Chapter I (5)

[93] It was a part of Astor’s plan to furnish provisions
and articles of trade for the Russians on the
Northwest Coast; that this would have been
practicable, is proved by the later trade between
Oregon and Sitka, when the Willamette Valley
furnished most of the flour used in Alaska. Around
Alexander Baranoff’s actions many legends have
gathered. Born in Eastern Russia (1747), he entered
business at Moscow, later drifted to Irkutsk and
Kamchatka, and about 1790 crossed to America. In
1799 he built Sitka, where for many years he ruled
as governor, with absolute sway. He died at sea, in
1819.--ED.

[94] This adventure of the “Albatross” (1810) was the
first attempt to establish a trading post upon
Columbia River. The Winships, a Boston firm,
fitted out the vessel of which Nathan Winship
was in charge, and William Smith first mate. The
first choice for the establishment proved to be
subject to overflow, whereupon they removed to Oak
Point. The crafty Chinook, however, showed such a
disposition to resent this invasion of their own
trading territory, that the Americans, after a brief
occupancy, were forced to retreat.

Captain William Smith, born in Virginia (1768),
migrated to Boston and in 1790 began a life upon the
ocean, in which he made eight voyages around the world,
on one of which he was absent eight years. Once he
was shipwrecked, and twice taken prisoner--by the
Indians on the Northwest Coast, and by the Spaniards
in California. He was still living in 1820. See
Niles’s _Register_, Aug. 12, 1820.--ED.

[95] It being understood, of course, that I render
into civilized expressions the language of this
barbarian, and represent by words and phrases
what he could only convey by gestures or by
signs.--FRANCHÈRE. [The _naïveté_ of these notes,
and of the narrative in these passages, is
amusing.--HUNTINGTON.]

[96] A great village or encampment of Indians, among
whom the Spaniards had sent missionaries under the
conduct of Signor Quadra; but whence the latter were
chased by Captain Vancouver, in 1792, as mentioned
in the Introduction.--FRANCHÈRE.

_Comment by Ed._--See note 3, _ante_.

[97] It is equally evident that even at the time when
Captain Thorn was first notified of the dangerous
crowd and threatening appearance of the natives, a
display of firearms would have sufficed to prevent
an outbreak. Had he come on deck with Mr. M’Kay and
Mr. Lewis, each armed with a musket, and a couple of
pistols at the belt, it is plain from the timidity
the savages afterward displayed, that he might have
cleared the ship, probably without shedding a drop
of blood.--HUNTINGTON.

[98] All accounts of the “Tonquin’s” fate are based upon
this Indian’s narrative. Ross’s description (see
volume vii of our series) is more circumstantial,
and differs from Franchère’s in many details. Ross
also throws doubt upon the good faith of the Indian
survivor. The other accounts represent that the
men who escaped in the boat were recaptured, and
tortured to death by the savages. The earliest
published narrative was in the _Missouri Gazette_,
May 15, 1813, reprinted by Chittenden, _Fur Trade_,
pp. 909-911.--ED.

{190} CHAPTER XV

Arrival of a Number of Canoes of the Northwest Company--Sale of the
Establishment at Astoria to that Company--Canadian News--Arrival
of the British Sloop-of-War “Raccoon”--Accident on Board that
Vessel--The Captain takes Formal Possession of Astoria--Surprise
and Discontent of the Officers and Crew--Departure of the
“Raccoon.”

A few days after Mr. M’Kenzie left us, we were greatly surprised by the appearance of two canoes bearing the British flag, with a third between them, carrying the flag of the United States, all rounding Tongue Point. It was no other than Mr. M’Kenzie himself, returning with Messrs. J. G. M’Tavish and Angus Bethune, of the Northwest Company.[99] He had met these gentlemen near the first rapids, and had determined to return with them to the establishment, in consequence of information which they gave him. Those gentlemen were in _light_ canoes {191} (i. e., without any lading), and formed the vanguard to a flotilla of eight, loaded with furs, under the conduct of Messrs. John Stuart and M’Millan.[100]

Mr. M’Tavish came to our quarters at the factory, and showed Mr. M’Dougal a letter which had been addressed to the latter by Mr. Angus Shaw, his uncle, and one of the partners of the Northwest Company.[101] Mr. Shaw informed his nephew that the ship _Isaac Todd_ had sailed from London, with letters of _marque_, in the month of March, in company with the frigate _Phœbe_, having orders from the government to seize our establishment, which had been represented to the lords of the admiralty as an important colony founded by the American government. The eight canoes left behind, came up meanwhile, and uniting themselves to the others, they formed a camp of about seventy-five men, at the bottom of a little bay or cove, near our factory. As they were destitute of provisions, we supplied them; but Messrs. M’Dougal and M’Kenzie affecting to dread a surprise from this British force under {192} our guns, we kept strictly on our guard; for we were inferior in point of numbers, although our position was exceedingly advantageous.

As the season advanced, and their ship did not arrive, our new neighbors found themselves in a very disagreeable situation, without food, or merchandise wherewith to procure it from the natives; viewed by the latter with a distrustful and hostile eye, as being our enemies and therefore exposed to attack and plunder on their part with impunity; supplied with good hunters, indeed, but wanting ammunition to render their skill available. Weary, at length, of applying to us incessantly for food (which we furnished them with a sparing hand), unable either to retrace their steps through the wilderness or to remain in their present position, they came to the conclusion of proposing to buy of us the whole establishment.

Placed, as we were, in the situation of expecting, day by day, the arrival of an English ship-of-war to seize upon all we possessed, we listened to their propositions. Several meetings and discussions {193} took place; the negotiations were protracted by the hope of one party that the long-expected armed force would arrive, to render the purchase unnecessary, and were urged forward by the other in order to conclude the affair before that occurrence should intervene; at length the price of the goods and furs in the factory was agreed upon, and the bargain was signed by both parties on the 23d of October. The gentlemen of the Northwest Company took possession of Astoria, agreeing to pay the servants of the Pacific Fur Company (the name which had been chosen by Mr. Astor), the arrears of their wages, to be deducted from the price of the goods which we delivered, to supply them with provisions, and give a free passage to those who wished to return to Canada over land. The American colors were hauled down from the factory, and the British run up, to the no small chagrin and mortification of those who were American citizens.

It was thus, that after having passed the seas, and suffered all sorts of fatigues and privations, I lost in a moment all my hopes of fortune. I {194} could not help remarking that we had no right to expect such treatment on the part of the British government, after the assurances we had received from Mr. Jackson, his majesty’s _chargé d’affaires_ previously to our departure from New York. But as I have just intimated, the agents of the Northwest Company had exaggerated the importance of the factory in the eyes of the British ministry; for if the latter had known what it really was--a mere trading-post--and that nothing but the rivalry of the fur-traders of the Northwest Company was interested in its destruction, they would never have taken umbrage at it, or at least would never have sent a maritime expedition to destroy it. The sequel will show that I was not mistaken in this opinion.

The greater part of the servants of the Pacific Fur Company entered the service of the Company of the Northwest: the rest preferred to return to their country, and I was of the number of these last. Nevertheless, Mr. M’Tavish, after many ineffectual attempts to persuade me to remain with them, having intimated that the establishment {195} could not dispense with my services, as I was the only person who could assist them in their trade, especially for provisions, of which they would soon be in the greatest need, I agreed with them (without however relinquishing my previous engagement with Mr. Astor’s agents) for five months, that is to say, till the departure of the expedition which was to ascend the Columbia in the spring, and reach Canada by way of the Rocky Mountains and the rivers of the interior. Messrs. John Stuart and M’Kenzie set off about the end of this month, for the interior, in order that the latter might make over to the former the posts established on the Spokan and Okenakan.

On the 15th of November, Messrs. Alexander Stuart[102] and Alexander Henry,[103] both partners of the N. W. Company, arrived at the factory, in a couple of bark canoes manned by sixteen _voyageurs_. They had set out from _Fort William_, on Lake Superior, in the month of July. They brought us Canadian papers, by which we learned that the British arms so far had been in the ascendant. {196} They confirmed also the news that an English frigate was coming to take possession of our quondam establishment; they were even surprised not to see the _Isaac Todd_ lying in the road.

On the morning of the 30th, we saw a large vessel standing in under _Cape Disappointment_ (which proved in this instance to deserve its name); and soon after that vessel came to anchor in _Baker’s bay_. Not knowing whether it was a friendly or a hostile sail, we thought it prudent to send on board Mr. M’Dougal in a canoe, manned by such of the men as had been previously in the service of the Pacific Fur Company, with injunctions to declare themselves Americans, if the vessel was American, and Englishmen in the contrary case. While this party was on its way, Mr. M’Tavish caused all the furs which were marked with the initials of the N. W. Company to be placed on board the two barges at the Fort, and sent them up the river above Tongue Point, where they were to wait for a concerted signal, that was to inform {197} them whether the new-comers were friends or foes. Toward midnight, Mr. Halsey, who had accompanied Mr. M’Dougal to the vessel, returned to the Fort, and announced to us that she was the British sloop-of-war _Raccoon_, of 26 guns, commanded by Captain Black, with a complement of 120 men, fore and aft. Mr. John M’Donald, a partner of the N. W. Company, was a passenger on the Raccoon, with five _voyageurs_, destined for the Company’s service.[104] He had left England in the frigate _Phœbe_, which had sailed in company with the _Isaac Todd_ as far as Rio Janeiro; but there falling in with the British squadron, the admiral changed the destination of the frigate, despatching the sloops-of-war _Raccoon_ and _Cherub_ to convoy the Isaac Todd, and sent the Phœbe to search for the American commodore Porter, who was then on the Pacific, capturing all the British whalers and other trading vessels he met with.[105] These four vessels then sailed in company as far as Cape Horn, where they parted, after agreeing on the island of _Juan Fernandez_ as a _rendezvous_. The three {198} ships-of-war met, in fact, at that island; but after having a long time waited in vain for the _Isaac Todd_, Commodore Hillier (Hillyer?) who commanded this little squadron, hearing of the injury inflicted by Commodore Porter, on the British commerce, and especially on the whalers who frequent these seas, resolved to go in quest of him in order to give him combat; and retaining the _Cherub_ to assist him, detailed the Raccoon to go and destroy the American establishment on the River Columbia, being assured by Mr. M’Donald that a single sloop-of-war would be sufficient for that service.

Mr. M’Donald had consequently embarked, with his people, on board the Raccoon. This gentleman informed us that they had experienced frightful weather in doubling the Cape, and that he entertained serious apprehensions for the safety of the Isaac Todd, but that if she was safe, we might expect her to arrive in the river in two or three weeks. The signal gun agreed upon, having been fired, for the return of the barges, Mr. M’Tavish came back to the Fort {199} with the furs, and was overjoyed to learn the arrival of Mr. M’Donald.

On the 1st of December the Raccoon’s gig came up to the fort, bringing Mr. M’Donald (surnamed _Bras Croche_, or crooked arm), and the first lieutenant, Mr. Sheriff. Both these gentlemen were convalescent from the effects of an accident which had happened to them in the passage between Juan Fernandez and the mouth of the Columbia. The captain wishing to clean the guns, ordered them to be scaled, that is, fired off: during this exercise one of the guns hung fire; the sparks fell into a cartridge tub, and setting fire to the combustibles, communicated also to some priming horns suspended above; an explosion followed, which reached some twenty persons; eight were killed on the spot, the rest were severely burnt; Messrs. M’Donald and Sheriff had suffered a great deal; it was with difficulty that their clothes had been removed; and when the lieutenant came ashore, he had not recovered the use of his hands. Among the killed was an American named _Flatt_, {200} who was in the service of the Northwest Company and whose loss these gentlemen appeared exceedingly to regret.[106]

As there were goods destined for the Company on board the Raccoon, the schooner _Dolly_ was sent to Baker’s bay to bring them up: but the weather was so bad, and the wind so violent, that she did not return till the 12th, bringing up, together with the goods, Captain Black, a lieutenant of marines, four soldiers and as many sailors. We entertained our guests as splendidly as it lay in our power to do. After dinner, the captain caused firearms to be given to the servants of the Company, and we all marched under arms to the square or platform, where a flag-staff had been erected. There the captain took a British Union Jack, which he had brought on shore for the occasion, and caused it to be run up to the top of the staff; then, taking a bottle of Madeira wine, he broke it on the flag-staff, declaring in a loud voice, that he took possession of the establishment and of the country in the name of his Britannic Majesty; and changed the name {201} of Astoria to _Fort George_. Some few Indian chiefs had been got together to witness this ceremony, and I explained to them in their own language what it signified. Three rounds of artillery and musketry were fired, and the health of the king was drunk by the parties interested, according to the usage on like occasions.

The sloop being detained by contrary winds, the captain caused an exact survey to be made of the entrance of the river, as well as of the navigable channel between Baker’s bay and Fort George. The officers visited the fort, turn about, and seemed to me in general very much dissatisfied with their fool’s errand, as they called it: they had expected to find a number of American vessels loaded with rich furs, and had calculated in advance their share in the booty of Astoria.[107] They had not met a vessel, and their astonishment was at its height when they saw that our establishment had been transferred to the Northwest Company, and was under the British flag. It will suffice to quote a single expression of Captain Black’s, in order to show {202} how much they were deceived in their expectations. The captain landed after dark; when we showed him the next morning the palisades and log bastions of the factory, he inquired if there was not another fort; on being assured that there was no other, he cried out, with an air of the greatest astonishment:--“What! is this the fort which was represented to me as so formidable! Good God! I could batter it down in two hours with a four-pounder!”

There were on board the Raccoon two young men from Canada, who had been impressed at Quebec, when that vessel was there some years before her voyage to the Columbia: one of them was named _Parent_, a blacksmith, and was of Quebec: the other was from Upper Canada, and was named M’Donald. These young persons signified to us that they would be glad to remain at Fort George: and as there was among our men some who would gladly have shipped, we proposed to the captain an exchange, but he would not consent to it. John Little, a boat-builder from New York, who had been on the {203} sick list a long time, was sent on board and placed under the care of the sloop’s surgeon, Mr. O’Brien; the captain engaging to land him at the Sandwich Islands. P. D. Jeremie also shipped himself as under clerk. The vessel hoisted sail, and got out of the river, on the 31st of December.

From the account given in this chapter the reader will see with what facility the establishment of the Pacific Fur Company could have escaped capture by the British force. It was only necessary to get rid of the land party of the Northwest Company--who were completely in our power--then remove our effects up the river upon some small stream, and await the result. The sloop-of-war arrived, it is true; but as, in the case I suppose, she would have found nothing, she would have left, after setting fire to our deserted houses. None of their boats would have dared follow us, even if the Indians had betrayed to them our lurking-place. Those at the head of affairs had their own fortunes to seek, and thought it more for their interest, doubtless, to {204} act as they did, but that will not clear them in the eyes of the world, and the charge of treason to Mr. Astor’s interests will always be attached to their characters.

[99] Angus Bethune appears as one of the chief members of
Alexander Henry’s party in the Saskatchewan country,
first mentioned under date of September 17, 1810.
After reaching Astoria with McTavish in 1813, he
remained in the Columbia country until April, 1817,
when he left Fort George with the brigade which set
out for Fort William. Later he was supercargo on the
North West Company’s vessel “Columbia,” sailing to
China from the Columbia River.--ED.

[100] This is probably A. McMillan, member of a party
organized at Fort William by John McDonald (1808
or 1809) for the relief of David Thompson, the
scientist of the North West Company, then in the
Rocky Mountains. McMillan was with Thompson until
the spring of 1810, when he joined Alexander Henry.
July 9, of the same year, McMillan set out for
the Columbia to watch the operations there of the
Hudson’s Bay Company, but was prevented by the
Indians from establishing a post, and rejoined Henry
the following January. In 1812 he was in charge
of the North West Company’s house near Spokane
Falls.--ED.

[101] Although the son of an independent trader, Angus
Shaw was from an early date connected with the North
West Company. In 1789 he built a trading house on
Lac d’Original, Beaver River waters, and in 1792
built Fort George, one of the Saskatchewan posts
better known as “Fort des Prairies.” As one of the
wintering partners of the North West Company, he
signed by attorney the Montreal agreement of 1804,
by which the X Y Company was absorbed. In 1819 he
was one of the North West partners captured by the
agents of the Hudson’s Bay Company; after some
months’ imprisonment he was sent to England, and
there released. Shaw was nicknamed “Monsieur Le
Chat,” apparently a pun on his name.--ED.

[102] Alexander Stuart was in charge of a post on Lesser
Slave Lake in 1806 or earlier. During the summer of
1814 he brought his family to the Columbia. He was
at Spokane House, Okanagan, and Fort George until
September, 1815, when he again took charge of the
Lesser Slave Lake station.--ED.

[103] Alexander Henry--called “the younger” to distinguish
him from his uncle of the same name--was for fifteen
years a winterer of the North West Company, chiefly
in the Saskatchewan country. From the time of his
first venture (1799) until the day preceding his
death by drowning in the mouth of the Columbia (May
22, 1814), he kept a journal, which is valuable as
a source of information in regard to the Indians
and traders of that period in the Western regions
of Canada. See _Henry-Thompson Journals_ (Coues,
ed.).--ED.

[104] John McDonald of Garth--nicknamed “Bras Croche”
(Crooked arm), from a deformity due to an
accident--was a Scotch Highlander who came to Canada
in 1791, at the age of seventeen. He was in the
Western country, chiefly in the Saskatchewan, almost
continuously from 1791 to 1812. In the latter year
he returned to England, but left in February, 1813,
for the Columbia River. He was in the party, with
Franchère, which left Fort George April 4, 1814
(see chapter xxi, _post_). In 1816 McDonald retired
from the company and settled in Upper Canada, where
he lived until 1860. In 1859, he wrote a brief
sketch of his life. See Masson, _Les Bourgeois de
la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest_ (Quebec, 1890), ii, pp.
1-59.--ED.

[105] David Porter was born in Boston, February 1, 1780.
In 1799, when a midshipman on the “Constellation,”
he took part in her combat with the “Insurgente.” In
1799 he became lieutenant, and served in the West
Indies. During the Barbary War he led the expedition
which destroyed several vessels in the harbor of
Tripoli. In the War of 1812-15, he commanded the
Essex on her famous cruise. After the peace treaty,
he was a member of the board of navy commissioners
until 1823, when he resigned to command an
expedition against the West India pirates. From
1826 to 1829 Porter was commander-in-chief of the
Mexican navy, and later became United States consul
general to the Barbary states. From that position he
was transferred to Constantinople, first as chargé
d’affaires and then as minister, dying there in
1843.--ED.

[106] For a contemporary account of the voyage of the
“Isaac Todd” and the “Raccoon,” see McDonald’s
“Reminiscences” in Masson, _Bourgeois_, ii, pp.
43-49.--ED.

[107] McDonald contradicts this testimony of Franchère,
saying: “I heard of no expectation of prize money,
nor disappointment in any respect. The force was
sent to fulfil a duty to the North-West Company; it
was no government measure.”--ED.

{205} CHAPTER XVI

Expeditions to the Interior--Return of Messrs. John Stuart and D.
M’Kenzie--Theft committed by the Natives--War Party against the
Thieves.

On the 3d of January, 1814, two canoes laden with merchandise for the interior, were despatched under the command of Mr. Alexander Stuart and Mr. James Keith, with fifteen men under them.[108] Two of the latter were charged with letters for the posts (of the Northwest Company) east of the mountains, containing instructions to the persons in superintendence there, to have in readiness canoes and the requisite provisions for a large party intending to go east the ensuing spring. I took this opportunity of advising my friends in Canada of my intention to return home that season. It was the third attempt I had made to send news of my existence {206} to my relatives and friends: the first two had miscarried and this was doomed to meet the same fate.

Messrs. J. Stuart and M’Kenzie, who (as was seen in a previous chapter) had been sent to notify the gentlemen in the interior of what had taken place in Astoria, and to transfer the wintering posts to the Northwest Company, returned to Fort George on the morning of the 6th. They stated that they had left Messrs. Clarke and D. Stuart behind, with the loaded canoes, and also that the party had been attacked by the natives above the falls.

As they were descending the river toward evening, between the first and second portages, they had espied a large number of Indians congregated at no great distance in the prairie; which gave them some uneasiness. In fact, some time after they had encamped, and when all the people (_tout le monde_) were asleep, except Mr. Stuart, who was on guard, these savages had stealthily approached the camp, and discharged some arrows, one of which had penetrated the {207} coverlet of one of the men, who was lying near the baggage, and had pierced the cartilage of his ear; the pain made him utter a sharp cry, which alarmed the whole camp and threw it into an uproar. The natives perceiving it, fled to the woods, howling and yelling like so many demons. In the morning our people picked up eight arrows round the camp: they could yet hear the savages yell and whoop in the woods: but, notwithstanding, the party reached the lower end of the portage unmolested.

The audacity which these barbarians had displayed in attacking a party of from forty to forty-five persons, made us suppose that they would, much more probably, attack the party of Mr. Stuart, which was composed of but seventeen men. Consequently, I received orders to get ready forthwith a canoe and firearms, in order to proceed to their relief. The whole was ready in the short space of two hours, and I embarked immediately with a guide and eight men. Our instructions were to use all possible diligence to overtake Messrs. Stewart and Keith, and to {208} convey them to the upper end of the last portage; or to return with the goods, if we met too much resistance on the part of the natives. We travelled, then, all that day, and all the night of the 6th, and on the 7th, till evening. Finding ourselves then at a little distance from the rapids, I came to a halt, to put the firearms in order, and let the men take some repose. About midnight I caused them to re-embark, and ordered the men to sing as they rowed, that the party whom we wished to overtake might hear us as we passed, if perchance they were encamped on some one of the islands of which the river is full in this part. In fact, we had hardly proceeded five or six miles, when we were hailed by some one apparently in the middle of the stream. We stopped rowing, and answered, and were soon joined by our people of the expedition, who were all descending the river in a canoe. They informed us that they had been attacked the evening before, and that Mr. Stuart had been wounded. We turned about, and all proceeded in company toward the fort. In the morning, when {209} we stopped to breakfast, Mr. Keith gave me the particulars of the affair of the day preceding.

Having arrived at the foot of the rapids, they commenced the portage on the south bank of the river, which is obstructed with boulders, over which it was necessary to pass the effects. After they had hauled over the two canoes, and a part of the goods, the natives approached in great numbers, trying to carry off something unobserved. Mr. Stuart was at the upper end of the portage (the portage being about six hundred yards in length), and Mr. Keith accompanied the loaded men. An Indian seized a bag containing articles of little value, and fled: Mr. Stuart, who saw the act, pursued the thief, and after some resistance on the latter’s part, succeeded in making him relinquish his booty. Immediately he saw a number of Indians armed with bows and arrows, approaching him: one of them bent his bow and took aim; Mr. Stuart, on his part, levelled his gun at the Indian, warning the latter not to shoot, and at the same instant received an arrow, which pierced his left shoulder. {210} He then drew the trigger; but as it had rained all day, the gun missed fire, and before he could re-prime, another arrow, better aimed than the first, struck him in the left side and penetrated between two of his ribs, in the region of the heart, and would have proved fatal, no doubt, but for a stone-pipe he had fortunately in his side-pocket, and which was broken by the arrow; at the same moment his gun was discharged, and the Indian fell dead. Several others then rushed forward to avenge the death of their compatriot; but two of the men came up with their loads and their gun (for these portages were made arms in hand), and seeing what was going forward, one of them threw his pack on the ground, fired on one of the Indians and brought him down. He got up again, however, and picked up his weapons, but the other man ran upon him, wrested from him his war-club, and despatched him by repeated blows on the head with it. The other savages, seeing the bulk of our people approaching the scene of combat, retired and crossed the river. In the meantime, {211} Mr. Stuart extracted the arrows from his body, by the aid of one of the men: the blood flowed in abundance from the wounds, and he saw that it would be impossible for him to pursue his journey; he therefore gave orders for the canoes and goods to be carried back to the lower end of the portage.[109] Presently they saw a great number of pirogues full of warriors coming from the opposite side of the river. Our people then considered that they could do nothing better than to get away as fast as possible; they contrived to transport over one canoe, on which they all embarked, abandoning the other and the goods, to the natives. While the barbarians were plundering these effects, more precious in their estimation than the apples of gold in the garden of the Hesperides, our party retired and got out of sight. The retreat was, notwithstanding, so precipitate, that they left behind an Indian from the Lake of the Two Mountains, who was in the service of the Company as a hunter.[110] This Indian had persisted in concealing himself behind the rocks, meaning, he said, to kill some of those {212} thieves, and did not return in time for the embarkation. Mr. Keith regretted this brave man’s obstinacy, fearing, with good reason, that he would be discovered and murdered by the natives. We rowed all that day and night, and reached the factory on the 9th, at sunrise. Our first care, after having announced the misfortune of our people, was to dress the wounds of Mr. Stuart, which had been merely bound with a wretched piece of cotton cloth.

The goods which had been abandoned, were of consequence to the Company, inasmuch as they could not be replaced. It was dangerous, besides, to leave the natives in possession of some fifty guns and a considerable quantity of ammunition, which they might use against us.[111] The partners, therefore, decided to fit out an expedition immediately to chastise the robbers, or at least to endeavor to recover the goods. I went, by their order, to find the principal chiefs of the neighboring tribes, to explain to them what had {213} taken place, and invite them to join us, to which they willingly consented. Then, having got ready six canoes, we re-embarked on the 10th, to the number of sixty-two men, all armed from head to foot, and provided with a small brass field-piece.

We soon reached the lower end of the first rapid: but the essential thing was wanting to our little force; it was without provisions; our first care then was to try to procure these. Having arrived opposite a village, we perceived on the bank about thirty armed savages, who seemed to await us firmly. As it was not our policy to seem bent on hostilities, we landed on the opposite bank, and I crossed the river with five or six men, to enter into parley with them, and try to obtain provisions. I immediately became aware that the village was abandoned, the women and children having fled to the woods, taking with them all the articles of food. The young men, however, offered us dogs, of which we purchased a score. Then we passed to a second village, where they were already informed {214} of our coming. Here we bought forty-five dogs and a horse. With this stock we formed an encampment on an island called _Strawberry island_.[112]

Seeing ourselves now provided with food for several days, we informed the natives touching the motives which had brought us, and announced to them that we were determined to put them all to death and burn their villages, if they did not bring back in two days the effects stolen on the 7th. A party was detached to the rapids, where the attack on Mr. Stuart had taken place. We found the villages all deserted. Crossing to the north bank, we found a few natives, of whom we made inquiries respecting the Nipissingue Indian, who had been left behind, but they assured us that they had seen nothing of him.[113]

{215} Not having succeeded in recovering, above the rapids, any part of the lost goods, the inhabitants all protesting that it was not they, but the villages below, which had perpetrated the robbery, we descended the river again and re-encamped on _Strawberry island_. As the intention of the partners was to intimidate the natives, without (if possible) shedding blood, we made a display of our numbers, and from time to time fired off our little field-piece, to let them see that we could reach them from one side of the river to the other. The Indian _Coalpo_ and his wife, who had accompanied us, advised us to make prisoner one of the chiefs. We succeeded in this design, without incurring any danger. Having invited one of the natives to come and smoke with us, he came accordingly: a little after, came another; at last, one of the chiefs, and he one of the most considered among them, also came. Being notified secretly of his character {216} by _Coalpo_, who was concealed in the tent, we seized him forthwith, tied him to a stake, and placed a guard over him with a naked sword, as if ready to cut his head off on the least attempt being made by his people for his liberation. The other Indians were then suffered to depart with the news for his tribe, that unless the goods were brought to us in twenty-four hours, their chief would be put to death. Our stratagem succeeded: soon after we heard wailing and lamentation in the village, and they presently brought us part of the guns, some brass kettles, and a variety of smaller articles, protesting that this was all their share of the plunder. Keeping our chief as a hostage, we passed to the other village, and succeeded in recovering the rest of the guns, and about a third of the other goods.

Although they had been the aggressors, yet as they had had two men killed and we had not lost any on our side, we thought it our duty to conform to the usage of the country, and abandon to them the remainder of the stolen effects, to cover, according to their expression, {217} the bodies of their two slain compatriots.[114] Besides, we began to find ourselves short of provisions, and it would not have been easy to get at our enemies to punish them, if they had taken refuge in the woods, according to their custom when they feel themselves the weaker party. So we released our prisoner, and gave him a flag, telling him that when he presented it unfurled, we should regard it as a sign of peace and friendship: but if, when we were passing the portage, any one of the natives should have the misfortune to come near the baggage, we would kill him on the spot. We re-embarked on the 19th, and on the 22d reached the fort, where we made a report of our martial expedition. We found Mr. Stuart very ill of his wounds, especially of the one in the side, which was so much swelled that he had every reason to think the arrow had been poisoned.

If we did not do the savages as much harm as we might have done, it was not from timidity but from humanity, and in order not to shed human blood uselessly.[115] For after all, what good would {218} it have done us to have slaughtered some of these barbarians, whose crime was not the effect of depravity and wickedness, but of an ardent and irresistible desire to ameliorate their condition? It must be allowed also that the interest, well-understood, of the partners of the Northwest Company, was opposed to too strongly marked acts of hostility on their part: it behooved them exceedingly not to make irreconciliable enemies of the populations neighboring on the portages of the Columbia, which they would so often be obliged to pass and repass in future. It is also probable that the other natives on the banks, as well as of the river as of the sea, would not have seen with indifference, their countrymen too signally or too rigorously punished by strangers; and that they would have made common cause with the former to resist the latter, and perhaps even to drive them from the country.

I must not omit to state that all the firearms surrendered by the Indians on this occasion, were found loaded with ball, and primed, with {219} a little piece of cotton laid over the priming to keep the powder dry. This shows how soon they would acquire the use of guns, and how careful traders should be in intercourse with strange Indians, not to teach them their use.

[108] James was a brother of George Keith, prominent in
the Athabasca department of the North West Company,
and after 1821 chief factor for the Hudson’s Bay
Company. James is chiefly known for his services on
the Columbia, whither he arrived as clerk in 1813.
His journeys are typical. In March, 1814, he left
Fort George for an exploring expedition into the
interior. In August of the same year, he started
with despatches for the East, and having crossed the
Rocky Mountains was in November again at the mouth
of the Columbia. The next summer finds him at Fort
William, on Lake Superior. By October, 1815, he had
reached Spokane House, and thence went down to Fort
George, returning to Okanagan in January, 1816. From
there he disappears from notice.--ED.

[109] Stuart never entirely recovered from the effect of
these wounds.--ED.

[110] The North West Company employed as hunters and
porters many Indians from the Canadian missions.
Henry gives the name of this Indian as Jean Baptiste
Saganakee.

For the mission at the Lake of Two Mountains, see
J. Long’s _Voyages_, vol. ii of our series, note
29.--ED.

[111] However, some cases of guns and kegs of powder
were thrown into the falls, before the party
retreated.--FRANCHÈRE.

[112] Strawberry Island was so named by Lewis and Clark.
It is situated at the foot of the Cascades, near the
present town of Cascade, Washington.--ED.

[113] This Indian returned some time after to the factory,
but in a pitiable condition. After the departure of
the canoe, he had concealed himself behind a rock,
and so passed the night. At daybreak, fearing to be
discovered, he gained the woods and directed his
steps toward the fort, across a mountainous region.
He arrived at length at the bank of a little stream,
which he was at first unable to cross. Hunger, in
the meantime, began to urge him; he might have
appeased it with game, of which he saw plenty, but
unfortunately he had lost the flint of his gun. At
last, with a raft of sticks, he crossed the river,
and arrived at a village, the inhabitants of which
disarmed him, and made him prisoner. Our people
hearing where he was, sent to seek him, and gave
some blankets for his ransom.--FRANCHÈRE.

[114] The custom of “covering the dead”--that is, paying
a ransom to the relatives of a murdered man to
appease their just vengeance--was common to all the
American tribes. For an example of this custom among
the tribes upon the Mississippi, see _Wisconsin
Historical Collections_, xvii, “Narrative of De
Boucherville.”--ED.

[115] This expedition appears to have been curiously
mismanaged, and to have excited the ridicule of
the Indians. Ross, volume vii of our series, gives
another account. The detailed narrative of the
leader is in _Henry-Thompson Journals_, ii, pp.
790-810.--ED.

{220} CHAPTER XVII

Description of Tongue Point--A Trip to the _Willamet_--Arrival of
W. Hunt in the Brig Pedlar--Narrative of the Loss of the Ship
Lark--Preparations for crossing the Continent.

The new proprietors of our establishment, being dissatisfied with the site we had chosen, came to the determination to change it; after surveying both sides of the river, they found no better place than the head-land which we had named Tongue point.[116] This point, or to speak more accurately, perhaps, this cape, extends about a quarter of a mile into the river, being connected with the mainland by a low, narrow neck, over which the Indians, in stormy weather, haul their canoes in passing up and down the river; and terminating in an almost perpendicular rock, of about 250 or 300 feet elevation. This bold summit was covered with a dense {221} forest of pine trees; the ascent from the lower neck was gradual and easy; it abounded in springs of the finest water; on either side it had a cove to shelter the boats necessary for a trading establishment. This peninsula had truly the appearance of a huge tongue. Astoria had been built nearer the ocean, but the advantages offered by Tongue point more than compensated for its greater distance. Its soil, in the rainy season, could be drained with little or no trouble; it was a better position to guard against attacks on the part of the natives, and less exposed to that of civilized enemies by sea or land in time of war.

All the hands who had returned from the interior, added to those who were already at the Fort, consumed, in an incredibly short space of time the small stock of provisions which had been conveyed by the Pacific Fur Company to the Company of the Northwest. It became a matter of necessity, therefore, to seek some spot where a part, at least, could be sent to subsist. With these views I left the fort on the 7th February {222} with a number of men, belonging to the old concern, and who had refused to enter the service of the new one, to proceed to the establishment on the _Willamet_ river, under the charge of Mr. Alexander Henry, who had with him a number of first-rate hunters.[117] Leaving the Columbia to ascend the _Willamet_, I found the banks on either side of that stream well wooded, but low and swampy, until I reached the first falls; having passed which, by making a portage, I commenced ascending a clear but moderately deep channel, against a swift current. The banks on either side were bordered with forest-trees, but behind that narrow belt, diversified with prairie, the landscape was magnificent; the hills were of moderate elevation, and rising in an amphitheatre. Deer and elk are found here in great abundance; and the post in charge of Mr. Henry had been established with a view of keeping constantly there a number of hunters to prepare dried venison for the use of the factory. On our arrival at the Columbia, considering the latitude, we had expected severe winter weather, {223} such as is experienced in the same latitudes east; but we were soon undeceived; the mildness of the climate never permitted us to transport fresh provisions from the Willamet to Astoria. We had not a particle of salt; and the attempts we made to smoke or dry the venison proved abortive.

Having left the men under my charge with Mr. Henry, I took leave of that gentleman, and returned. At Oak point I found Messrs. Keith and Pillet encamped, to pass there the season of sturgeon-fishing. They informed me that I was to stay with them.

Accordingly I remained at Oak point the rest of the winter, occupied in trading with the Indians spread all along the river for some 30 or 40 miles above, in order to supply the factory with provisions. I used to take a boat with four or five men, visit every fishing station, trade for as much fish as would load the boat, and send her down to the fort. The surplus fish traded in the interval between the departure and return of the boat, was cut up, salted and barrelled for {224} future use. The salt had been recently obtained from a quarter to be presently mentioned.

About the middle of March Messrs. Keith and Pillet both left me and returned to the fort. Being now alone, I began seriously to reflect on my position, and it was in this interval that I positively decided to return to Canada. I made inquiries of the men sent up with the boats for fish, concerning the preparations for departure, but whether they had been enjoined secrecy, or were unwilling to communicate, I could learn nothing of what was doing below.

At last I heard that on the 28th February a sail had appeared at the mouth of the river. The gentlemen of the N. W. Company at first flattered themselves that it was the vessel they had so long expected. They were soon undeceived by a letter from Mr. Hunt, which was brought to the fort by the Indians of _Baker’s bay_. That gentleman had purchased at the Marquesas islands a brig called _The Pedlar_: it was on that vessel that he arrived, having for pilot Captain Northrop, formerly commander of {225} the ship _Lark_. The latter vessel had been outfitted by Mr. Astor, and despatched from New York, in spite of the blockading squadron, with supplies for the _ci-devant_ Pacific Fur Company; but unhappily she had been assailed by a furious tempest and capsized in lat. 16° N., and three or four hundred miles from the Sandwich Islands. The mate, who was sick, was drowned in the cabin, and four of the crew perished at the same time. The captain had the masts and rigging cut away, which caused the vessel to right again, though full of water. One of the hands dived down to the sail-maker’s locker, and got out a small sail, which they attached to the bowsprit. He dived a second time, and brought up a box containing a dozen bottles of wine. For thirteen days they had no other sustenance but the flesh of a small shark, which they had the good fortune to take, and which they ate raw, and for drink, a gill of the wine each man _per diem_. At last the trade winds carried them upon the island of _Tahouraka_, where the vessel went to pieces on the reef. The islanders saved the crew, and {226} seized all the goods which floated on the water. Mr. Hunt was then at _Wahoo_, and learned through some islanders from _Morotoi_, that some Americans had been wrecked on the isle of _Tahouraka_. He went immediately to take them off, and gave the pilotage of his own vessel to Captain Northrop.[118]

It may be imagined what was the surprise of Mr. Hunt when he saw Astoria under the British flag, and passed into stranger hands. But the misfortune was beyond remedy, and he was obliged to content himself with taking on board all the Americans who were at the establishment, and who had not entered the service of the Company of the Northwest. Messrs. Halsey, Seton, and Farnham were among those who embarked. I shall have occasion to inform the reader of the part each of them played, and how they reached their homes.

When I heard that Mr. Hunt was in the river, and knowing that the overland expedition was to set out early in April, I raised camp at Oak point, and reached the fort on the 2d of that month. But the brig _Pedlar_ had that very day {227} got outside the river, after several fruitless attempts, in one of which she narrowly missed being lost on the bar.

I would gladly have gone in her, had I but arrived a day sooner. I found, however, all things prepared for the departure of the canoes, which was to take place on the 4th. I got ready the few articles I possessed, and in spite of the very advantageous offers of the gentlemen of the N. W. Company, and their reiterated persuasions, aided by the crafty M’Dougal, to induce me to remain, at least one year more, I persisted in my resolution to leave the country. The journey I was about to undertake was a long one: it would be accompanied with great fatigues and many privations, and even by some dangers; but I was used to privations and fatigues; I had braved dangers of more than one sort; and even had it been otherwise, the ardent desire of revisiting my country, my relatives, and my friends, the hope of finding myself, in a few months, in their midst, would have made me overlook every other consideration.

{228} I am about, then, to quit the banks of the river Columbia, and conduct the reader through the mountain passes, over the plains, the forests, and the lakes of our continent: but I ought first to give him at least an idea of the manners and customs of the inhabitants, as well as of the principal productions of the country that I now quit, after a sojourn of three years. This is what I shall try to do in the following chapters.[119]

[116] Henry says that the partners had decided to remove
to the mouth of the Willamette, but could find no
suitable building site below Point Vancouver, which
was considered too high up the river. Thereupon,
this house at Tongue Point was begun.--ED.

[117] Franchère here makes a slip of the pen. The fort
on the Willamette was in charge of William Henry,
Alexander’s cousin. William was a son of Alexander
Henry, the elder, being born in Montreal about 1783.
Entering the North West Company’s service as clerk,
he was stationed in Manitoba (1801-09). The next
year, he was sent to command at Cumberland House,
Athabasca, and thence removed to Columbia waters,
where Thompson found him in 1812. He remained at his
Willamette post until 1816, being then transferred
to Slave Lake. After the North West Company was
merged in the Hudson’s Bay (1821), Henry removed
to Montreal, and became surveyor and engineer.
About 1848 he went to live at Newmarket, Ontario,
where he died in 1864. For his portrait, see Henry,
_Travels and Adventures_ (Bain, ed., Boston, 1901),
preface. The location of his Willamette post has not
definitely been determined. It was a short distance
above Pudding River. See _Henry-Thompson Journals_,
p. 815.--ED.

[118] The wreck of the “Lark” is described in more detail
by Henry (_Henry-Thompson Journals_, pp. 845-848),
who doubtless had his account directly from Captain
Northrop. “Morotoi” Island is the present Molokai;
“Tahouraka” is Maui.--ED.

[119] Some of my readers would, no doubt, desire some
scientific details on the botany and natural
history of this country. That is, in fact, what
they ought to expect from a man who had traveled
for his pleasure, or to make discoveries: but the
object of my travels was not of this description; my
occupations had no relation with science; and, as I
have said in my preface, I was not, and am not now,
either a naturalist or a botanist.--FRANCHÈRE.

{229} CHAPTER XVIII

Situation of the Columbia River--Qualities of its Soil--Climate,
&c.--Vegetable and Animal Productions of the Country.

The mouth of the Columbia river is situated in 46° 19′ north latitude, and 125° or 126° of longitude west of the meridian of Greenwich. The highest tides are very little over nine or ten feet, at its entrance, and are felt up stream for a distance of twenty-five or thirty leagues.

During the three years I spent there, the cold never was much below the freezing point; and I do not think the heat ever exceeded 76°. Westerly winds prevail from the early part of spring, and during a part of the summer; that wind generally springs up with the flood tide, and tempers the heat of the day. The northwest wind prevails during the latter part of summer and commencement {230} of autumn. This last is succeeded by a southeast wind, which blows almost without intermission from the beginning of October to the end of December, or commencement of January. This interval is the rainy season, the most disagreeable of the year. Fogs (so thick that sometimes for days no object is discernible for five or six hundred yards from the beach), are also very prevalent.