729, i. 440.
Beccrra, voyage, 1533, i. 14.
Beck, voyage. 1799, i. 308.
Beckwourth, J. P., trapper, life, i. 510, ii. 449; character, ii. 449.
Belcher, Ed., voyage, 1837, 1839, i. 342; explores X. W. coast, 1830-42, ii. 011-12.
Belhoullay Conin, see Mackenzie's voj-age, i. 009.
Bellacoola River, see Mackenzie's voy age; see foot-note, i. 693.
Bellacoolas, attack vessel, ii. 020.
Belle Lake, see Fonte's story, i. 110.
'Belle Savage,' cruise in north-west, 1801, i. 310.
Belle Vue Point, named, i. 281, ii. 439.
Bennett, Capt., voyage, 1811, i. 320.
Bennett, James, voyage, 1819, i. 340.
Bent & Co., fur-traders, i. 515.
Bent and St Vrain, see Bent & Co. , i. 515.
INDEX.
717
Bentinck North Arm, Mackenzie's
voyage, i. 697. Ben ton, oil question N. W. coast, ii.
345-7, 3GO, 307; on Or. question, ii.
395, 410-13, 555-6. Bercier, guide, ii. 077. Berg, in d'Avity's Le Monde, 1037, i.
108; Spanish description, 1710, i.
119. Bergi, see Morcator's atlas, 1573, i.
81; in Low's map, 1598; its resem blance to Alaska, i. 80. Bering, Vitus, explorations, i. 29-30,
1741, ii. 34'J; death, i. 30. B; ring Island, Bering wrecked at,
1741; dies there, i. 3. Bering Strait, explored before 1800,
i. 27; Bering navigates, i. 30. Berresford Island, named, i. 179. Bei'iieu, 011 Or. question, ii. 394, 405. Bertodaiio, Lieut. Cosine, at Nootka,
171'5, i. 301. Bethur.c, A., clerk N. W. Co., ii. 227;
on Columbia, 18 10, ii. 204; leaves
Fort George, ii. 270. 'Betsy,' cruise in north-west, 1800, ii.
308. Biddlc, J., LT. S. commissioner, 1818,
i. 3.']0; Astoria, restored, ii. 290-3. Bid well Pass, description, i. 049. Bienville, settles Louisiana, 1G99, i.
24; occupies Ohio Valley, i. 400. Big Blackfoot River, Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 71.
Big Dry Creek, named, i. 1C. Big Dry River, named, i. 16. Big Hole Mountain Pass, location, i.
030.
Big Hole River, ii. 23. Big Horn River, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 7^-9. Big Knife, Harmon's name among
Indians, ii. 2S2. Big Roebuck, Moncacht Ape°s travels,
i. 004.
Big White, Mandaii chief, ii. 126-7. Bigot, explorations, i. 597. Lirnie, Jas., life, at the Dalles, ii. 270;
at Fort George, 1837, ii. 002; at
Astoria, 1839, ii. 012, 074; at Fort
Simpson, ii. 035.
Bisson, B., Mackenzie's exped., i. 073. Bitter Root River, Lewis and C.
exped., i. 34-5, 70. Bitter Root Valley, Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 70.
Black, A., escapes Indians, ii. 450. Black, Capt. , sent to capture Astoria,
1811, i. 331; at Astoria, 1812, ii.
232-4; in S. F. Bay, ii. 252.
Black, S., at Fort St John, ii. 402; at Fort Walla Walla, ii. 498; quarrel with 1). Douglas, ii. 510; death, ii. 510-1] ; at Fort Nez Percys, ii. 513; at Kamloop, ii. 002.
Black Mts, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 10.
Black River, named, ii. 4G5.
Blackfoot Indians, hostility, i. 519; Williams' exped. among, ii. 127; at tack Henry, ii. 129; war with Slio- shones, ii. 447; attack Jones and Iminuel, ii. 450; rendezvous, ii. 458; attack Work's party, ii. 517-18; at tack Wyeth, ii. 502-4; attack Van- denber •-, ii. 571; attack Tiling, ii. 597; attack Bridger, ii. 010.
Blackfoot country, dangers of, ii. 589.
Blacksmith, Lewis andC. exped., ii. 14.
Blackwater River, Mackenzie's voy age, i. 092.
Black well, fur-trader, i. 515.
Blais, at Fort St James, ii. 111.
Blanca Florida, Count, on Nootka controversy, i. 230-4.
Blanchard, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1811, i. 326.
Blanchet, Fr, Jesuit, ii. 434; in north west, 1838, ii. 530-8; settles Cowlilz Prairie, ii. 013; Catholic missionary, ii. 075.
Blanco, Cape, Vizcaino names, i. 21, 140; Aguilar names, i. 88; Perez seeks, 1773, i. 15u; La Pe'rouse voy age, i. 177; Gray sights, i. 187.
Blenkinsop, at Sitka, ii. 053, 002.
Blinn, voyage, 1830, i. 341.
Block, A. , discovers Connecticut river, i. 500.
'Blossom,' fri crate on Columbia, 1818, i. 3:J3, ii. C'J;J.
'B. ?!e;:ick,'bri7, criiiso, 1837, ii. 594.
Boardman, N. W. fur-trade, i. 359.
Boatencainpmeiit, Thompson's exped. , ii. 124.
Boca de Carasco, explored by Elisa, i. 240.
Boca de Fidalgo, Quimper discovers, i. Ci2.
Bodega Bay, Cuadra names, i. 66; Russians at, i. 520; exploi-ed, 1775, ii. 318; post founded at, ii. 330.
Bodega y Cuadra Bay, Quimper names, i. 241.
Bodega y Cuadra, Don Juan de la, statement of Colnett's treatment, i. 222; relations with Vancouver, 1792, i. 279; voyage, 1792, i. 283.
Bois de vache, buffalo chips, ii. 20.
Bois6 Fort, post H. Bay Co. , i. 448; built, ii. 596; abandoned, ii. 708.
718
INDEX.
Boisvert, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. Bolch, on N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320,
ii. 55. 'Bolivar,' brig, in 8. F. Bay, 1841, ii.
659. ' Bolivar Liberator, ' on Cal. coast, 1834,
ii. G3G.
Bolts, W., N. W. fur-trade, i. 349. Bombay, merchants of, send Strange
toXootka, 1780, i. 177. Bouardo, Pedro de, Fonte's story, i.
116. Boiulla,. explores Xew Mexico, 159G,
i. 20. Bonneville, Capt., trading cxped., i.
510-17; ii. 31)0, 585; explores South
PJIKS, i. 031. ; in Utah, i. 041, 043;
character, ii. 508; cxped. to Colum bia, 1832, ii. 509-75; Irving on, ii.
57^; meets Yv'yeth's cxped., ii. 500. 'Bordelais,' on N. W. coast, 1817, i.
330-8. 'Borneo,' cruise in north-west, 1819-
20, i. 340. 'Boston,' ship, on X. W. coast, 1803,
i. 312-15. ii. 150; burned by Indians,
i. 305, ii. 159.
'Boston,' sloop-of-war, ii. 305. Bostonians, explore X". W. coast, 1788,
i. 185.
Bouchard, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. Bouilard, employ P. Fur Co. , i. 205. Boundary Pass, see South Kootenai
Pass, i. 024.
Bourbon, see Saskatchewan, i. 008. Bourbon, Fort, see York Factory, i.
485; built, i. 595. Bourbon, Jean, sails up Hudson Bay,
1050, i. 438. Bourgmont, ascends Missouri Paver,
1727, i. 20.
' Boussole,'oii N. W. coast, 1780, i. 175. Bowers, Jonathan, on X. W. coast,
1797-8, i. 300: 1800, i. 308. Bowles, voyage, 1798, i. 300. Bowliii, on Or. question, ii. 402. Brackenridge, J. I)., on exploring ex-
pcd., ii. 009, 073,082. Bradbury, J., botanist, with P. Fur
Co., ii. 178, 182.
Braddock, defeated, 1755, i. 400, 505. Bradstreet, takes Fort Frontenac,
1758.
Brant Island, named, ii. 03. Brave River, see Rio Bravo del Xorte,
i. 115.
Brazilian coast, Portuguese explora tion, i. 3. Br6bceuf, Pere, discovers Xiagara
Falls, i. 587.
Breck, voyage, 1799, i. 308.
Breck, with Wyeth's expecl., ii. 563.
Breckinridge, on question X. W.
coast, ii. 346. Breton, Cape, taken by English, 1758;
i. 400.
Brian, at Xootka, ii. 1GO. Briee, voyage, IcOl, i. 310. Bridgcr, Jas., fur-trader, i. 515; with
Rocky Mt. Co., i. 514, ii. 455; trap ping tour, 1832, ii. 570-1; life, ii.
010; discovers Great Salt Lake, ii.
610; builds Fort Bridger, ii. Gil. Bridgei1, iort, built, ii. 611. Bridger Pass, location, i. G33. Brigade, equipment, i. 501; X. W.
Co.. i. 5(51-4. Brides, X. W. Co., i. 500-4; York
Factory, i. 403; Xew Caledonia, i.
403-4, "ii. -1GL'-71; X. West, 1834,
ii. 53Q-].
Briggs, voyage, 1802, i. 311. Bright .Stones, mountain, in Jefferys'
map, 1768, i. 132.
Brion-Ch; bot, Philippe de, sends Car- tier to America, 1534, i. 380. British America, explored, i. 27; a
fur-hunter's paradise, i. 406; phys ical features, i. 406. British Columbia, part of X. W. coast,
i. 2; configuration, i. 408; made a
croAvn colony, ii. 300. Brooks, C. W. , Japanese wrecks, etc. ,
ii. 532. Brotchie, voyage, 1837, 1838, 1839, i.
342; Capt. of 'Cadboro,' ii. 477. Brouchard, J. B., settler, Cowlitz val ley, ii. 614. Brougham, Lord, on Or. question, ii.
410. Broughton, Lieut. W. R., on X. W.
coast, 1791, i. 289; 1792, 266, 274,
281. ii. 324; 1796. Brown, Boston merchant, i. 358. Brown, on Or. question, ii. 393. Brown, J. G., surveyor, 1825-7, i. 615;
on exploring cxped., ii. 669. Brown, John, oil X. W. coast, 1803,
i. 317; 1805, i. 320. Brown, Capt. W., on X. W. coast,
1792, i. 205; 1703, i. 293-4; 1704, i.
297; voyage, 1802, i. 311; 1803, i.
318; on Columbia, 1800, ii. 59; at
Sitka, 1810, ii. 140. Brown Hole, rendezvous, ii. 458. Brown's Sound, named, i. 293. Bruquier, R., on Canoe River, ii. 123;
at Fort Astoria, ii. 174, 177. 'Brutus,' brig, 011 X'. W. coast, 1817-
18, i. 338; 1819-20, i. 340.
INDEX.
710
Bryant, on term Oregon, i. 132.
Bryant, at Fort Bridgcr, 1840, ii. Gil.
Buache, defends Mahlonado's memo rial, 1700, i. 93; map, 1750-3, i. 127.
Bucaieli, Tort, Caamauo explores, i. 1207.
Bucareli, Rada de. see Heceta's voy age, 1775, i. 100.
Buchanan, rn question N. TV. coast, ii. 3a.';; on Or. question, ii. 394.
Buena Esperanza, see Colorado, i. 90; approach to Copal: a, i. 105; Mar- tinr-7, explores and names, i. 224.
Buffalo, hr.bitut, i. 411; Lewis and C. expcd., ii. 81.
Buffalo-chips, fuel, ii. 20.
Buffalo-meat, as food, i. 432-4, ii. 587; method of curing, ii. 5SG-7.
Buffalo Shoal, named, ii. 80.
Bulfiiieh, Dr. C., Boston merchant, i.
:r.s.
Buliinch Harbor, Gray names, i. 259. Bullilcy, in Alaska, i. 620. Bulkley House, location, ii. 471. Bumstead, voyage, 1801, i. 310. Burch, voyage, 1836, i. 342. Burditt, with Wyeth's exped., ii. 563. Bui-net, Cov. New York, i. 504. Burney, rn Aiiiau Strait, i. 36, 136. Burriel, Padre, on California. 1757, i.
129.
Burrows, Emmons' exped.. ii. 6S2. Bush, at Puget Sound, 1844, ii. 701. Butterworth, on N. W. coast, 1792, i.
265; 1793, i. 293. Button, explores Hudson Bay, 1612-
13, i. 23.
Caamano, expedicion, etc., i. 270.
Cabo Frondoso. Heceta names, i. 163.
Cabot, John, on Labrador coast, i. 11.
Cabot, S.. on American coast, i. 11; views on Northwest Strait, i. 35-6.
Cabrera Bueno, i. 129; sailing direc tions of, 1734, i. 147.
Cabrillo, explorations, 1543, i. 14, 16; 1540-3, i. 44, 47; names Sierra Ne vada, i. 49.
Caching, mode of, i. 435.
' Cadboro, ' cruise in north -west, 1827, i. 341; 1837-8, i. 342; appearance, ii. 476; advent on Columbia, ii. 476; captains of, ii. 477; on Fraser, ii. 477; at building Fort Langley, ii. 478-84, 486; on Columbia, ii. 499; at Fort Vancouver, 1841, ii. 656.
Cadboro Bay, named, ii. 477.
'Cadboro,' steamer, history, ii. 476-7.
Caen, Emery de, trade monopoly, 1621,
i. 389-90. Caen, William de, trade monopoly,
1021, i. 389.
Cajoii Pass, location, i. 654. Calapooya, Fort, description; i. 489.
Calapooyas, Indians, Lewis and C.
exped.. ii. 02. 'Caleb Curtis,' wrecked, ii. 533.
Calhoun, on Or. question, ii. 401.
California, home of Amazons, 1533, i. 42; const explored, 1540-3, i. 44; Ruscelli's map, 1544, i. 47; Ramu- sio's map, 1-J.5G, i. 40; Ortelius' map, 1574, i. 53; Lok's map, 1582, i. 65; Martyr's map, 1587, i. 60; Cavendish captures Fuca near, i. 7 i ; Wytfliet-Ptolemy, 1597, i. 82; Low's map, 159S, i. 80; Herrera's map, 1001, i. 88; Ascension's location of, i. 89; an island, 1540-1020, i. 101-::; 1701, i. 115; 1742, i. 124; a penin sula, i. 104; 1033, i. ICO; 1721. i. 121; in d'Avity'sLe \ionde, 1037, i. 107; province, 1055, i. IK); geographical relations, 1748. i. 120; oeeupio-J by Spaniards, 1709, i. 150; fur-trading in, 1814, i. 334, 525-8; Russians in, i. 525-8; II. Bay Co. in, i. 525- H; 1840, ii. 539-40, 058-00, 088-9; horse-stealing in, ii. 552; sea-otter 011 coast, ii. 601; Shnpsni in. ii. 658-60; Mofras in, 1841, ii. 058-0, 663-7; Wilkes' expcd. in, ii. C.S2; Gulf of, Ulloa explores, i. 14; pearl fishing 17th cent. i. 25; Onate ex plores, i. 90; Mojavc Indians de scribe, 1604, i. 91 : Spaniards ex plore, i. 101.
California, Lower, shown to be a pe ninsula, 1540-3, i. 44.
California Peninsula, discovered, i. 14; Ortelius' map, 1574. i. 53.
'California,' schooner, in S. F. bay, 1341, ii. 059.
Callalamet, on N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320; ii. 55.
Callicurn, chief of Nootka, 1788, i. 195.
Call River, named, i. 281.
Calvert, C., ascends Potomac, 1634, i. 502.
Calvinists, colonize America, i. 380—1.
Calvo, Recueil, etc., i. 232.
Camaano, Lieut. J., explores Queen Charlotte Is., i. 267; explorations, 1792, i. 267-9, 283, ii. 322; map of, 1792, i. 268-9.
Camass, Indian food, ii. 255, 590.
Camass Prairie, see Quamash Flats, ii. 69.
720
INDEX.
Cameahwait, Shoshone chief, meets
Lewis and C. exped., 1805, ii. 28,
31.
Camei-on, Black's death, ii. 512, 677. Cameron, trader, made prisoner, i.
578. Camosim, Fort, see Fort Victoria, i.
492.
Camp, fur-traders', i. 430-1. Campbell, at Fort Dimvegan, ii. 4G2,
494.
Campbell, D., trader, i. 570. Campbell, 11., fur-trader, i. 516; at
Pierre Hole, ii. 5G3; trapping tour,
1832, ii. 570. Campa, Padre, Heceta's exped., 1775,
i. 158-00. Campos, Padre, associate of Velarde,
i. }'20. Canada, name, i. 12, 380-1; French
colonize, i. 22; passes to England,
i. 370; granted to La Roche, i. 383;
law in, ii. 298.
Canada Co., see N. W. Co., i. 551. Canada de las Uvas Pass, location, i.
053.
Canadian settlement, 1627, i. 389. Canal de Lopez do Ha.ro, named by
Quimper, i. 241. Canal de Nuestra Seiiora del Rosario
l.iMarincra, Gulf of Georgia, i. 240. Candb, the, furs sold by, i. 405. Canning, S., commissioner title N. W.
coast, ii. 355-00, 307. Canoe, bark, description, i. 421. Canoe Jiivcr, named, ii. 45, 123-4. Cape Adams, named by Cray, i. 260. Cape Hancock, Gray names, i. 200. Cape I lorn. Port-lock and Dixon round,
1785, i. 178. Cape North, Perez names Point Santa
Margarita, 1773, i. 153. Capotes, fur-hunter, i. 431. Cardenas, visits Moqni towns, 1540,
i. 10; explorations, i. 18. Cardcna, works, i. 102. Cardona, Nicolas de, 011 California,
10-17, i. 102. Carlos IV., energy in explorations, i.
0; position in Nootka controversy.
i. 231. Carmelo, near Monterey, Vizcaino
discovers, 1002, i. 88. Carmelo Rio, Salvador's report on,
175], i. 127.
Carmen Is. , salt depot, ii. 522. Carolina, Jordan readies, 1520, i. 12. 'Caroline, 'see 'Dragon,' i. 307; on N.
W. coast, 1801, i. 310; J802, i. 312;
1804, i. 318.
Carr, 0., on exploring exped., ii. 669. Carrier country, explored, ii. 92, 97. Carson, A., trapper, joins P. Fur Co.
exped., i. 130. Carson, Kit, dress, i. 432; trapper, i.
510; with Fremont, ii. 095. C artier, Chaton, monopolizesfur-trade,
i. 383. Cartier, J., surveys gulf and river
St Lawrence, i. 12, 14, 380; expedi tions of, i. 12, 42. Cartier, Noel, monopolizes fur-trade,
i. 383. Carver, J., explorations, 1700, i. 607-
11; map of, 1778. i. 132, 008. Casanate, Pedro Porter y, report on
explorations, 1030, i. 106. Cascade Canal, Vancouver's, see Mac kenzie's voyage, i. 699. Cascade Range, passes of, i. 643-8. Cascades, Bronghton reaches, 1792, i.
H81; see Fails of Columbia, ii. 46-7;
Lewis and C. exped., ii. 63; hos tility of natives at, ii. 240-1, 258. Ca.se, explores Hood Canal, ii. 073. Cass, on Or. question, ii. 404-5. 'Castle,' steam-boat, wrecked, ii. 533. Castlereigh, Lord, Astoria restored, ii.
291.
Castle Rock, see Beacon Rock, ii. 47. Caswell, killed by Indians, i. 251, 201. Catald, Padre Magin, sails for Cal.,
1794, i. 296. 'Catalina,'brig, in S. F. Bay, 1841,
ii. 659.
Cataract River, named, ii. 45. Cathay, } assage to, by Florida, 1530,
i. 43; Martyr's map, 1587, i. 06;
Quivera trades at, l<j->5, i. 111. 'Catherine, 'on N. W. coast, 1802, i.
311; 1811, i. 320. Calhlamets, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
50, 00.
Catholic mission, Or., ii. 057, 075, 080. Catholic missionaries, in N. W., 1839,
ii. 534, 530. Cattle, introduced on Columbia, ii.
443.
Cavalho, supercargo, i. 193. Cavalho and Co. , merchants, i. 215;
bankruptcy, i. 217. Cavendish, captures Fuca, 1587, i. 71;
voyage, i. 73; touches at Cal., 1787,
i. 20.
^a\veeu)an,postHudsonBayCo.,i.448. Cayuela, Llisa examines, 1790; see
Clayoquot, i. 240.
Caynses, missionaries among, ii. 534-5. .Vchasht Cove, explored by Capt.
Gray, 1789, i. 205.
INDEX.
721
Oedros Island, discovered, i. 14.
Central America, condition of dis covery in 1550, i. 10.
Centreville, see Todd Bay, ii. 254.
'Cermerion,' wrecked at Drake Bay, 1595.
Cevallos, Ciriaco, criticises Maldo- nado's memorial, i. 94.
Chaboneau, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 30.
Chacke, Martin, report of N. W. pas sage, 1573, i. 01.
Cliaheowahs, Lewis and C. exped., ii. G2.
Chama Rio, lake Copalla reached bv, i. 105.
Champ^ain, S. de, explores St Law rence, i. 22, 106, 385; discovers Lake Champlain i. 387; names lake Ontario, i. 388; death, i. 390.
Champoeg, post II. Bay Co., i. 448; settlement, 1834, ii. 529.
Chanal, Capt., survej^s Cloak Bay and Cox Channel, i. 255; explores Char lotte Is., i. 255-7.
Chagres-Panama Pass, i. G17.
Chapman, W. W., purchases H. B. Co. cattle, ii. 710.
Charles II., charters H. Bay Co., i. 439, 409.
Charles, Indian, ii. 529.
Charles, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
Charles, P., guide, ii. 077.
Charlevoix, travels, 1720, i. 121.
' Charlotte, ' cruise in Northwest, 1801 , i. 310.
Charlotte Island, explored by Capt. Chanal, assisted by surgeon Roblet, i. 255-7; explored by Capt. Has- well, i. 20 1-2.
'Charon,' on N. W. coast, 1811, i. 32G; captured by English, 1813, i. 329-30.
Chasette, shot, ii. 264.
Chastes, Aymar de, fur monopoly of, i. 385.
' Chatham, 'onN.W. coast, 1792, i. 274, 279, 281; 1793, i. 291; 1794, i. 296, 299.
Chatham Cape, named, i. 179.
Chauvin, Capt., fur monopoly of, i. 384-5.
Cheadle, explores Yellowhead Pass, i. 621.
'Cheerful,' cruise in north-west, 1799, i. 308.
Chehalis route, map, ii. 465.
Chelacom, Indian village, ii. 468.
Chenamus, Chinook chief, ii. 602.
'Chenamus,' ship, on Columbia, 1842, ii. 686.
HIST. N. W. COAST., VOL. II. 4G
Cheiioke Point, named, i. 231.
Chepewyan, Fort, location, i. 668.
'Cherub,' in Pacific, ii. 231-2.
Chesterfield Inlet, explored, i. 28.
Cliickahominy, Smith explores, i. 92.
Chico Pass, i. 650.
Chicora, see Jordan's voyage, i. 12.
Chief-factor, H. Bay Co., i. 449-54; ii. 307-15.
Chief -trader, H. Bay Co., i. 449-54, ii. 307-15.
Chihuahua, De Soto passes through, ]5.')5, i. 15; Spanish reach frontier, 1560, i. 19; Spanish advance in, 1600, i. 21.
Chilapa Pass, location, i. 660.
Chilkotin, post, ii. 461.
Chillescas, kingdom of, i. 91.
Chimnapums, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 40; Indian tribe, ii. 201.
China, Hanna sails from, 1785, i. 173; fur-trade with N. W. coast, i. 345— 8, 353, 521-4; relation to Or. ques tion, ii. 418-19.
Chinamen, at Nootka, i. 211.
Chinese vessels, in Atlantic, 1590, i. 68.
Chinooks, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 53, 56, 59; character, ii. 56; hostility to Winship, ii. 133-5; assist Astor's party, ii. 152; hostility of, ii. 175-6, 206.
Chinook Point, post, H. Bay Co., i. 448.
Chinook village, first noted by Gray, i. 260.
Chipewyans, opinion of liquor, i. 547.
Chipewyan, Fort, situation, i. 582; built, i. 612.
Chiquito, Onate's explorations, 1604, i. 90.
Chirikof, sights Sitka, 1741, i. 30; N. W. explorations, 1741, ii. 349.
'Chirikof,' ship, on Cal. coast, 1814, i. 334.
Chopunnish, see Nez Perec's, ii. 37.
Chouteau, A. P., Missouri Fur Co., ii. 128.
Chouteau, P., fur-trader, i. 505, 515.
Christaensen, H., fur-trader. 1613, i. 500.
Christianity, traces of, in Colima, 1524, i. 39.
Christina, Fort, built, i. 502.
Christopher, explores H. Bay, 1761-2,, i. 28.
Churchill, River, discovered, i. 588.
Cibola, Marcos de Niza, i. 3, 43; pueblo towin, i. 16; council of In dies unable X) locate, i. 46; in Ra-
722
INDEX.
musio's map, i. 49; Ortelius5 map, 1574, i. 53; Herrera's map, 1601, i. 88; a province of Cal., 1655, i. 110.
Cicuic, in Ramusio's map, 1556, i. 49; see Pecos, i. 53; Hondin's map, i. 105; chief town of Quivira, i. 110.
Ciguatan, fabled land of Amazons, 1522, i. 39.
Cinacacohola, queen, Zinogaba, i. 91.
Clackamas Indians, Lewis and C. exped. , ii. 02.
Clackamas River, Lewis and C. exped. , ii. 02.
Clallams, kill McKenzie's party, ii. 483; punished, ii. 484.
Gapp, leaves Astoria, ii. 225, 235.
Clarendon, Lord, en Or. question, ii. 398-9, 409.
'Clarion,' on Cal. coast, 1817-18, i. 338.
Clark, Capt. G., voy.. 1819; wrecked i. 340.
Clarke, trader for Selkirk, i. 577- 8.
Clarke, J., partner P. Fur Co., ii. 197; exped. of, ii. l<Jti, 202-3, 211; among Indians, ii. 212-13, 218; Spo kane exped., ii. 218; train for Fort Astoria, ii. 227; leaves Fort George, ii. 245; goer; ea:.;t, ii. 280.
Clarke, W., exploring exped. up the Missouri, 1804-5, ri. 0-27; instruc tions, ii. 0-7; reaches hcnd-watcrs of Missouri, ii. 20; down the Colum bia, ii. 28-50, i. 320; on IVciiic, ii. 51-00; return to St. Louis, ii. 51- 82; route from Travellers' Rest to Yellowstone, ii. 70-7; down Yel lowstone, ii. 77-81; ('Jen. of militia, ii. 84; Cov. Missouri Ty., ii. 80; Supt. Indian affairs, ii. 80; Missouri Fur Co.,-ii. 128; character, ii. 203, 215; exploring exped., 1804-0; route, ii. 327; along Missouri, 1804, i. 509.
Clarke Fork, Clarke names, ii. 78.
Clarke Point of Yiew, named, ii. 58.
Clarke River, named, i. 34, ii. 07; see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 70-1.
Clarke's route west, i. 630.
Classet, Meares' voyage, 1788, i. 197. Clatsop Fort, built, ii. 55; Lewis and
C. at, ii. 59. Clatsop River, Lewis and C. exped. , ii.
57.
Clatsops, murder crew of ' William and Ann,' ii. 498; punished, ii. 499; see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 55-6, 59. Clay, entitle N. W. coast, ii. 367, 377,
379.
Clayoquot, Indians attack, i. 365. Clayoquot Sound, Heceta's voyage.
1775, i. 162; Meares at, 1788, i. 197;
Gray at, 1788, i. 190, 1789, i. 204;
Elisa explores, i. 246; Kendricks at,
1791, i. 253.
Clayton, on Or. question, ii. 405. Clayton, W., builds post on Kent Is.,
i. 502. Clearwater Mts. , see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 70. Clearwater River, see Kooskooskie,
ii. 30-7; see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 09.
Clergymen, see Missionaries. Clerk, Cooke's exped., 1778, i. 167. Clerks II. Bay Co., i. 449-54; N. W.
Co., i. 557-8.
Cleswuncut Lake, Mackenzie's voy age, i. 091.
Cleveland, narrative, etc., i. 307. Cloak Bay, named, i. 179; Chanal
surveys, i. 255. Ciuscus Lakes, Mackenzie's voyage,
i. 093. Coahuila, Spanish frontier reaches,
1500, i. 19. Coal, found at Bear Lake, i. 669; see
Lewis and C. exped., ii. 10. Coal River, named, ii. 81. Cwa-jt Range, passes through, i. 027,
655. Coilin Mount., named, i. 281 ; Lewis
and C. exped., ii. 49. Cogib River, possibly the Mackenzie
River in Low's map, 1598, i. 80. Cogil Rio, in Wytfliet-Ptolemy map,
1597, i. 84. Cokalahishkit River, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 71. Golden, on question, N. W. coast, ii.
345.
Cole, Thomas, his voyages, 1792, i. 266. 'Colenzell,' ship, N. W. fur-trade, i.
349.
Coles, J., sail-maker, ii. 150-1. Colima, exped. northwest of, 1522;
traces of Christianity in 1522, i. 39. Collins Creek, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 69. Colnett, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1787,
i. 181, 183; 1789, i. 210-12, 217-23;
1790, i. 243; imprisoned by Mar tinez, i. 217-23; goes to Mexico, i.
223. ' Colonel Allan, ' schooner, on Cal. coast,
ii. 264; on Columbia, ii. 266. 'Colonel, 'brig, on Cal. coast, 1816, i.
334.
Colorado, in BurriePs map, 1757, i. 129. Colorado Basin, La Salle enters, 1684,
i. 393.
INDEX.
723
Colorado Great Cafion, Cdrdenas reaches 1540, i. 16.
Colorado Rio, reached by Alarcon, 1540, i. 14; Diaz ascends, 1540, i. 16; Onate explores, 1604-5, i. 21, 90; Kino traverses, 1690-1700, i. 25; frontier of Mexico, ii. 750; i. 27; Aiiza explores, 1769, i. 28; explored 1540-3, i. 44; Vargas' theory of, i. 63; Wytfliet-Ptolemy, 1597, i. 82; Salvador's report on, 1751, i. 127; see Le\vis and C. exped., ii. 32.
Colter, J., life among Indians, ii. 82-3, with P. Fur Co. exped., ii. 179.
Colter Creek, named, ii. 38; see Lewis and C. exped., li. 67.
Columbia, on K. W. coast, 1788, i. 202; 1789, i. 207, 210, 224; 1792, i. 258-61, 263-4, 274.
'Columbia,' bark, 011 Columbia, 1836, ii. 594.
'Columbia,' biie, on N. W. coast, 1817-18, i. 338.
Columbia (Brit.), voyages, 1836, 1838, 1840; i. 341-2.
Columbia department, limits of, under Hudson Bay Co., i. 448.
Columbia Fur Co., formed, i. 514., ii. 444.
Columbia medal, i. 186.
'Columbia Rediviva,' on N. W. coast, 1788, i. 185-92; 1791, i. 250-2.
Columbia River, the Oregon, entrance Strait of Anian, i. 3 ; Indian ex plores, 1745-50, i. 26; Heceta sights, 1775, i. 163; Gray enters and names, i. 260, 684, ii. 318, 323; Broughton enters, 1792, i. 281; settlement on, 1810-11, i. 325-6; Black surveys, 1813, i. 331; Lewis and C. exped. down, ii. 30-50; navigation of, ii. 41; Thompson descends, ii. 124, 329. Winship, settlement on, 1809, ii. 130- 5, 328 ; Astor's fur party reaches, ii. 148; explored, ii. 152; Astoria founded, ii. 329; occupied, ii. 417; McLoughliii surveys, ii. 437; map of lower, ii. 439; cattle introduced, ii. 443; first fruit trees planted, ii. 441; trade on, 1835, ii. 443-4; wrecks at mouth, ii. 532-3; dangers of mouth, ii. 533; Kellett explores, 1839, ii. 611; bar, ii. 673; Wilkes surveys, ii. 681; ships on, 1829-42, ii. 686-7; salmon fishing, ii. 686.
Columbia River Fishing and Trading Co., organized, ii. 577; failure, ii. 596-8.
Columbia River Pass, location, i. 645- 6.
'Columbia,' schooner, onN. W. coast,
1815, i. 333; see 'Dolly.' 'Columbia,' ship, on Cal. coast, 1840,
ii. 539.
Columbus, significance of early dis coveries, i. 2; theory of route to
India, i. 5-6; three voyages, i. 10;
theory of America, i. 35. Colville, A.r Lon. Gov. H. B. Co., ii.
515; director Puget Sound A. Co.,
ii. 616. Colville, Fort, post II. B. Co., i. 448;
built, ii. 469; agriculture at, ii. 472. Colvocoresis, surveys Gray Harbor,
ii. 679. Comanches, attack Williams' exped.,
ii. 128. Comcomly, Chinook chief, ii. 53, 175,
207, 231; saves traders' lives, ii.
152-3; daughter marries McDou-
gall, ii. 218-19; a turncoat, ii.
231-2. Comekcla, native chief Nootka, 1788,
i. 195.
Commencement Bay, named, ii. 680. Como, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. Compagnie de la Nouvelle France,
chartered, i. 389-90, 439; dissolved,
i. 391. Company cf Adventurers of England,
trading in Hudson Bay, see H. Bay
Co. Company Bay, see Barclay Sound, i.
199; Gray explores, 1789, i. 205. Company of Canada, formed, i. 395,
441. Company of the Indies, succeeds West
India Co., i. 398. Company London, licensed by East
India Co., i. 210. Compostela, Fontc's story, i. 116. 'Concepcion,' on N. W. coast, 1790, i.
239-40; 1701, i. 283, 244. Concepcion Point, Cabrillo reaches,
1543, i. 14. Conibas Lake, in Wytfliet-Ptolemy
map, 1597, i. 84; in Low's map,
1598, i. 85; Onate's exped. to, i.
106. Conibas Regie cum Vicinio Gentibus,
see Wytfliet-Ptolemy map, 1597, i.
84.
Conibiasset, Fonte's story, i. 116. Conjectures, Geographical, i. 34. Connecticut River, Block discovers, i.
500. Connolly, with fur brigade, ii. 471; at
Fort St James, ii. 474; at Okana-
gan, ii. 498; punishes Clatsops, ii.
499.
724
INDEX.
Connolly, Jas., chief factor, ii. 470, 496.
Connolly, TV., wife of , i. 543; in New Caledonia, ii. 470, 516.
Connolly, Fort, built, ii. 470.
Connolly Paver, J. Douglas explores, ii. 4SS.
Conolly Lake, post Hudson Bay Co., i. 448.
Conosset, Fonte's story, i. 116.
Consag, Father, declares Cal. a pen- insuki, i. 125.
' Constantino, ' brig, in 8. F. Bay, ii. 659.
Continent, Northern, apex of, i. 404.
Contra Costa de Florida, Cardona names, i. 102.
'Convoy, 'on X. W. coast, 1824, 1829- 30, i. 34 1; ii. 442-3; 1836, i. 342.
Cook, explores Yellowstone, ii. 31.
Cook, on question X. W. coast, ii. 353.
Cook, Capt. Jas., surveys Alaskan Peninsula, 1778, i. ',11 ; a voyage, etc., i. 166; on X. Vv . coast, 1778, i. 107-72; ii. 318-10, 336, 357; map, 1778, i. 109; opens I'm- trade, i. 347-8, 370; Mackenzie's exped., i. 6(,M>; route of, i. 659; description of sea-otter, i. 343-4; fate, i. 358; Indians attack, i. 364; fur-trading, i. 307.
Cook Inlet, surveyed, i. 296-7.
Cook Paver, Portlock and Dixon reach, 1786, i. 178.
Coolidge, Ii. D., on X. W. coast, 1788, i. 189, 217, 225; 1792, i. 265.
Copalla Lake, see Ibarra's explora tions, i. 52-3; see Onate, explora tions, i. 90; route to, i. 105.
Coppermine Paver, Ilearne descends, 1770, i. 28; discovered, i. 612; ii. 2; see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 66.
Cordillera, dclined, i. 618; passes through, i. 617-65.
C6rdoba, voyage, 1517-18, i. 11; Elisa anchors at, 1791, i. 246.
Cornelius, Indian chief, ii. 679.
Cornoyer, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
Coronado, Francisco Vasquez do, visits Zuiii Pueblo Towns, 1540, i. 16, ex plorations, 1540-3, i. 16-17,44; expe dition to Quivira, i. 45-6.
Corrigal, trader, attacked, i. 570.
Cortereal, Anus, i. 55.
Cortereal, in' Minister's map, 1545, i. 48.
Cortereals, near Greenland, i. 11, 36, 55-6.
Cortes, H., ambition, i. 3; expedi tions, 1519, i. 11; western coast of
Mexico, i. 13; on Xiza's reports, i.
43; conquers Mexico, i. 379; method
of converting, i. 550. Corte"s, F., in Colima, 1524, i. 13, 39. Cortin, with fur-brigade, ii. 471. Cosa, voyage in 1504-5, i. 10. Cossacks, traverse Siberia, 1600-50,
i. 21).
Cotting, voyage, 1828-30, i. 341. Cotton, see Cotting, i. 341. Couch, Capt., on Columbia, 1S40, i.
342, ii. 686-7.
Coulter, in Mex. and Cal., ii. 407. Council Bluii's, named, ii. 12. Coureur des bois, see vovageur, i. 414,
423; method of trade,' i. 552. Courtois, F., Mackenzie's exped., i.
673. Couthony, J. P., on exploring exped.,
ii. 669'. Cowles, T., on north-west passage,
1573, i. 61. Cowlitz, 011 Cal. coast, 1841, ii. 658-
60, 688; cm X'. W. coast, ii. 661. Cowlitz Pass, location, i. 645. Co\\ litz, poot, Hudson Bay Co., i. 448;
attacked, ii. 277-8. Cow litz Prairie, farming begun, ii.
612-14, Gl'J; Work surveys, ii. 613. Cowl it/ liiver, see Lewis andC. exped.,
ii. 49, 60. Co wlitz Valley, farming, 1837, ii. 612-
13; 1845-51, ii. 613; Jesuits in, ii.
613. Cox, clerk P. Fur Co., ii. 203-5, 238-
9; with North-west Fur Co., ii. 259,
264; leaves Fort George, ii. 270. Cox Cape, Strange names, 1786, i. 178;
see Dixon'.s map, 1787, i. ISO. Cox Channel, Capt. Chanal surveys,
i. 255. Cox Port, see Clayquot Sound, 1788,
i. 197; mutiny at, 1788, i. 200. Coxe, his tmtruthfulness, i. 123. Coxc, Daniel, geography of 1722, i.
122-3.
Coxton, Captain, geography of, i. 122. Coyote, habitat, i. 412. Craven, T. T., on exploring exped.,
ii. 669.
Creor, T., trader, attacked, i. 570. Crespi, on Perez exped. 1773, i. 151;
diary Perez voyage, i. 152-3. Criminals, at Fort George, ii. 267. Crittenden, on Or. question, ii. 394,
406. Crocker, voyage 1799, i. 308; 1802, i.
311.
INDEX.
725
Crockett, at Puget Sound, 1844, ii. 701. Cromwell, seizes Port Royal, i. 391. Crooks, Pi., joins P. Fur Co., 179; on
exped., 186-9, 195; leaves Astoria,
198. Cross, The, veneration of voyageurs
for, i. 563.
Cross, voyage, 1823-5, i. 341. Crowell, Capt., meets Gray, 1791, i.
251; 1792, i. 265; 1793, i. 294. Crow Indians, Williams' expedition
among, ii. 127. Crown, receives Port Royal, 1654, i.
391. Crown Point, English take, 1759, i.
401.
Crows, opinion of liquor, i. 547. Crozat, A., governor of Louisiana;
monopolies of, i. 397, 591-2. Cruzatte, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 17,
75.
Cruzatte River, named, ii. 46. Cuadra and Vancouver Island, named
1792, by Cuadra and Vancouver, i.
279. Cuadra, JuanF. , Heceta's exped., 1775,
i. 158-66, ii. 318; Arteaga's exped.,
1779, i. 173; buys the 'Adventure,'
i. 264; Nootka controversy, i. 285-7;
commissioner, death, i. 295. Cuba, in map of Apianus, 1575, i. 56. Cubirago, in Wytlliet-Ptolemy map,
1597, i. 84.
Culaworths, see Gale's journal, ii. 133. Culhuas, Espejo's travels, i. G3. Culiacan. Guzman fortifies, 1531, i. 16;
leaves, 1533, i. 42; Niza leaves, 1536,
i. 43.
Curry, Thos. , fur-trader, i. 554. dishing, Or. missionary, ii. 537. Gushing, C., on Or. Question, ii. 391,
558, 599. Cushooks, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 62.
:•
Dacotahs, stories of the west, i. 607- 10.
* Daedalus,' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 279, 281, 287.
Dairy, Wapato Island, i. 489.
Dalles, The, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 43-4, 63-4 ; name, ii. 44; hos tility of Indians at, ii. 210; trading post established, ii. 276; Methodist mission at, ii. 677.
Dalrymple, Cape, named, i. 179.
Dampier, privateer, in Pacific, i. 25; on Cal. geography, 1686, i. 112.
Dana, J. D., on exploring exped., ii.
669, 681-2. Daniel, Capt., on Cal. coast, 1816, i.
334.
Darby, voyage, 1836, i. 341. Darby, Boston merchant, i. 358. Dashkof, Russian consul-gen., ii. 140. Dauphin, Fort, built, i. 595. Davenport, F. L., on exploring exped.,
ii. 669.
Davidson, trader, ii. 55. Davidson, Capt., .on N. "W. coast,
1800, i. 308; ii. 55. Davila, Gil Gonzalez, in Nicaragua, i.
13.
Davis, Capt., at Sitka, 1810, ii. 140. Davis, H. , record of Japanese vessels,
etc. , ii. 532. Davis, John, voyages, 1585-7, i. 18;
on N. \V. passage, i. 65; on Drake's
voyage, i. 140. Davis, W. H., 011 N. W. coast, 1810-
11, i. 325; merchant, ii. 130. D'Avity, Pierre, map of 1637, i. 107. D'Avougour, Gov., seizes Rupert Land,
i. 440. Day, J., Avith P. Fur Co. exped., ii.
179, 184, 188-9, 195; leaves Astoria,
ii. 198; dies insane, ii. 199. Deans, on Columbia, ii. 471. Dearborn River, named, ii. 20; Lewis
and C. exped., ii. 72. Dease, J. W., death, ii. 516. Dease, P. W., at McLeod Lake, ii.
463; at Okanagan, ii. 498; in New
Caledonia, ii. 516. Deception Bay, Meares names, 1788,
i. 198. Decoigne, at Rocky Mt. House, ii.
249-50. Deed poll, H. Bay Co., 1834, i. 452;
ii. 304, 3C7-15/ Deer, habitat, i. 412. Deer Is. . see Lewis and C. exped. , ii. 49. Deer Lodge Pass, location, i. 628. De Gourgues, massacres Spaniards,
1568, i. 19. 'Dehrin^.' ship, destroyed, 1697, i.
442.
Delano, at Sandwich Is., 1801, i. 297. Delgrado, M., voyage, 1601, i. 105. De TIslc, on Cal., 1715. i. 119; map
of 1752, i. 127-8.
De Laet, on Drake's voyage, i. 141. Delouisa, B., mate, 1803, i. 312;
death, i. 315. Demcrs, Jesuit missionary, ii. 536-8,
613. De Monts, Sieur, see Pierre du Guat,
i. 385-7.
726
INDEX.
Denys, explores St Lawrence, i. 11. Depot, P., Or. settler, ii. 500-1. Derby, on X. W. coast, 1801, i. 310;
1802, i. 312; 1807, i. 324. Des Chutes Elver, Lewis andC. exped.,
ii. 41-2, 04, C6. ' Descubierta, ' corvette, on N. W.
coast, 1791, i. 249-50. ' Desdemona,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533. Deshon, Capt., N. W. fur-trade, i.
350.
Deslard, Or. settler, ii. 529. De Smet, P. J., Jesuit missionary, ii.
538, 702. Destruction Isl., Heccta sights, i. 100;
locates, 1775, i. 103; Meares sights,
17SS, i. 197.
Destruction Paver, see Barclay's voy age, 1787, i. 182.
Detort'le, at Xootka, 1788, i. 197. Detroit, Fort, description, i. 480. De Troves, attacks English, i. 441. Devil's Scuttle-hole, named, ii. 180. De Wolf, Capt., on X. W. coast,
KS05, i. 3-0. 'Diana,' on Columbia, 1837, i. 342;
ii. 087. DTberviile, L., colonizes Louisiana, i.
303; attacks English, i. 441-2. Dickerson, on title N. W. coast, ii.
360-2; on Or. question, ii. 4:25. Dickson, trader, ii. 75. Disappointment, Cape, llcccta sights,
i. 103; Mcare.s names, i. 198; II. Lay
Co. post at, i. -148; see Lewis and C.
expcd., ii. 52-3, 58. 'Disroverv,' cruise on N. W. coast,
1778, i." 1(57-72; 1792, i. 274,281;
1793, i. 291: 1794, i. 290, 299; 1790,
i. 304; in Hudson Strait, 1010. i.
438. 'Discovery,' sloop, in Hudson Lay,
1719, ii.' 305.
Diseases among Indians, ii. 502-4, 002. 'Dispatch,' on X. W. coast, 1790, i.
30-5-0; 1799, i. 308; 1801, i. 310. Dixon, on X. W. coast, 1785-7, i.
178-81; 1780, i. 354-5. Dixon, vice-admiral, in Pacific, ii.
290.
Dixon Bay, Dixon visits, 1787, i. 179. Dixon's Entrance, Perez approaches,
i. 154; La Pe" rouse visits, i. 175. Dixon Straits, Dixon names, 1787, i.
180. Doane, G. C., explores Yellowstone,
i. 31. Dobbs, A., map, 1774, i. 123; views
on X. W. passage, 1744, i. 124:
opposes H. Bay Co., i. -440.
Dobson, J. , Fremont's servant, ii. 694. Dodd, voyage, 1800, i. 308; mate
'Beaver,' 1836, ii. 642; at Fort
Stikeen, ii. 653, 662. Dodge, Asa, voyage, 1798, i. 306. Dogs, Lewis and C. exped. eat, ii. 39-
40, 45; Hunt's party eat, ii. 187-8. Dog's sled, description, i. 430. 'Dolly,' schooner, launched, i. 328;
11. 170; on X. W. coast, i. 334. Dolores, see Destruction Island. Dominguez, reaches Utah Lake. i. 28,
012, 039.
Dominis, Capt., onX. W. coast, 1829- 30, i. 341; ii. 442-3, 503, 500, 687; on Alaskan coast, 1839, i. 342; on Cal. coast, 1834, ii. 63G-7.
Donner Pass, i. 651.
Dorion, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 10, 13.
Dorion, P., with P. Fur Co. exped., ii. 179, 1S4, 1*7, 218, 246-7.
Dorion's. Madame, ad venture, ii. 246-8.
Dorr, voyage, 1796, i. 305; 1801, i. .'ilO; in fur trade, i. 359.
Douglas. «>n Oregon question, ii. 402.
Douglas. David, in the north-west, 1824-34, ii. 507-11; appearance, ii. 508: death, ii. 509; quarrel with Black, ii. 510.
Douglas, .las., saves McLeod's life, ii. 409; builds Fort Connolly, ii. 470; with fur-brigade, ii. 471; ad venture with Indians, ii. 473-5; at Fort St James, ii. 473-5, 495;' explores Connolly Paver, ii. 488; re ceives Simpson, ii. 495, 056; move ments, 1834, ii. 530-1; trip to Cal., 1840-1, ii. 539-41; at Fort Van couver, 1837, ii. 003; JS39, ii. 620; surveys Cowlitz prairie, ii. 613; manager Puget Sound A. Co., ii. 017; resigns H. Bay and Puget Sound A. Co., ii. 618; establishes Fort Stikeen, ii. 044, 646; Fort Tako, ii. 647-8; becomes McLough- lin's coadjutor, ii. 70S.
Douglas, John, introduces Fuca to Lok, 1596, i. 70.
Douglas, Capt. W., on X. W. coast, 1788, i. 191-2, 194-5,200; 1789-90, i. 205, 209-10, 213-16; journal, i. 200; 1791, i. 255; 1792, i. 265; ves sel seized by Spaniards, i. 213-16.
Douglas Entrance, see Dixon Entrance, 1788, i. 200.
Douglas, Fort, captured by X. W. Co., i. 578-9.
'Dove,' cruise in north-west, 1800, i. 308.
INDEX.
727
Downie, Dr., suicide of, ii. 266. Diaz, voyage in 1506, i. 10. Diaz, Melchor, explores Sonora, Colo rado, and Gila, 1540, i. 16. Drage, T. S., on north-west passage,
i. 13-2. 'Dragon,' cruise in north-west, 1798,
i. 306; 1799, i. 307. Drake, Sir F., on Cal. coast, 1579, i.
20, 26-7, 61, 66, 137, 139, 145, ii.
317; World Encompassed, i. 141;
question of the latitude he reached,
i. 145, 147. Dray ton, Jos., on exploring exped., ii.
669, 673, 077, at Fort Vancouver,
ii. 677. Dress, voyagcurs, i. 431; trapper, i.
432.
Drewyer River, named, ii. 39. Dripps, fur-trader, i. 515; trapping
tour, 1832, ii. 570-1. Drummond, in the north- west, ii. 407. 'Dryad,' cruise in northwest, 1831-2,
i. 341; 1835; i. 341; at Milbank
Sound, 1833, ii. 553; on Columbia,
1835, ii. 553. 'Dryad,' bark, fort exped., 1834, ii.
629-30, 633-5. 'Dryad,' brig, on Columbia, 1834, ii.
642.
Dubois, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. Dubreuil, with P. Fur Co. exped., ii.
189. Ducette, C., Mackenzie's exped., i.
673.
Duckworth, in Cal., 1841, ii. 541. Duelo, fur-traders, i. 570-2; ii. 259,
510. Duffin, explores Fuca Strait, i. 198-
200; journal, i. 199; letters, i. 218-
19; voyage, 1792, i. 266. Dunbar, explores Washita River, i.
614.
Duncan, voyage, 1837, 1839, i. 342. Duncan, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1787,
i. 181, 183, ii. 320; 1788, i. 195, 200;
Capt. of 4 Vancouver, 'ii. 500,609; on
N. \V. coast, 1834, ii. 632, 635. Dunn, J., interpreter, ii. 625; on
Columbia, 1834, ii. 642. Dunvegan, Fort, location, ii. 278; re established, ii. 462. Dupacy, voyages, 1792, i. 267- Du Quesne, colonizes Alleghany val ley, i. 400. Du Quesne, Fort, burned, 1758, i.
400. Durango, Spaniards reach, i. 16, 19;
Ibarra visits, 1563, i. 52. Durham Fort, see Fort Tako, ii. 648.
Dutch, reach Kara Sea, i. 29; fur- traders, i. 500-2.
Dutch, map, 1624, i. 104.
Dyes, J. W., on exploring exped., ii. 669.
E
'Eagle,' brig, cruise in north- west,
1819-20, i. 340; wrecked, ii. 533. Eales, voyage, 1835, i. 341. East India Co., licenses fur-traders, i.
178; licenses London Co., i. 210;
monopoly, i. 324, ii. 141, 269; N.
W. fur-trade, i. 359. Ebberts, G. W., trapper, character,
ii. 453, 458; stories of the smiths,
ii. 453-4; life, ii. 458; joins H. Bay
Co., ii. 458; works, ii. 458. Ebbetts, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1802,
i. 311; 1803, i. 318; 1805, i. 320;
1809, i. 325, ii. 140. ' EchelootSj Lewis and C. exped., ii.
44. 'Eclipse,' ship, on Cal. coast, 1803, i.
525. Edgccombe, Mount, Cuadra sights, i.
165.
Edmonton, Fort, description, i. 487. Edwards, P. L., trip to Or., ii. 578. Eels, Or. missionary, ii. 537. Effingham, Port, see Barclay Sound,
i. 198. Ehnainger G., clerk P. Fur Co.. ii.
197.
Eld, surveys Gray Harbor, ii. 679. ' Eleonora, ' cruise in the north-west,
1789, i. 212.
' Elisa,' cruise in the north-west, 1798,
i. 306; 1709, i. 307. Elisa, Lieut. F., on N. W. coast,
1790, i. 2:59; 1791, i. 244, 246, 248; 1792, i. 283; ii. 322; map, 1791, i. 245; map, Nootka coast, 1791, i. 247.
Elk, habitat, i. 412.
Elk Creek, named, ii. 79.
Elk llapids, named, ii. 16.
Ellicc, Ed., member Northwest Co.,
ii. 304. Ellis, Henry, on Northwest Passage,
i. 126.
El Paso, Vaca passes, 1535, i. 15. Emigrant Pass, description, i. 632. Emigrant road to Cal., 1843-9, i. 634, Emmons, Lieut., overland exped.,
Or. to Cal., ii. 681-3; at Fort Ump-
qua, ii. 682; at Sutter Fort, ii. 682. Enchiniko, Lake, Mackenzie's voyage,
i. 693.
728
INDEX.
England, receives Spanish possessions east of Miss., 1703, i. 401; obtains Canada, 17GO> i. 379; claim to N. W., 389-416; claims discovery of Nootka Sound, i. 172; Nootka con troversy, i. 227-38; title to N. W. coast, ii. 355-88.
English, early explorations, i. 3; 1550- 1750, i. 27; seek Straits of Anian, i. 9; settle North Carolina, 1584-7, i. 19; reach Kara Sea, i. 29; gov't offers reward for discovery N. W. passage, 1774, i. 109; engage N. W. fur-trade, i. 34G-9, 354; drive French from Acadia, i. 400; discov ery iu N. America, i. 437-8; claim to N. W. coast, ii. 317-54.
English Chief, Mackenzie's tour, i. 008.
Ensenada de Caamauo, Quimper names, i. 242.
'Enterprise,' on N. W. coast, 1801, i. 311; 180'J, i. 325; ii. J39.
Entrada de I'erez, Caamauo names; see Dixon Strait, i. 207.
Epidemics at Fort Vancouver, ii. 503-4.
Erie, Lake, French reach, 1000-50, i. oo
Ermantingcr, at Fort Kamloops, ii.
490-7; atOkanagan, ii. 498; Black's
death, ii. 512; death, ii. 519; in
Cal., 1841, ii. 000, 092. Ermine, habitat, i. 412. Escalante, reaches Utah Lake, 1770,
i. 28, 012, 039. Escola Creek, named, ii. 58. Eskimos, Mackenzie among, i. 009. Espejo, explores New Mexico, 1582-3.
i. 20, 03. Espinosa, Gaspar de, explores Gulf of
Nicoya, 1517, i. 13. Espiritu Santo Bay, see travels of de
Vaca, 1535, i. 15. 'Essex,' frigate, captured, 1813, i.
330; in Pacific, 1812, ii. 225-0. Essington, Port, built, ii. 035. Estrada, J. A., at San Jose, ii.
082.
Estrccho de Bacalaos, see Rio Colo rado, i. 03. Etches, partnership with Meares, i.
210. Etholin, Russian dep. gov., ii. 033,
059.
Etten, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. 'Europa,' cruise in north-west, 1834,
1830, i. 341.
Everett, on Or. settlement, ii. 388. Ewen, his voyages, 1792, i. 265.
Exploration, summary, 1550-1800, i. 1-31; state, 1550, i. 10, 15-17; 1650- 1700, i. 23-5; 1700-60, i. 25-6; 1750-1800, i. 27; in New World, 1492-1550, i. 10-18.
Explorer, the, last of N. W. coast, 1801-18, i. 310-40; qualities neces sary for, i. 593.
Express, early Overland, character, route, i. 403.
Factory, Fort, see Fort Bourbon, i. 591.
Faincnut, Cowlitz farmer, ii. 013.
'Fair American, 'on N.W. coast, 1789, i. 212.
Falcon. Cape, Heceta names, i. 104.
False Nitinat, see Hostilit}^ Bay, i, 199.
False Tillamook, see Cape Falcon, i. 104.
Faiuty Is., Lewis and C. ex., ii. 60.
Farallones, Perez sights, 1773, i. 156; seal-hunting on, 1810, i. 325.
Faran, on Or. question, ii. 408.
Farcier, at Rocky Mt. House, ii. 92-3.
Faries, II., goes cast, ii. i'80.
Farnham, R., clerk, P. Fur Co., ii. in, 194, 203, 205, 235.
Farnham, T. J., works, ii. GOS-9: Or. cxpetl., ii. 008-9.
Farnham and Fry, merchants, N. Y. , ii. 039.
Faron, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
' Favorita,' on N. W. coast, 1779, i. 172-3.
'Fawn,' brig, wrecked, ii. 533.
Fawnie, Indian chief, i. 093.
Fear Point, Barclay names, 1 787, i. 183.
'Felice,' at Nootka, 1788, i. 191-5, 200, 202; on N. W. coast, 1789-90, i. 209-10.
' Felice Adventurero,' cruise in north west, 1792, i. 200.
Felipe III., finds account of north west passage, 1598, i. 87-100.
Fenix, cruise in north-west, 1792, i. 200.
Ferdinand of Spain, i. 437.
Ferrelo, B., succeeds Cabrillo on N. W. coast, 1544-5, i. 17, 137-9, i;. 317.
Fever, intermittent, at Fort Vancou ver, ii. 525-0.
Fever and ague, among Columbia Riv. Indians, ii. 503.
Fidalgo, Lieut. S., on N. W. coast, 1790, i. 240-1, ii. 322; 1792, i. 283, 286, 289; 1793, i. 291, 293, 296; 1790, ii. 322.
INDEX.
729
Fidler, P., trader, i. 570; Missouri ex plorations, i. 612.
Fields Creek, named, 1805; see foot note, ii. 23.
Figueroa, Garcia de, hears Maldona- do's story, i. 92.
Figueroa, Gov., receives Kelley, ii. 548.
'Filipino,' on N. W. coast, 1790, i. 240-1.
Filipinos, Rio de, Salvador's report on, 1751, i. 127.
'Filipino, 'snow, 011 N. W. coast, i. 239.
Finch, E. L., settler, Cowlitz Valley, ii. 014.
Fine, Oroiitius, map, 1531, i. 41.
Finlay, Jas., fur-trader, i. 554; at New Establishment, i. G70; explores Fin is y River, i. C74; explores Peace and Parsnip rivers, ii. 87; death, ii. 87; exploring exped., ii. 326.
Finlay River, named, i. 674; Indians, account of, ii. 95-6.
Finlayson, D., on Columbia, 1834, ii. 531; at Fort Vancouver, 1837, ii. 602-3; builds Fort McLoughlin, ii. 625; on Beaver, 1830, ii. 642.
Finlayson, R,, at Fort Vancouver,
1839, ii. 619-21; at Fort Stikccn,
1840, ii. 644-6; at Fort Tako, 1840, ii. 647-8; 1841, ii. 649; on the Bea ver, ii. 650.
Fire-arms, among Fraser River Indi ans, ii. 114.
'Fire-Fly,' steam-tug, wrecked, ii. 533. Fish, as Indian food, i. 695, ii. 41, 44,
63, 109, 286. Fish Creek, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
33-4. Fitzlierbert, A., Nootka controversy,
i. 230-4. Fitzhugh Sound, Hanna names, 1786,
i. 174. Fitxpatrick, with Rocky 'Sit. Co., i.
514, ii. 453, 455; trapping exped.,
1834, ii. 570-1; 1834, ii. 583; 1830,
ii. 610; killed, ii. 571; guides Fre"-
mont, ii. 694. Flatheads, La France story, i. 592;
Jesuits among, ii. 537, 702. Flathead House, post II. Bay Co., i.
448; location, ii. 121. Flathead Pass, description, i. 628. Flattery, Cape, Barclay reaches. 1787,
i. 182; Cook names, 1778, i. 190;
Meares sights, 1788, i. 197. 'Flavia,' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 266;
1793, i. 294.
Fleas, on Columbia River, ii. 42. Fleet, H., trades along the Potomac,
1634, i. 502.
Fleurieu, C. P., on Anian Strait, i. 36; summary N. W. exploration, 1800, i. 136; as editor Marchand's voy age, i. 257; on N. W. fur-trade, i. 357.
Flores, A., Vizcaino's exped., 1603, i. 146-7.
Flores, Viceroy, orders Nootka occu pied, i. 213, 239; superseded, i. 239.
Florida, Soto explores, 1539, i. 15; Portuguese map, 1536, i. 43; Rus- celli's map, 1544, i. 47; Minister's map, 1545, i. 48; Strait of, 1590, i. 68; ceded to Spain, 1783, i. 401; ceded to U. S., 1819, i. 403.
' Florinda, ' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 266.
Floyd, on question N. W. coast, ii. 343-4, 352, 334-5; on Or. question, ii. 419, 426, 555.
Floyd, Sergeant, death, ii. 82.
Flying Fish, on Columbia, ii. 680.
'Fly Fish,' explores Pacific, ii. 669, 679; sold, ii. 684.
Folsome, explores Yellowstone, ii. 31.
Fonte, B. de, voyage, 1640, i. 115-18.
Fontenelle, fur-trader, i. 515; with Missouri Co., i. 014; trapping tour, 1832, ii. 570.
Foiite Strait, Jefferys' map, i. 132; located, i. 268.
Food, fur-hunters, i. 432-3.
'Forager,' cruise in north-west, 1840, i. 342.
Forbes, in S. F. Bay, 1841, ii. 659.
Forest life, i. 404-36.
'Forester,' at Sitka, 1813, ii. 235.
Fork Fort, built, 1792, i. 671-2.
Forrest, C., at Cowlitz farm, 1845, ii. 613, 674.
Forrester Island, Perez sights, 1773, i. 154; named, i. 179.
Forster, on Anian Strait, i. 36; on N. W. exploration, 1800, i. 1HO.
Forsyth, in Yellowstone valley, ii. 31.
Forsyth, J. , sec'y cf state, ii. 602.
Fort, of H. Bay Co., on Pacific slope, i. 448: term defined, i. 482; selec tion of site, i. 483-4; construction, i. 484-93; rendezvous at, i. 493-4; rules, i. 495-3; life, i. 495-8; in north-west, ii. 2; journals, ii. 477-8.
Fortuna, Cape, in Herrera's map, 1601, i. 88; Hondius' map, i. 105.
Fortunas, Cape, in de Laet's map, 1633, i. 106.
Foul weather Cape, Cook names, 1778, i. 169.
Fountain of Youth, Ponce de Leon's, i. 37.
Fourniente, fort at cape, attacked, i. 390.
730
INDEX.
Fou Sang, see Jefferys' map, 1768, i. 132.
Fox, E. D., voyage of, ii. 149; death, ii. 151.
Fox River, Xicolet reaches, 1636-8, i. 22, 106.
Foxe, visits Hudson Bay, 1613-12, i. 23.
Foxes, habitat, i. 412.
France, American possessions, i. 379, 393.
France aiitarctique, see South Amer ica, i. 380.
France, La Xouvelle, founded, i. 380.
Franchere, G., on Canoe Elver, ii. 123; clerk, P. Fur Co., ii. 143, 177; voy age to Astoria, ii. 145-52; explores Columbia, ii. 109-70; trading voy age, ii. 207; trades on Columbia, ii. 207 ; on Fort Astoria transfer, ii. 223-4; at Fort George, 1813, ii. 241-2, 244-5.
Francis I., i. 379
Franciscans, in Xueva Vizcaya, i. 19; in New France, i. 388-9.
Francisco, in Ministers map, 1545, i. 48.
'Francisco,' wrecked, ii. 533.
Franklin, Fort, description, i. 487.
Frapp, trapping tour, 1830, ii. CIO.
Frase, Paul, at Fort Vermillion, ii. 493-4; fort-building, ii. 094.
Fraser, A., at Fort Douglas light, i. 578-9.
Fraser, S., journal, ii. 89-90, 93-118; explorations, i. 074, 678, 682; ii. 89-118, 327-8; character, ii. 89, 100; criticisms on Mackenzie's voy age, ii. 99, 103, 107; atFortChipe- wyan, ii. 278; at Fort Dunvegan, ii. 279.
Fraser, Fort, built, ii. 111.
Fraser Lake, post, Hudson's Bay Co., i. 448.
Fraser River, Galiano sees, 1792, i. 273; described by Indians, i. 077; discovered by Spaniards, i. 684; Mackenzie on, i. 684-5; map of, ii. 113; Fraser explores, ii. 113-19; scenery, ii. 117-19; Mackenzie ex plores, J793, i. 28; ii. 359; McMil lan explores, ii. 467-8; Simpson survejTs, ii. 479; map of lower, ii. 480; salmon trade, 1829, ii. 487.
Frazier Creek, named, 1805, see foot note, ii. 21, 23.
'Frcdic,' cruise in north- west, 1821, i. 340.
Fremont, J. C., surveys Or. road, i. 632; in Utah basin, i. 641, 656; in
the Sierras, i. 646; explores Pitt River, i. 648; in Or., 1842, ii. 694- 5; in Cal., ii. 696.
French, fort at Quebec, 1543, i. 14; massacre Spaniards, Florida, 1568, i. 19; colonize Canada, i. 22; explore and claim Miss, valley, i. 23-6; set tle Louisiana, 1699, i. 24; reach Rocky Mts. , i. 26; as explorers, 1550-1750, i. 27; explore upper Miss, 1700-50, i. 26; explore X. W. coast, 1785. i. 174-7; 1791. i. 255-7; engage in north-west fur trade, i. 355-8; ii. 3, 624; settle Miss, valley, 1699, i. 393; attack forts II. Bay Co., i. 440-2; system of Indian trade, i. 552-3; driven from Acadia, i. 400; seize Rupert Land, i. 440-1; on N. W. coast, ii. 662-3.
French Canadians, as boatmen, i. 424.
French Huguenots, colonize Florida, 1502-5; destroyed, i. 19.
French Prairie, first settler on, ii. 500.
French and Indian War, cause, events of, ends Treaty of Paris, Feb. 10, 1703, i. 400-1.
Frctum Trium Fratrum, tradition of, i. 55.
Freytas, Padre, diary of, i. 109.
Friendly Cove, Cook names, 1778, i. 170.
Friendly Village, Mackenzie's voyage, i. 094, 702.
Frisius Gemma, amends map of Apia- nus, 1575, i. 56.
Frobiahcr, B., fur-trading exped., 1770, i. 554; partner N. W. Co., i. 555-0.
Frobishcr, Jos., fur-trading exped., 1775, i. 554; partner X. W. Co., i. 555-0.
Frobisher, M., explorations, 1576-8, i. 18; reports a X. W. passage, i. GO.
Frondoso, Cabo, see Point Adams, ii. 57.
Froiitenac, Count de, is superseded in Canada, i. 394.
Frost, Or. missionary, ii. 674.
Fruit trees, first on Columbia, ii. 441.
Fuca, Juan de, story of X. ^V. pas sage, i. 70-2; voyage discussed, i. 73-81.
Fuca, pillar of, i. 79-80.
Fuca, Straits of, common meeting- point of various explorations, i. 4; alleged discovery by Fuca, i. 70-81; map of, i. 78; Jefferys' map, 1768, i. 132; CorteV observations on,
INDEX.
731
1778, i. 170; Has well writes on, 1788, i. 190; Meares rediscovers, 1788, i. 197; Duffin explores, 1788, i. 198- 200, 241 ; Gray and Kendrick enter, 1789, i. 20o; Elisa explores, i. 240; Barclay discovers, ii. 320; named, ii. 321; explored, ii. 322.
Funter, Capt. Robt. , on N. W. coast, 17S9, i. 209-10, 216.
Fur, term, i. 457; remarks on, i. 458; prices, i. 458-9; 1740, i. 465; 1839- 46, i. 408; sold by the candle, i. 465; yield, B. A., 1835, i. 503-4,
Fur-brigade, description, i. 427-31.
Fur Co., miscellaneous trading, i. 4G6.
Fur-districts, Pacific States, i. 414.
Fur-hunters, life, i. 414-3G; hospital ity, i. 421; compared to miners, i. 421; dress, i. 431; food, i. 432-3; mortality among, i. 518; recrea tions, i. 519: in north-west, ii. 340.
Fur-hunting, i. 414-36; dangers of, ii. 444-5.
Fur monopolies, New France, i. 383- 91, 394-9.
Fur-posts, Pacific, description, i. 485- 93.
Fur-trade, on X. W. coast, 1739, i. 206-7, 243, 255, 261; on Cal. coast (1814), i. 334, 374, 525-8; with China, i. 345-8, 521-4; American system, i. 362-3; condition, 1846, i. 375-6; beginning of American, i. 381-90; history, i. 394-9; in Ne\v Francc, i. 398; under British auspices, 1607-1843, i. 436-81; profits, i. 406-8, ii. 174, 220; on Atlantic slope, i. 499-504; history, U. 8., i. 499-528; comparison be tween that of Canada and U. S., i. 502-5.
Fur-trade in Miss. Valley, 1721-1826, i. 504-14; west of Rockies, U. S., i. 514-27; rivalry of nations in, i. 505-6; on N. W. coast, i. 521-8; outfit, i. 521 ; in Central Canada, i. 553-84; English N. W. coast, ii. 320; American N. W. coast, ii. 321; N. W. coast, 1800, ii. 326; dangers of, ii. 459.
Fur-trade, N. W. maritime, i. 343- 77;' Russians engage, i. 345-6, 359, 373-6; English, i. 346-9, 354, 375- 6; French, i. 355-8; Americans, i. 349-53, 358-65, 375; Spaniards, i. 361, 375; dangers of, i. 364-8; mode of barter, i. 368-72; statistics, i. 372-3; decline, i. 375-7.
Fur- traders, life, i. 428; camp, i. 430- 1; rendezvous, i. 493-4, 517; on the
Hudson, i. 500; Dutch companies, i. 500-2; life, i. 517-24; enter Cal., 1825; Arizona, Sonora, 1826; New Mex., 1824; Arizona, Cal., 1829, i. 527-8; attitude to Indians, i. 529- 50; Indian wives of, i. 542-5, ii. 650-1; missionaries among, i. 552- 3; method of justice, ii. 253-4; ex ploration of American, ii. 555.
Gagarin, Princess at Fort Ross, ii.
064. Gagnier, J. B., at Umpqua, 1851, ii.
708.
Gagnon, at Rocky Mt. House, ii. 92. Gairdner, arrives Fort Vancouver, ii.
525. Gale, W. A., on N. W. coast, 1809,
ii. 131-4; journal, ii. 133-4. Gali, F. de, exploration N. W. coast,
1584, i. 20, 26-7, 137, 145-6. Galiano, D., on N. W. coast, 1792, i.
270, 279, ii. 322; map, 1792, i. 272. Galiano Island, supposed site of Fuca's
Pillar, i. 79. Galissoniere, supports Verendrye, i.
596. Gallatin, A., commissioner, on title
N. W. coast, ii. 335-8, 367, 377-9,
380-1, 382, 383-4, 388. Gallatin River, named, ii. 22; Lewis
and C. exped., ii. 76. Galloway, Jas. , settler Cowlitz Valley,
ii. 614.
Galvcz, JostS de, urges north-west ex ploration, i. 149-50. Gambling, Fort William, i. 565-6. Gangriere at Fort Umpqua, ii. 682. 'Ganymede,' cruise in north-west,
1835, i. 341, ii. 525. Garay, his expedition in 1519, 1523,
i. 11.
Garc£s, Padre, explorations, 1776, i. 28. Garry, Fort, situation, description, i.
484, 486.
Garvy Point, named, ii. 479. Gass, P., works, ii. 8, 137; on N. W.
coast, ii. 137.
Gass Creek, named, 1805, ii. 21. Gaunt, Capt., fur-trader, i. 515. Gauntlet, the, Colter runs, ii. 82. Gaviota Pass, location, i. 655. Gay, Geo., Or. settler, ii. 677. Geodike, F., at Fort St John, ii. 279. George, Indian pilot, ii. 593-4. George, Fort, delivered to U. S., 1818,
i. 293, 329; post, H. Bay Co., i.
448; destroyed, ii. 111; named, ii.
732
INDEX.
234; built, ii. 112, 328; see Astoria,
ii. 238, 331; law at, ii. 253-4; policy
of N. W. Co., at, ii. 265-G; trade,
1819, ii. 280; destroyed, ii. 711. Georges Point, named, i. 281. Geography, mythic, of IS". W. coast,
i. 32-69; western physical, i. 617-
18. Georgia, Spaniards explore, 1540;
French explore, 15G2-5, i. 19. Geroiii, with Missouri Co., i. 014. 'Gertrudis,' on N. W. coast, 1789, i.
210. Ghent, treavy, i. 403; terms, ii. 290,
204-5. Giupam, mythical island off Cal., 1850,
i. 49.
Gibbon Elver, named, ii. 81. Gichi'z on N. W. coast, 1806, i. 322. Gila Pass, location, i. 059. Gila, llio, Diaz near, 1540, i. 1C; Kino
traverses, 1090-1700, i. 25; Anza
establishes route by, 1709, i. 28. Gilbert, Sir II., views of Strait of
Anian, i. 57-9. Gillaiii, Capt. Zachary, voyage to
Hudson Bay, 1008, i. 439. Gilroy, John, first foreign resident of
Cal., 1814, i. 333.
Gist, C., explores Ohio valley, i. 505. Glade Creek, named, ii. 30. Glanville, on N. W. coast, 1807-8, i.
324. GLiscnof, explores Yukon valley, i.
020.
Glenora, Fort, built, ii. 035. 'Globe,' cruise in north-west, 1801, i.
310.
Glottof, reaches Kadiak 1503-5, i. 30. Goddiii Creek, name, ii. 5S9. Gold, Shclvocke finds in Cal., 1721-2,
i. 21 ; Sageau's tale, i. 590; Carver's
talc, i. 610. 'Golden Hind,' cruise on Cal. coast,
1579, i. 139. Golovnin, Capt. V. M., at Sitka, 1810,
ii. 140. Gomara, falsehoods concerning Qui-
vira, i. 45. Gomez, E., explorations, 1525, i. 12,
39.
Gordon, at Puget Sound, 1844, ii. 701. Gordon, Capt., at Nootka, 1794, i.
297.
Gore, Cooke's exped., 1778, i. 167. Gore Pass, location, i. 636. Goulburn, H., commissioner on title
N. W. coast, ii. 336-8. Gourgues, D. de, massacres Spaniards,
i. 381,
Governor, H. Bay Co., i. 449-54.
Governor and Company of Adven turers of England trading into Hud son Bay, The, see H. Bay Co.
Grace, on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 255; 1792, i. 265.
Grahame, at Fort Vancouver, 1860, ii. 710.
Granata Nova, in Wytfliet-Ptolemy map, i. 82.
Gran China, Rio's location of, 1582, i. 03.
Grand Khan, realms of, supposed dis covery of, i. 3.
GranQuivira, in Velarde's Description, i. 120.
Gran Teguayo, in Velarde's Descrip tion, i. 120.
Grant, C., at Fort Doucrlas fight, i. 578-9.
Grant, Chas., commissioner, title N. W. coast, ii. 378, 380.
Grasshopper Creek, named, ii. 24.
Gravelines, see Lewis and C. exped. ii. 15.
Gray, Capt. 11,, 011 N. W. Coast, 1788, i/ ISO- 92, 202, 204, ii. 321; 17S9, i. 204-7, 213; 1791, i. 250-2; 1792, i. 258-01, 203-4, 274, 286; testimony regarding the ' Iphigenia, ' i. 215; enters Columbia Paver, i. 259-00, 684, ii. 323, 337, 356-9, 369; later biography, i. 260-1; fur-trading, i. 301.
Gray, letter, i. 286; Indians attack, i. 364.
Gray, W. II., Or. missionary, ii. 535; as an authority, ii. 530; at Waii- latpu, ii. 677.
Gray Bay, named, i. 281; Lewis and Clarke at, ii. 51.
Gray Harbor, see Bulfmch Harbor, i. 2.19; Whidbey surveys, 1792, i. 281; surveyed, ii. 079.
Great Divide, Lewis and C. exped. at, ii. 27, 30.
Great River of the West, see Colum bia, i. 610.
Great Salt Lake, foundation for myth ical lake, i. 82; Mojave Indians, nation of, i. 90; discovered, ii. 610.
Great Slave Lake, in Low's map, 1598, i. 86; discovered, i. 612.
' Great Water;' see Mississippi, i. 23.
Great Village, see Mackenzie's voy age, i. 694-6, 701.
Green, trapping journey, 1824, ii. 447.
Green Bay, Nicolet navigates, 1634-5, i. 22, 106.
Green, J., among Indians, i. 191.
INDEX.
733
Greenhow, R., on N. W. exploration,
i. 136; on Or. question, i. 143, ii. 391,
414-15; criticises Perez, i. 157; on
American fur-traders, i. 364; on
Northwest, ii. 342; on N. W. fur- trade, 1846, i. 376-7; on title N.W.
coast, ii. 381 ; his works, ii. 414-15. Green River, Hunt's exped. along, ii.
18.3; rendezvous, 1824, ii. 447, 458;
1834, ii. 583.
Green River Country, map, ii. 569. Gregory Cape, Cook names, 1778, i.
169.
Gregory, fur-trader, i. 666. Grenville, Point, Spaniards anchored
at, 1775, i. 160; Meares names,
17SS, i. 198. 'Griffon,' cruise in north-west, 1825-8,
i. 341. Grijalva, 1517-18, i. 11 ; voyage, 1533,
i. 14. Grosscliez, connection with La Nou-
velle France, i. 439-41; explorations,
i. 588.
Guadalupe Pass, location, i. 638. Guat, P. clu, fur monopoly of, i. 385. Guatazaca, fabulous old woman, i. 47. 'Guatimozin,' on N. W. coast, 1801,
i. 310; 1807-8, i. 324. Guemes, Elisa names, i. 246. Gucrcheville, protects Jesuits, i. 386. Guerra, Jose", on N. W. coast, 1791,
i. 249. Guerrero, F., at S. F. mission, 1841,
ii. 659.
Guevara, arrives at Tehuantepec, i. 13. Guise, at Nootka, 1786, i. 177. Guismanes, kingdom of, i. 91. Gulf of California, Vizcaino explores,
1597, i. 20-1.
Gulf of Georgia, Elisa explores, i. 246. Gunpowder trick, ii. 275-6, 691. Guyot, fur monopoly of, i. 395. Guyralda, A. R., on N. W. coast,
1791, i. 244. Guzman, Diego de, searches for Seven
Cities, 1533, i. 42. Guzman, N. de, conquests, 1531, i.
16, 41; licensed to explore, i. 46. Gwozdef, sights Alaska, 1730, i. 30. Gyzelaar, Capt., on Cal. coast, 1816,
i. 335; 1817-18, i. 338.
11
Hacke's Collection of Voyages, i. 115. Hakluyt, R., on Northwest Passage,
1582, i. 55, 64; letter to Sir W.
Raleigh, i. 66; on Drake's voyage,
1589, i. 140; 1600, i. 141.
'Halcyon,' brig, cruise in the north west, 1792, i. 265. Haldane, trader, attacks Corrigal, i.
570. Hale, H., on N. W. coast, 1841, ii.
658-9; in Cal., ii. 661, 688; at Fort
Vancouver, ii. 664; on exploring
exped., ii. 669; at Colville, ii. 679. Haley, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1805,
i. 320; Lewis and C. exped., ii. 49,
55.
Haley Bay, named, ii. 55. Half-breeds, character, i. 419. 'Half Moon,' yacht, cruise, 1609, i.
438, 500. Hall, Fort, post, II. Bay Co., i. 448;
Americans build, ii. 5^5-8; sold to
H. Bay Co., ii. 597-8; Americans at,
ii. 699, 700; abandoned, ii. 70S. Halsey, employ P. Fur Co., ii. 207,
234-5. Hamilton, on N. W. coast, 1806, i.
321; 1821, i. 341; 1837, i. 342. Hamilton, W., death of, ii. 127. Hamlyu, Dr., at Fort Langley, ii.
485; travels with Simpson, ii. 491,
495.
Hammatt, voyage, 1824, i. 341. 'Hampshire,' destroyed, i. 442. Hancock, trader, ii. 75. 'Hancock, 'brig, oiiN. W. coast, 1791,
i. 251; 1792, i. 265; 1793, i. 294;
1799, i. 308. Hancock Harbor, see Clayoquot, i.
190; Gray surveys, 1789, i. 204-5. Hancock River, location, i. 251. Handley, voyage, 1837, i. 342. Haney, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 14. Hanging, Indian, ii. 213. Hanna, Capt. J., on N. W. coast,
1785, i. 173-4, 364, ii. 320; 1788, i.
197; 1785, i. 353; Indians attack, i.
364; attacks Maquinna, ii. 160. Harmon, D. S., in New Caledonia, ii.
277-87.
Harmon, D. W., works, ii. 277. Harmon, G., dies, ii. 282. Harmon's map, ii. 281. Harney, Gen., at Fort Vancouver, ii.
710. Haro, G. L. de, on N. W. coast, 1788,
i. 184-5; 1789, i. 213, ii. 349. Baro, Rio de, see Fonte's story, i. 116. Earris, map of, 1705, i. 114. Barvey, Mrs, as an authority, ii.
433-5; on McLoughlin, ii. 434-9. Bastings, Cal., settler, ii. 707. Baswell, R., log of Gray's voyage, i.
186-9, 251-2; a voyage etc., ii. 187;
transferred to Columbia, i. 207; on
734
INDEX.
N. W. Coast, 1791, i. 250; 1792, i.
261-3, 267; commands the 'Adven-
venture,' i. 259, 261-4; log, 1792, i.
251, 262-3; map of Nootka, 1792, i.
262.
Hatch, Boston merchant, i. 358. Hath way, Maj., at Fort Vancouver,
1841, 'ii. 710. Hawaiian Is., IT. Bay Co. agency at,
ii. 522-3. Haydeii, F. V. , surveys Or. road, i.
632; surveys Yellowstone, ii. 31. 'Hazard,' on N. W. coast, 1797, i.
306; 1798,i.300; 1800, i. 308; 1801, i.
311; 1803, i. 317; 1804, i. 318; 1806,
i. 322. Head, Sir E., negotiates with II. Bay
Co., i. 469.
Heale, 011 N. W. coast, 1806, i. 321. Hearne, S., discovers Coppermine
River, 1770, i. 28, 446,611-12,668,
ii. 2, 305; Gov. Prince of Wales
Fort, 1775, i. 484; journal, i. 612. Heath, at Fort Nisqually, 1841, ii.
657. Heccta, B., on N. W. Coast, 1775, i.
158, 160-1, 304, ii. 318; attacked
by Indians, i. 161, 304. Heccta, Knseiiada de (mouth of Co lumbia), Heceta sights, i. 163. Hector, explores Kicking Horse 1'ass,
18f)8, i. (123. Hector Cape, see La Perouse's voyage,
178!!, i. 175. Hego, land of, see Consag's trip, 1748,
i. 126.
Hcllgate Pass, location, i. 628. Hellgato llivcr, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 71. Hempstead, T., with Missouri Fur
Co., ii. 456. Ilennepin, Nouvelle decouverte, etc.,
i. 588; explores Mis. River, i. 24,
588.
Hcimess Pass, location, i. 650. Henry, crosses Rocky Mts., 1808, i.
511; in N. W. 1809, ii. 328; fur- hunting, 1823, ii. 444; 1822, ii. 447;
at Fort St. John, ii. 462. Henry III., grants patent for exclu sive trade on St. Lawrence, 1588, i.
383.
Henry VII., i. 437. Henry VIII., i. 379. Henrj7, A., builds Fort Henry; death,
ii. 129; arrives Astoria, i. 231; in
Willamette Valley, ii. 244. Henry, Fort, built, i. 129; abandoned,
ii. 184. Henry House, location, ii. 122.
Henry, Prince of Portugal, signifi cance of explorations, i. 2.
'Herald,' cruise in north-west, 1824, i. 341.
Heras, Don Manuel de las, commis sioner Nootka controversy, i. 289.
Hergest, Richard, Lieut., sent to Nootka, killed, i. 287.
Heron, Jas., at Fort Chipewyan, ii. 493.
Heronx, U., kills McLoughlin, Jr., ii. 652.
Herrera, map of 1G01, i. 38.
'Hetty,' cruise in north-west, 1802, i. 311.
Heylyn, reproduces Harris'' map, 1701, i. 115.
Hickey, Capt. J., on Columbia, i. 339; ii. 2\/3.
Hickley, Capt. W. S.. on N. W. coast, 1837, i. 342, ii. 687; Cal. settler, ii. 687.
Higgins Creek, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 71.
Hill, Capt. S., on X. W. coast, 1796, i. 305; 1797, i. 300; 1805, i. 315, 329; 1811, i. 326; 1806, ii. 60, 162-3.
llillyer, Commodore, in Pacific, ii.
Hiiics, on II. Bay Co., i. 539; Or.
missionaries, ii. 676. Ilippals. , named, i. 179. Iloback. J., with P. Fur Co. exped.,
ii. 181, 184, 246. Iloback River, see Hunt's exped., ii.
183.
Hochelaga, report of country of, i. 42. Hog Island, Martinez fortifies, i. 216;
Fidalgo fortifies, 1793, i. 293. Holladay's stage road, i. 633. Holman, Peoria party, ii. 609-10. Holman, Jos., with Farham's exped.,
ii. 609.
Holmes, voyage, 1836, i. 342. Holmes, H. A., on geographical
knowledge, i. 615. Holsapple, G. , settler, Co wlitz Valley,
ii. 614.
Holt, killed, i. 379. Home, commands Beaver, 1836, ii. 642. Homem, map of, 1558, i. 50. Homer, B. P., merchant, ii. 130. Hoiidius, map, 1595, i. 68, 104. Honduras Pass, location, i. 662. Honolulu, H. Bay Co. agency, at, ii.
522-3.
Hontan, journey, 1688, i. 112, his ficti tious discoveries in Harris' map, i.
1 15, 122; discoveries in Dobbs' map,
1744, i. l-?5
INDEX.
735
Hood Canal, explored, ii. 673. Hood, Mount, Lewis and C. exped.
sight, ii. 45, 48, 01. Hood River, ii. 45. Hoole, J., death of, ii. 259. 'Hope,' on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 251,
252-3. Hope Bay, Cook names, 1778, i. 170;
Gray at, i. 205. Hope, Fort, post Hudson Bay Co., i.
448. Hopkins accompanies Simpson, 1841,
ii. G59; at Fort Nisqually, 1841, ii.
057; in Cal., ii. COL Horcasitas, schooner, see Santa Satur-
nina, i. 244; on N. W. coast, 1792,
i OU'l OOQ
1. — o<>, _oJ.
Hore, voyage to Newfoundland, i. 12.
Horetzky, explores Peace River Pass, i. 020.
Horn, Cape, Kendrick rounds, 1788, i. 187.
Horse Creek, named, ii. 79.
Horse-flesh, Lewis and C. exped. eat, ii. 36-7; Hunt's party eat, ii. 187- 9; traders eat, ii. 204.
Horse Plain Creek, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 25, 30, 76.
Horses in America, ii. 25; stealing, ii. 552.
Hospital at Fort Vancouver, ii. 525- G; at Astoria, ii. 207.
Hostility Bay, see False Nitinat, i. 199.
Howard, buys 'Cadboro,' ii. 477.
Howard Creek, named, 1805, ii. 21.
Howe, clerk, i. 187.
Howe, Richard, supercargo 'Colum bia,' i. 218.
Howhow, Indian chief, ii. 288.
Howison, Capt. , on Columbia, 1846, ii. 707.
Howse Pass, description, i. 623.
Hubbard, voyage, 1801, i. 310.
Hubbard, kills Thornburg, ii. 597.
Hubbell, Ezckiel, voyage, 1801, i. 311.
Hudson, Capt., at Astoria, ii. 680.
Hudson, Henry, discovers Hudson River, discovers Hudson Bay, 1610, abandoned, i. 22, 438.
Hudson, Capt. T., on N. W. coast, 1789, i. 210-12, 217, 221; visits Mexico, i. 223.
Hudson, W. L., on exploring exped., ii. 669.
Hudson Bay, discovered by Hudson, 1610, i. 23, 438; explored by But ton in 1612-13; explored by Baffin in 1615; explored by Fox and James, 1631-2, i. 23, 1700-50, i. 26,
1750-1800, i. 27; contention for, i. 23; in Martyr's map, 1587, i. 66; Low's map, 1598, i. 86; Ogilby's map, 1671, i. Ill; English expelled, i. 441.
Hudson's Bay Company, organized, 1670, i. 23; territory of , i. 404-1 1 , 444, 447-8, ii. 288-9; policy in hunting, i. 413; servants, i. 414; on Paciiic coast, i. 414; chartered, i. 439; ii. 286-8; defends territory, i. 440-2; history, i. 444; secrecy of, i. 4^5-6; internal regulations, i. 447-55; forts on Pacific slope, i. 448; depart ments, districts, and posts, i. 448; officers, i. 449-52; servants, i. 451- 5; deed poll, 1834, i. 452, ii. 307- 15; stock, i. 455-7; method of traf- iic, i. 457, 460-1; currency, i. 458; annual vessels, i. 459-60; expenses and returns, 1739-48, i. 467-8; trad ing license, 1821, 1842, i. 469-70; coalition with Northwest Co., i. 469, 511, .582-4; ii. 302-4, 343; charter, i. 470-81; end, i. 470; monopoly of, i. 520; ii. 387, 389-90; 431; in Cal., i. 527; 1840, ii. 539- 40; 1841, ii. GS8-1I; policy toward Indians, i. 535-50; ii. 689-90; na tive wives among servants of, i. 542-4; ii. 650-1; aids missionaries, i. 550; jealousy in fur-trade, i. 554; quarrel with Northwest Co. , i. 568- 84; ii. 209-302; explorations of, i. 611-12; ii. 2, 305-6; trading policy, ii. 89; title to Rupert Law!, ii. 296-8; granted Vancouver I&L, ii. ,30G; becomes a private corporation, lii. 306; rights on Pacific coast, ii. pol; Rocky Mt. Co. opposes, ii. 454; American trappers oppose, ii. 459, 47-: domination of N. W. coast, 1821-6, ii. 460-75; 1828-9, ii. 489-506; at Honolulu, ii. 522-3; Kelly opposes, ii. 549-54; buy out Columbia River Fishing and Trad ing Co., ii. 597; Cowlitz farms of, ii. 613; agriculture separated from, ii. G14; ship-building, ii. 623-4; oc cupies N. W. coast, ii. 623-35; [eases Russian territory, ii. 643-6, 653; treaty with Russians, ii. 693; disposes of N. W. property, ii. 707- 11; profits, 1846, ii. 709; abandon Columbia, ii. 710-12.
' Hudson's Bay, ' ship, destroyed, i. 442.
Hudson Bay territory, ceded to Eng land, 1713, i. 442.
Hudson Hope, see Rocky Mt. House, iu 91.
736
INDEX.
Hudson River, Hudson enters, 1609, i. 438; Hollanders on, i. 500-2.
Hudson Strait, Hudson enters, i. 438.
Huggings, Ed., at Nisqually, ii. 618.
Hughes, on Or. question, ii. 392-3.
Hughes, Guy, killed, ii. 462.
Huguenots, colonize Florida, 1562-5, i. 19, 380-1.
Humboldt, on Anian Strait, i. 36.
Humboldt River, importance of, i. 641-2.
Humphries, Capt. , on N. W. coast, 1838, 1840, i. 340; 1841, ii. 687.
Hungry Creek, named, i. 37, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 70.
Hunt, W. P., joins P. Fur Co., ii. 142; agent, ii. 143; leads overland exped., ii. 178-91; at Fort Astoria, 1813, i. 329-30; 1814, i. 332; ii. 192, 225; 1813, 329-30; character, ii. 178; on N. W. coast, ii. 206, 219-21; at Hawaiian Isl., ii. 220, 220, 232; cruise in 'Pcdlcr,' ii. 231-5; made Gov., ii. 235; on Fort Astoria transfer, ii. 221-6, 234-5.
Hunt's overland expcd., ii. 178-91.
Hunt's route, map of, ii. 182.
Hunter, explores Washita River, i. 014.
Hunters' Association, influence on set tlement, ii. 699.
Hunter's Lodge, post, ii. 250.
Huron, Lake, French reach, 1600-50, i. 22, 388.
Hurons, Indians, i. 22; war with Iro- qucis, i. 391.
Hurtado, visits Gulf of Nicoya, 1517, i. 13.
Huskisson, W., commissioner, title N. \V. coast, ii. 355-60, 368, 371, 375, 377-8, 381.
Ibarra, Francisco de, explorations,
1502-3, i. 19, 52. Ibbertson Sound, named, i. 179. Ibcrvillc, settles Louisiana, 1699, i. 24. Idaho, geography, i. 411. Illinos, war with Iroquois, i. 394. Illinois River, Jolict and Marquette
explore, 1673, i. 23. 'Ilmcu,' on Cal. coast, 1814, i. 334. Image Canoe Isl. , named, ii. 48-9. Immanuel, Blackfeet attack, ii. 456. Immel, with Missouri Co., i. 614. 'Imperial Eagle,' ship, on N. W.
coast, 1786, i. 183. 'Indefatigable,' ship, on Columbia,
1845, ii. 702.
Independence, description, 1834, i. 508-9.
Independence Rock, names on, ii. 582.
'Index,' bark, in S. F. Bay, 1841, ii. 659.
India, Strait to, belief in encouraged, i. 6-9.
Indian Joe, character, ii. 528.
'Indian Packet,' cruise, 1797, i. 306.
Indian wives, among fur-traders, ii. 542-5, 650-1.
Indians, fish as food, i. 41, 44, ii. 109; report of Upper St Lawrence, i. 42; attack Hcceta's exped., i. 161; at Nootka Sound, 1778, i. 170; murder whites, i. 182, 251, ii. 253-4, 289; attack Gray, i. 188-9, 260-1; plot to seize the 'Columbia,' i. 258; at tack Caamano, i. 2G9; attack Cole, i. 266; treachery of, i. 269,292, 311; hostility to Vancouver, i. 292; mas sacre crew of 'Boston,' i. 312-15, ii. 157-8; attack Winship, i. 320; kill Thorn, i. 327; massacre crew of 'Tonquin,' 1811, i. 327-8; hostility of, i. 304-6, ii. 185, 194-6, 200, 221, 240-1, 24G-7, 25(3-7, 275-0, 289; trading with, i. 366-72, ii. 444; as boatmen, i. 424, 429; trading posts among, i. 482-3; attack Virginian colonists, i. 502; attack French, 1729, i. 505; as regarded by settler, miner, fur-hunter, i. 529-30; as re garded by Spaniards, i. 529-30; es timate of whites, i. 530; policy of U. S. and Eng. toward, i. 529-50; policy of 11. Bay Co. and Northwest Co. toward, i. 535— 50; liquor among, i. 545-8, 554, ii. 602, 682-4, 693-4; missionaries among, i. 548-50, 552; small-pox among, i. 554, ii. 176, 682; attitude to MacKenzie, i. 676-7, 687, 694-6, 699, 701 ; Lewis and C. exped. among, ii. 6-14, 25, 47, 55, 67, 72-4; pipe of peace, ii. 29; name for rivers, ii. 36; along Columbia, ii. 49; stampede horses, ii. 78, 200; attack Colter, ii. 82-3; women among, ii. 94; as workers, ii. 94-5; character, Fraser River, ii. 114-15, 117; attack Williams, ii. 127-8; hos tility to Winship, ii. 133-5; friend liness of, ii. 185, 189-90, 195, 199, 206, 213, 248, 263; rob whites, ii. 193, 203, 210, 238, 246, 2GO, 275; executed, ii. 213, 253-4, 289; ren dezvous, ii. 255-6; method of com pensating for killing a relative, ii. 261; attacked, ii. 287-9; method of
INDEX.
737
trade with, ii. 444; epidemics among, ii. 502-4, 602; attack Fort Simpson, ii. 037; slavery among, ii. '017-9; character on N. W. coast, ii. 050, 652; policy of Russians toward, ii. 050; policy of II . Bay Co. toward, i. 535, ii. 089-90; threaten missions, ii. 098; for customs, characters, etc., see Native Races of the Pacific State*, this series.
Lie's, Santa, see Rio de Aguilar, 1003, i. 88.
Infantado, duquc del, memorial of, Maldonado, 1775, i. 93.
Ingcrsoll, voyage, 1801, i. 310.
Ingraham, Capt. J., on N. W. coast, 1788, i. 187; 1791, i. 251-3; 1790, i. 252-3; 1792, i. 204, 280; testimony on the Iphigcnia, i. 215; names Magce Sound, i. 252; letter, i. 280.
Ingraham, W., mate, death, i. 312,315.
'Iowa,' wrecked, ii. 533.
'Iphigcnia,' on 1ST. W. coast, 1887, i. 191-5, 200-2; 1789, i. 205, 209-10; seized by Spaniards, i. 214-10.
Iron, found, Bear Lake, i. 009.
Iroquois, Indians, i. 22; at Fort George, ii. 287-9 ; war with Hurons and French, i. 391; destroy Lachine, i. 394; fur-trade with, i. 504.
Irving, W., on N. W. fur-trade, i. 300; on border life, i. 490; on As- tor's character, ii. 138; debt to Franchere, ii. 207; on transfer of Astoria, ii. 217, 221-3, 230; on founding of Fort Astoria, ii. 138, 145, 1GS-9, 172, 207; on Bonneville's adventures, ii. 508, 573.
'Isaac Todd,' on X. W. coast, 1814, i. 333, ii. 201; 1812-13, ii. 232; 1814, ii. 250, 252, 254.
'Isabel,' ship, wrecked, ii. 515, 532.
'Isabella,' on N. W. coast, 1810-11, i. 325, ii. 140; 18133 i. 329-30; 1830, i. 341.
Isla de Dolores, see Destruction Island, i. 160.
Jacinto, Mount, see Mount Edge- combe, i. 165.
'Jackal,' cutter, on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 205; 1793, i. 293; 1794, i. 297.
Jackanet River, see Fraser River, ii. 119.
Jackson, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320, ii. 55.
Jackson, D. E., with Rocky Mt. Fur Co., i. 514; ii. 448, 455, 610.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 47
'Jackson,' brig, wrecked, ii. 533.
Jackson Hole, Indian fight at, ii. 564.
Jacob, Russian renegade, at Fort George, ii. 207.
Jacobs, F., gov. Prince of Wales Fort, i. 484.
Jalisco, Mazuela at, 1532, i. 14; Guz man conquers, 1531, i. 10.
James, visits Hudson's Bay, 1031-2, i. 23.
James, Capt., winters at Hudson Bay, 1(>32, i. 438.
James I., grants lands to Lon. Co., Plymouth Co., and Council of Plym outh, i. 399.
'James Warren,' wrecked, ii. 533.
James Bay, see Hudson Bay, i. 438.
Janvier, map of, 1782, i. loO.
Japan, in map of Apianus, 1575, i. 56.
Japanese, Sioux supposed to be, i. 106; map, 1701, i. 130; junks wrecked on N. W. coast. 1820, i. 340; 1831, 1833, i. 341; 1834, ii. 531-3.
Jasper Pass, see Yellowhead Pass, i. 020.
Jasper House, see Rocky Mt. House, ii. 121.
Jefferson, on X. W. coast, 1791, i. 255; 1792, i. 205; 1793, i. 294.
Jefferson, T., N. W. fur-trade, i. 351- 2; N. W. exploration, ii. 2-5, 328.
Jefferson, Mount, named, ii. 01.
Jefferson River, named, 1805, ii. 22; see Lewis and C. exped. , ii. 70, 75-0.
Jcfferys, T., map of, 1708, i. 131.
Jennings, Capt. John, voyage, 1815,. i. 333-4.
'Jenny,' brier, on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 205; 1794ri. 297; 1798, i. 300; 1800, i. 308; 1802, i. 311.
Jeremie, explorations, i. 591.
Jervais, fur-trader, i. 510; ii. 010; with McKenzie's exped., ii. 190; with Rocky Mt. Co., ii. 455; Or. settler, ii. 529.
Jesup, Gen., 011 question N. W. coast, ii. 352, 354.
Jesuits, in Xueva Vizcaya, i. 19; Can ada, i. 22, 380, 390; explore B. A.,, i. 23; explore Miss. Valley, i. 23,, 587-8; settle Baja Cal. 1097, i. 25; in Willamette Valley, 1838, ii. 530-8; among the Flatheads, ii. 702.
Jesus, Santa Madre de Maria de, opinion of Tidam, i. 91.
Jewitt, J. R., A Narrative, etc., i. 311, 313, 316; captivity among Ind ians, i. 312-16; ii. 158-62.
Jimenez, discovers Baja Cal. 1533, i. 14, 41.
738
INDEX.
John Day River, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 41, 53, 04.
Johnson, defeats French, i. 400. Johnson, Or. settler, ii. 675. Johnson, R. E., on exploring exped., ii. GG9, C73, G77; at Xisqually, ii.
677; exped. to Okanagan, ii. 677-9; map of excursion, ii. 678; arrested,
ii. 679.
Johnson Pass, description, i. 643; lo cation, i. 651-2. Johnstone, explores with Vancouver,
1792, i. 275.
Johnstone Is., named, i. 281. Johnstone Strait, Vancouver names,
1792, i. 279. Jolict, Sieur, explores Miss. Valley,
1673, i. 23, 392, 587. Jones, Blackfeet attack, ii. 456. Jones, at Pugct Sound, 1844, ii. 701. Jones, B., trapper, joins P. Fur Co.
exped., ii. 180, 198. Jones, W. A., in Yellowstone Valley,
i. 31.
Jonquiere, Fort, founded, i. 597. 'Josephine,' brig, wrecked, ii. 533. 'Joseph Peubody, ' brig, onX. W. coast,
1836, i. 341; ii. 638; 1838, i. 342;
1839, i. 342; ii. 639. Juan Fernandez, Kcndrick touches at,
1788, i. 191. Juchercau, Sicur, a^ent to Mexico, i.
592.
Judge, murder of, ii. 253. 'Juliet,' schooner, wrecked, ii. 533. Junks, wrecked on X. W. coast, 1820,
i. 340; 1831, 1833, i. 341; 1834, ii.
531-3. 'Juno,' on X. W. coast, 1802, i. 311;
1803, i. 316, ii. 159; 1805, i. 320;
1806, i. 322. Justice, comment on, i. 581; among
fur-traders, ii. 253-4. Kadiak, Glottof reaches, 1563-5, i. 30. .Kaigauies, kill L'apt. Bancroft, ii.
604-5. Xalama Creek, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 49.
^Kamamalu,' see 'Diana,' i. 342. Kamchatka, Russian post established
hi, i. 29. Kamloop Fort, post, H. Bay Co., i.
448; see Fort Thompson, ii. 122,
461.
Kanakas, as foresters, ii. 593. Kananski Pass, location, i. 624. Kara Sea, Russians navigate, English
and Dutch reach, 1600, i. 29. Keith, Geo., at Lake Superior, 1832,
ii. 432.
Keith, Jas., Astoria restored, i. 339, ii. 293-4, 432, 441; Indians attack, ii. 240-2, 260-2; trading exped., ii. 259, 264; at Fort George, ii. 266-7, 287-9, 293; death, ii. 432.
Kekemahke River, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 53.
Kellett, H., voyage in X. W., 1837, i. 342; voyage in N. W., 1839, i. 342, ii. 611; explores Columbia,
1839, ii. Gil.
Kelly, voyage, 1801, i. 310. Kelly, on Cal. coast, 1816, i. 335. Kelly, voyage, 1828-30, i. 341. Kelly, Hall J., character, ii. 543-5,
554; agitates Or. quest., ii. 544-59;
at Fort Vancouver, ii. 547, 549-53;
visits Or., ii. 547-53; death, ii. 554;
services, ii. 554-6; writings of, i.
205, ii. 556-9. Kendrick, ('apt. J., on N. W. coast,
1788, i. 185-92, 187, 191, ii. 321;
1789-90, i. 204-5, 208-9, 252; 1791,
i. 253-4, ii. 323; 1792, i. 265; 1794,
i. 296-9; 1802, i. 311, 365; names
Fort \Vashiugton, i. 252; purchases
land, Xootka, i. 254, ii. 323. Kendrick Cove, see Mawinah, i. 205. Kennedy. J., at Fort Langley, ii. 477;
Fort Simpson, ii. 634, 637, 642;
Fort Stikeen, ii. 645-6; Fort Tako,
1840, ii. 647-8; 1841. ii. 658. Kent Is., trading-post built, i. 502. Keplin, voyage, 1835, i. 341. Kicking Horse Pass, description, i.
623. Killamook Bay, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 58. Killamook Head, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 56. Killamooks, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 56; tradition of, ii. 501. Killhowamakel, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 54.
Kimball, on X. W. coast, 180G, i. 322. Kimball, at Puget Sound, 1844, ii.
701.
Kimmooenim Creek, named, ii. 39. Kimmooenim River, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 41.
King, surveys Or. road, i. 632. King, U. S. minister, ii. 367. King, at Umpqua, ii. 709. ' King George, ' ship, on X. W. coast,
1785-7, i. 178-81. King George Sound, see Xootka Sound,
1778, i. 170. King George's Sound Company, their
expedition to X. W. coast, 1785, i.
178.
INDEX.
739
King Island, Mackenzie's voyage, i.
699. Kingston Fort, the King takes charge
of, i. 398. Kino, Padre, explores Sonora, 1690-
1700, i. 25; Gal., 1701, i. 113-15. Kirk Bros., attack French, i. 390. Kispayox, Fort, see Fort Stager, ii. 470. Kittsen, at Fort Colville, ii. 472. Klamatli River Pass, location, i. 647. Kliketat Elver, see Cataract River, ii.
45.
Kluscoil Lake, Mackenzie at, i. 692. Knight, explores Hudson Bay, i. 26. Knight, seeks Strait of Anian, 1719,
i. 121, ii. 305.
Knight, voyage, 1606, i. 22. Knight River, named, i. 281. Knox, S. E., on exploring exped., ii.
669. Koaster, J., ship-builder, ii. 154; -at
Fort Astoria.
Koen, Or. missionary, ii. 674. Kooskooskie Eiver, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 36. Kootenai Fort, post, H. Bay Co., i.
448; location, ii. 121; removed, ii.
711.
Krupischef sights Alaska, 1730, i. 30. Kwichpak, possibly depicted on Low's
map, 1598, i. 86. Kuskof, Capt., 011 Gal. coast, 1809, i.
325-6.
Labadie, S., Missouri Fur Co., ii. 128. La Biche. River, Clarke names, ii. 79. La Bonte", Or. settler, ii. 676. Labrador, Cortereals name, i. 11;
physical features, i. 406-7. 'La Caroline,' see 'Florida,' i. 19. La Charette, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 9. Lachine, inhabitants massacred, i.
394. Laclede, Maxan, and Co., fur-traders,
i. 505.
La Compagnie de Cent Associe"s dis solved, i. 391, 394. La Course, P., with Simpson's party,
ii. 496. La Couture seizes Rupert Land, 1671,
i. 440. Ladrillero, J. F. de, on Strait of
Anian, 1584, i. 57. 'Lady Washington,' sloop on N. W.
coast, 1788, i. 186-92; 1789, i. 204-
9, 213, 224; 1791, i. 253; 1792, i.
265; 1794, i. 297; 1796, i. 305.
Laet, Johannes de, map of, 1633, i. 106.
'LaFlorideFrancaisc, 'see 'Florid a, 'i. 19.
La Framboise, M., at Fort Umpqua, ii. 521, 527-8; traps in Tulare Valley, 1840, ii. 539; nurses Kelley, ii. 549; with Wilkes party, ii. 675.
La France, Joseph, on northwest pas sage, i. 125; story of the west, i. 592.
La Garde, hunter, ii. 101, 115.
'La Grange,' cruise in north-west, 1836, i. 342.
La Hontan, fictions of, i. 588-90.
Lake George, French defeated at, English defeated at, 1577, i. 400.
Lake Michigan, Nicolet penetrates beyond, 1634-5, i. 106.
Lake Eiver, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 48.
La Malice, at Fort Malice, ii. 88; Rocky Mt. House, ii. 93, 98; with Eraser exped., ii. 98, 102, 105, 109.
La Malice, Fort, built, ii. 88.
Lamb, on K W. coast, 1792, i. 264; 1799, i. 307; fur-trade, i. 359.
Lambert, Capt., 011 N. W. coast, 1834, i. 341; 1832, ii. 560, 507-8, 592.
Lambert, P., drowned, ii. 284.
La Mesa, Meares Cape, i. 198.
Lancaster, Captain, reports north west passage, 1600-1, i. 88.
Landry, J., Mackenzie's exped., i. 673.
Lane, Governor, explores Eoaiioke for fabulous cities, i. 66.
Langle, de, La Pe"rouse exped., 1786, i. 175.
Langley, Fort, post H. Bay Co., i. 448; founding of, ii. 476-88; Simp son at, ii. 484-5; salmon trade of, ii. 487; flooded, ii. 487; burned, ii. 645-7.
La Perouse, explorations, 1785, i. 174- 7, ii. 320; voyage, etc., i. 175; map, 1786, i. 176; search for, i. 294; on N. W. fur-trade, i. 355-6.
Lapie, Map of, i. 97-8; on N. W. coast, 1821, i. 136.
Laqueo de Oro, see Purchas' map, 1625, i. 103.
La Eamme, hunter, ii. 97.
'Lark,' wrecked, i. 330, 332, ii. 226, 234; cruise, 1813, ii. 200, 202.
La Roche, J., Lewis and C. exped., ii. 14; -ilerk Northwest Co., ii. 206, 214, 238, 259, 264; in Maudan country, ii. 278; at Stuart Lake, ii. 285.
740
INDEX.
La Roche, Marquis de, receives Acadia
and Canada, i. 383-4. La Rochelle, merchants, fur-trade of,
i. 387-8. La Salle, explores Miss. Valley, 1080,
i. 24, 392-3, 588; assassinated, 1687,
i. 24; theory of South Sea route, i.
Ill; names Louisiana, i. 392-3; on
N. W. coast, 1809, ii. 129. 'Lascar,' cruise in north-west, 1821. i.
341. La Tour, receives Port Royal, 1054,
i. 391.
Laudonniere, Rene de, colonizes Amer ica, i. 19, 381. Launching, at Nootka Sound. of 'North
West America,' Sept. 19 and 20,
1788, i. 202. 'Lausanne, 'cruise in north-west, 1840,
i. 342. 'Lavini:!,' cruise in north-west, 1801,
i. 310. Law, at Fovt George, ii. 253-4; in
Canada, ii. 298.
Law, J., originates Miss. Co., i. 397-8. Lay, voyage, 1798, i. 300. Lazaro, Padre, sec Saldibar's Travels,
i. 109.
Lazcka, sec Tongue River, ii. 80. Leather Pass, sec Yellowhcad Pass,
i. 020.
Leavenworth, Cantonment, import ance, ii. 587. Le Clcrc, with P. Fur Co. cxped., ii.
187, 189, 240-7; leaves Astoria, ii.
198.
Le Page du Pratz, see Pratz. Lcdyard, John, attempts at N. W.
fur-trade, ii. 2-3; i. 349-53; death,
travel*, i. 349-53. Lee, D., Or. missionary, ii. 535, 578;
trip to Or., ii. 578. Lee, Jason, Or. missionary, ii. 535,
C74; attitude to Kelley, ii. 551;
plans for Or., ii. 551-2; trip to Or.,
ii. 578; at Fort Hall, ii. 588; at
Willamette Mission, ii. 592, 002,
007; receives Simpson, ii. 055; brings
missionaries to Or., ii. 087. Leese, J. P., Cal. Pioneer, ii. 688. 'Lelia Byrd,' on N. W. coast, 1804,
i. 318.
Le Maire, hunter, ii. 93. Lemon, W., settler Cowlitz Valley,
ii. 014.
Lemont, F. A., mate 'Sultan,' ii. 500. Leon, Ponce de, 'Fountain of Youth,'
i. 3; voyages, i. 11. Lepage River, see John Day River,
ii. 41.
Le Pratt, at Fort Okanagan, ii. 678.
Lc Rapid Convert, named, ii. 117.
Le Roux, clerk, Mackenzie's tour, i. 008.
Leslie, missionary, ii. 082.
Lewis, J., clerk of Tonquin, i. 328; ii. 144, 155, 104-7; murdered, i. 328; ii. 107.
Lewis, M., at Columbia River mouth, 1805, i. 320; along the Missouri, 1804, i. 509; exploring exped. up Missouri, 1804-5, ii. 4-27, 327; char acter, ii. 5; instructions, ii.' 0-7; reaches head-waters of Missouri, ii. 20; down the Columbia, ii. 28-50; on Pacific, ii. 51-00; Pacific and return, ii. 51-82; return, attacked by Indians, ii. 71-4; accidentally shot, ii. 75; arrives at St Louis, ii. 82; Gov. of Louisiana, death, ii. 85.
'Lewis,' brig, on N. W. coast, 1834, ii. 037.
Lewis Point, Clarke names, ii. 53.
Lewis River, Clarke names, ii. 33; see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 33, 54-5.
Lewis and Clarke exped., ii. 5-84, 337, 350-9, 308-9; state of north west, 1 SCO, ii. 1-2; travels published, ii. 7; map of route from Missouri to Columbia, ii. 2J ; down the Colum bia, ii. 28-50; journal, ii. 30-1; eat horsc-ilcsh, ii. 30-7; dogs, ii. 39-40, 45; Pacific and return, ii. 51-82; leave notices of presence at Columbia's mouth, ii. 59-00; map, ii. 05; character, ii. 83-4; result of, ii. 80.
Lewis and Clarke Pass, description, i. 028.
Leyo, in cle Laet's map, 1033, i. 100.
'Lida,'on N. W. coast, 1800, i. 321.
Limes Occident's Quivira et Anian, see Wytfliet-Ptolemy map, 1597, i. 83.
Lindenbcrg, Capt., at Sitka, 1841, ii. 658.
Linkwater, WT., trader, i. 570.
Linn, on Or. question, ii. 391-2, 558, 089.
Liuschoten, on Gali's voyage, 1584,
1. 145.
L'Interprete, see Moncacht Ape".
Lion, Cal., habitat, i. 412.
Liquor among Indians, i. 545-8, 554,
002, 082-4; English and Russians oppose traffic of, ii. 093.
Lisa, M., with Missouri P^ur Co., i. 511; ii. 128, 450; with P. Fur Co. exped., ii. 180-2.
INDEX.
741
'Littiles,' cruise in north-west, 1801,
i. 310. Little Colorado Pass, see Zufii Pass, i.
C38.
Little Dry Creek, named, 1805, ii. 16. Little Dry River, named, ii. 16. Little Head, Indian chief, ii. 94-5. Little Wolf River, Clarke names, ii.
80. Livingston, commissioner, purchase of
Louisiana, 1803, i. 401. 'Llama,' brig, on N. W. coast, 1834,
i. 341, ii. 533, 637; 1836, i. 341;
1837, i. 342; 1838, i. 342, ii. 520;
1833, ii. 625-6. 'Loo Choo, ' schooner, wrecked, ii.
533. Lok, M., map, 1582, i. 04-5, 101;
meets Fuca, 1596, i. 70-3. London, centre of fur-market, i. 465. London Company, receives grants in
America, i. 399. Lonrr, A. K., en exploring exped., ii.
609.
Long, S. II. , explorations, i. 614. Long River, Hontan's voyage, 1688, i.
112. Lookoxit, Cape, Meares names, 1788,
i. 198; Clarke names, ii. 58. Lopez, Estevan, see Vizcaino's expe dition, 16C3, i. 147. Lopez, Marcos, killed by Indians, i.
189. Lopez, Padre, explores Texas, 1629, i.
21.
Lorie, see Lowrie, i. 177. Loring, Col., at Fort Vancouver, ii.
710. 'Loriot,' brig, on N. W. coast, 1836,
i. 341, ii. 602; 1837, i. 342. Los Angeles, Port, Elisa names, i.
247. Louis XIV., dissolves La Compagnie
dcs Cent Associes, i. 391 ; charters
West India Co., i. 394; forbids trade
with British Colonies, i. 399. Louis XVI. , Nootka controversy, i.
233. 'Louisa,' cruise in north-west, 1828-
30, i. 341. Louisiana, Spaniards explore, 1540, i.
15; French settle, 1699, i. 24; La
Salle discovers, 1682, i. 393; Crozat,
gov. of, i. 397; ceded to France,
1800; sold to U. S., 1803, i. 401. Louisiana, Purchase, i. 402-3; changes
in ownership, ii. 4, 8; 1800, ii. 327. Loulou branch, of Bitter Root River,
i. 35-6, 70. Low, Conrad, map of 1598, i. 85, 140.
Low Point, Meares names, July 5,
1788, i. 197. Lowe, Thos., clerk Fort Vancouver,
1846, ii. 709.
Lowrie, at Nootka, 1786, i. 177. Lucierc, Or. settler, ii. 529. 'Lucy,' cruise in north-west, 1801, i.
310.
Ludlow, in Yellowstone Valley, ii. 31. Luque, Malo de, prints Maldonado's
memorial, 1788, i. 93. 'Lydia,' cruise in north-west, 1805, i.
315, 320; on N. W. coast, 1811, i.
326; on Cal. coast, 1816, i. 335; on
Columbia, 1806, ii. 60; on N. W.
coast, 1806, ii. 162-3; at Sitka,
1811, ii. 140. Lyman, N. W. fur-trade, i. 359.
Maccay, see Mackcy, i. 177.
McClellan, Capt. , surveys bar of Co lumbia,, ii. 2(56.
McCiellan, R., joins P. Fur Co., ii. 179; oncxped., ii. 186, 188, 190-1; at As toria, ii. 193, 198; eastward bound, ii. 200.
McCracken, fur-trader, i. 510.
McDonald, trading exped., 1813, ii. 238; at Spokane House, ii. 258; character, ii. 259; with fur brigade, ii. 471; at Fort Langley, ii. 48*; down Columbia, 1834', ii. 531; at Fort Colville, 1841, ii. 655; at Col- ville, ii. 679.
McDonald, A., trader, attacks Crcor, i. 370; at Fort Langley, ii. 485; on Simpson's journey, ii. 491, 495; Journal, ii. 491; founds Fort Nis- qually, ii. 524; at Colville, 1836, ii. 602; 1857. ii. 711.
McDonald, F. , builds Spokane fort, ii. 120; on Columbia, ii. 4-71.
McDonald, John, arrives Fort Astoria, ii. 232; gov. Fort George, ii. 244-5, 250.
McDonnell, M., gov. opposes N". W. Co., i. 575-6.
McDougall, supercargo of brig ' Colo nel,' 1816, i. 334; at Fort Dunve- gan, ii. 91; expedition of, ii. 92-3; at Trout Lake, ii. 97, 101, 112; mar ries, ii. 153, 218-19; small-pox strat egy, ii. 176; at Fort Astoria, ii. 196, 208, 214, 227-31; becomes partner K W. Co., ii. 234.
McDougall, Duncan, joins P. Fur Co., 142; voyage to Astoria, 145-52; at Astoria, 152-5, 175-6.
742
INDEX.
McDougall, Geo., at Stuart Fort, ii. 286; at Fort Alexandria, ii. 496.
McDougall, James, explores Peace and Parsnip Rivers, ii. 87-8; at Fort McLeod, ii. 101; at Fort Dunvegan, ii. 279; with Harmon, ii. 286.
McDoucrall, Fort, built, ii. 88.
McGillis, clerk, ii. 144, 177, 194; leaves Fort George, 245.
McGillivray, at Rocky Mt. House, ii. 97- 8; at transfer Fort Astoria, ii. 228-9; at Fort Okanagan, ii. 238-9; among Okanagans, ii. 248, 255; leaves Fort George, ii. 270.
McGillivray, John, arrives, Astoria, ii. 228; on expect., ii. 238-9; joins Northwest Co., ii. 248; at Dunvc- gan, ii. 278.
McGillivray, 8., member Northwest Co., ii. 304.
McGillivray, W., chief, Northwest Co., ii. 172; member Northwest Co., ii. 304; at Fort Chipewyan, ii. 493.
McGillivray's Rock, named, ii. 249.
McGregory, fur-trader, 1087, i. 504.
Mclntosh, J., down Columbia, 1834, ii. 531.
McKay, injured, ii. 258: murder of, ii. 435; on Columbia, ii. -171; at Fort Wiilla Wallii, .ii. 408; near Scappoose Bay, ii. 527: in Cal.,
• 184 1, ii. 541; in Willamette Valley, 1837, ii. 003; character, ii. 003.
McKay, A.. McKenzie's exprd., i. 673, 089, 091; joins P. Fur Co., ii. 142-3; voyage to Astoria, ii. 145-52; trading cruise, ii. 103-7; murder of, ii. 107; explores Columbia, ii. 109- 70.
McKay, J. W., with Fraser, ii. 694.
McKay, K., murdered, ii. 080.
McKay, Thomas, character, i. 540; clerk, ii. 144; trading cxped., ii. 250, 258-9; aids Smith, ii. 451-2; on t-xplor. exped., ii. 404-8; at Fort Vancouver, 1834, ii. 533; trapping tour, 183-1, ii. 585-8; with Emmons' exped., ii. 082.
Mackenzie, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 14; explores Willamette Valley, 1812, ii. 195-0; among Nez Perccs, ii. 198, 202-3, 210-11; at Fort, As toria, 1813, ii. 208, 220; in Willa mette Valley, 1814, ii. 218; transfer Fort Astoria, ii. 227, 234; from F. Astor to F.William, ii. 249; clerk Northwest Co., ii. 250.
McKenzie, Alexander, expcds. of, i. 582; at Fort Langley, ii. 483.
' Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, descends Mackenzie River, 1789, i. 28; ii. 2; on N. W. fur-trade, 1800, i. 363; joins X. Y. Co., i. 555; explorations, 1793, i. 619; ii. 324; character, ii. 660-8, 073; journey to Arctic Ocean, i. 28, 068-9; i. COS, 675; ii. 2.
Mackenzie, from Fort Chipewyan to Pacific, i. 670-703; map of course, i. 683; on Fraser River, i. 684-5; ii. 100, 114, 119, 379; reaches Pa cific, i. 097-700.
Mackenzie, Andrew, death of, ii. 279.
Mackenzie, D., joins P. Fur Co. , ii. 142; on overland exped., ii. 179, 186, 188, 190-1; at Astoria, ii. 194, 198; explores Willamette, ii. 195-0; fort building, ii. 202-3; cxped. of, ii. 202-3, 205, 208; among Indians, ii. 210-11, 213; at Astoria, ii. 218, 220-7; trading cxped., 1813, ii. 238-40; on Columbia, 1810, ii. 204, 200-8, 271-0; enterprise, ii. 271; among Shush ones, ii. 271, 274, 270; among Walla W'allas, ii. 272-5; among Snake Indians, ii. 275; gov. Red River Colony, ii. 2S9-90.
Mackenzie Outlet, named, i. 700.
Mackenzie River, discovered, i. 2; Low's map, 1598, i. 86; Mackenzie deseends, 1789, i. 28, 609; explored, ii. 195.
Mackey, at Nootka, 1786, i. 177; 1787, i. 182; on N. \V. coast, 1805, i. 320, ii. 55.
Mackinaw Co., at Michilimackinac, i. 500; opposes Astor's plans, i. 512-13; opposes American Fur Co., ii. 137.
McKinlay, A., Black's death, ii. 512; down Columbia, 1834, ii. 531; at Fort Walla Walla, ii. 055, 077, 090; gunpowder story, ii. 090-1; life, ii. 692; narrative, etc., ii. 092.
McKniver, J., among Indians, ii. 95.
McLane, U. S. minister, ii. 408.
McLean, killed, i. 579; Black's death, ii. 512.
McLennan, D., clerk, ii. 144, 173-4, 203; at Stuart Lake, ii. 285.
McLeod, Santa Fe" exped., i. 039.
McLeod, A. R., at Fort Dun vegan, ii. 279; punishes Clallams, ii. 483-4.
McLeod, John, at Thompson River
district, ii. 408-9; builds Norway
House, ii. 4(59; builds Fort Umpqua,
ii. 521.
I McLeod, M., travels with Simpson, ii.
491; journal, ii. 491. I McLeod, Fort, built, ii. 88.
INDEX.
743
McLeod Lake, post H. Bay Co., i. 448; see Trout Lake, ii. 88.
McLeod Lake Region, map of, ii. 88.
McLoughlin, John, at Sturgeon Lake, 1SOJ-8, ii. 278; at Fort George, ii. 432-7; at Fort William, ii. 432; character, ii. 432-5; treatment of Indians, ii. 434-5; builds Fort Van couver, ii. 430-42^ aids Smith, ii. 451-2; attitude to American trap pers, i. 451-2; rule of, ii. 460; pun ishes Clatsops, ii. 430; possesses falls of Willametterii." 504-5; builds saw-, mill, ii. 505; conspiracy against, ii. 513-15; attitude to traders, ii. 519-20; on trading trips, ii. /52G; attitude to Or. settlers, ii. 535^706- 7; Becomes a Catholic, ii. 537; treat ment of Kelly, ii. 550-3; Wyeth, ii. 564-0, 595-G; receives mission aries, ii. 592; opposes Columbia River Fish and Trading Co. , ii. 596- 7, 599; treatment .of Slacum, ii. 602-3; manager Puget Sound A. Co., ii. 617; in England, 1837-9, ii. 617, 685; at Fort Vancouver, 1839, ii. 620; at Puget Sound, 1841, ii. 656; accompanies Simpson, 1841, ii. 658; in Cal. ii. 661, 688; receives Mofras, ii. 664; Mofras' opinion of, ii. 655; receives Wilkes, ii. 674; at Xisqually, ii. 677; hospitality, ii. 687; character, policy, ii. 702-3; re tires H. Bay Co., ii. 703; death, ii. 703; eulogy upon, ii. 704-7.
McLoughlin, J. , Jr, at Forf- Stikeen, 1840, ii. 645-6, 651; character, ii. 651-2; assassinated, ii. 651-3, 661.
McLoughlin, Mrs, character, ii. 526-7.
McLoughlin, Fort, built, ii. 625-6; removed, ii. 628; abandoned, ii. 650.
McLoughlin Harbor, see Port Simp son, ii. 635.
McMillan, Jas., at Flathead House, ii. 121; employ X. W. Co., ii. 239, 258-9, 264; at Spokane House, ii. 258; on exploring expedition, ii. 464-8; at Fort Langley, ii. 477-85, 497; accompanies Simpson, ii. 655.
McMurray, builds Fort Yukon, 1847, i. 620.
McXeal Creek, named, 1805, ii. 24.
McXeill, Capt. W., on X. W. coast, 1824 and 1836, i. 341; 1837, i. 342 on Columbia, ii. 520; life, ii. 520-1; rescues Japanese, ii. 533; joins H. Bay Co., ii. 593; at Fort Simpson, 1836, ii. 637-8; at Mil bank Sound, 1833, ii. 625; at Fort McLoughlin,
1838, ii. 638; on X. W. coast, 1841, ii. 657; at Fort Xisqually, ii. 673.
Macomb, surveys Santa Fe" trail, 1859, i. 637-
Macoun, explores Peace River Pass, i. 620.
McTavish, Alexander, among Indians, ii. 270.
McTavish, Donald, death, ii. 129, 254; at Fort George, ii. 250, 252; char acter, ii. 252; goes east, ii. 279; at Honolulu post, ii. 523.
McTavish, J. G., at Astoria, ii. 208, 214, 227-31 ;• character, ii. 215; transfer to Fort Astoria, ii. 217, 227-30; among Indians, ii. 242-4; leaves Fort George, ii. 245; at Spo kane House, ii. 258-9; goes <to Fort William, ii. 264; trades south, ii. 26-4-5.
McTavish, Simon, partner X. W. Co., 1783-4, i. 555-6.
McTa vishes, at Dunvegan, i. 278.
McTavish, Frobisher, and Co., see X. W. Co., i. 555.
Madison River, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 22, 76.
Mad River, named, i. 184.
Magee, Capt. Jas., on X. W. coast, 1791, i. 255, 261, 263; 1792, i. 261, 263-4; 1801, i. 310; death, i. 311.
Magee Sound, Ingraham names, i. 252.
Magellan, crosses the Pacific, i. 6.
Magnum, on Or. question, ii. 404.
Magon, M., his voyages, 1792, i. 266.
Manas, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 12-13.
Malaspina, A., disertacion, etc., i. 94; criticises Maldonado's memorial, i. 94; Viage, 1791, i. 249; explora tions, 1791, i. 249-50, ii. 322.
Maldonado, Jose, observations of , 1 792, i. 209.
Maldonado, L. F.,relacion, etc., i. 93; memorial printed, 1788, i. 93-4; story, i. 95-9; map, Anian Strait, i. 96.
Mallary, on question X. W. coast, ii. 345.
Manby River, named, i. 281.
Manchester, on X. W. coast, 1801, i. 310; 1802, i. 311, ii. 160.
Manclan Country, Verendrye in, 1738, i. 595; Lewis and C. exped. in, ii. 9, 14, 78-9, 82.
Mandan, Fort, Lewis and Clark at, ii. 17, 20.
Mandans, Lewis and C. exped. among, ii. 82, 127.
Mandeville, traveller, i. 5.
744
INDEX.
Mange, Capt., explores Colorado, 1099, i. 113; Gal., 1701, i. 113; map, i. 114.
Mangeurs de lard, at Fort William, i. 565.
Manhattan Is., importance, 1614, i. 500.
Manitoba Lake, fort erected at, 1740, i. 20.
Manning River, named, i. 281.
Manson, D., at Fort Langley, ii. 477, 497; at Fort Simpson, ii. 023; at Fort McLoughlin, ii. 025, 028, 042; life, ii. 025.
Mantons River, see Jeffcrys' map, 1708, i. 132.
Mantour, trader, ii. 204-5.
Map, Ptolumy, 1511, i. 37; 1530, i. 40; lluyscli, 1508, i. 37; Schemer, 1520, i. 38; Oroutius Fine, 1531, i. 41; Agncse's, 1530, i. 42-3; Portu guese, 1530, i. 43; Ruscelli, 1544, i. 47; Ramusio, 1550, i. 48; Minister, 1545, i. 48; Honieni, 1558, i. 50; Ortelius, i. 53—1; Apianus, i. 50; Lok, 1582, i. 04-5; Strait of Anian, 1590, i. 07; Hondius, 1595, i. OS; Fuca Strait, i. 78; Lmr, 1598, i. 85; for comparison, i. 80; llerrera, i. 88; Maldonado, i. 90; Lapie, i. 97- 8; Purchas, 1025, i. 1U3-1-; Dutch, 1024, i. 104; Lact, 103.:!, i. KKJ; D'Avity, 1037, i. 108; Ogiiby, 1071, i. 110; Harris, 1705, i. 115; Aa, 1707, i. 115; Dobbs, 1744, i. 123; Russian, 1741. i. 121; De 1'Isle, 1752, i. 127-8; Japanese, 1701, i. 130; Jeffreys, 1708, i. 132; Carver, 1778, i. 132; Janvier, 1782, i. 13..; Cook, 1778, i. 109; La Purouse, 1780, i. 170; Dixon, 1787, i. 180; Meares. 1788-9, i. 201; Qumiper, 1790, i.' 242; Elisa's, 1791, i. 245; Nootka Coast, 1791, i. 247; Mar- chand, 1791, i. 250; Caamano, 1792, i. 209; Galiano, 1792, i. 272; Van couver, 1792, i. 270, 278, 280; 1793, i. 292; Fort Simpson, i. 492; N. W. Louisiana, 1757, i. 000; Pratz, 1757, i. 000; Carver, of Western Coast, 1778, i. 008; routes north of lat. 49°, i. 019; passes bet \vcen 40° and 32J N. , i. 028; passes of Mex ico and C. America, i. 058; Mac kenzie's course, i. 083; Lewis and Clarke's route from Missouri to Columbia, i. 21; Lewis and Clarke, ii. 05; McLeod Lake region, ii. 88; Fraser lliver, ii. 113; Arrowsmith's, ii. 120; Thompson River, ii. 122;
Hunt's route, ii. 182; Harmon, ii. 281; Chehalis route, ii. 465; lower Fraser, ii. 480; Green River Coun try, ii. 509; Johnson's excursion, ii. 678.
Maquinna, Nootka chief, i. 195; atti tude to Elisa, i. 240; sells land to Kendrick, i. 254; kills the Boston crew, i. 313-15; ii. 158-02; cap tured, i. 310; last account of, i. 336; appearance, ii. 157.
Marata, Niza, report of, 1530, i. 43.
Marchand's explorations, 1791, i. 255-7; fruits of voyage, i. 257; map, 1791, i. 250; voyage, etc., i. 250-8; N. W. fur-trade, 1790-1, i. 357, 372.
MarDulce, Martyr's map, 1587, i. 66; in Low's map, 1598, i. 86.
Marc Leparamatium, Homem's map, 1558, i. 50.
Mare de Vcrrazano, Lok's map, 1582, i. 01-5.
'Margaret,' on N. W. coast, 1/91, i. 255; 1792, i. 201, 204-5.
Maria River, Lewis names; ii. 17; Lewis and C. exped., ii. 70, 72-4.
Maricourb, attacks English, i. 441.
Mai in, Capt., explorations, i. 597.
Marqucttc, Pere, explores Miss. Val ley, 1073, i. 23, 111, 392, 586.
Marshall, route to Cal., i. 647.
Marten, habitat, i. 412.
Martin, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1821, i. 341; 1828-30, i. 341; 1837, ii. 594.
Martinez, Capt., at Nootka, ii. 100.
Martinez, E. J., pilot of Perez, 1773, i. 155; on N. W. coast, 1788, i. 184-5; 1789, i. 205, 207, 213, 224, 375; seizes the ' Iphigenia,' i. 209, 213-10; restores the 'Iphigenia,' i. 214; seizes the 'North West Amer ica,' i. 210; seizes Nootka, i. 216; imprisons Colnett, i. 218-21; ex plores Nootka, i. 223-4; fur-trade, i. 375.
Martinez, Joao, Portuguese pilot, i. 95.
Martires, see Heceta's voyage, 1775, i. 100.
Martyr, Peter, Hakluyt's edition of, 1587, i. 06.
' Mary,' cruise in Northwest, 1803, i. 316; at Nootka, 1803, ii. 159.
'Maryland,' cruise in Northwest, 1840, i. 342; 1824, ii. 686-7.
Mashaskap, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 80.
Massachusetts, Puritans colonize, 1020, i. 22.
INDEX.
745
Massacre Cove, named by Gray, i. 251; see Rio de Reyes.
Matthews, W., clerk, on P. Fur Co. exped., 144-177; at Astoria, 194.
Matthieu, F. X., refugee, etc., ii. Gil.
Matuto, J. B., on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 248.
Maurelle, Compendio de Noticias, etc. , i. 150.
Maurelle, A. A., criticises Perez, i. 157; Heceta's exped., 1775, i. 158- 00.
Maurepas, opposes Vdrcndrye, i. 590.
Maurepas, Fort, built, 1734, i. 595.
Maury, W. L., on exploring exped., ii. 009; surveys Port Orchard, ii. 680.
Mawinah, American vessels anchor at, 1789, i. 205.
Maxwell, at Fort Okanagan, ii. 078. ,
May, C. J., names Cape May, i. 500.
May, Cape, named, i. 500.
'May Dacre,' brig, on N. Y\~. coast, 1834, i. 341, ii. 500; 1835, i. 341, ii. 443, 087; ii. 439; ii. 577, 592-4, 597.
Mazncla, returns to Baiideras Bay, 1532, i. 14.
Mead<>\v Indians, traders among, ii. 95; f.ec Fraser exped., ii. 99.
Meaivs, Capt., on Alaskan coast, 1780, i. 177; on N. W. coast. 1787, i. 179; 1788, i. 190, 192, 194-5, 197, 201-2, ii. 321; 1789-90, i. 205, 20iJ-10, ii. 321; criticises Portlock and Dixon's exped., i. 181; voyages made, etc., i. 192-4; map, 1788-9, i. 201; names Port Eiiiiigham, Cape Beale, i. 201; trading plans, 1789, i. 210-12; part nership with Etches, i. 210; memo rial, i. 229; Nootka controversy, i. 220, 289; trading voyages, i. 353; Indians attack, i. 305; as a trader, i. 300-9.
Mearcs Cape, see La Mesa, i. 198.
Medals, Lewis and Clarke give In dians, ii. 12, 38, 40, 53, 50.
Medicine River, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 72.
Meek, J. L., life, i. 510; trapping tour, 1829, ii. 455; settler, ii. 450.
Meek, Capt. T., onN. W. coast, 1811, i. 320, 1819, 1821, i. 340.
Melguer, report of Strait of Anian, 1000, i. 108.
Memelose Is. , see Sepulchre Is. , ii. 45.
Memorial, the Meares, i. 229.
Menard, P., Missouri Fur Co., ii. 128.
Mendocino, Cape, Cabrillo said to have discovered, i. 47; first mention of, 1590, i. 09; Wytfliet-Ptolemy
i. 83; Vizcaino reaches, 1G03, i. 88, 140; de Laet's map, 1033, i. 106; D'Avity's, Le Monde, 1037, i. 107; De 1'Isle's map, 1715, i. 119; see Consag's trip, 1748, i. 120; Ferrelo does not pass, 1543, i. 139; Perez sights, 1773, i. 150; Heceta passes, 1775, i. 104.
'Mendora,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533.
Mendoza, Hurtado de, reaches Sina- loa, i. 14.
Mendoza, Viceroy, authorized to ex plore for Cibola, i. 46.
Menendez, Pedro dc, destroys French colonies, 1505, i. 19. 381.
' Men of the Sea, ' see Winnipegs, i. 106.
' Mentor,' cruise in north-west, 1821, i. 341.
Menzie Is., named, i. 281.
Menzies, with Vancouver, 1792, i. 275,
Menzies Point, see Mackenzie's voy age, i. 099.
Mercado, Diego de, on New Mexico, i. 91.
Mcrcator, Atlas of, 1595, i. 81.
'Mercury,' on N. W. coast, 1808-9, i. 324; 1810-11, i. 325-6; captured by Spaniards, i. 330.
Meriwetlier Bay, named, ii. 54.
Meschaonay, see Hontan's Long River, i. 122.
Messnger, Pere, explorations, i. 594.
Mesship, 011 N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320, ii. 55.
Meta Incognita, see Frobisher's voy age, 1570-8, i. GO.
Mctcalf, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1789, i. 212.
Methodist Mission, Fort Nisqually, ii. Go7; ii. 075; Dalles, ii. 077.
Methodist missionaries, in N. W., 1834, ii. 534-7.
Metis, a half-breed, i. 544.
'Mexicana,' 011 N. W. coast, 1792, i. 270-1.
Mexican Gulf, explored, i. 25.
Mexico, mountain passes of, 056-61.
Michanx, A., botanist, ii. 4.
Michel, P., hunter, marries, ii. 239.
Michell, at Umpqua, ii. 527-30.
Michigan, Lake, Jean Nicolet dis covers, 1034-5, i. 22; Joliet and Marquette traverse, 1G73, i. 23.
Michilimackinac, importance, i. 505-7.
Michoacan, expeditions north-west of, 1522, i. 39.
Middleton, explores Hudson Bay, £. 26.
Middleton, commissioner, title N. W. coast, ii. 349.
746
INDEX.
Milk River, named, ii. 16.
Millar, murdered by natives, i. 182.
Mill 'Creek, mills on, ii. 442.
Miller, J., joins P. Fur Co., ii. 179; turns hunter, ii. 184.
Mills built, Fort Vancouver, ii. 442.
Milton, explores Yellowhead Pass, i. 621.
Mimbres Pass, sec Gila Pass, i. 059.
Miner, compared to fur-hunter, i. 421.
Minnctarees, Lewis and C. exped. among, ii. 22, 72-4, 82.
Minhauset, Fonte's story, i. 117.
Minuit, builds Fort Christina, i. 502.
Mires, J., at St Louis, i. 510.
Missouri River, explored, 1742, i. 20; French Fort on, i. 20; Coxe's' de scription of, 1722, i. 122: seeJefferys' map, 1708, i. 132; upper conligura- tion, ii. 15-17; animals, ii. 15-10; head-waters readied, ii. 2<>; Lewis descends, ii. 75.
Miruelo, his voyage in 1510, i. 11.
Missionaries, on N. W. coast, i. 548- 50, 552, ii. 534-8, 074; labors vain, i. 549; attitude of fur companies toward, i. 550; among fur-traders, i. 552-3; as explorers, i. 587-91; qualities necessary f < >r, i. 593; women as, ii. 530; in Or., ii. 074.
Missions, threatened by Indians, ii. 698.
Mississippi Company, obtains rights of Santo Domingo Association, Sen egal and Guinea Companies, Chinese Company, Old West India Com pany, Canada Company, and Au- bert & Company, i. 397; history of, i. 397-8; see Western Co., i. 397.
Mississippi Valley, Soto explores, 1541, i. 15; Joliet and Marquette explore, 1073, i. 23-4; Hennepin and La Salle explore, 1080-2, i. 24: exploration, 1750-1800, i. 28; 1071- 1825, i. 587-015; Hakluyt's views regarding, 1587, i. CO; Nicolet nears, 1634, i. 106; Carver explores, 1706- 8, i. 132-4; change of owners, i. 391-2; French settle, 1099, i. 393; settlement, 17 ll,i. 390-7; fur-trade, 1719, i. 503, 1721-1820, i. 504-14; Jesuit missionaries in, i. 23-4, 587-8.
Missoula Paver, see Lewis and C. ex ped., ii. 70.
Missouri Falls, Lewis and C. exped. discover, ii. 18, 75.
Missouri Fur Co., organized, i. 128; history, i. 511-12; oppose P. Fur Co., ii. 179; in north-west, 1808, ii. 329; reorganized, ii. 450.
Missouri Indians, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 10. Moberly, explores Howse Pass, 1871,
i. 623.
Mobile Bay, Soto reaches, 1540, i. 15. 'Modeste,' H. M. S., on Columbia,
1845, ii. 702.
Modoc Lakes, discovered, i. 642. Mofras. E. D. dc, in Cal., 1841, ii.
658-9, 660, 688; on K W. coast,
1841-2, 663-7; explorations, etc., ii.
603, 607; at Fort Ross, ii. 664; at
Fort Vancouver, ii. 604-5; his works,
ii. 607. Mojave Desert, Caret's crosses, 1776,
i'. 28. Mojave Indians, Oriate explorations,
1604, i. 90. i Moncacht Ape", travels from Miss, to
Pacific, i. 598-607; story, ii. 531-2. Money, in trade of H. Bay Co., i. 458. Moniiio Strait, see Fonte Strait, i. 268. Monk, G., deserter, i. 192. Mono Pass, location, i. 652. Monopolies, Great fur, of New France,
i. 383-9 J, 394-9. Monroe, J., commissioner, purchase
of Louisiana, i. 401 ; Sec'y of state,
ii. 290, 294; title N. W. coast, ii.
335, 354, 300. Monroe doctrine, the N. W. question,
ii. 351, 354, 350; object, ii. 300. Monsonis, Fort, taken by French, i.
44:.
Montana, French explore, i. 20; geog raphy, i. 411.
Montcalm, successful campaigns, i. 400.
Montejo, in 1527, i. 11.
Monterey, Vizcaino enters, 1602, i. 21; Bueno's, lat. 1734, i. 148; Perez, 1773, i. 151, 156; Heceta, 1775, i. 164; LaPerouse, 1786, i. 177; Mar tinez, Haro, 1788, i. 185.
Montezuma, i. 590.
Montgomery. Port, Haswell meets Gray at, Sept. 3, 1792, i. 263.
Monthly Miscellany, 1708, Fonte's letter in, i. 115.
Montiquier, trading exped., 1813, ii. 239
Montigny, 0. D., clerk, ii. 144, 169- 70, 173; among Okanagans, ii. 248, 255; trading exped., ii. 255, 259.
Montour, in Kootenais country, ii. 121; employ Northwest Co., ii. 259, 264; settler Willamette Valley, ii. 500.
Montreal, name becomes current, i. 12; Cartier, passes site, i. 14; Car-
INDEX.
747
tier first arrives at,' 1535, i. 380;
importance, 1811, i. 388-9; annual
fair at, i. 396; English capture,
1759, i. 401. Montreal department, limits of, under
Hudson's Bay Co., i. 448. Moor, explores Hudson Bay, i. 26; on
N. W. coast, 1794, i. 297; onN. W.
coast, 1795, i. 304. Moore, on N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320;
ii. 55; voyage, 183G, i. 341. Moose, habitat, i. 411. Moqui Towns, Tobar and Cardenas
visit, 1540, i. 10; 0 Sate visits, 1604-
5, i. 21, 90; approach to Lake Co-
palla, i. 105.
Morehead, on Or. question, ii. 394. Morena, story of Drake's expedition, i.
62-3. Morgan, Jas., at the Dalles, ii. 498;
settler Cowlitz Valley, ii. 014. Morlete, explores New Mexico, 1591,
i. 20.
Mormons, settle Utah, i. 634. Morning Star, saves whites, ii. 263. Morris, R., N. W. fur-trade, i. 350;
Ledyard's schemes, ii. 3. Moscoso, Luis de, succeeds Scto, 1541,
i. 15.
Mota Padilla, on Cal., 1742, i. 124. Mount St Elias, La Pe"rouse visits,
1786, i. 175.
Mountain system of the West, i. 617. Moweena, see Mawinah, i. 205. Mozeemleks, La Hontan's tale, i.
589. Muddy Creek, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 79. Mudge, Lieut., on N. W. coast, 1792,
i. 281.
Mullan. Pass, location, i. 628^ Miiller, on Russian disco verfes, 1761,
i. 130. Multnomah, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
61, 64-5.
Multnomah falls, location, ii. 62. Mumford, J. M., voyage of, ii. 144-
55.
Mumford, Fort, built, ii. 635. Muiioz, copies memorial of Maldo-
nado, 1781, i. 93. Munster, map of, 1545, i. 48. Murderer's Harbor, see Gray's voy age, 1788, i. 188. Murphy, at San Eafael, ii. 683. Musk-oxen, habitat, i. 412. Musk-rat, habitat, i. 412. Musselshell River, named, ii. 16. Muzon Point, Perez sights, 1773, i.
154.
X
Napoleon, obtains control of Louisi ana, 1800, i. 401.
Nanaimo, Post, Hudson Bay Co., i. 448.
Narvaez, J. M., on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 244; explores Haro channel, i. 246.
Narvaez, Panfilo de, expedition of, 1828-34, i. 11.
Naskootaius, Indian tribe, ii. 286.
'Nassau,' schooner, wrecked, ii. 533.
Nass Indians, small-pox among, ii. 642.
Natchez, importance, 1721, i. 504.
Natchez Indians, revolt, i. 504.
Natchez Pass, location, i. 645.
Nation River, see Eraser's exped., ii. 100.
Native Races of Pacific States, em bodies matter relating to Indians of N. W. coast, i. 5.
Natives, see Indians.
Natla Lake, see Eraser's exped., ii. 109-111.
'Natwytheium,' Wyeth's boat, ii. 560.
Naudowessie, see Dacotahs, i. 607.
Naughalchum, Eraser's exped., ii. 109.
Navajo country, Salmeron's story, i. 105.
Navarrete, M. F. de, Viages Apoc. , i. 93; criticises Maldonado's memorial, i. 94; on X. W. exploration, 1802, 1809, i. 136; on Perez voyage, 1802, i. 158; introduction to Sutily Mex., Viage, i. 273; Galiano and Valdes' voyages, i. 273.
Neali Bay, see Port Nunez Gaona, i. 242.
Neahcarny Mt, Nehalem legend, ii. 532.
Neah-Hoxie, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 57.
Necliaco, see Stuart River, ii. 107.
Necker Island, La Perouse's voyage, 1786, i. 177.
Neely, Indian agent, ii. 85.
Nelson River, discovered, i. 588.
'Nereid,' cruise in north-west, 1836; cruise in north-west, 1837; cruise in north-west, 1838-9, i. 341, 342.
Nerot, fur monopoly of, i. 395.
Nesselrode, Count, commissioner, title N. W. coast, i. 349, ii. 633.
Netul, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 54.
Nevada, Sierra, in Ramusio's map, 1556, i. 49.
Nevodchikof, at Aleutian Is., 1745, i. 30.
748
INDEX.
New Albion, in Martyr's map, 1587, i. GO; not in Purchas' map. 1625, i. 104, 1G55, i. Ill; Spaniards' de scription, 1710, i. 119; Cook's desti nation, 1778, i. 1G8; Gray sights, 1788, i. 187.
Newbury, voyage, 179G, i. 305.
New Caledonia, limits, i. 447; brigade, i. 403-4, ii. 400-71; configuration, ii. 80-90; location, ii. 907 Fraser explores, ii. 94; Thompson explores, ii. 119-20, 122-5; Harmon in, ii. 277-87; early character, ii. 403.
New Cornwall, Vancouver names, limits, i. 292, 447.
Newell, Ii,., trapper, ii. 454; settler, ii. 45(j.
Nov.- establishment on fire, i. G70.
New France, exploration, 1GOO, i. 23; Homem's map, 1558, i. 50; 1578, i. 381; fur monopoly of, i. 383-91, 394-9.
Newfoundland, Cortereals name, i. 1 1 ; name current, i. 12; Verrazaiio at, 1524, i. 379.
New Georgia, Vancouver names, 1792, i. 277; comprised, i. 4i7.
New Hanover, limits, Vancouver names, i. 2'»2; comprised, i. 447.
'Nc\v Hazard,' on X. W. coast, 1811, i. 32G.
Newity, Indian village, ii. 155.
New Mexico, explored by Spaniards between 1580-9G, i. 19-20; revolt in, It <SO, i. 25; explored, 1540-3, i. 44; ia Martyr's map, 1587, i. GG; Wytfiict- Ptolemy map, 1597, i. 82; Ofiate explores, 1604, i. 90; kingdom of Tidam near, i. 91; name appears, 1G25, i. 103; do Lact's map, 1G33, i. 10G; D'Avity's Le Monde, 1(537, '. 108, fur-traders in 1;>24, i. 527.
New Netherlands Company, formed, 1G15; obtained monopoly, dissolved, i. 500.
Newport, founds colony in Virginia, 1GOG, i. 22.
New Norfolk, comprised, i. 447.
New South Wales, comprised, i. 447.
New Spain, in Ruscelli's map, 1544, i. 47.
New, Thomas, on north-west coast, succeeds Hergest, 1792, i. 287.
'New World,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533.
Nez Perces, pierced noses, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 32, 37-40, 06-71; McKenzie among, ii. 210-11; mis sionaries among, ii. 535.
Nez Perces, Fort, see Fort Walla Walla, ii. 471. 490.
Niagara, the king takes charge of, i. 398; English take, 1759, i. 401.
Niagara Falls, discovered, 1640, i. 587.
Nichols, Emmons exped., ii. 682.
Nicola, Black's death, ii. 510-11.
Nicolet, Jean, discoveries, 1634-5, i. 22, 106.
Xicuesa, voyage, i. 10.
Niel, Padre, on Colorado Rio, i. 127.
Nino, Andres, reaches Gulf of Fonseca, i. 13.
Nipissings, Champlain visits, 1615, i. 3^8.
Nisqually, Fort, post II. Bay Co., i. 4-18; founded, ii. 524-5; agriculture, ii. 525, G14; object, ii. 525.
Nitinat, native village, V. is., i. 205.
Nitinat, False, i-ce Hostility Bay, i. 199.
Niza, Marcos de, his Cibola, i. 3; ex pedition to pueblo towns, i. 16, 43, 4G; reports refuted, i. 44.
Noak, Indian chief, i. 33G.
Noble Mountain Pass, location, i. 647.
Noble Pass, location, i. G4S.
'Nonsuch,' ketch, cruise to Hudson Bay, 1GG8, i. 439.
Nootka, see San Lorenzo, i. 155; He- ceta nears, 1775, i. 162; Voyages of La Pe" rouse, Portlock, Dixon, Bar clay, Duncan, and Colnett, to, i. 177-84; Gray at, 1788, i. 190; Cook names, 177^, i. 190; ship-building at, 17^'8, i. 195-7; Meares, Douglas at, 1788, i. 200; controversy over, i. 204-38; Funter at, 1789, i. 210; site of Fort Pitt, i. 211; M«-tcjilf at, i. 212; Spaniards take possession of, i. 213, ii. 321; Martinez and Haro at, 1789, i. 213; Martinez names it Santa Cruz dc Nutka, i. 216; Mar tinez explores, i. 224; Fng. state popers, etc., i. 230; reoccupied by Spaniards, 1790, i. 240; Colnett at, 1790, i. 243; Matute at, 1791, i. 248; Malaspina at, 1791, i. 249; Caamaiio at, 1792, i. 267; aban doned by whites, 1795, i. 301; situ ation, ii. 157; Perez discovers, ii. 318; Cook surveys, ii. 318.
Nootka Controversy, relation of Amer icans to English and Spaniards, i. 224-5; rights of countries concerned, i. 225-7, 303-4; international com plications, i. 227; negotiations be tween Eug. and Spain, i. 230-6; policy of Spain, i. 284-5; end of, i. 284-91, 294, 299-304; Re villa Gi- gedo's report, i. 286, 290-1; com-
749
missioners meet, Nootka, i. 287-9, 290, 299; instructions to commis sioners, i. 287-9; convention, 1793, Eng. i. 289; final settlement, 1794, Spain, i. 300; ii. 321, 324-6; iinal restitution, 1795, i. 301-4; remarks, i. 301-4.
Nootka Convention, signed, i. 234-8; substance, i. 234-5; theory of, i. 304; ii. 322, 325; bearing on Or. question, ii. 371-5.
Normans, explore northward, i. 11.
Norte, liio Grande del, Coronado near, 1540, i. 17; discovered, 1540, i. 44; Ortelius' map, 1574, i. 53; Harris' map, 1705, i. 115.
North, J. II., oil exploring; expcd., ii. 6G9.
North America, Atlantic coast ex plored, i. 11-12; settlement, 1550, i. 14; limits of exploration, 1550, i. 17; exploration, 1550-1750, i. 23-7; geography, 1550, i. 33; Ptolemy's map, 1530, i. 40; first printed map of, i. 4S-9; Homem's map, 1558, i. 49; Apiauus' map, 1575, i. 50; guesses about mineral wealth, i. 130; review of north-west explora tion, 1839, i. 13G; change of owner ship, 1759-G3, i. 378; English dis covery, i. 437-8.
North American Fur Co., formed, i. 514, ii. 444.
North Carolina, English attempt to settle, 15S4-7, i. 19; north-east coast, explorations of by Frobisher and Davis, i. 18.
Northern Company, formed, 1GS1, merged into Company of Canada, i. 440.
Northern Mystery, eighteenth cen tury, i. 4; history, i. 5-10, 28, 32- 69; an incentive to exploration, i. 10; at present, i. 10; an imaginary geography, i. 32-69; end of, i. 134.
North Is., named, i. 179.
North Kootenais Pass, location, i. 624.
Northmen, object in America, i. 35.
North-west, the, 1804, ii. 1-2; trap pers in, ii. 126-8; exploration, ii. 326-33; boundary quest., ii. 334-9.
'North West America,' first ship built in north-west, i. 202; on N. W. coast, 1789, i. 205, 207, 209-10, 216; seized by Spaniards, i. 216.
North-west boundary question, the, postponed, ii. 295; settled, ii. 306; discussed, ii. 316-416; in Congress, ii. 360-7, 384-8, 400-14, 489-97;
bearing of Nootka convention on, ii. 371-5; in Parliament, ii. 397-9, 493.
Northwest Coast, introductory to ex ploration, i. 1-32; primary signifi cance of discovery, i. 1-2; defined, i. 2; explored from 42° to 54° x. , i. 2; maritime and land exploration, i. 2; fame of, i. 3-4; limitations of ex plorations, i. 4; scope of subject, i. 4; decline of Spanish exploration, i. 7; travellers' tales, i. 8; fur-field discovered, i. 9; Fcrrelo reaches, 1545, i. 17; geography, 1550, i. 31-4; apocryphal vovagcs, i. 70- 99; Jefierys' map, 17CS, i. 132; summary of exploration, i. 130; discovery, i. 137-160; Spaniards take possession, 1775, i. 100; ex ploration, 1 778-88, i. 1(57-203; ex ploring and commercial expedition, 1790-2, i. 239-83; French explore, i. 255-7; Spaniards explore, 1702, i. 207-73, 28J-3; trading fleet, 1793, i. 293-4; contraband traders, i. 3GS; fur-traders, 1794, i. 297; 1795, i. 3C4; 1700, i. 304-5; 1797, i. 306; 1798, i. 300; 17(J9, i. 300-7; 1800, i. 308; 1801, i. 310-11; 1802, i. 311- 12; traders, 1805, i. 320; 1800, i. 321-3; 1807, i. 323-4; 1SCS-9, i. 324-5; 1810-11, i. 325-8; 1812, i. 328-9; 1812-14, i. 329-33; 1815, i. 333-4; 1810, i. 334-5; 1817, i. 335-0; 1818, i. 330-9; traders, 1819-40, i. 340-2; fur-trade with China, i. 345-6; fur-trade outfits, i. 521; fur-trade, i. 521-8; mission aries, i. 548-50 ; application of term, i. 585-8; earliest overland explorations, i. 585-615; condition of exploration, 1800, ii. 1-2; under Northwest Co-rcgimc, ii. 237-76; summary 6f~ Towages, ii. 317-24; overland expeditions, ii. 324-9; early voyages, ii. 317-26; early ex plorations, ii. 317-33; ship-build ing, ii. 321, 323; title, ii. 335-54; question in congress, ii. 343-7, 352-4; Russians, 1789, ii. 349; title dis pute, ii. 355-88; whale-fisheries, ii. 420-7; domination by H. Bay Co., 1821-6, ii. 431, 460-75; 1828-9. ii. 489-506; agriculture begun, ii. 440-2, 500-3; cattle introduced, ii. 442-3; movements, 1833-41, ii. 524-5; Jap anese wrecks, ii. 531-3; wrecks, ii. 532-3; missionaries, ii. 534-8; af fairs, 1836-9, ii. 600-21; Belcher explores, 1836-42, ii. 611; forts
750
INDEX.
founded, 1831-5, ii. 622; ship-build ing, ii. 623-4; H. Bay Co. occupies, ii. 623-35; incidents, 1834-44, ii. 636-54; 1842-6, ii. 697-712; char acter of Indians on, ii. 650, 652; French, ii. 662-3; boundary ques tion, ii. 688-9, 707-8, 711-12. Northwest Co., traffic on 1ST. W. coast,
1815, i. 333-4; trade with Cal.,
1816, i. 334; business, 1798, i. 465- 6; currency, i. 468; enterprise, i. 483, 510; union with II. Bay Co., i. 469, 514, 582- i; policy toward Indians, i. 535-50; establishes school, i. 544; history, i. 551-84; character,
1. 551-2, 556; organized, i. 555-6, ii. 3, 130; head-quarters, i. 556; gov ernment, i. 5.10; officers, i. 5-~<J-S; admits X. Y. Co., i. 556, 558; part ners, i. 557, 5GG-7; proiits, i. 558; partners, i. 557, 50(5-7; clerks, i. 557-8; returns, 1788, i. 558; em ploye's, 179S, i. 559; brigade, i. 560-4; opposes lied Paver settlc- $ieiit, i. 5/3-82; Fort "William of, i. 66-4-8; quarrel with H. Bay Co., i. 568-84; enterprise, ii. 89-90, 119- 20, 141, 170, 300; character of ser vants, ii. 124; influence of K India Co., ii. 141 ; overtures from Astor, ii. 141; opposes P. Fur Co., ii. 179; obtain Astoria, ii. 227-31; regime on N. W. coast, i. 237-70; traffic onN. W. coast, 1818, ii. 334; policy at Fort George, ii. 2(55-0; plans on Pacific_^oast^l816, ii. 260; pur chases Fort Astoria, ii." 285, 331- 2; union with 11. Bay Co., ii. 296, 302-4, 343 ; rivalry with 11 . Bay Co. , ii. £U9t. 30^ opposes lied River colony, ii. 300; during war, 1812, ii. 300-1; buys out P. Fur Co., ii. 331.
North-west Passage, the, early belief in, i. 35-G; Gilbert upon, i. 59; Willes on, i. 59-60; Frobisher's view of, i. 60; Drake seeks, 1579, i. 61; evidence of, 1590, i. 68; Fuca reports discovery, 1599, i. 70; re ported discovery, i. 87; Maldouado's report of, i. 92-9; attempts to check exploration, i. 100; problem of, i. 664.
North-western Ter. , the. organized, i 585.
Northrop, Capt., cruise 1813, ii. 200-
2, 226.
Norton, explores H. Bay, 1761-2, i. 28.
Norton, M., gov. Prince of Wales
Fort, 1769, i. 485; character, i. 544.
Norton, R., gov. Prince of Wales
Fort, 1737, i. 484. Norway House, H. Bay Co. council
meets at, i. 451; built, ii. 469. Nouvelle France, name becomes cur rent, i. 12; see Canada, i. 19, 380. Nova Scotia, French regain, i. 22; see
Acadia, i. 383.
Nubiana, on N. W. coast, 1788, i. 192. Nueva Galicia, province of California,
1655, i. 110. Nueva Vizcaya, missionaries in, 1562,
i. 19. Nuevo Leon, Spaniards explore and
establish mining-camps at, 1562, i.
19.
Nunez Gaona, see Neah Bay, i. 264. Nuttall, with P. Fur Co., ii. 179; with
Lisa, ii. 182; in Mex. and Cal., ii.
407; with Wycth's Or. exped., ii.
577.
Nuttin, astronomer, i. 189. Nye, Capt. D., on N. W. coast, 1811,
i.326; 1817-18, i. 338; 1819, i. 340;
1836, i. 341.
Oak Point, named, i. 281; Lewis and C. exped., ii. CO.
Obi, Valley of, Cossacks occupy, i. 29.
Obilo River, in Low's map, 1598, i. 85.
Observatory Creek, Lewis and C. ex- ])L-d., ii. 71.
O'Caiii, on N. W. coast, 1803, i. 317, 319; 1806, i. 323; 1810-11, i. 325; 1813, i. 330; 011 Cal. coast, i. 525-6.
Ocean, Northern, Hearne reaches, 1770, i. 012.
Ochequiion, see Alabama, i. 123.
Ockington, voyage, 1801, i. 310.
Ocfden, N. E. , supercargo, 'Lark,'ii. 202.
Ogden, P. S., at Fort St James, ii. 109; life at Fort George, ii. 287; at Ogden Hole, ii. 455; at the Dalles, ii. 498; in New Caledonia, ii. 516, 602; movements, 1834, ii. 530-1; at Fort Vancouver, 1834, ii. 594; founds Fort Simpson, ii. 023; fort-building exped., 1834, ii. 629-35; at Fort Vancouver, ii. 676.
Ogilby, map, 1671, i. 110-11.
Ohahlat, see Destruction Paver, i. 182.
Ohio Fur Co., formed, i. 400, 505.
Ohio Valley, explored, i. 505.
Ojeda, voyage, 1504-5, i. 10.
Okanagan, building at, ii. 264.
Okanagan, Fort, post H. Bay Co., i. 448; built, ii. 173-4; removed, ii. 711.
INDEX.
751
Okhotsk, Russian factory at, 1650, i. 29.
Old Establishment, built 1778-9, i. 582.
Old Fort, see Hudson Hope, ii. 91.
Olid, his expedition in 1524, i. 11.
Olympus, Mount, see Santa Rosalia, i. 156; Meares names, i. 197.
Onate, J. de, conquers and settles New Mexico, 1598, i. 20; explores Texas, 1601, i. 21; explorations, 1603, i. 90-2; 1604, i. 101; explores Gulf of Ceil., 1615, i. 102; river dis coveries, 1625, i. 103.
O'Neill, Wm.. voyage, 1834, i. 341.
Oiiis, Luis de,' title N. W., ii. 340.
'Ourust,' yacht, built, cruise, i. 500.
'Ontario,3 cruise to Columbia, 1818, i. 339, ii. 290-2.
Ontario, Lake, discovered by Cham- plain, 1613, i. 38S.
Ootlashoots, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 34.
Opitseta, Gray's winter quarters, 1791, i. 252.
Orchard River, named, i. 281.
Ordway, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 70, 75-6.
Ordway Creek, named, 1805, ii. 20.
Oregon, part of N. W. coast, i. 2; Carver invents name, i. 132; dis covery of coast, i. 131-49, 157; in 1774, i. 149; routes of emigrants through Rocky Mountains to, i. 631; configuration, soil, climate, ii. 418-31; saw-mill erected, 1S29, ii. 505; 1834, ii. 527-8; settlement, 1834, ii. 529; 1839, ii. 685-6; 1844, ii. 694; 1842, ii. 698; 1843, ii. 701; missionaries in, ii. 534-8, 674; efforts to settle, ii. 543-54; exploring ex pedition in, ii. 684; settlers petition congress, ii. 685; Fremont in, ii. 694; 1842-3, ii. 698; provisional gov ernment, 1844-6, ii. 698-9; Ameri canization of, ii. 698-9.
Oregon department, see Columbia de partment, i. 448.
Oregon Provisional Emigration So ciety, organized, 1838, ii. 607-8.
Oregon Question, the, discussed, i. 143; ii. 333-54, 417-31; summary of evi dence, ii. 316-33; treaties touching, ii. 332, 334-42, 348-51; 1824-9, ii. 355-88, 410-11; negotiations on, ii. 355-60, 367-84, 391, 408, 410; 1830-46, ii. 389-416; settled, ii. 410-11; authorities on, ii. 414-16.
Oregon road, the, mapped and sur veyed, i. 632.
'Oregon,' ship, see Thomas H. Per kins, ii. 681.
Oregon and El Dorado, criticised, ii. 31.
'Oriole,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533. Orleans, Duke of, gov. of Co. of the
Indies, 1723, i. 398. Orleans, territory of, see Louisiana, i.
402.
Orovillc Pass, i. 650. Oroville-Quincy Pass, location, i. 650. Orozimbo, on Columbia, ii. 680. Ortelius, A. , works, i. 53, 81 ; map, 1574,
i. 53-4.
Osio, custom officer, ii. 541. Oskononton, Iroquois, death, ii. 287. Ostend, Larclay leaves, Nov. 1786, i.
182. Oswego, Fort, effects on fur-trade, i.
398.
Otter, see Sea Otter, i. 305. 'Otter,' steam-boat, ii. 561; on N. W.
coast, 1852, ii. 601. Otter River, named, ii. 77. 'Otter,' ship, on N. W. coast, 1811, i.
326. Ottoes, Indians, Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 10-12. Oudiette, fur monopoly of, i. 395;
failure, i. 390.
Ouinipeg, see Winnipeg, i. 106. Overland express, from Fort Vancou ver east, i. 463-4. Owen, on Or. question, ii. 393. 'Ovryhee,' brig, on N. W. coast,
1828-30, i. 341; ii. 442-3, 503, 560,
687.
Pacific coast, exploration of, 1520- 1550, i. 16-17; 1543-1775, i. 137.
Pacific Fur Co., sell Fort Astoria, i. 227-31 ; on N. W. coast, i. 327; ii. 119-20, 122, 124, 172-3; sells to Northwest Co., i. 331; Astor forms, i. 51 o; organized, ii. 119, 142, 329- 31; overland exped. to Astoria, ii. 178-92; proposed relation to R. A. Fur Co., ii. 198.
Pacific Fur Co., exped., loss of life, ii. 236.
Pacific Ocean, Mackenzie reaches, 1793, i. 28, 697; Cossacks reach, 1639, i. 29; Ogilby's map, 1671, i. Ill; Lewis and C. exped. reach, ii. 49.
Pacific states, fur-districts, i. 414.
Packington, plenipotentiary, Or. ques tion, ii. 410.
752
INDEX.
PaguljinWytfliet Ptolemy map, 1597, i. 84.
Palliser, explorations, i. 021.
Palmer, J., route to Or., i. 634; Or. expecl., i. C47, G50.
Palmerston, ii. 033.
Palouses, Indian tribe, ii. 203.
Pambrunn, P. S., at Fort Vancouver, ii. 441; at Walla Walla, 1833, ii. 572; death, ii. 089.
Pangmaii, forms X. Y. Co., i. 555.
Pangman, Gregory Co., see X. Y. Co., i. 553.
Panuco, Moscoso reaches, 1543, i. 15.
Paradise Terrestrial, in South Amer ica, i. 35.
Paredew, Padre Alonso de, report on American geography, i. 112.
Paris, treaty of, 1703, i. 401, 443.
Parker, S., Or. missionary, ii. 535; journal, ii. 530.
Parmcnticrs, Fonte's story, i. 117.
Parsnip River, named, i. 074; ex plored, ii. 87.
Partners, N. W. Co., i. 5GO-7.
Passes, through the Cordilleras, i. 010-40; map of, between lat. 40° and 32' N., i. 02!); from Or. to Cal., i. 047; Cal. to Mex., i. 0.14; in Cen tral Am., i. 002-3; map of between Mex. and Central Am., i. 058.
Pataha Creek, see Kimmooeniin. ii. GO.
Pattie, S., traps through New Mex., Arizona, Cal., 1829, i. 527.
Paulding, J. K., sec'y of navy, ii. COS.
Pavion, named, ii. 203.
Peace River, Mackenzie explores, 1703, i. 28, 070; country, i. 408; fur- traders reach, 178G, i. 612; ex plored, ii. 87.
Peace River Pass, location, i. 620; description, i. 024.
' Peacock, ' ship, on N. W. coast, 1800, i. 322.
' Peacock,' sloop of war, explores Pa cific, ii. 009, 079; wrecked, ii. 532, 680.
Peale, T. R., on exploring exped., ii. 609.
' Pearl,' on N. W. coast, 1806, i. 322; 1808-9, i. 324.
Peche, Thomas, in Strait of Anian, i. 111.
Pecos, in map of Ortelius, 1574, i. 53.
Pecos, Rio, Castaiio enters New Mex ico by, 1596, i. 20.
'Pedler,'brig, on N. W. coast, 1814, i. 332; 1821, i. 340; 1813, ii. 226, 234-5.
Peel, Sir R., on Or. question, ii.
397-8. Peel River Pass, see Porcupine Pass,
i. 620. Peers, H. N., at Cowlitz farm, ii.
613. Peirce, Henry A., voyage, 1825-8, i.
341.
Pcircc, M. T., voyage, 1825-8, i. 341. ' Pelican,' captures Fort Nelson, 1697,
i. 442. Pellet, in Kootcnais country, ii. 121;
clerk, ii. 173-4, 177, 203-5, 218;
among Okanagans, ii. 204-5; leaves
Fort George, 245. Polly, Sir J. H., Gov. II. Bay Co., ii.
515; director I'uget Sound A. Co.,
ii. 010; at Honolulu, ii. 661. Pelly, Gco., at Honolulu post, ii. 522. Peltry, term, i. 457. Polua, Indian food, ii. 255. Pcmaquid, French take, 1697, i. 442. Pemican, preparation, i. 433-4. Pcfia, on Perez exped., 1773, i. 151. Penalosa, D. de, expedition of 1662,
i. 108-9; Fonte's story, i. 116. Pcnd d'Oreille River; post, Hudson
Bay Co., i. 44S. Pemi, in Mass., i. 502. Pcim Cove, explored, ii. 680. IVopcoh, at Fort Langlcy, ii. 477. Pcrca, Padre, explores Texas, 1629, i.
21. Perez, Juan, exploration, 1778, i. 150—
8; 1774, ii. 318; works, i. 151-3;
extract from log of, 1773, i. 152-5;
criticism of, 1773, i. 157; Heceta's
exped., 1775, i. 158-00; voyage of,
by Navarrete, 1802, i. 158; death,
i. 166. Perkins, N. W. fur-trade, i. 359; with
Missouri Fur Co., ii. 456. Perpetua, Cape, Cook names, 1778, i.
109.
Pcrrault, clerk, P. Fur Co., ii. 143. Perrier, voyage, 1838, i. 342. 'Perseverance,' Eraser's boat, ii. 118. Petroff, I., visits Alaska, 1878, ii. 636. Phclps, on Fuca's Pillar, i. 79. Philanthropy River, named, ii. 23-4. Philippine Co., monopoly in fur-trade,
i. 525. Philippine treasure-ships, route across
Pacific, 1700-50, i. 25. Philosophy Creek, named, 1805, ii.
23; see foot-note.
'Phoebe, 'in Pacific, ii. 201, 231-2. 'Phoenix,' in north-west, 1794, i. 297;
1795, i. 304. Picca.no, fur monopoly of, i. 395, 441.
INDEX.
753
Pichette, L., arrives Astoria, 1818, his death, ii. 290.
Pichilingues, freebooters, i. 21.
Pierce, Lieut. Thomas, commissioner, Nootka, 1795, i. 301.
Pierpont, voyage, 1801, i. 310.
Pierre Hole, location, ii. f;G2; rendez vous, ii. 458, 502, 570; Indian light at, ii. 5G3-4.
Pierson, J. H., settler Cowlitz valley, ii. 014.
Piette, at Fort Langley, ii. 477.
Pigott, Capt., 011 Alaskan coast, 1813, ii. 235.
Pike, Major Z. M., explorations, i.
G13, o:;9.
Pike Lake, see Jefferys' map, 1708, i.
132. Pilcher, J., explorer, i. 510; with
Missouri Fur Co., i. 014; ii. 450;
trapping tour, ] 827-9, ii. 450. Pillar, Fuca's, i. 79-80. Pilot Cove, named, ii. 072. Pilot Knobs, see Hunt's exped. , ii.
183. Pimeria Alta, see Sonora, i. 25; Kino
in, i. 113.
Pineda, voyage, 1519, i. 11. Pine lliver Pass, location, i. 020. Pinos Point, Perez lies off, June 15,
1773, i. 152.
Pintard, Boston merchant, i. 358. Pintard Sound, see Queen Charlotte
Sound, i. 201.
Pinzon, voyage in, 1500, i. 10. Pipe of peace, among Shoshones, ii.
29; Ross smokes with Indians, ii.
209. Pirdeaux, sent against Niagara and
Montreal, 1759, i. 401. Pirrault Bros., at Fort Langley, ii.
477.
Pisquouse, Indian tribe, ii. 257. Pitt Cape, named, i. 179. Pitt Fort, factory on Alaskan Coast, i.
211. Pitt River, explored, i. 048; see Quoi-
tle, ii. 480.
Pizarro, method of converting, i. 550. Plascotez de Chiens, see Fete Plat, i.
592. Plomondeau, S., at Fort Langley, ii.
477; becomes farmer, ii. 012; with
Wilkes' party, ii. 074. Plymouth Co., receives grants in
America, i. 399. Pocahontas, marriage with Rolfe, i.
543. Point Breakers, Cook names, 1778, i.
170.
HIST. N. W. COAST, VOL. II. 48
Point St George, Aguilar's furthest limit, 1003, i. 148.
Polctica, on title N. W. coast, ii.
348-9. Polk, Pres., on Or. question, ii. 390-
7-8-9, 400, 401-2; on title N. W.
coast, ii. 3SG-7. 'Polly,' cruise in north-west, 1801, i.
310.
Polo, Marco, traveller, i. 5-G. Pompcy's Pillar, Clarke names, ii. 79. Poncas, Hunt's exped. among, ii. LSI. Pond, P., partner, N. W. Co., i. 555,
582. Pontgrave", fur monopoly of, i. 38 1-5;
on St Lawrence, i. 387. Pontrincourt, at Port Royal, i. 380. Poole River, named, i. 281. Porcupine Cove, Mackenzie's voyage,
named, i. 008, 700. Porcupine Pass, description, i. 020. 'Porpoise,' brig, explores Pacific, ii.
0(59, 084; on N. W. coast, ii. 072,
680-1.
Portage, term, i. 502. Port dcs Francais, La Perouse in, 1780,
i. 175. Port Discovery, Quimper surveys, i.
Porter, Capt. O., on N. W. coast,
1805, i. 320; 180G, i. 321; 1811, i.
320. Porter, Commodore, captured, i. 330;
cruise in Pacific, ii. 225-0, 231. Portland, site, ii. 70S; rise of, ii. 709. Port Lawrence, see Hood Canal, ii.
072. Portlock, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1785-
7, i. 178-81, 354-5; a voyr.ge, etc.,
i. 179.
Port Madison, named, ii. 073. Port Royal, founded, i. 380; seized by
Cromwell, 1G54; returned, 1007, i.
391.
Port Royal Co., failure, i. 380. Possession Sound, Vancouver names,-,
1792, i. 277.
Post, voyage, 1821, i. 341. Post, see Fort.
Potts, kiilod by Indians, ii. 82. Potts Creek, named, 1805, ii. 20: Powhatan, treaty with, i. 543. Prairie, term denned, i. 411. Prairie of the Knobs, named, ii. 71. Pratte and Co., traders form, i. 515. Pratz, Le Page du, Histoire, etc., i.
598; map, i. 001 ; story of Moncacht
Ape, i. 598-007. Presbyterian missionaries, in N. W.,,
1830, ii. 534-58.
754
INDEX.
Prescott, Espejo reaches site of, 1596,
i. 20. President's range, Kelley names, ii.
550.
Preuss, Chas., with Fremont, ii. 694. Prevost, B., commissioner, Astoria
restored, ii. 290-3. Prevost, J. B., U. 8. Commissioner
1818, i. 339; letter on Dr., ii. 421. 1 Vince Edward Is. , English take, 1 758,
i. 400. ' Prince Le Boo,' sloop, on X. W. coast,
1792, i. 205; 1793, i. 'JO.0.; 1794, i. 297.
Prince of Wai -s Fort, description, governors, i. 484.
Prince of W;Jes L.;laiid, Perez surlus, 177::, i. ]."-!.
' Prince of Wales. ' ship, on X. W. coast, 1787, i. 183.
'Princesa,' on X. W. const, 1779, i. 172-3; 1788, i. 184; 1789, i. 205, 213; 1792. i. 204. 283; 1793, i. 21 '<3; 1794, i. 295-0, 299.
'Princesa Real, 'on X. W. coast, 1790, i. 240-3.
'Princess Royal. 'on X. W. coast, 1787, i. 183; 17S8, i. 19,1, 200; 1789, 207, 210-12, 217, 220; seized l.y Span iards, i. 21 1.
Princess Royal isles, Duncan discov ers, 1787, i. 1S-I.
'Prince William Henry,' schooner, cruise in the north-west, 1792, i. 205.
Prince William Sound, Meares at. 3780, i. 177; Strange reaches, 17SO, i. 178; Clears, Portlock, Dixon at, 1787, i. 179.
Pritchard, store-keeper, N. W. Co., i. 570.
Pryor, Serg., Lewis and C. exped., ii. 78, 81.
Pryor Creek, named, ii. 79.
Ptolemy, map 1511, i. 37; 1530, i. 40.
Puebla Pass, location, i. 059.
.Pueblo Towns, De Vaca hears of. 1530, i. 10; Xew Mexico, 1540, i. 10-17; ; .tea's report of, 1530, i. 43; char acter, 1540-3, i. 44.
Tvigcl, on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 275;
1793, i. 291-2.
' Is., named, i. 281.
Puget Sound, agriculture at, 1839, ii. 014; 1841, 656; Catholic mission, 1841, ii. 656-7; American settle ment, ii. 701; lumber mill built, 1844, ii. 701-2.
Puget Sound Agricultural Co. , organ ized, ii. 014-18; removed to Vic toria, ii. 618; failure, ii. 618-19.
Punchaw Lake, see Mackenzie's voy age, i. 091.
Puntataencut River, see Mackenzie's voyage, i. 092.
Purchas, publishes Fuca's story, 1025, i. 73; map, 1025, i. 103-4; map of Honduras, i. 104; on Drake's voy age, i. 141.
Puritans, colonize Mass., 1020, i. 22; as fur-traders, i. 501-2.
Pursley, J., opens Santa Fe route, 1802, i. 515, 012.
Q
'Quadratus,' brig, wrecked, ii. 533.
Quamash Flats, Lewis and C. cxped.,
ii. 09.
j Quus, Indian chief, ii. 282. I Quebec, settlement near, 1540, i. 12; French fort near, 1543, i. 14; Eng lish capture, 1759, i. 379; French regain, i. 22; trading centre, 027, i. 389; attacked, i. 390.
Queen Charlotte Is., Perez discovers, 177-'), i. I">3; Douglas passes, 1788,
1. 200; Cray at, i. 206; Caamano explores, i. 207.
| 'Queen Charlotte,' ship, on X. W.
coar;t, 1785-7. i. 177-81. Queen Charlotte Sound, Strango
mimes, 17'SO, i. 178. \ Queenhithe Is., Meares sights July 2,
1788, i. 1D7. Quccnhitho River, Meares sights July
2, 1788, i. 19J.
Quecnuitett Village, Meares sights July 2, 17£8, i. 197-
Qucsnel. J. M. . on Fraser Lake, ii.
280-1.
I Quesnelle, Mackenzie's voyage, i. OS;, 692.
Quicksand Bay, Meares names, i. 198.
Quicksand River, named, ii. 48; see Lewis and C. cxped., ii. 00.
Quimper, A. M., explorations, 1790, i. 240, 241-3, 285, ii. 322; map, 1790, i. 242; Seguiulo, etc., i. 243.
Quivira, Coronado's, i. 3, 45; Span iards reach. 1541, i. 17; Bonilla searches for, 1590, i. 20; location, i. 45-9; Raurasio's map, 1550, i. 49; Ortelius' map, 1574, i. 53; Martyr's map, 1587, i. 00; Herrera's map, 1601, i. 88; Torquemada locates, i. 89; Onate's exped. to, 1003, i. 90; Hondin's map, i. 105; De Laet's map, 1633, i. 100; D'Avity's Le Monde, 1637, i. 107; Peiialosa's exped. to, 1662, i. 109; province of Cal., 1655,
INDEX.
755
i. 110; Ogilby's map, 1671, i. Ill; Parede's report, 1686, i. 112; Hacke's map, 1699, i. 115; Harris'map, 1705, i. 115; Spaniards' description of, 1710, i. 119. Quoitle, see Pitt River, ii. 480.
i.
Raccoon, habitat, i. 412.
'Racoon,' on X. W. coast, 1813, i.
331-2, ii. 232-4; 1814. i, 333, ii.
331; in 8. F. Bay, ii. 252. Rada, Martin dc, reports discovery of
Northwest Passage, i. 87. Radisson, explorations, i. 588. Rae, Mrs, in Cal. . ii. 688. line, W. G., at Fort Stikeen, 1840, ii.
645-6; at Yerba Buena, 1841, ii.
649, 651, 688; marriage, 1837, ii.
687. Rainier, Mount, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 01. Raleigh, Sir Walter, attempts to found
colony at Roanoke, 1586-7, i. 19. Ramusio, Sebastian Cabot's letter to,
i. 36; map. 1556, i. 49. Rapids, running, i. 428-9. Rascals' Village, see Mackenzie's voy age, i. 697, 700. Rations, fur-hunters, i. 432-3. Rattlesnake creek, named, ii. 1(5. Raymond, Or. missionary, ii. 676. Raynolds, Capt., explores Yellow stone, ii. 31. Recheblave, partner X. W. Co., i.
555. Recollet, missionaries in Canada, i.
22.
Rector, MS., remarks on, i. 615. Red River Colony, of H. Bay Co., i.
573-82; effect on X. W. Co., ii.
269; affray of, ii. 299, 301; opposed
by X. W. Co.. ii. 300-1. Red Rock Creek, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 30. Reed, J., clerk, on overland exped., ii.
179, 184, 186, 188, 191, 246; at
Astoria, ii. 193-5; on exped., ii.
202-3.209, 211, 218, 238-40; murder
of, ii. 247. Reid, J. W. E., on exploring exped.,
ii. 669.
Reindeer, habitat, i. 412. Reine, Fort de la, built, i. 595. Relief ship, explores Pacific, ii. 669-
71. Rendezvous, fur-traders, i. 493-4,
517; Indian, ii. 255-6; Wind River,
ii. 455; 1837, ii. 610; Green River,
1824, ii. 447; 1829, ii. 458; Yellow stone Lake, ii. Oil.
Renncll Sound, named, i. 179.
'Resolution,' cruise on X. W. coast, 1778, i. 167-72.
Restone River, named, ii. 81.
Re villa, Cristobal, 1775; Heceta's ex ped., i. 158-66.
Revilla, Gigedo, opinion of the seizure of Colnett. i. 223; orders Xootka occupied, i. 239; north-west explora tion, 1792, i. 270; 1794, i. 295; report on Xootka controversy, i. 286, 290-1.
Rey Coromedo, see Purchas' map, 1625, i. 103.
Re}7es, Point, Cabrera, Bueno's lati tudes at, 1734, i. 148.
Reyes River, Fonte's story, i. 116.
Reynolds, Capt., on Cal. coast, 1816, i. 335; at Fort George, ii. 267.
Reynolds, J. X., originates exploring exped., 'ii. 009.
Rezanof, report, i. 321-2.
Ribas, Juan de, reports discovery of north-west passage, i. 87.
Ribault. Jean, colonizes America, 1562, i. 19, 380-1; hunts for Cibola, i. 52; killed, i. 380-1.
Ricaras, Lewis and C. exped. among, ii. 13; Hunt's exped. among, ii. 181-3.
Rich, W., on exploring exped., ii. 669, 682.
Richard, deserter, ii. 626; death, ii. 628.
Richardson, surveyor, i. 615; with Wyeth's exped., ii. 589-90.
Richardson, ('apt, port, S. F., ii. 683.
Richelieu, monopoly in America, i. 388-9.
Richmond, missionary, Fort Xis qually, 1841, ii. 657.
Ring-gold, Lieut. C., on exploring exped., ii. 669; explored Admiralty Inlet, ii. 673; sent to S. F. Bay, ii. 681, 683.
Rio Buenaventura, the, of Spaniards, i. 639, 641, 651.
Rio de Janeiro, Villcgagnon lands at, i. 380.
Rio Xevado, of Cortereal, i. 36.
Rio del Xorte, doubt about its dis- embouchment, i. 45.
Rio, Rodrigo del, views of Xew Mex ico, i. 63.
Rios, Hernando de los, reports two north-west passages, 1598, i. 87.
River of the West, 'see Oregon, i. 608.
Rizner, J., with P. Fur Co. exped., ii. 18. 184, 246-7.
756
INDEX.
Roanoke, Raleigh attempts to found colony at, 1584-7.
Roanoke River, fiction concerning, i. CO.
Robbiboo, food, i. 434.
Bobbins, voyage, 1838, i. 342.
Roberdeau, MS., remarks on, i. G15.
Robernal, viceroy of Canada, founds settlement, i. 12.
Roberts, Capt,, on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 2..>5; 17'J2, i. 20.3; 1703, i. 2(J4.
Roberts, G. !>., with I). Douglas, ii. 508; at Couiitz farm, 1847, ii. 013; Pugct Sound A. Co., ii. 615; fort- building exped., 1834, ii. 029.
Rober! son, Co, in, manager for Selkirk, i. 570-7.
Robinson, voyage. 1838, i. 312.
Robinson, E., with P. Fur Co. exped., ii. 1S1, 184, 240.
Robinson, F. J., commissioner on title N. W. coast, ii. 330-8.
Roblet, sur .eon, explores Charlotte Isl., i. 2.',5-7.
'Rob Roy,' cruise iu north-west, 1S23-:,, i. 311.
Rochejaune, see Yellowstone, ii. SO.
Rocky Mts, French reach, 1743, i. 20; 17 "'2, i. 28; trappers reach, 17-0-1 800, i. 27; lirst wagon exped. to, i. 514; Vcrendrye reaches, i. 595; Lewis aad C. exped., ii. 10, 79.
Rocky Mt. Fur Co., formed, i. 514; opposes H. Lay Co., ii. 454; change of ownership, ii. 455, 010; compe tition with American Fur Co., ii. 456, 507, 570-1.
Rocky Mt. House, built, ii. 89, 91-2; Fraser at, ii. 94-8.
Rocky Mountains, Gates of, named, 1805, ii. 21.
Roddes, fur monopoly of, i. 395.
Rodgers, his voyages, 1792, i. 205.
Rodriguez, explores New Mexico, 1581-2, i. 20.
Roebuck, on Or. question, ii. 397-8.
Rogers, voyage, 1797, i. 306.
Rogers, killed, i. 579.
Rogers, Capt. W., privateer, in Pa cific, i. 25, 119.
Rolfe, J., marriage with Pocahontas, i. 543.
Rond Cap, Point Adams, ii. 57.
Rondeau, guides Kelley, ii. 549.
Ronquillo, Estrecho de, Fonte's story, i. 117.
Ronquillo, Philip de, Fonte's story, i. 116.
Rooster Rock, ii. 47.
Roquc, J. F. de la, viceroy of LaNou- velle France, i. 380.
Roqucfeuil, Lieut., on N. W. coast, 1817, i. 336-8; a voyage, etc., i. 338.
Rosario Strait, see Boca de Fidalgo, i. 242.
Rosati, Jesuit missionary, ii. 537.
Rose, among Crows, ii. 127-8.
Rosebud River, see Lewis and C. ex ped., ii. 80.
Rose Point, Douglas names, Aug. 1788, i. 200.
Rose River, Clarke names, ii. 78.
'Rose, 'tug, wrecked, ii. 640.
Ross, Red River settlement, i. 579; on Columbia, ii. 171; at Kamloops, ii. 205-6; as an authority, ii. 238, 245; among Indians, ii. 255-8, 268- 9; trading exped., ii. 258; surveys bar of Columbia, ii. 266; exploring exped., ii. 270-1; with McKenzie, ii. 273-4; surveys Cowlitz prairie, ii. 613.
Ross, A., in Kamloops country, ii. 122; clerk P. Fur Co.. 144, 173-4, 205-6, 240; joins Northwest Co., 248.
Ross, C., at Fort McLoughlin, 1839, ii. 628; 1841, ii. 657.
Ross, Fort, Russians establish, i. 526; ii. 330; Russians abandon, ii. 664.
Rotchcf, Gov. A., at Fort Ross, ii. 664.
Rouge, Fort, built, i. 595.
Rouque River Pass, location, i. 640.
Routes, through the Cordilleras, i. 617-65; of railway through Rocky Mts., i. 633; of railway through Sierra Nevadas, i. 651-3; of rail ways and canals through Central America, i. 691-4; from Rocky Mts. to Pacific, i. 660-56; Or. to Gal., i. 647; Cal. to Mex., i. 654; Fort George to William, ii. 245-50.
'Rover,' cruise in north-west, 1800, i. 308.
Rowan, Capt. Jas., on N. W. coast, 1798, i. 306; 1799, i. 307; 1803, i. 317; 1804, i. 318.
Rowland, accompanies Simpson, ii. 655, 657-8, 661; in S. F. Bay, ii. 688.
Royal, Capt., on Columbia, 1836, ii. 341, 594.
Ruddock, S. A., explorations, 1821, ii. 365, 446.
Rupert, Fort, post, H. Bay Co., i. 448; profits 1859, i. 467; description, i. 491; location, ii. 629.
INDEX.
757
Rupert Laud, named, i. 439; extent, i. 439; ii. 298; granted to H. Bay Co., i. 439-40; French seize, i. 440- 1 ; II. Bay Co. , division of, i. 447.
Rupert, Prince, gov. Hudson Bay Co. , i. 439.
Ruscelli, map of 1544, i. 47.
Rush, R., Astoria restored, ii. 291; Commissioner, title 1ST. W. coast, ii. 355-60.
Rushleigh River, named, i. 281.
Russell, Lord J., on Or. question, ii. ;-97, 403.
Russian American Fur Co., policy, i. 352; organized, i. 353; on X. W. coast, i. 374; ii. 328, 348; proposed relation to P. Fur Co., ii. 197; on Cal. coast, ii. 330; leases territory to H. Bay Co., ii. G43-G, 053; see Russians.
Russians, early north-west explora tions, i. 3, 9, 29-31, 127, 130, 184- 5; ii. 319; as explorers, i. 30-1; map, 1741, i. 124; Xootka contro versy, ii. 227-8; on Cal. c'Xist, i. 31 9, "322-3, 325, 33 i, 353, 374, 414, 525-8; ii. 330, 059; in north-west fur-trade, i. 345, 353, 373, 522-8; ii. G3G-7, G40-1 ; on the Columbia, ii. 131; claim to Northwest Coast, ii. 319, 328, 348-51; 011 X. W. coast, ii. 349, G22-3, 629-33; as fur-traders, ii. G43-4; leave redoubt St Diony- sius, ii. GIG; policy toward Indians, ii. 050; abandon Fort Ross, ii. GG4; treaty with H. Bay Co., ii. 093.
Rut, John, exploration, i. 12.
Ruysch, J., map of 1508, i. 37.
Ryan, W., capt. 'Cadboro,' ii. 477, 515.
Ryswick, treaty of, terms, i. 442.
Saavedra, A. R., at Xootka, 1793, i.
293, 29G; voyage, 1795, i. 301. Sable, habitat, i. 412. Sable Is., attempt to colonize, i. 384. Sacajawea, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
22', 29. Sacramento Valley, H. Bay Co. enter
i. 527. Saddle Hill, Meares sights, July 2,
1788, i. 197.
Saddle Mt., Nehalem legend, ii. 532; Sageau, M., fabulous stories, i. f>90. Sahaptin, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 33. St Anne, Fort, captured, i. 441-2. St Anthony, Falls of. Hennepin visits,
1G80, i. 24.
St Charles, Fort, built, i. 595.
St Charles River, see Assiniboels, in
Jcfferys' map 17G8. i. 132. St Clair, with Wyeth's exped., ii. 563. St Dyonysius, redoubt site, ii. 630;
Russians leave, ii. 016; becomes
Fort Stikcen, ii. 645. St Helen, Mount, Vancouver names,
1792, i. 281; see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 41, 61. St James Cape, named, i. 179; Dixou
rounds, i. 180.
St James, Fort, built, ii. 109; import ance, ii. 495-6-
St John, French take, 1097, i. 442. St John, Fort, Indian troubles at, ii.
4C2, 494.
St Joseph, as a trading center, i. 508. St Lawrence, name becomes current,
i. 12; Cartier explores, i. 42, 380;
Indians report of, i. 42; Homem's
map, 1558, i. 50; Salmeron, opinion
of, i. 105; early fur-trade on, i. 383, St Lawrence Island, Bering names,
1728, i. 30. St Lazanis, Archipelagus de, Fonte's
story, i. 116.
St Louis, post on site, i. 505; import ance, i. 507-8, 510-11. St Louis, falls of, Cartier reaches, i.
14. St Louis, rapids of, trading center,
1027, i. 38!l. St Maio merchants, Canada fur-trade,
i. 383-4, 388-9. St Patrick Bay, Hanna names, 1785,
i. 174. St Peter, Fort, built by Verendrye, i.
595. St Petersburg, treaty of, ii. 622-3,
029. St Pierre, Carver visits, 1766-8, i.
132; explorations, i. 597. St Pierre, Gen., French commander,
i. 400. St Simon, seizes Rupert Land, 1671, i.
440. Salboy, in Wytflict- Ptolemy map,
1597, i. 84.
Saldibar, travels, 1618, i. 109. Salmon-fishing, Fraser River, ii. 487;
importance, ii. 507; Wyeth's plan
at, ii. 577; his failure, ii. 596; on
Columbia, ii. 686. Salmon House, location, ii. 471. Salmeron, Padre, story of Drake's
exped., i. 62; on .Anian strait, i.
105. Salmon River, see Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 32; see Tommanamah, ii. 69.
758
INDEX.
Salter, Capt. J., on N. W. coast, 1803,
i. 312-15, ii. 156-8; killed by In dians, i. 158, 315. Saltilla Pass, location, i. 660. Salt-making, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
56-58. Salvador, Captain, on Colorado River,
1751, i. 127. Salvaticrra, reports discovery N. W.
passage, i. 52; explores California,
1701, i. 113.
: amucl Point, named, ii. 53. Sail Antonio, see Consag's trip, 1748,
i. 126. San Bias, Perez sails from, i. 151; He-
ceta leaves, i. 158; Martinez arrives.
i. 185, 224; leaves, i. 213; Tobar ar rives, i. 210, 227. 'San Carlos,' snow, on X. W. coast,
17*8, i. 184; 1789, i. 205, 213, 224,
239; 1791, i. 244, 248. 250; 1793, i.
291, 293; 1795, i. 3'Jl. Sancho, Indian chief, ii. 462. San Diego, cruise on Cal. coast, 1603,
i. 146; occupied by Spaniards, 1769,
i. 150; Perez at, i. 150. Sandwich Islands, La Perouse leaves,
1780, i. 175; Portlackut, 1786, i. 178. Sandy River, see Quicksand River,
ii. 48. San Kstevan, see Perez' voyage, 1 773,
i. 1-15.
San Fernando Pass, location, i. 654. San Francisco Bay, reached by Span iards, 1769, i. 28; II. Bay Co.. post
at, ii. 522, 688-9; ships in, 1841, ii.
65S-9. San Francisco, kingdom of, Xiza takes
possession 1539, i. 44. Sangrc do Cristo Pass, location, i. 637. Sangster, voyage, 1837, i. 342. Sangster, Jas., capt. of 'Cadboro,' ii.
477. .San Joaquin valley, H. Bay Co., enter,
i. 527.
San Juan, Elisa names, i. 246. San Lorenzo, Perez' voyage, 1773, i.
155; 1778, i. 170; location, i. 155. San Martin Cape, in du Laet's map,
1633, i. 106. San Roque, Heceta names, i. 163;
Meares names, i. 198. San Salvador, cruise on Cal. coast,
1543, i. 138. Santa Ana, Pedro, killed by Indians,
1775, i. 161. Santa Barbara, Perez south of, June
24. 1773, i. 152. Santa Catalina, see Forrester Island,
i. 154.
Santa Clara, Perez voyage, 1773, i. 155.
Santa Cristina, see Forrester Island,
i. 154. Santa Cruz, discovered by Jimenez, i.
41. Santa Cruz de Nutka, Martinez names,
i. 216; explored, i. 224; garrison
life, 1790, i. 240. Santa Fe, Peualosa penetrates beyond,
1062, i. 109; Harris' map, 1705, i.
115; trade, i. 515; trail surveyed,
1859, i. 637. 'Santa Gertrudis,' on X. W. coast,
1792, i. 2S3.
Santa Gertrudis Pass, location, i. 65: >. Santa Margarita, Point, Perez names,
i. 152; see Cape North, i. 154. Santa Magdalena Cape, see Point Mu-
zon, i. 154. Santa Maria, Onate reaches mouth of,
1604-5, i. 21, 90. Santa Rosalia, Perez sights, 1773. i.
156. 'Santa Saturnina,' schooner, on X.W.
coast, 1791, i. 244-48, 250. Santiago (Colima), discovered, i. 13. 'Santiago,' cruise onX. W. coast, 1773,
i. 151; 1775, i. 158 65. Sargent, with Wycth's exped., ii. 5(53. Satakarata, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. ' Saturnina,' at Nootka, 1792, i. 2S9. Saucien, hunter, i. 97, 102. Sauve, J. B. , at Fort Langley, ii. 477;
on Sauve1 is., ii. 599. Sauve Is., see Wapato Is., i. 491: ii.
48, 593, 599. Sauxalito, see "Whalers' Harbor, ii.
658-9. Savannah River, Soto reaches, 1539,
i. 15.
Saw-mill, erected Or., 1829, ii. 504-5. Sawn, Capt, J. P., on Columbia, 1827,
ii. 476. Scarborough, Jas., Capt. of ' Cadboro,'
ii. 477. '
Scattering Creek, named, ii. 35. Scawuaa, Indian chief, ii. 480. Schoncr's Globe, 1520, i. 38. Scott, David, merchant, i. 177. Scott Bluffs, named, ii. 581. Scott Cape, named, i. 178-9. Scott Mountain Pass, description, i.
647.
Scroggs, explores Hudson Bay, i. 26. 'Sea Gull,' explores Pacific, ii. 669;
wrecked, ii. 670. Seal Is., named, ii. 53. Seal River, named, ii. 48. Seals, habitat, i. 412.
IDDEX.
759
Seaman Creek, named, ii. 71.
Sea Otter, on N. W. coast, 1796, i.
305; 1797, i. 306; 1809, ii. 129; ii.
160. Sea-otter, habitat, i. 343, 412-13;
description, i. 343-5; on Cal. coast,
ii. 604. Sea-otter Harbor, Hanna names, 17S5,
i. 174. Sebastian, Cape Blanco de, Vizcaino
reaches, 1603, i. 88. Sedelmair, Father, on Cal. geography,
i. 125.
Sedeiio, Padre, reports Northwest pas sage, i. 87.
Seix, Stikeen chief, ii. 632. Selkirk, Lord, lied River colony, i.
574-82; ii. 300; death, ii. 301. Sel\vyn, explores Peace River Pass, i.
G20.
Semple, Gov., killed, i. 579; ii. SO. Sepulchre Is., Lewis and C. exped.,
ii. 45. Serra, Padre Junipero, in Cal., 1773,
i. 151. Serrano, Alonso Eotcllo y, report on
explorations, 1636, i. 106. Serre, trapping tour, 1834, ii. 583. Seton, clerk P. Fur Co., ii. 197, 209,
211, 226, 235. Seven cities, Guzman hunts for, 1533,
i. 42; Xiza report of, i. 43-4; in
Wytfliet-Ptolemy's map, 1597, i. 82. Shuler, Capt. W.. on X. W. coast,
1803-4, i. 318. 'Shark,' schooner, wrecked, ii. 533,
699; on Columbia, ii. 707. Sharp, his voyages, 1792, i. 265. Shaw, Angus, partner X. W. Co., ii.
227.
Sheep, Mt., habitat, i. 412. Shelikof, exploring exped., i. 353. Shelvocke, privateer, in Pacific, i. 25;
finds gold Cal., 1721-2, i. 121. Shepard, C., trip to Or., ii. 578. Shepherd, Capt., voyages, 1792, i.
266, 279, 287.
Sheppard, Fort, location, ii. 121. Sheriff, Capt., in Pacific, ii. 292. Sheriff Point, named, i. 281. Shields River, named, ii. 77. Shingle-making, Puget Sound, ii. 701. Ship-building, Xootka, 1788, i. 195-7;
Fort Astoria, ii. 154; X. W. coast,
ii. 258-9, 321, 323, 623-4. Ship Cove, Cook names, 1778, i. 170. Shoal water Bay, Meares names, i. 197;
Clarke reaches, 1805, ii. 53. Shonowane, I., Iroquois hunter, ii.
174.
Shoshia, Indian, ii. 481.
Shoshones, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 22, 25, 28, 33; McKenzie among, ii. 271, 274, 276; war with Blackfeet, 1824, ii. 447; trade, 1830, ii. 455.
Shumagin Islands, Bering names, 1741 , i. 30.
Shush waps, Indian tribe, ii. 174.
Sibeiia, Cossacks traverse, 1600-50, i. 29,
Sierra Madre, i. 626; passes of, i. 657-61.
Sierra Xevada, Cabrillo names, i. 49; passes, i. 643, 649-56.
Sierra, Padre, Heceta's exped., 1775, i. 158-66.
Sierra do San Cristobal, see Perez' voy age, 177:;, i. 154.
Silva, Garcia de, discovering north- vest passage, ii. 92-3, 100.
'Silva de Grace,' wrecked, ii. 533.
Silver Mountain Pass, location, i. 652.
Simmons, M., at Puget Sound, 1844, ii. 702.
Simpson, Captain, voyage, 1827, i. 341.
Simpson, Lieut., death, ii. 623.
Simpson, A., at Honolulu post, ii. 522-3; at Lachine House, ii. 523.
Simpson, E., Captain of 'Cadboro. ' ii. 477-9.
Simpson, Sir G., down Fraser River, ii. 114, 118-19; on Columbia, ii. 432. 441; at Fort St John, ii. 462; sends Tocl to Xew Caledonia, ii. 4G'J; at Fort Langley, ii. 484-5; death, char acter, ii. 490-1, 523; visits X. \V. dominion, ii. 490-7; birth, appear ance, ii. 489; as judge, ii. 494; at Fort St James, ii. 495; director Puget Sound A. Co., ii. (510; orders Fort Tako abandoned, ii. 650; tries Heron x, ii. 653; narrative, etc., ii. 654, 662; journey round the world, ii. 634-62; on Columbia, ii. 655-7: on X. V\ . coast, ii. 657-8; at Sitka, ii. 65s, 061; in Cal., ii. G5S-60, 6SS. 692; at Honolulu, ii. 661; at Fort Stikeen, ii. 60 1-2; Mufras' opinion of, ii. 6(>5; at Fort Vancouver, ii. OS] ; attitude to McLoughlin, ii. 703.
Simpson, Fort, post, II. Bay Co., i. 448: ground plan, i. 492; founded, ii. 623^; removed, ii. 633-5; Indians attack, ii. 637; trade, ii. 637; on Mackenzie River, ii. 653.
Simpson, Port, commci^ce at, ii. 635.
Sinaloa, Mendoza reaches, 1532, i. 14; Vaca arrives at, 1536, i. 43.
Sinclair, J. L., capt. ' Cadboro, 'ii. 477; at Fort Walla Walla, 1855, ii. 711.
760
INDEX.
Sinclair, W., at Cowlitz farm, ii. 613. Sinclair Bros., at Pierre Hole, ii. 564;
trapping tour, 1832, ii. 570. Sinougliton, Indian guide, ii. 408. Sioux, French first hear of, 1030, i.
106; attack VOendrye's party, i.
595; Lewis and C. exped., ii. 13-
15; Williams' exped. among, ii. 127;
P. Fur Co. , exped., among, ii. 1SO-1. Siskadoe, see Green Paver, ii. 583. Skngit Pass, location, i. 044. Skelley, on X. W. coast, 1805, i. 320;
trader, ii. 55.
Skins, method of dressing, i. 413-14. Skippanoii Creek, Lewis and C. exped. ,
ii. 57.
Slacum, W. A., U. S. agent; on Co lumbia, 1830-7, ii. 602-4; aids W.
Cattle Co., ii. 015.
•Slaves, among Indians, ii. 1 14, 647-9. Sleds, see dog's sled, i. 430. Slyboots, Indian, ii. 077. Small-pox, arn'nv Indians, i. 554, ii.
170, (J92, 042, 082. Smith, Cu.pt. F. at Astoria, 1814, i.
Smith, S. H., Wyeth's exped., ii. 503;
teacher, Fort Vancouver, ii. 505;
Or. settler, ii. 074. Smith, T. L., death, character, life,
ii. 453-4. Smith, Capt. W., on X. W. coast,
1801, i. 311; 1S13, i. 330; 1809, ii.
!.'!0-5; 1813, ii. 219; on Cal. coast,
1810, i. 335; life, ii. 130. Smith, Jedediah, Santa Fe trader, i.
514; 'vith Rocky Mt. Fur Co., ii.
448, 4"»5; trapping tour, 1824-7, ii.
449-53; 1829, ii. 450 8; escapes
Indians, ii. 450-1; death, ii. 45!). Smith, John, seeks Northwest Pas sage, 1000, i. 22, 92; fur trader,
1014, i. 387, 499. Smith, Jos., see Farnham's exped., ii.
609. Smith's Inlet, Raima names, 1780, i.
174. Smith Sound, Baffin explores, 1016, i.
Smoky Paver Pass, location, i. 020. Smuggling, on Cal. coast, i. 318-19,
322, 335.
Snake Indians, see Shoshones, ii. 22. Snake River, see Lewis River, ii. 33;
Lewis and C. exped. on, ii. 33, 39,
07; Hunt's exped. on, ii. 184-9. Snoqualmie Pass, location, i. 045. Snow, voyage, 1836, i. 342. Society of Jesus, in New France, i.
386-7.
Sodomy, among Spanish navigators. 1587, i. 71.
Soissons, Comte de, made lieut.-gen. New France; death, i. 3S7-8.
Sokulks, Lewis and 0. exped., ii. 40, ii. 261.
Sola, gov. Cal., 1815, i. 334.
Soledad Pass, location, i. 654.
SSolide,'on N. W. coast, 1791, i. 255.
Sonora, Vaca traverses, 1536, i. 16; Spaniards advance in, 1000, i. 21; Kiiio explores, i. 25; Velarde in, i. 120.
'Sonora,' vessel, cruise on N. W. coast, 1775, i. 158-0").
Sonora Pass, location, i. 052.
Sopa, Indian chief, ii. 250.
Sosa, Castano de-, explores New Mex ico, 1590 1, i. 20.
Soto, voyage, 1538-43, i. 11, 15; licenced to explore, i. 40.
South America, discovered, i. 0.
South Bowlder, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 23.
South Carolina, French explore, 1562— 5, i. 19.
South Kootenais Pass, location, i. 022, 024.
South Pass, location, i. 031, 035-0; description, i. 630; discovered, ii. 447.
South Sea, Carticr seeks, i. 12; sup posed river flowing into, i. 42; iviiight supposed to have reached, i. 121.
South Sea Company, license traders, i. 178; north-west fur trade, 1785, i. 354.
Southwest Co., Astor forms, i. 513.
Sowlcs, Capt. ' C. , on N. W. coast, 1812, i. 329, ii. 190-8, 201, 220; 1818, i. 337.
Spain, declining interest in discovery, i. 7; views in discovery, 1710, i. 119; north-west exploration, 1770, i. 150; 1788, i. 1S4-5; Xuotka con troversy, i. 227-38; obtains land west of Miss., 1703, i. 401; obtains Florida, i. 401; cedes her posses sions east of Miss, to England, 1763, i. 401; claims to N. W. coast, ii. 317^42; fortifies Nootka, ii. 321.
Spalding, H. J., Or. missionary, ii. 535; at Lapwai, ii. 079; on hospi tality H. Bay Co. , ii. 087.
Spaniards, destroy French colonies in Florida, 1565, i. 19; northern limit of conquest, 1543, i. 44; in north west discovery, 1610, i. 101; oppose Cal. exploration, i. 112; explora-
INDEX.
761
tion, 1650-1750, i. 122; 1759, i. 149; 1792, i. 267-73, 282-3; re linquish north-west discovery, i. 134; take possession of N. W. coast, 1775, i. 109.
Spauldiug, voyage, 1840, i. 342.
Spence, at Ycrba Buena, ii. GOO.
Spence, D., interpreter, ii. 539.
Spencc, John, ship-carpenter, ii. 476.
Spencer, escapes Indians, ii. 128.
Spice Islands, Carticr seeks, i. 12.
Spit Bank, named, i. '281.
Split Pvock, Dixon names, 1786, i. 178.
Spokane Fort, built, ii. °204.
Spokane House, built, ii. 120-1.
Spoons, silver, Cook sees at Nootka,
^ 1778. i. 171.
Squim. Bay, Quimper names, i. 241.
Stager, Fort, location, ii. 470-1.
Stansbury, surveys Or. road, i. 032; cxped.'to Salt Lake, i. C36.
Starling, voyage in X. W., 1837, 1839, i. 342; ii/611.
Steele, in Cal., 1341, ii. 541.
Ste Helene, attacks English, i. 441.
Steilacooni, sec Chelacom, ii. 468.
Stetson, voyage, 1821, i. 340.
Stewart, joins Wyeth's exped., ii. 58'}, 591.
Stewart, Capt. , his voyages, 1792, i. 205.
Stikeen, Fort, established, ii. 644; sec Redoubt St Dionysius, ii. C45.
Stinking Lake, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 32.
Stinking Water, ii. 23.
Stobniczas, Ptolemy, map of, 1512, i. 38.
Stone, Fort, described, i. 484, 486.
Stony Mts., Hearne names, i. 012.
Storrs, on title N. W. coast, ii. 386.
Stow, on Drake's voyage, i. 140.
Straits, Arctic, search and passage, i. 10.
Strange, J., exped. of, 178(5, i. 177.
Strawberry Island, named, ii. 47.
Strong, on title N. "W. coast, ii. 386.
Stuart, builds Fort Okanagan, ii. 173-4; exped. up Columbia, ii. 194-5; among Shushwaps, ii. 218; at Spokane House, ii. 258; explor ing exped., ii. 327-8; sent to New Caledonia, ii. 463.
Stuart, A., arrives at Astoria, ii. 231; from Astor to William, ii. 240, 245, 248; wounded by Indians, ii. 241-2.
Stuart, D., joins' P. Fur Co., 142; voyage to Astoria, 145-52; at Asto ria, 152, 195, 198; builds fort, 173; ascends Columbia, explorations of,
173-4; at Okanagan, ii. 198, 205; exped. of, ii. 202, 205-6, 211-13;
among Shushwaps, ii. 206.
Stuart, J., journal, ii. 89-93; char acter, ii. 90; death, ii. 90; with Fraser exped., ii. 98-118; in N. Caledonia, ii. 119, 121, 264; arrives Astoria, ii. 22S; at transfer, Fort Astoria, ii. 22S-9; trading exped., 1813, ii. 238-40; exped. up Co lumbia, ii. 238-43; from F. Astor to F. William, ii. 248-9; at Fort Dunvegan, ii. 2"9; goes east, ii. 280; exploring exped., ii. 284.
Stuart, Ii., joins P. Fur Co. , ii. 142; voyage to Astoria, ii. 145-52; ex plores Columbia, ii. 109-70; exam ines Willamette, ii. 177; messenger to Astor, ii. 198-9; reaches St Louis, ii. 200.
Stuart Lake, Post, H. Bay Co., i. 448; named, ii. 109.
Stuart River, see Mackenzie's voyage, i. 033; explored, ii. 107-13.
Stur^is, Capt. W., on N. W. coast, 1802, i. 312; 1804, i. 313; description of sea-otter, i. 344-5; on N. W. fur- trade, i. 359-00, 368, 370-1, 375-6.
Stur^is and Co., Boston merchants, ii. 520.
Sublctto, M., with Rocky Mt. Co., ii. 455; trapping tour, 1829-30, ii. 456- 8; Wyeth joins, ii. 502-3; trapping tour, 1833, ii. 507; character, ii. 579.
Sublette, W., Wyeth joins, ii. 501-2; trapping tour, 1832, ii. 570; trapping tour, ls;>4, ii. 579; tour, 1834, ii. 583; trapping tour, 1330, ii. 610.
Sublette, William L. , leads Shoshones, ii. 447; with Rocky Mt. Fur Co., ii. 448.
'Sulphur, 'ship, onN. W. coast, 1836- 42, i. 342; ii. GIL
'Sultan, '011 Cal. coast, 1816, i. 335; on N. W. coa, -, 1821, i. 340; 1824, i. 341; 1832, ii. 560, 506; wrecked, ii. 507.
'Sumatra,' cruise in north -west, 1837, i. 342, ii. 687.
Superior, Lake, discovered, i. 22.
Sur, sea of, see Frobisher's voyage, i. 60.
Suter, on N. W. coast, 1SOS-9, i. 324.
'Sutil,' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 270-1, 287; 1796, i. 305.
Sutil y Mexicana, Relacion, etc., i. 271.
Slitter, Capt., in Cal., i. 643, 649, 653, ii. 539.
702
INDEX.
Swaine River, named, i. 281.
Swan, on Cal. coast, 1686, i. 112; ar rives Fort George, ii. 250; on N. W. coast, 1839, ii. 039.
Swanimilich, Indian, i. 336. f
Swedish West India Co., formed, i. 502.
Sweetwater, named, ii. 447.
Swift, voyage, 171)7; voyage, 1798, i. 306; voyage, 1800, i. 308; 1801, i. 311.
Swipton, on N. W. coast, 1805, i. 320, ii. 55.
,
Tabbabone, 'white man,' ii. 26. Table Creek, Clarke names, ii. 80. Table Mountain, Heceta's voyage.
1775, i. 104.
Tachy, native village, ii. 283. Tacootche River, see Fraser, i. C84. Tacootche Tesse, see Fraser River, i.
084; sec Columbia, ii. 170. Tadousace, trading centre, 1627, i.
389. 'Taglc,' corvette, on Cal. coast, 1813,
ii. 235. Tahuglauks, La Hontan's tale, i. 589-
90.
Tako, Fort, built, ii. 647-9; aban doned, ii. 650. Takes, character, ii. 648. Tallahassee, Soto reaches, 1539, i. 15. 'Tally-ho,' corvette, on N. W. coast,
ii. 629.
Tamazula Pass, location, i. 660. Tampa Bay, Soto lands at, 1539, i. 15. Tansy River, Lewis and C. expcd., ii.
72-3.
Taos, Coronado reaches, 1542, i. 17. Taptcal River, Lewis and C. expcd.,
ii. 40. Tarascon, L. A., ascends Miss., 1826,
ii. 454.
Taronington, at Nootka, i. 160. Tatootche, Indian chief at Nootka,
1788, i. 197.
Tawatowc, Cayuse chief, ii. 689-91. Taylor, A. S., on Fnca's birthplace,
1854, i. 73. Taylor, T., servant to Simpson, ii.
463, 497, 655. Teguayo, in Paredes' report, 1686, i.
Tchichipa Pass, location, i. 652. Tehuantepec, CorteV agents reach, i.
13.
Tehuantepec Pass, location, i. 661. Tehuayo, see Teguayo. Tejada Isl., Elisa names, i. 247.
Tejon Pass, location, i. 653.
Tello, Padre, report of Strait of Anian, 1650, i. 108.
Temistitan, in Minister's map, 1545, i. 48.
Temple, receives Port Royal, 1654, i. 391.
Tent, fur-traders, i. 430-1.
Tepic, Colnett a prisoner at, i. 222.
Tercien. hunter, ii. 97.
Terra Corterealis, in Ptolemy's map, 1511, i. 37.
Tcte Jaime Pass, seeYellowhead Pass, i. 620.
Tetc Plat, La France story, i. 590.
Teton River, see Tansy River, ii. "2.
Tetous, Lewis ami C. exped., ii. 13.
Texas, Spaniards explore, 1540-2, i. 15-17, 27; La Salic takes possession, i. 24, 393; Spain and France occupy, i. 25.
Tlieatrum Urbis Terrarum, of Orte- lins, 1574. i. 53.
Thegiiayo, province, i. 109.
Themistitan, see map of Apiauus, 1575. i. 56.
Thing, Blackfeet attack, ii. 597.
'Thomas Perkins,' cruise in north west, 183:>, i. 342.
' Tliomas If. Perkins,' on Columbia, ii. 081; 1811, ii. 686.
Thompson, ('apt., voyage, 1829-30, i. 311; 1 840, i. 342.
Thompson, D., explores Athabasca Pass, 1810, i. (521; explores New Caledonia, ii. 119-20, 122-5; ii. 329; character, ii. 1-5; at Fort Astoria, ii. 125, 171-2; discovers Thompson River, ii. 123; descends Columbia, ii. 124; Montreal trip, ii. 173; at Ilkoyope Falls, ii. 283.
Thompson, Fort, built, ii. 122.
Thompson, Mount, see Thompson's exped., ii. 123.
Thompson River, map of, ii. 122; dis covered, ii. 123-4; explored, ii. 329.
Thorn, Capt. J., on N. W. coast, 1810-11, i. 327-8; ii. 343-55, 163-7; murdered, i, 328; ii. 167.
Thornburg, killed, ii. 596-7. Thorne, Robert, urges exploration,
1627, i. 40. Thornton, J. Q., on Kelley, ii. 558.
' Three Brothers,' cruise in the north west, 1792, i. 265, 279. Three Brothers, Strait of, see St Law rence, i. 105.
Three Tetons, Hunt's exped., ii. 183-4. Three Thousand Mile Isl., Lewis and C. exped., ii. 76.
INDEX.
763
Tiana, Hawaiian chief, i. 195. Tibbits, with Wyeth's exped., ii. 563;
^Or. settler, ii. 674. Ticoiideroga, English repulsed at,
1758, i. 400; taken by Amherst,
1759, i. 401.
Tidias, Indian chief, ii. 677.
Tiguex, Ramusio's map, 1556, i. 49; Ortelius' map, 1574, i. 5,3; Homlius' map, i. 105; chief town of Qnivira, i. 110.
Tiguex, see Rio del Norte, i. 45; Hon- dius' map, i. 105; town of Quivira, 1655, i. 110.
Tizon, Rio del, sec Colorado, i. 90.
Tillamook, see Cape Falcon, i. 164.
Tillamook Bay, Gray reaches, Aug. 14, 1788, i. 188.
Timpanagos, River and Lake, loca tion, ii. 446-7.
Tipping, on Alaskan coast, 1786, i. 177.
'T. Merithew,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533.
Tobacco, fondness of Indians for, ii. 205; indigenous, ii. 509.
Tobar, visits Moqui towns, 1540, i. 16.
Tobar, Jose, on X. W. coast, i. 212, 227, 295-6; voyage, 1796, i. 305.
Tobar, Jos<5 Andres, his voyages, 1792, i. 266.
Tod, John, life, ii. 462-3; in Xew Cal edonia, ii. 403, 538; at Fort Mc- Leod, ii. 494; at Fort Kamloop, ii. 572; accompanies Simpson, ii. 655.
Tod, W., clerk, Fort Walla Walla, 1842, ii. 690.
Tohn, in map of Ortelius, 1574, i. 53.
Tolmie, Dr \V. T. , at Fort Vancouver, ii. 525; character, life, ii. 615-16, 628; prospectus Puget Sound A. Co. , ii. 615-16; works, ii. 616, 628; in England, 1841, ii. 017; at Victoria, 1859, ii. 618; at Fort McLoughlin, ii. 628; fort-building exped., 1 834, ii. 629, 635; at Fort Simpson, 1830', ii. 638; builds Willamette Falls road, 1840, ii. 686; captures Indian murderer, ii. u'86; in Willamette Valley, 1843, ii. 701.
Toltec tribes, tradition of migration, i. 8.
Tommanamah River, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 69.
Tongue Point, named, i. 281; ii. 154; Lewis and C. exped., ii. 53.
Tongue River, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 80.
Tonquin, on N. W. coast, 1810-11, i. 327-8; ii. 143-56, 163-8; blown up, ii. 168.
Tontonteac, mythic town, Niza re ports of, 1536,i.43; Coronado's tales about, i. 46; Ortelius' map, i. 53.
Tooth, the, mountain, i. 612.
Topia, Ibarra reaches, 1563, i. 52.
Torckler, supercargo of the 'Flavia,' 1792, i. 267.
Toronto, the king takes charge of, i. 398.
Torquemada, his Strait of Anian; his Quivira, i. 87-9.
Torres, de Alonso, voyage, 1792, i. 233.
Totonteac, Lake of , 1655, i. 111.
Touchet River, see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 66.
Towahnahiooks River, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 41.
Towanahiooks, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 63-4.
Townsend, J. K., narrative, etc., ii. 577; \\ith W)*eth's Or. exped., ii. 577; at Hawaiian Is., ii. 594.
Track Creek, named, 1805, ii. 24.
Trade, north-west, 1790-2, i. 243, 250, 252-3, 256-7, 261, 263-4: i. 290, 293-4, 297; 1793, i. 293-4; 1796, i. 305; 1797-3, i. 306; 1799, i. 307; 18CO, i. 308; 1817, i. 336-7; Colum bia, 1835. ii. 443-4; method with Indians, ii. 444; Shoshone, 1830, ii. 455.
Traders, on X. W. coast, 1792, i. '2~S- 60; 1805, i. 320; 1806, i. 321-3; 1S07, i. 323-4; 1SOS-9, i. 324-5; 18)0-11, i. 325-8; 1812, i. 328-9; 1812-14, i. 329-33; 1815, i. 33-3-4;
1816, i. 334-r,; 1817, i. 335-6; 1818, i. 336-9; 1819-40, i. 340-2.
Traffic, method of, II. Ba}- Co., i. 560-1; on Columbia, ii. 41.
Tranuuille, Indian chief, death, ii. 511.
Trapp, fur-trader, i. 516; with Rocky Mt. Co., ii. 455.
Trapper, American, characteristics, i. 420; compared with voyageur. i. 420, 432; dress, i. 432; character, i. 420, 423, 541-2; explorations of, 1821-30, ii. 446-59; oppose H. Bay Co., ii. 472; influence on Or. settle ment, ii. 699.
Traps, animal, kinds, i. 413.
Travel, E., at San Jose", ii. 683.
'Traveller,' schooner, on Cal. coast,
1817, i. 335.
Traveller's Rest, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 76. Traveller's Rest Creek, see Lewis and
C. exped., ii. 70.
764
INDEX.
Treaty, attempted between French
and American colonies, 1048, i. 391. Treaty of Paris, 1783; terms, i. 401. Trcct, furrier, i. ISO. Tres Marias, see Heceta's voyage,
1775, i. 1G4. 'Tres Reyes, 'cruise on Cal. coast, 1003,
i. 140. Trials, rival fur companies, i. 571-2,
581. Trimble, 011 question 17. W. coast, ii.
Trinidad, Vizcaino's furthest limit, lOOS, i. 118.
Trinidad Bay, explored, 1775, ii. 318.
'Triton,' cruise in north- west, 1824, i. 341.
T"o:a Rivieres, trading centre, 1027, i. SSO.
Trout Lake, Eraser's cxped. on, ii. 101.
Trout Lake House, built, ii. 88.
Truckce Pass, see Donncr Pass, i. 051.
Tvr.i.;Lull, with Wyeth's expcd., ii. 502.
Tschuktschi, natives, i. 29.
Tsilbeku;:, Lake, sec Mackenzie's voyage, i. 0!)3.
Tucai:non River, see Kimmooenim Crcdc, ii. 39.
Tuchano, in map Ortclius, 1574, i. 53.
Tucker, on question X.W. coast, ii. 344.
Tularc Valley, Caret's penetrates, 1770, i. 28; II. Bay Co. in, 1840, ii. 5:59.
Tummeatapam, Walla Walla chief, ii. 213.
Turner, escapes Indians, ii. 450.
Turner Pass, location, i. 053-4.
Tushepaws, Hunt's party among, ii. 190.
Tututepee, Cortes' agents reach, i. 13.
Twiss, T., on N. W. coast explora tion, i. 130; authority on Or. ques tion, i. 143; ii. 415-10; his works, ii. 415-10.
Twisted-hair, Indian chief, ii. 07.
Tyeet, Indian chief, ii. 027-8.
Tyler, Pres., on Or. question, ii. 392, 395; condemns Hunters' assoc., ii. 099.
Ugarte, Padre, explores Gulf of Cal. ,
1721, i. 121. Uhlefeld, Baron, voyage to Strait of
Anian, 1773, i. 134. Ulloa, explores Gulf of Cal., i. 14;
searches for Pueblo towns, i. 10;
explorations, 1540-3, i. 44, 46.
'Ulysses,' cruise in north-west, 1799,
i. 307. Umatilla River, see Youmalolam
River, ii. 04.
Umatillas, Indian tribe, ii. 201. Umfrcville, opposes H. Bay Co., i.
440-7. Umpqua, Fort, post Hudson Bay Co.,
i. 448; built, ii. 521. Umpoua River, Cook misses, 1778, i.
170. Union, Fort, steamers ascend to, 1832,
i. 520. United Siateo, recognized, 1783, i.
401; buys Louisiana, 1803, i. 401;
Indian policy, i. 529-50; claim to
north-west, ii. 321-54, 355-88, 389-
410; organizes exploring exped.
under Wiiker;, ii. GC3-S4. Unjigah, soe Peace River, i. 079, 084. Unknown Region, extent, ii. 2. Ural Mountains, Cossacks cross, i. 29. Urdancta, A. de, crosses Pacific Ocean,
1505, i. 20; story of north-west pas sage, i. 51-2. Uriz, S trait of, seeConsag's trip, 1748,
i. 20.
'Urode,' on X. W. coast, 1800, i. 322. Urry Is., named, i. 281. Utah, Spaniards reach, 1750-1800, i.
27; Wytfiiet-Ptolemy map, 1597, i.
82.
Utah Basin, the, i. 041. Utah Lake, discovered, 1770, i. 012,
039; ii. 448. Utrecht, treaty, terms, i. 398, 443-4.
Vaca, C. de, cities of, i. 3; explorations,
1536, i. 15, 43; explores Texas, i. 21. Valasco, Lake, Fonte's story, i. 110. Valdcs, Capt. S., on N. W. coast,
1792, i. 270,283. Valdivia, voyage, 1512, i. 11. Valcrianos Apostolos, Fuca's name, i.
71.
Vallar, employ P. Fur Co. , ii. 198. Vallejo, Gen., receives Simpson, 1841,
ii. 059; residence, ii. 004. Valverde, incredulous on subject of
travellers' tales, i. 120. 'Vancouver,' cruise in north-west,
1802, i. 311; cruise in north-west,
1839, i. 342; in S. F. Bay, 1841, ii.
088. 'Vancouver,' bark, wrecked, ii. 533;
at Fort Tako, 1840, ii. 007. Vancouver, Fort, rations, i. 433; post
H. Bay Co., i. 448; overland ex-
INDEX.
765
press at, i. 463-4; description, i. 488; mills built, ii. 442, ii. 515; built, ii. 430-42; cattle at,ii. 442-3; epidemics, ii. 503-4, 525-6; impor tance, ii. 522; missionaries at, ii. 534-5; school established, ii. 565; agriculture, ii. 440-4, 003; de stroyed, ii. 709-10, 712.
Vancouver, Geo., onN.W. coast, 1792, i. 259, 263-5, 270, 274-82, 2S7-9, 323; 1793, i. 291-4; 1794, i. 297- 300; circumnavigates V. I., 1792, i. 275-9; map, 1792, i. 276, 278, 280; 1793, i. 292; relation with Span iards, Nootka, i. 279; narrative, re marks on, i. 281-2; a voyage, etc., i. 232; instructions, Nootka contro versy, i. 287; commissioner, Nootka controversy, i. 296-9; surveys Cook Inlet, i. 2U6; death, i. 299; north west explorations, ii. 322; on Co lumbia, 1792, ii. 323.
Vancouver Is., named, i. 279; physi cal features, i. 409.
Vancouver Point, named, i. 281.
'Vancouver,' schooner, built, ii. 499; wrecked, ii. 500.
'Vancouver,' ship, on N. W. coast, 1803, i. 318, 1805, i. 320, 1806, i. 322, 1808-9, i. 324; on Columbia, 1806, ii. 59; on Columbia, 1839, ii. 609; wrecked, 1848, ii. 533; built, ii. 633.
'Vandalia,' brig, wrecked, ii. 533.
Vandenburgh, trapping-tour, 1832, ii. 570-1.
Van Dusen, fur- trader, i. 516.
Varennes, P., explorations, builds forts, death, i. 593-6.
Varney, Capt., on N. W. coast, 1839, i. 342, ii. 639-41; on Columbia, 1841, ii. 681, 686.
Varin, trader, ii. 93.
Vasadre y Vega, fur monopoly, i. 525.
Vasquez, at Fort Bridger, 1846, ii. 611.
Vavasour, commissioner to N. W. , ii. 703.
Velarde, Padre Luis, views of Ameri can geography, 1716, i. 120.
Venegas, Noticias, etc., i. 129.
' Venus,' on N. W. coast, 1792, i. 266, 279, 283.
Verdia, Jose", explores Haro channel, i. 246.
Verendrye, explorations, 1743, works, i. 26; see Varennes, i. 593.
Vermilion Sea, in De 1'Isle's map, 1715, i. 119.
Vermilion Pass, description, i. 623.
Vcrrazano, G., reaches Carolina and
Newfoundland, 1524, i. 12; views
of New World and Asia, i. 39;
coasts N. A. i. 379. Verrazano, Mar dc, i. 39. Viana, Douglas, i. 209; at Nootka,
1792, i. 266, 286. ' Vincennes,' sloop -of - war, explores
Pacific, ii. 609-684; onN. W. coast,
ii. 672, 680-1; in S. F. Bay, ii.
683. 'Victoria,' cruise on Cal. coast, 1543,
i. 138. Victoria, Fort, site, i. 409; post Ii.
Bay Co., i. 448; description, i. 491;
agriculture, i. 492. Villa-Sciior y Sanchez, on Consag's
trip. 1748, i. 120. Villegagnon, in S. America, 1855, i.
380.
Vincent, nt Fort Langley, ii. 477. Vizcaino, S.. explores Gulf of Cal.,
1597, i. 20-1; north-west explora tions, 1602-3, i. 21, 137, 146-7;
voyages of, i. 77, 87-8; map, i. 89;
death, i, 147. 'Volunteer,' on N. W. coast, 1819-
20, i. 340; 1828-30, i. 341. Von Freeman, at Fort Vancouver, ii.
681.
Voyage, Famous, author of, i. 141. Voyages, missionary, Perez conducts,
i. 151; miscellaneous to N. W.
coast, 1789, i. 204; 1793, i. 203-4,
297; 1796, i. 304; 1797-9, i. 300;
1801, i. 310; 1802, i. 311; 1819-40,
i. 340-1; Galiano yValdes, 1792, i.
264-6, 273; Vancouver's, 1793, i.
291-3; 1794, i. 296-9. Voyageur, The Canadian, origin, i.
396, 414; character and life, i. 415-
36; enrolling, i. 424; dress, i. 431;
food, i. 432-4; Northwest Co., i.
559-60.
W
Wages, fur-hunters', i. 433.
Wagons, first upon the plains, ii. 456-8.
Wahasah, see Redstone River, ii. 81.
Wahowpums, Indian tribe, rob Stu art's party, ii. 194-5.
Waiilatpu, mission at, ii. 537.
Waka, hunter Frazer's exped., ii. 115.
WTakiakums, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 56; McKenzie's voyage, ii. I9o.
Waldron, R. 11., on exploring exped. N. W., ii. 673.
766
INDEX.
Walker, exped. to Cal., i. 516; ex
plorations, i. 643, 656; Or. mis
sionary, ii. 537; in Utah, ii. 572;
Emmons' exped., ii. 682. Walker, C. M., trip to Or., ii. 578;
at Fort William, ii. 595. Walker Is., named, i. 281. Walker Pass, description, i. 653. Wallace, botanist, drowned, ii. 538. Wallace, clerk, P. Fur Co., ii. 144,
207, 220; leaves Fort Geoi'gx-. ii.
245. Walla V7rllr, Fort, post II. Bay Co..
i. 448; description, i. 490; built, ii.
273-4; burned, ii. (590; abandoned,
ii. 711. Walla Walla Paver, Lewis and C.
exped.. ii. 40, 04. Walla Wallas, see Sokulks, ii. 40;
and C. exped. among, ii. 04;
friendliness to whites, ii. 213; mis
sionaries among, ii. 534-5. Waller, Or. mi.-sioiKiry, ii. 074-5. Walrus, habitat, i. 412. \Yalulu, location, ii. 202. Wapato liile'i, name •:, ii. 62. Wapato Is., see Sauve Is., i. 491,
ii. 593; named, ii. 48: Lewis and
C. exped.. ii. 01; Clarke describes,
ii. 02; dairy, ii. 598-9. Wapato Valley, named, ii. 48. Wards, Indians as, i. 531-2, 536. Wariielils, Emmons' exped., ii. 682. Warre, commissioner to X. W., ii.
702.
Warren, killed, i. 570. Warrior Point, named, i. 281. Wascos, see Echeloots, ii. 44; sub
dued, ii. 270. Washburn, Gen., explores Yellow
stone, ii. 31. Washington, originally part of N. W.
coast, i. 2: Perez discovers coast,
1773, i. 157; geography, i. 410. Washington, G., war, 1749, i. 400,
505. Washington Is., see Queen Charlotte
Island, i. 200. 'Washington,' trader, onX. W. coast,
1805, i. 320; ii. 55. Washington, treaty of, i'eb. 1819,
terms, i. 403.
Washita River, explored, i. 614. Washougal River, see Senl River, ii.
48.
'Wave,' brig, on Columbia, ii. 674. Weber Pass, location, i. 634. Webster, on Or. question, ii. 405. Webster- A shburton treaty, Aug. 1842,
i. 403.
Wedderburn and Co., merchants, ii. 515.
Wedgborough, S., on X. W. coast,
1786, i. 177.
Weeks, S., armorer, ii. 150-1. Werner Creek, named, ii. 71. Western Company, fur monopoly of,
1717, i. 395. Western department, see Columbia
department, i. 448. West India Company, formed, 1664,
i. 394; dissolved. 1674, i. 395; see
Miss. Co., i. 397; chartered, 1621,
i. ",;)!. West, River of the. in Jcfferys' map,
1708, i. 132; see Gray's voyage, i.
188. West Road River, see Mackenzie's
voyage, i. 685-6, 092; named, i. 690. Wcymoutii, G. , voyage, 1002, i. 22;
trading in Maine,' 1005, i. 387, 499. Whalaki, killed, ii. 5S6. Whale Creek, sec Escola creek, ii. 58. Whale fisheries, in Or. question, ii.
420; X. W. coast, ii. 420-7, 008. Whaler.-;' Harbor, nee Sauzalito, ii. 659. Whales, habitat, i. 412. Wheder, surveys Or. road, i. 632. \Yhid!>ey, Lieiit., surveys Gray Har bor, 17'.'2: points named, see foot note, i. 281. Whidbey River, named, i. 281.
litconi, Or. missionary, ii. 074. White, Dr, killed, i. 579; missionary,
ii. Os7; Indian agent, ii. (598. White-bear Islands, named. 1805, i.
20; r.ee Lcwio and C. exped., ii. 72. Whitehouse Creek, named, 1805, ii. 21. White Man Fort, seeBelhoullayCouin,
i. 609. White Salmon River, see Lewis and
C. exped., ii. 63. Whitman, Or. missionary, ii. 535; at
Waiilatpu mission, ii. 077. Whitman, Mrs. Or. missionary, ii. 535. Whittaker, L. , settler Cowlitz valley,
ii. 614. Whittemorc, on X. W. coast, 1808-9,
i. 324; 1811, i. 326. Whittier, with Wyeth's exped. , ii. 563. Wickaiianish, Indian chief, Xootka, i.
190; entertains Mcares, i. 197; sells
land, i. 254.
Wickininnish, Indian tribe, ii. 160. Wife-lifting, among fur-hunters, ii.
462. Wilcox, Capt. J. S., on Cal. coast,
1817, i. 335-6. Wildes, voyage, 1801, i. 310; 1802, i.
312.
INDEX.
767
Wilkes, Chas., sketcli of Fuca's Pil lar, i. 79; inCal., i. 643, 649, 653; exploring exped., 1838-42, ii. 668- 84; character, ii. 669-70; on X. W. coast, at Fort Vancouver, in Wil lamette Valley, ii. 674-6; surveys Columbia River, ii. 681; in Cal., ii. 683; results, ii. 684, works, ii. 070, 684.
Wilkinson, killed, i. 579.
Willamette Cattle Co., Slacum aids, ii. 603; organized, ii. (315.
Willamette River, Lewis and C. ex ped. pass, ii. 48; name, ii. 60-1; see Muitiiomah River, ii. 66; Stuart explores, ii. 177; explored, ii. 195.
Willamette River Pass, location, i. G46.
Willamette Valley, Reed explores, ii. •209; fur-trading in, ii. 269, 289; first settler, ii. 500; mills and agri culture, 1829, ii. 505; game in, ii. 521; missionaries in, ii. 534-5; set tlement, 1837, ii. 60: !; 1838, ii. 607; 1843, ii. 701.
Willard, A., see Lewis and C. exped., ii. 24.
Wiliard Creek, named, ii. 24.
Wilies, R., on X. W. passage, i. 59- 60.
William. Fort (X. W. Co.), descrip tion, i. 486, 5G4-5; rendezvous at, i. 493-4; importance, i. 506; phases of society at, i. 564; life at, i. 5G5-8.
William Fort (Sauve' Isl.), descrip tion, i. 491; built, ii. 592-5; sold to H. Bay Co., ii. 597-8.
William, Point, Lewis and C. exped., ii. 53.
'William and Ann,' cruise in north west, 1828, i. 341; wrecked, i. 341; ii. 493, 532.
Williams. Bill, trapper, explorer, i. 516.
AVilliams, E., hunting exped., ii. 126-8.
Wind River, rendezvous, ii. 455.
Windsor River, named, ii. 79.
Winkworth, William, voyage, 1836, i. 341.
Winnipeg, Lake, fort erected at, 1740, i. 26; Jefferys' map, 1768, i. 132.
Winnipegs, French hear of, 1630, i. 106.
Winship, A., merchant, ii. 130.
Winship, Chas., supercargo, i. 306; voyage, 1800, i. 308; death, i. 309.
Winship, Capt. J., on X. W. coast, 1803, i. 317, 321; 1806, i. 323; 1810-
11, i. 325; 1812, i. 328; cruise, 1813, i. 330; character, last days, i. 328-9.
Winship, Nathan, on N. W. coast, 1806, i. 323; 1810-11, i. 325; 1809, ii. 130-5; settlement of, ii. 130-5.
Win ship's settlement on Columbia, 1810, ii. 320, 329.
Wisconsin River. Juliet and Mar- quette traverse, 1673, i. 23.
Wisdom River, named, 1805, ii. 23.
Wives, amonu' II. Bay Company, ii. 650-1.
Wolfe, takes Quebec, 1759, i. 401.
Wolverine, habitat, i. 412.
Wolves, habitat, i. 412.
Women, as missionaries, ii. 536.
Woodford, Rudolph, commissioner Nootka controversy, i. 289.
Woods, with Missouri Co., i. 614.
Woody Point, Cook names, 1778, i. 170; l)i::on',:- map, 1787, i- 180; Elisa sights, 17','0, i. 240.
Work, John, journals, ii. 464; on ex ploring exped., ii. 4-64-8; character, ii. 464-8; with fur brigade, ii. 471; at Colvillc, ii. 472, 407, 513; ex^ed. to Missouri, 1831, ii. 516-19; traps south, 1834, ii. 52G-0; at Fort .Simpson, 1837, ii. 606; 1836, 638- 42; 18-41. ii. 657; surveys Cowlitz Prairie, ii. 613; at Fort Vancouver, ii. 710.
Workman, escapes Indians, ii. 128.
Worth, voyage. 1802, i. 311.
Wraii'rxl. Baron, Russian gov., ii. 629-30.
Wrangel. Fort, ceded to British, ii. 633."
Wrecks, X. W. coast, ii. 532-3.
Wrenthcui, X., on X. W. coast. 1805, i. 320.
Wyeth, Dr. J., on Wyeth's exped., i'i. 559.
Wyeth. J. B., 011 Wyetlrs exped., ii. 559.
Wyeth, X. J., post on Sauve Is., i. 491; establishes trading posts, i. 517. 520: trading exped., ii. 390; treatment by H. Bay Co., ii. 551: organizes Or. exped., ii. 557-61; trip, ii. 561-S; Blackfeet attack, ii. 562-4; at Fort Vancouver, ii. 564- 7; his works, ii. 559; second ad venture, ii. 576-8; salmon-fishing scheme, ii. 577; failure, ii. 590; trip to Or., 1834, ii. 577; builds Fort Hall, ii. 585-7; builds Fort William, ii. 592-5; services, ii. 59S.
Wytfliet-Ptolemy map, 1597, i. 81-4.
768
INDEX.
X
Xavier, at Fort Langley, ii. 477. X. Y. Co., sells liquor to Indians, i. 546; joins K W. Co., i. 555-6.
Yakima River, see Tapteal, ii. 40.
Yakima Valley, as Indian rendezvous, ii. 255-6.
Yakimas, see Chimnapums, ii. 40.
Yaktana, Indian chid', ii. '257.
Yale, J. M., at Fort George, ii. 473; at Fort Langley, ii. 485, 487, 645; wife of, ii. 4-sG: at Fort St James, ii. 490; with Simpson's party, ii. 497.
Yaqui River, Spaniards reach, 1533, i. 16, 42.
Yellcpt, Walla Walla chief, ii. 64.
Yellowhcad Pass, description, i. 620- 1, G2:i, 625.
Yellowstone River, Verendrye reaches. 1742, i. 595; explored, ii. 31; see Lewis and C. cxpcd., ii. 70, 75-80.
Yerba Buena, II. Bay Co., at, ii. 688-9.
York, negro, death, ii. 85.
York Factory, brigade, i. 463; de scription, i. 484-5.
York River, named, ii. 80.
Youens, on N. W. coast, 1805, i.
320.
Youers, trader, ii. 55. Youmalolam River, see Lewis and C.
exped., ii. 64. Young, murdered, ii. 435. Young, E., joins Kelley's exped., ii.
548-53; in Willamette Valley, 1837,
ii. 603; Or. settler, ii. 676. Young Bay, Lewis and C. exped., ii.
54, 57.
Young River, named, i. 281. Yukon, possibly depicted in Low's
map, 1598, i. 86. Yukon Fort, description, i. 491; built,
i. 620. Yukon Pass, description, i. 626.
Zacatula, Cortes settlement at, i. 13. Zacatula Pass, location, i. 657. Zarernbo, Lieut., on N. W. coast,
1834, ii. 632-3. Zuiii, Ofiate visits, 1604-5, i. 21, 90;
see Cibola, i. 43. Zuiii Pass, description, i. 638. Ziuogaba Is., see Oiiate's exploration,
i. 91.
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