Benton County, Oregon - Chapter 13: The Astoria Enterprise, 1885

The Northwest Company Establishes a Post on Fraser Lake - Result of the Journey of Lewis and Clarke - Fort Henry Built by Americans on Snake River - Organization of the Pacific Fur Company - Canadian Voyageurs- - Astoria Founded - Sad Fate of the Tonquin - Terrible Sufferings of Hunt's Party - Success of the Business in 1813 - McDougal Sells the Property to the Northwest Company - The Other Parties Return to the Atlantic Coast.

When Great Britain was officially notified that an expedition was about to be dispatched by the United States government to explore that much-claimed region lying to the west of the Mississippi, much anxiety was felt, especially by the Northwest Company of Montreal, whose traders were operating farther west and south than were the employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. They could not be expected to submit without a struggle to the loss of so vast a territory in which to prosecute their peculiar industry. The line of division west of the Lake of the Woods was undefined, and the extent of territory to be occupied in the future by England and America depended largely upon the actual occupancy by the contending parties. The Northwest Company consequently, in 1804, dispatched a trusted agent named Laroque, in command of a party, with instructions to establish trading posts on the Columbia. Laroque failed utterly to accomplish the purpose of his journey, since circumstances conspired to prevent him from progressing beyond the Missouri river in the Mandan country. The next year Simon Fraser left the company's headquarters at Fort Chipewyan, and following the course pursued thirteen years before by Mackenzie, reached Fraser lake, where he founded a trading post. This post of the Northwest Company was the first establishment made by Englishmen or Americans west of the Rocky mountains, and lies one hundred miles north of the international line subsequently established. The name New Caledonia was bestowed upon that region, which was considered to lie north of the country known as Oregon.

The return of Lewis and Clarke was the cause of great rejoicing in the United States. Mr. Jefferson says : " Never did a similar event excite more joy throughout the United States. The humblest of its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of this journey, and looked forward with impatience to the information it would furnish. Their anxieties, too, for the safety of the corps had been kept in a state of excitement by lugubrious rumors, circulated from time to time on uncertain authorities, and uncontradicted by letters, or other direct information, from the time they had left the Mandan, towns, on their ascent up the river in April of the preceding year, 1805, until their actual return to St. Louis." Captain Lewis was soon after his return appointed governor of Louisiana, with which his journey had rendered him more familiar than any other man except his associate ; and Captain Clarke was appointed general of militia of the same territory and agent for Indian affairs in that vast region he had explored. During a period of temporary mental derangement Captain Lewis died by his own hand, in September, 1809, before he had fully completed his narrative of the journey. The history of the expedition was prepared from his manuscript under the direction of Captain Clarke and was first published in 1814. The general details, however, were spread throughout the country immediately upon their return, especially on the frontier. During their absence other exploring parties were traversing Louisiana in various directions in search of information for the government. Lieutenant Pike ascended the Mississippi to its headwaters in 1805, and the following year journeyed southwestward from the mouth of the Missouri to the sources of the Arkansas, Red and Rio Bravo del Norte. At the same time Dunbar, Hunter and Sibley explored Red river and its companion streams. These explorations served to greatly stimulate the fur trade carried on from St. Louis and Macinaw, as well as to strengthen the government in its purpose of adhering to its right to Louisiana, acquired by the tripple method of purchase, discovery and exploration. To these was soon added the fourth and most important - occupation.

One of the first results of the expedition was the organization of the Missouri Fur Company, in 1808, with headquarters at St. Louis. Trading posts were established on the affluents of the Mississippi and Missouri, and that same year Mr. Henry, one of the agents of the company, crossed the mountains and founded Fort Henry on the headwaters of Lewis or Snake river, being the first American establishment west of the Rocky mountains. The first effort to occupy the mouth of the Columbia was made by the captain of one of the American vessels trading in the Pacific, whose name is variously given by historians as T. Winship, Nathaniel Winship, and Captain Smith. In 1810 this gentleman built a small house for trading purposes at Oak Point, on the south bank of the Columbia some sixty miles above its mouth, far enough up the stream to meet even the requirements of Captain Vancouver's idea of what constituted a river.

During the first decade of the nineteenth century American fishing and trading vessels crowded the Pacific, while other nations were not entirely unrepresented. Thefur trade developed into a great industry, being conducted by them in the most practical manner. All furs collected by the Russian American Trading Company w r ere sent to China or Russia by land from Kamtchatka, since their vessels were not granted the privilege of entering Chinese ports. It was this fact and because England had granted to monopolies the control of her Pacific commerce, that the fur trade by sea was conducted chiefly by Americans. That this condition of affairs should be especially distasteful to the subjects of Great Britain Is natural. They looked upon the enterprise and success of these " Yankee adventurers " with jealous eyes, nor were they willing to give them the least credit for their skill as navigators or energy as tradesmen. Because they conducted the details of their traffic in such a way as to render it highly successful, they were classed by the English traders as adventurers, though often the representatives of wealthy and substantial business houses. Archibald Campbell thus contemptuously reviews their method of carrying on the Pacific commerce: " These adventurers set out on the voyage with a few trinkets of very little value. In the Southern Pacific, they pick up a few seal skins, and perhaps a few butts of oil ; at the Gallipagos, they lay in turtle, of which they preserve the shells ; at Valparaiso they raise a few dollars in exchange for European articles ; at Nootka, and other parts of the northwest coast, they traffic with the natives for furs, which, when winter commences, they carry to the Sandwich islands, to dry and preserve from vermin ; here they leave their own people to take care of them, and, in the spring, embark, in lieu, the natives of the islands, to assist in navigating to the northwest coast in search of more skins. The remainder of the cargo is then made up of sandal, which grows abundantly in the woods of Atooi and Owyhee (Hawaii), of tortoise shells, sharks' fins, and pearls of an inferior kind, all of which are acceptable in the China market ; and with these and their dollars they purchase cargoes of teas, silks and nankins, and thus complete their voyage in the course of two or three years."

This may be considered a correct statement of the general manner of conducting the trade by Americans, with the exception of the " few trinkets " slur, for the majority of vessels, which were large and valuable ones, took out with them quite extensive cargoes of English, American and other manufactured goods and products, with which they supplied the Spanish and Russian settlements, the latter in particular relying almost wholly upon the Americans for their supplies of ammunition, sugar, spirits and manufactured articles. That a large proportion of furs procured from the natives were paid for in " trinkets " is true, but this practice was as much indulged in by English traders on the Atlantic side as by Americans on the Pacific, and such articles have always in every land and by every nation been deemed a valuable consideration in dealing with uncivilized races. The Americans are deserving of much credit for their economical, energetic and highly practical method of conducting their commercial ventures in the Pacific.

In one particular, however, some of these independent traders, who might, perhaps, merit the contemptuous title of adventurers bestowed upon them all by their rivals, were guilty of conduct very reprehensible when viewed from a certain standpoint. Caring only for present profits and heedless of the effect of their conduct upon the future of their trade, they supplied the Indians with whisky and fire-arras. Upon the first glance it would seem that, as the Indians were chiefly depended upon to provide the furs, any addition made to their facilities for accomplishing this would be beneficial to the business and that the giving of guns to them would result in an increase of the trade ; but the opposite was the case. Irving says : " In this way several fierce tribes in the vicinity of the Russian posts, or within range of their trading excursions, were furnished with deadly means of warfare, and rendered troublesome and dangerous neighbors." The fact is that the Russian intercourse with the natives was often marked by conduct so illiberal and heartlessly cruel that it is no wonder they objected to their victims being supplied with means of asserting their rights. Representations were made by the Russiau government to the United States of this objectionable conduct of American traders, but since no law or treaty was infriuged the government could do nothing. It, however, applied to John Jacob Astor, a merchant of New York, who had long been engaged in the fur trade about the lakes and headwaters of the Mississippi, to see if he could not suggest a remedy.

Mr. Astor conceived the idea of establishing a post at the mouth of the Columbia, from which the Russian traders could be supplied annually by a vessel sent out from New York, and which would be the headquarters for a large trade with the interior. By this systematic conduct of the business he expected to supersede the independent traders, remove the cause of irritation to Russia, and found permanent establishments of the United States along the Columbia. Mr. Astor imparted his idea to the president and cabinet, by whom it was heartily endorsed, and he was assured that all the support and encouragement would be his which the government could properly offer. President Jefferson had, as we have seen, always been a warm advocate of American supremacy in this region, and in a letter written in later years to Mr. Astor, said : " I considered, as a great public acquisition, the commencement of a settlement on that part of the western coast of America, and looked forward with gratification to the time when its descendants 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 enjoying like us the rights of self-government." Grand as was that great statesman's conception of the destiny of this coast, it is transcended by actual, living reality. Not only the " ties of blood and interest," but of national union and loyal brotherhood, bind together the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, while the great interior wilderness has now become more potent as a bond of union to hold them together, than it then was as a barrier to keep them apart.

Mr. Astor associated with himself as managing partners several experienced men, some of whom had formerly been connected with the Northwest Company. This was a very unwise, and, as it afterwards proved, an unfortunate step. These men were thoroughly competent to manage the details of the business, being energetic and able men and completely familiar with the management of the successful English company ; but they were subjects of Great Britain, their interests and instincts were British, and in forming an American settlement none but Americans should have been placed in command. Washington's injunction to "put none but Americans on guard," should have been borne in mind. These men made no pretense of Americanizing themselves or transferring their allegiance ; on the contrary they took the precaution to provide themselves before leaving Canada with proofs of their British citizenship, to be used for their advantage in case of future difficulties between the two nations. These were Alexander McKay, who had accompanied Mackenzie on both of his journeys, Duncan McDougal, David and Robert Stuart, and Donald McKenzie. Wilson Price Hunt, of New Jersey, the only American at first interested as a partner, was given the chief direction of the enterprise on the Pacific coast. Mr. Astor owned a half interest in the enterprise and furnished the capital, while the other half was divided among the four partners, who managed the details of the work in the field. These gentlemen incorporated as the Pacific Fur Company, with Mr. Astor as president.

On the second of August, 1810, the ship Tonquin sailed for the mouth of the Columbia. She carried ten guns, had a crew of twenty men and was under the command of Jonathan Thorn, a lieutenant of the United States navy, on leave of absence. She carried a large cargo of supplies and merchandize for trading with the natives, e frame of a small schooner designed for use along the coast, and seeds and implements for the cultivation of the soil. In the Tonquin sailed four of the partners, McKay, McDougal, David Stuart and Robert Stuart, twelve clerks, several artisaus and thirteen Canadian voyageurs.

The voyageurs were a special outgrowth of the fur trade and are deserviug of more than a passing notice. Irving thus describes them: "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 expeditions through the labyrinth of rivers and lakes of the boundless interior. In the intervals of their long, arduous, and laborious expeditions they were wont to pass their time in idleness and revelry about the trading posts or settlements ; squandering their hard earnings in heedless conviviality, and rivalling their neighbors, the Indians, in indolent 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 were for a time disheartened and disconsolate, and with difficulty could reconcile themselves to the service of the newcomers, so different in habits, manners and language from their former employers. By 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 surcoat, made of a blanket, a striped cotton shirt, cloth trowsers, or leathern leggings, 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, embroidered with Indian and English words and phrases. The lives of the voyageurs are passed in wild and extensive rovings. They are generally of French descent and inherit much of the gaiety and lightness of heart of their ancestors, being full of anecdote and song, and ever ready for the dance. Their natural good will is probably heightened by a community of adventure and hardship in their precarious and wandering life. They are dexterous boatmen, vigorous and adroit with the oar aud paddle, and will row from morning until night 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. In the 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 among the poetical images of past times and as themes for local and romantic associations. ,,

The Tonquin reached the mouth of the Columbia on the twenty-second of March, 1811, much jealousy and ill-feeling having been engendered during the voyage between the commander and the Scotch partners. Captain Thorn was a martinet, a strict disciplinarian, with a high opinion of the power and dignity of the commander of a vessel. He was headstrong and stubborn in the extreme. When the ship arrived at the river the bar was very rough, and the captain feared to enter until the location of the channel was ascertained. He ordered Mr. Fox, the chief mate, to take one seaman and three Canadians in a whale boat and explore the channel, and though the mate protested that it was certain death to attempt it, he insisted upon obedience to his orders. The boat left the ship and was soon swallowed up in the angry billows. The next day he sent out another crew to seek the channel, and their boat was swept out to sea by the tide and current, only one of the crew finally reaching land. The vessel succeeded in getting just inside of the bar when darkness came on and she was compelled to cast anchor for the night, while the ebbing tide threatened to sweep her from her precarious hold upon the sand and swamp her amid the breakers. Irving says : " The wind 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 apprehensions, and some of them fancied they heard the cries of their lost comrades mingling with the uproar of the elements. ,,

In the morning the Tonquin passed safely into the river and came to anchor in a secure harbor. On the twelfth of April, a point on the south side of the river which Broughton had called Point George having been selected, the erection of a fort and buildings was begun ; and on that spot, which was then christened Astoria in honor of the projector of the enterprise, now stands one of the most important commercial and manufacturing cities of the Pacific coast. After much delay in preparing a place for the reception of the goods and in landing those to be left at Astoria, during which the captain and partners constantly wrangled about their authority, and before the fort was completed, the Tonquin sailed, on the fifth of June, to engage in trade with the natives along the northern coast, and eventually to reach the Russian settlements in Alaska, with the hope of opening a friendly communication with them.

The Tonquin anchored in a small harbor on Vancouver island, and Alexander McKay, one of the partners, landed upon the island. During his absence the vessel was surrounded by a host of savages in their canoes, who soon swarmed upon the decks . They were eager to trade, but had evidently had considerable experience in dealing with the whites and were well posted upon the value of their furs, for they resolutely demanded a higher price than Captain Thorn was willing to pay. Provoked beyond measure at their stubbornness, Thorn refused to deal with them, whereupon they became exceedingly iusolent. The captain at last completely tost his temper, and seizing the old chief, Nookamis, who was following him about and taunting him with his stinginess, rubbed in his face an otter skin he had been endeavoring to sell. He then ordered the whole band to leave the ship and added blows to enforce his command. The tragic ending of this adventure is thus related by Irving :

" When Mr. M'Kay returned on board, the interpreter 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 experience of Indian 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 upon him to weigh anchor The captain made light of his councils, and pointed to his cannon and fire-arms as a sufficient safe-guard against naked savages. Further remonstrances only provoked taunting replies 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 day-break, 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 friendly, and they held up otter skins, and made signs indicative of a wish to trade. The caution enjoined 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, perceiving those in the canoes 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 of 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 under way. He again made light of the advice ; but the augmented swarm of canoes about the ship, and the numbers still putting 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. Accordingly, 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. By degrees they were thus distributed about the deck, and all with weapons. 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 instant 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 leauing, with folded arms, over a bale of blankets, engaged in bargaining, when he received a deadly stab in the back, and fell down the companionway. Mr. M'Kay, who was seated on the taffrail, sprang to 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, Captain Thorn made desperate fight against fearful odds. He was a powerful as well as 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 captain had barely time to draw a clasp-knife, with one blow of which - he laid the young savage dead at his feet. Several of the stoutest followers of Shewish now set upon him. He defended himself vigorously, dealing crippling blows to right and left, and strewing the quarterdeck 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 wounds, and faint with loss of blood. For an 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 quarterdeck, a chance medley fight was going on throughout the ship. The crew fought desperately with knives, handspikes and whatever weapons they could seize upon in the moment of surprise. They were soon, however, overpowered by numbers and mercilessly butchered. As to the seven who had been sent aloft to make sail, they contemplated with horror the carnage that was going on below. Being destitute of weapons, they let themselves down by the running rigging, in hopes of getting between decks. One fell in the attempt, and was instantly 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 getting down the hatchway. 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 companionway, and, with muskets and ammunition which were at hand, opened a brisk fire that soon cleared the deck. Thus far the Indian interpreter, from whom these particulars are derived, had been an eye-witness of the deadly conflict. He had taken no part in it and had been spared by the natives as being of their race. In the confusion of the moment 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 firearms. The night passed away without any further attempt on the part of the natives. When the day dawned the Tonquin still lay at anchor in the bay, her sails all loose and flapping in the wind, and no one apparently on board of her. After a time, some of the canoes ventured 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 ventured 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 forward 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 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 his statement the bay presented an awful spectacle after the catastrophe. The ship had disappeared, but the bay was covered with fragments 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 explosion, 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 overwhelmed with consternation 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 off the enemy, and cleared the ship, Lewis advised 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 resolved, 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 Astoria. 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 frequently expressed a presentiment that he should die by his own hands - thinking it highly probable that he should be engaged in some contests with the natives, and being resolved, in ease of extremity, to commit suicide rather than be made a prisoner. He now declared his intention to remain on the ship until daylight, to decoy as many of the savages on board as possible, then to set fire to the powder magazine and terminate his life by a signal act of vengeance. 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 remain 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 been for those unfortunate men had they remained 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 lingering tortures of savage cruelty. Some time after their death the interpreter, who had remained a kind of prisoner at large, effected his escape and brought the tragical tidings to Astoria."

Meanwhile affairs were progressing at Astoria. On the fifteenth of July the partners were astonished by the appearance in the river of a canoe manned by nine white men, who proved to be representatives of the Northwest Company, under the leadership of David Thompson, a partner in that powerful organization. When the company had learned the year before of the projected enterprise of Mr. Astor, it dispatched Mr. Thompson from Montreal with a large party to hasten across the continent and forestall the American trader by taking possession of the mouth of the Columbia. Many of his party had deserted him, and now after ruinous delay and with but these few faithful ones to aid him, he had arrived at the goal of his journey too late to accomplish his purpose. Thompson was received with great cordiality by Mr. McDougal, the partner in charge at Astoria, who had a kindly feeling for all representatives of the Northwest Company ; and though he was but a spy upon his hosts, he was bountifully supplied with provisions for his return journey. He set out upon his return to Montreal on the twenty-third day of July, bearing a letter to Mr. Astor telling of the safe arrival of the vessel, and accompanied by a party of nine, headed by David Stuart, who were instructed to establish a post on the upper Columbia. Mr. Stuart selected a spot near the mouth of the Okinagan river, and establishing a post there opened trade with the natives.

On the second of October the schooner was completed and launched. She was named the Dolly, and was the third vessel built on the Northern Pacific coast, and the first in the Columbia river. A few days later half of Stuart's party returned, having been sent back for the winter because of a lack of provisions to subsist them. The winter months were passed without fresh disasters flowing in upon them.

When the Tonquin sailed from New York Wilson P. Hunt was preparing to cross overland with another party. He finally left St. Louis with a party of sixty men, among whom were Donald McKenzie and three other partners, Ramsey Crooks, Joseph Miller and Robert McLellan. With them went John Day, a noted Kentucky hunter, and Pierre Dorion, a French half-breed, to act as an interpreter. The party arrived at Fort Henry, on Snake river, October 8, 1811. Small detachments were, from time to time, sent out in the Rocky mountains to trap in various localities, who were to use Fort Henry as a supply station, and for concentration with their furs. The remaining members of the party, after a temporary halt, moved on down Snake river enroute for the general rendezvous at the mouth of the Columbia ; and a continued succession of hardships and disaster seemed to follow them. First, the unfortunate Antoine Clappin was drowned in passing a rapid, then famine came to rob them of human instincts, as they were led to the verge of starvation. They were finally forced to separate into small detachments, one party going under Ramsey Crooks, another with Donald Mc- Kenzie for leader, while a third remained with Mr. Hunt, hoping by such division to increase their chances of finally reaching the Columbia.

Once the parties under Crooks and Hunt camped with the narrow, deep waters of Snake river only separating them. The Hunt party had killed a horse and were cooking it, while their starving companions on the opposite side of the stream, with no means of crossing it, were forced to look on as they starved. Not a man in Mr. Hunt's camp would make an effort to send them food, until the arrival of Mr. Crooks, who, discovering the condition of his men on the opposite side, called to the forlorn band to start fires for cooking, that no time might be lost while he constructed a canoe out of skins, in which to take meat acroas to them. In vain he tried to shame the more fortunate into helping to succor their famishing companions, but : " A vague, and almost superstitious terror," says Irving, " had infected the minds of Mr. Hunt's followers, enfeebled and rendered imaginative of horrors by the dismal scenes and sufferings 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 something desperate and dangerous was to be feared from them."

When the canoe was finished, Mr. Crooks attempted to navigate the impetuous stream with it, but found his strength unequal to the task, and failing to reach his companions on the opposite bank, made another appeal to Hunt's men. Finally, a Kentuckian, named Ben Jones, undertook and made the passage, conveying meat to them, and then came back. Irving, in describing the sad scene, says : " A poor Canadian, however, named Jean Baptiste Prevost, whom famine had rendered wild and desperate, ran frantically about the banks, after Jones had returned, crying out to Mr. Hunt to send the canoe for him, and take him from that horrible region of famine, declaring that otherwise he would never march another step, but would lie down there and die. The canoe was shortly sent over again, under the management of Joseph Delaunay, with further supplies. Prevost immediately pressed 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 before 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 the opposite shore, and beheld meat roasting before the fires, 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 extreme difficulty that Delaunay reached the shore. Mr. Hunt now sent all his men forward excepting 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 commander and employer, Mr. Crooks. Poor Day, once so 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 character, that he determined not to quit him ; he exhorted Mr. Hunt, however, to proceed forward and join the party, as his presence was all important to the conduct of the expedition. One of the Canadians, Jean Baptiste Dubreuil, likewise remained with Mr. Crooks."

The occurrences at this starvation camp were on the twentieth of December, 1811, both parties being on their way back up Snake river after having found the descent of that stream impossible. It was now their intention to strike across the country for the Columbia, as soon as it was practicable to do so. On the twenty-third of December,

Mr. Hunt's followers crossed to the west side of the stream, where they were joined by Crooks' men, who were already there. The two parties, when united, numbered thirtysix souls, and on the next day they turned from the river into a trackless country; but, before starting, three more of their number had concluded to remain among the savages rather than face the hardships and trials that lay before them. December 28, 1811, the head waters of Grand Ronde river were reached, and the last day of that year found them camped in the valley of that name. Through all their perils and wanderings since leaving St. Louis, one woman, the Indian wife of Pierre Dorion, a guide, interpreter and trapper, had accompanied them, bringing with her two children, and, as the party entered the Grand Ronde valley, she gave birth to another. The next day she continued the journey on horseback as though nothing had happened, but the little stranger only lived six days.

Mr. Hunt, after halting one or two days to enable his followers to celebrate, in their forlorn way, the advent of a new year that had presented to them the Grand Ronde valley, a kind of winter paradise in the mountains, continued his course to the west. The Blue mountain ridge was passed, and January 8, 1812, an Indian village on the Umatilla river close to the mountains was reached, where they were hospitably received. From there their route was down this stream to the Columbia river, thence to the mouth of the latter, arriving at Astoria February 15, 1812.

Since leaving Fort Henry, October 19, 1811, out of Mr. Hunt's party, two men had been drowned on Snake river, and poor Michael Carriere, when exhausted, had straggled behind in Grand Ronde valley and was never heard from afterwards. Ramsey Crooks, John Day and four Canadian voyageurs, had been left half dead on Snake river to remain in the Indian country, die, or reach the Columbia as they best could. Eleven men, among whom were Donald McKenzie, Robert McLellan and the unfortunate John Reed, had been detached on Snake river, and following that stream until its waters mingled with the Columbia, had reached Astoria a month in advance of Mr. Hunt. Mr. Stuart, when returning from his post on the Okinagan, during the first days of April, found Mr. Crooks and John Day on the bauks of the Columbia river without weapons, nearly starved, and as naked as when born, having been robbed and stripped by the Dalles Indians. They had wintered in the Blue mountains about Grand Ronde valley, and had reached the Walla Wallas in the spring, who had fed, succored, and sent them on their way rejoicing down the river. When found, they were making their way back to these early friends of the Americans, who never failed to assist our people when in trouble. At length all but three of those starting from the head waters of Snake river for Astoria had reached that place except the four voyageurs, and later they, too, were found by a return party. On the ninth of May, after Mr. Hunt's arrival, the ship Beaver, with reinforcements and supplies, anchored at Astoria, and the Pacific Fur Company was in condition to enter upon a vigorous fur gathering campaign.

Mr. Hunt, who was at the heac^of affairs, set out in July for Alaska to fulfill the mission upon which the ill-fated Tonquin had sailed, and his departure left Duncan McDougal in charge. Prior to this, however, the various expeditions to trap waters and trade with natives between the Rocky and Cascade mountains had started, sixtytwo strong, up the Columbia. Among the number was the unfortunate John Day, and, as the party approached the scenes of his former sufferings his mind became delirious, and the mere sight of an Indian would throw him into a frenzy of passion. He finally attempted his own life, but was prevented from taking it, after which a constant guard was kept over him. It was at length determined to send him back to Astoria, and being placed in charge of two Indians, he was delivered by them at the fort where he died in less than a year. His old co.mpeers and staunch friends, who had shared perils and privations with him, were forced to continue their journey with a sad memory of this companion, whose brain had been shattered by his many misfortunes. The stream which had witnessed his many sufferings still bears the heroic trapper's name.

The arrival of trappers at the present site of Wallula, on the twenty-eighth of July, 1812, was the signal for general rejoicing among the friendly Walla Wallas, who greeted them with bonfires, and a night dance, in which they sang the praises of their white friends. Here the four expeditions were to separate, Robert Stuart to cross the continent by Hunt's route; David Stuart to go up the Columbia to Okinagan ; Donald McKenzie to establish a post in the Nez Perce country ; and John Clarke to locate one among the Spokane Indians. Of these several expeditions, Robert Stuart, with his party, including Crooks and McLellan, reached St. Louis eleven months later, bearing news to Mr. Astor of his enterprise on the Pacific coast. McKenzie's operations were a failure ; David Stuart's success was equal to his most sanguine hopes, and Mr. Clarke's efforts resulted second only to those of Mr. Stuart.

On the twenty-fifth of May, 1813, Mr. Clarke started from his post on the Spokane to reach the Walla Walla, the place agreed upon as a general rendezvous, where the different expeditions were to meet and return to Astoria with the furs obtained in their operations during the past season. On his way up, Mr. Clarke had left his canoes in charge of a Palouse chief, living at the mouth of the river of that name, with whom he found them on his return. He had twenty-eight horse packs of furs, and all his men were in high spirits because of the success that had attended their year's work. While stopping at the mouth of this stream to repair their canoes, in which to embark upon the river, an incident happened that cannot well be passed in silence.

Mr. Clarke was a strong disciplinarian, something of an aristocrat, and disposed to inpresss those w r ith whom he came in contact with the dignity of his presence and person. He was in the habit of carrying a silver goblet to drink from, and its glittering presence, carefully guarded by its possessor, became an object of strange and strong attraction to the superstitious Indians. In all their land, no such wondrous device had been seen before. They talked to each other concerning it, watched its appearance, and the care with which its lucky possessor laid it away after using. Possibly it was a great medicine, like the spotted shirt and the white quilt among the Cceur d'Alenes, or a powerful talisman to ward off danger or shield its owner from harm, a sort of ark near which the great Manitou dwelt. One night it disappeared, and Mr. Clarke was enraged. He threatened to hang the first Indian detected in stealing, and the next night an unfortunate one was caught in the act. A hasty trial followed, and the prisoner was condemned to die, when Mr. Clarke made the assembled savages a speech. He recounted the numerous gifts that had been bestowed, the benefit the white man's presence had been to their people, and then, upbraiding them for thefts, told the Indians that he should kill the thief he had captured with pilfered goods. The old chief and his followers besought him to not do this. They were willing that he should be punished severely, and then let go, but the trapper was inexorable, and the poor groveling wretch was dragged to a temporary scaffold, constructed from oars, and was launched into eternity. The other partners of the Pacific Fur Company were unanimous in condemning this act, and Gabriel Franchere, who was one of the company clerks, wrote concerning the killing of the unfortunate John Reed and his party by Indians the ensuing winter : " We had no doubt that his massacre was an act of vengeance, on the part of the natives, in retaliation for the death of one of their people, whom Mr. John Clarke had hanged for theft the spring before. ,, Immediately after this hanging the party embarked for the mouth of the Walla Walla, where Stuart and McKenzie were waiting, and from this point they all continued their way down the river, arriving at Astoria, June 12, 1813.

Upon re-assembling at headquarters, the return expeditions found that, upon the whole, it had been a successful year's labor, that the peltry brought in, amounting to 157 packs, if sold at market rates in Canton, would pay well for the time spent, and reimburse them for local losses. In addition to this, they had become well established in the fur producing regions, and the outlook was very encouraging except for one thing. War had been raging between Great Britain and the United States for over a year, and they had recently become aware of this fact.

On their arrival at Astoria, J. G. McTavish with nineteen men was found camped near by, awaiting the appearance of a vessel called the Isaac Todd, sent by the Northwest Company with stores for them, w r ith letters of marque, and instructions from the British government to destroy everything American found on the Pacific coast. This latter fact was unknown at Astoria at the time, however, but the non-arrival of supplies by sea, combined with the unfavorable news of British success in arms, led the partners to fear that none whatever would reach them. They, consequently, determined to abandon the country, and start on their return overland the ensuing year, if their misgivings proved well founded. They sold their Spokane fort to McTavish for $848, and then furnished that gentleman with provisions to enable him to return to the upper country ; and, in July, they visited the interior themselves to gather what furs they could before taking final leave of the country.

Three months later, McTavish returned to Astoria with a force of seventy-five men for the purpose of meeting the vessel that had caused his former visit, bringing, also, the news that her coming to the Columbia was for the purpose of capturing Astoria, and to assist the Northwest Company in gaining ascendancy on the coast. He offered to buy the furs of the Astorians, and, on the sixteenth of October, 1813, a transfer of the entire stock, worth at least $100,000, was made for less than $40,000. Two months later, on December 12, the fort was surrendered to the English under command of a naval officer, Captain Black of the Raccoon, when the American flag was lowered to give the British colors place, and the name of Astoria was changed to Fort George. An amusing incident of this transfer is related by John Ross Cox. "The Indians, at the mouth of the Columbia, knew w ell that Great Britain and America were distinct nations, and that they were then at war, but were ignorant of the arrangement made between

Messrs. McDougal and McTavish, the former of whom still continued as nominal chief at the fort. On the .arrival of the Raccoon, which they quickly discovered to be one of ' King George's fighting ships/ they repaired, armed, to the fort, and requested an audience of Mr. McDougal. He was somewhat surprised at their numbers and warlike appearance, and demanded the object of such an unusual visit. Concomly, the principal chief of the Chinooks, (whose daughter McDougal had married,) thereupon addressed him in a long speech, in the course of which he said that King George had sent a ship full of warriors, and loaded with nothing but big guns, to take the Americans and make them all slaves, and that, as they (the Americans) were the first white men who settled in their country, and treated the Indians like good relations, they had resolved to defend them from King George's warriors, and were now ready to conceal themselves in the woods close to the wharf, from whence they would be able, with their guns and arrows, to shoot all the men that should attempt to land from the English boats, while the people in the fort could fire at them with their big guns and rifles. This proposition was uttered with an earnestness of manner that admitted no doubt of its sincerity. Two armed boats from the Raccoon were approaching ; and, had the people in the fort felt disposed to accede to the wishes of the Indians, every man in them would have been destroyed by an invisible enemy. Mr. McDougal thanked them for their friendly offer, but added, that, notwithstanding the nations were at war, the people in the boats would not injure him or any of his people, and therefore requested them to throw by their war shirts and arms, and receive the strangers as their friends. They at first seemed astonished at this answer ; but, on assuring them, in the most positive manner, that he was under no apprehension, they consented to give up their weapons for a few days. They afterwards declared they were sorry for having complied with Mr. McDougal's wishes ; for when they observed Captain Black, surrounded by his officers and marines, break the bottle of port on the flag-staff, and hoist the British ensign, after changing the name of the fort, they remarked that however he might wish to conceal the fact, the Americans were undoubtedly made slaves."

Seventy-eight days after the surrender of Astoria to the British, Mr. Hunt arrived at that fort in the brig Pedlar, and judge of his astonishment, to learn that McDougal was a partner no longer of the Pacific, but of the Northwest Company ; that he held possession not under the American, but under the EnglislTflag ; and that all in which Mr. Hunt was interested on this coast had passed, without a struggle, through treachery, into the hands of his country's enemies. Mr. Hunt, finally, secured the papers pertaining to business transactions of the Pacific Fur Company from Mc- Dougal, and then sailed, April 3, 1814, from the shore that had seemed to yield only misfortune and disaster in return for the efforts of himself, and those with whom he was associated. The next day, David Stuart, McKenzie, John Clarke and eighty-five other members and employes of the Pacific Fur Company started up the Columbia river in their boats on their way across the continent, and while passing Wallula, learned from the widow of Pierre Dorion, of the massacre of John Reed and his eight associates, among the Snake Indians near Fort Henry.