Astoria : or, Anecdotes of an enterprise beyond the Rocky Mountains

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ASTORIA.

RIVERSIDE EDITION.

ASTORIA;

ANECDOTES OF AN ENTERPRISE

BEYOND THE

EOOKY MOTJIfTAmS.

BT

WASHINGTON lEYING.

author's REVISfeD EDITION.
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.

PHILADELPHIA !

J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.

1872.

F'sso

■ X'73£

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Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by

G. P. Pdtnam and Son,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of

Ne>v York.

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INTRODUCTION.

]N tbe course of occasional visits to Canada
many years since, I became intimately ac-
quainted with some of the principal part-
ners of the great Northwest Fur Company,
who at that time lived in genial style at Montreal,
and kept almost open house for the stranger. At
Jieir hospitable boards I occasionally met with
partners, and clerks, and hardy fur traders from the
interior posts ; men who had passed years remote
from civilized society, among distant and savage
tribes, and who had wonders to recount of their wide
and wild peregrinations, their hunting exploits, and
their perilous adventures and hair-breadth escapes
among the Indians. I was at an age when imag-
ination lends its coloring to everything, and the
stories of these Sinbads of the wilderness made the
life of a trapper and fur trader perfect romance to
me. I even meditated at one time a visit to the re-
mote posts of the company in the boats which annu-
ally ascended the lakes and rivers, being thereto in-
vited by one of the partners ; and I have ever since
regretted that I was prevented by circumstances from
carrying my intention into effect. From those early
impressions, the grand enterprise of the great fur
companies, and the hazardous errantry of their asso-
ciates in the wild parts of our vast continent, have

VI INTRODUCTION.

always been themes of charmed interest to me ; and
I have felt anxious to get at the details of their ad-
venturous expeditions among tlie savage tribes that
peopled the depths of the wilderness.

About two yiiixrs ago, not long after ray return
from a tour upon the prairies of the far West, I had
a conversation with my friend, Mr. John Jacob Astor,
relative to that portion of our country, and to the
adventurous traders to Santa Fe and the Columbia.
This led him to avert to a great enterprise set on
foot and conducted by him, between twenty and
thirty years since, having for its object to carry the
fur trade across the Rocky Mountains, and to sweep
the shores of the Pacific.

Finding that I took an interest in the subject, he
expressed a regret that the true nature and extent
of his enterprise and its national character and im-
portance had never been understood, and a wish that
I would undertake to give an account of it. The
suggestion struck upon the chord of early associations
already vibrating in my mind. It occurred to me
that a work of this kind might comprise a variety of
those curious details, so interesting to me, illustrative
of the fur trade ; of its remote and adventurous en-
terprises, and of the various people, and tribes, and
castes, and characters, civilized and savage, affected
by its operations. The journals, and letters, also, of
the adventurers by sea and land employed by Mr.
Astor in his comprehensive pi-oject, might throw light
upon portions of our country quite out of the track
of ordinary travel, and as yet but little known. I
therefore felt disposed to undertake the task, provided
documents of sufficient extent and minuteness could
be furnished to me. All the papers relative to the
enterprise was accordingly submitted to my inspec-
tion. Among them were journals and letters nar

INTRODUCTION. Vli

rating expeditions by sea, and journeys to and fro
across the Rocky Mountains by routes before untrav-
elled, together with documents illustrative of savage
and colonial life on the borders of the Pacific.
With such material in hand, I undertook the Avork.
The trouble of rummaging among business papers,
and of collecting and collating facts from amidst
tedious and commonplace details, was spared me by
my nephew, Pierre M. Irving, who acted as my pi-
oneer, and to whom I am greatly indebted for
smoothing my path and lightening my labors.

As the journals, on which I chiefly depended, had
been kept by men of business, intent upon the main
object of the enterprise, and but little versed in sci-
ence, or curious about matters not immediately bear-
ing upon their interests, and as they were written
often in moments of fitigue or hurry, amid the in-
conveniences of wild encampments, they were often
meagre in their details, furnishing hints to provoke
rather than narratives to satisfy inquiry. I have,
therefore, availed myself occasionally of collateral
lights supplied by the published journals of other
travellers who have visited the scenes described :
such as Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, Bradbury, Breck-
enridge, Long, Franchere, and Ross Cox, and make
a general ackno-.vledgment of aid received from these
quarters.

The work I here present to the public, is neces-
sarily of a rambling and somewhat disjointed nature,
comprising various expeditions and adventures by
land and sea. The facts, however, will prove to be
linked and banded together by one grand scheme,
devised and conducted by a master spirit; one set
of characters, also, continues throughout, appearing
occasionally, though sometimes at long intervals, and
the whole enterprise winds up by a regular catastro-

Vlll

INTRODUCTION.

phe ; so that tb.' work, without any labored attempt
at aitificial construction, actually possesses much of
that unity so much sought after in works of fiction,
and considered so important to the interest of every
history

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

PAfll

Objects of American enterprise — gold hunting and fur
trading — their effect on colonization — early
French Canadian settlers — Ottowa and Huron
hunters — an Indian trading camp — courieurs des
bois, or rangers of the woods — their roaming life

— their revels and excesses — licensed traders —
missionaries — trading posts — primitive French
Canadian merchant — his establishment and de-
pendents— British Canadian fur merchant — ori-
gin of the Northwest Company — its constitution

— its internal trade — a candidate for the com^.
pany — privations in the wilderness — northwest
clerks — northwest partners — a northwest nabob

— feudal notions in the forests — the lords of the
lakes — Fort William — its parliamentary hall
and banqueting room — wassailing in the wilder-
ness 1

CHAPTER n.

Rise of the Mackinaw Company — attempt of the
American government to counteract foreign influ-
ence over the Indian tribes — John Jacob Astor —
his birth-place — his arrival in the United States
— what first turned his attention to the fur trade —
his character, enterprises, and success — his com-
munications with the American government —
origin of the American Fur Company, . . 17

conte:7ts.

CHAPTER Iir.

Fur trade in the Pacific — American coasting voyages
— Kussian enterprises — discovery of the Colum-
bia River — Carver's project to found a settlement
there — Mackenzie's expedition — Lewis and
Clarke's journey across the Rock}' Mountains —
Mr. Astor's grand commercial scheme — his cor-
respondence on the subject with Mr. Jefferson —
his negotiations with the Northwest Company —
his steps to carry his scheme into effect, . . 24

CHAPTER IV.

Two expeditions set on foot — the Tonquin and her
crew — Captain Thorn, his character — the part-
ners and clerks — Canadian voyageurs, their hab-
its, employments, dress, character, songs — expe-
dition of a Canadian boat and its crew b}' land and
water — arrival at New York — preparations for a
sea voyage — northwest braggarts — underhand
precautions —letter of instructions, ... 40

CHAPTER V.

Sailing of the Tonquin — a rigid commander and a
reckless crew — landsmen on shipboard — fresh
water sailors at sea — lubber nests — ship fare —
a Labrador veteran — literary clerks — curious
travellers — Robinson Crusoe's Island — quarter-
deck quarrels — Falkland Islands — a wild-goose
chase — Port Egmont — epitaph hunting — Old
Morality — penguin shooting — sportsmen left in
the lurch — a hard pull — further altercations —
arrival at Owyhee, bO

CHAPTER VL

Owyhee — Sandwich Islanders — their nautical tal-
ents — Tamaahmaah — his navy — his negotia-
tions— views of Mr. Astor with respect to the

CONTENTS. xi

Sandwich Islands — Karakakora — royal monop-
oly of pork — description of the islanders — gay-
eties on shore — chronicler of the island — place
where Captain Cook was killed — John Young, a
nautical governor — his story — Waititi — a
royal residence —a royal visit — grand ceremo-
nials— close dealing — a roj'al pork merchant —
grievances of a matter-of-fact man, ... 64

CHAPTER VII.

Departure from the Sandwich Islands — misunder-
standings — miseries of a suspicious man — arri-
val at the Columbia — dangerous service —
gloomy apprehensions — bars and breakers —
perils of the ship — disasters of a boat's crew —
burial of a Sandwich Islander, .... 80

CHAPTER VIII.

Mouth of the Columbia — the native tribes — their
fishinj^ — their canoes — bold navigators — eques-
trian Indians and piscatory Indians, difference in
their physical organization — search for a trading
site — expedition of M'Dougal and David Stewart
— Comcomly, the one-eyed chieftain — influence
of wealth in savage life — slavery among the na-
tives — an aristocracy of Flatheads — hospitahty
among the Chinooks — Comcomly's daughter —
her conquest, 90

CHAPTER IX.

Point George — founding of Astoria — Indian visitors

— their reception — the captain taboos the ship —

— departure of the Tonquin — comments on the
conduct of Captain Thorn, 9^

h

XlJ CONTENTS.

CHAPTER X.

PAW

Disquieting rumors from the interior — recoLnoitring
party — preparations for a trading post — an un-
expected arrival — a spy in the camp — expedition
into the interior — shores of the Columbia —
Mount Coffin — Indian Sepulchre — the land of
spirits — Columbian valley — Vancouver's Point

— falls and rapids — a great fishing mart — the
village of Wish-ram — difference between fishing
Indians and hunting Indians — effects of habits
of trade on the Indian character — post established

at the Oakinagan, . .... 104

CHAPTER XL

Alarm at Astoria — rumor of Indian hostilities — pre-
parations for defence — tragical fate of the Ton-
quin, 118

CHAPTER XII.

Gloom at Astoria — an ingenious stratagem — the
small-pox chief — launcliing of the Dolly — an ar-
rival— a Canadian trapper — a freeman of the
forest — an Iroquois hunter — winter on the Col-
umbia — festivities of New Year, . . . 133

CHAPTER XIII.

Expedition by land — Wilson P. Hunt — his character

— Donald M'Kenzie — recruiting service among
the voyageurs — a bark canoe — chapel of St.
Anne — votive offerings — pious carousals — a
ragged regiment — Mackinaw — picture of at rad-
ing post — frolicking voyageurs — swells and
swaggerers — Indian coxcombs — a man of the
north — jockeyship of voyageurs — inefficacy of
gold — weight of a feather — Mr. Ramsay Crooks

— his character — his risks among the Indians —
his warning concerning Sioux and Blackfeet —
embarkation of recruits — parting scenes between

CONTENTS. xill

PAoa
brothers, cousins, wives, sweethearts, and pot com-
panions, 141

CHAPTER XIV.

St. Louis — its situation — motley population —
French Creole traders and their dependents — Mis-
souri Fur Company — Mr. Manuel Lisa — Missis-
sippi boatmen — vagrant Indians — Kentucky
hunters — old French mansion — fiddling — bil-
liards— Mr. Joseph Miller — his character — re-
cruits— voyage up the Missouri — difficulties of
the river — merits of Canadian voyageurs — arri-
val at the Nodowa — Mr. Robert M'Lellan joins
the party — John Day, a Virginia hunter — de-
scription of him — Mr. Hunt returns to St. Louis, ld3

CHAPTER XV.

Opposition of the Missouri Fur Company — Blackfeet
Indians — Pierre Dorion, a half-breed interpreter

— old Dorion and his hybrid progeny — family
quarrels — cross purposes between Dorion and Lisa

— renegadoes from Nodowa — perplexities of a
commander — Messrs. Bradbury and Nuttall join
the expedition — legal embarrassments of Pierre
Dorion — departure from St. Louis — conjugal dis-
cipline of a half-breed — annual swelling of the
rivers — Daniel Boon, the patriarch of Kentucky

— John Colter — his adventures among the In-
dians— rumors of danger ahead — Fort Osage —
an Indian war-feast — troubles in the Dorion fam-
ily — Buffaloes and turkey-buzzards, . . . 162

CHAPTER XVr.

Iteturn of spring — appearance of snakes — great
flights of wild pigeons — renewal of the voyage —
night encampments — Platte River — ceremonials
on passing it — signs of Indian war parties — .

XIV CONTENTS

magnificent prospect at Papillion Creek — deser-
tion of two hunters — an irruption into the camp of
Indian desperadoes — village of the Omahas —
anecdotes of the tribe — feudal wars of the Indians

— story of Blackbird, the famous Omaha chief, . 180

CHAPTER XVII.

Rumors of danger from the Sioux Tetons — ruthless
character of those savages — pirates of the Mis-
souri— their aflfair with Crooks and M'Lellan —
a trading expedition broken up— M'Lellan's vow
of vengeance — uneasiness in the camp — deser-
tions— departure from the Omaha village — meet-
ing with Jones and Carson, two adventurous trap-
pers— scientific pursuits of Messrs. Bradbury and
Nuttall — zeal of a botanist — adventure of Mr.
Bradbury with a Ponca Indian — expedient of the
pocket compass and microscope — a messenger
from Lisa — motives for pressing forward, . . 196

CHAPTER XVIII.

Camp gossip — deserters — recruits — Kentucky
hunters — a veteran woodman — tidings of Mr.
Henry — danger from the Blackfeet — alteration
of plans — scenery of the river — buffalo roads —
iron ore —country of the Sioux — a land of dan-
ger — apprehensions of the voyageurs — Indian
scouts — threatened hostilities — a council of war —
an array of battle — a parley. — the pipe of peace

— sf eech-makii)g, 208

CHAPTER XIX.

The great bend of the Missouri — Crooks and M'Lellan
meet with two of their Indian opponents — wan-
ton outrage of a white man the cause of Indian
hostility — dangers' anu precautions — an Indian

CONTENTS. XV

PAQI

war party — dangerous situation of Mr. Hunt —
a friendly encampment — feasting- and dancing —
approach of Manuel Lisa and his party — a grim
meeting between old rivals — Pierre Dorion m a
fury — a burst of chivalry, .... 221

CHAPTER XX.

Features of the wilderness — herds of buffalo — ante-
lopes—their varieties and habits — John Day —
his hunting stratagem — interview with three
Arickaras — negotiations between the rival parties

— the Left-handed and the Big Man, two Arickara
chiefs — Arickara village — its inhabitants — cer-
emonials on landing — a council lodge — grand
conference — speech of Lisa — negotiation for
horses — shrewd suggestion of Gray Eyes, an Aric-
kara chief — encampment of the trading parties, 231

CHAPTER XXL

A.n Indian horse fair — love of the Indians for horses

— scenes in the Arickara village — Indian hospi-
tality— duties of Indian women — game habits
of the men — their indolence — love of gossiping —
rumors of lurking enemies — scouts — an alarm —
a sallying forth — Indian dogs — return of a horse-
stealing party — an Indian deputation — fresh
alarms — return of a successful war party — dress
of the Arickaras — Indian toilet — triumphal
entry of the war party — meetings of relations
and friends — Indian sensibilit}- — meeting of a
wounded warrior and his mother — festivities and
lamentations, 244

CHAPTER XXH.

Wilderness of the Far West — great American desert
— parched seasons — Black Hills — Rocky Moun-
tains — wandering and predatory hordes — specu-

XVI CONTENTS,

PAai

lations on what may be the future population —
apprehended dangers — a plot to desert — Rose
the interpreter — his sinister character — depart-
ure from the Arickara village, .... 258

CHAPTER XXIII.

Summer weather of the prairies — purity of the at-
mosphere — Canadians on the march — sickness
in the camp — Big River — vulgar nomenclature
— suggestions about the original Indians names —
camp of Cheyennes — trade for horses — charac-
ter of the Cheyennes — their horsemanship — his-
torical anecdotes of the tribe, .... 265

CHAPTER XXIV.

New distribution of horses — secret information of trea-
son in the camp — Rose the interpreter — his per-
fidious character — his plots — anecdotes of the
Crow Indians — notorious horse stealers — some
account of Rose — a desperado of the frontier, . 272

CHAPTER XXV.

Substitute for fuel on the prairies — fossil trees — fierce-
ness of the buffaloes when in heat — three hunters
missing — signal fires and smokes — uneasiness
concerning the lost men — a plan to forestall a
rogue — new arrangement with Rose — return of
the wanderers, 277

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Black Mountains — haunts of predatory Indians —
their wild and broken appearance — superstitions
concerning them — thunder spirits — singular
noises in the mountains — secret mines — hidden
treasures — mountains in labor — scientific expla-
nation — impassable defiles — black-tailed deer

CONTENTS xvil

— the bighorn or ahsahta — pn^spect from a lofty
height — plain with herds of buffalo — distant
peaks of the Rocky Mountains — alarms in the
camp — tracks of grizzly bears — dangerous na-
ture of this animal — adventures of William Can-
non and John Day with grizzly bears, . 284

CHAPTER XXVir.

Indian trial — rough mountain travelling — sufferings
from hunger and tliirst — Powder River — game
in abundance — a hunter's paradise — mountain
peak seen at a great distance — one of the Bighorn
chain — Rocky Mountains — extent — appearance
— height — the great American desert — various
characteristics of the mountains — Indian supersti-
tions concerning them — land of souls — towns
of the free and generous spirits — happy hunting
grounds, 294

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Region of the Crow Indians — scouts on the lookout

— visit from a crew of hard riders — a Crow camp

— presents to the Crow chief — bargaining —
Crow bullies — Rose among his Indians friends —
parting with the Crows— perplexities among the
mountains — more of the Crows — equestrian
children — search after stragglers, . . . 801

CHAPTER XXIX.

Mountain glens — wandering band of savages — anec-
dotes of Shoshonies and Flatheads — root diggers
— their solitary lurking habits — gnomes of the
mountains — Wind River — scarcity of food —
alteration of route — the Pilot Knobs or Tetons —
branch of the Colorado — hunting camp, .

xviii CONTEI^ TS.

CHAPTER XXX.

A. plentiful hunting camp — Shoshonie hunters — Ho-
back's River — Mad River — encampment near the
Pilot Knobs — a consultation — preparations for a
perilous voyage, 319

CHAPTER XXXI.

A. consultation whether to proceed by land or water —
preparations for boat building — an exploring
party — a part}^ of trappers detached — two
Snake visitors — their report concerning the river
— confirmed by the exploring party — Mad River
abandoned — arrival at Henry's Fort — detach-
ment of Robinson, Hoback, and Kezner to trap —
Mr. Miller resolves to accompany them — their
departure, 324

CHAPTER XXXH.

Scanty fare — a mendicant Snake — embarkation on
Henry River — joy of the voyageurs — arrival at
Snake River — rapids and breakers — beginning
of misfortunes — Snake encampments — parley
with a savage — a second disaster — loss of a
boatman — the Caldron Linn, .... 333

CHAPTER XXXHI.

Gloomy council — exploring parties — discouraging
reports — disastrous experiment — detachments in
quest of succor — caches, how made — return of
one of the detachments — unsuccessful — further
disappointments — the Devil's Scuttle Hole, . 34i

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Determination of the party to proceed on foot — d-eary
deserts between Snake River and the Columbia —
distribution of efiects preparatory to a march —

CONTENTS. XIX

division of the party — rugged march along the
river — wild and broken scenery — Shoshonies —
alarm of a Snake encampment — intercourse with
the Snakes — horse dealing — value of a tin ket-
tle—sufferings from thirst — a horse reclaimed —
fortitude of an Indian woman — scarcity of food —
dog's flesh a dainty — news of Mr. Crooks and
his party — painful travelling among the moun-
tains — snow storms — a dreary mountain pros-
pect— a bivouac during a wintry night — return
to the river bank, 360

CHAPTER XXXV.

kn unexpected meeting — navigation in a skin canoe
— strange fears of suffering men — hardships of
Mr. Crooks and his comrades — tidings of
M'Lellan — a retrograde march — a willow raft —
extreme suffering of some of the party — illness of
Mr. Crooks — impatience of some of the men —
necessity of leaving the laggards behind, . . 364

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Mr. Hunt overtakes the advanced party — Pierre
Dorion, and his skeleton horse — a Shoshonie
camp — a justificable outrage — feasting on horse
flesh — Mr. Crooks brought to the camp — under-
takes to relieve his men — the skin ferry-boat —
frenzy of Prevost — his melancholy fate — en-
feebled state of John Day — Mr. Crooks again left
behind — the party emerge from among the moun-
tains — interview with Shoshonies — a guide pro-
cured to conduct the party across a mountain —
ferriage across Snake River — reunion with Mr.
Crooks's men — final departure from the river, . 371

CHAPTER XXXVII.
Departure from Snake River — mountains to the norta

XX C( N TENTS.

— wayworn travellers — an increase of the Doriou
family — a camp of Shoshonies — a New Year fes-
tival among the Snakes — a wintry march through
the mountains — a sunny prospect, and milder
climate — Indian horse- tracks — grassy valleys

— a camp of Sciatogas — joy of the travellers —
dangers of abundance — habits of the Sciatogas

— fate of Carriere — the Umatalla — arrival at
the banks of the Columbia — tidings of the scat-
tered members of the expedition — scenery on the
Columbia — tidings of Astoria — arrival at the
falls, 380

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

The village of Wish-ram — roguer}'^ of the inhabitants

— their habitations — tidings of Astoria — of the
Tonquin massacre — thieves about the camp — a
band of braggarts — embarkation — arrival at
Astoria — a jo^^ful reception — old comrades —
adventures of Reed, M'Lellan, and M'Kenzie,
among the Snake River Mountains — rejoicing at
Astoria, 394

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Scanty fare during the winter — a poor hunting ground

— the return of the fishing season — the uthlecan
or smelt — its qualities — vast shoals of it —
sturgeon — Indian modes of taking it — the sal-
mon — different species — nature of the country
about the coast — forests and forest trees — a re-
markable flowering vine — animals — birds —
reptiles — climate west of the mountains — mild-
ness of the temperature — soil of the coast and the
interior, 404

CHAPTER XL.

Natives in the neighborhood of Astoria — their persons
and characteristics — causes of deformity — their

CONTENTS. XXI

dress — their contempt of beards — ornaments —
armor and weapons — mode of flattening the head

— extent of the custom — religious belief — the
two great spirits of the air and of the fire — priests
or medicine men — the rival idols — polygamy a
cause of greatness — petty warfare — music, danc-
ing, gambling — thieving a virtue — keen traders

— intrusive habits — abhorrence of drunkenness

— anecdote of Comcomly, 411

CHAPTER XLI.

Spring arrangements at Astoria — various expeditions
set out — the Long Narrows — pilfering Indians

— thievish tribe at Wish-ram — portage at the
falls — portage by moonlight — an attack, a rout,
and a robber}' — Indian cure for cowardice — a
parley and compromise — the dispatch party turn
back — meet Crooks and John Day — their suffer-
ings— Indian perfidy — arrival at Astoria, . 421

CHAPTER XLII.

Comprehensive views — to supply the Russian fur es-
tablishment— an agent sent to Russia — project
of an annual ship — the Beaver fitted out — her
equipment and crew — instructions to the captain

— the Sandwich Islands — rumors of the fate of
the Tonquin — precautions on reaching the mouth

of the Columbia, 435

CHAPTER XLIII.

Active operations at Astoria — various expeditions
fitted out — Robert Stuart and a party destined for
New York — singular conduct of John Day — his
fate — piratical pass and hazardous portage — rat-
tlesnakes— their abhorrence of tobacco — arrival
among the Wallat- Wallahs — purchase of horses

XXli CONTENTS,

PAsa

— departure of Stuart and his band for the moun-
tains, 441

CHAPTER XLIV.

Route of Mr. Stuart — dreary wilds — thirstj' travel-
ling — a grove and streamlet — the Blue Moun-
tains— a fertile plain with rivulets — sulphur
spring — route along Snake River — rumors of
white men — the Snake and his horse — a Snake
guide — a midnight decampment — unexpected
meeting with old comrades — story of trappers'
hardships — Salmon Falls — a great fishery —
mode of spearing salmon — arrival at the Caldron
Linn — state of the caches — new resolution of
the three Kentucky trappers, .... 457

CHAPTER XLV.

The Snake River deserts — scanty fare — bewildered
travellers — prowling Indians — a giant Crow
chief — a bulley rebuked — Indian signals —
smoke on the mountains — Mad River — an alarm

— an Indian foray — a scamper — a rude Indian
joke — a sharp-shooter balked of his shot, . 168

CHAPTER XL VI.

Travellers unhorsed — pedestrian preparations — pry-
ing spies — bonfires of baggage — a march on
foot — rafting a river — the wounded elk — In-
dian trails — willful conduct of Mr. M'Lellan —
grand prospect from a mountain — distant craters
of volcanoes — illness of Mr. Crooks, . . 479

CHAPTER XLVH.

Ben Jones and a grizzly bear — rocky heights —
mountain torrents — traces of M'Lellan — volcanic
remains — mineral earths — peculiar clay for pot-
ter}'— di-mal plight of M' Indian — starvation —

CONTENTS. xxiii

PAoa
shocking proposition of a desperate man — a
broken-down bull — a ravenous meal — Indian
graves — hospitable Snakes — a forlorn alliance, 489

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Spanish River scenery — trial of Crow Indians —
a snow-storm — a rousing tire and a buffalo feast
— a plain of salt — climbing a mountain — vol-
canic summit — extinguished crater — marine
shells — encampment on a prairie — successful
hunting — good cheer — romantic scenery —
rocky defile — foaming rapids — the fiery nar-
rows, 501

CHAPTER XUX.

Wintry storms — a halt and council — cantonment for
the winter — fine hunting country — game of the
mountains and plains — successful hunting — Mr.
Crooks and a grizzl}' bear — the wigwam — big-
horn and bUicktails — beef and venison — good
quarters and good cheer — an alarm — an intru-
sion— unwelcome guests — desolation of the lar-
der— gormandizing exploits of hungry savages —
good quarters abandoned, 50&

CHAPTER L.

Rough wintry travelling — hills and plains — snow
and ice — disappearance of game — a vast dreary
plain — a second halt for the winter — another
wigwam — New Year's feast — buffalo humps,
tongues, and marrow-bones — return of spring —
launch of canoes — bad navigation — pedestrian
march — vast prairies — deserted camps — Pawnee
squaws — an Otto Indian — news of war— voyage
down the Platte and the Missouri — reception at
Fort Osage — arrival at iS':. Louis, . . . 520

XXIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER LI.

FAOl

Agreement between Mr. Astor and the Russian Fur
Company — war between the United States and
Great Britain — instructions to Captain Sowle of
the Beaver — fitting out of the Lark — news of the
arrival of Mr. Stuart, 530

CHAPTER LIL

Banks of the Wallah-Wallah — departure of David
Stuart for the Oakinagan — Mr. Clarke's route up
Lewis River — Chipunnish, or Pierced-nose In-
dians— their character, appearance, and habits —
thievish habits — laying up of the boats — post at
Pointed Heart and Spokan Rivers — M'Kenzie, his
route up the Camoenum — bands of travelling In-
dians — expedition of Reed to the caches — ad-
ventures of wandering voyageurs and trappers, . 536

CHAPTER LIIL

Departure of Mr. Hunt in the Beaver — precautions
at the factor}' — detachment to the Wollamut —
gloom}' apprehensions — arrival of M'Kenzie —
affairs at the Shahaptan — news of war — dismay
of M'Dougal — determination to abandon Astoria
— departure of M'Kenzie for the interior — ad-
venture at the rapids — visit to the ruffians of
Wish-ram — a perilous situation — meeting with
M'Tavish and his party — arrival at the Shahap-
tan — plundered caches — determination of the
wintering partners not to leave the country — ar-
rival of Clarke among the Nez Perces —the aflfair
of the silver goblet — hanging of an Indian. —
arrival of the wintering partners at Astoria, . 545

CHAPTER LIV.

The partners displeased with M'Dougal — equivocal
conduct of that gentleman — partners agree to

CCNTENTS.

abandon Astoria — sale of goods to M'Tavish —
arrangements for the year — manifesto signed by
the partners — departure of M'Tavish for the in-
terior, 560

CHAPTER LV.

A.»vxieties of Mr. Astor — memorial of the Northwest
Company — tidings of a British naval expedition
against Astoria — Mr. Astor applies to govern-
ment for protection — the frigate Adams ordered to
be fitted out — bright news from Astoria — sun-
shine suddenly overclouded, .... 566

CHAPTER LVr.

Affairs of state at Astoria — M'Dougal proposes for the
hand of an Indian princess — matrimonial em-
bassy to Comcomly — matrimonial notions among
the Chinooks — settlements and pin-money — the
bringing home of the bride — a managing father-
in-law — arrival of Mr. Hunt at Astoria, . . 570

CHAPTER LVH.

Voyage of the Beaver to New Archangel — a Russian
governor — roystering rule — the tyranny of the
table ~ hard drinking bargains — voyage to Kamt-
schatka — seal catching establishment at St. Paul's
— storms at sea — Mr. Hunt left at the Sandwich
Islands — transactions of the Beaver at Canton —
return of Mr. Hunt to Astoria, .... 576

CHAPTER LVIII.

Arrangements among the partners — Mr. Hunt sails in
the Albatross — arrives at the Marquesas — news
of the frigate Phoebe — Mr. Hunt proceeds to the
Sandwich Islands — voyage of the Lark — her
shipwreck — transactions with the natives of the
Sandwich Islands — conduct of Tamaahraaah, . 586

XXvi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER LIX.

PA 01

Arrival of M'Tavish at Astoria — conduct of his fol-
lowers— negotiations of M'Dougal and M'Tavish

— bargain for tlie transfer of Astoria — doubts en-
tertained of the loyalty of M'Dougal, . . . 595

CHAPTER LX.

Arrival of a strange sail — agitation at Astoria — war-
like offer of Coincomly — Astoria taken possession
of by the British — indignation of Comcomly at
the conduct of his son-in-law, .... 602

CHAPTER LXI.

Arrival of the brig Pedler at Astoria — breaking up of
the establishment — departure of several of the
company — tragical story told b}-- the squaw of
Pierre Dorion — fate of Reed and his companions

— attempts of Mr. Astor to renew his enterprise —
disappointment — concluding observations and re-
flections, 608

APPENDIX.

Draught of a petition to Congress, sent by Mr. Astor in

1812, 625

Letter from Mr. Gallatin to Mr. Astor, ... 628
Notices of the present state of the Fur Trade, chiefly
extracted from an article published in Silliman's

Journal for January, 1834, 631

Height of the Rocky Mountains, .... 640

Suggestions with respect to the Indiaa -ribes, and the

protection of our Trade, 649

ASTORIA.

CHAPTER I.

WO leading objects of commercial gain
have given birth to wide and daring
enterprise in the early history of the
Americas ; the precious metals of the South, and
the rich peltries of the North. While the fiery
and magnificent Spaniard, inflamed with the
mania for gold, has extended his discoveries and
conquests over those brilliant countries scorched
by the ardent sun of the tropics, the adroit and
buoyant Frenchman, and the cool and calculating
Briton, have pursued the less splendid, but no
less lucrative, traffic in furs amidst the hyperbo-
rean regions of the Canadas, until they have ad-
vanced even witliin the Arctic Circle.

These two pursuits have thus in a mannei
been the pioneers and precursors of civilization.
Without pausing on the borders, they have pene-
trated at once, in defiance of difficulties and
dangers, to the heart of savage countries : laying
open the hidden secrets of the wilderness ; lead-
ing the way to remote regions of beauty and
fertility that might have remained unexplored for

2 ^5 TORIA.

ages, and beckoning after them the slow and
pausing steps of agriculture and civilization.

It was the fur trade, in fact, which gave early
sustenance and vitality to the great Canadian
provinces. Being destitute of the precious
metals, at that time the leading objects of Amer-
ican enterprise, they were long neglected by the
parent country. The French adventurers, how-
ever, who had settled on the banks of the St.
Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries of
the interior, they had sources of wealth that
might almost rival the mines of Mexico and
Peru. The Indians, as yet unacquainted with
the artificial value given to some descriptions of
furs, in civilized life, brought quantities of the
most precious kinds and bartered them away for
European trinkets and cheap commodities. Im-
mense profits were thus made by the early
traders, and the traffic was pursued with avidity.

As the valuable furs soon became scarce in the
neighborhood of the settlements, the Indians of
the vicinity were stimulated to take a wider
range in their hunting expeditions ; they were
generally accompanied on these expeditions by
some of the traders or their dependents, who
shared in the toils and perils of the chase, and at
the same time made themselves acquainted with
the best hunting and trapping grounds, and with
the remote tribes, whom they encouraged to
bring their peltries to the settlements. In this
way the trade augmented, and was drawn from
remote quarters to Montreal. Every now and
then a large bodj' of Ottawas, Hurons, and other

INDIAN FAIR. 3

tribes who hunted the countries bordering on the
great lakes, would come down in a squadron of
light canoes, laden with beaver skins, and other
spoils of their year's hunting. The canoes
would be unladen, taken on shore, and their con-
tents disposed in order. A camp of birch bark
would be pitched outside of the town, and a kind
of primitive fair opened with that grave ceremo-
nial so dear to the Inchans. An audience would
be demanded of the governor-general, who would
hold the conference with becoming state, seated
in an elbow-chair, with the Indians ranged in
semicircles before him, seated on the ground,
and silently smoking their pipes. Speeches would
be made, presents exchanged, and the audience
would break up in universal good humor.

Now would ensue a brisk traffic with the mer-
chants, and all Montreal would be alive with
naked Indians running from shop to shop, bar-
gaining for arms, kettles, knives, axes, blankets,
bright-colored cloths, and other articles of use or
fancy ; upon all which, says an old French writer,
the merchants were sure to clear at least two
hundred per cent. There was no money used in
this traffic, and, after a time, all payment in
spirituous liquors was prohibited, in consequence
of the frantic and frightful excesses and bloody
brawls which they were apt to occasion.

Their wants and caprices being supplied, they
would take leave of the governor, strike their
tents, laimch their canoes, and ply their way up
'he Ottawa to the lakes.

A new and anomalous class of men gradually

4 ASTORIA.

grew out of this trade. These were called cour^
eicrs des bois, rangers of the woods ; originally
men who had accompanied the Indians in their
hunting expeditions, and made themselves ac-
quainted with remote tracts and tribes ; and who
now became, as it were, peddlers of the wilderness.
These men would set out from Montreal with
canoes well stocked with goods, with arms and
ammunition, and would make their way up the
mazy and wandering rivers that interlace the
vast forests of the Canadas, coasting the most
remote lakes, and creating new wants and habi-
tudes among the natives. Sometimes they so-
journed for months among them, assimilating to
their tastes and habits with the happy facility of
Frenchmen adopting in some degree the Indian
dress, and not unfrequently taking to themselves
Indian wives.

Twelve, fifteen, eighteen months would often
elapse without any tidings .of them, when they
would come sweeping their \yay down the Ottawa
in full glee, their canoes laden down with packs
of beaver skins. Now came their turn for rev-
elry and extravagance. " You would be amazed,"
says an old writer already quoted, "if you saw
how lewd these peddlers are when they return ;
how they feast and game, and how prodigal they
are, not only in their clothes, but upon their
sweethearts. Such of them as are married have
the wisdom to retire to their own houses ; but
the bachelors act just as an East Indiaman and
pirates are wont to do ; for they lavish, eat, drink,
%nd play all away aa long as the goods hold out ;

COUREURS DES BOIS. 5

and wlien these are gone, they even sell their
embroidery, their lace, and their clothes. This
done, they are forced upon a new voyage for
subsistence." ^

Many of these coureurs des bois became so
accustomed to the Indian mode of living, and the
perfect freedom of the wilderness, that they lost
all relish for civilization, and identified themselves
with the savages among whom they dwelt, or
could only be distinguished from them by superior
licentiousness. Tlieir conduct and example grad-
ually corru})ted the natives, and impeded the
works of the Cutliolic missionaries, who were at
this time prosecuting their pious labors in the
wilds of Canada.

To check these abuses, and to protect the fur
trade from various irregularities practised by
these loose adventurers, an order was issued by
the French government prohibiting all persons,
on pain of death, from trading into the mterior
of the country without a license.

These licenses were granted in writing by the
governor-general, and at first were given only to
persons of respectability ; to gentlemen of broken
fortunes ; to old officers of the army who had
families to provide for ; or to their widows.
Each license permitted the fitting out of two
large canoes with merchandise for the lakes, and
no more than twenty-five licenses were to be
issued in one year. By degrees, however, private
licenses were also granted, and the number rap-
.dly increased. Those who did not choose to fit
1 La Hontan, v. i. let. 4.

6 ASTORIA,

out the expeditions themselves, were permitted to
sell them to the merchants ; these employed the
coureurs des bois, or rangers of the woods, to un-
dertake the long voyages on shares, and thus the
abuses of the old system were revived and con-
tinued.^

The pious missionaries, employed by the
Roman Catholic Church to convert the Indians,
did everything in their power to counteract
the profligacy caused and propagated by these
men in the heart of the wilderness. The
Catholic chapel might often be seen planted
beside the trading house, and its spire sur-
mounted by a cross, towering from the midst of
an Indian village, on the banks of a river or a
lake. The missions had often a beneficial effect

1 The following are the terms on which these expeditions
were commonly undertaken. The merchant holding the
license would fit out the two canoes with a thousand crowns
worth of goods, and put them under the conduct of six cour-
eurs des bois, to whom the goods were charged at the rate of
fifteen per cent, above the ready money price in the colony.
The coureurs des bois, in their turn, dealt so sharply with
the savages, that they generally returned, at the end of a
year or so, with four canoes well laden, so as to insure a clear
profit of seven hundred per cent., insomuch that the thousand
crowns invested, produced eight thousand. Of this extrava-
gant profit the merchant had the lion's share. In the first
place he would set aside six hundred crowns for the cost of
his license, then a thousand crowns for the cost of the original
merchandise. This would leave six thousand four hundred
crowns, from which he would take forty per cent., for bot-
tomry, amounting to two thousand five hundred and sixty
crowns. The residue would be equally divided among the
eix wood rangers, who would thus receive little more than
iix hundred crowns for all their toils and perils.

LICENSED TRADERS. 7

on the simple sons of the forest, but had little
power over the renegades from civilization.

At length it was found necessary to establish
fortified posts at the confluence of the rivers and
the lakes for the protection of the trade, and the
restraint of these profligates of the wilderness.
The most important of these was at Michilimack-
inac, situated at the strait of the same name,
which connects Lakes Huron and Michigan. It
became the great interior mart and place of
deposit, and some of the regular merchants who
prosecuted the trade in person, under their
licenses, formed establishments here. This, too,
was a rendezvous for the rangers of the woods,
as well those who came up with goods from
Montreal as those who returned with peltries
from the interior. Here new expeditions were
fitted out and took their departure for Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi ; Lake Superior
and the Northwest; and here the peltries brought
in return were embarked for Montreal.

The French merchant at his trading post, in
these primitive days of Canada, was a kind of
commercial patriarch. With the lax habits and
easy fiimiliarity of his race, he had a littfe world
of self-indulgence and misrule around him. He
had his clerks, canoe men, and retainers of all
kinds, who lived with him on terms of perfect
sociability, always calling him by his Christian
name ; he had his harem of Indian beauties, and
his troop of half-breed children ; nor was there
ever wanting a loutiiig train of Indians, hanging
about the establishment, eating and drinking at

8 AS TORI J.

his expense in the intervals of their hunting ex-
peditions.

The Canadian traders, for a locig time, had
troublesome competitors in the British ^merchants
of New York, who inveigled the Indian hunters
and the coureurs des hois to their posts, and
traded with them on more favorable terms. A
still more formidable opposition was organized in
the Hudson Bay Company, chartered by Charles
IL, in 1670, with the exclusive privilege of
establishing trading houses on the shores of that
bay and its tributary rivers ; a privilege which
they have maintained to the present day.
Between this British company and the French
merchants of Canada, feuds and contests arose
about alleged infringements of territorial limits,
and acts of violence and bloodshed occurred
between their agents.

In 1762, the French lost possession of Canada,
and the trade fell principally into the hands of
British subjects. For a time, however, it shrunk
within narrow limits. The old coureurs des hots
were broken up and dispersed, or, where they
could be met with, were slow to accustom them-
selves to the habits and manners of their British
employers. They missed the freedom, indul-
gence, and familiarity of the old French trading
houses, and did not relish the sober exactness,
reserve, and method of the new-comers. The
British traders, too, were ignorant of the country,
and distrustful of the natives. They had reason
to be so. The treacherous and bloody affairs of
Detroit and Michilimackinac showed them the

BRITISH FUR TRADERS. 9

lurking hostility cherished by the savages, \\t no
Iiad too long been taught by the French to
regard them as enemies.

It was not until the year 1766, that the trade
regained its old channels ; but it was then
pursued with much avidity and emulation by
individual merchants, and soon transcended its
former bounds. Expeditions were fitted out by
various persons from Montreal and Michilimack-
inac, and rivalships and jealousies of course
ensued. The trade was injured by their artifices
to outbid and undermine each other ; the Indians
were debauched by the sale of spirituous liquors,
which had been prohibited under the French
rule. Scenes of drunkenness, brutality, and
brawl were the consequence, in the Indian
villages and around the trading houses ; while
bloody feuds took place between rival trading
parties when they happened to encounter each
other in the lawless depths of the wilderness.

To put an end to these sordid and ruinous
contentions, several of the principal merchants of
Montreal entered into a partnership in the whiter
of 1783, which was augmented by amalgamation
with a rival company in 1787. Thus was
created the famous " Northwest Company,"
wliich for a time held a lordly sway over the
wintry lakes and boundless forests of the
Canadas, almost equal to that of the East India
Company over the voluptuous climes and magnifi-
cent realms of the Orient.

The company consisted of twenty-three share-
holders, or partners, but held in its employ about

10 ASTORIA.

two thousand persons as derks, guides, interpre-
ters, and " voyageurs," or boatmen. These were
distributed at various trading posts, established
far and wide on the interior lakes and rivers, at
immense distances from each other, and in the
heart of trackless countries and savage tribes.

Several of the partners resided in Montreal
and Quebec, to manage the main concerns of the
company. These were called agents, and were
personages of great weight and importance ; the
other partners took their stations at the interior
posts, where they remained throughout the
winter, to superintend the intercourse with the
various tribes of Indians. They were thence
called wintering partners.

The goods destined for this wide and wander-
mg traffic were put up at the warehouses of the
company in Montreal, and conveyed in batteaux,
or boats and canoes, up the river Attawa, or
Ottowa, which falls into the St. Lawrence near
Montreal, and by other rivers and portages, to
Lake Nipising, Lake Huron, Lake Superior, and
thence, by several chains of great and small lakes,
to Lake Winnipeg, Lake Athabasca, and the
Great Slave Lake. This singular and beautiful
system of mternal seas, which renders an im-
mense region of wilderness so accessible to the
frail bark of the Indian or the trader, was
studded by the remote posts of the company,
where they carried on their traffic with the sur-
rounding tribes.

The company, as we have shown, was at first
a, spontaneous association of merchants j but,

BRITISH NORTHWEST COMPANY. H

after it had been regularly organized, admission
into it became extremely difficult. A candidate
had to enter, as it were, "before the mast," to
undergo a long probation, and to rise slowly by
his merits and services. He began, at an early
age, as a clerk, and served an apprenticeship of
seven years, for which he received one hundred
pounds sterling, was maintained at the expense
of the company, and furnished with suitable
clothing and equipments. His probation was
generally passed at the interior trading posts ;
removed for years from civihzed society, leading
a life almost as wild and precarious as the sav-
ages around him ; exposed to the severities of a
northern winter, often suffering from a scarcity
of food, and sometimes destitute for a long time
of both bread and salt. When liis apprenticeship
had expired, he received a salary according to
his deserts, varying from eighty to one hundred
and sixty pounds sterling, and was now eligible
to the great object of his ambition, a partnership
in the company ; though years might yet elapse
before he attained to that enviable station.

Most of the" clerks were young men of good
families, from the Highlands of Scotland, charac-
terized by the perseverance, thrift, and fidelity of
their country, and fitted by their native hardi-
hood to encounter the rigorous climate of the
North, and to endure the trials and privations of
their lot ; though it must not be concealed that
the constitutions of many of them became im-
paired by the hardships of the wilderness, and
their stomachs injured by occasional famishing,

12 ASTORIA.

and especially by the want of bread and salt.
Now and then, at an interval of years, they were
permitted to come down on a risit to the estab-
lishment at Montreal, to recruit their health, and
to have a taste of civilized life ; and these were
brilliant spots m their existence.

As to the principal partners, or agents, who
resided in Montreal and Quebec, they formed a
kind of commercial aristocracy, living in lordly
and hospitable style. Their early associations
when clerks at the remote trading posts, and the
pleasures, dangers, adventures, and mishaps which
they had shared together in their wild wood life,
liad linked them heartily to each other, so that
they formed a convivial fraternity. Few trav-
ellers that have visited Canada some thirty years
since, in the days of the M'Tavishes, the M'Gil-
livrays, the M'Kenzies, the Frobishers, and the
other magnates of the Northwest, when the com-
pany was in all its glory, but must remember the
round of feasting and revelry kept up among
these hyperborean nabobs.

Sometimes one or two partners, recently from
the interior posts, would make their appearance
in New York, in the course of a tour of pleasure
and curiosity. On these occasions there was
always a degree of magnificence of the purse
about them, and a peculiar propensity to expend-
iture at the goldsmith's and jeweler's for rings,
chams, brooches, necklaces, jeweled watches, and
other rich trinkets, partly for their own wear,
partly for presents to their female acquaintances ;
a gorgeous prodigality, such as was often to be

FEUDAL STATE IIS THE FOREST. 13

noticed in former times in Southern planters and
West India Creoles, when flush with the profits
of their plantations.

To behold the Northwest Company in all its
state and grandeur, however, it was necessary to
witness an annual gathering at the great interior
place of conference established at Fort William,
near what is called the Grand Portage, on Lake
Superior. Here two or three of the leading
partners from Montreal proceeded once a year to
meet the partners from the various trading posts
of the wilderness, to discuss the aflflxirs of the
company during the preceding year, and to ar-
range plans for the future.

On these occasions might be seen the change
since the unceremonious times of the old French
traders ; now the aristocratical character of the
Briton shone forth magnificently, or rather the
feudal spirit of the Highlander. Every partner
who had charge of an interior post, and a score
of retainers at his command, felt like the chief-
tain of a Higliland clan, and was almost as im-
portant in the eyes of his dependents as of him-
self. To him a visit to the grand conference at
Fort William was a most important event, and
he repaired there as to a meeting of parliament.

The partners from Montreal, however, were
the lords of the ascendant ; coming from the
midst of luxurious and ostentatious life, they quite
eclipsed their compeers from the woods, whose
forms and faces had been battered and hardened
by hard living and hard service, and whose gar-
ments and equipments were all the worse for

14 ASTORIA.

wear. Indeed, the partners from below consid-
ered the whole dignity of the company as repre-
sented in their persons, and conducted themselves
in suitable style. They ascended the rivers in
great state, like sovereigns making a progress :
or rather like His^hland chieftains naviojating
their subject lakes. They were wrapped in rich
furs, their huge canoes freighted with every con-
venience and luxury, and manned by Canadian
voyageurs, as obedient as Highland clansmen.
They carried up with them cooks and bakers,
together with delicacies of every kind, and abun-
iance of choice wines for the banquets which at-
tended this great convocation. Happy were they,
too, if they could meet with some distinguished
stranger ; above all, some titled member of the
British nobility, to accompany them on this stately
occasion, and grace their high solemnities.

Fort William, the scene of this important
annual meeting, was a considerable village on the
banks of Lake Superior. Here, in an immense
wooden building, was the great council hall, as
also the banqueting chamber, decorated with In-
dian arms and accoutrements, and the trophies of
the fur trade. The house swarmed at this time
with traders and voyageurs, some from Montreal,
bound to the interior posts ; some from the inte-
rior posts, bound to Montreal. The councils
were held in great state, for every member felt
as if sitting in parliament, and every retainer
and dependent looked up to the assemblage with
awe, as to the House of Lords. There was a
vast deal of solemn deliberation, and hard Scot-

rHE GLORIES OF FORT WILLIAM. 15

tish reasoning, with an occasional swell of pomp-
ous declamation.

These grave and weighty councils were alter-
nated by huge feasts and revels, like some of the
old feasts described in Highland castles. The
tables in the great banqueting room groaned
under the weight of game of all kinds ; of veni-
son from the woods, and fish from the lakes, with
hunters' delicacies, such as buffaloes' tongues, and
beavers' tails, and various luxuries from Mon-
treal, all served up by experienced cooks brought
for the purpose. There was no stint of gener-
ous wine, for it was a hard-drinking period, a
time of loyal toasts, and bacchanalian songs, and
brimming bumpers.

While the chiefs thus revelled in hall, and
made the rafters resound with bursts of loyalty
and old Scottish songs, chanted in voices cracked
and sharpened by the northern blast, their mer-
riment was echoed and prolonged by a mongrel
legion of retainers, Canadian voyageurs, half-
breeds, Indian hunters, and vagabond hangers-on,
who feasted sumptuously without on the crumbs
that fell from their table, and made the welkin ring
with old French ditties, mingled with Indian
yelps and yellings.

Such was the Northwest Company in its pow-
erful and prosperous days, when it held a kind
of feudal sway over a vast domain of lake and
forest. We are dwelling too long, perhaps, upon
these individual pictures, endeared to us by the
associations of early life, when, as yet a stripling
youth, WG have sat at the hospitable boards of

16 ASTORIA.

tlie " mighty Northwesters," the lords of the as-
cendant at Montreal, and gazed with wondering
and inexperienced eye at the baronial wassailing,
and listened with astonished ear to their tales of
hardships and adventures. It is one object of
our task, however, to present scenes of the rough
life of the wilderness, and we are tempted to fix
these few memorials of a transient state of things
fast passing into oblivion ; — for the feudal state
of Fort William is at an end ; its council cham-
ber is silent and deserted ; its banquet hall no
longer echoes to the burst of loyalty, or the
" auld world " ditty ; the lords of the lakes and
forests have passed away; and the hospitable
magnates of Montreal — where are they ?

"^M^

CHAPTER II.

riE success of the Nortiiwest Company
stimulated further enterprise in tliis
opening and apparently boundless field
of profit. The trattic of that company lay prin-
cipally in the high northern latitudes, while there
were immense regions to the south and west,
known to abound with valuable peltries ; but
which, as yet, had been but little explored by
the fur trader. A new association of British
merchants was therefore formed, to prosecute the
trade in this direction. The chief factory was
established at the old emporium of Micliilimack-
inac, from which place the association took its
name, and was commonly called the Mackinaw
Company.

While the Northwesters continued to push
their enterprises into the hyperborean regions
from their stronghold at Fort William, and to
hold almost sovereign sway over the tribes of the
upper lakes and rivers, the Mackinaw Company
sent forth their light perogues, and barks, by
Green Bay, Fox River, and the Wisconsin, to
that great artery of the West, the Mississippi ;
and down that stream to all its tributary rivers.
In this way they hoped soon to monopolize the
trade with all the tribes on the southern and west-
2

18 ASTORIA.

ern waters, and of those vast tracts comprised
in ancient Louisiana.

The 2:overnment of the United States bei^an to
view with a wary eye the growing iiiflnence thus
acquired by combinations of foreigners, over the
aboriginal tribes inhabiting its territories, and en-
deavored to counteract it. For this purpose, as
early as 1796, the government sent out agents to
establish rival trading houses on the frontier, so
as to supply the wants of the Indians, to link
their interests and feelings with those of the peo-
ple of the United States, and to divert this im-
portant branch of trade into national channels.

Tlie expedient, however, was unsuccessful, as
most commercial expedients are prone to be,
where the dull patronage of government is count-
ed upon to outvie the keen activity of private
enterprise. What govern n:sent failed to effect,
however, with a]l its patronage and all its agents,
was at length brought about by the enterprise
and pei*severance of a single mei-chant, one of its
adopted citizens ; and this brings us to speak of the
individual whose enterprise is the especial subject
of the following pages ; a man whose name and
character are worthy of being enrolled in the his-
tory of commerce, as illustrating its noblest aims
and soundest maxims. A few brief anecdotes of
his early life, and of the circumstances which first
determined him to the brsmeh of commerce of
which we are treating, cannot be but interesting.

John Jacob Astor, the individual in question.
was born in the honest little German village of
Waldorf, near Heidelberg, on the banks of the

JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 19

Rhine. He was brought up in the simplicity of
rural life, but, while yet a mere stripling, left his
home, and launched himself amid the busy scenes
of London, having had, from his very boyhood, a
singular presentiment that he would ultimately
arrive at great fortune.

At the close of the American Revolution he
was still in London, and scarce on the threshold
of active life. An elder brother had been for
some few years resident in the United States, and
Mr. Astor determined to follow him, and to seek
his fortunes in the rising country. Investing a
small sum which he had amassed since leaving
his native village, in merchandise suited to the
American market, he embarked, in the month
of November, 1783, in a ship bound to Baltimore,
and arrived in Hampton Roads in the month of
January. The winter was extremely severe,
and the ship, with many others, was detained by
the ice in and about Chesapeake Bay for nearly
three months.

During this period, tlie passengers or the va-
rious ships used occasionally to go on shore, and
mingle sociably together. In tliis way Mr. Astor
became acquainted with a countryman of his, a
furrier by trade. Having had a previous im-
pression that this might be a lucrative trade in
the New World, he made many inquiries of his
new acquaintance on the subject, who cheerfully
gave him all the information in his power as to
the quality and value of different furs, and the
mode of carrying on the traffic. He subsequently
accompanied him to New York, and, by his ad-

20 ASTORIA.

vice, Mr. Asror was induced to invest the pro-
ceeds of his mercliandise in furs. With these
he sailed from New York to London in 1784,
disposed of them advantageously, made himself
further acquainted with the course of the trade,
and returned the same year to New York, with
a view to settle in the United States^

lie now devoted himself to the branch of
commerce with which he had thus casually been
made acquainted. He began his career, of
course, on the narrowest scale ; but he brought
to the task a persevering industry, rigid economy,
and strict integrity. To these were added an
aspiring spirit that always looked upwards ; a
genius bold, fertile, and expansive ; a sagacity
quick to grasp and convert every circumstance
to its advantage, and a singular and never wa-
vering confidence of signal success.^

As yet, trade in peltries was not organized in
the United States, and could not be said to fonn
a regular line of business. Furs and skins were
casually collected by the country traders in their
dealings with the Indians or the white hunters,
but the main supply was derived from Canada.
As Mr. Astor's means increased, he made an-

1 An instance of this buoyant confidence, which no doubt
aided to produce the success it anticipated, we have from the
lips of iMr. A. himself. Wiiile yet almost a stranger in the
city, and in very narrow circumstances, he passed by where
a row of houses had just been erected in Broadway, and
which, from the superior style of their architecture, were the
talk and boast of the city. " I '11 build, one day or other, a
greater house than any of these, in this very street," said he
to himself. He has accomplished his prediction.

DEALINGS IN CANADA. 21

/lual visits to Montreal, where he purchased furs
from the houses at that place engaged in the
trade. These he shipped from Canada to Lon-
don, no direct trade being allowed from that col-
ony to any but the mother country.

In 1794 or '95, a treaty with Great Britain
removed tlie restrictions imposed upon the trade
with the colonies, and opened a direct commer-
cial intercourse between Canada and the United
States. Mr. Astor was in London at the time,
and immediately made a contract with the agents
of the Northwest Company for furs. He was
now enabled to import them from Montreal into
the United States for the home supply, and to be
sliipped thence to different parts of Europe, as
well as to China, which has ever been the best
market for the richest and finest kinds of pel-

The treaty in question provided, likewise, that
the military posts occupied by the British within
the tenitorial limits of the United States,
should be surrendered. Accordingly, Oswego,
Niagara, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and other
posts on the American side of the lakes, were
given up. An opening was thus made for the
American merchant to trade on the confines of
Canada, and within the territories of the United
States. After an interval of some years, about
1807, Mr. Astor embarked in this trade on his
own account. His capital and resources had by
this time greatly augmented, and he had risen
fj-om small beginnings to take his place among
Ihe first nieichants and financiers of the country.

22 ASTORIA.

His genius had ever been in advance of his cir-
cumstances, prompting him to new and wide
fields of enterprise beyond the scope of or-
dinary merchants. With all his enterprise and
resources, however, he soon found the power and
influence of the Michilimackinac (or Mackinaw)
Company too great for him, having engrossed
most of the trade within the American bor-
ders.

A plan iiad to be devised to enable him to
enter into successful competition. He was aware
of the wish of the American government, already
stated, that the fur trade within its boundaries
should be in the hands of American citizens, and
of the ineffectual measures it had taken to ac-
complish that object. He now offered, if aided
and protected by government, to turn the whole
of that trade into American channels. He was
invited to unfold his plans to government, and
they were warmly approved, though the execu-
tive could give no direct aid.

Thus countenanced, however, he obtained, in
1809, a charter from the legislature of the State
of New York, incorporating a company under the
name of •' The American Fur Company," with
a capital of one n)illion of dollars, with the privi-
lege of increasing it to two millions. The capi-
tal was furnished by himself — he, in fact, con-
stituted the company ; for, though he had a board
of directors, they were merely nominal; the
wliole business was conducted on his plans and
Avith his resources, but he preferred to do so
under the imposing and formidable aspect of a

SOUTHWEST COMPANY. 23

corporation, rather than in his individual name,
Rnd his policy was sagacious and. effective.

As the Mackinaw Company still continued its
rivalry, and as the fur trade would not advanta-
geously admit of competition, he made a new ar-
rangement in 1811, by which, in conjunction
with certain partners of the Northwest Company,
and other persons engaged in the fur trade, he
bought out the Mackinaw Company, and merged
that and the American Fur Company into a new
association, to be called the " Southwest Com-
pany." This he likewise did with the privity and
approbation of the American government.

By this arrangement Mr. Astor became pro-
prietor of one half of the Indian establishments
and goods which the Mackinaw Company had
within the territory of the Indian country in
the United States, and it was understood that
the whole was to be surrendered into his hands
at the expiration of five years, on condition that
the American Company would not trade within
the British dominions.

Unluckily, the war which broke out in 1812
between Great Britain and the United States
suspended the association ; and, after the war, it
was entirely dissoh^ed ; Congress having passed a
law prohibiting British fur traders from prosecu-
ting their enterprises within the territories of the
United States.

_ CHAPTER III.

fPSP^^IIILE the various companies we have
^wH| noticed were pushing their enterprises
l^^^l far and wide in the wilds of Canada,
and along the course of the great western waters,
other adventurers, intent on the same objects,
were traversing the watery wastes of the Pacific
and skirting the northwest coast of America.
The last voyage of that renowned but unfortu-
nate discoverer, Captain Cook, had made known
the vast quantities of the sea-otter to be found
along that coast, and the immense prices to be
obtained for its fur in China. It was as if
a new gold coast had been discovered. Individ-
uals from various countries dashed into this lu-
crative traffic, so that in the year 1792, there
were twenty-one vessels under different flags,
plying along the coast and trading with the
natives. The greater pai't of them were Ameri-
can, and owned by Boston merchants. They
generally remained on the coast and about the
adjacent seas, for two years, carrying on as wan-
derhig and adventurous a commerce on the water
as did the traders and trappers on land. Their
Jrade extended along the whole coast from Cali-
fornia to the higli northern latitudes. They
would run in near shore, anchor, and wait for

RUSSIAN ENTERPRISES 25

the natives to come off in their canoes \\ith pel-
tries. The trade exhausted at one place, they
would up anchor and off to another. In this
way they would consume the summer, and when
autumn came on, would run down to the Sandwich
Islands and winter in some friendly and plentiful
harbor. In the following year they would re-
sume their summer trade, commencing at Cali-
fornia and proceeding north : and, having in the
course of the two seasons collected a sufficient
cargo of peltries, would make the best of their way
to China. Here they w-ould sell their furs, take
in teas, nankeens, and other merchandise, and
return to Boston, after an absence of two or three
years.

The people, however, who entered most exten-
sively and effectively in the fur trade of the
Pacific, were the Russians. Instead of making
casual voyages, in transient ships, they estab-
lished regular trading houses in the high latitudes,
along the northwest coast of America, and upon
the chain of the Aleutian Islands between Kamt-
schatka and the promontory of Alaska.

To promote and protect these enterprises, a
company was incorporated by the Russian gov-
ernment with exclusive privileges, and a capital
of two hundred and sixty thousand pounds ster-
ling ; and the sovereignty of that part of the
American continent, along the coast of which the
posts had been established, was claimed by the
Russian crown, on the plea that the land had
been discovered and occupied by its subjects.

As China was the jirand mart for the furs col-

26 ASTORIA.

lected in these quarter?, the Russians had the
advantage over their competitors in the trade.
The latter had to take their peltries to Canton,
which, however, was a mere receiving mart, from
whence they had to be distributed over the in-
terior of the empire and sent to the northern
parts, where there was the chief consumption.
The Russians, on the contrary, carried their furs,
by a shorter voyage, directly to the northern
parts of the Chinese empire ; thus being able to
afford them in the market without the additional
cost of internal transportation.

We C(nue now to the immediate field of opera-
tion of the great enterprise we have undertaken
to illustrate.

Among the American ships which traded along
the northwest coast in 1792, was the Columbia,
Captain Gray, of Boston. In the course of her
voyage she discovered the mouth of a large river
in lat. 46° 19' north. Entering it with some
difficulty, on account of sand-bars and breakers,
she came to anchor in a spacious bay. A boat
was well manned, and sent on shore to a village
on the beach, but all the inhabitants fled except-
ing the aged and infirm. The kind manner in
which these were treated, and the presents given
to them, gradually lured back the others, and a
friendly intercourse took place. They had never
seen a ship or a white man. When they had
first descried the Columbia, they had supposed it
a floating island ; then some monster of the deep ;
but when they saw the boat putting for shore
with human beings on board, they considered

DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA. 27

them cannibals sent by the Great Spirit to rav-
age the country and devour the inhabitants.
Captain Gray did not ascend the river farther
than the bay in question, which continues to bear
his name. After putting to sea, he fell in with
the celebrated discoverer, Vancouver, and in-
formed hini of his discovery, furnishing him with
a chart wliich he had made of the river. Van-
couver visited the river, and his lieutenant,
Broughton, explored it by the aid of Captain
Gray's chart ; ascending it upwards of one hun-
dred miles, until within view of a snowy moun-
tain, to which he gave the name of Mount Hood,
which it still retains.

The existence of this river, however, was
known long before the visits of Gray and Vancou-
ver, but the information concerning it was vague
and indefinite, being gathered from the reports
of Indians. It was spoken of by travellers as
the Oregon, and as the Great River of the West.
A Spanish ship is said to have been wrecked at
the mouth, several of the crew of which lived
for some time among \ini natives. Tlie Colum-
bia, however, is believed to be the first ship that
made a regular discovery and anchored within its
waters, and it has since generally borne the name
of that vessel.

As early as 1763, shortly after the acquisition
vf the Canadas by Great Britain, Captain Jon.-i-
than Carver, who had been in the British provin-
cial army, projected a journey across the conti-
nent between the forty-third and forty-sixth
flen;rees of northern latitude to the shores of the

28 ASTORIA.

Pacific Ocean. His objects were to asceriiain
the breadth of the continent at its broadest part,
and to determine on some place on the shores of
the Pacific, where government might establish a
post to facilitate the discovery of a northwest
passage, or a communication between Hudson's
Bay and the Pacific Ocean. This place he pre-
sumed would be somewhere about the Straits of
Annian, at which point he supposed the Oregon
disembogued itself. It was his opinion, also,
that a settlement , on this extremity of America
would disclose new sources of trade, promote
many useful discoveries, and open a more direct
communication with China and the English set-
tlements in the East Indies, than that by the^
Cape of Good Hope or the Straits of Magellan.^
This enterprising and intrepid traveller was twice
baffled in individual efforts to accomplish this
great journey. In 1774, he was joined in the
scheme by Richard Whitworth, a member of
Parliament, and a man of v^ealth. Their enter-
prise was projected on a broad and bold plan.
They were to take with them fifty or sixty men,
artificers and mariners. With these they were
to make their way up one of the branches of
the Missouri, explore the mountains for the
source of the Oregon, or River of the West, and
sail down that river to its supposed exit, near the
Straits of Annian. Here they were to erect a
fort, and build the vessels necessary to carry
their discoveries by sea into effect. Their plan
had the sanction of the British government, and
1 Carver's Travels, Introd. b. iii. l^hilad. 1796.

MACKENZIE'S DISCOVERIES. 29

grants and other requisites were nearly com-
pleted, when the breaking out of the American
Revolution once more defeated the undertak-
ing.l

The expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in
1793, across tlie continent to the Pacific Ocean,
wliich he reached in lat. 52° 20' 48", again sug-
gested the possibility of linking together the
trade of both sides of the continent. In lat. 52°
30' he had descended a river for some distance
wliich flowed towards the south, and was called
by the natives Tacoutche Tesse, and which he
erroneously supposed to be the Columbia. It
was afterwards ascertained that it emptied itself
in lat. 49°, whereas the mouth of the Columbia
is about three degrees further south.

Wiien Mackeiizie some years subsequently
published an account of his expeditions, he sug-
gested the policy of opening an intercourse be-
tween the Atlantic and Pti^ific oceans, and form-
ing regular establishments through the interior
and at both extremes, as well as along the coasts
and islands. By this means, he observed, the
entire command of the fur trade of North Amer-
ica might be obtained from lat. 48° north, to the
pole, excepting that portion held by the Russians,
for as to the American adventurers who had
hitherto enjoyed the traffic along the northwest
coast, they would instantly disappear, he added,
before a well regulated trade.

A scheme of this kind, however, was too vast
and hazardous for individual enterprise ; it could
1 Carver's Travels, p. 3G0. Philad. 1796.

30 ASTORIA.

only be nndertaken by a company under the
sanction and protection of a government ; and as
there raifjht be a clashing of claims between the
Hudson's Bay and Northwest Company, the one
holding by right of charter, the other by right
of possession, he proposed that the two companies
should coalesce in this great undertaking. The
long-cherished jealousies of these two companies,
however, were too deep and strong to allow them
to listen to such counsel.

In the meantime the attention of the American
government was attracted to the subject, and the
memorable expedition under Messrs. Lewis and
Clarke, fitted out. These gentlemen, in 1804,
accomplished the enterprise which had been pro-
jected by Carver and Whitworth, in 1774. They
ascended tlie Missouri, passed through the stu-
pendous gates of the Rocky Mountains, hitherto
unknown to white men ; discovered and explored
the upper waters of the Columbia, and followed
that river down to its mouth, where their country-
man, Gray, had anchored about twelve years pi-e-
viously. Here they passed the winter, and
returned across the mountains in the following
spring. The reports published by them of their
expedition, demonstrated the practicability of es-
tablishing a line of communication across the
continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

It was then that the idea presented itself to
the mind of Mr. Astor, of grasping with his
Individual hand this great enterprise, which for
years had been dubiously yet desirously contem-
plated by powerful associations and maternal

MR. ASTOR'S PROJECT. 3j

governrr.eiits. F"or some time he revolved the
idea in his mind, gradually extending and matur-
ing his plans as his means of executing them
augmented. The main feature of his scheme
was to establish a line of trading posts along the
Missouri and the Columbia, to the mouth of the
latter, where was to be founded the chief trading
house or mart. Inferior posts would be estab-
lished in the interior, and on all the tributary
streams of the Columbia, to trade* with the
Indians ; these posts would draw their supplies
from the main establishment, and bring to it the
peltries they collected. Coasting craft would be
built and fitted out, also, at the mouth of the
Columbia, to trade, at favorable seasons, all along
the nortliwest coast, and return, with the proceeds
of their voyages, to this place of deposit. Thus
all the Indian trade, both of the interior and the
coast, would converge to this point, and thence
derive its sustenance.

A ship was to be sent annually from New
York to this main establishment with reinforce-
ments and supplies, and with merchandise suited
to the trade. It would take on board the furs
collected during the preceding year, cai'ry them
to Canton, invest the proceeds in the rich mer-
chandise of China, and return thus freighted to
New York.

As, in extending the American trade along
the coast to the northward, it might be brought
into the vicinity of the Russian Fur Company,
and produce a hostile rivalry, it was part of the
plan of Mr. Astor to conciliate the good- will of

32 ASTORIA.

tliat company by the most amicable and beneficial
arrangements. The Russian establishment was
chiefly dependent for its supplies upon transient
trading vessels from the United States. These
vessels, however, were often of more harm than
advantage. Being owned by private adventurers,
or casual voyagers, who cared only for present
profit, and had no interest in the permanent pros-
perity of the trade, they were reckless in their
deahngs wttli the natives, and made no scruple
of supplying them with fire-arms. In this way
several fierce tribes in the vicinity of the Russian
posts, or within the range of their trading excur-
sions, were furnished with deadly means of war-
fare, and rendered troublesome and dangerous
neigidiors.

Tiie Russian government had made representa-
tions to that of the United States of these mal-
practices on the part of its citizens, and urged to
have this traffic in arms prohibited ; but, as it did
not infringe any municipal law, our government
could not interfere. Yet still it regarded, with
solicitude, a traffic which, if persisted in, might
give offense to Russia, at that time almost the
only friendly power to us. In this dilemma the
government had applied to Mr. Astor, as one con-
versant in this branch of trade, for information
that might point out a way to remedy the evil.
This circumstance had suo^gested to him the idea
of supplying the Russian establishment regularly
by means of the annual ship that should visit the
settlement at the mouth of the Columbia (or
Oregon) ; by this means the casual trading ves-

LETTER OF MR. JEFFERSON. 83

Bels would be excluded from those parts of the
coast where then* malpi-actices were so injurious
to the Russians.

Such is a brief outline of the enterprise pro-
jected by Mr. Astor, but which continually ex-
panded in his mind. Indeed it is due to him to
say tliat he was not actuated by mere motives ot
individual profit. He was already wealthy be-
yond the ordinary desires of man, but he now
aspired to that honorable fame which is awarded
to men of similar scope of mind, who by their
gi'eat connnercial enterprises have enriched na-
tions, peopled wildernesses, and extended the
bounds of empire. He considered his projected
establishment at the mouth of the Columbia as
the emporium to an immense commerce ; as a
colony that would form the germ of a wide
civilization ; that would, in fact, carry the Ameri-
can population across the Rocky Mountains and
spread it along the shores of the Pacific, as it
already animated the shores of the Atlantic.

As Mr. Astor, by the magnitude of his com-
mercial and financial relations, and the vigor and
scope of his self-taught mind, had elevated him-
self into the consideration of government and the
comnmnion and correspondence with leading
statesmen, he, at an early period, communicated
his schemes to President Jefferson, soliciting the
countenance of government. How highly they
were esteemed by that eminent man, we may
judge by the following passage, written by him
some time afterwards to Mr. Astor.

*' I remember well having invited your prop-

34 ASTORIA.

ositioii on this subject,^ and encouraged it. with
the assurance of every facility and protection
vvliich the government could properly afford. I
considered, as a great public acquisition, the com-
mencement of a settlement on that point of the
western coast of America, and looked forward
with gratification to the time when its descend-
ants should have spread themselves through the
whole length of that coast, covering it with free
and independent Americans, unconnected with us
but by the ties of blood and interest, and enjoy-
ing like us the rights of self-government."

The cabinet joined with Mr. Jefferson in warm
approbation of the plan, and held out assurance
of every protection that could, consistently with
general policy, be afforded.

Mr. Astor now prepared to carry his scheme
into prompt execution. He had some competi-
tion, however, to apprehend and guard against.
The Northwest Company, acting feebly and par-
tially upon the suggestions of its former agent,
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, had pushed one or
two advanced trading posts across the Rocky
Mountains, into a tract of country visited by that
enterprising traveller, and since named New
Caledonia. This tract lay about two degrees
north of the Columbia, and intervened between

1 On this point Mr. Jefferson's memory was in error. The
proposition alluded to was the one, already mentioned, for the
establishment of an American Fur Company in the Atlantic
States. The great enterprise beyond the mountains, that was
to sweep the shores of the Pacific, originated in the mind of
Mr. Astor, and was proposed by him to the government.

DISADVANTAGES OF RIVALRY. 35

the territories of the United States and thoae of
Russia. Its length was about five hundred and
fifty miles, and its breadth, from the mountain?
to the Pacific, from three hundred to three hun-
dred and fifty geographical miles.

Should the Northwest Company persist in ex-
tending their trade in that quarter, their compe-
tition might be of serious detriment to the plans
of Mr. Astor. It is true they would contend
with him to a vast disadvantage, from the checks
and restrictions to which they were subjected.
They were straitened on one side by the rivalry
of the Hudson's Bay Company ; then they had
no good post on the Pacific where they could
receive supplies by sea for their establishments
beyond the mountains ; nor, if they had one,
could they ship their furs thence to Cliina, that
great mart for peltries ; the Chinese trade being
comprised in the monopoly of the East India
Company. Their posts beyond the mountains
had to be supplied in yearly expeditions, like
caravans, from Montreal, and the furs conveyed
back in the same way, by long, precarious, and
expensive routes, across the continent. Mr.
Astor, on the contrary, would be able to supply
his proposed establishment at the mouth of the
Columbia by sea, and to ship the furs collected
there directly to China, so as to undersell the
Northwest Company in the great Chinese market.

Still, the competition of two rivjd companies
west of the Rocky Mountains could not but prove
detrimental to both, and fraught with those evils,
Doth to the trade and to the Indians, that had at-

36 ASTORIA.

tended similar rivalries in the Canadas. To pre-
vent any contest of the kind, therefore, he made
knovvn his phm to the agents of the Northwest
Company, and proposed to interest them, to the
extent of one third, in the trade thus to be opened.
Some correspondence and negotiation ensued. The
company were aware of the advantages which
would be possessed by Mr. Astor should he be
able to carry his scheme into effect ; but they an-
ticipated a monopoly of the trade beyond the
mountains by tlieir establishments in New Cale-
donia, and were loth to share it with an individual
who had already proved a formidable competitor
in the Atlantic trade. They hoped, too, by a
timely move, to secure the mouth of the Columbia
before Mr. Astor would be able to put his plans
into operation ; and, that key to the internal trade
once in their possession, the whole country would
be at their command. After some negotiation
and delay, therefore, they declined the proposition
that had been made to tliem, but subsequently
dispatched a party for the mouth of the Columbia,
to establish a post there before any expedition
sent out by Mr. Astor might arrive.

In the mean time Mr. Astor, finding his over-
tures rejected, proceeded fearlessly to execute his
enterprise in face of the whole power of the North-
west Company. His main establishment once
planted at the mouth of the Columbia, he looked
with confidence to ultimate success. Being able
to reinforce and supply it amply by sea, he would
push his interior posts in every direction up the
rivers and along the coast; supplying the natives

PREPARATIONS FOR THE ENTERPRISE. 37

at a lower rate, and thus gradually obliging the
Northwest Company to give up the competition,
relinquish New Caledonia, and retire to the other
side of the mountains. He would then have pos-
session of the trade, not merely of the Columbia
and its tributaries, but of the regions farther north,
quite to the Russian possessions. Such was a
part of his brilliant and comprehensive plan.

He now proceeded, with all diligence, to pro-
cure proper agents and coadjutors, liabituated to
the Indian trade and to the life of the wilderness.
Among the clerks of the Northwest Company
were several of great capacity and experience,
who had served out their pi-obationary terms, but
who, either through lack of interest and influence,
or a want of vacancies, had not been promoted.
They were consequently much dissatisfied, and
ready for any employment in which their talents
and acquirements might be turned to better ac-
count.

Mr. Astor made his overtures to several of these
persons, and three of them entered into his views.
One of these, Mr. Alexander M'Kay, had ac-
companied Sir Alexander Mackenzie in both of
his expeditions to the northwest coast of America
in 1789 and 1793. The other two were Duncan
M'Dougal and Donald M'Kenzie. To these were
subsequently added Mr. Wilson Price Hunt, of
New Jersey. As this gentleman was a native
born citizen of the United States, a person of
great probity and worth, he was selected by Mr
Astor to be his chief agent, and to represent him
•n the contemplated establishment.

38 ASTORIA.

On the 23d of June, 1810, articles of agree-
ment were entered into between Mr. Astor and
those four gentlemen, acting for themselves and
for the several persons wlio had already agreed to
become, or shouhl tliereafter become, associated
under the firm of •' The Pacific Fur Company."

According to these articles, Mr. Astor was to
be at the head of the company, and to manage its
affairs in New York. He was to furnish vessels,
goods, provisions, arms, ammunition, and all other
requisites for the enterprise at first cost and
charges, provided tiiat they did not, at any time,
involve an advance of more than four hundred
thousand dollars.

The stock of the company was to be divided
into a hundred equal shares, with the profits ac-
cruing thereon. Fifty shares were to be at the
disposition of Mr. Astor, and tlie other fifty to be
divided among the partners and their associates.

Mr. Astor was to have the privilege of intro-
lucing other persons into the connection, as part-
ners, two of whom, at least, should be conversant
with the Indian trade, and none of them entitled
to more tlian three shares.

A general meeting of the company was to be^
held annually at Columbia River, for the inves-
tigation and regulation of its affairs ; at which
absent members might be represented, and might
vote by proxy under certain specified conditions.

The association, if successful, was to continue
for twenty years ; but the parties had full power
to abandon and dissolve it within the first five
years, shorld it be found unprofitable. For this

THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY, 39

term Mr. Astor covenanted to bear all the loss
that might be incui-red ; after which it was to be
borne by all the partners, in proportion to their
respective shares.

Tlie parties of the second part were to execute
faithfully such duties as might be assigned to them
by a majority of the company on the northwest
coast, and to repair to such place or phices as the
majority might direct.

An agent, appointed for the term of five years,
was to reside at the principal establishment on
the northwest coast, and Wilson Price Hunt was
the one chosen for the first term. Should the
interests of the concern at any time require his
absence, a person was to be appointed, in general
meeting, to take his place.

Such were the leading conditions of this as-
sociation ; we shall now proceed to relate the
various hardy and eventful expeditions, by sea
aud land, to which it gave rise.

CHAPTER IV.

N prosecuting his great scheme of com-
merce and colonization, two expeditions
were devised by Mr. Astor, one by sea,
the other by land. The former was to carry out
the people, stores, ammunition, and merchandise,
requisite for establishing a fortified trading post
at the mouth of Columbia River. The latter, con-
ducted by Mr. Hunt, was to proceed up the Mis-
souri, and across the Rocky Mountains, to the
same point; exploring a line of communication
across the continent, and noting the places where
interior trading posts might be established. The
expedition by sea is the one which comes first
under consideration.

A fine ship was provided called the Tonquin,
of two hundred and ninety tons burden, mounting
ten guns, with a crew of twenty men. She carried
an assortment of merchandise for trading with the
natives of the sea-board and of the interior, to-
gether with the frame of a schooner, to be employed
in the coasting trade. Seeds also were provided
+br the cultivation of the soil, and nothing was
neglected for the necessary supply of the establish-
ment. The command of the ship was intrusted
to Jonathan Thorn, of New York, a lieutenant
in the United States navy, on leave of absence*

MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION. 41

He was a man of courage and firmness, who had
distinguished himself in our Tripolitan war, and,
from being accustomed to naval discipline, was
considered by Mr. Astor as well fitted to take
charge of an expedition of the kind. Four of
the partners were to embark in the ship, namely,
Messrs. M'Kay, M'Dougal, David Stuart, and his
nephew, Robert Stuart. Mr. M'Dougal was em-
powered by Mr. Astor to act as his proxy in the
absence of Mr. Hunt, to vote for him and in his
name, on any question that might come before any
meeting of the persons interested in the voyage.

Beside the partners, there were twelve clerks
to go out in the ship, several of them natives of
Canada, who had some experience in Indian trade.
They were bound to the service of the company
for five years, at the rate of one hundred dollars a
year, payable at the expiration of the term, and
an annual equipment of clothuig to the amount
of fort}^ dollars. In case of ill conduct they were
liable to forfeit their wages and be dismissed ; but,
should they acquit themselves well, the confident
expectation was held out to them of promotion,
and partnership. Their interests were thus, to
some extent, identified with those of the company.

Several artisans were likewise to sail in the
ship, for the supply of the colony ; but the most
peculiar and characteristic part of this motley em-
barkation consisted of thirteen Canadian " voy-
ageurs," who had enlisted for five years. As this
class of functionaries will continually recur in the
course of the following narrations, and as they
form one of those distinct and strongly marked

42 ASTORIA.

castes or orders of people, springing up in this
vast continent out of geographical circumstances,
or the varied pursuits, habitudes, and origins of
its population, we shall sketch a few of their
characteristics for the information of the reader.

The " voyageurs " form a kind of confraternity
in the Canadas, like the arrieros, or carriers of
Spain, and, like them, are employed in long in-
ternal expeditions of travel and traffic : with this
difference, that the arrieros travel by land, the voy-
ageurs by water ; the former with mules and
horses, the latter with batteaux and canoes. The
voyageurs may be said to have sprung up out of
the fur trade, having originally been employed by
the early French merchants in their trading ex-
peditions through the labyrinth of rivers and lakes
of the boundless interior. They were coeval with
the coureurs des hois, or rangers of the woods, al-
ready noticed, and, like them, in the intervals of
their long, arduous, and laborious expeditions, were
prone to pass their time in idleness and revelry
about the trading posts or settlements; squander*
ing their hard earnings in heedless conviviality,
and rivaling their neighbors, the Indians, in in-
dolent indulgence and an imprudent disregard of
the morrow.

When Canada passed under British domination,
and the old French trading houses were broken
up, the voyageurs, like the coureurs des bois, were
for a time disheartened and disconsolate, and with
difficulty could reconcile themselves to the service
of the new-comers, so different in habits, manners,
and language from their former employers. By

CANADIAN VOYAGEURS. 43

degrees, however, they became accustomed to the
change, and at length came to consider the British
fur traders, and especially the members of the
Northwest Company, as the legitimate lords of
creation.

The dress of these people is generally half
civilized,*half savage. They wear a capot or sur-
coat, made of a blanket, a striped cotton shirt,
cloth trowsers, or leathern leggins, moccasins of
deer-skin, and a belt of variegated worsted, from
which are suspended the knife, tobacco-pouch, and
other implements. Their language is of the same
piebald character, being a French patois, embroi-
dered with Indian and English words and phrases.

The lives of the voyageurs are passed in wild
and extensive rovings, in the service of individuals,
but more especially of the fur traders. They are
generally of French descent, and inherit much of
the gayety and lightness of heart of their ancestors,
being full of anecdote and song, and ever ready
for the dance. They inherit, too, a fund of civil-
ity and complaisance ; and, instead of that hard-
ness and grossness which men in laborious life are
apt to indulge towards each other, they are mut-
ually obliging and accommodating ; interchanging
kind offices, yielding each other assistance and
comfort in every emergency, and using the famil-
iar appellations of " cousin" and " brother" when
there is in fact no relationship. Their natural
good-will is probably heightened by a community
of adventure and hardship in their precarious and
wandering life.

No men are more submissive to their leaders

14 ASTORIA.

and employers, more capable of enduring hard-
ship, or more good-humored under privations.
Never are they so happy as when on long and
rough expeditions, toiling up rivers or coasting
lakes ; encamping at night on the borders, gossip-
ing round their fires, and bivouacking in the open
air. They are dextrous boatmen, vigorous and
adroit with the oar and paddle, and will row from
morninof until nig-ht without a murmur. The
steersman often sings an old traditionary French
song, with some regular burden in which they all
join, keeping time with their oars ; if at any time
they flag in spirits or relax in exertion, it is but
necessary to strike up a song of the kind to put
them all in fresh spirits and activity. The Cana-
dian waters are vocal with these little French chan-
sons, that have been echoed from mouth to mouth
and transmitted from father to son, from the earliest
days of the colony ; and it has a pleasing effect,
in a still golden summer evening, to see a batteau
gliding across the bosom of a lake and dipping its
oars to the cadence of these quaint old ditties, or
sweeping along in full chorus on a bright sunny
morning, down the transparent current of one of
the Canada rivers.

But we are talking of things that are fast fad-
ing away ! The march of mechanical invention
is driving everything poetical before it. The
steamboats, which are fast dispelling the wildness
and romance of our lakes and rivers, and aiding
to subdue the world into commonplace, are prov-
mg as fatal to the race of the Canadian voyageurs
as they have been to that of the boatmen of the

BOATING AND BOASTING. 45

Mississippi. Their glory is departed. They are
no longer the lords of our internal seas, and the
great navigators of the wilderness. Some of them
may still occasionally be seen coasting the lower
lakes with their frail barks, and pitching their
camps and lighting their fires ujDon the shores ;
but their rano^e is fast contractmor to those remote
waters and shallow and obstructed rivers unvisited
by the steamboat. In tlie course of years they
will gradually disappear ; their songs will die away
like the echoes they once awakened, and the
Canadian voyageurs will become a forgotten race,
or remembered, like their associates, the Indians,
among the poetical images of past times, and as
themes for local and romantic associations.

An instan^ce of the buoyant temperament and
the professional pride of these people was fur-
nished in the gay and braggart style in which
they arrived at New York to join the enterprise.
They were determined to regale and astonish the
people of the " States " with the sight of a Can-
adian boat and a Canadian crew. They accord-
ingly fitted up a large but light bark canoe, such as
is used in the fur trade ; transported it in a wagon
from the banks of the St. Lawrence to the shores
of Lake Champlain ; traversed the lake in it, from
end to end ; hoisted it again in a wagon and
wheeled it off to Lansingburgh, and there launched
it upon the waters of the Hudson. Down this
river they plisd their course merrily on a fine
summer's day, making its banks resound for the
drst time with their old French boat songs ; pass-
.ng by the villages with whoop and halloo, so as to

46 ASTORIA.

make the honest Dutch farmers mistake them for
a crew of savages. In this way they swept, in
full song and with regular flourish of the paddle,
round New York, in a still summer evening, to
tlie wonder and admiration of its inhabitants, who
hod never before witnessed on their waters, a
nautical apparition of the kind.

Such was the variegated band of adventurers
about to embark in the Tonquin on this arduous
and doubtful enterprise. While yet in port and
on dry land, in the bustle of preparation and the
excitement of novelty, all was sunshine and
promise. The Canadians, especially, who, with
their constitutional vivacity, have a considerable
dash of the gascon, were buoyant and boastful,
and great braggarts as to the future ; while all
those who had been in the service of the North-
west Company, and engaged in the Indian trade,
plumed themselves upon their hardihood and
their capacity to endure privations. If Mr. Astor
ventured to hint at the difficulties they might
have to encounter, they treated them with scorn.
They were " northwesters ; " men seasoned to
hardships, who cared for neither wind nor weather.
They could live hard, lie hard, sleep hard,
eat dogs ! — in a word they were ready to do
and suffer anything for the good of the enter-
prise. With all this profession of zeal and de-
votion, Mr. Astor was not over-confident of the
stability and firm faith of these mercurial beings.
He had received information, also, that an armed
brig from Halifax, probably at the instigation of
the Northwest Company, was hoverhig on the

ABUSE OF CONFIDENT. 47

coast, watching for the Tonquin, with the pur-
pose of impressing the Canadians on boaid of
her, as British subjects, and thus interrupting the
voyage. It was a time of doubt and anxiety,
when the relations between the United States
and Great Britain were daily assuming a more
precarious aspect and verging towards that war
which shortly ensued. As a precautionary
measure, therefore, he required that the voy-
ageurs, 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 oaths of naturalization as American
citizens. To this they readily agreed, and
shortly afterward 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 ia the matter.

The confidence of Mr. Astor was abused in
another quarter. Two of the partners, both of
them Scotchmen, and recently in the service of
the Northwest Company, had misgivings as to an
enterprise which might clash with the interests
and establishments protected by the British flag.
They privately waited upon the British minister,
Mr. Jackson, then in New York, laid open to him
the whole scheme of Mr. Astor, though intrusted
to them in confidence, and dependent, in a great
measure, upon secrecy at the outset for its success,
and inquired whether they, as British subjects,
could lawfully engage in it. The reply satisfied
their scruple/, while the information they im-
parted excited ihe surprise and admiration of Mr.

18 ASTORIA.

Jackson, that a private individual should have
conceived and set on foot at his own risk and
expense so great an enterprise.

This step on the part of those gentlemen was
not known to Mr. Astor until some time after-
wards, or it might have modified the trust and
confidence reposed in them.

To guard against any. interruption to the
voyage by the armed brig, said to be off the
harbor, Mr. Astor applied to Commodore
Rodgers, at that time commanding at New York,
to give the Tonquin safe convoy off the coast.
The commodore having received from a high
oflflcial source assurance of the deep interest
which the government took in the enterprise,
sent directions to Captain Hull, at that time
cruising off the harbor, in the frigate Consti-
tution, to afford the Tonquin the required pro-
tection when she should put to sea.

Before the day of embarkation, Mr. Astor
addressed a letter of instruction to the four
partners who were to sail in the sliip. In this
he enjoined them, in the most earnest manner, to
cultivate harmony and unanimity, and recom-
mended that all differences of opinions on points
connected with the objects and interests of the
voyage should be discussed by the whole, and
decided by a majority of votes. He, moreover,
gave them especial caution as to their conduct on
arriving at their destined port; exhorting them
to be careful to make a favorable impression
upon the wild people among whom their lot and
the fortunes of the enterprise would be cast. " If

PARTING ADMONITIONS. 49

you find them kind," said lie, " as I hope you will,
be so to them. If otherwise, act with caution
and forbearance, and convince them that you
'"ome as friends."

With the same anxious forethought he wrote
a letter of insti'uctions to Captain Thorn, in
which he urged the strictest attention to the
health of himself and his crew, and to the promo-
tion of good-humor and harmony on board his
ship. *' To prevent any misunderstanding,"
added he, " will require your particular good
management." His letter closed with an in-
junction of wariness in his intercourse with the
natives, a subject on which Mr. Astor was justly
sensible he could not be too earnest. " I must
recommend you," said he, " to be particularly
careful on the coast, and not to rely too much ou
the friendly disposition of the natives. All acci-
dents which have as yet happened there arose
from too much confidence in the Indians."

The reader will bear these instructions in
mind, as events will prove their wisdom and im-
portance, and the disasters which ensued in con-
sequence of the neglect of them.

CHAPTER V.

N the eighth of September, 1810, the
Tonquhi put to sea, where she was
soon joined by the frigate Constitution.
The wind was fresh and fair from the southwest,
and the ship was soon out of sight of land and
free from the apprehended danger of interruption.
The frigate, therefore, gave her " God speed,'*
and left her to her course.

The harmony so earnestly enjoined by Mr.
Astor on this heterogeneous crew, and which
had been so confidently promised in the buoyant
moments of preparation, was doomed to meet
with a check at the very outset.

Captain Tliorn was an honest, straightforward,
but somewhat dry and dictatorial commander,
who, having been nurtured in the system and
discipline of a ship of war, and in a sacred
opinion of the supremacy of the quarter-deck,
was disposed to be absolute lord and master on
board of his ship. He appears, moreover, to
have had no great opinion, from the first, of the
persons embarked with him. He had stood by
with surly contempt while they vaunted so
bravely to Mr. Astor of all they could do and all
they could undergo ; how they could face all
weathers, put up with all kinds of fare, and

CAPTAIN DISAGREES WITH PARTNERS. 51

even eat dogs with a relish, when no better food
was to be had. He had set them down as a
Bet of landlubbers and braggadocios, and was dis-
posed to treat them accordingly. Mr. Astor was,
in his eyes, his only real employer, being the
father of the enterprise, who furnished all funds
and bore all losses. The others were mere agents
and subordinates, who lived at his expense. He
evidently had but a narrow idea of the scope
and nature of the enterprise, limiting his views
merely to his part of it ; everything beyond the
concerns of his ship was out of his sphere ; and
anything that interfered with the routine of his
nautical duties put him in a passion.

Tlie partners, on the other hand, had been
brought up in the service of the Northwest Com-
pany, and in a profound idea of the importance,
dignity, and authority of a partner. They al-
ready began to consider themselves on a par
with the M'Tavishes, the M'Gillivrays, the Fro-
bishers, and the other magnates of the Northwest,
whom they had been accustomed to look up to as
the great ones of the earth ; and they \«re a
little disposed, perhaps, to wear their suddenly-
acquired honors with some air of pretension.
Mr. Astor, too, had put them on their mettle
with respect to the captain, describing him as a
gunpowder fellow who would command his ship
in fine style, and, if there was any fighting to
do, would " blow all out of the water."

Thus prepared to regard each other with no
very cordial eye, it is not to be wondered at
that the parties soon came into collision. On

52 ASTORIA.

the very first night Captain Thorn began his
man-of-war discipline by ordering the hghts in
the cabin to be extinguished at eight o'clock.

The pride of the partners was immediately in
arms. This was an invasion of their rights and
dignities not to be borne. They were on board
of their own ship, and entitled to consult their
ease and enjoyment. M'Dougal was the cham-
pion of their cause. He was an active, irritable,
fuming, vainglorious little man, and elevated in
his own opinion, by being the proxy of Mr.
Astor. A violent altercation ensued, in the
course of which Thorn threatened to put the
partners in irons should they prove refractory ;
upon which M'Dougal seized a pistol and swore
to be the death of the captain should he ever
offer such an indignity. It was some time before
the irritated parties could be pacified by the more
temperate bystanders.

Such was the captain's outset with the part-
ners. Nor did the clerks stand much higher in
his good graces ; indeed, he seems to have re-
gardtij all the landsmen on board his ship as a
kind of live lumber, continually in the way.
The poor voyageurs, too, continually irritated
his spleen by their *' lubberly " and unseemly hab-
its, so abhorrent to one accustomed to the clean-
liness of a man-of-war. These poor fresh- water
sailors, so vainglorious on shore, and almost am
phibious when on lakes and rivers, lost all heiirt
vijid stomach the moment they were at sea. For
days they suffered the doleful rigors and retch-
ings of sea-si(;knes3, lurking below in their

LANDSMEN AT SEA. 53

berths in squalid state, or emerging now and
ihen like spectres from the hatchways, in capotes
and blankets, with dirty nightcaps, grizzly beard,
lantern visage and unhappy eye, shivering about
the deck, and ever and anon crawling to the
sides of the vessel, and offering up their tributes
to the windward, to the infinite annoyance of
the captain.

His letters to Mr. Astor, wherein he pours
forth the bitterness of his soul, and his seaman-
like impatience of what he considers the '' lub-
berly " character and conduct of those around
him, are before us, and are amusingly character-
istic. The honest captain is full of vexation on
his own account, and solicitude on account of
Mr. Astor, whose property he considers at the
mercy of a most heterogeneous and wasteful
crew.

As to the clerks, he pronounced them mere
pretenders, not one of whom had ever been
among the Indians, nor farther to the northwest
than Montreal, nor of higher rank than bar-
keeper of a tavern or mai-ker of a billiard-table,
excepting one, who had been a school-master, and
whom he emphatically sets down for " as foolish
a pedant as ever lived."

Then as to the artisans and laborers who had
been brought from Canada and shipped at such
expense, the three most respectable, according to
the captain's account, were culprits, who had fled
from Canada on account of their misdeeds ; the
rest had figured in Montreal as draymen, barbers,
waiters, and carriole drivers, and were the most

54 ASTORIA.

helpless, worthless beings " that ever broke sea-
biscuit."

It may easily be imagined what a series of
misunderstandings and cross-purposes would be
likely to take place between such a crew and
such a commander. The captain, in his zeal
for the health and cleanliness of his ship, would
make sweeping visitations to the "lubber nests"
of the unlucky " voyageurs " and their compan-
ions in misery, ferret them out of their berths,
make them air and wash themselves and their
accoutrements, and oblige them to stir about
briskly and take exercise.

Nor did his disgust and vexation cease when
all hands had recovered from sea-sickness, and
become accustomed to the ship, for now broke
out an alarming keenness of appetite that threat-
ened havoc to the provisions. What especially
irritated the captain was the daintiness of some
of his cabin passengers. They were loud in
their complaints of the ship's fare, though their
table was served with fresh pork, hams, tongues,
smoked beef, and puddings. *' When thwarted in
their cravings for delicacies," said he, "they would
exclaim it was d — d hard they could not live as
they pleased upon their own property, being on
board of their own ship, freighted with their own
merchandise. And these," added he, " are the
tine fellows who made such boast that they conld
' eat dogs. ' "

In his indignation at what he termed their effem-
inacy, he would swear that he would never take
them to sea again " without having Fly-market

A VETERAN FROM LABRADOR. 55

on the forecastle, Co vent -garden on the poop,
and a cool spring from Canada in the maintop."

As they proceeded on tiieir voyage and got
into the smooth seas and pleasant weather of
the tropics, other aimoyances occurred to vex
the spirit of the captain. He had been crossed
by the irritable mood of one of the partners ;
he was now excessively annoyed by tiie good-
immor of another. This was the elder Stuart,
vvlio was an easy soul, and of a social disposition.
He had seen life in Canada, and on the coast of
Labrador ; had been a fur trader in the former,
and a fisherman on the latter ; and, in the course
>f his experience, had made various expeditions
with voyageurs. He was accustomed, therefore,
to the familiarity which prevails between that
class and their superiors, and the gossipings
which take place among them when seated round
a fire at their encampments. Stuart was never
so happy as wlien he could seat himself on the
deck with a number of these men round him, in
camping style, smoke together, passing the pipe
from mouth to mouth, after the manner of the
Indians, sing old Canadian boat-songs, and tell
stories about their hardships and adventures, in
the course of which he rivaled Sinbad in his long
tales of the sea, about his fishing exploits on the
?oast of Labrador.

This gossiping familiarity shocked the cap-
tain's notions of rank and subordination, and
nothing was so abhorrent to him as the commu-
nity of pipe between master and man, and their
rninjiliiio in chorus in the outlandish boat-son";s.

56 ASTORIA.

Then there was another whimsical source of
annoyance to him. Some of the young clerks,
who were making their first voyage, and to
whom everything was new and strarige, were,
very rationally, in the habit of taking notes and
keeping journals. This was a sore abomination
to the honest captain, who held their literary
pretensions in great contempt. "The collecting
of materials for long histoi'ies of their voyages
and travels, " said he, in his letter to Mr. Astor,
"appears to engross most of their attention."
We can conceive what must have been the
crusty impatience of the worthy navigator, when,
on any trifling occurrence in the course of the
voyage, quite commonplace in his eyes, he saw
these young landsmen running to record it in
their journals ; and what indignant glances he
must have cast to right and left, as he worried
about the deck, giving out his orders for the
management of tiie ship, surrounded by singing,
smoking, gossiping, scribbling groups, all, as he
thought, intent upon the amusement of the pass-
ing hour, instead of the great purposes and in-
terests of the voyage.

It is possible the captain was in some degree
i-ight in his notions. Though some of the pas-
sengers had much to gain by the voyage, none
of them had anytliing positively to lose. They
were mostly young men, in the heyday of life ;
and having got into fine latitudes, upon smooth
seas, with a well-stored ship under them, and a
fair wind in tiie shoulder of the sail, they seemed
to have got into a holiday world, and were dis-

CURIOUS TRAVELLERS. 57

posed to enjoy it. That craving desire, natural
to untravelled men of fresh and lively minds, to
see strange lands, and to visit scenes famous in
history or fable, was expressed by some of the
partners and clerks, with respect to some of the
storied coasts and islands that lay within their
route. The captain, however, who regarded
every coast and island with a matter-of-fiact eye,
and had no more associations connected with
them than those laid down in his sea-chart, con-
sidered all this curiosity as exceedingly idle and
childish. " In the first part of the voyage," says
he in his letter, " they were determined to have
it said they had been in Africa, and therefore
insisted on my stopping at the Cape de Verds.
Next they said the ship should stop on the coast,
of Patagonia, for they must see the large and
uncommon inhabitants of that place. Tiien
they must go to the island where Robinson Cru-
soe had so long lived. And lastly, they were
determined to see the handsome inhabitants of
Easter Island."

To all these resolves the captain opposed his
peremptory veto, as " contrary to instructions."
Then would break forth an unavailing explosion
of wrath on the pai't of certain of the partners,
in the course of which tiiey did not even spare
Mr. Astor for his act of supererogation in fur-
nishing orders for the control of the ship while
they were on board, instead of leaving them to be
the judges where it would be best for her to
touch, and how long to remain. The choleric
RrDoiigal took the lead in these railings, beit)g,

58 ASTORIA

as has been observed, a little puffed up with the
idea of being Mr. Astor's proxy.

The captain, however, became only so much
the more crusty and dogged in his adherence to
his orders, and touchy and harsh in his dealings
with iiis passengers, and frequent altercations
ensued. He may in some measure have been in-
fluenced by his seamanlike impatience of the
interference of landsmen, and his high notions
of naval etiquette and quarter-deck authority ;
but he evidently had an honest, trusty concern
for the interests of his employer. He pictured to
himself the anxious projector of the enterprise,
who had disbursed so munificently in its outfit,
calculating on the zeal, fidelity, and singleness of
purpose of his associates and agents ; while they,
on the other hand, having a good ship at their
disposal, and a deep pocket at home to bear them
out, seemed ready to loiter on every coast, and
amuse themselves in every port.

On the fourth of December they came in sight
of the Falkland Islands. Having been for some
time on an allowance of water, it was resolved to
anchor here and obtain a supply. A boat was
sent into a small bay to take soundings. Mr.
M'Dougal and Mr. M'Kay took this occasion to
go on shore, but with a request from the captain
that they would not detain the ship. Once on
shore, however, they were in no haste to obey his
orders, but rambled about in search of curiosities.
The anchorage proving unsafe, and water difficult
to be procured, the captain stood out to sea, and
made repeated signals for tiiose on shore to i-ejoin

SPORTSMEN IN THE LURCH. 59

the ship but it was not until nine at night that
they came on board.

The wind being adverse, the boat was again
sent on shore on the following morning, and the
same g'^intlemen again landed, but promised to
come olf at a moment's warning ; they again
forgot their promise in their eager pursuit of wild
geese and sea-wolves. After a time the wind
liauled fair, and signals were made for the boat.
Half an hour elapsed but no boat put off. The
captain reconnoitred the shore with his glass,
and, to his infinite vexation, saw the loiterers in
the full enjoyment of their " wild-goose-chase."
Nettled to the quick, he immediately made sail.
When those on shore saw the ship actually under
way, they embarked with all speed, but had a
hard pull of eight miles before they got on board,
and then experienced but a grim reception, not-
withstanding that they came well laden with the
spoils of the chase.

Two days aftei-wards, on the seventh of De-
cember, they anchored at Fort Egmont, in the
same island, vvhei'e they remained four days
taking in water and making repairs. This was a
joyous time for the landsmen. They pitched a
tent on shore, had a boat at their command, and
passed their time merrily in rambling about the
island, and coasting along the shores, shooting
sea-lions, seals, foxes, geese, ducks, and penguins.
None were keener in pursuit of this kind of
game than M'Dougal and David Stuart ; the lat-
ter was reminded of aquatic sports on the coast
;>r i,al»ra(lur, and lis hunting exploits in the
Northwest.

60 ASTORIA

In the meantime the captain addressed himself
steadily to the business of his ship, scorning the
holiday spirit and useless pursuits of his emanci-
pated messmates, and warning them, from time
to time, not to wander away nor be out of iiail.
They promised, as usual, that the ship should
never experience a moment's detention on their
account, but, as usual, forgot their promise.

On the mornino of the 11th, the repairs being
all finished, and the water casks replenished, the
signal was given to embark, and the ship began
to weigh anchor. At this time several of the
passengers were dispersed about the island,
amusing themselves in various ways. Some of
the young men had found two inscriptions, in
English, over a place where two unfortunate
mariners had been buried in this desert island.
!As the inscriptions were nearly worn out by time
and weather, they were playing the part of " Old
Mortality," and piously renewing them. The
signal from the ship summoned them from their
labors ; they saw the sails unfurled, and that she
was getting under way. The two sporting part-
ners, however, Mr. M'Dougal and David Stuart,
had strolled away to the south of the island in
pursuit of penguins. It would never do to put
off without them, as there was but one boat to
convey the whole.

While this delay took place on shore, the cap-
tain was storming on board. This was the third
time his orders had been treated with contempt,
and the ship wantonly detained, and it should be
the last ; so he spread all sail and put to sea,

CAPTAIN'S THREAT. 61

swearing he would leave the laggards to shift for
themselves. It was in vain that those on board
made remonstrances and entreaties, and repre-
sented the horrors of abandoning men upon a
sterile and uninhabited island ; the sturdy captain
was intiexible.

In the meantime the penguin hunters had
joined the engravers of tombstones, but not be-
foi-e the ship was already out at sea. They all,
to tlie number of eiglit, threw themselves into
their boat, which was about twenty feet in length,
and rowed with might and main. For three
hours and a half did they tug anxiously and
severely at the oar, swashed occasionally by the
surging waves of the open sea, while the ship
inexorably kept on her course, and seemed deter-
mined to leave them behind.

On board of the ship was the nephew of David*
Stuart, a young man of spirit and resolution.
Seeing, as he thought, the captain obstinately
bent upon abandoning his uncle and the others,
he seized a pistol, and in a paroxysm of wrath
swore he would blow out the captain's brains,
unless he put about or shortened sail.

Fortunately for all parties, the wind just then
came ahead, and the boat was enabled to reach
the ship ; otherwise, disastrous circumstances
might have ensued. We can hardly believe that
the captain really intended to carry his threat
into full effect, and rather think he meant to let
the laggards off for a long pull and a hearty
fright. He declared, however, in his letter to
Mr. Astor, that he was serious in his threats ;

62 ASTORIA.

and there is no knowing how far such an iron
man may push his notions of authority.

" Had the wind," writes he, " (unfortunately)
not hauled ahead soon after leaving the harbor's
mouth, I should positively have left them ; and,
indeed, I cannot but think it an unfortunate cir-
cumstance for you that it so happened, for the
first loss in this instance would, in my opinion,
liave proved the best, as they seem to have no
idea of the value of property, nor any apparent
regard for your interest, although interwoven
with their own."

This, it must be confessed, was acting with a
high hand, and carrying a i-egard to the owner's
property to a dangerous length. Various petty
feuds occurred also between him and the partners
in respect to the goods on board the sliip, some
♦articles of which they wished to distribute for
clothing among the men, or for other purposes
which they deemed essential. The captain, how-
ever, kept a mastiff watch upon the cargo, and
growled and snapped if they but offered to touch
box or bale. " It was contrary to orders ; it
would forfeit his insurance ; it was out of all
rule." It was in vain they insisted upon their
right to do so, as part owners, and as acting for
the good of the enterprise ; the captain only stuck
to his point the more stanchly. They consoled
themselves, therefore, by declaring, that as soon
as they made land, they would assert their rights,
and do with ship and cargo as they pleased.

Beside these feuds between the captain and
the partners, there were feuds between the part-

ARRIVAL AT OWYHEE. 63

ners themselves, occasioned, in some measure, by
jealousy of rank. M'Dougal and M'Kay began
to draw plans for the fort, and other buildings of
the intended establishment. They agreed very
well as to the outline and dimensions, which
were on a sufficiently grand scale ; but when
they came to arrange the details, fierce disputes
arose, and they would quarrel by the hour about
the distribution of the doors and windows.
Many were the hard words and hard names ban-
died between them on these occasions, according
to the captain's account. Each accused the
other of endeavoring to assume unwarrantable
power, and take the lead ; upon which Mr.
M'Dougal would vauntingly lay down Mr.
Astor's letter, constituting him his representative
and proxy, a document not to be disputed.

These wordy contests, though violent, were
brief; "and within fifteen minutes," says the
captain, " they would be caressing each other
like children."

While all this petty anarchy was agitating the
little world within the Touquin, the good ship
prosperously pursued her course, doubled Cape
Horn on the 25th of December, careered across
the bosom of the Pacific, until, on the 11th of
February, the snowy peaks of Owyhee were seen
brightening above the horizon.

CHAPTER VI.

WYHEE, or Hawaii, as it is written
by more exact ortliographers, is the
largest of the cluster, ten in number,
of tlie Sandwich Ishuids. It is about ninety-
seven miles in length, and seventy-eight in
breadth, rising gradually into three pyramidal
summits or cones ; the highest, Mouna Roa,
being eignteen thousand feet above the level of
the sea, so as to domineer over the whole archi-
pelago, and to be a landmark over a wide extent
of ocean. It remains a lasting monument of the
enterprising and unfortunate Captain Cook, who
was murdered by the natives of this island.

The Sandwich Islanders, when first discovered,
evinced a character superior to most of the
savages of the Pacific isles. They were frank
and open in their deportment, friendly and liberal
in their dealings, with an apt ingenuity apparent
in all their rude inventions.

The tragical fate of the discoverer, which, for
a time, brought them under the charge of
ferocity, was, in fact, the result of sudden ex-
asperation, caused by the seizure of their chief

At the time of the visit of the Tonquin, the
Islanders had profited, in many respects, by occa-
sional intercourse with white men ; and had

TAMAAHMAAl].— HIS NAVY. 65

shown a quickness to observe and cultivate tliose
arts important to their mode of living. Origin-
[illy they had no means of navigating the seas by
which they were surrounded, superior to light
pirogues, which were little competent to contend
with the storms of the broad ocean. As the
islanders are not in sight of each other, tliere
could, therefore, be but casual intercourse between
them. The traffic with white men had put them
in possession of vessels of superior description ;
they had made themselves acquainted with their
management, and had even made rude advances
in the art of ship-building.

These improvements had been promoted, in a
great measure, by the energy and sagacity of one
man, the famous Tamaahmaah. He had origi-
nally been a petty eri, or chief; but, being of an
intrepid and aspiring nature, he had risen in
rank, and, availing himself of the superior ad-
vantages now afforded in navigation, had brought
the whole archipelago in subjection to his arms.
At the time of the arrival of the Tonquin he
had about forty schooners, of from twenty to
thirty tons burden, and one old American ship.
AVith these he held undisputed sway over his
insular domains, and carried on intercourse with
the chiefs or governors whom he had placed in .
command of the several islands.

The situation of this group of islands, far in
the bosom of the vast Pacific, and their abund-
ant fertility, render them important stopping-
places on the highway to China, or to the north-
west coast of America. Here the vessels en-
5

66 ASTORIA.

gaged in the fur trade touched to make repaii'*
and procure provisions ; and here they often
sheltered themselves during tlie winters that
occurred in their long coasting expeditions.

The British navigators were, from the first,
aware of the value of these islands to the pur-
poses of commerce ; and Tamaahmaah, not long
after he had attained the sovereign sway, was
persuaded by Vancouver, the celebrated discov-
erer, to acknowledge, on behalf of himself and
subjects, allegiance to the king of Great Britain.
The reader cannot but call to mind the visit
which the royal family and court of the Sand-
wich Islands was, in late years, induced to make
to the court of St. James ; and the serio-comic
ceremonials and mock parade which attended that
singular travesty of monarchal style.

It was a part of the wide and comprehensive
plan of Mr. Astor to establish a friendly inter-
course between these islands and his intended
colony, which might, for a time, have occasion to
draw supplies thence ; and he even had a vague
idea of, some time or other, getting possession of
one of their islands as a rendezvous for his ships,
and a link in the chain of his connnercial estab-
lishments.

On the evening of the 12th of February, the
Tonquin anchored in the bay of Karakakooa,
in the island of Owyhee. The surrounding
shores were wild and broken, with overhanging
cliffs and precipices of black volcanic rock.
Beyond these, however, the countiy was fertile
and well cultivated, with inclcsures of yams,

WOAHOO. — ROYAL MONOPOr.Y. 67

plnntains, sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, and jther
productions of warm climates and teeming soils;
and the numerous habitations of the natives were
pleasantly sheltered beneath clumps of cocoanut
and bread-fruit trees, which afforded both food
and shade. This mingled variety of garden and
grove swept gradually up the sides of the moun-
tains, until succeeded by dense forests, which in
turn gave place to naked and craggy rocks, until
the summits rose into the regions of perpetual
Bnow.

The royal residence of Tamaahmaah was at
this time at another island named Woahoo. The
island of Owyhee was under the command of one
of his eries, or chiefs, who resided at the village
of Tocaigh, situated on a different part of the
coast from the bay of Kai-akakooa.

On the morning after her arrival, the ship was
surrounded by canoes and pirogues, filled with
the islanders of both sexes, bringing off supplies
of fruits and vegetables, bananas, plantains, water-
melons, yams, cabbages, and taro. The captain
was desirous, however, of purchasing a number
of hogs, but there were none to be had. The
trade in pork was a royal monopoly, and no sub-
ject of the great Tamaahmaah dared to meddle
with it. Such provisions as they could furnish,
however, were brought by the natives in abund-
ance, and a lively intercourse was kept up during
the day, in which the women mingled in the kind-
est manner.

The islanders are a comely race, of a copper
'X)mplexion. The men are tall and well made,

68 ASTORIA.

with forms indicating strength and activity ; the
women with regular and occasionally handsome
features, and a lascivious expression, character-
istic of their temperament. Their style of dress
was nearly the same as in the days of Captain
Cook. The men wore the maro, a band one foot
in width and several feet in length, swathed
round the loins, and formed of tappa, or cloth of
bark ; the kihei, or mantle, about six feet square,
tied in a knot over one shoulder, passed under the
opposite arm, so as to leave it bai-e, and ftilling in
graceful folds before and behind, to the knee, so
as to bear sojue resemblance to a Roman toga.

The female dress consisted of the pau, a gar-
ment formed of a piece of tappa, several yards
in length and one in width, wrapped round the
waist, and reaching like a petticoat, to the knees.
Over this a kihei or mantle, laro^er tiian that of
the men, sometimes woi-n over both shoulders,
like a shawl, sometimes over one only. Thesj
mantles were seldom worn by either sex during
the heat of the day, when the exposure of their
persons was at first very revolting to a civilized
eye.

Towards evening several of the partners and
clerks went on shore, where they were well re-
ceived and hospitably entertained. A dance was
performed for their amusement, in which nineteen
young women and one man figured very grace-
fully, singing in concert, and moving to the ca-
dence of their song.

All this, however, was nothing to the purpose
in the eyes of Captain Thorn, who, being disap-

ENTHUSIASM AT OWYHEE. 69

pointed in bis hope of obtaining a supply of pork,
or finding good water, was anxious to be off.
Tiiis it was not so easy to effect. The passen-
gers, once on shore, were disposed, as usual, to
profit by the occasion. The partners had many
inquiries to make relative to the island, with a
view to business ; while the young clerks were
delighted with the charms and graces of the danc-
ing damsels.

To add to their gratifications, an old man
offered to conduct them to the spot where Cap-
tain Cook was massacred. The proposition was
eagerly accepted, and all hands set out on a
pilgrimage to the place. The veteran islander
performed his promise faithfully, and pointed
out the very spot where the unfortunate discov-
erer fell. The rocks and cocoa-trees around
bore record of the fact, in the marks of the balls
fired from the boats upon the savages. The
pilgrims gathered round the old man, and drew
from him all the particulars he had to relate re-
specting this memorable event ; while the honest
captain stood by and bit his nails with impa-
tience. To add to his vexation, they employed
themselves in knocking off pieces of the rocks,
and cutting off the bark of the trees marked by
the balls, which they conveyed back to the ship
as precious relics.

Right glad, thei-efore, was he to get them and
Jheir treasures fairly on board, when he made
sail from this unprofitable place, and steered for
the Bay of Tocaigh, the residence of the chief
:>r governor of the island, where he hoped to be

70 ASTORIA

more successful in obtaining supplies. On com-
ing to anclior the captain went on shore, accom-
panied by Mr. M'Dougal and Mr. M'Kay, and
paid a visit to the governor. This dignitary
proved to be an old sailor, by the name of John
Young; who, after being tossed about the seas
like another Sindbad, had, by one of the whimsi-
cal freaks of fortune, been elevated to the gov-
ernment of a savage island. He received his
visitors with more hearty familiarity than peu-
sonages in his high station are apt to indulge,
but soon gave them to understand that provi-
sions were scanty at Tocaigh, and that there was
no ;[ro()d water, no rain having fallen in tlie neigh-
borhood in three years.

The captain was immediately for breaking up
the conference and departing, but the partners
were not so willing to part with the nautical
governor, who seemed disposed to be extremely
communicative, and from whom they might be
able to procure some useful information. A long
conversation accordingly ensued, in the course of
which they made many inquiries about the af-
fairs of the islands, their natural productions, and
the possibility of turning them to advantage in the
way of trade ; nor did they fail to inquire into
the individual history of John Young, and how
he came to be governor. This he gave with great
condescension, running through the whole course
of his fortunes " even from liis boyish days."

He was a native of Liverpool, in England,
(ind had followed the sea from boyhood, until, by
dint of good conduct, he had risen so far in

STORY OF THE GOVERNOR. 71

his profession as to be boatswain of an Amer-
ican ship called the Eleanor, commanded by Cap-
tain Met calf. In this vessel he had sailed in 1789,
on one of those casual expeditions to the north-
west coast, in quest of furs. In the course of
the voyage, the captain left a small schooner,
named the Fair American, at Nootka, with a
crew of five men, commanded by his son, a youth
of eighteen. She was to follow on in the track
of the Eleanor.

In February, 1790, Captain Metcalf touched
at the island of Mo wee, one of the Sandwich
group. While anchored here, a boat which was
astern of the Eleanor was stolen, and a seaman
who was in it was killed. The natives, gener-
ally, disclaimed the outrage, and brought the
shattered remains of the boat and the dead body
of the seaman to the ship. Supposing that they
had thus appeased the anger of the captain, they
thronged, as usual, in great nuuiburs about the
vessel, to trade. Captain Metcalf, however, de-
termined on a bloody reveiige. The Eleanor
mounted ten guns. All these he ordered to be
loaded with musket-balls, nails, and pieces of old
iron, and then fired them, and the small arms of
the ship, among the natives. The havoc was
dreadful ; more than a hundred, according to
Young's account, were slain.

After this signal act of vengeance, Captain
Metcalf sailed from Mowee, and made for the
island of Owyhee, where he was well received
by Tamaahmaah. The fortunes of this warlike
chief wer3 at that time on the rise. He had

72 ASTC ^lA.

originally been of inferior rank, ruling over only
one or two districts of Owyhee, but had grad-
ually made himself sovereign of his native island.

The Eleanor remained some few days at an-
chor here, and an apparently friendly intercourse
was kept up with the inhabitants. On the 17tb
March, John Young obtained permission to pass
the night on shore. On ^he following morning
a signal-gun summoned him to return on board.

He went to the shore to embark, but found
all the canoes hauled up on the beach and rig-
orously tabooed, or interdicted. He would have
launched one himself, but was informed by Ta-
maahmaah that if he presumed to do so he would
be put to death.

Young was obliged to submit, and remained
all day in great perplexity to account for this
mysterious taboo, and fearful that some hostility
was intended. In the evening he learned the
cause of it, and his uneasiness was increased.
It appeared that the vindictive act of Captain
Metcalf had recoiled upon his own head. The
schooner Fair American, commanded by his son,
following in his track, had fallen into the hands
of the natives to the southward of Tocaigh Bay,
and young Metcalf and four of the crew had
been massacred.

On receiving intelligence of this event, Ta
maahmaah had immediately tabooed all the ca-
noes, and interdicted all intercourse with the
ship, lest the captain should learn the fiite of
the schooner, and take his revenge upon the isl-
and. For the same reason he prevented Young

PRO^rOTION IN SAVAGE LIFE. 73

from rejoining his countrymen. The Eleanor
continued to fire signals from time to time for
two days, and then sailed; concluding, no doubt,
that tlie boatswain had deserted.

John Young was in despair when he saw the
ship make sail, and found himself abandoned
among savages ; — and savages, too, sanguinary
in their character, and inflamed by acts of hos-
tility. He was agreeably disappointed, however,
in experiencing nothing but kind treatment from
Tamaalmiaah and his people. It is true, he was
narrowly watched whenever a vessel came in
sight, lest he should escape and relate what had
passed ; but at other times he was treated with
entire confidence and great distinction. He be-
came a prime favorite, cabinet counsellor, and
active coadjutor of Tamaahmaah, attending him
in all his excursions, whether of business or
pleasure, and aiding in his warlike and ambitious
enterprises. By degrees he rose to the rank of a
chief, espoused one of the beauties of the island,
and became habituated and reconciled to his new
way of life ; thinking it better, perhaps, to rule
among savages than serve among white men ; to
be a feathered chief than a tarpaulin boatswain.
His favor with Tamaahmaah never declined ;
and when that sagacious, intrepid, and aspiring
"hieftain had made himself sovereign over the
wliole group of islands, and removed his resi-
lience to Woahoo, lie left his faithful adherent
John Young in command of Owyhee.

Such is an outline of the history of Governor
Young, as furnished by himself; and we regret

74 ASTORIA.

that we are not able to give any account of the
Btate maintained by this seafaring worthy, and
the manner in which he discharged his high
functions ; though it is evident he had more of
the hearty famiharity of the forecastle than the
dignity of the gubernatorial office.

These long conferences were bitter trials to the
patience of the captain, who had no respect either
for the governor or his island, and was anxious to
push on in quest of provisions and water. As
soon as he could get his inquisitive partners once
more on board, he weighed anchor, and made
sail for the island of Woalioo, the royal resi-
dence of Tamaahmaah.

This is the most beautiful island of the Sand-
wich group. It is forty-six miles in length and
twenty-three in breadth. A ridge of volcanic
mountains extends through the centre, rising into
lofty peaks, and skirted by undulating hills and
rich plains, where the cabins of the natives peep
out from beneath groves of cocoanut and otjher
luxuriant trees.

On the 21st of February the Tonquin cast
anchor in the beautiful bay before the village of
Waititi, (pronounced Whyteetee,) the abode of
Tamaahmaah. This village contained about two
hundred habitations, composed of poles set in the
ground, tied together at the ends, and thatched
with grass, and was situated in an open grove of
cocoanuts. The royal palace of Tamaahmaah
was a large house of two stories ; the lower of
stone, the upper of wood. Round this his body-
guard kept watch, composed of twenty-four men,

A ROYAL VISIT. 75

in long blue cassocks turned up with yellow, and
each armed with a musket.

While at anchor at this place, much ceremo-
nious visiting and long conferences took place
between the potentate of the islands and the part-
ners of the company. Tamaahmaah came ou
board of the ship in royal style, in his double
pirogue. He was between fifty and sixty years
of age, above the middle size, large and well
made, though somewhat corpulent. He was
dressed in an old suit of regimentals, with a
sword by his side, and seemed somewhat embar-
rassed by his magnificent attire. Three of his
wives accompanied him. They were almost as
tall, and quite as corpulent as himself; but by no
means to be compared witli him in grandeur of
habiliments, wearing no other garb than the pau.
With him, also, came his great favorite and confi-
dential counsellor, Krai maker ; who, from holding
a post equivalent to that of prime minister, had
been familiarly named Billy Pitt by the British
visitors to the islands.

The sovereign was received with befitting:
ceremonial. The American flag was displayed,
four guns were lircd, nnd the partners appeared
in scarlet coats, and conducted their illustrious
guests to the cabin, where they were regaled
with wine. In this interview the partners en-
deavored to impress the monarch with a sense of
their importance, and of the importance of the
association to which they belong(?d. They let
him know that they were eris, or chiefs, of a
great company about to be established on the

76 ASTORIA.

northwest coast, and talked of the probabih'ty of
opening a trade with his ishmds, and of sending
ships there occasionally. All this was gratifying
and interesting to him, for he was aware of the
advantages of trade, and desirous of promoting
frequent intercourse with white men. He en-
couraged Europeans and Americans to settle in
his islands and intermarry with his subjects.
There were between twenty and tliirty white
men at that time resident in the island, but many
of them were mere vagabonds, who remained
there in liopes of leading a lazy and an easy life.
For such Tamaahmaah had a great contempt ;
those only had his esteem and countenance who
knew some trade or mechanic art, and were sober
and industrious.

On tlie day subsequent to the monarch's visit, the
partners landed and waited upon him in return.
Knowing the effect of sliow and dress upon men
in savage life, and wishing to make a favorable
impression as the eris, or chiefs, of the great
American Fur Company, some of them appeared
in Highland plaids and kilts, to the great admi-
ration of the natives.

While visits of ceremony and grand diplomatic
conferences were going on between the partners
and the king, the captain, in his plain, matter-of-
fact way, was pushing what he considered a far
more important negotiation ; the purchase of
a supply of hogs. He found that the king had
profited in more ways than one by his intercourse
with white men. Above all other arts he had
learned the art of driving a bargain. He was a

TAMAAH.WAAH AS A TRADER. 77

mao;uaniinous monarch, but a shrewd pork mer-
chant ; and perhaps thought he could not do
better with his future allies, the American Fur
Company, than to begin by close dealing. Sev-
eral interviews were requisite, and much bargain-
ing, before he could be brought to part with a
bristle of his bacon, and then he insisted upon
being paid in hard Spanish dollars ; giving as a
reason that he wanted money to purchase a
frigate from his brother George, as he affection-
ately termed the king of England.^

At length the royal bargain was concluded ;
(he necessary supply of hogs obtained, beside sev-

1 It appears, from the accounts of subsequent voyagers,
that Tamaahmaah afterwards succeeded in his wish of pur-
chasing a large ship. In this he sent a cargo of sandal-wood
to Canton, having discovered that the foreign merchants
trading with him made large profits on this Avood, shipped by
them from the islands to the Chinese markets. The ship was
manned by natives, but the officers were EngHshmen. She
accomplished her voyage, and returned in safety to the
islands, with the Hawaiian flag floating gloriouslv in the
breeze. The king hastened on board, expecting to find his
sandal-wood converted into crapes and damasks, and other
rich stuffs of China, but found, to his astonishment, by tiie
legerdemain of traftic, his cargo had all disappeared, and, in
place of it, remained a bill of charges amounting to three
thousand dollars. It was some time before he could be made
to comprehend certain of the most important items of the
bill, such as pilotage, anchorage, and custom-house fees; but
when he discovered that maritime states in other countries
derived large revenues in this manner, to the great cost
of the merchant, "Well," cried he, "then I will have har-
bor fees also." He established them accordingly. Pilotage
^ dollar a foot on the dral't of each vessel. Anchorage from
lixty to seventy dollars. In this way he greatly increased
4lie royal revenue, and turned his China speculation Ic
account .

78 ASTORIA.

eral goats, two sheep, a quantity of poultry, and
vegetables in abundance. The partners now
urged to recruit their forces from the natives of
this island. They declared they had never seen
watermen equal to them, even among the voy-
ageurs of the Northwest ; and, indeed, they are
remarkable for their skill in managing their light
craft, and can swim and dive like waterfowl. The
partners were inclined, therefore, to take thirty
or forty with them to the Columbia, to be em-
ployed in the service of the company. The cap-
tain, however, objected that there was not room
in his vessel for the accommodation of such a
number. Twelve, only, were therefore enlisted
for the company, and as many more for the ser-
vice of the ship. The former engaged to serve
for the term of three years, during which they
were to be fed and clothed ; and at the expira-
tion of the time were to receive one hundred
dollars in merchandise.

And now, having embarked his live-stock,
fruits, vegetables, and water, the captain made
ready to set sail. How much the honest man
had suffered in spirit by what he considered the
freaks and vagaries of his passengers, and how
little he had understood their humors and inten-
tions, is amusingly shown in a letter written to
Mr. Astor from Woahoo, which contains his
comments on the scenes we have described.

" It would be difficult," he writes, " to imagine
the frantic gambols that are daily played off here;
sometimes dressing in red coats, and otherwise
very fantastically, and collecting a number of ig-

COAiM-ENTS OF A MATTER-OF-FACT-MAN. 79

norant natives around them, telling them that
they are the great eares of the Northwest, and
making arrangements for sending three or four
vessels yearly to them from the coast with spars,
fee. ; while those very natives cannot even fur-
Mish a hog to the ship. Then dressing in High-
land plaids and kilts, and making similar arrange-
ments, with presents of rum, wine, or anything
that is at hand. Then taking a number of clerks
and men on shore to the very spot on which Cap-
tain Cook was killed, and each fetching off a
piece of the rock or tree that was touched by the
shot. Then sitting down with some white man
or some native who can be a little understood,
and collecting the history of those islands, of
Tamaahmaah's wars, the curiosities of the isl-
ands, &c., preparatory to the histories of their
voyages ; and the collection is indeed ridiculously
contemptible. To enumerate the thousand in-
stances of ignorance, filth, &c., or to particularize
all the frantic gambols that are daily practiced,
would require volumes."

Before embarking, the great eris of the Ameri-
can Fur Company took leave of their illustrious
ally in due style, with many professions of lasting
friendship and promises of future intercourse ;
while the matter-of-fact captain anathematized
him in his heart for a grasping, trafficking savage ;
as shrewd and sordid in his dealings as a white
man. As one of the vessels of the company will,
in the course of events, have to appeal to the
justice and magnanimity of this island potentate,
we shall see how far the honest captain was
right in his opinion.

CHAPTER VII.

|,T was on the 28th of February that the
Tonquin set sail from the Sandwich Isl-
ands. For two days the wind was con-
trary, and the vessel was detained in their neighbor-
hood ; at length a favorable breeze sprang up, and
in a little while the rich groves, green hills, and
snowy peaks of those happy islands one after an-
other sank from sight, or melted into the blue
distance, and the Tonquin ploughed her course
towards the sterner regions of the Pacific.

The misunderstandings between the captain and
his passengers still continued ; or rather, increased
in gravity. By his altercations and his moody
humors, he had cut himself off from all community
of thought, or freedom of conversation with them.
He disdained to ask any questions as to their pro-
ceedings, and could only guess at the meaning of
their movements, and in so doing indulged in con-
jectures and suspicions, which produced the most
whimsical self-torment.

Thus, in one of his disputes with them, relative
to the goods on board, some of the packages of
which they wished to open, to take out articles
of clothing for the men or presents for the natives,
h(3 was so harsh and peremptory that they lost all
patience, and hinted that they were the strongest

SUSPICIONS OF TflE CAPTAIN. 81

party, and might reduce him to a very ridiculous
dilemma, l)y taking from him the command.

A thought now flashed across the captain's mind
that they really had a design to depose him, and
that, having picked up some information at Owy-
hee, possibly of war between the United States
and England, they meant to alter the destination
of the voyage ; perhaps to seize upon ship and
cargo for their own use.

Once having conceived this suspicion, every-
thing went to foster it. They had distributed
lire-arms among some of their men, a common
precaution among the fur traders when mingling
with the natives. This, however, looked like prep-
aration. Then several of the partners and
clerks and some of the men, being Scotsmen, were
acquainted with the Gaelic, and held long con-
versations together in that language. These con-
versations were considered by the captain of a
" mysterious and unwarrantable nature," and re-
lated, no doubt, to some foul conspiracy that was
brewing among them. He frankly avows such
suspicions, in his letter to Mr. Astor, but in-
timates that he stood ready to resist any treasonous
outbreak ; and seems to think that the evidence
of preparation on his part had an effect in over-
awing the conspirators.

The fact is, as we have since been informed by
one of the parties, it was a mischievous pleasure
with some of the partners and clerks, who were
young men, to play upon the suspicious temper
and splenetic humors of the captain. To this we
may ascribe many of their whimsical pranks and

82 ASTORIA.

absurd propositions, and, above all, their myste-
rious colloquies in Gaelic.

In this sore and irritable mood did the captain
pursue his course, keeping a wary eye on every
movement, and bristling up whenever the detested
sound of the Gaelic language gi-ated upon his ear.
Notliing occurred, however, nmterially to disturb
the residue of the voyage excepting a violent
storm; and on the twenty -second of March, the
Tonquin arrived at the mouth of the Oregon, or
Columbia River.

The aspect of the river and the adjacent coast
was wild and dangerous. The mouth of the Co-
lumbia is upwards of four miles wide with a pen-
insula and promontory on one side, and a long
low spit of land on the other ; between which a
sand bar and chain of breakers almost block up
the entrance. The interior of the country rises
into successive ranges of mountains, which, at the
time of the arrival of the Tonquin, were covered
with snow.

A fresh wind from the northwest sent a rough
tumbling sea upon the coast, which broke upon
the bar in furious surges, and extended a sheet of
foam almost across the mouth of the river. Under
these circumstances the captain did not think it
prudent to approach within three leagues, until
the bar should be sounded and the channel as-
certained. Mr. Fox, the chief mate, was ordered
to this service in the whaleboat, accompanied by
John Martin, an old seaman, who had formerly
visited the river, and by three Canadians. Fox
requested to have regular •^ilors to man the boat.

BARS AND BREAKERS. 83

but the captain would not spare them from the
service of the ship, and supposed the Canadians,
being expert boatmen on lakes and rivers, were
competent to the service, especially when directed
and aided by Fox and Martin. Fox seems to
have lost all firmness of spirit on the occasion, and
to have regarded the service with a misgiving
heart. He came to the partners for sympathy,
knowing their differences with the captain, and
the tears were in his eyes as he represented his
case. " I am sent off," said he, " without seamen
to man my boat, in boisterous weather, and on the
most dangerous part of the northwest coast. My
uncle was lost a few years ago on this same bar,
and I am now going to lay my bones alongside
of his." The partners sympathized in his ap-
prehensions, and remonstrated with the captain.
The latter, however, was not to be moved. He
had been displeased with Mr. Fox in the earlier
part of the voyage, considering him indolent and
inactive ; and probably thought his present re-
pugnance arose from a want of true nautical spirit.
The interference of the partners in the business
of the ship, also, was not calculated to have a
favorable effect on a stickler for authority like
himself, especially in his actual state of feeling
towards them.

At one o'clock, p. m., therefore. Fox and his
comrades set off in the whaleboat, which is re-
presented as small in size, and crazy in condition.
All eyes were strained after the little bark as it
pulled for shore, rising and sinking with the huge
rolling waves, until it entered, a mere speck, among

84 ASTORIA.

the foaming breakers, and was soon lost to view.
Evening set in, night succeeded and passed away,
and morning returned, but without the return of
the boat.

As the wind had moderated, the ship stood
near to the land, so as to command a view of the
river's mouth. Nothing was to be seen but a
wild chaos of tumbling waves breaking upon the
bar, and apparently forming a foaming barrier
from shore to shore. Towards night the ship
again stood out to gain sea-room, and a gloom was
visible in every countenance. The captain him-
self shared in the general anxiety, and probably
repented of his peremptory orders. Another
weary and watchful night succeeded, during which
the wind subsided, and the weather became serene.

On the following day, the ship havuig drifted
near the land, anchored in fourteen fathoms water,
to the northward of the long penmsula or prom-
ontory which forms the north side of the en-
trance, and is called Cape Disappomtment. The
pinnace was then manned, and two of the partners,
Mr. David Stuart and Mr. M'Kay, set off in the
hope of learning something of the fate of the
whaleboat. The surf, however, broke with such
violence along the shore that they could find no
landing place. Several of the natives appeared
on the beach and made signs to them to row round
the cape, but they thought it most prudent to re-
turn to the ship.

The wind now springing up, the Tonquin goi
under way, and stood in to seek the channel ; but
was again deterred by the frightful aspect of the

PERILOUS SERVICE. 85

breakers, from venturing within a league. Here
Bhe hove to ; and Mr. Mumford, the second
mate, was dispatched with four hands, in the pin-
nace, to sound across the channel until he should
find four fathoms depth. The pinnace entered
among the breakers, but was near being lost, and
with difficulty got back to the ship. The captain
insisted that Mr. Mumford had steered too much
to the southward. He now turned to Mr. Aiken,
an able mariner, destined to command the schooner
intended for the coasting trade, and ordered him,
together with John Coles, sail-maker, Stephen
Weekes, armorer, and two Sandwich Islanders, to
proceed ahead and take soundings7 while the ship
should follow under easy sail. In this way they
proceeded until Aiken had ascertained the channel,
when signal was given from the ship for him to
return on board. He was then within pistol shot,
but so furious was the current, and tumultuous
the breakers, that the boat became unmanageable,
and was hurried away, the crew crying out pite-
ously for assistance. In a few moments she could
not be seen from the ship's deck. Some of the
passengers climbed to the mizzen top, and beheld
her still struggling to reach the ship ; but shortly
after she broached broadside to the waves, and her
case seemed desperate. The attention of those
on board of the ship was now called to their own
safety. They were in shallow water ; the vessel
struck repeatedly, the waves broke over her, and
there was danger of her founderino^. At lensrth
she got into seven fathoms water, and the wind
hilling, and the nii^ht coming on, cast anchor.

86 ASTORIA.

With the darkness their anxieties increased. The
whid whistled, the sea roared, the gloom was only
broken by the ghastly glare of the foaming breakers,
the minds of the seamen were full of dreary ap-
prehensions, and some of them fancied they heard
the cries of their lost comrades mingling with the
uproar of the elements. For a time, too, the
rapidly ebbing tide threatened to sweep them from
their precarious anchorage. At length the reflux
of the tide, and the springing up of the wmd, en-
abled them to quit their dangerous situation and
take shelter in a small bay within Cape Dis-
appointment, where they rode in safety during
the residue of a stormy night, and enjoyed a brief
interval of refreshing sleep.

With the light of day returned their cares and
anxieties. They looked out from the mast-head
over a wild coast, and wilder sea, but could dis-
cover no trace of the two boats and their crews
that were missing. Several of the natives came
on board with peltries, but there was no disposition
to trade. They were interrogated by signs after
the lost boats, but could not understand the in-
quiries.

Parties now went on shore and scoured the
neighborhood. One of these was headed by the
captain. They had not proceeded far when they
beheld a person at a distance in civilized garb.
As he drew near he proved to be Weekes, the
armorer. There was a burst of joy, for it was
hoped his comrades were near at hand. His story,
however, was one of disaster. He and his com-
panions had found it impossible to govern their

WE EKES THE ARMORER. 87

boat, having no rudder, and being beset by rapid
and whirling currents and boisterous surges. After
long struggling they had let her go at the mercy
of the waves, tossing about, sometimes with her
bow, sometimes with her broadside to the surges,
tlireatened each instant with destruction, yet re-
peatedly escaping, until a huge sea broke over and
swamped her. Weekes was overwhelmed by the
boilhig waves, but emerging above the surface,
looked round for his companions. Aiken and
Coles were not to be seen ; near him were the
two Sandwich Islanders, stripping themselves of
their clothing that they might swim more freely.
He did the same, and the boat floating near to
him he seized hold of it. The two islanders
joined him, and, uniting their forces, they succeeded
in turning the boat upon her keel ; then bearing
down her stern and rocking her, they forced out
so much water that she was able to bear the weight
of a man without sinking. One of the islanders
now got in, and in a little while bailed out the
water with his hands. The other swam about
and collected the oars, and they all three got once
more on board.

By this time the tide had swept them beyond
the breakers, and Weekes called on his compan-
ions to row for land. They were so chilled and
benumbed by the cold, however, that they lost
^11 heart, and absolutely refused. Weekes was
equally cliilled, but had superior sagacity and self-
command. He counteracted the tendency to
drowsiness and stupor which cold produces by
keeping himself in constant exercise ; and seeing

88 ASTORIA.

that the vessel was advancing, and that every
thing depended upon himself, he set to work to
scull the boat clear of the bar, and into quiet
water.

Towards midnight one of the poor islanders
expired : his companion threw himself on his corpse
and could not be persuaded to leave him. The
dismal night wore away amidst these horrors : as
the day dawned, Weekes found himself near the
land. He steered directly for it, and at length,
with the aid of the surf, ran his boat high upon
a sandy beach.

Finding that one of the Sandwich Islanders yet
gave signs of life, he aided him to leave the boat,
and set out with him towards the adjacent woods.
The poor fellow, however, was too feeble to follow
him, and Weekes was soon obliged to abandon
him to his fate and provide for his own safety.
Falling upon a beaten path, he pursued it, and
after a few hours came to a part of the coast,
where, to liis surprise and joy, he beheld the ship
at anchor and was met by the captain and liis
party.

After Weekes had related his adventures, three
[)arties were dispatched to beat up tlie coast in
search of the unfortunate islander. They re-
turned at night without success, though they had
used the utmost diligence. On the following day
the search was resumed, and the poor fellow was
at length discovered lying beneath a group of
rocks, his legs swollen, his feet torn and bloody
from walking through bushes and briers, and him-
self half-dead with cold, hunger, and fatigue.

SANDWICH ISLANDER'S BURIAL. 89

Weekes and this islander were the only survivors
of the crew of the jolly-boat, and no trace was
ever discovered of Fox and his party. Thus
eight men were lost on the first approach to the
coast ; a commencement that cast a "loom over
the spirits of the whole party, and was regarded
by some of the superstitious as an omen that
boded no good to the enterprise.

Towards night the Sandwich Islanders went on
shore, to bury the body of their unfortunate
countryman who had perished in the boat. On
arrivmg at the place where it had been left, they
dug a grave in the sand, in which they deposited
the corpse, with a biscuit under one of the arms,
some lard under the chin, and a small quantity of
tobacco, as provisions for its journey in the land
of spirits. Having covered the body with sand and
flmts, they kneeled along the grave in a doable
row, with their faeces turned to the east, while
one who officiated as a priest sprinkled them with
water from a hat. In so doing he recited a kind
of prayer or invocation, to which, at intervals,
the others made re.s[)onses. Such were the simple
rites perfoi'med by tliese pooi- savages at the grave
of their comi-ade on the shores of a strange land ;
and when these wei'e done, they rose and returned
in silence to the sliip, without once casting a lof»k
behind.

CHAPTER VIII.

HE Columbia, or Oregon, for the distance
of thirty or forty miles from its entrance
into the sea, is, properly speaking, a mere
estuary, indented by deep bays so as to vary from
three to seven miles in width ; and is rendered
extremely intricate and dangerous by shoals reach-
ing nearly from sliore to shore, on which, at times,
the winds and currents produce foaming and
tumultuous breakers. The mouth of the river
proper is but about half a mile wide, formed by
the contracting shores of the estuary. The en-
trance from the sea, as we have already observed,
is bounded on the south side by a flat sandy spit
of land, stretching into the ocean. This is com-
monly called Point Adams. The opposite, or
northern side, is Cape Disappointment ; a kind of
peninsula, terminating in a steep knoll or pro-
montory crowned with a forest of pine-trees, and
connected with the main-land by a low and narrow
^ neck. Immediately within this cape is a wide,
open bay, terminating at Chinook Point, so called
from a neisfhborinsf tribe of Indians. This was
called Baker's Bay, and here the Tonquin was
anchored.

The natives inhabiting the lower part of the
river, and with whom the company was likely to

HUNTING AND FISHING INDIANS. 91

have the most frequent intercourse, were divided
at this time into four tribes, the Chinooks, Clatsops,
Wahkiacums, and Cathlamahs. They resembled
each other in person, dress, language, and manner ;
and were probably from the same stock, but broken
into tribes, or rather hordes, by those feuds and
schisms frequent among Indians.

These people generally live by fisliing. It is
true they occasionally hunt the elk and deer, and
ensnare the water-fowl of their ponds and rivers,
but these are casual luxuries. Their chief sub-
sistence is derived from the salmon and other fish
which abound in the Columbia and its tributary
streams, aided by roots and herbs, especially the
wappatoo, which is found on the islands of the
river.

As the Indians of the plains who depend upon
the chase are bold and expert riders, and pride
themselves upon their horses, so these piscatory
tribes of the coast excel in the management of
canoes, and are never more at home than when
riding upon the waves. Their canoes vary in
form and size. Some are upwards of fifty feet
long, cut out of a single tree, either fir or white
cedar, and capable of carrying thirty persons.
They have thwart pieces from side to side about
three inches thick, and their gunwales flare out-
wards, so as to cast off' the surges of the waves.
The bow and stern are decorated with grotesque
figures of men and animals, sometimes five feet
in height.

In managing their canoes they kneel two and
Mvo aloniij the bottom, sittinoj on their heels, and

92 ASTORIA.

wielding paddles fi-om four to five feet long, while
one sits on the stern and steers with a paddle of
the same kind. The women are equally expert
with the men in managing the canoe, and gener-
ally take the helm.

It is surprising to see with what fearless un
concern these savages venture in their light barks
upon the roughest and most tempestuous seas.
They seem to ride upon the waves like sea-fowl.
Should a surge throw the canoe upon its side and
endanger its overturn, those to windward lean
over the upper gunwale, thrust their paddles deep
into the wave, apparently catch the water and
force it under the canoe, and by this action not
merely regain an equilibrium, but give their bark
a vigorous impulse forward.

The effect of different modes of life upon the
human frame and human character is strikingly
instanced in the contrast between the hunting In
dians of the prairies, and the piscatory Indians of
the sea-coast. The former, continually on horse-
back scouring the plains, gaining their food by
liardy exercise, and subsisting chiefly on flesh, are
generally tall, sinewy, meagre, but well formed,
and of bold and fierce deportment: the latter,
lounging about the river banks, or squatting and
curved up in their canoes, are generally low in
stature, ill-shaped, with crooked legs, thick ankles,
and broad flat feet. They are inferior also in
muscular power and activity, and in game qual-
ities and appearance, to their hard-riding )rethren
of the prairies.

Having premised these few particulars concern-

CAPTAIN-' S IMPATIENCE. 93

lug the neighboring Indians, we will return to the
imnaediate concerns of the Tonquin and her crew.

FurtLer search was made for Mr. Fox and his
party, but with no better success, and they were
at length given up as lost. In the meantime, the
captain and some of the partners explored the
river for some distance in a large boat, to select
a suitable place for the tradmg post. Their
old jealousies and differences continued ; they
never could coincide in their choice, and the cap-
tain objected altogether to any site so high up the
river. They all returned, therefore, to Baker's
Bay in no very good humor. The partners pro-
posed to examine the opposite shore, but the cap-
tain was impatient of any further delay. His
eagerness to "get on" had increased u[)on him.
He thought all these excursions a sheer loss of
time, and was resolved to land at once, build a
shelter for the reception of that part of his cargo
destined for the use of the settlement, and, having
cleared his ship of it and of his irksome shipmates,
to depart upon the prosecution of his coasting
voyage, according to orders.

On the following day, therefore, without troub-
ling himself to consult the partners, he landed
in Baker's Bay, and proceeded to erect a shed for
the reception of the rigging, equipments, and
stores of the schooner that was to be built for the
use of the settlement.

Tliis dogged determination on the part of the
sturdy captain gave high offense to Mr. M'Dougal,
who now considered himself at the head of the
concern, as Mr. jVstor's representative and proxy.

94 ASTORIA.

He set off the same day, (April 5th,) accompanied
by Mr. David Stuart, for the southern shore, in-
tending to be back by the seventh. Not having
the captain to contend with, they soon pitched
upon a spot which appeared to them favorable for
the intended establishment. It was on a point
of land called Point George, having a very good
harbor, where vessels, not exceeding two hundred
tons burden, might anchor within fifty yards of
the shore.

After a day thus profitably spent, they re-
crossed the river, but landed on the northern shore
several miles above the anchoring ground of the
Tonquin, in the neighborhood of Chinook, and
visited the village of that tribe. Here they
were received with great hospitality by the chief,
who was named Comcomly, a shrewd old savage,
with but one eye, who will occasionally figure in
this narrative. Each village forms a petty sover-
eignty, governed by its own chief, who, however,
possesses but little authority, unless he be a man
of wealth and substance ; that is to say, possessed
of canoes, slaves, and wives. The greater number
of these, the greater is the chief. How many
wives this one-eyed potentate maintained we are
not told, but he certainly possessed great sway,
not merely over his own tribe, but over the
neighborhood.

Having mentioned slaves, we w^ould observe
that slavery exists among several of the tribes
beyond the Rocky Mountains. The slaves are
well treated while in good health, but occupied
in all kinds of drudgery. Should they become

AN ARISTOCRACY OF FLATHEADS. 95

useless, however, by sickness or old age, they are
totally neglected, and left to perish ; nor is any
respect paid to their bodies after death.

A singular custom prevails, not merely among
the Chinooks, but among most of the tribes about
this part of the coast, which is the flattening of
the forehead. The process by which this deformity
is effected commences immediately after birth.
The infant is laid in a wooden trough, by way of
cradle. The end on which the head reposes is
higher than the rest. A padding is placed on the
forehead of the infant, with a piece of bark above
it, and is pressed down by cords, which pass
through holes on each side of the trough. As
the tightening of the padding and the pressing of
the head to the board is gradual, the process is
said not to be attended with much pain. The ap-
pearance of the infant, however, while in this
state of compression, is whimsically hideous, and
" its little black eyes," we are told, " being forced
out by the tightness of the bandages, resemble
those of a mouse choked in a trap."

About a year's pressure is sufficient to produce
the desired effect, at the end of which time the
child emerges from its bandages a complete flat-
head, and continues so through life. It must be
noted, however, that this flattening of the head
has something iu it of aristocratical significancy,
like the crippling of the feet among the Chinese
ladies of qivility. At any rate, it is a sign of
freedom. No slave is permitted to bestow this
enviable deformity upon his child ; all the slaves,
therefore, are roundheads.

96 ASTORIA.

With this worthy tribe of Chinooks the two
partners passed a part of the day very agreeably.
M' Dougal, who was somewhat vain of his official
rank, had given it to be understood that they
were two chiefs of a great trading company, about
to be established here, and the quicksighted,
though one-eyed chief, who was somewhat prac-
ticed in traffic with white men, immediately per-
ceived the policy of cultivating the friendship of
two such important visitors. He regaled them,
therefore, to the best of his ability, with abun-
dance of salmon and wappatoo. The next
morning, April 7th, they prepared to return to
the vessel, according to promise. They had
eleven miles of open bay to traverse; the wind
was fresh, the waves ran high. Comcomly re-
monstrated with them on the hazard to which
they would be exposed. They were resolute,
however, and launched their boat, while the wary
chieftain followed at some short distance in his
canoe. Scarce had they rowed a mile, when a
wave broke over their boat and upset it. They
were in imminent peril of drowning, especially
Mr. M' Dougal, who could not swim. Comcomly,
however, came bounding over the waves in his
light canoe, and snatched them from a watery
grave.

They were taken on shore and a fire made, at
which they dried their clothes, after which Com-
comly conducted them back to his village. Here
everything was done that could be devised for
their entertainment during three days that they
were detained by bad weather. Comcomly made

HOSPITALITY OF COMCOMLY. 97

Ins people perform antics before them ; and his
wives and daughters endeavored, by all the
soothing and endearing arts of women, to find
favor in their eyes. Some even painted their
bodies with red clay, and anointed themselves
with fish oil, to give additional lustre to their
charms. Mr. M'Dougal seems to have had a
heart susceptible to the influence of the gentler
sex. Whether or no it was first touched on this
occasion we do not learn ; but it will be found,
in the course of this work, that one of the
daughters of the hospitable Comcomly eventually
made a conquest of the great eri of the American
Fur Company.

When the weather had moderated and the sea
become tranquil, the one-eyed chief of the
Chinooks manned his state canoe, and conducted
his guests in safety to the ship, where they were
welcomed with joy, for apprehensions had been
felt for their safety. Comcomly and his people
were then entertained on board of the Tonquin,
and liberally rewarded for their hospitality and
services. They returned home highly satisfied,
promising to remain faithful friends and allies of
the white men.

CHAPTER IX.

ife^wROM the report made by the two ex-
^trJi plt^riiig partners, it was determined that
ajal Point George should be the site of the
trading house. These gentlemen, it is true, were
not perfectly satisfied with the place, and were
desirous of continuing their search ; but Captain
Thorn was impatient to land his cargo and con-
tinue his voyage, and protested against any more
of what he termed " sporting excursions."

Accordingly, on the 12th of April the launch
was freighted with all things necessary for the
purpose, and sixteen persons departed in her to
commence the establishment, leaving the Tonquin
to follow as soon as the harbor could be sounded.
Crossing the wide mouth of the river, the party
landed, and encamped at the bottom of a small
bay within Point George. The situation chosen
for the fortified post was on an elevation facing
to the north, with the wide estuary, its sand bars
and tumultuous breakers spread out before it, and
the promontory of Cape Disappointment, fifteen
miles distant, closing the prospect to the left.
The surrounding country was in all the freshness
of spring ; the trees were in the young leaf, the
weather was superb, and everything looked
delightful to men just emr.ncipated from a long

BUILDING ASJO/ilA. 99

confinement on shipboard. The Tonquin shortly
afterwards made her way through the intricate
channel, and came to anchor in the little bay, and
was saluted from the encampment with three
volleys of musketry and three cheers. She re-
turned the salute with three cheers and three
guns.

All hands now set to work cutting down trees,
clearing away thickets, and marking out the place
for the residence, store-house, and powder maga-
zine, which were to be built of logs and covered
with bark. Others landed the timbers intended
for the frame of the coasting vessel, and proceeded
to put them together, while others prepared a
garden spot, and sowed the seeds of various
vegetables.

The next thought was to give a name to the
embryo metropolis : the one that naturally pre-
sented itself was that of the projector and sup-
porter of the whole enterprise. It was accord-
ingly named Astoria.

The neighboring Indians now swarmed about
the place. Some brought a few land-otter and
sea-otter skins to barter, but in very scanty
parcels ; the greater number came prying about
to gratify their curiosity, for they are said to be
impertinently inquisitive ; while not a few came
with no other design than to pilfer ; the laws of
meum and tuum being but slightly respected
among them. Some of them beset the ship in
their canoes, among whom was the Chinook
chief Comcomly, and his liege subjects. These
were well received by Mr. M'Dougal, who wa.<-

100 AS Ton I A.

delighted with an opportunity of entering upon
his functions, and acquiring importance in the
eyes of his future neighbors. The confusion
thus produced on board, and the derangement of
the cargo caused by this petty trade, stirred the
spleen of the captain, who had a sovereign con-
tempt for the one-eyed chieftain and all his crew.
He complained loudly of having his ship lum-
bered by a host of " Indian ragamuffins," who
had not a skin to dispose of, and at length put
his positive interdict upon all trafficking on board.
Upon this Mr. M'Dougal was fain to land, and
establish his quarters at the encampment, where
he could exercise his rights and enjoy his dignities
without control.

The feud, however, between these rival powers
still continued, but was chiefly carried on by
letter. Day after day and week after week
elapsed, yet the store-house requisite for the re-
ception of the cargo were not completed, and the
ship was detained in port ; while the captain was
teased by frequent requisitions for various articles
for the use of the establishment, or the trade with
the natives. An angry correspondence took
place, in which he complained bitterly of the
time wasted in " smoking and sporting parties,"
as he termed the reconnoitring expeditions, and in
clearing and preparing meadow ground and turnip
patches, instead of dispatching his ship. At
length all these jarring matters were adjusted, if
not to the satisfaction, at least to the acquiescence
of all parties. The part of the cargo destined
for the use of Astoria was landed, and the ship
'eft i'vvx) to proceed on her voyage.

SAILING OF THE TONQUIN. 101

As the Tonquin was to coast to the noidi, to
trade for peltries at the different harbors, and to
touch at Astoria on her return in the autunm, it
was unanimously determined that Mr. M'Kay
should go in her as supercargo, taking with hir.
Mr. Lewis as ship's clerk. On the first of June
the ship got under way, and dropped down to
Baker's Bay, where she was detained for a few
days by a head wind ; but early in the morning
of the. fifth stood out to sea with a fine breeze
and swelling canvas, and swept off gaily on her
fatal voyage, from which she was never to re-
turn !

On reviewing the conduct of Captain Thorn,
and examining his peevish and somewhat whim-
sical correspondence, the impression left upon our
mind is, upon the whole, decidedly in his favor.
While we smile at the simplicity of his heart and
the narrowness of his views, which made him
regard everything out of the direct path of his
daily duty, and the rigid exigencies of the ser-
vice, as trivial and impertinent, which inspired
him with contempt for the swelling vanity of
some of his coadjutors, and the literary exercises
and curious researches of others, we cannot but
applaud that strict and conscientious devotion to
the interests of his employer, and to what he
considered the true objects of the enterprise in
which he was engaged. He certainly was to
blame occasionally for the asperity of his man-
aers, and the a"bitrary nature of his measures,
fet much that is exceptionable in this part of his
conduct may be traced to rigid notions of duty,

102 ASTORIA.

acquired in that tyrannical school, a ship of war,
and to the construction given by his companions
to the orders of Mr. Astor, so little in conformity
with his own. His mind, too, appears to have
become almost diseased by the suspicions he had
formed as to the loyalty of his associates, and the
nature of their Ultimate designs ; yet on this
point there were circumstances to, in some mea-
sure, justify him. The relations between the
United States and Great Britain were at that
time in a critical state ; in fact, the two countries
were on the eve of a war. Several of the part-
ners were British subjects, and might be ready
to desert the flag under which they acted, should
a war take place. Their application to the Brit-
ish minister at New York shows the dubious
feeling with which they had embarked in the
present enterprise. They had been in the em-
ploy of the Northwest Company, and might be
disposed to rally again under that association,
should events threaten the prosperity of this em-
bryo establishment of Mr. Astor. Besides, we
have the fact, averred to us by one of the part-
ners, that some of them, who were young and
heedless, took a mischievous and unwarrantable
pleasure in playing upon the jealous temper of
the captain, and affecting mysterious consulta-
tions and sinister movements.

These circumstances are cited in palliation of
jhe doubts and surmises of Captain Thorn, which
might otherwise appear strange and unreason-
ible. That most of the partners were perfectly
upright and faithful in the discharge of the trust

JUSTICE OF CAPTALYS SUSPICIONS. 103

reposed in them we are fully satisfied ; still the
honest captain was not invariably wrong in his
suspicions ; and that he formed a pretty just
opinion of the integrity of that aspiring person-
age, Mr. M'Dougal, will be substantially proved
in the sequel.

CHAPTER X.

HILE the Astorians were busily occu-
pied in completing their factory and
fort, a report was brought to them by
an Indian from the upper part of the river, that
a party of thirty white men had appeared on the
banks of the Columbia, and were actually build-
ing houses at the second rapids. This informa-
tion caused much disquiet. We have already
mentioned that the Northwest Company had
established posts to the west of the Rocky
Mountains, in a district called by them New
Caledonia, which extended from hit. 52° to 55°
north, being within the British territories. It
was now apprehended that they were advancing
within the American limits, and were endeavor-
ing to seize upon the upper part of the river and
forestall the American Fur Company in the sur-
roundintr trade ; in which case bloody feuds
might be anticipated, such as had prevailed
between the rival fur companies in former
days.

A reconnoitring party was sent up the river to
ascertain tlie truth of the report. They ascended
to the foot of the first rapid, about two hundred
miles, but could hear nothing of any white men
being in the neighborhood.

ALARMS FROM THE INTERIOR. 105

Not long after their return, however, further
accounts were received, by two wandering In-
dians, which established the fact, tnat tlie North-
west Company had actually erected a trading-
house on the Spokan River, which falls into the
north branch of the Columbia.

What rendered this intelligence the more dis-
quieting, was the inability of the Astorians, in
their present reduced state as to numbers, and
the exigencies of their new establishment, to fur-
nish detachments to penetrate the country in
different directions, and fix the posts necessary to
secure the interior trade. ■

It was resolved, however, at any rate, to
advance a counter-check to this post on the
Spokan, and one of the partners, Mr. David
Stuart, prepared to set out for the purpose with
eight men and a small assortment of goods. He
was to be guided by tlie two Indians, who knew
the country, and promised to take him to a place
not far from the Spokan River, and in a neighbor-
hood abounding with beaver. Here he was to
establish himself and to remain for a time, pro-
vided he found the situation advantageous and
the natives friendly.

On the 15th of July, when Mr. Stuart was
nearly ready to embark, a canoe made its ap-
{)earance, standing for the harbor, and manned
by nine white men. Much speculation took
place who these strangers could be, for it was
too soon to expect their own people, under Mr.
Hunt, who were to cross the continent. As the
canoe drew near, the British standard was dis-

106 ASTORIA.

tiiiguished : on coming to land, one of the crew
stepped on shore, and announced himself as Mr.
David Thompson, astronomer, and partner of the
Northwest Company. According to his account,
he had set out in the preceding year with a
tolerably strong party, and a supply of Indian
goods, to cross the Rocky Mountains. A part
of his people, however, had deserted him on the
eastern side, and returned with the goods to the
nearest Northwest post. He had persisted in
crossing the mountains with eight men, who re-
mained true to him. They had traversed the
higher regions, and ventured near the source of
the Columbia, where, in the spring, they had con-
structed a cedar canoe, the same in which they
had reached Astoria.

Tills, in fact, was the party despatched by the
Northwest Company to anticipate Mr. Astor in
his intention of effecting a settlement at the
mouth of the Columbia River. It appears, from
information subsequently derived from other
sources, that Mr. Thompson had pushed on his
course with great haste, calling at all the Indian
villages in his march, presenting them with Brit-
ish flags, and even planting them at the forks of
the rivers, proclaiming formally that he took pos-
session of the country in the name of the king
of Great Britain for the Northwest Company.
As his original plan was defeated by the deser-
tion of his people, it is probable that he descended
the river simply to reconnoitre, and ascertain
whether an American settlement had been com-
menced.

A SPY IN THE CAMP. 107

Mr. Thompson was, no donbt, the first white
man who descended the northern branch of the
Cohimbia from so near its source. Lewis and
Clarke struck the main body of the river at the
forks, about four hundred miles from its mouth.
They entered it from Lewis River, its southern
branch, and thence descended.

Though INIr. Thompson could be considered as
little better than a spy in the camp, he was re-
ceived with great cordiality by Mr. M'Dougal,
who had a lurking feeling of companionship and
good-will for all of the Northwest Company.
He invited him to head-quarters, where he and
his people were hospitably entertained. Nay,
further, being somewhat in extremity, he was
furnished by Mr. M'Dougal with goods and pro-
visions for his journey back, across the moun-
tains, much against the wishes of Mr. David
Stuart, who did not think the object of his visit
entitled him to any favor.

On the 23d of July, Mr. Stuart set out upon
his expedition to the interior. His party consist-
ed of four of the clerks, Messrs. Pillet, Ross,
M'Lennon, and Montigny, two Canadian voy-
ageurs, and two natives of the Sandwich Islands.
They had three canoes well laden with provi-
sions, and with goods and necessaries for a
trading establishment.

Mr. Thompson and his party set out in com-
pany with them, it being his intention to proceed
direct to Montreal. The partners at Astoria
forwarded by him a short letter to Mr. Astor
informing him of their safe arrival at the mouth

108 ASTORIA.

of the Columbia, and that they had not yet heard
of Mr. Hunt. The little squadron of canoes set
sail with a favorable breeze, and soon passed
Tongue Point, a long, high, and rocky promon-
tory, covered with trees, and stretching far into
the river. Opposite to this, on the northern
shore, is a deep bay, where the Columbia anchor-
ed at the time of the discovery, and which is
still called Gray's Bay, from the name of her
commander.

From hence, the general course of the river
for about, seventy miles, was nearly southeast;
varying in breadth according to its bays and in-
dentations, and navigable for vessels of three
hundred tons. The shores were in some places
high and rocky, with low marshy islands at their
feet, subject to inundation, and covered with
willows, poplars, and other trees that love an
alluvial soil. Sometimes the mountains receded,
and gave place to beautiful plains and noble
forests. While the river margin was richly
fringed with trees of deciduous foliage, the rough
uplands were crowned by majestic pines, and firs
of gigantic size, some towering to the height of
between two and three hundred feet, with pro-
portionate circumference. Out of these the In-
dians wrought their great canoes and pirogues.

At one part of the river, they passed, on the
northern side, an isolated rock, about one hun-
dred and fifty feet high, rising from a low marshy
iBoil, and totally disconnected with the adjacent
mountains. This was held in great reverence by
the neighboring Indians, being one of their prin-

INDIAN SEPULCHRES. 109

cipal places of sepulture. The same provident
care tor the deceased that prevails among the
hunting tribes of the prairies is observable among
tiie piscatory tribes of the rivers and sea-coast.
Among the former, the favorite horse of the
hunter is buried with him in the same funereal
mound, and his bow and arrows are laid by his
side, that he may be perfectly equipped for the
"happy hunting grounds" of the land of spirits.
Among tlie latter, the Indian is wrapped in his
mantle of skins, laid in his canoe, with his
paddle, his fishing spear, and other implements
beside him, and placed aloft on some rock or
other eminence overlooking the river, or bay, or
lake, that he has frequented. He is thus fitted
out to launch away upon those placid streams
and sunny lakes stocked with all kinds of fish
and waterfowl, which are prepared in the next
world for those who have acquitted themselves
as good sons, good fathers, good husbands, and,
above all, good fishermen, during their mortal
sojourn.

Tiie isolated rock in question presented a spec-
tacle of the kind, numerous dead bodies being
deposited in canoes on its summit; while on poles
around were trophies, or, rather, funereal offerings
of trinkets, garments, baskets of roots, and other
articles for the use of the deceased. A reveren-
hal feelirjg protects these sacred spots from rob-
bery or insult. The friends of the deceased, es-
pecially the women, repair here at sunrise and
sunset for sonie time after his death, singing his
funeral dirge, and uttering loud wailings and
lamentations.

110 ASTORIA.

From the number of dead bodies in canoes
observed upon this rock by the first explorers of
the river, it received the name of Mount Coffin,
which it o^ntinues to bear.

Beyond this rock they passed the mouth of a
river on the right bank of the Columbia, which
appeared to take its rise in a distant mountain,
covered with snow. The Indian name of this
river was the Covvleskee. Some miles further
on they came to the great Columbian Valley, so
called by Lewis and Clarke. It is sixty miles
in width, and extends far to the southeast be-
tween parallel ridges of mountains, which bound
it on the east and west. Through the centre of
this valley flowed a large and beautiful stream,
called the Wallamot,^ which came wandering
for several hundred miles, through a yet unex~
plored wilderness. The sheltered situation of
this immense valley had an obvious effect upon
the climate. It was a region of great beauty
and luxuriance, with lakes and pools, and green
meadows shaded by noble groves. Various
tribes were said to reside in this valley, and
along the banks of the Wallamot.

About eight miles above the mouth of the
Wallamot the little squadron arrived at Van-
couver's Point, so called in honor of that cele-
brated voyager by his lieutenant (Broughton)
when he explored the river. This point is said
to present one of the most beautiful scenes on
the Columbia ; a lovely meadow, with a silver

1 Pronoun ::ed Wallamot, the accent being upon the second
■yllable.

SCENERY OF THE COLUMBIA. HI

sheet of limpid water in the centre, enli\'ened
by wild-fowl, a range of hills crowned by forests,
while the prospect is closed by Mount Hood, a
magnificent mountain rising into a lofty peak,
and covered with snow ; the ultimate landmark
of the first explorers of the river.

Point Vancouver is about one hundred miles
from Astoria. Here the reflux of the tide ceases
to be perceptible. To this place vessels of two
and three hundred tons burden may ascend. The
party under the command of Mr. Stuart had been
three or four days in reaching it, though we have
foi-borne to notice their daily progress and nightl)
encampments.

From Point Vancouver the river turned to-
wards the northeast, and became more contracted
and rapid, with occasional islands and frequent
sand-banks. These islands are furnished with
a number of ponds, and at certain seasons abound
with swans, geese, brandts, cranes, gulls, plover
and other wild-fowl. The shores, too, are low,
and closely wooded, and such an undergrowth of
vines and rushes as to be almost impassable.

About thirty miles above Point Vancouver the
mountains again approach on both sides of the
river, which is bordered by stupendous precipices,
covered with the fir and the white cedar, and en
livened occasionally by beautiful cascades leaping
from a great height, and sending up wreaths of
vapor. One of these precipices, or cliffs, is
curiously worn by time and weather so as to have
the appearance of a ruined fortress, with towers
and battlements, beetling high above the river ;

112 ASTORIA.

while two small cascades, one hundred and fifty
feet in height, pitch down from the fissures of the
rocks.

The turbulence and rapidity of the current con-
tinually augmenting as they advanced, gave the
voyagers intimation that they were approaching
the great obstructions of the river, and at length
they arrived at Strawberry Island, so called by
Lewis and Clarke, which lies at the foot of the
first rapid. As this part of the Columbia will be
repeatedly mentioned in the course of this work,
being the scene of some of its incidents, we shall
give a general description of it in this place.

The falls or rapids of the Cokunbia are situated
above one hundred and eighty miles above the
mouth of the river. The first is a perpendicular
cascade of twenty feet, after which there is a
swift descent for a mile, between islands of hard
black rock, to another pitch of eight feet divided
by two rocks. About two and a half miles below
this the river expands into a wide basin, seemingly
dammed up by a perpendicular ridge of black
rock. A current, however, sets diagonally to the
lett of this rocky barrier, where there is a chasm
forty-five yards in width. Through this the whole
body of the river roars along, swelling and wliirl-
ing and boiling for some distance in the wildest
confusion. Through this tremendous channel the
intrepid explorers of the river, Lewis and Clarke,
passed safely in their boats ; the dangei* being, not
from the rocks, but from the great surges and
wliirlpools.

At the distance of a mile and a half from the

THE LONG NARROWS. 113

foot of this narrow channel is a rapid, formed by
two rocky islands ; and two miles beyond is a
second great fall, over a ledge of rocks twenty
feet high, extending nearly from shore to shore.
The river is again compressed into a channel from
fifty to a hundred feet wide, worn through a rough
l>ed of hard black rock, along which it boils and
roars with great fury for the distance of three
miles. This is called " The Long Narrows."

Here is the great fishing place of the Columbia.
In the spring of the year, when the water is high,
the salmon ascend the river in incredible numbers.
As they pass through this narrow strait, the In-
dians, standing on the rocks, or on the end of
wooden stages projecting from the banks, scoop
them up with small nets distended on hoops and
attached to long handles, and cast them on the
shore.

They are then cured and packed in a peculiar
manner. After having been opened and dis-
emboweled, they are exposed to the sun on scaffolds
erected on the river banks. When sufficiently
dry, they are pounded fine be^een two stones,
pressed into the smallest compass, and packed in
baskets or bales of grass matting, about two feet
long and one in diameter, lined with the cured
skin of a salmon. The top is likewise covered
with fish skins, secured by cords passing through
holes in the edge of the basket. Packages are
then made, each containing twelve of these bales,
seven at bottom, five at top, pressed close to each
other, wi*h the corded side upward, wrapped in
mats and corded- These are placed in dry situa-

114 ASTORIA.

tioiis, and again covered with matting. Each oi
these packages contains from ninety to a hundred
pounds of dried fish, which in tliis state will keep
sound for several years.^

We have given this process at some length, aa
furnished by the first explorers, because it marks
a practiced ingenuity in preparing articles of traf-
fic for a market, seldom seen among our aboriginals.
For like reasons we would make especial mention
of the village of Wish-ram, at the head of the
Long Narrows, as being a solitary instance of an
aboriginal trading mart, or emporium. Here the
salmon caught in the neighboring rapids were
" warehoused," to await customers. Hither the
tribes from the mouth of the Columbia repaired
with the fish of the sea-coast, the roots, berries,
and especially the wappatoo, gathered in the lower
parts of the river, together with goods and trink-
ets obtained irom the ships which casually visit
the coast. Hither also the tribes from the Rocky
Mountains brought down horses, bear-grass, quam-
ash, and other commodities of the interior.
The merchant fishermen at the falls acted as
middlemen or factoid, and passed the objects of
traffic, as it were, cross-handed ; trading away part
of the wares I'eceived fix)ra the mountain tribes
to those of the river and the plains, and mce versa :
their packages of pounded salmon entered largely
into the system of barter, and being carried off in
opposite directions, found their way to the savage
hunting camps tar in the interior, and to the cas-
ual white tmders who touched upon the coast.
1 Lewis and Clarke, vol. ii. p. 32.

INDIAN FISHING MART. 115

We have already noticed certain contiarieties
of character between the Indian tribes, produced
by their diet and mode of Ufe ; and nowhere are
they more apparent than about the falls of the
Columbia. The Indians of this great fishing mart
are represented by the earliest explorers as sleeker
and fatter, but less hardy and active, than the
tribes of the mountains and the prairies, who live
by hunting, or of the upper parts of the river,
where fish is scanty, and the inhabitants must eke
out their subsistence by digghig roots or chasing
the deer. Indeed, whenever an Indian of the
upper country is too lazy to hunt, yet is fond of
good living, he repairs to the falls, to live in
abundance without labor.

" By such worthless dogs as these," says an
honest trader in liis journal, which now lies before
us, "by such worthless dogs as these are these
noted fishing-places peopled, which, like our great
cities, may with propriety be called the head-
quarters of vitiated principles."

The habits of trade and the avidity of gain
have their corrupting effects even in the wilderness,
as may be instanced in the members of this
aboriginal emporium ; for the same journalist de-
nounces them as " saucy, impudent rascals, who
will steal when they can, and pillage whenever a
weak party fliUs in their power."

That he does not belie them will be evidenced
hereafter, when we have occasion again to touch
at Wish-ram and navigate the rapids. In the
present instance the travellers effected the laborious
ascent of this part of the river, with all its various

116 ASTORIA.

portages, without molestation, and once more
launched away in smooth water above the high falls.

The two parties continued together, without
material impediment, for three or four hundred
miles further up the Columbia ; Mi'. Thompson
appearing to take great interest in the success of
Mr. Stuart, and pointing out places favorable, as
he said, to the establishment of his contemplated
trading post.

Mr. Stuart, who distrusted his sincerity, at
length pretended to adopt his advice, and, taking
leave of him, remained as if to establish himself,
while the other proceeded on his course towards
the mountains. No sooner, however, had he fairly
departed than Mr. Stuart again pushed forward,
under guidance of the two Indians, nor did he stop
until he had arrived within about one hundred
and forty miles of the Spokan River, which he
considered near enough to keep the rival establish-
ment in check.

The place which he pitched upon for his
trading post was a point of land about three
miles in length and two in breadth, formed by
the junction of the Oakiuagan with the Colum-
bia. The former is a river which has its source
in a considerable lake about one hundred and
fifty miles west of the point of junction. The
two rivers, about the place of their confluence,
are bordered by immense prairies covered with
herbage, but destitute of trees. The point itself
was ornamented with wild flowers of every hue,
in which innumerable humming-birds were "ban-
i^ueting nearly the livelong day."

MOUTH OF THE OAKINAGAN. 117

The situation of this point appeared to be well
adapted foe a trading post. The climate was
salubrious, the soil fertile, the rivers well stocked
with tish, the natives peaceable and friendly.
There were easy communications with the interior
by the upper waters of the Columbia and the
lateral stream of the Oakinagan, while the down-
ward current of the Columbia furnished a high-
way to Astoria.

Availing himself, therefore, of the driftwood
which had collected in quantities in the neigh-
boring bends of the river, Mr. Stuart and his
men set to work to erect a house, which in a
httle while was sufficiently completed for their
residence ; and thus was established the first in-
terior post of the company. We will now return
to notice the progress of affairs at the mouth of
the Columbia.

CHAPTER XI.

HE sailing of the Tonqiiin, and the de
parture of Mr. David Stuart and his
detachment, had produced a striking
effect on affliirs at Astoria. The natives who had
swarmed about the place began imme<liately to
drop off, until at length not an Indian was to be
seen. This, at first, was attributed to the want
of peltries with which to trade ; but in a little
while the mystery was explained in a more
alarming manner. A conspiracy was said to be
on foot among the neighboring tribes to make a
combined attack upon the white men, now that
they were so reduced in number. For this pur-
pose there had been a gathering of warriors in a
neighboring bay, under pretext of fishing for
sturgeon ; and fleets of canoes were expected to
join them from the north and south. Even
Comcomly, the one-eyed chief, notwithstanding
his professed friendship for Mr. M'Dougal, was
strongly suspected of being concerned in this
general combination.

Alarmed at rumors of this impending danger,
the Astoriaus suspended their regular labor, and
set to work, with all haste, to throw up tem-
porary works for refuge and defense. In the
course of a few days they surrounded their dwel-

ALARMING RUMORS. 119

ling-house and magazines with a picket fence
ninety feet square, flanked by two bastions, on
which were mounted four four-pounders. Every
day they exercised themselves in the use of their
weapons, so as to qualify themselves for military
duty, and at night ensconced themselves in their
fortress and posted sentinels, to guard against
surprise. In this way the}'- hoped, even in case
of attack, to be able to hold out until the arrival
of the party to be conducted by Mr. Hunt across
the Rocky Mountains, or until the return of the
Tonquin. The latter dependence, however, was
doomed soon to be destroyed. Early in August,
a wandering band of savages from the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, made their appearance at the
mouth of the Columbia, where they came to fish
for sturgeon. They brought disastrous accounts
of the Tonquin, which were at first treated as
mere fibles, but wliich were too sadly confirmed
by a different tribe that arrived a few days sub-
sequently. We shall relate the circumstances of
this melancholy affair as correctly as the casual
discrepancies in the statements that have reached
us will permit.

We have already stated that the Tonquin set
sail from the mouth of the river on the fifth of
June. The whole number of persons on board
amounted to twenty-three. In one of the outer
bays they picked up, from a fishing canoe, an
Indian named Lamazee, who had already made
two voyages along the coast, and knew some-
thing of the language of the various tribes. He
Agreed to ML-cor.ipaiiv them as interpreter.

120 ASTORIA.

Steering to the north, Captain Thorn a "rived in
a few days at Vancouver's Island, and anchored
in the harbor of Ne wee tee, very much against
the advice of his Indian interpreter, who warned
him against the perfidious character of the na-
tives of this part of the coast. Numbers of
canoes soon came off, bringing sea-otter skins to
sell. It was too late in the day to commence a
traffic, but Mr. M'Kay, accompanied by a few of
the men, went on shore to a large village to visit
Wicananish, the chief of the surrounding terri-
tory, six of the natives remaining on board as
hostages. He was received with great profes-
sions of friendship, entertained hospitjibly, and a
couch of sea-otter skins was prepared for him in
the dwelling of the chieftain, where he was pre-
vailed upon to pass the night.

In the morning, before Mr. M'Kay had re-
turned to the ship, great numbers of the natives
came off in their canoes to trade, headed by two
sons of Wicananish. As they brought abun-
dance of sea-otter skins, and there was every
appearance of a brisk trade. Captain Thorn did
not wait for the return of Mr. M'Kay, but spread
his wares upon deck, making a tempting display
of blankets, cloths, knives, beads, and fish-hooks,
expecting a prompt and profitable sale. The
Indians, however, were not so eager and simple
as he had supposed, having learned the art of
bars^aininji and the value of merchandise from
the casual traders along the coast. They were
guided, too, by a shrewd old chief named Noo-
kamis, who had grown gray in traffic with Kew

A DEADLY INSULT. 121

England skippers, and prided himself upon his
acuteness. His opinion seemed to regulate the
market. When Captain Thorn made what he
considered a liberal offer for an otter-skin, the
wily old Indian treated it with scorn, and asked
more than double. His comrades all took their
cue from him, and not an otter-skin was to be
had at a reasonable rate.

The old fellow, however, overshot his mark,
and mistook the character of the man he was
treating with. Thorn was a plain, straightfor-
ward sailor, who never had two minds nor two
prices in his dealings, was deficient in patience
and pliancy, and totally wanting in the chicanery
of traffic. He had a vast deal of stern, but
honest pride in his nature, and, moreover, held
the whole savage race in sovereign contempt.
Abandoning all furtlier attempts, therefore, to
bargain with his sliuliling customers, he thrust
his hands into his pockets, and paced up and
down the deck in sullen silence. The cunning
old Indian followed him to and fro, holding out
a sea-otter skin to him at every turn, and pester-
inir him to trade. Findini: other means unavail-
ing, he suddenly changed his tone, and began to
jeer and banter him upon the mean prices he
offered. This was too much for the patience of
the captain, who was never remarkable for relish
ing a joke, especially when at his own expense.
Turning suddenly upon his persecutor, he
snatched the proffered otter-skin from his
Qands, rubbed it in his face, and dismissed him
over the side of the ship with no very compli-

122 ASTORIA.

mentary application to accelerate his exit. He
then kicked the peltries to the right and left
about the deck, and broke ap the market in the
most ignominious manner. Old Nookamis made
for shore in a furious passion, in which he was
joined by Shewish, one of the sons of Wicana-
nish, who went off breathing vengeance, and the
ship was soon abandoned by the natives.

When Mr. M'Kay returned on board, the in-
terpreter related what had passed, and begged
him to prevail upon the captain to make sail, as,
from his knowledge of the temper and pride of
the people of the place, he was sure they would
resent the indignity offered to one of their chiefs.
Mr. M'Kay, who himself possessed some experi-
ence of Lidian character, went to the captain,
who was still pacing the deck in moody humor,
represented the danger to which his hasty act
had exposed the vessel, and urged him to weigh
anchor. The captain made light of his counsels,
and pointed to his cannon and lire-arms as a suf-
ficient safeguard against naked savages. Fur-
ther remonstrances only provoked taunting re-
plies and sharp altercations. The day passed
away without any signs of hostility, and at night
the captain retired as usual to his cabin, taking
no more than the usual precautions.

On the following morning, at daybreak, while
the captain and Mr. M'Kay were yet asleep, a
canoe came alongside in which were twenty
Indians, commanded by young Shewish. They
were unarmed, their aspect and demeanor friend-
ly, and tlii'y held up otter-skins, and made signs

INDIANS THRONG THE SHIP. 123

ijidicative of a wish to trade. The caution en-
joined by Mr. Astor, in respect to the admission of
Indians on board of the ship, had been neglected
for some time past, and the officer of the watch, per-
ceiving those in the canoe to be without weapons,
and having received no orders to the contrary,
readily permitted them to mount the deck.
Another canoe soon succeeded, the crew uf
which was likewise admitted. In a little while
other canoes came off, and Indians were soon
clambering into the vessel on all sides.

The officer of the watch now felt alarmed, and
called to Captain Thorn and Mr. M'Kay. By
the time they came on deck, it was thronged
with Indians. The interpreter noticed to Mr.
M'Kay that many of the natives wore short
mantles of skins, and intimated a suspicion that
they were secretly armed. Mr. M'Kay urged
the captain to clear the ship and get urtvler way.
He aa;ain made liorht of the advice ; but the
augmented swarm of canoes about the ship, and
the numbers still ' {)utting off from shore, at
length awakened his distrust, and he ordered
some of the crew to weigh anchor, while some
were sent aloft to make sail.

The Indians now offered to trade with the
captain on his own terms, prompted, apparently,
by the approaching departure of the ship. Ac-
cordingly, a hurried trade was commenced. The
main articles sought by the savages in barter,
were knives ; as fast as some were supplied they
moved off, and others succeeded. B}^ degrees
they were thus distributed about thr) deck, and all
with weapons.

124 ASTORfA.

The anchor was now nearly up, the sails were
loose, and the captain, in a loud and peremptory
tone, ordered the ship to be cleared- In an in-
stant, a signal yell was given ; it was echoed on
every side, knives and war-clubs were brandished
in every direction, and the savages rushed upon
their marked victims.

The first that fell was Mr. Lewis, the ship's
clerk. He was leaning, with folded arms, over a
bale of blankets, engaged in bargaining, when he
received a deadly stab in the back, and fell down
the companion-way.

Mr. M'Kay, who was seated on the tafFrail,
sprang on his feet, but was instantly knocked
down with a war-club and flung backwards into
the sea, where he was dispatched by the women
in the canoes.

In the meantime Captam Thorn made desper-
ate fight against fearful odds. He was a power-
ful as well as a resolute man, but he had come
upon deck without weapons. Shewish, the young
chief, singled him out as his 'peculiar prey, and
rushed upon him at the first outbreak. The cap-
tain had barely time to draw a clasp-knife, witli
one blow of which he laid the young savage dead
at liis feet. Several of the stoutest followers of
Shewish now set upon him. He defended him-
self vigorously, dealing crippling blows to right
and left, and strewing the quarter-deck with the
slain and wounded. His object was to fight his
way to the cabin, where there were fire-arms ;
but he was hemmed in with foes, covered with
rrounds, and faint with loss of blood. For an

MASSACRE OF THE CREW. 125

instant he leaned upon the tiller wheel, when a
blow from behind, with a war-club, felled him to
the deck, where he was dispatched with knives
and thrown overboard.

While this was transacting upon the quarter-
deck, a chance-medley fight was going on through-
out the ship. ,The crew fought desperately with
knives, handspikes, and whatever weapon they
could seize upon in the moment of surprise.
They were soon, however, overpowered by num-
bers, and mercilessly butchered.

As to the seven who had been senf aloft to
make sail, they contemplated with horror the
carnage that was going on below. Being desti-
tute of weapons, they let themselves down by the
running rigging, in hopes of getting between
decks. One fell in the attempt, and was in-
stantly dispatched ; another received a death-
blow in the back as he was descending ; a third,
Stephen Weekes, the armorer, was mortally
wounded as he was getthig down the hatch-
way.

The remaining four made good their retreat
into the cabin, where they found Mr. Lewis, still
alive, though mortally wounded. Barricading the
cabin door, they broke holes through the com-
panion-way, and, with the muskets and ammuni-
tion which were at hand, opened a brisk fire that
soon cleared the deck.

Thus far the Indian interpreter, from whom
tliese particulars are derived, had been an eye-
witness to the deadly conflict. He had taken no
part in it, and had been spared by the natives as

126 ASTORIA.

being of tlieir race. In the confusion of the mo-
ment he took refuge with the rest, in the canoes
The survivors of the crew now sallied forth, and
discharged some of the deck guns, which did great
execution among the canoes, and drove all the
savages to shore.

For the remainder of the day no one ventured
to put off to the ship, deterred by the effects of
the fire-arms. The night passed away without
any further attempt on the part of the natives.
Wlien the day dawned, the Tonquin still lay at
anchor ill the bay, her sails all loose and flap-
ping in the wind, and no one apparently on board
of her. After a time, some of the canoes ven-
tured forth to reconnoitre, taking with them the
interpreter. They paddled about her, keeping
cautiously at a distance, but growing more and
more emboldened at seeing her quiet and lifeless.
One man at length made his appearance on the
deck, and was recognized by the interpreter as
Mr. Lewis. He made friendly signs, and invited
them on board. It was long before they ven-
tured to comply. Those who mounted the deck
met with no opposition ; no one was to be seen
on board ; for Mr. Lewis, after inviting them,
had disappeared. Other canoes now pressed for-
ward to board the prize ; the decks were soon
crowded, and the sides covered with clambering
savages, all intent on plunder. In the midst of
their eagerness and exultation, the ship blew up
with a tremendous explosion. Arms, legs, and
mutilated bodies were blown into the air, and
dreadful havoc was made in the surrounding

THE UNFORTUNATE FUGITIVES. 127

canoes. The interpreter was in the main-chains
at the time of the explosion, and was thrown
unhurt into the water, where he succeeded in
getting into one of the canoes. According to
liis statement, the bay presented an awful specta-
cle after the catastrophe. The ship had disap-
peared, but the bay was covered with fraguients
of the wreck, with shattered canoes, and Indians
swimming for their lives, or struggling in the
agonies of death ; while those who had escaped
the danger remained aghast and stupefied, or
made with frantic panic for the shore. Upwards
of a hundred savages were destroyed by the ex-
plosion, many more were shockingly mutilated,
and for days afterwards the limbs and bodies of
the slain were thrown upon the beach.

The inhabitants of Neweetee were over-
whelmed with eonsternation at this astounding
calamity, which had burst upon them in the very
moment of triumph. The warriors sat mute and
mournful, while the women filled the air with
loud lamentations. Their weeping and wailing,
however, was suddenly changed into yells of fury
at the sight of four unfortunate white men,
brought captive into the village. They had been
driven on shore in one of the ship's boats, and
taken at some distance along the coast.

The interpreter was permitted to converse
with them. They proved to be the four brave
fellows who had made such desperate defense
from the cabin. The interpreter gathered from
them some of the particulars already related.
They told him further, that after they had beaten

128 ASTORIA.

off the enemy and cleared the ship, Lewis ad-
vised that they should slip the cable and endeavor
to get to sea. They declined to take his advice,
alleging that the wind set too strongly into the
bay, and would drive them on shore. They re-
solved, as soon as it was dark, to put off quietly
in the ship's boat, which they would be able to
do unperceived, and to coast along back to As-
toria. They put their resolution into effect ; but
Lewis refused to accompany them, being disabled
by his wound, hopeless of escape, and determined
on a terrible revenge. On the voyage out, he
had repeatedly expressed a presentiment that he
should die by his own hands ; thinking it highly
probable that he should be engaged in some con-
test with the natives, and' being resolved, in case
of extremity, to commit suicide rather than be
made a prisoner. He now declared his intention
to remain on board of the ship until daylight, to
decoy as many of the savages on board as pos-
sible, then to set fire to the powder magazine,
and terminate his life by a signal act of venge-
ance. How well he succeeded has been shown.
His companions bade him a melancholy adieu,
and set off on their precarious expedition. They
strove with might and main to get out of the
bay, but found it impossible to weather a point
of land, and were at length compelled to take
shelter in a small cove, where they hoped to re-
main concealed until the wind should be more
favorable. Exhausted by fatigue and watching,
they fell into a sound sleep, and in that state
were surprised by the savages. Better had it

ERRORS OF CAPTAIN THORN. 129

been for those unfortunate men had they re-
mained with Lewis, and shared his heroic death :
as it was, they perished in a more painful and
protracted manner, being sacrificed by the natives
to the manes of their friends with all the linger-
ing tortures of savage cruelty. Some time after
their death, the interpreter, who had remained a
kind of prisoner at large, effected his escape, and
brouo^ht the trasjical tidins^s to Astoria.

Such is the melancholy story of the Tonquin,
and such was the fate of her brave, but head-
strong commander, and her adventurous crew.
It is a catastrophe that shows the importance,
in all enterprises of moment, to keep in mind the
general instructions of the sagacious heads which
devise them. Mr. Astor was well aware of the
perils to which ships were exposed on this coast
from quarrels with the natives, and from perfidi-
ous attempts of the latter to surprise and capture
them in unguarded moments. He had repeat-
edly enjoined it upon Captain Thorn, in conver-
sation, and at parting, in his letter of instructions,
to be courteous and kind in his dealings with the
savages, but by no means to confide in their ap-
parent friendshij^, nor to admit more than a few
on board of his ship at a time.

Had the deportment of Captain Thorn been
properly regulated, the insult so wounding to
savage pride would never have been given. Had
he enforced the rule to admit but a few at a time,
the savages would not have been able to get the
mastery. He was too irritable, however, to prac-
tice the necessary self-command, and, having been

130 ASTORIA.

nurtured in a proud contemj)t of danger, thought
it beneath him to manifest any fear of a crew of
unarmed savages.

With all his foults and foibles, we cannot but
speak of him with esteem, and deplore his un-
timely fate ; for we remember him well in early
life, as a companion in pleasant scenes and joyous
hours. Wlien on shore, among his friends, he
was a frank, manly, sound-hearted sailor. On
board ship he evidently assumed the hardness of
deportment and sternness of demeanor which
many deem essential to naval service. Through-
out the whole of the expedition, however, he
showed himself loyal, single-minded, straightfor-
ward, and fearless ; and if the fate of his vessel
may be charged to his harshness and imprudence,
we should recollect that he paid for his error with
his life.

The loss of the Tonquin was a grievous blow
to the infant establishment of Astoria, and one
that threatened to bring after it a train of disas-
ters. The intelligence of it did not reach Mr.
Astor until many months afterwards. He felt
it in all its force, and was aware that it must
cripple, if not entirely defeat, the great scheme
of his ambition. In liis letters, written at the
time, he speaks of it as " a calamity, the length
of which he could not foresee." He indulged,
however, in no weak and vain lamentation, but
sought to devise a prompt and efficient remedy.
The very same evening he appeared at the thea-
tre with his usual serenity of countenance. A
friend, who knew the disastrous intelliofence be

CALMNESS OF MR. AST OR.

131

had received, expressed his astoiiishmeDt that ho
could have cahuuess of spirit sufficient for such
a scene of light amusement. " What would you
have me do ? " was his characteristic reply ; " would
you have me stay at home and weep for what I
cannot help ? "

CHAPTER XII

HE tidings of tlie loss of the Tonquin,
and the massacre of her crew, struck
dismay into the hearts of the Astoriaus.
They found themselves a mere handful of men,
on a savage coast, surrounded by hostile tribes,
who would doubtless be incited and encouraged
to deeds of violence by the late fearful catastrophe.
In this juncture Mr. M'Dougal, we are told, had
recourse to a stratagem by which to avail himself
of the ignorance and credulity of the savages, and
which certainly does credit to his ingenuity.

The natives of the coast, and, indeed, of all
the regions west of the mountains, had an extreme
dread of the small-pox ; that terrific scourge hav-
ing, a few years previously, appeared among them,
and almost swept off entire tribes. Its origin
and nature were wrapped in mystery, and they
conceived it an evil inflicted upon them by the
Great Spirit, or brought among them by the
white men. The last idea was seized upon by
Mr. M'Dougal. He assembled several of the
chieftains whom he believed to be in the conspir-
acy. When they were all seated around, he
informed them that he had heard of the treach-
ery of some of their northern brethren towards
the Tonquin, and was determined on vengeance.

THE GREAT SMALI^POX CHIEF, 133

" The white men among you," said he, " are few
in number, it is true, but they are mighty in
medicine. See here," continued he, drawing
forth a small bottle and holding it before their
eyes, " in this bottle I hold the small-pox, safely
corked up ; I have but to draw the cork, and let
loose the pestilence, to sweep man, woman, and
child from the face of the earth."

The chiefs were struck with horror and alarm.
They implored him not to uncork the bottle,
since they and all their people were firm friends
of the white men, and would always remain so ;
but, should the small-pox be once let out, it would
run like wild tire throughout the country, sweeping
off the good as well as the bad ; and surely he
would not be so unjust as to punish his friends
for crimes committed by his enemies.

Mr. M'Dougal pretended to be convinced by
their reasoning, and assured them that, so long as
the white people sbuuld be unmolested, and the
conduct of their Indian neighbors friendly and
hospitable, the phial of wrath should remain
sealed up ; but, on the least hostility, the fatal
cork should be drawn.

From this time, it is added, he was much
dreaded by the natives, as one who held their
fate in his hands, and was called, by way of
preeminence, " the Great Small-pox Chief"

All this while, the labors at the infant settle-
ment went on with unremitting assiduity, and, by
the 26th of September, a commodious mansion,
spacious enough to accommodate all hands, was
completed. It was built of stone and clay, there

134 ASTORIA.

being no calcareous stone in the neigliborhood
from which lime for mortar could be procured.
The schooner was also finished, and launched,
with the accustomed ceremony, on the second
of October, and took her station below the fort.
She was named the Dolly, and was the first
American vessel launched on this coast.

On the 5th of October, in the evening, the
little community at Astoria was enlivened by the
unexpected arrival of a detachment from Mr.
David Stuart's post on the Oakinagan. It con-
sisted of two of the clerks and two of the
privates. They brought favorable accounts of
the new establishment, but reported that, as Mr.
Stuart was apprehensive there might be a diffi-
culty of subsisting his whole party throughout
the winter, he had sent one half back to Astoria,
retaining with him only Ross, Montigny, and two
others. Such is the hardihood of the Indian
trader. In the heart of a savage and unknown
country, seven hundred miles from the main
body of his fellow-adventurers, Stuart had dis-
missed half of his little number, and was pre-
pared with the residue to brave all the perils of
the wilderness, and the rigors of a long and
dreary winter.

With the return party came a Canadian Creole
named Regis Brugiere and an Iroquois hunter,
with his wife and two children. As these two
personages belong to certain classes which have
derived their peculiar characteristics from the fur
trade, we deem some few particulars concerning
them pertinent to the nature of this work.

''FREEMEN:' 135

Brugiere was of a class of beaver trappers
and hunters technically called *' Freemen," in the
language of the traders. They are generally
Canadians by birth, and of French descent, who
have been employed for a term of yeai's by some
fur company, but, their term being expired, con-
tinue to hunt and trap on their own account,
trading with the company like the Indians.
Hence tliey derive their appellation of Freemen,
to distinguish them from the trappers who are
bound for a number of years, and receive wages,
or hunt on shares.

Having passed their early youth in tlie wilder-
ness, separated almost entirely from civilized man,
and in frequent intercourse with the Indians, they
relapse, with a facility common to human nature,
itito the habitudes of savage life. Though no
longer bound by engagements to continue in the
interior, they have become so accustomed to the
freedom of tlie forest and the prairie, that they
look trfick with repugnance upon the restraints of
civilization. Most of them intermarry with
the natives, and, like the latter, have often a
plurality of wives. Wanderers of the wilderness,
according to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the
migrations of animals, and the plenty or scarcity
of game, they lead a precnrious and unsettled
existence ; exposed to sun and storm, and all
kinds of hardships, until they resemble Indians
In complexion as well as in tastes and habits.
From time to time, they bring the peltries they
have collected to the trading houses of the com-
pany in whose employ they have been brought

136 ASTORIA.

up. Here they traffic them away foi such
articles of merchandise or ammunition as they
may stand in need of. At the time when Mon-
treal was the great emporium of the fur trader,
one of these freemen of the wilderness would
suddenly return, after an absence of many years,
among his old friends and comrades. He would
be greeted as one risen from the dead ; and with
the greater welcome, as he returned flush of
money. A short time, however, spent in revelry,
would be sufficient to drain his purse and sate
him with civilized life, and he would return with
new relish to the unshackled freedom of the
forest.

Numbers of men of this class were scattered
throughout the northwest territories. Some of
them retained a little of the thrift and forethought
of the civilized man, and became wealthy among
their improvident neighbors ; their wealth being
chiefly displayed in large bands of horses, which
covered the prairies in the vicinity of their abodes.
Most of them, however, were prone to assimilate
to the red man in their heedlessness of the fu-
ture.

Such was Regis Brugiere, a freeman and rover
of the wilderness. Having been brought up in
the service of the Northwest Company, he had
followed in the train of one of its expeditions
across the Rocky Mountains, and undertaken to
trap for the trading post established on the
Spokan River. In the course of his hunting
excursions he had either accidentally, or design-
edly, found his way to the post of Mr. Stuart,

IIALF-CIVILIZED INDIANS. 137

and had been prevailed upon to descend the
Columbia, and "try his luck" at Astoria.

Ignace Shonowane, the Iroquois hunter, was a
specimen of a different class. He was one of
those aboriginals of Canada who had partially
conformed to the habits of civilization and the
doctrines of Christianity, under the influence of
the French colonists and the Catholic priests ;
who seem generally to have been more successful
in conciliating, taming, and converting the sav-
ages, than their Ensjlish and Protestant rivals.
These half-civilized Indians retained some of the
good; and many of the evil qualities of their
original stock. They were first-rate hunters,
and dexterous in the management of the canoe.
Tliey could undergo great privations, and were
admirable for the service of the rivers, lakes,
and forests, provided they could be kept sober,
and in proper subordination ; but once inflamed
witli liquor, to which they were madly addicted,
all the dormant passions inherent in their nature
were prone to break forth, and to hurry them
into the most vindictive and bloody acts of
violence.

Though they generally professed the Roman
Catholic religion, yet it was mixed, occasionally,
with some of their ancient superstitions ; and
they retained much of the Indian belief in
charms and omens. Numbers of these men
were employed by the Northwest Company ix\
trappers, hunters, and canoe men, but on lower
terms than were allowed to white men. Ignace
Shonowane had, in this way, followed the enter-

\m ASTORIA.

prise of the company to the banks of the Spokan,
being, probably, one of the first of his tribe that
had traversed the Rocky Mountains.

Such were some of the motley populace of the
wilderness, incident to the fur trade, who were
gradually attracted to the new settlement of
Astoria.

The month of October now began to give
indications of approaching winter. Hitherto, the
colonists had been well pleased with the climate.
The summer had been temperate, the mercury
never rising above eighty degrees. Westerly
winds had prevailed during the spring and the
early part of summer, and been succeeded by
fresh breezes from the northwest. In the month
of October the southerly winds set in, bringing
with them frequent rain.

The Indians now began to quit the borders of
the ocean, and to retire to their winter quarters
in the sheltered bosom of the forests, or along
the small rivers and brooks. The rainy season,
which commences in October, continues, with
little intermission, until April ; and though the
winters are generally mild, the mercury seldom
sinking below the freezing point, yet the tempests
of wind and rain are terrible. The sun is some-
times obscured for weeks, the brooks swell into
roaring torrents, and the country is threatened
with a deluge.

The departure of the Indians to their winter
quarters gradually rendered provisions scanty,
and obliged the colonists to send out foraging
expeditions in the Dolly. Still the little handful

NEW YEAR FESTIVITIES. 139

of adventurers kept up their spirits in their
lonely fort at Astoria, looking forward to the
time when they should be animated and rein-
forced by the party under Mr. Hunt, that was
to come to them across the Rocky Mountains.

The year gradually wore away. The rain,
which had poured down almost incessantly since
the first of October, cleared up towards the
evening of the 31st of December, and the morn-
ing of the first of January ushered in a day of
sunshine.

The hereditary French holiday spirit of the
French voyageurs is hardly to be depressed by
any adversities ; and they can manage to get up a
fete in the most squalid situations, and under the
most untoward circumstances. An extra allow-
ance of rum, and a little flour to make cakes and
puddings, constitute a •' regale ; " and they forget
all their toils and troubles in the song and dance.

On ihe present occasion, the partners endeav-
ored to celebrate the new year with some eflTect.
At sunrise the drums beat to arms, the colors
were hoisted, with three rounds of small arms
and three discharges of cannon. The day was
devoted to games of agility and strength, and
other amusements ; and grog was temperately
distributed, together with bread, butter, and
cheese. The best dinner their circumstances
could afford was served up at midday. At sun
set the colors were lowered, with another dis-
charge of artillery. The night was spent in
dancing ; and, though there was a lack of female
partners to excite their gallantry, the voyageurs

140

ASTORIA.

kept up the ball with true French spirit, until
three o'clock in the morning. So passed the new
year festival of 1812 at the infant colony of
Astoria.

CHAPTER XIII.

E have followed up the fortunes of the
maritime part of this enterprise to the
shores of the Pacific, and have con-
ducted the affairs of the embryo establishment to
the opening of the new year ; let ns now turn back
to the adventurous band to whom was intrusted
the land expedition, and who were to make their
way to the mouth of the Columbia, up vast
rivers, across trackless plains, and over the rug-
ged barriers of the Rocky Mountains.

The conduct of this expedition, as has been
already mentioned, was assigned to Mr. Wilson
Price Hunt, of Trenton, New Jersey, one of the
partners of the company, who was ultimately to
be at the head of the establishment at the mouth
of the Columbia. He is i-epresented as a man
scrupulously upright and faithful in his dealings,
amicable in his disposition, and of most accom-
modating manners ; and his whole conduct will
be found in unison with such a character. He
was not practically experienced in the Indian
trade ; that is to say, he had never made any
expeditions of traffic into the heart of the wilder-
ness, but he had been engaged in commerce at
St. Louis, then a frontier settlement on the Mis-
sissippi, where the chief branch of his business

142 ASTORIA.

had consisted in furnishing Indian traders with
goods and equipments. In this way, he had
acquired much knowledge of the trade at second
hand, and of the various tribes, and the interior
country over which it extended.

Another of the partners, Mr. Donald M'Ken-
zie, was associated with Mr. Hunt in the ex-
pedition, and excelled on those points in which
the other was deficient; for he had been ten
years in the interior, in the service of the North-
west Company, and valued himself on his knowl-
edge of " woodcraft," and the strategy of Indian
trade and Indian warfare. He had a frame
seasoned to toils and hardships ; a spirit not
to be intimidated, and was reputed to be a
" remarkable shot ; " which of itself was sufficient
to give him renown upon the frontier.

Mr. Hunt and his coadjutor repaired, about
the latter part of July, 1810, to Montreal, the
ancient emporium of the fur trade, where every-
thing requisite for the expedition could be pro-
cured. One of the first objects was to recruit a
complement of Canadian voyageurs from the dis-
banded herd usually to be found loitering about
the place. A degree of jockeyship, however, is
required for this service, for a Canadian voyageur
is as full of latent tricks and vice as a horse ;
and when he makes the greatest external prom-
ise, is prone to prove the greatest " take in."
Beside, the Northwest Company, who maintained
a long established control at Montreal, and knew
the qualities of every voyageur, secretly inter-
dicted the prime hands from engaging in this new

THE TRADERS' CANOE. 143

service ; so that, although liberal terms were
offered, few presented themselves but such as
were not worth having.

From these Mr. Hunt engaged a number
sufficient, as he supposed, for present purposes ;
and, having laid in a supply of ammunition, pro-
visions, and Indian goods, embarked all on board
one of those great canoes at that time universally
used by the fur traders for navigating the intri-
cate and often-obstructed rivers. The canoe was
between thirty and forty feet long, and several
feet in width ; constructed of birch bark, sewed
with fibres of the roots of the spruce tree, and
daubed with resin of the pine, instead of tar.
The cargo was made up in packages, weighing
from ninety to one hundred pounds each, for tlie
facility of loading and unloading, and of trans-
portation at portages. 'The canoe itself, though
capable of sustaining a freight of upwards of
four tons, could readily be carried on men's
shoulders. Canoes of this size are generally
managed by eight or ten men, two of whom are
picked veterans, who receive double wages, and
are stationed, one at the bow and the other at
the stern, to keep a look-out and to steer. They
are termed the foreman and the steersman. The
rest, who ply the paddles, are called middle men.
When there is a favorable breeze, the canoe is
occasionally navigated with a sail.

The expedition took its regular departure, as
usual, from St. Anne's, near the extremity of the
island of Montreal, the great starting-place of the
traders to the interior. Here stood the ancient

144 ASTORIA.

chapel of St. Anne, the patroness of the Cana-
dian voyageurs ; where they made confession, and
offered up their vows, previous to departing on
any hazardous expedition. The shrine of the
saint was decorated with relics and votive offer-
ings hung up by these superstitious beings, either
to propitiate her favor, or in gratitude for some
signal deliverance in the wilderness. It was the
custom, too, of these devout vagabonds, after
leaving the chapel, to have a grand carouse, iu
honor of the saint and for the prosperity of the
voyage. In this part of their devotions, the
crew of Mr. Hunt proved themselves by no
means deficient. Indeed, he soon discovered that
his recruits, enlisted at Montreal, were fit to vie
with the ragged regiment of Falstaff. Some
were able-bodied, but inexpert ; others were
expert, but lazy ; while a»third class were expert
and willing, but totally worn out, being broken-
down veterans, incapable of toil.

With this inefficient crew he made his way up
the Ottawa River, and by the ancient route of
the fur traders, along a succession of small lakes
and rivers, to Michilimackinac. Their progress
was slow and tedious. Mr. Hunt was not ac-
customed to the management of " voyageurs,"
and he had a crew admirably disposed to play
the old soldier, and balk their work ; and ever
ready to come to a halt, land, make a fire, put
on the great pot,, and smoke, and gossip, and sing
by the hour.

It was not until the 2 2d of July that they
arrived at Mackinaw, situated on the island of

MACKINAW. 145

the same name, at the confluence of lakes Huron
and Michigan. This famous old French trading-
post continued to be a rallying point for a multi-
farious and motley population. The inhabitants
were amphibious in their habits, most of them
being, or having been voyageurs or canoe men.
It was the great place of arrival and departure
of the southwest fur trade. Here the Mackinaw
Company had established its principal post, from
whence it communicated with the interior and
with Montreal. Hence its various traders and
trappers set out for their respective destinations
about Lake Superior and its tributary waters, or
for the Mississippi, the Arkansas, the Missouri,
and the other regions of the west. Here, after
the absence of a year, or more, they returned
with their peltries, and settled their accounts ;
the furs rendered in by them being transmitted
in canoes from hence to Montreal. Mackinaw
was, therefore, for a great part of the year, very
scantily peopled ; but at certain seasons the
traders arrived from all points, with their crews
of voyageurs, and the place swarmed like a hive.
Mackinaw, at that time, was a mere village,
stretching along a small bay, with a fine broad
beach in front of its principal row of houses, and
dominated by the old fort, which crowned an im-
pending height. The beach was a kind of public
promenade, where were displayed all the vagaries
of a seaport on the arrival of a fleet from a long
cruise. Here voyageurs frolicked away their
wages, fiddling and dancing in the booths and
cabins, buying all kinds of knick-knacks, dressing
10

146 ASTORIA.

themselves out finely, and parading up and down,
like arrant braggarts and coxcombs. Sometimes
they met with rival coxcombs in the young
Indians from the opposite shore, who would ap-
pear ou the beach painted and decorated in
fantastic style, and would saunter up and down,
to be gazed at and admired, perfectly satisfied
that they eclipsed their pale-faced competitors.

Now and then a chance party of " North-
Vi^esters " appeared at Mackinaw from the ren-
dezvous at Fort William. These held them-
selves up as the chivalry of the fur trade.
They were men of iron ; proof against cold
weather, hard fare, and perils of all kinds.
Some would wear the Northwest button, and a
formidable dirk, and assume something of a
military air. They generally wore feathers in
their hats, and affected the " brave." " Je suis
un homme du nord ! " — "I am a man of the
north," — one of these swelling fellows would ex-
claim, sticking his arms akimbo and nifiiing by
the Southwesters, whom he regarded with great
contempt, as men softened by mild climates and
the luxurious fare of bread and bacon, and whom
he stigmatized with the inglorious name of pork-
eaters. The superiority assumed by these vain-
glorious swaggerers was, in general, tacitly ad-
mitted. Indeed, some of them had acquired
great notoriety for deeds of hardihood and
courage ; for the fur trade had its heroes, whose
names resounded throughout the wilderness.

Such was Mackinaw at the time of which we
are treating. It now, doubtless, presents a totally

DIFFICULTIES OF RECRUITING. 147

different aspect. The fur coinpaiiies no longer
assemble there ; the navigation of the lakes is
carried on by steamboats and various shipping,
and the race of traders, and trappers, and voy-
ageurs, and Indian dandies, have vapored out
their brief hour and disappeared. Such changes
does the lapse of a iiandful of years make in
this ever-changing country.

At this place Mr. Hunt remained for some
time, to complete his assortment of Indian goods,
and to increase his number of voyageurs, as well
as to engage some of a more efficient character
than those enlisted at Montreal.

And now commenced another game of jockey-
ship. There were able and efficient men in
abundance at Mackinaw, but for several days not
one presented himself. If offers were made to
any, tliey were listened to with a shake of the
head. Should any one seem inclined to enlist,
there were officious idlers and busy-bodies, of that
class who are ever ready to dissuade others from
any enterprise in which they themselves have no
concern. These would pull him by the sleeve,
take him on one side, and murmur in his ear, or
would suggest difficulties outright.

It was objected that the expedition would
have to navigate unknown rivers, and pass
through howling wildernesses infested by sav-
age tribes, who had already cut off the unfor-
tunate voyageurs that had ventured among them ;
that it was to climb the Rocky Mountains and
descend into desolate and famished regk)ns,
where the traveller was often obliired to sub-

148 ASTORIA.

Bist on grasshoppers and crickets, or to kill his
own horse for food.

At length one man was hardy enough to en-
gage, and he was used like a " stool-pigeon," to
decoy others ; but several days elapsed before
any more could be prevailed upon to join him.
A few then came to terms. It was desirable to
engage them for five yeai*s, but some refused to
engage for more than three. Then they must
have part of their pay in advance, which was
readily granted. When they had pocketed the
amount, and squandered it in regales or in outfits,
they began to talk of pecuniary obligations at
Mackinaw, which must be discharged before they
would be free to depart; or engagements with
other persons, which were only to be canceled
by a " reasonable consideration."

It was in vain to argue or remonstrate. The
money advanced had already been sacked anci
spent, and must be lost and the recruits left
behiiid, unless they could be freed from their
debts and engagements. Accordingly, a fine
was paid for one ; a judgment for another ; a
tavern bill for the third , and almost all had to
be bought off from some prior engagement, either
real or pretended.

Mr. Hunt groaned in spirit at the incessant
«ind unreasonable demands of these worthies
upon his purse ; yet with all this outlay of
funds, the number recruited was but scanty, and
many of the most desirable still held themselves
aloof, and were not to be caught by a golden
bait. With these he tried another temptation.

A NEW PARTNER. 149

Among the recruits who had enlisted he dis-
tributed feathers and ostrich phimes. These
they put in their hats, and thus figured about
Mackinaw, assuming airs of vast importance, as
" voyageurs in a new company, that was to
eclipse the Northwest. The effect was complete.
A French Canadian is too vain and mercurial a
being to withstand the finery and ostentation of
the feather. Numbers immediately pressed into
the service. One must have an ostrich plume ;
another, a white feather with a red end ; a third,
a bunch of cocks' tails. Thus all paraded about,
in vainglorious style, more delighted with the
feathers in their hats than with the money in
their pockets ; and considering themselves fully
equal to the boastful " men of the north."

While thus recruiting the number of rank and
file, Mr. Hunt was joined by a person whom he
had invited, by letter, to etjgage as a partner in
the expedition. This was Mr. Ramsay Crooks,
a young man, a native of Scotland, who had
served under the Northwest Company, and been
engaged in trading expeditions upon his in-
dividual account, among the tribes of the Mis-
souri. Mr. Hunt knew him personally, and had
conceived a high and merited opinion of his
judgment, enterprise, and integrity ; he was
rejoiced, therefore, when the latter consented to
accompany him. Mr. Crooks, however, drew
from experience a picture of the dangers to
which they would be subjected, and urged the
importance of going with a considerable force.
In ascending the upper Missouri they would have

150 ASTORIA.

to pass thi'ough the country of the Sioux Indians,
who had manifested repeated hostih'ty to the
white traders, and rendered theii* expeditions
extremely perilous ; firing upon them from the
river banks as they passed beneath in their
boats, and attacking them in their encampments.
Mr. Crooks himself, when voyaging in company
with another trader of the name of M'Lellan,
had been interrupted by these marauders, and
had considered himself fortunate in escaping
down the river without loss of life or property,
but with a total abandonment of his trading
voyage.

Should they be fortunate enough to pass through
the country of the Sioux without molestation, they
would have another tribe still more savage and
warlike beyond, and deadly foes of the white men.

These were the Blackfeet Indians, who ranged
over a wide extent of country which they would
have to traverse. Under all these circumstances,
it was thought advisable to augment the party
considerably. It already exceeded the number
of thirty, to which it had originally been limited ;
but it was determined, on arriving at St. Louis,
to increase it to the number of sixty.

These matters being arranged, they prepared to
embark ; but the embarkation of a crew of Cana-
dian voyageurs, on a distant expedition, is not so
easy a matter as might be imagined; especially
of such a set of vainglorious fellows with money
in both pockets, and cocks' tails in their hats.
Like sailors, the Canadian voyageurs generally
Dreface a long cruise with a carouse. They have

EMBARKATION OF CANADIAN VOYAGEVRS. 151

tlieir cronies, their brothers, their cousins, their
wives, their sweethearts, all to be entertained at
tlieir expense. They feast, they fiddle, they
drink, they sing, they dance, they frolic and fight,
until they are all as mad as so many drunken
Indians. The publicans are all obedience to their
commands, never hesitating to let them run up
scores without limit, knowing that, when their
own money is expended, the purses of their em-
ployers must answer for the bill, or the voyage
must be delayed. Neither was it possible, at that
time, to remedy the matter at Mackinaw. h\
that amphibious community there was always a
propensity to wrest the laws in favor of riotous
or mutinous boatmen. It was necessary, also, to
keep the recruits in good humor, seeing the nov-
elty and danger of the service into which they
.vere entering, and the ease with which' they
might at any time escape it, by jumping into a
canoe and going down the stream.

Such were the scenes that beset Mr. Hunt, and
gave him a foretaste of the difficulties of his com-
mand. The little cabarets and sutlers' shops
along the bay resounded with the scraping of
fiddles, with snatches of old French songs, with
Indian whoops and yells, while every plumed and
feathered vagabond had his troop of loving cousins
and comrades at his heels. It was with the ut-
most difficulty they could be extricated from the
clutches of the publicans, and the embraces of
their pot companions, who followed them to the
ivater's edge with many a hug, a kiss on each
cheek, and a maudlin benediction in Canadian
French.

152

ASTORIA.

It was about the 12th of August that they left
Mackinaw, and pursued the usual route by Green
Bay, Fox and Wisconsin rivers, to Prairie du
Cliien, and thence down the Mississippi to St.
Louis, were they landed on the third of Septem-
b()r.

CHAPTER XIV.

T. Louis, which is situated on the right
rw^l bank of the Mississippi River, a few miles
below the mouth of the Missouri, was,
at that time, a frontier settlement, and the last
fitting-out place for the Indian trade of the South-
west. It possessed a motley population, composed
of the Creole descendants of the original French
colonists ; the keen traders from the Atlantic
States ; the backwoodsmen of Kentucky and Ten-
nessee ; the Indians and half-breeds of the prairies ;
together with a singular aquatic race that had
grown up from the navigation of the rivers — the
" the boatmen of the Mississippi ; " who possessed
habits, manners, and almost a language, peculiarly
their own, and strongly technical. They, at that
time, were extremely numerous, and conducted
the chief navigation and commerce of the Ohio
and the Mississippi, as the voyageurs did of the
Canadian waters ; but, like them, their con-
sequence and characteristics are rapidly vanishing
before the all pervading intrusion of steamboats.
The old French houses engaged in the Indian
trade had gathered round them a train of depend-
ents, mongrel Indians, and mongrel Frenchmen,
who had intermarried with Indians. These they
employed ic their various expeditions by land aud

154 ASTORIA.

water. Various individuals of other countries
had, of late years, pushed the trade further into
the interior, to the upper waters of the Missouri,
and had swelled the number of these hangers-on.
Several of these traders had, two or three years
previously, formed themselves into a company,
composed of twelve partners, with a capital of
about forty thousand dollars, called the Missouri
Fur Company ; the object of which was, to estab-
lish posts along the upper part of that river, and
monopolize the trade. The leading partner of
this company was Mr. Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard
by birth, and a man of bold and enterprising
character, who had ascended the Missouri almost
to its source, and made himself well acquainted
and popular with several of its tribes. By his
exertions, trading posts had been established, in
1808, in the Sioux country, and among the Ari-
cara and Mandan tribes ; and a principal one,
under Mr. Henry, one of the partners, at the forks
of the Missouri. This company had in its employ
about two hundred and fifty men, partly American
hunters, and partly Creoles and Canadian voy-
ageurs.

All these circumstances combined to produce a
population at St. Louis even still more motley
than that at Mackinaw. Here were to be seen,
about the river banks, the iiectoring, extravagant,
bragging boatmen of the Mississippi, with the gay,
grimacing, singing, good-humored Canadian voy-
ageurs. Vagrant Indians, of various tribes, loi-
tered about the streets. Now and then a stark
Kentucky hunter, in leathern hunting-dress, with

ST. LOUIS. — AN 0 Til Eli ADD IT ON. 155

rifle on shoulder and knife in belt, sti'ode along.
Here and there were now brick houses and shops,
just set up by busthng, driving, and eager men
of traffic from the Atlantic States ; while, on the
other hand, the old French mansions, with open
casements, still retained the easy, indolent air of
the original colonists ; and now and then the scrap-
ing of a fiddle, a strain of an ancient French song,
or the sound of billiard balls, showed that the
happy Gallic turn for gayety and amusement still
lingered about the place.

Such was St. Louis at the time of Mr. Hunt's
arrival there, and the appearance of a new fur
company, with ample funds at its command, pro-
duced a strono; sensation amonii^ the Indian traders
of the place, and awakened keen jealousy and
opposition on the part of the Missouri Company.
Mr. Hunt proceeded to strengthen himself against
all competition. For this purpose, he secured to
the interests of the association another of those
enterprising men, who had been engaged in in-
dividual traffic with the tribes of the Missouri.
This was a Mr. Joseph Miller, a gentleman well
educated and well informed, and of a respectable
femily of Baltimore. He had been an officer in
the army of the United States, but had resigned
in disgust, on being refused a furlough, and had
taken to trapping beaver and trading among the
Indians. He was easily induced by Mr. Hunt to
join as a partner, and was considered by hiti, on ac-
count of his education and acquirements, and his
experience in Indian trade, a valuable addition to
the company.

156 ASTORIA.

Several additional men were likewise enlisted
at St. Louis, sone as boatmen, and others as
hunters. These last were engaged, not merely
to kill game for provisions, but also, and indeed
chiefly, to trap beaver and other animals of rich
furs, valuable in the trade. They enlisted on
different terms. Some were to have a fixed salary
of three hundred dollars ; others were to be fitted
out and maintained at the expense of the company,
and were to hunt and trap on shares.

As Mr. Hunt met with much opposition on the
part of rival traders, especially the Missouri Fur
Company, it took him some weeks to complete his
preparations. The delays which he had previously
experienced at Montreal, Mackinaw, and on the
way, added to those at St. Louis, had thrown him
much behind his original calculations, so that it
would be impossible to effect his voyage up the
Missouri in the present year. This river, flowing
from high and cold latitudes, and through wide
and open plains, exposed to chilling blasts, freezes
early. The winter may be dated from the first
of November ; there was every prospect, there-
fore, that it would be closed with ice long before.
Mr. Hunt could reach its upper waters. To avoid,
however, the expense of wintering at St. Louis,
he determined to push up the river as far as pos-
sible, to some point above the settlements, where
game was plenty, and where his whole party could
be subsisted by hunting, until the breaking up of
the ice in the sji ring should permit them to resume
their voyage.

Accordingly on the twenty-first of October h®

NAVIGATING THE MISSOURI. Vol

took his departure from St. Louis. His party
was distributed in three boats. One was the
barge which he had brought from Mackinaw ; an-
other was of a larger size, such as was formerly
used in navigating the Mohawk River, and known
by the generic name of the Schenectady barge ;
the other was a large keel boat, at that time the
grand conveyance on the Mississippi.

In this way they set out from St. Louis, in
buoyant spirits, and soon arrived at the mouth of
the Missouri. This vast river, three thousand
miles in length, and which, with its tributary
streams, drains such an immense extent of country,
was as yet but casually and imperfectly navigated
by the adventurous bark of the fur trader. A
steamboat had never yet stemmed its turbulent
current. Sails were but of casual assistance, for
it required a strong wind to conquer the force of
the stream. The main dependence was on bodily
strength and manual dexterity. The boats, in
general, had to be propelled by oars and setting
poles, or drawn by the hand and by grappling
hooks from one root or overhanging tree to an-
other ; or towed by the long cordelle, or towing
line, where the shores were sufficiently clear of
woods and thickets to permit the men to pass
along the banks.

During this slow and tedious progress the boat
would be exposed to frequent danger from float-
mg trees and great masses of drift-wood, or to be
impaled upon snags and sawyers ; that is to say,
sunken trees, presenting a jagged or pointed end
above the surface of the water. As the channel

158 ASTORIA.

of the river frequently shifted from side to side
according to the bends and sand-banks, the boat
had, in the same way, to advance in a zigzag
course. Often a part of the crew would have to
leap into the water at the shallows, and wade
along with the towing line, while their comrades
on board toilfuUy assisted with oar and setting
pole. Sometimes the boat would seem to be re-
tiiined motionless, as if spell-bound, opposite some
point round which the current set with violence,
and where the utmost labor scarce effected any
visible progress.

On these occasions it was that the merits of
the Canadian voyageurs came into full action.
Patient of toil, not to be disheartened by impedi-
ments and disappomtments, fertile in expedients,
and versed in every mode of humoring and con-
quering the wayward current, they would ply
every exertion, sometimes in the boat, sometimes
on shore, sometimes in the water, however cold ;
always alert, always in good humor ; and, should
they at any time flag or grow weary, one of their
popular boat songs, chanted by a veteran oarsman,
and responded to in chorus, acted as a never-fail-
ing restorative.

By such assiduous and persevering labor they
made their way about four hundred and fifty
miles up the Missouri, by the 16th of November,
to the mouth of the Nodowa. As this was a
good hunting country, and as the season was
rapidly advancing, they determined to establish
their winter quarters at this place ; and, in fact,
two days after they had come to a halt, the river
closed just above their encampment.

MORE ADDITIONS '10 THE PARTY. 159

The party had not been long at this place
when they were joined by Mr. Robert M'Lellan,
another trader of the Missouri; the same who
had been associated with Mr. Crooks in the un-
fortunate expedition in which they had been
intercepted by the Sioux Indians, and obliged to
make a rapid retreat down the river.

M'Lellan was a remarkable man. He had
been a partisan under General Wayne, in his
Indian wars, where he had distinguished himself
by his fiery spirit and reckless daring, and mar-
velous stories were told of his exploits. His
appearance answered to his character. His frame
was meagre, but muscular ; showing strength,
activity, and iron firmness. His eyes were dark,
deep-set, and piercing. He was restless, fearless,
but of impetuous and sometimes ungovernable
temper. He had been invited by Mr. Hunt to
enroll himself as a partner, and gladly consented ;
being pleased with the thoughts of passing with
a powerful force through the country of the
Sioux, and perhaps having an opportunity of
revenging himself upon that lawless tribe for
their past offenses.

Another recruit that joined the camp at No-
do wa deserves equal mention. This was John
Day, a hunter from the back-woods»of Virginia,
who had been several years on the Missouri in
the service of Mr. Crooks, and of other traders.
He was about forty years of age, six feet two
mches hio;h, straight as an Indian ; with an elas-
tic step as if he trod on springs, and a handsome,
open, manly countenance. It was his boast, that

IGO ASTORIA.

in hki younger days, nothing could hurt or daunt
him ; but he had " Kved too ftist," and injured his
constitution by his excesses. Still he was strong
of hand, bold of heart, a prime woodman, and au
almost unerring shot. He had the frank spirit
of a Virginian, and the rough heroism of a
pioneer of the west.

The party were now brought to a halt for
several months. They were in a country aboun-
ding with deer and wild turkeys, so that there
was no stint of provisions, and every one ap-
peared cheerful and contented. Mr. Hunt de-
termined to avail himself of this interval to
return to St. Louis and obtain a reinforcement.
He wished to procure an interpreter, acquainted
with the language of the Sioux, as, from all
accounts, he apprehended difficulties in passing
through the country of that nation. He felt the
necessity, also, of having a greater number of
hunters, not merely to keep up a supply of pro-
visions throughout their long and arduous expedi-
tion, but also as a protection and defense, in case
of Indian hostilities. For such service the Cana-
dian voyageurs were little to be depended upon,
fighting not being a part of their profession. The
proper kind of men were American hunters, ex-
perienced ii^ savage life and savage warfare, and
possessed of the true game spirit of the west.

Leaving, therefore, the encampment in charge
of the other partners, Mr. Hunt set off on foot
on the first of January (1810), for St. Louis.
He was accompanied by eight men as far as Fort
Osage, about one hundred and fifty miles below

HUNTS ARRIVAL AT ST. LOUTS.

IGl

Nodowa. Here he procured a couple of horses,
and proceeded on the remainder of his journey
with two men, sending the other six back to the
encampment. He arrived at St. Louis on the
20th of January.

11

CHAPTER XV.

N tliis his second visit to St. Louis, Mr.
Hunt was agi^in impeded in his plans
by the opposition of the Missouri Fur
Cou'ipany. Tlie aff^ui-s of that company were, at
this time, in a very dubious state. Daring the
preceding year, their principal establishment at
the forks of the Missouri had been so much
harassed by the Blackfeet Indians, that its com-
mander, Mr. Henry, one of the partners, had
been compelled to abandon the post and cross
the Rocky Mountains, with the intention of fix-
ing himself upon one of the upper branches of
the Columbia. What had become of him and
his party was unknown. The most intense anx-
iety was felt concerning them, and apprehensions
that they might have been cut oiF by the savages.
At the time of Mr. Hunt's arri/al at St. Louis,
the Missouri Company were fitting out an ex-
pedition to go ill quest of Mr. Henry. It was
to be conducted by Mr. Manuel Lisa, the enter-
prising partner already mentioned.

There being thus two expeditions on foot at
the same moment, an unusual demand was occa-
sioned for hunters and voyageurs, who according-
profited by the circumstance, and stipulated for
hish terms. Mr, Hunt found a keen and subtle

PIERRE DORWN. 103

competitor in Lisa, and was obliged to secure his
recruits by liberal advances of pay, and by other
pecuniary indulgences.

The greatest difficulty was to procure the Sioux
interpreter. There was but one man to be met
with at St. Louis who was fitted for the purpose,
but to secure him would require much manage-
ment. The individual in question was a half-
breed, named Pierre Dorion ; and, as he figures
hereafter in this narrative, and is, withal, a
striking specimen of the hybrid race on the fron-
tier, we shall give a few particulars concerning
him. Pierre was the son of Dorion, the French
interpreter, who accompanied Messrs. Lewis and
Clarke in their famous exploring expedition
across the Rocky Mountains. Old Dorion was
one of those French Creoles, descendants of the
ancient Canadian stock, who abound on the
western frontier, and amalgamate or cohabit with
the savages. He had sojourned among various
tribes, and perhaps left progeny among them all ;
but his regular, or habitual wife, was a Sioux
squaw. By her he had a hopeful brood of half-
breed sons, of whom Pierre was one. The do-
mestic affiiirs of old Dorion were conducted on
the true Indian plan. Father and sons would
occasionally get drunk together, and then the
cabin was a scene of ruffian brawl and fighting,
in the course of which the old Frenchman was
apt to get soundly belabored by his mongrel off-
spring. In a furious scuffle of the kind, one of
the sons got the old man upon the ground, and
was upon the point of scalping him. " Hold !

1G4 ASTORIA.

my son," cried the old fellow, in imploring ac-
cents, " you are too brave, too honorable to scalp
your father ! " This last appeal touched the
French side of the half-breed's heart, so he suf-
fered the old man to wear his scalp unharmed.

Of this hopeful stock was Pierre Dorion, the
man whom it was now the desire of Mr. Hunt to
engage as an interpreter. He had been employed
in that capacity by the Missouri Fur Company
during the preceding year, and conducted their
traders in safety throuo-h the different tribes of
the Sioux. He had proved himself faithful and
serviceable while sober ; but the love of liquor,
in which he had been nurtured and brought up,
would occasionally break out, and with it the
savage side of his character.

It was his love of liquor which had embroiled
him with the Missouri Company. While in their
service at Fort Mandan, on the frontier, he had
been seized with a whiskey mania ; and, as the
beverage was only to be procured at the com-
pany's store, it had been charged in his account
at the rate of ten dollars a quart. This item had
ever remained unsettled, and a matter of furious
dispute, the mere mention of which was sufficient
to put him in a passion.

The moment it was discovered by Mr. Lisa
that Pierre Dorion was in treaty with the new
and rival association, he endeavored, by threats
as well as promises, to prevent his engaging in
their service. His promises might, perhaps, have
prevailed ; but his threats, which related to the
whiskey debt, only served to drive Pierre into the

DISAFFECTION AND DESERTION. 1G5

opposite ranks. Still he took advantage of this
competition for his services to stand out with Mr.
Hunt on the most advantageous terms, and, after
a negotiation of nearly two weeks, capitulated to
serve in the expedition, as hunter and interpreter,
at the rate of three hundred dollars a year, two
hundred of which were to be paid in advance.

When Mr. Ilunt had got everything ready for
leaving St. Louis, new difficulties arose. Five of
the American hunters from the encampment at
Nodowa, suddenly made their appearance. They
alleged that they had been ill treated by the
partners at the encampment, and had come off
clandestinely, in consequence of a dispute. It
was useless at the present moment, and under
present circumstances, to attempt any compulsory
measures with these deserters. Two of them
Mr. Hunt prevailed upon, by mild means, to
return with liim. The rest refused; nay, what
was worse, they spread such reports of the hard-
ships and dangers to be apprehended in tlie course
of the expedition, that they struck a panic into
those hunters who had recently engaged at St.
Louis, and, when the hour of departure 'arrived,
all but one refused to embark. It was in vain
to plead or remonstrate ; they shouldered their
rifles and turned their backs upon the expedition,
and Mr. Hunt was fain to put off from shore
with the single hunter .and a number of vo}-
ageurs whom he had engaged. Even Pierre
Dorion, at the last moment, refused to enter the
ooat until Mr. Hunt consented tc take his squaw
and two children on board also But the tissue

166 ASTORIA.

of perplexities, on account of this worthy individ-
ual, did not end here.

Among the various persons who were about to
proceed up the Missouri with Mr. Hunt, were
two scientific gentlemen : one Mr. John Brad-
bury, a man of mature age, but great enterprise
and personal activity, who had been sent out by
the Linnasan Society of Liverpool, to make a col-
lection of American plants; the other, a Mr.
Nuttall, likewise an Englishman, younger in
years, who has since made himself known as the
author of " Travels in Arkansas," and a work on
the " Genera of American Plants." Mr. Hunt
had offered them the protection and facilities of
his party, in their scientific researches up the
Missouri. As they were not ready to depart at
the moment of embarkation, they put their trunks
on board of the boat, but remained at St. Louis
until the next day, for the arrival of the post, in-
tending to join the expedition at St. Charles, a
short distance above the mouth of the Missouri.

The same evening, however, they learned that
a writ had been issued against Pierre Dorion for
his whiskey debt, by Mr. Lisa, as agent of the
Missouri Company, and that it was the intention
to entrap the mongrel linguist on his arrival at
St. Charles. Upon hearing this, Mr. Bradbury
and Mr. Nuttall set off a little after midnight, by
land, got ahead of the boat as it was ascending
the Missouri, before its arrival at St. Charles,
and gave Pierre Dorion warning of the legal
toil prepared to ensnare him. The knowing
Pierre immediately landed and took to tlie woods,

PIERRITS TROUBLES. 167

followed by his squaw laden wirh their papooses,
and a large bundle containing their most precious
effects, promising to rejoin the party some distance
above St Charles. There seemed little dej^en-
dence to be placed upon the promises of a loose
adventurer of the kind, who was at the very
time playing an evasive game with his former
employers ; who had already received two-thirds
of his 3^ear's pay, and his rifle on his shoulder,
his family and worldly fortune at his heels, and
the wild woods before him. There was no alter-
native, however, and it was hoped his pique
against his old employers would render him faith-
ful to his new ones.

The party reached St. Charles in the afternoon,
but the harpies of the law looked in vain for
their expected prey. The boats resumed their
course on the following morning, and had not
proceeded far when Pierre Dorion made his ap-
pearance on the shore. He was gladly taken on
board, but he came without his squaw. They
had quarreled in the night ; Pierre had adminis-
tered the Indian discipline of the cudgel, where-
upon she had taken to the woods, with their
children and all their worldly goods. Pierre evi-
dently was deeply grieved and disconcerted at the
loss of liis wife and his knapsack, whereupon
Mr. Hunt dispatched one of the Canadian voy-
ageurs in search of the fugitive ; and the whole
party, after proceeding a few miles further, en-
camped on an island to wait his return. The
Canadian rejoined the party, but without the
Bquaw ; anc" Pierre Dorion passed a solitary and

168 ASTORIA.

anxious night, bitterly regretting his indiscretion
in having exercised his conjugal authority so near
home. Before daybreak, however, a well-known
voice reached his ears from the opposite shore.
It was his repentant spouse, who had been wan-
dering the woods all night in quest of the party,
and had at length descried it by its fires. A
boat was dispatched for her, the interesting family
was once more united, and Mr. Hunt now flat-
tered himself that his perplexities with Pierre
Dorion were at an end.

Bad weather, very heavy rains, and an unus-
ually early rise in the Missouri, rendered the as-
cent of the river toilsome, slow, and dangerous.
The rise of the Missouri does not generally take
place until the month of May or June : the
present swelling of the river must have been
caused by a freshet in some of its more southern
branches. It could not have been the great an-
nual liood, as the higher branches must still have
been ice-bound.

And here we cannot but pause, to notice the
admirable arrangement of nature, by which the
annual swellings of the various great rivers which
empty themselves into the Mississippi, have been
made to precede each other at considerable inter-
vals Thus, the flood of the Red River precedes
that of the Arkansas by a month. The Arkan-
sas, also, rising in a much more southern latitude
than the Missouri, takes the lead of it in its
annual excess, and its superabundant waters are
disgorged and disposed of long before th<3 break-
•jag up of the icy barriers of the north ; other-

DANIEL BOONE. 169

wise, did all these mighty streams rise simulta-
neously, and discharge their vernal floods into
the Mississippi, an inundation would be the con-
sequence, that would submerge and devastate all
the lower country.

On the afternoon of the third day, January
17th, the boats touched at Charette, one of the
old villages founded by the original French col-
onists. Here they met with Daniel Boone, the
renowned patriarch of Kentucky, who had kept
in the advance of civilization, and on the borders
of the wilderness, still leading a hunter's life,
though now in his eighty-fifth year. He had
but recently returned from a hunting and trap-
ping expedition, and had brought nearly sixty
beaver skins as trophies of his skill. The old
man was still erect in form, strong in limb, and
unflinching in spirit, and as he stood on the river
bank, watching the departure of an expedition
destined to traverse the wilderness to the very
shores of the Pacific, very probably felt a throb
of his old pioneer spirit, impelling him to shoul-
der his rifle and join the adventurous band.
Boone flourished several years after this meeting,
in a vigorous old age, the Nestor of hunters and
backwoodsmen ; and died, full of sylvan honor
and renown, in 1818, in his ninety-second year.

The next morning early, as the party were
yet encamped at the mouth of a small stream,
they were visited by another of these heroes of
the wilderness, one John Colter, who had accom-
panied Lewis and Clarke in their memorable ex-
pedition. He had recently made ore of those

170 ASTORIA.

vast internal voyages so characteristic of this
fearless class of men, and of the immense regions
over which they hold their lonely wanderings ;
having come from the head waters of the Mis-
souri to St. Louis in a small canoe. This dis-
tance of three thousand miles he had accom-
plished in thirty days. Colter kept with the
party all the morning. He had many particu-
lars to give them concerning the Blackfeet Li-
dians, a restless and predatory tribe, who had
conceived an implacable hostility to the white
men, in consequence of one of their warriors
having been killed by Captain Lewis, while at-
tempting to steal horses. Through the country
infested by these savages the expedition would
have to proceed, and Colter was urgent in reiter-
ating the precautions that ought to be observed
respecting them. He had himself experienced
their vindictive cruelty, and his ' story deserves
particular citation, as showing the hairbreadth
adventures to which these solitary rovers of the
wilderness are exposed.

Colter, with the hardihood of a regular trap-
per, had cast himself loose from the party of
Lewis and Clarke in the very heart of the wil-
derness, and had remained to trap beaver alone
on the head waters of the Missouri. Here he
fell in with another lonely trapper, like himself,
named Potts, and they agreed to keep together.
They were in the very region of the terrible
Blackfeet, at that time thirsting to revenge the
death of their companion, and knew that they
had to expect no mercy at their hands. They

AFFRAY WITH THE BLACK FEET. 171

were obliged to keep concealed all day in the
woody margins of the rivers, setting their traps
after nightfall and takmg them up before day-
break. It was running a fearful risk for the
sake of a few beaver skins ; but such in the life
of the trapper.

They were on a branch of the Missouri called
Jefferson's Fork, and had set their traps at night,
about six miles up a small river that emptied into
the fork. Early in the morning they ascended
the river in a canoe, to examine the traps. The
banks on each side were high and perpendicular,
and cast a shade over the stream. As they were
softly paddling along, they heard the trampling
of many feet upon the banks. Colter immedi-
ately gave the alarm of " Indians ! " and was for
instant retreat. Potts scoffed at him for being;
frightened by the trampling of a herd of buffa-
loes. Colter checked his uneasiness and paddled
forward. They had not gone much further when
frightful whoops and yells burst forth from each
side of the river, and several hundred Indians
appeared on either bank. Signs were made to the
unfortunate trappers to come on shore. They
were obliged to comply. Before they could get
out of their canoes, a savage seized the rifle be-
longing to Potts. Colter sprang on shore,
wrested the weapon from the hands of the Indian,
and restored it to his companion, who was still in
the canoe, and immediately pushed into the
stream. There was the sharp twang of a bow,
and Potts cried out that he was wounded. Col-
ter uro^ed him to come on shore and submit, a8

172 ASTORIA.

his only chance for life ; but the other knew
there was no prospect of mercy, and determined
to die game. Leveling his rifle, he shot one of
the savages dead on the spot. The next moment
he fell himself, pierced with innumerable arrows.
The vengeance of the savages now turned
upon Colter. He* was stripped naked, and, hav-
ing some knowledge of the Blackfoot language,
overheard a consultation as to the mode of dis-
patching him, so as to derive the greatest amuse-
ment from his death. Some were for setting
him up as a mark, and having a trial of skill at
his expense. The chief, however, was for nobler
sport. He seized Colter by the shoulder, and
demanded if he could run fast. The unfortunate
trapper was too well acquainted with Indian cus-
toms not to comprehend the drift of the question.
He knew he was to run for his life, to furnish a
kind of human hunt to his persecutors. Though
in reality he was noted among his brother hun-
ters for swiftness of foot, he assured the chief
that he was a very bad runner. His stratagem
gained him some vantage ground. He was led
by the chief into the prairie, about four hundred
yards from the main body of savages, and then
turned loose to save himself if he could. A
tremendous yell let him know that the whole
pack of bloodhounds were off in full cry. Col-
ter flew rather than ran ; he was astonished at
his own speed ; but he had six miles of prairie
to traverse before he should reach the Jeflerson
Fork of the Missouri ; how could he hope to
bold out such a distance with the fearful odds of

A RUN FOR LIFE. 173

several hundred to one against him ! The phiiu,
too abounded with the prickly pear, which
wounded his naked feet. Still he fled on, dread-
ing each moment to hear the twang of a bow,
and to feel an arrow quivering at his heart. He
did not even dare to look round, lest he should
lose an inch of that distance on which his life
depended. He had run nearly half way across
the plain when the sound of pursuit grew some-
what fainter, and he ventured to turn his head.
The main body of his pursuers were a consider-
able distance behind ; several of the fastest run-
ners were scattered in the advance ; while a
swift-footed warrior, armed with a spear, was not
more than a hundred yards behind him.

Inspired with new hope, Colter redoubled his
exertions, but strained himself to such a degree,
that the blood gushed from his mouth and nos-
trils, and streamed down his breast. He arrived
within a mile of the river. The sound of foot-
steps gathered upon him. A glance behind
showed his pursuer within twenty yards, and
preparing to launch his spear. Stopping short
he turned round and spread out his arms. The
savage, confounded by this sudden action, at-
tempted to stop and hurl his spear, but fell in
the very act. His spear stuck in the ground,
and the shaft broke in his hand. Colter plucked
up the pointed part, pinned the savage to the
earth, and continued his flight. The Indians, as
they arrived at their slaughtered companion,
Btopped to howl over him. Colter made the
Host of this precicus delay, gained the skirt ot

174 ASTORIA.

cotton-wood bordering the river, dashed through
it, and plunged into the stream. He swam to a
neighboring island, against the upper end of
which the driftwood had lodged in such quanti-
ties as to form a natural raft ; under this he
dived, and swam below water until he succeeded
in getting a breathing place between the float-
ing trunks of trees, whose branches and bushes
formed a covert several feet above the level of
the water. He had scarcely drawn breath after
all his toils, when he heard his pursuers on the
river bank, whooping and yelling like so many
fiends. They plunged in the river, and swam
to the raft. The heart of Colter almost died
within him as he saw them, through the chinks
of his concealment, passing and repassing, and
seeking for him in all directions. They at length
gave up the search, and he began to rejoice in
his escape, when the idea presented itself that
they might set the raft on fire. Here was a
new source of horrible apprehension, in which
he remained until nightfall. Fortunately the
idea did not su2;i?est itself to the Indians. As
soon as it was dark, finding by the silence around
that his pursuers had departed. Colter dived again
and came up beyond the raft. He then swam
silently down the river for a considerable dis-
tance, when he landed, and kept on all night, to
get as far off as possible from this dangerous
neighborhood.

By daybreak he had gained sufficient distance
to relieve him from the terrors of his savage
foes ; but now new sources of inquietude pre-

TRAVELLING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 175

sen ted themselves. He was naked and alone,
in the midst of an unbounded wilderness ; his
only chance was to reach a trading post of the
Missouri Company, situated on a branch of the
Yellowstone River. Even should he elude his
pursuers, days must elapse before he could reach
this post, during which he must traverse immense
prairies destitute of shade, his naked body ex-
posed to the burning heat of the sun by day, and
the dews and chills of the night season, and his
feet lacerated by the thorns of the prickly pear.
Thou«;h he mio-ht see s^ame in abundance around
him, he had no means of killing any for his sus-
tenance, and must depend for food upon the
roots of the earth. In defiance of these difficul-
ties he pushed resolutely forward, guiding himself
in his trackless course by those signs and indica-
tions known only to Indians and backwoodsmen ;
and after braving dangers and hardships enough
to break down any spirit but that of a western
pioneer, arrived safe at the solitary post in ques-
tion.^

Such is a sample of the rugged experience
which Colter had to relate of savage life ; yet,
with all these perils and terrors fresh in his rec-
ollection, he could not see the present band on
their way to those regions of danger and adven-
ture, without feeling a vehement impulse to join
them. A western trapper is like a sailor ; past
hazards only stimulate him to further risks. The
vast prairie is to the one what the ocean is to the
other, a boundless field of enterprise and exploit.

1 Bra Ibury, Travels in America^ p. 17.

176 ASTORIA.

However he may have suffered in his last cruise,
he is always ready to joiu a new expedition ;
and the more adventurous its nature, the more
attractive is it to his vagrant spirit.

Nothing seems to have kept Colter from con-
tinuing with the party to the shores of the Pa-
cific but the circumstance of his having recently
married. All the morning he kept with them, bal-
ancing in his mind the charms of his bride against
those of the Rocky Mountains ; the former, how-
ever, prevailed, and after a march of several miles,
he took a reluctant leave of the travellers, and
turned his face homeward.

Continuing their progress up the Missouri, the
party encamped on the evening of the 21st of
March, in the neighborhood of a little frontier
village of French Creoles. Here Pierre Dorion
met with some of his old comrades, with whom
he had a long gossip, and returned to the camp
with rumors of bloody feuds between the Osages
and the loways, or Ayaways, Potowatomies,
Sioux, and Sawkees. Blood had already been
shed, and scalps been taken. A war party, three
hundred strong, were prowling in the neighbor-
hood ; others might be met with higher up the
the river ; it behooved the travellers, therefore, to
be upon their guard against robbery or surprise,
for an Lidian war-party on the march is prone to
acts of outrage.

In consequence of this report, which was sub-
sequently confirmed by further intelligence, a
guard was kept up at night round the encamp-
ment, and they all slept on their arms. As they

ARRIVAL AT FORT OSAGE. 177

were sixteen in number, and well supplied with
weapons and ammunition, they trusted to be able
to give any marauding party a warm reception.
Nothing occurred, however, to molest them on
their voyage, and on the 8th of April they came
in sight of Fort Osage. On their approach the
flag was hoisted on the fort, and they saluted it
Ijy a discharge of fire-arms. Within a short dis-
tance of the fort was an Osage village, the in-
habitants of which, men, women, and children,
thronged down to the water side to witness their
landing. One of the first persons they met on
the river bafik was Mr. Crooks, who had come
down in a boat, with nine men, from the winter
encampment at Nodowa, to meet them.

They remained at Fort Osage a part of three
days, during which they were hospitably enter-
tained at the garrison by Lieutenant Brownson,
who held a temporary command. They were
regaled also with a war-feast at the village ; the
Osage warriors having returned from a successful
foray against the loways, in which they had taken
seven scalps. They were paraded on poles about
the village, followed by tb-^ warriors decked out
in all their savage ornc^ments, and hideously
painted as if for battle.

By the Osage warriors, Mr. Hunt and his com-
panions were again warned to be on their guard in
ascending the river, as the Sioux tribe meant to
lay in wait and attack them.

On the 10th of April they again embarked,
their party being now augmented to twenty -six,
by th3 addition of Mr. Crooks and his boat's
12

178 ASTORIA.

crew. They had not proceeded far, however,
when there was a great outcry from one of the
boats ; it was occasioned by a Httle domestic dis-
cipline in the Dorion family. The squaw of the
worthy interpreter, it appeared, had been so de-
lighted with the scalp-dance, and other festivities
of the Osage village, that she had taken a strong
inclination to remain there. This had been as
strongly opposed by her liege lord, who had
compelled her to embark. The good dame had
remained sulky ever since, whereupon Pierre,
seeing no other mode of exorcising the evil spirit
out of her, and being, perhaps, a little inspired
by whiskey, had resorted to the Indian remedy of
the cudgel, and before his neighbors could inter-
fere, had belabored her so soundly, that there
is no record of her having shown any refrac-
tory symptoms throughout the remainder of the
expedition.

For a week they continued their voyage, ex-
posed to almost incessant rains. The bodies of
drowned buffaloes floated past them in vast num-
bers ; many had drifted upon the shore, or against
the upper ends of the rafts and islands. These had
attracted great flights of turkey-buzzards ; some
were banqueting on the carcasses, others were
soaring far aloft in the sky, and others were
perched on the trees, with their backs to the sun,
and their wings stretched out to dry, like so
many vessels in harbor, spreading their sails af-
ter a shower.

The turkey-buzzard (vultur aura, or golden
vulture), when on rhe wing, is one of the most

T URKE Y-B UZZA RDS. 179

Bpecious and imposing of birds. Its flight in the
upper regions of the air is really sublime, ex-
tending its immense wings, and wheeling slowly
and majestically to and fro, seemingly without
exertinij a muscle or fluttering a feather, but
moving by mere volition, and sailing on the bo-
som of the air, as a ship upon the ocean. Usurp-
ing the empyreal realm of the eagle, he assumes
for a time the port and dignity of that majestic
bird, and often is mistaken for him by ignorant
crawlers upon earth. It is only when he descends
from the clouds to pounce upon carrion that he
betrays his low propensities, and reveals his -cai-
tiff character. Near at hand he is a disgusting
bird, ragged in plumage, base in aspect, and
of loathsome odor.

On the 17th of April Mr. Hunt arrived with
his party at the station near the Nodowa River,
where the main body had been quartered during
the winter.

CHAPTER XVI.

HE weather continued rainy and unge-
nial for some days after Mr. Hunt's re-
turn to Nodowa ; yet spring was rapidly
advancing and vegetation was putting forth with
all its early freshness and beauty. The snakes
began to recover from their torpor and crawl
forth into day; and the neighborhood of the win-
tering house seems to have been much infested
with them. Mr. Bradbury, in the course of his
botanical researches, found a surprising number in
a half torpid state, under flat stones upon the
banks which overhung the cantonment, and nar-
rowly escaped being struck by a rattlesnake,
which darted at him from a cleft in the rock,
but fortunately gave him warning by his rattle.

The pigeons, too, were filling the woods in vast
migratory flocks. It is almost incredible to de-
scribe the prodigious flights of these birds in the
western wildernesses. They appear absolutely
in clouds, and move with astonishing velocity,
their wings making a whistling sound as they fly.
The rapid evolutions of these flocks, wheeling
and shifting suddenly as if with one mind and
one impulse ; the flashing changes of color they
present, as their backs, their breasts, or the un-
der part of their wings are turned to the spec-

PIGEONS AND THEIR HABITS. 181

fator, are singularly pleasing. When they alight,
if on the ground, they cover whole acres at a
time ; if upon trees, the branches often break
beneath their weight. If suddenly startled while
feeding in the midst of a forest, the noise they
make in getting on the wing is like the roar of
a cataract or the sound of distant thunder.

A flight of this kind, like an Egyptian flight
of locusts, devours everything that serves for its
food as it passes along. So great were the num-
bers in the vicinity of the camp that Mr. Brad-
bury, in the course of a morning's excursion,
shot nearly three hundred with a fowling-piece.
He gives a curious, though apparently a faithful,
account of the kind of discipline observed in
these immense flocks, so that each may have a
chance of picking up food. As the front ranks
must meet with the greatest abundance, and the
rear ranks must have scanty pickings, the instant
a rank finds itself the hindmost, it rises in tlie
air, flies over the whole flock and takes its place
in the advance. The next rank follows in its
course, and thus the last is continually becoming
first and all by turns have a front place at the
banquet.

The rains having at length subsided, Mr.
Mnnt broke up the encampment and resumed
his course up the Missouri.

The party now consisted of nearly sixty per-
sons ; of whom five were partners, one,. John
Reed, was a clerk ; forty were Canadian " voya-
geurs," or " engages^ and there were several
nunters. They embarked in four boats, one of

182 ASTORIA.

which was of a large size, mounting a swivel
and two howitzers. All were furnished with
masts and sails, to be used when the wind was
sufficiently favorable and strong to overpower
the current of the river. Such was the case
for the first four or five days, when they were
wafted steadily up the stream by a strong south-
easter.

Their encampments at night were often pleas-
ant and picturesque : on some beautiful bank,
beneath spreading trees, which afforded them
shelter and fuel. The tents were pitched, the
fires made, and the meals prepared by the voy-
ageurs, and many a story was told, and joke
passed, and song sung round the evening fire.
All, however, were asleep at an early hour.
Some under the tents, otliers wrapped in blan-
kets before the fire, or beneath the trees ; and
some few in the boats and canoes.

On the 28th, they breakfasted on one of the
islands which lie at the mouth of the Nebraska
or Platte River — the largest tributary of the
Missouri, and about six hundred miles above its
confiuence with the Mississippi. This broad but
shallow stream flows for an immense distance
through a wide and verdant valley scooped out
of boundless prairies. It draws its main sup-
plies by several forks or branches, from the
Rocky Mountains. Th^ mouth of this river is
established as the dividing point between the up-
per and lower Missouri ; and the earlier voya-
p:ers, in their toilsome ascent, before the intro-
duction of steamboats, considered one-half of

SIGNS OF WAR PARTIES. 183

their labors accomplished when they reached
this place. The passing of the mouth of the
Nebraska, therefore, was equivalent among boat-
men to the crossing of the line among sailors,
and was celebrated with like ceremonials of a
rough and waggish nature, practiced upon the
uninitiated ; among which was the old nautical
joke of shaving. The river deities, however,
like those of the sea, were to be propitiated by
a bribes and the infliction of these rude honors
to be parried by a treat to the adepts.

At the mouth of the Nebraska new signs
were met with of war parties which had re-
cently been in the vicinity. There was the
frame of a skin canoe, in which the warriors had
traversed the river. At night, also, the lurid
reflection of immense fires hung in the sky,
showing the conflagration of great tracts of the
prairies. Such fires not being made by hunters
so late in the season, it was supposed tliey were
caused by some wandering war parties. These
often take the precaution to set the prairies on
fire behind them to conceal their traces from
their enemies. This is chiefly done when the
party has been unsuccessful, and is on the retreat
and apprehensive of pursuit. At such time it
is not safe even for friends to fall in with them,
as they are apt to be in savage humor, and dis-
posed to vent their spleen in capricious outrage.
Tiiese signs, therefore, of a band of marauders
en the prowl, called for some degree of vigilance
on the part of the travellers.

After passing the Nebraska, the party halted

18d ASTORIA.

for part of two days on the bank of the river, a
little above Papillion Creek, to supply themselves
w^ith a stock of oars and poles from the tough
wood of the ash, which is not met with higher up
the Missouri. Wliile the voyagers were thus oc-
cupied, the naturalists rambled over the adjacent
country to collect plants. From the summit of a
range of bluffs on the opposite side of the river,
about two hundred and fifty feet high, they had
one of those vast and magnificent prospect^ which
sometimes unfold themselves in those boundless
regions. Below them was the Valley of the
Missouri, about seven miles in breadth, clad in
the fresh verdure of spring; enameled with
flowers and interspersed with clumps and groves
of noble trees, between which the mighty river
poured its turbulent and turbid stream. The
interior of the country presented a singular scene ;
the immense waste being broken up by innumer-
able green hills, not above eight, feet in height,
but extremely steep, and actually pointed at their
summits. A long line of bluffs extended for
upwards of thirty miles parallel to the Missouri,
with a shallow lake stretching along their base,
which had evidently once formed a bed of the
river. The surface of this lake was covered
with aquatic plants, on the broad leaves of which
numbers of water-snakes, drawn forth by the
genial warmth of spring, were basking in the
sunshine.

On the 2d day of May, at the usual hour of
embarking, the camp was thrown into some confu-
sion by two of the hunters, named Harrington.

DESERTION OF TWO HUNTERS. 185

expressing their intention to abandon the expedition
and return home. One of these had joined the
party in the preceeding autumn, having been
hunting for two years on the Missouri ; the other
had engaged at St. Louis, in the following March,
and had come up from thence with Mr. Hunt.
He now dechired that he had enh'sted merely for
the purpose of following his brother, and persuad-
ing him to return ; having been enjoined to do so
by his mother, whose anxiety had been awakened
by the idea of his going on such a wild and
distant expedition.

The loss of two stark hunters and prime
riflemen was a serious affair to the party, for
they were approaching the region where they
might expect hostilities from the Sioux ; indeed,
throughout the whole of their perilous journey,
the services of such men would be all important,
for little reliance was to be placed upon the valor
of the Canadians in case of attack. Mr. Hunt
endeavored by arguments, expostulations, and en-
treaties, to shake the determination of the two
brothers. He represented to them that they were
between six and seven hundred miles above the
mouth of the Missouri ; that they would have four
hundred miles to go before they could reach the
habitation of a white man, throughout which they
would be exposed to all kinds of risks ; since, he
declared, if they persisted in abandoning him and
breaking their faith, he would not furnish them
with a single round of ammunition. All was in
Vain ; they obstinately persisted in their reso-
lutijn ; whereupon, Mr. Hunt, partly incited by

186 ASTORIA.

indignation, partly by the policy of deterring
others from desertion, put his threat into execu-
tion, and left them to find their way back to
the settlements without, as he supposed, a single
bullet or charge of powder.

The boats now continued their slow and toil-
some course for several days, against the curren'
of the river. The late siorns of roaming war
parties caused a vigilant watch to be kept up at
night when the crews encamped on shore ; nor
was this vigilance superfluous ; for on the night
of the seventh instant, there was a wild and
fearful yell, and eleven Sioux warriors, stark
naked, with tomahawks in their hands, rushed
into the camp. They were instantly surrounded
and seized, whereupon their leader called out to
his followers to desist from any violence, and
pretended to be perfectly pacific in his intentions.
It proved, however, that they were a part of the
war party, the skeleton of whose canoe had been
seen at the mouth of the river Platte, and the
reflection of whose fires had been descried in the
air. They had been disappointed or defeated in
the foray, and in their rage and mortification
these eleven warriors had '■ devoted their clothes
to the medicine." This is a desperate act of
Indian braves when foiled in war, and in dread
of scoffs and sneers. In such case they some-
times throw off their clothes and ornaments, de-
vote themselves to the Great Spirit, and attempt
some reckless exploit with which to cover their
disgrace. Woe to any defenseless party of white
men that may then fall in their way !

VILLAGE OF THE OMAHAS. 187

Such was the explanation given by Pierre
Dorion, the half-breed interpreter, of this wild
intrusion into the camp ; and tlie party were so
exasperated when apprized of the sanguinary
intentions of the prisoners, that they were for
shooting them on the spot. Mr. Hunt, however,
exerted his usual moderation and humanity, and
ordered that they should be conveyed across the
river in one of the boats, threatening them
however, with certain death, if again caught in
any hostile act.

On the 10th of May the party arrived at the
Omaha (pronounced Omawhaw) village, about
eight hundred and thirty miles above the mouth
of the Missouri, and encamped in its neighborhood.
The village was situated under a hill on the bank
of the river, and consisted of about eighty lodges.
These were of a circular and conical form, and
about sixteen feet in diameter ; being mere tents
of dressed buffalo skins, sewed together and
stretched on long poles, inclined towards each
other so as to cross at about half their height.
Thus the naked tops of the poles diverge in such
a manner that, if they were covered with skins
like the lower ends, the tent would be shaped
like an hour-glass, and present the appearance of
one cone inverted on the apex of another.

The forms of Indian lodges are worthy of
ittention, each tribe having a different mode of
shaping and arranging them, so that it is easy to
tell, on seeing a lodge or an encampement at a
distance, to what tribe the inhabitants belong.
The exterior of the Omaha lodges have often a

188 ASTORIA.

gay and fanciful appearance, being painted with
undulating bands of red or yellow, or decorated
with rude figures of horses, deer, and buffaloes,
and with hiuuan faces, painted like full moons,
four and five feet broad.

The Oniahas were once one of the numerous
and powerful tribes of the prairies, vying in
warlike might and prowess with the Sioux, the
Pawnees, the Sauks, the Kcnzas, and the latans.
Their wars with the Sioux, however, had thinned
their ranks, and the smallpox in 1802 had swept
off two thirds of their number. At the time of
Mr. Hunt's visit they still boasted about two
hundred warriors and hunters, but they are now
fast melting away, and before long, will be
numbered among Ihose extinguished nations of
the west that exist but in tradition.

In his correspondence with Mr. Astor, from
this point of his journey, Mr. Hunt gives a sad
account of the Indian tribes bordering on the
river. They were in continual war with each
other, and their wars were of the most harassing
kind ; consisting, not merely of main conflicts
and expeditions of moment, involving the sack-
ings, burnings, and massacres of towns and
villages, but of individual acts of treachery,
nmrder, and cold-blooded cruelty ; or of vaunting
and foolliardy exploits of single warriors, either
to avenge some personal wrong, or gain the vain-
glorious trophy of a scalp. The lonely hunter,
the wandering wayfarer, the poor squaw cutting
wood or gathering corn, was liable to be surprised
And slaughtered. In this way tribes were either

BLACKBIRD, THE OMAHA CHIEF. J 89

Bwept away at. once, or gradually thinned out,
and savage life was surrounded with constant
horrors and alarms. That the race of red men
should diminish from year to year, and so i'^w
should survive of the numerous nations which
evidently once peopled the vast regions of the
west, is nothing surprising; it is rather matter of
surprise tliat so many should survive ; for the
existence of a savage in these parts seems little
better than a prolonged and all-besetting death.
It is, in fact, a caiicature of the boasted romance
of feudal times ; chivalry in its native and
uncultured state, and knight-errantry run wild.

In their most prosperous days, the Omahas
looked upon themselves as the most powerful
and perfect of human beings, and considered
all created things as made for their peculiar use
and benefit. It is this tribe of whose chief, the
famous Wash-lng-guh-sah-ba, or Blackbird, such
savage and romantic stories are told. He had
died about ten years previous to the arrival of
Mr. Hunt's party, but his name was still men-
tioned with awe by his people. He was one of
the first among the Indian chiefs on the Missouri
to deal with the white traders, and showed great
sagacity in levying his royal dues. When a
trader arrived in his village, he caused all his
goods to be brought into his lodge and opened.
From these he selected whatever suited his
sovereign pleasure ; blankets, tobacco, whiskey,
powder, ball, beads, and red paint ; and laid the
articles on one side, without deigning to give any
compensation. Then calling to him his herald or

190 ASTORIA.

crier, he would order him to mount on top of the
lodge and summon all the tribe to bring in their
peltries, and trade with the white man. The
lodge would soon be crowded with Indians bring-
ing bear, beaver, otter, and other skins. No one
was allowed to dispute the prices fixed by the
white trader upon his articles ; who took care to
indemnify himself five times over for the goods
set apart by the chief. In this way the Black-
bird enriched himself, and enriched the white
men, and became exceedingly popular among the
traders of the Missouri. His people, however,
were not equally satisfied by a regulation of
trade which worked so manifestly against them,
and began to show signs of discontent. Upon
this a crafty and unprincipled trader revealed a
secret to the Blackbird, by which he might ac-
quire unbounded sway over his ignorant and
superstitious subjects. He instructed him in
the poisonous qualities of arsenic, and furnished
him with an ample supply of that baneful drug.
From this time the Blackbird seemed endowed
with supernatural powers, to possess the gift of
prophecy, and to hold the disposal of life and
death within his hands. Woe to any one who
questioned his authority or dared to dispute his
commands ! The Blackbird prophesied his
death within a certain time, and he had the secret
means of verifying his prophecy. Within the
fated period the offender was smitten with
strange and sudden disease, and pei-ished from
the face of the earth. Every one stood aghast
at these multiplied examples of his superhuman

BLACKBIRD'S PROWESS. 191

might, and dreaded to displease so omnipotent
and vindictive a being ; and the Blackbird en-
joyed a wide and undisputed sway.

It was not, however, by terror alone that he
ruled his people ; he was a warrior of the first
order, and his exploits in arms were the theme
of young and old. His career had begun by
hardships, having been taken prisoner by the
Sioux, in early youth. Under his command, the
Omahas obtained great character for military
prowess, nor did he permit an insult or an injury
to one of his tribe to pass unrevenged. The
Pawnee republicans had inflicted a gross indig-
nity on a favorite and distinguished Omaha
brave. Tiie Blackbird assembled his warriors,
led them against the Pawnee town, attacked it
with irresistible fury, slaughtered a great number
of its inhabitants, and burnt it to the ground.
He waged fierce and bloody war against the
Ottoes for many years, until peace was effected
between them by the mediation of the whites.
Fearless in battle, and fond of signalizing him-
self, he dazzled his followers by daring acts. In
attacking a Kanza village, he rode singly round
it, loading and discharging his rifle at the inhab-
itants as he galloped past them. He kept up in
war the same idea of mysterious and supernatural
power. At one time, when pursuing a war
party by their ti-acks across the prairies, he
repeatedly discharged his rifle into the pritits
made by their feet and by the hoofs of their
horses, assuring his followers that he would
thereby cripple the fugitives, so that they would

192 ASTORIA.

easily be overtaken. He in fact did overtake
them, and destroyed them almost to a man ; and
his victory was considered miraculous, both by
friend and foe. By these and similar exploits,
he made himself the pride and boast of his peo-
ple, and became popular among them, notwith-
standing his death-denouncing fiat.

With all his savage and terrific qualities, he
was sensible of the power of female beauty, and
capable of love. A war party of the Poncas had
made a foray into the lands of the Omahas,
and carried off a number of women and horses.
The Blackbird was roused to fury, and took
the field with all his braves, swearing to " eat
up the Ponca nation " — the Indian threat of
exterminating war. The Poncas, sorely pressed,
took refuge behind a rude bulwark of earth ;
but the Blackbird kept up so galling a fire, that
he seemed likely to execute his menace. In
their extremity they sent forth a heiald, bearing
the calumet or pipe of peace, but he was shot
down by order of the Blackbird. Another herald
was sent forth in similar guise, but he shared a
like fate. The Ponca chief then, as a last hope,
arrayed his beautiful daughter in her finest orna-
ments, and sent her forth with a calumet, to sue
for peace. The charms of the Indian maid
touched the stern heart of the Blackbird ; he
accepted the pipe at her hand, smoked it, and
from that time a peace took place between the
Poncas and the Omahas.

This beautiful damsel, in all probability, was
the favorite wife whose fate makes so tra^^ic an

BLACKBIRD'S CRIME. 193

incident in the story of the Blackbird. Her
youth and beauty had gained an absolute sway
over his rufjged heart, so that he distinguished
her above all of his other wives. The habitual
gratification of his vindictive impulses, however,
had taken away from him all mastery over his
passions, and rendered him liable to the most
furious transports of rage. In one of these his
beautiful wife had the misfortune to offend him,
when suddenly drawing his knife, he laid her
dead at his feet with a single blow.

In an instant his frenzy was at an end. He
gazed for a time in mute bewilderment upon his
victim ; then drawing his buffalo robe over his
head, he sat down beside the corpse, and re-
mained brooding over his crime and his loss.
Three days elapsed, yet the chief continued
silent and motionless ; tasting no food, and ap-
parently sleepless. It was apprehended that he
intended to starve himself to death ; his people
approached him in trembling awe, and entreated
him once more to uncover his face and be com-
forted ; but he remained unmoved. At length
one of his warriors brought in a small child, and
laying it on the ground, placed the foot of the
Blackbird upon its neck. The heart of the
gloomy savage was touched by this appeal ; he
thi-ew aside his robe ; made an harangue upon
what he had done ; and from that time forward
seemed to have thrown the load of grief and
remorse from his mind.

He still retained his fatal and mysterious
secret, and with it his terrific power ; but, though
13

194 ASTOR.A.

able to ileal death to his enemies, he could not
avert it from himself or his friends. In 1802
the small-pox, that dreadful pestilence, which
cwept over the land like a fire over the prairie,
made its appearance in the village of the Omahas.
The poor savages saw with dismay the ravages
of a malady, loathsome and agonizing in its de-
tails, and which set the skill and experience of
their conjurers and medicine men at defiance. In
a little while, two thirds of the population were
swept from the face of the earth, and the doom
of the rest seemed sealed. The stoicism of the
warriors was at an end ; they became wild and
desperate ; some set fire to the village as a last
means of checking the pestilence ; others, in a
frenzy of despair, put their wives and children to
death, that they might be spared the agonies of
an inevitable disease, and that they might all go
to some better country.

When tiie general horror and dismay was at
its height, the Blackbird himself was struck down
with the malady. The poor savages, when they
saw their chief in danger, forgot their own mis-
eries, and surrounded his dying bed. His dom-
inant spirit, and his love for the white men, were
evinced in his latest breath, with which he desig-
nated his place of sepulture. It was to be on a
hill or promontory, upwards of four hundred feet
in height, overlooking a great extent of the
Missouri, from whence he had been accustomed
to watch for the barks of the white men. The
Missouri washes the base of the pnjmontory, and
after winding and doubling in many links and

BURIAL OF BLACKBIRD. 195

mazes in the plain below, returns to within nine
hundred yards of its starting-place; so that for
thirty miles navigating with sail and oar, the
the voyager finds himself continually near to this
singular promontory as if spell-bound.

It was the dying command of the Blackbird
that his tomb should be upon the summit of this
hill, in which he should be interred, seated on
his favorite horse, that he might overlook his an-
cient domain, and bekold the barks of the white
men as they came up the river to trade with his
people.

His dying orders were faithfully obeyed. His
corpse was placed astride of his war-steed and
a mound raised over them on the summit of
the hill. On top of the mound was erected a
staff, from which fluttered the banner of the chief-
tain, and the scalps that he had taken in battle.
When the expedition under Mr. Hunt visited that
part of the country, the staff still remained, with
the fragments of the banner ; and the super-
stitious rite of placing food from time to time on
the mound, for the use of the deceased, was still
observed by the Omahas. That rite has since
fallen into disuse, for tiie tribe itself is almost ex-
tinct. Yet the hill of the Blackbird continues an
object of veneration to the wandering savage, and
a landmark to the voyager of the Missouri ; and
as the civilized traveller comes within sight of its
spell-bound crest, the mound is pointed out to him
^rom afar, which still incloses the grim s-keletoua
i)f the Indian warrior and his horse.

CHAPTER XVII.

MILE Mr. Hunt and his party were so-
journing at the village of the Omahas,
three Sioux Indians of the Yankton
Alma tribe arrived, bringing unpleasant mtel-
ligence. They reported that certain bands of the
Sioux Tetons, who inhabited a region many leagues
further up the Missouri, were near at hand, await-
ing the approach of the party, with the avowed
intention of opposing their progress.

The Sioux Tetons were at that time a sort of
pirates of the Missouri, who considered the well-
freiofhted bark of the American trader fair a^ame.
They had their own traffic with the British mer-
chants of the Northwest, who brought them regular
supplies of merchandise by way of the river St.
Peter. Being thus independent of the Missouri
traders for their supplies, they kept no terms with
them, but plundered them whenever they had an
opportunity. It has been insinuated that they
were prompted to these outriges by the British
merchants, who wished to keep off all rivals in
the Indian trade ; but others allege another mo-
tive, and one savoring of a deeper policy. Th«
Sioux, by their intercourse with the British traders.
had acquired the use of fire-arms, which had given
them vast superiority over other tribes higher up

PIRATES OF THE MISSOURI. ] 97

the Missouri. They had made themselves also,
in a manner, factors for the upper tribes, supply-
ing them at second hand, and at greatly advanced
prices, with goods derived from the white men.
The Sioux, therefore, saw with jealousy the
American traders pushing their way up the Mis-
souri ; foreseeing that the upper tribes would thus
be relieved from all dependence on them for sup-
plies ; nay, what was worse, would be furnished
with fire-arms, and elevated into formidable rivals.

We have already alluded to a case in which Mr.
Crooks and Mr. M'Lellan had been interrupted
in a trading voyage by these ruffians of the river,
and, as it is in some degree connected with cir-
cumstances hereafter to be related, we shall spe-
cify it more particularly.

About two years before the time of which we
are treating, Crooks and M'Lellan were ascending
the river in boats with a party of about forty men,
bound on one of their trading expeditions to the
upper tribes. In one of the bends of the river,
where the channel made a deep curve under im-
pending banks, they suddenly heard yells and
shouts above them, and beheld the cliffs overhead
covered with armed savages. It was a band of
Sioux warriors, upwards of six hundred strong.
They brandished their weapons in a menacing
manner, and ordered the boats to turn back and
land lower down the river. There was no dis-
puting these commands, for they had the power
to shower destruction upon the white men, with-
out risk to themselves. Crooks and M'Lellan,
therefore, turned back with feigned alacrity ; and,

198 ASTORIA.

landing, had an interview with the Sioux. The
latter forbade them, under pain of exterminating
hostihty, from attempting to proceed up the river,
but offered to trade peacefully with them if they
woidd halt where they were. The party, being
principally composed of voyageurs, was too weak
to contend with so superior a force, and one so
easily augmented; they pretended, therefore, to
comply cheerfully with their arbitrary dictation,
and immediately proceeded to cut down trees and
erect a trading house. The warrior band departed
for their village, which was about twenty miles
distant, to collect objects of traffic ; they left six
or eight of their number, however, to keep watch
upon the white men, and scouts were continaally
passing to and fro with intelligence.

Mr. Crooks saw that it would be impossible to
prosecute his voyage without the danger of hav-
ing his boats plundered, and a great part of his
men massacred ; he determined, however, not to
be entirely frustrated in the objects of his expedi-
tion. While he continued, therefore, with great
apparent earnestness and assiduity, the construction
of the trading house, he dispatched the hunters
and trappers of his party in a canoe, to make their
way up the river to the original place of des-
tination, there to busy themselves in trapping and
collecting peltries, and to await his arrival at
eome future period.

As soon as the detachment had had sufficient
^ime to ascend beyond the hostile country of the
Sioux, Mr. Crooks suddenly broke up his feigned
trading establishu ent, embarked his men and

M'LELLAN'S VOW. 199

effects, and, after giving the astonished rear-guard
of savages a galling and indignant message to take
to their countrymen, pushed down the river with
all speed, sparing neither oar nor paddle, day nor
night, until fairly beyond the swoop of these river
hawks.

What increased the irritation of Messrs. Crooks
and M'Lellan at this mortifying check to their
gainful enterprise, was the information that a
rival trader was at the bottom of it; the Sioux,
it is said, having been instigated to this outrage
by Mr. Manuel Lisa, the leading partner and
agent of the Missouri Fur Company, already
mentioned. This intelligence, whether true or
false, so roused the fiery temper of M'Lellan, that
he swore, if ever he fell in with Lisa in the In-
dian country, he would shoot him on the spot ; a
mode of redress perfectly in unison with the char-
acter of the man, and the code of honor prevalent
beyond the frontier.

If Crooks and M'Lellan had been exasperated
by the insolent conduct of the Sioux Tetons, and
the loss which it had occasioned, those freebooters
had been no less indignant at being outwitted by
the white men, and disappointed of their anticipated
gains, and it was apprehended they would be
particularly hostile against the present expedition,
fp-heu they should learn that these gentlemen were
engaged in it.

All these causes of uneasiness were concealed
as much as possible from the Canadian voyageurs,
lest they should become intimidated ; it was im-
possiljle, however, to prevent the rumors brought

200 ASTORIA.

by the Indians from leaking out, and they became
subjects of gossiping and exaggeration. The
chief of the Omahas, too, on returning from a
hunting excursion, reported that two men had
been killed some distance above, by a band of
Sioux. This added to the fears that already began
to be excited. The voyageurs pictured to them-
selves bands of fierce warriors stationed along
each bank of the river, by whom they would be
exposed to be shot down in their boats : or lurk-
ing hordes, who would set on them at night, and
massacre them in their encampments. Some lost
heart, and proposed to return, rather than fight
their way, and, in a manner, run the gauntlet
through the country of these piratical marauders.
In fact, three men deserted wliile at this village.
Luckily, their place was supplied by three others
who happened to be there, and who were prevailed
on to join the expedition by promises of liberal
pay, and by being fitted out and equipped in com-
plete style.

The irresolution and discontent visible among
some of liis people, arising at times almost to
mutiny, and the occasional desertions which took
place while thus among friendly tribes, and within
reach of the frontiers, added greatly to the anx-
ieties of Mr. Hunt, and rendered him eager to
press forward and leave a hostile tract behind him,
so that it would be as perilous to return as to keep
on, and no one would dare to desert.

Accordingly, on the 15 th of May he departed
from the village of the Omahas, and set forward
towards the country of the formidable Sioux

VALUABLE ADDITIONS. 201

Tetons. For the first five days they had a fair
and fresh breeze, and the boats made good prog
ress. The wind tlien came ahead, and the river
beginning to rise, and to increase in rapidity,
betokened the commencement of the annual flood,
caused by the melting of tlie snow on the Rocky
Mountams, and the vernal rains of the upper
prairies.

As they were now entering a region where
foes might be lying in wait on either bank, it
was determined, in hunting for game, to confine
themselves principally to the islands, which some-
times extend to considerable length, and are beau-
tifully wooded, affording abundant pasturage and
shade. On one of these they killed three buffa-
loes and two elks, and halting on the edge of a
beautiful prairie, made a sumptuous hunter's re-
past. They had not long resumed their boats
and pulled along the river banks when they des-
cried a canoe approaching, navigated by two men,
whom, to their surprise, they ascertained to be
white men. They proved to be two of those
strange and fearless wanderers of the wilderness,
the trappers. Their names were Benjamin Jones
and Alexander Carson. They had been for two
years past hunting and trapping near the head
of the Missouri, and were thus floating for thou-
sands of miles in a cockle-shell, down a turbu-
lent stream, through regions infested by savage
tribes, yet apparently as easy and unconcerned
as if navigating securely in the midst of civil iza-
aon.

The acquisition of two such hardy, experi-

202 ASTORIA.

eiiced, and dauntless hunters was peculiarly de-
sirable at the present moment. They needed
but little persuasion. The wilderness is the
home of the trapper ; like the sailor, he cares
but little to which point of the compass he
steers ; and Jones and Carson readily abandoned
their voyage to St. Louis, and turned their faces
towards the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific.

The two naturalists, Mr. Bradbury and Mr.
Nuttall, who had joined the expedition at St.
Louis, still accompanied it, and pursued their re-
searches on all occasions. Mr. Nuttall seems to
have been exclusively devoted to his scientific
pursuits. He was a zealous botanist, and aU
his enthusiasm was awakened at beholding a new
world, as it were, opening upon him in the
boundless prairies, clad in the vernal and varie-
gated robe of unknown flowers. Whenever the
boats landed at meal times, or for any temporary
purpose, he would spring on shore, and set out
on a hunt for new specimens. Every plant or
flower of a rare or unknown species was eagerly
seized as a prize. Delighted with the treasures
spreading themselves out before him, he went
groping and stumbling along among the wilder-
ness of sweets, forgetful of everything but his
immediate pursuit, and had often to be sought
after when the boats were about to resume their
course. At such times he would be found far
off in the prairies, or up the course of some
petty stream, laden with plants of all kinds.

The Canadian voyageurs, who are a clans of
people that know nothing out of their immediate

MR. BRADBURTS ADVENTURE. 203

line, and with constitutional levity make a jest
of anything they cannot understand, were ex-
tremely puzzled by this passion for collecting
what they considered mere useless weeds. When
they saw the worthy botanist coming back heavy
laden with his specimens, and treasuring them
up as carefully as a miser would his hoard,
they used to make merry among themselves at
his expense, regarding him as some whimsical
kind of madman.

Mr. Bradbury was less exclusive in his tastes
and habits, and combined the hunter and sports-
man with the naturalist. He took his rifle or
his fowling-piece with him in his geological re-
searches, conformed to the hardy and rugged
habits of the men around him, and of course
gained favor in their eyes. He had a strong
relish for incident and adventure, was curious in
observing savage manners, and savage life, and
ready to join any hunting or other excursion.
Even now, that the expedition was proceeding
through a dangerous neighborhood, he could not
check his propensity to ramble. Having ob-
served, on the evening of the 22d of May, that
the river ahead made a great bend which would
take uj:) the naviga,tion of the following day, he
determined to profit by the circumstance. On
the morning of the 23d, therefore, instead of
embarking, he filled his shot-pouch with parched
porn, for provisions, and set off to cross the neck
on foot and meet the boats in the afternoon at
the opposite side of the bend. Mr. Hunt felt
uneasy at his venturing thus alone, and reminded

204 ASTORIA

him that he was in an enemy's country ; but IM-
Bradbury made light of the danger, and starteJ
off cheerily upon his ramble. His day wikS
passed pleasantly in traversing a beautiful trace,
making botanical and geological researches, and
observing the habits of an extensive village of
prairie dogs, at which he made several ineffectual
shots, without considering the risk he run of
attracting the attention of any savages that might
be lurking in the neighborhood. In fact he had
totaHy forgotten the Sioux Tetons, and all the
other perils of the country, when, about the
middle of the afternoon, as he stood near the
river bank, and was looking out for the boat, he
suddenly felt a hand laid on his shoulder. Start-
ing and turning round, he beheld a naked savage
with a bow bent, and the arrow pointed at his
breast. In an instant his gun was leveled and
his hand upon the lock. The Indian drew his
bow still further, but forbore to launch the shaft.
Mr. Bradbury, with admirable presence oi mind,
reflected that the savage, if hostile in his intents,
would have shot him without giving him a chance
of defense ; he paused, therefore, ana held out
his hand. The other took it in sign of friend-
ship, and demanded in the Osage language
whether he was a Big Knife, or American. He
answered in the affirmative, and inquired whether
the other were a Sioux. To his great relief he
found that he was a Ponca. By tnis time two
other Indians came running up, and all three
laid hold of Mr. Bradbury and seemed disposed
to compel him to go off with them among the

UNWELCOME MISSIVES. ?05

hills. He resisted, and sitting down on a sand
liill contrived to amuse them with a pocket com-
pass. When the novelty of this was exhausted
they again seized him, but he now produced a
small microscope. This new wonder again fixed
the attention of the savages, who have more curi-
osity than it has been the custom to allow them.
While thus engaged, one of them suddenly leaped
up and gave a war-whoop. The hand of the
hardy naturalist was again on his gun, and he
was prepared to make battle, when the Indian
pointed down the river and revealed the true
cause of his yell. It was the mast of one of
the boats appearing above the low willows which
bordered the stream. Mr. Bradbury felt infinitely
relieved by the sight. The Indians on their part
now showed signs of apprehension, and were
disposed to run away ; but he assured them of
good treatment and something to drink if they
would accompany him on board of the boats.
They lingered for a time, but disappeared before
the boats came to land.

On the following morning they appeared at
camp accompanied by several of their tribe.
With them came also a white man, who an-
nounced himself as a messeno-er bearino' missives
for Mr. Hunt. In fact he brought a letter from
Mr. Manuel Lisa, partner and agent of the Mis-
souri Fur Company. As has already been men-
tioned, this gentleman was going in search of
Mr. Henry and his party, who had been dis-
lodged from the forks of the Missouri by the
Blackfo3t Indians, and had shifted his post some-

206 ASTORIA.

where beyond the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Lisa
had left St. Louis three weeks after Mr. Hunt,
and having heard of the hostile intentions of the
Sioux, had made the greatest exertions to over-
take him, that they might pass through the
dangerous part of the river together. He had
twenty stout oarsmen in his service and they
plied their oars so vigorously, that he had
reached the Omaha village just four days after
the departure of Mr. Hunt. From this place
he dispatched the messenger in question, trusting
to his overtaking the barges as they toiled up
against the stream, and were delayed by the
windings of the river. The purport of his letter
was to entreat Mr. Hunt to wait until he could
come up with him, that they mJght unite their
forces and be a protection to each other in their
perilous course through the country of tlie Sioux.
In fact, as it was afterwards ascertained, Lisa was
apprehensive that Mr. Hunt would do him some
ill office with the Sioux bands, securing his own
passage through their country by pretending that
he, with whom they were accustomed to trade, was
on his way to them with a plentiful supply of
goods. He feared, too, that Crooks and M'Lellan
would take this opportunity to retort upon him the
perfidy which they accused him of having used,
two years previously, among these very Sioux.
Li this respect, however, he did them signal in-
justice. There was no such thing as covert
design or treachery in their thought ; but M'Lel-
lan, when he heard that Lisa was on his way
up the river, renewed his open threat of shoot-

HUNTS SUSPICIONS OF LISA. 207

iug him the moment he met him on Indian
land.

The representations made by Crooks and
M'Lellan of the treachery they had experienced,
or fancied, on the part of Lisa, had great weight
with Mr. Hunt, especially when he recollected the
obstacles that had been thrown in his own way by
that gentleman at St. Louis. He doubted, there-
fore, the fair dealing of Lisa, and feared that,
should they enter the Sioux country together,
the latter might make use of his influence with
that tribe, as he had in the case of Crooks and
M'Lellan, and instigate them to oppose his prog-
ress up the river.

He sent back, therefore, an answer calculated
to beguile Lisa, assuring him that he would wait
for him at the Poncas village, which was but a
little distance in advance ; but, no sooner had the
messenger departed, then he pushed forward with
all diligence, barely stopping at the village to pro-
cure a supply of dried buffalo meat, and hasten-
ing to leave the other party as fiir behind as pos-
sible, thinking there was less to be apprehended
from the open hostility of Indian foes, than from
tlie Q'liet strategy of an Indian trader.

CHAPTER XVIII.

T was about noon when the party left
the Poncas village, about a league be-
yond which they passed the mouth of
the Quicourt, or Rapid River (called, in tlie orig-
hial French, VEau Qui Court). After having
proceeded some distance furthei', they landed, and
encamped for the night. In tlie evening camp,
the voyageurs gossiped, as usual, over the events
of the day ; and especially over intelligence
picked up among the Poncas. These Indians
had confirmed the previous reports of the hostile
intentions of the Sioux, and had assured them
that five tribes, or bands, of that fierce nation
were actually assembled higher up the river,
and waiting to cut them off. This evening gos-
sip, and the terrific stories of Indian warfare
to which it gave rise, produced a strong efi^ect
upon the imaginations of the irresolute ; and in
the morning it was discovered that the two men,
who had joined the party at the Omaha village,
and been so bounteously fitted out, had deserted
in the course of the night, cari-ying with them
all their equipments. As it was known that
one of them could not swim, it was hoped that
the banks of the Quicourt River would bring
them to a halt. A general pursuit was there-
fore instituted, but without success.

THREE ''DREADNOUGHT'' KENTUCKIANS. 209

On the following morning (May 2Gth),as they
were all on shore, bieakfksting on one of the
beautiful banks of the river, they observed two
canoes descending along the opposite side. By
the aid of spy-glasses, they ascertained that
there were two white men in one of the canoes,
and one in the other. A gun was discharged,
which called the attention of the voyagers, who
crossed over. They proved to be three Ken-
tucky hunters, of the true " dreadnought " stamp.
Their names were Edward Robinson, John Ho-
back, and Jacob Rizner. Robinson was a vet-
eran backwoodsman, sixty-six years of age. He
had been one of the first settlers of Kentucky,
and engaged in many of the conflicts of the In-
dians on " the Bloody Ground." In one of these
battles he had been scalped, and he still wore a
handkerchief bound round his head to protect
the part. These men had passed several years
in the upper wilderness. They had been in the
service of the Missouri Company under Mr.
Henry, and had crossed the Rocky Mountains
with him in the preceding year, when driven
from his post on the Missouri by the hostilities
of the Blackfeet. After crossing the mountains,
Mr. Henry had established himself on one of
the head branches of the Columbia River.
There they had remained with him for some
months, hunting and trapping, until, having sat-
isfied their wandering propensities, they felt dis-
posed to return to the families and comfortable
homes which they had left in Kentucky. They
had accordingly made their way back aci'oss the
14

210 ASTORIA.

mountains, and down the rivers, and were in fnll
career for St. Louis, when thus suddenly inter-
rupted. The sight of a powerful party of tra-
ders, trappers, hunters, and voyageurs, well armed
and equipped, furnished at all points, in high
health and spirits, and banqueting lustily on the
green margin of the river, was a spectacle
equally stimulating to these veteran back wood-
men with the glorious array of a campaigning
army to an old soldier; but when they learned
the grand scope and extent of the enterprise in
hand, it was irresistible ; homes and families and
all the charms of green Kentucky vanished from
their thoughts ; they cast loose their canoes to
drift down the stream, and joyfully enlisted in
the band of adventurers. They engaged on
similar terms with some of the other hunters.
The company was to fit theni out, and keep them
supplied with the requisite equipments and mu-
nitions, and they were to yield one half of the
produce of their hunting and trapping.

The addition of three such staunch recruits
was extremely acceptable at this dangerous part
of the river. The knowledge of the country
which they had acquired, also, in their journeys
and hunting excursions along the rivers and
among the Rocky Mountains was all important ;
in fact, the information derived from them in-
duced Mr. Hunt to alter his future course. Hfa
had hitherto intended to proceed by the route
taken by Lewis and Clarke in their famous
exploring expedition, ascending the Missouri to
its forks, and thence going, by land, across the

A NEW ROUTE. 211

mountains. These men informed him, however,
that, on taking that course he would have to pass
through the country invested by the savage
tribe of the Blackfeet, and would be exposed to
their hostilities ; they being, as has already been
observed, exasperated to deadly animosity against
the whites, on account of the death of one of their
tribe by the hand of Captain Lewis. They ad-
vised him rather to pursue a route more to the
southward, being the same by which they had re-
turned. This would carry them over the moun-
tains about where the head-waters of the Platte
and the Yellowstone take their rise, at a place
much more easy and practicable than that where
Lewis and Clarke had crossed. In pursuing this
course, also, he would pass through a country
abounding with game, where he would have a
better chance of procuring a constant supply of
provisions than by the other route, and would run
less risk of molestation from the Blackfeet.
Should he adopt this advice, it would be better
for him to abandon the river at the Arickara
town, at which he would arrive in the course of a
few days. As the Indians at that town possessed
horses in abundance, he might purchase a suffi-
cient number of them for his great journey
overland, which would commence at that place.

After reflecting on this advice, and consulting
with his associates, Mr. Hunt came to the de-
termination to follow the route thus pointed out,
m which the hunters engaged to pilot him.

The party continued their voyage with
delightful May weather. The prairies bordering

212 ASTORIA.

on the river were gayly painted with innumerable
flowers, exhibiting the motley confusion of colors
of a Turkey carpet. The beautiful islands, also,
on which they occasionally halted, presented the
appearance of mingled grove and garden. The
trees were often covered with clambering grape-
vines in blossom, which perfumed the air.
Between the stately masses of the groves were
grassy lawns and glades, studded with flowers, or
interspersed with rose-bushes in full bloom.
These islands were often the resort of the
buflido, the elk, and the antelope, who had made
innumerable paths among the trees and thickets,
which had the effect of the mazy walks and
alleys of parks and shrubberies. Sometimes,
where the river passed between high banks and
bluffs, the roads, made by the tramp of buffaloes
for many ages along the face of the heights,
looked like so many well-travelled highways. At
other places the banks were banded with great
veins of iron ore, laid bare by the abrasion of the
river. At one place the course of the river was
nearly in a straight line for about fifteen miles.
The banks sloped gently to its margin, without a
single tree, but bordered with ^grass and herbage
of a vivid green. Along each bank, for the
whole fifteen miles, extended a stripe, one hun-
dred yards in breadth, of a deep rusty brown,
indicating an inexhaustible bed of iron, through
the centre of which the Missouri had worn its
way. Indications of the continuance of this bed
were afterwards observed higher up the river.
It is, in fact, one of the mineral magazines which

A LAND OF DANGER. 213

nature has provided in the heart of this vast
reahn of fertility, and which, in connection with
the immense beds of coal on the same river, seem
garnered up as the elements of the future wealth
and power of the mighty West.

The sight of these mineral treasures greatly
excited the curiosity of Mr. Bradbury, and it
was tantalizing to him to be checked in his
scientific researches, and obliged to forego his
usual rambles on shore ; but they were now
entering the fated country of the Sioux Tetons,
in which it was dangerous to wander about
unguarded.

This country extends for some days' journey
along the river, and consists of vast prairies,
here and there diversified by swelling hills, and
cut up by ravines, the channels of turbid streams
in the rainy seasons, but almost destitute of wa-
ter during the heats of summer. Here and there
on the sides of the hills, or along the alluvial
borders and bottoms of the ravines, are groves
and skirts of forest ; but for the most part the
country presented to the eye a boundless waste,
covered with herbage, but without trees.

The soil of this immense region is strongly
impregnated with sulphur, copperas, alum, and
glauber salts ; its various earths impart a deep
tinge to the streams which drain it, and these,
with the crumbling of the banks along the
Missouri, give to the waters of that river much
of the coloring matter with which they are
clouded.

Over this vast tract the roving bands of the

214 ASTORIA.

Sioux Tetons hold their vagrant sway, subsisting
by the chase of the buffalo, the elk, the deer, and
the antelope, and waging ruthless warfare with
other wandering tribes.

As the boats made their way up the stream
bordered by this land of danger, many of the
Canadian voyageurs, whose fears had been
awakened, would regard with a distrustful eye
the boundless waste extending on each side. All,
however, was silent, and appparently untenanted
by a human being. Now and then a herd of
deer would be seen feeding tranquilly among the
flowery herbage, or a line of buffaloes, like a
caravan on its march, moving across the distant
profile of the prairie. The Canadians, however,
began to apprehend an ambush in every thicket,
and to regard the broad, tranquil plain as a sailor
eyes some shallow and perfidious sea, which, though
smooth and safe to the eye, conceals the lurking
rock or treacherous shoal. The very name of
a Sioux became a watchword of terror. Not an
elk, a wolf, or any other animal, could appear on
the hills, but the boats resounded with exclama-
tions fi-om stem to stern, " voila les Sioux !
" voila les Sioux ! " (there are the Sioux ! there
the Sioux !) Whenever it was practicable, the
night encampment was on some island in the
centre of the stream.

On the morning of the 31st of May, as the
travellers were breakfasting on the right bank
of the river, the usual alarm was given, but with
more reason, as two Indians actually made their
appearance on a bluff on the opposite or north-

THREATENED HOSTILTTIES. 215

east side, and harangued them in a loud voice.
As it was impossible at that distance to distinguish
what they said, Mr. Hunt, after breakfast, crossed
the river with Pierre Dorion, the interpreter, and
advanced boldly to converse with them, while the
rest remained watching in mute suspense the
movements of the parties. As soon as Mr. Hunt
landed, one of the Indians disappeared behind the
hill, but shortly reapppeared on horseback, and
went scouring off across the lieights. Mr. Hunt
held some conference with the remaining savage,
and then recrossed the river to his party.

These two Indians proved to be spies or scouts
of a large war party encamped about a league off,
and numbering two hundred and eighty lodges,
or about six hundred warriors, of three different
tribes of Sioux ; the Yangtons Ahna, the Tetons
Bois-brule, and the Tetons Min-na-kine-azzo.
They expected daily to be reinforced by two
other tribes, and had been waiting eleven days
for the arrival of Mr. Hunt's party, with a de-
termination to oppose their progress up the
river ; being resolved to prevent all trade of the
white men with their enemies the Arickaras,
Mandans, and Minatarees. The Indian who had
galloped off on horseback had gone to give
notice of the approach of the party, so that they
might now look out for some fierce scenes with
those piratical savages, of whom they had re-
ceived so many formidable accounts.

The party braced up their spirits to the en-
counter, and reembarking, pulled resolutely up
'he stream. An island for some time intervened

216 ASTORIA.

between them and the opposite side of the river ;
but on clearing the upper end, they came in full
view of the hostile shore. There was a ridge of
hills down which the savages were pouring in
great numbers, some on horseback, and some on
foot. Reconnoitering them with the aid of
glasses, they perceived that they were all in
warlike array, painted and decorated for battle.
Their weapons were bows and arrows, and a few
short carbines, and most of them had round
shields. Altogether they had a wild and gallant
appearance, and, taking possession of a point
which commanded the river, ranged themselves
along the bank as if prepared to dispute their
passage.

At sight of this formidable front of war, Mr.
Hunt and his companions held counsel together.
It was plain that the rumors they had heard were
correct, and the Sioux were determined to oppose
their progress by force of arms. To attempt to
elude them and continue along the river was out
of the question. The strength of the mid-cur-
rent was too violent to be withstood, and the
boats were obliged to ascend along the river
banks. These banks were often high and per-
pendicular, affording the savages frequent stations,
from whence, safe themselves, and almost unseen,
they might shower down their missiles upon the
boats below, and retreat at will, without danger
from pursuit. Nothing apparently remained,
therefore, but to fight or turn back. The Sioux
far outnumbered them, it is true, but their own
party was about sixty strong, well armed and

PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENSE. 217

supplied with ammunition ; and, beside their
guns and rifles, they had a swivel and two how-
itzers mounted in the boats. Should they suc-
ceed in breaking this Indian force by one vigor-
ous assault, it was likely they would be deterred
from making any future attack of consequence.
The fighting alternative was, therefore, instantly
adopted, and the boats pulled to shore nearly
opposite to the hostile force. Here the arms
were all examined and put in order. The swivel
and howitzers were then loaded with powder and
discharged, to let the savages know by the report
how formidably they were provided. The noise
echoed along the shores of the river, and must
have startled the warriors, wdio were only accus-
tomed to sharp reports of rifles. The same
pieces were then loaded with as many bullets as
they would probably bear ; aftei" which the whole
party embarked, and pulled across the river.
The Indians remained watching them in silence,
their painted forms and visages glai-ing in the
the sun, and their feathers fluttering in the
breeze. The poor Canadians eyed them with
rueful glances, and now and then a fearful
ejaculation escaped them. " Parbleu ! this is a
sad scrape we are in, brother ! " one would mut-
ter to the next oarsman. " Aye, aye ! " the other
would reply, " we are not going to a wedding,
my friend ! "

When the boats arrived within" rifle-shot, the
hunters and other fighting personages on board
seized their weapons, and prepared for action.
4s thej^ rose to fire, a confusion took place among

218 ASTORIA.

the savages. They displayed their buffalo robes,
raised them with both hands above their heads,
and then spread them before them on the ground,
At sight of this, Pierre Dorion eagerly cried out
to the party not to fire, as this movement was a
peaceful signal, and an invitation to a parley.
Immediately about a dozen of the principal war-
riors, separating from the rest, descended to the
edge of the river, lighted a fire, seated themselves
in a semicircle round it, and, displaying the
calumet, invited the party to land. Mr. Hunt
now called a council of the partners on board of
his boat. The question was, whether to trust to
the amicable overtures of these ferocious people?
It was determined in the affirmative ; for, other-
wise, there was no alternative but to fight them.
The main body of the party were ordered to
remain on board of the boats, keeping within shot
and prepared to fire in case of any signs of
treachery ; while Mr. Hunt and the other part-
ners (M'Kenzie, Crooks, Miller, and M'Lellan)
proceeded to land, accompanied by the interpreter
and Mr. Bradbury. The chiefs, who awaited
them on the margin of the river, remained seated
in their semicircle, without stirring a limb or
moving a muscle, motionless as so many statues.
Mr. Hunt and his companions advanced without
hesitation, and took their seats on the sand so as
to complete the circle. The band of warriors
who lined the banks above stood looking down in
silent groups and clusters, some ostentatiously
equipped and decorated, others entirely naked,
but fantastically painted, and all variously armed.

THE PIPE OF PEACE. 219

The pipe of peace was now brought forward
with due ceremony. The bowl was of a species
of red stone resembling porphyry ; the stem
was six feet in length, decorated with tufts of
horse-hair dyed red. The pipe-bearer stepped
within the circle, lighted the pipe, held it towards
the sun, then towards the different points of the
compass, after which he handed it to the principal
chief The latter smoked a few whiffs, then,
holding the head of the pipe in his hand, offered
the other end to Mr. Hunt, and to each one suc-
cessively in the circle, When all had smoked, it
was considered that an assurance of good faith and
amity had been interchanged. Mr. Hunt now
made a speech in Fj'ench, which was interpreted
as he proceeded by Pierre Dorion. He informed
the Sioux of the real object of the expedition of
himself and his companions, which was, not to
trade with any of the tribes up the river, but to
cross the mountains to the great salt lake in the
west, in search of some of their brothers, whom
they had not seen for eleven months. That he
had heard of the intention of the Sioux to
oppose his passage, and was prepared, as they
miglit see, to effect it at all hazards ; neverthe-
less, his feelings towards the Sioux were friendly,
in proof of which he had brought them a present
of tobacco and corn. So saying, he ordered
about fifteen carottes of tobacco, and as many
bags of corn, to be brought from the boat and
aid in a heap near the council fire.

The sight of these presents mollified the chief-
tain, who had, doubtless, been previously ren-

220 ASTORIA.

dered considerate by tlie resolute conduct of tho
white men, the judicious disposition of their
little armament, the completeness of their equip-
ments, and the compact array of battle which
they presented. He made a speech in reply, in
which he stated the object of their hostile assem-
blage, which had been merely to prevent sup-
plies of arms and ammunition from going to the
Arickaras, Mandans, and Minatarees, with whom
they were at war ; but being now convinced that
the party were carrying no supplies of the kind,
but merely proceeding ift quest of their brothers
beyond the mountains, they would not impede
them in their voyage. He concluded by thaid?;-
ing them for their present, and advising them to
encamp on the opposite side of the river, as he
had some young men among his warriors for
whose discretion he could not be answerable, and
who might be troublesome.

Here ended the conference : they all arose,
shook hands, and parted. Mr. Hunt and his
companions reembarked, and the boats proceeded
oil their course unmolested.

CHAPTER XIX.

N the afternoon of the followuig day
(June 1st) they arrived at the great
bend, where the river winds for about
thirty miles round a circular peninsula, the neck
of which is not above two thousand yards across.
On the succeeding morning, at an early hour, they
descried two Indians standing on a high bank of
the river, waving and spreading their buffiilo robes
in signs of amity. They immediately pulled to shore
and landed. On approaching the savages, however,
the latter showed evident symptoms of alarm,
spreading out their arms horizontally, according to
their mode of supplicating clemency. The reason
was soon explained. They proved to be two
chiefs of the very war party that had brought
Messrs. Crooks and M'Lellan to a stand two years
before, and obliged them to escape down the river.
They ran to embrace these gentlemen, as if de-
lighted to meet with them ; yet they evidently
feared some retaliation of their past misconduct,
nor were they quite at ease until the pipe of
peace had been smoked.

Mr. Hunt having been informed that the tribe
to which these men belonged had killed three
white men during the preceding summer, re-
proached them with the crime, and demanded their

222 ASTORIA.

reasons for such savage hostility. " We kill wliite
men," replied one of the chiefs, "because white
men kill us. That very man," added he, pointing
to Carson, one of the new recruits, " killed one
of our brothers last summer. The three white
men were slain to avenge his death."

Their chief was correct in his reply. Carson
admitted that, being with a party of Arickaras on
the banks of the Missouri, and seeing a war party
of Sioux on the opposite side, he had fired with
his rifle across. It was a random shot, made with-
out much expectation of effect, for the river was
full half a mile in breadth. Unluckily it brought
down a Sioux warrior, for whose wanton destruc-
tion threefold vengeance had been taken, as
has been stated. In this way outrages are fre-
quently committed on the natives by thought-
less or mischievous white men ; the Indians
retaliate according to a law of their code, which
requires blood for blood ; their act, of what with
them is pious vengeance, resounds throughout the
land, and is represented as wanton and unj^rovoked ;
the neighborhood is roused to arms ; a war ensues,
which ends in the destruction of half the tribe,
the ruin of the rest, and their expulsion from their
hereditary homes. Such is too often the real
history of Indian warfare, which in general is
traced up only to some vindictive act of a savage ;
while the outrage of the scoundrel white man that
provoked it is sunk in silence.

The two chiefs, having smoked their pipe of
peace and received a few presents, departed well
satisfied. In a little while two others appeared

DANGERS AND PRECAUTIONS. 223

on horseback, and rode up abreast of the boats.
They had seen the presents given to their comrades,
but were dissatisfied with them, and came after
the boats to ask for more. Being somewhat per-
emptory and insolent in their demands, Mr. Hunt
gave them a flat refusal, and threatened, if they
or any of their tribe followed him with similar de-
mands, to treat them as enemies. They turned
and rode off in a furious passion. As he was
ignorant what force these chiefs might have be-
hind the hills, and as it was very possible they
might take advantage of some pass of the river
to attack the boats, Mr. Hunt called all stragglers
on board and prepared for such emergency. Tt
was agreed that the large boat commanded by Mr.
Hunt should ascend along the northeast side of the
river, and the three smaller boats along the south
side. By this arrangement each party would
command a view of the opposite heights above
the heads and out of the sight of their companions,
and could give the alarm should they perceive anj-
Indians lurking there. The signal of alarm was
to be two shots fired in quick succession.

The boats proceeded for the greater part of the
day without seeing any signs of an enemy. About
four o'clock in the afternoon the large boat, com-
manded by Mr. Hunt, came to where the river
was divided by a long sand-bar, which apparently,
however, left a sufficient channel between it and
the shore along which they were advancing. He
kept up this channel, therefore, for some distance,
until the water proved too shallow for the boat.
It was necessary, therefore, to put about, return

224 ASTORIA.

down the cliaunel, and pull round the lower end
of the sand-bar into the main stream. Just as
he had given orders to this effect to his men, two
signal guns were fired from the boats on the op-
posite side of the river. At the same moment, a
file of savage warriors was observed pouring down
from the impending bank, and gathering on the
shore at the lower end of the bar. They were
evidently a war party, being armed with bows and
arrows, battle clubs and carbines, and round buck-
lers of buffalo hide, and their naked bodies were
painted with black and white stripes. The nat-
ural inference was, that they belonged to the two
tribes of Sioux which had been expected by the
great war party, and that they had been incited
to hostility by the two chiefs who had been en-
raged by the refusal and the menace of Mr. Hunt.
Here then was a fearful predicament. Mr. Hunt
and his crew seemed caught, as it were, in a trap.
The Indians, to the number of about a hundred,
had already taken possession of a point near which
the boat would have to pass : others kept pouring
down the bank, and it was probable that some
would remain posted on the top of the height.

The hazardous situation of Mr. Hunt was per-
ceived by those in the other boats, and they has-
tened to his assistance. They were at some dis-
tance above the sand-bar, however, and on the
opposite side of the river, and saw, with intense
anxiety, the number of savages continually aug-
menting, at the lower end of the channel, so that
the boat would be exposed to a fearful attack
before they could render it any assistance. Their

INDIAN FRIENDS. 225

anxiety increased, as they saw Mr. Hunt and his
party descending the channel and dauntlessly ap-
proaching the point of danger; but it suddenly
changed into surprise on beholding the boat pass
v^loso by the savage horde unmolested, and steer
out safely into the broad river.

The next moment the whole band of warriors
was in motion. They ran along the bank until
they were opposite to the boats, then throwing
by their weapons and buffalo robes, plunged into
the river, waded and swam off to the boats and
surrounded them in crowds, seeking to shake hands
with every individual on board ; for the Indians
have long since found this to be the white man's
token of amity, and they carry it to an extreme.

All uneasiness was now at an end. The In-
dians proved to be a war party of Arickaras, Man-
dans, and Minatarees, consisting of three hundred
warriors, and bound on a foray against the Sioux.
Their war plans were abandoned for the present,
and they determined to return to the Arickara
town, where they hoped to obtain from the white
men arms and ammunition that would enable them
to take the field with advantage over their enemies.

The boats now sought the first convenient place
for encamping. The tents were pitched ; the war-
riors fixed their camp at about a hundred yards
distant ; provisions were furnished from the boats
sufficient for all parties ; there was hearty though
rude feasting in both camps, and in the evening
the red warriors entertained their white friends
with dances and songs, that lasted until after raid-
night.

15

226 ASTORIA.

On the following morning (July 3) the travel*
lers reerabarked, and took a temporary leave of
their Indian friends, who intended to proceed im-
mediately for the Arickara town, where they
expected to arrive in three days, long before the
boats could reach there. Mr. Hunt had not
proceeded far before the chief came galloping
along the shore and made signs for a parley.
He said, his people could not go home satisfied
unless they had something to take with them to
prove that they had met with the white men.
Mr. Hunt understood the drift of the speech, and
made the chief a present of a cask of powder,
a bag of balls, and three dozen of knives, with
which he was highly pleased. While the chief
was receiving these presents an Indian came run-
ning along the shore, and announced that a boat,
filled with white men, was coming up the river.
This was by no means agreeable tidings to Mr.
Hunt, who correctly concluded it to be the boat
of Mr. Manuel Lisa ; and he was vexed to find
that alert and adventurous trader upon his heels,
whom he hoped to have out-maneuvered, and left
far behhid. Lisa, however, was too much ex-
perienced in the wiles of Indian trade to be
lulled by the promise of waiting for him at the
Poncas village ; on the contrary, he had allowed
himself no repose, and had strained every nerve
to overtake the rival party, and availing himself
of the moonlight, had even sailed during a con-
siderable part of the night. In this he was
partly prompted by his apprehensions of the
Sioux, having met a boat which had probably

APPROACH OF LISA. 227

passed Mr. Hunt's party in the night, and which
had been fired into by these savages.

On hearing that Lisa was so near at hand,
Mr. Hunt perceived that it was useless to attempt
any longer to evade him ; after proceeding a
few miles further, therefore, he came to a halt
and waited for him to come up. In a little while
the barge of Lisa made its appearance. It came
sweeping gently up the river, manned by its
twenty stout oarsmen, and armed by a swivel
mounted at the bow. The whole number on
board amounted to twenty-six men ; among
whem was Mr. Henry Breckenridge, then a
young, enterprising man ; who was a mere pas-
senger, tempted by notions of curiosity to accom-
pany Mr. Lisa. He has since made himself known
by various writing, among which may be noted a
narrative of this very voyage.

The approach of Lisa, while it was regarded
with uneasiness by Mr. Hunt, roused the ire of
M'LoUan ; who, calling to mind old grievances,
began to look round for his rifle, as if he really
intended to carry his threat into execution and
shoot him on the spot ; and it was with some
difficulty that Mr. Hunt was enabled to restrain
his ire, and prevent a scene of outrage and con-
fusion.

The meeting between the two leaders, thus
mutually distrustful, could not be very cordial :
end as to Messrs. Crooks and M'Lellan, though
they refrained from any outbreak, yet they re-
garded in grim defiance their old rival and under-
olotter. In truth a general distrust prevailed

228 ASTORIA.

throughout the party coucerning Lisa and \\U
intentions. They considered him artful and
shppery, and secretly anxious for the failure
of their expedition. There being now noth-
ing more to be apprehended from the Sioux,
they suspected that Lisa would take advantage
of his twenty-oared barge to leave them and get
first among the Arickaras. As he had traded
with those people and possessed great influence
over them, it was feared he might make use of
it to impede the business of Mr. Hunt and his
party. It was resolved, therefore, to keep a
sharp look-out upon his movements ; and M'Lel-
lan swore that if he saw the least sign of treach-
ery on his part, he would instantly put his old
threat into execution.

Nothwithstanding these secret jealousies and
heart-burnings, the two parties maintained an
outward appearance of civility, and for two days
continued forward in company with some degree
of harmony. On the third day, however, an ex-
plosion took place, and it was produced by no
less a personage than Pierre Dorion, the half-
breed interpreter. It will be recollected that this
worthy had been obliged to steal a march from St.
Louis, to avoid being arrested for an old whiskey
debt which he owed to the Missouri Fur Com-
pany, and by which Mr. Lisa had hoped to pre-
vent his enlisting in Mr. Hunt's expedition.
Dorion, since the arrival of Lisa, had kept aloof
and regarded him with a sullen and dogged as-
pect. On the fifth of July the two parties were
brought to a halt by a heavy rain, and remained

THE RAGE OF PIERRE D ORION. 229

Encamped about a hundred yards apart. In the
course of the day Lisa undertook to tamper with
the faith of Pierre Dorion, and, inviting him on
board of his boat, regaled him with his favorite
whiskey. When he thought him sufficiently mel-
lowed, he proposed to him to quit the service of
his new employers and return to his old allegi-
ance. Finding him not to be moved by soft
words, he called to mind his old debt to tlie
company, and threatened to carry him off by
force, in payment of it. The mention of this
debt always stirred up the gall of Pierre Dorion,
bringing with it the remembrance of the whiskey
extortion. A violent quarrel arose between him
and Lisa, and he left the boat in high dudgeon.
His first step was to repair to the tent of Mr.
Hunt and reveal the attempt that had been made
to shake his foith. While he was yet talking
Lisa entered the tent, under the pretext of com-
ing to borrow a towing line. High words in-
stantly ensued between him and Dorion, which
ended by the half-breed's dealing him a blow.
A quarrel in the " Lidian country," however, ia
not to be settled with fisticuffs. Lisa immedi-
ately rushed to his boat for a weapon. Dorion
snatched up a pair of pistols belonging to Mr.
Hunt, and placed himself in battle array. The
noise had roused the camp, and every one pressed
to know the cause. Lisa now reappeared upon
the field with a knife stuck in his girdle. Mr.
Bieckenridge, who had tried in vain to mollify
his ire, accompanied him to the scene of action
Pierre Dorion's pistols gave him the advantage,

230 ASTORIA.

and he maintained a most warlike attitude. In
the meantime, Crooks and M'Lellan had learnt
the cause of the affray, and were each eager to
take the quarrel into their own hands. A scene
of uproar and hubbub ensued that defies descrip-
tion. M'Lellan would have brought his rifle
into play and settled all old and new grudges
by a pull of the trigger, had he not been re-
strained by Mr. Hunt. That gentleman acted
as moderator, endeavoring to prevent a general
melee ; in the midst of the brawl, however, an
expression was made use of by Lisa derogatory
to his own honor. In an instant the tranquil
spirit of Mr. Hunt was in a flame. He now
became as eager for the fight as any one on the
ground, and challenged Lisa to settle the dispute
on the spot with pistols. Lisa repaired to his
boat to arm himself for the deadly feud. He
was followed by Messrs. Bradbury and Brecken-
ridge, who, novices in Indian life and the " chiv-
alry " of the frontier, had no relish for scenes of
blood and brawl. By their earnest mediation
the quarrel was brought to a close without blood-
shed ; but the two leaders of the rival camps sep-
arated in anger, and all personal intercourse ceased
between them.

CHAPTER XX.

HE rival parties now coasted along the

opposite sides of the river, within sight
^m of each other ; the barges of Mr. Hunt
always keeping some distance in the advance, lest
Lisa should push on and get first to the Arickara
village. The scenery and objects, as they pro-
ceeded, gave evidence that they were advancing
deeper and deeper into the domains of savage
nature. Boundless wastes kept extending to the
eye, more and more animated by herds of buf-
falo. Sometimes these iniwieldy animals were
seen moving ui long procession across the silent
landscape ; at other times they were scattered
about, singly or in groups, on the broad, enam-
eled prairies and green acclivities, some cropping
the rich pasturage, others reclining amidst the
flowery herbage ; the whole scene realizing in a
manner the old Scriptural descriptions of the
vast pastoral countries of the Orient, with " cattle
upon a thousand hills.*'

At one place the shores seemed absolutely
lined with buffaloes ; many were making their
way a^sross the stream, snorting, and blowing,
and floundering. Numbers, in spite of every
effort, were borne by the rapid current within
sliot of the boats, and several were killed. At

233 ASTORIA.

another place a number were desciied on the
beach of a small island, under the shade of the
trees, or standing in the water, like cattle, to
avoid the flies and the heat of the day.

Several of the best marksmen stationed them-
selves in the bow of a barge which advanced
f-'lowly and silently, stemming the current with
the aid of a broad sail and a fair breeze. The
buffaloes stood gazing quietly at the barge as it
approached, perfectly unconscious of their danger.
Tlie fattest of the herd was selected by the hun-
ters, who all. fired together and brought down
their victim.

Beside the buffliloes they saw abundance of
Qeer, and frequent gangs of stately elks, together
with light troops of sprightly antelopes, the fleet-
est and most beautiful inhabitants of the prairies.

There are two kinds of antelopes in these re-
gions, one nearly the size of the common deer,
the other not much larger than a goat. Their
color is a light gray, or rather dun, slightly spot-
ted with white ; and they have small horns like
those of the deer, which they never shed. Noth-
ing can surpass the delicate and elegant finish of
their limbs, in which lightness, elasticity, and
strength are wonderfully combined. All the at-
titudes and movements of this beautiful animal
are graceful and picturesque ; and it is altogether
as fit a subject for the fanciful uses of the poet
as the oft-sung gazelle of the East.

Their habits are shy and capricious ; they keep
on the open plains, are quick to take the alarm,
and bound away with a fleetness that defies pur-

INQUISITIVENESS OF ANTELOPES. 233

Buit. When thus skimming across a prairie in
the autumn, their light gray or dun color blend,-*
with the hue of the withered herbage, the swift*
ness of their motion baffles the eye, and they
ahnost seem unsubstantial forms, driven like gos-
samer before the wind.

While they thus keep to the open plain and
trust to their speed, they are safe ; but they have
a prurient curiosity that sometimes betrays them
to their ruin. When they have scud for some
distance and left their pursuer behind, they will
suddenly stop and turn to gaze at the object of
their alarm. If the pursuit is not followed up
they will, after a time, yield to their inquisitive
hankering, and return to the place from whence
they have been frightened.

John Day, the veteran hunter already men-
tioned, displayed his experience and skill in en-
trapping one of these beautiful animals. Taking
advantage of its well known curiosity, he laid
down flat among the grass, and putting his hand-
kerchief on the end of his ramrod, waved it
gently in the air. This had the effect of the
fabled fascination of the rattlesnake. The ante-
lope approached timidly, pausing and reconnoit-
ring with increased curiosity ; moving round the
point of attraction in a circle, but still drawing
nearer and nearer, until being within the range
of the deadly rifle, he fell a victim to his curi-
osity.

On the 10th of June, as the party were mak-
hig brisk progress with a fine breeze, they met a
canoe with three Indians descending the river.

234 ASTORIA.

They came to a parley, and brought news fiom
the Arlckara village. The war party, which iiad
caused such alarm at the sand-bar, had reached
the village some days previously, announced the
approach of a party of traders, and displayed with
great ostentation the presents they had receiv^ed
from them. On further conversation with these
three Indians, Mr. Hunt learnt the real dano'er
which he had run, when hemmed up within the
sand-bar. The Mandans who were of the war
party, when they saw the boat so completely en-
trapped and apparently within their power, had
been eager for attacking it, and securing so rich a
prize. The Minatarees, also, were nothing loth,
feeling in some measure committed in hostility to
the whites, in consequence of their tribe having
killed two white men above the fort of the Mis-
souri Fur Company. Fortunately, the Arickaras,
who formed the majority of the war party, proved
true in their friendship to the whites, and pre-
vented any hostile act, otherwise a bloody affray,
and perhaps a horrible massacre might have en-
sued.

On the 11th of June, Mr. Hunt and his com-
panions encamped near an island about six miles
below the Arickara village. Mr. Lisa encamped,
as usual, at no great distance ; but the same sul-
len and jealous reserve, and non-intercourse con-
tinued between them. Shortly after pitching the
tents, Mr. Breckenridge made his appearance as
an ambassador from the rival camp. He came
on behalf of his companions, to arrange the man-
ner of makinjr their entrance into the villajre and

AN ARICKARA EMBASSY. 235

of receiving the chiefs ; for everything of the
kind is a matter of grave ceremonial among the
Indians.

The partners now expressed frankly their deep
distrust of the intentions of Mr. Lisa, and their
apprehensions, that, out of the jealousy of trade,
and resentment of recent disputes, he might seek
to instigate the Arickaras against them. Mr.
Breckenridge assured them that their suspicions
were entirely groundless, and pledged himself
that nothing of the kind should take place. He
found it difficult, however, to remove their dis-
trust ; the conference, therefore, ended without
producing any cordial understanding ; and M'Lel-
lan recurred to his old threat of shooting Lisa the
instant he discovered anytliing like treachery in
his proceedings.

That night the rain fell in torrents, accom-
panied by thunder and lightning. The camp was
deluged, and the bedding and baggage drenched.
All hands' embarked at an early hour, and set
forward for the village. About nine o'clock,
when half way, they met a canoe, on board of
which were two Arickara dignitaries. One, a
fine-looking man, much above the common size,
was hereditary chief of the village ; he was called
the Left-handed, on account of a personal pecul-
iarity. The, other, a ferocious-looking savage,
was the war chief, or generalissimo ; he was
known by the name of the Big Man, an appella-
Uon lie well deserved from his size, for he was of
a gigantic frame. Both were of fairer complex-
ion than is usual with savajjes.

236 ASTORIA.

They were accompanied by an interpreter ; a
French Creole, one of those haphazard wights of
Gallic origin who abound upon our frontier, liv-
ing among the Indians like one of their own race.
He had been twenty years among the Arickaras,
had a squaw and troop of piebald children, and
officiated as interpreter to the chiefs. Through
this worthy organ the two dignitaries signified to
Mr. Hunt their sovereign intention to oppose the
further progress of the expedition up tlie river
unless a boat were left to trade with them. Mr.
Hunt in reply, explained the object of his voyage,
and his intention of debarking at their village and
proceeding thence by land ; and that he would
willingly trade with tiiem for a supply of horses
for his journi^y. With this exphuuition they were
perfectly satisfied, and putting about, steered for
their village to make preparations for the recep-
tion of t!ie strangers.

The village of the Rikaras, Arickaras, or Ric-
arees, for tlie name is thus variously written, is
between the 46th and 47th parallels of north
latitude, and fourteen hundred and thirty miles
above tlie mouth of the Missouri. The party
reached it about ten o'clock in the morning, but
landed on the opposite side of the river, where
they spread out their baggage and effects to dry.
From hence they commanded an excellent view
of the village- It was divided into two portions,
about eighty yards apart, being inhabited by two
distinct bands. The whole extended about three-
quarters of a mile along the river bank, and was
composed of conical lodges, that looked like so

'' THE LEtT-HANDEW INVITATION. 237

many small hillocks, being wooden frames inter-
twined with osier, and covered with earth. The
plain beyond the village swept up into hills of
considerable height, but the whole country was
nearly destitute of trees. While they were re-
garding the village, they beheld a singular fleet
coming down the river. It consisted of a num-
ber of canoes, each made of a single buffalo hide
stretched on sticks, so as to form a kind of circu-
lar trough. Each one was navigated by a single
squaw, who knelt in the bottom and paddled ;
towing after her frail bark a bundle of floating
wood intended for firing. This kind of canoe is
in frequent use among the Indians ; the buffalo
hide being readily made up into a bundle and
transported on horse-back ; it is very serviceable
in conveying baggage across the rivers.

The great number of horses grazing around
the village, and scattered over the neigliboring
hills and valleys, bespoke the equesti-ian habit of
the Arickaras, who are admirable horsemen. In-
deed, in the number of his horses consists the
wealth of an Indian of the prairies ; who resem-
bles an Arab in his passion for this noble animal,
and in his adroitness in the management of it.

After a time, the voice of the sovereign chief,
" the Left-handed," was heard across the river,
announcing that the council lodge was preparing,
and inviting the white men to come over. The
river was half a mile in width, yet every word
uttered by the chieftain was heard ; this may be
^)artly attributed to tlie distinct manner in which
eveiy syllable of the compound words in the In-

238 ASTORIA.

dian languages is articulated and accented ; but
in truth, a savage warrior might often rival
Achilles himself for force of lungs.-'-

Now came the delicate point of management —
how the two rival parties were to conduct their
visit to the village with proper circumspection
and due decorum. Neither of the leaders had
spoken to each other since tlieir quarrel. All
communication had been by ambassadors. See-
ing the jealousy entertained of Lisa, Mr. Breck-
eiiridge, in his negotiation, had arranged that a
deputation from each party should cross the river
at the same time, so that neither would have the
first access to the ear of the Arickaras.

The distrust of Lisa, however, had increased
in proportion as they approached the sphere of
action ; and M'Lellan, in particular, kept a vigilant
eye upon his motions, swearing to shoot him if he
attempted to cross the river first.

About two o'clock the large boat of Mr. Hunt
was manned, and he stepped on board, accompa-
nied by Messrs. M'Kenzie and M'Lellan ; Lisa
at the same time embarked in his barge ; the
two deputations amounted in all to fourteen per-
sons, and never was any movement of rival po-
tentates conducted with more wary exactness.

They landed amidst a rabble crowd, and were
received on the bank by the left-handed chief,
who conducted them into the village with grave
courtesy ; driving to the right and left the
swarms of old squaws, imp-like boys, and vag-
abond dogs, with which the place abounded.
1 Bradbury, p. 110.

ARICKARA COUNCIL LODGE. 33'J

They wound their way between the cabins, which
looked like dirt-heaps huddled together without
any plan, and surrounded by old palisades ; all
filthy in the extreme, and redolent of villainous
smells.

At length they arrived at the council lodge.
It was somewhat spacious, and formed of four
forked trunks of trees placed upright, supporting
cross-beams and a frame of poles interwoven
with osiers, and the whole covered with earth.
A hole sunken in the centre formed the fireplace,
and immediately above was a circular hole in the
apex of the lodge, to let out the smoke and let in
the daylight. Around the lodge were recesses
for sleeping, like the berths on board ships,
screened from view by curtains of dressed skin??.
At the upper end of the lodge was a kind of
hunting and warlike trophy, consisting of two
buffalo heads gairishly painted, suTmounted by
shields, bows, quivers of arrows, and other weap-
ons.

On entering the lodge the chief pointed to
mats or cushions which had been placed around
for the strangers, and on which they seated them-
selves, while he placed himself on a kind of stool.
An old man then came forward with the pipe
of peace or good-fellowship, liglited and handed
it to the chief, and then falling back, squatted
himself near the door. The pipe was passed
from mouth to mouth, each one taking a whiff,
which is equivalent to the inviolable pledge of
faith, of taking salt together among the ancient.
Britons. The chief then made a sign to the

240 ASTORIA.

old pipe-bearer, who seemed to fill, likewise, the
station of herald, seneschal, and public crier, for
he ascended to the top of the lodge to make proc-
lamation. Plere he took liis post beside the
aperture for the emission of smoke and the ad-
mission of light ; the chief dictated from witliin
what he was to proclaim, and he bawled it forth
with a force of lungs that resounded over all the
village. In this way he summoned the warriors
and great men to council ; every now and then
reporting progress to his chief through the hole
in the roof.

In a little while the braves and sages began to
enter one by one, as their names were called or
announced, emerging from under the buffalo robe
suspended over the entrance instead of a door,
stalking across the lodge to the skins placed on
the floor, and crouching down on them in silence.
In this way twenty entered and took their seats,
forming an assemblage worthy of the pencil : for
the Arickaras are a noble race of men, large and
well formed, and maintain a savage grandeur
and gravity of demeanor in their solemn cere-
monials.

All being seated, the old seneschal prepared
the pipe of ceremony or council, and having lit
it, handed it to the chief. He inhaled the sacred
smoke, gave a puff upward to the heaven, then
downward to the earth, then towards the east ;
after this it was as usual passed fi-otn mouth to
mouth, each holding it respectfully until his
neighbor had taken several whiffs ; aiid now the
grand council was considered as opened in due
torm

THE SPEECH OF LISA. 241

The chief made an harangue welcoming tlie
white men to his village, and expressing his hap-
piness in taking them by the hand as friends; but
at the same time complaining of the poverty of
himself and !iis people; the usual prelude among
Indians to begging or hard bargaining.

Lisa rose to reply, and the eyes of Hunt and
his companions were eagerly turned upon him,
those of M'Lellan glaring like a basilisk's. He
began by the usual expressions of friendship, and
then proceeded to explain the object of his own
party. Those persons, however, said he, point-
ing to Mr. Hunt and his companions, are of a
different party, and are quite distinct in their
views ; but, added he, though we are separate par-
ties, we make but orie common cause when the
safety of either is concerned. Any injury or
insult offered to them I shall consider as done to
myself, and will resent it accordingly. I trust,
therefore, that you will treat them with the same
friendship that you have always manifested for
me, doing everything in your power to serve
them and to help them on their way. The
speech of Lisa, delivered with an air of frankness
and sincerity, agreeably surprised and disap-
pointed the rival party.

Mr. Hunt then spoke, declaring the object of
his journey to the great Salt Lake beyond the
mountains, and that he should want horses for
the purpose, for which he was ready to trade,
having brought with him plenty of goods. Both
he and Lisa concluded their speeches by making
presents of tobacco,
le

242 ASTORIA,

The left-handed chieftiiiri in reply promised his
friendship and aid to the new corner's, and wel-
comed them to his village. He added that they
had not the number of hoi^es to spare that Mr.
Hunt required, and expressed a doubt whether
they should be able to part with any. Upon
this, aiioLlier chieftain, called Gray Eyes, made a
speech, and declared that they could readily sup-
ply Mr. Hunt with all the hoi*ses he miglit want,
since, if they bad not enough in the village, they
could easily steal more. This honest expedient
immediately removed the main difficulty ; but the
chief deferred all trading for a day or two; until
he should have time to consult with his subordi-
nate chiefs as to market rates ; for the principal
chief of a village, in conjunction with his council,
usually fixes the prices at which articles shall be
bought and sold, and to them the village must
conform.

The council now broke up. Mr. Hunt trans-
ferred his camp across the river at a little dis-
tance below the village, aiid the left-har.ded chief
placed some of his warriors as a guaixi to prevent
the intrusion of any of his people. The camp
was pitched on the river bank just above the
boats. The tents, and the men wrapped in their
blankets and bivouacking on skins in the open
air, surrounded the baggage at night. Four sen-
tinels also kept watch within sight of each other
outside of the camp until midnight, when they
were relieved by four others who mouiited guard
until daylight. Mr. Lisa encamped near to Mr
Hunt, between him and the villaore.

HARMONY BETWEEN THE RIVALS. 243

The speech of Mr. Lisa in the council had
produced a pacific effect in the encampment
Though the sincerity of his friendship and good-
will towards the new company still remained
matter of doubt, he was no longer suspected of an
intention to play false. The intercourse between
the two leaders was therefoi-e resumed, and the
affairs of both parties went on harmoniously.

CHAPTER XXI.

TRADE now commenced with the
Arickaras under the reguhition and su-
pervision of their two chieftains. Lisa
sent a part of his goods to the lodge of the left-
handed dignitary, and Mr. Hunt established his
mart in the lodge of the Big Man. The village
soon presented the appearance of a busy fair ;
and as horses were in demand, the purlieus and
the adjacent plain were like the vicinity of a
Tartar encampment ; horses were put through
all their paces, and horsemen were careering
about with that dexterity and grace for which
the Arickaras are noted. As soon as a horse
was purchased, his tail was cropped, a sure mode
of distinguishing him from the horses of the
tribe ; for the Indians disdain to practise this
absurd, barbarous, and indecent mutilation, in-
vented by some mean and vulgar mind, insensible
to the merit and perfections of the animal. On
the contrary, the Indian horses are suffered to
remain in every respect the superb and beautiful
animals which nature formed them.

The wealth of an Indian of the far west con-
sists principally in his horses, of which each
chief and warrior possesses a great number, so
that the plains about an Indian village or en-

HORSE TRADING. 245

campment are covered with them, These form
objects of traffic, or objects of depredation, and
in this way pass from tribe to tribe over greai
tracts of country. The horses owned by the
Arickaras are, for the most part, of the wild
stock of the pi'airies ; some however, had been
obtained from the Poncas, Pawnees, and other
tribes to the southwest, who had stolen them
from the Spaniards in the course of horse-stealing
expeditions into the Mexican territories. These
were to be known by being branded ; a Spanish
mode of marking horses not practiced by the In-
dians.

As the Arickaras were meditating another ex-
pedition against their enemies the Sioux, the ar-
ticles of traffic most in demand were guns, tom-
ahawks, scalping-knives, powder, ball, and other
munitions of war. The price of a horse, as
regulated by the chiefs, was commonly ten dol-
lars worth of goods at first cost. To supply the
demand thus suddeidy created, parties of young
men and braves had sallied forth on expeditions
to steal horses ; a species of service among the
Indians which takes precedence of hunting, and
is considered a department of honorable warfare.

While the leaders of the expedition were ac-
tively engaged in preparing for the approaching
journey, those who had accompanied it for curi-
osity or amusement, found ample matter for ob-
Hervation in the village and its inhabitants.
Wherever they went they were kindly enter-
tained. If they entered a lodge, the buffiilo
robe was spread before the fire for them to sit

246 ASTORIA.

down; the pipe was brought, and while the
master of the lodge conversed with his guests,
the squaw put the earthen vessel over the fire,
well filled with dried-buffalo meat and pounded
corn; for the Indiau in his native state, before
he has mingled much with white men, and ac-
quired their sordid habits, has the hospitality of
the Arab : never does a stranger enter his door
without having food placed before him ; and
never is the food thus furnished made a matter
of traffic.

The life of an Indian when at home in his
village is a lite of indolence and amusement.
To the woman is consigned the labors of the
household and the field ; she arranges the lodge ;
brings wood for the fire ; cooks ; jerks venison
and buffalo meat ; dresses the skins of the an-
imals killed in the chase ; cultivates the little
patch of maize, pumpkins, and pulse, which fur-
nishes a great part of their provisions. Their
time for repose and recreation is at sunset,
when the labors of the day being ended, they
gather together to amuse themselves with petty
games, or to hold gossiping . convocations on the
tops of their lodges.

As to the Indian, he is a game animal, not to
be degraded by useful or menial toil. It is
enough that he exposes himself to the hardships
of the chase and the perils of war ; that he brings
home food for his family, and watches and fights
for its protection. Everything else is beneath
his attention. When at home, he attends only
to his weapons and his horses, preparing the

DOMESTIC LIFE OF AN INDIAN. 247

means of future exploit. Or he engages with
his comrades in games of dexterity, agility and
strength ; or in gambling games in which every-
thing is put at hazard with a recklessness seldom
witnessed in civilized life,

A great part of the idle leisure of tlie In-
dians when at home, is passed in groups, squat-
ted together on the bank of a river, on the top
of a mound on the prairie, or on the roof of one
of their earth-covered lodges, talking over the
news of the day, the affairs of the tribe, the
events and exploits of their last hunting or fight-
ing expedition; or listening to the stories of old
times told by some veteran chronicler ; resem-
bling a group of our village quidnuncs and pol-
iticians, listening to the prosings of some super-
annuated oiacle, or discussing the contents of an
ancient newspaper.

As to the Indian women, they are far from
complaining of their lot. On the contrary, they
would despise their husbands could they stoop to
any menial offic*e, and would think it conveyed
an imputation upon their own conduct. It is
the worst insult one virago can cast upon an-
other in a moment of altercation. " Infamous
womaji ! " will she cry, " I have seen your husband
carrying wood into his lodge to make the fire.
Where was his squaw, that he should be obliged
to make a woman of himself!"

Mr. Hunt and his fellow travellers had not
been many days at the Arickara village, when
nimors began to circulate that the Sioux had fol-
lowed them up, and that a war party, four or

248 ASTORIA.

five hundred in number, were lurking some-
where in the neighborhood. These rumors pro-
duced much embarrassment in the camp. The
white hunters were deterred from venturing
forth in quest of game, neither did tiie leaders
think it proper to expose them to such a risk.
The Arickaras, too, who had suffered greatly in
iheir wars with this cruel and ferocious tribe,
were roused to increased vigilance, and stationed
mounted scouts upon the neighboring hills.
This, however, is a general precaution among
the tribes of the prairies. Those immense
plains present a horizon like the ocean, so that
any object of importance can be descried afar,
and information communicated to a great dis-
tance. The scouts are stationed on the hills,
therefore, to look out both for game and for ene-
mies, and are, in a manner, living telegraphs
conveying their intelligence by concerted signs.
If they wish to give notice of a herd of buffalo
in the plain beyond, they gallop backwards and
forwards abreast, on the summit of the hill. If
they perceive an enemy at hand, they gallop to
and fro, crossing each other ; at sight of which
the whole village flies to arms.

Such an alarm was given in the afternoon of
the loth. Four scouts were seen crossing and
recrossing each other at full gallop, on the sum-
mit of a hill about two miles distant down the
river. The cry was up that the Sioux were
coming. In an instant the village was in an up-
roar. Men, women, and children were all brawl-
ing and shouting ; dogs barking, yelping, and

AN ARILKARA EXCITEMENT. 249

liowliiig. Some of the warriors ran for the
lioi-^^es to gather and drive them in from the prairie,
some for (heir weapons. As fast as they could
arm and eqiii}) they sallied forth ; some on horse
hack, some, on foot. Some hastily arrayed in
their war dress, with coronets of fluttering feath-
ers, and their bodies smeared with paint ; others
naked and only furnished with the weapons they
had snatched up. The women and children
gathered on the tops of the lodges and height-
ened the confusion of the scene by their vocif-
eration. Old men who could no longer bear
arms took similar stations, and harangued the
warriors as they passed, exhorting them to val-
orous deeds. Some of the veterans took arms
themselves, and sallied forth with tottering steps.
In this way, the savage chivalry of the village
to the number of five hundred, poured forth, hel-
ter-skelter, riding and running, with hideous
yells and war-whoops, like so many hedlann'tes
or demoniacs let loose.

After a while the tide of war rolled back, but
with far less uproar. Either it had been a false
alarm, or the enemy had retreated on finding
themselves discovered, and quiet was restored to
the village. The white hunters continuing to be
fearful of ranging this dangerous neighborhood,
fresh provisions began to be scarce in '.he camp.
As a substitute, therefore, for vension and buffalo
meat, the travelers had to purchase a number of
dogs to be shot and cooked for the supply of the
camp. Fortunately, however charry the Indians
iiiijirht be of their horses, thev were liberal oftheii'

250 ASTORIA.

dogs. In fact, these animals swarm about an
Indian village as they do about a Tui'kish town.
Not a family but has two or three dozen belong-
ing to it, of all sizes and colors ; some of a
superior breed are used for hunting; others, to
draw the sledge, while others, of a mongrel breed,
and idle vagabond nature, are fattened for food.
They are supposed to be descended from the
wolf, and retain something of his savage but
cowardly temper, howling rather than barking ;
showing their teeth and snarling on the slightest
provocation, but sneaking away on the least
attack.

The excitement of the village continued from
day to day. On the day following the alarm just
mentioned, several parties arrived from different
directions, and were met and conducted by some
of the braves to the council lodge, whei'e they
reported the events and success of their expedi-
tions, whether of war or hunting; which news
was afterwards promulgated throughout the vil-
lage, by certain old men who acted as heralds or
town criers. Among the parties which arrived
was one that had been among the Snake nation
stealing horses, and returned crowned with suc-
cess. As they passed in triumph through the
village they were cheered by the men, women,
and children, collected as usual on the tops of the
lodges, and were exhorted by the Nestors of the
village to be generous in their dealings with the
white men.

The evening was spent in feasting and re-
joicing among the relations of the successful war-

A CHEYENNE EMBASSY. 251

riors ; but the sounds of grief and wailing were
heard from the hills adjacent to the village — the
lamentations of women who had lost some rela-
lative in the foray.

An Indian village is subject to continual
agitations and excitements. The next day arrived
a deputation of braves from the Cheyenne or
Shienne nation ; a broken tribe, cut up, like the
Arickaras, by wars with the Sioux, and driven to
take refuge among the Black Hills, near the
sources of the Cheyenne River, from which they
derive their name. One of these deputies was
magnificently arrayed in a buffalo robe, on which
various figures were fancifully embroidered with
split quills dyed red and yellow ; and the whole
was fringed with the slender hoofs of young
fawns, that rattled as he walked.

The arrival of this deputation was the signal
for another of those ceremonials which occupy so
much of Indian life ; for no being is more courtly
and puiictillious, and more observing of etiquette
and formality than an American savage.

The object of the deputation was to give notice
of an intended visit of the Shienne (or Cheyenne)
tribe to the Arickara village in the course of
fifteen days. To this visit Mr, Hunt looked
forward to procure additional horses for his
journey; all his bargaining being ineffectual in
obtaining a sufficient supply from the Arickaras.
Indeed, nothing could prevail upon the latter to
jjart with their prime horses, which had been
trained to buffalo hunting.

As Mr. Hunt would have to abandon his boats

252 ASTORIA.

at tliis place, Mr. Lisa now offered to purchase
them, and such of his merchandise as was super-
flous, and to pay him in horses to be obtained at
a fort belonging to the Missouri Fur Company,
situated at the Mandan villages, about a hundred
and fifty miles further up the river. A bargain
was promptly made, and Mr. Lisa and Mr.
Crooks, with several companions, set out for the
fort to procure the horses. They returned, after
upwards of a fortnight's absence, bringing with
them the stipulated number of liorses. Still
the cavalry was not sufficiently numerous to con-
vey the party and baggage and merchandise, and
a few days more were required to complete the
arrangements for the journey.

On the 9th of July, just before daybreak, a
great noise and vociferation was heard in the
village. This being the usual Indian hour of
attack and surprise, and the Sioux being known
to be in the neighborhood, the camp was instantly
on the alert. As the day broke Indians were
descried in considerable number on the bluffs,
three or four miles down the rivei*. The noise
and agitation in the village continued. The tops
of the lodges wei-e crowded with the inhabitants,
all earnestly looking towards the hills, and keep-
ing up a vehement chattering. Presently an
Indian warrior galloped past the camp towards
the village, and in a little while the legions began
to pour forth.

The truth of the matter was now ascertained.
The Indians upon the distant hills were three
hundred Arickara braves, returning from a foray.

RETURN OF A WAR PARTY. 253

They had met the war party of Sioux who had
been so long hovering about the neighborhood,
had fought them the day before, killed several,
and defeated the rest with the loss of but two or
three of their own men and about a dozen
wounded ; and they were now halting at a dis-
tance until their comrades in the village should
come forth to meet tliem, and swell the parade of
their triumphal entry. The warrior who had
galloped past the camp was the leader of the
party hastening home to give tidings of his vic-
tory.

Preparations were now made, for this great
martial ceremony. All the finery and equip-
ments of the warriors were sent forth to them,
that they might appear to the greatest advantage.
Those, too, who had remained at home, tasked
their wardrobes and toilets to do honor to the
procession.

The Arickaras generally go naked, but, like
all savages, they have their gala dress, of which
they are not a little vain. This usually consists
of a gray surcoat and leggins of the dressed skin
of the antelope, resembling chamois leather, and
embroidered with porcupine quills brilliantly
dyed. A buffalo robe is thrown over the right
shoulder, and across the left is slung a quiver of
arrows. They wear gay coronets of plumes,
particularly those of the swan ; but the feathers
of the black eagle are considered the most wor-
thy, being a sacred bird among the Indian war-
riors. He vvlio has killed an enemy in his own
land, is entitled t3 drajr at his heels a fox-skin

254 ASTORIA.

attachtid to each moccasin ; and he who has slain
a grizzly bear, wears a neckhice of his claws, the
most glorions trophy that a hunter can exhibit.

An Indian toilet is an operation of some toil
and trouble ; the warrior often has to paint him-
self from head to foot, and is extremely capri-
cious and difficult to please, as to the hideous dis-
tribution of streaks and colors. A great p^rt of
the morning, therefore, passed away before there
were any signs of the distant pageant. In the
meantime a profound stillness reigiied over the
village. Most of the inhabitants had gone forth ;
others remained in mute expectation. All sports
and occupations were suspended, excepting that
in the lodges the painstaking squaws were si-
lently busied in preparing the repasts for the war-
riors.

It was near noon that a mingled sound of
voices and rude music, faintly heard from a dis-
tance, gave notice that the procession was on the
march. The old men and such of the squaws as
could leave their employments hastened forth to
meet it. In a little while it emerged from be-
hind a hill, and had a wild and picturesque ap-
pearance as it came moving over the summit in
measured step, and to the cadence of songs and
savage instruments ; the warlike standards and
trophies flaunting aloft, and the feathers, and
paint, and silver ornaments of the warriors glar-
ing and glittering in the sunshine.

The pageant had really something chivalrous
in its arrangement. The Arickaras are divided
into several bands, each bearing the name of some

TRIUMPHANT PROCESSION. 2:).\

animal oi Lird, as the bufFalo, the bear, tlie dog,
the pheasant. Tlie present party consisted of
tour of these bands, one of which was the dog,
the most esteemed on war, being composed of
young men under thirty, and noted for prowess.
It is engaged in the most desperate occasions.
The bands marched in separate bodies under their
several leaders. The warriors on foot came first,
in platoons of ten or twelve abreast ; then the
horsemen. Each band bore as an ensign a spear
or bow decorated with beads, porcupine quills,
and painted feathers. Each bore its trophies of
scalps, elevated on poles, their long black locks
streaming in the wind. Each was accompanied
by its rude music and minstrelsy. In this way
the procession extended nearly a quarter of a mile.
The warriors were variously armed, some few
with guns, others with bows and arrows, and war
clubs ; all had shields of buifalo liide, a kind of
defense generally used by the Indians of the
open prairies, who have not the covert of trees
and forests to protect them. They were painted
in the most savage style. Some had the stamp
of a red hand across their mouths, a sign that
they had drunk the life-blood of a foe !

As they drew near to the village the old men
and the women began to meet tiiem, and now a
scene ensued that proved the fallacy of the old
liible of Indian apathy and stoicism. Parents
•md children, husbands and wives, brothers and
gisters met with the most rapturous expressions
of joy ; while wailings and lamentations were
heard from the relatives of the killed and

256 ASTORIA.

wounded. The procession, however, continued
on with slow and measured step, in cadence tc
the solemn chant, and the warriors maintained
their fixed and stern demeanor.

Between two of the principal chiefs rode a
young warrior who had distinguished himself in
the battle. He was severely wounded, so as
with difficLdty to keep on his horse ; but he pre-
served a serene and steadfast countenance, as if
perfectly unharmed. His mother had heard of
his conditioii. She broke through the throng,
tind rushing up, threw her arms around him and
wept aloud. He kept up the spirit and demeanor
of a warrior to the last, but expired shortly af-
ter he had reached his home.

The village was now a scene of the utmost
festivity and triumph. Tlie banners, and tro-
phies, and scalps, and painted shields were ele-
vated on poles near the lodges. There were
war-feasts, and scalp-dances, with warlike songs
aud savage music; all the inhabitants wert- ar-
rayed in their festal dresses ; while the old her-
alds went round from lodge to lodge, promulga-
ting with loud voices the events of the battle
and the exploits of the various warriors.

Such was the boisterous revelry of the vil-
lage ; but sounds of another kind were heard on
the surrounding hills ; piteous wailings of the
women, who had retired thither to mourn in
darkness and solitude for those who had fallen
in battle. There the poor mother of the youth-
ful ^'arrior who had returned home in triumph
but to die, gave full vent to the anguish of a

LAMENTATIONS AMONG THE HILLS. 257

mother's heart. How much does this custom
among the Indian women of repairing to the hill-
tops in the night, and pouring forth their wait-
ings for the dead, call to mind the beautiful and
affecting passage of Scripture, " In Rama was
there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping,
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her
children, and would not be comforted, because
they are not."

17

CHAPTER XXII.

HILE Mr. Hunt was diligently preparing
for his arduous journey, some of his men
began to lose heart at the perilous pros-
pect before them ; but before we accuse them of
want of spirit, it is proper to consider the nature
of the wilderness into which they were about to
adventure. It was a region almost as vast and
trackless as the ocean, and, at the time of which
we treat, but little known, excepting through the
vague accounts of Indian hunters. A part of
their route would lay across an immense tract,
stretching north and south for hundreds of miles
along the foot of the Rocky Mountains, and drained
by the tributary streams of the Missouri and the
Mississippi. This region, which resembles one
of the immeasurable steppes of Asia, has not in-
aptly been termed " the great American desert."
It spreads forth into undulating and treeless plains,
and desolate sandy wastes wearisome to the eye
from their extent and monotony, and which are
supposed by geologists to have formed the ancient
floor of the ocean, countless ages since, when its
primeval waves beat against the granite bases of
the Rocky Mountains.

It is a land where no man permanently abides ;
for, in certain seasons of the year there is no food

WILDERNESS OF THE FAR WEST. 259

either for the hunter or his steed. The herbage
is parched and withered ; the brooks and streams
are dried up; the buffalo, the elk and the deer
have wandered to distant parts, keeping within
the verge of expiring verdure, and leaving behind
them a vast uninhabited solitude, seamed by
ravines, the beds of former torrents, but now ser-
ving only to tantalize and increase the thirst of
the traveller.

Occasionally the monotony of this vast wilder-
ness is interrupted by mountainous belts of sand
and limestone, broken into confused masses ; with
precipitous cliffs and yawning ravmes, looking like
the ruins of a world ; or is traversed by lofty and
barren ridges of rock, almost impassable, like those
denominated the Black Hills. Beyond these rise
the stern barriers of the Rocky Mountains, the
limits, as it were, of the Atlantic world. The
rugged defiles and deep valleys of this vast chaui
form sheltering places for restless and ferocious
bands of savages, many of them the remnants of
tribes, once inhabitants of the prairies, but broken
up by war and violeii«e, and who carry into their
mountain haunts the fierce passions and reckless
habits of desperadoes.

Such is the nature of this immense wilderness
of the fiir West ; which apparently defies cultiva-
tion, and the habitation of civilized life. Some
portions of il along the rivers may partially be
subdued by agriculture, others may form vast pas-
toral tracts, like those of the East ; but it is to be
feared that a great part of it will form a lawless
•nterval between the abodes of civilized man, like

260 ASTORIA.

the wastes of the ocean or the deserts of Ai'abia ;
and, like them, be subject to the depredations of
the marauder. Here may spring up new and
mongrel races, like new formations in geology, the
amalgamation of the " debris" and " abrasions" of
former races, civilized and savage ; the remains of
broken and almost extinguished tribes ; the de-
scendants of wandering hunters and trappers ; of
fugitives from the Spanish and American frontiers ;
of adventurers and desperadoes of every class and
country, yearly ejected from the bosom of society
into the wilderness. We are contributing inces-
santly to swell this singular and heterogeneous
cloud of wild population that is to hang about our
frontier, by the transfer of whole tribes from the
east of the Mississippi to the great wastes of the
far West. Many of these beai- with them the
smart of real or fancied injuries ; many consider
themselves expatriated beings, wrongfully exiled
from their hereditary homes, and the sepulchres
of their fathers, and cherish a deep and abiding
animosity against the racs that has dispossessed
them. Some may gradually become pastoral
hordes, like those rude and migratory people, half
shepherd, half warrior, who, with their flocks and
herds, roam the plains of upper Asia ; but oth-
ers, it is to be apprehended, will become preda-
tory bands, mounted on the fleet steeds of the
prairies, with the open plains for their marauding
grounds, and the mountains for their retreats and
\urking-places. Here they may resemble those
great hordes of the North, " Gog and Magog
with their bands," that haunted the gloomy im-

THE HORSE AND THE INDIAN. 2G1

aginations of the prophets. " A great company
and a raighty host, all riding upon horses, and
warring upon those nations which were at rest,
and dwelt peaceably, and had gotten cattle and
goods."

The Spaniards changed the whole character
and habits of the Indians when they brought the
horse among them. In Chili, Tucuman, and other
parts, it has converted them, we are told, into
Tartar-like tribes, and enabled them to keep the
Spaniards out of their country, and even to make
it dangerous for them to venture far from their
towns and settlements. Are we not in danger of
producing some such state of things in the bound-
less regions of the far West. That these are not
mere fanciful and extravagant suggestions we have
sufficient proofs in the dangers already experienced
by the traders to the Spanish mart of Santa Fe,
and to the distant posts of the fur companies.
These are obliged to proceed in armed caravans,
and are subject to murderous attacks from bands
of Pawnees, Camanches, and Blackfeet, that come
scouring upon them in their weary march across
the plains, or lie in wait for them among the
passes of the mountains.

We are wandering, however, into excursive
speculations, when our intention was merely to
give an idea of the nature of the wilderness
which Mr. Hunt was about to traverse ; and
which at that time was far less known than at
present ; though it still remains in a great mea-
sure an imknown land. We cannot be surprised,
therefore, that some of the least resolute of his

262 ASTORIA

party should feel dismay at the thoughts of ad-
venturing into this perilous wilderness under the
uncertain guidance of three hunters, who had
merel}' passed once through the country and might
have forgotten the landmarks. Their appre-
hensions were aggravated by some of Lisa's fol-
lowers, who, not being engaged in the expedition,
took a mischievous pleasure in exaggerating its
dangers. They painted in strong colors, to the
poor Canadian voyageurs, the risk they would
run of perishing with hunger and thirst ; of be-
ing cut off by war-parties of the Sioux who
scoured the plains ; of having their horses stolen
by the Upsarokas or Crows, who infested the
skirts of the Rocky Mountains ; or of being
butchered by the Blackfeet, who lurked among
the defiles. In a word, there was little chance
of their getting aUve accross the mountains ;
and even if they did, those three guides knew
nothing of the howling wilderness that lay be-
yond.

The apprehensions thus awakened in the minds
of some of the men came well nigh proving
detrimental to the expedition. Some of them
determined to desert, and to make their way
back to St. Louis. They accordingly purloined
several wea'pons and a barrel of gunpowder, as
ammunition for their enterprise, and buried them
in the river bank, intending to seize one of the
boats, and make off in the night. Fortunately
their plot was overheard by John Day, the Ken-
tuckian, and communicated to the partners, who
took qi iet and effectual means to frustrate it.

DEPARTURE EROM THE ARICKARAS. 2G3

The dangers to be apprehended from the Cro^
Indians had not been overrated by the camp gos-
sips. These savages, through whose mountain
haunts the party would have to pass, were noted
for daring and excursive habits, and great dex-
terity in horse stealing. Mr. Hunt, therefore,
considered himself fortunate in having met with
a man who might be of great use to him in any
intercourse he might have with the tribe. This
was a wandering individual named Edward Rose,
whom he had picked up somewhere on the Mis-
souri — one of those anomalous beings found on
the frontier, who seem to have neither kin nor
country. He had lived some time among the
Crows, so as to become acquainted with their
language and customs ; and was, withal, a dogged,
sullen, silent fellow, with a sinister aspect, and
more of the savage than the civilized man in
his appearance. He was engaged to serve in
general as a hunter, but as guide and inter-
preter when they should reach the country of the
Crows-

On the 18th of July, Mr. Hunt took up his
line of march by land from the Arickara vil-
lage, leaving Mr. Lisa and Mr. Nuttall there,
where they intended to await the expected ar-
rival of Mr. Henry from the Rocky Mountains.
As to Messrs. Bradbury and Breckenridge they
had departed some days previously, on a voyage
down the river to St. Louis, with a detachment
from Mr. Lisa's party. With all his exertions,
Mr. Hunt had been unable to obtain a sufficient
uumber of horses for the accommodation of all

264 ASTORIA.

his peoj^le. His cavalcade consisted of eighty-
two horses, most of them heavily laden with
Indian goods, beaver traps, ammunition, Indian
corn, corn meal and other necessaries. Each of
the partners was mounted, and a horse was al-
lotted to the interpreter, Pierre Dorion, for the
transportation of his luggage and his two chil-
dren. His squaw, for the most part of the time,
trudged on foot, like the residue of the party ;
nor did any of the men show more patience and
fortitude than this resolute woman in enduring
fatigue and hardship.

The veteran trappers and voyageurs of I<isa'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, they would never
reach the shores of the Pacific, but would either
perish with hunger in the wilderness, or be Qnt
off by the savages.

CHAPTER XXIII.

HE course taken by Mr. Hunt was at
first to the northwest, but soon turned
and kept generally to the southwest, to
avoid the country infested by the Blackfeet.
His route took him across some of the tributary
streams of the Missouri, and over immense prai-
ries, bounded only by the horizon, and destitute
of trees. It was now the height of summer,
and these naked plains would be intolerable to
the traveller were it not for the breezes which
sweep over them during the fervor of the day,
bringing with them tempering airs from the dis-
tant mountains. To the prevalence of these
breeze%. and to the want of all leafy covert, may
we also attribute the freedom from those flies
and other insects so tormenting to man and beast
during the summer months, in the lower plains,
which are bordered and interspersed with wood-
land.

The monotony of these immense landscapes,
also, would be as wearisome as that of the ocean,
were it not relieved in some degree by the purity
and elasticity of the atmosphere, and the beauty
of the heavens. The sky has that delicious blue
for which the sky of Italy is renowned ; the sun
shines with a splendor unobscured by any cloud

266 ASTORIA,

or vapor, and a starlight night on the prairies is
glorious. This purity and elasticity of atmos-
phere increases as tlie traveller approaches the
mountains and gradually rises into more elevated
prairies.

On the second day of the journey, Mr. Hunt
arranged the party into small and convenieut
messes, distributing among them the camp kettles.
The encampments at night were as before ; some
sleeping under tents, and others bivouacking in
the open air. The Canadians proved as patient
of toil and hardship on the land as on the water ;
indeed, nothing could, surpass the patience and
good-humor of these men upon the march. They
were the cheerful drudges of the party, loading
and unloading the horses, pitching the tents, mak-
ing the fires, cooking ; in short, performing all
those household and menial offices which the In-
dians usually assign to the squaws ; and, like the
squaws, they left all the hunting and fighting to
others. A Canadian has but little affection for
the exercise of the rifle.

The progress of the party was but slow for the
first few days. Some of the men were indisposed ;
Mr. Crooks, especially, was so unwell that he could
not keep on his horse. A rude kind of litter was,
therefore, prepared for him, consisting of two long
poles, fixed, one on each side of two horses, with
a matting between them, on which he reclined at
full length, and was protected from the sun by a
canopy of boughs.

On the evening of the 23d (July) they en-
camped on the banks of what they term Big

NAMES OF WESTERN LANDMARKS. 267

River ; and here we cannot but pause to lament
the stupid, commonplace, and often ribald names
entailed upon the rivers and other features of the
great West, by traders and settlers. As the ab-
original tribes of these magnificent regions are yet
in existence, the Indian names might easily be re-
covered ; which, beside being in general more so
norous and musical, would remain mementoes of
the primitive lords of the soil, of whom in a little
while scarce any traces will be left. Indeed, it is
to be wished that the whole of our country could
be rescued, as much as possible, from the wretched
nomenclature inflicted upon it, by ignorant and
vulgar minds ; and this might be done, in a great
degree, by restoring the Indian names, wherever
significant and euphonious. As there appears to
be a spirit of research abroad in respect to our
aboriginal antiquities, we would suggest, as a
worthy object of enterprise, a map, or maps, of
every part of our country, giving the Indian
names wherever they could be ascertained. Who-
ever achieves such an object worthily, will leave
a monument to his own reputation.

To return from this digression. As the travel-
lers were now in a country abounding with buf-
falo, they remained for several days encamped
upon the banks of Big River, to obtain a supply
of provisions, and to give the invalids time to re-
cruit.

On the second day of their sojourn, as Ben
Jones, John Day, and others of the hunters were
in pursuit of game, they came upon an Indian
camp on the open prairie, near to a small stream

268 asto.ua.

which ran through a ravine. The tents or lodges
were of dressed buffixlo skins, sewn together and
stretched on tapering i^ine poles, joined at top,
but radiating at bottom, so as to form a circle capa-
ble of admitting fifty persons. Numbers of horses
were grazing in the neighborhood of the camp, or
straying at large in the prairie ; a sight most ac-
ceptable to the hunters. After reconnoitring the
camp for some time, they ascertained it to belong
to a band of Cheyenne Indians, the same that had
sent a deputation to the Arickaras. They received
the hunters in the most fi'iendly manner ; invited
them to their lodges, which were more cleanly
than Indian lodges are prone to be, and set food
before them with true uncivilized hospitality.
Several of them accompanied the hunters back to
the camp, when a trade was immediately opened.
The Cheyennes were astonished and delighted to
find a convoy of goods and trinkets thus brought
into the very heart of the prairie ; while Mr.
Hunt and his companions were overjoyed to have
an opportunity of obtaining a further supply of
horses from these equestrian savages.

During a fortnight that the travellers lingered
at this place, their encampment was conanually
thronged by the Cheyennes. They were a civil,
well-behaved people, cleanly in their persons and
decorous in their habits. The men were tall,
straight and vigorous, with aquiline noses, and
high cheek bones. Some were <^•lmost as naked
as ancient statues, and might have stood as models
for a statuary ; others had leggins and moccasins
of deer skin, and buffalo robes, which they threw

SKILL OF CHEYENNE HORSEMEN. 269

gracefully over their shoulders. In a little while,
however, they began to appear in more gorgeous
array, tricked out in the finery obtained from the
white men ; bright cloths, brass rings, beads of
various colors ; and happy was he who could render
himself hideous with vermilion.

The travellers had frequent occasion to admire
the skill and grace with which these Indians man-
aged their horses. Some of them made a striking
display when mounted ; themselves and their steeds
decorated in gala style ; for the Indians often be-
stow more finery upon their horses than upon
themselves. Some would hang around the necks,
or rather on the breasts of their horses, the most
precious ornaments they had obtained from the
white men ; others interwove feathers in their
manes and tails. The Indian horses, too, appear
to have an attachment to their wild riders, and
indeed it is said that the horses of the prairies
readily distinguish an Indian from a white man
by the smell, and give a preference to the former.
Yet the Indians, in general, are hard riders, and,
however they may value their horses, treat them
with great roughness and neglect. Occasionally
the Cheyennes joined the white hunters in pursuit
of the elk and buffalo ; and when in the ardor of
the chase, spared neither themselves nor their
steeds, scouring the prairies at full speed, and
plunging down precipices and frightful ravines
that threatened the necks of both horse and horse-
man. The Indian steed, well trained to the chase,
seems as mad as his rider, and pursues the game
as eagerly as if it were his natural prey, on the
flesh of which he was to banquet.

270 ASTORIA.

Tlie history of the Cheyennes is that of many
of those wandering tribes of the prairies. They
were the remnant of a once powerful people called
the Shaways, inhabiting a branch of the Red
River which flows into Lake Winnipeg. Every
Indian tribe has some rival tribe with which it
wages implacable hostility. The deadly enemies
of the Shaways were the Sioux, who, aftei a long
course of warfare, proved too powerful for them,
and drove them across the IMissouri. They again
took root near the Warricanne Creek, and estab-
lished themselves there in a fortified village.

The Sioux still followed them with deadly an-
imosity ; dislodged them from their village, and
compelled them to take refuge in the Black Hills,
near the upper waters of the Sheyenne or Chey-
enne River. Here they lost even their name,
and became known among the French colonists
by that of the river they frequented.

The heart of the tribe was now broken ; its
numbers were greatly thinned by their harassing
wars. They no longer attempted to establish
themselves in any permanent abode that might
be an object of attack to their cruel foes. They
gave up the cultivation of the fruits of the earth,
and became a wandering tribe, subsisting by the
chase, and following the buffalo in its migrations.

Their only possessions were horses, which they
caught on the prairies, or reared, or captured on
predatory incursions into the Mexican territories,
as has already been mentioned. With some of
these they repaired once a year to the Arickara
villages, exchanged th'^m for corn, beans, pumpkins,

FLUCTUATIONS OF SAVAGE LIFE. 271

and articles of European merchandise, and then
returned into the heart of the prairies.

Such are the fluctuating fortunes of these sav-
age nations. War, famine, pestilence, together or
singly, bring down their strength and thin their
numbers. Whole tribes are rooted up from their
native places, wander for a time about these im-
mense regions, become amalgamated with other
tribes, or disappear from the face of the earth.
There appears to be a tendency to extinction
among all the savage nations ; and this tendency
would seem to have been in operation among the
aboriginals of this country long before the advent
of the white men, if we may judge from the traces
and traditions of ancient populousness in regions
which were silent and deserted at the time of the
discovery ; and from the mysterious and perplexing
vestiges of unknown races, predecessors of those
found in actual possession, and who must long
since have become gradually extinguished or been
destroyed. The whole history of the aboriginal
population of this country, however, is an enigma,
and a grand one — will it ever be solved ?

CHAPTER XXIV.

N the sixth of August the travellers bade
farewell to the friendly band of Chey-
ennes, and resumed their journey. As
they had obtained thirty- six additional horses by
their recent traffic, Mr. Hunt made a new ar-
rangement. The baggage was made up in
smaller loads. A horse was allotted to each of
the six prime hunters, and others were distrib-
uted among the voyageurs, a horse for every two,
so that they could ride and walk alternately.
Mr. Crooks being still too feeble to mount the
saddle, was carried on a litter.

Tiieir march this day lay among singular hills
and knolls of an indurated red earth, resembling
brick, about the bases of which were scattered
pumice stones and cinders, the whole bearing
traces of the action of fire. In the evening they
encamped on a branch of Big River.

They were now out of the tract of country
infested by the Sioux, and had advanced such a
distance into the interior that Mr. Hunt no longer
felt apprehensive of the desertion of any of
his men. He was doomed, however, to experi-
ence new cause of anxiety. As he was seated
in his tent after nightfall, one of the men came
to him privately, and informed him that there

TREACHERY IN THE CAMP. 273

v\'us mischief brewing in the camp. Edward
Rose, the interpreter, whose sinister looks we
have already mentioned, was denounced by this
secret informer as a designing, treacherous scoun-
drel, who was tampering with the fidelity of
certain of the men, and instigating them to a
flagrant piece of treason. In the course of a few
days they would arrive at the mountainous dis-
trict infested by the Upsarokas or Crows, the
tribe among which Rose was to officiate as inter-
preter. His plan was that several of the men
should join with him, when in that neighborhood,
in carrying off a number of the horses with their
packages of goods, and deserting to those sav-
ages. He assured them of good treatment among
the Crows, the principal chiefs and warriors of
whom he knew ; they would soon become great
men among them, and have the finest women,
and the daughters of the chiefs for wives ; and
tlie horses and goods they eai-ried off would make
them rich for life.

The intelligence of this treachery on the part
of Rose gave much disquiet to Mr. Hunt, for he
knew not how far it might be effective among
his men. He had ah-eady had proofs that sev-
eral of them were disaffected to the enterprise,
and loath to cross the mountains. He knew also
that savage life had charms for many of them,
especially the Canadians, who were prone to
intermarry and domesticate themselves among
the Indians.

And here a word or two concerning the Crows
18

274 ASTORIA.

may be of service to the reader, as thej will
figure occasionally in the succeeding narration.

The tribe consists of four bands, which have
their nestling-places in fertile, well-wooded val-
leys, lying among the Rocky Mountains, and
watered by the Big Horse River and its tributary
streams ; but, though these are propeily their
homes, where they shelter their old people, their
wives, and their children, the men of the tribe
are almost continually on the foray and the
scamper. They are, in fact, notoi-ious marauders
and hoi^e-stealers ; crossing and recrossing the
mountains, ix>bbing on the one side, and convey-
ing their spoils to the other. Hence, we are
told, is derived their name, given to them on ac-
count of their unsettled and predatory habits ;
winging their flight, like the erows, from one side
of the mountains to the other, and making free
booty of every thing that lie? in their way.
Horses, however, are the especial objects of their
depredations, and their skill and audacity in steal-
ing them are said to be astoiiishing. This is
their glory and delight ; an accomplished horse-
stealer fills up their idea of a hero. Many horses
are obtained by them, also, in barter from tribes
in and beyond the mountains. They have an ab-
solute passion for this moble animal ; beside which
he is with them an important object of traffic.
Onee a year they make a visit to the Mandans,
Minatarees, and other tribes of the Missouri, tak-
ing with them droves of horses which they ex-
change for guns, ammruiition, trinkets, vermilion,
cloths of bright colors, and various other articles

A DESPERADO OF THE FRONTIER. 275

of European manufacture. With these they sup-
ply then- own wants and caprices, and carry on
the internal trade for horses already mentioned.

The plot of Rose to rob and abandon his
countrymen when in the heart of the wilderness,
and to throw himself into the hands of a liorde
of savaf,^es, may appear strange and improbable to
those unacquainted with the singular and anom-
alous characters that are to be found about the
borders. Tliis fellow, it appears, was one of
those desperadoes of the frontiers, outlawed by
their crimes, who combine the vices of civilized
and savage life, and are ten times more barbarous
than the Indians with whom they consort. Rose
had formerly belonged to one of the gangs of
pirates who infested the islands of the Mississippi,
plundering boats as they went up and down the
river, and who sometimes shifted the scene of
their robberies to the shore, waylay i tig travellers
as they returned by land from New Orleans with
tlie proceeds of their downward voyage, plun-
dering them of their money and effects, and
often perpetrating the most atrocious murders.

These hordes of villains being broken up and
dispersed. Rose had betaken himself to the wil-
derness, and associated himself with the Crows,
whose predatory habits were congenial with hia
own, had married a woman of the tribe, and, in
short, had identified himself with those vagrant
savages.

Such was the worthy guide and interpreter,
Kdward Rose. We give his story, however, not
as it was known to Mr. Hunt and his companions

276 ASTORIA.

at the time, but as it has been subsequently as-
certained. Enough was known of the fellow and
his dark and perfidious character to put Mr.
Hunt upon his guard : still, as there was no
knowing how far his plans might have succeeded,
and as any rash act might blow the mere smoul-
dering sparks of treason into a sudden blaze, it
was thought advisable by those with whom Mr.
Hunt consulted, to conceal all knowledge or sus-
picion of the meditated treachery, but to keep up
a vigilant watch upon the movements of Rose,
and a strict gu?.rd upon the horses at night.

CHAPTER XXV.

HE pluins over which the travellers were
journeying continued to be. destitute of
trees or even shrubs : insomuch that
they had to use the dung of the buffalo for fuel,
as the Arabs of the desert use that of the camel.
This substitute for fuel is universal among the
Indians of these upper prairies, and Is said to
make a fire equal to that of turf If a few-
chips are added, it throws out a cheerful and
kindly blaze.

These plains, however, had not always been
equally destitute of wood, as was evident from
the trunks of the trees which the travellers re-
peatedly met with, some still standing, others
lying about in broken fragments, but all in a
fossil state, having flourished in times long past.
In these singular remains, the original grain of
the wood was still so distinct that they could be
ascertained to be the ruins of oak trees. Several
pieces of the fossil wood were selected by the
men to serve as whetstones.

In this part of the journey there was no lack
of provi«'.ons, for the prairies were covered with
immense herds of buffalo. These, in general,
are animals of peaceful demeanor, grazing quietly
like domestic cattle ; but this was the seasou

278 ASTORIA.

wlien they are in heat, and when the bulls are
usually fierce and pugnacious. There was ac-
cordingly a universal restlessness and commotion
throughout the plain ; and the amorous herds
gave utterance to their feelings in low bellowinga
that resounded like distant thunder. Here and
there fierce duellos took place between rival
enamorados ; butting their huge shagged fronts
together, goring each other with their short black
horns, and tearing up the earth with their feet in
perfect fury.

In one of the evening halts, Pierre Dorion, the
interpreter, together with Carson and Gardpie,
two of the hunters, were missing, nor had they
returned by morning. As it was supposed they
had wandered away in pursuit of buffalo, and
would readily find the track of the party, no
solicitude was felt on their account. A fire was
left burning, to guide them by its column of
smoke, and the travellers proceeded on their
march. In the evening a signal fire was made
on a hill adjacent to the camp, and in the morning
it was replenished with fuel so as to last through-
out the day. These signals are usual among the
Indians, to give warnings to each other, or to call
home straggling hunters; and such is the trans-
parency of the atmosphere in those elevated
plains, that a slight column of smoke can be dis-
cerned from a great distance, particularly in the
evenings. Two or three days elapsed, however,
without the reappearance of the three hunters ;
and Mr. Hunt slackened his march to give them
time to overtake him.

THE LOST HUNTERS, 279

A vigilant watch continued to be kept upon
the movements of Rose, and of such of the men
as were considered doubtful in their loyalty ; but
nothing occurred to excite immediate apprehen-
sions. Rose evidently was not a favorite among
his comrades, and it was hoped that he had not
been able to make any real partisans.

On the 10th of August they encamped among
hills, on the highest peak of which Mr. Hunt
caused a huge pyre of pine wood to be made,
which soon sent up a great column of flame that
might be seen far and wide over the prairies.
This fire blazed all night, and was amply replen-
ished at daybreak ; so that the towering pillar of
smoke could not but be descried by the wanderers
if within the distance of a day's journey.

It is a common occurrence in these regions,
where the features of the country so much resem-
ble each other, for hunters to lose themselves and
wander for many days, before they can fiiid their
way back to the main body of their party. In
the present instance, however, a more than com-
mon solicitude was felt, in consequence of the
distrust awakened by the sinister designs of Rose.

The route now became excessively toilsome,
over a ridge of steep rocky hills, covered with
loose stones. These were intersected by deep
valleys, formed by two branches of Big River,
coming from the south of west, both of which
they crossed. These streams were bordered by
meadows, well stocked with buffaloes. Loads of
meat were brought in by the hunters ; but the
travellers were rendered dainty by profusion, and
would cook only the choice pieces.

280 ASTORIA.

They had now travelled for several days at a
very slow rate, and had made signal-fires and left
traces of their route at every stage, yet nothing
was heard or seen of the lost men. It began to
be feared that they might have fallen into the
hands of some lurking band of savages. A party
numerous as that of Mr. Hunt, with a long train
of pack-horses, moving across open plains or
naked hills, is discoverable at a great distance by
Indian scouts, who spread the intelligence rapidly
to various points, and assemble their friends to
hang about the skirts of the travellers, steal tlieir
horses, or cut off any stragglers from the main
body.

Mr. Hunt and his companions were more and
more sensible how much it would be in the power
of this sullen and daring vagabond Rose, to do
them mischief, when they should become en-
tangled in the defiles of the mountains, with the
passes of which they were wholly unacquainted,
and which were infested by his freebooting
friends, the Crows. There, should he succeed
in seducing some of the party into his plans, he
might carry off the best horses and effects, throw
himself among his savage allies, and set all pur-
suit at defiance. Mr. Hunt resolved, therefore,
to frustrate the knave, divert him. by manage-
ment, from his plans, and make it sufiiciently
advantageous for him to remain honest. He took
occasion, accordingly, in the course of conversa-
tion, to inform Rose that, having engaged him
chiefly as a guide and interpreter through the
oountry of the Crows, they would not stand in

J BRIUE TO BE HONEST. 281

need of his services beyond. Knowing, there-
fore, his connection by marriage witli that tribe,
and his predilection for a residence among them,
they would put no restraint upon his will, but,
whenever they met with a party of that people,
would leave him at liberty to remain among his
adopted brethren. Furthermore, that, in thus
parting with him, they would pay him half a
year's wages in consideration of his past services,
and would give him a horse, three beaver traps,
and sundry other articles calculated to set him up
in the world.

This unexpected liberality, which made it
nearly as profitable and infinitely less hazard-
ous for Rose to remain honest than to play the
rogue, completely disarmed him. From that
time his whole deportment underwent a change.
His brow cleared up and appeared more cheer-
ful ; he left off his sullen, skulking habits, and
made no further attempts to tamper with the
faith of his comrades.

On the 13th of August Mr. Hunt varied his
course, and inclined westward, in hopes of falling
in with the three lost hunters ; who, it was now
thought, might have kept to the right hand of
Big Iviver. This course soon brought him to a
fork of the Little Missouri, about a hundred
yards wide, and resembling the great river of the
same name in the strength of its current, its tur-
bid water, and the frequency of drift-wood and
sunken trees.

Rugged mountains appeared ahead, crowding
down to the water edge, and offering a barri(^r

282 ASTORIA. ,

to furtlier progress on the side they were ascend-
ing. Ci'ossing the river, therefore, tliey encamped
on its northwest bank, where tlltej found good pas-
turage and buffalo in abundance. The weather
was overcast and rainy, and a general gloom per-
vaded the camp ; the voyageurs sat smoking in
groups, with their shoulders as liigh as their heads,
croaking their foreboding, when suddenly towards
evening a shout of joy gave notice that the lost
men were found. They came slowly lagging
into the camp, with weary looks, and horses
jaded and wayworn. They had, in fact, been
for several days incessantly on tlie move. In
their hunting excursion on the prairies they had
pushed so far in pursuit of buffalo, as to find it
impossible to retrace their steps over plains
trampled by innumerable herds ; and were baf-
fled by the monotony of the landscape in their
attempts to recall landmarks. They had ridden
to and fro until they had almost lost the points of
the compass, and become totally bewildered ; nor
did they ever perceive any of the signal fires and
columns of smoke made by their comrades. At
length, about two days previously, when almost
spent by anxiety and hard riding, they came, to
their great joy, upon the " trail " of the party,
which they had since followed up steadily.

Those only, who have experienced the warm
cordiality that grows up between comrades in
wild and adventurous expeditions of the kind,
can picture to themselves the hearty cheering
with which the stragglers were welcomed to the
camp. Every one crowded round them to ask

REJOICINGS IN PIERRE'S FAMILY. 283

questions, and to hear the story of their mishaps ;
and even the squaw of the moody half-breed,
Pierre Dorion, forgot the sternness of his do-
mestic rule, and the conjugal discipline of the
cudgel, in her joy at his safe return.

CHAPTER XXVI.

R. HUNT and his party were now on
the skirts of the Black Hills, or Black
Mountains, as they are sometimes called ;
an extensive chain, lying about a hundred miles
oast of the Rocky Mountains, and stretching in a
northeast direction from the south fork of the
Nebraska, or Platte River, to the great north
bend of the JMissouri. The Sierra or ridge of
the Black Hills, in ftict, forms the dividing line
between the waters of the Missouri and those of
the Arkansas and the Mississippi, and gives rise
to the Cheyenne, the Little. Missouri, and several
tributary streams of the Yellowstone.

The wild recessos of these hills, like those of
the Rocky Mountains, are retreats and lurking-
places for broken and predatory tribes, and it
was among them that the remnant of the
Cheyenne tribe took refuge, as has been stated,
from their conquering enemies, the Sioux.

The Black Hills are chiefly composed of sand-
stone, and in many places are broken into savage
cliifs and precipices, and present the most singular
and fantastic forms ; sometimes resembling towns
and castellated fortresses. The ignorant inhabi-
tants of plains are prone to clothe the .mountains
that bound their horizon with fanciful and super-

SINGULAR MOUNTAIN PHENOMENON. 285

stitioiis attributes. Thus the wandering' tribes
of the prairies, who often behold clouds gathering
round the summits of these hills, and lightning
flashing, and thunder pealing from them, when
all the neighboring plains are serene and sunny,
consider them the abode of the genii or thunder-
spirits who fabricate storms and tempests. On
entering their defiles, therefore, they often hang
offerings on the trees, or place them on the rocks,
to propitiate the invisible "lords of the moun-
tains," and procure good weather and successful
hunting ; and they attach unusual significance lo
the echoes which haunt the precipices. This
superstition may also have arisen, in part, from a
natural phenomenon of a singular nature. In
the most calm and serene weather, and at all
times of the day or night, successive reports are
now and then heard among these mountains,
resembling the discharge of several pieces of
artillery. Similar reports were heard by Messrs.
Lewis and Clarke in the Rocky Mountains, which
they say were attributed by the Indians to the
bursting of the rich mines of silver contained in
the bosom of the mountains.

In fact, these singular explosions have received
fanciful explanations from learned men, and have
not been satisfactorily accounted for even by
philosophers. They are said to occur frequently
in Brazil. Vasconcelles, a Jesuit father, describes
one which he heard in the Sierra, or mountain
region of Piratininga, and which he compares to
the discharges of a park of artillery. The
Indians told him that it was an explosion of

286 ASTORIA.

stones. The worthy father had soon a satisfac-
tory proof of the truth of their information, for
the very phice was foupd where a rock had burst
and exploded from its entrails a stony mass, like
a bomb-shell, and of the size of a bull's heart.
This mass was broken either in its ejection or its
fall, and wonderful was the internal organization
revealed. It had a shell harder even than iron ;
within which were arranged, like the seeds of a
pomegranate, jewels of various colors ; some trans-
parent as crystal ; others of a fine red, and others
of mixed hues. The same phenomenon is said
to occur occasionally in the adjacent province of
Guayra, where stones of the bigness of a man's
hand are exploded, with a loud noise, from the
bosom of the earth, and scatter about glittering
and beautiful fragments that look like precious
gems, but are of no value.

The Indians of the Orellanna, also, tell of
horrible noises heard occasionally in the Para-
guaxo, which they consider the throes and groans
of the mountain, endeavoring to cast forth the
precious stones hidden within its entrails. Others
have endeavored to account for these discharges
of " mountain artillery " on humbler principles ;
attributing them to the loud reports made by the
disruption and fall of great masses of rock,
r3verberated and prolonged by the echoes ; others,
to the disengagement of hydrogen, produced by
subterraneous beds of coal in a state of ignition.
In whatever way this singular phenomenon may
may be accounted for, the existence of it appears
to be well established. It remains one of the

THE BIGHORN. 287

lingering mysteries of nature which throw some-
tliing of a supernatural cliarm over her wild
mountain sohtudes ; and we doubt whether the
imaginative reader will not rather join with the
poor Indian in attributing it to the thunder-
spirits, or the guardian genii of unseen treasures,
than to any commonplace physical cause.

Whatever might be the supernatural iniluences
among these mountains, the travellei's found their
physical difficulties hard to cope with. They
made repeated attempts to find a passage through
or over the chain, but were as often turned
back by impassable barriers. Sometimes a defile
seemed to open a practicable path, but it would
terminate in some wild chaos of rocks and cliffs,
which it was impossible to climb. The animals
of these solitary regions were different from
those they had been accustomed to. The black-
tailed deer would bound up the ravines on their
approach, and the bighorn would gaze fearlessly
down upon them from some impending precipice,
or skip playfully from rock to rock. These
animals are only to be met with in mountainous
regions. The former is larger than the common
deer, but its flesh is not equally esteemed by
hunters. It has very large ears, and the tip of
the tail is black, from which it derives its name.

The bighoi"n is so named from its horns ;
which are of a great size, and twisted like those
of a ram. It is called by some the argali, by
others the ibex, though differing from both of
these animals. The Mandans call it the ahsahta,
a name much better than the clumsy appellation

288 ASTORIA.

which it generally bears. It is of the size of a
small elk, or large deer, and of a dun color,
excepting the belly and round the tail, where it
is white. In its habits it resembles the goat,
frequenting the rudest precipices ; cropping the
herbaofe from their edsjes ; and like the chamois,
bounding lightly and securely among dizzy
heights, where the hunter dares not venture. It
is difficult, therefore, to get within shot of it.
Ben Jones the hunter, however, in one of the
passes of the Black Hills, succeeded in bringing
down a bighorn from the verge of a precipice,
the flesh of which was pronounced by the gor-
mands of the camp to have the flavor of excellent
mutton.

Baffled in his attempts to traverse this moun-
tain chain, Mr. Hunt skirted along it to the
southwest, keeping it on the right ; and still in
hopes of finding an opening. At an early hour
one day, he encamped in a narrow valley on the
banks of a beautifully clear but rushy pool ; sur-
rounded by thickets bearing abundance of wild
cherries, currants, and yellow and purple goose-
berries.

While the afternoon's meal was in preparation,
Mr. Hunt and Mr. M'Kenzie ascended to the
summit of the nearest hill, from whence, aided
by the purity and transparency of the evening
atmosphere, they commanded a vast prospect on
all sides. Below them extended a plain, dotted
with innumerable herds of bufllilo. Some were
lying down among the herbage, others roaming
in their unbounded pastures, while many were

THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 289

engaged in fierce contests like those already
described, their low bellowings reaching the ear
like the hoarse murmurs of the surf on a distant
shore.

Far off in the west they descried a range of
lofty mountains printing the clear horizon, some
of them evidently capped with snow. These
they supposed to be the Big horn Mountains, so
called from the animal of that name, with which
they abound. They are a spur of the great
Rocky chain. The hill from whence Mr. Hunt
had this prospect was, according to his computa-
tion, about two hundred and fifty miles from i\\%
Arickara village.

On returning to the camp, Mr. Hunt found
some uneasiness prevailing among the Canadian
voyageurs. In straying among the thickets they
had beheld tracks of grizzly bears in every di-
rection, doubtless attracted thither by the fruit.
To their dismay, they now found that they had
encamped in one of the favorite resorts of thi?
dreaded animal. The idea marred all the com-
fort of the encampment. As night closed, the
surrounding thickets were peopled with terrors ;
insomuch that, according to Mr. Hunt, they could
not help starting at every little breeze that stirred
the bushes.

The grizzly bear is the only really formidable
quadruped of our continent. He is the favorite
theme of the hunters of the far West, who de-
scribe him as equal in size to a common cow and
of prodigious strength. He makes battle if as-
sailed, and often, if pressed by hunger, is the
19

290 ASTORIA.

ussailant. If wounded, he becomes furious und
will pursue the hunter. His speed exceeds that
of a man but is inferior to that of a horse. In
attacking he rears himself on his hind legs, and
springs the length of his body. Woe to horse
or rider that comes within the sweep of his terrific
claws, which are sometimes nine inches in length,
and tear everything before them.

At the time we are treating of, the grizzly
bear was still frequent on the IVIissouri and in
the lower country, but, like some of the broken
tribes of the prairie, he has gradually fallen back
before his enemies, and is now chiefly to be found
in the upland regions, in rugged flxstnessess like
those of the Black Hills and the Rocky Moun-
tains. Here he lurks in caverns, or holes which
he has digged in the sides of hills, or under the
roots and trunks of fallen trees. Like the com-
mon bear, he is fond of fruits, and mast, and
roots, the latter of which he will dig up with
his fore claws. He is carnivorous also, and
will even attack and conquer the lordly buffalo,
dragging his huge carcass to the neighborhood
of his den, that he may prey upon it at his
leisure.

The hunters, both white and red men, consider
this the most heroic game. They prefer to hunt
him on horseback, and will venture so near as
sometimes to singe his hair with the flash of the
rifle. The hunter of the grizzly bear, however,
must be an experienced hand, and know where
to aim at a vital part ; for of all quadrupeds, he
8 the most diflicult to be killed. He will re-

ADVENTURE OF WILLIAM CANNON. 291

cehe repeated wounds without flinching, and
rarely is a shot mortal unless tk ougli the head
or heart.

That the dangers apprehended from the grizzly-
bear, at this night encampment, were not imag-
inary, was proved on the following morning.
Among the hired men of the party was one
William Cannon, who had been a soldier at one
of the frontier posts, and entered into the em-
ploy of Mr. Hunt at Mackinaw. He was an
inexperienced hunter and a poor shot, for which
he was much bantered by his more adroit com-
rades. Piqued at their raillery, he had been
practicing ever since he had joined the expedi-
tion, but without success. In the course of the
present afternoon, he went forth by himself to
take a lesson in venerie, and, to his great delight,
had the good fortune to kill a buifido. As he
was a considerable distance from the camp, he cut
out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made
them into a parcel, and slinging them on liis
shoulders by a strap passed round his forehead,
as the voyageurs carry packages of goods, set
out all glorious for the camp, anticipating a tri-
umph over his brother hunters. In passing
through a narrow ravine, he heard a noise be-
hind him, and looking round beheld, to his dis-
may, a grizzly bear in full pursuit, apparently
attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon had
heard so much of the invulnerability of this tre-
mendous aninal, that he never attempted to fire,
but, slipping the strap from his forehead, let go
the buifalo meat and ran for his life. The bear

292 ASTORIA.

did not stop to regale himself with the game, but
kept on after the hunter. He had nearly over-
taken him when Cannon reached a tree, and,
throwing down his rifle, scrambled up it. The
next instant Bruin was at the foot of the tree ;
but, as this species of bear does not climb, he
contented himself with turning the chase into a
blockade. Night came on. In the darkness
Cannon could not perceive whether or not the
enemy maintained his station ; but his fears pic-
tured him rigorously mounting guard. He passed
the night, therefore, in the tree, a prey to dismal
fancies. In the morning the bear was gone.
Cannon warily descended the tree, gathered up
his gun, and made the best of his way back to
the camp, without venturing to look after his
buffalo meat.

While on this theme we will add another an-
ecdote of an adventure with a grizzly bear, told of
John Day, the Kentucky hunter, but which hap-
pened at a different period of the expedition. Day
was hunting in company with one of the clerks of
the company, a lively youngster, who was a great
favorite with the veteran, but whose vivacity he
had continually to keep in check. They were in
search of deer, when suddenly a huge grizzly
bear emerged from a thicket about thirty yards
distant, rearing himself upon his hind legs with
a terrific growl, and displaying a hideous array
of teeth and claws. The rifle of the young man
was leveled in an instant, but John Day's iron
hand was as quickly upon his arm. " Be quiet,
boy ! b) quiet ! " exclaimed the hunter between

BULLIED BY A GRIZZLY. 295

his clenched teeth, and without turning his eyes
from the bear. They remained motionless. The
monster regarded them for a time, then, lowering
himself on his fore paws, slowly withdrew. He
had not gone many paces before he again re-
turned, reared himself on his hind legs, and
repeated his menace. Day's hand was still on
the arm of his young companion ; he again
pressed it hard, and kept repeating between his
teeth, " Quiet, boy ! — keep quiet ! — keep quiet ! "
— though the latter had not made a move since
his first prohibition. The bear again lowered
himself on all fours, retreated some twenty
yards further, and again turned, reared, showed
his teeth, and growled. This third menace was
too much for the game spirit of John Day. " By
Jove ! " exclaimed he, " I can stand this no
longer," and in an instant a ball from his rifle
whizzed into the foe. The wound was not
mortal ; but, luckily, it dismayed instead of
enraging the animal, and he retreated into the
thicket.

Day's young companion reproached him for
not practicing the caution which he enjoined
upon others. " Why, boy," replied the veteran,
" caution is caution, but one must not put up
tvith too much, even from a bear. Would you
have me suffer myself to be bullied all day by a
varmint ? "

CHAPTER XXVIT.

OR the two following days, the travellers
pursued a westerly course for thirty-four
miles along a ridge of country dividing
the tributary waters of the Missouri and the
Yellowstone. As landmarks they guided them-
Belves by the summits of the far distant moun-
tains, which they supposed to belong to the Big-
horn chain. They were gradually rising into
a higher temperature, for the weather was cold
for the season, with a sharp frost in the night,
and ice of an eighth of an inch in thickness.

On the twenty-second of August, early in the
day, they came upon the trail of a numerous
band. Rose and the other hunters examined
the foot-prints with great attention, and deter-
mined it to be the trail of a party of Crows, re-
turning from an annual trading visit to the Man-
dans. As this trail afforded more commodious
travelling, they immediately struck into it, and
followed it for two days. It led them over
rough hills, and through broken gullies, during
which time they suffered great fatigue from the
rnggedness of the country. The weather, too,
which had recently been frosty, was now op-
pressively warm, and there was a great scarcity
of water, insomuch that a valuable dog belonging
to Mr M'Kenzie died of thirst.

A HUNTER'S PARADISE. 295

At one time they had twenty-five miles of
painful travel, without a drop of water, until
they arrived at a small running stream. Here
they eagerly slaked their thirst ; but, this being
allayed, the calls of hunger became equally im-
portunate. Ever since they had got among
these barren and arid hills, where there was a
deficiency of grass, they had met with no buffa-
loes; those animals keeping in the grassy mead-
ows near the streams. They were obliged, there-
fore, to have recourse to their corn meal, which
they reserved for such emergencies. Some,
however, were lucky enough to kill a wolf, which
they cooked for supper, and pronounced excellent
food.

The next morning they resumed their wayfar-
ing, hungry and jaded, and had a dogged march
of eighteen miles among the same kind of hills.
At length they emerged upon a streani of clear
water, one of the forks of Powder River, and to
their great joy beheld once more wide grassy
meadows, stocked with herds of buffalo. For
several days they kept along the banks of the
river, ascending it about eighteen miles. It was
a hunter's paradise ; the buffaloes were in such
abundance that they were enabled to kill as
many as they pleased, and to jerk a sufficient
supply of meat for several day's journeying.
Here, then, they reveled and reposed after their
hungry and weary travel, hunting and feasting,
and reclining upon the grass. Their quiet, how-
^pver, was a little marred by coming upon traces
of Indians, who, they concluded, must be Crows ;

296 ASTORIA.

they were therefore obliged to keep a more vigi-
lant watch than ever upon their horses. For
several days they had been directing their inarch
towards the lofty mountain descried by Mr.
Hunt and Mr. M'Kenzie on the 17th of August,
the height of which rendered it a landmark over
a vast extent of country. At first it had ap-
peared to them solitary and detached ; but as
they advanced towards it, it proved to be the
principal summit of a chain of mountains. Day
by day it varied in form, or rather its lower
peaks, and the summits of others of the chain
emerged above the clear horizon, and finally the
inferior line of hills which connected most of
them rose to view. So far, however, are objects
discernible in the pure atmosphere of these ele-
vated plains, that, from the place where they first
descried the main mountain, they had to travel
a hundred and fifty miles before they reached its
base. Here they encamped on the 30th of
August, having come nearly four hundred miles
since leaving the Arickara village.

The mountain which now towered above them
was one of the Bighorn chain, bordered by a
river, of the same name, and extending for a long
distance rather east of north fuid west of south.
It was a part of the great system of granite
mountains which forms one of the most impor-
tant and striking features of North America,
stretching parallel to the coast of the Pacific
from the Isthmus of Panama almost to the Arc-
tic Ocean ; and presenting a corresponding
'i%ain to that of the Andes in the southern hemi-

PEAKS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN X 297

sphere. This vast range has acquired, from its
nigged and broken character and its summits of
naked granite, the appellation of the Rocky
Mountains, a name by no means distinctive, as
all elevated ranges are rocky. Among the early
explorers it was known as the range of Chippew-
yan Mountains, and this Indian name is the one
it is likely to retain in poetic usage. Rising from
the midst of vast plains and prairies, traversing
several degrees of latitude, dividing the waters
of the Atlantic and the Pacific, and seeming to
bind with diverging ridges the level regions on
its flanks, it has been figuratively termed the
backbone of the ribrfchern continent.

The Rocky Mountains do not pi-esent a range
of uniform elevation, but rather groups and oc-
casionally detached peaks. Though some of
these rise to the region of perpetual snows, and
are upwards of eleven thousand feet in real alti-
tude, yet their height from their immediate basis
is not so great as might be imagined, as they
swell up from elevated plains, several thousand
feet above the level of the ocean. These plains
are often of a desolate sterility ; mere sandy
wastes, formed of the detritus of the granite
heights, destitute of trees and herbage, scorched
by the ardent and reflected rays of the summer's
sun, and in winter swept by chilling blasts from
the snow-clad mountains. Such is a great part
of that vast region extending north and south
along the mountains, several hundred miles in
width, which has not improperly been termed the
Great American Desert. It is a resriou that

298 ASTORIA.

almost discourages all hope of cultivation, and
can only be traversed with safety by keeping
near the streams which intersect it. Extensive
plains likewise occur among the higher regions
of the mountains, of considerable fertility. In-
deed, these lofty plats of table-land seem to form
a peculiar feature in the American continents.
Some occur among the Cordilleras of the Andes,
where cities, and towns, and cultivated farms are
to be seen eight thousand feet above the level of
the sea.

The Rocky Mountains, as we have already
observed, occur sometimes singly or in groups,
and occasionally in collateral 'ridges. Between
these are deep valleys, with small streams wind-
ing through tliem, which find their way into the
lower plains, augmenting as they proceed, and
ultimately discharging themselves into those vast
rivers, which traverse the prairies like great ar-
teries, and drain the continent.

While the granitic summits of the Rocky
Mountains are bleak and bare, many of the in-
ferior ridges are scantily clothed with scrubbed
pines, oaks, cedar, and furze. Various parts of
the mountains also bear traces of volcanic action.
Some of the interior valleys are strewed with
scoria and broken stones, evidently of volcanic
origin ; the surrounding rocks bear the like char-
acter, and vestiges of extinguished craters are to
be seen on the elevated heights.

We have already noticed the superstitious
feelings with which the Indians regard the Black
Hills ; but this iran)en*e range of mountains,

TOWNS OF THE GENEROUS SPIRITS. 29&

which divides all that they know of the world,
and gives birtli to such mighty rivers, is still
more an object of awe and veneration. They
call it " the crest of the world," and think that
Wacondah, or the master of life, as they desig-
nate the Supreme Being, has his residence among
these aerial heights. The tribes on the eastern
prairies call them the mountains of the setting
sun. Some of them place the " happy hunting-
grounds," their ideal paradise, among the recesses
of these mountains ; but say that they are invis-
ible to living men. Here also is the " Land of
Souls," in which are the " towns of the free and
generous spirits," where those who have pleased
the master of life while living, enjoy after death
all manner of delights.

Wonders are told of these mountains by the
distant tribes, whose warriors or hunters have ever
wandered in their neigiiborhood. It is thought
by some that, after death, they will have to
travel to these mountains and ascend one of their
highest and most rugged peaks, among rocks and
snows and tumbling torrents. After many
moons of painful toil they will reach the sum-
mit, from whence they will have a view over
the land of souls. There they will see the
happy hunting-grounds, with the souls of the
brave and good living in tents in green meadows,
by bright running streams, or hunting the herds
of buffalo, and elk, and deer, which have been
slain on earth. There, too, they will see the
rillages or towns of the free and generous spirits
brightening in the midst of delicious prairies.

300

ASTORIA.

If thej have acquitted themselves well while liv-
ing, they will be permitted to descend and enjoy
this happy country ; if otherwise they will but
be tantalized with this prospect of it, and then
hurled back from the mountain to wander about
the sandy plains, and endure the eternal pangs
of unsatisfied thirst and hunger.

CHAPTER XXVIir.

HE travellers had now arrived in the
vicinity of the mountain regions infes-
^H ted by the Crow Indians. These rest-
less marauders, as has already been observed,
are apt to be continually on the prowl about the
skirts of the mountains ; and even when en-
camped in some deep and secluded glen, they
keep scouts upon the cliffs and promontories,
who, unseen themselves, can discern every living
thing that moves over the subjacent plains and
valleys. It was not to be expected that our
travellers could pass unseen tlirough a region
thus vigilantly sentineled ; accordingly, in the
edge of the evening, not long after they had
encamped at the foot of the Bighorn Sierra, a
couple of wild-looking beings, scantily clad in
skins, but well armed, and mounted on horses as
wild-looking as themselves, were seen approach-
ing with great caution from among the rocks.
They might have been mistaken for two of the
evil spirits of the mountains so formidable in In-
dian fable.

Rose was immediately sent out to hold a par-
ley with them, and invite them to the camp.
They proved to be two scouts from the same
band that had been tracked for some days past,

302 ASTORIA.

and which was now encamped at some distance
in the folds of the mountain. They were easily
prevailed upon to come to the camp, where they
were well received, and, after remaining there
until late in the evening, departed to make a re-
port of all they had seen and experienced to
their companions.

The following day had scarce dawned, when
a troop of these wild mountain scamperers came
galloping with whoops and yells into the camp,
brin^ino; an invitation from their chief for the
white men to visit him. The tents were ac-
cordingly struck, the horses laden, and the party
were soon on the march. The Crow horsemen,
as they escorted them, appeared to take pride in
showing off their equestrian skill and hardihood ;
careering at full speed on their half-savage steeds,
and dashing among rocks and crags, and up and
down the most rugged and dangerous places witli
perfect ease and unconcern.

A ride of sixteen miles broua;ht them, in the
afternoon, in sight of the Crow camp. It was
composed of leathern tents, pitched in a meadow
on the border of a small clear stream at the foot
of the mountain. A great number of horses
were grazing in the vicinity, many of them
doubtless captured in marauding excursions.

The Crow chieftain came forth to meet his
guests with great professions of friendship, and
conducted them to his tents, pointing out, by the
way, a convenient place where they might fix
their camp. No sooner had they done so, than
Mr. Hunt opened some of the packages and

IN THE CROW CAMP. 303

made the chief a present of a scarlet blanket
and a quantity of powder and ball ; he gave him
also some knives, trinkets, and tobacco to be dis-
tributed among his warriors, with all which the
grim potentate seemed, for the time, well pleased.
As the Crows, however, were reputed to be per-
fidious in the extreme, and as errant freebooters
as the bird after which they were so worthily
named ; and as their general feelings towards
the whites were known to be by no means
friendly, the intercourse with them was conduc-
ted with great circumspection.

Tiie following day was passed in trading with
the Crows for buffalo robes and skins, and in
bartering galled and jaded horses for others that
were in good condition. Some of the men, also,
purchased horses on their own account, so that
the number now amounted to one hundred and
twenty one, most of them sound and active, and
fit for mountain service.

Their wants being supplied, they ceased all
further traffic, much to the dissatisfaction of the
Crows, who became extremely urgent to con-
tinue the trade, and, finding their importunities
of no avail, assumed an insolent and menacing
tone. All this was attributed by Mr. Hunt and
his associates to the perfidious instigations of
Rose the interpreter, whom they suspected of the
desire to foment ill-will between them and the
savages, for the promotion of his nefarious plans.
M'Lellan, with his usual tranchant mode of deal-
ing out justice, resolved to shoot the desperado
on the spot in case of any outbreak. Nothing

304 ASTORIA.

of the kind, however, occurred. The Crows
were probably daunted by the resolute, though
quiet demeanor of the white men, and the con-
stant vigilance and armed preparations which
they maintained ; and Rose, if he really still
harbored his knavish designs, must have per-
ceived that they were suspected, and, if at-
tempted to be carried into effect, might bring
ruin on his own head.

The next morning, bright and early, Mr.
Hunt proposed to resume his journeying. He
took a ceremonious leave of the Crow chieftain,
and his vagabond warriors, and according to pre-
vious arrangements, consigned to their cherishing
friendship and fraternal adoption, their worthy
confederate Rose ; who, having figured among
the water pirates of the Mississippi, was well fit-
ted to rise to distinction among the land pirates
of the Rocky Mountains.

It is proper to add, that the ruffian was well
received among the tribe, and appeared to be
perfectly satisfied with the compromise he had
made ; feeling much more at his ease among sav-
ao-es than among white men. It is outcasts
from civilization, fugitives from justice, and
heartless desperadoes of this kind who sow the
seeds of enmity and bitterness among the unfor-
tunate tribes of the frontier. There is no enemy
so implacable against a coinitry or a community
as one of its own people who has rendered him-
self an alien by his crimes.

Right glad to be delivered from this treacher-
ous companfon, Mr. Hunt pursued his course

UNWELCOME VISITORS. 305

along the skirts of the mountain, in a southern
direction, seeking for some practicable defile by
which he might pass through it ; none such pre-
sented, however, in the course of fifteen miles,
and he encamped on a small stream, still on the
outskirts. The green meadows which border
these mountain streams are generally well stocked
with game, and the hunters killed several fat
elks, which supplied the camp with fresh meat.
In the evening the travellers were surprised by
an unwelcome visit from several Crows beloniring
to a diflferent band from that which they recently
left, and who said their camp was among the
mountains. The consciousness of being environed
by such dangerous neighbors, and of being still
w^ithin the range of Rose and his fellow ruffians,
obliged the party to be continually on the alert,
and to maintain weary vigils throughout the
night, lest they should be robbed of their horses.
On the third of September, finding that the
ramintain still stretched onwards, presenting a
continued barrier, they endeavored to force a
passage to the westwai-d, but soon became en-
tangled among rocks and precipices which set all
their efforts at defiance. The mountain seemed,
for the most part, rugged, bare, and sterile ; yet
here and there it was clothed with pines, and
with shrubs and flowering plants, some of which
were in bloom. In toiling among these weary
places, their thirst became excessive, for no
water was to be met with. Numbers of the
men wandered off into rocky dells and ravines
in ho/)es of finding some brook or fountain ; some
20

o(M) ASTORIA.

of whom lost their way and did not rejoin the
main party.

After a day of painful and fruitless scramuling,
Mr. Hunt gave up the attempt to penetrate in
this direction, and, returning to the little stream
on the skirts of the mountain, pitched his tents
within six miles of his encampment of the pre-
ceding night. He now ordered that signals
should be made for the stragglers in quest of
water, but the night passed away without their
return.

The next morning, to their surprise, Rose
made his appearance at the camp, accompanied
by some of his Crow associates. His unwelcome
visit revived their suspicions ; but he announced
himself as a messenger of good-will from the
chief, who, finding they had taken the wrong
roiid, had sent Rose and his companions to guide
them to a nearer and better one across the
mountain.

Having.wo choice, being themselves utterly at
fault, they set out under this questionable escort.
They had not gone far before they fell in with
the whole party of Crows, who, they now found,
were tjoino; the same ix)ad with themselves. The
two cavalcades of white and red men, therefore,
pushed on together, and presented a wild and
picturesque spectacle, as, equipped with various
weapons and in various garbs, with trains of
|>ack-horses, they wound in long lines through
the rugged defiles, and up and down the crags
and steeps of the mountain.

The travellers had again an opportunity to see

CHILD EQUESTRIANS. 307

and admire the equestrian habitudes and address
of this hard-riding tribe. They were all mounted,
man, woman, and child, for the Crows have
horses in abundance, so that no one goes on foot.
The children are perfect imps on horseback.
Among them was one so young that he could not
yec speak. He was tied on a colt of two years
old, but managed the reins as if by instinct, and
plied the whip with true Indian prodigality. Mr.
Hunt inquired the age of this infant jockey, and
was answered that " he had seen two winters."

This is almost realizing the fable of the cen-
taurs ; nor can we wonder at the equestrian
adroitness of these savages, who are thus in a
manner cradled in the saddle, and become in in-
fancy almost identified with the animal they be-
stride.

The mountain defiles were exceedingly rough
and broken, and the travelling painful to the bur-
dened horses. The party, therefore, proceeded but
slowly, and were gradually left behind by the
band of Crows, who had taken the lead. It is
more than probable that Mr. Hunt loitered in
his course, to get rid of such doubtful fellow-
travellers. Certain it is that he felt a sensation
of relief as he saw tlie whole crew, the renegade
Rose and all, disappear among the windings of the
mountain, and heard the last yelp of the savages
die away in tlie distance.

When they were fairly out of sight, and out of
hearing, he encamped on the head waters of the
little stream of the preceding day, having come
about sixteen miles. Here he remained all the

808 ASTORTA.

Bucceeding day, as well to give time for the Crows
to get in the advance, as for the stragglers, who
had wandered away in quest of water two days
previously, to rejoin the camp. Indeed, con-
siderable uneasiness began to be felt concerning
these men, lest they should become utterly
bewildered in the defiles of the mountains, or
should fall into the hands of some marauding
band of savages. Some of the most experienced
hunters were sent in search of them ; others, in
the meantime, employed themselves in hunting.
The narrow valley in which they encamped being
watered by a running stream, yielded fresh pas-
turage, and though in the heai-t of the Bighorn
Mountains, was well stocked with buffalo. Sev-
eral of these were killed, as also a grizzly bear.
In the evening, to the satisfaction of all parties,
the stragglers made their appearance, and provis-
ions being in abundance, there was hearty good
cheer in the camp.

CHAPTER XXIX.

[ESUMING their course on the following
morning, Mr. Hunt and his companions
jj continued on westward through a rugged
j-egion of hills and rocks, but diversified in many
places by grassy little glens, with springs of wa-
ter, bright sparkling brooks, clumps of pine trees,
and a profusion of flowering plants, which were
in bloom, although the weather was frosty.
These beautiful and verdant recesses, running
through and softening the rugged mountains,
were cheering and refreshing to the wayvvorn
travellers.

In the course of the morning, as they were
entangled in a defile, they beheld a small band
of savages, as wild-looking as the surrounding
scenery, who reconnoitred them warily from the
rocks before they ventured to advance. Some of
them were mounted on horses rudely caparisoned
with bridles or halters of bufi^alo hide, one end
trailing after them on the ground. They proved
to be a mixed party of Flatheads and Shoshonies,
or Snakes ; and as these tribes will be frequently
mentioned in the course of this work, we shall
give a few introductory particulars concerning
them.

The Flatheads in question are not to be con

310 ASTORIA.

founded with those of the name who dwell about
the lower waters of the Columbia ; neither do
they flatten their heads, as the others do. They
inhabit the banks of a river on the west side of
the mountains, and are described as simple, hon-
est, and hospitable. Like all people of similar
character, whether civilized or savage, they are
prone to be imposed upon ; and are especially
maltreated by the ruthless Blackfeet, who harass
them in their villages, steal their horses by night,
or openly carry them off in the face of day, with-
out provoking pursuit or retaliation.

The Shoshonies are a branch of the once pow-
erful and prosperous tribe of the Snakes, who
possessed a glorious hunting country about the
upper forks of the Missouri, abounding in beaver
and buffalo. Their hunting ground was occa-
sionally invaded by the Blackfeet, but the Snakes
battled bravely for their domains, and a long and
bloody feud existed, with variable success. At
length the Hudson's Bay Company, extending
their trade into the interior, had dealings with
the Blackfeet, who were nearest to them, and
supplied them with fire-arms. The Snakes, who
occasionally traded with the Spaniards, endeav-
ored, but in vain, to obtain similar weapons ; the
Spanish traders wisely refused to arm them so
formidably. The Blackfeet had now a vast ad-
vantage, and soon dispossessed the poor Snakes
of their favorite hunting grounds, their hmd of
plenty, and drove them from place to place, until
they were fain to take refuge in the wildest and
most desolate recesses of the Rocky Mountains,

DIGGERS AND SIWSHONTES. 311

Even tieie tUey are subject to occasional visits
fcoin tlicir implacable foes, as long as they have
horses, or any other property to tempt the plun-
derer. Thus by degrees the Snakes have be-
come a scattered, broken-spirited, impoverished
people ; keeping about lonely rivers and moun-
tain streams, and subsisting chiefly upon fish.
Such of them as still possess horses, and occa-
sionally figure as hunters, are called Shoshonies ;
but there is another class, the most abject and
forlorn, who are called Shuckers, or more com-
monly Diggers and Root Eaters. These are a
shy, secret, solitary race, who keep in the most
retired parts of the mountains, lurking like
gnomes in caverns and clefts of the rocks, and
subsisting in a great measure on the roots of the
earth. Sometimes, in passing through a solitary
mountain valley, the traveller comes perchance
upon the bleeding carcass of a deer or buffalo
that has just been slain. He looks round in
vain for the hunter ; the whole landscape is life-
less and deserted : at length he perceives a
thread of smoke, curling up from among the
crags and cliffs, and scrambling to the place,
finds some forlorn and skulking brood of Diggers,
terrified at being discovered.

The Shoshonies, however, who, as has been
observed, have still " horse to ride and weapon
io wear," are somewhat bolder in their spirit,
Rnd more open and wide in thefr wanderings. In
the autumn, when salmon disappear from the
rivers, and hunger begins to pinch, they even
venture down into their ancient hunting grounds,

812 ASTORIA.

to make a foray among the buffaloes. In this
perilous enterprise they are occasionally joined
by the Flatheads, the persecutions of the Black-
feet having produced a close alliance and coop-
eration between these luckless and maltreated
tribes. Still, notwithstanding their united force,
every step they take within the debatable
ground, is taken in fear and trembling, and with
the utmost precaution : and an Indian trader
assures us that he has seen at least five hun-
dred of them, armed and equipped for action,
and keeping watch upon the hill tops, while
about fifty were hunting in the prairie. Their
excursions are brief and hurried ; as soon as
they have collected and jerked sufficient buffalo
meat for winter provisions, they pack their horses,
abandon the dangerous hunting grounds, and
hasten back to the mountains, happy if they
have not the terrible Blackfeet rattling after
them.

Such a confederate band of Shoslionies and
Flatheads was the one met by our travellers.
It was bound on a visit to the Arrapahoes, a tribe
inhabiting the banks of the Nebraska. They
were armed to the best of their scanty means,
and some of the Shoshonies had bucklers of
buffalo hide, adorned with feathers and leathern
fringes, and which have a charmed virtue in
their eyes, from having been prepared, with mys-
tic ceremonies, by their conjurers.

In company with this wandering band our
travellers proceeded all day. In the evening
they encamped near to each other in a defile o'i

WI^D RIVER. 313

the mountains, on the borders of a stream run-
ning north, and ftxlling into Bighorn River. In
the vicinity of tlie camp, they found gooseber-
ries, strawberries, and currants, in great abund-
ance. Tlie detile bore traces of having been
a thoroughfare for countless herds of buffaloes,
though not one was to be seen. The hunters
succeeded in killing an elk and several black-
tailed deer.

They were now in the bosom of the second
Bighorn ridge, with another lofty and snow-
crowned mountain full in view to the west.
Fifteen miles of western course brought them,
on the following day, down into an intervening
plain, well stocked with butfalo. Here the
Snakes and Flatheads joined with the white
hunters in a successful -hunt, that soon tilled the
eamp with provisions.

On the morning of the 9tli of September,
the travellers parted company wilh their Indian
friends, and continued on their course to the west.
A march of thirty miles brought them, in the
evening, to the banks of a rapid and beauti-
fully clear stream about a hundred yards vvide.
It is the north fork or branch of the Bighorn
River, but bears its peculiar name of the Wind
River, from being subject in the winter season to
a continued blast which sweeps its banks and
prevents tlie snow from lying on them. This
blast is said to be caused by a narrow gap or
funnel in the mountains, through which the river
forces its way between perpendicular precipices,
resemblln2 cut rocks.

314 ASTORIA.

This river gives its name to a whole range of
mountains consisting of three parallel chains^
eighty miles in length, and about twenty or
twenty-five broad. One of its peaks is probably
fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea,
being one of the highest of the Rocky Sierra.
These mountains give rise, not merely to the
Wind or Bighorn River, but to several branches
of the Yellowstone and the Missouri on the east,
and of the Columbia and Colorado on the west ;
thus dividing the sources of these mighty
streams.

For five succeeding days, Mr. Hunt and his
party continued up the course of the Wind River,
to the distance of about eighty miles, crossing

and recrossinc; it, accordino; to its windin^-s. and

o ■ o ra-

the nature of its banks ; sometimes passing
through valleys, at other times scrambling over
rocks and hills. The country in general was
destitute of trees, but they passed through groves
of wormwood, eio^ht and ten feet in hei«:ht, which
they used occasionally for fuel, and they met
with large quantities of wild flax.

The mountains were destitute of game ; they
came in sight of two grizzly bears, but could not
get near enough for a shot ; provisions, therefore,
began to be scanty. They saw large flights of
the kind of thrush commonly called the robin,
and many smaller birds of migratory species ;
but the hills in general appeared lonely and with
few signs of animal life. On the evening of the
14th September, they encamped on the forks of
the Wind or Bi^jhorn river. The larj^est of

LANDMARKS OF THE COLUMBIA. 315

these forks came from the range of Wind Rivei
Mountains.

The hunters who served as guides to the party
in this part of their route, had assured Mr. Hunt
that, by following up Wind River, and crossing a
single mountain ridge, he would come upon the
head waters of the Columbia. This scarcity ot
game, however, which already had been felt to a
pinching degree, and which threatened them with
famine among the sterile heights which lay be-
fore them, admonished them to change their
course. It was determined, therefore, to make
for a stream, which they were informed passed
the neighboring mountains, to the south of west,
on the grassy banks of wliich it was probable
they would meet with buifalo. Accordingly,
about three o'clock on the following day, meeting
with a beaten Indian road wliich led in the
proper direction, they struck into it, turning their
backs upon W^ind River.

In the course of the day, they came to a
height tliat commanded an almost boundless
prospect. Here one of the guides paused, and,
after considering the vast landscape attentively,
pointed to three mountain peaks glistening with
snow, which rose, lie said, above a fork of Co-
-lumbia River. They were hailed by the trav-
ellers with that joy with which a beacon on a
sea-shore is hailed by mariners after a long and
dangerous voyage. It is true there was many a
weary league to be traversed before they should
reach these landmarks, for, allowing for their
evident height and the extreme transparency of

316 ASTORIA.

the atmosphere, they could not be much less than
a hundred miles distant. Even after reaching
them, there would yet remain hundreds of miles
of their journey to be accomplished. All these
matters were forgotten in the joy at seeing the
first landmarks of the Columbia, that river which
formed the bourne of the expedition. These re-
markable peaks were known as the Tetons ; as
guiding points for many days, to Mr. Hunt, he
gave them the name of the Pilot Knobs.

The travellers continued their course to the
south of west for about forty miles, through a
region so elevated that patches of snow lay on
the highest summits and on the northern decliv-
ities. At length they came to the desired stream,
the object of their search, the waters of which
flowed to the west. It was, in fact, a branch of
the Colorado, which falls into the Gulf of Cali-
fornia, and had received from the hunters the
name of Spanish River, from information given
by the Indians that Spaniards resided upon its
lower waters.

The aspect of this river and its vicinity was
cheering to the wayworn and hungry travellers.
Its banks were green, and there were grassy
valleys running from it in various directions,
into the heart of the rugged mountains, with
herds of buffalo quietly grazing. The hunters
sallied forth with keen alacrity, and soon re-
turned laden with provisions.

In this part of the mountains Mr Hunt met
with three different kinds of o-ooseberries. The

WILD FRUITS AND FOWL. 317

cominoii purple, on a low and very thorny bush ;
a yellow kind, of an excellent flavor, growing on
a stock free from thorns ; and a deep purple, of
the size and taste of our winter grape, with a
thorny stalk. There were also three kinds of
currants, one very large and well tasted, of a
purple color, and growing on a bush eight or
nine feet high. Another of a yellow color, and
of the size and taste of the large red currant,
the bush four or five feet high ; and the third a
beautiful scarlet, resembling the strawberry in
sweetness, though rather insipid, and growing on
a low bush.

On the 17th they continued down the course
of the river, making fifteen miles to the south-
west. The river abounded with geese and ducks,
and there were signs of its being inhabited by
beaver and otters : indeed they were now ap-
proaching regions where these animals, the great
objects of the fur trade, are said to abound.
They encamped for the night opposite the end
of a mountain in the west, which was proba-
bly the last chain gf the Rocky Mountains. On
the following morning they abandoned the main
course of Spanish River, and taking a northwest
direction for eight miles, came upon one of its
little tributaries, issuing out of the bosom of the
mountains, and running through green meadows,
yielding pasturage to herds of buffalo. As these
were probably the last of that animal they would
meet with, they encamped on the grassy banks
of the river, determining to spend several days
m hunting, so as to be able to jerk sufficient

318 ASTORIA.

meat to supply them until they should reach the
waters of the Columbia, where they trusted tc
find fish enough for their support. A little re
pose, too, was necessary for both men and horses,
after their rugged and incessant marching ; hav-
ing in the course of the last seventeen days
traversed two hundred and sixty miles of rough,
and in many parts sterile, mountain country.

.^^

m^

CHAPTER XXX.

llVE days were passed by Mr. Hunt and
his companions in the fresh meadows
ijl watered by the bright little mountain
stream. The hunters made great havoc among
the buffaloes, and brought in quantities of meat ;
the voyageurs busied themselves about the fires,
roasting and stewing for present purposes, or dry-
ing provisions for the journey ; the pack-horses,
eased of their burdens, rolled on the grass, or
grazed at large about the ample pastures ; those
of the party who had no call upon their services,
indulged in the luxury of perfect relaxation, and
the camp presented a picture of rude feasting
and revelry, of mingled bustle and repose, char-
acteristic of a halt in a fine hunting country. In
the course of one of their excursions, some of
the men came in sight of a small party of In-
dians, who instantly fled in great apparent con-
sternation. They immediately returned to camp
with the intelligence : upon which Mr. Hunt and
four others flung themselves upon their horses,
and sallied forth to reconnoitre. After riding
for about eight miles, they came upon a wild
mountain scene. A lonely green valley stretched
before them, surrounded by rugged heights. A
herd of buffalo were careering madly through it,

S20 ASTORIA.

with a troop of savage horsemen in full chase,
plying them with their bows and arrows. The
appearance of Mr. Hunt and his companions put
an abrupt end to the hunt ; the buffalo scuttled
off in one direction, while the Indians plied theii
lashes and galloj^ed off in another, as fast as theii
steeds could carry them. Mr. Hunt gave chase ;
there was a sharp scamper, though of short con-
tinuance. Two young Indians, who were indif
ferently mounted, were soon overtaken. They
were terribly frightened, and evidently gave them-
selves up for lost. By degrees their fears were
allayed by kind treatment ; but they continued to
regard the strangers with a mixture of awe and
wonder, for it was the first time in their lives
they had ever seen a white man.

They belonged to a party of Snakes who had
come across the mountains on their autumnal
hunting excursion to provide buffalo meat for the
winter. Being persuaded of the peaceable in-
tentions of Mr. Hunt and his companions, they
willingly conducted them to their camp. It was
pitched in a narrow valley on the margin of a
stream. The tents were of dressed skins, some
of them fantastically painted ; with horses graz-
ing about them. The approach of the party
caused a transient alarm in the camp, for these
poor Indians were ever on the look-out for cruel
foes. No sooner, however, did they recognize
the garb and complexion of their visitors, than
their apprehensions were changed into joy ; for
some of them had dealt with white men, and
knev/ them to be friendly, and to abound with

HEAD WATERS OF THE COLUMBIA. 321

articles of singular value. They welcomed them,
therefore, to their tents, set food before them;
and entertained them to the best of their power.

They had been successful in their hunt, and
their camp was full of jerked buffalo meat, all
of the choicest kind, and extremely fat. Mr.
Hunt purchased enough of them, in addition to
what had been killed and cured by his own
hunters, to load all the horses excepting those
reserved for the partners and the wife of Pierre
Dorion. He found, also, a few beaver skins in
their camp, for which he paid liberally, as an in-
ducement to them to hunt for more ; informing
them that some of his party intended to live
among the mountains, and trade with the native
hunters for their peltries. The poor Snakes soon
comprehended the advantages thus held out to
them, and promised to exert themselves to pro-
cure a quantity of beaver skins for future traffic.

Being now well supplied with provisions, Mr.
Hunt broke up his encampment on the 24th of
September, and continued on to the west. A
march of fifteen miles^ over a mountain ridge,
brought them to a stream about fifty feet in
width, which Hoback, one of their guides, who
had trapped about the neighborhood when in the
service of Mr. Henry, recognized for one of the
head waters of the Columbia. The travellers
hailed it with delight, as the first stream they had
encountered tending toward their point of desti-
nation. They kept along it for two days, duruig
which, from the contribution of many rills and
brooks, it gradually swelled into a small river.

21

322 ASTORIA.

As it meandered among rocks and precipices,
they were frequently obliged to ford it, and such
was its rapidity, that the men were often in dan-
ger of being swept away. Sometimes the banks
advanced so close upon the river, that they were
obliged to scramble up and down their rugged
promontories, or to skirt along their bases where
there was scarce a foothold. Their horses had
dangerous falls in some of these passes. One of
them rolled, with his load, nearly two hundred
feet down hill into the river, but without receiv-
ing any injury. At length they emerged from
these stupendous defiles, and continued for sev-
eral miles along the bank of Hoback's River,
through one of the stern mountain valleys.
Here it was joined by a river of greater mag-
nitude and swifter current, and their united
waters swept off through the valley in one im-
petuous stream, which, from its rapidity and tur-
bulence, had received the name of the Mad
River. At the confluence of these streams the
travellers encamped. An important point in
their arduous journey had been attained, a few
miles from their camp rose the three vast snowy
peaks called the Teton s, or the Pilot Knobs, the
great landmarks of the Columbia, by which they
had shaped their course through this mountain
wilderness. By their feet flowed the rapid cur-
rent of Mad River, a stream ample enough to
admit of the navigation of canoes, and down
which they might possibly be able to steer their
course to the main body of the Columbia. The
Canaaian voyageurs rejoiced at the idea of once

PLEASING EXPECTATIONS. 323

Diore launching themselves upon their favorite
element ; of exchanging their horses for canoes
and of gliding down the bosoms of rivers, in-
stead of scrambling over the backs of mountains.
Others of the party, also, inexperienced in this
kind of travelling, considered their toils and
troubles as drawing to a close. They had con-
quered the chief difficulties of this great rocky
barrier, and now flattered themselves with the
hope of an easy downward course for the rest of
their journey. Little did they dream of the
hardships and perils by land and water, which
were yet to be encountered in the frightful wil-
derness that intervened between them and the
sliores of the Pacific!

CHAPTER XXXI.

N the banks of Mad River Mr. Hunt
held a consultation with the other part-
ners as to their future movements. The
wild and impetuous current of the river rendered
him doubtful whether it might not abound with
impediments lower down, sufficient to render
the navigation of it slow and perilous, if not im-
practicable. The hunters who had acted as
guides, knew nothing of the character of the
river below ; what rocks, and shoals, and rapids
might obstruct it, or through what mountains and
deserts it might pass. Should they then abandon
their horses, cast themselves loose in fragile barks
upon this wild, doubtful, and unknown river ; or
should they continue their more toilsome and
tedious, but perhaps more certain wayfaring by
land?

The vote, as might have been expected, was
almost unanimous for embarkation ; for when
men are in difficulties every change seems to be
for the better. The difficulty now was to find
timber of sufficient size for the construction ot
canoes, the trees in these high mountain regions
being chiefly a scrubbed growth of pines and
cedars, aspens, haws, and service-berries, and a
small kind of cotton-tree, with a leaf resembling

TRAPPERS DETACHED. 325

that of the willow. There was a species of large
fir, but so full of knots as to endanger the axe
in hewing it. After searching for some time, d,
growth of timber, of sufficient size, was found
lower down the river, whereupon the encamp-
ment was moved to the vicinity.

The men were now set to work to fell trees,
and the mountains echoed to the unwonted sound
of their axes. While preparations were thus
going on for a voyage down the river, Mr. Hunt,
who still entertained doubts of its practicability,
dispatched an exploring party, consisting of John
Reed, the clerk, John Day, the hunter, and
Pierre Dorion, the interpreter, with orders to
proceed several days' march along the stream,
and notice its course and character.

After their departure, Mr. Hunt turned his
thoughts to another object of importance. He
had now arrived at the head waters of the Colum-
bia, which were among the main points embraced
by the enterprise of Mr. Astor. These upper
streams were reputed to abound in beaver, and
had as yet been unmolested by the white trapper.
The numerous signs of beaver met with during
the recent search for timber, gave evidence that
the neighborhood was a good " trapping ground."
Here, then, it was proper to begin to cast loose
•Jiose leashes of hardy trappers that are detached
from trading parties in the very heart of the
wilderness. The men detached in the present
instance were Alexander Carson, Louis St.
Michel, Pierre Detaye, and Pierre Delaunay.
Trappers generally go in pairs, that they may

326 ASTORIA.

assist, protect, and comfort each other in theii
lonely and perilous occupations. Thus Carson
and St. Michel formed one couple, and Detaye
and Delaunay another. They were fitted out
with traps, arms, ammunition, horses, and every
other requisite, and were to trap upon the upper
part of Mad River, and upon the neighboring
streams of the mountains. This would probably
occupy them for some months ; and, when they
should have collected a sufficient quantity of
peltries, they were to pack them upon their
horses and make the best of their way to the
mouth of Columbia River, or to any intermediate
post which might be established by the company.
They took leave of their comrades and started
off on their several courses with stout hearts and
cheerful countenances; though these lonely cruis-
ings into a wild and hostile wilderness seem to
the uninitiated equivalent to being cast adrift in
the ship's yawl in the midst of the ocean.

Of the perils that attend the lonely trapper,
the reader will have suflficient proof, when he
comes, in the after part of this work, to learn the
hard fortunes of these poor fellows in the course
of their wild peregrinations.

The trappers had not long departed, when two
Snake Indians wandered into the camp. When
they perceived that the strangers were fabricating
canoes, they shook their heads and gave them to
understand that the river was not navigable.
Their informa-tion, however, was scoffed at by
Bome of the party, who were obstinately bent on
embarkation, but was confirmed by the exploring

MAD RIVER ABANDONED. 327

party, who returned after several days' absence.
They had kept along the river with great difficuhy
for two days, and found it a narrow, crooked,
turbulent stream, confined in a rocky channel,
with many rapids, and occasionally overhung
with precipices. From the summit of one of
these they had caught a bird's-eye view of its
boisterous career for a great distance through
the heart of the mountain, with impending rocks
and cliffs. Satisfied from this view that it was
useless to follow its course, either by land or
water, they had given up all further investigation.

These concurring reports determined Mr. Hunt
to abandon Mad River, and seek some more
navigable stream. This determination was con-
curred in by all his associates excepting Mr.
Miller, who had become impatient of the fatigue
of land travel, and was for immediate embarka-
tion at all hazards. This gentleman had been in
a gloomy and irritated state of mind for some
time past, being troubled with a bodily malady
that rendered travelling on horseback extremely
irksome to him, and being, moreover, discontented
with having a smaller share in the expedition
than his comrades. His unreasonable objections
to a further march by land were overruled, anil
the party prepared to decamp.

Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner, the three hun-
ters who had hitherto served as guides among
the mountains, now stepped forward, and advised
Mr. Hunt to make for the post established during
the preceding year by Mr. Henry, of the Missouri
Fur Company. They had been with Mr. Henry,

328 ASTORIA.

and, as far as they could judge by the neighboring
landmarks, his post could not be very far otF.
They presumed there could be but one intervening
ridge of mountains, which might be passed with-
out any great difficulty. Henry's post, or fort,
was on an upper branch of the Columbia, down
which they made no doubt it would be easy to
navigate in canoes.

The two Snake Indians being questioned in
the matter, showed a perfect knowledge of the
situation of the post, and oifered, with great alac-
rity, to guide them to the place. Their offer was
accepted, greatly to the displeasure of Mr. Miller,
who seemed obstinately bent upon braving the
perils of Mad River.

The weather for a few days past had been
stormy, with rain and sleet. The Rocky Moun-
tains are subject to tempestuous winds from the
west ; these sometimes come in flaws or currents,
making a path through the forests many yards in
width, and whirling off trunks and branches to a
great distance. The present storm subsided on
the third of October, leaving all the surrounding
heights covered with snow ; for, while rain had
fallen in the valley, it had snowed on the hill tops.

On the 4th, they broke up their encampment^
and crossed the river, the water coming up to the
girths of their horses. After travelling four miles,
they encamped at the foot of the mountain, the
last, as they hoped, which they should have to
traverse. Four days more took them across it,
and over several plains, watered by beautiful little
streams, tributaries of Mad River. Near one of

ARRIVAL AT HENRTS POST. 329

*lieir encampments there was a hot spring con-
tinually emitting a cloud of vapor. These ele-
vated plains, which give a peculiar character to
the mountains, are frequented by ^Jarge gangs of
antelopes, fleet as the wind.

On the evening of the 8th of October, after a
cold wintry day, with gusts of westerly wind and
flurries of snow, they arrived at the sough t-for
post of Mr. Henry. Here he had fixed himself,
after being compelled by the hostilities of the
Blackfeet, to abandon the upper waters of the
Missouri. The post, however, was deserted, for
Mr. Henry had left it in the course of the pre-
ceding spring, and, as it afterwards appeared, had
fallen in with Mr. Lisa, at the Arickara village on
the Missouri, some time after the separation of
Mr. Hunt and his })arty.

The weary travellers gladly took possession of
the deserted log huts which had formed the post,
and which stood on the bank of a stream upwards
of a hundred yards wide, on which they intended
to embark. There being plenty of suitable timber
in the neighborhood, Mr. Hunt immediately pro-
ceeded to. construct canoes. As he would have
to leave his horses and their accoutrements here,
he determined to make this a trading post, where
the trappers and hunters, to be distributed about
the country, might repair ; and where the traders
might touch on their way through the mountains
to and from the establishment at the mouth of the
Columbia. He informed the two Snake Indiana
of this determination, and engaged them to remain
in that neigliborhood and take care of the horses

ooO AS TOE/ A.

until the white men should return, promising them
ample rewards for theii' fidelity. It may seem a
desperate chance to trust to the faith and honesty
of two such vagabonds ; but, as the horses would
have, at all events, to be abandoned, and would
otherwise become the property of the first vagrant
horde that should encounter them, it was one
chance in favor of their bein^ reo;ained.

At this place another detachment of hunters
prepared to separate from the party for the pur-
pose of trapping beaver. Three of these had al-
ready been in this neighborhood, being the veteran
Robinson and his companions, Hoback and Rezner,
who had accompanied Mr. Henry across the moun-
tains, and who had been picked up by Mr. Hunt
on the Missouri, on their way home to Kentucky.
According to agreement they were fitted out with
horses, traps, ammunition, and everything requisite
for their undertaking, and were to bring in all the
peltries they should collect, either to this trading
post, or to the establishment at the mouth of Co-
lumbia River. Another hunter, of the name of
Cass, was associated with them in their enterprise.
It is in this way that small knots of trappers and
hunters are distributed about the wilderness by
the fur companies, and like cranes and bitterns,
haunt its solitary streams. Robinson, the Ken-
tuckian, the veteran of the " bloody ground," who,
as has already been noted, had been scalped by
the Indians in his younger days, was the leadei
of this little band. When they were about to
depart, Mr. Miller called the partners together
and threw up his share in the company, declaring
his intention of joining the party of trappers.

MR. MILLER TURNS TRAPPER. 331

This resolution struck every one with astonish-
ment, Mr. Miller being a man of education and
of cultivated habits, and little fitted for the rude
life of a hunter. Besides, the precarious and
slender profits arising from such a life were be-
neath the prospects of one who held a share in
the general enterprise. Mr. Hunt was especially
concerned and mortified at his determination, as
it was through his advice and influence he had e«i-
tered into the concern. He endeavored, therefore,
dissuade him from this sudden resohition ; rep-
resenting its rashness, and the hardships and
perils to which it wo aid expose him. He earnestly
advised him, however he might feel dissatisfied
with the enterprise, still to continue on in company
until they should reach the mouth of Columbia
River. There they would meet the expedition
that was to come by sea ; when, should he still
feel disposed to relinquish the undertaking, Mr.
Hunt pledged himself to furnish him a passage
home in one of the vessels belonging to the com-
pany.

To all this Miller replied abruptly, that it was
useless to argue with him, as his mind was made
up. They might furnish him, or not, as ihey
pleased, with the necessary supplies, but he was
determined to part company here, and set off with
the trappers. So saying, he flung out of their
presence without vouchsafing any further con-
versation.

Much as this wayward conduct gave them anx-
iety, the partners saw it was in vain to remon-
strate. Every attention was paid to fit him out

332 ASTORIA.

for liis headstrong undertaking. He was provided
with four horses, and all the articles he required.
The two Snakes undertook to conduct him and
his companions to an encampment of their tribe,
lower down among the mountains, from whom
they would receive information as to the best
trapping grounds. After thus guiding them, the
Snakes were to return to Fort Henry, as the
new trading post was called, and take charge of
the horses which the party would leave there, of
which, after all the hunters were supplied, there
remained seventy-seven. These matters being all
arranged, Mr. Miller set out with his companions,
under guidance of the two Snakes, on the 10th
of October ; and much did it grieve the friends
of that gentleman to see him thus wantonly cast-
ing himself loose upon savage life. How he and
his comrades fared in the wilderness, and how the
Snakes acquitted themselves of their trust respect-
ing the liorses, will hereafter appear in the course
of these ramblins: anecdotes.

CHAPTER XXXII.

HILE the canoes were in preparation,
the hunters ranged about the neighbor-
L^i^^ hood, but with little success. Tracks
of buffaloes were to be seen in all directions, but
none of a fresh date. There were some elk, but
extremely wild ; two only were killed. Ante-
lopes were likewise seen, but too shy and fleet to
be approached. A few beavers were taken every
night, and salmon trout of a small size, so that
the camp had principally to subsist upon dried
buffiilo meat.

On the 14th, a poor, half-naked Snake Indian,
one of that forlorn caste called the Shuckers, or
Diggers, made his appearance at the camp. He
came from some lurking-place among the rocks
and cliffs, and presented a picture of that famish-
ing wi-etchedness to which these lonely fugitives
among the mountains are sometimes reduced.
Having received wherewithal to allay his hunger,
he disappeared, but in the course of a day or two
returned to the camp, bringing with him his son,
a miserable boy, still more naked and forlorn
than himself. Food was given to both ; they
skulked about the camp like hungry hounds, seek-
ing what they might devour, and having gathered

334 ASTOEfA.

up the feot and entrails of some beavers that
were lying about, slunk off with them to their
den among the rocks.

By the 18th of October, fifteen canoes were
completed, and on the following day the party
embarked with their eflt'ects ; leaving their horses
grazing about the banks, and trusting to the hon-
esty of the two Snakes, and some special turn of
good luck for their future recovery.

The current bore them along at a rapid rate ;
the light spirits of the Canadian voyageurs, which
had occasionally flagged upon land, rose to their
accustomed buoyancy on finding themselves again
upon the water. They wielded their paddles
with their wonted dexterity, and for the first time
made the mountains echo with their favorite boat
songs.

In the course of the day the little squadron
arrived at the confluence of Henry and Mad
Elvers, which, thus united, swelled into a beauti-
ful stream of a light pea-green color, navigable
for boats of any size, and which, from the place
of junction, took the name of Snake River, a
stream doomed to be the scene of much disaster
to the travellers. The banks were here and
there fringed with willow thickets and small cot-
ton-wood trees. The weather was cold, and it
snowed all day, and great flocks of ducks and
geese, sporting in the water or streaming through
the air, gave token that winter was at hand ; yet
the hearts of the travellers were light, and, as
they glided down the little river, they flattered
themselves with the hope of soon reaching the

THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLES. 335

Columbia. After making thirty miles in a souiii-
erly direction, they encamped for the night in a
neighborhood which required some little vigilance,
as thet-e were recent traces of grizzly bears among
the thickets.

On the following day the river increased in
width and beauty ; flowing parallel to a range of
mountains on the left, which at times were finely
reflected in its light green waters. The three
snowy summits of the Pilot Knobs or Tetons
were still seen towering in the distance. After
pursuing a swift but placid course for twenty
miles, the current began to foam and brawl, and
assume the wild and broken character common to
the streams west of the Rocky Mountains. In
fact the rivers which flow from those mountains
to the Pacific, are essentially different from those
which traverse the great prairies on their eastern
declivities. The latter, though sometimes bois-
terous, are generally free from obstructions, and
easily navigated ; but the rivers to the west of
the mountains descend more steeply and impetu-
ously, and are continually liable to cascades and
rapids. The latter abounded in the part of the
river which the travellers were now descending.
Two of the canoes filled among the breakers ;
the crews were saved, but much of the lading
was lost or damaged, and one of the canoes
drifted down the stream and was broken among
the rocks.

On the following day, October 21st, they made
but a short distance when they came to a danger-
ous strait, where the river was compressed for

336 ASTORIA.

nearly half a mile between perpendicular rocks,
reducing it to the width of twenty yards, and in-
creasing its violence. Here they were obliged to
pass the canoes down cautiously by a line from
the impending banks. This consumed a great
part of a day ; and after they had reembarked
they were soon again impeded by rapids, when
they had to unload their canoes and carry them
and their cargoes for some distance by land. It
is at these places, called " portages," that the
Canadian voyageur exhibits his most valuable
qualities ; carrying heavy burdens, and toiling to
and fro, on land and in the water, over rocks
and precipices, among brakes and brambles, not
only without a murmur, but with the greatest
ch(ierfulness and alacrity, joking and laughing and
singing scraps of old French ditties.

The spirits of the party, however, which had
been elated on first varying their journeying from
land to water, had now lost some of their buoy-
ancy. Everything ahead was wrapped in uncer-
tainty. They knew nothing of the river on
which they were floating. It had never been
navigated by a white man, nor could they meet
with an Indian to give them any information con-
cerning it. It kept on its course through a vast
wilderness of silent and apparently uninhabited
mountains, without a savage wigwam upon its
banks, or bark upon its waters. The difficulties
and perils they had already passed, made them
apprehend others before them, that might effec-
tually bar their progress. As they glided onward,
however, they regained heart and hope. The

AN UNINHABITED COUNTRY. 337

current continued to be strong ; but it was steady,
and though they met with frequent rapids, none
of them were bad. Mountains were constantly
to be seen in different directions, but sometimes
the swift river glided through prairies, and was
bordered by small cotton-wood trees and willows.
These prairies at certain seasons are ranged by
migratory herds of the wide-wandering buffiilo,
the tracks of which, though not of recent date,
were frequently to be seen. Here, too, were to
be found the prickly pear or Indian fig, a plant
which loves a more southern climate. On the
land were large flights of magpies and American
robins ; whole fleets of ducks and geese navigated
the river, or flew off in long streaming files at the
approach of the canoes ; while the frequent estab-
lishments of the painstaking and quiet-loving
beaver, showed tliat the solitude of these waters
was rarely disturbed, even by the all-pervading
savage.

They had now come near two hundred and
eighty miles since leaving Fort Henry, yet with-
out seeing;; a human beino', or a human habitation :
a wild and desert solitude extended on either side
of the river, apparently almost destitute of animal
life. At length, on the 24th of October, they
were gladdened by the sight of some savage
tents, and hastened to land and visit them, for
they were anxious to procure information to
guide them on their route. On their approach,
however, the savages fled in consternation. They
proved to be a wandering band of Shoshonies.
In their tents were great quantities of small fish
22

338 ASTORIA.

about two inches long, together with roots und
seeds, or grain, which they were drying for winter
provisions. They appeared to be destitute of
tools of any kmd, yet there were bows and
arrows very well made ; the former were formed
of pine, cedar, or bone, strengthened by sinews,
and the latter of the wood of rose-bushes, and
other crooked plants, but carefully straightened,
and tipped with stone of a bottle-green color.

There were also vessels of willow and grass,
so closely wrought as to hold water, and a beine
neatly made with meshes, in the ordinary man-
ner, of the fibres of wild flax or nettle. The
humble effects of the poor savages remained un-
molested by their visitors, and a few small
articles, with a knife or two, were left in the
camp, and were no doubt regarded as invaluable
prizes..

Shortly after leaving this deserted camp, and
reembarking in the canoes, the travellers met
with three of the Snakes on a triangular raft
made of flags or reeds ; such was their rude
mode of navigating the river. They were entirely
naked excepting small mantles of hare skins
over their shoulders. The canoes approached
near enough to gain a full view of them, but they
were not to be brought to a parley.

All further progress for the day was barred by
a fall in the river of about thirty feet perpendicu-
lar ; at the head of which tlie party encamped
for the night.

The next day was one of excessive toil and
but little progress : the river winding through a

A FRIGHTENED SNAKE. 339

wild rocky country, and being interrupted by
frequent rapids, among which the canoes were in
great peril. On the succeeding day they again
visited a camp of wandering Snakes, but the
inhabitants fled with terror at the sight of a fleet
of canoes, filled with white men, coming down
their solitary river.

As Mr. Hunt was extremely anxious to gain
information concerning his route, he endeavored
by all kmds of friendly signs to entice back the
fugitives. At length one, who was on horseback,
ventured back with fear and trembling. He was
better clad, and in better condition, than most of
his vagrant tribe that Mr. Hunt had yet seen.
The chief object of his return appeared to be to
intercede for a quantity of dried meat and salmon
trout, which he had left behind ; on which, prob-
ably, he depended for his winter's subsistence.
The poor wretch approached with hesitation, the
alternate dread of famine and of white men
operating upon his mind. He made the most
abject signs, imploring Mr. Hunt not to carry off
his food. The latter tried in every way to reas-
sure him, and offered him knives in exchange for
his provisions ; great as was the temptation, the
poor Snake could only prevail upon himself to
spare a part ; keeping a feverish watch over the
rest, lest it should be taken away. It was in
vain Mr. Hunt made inquiries of him concerning
his route, and the course of the river. The
Indian was too much frightened and bewildered
to comprehend him or to reply ; he did nothing
but alternately commend himself to the protec'

340 ASTORIA.

tion of the Good Spirit, and supplicate Mr. Hunt
not to take away his fish and buffalo meat ; and
in this state they left him, trembling about his
treasures.

In the course of that and the next day they
made nearly eight miles ; the river inclining to
the south of west, and being clear and beautiful,
nearly half a mile in width, with many populous
communities of the beaver along its banks. The
28th of October, however, was a day of disaster.
The river again became rough and impetuous,
and was chafed and broken by numerous rapids.
These grew more and more dangerous, and the
utmost skill was required to steer among them.
Mr. Crooks was seated in the second canoe of the
squadron, and had an old experienced Canadian
for steersman, named Antoine Clappine, one of
the most valuable of the voyageurs. The lead-
ing canoe had glided safely among the turbulent
and roaring surges, but in following it, Mr. Crooks
perceived that his canoe was bearing towards a
rock. He called out to the steersman, but his
warning voice was either unheard or unheeded.
In the next moment they struck upon the rock.
The canoe was split and overturned. There
were five persons on board. Mr. Crooks and
one of his companions were thrown amidst roar-
ing breakers and a whirling current, but succeeded,
by strong swimming, to reach the shore. Clap-
pine and two others clung to the shattered bark,
and drifted with it to a rock. The wreck struck
the rock with one end, and swinging round, flung
poor Clappine off into the raging stream, wliich

THE CALDRON LINN. 341

swept him away, and he perished. His comrades
succeeded in getting upon the rock, from whence
they were afterwards taken off.

This disastrous event brought the whole squad*
rou to a halt, and struck a chill into every bosom.
Indeed they had arrived at a terrific strait, that
forbade all further progress in the canoes, and
dismayed the most experienced voyageur. The
whole body of the river was compressed into a
space of less than thirty feet in width, between
two ledges of rocks, upwards of two hundred
feet high, and formed a whirlhig and tumultuous
vortex, so frightfully agitated, as to receive the
name of " The Caldron Linn." Beyond this
fearful abyss, the river kept raging and roaring
on, until lost to sight among impendmg preci-
pices.

CHAPTER XXXin.

R. HUNT and his companions encamped
upon the borders of the Caldron Linn,
ill and held gloomy counsel as to their fu-
ture course. The recent wreck had dismayed
even the voyageurs, and the fate of their popular
comrade, Clappine, one of the most adroit and
experienced of their fraternity, had struck sorrow
to their hearts, for with all their levity, these
thoughtless beings have great kindness towards
each other.

The whole distance they had navigated since
leaving Henry's Foi't, was computed to be about
three hundred and forty miles ; strong apprehen-
sions were now entertained that the tremendous
impediments before them would oblige them to
abandon their canoes. It was determined to
send exploring parties on each side of the river
to ascertain whether it was possible to navigate it
further. Accordingly, on the following morning,
three men were dispatched along the south bank,
while Mr. Hunt and three others proceeded
along the north. The two parties returned after
a weary scramble among swamps, rocks, and
precipices, and with very disheartening accounts.
For nearly forty miles that they had explored,
the river foamed and roared along through a

DANGERS AND DIFFICULTIES. 343

deep and narrow channel, from twenty to thirty
yards wide, which it had worn, in the course of
ages, through the heart of a barren, rocky coun-
try. The precipices on each side were often
two and three hundred feet high, sometimes per-
pendicular, and sometimes overhanging, so that
it was impossible, excepting in one or two places,
to get down to the margin of the stream. This
dreary strait was rendered the more dangerous
by frequent rapids, and occasionally perpendicu-
lar falls from ten to forty feet in height ; so that
it seemed almost hopeless to attempt to pass the
canoes down it. The party, however, who had
explored the south side of the river had found
a place, about six miles from the camp, where
they thought it possible the canoes might be car-
ried down the bank and launched upon the
stream, and from whence they might make their
way with the aid of occasional portages. Four
of the best canoes were accordingly selected for
the experiment, and were transported to the
place on the shoulders of sixteen of the men.
At the same time Mr. Reed the clerk, and three
men, were detached to explore the river still
further down than the previous scouting parties
had been, and at the same time to look out for
Indians, from whom provisions might be obtained,
and a supply of horses, should it be found neces-
sary to proceed by land.

The party who had been sent with the canoes
returned on the following day, weary and de-
jected. One of the canoes had been swept
away with all the weapons and f'-ffects of four

344 ASTORIA.

of the voyageui-s, in attempting to pass it down
a rapid by means of a line. The other three
had stuck fast among the rocks, so that it was
impossible to move them ; the men returned,
therefore, in despair, and declared the river un-
navigable.

The situation of the unfortunate travellers was
now gloomy in the extreme. They were in the
heart of an unknown wilderness, untraversed as
yet by a white man. They were at a loss what
route to take, and how far they were from the
ultimate place of their destination, nor could they
meet in these uninhabited wilds with any human
being to give them information. The re]3eated
accidents to their canoes had reduced their stock
of provisions to five days' allowance, and there
was now every appearance of soon having famine
added to their other sufferings.

This last circumstance rendered it more peril-
ous to keep together thaii to separate. Accord-
ingly, after a little anxious but bewildered counsel,
it was determined that several small detachments
sliould start off in different directions, headed by
tlie several partners. Should any of them suc-
ceed in falling in with friendly Indians, within a
reasonable distance, and obtainhig a supply of
provisions and horses, they were to return to the
aid of the main body : otherwise they were to
shift for themselves, and shape their course ac-
cording to circumstances ; keeping the mouth of
the Columbia River as the ultimate point of their
wayfaring. Accordingly, three several parties
set off from the camp at Caldron Linn, m oppo-

GLOOM r PROSPECTS. 345

site directions. Mr. M'Lellan, with three men,
kept .down along the bank of the river. Mr.
Crooks, with five others, turned their steps up it ;
retracing by land the weary course they had
made by water, intending, should they not find
relief nearer at hand, to keep on until they
should reach Henry's Fort, where they hoped to
find the horses they had left there, and to return
with them to the main body.

The third party, composed of five men, was
headed by Mr. M'Kenzie, who struck to the
northward, across the desert plains, in hopes
of coming upon the main stream of the Colum-
bia.

Having seen these three adventurous bands
depart upon their forlorn expeditions, Mr. Hunt
turned his thoughts to provide for the subsistence
of the main body left to his charge, and to pre-
pare for their future march. There remained
with him thirty-one men, beside the squaw and
two children of Pierre Dorion. There was no
game to be met with in the neighborhood ; but
beavers were occasionally trapped about the
river banks, which afforded a scanty supply
of food ; in the meantime they comforted them-
selves that some one or other of the forag-ino; de-
tachments would be successful, and return with
relief.

Mr. Hunt now set to work with all diligence,
to prepare caches, in which to deposit the bag-
gage and merchandise, of which it would be
necessary to disburden themselves, preparatory
to their weary march by land : and here we shall

o4G ASTORIA.

give a biief description of those contrivances, so
noted in the wilderness.

A cache is a term common among traders and
hunters, to designate a hiding-place for provisions
and effects. It is derived from the French word
cacher, to conceal, and originated among the early-
colonists of Canada and Louisiana ; but the se-
cret depository which it designates was in use
among the aboriginals long before the intrusion
of the white men. It is, in fact, the only mode
that migratory hordes have of preserving their
valuables from robbery, during their long ab-
sences from their villages or accustomed haunts,
on hunting expeditions, or during the vicissitudes
of war. The utmost skill and caution are re-
quired to render these places of concealment in-
visible to the lynx eye of an Indian. The first
care is to seek out a proper situation, which is
generally some dry, low, bank of clay, on the
margin of a water-course. As soon as the pre-
cise spot is pitched upon, blankets, saddle-cloths,
and other coverings, are spread over the sur-
rounding grass and bushes, to prevent foot-tracks,
or any other derangement ; and as few hands as
possible are employed, A circle of about two
feet in diameter is then nicely cut in the sod,
which is carefully removed, with the loose soil
immediately beneath it, and laid aside in a place
where it will be safe from anything that may
change its appearance. The uncovered area is
then digged perpendicularly to the depth of about
three feet, and is then gradually widened so as to
^orm 1 conical chamber six oi- seven feet deep.

THE CACHE. 347

riie whole of the earth displaced by this process,
being of a different color from that on the sur-
face, is handed up in a vessel, and heaped into a
Bkin or cloth, in which it is conveyed to the
etream and thrown into the midst of the current,
that it may be entirely carried off. Should the
cache not be formed in the vicinity of a stream,
the earth thus thrown up is carried to a distance,
and scattered in such manner as not to leave the
minutest trace. The cave being formed, is well
lined with dry grass, bark, sticks, and poles, and
Occasionally a dried hide. The property intended
to be hidden is then laid in, after having been
well aired : a hide is spread over it, and dried
grass, brush, and stones thrown in, and trampled
down until the pit is filled to the neck. The
loose soil which had been put aside is then
brought and rammed down firmly, to prevent its
caving in, and is frequently sprinkled with water,
to destroy the scent, lest the wolves and bears
should be attracted to the place, and root up the
concealed treasure. When the neck of the cache
is nearly level with the surrounding surface, the
sod is again fitted in witii the utmost exactness,
and any bushes, stocks, or stones, that may have
originally been about the spot, are restored to
their former places. The blankets and other
coverings are then removed from the suiTounding
herbage ; all tracks are obliterated ; the grass is
gently raised by the hand to its natural position,
and the minutest chip or straw is scrupulously
gleaned up and thrown into the stream. After
ell this is done, the place is abandoned for the

348 ASTORIA.

night, and, if all be right next morning, is not
visited again, until there be a necessity for re-
opening the cache. Four men are sufficient, in
this way, to conceal the amount of three tons
weight of merchandise in the course of two days.
Nine caches were required to contain the goods
and baggage which Mr. Hunt found it necessary
to leave at this place.

Three days had been thus employed since the
departure of the several detachments, when that
of Mr. Crooks unexpectedly made its appearance.
A momentary joy was diffused through the camp,
for they supposed succor to be at hand. It was
soon dispelled. Mr. Crooks and his companions
had been completely disheartened by this retro-
gade march through a bleak and barren country ;
and had found, computing from their progress and
the accumulating difficulties besetting every step,
tnat it would be impossible to reach Henry's
Fort, and return to the main body in the course
of the winter. They had determined, therefore,
to rejoin their comrades, and share their lot.

One avenue of hope was thus closed upon the
anxious sojourners at the Caldron Linn ; their
main expectation of relief was now from the two
parties under Reed and M'Lellan, which had pro-
ceeded down the river ; for, as to Mr. M'Kenzie's
detachment, which had struck across the plains,
they thought it would have sufficient difficulty in
otruggling forward through the trackless wilder-
ness. For five days they continued to support
themselves by trapping and fishing. Some fish
of tolerable size were speared at night by the

THE DEVrVS SCUTTLE HOLE. 349

light of cedar torches ; others that were very
Bmall, were caught in nets with fine meshes. The
product of their fishing, however, was very scanty.
Their trapping was also precarious ; and the tails
and bellies of the beavers were dried and put by
for the journey.

At length two of the companions of Mr. Reed
returned, and were hailed with the most anxious
eagerness. Their report served but to increase
the general despondency. They had followed Mr.
Keed for some distance below the point to which
Mr. Hunt had explored, but had met with no In-
dians from whom to obtain information and relief.
The river still presented the same furious aspect,
brawling and boiling along a narrow and rugged
channel, between rocks that rose like walls.

A lingering hope, which liad been indulged by
some of the party, of proceeding by water, was
now finally given up : the long and terrific strait
of the river set all further progress at defiance,
and in their disgust at the place, and their vexa-
tion at the disasters sustained there, they gave it
the indignant, though not very decorous, appella-
tion of the Devil's Scuttle Hole.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

HE resolution of Mr. Hunt and his com
panions was now taken to set out im-
mediately on foot. As to the othei
detachments that had in a manner gone forth to
seek their fortunes, there was little chance of their
return ; they would probably make their own
way through the wilderness. . At any rate, to
linger in the vague hope of relief from them,
would be to run the risk of perishing with
hunger. Besides, the winter was rapidly ad-
vancing, and they had a long journey to make
through an unknown country, where all kinds of
perils might await them. They were yet, in fact,
a thousand miles from Astoria, but the distance
was unknown to them at the time : everything
before and around them was vague and conjec-
tural, and wore an aspect calculated to inspire
despondency.

In abandoning the river, they would have to
launch forth upon vast trackless plains destitute
of all means of subsistence, where they might
perish of hunger and thirst. A dreary desert of
sand and gravel extends from Snake River almost
to the Columbia. Here and there is a thin and
Bcanty herbage, insufficient for the pasturage of
norse or buffalo. Indeed, these treeless wastes

PREPARATIOAS FOR A MARCH. 351

between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific,
are even more desolate and barren than the
naked, upper prairies on the Atlantic side ; they
present vast desert tracts that must ever defy
cultivation, and interpose dreary and thirsty wilds
between the habitations of man, in traversing
which, the wanderer will often be in danger of
perishing.

Seeing the hopeless character of these wastes,
Mr. Hunt and his companions determined to
keep along the course of the river, where they
would always have water at hand, and would be
able occasionally to procure fish and beaver, and
might perchance meet with Indians, from whom
they could obtain provisions.

They now made their final preparations for
the march. All their remaining stock of pro-
visions consisted of forty pounds of Indian corn,
twenty pounds of grease, about five pounds of
portable soup, and a sufficient quantity of dried
meat to allow each man a pittance of five pounds
and a quarter, to be reserved for emergencies.
This being properly distributed, they deposited
all their goods and superfluous articles in the
caches, taking nothing with them but what was
indispensable to the journey. With all their
management, each man had to carry twenty
[X)ands' weight beside his own articles and equip-
ments.

That they might have the better chance of
procuring subsistence in the scanty region they
were to traverse, they divided their party into
two bands, Mr. Hunt, with eighteen men, beside

352 ASTORIA.

Pierre Dorioii and his family, was to proceed
down the north side of the river, while Mr.
Crooks, with eighteen men, kept along the south
side.

On the morning of the 9th of October, the
two parties separated and set forth on their sev-
eral courses. Mr. Hunt and his companions fol-
lowed along the right bank of the river, which
made its way far below them, brawling at the
foot of perpendicular precipices of solid rock,
two and three hundred feet high. For twenty-
eight miles that they travelled this day, they
found it impossible to get down to the margin
of the stream. At the end of this distance they
encamped for the night at a place which admitted
a scrambling descent. It was with the greatest
difficulty, however, that they succeeded in getting
up a kettle of water from the river for the use of
the camp. As some rain had fallen in the after-
noon, they passed the night under the shelter of
the rocks.

The next day they continued thirty-two miles
to the northwest, keeping along the river, which
still ran in its deep-cut channel. Here and
there a shady beach or a narrow strip of soil,
fringed with dwarf willows, would extend for a
little distance along the foot of the cliffs, and
sometimes a reach of still water would inter-
vene like a smooth mirror between the foaming
rapids.

As through the preceding day, they journeyed
on without finding, except in one instance, any
place where they could get down to the river's

SHOSHONIE LODGES. 353

edge, and they were fain to allay the thirst caused
hj hard travelling, with the water collected in
the hollow of the rocks.

In the course of their march on the following
morning, they fell into a beaten horse path
leading along the river, which showed that
they were in the neighborhood of some Indian
village or encampment. They had not proceeded
far along it, when they met with two Shoshonies,
or Snakes. They appi'oached with some appear-
ance of uneasiness, and accosting Mr Hunt, held
up a knife, which by signs they let him know
they had received from some of the white men
of the advance parties. It was with some diffi-
culty that Mr. Hunt prevailed upon one of the
savages to conduct him to the lodges of his peo-
ple. Striking into a trail or path which led up
from the river, he guided them for some distance
in the prairie, until they came in sight of a num-
ber of lodges made of straw, and shaped like
hay stacks. Their approach, as on former occa-
sions, caused the v/ildest affright among the in-
habitants. The women hid such of their cliil-
dren as were too large to be carried, and too
small to take care of themselves, under straw,
and, clasping their infants to their breasts, fled
across the prairie. The men awaited the ap-
proach of the strangers, but evidently in great
alarm.

Mr. Hunt entered the lodges, and, as he wa>
looking about, observed where the children were
concealed ; their black eyes glistening like those
of snakes, from beneath the straw. He lifted

23

354 ASTORIA.

up the covering to look tit them ; the poor little
beings were horribly frightened, and their fothers
stood trembling, as if a beast of prey were about
to pounce upon their brood.

The friendly manner of Mr. Hunt soon dis-
pelled these apprehensions ; he succeeded in
purchasing some excellent dried salmon, and a
dog, an animal much esteemed as food by the
natives ; and when he returned to the river one
of the Indians accompanied him. He now came
to where the lodges were frequent along the
banks, and, after a day's journey of twenty-six
miles to the northwest, encamped in a populous
neighborhood. Forty or fifty of the natives soon
visited the camp, conducting themselves in a very
amicable manner. They were well clad, and all
had buffalo robes, which they procured from some
of the hunting tribes in exchange for salmon.
Their habitations were very comfortable ; each
had its pile of wormwood at the door for fuel,
and within was abundance of salmon, some fresh,
but the greater part cured. When the white
men visited the lodges, however, the women and
children hid themselves through fear. Among
the supplies obtained here were two dogs, on
which our travellers breakfasted, and found them
to be very excellent, well-flavored, and hearty
food.

In the course of tlie three following days they
made about sixty-three miles, generally in a
northwest direction. They met with many of
the natives in tlieir straw-built cabins, who re-
ceived them vvitliout alarm. About tlieir dwell-

ON SHORT RATIONS. 355

ings were immense quantities of the heads and
skins of salmon, the best part of which had been
cured, and hidden in tlie ground. The women
were badly clad ; the children worse ; their gar-
ments were buffalo robes, or the skins of foxes,
hares, and badgers, and sometimes the skins of
ducks, sewed together, with the plumage on.
Most of the skins muat have been procured by
traffic with other tribes, or in distant hunting
excursions, for the naked prairies in the neigh-
borhood afforded few animals, excepting horses,
which were abundant. There were signs of
buffaloes having been there, but a long time
before.

On the 15th of November they made twenty-
eight miles along the river, which was entirely
free from rapids. The shores were lined with
dead salmon, which tainted the whole atmosphere.
The natives whom they met spoke of Mr. Reed's
party having passed through that neighborhood.
In the course of the day Mr. Hunt saw a few
horses, but the owners of them took care to
hurry them out of the way. All the provisions
they were able to procure, were two dogs and a
salmon. On the following day they were still
worse off, having to subsist on parched corn, and
the remains of their dried meat. The river this
day had resumed its turbulent character, forcjng
its way through a narrow channel between steep
rocks, and down violent rapids. They made
twenty miles over a rugged road, gradually ap-
proaching a mountain in the northwest, covered
with snow, which had been in sight for three
days past.

356 ASTORIA.

On the 17th they met with several Indians,
one of whom had a horse. Mr. Hunt was ex-
tremely desirous of obtaining it as a pack-horse ;
for the men, worn down by fatigue and hunger,
found the loads of twenty pounds' weight which
they had to carry, daily giowing heavier and
more galling. The Indians, however, along this
river, were never willing to part with their
horses, having none to spare. The owner of the
steed in question seemed proof against all temp-
tation ; article after article of great value in In-
dian eyes was offered and refused. The charms
of an old tin-kettle, however, were irresistible,
and a bargain was concluded.

A great part of the following morning was
consumed in lightening the packages of the men
and arranging the load for the horse. At this
encampment there was no wood for fuel, even the
wormwood on which they had frequently de-
pended, having disappeared. For the two last
days they had made thirty miles to the north-
west.

On the 19th of November, Mr. Hunt was
lucky enough to purchase another horse for his
own use, giving in exchange a tomahawk, a knife,
a fire steel, and some beads and gartering. In
an evil hour, however, he took the advice of
the Indians to abandon the river, and follow a
road or trail, leading into the prairies. He soon
had cause to reijret the chano-e. The road led
across a dreary waste, without verdure ; and
where there was neither fountain, nor pool, nor
runnino; stream. The men now began to ex-

A LIGHT SUPPER. 357

perience the torments of thirst, aggravated by
then* usual diet of dried fish. The thirst of the
Canadian voyagenrs became so insupportable as
to drive them to the most revolting means of al-
laying it. For twenty-five miles did they toil on
across this dismal desert, and laid themselves
down at night, parched and disconsolate, beside
their wormwood fires ; looking forward to still
greater sufferings on the following day. Fortu-
nately it began to rain in the night, to their infin-
ite relief; the water soon collected in puddles
and afforded them delicious draughts.

Kefreshed in this manner, they resumed their
wayfaring as soon as the first streaks of dawn
gave light enough for them to see their path.
The rain continued all day so that they no longer
suffered from thirst, but hunger took its place,
for, after travelling thirty -three miles they had
nothing to sup on but a little parched corn.

The next day brought them to the banks of a
beautiful little stream, running to the west, and
fringed with groves of cotton-wood and willow.
On its borders was an Indian camp, with a great
many horses grazing around it. The inhabitants,
too, appeared to be better clad than usual. The
scene was altogether a cheering one to the poor
half-famished wanderers. They hastened to their
lodges, but on arriving at them met with a check
that at first dampened their cheerfulness. An
Indian immediately laid claim to the horse of Mr.
Hunt, saying that it had been stolen from him.
There was no disproving a fact supported by
Qumerous bystanders, and which the horse-stealing

358 ASTORIA.

habits of the Indians rendered but too probablo ;
so Mr. Hunt relinquished liis steed to the claim-
ant ; not being able to retain him by a second
purchase.

At this place they encamped for the night, and
made a sumptuous repast upon fish and a couple
of dogs, procured from their Indian neighbors.
The next day they kept along the river, but came
to a halt after ten miles' march, on account of the
rain. Here they again got a supply of fish and
dogs from the natives ; and two of the men were
fortunate enough each to get a horse in exchange
for a bufililo robe. One of these men was Pierre
Dorion, the half-breed interpreter, to whose suf-
fering family the horse was a timely acquisition.
And here we cannot but notice the wonderful
patience, perseverance, and hardihood of the In-
dian women, as exemplified in the conduct of the
poor squaw of the interpreter. She was now
far advanced in her pregnancy, and had two
children to take care of; one four, and the other
two years of age. The latter of course she had
frequently to carry on her back, in addition to
the burden usually imposed upon the squaw, yet
she had borne all her hardships without a mur-
mur, and throughout this weary and painful jour-
ney had kept pace with the best of the pedes-
trians. Indeed on various occasions in the course
of this enterprise, she displayed a force of char-
acter that won the respect and applause of the
white men.

Mr. Hunt endeavored to gather some informa-
tion from these Indians concerning the country.

MR. HUNT ON HORSEFLESH. 359

and the course of the rivers. His communica-
tions with them had to be by signs, and a few
words which he had learnt, and of course were
extremely vague. All that he could learn from
them was, that the great river, the Columbia, was
still far distant, but he could ascertain nothing as
to the route he ought to take to arrive at it.
For the two following days they continued west-
ward upwards of forty miles along the little
stream, until they crossed it just before its junc-
tion with Snake River, which they found still
running to the north. Before them was a wintry-
looking mountain covered with snow on all sides.

In thr|p days more they made about seventy
miles ; fording two small rivers, the waters of
which were very cold. Provisions were ex-
tremely scarce ; their chief sustenance was port-
able soup ; a meagre diet for weary pedestrians.

On the 27th of November the river led them
into the mountains through a rocky defile where
there was scarcely room to pass. They were fre-
quently obliged to unload the horses to get them
by the narrow places ; and sometimes to wade
through the water in getting round rocks and
butting cliffs. All their food this day was a
beaver which they had caught the night before ;
by evening, the cravings of hunger were so
sharp, and the prospect of any supply among th(5
mountains so fiiint, that they had to kill one of
the horses. " The men," says Mr. Hunt in his
journal, " find the meat very good, and, indeed,
80 should I, were it not for the attachment I have
to the animal."

360 ASTORIA.

Early in the following clay, after proceeding
ten miles to the north, they came to two lodges
of Shoshonies, who seemed in nearly as great an
extremity as themselves, having just killed two
horses for food. They had no other provisions
excepting the seed of a weed which they gather
in great quantities, and pound fine. It resembles
hemp-seed. Mr. Hunt purchased a bag of it, and
also some small pieces of horse flesh, which he
began to relish, pronouncing them " fat and ten-
der."

From these Indians he received information
that several white men had gone down the river,
some one side, and a good many on the other ;
these last he concluded to be Mr. Crooks and his
party. He was thus released from much anxiety
about their safety, especially as the Indians spoke
about Mr. Crooks having one of his dogs yet,
which showed that he and his men had not been
reduced to extremity of hunger.

As Mr. Hunt feared that he might be several
days in passing through this mountain defile, and
run the risk of famine, he encamped in the neigh-
borhood of the Indians, for the purpose of barter-
ing with them for a horse. The evening was
expended in ineffectual trials. He offered a gun,
a buffalo robe, and various other articles. The
pDor fellows had, probably, like himself, the fear
of starvation before their eyes. At length the
women, learning the object of his pressing solici-
tations, and tempting offers, set up such a terrible
hue and cry, that he was fairly howled and scolded
from the ground.

J OILSOME PROGRESS. 361

The next morning early, the Indians seemed
very desirous to get rid of their visitors, fear-
ing, probably, for the safety of their horses. In
reply to Mr. Hunt's inquiries about the moun-
tains, they told him that he would have to sleep
but three nights more among them ; and that six
days' travelling would take him to the falls of the
Columbia ; information in which he put no laith,
believing it was only given to induce him to set
forward. These, he was told, were the last
Snakes he would meet with, and that he would
soon come to a nation called Sciatogas.

Forward then did he proceed on his tedious
journey, which, at every step, grew more painful.
The road continued for two days, through narrow
defiles, where they were repeatedly obliged to
unload the horses. Sometimes the river passed
through such rocky chasms and under such steep
precipices that they had to leave it, and make
their way, with excessive labor, over immense
hills, almost impassable for horses. On some of
tliese hills were a few pine trees, and their sum-
mits were covered with snow. On the second
day of this scramble one of the hunters killed a
black-tailed deer, which afforded the half-starved
travellers a sumptuous repast. Their progress
these two days was twenty-eight miles, a little to
the northward of east.

The month of December set in drearily, with
rain in the valleys, and snow upon the hills.
They had to climb a mountain with snow to the
midleg, which increased their painful toil. A
small beaver supplied them, with a scanty meal,

362 ASTORIA,

which they eked out with frozen blackberries,
haws, and choke-cherries, which they found in the
course of their scramble. Their journey this
day, though excessively fatiguing, was but thir-
teen miles ; and all the next day they had to
remain encamped, not being able to see half a
mile ahead, on account of a snow-storm. Having
nothing else to eat, they were compelled to kill
another of their horses. The next day they
resumed their march in snow and rain, but with
all their efforts could only get forward nine miles,
having for a part of the distance to unload the
horses and carry the packs themselves. On the
succeeding morning they were obliged to leave
the river, and scramble up the hills. From the
summit of these, 'they got a wide view of the sur-
rounding country, and it was a prospect almost
sufficient to make them despair. In every direc-
tion they beheld snowy mountains, partially
sprinkled with pines and other evergreens, and
spreading a desert and toilsome world around
them. The wind howled over the bleak and
wintry landscape, and seemed to penetrate to the
marrow of their bones. They waded on through
the snow, which at every step was more than
knee deep.

After toiling in this way all day, they had the
mortification to find that they were but four miles
distant from the encampment of the preceding
night, such was the meandering of the river
among these dismal hills. Pinched with famine,
exhausted with fiitigue, with evening approaching,
and a wintry wild still lengthening as they

TRAVELLING IN A SNOW STORM. 363

advanced ; they began to look forward with sad
forebodings to the night's exposure upon this
frightful waste. Fortunately they succeeded in
reaching a cluster of pines about sunset. Their
axes were immediately at work ; they cut down
trees, piled them in great heaps, and soon had
huge fires " to cheer their cold and hungry
hearts."

About three o'clock in the morning it again
began to snow, and at daybreak they found them-
selves, as it were, in a cloud ; scarcely being
able to distinguish objects at the distance of a
hundred yards. Guiding themselves by the sound
of running water, they set out for the river, and
by slipping and sliding contrived to get down to
its bank. One of the horses, missing his footing,
rolled down several hundred yards with his load,
but sustained no injury. The weather in the
valley was less rigorous than on the hills. The
snow lay but ankle deep, and there was a quiet
rain now falling. After creeping along for six
miles, they encamped on the border of the river.
Being utterly destitute of provisions, they were
again compelled to kill one of their horses to
appease their famishing hunger.

CHAPTER XXXV.

HE wanderers had now accomplished

four hundred and seventy-two miles of

^a^fe^j tlieir dreary journey since leaving the

Caldron Linn, how much further they had yet to

travel, and what hardships to encounter, no one

knew.

On the morning of the 6th of December, they
left their dismal encampment, but had scarcely
begun their march, when, to their surprise, they
beheld a party of white men coming up along the
opposite bank of the river. As they drew nearer,
they were recognized for Mr. Crooks and his
companions. When they came opposite, and
could make themselves heard across the murmur-
ing of the river, their first cry was for food ; in
fact, they were almost starved. Mr. Hunt im-
mediately returned to the camp, and had a kind
of canoe made out of the skin of the horse, killed
on the preceding night. This was done after the
Indian fashion, by drawing up the edges of the
skin with thongs, and keeping them distended by
sticks or thwart pieces. In this frail bark, Sar-
depie, one of the Canadians, carried over a por-
tion of the flesh of the horse to the famishing
party on the opposite side of the river, and
brouo^ht back with him Mr. Crooks, and the

SUFFERINGS OF MR. CROOK'S PARTY. 365

Canadian, Le Clerc. The forlorn and wasted
looks, and starving condition of these two men,
struck dismay to the hearts of Mr. Hunt's follow-
ers. They had been accustomed to each other's
appearance, and to the gradual operation of
hunger and hardship upon their frames, but the
change in the looks of these men, since last they
parted, was a type of the famine and desolation
of the land ; and they now began to indulge the
hon-ible presentiment that they would all starve
together, or be reduced to the direful alternative
of casting lots !

When Mr. Crooks had appeased his hunger,
lie gave Mr. Hunt some account of his wayfaring.
On the side of the river, along which he had
kept, he had met with but few Indians, and those
were too miserably poor to yield much assistance.
For the first eighteen days after leaving the
Caldi-on Linn, he and his men had been confined
to half a meal in twenty-four hours ; for three
days following, they had subsisted on a single
beaver, a few wild cherries, and the soles of old
moccasins ; and for the last six days, their only
animal food had been the carcass of a dog. They
had been three days' journey further down the
river than Mr. Hunt, always keeping as near to
its banks as possible, and frequently climbing over
sharp and rocky ridges that projected into the
stream. At length they had arrived to where
the mountains increased in height, and came
'closer to the river, with perpendicular precipices,
whicli rendered it impossible to keep along the
sti-eam. The river here rushed with incredible

366 ASTORIA.

velocity throuijh a defile not more than thirty
yards wide, where cascades and rapids succeeded
each other almost without intermission. Even
had the opposite banks, therefore, been such as to
permit a continuance of their journey, it would
have been madness to attempt to pass the tu-
multuous current, either on rafts or otherwise.
Still bent, however, on pushing forward, they at-
tempted to climb the opposing mountains ; and
struggled on through the snow for half a day
until, coming to where they could command a
prospect, they found that they were not half way
to the summit, and that mountain upon mountain
lay piled beyond them, in wintry desolation.
Famished and emaciated as they were, to con-
tinue forward would be to perish ; their only
chance seemed to be to regain the river, and
retrace their steps up its bardvs. It was in this
forlorn and retrograde march that they had met
Mr. Hunt and his party.

Mr. Crooks also gave information of some
others of their fellow adventurers. He had
spoken several days previously with Mr. Reed
and Mr. M'Kenzie, who with their men were on
the opposite side of the river, where it was im-
possible to get over to them. They informed
jnm that Mr. M'Lellan had struck across from
ihe little river above the mountains, in the hope
of falling in with some of the tribe of Flatheads,
who inhabit the western skirts of the Rocky
range. As the companions of Reed and M'Ken-
zie were picked men, and had found provisions
more abundant on their side of the river, they

INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFICULTIES. 367

were in better condition, and more fitted to con-
tend with the difficulties of the country, than
\hose of Mr. Cooks, and when he lost sight of
Uiem, were pushing onward, down the courv=^e of
the river.

Mr. Hunt took a night to revolve over his
critical situation, and to determine what was to
be done. No time was to be lost ; he had twenty
men and more, in his own party, to provide for,
and Mr. Crooks and his men to relieve. To
linger would be to starve. The idea of retracing
his steps was intolerable, and, notwithstanding all
the discourao-ino- accounts of the ruffficedness of
the mountains lower down the river, he would
have been disposed to attempt them, but the
depth of the snow with which they were covered
deterred him; having already experienced the
impossibility of forcing his way against such an
impediment.

Tiie only alternative, therefore, appeared to
be, to return and seek the Indian bands scattered
along the small rivers above the mountains.
Perhaps, from some of these he might procure
horses enough to support him until he could
reach the Columbia ; for he still cherished the
hope of arriving at that river in the course of the
winter, though he was apprehensive that few of
INIr. Crooks' party would be sufficiently strong to
follow him. Even in adopting this course, he
had to make up his mind to the certainty of sev-
eral days of famine at the outset, for it would
take that time to reach the last Indian lodges
from which he had parted, and until they should

3G8 ASTORIA.

arrive there, his people wouhl have nothing to
subsist upon but haws and wild berries, except-
ing one miserable horse, which was little better
than skin and bone.

After a night of sleepless cogitation, Mr. Hunt
announced to his men the dreary alternative he
had adopted, and preparations were made to take
Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc across the river, with
the remainder of the meat, as the other party
were to keep up along the opposite bank. The
skin canoe had unfortunately been lost in the
night ; a raft was constructed therefore, after the
manner of the natives, of bundles of willows, but
it could not be floated across the impetuous cur-
rent. The men were directed, in consequence,
to keep on along the river by themselves, while
Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc would proceed with
Mr. Hunt. They all, then, took up their retro-
grade march with drooping spirits.

In a little while, it was found that Mr. Crooks
and Le Clerc were so feeble as to walk with
difficulty, so that Mr. Hunt was obliged to retard
his pace, that they might keep up with him.
His men gvQw impjiiient at the delay. They
murmured that they had a long and desolate
region to traverse, before they could arrive at
the point where they might expect to find horses;
that it was impossible for Crooks and Le Clerc,
in their feeble condition, to get over it ; that to
lemain with them would only be to starve in
their company. They importuned Mr. Hunt,
therefore, to leave these unfortunate men to their
fate, and think only of the safety of himself and

MR. CROOKS AND LE CLERC LEFT. 369

his party. Finding him not to be moved either
by entreaties or their clamors, they began to
proceed without him, singly and in parties.
Among those who thus went off was Pierre
Dorion, the interpreter. Pierre owned the only
remaining horse ; which was now a mere skel-
eton, Mr. Hunt had suggested, iti their present
extremity, that it should be killed for food ; to
which the half-breed flatly refused his assent,
and cudgeling the miserable animal forward,
pushed on sullenly, with the air of a man dog-
gedly determined to quarrel for his right. In
tliis way Mr. Hunt saw his men, one after
another, break away, until but five remained to
bear him company.

On the followins: morninof, another raft was
made, on wliich Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc again
attempted to ferry themselves across the river,
but after repe«ited trials had to give up in
despair. This caused additional delay ; after
which they continued to crawl forward at a
snail's pace. Some of the men who had remained
with Mr. Hunt now became impatient of these
incumbrances, and urged him clamorously to
push forward, crying out that they should all
starve. The night which succeeded was intensely
cold, so that one of the men was severely frost-
bitten. In the course of the night, Mr. Crooks
was taken ill, and in the morning was still more
incompetent to travel. Their situation was now
desperate, for their stock of provisions was re-
duced to three beaver skins. Mr. Hunt, there-
fore, resolved to push on, overtake his people, and
24

870

ASTORIA.

insist upon having the horse of Pierre Doriort
Bacrificed for the relief of all hands. Accord-
ingly, he left two of his men to help Crooks and
Le Clerc on their way, giving them two of the
beaver skins for their support ; the remaining
skin he i^etained, as provision for himself and the
three other men who struck forward with him.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

LL that day, Mr. Hunt and his three
comrades travelled without eatinof. At
tiiiiht they made a tantalizing supper
on their beaver skin, and were nearly exhausted
by hunger and cold. The next day, December
10th, they overtook the advance party, who were
all as much famished as themselves, some of
them not having eaten since tlie morning of the
seventh. Mr. Hunt now proposed the sacrifice
of Pierre Dorion's skeleton horse. Here he
again met with positive and vehement opposition
from the half-breed, who was too sullen and vin-
dictive a fellow to be easily dealt with. What
was singular, the men, though suffering such
pinching hunger, interfered in favor of the
horse. They represented, that it was better to
keep on as long as possible without resortinof to
this last resource. Possibly the Indians, of
whom they were in quest, might have shifted
their encampment in which case it would be
time enough to kill the horse to escape stai'va-
tion. Mr. Hunt, therefore, was prevailed upon
to grant Pierre Dorion's horse a reprieve.

Fortunately, they had not proceeded much
further, when, towards evening, they came in
sight of a lodge of Shoshonies, with a number

372 ASTORTA.

of horses grazing around it. The sight was as
unexpected as it was joyous, Having seen no In-
dians in tliis neighborhood as tliey passed down
the river, they must have subsequently come
out from among the mountains. Mr. Hunt, who
first descried them, checked the eagerness of his
companions, knowing the unwillingness of these
Indians to part with their horses, and their apt-
ness to hurry them off and conceal them, in case
of an alarm. This was no time to risk such a
disappointment. Approaching, therefore, stealth-
ily and silently, they came upon the savages by
surprise, who fled in terror. Five of their
horses were eagerly seized, and one was dis-
patched upon the spot. The carcass was imme-
diately cut up, and a part of it hastily cooked
and ravenously devoured. A man was now sent
on horseback with a supply of the flesh to Mr.
Crooks and his companions. He reached them
in the night; they were so famished that the
supply sent them seemed but to aggravate their
hunger, and they were almost tempted to kill
and eat the horse that had brought the messen-
ger. Availing themselves of the assistance of
the animal, they reached the camp early in the
morning.

On arriving there, Mr. Crooks was shocked to
find that, while the people on this side of the
river were amply supplied with provisions, none
had been sent to his own forlorn and famishing
men on the opposite bank. He immediately
3aused a skin canoe to be constructed, and called
out to his men to fill their camp- kettles with

EFFECT OF FAMINE ON THE PARTY. 873

water and hang them over the fire, that no time
might be lost in cooking the meat the moment it
should be received. The river was so narrow,
though deep, that everything could be distinctly
heard and seen across it. The kettles were
placed on the fire, and the water was boiUng by
tlie time the canoe was completed. When all
was ready, however, no one would undertake to
ferry the meat across. A vague and almost
superstitious terror had infected the minds of
Mr. Hunt's followers, enfeebled and rendered
imaginative of horrors by the dismal scenes and
sufi^erings through which they had passed. They
regarded the haggard crew, hovering like spectres
of famine on the opposite bank, with indefinite
feelings of awe and apprehension : as if some-
thing desperate and dangerous was to be feared
from them.

Mr. Crooks tried in vain to reason or shame
them out of this singular state of mind. He
then attempted to navigate the canoe himself,
but found his strength incompetent to brave the
impetuous current. The good feelings of Ben
Jones, the Kentuckian, at length overcame his
fears, and he ventured over. The supply he
brought was received with trembling avidity.
A poor Canadian, however, named Jean Baptiste
Prevost, whom famine had rendered wild and
desperate, ran frantically about the bank, after
Jones had returned, crying out to Mr. Hunt to
send the canoe for him, and take him from that
\iorrible region of famine, declaring that other-
*vise he would never march another step, ]>ut
would lie <lown there and die.

374 ASTORIA.

The canoe was shortly sent over again, under
the management of Joseph Delauny, with further
supplies. Prevost immediately pj-essed forward
to embark. Delaunay refused to admit him,
telling him that there was now a sufficient supply
of meat on his side of the river. He replied
that it was not cooked, and he should starve be-
fore it was ready ; he implored, therefore, to be
taken where he could get something to appease
his hunger immediately. Finding the canoe
putting off without him, he forced himself
aboard. As he drew near tlie opposite shore,
and beheld meat roasting before the fire, he
jumped up, shouted, clapped his hands, and
danced in a delirium of joy, until he upset the
canoe. The poor wretch was swept away by
the current and drowned, and it was with ex-
treme difficulty that Delaunay reached the shore.

Mr. Hunt now sent all his men forward ex-
cepting two or three. In the evening he caused
another horse to be killed, and a canoe to be
made out of the skin, in which he sent over a
further supply of meat to the opposite party.
The canoe brought back John Day, the Kentucky
hunter, who came to join his former employer
and commander, Mr. Ci'ooks. Poor Day, once
^o active and vigorous, was now reduced to a
condition even more feeble and emaciated than
his companions. Mr. Crooks had such a value
for the man, on account of his past services and
faithful cliaracter, that he determined not to quit
him; he exhorted Mr. Hunt, however, to pro-
ceed foT-ward, and join the party, as his presence

EMERGING FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 375

Was all important to the conduct of the expedi-
tion. One of the Canadians, Jean Baptiste Dii-
brenil, likewise remained with Mr. Crooks.

Mr. Hunt left two horses with them, and a
part of the carcass of the last that had been
killed. This, he hoped, would be sufficient to
sustain them until they should reach the Indian
tincampment.

One of the chief dangers attending the en-
feebled condition of Mr. Crooks and his compan-
ions, was their being overtaken by the Indians
whose horses had been seized : though Mr. Hunt
Iioped that he had guarded against any resentment
on the part of the savages, by leaving various
articles in their lodge, more than sufficient to
compensate for the outrage he had been compelled
to commit.

Resuming his onward course, Mr. Hunt came
up with his people in the evening. The next
day, December 13th, he beheld several Indians,
with three horses, on the opposite side of the
river, and after a time came to the two lodges
which he had seen on going down. Here he
endeavored in vain to barter a rifle for a horse,
but again succeeded in effecting the purchase
with an old tin kettle, aided by a few beads.

The two succeeding days were cold and
stormy ; the snow was augmenting, and there
was a good deal of ice running in the river.
Their road, however, was becoming easier ; they
Arere getting out of the hills, and finally emerged
into the open country, after twenty days of fa-
tigue, famine, and hardship of every kind, in the

376 ASTORIA

ineffectual attempt to find a passage down the
river.

They now encamped on a little willowed
stream, running from the etist, which they had
crossed on the 26th of November. Here tliey
found a dozen lodges of Shoshonies, recently
arrived, who informed them that had they per-
severed along the river, tliey would have found
their difSculties augment until they became
absolutely insurmountable. This intelligence
added to the anxiety of Mr. Hunt for the fate
of Mr. M'Kenzie and his people, who had
kept on.

Mr. Hunt now followed up the little river,
and encamped at some lodges of Shoshonies,
from whom he procured a couple of horses, a
dog, a few dried fish, and some roots and dried
cherries. Two or tliree days were exhausted in
obtaining information about the route, and what
time it would take to get to the Sciatogas, a hos-
pitable tribe, on the west of the mountains, re-
presented as having many horses. The replies
were various, but concurred in saying that the
distance was great, and would occupy from
seventeen to twenty-one nights. Mr. Hunt then
tried to procure a guide ; but though he sent to
various lodges up and dovv^n the river, ofTering
articles of great value in Indian estimation, no
one would venture. The snow, they said, was
waist deep in the mountains ; and to all his
offers tliey shook their heads, gave a shiver, and
replied, " we shall freeze ! we shall freeze ! " at
the same time they urged him to remain and pass
Uie winter amon<x them.

.1 FORKED tongue:' ^11

Mr. Hunt was iu a dismal dilemiiia. To at-
tempt the mountains without a guide, would be
certain death to him and all his people ; to re-
main there, after having already been so long on
tlie journey, and at such great expense, was
worse to him, he said, than two " deaths." He
now changed his tone with the Indians, charged
them with deceiving him in respect to the moun-
tains, and talking with a *' forked tongue," or, in
other words, v\^ith lying. He upbraided them
with their want of courage, and told them they
were women, to shrink fiom the perils of such a
journey. At length one of them, piqued by his
taunts, or tempted by his offers, agreed to be his
guide ; for which he was to receive a gun, a
pistol, three knives, two horses, and a little of
every article in possession of the party ; a re-
ward sufficient to make him one of the wealthiest
of his vagabond nation.

Once more, then, on the 21st of December,
they set out upon their wayfaring, with newly
excited spirits. Two other Indians accompanied
their guide, who led tliem immediately back to
Snake River, which they followed down for a
sliort distance, in search of some Indian i-afts
made of reeds, on which they might cross. Find-
ing none, Mr. Hunt caused a horse to be killed,
and a canoe to be made out of its skin. Here,
on the opposite bank, they saw the thirteen men
of Mr. Crook's party, who had continued up along
the river. They told Mr. Hunt, across the
3tream, that they had not seen Mr. Crooks, and
the two men who had remained with him, since
the day that lie had separated from them.

378 ASTORIA.

Tlie canoe proving too small, another horse
was killed, and the skin of it joined to that of the
first. Night came on before the little bark had
made more than two voyages. Being badly made
it was taken apart and put together again, by the
light of the fire. The night was cold ; the men
were weary and disheartened with such varied
and incessant toil and hardship. They crouched,
dull and drooping, around their fires ; many of
them began to express a wish to remain where
they were for the winter. The very necessity
of crossing the river dismayed some of them in
their present enfeebled and dejected state. It
was rapid and turbulent, and filled with floating
ice, and they remembered that two of their com-
rades had already perished in its waters. Others
looked forward with misgivings to the long and
dismal journey through lonesome regions that
awaited them, when they should have passed this
dreary flood.

At an early hour of the morning, December
23d, they began to cross tlie river. Much ice
had formed during the night, and they were
obliged to break it for some distance on each
shore. At length they all got over in safety to
the west side ; and tlieir spirits rose on having
achieved this perilous passage. Here they were
rejoined by the people of Mr. Crooks, who had
with them a horse and a dog, which they had
recently procured. The poor fellows were in the
most squalid and emaciated state. Three of
them were so completely prostrated in strength
And spirits, that they expressed a wish to remain

''THE ACCURSED MAD RTVER^ 379

anionf) the Snakes. Mr. Hunt, therefore, gave
them the canoe, that they might cross the river,
and a few articles, with which to procure neces-
saries, until they should meet with Mr. Crooks.
There was another man, named Michael Carriere,
who was almost equally reduced, but he deter-
mined to proceed with his comrades, who were
now incorporated with the party of Mr. Hunt.
After the day's exertions they encamped together
on the banks of the river. This was the last
night they were to spend upon its borders. More
than eight hundred miles of hard travelling, and
many weary days, had it cost them ; and the
sufferings connected with it rendered it hateful
in their remembrance, so that the Canadian voy-
ageurs always spoke of it as " La maudite riviere
enragee " — the accursed mad river — thus coup-
liiifj a malediction with its name.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

N the 24th of December, all things being
arranged, Mr. Hunt turned his back
upon the disastrous banks of Snake
River, and struck his course westward for the
mountains. His party being augmented by the
late followers of Mr. Crooks, amounted now to
thirty-two white men, three Indians, and the
squaw and two children of Pierre Dorion. Five
jaded, half-starved horses were laden with their
luggage, and, in case of need, were to furnish
them with provisions. Tiiey travelled painfully
about fourteen miles a day, over plains and
among hills, rendered dreary by occasional falls
of snow and rain. Their only sustenance was a
scanty meal of horseflesh once in four-and-twenty
Lours.

On the tliird day the poor Canadian, Carriere,
one of the famished party of Mr. Crooks, gave up
in despair, and lying down upon the ground de-
clared he could go no further. Efforts were
made to cheer him up, but it was found that the
poor fellow was absolutely exhausted and could
not keep on his legs. He was mounted, there-
fore, upon one of the horses, though the forlorn
animal was in little better plight than himself.
On the 28th, they came upon a small strea n

J SMALL addition: 381

wiftding to the north, through a fine level valley;
the mountains receding on each side. Here
their Indian friends pointed out a chain of woody
mountains to the left, running north and south,
and covered witli snow ; -over which they would
have to pass. They kept along the valley for
twenty-one miles on the 29th, suffering much
from a continued fall of snow and rain, and being
twice obliged to ford the icy stream. Early in
the following morning tlie squaw of Pierre Do-
rion, who had hitherto kept on without murmur-
ing or flinching, was suddenly taken in labor, and
enriched her husband with another child. As the
fortitude and good conduct of the poor woman
had gained for her the good-will of the party,
her situation caused concern and perplexity.
Pierre, however, treated the matter as an occur-
rence that could soon be arranged and need
cause no delay. He remained by his wife in the
camp, with his other children and his horse, and
promised soon to rejoin the main body, wlio pro-
ceeded on their march.

Finding that the little river entered the moun-
tains, they abandoned it, and turned off for a few
miles among hills. Here another Canadian,
named La Bonte, gave out, and had to be helped
on horseback. As the horse was too weak to
bear both him and his pack, Mr. Hunt took
the latter upon his own shoulders. Thus, with
difficulties augmenting at every step, they urged
their toilsome way among the hills, half famished
and faint at heart, when they came to where a
fair valley spread out before them, of great ex-

382 ASTORIA.

tent and several leagues in width, with a beim-
tiful stream meandering through it. A genial
climate seemed to prevail here, for though the
snow lay upon all the mountains within sight,
there was ncnie to be §een in the valley. The
travellers gazed with delight upon this serene,
sunny landscape, but their joy was complete on
beholding six lodges of Shoshonies pitched upon
the borders of the stream, with a number of
horses and dogs about them. They all pressed
forward with eagerness and soon reached the
camp. Here their first attention was to obtain
provisions. A rifle, an old musket, a tomahawk,
a tin kettle, and a small quantity of ammunition,
soon procured them four horses, three dogs, and
some roots. Part of the live stock was immedi-
ately killed, cooked with all expedition, and as
promptly devoured. A hearty meal restored
every one to good spirits. In the course of the
following morning the Dorion family made its
reappearance. Pierre came trudging in the ad-
vance, followed by his valued, though skeleton
steed, on which was mounted his squaw with the
new-born infant in her arms, and her boy of two
years old wrapped in a blanket and slung at her
side. The mother looked as unconcerned as if
nothing had happened to her ; so easy is nature
in her operations in the wilderness, when free
from the enfeebling refinements of luxury, and
the tamperings and appliances of art.

The next morning ushered in the new year
(1812). Mr. Hunt was about to resume his
march, when his men requested permission to

THE NEW YEAR HOLIDAYS. 383

celebrate the day. This was particularly urged
by the Canadian voyap^eurs, with whom New-
dear's day is a favorite festival; and who never
willingly give up a holiday, under any circum-
stances. There was no resisting such an appli-
cation ; so the day was passed in repose and rev-
elry ; the poor Canadians contrived to sing and
dance in defiance of all their hardships ; and
there was a sumptuous New-Year's banquet of
dog's meat and horse flesh.

After two days of welcome rest, the travellers
addressed themselves once more to their painful
journey. The Indians of the lodges pointed out
a distant gap through which they must pass in
traversing the ridge of mountains. They assured
them that they would be but little incommoded
by snow, and in three days would arrive, among
the Sciatogas. Mr. Hunt, however, had been so
frequently deceived by Indian accounts of routes
and distances, that he gave but little faith to this
information.

The travellers continued their course due west
for five days, crossing the valley and entering the
mountains. Here the travelling became exces-
sively toilsome, across rough stony ridges, and
amidst fallen trees. They were often knee deep
in snow, and sometimes in the hollows betwecK
the ridges sank up to their waists. The weather
was extremely cold ; the sky covered with clouds
so that for days they had not a glimpse of the
sun. In traversing the highest ridge they had a
wide but chilling prospect over a wilderness of
snowy mountains.

384 ASTORTA.

On the 6th of Janiuiry, however, they liad
crossed the dividing summit of the chain, and
wei'e evidently under the influence of a mildef
climate. The snow began to decrease ; the sun
once more emerged from the thick canopy of
clouds, and shone cheeringly upon them, and
they caught a sfght of what appeared to be a
plain, stretching out in the west. They hailed it
as the poor Israelites hailed the first glimpse of
the promised land, for they flattered themselves
that this might be the great plain of the Colum-
bia, and that their painful pilgrimage might be
drawing to a close.

It was now five days since they had left the
lodges of the Shoshonies, during Avhich they had
come about sixty miles, and their guide assured
them that in the course of the next day they
would see the SciatogPiS.

On the follo«;ing morning, therefore, they
pushed forward with eagerness, and soon fell
upon a small stream which led them through a
deep narrow detile, between stupendous ridges.
Hei-e among the rocks a'ld precipices they saw
gangs of that mountain-loving animal, the black-
tailed deer, and came to where great tracks of
horses were to be seen in all directions, made by
the Indian hunters.

The snow had entirely disappeared, and the
hopes of soon coming upon some r.idian ei>carap-
ment induced Mr. Hunt to pr^ss on. Mnnv of
the men, however, were so enfceMed that they
could not keep up with the n^ain body, but lagged
at intervals behind ; and some of them did not

ARRIVAL AMONG THE SC/ATOGAS. 38/)

arrive at the night encampment. In the course
of this day's march the recently-born child of
Pierre Dorion died.

The march was resumed early the next morn-
ing, without waitiuir for the straifo-lers. The
Stream which they had followed tlirousfhout the
preceding day was now swollen by the influx of
another river ; the declivities of the hills were
green and the valleys were clothed with grass.
At length the jovial cry was given of " an Indian
camp I " It was yet in the distance, in the
bosom of the green valley, but they could per-
ceive that it consisted of numerous lodges, and
that hundreds of horses were grazing the grassy
meadows around it. The prospect of abundance
of horse flesh diffused universal joy, for by this
time the whole stock of travelling provisions was
reduced to the skeleton steed of Pierre Dorion,
and another wretched animal, equally emaciated,
that had been repeatedly reprieved during the
journey.

A forced march soon brought the weary and
hungry travellers to the camp. It proved to be
a strong party of Sciatogas and Tus-che-pas.
There were thirty-four lodges, comfortably con-
structed of mats ; the Indians, too, were better
clothed than any of the wandering bands they
had hitherto met on this side of the Rocky
Mountains. Indeed they were as well clad as
the generality of the wild hunter tribes. Each
had a good buffiilo or deer skin robe ; and a deer
skin hunting shirt and leggins. Upwards of two
thousand horses were ranging the pastures around
25

880 ASTORIA.

llieir encampment ; but what delighted Mr. Hunt
was, on entering the lodges, to behold brass ket-
tles, axes, c()})per tea-kettles, and v^arious other
articles of civilized manufacture, which showed
that these Indians had an indirect communication
with the people of the sea-coast who traded with
the whites. He made eager inquiries of the
Sciatogas, and gathered from them that tlie gi-eat
river (the Columbia) was but two days' march
distant, and that several white people had re-
cently descended it ; who he hoped might prove
to be M'Lellan, M'Kenzie, and their companions.

It was with the utmost joy and the most pro-
found gratitude to heaven, that Mr. Hunt found
himself and his band of weary and famishing
wanderers thus safely extricated from the most
perilous part of their long journey, and within
the prospect of a termination of their toils. All
the stragglers who had lagged behind arrived,
one after another, excepting the poor Canadian
voyageur, Carriere. He had been seen late in
the preceding afternoon, riding behind a Snake
Indian, near some lodges of that nation, a few
miles distant from the last night's encampment ;
and it was expected that he would soon make his
appearance.

The first object of Mr. Hunt was to obtain
{)rovisions for his men. A little venison of an
indifferent quality, and some roots were all that
could be procured that evening ; but the next
day he succeeded in purchasing a mare and colt,
which were immediately killed, and the cravings
of the half-starved people in some degree ap-
peased.

HABITS OF THE SCIATOGAS. 387

For several days they remained in the neigh-
borhood of these Indians, reposing after all their
hardships, and feasting upon horse flesh and roots,
obtained in subsequent traffic. Many of the
people ate to such excess as to render themselves
sick, others were lame from their past journey ;
but all gradually recruited in the repose and
abundance of the valley. Horses w^ere obtained
here much more readily, and at a cheaper rate,
than among the Snakes. A blanket, a knife, or
a half pound of blue beads would purchase a
steed, and at this rate many of the men bought
horses for their individual use.

This tribe of Indians, who are represented as
a proud-spirited race, and uncommonly cleanly,
never eat horses or dogs, nor would they permit
the raw flesh of either to be brought into their
huts. They had a small quantity of vension in
each lodge, but set so high a price upon it that the
white men, in their impoverished state, could not
afford to purchase it. They hunted the deer on
horseback ; " ringing," or suiTounding them, and
running them down in a ciicle. They were
admirable horsemen, and their weapons were
bows and arrows, which they managed with great
dexterity. They were altogether primitive in
their habits, and seemed to cling to the usages
of savage life, even when possessed of the aids of
civilization. They had axes among them, yet
they generally made use of a stone mallet
wrought into the shape of a bottle and wedges of
elk horn, in splitting their wood. Though they
alight have two or three brass kettles hanging iii

388 ASTORIA.

their lodges, yet they would frequently use vessels
made of willow, for carrying water, and would
even boil their meat in them, by means of hot
stones. Their women wore caps of willow neatly
worked and figured.

As Carriere, the Canadian straggler, did not
make his appearance for two or three days after
the encampment in the valley, two men were
sent out on horseback in search of him. They
returned, however, without success. The lodges
of the Snake Indians near which he had been
seen were removed, and they could tind no trace
of him. Several days more elapsed, yet nothing
was seen or heard of him, or of the Snake horse-
man, behind whom he had been last observed.
It was feared, therefore, that he had either
perished through hunger and fatigue ; had been
murdered by the Indians ; or. being left to him-
self, had mistaken some hunting tracks for the
trail of the party, and been led astray and lost.

The river on the banks of which they were
encamped, emptied into the Columbia, was called
by the natives the Eu-o-tal-la, or Umatalla, and
abounded with beaver. In the course of their
sojourn in the valley which it watered, they twice
shifted their camp, proceeding about thirty miles
down its course, wliich was to the west. A
heavy fall of rain caused the river to overflow its
banks, dislodged them from their encampment,
and drowned three of their horses, which were
tethered in the low ground.

Further conversatioii with the Indians satisfied
them that thev were in the neiojhborhood of the

THE COLUMBIA RJVER. 389

Columbia. The number of the white men who
tliey said had passed down the river, agreed
with that of M'Lellan, M'Kenzie. and their com-
panions, and increased the hope of Mr. Hunt that
they might have passed through the wilderness
with safety.

These Indians had a vague story that white
men were coming to trade among them ; and
they often spoke of two great men named Ke-
Koosh and Jacquean, who gave them tobacco,
and smoked with them. Jacquean, they said,
had a house somewhere upon the great river.
Some of the Canadians supposed they were
speaking of one Jacquean Finlay, a clerk of the
Northwest Company, and inferred that the house
must be some trading post on one of the tributary
streams of the Columbia. The Indians were
overjoyed when they found this band of white
men intended to return and trade witli them.
They promised to use all diligence in collecting
quantities of beaver skins, and no doubt proceeded
to make deadly war upon that sagacious, but
ill-foted animal, who, in general, lived in peace-
ful insignificance among his Indian neighbors,
before the intrusion of the white trader. On the
the 20th of January, Mr. Hunt took leave of
these friendly Indians, and of the river on which
they encamped, and continued westward.

At length, on the following day, the wayworn
iravellers lifted up their eyes and beheld before
them the long-sought waters of the Columbia.
The sight was hailed with as much transport as
\f they had already reached the end of their pil-

390 ASTORIA.

grimage ; nor can we wonder at their joy. Two
hundred and forty miles had they marched,
through wintry wastes and rugged mountains,
since leaving Snake River ; and six months of
perilous wayfaring liad they experienced since
their departure from the Arickara village on the
Missouri. Their whole route by land and water
from tiiat point had been, according to their com-
putation, seventeen hundred and fifty-one miles,
in the course of which they had endured all kinds
of hardships. In fact, the necessity of avoiding
the dangerous country of the Blackfeet had
obliged them to make a bend to the south and
traverse a great additional extent of unknown
wilderness.

The place where they struck the Columbia
was some distance below the junction of its two
great branches, Lewis and Clai-ke rivers, and not
far from the in Mux of the Wallah- Wallah. It
was a beautiful stream, three-quarters of a mile
wide, totally free from trees ; bordered in some
places with steep rocks, in others with pebbled
shores.

On the banks of the Columbia they found a
miserable horde of Indians, called Akai-chies,
with no clothing but a scanty mantle of the skins
of animals, and sometimes a pair of sleeves of
wolfs skin. Their lodges were shaped like a
tent, and very light and warm, being covered
with mats of rushes ; beside which they had ex-
cavations in the ground, lined with mats, and
occupied by the women, who were even more
slightly clad than the men. These people sub

CROSSING THE COLUMBTA. 391

Bisted chiefly by fishing ; having canoes of a rude
construction, being merely the trunks of pine
trees split and hollowed out by fire. Their
lodges were well stored with dried salmon, and
they had great quantities of fresh salmon trout of
an excellent flavor, taken at the mouth of the
Umatalla ; of which the travellers obtained a
most acceptable supply.

Finding that the road was on the north side of
the river, Mr. Hunt crossed, and continued five
or six days travelling rather slowly down along
its banks, being much delayed by the straying of
the horses, and the attempts made by the Indians
to steal them. Tiiey frequently passed lodges,
where they obtained fish and dogs. At one
place the natives had just returned from hunting,
and had brought back a large quantity of elk and
deer meat, but asked so high a price for it as to
be beyond the funds of the travellers, so they had
to content themselves with dog's flesh. They had
by this time, however, come to consider it very
choice food, superior to horse flesh, and the min-
utes of the expedition speak rather exultingly
now and then, of their having made a " famous
repast," where this viand liappened to be unus-
ually plenty.

They again learnt tidings of some of the
scattered members of the expedition, supposed to
be M'Kefizie, M'Lellan, and their men, who had
preceded them down the river, and had over-
turned one of their caijoes, by which they lost
many articles. All these floating pieces of intel-
ligf-nce of their fellow adventurers, who had

392 ASTORIA.

separated from them in the heart of the wilder-
ness, they received with eager interest.

Tlie weather continued to be temperate,
marking the superior softness of the climate on
this side of the mountains. For a great part of
the time, the days were delightfully mild and
clear, like the serene days of October on the
Atlantic borders. The country in general, in the
neighborhood of the river, was a continual plain,
low near the water, but rising gradually ; desti-
tute of trees, and almost without shrubs or plants
of any kind, excepting a few Avillow bushes.
After travelling about sixty miles, they came to
where the country became very hilly and the
river made its way betvveen rock}'- banks, and
down numerous rapids. The Indians in this
vicinity were better clad and altogether in more
prosperous condition than those above, and, as
Mr. Hunt thought, showed their consciousness of
ease by something like sauciness of manner.
Thus prosperity is apt to produce arrogance in
savage as well as in civilized life. In both
conditions, man is an animal that will not bear
pampering.

From these people Mr. Hunt for the first
time received vague, but deeply interesting intel-
ligence of that part of the enterprise which had
proceeded by sea to the mouth of the Columbia.
The Indians spoke of a number of white men
who had built a large house at the mouth of the
great river, and surrounded it with palisades.
None of them had been down to Astoria them-
selves; but rumors spread widely and rapidly

FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA. 393

from mouth to mouth among the Indian tribes,
and are carried to the heart of the interior by
hunting parties and migratory hoi'des.

The establishment of a trading emporium at
such a point, also, was calculated to cause a
sensation to the most remote parts of the vast
wilderness beyond the mountains. It in a man-
ner struck the pulse of the great vital river, and
vibrated up all its tributary streams.

It is surprising to notice how well this remote
tribe of savages had learnt through intermediate
gossips, the private feelings of the colonists at
Astoria : it shows that Indians are not the incu-
rious and indifferent observers that they have
been represented. They told Mr. Hunt that the
white people at the large house had been looking
anxiously for many of their friends, whom they
had expected to descend the great river ; and
had been in much affliction, fearing that they
were lost. Now, however, the ai-rival of him
and liis party would wipe away all their tears,
and they would dance and sing for joy.

On the 3 1st of January, Mr. Hunt arrived at
the falls of the Columbia, and encamped at the vil-
lage of the Wish-ram, situated at the head of that
dangerous pass of the river called " the Loug
Narrows."

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

IF the village of Wish-ram, the aborigines'
fishing mart of the Columbia, we have
given some account in an early chapter
of this work. The inhabitants held a traffic in
the productions of the fisheries of the falls, and
their village was the trading resort of the tribes
from the coast and from the mountains. Mr.
Hunt found the inhabitants shrewder and more
intelligent than any Indians he had met with.
Trade had sharpened their wits, though it had
not improved their honesty ; for they were a com-
munity of arrant rogues and freebooters. Their
habitations comported with their circumstances,
and were superior to any the travellers had yet
seen west of the Rocky Mountains. In general,
the dwellings of the savages on the Pacific side
of that great barrier were mere tents and cabins
of mats, or skins, or straw, the country being
destitute of timber. In Wish-ram, on the con-
trary, the houses were built of wood, with long
sloping roofs. The floor was sunk about six feet
below the surface of the ground, with a low door
9.t the gable end, extremely narrow, and partly
sunk. Through this it was necessary to crawl,
ftnd then to descend a short ladder. This incon-

niSTRESSING INTELLIGENCE. 395

venient entrance was probably for the purpose of
defense ; there were loop-holes also under the
eaves, apparently for the discharge of arrows.
The houses were large, generally containing two
or three families. Immediately within the door
were sleeping places, ranged along the walls, like
berths in a ship ; and furnished with pallets of
matting. These extended along one half of the
building ; the remaining half was appropriated to
the storing of dried fish.

The trading operations of the inhabitants of
Wish-ram had given them a wider scope of in-
formation, and rendered their village a kind of
headquarters of intelligence. Mr. Hunt was
able, therefore, to collect more distinct tidings
concerning the settlement of Astoria and its af-
fairs. One of the inhabitants had been at the
trading post estabhshed by David Stuart on the
Oakinagan, and had picked up a few words of
English there. From him, Mr. Hunt gleaned
various particulars about that establishment, as
well as about the general concerns of the enter-
prise. Others repeated the name of Mr. M'Kay,
the partner who perished in the massacre on
board of the Toncjuin, and gave some account of
that melancholy affair. They said Mr. M'Kay
was a chief among the white men, and had built
a great house at the mouth of the river, but had
left it and sailed away in a large ship to the
northward where he had been attacked by bad
Indians in canoes. Mr. Hunt was startled by
chis intelligence, and made further inquiries.
They informed him that the Indians had lashed

396 ASTORIA.

their canoes to the ship, and fought until they
killed him and all his people. This is another
instance of the clearness with which intelligence
is transmitted from mouth to mouth among the
Indian tribes. These tidings, though but par-
tially credited by Mr. Hunt, filled his mind with
anxious forebodings.* He now endeavored to
procure canoes, in which to descend the Colum-
bia, but none suitable for the purpose were to be
obtained above the Narrows ; he continued on,
therefore, the distance of twelve miles, and en-
camped on the bank of the river. The camp
was soon surrounded by loitering savages, who
went prowling about seeking what they might
pilfer. Being baffled by the vigilance of the
guard, they endeavored to compass their ends by
other means. Towards evening, a number of
warriors entered the camp in ruffling style ;
painted and dressed out as if for battle, and
armed with lances, bows and arrows, and scalping
knives. They informed Mr. Hunt that a party
of thirty or forty braves were coming up from a
village below to attack the camp and carry off
the horses, but that they were determined to stay
with him and defend him. Mr. Hunt received
them with great coldness, and, when they had
finished their story, gave them a pipe to smoke.
He then called up all hands, stationed sentinels in
different quarters, but told them to keep as vigil-
ant an eye within the camp as without.

The warriors were evidently baffled by these
precautions, and, having smoked their pipe, and
vapored off their valor, took their departure

NOTHING BUT SMOKE. 397

The farce, however, did not end here. After a
little while the warriors returned, ushering in
another savage, still more heroically arrayed. This
they announced as the chief of the belligerent
village, but as a great pacificator. His people
had been furiously bent upon the attack, and
would have doubtless carried it into effect, but
this gallant chief had stood forth as the friend of
white men, and had dispersed the throng by his
own authority and prowess. Having vaunted
this signal piece of service, there was a significant
pause ; all evidently expecting some adequate re-
ward. Mr. Hunt again produced the pipe,
smoked with the chieftain and his worthy com-
peers ; but made no further demonstrations of
gratitude. They remained about the camp all
night, but at daylight returned, baffled and crest-
fallen, to their homes, with nothing but smoke for
their pains.

Mr. Hunt now endeavored to procure canoes,
of which he saw several about the neighborhood,
extremely well made, with elevated stems and
sterns, some of them capable of carrying three
thousand pounds weight. He found it extremely
difficult, however, to deal with these slippery
people, who seemed much more inclined to pilfer.
Notwithstandino^ a strict oruard maintained round
the camp, various implements were stolen, and
several horses carried off. Among the latter, we
have to include the long-cherished steed of Pierre
Dorion. From some wilful caprice that worthy
pitched his tent at some distance from the main
*iody, and tethered his invaluable steed beside it,

398 ASTORIA.

from whence it was abstracted in the night, to the
infin te chagrin and mortification of the hybrid
interpreter.

Having, after several days' negotiation, pro-
cured tlie requisite number of canoes, Mr. Hunt
would gladly have left this thievish neighborliood,
but was detained until the 5th of February by
violent head winds, accompanied by snow and
rain. Even after he was enabled to get under
way, he had still to struggle against contrary
winds and tempestuous weather. The current of
the river, however, was in his favor ; having
made a portage at the grand rapid, the canoes
met with no further obstruction, and, on the
afternoon of the 15th of February, swept round
an intervening cape, and came in sight of the
infant settlement of Astoria. After eleven
months wandering in the wilderness, a great part
of the time over trackless wastes, where the
sight of a savage wigwam was a rarity, we may
imagine the delight of the poor weather-beaten
travellers, at beholding the embryo establishment,
with its magazines, habitations, and picketed bul-
warks, seated on a high point of land, dominating
a beautiful little bay, in which was a trim-built
shallop riding quietly at anchor. A shout of joy
burst from each canoe at the long-wished-for
sight. They urged their canoes across the bay,
and pulled with eagerness for shore, where all
bands poured down from the settlement to receive
and welcome them. Among the first to greet
them on their landing, were some of their old
comrades and fellow-sufferers, who, under the

ARRIVAL AT ASTORIA. 399

conduct of Reed, M'Lellan, and M'Kenzie, had
parted from them at the Caldron Linn. These
had reached Astoria nearly a month previously,
and, judging from their own narrow escape from
starvation, had given up Mr. Hunt and his fol-
lowers as lost. Their greeting was the more
warm and cordial. As to the Canadian voy-
ageurs, their mutual felicitations, as usual, were
loud and vociferous, and it was almost ludicrous
to behold these ancient " comrades " and " con-
freres," hugging and kissing each other on the
river bank.

When the first greetings were over, the differ-
ent bands interchanged accounts of their several
wanderings, after separating at Snake Eiver ; we
shall briefly notice a few of the leading particu-
lars. It will be recollected by the reader, that a
small exploring detachment had proceeded down
the river, under the conduct of Mr. John Reed, a
clerk of the company ; that another had set off
under M'Lellan, and a third in a different direction,
under M'Kenzie. After wandering for several
days without meeting with Lidians, or obtaining
any supplies, they came together fortuitously
among the Snake River mountains, some distance
below that disastrous pass or strait which had
received the appellation of the Devil's Scuttle
Hole.

When thus united, their party consisted of
M'Kenzie, M'Lellan, Reed, and eight men, chiefly
Canadians. Being all in the same predicament,
without horses, provisions, or information of any
kind, they all agreed that it would be worse than

400 ASTORIA.

useless to return to Mr. Hunt and encumber him
with so many starving men, and that their only
course was to extricate themselves as soon as pos-
sible from this land of famine and misery, and
make the best of their way for the Columbia.
They accordingly continued to follow the down-
ward course of Snake River ; clambering rocks
and mountains, and defying all the difficulties and
dangers of that rugged defile, which subsequently,
when the snows had fallen, was found impassable
by Messrs. Hunt and Crooks.

Though constantly near to the borders of the
river, and for a great part of the time within
sight of its current, one of their greatest suffer-
ings was thirst. The river had worn its way in a
deep channel through rocky mountains, destitute
of brooks or springs. Its banks were so high
and precipitous, that there was rarely any place
where the travellers could get down to drink of
its waters. Frequently they suffered for miles
the torments of Tantalus ; water continually
within sight, yet fevered with the most parching
thirst. Here and there they met with rain-water
collected in the hollows of the rocks, but more
than once they were reduced to the utmost ex-
tremity ; and some of the men had recourse to
the last expedient to avoid perishing.

Their sufferings from hunger were equally
severe. They could meet with no game, and
subsisted for a time on strips of beaver skin,
broiled on the coals. These were doled out in
scanty allowances, barely sufficient to keep up
existence, and at length failed them altogether

ADVENTURES. 401

Stili they crept feebly on, scarce dragging one
limb after another, until i severe snow-storm
brought them to a pause. To struggle against
it, in their exhausted condition, was impossible,
so cowering under an impending rock at the foot
of a steep mountain, tliey prepared themselves
for that wretched fate which seemed inevitable.

At this critical juncture, when famine stared
them in the face, M'Lellan casting up his eyes,
beheld an ahsahta, or bighorn, sheltering itself
under a shelving rock on the side of the hill
above them. Being in a more active plight than
any of his comrades, and an excellent marksman,
he set off to get within shot of the animal. His
companions watched his movements with breath-
less anxiety, for their lives depended upon his
success. He made a cautious circuit ; scrambled
up the hill with the utmost silence, and at length
ir rived, un perceived, within a proper distance.
Here leveling his rifle he took so sure an aim,
that the bighorn fell dead on the spot ; a fortunate
circumstance, for, to pursue it, if merely wounded,
would have teen impossible in his emaciated
state. The declivity of the hill enabled him to
roll the carcass down to his companions, who were
too feeble to climb the rocks. They fell to woi-k
to cut it up ; jet exerted a remarkable self-denial
for men in their starving condition, for they con-
tented \hemselves for the present with a soup
made from the bones, reserving the flesh for future
repasts. This providential relief gave them
sti-ength to pursue their journey, but they were
frec^uently reduced to almost equal straits, and

26

402 ASTORIA.

t was only the smallness of their part}, reqiiir-
'^ng a small supply of provisions, that enable(5
them to get Uirough tliis desolate region with
their lives.

At length, after twenty -one days of toil and
suffering, they got through these mountains, and
•irrived at a tributary stream of that branch of
the Columbia called Lewis River, of which Snake
River forms the southern fork. In this neigh-
borhood they met with wild horses, the first they
bad seen west of the Rocky Mountains. From
hence they made their way to Lewis River,
where they fell in with a friendly tribe of
Indians, who freely administered to their neces-
sities. On this river they procured two canoes,
in which they dropped down the stream to its
confluence with the Columbia, and then down
that river to Astoria, where they arrived hag-
gard and emaciated, and perfectly in rags.

Thus, all the leadmg persons of Mr. Hunt's
expedition were once more gathered together,
excepting Mr. Crooks, of whose safety they enter-
tained but little hope, considei'ing the feeble con-
dition in which they had been compelled to leave
him in the heart of the wilderness.

A day was now given up to jubilee, to celebrate
the arrival of Mr. Hunt and his companions, and
the joyful meeting of the various scattered bands
of adventurers at Astoria. The colors were
hoisted ; the guns, great and small, were fired ;
tliere was a feast of fish, of beaver, and vension,
which relished well with men who had so long
been glad to revel on horse flesh and dogs' meat ;

FESTIVAL AT ASTORIA.

403

a genial allowance of grog was issued, to increase
the general animation, and the festivities wound
up, as usual, with a grand dance at night, by the
Canadian voyageurs.^

1 The distance from St. Louis to Astoria, by the route
travelled by Hunt and M'Kenzie, was upwards of thirty-five
hundred miles, though iu a direct line it does not exceed
eighteen hundred.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

HE winter passed away tranquilly at
Astoria. The apprehensions of hostil-
ity from the natives had subsided ; in-
deed, as the season advanced, the Indians for the
most part had disappeared from the neighbor-
hood, and abandoned the sea-coast, so that, for
want of their aid, the colonists had at times suf-
fered considerably for want of provisions. The
hunters belonging to the establishment made fre-
quent and wide excursions, but with very moder-
ate success. There were some deer and a few
bears to be found in the vicinity, and elk in great
numbers ; the country, however, was so rough,
and the woods so close and entangled that it was
almost impossible to beat up the game. The
prevalent rains of winter, also, rendered it diffi-
cult for the hunter to keep his arms in order.
The quantity of game, therefore, brought in by
the hunters was extremely scanty, and it was
frequently necessary to put all hands on very
moderate allowance. Towards spring, however,
the fishing season commenced — the season of
plenty on the Columbia. About the beginning
of February, a small kind of fish, about six
inches long, called by the natives the uthlecan,
ttud resembling the smelt, made its appearance

COLUMBIA RIVER FISHERIES. 405

at the mouth of the river. It is said to be of
delicious flavor, and so fat as to burn like a
candle, for which it is often used by the na-
tives. It enters the river in immense shoals,
like solid columns, often extending to the depth
of five or more feet, and is scooped up by the
natives with small nets at the end of poles. In
this way they will soon fill a canoe, or form a
great heap upon the river banks. These fish
constitute a principal article of their food ; the
women drying them and stringing them on cords.
As the uthlecan is only found in the lower part
of the river, the arrival of it soon brought back
the natives to the coast ; who again resorted to
the factory to trade, and from that time furnished
plentiful supplies of fish.

The sturgeon makes its appearance in the
river shortly after the uthlecan, and is t-aken in
diiferent ways by the natives: sometimes they
spear it; but oftener they use the hook and line,
and the net. Occasionally, they sink a cord in
the river by a heavy weight, with a buoy at the
upper end, to keep it floating. To this cord
several hooks are attached by short lines, a few
feet distant from each other, and baited with
small fish. This apparatus is often set towards
night, and by the next morning several sturgeon
will be found hooked by it ; for though a large
:ind strong fish, it makes but little resistance when
t-nsnared.

The salmon, which are the prime fish of the
Columbia, and as important to the piscatory
ti-ibes as are the buffaloes to the huntei's of tli<3

406 ASTORIA.

prairies, do not enter the river until towards the lat-
ter part of May, from which time, until the middle
of August, they abound, and are taken in vast
quantities, either with the spear or seine, and
mostly in shallow water. An inferior species
succeeds, and continues from August to Decem-
ber. It is remarkable for having a double row
of teeth, half an inch long and extremely sharp,
from whence it has received the name of the
dog-toothed salmon. It is generally killed with
the spear in small rivulets, and smoked for win-
ter provision. We have noticed in a former
chapter the mode in which the salmon are taken
and cured at the falls of the Columbia ; and put
up in parcels for exportation. From these differ-
ent fisheries of the river tribes, the establishment
at Astoria had to derive much of its precarious
supplies of provisions.

A year's residence at the mouth of the Co-
lumbia, and various expeditions in the interior,
had now given the Astorians some idea of the
country. The whole coast is described as re-
markably rugged and mountainous ; with dense
forests of hemlock, spruce, white and red cedar,
cotton-wood, white oak, white and swamp ash,
willow, and a few walnut. Tiiere is likewise an
undergrowth of aromatic shrubs, creepers, and
clambering vines, that render the forests almost
impenetrable ; together with berries of various
kinds, such as gooseberries, strawberries, rasp-
berries, both red and yellow, very large and finely
flavored whortleberries, cranberries, serviceberries,
blackberries, currants, sloes, and wild and choke
cherries.

ANIMAL PRODUCTIONS. 407

Among the flowering vines is one deserving
&f particular notice. Each flower is composed
of six leaves or petals, about three inches in
length, of a beautifal crimson, the inside spotted
with white. Its leaves, of a fine green, are oval,
and disposed by threes. This plant climbs upon
the trees without attaching itself to them : when
it has reached the topmost branches, it descends
perpendicularly, and as it continues to grow, ex-
tends from tree to tree, until its various stalks
interlace the grove like the rigging of a ship.
The stems or trunks of this vine are tougher and
more flexible than willow, and are from fifty to
one hutidred fathoms in length. From the fibres,
the Indians manufacture baskets of such close
texture as to hold water.

The principal quadrupeds that had been seen
by the colonists in their various expeditions were
the stag, fallow deer, hart, black and grizzly bear,
antelope, ahsahta or bighorn, beaver, sea and river
otter, muskrat, fox, wolf, and panther, the latter
extremely rar-e. The only domestic animals
among the natives were horses and dogs.

The country abounded with aquatic and land
birds, such as swans, wild geese, brant, ducks of
almost every description, pelicans, herons, gulls,
snipes, curlews, eagles, vultures, crows, ravens,
magpies, woodpeckers, pigeons, partridges, pheas-
ants, grouse, and a great variety of singing
birds.

There were few reptiles; the only dangerous
kinds were the rattlesnake, and one striped with
black, yellow, and white, about four feet long.

408 ASTORIA.

Among tlie lizard kind was one about nine or ten
inches in length, exclusive of the tail, and three
inches in circumference. The tail was round, and
of the same length as the body. The head was
triangular, covered with small square scales. The
upper part of the body was likewise covered with
small scales, green, yellow, black, and blue.
Ea,ch foot had five toes, furnished wiih strong
nails, probably to aid it in burrowing, as it usu-
ally lived under ground on the plains.

A remarkable fact, cliaracteristic of the coun-
try west of the Rocky Mountains, is the mild-
ness and equability of the climate. The great
mountain barrier seems to divide the continent
into different climates, even in the same degrees
of latitude. The rigorous winters and sultry
sunmiers, and all the capricious inequalities of
temperature prevalent on the Atlantic side of the
mountains, are but little felt on their western
declivities. The countries between them and the
Pacific are blessed with milder and steadier tem-
perature, resembling the climates of pai'allel lati-
tudes in Europe. In the plains and valleys but
little snow falls throughout the winter, and usu-
ally melts while falling. It rarely lies on the
ground more than two days at a time, except
on the summits of the mountains. The winters
arc rainy rather than cold. The rains for five
months, from the middle of October to the mid-
dle of March, are almost incessant, and often ac-
companied by tremendous thunder and lightning.
The winds prevalent at this season are from the
south and southeast, which usually bring rain.

CLIMATE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. 409

Those from the north to the southwest are the
harbingers of fair weather and a clear sky. The
residue of the year, from tlie middle of March
to the middle of October, an interval of seven
months, is serene and delightful. There is scarcely
any rain throughout this time, yet the face of
the country is kept fresh and verdant by nightly
dews, and occasionally by humid fogs in the morn-
ings. These are not considered prejudicial to
health, since both the natives and the whites sleep
in the open air with perfect impunity. While
this equable and bland temperature prevails
throughout the lower country, the peaks and ridges
of the vast mountains by which it is dominated,
are covered with pei'petual snow. This renders
them discernible at a great distance, shining at
times like bright summer clouds, at other times
assuming the most aerial tints, and always form-
ing brilliant and striking features in the vast
landscape. The mild temperature prevalent
throughout the country is attributed by some to
the succession of winds from the Pacific Ocean,
extending from latitude twenty degrees to at
least fifty degrees north. These temper the heat
of summer, so that in the shade no one is in-
commoded by perspiration ; they also soften the
rigoi's of winter, and produce such a moderation
in the climate, that the inhabitants can wear the
?;une dress throughout the year.

The soil in the neighborhood of the sea-coast
IS of a brown color, inclining to red, and gener-
ally poor ; being a mixture of clay and gravel,
hi the interior, and especially in the valleys of

410 ASTORIA.

the Rocky Mountains, the soil is generally black-
ish, though sometimes yellow. It is frequently
mixed with marl, and with marine substances in
a state of decomposition. This kind of soil ex-
tends to a considerable depth, as may be per-
ceived in the deep cuts made by ravines, and by
the beds of rivers. The vegetation in these val-
leys is much more abundant than near the coast ;
in fact, it is in these fertile intervals, locked up
between rocky sierras, or scooped out from bar-
ren wastes, that population must extend itself,
as it were, in veins and ramifications, if ever the
regions be) jnd the mountains should become civ-
ilized.

5^

CHAPTER XL.

BRIEF mention has already been made
of the tribes or hordes existing about
the lower part of the Columbia at the
time of the settlement ; a few more particulars
concerning them may be acceptable. The four
tribes nearest to Astoria, and with whom the
traders had most intercourse, were, as has here-
tofore been observed, the Chinooks, the Ciatsops,
the Wahkiacums, and tfie Cathlamets. The
Chinooks reside chiefly along the banks of a
river of the same name, running parallel to the
sea-coast, through a low country studded with
stagnant pools, and emptying itself into Baker's
Bay, a few miles from Cape Disappointment.
This was the tribe over which Comcomly, the
one-eyed chieftain, held sway ; it boasted two
hundred and fourteen fighting men. Their chief
sui)sistence was on fish, with an occasional regale
of the* flesh of elk and deer, and of wild-fowl
from the neighboring ponds.

The Ciatsops resided on both sides of Point
Adams ; they were the mere relics of a tribe
which had been nearly swept off by the small-
pox, and did not number more than one hun-
ired and eighty fighting men.

The AVahkiacums, or Waak-i-cums, inhabited

412 ASTORIA.

the north side of the Columlia, and numbered
sixty-six warriors. They and the Chi nooks
were originally the same ; but a dispute arising
about two generations previous to the time of
the settlement, between the ruling chief and his
brother Wahkiacum, the^atter seceded, and with
liis adherents formed the present horde which
continues to go by his name. In this way new
tribes or clans are formed, and lurking causes of
hostility engendered.

The Cathlamets lived opposite to the lower
village of the Wahkiacums, and numbered ninety-
four warriors.

These four tribes, or rather clans, have every
appearance of springing from the same origin,
resembling each other in person, dress, language,
and manners. They are rather a diminutive
race, generally below five feet five inches, with
crooked legs and thick ankles — a deformity
caused by their passing so much of their time
sitting or squatting upon the calves of their legs
and their heels, in the bottom of tiieir canoes —
a favorite position, which they retain, even when
on shore. The women increase the deformity by
wearing tight bandages round the ankles, whicii
prevent the circulation of the blood, and GauSv3S a
swellincT of the muscles of the leff.

Neither sex can boast of personal beauty.
Their faces are round, with small but animated
eyes. Their noses are broad and flat at top,
and fleshy at the end, with large nostrils. They
have wide mouths, thick lips, and short, irregu-
lar and dirty teeth. Indeed good teeth are sel

DRESS OF THE NATIVES. 413

dom lo be seen among the tribes west of the
Rocky Mountains, who live cliiefly on fish.

In the early stages of their intercourse with
white men, these sa%\ages were but scantily clad.
In summer time the men went entirely naked ;
in the winter and in bad weather the men wore
a small robe, reaching to the middle of the thigh,
made of the skins of animals, or of the wool of
the mountain sheep. Occasionally, they wore
a kind of mantle of matting, to keep off the
rain ; but, having thus protected the back and
shoulders, they left the rest of the body naked.

The women wore similar robes, though shorter,
not reaching below the waist ; beside which, they
had a kind of petticoat, or fringe, reaching from
the waist to the knee, formed of the fibres of
cedar bark, broken into strands, or a tissue of
silk grass twisted and knotted at the ends. This
was the usual dress of the women in summer ;
should the weather be inclement, they added a
vest of skins, similar to the robe.

The men carefully eradicated every vestige of
a beard, considering it a great deformity. They
looked with disgust at the whiskers and well-fur-
nisiied chins of the white men, and in derision
called them Long-beards. Both sexes, on the
other hand, cherished the hair of the head, which
wit): them is generally black and rather coarse.
They allowed it to grow to a great length and
v.'ere very proud and careful of it, sometimes
wearing it plaited, sometimes wound round the
head in fanciful tresses. No greater affront could
he offei-ed to them than to cut off their treasured
loL'ks.

414 ASTORIA.

They had conical hats with narrow rims, neatly
woven of bear grass or of the fibres of cedar bark,
interwoven with designs of various shapes and
colors ; sometimes merely squares and triangles,
at other times rude representations of canoes,
with men fishing and harpooning. These hats
were nearly waterproof, and extremely durable.

The favoi'ite ornaments of the men were col-
lars of bears' claws, the proud trophies of hunting
exploits ; while the women and children wore
similar decorations of elks' tusks. An inter-
course with the white traders, however, soon
effected a change in the toilets of both sexes.
They became fond of arraying themselves in any
article of civilized dress which they could pro-
cure, and often made a most grotesque appear-
ance. They adapted many articles of finery,
also, to their own previous tastes. Both sexes
were fond of adorning themselves with bracelets
of iron, brass, or copper. They were delighted,
also, with blue and white beads, particularly the
former, and wore broad tight bands of them
round the waist and ankles, large rolls of them
round the neck, and pendants of them in the
ears. The men, especially, who in savage life
carry a passion for personal decoration further
than the females, did not think their gala equip-
ments complete unless they liad a jewel of haiqua,
or wampum, dangling at the nose. Thus ar-
rayed, their hair besmeared with fish oil, and
their bodies bedaubed with red clay, they consid-
ej'ed tliemselves irresistible.

When on warlike expeditions, they painted

THEIR PECULIAR DEFORMITY. 415

their faces and bodies in the most hideous and
grotesque manner, according to the universal
practice of American savages. Their arms
were bows and arrows, spears, and war clubs.
Some wore a corselet, formed of pieces of hard
wood, laced together with bear grass, so as to
f )rm a light coat of mail, pliant to the body ;
and a kind of casque of cedar bark, leather, and
bear grass, sufficient to protect the head from
an arrow or war club. A more complete article
of defensive armor was a buff jerkin or shirt of
great thickness, made of doublings of elk skin,
and reaching to the feet, holes being left for the
head and arms. This was perfectly arrow-
proof; add to which, it was often endowed with
charmed virtues, by the spells and mystic cere-
monials of the medicine man, or conjurer

Of the peculiar custom, prevalent amono- these
people, of flattening the head, we have already
spoken. It is one of those instances of human
caprice, like the crippling of the feet of females
in China, which are quite incomprehensible.
This custom prevails principally among the tribes
on the sea-coast, and about the lower parts of
the rivers. How far it extends along the coast
we are not able to ascertain. Some of the tribes,
both north and south of the Columbia, practice
it ; but they all speak the Ciiinook language, and
probably originated from the same stock. As
far as we can learn, the remoter tribes, which
Bpeak an entirely different language, do not
flatten the head. This absurd custom declines,
also, in receding from the shores of the Pacific;

416 ASTORIA.

few traces of it Are to be found among the tribes
of the Rocky Mountains, and after crossing the
mountains it disappears altogether. Those In-
dians, therefore, about the head waters of the
Columbia, and in the solitary mountain regions,
who are often called Flatheads, must not be
supposed to be characterized by this deformity.
It is an appellation often given by the hunters
east of the mountain chain, to all the western In-
dians, excepting the Snakes.

The religious belief of these people was ex-
tremely limited and confined ; or rathcT, in all
probability, their explanations were but little
understood by their visitors. They had an idea
of a benevolent and omnipotent spirit, the creator
of all things. They represent him as assuming
various shapes at pleasure, but generally that of
an immense bird. He usually inhabits the sun,
but occasionally wings his way through the aerial
regions, and sees all that is doing upon earth.
Sliould anything displease him, he vents his
wrath in terrific storms and tempests, the light-
ning being the flashes of his eyes, and the thun-
der the clapping of his wings. To propitiate his
favor they offer to him annual sacrifices of sal-
mon and venison, the first fruits of their fishing
and hunting.

Beside this aerial spirit they believe in an in-
ferior one, who iniiabits the fire, and of whom
they are in perpetual dread, as, though he pos-
sesses equally the power of good and evil, the
evil is apt to predominate. They endeavor,
theretbre, to keep him in good humor by frequent

MEDICINE MEN. 417

offerings. He is supposed also to have great
influence with the winged spirit, their sovereign
protector and benefactor. They implore him,
therefore, to act as their interpreter, and procure
them all desirable things, such as success in fish-
ing and hunting, abundance of game, fleet horses,
obedient wives, and male children.

These Indians have likewise their priests, or
conjurers, or medicine men, who pretend to be in
the confidence of the deities, and the expounders
and enforcers of their will. Each of these
medicine men has his idols carved in wood,
representing the spirits of the air and of the fire,
under some rude and grotesque form of -^a horse,
a bear, a beaver, or other quadruped, or that of
bird or fish. These idols are hung round with
amulets and votive offerings, such as beavers'
teeth, and bears' and eagles' claws.

When any chief personage is on his death-bed,
or dangerously ill, the medicine men are sent for.
Each brings with him his idols, with which he re-
tires into a canoe to hold a consultation. As doc-
tors are prone to disagree, so these medicine men
have now and then a violent altercation as to the
malady of the patient, or the treatment of it.
To settle this they beat their idols soundly against
each other ; whichever first loses a tooth or a
claw is considered as confuted, and his votary re-
tires from the field.

Polygamy is not only allowed, but considered
honorable, and the greater number of wives a
man can maintain, the more important is he iii
the eyes of the tribe. The first wife, however

418 ASTORIA.

takes rank of all the others, and is considerod
mistress of the house. Still the domestic estab-
lishment is liable to jealousies and cabals, and
the lord and master has much difficulty in main-
taining harmony in his jangling household.

In the manuscript from which we draw many
of these particulars, it is stated that he who ex-
ceeds his neighbors in the number of his wives,
male children, and slaves, is elected chief of the
village ; a title to office which we do not recollect
ever before to have met with.

Feuds are frequent among these tribes, but
are not very deadly. They have occasionally
pitched battles, fought on appointed days, and at
specific places, which are generally the banks of
a rivulet. The adverse parties post themselves
on the opposite sides of the stream, and at such
distances that the battles often last a long while
before any blood is shed. The number of killed
and wounded seldom exceed half a dozen.
Should the damage be equal on each side, the
war is considered as honorably concluded ; should
one party lose more than the other, it is entitled
to a compensation in slaves or other property,
otherwise hostilities are liable to be renewed at
a future day. They are much given also to
predatory inroads into the territories of their en-
emies, and sometimes of their friendly neighbors.
Should they fall upon a band of inferior force,
or upon a village, weakly defended, they act with
the ferocity of true poltroons, slaying all the men,
and carrying off the women and children as
slaves. As to the property, it is packed upon

AM USE MEN TS. — S TEALING. 419

hiyi'ses which they bring witli them for the pur-
pose. They are mean and paltry as warriors,
and altogether inferior in heroic qualities to the
Bavages of the buffalo plains on the east side of
the mountains.

A great portion of their time is passed in rev
elry, music, dancing, and gambling. Their music
scarcely deserves the name ; the instrument?
being of the rudest kind. Their singing is harsh
and discordant ; the songs are chiefly extempore,
relating to passing circumstances, the persons
present, or any trifling object that strikes the at-
tention of the singer. They have several kinds
of dances, some of them lively and pleasing.
The women are rarely permitted to dance with
the men, but form groups apart, dancing to the
same instrument and song.

They have a great passion for play, and a va-
riety of games. To such a pitch of excitement
are they sometimes roused, that they gamble
away everything they possess, even to their
wives and children. They are notorious thieves,
also, and proud of their dexterity. He who is
frequently successful, gains much applause and
populai-ity; but the clumsy thief, who is detected
in some bungling attempt, is scoffed at and de-
spised, and sometimes severely punished.

Such are a few leading characteristics of the
natives in the neighborhood of Astoria. They
appear to us inferior in many respects to the
'ribes east of the mountains, the bold rovers of
the prairies ; and to partake much of the Esqui-
Tfiaux character ; elevated in some degree by a

420 ASTORIA.

more genial climate, and more varied style of
living.

The habits of traffic engendered at the cata-
racts of the Columbia, have had their influence
along the coast. The Chinooks and other In-
dians at the mouth of the river, soon proved
themselves keen traders, and in their early deal-
ings with the Astorians never iiesitated to ask
three times what they considered the real value
of an article. They were inquisitive, also, in the
extreme, and impertinently intrusive ; and were
prone to indulge in scoffing and ridicule at the
expense of the strangers.

In one thing, however, they showed superior
judgment and self command to most of their race ;
this was, in their abstinence from ardent spirits,
and the abhorrence and disgust with which they
regarded a drunkard. On one occasion, a son of
Comcomly had been induced to drink fi-eely at
the factory, and went home in a state of intoxica-
tion, playing all kinds of mad pranks, until he
sank into a stupor, in which he remained for two
days. The old chieftain repaired to his friend,
M'Dougal, with indignation flaming in his coun-
tenance, and bitterly reproached him for having
permitted his son to degrade himself into a beast,
and to render himself an object of scorn and
laughter to his slave.

CHAPTER XLI.

^ S the spring opened, the little settlement
of Astoria was in agitation, and prepared
to send forth various expeditions. Sev-
eral important things were to be done. It was
necessary to send a supply of goods to the trading
post of Mr. David Stuart, estabhshed in the pre-
ceding autumn on the Oakinagan. The cache, oi
secret deposit, made by Mr. Hunt at the Caldron
Linn, was likewise to be visited, and the merchan-
dise and other effects left there, to be brought to
Astoria. A third object of moment was to send
dispatches overland to Mr. Astor at New York,
informing him of the state of affairs at the settle-
ment, and the fortunes of the several expeditions.

The task of carrying supplies to Oakinagan
was assigned to Mr. Robert Stuart, a spirited and
enterprising young man, nephew to the one who
had established the post. The cache was to be
sought out by two of the clerks, named Russell
Farnham and Donald M'Gilles, conducted by a
guide, and accompanied by eight men, to assist in
bringing home the goods.

As to the dispatches, they were confided to Mr.
John Reed, the clerk, the same who had conducted
one of the exploring detachments of Snake River.
He was now to trace back his wav across the

422 ASTORIA.

mountains by the same route by which he had
come, with no other companions or escort than
Ben Jones, the Kentucky hunter, and two Ca-
nadians. As it was still hoped that Mr. Crooks
might be in existence, and that Mr. Reed and his
party might meet with him in the course of their
route, they were charged with a small supply of
goods and provisions, to aid that gentleman on his
way to Astoria.

When the expedition of Reed was made known,
Mr. M'Lellan announced his determination to ac-
company it. He had long been dissatisfied with
the smallness of his interest in the copartnership,
and had requested an additional number of shares ;
his request not being complied with, he resolved
to abandon the company. M'Lellan was a man of
a singularly self-willed and decided character,
with whom persuasion was useless ; he was per-
mitted, therefore, to take his own course without
opposition.

As to Reed, he set about preparing for his
hazardous journey with the zeal of a true Irish-
man. He liad a tin case made, in which the
letters and papers addressed to Mi*. Astor were
carefully soldered up. This case he intended to
strap upon his shoulders, so as to bear it about
with him, sleeping and waking, in all changes and
chances, by land or by water, and never to part
with it but with his life !

As the route of these several parties would be
the same for nearly four hundred miles up the
Columbia, and within that distance would lie
through the piratical pass of the rapids, and

THE PIRATICAL PASS. 423

among the freebooting tribes of the river, it was
thought advisable to start about the same time,
and to keep together. Accordingly, on the 2 2d
of March, they all set off, to the number of
seventeen men, in two canoes — and here we
cannot but pause to notice the hardihood of these
several expeditions, so insignificant in point of
force, and severally destined to traverse immense
wildernesses, where larger parties had experienced
so much danger and distress. When recruits
were sought in the preceding year among experi-
enced hunters and voyageurs at Montreal and St.
Louis, it was considered dangerous to attempt to
cross the Rocky Mountains with less than sixty
men ; and yet here we find Reed ready to push
his way across those barriers with merely three
companions. Such is the fearlessness, the insen-
sibility to danger, which men acquire by the
habitude of constant risk. The mind, like .the
body, becomes callous by exposure.

The little associated band proceeded up the
river, under the command of Mr. Robert Stuart,
and arrived early in the month of April at the
Long Narrows, that notorious plundering place.
Here it was necessary to unload the canoes, and
to transport both them and their cargoes to the
head of the Narrows by land. Their party was
too few in number for the purpose. They were
obliged, therefore, to seek the assistance of the
Cathlasco Indians, who undertook to carry the
^oods on their horses. Forward then they set,
the Indians with their horses well freighted, and
ihe first load convoyed by Reed and five men,

i24 ASTORIA.

well armed ; the gallant Irishman striding alon^
at the head, with his tin case of dispatches glit-
tering on his back. In passing, however, through
a rocky and intricate defile, some of the freeboot-
ing vagrants turned their horses up a narrow
path and galloped off, carrying with them two
bales of goods, and a number of smaller articles.
To follow them was useless ; indeed, it was with
much ado that the convoy got into port with the
residue of the cargoes ; for some of the guards
were pillaged of their knives and pocket hand-
kerchiefs, and the lustrous tin case of Mr. John
Reed was in imminent jeopardy.

Mr. Stuart heard of these depredations, and
hastened forward to the relief of the convoy, but
could not reach them before dusk, by which time
they had arrived at the village of Wish-ram, al-
ready noted for its great fishery, and the knavish
propensities of its inhabitants. Here they found
themselves benighted in a strange place, and sur-
rounded by savages bent on pilfering, if not upon
open robbery. Not knowing what active course
to take, they remained under arms all night,
without closing an eye, and at the very first peep
of dawn, when objects were yet scarce visible,
everything was hastily embarked, and, without
seeking to recover the stolen effects, they pushed
off from shore, " glad to bid adieu," as they said,
" to this abominable nest of miscreants."

The worthies of Wish-ram, however, were
not disposed to part so easily with their visitors.
Their cupidity had been quickened by the plunder
which they had already taken, and their confidence

SURROUNDED BY PIRATE INDIANS. 425

increased by the impunity with which their out-
rage had passed. They resolved, therefore, to
take further toll of the travellers, and, if possible,
to capture the tin case of dispatches ; which
shining conspicuously from afar, and being guarded
by John Reed with such especial care, must, as
they supposed, be " a great medicine."

Accordingly, Mr. Stuart and his comrades had
not proceeded far in the canoes, when they beheld
the whole rabble of Wish-ram stringing in groups
along the bank, whooping and yelling, and gib-
bering in their wild jargon, and when they landed
below the falls, they were surrounded by upwards
of four hundred of these river ruffians, armed
with bows and arrows, war clubs, and other savage
weapons. These now pressed forward, with offers
to carry the canoes and effects up the portage.
Mr. Stuart declined forwarding the goods, alleg-
ing the lateness of the hour ; but, to keep them
in good humor, informed them, that, if they con-
ducted themselves well, their offered services
might probably be accepted in the morning ; in
the meanwhile, he suggested that they might
carry up the canoes. They accordingly set off
with the two canoes on their shoulders, accom-
panied by a guard of eight men well armed.

When arrived at the head of the falls, the
mischievous spirit of the savages broke out, and
they were on the point of destroying the canoes,
doubtless with a view to impede the white men
"rom carrying forward their goods, and laying
them open to further pilfeiing. They were with
?ome difficulty prevented from committing this

426 ASTORIA.

outrage by the interference of an old man, who
appeared to liave authority among them ; and, in
consequence of his harangue, the whole of the
hostile band, with the exception of about fifty,
crossed to the north side of the river, where they
lay in wait, ready for further mischief.

In the meantime, Mr. Stuart, who had re-
mained at the foot of the falls with the goods,
and who knew that the proffered assistance of
the savages was only for the purpose of having
an opportunity to plunder, determined, if possi-
ble, to steal a march upon them, and defeat their
machinations. In the dead of the night, there-
fore, about one o'clock, the moon shining brightly,
he roused his party, and pi-oposed that they should
endeavor to transport the goods themselves, above
the falls, before the sleeping savages could be
aware of their operations. All hands sprang to
the work with zeal, and hurried it on in the
hope of getting all over before daylight. Mr.
Stuart went forward with the first loads, and took
his station at the head of the portage, while Mr.
Reed and Mr. M'Lellan remained "at the foot to
forward the remainder.

The day dawned before the transportation was
completed. ►Some of the fifty Indians who had
remained on the south side of the river, per-
ceived what was going on, and, feeling them-
selves too weak for an attack, gave the alarm to
those on the opposite side, upwards of a hundred
of whom embarked in several large canoes. Two
loads of goods yet remained to be brought up.
Mr. Stuart dispatched some of the people for one

REED AND M'LELLAN ATTACKED. A21

of the loads, with a request to Mr. Reed to retain
with him as many of the men as he thought neces-
sary to guard the remaining load, as he suspected
hostile intentions on the part of the Indians.
Mr. Reed, however, refused to retain any of
them, saying that M'Lellan and himself were suf-
ficient to protect the small quantity that remained.
The men accordingly departed with the load,
while Reed and M'Lellan continued to mount
guard over the residue. By this time, a number
of the canoes had arrived from the opposite side.
As they approached the shore, the unlucky tin
box of John Reed, shining afar like the brilliant
helmet of Euryalus, caught their eyes. No
sooner did the canoes touch the shore, than they
leaped forward on the rocks, set up a warwhoop,
and sprang forward to secure the glittering prize.
Mr. M'Lellan, who was at the river bank, ad-
vanced to guard the goods, when one of the
savages attempted to hoodwink him with his
buffalo robe with one hand, and to stab him with
the other. M'Lellan sprang back just far enough
to avoid the blow, and raising his rifle, shot the
ruffian through the heart.

In the meantime. Reed, who with the want of
forethought of an Irishman, had neglected to
remove the leathern cover from the lock of his
rifle, was fumbling at the fastenings, when he re-
ceived a blow on the head with a war club that
.aid him senseless on the ground. In a twink-
ling he was stripped of his rifle and pistols, and
the tin box, the cause of all this onslaught, waa
borne off in triumph.

428 ASTORIA.

At this critical juncture, Mr Stuart, who had
heard the war-whoop, hastened to the scene of
action with Ben Jones, and seven others of the
men. When he arrived, Reed was weltering in
his blood, and an Indian standing over him and
about to dispatch him with a tomahawk. Stuart
gave the worcl, when Ben Jones leveled his rifle,
and shot the miscreant on the spot. The men
then gave a cheer, and charged upon the main
body of the savages, who took to instant flight.
Reed was now raised from the ground, and borne
senseless and bleeding to the upper end of the
portage. Preparations were made to launch the
canoes and embark in all haste, when it was
found that they were too leaky to be put in the
water, and that the oars had been left at the foot
of the falls. A scene of confusion now ensued.
The Indians were whooping and yelling, and run-
ning about like fiends. A panic seized upon the
men, at being thus suddenly checked, the hearts
of some of the Canadians died within them, and
two young men actually fainted away. The mo-
ment they recovered their senses, Mr. Stuart
ordered that they should be deprived of their
arms, their under garments taken oflP, and that a
piece of cloth should be tied round their waists,
in imitation of a squaw ; an Indian punishment
for cowardice. Thus equipped, they were stowed
away among the goods in one of the canoes.
This ludicrous affair excited the mirth of the
bolder spirits, even in the midst of their perils,
and roused the pride of the wavering. The In-
dians havmg crossed back again to the north side,

AN INDIAN AMBUSH. 429

order was restored, some of the hands were sent
back for the oars, others set to work to calk and
launch the canoes, and in a little while all were
embarked and were continuing their voyage along
the southern shore.

No sooner had they departed, than the Indians
returned to the scene of action, bore off their
two comrades who had been shot, one of whom
was still living, and returned to their village.
Here they killed two horses ; and drank the hot
blood to give fierceness to their courage. They
painted and arrayed themselves hideously for bat-
tle ; performed the dead dance round the slain,
and raised the war song of vengeance. Then
mounting their horses, to the number of four hun-
dred and fifty men, and brandishing their weap-
ons, they set off along the northern bank of the
river, to get ahead of the canoes, lie in wait for
them, and take a terrible revenge on the white
men.

They succeeded in getting some distance above
the canoes without being discovered, and were
crossing the river to i30st themselves on the side
along which the white men were coasting, when
they were fortunately descried. Mr. Stuart and
his companions were immediately on the alert
As they drew near to the place where the sav
ages had crossed, they observed them posted
among steep and overhanging rocks, close along
which, the canoes would have to pass. Finding
that the enemy had the advantage of the ground,
the whites stopped short when witliin five hun
ired yards of them, and discharged and reloaded

430 ASTORIA.

their pieces. They then made a fire, and dressed
the wounds of Mr. Reed, who had received five
severe gaslies in tlie head. This being done, they
lashed the canoes together, fastened them to a
rock at a small distance from the shore, and there
awaited the menaced attack.

They had not been long posted in this manner,
when they saw a canoe approaching. It contained
the war-chief of the tribe, and three of his prin-
cipal warriors. He drew near, and made a long
harangue, in which he informed them that they
had killed one and wounded another of his na-
tion ; that the relations of the slain cried out for
vengeance, and he had been compelled to lead
them to fight. Still he wished to spare unneces-
sary bloodshed ; he proposed, therefore, that Mr.
Reed, who, he observed, was little better than a
dead man, might be given up to be sacrificed to
the manes of the deceased warrior. This would
appease the fury of his friends ; the hatchet
would then be buried, and all thenceforward
would be friends. The answer was a stern re-
fusal and a defiance, and the war-chief saw that
the canoes were well prepared for a vigorous de-
fense. He withdrew, therefore, and returning to
his warriors amon<j the rocks held lono^ delibera
tions. Blood for blood is a principle in Indian
equity and Indian honor ; but though the inhabi-
tants of Wish-ram were men of war, they were
Jikewise men of traffic, and it was suggested that
honor for once might give way to profit. A ne-
gotiation was accordingly opened with the white
men, and after some diplomacy, the matter was

REED'S EXPEDITION ABANDONED. 431

compromised for a blanket to cover the dead, and
some tobacco to be smoked by the livmg. This
being granted, the heroes of Wish-ram crossed
the river once more, returned to their villages to
feast upon the horses whose blood they had so
vaingloriously drunk, and the travellers pursued
their voyage without further molestation.

The tin case, however, containing the important
dispatches for New York, was irretrievably lost;
the very precaution taken by the worthy Hibernian
to secure his missives, had, by rendering them
conspicuous, produced their robbery. The object
of Ms overland journey, therefore, being defeated,
he gave up the expedition. The whole party re-
paired with Mr. Robert Stuart to the establish-
ment of Mr. David Stuart, on the Oakinagan
River. After remaining here two or three days,
they all set out on their return to Astoria, ac-
companied by Mr. David Stuart. This gentleman
had a large quantity of beaver skins at his estab-
lishment, but did not think it prudent to take them
with him, fearing the levy of " black mail " at the
foils.

On their way down, when below the forks of
the Columbia, they were hailed one day from the
shore in English. Looking around, they descried
two wretched men, entirely naked. They pulled
to shore ; the men came up and made themselves
known. They proved to be Mr. Crooks and his
faithful follower, John Day.

The reader will recollect that Mr. Crooks, with
Day and four Canadians, had been so reduced by
famine and fatiijus, that Mr. Hunt was obliged to

432 ASTORIA.

leave them, in the month of December, on the
banks of the Snake River. Their situation was
the more critical, as they were in the neighbor-
hood of a band of Shoshonies, whose horses had
been forcibly seized by Mr. Hunt's party for pro-
visions!. Mr. Crooks remained here twenty days,
detained by the extremely reduced state of John
Day, who was utterly unable to travel, and whom
he would not abandon, as Day had been in his
employ on the Missouri, and had always proved
himself most faithful. Fortunately the Shoshonies
did not offer to molest them. They had never
before seen white men, and seemed to entertain
some superstitions with regard to them, for though
they would encamp near them in the daytime,
they would move off with their tents in the night ;
and finally disappeared, without taking leave.

When Day was sufficiently recovered to travel,
they kept feebly on, sustaining themselves as well
as they could, until in the month of February
when three of the Canadians, fearful of perishing
with want, left Mr. Crooks on a small river, on
the road by which Mr. Hunt had passed in quest
of Indians. Mr. Crooks followed Mr. Hunt's
track in the snow for several days, sleeping as
usual in the open air, and sufFermg all kinds of
hardships. At length, coming to a low prairie, he
lost every appearance of the " trail," and wan-
dered during the remainder of the winter in the
mountains, subsisting sometimes on horse meat,
sometimes on beavers and their skins, and a part
of the time on roots.

Al)out the last of March, the other Canadian

SUFFERINGS OF MR. CROOKS. 433

gave out and was left with a lodge of Shoshoiiies ;
but Mr. Crooks and John Day still kept on, and
finding the snow sufficiently diminished, undertook,
from Indian information, to cross the last moun-
tain ridge. They happily succeeded, and after-
wards fell in with the Wallah- Wallahs, a tribe of
Indians inhabiting the banks of a river of the
same name, and reputed as being frank, hospitable,
and sincere. They proved worthy of the char-
acter, for they received the poor wanderers kindly,
killed a horse for them to eat, and directed them
on their way to the Columbia. They struck the
river about the middle of April, and advanced
down it one hundred miles, until they came within
about twenty miles of the falls.

Here they met with some of the " chivalry" of
that noted pass, who received them in a friendly
way, and set food before them ; but, while they
were satisfying their hunger, perfidiously seized
their rifles. They then stripped them naked, and
drove them off, refusing the entreaties of Mr.
Crooks for a flint and steel of which they had
robbed him ; and threatening his life if he did not
instantly depart.

In this forlorn plight, still worse off than be-
fore, they renewed their wanderings. They now
sought to find their way back to the hospitable
Wallah-Wallahs, and had advanced eighty miles
along the river, when fortunately, on the very
morning that they were going to leave the Co-
lumbia and strike inland, the canoes of Mr. Stuart
hove in sight.

It is needless to describe the joy of these poor
28

434

ASTORIA.

finding .themselves

among
of the honest and

men at once more
countrymen and friends
hearty welcome with which they were received by
their fellow adventurers. The whole party now
continued down the river, passed all the danger-
ous places without interruption, and arrived safely
at Astoria on the 11th of May.

CHAPTER XLII.

AVING traced the fortunes of the two
expeditions by sea and land to the mouth
of the Columbia, and presented a view
of affairs at Astoria, we will return for a moment
to the master spirit of the enterprise, who reg-
ulated the springs of Astoria, at his residence
in New York.

It will be remembered, that a part of the plan
of Mr. Astor was to furnish the Russian fur
establishment on the northwest coast with regular
supplies, so as to render it independent of those
casual vessf^ls which cut up the trade and supplied
the natives with arms. This plan had been
countenanced by our own government, and like-
wise by Count Pahlen, the Russian minister at
Washington. As its views, however, were im-
portant and extensive, and might eventually affect
a wide course of commerce, Mr. Astor was
desirous of establishing a complete arrangement
on the subject with the Russian American Fur
Company, under the sanction of the Russian
government. For this purpose, in March, 1811,
he dispatched a confidential agent to St. Peters-
burgh, fully empowered to enter into the requisite
negotiat'ons. A passage was given to this gentle-
man by the government of the United States, iii

436 ASTORIA.

the John Adams, one of its armed vessels, bound
to a European port.

The next step of Mr. Astor was, to dispatch
the annual ship contemplated on his general plan.
He had as yet heard nothing of the success of
the previous expeditions, and had to proceed upon
the presumption that everything had been effected
according to Ms instructions. He accordingly fitted
out a fine ship of four hundred and ninety tons,
called the Beaver, and freighted her with a valu-
able cargo destined for the factory at the mouth
of the Columbia, the trade along the coast, and
the supply of the Russian establishment. In this
ship embarked a reinforcement, consisting of a
partner, five clerks, fifteen American laborers, and
six Canadian voyageurs. In choosing his agents
for his first expedition, Mr. Astor had been obliged
to have recourse to British subjects experienced
in the Canadian fur trade ; henceforth it was his
intention, as much as possible, to select Americans,
so as to secure an ascendency of American in-
fluence in the management of the company, and
to make it decidely national.

Accordingly, Mr. John Clarke, the partner
who took the lead in the present expedition, was
a native of the United States, though he had
passed much of his life in the northwest, having
been employed in the trade since the age of six-
teen. Most of the clerks were young gentlemen
of good connections in the American cities, some
of whom embarked in the hope of gain, others
through the mere spirit of adventure incident to
youth.

PROPOSED TRIP OF THE BEAVEh,. 437

The instructions given by Mr. Astor to Captain
Sovvle, the commander of the Beaver, were, in
some respects, hypothetical, in conseijuence of the
uncertainty resting upon the previous steps of the
enterprise.

He was to touch at the Sandwich Islands, in-
quire about the fortunes of the Tonquin, and
whether an establishment had been formed at the
mouth of the Columbia. If so, he was to take
as many Sandwich Islanders as his ship would
accommodate, and proceed thither. On arriving
at the river, he was to observe great caution, for
even if an establishment should have been formed,
it might have fallen into hostile hands. He was,
therefore, to put in as if by casualty or distress,
to give himself out as a coasting trader, and to
say nothing about his ship being owned by Mr.
Astor, until he had ascertained that everything
was right. In that case, he was to land such part
of his cargo as was intended for the establishment,
and to proceed to New Archangel with the sup-
plies intended for the Russian post at that place,
where he could receive peltries in payment. With
these he was to return to Astoria ; take in the
furs collected there, and, having completed his
cargo by trading along the coast, was to proceed
to Canton. The captain received the same in-
junctions that had been given to Captain Thorn
of the Tonquin, of great caution and circumspec-
tion in his intercourse with the natives, and that
he should not permit more than one or two to be
Dn board at a time.

The Beaver sailed from New York on the 10th

438 ASTORIA.

of Octcber, 1811, and reached the Sandwich
Islands without any occurrence of moment. Here
a rumor was heard of the disastrous fate of the
Tonquin. Deep solicitude was felt by every
one on board for the fate of both expeditions,
by sea and land. Doubts were entertained
whether any establishment had been formed at
the mouth of the Columbia, or whether any
of the company would be found there. After
much deliberation, the captain took twelve
Sandwich Islanders on board, for the service of
the factory, should there be one in existence,
and proceeded on his voyage.

On the 6th of May, he arrived off the mouth
of the Columbia, and running as near as possible,
fired two signal-guns. No answer was returned,
nor was there any signal to be descried. Night
coming on, the ship stood out to sea, and every
heart drooped as the land foded away. On the fol-
lowing morning they again ran in within four miles
of the shore, and fired other signal guns, but still
w-'thout reply. A boat was then dispatched, to
sound the channel, and attempt an entrance ; but
returned without success, there being a tremen-
dous swell, and breakers. Siirnal cruns were fired
agai?i in the evening, but equally in vain, and once
more the ship stood off to sea tor the night. The
captain now gave up all hope of finding any
establishment at the place, and indulged in the
most gloomy apprehensions. He feared his pre-
decessors had been massacred before they had
reached their place of destination ; or if they
should hs'.ve erected a fectory, that it had been
surprisir'd and destroyed by the natives.

AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA, 439

In this moment of doubt and uncertainty,
Mr. Clarke announced his determination, in case
of the worst, to found an establishment with
the present party, and all hands bravely engaged
to stand by him in the undertaking. The next
morning the ship stood in for the third time, and
fired three signal guns, but with little hope of
reply. To the great joy of the crew, three
distinct guns were heard in answer. The appre-
hensions of all but Captain Sowle were now at
rest. That cautious commander recollected the
instructions given him by Mr. Astor, and deter-
mined to proceed with great circumspection. He
was well aware of Indian treachery and cunning.
It was not impossible, he observed, that these
cannon might have been fired by the savages
themselves. They might have surprised the fort,
massacred its inmates ; and these signal guns
might only be decoys to lure him across the bar,
that they might have a chance of cutting him
off, and seizing his vessel.

At length a white flag was descried hoisted as
a signal on Cape Disappointment. The passen-
gers pointed to it in triumph, but the captain did
not yet dismiss his doubts. A beacon fire blazed
through the night on the same place, but the
captain observed that all these signals might be
treacherous.

On the following morning. May 9th, the vessel
came to anchor off Cape Disappointment, outside
i)f the bar. Towards noon an Indian canoe was
seen making for the ship and all hands were
ordered to be on the alert. A few moments

440 ASTORIA.

afterwards, a barge was perceived following the
canoe. The hopes and fears pf those on board
of the ship were in tumultuous agitation, as the
boat drew nigh that was to let them know the
fortunes of the enterprise, and the fate of their
predecessors. The captain, who was haunted
with the idea of possible treachery, did not suffer
his curiosity to get the better of his caution, but
ordered a party of his men under arms, to receive
the visitors. The canoe came first alongside, in
which were Comcomly and six Indians ; in the
baro^e were M'Douo^al, M'Lellan, and eidit Can a-
dians. A little conversation with these gentlemen
dispelled all the captain's fears, and the Beaver
crossing the bar under their pilotage, anchored
safely in Baker's Bay.

CHAPTER XLIir.

The arrival of the Beaver with a reinforce-
ment and supplies, gave new life and vigor to
affairs at Astoria. These were means for ex-
tending the operations of the estabh'shment, and
founding interior trading posts. Two parties were
immediately set on foot to proceed severally under
the command of Messrs. M'Kenzie and Clarke, and
establish posts above the forks of the Columbia,
at points where most rivalry and opposition were
apprehended from the Northwest Company.

A third party, lieaded by Mr. David Stuart,
was to repair witli supplies to the post of that
gentleman on the Oakinngan. In addition to
these expeditions, a foiu-th was necessary to con-
vey dispatches to Mr. Astor, at New York, in
place of those unfortunately lost by John Reed.
The safe conveyance of these dispatches was
higlily important, as by them Mr. Astor would
receive an account of the state of the factory, and
regulate his reinforcements and supplies accord-
ingly. The mission was one of peril and hardship
and required a man of nerve and vigor. It was
confided to Robert Stuart, who, though he had
never been across the mountains, and a very young
man, had given proofs of his competency to the

442 ASTORIA.

task. Four trusty and well-tried men, who had
come overland in Mr. Hunt's expedition, were
given as his guides and hunters. These were
Ben Jones and John Day, the Kentuckians, and
Andri Vallar and Francis Le Clerc, Canadians.
Mr. M'Lellan again expressed his determination
to take this opportunity of returning to the At-
lantic States. In this he was joined by Mr.
Crooks, who, notwithstanding all that he had
suffered in the dismal journey of the preceding
winter, was ready to retrace his steps and brave
every danger and hardship, rather than remain at
Astoria. This little handful of adventurous men
we propose to accompany in its long and perilous
peregrinations.

The several parties we have mentioned all set
off in company on the 29th of June, under a sa-
lute of cannon from the fort. They were to keep
together for mutual protection through the pirat-
ical passes of the river, and to separate, on their
different destinations, at the forks of the Co-
lumbia. Their number, collectively, was nearly
sixty, consisting of partners and clerks, Canadian
voyageurs, Sandwich Islanders, and American
hunters ; and they embai-ked in two barges and
ten canoes.

They had scarcely got under way, when John
Day, the Kentucky hunter, became restless and
uneasy, and extremely wayward in his deport-
ment. This caused surprise, for in general he
was remarkable for his cheerful, manly deport-
ment. It was supposed that the recollection of
past sufferings might harass his mind in under-

JOHN DA rs INSANITY. 443

taking to retrace the scenes where they had been
experienced. As the expedition advanced, how-
ever, his agitation increased. He began to talk
wihlly and incoherently, and to show manifest
symptoms of derangement.

Mr. Crooks now informed his companions that
in his desolate wanderings through the Snake
River country during the preceding winter, in
which he had been accompanied by John Day,
the poor fellow's wits had been partially un-
settled by the sufferings and horrors through
which they had passed, and he doubted whether
they had ever been restored to perfect sanity.
It was still hoped that this agitation of spirit
might pass away as they proceeded ; but, on the
contrary, it grew more and more violent. His
comrades endeavored to divert his mind and to
draw him into rational conversation, but he only
became the more exasperated, uttering wild and
incoherent ravings. The sight of aiiy of the na-
tives put him in an absolute fury, and he woidd
heap on them the most opprobrious epithets ;
recollecting, no doubt, what he had suffered from
Indian robbers.

On the evening of the 2d of July he became
absolutely frantic, and attempted to destroy him-
self Being disarmed, he sank into quietude, and
pi'ofessed the greatest remorse for the crime he
had meditated. He then pretended to sleep, and
having thus lulled suspicion, suddenly sprang up,
just before daylight, seized a pair of loaded pis-
tols, and endeavored to blow out his brains. In
his hurry he fired too higli, anl the balls passed

444 ASTORIA.

over his head. He was instantly secured and
placed under a guard in one of the boats. How-
to dispose of him was now the question, as it was
impossible to keep him with the expedition.
Fortunately Mr. Stuart met with some Indians
accustomed to trade with Astoria. These under-
took to conduct John Day back to the factory,
and deliver him there in safety. It was with the
utmost concern that his comrades saw the poor
fellow depart ; for, independent of his invaluable
services as a first-rate hunter, his frank and loyal
qualities had made him a universal favorite. It
may be as well to add that the Indians executed
their task faithfully, and landed John Day among
his friends at Astoria ; but his constitution was
completely broken by the hardships he had
undergone, and he died within a year.

On the evening of the 6th of July the party
arrived at the piratical pass of the river, and
encamped at the foot of the first rapid. The
next day, before the commencement of the por-
tage, the greatest precautions werj taken to
guard against lurking treachery, or open attack.
The weapons of evei'y man were put in order,
and his cartridge-box replenished. Each one
wore a kind of a surcoat made of the skin of the
elk, reaching from his neck to his knees, and
answering the purpose of a shirt of mail, for it
was arrow proof, and could even resist a musket
ball at the distance of ninety yards. Thus armed
and equipped, they posted their forces in military
Bt^le. Five of the officers took their stations at
each end of the portage, which was between three

WRECKERS FOILED. 445

and four milt s in length ; a number of men
mounted guard at short distances along the
heights immediately overlooking the river, while
the residue, thus protected from surprise, em-
ployed themselves below in di-agging up the
barges and canoes, and carrying up the goods
along the narrow margin of the rapids. With
these precautions they all passed unmolested. The
oidy accident that happened was the upsetting of
one of the canoes, by which some of the goods
sunk, and others floated down the stream. Tiie
alertness and rapacity of the hordes which infest
these rapids, were immediately apparent. They
pounced upon the floating merchandise w^ith the
keenness of regular wreckers. A bale of goods
which landed upon one of the islands was imme-
diately ripped open, one half of its contents
divided among the captors, and the other half
secreted in a lonely hut in a deep ravine. Mr.
Robert Stuart, however, set out in a canoe with
five men and an interpreter, ferreted out the
wreckers in their retreat, and succeeded in
wresting from them their booty.

Similar precautions to those already mentioned,
and to a still greater extent, were observed in
passing the Long Narrows, and the falls, where
they would be exposed to the depredations of the
chivalry of Wish-ram, and its freebooting neigh-
borhood. In fact, they had scarcely set their
first watch one night, when an alarm of " In-
dians ! " was given. " To arms " was the cry^
and every man was at his post in an instant.
The alarm was explained j a war party of Sho-

446 ASTORIA.

shonies had surprised a canoe of the natives jiisl
below the encampment, had murdered four men
and two women, and it was apprehended thej
would attack the camp. The boats and canoes
were immediately hauled up, a breastwork was
made of them and the packages, forming three sides
of a square, with the river in the rear, and thus
the party remained fortified throughout the night.

The dawn, however, dispelle I the alarm ; the
portage was conducted in peac\> ; the vagabond
warriors of the vicinity hovered about them
while at work, but were kept at a wary distance.
They regarded tlie loads of merchandise with
wistful eyes, but seeing the " long- beards " so
formidable in number, and so well prepared for
action, they made no attempt either by open
force or sly pilfering to collect their usual toll,
but maintained a peaceful demeanor, and were
afterwards rewarded for their good conduct with
presents of tobacco.

Fifteen days were consumed in ascending
from the foot of the first rapid to the head of
the falls, a distance of about eighty miles, but
full of all kinds of obstructions. Having hap-
pily accomplished these difficult portages, the
party, on the 19th of July, arrived at a smoother
part of the river, and pursued their way up the
Bl!ream with greater speed and facility.

They were now in the neighborhood where
Mr. Crooks and John Day had been so per-
fidiously robbed and stripped a few months pre-
viously, when confiding in the proffered hospi-
tality of a ruffian band. On landing at night,

STOLEN PROPERTY RECOVERED. 447

therefore, a vigilant guard was maintained about
the camp. On the following morning a number
of Indians made their appearance, and came
prowling round the party while at breakfast.
To his great delight, Mr. Crooks recognized
among them two of the miscreants by whom he
had been robbed. They were instantly seized,
bound hand and foot, and thrown into one of
the canoes. Here they lay in doleful fright,
expecting summary execution. Mr. Crooks, how-
ever, was not of a revengeful disposition, and
agreed to release tlie culprits as soon as the
pillaged propei'ty should be restored. Several
savages immediately started off in different di-
rections, and before night the rifles of Crooks
and Day were produced ; several of the smaller
articles pilfered from them, however, could not
be recovered.

The bands of the culprits were then removed,
and they lost no time in taking their departure,
still under the influence of abject terror, and
scarcely crediting their senses that they had es-
caped the merited punishment of their offenses.

The country on each side of the river now
began to assume a different character. The liills,
and cliffs, and forests disappeared ; vast sandy
plaiiis, scantily clothed here and there with short
tufts of grass, parched by the summer sun,
Btretched far away to the north and south. The
river was occasionally obstructed with rocks and
rapids, but often there were smooth, placid in-
tervals, where the current was gentle, and the
boatmen were enabled to lighten their labors with
the assistance of the sail.

448 ASTORIA.

The natives in this part of the river resided
entirely on the northern side. They were hun-
ters, as well as fishermen, and had horses in
plenty. Some of these were purchased by the
party, as provisions, and killed on the spot,
though they occasionally found a difficulty in
procuring fuel wherewith to cook them. One
of the gi-eatest dangers that beset the travellers
in this part of their expedition, was the vast
number of rattlesnakes which infested the rocks
about the rapids and portages, and on which the
men were in danger of treading. They were
often found, too, in quantities about the encamp-
ments. In one place, a nest of them lay coiled
together, basking in the sun. Several guns
loaded with shot were discharged at them, and
thirty-seven killed and wounded. To prevent
any unwelcome visits fi-om them in the night,
tobacco was occasionally strewed around the
tents, a weed for which they have a very proper
abhorrence.

On the 28th of July the travellers arrived at
the mouth of the Wallah- Wallah, a bright, clear
stream, about six feet deep, and fifty-five yards
wide, which flows rapidly over a bed of sand
and gravel, and throws itself into the Columbia,
a few miles below Lewis River. Here the com-
bined parties that had thus far voyaged together,
were to separate, each for its particular destina-
tion.

On the banks of the Wallah- Wallah, lived
the hospitable tribe of the same name who had
succored JMr. Crooks and John Day in the time

EQUESTRIAN EQUIPMENTS. 449

of their extremity. No sooner did they hear of
the arrival of the party, than they hastened to
greet them. They built a great bonfire on the
bank of the river, before the camp, and men and
women danced round it to the cadence of their
songs, in which they sang the praises of the
Mdiite-men, and welcomed them to their country.

On the following day a traffic was commenced,
to procure horses for such of the party as in-
tended to proceed by land. The AVallah-Wallahs
are an equestrian tribe. The equipments of
their horses were rude and inconvenient. High
saddles, roughly made of deer-skin, stuffed with
hair, which chafe the horse's back and leave it
raw; wooden stirrups, with a thong of raw hide
wrapped round them ; and for bridles they have
cords of twisted horse-hair, which they tie round
the under jaw. They are, like most Indians,
bold but hard riders, and when on horseback
gallop about the most dangerous places, without
fear for themselves, or pity for their steeds.

From these people Mr. Stuart purchased
twenty horses for his party ; some for the sad-
dle, and others to transport the baggage. He
was fortunate in procuring a noble animal for
his own use, which was praised by the Indians
for its great speed and bottom, and a high price
set upon it. No people understand better the
value of a horse, than these equestrian tribes ;
and nowhere is speed a greater requisite, as they
frequently engage in the chase of the antelope,
one of the fleetest of animals. Even after the
Indian who sold this boasted horse to Mr. Stuart
29

45U ASTORIA,

had concluded his bargain, he lingei-ed about the
animal, seeming lotii to part from hira, and to be
sorry for what he had done.

A day or two were employed by Mr, Stuart
in arranging packages and pack-saddles, and
making otiier preparations for his long and ar-
duous journey. His party, by the loss of John
Day was now reduced to six, a small number
for such an expedition. They were young men,
however, full of courage, health, and good spir-
its, and stimulated rather than appalled by dan-
ger.

On the morning of the 31st of July, all prep-
arations being concluded, Mr. Stuart and his
little band mounted their steeds and took a
farewell of their fellow-travellers, who gave
them three hearty cheers as they set out on
their dangerous journey. The course they took
was to the southeast, towards the fated region
of the Snake River. At an immense distance
rose a chain of craggy mountains, which they
would have to traverse ; they were the same
among which the travellers had experienced such
sufferings from cold during the preceding winter,
and from their azure tints, when seen at a dis-
tance, had received the name of the Blue Moun-
tains.

CHAPTER XLLV.

In retracing the route which had proved
so disastrous to Mr. Hunt's party dur-
ing the preceding winter, Mr. Stuait had
trusted, in tlie present more favorable season, to
find easy travelHng and abundant supplies. On
these great wastes and wilds, however, each sea-
son has its peculiar hardships. The travellers
had not proceeded flxr, before they found them-
selves among naked and arid hills, with a soil
composed of sand and clay, baked and brittle,
that to all appearance had never been visited by
the dews of heaven.

Not a spring, or pool, or running stream was
to be seen ; the sunburnt country was seamed
and cut up by dry ravines, the beds of winter
torrents, serving only to balk the hopes of man
and beast with the sight of dusty channels, where
water had once poured along in floods.

For a long summer day they continued onward
without halting, a burning ^vy above their heads,
a parched desert beneath their feet, with just
wind enough to raise the light sand from the
knolls, and envelop them in stifling clouds.
The sutFerings from thirst became intense ; a
fine young dog, their only companion of the
kind, gave out, and expired. Evening drew on

452 ASTORIA.

without any prospect of relief, and they were
almost reduced to despair, when they descried
something that looked like a fringe of forest,
along the horizon. All were inspired with new
hope, for they knew that on these arid wastes,
in the neighborhood of trees, there is always
water.

They now quickened their pace ; the horses
seemed to understand their motives, and to par-
take of their anticipations ; for, though before
almost ready to give out, they now required
neither whip nor spur. With all their exertions,
it was late in the night before they drew near
to the trees. As they approached, they heard,
with transport, the ripplinty of a shallow stream.
No sooner did the refreshing sound reach the
ears of the horses, than the poor animals snuffed
the air, rushed forward with ungovernable eager-
ness, and plunging their muzzles into the water,
drank until they seemed in danger of bursting.
Their riders had but little more discretion, and
required repeated draughts to quench their ex-
cessive thirst. Their weary march that day had
been forty-five miles, over a tract that might rival
the deserts of Africa for aridity. Indeed, the
sufferings of the traveller on these American des-
erts is frequently morfe severe than in the wastes
of Africa or Asia, from being less habituated and
prepared to cope with them.

On the banks of this blessed stream the trav-
ellers encamped for the night ; and so great had
been their fatigue, and so sound and sweet was
their sleep, that it was a late hour the next morn-

GLEN AND MOUNTAIN 453

mg before tliey awoke. They now recognized
the little river to be the Umatalla, the same on
the banks of which Mr. Hunt and his followers
had arrived after their painful struggle through
the Blue Mountains, and experienced such a
kind relief in the friendly camp of the Sciatogas.

That range of Blue Mountains now extended
in the distance before them ; they were the same
among which poor JMichael Carriere had perished.
They form the southeast boundary of the great
plains along the Columbia, dividing the waters
of its main stream from those of Lewis River.
They are, in fact, a part of a long chain, which
stretches over a great extent of country, and
includes in its links the Snake River Moun-
tains.

The day was somewhat advanced before the
travellers left the shady banks of the Umatalla.
Their route gradually took them among the Blue
Mountains, which assumed the most rugged as-
pect on a near approach. They were shagged
with dense and gloomy forests, and cut up by
deep and precipitous ravines, extremely toilsome
to the horses. Sometimes the travellers had to
follow the course of some brawling stream, with
a broken, rocky bed, which the shouldering cliffs
and promontories on either side obliged them
frequently to cross and recross. For some miles
they struggled forward through these savage and
darkly wooded defiles, when all at once the whole
landscape changed, as if by magic. The rude
mountains and rugged ravines softened into
beautiful hills, and intervening meadows, with

454 ASTORIA.

rivulets winding through fresh herbage, and
sparkHng and murmuring over gravelly beds,
the whole forming a verdant and pastoral scene,
which derived additional charms from being
locked up in the bosom of such a hard-hearted
region.

Emerging from the chain of Blue Mountains,
they descended upon a vast plain, almost a dead
level, sixty miles in circumference, of excellent
soil, with fine streams meandering through it in
every direction, their courses marked out in the
wide landscape by serpentine lines of cotton-wood
trees, and willows, which fringed their banks, and
afforded sustenance to great numbers of beavers
and otters.

In traversing this plain, they passed, close to
the skirts of the hills, a great pool of water,
three hundred yards in circumference, fed by a
sulphur spring, about ten feet in diameter, boiling
up in one corner. The vapor from this pool
was extremely noisome, and tainted the air for a
considerable distance. The place was much fre-
quented by elk, which were found in considerable
numbers in the adjacent mountains, and their
horns, shed in the spring-time, were strewed in
every direction around the pond.

On the 10th of August, they reached the main
body of Woodvile Creek, the same stream which
Mr. Hunt had ascended in the preceding year,
shortly after his separation from Mr. Crooks.

On the banks of this stream they saw a herd
of nineteen antelopes ; a sight so unusual in that
part of the country, that at first they doubted

NEWS OF STRAGGLERS. 455

the evidence of ^.heir senses. They tried by
Rvery means to get within shot of them, but they
were too' shy and fleet, and after alternately
bounding to a distance, and then stopping to gaze
with capricious curiosity at the hunter, they at
length scampered out of sight.

On the 12 th of August, the travellers arrived
on the banks of Snake River, the scene of so
many trials and mishaps to all of the present
party excepting Mr. Stuart They struck the
river just above the place where it entered the
mountains, through which Messrs. Stuart and
Crooks had vainly endeavored to find a passage.
The river was here a rapid stream, four hundred
yards in width, with high sandy banks, and here
and there a scanty growth of willow. Up the
southern side of the river they now bent their
course, intending to visit the caches made by Mr.
Hunt at the Caldron Linn.

On the second evening, a solitary Snake In-
dian visited their camp, at a late hour, and
informed them that there was a white man re-
siding at one of the cantonments of his tribe,
about a day's journey higher up the river. It
was immediately concluded, that he must be one
of the poor fellows of Mr. Hunt's party, who had
given out, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, in
the wretched journey of the preceding winter.
All present who had borne a part in the suffer-
ings of that journey, were eager now to press
forward, and bring relief to a lost comrade.
Early the next morning, therefore, they pushed
forward with unusual alacrity. For two days,

456 ASTORIA.

however, did they travel without being able to
find any trace of such a straggler.

On the evenmg of the second day, they ar-
rived at a place where a large river came in from
the east, which was renowned among all the
wandering hordes of the Snake nation for its
salmon fishery, that fish being taken in incredible
quantities in this neighborhood. Here, therefore,
during the fishing season, the Snake Indians
resort from far and near, to lay in their stock of
salmon, which, with esculent roots, forms the
principal food of the inhabitants of these barren
regions.

On the bank of a small stream emptying into
Snake River at this place, Mr. Stuart found an
encampment of Shoshonies. He made the usual
inquiry of them concerning the white man of
whom he had received intelligence. No such
person was dwelling among them, but they said
there were white men residing with some of their
nation on the opposite side of the river. This
was still more animating information. Mr. Crooks
now hoped that these might be the men of his
party, who, disheartened by perils and hardships,
had preferred to remain among the Indians.
Others thought they might be JMr. Miller and
the hunters who had left the main body at Henry's
Fort, to trap among the mountain streams. Mr.
Stuart halted, therefore, in the neighborhood of
the Shoshonie lodges, and sent an Indian across..
the river to seek out the white men in question,
and bring them to his camp.

The travellers passed a restless, miserable

AN UNWELCOME CLAIMANT. 457

night. The place swarmed with myriads of mus-
quitoes, which, with their stings and their music,
set all sleej) at defiance. The morning dawn
found them in a feverish, irritable mood, and their
spleen was completely aroused by the return of
the Indian without any intelligence of the white
men. They now considered themselves the dupes
of Indian falsehoods, and resolved to put no more
confidence in Snakes. They soon, however, for-
got this resolution. In the course of the morn-
ing, an Indian came galloping after them ; Mr.
Stuart waited to receive him ; no sooner had he
come up, than, dismounting and throwing his atms
round the neck of Mr. Stuart's horse, he began
to kiss and caress the animal, who, on his part,
seemed by no means surprised or displeased with
his salutation. Mr. Stuart, who valued his horse
highly, was somewhat annoyed by these trans ^
ports ; the cause of them was soon explained
The Snake said the horse had belonged to him,
and been the best in his possession, and that it
had been stolen by the Wallah- Wallahs. Mr.
Stuart was by no means pleased with this recog-
nition of his steed, nor disposed to admit any
claim on the part of its ancient owner. In fact,
it was a noble animal, admirably shaped, of free
and generous spirit, graceful in movement, and
fleet as an antelope. It was his intention, if
possible, to take the horse to New York, and
oresent him to Mr. Astor.

In the mean time, some of the party came up,
and immediately recognized in the Snake an old
friend and ally. He was, in fact, one of the two

4.' 8 ASTORIA.

guides who had conducted Mr. Hunt's party, in
the preceding autumn, across Mad River Moun-
tain to Fort Henry, and who subsequently
departed with Mr. Miller and his fellow trappers,
to conduct them to a good trapping ground.
The reader may recollect that these two trusty
Snakes were engaged by Mr. Hunt to return
and take charge of the horses which the party
intended to leave at Fort Henry, when they
should embark in canoes.

The party now crowded round the Snake, and
began to question him with eagerness. His
rejjlies were somewhat vague, and but partially
understood. He told a long story about the
horses, from which it appeared that they had
been stolen by various wandering bands, and
scattered in different directions. The cache, too,
had been plundered, and the saddles and other
equipments carried off. His information con-
cerning Mr. Miller and his comrades was not
more satisfactory. They had trapped for some
time about the upper streams, but had fallen
into the hands of a marauding party of Crows,
who had robbed them of horses, weapons, and
everything.

Further questioning brought forth further in-
telligence, but all of a disastrous kind. About
ten days previously, he had met with three
other white men, in very miserable plight, having
one horse each, and but one rifle among them.
They also had been plundered and maltreated
by the Crows, those universal freebooters. The
Sjvake endeavored to pronounce the names of

THE SNAKE'S STRATAGEM. 459

these three men, and as flir as his imperfect
sounds could be understood, they were supposed
to be three of the party of four hunters, namely,
Carson, St. Michael, Detaye, and Delaunay,
who were detached from Mr. Hunt's party on
the 28th of September, to trap beaver on the
head waters of the Columbia.

In the course of conversation, the Indian in-
formed them that the route by which Mr. Hunt
had crossed the Rocky Mountains was very bad
and circuitous, and that he knew one much shorter
and easier. Mr. Stuart urged him to accompany
them as guide, promising to reward him with a
pistol with powder and ball, a knife, an awl, some
blue beads, a blanket, and a looking-glass. Such
a catalogue of riches was too tempting to be re-
sisted ; beside the poor Snake languished after
the prairies ; he was tired, he said, of salmon,
and longed for buffalo meat, and to have a grand
buffalo hunt beyond the mountains. He departed,
therefore, with all speed, to get his arms and
equipments for the journey, promising to rejoin
the party the next day. He kept his word, and,
as he no longer said anything to Mr. Stuart on
the subject of the pet horse, they journeyed very
harmoniously together ; though now and then,
the Snake would regard his quondam steed with
a wistful eye.

They had not travelled many miles, when the;y
came to a great bend in the river. Here the
Snake informed them that, by cutting across the
nills they would save many miles of distance.
The ro7ite across, however, would be a good day's

460 ASTORTA.

iourney. He advised them, tlierefore, to encamp
here for the night, and set off early in the morn-
ing. They took his advice, thongh they had
come but nine miles that day.

Ou the following morning they rose, bright
and early, to ascend the hills. On musterhig
their little party, the guide was missing. They
supposed him to be somewhere in the neighbor-
hood, and proceeded to collect the horses. The
vaunted steed of Mr. Stuart was not to be found.
A suspicion flashed upon his mind. Search for
the horse of the Snake ! He likewise was gone
— the tracks of two horses, one after the other,
were found, making off from the camp. They
appeared as if one horse had been mounted, and
the other led. They were traced for a few miles
above the camp, until they both crossed the river.
It was plain the Snake had taken an Indian mode
of recovering his horse, having quietly decamped
with him in the night.

New vows were made never more to trust in
Snakes, or any other Indians. It was deter-
mined, also, to maintain, hereafter, the strictest
vigilance over their horses, dividing the night into
three watches, and one person mounting guard at
a time. They resolved, also, to keep along the
river, instead of taking the short cut recommend-
ed by the fugitive Snake, whom they now set
down for a thorough deceiver. The heat of the
weather was oppressive, and their horses were,
at times, rendered almost frantic by the stings of
the prairie flies. The nights were suffocating,
and it was almost impossible to sleep, from the
swarms of musquitoes.

MEETING WITH LOST CO.\fRADES. 401

Ou the 20th of August tliey resumed their
inarch, keeping along the prairie parallel to Snake
River. The day was sultry, and some of the
party, being parched with thirst, left the line of
march, and scrambled down the bank of the
river to drink. The bank was overhung with
willows, beneath which, to their surprise, they
beheld a man fishing. No sooner did he see
them, than he uttered an exclamation of joy. It
proved to be John Hoback, one of their lost
comrades. They had scarcely exchanged greet-
ings, when three other men came out from among
the willows. They were Joseph Miller, Jacob
Rezner, and Robinson, the scalped Kentuckian,
the veteran of the Bloody Ground.

The reader will perhaps recollect the abrupt
and willful manner in which Mr. Miller threw up
his interest as a partner of the company, and de-
parted from Fort Henry, in company with these
three trappers, and a fourth, named Cass. He
may likewise recognize in Robinson, Rezner, and
Hoback, the trio of Kentucky hunters who had
originally been in the service of Mr. Henry, and
whom Mr. Hunt found floating down the Missouri,
on their way homeward ; and prevailed upon, once
more, to cross the mountains. The haggard looks
and naked condition of these men proved how
much they had suifered. After leaving Mr. Hunt's
party, they had made their way about tw^o hundred
miles to the southward, where they trapped beaver
on a river which, according to their account, dis-
charged itself into the ocean to the south of the
Columbia, but which we apprehend to be Bear

4:02 ASTORIA.

River, a stream emptying itself into Lake Bonne-
ville, an immense body of salt water, west of the
Rocky Mountains.

Having collected a considerable quantity of
beaver skins, they made them into packs, loaded
their horses, and steered two hundred miles due
east. Here they came upon an encampment of
sixty lodges of Arapahays, an outlawed band of the
Arrapahoes, and notorious robbers. These fell
upon the poor trappers; robbed them of their
peltries, most of their clothing, and several of
their horses. They were glad to escape with
their lives, and without being entirely stripped,
and after proceeding about fifty miles further, made
their halt for the winter.

Early in the spring they resumed their way-
faring, but were unluckily overtaken by the same
ruffian horde, who levied still further contributions,
and carried off the remainder of their horses, ex-
cepting two. With these they continued on, suf-
fering the greatest hardships. They still retained
rifles and ammunition, but were in a desert coun-
try, where neither bird nor beast was to be found.
Their only chance was to keep along the rivers
and subsist by fishing ; but at times no fish were
to be taken, and then their sufferings were hor-
rible. One of their horses was stolen among the
mountains by the Snake Indians ; the other, they
said, was carried off by Cass, who, according to
their account, " villainously left them in their ex-
tremities." Certain dark doubts and surmises
were afterwards circulated concerning the fate of
that poor fellow, which, if true, showed to what a

MR. MILLER TURNS HOMEWARD. 4G3

desperate state of famine his comrades had been
reduced.

Being now completely unhorsed, Mr. Miller
.tnd his three companions wandered on foot for
several hundred miles, enduring hunger, thirst,
and fatigue, while traversing the barren wastes
which abound beyond the Rocky Mountains. At
the time they were discovered by Mr. Stuart's
party, they were almost famished, and were fish-
ing for a precarious meal. Had Mr. Stuart made
the short cut across the hills, avoiding this bend
of the river, or had not some of his party ac-
cidentally gone down to the margin of the stream
to drink, these poor wanderers might have re-
mained undiscovered, and have perished in the
wilderness. Nothing could exceed their joy on
thus meeting with their old comrades, or the
heartiness with which they were welcomed. All
hands immediately encamped ; and the slender
stores of the party were ransacked to furnish out
a suitable regale.

The next morning they all set out together ;
Mr. Miller and his comrades being resolved to
give up the life of a trapper, and accompany
Mr. Stuart back to St. Louis.

For several days they kept along the course
of Snake River, occasionally making short cuts
across hills and promontories, where there were
bends in the stream. In their way they passed
several camps of Shoshonies, from some of whom
they procured salmon, but in general they were
too wretchedly poor to furnish anything. It was
the wish of Mr. Stuart to purchase horses for the

464 ASTORIA.

recent recruits of his party ; but the Indians c ml 1
not be prevailed upon to part with any, alle in ^
that they liad not enough for their own use.

On the 25 th of August they reached a great
fishing place, to which they gave the name of the
Salmon Falls. Here there is a perpendicular fall
of twenty feet on the north side of the river,
while on the south side there is a succession of
rapids. The salmon are taken here in incredible
quantities, as they attempt to shoot the falls. It
was now a favorable season, and there were about
one hundred lodges of Shoshonies busily eiigaged
killing and drying fish. The salmon begin to
leap shortly after sunrise. At this time the In-
dians swim to the centre of the falls, where some
station themselves on rocks, and others stand to
their waists in the water, all armed with spears,
with which they assail the salmon as they attempt
to leap, or fall back exhausted. It is an incessant
slauo'hter, so great is the thronij of the fish.

The construction of the spears thus used is
peculiar. The head is a straight piece of elk
horn, about seven inches long, on the point of
which an artificial barb is made fast, with twine
well gummed. The head is stuck on the end of
the shaft, a very long pole of willow, to which it
is likewise connected by a strong cord, a few inches
in length. When the spearsman makes a sure
blow, he often strikes the head of the spear
through the body of the fish. It comes oif easily,
and leaves the salmon struggling with the string
through its body, while the pole is still held by
the spearsman. Were it not for the precaution

THE RIFLED CACHhS. 465

of the string, the willow shaft would be snapped
by the struggles and the weight of the fish. Mr.
Miller, in the course of his wanderings, had been
at these falls, and had seen several thousand sal-
mon taken in the course of one afternoon. He
declared that he had seen a salmon leap a distance
of about thirty feet, from the commencement of
the foam at the foot of the fall, completel}^ to the
top.

Having purchased a good supply of salmon
from the fishermen, the party resumed their
journey, and on the twenty-ninth, arrived at the
Caldron Linn, the eventful scene of the preceding
autumn. Here, the first thing that met their eyes
was a memento of the perplexities of that period ;
the wi'eck of a canoe, lodo-ed between two ledofes
of rocks. They endeavored to get down to it,
but the river banks were too high and precipitous.

They now proceeded to that part of the neighbor-
hood where Mr. Hunt and his party had made
the caches, intending to take from them such ar-
ticles as belonged to Mr. Crooks, M'Lellan, and
the Canadians. On reaching the spot, they found,
to their astonishment, six of the caches open and
rifled of their contents, excepting a few books
which lay scattered about the vicinity. They had
the appearance of having been plundered in the
course of the summer. There were tracks t)f
wolves in every direction, to and from tlie holes,
from which Mr. Stuart concluded that these an-
imals had first been attracted to the place by the
smell of the skins contained in the caches, which
30

4r6C) AtiTORlA.

they had probably torn up, and that t/ieir tracks
had betrayed the secret to the Indians.

The three remaining caches had not been mo-
lested: they contained a few dry goods, some am-
munition, and a number of beaver traps. From
these Mr. Stuart took whatever was requisite for
his party ; he then deposited within them all his
superfluous baggage, and all the books and papers
scattered around ; the holes were then carefully
closed up, and all traces of them effaced. And
here we have to record another instance of the
mdomitable spirit of the western trappers. No
sooner did the trio of Kentucky hunters, Robin-
son, Rezner, and Hoback, find that they could
once more be fitted out for a campaign of beaver-
trapping, than they forgot all that they had suf-
fered, and determined upon another trial of their
fortunes ; preferring to take their chance in the
wilderness, rather than return home ragged and
penniless. As to Mr. Miller, he declared his
curiosity and his desire of travelling through the
Indian countries fully satisfied ; he adhered to his
determination, therefore, to keep on with the party
to St. Louis, and to return to the bosom of civil-
ized society.

The three hunters, therefore, Robinson, Rezner,
and Hoback, were furnished, as far as the caches
and the means of Mr. Stuart's party afforded,
with the requisite munitions and equipments for
a " two years' hunt ; " but as their fitting out was
yet incomplete, they resolved to wait in this
neighborhood until Mr. Reed should arrive ; whose
arrival might soon be expected, as he was to set

THE PERSEVERING TRAPPERS. 4G7

out for the caches about twenty days after ]Mr
Stuart parted with him at the Wallah- Wallah
River.

Mr. Stuart gave in charge to Robinson a letter
to Mr. Reed, reporting his safe journey thus far,
and the state in which he had found the caches,
A duplicate of this letter he elevated on a pole,
and set it up near the place of deposit.

All things being thus arranged, Mr. Stuart and
his little band, now seven in number, took leave of
the three hardy trappers, wishing them all possible
success in their lonely and perilous sojourn in the
wilderness ; and we, in like mannei-, shall leave
them to their fortunes, promising to take them up
again at some future page, and to close the stc rj
of their persevering and ill-fated enterprise.

CHAPTER XLV.

N the 1st of September, Mr. Stuart and
his companions resumed their journey,
bending their course eastward, along the
course of Snake River. As they advanced, the
country opened. The hills which had hemmed in
the river receded on either hand, and great sandy
and dusty plains extended before them. Occa-
sionally there were intervals of pasturage, and
the banks of the river were fringed with wil-
lows and cotton-wood, so that its course might be
traced from the hill-tops, winding under an umbra-
geous covert, through a wide sunburnt landscape.
The soil, however, was generally poor ; there was
in some places a miserable growth of worm-
wood, and a plant called sal tweed, i-esembling
pennyroyal ; but the summer had parched the
plains, and left but little pasturage. The game,
too, had disappeared. The hunter looked in vain
over the lifeless landscape ; now and then a few
antelope might be seen, but not within reach of
the rifle. We forbear to follow the travellers in a
week's wandering over these barren wastes, where
they suffered much from hunger, having to de-
pend upon a few fish from the streams, and now
and then a little dried salmon, or a dog, procured
from some forlorn lodge of Shoshonies.

A CEO IV GIANT AND HIS GANG. 469

Tired of these cheerless wastes, they left the
banks of Snake River on the 7th of September,
under guidance of Mr. Miller, who having ac-
quired some knowledge of the country during his
trapping campaign, undertook to conduct them
across the mountains by a better route than that
by Fort Henry, and one more out of the range
of the Blackfeet. He proved, however, but an
indifferent guide, and they soon became bewil-
dered among rugged hills and unknown streams,
and buiMit and barren prairies.

At length they came to a river on which Mr.
Miller had trapped, and to which they gave his
name ; though, as before observed, we presume
it to be the same called Bear River, which
empties itself into Lake Bonneville. Up this
river and its branches they kept for two or three
days, supporting themselves precariously upon
fish. They soon found that they were in a
dangerous neighborhood. On the 12th of Sep-
tember, having encamped early, they sallied forth
with their rods to angle for their supper. On
returning, they beheld a number of Indians
prowling about their camp, whom, to their infin-
ite disquiet, they soon perceived to be Upsa-
rokas, or Crows. Their chief came forward with
a confident air. He was a dark herculean fellow,
full six feet four inches in iieight, with a mingled
air of the ruffian and the rogue. He conducted
himself peaceably, however, and dispatched some
of his people to their camp, which was some-
where in the neighborhood, from whence they
returned with a most acceptable supply of buffalo

470 ASTORIA.

meat. He now signified to Mr. Stuart tliat he
was going to trade with the Snakes who reside
on the west base of the mountains, below Henry's
Fort. Here they cultivate a delicate kind of
tobacco, much esteemed and sought after by the
mountain tribes. There was a something sinis-
ter, however, in the look of this Indian, that in-
spired distrust. By degrees, the number of his
people increased, until, by midnight, there were
twenty-one of them about the camp, who began
to be impudent and troublesome. The greatest
uneasiness was now felt for the safety of the
horses and effects, and every one kept vigilant
watch throughout the night.

The morning dawned, however, without any
unpleasant occurrence, and Mr. Stuart, having
purchased all the buffalo meat that the Crows had
to spare, prepared to depart. His Indian ac-
quaintances, however, were disposed for further
dealings; and above all, anxious for a supply of
gunpovvder, for which they offered horses in ex-
change. Mr. Stuart declined to furnish them
with the dangerous commodity. They became
more importunate in their solicitations, until they
met with a flat i-efusal.

The gigantic chief now stepped forward, as-
sumed a swelling air, and, slapping himself upon
the breast, gave Mr. Crooks to understand that
he was a chief of great power and importance.
He signified, furthei", that it was customary for
great chiefs when they met, to make each other
presents. He requested, therefore, that Mr.
Stuart would alight, and give him the horse

A CROW JOKE. All

upon which he «vas mounted. This was a noble
animal, of one of the wild races of the prairies ;
on which Mr. Stuart set great value; he, of
course, shook his head at the request of the Crow
dignitary. Upon this the latter strode up to him,
and taking hold of him, moved him backwards
and forwards in his saddle, as if to make him feel
that he was a mere child within his grasp. Mr.
Stuart preserved his calmness, and still shook his
head. The chief then seized the bridle, and
gave it a jerk that startled the horse, and nearly
brought the rider to the ground. Mr. Stuart in-
stantly drew forth a pistol, and presented it at
the head of the bully-ruffian. In a twinkling
his swaggering was at an end, and he dodged
behind his horse to escape the expected shot.
As his subject Crows gazed on the affray from a
little distance, Mr. Stuart ordered his men to
level their rifles at them, but; not to fire. The
whole crew scampered among the bushes, and
throwing themselves upon the ground, vanished
from sight.

The chieftain thus left alone, was confounded
for an instant ; but, recovering himself with true
Indian shrewdness, burst into a loud laugh, and
affected to turn off the whole matter as a piece of
pleasantry. Mr. Stuart by no means relished
such equivocal joking, but it was not his policy
to get into a quarrel ; so he joined with the
best grace he could assume in the merriment
of the jocular giant ; and, to console the latter
for the refusal of the horse, made him a present
of twenty chaiges of powder They parted, ac-

472 ASTORIA.

cording to all outward professions, the best
friends in the world ; it was evident, however
that nothing but the smalhiess of his own force,
and the martial array and alertness of the white
men, had prevented the Crow chief from pro-
ceeding to open outrage. As it was, his worthy-
followers, in the course of their brief interview,
had contrived to purloin a bag containing almost
all the cnlinary utensils of the party.

Tiie travellers kept on their way due east,
over a chain of hills. The recent rencontre
showed them that they were now in a land of
danger, subject to the wide roamings of a preda-
cious tribe ; nor, in fact, had they gone many
miles, before they beheld sights calculated to in-
spire anxiety and alarm. From the summits of
some of the loftiest mountains, in different direc-
tions, columns of smoke began to rise. These
they concluded to be signals made by the run-
ners of the Crow chieftain, to summon the strag-
glers of his band, so as to pursue them with
greater force. Signals of this kind, made by
out-runners from one central point, will rouse
a wide circuit of the mountains in a wonderfully
short space of time ; and bring the straggling
hunters and warriors to the standard of their
chieftain.

To keep as much as possible out of the way
of these freebooters, Mr. Stuart altered his
course to the north, and, quitting the main
stream of Miller's River, kept up a large branch
that came in from the mountains. Here they
sncamped, after a fatiguing march of twenty-tivo

W£AliY DAYS AND WATCHFUL NIGHTS. 473

miles. As the night drew on the horses were
hobbled or fettered, and tethei'ed close to the
camp ; a vigilant watch was maintained until
morning, and every one slept with his rifle on
his arm.

At sunrise, they were again on the march,
still keeping to the north. They soon began to
ascend the mountains, and occasionally had wid<\
prospects over the surrounding country. Not a
sign of a Crow was to be seen ; but this did not
assure them of their security, well knowing the
perseverance of these savages in dogging any
party they intend to rob, and the stealthy way
in which they can conceal their movements,
keeping along ravines and defiles. After a
mountain scramble of twenty-one miles, they en-
camped on the margin of a stream running to
the north.

In the evening there was an alarm of Indians,
and every one was instantly on the alert. They
proved to be three miserable Snakes, who were
no sooner informed that a band of Crows was
prowling in the neighborhood, than they made
off with great signs of consternation.

A couple more of weary days and watchful
nights brought them to a strong and rapid
stream, running due north, which they concluded
to be one of the upper branches of Snake River.
It was probably the same since called Salt River.

They determined to bend their course down
this river, as it would take them still further out
of the dano;erous neii^hborhood of the Crows.
They then would strike upon Mr. Hunt's track

474 ASTORIA.

of the preceding antumii, and retrace it acrosa
the mountains. The attempt to find a better
route under guidance of Mr. Miller had cost
them a large bend to the south ; in resuming
Mr. Hunt's track, they would at least be sure
of their road. They accordingly turned down
along the course of this stream and at the end
of three day's journey, came to where it was
joined by a larger river, and assumed a more
impetuous character, raging and roaring among
rocks and precipices. It proved, in fact, to be
Mad River, already noted in the expedition of
Mr, Hunt. On the banks of this river, they en-
camped on the 18th of September, at an early
hour.

Six days had now elapsed since their inter-
view with the Crows; during that time they
had come nearly a hundred and fifty miles to
the north and west, without seeing any signs of
those marauders. They considered themselves,
therefore, beyond the reach of molestation, and
began to relax in tJieir vigilance, lingering oc-
casionally for part of a day, where there was
good pasturage. The poor horses needed repose.

They had been urged on, by forced marches,
over rugged heights, among rocks and fallen tim-
ber, or over low swampy valleys, inundated by
the labors of the beaver. These industrious
animals abounded in all the mountain streams
and water-courses, wherever there were willows
for their subsistence. Many of them they had
so completely dammed up as to inundate the low
grounds, making shallow pools or lakes, and ex-

A SURPRIEE. 475

tensive quagmires ; by which the route of the
travellers was often impeded.

On the 19th of September, they rose at early
dawn ; some began to prepaie breakfast, and
others to arrange the packs preparatory to a
march. The horses had been hobbled, but left
at large to graze upon the adjacent pasture. Mr.
Stuart was on the bank of a river, at a short
distance from the camp, when he heard the alarm
cry — " Indians ! Indians ! — to arms ! to arms ! "

A mounted Crow galloped past the camp,
bearing a fed flag. He reined his steed on the
summit of a neighboring knoll, and waved his
flaring banner. A diabolical yell now broke
forth on the opposite side of the camp, beyond
where the horses were grazing, and a small
troop of savages came galloping up, whooping
and making a terrific clamor. The horses took
fright, and dashed across the camp in the direc-
tion of the standard-bearer, attracted by his wav-
ing flag. Pie instantly put spurs to his steed,
and scoured off followed by the panic-stricken
herd, their fi-ight being increased by the yells of
tlie savages in their rear.

At the first alaim, Mr. Stuart and his com-
rades had seized their rifles, and attempted to
cut off the Indians who were pursuing I he
horses. Their attention was instantly distrac-
ted by whoops and yells in an opposite direction.

They now apprehended that a reserve party
was about to carry off their baggage. They
ran to secure it. The reserve party, however,
galloped by, whooping and yelling in tiiumph

476 ASTORIA.

and derision. The last of them proved to be
their commander, the identical giant joker al-
ready mentioned. He was not cast in the
stern poetical mould of fasliional)le Indian hero-
ism, but on the contrary, was griev^ously given
to vulgar jocularity. As he passed Mr. Stuart
and his companions, he checked his horse, raised
himself in the saddle, and clap[)ing his hand on
the most insulting part of his body, uttered some
jeering words, which, fortunately for their deli-
cacy, they could not understand. The rifle of
Ben Jones was leveled in an instant, and he was
on the point of whizzing a bullet into tlie target
so tauntingly displayed. "Not for your life! not
for your life!" exclaimed Mr. Stuart, "you will
bring destruction on us all ! "

It was hard to restrain honest Ben, when the
mark was so fair and the insult so foul. " O,
Mr. Stuart," exclaimed he, "only let me have
one crack at the infernal rascal, and you may
keep all the pay that is due to me."

" By heaven, if you fire," cried Mr. Stuart,
" I'll blow your brains out.

By this time the Indian was far out of reach,
and had rejoined his men, and the whole dare-
devil band, with the captured horses, scuttled
off along the defiles, their red flag flaunting over
head, and the rocks echoing to their whoops and
yells, and demoniac laughter.

The unhorsed travellei-s gazed after them in
silent mortilication and despair ; yet Mr. Stuart
could not but admire the style and spirit with
which the whole exploit had been managed, and

INDIAN LURKKRS. 477

pronounced it one of the most daring and in-
trepid actions he had ever heard of among In-
dians. The whole number of the Crows did
not exceed twenty. In this way a small gang
of lurkers will hurry off the cavalry of a large
war party, for when once a drove of horses are
seized with panic, they become fi-antic, and noth-
ing short of broken necks can stop them.

No one was more annoyed by this unfortunate
occurrence than Ben Jones. He declared he
would actually have given his whole ai-rears of
pay, amounting to upwards of a year's wages,
rather than be balked of ■ such a capital shot.
Mr. Stuart, however, represented what might
have been the consequence of so rash an act.
Life for life is the Indian maxim. The whole
tribe would have made common cause in aveng-
ing the death of a wai-rior. The party were
but seven dismounted men, with a wide moun
tain region to traverse, infested by these people,
and which might all be roused by signal fires.
In fact, the conduct of the band of marauders
in question, showed the perseverance of savages
when once they have fixed their minds upon a
project. These fellows had evidently been si-
lently and secretly dogging the party for a week
past, and a distance of a hundred and fifty miles,
keeping out of sight by day, lurking about the
encampment at night, watching all their move-
ments, and waiting for a favorable moment when
they should be off their guard. The menace of
Mr. Stuart, in their first interview, to shoot the
giant chief with his pistol, and the fright caused

478

ASTORIA.

among the warriors by presenting the rifles, had
probably added the stimulus of pique to their
usual horse-stealing propensities. And in this
mood of mind they would doubtless have fol-
lowed the party throughout their whole course
over the Rocky Mountains, rather than be disap-
pointed in their scheme.

CHAPTER XLVI.

|EW reverses in this changeful world are
more complete and disheartening tl\ n
that of a traveller, suddenly unhorsed,
in the midst of the wilderness. Our unfortunate
travellers contemplated their situation, for a time,
in perfect dismay. A long journey over rugged
mountains and immeasurable plains lay before
them, which they must painfully perform on foot,
and everything necessary for subsistence or de-
fense must be carried on their shoulders. Their
dismay, however, was but transient, and they im-
mediately set to work, with that prompt expedi-
ency produced by the exigencies of the wilderness,
to fit themselves for the change in their condition.
Their first attention was to select from their
baggage such articles as were indispensable to
their journey ; to make them up into convenient
packs, and to deposit the residue in caches. The
whole day was consumed in these occupations ;
at night, they made a scanty meal of their re-
maining provisions, and lay down to sleep with
heavy hearts. In the morning, they were up
and about at an early hour, and began to prepare
their knapsacks for a march, while Ben Jones
repaired to an old beaver trap which he had set
in the river bank at some little distance from

480 AST OR FA.

the camp. He was rejoiced to find a middle-
sized beaver there, sufficient for a morning's meal
to his hungry comrades. On his way back with
his prize, he observed two heads peering over
the edge of an impending cliff, several hundred
feet high, which he supposed to be a couple of
wolves. As he continued on, he now and then
cast his eye up ; the heads were still there,
looking down with fixed and watchful gaze. A
suspicion now flashed across his mind that they
might be Indian scouts ; and, had they not been
far above the reach of his rifle, he would un-
doubtedly have regaled them with a shot.

On arriving at the camp, he directed the atten-
tion of his comrades to these aerial observers.
The same idea was at first entertained, that they
were wolves ; but their immovable watchfulness
soon satisfied every one that they were Indians.
It was concluded that they were watching the
movements of the party, to discover their place
of concealment of such articles as they would be
compelled to leave behind. There was no likeli-
hood that the caches would escape the search of
such keen eyes and experienced rummagers, and
the idea was intolerable, that any more booty
should fall into their hands. To disappoint them,
therefore, the travellers stripped the caches of
the articles deposited there, and collecting toge-
ther everything that they could not carry away
with them, made a bonfire of all that would
burn, and threw the rest into the river. There
was a forlorn satisfaction in thus balking the
Crows, by the destruction of their own property ;

DOWN MAD RIVER. 481

and, having thus gratified their pique, they shoul-
dei-ed their packs, about ten o'clock in the morning,
and set out on their pedestrian wayfaring.

The route they took was down along the banks
of Mad River. This stream makes its way through
the defiles of the mountains, into the plain below
Fort Henry, where it terminates in Snake River.
Mr. Stuart was in hopes of meeting with Snake
encampments in the plain, where he might pro-
cure a couple of horses to transport the baggage.
In such case, he intended to resume his eastern
course across the mountains, and endeavor to
reach the Cheyenne River before winter. Should
he fail, however, of obtaining horses, he would
probably be compelled to winter on the Pacific
side of the mountains, somewhere on the head
waters of the Spanish or Colorado River.

With all the care that had been obsei'ved in
taking nothing with them that was not absolutely
necessary, the poor pedestrians were heavily laden,
and their burdens added to the fatigues of their
rugged road. They suffered much, too, from
hunger. The trout they caught were too poor
to yield much nourishment ; their main depen-
dence, therefore, was upon an old beaver trap,
which they had providentially retained. When-
ever they were fortunate enough to entrap a
beaver, it was cut up immediately and distributed,
that each man might carry his share.

After two days of toilsome travel, during
which they made but eighteen miles, they stopped
on the 21st, to build two rafts on which to cross
to the north side of the river. On these they

31

482 ASTORIA.

embarked, on the followins: morninof, four on one
raft, and three on the other, and jinshed boldly
from shore. Fmding the rafts sutficiently firm
and steady to withstand the rough and rapid
water, they changed their minds, and instead of
crossing, ventured to float down with the current.
The river was, in general, very rapid, and from
one to two hundred yards in width, winding in
every direction through mountains of hard black
rock, covered with pines and cedars. The moun-
tains to the east of the river were spurs of the
Rocky range, and of great magnitude ; those on
the west were little better than hills, bleak and
barren, or scantily clothed with stunted grass.

Mad River, thouo^h deserving its name from the
impetuosity of its current, was free from rapids
and cascades, and flowed on in a single channel
between gravel banks, often fringed with cotton-
wood and dwarf willows in abundance. These
gave sustenance to immense quantities of beaver,
so that the voyagers found no difliculty in pro-
curing food. Ben Jones, also, killed a fallow
deer and a wolverine, and as they were enabled
to carry the carcasses on their rafts, their larder
was well supplied. Indeed, they might have
occasionally shot beavers that were swimming in
the river as they floated by, but they humanely
spared their lives, being in no want of meat at
the time. In this way, they kept down the river
for three days, drifting with the current and en-
camping on land at night, wheu they drew up
their rafts on shore. Towards the evening of the
third day, they came to a little island on which

RAFT IN a A RIVER. 483

tliey descried a gang of elk. Ben Jones landed,
and was fortunate enough to wound one, which
immediately took to the water, but, being unable
to stem the current, drifted above a mile, when
it was overtaken and drawn to shore. As a
storm was gathering, they now encamped on the
margin of the river, where they remained all
the next day, sheltering themselves as well as
they could from the rain and snow — a sharp
foretaste of the impending winter. During their
encampment, they employed themselves in jerk
ing a part of the elk for future supply. In
cutting up the carcass, they found that the animal
had been wounded by hunters, about a week
previously, an arrow head and a musket ball
remaining in the wounds. In the wilderness,
every trivial circumstance is a mattei- of anxious
speculation. The Snake Indians have no guns ;
the elk, therefore, could not have been wounded
by one of them. They were on the borders of
the country infested by the Blackfeet, who carry
fire-arms. It was concluded, therefore, that the
elk had been hunted by some of that wandering
and hostile tribe, who, of course, must be in the
neighborhood. The idea put an end to the
transient solace they had enjoyed in the com-
parative repose and abundance of the river.

For three days longer they continued to navi-
gate with their rafts. The recent storm had
rendered the weather extremely cold. They had
low floated down the river about ninety-one
miles, when, finding the mountains on the right
diminished to moderate sized hills, they landed,

484 ASTORIA.

and prepared to resume their journey on foot.
Accordingly, having spent a day in preparations,
making moccasins, and parceling out their jerked
meat in packs of twenty pounds to each man,
they turned their backs upon the river on the 29th
of September and struck off to the northeast,
keeping along the southern skirt of the mountain
on which Henry's Fort was situated.

The«r march was slow and toilsome ; part of
the time through an alluvial bottom, thickly
grown with cotton-wood, hawthorn, and willows,
and part of the time over rough hills. Three an-
telopes came within shot, but they dared not fire
at them, lest the report of their rifles should be-
tray them to the Blackfeet. In the course of the
day, they came upon a large horse-track appar-
ently about three weeks old, and in the evening
encamped on the banks of a small stream, on a
spot which had been the camping place of this
same band.

On the following morning they still observed
the Indian track, but after a time they came to
where it separated in every direction, and was
lost. Tills showed that the band had dispersed in
various hunting parties, and was, in all proba-
bility, still in the neighborhood ; it was necessary,
therefore, to proceed with the utmost caution.
They kept a vigilant eye as they marched, upon
every height where a scout might be posted, and
scanned the solitary landscapes and the distant
ravines, to observe any column of smoke ; but
nothing of the kind was to be seen ; all was in-
des^^-ribably stern and lifeless.

TROUBLE WlTfl M'LELLAI^. 485

Towards evening they came to where there
were several hot springs, strongly impregnated
with iron and sulphur, and sending up a volume
of vapor that tainted the surrounding atmosphere,
and might be seen at the distance of a couple of
miles.

Near to these they encamped, in a deep gully,
which afforded some concealment. To their great
concern, Mr. Crooks, who had been indisposed for
the two preceding days, had a violent fever in
the night.

Shortly after daybreak they resumed their
march. On emerging from the glen, a consulta-
tion was held as to their course. Should they
continue round the skirt of the mountain, they
would be in danger of falling in with the scattered
parties of Blackfeet, who were probably hunting
in the plain. It was thought most advisable,
therefore, to strike directly across the mountain,
since the route, though rugged and difficult, would
be most secure. This counsel was indignantly
derided by M'Lellan as pusillanimous. Hot-
headed and impatient at all times, he had been
rendered irascible by the fatigues of the journey,
and the i ondition of his feet, which were chafed
and sore. He could not endure the idea of en-
countering the difficulties of the mountain, and
swore he would rather face all the Blackfeet in
the country. He was overruled, however, and
(he party began to ascend the mountain, striving,
»vith the ardor and emulation of young men, who
should be first up. M'Lellan, who was double
the age of some of his companions, soon began

is 6 ASTORIA.

to lose breath, and fall in the rear. In the distri-
bution of burdens, it was his turn to carry the
old beaver trap. Piqued and irritated, he sud-
denly came to a halt, swore he would carry it no
further, and jerked it half-way down the hill.
He was offered in place of it a package of dried
meat, but this he scornfully threw upon the
ground. They might carry it, he said, who
needed it ; for his part, he could provide his daily
bread with his rifle. He concluded by flinging
off from the party, and keeping along the skirts
of the mountain, leaving those, he said, to climb
rocks, who were afraid to fiice Indians. It was
in vain that Mr. Stuart represented to liim the
rashness of his conduct, and the dangers to which
he exposed himself: he rejected such counsel as
craven. It was equally useless to represent the
dangers to which he subjected his companions ; as
he could be discovered at a great distance on those
naked plains, and the Indians, seeing him, would
know that there must be other white men within
reach. M'J^ellan turned a deaf ear to every re-
monstrance, and kept on his willful way.

It seems a strange instance of perverseness in
this man thus to fling himself off alone, in a sav-
age region, where solitude itself was dismal, and
every encounter with his fellow-man full of peril.
Such, however, is the hardness of spirit, and the
insensibility to danger, that grow upon men in
the wilderness. M'Lellan, moreover, was a man
of peculiar temperament, ungovernable in hh
will, of a courage that absolutely knew no fear,
.ind somewhat of a braggart spirit, that took a
pride in doiuii desperate and hair-brained things".

IN A VOLCANIC REGION. 487

Mr. Stuart and his party found the passages of
the mountain somewhat difficult, on account of
the snow, which in many places was of consider-
able depth, though it was now but the 1st of Oc-
tober. They crossed the summit early in the
afternoon, and beheld below them a plain about
twenty miles wide, bounded on the opposite side
by their old acquaintances, the Pilot Knobs, those
towerinsr mountains which had served Mr. Hunt
as landmarks in part of his route of the preceding
year. Through the intermediate plain wandered
a river about fifty yards wide, sometimes gleam-
ing in open day, but oftener running through wil-
lowed banks, which marked its serpentine course.

Those of the party who had been across these
mountains, pointed out much of the bearings of
the country to Mr. Stuart. They showed him in
what direction must lie the deserted post called
Henry's Fort, where they had abandoned their
horses and embarked in canoes, and they informed
him that the stream which wandered through the
plain below them, fell into Henry River, half way
between the fort and the mouth of Mad or Snake
River. The character of all this mountain region
was decidedly volcanic ; and to the northwest, be-
tween Henry's Fort and the source of the Mis-
souri, Mr. Stuart observed several very high peaks
covered with snow, from two of which smoke as-
cended in considerable volumes, apparently from
craters in a state of eruption.

On their way down the mountain, when they
dad reached the skirts, they descried M'Lellan
at a distance, in the advance, traversing the plain.

488 ASTORIA.

Whether he saw them or not, he showed no dis-
position to rejoin them, but pursued his sullen
and solitary way.

After descending into the plain, they kept on
about six miles, until they reached the little river,
which was here about knee deep, and richly
fringed with willow. Here they encamped for
the night. At this encampment the fever of Mr.
Crooks increased to such a degree that it was
impossible for him to travel. Some of the men
were strenuous for Mr. Stuart to proceed with-
out him, urging the imminent danger they were
exposed to by delay in that unknown and barren
region, infested by the most treacherous and m-
veterate foes. They rejoresented that the season
was rapidly advancing; the weather for some
days had been extremely cold ; the mountains were
already almost impassable from snow, and would
soon present effectual barriers. Their provisions
were exhausted ; there was no game to be seen,
and they did not dare to use their rifles, through
fear of drawing upon them the Blackfeet.

The picture tluis presented, was too true to be
contradicted, and made a deep impression on the
mind of Mr. Stuart ; but the idea of abandoning
a fellow being, and a comrade, in such a forlorn
situation, was too repugnant to his feelings to be
admitted for an instant. He represented to the
men that the malady of Mr. Crooks could not be
of long duration, and that, in all probability, he
would be able to travel in the course of a few
days. It was with great difficulty, however, that
he prevailed upon them to abide the event.

CHAPTER XLVII.

S the travellers were now in a dangerous
neighborhood, where the report of a rifle
might bring the savages upon them, they
had to depend upon their old beaver-trap for sub-
sistence. The little river on which they were
encamped gave many " beaver signs," and Ben
Jones set off at daybreak, along the willowed
banks, to find a proper trapping-place. As he
was making his way among the thickets, with his
trap on his shoulder and his rifle in his hand, he
heard a crushino; sound, and turning', beheld a
huge grizzly bear advancing upon him, with
terrific growl. The sturdy Kentuckian was not
to be intimidated by man or monster. Leveling
his rifle, he pulled the trigger. The bear was
wounded, but not mortally : instead, however, of
rushing upon his assailant, as is generally the
case with this kind of bear, he retreated into the
bushes. Jones followed him for some distance,
but with suitable caution, and Bruin effected his
escape.

As there was every prospect of a detention
of some days in this place, and as the supplies
of the beaver-trap were too precarious to be de-
pended upon, it became absolutely necessary to

490 ASTORIA.

run some risk of discovery by hunting in the
neighborhood. Ben Jones, therefore, obtained
permission to range with his rifle some distance
from the camp, and set off to beat up the river
banks, in defiance of bear or Blackfeet.

He returned in great spirits in the course of
a few hours, having come upon a gang of elk
about six miles off, and lolled five. This was
joyful news, and the party immediately moved
forward to the place where he had left the car-
casses. They were obliged to support Mr
Crooks the whole distance, for he was unable
to walk. Here they remained for two or three
days, feasting heartily on elk meat, and drying
as much as they would be able to carry away
with them.

By the 5 th of October, some simple prescrip-
tions, together with an " Indian sweat," had so
far benefited Mr. Crooks, that he was enabled to
move about ; they therefore, set foi-ward slowly,
dividing liis pack and accoutrements among them,
and made a creeping day's progress of eight miles
south. Their route for the most part lay through
swamps caused by the industrious labors of the
beaver ; for tliis little animal had dammed up
numerous small streams, issuing from the Pilot
Knob Mountains, so that the low grounds on
their borders were completely inundated. In
the course of their march they killed a grizzly
bear, with fat on its flanks upwards of three
inches in thickness. This was an acceptable ad-
dition to their stock of elk meat. The next day
Mr. Ci-ooks was sufficiently recruited in strength

TRAVERSING PILOT KNOB. 491

to be able to carry his rifle' and pistols, and they
made a march of seventeen miles along the bor-
ders of the plain.

Their journey daily became more toilsome,
and their sufferings more severe, as they ad-
vanced. Keeping up the channel of a river,
they traversed the rugged summit of the Pilot
Knob Mountain, covered with snow nine inches
deep. For several days they continued, bending
their course as much as possible to the east, over
a succession of rocky heights, deep valleys, and
rapid streams. Sometimes their dizzy path lay
along the margin of perpendicular precipices,
several hundred feet in height, where a single
false step might precipitate them into the rocky
bed of a torrent which roared below. Not the
least part of their weary task was the fording
of the numerous windhiorg and branchincjs of the
mountain rivers, all boisterous in their currents,
and icy cold.

Hunger was added to their other sufferings,
and soon became the keenest. The small sup-
ply of bear and elk meat which they had been
able to carry, in addition to their previous bur-
dens, served but for a short time. In their anx-
iety to struggle forward, they had but little time
to hinit, and scarce any game in their path.
For three days they had nothing to eat but a
small duck, and a few poor trout. They occa-
sionally saw numbers of the antelopes, and tried
every art to get within shot ; but the timid ani-
mals were more than commonly wild, and after
tantalizing the hungry hunters for a time, bounded

492 ASTORIA.

away beyond all chance of pursuit. At length
they were fortunate enough to kill one : it was
extremely meagre, and yielded but a scanty
supply ; but on this they subsisted for several
days.

On the 11th, they encamped on a small stream,
near the foot of the Spanish River Mountain.
Here they met with traces of that wayward and
solitary being, M'Lellan, who was still keeping
on ahead of them through tliese lonely moun-
tains. He had encamped tlie night before on
this stream ; they found the embers of the fire
by which he had slept, and the remains of a
miserable wolf on which he had supped. It
was evident lie had suffered, like themselves,
the pangs of hunger, though he iuid fared better
at this encampment ; for they had not a mouth-
ful to eat.

The next day, they rose hungry and alert,
and set out with the dawn to climb the mountain,
which was steep and difficult. Traces of vol-
canic eruptions were to be seen in various direc-
tions. Tliere was a species of clay also to be
met with, out of which (he Indians manufacture
pots and jars, and dishes. It is very fine and
light, of an agreeable smell, and of a brown
color spotted with yellow, and dissolves readily
in the mouth. Vess^els manufactured of it are
said to impart a pleasant smell and flavor to
any liquids. These mountains abound also with
mineral earths, or chalks of various colors ; es-
pecially two kinds of ochre, one a pale, the other
a bright led, like vermilion ; much used by the
Indians, in painting their bodies.

STARVATION. 4.) 3

About noon, the travellers reached the " drains "
and brooks that formed the head waters of the
river, and hiter in the day, descended to where
the main body, a sliallow stream, about a hundred
and sixty yards wide, poured through its mountain
valley.

Here the pooi famishing wanderers had expected
to find buffalo in abundance, and had fed their
hungry hopes during their scrambling toil, with
the thoughts of roasted ribs, juicy humps, and
broiled marrow bones. To their greit disappoint-
ment, the river banks were deserted ; a few old
tracks, showed where a herd of bulls had some
time before passed along, but not a horn nor
hump was to be seen in the sterile landscape. A
few antelopes looked down upon them from the
brow of a crag, but flitted away out of sight at
the least approach of the hunter.

In the most starving mood they kept for
several miles further, along the bank of the river,
seeking for " beaver signs." Finding some, they
encamped in the vicinity, and Ben Jones imme-
diately proceeded to set the trap. They had
scarce come to a halt, when they perceived a large
smoke at some distance to the southwest. The
sight was hailed with joy, for they trusted it might
rise from some Indian camp, where they could
procure something to eat, and the dread of star-
vation had now overcome even the terror of the
Blackfeet. Le Clerc, one of the Canadians, was
instantly dispatched by Mr. Stuart, to recon-
noitre ; and the travellers sat up till a late
•iour, watching and listening for his return.

494 ASToniA.

hoping he might bring them food. Midnight
arrived, but Le Clerc did not make his appear-
ance, and they laid down once more supperless
to sleep, comforting themselves with the hopes
that their old beaver trap might furnish them
with a breakfast.

At daybreak they hastened with famished
eagerness to the trap. They found in it the fore
paw of a beaver, the sight of which tantalized
their hunger, and added to their dejection. They
resumed thdir journey with flagging spirits, but
had not gone far when they perceived Le Clerc
approaching at a distance. They hastened to
meet him, in hopes of tidings of good cheer. He
had none to give them ; but news of that strange
wanderer, M'Lellan. The smoke had risen fi-om
his encampment, which took fire while he was at
a little distance from it fishing. Le Clerc found
him in forlorn condition. His fishing had been
unsuccessful. During twelve days that he had
been wandering alone through these savage moun
tains, he had found scarce anything to eat. He
had been ill, wayworn, sick at heart, still he had
kept forward ; but now his strength and his stub-
bornness were exhausted. He expressed his
satisfaction at hearing that Mr. Stuart and his
party were near, and said he would wait at his
camp for their arrival, in hopes they would give
him something to eat, for without food he declared
he should not be able to proceed much further.

When the party reached the place, they found
the poor fellow lying on a parcel of withered
^lass, wasted to a perfect skeleton, an 1 so feeble

A nORRIBLE PROPOSITION. 495

tliat he could scarce raise his head or speak.
I'he presence of his old comrades seemed to
revive him ; but they had no food to give him,
for they themselves were almost starving. They
urged him to rise and accompany them, but he
shook his head. It was all in vain, he said ;
there was no prospect of their getting speedy
relief, and without it he should perish by the
way ; he might as well, therefore, stay and die
where he was. At length, after much persuasion,
they got him upon his legs ; his rifle and other
effects were shared among them, and he was
cheered and aided forward. In this way they
proceeded for seventeen miles, over a level plain
of sand, until seeing a few antelopes in the dis-
tance, they encamped on the margin of a small
stream. All now that were capable of the exer-
tion, turned out to hunt for a meal. Their
efforts were fruitless, and after dark they returned
to their camp, famished almost to desperation.

As they were preparing for the third time to
lay down to sleep without a mouthful to eat, Le
Clerc, one of the Canadians, gaunt and wild with
hunger, approached Mr. Stuart with his gun in
his hand. " It was all in vain," he said, " to at-
tempt to proceed any further without food. They
had a barren plain before them, three or four
days' journey in extent, on which nothing was to
be procured. They must all perish before they
could get to the end of it. It was better, there-
fore, that one should die to save the rest." He
proposed, therefore, that they should cast lots ;
adding, as an inducement for Mr. Stuart to assent

496 ASTORIA.

to the proposition, that he, as leader of the patty,
should be exempted.

Mr. Stuart shuddered at the horrible proposi-
tion, and endeavored to reason with the man, but
his words were unavailing. At length, snatching
up his rifle, he threatened to shoot him on the
spot if he persisted. The famished wretch dropped
on his knees, begged pardon in the most abject
terms, and promised never again to offend him
with such a suggestion.

Quiet being restored to the forlorn encamp-
ment, each one sought repose. Mr. Stuart, how-
ever, was so exhausted by the agitation of the
past scene, acting upon his emaciated frame, that
he could scarce crawl to his miserable couch ;
where, notwithstanding his flitigues, he passed a
sleepless night, revolving upon their dreary situa-
tion, and the desperate prospect before them.

Before daylight the next morning, they were
up and on their way ; they had nothing to detain
them ; no breakfast to prepare, and to linger was
to perish. They proceeded, however, but slowly,
for all were faint and weak. Here and there
they passed the skulls and bones of buflfliloes,
which showed that these animals must have been
hunted here during the past season ; the sight of
these bones served only to mock their misery.
After travelling about nine miles along the plain,
they ascended a range of hills, and had scarcely
gone two miles further, when, to their great joy,
they discovered " an old run-down buffalo bidl ; "
the laggard probably of some herd that had been
fiunted and harassed through the mountains.

A SEASON OP' FEASTING. 497

They now all stretched themselves out to encom-
pass and make sure of this solitary animal, for
their lives depended upon their success. After
considerable trouble and infinite anxiety, they at
length succeeded in killing him. He was instantly
iiayed and cut up, and so ravenous was their
hunger, that they devoured some of the flesh raw.
The residue they carried to a brook near by,
where they encamped, lit a fire, and began to
cook.

Mr. Stuart was fearful that in their famished
state they would eat to excess and injure them-
selves. He caused a soup to be made of some
of the meat, and that each should take a quantity
of it as a prelude to his supper. This may
have had a beneficial effect, for though they
sat up the greater part of the night, cooking and
cramming, no one suffered any inconvenience.

The next morning the feastmg was resumed,
and about mid-day, feeling somewhat recruited
and refreshed, they set out on their journey
with renovated spirits, shaping their course to-
wards a mountain, the summit of which they
saw towering in the east, and near to which
they expected to find the head waters of the
Missouri.

As they proceeded, they continued to see the
skeletons of buffaloes scattered about the plain in
every direction, which showed that there had been
much hunting here by the Indians in the recent
season. Further on they crossed a large Indian
trail forming a deep path, about fifteen days old,
which went in a north direction. They con-
32

498 ASTORIA.

eluded it to have been made by some numerous
band of Crows, who had hunted m this country
for the greater part of the summer.

On the following day they forded a stream of
considerable magnitude, with banks clothed with
pme trees. Among these they found the traces
of a large Indian camp, which had evidently been
the headquarters of a hunting expedition, from
the great quantities of buffalo bones strewed
about the neighborhood. The camp had appar-
ently been abandoned about a month.

In the centre was a singular lodge one hundred
and fifty feet in circumference, supported by the
trunks of twenty trees, about twelve inches in
diameter and forty-four feet long. Across these
were laid branches of pine and willow trees, so
as to yield a tolerable shade. At the west end,
humediately opposite to the door, three bodies lay
hiterred with their feet towards the east. At the
head of each grave was a branch of red cedar
firmly planted in the ground. At the foot was a
large buffalo's skull, painted black. Savage or-
naments were suspended in varions parts of the
edifice, and a great number of children's mocca-
sins. From the magnitude of this buildino-, and
the time and labor that must have been expended
in erecting it, the bodies which it contained were
probably those of noted warriors and hunters.

The next day, October 17th, they passed two
large tributary streams of the Spanish River.
They took their rise in the Wind River Moun-
tains, which ranged along to the east, stupendously
high and rugged, composed of vast masses of

FRIENDLY SNAKES, 499

black rock, almost destitute of wood, and covered
in many places with snow. This day they saw a
few buffalo bulls, and some antelopes, but could
not kill any ; and their stock of provisions begaJi
to grow scanty as well as poor.

On the 18th, after crossing a mountain ridge,
and traversing a plain, they waded one of the
branches of Spanish River, and on ascending its
bank, met with about a hundred and thirty Snake
Indians. They were friendly in their demeanor,
and conducted them to their encampment, which
was about three miles distant. It consisted of
about forty wigwams, constructed principally of
pine branches. The Snakes, like most of their
nation, were very poor ; the marauding Crows, in
their late excursion through the country, had
picked this unlucky band to the very bone, carry-
ing off their horses, several of their squaws, and
most of their effects. In spite of their poverty,
they were hospitable in the extreme, and made
the hungry strangers welcome to their cabins. A
few trinkets procured from them a supply of buf-
falo meat, and of leather for moccasins, of which
the party were greatly in need. The most
valuable prize obtained from them, however, was
a horse : it was a sorry old animal in truth, but
it was the only one that remained to the poor
fellows, after the fell swoop of the Crows ; yet
this they were prevailed upon to part with to
their guests for a pistol, an axe, a knife, and a
few other trifling articles.

They had doleful stories to tell of the Crows,
who were encamped on a river at no great dis-

500 ASTORIA.

tance to the east, and were in such force that
they dared not venture to seek any satisfactiou
for their outrages, or to get back a horse or
squaw. They endeavored to excite the indigna-
tion of their visitors by accounts of robberies
and murders committed on lonely white hunters
and trappers by Crows and Blackfeet. Some of
these were exaggerations of the outrages already
mentioned, sustained by some of the scattered
members of Mr. Hunt's expedition ; others were
in all probability sheer fabrications, to which the
Snakes seem to have been a little prone. Mr.
Stuart assured them that the day was not far
distant when the whites would make their power
to be felt throughout that country, and take signal
vengeance on the perpetrators of these misdeeds.
The Snakes expressed great joy at the intelli-
gence, and offered their services to aid the righte-
ous cause, brightening at the thoughts of taking
the field with such potent allies, and doubtless
anticipating their turn at stealing horses and
abducting squaws. Their olFei's, of course, were
accepted ; the calumet of peace was produced,
and the two forlorn powers smoked eternal friend-
ship between themselves, and vengeance upon
their common spoilers, the Crows.

CHAPTER XLVIIL

Y sunrise on the following morning
(October 19th), the travellers had loaded
their old horse with buffalo meat, suf-
ficient for five days' provisions, and, taking leave
of their new allies, the poor, but hospitable
Snakes, set forth in somewhat better spirits,
though the increasing cold of the weather, and
the sight of the snowy mountains which they
had yet to traverse, w^ere enough to chill their
very hearts. The country along this branch of
the Spanish River, as far as they could see, was
perfectly level, bounded by ranges of lofty moun-
tains, both to the east and west. They proceeded
about three miles to the south, where they came
again upon the large trail of Crow Indians, which
they had crossed four days previously, made, no
doubt, by the same marauding band that had plun-
dered the Snakes ; and which, according to the ac-
count of the latter, was now encamped on a stream
to the eastward. The trail kept on to the south-
east, and was so well beaten by horse and foot,
that they supposed at least a hundred lodges had
passed along it. As it formed, therefore, a con-
vonient highway, and ran in a proper direction,
they turned into it, and determined to keep along
it as far as safety would permit ; as the Crow en-

502 ASTORIA.

campment must be some distance off, and it was
not likely those savages would return upon their
steps. They travelled forward, therefore, all that
day, in the track of their dangerous predecessors,
which led them across mountain streams, and long
ridges, and through narrow valleys, all tending
generally towards the southeast. The wind blew
coldly from the northeast, with occasional flurries
of snow, which made them encamp early, on the
sheltered banks of a brook. Tiie two Canadians,
Vallee and Le Clerc, killed a young buffalo bull
in the evening, which was in good condition, and
afforded them a plentiful supply of fresh beef.
They loaded their spits, therefore, and crammed
their camp kettle with meat, and while the wind
whistled, and the snow whirled around them,
huddled round a rousing fire, basked in its warmth,
and comforted both soul and body with a hearty
and invigorating meal. No enjoyments have
greater zest than these, snatched in the very midst
of difficulty and danger ; and it is probable the
poor wayworn and weather-beaten travellers rel-
ished these creature comforts the more highly
from the surrounding desolation, and the danger-
ous proximity of the Crows.

The snow which had fallen in the night made
it late in the morning before the party loaded
their solitary pack-horse, and resumed their march.
They had not gone far before tlie Crow trace which
they were following changed its direction, and
bore to the north of east. They had already
begun to feel themselves on dangerous ground in
keeping along it, as they might be descried by

SALT SPRINGS. 503

some scouts and spies of that race of Ishmaelites,
whose predatory life required them to be con-
stantly on the alert. On seeing the trace turn so
much to the north, therefore, they abandoned it,
and kept on their course to the southeast for eigh-
teen miles, through a beautifully undulating
country, having the main chain of mountains on
the left, and a considerably elevated ridge on the
right. Here the mountain ridge which divides
Wind River from the head waters of the Colum-
bia and Spanish Rivers, end abruptly, and wind-
ing to the north of east, becomes the dividing
barrier between a branch of the Big Horn and
Cheyenne Rivers, and those head waters which
flow into the Missouri below the Sioux country.

The ridge which lay on the right of the trav-
ellers having now become very low, they passed
over it, and came into a level plain, about ten
miles in circumference, and incrusted to the depth
of a foot or eighteen inches with salt as white as
snow. This is furnished by numerous salt springs
of limpid water, which are continually welling up,
overflownng their borders, and. forming beautiful
crystallizations. The Indian tribes of the interior
are excessively fond of this salt, and repair to the
valley to collect it, but it is held in distaste by the
tribes of the sea-coast, who will eat nothing that
has been cured or seasoned by it.

This evening they encamped on the banks of a
small stream, in the open prairie. The northeast
wind was keen and cutting ; they had nothing
wherewith to make a fire, but a scanty growth
of sage, or wormwood, and were fain to wrap

504 ASTORIA.

themselves up in their blankets, and huddle them-
selves in their " nests," at an early hour. In the
course of the evening, Mr. M'Lellan, who had
now regained his strength, killed a buffalo, but it
was some distance from the camp, and they post-
poned supplying themselves from the carcass until
the folio wins; mornino;.

The next day (October 21st), the cold continued,
accompanied by snow. They set forward on their
bleak and toilsome way, keeping to the east-north-
east, towards the lofty summit of a mountain,
which it was necessary for them to cross. Before
they reached its base they passed another large
trail, steering a little to the right of the point of
the mountain. This they presumed to have been
made by another band of Crows, who had prob-
ably been hunting lower down on the Spanish
River.

The severity of the weather compelled them
to encamp at the end of fifteen miles, on the skirts
of the mountain, where they found sufficient dry
aspen trees to supply them with fire, but they
sought in vain about the neighborhood for a spring
or rill of water.

At daybreak they were up and on the march,
scrambling up the mountain side for the distance
of eight painful miles. From the casual hints
given in the travelling memoranda of Mr. Stuart,
this mountahi would seem to offer a rich field of
speculation for the geologist. Here was a plain
three miles in diameter, strewed with pumice
stones and other volcanic reliques, with a lake in
the centre, occupying what had probably been the

WINTRY PLAINS. 505

the crater. Here were also, in some places, de-
posits of marine shells, indicating that this moun-
tain crest had at some remote period been below
the waves.

After pausing to repose, and to enjoy these
grand but savage and awful scenes, they began to
descend the eastern side of the mountain. The
descent was rugged and romantic, along deep
ravines and defiles, overhung with crags and
cliffs, among which they beheld numbers of the
ahsahta or bighorn, skipping fearlessly from rock
to rock. Two of them they succeeded in bring-
ing down with their rifles, as they peered fear-
lessly from the brow of their airy precipices.

Arrived at the foot of tlie mountain, the trav-
ellers found a rill of water oozing out of the
eai'th, and resembling in look and taste, the water
of the Missouri. Here they encamped for the
night, and supped sumptuously upon their moun-
tain mutton, which they found in good condition,
and extremely well tasted.

The morning was bright, and intensely cold.
Early in the day they came upon a stream run-
ning to the east, between low hills of bluish
earth, strongly impregnated with copperas. Mr.
Stuart supposed this to be one of the head
watei-s of the Missouri, and determined to fol-
low its banks. After a march of twenty-six
miles, however, he arrived at the summit of a
hill, the prospect of which induced him to altei'
nis intention. He beheld, in every direction south
of east, a vast plain, bounded only by the horizon,
through which wandered the stream in queshon.

506 AS TOR /A.

in a south southeast direction. It could not,
therefore, be a branch of the Missouri. He now
gave up all idea of taking the stream for his
guide, and shaped his course towards a range of
mountains in the east, about sixty miles distant,
near which he hoped to find another stream.

The weather was now so severe, and the hard-
ships of travelling so great, that he resolved to
halt for the winter, at the first eligible place.
That night they had to encamp on the open prai-
rie, near a scanty pool of water, and without any
wood to make a fire. The northeast wind blew
keenly across the naked waste, and they were
fain to decamp from their inhospitable bivouac
before the dawn.

For two days they kept on in an eastward di-
rection, against wintry blasts and occasional snow
storms. They suffered, also, from scarcity of
water, having occasionally to use melted snow ;
this, with the want of pasturage, reduced their
old pack-horse sadly. They saw many tracks of
buffalo, and some few bulls, which, however, got
the wind of them, and scampered off.

On the 26th of October, they steered east-
northeast, for a wooded ravine in a mountain, at
a small distance from the base of which, to their
great joy, they discovered an abundant stream,
running between willowed banks. Here they
halted for the night, and Ben Jones having luck-
ily trapped a beaver, and killed two buffalo bulls,
they remained all the next day encamped, feast-
ing and reposing, and allowing their jaded horse
to rest from his labors.

STRIKING SCENES. 507

The little stream on which they were en-
camped, was one of the head waters of the Platte
River, which flows into the Missouri ; it was, in
fact, "the northern fork, or branch of that river,
though tins the travellers did not discover until
long afterwards. Pursuing the course of this
stream for about twenty miles, they came to
where it forced a passage through a range of
high hills, covered with cedars, into an extensive
low country, affording excellent pasture to nu-
merous herds of buffalo. Here they killed three
cows, which were the first they had been able to
get, having hitherto had to content themselves
with bull beef, which at this season of the year is
very poor. The hump meat afforded them a re-
past fit for an epicure.

Late on the afternoon of the oOth, they came
to where the stream, now increased to a consider-
able size, poured along in a ravine between pre-
cipices of red stone, two hundred feet in height.
For some distance it dashed along, over huge
masses of rock, with foaming violence, as if ex-
asperated by being compressed into so narrow a
channel, and at length leaped down a chasm that
looked dark and frightful in the gathering twi-
light.

For a part of the next day, the wild river, in
its capricious wanderings, led them through a va-
riety of striking scenes. At one time they were
npon high plains, like platforms among the moun-
tains, with herds of buffaloes roaming about them ;
at another, among rude rockv defiles, broken into
cliffs and precipices, where the black-tailed deer

508 ASTORIA.

bounded off among the crags, and the bighorn
basked in the sunny brow of the precipice.

In the after part of the day, they came to an-
other scene, surpassing in savage grandeur those
already described. They had been travelling for
some distance through a pass of the mountains,
keeping parallel with the river, as it roared along,
out of sight, through a deep ravine. Sometimes
their devious path approached the margin of cliffs
below which the river foamed, and boiled, and
whirled among the masses of rock that had fallen
into its channel. As they crept cautiously on,
leading their solitary pack-horse along these giddy
heights, they all at once came to where the river
thundered down a succession of precipices, throw-
ing up clouds of spray, and making a prodigious
din and uproar. The travellers remained, for a
time, gazing with mingled awe and delight, at
this furious cataract, to wliich Mr. Stuart gave,
from the color of the impending rocks, the name
of " The Fiery Narrows."

CHAPTER XLIX.

HE travellers encamped for the night on
the bank^of tlie river below the cata-
ract. The niglit was cold, with partial
showers of rain and sleet. The morning dawned
gloomily, the skies were sullen and overcast, and
threatened further storms ; but the little band re-
sumed their journey, in defiance of the weather.
The increasing rigor of the season, however,
which makes itself felt early in these mountainous
regions, and on these naked and elevated plains,
brought them to a pause, and a serious delibei'a-
tion, after they had descended about thirty miles
further along the course of the river.

All were convinced that it was in vain to at-
tempt to accomplish their journey on foot at this
inclement season. They had still many hundred
miles to traverse before they should reach the
main course of the Missouri, and their route
would lay over immense prairies, naked and
bleak, and destitute of fuel. The question then
was, where to choose their wintering place, and
whether or not to proceed further down the river.
They had at first imagined it to be one of the
head waters, or tributary streams, of the Mis-
souri. Afterwards they had believed it ^o be the

510 ASTORIA.

Rapid, or Qiiicourt River, in wliich opinion they
had not come nearer to the truth ; they now,
however, were persuaded, with equal fallacy, by
its inclining somewhat to tlie north of east, that
it was the Cheyenne. If so, by continuing down
it much further they must arrive among the In-
dians, from whom the river takes its name.
Among these they would be sure to meet some
of the Sioux tribe. These would apprise their
relatives, the piratical Sioux %f the Missouri, of
the approach of a band of white traders ; so that,
in the spring time, they would be likely to be
waylaid and robbed on their way down the river,
by some party in ambush upon its banks.

Even should this prove to be the Quicourt or
Rapid River, it would not be prudent to winter
much further down upon its banks, as, though
they might be out of the range of the Sioux, they
would be in the neigliborhood of the Poncas, a
tribe nearly as dangerous. It was resolved,
therefore, since they must winter somewhere on
this side of the Missouri, to descend no lower,
but to keep up in these solitary regions, where
they would be in no danger of molestation.

They were brought the more promptly and
unanimously to this decision, by coming upon an
excellent wintering place, that promised every-
thing requisite for their comfort. It was on a
fine bend of the river, just below where it
issued out from among a ridge of mountains, and
bent towards the northeast. Here was a beau-
tiful low point of land, covered by cotton-wood,
and surrounded by a thick growth of willow, so

A WINTER IN G PLACE. 511

as to yield both shelter and fuel, as well as ma-
terials for buildiii<^. The river swept by in a
strong current, about a hundred and fifty yards
wide. To the southeast were mountains of mod-
erate height, the nearest about two miles off,
but the whole chain ranging to the east, south,
and southwest, as far as the eye could reach.
Their summits were crowned with extensive
tracts of pitch pine, checkered with small patches
of the quivering aspen. Lower down were thick
forests of firs and red cedars, growing out in
many places from the very fissures of the rocks.
The mountains were broken and precipitous, with
huge bluffs protruding from among the forests.
Their rocky recesses, and beetling cliffs, afforded
retreats to innumerable flocks of the bighorn,
while their woody summits and ravines abounded
with bears and black-tailed deer. These, with
the numerous herds of buffalo that ranged the
lower grounds along the river, promised the
travellers abundant cheer in their winter quar-
ters.

On the 2d of November, therefore, they pitched
their camp for the winter, on the woody point,
and their first thought was to obtain a supply of
provisions. Ben Jones and the two Canadians
accordingly sallied forth, accompanied by two
others of the party, leaving but one to watch
the camp. Their hunting was uncommonly suc-
cessfuL In the course of two days, they killed
thirty-two buffaloes, and collected their meat on
the margin of a small brook, about a mile distant.
Fortunately, a severe frost froze the river, so that

512 ASTORIA.

the meat was easily transported to the encamp-
ment. On a succeeding day, a herd of buffalo
came trampling thi-ough the woody bottom on the
river banks, and fifteen more were killed.

It was soon discovered, however, that there
was game of a more dauo;erous nature in the
neighborhood. On one occasion, Mr. Crooks had
wandered about a mile from the camp, and had
ascended a small hill commanding a view of the
river. He was without his rifle, a rare circum-
stance, for in these wild regions, where one may
put up a wild animal, or a wild Indian, at every
turn, it is customary never to stir from the camp-
fire unarmed. The hill where he stood over-
looked the place where the massacre of the
buflTalo had taken place. As he was looking
around on the prospect, his eye was caught by
an object below, moving directly towards him.
To his dismay, he discovered it to be a grizzly
bear, with two cubs. There was no tree at hand
into which he could climb ; to run, would only
be to provoke pursuit, and he should soon be over-
taken. He threw himself on the ground, there-
fore, and lay motionless, watching the movements
of the animal with intense anxiety. It con-
tinued to advance until at the foot of the hill,
when it turned, and made into the woods, having
probably gorged itself with buffalo flesh. Mr.
Crooks made all haste back to the camp, rejoicing
at his escape, and determining never to stir out
again without his rifle. A few days after this
circumstance, a grizzly bear was shot in the
neighborhood, by Mr. Miller.

COMFORTABLE QUARTERS. 513

As the slaugliter of so many buffuloes had
provided the party with beef for the winter, in
case tliey met with no further supply, they now
set to work, heart and liand, to build a comfort-
able wigwam. In a little while the woody prom-
ontory rang with the unwonted sound of the
axe. Some of its lofty trees were laid low, and*
by the second evening the cabin was complete.
It was eight feet wide, and eighteen feet long.
The walls were six feet high, and the whole
was covered with buffalo skins. The fireplace
was in the centre, and the smoke found its way
out by a hole in the roof.

The hunters were next sent out to procure
deer-skins for garments, moccasins, and other
purposes. They made the mountains echo with
their rifles, and, in the course of two days' hunt-
ing, killed twenty-eight bighorns and black-tailed
deer.

The party now reveled in abundance. After
all that they had suffered from hunger, cold,
fatigue and watchfulness ; after all their perils
from treacherous and savage men, they exulted
in the snugness and security of their isolated
cabin, hidden, as they thought, even from the
pi-ying eyes of Indian scouts, and stored with
creature comforts ; and they looked forward to a
winter of peace and quietness ; of roasting, and
boiling, and broiling, and feasting upon venison,
and mountain mutton, and bear's meat, and mar-
row bones, and buffalo humps, and other hunter's
dainties, and of dozing and reposing round their
flre, and gossiping over past dangers and ad-
33

>14 ASTORIA.

ventures, and telling long hunting stories, until
spring should return ; when they would make
canoes of bulfalo skins and float themselves dowu
the river.

From such halcyon dreams, they were startled
one morning, at daybreak, by a savage yell.
They started up and seized their rifles. ^ The
yell was repeated by two or three voices.
Cautiously peeping out, they beheld, to their dis-
may, several Indian warriors among the trees, all
armed and painted in warlike style ; being evi-
dently bent on some hostile purpose.

Miller changed countenance as he regarded
them. " We are in trouble," said he, " these
are some of the rascally Arapahays that robbed
me last year." Not a word was uttered by the
rest of the party, but they silently slung their
powder horns and ball pouches, and prepared for
battle. M'Lellan, who had taken his gun to
pieces the evening before, put it together in all
haste. He proposed that they should break out
the clay from between the logs, so as to be able
to fire upon the enemy.

" Not yet," replied Stuart ; " it will not do to
show fear or distrust ; we must first hold a par-
ley. Some one must go out and meet them as a
friend."

Who was to undertake the task ! It was full of
peril, as the envoy might be shot down at the
threshold.

" The leader of a party," said Miller, " always
takes the advance."

" Good ! " replied Stuart ; *' I am ready." He

DAN(fERUUS VISITORS. 515

immediately went fortli ; one of tiie Canadians
followed him ; the rest of the party remained
in the garrison, to keep the savages in check.

Stuart advanced holding his rifle in one hand,
ciiid extending the other to the savage that ap-
peared to be the chief. The latter stepped for-
ward and took it ; his men followed his example,
and all shook hands with Stuart, in token of friend-
ship. They now explained their errand. They
were a war party of Arapahay braves. Their
village lay on a stream several days' journey to
the eastward. It had been attacked and ravaged
during their absence, by a band of Crows, who
had carried off several of their women, and most
of their horses. They were in quest of ven-
geance. For sixteen days they had been track-
ing the Crows about the mountains, but had not
yet come upon them. In the meantime, they
had met with scarcely any game, and were half
famished. About two days previously, they had
heard the report of fire-arms among the moun-
tains, and on searching in the direction of the
sound, had come to a place where a deer had been
killed. They had immediately put themselves
upon the track of the hunters, and by following it
up, had arrived at the cabin.

Mr. Stuart now invited the chief and another,
who appeared to be his lieutenant, into the hut,
out made signs that no one else was to enter.
The rest halted at the door ; others came strag-
gling up, until the whole party, to the number
of twenty-three, were gathered before the hut.
They were armed with bows and arrows, toma-

516 ASTORIA.

hawks and scalping knives, and some few vvitli
guns. All were painted and dressed for war,
and had a wild and fierce appearance. Mr. Mil-
ler recognized among them some of the very
fellows who had robbed him in the preceding
year ; and put his comrades upon their guard.
Every man stood ready to resist the first act of
hostility ; the savages, however, conducted them-
selves peaceably, and showed none of that swag-
gering arrogance which a war party is apt to
assume.

On entering the hut the chief and his lieu-
tenant cast a wistful look at the rafters, laden
with venison and buffalo meat. Mr. Stuart
made a merit of necessity, and invited them to
help themselves. They did not wait to be
pressed. The rafters were soon eased of their
burden ; venison and beef were passed out to
the crew before the door, and a scene of gorman-
dizing commenced, of which few can have an
idea, who have not witnessed the gastronomic
powers of an Indian, after an interval of fasting.
This was kept up throughout the day ; they
paused now and then, it is true, for a brief inter-
val, but only to return to the charge with re-
newed ardor. The chief and the lieutenant sur-
passed all the rest in the vigor and perseverance
of their attacks ; as if from their station they
were bound to signalize themselves in all on-
slaughts. Mr. Stuart kept them well supplied
with clioice bits, for it was his policy to over-
feed them, and keep them from leaving the hut,
where they served as hostages for the good con-

INDIAN VORACITY. bil

duct of their followers. Once, only, in the
course of the day, did the chief sally forth. Mr.
Stuart and one of his men accompanied him,
armed with their rifles, but without betraying any
distrust. The chieftain soon returned, and re-
newed his attack upon the larder. In a word, he
and his wortiiy coadjutor, the lieutenant, ate until
they were both stupefied.

Towards evening the Indians made their prep-
arations for the night according to the practice
of war parties. Those outside of the hut threw
up two breastworks, into which they retired at
a tolerably early hour, and slept like overfed
hounds. As to the chief and his lieutenant,
they passed the night in the hut, in the course
of which, they, two or three times, got up to eat.
The travellers took turns, one at a time, to
mount guard until the morning.

Scarce had the day dawned, when the gor-
mandizing was renewed by the whole band, and
carried on with surprising vigor until ten o'clock,
when all prepared to depart. They had six
days' journey yet to make, they said, before they
should come up with the Crows, who, they un-
derstood, were encamped on a river to the north-
ward. Their way lay through a hungry coun-
try where there was no game ; they would, more-
over, have but little time to hunt; they, there-
fore, craved a small supply of provisions for
their journey. Mr. Stuart again invited them
to help themselves. They did so with keen
Torethought, loading themselves with the choicest
parts of the meat, and leaving the late plente-

518 ASTORIA.

Diis larder far gone in a consumption. Their
next request was for a supply of ammunition,
having guns, but no powder and ball. They
promised to pay magnificently out of the spoils
of tlieir foray. " We are poor now," said they,
" and are obliged to go on foot, but we shall soon
come back laden with booty, and all mounted
on horseback, with scalps hanging at our bri-
dles. We will then give each of you a horse to
keep you from being tired on your journey."

" Well," said Mr. Stuart, " when you bring
the horses, you shall have the ammunition, but
not before." The Indians saw by his determined
tone, that all further entreaty would be unavail-
ing, so they desisted, with a good-humored laugh,
and went off exceedingly well freighted, both
within and without, promising to be back again
in the course of a fortnight.

No sooner were tliey out of hearing, than the,
luckless travellers held another council. The se-
curity of their cabin was at an end, and with it
all their dreams of a quiet and cozey winter.
They vv^ere between two fires. On one side
were their old enemies, the Crows ; on the other
side, the Arapahays, no less dangerous freeboot-
ers. As to the moderation of this war party,
they considered it assumed, to put them off their
guard against some more favorable opportunity
for a surprisal. It was determined, therefore,
not to await their return, but to abandon, with
all speed, this dangerous neighborhood. From
the accounts of their recent visitors, they were
led to believe, though erroneously, that they

GOOD nVAHTERS ABANDONED. 519

were upon the Quiconrt, or Rapid River. They
proposed now to keep along it to its confluence
witli the Missouri ; but, should they be pre-
vented by the rigoi-sof the season from proceeding
BO far, at least to reach a part of the river where
they might be able to construct canoes of greater
^strength and durability than those of buffalo
skins.

Accordingly, on the 13th of December, they
bade adieu, with many a regret, to their comfort-
able quarters where for five weeks they had
been indulging the sweets of repose, of plenty,
and of fancied security. They were still accom-
panied by their veteran pack-horse, which the
Arapahays had omitted to steal either because
they intended to steal him on their return, or
because they thought him not worth stealing.

'^^
"#

CHAPTER L.

I HE interval of comfort and repose which
the party had enjoyed in their wigwam,
rendered the renewal of their fatigues
intolerable for the first two or three days. The
snow lay deep, and was slightly frozen on the
surface, but not sufficiently to bear their weight.
Their feet became sore by breaking through the
crust, and their limbs weary by flouudering on
without firm foothold. So exhausted and dis-
pirited were they, that they began to think it
would be better to remain and run the risk of
being killed by the Indians, than to drag on thus
painfully, with the probability of perishing by the
way. Their miserable horse fared no better than
themselves, having for the first day or two no
other fodder than the ends of willow twigs, and
the bark of the cotton-wood tree.

They all, however, appeared to gain patience
and hardihood as they proceeded, and for fourteen
days kept steadily on, making a distance of about
three hundred and thirty miles. For some days,
the range of mountains which had been near to
their wigwam kept parallel to the river at no
great distance, but at length subsided into hills.
Sometimes they found the river bordered with
alluvial bottoms, and groves with cotton-wood and

MISTAKE IN THEIR COURSE. 521

willows ; sometimes the adjacent country was
naked and barren. In one place it ran for a
considerable distance between rocky hills and
promontories covered with cedar and pitch pines,
and peopled with the bighorn and the mountain
deer ; at other places it wandered through praii-ies
well stocked with buffaloes and antelopes. As
they descended the course of the river, they be-
gan to perceive the ash and white oak here and
there among the cotton-wood and willow ; and at
length caught a sight of some wild horses on the
distant prairies.

The weather was various ; at one time the
snow lay deep ; then they had a genial day or
two, with the mildness and serenity of autumn ;
then, again, the frost was so severe that the river
was sufficiently frozen to bear them upon the ice.

Durnig the last three days of their fortnight's
travel, however, the face of the country changed.
The timber gradually diminished, until they could
scarcely find fuel sufficient for culmary purposes.
The game grew more and more scanty, and,
finally, none were to be seen but a few miserable
broken-down buffiilo bulls, not worth killing.
The snow lay fifteen inches deep, and made the
tj'avelling grievously painful and toilsome. At
length they came to an immense j^lain, where no
vestige of timber was to be seen ; nor a single
quadruped to enliven the desolate landscape.
Here, then, their hearts failed them, and they
held another consultation. The width of the
river, which was upwards of a mile, its extreme
Bhallowness, the frequency of quicksands, and

522 ASTORIA.

various other characteristics, had at length made
them sensible of their errors with respect to it,
and they now came to the correct conclusion,
that they were on the banks of the Platte or
Shallow River. What were they to do ? Pur-
sue its course to the Missouri ? To go on at this
season of the yeai' seemed dangerous in the ex-
treme. There was no prospect of obtaining either
food or firing. The country was destitute of
trees, and though there might be drift-wood along
the river, it lay too deep beneath the snow for
them to find it.

The weather was threatening a change, and
a snow-storm on these boundless wastes might
prove as fatal as a whirlwind of sand on an
Arabian desert. After much dreary delibera-
tion, it was at length determined to retrace
their three last days' journey, of seventy-seven
miles, to a place which they had remarked where
there was a shelterhig growth of forest trees,
and a country abundant in game. Here they
would once more set up their winter quarters,
and await the opening of the navigation to launch
themselves in canoes.

Accordingly, on the 27th of December, they
faced about, retraced their steps, and on the
30th, regained the part of the river in question.
Here the alluvial bottom was from one to two
miles wide, and thickly covered with a forest of
cotton-wood trees ; while herds of buffalo were
scattered about the neighboring prairie, several of
irhich soon fell beneath their rifles.

They encamped on the margin of the river, in

SECOND CANTONMENT. 523

a grove where there were trees large enough
for canoes. Here they put up a shed for imme-
diate shelter, and immediately proceeded to erect
a hut. New Year's day dawned when, as yet,
but one wall of their cabin was completed ; the
genial and jovial day, however, was not per-
mitted to pass uncelebrated, even by this weath-
er-beaten crew of wanderers. All work was sus-
pended, except that of roasting and boiling. The
choicest of the buffixlo meat, with tongues, and
humps, and marrow-bones, were devoured in
quantities that would astonish any one that has
not lived among hunters or Indians; and as an
extra regale, having no tobacco left, they cut up
an old tobacco pouch, still redolent with the
potent herb, and smoked it in honor of the day
Thus for a time, in present revelry, however un-
couth, they forgot all past troubles and all anxie-
ties about the future, and their forlorn wigwam
echoed to the sound of gayety.

The next day they resumed their labors, and
by the 6th of the month it was complete. They
soon killed abundance of buffalo, and again laid
in a stock of winter provisions.

The party were more fortunate in this their
second cantonment. The winter passed away
without any Indian visitors, and the game con-
tinued to be plenty in the neighborhood. They
felled two large trees, and shaped them into
canoes ; and, as the spring opened, and a thaw
of several days' continuance melted the ice in the
nver, they made every preparation for embarking.
On the 8th of March they launched forth in their

524 ASTORIA.

canoes, but soon found that the river had not
depth sufficient even for such slender barks. It
expanded into a wide but extremely shallow
stream, with many sand-bars, and occasionally
various channels. They got one of their canoes
a few miles down it, with extreme difficulty,
sometimes wading, and dragging it over the
shoals ; at length they had to abandon the at-
tempt, and to resume their journey on foot, aided
by their faithful old pack-horse, who had recruited
strength during the repose of the winter.

The weather delayed them for a few days,
having suddenly become more rigorous than it
had been at any time during the winter ; but on
the 20 th of March they were again on their
journey.

In two days they arrived at the vast naked
prairie, the wintry aspect of which had caused
them, in December, to pause and turn back. It
was now clothed in the early^ verdure of spring,
and plentifully stocked with game. Still, when
obliged to bivouac on its bare surface, without
any shelter, and by a scanty fire of dry buffalo
dung, they found the night blasts piercing cold.
On one occasion, a herd of buffalo straying near
their evening camp, they killed three of them
merely for their hides, wherewith to make a
shelter for the night.

They continued on for upwards of a himdred
miles ; with vast prairies extending before them
as they advanced ; sometimes diversified by undu-
lating hills, but destitute of trees. In one place
they saw a gang of sixty -five wild horses, but as

PRAIRIE SCENERY ]RKSOME. 52h

to the buffaloes, they seemed absolutely to cover
the country. Wild geese abounded, and they
passed extensive swamps that were alive with
innumerable flocks of water-fowl, among which
were a few swans, but an endless variety of
ducks.

The river continued a winding course to the
east-northeast, nearly a mile in width, but too
shallow to float even an empty canoe. The
country spread out into a vast level plain,
bounded by the horizon alone, excepting to the
north, where a line of hills seemed like a long
promontory stretching into the bosom of the
ocean. The dreary sameness of the prairie wastes
began to grow extremely irksome. The travel-
lers longed for the sight of a forest, or grove, or
single tree, to break the level uniformity, and be-
gan to notice every object that gave reason to
hope they were drawing towards the end of this
weary wilderness. Thus the occurrence of a par-
ticular kind' of grass was hailed as a proof that
they could not be far from the bottoms of the
Missouri ; and they were rejoiced at putting up
several prairie hens, a kind of grouse seldom
found far in the interior. In picking up drift-
wood for fuel, also, they found on some pieces the
mark of an axe, which caused much speculation
as to the time when and the persons by whom
the trees had been felled. Thus they went on,
like sailors at sea, who perceive in every floating
weed and wandering bird, harbingers of the
wished-for land.

By the close of the month the weather became

526 ASTORIA.

very miicl, and, heavily burdened as they were,
they found the noontide temperature uncomfor-
tably warm. On the oOth, they Q^me to three
deserted hunting camps, either of Pawnees or
Ottoes, about which were buffalo skulls in all di-
rections ; and the frames on which the hides had
been stretched and cured. They had apparently
been occupied the preceding autumn.

For several days they kept patiently on, watch-
ing every sign that might give them an idea as to
where they were, and how near to the banks of
the Missouri.

Though there were numerous traces of hunting
parties and encampments, they were not of recent
date. Tlie country seemed deserted. The only
human beings they met with were three Pawnee
squaws, in a hut in the midst of a deserted camp.
Their people had all gone to the south, in pursuit
of the buifalo, and had left these poor women be-
hind, being too sick and infirm to travel.

It is a common practice with the Pawnees, and
probably with other roving tril>es, when departing
on a distant expedition, which will not admit of
incumbrance or delay, to leave their aged and in-
firm with a supply of provisions sufficient for a
temporary subsistence. When this is exhausted,
they must perish ; though sometimes their suffer-
ings are abridged by hostile prowlers who may
visit the deserted camp.

The poor squaws in question expected some
such faie at the hands of the white strangers, and
though the latter accosted them in the kindest
manner, and made them presents of dried buffalo

NEWS FROM THE STATES. Irli

meat, it was impossible to soothe their alarm, or
get any information from them.

The first landmark by which the travellers
were enabled to conjecture their position with any
degree of confidence, was an island about seventy
miles in length, which they presumed to be Grand
Isle. If so, they were within one hundred and
forty miles of the Missouri. They kept on,
therefore, with renewed spirit, and at the end of
three days met with an Otto Indian, by whom
they were confirmed in their conjecture. They
learnt at the same time another piece of informa-
tion, of an uncomfortable nature. According to
his account, there was war between the United
States and England, and in fact it had existed for
a whole year, durhig which time they had been
beyond the reach of all knowledge of the affairs
of the civilized world.

The Otto conducted the travellers to his village,
situated a short distance from the banks of the
Platte. Here they were delighted to meet with
two white men, Messi's. Dornin and Roi, Indian
traders recently from St. Louis. Of these they
had a thousand inquiries to make concerning all
afiiiirs, foreign and domestic, during their year of
sepulture in the wilderness ; and especially about
the events of the existing war.

They now prepared to abandon their weary
travel by land, and to embark upon the water.
A bargain was made with Mr. Dornin, who en-
gaged to furnish them with a canoe and provisions
for the voyage, in exchange for their venerable
and well-tried fellow traveller, the old Snake
horse.

528 ASTORIA.

Accordingly, in a couple of days, the Indians
emi)loyed by that gentleman constructed for them
a canoe twenty feet long, four feet wide, and
eighteen inches deep. The frame was of poles
and willow twigs, on which were stretched five
elk and buffalo hides, sewed together with sinews,
and the seams payed with unctuous mud. In this
they embarked at an early hour on the 16th of
April, and drifted down ten miles with the stream,
when the wind being high they encamped, and
set to work to make oars, which they had not
been able to procure at the Indian village.

Once more afloat, they went merrily down the
stream, and after making thirty -five miles, emerged
into the broad turbid current of the Missouri.
Here they were borne along briskly by the rapid
stream ; though, by the time their fragile bark had
floated a couple of hundred miles, its frame began
to show the effects of the voyage. Luckily they
came to the deserted wintering place of some
hunting party, where they found two old wooden
canoes. Taking possession of the largest, they
again committed themselves to the current, and
after dropping down fifty -five miles further, arrived
safely at Fort Osage.

Here they found Lieutenant Brownson still in
command ; the officer who had given the expe-
dition a hospitable reception on its way up the
river, eighteen months previously. He received
this remnant of the party with a cordial welcome,
and endeavored in every way to promote their
comfort and enjoyment during their sojourn at the
fort. The greatest luxury they met with on their

BACK TO CIVILTZATION. 529

return to the abode of civilized man, was bread,
n(^t having tasted any for nearly a year.

Their stay at Fort Osage was but short. On
reembarking they were furnished with an ample
supply of provisions by the kindness of Lieuten«
ant Brownson, and j^erformed the rest of their
voyage without adverse circumstance- On the
30th of April they arrived in perfect health and
line spirits at St. Louis, having been ten months
in performing this perilous expedition from As-
toria. Their return caused quite a sensation at
the place, bringing the first intelligence of the
fortune of Mr. Hunt and his party, in their ad-
venturous route across the Rocky Mountains, and
of the new establishment on the shores of the
Pacific.

34

CHAPTER LI.

T is now necessary, in linking together
the parts of this excursive narrative,
that we notice the proceedings of Mr.
Astor in support of his great undertaking. His
project with respect to the Russian establishments
along the northwest coast had been diligently
prosecuted. The agent sent bj him to St. Peters-
burgh, to negotiate in his name as president of
the Ameriean Fur, Company, had, under sanction
of the Russian governmei>t, made a provisional
agreement with the Russian company.

By this agreement, which was ratified by Mr.
Astor in 1813, the two cf>mpanies bound them-
selves not to ititerfere with each other's trading
and huntiiig grounds, nor to furnish arms and am-
munitioii to the Iiidians. They were to act in
concert, also, against all interlopers, and to succor
each other in case of danger. The American
company was to have the exclusive right of sup-
plying the Russian posts with goods and neces-
saries, receiving p>eltries in payment at stated
prices. They were, also, if so requested by the
Russian governor, to convey the furs of the Rus-
sian company to Canton, sell them on commission,
and bring back the proceeds, at such freight as
might be agreed on at the time. This agreement

DRIGHl ANTICIPATIONS CLOUDED. 531

was to continue in operation four years, and to
be renewable for a similar term, unless some un-
foreseen contingency should render a modification
necessary.

It was calculated to be of great service to the
infant establishment at Astoria ; dispelling the
fears of hostile rivalry on the part of the foreign
companies in its neighborhood, and giving a formi-
dable blow to the irreijular trade alono- the coast.
It was also the intention of Mr. As tor to have
coasting vessels of his own, at Astoria, of small
tonnage and draft of water, fitted for coasting
service. These, having a place of shelter and
deposit, could ply about the coast in short voyages,
in favorable weather, and would have vast ad-
vantage over chance sliips, whicii must make long
voyages, maintain numerous crews, and could only
approach the coast at certain seasons of the year.
He hoped, therefore, gradually to make Astoria
the great emporium of the American fur trade
in the Pacific, and the nucleus of a powerful
American state. Unfortunately for these sanguine
anticipations, before Mr. Astor had ratified the
agreement, as above stated, war broke out between
the United States and great Britain. He per-
ceived at once the peril of the case. The harbor
of New York would doubtless be blockaded, and
the departure of the annual supply ship in the
autumn prevented; or, if she should succeed in
getting out to sea, she miglit be captured on hei
voyage.

In this emergency, he wrote to Captain Sowle,
commander of the Beaver. The letter, which

532 ASTOiUA.

was addressed to him at Canton, directed him to
proceed to the factory at the mouth of the Co-
lumbia, witli such articles as the establishment
might need ; and to remain there, subject to the
orders of Mr. Hunt, should that gentleman be in
command there.

The war continued. No tidings had yet been
received from Astoria ; the dispatches having been
delayed by the misadventure of Mr. Reed at the
falls of the Columbia, and the unhorsing of Mr.
Stuart by the Crows among the mountains. A
painful uncertainty, also, prevailed about Mr. Hunt
and his party. Nothing had been heard of them
since their departure from the Arickara village ;
Lisa, who parted from them there, had predicted
their destruction ; and some of the traders of the
Northwest Company had actually spread a rumor
of their having been cut off by the Indians.

It was a hard trial of the courage and means
of an individual to have to fit out another costly
expedition, where so much had already been ex-
pended, so much uncertainty prevailed, and where
the risk of loss was so greatly enhanced, that no
insurance could be effected.

In spite of all these discouragements, Mr.
Astor determined to send another ship to the re-
lief of the settlement. He selected for this pur-
pose a vessel called the Lark, remarkable for her
fast sailing. The disordered state of the times,
however, caused such a delay, that February ar-
rived, while the vessel was yet lingering in port.

At this juncture, Mr. Astor learnt that the
Northwest Company were preparing to send out

GOVERN MEN 2- AID INVOKED. 533

nil armed ship of twenty guns, called the Isaac
Todd, to form an establishment at the mouth of
the Columbia. These tidings gave him great un-
easiness. A considerable proportion of the persons
in his employ were Scotchmen and Canadians,
and several of them had been in the service of
the Northwest Company. Should Mr. Hunt have
failed to arrive at Astoria, the whole establish-
ment would be under the control of Mr. M'Dougal,
of whose fidelity he had received very disparaging
accounts from Captain Thorn. The British gov-
ernment, also, might deem it worth while to send
a force against the establishment, having been
urged to do so some time previously by the
Northwest Company.

Under all these circumstances, Mr. Astor wrote
to Mr. Monroe, then secretary of state, requesting
protection from the government of the United
States. He represented the importance of his
settlement, in a commercial point of view, and
the shelter it might afford to the American vessels
in those seas. All he asked was that the Amer-
ican gov^ernment would throw forty or fifty men
into the fort at his establishment, which would be
sufficient for its defense until he could send rein-
forcements over land.

He waited in vain for a reply to this letter,
the government, no doubt, being engrossed at the
time by an overwhelming crowd of affairs. The
Oionth of March arrived, and the Lark was ordered
by Mr. Astor to put to sea. The officer who was
k> command her, shrunk fiom his engagement, and
'<n [he exigency of the moment, she was given la

53 1 ASTORIA.

clinrge to Mi-. Northrop, the mate. Mr. Nicholas
G. Ooden, a gentleman on whose talents and in-
tegrity the highest reliance could be placed, sailed
as supercargo. The Lark put to sea in the
beginning of March, 1813.

By this opportunity, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr.
Hunt, as head of the establishment at the mouth
of the Columbia, for he would not allow himself
to doubt of his welfare. "I always think you
are well," said he, " and that I shall see you again,
which Heaven, I hope, will grant."

He warned him to be on his guard against
any attempts to surprise the post; suggesting the
probability of armed hostility on the part of the
Northwest Company, and expressing his indig-
nation at the ungrateful returns made by that as-
sociation for his frank and open conduct, and ad-
vantageous overtures. " Were I on the spot,"
said he, " and had the management of affairs, I
would defy them all ; but. as it is, everything de-
pends upon you and your friends about you. Our
enterprise is grand, and deserves success, and I hope
in God it will meet it. If my object was merely
gain of money, I should say, think whether it is
best to save what we can, and abandon the place ;
but the very idea is like a dagger to my heart''
This extract is sufficient to show the spirit an'd
the views which actuated Mr. Astor in this great
undertaking.

Week after week and month after month elapsed,
without anything to dispel the painful incertitude
that hung over every part of this enterprise.
Though a man of resolute spirit, and not easily

A GLEAM OF SUNSrTfNE. 535

cast down, the dangers impending over this dar-
ling scheme of his ambition, had a gradual effect
upon the spirits of Mr. Astor. He was sitting
one gloomy evening by his window, revolvitig
over the loss of the Tonquin and the fate of her
unfortunate crew, and fearing that some equally
tragical calamity might have befallen the ad-
venturers across the mountains, when the evening
newspaper was brought to him. The first para-
graph that caught his eye, announced the arrival
of Mr. Stuart and his party at St. Louis, with
intelligence that Mr. Hunt and his companions
had effected their perilous expedition to the mouth
of the Columbia. This was a gleam of sunshine
that for a time dispelled every cloud, and he now
looked forward with sanguine hope to the ac-
complishment of all his plans.

CHAPTER LII.

[^g^^HE course of our narrative now takes
^^9^1 "^ ^'^ck to the regions beyond the
ll^aafell mountains, to dispose of the parties
tluit set out from Astoria, in company with Mr.
Robert Stuart, and whom he left on the banks
of the Wallah-Wallah. Those parties likewise
separated from each other shortly after his de-
parture, proceeding to their respective destina-
tions, but agreeing to meet at the mouth of the
Wallah-Wallah about the beginning of June in
the following year, with sucii peltries as they
should have collected in the interior, so as to con-
voy each other through the dangerous passes of
the Columbia.

Mr. David Stuart, one of the partners, pro-
ceeded with his men to the post already estab-
lished by him at the mouth of the Oakinagan ;
having furnished this with goods and ammunition,
he proceeded three hundred miles up that river,
where he established another post in a good trad-
ing neighborhood.

Mr. Clarke, another partner, conducted his
little band up Lewis River to the mouth of a
small stream coming in froili the north, to which
the Canadians gave the name of the Pavion.
Here he found a village or encampment of forty

MR. CLARKE'S DESTINATION. 537

huts or tents, covered with mats, and inhabited
by Nez Perces^ or Pierced-nose Indians, as they
are called by the traders ; but Chipunnish, as
they are called by themselves. They are a
hardy, laborious, and somewhat knavish race,
who lead a precarious life, fishing and digging
roots during the summer and autumn, hunting
the deer on snow-shoes during the winter, and
traversing the Rocky Mountains in the spring, to
trade for buffalo skins with the hunting tribes
of the Missouri. In these migrations they are
liable to be waylaid and attacked by the Black-
feet, and other warlike and predatory tribes, and
driven back across the mountains with the loss
of their horses, and of many of their comrades.

A life of this unsettled and precarious kind is
apt to render man selfish, and such Mr. Clarke
found the inhabitants of this village, who were
deficient in the usual hospitality of Indians ;
parting with everything with extreme reluctance,
and siiowing no sensibility to any act of kind-
ness. At the time of his an-ival, they were all
occupied in catching and curing salmon. The
men were stout, robust, active, and good looking,
and the women handsomer than those of the tribes
nearer to the coast.

It was the plan of Mr. Clarke to lay up his
boats here, and proceed by land to his place of
destination, which was among the Spokan tribe
of Indians, about a hundred and fifty miles dis-
tant. He accordingly endeavored to purchase
horses for the journey, but in this he had to con-
lend with the sordid disposition of these people.

538 ASTORIA.

They asked high prices for their horses, and were
so difficult to deal with, that Mr. Clarke was de-
tained seven days among them, before he could
procure a sufficient number. During that time
he was annoyed by repeated pilferings, for which
he could get no redress. The chief promised to
recover the stolen articles ; but failed to do so,
alleging that the thieves belonged to a distant
tribe, and had made off with their booty. With
this excuse Mr. Clarke was fain to content him-
self, though he laid up in his heart a bitter grudge
against the whole Pierced-nose race which it will
be found he took occasion subsequently to gratify
in a signal manner.

Having made arrangements for his departure,
Mr. Clarke laid up his barge and canoes in a
sheltered place, on the banks of a small bay.
overgrown with shrubs and willows, confiding
them to the care of the Nez Perce chief, who,
on being promised an ample compensation, en-
gaged to have a guardian eye upon them ; then
mounting his steed, and putting himself at the
head of his little caravan, he shook the dust off
his feet as he turned his back upon this village
of rogues and hard dealers. We shall not fol-
low him minutely in his journey ; which lay at
times over steep and rocky hills, and among
crags and precipices ; at other times over vast
naked and sunburnt plains, abounding with rat-
tlesnakes, in traversing which, both men and
horses suffered intolerably from heat and thirst.
The place on which he fixed for a trading post,
was a fine point of land, at the junction of the

MR. WKENZTE'S POST. 539

Pointed Heart and Spokan Rivers. His estab-
lishment was intended to compete with a trading
post of the Nortliwest Company, situated at no
great distance, and to rival it in the trade with
the Spokan Indians ; as well as with the Cooto-
nais and Flatheads. In this neighborhood we
shall leave him for the present.

Mr. M'Kenzie, who conducted the third party
from the Wallah-Wallah, navigated for several
days up the south branch of the Columbia,
named the Camoenum by the natives, but com-
monly called Lewis River, in honor of the first
explorer. Wandering bands of various tribes
wei-e seen along this river, travelling in various
directions ; for the Indians generally are restless,
roving beings, continually intent on enterprises
of war, traffic, and hunting. Some of these
people were driving large gangs of horses, as if
to a distant market. Having arrived at the
mouth of the Shahaptan, he ascended some dis-
tance up that river, and established his trading
post upon its banks. This appeared to be a
great thoroughfare for the tribes from the neigh-
borhood of the Falls of the Columbia, in their
expeditions to make war upon the tribes of the
Rocky Mountains ; to hunt buffido on the plains
beyond, or to traffic for roots and buffiilo robes.
It was the season of migration, and the Indians
from various distant parts were passing and re-
passing in gi-eat numbers.

Mr. M'Kenzie now detached a small band,
mder the conduct of Mr. John Reed, to visit
the caches made by Mr. Hu'it at the Caldron

540 AisroRiA.

Linn, and to bring the contents to his post ; aa
he depended, in some measure, on them for his
supplies of goods and ammunition. They had
not been gone a week, when two Indians ar-
rived of the Palhitapalla tribe, who live upon a
river of the S'lme name. These communicated
the unwelcome intelligence that the caches had
been robbed. They said that some of their tribe
had, in the coui'se of the preceding spring, been
across the mountains, which separated them from
Snake River, and had traded horses with the
Snakes in exchange for blankets, robes, and goods
of various descriptions. These articles the Snakes
had procured from caches to which they were
guided by some white men who resided among
them, and who afterwards accompanied them
across the Rocky Mountains. This intelligence
was extremely perplexing to Mr. M'Kenzie, but
the truth of part of it was confirmed by the two
Indians, who brought them an English saddle
and bridle, which was I'ecognized as having be-
longed to Mr. Crooks. The perfidy of the white
men who revealed the secret of the caches, was,
however, perfectly inexplicable. We shall pres-
ently account for it in narrating the expedition
of Mr. Reed.

That worthy Hibernian proceeded on his mis-
sion with his usual alacrity. His forlorn trav-
els of the preceding winter had made him ac-
quainted with the topography of the country,
and he reached Snake River without any mate-
rial difficulty. Here, in an encampment of the
natives, lie met with six white men, wanderers

ROBBERY OF THE CACHES. 541

from the main expedition of Mr. Hunt, who,
after having had their respective shares of ad-
ventures and mishaps, had fortunately come to-
gether at this phice. Three of these men were
Turcotte, La Chapelle, and Francis Landry ;
the three Canadian voyageurs who, it may be
recollected, had left Mr. Crooks in February, in
the neighborhood of Snake River, being dis-
mayed by the increasing hardships of the jour-
ney, and fearful of perishing of hunger. They
had returned to a Snake encampment, where
they passed the residue of the winter.

Early in the spring, being utterly destitute,
and in great extremity, and having worn out
the hospitality of the Snakes, they determined
to avail themselves of the buried treasures within
their knowledge. They accordingly informed
the Snake chieftains that they knew where a
great quantity of goods had been left in caches,
enough to enrich the whole tribe ; and offered to
conduct them to the place, on condition of being
rewarded with horses and provisions. The chief-
tains pledged their faith and honor as great men
and Snakes, and the three Canadians conducted
them to the place of deposit at the Caldron Linn.
This is the way that the savages got knowledge
of the caches, and not by following the tracks of
wolves, as Mr. Stuart had supposed. Never did
money diggers turn up a miser's hoard with
more eager delight, than did the savagea lay
open the treasures of the caches. Blankets and
robes, brass trinkets and blue beads were drawn
forth with chuckling exultation, and long strips
of scarlet cloth produced yells of ecstasy.

542 ASTORIA.

The rifling of the caches effected a change in
the fortunes and deportment of the whole party.
The Snakes were better clad and equipped than
ever were Snakes before, and the three Cana-
dians, sudderdy finding themselves with horse to
ride and weapon to wear, were, like beggars on
horseback, ready to ride on any wild scampei".
An opportunity soon presented. The Snakes de-
termined on a hunting match on tlie buffalo prai-
ries, to lay in a supply of beef, that they migiit
live in plenty, as became men of their improved
condition. The three newly mounted cavaliei-s
must fain accompany them. They all traversed
the Rocky Mountains in safety, descended to tlie
head waters of the Missouri, and made great
havoc among the buffaloes.

Their hunting camp was full of meat ; they
were gorging themselves, like true Indians, with
present plenty, and drying and jerking great
quantities for a winter's supply. In the midst of
their revelry and good cheer, the camp was sur-
prised by the Blackfeet. Several of the Snakes
were slain on the spot ; the residue, with their
three Canadian allies, fled to the mountains,
stripped of horses, buffalo meat, everything ; and
made their way back to the old encampment on
Snake River, poorer than ever, but esteeming
themselves fortunate in having escaped with their
lives. They had not been long there when the
Canadians were cheered by the sight of a com-
panion in misfortune, Dubreuil, the poor voyageur
who had left Mr. Crooks in March, being too
much exhausted to keep on with him. Not long

A GATHERING OF STRAGGLERS. 543

afterwards, three other straggling members of the
mam expedition made their appearance. These
were Carson, St. Michael, and Pierre Delaunay,
three of the trappers who, in company with
Pierre Detaye, had been left among the moun-
tains by Mr. Hunt, to trap beaver, in the preced-
ing month of September. They had departed
from the main body well armed and provided,
with horses to ride, and horses to carry the peltries
they were to collect. They came wandering into
the Snake camp as ragged and destitute as their,
predecessors. It appears that they had finished
their trapping, and were making their way in the
spring to the Missouri, when they were met and
attacked by a powerful band of the all-pervading
Crows. They made a desperate resistance, and
killed seven of the savages, but were overpowered
by numbers. Pierre Detaye was slain, the rest
were robbed of horses and effects, and obliged to
turn back, when they fell in with their old com-
panions, as already mentioned.

We should observe, that at the heels of Pierre
Delaunay came draggling an Indian wife, whom
he had picked up in his wanderings ; having
grown weary of celibacy among the savages.

The whole seven of this forlorn fraternity of
adventurers, thus accidently congregated on the
banks of Snake River, were making arrangements
once more to cross the, mountains, when some
Indian scouts brought word of the approach of
the little band headed by John Reed.

The latter, having heard the several stories ot
these wanderers, took them all into his party, and

544 ASTORIA.^

set out for the Caldron Linn, to clear out two or
three of the caches which had not been revealed
to the Indians.

At that place he met with Robinson, the Ken-
tucky veteran, who, with his two comrades,
Rezner and Hoback, had remained there when
Mr. Stuart went on. This adventurous trio had
been trapping higher up the river, but Robinson
had come down in a canoe, to await the expected
arrival of the party, and obtain horses and equip-
ments. He told Reed the story of the robbery
of his party by the Arapahays, but it differed, in
some particulars, from the account given by him
to Mr. Stuart. In that, he had represented Cass
as having shamefully deserted his companions in
their extremity, carrying off with him a horse ;
in the one now given, he spoke of him as having
been killed in the affray with the Arapahays.
This discrepancy, of which, of course. Reed could
have had no knowledge at the time, concurred
with other circumstances, to occasion afterwards
some mysterious speculations and dark surmises
as to the real fate of Cass ; but as no substantial
grounds were ever adduced for them, we forbear
to throw any deeper shades into this story of suf-
ferings in the wilderness.

Mr. Reed, having gathered the remainder of the
goods from the caches, put himself at the head
of his party, now augmented by the seven men
thus casually picked up, and the squaw of Pierre
Delaunay, and made his way successfully to
M'Kenzie'«i Post, on the waters of the Shahaptan.

CHAPTER LIIL

"FTER the departure of the difFerent
detachments, or brigades, as they are
called by the fur traders, the Beaver
prepared for her voyage along the coast, and her
visit to the Russian establishment, at New Arch-
angel, where she was to carry supplies. It had
been determined in the council of partners at
Astoria, that Mr. Hunt should embark in this
vessel, for the purpose of acquainting himself
with the coasting trade, and of making arrange-
ments with the commander of the Russian post,
and that he should be relanded in October, at
Astoria, by the Beaver, on her way to the Sand-
wich Islands and Canton.

The Beaver put to sea in the month of August.
Her departure, and that of the various brigades,
left the fortress of Astoria but slightly garrisoned.
This was soon perceived by some of the Indian
tribes, and the consequence was, increased inso-
lence of deportment, and a disposition to hostility.
It was now the fishing season, when the tribes
from the northern coast drew into the neighbor-
hood of the Columbia. These were warlike and
perfidious in their dispositions ; and noted for
their attempts to surprise trading ships. Among
them were numbers of the Neweetees, the fero-

35

546 ASTORIA.

cious tribe tliat massacred the crew of the Ton-
quin.

Great precautions, therefore, were taken at the
factory, to guard against surprise while these
dangerous intruders were in the vicinity. Gal-
leries were constructed inside of the palisades ;
the bastions were heightened, and sentinels were
posted day and night. Fortunately, the Chinooks
and other tribes resident in the vicinity manifested
the most pacific disposition. Old Comcomly, who
held sway over them, was a shrewd calculator.
He was aware of the advantages of having: the
whites as neighbors and allies, and of the con-
sequence derived to himself and his people from
acting as intermediate traders between them and
the distant tribes. He had, therefore, by this
time, become a firm friend of the Astorians, and
formed a kind of barrier between them and the
hostile intruders from the north.

The summer of 1812 passed away without any
of the hostilities that had been apprehended ; the
Neweetees, and other dangerous visitors to the
neighborhood, finished their fishing and returned
home, and the inmates of the factory once more
felt secure from attack.

It now became necessary to guard against
other evils. The season of scarcity arrived, which
commences in October, and lasts until the end of
January. To provide for the support of the gar-
rison, the shallop was employed to forage aboui
the shores of the river. A number of the men,
also, under the command of some of the clerks,
were sent to quarter themselves on the banks of

GLOOMY APPREHENSIONS. 547

the Wollamut (the Multnomah of Lewis and
Clark), a fine river which disembognes itself into
the Columbia, about sixty miles above Astoria.
The country bordering on the river is finely diver-
sified with prairies and hills, and forests of oak,
ash, maple and cedar. It abounded, at that
time, with elk and deer, and the streams were
well stocked with beaver. Here the party, after
supplying their own wants, were enabled to pack
up quantities of dried meat, and send it by canoes
to Astoria.

The month of October elapsed without the
return of the Beaver. November, December,
January, passed away, and still nothing was seen
or heard of her. Gloomy apprehensions now
began to be entertained : she might have been
wrecked in the course of her coasting voyage, or
surprised, like the Tonquin, by some of the treach-
erous tribes of the north.

No one indulged more in these apprehensions
than M'Dougal, who had now the charge of the
establishment. He no longer evinced the bus-
tling confidence and buoyancy which once charac-
terized him. Command seemed to have lost its
charms for him, or rather, he gave way to the
most abject despondency, decrying the whole en-
terprise, magnifying every untoward circumstance,
and foreboding nothing but evil.

While in this moody state, he was surprised,
on the 16th of January, by the sudden appear-
ance of M'Kenzie, wayworn and weather-beaten
oy a long wintry journey from his post on the
Shahaptan, and with a face the very frontispiece

548 ASTORTA.

for a volume of misfortune. M'Kenzie had been
heartily disgusted and disappointed at his post.
It was in the midst of thq Tushepaws, a powerful
and warlike nation, divided into many tribes, under
different chiefs, who possessed innumerable horses,
but, not having turned their attention to beaver
trapping, had no furs to offer. According to
M'Kenzie, they were but a " rascally tribe ; " from
which we may infer that they were prone to con-
sult their own interests, more than comported
with the interests of a greedy Indian trader.

Game being scarce, he was obliged to rely, for
the most part, on horse-flesh for subsistence, and
the Indians discovering his necessities, adopted a
policy usual in civilized trade, and raised the
price of horses to an exorbitant rate, knowing
that he and his men must eat or die. In this
way, the goods he had brought to trade for beaver-
skins, were likely to be bartered for horse-flesh,
and all the proceeds devoured upon the spot.

He had dispatched trappers in various direc-
tions, but the country around did not offer more
beaver than his own station. In this emer-
gency he began to think of abandoning his un-
profitable post, sending his goods to the posts of
Clarke and David Stuart, who could make a
better use of them, as they were in a good beaver
country, and returning with his party to Astoria,
to seek some better destination. With this view
he repaired to the post of Mr. Clarke, to hold a
consultation. While the two partners were in
conference in Mr. Clarke's wigwam, an unexpected
visitor canle bustling in upon them.

A RASH BESOLUTION. 519

This was Mr. John George M'Tavish, a part-
ner of the Northwest Company, who had charge
of the rival trading posts established in that
neighborhood. Mr. M'Tavish was the delis^hted
messenger of bad news. He had been to Lake
Winnipeg, where he received an express from
Canada, containing the declaration of war, and
President Madison's proclamation, which he hand-
ed with the most officious complaisance to Messrs.
Clarke and M'Kenzie. He moreover told them
that he had received a fresh supply of goods from
the Northwest posts on the other side of the
Rocky Mountains, and was prepared for vigorous
opposition to the establishment of the American
Company. He capped the climax of this oblig-
ing, but belligerent intelligence, by informing
them that the armed ship, Isaac Todd, was to be
at the mouth of the Columbia about the bemn-

o

ning of March, to get possession of the trade of
the river, and that he was ordered to join her
there at that time.

The receipt of this news determined M'Kenzie.
He immediately returned to the Shahaptan, broke
up his establishment, deposited his goods in caches
and hastened with all his people to Astoria.

The intelligence thus brought, completed the
dismay of M'Dougal, and seemed to produce a
complete confusion of mind. He held a council
of war with M'Kenzie, at which some of the
elerks were present, but of course had no votes.
They gave up all hope of maintaining their post
at Astoria. The Beaver had probably been lost ;
they could receive no aid from the United States,

550 ASTORIA.

as all the ports would be blockaded. From Eng-
land nothing could be expected but hostility. It
was determined therefore, to abandon the estab-
lishment in the course of the following spring,
and return across the Rocky Mountains.

In pursuance of this resolution, they suspended
all trade with the natives, except for provisions,
having already more peltries than they could
carry away, and having need of all the goods for
the clothing and subsistence of their people, dur-
ing the remainder of their sojourn, and on their
journey across the mountains. This intention of
abandoning Astoria was, however, kept secret
from the men, lest they should at once give up
all labor, and become restless and insubordinate.

In the meantime, M'Kenzie set off for his post
at the Shahaptan, to get his goods from the
caches, and buy horses and provisions with them
for the caravan across the mountains. He was
charged with dispatches from M'Dougal to Messrs.
Stuart and Clarke, apprising them of the intended
migration, that they might make timely prepara-
tions.

M'Kenzie was accompanied by two of the
clerks, Mr. John Reed, the Irishman, and Mr.
Alfred Seton, of New York. They embarked in
two canoes, manned by seventeen men, and as-
cended the river without any incident of import-
ance, until they arrived in the eventful neighbor-
hood of the rapids. They made the portage of the
narrows and the falls early in the afternoon, and,
saving partaken of a scanty meal, had now a long
evening on their hands.

A DKN OF RUFFIANS. 551

On tlie opposite side of the river lay the
village of Wish-ram, of freebooting renown.
Here lived the savages who had robbed and mal-
treated Reed, when bearing his tin box of dis-
patches. It was known that the rifle of which
lie was despoiled was retained as a trophy at the
village. M'Kenzie offered to cross the river, and
demand the rifle, if any one would accompany
him. It was a hare-brained project, for these
villages were noted for the ruffian character of
their inhabitants ; yet two volunteers promptly
stepped forward ; Alfred Seton, the clerk, and
Joe de la Pierre, the cook. The trio soon
reached the opposite side of the river. On land-
ing, they freshly primed their rifles and pistols.
A path winding for about a hundred yards among
rocks and crags, led to the village. No notice
seemed to be taken of their approach. Not a
solitary being, man, woman, or child, greeted them.
The very dogs, those noisy pests of an Indian
town, kept silence. On entering the village, a
boy made his appearance, and pointed to a house
of larger dimensions than the rest. They had to
stoop to enter it ; as soon as they had passed the
threshold, the narrow passage behind them was
filled up by a sudden rush of Indians, who had
before kept out of sight.

M'Kenzie and his companions found them-
selves in a rude chamber of about twenty-five
feet long, and twenty wide. A bright fire was
blazing at one end, near which sat the chief,
about sixty years old. A large number of In-
iians, wrapped in buffalo robes, were squatted in

552 AS TOE. A.

rows, three deep, forming a semicircle round three
sides of the room. A single glance around suf-
ficed to show them the grim and dangerous as-
sembly into which they had intruded, and that
all retreat was cut off by the mass which blocked
up the entrance.

The chief pointed to the vacant side of the
room opposite to the door, and motioned foi
them to take their seats. They complied. A
dead pause ensued. The grim warriors around
sat like statues ; each muffled in liis robe, with
his fierce eyes bent on the intruders. The lat-
ter felt they were in a perilous predicament

" Keep your eyes on the chief while I am ad-
dressing him," said M'Kenzie to his companions.
" Should he give any sign to his band, shoot him,
and make for the door."

M'Kenzie advanced, and offered the pipe of
peace to the chief, but it was refused. He then
made a regular speech, explaining the object of
their visit, and proposing to give in exchange for
the rifle two blankets, an axe, some beads and
tobacco.

When he had done, the chief rose, began to
address him in a low voice, but soon became loud
and violent, and ended by working himself up
into a furious passion. He upbraided the white
men for their sordid conduct in passing and re-
passing through their neighborhood, without giv-
ing them a blanket or any other article of goods,
merely because they had no furs to barter in
exchange, and he alluded, with menaces of ven-
geance, to the death of the Indian killed by the
whites in tlie skirmish at the falls.

MEETING WITH NORTHWESTERS. 553

Matters were verging to a crisis. It was
evident tlie surrounding savages were only wait-
ing a signal from the chief to spring upon their
prey. M'Kenzie and his companions had grad-
ually risen on their feet during the speech, and
had brought their rifles to a horizontal position,
the barrels resting in their left hands ; the muz-
zle of M'Kenzie's piece was within three feet of
the speaker's heart. They cocked their rifles;
the click of the locks for a moment suffused the
dark cheek of the savage, and there was a pause.
They coolly, but promptly, advanced to the door ;
the Indians fell back in awe, and suffered them
to pass. The sun was just setting, as they
emerged from this dangerous den. They took
the precaution to keep along the tops of the
rocks as much as possible on their way back to
the canoe, and reached their camp in safety, con-
gratulating themselves on their escape, and feel-
ing no desire to make a second visit to the grim
warriors of Wish-ram.

M'Kenzie and his party resumed their journey
the next morning. At some distance above the
falls of the Columbia, they observed two bark
canoes, filled .with white men, coming down the
river, to the full chant of a set of Canadian voy-
ageurs. A parley ensued. It was a detachment
of Northwesters, under the command of Mr. .John
George M'Tavish, bound, full of song and spirit,
to the mouth of the Columbia, to await the ar-
rival of the Isaac Todd.

Mr. M'Kenzie and M'Tavish came to a halt,
and landing, encamped together for the night.

554 ASTORIA.

The voyageurs of either party hailed each other
as brothers, and old " comrades," and they
mingled together as if united by one common
interest, instead of belonging to rival companies,
and trading under hostile flags.

In the morning they proceeded on their dif-
ferent ways, in style corresponding to their dif-
ferent fortunes : the one toiling painfully against
the stream, the other sweeping down gayly with
the current.

M'Kenzie arrived safely at his deserted post
on the Shahaptan, but found, to his chagrin, that
his caches had been discovered and rifled by the
Indians. Here was a dilemma, for on the stolen
goods he had depended to purchase horses of the
Indians. He sent out men in all directions to
endeavor to discover the thieves, and dispatched
Mr. Reed to the posts of Messrs. Clarke and
David Stuart, with the letters of Mr. M'Dougal.

The resolution announced in these letters, to
break up and depart from Astoria, was con-
demned by both Clarke and Stuart. These two
gentlemen had been very successful at their posts,
and considered it rash and pusillanimous to
abandon, on the first difliculty, an enterprise of
:?uch great cost and ample promise. They made
no arrangements, therefore, for leaving the coun-
try, but acted with a view to the maintenance of
their new and prosperous establishments.

The regular time approached, when the part-
ners of the interior posts were to rendezvous at
the mouth of the Wallah- Wallah, on their way
to Astoria, with the peltries they had collected.

THEFT OF THE CUP. 555

Mr. Clarke accordingly packed all his furs on
twenty-eight horses, and, leaving a clerk and four
men to take charge of the post, departed on the
25th of May with the residue of his force.

On the oOth, he arrived at the confluence of
the Pavion and Lewis rivers, where he had left
his barge and canoes, in the guardianship of the
old Pierced-nosed chieftain. That dignitary had
acquitted himself more faithfully of his charge
than Mr. Clarke had expected, and the canoes
were found in very tolerable order. Some re-
pairs were necessary, and, while they V7ere mak-
ing, the party encamped close by the village.
Having had repeated and vexatious proofs of the
pilfering propensities of this tribe during his
former visit, Mr. Clarke ordered that a wary eye
should be kept upon them.

He was a tall, good-looking man, and some-
what given to pomp and circumstance, which
made him an object of note in the eyes of the
wondering savages. He was stately, too, in his
appointments, and had a silver goblet or drink-
ing cup, out of which he would drink with a
magnificent air, and then lock it up in a large
garde vin, which accompanied him in his ti-avels,
and stood in his tent. This goblet had orig-
inally been sent as a present from Mr. Astor to
Mr. M'Kay, the partner who had unfortunately
been blown up in the Tonquin. As it reached
Astoria after the departure of that gentleman, it
bad remained in the possession of Mr. Clarke.

A silver goblet was too glittering a prize not
to catcii the eye of a Pierced-nose. It was like

556 ASTORIA.

the shilling tin case of John Reed Such a
wonder had never been seen in the hmd before.
The Indians talked about it to one another.
They marked the care with which it was depos-
ited in the garde vin^ like a relic in its shrine,
and concluded that it must be a " great medicine."
That night Mr. Clarke neglected to lock up his
treasure ; in the morning the sacred casket was
open — the precious relic gone !

Clarke was now outrageous. All the past
vexations that he had suffered from this pilfering
community rose to mind, and he threatened,
that, unless the goblet was promptly returned, he
would hang the thief, should he eventually dis-
cover him. The day passed away, however,
without the restoration of the cup. At night
sentinels were secretly posted about the camp.
With all their vigilance, a Pierced-nose contrived
to get into the camp unperceived, and to load
himself with booty ; it was only on his retreat
that he was discovered and taken.

At daybreak the culprit was brought to trial,
and promptly convicted. He stood responsible
for all the spoliations of the camp_, the precious
goblet among the number, and Mr. Clarke passed
sentence of death upon him.

A gibbet was accordingly constructed of oars :
the chief of the villager and his people were as-
sembled, and the culprit was produced, with his
legs and arms pinioned. Clarke then made a
harangue. He reminded the tribe of the ben-
efits he had bestowed upon them during his
former visits, and the many thefts and other mis-

AN EXECUTION. 557

.ieeds which he had overlooked. The prisoner,
especially, had always been peculiarly well treated
by the wdiite men, but had repeatedly been guilty
of pilfering. He was to be punished for his own
misdeeds, and as a warning to his tribe.

The Indians now gathered round Mr. Clarke,
and interceded for the culprit. They were wil-
ling he should be punished severely, but implored
that his life might be spared. The companions,
too, of Mr. Clarke, considered the sentence too
severe, and advised him to mitigate it ; but he
was inexorable. He was not naturally a stern or
cruel man ; but from his boyhood he had lived
in the Indian country among Indian traders, and
held the life of a savage extremely cheap. Ho
was, moreover, a firm believer in the doctrine of
intimidation.

Farnham, a clerk, a tall " Green Mountain
boy " from Vermont, who had been robbed of a
pistol, acted as executioner. The signal was
given, and the poor Pierced-nose resisting, strug-
gling, and screaming, in the most frightful man-
ner, was launched into eternity. The Indians
stood round gazing in silence and mute awe, but
made no attempt to oppose the execution, nor
testified any emotion when it was over. They
locked up their feelings within their bosoms
until an opportunity should arrive to gratify them
with a bloody act of vengeance.

To say nothing of the needless severity of
this act, its impolicy was glaringly obvious. Mr.
M'Lennan and three men were to return to the
()0st with the horses, their loads having been

558 ASTORIA.

transferred to the canoes. They would have to
pass through a tract of country uifested by this
tribe, who were all horsemen and hard riders,
and might pursue them to take vengeance for the
death of their comrade. M'Lennan, however, was
a resolute fellow, and made light of all dangers.
He and his three men were present at the exe-
cution, and set off as soon as life was extinct in
the victim ; but, to use the words of one of their
comrades, " they did not let the grass grow under
the heels of their horses, as they clattered out of
the Pierced-nose country," and were glad to find
themselves in safety at the post.

Mr. Clarke and his party embarked about the
same time in their canoes, and early on the fol-
lowing day reached the mouth of the Wallah-
Wallah, where they found Messrs. Stuart and
M'Kenzie awaiting them ; the latter having re-
covered part of the goods stolen from his cache.
Clarke informed them of the signal punishment
he had inflicted on the Pierced-nose, evidently
expecting to excite their admiration by such a
hardy act of justice, performed in the very midst
of the Indian country, but was mortified at find-
ing it strongly censured as inhuman, unnecessary,
and likely to provoke hostilities.

The parties thus united formed a squadron of
two boats and six canoes, with which they per-
formed their voyage in safety down the river, and
arrived at Astoria on the 12th of June, bringing
with them a valuable stock of peltries.

About ten days previously, the brigade which
had been quartered on the banks of the WolJa-

PELTRIES FROM THE WOLLAMUT. 5;".'9

milt, had arrived with numerous packs of beaver,
the result of a few months' sojourn on that
river. These were the first fruits of the enter-
prise, gathered by men as yet mere strangers in
the land ; but they were such as to give sub-
stantial grounds for sanguine anticipations of
profit, when the country should be more com
pletely explored, and the trade established.

CHAPTER LIV.

HE partners found Mr. M'Dougal in all
the bustle of preparation ; having about
nine days previously announced at the
factory, his intention of breaking up the estab-
lishment, an 1 fixed upon the 1st of July for the
time of departure. Messrs. Stuart and Clarke
felt highly displeased at his taking so precipitate
a step, without waiting for their concurrence,
when he must have known that their arrival
could not be ftir distant.

Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal
was such as to awaken strong doubts as to his
loyal devotion to the cause. His old sympathies
with the Northwest Company seem to have re-
vived. He had received M'Tavish and his party
with uncalled for hospitality, as though they were
fi-iends and allies, instead of being a party of
observation, come to recoinioitre the state of
affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a
hostile ship. Had they been left to themselves,
they would have been starved off for want of
provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who
only wanted a signal from the factory to treat
them as intruders and enemies. M'Dougal, on
the contrary, had supplied them from the stores

TRANSACTIONS AT ASTORIA. 561

of the garrison, and had gained them the favor
of the Indians, by treating them as friends.

Having set his mind fixedly on the project of
breaking up the establishment at Astoria, in the
current year, M'Dougal was sorely disappointed
at finding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke had
omitted to comply with his request to purchase
horses and provisions for the caravan across the
mountains. It was now too late to make the
necessary preparations in time for traversing the
mountains before winter, and the project had to
be postponed.

In the meantime, the non-arrival of the annual
ship, and the apprehensions entertained of the
loss of the Beaver and of Mr. Hunt, liad their
effect upon the minds of Messrs. Stuart and
Clarke. They began to listen to the despond-
ing representations of M'Dougal, seconded by
M'Kenzie, who inveighed against their situation
as desperate and forlorn ; left to shift for them-
selves, or perish upon a barbarous coast ; neg-
lected by those who sent them there, and threat-
ened with dangers of every kind. In this way
they were brought to consent to the plan of
abandoning the country in the ensuing year.

About this time, M'Tavish applied at the fac-
tory to purchase a small supply of goods where-
with to trade his way back to his post on the
upper waters of the Columbia, having waited in
Vain for the arrival of the Isaac Todd. His
request brought on a consultation among the
partners. M'Dougal urged that it should be
complied with. He furthermore proposed, that
36

562 ASTORIA.

they should give up to M'Tuvish, for a proper
consideration, the post on the Spokan, and all its
dependencies, as they had not sufficient goods oii
hand to supply that post themselves, and to keep
up a competition with the Northwest Company in
the trade with the neighboring Indians. This
last representation lias since been proved incor-
rect. By inventories, it appears that their stock
in hand for the supply of the interior posts, was
superior to that of the Northwest Company ; so
that they had nothing to fear from competition.

Through the influence of Messrs. M'Dougal
and M'Kenzie, this proposition was adopted, and
was promptly accepted by M'Tavish. Tiie mer-
chandise sold to him amounted to eight hundred
and fifty-eight dollars, to be paid for, in the fol-
lowing spring, in horses, or in any other manner
most acceptable to the partners at that period.

This agreement being concluded, the partners
formed their plans for the year that they would
yet have to pass in the country Their objects
were, chiefly, present subsistence, and the pur-
chase of horses for the contemplated journey,
though they were likewise to collect as much
peltries as their diminished means would com-
mand. Accordingly, it was arranged, that David
Stuart should return to his former post on the
Oakinagan, and Mr. Clarke should make his
sojourn among the Flatheads. John Reed, the
sturdy Hibernian, was to undertake the Snake
River country, accompanied by Pierre Dorion
and Pierre Delaunay, as hunters, and Francis

PLANS FOR THE YEAR. 5G3

Landry, Jean Baptiste Turcotte, Andre la Cha-
pelle, and Gilles le Clerc, Canadian voyageiirs.

Astoria, however, was the post about which
they felt tlie greatest solicitude, and on which
they all more or less depended. The maintenance
of this in safety throughout the coming year,
was, therefore, their grand consideration. Mr.
M'Dougal was to continue in command of it,
with a party of forty men. They would have
to depend chiefly upon the neighboring savages
for their subsistence. These, at present, were
friendly, but it was to be feared that, when they
should discover the exigencies of the post, and
its real weakness, tliey might proceed to hostili-
ties ; or, at any rate, might cease to furnish their
usual supplies. It was important, therefore, to
render the place as independent as possible, of
the surrounding tribes for its support ; and it
was accordingly resolved that M'Kenzie, with
four hunters, and eight common men, should
winter in the abundant country of Wolhimut,
from whence they might be enabled to furnish a
constant supply of provisions to Astoria.

As there was too great a proportion of clerks
for the number of privates in the service, the
engagements of three of them, Ross Cox, Ross,
and M'Lennan, were surrendered to them, and
they immediately enrolled themselves in the ser-
rice of the Northwest Company ; glad, no doubt,
to escape from what they considered a sinking
Bhip.

Having made all these arrangemei its, the four
partners, on the first of July, signed a formal

564 ASTORIA.

manifesto, stating the alarming state of their
affairs, from the non-arrival of the annual ship,
and the absence and apprehended loss of the
Beaver, their v^^ant of goods, their despair of
receiving any further supply, their ignorance of
the coast, and their disappointment as to the
interior trade, which they pronounced unequal to
the expenses incurred, and incompetent to stand
against the powerful opposition of the Northwest
Company. And as by the 16th article of the
company's agreement, they were authorized to
abandon this undertaking, and dissolve the con-
cern, if before the period of five years it should
be found unprofitable, they now formally an-
nounced their intention to do so on the 1st day of
June, of the ensuing year, unless in the interim
they should receive the necessary support and
supplies from Mr. Astor, or the stockholders,
with orders to continue.

This instrument, accompanied by private letters
of similar import, was delivered to Mr. M'Tavish,
who departed on the 5th of July. He engaged
to forward the dispatches to Mr. Astor, by the
usual winter express sent overland by the North-
west Company.

The manifesto was signed with great reluctance
by Messrs. Clarke and D. Stuart, whose expe-
rience by no means justified the discouraging
account given in it of the internal trade, and
who considered the main difficulties of exploring
an unknown and savage country, and of ascer-
iaining the best trading and trapping grounds, in
a great measure overcome. They were over-

MANIFKHTO OF THE PARTNERS. 5G5

ruled, however, by the urgent instances of
M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, who, having resolved
upon abandoning the enterprise, were desirous
of making as strong a case as possible to excuse
their conduct to Mr. Astor and to the world.

CHAPTER LV.

HILE difficulties and disasters had been
gathering about the infant settlement of
Astoria, the mind of its projector at
New York was a prey to great anxiety. The
ship Lark, dispatched by him with supplies for
tlie establishment, sailed on the 6th of March,
1813. Within a fortnight afterwards, he re-
ceived intelligence which justified all his appre-
hensions of hostility on the part of the British.
The Northwest Company had made a second
memorial to that government, representing As-
toria as an American establishment, stating the
vast scope of its contemplated operations, magni-'
fying the strength of its fortifications, and ex-
pressing heir fears that, unless crushed in the
bud, it wouM effect the downfall of their trade.

Influenced by these representations, the British
government ordered the frigate Phoebe to be
detached as a convoy for the armed ship, Isaac
Todd, which was ready to sail with men and mu-
nitions for forming a new establishment. They
were to proceed together to the mouth of the
Columbia, capture or destroy whatever American
fortress they should find there, and plant the
British flag on its ruins.

FITTING OUT OF THE ADAMS. 567

Informed of these movements, Mr. Astor lost
no time in addressing a second letter to the secre-
tary of state, communicating this intelligence, and
requesting it might be laid before the President ;
as no notice, however, had been taken of his
previous letter, he contented himself with this
simple communication, and made no further ap-
plication for aid.

Awakened now to the danger that menaced the
establishment at Astoria, and aware of the im-
portance of protecting this foothold of American
commerce and empire on the shores of the Pacific,
the government determined to send the frigate
Adams, Captain Crane, upon this service On
hearing of this determination, Mr. Astor imme-
diately proceeded to fit out a ship called the
Enterprise, to sail in company with the Adams,
freighted with additional supplies and reinforce-
ments for Astoria.

About the middle of June, while in the midst
of these preparations, Mr. Astor received a letter
from Mr. R. Stuart, dated St. Louis, May 1st,
confirming the intelligence already received
through the public newspapers, of his safe return,
and of the arrival of Mr. Hunt and his party at
Astoria, and giving the most flattering accounts
of the prosperity of the enterprise.

So deep had been the anxiety of Mr. Astor,
for the success of this great object of his ambition,
that this gleam of good news was almost over-
powering. " I felt ready," said he, " to fall upon
my knees in a transport of gratitude."

At the same time he heard that the Beaver

568 ASTORIA.

had made good her voyage from New York t(
the Columbia. This was additional ground of
hope for the welfare of the little colony. The
post being thus relieved and strengthened, with
an American at its head, and a ship of war about
to sail for its protection, the prospect for the
future seemed full of encouragement, and Mr.
Astor proceeded with fresh vigor to fit out his
merchant ship.

Unfortunately for Astoria, this bright gleam
of sunshine was soon overclouded. Just as the
Adams had received her complement of men, and
the two vessels were ready for sea, news came
from Commodore Chauncey, commanding on Lake
Ontario, that a reinforcement of seamen was
wanted in that quarter. The demand was
urgent, the crew of the Adams was immediately
transferred to that service, and the ship was laid
up.

This was a most ill-timed and discouraginoj
blow, but Mr. Astor would not yet allow himself
to pause in his undertaking. Fie determined to
send the Enterprise to sea alone, and let her
take the chance of making her unprotected way
across the ocean. Just at this time, however, a
British force made its appearance off the Hook ;
and the port of New York was effectually block-
aded. To send a ship to sea under these cir-
cumstances, would be to expose her to almost
certain capture. The Enterprise was, therefore,
unloaded and dismantled, and Mr. Astor was
obliged to comfort himself with the hope that the

FRUSTRATED PLANS.

569

Lark miVht reach Astoria in safety and, that,
aided by her supplies, and by the good manage-
ment of Mr. Hunt and his associates, the little
colony might be able to maintain ita<;lf until the
return of peace.

CHAPTER LVL

He have hitherto had so much to relate of
a gloomy and disastrous nature, that it
is with a feeling of momentary relief we
turn to something of a more pleasing complexion,
and record the first, and indeed only nuptials in
high life that took place in the infant settlement
of Astoria.

M'Dougal, who appears to have been a man of
a thousand projects, and of great, though some-
what irregular ambition, suddenly conceived the
idea of seeking the hand of one of the native
princesses, a daughter of the one-eyed potentate
Comcomly, who held sway over the fishing tribe
of the Chinooks, and had long supphed the factory
with smelts and sturgeons.

Some accounts give rather a romantic origin to
this affair, tracing it to the stormy night when
M'Dougal, in the course of an exploring expedi-
tion, was driven by stress of weather to seek
shelter in the royal abode of Comcomly. Then
and there he was first struck with the charms of
this piscatory princess, as she exerted herself to
entertain her father's guest.

The "journal of Astoria," however, which was
kept under his own eye, records this union as a
high state alliance, and great stroke of policy.

MATRIMONIAL ALLIANCE. 571

The flictory had to depend, in a great measure, on
the Chinooks for provisions. Tliey were at pres-
ent friendly, but it was to be feared they would
prove otherwise, should they discover the weak-
ness and the exigencies of the post, and the in-
tention to leave the country. This alliance, there-
fore, would infallibly rivet Coincomly to the in-
terests of the Astorians, and with him the power-
ful tribe of the Chinooks. Be this as it may, and
it is hard to fethom the real policy of governors
and princes, M'Dougal dispatched two of the
clerks as ambassadors extraordinary, to wait upon
the one-eyed chieftain, and make overtures for tho
hand of his daughter.

The Chinooks, though not a very refined nation,
have notions of matrimonial arrangements that
would not disgrace the most refined sticklers for
settlements and pin money. The suitor repairs
not to the bower of his mistress, but to her
father's lodge, and throws down a present at his
feet. His wishes are then disclosed by some
discreet friend employed by him for the purpose.
If the suitor and his present find favor in the eyes
of the father, he breaks the matter to his daughter,
and inquires into the state of her inclinations.
Should her answer be favorable, the suit is accepted
and the lover has to make further presents to the
father, of horses, canoes, and other valuables, ac-
cording to the beauty and merits of the bride ;
.ooking forward to a return in kind whenever they
shall go to housekeeping.

We have more than once had occasion to speak
jof the shrewdness of Comcoraly ; but never was

572 AS! ORIA.

it exerted more adroitly than on this occasion.
He was a great friend of M'Dougal, and pleased
with the idea of having so distinguished a son-in-
law ; but so favorable an opportunity of benefiting
his own fortune was not likely to occur a second
time, and he determined to make the most of it.
Accordingly, the negotiation was protracted with
true diplomatic skill. Conference after conference
was held with the two ambassadors. Comcomly
was extravao^ant in his terms ; rating the charms
of his daughter at the highest price, and indeed
she is represented as having one of the flattest
and most aristocratical heads in the tribe. At
length the preliminaries were all happily adjusted.
On the 20th of July, early in the afternoon, a
squadron of canoes crossed over from the village
of the Chinooks, bearing the royal family of Com-
comly, and all his court.

That worthy sachem landed in prmcely state,
arrayed in a bright blue blanket and red breech
clout, with an extra quantity of paint and feathers,
attended by a train of half-naked warriors and
nobles. A horse was in waituig to receive the
piincess, who was mounted behind one of the
clerks, and thus conveyed, coy but compliant, to
the fortress. Here she was received with devout,
though decent joy, by her expecting bridegroom.

Pier bridal adornments, it is true, at first caused
some little dismay, having painted and anointed
herself for the occasion according to the Chinook
toilet ; by dint, however, of copious ablutions, she
was freed from all adventitious tint and fragrance,
and entered into the nuptial statr, the cleanest

ARRIVAL OF A SHIP. 573

princess that had ever been known, of the some-
what unctuous tribe of the Cliinooks.

From that time forward, Comcomly was a daily-
visitor at the fort, and was admitted into the most
intimate councils of his son-in-law. He took an
interest in everything that was going forward, but
was particularly frequent in his visits to the black-
smith's shop ; tasking the labors of the artificer in
iron for every Iviud of weapon and implement
suited to the savage state, insomuch that the necr
essary business of the factory was often postponed
to attend to his requisitions.

The honey-moon had scarce passed away, and
M'Dougal was seated with his bride in the fortress
of Astoria, when, about noon of the 20th of
August, Gassacop, the son of Comcomly, hurried
into his presence with great agitation, and an-
nounced a ship at the mouth of the river. The
news produced a vast sensation. Was it a ship
of peace or war ? Was it American or British ?
Was it the Beaver or the Isaac Todd ? M'Dou-
gal hurried to the water side, threw himself into
a boat, and ordered the hands to pull with all
speed for the mouth of the harbor. Those in the
fort remained watching the entrance of the river,
anxious to know whether they were to prepare
for greeting a friend or fighting an enemy. At
length the ship was descried crossing the bar, and
bending her course towards Astoria. Every gaze
was fixed upon her in silent scrutiny, until the
American flas; was recoi^nized. A general shout

o o o

was the first expression of joy, and next a salu-
tation was thundered from the cannon of the fort.

574 ASTORIA.

The vessel came to anchor on the opposite side
of the river, and returned the salute. The boat
of Mr. M'Dougal went on board, and was seen
returning late in the afternoon. The Astorians
watched her with straining eyes, to discover who
were on board, but the sun went down, and the
evening closed in, before she was sufficiently near.
At length she reached the land, and Mr. Hunt
stepped on shore. He was hailed as one risen
from the dead, and his return was a signal for
merriment almost equal to that which prevailed
at the nuptials of M'Dougal.

We must now explain the cause of this gentle-
man's long absence, which had given rise to such
gloomy and dispiriting surmises.

CHAPTER LVII.

T will be recollected, that the destination
of the Beaver, when she sailed from
Astoria on the 4th of August in 1812,
was to proceed northwardly along the coast to
Sheetka, or New Archangel, there to dispose of
that part of her cargo intended for the supply of
the Russian establislmient at that place, and then
to return to Astoria, where it was expected she
would arrive in October.

New Archangel is situated in Norfolk Sound,
lat. 57° 2' N., long. 135° 50' W. It was the
head-quarters of the diti'erent colonies of the
Russian Fur Company, and the common ren-
dezvous of the American vessels trading along the
coast.

The Beaver met with nothing worthy of par-
ticular mention in her voyage, and arrived at New
Archangel on the 19th of August. The place at
that time was the residence of Count Baranhoff,
the governor of the different colonies ; a rough,
rugged, hospitable, hard-drinking old Russian ;
somewhat of a soldier, somewhat of a trader ;
above all, a boon companion of the old roystering
school, with a strong cross of the bear.

Mr. Hunt found this hyperborean veteran en-
sconced in a fort which crested the whole of a

576 ASTORIA.

liigK roclcy promontory. It mounted one Inm-
dred guns, large and small, and was impregnable
to Indian attack, unaided by artillery. Here the
old governor lorded it over sixty Russians, who
formed the corps of the trading establishment,
besides an indefinite number of Indian hunters of
the Kodiak tribe, who were continually coming
and going, or lounging and loitering about the
fort like so many hounds round a sportsman's
hunting quarters. Though a loose liver among
his guests, the governor was a strict disciplinarian
among his men ; keeping them in perfect subjec-
tion, and having seven on guard night and day.

Beside those immediate serfs and dependents
just mentioned, the old Russian potentate exerted
a considerable sway over a numei'ous and irreg-
ular class of maritime traders, who looked to
him for aid and munitions, and through whom he
may be said to have, in some degree, extended
his power along the whole northwest coast.
These were Amei'ican captains of vessels engaged
in a particular department of the trade. One of
these captains would come, in a manner, empty-
handed to New Archangel. Here his ship would
be furnished with about fifty canoes and a hun-
dred Kodiak hunters, and fitted out with provi-
sions, and everything necessary for hunting the
sea- otter on the coast of California, where the
Russians have another establishment. The ship
would ply along the Californian coast from place
to place, dropping parties of otter hunters in their
canoes, furnishing them only with water, and
leaving them to depend upon their own dexterity

TYRANNY OF THE TABLE. 577

for a nmintenance. When a sufficient cargo was
collected, she would gather up her canoes and
hunters, and return with them to Archangel ;
where the captain would render in tlie returns
of his voyage, and receive one half of the skins
for his share.

Over these coasting captains, as we have hinted,
the veteran governor exerted some sort of sway,
but it was of a peculiar and characteristic kind ; it
was the tyranny of the table. They were obliged
to join him in his " prosnics " or carousals, and
to drink " potations pottle deep." His carousals,
too, were not of the most quiet kind, nor were
his potations as mild as nectar. " He is con-
tinually," said Mr. Hunt, " giving entertainments
by way of parade, and if you do not drink raw
rum, and boiling punch as strong as sulphur, he
will insult you as soon as he gets drunk, which is
very shortly after sitting ,down to table."

As to any " temperance captain " who stood
fast to his faith, and refused to give up his so-
briety, he might go elsewhere for a market, for
he stood no chance with the governor. Rarely,
however, did any cold-water caitiff of the kind
darken the door of old BaranhofF; the coasting
captains knew too well his humor and their own
interests ; they joined in his revels, they drank,
and sang, and whooped, and hiccuped, until they
all got " half seas over," and then alFairs went on
swimmingly.

An awful warning to all *' flinchers" occurred
shortly before Mr. Hunt's arrival. A young
naval officer had recently been sent out by the
37

578 JSTOR/A.

emperor to take command of one of the company's
vessels. The governor, as usual, had him at his
" prosnics," and plied him with fiery potations.
The young man stood on the defensive until the
old count's ire was completely kindled ; he car-
ried his point, and made the greenhorn tipsy,
willy nilly. In proportion as they grew fuddled
they grew noisy, they quarrelled in their cups ;
the youngster paid old Baranhoff in his own coin
by rating him soundly ; in reward for which,
when sober, he was taken the rounds of four
pickets, and received seventy-nine lashes, taled
out with Russian punctuality of punishment.

Such was the old grizzled bear with whom Mr.
Hunt had to do his business. How he managed
to cope with his humor ; whether he pledged
himself in raw rum and blazing punch, and
" clinked the can " with him as they made their
bargains, does not appear upon record ; we must
infer, however, from his general observations on
the absolute sway of this hard-drinking potentate,
that he had to conform to the customs of his
court, and that their business transactions pre-
sented a maudlin mixture of punch and peltry.

The greatest annoyance to Mr. Hunt, however,
was the delay to which he was subjected, in dis-
posing of the cargo of the ship, and getting the
requisite returns. With all the governor's de-
votions to the bottle, he never obfuscated his
faculties sufficiently to lose sight of his interest,
and is represented by Mr. Hunt as keen, not to
say crafty, at a bargain, as the most arrant water
drinker. A long time was expended negotiating

FISHY FOOD AND FUEL. 579

with him, and by the time the bargain was con-
cbided, tlie month of October had arrived. To
add to the delay he was to be paid for his carg-o
in seal skins. Now it so happened that thert.
was none of this kind of peltry at the fort of old
BaranhofF. It was necessary, therefore, for Mr.
Hunt to proceed to a seal-catching establishment,
which the Russian company had at the island of
St. Paul in the sea of Kamtsschatka. He accord-
ingly set sail on the 4th of October, after having
spent forty-five days at New Archangel boosing
and bargaining with its roystering commander,
and right glad was he to escape from the clutches
of '" this old man of the sea."

The Beaver arrived at St. Paul's on the 31st
of October; by which time, according to arrange-
ment, he ought to have been back at Astoria.
The Island of St. Paul's is in latitude 57° N.,
longitude 170° or 171° W. Its shores, in cer-
tain places, and at certain seasons, are covered
with seals, while others are playing about in the
water. Of these, the Russians take only the
small ones, from seven to ten months old, and
carefully select the males, jriving the females
their freedom, that the bieed may not be dimin-
ished. The islanders, however, kill the large
ones for provisions, and for skins wherewith to
cover their canoes. They drive them from the
shore over the rocks, until within a short distance
of their habitations, where they kill them. By
this means, they save themselves the trouble of
carrying the skins and have the flesh at hand.
This is thrown in heaps, and when the season for

580 ASTORIA.

skiiitiing is over, they take out the entrails and
make one heap of the blubber. This, with drift-
wood, serves for fuel, for the island is entirely des-
titute of trees. Tiiey make another heap of the
flesh, which, with the eggs of sea-fowls, preserved
in oil, an occasional sea-lion, a few ducks in win-
ter, and some wild roots, compose their food.

Mr. Hunt found seven Russians at the island,
and one hundred hunters, natives of Oonalaska,
with their families. They lived in cabins that
looked like canoes ; being, for the most part
formed of the jaw-bone of a whale, put up as
rafters, across which were laid pieces of drift-
wood covered over with long grass, the skins of
large sea animals, and earth ; so as to be quite
comfortable, in despite of the rigors of the cli-
mate ; though we are told they had as ancient and
fish-like an odor, '' as had the quarters of Jonali,
when he lodged within the whale."

In one of these odoriferous mansions, Mr. Hunt
occasionally took up his abode, that he might be
at hand to hasten the loading of the ship. The
operation, however, was somewhat slow, for it
was necessary to overhaul and inspect every pack
to prevent imposition, and the peltries had then
to be conveyed in large boats, made of skins, to
the ship, which was some little distance from the
shore, standing off and on.

One night, while Mr. Hunt was on shore, with
some others of the crew, there arose a terrible
gale. When the day broke, the ship was not to
be seen. He watched for her with anxious eyes
until night, but in vain. Day after day of bois-

PERPLEXITY OF MR HUNT. 581

terous storms, and howling wintry weather, w(»re
passed in watchfulness and soh'citnde. Nothing
was to be seen but a dark and angry sea, and a
scowling northern sky ; and at night he retired
within the jaws of the whale, and nestled dis-
consolately among seal skins.

At length, on the 13th of November, the Beaver
made her appearance ; much tlie worse for the
stormy conflicts she had sustained in those hyper-
borean seas. She had been obliged to carry a
press of sail in heavy gales to be able to hold her
ground, and had consequently sustained great
damage in her canvas and rigging. Mr. Hunt
lost no time in hurrying the residue of the cargo
on board of her ; then, bidding adieu to his seal-
fishing friends, and his whalebone habitation, he
put forth once more to sea.

He was now for makmg the best of his way
to Astoria, and fortunate would it have been for
the interests of that place, and the interests of
Mr. Astor, had he done so ; but, unluckily, a
perp] 3xing question rose in his mind. The sails
and rio-o-ino^ of the Beaver had been much rent
and shattered in the late storm ; would she be
able to stand the hard gales to be expected in
making Columbia River at this season ? Was it
prudent, also, at this boisterous time of the year
to risk the valuable cargo which she now had on
board, by crossing and recrossing the dangerous
bar of that river ? These doubts were probably
luggested or enforced by Captain Sowle, who, it
das already been seen, was an over-cautious, or
••ather, a timid seaman, and they may have had

582 ASTOBIA.

Bome weight with Mr. Hunt ; but there wei-e
other considerations, which more strongly swayed
his mind. The lateness of the season, and the
unforeseen delays the ship had encountered at
New Archangel, and by being obliged to proceed
to St. Paul's, had put her so much back in her
calculated time, that there was a risk of her ar-
riving so late at Canton, as to come to a bad
market, both for the sale of her peltries, and the
purchase of a return cargo. He considered it to
the interest of the company, therefore, that he
should proceed at once to the Sandwich Islands ;
there wait the arrival of the annual vessel from
New York, take passage in her to Astoria, and
suffer the Beaver to continue on to Canton.

On the other hand, he was urged to the other
course b}^ his engagements ; by the plan of the
voyage marked out for the Beaver, by Mr. Astor ;
by his inclination, and the possibility that the
establishment might need his presence, and by the
recollection that there must already be a large
amount of peltries collected at Astoria, and wait-
ing for the return of the Beaver, to convey them
to market.

These conflicting questions perplexed and agi-
tated his mind and gave rise to much anxious
reflection, for he was a conscientious man that
seems ever to have aimed at a faithful discharge
of his duties, and to have had the interests of his
employers earnestly at heart. His decision in the
present instance was injudicious, and proved un-
fortunate. It was, to bear away fi^r the Sandwich
Islands. He persuaded himself that it was a matter

INJUDICIOVS DECISION. 583

of necessity, and tliat the distressed condition of
the ship left him no other alternatiTe ; but we
rather suspect he was so persuaded by the repre-
sentations of the timid captain. They accordingly
stood for the Sandwich Islands, arrived at Woahoo,
where the ship underwent the necessary repairs,
and again put to sea on the 1st of January, 1813 ;
leaving Mr. Hunt on the island.

We will follow the Beaver to Canton, as her
fortunes, in some measure, exemplify the evil of
commanders of ships acting contrary to orders ;
and as they form a part of the tissue of cross
purposes that marred the great commercial enter-
prise we have undertaken to record.

The Beaver arrived safe at Canton, where
Captain Sowle found the letter of Mr. Astor,
giving him information of the war and directing
him to convey the intelligence to Astoria. He
wrote a reply, dictated either by timidity or obsti-
nacy, in which he declined compljdng with the
orders of Mr. Astor, but said he would wait for
the return of peace, and then come home. The
other proceedings of Captain Sowle were equally
wrongheaded and unlucky. He was offered one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the fur
he had taken on board at St. Paul's. The goods
for which it had been procured, cost but twenty-
live thousand dollars in New York. Had he
accepted this offer, and re-invested the amount in
nankeens, which at that time, in consequence of
the interruption to commerce by the war, were
-it two thirds of their usual price, the whole would
fiave brought three hundred thousand dollars in

584 AST OR /A.

New York. It is true, the war would have ren-
dered it unsafe to attempt the homeward voyage,
but he might have put the goods in store at Can-
ton, until after the peace, and have sailed without
risk of capture to Astoria ; bringing to the part-
ners at that place tidings of the great profits
realized on the outward cargo, and the still greater
to be expected from the returns. The news of
such a brilliant commencement to their undertak-
ing would have counterbalanced the gloomy
tidings of the war ; it would have infused new
spirit into them all, and given them courage and
constancy to persevere in the enterprise. Captain
Sowle, however, refused the offer of one hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and stood wavering and
chaffering for higher terms. The furs began to
fall in value ; this only increased his irresolution ;
they sunk so much that he feared to sell at all ;
he borrowed money on ]Mr. Astor's account at an
interest of eighteen per cent., and laid up his
ship to await the return of peace.

In the meanwhile, Mr. Hunt soon saw reason
to repent the resolution he had adopted in alter-
ing the destination of the ship. His stay at the
Sandwich Islands was prolonged far beyond all
expectation. He looked in vain for the annual
ship in the spring. ]\Ionth after month passed
by, and still she did not make her appearance
He, too, proved the danger of departing from
orders. Had he returned from St. Paul's to
Astoria, all the anxiety and despondency about
his fate, and about the whole course of the under-
taking, would have been obviated. The Beaver

WANDERINGS OF MR. HUNT. 585

would have received the fnrs collected at the factory,
!ind taken them to Canton, and great gains,
instead of great losses, would have been the result.
The greatest blunder, however, was that commit-
ted by Captain Sowle.

At lengtli, about the 20th of June, the ship
Albatross, Captain Smith, ai'rived from China,
:uid brou<j;ht the first tidinors of the war to the
Sandwich Islands. Mr. Hunt was no longer in
doubt and perplexity as to the reason of the non-
ippearance of the annual ship. His first thoughts
were for the welfare of Astoria, and, concluding
that the inhabitants would probably be in want
of provisions, he chartered the Albatross for two
thousand dollars, to land him, with some supplies,
at the mouth of the Columbia, where he arrived,
as we have seen, on the 20th of August, after a
year's seafaring that might have furnished a chap-
ter in the wanderino;s of Sindbad.

CHAPTER LVIIL

ilR. Hunt was overwhelmed with sur-
prise when he learnt the resolutioa
i taken by the partners to abandon Asto-
ria. He soon found, however, that matters had
gone too far, an<l the minds of his colleagues had
become too firmly bent upon the measure, to ren-
der any opposition of avail. He was beset, too,
with the same disparaging accounts of the inte-
rior trade, and of the whole concerns and pros-
pects of the company that had been rendered to
Mr. Astor. His own experience had been full
of perplexities and discouragements. He had a
conscientious anxiety for the interests of Mr.
Astor, and, not comprehending the extended
views of that gentleman, and his habit of operat-
ing with great amounts, he had from the first
been daunted by the enormous expenses required,
and had become disheartened by the subsequent
losses sustained, which appeared to him to be
ruinous in their magnitude. By degrees, there-
fore, he was brought to acquiesce in the step
taken by his colleagues, as perhaps advisable in
the exigencies of the case ; his only care was to
wind up the business with as little further loss
as possible to Mr. Astor.

A large stock of valuable furs was collected

FURTHER ARRANGEMENTS. b^l

at the factory, which it was necessary to get to a
market. There were twenty-five Sandwich Isl-
anders also in the employ of the company, whom
they were bound, by express agreement, to re-
store to their native country. For these pur-
poses a ship was necessary.

Tlie Albatross was bound to the Marquesas,
and thence to the Sandwich Islands. It was
resolved that Mr. Hunt should sail in her in
quest of a vessel, and should return, if possible,
by the 1st of January, bringing with him a sup-
ply of provisions. Should anything occur, how-
ever, to prevent his return, an arrangement was
to be proposed to Mr. M'Tavish, to transfer such
of the men as were so disposed, from the service
of the American Fur Company into that of the
Northwest, the latter becoming responsible for
the wages due them, on receiving an equivalent
in goods from the store-house of the factory. As
a means of facilitating the dispatch of business,
Mr. M'Dougal proposed, that in case Mr. Hunt
should not return, the whole arrangement with
Mr. M'Tavish should be left solely to him. This
was assented to ; the contingency being consid-
ered possible, but not probable.

It is proper to note, that, on the first announce-
ment by Mr. M'Dougal of his intention to break
up the establishment, three of the clerks, British
subjects, had, with his consent, passed into the
service of the Northwest Company, and departed
with Mr. M'Tavish for his post in the interior.

Having arranged all these matters during a
6ojourn of six days at Astoria, Mr. Hunt set

588 AbxORIA.

Bail in the Albatross on the 26th of August, and
arrived without accident at the Marquesas. He
liad not been there long, when Porter arrived in
the frigate Essex, bringing in a number of stout
London whalers as prizes, having made a sweep-
ing cruise in the Pacific. From Commodore*.
Porter he received the alarming intelligence that
the British frigate Phoebe, with a storeship
mounted with battering pieces, calculated to at-
tack forts, had arrived at Rio Janeiro, where she
had been joined by the sloops of war Cherub
and Raccoon, and that they had all sailed in com-
pany on the 6th of July for the Pacific, bound,
as it vvas supposed, to Columbia River.

Here, tlien, was the death-warrant of unfor-
tunate Astoria! The anxious mind of Mr. Hunt
was iii greater pei'plexity than ever. He had
been eager to extricate the property of Mr. As-
tor from a failing concern with as little loss as
possible ; there was now danger that the whole
would be swallowed up. How was it to be
snatched from the gulf? It was impossible to
charter a ship for the purpose, now that a Brit-
ish squadron was on its way to the river. He ap-
plied to purchase one of the whale ships brought
in by Commodore Porter. The commodore de-
manded twenty-five thousand dollars for her.
The price appeared exorbitant, and no bargain
could be made. Mr. Hunt then urged the com-
modore to fit out one of his prizes, and send her
to Astoria, to bring off the property and part of
the people, but he declined, " from want of au-
thority." He assured Mr. Hunt, however, that

WRECK- OF TEE LARK. 589

he would endeavor to fall in with the enemy, or,
Bhould he hear of their having certainly gone to
the Columbia, he would either follow or antici-
pate them, should his circumstances warrant such
a step.

In this tantalizing state of suspense, Mr. Hunt
was detained at the Marquesas until November
23d, when he proceeded in the Albatross to the
Sandwich Islands. He still cherished a faint
hope that, notwithstanding the war, and all other
discouraging circumstances, the annual ship might
have been sent by Mr. Astor, and might have
touched at the islands, and proceeded to the Co-
lumbia. He knew the pride and interest taken
by that gentleman in his great enterprise, and
that he would not be deterred by dangers and
difficulties from prosecuting it ; much less would
he leave the infant establishment without succor
and support in the time of trouble. In this, we
have seen, he did but justice to Mr. Astor ; and
we must now turn to notice the cause of the
non-arrival of the vessel which he had dispatched
with reinforcements and supplies. Her voyage
forms another chapter of accidents in this event-
ful story.

The Lai-k sailed from New York on the 6tli
of March, 1813, and proceeded prosperously on
her voyage, until within a few degrees of the
Sandwich Islands. Here a gale sprang up that
soon blew with tremendous violence. The Lark
was a stanch and noble ship, and for a time buf-
feted bravely with the storm. Unluckily, how-
ever, she " broached to," and was struck by a

590 ASTORIA.

heavy sea, that hove her on her beam-ends. The-
helm, too, was knocked to leeward, all command
of the vessel was lost, and another mountain
wave completely overset her. Orders were given
to cut away the masts. In the hurry and con-
fusion, the boats also were unfortunately cut
adrift. The wreck then righted, but was a mere
hulk, full of water, with a heavy sea washing
over it, and all the hatches off. On mustering
the crew, one man was missing, who was discov-
ered below in the forecastle, drowned.

In cutting away the masts, it had been utterly
impossible to observe the necessary precaution of
commencing with the lee rigging, that being, from
the position of the ship, completely under water.
The masts and spars, therefore, being linked to
the wreck by the shrouds and the rigging, re-
mained alongside for four days During all this
time the ship lay rolling in the trough of the sea,
the heavy surges breaking over her, and the spars
heaving and bano:ing to and fro, bruising the half-
drowned sailors that clung to the bowsprit and the
stumps of the mast. The sufferings of these poor
fellows were intolerable. They stood to their
waists in water, in imminent peril of being
washed off by every surge. In this position they
dared not sleep, lest they should let go their hold
and be swept away. The only dry place on the
wreck was the bowsprit. Here they took turns
to be tied on, for half an hour at a time, and in
this way gained short snatches of sleep.

On the 14th, the first mate died at his post,
and was swept off by the surges On the 17th,

SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 501

two seamen, faint and exhausted, were washed
overboard. The next wave tlirew their ^bodies
back upon the deck, where they remained, swash-
ing backward and forward, ghastly objects to the
ahnost perishing survivors. Mr. Ogden, the
supercargo, who was at the bowsprit, called to
the men nearest to the bodies, to fasten them to
the wreck ; as a hist horrible resource in case of
being driven to extremity by famine !

On the 17th the gale gradually subsided, and
the sea became calm. The sailors now crawled
feebly about the wreck, and began to relieve it
from the main incumbrances. The spars were
cleared away, the anchors and guns heaved over-
board ; the sprit-sail yard was rigged for a jury-
mast, and a mizzen topsail set upon it. A sort
of stage was made of a few broken spars, on
which the crew were raised above the surface of
the water, so as to be enabled to keep them-
selves dry, and to sleep comfortably. Still their
sufferings from hunger and thirst were great ;
but there was a Sandwich Islander on board,
an expert swimmer, who found his way into
the cabin, and occasionally brought up a few bot-
tles of wine and porter, and at length got into the
run, and secured a quarter cask of wine. A
little raw pork was likewise procured, and dealt
out with a sparing hand. The horrors of their
situation were increased by the sight of numerous
sharks prowling about the wreck, as if waiting for
their prey. On the 24th, the cook, a black man,
iied, and was cast into the sea, when he was in-
stantly seized on by these ravenous monsters.

592 ASTORIA.

They liad been several days making slow-
headway under their scanty sail, when, on the
25th, they came in sight of land. It was about
fifteen leagues distant, and they remained two or
three days drifting along in sight of it. On the
28th, they descried, to their great transport, a
canoe approaching, managed by natives. They
came alongside, and brought a most welcome
supply of potatoes. They informed them that
tlie land they had made was one of the Sandwich
Islands. The second mate and one of the sea-
men went on shore in the canoe for water and
provisions, and to procure aid from tliser islanders,
in towing the wreck into a harbor.

Neither of the men returned, nor was any
assistance sent from shore. The next day, ten
or twelve canoes came alongside, but roamed
round the wreck like so many sharks, and would
ren<ler no aid in towing her to land.

The sea continued to break over the vessel
with such violence, that it was impossible to
stand at the helm without the assistance of lash-
ings. The crew were now so worn dowu by
famine and thirst, that the captain saw it would
be impossible for them to withstand the breaking
of the sea, when the ship should ground ; he
deemed the only chance for their lives, therefore,
was to get to land in the canoes, and stand ready
to receive and protect the wreck when she
should drift to shore. Accoi-dingly, they all got
safe to land, but had scarcely touched the beach
when they were surrounded by the natives, who
stripped them almost naked. The name of this
inhospitable island was Tahoorowa.

BARGATN WITH TAMAABMAAH. 593

In the course of the night, the wreck came
drifting to the strand, with the surf thundering
around lier, and shortly afterwards bilged. On
the following morning, numerous casks of pro-
visions floated on sliore. The natives staved
them for the sake of the iron hoops, but would
not allow the ci'ew to help themselves to the
contents, or to go on board of the wreck.

As the crew were in want of everything,
and as it might be a long time before any oppor-
tunity occurred for them to get away from these
islands, Mr. Ogden, as soon as he could get a
chance, made his way to the island of Owyhee,
and endeavored to make some arrangement with
the king for the relief of his companions in mis-
fortune.

The illustrious Tamaahraaah, as we have shown
on a former occasion, was a shrewd bargainer,
and in the present instance proved himself an
experienced wrecker. His negotiations with M'-
Dougal, and the other " En's of the great Ameri-
can Fur Company," had but little effect on pres-
ent circumstances, and he proceeded to avail
himself of their misfortunes. He agreed to fur-
nish the crew with provisions during their stay
in his territories, and to return to them all their
clothing that could be found, but he stipulated
that the wreck should be abandoned to him as a
waif cast by fortune on his shores. With these
conditions Mr. Ogden was fain to comply. Upon
this the great Tamaahmaah deputed his favorite,
John Young, the tarpaulin governor of Owyhee,
to proceed with a 'lumber of the royal guards,
38

594 ASTOR A.

and take possession of the wreck on behalf of
the crown. This was done accordingly, and the
property and crew were removed to Owyhee.
The royal bounty appears to have been but
scanty in its dispensations. The crew fared but
meagrely; though, on reading the journal of the
voyage, it is singula)- to find them, after all the
hardshi[)S they had suffered, so sensitive about
petty inconveniences, as to exclaim against the
king as a " savage monster," for refusing them a
" pot to cook in," and denying Mr. Ogden the
use of a knife and fork which had been saved
from the wreck.

Such was the unfortunate catastrophe of the
Lark ; had she reached her destination in safety,
affairs at Astoria might have taken a different
course. A strange fatahty seems to have attend-
ed all the expeditions by sea, nor were those by
land much less <lisastrous.

Captain Northrop was still at the Sandwich
Islands, on December 20th, when Mr. Hunt ar-
rived. The latter immediately purchased, for
ten thousand dollars, a brig called the Pedler,
and put Captain Northrop in command of her.
They set sail for Astoria on the 22d January,
intending to remove the property from thence as
speedily as possible to the Russian settlements
on the northwest coast, to prevent it from falling
into the hands of the British. Such were the
orders of Mr. Astor, sent out by the Lark.

We will now leave Mr. Hunt on his voyage,
Rnd return to see what has taken place at Asto-
ria during his absence.

CHAPTER LIX.

N the 2d of October, about five weeks

after Mr. Hunt had sailed in the Alba-

_______ tross from Astoria, Mr. M'Kenzie set

off with two canoes, and twelve nien, for the
posts of Messrs. Stuart and Clarke, to apprise
them of the new arrangements determined upon
in the recent conference of the 'partners at the
factory.

He had not ascended the river a hundred miles,
when he met a squadron of ten canoes, sweep-
ing merrily down under British colors, the Cana-
dian oarsmen, as usual, in full song.

It was an armament fitted out by M'Tavish.
who had with him Mr. J. Stuart, another partner
of the Northwest Company, together with some
clerks, and sixty-eight men — seventy-five souls
in all. They had heard of the frigate Phoebe
and the Isaac Todd being on the high seas, and
were on their way down to await their arrival.
In one of the canoes Mr. Clarke came passenger,
the alarminof intelliiTence*havin£f brouo;ht him down
irom his post on the Spokan. Mr. M'Kenzie im-
mediately determined to return with him to As-
toria, and, veering about, the two parties encamped
together for the night. The leaders, of course,
observed a due decorum, but some of the subal-

596 ASTORIA.

terns could not restrain their chuckling exultation,
boasting that they would soon plant the British
standard ou the walls of Astoria, and drive the
Americans out of the country.

In the course of the evening, Mr. M'Kenzie
had a secret conference with Mr. Clarke, in whicli
they agreed to set off privately, before daylight,
and get down in time to apprise M'Dongal of the
approach of these Northwesters. The latter,
however, were completely on the alert ; just as
M'Kenzie's canoes were about to push off, they
were joined by a couple from the Northwest
squadron, in which was M'Tavish, with two clerks,
and eleven men. With these, he intended to push
forward and make arrangements, leaving the rest
of the convoy, in which was a large quantity of
furs, to await his orders.

The two parties arrived at Astoria on the 7th
of October. The Northwesters encamped under
the guns of the fort, and displayed the British
colors. The young men in the fort, natives of
the United States, were on the point of hoisting
the American flag, but were forbidden by Mr.
M'Dougal. They were astonished at such a pro-
hibition, and were exceedingly galled by the tone
and manner assumed by the clerks and retainers
of the Northwest Company, who ruffled about
in that swelling and braggart style which grows
up among these heroes of the wilderness ; they,
ui fact, considered themselves lords of the ascend-
ant, and regarded the hampered and harassed
Astorians as a conquered people.

On the following day M'Dougal convened thd

COURSE OF MR. 3PD0UGAL. 597

clerks, and read to them an extract of a letter
from his uncle, Mr. Angus Shaw, one of the
prmcipal partners of the Northwest Company,
announcing the coming of the Phoebe and Isaac
Todd, " to take and destroy everything Ameri-
can on the northwest coast."

This intelligence was received without dismay
by such of the clerks as were natives of the
United States. They had felt indignant at seeing
their national flag struck by a Canadian comman-
der, and the British flag flowed, as it were, in
their faces. They had been stung to the quick,
also, by the vaunting airs assumed by the North-
westers. In this mood of mind, they would
willingly have nailed their colors to the staft*, and
defied the frigate. She could not come within
many miles of the fort, they observed, and any
boats she might send could be destroyed by their
cannon.

There were cooler and more calculating spirits,
however, who had the control of affairs, and felt
nothing of the patriotic pride and indignation of
these youths. The extract of the letter had,
apparently, been read by M'Dougal, merely to
prepare the way for a preconcerted stroke of
management. On the same day Mr. M'Tavish
proposed to purchase the whole stock of goods
and furs belonging to the company, both at Astoria
and in the mterior, at cost and charges. Mr.
M'Dougal undertook to comply; assuming the
whole manao;ement of the neijotiation in virtue
of the power vested in him, in case of the non-
arrival of Mr. Hunt. That power, however, was

598 ASTORIA.

limited and specific, and did not extend to an
operation of this nature and extent ; no objection,
however, was made to his assumption, and he
and M'Tavish soon made a preliminary arrange-
ment, perfectly satisfactory to the latter.

Mr. Stuart, and the reserve party of North-
westers, arrived shortly afterwards, and encamped
with M'Tavish. The former exclaimed loudly
against the terms of the arrangement, and insisted
upon a reduction of the prices. New negotiations
had now to be entered into. The demands of
the Northwesters were made in a peremptory
tone, and they seemed disposed to dictate like
conquerors. The Americans looked on with
indignation and impatience. They considered
M'Dougal as acting, if not a perfidious, certainly
a craven part. He was continually repairing to
the camp to negotiate, instead of keeping within
his walls and receiving overtures in his fortress.
His case, they observed, was not so desperate as
to excuse such crouching. He might, in fact hold
out for his own terms. The Northwest party had
lost their ammunition ; they had no goods to
trade with the natives for provisions ; and they
were so destitute that M'Dougal had absolutely t,o
feed them, while he negotiated with them. He,
on the contrary, was well lodged and victualled ;
had sixty men, with arms, ammunition, boats, and
eveiything requisite either for defense or retreat.
Th(i party, beneath the guns of liis fort, were at
his mercy ; should an enemy appear in the offing,
lie could pack up the most valuable part of the
pi'opei'ty and retire to some place of concealment,
or make off for tlie intoi-ior.

Bargain with the northwesters. 599

These considerations, however, had no weight
with. Mr. M'Dougal, or were overruled by other
motives. The terms of sale were lowered by
him to the stanrV^rd fixed by JNIr. Stuart, and an
agreement executed on the 16th of October, by
which the fuis and merchandise of all kinds in
the country, belonging to Mr. Astor, passed into
the possession of the Northwest Company at
about a third of their real value. ^ A safe passage
through the Northwest posts was guaranteed to
such as did not choose to enter into the service
of that Company, and the amount of wages due
to them was to be deducted from the price paid
for Astoria.

1 Not quite $40,000 were allowed for furs worth upwards of
$100,000. Beaver was valued at two dollars per skin, though
worth tive dollars. Land otter at fifty cents, though worth
five dollars. Sea-otter at twelve dollars, worth from forty -five
to sixty dollars ; and for several kinds of furs nothing was
allowed. Moreover, the goods aild merchandise for the
Indian trade ought to have brought three times the amount
for which they were sold.

The following estimate has been made of the articles on
hand, and the prices: —

17,705 lbs. beaver parchment, valued at $2.00 worth $5.00
465 old coat beaver, . . " " 1.66 " 3.50

907 land otter, . . '' " .50 " 5.00

68 sea-otter, ... " " 12.00 "45 to 60.00

30 " " ... '' " 5.00 " 25.00

Nothing was allowed for

179 mink skins, worth each .40

22 raccoon, n u ,4q

28 lynx, u u 2.00

18 fox, " " . . . ^ . 1.00

lOG " « « J 5Q

n black bear, u u 4 05

16 grizzly bear, " u ..... 10.00

600 ASTORIA.

The conduct and motives of Mr. M'Dougal,
throughout the whole of this proceeding, have
been strongly questioned by the other partners.
He has been accused of availing himself of a
wrong construction of powers vested in him at
his own request, and of sacrificing the interests
of Mr. Astor to the Northwest Company, under
the promise or hope of advantage to liimself.

He always insisted, however, that he made the
best bargain for Mr. Astor that circumstances
would permit ; the frigate being hourly expected,
in which case the whole property of that gentle-
man would be liable to capture. That the return
of Mr. Hunt was problematical ; the frigate in-
tending to cruise along the coast for two years,
and clear it of all American vessels. He more-
over averred, and M'Tavish corroborated his
averment by certificate, that he proposed an ar-
rangement to that gentleman, by which the furs
were to be sent to Canton, and sold there at Mr,
Aster's risk, and for his account ; but the propo-
sition was not acceded to.

Notwithstanding all his representations, several
of the persons present at the transaction, and ac-
quainted with the whole course of the affair, and
amonof the number Mr. M'Kenzie himself, his oc-
casional coadjutor, remained firm in the belief
that he had acted a hollow part. Neither did he
succeed in exculpating himself to Mr. Astor ; that
gentleman declaring, in a letter written some time
afterwards, to Mr. Hunt, that lie considered the
property virtually given away. " Had our place
and our property," he adds, " been fairly cap-

OPINION OF MR. AST JR. GOl

tured, I should have preferred it ; I should not
feel as if I were disgraced."

All these may be unmerited suspicions ; but it
certainly is a circumstance strongly corroborative
of them, that Mr. M'Dougal, shortly after con-
cluding this agreement, became a member of the
Northwest Company, and received a shai-e pro-
ductive of a handsome income.

«i^^

<^>C^^

CHAPTER LX.

N the morning of the 30th of Novem-
ber, a sail was descried doubling Cape
Disappointment. It came to anchor in
Baker's Bay, and proved to be a ship of war.
Of what nation ? was now the anxious inquiry.
If English, why did it come alone ? where was
the merchant vessel that was to have accompanied
it? If American, what was to become of the
newly acquired possession of the Northwest
Company ?

In this dilemma, M'Tavish, in all haste, loaded
two barges with all the packages of furs bearing
the mark of the Northwest Company, and made
off for Tongue Point, three miles up the river.
There he was to await a preconcerted signal from
M'Dougal, on ascertaining the character of the
ship. If it should prove American, M'Tavish
would have a fair start, and could bear off his
rich caro'o to the interior. It is sinii^ular that this
prompt mode of conveying valuable, but easily
transportable effects beyond the reach of a hostile
ship should not have suggested itself while the
property belonged to Mr. As tor.

In the meantime, M'Dougal, who still remained
nominal chief at the fort, launched a canoe,
uQinned by men recently in the employ of the

THE RACOON SLOOP OF WAR. 603

American Fur Company, and steered for the ship.
On the way, he instructed his men to pass them-
selves for Americans or Enijlishmen, according to
the exigencies of the case.

The vessel proved to be the British sloop of
war Racoon, of twenty-six guns, and one hundred
and twenty men, commanded by Captain Black.
According to the account of that officer, the
frigate Phoebe, and the two sloops of war Cherub
and Racoon, had sailed in convoy of the Isaac
Todd from Rio Janeiro. On board of the Phoebe,
Mr. John M'Donald, a partner of the Northwest
Company, embarked as passenger, to profit by
the anticipated catastrophe at Astoria. The con-
voy was separated by stress of weather off Cape
Horn. The three ships of war came together
again at the island of Juan Fernandez, their ap-
pointed rendezvous, but waited in vain for the
Isaac Todd.

In the meantirne, intelligence was received of
the mischief that Commodore Porter was doing
among the British whale ships. Commodore
Hillyer immediately set sail in quest of him, with
the Phoebe and the Cherub, transferring Mr.
M'Donald to the Racoon, and ordering that vessel
to proceed to the Columbia.

The officers of the Racoon were in high spirits.
The agents of the Northwest Company, in insti-
gating the expedition, had talked of immense
booty to be made by the fortunate captors of
Astoria. Mr. M'Donald had kept up the excite-
ment during the voyage, so that not a midship-
man but revelled in dreams of ample prize-

604 ASTORIA.

money, nor a lieutenant that would have sold his
chance for a thousand pounds. Their disappoint-
ment, therefore, may easily be conceived, when
they learned that their warlike attack upon As-
toria had been forestalled by a snug commercial
arrangement ; that their anticipated booty had
become British property in the regular course of
traffic, and that all this had been effected by the
very Company which had been instrumental in
getting them sent on what they now stigmatized
as a fool's errand. They felt as if they had been
duped and made tools of, by a set of shrewd men
of traffic, who had employed them to crack the
nut, while they carried off the kernel. In a
word, M'Dougal found himself so ungraciously
received by his countrymen on board of the ship,
that he was glad to cut short his visit, and return
to shore. He was busy at the fort, making prep-
arations for the reception of the captain of the
Racoon, when his one-eyed Indian father-in-law
made his appearance, with a train of Chinook
warriors, all painted and equipped in warlike
style.

Old Comcomly had beheld, with dismay, the
arrival of a " big war canoe " displaying the
British flaa:. The shrewd old savas^e had become
something of a politician in the course of his
daily visits at the fort. He knew of the war ex-
isting between the nations, but knew nothing of
:he arrangement between M'Dougal and M'Tav-
ish. He trembled, therefore, for the power of
liis white son-in-law, and the new-fleds^ed sfrandeur
of his daughter, and assembled his warriors in all

WAR SPIRIT OF COMCOMLY. 605

haste. " King George," said he, " has sent his
great canoe to destroy the fort, and make slaves
of all the inhabitants. Shall we snffer it ? The
Americans are the first white men that have fixed
themselves in the land. They have treated us
like brothers. Their great chief has taken my
daughter to be his squaw : we are, therefore, as
one people."

His warriors all determined to stand by the
Americans to the last, and to this effect they came
painted and armed for battle. Comcomly made a
spirited war-S2:)eech to his son-in-law. He offered
to kill every one of King George's men that
should attempt to land. It was an easy matter.
The ship could not approach within six miles of
the fort ; the crew could only land in boats. The
woods reached to the water's edge ; in these, he
and his warriors would conceal themselves, and
shoot down the enemy as fast as they put foot on
shore.

M'Dougal was, doubtless, properly sensible of
this parental devotion on the part of his savage
father-in-law, and perhaps a little rebuked by the
game spirit, so opposite to his own. He assured
Comcomly, however, that his solicitude for the
safety of himself and the princess was super-
fluous ; as, though the ship belonged to King
George, her crew would not injure the Ameri-
cans, or their Indian allies. He advised him and
his warriors, therefore, to lay aside their weapons
and war shirts, wash off the paint from their
faces and bodies, and appear like clean and civil
savages, to receive the strangers courteously.

006 ASTORIA.

Coincomly was sorely puzzled at this advice,
which accorded so little with his Indian notion?
of receiving a hostile nation, and it was only after
repeated and positive assurances of the amicable
intentions of the strangers that he was induced to
lower his fiohtinij tone. He said something to
his warriors explanatory of this singular posture
of affairs, and in vhidication, perhaps, of the
pacific temper of his son-in-law. They all gave
a shrug and an Indian grunt of acquiescence, and
went off sulkily to their village, to lay aside their
weapons for the present.

The proper arrangements being made for the
7'eception of Captain Black, that officer caused
his ship's boats to be manned, and landed with
})eiitting state at Astoria. From the talk that
had been made by the Northwest Company of
the strength of the place, and the armament they
had required to assist in its reduction, he expected
to find a fortress of some importance. When he
beheld nothing but stockades and bastions, cal-
culated for defense against naked savages, he felt
an emotion of indignant surprise, mingled with
something of the ludicrous. " Is this the fort," cried
he, '' about which I have heard so much talking ?
D — n me, but I'd batter it down in two hours
with a four pounder ! "

When he learned, however, the amount of rich
furs that had been passed into the hands of the
Northwesters, he was outrageous, and insisted
that an inventory should be taken of all the piop-
erty purchased of the Americans, " with a view
to ulterior measures in England, for the recovery
•jf the value from the Northwest Company."

ASTORIA CHANGES iM ASTERS. 607

As he grew cool, however, he gave over all
i<lea of preferring such a claim, and reconciled
himself, as well as he could, to the idea of having
been forestalled by his bargaining coadjutors.

On the 12 th of December, the fate of Astoria
was consummated by a regular ceremonial. Cap-
tain Black, attended by his officers, entered the
fort, caused the British standard to be erected,
broke a bottle of wine, and declared, in a loud
voice, that he took possession of the establishment
and of the country, in the name of his Britannic
Majesty, changing the name of Astoria to that
of Fort George.

The Indian warriors, who had offered their
services to repel the strangers, were present on
this occasion. It was explained to them as being
a friendly arrangement and transfer, but they
shook their heads grimly, and considered it an act
of subjugation of their ancient allies. They re-
gretted that they had complied with M'Dougal's
wishes, in laying aside their arms, and remarked,
that, however the Americans might conceal the
fact, they were undoubtedly all slaves ; nor could
they be persuaded of the contrary, until they be-
held the Racoon depart without taking away any
prisoners.

As to Comcomly, he no longer prided himself
upon his white son-in-law, but, whenever he was
asked about him, shook his head, and replied, that
liis daughter had made a mistake, and, instead of
getting a great warrior for a husband, had married
herself to a squaw

CHAPTER LXL

AVING given the catastrophe at the
Fort of Astoria, it remains now but to
gather up a few loose ends of this widely
excursive narrative and conclude. On the 28th
of February the brig Pedler anchored in Colum-
bia River. It will be recollected that Mr. Hunt
had purchased this vessel at the Sandwich Islands,
to take off the furs collected at the factory, and
to restore the Sandwich Islanders to their homes.
When that gentleman learned, however, the pre-
cipitate and summary manner in which the prop-
erty had been bargained away by M'Dougal, he
expressed his indignation in the strongest terms,
and determined to make an effort to get back the
furs. As soon as his wishes were' known in this
respect, M'Dougal came to sound him on behalf
of the Northwest Company, intimating that ho
had no doubt the peltries might be repurchased
at an advance of fifty per cent. This overture
was not calculated to soothe the angry feelings of
Mr. Hunt, and his indignation was complete, when
he discovered that M'Dougal had become a partner
of the Northwest Company, and had actually been
so since the 23d of December. Ho had kept his
partnership a secret, however ; had retained the
papers of the Pacific P^ur Company in his pos-

ADIEU TO ASTORIA. 609

session ; and had continued to act as Mr. A tor's
agent, though two of the partners of the other
company, Mr- M'Kenzie and Mr. Clarke, were
present. He had, moreover, divulged to his new
associates all that he knew as to Mr. Astor's plans
and affairs, and had made copies of his business
letters for their perusal.

Mr. Hunt now considered the whole conduct
3f M'Dougal hollow and collusive. His only
thought was, therefore, to get all the papers of the
concern out of his hands, and bring the business
to a close ; for the interests of Mr. Astor were
yet completely at stake ; the drafts of the North-
west Company in his favor, for the purchase money,
not having yet been obtained. With some difficulty
he succeeded in getting possession of the papers.
The bills or drafts were delivered without hes-
itation. The latter he remitted to Mr. Astor by
some of his associates, who were about to cross
the continent to New York. This done, he em-
barked on board the Pedler, on the 3d of April,
accompanied by two of the clerks, Mr. Seton and
Mr. Halsey, and bade a final adieu to Astoria.

The next day, April 4th, Messrs. Clarke,
M'Kenzie, David Stuart, and such of the Asto-
rians as had not entered into the service of the
Northwest Company, set out to cross the Rocky
Mountains. It is not our intention to take the
reader another journey across those rugged
barriers ; but we will step forward with the trav-
ellers to a distance on their way, merely to re-
late their interview with a character already noted
in this work.

39

610 ASTORIA.

As the party were proceeding up the Columbia,
near the mouth of the Wallah- Wallah River,
several Indian canoes put off from the shore to
overtake them, and a voice called upon them in
French and requested them to stop. They ac-
cordingly put to shore, and were joined by fhose
in the canoes. To their surprise, they recognized
in the person who had hailed them the Indian
wife of Pierre Dorion, accompanied by her two
children. She had a story to tell, involving the
fate of several of our unfortunate adventurers.

Mr. John Reed, the Hibernian, it will be re-
membered, had been detached during the summer
to the Snake River. His party consisted of four
Canadians, Giles Le Clerc, Frangois Landry, Jean
Baptiste Turcot, and Andre La Chapelle, together
with two hunters, Pierre Dorion and Pierre De-
launay ; Dorion, as usual, being accompanied by
his wife and children. The objects of this ex-
pedition were twofold ; to trap beaver, and to
search for the three hunters, Robinson, Hoback,
and Rezner.

In the course of the autumn, Reed lost one
man, Landry, by death ; another one, Pierre De-
launay, who was of a sullen, perverse disposition,
left him in a moody fit, and was never heard of
afterwards. The number of his party was not,
however, reduced by these losses, as the three
hunters, Robinson, Hoback, and Rezner, had
joined it.

Reed now built a house on the Snake River,
for their winter quarters ; which being completed,
the f arty set about trapping. Rezner, Le Clerc,

A SQUJIV'S H/'JRJfC CONDUCT. 611

and Pierre Dorion, went about five days' journey
from the wintering house, to a part of the country
well stocked with beaver. Here they put up a
hut, and proceeded to trap with great success.
Wliile the men were out hunting, Pierre Dor'on's
wife remained at home to dress the skins and pre-
pare the meals. She was thus employed caie
evening about the beginning of January, cooking
the supper of the hunters, when she heard foot-
steps, and Le Clerc staggered, pale and bleeding,
into the hut. He informed her that a party of
savages had surprised them, while at their traps,
and had killed Rezner and her husband. He had
barely strength left to give this information, when
he sank upon the ground.

The poor woman saw that the only chance for
life was instant flight, but, in this exigency,
showed that presence of mind and force of char-
acter for which she had frequently been noted.
With great difficulty, she caught two of the horses
belonging to the party. Then collecting her
clothes and a small quantity of beaver meat and
dried salmon, she packed them upon one of the
horses, and helped the wounded man to mount
upon it. On the other horse she mounted with
her two children, and hurried away from this dan-
gerous neighborhood, directing her flight to Mr.
Reed's establishment. On the third day, she de-
scried a number of Indians on horseback proceed-
ing in an easterly direction. She immediately
dismounted with her children, and helped Le
Clerc likewise to dismount, and all concealed
•themselves. Fortunately they escaped the sharp

612 ASTORIA.

eyes of the savages, but had to proceed with the
utmost caution. That night they slept without
fire or water ; she managed to keep her children
warm in her arms ; but before morning, poor Le
Clerc died.

With the dawn of day the resolute woman re-
sumed her course, and, on the fourth day, reached
the house of Mr. Reed. It was deserted, and all
round were marks of blood and signs of a furious
massacre. Not doubting that Mr. Reed and his
party had all fallen victims, she turned in fresh
horror from the spot. For two days she con-
tinued hurrying forward, ready to sink for want
of food, but more solicitous about her children
than herself. At length she reached a range of
the Rocky Mountains, near the upper part of the
Wallah- Wallah River. Here she chose a wild
lonely ravine, as her place of winter refuge.

She had fortunately a buffalo robe and three
deer-skins ; of these, and of pine bark and cedar
branches, she constructed a rude wigwam, which
she pitched beside a mountain spring. Having no
other food, she killed the two horses, and smoked
their flesh. The skins aided to cover her hut.
Here she dragged out the winter, with no other
company than her two children. Towards the
middle of March, her provisions were nearly ex-
hausted. She therefore packed up the remainder,
slung it on her back, and, with her helpless little
ones, set out again on her wanderings. Crossing
the ridge of mountains, she descended to the
banks of the Wallah- Wallah, and kept along them
until she arrived where that river throws itself

PROVOCATION CAUSES REVENGE. 613

into the Columbia. She was hospitably received
and entertained b}'' the Wallah- Wallahs, and had
been nearly two weeks among them when the two
canoes passed.

On being interrogated, she could assign no
reason for this murderous attack of the savages ;
it appeared to be perfectly wanton and unpro-
voked. Some of the Astorians supposed it an
act of butchery by a roving band of Blackfeet ;
others, however, and with greater probability of
correctness, have ascribed it to the tribe of Pierced-
nose Indians, in revenge for the death of their
comrade hanged by order of JVIr. Clarke. If so,
it shows that these sudden and apparently wanton
outbreakings of sanguinary violence on the part
of the savages, have often some previous, though
perhaps remote, provocation.

The narrative of the Indian woman closes the
checkered adventures of some of the personages
of this motley story ; such as the honest Hiber-
nian Reed, and Dorion the hybrid interpreter.
Turcot and La Chapelle were two of the men
who fell off from Mr. Crooks in the course of his
wintry journey, and had subsequently such disas-
trous times among the Indians. We cannot but
feel some sympathy with that persevering trio of
Iventuckians, Robinson, Rezner, and Hoback ;
who twice turned back when on their way home-
ward, and lingered in the wilderness to perish by
Uie hands of savages.

The return parties from Astoria, both by sea
and land, experienced on the way as many adven-
tures, vicissitudes, and mishaps, as the far-flimed

G14 ASTORIA.

heroes of the Odyssey ; they rt ached their des-
tination at different times, bearing tidings to Mr.
Astor of the unfortunate termination of his enter-
prise.

That gentleman, however, was not disposed,
even yet, to give the matter up as lost. On the
contrary, his spirit was roused by what he con-
sidered ungenerous and unmerited conduct on the
part of the Northwest Company. "After their
treatment of me," said he, in a letter to Mr.
Hunt, " I have no idea of remaining quiet and
idle." He determined, therefore, as soon as cir-
cumstances would permit, to resume his enter-
prise.

At the return of peace, Astoria, with the ad-
jacent country, reverted to the United States by
the treaty of Ghent, on the principle of status
ante helium, and Captain Biddle was despatched
in the sloop of war Ontario, to take formal pos-
session.

In the winter of 1815, a law was passed by
Congress prohibiting all traffic of British traders
within the territories of the United States.

The favorable moment seemed now to Mr.
Astor to have arrived for the revival of his favor-
ite enterprise, but new difficulties had grown up
to impede it. The Northwest Company were
now in complete occupation of the Columbia
River, and its chief tributary streams, holding the
posts which he had established, and carrying on a
trade throughout the neighboring region, in defi-
ance of the prohibitory law of Congress, which,
in effect, was a dead letter beyond the moun-

COMPLICATIONS AND DIFFICULTIES. 615

To dispossess them, would be an undertaking
of almost a belligerent nature ; for their agents
and retainers were well armed, and skjlled in the
use of weapons, as is usual with Indian traders.
The ferocious and bloody contests which had
taken place between the rival trading parties of
the Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies, had
shown what might be expected from commercial
feuds in the lawless depths of the wilderness.
Mr. Astor did not think it advisable, therefore, to
attempt the matter without the protection of the
American flag ; under which his people might
rally in case of need. He accordingly made an
informal overture to the President of the United
States, Mr. Madison, through Mr. Gallatin, offer-
ing to renew his enterprise, and to reestablish As-
toria, provided it would be protected by the Amer-
ican flag, and made a military post ; stating that
the whole force required would not exceed a lieu-
tenant's command.

The apphcation, approved and recommended
by Mr. Gallatin, one of the most enlightened
statesmen of our country, was favorably received,
but no step was taken in consequence ; the Pres-
ident not being disposed, in all probability, to
commit himself by any direct countenance or overt
act. Discouraged by this supineness on the part
of the government, Mr. Astor did not think fit to
renew his overtures in a more formal manner, and
the flivorable moment for the re-occupation of
Astoria was suffered to pass unimproved.

The British trading establishments were thus
enabled, without molestation, to strike deep their

616 ASTORIA.

roots, and extend their ramifications, in despite
of the prohibition of Congress, until they had
spread themselves over the rich field of enterprise
opened by Mr. As tor. The British government
soon began to perceive the importance of this re-
gion, and to desire to include it within their ter-
ritorial domams. A question has consequently
risen as to the right to the soil, and has become
one of the most perplexing now open between
the United States and Great Britian. In the first
treaty relative to it, under date of October 20th,
1818, the question was left unsettled, and it was
agreed that the country on the northwest coast of
America, westward of the Rocky Mountains,
claimed by either nation, should be open to the
inhabitants of both for ten years, for the purposes
of trade, with the equal right of navigating all its
rivers. When these ten years had expired, a
subsequent treaty, in 1828, extended the arrange-
ment to ten additional years. So the matter stands
at present.

On casting back our eyes over the series of
events we have recorded, we see no reason to at-
tribute the failure of this great commercial under-
taking to any fault in the scheme, or omission in
the execution of it, on the part of the projector.
It was a magnificent enterprise ; well concerted
and carried on, without regard to difficulties or
expense. A succession of adverse circumstances
and cross purposes, however, beset it almost from
the outset ; some of them, in fact, arising from
neglect of the orders and instructions of Mr.
Astor. The first crippling blow was the loss of

CAUSES OF NON-SUCCESS. 617

tlie Touquiu, which clearly would not have
happened, had Mr. Aster's earnest injunctions
with regard to the natives been attended to. Had
this ship performed her voyage prosperously, and
revisited Astoria in due time, the trade of the
establishment would have taken its preconcerted
course, and the spirits of all concerned been kept
up by a confident prospect of success. Her dis-
mal catastrophe struck a chill into every heart,
and prepared the way for subsequent despondency.

Another cause of embarrassment and loss was
the departure from the plan of Mr. Astor, as to
the voyage of the Beaver, subsequent to her
visiting Astoria. The variation from this plan
produced a series of cross purposes, disastrous to
the establishment, and detained Mr. Hunt absent
from his post, when his presence there was of
vital importance to the enterprise ; so essential is
it for an agent, in any great and complicated
undertaking, to execute faithfully, and to the letter,
the part marked out for him by the master mind
which has concerted the whole.

The breaking out of the war between the
United States and Great Britain, multiplied the
hazards and embarrassments of the enterprise.
The disappointment as to convoy, rendered it
difficult to keep up reinforcements and supplies ;
{ind the loss of the Lark added to the tissue of
misadventures.

That Mr. Astor battled resolutely against every
difficulty, and pursued his course in defiance of
eveiy loss, has been sufficiently shown. Had he
been seconded by suitable agents, and properly

618 ASTORIA.

protected by government, the ultimate failure of
his plan might yet have been averted. It was
bis great misfortune, that his agents were not im-
bued with his own spirit. Some had not capacity
sufficient to comprehend the real nature and extent
of Iiis scheme ; others were alien m feeling and
interest, and had been brought up in the service
of a rival company. Whatever sympathies they
might originally have had with him, were impaired,
if not destroyed, by the war. They looked upon
his cause as desperate, and only considered how
they might make interest to regain a situation
under their former employers. The absence of
Mr. Hunt, the only real representative of Mr.
Astor, at the time of the capitulation with the
Northwest Company, completed the series of
cross purposes. Had that gentleman been pres-
ent, the transfer, in all probability, would not
have taken place.

It is painful, at all times, to see a grand and
beneficial stroke of genius fail of its aim : but we
regret the failure of this enterprise in a national
point of view ; for, had it been crowned with
success, it would have redounded greatly to the
advantage and extension of our commerce. The
profits drawn from the country in question by the
British Fur Company, though of ample amount,
form no criterion by which to judge of the advan-
tages that would have arisen had it been entirely
m the hands of the citizens of the United States.
That company, as has been shown, is limited in
the nature and scope of its operations, and can
make but little use of the maritime facilities held

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 619

out by an emporium and a harbor on that coast.
In our hands, besides the roving bands of trappers
and traders, the country would have been ex-
plored and settled by industrious husbandmen ;
and the fertile valleys bordering its rivers, and
shut up among its mountains, would have been
made to pour forth their agricultui-al treasures to
contribute to the general wealth.

In respect to commei'ce, we should have had a
line of trading posts from the Mississippi and the
Missouri across the Rocky Mountains, forming a
hio;h road from the m-eat reo;ions of the west to
the shores of the Pacific. We sliould have had
a fortified post and port at the mouth of the Co-
lumbia, commanding the trade of that river and
its tributaries, and of a wide extent of country
and sea-coast ; carrying on an active and profit-
able commerce with the Sandwich Islands, and a
direct and frequent communication with China.
In a word, Astoria might have realized the anti-
cipations of Mr. Astor, so well understood and
appreciated by Mr. Jefferson, in gradually becom-
ing a commercial empire beyond the mountains,
peopled by "free and independent Americans,
and linked with us by ties of blood and interest."

We repeat, therefore, our sincere regret, that
our government should have neglected the over-
ture of Mr. Astor, and suffered the moment to
pass by, when full possession of this region might
have been taken quietly, as a matter of course,
and a military post established, without dispute,
at Astoria. Our statesmen have become sensi-
ble, when too late, of the importance of this

620 ASTORIA.

measure. Bills have repeatedly been brought
into Congress for the purpose, but without suc-
cess ; and our rightful possessions on that coast,
as well as our trade on the Pacific, have no rally-
ing point protected by the national flag, and by a
military force.

In the mean time, the second period of ten
years is fast elapsing. In 1838, the question of
title will again come up, and most probably, in
the present amicable state of our relations with
Gieat Britain, will be again postponed. Every
year, however, the litigated claim is growing in
importance. There is no pride so jealous and
irritable as the pride of territory. As one wave
of emigration after another rolls into the vast
regions of the west, and our settlements stretch
towards the Rocky Mountains-, the eager eyes of
our pioneers will pry beyond, and they will be-
come impatient of any barrier or impediment in
the way of what they consider a grand outlet of
our empire. Should any circumstance, therefore,
unfortunately occur to disturb the present har-
mony of the two nations, this Hl-adjusted ques-
tion, which now lies dormant, may suddenly start
up into one of belligerent import, and Astoria
become the watchword in a contest for dominion
on the shores of the Pacific.

Since the above was written, the question of
dominion over the vast territory beyond the Rocky
Mountains, which for a time threatened to disturb
the peaceful relations with our transatlantic kin-

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 621

dred, has been finally settled in a spirit of mutual
concession, and the venerable projector whose
early enterprise forms the subject of this work
had the satisfaction of knowing, ere his eyes
closed upon the world, that the flag of his country
again waved over "Astoria."

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.

Draught of a Petition to Congress^ sent by Mr. Astor
in 1812.

To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States, in Congress assembled,
The petition of the American Fur Company respectfully

showeth :

That the trade with the several Indian tribes of
North America, has, for many years past, been ahnost
exclusively carried on by the merchants of Canada ;
who, having formed powerful and extensive associa-
tions for that purpose, being aided by British capital,
and being encouraged by the favor and protection
of the British government, could not be opposed, with
any prospect of success by individuals of the United
States.

That by means of the above trade, thus systemati-
cally pursued, not only the inhabitants of the United
States have been deprived of commercial profits and
advantages, to which'' they appear to have just and
natural pretensions, but a great and dangerous in-
fluence has been established over the Indian tribes,
difficult to be counteracted, and capable of being
exerted at critical periods, to the great injury and
annoyance of our frontier settlements.

That in order to obtain at least a part of the above
trade, and more particularly that which is within tlw»
40

C26 APPENDIX.

boundaries of the United States, yoir petitionei-s, in
the year 1808, obtained an act of incorporation from
the State of New York, whereby they are enabled,
with a competent capital, to carry on the said trade
with the Indians in such a manner as may be con-
formable to the laws and regulations of the United
States, in relation to such a commerce.

That the capital mentioned in the said act,
amounting to one million of dollars, having been
duly formed, your petitioners entered with zeal and
alacrity into those large and important arrangement^:,
which were necessary for, or conducive to the object
of their incorporation : and, among other things, pur-
chased a great part of the stock in trade, and trading
establishments, of the Michilimackinac Company of
Canada. — Your petitioners also, with the expecta-
tion of great public and private advantage from the
use of the said establishments, ordered, during the
spring and summer of 1810, an assortment of goods
tirom England, suitable for the Indian trade ; which,
in consequence of the President's proclamation of
November of that year, were shipped to Canada
instead of New York, and have been transported,
under a very heavy expense, into the interior of the
country. But as they could not legally be brought
into the Indian country within the boundaries of the
United States, they have been stored on the Island
of St. Joseph, in Lake Huron, where they now
remain.

Your petitioners, with great deference and implicit
submission to the wisdom of the national legislature,
beg leave to suggest for consideration, whether they
have not some claim to national attention and en-
couragement, from the nature and importance of
their undertaking ; which though hazardous and un-
certain as it concerns their private emolument, must,

APPENDIX. 627

\i any rate, redound to the public securi y and ad-
vantage. If their undertaking shall appear to be of
the description given, they -would further suggest to
your honorable bodies, that unless they can procure
a regular supply for the trade in which they are
engaged, it may languish, and be finally abandoned
by American citizens ; when it will revert to its
former channel, with additional, and perhaps with
irresistible, power.

Under these circumstances, and upon all those
considerations of public policy which will present
themselves to your honorable bodies, in connection
with those already mentioned, your petitioners re-
spectfully pray that a law may be passed to enable
the President, or any of the heads of departments
acting under his authority, to grant permits for the
introduction of goods necessary for the supply of the
Indians, into the Indian counti-y that is within the
boundaries of the United States, under such regula-
tions, and Avith such restrictions, as may secure the
public revenue and promote the public welfare.

And your petitionei-s shall ever pray, &c.
In witness whereof, the common seal of the Amer-
ican Fur Company is hereunto ai3ixed, the
day of March, 1812.
By order of the Corporation.

A.N ACT to enable the American Fur Company, and other
citizens, to introduce goods necessary for the Indian trade
into the territories within the boundaries of the United
States.

Whereas, the public peace and welfare require
that the native Indian tribes, residing within the
boundaries of the United States, should receive their

G28 APPENDIX.

necessary supplies under the authority and from tlie
citizens of the United States : Therefore, be it
enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives
of the United States, in Congress assembled, that it
shall be lawful for the President of the United States,
or any of the heads of departments thereunto by
him duly authorized, from time to time to grant per-
mits to the American Fur Company, their agents or
factors, or any other citizens of the United States
engaged in the Indian trade, to introduce into the
Indian country, within the boundaries of the United
States, such goods, wares, and merchandise, as may
be necessary for the said trade, under such regula-
tions and restrictions as the said President or heads
of departments may judge proper ; any law or regu-
lation to the contrary, in anywise, notwithstanding.

Letter from Mr. Gallatin to Mr. Astor, dated

New Yokk, August 5, 1835.

Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I
will state such facts as I recollect touching the sub
jects mentioned in your letter of 28th ult. I may be
mistaken respecting dates and details, and will only
relate general facts, which I well remember.

In conformity with the treaty of 1794 with Great
Britain, the citizens and subjects of each country
were permitted to trade with the Indians residing in
the territories of the other party. The reciprocity
was altogether nominal. Since the conquest of Can-
ada, the British had inherited from the French the
whole fur trade, through the great lakes and their
communications, with all the western Indians, whether
residing in the Britis i dominions or the United States-

APPENDIX. 629

They kept the Important western posts on those lakes
till about the year 1797. And the defensive Indian
war, which the United States had to sustain from
1776 to 1795, had still more alienated the Indians,
and secured to the British their exclusive trade, car-
ried through the lakes, wherever the Indians in that
quarter lived. No American could, without immi-
nent danger of property and life, carry on that trade,
even within the United States, by the way of either
Mlchllimackin.nc or St. Mary's. And independent of
the loss of commerce, Great Britain was enabled to
preserve a most dangerous influence over our In-
dians.

It was under these circumstances that you commu-
nicated to our government the prospect you had to
be able, and your intention, to purchase one half of
the interest of the Canadian Fur Company, engaged
in trade by the way of Michilimackinac with our
own Indians. You wished to know whether the
plan met with the approbation of government, and
how far you could rely on its protection and encour-
agement. This overture was received with great
satisfaction by the administration, and Mr. Jefferson,
then President, wrote you to that eft''ct. I was also
directed, as Secretary of the Treasury, to write to you
an official letter to the same purpose. On investi-
gating the subject, it was found that the Executive
had no authority to give you any direct aid ; and I
believe you received nothing more than an entire
approbation of your plan, and general- assurances of
the protection due to every citizen engaged in lawful
and useful pursuits.

You did effect the contemplated purchase, but in
what year I do not recollect. Immediately before
vhe war, you represented that a large quantity of
merchandise, iiit^-nded for the Indian trade, and in-

630 APPENDIX.

eluding arras and munitions of war, belonging to that
foncern of Aviiich yoif owned one half, was deposited
at a post on Lake Huron, within the British domin-
ions ; that, in order to prevent their ultimately falling
into the hands of Fndians who might prove hostile,
you were desirous to try to have them conveyed into
the United States ; but that you were prevented by
the then existing law of non-intercourse with the
British dominions.

The Executive could not annul the provisions of
that law. But I was directed to instruct the collec-
tors on the lakes, in case you and your agents should
voluntarily bring in and deliver to them any part of
the goods above mentioned, to receive and keep them
in their guard, and not to commence prosecutions
until further instructions : the intention being then to
apply to Congress for an act remitting the forfeiture
and penalties. 1 wrote accordingly, to that effect, to
the collectors of Detroit and Michilimackinac.

The attempt to obtain the goods did not, however,
succeed ; and I cannot say how far the failure injured
you. But the war proved fatal to another much
more extensive and important enterprise.

Previous to that time, but I also forgot the year,
you had undertaken to carry on a trade on your own
account, though I believe under the New York
charter of the American Fur Company, with the
Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. This project
was also communicated to government, and met, of
course, with its full approbation, and best wishes, for
vour success. You carried it on, on the most exten-
sive scale, sending several ships to the mouth of the
Columbia River, and a large party by land across the
mountains, and finally founding the establishment of
Astoria.

This unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy

APPENDIX. 631

during the war, from circumstances with Avhich I am
but imperfectly acquainted — 'being then absent on
a foreign mission. T returned in September, 1815,
and sailed again on a mission to France in June,
1816. During that period I visited Washington
twice — in October or November, 1815, and in
March, 1816. On one of these occasions, and I be-
lieve on the last, you mentioned to me that you were
disposed once more to renew the attempt, and to re-
establish A^oria, provided you had the protection of
the American flag ; for which purpose, a lieutenant's
command would be sufficient to you. You requested
me to mention this to the President, which I did.
Mr. Madison said he would consider the subject, and,
although he did not commit himself, I thought that
he received the proposal favorably. The message
was verbal, and I do not know whether the appli^.a-
tlon was ever renewed in a more formal manner. I
sailed soon after for Europe, and was seven years
absent. I never had the pleasure, since 1816, to see
Mr. Madison, and never heard again any thing con-
cerning the subject in question.

I remain, dear sir, most respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

ALBERT GALLATIN.
John Jacob Astob, Esq.,

New York.

Notices of the Present State of the Fur Trade, chiefly
extracted from an article jmUished in Sillinuin*s
Magazine for January, 1834.

The Northwest Company did not long enjoy the
iway they had acquired over the trading regions of

682 APPENDIX.

the Columbia. A competition, ruinous in its expenses,
which had long exists between them and the Hud-
son's Bay Company, ended in their downfall and the
ruin of most of the partners. The relict of the
company became merged in the rival association, and
the whole business was conducted under the name of
the Hudson's Bay Company.

This coalition took place in 1821. They then
abandoned Astoria, and built a large establishment
sixty miles up the river, on the right bank, which
they called Fort Vancouver. This was in a neigh-
borhood where provisions could be more readily pro-
cured, and where there was less danger from mo-
lestation by any naval force. The company are said
to carry on an active and prosperous trade, and to
give great encouragement to settlers. They are ex-
tremely jealous, however, of any interference or par-
ticipation in their trade, and monopolize it from the
coast of the Pacific to the mountains, and for a con-
siderable extent north and south. The American
traders and trappers who venture across the moun-
tains, instead of enjoying the participation in the
trade of the river and its tributaries, that had been
stipulated by treaty, are obliged to keep to the south,
out of the track of the Hudson's Bay parties.

Mr. Astor has withdrawn entirely from the Amer-
ican Fur Company, as he has, in fact, from active
business of every kind. That company is now
headed by Mr. Ramsay Crooks ; its principal estab-
lishment is at Michilimackinac, and it receives its
furs from the posts depending on that station, and
from those on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Yellow
Stone Rivers, and the great range of country extend-
ing th<'hce to the Rocky Mountains. This company
has steauiboats in its employ, with which it ascends
the rivers, and penetrates to a vast distance into the

APPENDIX. 633

bosom of those regions formerly so painfully explored
in keel boats and barges, or by weary parties on
horseback and on foot. The first irruption of steam-
boats into the heart of these vast wildernesses is said
to have caused the utmost astonishment and affright
among their savage inhabitants.

in addition to the main companies already men-
tioned, minor associations have been formed, which
push their way in the most intrepid manner to the
remote parts of the far West, and beyond the moun-
tain barriers. One of the most noted of these is
Ashley's company, from St. Louis, who trap for them-
selves, and drive an extensive trade with the Indians.
The spirit, enterprise, and hardihood of Ashley, are
themes of the highest eulogy in the far West, and his
adventures and exploits furnish abundance of frontier
stories.

Another company of one hundred and fifty persons
from New York, formed in 1831, and headed by
Captain Bonneville of the United States army, has
pushed its enterprise into tracts before but little
known, and has brought considerable quantities of
furs from the region between the Rocky Mountains
and the coasts of Monterey and Upper California, on
the Buenaventura and Timpanogos rivers.

The fur countries, from the Pacific, east to tho
Rocky Mountains, are now occupied (exclusive of pri-
vate combinations and individual trappers and traders)
by the Russians ; and on the northwest from Behring's
Strait to Queen Charlotte's Island, in north latitude
(ifty-three degrees, and by the Hudson's Bay Company
thence, south of the Columbia River ; while Ashley's
tompany, and that under Captain Bonneville, take
Uie remainder of the region to California. Indeed,
the whole compass from the Mississippi to the Pacific
Ocean is traversed in every direction The rnomi-

634 APPENDIX.

tains and forests, from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of
Mexico, are threaded, through every maze, by the
hunter. Every river and tributary stream, from the
Columbia to the mouth of the Rio del Norte, and
from the M'Kenzie to the Colorado of the West, from
tiieir head springs to their junction, are searched
and trapped for beaver. Almost all the American
furs, which do not belong to the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany, find their way to New York, and are either
<listributed thence for home consumption, or sent to
foreign markets.

The Hudson's Bay Company ship their furs from
their factories of York Fort and from Moose River,
on Hudson's Bay ; their collection from Grand River,
&c., they ship from Canada ; and the collection from
Columbia goes to London. None of their furs come
to the United States, except through the London
market.

Tlie export trade of furs from the United States
is chiefly to London. Some quantities have been
sent to Canton, and some few to Hamburgh ; and an
increasing export trade in beaver, otter, nutria, and
vicunia wool, prepared for the hatter's use, is carried
on in Mexico. Some furs are exported from Balti-
more, Philadelphia, and Boston ; but the principal
shipments from the United States are from New York
to London, from whence they are sent to Leipsic, a
well-known mart for furs, where they are disposed of
during the great fair in that city, and distributed to
every part of the continent.

The United States iniport fi-om South America,
nutria, vicunia, chinchilla, and a few deer-skins; also
fur seals from the Lobos Islands, off the river Plate.
A quantity of beaver, otter, &c., are brought annu-
ally from Santa Fe. Dressed furs for edgings, lin-
ings, caps, muffs, &., such as squirrel, genet, fitch

APPENDIX. 635

skins, and blue rabbit, are received from the north
of Europe ; also cony and hare's fur ; but the
largest importations are from London, where is con-
c^trated nearly the whole of the North Amer-
ican fur trade.

Such is the present state of the far trade, by which
it will appear that the extended sway of the Hud-
son's Bay Company, and its monopoly of the region
of which Astoria was the key, has operated to turn
the main current of this opulent trade into the
coffers of Great Britain, and to render London the
emporium instead of New York, as Mr. Astor had
intended.

We will subjoin a few observations on the animals
sought after in this traffic, extracted from the same
intelligent source with the preceding remarks.

Of tlie fur-hearing animaU, "the precious ermine,"
so called by Avay of preeminence, is found, of the
best quality, only in the cold regions of Europe and
Asia.'^ Its fur is of the most perfect whiteness, ex-
cept the tip of its tail, which is of a brilliant shining
black. With these black tips tacked on the skins,
they are beautifully spotted, producing an effect
often imitated, but never equalled in other furs.
The ermine is of the genus mustela (weasel), and
resembles the connnon weasel in its form ; is from
fourteen to sixteen inches from the tip of the nose
to the end of the tail. The body is from ten to
twelve inches long. It lives in hollow trees, river
banks, and especially iy beech forests ; preys on
small birds, is very shy, sleeping during the day, and
employing the night in search of food. The fur of
the older animals is preferred to the younger. It is

1 An animal called the stoat a kind of ermine, is said to bo
teund in North America, but very inferior to the Europoi""
lud Asiatic.

636 APPENDIX.

taken by snares and traps, and sometim ts shot with
blunt arrows. Attempts have been made to domes-
ticate it ; but it is extremely wild, and has been
found untameable. "

The sable can scarcely be called second to the
ermine. It is a native of Northern Europe and
Siberia, and is also of the genus mustela. In
Samoieda, Yakutsk, Kamtschatka, and Russian Lap
land, it is found of the richest quality, and darkest
color. In its habits, it resembles the ermine. It
preys on small squirrels and birds, sleeps by day,
and prowls for food during the night. It is so like
the marten in every particular except its size, and
the dark shade of its color, that naturalists liave
not decided whether it is the richest and finest of
the marten tribe, or a variety of that species. i^ It
varies in dimensions from eighteen to twenty inches.

The rich dark shades of the sable, and the snowy
whiteness of the ermine, the great depth, and the
peculiar, almost flowing softness of their skins and
fur, have combined to gain them a preference in all
countries, and in a,ll ages of the world. In this age,
they maintain the same relative estimate in regard
to other furs, as when they marked the rank of the
proud crusader, and were emblazoned in heraldry :
but in most European nations, they are now worn
promiscuously by the opulent.

The martens from Northern Asia and the Moun-
tains of Kamtschatka are nuich superior to the Amer-
ican, though in every pack of American marten
skins there are a certain number which are beauti-

1 The finest fur and the darkest color are most esteemed;
and whether the difference arises from the age of the animal,
or from some peculiarity of location, is not known. They do
not vary more from the common marten than the Arabian
horse from the shaivgv (Canadian.

APPENDIX. 637

fully shaded, and of a dark brown olive color, of
great depth and richness.

Next these in value, for ornament and utility, are
the sea-otter, the mink, and the fiery fox.

The fiery fox is the bright red of Asia ; is more
brilliantly colored and of finer fur than any other
of the genus. It is highly valued for the splendor of
its red color and the fineness of its lur. It is the
standard of value on the northeastern coast of Asia.

The sea-otter, which was first introduced into
commerce in 1725, from the Aleutian and Km-ile
Islands, is an exceedingly fine, soft, close fur, jet
black in winter, with a silken gloss. The fur of the
'/oung animal is of a beautiful brown color. It is
met with in great abundance in Behring's Island,
Kamtschatka, Aleutian and Fox Islands, and is also
taken on the opposite coasts of North America. It
is sometimes taken with nets, but more frequently
with clubs and spears. Their food is principally
lobster and other shell-fish.

In 1780 furs had become so scarce in Siberia, that
the supply was insufficient for the demand in the
Asiatic countries. It was at this time that the sea-
otter was introduced into the markets for China.
The skins brought such incredible prices, as to
originate immediately several American and British
expeditions to the northern islands of the Pacific, to
Nootka Sound, and the northwest coast of America ;
but the Russians already had possession of the tract
which they now hold, and had arranged a trade for
the sea-otter with the Koudek tribes. They do not
engross the trade, however ; the American northwest
trading ships procure them, all along the coast, from
the Indians.

At one period, the fur seals formed no inconsider-
able item in the trade. South Georgia, in south

638 APPENDIX.

latitude fifty -five degrees, discovered in 16 75, was
explored by Captain Cook in 1771. The Americans
immediately commenced carrying seal skins thence
to China, where they obtained the most exorbitant
prices. One million two hundred thousand skins
have been taken from that island alone, and nearl)'
an equal number from the Island of Desolation, since
they were first resorted to tor the purpose of com-
merce.

The discovery of the South Shetlands, sixty-three
degrees south latitude, in 1818, added surprisingly to
the trade in fur seals. The number taken from the
South Shetlands in 1821 and 1822 amounted to three
hundred and twenty thousand. This valuable animal
is now almost extinct in all these islands, owing to
the exterminating system adopted by the hunters.
They are still taken on the Lobos Islands, where the
provident government of Montevideo restrict the
fishery, or hunting, Avithin certain limits, which in-
sures an annual return of the seals. At certain
seasons, these amphibia, for the purpose of renewing
their coat, come up on the dark frowning rocks and
precipices, where there is not a trace of vegetation.
In the middle of January, the islands are partially
cleared of snow, where a few patches of short strag-
gling grass spring up in fiivorable situations ; but the
seals do not resort to it for food. They remain on
the rocks not less than tAvo months, without any
sustenance, when they return much emaciated to the
sea.

Bears of various species and colors, many varieties
of the fox, the wolf, the beaver, the otter, the marten,
the raccoon, the badger, the wolverine, the mink, the
lynx, the muskrat, the woodchuck, the rabbit, the
hare, and the squirrel, are natives of North Amer

APPENDIX. 639

The beaver, otter, lynx, fisher, hare, and raccoon,
are used principally for hats ; Avhile the bears of sev-
eral varieties furnish an excellent material for slei<i;h
linings, for cavalry caps, and other military equip-
ments. The fur of the black fox is the most valu-
able of any of the American varieties; and next,
to that the red, which is exported to China and
Smyrna. In China, the red is employed tor trim-
mings, linings, and robes ; the latter being variegated
by adding the black fur of the paws, in spots or
waves. There are many other varieties of American
fox, such as the gray, the white, the cross, the silver,
and the dun-colored. The silver fox is a rare ani-
mal, a native of the woody country below the falls
of the Columbia River. It has a long, thick, deep
lead-colored fur, intermingled with long hairs, inva-
riably white at the top, forming a bright lusti?ous
silver gray, esteemed by some more beautiful than
any other kind of fox.

The skins of the buflfixlo, of the Rocky Mountain
sheep, of various deer, and of the antelope, are in-
cluded in the fur trade with the Indians and trap
pers of the north and west.

Fox and seal skins are sent from Greenland to
Denmark. The white fur of the arctic fox and polar
bear is sometimes found in the packs brought to the
traders by the most northern tribes of Indians, but
is not particularly valuable. The silver-tipped
rabbit is peculiar to England, and is sent thence to
Russia and China.

Other furs are employed and valued according to
the caprices of fashion, as well in those countries
where they are needed for defenses against the
severity of the seasons, as among the inhabitants of
milder climates, who, being of Tartar or Sclavonian
descent, are siid to inherit an attachment to furred

640 APPENDIX.

clothing. Such are the inhabitants of Poland, of
Southern Russia, of China, of Persia, of Turkey, and
all the nations of Gothic origin in the middle and
western parts of Europe. Under the burning suns
of Syria and Egypt, and the mild climes of Bucharia
and Independent Tartary, there is also a constant
demand, and a great consumption, where there exists
no physical necessity. In our own temperate lati-
tudes, besides their use in the arts, they are in re-
quest for ornament and warmth during the winter,
and large quantities are annually consumed for both
purposes in the United States.

From the foregoing statements, it appears that
the fur trade must henceforward decline. The ad-
vanced state of geographical science shows that no
new countries remain to be explored. In North
America the animals are slowly decreasing, from the
persevering efforts and the indiscriminate slaughter
practised by the hunters, and by the appropriation
to the uses of man of those forests and rivers which
have afforded them food and protection. They
recede with the aborigines, before the tide of civili-
zation ; but a diminished supply will remain in the
mountains and uncultivated tracts of tliis and other
countries, if the avidity of the hunter can be re-
strained within proper limitations.

Height of the Rocky Mountains.

Various estimates have been made of the height
of the Rocky Mountains, but it is doubtful whether
any have, as yet, done justice to their real altitude,
which promises to place them only second to the
highest nil untains of the known world. Their

APPENDIX. 64]

height has been diminished to the eye by the great
elevation of the plains from which they rise. They
consist, according to Long, of ridges, knobs, and
peaks, variously disposed. The more elevated parts
are covered with perpetual snows, which contribute
to give them a luminous, and, at a great distance,
even a brilliant appearance ; whence they derived,
among some of the first discoverers, the name of
tlie Shining Mountains.

James's Peak has generally been cited as the
highest of the chain ; and its elevation above the
common level has been ascertained, by a trigonomet-
rical measurement, to be about eight thousand five
hundred feet. Mr. Long, however, judged, from the
position of the snow near the summits of other peaks
and ridges at no great distance from it, that they
were much higher. Having heard Professor Ren-
wick, of New York, express an opinion of the alti-
tude of these mountains far beyond what had usually
been ascribed to them, we applied to him for the
authority on which he grounded his observation, and
here subjoin his reply : —

Columbia College. New York, February 23, 1836.

Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I
have to communicate some facts in relation to the
heights of the Rocky Mountains, and the sources
whence I obtained the information.

In conversation with Simon M'Gilllvray, Esq., a
partner of the Northwest Company, he stated to me
his impression, that the mountains in the vicinity of
the route pursued by the trad(;rs of that company
were nearly as high as the Himalayas. He had
himself crossed by this route, seen the snowy sum-
mits of the peaks, and experienced a degree of cold
which required a spirit thermometer to indicate it
41

642 APPENDIX.

His authority for the estimate of the heights was
a gentleman who had been employed for several
years as surveyor of that company. This conversa-
tion occurred about sixteen years since.

A year or two afterwards, I had the pleasure of
dining, at Major Uelafieid's, with Mr. Thompson, the
gentleman referred to by Mr. M'Gilllvray. I in-
quired of him in relation to the circumstances men-
tioned by Mr. M'Gilllvray, and he stated, that, by
the joint means of the barometric and trigonometric
measurement, he had ascertained the height of one
of the peaks to be about twenty-five thousand feet,
and there were others of nearly the same height in
the vicinity.

I am, dear sir,

Yours truly,

JAMES RENWICK.
To W. Irving, Esq.

Suggestions with respect to the Indian tribes^ and the
protection of our Trade.

In the course of this work, a few general remarks
have been hazarded respecting the Indian tribes of
the prairies, and the dangers to be apprehended from
them in future times to our trade beyond the Rocky
IMountains and with the Spanish frontiers. Since
writing those remarks, we have met with some
excellent observations and suggestions, in manuscript,
on the same subject, written by Captain Bonneville,
of the United States army, who has lately returned
from a long residence among the tribes of the Rocky
Mountains. Captain B. approves highly of the plan
recently adopted by the United States government

APPENDIX. 643

for the organization of a regiment of dragoons for
the protection of our western frontier, and the trade
across the prairies. " No other species of military-
force," he observes, " is at all competent to cope
with these restless and wandering hordes, who re-
quire to be opposed with swiftness quite as much as
with strength ; and the consciousness that a troop,
uniting these qualifications, is always on the alert to
avenge their outrages upon the settlers and traders,
will go very far towards restraining them from the
perpetration of those thefts and murders which they
have heretofore committed with impunity, whenever
stratagem or superiority of force has given them the
advantage. Their interest already has done some-
thing toAvards their pacification with our coun-
trymen. From the traders among them, they receive
their supplies in the greatest abundance, and upon
very equitable terms ; and when it is remembered
that a very considerable amount of property is year-
ly distributed among them by the government, as
presents, it will readily be perceived that they are
grO.atly dependent upon us for their most valued
resources. If, superadded to this inducement, a fre-
quent display of military power be made in their
territories, there can be little doubt that the desired
security and peace will be speedily afforded to our
own people. But the idea of establishing a perma-
nent amity and concord amongst the various east and
west tribes themselves, seems to me, if not wholly
impracticable, at least infinitely more difficult than
many excellent philanthropists have hoped and be-
lieved. Those nations which have so lately emi-
grated from the midst of orr settlements to live upon
our western borders, and have made some progress
in agriculture and the arts of civilization, have, in
the property they have acquired, an.l the protection

644 APPENDIX.

and aid extended to them, too many advantages to
be induced readily to take up arms against us, par-
ticularly it they can be brought to the full conviction
that their new homes will be permanent and undis-
turbed ; and there is every reason and motive, in
policy as well as humanity, for our ameliorating their
condition by every means in our power. But the
case is far different with regard to the Osages, the
Kanzas, the Pawnees, and other roving hordes beyond
the frontiers of the settlements. Wild and restless
in their character and habits, they are by no means
so susceptible of control or civilization ; and they
are urged by strong, and, to them, irresistible causes
in their situation and necessities, to the daily perpe-
tration of yiolence and fraud. Their permanent
subsistence, for example, is derived from the
buffalo hunting grounds, which lie a great distance
from tiieir towns. Twice a year they are obliged to
make long and dangerous expeditions, to procure the
necessary provisions for themselves and their families.
For this purpose horses are absolutely requisite, for
their own comfort and safety, as well as for the
transportation of their food, and their little stock of
valuables ; and without them they would be reduced,
during a great portion of the year, to a state of ab-
ject misery and privation. They have no brood
mares, nor any trade sufficiently valuable to supply
their yearly losses, and endeavor to keep up their
stock by stealing horses from the other tribes to the
west and southwest. Our own people, and the tribes
innnediately upon our borders, may indeed be protected
from their depredations ; and the Kanzas, Osages,
Pawnees, and others, may be induced to remain
at })eace among themselves, so long as they are per-
mitted to pursue the old custom of levying upon the
Ciimanches and ether remote nations for their coru-

APPENDIX. 645

plement of steeds for the warriors, and pack-horses
for their transportations to and from the hunting
ground. But the instant they are forced to maintain
a peaceful and inoffensive demeanor towards the
tribes alonp; the Mexican border, and find that every
violation of their rights is followed by the avenging
arm of our government, the result must be, that, re-
duced to a wretchedness and want which they can
ill brook, and feeling the certainty of punishment for
every attempt to ameliorate their condition in the
only way they as yet comprehend, they will abandon
their unfruitful territory and remove to the neigh-
borhood of the Mexican lands, and there carry on a
vigorous predatory warfare indiscriminately upon the
Mexicans and our own people trading or travelling
in that quarter.

" The Indians of the prairies are almost innumer-
able. Their superior horsemanship, which, in my
opinion, far exceeds that of any other people on the
face of the earth, their daring bravery, their cun-
ning and skill in the warfare of the wilderness, and
the astonishing rapidity and secrecy with which they
are accustomed to move in their martial expeditions,
will always render them most dangerous and vexa-
tious neighbors, when their necessities or their dis-
contents may drive them to hostility with our fron-
tiers. Their mode and principles of warfare will
always protect them from final and irretrievable de-
feat, and secure their families from participating in
any blow however severe, which our retribution
might deal out to them.

'' The Camanches lay the Mexicans under contri-
bution for horses and mules, which they are always
engaged in stealing from them in incredible numbers;
and from the Camanches, all the roving tribes of the

646 APPENDIX.

Bupply themselves In turn. It seems to me, there-
fore, under all these circumstances, that the apparent
futility of any philanthropic schemes for the benefit
of these nations, and a regard for our own protection,
concur in recommending that we remain satisfied
with maintaining peace upon our own immediate
borders, and leave the Mexicans and the Camanches,
and all the tribes hostile to these last, to settle their
differences and difficulties in their own way.

" In order to give full security and protection to
our trading parties circulating in all directions
through the great prairies, I am under the impression,
that a ^Qw judicious measures on the part of the
government, involving a very limited expense, would
be sufficient. And, in attaining this end, which of
itself has already become an object of public inter-
est and import, another, of much greater consequence,
might be brought about, namely, the securing to the
States a most valuable and increasing trade, now-
carried on by caravans directly to Santa Fe.

" As to the first desideratum : the Indians can
only be made to respect the lives and property of
the American parties, by rendering them dependent
upon us for their supplies ; which can alone be done
with complete effect by the establishment of a trad-
ing post, with resident tradei's, at some point which
will unite a sufficient number of advantages to at-
tract the several tribes to itself, in preference to
their present places of resort for that purpose ; for It
is a well-known fact, that the Indians will always
protect their trader, and those In whom he is inter-
ested, so long as they derive benefits from him. The
alternative presented to those at the north, by the
residence of the agents of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany amongst them, renders the condition of our
people in that quarter less secure ; but I think it

APPENDIX. 647

will appear at once, upon the most cursory examina-
tion, that no such opposition further south could be
maintained, so as to weaken the benefits of such an
establishment as is here suggested.

" In considering this matter, the first question
which presents itself is, where do these tribes now
make their exchanges, and obtain their necessary
supplies. They resort almost exclusively to the
Mexicans, who, themselves, purchase from us what-
ever the Indians most seek for. In this point of
view, therefore, cceteris paribus, it would be an easy
matter for us to monopolize the whole traffic. All
that is wanting is some location more convenient for
the natives than that offered by the Mexicans, to
give us the undisputed superiority; and the se-
lection of such a point requires but a knowledge
of the single fact, that these natIon=! invariably win-
ter upon the head waters of the Arkansas, and Inhere
prepare all their buffiilo robes for trade. These robes
3kve heavy, and, to the Indian, very difficult of trans-
portation. Nothing but necessity induces them to
travel any great distance with such inconvenient
baggage. A post, therefore, established upon the
head waters of the Arkansas, must infallibly secure
an uncontested preference over that of the Mexicans ;
even at their prices and rates of barter. Then let
the dragoons occasionally move about among these
people in lai^e parties, impressing them with the
pi'oper estimate of our power to protect and to pun-
ish, and at once we have complete and assured se-
curity for all citizens whose enterprise may lead them
beyond the border, and an end to the outrages and
depredations which now dog the footsteps of the
traveller, in the prairies, and arrest and depress the
most advantageous commerce. Such a post need not
be stronger than fifty men ; twenty-five to be employed

648 APPENDIX.

as hunters, to supplj^ the garrison, and the residue as a
defense against any hostility. Situated here upon
the good lands of the Arkansas, in the midst of
abundance of timber, while it might be kept up
at a most inconsiderable expense, such an estab-
lishment within ninety miles of Santa Fe or Taps
would be more than justified by the other and more
important advantages before alluded to, leaving the
protection of the traders with the Indian tribes
entirely out of the question.

" This great trade, carried on by caravans to
Santa Fe, annually loads one hundred wagons with
merchandise, which is bartered in the northern prov-
inces or Mexico for cash and for beaver furs. The
numerous articles excluded as contraband, and the
exorbitant duties laid upon all those that are ad-
mitted by the Mexican government, present so many
obstacles to commerce, that I am well persuaded,
that if a post, such as is here suggested, should be
established on the Arkansas, it would become the
place of deposit, not only for the present trade, but
for one infinitely more extended. Here the Mexi-
cans might purchase their supplies, and might well
afford to sell them at prices which would silence all
competition from any other quarter.

" These two trades, with the Mexicans and the
Indians, centring at this post, would give rise to a
large village of traders and laborers, and would un-
doubtedly be hailed, by all that section of country,
as a permanent and i'i valuable advantage. A few
pack-horses would carry all the clothing and ammu-
nition necessary for the post during the first year,
and two light field-pieces would be all the artillery
required for its defense. Afterwards, all the horses*
required for the use of the establishment might be
purchased from the Mexicans at the low price of ten

APPENDIX. 649

dollars each ; and, at the same time, wliatever ani-
mals might be needed to supply the losses among
the dragoons traversing the neighborhood, could be
readily procured. The Upper Missouri Indians can
furnish horses, at very cheap rates, to any number
of the same troops who might be detailed for the
defense of the northern frontier ; and, in other
respects, a very limited outlay of money would suffice
to maintain a post in that section of the country.

" From these considerations, and my own personal
observation, I am, therefore, disposed to believe, that
two posts established by the government, one at the
mouth of the Yellowstone River, and one on the
Arkansas, would completely protect all our people in
every section of the great wilderness of the AVcst ;
while other advantages, at least with regard to one
of them, confirm and urge the suggestion. A fort
at the mouth of the Yellowstone, garrisoned by fifty
men, would be perfectly safe. The establishment
might be constructed simply with a view to the
stores, stables for the dragoons' horses, and quarters
for the regular garrison ; the rest being provided
with sheds or lodges, erected in the vicinity, for their
residence during the winter months "

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