aass_E_iM. 
 
 Book 
 
 in 7 
 
c 
 
THE WOEKS 
 
 CP [ 
 
 '^A 
 
 WASHIIGTOI IRYIIG. 
 
 NEW EDITION, REYISE.D. 
 
 VOL. VIII. 
 
 ASTORIA. 
 
 NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM 
 1860. 
 
a<nsfei 
 
 9 1915 
 
ASTORIA P, 
 
 OR, 
 
 /ANECDOTES OE AI EITERPEISE 
 
 EEYOND THE 
 
 EOCKY MOUNTAINS 
 
 BY 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING. 
 
 AUTIIOR'ri REVISED EDITION 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOhUMh. 
 
 NEW YORK: a. P. PUTNAM 
 
 1860. 
 
\7 
 
 \ 
 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by 
 
 Washington Irving, 
 
 ia the Clerk's Otiice of the District Court for the Southern District 
 of New- York. 
 
 John F. Trow, 
 Piiuter, Stereotj'per, and Elecirotyper, 
 
 46, 48 & 60 Greene Street, 
 Between Grand & Broome, New York, 
 
I 
 I 
 
 r 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 In tlie course of occasional visits to Canada many years since, I 
 became intimately acf[uaintccl with some of the principal partners 
 of the great Northwest Fur Company, who at that time lived in 
 gonial style at Montreal, and kept almost open house for the 
 stranger. At their hospitable boards I occasionally met with 
 partners, and clerks, and hardy fur traders from the interior 
 posts ; men who had passed years remote fi'om civilized society, 
 among distant and savage tribes, and who had wonders to recount 
 of their wide and wild peregrinations, their hunting exploits, and 
 their perilous adventures and hair-breadth escapes among the 
 Indians. I was at an age when imagination lends its coloring to 
 every thing, and the stories of these Sindbads of the wildnerness 
 made the life of a trapper and fur trader perfect romance to me. 
 I even meditated at one time a visit to the remote posts of the 
 company in the boats which annually ascended the lakes and 
 rivers, being thereto invited by one of the partners ; and I have 
 ever sinpe regretted that I was prevented by circumstances from 
 carrying my intention into cftect. From those early impressions, 
 
vi . INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the grand enterprises of the great fur companies, and the hazard- 
 ous errantry of their associates in the wild parts of our vast con- 
 tinent, have always been themes of charmed interest to me ; and 
 E have felt anxious to get at the details of their adventurous ex- 
 peditions among the savage tribes that peopled the dej)ths of the 
 wilderness. 
 
 About two years ago, not long after my return from a tour 
 upon the prairies of the far West, I had a conversation with my 
 friend, Mr. John Jacob Astor, relative to that portion of our 
 country, and to the adventurous traders to Santa Fe and the 
 Columbia. This led him to advert to a great enterprise set on 
 foot and conducted by him, between twenty and thirty years 
 since, having for its object to carry the fur trade across the Rocky 
 Mountains, and to sweep the shores of the Pacific. 
 
 Finding that I took an interest in the subject, he expressed a 
 regret that the true nature and extent of his enterprise and its 
 national character and importance had never been understood, 
 and a wish that I would undertake to give an account of it. The 
 suggestion struck upon the chord of early associations, already 
 vibrating in my mind. It occurred to me that a work of this 
 kind might comprise a variety of those curious details, so inter- 
 esting to me, illustrative of the fur trade ; of its remote and ad- 
 venturous enterprises, and of the various people, and tribes, and 
 »astes, and characters, civilized and savage, affected by its opera- 
 tions. The journals, and letters also, of the adventurers by sea 
 and land employed by Mr. Astor in his comprehensive project, 
 might throw light upon portions of our country quite out of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. vii 
 
 track of ordinary travel, and as yet but little known. I there- 
 fore felt disposed to undertake the task, provided documents of 
 sufficient extent and minuteness could he furnished to me. All 
 the papers relative to the enterprise were accordingly submitted to 
 my inspection. Among them were journals and letters narrating 
 expeditions by sea, and journeys to and fro across the Eocky 
 Mountains by routes before untravelled, together with documents 
 illustrative of savage and colonial life on the borders of the 
 Pacific. With such materials in hand, I undertook the work 
 The trouble of rummaging among business papers, and of col- 
 lecting and collating facts from amidst tedious and commonplace 
 details, was spared me by my nephew, Pierre M. Irving, who 
 acted as my pioneer, and to whom I am greatly indebted for 
 smoothing my path and lightening my labors. 
 
 As the journals, on which I chiefly depended, had been kept 
 by men of business, intent upon the main object of the enter- 
 prise, and but little versed in science, or curious about matters 
 not immediately bearing upon their interests, and as they were 
 written often in moments of fatigue or hurry, amid the incon 
 veniences of wild encampments, they were often meagre in their 
 details, furnishing hints to provoke rather than narratives to 
 satisfy inquiry. I have, therefore, availed m^'self occasionally of 
 collateral lights supplied by the published journals of other tra- 
 vellers who have visited the scenes described : such as Messrs. 
 Lewis and Clarke, Bradbury, Breckenridge, Long, Franchere, and 
 Ross Cox, and make a general acknowledgment of aid received 
 from these quarters. 
 
tiii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The work I here present to the public, is necessarily of a 
 rambling and somewhat disjointed nature, comprising various 
 expeditions and adventures by land and sea. The facts, however, 
 will prove to be linked and banded together by one grand scheme, 
 devised and conducted by a master spirit ; one set of characters, 
 also, continues throughout, appearing occasionally, though some- 
 times at long intervals, and the whole enterprise winds up by a 
 regular catastrophe ; so that the work, without any labored at- 
 tempt at artificial construction, actually possesses much of that 
 unity so much sought after in works of fiction, and considered so 
 important to the interest of every history. 
 
COISTTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Objfcts cf American enterprise — gold hunting and fur trading — their effect on 
 coIoni7.ation — early French Canadian settlers — Ottovva and Huron hunters— 
 an Indian trading camp — couriers des bois, or rangers of the woods — their 
 roaming life — their revels and excesses — licensed traders — missionaries — 
 trading posts — primitive French Canadian merchant — his establishment and 
 dependents — British Canadian fur merchant — origin of the Northwest Com- 
 pany — its constitution — its internal trade — a candidate for the company — 
 privations in the wilderness — northv/est clerks — northwest partners — a north- 
 west nabob — feudal notions in the forests — the lords of the lakes — Fort Wil- 
 liam — its parliamentary hall and banqueting room — wassailing in the wil- 
 derness, TKGE 13 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Rise of the Mackinaw Company — attempt of the American government to 
 counteract foreign influence over the Indian tribes— John Jacob Astor — hi3 
 birth-place — his r^rrival in the United States^-what first turned his atten- 
 tion to the fur trade — his character, enterprises, and success — his comrnn- 
 nications with t' ■- American government — origin of the American Fur 
 Company 26 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Fur trade in the Pacific — American coasting voyages — Russian enterprises — 
 discovery of the Columbia River — Carver's project to found a settlement 
 there — Mackenzie's expedition — Lewis and Clarke's journey across the Rocky 
 Mountains — Mr. Astor's grand commercial scheme — his correspondence oii 
 the subject with l^'r. Jp^erson — his negotiations with the Northwest Company 
 — his steps to .rry hi& scheme into eff'ect, . , , , .38 
 
 1 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Two expeditions set on foot — the Tonquin and her crew — Captain Thorn, his 
 character — the partners and clerks — Canadian voyageurs, their habits, em- 
 ployments, dress, character, songs — expedition of a Canadian boat and its 
 crew by land and water — arrival at New- York — preparations for a sea voyage 
 — northwest braggarts — underhand precautions — letter of instructions, 45 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sailing of the Tonquin — a rigid commander and a reckless crew — landsmen 
 on shipboard — fresh water sailors at sea — lubber nests — ship fare — a Labra- 
 dor veteran — literary clerks — curious travellers — Robinson Crusoe's Island — 
 quarter-deck quarrels — Falkland Islands — a wild-goose chase — Port Egmont 
 — epitaph hunting — Old Mortality — penguin shooting — sportsmen left in the 
 lurch — a hard pull — further altercations — arrival at Owyhee, . . 53 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Owyhee — Sandwich Islanders — their nautical talents — Tamaahmaah — his navy 
 — his negotiations — views of Mr. Astor with respect to the Sandwich Islanda 
 — Karakakora — royal monopoly of pork — description of the islanders — gaye- 
 ties on shore — chronicler of the island — place where Captain Cook was killed 
 — John Young, a nautical governor — h4s story — Waititi — a royal residence 
 — a royal visit — grand ceremonials — close dealing — a royal pork merchant — ■ 
 grievances of a matter-of-fact-man, 64 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Departure from the Sandwich Islands — misunderstandings — miseries of a sus- 
 picious man — arrival at the Columbia — dangerous service — gloomy appre- 
 hensions — bars and breakers — perils of the ship — disasters of a boat's crew 
 — burial of a Sandwich Islander, 77 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Mouth of the Columbia — the native tribes — their fishing — their canoes — bold 
 navigators — equestrian Indians and piscatory Indians, difference in their 
 physical organization — search for a trading site — expedition of M'Dougal 
 and David Stewart — Comcomly, the one-eyed chieftain — influence of weahii 
 in savage life — slavery among the natives — an aristocracy of Flatheads — 
 hospitality among the Chinooks — Comcomly's daughter — her conquest, 85 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Point George — founding of Astoria — Indian visitors — their reception — the cap- 
 tain taboos the ship — departure of the Tonquin— comments on the conduct 
 of Captain Thorn, 91 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Disquif ting rumors from the interior — reconnoitering party — preparations for a 
 trading post — an unexpected arrival — a spy in the camp — expedition into 
 the interior — shores of the Columbia — Mount Coffin — Indian Sepulchre — the 
 land of spirits — Columbian valley — Vancouver's Point — falls and rapids — a 
 great fishing mart — the village of Wish-ram — difference between fishing 
 Indians and hunting Indians — effects of habits of trade on the Indian charac- 
 ter — post established at the Oakinagan, . .... 95 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Alarm at Astoria— rumor of Indian hostilities — preparations for defence — tragi- 
 cal fate of the Tonquin, 106 
 
 CPIAPTER XII. 
 
 Gloom at Astoria — an ingenious stratagem — the smallpox chief — launching of 
 the Dolly — an arrival — a Canadian trapper — a freeman of the forest — an 
 Iroquois hunter — winter on the Columbia — festivities of New Year, 117 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Expedition by land — Wilson P. Hunt — his character — Donald M'Kenzie — re- 
 cruiting service among the voyageurs — a bark canoe — chapel of St. Anne — 
 votive offerings — pious carousals — a ragged regiment — Mackinaw — picture 
 of a trading post — frolicking voyageurs — sv/ells and swaggerers — Indian cox- 
 combs — a man of the north — jockeyship of voyageurs — inefficacy of gold — • 
 weight of a feather — Mr. Ramsay Crooks — his character — his risks among 
 the Indians — his warning concerning Sioux and Blackfeet — embarkation of 
 recruits — parting scenes between brothers, cousins, wives, sv»^eethearts, and 
 pot companions, ...*•••••. 124 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 St. Louis — its situation — motley population — French Creole traders and their 
 dependents — Missouri Fur Company — Mr. Manuel Lisa — Mississippi boat- 
 men — vagrant Indians — Kentucky hunters — old French mansion — fiddling 
 — billiards — Mr. Joseph Miller — his character — recruits — voyage up the 
 Missouri — difficulties of the river — merits of Canadian voyageurs — arrival 
 at the Nodowa — Mr. Robert M'Lellan joins the party — John Day, a Virginia 
 hunter — description of him — Mr. Hunt returns to St. Louis, . . 133 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Opposition of the Missouri Fur Company — Blackfeet Indians — Pierre Dorion, 
 a half-breed interpreter — old Dorion and his hybrid progeny — family quarrels 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 —cross purposes between Dorion and Lisa — renegadoes from Nodowa — 
 perplexities of a commander — Messrs. Bradbury and Nuttall join the ex- 
 pedition — legal embarrassments of Pierre Dorion — departure from St. Louis 
 — conjugal discipline of a half-breed — annual swelling of the rivers — Daniel 
 Boon, the patriarch of Kentucky — John Colter — his adventures among the 
 Lidians — rumors of danger ahead — Fort Osage — an Indian war-feast — ■ 
 troubles in the Dorion family — Buffaloes and turkey-buzzards, . 140 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 Return of spring — appearance of snakes — great flights of wild pigeons — re- 
 newal of the voyage — night encampments — Platte River — ceremonials on 
 passing it — signs of Indian war parties — magnificent prospect at Papillion 
 Creek — desertion of two hunters — an irruption into the camp of Indian des- 
 peradoes — village of the Omahas — anecdotes of the tribe — feudal wars of the 
 Indians — story of Blackbird, the famous Omaha chief, . . . 154 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Rumors of danger from the Sioux Tetons — ruthless character of those savage? 
 — pirates of the Missouri — their affair with Crooks and M'Lellan — a trading 
 expedition broken up — M'Lellan's vow of vengeance — uneasiness in the camp 
 — desertions — departure from the Omaha village — meeting with Jones and 
 Carson, two adventurous trappers — scientific pursuits of Messrs. Bradbury 
 and Nuttall — zeal of a botanist — adventure of Mr. Bradbury with a Ponca 
 Indian — expedient of the pocket compass and microscope — a messenger 
 from Lisa — motives for pressing forward, • • • • • 167 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Camp gossip — deserters — recruits — Kentucky hunters — a veteran woodman — 
 tidings of Mr. Henry — danger from the Blackfeet — alteration of plans- 
 scenery of the river — buffalo roads — iron ore — country of tlie Sioux — a land 
 of danger — apprehensions of the voyageurs — Indian scouts — threatened hos- 
 tilities — a council of war — an array of battle — a parley — the pipe of peace 
 — speech-making, .......... 177 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The great bend of tlie Missouri — Crooks and M'Lellan meet with two of their 
 Indian opponents — v.'anton outrage of a white man the cause of Indian hos- 
 tility — dangers and precautions — an Indian war party — dangerous situation 
 of Mr. Hunt — a friendly encampment — feasting and dancing — approach of 
 Manuel liisa and his party — a grim meeting between old rivals — Pierre 
 Dorion in a fury — a burst of chivalry, » 187 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Features of the wilderness — herds of buffalo — antelopes — their varieties and 
 habits— John Day — his hunting stratagem — interview with thrte Arickaraa 
 — negotiations between the rival parties — the Left-handed and the Big Man, 
 two Ariekara chiefs — Arickara village — its inhabitants — ceremonials on 
 landing — a council lodge — grand conference — speech of Lisa — negotiation 
 for horses — shrewd suggestion of Gray Eyes, an Arickara chief— encan:ip- 
 ment of the trading parties, 195 
 
 CHAPTER. XXL 
 
 All Lidian horse fair — love of the Indians for horses — scenes in the Arickara 
 village — Lidian hospitality — duties of Lrdian women — game habits of the 
 men — their indolence — love of gossiping — rumors of lurking enemies — scouts 
 — an alarm — a sallying forth — Lidian dogs — return of a horse-stealing parly 
 — an Lidian deputation — fresh alarms — return of a successful v/ar party — dress 
 of the Arickaras — Lidian toilet — triumphal entry of the war party — meetings 
 of relations and friends — Lidian sensibility — meeting of a wounded warrior 
 Ard his mother — festivities and lamentations, ..... 205 
 
 CHAPTER XXH. 
 
 Wilderness ot the Far West — great American desert — parched seasons — Black 
 PLlls — Rocky Mountains — wandering and predatory hordes — speculations on 
 what may be the future population — apprehended dangers — a plot to desert 
 — Rose the interpreter — his sinister character — departure from the Arickara 
 village, 216 
 
 CHAPTER XXHL 
 
 Summer weather of the prairies — purity of the atmosphere — Canadians on the 
 march — sickness in the camp — Big River — vulgar nomenclature — suggestions 
 about the original Lidian names — camp of Cheyennes — trade for horses 
 — character of the Cheyennes — their horsemanship — historical anecdotes of 
 the tribe, 222 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Kew distribution of horses — secret information of treason in the camp — Rose 
 the interpreter — his perfidious character — his plots — anecdotes of the Crow 
 Indians — notorious horse stealers — some account of Rose — a desperado of 
 the frontier, 228 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Substitute for fuel on the prairies — fossil trees — fierceness of the buffaloes when 
 in heat—three hunters missing — signal fires and smokes — ^uneasiness con- 
 cerning the lost men — a plan to forestall a rogue — new arrangement with 
 Rose — return of the wanderers, 232 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 The Black Mountains — haunts of predatory Indians — their wild and broken 
 appearance — superstitions concerning them — thunder spirits — singular noises 
 in the mountains — secret mines — hidden treasures — mountains in labor — sci- 
 entific explanation — impassable defiles — black-tailed deer — the bighorn or 
 ahsahta — prospect from a lofty height — plain with herds of bufialo — distant 
 peaks of the Rocky Mountains — alarms in the camp — tracks of grizzly bears 
 — dangerous nature of this animal — adventures of William Cannon and John 
 Day with grizzly bears, . . . . . . . . 2.37 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Indian trial — rough mountain travelling — sufferings from hunger and thirst — 
 Powder River — game in abundance — a hunter's paradise — mountain peak 
 seen at a great distance — one of the Big Horn chain — Rocky Mountains — 
 extent — appearance — height — the great American desert — various character- 
 istics of the mountains — Indian superstitions concerning them — land of souls 
 — towns of the free and generous spirits — happy hunting grounds, . 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Region of the Crow Indians — scouts on the lookout — visit from a crew of hard 
 riders — a Crow camp — presents to the Crow chief — bargaining — Crow 
 bullies — Rose among his Indian friends — parting with the Crows — perplexi- 
 ties among the mountains — more of the Crows — equestrian children — search 
 after stragglers, 250 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Mountain glens — wandering band of savages — anecdotes of Shoshonies and 
 Flatheads — root diggers — their solitary lurking habits — gnomes of the 
 mountains — Wind River — scarcity of food — alteration of route-^the Pilot 
 Knobs or Tetons — branch of the Colorado — hunting camp, . . 256 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A. plentiful hunting camp — Shoshonie hunters — Hoback's River — Mad River 
 — encampment near the Pilot Knobs — a consultation — preparations for a 
 perilous voyage, 264 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 A consultation whether to proceed by land or water — preparations for boa- 
 building— an exploring party— a party of trappers detached— two Snake vis- 
 itors — their report concerning the river — confirmed by the exploring party 
 
 Mad River abandoned— arrival at Henry's Fort— detachment of Robinson 
 Hoback, and Rezner to trap — Mr. Miller re.solv?s io accompany them — thei 
 departure, 2b8 
 
 CHAPTER XXXir. 
 
 Scanty fare — a mendicant Snake — embarkation on Hpnry Rivei.-]oy of the 
 voyageurs— arrival at Snake River— rapids and breakers— beginning of mis- 
 fortunes — Snake encampments — parley with a savage— a second disaster- 
 loss of a boatman — the Caldron Linn, 275 
 
 . CHAPTER XXXm. 
 
 Gloomy council — exploring parties — discouraging reports — disastrous experi- 
 ment — detachments in quest of succor — caches, how made — return of one of 
 the detachments — unsuccessful — farther disappointments — the Devil's Scuttle 
 Hole, 282 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Determination of the party to proceed on foot — dreary deserts between Snake 
 
 River and the Columbia — distribution of effects preparatory to a march 
 
 division of the party — rugged march along the river — wild and broken 
 Fcenery — Shoshonies — alarm of a Snake encampment — intercourse with the 
 Snakes — horse dealing — value of a tin kettle — sufferings from thirst — a horbe 
 reclaimed — fortitude of an Indian woman — scarcity of food — dog's flesh a 
 dainty — news of Mr. Crooks and his party — painful travelling among the 
 mountains — snow storms — a dreary mountain prospect — a bivouack during 
 a wintry night — return to the river bank, 28S 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 A.n unexpected meeting — navigation in a skin canoe — strange fears of suffering 
 men — hardships of Mr. Crooks and his comrades — tidings of M'Lellan — a 
 retrograde march — a willow raft — extreme suffering of some of the party — ■ 
 "Mness of Mr. Crooks — impatience of some of the men — necessity of leaving 
 the laggards behind, 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Mr. Hunt overtakes the advanced party — Pierre Dorion, and his skeleton horse 
 — a Shoshonie camp — a justifiable outrage — feasting on horse flesh — Mr. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Crooks brought to the camp — undertakes to relieve his men — the skin ferry- 
 boat — frenzy of Prevost — his melancholy fate — enfeebled state of John Day 
 — Mr. Crooks again left behind — the party emerge from among the moun- 
 tains — intei-view with Shoshonies — a guide procured to conduct the party 
 across a mountain — ferriage across Snake River — reunion wiih Mr. Crooks'a 
 men — final departure from the river, 304 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Departure from Snake River — mountains to the north — wayworn travellers — 
 an increase of the Dorion family — a camp of Shoshonies — a New- Year fes- 
 tival among the Snakes — a wintry march through the mountains — a sunny 
 prospect, and milder climate — Indian horse-tracks — grassy valleys — a camp 
 of Sciatogas — joy of the travellers — dangers of abundance — habits of the 
 Sciatogas — fate of Carriere — the Umatalla — arrival at the banks of the Co- 
 lumbia — tidings of the scattered members of the expedition — scenery on the 
 Columbia — tidings of Astoria — arrival at the falls, . . . .311 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVni. 
 
 The village of Wish-ram — roguery of the inhabitants — their habitations — 
 tidings of Astoria — of the Tonquin massacre — thieves about the camp — a 
 band of braggarts — embarkation — arrival at Astoria — a joyful reception — old 
 comrades — adventures of Reed, M'Lellan, and M'Kenzie, among the Snake 
 River Mountains — rejoicing at Astoria, • 322 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Scanty fare during the winter — a poor hunting ground — the return of the fish- 
 ing season — the uthlecan or smelt — its qualities — vast shoals of it — sturgeon 
 — Indian modes of taking it — the salmon — difllerent species — nature of the 
 country about the coast — forests and forest trees — a remarkable flowering 
 vine — animals — birds — reptiles — climate west of the mountains — mildncsa 
 of the temperature — soil of the coast and the interior, . . . 330 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Natives in the neighborhood of Astoria — their persons and characteristics — 
 causes of deformity — their dress — their contempt of beards — ornaments — 
 armor and weapons — mode of flattening the head — extent of the custom — 
 religious belief— the two great spirits of the air and of the fire — priests or 
 medicine men — the rival idols — polygamy a cause of greatness — petty war- 
 fare — music, dancing, gambling — thieving a virtue — keen traders — intrusive 
 habits — abhorrence of drunkenness — anecdote of Comcomly, . . 335 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 
 Spring arrangements' at Astoria — various expeditions set out — the Long Nar- 
 rows — pilfering Indians — thievish tribe at Wish-ram — portage at the falls- 
 portage by moonlight — an attack, a rout, and a robbery — Indian cure for 
 cowardice — a parley and compromise — the dispatch party turn back — 
 meet Crooks and John Day— their sufferings — Indian perfidy — arrival at 
 Astoria, 343 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Comprehensive views — to supply the Russian fur establishment — an agent sent 
 to Russia — project of an annual ship — the Beaver fitted out — her equipment 
 and crew — instructions to the captain — the Sandwich Islands — rumors of 
 the fate of the Tonquin — precautions on reaching the mouth of the Co- 
 lumbia, 354 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Active operations at Astoria — various expeditions fitted out — Robert Stuart 
 and a party destined for New-York — singular conduct of John Day — hia 
 fate — piratical pass and hazardous portage — rattlesnakes — their abhorrence 
 of tobacco — arrival among the Wallah-Wallahs — purchase of horses — de- 
 parture of Stuart and his band for the mountains, .... 359 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Route of Mr. Stuart — dreary wilds— thirsty travelling— a grove and streamlet 
 — the Blue Mountains — a fertile plain with rivulets— sulphur sprhig — route 
 along Snake River — rumors of white men — the Snake and his horse — a 
 Snake guide — a midnight decampment — unexpected meeting with old com- 
 rades—story of trappers' hardships— Salmon Falls — a great fishery— mode 
 of spearing salmon— arrival at the Caldron Linn— state of the caches — new 
 resolution of the three Kentucky trappers, 367 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 The Snake River deserts— scanty fare— bewildered travellers— prowling In- 
 dians — a giant Crow chief— a bully rebuked — Indian signals — smoke on the 
 mountains — Mad River — an alarm — an Indian foray — a scamper — a rude 
 ]ndian joke — a sharp-shooter balked of his shot, . . . . ' 380 
 
 1* 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL VI. 
 
 Travellers unhorsed — pedestrian preparations— prying spies — bonfire of bag- 
 gage — a march on foot — rafting a river — the wounded elk — Indian trails — ■ 
 wilful conduct of Mr. M'Lellan — grand prospect from a mountain — distant 
 craters of volcanoes — illness of Mr. Crooks, ..... 388 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 Ben Jones and a grizzly bear — rocky heights — mountain torrents — traces of 
 M'Lellan — volcanic remains — mineral earths — peculiar clay for pottery — 
 dismal plight of M'Lellan— starvation — shocking proposition of a desperate 
 man — a broken-down bull — a ravenous meal — Indian graves — hospitable 
 Snakes — a forlorn alliance, 396 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 Spanish River scenery — trial of Crow Indians — a snow-storm — a rousing fire 
 and a buffalo feast — a plain of salt — climbing a mountain — volcanic summit 
 — extinguished crater — marine shells — encampment on a prairie — successful 
 hunting — good cheer — romantic scenery — rocky defile — foaming rapids — 
 the fiery narrows, 406 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 Wintry storms — a halt and council — cantonment for the winter — fine hunting 
 country — game of the mountains and plains — successful hunting — Mr. Crooks 
 and a grizzly bear — the wigwam — bighorn and blacktails — beef and veni- 
 con — good quarters and good cheer — an alarm — an intrusion — unwelcome 
 guests — desolation of the larder — gormandizing exploits of hungry savages 
 — good quarters abandoned, ........ 412 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 (lough wintry travelling — hills and plains — snow and ice — disappearance of 
 game— a vast dreary plain — a second halt for the winter — another wigwam 
 — New Year's feast — buffalo humps, tongues, and marrow bones — return of 
 spring — launch of canoes — bad navigation — pedestrian march — vast prairies 
 — deserted camps — Pawnee squaws — an Otto Indian — news of war — voyage 
 down the Platte and the Missouri — reception at Fort Osage — arrival at St 
 Louis, 421 
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 
 Agreement between Mr. Astor and the Russian Fur Company — war between 
 the United States and Great Britain — instructions to Captain Sowle of the 
 Beaver — fitting out of the Lark — news of the arrival of Mr. Stuart, . 429 
 
CONTENTS. n 
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 Banks of the Wailah-Wallah — departure of David Stuart for the Oakmagan 
 — Mr. Clarke's route up Lewis River — Chipunnish, or Pierced-nose Indians 
 — their character, appearance, and habits — thievish habits — laying up of the 
 boats — post at Pointed Heart and Spokan Rivers — M'Kenzie, his route up the 
 Camoenum — bands of travelling Indians — expedition of Reed to the caches 
 — adventures of wandering voyageurs and trappers, . . . 434 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 Departure of Mr. Hunt in the Beaver — precautions at the factory — detachment 
 to the WoUamut — gloomy apprehensions — arrival of M'Kenzie — affairs at 
 the Shahaptan — news of war — dismay of M'Dougal — determination to aban- 
 don Astoria — departure of M'Kenzie for the interior — adventure at the rapids 
 — ^visit to the ruffians of Wish-ram — a perilous situation — meeting with 
 M'Tavish and his party — arrival at the Shahaptaii — plundered caches — de- 
 termination of the wintering partners not to leave the country — arrival of 
 Clarke among the Nez Perces — the affair of the silver goblet — hanging of an 
 Indian — arrival of the wintering partners at Astoria, . , . 442 
 
 • CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 The partners displeased with M'Dougal — equivocal conduct of that gentleman 
 — partners agree to abandon Astoria — sale of goods to M'Tavish — arrange- 
 ments for the year — manifesto signed by the partners — departure of M'Tavish 
 for the interior, .- . . , 454 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 Anxieties of Mr. Astor — memorial of the Northwest Company — tidings of a 
 British naval expedition against Astoria — Mr. Astor applies to government 
 for protection — the frigate Adams ordered to be fitted out — bright newa 
 from Astoria — sunshine suddenly overclouded, . . ^ . 458 
 
 CHAPTER LVl. 
 
 Affairs of state at Astoria — M'Dougal proposes for the hand of an Indian 
 princess — matrimonial embassy to Comcomly — matrimonial notions among 
 the Chinooks — settlements and pin money — the bringing home of the bride 
 — a managing father-in-law — arrival of Mr. Hunt at Astoria, . . 461 
 
19 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 Voyage of the Beaver to New Archangel — a Russian governor — roystering 
 rule — the tyranny of the table — hard drinking bargains — voyage to Kam- 
 echatka— ^seal-catching establishment at St. Paul's — storms at sea — Mr. Hunt 
 left at the Sandwich Islands — transactions of the Beaver at Canton — return 
 of Mr. Hunt to Astoria, . . 465 
 
 CHAPTER LVni. 
 
 Arrangements among the partners — Mr. Hunt sails in the Albatross — arrives 
 at the Marquesas — news of the frigate Phoebe — Mr. Hunt proceeds to the 
 Sandwich Islands — voyage of the Lark — her shipwreck — transactions with 
 the natives of the Sandwich Islands — conduct of Tamaahmaah, . 474 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 Arrival of M'Tavish at Astoria — conduct of his followers — negotiations of 
 M'Dougal and M'Tavish — bargain for the transfer of Astoria — doubts enter- 
 tained of the loyalty of M'Dougal, ....... 483 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 Arrival of a strange sail — agitation at Astoria — warlike offer of Comcomly — 
 Astoria taken possession of by the British — indigyiation of Comcomly at the 
 conduct of his son-in-law, 489 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Arrival of the brig Pedler at Astoria — breaking up of the establishment- 
 departure of severaF of the company — tragical story told by the squaw ol 
 Pierre Dorion — fate of Reed and his companions — attempts of Mr. Astor to 
 renew his enterprise — disappointment — concluding observations and reflec- 
 tions, 491 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Draught of a petition to Congress, sent by Mr. Astor in 1812, . . 505 
 
 Letter from Mr. Gallatin to Mr. Astor, 507 
 
 Notices of the present state of the Fur Trade, chiefly extracted from an 
 
 article published in Silliman's Journal for January, 1834, . , . 509 
 
 Height of the Rocky Mountains, 514 
 
 Suggestions with respect to the Indian tribes, and the protection 
 
 of our Trade, 515 
 
ASTORIA 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Two leading objects of commercial gain hare given birth to wide 
 and daring enterprise in the early history of the Americas ; the 
 precious metals of the south, and the rich peltries of the north. 
 While the fiery and magnificent Spaniard, inflamed with the 
 mania for gold, has extended his discoveries and conquests over 
 those brilliant countries scorched by the ardent sun of the 
 tropics, the adroit and buoyant Frenchman, and the cool and 
 calculating Briton, have pursued the less splendid, but no less 
 lucrative, traffic in furs amidst the hyperborean regions of the 
 Canadas, until they have advanced even within the Arctic 
 circle. 
 
 These two pursuits have thus in a manner been the pioneers 
 and precursors of civilization. Without pausing on the borders, 
 they have penetrated at once, in defiance of difficulties and 
 dangers, to the heart of savage countries: laying open the 
 hidden secrets of the wilderness; leading the way to remote 
 regions of beauty and fertility that might have remained unex- 
 plored for ages, and beckoning after them the slow and pausing 
 stops of agriculture and civilization. 
 
 It was the fur trade, in fact, which gave early sustenance and 
 vitality to the great Canadian provinces. Being destitute of tho 
 
14 ASTORIA. 
 
 precious metals, at tliat time the leading objects of American 
 enterprise, they were long neglected by the parent country. 
 The French adventurers, however, who had settled on the banks 
 of the St. Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries of tlie 
 interior, they had sources of wealth that might almost rival the 
 mines of Mexico and Peru. The Indians, as yet unacquainted 
 with the artificial value given to some descriptions of furs, in 
 civilized life, brought quantities of the most precious -kinds and 
 bartered them away for European trinkets and cheap commodi- 
 ties. Immense profits were thus made by the early traders, and 
 the trafiic was pursued with avidity. 
 
 As the valuable furs soon became scarce in the neighborhood 
 of the settlements, the Indians of the vicinity were stimulated 
 to take a wider range in their hunting expeditions ; they were 
 generally accompanied on these expeditions by some of the 
 traders or their dependents, who shared in the toils and perils 
 of the chase, and at the same time made themselves acquainted 
 with the best hunting and trapping grounds, and with the 
 remote tribes, whom they encouraged to bring their peltries to 
 the settlements. In this way the trade augmented, and was 
 drawn from remote quarters to Montreal. Every now and then 
 a large body of Ottawas, Hurons, and other tribes who hunted 
 the countries bordering on the great lakes, would come down in 
 a squadron of light canoes, laden with beaver skins, and other 
 spoils of their year's hunting. The canoes would be unladen, 
 taken on shore, and their contents disposed in order. A camp 
 of birch bark would be pitched outside of the town, and a kind 
 of primitive fair opened with that grave ceremonial so dear to 
 the Indians. An audience would be demanded of the governor- 
 general, who would hold the conference with becoming state, 
 seated in an elbow chair, with the Indians ranged in semicircles 
 before him, seated on the ground, and silently smoking their 
 
COUREURS DES BOIS. 16 
 
 pipes. Speeches would be made, presents exchanged, and the 
 •audience would break up in universal good humor. 
 
 Now would ensue a brisk traffic with the merchants, and all 
 Montreal would be alive with naked Indians running from shop 
 /O shop, bargaining for arms, kettles, knives, axes, blankets, 
 Bright-colored cloths, and other articles of use or fancy ; upon all 
 »vhich, says an old French writer, the merchants were sure to clear 
 iit least two hundred per cent. There was no money used in this 
 traffic, and, after a time, all payment in spirituous liquors was 
 prohibited, in consequence of the frantic and frightful excesses 
 and bloody brawls which they were apt to occasion. 
 
 Their wants and caprices being supplied, they would take 
 leave of the governor, strike their tents, launch their canoes, and 
 ply their way up the Ottawa to the lakes. 
 
 A new and anomalous class of men gradually grew out of 
 this trade. These were called courcurs dcs bois, rangers of the 
 woods ; originally men who had accompanied the Indians in their 
 hunting expeditions, and made themselves acquainted with re- 
 mote tracts and tribes ; and who now became, as it were, pedlers 
 of the wilderness. These men would set out from Montreal with 
 canoes well stocked with goods, with arms and ammunition, and 
 would make their way up the mazy and wandering rivers that 
 interlace the vast forests of the Canadas, coasting the most 
 remote lakes, and creating new wants and habitudes among the 
 natives. Sometimes they sojourned for months among them^ 
 assimilating to their tastes and habits with the happy facility of 
 Frenchmen ; adopting in some degree the Indian dress, and not 
 unfrequentlj taking to themselves Indian wives. 
 
 Twelve, fifteen, eighteen months would often elapse without 
 any tidings of them, when they would come sweeping their way 
 down the Ottawa in full glee, their canoes laden down with packs 
 of beaver skins. Now came their turn for revelry and extrava- 
 
26 ASTORIA. 
 
 gance. "You would be amazed/' says an old writer already 
 quoted, " if you saw how lewd tliese pedlers are when they re- 
 turn ; how they feast and game, and how prodigal they are, not 
 only in their clothes, but upon their sweethearts. Such of them 
 as are married have the wisdom to retire to their own houses ; 
 but the bachelors act just as an East Indiaman and pirates are 
 wont to do ; for they lavish, eat, drink, and play all away as long 
 as the goods hold out ; and when these are gone, they even sell 
 their embroidery, their lace, and their clothes. This done, they 
 are forced upon a new voyage for subsistence."* 
 
 Many of these courcurs dcs hois became so accustomed to the 
 Indian mode of living, and the perfect freedom of the wilderness, 
 that they lost all relish for civilization, and identified themselves 
 with the savages among whom they dwelt, or could only be dis- 
 tinguished from them by superior licentiousness. Their conduct 
 and example gradually corrupted the natives, and impeded the 
 works of the Catholic missionaries, who were at this time prose- 
 cuting their pious labors in the wilds of Canada. 
 
 To check these abuses, and to protect the fur trade from 
 various irregularities practised by these loose adventurers, an 
 order was issued by the French government prohibiting all per- 
 sons, on pain of death, from trading into the interior of the coun 
 try without a license. 
 
 These licenses were granted in writing by the governor 
 general, and at first were given only to persons of respectability ; 
 to gentlemen of broken fortunes ; to old ofl&cers of the army who 
 had families to provide for ; or to their widows. Each license 
 permitted the fitting out of two large canoes with merchandise 
 for the lakes, and no more than twenty-five licenses were to be 
 issued in one year. By degrees, however, private licenses were 
 also granted, and the number rapidly increased. Those who did 
 
 * La Hontan, v. i. let. 4. 
 
LICENSED TRADERS. iV 
 
 not choose to fit out tlie expeditions themselves, were permitted 
 to sell them to the merchants ; these employed the coureurs des 
 bois, or rangers of the woods, to undertake the long voyages on 
 chares, and thus the abuses of the old system were revived and 
 continued.* 
 
 The pious missionaries, employed by the Roman Catholic 
 »ihurch to convert the Indians, did every thing in their power to 
 counteract the profligacy caused and propagated by these men in 
 the heart of the wilderness. TheJJatholic chapel might often be 
 seen planted beside the trading house, and its spire surmounted 
 by a cross, towering from the midst of an Indian village, on the 
 banks of a river or a lake. The missions had often a beneficial 
 efiect on the simple sons of the forest, but had little power over . 
 the renegades from civilization. 
 
 At length it was found necessary to establish fortified posts 
 Q,t the confluence of the rivers and the lakes for the protection 
 of the trade, and the restraint of these profligates of the wilder- 
 
 * The following are the terms on which these expeditions were commonly 
 undertaken. The merchant holding the license would fit out the two canoca 
 with a thousand crowns worth of goods, and put them under the conduct of 
 BIX coureurs des hois, to whom the goods were charged at the rate of fifteen 
 per cent, above the ready money price in the colony. The coureurs des bois, 
 in their turn, dealt so sharply with the savages, that they generally returned, 
 at the end of a year or so, with four canoes well laden, so as to insure a clear 
 profit of seven hundred per cent., insomuch that the thousand crowns invested 
 produced eight thousand. Of this extravagant profit the merchant had the 
 lion's share. In the first place he would set aside six hundred crowns for 
 ihe cost of his license, then a thousand crowns for the cost of the original 
 merchandise. This would leave six thousand four hundred crowns, from 
 v.'hich he would take forty per cent, for bottomry, amounting to two thousand 
 five hundred and sixty crowns. The residue would be equally divided among 
 the six wood rangers, who would thus receive little more than six hundred 
 crowns for all their toils and perils. 
 
18 ASTORIA. 
 
 QGSS. The most important of these was at Michilimackinac, 
 situated at the strait of the same name, which connects Lakes 
 Huron and Michigan. It became the great interior mart and 
 place of deposit, and some of the regular merchants who prose- 
 cuted the trade in person, under their licenses, formed establish- 
 ments here. This, too, was a rendezvous for the rangers of the 
 woods, as well those who came up with goods from Montreal as 
 those who returned with peltries from the interior. Here new 
 expeditions were fitted out and took their departure for Lake 
 Michigan and the Mississippi; Lake Superior and the north- 
 west ; and here the peltries brought in return were embarked for 
 Montreal. 
 
 The French merchant at his trading post, in these primitive 
 days of Canada, was a kind of commercial patriarch. With the 
 lax habits and easy familiarity of his race, he had a little world 
 of self-indulgence and misrule around him. He had his clerks 
 canoe-men, and retainers of all kinds, who lived with him on 
 terms of perfect 'sociability, always calling him by his Christian 
 name ; he had his harem of Indian beauties, and his troop of 
 half-breed children ; nor was there ever wanting a louting train 
 ' of Indians, hanging about the establishment, eating and drinking 
 at his expense in the intervals of their hunting expeditions. 
 
 The Canadian traders, for a long time, had troublesome com- 
 petitors in the British merchants of New-York, who inveigled the 
 Indian hunters and the coureurs clcs bois to their posts, and 
 traded with them on more favorable terms. A still more for- 
 midable opposition was organized in the Hudson Bay Company, 
 chartered by Charles II, in 1670, with the exclusive privilege of 
 establishing trading houses on the shores of that bay and itR 
 tributary rivers ; a privilege which they have maintained to the 
 present day. Between this British company and the French 
 merchants of Canada, feuds and contests arose about alleged 
 
BRITISH FUR TRADERS. 19 
 
 infringements of territorial limits, and acts of violence and 
 bloodshed occurred between their agents. 
 
 In 1762j the French lost possession of Canada, and the trade 
 fell principally into the hands of British subjects. For a time, 
 however, it shrunk within narrow limits. The old coureurs cles 
 bois were broken up and dispersed, or, where they could be met 
 with, were slow to accustom themselves to the habits and man- 
 ners of their British employers. They missed the freedom, 
 indulgence, and familiarity of the old French trading houses, 
 and did not relish the sober exactness, reserve, and method of 
 the new-comers. The British traders, too, were ignorant of the 
 country, and distrustful of the natives. They had reason to be 
 so. The treacherous and bjoody affairs of Detroit and Michili- 
 mackinac showed them the' lurking hostility cherished by the 
 savages, who had too long been taught by the French to regard 
 them as enemies. 
 
 It was not until the year 176G, that the trade regained its old 
 channels ; but it was then pursued with much avidity and emula- 
 tion by individual merchants, and soon transcended its former 
 bounds. Expeditions were fitted out by various persons from 
 Montreal and Michilimackinac, and rivalships and jealousies of 
 course ensued. The trade was injured by their artifices to out- 
 bid and undermine each other ; the Indians were debauched by 
 the sale of spirituous liquors, which had been prohibited under 
 the French rule. Scenes of drunkenness, brutality, and brawl 
 were the consequence, in the Indian villages and around thG 
 trading houses; while bloody feuds took place between rival 
 trading parties when they happened to encounter eact. other in 
 the lawless depths of the wilderness. 
 
 To put an end to these sordid and ruinous contentions, 
 several of the principal merchants of Montreal entei-ed into a 
 partnership in the winter of 1783, which was augmented by 
 
20 ASTORIA. 
 
 amalgamation with a rival company in 1787. Thus was created 
 the famous "Northwest Company/' which for a time held a 
 lordly sway over the wintry lakes and boundless forests of the 
 Canadas, almost equal to that of the East India Company over 
 the voluptuous climes and magnificent realms of the Orient. 
 
 The company consisted of twenty-three shareholders, or part- 
 ners, but held in its emj^loy about two thousand persons as clerks, 
 guides, interpreters, and " voyageurs," or boatmen. These were 
 distributed at various trading posts, established far and wide on 
 the interior lakes and rivers, at immense distances from each 
 other, and in the heart of trackless countries and savage tribes. 
 
 Several of the partners resided in Montreal and Quebec, to 
 manage the main concerns of the company. These were called 
 agents, and were personages of great weight and importance ; 
 the other partners took their stations at the interior posts, where 
 they remained throughout the winter, to superintend the inter- 
 course with the various tribes of Indians. They were thence 
 called wintering partners. 
 
 The goods destined for this wide and wandering traffic were 
 put up at the warehouses of the company in Montreal, and con- 
 veyed in batteaux, or boats and canoes, up the river Attawa, or 
 Ottowa, which falls into the St. Lawrence near Montreal, and by 
 other rivers and portages, to Lake Nipising, Lake Huron, Lake 
 Superior, and thence, by several chains of great and small lakes, to 
 Lake Winipeg, Lake Athabasca, and the great Slave Lake. This 
 singular and beautiful system of internal seas, which renders an 
 immense region of wilderness so accessible to the frail bark of 
 the Indian or the trader, was studded by the remote posts of the 
 company, where they carried on their traffic with the surrounding 
 tribes. 
 
 The company, as we have shown, was at first a spontaneoua 
 association of merchants ; but, after it had been regularly or 
 
BRITISH NORTHWEST COMPANY. 21 
 
 ganized, admission into it became extremely difficult. A can- 
 didate liad to enter, as it were, " before the mast," to undergo 
 a long probation, and to rise slowly by bis merits and services. 
 He began, at an early age, as a clerk, and served an apprentice- 
 ship of seven years, for which he received one hundred pounds 
 sterling, was maintained at the expense of the company, and fur- 
 nished with suitable clothing and ecpipments. His probation 
 was generally passed at the interior trading posts ; removed for 
 years from civilized society, leading a life almost as wild and pre- 
 carious as the savages around him ; exposed to the severities of 
 a northern winter, often suffering from a scarcity of food, and 
 sometimes destitute for a long time of both bread and salt. 
 When his apprenticeship had expired, he received a salary ac- 
 cording to his deserts, varying from eighty to one hundred and 
 sixty pounds sterling, and was now eligible to the great object of 
 his ambition, a partnership in the company ; though years might 
 yet elapse before he attained to that enviable station. 
 
 Most of the clerks were young men of good families, from the 
 Highlands of Scotland, characterized by the perseverance, thrift, 
 and fidelity of their country, and fitted by their native hardihood 
 to encounter the rigorous climate of the north, and to endure the 
 trials and privations of their lot ; though it must not be con- 
 cealed that the constitutions of many of them became impaired 
 by the hardships of the wilderness, and their stomachs injured 
 by occasional famishing, and especially by the want of bread and 
 salt. Now and then, at an interval of years, they were permitted 
 to come down on a visit to the establishment at Montreal, to 
 recruit their health, and to have a taste of civilized afe ; and 
 these were brilliant spots in their existence. 
 
 As to the principal partners, or agents, who resided in Mon- 
 treal and Quebec, they formed a kind of commercial aristocracy, 
 living in lordly and hospitable style. Their early associations, 
 
22 ASTORIA. 
 
 when clerks at the remote trading posts, and the pleasures, dan- 
 gers, adventures, and mishaps which they had shared together in 
 their wild wood life, had linked them heartily to each other, so 
 that they formed a convivial fraternity. Few travellers that have 
 visited Canada some thirty years since, in the days of the M'Ta- 
 vishes, the M'Gillivrays, the M'Kenzies, the Frobishers, and the 
 other magnates of the northwest, when the company was in all 
 its glory, hut must remember the round of feasting and revelry 
 kept up among these hyperborean nabobs. 
 
 Sometimes one or two partners, recently from the interior 
 posts, would make their appearance in New-York, in the course 
 of a tour of pleasure and curiosity. On these occasions there 
 was always a degree of magnificence of the purse about them, and 
 a peculiar propensity to expenditure at the goldsmith's and jewel- 
 ler's, for rings, chains, brooches, necklaces, jewelled watches, and 
 other rich trinkets, partly for their own wear, partly for presents 
 to their female acquaintances ; a gorgeous prodigality, such as 
 was often to be noticed in former times in southern planters and 
 "West India Creoles, when flush with the profits of their plan- 
 tations. 
 
 To behold the Northwest Company in all its state and gran- 
 deur, however, it was necessary to witness an annual gathering 
 at the great interior place of conference established at Fort 
 William, near what is called the Grand Portage, on Lake Supe- 
 rior. Here two or three of the leading partners from Montreal 
 proceeded once a year to meet the partners from the various 
 trading posts of the wilderness, to discuss the affairs of the 
 company during the preceding year, and to arrange plans for the 
 future. 
 
 On these occasions might be seen the change since the uncere- 
 monious times of the old French traders ; now the aristocratical 
 character of the Briton shone forth magnificently, or rather the 
 
FEUDAL STATE IN THE FOREST. 23 
 
 feudal spirit of tlie Highlander. Every partner who had charge 
 of an interior post, and a score of retainers at his command, felt 
 like the chieftain of a Highland clan, and was almost as impor- 
 tant in the eyes of his dependents as of himself To him a visit 
 to the grand conference at Fort William was a most important 
 event ; and he repaired there as to a meeting of parliament. 
 
 The partners from Montreal, however, were the lords of the 
 ascendant ; coming from the midst of luxurious and ostentatious 
 life, they quite eclipsed their compeers from the woods, whose 
 forms and faces had been battered and hardened by hard living 
 and hard service, and whose garments and equipments were all 
 the worse for wear. Indeed, the partners from below considered 
 the whole dignity of the company as represented in their persons, 
 and conducted themselves in suitable style. They ascended the 
 rivers in great state, like sovereigns making a progress : or rather 
 like Highland chieftains navigating their subject lakes. They 
 were wrapped in rich furs, their huge canoes freighted with every 
 convenience and luxury, and manned by Canadian voyageurs, as 
 obedient as Highland clansmen. They carried up with them 
 cooks and bakers, together with delicacies of every kind, and 
 abundance of choice wines for the banquets which attended this 
 great convocation. Happy were they, too, if they could meet 
 with some distinguished stranger ; above all, some titled member 
 of the Britisn nobility, to accompany them on this stately occa- 
 sion, and grace their high solemnities. 
 
 Fort William, the scene of this important annual meeting, 
 was a considerable village on the banks of Lake Superior. Here, 
 in an immense wooden building, was the great council -hall, as also 
 the banqueting chamber, decorated with Indian arms and accou- 
 trements, and the trophies of the fur trade. The house swarmed 
 at this time with traders and voyageurs, some from Montreal, 
 bound to the interior posts ; some from the interior posts, bound 
 
24, ASTORIA. 
 
 to Montreal. The councils were held in great state, for every 
 member felt as if sitting in parliament, and every retainer and 
 dependent looked up to the assemblage with awe, as to the house 
 of lords. There was a vast deal of solemn deliberation, and 
 hard Scottish reasoning, with an occasional swell of pompous 
 declamation. 
 
 These grave and weighty councils were alternated by huge 
 feasts and revels, like some of the old feasts described in High- 
 land castles. The tables in the great banqueting room groaned 
 under the weight of game of all kinds ; of venison from the 
 woods, and fish from the lakes, with hunters' delicacies, such as 
 buffaloes' tongues, and beavers' tails ; and various luxuries from 
 Montreal, all served up by experienced cooks brought for the pur- 
 pose. There was no stint of generous wine, for it was a hard- 
 drinking period, a time of loyal toasts, and bacchanalian songs, 
 and brim.ming bumpers. 
 
 While the chiefs thus revelled in hall, and made the rafters 
 resound with bursts of loyalty and old Scottish songs, chanted 
 in voices cracked and sharpened by the northern blast, their 
 merriment was echoed and prolonged by a mongrel legion of re- 
 tainers, Canadian voyageurs, half-breeds, Indian hunters, and 
 vagabond hangers-on, who feasted sumptuously without on the 
 crumbs that fell from their table, and made the welkin ring with 
 old French ditties, mingled with Indian yelps and yellings. 
 
 Such was the Northwest Company in its powerful and pros- 
 perous days, when it held a kind of feudal sway over a vast 
 domain of lake and forest. We are dwelling too long, perhaps, 
 upon these individual pictures, endeared to us by the associations 
 of early life, when, as yet a stripling youth, we have sat at the^ 
 hospitable boards of the '' mighty Northwesters," the lords of the 
 ascendant at Montreal, and gazed with wondering and inexpe- 
 rienced eye at the baronial wassailing, and listened with aston- 
 
TOE GLORIES OF FORT WILLIAM. 25 
 
 islied ear to their tales of hardships and adventures. It is one 
 object of our task, however, to present scenes of the rough life 
 of the wilderness, and we are tempted to fix these few memorials 
 of a transient state of things fast passing into olblivion ; — for the 
 feudal state of Fort William is at an end ; its council chamber is 
 silent and deserted ; its banquet hall no longer echoes to the 
 burst of loyalty, or the " auld world " ditty ; the lords of the 
 lakes and forests have passed away ; and the hospitable magnate 
 of Montreal — ^where are they ? 
 
26 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK IL* 
 
 The success of tlio Northwest Company stimulated furtlier enter- 
 prise in tliis opening and apparently boundless field of profit. 
 The traffic of that company lay principally in the higli northern 
 latitudes, while there were immense regions to the south and 
 west, known to abound with valuable peltries ; but which, as yet, 
 had been but little explored by the fur trader. A new association 
 of British merchants was therefore formed, to prosecute the trade 
 in this direction. The chief factory was established at the old 
 emporium of Michilimackinac, from which place the association 
 took its name, and was commonly called the Mackinaw Company. 
 
 While the Northwesters continued to push their enterprises 
 into the hyperborean regions from their strong-hold at Fort Wil- 
 liam, and to hold almost sovereign sway over the tribes of the 
 upper lakes and rivers, the Mackinaw Company sent forth their 
 light perogues, and barks, by Green Bay, Fox Eiver, and the 
 Wisconsin, to that great artery of the west, the Mississippi ; and 
 down that stream to all its tributary rivers. In this way they 
 noped soon to monopolize the trade with all the tribes on the 
 southern and western waters, and of those vast tracts comprised 
 in ancient Louisiana. 
 
 The government of the United States began to view with a 
 wary eye the growing influence thus acquired by combinations ol 
 foreigners, over thj aboriginal tribes inhabiting its territories, 
 and endeavored to counteract it. For this pur|)Ose, as early as 
 1796, the government sent out agents to establish rival trading 
 
JOHN JACOB ASTOR. 27 
 
 houses on the frontier, so as to supply the wants oi the Indians ; 
 to link their interests and feelings with those of the people of the 
 United States, and to divert this important branch of trade into 
 national channels. 
 
 The expedient, however, was unsuccessful, as most commer- 
 cial expedients are prone to be, where the dull patronage of gov- 
 ernment is counted upon to outvie the keen activity of private 
 enterprise. What government failed to effect, however, with all 
 its patronage and all its agents, was at length brought about by 
 the enterprise and perseverance of a single merchant, one of its 
 adopted citizens ; and this brings us to speak of the individual 
 whose enterprise is the especial subject of the following pages ; 
 a man whose name and character are worthy of being enrolled 
 in the history of commerce, as illustrating its noblest aims 
 and soundest maxims. A few brief anecdotes of his early life, 
 and of the circumstances Avhich first determined him to the 
 branch of commerce of which we are treating, cannot be but 
 interesting. 
 
 John Jacob Astor, the individual in (pestion, was born in the 
 honest little German village of Yv^aldorf, near Heidelberg, on the 
 banks of the Ehine. He Avas brought up in tlie simplicity of 
 rural life, but, while yet a mere stripling, left his home, and 
 launched himself amid the hmij f^cenes of London, having had, 
 from his very boj^hood, a singular presentiment that he would 
 ultimately arrive at great fortune. 
 
 At the close of the American Ftcvolution he was still in Lon- 
 don, and scarce on the threshold of active life. An elder brothei 
 had been for some few years resident in the United States, and 
 Mr. Astor determined to follow him, and to seek his fortunes in 
 the rising country. Investing a small sum which he had amassed 
 since leaving his native village, in merchandise suited to the 
 American market, he embarked, in the month of November, 1783, 
 
28 ASTORIA. 
 
 in a ship bound to Baltimorej and arrived in Hampton Roads in. 
 tlie month of January, The winter was extremely severe, and the 
 ship, with many others, was detained by the ice in and about 
 Chesapeake Bay for nearly three months. 
 
 During this period, the passengers of the various ships used 
 occasionally to go on shore, and mingle sociably together. In 
 this way IMr. Astbr became acquainted with a countryman of 
 his, a furrier by trade. Having had a previous impression that 
 this might be a lucrative trade in the New World, he made many 
 inquiries of his new acquaintance on the subject, who cheerfully 
 gave him all the information in his power as to the quality and 
 value of different furs, and the mode of carrying on the traffic. 
 He subsequently accompanied him to New-York, and, by his ad- 
 vice, Mr. Astor was induced to invest the proceeds of his mer- 
 chandise in furs. With these he sailed from New-York to 
 London in 1784, disposed of them advantageously, made himself 
 further acquainted with the course of the trade, and returned the 
 same year to New- York, with a view to settle in the United 
 States, 
 
 He now devoted himself to the branch of commerce with 
 which he had thus casually been made acquainted. He began 
 his career, of course, on the narrowest scale ; but he brought to 
 the task a persevering industry, rigid economy, and strict integ- 
 rity. To these were added an aspiring spirit that always looked 
 upward ; a genius bold, fertile, and expansive ; a sagacity quick 
 to grasp and convert every circumstance to its advantage, and a 
 singular and never wavering confidence of signal success.* 
 
 * An instance of this buoyant confidence, which no doubt aided to produce 
 the success it anticipated, we have from the lips of Mr. A. himself. While 
 yet almost a stranger in the city, and in very narrow circumstances, he passed 
 by where a row of houses had just been erected in Broadway, and which, from 
 the superior style of their architecture, were the talk and boast of the city 
 
DEALINGS IN CANADA. 29 
 
 As yet, trade in peltries was not organized in the United 
 States, and could not be said to form a regular line of business. 
 Furs and skins were casually collected by the country traders in 
 their dealings with the Indians or the white hunters, but the 
 main supply was derived from Canada. As Mr. Aster's means 
 increased, he made annual visits to Montreal, where he purchased 
 furs from the houses at that place engaged in the trade. These 
 he shipped from Canada to London, no direct trade being allowed 
 from that colony to any but the mother country. 
 
 In 1794 or '95, a treaty with Great Britain removed the 
 restrictions imposed upon the trade with the colonies, and opened 
 a direct commercial intercourse between Canada and the United, 
 States. Mr. Astor was in London at the time, and immediately 
 made a contract with the agents of the Northwe'st Company for 
 furs. He was now enabled to import them from Montreal into 
 the United States for the home supply, and to be shipped thence 
 to different parts of Europe, as well as to China, which has ever 
 been the best market for the richest and finest kinds of peltry. 
 
 The treaty in question provided, likewise, that the military 
 posts occupied by the British within the territorial limits of the 
 United States, should be surrendered. Accordingly, Oswego, 
 Niagara, Detroit, Michilimackinac, and other posts on the Ameri- 
 can side of the lakes, were given up. An opening was thus made 
 for the American merchant to trade on the confines of Canada, 
 and within the territories of the United States. After an inter- 
 val of some years, about 1807, Mr. Astor embarked in this trade 
 on his own account. His capital and resources had by this time 
 greatly augmented, and he had risen from small beginnings to 
 take his place among the first merchants and financiers of the 
 
 "I'll build, one day or other, a greater house than any of these, in this very 
 etreet," said he to himself. lie has accomplished his prediction. 
 
30 ASTORIA. 
 
 country. His genius had ever been in advance of liis circum- 
 stances, prompting him to new and wide fields of enterprise 
 beyond the scope of ordinary merchants. With all his enterprise 
 and resources, however, he soon found the power and influence 
 of the Michilimackinac (or Mackinaw) Company too great for 
 him, having engrossed most of the trade within the American 
 borders. 
 
 A plan had to be devised to enable him to enter into success- 
 ful competition. He was aware of the wish of the American 
 government, already stated, that the fur trade within its bounda- 
 ries should be in the hands of American citizens, and of the inef- 
 fectual measures it had taken to accomplish that object. He now 
 offered, if aided and protected by government, to turn the whole 
 of that trade into American channels. He was invited to unfold 
 his plans to government, and they were warmly approved, though 
 the executive could give no direct aid. 
 
 Thus countenanced, however, he obtained, in 1809, a charter 
 from the legislature of the state of New- York, incorporating a 
 company under the name of '• The American Fur Company," with 
 a capital of one million of dollars, with the privilege of increasing 
 it to two millions. The capital was furnished by himself — ^he, 
 in fact, constituted the company; for, though he had a board 
 of directors, they were merely nominal ; the Vv^hole business was 
 conducted on his j)lans, and with his resources, but he preferred 
 to do so under the imposing and formidable aspect of a corpora- 
 tion, rather than in his individual name, and his policy was saga- 
 cious and effective. 
 
 As the Mackinaw Company still continued its rivalry, and as 
 the fur trade would not advantageously admit of competition, he 
 made a new arrangement in 1811, by which, in conjunction with 
 certain partners of the Northwest Company, and other persons 
 engaged in the fur trade, he bought out the Mackinaw Company, 
 
SOUTHWEST COMPANY. 81 
 
 and merged that and the American Fur Company into a new 
 association, to bo called "The Southwest Company." This he 
 likewise did with the privity and approbation of the American 
 government. 
 
 By this arrangement Mr. Astor became proprietor of one 
 half of the Indian establishments ai}d goods which the Mackinaw 
 Company had within the territory of the Indian country in the 
 United States, and it was understood that the whole was to be 
 surrendered into his hands at the expiration of five years, on 
 condition that the American company would not trade within 
 the British dominions. 
 
 Unluckily, the war which broke out in 1812 between Great 
 Britain and the United States suspended the association ; and, 
 after the war, it was entirely dissolved ; congress having passed 
 a law prohibiting British fur traders from prosecuting tlicir 
 enterprises within the territories of the United States. 
 
32 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 While the various companies we liave noticed were pusliing their 
 enterprises far and wide in the wilds of Canada, and along the 
 course of the great western waters, other adventurers, intent on' 
 the same objects, were traversing the watery wastes of the Pacific 
 and skirting the northwest coast of America. The last voyage 
 of that renowned but unfortunate discoverer. Captain Cook, had 
 made known the vast quantities of the sea-otter to be found along 
 that coast, and the immense prices to be obtained for its fur in 
 China. It was as if a new gold coast had been discovered. In- 
 dividuals from various countries dashed into this lucrative traffic, 
 so that in the year 1792, there were twenty-one vessels under 
 difierent flags, plying along the coast and trading with the na- 
 tives. The greater part of them were American, and owned by 
 Boston merchants. They generally remained on the coast and 
 about the adjacent seas, for two years, carrying on as wandering 
 and adventurous a commerce on the water as did the traders and 
 trappers on land. Their trade extended along the whole coast 
 from California to the high northern latitudes. They would run 
 in near shore, anchor, and wait for the natives to come off in 
 their canoes with peltries. The trade exhausted at one place, 
 they would up anchor and off to another. In this way they would 
 consume the summer, and when autumn came on, would run 
 down to the Sandwich Islands and winter in some friendly and 
 plentiful harbor. In the following year they would resume their 
 Bummer trade, commencing at California and proceeding north : 
 
RUSSIAN ENTERPRISES. 36 
 
 and. Laving in the course of the two seasons collected a sufficient 
 cargo of peltries, would make the best of their way to China. 
 Here they would sell their furs, take in teas, nankeens, and other 
 merchandise, and return to Boston, after an absence of two or 
 three years. 
 
 The people, however, who entered most extensively and effeo- 
 tively in the fur trade of the Pacific, were the Russians. Instead 
 of making casual voyages, in transient ships, they established 
 regular trading-houses in the high latitudes, along the northwest 
 coast of America, and upon the chain of the Aleutian islands 
 between Kamtschatka and the promontory of Alaska. 
 
 To promote and protect these enterprises, a company was 
 incorporated by the Kussian government with exclusive privi- 
 leges, and a capital of two hundred and sixty thousand pounds 
 sterling ; and the sovereignty of that part of the American conti 
 nent, along the coast of which the posts had been established, 
 was claimed by the Kussian crown, on the plea that the land 
 had been discovered and occupied by its subjects. 
 
 As China was the grand mart for the furs collected in these 
 quarters, the Russians had the advantage over their competitors 
 in the trade. The latter had to take their peltries to Canton, 
 which, however, was a mere receiving mart, from whence they 
 had to be distributed over the interior of the empire and sent to 
 the northern parts, where there was the chief consumption. Tho 
 Russians, on the contrary, carried their furs, by a shorter voyage, 
 directly to the northern parts of the Chinese empire ; thus being 
 able to aJBford them in the market without the additional cost of 
 internal transportation. 
 
 We come now to the immediate field of operation of the great 
 enterprise we have undertaken to illustrate. 
 
 Among the American ships which traded along the north- 
 west coast in 1792, was the Columbia, Captain Grray, of Boston. 
 
 2* 
 
S4 ASTORIA. 
 
 In tlie course of lier voyage she discovered tlie moutli of a large 
 river in lat. 46° 19' north. Entering it with some difficulty, on 
 account of sand-hars and breakers, she came to anchor in a spa- 
 cious bay. A boat was well manned, and sent on shore to a vil- 
 lage on the beach, but all the inhabitants fled excepting the aged 
 and infirm. The kind manner in which these were treated, and 
 the presents given to them, gradually lured back the others, and 
 a friendly intercourse took place. They had never seen a ship or 
 a white man. When they had first descried the Columbia, they 
 had supposed it a floating island; then some monster of the 
 deep ; but when they saw the boat putting for shore with human 
 beings on board, they considered them cannibals sent by the 
 Great Spirit to ravage the country and devour the inhabitants. 
 Captain Gray did not ascend the river farther than the bay in 
 question, which continues to bear his name. After putting to 
 sea, he fell in with the celebrated discoverer, Vancouver, and 
 informed him of his discovery, furnishing him with a chart which 
 he^ad made of the river. Vancouver visited the river, and his 
 lieutenant, Broughton, explored it by the aid of Captain Gray's 
 chart ; ascending it upwards of one hundred miles, until within 
 view of a snowy mountain, to which he gave the name of Mount 
 Hood, which it still retains. 
 
 The existence of this river, however, was known long before 
 the visits of Gray and Vancouver, but the information concern- 
 ing it was vague and indefinite, being gathered from the reports 
 of Indians. It was spoken of by travellers as the Oregon, and 
 as the great river of the west. A Spanish ship is said to have 
 been wrecked at the mouth, several of the crew of which lived 
 for some time among the natives. The Columbia, however, is 
 believed to be the first ship that made a regular discovery and 
 anchored within its waters, and it has since generally borne the 
 name of that vessel. 
 
CARVER'S PROJECT. 35 
 
 As early as 1763, sliortly after the acquisition of tlio Canadas 
 by Great Britain, Captain Jonathan Carver, who had been in the 
 British provincial army, projected a journey across the continent. 
 between the forty-third and forty-sixth degrees of northern lati- 
 tude, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. His objects were to 
 ascertain the breadth of the continent at its broadest part, and 
 to determine on some place on the shores of the Pacific, where 
 government might establish a post to facilitate the discovery of a 
 northwest passage, or a communication between Hudson's Bay 
 and the Pacific Ocean. This place he presumed would be some- 
 where about the Straits of Annian, at which point he supposed 
 the Oregon disembogued itself. It was his o'pinion, also, that a 
 settlement on this extremity of America would disclose new 
 sources of trade, promote many useful discoveries, and open a 
 more direct communication with China and the Eni^lish settle- 
 ments in the East Indies, than that by the Cape of Good Hope 
 or the Straits of Magellan.* This enterprising and intrepid 
 traveller was twice bafiled in individual efi"orts to accomplish this 
 great journey. In 1774, he was joined in the scheme by Richard 
 Whitworth, a member of parliament, and a man of wealth. Their 
 enterprise was projected on a broad and bold plan. They were to 
 take with them fifty or sixty men, artificers and mariners. With 
 these they were to make their way up one of the branches of the 
 Missouri, explore the mountains for the source of the Oregon. 
 or river of the west, and sail down that river to its supposed exit 
 near the Straits of Annian. Here they were to erect a fort, and 
 build the vessels necessary to carry their discoveries by sea into 
 effect. Their plan had the sanction of the British government. 
 and grants and other requisites were nearly completed, when the 
 
 * Carvei-'s Travels, Introd. p. in. Philad. 1796. 
 
36 ASTORIA. 
 
 breaking out of tlie American revolution once more defeated tho 
 undertaking.* 
 
 The expedition of Sir Alexander Mackenzie in 1793, acros3 
 the continent to the Pacific Ocean, which he reached in lat. 
 52° 20'' 48^^, again suggested the possibility of linking together 
 the trade of both sides of the continent. In lat. 52° 30' he had 
 descended a river for some distance which flowed towards the 
 south, and was called by the natives Tacoutche Tesse, and which 
 he erroneously supposed to be the Columbia. It was afterwards 
 ascertained that it emptied itself in lat. 49°, whereas the mouth 
 of the Columbia is about three degrees further south. 
 
 When Mackenzie some years subsequently published an ac- 
 count of his expeditions, he suggested the policy of opening an 
 intercourse between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and forming 
 regular establishments through the interior and at both extremes, 
 as well as along the coasts and islands. By this means, he 
 observed, the entire command of the fur trade of North America 
 might be obtained from lat. 48° north, to the pole, excepting 
 that portion held by the Russians, for as to the American adven- 
 turers who had hitherto enjoyed the traffic along the northwest 
 coast, they would instantly disappear, he added, before a well- 
 regulated trade. 
 
 A scheme of this kind, however, was too vast and hazardous 
 for individual enterprise ; it could only be undertaken by a com 
 pany under the sanction and protection of a government ; and as 
 there might be a clashing of claims between the Hudson's Bay 
 and Northwest Company, the one holding by right of charter, the 
 other by right of possession, he proposed that the two companies 
 should coalesce in this great undertaking. The long-cherished 
 
 » Carver's Travels, p. 360. Philad, 1796. 
 
SCHEME OF MR. ASTOR. 37 
 
 jealousies of these two companies, however, were too deep and 
 strona: to allow them to listen to such counsel. 
 
 In the meantime the attention of the American government 
 was attracted to the subject, and the memorable expedition under 
 Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, fitted out. Those gentlemen, in 1804, 
 accomplished the enterprise which had been projected by Carver 
 and Whitworth, in 1774. They ascended the Missouri, passed 
 through the stupendous gates of the Rocky Mountains, hitherto 
 unknown to white men ; discovered and explored the upper wa- 
 ters of the Columbia, and followed that river down to its mouth, 
 where their counti;yman, Gray, had anchored about twelve years 
 previously. Here they passed the winter, and returned across 
 the mountains in the following spring. The reports published by 
 them of their expedition, demonstrated the practicability of estab- 
 lishing a line of communication across the continent, from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 It was then that the idea presented itself to the mind of Mr. 
 Astor, of grasping with his individual hand this great enterprise, 
 which for years had been dubiously yet desirously contemplated 
 by powerful associations and maternal governments. For some 
 time he revolved the idea in his mind, gradually extending and 
 maturing his plans as his means of executing them augmented. 
 The main feature of his scheme was to establish a line of trading 
 posts along the Missouri and the Columbia, to the mouth of the 
 latter, where was to be founded the chief trading house or mart, 
 Inferior posts would be established in the interior, and on all the 
 tributary streams of the Columbia, to trade with the Indians ; 
 these posts would draw their supplies from the main establish- 
 ment, and bring to it the peltries they collected. Coasting craft 
 would be built and fitted out, also, at the mouth of the Columbia^ 
 to trade, at favorable seasons, all along the northwest coast, and 
 return, with the proceeds of their voyages, to this place of de- 
 
38 ASTOPvIA. 
 
 posit. Tims all tlie Indian trade, "botli of the interior and the 
 coast, would converge to this point, and thence derive its sus- 
 tenance. 
 
 A ship was to he sent annually from New-York to this main 
 establishment with reinforcements and supplies, and with mer- 
 chandise suited to the trade. It would take on hoard the furs 
 collected during the preceding year, carry them to Canton, invest 
 the proceeds in the rich merchandise ©f China, and return thus 
 freighted to New-York. 
 
 As, in extending the American trade along the coast to tho 
 northward, it might be brought into the vicinity of the Russian 
 Fur Company, and produce a hostile rivalry, it was part of the 
 plan of Mr. Astor to conciliate the good will of that company by 
 the most amicable and beneficial arrangements. The Russian 
 establishment was chiefly dependent for its supplies upon tran- 
 sient trading vessels from the United States. These vessels, 
 however, were often of more harm than advantage. Being owned 
 by private adventurers, or casual voyagers, who cared only for 
 present profit, and had no interest in the permanent prosperity 
 of the trade, they were reckless in their dealings with the natives, 
 and made no scruple of supjjlying them with firearms. In this 
 way several fierce tribes in the vicinity of the Russian posts, or 
 within the range of their trading excursions, were furnished with 
 deadly means of warfare, and rendered troublesome and danger- 
 ous neighbors. 
 
 The Russian government had made representations to that of 
 the United States of these malpractices on the part of its citi- 
 zens, and urged to have this traffic in arms prohibited ; but, as it 
 did not infringe any municipal law, our government could not 
 interfere. Yet still it regarded, with solicitude, a traffic which, 
 if persisted in, might give offence to Russia, at that time almost 
 the only power friendly to us. In this dilemma the government 
 
LETTER OF MR. JEFFERSON. 39 
 
 had applied to Mr. Astor, as one conyersant in tliis branch of 
 trade, for information that might point out a way to remedy the 
 evil This circumstance had suggested to him the idea of su}> 
 plying the Russian establishment regularly by means of the 
 annual ship that should visit the settlement at the mouth of the 
 Columbia (or Oregon) ; by this means the casual trading vessels 
 would be excluded from those parts of the coast where their mal- 
 practices were so injurious to the Russians. 
 
 Such is a brief outline of the enterprise projected by Mr. 
 Astor, but which continually expanded in his mind. Indeed it 
 is due to him to say that he was not actuated hj mere motives of 
 individual profit. He was already wealthy beyond the ordinary 
 desires of man, but he now aspired to that honorable fame which 
 is awarded to men of similar scope of mind, who by their great 
 commercial enterprises have enriched nations, peopled wilder- 
 nesses, and extended the bounds of empire. He considered his 
 projected establishment at the mouth of the Columbia as the em- 
 porium to an immense commerce ; as a colony that would form 
 the germ of a wide civilization ; that would, in fact, carry the 
 American population across the Rocky Mountains and spread it 
 along the shores of the Pacific, as it already animated the shores 
 of the Atlantic. 
 
 As Mr. Astor, by the magnitude of his commercial and finan- 
 cial relations, and the vigor and scope of his self-taught mind, 
 had elevated himself into the consideration of government and 
 the communion and correspondence with leading statesmen, he, 
 at an early period, communicated his schemes to President Jef- 
 ferson, soliciting the countenance of government. How highly 
 they were esteemed by that eminent man, we may judge by tho 
 following passage, written by him some time afterwards to 
 Mr, Astor. 
 
 "I remember well having invited your proposition on .this 
 
40 ASTORIA. 
 
 subject,* and encouraged it witli tlie assurance of every facility 
 and protection wliicli the government could properly afford. I 
 considered, as a great public acquisition, the commencement of a 
 settlement on that point 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, uncon 
 nected with us but by the ties of blood and interest, and enjoying 
 like us the rights of self-government." 
 
 The cabinet joined with Mr. Jefferson in warm approbation of 
 the plan, and held out assurance of every protection that could, 
 consistently with general policy, be afforded. 
 
 Mr. Astor now prepared to carry his scheme into prompt exe- 
 cution. He had some competition, however, to apprehend and 
 guard against. The Northwest Company, acting feebly and par- 
 tially upon the suggestions of its former agent. Sir Alexander 
 Mackenzie, had pushed one or two advanced trading posts across 
 the Rocky Mountains, into a tract of country visited by that en 
 terprising traveller, and since named New Caledonia. This tract 
 lay about two degrees north of the Columbia, and intervened be- 
 tween the territories of the United States and those of Russia. 
 Its length was about five hundred and fifty miles, and its breadth, 
 from the mountains to the Pacific, from three hundred to three 
 hundred and fifty geographical miles. 
 
 Should the Northwest Company persist in extending their 
 trade in that quarter, their competition might be of serious detri- 
 ment to the plans of Mr. Astor. It is true they would contend 
 
 * On this point Mr. Jefferson's memory v/as in error. The proposition 
 alluded to was the one, already mentioned, for the establishment of an Ameri 
 can Fur Company in the Atlantic states. The great enterprise beyond the 
 mountains, that was to sweep the shores of the Pacific, originated in the mind 
 of Mr. Astor, and was proposed by him to the government. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE N. W. COMPANY. 41 
 
 with liim to a vast disadvantage, from tlie checks and restrictions 
 to which they were subjected. They were straitened on one side 
 by the rivalry of the Hudson's Bay Company; then theyhad,no 
 good post on the Pacific where they could receive supplies by 
 eea for their establishments beyond the mountains ; nor, if they 
 had one, could they ship their furs thence to China, that great 
 mart for peltries; the Chinese trade being comprised in the 
 monopoly of the East India Company. Their posts beyond the 
 mountains had to be supplied in yearly expeditions, like caravans, 
 from Montreal, and the furs conveyed back in the same way, by 
 long, precarious, and expensive routes, across the continent. 
 Mr. Astor, on the contrary, would be able to supply his proposed 
 establishment at the mouth of the Columbia by sea, and to ship 
 the furs collected there directly to China, so as to undersell the 
 Northwest Company in the great Chinese market. 
 
 Still, the competition of two rival companies west of the 
 Rocky Mountains could not but prove detrimental to both, and 
 fraught with those evils, both to the trade and to the Indians, 
 that had attended similar rivalries in the Canadas. To prevent 
 any contest of the kind, therefore, he made known his plan to the 
 agents of the Northwest Company, and proposed to interest 
 them, to the extent of one-third, in the trade thus to be opened. 
 Some correspondence and negotiation ensued. The company 
 were aware of the advantages which would be possessed by Mr. 
 Astor should he be able to carry his scheme into effect ; but they 
 anticipated a monopoly of the trade beyond the mountains by 
 their establishments in New Caledonia, and were loth to share it 
 with an individual who had already proved a formidable competi- 
 tor in the Atlantic trade. They hoped, too, by a timely move, to 
 secure the mouth of the Columbia before Mr. Astor would be 
 able to put his plans into operation ; and, that key to the inter- 
 nal trade once in their possession, the whole country would be at 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 their command. After some negotiation and delay, tliereforej 
 tliey declined tlie ^proposition that had been made to them, but 
 sul>sec|uently dispatched a party for the mouth of the Columbia, 
 to establisli a post there before any expedition sent out by Mr. 
 Astor might arrive. 
 
 In the meantime Mr. Astor. finding his overtures rejected, 
 proceeded fearlessly to execute his enterprise in face of the whole 
 povv'er of the Northwest Company. His main establishment once 
 planted at the mouth of the Columbia, he looked with confidence 
 to ultimate success. Being able to reinforce and supply it amply 
 by sea, he would push his interior posts in every direction up the 
 rivers and along the coast ; supplying the natives at a lower rate, 
 and thus gradually obliging the Northwest Company to give up the 
 competition, relinquish New Caledonia, and retire to the other 
 side of the mountains. He would then have possession of the 
 trade, not merely of the Columbia and its tributaries, but of the 
 regions farther north, cjuite to the Russian possessions. Such was 
 a part of his brilliant and comprehensive plan. 
 
 Pie now proceeded, with all diligence, to procure proper agents 
 and coadjutors, habituated to the Indian trade and to the life of 
 the wilderness. Among the clerks of the Northwest Company 
 were several of great capacity and experience, who had served 
 out their probationary terms, but who, either through lack of in- 
 terest and influence, or a want of vacancies, had not been pro- 
 moted. They were consequently much dissatisfied, and ready for 
 any employment in which their talents and acquirements might 
 be turned to better account. 
 
 Mr. Astor made his overtures to several of these persons, and 
 three of them entered into his views. One of these, Mr. Alexan- 
 der M'Kay, had accompanied Sir Alexander Mackenzie in both 
 of his expeditions to the northwest coast of America in 1 789 and 
 1793. The other two were Duncan M'Dougal and Donald 
 
PACIFIC FUR COMPANY. 43 
 
 M'Keiizie. To these were subsequently added Mr. AVilson Price 
 Hunt, of New-Jersey. As tliis gentleman was a native born 
 citizen of the United States, a person of great probity and worth, 
 he was selected by Mr. Astor to be his chief agent, and to repre- 
 sent him in the contemplated establishment. 
 
 On the 23d of June, 1810, articles of agreement were entered 
 into between Mr. Astor and those four gentlemen, acting for 
 themselres and for the several persons who had already agreed to 
 become, or should thereafter become, associated under the firm of 
 " The Pacific Fur Company." 
 
 According to these articles, Mr. Astor was to be at the head 
 of the company, and to manage its affairs in New- York. He was 
 to furnish vessels, goods, provisions, arms, ammunition, and all 
 other iccpisites for the enterprise at first cost and charges, pro- 
 vided that they did not, at any time, involve an advance of more 
 than four hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 The stock of the company was to be divided into a hundred 
 equal shares, with the profits accruing thereon. Fifty shares 
 were to be at the disposition of Mr. Astor, and the other fifty to 
 be divided among the partners and their associates. 
 
 Mr. Astor was to have tiie privilege of introducing other per- 
 sons into the connection, as partners, two of whom, at least, 
 should be conversant with the Indian trade, and none of them 
 entitled to more than three shares. 
 
 A general meeting of the company was to be held annually 
 at Columbia Kiver, for the investigation and regulation of its 
 affairs; at which absent members might be represented, and 
 might vote by proxy under certain specified conditions. 
 
 The association, if successful, was to continue for twenty 
 years ; but the parties had full power to abandon and dissolve it 
 within the first five years, should it be found unprofitable. For 
 this term Mr. Astor covenanted to bear all the loss that might be 
 
44 ASTORIA. 
 
 incurred ; after wiiich it was to be borne by all tbe partners, in 
 proportion to their respective shares. 
 
 The parties of the second part were to execute faithfully such 
 duties as might be assigned to them by a majority of the company 
 on the northwest coast, and to repair to such place or places as 
 the majority might direct. 
 
 An agent, appointed for the term of five years, was to reside 
 at the principal establishment on the northwest coast, and Wilson 
 Price Hunt was the one chosen for the first term. Should the 
 interests of the concern at any time require his absence, a person 
 was to be appointed, in general meeting, to take his'^lace. 
 
 Such were the leading conditions of this association ; we shall 
 now proceed to relate the various hardy and eventful expeditions, 
 by sea and land, to which it gave rise. 
 
TWO EXPEDITIONS SET ON FOOT. 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 In prosecuting his great scheme of commerce and colonizatioii, 
 two expeditions were devised by Mr. Astor, one by sea, the other 
 by land. The former was to carry out the people, stores, ammu- 
 nition, and merchandise, requisite for establishing a fortified 
 trading post at the mouth of Columbia River. The latter, con- 
 ducted by Mr. Hunt, was to proceed up the Missouri, and across 
 the Rocky Mountains, to the same point ; exploring a line of 
 communication across the continent, and noting the places where 
 interior trading posts might be established. The expedition by 
 sea is the one which comes first under consideration. 
 
 A fine ship was provided called the Tonquin, of two hundred 
 and ninety tons burden, mounting ten guns, with a crew of 
 twenty men. She carried an assortment of merchandise for 
 trading with the natives of the sea-board and of the interior, 
 together with the fralne of a schooner, to be employed in the 
 coasting trade. Seeds also were provided for the cultivation of 
 the soil, and nothing was neglected for the .necessary supply of 
 the establishment. The command of the ship was intrusted to 
 Jonathan Thorn, of New- York, a lieutenant in the United States 
 navy, on leave of absence. He was a man of courage and firm- 
 ness, who had distinguished himself in our Tripolitan war, and, 
 from being accustomed to naval discipline, was considered by 
 Mr. Astor as well fitted to take charge of an expedition of the 
 kind. Four of the partners were to embark in the ship, namely, 
 Messrs. M'Kay, M'Dougal, David Stuart, and his nephew, Robert 
 
4G ASTORIA. 
 
 Stuart. Mr. M'Dougal was empowered by Mr. Astor to act as 
 liis proxy in tlie absence of Mr. Hiint, to vote for him and in liis 
 name, on any question tliat might come before any meeting of tlio 
 persons interested in the voyage. 
 
 Beside tlie partners, tliere were twelve clerks to go out in tha 
 Bbip, several of tliem natives of Canada, who had some experience 
 in Indian trade. They were bound to the service of the company 
 for five j^cars, at the rate of one hundred dollars a year, payable 
 at the expiration of the term, and an annual equipment of cloth- 
 ing to the amount of forty dollars. In case of ill conduct they 
 were liable to forfeit their v/ages and be dismissed ; but, should 
 they acquit themselves well, the confident expectation was held 
 out to them of promotion, and partnership. Their interests were 
 thus, to some extent, identified with those of the company. 
 
 Several artisans were likewise to sail in the ship, for the sup- 
 ply of the colony ; but the most peculiar and characteristic part 
 of this motley embarkation consisted of thirteen Canadian "voy- 
 ageurs,"-who'had enlisted for five years. As this class of func- 
 tionaries will continually recur in the course of the following 
 narrations, and as they form one of those distinct and strongly 
 marked castes or orders of people, springing up in this vast con- 
 tinent out of geographical circumstances, or the varied pursuits, 
 habitudes, and origins of its population, we shall sketch a few of 
 their cJiaracteristics, for the information of the reader. 
 
 The '• voyageurs " form a kind of confraternity in the Canadas, 
 like the arrieros, or carriers of Spain, and, like them, are employed 
 in long internal expeditions of travel and traffic : with this differ- 
 ence, that the arrieros travel by land, the voyageurs by water ; 
 the former with mules and horses, the latter with batteaux and 
 canoes. The voyageurs may be sadd to have sprung up out of 
 the fur trade, having originally been, employed by the early 
 French merchants in their trading expeditions through the laby- 
 
CANADIAN VOYAGEURS. 47 
 
 rintli of rivers and lakes of tlie boundless interior. They were 
 coevaLwitli the coicreurs des iois^ or rangers of the woods, already 
 noticed, and, like them, in the intervals of their long, arduous, 
 and laborious expeditions, were prone to pass their time in idle- 
 ness and revelry about the trading posts or settlements ; squan 
 deriug their hard earnings in heedless conviviality, and rivalling 
 their neighbors, the Indians, in indolent indulgence and an im- 
 prudent disregard of the morrow. 
 
 When Canada passed under British domination, and the 
 old French trading houses were broken up, the voyagcurs, like 
 the coureurs des hois^ were for a time disheartened and disconso- 
 late, and with difficulty could reconcile themselves to the service 
 of the new comers, so different in habits, manners, and language 
 from their former emplo^^ers. 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 sav 
 age. They wear a capot or surcoat, made of a blanket, a striped 
 cotton shirt, cloth trowscrs, or leathern leggins, moccasons of 
 deer-skin, and a belt of variegated worsted, from which are sus- 
 pended the knife, tobacco-pouch, and other implements. Their 
 language' is of the same piebald character, being a French patoi^. 
 embroidered with Indian and English words and phrases. 
 
 The lives of the voyageurs are passed in wild and extensive 
 rovings, in the service of individuals, but more especially of the 
 fur traders. They are generally of French descent, and inherit 
 much of the gayety and lightness of heart of their ancestors, 
 being full of anecdote and song, and ever ready for the dance. 
 They inherit, too, a fund' of civility and complaisance ; and, 
 instead of that hardness and grossness which men in laborious 
 life are apt to indulge towards each other, they are mutually 
 
48 ASTORIA 
 
 obliging and accommodating ; interchanging kind offices, yielding 
 eacli other assistance and comfort in every emergency, and using 
 the familiar appellations of "cousin" and brother" when there 
 is in fact no relationship. Their natural good-will is probably 
 heightened by a community of adventure and hardship in their 
 precarious and wandering life. 
 
 No men are more submissive to their leaders and employers 
 more capable of enduring hardship, or more good-humored under 
 privations. Never are they so happy as when on Jong and rough 
 expeditions, toiling up rivers or coasting lakes ; encamping at 
 night on the borders, gossiping round their fires, and bivouacking 
 in the open air. They are dextrous boatmen, vigorous and adroit 
 with the oar and paddle, and will row from morning until night 
 without a murmur- The steersman often sings an old tradition- 
 ary French song, with some regular burden in which they all 
 join, keeping time witlj. their oars ; if at any time they flag in 
 spirits or relax in exertion, it is but necessary to strike up a 
 song of the kind to put them all in fresh spirits and activity. 
 The Canadian waters are vocal with these little French chansons, 
 that have been echoed from mouth to mouth and transmitted from 
 father to son, from the earliest days of the colony ; and it has a 
 pleasing effect, in a still golden summer evening, to see a batteau 
 gliding across the bosom of a lake and dipping its oars to the 
 cadence of these quaint old ditties, or sweeping along in full 
 chorus on a bright sunny morning, down the transparent current 
 of one of the Canada rivers. 
 
 But we are talking of things that are fast fading away ! The 
 march of mechanical invention is driving every thing poetical be- 
 fore it. The steamboats, which are fast dispelling the wildness 
 and romance of our lakes and rivers, and aiding to subdue the 
 world into commonplace, are proving as fatal to the race of the 
 Canadian voyageurs as they have been to that of the boatmen of 
 
BOATING AND BOASTING. 49 
 
 tlie Mississippi. Their glory is departed. They are no longer 
 the lords of our internal seas, and the great navigators of thoo 
 wilderness. Some of them may still occasionally be seen coasting 
 the lo^er lakes with their frail barks, and pitching their camps ♦ 
 and lighting their fires upon the shores ; but their range is fast 
 contracting to those remote waters and shallow and obstructed 
 rivers unvisited by the steamboat. 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 be- 
 come a forgotten race, or remembered, like their associates, the 
 Indians, among the poetical images of past times, and as themes 
 for local and romantic associations. 
 
 An instance of the buoyant temperament ai*d the professional 
 pride of these people was furnished in the gay and braggart style 
 in which they arrived at New-York to join the enterprise. They 
 were determined to regale and astonish the people of the " States" 
 with the sight of a Canadian boat and a Canadian crew. They 
 accordingly fitted up a large but light bark canoe, such as is used 
 in the fur trade ; transported it in a wagon from the banks of the 
 St. Lawrence to the shores of Lake Champlain ; traversed the 
 lake in it, from end to end ; hoisted it again in a wagon and 
 wheeled it ofi" to Lansingburgh, and there launched it upon the 
 waters of the Hudson. Down this river they plied their course 
 merrily on a fine summer's day, making its banks resound for the 
 first time with their old French boat songs ; passing by the vil- 
 lages with whoop and halloo, so as to make the honest Dutch 
 farmers mistake them for a crew of savages. In this way they 
 swept, in full song, and with regular flourish of the paddle, round 
 New-York, in a still summer evening, to the wonder and admira- 
 tion of its inhabitants, who had never before witnessed on their 
 waters, a nautical apparition of the kind. 
 
 Such was the variescated band of adventurers about to embark 
 
60 ASTORIA. 
 
 in tlie Tonquin on tliis arduous and doubtful enterprise. While 
 yet in port and on dry land, in the hustle of preparation and the 
 excitement of novelty, all was sunshine and promise. The Cana- 
 dians, especially, who, with their constitutional vivacity, have a 
 considerable dash of the gascon, were buoyant and boastful, and 
 great braggarts as to the future ; while all those who had been 
 in the service of the Northwest Company, and engaged in the 
 Indian trade, plumed themselves upon their hardihood and their 
 capacity to endure privations. If Mr. Astor ventured to hint at 
 the difficulties they might have to encounter, they treated them 
 with scorn. They were " northwesters ;" men seasoned to hard- 
 ships, who cared for neither wind nor weather. They could live 
 hard, lie hard, sleep hard, eat dogs ! — in a word they were ready 
 to do and suffer any thing for the good of the enterprise. With 
 all this profession of zeal and devotion, Mr. Astor was not over- 
 confident of the stability and firm faith of these mercurial beings 
 He had received information, also, that an armed brig from Hali 
 fax, probably at the instigation of the Northwest Company, was 
 hovering on the coast, watching for the Tonquin, with the pur- 
 pose of impressing the Canadians on board of her, as British 
 subjects, and thus interrupting the voyage. It was a time of 
 doubt and anxiety, when the relations between the United States 
 and Great Britain were daily assuming a more precarious aspect, 
 and verging towards that war which shortly ensued. As a j)re- 
 cautionary measure, therefore, he required that the voyageurs, as 
 they were about to enter into the service of an American associa- 
 tion, and to reside within the limits of the United States, should 
 take the oaths of naturalization as American citizens. To this 
 they readily agreed, and shortly afterward assured him that they 
 had actually done so. It was not until after they had sailed 
 that he discovered that they had entirely deceived him in the 
 matter. 
 
PARTING ADMONITIONS. 51 
 
 The confidence of Mr. Astor was abused in anotlier quarter. 
 Two of the partners, both of them Scotchmen, and recently in 
 the service of the Northwest Company, had misgivings as to an 
 enterprise which might clash with the interests and establish- 
 ments protected by the British flag. They privately waited upon 
 the British minister, Mr. Jackson, then in New-York, laid open 
 to him the whole scheme of Mr. Astor, though intrusted to them 
 in confidence, and dependent, in a great measure, upon secrecy 
 at the outset for its success, and inquired whether they, as British 
 subjects, could lawfully engage in it. The reply satisfied their 
 b'cruples, while the information they imparted excited the surprise 
 and admiration of Mr. Jackson, that a private individual should 
 have conceived and set on foot at his own risk and expense so 
 great an enterprise. 
 
 This step on the part of those gentlemen was not known to 
 Mr. Astor until some time afterwards, or it might have modified 
 the trust and confidence reposed in them. 
 
 To guard against any interruption to the voyage by the armed 
 brig, said to be off the harbor, Mr. Astor applied to Commodore 
 Bodgers, at that time commanding at New-York, to give the Ton- 
 c[uin safe convoy off the coast. The commodore having received 
 from a high official source assurance of the deep interest which 
 the government took in the enterprise, sent directions to Captain 
 Hull, at that time cruising off the harbor, in the frigate Consti- 
 tution, to afford the Tonquin the required protection when she 
 should put to sea. 
 
 Before the day of embarkation, Mr. Astor addressed a letter 
 of instruction to the four partners who were to sail in the ship. 
 In this he enjoined them, in the most earnest manner, to cultivate 
 harmony and unanimity, and recommended that all differences of 
 opinions on points connected with the objects and interests of the 
 voyage should be discussed by the whole, and decided by a ma- 
 
52 ASTORIA. 
 
 jority of votes. He, moreover, gave tKem especial caution as to 
 their conduct on arriving at tlieir destined port ; exhorting them 
 to be careful to make a favorable impression upon the wild people 
 among v/hom their lot and the fortunes of the enterprise would 
 be cast. " If you find them kind," said he, " as I hope you will, 
 bo so to them. If otherwise, act with caution and forbearance, 
 and convince them that you come as friends." 
 
 With the same anxious forethought he wrote a letter of instruc- 
 tions to Captain Thorn, in which he urged the strictest attention 
 to the health of himself and his crew, and to the promotion of 
 good-humor and harmony on board his ship. " To -prevent any 
 misunderstanding," added he, " will require your particular good 
 management." His letter closed with an injunction of wariness 
 in his intercourse with the natives, a subject on which Mr. Astor 
 was justly sensible he could not be too earnest. " I must recom- 
 mend you," said he, " to be particularly careful on the coast, and 
 not to rely too much on the friendly disposition of the natives. 
 All accidents which have as yet happened there arose from too 
 much confidence in the Indians." 
 
 The reader will bear these instructions in mind, as events will 
 prove their wisdom and importance, and the disasters which en- 
 sued in consequence of the neglect of them. 
 
SAILING OF THE TONQUIN. 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 On tlie eighth of September, 1810, the Tonquin put to sea, where 
 she was soon joined hy the frigate Constitution. The wind was 
 fresh and fair from the southwest, and the ship was soon out of 
 si'ght of land and free from the apprehended danger of interrup- 
 tion. The frigate, therefore, gave her " God speed," and left her 
 to her course. 
 
 The harmony so earnestly enjoined by Mr. Astor on this 
 heterogeneous crew, and which had been so confidently promised 
 in the buoyant moments of preparation, Avas doomed to meet with 
 a check at the very outset. 
 
 Captain Thorn was an honest, straightforward, but some- 
 what dry and dictatorial commander, who, having been nurtured 
 in the system and discipline of a ship of war, and in a sacred 
 opinion of the supremacy of the quarter-deck, was disposed to bo 
 absolute lord and master on board of his ship. He appears, 
 moreover, to have had no great opinion, from the first, of the per- 
 sons embarked with him. He had stood by with surly contempt 
 while they vaunted so bravely to Mr. Astor of all they could do 
 and all they could undergo ; how they could face all weathers, put 
 up with all kinds of fare, and even eat dogs with a relish, when 
 no better food was to be had. He had set them down as a set of 
 landlubbers and braggadocios, and was disposed to treat them 
 accordingly. Mr. Astor was, in his eyes, his only real employer, 
 being the father of the enterpi;ise, who furnished all funds and 
 bore all losses. The others were mere agents and subordinates. 
 
6*1 ASTORIA. 
 
 wlio lived at lils expense. He evidently had but a narrow idea 
 of the scope and nature of the enterprise, limiting his views 
 merely to his part of it ; every thing beyond the concerns of his 
 ship was out of his sphere ; and any thing that interfered with 
 the routine of his nautical duties put him in a passion. 
 
 The partners, on the other hand, had been brought up in the 
 service of the Northwest Company, and in a profound idea of the 
 importance, dignity, and authority of a partner. Tliey already 
 began to consider themselves on a par with the M'Tavishes, the 
 M'Gillivrays, the Frobishers, and the other magnates of the 
 northwest;^ whom they had been accustomed to look up to as the 
 great ones of the earth ; and they were a little disposed, perhaps, 
 to wear their suddenly-acc[uired honors with some air of preten- 
 sion. Mr. Astor, too, had put them on their mettle with respect 
 to the captain, describing him as a gunpowder fellow who would 
 command his ship in fine style, and, if there was any fighting to 
 do, would '• blow all out of the water." 
 
 Thus prepared to regard each other vritli no very cordial eye, 
 it is not to be wondered at that the parties soon came into colli- 
 sion. On the very first night Captain Thorn began his man-of- 
 Wdr discipline by ordering the lights in the cabin to be extin- 
 guished at eight o'clock. 
 
 The pride of the partners was immediately in arms. This 
 was an invasion of their rights and dignities not to be borne. 
 They were on board of their ovrn ship, and entitled to consult 
 iheir ease and enjoyment. M'Dougal was the champion of their 
 iause. He was an active, irritable, fuming, vainglorious little 
 tnan, and elevated in his own opinion, by being the proxy of Mr. 
 Astor. A violent altercation ensued, in the course of which 
 Thorn threatened to put the partners in irons should they prove 
 refractory ; upon which M'Dougal seized a pistol and swore to be 
 the death of the captain should he ever offer such an indignity. 
 
LANDSMEN AT SEA. 55 
 
 It was some time before tlie irritated parties could be pacified by 
 the more temperate bystanders. 
 
 Such was the captain's outset with the partners. Nor did the 
 clerks stand much higher in his good graces; indeed, he seems 
 to have regarded all the landsmen on board his ship as a kind of 
 live lumber, continually in the way. The poor voyageurs, too, 
 continually irritated his spleen by their " lubberly " and un- 
 seemly habits, so abhorrent to one accustomed to the cleanliness 
 of a man-of-war. These poor fresh-water sailors, so vainglorious 
 on shore, and almost amphibious when on lakes and rivers, lost 
 all heart and stomach the moment they were at sea. For days 
 t'hey suffei^edMhe doleful rigors and retchings of sea-sickness, 
 lurking below in their berths in squalid state, or emerging now 
 and then like spectres from the hatchways, in capotes and blan- 
 kets, with dirty nightcaps, grizzly beard, lantern visage and un- 
 happy eye, shivering about the deck, and ever and anon crawling 
 to the sides of the vessel, and offering up their tributes to the 
 windward, to the infinite annoyance of the captain. 
 
 His letters to Mr. Astor, wherein he pours forth the bitterness 
 of his soul, and his seamanlike impatience of what he considers 
 the '■•luhbcrhj''^ character and conduct of those around him, are 
 before us, and are amusingly characteristic. The honest captain 
 is full of vexation on his own account, and solicitude on account 
 of Mr. Astor, whose property he considers at the mercy of a most 
 heterogeneous and wasteful crew. 
 
 As to the clerks, he pronounces them mere pretenders, not 
 one of whom had ever been among the Indians, nor farther to 
 the northwest than Montreal, nor of higher rank than barkeeper 
 of a tavern or marker of a billiard-table, excepting one, who had 
 been a schoolmaster, and whom he emphatically sets down for " as 
 foolish a pedant as ever lived." 
 
 Then as to the artisans and laborers who had been brought 
 
50 ASTORIA. 
 
 from Canada and sliipped at such expense, the three most 
 respectable, according to the captain's account, were culprits, 
 who had fled from Canada on account of their misdeeds ; the 
 rest had figured in Montreal as draymen, barbers, waiters, and 
 carriole drivers, and were the most helpless, worthless beings 
 " that ever broke sea-biscuit." 
 
 It may easily be imagined what a series of misunderstandings 
 and cross-purposes would be likely to take place between such a 
 crew and such a commander. The captain, in his zeal for the 
 health and cleanliness of his ship, v/ould make sweeping visita- 
 tions to the "lubber nests" of the unlucky "voyageurs" and 
 their companions in misery, ferret them out of their berths, make 
 them air and wash themselves and their accoutrements, and 
 oblige them to stir about briskly and take exercise. 
 
 Nor did his disgust and vexation cease when all hands had 
 recovered from sea-sickness, and become accustomed to the ship, 
 for now broke out an alarming keenness of appetite that threat- 
 ened havoc to the provisions. "What especially irritated the 
 captain was the daintiness of some of his cabin passengers. 
 They were loud in their complaints of the ship's fare, though 
 their table was served with fresh pork, hams, tongues, smoked 
 beef, and puddings. " Y/hcn thwarted in their cravings for deli- 
 cacies," said he, '■ they would exclaim that it was d — d hard they 
 could not live as they pleased upon their own property, being on 
 board of their own ship, freighted with their own merchandise. 
 And these," added he, ' are the fine fellows who made such boast 
 that they could ' eat dogs.' " 
 
 In his indignation at what he termed their effeminacy, he 
 would swear that he would never take them to sea again "with- 
 out having Fly-market on the forecastle, Govent-garden on the 
 poop, and a cool spring from Canada in the maintop." 
 
 As they proceeded on their voyage and got into the smooth 
 
A VETERAN FROM LABRADOR. 57 
 
 seas and pleasant weather of tlie tropics, otlier annoyances oc- 
 curred to vex the spirit of the captain. He had been crossed by 
 the irritable mood of one of the partners ; he was now excessively 
 annoyed by the good-humor of another. This was the elder Stu- 
 art, who was an easy soul, and of a social disposition. He had 
 seen life in Canada, and on the coast of Lxibrador ; had been a 
 fur trader in the former, and a fisherman on the latter ; and, in 
 the course of his experience, had made various expeditions with 
 voyageurs. He was accustomed, therefore, to the familiarity 
 which prevails between that class and their superiors, and the 
 gossipings which take place among them when seated round a 
 fire at their encampments. Stuart was never so happy as when 
 he could seat himself on the deck with a number of these men 
 round him, in camping style, smoke together, passing the pipe 
 from mouth to mouth, after the manner of the Indians, sing old 
 Canadian boat-songs, and tell stories about their hardships and 
 adventures, in the course of which he rivalled Sindbad in his 
 long tales of the sea, about his fishing exploits on the coast of 
 Labrador. 
 
 This gossiping familiarity shocked the captain's notions of 
 rank and subordination, and nothing was so abhorrent to him as 
 the community of pipe between master and man, and their min 
 gling in chorus in the outlandish boat-songs. 
 
 Then there was another whimsical source of annoyance to 
 him. Some of the young clerks, who were making their first 
 voyage, and to whom every thing was new and strange, were, 
 very rationally, in the habit of taking notes and keeping jour- 
 nals. This was a sore abomination to the honest captain, who 
 held their literary pretensions in great contempt. " The collect- 
 ing of materials for long histories of their voyages and travels," 
 said he, in his letter to Mr. Astor, '• appears to engross most of 
 their attention." We can conceive what must have been tho 
 
58 ASTORIA. 
 
 crusty impatience of the worthy navigator, when, on any trilling 
 occurrence in the course of the voyage, quite commonplace in his 
 eyes, he saw these young landsmen running to record it in their 
 journals ; and what indignant glances he must have cast to right 
 and left, as he worried about the deck, giving ont his orders for 
 the management of the ship, surrounded by singing, smoking, 
 gossiping, scribbling groups, all, as he thought, intent upon the 
 amusement of the passing hour, instead of the great purposes 
 and interests of the voyage. 
 
 It is possible the captain was in some degree right in his 
 notions. Though some of the passengers had much to gain by 
 the voyage, none of them had any thing positively to lose. They 
 were mostly young men, in the heyday of life ; and having got 
 into fine latitudes, upon smooth seas, with a well-stored ship 
 under them, and a fair wind in the shoulder of the sail, they 
 seemed to have got into a holiday world, and were disposed to 
 enjoy it. That craving desire, natural to untravelled men of 
 fresh and lively minds, to see strange lands, and to visit scenes 
 famous in history or fable, was expressed by some of the partners 
 and clerks, with respect to some of the storied coasts and islands 
 that lay within their route. The captain, however, who regarded 
 every coast and island with a matter-of-fact eye, and had no 
 more associations connected with them than those laid down in 
 his sea-chart, considered all this curiosity as exceedingly idle and 
 childish. " In the first part of the voyage," says he in his letter, 
 '• they were determined to have it said they had been in Africa, 
 and therefore insisted on ruy stopping at the Cape do Verds. 
 Next they said the ship should stop on the coast of Patagonia, 
 for they must see the large and uncommon inhabitants of that 
 place. Then they must go to the island where Robinson Crusoe 
 had so long lived. And lastly, they were determined to see tho 
 handsome inhabitants of Easter Island." 
 
CURIOUS TRAVELLERS. 59 
 
 To all these resolves the captain opposed his peremptory 
 veto, as " contrary to instructions." Then would break forth an 
 unavailing explosion of wrath on the part of certain of the part- 
 ners, in the course of which they did not even spare Mr. Astor 
 for his act of supererogation in furnishing orders for the control 
 of the ship while they were on board, instead of leaving them to 
 be the judges where it would be best for her to touch, and how 
 long to remain. The choleric M'Dougal took the lead in these 
 railings, being, as has been observed, a little puffed up with the 
 idea of being Mr. Aster's proxy. 
 
 The captain, however, became only so much the more crusty 
 and dogged in his adherence to his orders, and touchy and harsh 
 in his dealings with his passengers, and frequent altercations 
 ensued. He may in some measure have been influenced by his 
 seamanlike impatience of the interference of landsmen, and his 
 high notions of naval etiquette and quarter-deck authority ; but 
 he evidently had an honest, trusty concern for the interests of 
 his employer. He pictured to himself the anxious projector of 
 ihe enterprise, who had disbursed so munificently in its outfit, 
 calculating on the zeal, fidelity, and singleness of purpose of his 
 associates and agents ; while they, on the other hand, having a 
 good ship at their disposal, and a deep pocket at home to bear 
 them out, seemed ready to loiter on every coast, and amuse them* 
 selves in every port. 
 
 On the fourth of December they came in sight of the Falk- 
 land Islands. Having been for some time on an allowance of 
 water, it was resolved to anchor here and obtain a supply. A 
 boat was sent into a small bay to take soundings. Mr. M'Dougal 
 and Mr. M'Kay took this occasion to go on shore, but with a re- 
 quest from the captain that they would not detain the ship. Once 
 on shore, however, they were in no haste to obey his orders, but 
 rambled about in search of curiosities. The anchorage proving 
 
60 
 
 ASTORIA. 
 
 ■unsafe, and water difficult to be procured, the captain stood out 
 to sea. and made repeated signals for those on shore to rejoin 
 the ship, hut it was not until nine at night that they came on 
 board. 
 
 The wind being adverse, the boat was again sent on shore on 
 the following morning, and the same gentlemen again landed, but 
 promised to come off at a moment's warning ; they again forgot 
 their promise in their eager pursuit of wild geese and sea-wolves. 
 After a time the wind hauled fair, and signals were made for the 
 boat. Half an hour elapsed but no boat put off. The captain 
 reconnoitred the shore with his glass, and, to his infinite vexa- 
 tion, saw the loiterers in the full enjoyment of their " wild-goose- 
 chase." Nettled to the quick, he immediately made sail. When 
 those on shore saw tKe ship actually under way, they embarked 
 with all speed, but had a hard pull of eight miles before they 
 got on board, and then experienced but a grim reception, not- 
 withstanding that they came well laden with the spoils of the 
 chase. 
 
 Two days afterwards, on the seventh of December, they 
 anchored at Port Egmont, in the same island, where they re- 
 mained four days taking in water and making repairs. This was 
 a joyous time for the landsmen. They pitched a tent on shore, 
 had a boat at their command, and passed their time merrily in 
 rambling about the island, and coasting along the shores, shoot- 
 ing sea-lions, seals, foxes, geese, ducks, and penguins. None 
 were keener in pursuit of this kind of game than M'Dougal 
 and David Stuart; the latter was reminded of aquatic sports 
 on the coast of Labrador, and his hunting exploits in the north- 
 west. 
 
 In the meantime the captain addressed himself steadily to the 
 business of his ship, scorning the holiday spirit and useless pur- 
 suits of his emancipated messmates, and warning them, from tim.0 
 
SPORTSMEN IN THE LURCH. CI 
 
 to time, not to wander away nor be out of liail. They promised, 
 as usual, that the ship should never experience a moment's deten- 
 tion on their account, but, as usual, forgot their promise. 
 
 On the morning of the 11 th, the repairs being all finished, 
 and the water casks replenished, the signal was given to embark, 
 and the ship began to weigh anchor. At this time several of the 
 passengers were dispersed about the island, amusing themselves 
 in various ways. Some of the young men had found two inscrip- 
 tions, in English, over a place where two unfortunate mariners 
 had been buried in this desert island. As the inscriptions were 
 nearly worn out by time and weather, they were playing the part 
 of '• Old Mortality," and piously renewing them. The signal 
 from the ship summoned them from their labors ; they saw the 
 sails unfurled, and that she was getting under way. The two 
 sporting partners, however, Mr. M'Dougal and David Stuart, had 
 strolled away to the south of the island in pursuit of penguins. 
 It would never do to put off without them, as there was but one 
 boat to convey the whole. 
 
 . While this delay took place on shore, the captain was stornv 
 iug on board. This was the third time his orders had been 
 treated with contempt, and the ship wantonly detained, and it 
 should be the last ; so he spread all sail and put to sea, swearing 
 he would leave the laggards to shift for themselves. It was in 
 vain that those on board made remonstrances and entreaties, and 
 represented the horrors of abandoning men upon a sterile and 
 uninhabited island : the sturdy captain was inflexible. 
 
 In the meantime the penguin hunters had joined the engravers 
 of tombstones, but not before the ship was already out at sea, 
 They all, to the number of eight, threw them^selves into their 
 boat, which was about twenty feet in length, and rowed with 
 might and main. For three hours and a half did they tug anx- 
 iously and severely at the oar, swashed occasionally by the surg- 
 
69 • ASTORIA. 
 
 ing waves of the open sea, while the ship inexorably kept on her 
 course, and seemed determined to leave' them behind. 
 
 On board of the ship was the nephew of David Stuart, a young 
 man of spirit and resolution. Seeing, as he thought, the captain 
 obstinately bent upon abandoning his uncle and the others, he 
 seized a pistol, and in a paroxysm of wrath swore he would blow 
 out the captain's brains, unless he put about or shortened sail. 
 
 Fortunately for all parties, the wind just then came ahead, 
 and the boat was enabled to reach the ship ; otherwise, disastrous 
 circumstances might have ensued. We can hardly believe that 
 the captain really intended to carry his threat into full eflfect, and 
 rather .think he meant to let the laggards off for a long pull and 
 a hearty fright. He declared, however, in his letter to Mr. 
 Astor, that he was serious in his threats ; and there is no know- 
 ing how far such an iron man may push his notions of authority. 
 
 " Had the wind," writes he, " (unfortunately) not hauled ahead 
 soon after leaving the harbor's mouth, I should positively have 
 left them ; and, indeed, I cannot but think it an unfortunate cir- 
 cumstance for you that it so happened, for the first loss in this 
 instance would, in my opinion, have proved the best, as they 
 seem to have no idea of the value of property, nor any apparent 
 regard for your interest, although interwoven with their own." 
 
 This, it must be confessed, was acting with a high hand, and 
 carrying a regard to the owner's property to a dangerous length. 
 Various petty feuds occurred also between him and the partners 
 in respect to the goods on board the ship, some articles of which 
 they wished to distribute for clothing among the men, or for other 
 purposes which they deemed essential. The captain, however, 
 kept a mastiff watch upon the cargo, and growled and snapped 
 if they but offered to touch box or bale. " It was contrary to 
 orders ; it would forfeit his insurance ; it was out of all rule." 
 It was in vain they insisted upon their right to do so, as part 
 
ARRIVAL AT O^^rv-HEE. 63 
 
 owners, and as acting for the good of the enterprise ; the captain 
 only stuck to his point the more stanchlj. They consoled them- 
 selves, therefore, by declaring, that as soon as they made land 
 they would assert their rights, and do with ship and cargo as they 
 pleased. 
 
 Beside these feuds between the captain and the partners, 
 there were feuds between the partners themselves, occasioned, in 
 some measure, by jealousy of rank. M'Dougal and M'Kay began 
 to draw plans for the fort, and other buildings of the intended 
 establishment. They agreed very well as to the outline and 
 dimensions, which were on a sufficiently grand scale ; but when 
 they came to arrange the details, fierce disputes arose, and they 
 would quarrel by the hour about the distribution of the doors 
 and windows. Many were the hard words and hard names ban- 
 died between them on these occasions, according to the captain's 
 account. Each accused the other of endeavoring to assume 
 unwarrantable power, and to take the lead ; upon which Mr. 
 M'Dougal would vaiintingly lay down Mr, Astor's letter, con- 
 stituting him his representative and proxy, a document not to be 
 disputed. 
 
 These wordy contests, though violent, were brief; "and 
 within fiftecen minutes," says the captain, " they would be caress- 
 ing- each other like children." 
 
 While all this petty anarchy was agitating the little world 
 witnin the Tonquin, the good ship prosperously pursued her 
 course, doubled Cape Horn on the 25th of December, careered 
 across the bosom of the Pacific, until, on the 11th of February, 
 the snowy peaks of Owyhee were seen brightening above the 
 horizon. 
 
rA ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Owyhee, or Hawaii, as it is written by more exact ortliogra' 
 phers, is the largest of the cluster, teu in number, of the Sand- 
 wich Islands. It is about ninety-seven miles in length, and 
 seventy-eight in breadth, rising gradually into three pyramidal 
 summits or cones ; the highest, Mouna Roa, being eighteen 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea, so as to domineer over 
 the whole Archipelago, and to be a landmark over a wide extent 
 of ocean. It remains a lasting monument of the enterprising 
 and unfortunate Captain Cook, who was murdered by the natives 
 of this island. 
 
 The Sandwich Islanders, when first discovered, evinced a 
 character superior to most of the savages of the Pacific Isles. 
 They were frank and open in their deportment, friendly and 
 liberal in their dealings, with an apt ingenuity apparent in all 
 their rude inventions. 
 
 The tragical fate of the discoverer, which, for a time, brought 
 them under the charge of ferocity, was, in fact, the result of sud- 
 den exasperation, caused by the seizure of their chief. 
 
 At the time of the visit of the Tonquin, the islanders had 
 profited, in many respects, by occasional intercourse with white 
 men ; and had shown a quickness to observe and cultivate those 
 arts important to their mode of living. Originally they had no 
 means of navigating the seas by which they were surrounded, 
 superior to light pirogues, which were little competent to con- 
 tend with the storms of the broad ocean. As the islanders are 
 
TAMAAHMAAH— HIS NAVY. 65 
 
 not iu sight of eacli other, there could, therefore, be hut casual 
 intercourse between them. The traffic with white men had put 
 them in possession of vessels of superior description ; they had 
 made themselves acquainted with their management, and hhd 
 even made rude advances in the art of ship-building. 
 
 These improvements had been promoted, in a great measure, 
 hj the energy and sagacity of one man, the famous Tamaahmaah. 
 He had originally been a petty eri. or chief; but, being of an in- 
 trepid and aspiring nature, he had risen in rank, and, availing 
 himself of the superior advantages now afforded in navigation, 
 had brought the whole Archipelago in subjection to his arms. 
 At the time of the arrival of the Tonquin he had about forty 
 schooners, of from twenty to thirty tons burden, and one old 
 American ship. With these he maintained undisputed sway over 
 his insular domains, and carried on an intercourse with the chiefs 
 or governors whom he had placed in command of the several 
 islands. 
 
 The situation of this group of islands, far in the bosom of the 
 vast Pacific, and their abundant fertility, rendered them impor- 
 tant stopping places on the highway to China, or to the northwest 
 coast of America. Here tlie vessels engaged in the fur trade 
 touched to make repairs and procure provisions ; and here they 
 often sheltered themselves during the winters that occurred iu 
 their long coasting expeditions. 
 
 The British navigators were, from the first, aware of the value 
 of these islands to the purposes of commerce ; and Tamaahmaah, 
 not long after he had attained the sovereign sway, was persuaded 
 by Vancouver, the celebrated discoverer, to acknowledge, on behalf 
 of himself and subjects, allegiance to the king of Great Britain. 
 The reader cannot but call to niind the visit which the royal 
 family and court of the Sandwich Islands was, in late years, in- 
 duced to make to the court of St. James ; and the serio-comic 
 
66 ASTORIA. 
 
 ceremonials and mock parade winch attended tliat singular tra- 
 vesty of monarclial style. 
 
 It was a part of tlie wide and comprehensive plan of Mr. 
 .^stor to establish a friendly intercourse between these islands 
 and his intended colony, which might, for a time, have occasion to 
 draw supplies thence ; and he even had a vague idea of, some 
 time or other, getting possession of one of tlieir islands as a ren- 
 dezvous for his ships, and a link in the chain of his commercial 
 establishments. 
 
 On the evening of the 12th of February, the Tonquin an- 
 chored in the bay of Karakakooa, in the island of Owyhee. The 
 surrounding shores were wild and broken, with overhanging cliffs 
 and precipices of black volcanic rock. Beyond these, however, 
 the country was fertile and well cultivated, with inclosures of 
 yams, plantains, sweet potatoes, sugar-canes, and other produc- 
 tions of warm climates and teeming soils ; and the numerous 
 habitations of the natives were pleasantly sheltered beneath 
 clumps of cocoanut and bread-fruit trees, which afforded both 
 food and shade. This mingled variety of garden and grove swept 
 gradually up the sides of the mountains^ until succeeded by 
 dense forests, which in turn gave place to naked and craggy rocks, 
 until the summits rose into the regions of perpetual snow. 
 
 The royal residence of Tamaahmaah was at this time at 
 another island named Woahoo. The island of Owyhee was 
 under the command of one of his eris, or chiefs, who resided at 
 the village of Tocaigh, situated on a different part of the coast 
 from the^bay of Karakakooa. 
 
 On the morning after her arrival, the ship was surrounded 
 by canoes and pirogues, filled with the islanders of both sexes, 
 bringing off supplies of fruits and vegetables, bananas, plantains, 
 watermelons, yams, cabbages, and taro. The captain was desi- 
 rous, however, of purchasing a number of hogs, but there were 
 
wo AHOO— ROYAL MOx\OPOLY. 67 
 
 none to be liad. The trade in pork was a royal monopoly, and 
 no subject of the great Tamaahmaah dared to meddle with it. 
 Such provisions as they could furnish, however, were brought by 
 the natives in abundance, and a lively intercourse was kept up 
 during the day, in which the women mingled in the kindest 
 manner. 
 
 The islanders are a comely race, of a coj)pcr complexion. 
 The men are tall and well made, with forms indicating strength 
 and activity ; the women with regular and occasionally handsome 
 features, and a lascivious expression, characteristic of their tem- 
 perament. Their st3-le of dress was nearly the same as in the 
 days of Captain Cook. The men wore the maro, a band one foot 
 in width and several feet in length, swathed round the loins, and 
 formed of tappa, or cloth of bark ; the kihei, or mantle, about six 
 feet square, tied in a knot over one shoulder, passed under the 
 opposite arm, so as to leave it bare, and falling in graceful folds 
 before and behind, to the knee, so as to bear some resemblance 
 to a Roman to2;a. 
 
 The female dress consisted of the pan, a garment formed of a 
 piece of tappa, several yards in length and one in width, wrapped 
 round the waist, and reaching like a petticoat, to the knees. Over 
 this a kihei or mantle, larger than that of the men, sometimes 
 worn over both shoulders, like a shawl, sometimes over one only. 
 These mantles were seldom worn by either sex during the heat 
 of the day, when the exposure of their persons was at first very 
 revolting to a civilized eye. 
 
 Towards evening several of the partners and clerks went on 
 shore, where they were well received and hospitably entertained. 
 A dance was performed for their amusement, in which nineteen 
 young women and one man figured very gracefully, singing in 
 concert, and moving to the cadence of their song. 
 
 All this, however, was nothing to the purpose in the eyes of 
 
68 ASTORIA. 
 
 Captain Thorn, who, being disappointed in his hope of obtaining 
 a supply of pork, or finding good water, was anxious to be off. 
 This it was not so easy to effect. The passengers, once on shore, 
 were disposed, as usual, to profit by the occasion. The partners 
 had many inquiries to make relative to the island, with a view to 
 business : while the young clerks were delighted with the charms 
 and graces of the dancing damsels. 
 
 To add to their gratifications, an old man offered to conduct 
 them to the spot where Captain Cook was massacred. The propo- 
 sition was eagerly accepted, and all hands set out on a pilgrimage 
 to the place. The veteran islander performed his promise faith- 
 fully, and pointed out the very spot where the unfortunate dis- 
 coverer fell. The rocks and cocoa trees around bore record of 
 the fact, in the marks of the balls fired from the boats upon the 
 savages. The pilgrims gathered round the old man, and drew 
 from him all the particulars he had to relate respecting this 
 memorable event ; while the honest captain stood by and bit his 
 nails with impatience. To add to his vexation, they employed 
 themselves in knocking off' pieces of the rocks, and cutting off the 
 bark of the trees marked by the balls, which they conveyed back 
 to the ship as precious relics. 
 
 Right glad, therefore, was he to get them and their treasures 
 fairly on board, when he made sail from this unprofitable place, 
 and steered for the Bay of Tocaigh, the residence of the chief or 
 governor of the island, where he hoped to be more successful in 
 obtaining supplies. On coming to anchor the captain went on 
 shore, accompanied by Mr. M'Dougal and Mr. M'Kay, and paid 
 a visit to the governor. This dignitary proved to be an old 
 sailor, by the name of John Young ; who, after being tossed 
 about the seas like another Sindbad, had, by one of the whimsical 
 freaks of fortune, b-een elevated to the government of a savage 
 island He received his visitors with more hearty familiarity 
 
A NAUTICAL GOVERNOR. 69 
 
 than personages in his high station are apt to indulge, but soon 
 gave them to understand that provisions were scanty at Tocaigh, 
 and that there was no good water, no rain having fallen in the 
 neighborhood in three years. 
 
 The captain was immediately for breaking up the conference 
 and departing, but the partners were not so willing to part with 
 the nautical governor, who seemed disposed to be extremely com- 
 municative, and from whom they might be able to procure some 
 useful information. A long con-'.nersation accordingly ensued, in 
 the course of which they made many inquiries about the affairs 
 of the islands, their natural productions, and the possibility of 
 turning them to advantage in the way of trade ; nor did they fail 
 to inquire into the individual history of John Young, and how he 
 came to be governor. This he gave with great condescension, 
 running through the whole course of his fortunes " even from his 
 boyish days," 
 
 He was a native of Liverpool, in England, and had followed 
 the sea from boyhood, until, by dint of good conduct, he had 
 risen so far in his profession as to be boatswain of an American 
 ship called the Eleanor, commanded by Captain Metcalf In this 
 vessel he had sailed in 1789, on one of those casual expeditions 
 to the northvv^est coast, in quest of furs. In the course of the 
 voyage, the captain left a small schooner, named the Fair Ameri- 
 can, at Nootka, with a crew of five men, commanded by his son, 
 a youth of eighteen. She was to follow on in the track of the 
 Eleanor. 
 
 In February, 1790, Captain Metcalf touched at the island of 
 Mowee, one of the Sandwich group. Yfhile anchored here, a 
 boat which was astern of the Eleanor was stolen, and a seaman 
 who was in it was killed. The natives, generally, disclaimed the 
 outrage, and brought the shattered remains of the boat and the 
 dead body of the seaman to the ship. Supposing that they had 
 
70 ASTORIA. 
 
 thus appeased tlie anger of the captain, they thronged, as usual 
 in great numbers about the vessel, to trade. Captain Metcalf, 
 however, determined on a bloody revenge. The Eleanor mounted 
 ten guns. All these he ordered to be loaded with musket-balls, 
 nails, and pieces of old iron, and then fired them, and the small- 
 arms of the ship, among the natives. The havoc was dreadful; 
 more than a hundred, according to Young's account, were slain. 
 
 After this signal act of vengeance. Captain Metcalf sailed 
 from Mowee, and made for the-island of Owyhee, where he was 
 well received by Tamaahmaah. The fortunes of this warlike 
 chief were at that time on the rise. He had originally been of 
 inferior rank, ruling over only one or two districts of Owyhee, 
 but had "gradually made himself sovereign of his native island. 
 
 The Eleanor remained some few days at anchor here, and an 
 apparently friendly intercourse was kept up with the inhabitants. 
 On the 1 7th March, John Young obtained permission to pass the 
 night on shore. On the following morning a signal-gun sum- 
 moned him to return on board. 
 
 He went to the shore to embark, but found all the canoes 
 hauled up on the beach and rigorously tabooed, or interdicted. 
 He would have launched one himself, but was informed by Ta- 
 maahmaah that if he presumed to do so he would be put to death. 
 
 Young was obliged to submit, and remained all day in great 
 perplexity to account for this mysterious taboo, and fearful that 
 some hostility was intended. In the evening he learned the cause 
 of it. and his uneasiness was increased. It appeared that the 
 vindictive act of Captain Metcalf had recoiled upon his own head. 
 The schooner Fair American, commanded by his son, following in 
 his track, had fallen into the hands of the natives to the south- 
 ward of Tocaigh Bay, and young Metcalf and four of the crew 
 had been massacred. 
 
 On receiving intelligence of this event, Tamaahmaah had im 
 
PROMOTION IN SAVAGE LIFE. 71 
 
 mediately tabooed all tlie canoes, and interdicted all intercourse 
 with the ship, lest the captain should learn the fate of the schooner, 
 and take his revenge upon the island. For the same reason he 
 prevented Young from rejoining his countrymen. The Eleanor 
 continued to fire signals from time to time for two days, and then 
 sailed ; concluding, no doubt, that the boatswain had deserted. 
 
 John Young was in despair when he saw the ship make sail, 
 und found himself abandoned among savages ; — and savages, too, 
 sanguinary in their character, and inflamed by acts of hostility. 
 He was agreeably disappointed, however, in experiencing nothing 
 but kind treatment from Tamaahmaah and his people. It is true, 
 he was narrowly watched whenever a vessel came in sight, lest he 
 .should escape and relate what had passed ; but at other times he 
 was treated with entire confidence and great distinction. He be- 
 came a prime favorite, cabinet counsellor, and active coadjutor of 
 Tamaahmaah, attending him in all his excursions, whether of busi- 
 ness or pleasure, and aiding in his warlike and ambitious enter- 
 prises. By degrees he rose to the rank of a chief, espoused one 
 of the beauties of the island, and became habituated and recon- 
 ciled to his new way of life ; thinking it better, perhaps, to rule 
 among savages than serve among white men ; to be a feathered 
 chief than a tarpawling boatswain. His favor with Tamaahmaah 
 never declined ; and when that sagacious, intrepid, and aspiring 
 chieftain had made himself sovereign over the whole group of 
 islands, and removed his residence to Woahoo, he left his faithful 
 adherent John Young in command of Owyhee. 
 
 Such is an outline of the history of Governor Young, as fur- 
 nished by himself; and we regret that we are not able to give 
 any account of the state maintained b}^ this seafaring worthy, 
 and the manner in which he discharged hi.s high functions ; though 
 it is evident he had more of the hearty familiarity of the fore- 
 castle than the dignity of the gubernatorial office. 
 
72 ASTORIA. 
 
 These long conferences were bitter trials to the patience of 
 the captain, who had no respect either for the governor or his 
 island, and was anxious to push on in quest of provisions and 
 water. As soon as he could get his inquisitive partners once 
 more on board, he weighed anchor, and made sail for the island 
 of Woahoo, the royal residence of Tamaahmaah. 
 
 This is the most beautiful island of the Sandwich group. It 
 is forty-six miles in length and twenty-three in breadth. A ridge 
 of volcanic mountains extends through the centre, rising into 
 lofty peaks, and skirted by undulating hills and rich plains, where 
 the cabins of the natives peep out from beneath groves of cocoa- 
 nut and other luxuriant trees. 
 
 On the 21st of February the Tonquin cast anchor in the 
 beautiful bay before the village of Waititi, (pronounced Whytee- 
 tce,) the abode of Tamaahmaah. This village contained about 
 two hundred habitations, composed of poles set in the ground, 
 tied together at the ends, and thatched with grass, and was situ- 
 ated in an open grove of cocoa-nuts. The royal palace of Ta- 
 maahmaah was a large house of two stories ; the lower of stone, 
 the upper of wood. Kound this his body-guard kept watch, com- 
 posed of twenty-four men, in long blue cassocks turned up with 
 yellow, and each armed with a musket. 
 
 While at anchor at this place, much ceremonious visiting and 
 long conferences took place between the potentate of the islands 
 and the partners of the company. Tamaahmaah came on board 
 of the ship in royal style, in his double pirogue. He was between 
 fifty and sixty years of age, above the middle size, large and well 
 made, though somewhat corpulent. He was dressed in an old 
 suit of regimentals, with a sword by his side, and seemed some- 
 what embarrassed by his magnificent attire. Three of his wives 
 accompanied him. They were almost as tall, and quite as corpu- 
 lent as himself ; but by no means to be compared with him in 
 
A ROYAL VISIT— GRAND CEREMONIALS. 73 
 
 grandeur of lia>>iliments, wearing no other garb than the pau. 
 With him, also, came his great favorite and confidential counsel- 
 lor, Kraimaker ; who, from holding a post e(][uivalent to that of 
 prime minister, had been familiarly named Billy Pitt by the 
 British visitors to the islands. 
 
 The sovereign was received with befitting ceremonial. The 
 American flag was displayed, four guns were fired, and the part- 
 ners appeared in scarlet coats, and conducted their illustrious 
 guests to the cabin, where they were regaled with wine. In this 
 interview the partners endeavored to impress the monarch with a 
 sense of their importance, and of the importance of the associa- 
 tion to which they belonged. They let him know that they were 
 eris, or chiefs, of a great company about to be established on the 
 northwest coast, and talked of the probability of opening a trade 
 with his islands, and of sending ships there occasionally. All 
 this was gratifying and interesting to him, for he was aware of 
 the advantages of trade, and desirous of promoting frequent 
 intercourse with white men. He encouraged Europeans and 
 Americans to settle in his islands and intermarry with his sub- 
 jects. There were between twenty and thirty white men at that 
 time resident in the island, but many of them were mere vaga- 
 bonds, who remained there in hopes of leading a lazy and an easy 
 life. For such Tamaahmaah had a great contempt ; those only 
 had his esteem and countenance who knew some trade or mechanic 
 art, and were sober and industrious. 
 
 On the day subsequent to the monarch's visit, the partners 
 landed and waited upon him in return. Knowing the effect of 
 show and dress upon men in savage life, and wishing to make a 
 favorable impression as the eris, or chiefs, of the great American 
 Fur Company, some of them appeared in Highland plaids and 
 kilts, to the great admiration of the natives. 
 
 While visits of ceremony and grand diplomatic conferences 
 
 4 
 
74 ASTORIA. 
 
 were going on between the partners and the king, the captain, in 
 his plain, matter-of-fact way, was pushing what he considered a 
 far more important negotiation ; the purchase of a supply of hogs. 
 lie found that the king had profited in more ways than one by 
 his intercourse with white men. Above all other arts he had 
 learned the art of driving a bargain. He was a magnanimous 
 monarch, but a shrewd pork merchant ; and perhaps thought he 
 could not do better with his future allies, the American Fur 
 Company, than to begin by close* dealing. Several interviews 
 were requisite, and much bargaining, before he could be brought 
 to part with a bristle of his bacon, and then he insisted upon 
 being paid in hard Spanish dollars; giving as a reason that he 
 wanted money to purchase a frigate from his brother George, as 
 he affectionately termed the king of England.* 
 
 * It appears, from the accounts of subsequent voyagers, that Tamaahmaah 
 afterwards succeeded in his wish of purchasing a large ship. In this he sent 
 a cargo of sandal wood to Canton, having discovered that the foreign merchants 
 trading with him made large profits on this wood, shipped by them from the 
 islands to the Chinese markets. The ship was manned by natives, but the 
 officers were Englishmen. She accomplished her voyage, and returned in 
 safety to the islands, with the Hawaiian flag floating gloriously in the breeze. 
 The king hastened on board, expecting to find his sandal wood converted into 
 crapes and damasks, and other rich stufis of China, but found, to his astonish- 
 ment, by the legerdemain of traffic, his cargo had all disappeared, and, in place 
 of it, remained a bill of charges amounting to three thousand dollars. It was 
 Bome time before he could be made to comprehend certain of the most" impor- 
 tant items of the bill, such as pilotage, anchorage, and custom-house fees ; but 
 wh^n he discovered that maritime states in other countries derived large rev- 
 enues in this manner, to the great cost of the merchant, " Well," cried he, 
 *' then I will have harbor fees also." He established them accordingly. Pi- 
 lotage a dollar a foot on the draft of each vessel. Anchorage from sixty to 
 seventy dollars. In this way he greatly increased the royal revenue, and 
 turned his China speculation to account. 
 
COMMENTS OF A MATTER-OF-FACT-MAN. 75 
 
 At length the royal bargain was concluded; the necessary 
 BTipply of hogs obtained, beside several goats, two sheep, a quan-. 
 tity of poultry, and vegetables in abundance. The partners now 
 urged to recruit their forces from the natives of this island. 
 They declared they had never seen watermen equal to them, even 
 among the voyageurs of the northwest ; and, indeed, they are re- 
 markable for their skill in managing their light craft, and can 
 swim and dive like waterfowl. The partners were inclined, there- 
 fore, to take thirty or forty with them to the Columbia, to be em- 
 ployed in the service of the company. The captain, however, 
 objected that there was not room in his vessel for the accommo- 
 dation of such a number. Twelve, only, were therefore enlisted 
 for the company, and as many more for the service of the ship. 
 The former engaged to serve for the term of three years, during 
 which they were to be fed and clothed ; and at the expiration of 
 the time were to receive one hundred dollars in merchandise. 
 
 And now, having embarked his live-stock, fruits, vegetables, 
 and water, the captain made ready to set sail. How much the 
 honest man had suffered in spirit by what he considered the 
 freaks and vagaries of his passengers, and how little he had un- 
 derstood their humors and intentions, is amusingly shown in a 
 letter written to Mr. Astor from Woahoo, which contains his 
 comments on the scenes we have described. 
 
 "It would be difficult," he writes, "to imagine the frantic 
 gambols that are daily played off here ; sometimes dressing in 
 red coats, and otherwise very fantastically, and collecting a num- 
 ber of ignorant natives around them, telling them that they are 
 the great cares of the northwest, and making arrangements for 
 sending three or four vessels yearly to them from the coast with 
 spars, &c. ; while those very natives cannot even furnish a hog to 
 the ship. Then dressing in Highland plaids and kilts, and 
 making similar arrangements, with presents of rum, wine, or any 
 
76 ASTORIA. 
 
 thing that is at hand. Then taking a number of clerks and men 
 on shore to the very spot on which Captain Cook was killed, and 
 each fetching off a piece of the rock or tree that was touched by 
 the shot. Then sitting down with some white man or some 
 native who can be a little understood, and collecting the history 
 of those islands, of Tamaahmaah's wars, the curiosities of the 
 islands, &c., preparatory to the histories of their voyages ; and 
 the collection is indeed ridiculously contemptible. To enumerate 
 the thousand instances of ignorance, filth, &c., or to particularize 
 all the frantic gambols that are daily practised, would require 
 volumes." 
 
 Before embarking, the great eris of the American Fur Com- 
 pany took leave of their illustrious ally in due style, with many 
 professions of lasting friendship and promises of future inter- 
 course ; while the matter-of-fact captain anathematized him in his 
 heart for a grasping, trafiicking savage ; as shrewd and sordid in 
 his dealings as a v>^hite man. As one of the vessels of the com- 
 pany will, in the course of events, have to appeal to the justice 
 and magnanimity of this island potentate, wc shall see how far 
 the honest captain was right in his opinion. 
 
DEPARTURE FROM THK SANDWICH ISLANDS. 77 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 It was on tlie 28tli of February that the Tonquin set sail from 
 the Sandwich Islands. For two days the wind was contrary, and 
 the vessel was detained in their neighborhood ; at length a favora- 
 ble breeze sprang up, and in a little while the rich groves, green 
 hills, and snowy peaks of those happy islands one after another 
 sank from sight, or melted into the blue distance, and the Ton- 
 quin ploughed her course towards the sterner regions of the 
 Pacific. 
 
 The misunderstandings between the captain and his passen- 
 gers still continued ; or rather, increased in gravity. By his 
 altercations and his moody humors, lie had cut himself off from 
 all community of thought, or freedom of conversation with them. 
 He disdained to ask any questions as to their proceedings, and 
 could only guess at the meaning of their movements, and in so 
 doing indulged in conjectures and suspicions, which produced the 
 most whimsical self-torment. 
 
 Thus, in one of his disputes with them, relative to the goods 
 on board, some of the packages of which they wished to open, to 
 take out articles of clothing for the men or presents for the 
 natives, he was so harsh and peremptory that they lost all 
 patience, and hinted that they were the strongest party, and might 
 reduce him to a very ridiculous dilemma, by taking from him the 
 command. 
 
 A thought now flashed across the captain's mind that they 
 really had a design to depose him, and that, having picked up 
 
'78 ASTORIA. 
 
 some information at Owyliee, possibly of war between the United 
 States and England, they meant to alter the destination of the 
 voyage ; perhaps to seize upon ship and cargo for their own use. 
 
 Once haying conceived this suspicion, every thing went to fos 
 ter it. They had distributed firearms among some of their men, 
 a common precaution among the fur traders when mingling with 
 the natives. This, however, looked like preparation. Then sev- 
 eral of the partners and clerks and some of the men, being Scots- 
 men, were actpainted with the Gaelic, and held long conversations 
 together in that language These conversations were considered 
 by the captain of a " mysterious and unwarrantable nature," and 
 related, no doubt, to some foul conspiracy that was brewing 
 among them. He frankly avows such suspicions, in his letter to 
 Mr. Astor, but intimates that he stood ready to resist any trea- 
 sonous outbreak ; and seems to think that the evidence of prepa- 
 ration on his part had an effect in overawing the conspirators. 
 
 The fact is, as we have since been informed by one of the par- 
 ties, it was a mischievous pleasure with some of the partners and 
 clerks, who were young men, to play upon the suspicious temper 
 and splenetic humors of the captain. To this we may ascribe 
 many of their whimsical pranks and absurd propositions, and, 
 above all, their mysterious collocjuies in Gaelic. 
 
 In this sore and irritable mood did the captain pursue his 
 course, keeping a wary eye on every movement, and bristling up 
 whenever the detested sound of the Gaelic language grated upon 
 his ear. Nothing occurred, however, materially to disturb the 
 residue of the voyage excepting a violent storm ; and on the 
 twenty-second of March, the Tonquin arrived at the mouth of the 
 Oregon, or Columbia Eiver. 
 
 The aspect of tho river and the adjacent coast was wild and 
 dangerous. The mouth of the Columbia is upwards of four 
 miles wide with a peninsula and promontory on one side, and a 
 
BARS AND BREAKERS. 79 
 
 long low spit of land on the other ; between which a sand bar 
 and chain of breakers almost block up the entrance. The inte- 
 rior of the country rises into successive ranges of mountains, 
 which, at the time of the arrival of the Tonquin, were covered 
 with snow. 
 
 A fresh wind from the northwest sent a rough tumbling sea 
 upon the coast, which broke upon the bar in furious surges, and 
 extended a sheet of foam almost across the mouth of the river. 
 Under these circumstances the captain did not think it prudent 
 to approach within three leagues, until the bar should be sounded 
 and the channel ascertained. Mr. Fox, the chief mate, was or- 
 dered to this service in the whaleboat, accompanied by John Mar- 
 tin, an old seaman, who had formerly visited the river, and by 
 three Canadians. Fox requested to have regular sailors to man 
 the boat, but the captain would not spare them from the service 
 of the ship, and supposed the Canadians, being expert boatmen 
 on lakes and rivers, were competent to the service, especially 
 when directed and aided by Fox and Martin. Fox seems to have 
 lost all firmness of spirit on the occasion, and to have regarded 
 the service with a misgiving heart. He came to the partners for 
 sympathy, knowing their differences with the captain, and the 
 tears were in his eyes as he represented his case. " I am sent 
 off," said he, " without seamen to man my boat, in boisterous 
 weather, and on the most dangerous part of the northwest coast. 
 My uncle was lost a few years ago on this same bar, and I am 
 now going to lay my bones alongside of his." The partners 
 sympathized in his apprehensions, and remonstrated with the 
 captain. The latter, however, was not to be moved. He had 
 been displeased with Mr. Fox in the earlier part of the voyage, 
 considering him indolent and inactive ; and probably thought hia 
 present repugnance arose from a want of true nautical spirit. 
 The interference of the partners in the business of the ship, also. 
 
80 ASTORIA. 
 
 was not calculated to have a favorable effect on a stickler for 
 autliority like himself, especially in his actual state of feeling 
 towards them. 
 
 At one o'clock, P. M., therefore, Fox and his comrades set off 
 in the whaleboat, which is represented as small in size, and crazy 
 in condition. All eyes were strained after the little bark as it 
 pulled for shore, rising and sinking with the huge rolling waves, 
 until it entered, a mere speck, among the foaming breakers, and 
 was soon lost to view. Evening set in, night succeeded and 
 passed away, and morning returned, but without the return of 
 the boat. 
 
 As the wind had moderated, the ship stood near to the land, 
 so as to command a view of the river's mouth. Nothing was to 
 be seen but a wild chaos of tumbling wavei^ breaking upon the 
 bar, and apparently forming a foaming barrier from shore to 
 shore. Towards night the ship again stood out to gain sea-room, 
 and a gloom was visible in every countenance. The captain him- 
 self shared in the general anxiety, and probably repented of his 
 peremptory orders. Another weary and watchful night suc- 
 ceeded, during which the wind subsided, and the weather became 
 serene. 
 
 On the following day, the ship having drifted near the land, 
 anchored in fourteen fathoms water, to the northward of the 
 long peninsula or promontory which forms the north side of the 
 entrance, and is called Cape Disappointment. The pinnace was 
 then manned, and two of the partners, Mr. David Stuart and 
 Mr. M'Kay, set off in the hope of learning something of the fate 
 of the whaleboat. The surf, however, broke with such violence 
 along the shore that they could find no landing place. Several 
 of the natives appeared on the beach and made signs to them to 
 row round the cape, but they thought it most prudent to return 
 to the ship. 
 
PERILOUS SERVICE 81 
 
 The wind now springing up, the Tonquin got under way, and 
 Btood in to seek the channel ; but was again deterred, by the 
 frightful aspect of the breakers, from venturing within a league. 
 Here she hove to ; and Mr. Mumford, the second mate, was dis- 
 patched with four hands, in the pinnace, to sound across the 
 channel until he should find four fathoms depth. The pinnace 
 entered among the breakers, but was near being lost, and with 
 difficulty got back to the ship. The captain insisted that Mr. 
 Mumford had steered too much to the southward. He now 
 turned to Mr. Aiken, an able mariner, destined to command the 
 schooner intended for the coasting trade, and ordered him, to- 
 gether with John Coles, sail-maker, Stephen Weekes, armorer, 
 and two Sandwich Islanders, to proceed ahead and take sound 
 ings, while the ship should follow under easy sail. In this way 
 they proceeded until Aiken had ascertained the channel, when 
 signal was given from the ship for Jiim to return on board. He 
 was then within pistol shot, but so furious was the current, and 
 tumultuous the breakers, that the boat became unmanageable, and 
 was hurried away, the crew crying out piteously for assistance. 
 In a few moments she could not be seen from the ship's deck. 
 Some of the passengers climbed to the mizzen top, and beheld 
 her still struggling to reach the ship ; but shortly after she 
 broached broadside to the waves, and her case seemed desperate. 
 The attention of those on board of the ship was now called to 
 their own safety. They were in shallow water ; the vessel struck • 
 repeatedly, the waves broke over her, and there was danger of 
 her foundering. At length she got into seven fathoms water, and 
 the wind lulling, and the night coming on, cast anchor. With 
 the darkness their anxieties increased. 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 
 
82 ASTORIA. 
 
 their lost comrades mingling with the uproar of the elements. 
 For a time, too, the rapidly ebbing tide threatened to sweep them 
 from their precarious anchorage. At length the reflux of the 
 tide, and the springing up of the wind, enabled them to quit their 
 dangerous situation and take shelter in a small bay within Cape 
 Disappointment, where they rode in safety during the residue of 
 a stormy night, and enjoyed a brief interval of refreshing sleep. 
 
 With the light of day returned their cares and anxieties. 
 They looked out from the mast-head over a wild coast, and wilder 
 sea, but could discover no trace of the two boats and their crews 
 that were missing. Several of the natives came on board with 
 peltries, but there was no disposition to trade. They were inter- 
 rogated by signs after the lost boats, but could not understand 
 the inquiries. 
 
 Parties now went on shore and scoured the neighborhood. 
 One of these was headed by the captain. They had not pro- 
 ceeded far when they beheld a person at a distance in civilized 
 garb. As he drew near he proved to be Weekes, the armorer. 
 There was a burst of joy, for it was hoped his comrades were 
 near at hand. His story, however, was one of disaster. He and 
 his companions had found it impossible to govern their boat, 
 having no rudder, and being beset by rapid and whirling currents 
 and boisterous surges. After long struggling they had let her 
 go at the mercy of the waves, tossing about, sometimes with her 
 bow, sometimes with her broadside to the surges, threatened each 
 instant with destruction, yet repeatedly escaping, until a huge sea 
 broke over and swamped her. Weekes was overwhelmed by the 
 boiling waves, but emerging above the surface, looked round for 
 his companions. Aikin and Coles were not to be seen ; near him 
 were the two Sandwich Islanders, stripping themselves of their 
 clothing that they might swim more freely. He did the same, 
 and the boat floating near to him he seized hold of it. The two 
 
HUNTING AND FISHING INDIANS. 87 
 
 Indians of the sea-coast. The former, continually on horseback 
 scouring the plains, gaining their food by hardy exercise, and 
 subsisting chiefly on flesh, are generally tall, sinewy, meagre, but 
 well formed, and of bold and fierce deportment: the latter, 
 lounging about the river banks, or scpatting and curved up in 
 their canoes, are generally low in stature, ill-shaped, with crooked 
 logs, thick ankles, and broad flat feet. They are inferior also in 
 muscular power and activity, and in game qualities and appear- 
 ance, to their hard-riding brethren of the prairies. 
 
 Having premised these few particulars concerning the neigh- 
 boring Indians, we will return to the immediate concerns of the 
 Tonquin and her crew. 
 
 Further search was made for Mr. Fox and his party, but with 
 no better success, and they were at length given up as lost. In 
 the meantime, the captain and some of the partners explored the 
 river for some distance in a large boat, to select a suitable place 
 for the trading post. Their old jealousies and difi'erences con- 
 tinued ; they never could coincide in their choice, and the captain 
 objected altogether to any site so high up the river. They all 
 returned, therefore, to Baker's Bay in no very good humor. 
 The partners proposed to examine the opposite shore, but the 
 captain was impatient of any further delay. His eagerness to 
 "get on" had increased upon him. He thought all these excur- 
 sions a sheer loss of time, and was resolved to land at once, build 
 a shelter for the reception of that part of his cargo destined for 
 the use of the settlement, and, having cleared his ship of it and 
 of his irksome shipmates, to depart upon the prosecution of his 
 coasting voyage, according to orders 
 
 On the following day, therefore, without troubling himself to 
 consult the partners, he landed in Baker's Bay, and proceeded to 
 erect a shed for the reception of the rigging, equipments, and stores 
 of the schooner that was to be built for the use of the settlement. 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 Tliis dogged determination on tlie part of the sturdy captain 
 gave liigh offence to Mr. M'Dougal, who now considered himself 
 at the head of the concern, as Mr. Aster's representative and 
 proxy. He set off the same day, (April 5 th,) accompanied by 
 Mr. David Stuart, for the southern shore, intending to be back 
 by the seventh. Not having the captain to contend with, the}; 
 soon pitched upon a spot which appeared to them favorable for 
 the intended establishment. It was on a point of land called 
 Point George, having a very good harbor, where vessels, not 
 exceeding two hundred tons burden, might anchor within fifty 
 yards of the shore. 
 
 After a day thus profitably spent, they re-crossed the river, 
 but landed on the northern shore several miles above the anchor- 
 ing ground of the Tonquin, in the neighborhood of Chinook, and 
 visited the village of that tribe. Here they were received with 
 great hospitality by the chief, who was named Comcomly, a 
 shrewd old savage, with but one eye, who will occasionally figure 
 m this narrative. Each village forms a petty sovereignty, gov- 
 erned by its own chief, who, however, possesses but little authori- 
 ty, unless he be a man of wealth and substance ; that is to say, 
 possessed of canoes, slaves, and wives. The greater number of 
 these, the greater is the chief. How many wives this one-eyed po- 
 tentate maintained we are not told, but he certainly possessed great 
 sway, not merely over his own tribe, but over the neighborhood. 
 
 Having mentioned slaves, we would observe that slavery exists 
 among several of the tribes beyond the Rocky Mountains. The 
 slaves arc well treated while in good health, but occupied in all 
 kinds of drudgery. Should they become useless, however, by 
 sickness or old age, they are totally neglected, and left to perish ; 
 nor is any respect paid to their bodies after death. 
 
 A singular custom prevails, not merely among the Chinooks, 
 but among most of the tribes about this part of the coast, which 
 
AN ARISTOCRACY OF FLATHEADS. 89 
 
 is tlie flattening of the forehead. The process by which this 
 deformity is effected commences immediately after birth. The 
 infant is laid in a wooden trough, by way of cradle. The end on 
 which the head reposes is higher than the rest. A padding is 
 placed on the forehead of the infant, with a piece of bark above 
 it, and is pressed down by cords, which pass through holes on 
 each side of the trough. As the tightening of the padding and 
 the pressing of the head to the board is gradual, the process 
 is said not to be attended with much pain. The appearance of 
 the infant, however, while in this state of compression, is whimsi- 
 cally hideous, and " its little black eyes," we are told, " being 
 forced out by the tightness of the bandages, resemble those of a 
 mouse choked in a trap." 
 
 About a year's pressure is sufficient to produce the desired 
 effect, at the end of which time the child emerges from its band- 
 ages a complete flathead, and continues so through life. It must 
 be noted, however, that this flattening of the head has something 
 in it of aristocratical significancy, like the crippling of the feet 
 among Chinese ladies of quality. At any rate, it is a sign of 
 freedom. No slave is permitted to bestow this enviable deformity 
 upon his child ; all the slaves, therefore, are roundheads. 
 
 With this worthy tribe of Chinooks the two partners passed a 
 part of the day very agreeably. M'Dougal, who "vf as somewhat vain 
 of his official rank, had given it to be understood that they were 
 two chiefs of a great trading company, about to be established 
 here, and the quicksighted, though one-eyed chief, who was some- 
 what practised in traffic with white men, immediately perceived the 
 policy of cultivating the friendship of two such important visitors. 
 He regaled them, therefore, to tlie best of his ability, with abun- 
 dance of salmon and wappatoo. The next morning, March 7th, 
 they prepared to return to the vessel, according to promise. 
 They had eleven miles of open bay to traverse ; the wind was 
 
90 ASTORIA. 
 
 fresli, tlie waves ran liigh. Comcomly remonstrated with ttem 
 on the hazard to which they would be exposed. They were reso- 
 lute, however, and launched their boat, while the wary chieftain 
 followed at some short distance in his canoe. Scarce had they 
 rowed a mile, when a wave broke over their boat and upset it. 
 They were in imminent peril of drowning, especially Mr 
 M'Dougal, who could not swim. Comcomly, however, came bound- 
 ing over the waves in his light canoe, and snatched them from a 
 watery grave. 
 
 They were taken on shore and a fire made, at which they dried 
 their clothes, after which Comcomly conducted them back to his 
 village. Here every thing was done that could be devised for 
 their entertainment during three days that they were detained 
 by bad weather. Comcomly made his people perform antics be- 
 fore them ; and his wives and daughters endeavored, by all the 
 soothing and endearing arts of women, to find favor in their eyes. 
 Some even painted their bodies with red clay, and anointed 
 themselves with fish oil, to give additional lustre to their charms. 
 Mr. M'Dougal seems to have had a heart susceptible to the in- 
 fluence of the gentler sex. "Whether or no it was first touched 
 on this occasion we do not learn ; but it will be found, in the 
 course of this work, that one of the daughters of the hospitable 
 Comcomly eventually made a conquest of the great eri of the 
 American Fur Company. 
 
 V/hen the weather had moderated and the sea become tranquil, 
 the one-eyed chief of the Chinooks manned his state canoe, and 
 conducted his guests in safety to the ship, where they were wel- 
 comed with joy, for apprehensions had been felt for their safety. 
 Comcomly and his people were then entertained on board of the 
 Tonquin, and liberally rewarded for their hospitality and services. 
 They returned home highly satisfied, promising to remain faithful 
 friends and allies of the white men. 
 
POINT GEORGE. (jl 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 From tlio report made by the two exploring partners, it was deter- 
 mined that Point George should be the site of the trading house. 
 These gentlemen, it is true, were not perfectly satisfied with the 
 place, and were desirous of continuing their search ; but Captain 
 Thorn was impatient to land his cargo and continue his voyage, 
 and protested against any more of what he termed " sporting 
 excursions." 
 
 Accordingly, on the 12th of April the launch was freighted 
 with all things necessary for the purpose, and sixteen persons de- 
 parted in her to commence the establishment, leaving the Tonquin 
 to follow as soon as the harbor could be sounded. 
 
 Crossing the wide mouth of the river, the party landed, and 
 encamped at the bottom of a small bay within Point George. 
 The situation chosen for the fortified post was on an elevation 
 facing to the north, with the wide estuary, its sand bars and 
 tumultuous breakers spread out before it, and the promontory of 
 Cape Disappointment, fifteen miles distant, closing the prospect 
 to the left. The surrounding country was in all the fseshness of 
 spring ; the trees were in the young leaf, the weather was superb, 
 and every thing looked delightful to men just emancipated from 
 a long confinement on shipboard. The Tonquin shortly after- 
 wards made her way through the intricate channel, and came to 
 anchor in the little bay, and was saluted from the encampment 
 with three vollies of musketry and three cheers. She returned 
 the salute with three cheers and three guns. 
 
 All hands now set to work cutting down trees, clearing away 
 
92 ASTORIA. 
 
 thickets, and marking out the place for the residence, storehoustr 
 and powder magazine, which were to be built of logs and covered 
 with bark. Others landed the timbers intended for the frame of the 
 coasting vessel, and proceeded to put them together, while others 
 prepared a garden spot, and sowed the seeds of various vegetables. 
 
 The next thought was to give a name to the embryo metropr- 
 lis-' the one that naturally presented itself was that of the p" 
 jector and supporter of the whole enterprise. It was accordingly, 
 named Astoria. 
 
 The neighboring Indians now swarmed about the place. Some 
 brought a few land-otter and sea-otter skins to barter, but in very 
 scanty parcels ; the greater number came prying about to gratify 
 their curiosity, for they are said to be impertinently inquisitive ; 
 while not a few came with no other design than to pilfer ; the 
 laws of meum and tuuin being but slightly respected among 
 them. Some of them beset the ship in their canoes, among wh. Ji 
 was the Chinook chief Comeomly, and his liege subjects. These 
 were well received by Mr. M'Dougal, who was delighted with an 
 opportunity of entering upon his functions, and acquiring impor- 
 tance in the eyes of his future neighbors. The confusion thus 
 produced on board, and the derangement of the cargo caused by 
 this petty trade, stirred the spleen of the captain, who had a 
 sovereign contempt for the one-eyed chieftain and all his crew. 
 He complained loudly of having his ship lumbered by a host of 
 " Indian ragamuffins," who had not a skin to dispose of, and at 
 length put his positive interdict upon all trafficking on board. 
 Upon this Mr. M'Dougal was fain to land, and establish his quar- 
 ters at the encampment, where he could exercise his rights and 
 enjoy his dignities without control. 
 
 The feud, however, between these rival powers still continued, 
 but was chiefly carried on by letter. Day after day^ and week 
 after week elapsed, yet the storehouses requisite for the reception 
 
VVEEKES THE ARMORER. 83 
 
 islanders joined Mm, and, uniting tlieir forces, they succeeded in 
 -turning the boat upon her keel ; then bearing down her stern and 
 ■• rocking her, they forced out so much water that she was able to 
 bear the weight of a man without sinking. One of the islanders 
 now got in, and in a little while bailed out the water with his 
 hands. The other swam about and collected the oars, and they 
 "Hll three got once more on board. 
 
 ^ By this time the tide had swept them beyond the breakers, 
 > and Weekes called on his companions to row for land. They were 
 BO chilled and benumbed by the cold, however, that they lost all 
 heart, and absolutely refused. Weekes was equally chilled, but 
 had superior sagacity and self-command. He counteracted tho 
 tendency to drowsiness and stupor which cold produces by keep- 
 ing himself in constant exercise ; and seeing that the vessel was 
 • advancing, and that every thing depended upon himself, he set to 
 S-^ork to scull the boat clear of the bar, and into quiet water. 
 ''^ Towards midnight one of the poor islanders expired : his com- 
 panion threw himself on his corpse and could not be persuaded to 
 leave him. The dismal night wore away amidst these horrors : as 
 the day dawned, Weekes found himself near the land. He 
 steered directly for it, and at length, with the aid of the surf, ran 
 his boat high upon a sandy beach. 
 
 Finding that one of the Sandwich Islanders yet gave signs of 
 life, he aided him to leave the boat, and set out with him towards 
 the adjacent woods. The poor fellow, however, was too feeble to 
 follow him, and Weekes was soon obliged to abandon him to his 
 fate and provide for his own safety. Falling upon a beaten 
 ■ path, he pursued it, and after a few hours came to a part of the 
 coast where, to his surprise and joy, he beheld the ship at anchor, 
 and was met by the captain and his party. 
 
 After Weekes had related his adventures, three parties were 
 dispatched to beat up the coast in search of the unfortunate 
 
84 ASTORIA. 
 
 islander. They returned at niglit without success, though they 
 had used the utmost diligence. On the following day the search 
 was resumed, and the poor fellow was at length discovered lying 
 beneath a group of rocks, his legs swollen, his feet torn and bloody 
 from walking through bushes and briers, and himself half-dead 
 with cold, hunger, and fatigue. Weekes and this islander were 
 the only survivors of the crew of the jolly-boat, and no trace was 
 ever discovered of Fox and his party. Thus eight men were lost 
 on the first approach to the coast ; a commencement that cast a 
 gloom over the spirits of the whole party, and was regarded by 
 some of the superstitious as an omen that boded no good to the 
 enterprise. 
 
 Towards night the Sandwich Islanders went on shore, to bury 
 the body of their unfortunate countryman who had perished in 
 the boat. On arriving at the place where it had been left, they 
 dug a grave in the sand, in which they deposited the corpse, with 
 a biscuit under one of the arms, some lard under the chin, and a 
 small quantity of tobacco, as provisions for its journey in the land 
 of spirits. Having covered the body with sand and flints, they 
 kneeled along the grave in a double row, with their faces turned 
 to the east, while one who ofl&ciated as a priest sprinkled them 
 with water from a hat. In so doing he recited a kind of prayer 
 or invocation, to which, at intervals, the others made responses. 
 Such were the simple rites performed by these poor savages at 
 the grave of their comrade on the shores of a strange land ; and 
 when these were done, they rose and returned in silence to the 
 ship, without once casting a look behind. 
 
MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA. 85 
 
 CHAPTER YIIL 
 
 The Columbia, or Oregon, for tlie distance of thirty or forty 
 miles from its entrance into the sea, is, properly speaking, a mere 
 estuary, indented by deep bays so as to vary from three to seven 
 miles in width ; and is rendered extremely intricate and danger- 
 ous by shoals reaching nearly from shore to shore, on which, at 
 times, the winds and currents produce foaming and tumultuous 
 breakers. The mouth of the river proper is but about half a 
 mile wide, formed by the contracting shores of the estuary. The 
 entrance from the sea, as we have already observed, is bounded 
 on the south side by a flat sandy spit of land, stretching into the 
 ocean. This is commonly called Point Adams. The opposite, 
 or northern side, is Cape Disappointment ; a kind of peninsula, 
 terminating in a steep kuoll or promontory crowned with a forest 
 of pine trees, and connected with the main-land by a low and 
 narrow neck. Immediately within this cape is a wide, open bay, 
 terminating at Chinook Point, so called from a neighboring tribe 
 of Indians. This was called Baker's Bay, and here the Tonquin 
 was anchored. 
 
 The natives inhabiting the lower part of the river, and with 
 whom the company was likely to have the most frequent inter 
 course, were divided at this time into four tribes, the Chinooks^ 
 Clatsops, Wahkiacums, and Cathlamahs. They resembled each 
 other in person, dress, language, and manner ; and were probably 
 from the same stock, but broken into tribes, or rather hordes, by 
 those feuds and schisms frequent among Indians. 
 
 These people generally live by fishing. It is true they occa- 
 
86 ASTORIA 
 
 Bionally hunt the elk and deer, and ensnare the waterfowl of their 
 ponds and rivers, but these are casual luxuries. Their chief sub- 
 sistence is derived from the salmon and other fish which abound in 
 the Columbia and its tributary streams, aided by roots and herbs, 
 especially the wappatoo, which is found on the islands of the river. 
 
 As tlie Indians of the plains who depend upon the chase are 
 bold and expert riders, and pride themselves upon their horses, 
 so these piscatory tribes of the coast excel in the management of 
 canoes, and are never more at home than when riding upon the 
 waves. Their canoes vary in form and size. Some are upwards 
 of fifty feet long, cut out of a single tree, either fir or white cedar, 
 and capable of carrying thirty persons. They have thwart pieces 
 from side to side about three inches thick, and their gunwales 
 flare outwards, so as to cast oif the surges of the waves. The 
 bow and stern are decorated with grotesque figures of men and 
 animals, sometimes five feet in height. 
 
 In managing their canoes they kneel two and two along the 
 bottom, sitting on their heels, and wielding paddles from four to 
 five feet long, while one sits on the stern and steers with a paddle 
 of the same kind. The women are equally expert with the men 
 in managing the canoe, and generally take the helm. 
 
 It is surprising to see with what fearless unconcern these 
 savages venture in their light barks upon the roughest and most 
 tempestuous seas. They seem to ride upon the waves like sea- 
 fowl. Should a surge throw the canoe upon its side and endan- 
 ger its overturn, those to windward lean over the upper gunwale, 
 thrust their paddles deep into the wave, apparently catch the water 
 and force it under the canoe, and by this action not merely regain 
 an equilibrium, but give their bark a vigorous impulse forward. 
 
 The efi"ect of different modes of life upon the human frame 
 and human character is strikingly instanced in the contrast 
 between the hunting Indians of the prairies, and the piscatory 
 
SAILING OF THE TONQUIN. 93 
 
 of tlie cargo were not completed, and the ship was detained in 
 port ; while the captain was teased by frequent requisitions for 
 various articles for the use of the establishment, or the trade 
 with the natives. An angry correspondence took place, in which 
 he complained bitterly of the time wasted in " smoking and sport- 
 ing parties," as he termed the reconnoitering expeditions, and in 
 clearing and preparing meadow ground and turnip patches, instead 
 of dispatching his ship. At length all these jarring matters were 
 adjusted, if not to the satisfaction, at least to the acquiescence of 
 all parties. The part of the cargo destined for the use of Astoria 
 was landed, and the ship left free to proceed oti her voyage. 
 
 As the Tonquin was to coast to the north, to trade for pel- 
 tries at the different harbors, and to touch at Astoria on her 
 return in the autumn, it was unanimously determined that Mr. 
 M'Kay should go in her as supercargo, taking with him Mr. 
 Lewis as ship's clerk. On the first of June the ship got under 
 way, and dropped down to Baker's Bay, where she was detained for 
 a few days by a head wind ; but early in the morning of the fifth 
 stood out to sea with a fine breeze and swelling canvas, and swept 
 off gayly on her fatal voyage, from which she was never to return ! 
 
 On reviewing the conduct of Captain Thorn, and examining 
 his peevish and somewhat whimsical correspondence, the impres- 
 sion left upon our mind is, upon the whole, decidedly in his favor. 
 While we smile at the simplicity of his heart and the narrowness 
 of his views, which made him regard every thing out of the direct 
 path of his daily duty, and the rigid exigencies of the service, as 
 trivial and impertinent, which inspired him with contempt for the 
 swelling vanity of some of his coadjutors, and the literary exer- 
 cises and curious researches of others, we cannot but applaud 
 that strict and conscientious devotion to the interests of his em- 
 ployer, and to what he considered the true objects of the enter- 
 prise in which he was engaged. He certainly was to blame 
 
94 ASTORIA. 
 
 occasionally for the asperity of his manners, and the arbitrai'y 
 nature of his measures, yet much that is exceptionable in this 
 part of his conduct may he traced to rigid notions of duty, ac- 
 quired in that tyrannical school, a ship of war, and to the con- 
 struction given by his companions to the orders of Mr. Astor, so 
 liitle in conformity with his own. His mind, too, appears to 
 have become almost diseased by the suspicions he had ^ormed as 
 to the loyalty of his associates,, and the nature of their ultimate 
 designs ; 3^et on this point there were circumstances to, in some 
 measure, justify him. The relations between the United States 
 and Great BritainVere at that time in a critical state ; in fact, 
 the two countries were on the eve of a war. Several of the part- 
 ners were British subjects, and might be ready to desert the flag 
 under which they acted, should a war take j)lace. Their appli- 
 cation to the British minister at New-York shows the dubious feel- 
 ing with which they had embarked in the present enterj)rise. They 
 had been in the employ of the Northwest Company, and might 
 be disposed to rally again under that association* should events 
 threaten the prosperity of this embryo establishment of Mr. 
 Astor. Besides, we liavS the fact, averred to us by one of the 
 partners, that some of them, who were young and heedless, took 
 a mischievous and unwarrantable pleasure in playing upon the 
 jealous temper of the captain, and affecting mysterious consulta- 
 tions and sinister movements. 
 
 These circumstances are cited in palliation of the doubts and 
 surmises of Captain Thorn, which might otherwise appear strange 
 and unreasonable. That most of the partners were perfectly up- 
 right and faithful in the discharge of the trust reposed in them 
 we are fully satisfied ; still the honest captain was not invariably 
 wrong in his suspicions ; and that he formed a pretty just opin- 
 ion of the integrity of that aspiring personage, Mr. M'Dougal, 
 will be substantially proved in the sequel. 
 
ALARMS FROM THE INTERIOR. 95 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 While the Astorians were busily occupied in completing tlieir 
 factory and fort, a report was brought to them by an Indian from 
 the upper part of the river, that a parly of thirty white men had 
 appeared on the banks of the Columbia, and were actually build- 
 ing houses at the second rapids. This information caused much 
 disquiet. We have already mentioned tliat the Northwest Com- 
 pany had established posts to the west of the Kocky Mountains, in 
 a district called by them New Caledonia, which extended from lat. 
 52° to 55° north, being within the British territories. It was now 
 apprehended that they were advancing within the American 
 limits, and were endeavoring to seize upon the upper part of the 
 river and forestall the American Fur Company in the surround- 
 ing trade ; in which case bloody feuds might be anticipated, such 
 as had prevailed between the rival fur companies in former 
 days. 
 
 A reconnoitring party was sent up the river to ascertain the 
 truth of the report. They ascended to the foot of the first rapid, 
 about two hundred miles, but could hear nothing of any white 
 men being in the neighborhood. 
 
 Not long after their return, however, further accounts were 
 received, by two wandering Indians, which established the fact, that 
 :he Northwest Company had actually erected a trading-house on 
 :he Spokan Kiver, which falls into the north branch of the 
 Columbia. 
 
 What rendered this intelligence the more disquieting, was the 
 
96 ASTORIA. 
 
 inability of tlie Astorians, in tlieir present reduced state as to 
 numbers, and tlie exigencies of their new establishment, to furnish 
 detachments to penetrate the country in different directions, and 
 fix the posts necessary to secure the interior trade. 
 
 It was resolved, however, at any rate, to advance a counter- 
 check to this post on the Spokan, and one of the partners, Mr. 
 David Stuart, prepared to set out for the purpose with eight men 
 and a small assortment of goods. He was to be guided by the 
 two Indians, who knew the country, and promised to take him to 
 a place not for from the Spokan Kiver, and in a neighborhood 
 abounding with beaver. Here he was to establish himself and to 
 remain for a time, provided he found the situation advantageous 
 and the natives friendly. 
 
 On the 1 5th of July, when Mr. Stuart was nearly ready to em- 
 bark, a canoe made its appearance, standing for the harbor, and 
 manned by nine white men. Much speculation took place who 
 these strangers could be, for it was too soon to expect their own 
 people, under Mr. Hunt, who were to cross the continent. As 
 the canoe drew near, the British standard was distinguished : on 
 coming to land, one of the crew stepped on shore, and announced 
 himself as Mr. David Thompson, astronomer, and partner of the 
 Northwest Company. According to his account, he had set out 
 in the preceding year with a tolerably strong party, and a supply 
 of Indian goods, to cross the Eocky Mountains. A part of his 
 people, however, had deserted him on the eastern side, and re- 
 turned with the goods to the nearest northwest post. He had 
 persisted in crossing the mountains with eight men, who remained 
 true to him. They had traversed the higher regions, and ven- 
 tured near the source of the Columbia, where, in the spring, they 
 had constructed a cedar canoe, the same in which they had reached 
 Astoria. 
 
 This, in fact, was the party dispatched by the Northwest 
 
A SPY IN THE CAMP. 97 
 
 Company to anticipate Mr. Aster in his intention of effecting a 
 settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River. It appears, 
 from information subsecjuently derived from other sources, that 
 Mr. Thompson had pushed on his course with great haste, calling 
 at all the Indian villages in his march, presenting them with 
 British flags, and even planting them at the forks of the rivers 
 proclaiming formally that he took possession of the country in 
 the name of the king of Great Britain for the Northwest Com- 
 pany. As his original jjlan was defeated by the desertion of his 
 people, it is probable that he descended the river simply to recon- 
 noitre, and ascertain whether an American settlement had been 
 commenced. 
 
 Mr. Thompson was, no doubt, the first white man who de- 
 scended the northern branch of the Columbia from so near its 
 source. Lewis and Clarke struck the main body of the river at 
 the forks, about four hundred miles from its mouth. They en- 
 tered it from Lewis Biver, its southern branch, and thence 
 descended. 
 
 Though Mr. Thompson could be considei'cd as little better 
 than a spy in the camp, he was received Avith great cordiality by 
 Mr. M'Dougal, who had a lurking feeling of companionship and 
 good-will for all of the Northwest Company. He invited him to 
 head-quarters, where he and his people were hospitably enter- 
 tained. Nay, further, being somewhat in extremity, he was fur- 
 nished by Mr. M'Dougal with goods and provisions for his journey 
 back, across the mountains, much against the wishes of Mr 
 David Stuart, who did not think the object of his visit entitled 
 him to any favor. 
 
 On the 23d of July, Mr. Stuart set out upon his expedition 
 to the interior. His party consisted of four of the clerks, Messrs. 
 Pillefc, Boss, M'Lennon, and Montigny, two Canadian voyageurs, 
 and two natives of the Sandwich islands. They had three canoes 
 
98 ASTORIA. 
 
 well laden with provisionSj and with goods and necessaries for a 
 trading establishment. 
 
 Mr. Thompson and his party set out in company with them, 
 it being his intention to proceed direct to Montreal. The part- 
 ners at Astoria forwarded by him a short letter to Mr. Astor, 
 informing him of their safe arrival at the mouth of the Columbia, 
 and that they had not yet heard of Mr. Hunt. The little squad* 
 ron of canoes set sail with a favorable breeze, and soon passed 
 Tongue Point, a long, high, and rocky promontory, covered with 
 trees, and stretching far into the river. Opposite to this, on the 
 northern shore, is a deep bay, where the Columbia anchored at 
 the time of the discovery, and which is still called Gray's Bay, 
 from the name of her commander. 
 
 From hence, the general course of the river for about seventy 
 miles, was nearly southeast.; varying in breadth according to its 
 bays and indentations, and navigable for vessels of three hundred 
 tons. The shores were in some places high and rocky, with low 
 marshy islands at their feet, subject to inundation, and covered 
 with v/illows, poplars, and other trees that love an alluvial soil 
 Sometimes the mountains receded, and gave place to beautiful 
 plains and noble forests. While the river margin was richly 
 fringed with trees of deciduous foliage, the rough uplands were 
 crowned by majestic pines, and firs of gigantic size, some tower- 
 ing to the height of between two and three hundred feet, with 
 proportionate circumference. Out of these the Indians wrought 
 their great canoes and pirogues. 
 
 At one part of the river, they passed, on the northern side, an 
 isolated rock, about one hundred and fifty feet high, rising from 
 low marshy soil, and totally disconnected with the adjacent 
 mountains. This was held in great reverence by 'the neighboring 
 Indians, being one of their principal places of sepulture. Tho 
 same provident care for the deceased that prevails among the 
 
MOUNT COFFIN— INDIAN SEPULCHRES. 99 
 
 hunting tribes of tlie prairies is observable among the piscatory 
 tribes of tlie rivers and sea-coast. Among the former, the favor 
 ite horse of the hunter is buried with him in the same funereal 
 moundj and his bow and arrows are laid by his side, that he may 
 be perfectly equipped for the " happy hunting grounds " of the 
 land of spirits. Among the latter, the Indian is wrapped in his 
 mantle of skins, laid in his canoe, with his paddle, his fishing 
 spear, and other implements beside him, and placed aloft on 
 some rock or other eminence overlooking the river, or bay, or 
 lake, that he has frequented. He is thus fitted out to launch 
 away upon those placid streams and sunny lakes stocked with 
 all kinds of fish and waterfotvl, which are prepared in the next 
 world for those who have acquitted themselves as good sons, good 
 fathers, good husbands, and, above all, good fishermen, during 
 their mortal sojourn. 
 
 The isolated rock in question presented a spectacle of the 
 kind, numerous dead bodies being deposited in canoes on its 
 summit ; while on poles around were trophies, or, rather, funereal 
 offerings of trinkets, garments, baskets of roots, and other articles 
 for the use of the deceased. A reverential feeling protects these 
 sacred spots from robbery or insult. The friends of the deceased 
 especially the women, repair here at sunrise and sunset for some 
 time after his death, singing his funeral dirge, and uttering loud 
 wailings and lamentations. 
 
 From the number of dead bodies in canoes observed upon this 
 rock by the first explorers of the river, it received the name of 
 Mount Coffin, which it continues to bear. 
 
 Beyond this rock they passed the mouth of a river on the 
 right bank of the Columbia, which appeared to take its rise in a 
 distant mountain, covered with snow. The Indian name of this 
 river was the Cowleskee. Some miles further on they came to 
 the great Columbian valley, so called by Lewis and Clarke. It 
 
100 ASTORIA. 
 
 is sixty miles in width, and extends far to the south-southeast, 
 between parallel ridges of mountains, which bound it on the east 
 and west. Through the centre of this valley flowed a large and 
 beautiful stream, called the Wallamot,* which came wandering, 
 for several hundred miles, through a yet unexplored wilderness. 
 The sheltered situation of this immense valley had an obvious 
 effect upon the climate. It was a region of great beauty and 
 luxuriance, with lakes and pools, and green meadows shaded by 
 noble groves. Various tribes were said to reside in this valley, 
 and along the banks of the Wallamot. 
 
 About eight miles above the mouth of the Wallamot the little 
 squadron arrived at Vancouver's Point, so called in honor of that 
 celebrated voyager by his lieutenant (Broughton) when he ex- 
 plored the river. This point is said to present one of the most 
 beautiful scenes on the Columbia ; a lovely meadow, with a silver 
 sheet of limpid water in the centre, enlivened by wild-fowl, a range 
 of hills crowned by forests, while the prospect is closed by Mount 
 Hood, a magnificent mountain rising into a lofty peak, and cov- 
 ered with snow ; the ultimate landmark of the first explorers of 
 the river. 
 
 Point Vancouver is about one hundred miles from Astoria. 
 Here the reflux of the tide ceases to be perceptible. To this place 
 vessels of two and three hundred tons burden may ascend. .The 
 party under the command of Mr. Stuart had been three' or four 
 days in reaching it, though we have forborne to notice their daily 
 progress and nightly encampments. 
 
 From Point Vancouver the river turned towards the northeast, 
 and became more contracted and rapid, with occasional islands 
 and frequent sand-banks. These islands are -furnished with a 
 number of ponds, and at certain seasons abound with swan, geese, 
 
 * Pronounced Wallamot, the accent being upon the second syllable. 
 
SCENERY OF THE COLUMBIA. 101 
 
 brandtSj cranes, gulls, plover, and other wild-fowl. The shores, 
 too, are low, and closely wooded, and such an undergrowth of 
 vines and rushes as to be almost impassable. 
 
 About thirty miles above Point Vancouver the mountains 
 again approach on both sides of the river, which is bordered by 
 Btupendous precipices, covered with the fir and the white cedar, 
 and enlivened occasionally by beautiful cascades leaping from u, 
 great height, and sending up wreaths of vapor. One of these 
 precipices, or cliffs, is curiously worn by time and weather so as 
 to have the appearance of a ruined fortress, with towers and bat- 
 tlements, beetling high above the river ; while two small cascades, 
 one hundred and fifty feet in height, pitch down from the fissures 
 of the rocks. 
 
 The turbulence and rapidity of the current continually aug- 
 menting as they advanced, gave the voyagers intimation that they 
 were approaching the great obstructions of the river, and at 
 length they arrived at Strawberry Island, so called by Lewis and 
 Clarke, which lies at the foot of the first rapid. As this part of 
 the Columbia will be repeatedly mentioned in the course of this 
 work, being the scene of some of its incidents, we shall give a 
 general description of it in this place. 
 
 The falls or rapids of the Columbia are situated about one 
 hundred and eighty miles above the mouth of the river. The 
 first is a perpendicular cascade of twenty feet, after which there 
 is a swift descent for a mile, between islands of hard black rock, 
 to another pitch of eight feet divided by two rocks. About 
 two and a half miles below this the river expands into a wide 
 basin, seemingly dammed up by a perpendicular ridge of black 
 TOck. A current, however, sets diagonally to the left of this 
 rocky barrier, where there is a chasm forty-five yards in width. 
 Through this the whole body of the river roars along, swelling 
 and whirling and boiling for some distance in the wildest con- 
 
102 ASTORIA. 
 
 fusion. Through this tremendous channel the intrepid explorers 
 of the river, Lewis and Clarke, passed safely in their boats ; the 
 danger being, not from the rocks, but from the great surges and 
 whirlpools. * 
 
 At the distance of a mile and a half from the foot of this 
 narrow channel is a rapid, formed by two rocky islands ; and 
 two miles beyond is a second great fall, over a ledge of rocks 
 twenty feet high, extending nearly from shore to shore. The 
 river is again compressed into a channel from fifty to a hundred 
 feet wide, worn through a rough bed of hard black rock, along 
 which it boils and roars with great fury for the distance of three 
 miles. This is called " The Long Narrows." 
 
 Here is the great fishing place of the Columbia. In the 
 spring of the year, when the water is high, the salmon ascend 
 the river in incredible numbers. As they pass through this nar- 
 row strait, the Indians, standing on the rocks, or on the end ot 
 wooden stages projecting from the banks, scoop them up with 
 small nets distended on hoops and attached to long handles, and 
 cast them on the shore. 
 
 They are then cured and packed in a peculiar manner. After 
 having been opened and disembowelled, they are exposed to the 
 sun on scaffolds erected on the river banks. When sufficiently 
 dry, they are pounded fine between two stones, pressed into the 
 smallest compass, and packed in baskets or bales of grass mat- 
 ting, about two feet long and one in diameter, lined with the cured 
 skin of a salmon. The top is likewise covered with fish skins, 
 secured by cords passing through holes in the edge of the basket 
 Packages are then made, each containing twelve of these bales, 
 seven at bottom, five at top, pressed close to each other, with the 
 corded side upward, wrapped in mats and corded. These are 
 placed in dry situations, and again covered with matting. Each 
 of these packages contains from ninety to a hundred pounds 
 
AN INDIAN FISHING MART. 103 
 
 of dried fish, wliich in this state will keep sound for several 
 years.* 
 
 We have given this process at some length, as furnished by 
 the first explorers, because it marks a practised ingenuity in pre- 
 paring articles of traffic for a market, seldom seen among our 
 aboriginals. For like reasons we would make especial mention 
 of the village of Wish-ram, at the head of the Long Narrows, as 
 being a solitary instance of an aboriginal trading mart, or empo- 
 rium. Here the salmon caught in the neighboring rapids were 
 " warehoused," to await customers. Hither the tribes from the 
 mouth of the Columbia repaired with the fish of the sea-coast, the 
 roots, berries, and especially the wappatoo, gathered in the lower 
 parts of the river, together with goods and trinkets obtained 
 from the ships which casually visit the coast. Hither also the 
 tribes from the Hocky Mountains brought down horses, bear- 
 grass, quamash, and other commodities of the interior. The 
 merchant fishermen at the falls acted as middlemen or factors, 
 and passed the objects of traffic, as it were, cross-handed ; trading 
 away part of the wares received from the mountain tribes to those 
 of the river and the plains, and vice versa: their packages of 
 pounded salmon entered largely into the system of barter, and 
 being carried off in opposite directions, found their way to the 
 savage hunting camps far in the interior, and to the casual white 
 traders who touched upon the coast. 
 
 We have already noticed certain contrarieties of character 
 between the Indian tribes, produced by their diet and mode of 
 life ; and nowhere are they more apparent than about the falls of 
 the Columbia. The Indians of this great fishing mart are repre- 
 sented by the earliest explorers as sleeker and fatter, but less 
 hardy and active, than the tribes of the mountains and the prai- 
 ries, who live by hunting, or of the upper parts of the river, 
 
 * Lewis and Clarke, vol. ii. p. 32. 
 
104 ASTORIA. 
 
 where fisli is scanty, and the inhabitants must eke out their sub- 
 sistence by digging roots or chasing the deer. Indeed, whenever 
 an Indian of the ujDper country is too lazy to hunt, yet is fond of 
 good living, he rejiairs to the falls, to live in abundance without 
 labor. 
 
 " By such worthless dogs as these," says an honest trader in 
 his journal, which now lies before us, " by such worthless dogs as 
 these are these noted fishing-places peopled, which, like our great 
 cities, may with propriety be called the head-quarters of vitiated 
 principles." 
 
 The habits of trade and the avidity of gain have their cor- 
 rupting eifects even in the wilderness, as may be instanced in the 
 members of this aboriginal emporium ; for the same journalist 
 denounces them as " saucy, impudent rascals, who will steal when 
 they can, and pillage whenever a weak party falls in their power." 
 
 That he does not belie them will be evidenced hereafter, when 
 we have occasion again to touch at Wish-ram and navigate the 
 rapids. In the present instance the travellers effected the labo- 
 rious ascent of this part of the river, with all its various por- 
 tages, without molestation, and once more launched away in 
 smooth water above the high falls. 
 
 The two parties continued together, without material impedi- 
 ment, for three or four hundred miles further up the Columbia ; 
 Mr. Thompson appearing to take great interest in the success of 
 Mr. Stuart, and pointing out places favorable, as he said, to the 
 establishment of his contemplated trading post. 
 
 Mr. Stuart, who distrusted his sincerity, at length pretended 
 to adopt his advice, and, taking leave of him, remained as if to 
 establish himself, while the other proceeded on his course towards 
 the mountains. No sooner, however, had he fairly departed, than 
 Mr. Stuart again pushed forward, under guidance of the two 
 Indians, nor did he stop until he had arrived within about one 
 
MOUTH OF THE OAKINAGAN. 105 
 
 hundred and forty miles of tlie Spokan River, wliicli lie considered 
 near enough to keep the rival establishment in check. 
 
 The place which he pitched upon for his trading post was a 
 point of land about three miles in length and two in breadth, 
 formed by the junction of the Oakinagan with the Columbia. 
 The former is a river which has its source in a considerable lake 
 about one hundred and fifty miles west of the point of junction. 
 The two rivers, about the place of their confluence, are bordered 
 by immense prairies covered with herbage, but destitute of trees. 
 Th-e point itself was ornamented with wild flowers of every hue, 
 in which innumerable humming-birds were " banqueting nearly 
 the livelong day." 
 
 The situation of this point appeared to be well adapted for 
 a trading post. The climate was salubrious, the soil fertile, the 
 rivers well stocked with fish, the natives peaceable and friendly. 
 There were easy communications with the interior by the upper 
 waters of the Columbia and the lateral stream of the Oakinagan, 
 while the downward current of the Columbia furnished a highway 
 to Astoria. 
 
 Availing himself, therefore, of the driftwood which had col- 
 lected in quantities in the neighboring bends of the river, Mr. 
 Stuart and his men set to work to erect a house, which in a little 
 while was sufficiently completed for their residence ; and thua 
 was established the first interior post of the company We will 
 now return to notice the progress of afi"airs at the mouth of the 
 Columbia. 
 
 6* 
 
106 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The sailing of llie Tonquin, and tlie departure of Mr. David 
 Stuart and his detachment, had produced a striking effect on 
 affairs at Astoria. The natives who had swarmed about the place 
 began immediately to drop off, until at length not an Indian was 
 to be seen. This, at first, was attributed to the wa'nt of peltries 
 with which to trade ; but in a little while the mystery was ex- 
 plained in a more alarming manner. A conspiracy was said to 
 be on foot among the neighboring tribes to make a combined 
 attack upon the white men, now that "they were so reduced in 
 number. For this purpose there had been a gathering of war- 
 riors in a neighboring bay, under pretext of fishing for sturgeon ; 
 and fleets of canoes were expected to join them from the north 
 and south. Even Comcomly, the one-eyed chief, notwithstanding 
 his professed friendship for Mr. M'Dougal, was strongly suspected 
 of being concerned in this general combination. 
 
 Alarmed at rumors of this impending danger, the Astorians 
 suspended their regular labor, and set to work, with all haste, to 
 throw up temporary works for refuge and defence. In the course 
 of a few days they surrounded their dwelling-house and maga- 
 zines with a picket fence ninety feet square, flanked by two bas* 
 tions, on which were mounted four four-pounders. Every day 
 they exercised themselves in the use of their weapons, so as to- 
 qualify themselves for military duty, and at night esconced 
 themselves in their fortress and posted sentinels, to guard 
 against surprise. In this way they hoped, even in case of attack, 
 to be able to hold out until the arrival of the party to be con- 
 
ALARMING RUMORS. 107 
 
 ducted by Mr. Hunt across tlie Rocky Mountains, or until the 
 return of the Tonquin. The latter dependence, however, was 
 doomed soon to be destroyed. Early in August, a wandering 
 band of savages from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, made their 
 appearance at the mouth of the Columbia, where they came to 
 fish for sturgeon. They brought disastrous accounts of the Ton- 
 f(uin, which were at first treated as mere fables, but which were 
 too sadly confirmed by a different tribe that arrived a few days 
 subsequently. We shall relate the circumstances of this melan- 
 choly affair as correctly as the casual discrepancies in the state- 
 ments that have reached us will permit. 
 
 We have already stated that the Tonquin set sail from the 
 mouth of the river on the fifth of June. The whole number of 
 persons on board amounted to twenty-three. In one of the outer 
 bays they picked up, from a fishing canoe, an Indian named 
 Lamazee, who had already made two voyages along the coast, and 
 knew something of the language of the various tribes. He 
 agreed to accompany them as interpreter. 
 
 Steering to the north. Captain Thorn arrived in a few days at 
 Vancouver's Island, and anchored in the harbor of Neweetee, 
 very much against the advice of his Indian interpreter, who 
 warned him against the perfidious character of the natives of 
 this part of the coast. Numbers of canoes soon came off, bring- 
 ing sea-otter skins to sell It was too late in the day to com- 
 mence a traffic, but Mr. M'Kay, accompanied by a few of the 
 men, went on shore to a large village to visit Wicananish, the 
 chief of the surrounding territory, six of the natives remaining 
 on board as hostages. He was received with great professions of 
 friendship, entertained hospitably, and a couch of sea-otter skins 
 was prepared for him in the dwelling of the chieftain, where he 
 was prevailed upon to pass the night. 
 
 In the morning, before Mr. M'Kay had returned to the ship, 
 
108 ASTORIA. 
 
 great numbers of the natives came off in their canoes to trade, 
 headed by two sons of Wicananish. As they brought abundance 
 of sea-otter skins, and there was every appearance of a brisk 
 trade. Captain Thorn did not wait for the return of Mr. M'Kay, 
 but spread his wares upon deck, making a tempting display of 
 blankets, cloths, knives, beads, and fish-hooks, expecting a prompt 
 and profitable sale. The Indians, however, were not so eager and 
 simple as he had supposed, having learned the art of bargaining 
 and the value of merchandise from the casual traders along the 
 coast. They were guided, too, by a shrewd old chief named Noo- 
 kamis, who had grown gray m traflic with New England skippers, 
 and prided himself upon his acuteness. His opinion seemed to 
 regulate the market. When Captain Thorn made what he con 
 sidered a liberal offer for an otter skin, the wily old Indian treated 
 it with scorn, and asked more than double. His comrades all 
 took their cue from him, and not an otter-skin was to be had at 
 a reasonable rate. 
 
 The old fellow, however, overshot his mark, and mistook the 
 character of the man he was treating with. Thorn was a plain, 
 straight-forward sailor, who never had two minds nor two prices 
 in his dealings, was deficient in patience and pliancy, and totally 
 wanting in the chicanery of trafiic. He had a vast deal of stern, 
 but honest pride in his nature, and, moreover, held the whole 
 savage race in sovereign contempt. Abandoning all further 
 attempts, therefore, to bargain with his shuffling customers, he 
 thrust his hands into his pockets, and paced up and down th- 
 deck in sullen silence. The cunning old Indian followed him t 
 and fro, holding out a sea-otter skin to him at every turn, an 
 pestering him to trade. Finding other means unavailing, h^ 
 suddenly changed his tone, and began to jeer and banter him 
 upon the mean prices he offered This was too much for the 
 patience of the captain, who was never remarkable for relishing a 
 
A DEADLY INSULT 109 
 
 joke, especially when at his own expense. Turning suddenly 
 upon his persecutor, he snatched the proffered otter skin from 
 his hands, rubbed it in his face, and dismissed him over the side 
 of the ship with no very complimentary application to accelerate 
 his exit. He then kicked the peltries to the right and left about 
 the deck, and broke up the market in the most ignominious 
 manner. Old Nookamis made for shore in a furious passion, in 
 which he was joined by Shewish, one of the sons of Wicananish, 
 who went off breathing vengeance, and the ship was soon aban- 
 doned by the natives. 
 
 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 dan- 
 ger to which his hasty act had exposed the vessel, and urged him 
 to weigh anchor. The captain made light of his counsels, and 
 pointed to his cannon and firearms as a sufficient safeguard 
 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 daybreak, while the captain and 
 M'Kay were yet asleep, a canoe came alongside in which were 
 t',v« :y Indians, commanded by young Shewish. They were un- 
 :: '< 1, their aspect and demeanor friendly, and they held up otter 
 Slims, and mr-de 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 canoe to be with- 
 
no ASTORIA. 
 
 out 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 Cap- 
 tain 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 direc 
 tion, and the savages rushed upon their marked victims. 
 
 The first that fell was Mr. Lewis, the ship's clerk. He was 
 leaning, with folded arms, over a bale of blankets, engaged in 
 bargaining, when he received a deadly stab in the back, and fell 
 down the companion-way. 
 
 Mr. M'Kay, who was seated on the taffrail, sprang on his feet, 
 
MASSACRE OF THE CREW. Ill 
 
 but was instantly knocked down with a war-club and flung back- 
 Wards 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 a resolute man, but 
 he had come upon deck without weapons. Shewish, the young 
 chief, singled him out as his peculiar prey, and rushed upon him 
 at the first outbreak. The captain had barely time to draw a 
 claspknife, 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 quarter-deck with the 
 slain and wounded. His object was to fight his way to the cabin, 
 where there were firearms ; but he was hemmed in with foes, 
 covered with wounds, and faint with loss of blood. For an in- 
 stant he leaned upon the tiller wheel, when a blow from behind, 
 with a war-club, felled him to the deck, where he was dispatched 
 with knives and thrown overboard. 
 
 While this was transacting upon the quarter-deck, a chance- 
 medley fight was going on throughout the ship. The crew fought 
 desperately with knives, handspikes, and whatever weapon they 
 could seize upon in tlie 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 run 
 ning 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 TVeekes, 
 the armorer, was mortally wounded as he was getting down the 
 hatchway. 
 
 The remaining four made good their retreat into the cabin, 
 
112 ASTORIA. 
 
 where tliey found Mr. Lewis, still alive, though mortally wounded 
 Barricading the cabin door, they broke holes through the com- 
 panion-way, and, with the muskets and 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 oif to 
 the ship, deterred by the effects of the firearms. The night 
 passed away without any further attempt on the part of the na- 
 tives. When the day dawned, the Ton(][uin still lay at anchor in 
 the bay, her sails all loose and flapping in the wind, and no one 
 a^Dparently 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 life- 
 less. 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 j)ressed 
 forward to board the prize ; the decks were soon crowded, and 
 tliG 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 
 virere blown into the air, and dreadful havoc was made in the sur- 
 
THE UNFORTUNATE FUGITIVES. 113 
 
 rounding 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 Indiana 
 swimming for their lives, or struggling in the agonies of death ; 
 while those who had escaped the danger remained aghast and stu- 
 pefied, or made with frantic panic for the shore. Upwards of a 
 hundred savages were destro3^ed 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 conster- 
 nation at this astounding calamity, which had burst upon them in 
 the very moment of triumph. The warriors sat mute and mourn- 
 ful, 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 cap- 
 tive 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 
 defence 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 disa- 
 
114 ASTORIA. 
 
 bled by his wound, hopeless of escape, and determined on a ter- 
 rible revenge. On the voyage out, he had repeatedly expressed 
 a presentiment that he should die by his own hands ; thinking it 
 highly probable that he should be engaged in some contest with 
 the natives, and being resolved, in case of extremity, to commit 
 Buicide rather than be made a prisoner. He now declared his 
 intention to remain on board of the ship until daylight, to decoy 
 as many of the savages on board as 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 com- 
 panions bade him a melancholy adieu, and set off on their pre- 
 carious 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 sava- 
 ges. 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. 
 
 Such is the melancholy story of the Tonquin, and such was 
 the fate of her brave, but headstrong commander, and her adven- 
 turous crew. It is a catastrophe that shows the importance, in 
 all enterprises of moment, to keep in mind the general instruc- 
 tions of the sagacious heads which devise them. Mr. Astor was 
 well aware of the perils to which ships were exposed on this 
 coast from quarrels with the natives, and from perfidious attempts 
 
ERRORS OF CAPTAIN THORN 115 
 
 of tlie latter to surprise and capture them in unguarded mo- 
 ments. He had repeatedly enjoined it upon Captain Thorn, in 
 conversation, and at parting, in his letter of instructions, to be 
 courteous and kind in his dealings with the savages, but by no 
 means to confide in their apparent friendship, nor to admit more 
 tlmn a few on hoard of his sJiip at a time. 
 
 Had the deportment of Captain Thorfi been properly regula- 
 ted, the insult so wounding to savage pride would never have 
 been given. Had he enforced the rule to admit but a few at a 
 time, the savages would not have been able to get the mastery. 
 He was too irritable, however, to practise the necessary self-com- 
 mand, and, having been nurtured in a proud contempt of danger, 
 thought it beneath him to manifest any fear of a crew of unarmed 
 savages. 
 
 With all his faults and foibles, we cannot but speak of him 
 with esteem, and deplore his untimely fate ; for vre remember 
 him well in early life, as a companion in pleasant scenes and 
 joyous hours. When on shore, among his friends, he was a frank, 
 manly, sound-hearted sailor. On board ship he evidently as- 
 sumed the hardness of deportment and sternness of dem-eanor 
 which many deem essential to naval service. Throughout the 
 whole of the expedition, however, he showed himself loyal, single- 
 minded, straight-forward, and fearless ; and if the fate of his ves- 
 sel may be charged to his harshness and imprudence, we should 
 recollect that he paid for his error with his life. 
 
 The loss of the Tonquin was a grievous blow to the infant 
 establishment of Astoria, and one that threatened to bring after 
 it a train of disasters. The intelligence of it did not reach Mr. 
 Astor until many months afterwards. He felt it in all its force, 
 and was aware that it must cripple, if not entirely defeat, the 
 great scheme of his ambition. In his letters, written at the time, 
 he speaks of it as " a calamity, the length of which he could not 
 
116 ASTORIA. 
 
 foresee." He indulged, however, in no weak and vain lamenta* 
 tion, but souglit to devise a prompt and efficient remedy. The 
 very same evening he appeared at the theatre with his usual 
 serenity of countenance. A friend, who knew the disastrous 
 intelligence he had received, expressed his astonishment that ho 
 could have calmness of spirit sufficient for such a scene of light 
 amusement. '• What would you have me do ?" was his charac- 
 teristic reply ; " would you have me stay at home and weep for 
 wha,t I cannot help ?" 
 
GLOOM AT ASTORIA. IIT 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The tidings of the loss of the Tonquin, and the massacre of her 
 crew, struck dismay into the hearts of the Astorians. They found 
 themselves a mere handful of men, on a savage coast, surrounded 
 by hostile tribes, who would doubtless be incited and encouraged 
 to deeds of violence by the late fearful catastrophe. In this 
 juncture Mr. M'Dougal, we are told, had recourse to a stratagem 
 by which to avail himself of the ignorance and credulity of the 
 savages, and which certainly does credit to his ingenuity. 
 
 The natives of the coast, and, indeed, of all the regions west 
 of the mountains, had an extreme dread of the smallpox ; that 
 terrific scourge having, a few years previously, appeared among 
 them, and almost swept oif entire tribes. Its origin and nature 
 were wrapped in mystery, and they conceived it an evil inflicted 
 upon them by the Great Spirit, or brought among them by the 
 white men. The last idea was seized upon by Mr. M'DougaL 
 He assembled several of the chieftains whom he believed to be in 
 the conspiracy. "When they were all seated around, he informed 
 them that he had heard of the treachery of some of their northern 
 brethren towards the Tonquin, and was determined on vengeance 
 " The white men among you," said he, " are few in number, it is 
 true, but they are mighty in medicine. See here," continued he, 
 drawing forth a small bottle and holding it before their eyes, " in 
 this bottle I hold the smallpox, safely corked up ; I have but to 
 draw the cork, and let loose the pestilence, to sweep man, womoji, 
 and child from the face of the earth." 
 
118 ASTORIA. 
 
 The cliiefs were struck with horror and alarm. They implored 
 him not to uncork the bottle, since they and all their j^cople were 
 firm friends of the white men, and would always remain so ; but, 
 should the smallpox be once let out, it would run like wildfire 
 throughout the country, sweeping off the good as well as the bad ; 
 nd surely he would not be so unjust as to punish his friends for 
 crimes committed by his enemies. 
 
 Mr. M'Dougal pretended to be convinced by their reasoning, 
 and assured them that, so long as the white people should be 
 unmolested, and the conduct of their Indian neighbors friendly 
 and hospitable, the phial of wrath should remain sealed up ; but, 
 on the least hostility, the fatal cork should be drawn. 
 
 From this time, it is added, he was much dreaded by the 
 natives, as one who held their fate in his hands, and was called, 
 by way of pre-eminence, " the Great Smallpox Chief" 
 
 All this while, the labors at the infant settlement went on with 
 unremitting assiduity, and, by the 26th of September, a commo- 
 dious mansion, spacious enough to accommodate all hands, was 
 completed. It was built of stone and clay, there being no calcare- 
 ous stone in the neighborhood from which lime for mortar could 
 be procured. The schooner was also finished, and launched, with 
 the accustomed ceremony, on the second of October, and took her 
 station below the fort. She was named the Dolly, and was the 
 first American vessel launched on this coast. 
 
 On the 5th of October, in the evening, the little community 
 at Astoria was enlivened by the unexpected arrival of a detach- 
 ment from Mr. David Stuart's post on the Oakinagan. It con- 
 sisted of two of the clerks and two of the privates. They brought 
 favorable accounts of the new establishment, but reported that, 
 as Mr. Stuart was apprehensive there might be a difficulty of 
 subsisting his whole party throughout the winter, he had sent 
 one half back to Astoria, retaining with him only Ross, Montig- 
 
AN ARRIVAL. 119 
 
 ny, and two others. Such is the hardihood-of the Indian trader. 
 In the heart of a savage and unknown country, seven hundred 
 miles from the main body of his fellow-adventurers, Stuart had 
 dismissed half of his little number, and was prepared with tho 
 residue to brave all the perils of the wilderness, and the rigors 
 of a long and dreary winter. 
 
 With the return party came a Canadian Creole named Kegis 
 Brugiere, and an Iroquois hunter, with his wife and two children. 
 As these two personages belong to certain classes which have 
 derived their peculiar characteristics from the fur trade, we deem 
 some few particulars concerning them pertinent to the nature of 
 this work. 
 
 Brugiere was of a class of beaver trappers and hunters tech- 
 nically called freemen, in the language of the traders. They are 
 generally Canadians by birth, and of French descent, who have 
 been employed for a term of years by some fur company, but, 
 their term being expired, continue to hunt and trap on their own 
 account, trading with the company like the Indians. Hence they 
 derive their appellation of freemen, to distinguish them from the 
 trappers who are bound for a number of years, and receive wages, 
 or hunt on shares. 
 
 Having passed their early youth in the wilderness, separated 
 almost entirely from civilized man, and in frequent intercourse 
 with the Indians, they relapse, with a facility common to human 
 nature, into the habitudes of savage life. Though no longer 
 bound by engagements to continue in the interior, they have 
 become so accustomed to the freedom of the forest and the prai- 
 rie, that they look back with repugnance upon the restraints of 
 civilization. Most of them intermarry with tlie natives, and, like 
 the latter, have often a plurality of wives. Wanderers of the wil- 
 derness, according to the vicissitudes of the seasons, the migra- 
 tions of animals, and the plenty or scarcity of game, they lead a 
 
120 ASTORIA. 
 
 precarious and unsettled existence ; exposed to sun and storm, 
 and all kinds of hardships, until they resemble Indians in com- 
 plexion as well as in tastes and habits. From time to time, they 
 bring the peltries they have collected to the trading houses of the 
 company in whose employ they have been brought up. Here they 
 traffic them away for such articles of merchandise or ammunition 
 as they may stand in need of. At the time when Montreal was 
 the great emporium of the fur trader, one of these freemen of the 
 wilderness would suddenly return, after an absence of many 
 years, among his old friends and comrades. He would be greeted 
 as one risen from the dead ; and with the greater welcome, as ho 
 returned flush of money. A short time, however, spent in revelry 
 would be sufficient to drain his purse and sate him with civilized 
 life, and he would return with new relish to the unshackled free- 
 dom of the forest. 
 
 Numbers of men of this class were scattered throughout the 
 northwest territories. Some of them retained a little of the 
 thrift and forethought of the civilized man, and became wealthy 
 among their improvident neighbors ; their wealth being chiefly 
 displayed in large bands of horses, which covered the prairies in 
 the vicinity of their abodes. Most of them, however, were prone 
 to assimilate to the red man in their heedlessness of the future. 
 
 Such was Regis Brugiere, a freeman and rover of the wilder- 
 ness. Having been brought up in the service of the Northwest 
 Company, he had followed in the train of one of its expeditions 
 across the Rocky Mountains, and undertaken to trap for the 
 trading post established on the Spokan River. In the course of 
 his hunting excursions he had either accidentally, or designedly, 
 found his way to the post of Mr. Stuart, and been prevailed upon 
 to descend the Columbia, and " try his luck " at Astoria. 
 
 Ignace Shonowane, the Iroquois hunter, was a specimen of a 
 difierent class. He was one of those aboriginals of Canada who 
 
WINTER ON THE COLUMBIA. 121 
 
 had partially conformed to the habits of civilization, and the doc- 
 trines of Christianity, under the influence of the French colon- 
 ists and the Catholic priests ; who seem generally to have been 
 more successful in conciliating, taming, and converting the savages, 
 than their English and Protestant rivals. These half-civilized 
 Indians retained some of the good, and many of the evil quali- 
 ties of their original stock. They were first-rate hunters, and 
 dexterous in the management of the canoe. They could undergo 
 great privations, and were admirable for the service of the rivers, 
 lakes, and forests, provided they could be kept sober, and in 
 proper subordination ; but, once inflamed with liquor, to which 
 they were madly addicted, all the dormant passions, inherent in 
 their nature, were prone to break forth, and to hurry them into 
 the most vindictive and bloody acts of violence. 
 
 Though they generally professed the Roman Catholic religion, 
 yet it was mixed, occasionally, with some of their ancient super- 
 stitions ; and they retained much of the Indian belief in charms 
 and omens. Numbers of these men were employed by the North- 
 west Company as trappers, hunters, and canoe men, but on lower 
 terms than were allowed to white men. Ignace Shonowane had, 
 in this way, followed the enterprise of the company to the banks 
 of the Spokan, being, probably, one of the first of his tribe that 
 had traversed the Kocky Mountains. 
 
 Such were some of the motley populace of the wilderness, in- 
 cident to the fur trade, who were gradually attracted to the 
 new settlement of Astoria. 
 
 The month of October now began to give indications of 
 approaching winter. Hitherto, the colonists had been well 
 pleased with the climate. The summer had been temperate, 
 the mercury never rising above eighty degrees. Westerly winds 
 had prevailed during the spring and the early part of summer, 
 and been succeeded by fresh breezes from the northwest. Iii 
 
 6 
 
122 ASTORIA. 
 
 the montli of October tlie southerly winds set in, bringing with 
 them frequent rain. 
 
 The Indians now began to quit the borders of the ocean, and 
 to retire to their winter-quarters in the sheltered bosom of the 
 forests, or along the small rivers and brooks. The rainy season, 
 which commences in October, continues, with little intermission, 
 until April ; and though the winters are generally mild, the 
 mercury seldom sinking below the freezing point, yet the tem- 
 pests of wind and rain are terrible. The sun is. sometimes 
 obscured for weeks, the brooks swell into roaring torrents, and 
 the country is threatened with a deluge. 
 
 The departure of the Indians to their winter-quarters gradu- 
 ally rendered provisions scanty, and obliged the colonists to 
 send out foraging expeditions in the Dolly. Still, the little 
 handful of adventurers kept up their spirits in their lonely fort 
 at Astoria, looking forward to the time when they should be 
 animated and reinforced by the party under Mr. Hunt, that 
 was to come to them across the Kocky Mountains. 
 
 The year gradually wore away. The rain, which had poured 
 down almost incessantly since the iSrst of October, cleared up 
 towards the evening of the 31st of December, and the morning 
 of the first of January ushered in a day of sunshine. 
 
 The hereditary French holiday spirit of the Canadian voya- 
 geurs is hardly to be depressed by any adversities ; and they 
 can manage to get up a fete in the most squalid situations, and 
 under the most untoward circumstances. An extra allowance 
 of rum, and a little flour to make cakes and puddings, constitute 
 a " regale ;" and they forget all their toils and troubles in the 
 Bong and dance. 
 
 On the present occasion, the partners endeavored to cele- 
 brate the new year with some eifect. At sunrise the drums 
 beat to arms, the colors were hoisted, with three rounds of small 
 
NEW- YEAR FESTIVITIES. 123 
 
 arms and three discharges of cannon. The day was devoted to 
 games of agility and strength, and other amusements ; and grog 
 was temperately distributed, together with bread, butter, and 
 cheese. The best dinner their circumstances could afford was 
 served up at mid-day. At sunset the colors were lowered, with 
 another discharge of artillery. The night was spent in dancing; 
 and, though there was a lack of female partners to excite their 
 gallantry, the voyageurs kept up the ball, with true French 
 spirit, until three o'clock in the morning. So passed the now 
 year festival of 1812 at the infant colony of Astoria. 
 
m ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 We haYG followed up the fortunes of tlie maritime part of tliia 
 enterprise to the shores of the Pacific, and have conducted the 
 affairs of the embryo establishment to the opening of the new 
 year ; let us now turn back to the adventurous band to whom 
 was intrusted the land expedition, and who were to make their 
 way to the mouth of the Columbia, up vast rivers, across track- 
 less plains, and over the rugged barriers of the Kocky Mountains. 
 
 The conduct of this expedition, as has been already men- 
 tioned, was assigned to Mr. Wilson Price Hunt, of Trenton, 
 New Jersey, one of the partners of the company, who was ulti- 
 mately to be at the head of the establishment at the mouth of 
 the Columbia. He is 'represented as a man scrupulously upright 
 and faithful in his dealings, amicable in his disposition, and of 
 most accommodating manners ; and his whole conduct will be 
 found in unison with such a character. He was not practi- 
 cally exj^erienced in the Indian trade ; that is to say, he had 
 never made any expeditions of traffic into the heart of the wilder- 
 ness, but he had been engaged in commerce at St. Louis, then f^> 
 frontier settlement on the Mississippi, where the chief branch o{ 
 his business had consisted in furnishing Indian traders with goods 
 and ecpipments. In this v/ay, he had acquired much knowledge 
 of the trade at second hand, and of the various tribes, and the 
 interior country over which it extended. 
 
 Another of the partners, Mr. Donald M'Kenzie, was associa- 
 ted with Mr. Hunt in the expedition, and excelled on those points 
 
DONALD M'KENZIE. 125 
 
 in wliicli tlie otlier was deficient ; for lie liad Ibeen ten years in 
 tlie interior, in the service of the Northwest Company, and val- 
 ued himself on his knowledge of " woodcraft," and the strategy 
 of Indian trade and Indian warfare. He had a frame seasoned 
 to toils and hardships ; a spirit not to he intimidated, and was 
 reputed to he a " remarkahle shot ;" which of itself, was sufficient 
 to give him renown upon the frontier. 
 
 Mr. Hunt and his coadjutor repaired, about the latter part of 
 July, 1810, to Montreal, the ancient emporium of the fur trade, 
 where every thing recjuisite for the expedition could he procured. 
 One of the first objects was to recruit a complement of Canadian 
 voyageurs from the disbanded herd usually to be found loitering 
 about the place. A degree of jockeyship, however, is required 
 for this service, for a Canadian voyageur is as full of latent tricks 
 and vice as a horse ; and when he makes the greatest external 
 promise, is prone to prove the greatest " take in." Beside, the 
 Northwest Company, who maintained a long established control 
 at Montreal, and knew the qualities of every voyageur, secretly 
 interdicted the prime hands from engaging in this new service ; 
 so that, although liberal terms were ofi"ered, few presented them- 
 selves but such as were not worth having. 
 
 From these, Mr. Hunt engaged a number sufficient, as he sup- 
 posed, for present purposes ; and, having laid in a supply of ammu- 
 nition, provisions and Indian goods, embarked all on board one of 
 those great canoes at that time universally used by the fur traders 
 for navigating the intricate and often-obstructed rivers. The canoe 
 was between thirty and forty feet long, and several feet in width ; 
 constructed of birch bark, sewed with fibres of the roots of the 
 spruce tree, and daubed with resin of the pine, instead of tar. 
 The cargo was made up in packages, weighing from ninety to ono 
 hundred pounds each, for the facility of loading and unloading, 
 and of transportation at portages. The canoe itself, though capa- 
 
126 ASTORIA. 
 
 ble of sustaining a freight of upwards of four tons, could readily 
 be carried on men's shoulders. Canoes of this size are generally 
 managed by eight or ten men, two of whom are picked veterans, 
 who receive double wages, and are stationed, one at the bow and 
 the other at the stern, to keep a look-out and to steer. They are 
 termed the foreman and the steersman. The rest, who ply the 
 paddles, are called middle men. When there is a favorable 
 breeze, the canoe is occasionally navigated with a sail. 
 
 The expedition took its regular departure, as usual, from St. 
 Anne's, near the extremity of the island of Montreal, the great 
 starting place of the traders to the interior. Here stood the an- 
 cient chapel of St. Anne, the patroness of the Canadian voya- 
 geurs; where they made confession, and offered up their vows, 
 previous to departing on any hazardous expedition. The shrine 
 of the saint was decorated with relics and votive offerings hung 
 up by these superstitious beings, either to propitiate her favor, or 
 in gratitude for some signal deliverance in the wilderness. It 
 was the custom, too, of these devout vagabonds, after leaving the 
 chapel, to have a grand carouse, in honor of the saint and for the 
 prosperity of the voyage. In this part of their devotions, the 
 crew of Mr. Hunt proved themselves by no means deficient. In- 
 deed, he soon discovered that his recruits, enlisted at Montreal, 
 were fit to vie with the ragged regiment of Falstaff. Some were 
 able-bodied, but inexpert ; others were expert, but lazy ; while a 
 third class were expert and willing, but totally worn out, being 
 broken-down veterans, incapable of toil. 
 
 With this inefficient crew he made his way up the Ottawa 
 Kiver, and by the ancient route of the fur traders, along a suc- 
 cession of small lakes and rivers, to Michilimackinac. Their 
 progress was slow and tedious. Mr. Hunt was not accustomed 
 to the management of " voyageurs," and he had a crew admirably 
 disposed to play the old soldier, and balk their work ; and ever 
 
MACKINAW. 127 
 
 ready to come to a halt, land, make a fire, put on the great pot, 
 and smoke, and gossip, and sing by the hour. 
 
 It was not until the 22d of July that they arrived at Macki- 
 naw, situated on the island of the same name, at the confluence 
 of lakes Huron and Michigan. This famous old French trading- 
 post continued to be a rallying point for a multifarious and mot- 
 ley population. The inhabitants were amphibious in their habits, 
 most of them being, or having been, voyageurs or canoe men. It 
 was the great place of arrival and departure of the southwest fur 
 trade. Here the Mackinaw Company had established its princi- 
 pal post, from v>^hence it communicated with the interior and with 
 Montreal. Hence its various traders and trappers set out for 
 their respective destinations about Lake Superior and its tribu- 
 tary waters, or for the Mississippi, the Arkansas, the Missouri, and 
 the other regions of the west. Here, after the absence of a year, 
 or more, they returned with their peltries, and settled their ac- 
 counts ; the furs rendered in by them being transmitted, in 
 canoes, from hence to Montreal. Mackinaw was, therefore, for a 
 great part of the year, very scantily peopled ; but at certain 
 seasons the traders arrived from all points, with their crews of 
 voyageurs, and the place swarmed like a hive. 
 
 Mackinaw, at that time, was a mere village, stretching along 
 a small bay, with a fine broad beach in front of its principal row 
 of houses, and dominated by the old fort, which crowned an im- 
 pending height. The beach was a kind of public promenade 
 where were displayed all the vagaries of a seaport on the arrival 
 of a fleet from a long cruise. Here voyageurs frolicked away 
 their wages, fiddling and dancing in the booths and cabins, buy- 
 ing all kinds of knick-knacks, dressing themselves out finely, and 
 parading up and down, like arrant braggarts and coxcombs. 
 Sometimes they met with rival coxcombs in the young Indians 
 from the opposite shore, who would appear on uhe beach painted 
 
128 ASTORIA. 
 
 and decorated in fantastic style, and would saunter up and down, 
 to be gazed at and admired, perfectly satisfied that they eclipsed 
 their pale-faced competitors. 
 
 Now and then a chance party of "Northwesters" appeared at 
 Mackinaw from the rendezvous at Fort William. These held 
 themselves up as the chivalry of the fur trade. They were men 
 of iron ; proof against cold weather, hard fare^ and perils of all 
 kinds. Some would wear the northwest button, and a formidable 
 dirk, and assume something of a military air. They generally 
 wore feathers in their hats, and affected the " brave." " Je suis 
 un homme du nord !" — " I am a man of the north," one of these 
 swelling fellows would exclaim, sticking his arms akimbo and 
 ruffling by the Southwesters ; whom he regarded with great con- 
 tempt, as men softened by mild climates and the luxurious fare 
 of bread and bacon, and whom he stigmatized with the inglori- 
 ous name of pork eaters. The superiority assumed by these 
 vainglorious swaggerers was, in general, tacitly admitted. In- 
 deed, some of them had acquired great notoriety for deeds of 
 hardihood and courage ; for the fur trade had its heroes, whose 
 names resounded throughout the wilderness. 
 
 Such was Mackinaw at the time of which we are treating. It 
 now, doubtless, presents a totally different aspect. The fur com- 
 panies no longer assemble there ; the navigation of the lakes is 
 carried on by steamboats and various shipping, and the race of 
 traders, and trappers, and voyageurs, and Indian dandies, have 
 vapored out their brief hour and disappeared. Such changes 
 does the lapse of a handful of years make in this ever-changing 
 country. 
 
 At this place Mr. Hunt remained for some time, to complete 
 his assortment of Indian goods, and to increase his number of 
 voyageurs, as well as to engage some of a more efficient character 
 than those enlisted at Montreal. 
 
A STOOL-PIGEON— A DECOY PLUME. 129 
 
 And now commenced another game of jockeysliip. There 
 were able and efficient men in abundance at Mackinaw, but for 
 several days not one presented himself If offers were made to 
 any, they were listened to with a shake of the head. Should any 
 one seem inclined to enlist, there were officious idlers and busy- 
 bodies, of that class who are ever ready to dissuade others from 
 any enterprise in which they themselves have no concern. These 
 would pull him by the sleeve, take him on one side, and murmur 
 in his ear, or would suggest difficulties outright. 
 
 It was objected that the expedition would have to navigate 
 unknown rivers, and pass through howling wildernesses infested 
 by savage tribes, who had already cut off the unfortunate voy- 
 ageurs that had ventured among them ; that it was to climb the 
 Kocky Mountains and descend into desolate and famished re- 
 gions, where the traveller was often obliged to subsist on grass- 
 hoppers and crickets, or to kill his own horse for food. 
 
 At length one man was hardy enough to engage, and he was 
 used like a " stool-pigeon," to decoy others ; but several days 
 elapsed before any more could be prevailed upon to join him. 
 A few then came to terms. It was desirable to engage them for 
 five years, but some refused to engage for more than three. 
 Then they must have part of their pay in advance, which was 
 readily granted. When they had pocketed the amount, and 
 squandered it in regales or in outfits, they began to talk of pecu 
 niary obligations at Mackinaw, which must be discharged before 
 they would be free, to depart ; or engagements with other persons, 
 which were only to be cancelled by a " reasonable consideration." 
 
 It was in vain to argue or remonstrate. The money advanced 
 had already been sacked and spent, and must be lost and the 
 recruits left behind, unless they could be freed from their debts 
 and engagements. Accordingly, a fine was paid for one ; a judg- 
 ment for another ; a tavern bill for the third ; and almost all had 
 
130 ASTORIA. 
 
 to be bought off from some prior engagement, either real or 
 pretended. 
 
 Mr. Hunt groaned in spirit at the incessant and unreasonable 
 demands of these worthies upon his purse ; yet with all this 
 outlay of funds, the number recruited was but scanty, and many 
 of the most desirable still held themselves aloof, and were not to 
 be caught by a golden bait. With these he tried another temp- 
 tation. Among the recruits who had enlisted he distributed 
 feathers and ostrich plumes. These they put in their hats, and 
 thus figured about Mackinaw, assuming airs of vast importance, 
 as " voyageurs in a new company, that was to eclipse the North- 
 west." The effect was complete. A French Canadian is too 
 vain and mercurial a being to withstand the finery and ostenta- 
 tion of the feather. Numbers immediately pressed into the ser- 
 vice. One must have an ostrich plume ; another, a white feather 
 with a red end ; a third, a bunch of cocks' tails. Thus all para- 
 ded about, in vainglorious style, more delighted with the feathers 
 in their hats than with the money in their pockets ; and consider- 
 ing themselves fully equal to the boastful " men of the north." 
 
 While thus recruiting the number of rank and file, Mr. Hunt 
 was joined by a person whom he had invited, by letter, to engage 
 as a partner in the expedition. This was Mr. Ramsay Crooks, a 
 young man, a native of Scotland, who had served under the 
 Northwest Company, and been engaged in trading expeditions 
 upon his individual account, among the tribes of the Missouri. 
 Mr. Hunt knew him personally, and had conceived a high and 
 merited opinion of his judgment, enterprise, and integrity ; he 
 was rejoiced, therefore, when the latter consented to accompany 
 him. Mr. Crooks, however, drew from experience a picture of 
 the dangers to which they would be subjected, and urged the 
 importance of going with a considerable force. In ascending tho 
 upper Missouri they would have to pass through the country of 
 
EMBARKATION OF CANADIAJN VOYAGEURS. 131 
 
 the Sioux Indians, who had manifested repeated liostility to tho 
 white traders, and rendered their expeditions extremely perilous ; 
 firing upon them from the river hanks as they passed beneath in 
 their boats, and attacking them in their encampments. Mr. 
 Crooks himself, when voyaging in company with another trader 
 of the name of M'Lellan, had been interrupted by these marau 
 ders, and had considered himself fortunate in escaping down tho 
 river without loss of life or property, but with a total abandon- 
 ment of his trading voyage. 
 
 Should they be fortunate enough to pass through the country 
 of the Sioux without molestation, they would have another tribe 
 still more savage and warlike beyond, and deadly foes of the 
 white men. These were the Blackfeet Indians, who ranged 
 over a wide extent of country which they would have to traverse. 
 
 Under all these circumstances, it was thought advisable to 
 augment the party considerably. It already exceeded the num- 
 ber of thirty, to which it had originally been limited; but it 
 was determined, on arriving at St. Louis, to increase it to the 
 number of sixty. 
 
 These matters being arranged, they prepared to embark; 
 but the embarkation of a crew of Canadian voyageurs, on a dis- 
 tant expedition, is not so easy a matter as might be imagined ; 
 especially of such a set of vainglorious fellows with money in 
 both pockets, and cocks' tails in their hats. Like sailors, the 
 Canadian voyageurs generally preface a long cruise with a 
 carouse. They have their cronies, their brothers, their cousins 
 their wives, their sweethearts; all to be entertained at their 
 expense. They feast, they fiddle, they drink, they sing, they 
 dance, they frolic and fight, until they are all as mad as so 
 many drunken Indians. The publicans are all obedience to 
 their commands, never hesitating to let them run up scores 
 without limit, knowing that, when their own money is expended, 
 
132 ASTORIA. 
 
 the purses of tlieir employers must answer for the billj or the 
 voyage must be delayed. Neither was it possible, at that time, 
 to remedy the matter at Mackinaw. In that amphibious com- 
 munity there was always a propensity to wrest the laws in favor 
 of riotous or mutinous boatmen. It was necessary, also, to 
 Iceep the recruits in good humor, seeing the novelty and dan- 
 ger of the service into which they were entering, and the ease 
 with which they might at any time escape it, by jumping into 
 a canoe and going down the stream. 
 
 Such were the scenes that beset Mr. Hunt, and gave him a 
 foretaste of the difficulties of his command. The little cabarets 
 and sutlers' shops along the bay re ,unded with the scraping of 
 fiddles, with snatches of old French songs, with Indian whoops 
 and yells ; while every plumed and feathered vagabond had his 
 troop of loving cousins and comrades at his heels. It was with 
 the utmost difficulty they could be extricated from the clutches 
 of the publicans, and the embraces of their pot companions, who 
 followed them to the water's edge with many a hug, a hiss oe 
 each cheek, and a maudlin benediction in Canadian French. 
 
 It was about the 12th of August that they left Mackinaw, 
 and pursued the usual route by Green Bay, Fox and Wisconsin 
 Rivers, to Prairie du Chien, and thence down the Mississippi t 
 St, Louis, where they landed on the third of September. 
 
ST. LOUIS. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 St. Louis, wliicli is situated on the right bank of the Mississippi 
 River, a few miles below the mouth of the Missouri, was, at that 
 time, a frontier settlement, and the last fitting-out place for the 
 Indian trade of the southwest. It possessed a motley population, 
 composed of the Creole descendants of the original French colo- 
 nists ; the keen traders from the Atlantic States ; the backwood- 
 men of Kentucky and Tennessee ; the Indians and half-breeds 
 of the prairies ; together with a singular aquatic race that had 
 grown up from the navigation of the rivers — the " boatmen of the 
 Mississippi ;" who possessed habits, manners, and almost a lan- 
 guage, peculiarly their own, and strongly technical. They, at 
 that time, were extremely numerous, and conducted the chief 
 navigation and commerce of the Ohio and the Mississi23pi, as the 
 voyageurs did of the Canadian waters ; but, like them, their con- 
 sequence and characteristics are rapidly vanishing before the all- 
 pervading intrusion of steamboats. 
 
 The old French houses engaged in the Indian trade had 
 gathered round them a train of dependents, mongrel Indians, and 
 mongrel Frenchmen, v/ho had intermarried with Indians. These 
 they employed in their various expeditions by land and water. 
 Various individuals of other countries had, of late years, pushed 
 the trade further into the interior, to the upper waters of the 
 Missouri, and had swelled the number of these hangers-on, Seve^ 
 ral of these traders had, two or three years previously, formed' 
 themselves into a company, composed of twelve partners, with a 
 
134 ASTORIA. 
 
 capital of about forty thousand dollars, called the Missouri Fur 
 Company ; the object of which was, to establish posts along the 
 upper part of that river, and monopolize the trade. The leading 
 partner of this company was Mr. Manuel Lisa, a Spaniard by 
 birth, an4 a man of bold and enterprising character, who had 
 ascended the Missouri almost to its source, and made himself 
 well acquainted and popular with several of its tribes. By his 
 exertions, trading posts had been established, in 1808, in the 
 Sioux country, and among the Aricara and Mandan tribes ; and 
 a principal one, under Mr. Henry, one of the partners, at the forks 
 of the Missouri. This company had in its employ about two 
 hundred and fifty men, partly American hunters, and partly 
 Creoles and Canadian voyageurs. 
 
 All these circumstances combined to produce a population at 
 St. Louis even still more motley than that at Mackinaw. Here 
 were to be seen, about the river banks, the hectoring, extravagant, 
 bragging boatmen of the Mississippi, with the gay, grimacing, 
 singing, good-humored Canadian voyageurs. Vagrant Indians, 
 of various tribes, loitered about the streets. Now and then, a 
 stark Kentucky hunter, in leathern hunting-dress, with rifle on 
 shoulder and knife in belt, strode along. Here and there were 
 new brick houses and shops, just set up by bustling, driving, and 
 eager men of traffic, from the Atlantic States ; while, on the other 
 hand, the old French mansions, with open casements, still retained 
 the easy, indolent air of the original colonists ; and now and then 
 the scraping of a fiddle, a strain of an ancient French song, or the 
 sound of billiard balls, showed that the happy Grallic turn for 
 gayety and amusement still lingered about the place. 
 
 Such was St. Louis at the time of Mr. Hunt's arrival there ,' 
 and the appearance of a new fur company, with ample funds at 
 its command, produced a strong sensation among the Indian 
 tradei-s of the place, and awakened keen jealousy and opposition 
 
TEMPERATURE OF THE MISSOURI. 135 
 
 on the part of tlie Missouri Company. Mr. Hunt proceeded to 
 strengthen himself against ail competition. For this purpose, 
 he secured to the interests of the association another of those 
 enterprising men, who had been engaged in individual traffic 
 with the tribes of the Missouri. This was a Mr. Joseph Miller 
 a gentleman well educated and well informed, and of a respecta 
 ble family of Baltimore. He had been an officer in the army of 
 the United States, but had resigned in disgust, on being refused 
 a furlough, and had taken to trapping beaver and trading among 
 the Indians. He was easily induced by Mr. Hunt to join as a 
 partner, and was considered by him, on account of his education 
 and acquirements, and his experience in Indian trade, a valuable 
 addition to the compa-ny. 
 
 Several additional men were likewise enlisted at St. Louis, 
 some as boatmen, and others as hunters. These last were en- 
 gaged, not merely to kilLgame for provisions, but also, and indeed 
 chiefly, to trap beaver and other animals of rich furs, valuable in 
 the trade. They enlisted on different terms. Some were to have 
 a fixed salary of three hundred dollars ; others were to be fitted 
 out and maintained at the expense of the company, and were to 
 hunt and trap on shares. 
 
 As Mr. Hunt met with much opposition on the part of rival 
 traders, especially the Missouri Fur Company, it took him some 
 weeks to complete his preparations. The delays which he had 
 previously experienced at Montreal, Mackinaw, and on the way, 
 added to those at St, Louis, had thrown him much behind his 
 original calculations, so that it vfould be impossible to effect his 
 voyage up the Missouri in the present year. This river, flowing 
 from high and cold latitudes, and through wide and open plains, 
 exposed to chilling blasts, freezes early. The winter may be 
 dated from the first of November ; there was every prospect, 
 therefore, that it would be closed with ice long before Mr. Hunt 
 
136 ASTORIA. 
 
 could reach its upper waters. To avoid, liowev^er, the expense oi 
 wintering at St. Louis, he determined to push up the river as far 
 as possible, to some point above the settlements, where game was 
 plenty, and where his whole party could be subsisted by huntingj 
 until the breaking up of the ice in the spring should permit them 
 to resume their voyage. 
 
 Accordingly, on the twenty-first of October he took his de- 
 parture from St. Louis. His party was distributed in tnree boats. 
 One was the barge which he had brought from Mackinaw ; another 
 was of a larger size, such as was formerly used in navigating the 
 Mohawk Pviver, and known by the generic name of the Schenec- 
 tady barge ; the other was a large keel boat, at that time the 
 grand conveyance on the Mississippi. 
 
 In this way they set out from St. Louis, in buoyant spirits,, 
 and soon arrived at the mouth of the Missouri. This vast river, 
 three thousand miles in length, and which, with its tributary 
 streams, drains such an immense extent of country, was as yet 
 but casually and imperfectly navigated by the adventurous bark 
 of the fur trader. A steamboat had never yet stemmed its tur- 
 bulent current. Sails were but of casual assistance, for it re- 
 quired a strong wind to conquer the force of the stream. The 
 main dependence was on bodily strength and manual dexterity. 
 The boats, in general, had to be propelled by oars and setting 
 poles, or drawn by the hand and by grappling hooks from one 
 root or overhanging tree to another ; or towed by the long cor- 
 delle, or towing line, where the shores were sufficiently clear of 
 woods and thickets to permit the men to pass along the banks. 
 
 During this slow and tedious progress the boat would be 
 exposed to frequent danger from floating trees and great masses 
 of drift-wood, or to be impaled upon snags and sawyers ; that is 
 to say, sunken trees, presenting a jagged or pointed end above 
 the surface of the water. As the channel of the river frequently 
 
BOAT NAVIGATION. 137 
 
 shifted from nde to side, according to the bends and sand-hanks, 
 the boat hady in the same way, to advance in a zigzag course. 
 Often a part of the crew would have to leap into the water at the 
 shallows, and wade along with the towing line, while their com 
 rades on board toilfully assisted with oar and setting pole. Some 
 times the boat would seem to be retained motionless, as if spell- 
 bound, opposite some point round which the current set with 
 violence, and where the utmost labor scarce effected any visible 
 progress. 
 
 On these occasions it was that the merits of the Canadian 
 voyageurs came into full action. Patient of toil, not to be dis- 
 heartened by impediments and disappointments, fertile in expe- 
 dients, and versed in every mode of humoring and conquering the 
 wayward current, they would ply every exertion, sometimes in the 
 boat, sometimes on shore, sometimes in the water, however cold ; 
 always alert, always in good-humor ; and, should they at any time 
 flag or grow weary, one of their popular boat songs, chanted by a 
 veteran oarsman, and responded to in chorus, acted as a never- 
 failing restorative. 
 
 By such assiduous and persevering labor they made their way 
 about four hundred and fifty miles up the Missouri, by the 16th 
 of November, to the mouth of the Nodowa. As this was a good 
 hunting country, and as the season was rapidly advancing, they 
 determined to establish their winter quarters at this place ; and, 
 in fact, two days after they had come to a halt, the river closed 
 just above their encampment. 
 
 The party had not been long at this place when they were 
 joined by Mr. Robert M'Lellan, another trader of the Missouri ; 
 the same who had been associated with Mr. Crooks in the unfor- 
 tunate expedition in which they had been intercepted by the 
 Sioux Indians, and obliged to make a rapid retreat down the 
 river. 
 
138 ' ASTORIA. 
 
 M'Lellan Vas a remarkable man. He had been a partisan 
 under General Wayne, in bis Indian wars, where he had distin- 
 guished himself by his fiery spirit and reckless daring, an-d mar- 
 vellous stories were told of his exploits. His appearance answered 
 to his character. His frame was meagre, but muscular ; showing 
 strength, activity, and iron firmness. His eyes were dark, deep 
 set, and piercing. He was restless, fearless, but of impetuous and 
 sometime,! ungovernable temper. He had been invited by Mr. 
 Hunt to enroll himself as a partner, and gladly consented ; being 
 pleased with the thoughts of passing, with a powerful force, 
 through the country of the Sioux, and perhaps having an oppor- 
 tunity of revenging himself upon that lawless tribe for their past 
 ofl"ences. 
 
 Another recruit that joined the camp at Nodowa deserves 
 equal mention. This was John Day, a hunter from the back- 
 woods of Virginia, who had been several years on the Missouri in 
 the service of Mr. Crooks, and of other traders. He was about 
 forty years of age, six feet two inches high, straight as an Indian ; 
 with an elastic step as if he trod on springs, and a handsome, 
 open, manly countenance. It was his boast, that in his younger 
 days, nothing could hurt or daunt him ; but he had " lived too 
 fast," and injured his constitution by his excesses. Still he was 
 strong of hand, bold of heart, a prime woodman, and an almost 
 unerring shot. He had the frank spirit of a Virginian, and the 
 rough heroism of a pioneer of the west. 
 
 The party were now brought to a halt for several months 
 They were in a country abounding with deer and wild turkeys, 
 Fo that there was no stint of provisions, and every one appeared 
 cheerful and contented. Mr. Hunt determined to avail himself 
 of this interval to return to St. Louis and obtain a reinforce- 
 ment. He wished to procure an interpreter, acquainted with 
 the language of the Sioux , as, from all accounts, he apprehend- 
 
JOURNEY OF MR. HUNT TO ST. LOUIS. 13i) 
 
 ed difficulties in passing through the country of that nation. 
 He felt the necessity, also, of having a greater number of 
 hunters, not merely to keep up a supply of provisions through- 
 out their long and arduous expedition, but also as a protection 
 and defence, in case of Indian hostilities. For such service the 
 Canadian voyageurs were little to be depended upon, fighting 
 not being a part of their profession. The proper kind of men 
 were American hunters, experienced in savage life and savage 
 warfare, and possessed of the true game spirit of the west. 
 
 Leaving, therefore, the encampment in charge of the other 
 partners, Mr. Hunt set off on foot on the first of January (1810), 
 for St. Louis. He was accommpanied by eight men as far as 
 Fort Osage, about one hundred and fifty miles below Nodowa. 
 Here he procured a couple of horses, and proceeded on the re- 
 mainder of his journey with two men, sending the other six 
 back to the encampment. He arrived at St. Louis on the 20 th 
 of January. 
 
140 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 On this liis second visit to St. Louis, Mr. Hunt was again im- 
 peded in liis plans by tlie opposition of the Missouri Fur Com- 
 pany. The affairs of that company were, at this time, in a very 
 dubious state. During the preceding year, their principal 
 establishment at the forks of the Missouri had been so much 
 harassed by the Blackfeet Indians, that its commander, Mr. 
 Henry, one of the partners, had been compelled to abandon the 
 post and cross the Rocky Mountains, with the intention of fix- 
 ing himself upon one of the upper branches of the Columbia. 
 "What had become of him and his party was unknown. The 
 most intense anxiety was felt concerning them, and apprehen- 
 sions that they might have been cut off by the savages. At the 
 time of Mr. Hunt's arrival at St. Louis, the Missouri Company 
 were fitting out an expedition to go in quest of Mr. Henry. It 
 was to be conducted by Mr. Manuel Lisa, the enterprising part- 
 ner already mentioned. 
 
 There being thus two expeditions on foot at the same mo- 
 ment, an unusual demand was occasioned for hunters and voy- 
 ageurs, who accordingly profited by the circumstance, and stipu- 
 lated for high terms. Mr. Hunt found a keen and subtle 
 competitor in Lisa, and was obliged to secure his recruits by 
 liberal advances of pay, and by other pecuniary indulgences. 
 
 The greatest difficulty was to procure the Sioux interpreter 
 There was but one man to be met with at St. Louis who was fitted 
 for the purpose, but to secure him would require much manage 
 
PIERRE DORION 141 
 
 ment. The individual in question was a lialf-breed, named Pierre 
 Dorioii ; and, as lie figures hereafter in this narrative, and is, 
 withal, a striking specimen of the hybrid race on the frontier, we 
 ehall give a few particulars concerning him. Pierre was the son 
 of Dorion, the French interpreter, who accompanied Messrs. 
 Lewis and Clarke in their famous exploring expedition across 
 tlie Kocky Mountains. Old Dorion was one of those French 
 Creoles, descendants of the ancient Canadian stock, who abound 
 on the western frontier, and amalgamate or cohabit with the 
 savages. He had sojourned among various tribes, and perhaps 
 left progeny among them all ; but his regular, or habitual wife, 
 was a Sioux scpaw. By her he had a hopeful brood of half-breed 
 sons', of whom Pierre was one. The domestic aifairs of old 
 Dorion were conducted on the true Indian plan. Father and 
 sons would occasionally get drunk together, and then the cabin 
 Vfas a scene of ruffian brawl and figliLlng, in the course of which 
 the old Frenchman was apt to get soundly belabored by his mon- 
 grel offspring. In a furious scuffle of the kind, one of the sons 
 got the old man upon the ground, and was upon the point of 
 scalping him. " Hold ! my son," cried the old fellow, in im- 
 ploring accents, " you are too brave, too hoiiorabh to scalp your 
 father !" This last appeal touched the French side of the half- 
 breed's heart, so he suffered the old man to wear his scalp un- 
 harmed. 
 
 Of this hopeful stock was Pierre Dorion, the man whom it 
 was now the desire of Mr. Hunt to engage as an interpreter. He 
 had been employed in that capacity by the Missouri Fur Com- 
 pany during the preceding year, and had conducted their traders 
 in safety through the different tribes of the Sioux. He had 
 proved himself faithful and serviceable while sober ; but the lovo 
 of liquor, in which he had been nurtured and brought up, would 
 occasionally break o\it, and with it the savage side of his character, 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 It was his love of liquor which had embroiled him with the 
 Missouri Company. While in their service at Fort Mandan, on 
 the frontier, he had been seized with a whisky mania ; and, as 
 the beverage was only to be pro'cured at the company's store, it 
 had been charged in his account at the rate of ten dollars a 
 quart. This item had ever remained unsettled, and a matter of 
 furious dispute, the mere mention of which was sufficient to put 
 him in a passion. 
 
 The moment it was discovered by Mr. Lisa that Pierre Dorion 
 was in treaty with the new and rival association, he endeavored, 
 by threats as well as promises, to prevent his engaging in their 
 service. His promises might, perhaps, have prevailed ; but his 
 threats, which related to the whisky debt, only served to drive 
 Pierre into the opposite ranks. Still, he took advantage of this 
 competition for his services to stand out with Mr. Hunt on the 
 most advantageous terms, and, after a negotiation of nearly two 
 weeks, capitulated to serve in the expedition, as hunter and 
 interpreter, at the rate of three hundred dollars a year, two hun- 
 dred of which were to be paid in advance. 
 
 "When Mr. Hunt had got every thing ready for leaving St. 
 Louis, new difficulties arose. Five of the American hunters, 
 from the encampment at Nodowa, suddenly made their appearance. 
 They alleged that they had been ill treated by the partners at the 
 encampment, and liad come off clandestinely, in consequence of a 
 dispute. It was useless at the present moment, and under present 
 circumstances, to attempt any compulsory measures with these 
 deserters. Two of them Mr. Hunt prevailed upon, by mild 
 means, to return with him. The rest refused ; nay, what was worse, 
 they spread such reports of the hardships and dangers to be ap- 
 prehended in the course of the expedition, that they struck a 
 panic into those hunters who had recently engaged at St. Louis, 
 and, when the hour of departure arrived, all but one refused to 
 
LEGAL PERPLEXITIES OF PIERRE DORION. 143 
 
 embark. It was in vain to plead or remonstrate ; tliey shouldered 
 their rifles and turned their hack upon the expedition, and Mr. 
 Hunt was fain to jnit off from shore with the single hunter and 
 a number of voyageurs whom he had engaged. Even Pierre 
 DorioUj at the last moment, refused to enter the boat until Mr 
 Hunt consented to take his squaw and two children on board also 
 But the tissue of perplexities, on account of this worthy indivi- 
 dual, did not end here. 
 
 Among the various persons who were about to proceed up the 
 Missouri with Mr. Hunt, were two scientific gentlemen : one Mr. 
 John Bradbury, a man of mature age, but great enterprise and 
 personal activity, who had been sent out by the Linnean Society 
 of Liverpool, to make a collection of American plants ; the other, 
 a Mr. Nuttall, likewise. an Englishman, younger in years, who has 
 since made himself known as the author of " Travels in Arkan- 
 sas," and a work on the '-Genera of American Plants." Mr, 
 Hunt had offered them the protection and facilities of his party, 
 in their scientific researches up the Missouri. As they were not 
 ready to depart at the moment of embarkation, they put their 
 trunks on board of the boat, but remained at St. Louis until the next 
 day, for the arrival of the post, intending to join the expedition 
 at St Charles, a short distance above the mouth of the Missouri. 
 
 The same evening, however, they learned that a writ had been 
 issued against Pierre Dorion for his whisky debt, by Mr. Lisa, 
 as agent of the Missouri Company, and that it was the intention 
 to entrap the mongrel linguist on his arrival at St. Charles. 
 Upon hearing this, Mr. Bradbury and Mr. Nuttall set off a little 
 after midnight, by land, got ahead of the boat as it was ascending 
 the Missouri, before its arrival at St. Charles, and gave Pierre 
 Dorion warning of the legal toil prepared to ensnare him. The 
 knowing Pierre immediately landed and took to the woods, fol 
 lowed by his sc^uaw laden with their papooses, and a large bundle 
 
144 ASTORIA. 
 
 containing tlieir most precious effects ; promising to rejoin the 
 party some distance above St. Charles. There seemed little de- 
 pendence to be jplaced upon the promises of a loose adventurer 
 of the kind, who was at the very time playing an evasive game 
 with his former employers ; who had already received two-thirds 
 of his year's pay, and had his rifle on his shoulder, his family and 
 worldly fortune at his heels, and the wild woods before him. 
 There was no alternative, however, and it was hoped his pique 
 against his old employers would render him faithful to his new 
 ones. 
 
 The party reached St. Charles in the afternoon, but the har- 
 pies of the law looked in vain for their expected prey. The boats 
 resumed their course on the following morning, and had not pro- 
 ceeded far when Pierre Dorion made his appearance on the shore. 
 He was gladly taken on board, but he came without his squaw. 
 They had quarrelled in the night ; Pierre had administered the 
 Indian discipline of the cudgel, whereupon she had taken to the 
 woods, with their children and all their worldly goods. Pierre 
 evidently was deeply grieved and disconcerted at the loss of his 
 wife and his knapsack, wherefore Mr. Hunt dispatched one of the 
 Canadian voyageurs in search of the fugitive ; and the whole 
 party, after proceeding a few miles further, encamped on an island 
 to await his return. The Canadian rejoined the party, but with- 
 out the squaw ; and Pierre Dorion passed a solitary and anxious 
 night, bitterly regretting his indiscretion in having exercised his 
 conjugal authority so near home. Before daybreak, however, a 
 well-known voice reached his ears from the opposite shore. It was 
 his repentant spouse, who had been wandering the woods all night 
 in quest of the party, and had at length descried it by its fires. 
 A boat was dispatched for her, the interesting family was once 
 more united, and Mr. Hunt now flattered himself that his per* 
 plexities with Pierre Dorion were at an end. 
 
DANIEL BOON. 145 
 
 Bad weatlier, very teavy rains, and an unusually early rise 
 in the Missouri, rendered the ascent of the river toilsome, slow, 
 and dangerous. The rise of the Missouri does not generally 
 take place until the month of May or J une : the present swelling 
 of the river must have been caused by a freshet in some of its 
 more southern branches. It could not have been the great an- 
 nual flood, as the higher branches must still have been ice-bound. 
 
 And here we cannot but pause, to notice the admirable ar- 
 rangement of nature, by which the annual swellings of the vari- 
 ous great rivers which empty themselves into the Mississippi, 
 have been made to precede each other at considerable intervals. 
 Thus, the flood of the Eed River precedes that of the Arkansas 
 by a month. The Arkansas, also, rising in a much more southern 
 latitude than the Missouri, takes the lead of it in its annual ex- 
 cess, and its superabundant waters are disgorged and disposed of 
 long before the breaking up of the icy barriers of the north ; 
 otherwise, did all these mighty streams rise simultaneously, and 
 discharge their vernal floods into the Mississippi, an inundation 
 would be the consequence, that would submerge and devastate all 
 the lower country. 
 
 On the afternoon of the third day, January 17th, the boats 
 touched at Charette, one of the old villages founded by the ori- 
 ginal French colonists. Here they met with Daniel Boon, the 
 renowned patriarch of Kentucky, who had kept in the advance of 
 civilization, and on the borders of the wilderness, still leading a 
 hunter's life, though now in his eighty-fifth year. He had but 
 recently returned from a hunting and trapping expedition, and 
 had brought nearly sixty beaver skins as trophies of his skill. 
 The old man was still erect in form, strong in liml), and unflinch- 
 ing in spirit, and as he stood on the river bank, watching the de- 
 parture of an expedition destined to traverse the wilderness to 
 the very shores of the Pacific, very probably felt a throb of Lis 
 
 7 
 
146 ASTORIA. 
 
 old pioneer spirit, impelling him to shoulder his rifle and join the 
 adventurous band. Boon flourished several years after this meet- 
 ing, in a vigorous old age, the Nestor of hunters and backwood- 
 men ; and died, full of sylvan honor and renown, in 1818, in his 
 ninety-second year. 
 
 The next morning early, as the party were yet encamped at 
 the mouth of a small stream, they were visited by another of these 
 heroes of the wilderness, one John Colter, who had accompanied 
 Lewis and Clarke in their memorable expedition. He had re- 
 cently made one of those vast internal voyages so characteristic 
 of this fearless class of men, and of the immense regions over 
 which they hold their lonely wanderings ; having come from the 
 head waters of the Missouri to St. Louis in a small canoe. This 
 distance of three thousand miles he had accomplished in thirty 
 days. Colter kept with the party all the morning. He had 
 many particulars to give them concerning the Blackfeet Indians, 
 a restless and predatory tribe, who had conceived an implacable 
 hostility to the white men, in consequence of one of their war- 
 riors having been killed by Captain Lewis, while attempting to 
 steal horses. Through the country infested by these savages the 
 expedition would have to proceed, and Colter was urgent in reit- 
 erating the precautions that ought to be observed respecting' 
 them He had himself experienced their vindictive cruelty, and 
 his story deserves particular citation, as showing the hairbreadth 
 adventures to which these solitary rovers of the wilderness are 
 exposed. 
 
 Colter, with the hardihood of a regular trapper, had cast 
 himself loose from the party of Lewis and Clarke in the very 
 heart of the wilderness, and had remained to trap beaver alone 
 on the head waters of the Missouri. Here he fell in with 
 another lonely trapper, like himself, named Potts, and they 
 agreed to keep together. They were in the very region of tho 
 
AN AFFilAY WITH THE BLACKFEET. 147 
 
 terrible Blackfeet, at that time thirsting to revenge the death 
 of their companion, and knew that they had to expect no mercy 
 at their hands. They were obliged to keep concealed all day 
 in the woody margins of the rivers, setting their traps after 
 nightfall, and taking them up before daybreak. It was running 
 a fearful risk for the sake of a few beaver skins ; but such is the 
 life of the trapper. 
 
 They were on a branch of the Missouri called Jefferson's 
 Fork, and had set their traps at night, about six miles up a 
 small river that emptied into the fork. Early in the morning 
 they ascended the river in a canoe, to examine the traps. The 
 banks on each side were high and perpendicular, and cast a 
 shade over the stream. As they were softly paddling along, 
 they heard the trampling of many feet upon the banks. Colter 
 immediately gave the alarm of " Indians !" and was for instant 
 retreat. Potts scoffed at him for being frightened by the tramp 
 ling of a herd of buffaloes. Colter checked his uneasiness and 
 paddled forward. They had not gone much further when 
 frightful whoops and yells burst forth from each side of the 
 river, and several hundred Indians appeared on either bank. 
 Signs were made to the unfortunate trappers to come on shore. 
 They were obliged to comply. Before they could get out of 
 their canoes, a savage seized the rifle belonging to Potts. Col- 
 ter sprang on shore, wrested the weapon from the hands of the 
 Indian, and restored it to his companion, who was still in the 
 canoe, and immediately pushed into the stream. There was the 
 sharp twang of a bow, and Potts cried out that he was wounded. 
 Colter urged him to come on shore and submit, as his only chance 
 for life ; but the other knew there was no prospect of mercy, 
 and determined to die game. Levelling his rifle, he shot one of 
 the savages dead on the spot. The next moment he fell himself, 
 pierced with innumerable arrows. 
 
148 ASTORIA. 
 
 The vengeance of the savages now turned upon Colter. Ho 
 was stripped naked, and, having some knowledge of the Blackfoot 
 language, overheard a consultation as to the mode of dispatch- 
 ing him, so as to derive the greatest amusement from his death. 
 Some were for setting him up as a mark, and having a trial of 
 skill at his expense. The chief, however, was for nobler sport. 
 He seized Colter by the shoulder, and demanded if he could run 
 fast. The unfortunate trapper was too well acquainted with Indian 
 customs not to comprehend the drift of the question. He knew 
 he was to run for his life, to furnish a kind of human hunt to 
 his persecutors. Though in reality he was noted among his 
 brother hunters for swiftness of foot, he assured the chief that 
 he was a very bad runner. His stratagem gained him some 
 vantage ground. He was led by the chief into the prairie, about 
 four hundred yards from the main body of savages, and then 
 turned loose to save himself if he could. A tremendous yell let 
 him know that the whole pack of bloodhounds were 'off in full 
 cry. Colter flew, rather than ran ; he was astonished at his 
 own speed ; but he had six miles of prairie to traverse before ho 
 should reach the Jeiferson Fork of the Missouri ; how could he 
 hope to hold out such a distance with the fearful odds of several 
 hundred to one against him ! The plain too abounded with the 
 prickly pear, which wounded his naked feet. Still he fled on, 
 dreading each moment to hear the twang of a bow, and to feel 
 an arrow quivering at his heart. He did not even dare to look 
 round, lest he should lose an inch of that distance on which his 
 life depended. He had ran nearly half way across the plain 
 when the sound of pursuit grew somewhat fainter, and he ventur- 
 ed to turn his head. The main body of his pursuers were a 
 considerable distance behind ; severaT of the fastest runners were 
 scattered in the advance ; while a swift-footed warrior, armed with 
 a spear, was not more than a hundred yards behind him. 
 
A SWIM FOR LIFE. 149 
 
 Inspired with new hope, Colter redoubled his exertions, but 
 strained himself to such a degree, that the blood gushed from 
 his mouth and nostrils, and streamed down his breast. He arrived 
 within a mile of the river. The sound of footsteps gathered 
 upon him. A glance behind showed his pursuer within twenty 
 yards, and preparing to launch his spear. Stoi^ping short, ho 
 turned round and spread out his arms. The savage, confounded 
 by this sudden action, attempted to stop and hurl his spear, but 
 fell in the very act. His spear stuck in the ground, and the 
 shaft broke in his hand. Colter plucked up the pointed part, 
 pinned the savage to the earth, and continued his flight. The 
 Indians, as they arrived at their slaughtered companion, stopped 
 to howl over him. Colter made the most of this precious delay, 
 gained the skirt of cotton-wood bordering the river, dashed 
 through it, and plunged into the stream. He swam to a neigh- 
 boring island, against the upper end of which the driftwood had 
 lodged in such cpantities as to form a natural raft ; under this 
 he dived, and swam below water until he succeeded in getting a 
 breathing place between the floating trunks of trees, whose 
 branches and bushes formed a covert several feet above the level 
 of the water. He had scarcely drawn breath after all his toils, 
 when he heard his pursuers on the river bank, whooping and yell- 
 ing like so many fiends. They plunged in the river, and swam 
 to the raft. The heart of Colter almost died within him as he 
 saw them, through the chinks of his concealment, passing and 
 repassing, and seeking for him in all directions. They at length 
 gave up the search, and he began to rejoice in his escape, when 
 the idea presented itself that they might set the raft on fire. 
 Here was a new source of horrible apprehension, in which he 
 remained until nightfall. Fortunately, the idea did not suggest 
 itself to the Indians. As soon as it was dark, finding by the 
 silence around that his pursuers had departed. Colter dived again, 
 
150 ASTORIA. 
 
 and came up beyond the raft. He tlien swam silently down the 
 river for a considerable distance, when he landed, and kept 
 on all night, to get as far off as possible from this dangerous 
 neighborhood. 
 
 By daybreak he had gained sufficient distance to relieve him 
 from the terrors of his savage foes ; but now new sources of in- 
 quietude presented themselves. He was naked and alone, in the 
 Qiidst of an unbounded wilderness ; liis only chance was to reach 
 a trading post of the Missouri Company, situated on a branch of 
 the Yellowstone River. Even should he elude his pursuers, days 
 must elapse before he could reach this post, during which he 
 must traverse immense prairies destitute of shade, his naked 
 body exposed to the burning heat of the sun by day, and the 
 dews and chills of the night season ; and his feet lacerated by 
 the thorns of the prickly pear. Though he might see game in 
 abundance around him, he had no means of killing any for his 
 sustenance, and must depend for food upon the roots of the earth. 
 In defiance of these difficulties he pushed resolutely forward, 
 guiding himself in his trackless course by those signs and indi- 
 cations known only to Indians and backwoodmen ; and after 
 braving dangers and hardships enough to break down any spirit 
 but that of a western pioneer, arrived safe at the solitary post in 
 question.* 
 
 Such is a sample of the rugged experience which Colter had 
 to relate of savage life ; yet, with all these perils and terrors 
 fresh in his recollection, he could not see the present band on 
 their way to those regions of danger and adventure, without feel- 
 ing a vehement impulse to join them. A western trapper is like 
 a sailor ; past hazards only stimulate him to further risks. The 
 vast prairie is to the one what the ocean is to the other, a bound- 
 less field of enterprise and exploit. However he may have suf- 
 
 • * Bradbury. Travels in America, p. 17. 
 
ARRIVAL AT FORT OSAGE. 151 
 
 fered in his last cruise, he is always ready to join a new expedi- 
 tion ; and the more adventurous its nature, the more attractive 
 is it to his vagrant spirit. 
 
 Nothing seems to have kept Colter from continuing with the 
 party to the shores of the Pacific but the circumstance of his 
 having recently married. All the morning he kept with them, 
 balancing in his mind the charms of his bride against those of 
 the Rocky Mountains ; the former, however, prevailed, and after 
 a march of several miles, he took a reluctant leave of the travel- 
 lers, and turned his face homeward. 
 
 Continuing their progress up the Missouri, the party encamped 
 on the evening of the 21st of March, in the neighborhood of a 
 little frontier village of French Creoles. Here Pierre Dorion 
 met with some of his old comrades, with whom he had a long 
 gossip, and returned to the camp with rumors of bloody feuds 
 between the Osages and the loways, or Ayaways, Potowatomies, 
 Sioux, and Sawkces. Blood had already been shed, and scalps 
 been taken. A war party, three hundred strong, were prowling 
 in the neighborhood ; others might be met with higher up the 
 river ; it behooved the travellers, therefore, to be upon their 
 guard against robbery or surprise, for an Indian war party on 
 the march is prone to acts of outrage. 
 
 In consequence of this report, vrhicli was subsequently con- 
 firmed by further intelligence, a guard was kept up at night 
 round the encampment, and they all slept on their arms. As 
 they were sixteen in number, and well supplied with weapons and 
 ammunition, they trusted to be able to give any marauding party 
 a warm reception. Nothing occurred, however, to molest them 
 on their voyage, and on the 8tli of April they came in sight of 
 Fort Osage. On their approach the flag was hoisted on the fort, 
 and they saluted it by a discharge of firearms. Within a short 
 distance of the fort was an Osage village, the inhabitants of 
 
152 ASTORIA. 
 
 wliicL men, women, and children, thronged down to the water 
 side to witness their hinding. One of the first persons they met 
 on the river bank was Mr. Crooks, who had come down in a boat, 
 with nine men, from the winter encampment at Nodowa, to meet 
 them. 
 
 They remained at Fort Osage a part of three days, during 
 which they were hospitably entertained at the garrison by Lieu 
 tenant Brownson, who held a temporary command. They were 
 regaled also with a war-feast at the village ; the Osage warriors 
 having returned from a successful foray against the loways, in 
 which they had taken seven scalps. These were paraded on 
 poles about the village, followed by the warriors decked out in all 
 their savage ornaments, and hideously painted as if for battle. 
 
 By the Osage warriors, Mr. Hunt and his companions were 
 again warned to be on their guard in ascending the river, as the 
 Sioux tribe meant to lay in wait and attack them. 
 
 On the 10th of April they again embarked, their party being 
 now augmented to twenty-six, by the addition of Mr. Crooks and 
 his boat's crew. They had not proceeded far, however, when 
 there was a great outcry from one of the boats ; it was occasioned 
 by a little domestic discipline in the Dorion family. The squaw 
 of the worthy interpreter, it appeared, had been so delighted with 
 the scalp-dance, and other festivities of the Osage village, that 
 she had taken a strong inclination to remain there. This had 
 been as strongly opposed by her liege lord, who had compelled 
 iier to embark. The good dame had remained sulky ever since, 
 whereupon Pierre, seeing no other mode of exorcising the evi] 
 spirit out of her, and being, perhaps, a little inspired by whisky, 
 had resorted to the Indian remedy of the cudgel, and, before his 
 neighbors could interfere, had belabored her so soundly, thai 
 there is no record of her having shown any refractory symptoms 
 throughout the remainder of the expedition, 
 t 
 
SUBLIMITY OF A TURKEY-BUZZARD. 153 
 
 For a week they continued their voyage, exposed to almost in- 
 cessant rains. The bodies of drowned buffaloes floated past them 
 in vast numbers ; many had drifted upon the shore, or against 
 tho upper ends of the rafts and islands. These had attracted 
 great flights of turkey-buzzards ; some were banqueting on the 
 carcasses, others were soaring far aloft in the sky, and others 
 were perched on the trees, with their backs to the sun. and their 
 wings stretched out to dry, like so many vessels in harbor, spread- 
 ing their sails after a shower. 
 
 The turkey-buzzard (vultur aura, or golden vulture), when on 
 the wing, is one of the most specious and imposing of birds. Its 
 flight in the upper regions of the air is really sublime, extending 
 its immense wings, and wheeling slowly and majestically to and 
 fro, seemingly without exerting a muscle or fluttering a feather, 
 but moving by mere volition, and sailing on the bosom of the air, 
 as a ship upon the ocean. Usurping the empyreal realm of the 
 eagle, he assumes for a time the port and dignity of that majestic 
 bird, and often is mistaken for him by ignorant crawlers upon 
 earth. It is only when he descends from the clouds to pounce 
 upon carrion that he betrays his low propensities, and reveals his 
 caitiff character. Near at hand he is a disgusting bird, ragged 
 in plumage, base in aspect, and of loathsome odor. 
 
 On the 17th of April Mr. Hunt arrived with his party at the 
 station near the Nodowa Kiver, where the main body had been 
 q^iiartered during the winter. 
 
1S4 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The weather continued rainy jjnd nngenial for some daj^s after 
 Mr. Hunt's return to Nodowa ; yet spring was rapidly advancing, 
 and vegetation was putting fortli with all its early fre^-hness and 
 beauty. The snakes began to recover from their torpor and crawl 
 forth into day, and the neighborhood of the wintering house 
 seems to have been much infested with them. Mr. Bradbury, in 
 the course of his botanical researches, found a surprising number 
 in a half torpid state, under flat stones upon the banks which 
 overhung the cantonment, and narrowly escaped being struck by 
 a rattlesnake, which darted at him from a cleft in the rock, but 
 fortunately gave him warning by its rattle. 
 
 The pigeons too were filling the woods in vast migratory 
 flocks. It is almost incredible to describe the prodigious flights of 
 these birds in the western wildernesses. They appear absolutely 
 in clouds, and move with astonishing velocity, their wings making 
 a whistling sound as they fly. The rapid evolutions of these 
 flocks, wheeling and shifting suddenly as if with one mind and 
 one impulse ; the flashing changes of color they present, as their 
 backs, their breasts, or the under part of their wings are turned 
 to the spectator, are singularly pleasing. When they alight, if 
 on the ground, they cover whole acres at a time ; if upon trees, 
 the branches often break beneath their weight. If suddenly 
 Btartled while feeding in the midst of a forest, the noise they 
 make in getting on the wing is like the roar of a cataract or the 
 Bound of distant thunder. 
 
GREAT FLIGHT OF PIGEONS. I55 
 
 A flight of this kind, like an Egyptian flight of locusts, 
 devours every thing that serves for its food as it passes along. 
 So great were the numbers in the vicinity of the camp that Mr. 
 Bradbury, in the course of a morning's excursion, shot nearly 
 three hundred with a fowling-piece. He gives a curious, though 
 apparently a faithful, account of the kind of discipline observed 
 in these immense flocks, so that each may have a chance of pick- 
 ing up food. As the front ranks must meet with the greatest 
 abundance, and the rear ranks must have scanty pickings, the 
 instant a rank finds itself the hindmost, it rises in the air, flies 
 over the whole flock, and takes its place in the advance. The 
 next rank follows in its course, and thus the last is continually 
 becoming first, and all by turns have a front place at the banquet. 
 The rains having at length subsided, Mr. Hunt broke up the 
 encampment and resumed his course up the Missouri. 
 
 The party now consisted of nearly sixty persons : of whom five 
 were partners ; one, John Reed, was a clerk ; forty were Cana- 
 dian '-voyageurs," or ''- engage,'' and there were several hunters. 
 They embarked in four boats, one of which was of a large size, 
 mounting a swivel and two howitzers. All were furnished with 
 masts and sails, to be used when the wind was sufficiently favora- 
 ble and strong to overpower the current of the river. Such was 
 the case for the first four or five days, when they were wafted 
 steadily up the stream by a strong southeaster. 
 
 Their encampments at night were often pleasant and pictu- 
 resque : on some beautiful bank, beneath spreading trees, which 
 afi'orded them shelter and fuel. The tents were pitched, the fires 
 made, and the meals prepared by the voyageurs, and many a story 
 was told, and joke passed, and song sung, round the evening fire. 
 All, however, were asleep at an early hour. Some under the 
 tents, others wrapped in blankets before the fire, or beneath the 
 trees ; and some few in the boats and canoes. 
 
156 ASTORIA. 
 
 On tlie 28111, they breakfasted on one of the islands wliicli lie 
 at the mouth of the Nebraska or Platte River ; the largest trib' 
 utary of the Missouri, and about six hundred miles above its 
 confluence with the Mississippi. This broad but shallow stream 
 flows for an immense distance through a wide and verdant valley 
 scooped out of boundless prairies. It draws its main supplies, 
 by several forks or branches, from the Rocky Mountains. The 
 mouth of this river is established as the dividing point between 
 the upper and lower Missouri ; and the earlier voyagers, in their 
 toilsome ascent, before the introduction of steamboats, considered 
 one-half of their labors accomplished when they reached this place. 
 The passing of the mouth of the Nebraska, therefore, was equiva- 
 lent among boatmen to the crossing of the line among sailors, 
 and was celebrated with like ceremonials of a rough and waggish 
 nature, practised upon the uninitiated ; among which was the old 
 nautical joke of shaving. The river deities, however, like those 
 of the sea, were to be propitiated by a bribe, and the infliction of 
 these rude honors to be parried by a treat to the adepts. 
 
 At the mouth of the Nebraska new signs were met with of 
 war parties which had recently been in the vicinity. There was 
 the frame of a skin canoe, in which the warriors had traversed 
 the river. At night, also, the lurid reflection of immense fires 
 hung in the sky, showing the conflagration of great tracts of tho 
 prairies. Such fires not being made by hunters so late in the 
 season, it was supposed they were caused by some wandering wax 
 parties. These often take the precaution to set the prairies on 
 fire behind them to conceal their traces from their enemies. This 
 is chiefly done when the party has been unsuccessful, and is on the 
 retreat, and apprehensive of pursuit. At such time it is not safe 
 even for friends to fall in with them, as they are apt to be in 
 savage humor, and disposed to vent their spleen in capricious 
 outrage. These signs, therefore, of a band of marauders on 
 
DESERTION OF TWO HUNTERS. 157 
 
 fclie prowl, called for some degree of vigilance on the part of tlie 
 travellers. 
 
 After passing the Nebraska, the party halted for part of two 
 days on the bank of the rh^er, a little above Papillion Creek, to 
 supply themselves with a stock of oars and poles from the tough 
 wood of the ash, which is not met with higher up the Missouri. 
 While the voyageurs were thus occupied, the naturalists rambled 
 over the adjacent country to collect plants. From the summit 
 of a range of bluffs on the opposite side of the river, about two 
 hundred and fifty feet high, they had one of those vast and mag- 
 nificent prospects which sometimes unfold themselves in theso 
 boundless regions. Below them was the valley of the Missouri, 
 about seven miles in breadth, clad in the fresh verdure of spring; 
 enamelled with flowers and interspersed with clumps and groves 
 of noble trees, between which the mighty river poured its turbu- 
 lent and turbid stream. The interior of the country presented 
 a singular scene ; the immense waste being broken up by innu- 
 merable green hills, not above eighty feet in height, but extremely 
 steep, and acutely pointed at their summits. A long line of 
 bluffs extended "for upwards of thirty miles, parallel to the Mis- 
 souri, with a shallow lake stretching along their base, which had 
 evidently once formed a bed of the river. The surface of this 
 lake was covered with aquatic plants, on the broad leaves of which 
 numbers of water-snakes, drawn forth by the genial warmth of 
 spring, were basking in the sunshine. 
 
 On the 2d of May, at the usual hour of embarking, the camp 
 was thrown into some confusion by two of the hunters, named 
 Harrington, expressing their intention to abandon the expedition 
 and return home, One of these had joined the party in the pre- 
 ceding autumn, having been hunting for two years on the Mis- 
 souri ; the other had engaged at St. Louis, in the following March, 
 and had come up from thence with Mr, Hunt. He now declared 
 
158 ASTORIA. 
 
 that lie liad enlisted merely for the purjDose of following his 
 brother, and persuading him to return ; having been enjoined to 
 do so by his mother, whose anxiety had been awakened by the 
 idea of his going on such a wild and distant expedition. 
 
 The loss of two stark hunters and prime riflemen was a seri- 
 ous affair to the party, for they were approaching the region 
 where they might expect hostilities from the Sioux ; indeed, 
 throughout the whole of their perilous journey, the services of 
 such men would be all important, for little reliance was to bo 
 placed upon the valor of the Canadians in case of attack. Mr. 
 Hunt endeavored by arguments, expostulations, and entreaties, 
 to shake the determination of the two brothers. He represented 
 to them that they were between six and seven hundred miles 
 above the mouth of the Missouri ; that they would have four 
 hundred miles to go before they could reach the habitation of a 
 white man, throughout which they would be exposed to all kinds 
 of risks ; since he declared, if they persisted in abandoning him 
 and breaking their faith, he would not furnish them with a single 
 round of ammunition. All was in vain ; they obstinately persist- 
 ed in their resolution ; whereupon, Mr. Hunt, partly incited by 
 indignation, partly by the policy of deterring others from deser- 
 tion, put his threat in execution, and left them to find their way 
 back to the settlements without, as he supposed, a single ballet or 
 charge of powder. 
 
 The boats now continued their slow and toilsome course for 
 several days, against the current of the river. The late signs 
 of roaming war parties caused a vigilant watch to be kept up at 
 night when the crews encamped on shore ; nor was this vigilance 
 superfluous ; for on the night of the seventh instant, there was a 
 wild and fearful yell, and eleven Sioux warriors, stark naked, 
 with tomahawks in their hands, rushed into the camp. They 
 were instantly surrounded and seized, whereupon their leader 
 
VILLAGE OF THE OMAHAS. 159 
 
 called out to his followers to desist from any violence, and pre- 
 tended to be perfectly pacific in his intentions. It proved, how- 
 ever, that they were a part of the war party, the skeleton of 
 whose canoe had been seen at the mouth of the river Platte, and 
 the reflection of whose fires had been descried in the air. They 
 had been disappointed or defeated in their foray, and in their 
 rage and mortification these eleven warriors had " devoted their 
 clothes to the medicine." This is a desperate act of Indian braves 
 when foiled in war, and in dread of scoffs and sneers. In such 
 case they sometimes throw oif their clothes and ornaments, de- 
 vote themselves to the Great Spirit, and attempt some reckless 
 exploit with which to cover their disgrace. Woe to any defence- 
 less party of white men that may then fall in their way ! 
 
 Such was the explanation given by Pierre Dorion, the half- 
 breed interpreter, of this wild intrusion into the camp ; and the 
 party v/ere so exasperated when apprized of the sanguinary in- 
 tentions of the prisoners, that they were for shooting them on 
 the spot. Mr. Hunt, however, exerted his usual moderation and 
 humanity, and ordered that they should be conveyed across the 
 river in one of the boats, threatening them, however, with certain 
 death, if again caught in any hostile act. 
 
 On the 10th of May the party arrived at the Omaha (pro- 
 nounced Omawhaw) village, about eight hundred and thirty miles 
 above the mouth of the Missouri, and encamped in its neighbor- 
 hood. The village was situated under a hill on the bank of the 
 river, and consisted of about eighty lodges. These were of a 
 circular and conical form, and about sixteen feet in diameter ; 
 being mere tents of dressed buffalo skins, sewed together and 
 stretched on long poles, inclined towards each other so as to 
 cross at about half their height. Thus the naked tops of the 
 poles diverge in such a manner that, if they were covered with 
 Bkins like the lower ends, the tent would be shaped like an hour- 
 
iGO ASTORIA. 
 
 glass, and present tlie appearance of one cone inverted on tlie 
 apex of another. 
 
 The forms of Indian lodges are worthy of attention, each tribe 
 having a different mode of shaping and arranging them, so that 
 it is easy to tell, on seeing a lodge or an encampment at a dis- 
 tance, to what tribe the inhabitants belong. The exterior of the 
 Omaha lodges have often a gay and fanciful appearance, being 
 painted with undulating bands of red or yellow, or decorated 
 with rude figures of horses, deer, and buffaloes, and with human 
 faces, painted like full moons, four and five feet broad. 
 
 The Omahas were once one of the numerous and powerful 
 tribes of the prairies, vying in warlike might and prowess with 
 the Sioux, the Pawnees, the Sauks, the Konzas, and the latans. 
 Their wars with the Sioux, however, had thinned their ranks, and 
 the smallpox in 1802 had swept off two-thirds of their number. 
 At the time of Mr. Hunt's visit they still boasted about two 
 hundred warriors and hunters, but they are now fast melting 
 away, and before long, will be numbered among those extin- 
 guished nations of the west that exist but in tradition. 
 
 In his correspondence with Mr. Astor, from this point of his 
 journey, Mr. Hunt gives a sad account of the Indian tribes bor- 
 dering on the river. They were in continual war with each 
 other, and their wars were of the most harassing kind ; consist- 
 ing, not merely of main conflicts and expeditions of moment, 
 involving the sackings, burnings and massacres of towns and 
 villages, but of individual acts of treachery, murder, and cold- 
 blooded cruelty ] or of vaunting and foolhardy exploits of single 
 warriors, either to avenge some personal wrong, or gain the vain- 
 glorious trophy of a scalp. The lonely hunter, the wandering 
 wayfarer, the poor squaw cutting wood or gathering corn, was 
 liable to be surprised and slaughtered. In this way tribes wero 
 either swept away at once, or gradually thinned out, and savage 
 
BLACKBIRD, THE OMAHA CHIEF. 161 
 
 life was surrounded with constant liorrors and alarms. That the 
 race of red men should dimmish from year to year, and so few 
 should survive of the numerous nations which evidently once 
 peojDled the vast regions of the west, is nothing surprising ; it is 
 rather matter of surprise that so many should survive ; for tho 
 existence of a savage in these parts seems little better than a 
 prolonged and all-besetting death. It is, in fact, a caricature of 
 the boasted romance of feudal times ; chivalry in its native and 
 uncultured state, and knight-errantry run wild. 
 
 In their more prosperous days, the Omahas looked upon 
 themselves as the most powerful and perfect of human beings, and 
 considered all created things as made for their peculiar use and 
 benefit. It is this tribe of whose chief, the famous Wash-ing-guh- 
 sah-ba, or Blackbird, such savage and romantic stories are told. 
 He had died about ten years previous to the arrival of Mr. Hunt's 
 party, but his name was still mentioned with awe by his people. 
 He was one of the first among the Indian chiefs on the Missouri 
 to deal with the white traders, and showed great sagacity in levy- 
 ing his royal dues. When a trader arrived in his village, he 
 caused all his goods to be brought into his lodge and opened. 
 From these he selected whatever suited his sovereign pleasure ; 
 blankets, tobacco, whisky, powder, ball, beads and red paint ; and 
 laid the articles on one side, without deigning to give any com 
 pensation. Then calling to him his herald or crier, he would 
 order him to mount on top of the lodge and summon all the tribe 
 to bring in their peltries, and trade with the white man. The 
 lodge would soon be crowded with Indians bringing bear, beaver, 
 otter, and other skins. No one was allowed to dispute the prices 
 fixed by the white trader upon his articles ; who took care to in- 
 demnify himself five times over for the goods set apart by the 
 chief In this way the Blackbird enriched himself, and enriched 
 the white men, and became exceedingly popular among the traders 
 
162 ASTORIA. 
 
 of the Missouri, His people, however, were not equally satisfied 
 by a regulation of trade which worked so manifestly against 
 them, and began to show signs of discontent. Upon this a crafty 
 and unprincipled trader revealed a secret to the Blackbird, by 
 which he might acquire unbounded sway over his ignorant and 
 superstitious subjects. He instructed him in the poisonous qua- 
 lities of arsenic, and furnished him with an ample supply of that 
 baneful drug. From this time the Blackbird seemed endowed 
 with supernatural powers, to possess the gift of prophecy, and to 
 hold the disposal of life and death within his hands. Woe to any 
 one who questioned his authority or dared to dispute his com- 
 mands ! The Blackbird prophesied his death within a certain 
 time, and he had the secret means of verifying his prophecy, 
 Within the fated period the offender was smitten with strange 
 and sudden disease, and perished from the face of the earth 
 Every one stood aghast at these multiplied examples of his super- 
 human might, and dreaded to displease so omnipotent and vin- 
 dictive a being ; and the Blackbird enjoyed a wide and undis- 
 puted sway. 
 
 It was not, however, by terror alone that he ruled his people ; 
 he was a warrior of the first order, and his exploits in arms were 
 the theme of young and old. His career had begun by hard- 
 ships, having been taken prisoner by the Sioux, in early youth. 
 Under his command, the Omahas obtained great character for 
 military prowess, nor did he permit an insult or injury to one 
 of his tribe to pass unrevenged. The Pawnee republicans had 
 inflicted a gross indignity on a favorite and distinguished Omaha 
 brave. The Blackbird assembled his warriors, led them against 
 the Pawnee town, attacked it with irresistible fury, slaughtered 
 a great number of its inhabitants, and burnt it to the ground. 
 He waged fierce and bloody war against the Ottocs for many 
 years, until peace was effected between them by the mediation of 
 
THE POWER OF BEAUTY. 1G3 
 
 the whites. Fearless in battle, and fond of signalizing himself, 
 he dazzled his followers by daring acts. In attacking a Kanza 
 village, he rode singly round it, loading and discharging his rifle 
 at the inhabitants as he galloped past them. He kept up in war 
 the same idea of mysterious and supernatural power. At one 
 time, when pursuing a war party by their tracks across the 
 prairies, he repeatedly discharged his rifle into the prints made 
 by their feet and by the Iioofs of their horses, assuring his fob 
 lowers that he would thereby cripple the fugitives, so that they 
 would easily be overtaken. He in fact did overtake them, and 
 destroyed them almost to a man ; and his victory was considered 
 miraculous, both by friend and foe. By these and similar exploits, 
 he made himself the pride and boast of his people, and became 
 popular among them, notwithstanding his death-denouncing fiat. 
 With all his savage and terrific qualities, he was sensible of 
 the power of female beauty, and capable of love. A war party 
 of the Poncas had made a foray into the lands of the Omahas, 
 and carried off" a number of women and horses. The Blackbird 
 was roused to fury, and took the field with all his braves, swear- 
 ing to " eat up the Ponca nation," — the Indian threat of exter- 
 minating war. The Poncas, sorely pressed, took refuge behind 
 a rude bulwark of earth ; but the Blackbird kept up so galHng a 
 fire, that he seemed likely to execute his menace. In their 
 extremity they sent forth a herald, bearing the calumet or pipe 
 of peace, but he was shot down by order of the Blackbird. 
 Another herald was sent forth in similar guise, but he shared a 
 like fate. The Ponca chief then, as a*last hope, arrayed his 
 beautiful daughter in her finest ornaments, and sent her forth 
 with a calumet, to sue for peace. The charms of the Indian maid 
 touched the stern heart of the Blackbird ; he accepted the pipe 
 at her hand; smoked it, and from that time a peace took place 
 between the Poncas and the Omahas. 
 
164 ASTORIA. 
 
 This beautiful damsel, in all probability, was the favorite 
 wife whose fate makes so tragic an incident in the story of the 
 Blackbird. Her youth and beauty had gained an absolute sway 
 over his rugged heart, so that he distinguished her above all his 
 other wives. The habitual gratification of his vindictive im 
 pulses, however^ had taken away from him all mastery over his 
 passions, and rendered him liable to the most furious transports 
 of rage. In one of these his beautiful wife had the misfortune 
 to offend him, when suddenly drawing his knife, he laid her dead 
 at his feet with a single blow. 
 
 In an instant his frenzy was at an end. He gazed for a 
 time in mute bewilderment upon his victim ; then drawing his 
 buffalo robe over his head, he sat down beside the corpse, and 
 remained brooding over his crime and his loss. Three days 
 elapsed, yet the chief continued silent and motionless ; tasting 
 no food, and apparently sleepless. It was apprehended that he 
 intended to starve himself to death ; his people approached him 
 in trembling awe, and entreated him once more to uncover his 
 face and be comforted ; but he remained unmoved. At length 
 one of his warriors brought in a small child, and laying it on 
 the ground, placed the foot of the Blackbird upon its neck. The 
 heart of the gloomy savage was touched by this appeal ; he 
 threw aside his robe ; made an harangue upon what he had 
 done; and from tliat time forward seemed to have thrown the 
 load of grief and remorse from his mind. 
 
 He still retained his fatal and mysterious secret, and with it 
 his terrific power; but^ though able to deal deatli to his ene- 
 mies, he could not avert it from himself or his friends. In 1802 
 the smallpox, that dreadful pestilence, which swept over the land 
 like a fire over the prairie, made its appearance in the village of 
 the Omahas. The poor savages saw with dismay the ravages of 
 a malady, loathsome and agonizing in its details, and which set 
 
DEATH OF BLACKBIRD. 1G5 
 
 fclie skill a.nd experience of tlieir conjurers and medicine men at 
 defiance. In a little while, two-thirds of the population were 
 swept from the face of the earth, and the doom of the rest 
 seemed sealed. The stoicism of the warriors was at an end; 
 they became wild and desperate ; some set fire to the village as 
 a last means of checking the pestilence ; others, in a frenzy of 
 despair put their wives and children to death, that they might 
 be spared the agonies of an inevitable disease, and that they 
 might all go to some better country. 
 
 When the general horror and dismay was at its height, the 
 Blackbird himself was struck down with the malady. The poor 
 savages, when they saw their chief in danger, forgot their own 
 miseries, and surrounded his dying bed. His dominant spirit, 
 and his love for the white men, were evinced in Iiis latest breath, 
 with which he designated his place of sepulture. It was to be 
 on a hill or promontory, upwards of four hundred feet in height, 
 overlooking a great extent of the Missouri, from whence he had 
 been accustomed to watch for the barks of the white men. The 
 Missouri washes the base of the promontory, and after winding 
 and doubling in many links and mazes in the plain below, returns 
 to within nine hundred yards of its starting-place ; so that for 
 thirty miles navigating with sail and oar, the voyager finds him- 
 self continually near to this singular promontory as if spell-bound. 
 
 It was the dying command of the Blackbird that his tomb 
 should be upon the summit of this hill, in which he should be 
 interred, seated on his favorite horse, that he might overlook his 
 ancient domain, and behold the barks of the white men as they 
 came up the river to trade with his people. 
 
 His dying orders were faithfully obeyed. His corpse wa.'^ 
 placed astride of his war-steed, and a mound raised over them on 
 the summit of the hill. On top of the mound was erected a staff, 
 from which fluttered the banner of the chieftain, and the scalps 
 
1C6 ASTORIA. 
 
 that lie had taken in battle. When the expedition under Mr. 
 Hunt visited that part of the country, the staff still remained 
 with the fragments of the "banner ; and the superstitious rite of 
 placing food from time to time on the mound, for the use of the 
 deceased, was still observed by the Omahas. That rite has since 
 fallen into disuse, for the tribe itself is almost extinct. Yet the 
 hill of the Blackbird continues an object of veneration to the 
 wandering savage, and a landmark to the voyager of the Missouri ; 
 and as the civilized traveller comes within sight of its spell-bound 
 crest, the mound is pointed out to hin\ from afar, which still 
 incloses the grim skeletons of the Indian warrior and his horse. 
 
RUMORS OF DANGER. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 While Mr. Hunt and his party were sojourning at tlie village of 
 the Omahas, three Sioux Indians of the Yankton Ahna tribe 
 arrived, bringing unpleasant intelligence. They reported that 
 certain bands of the Sioux Tetons, who inhabited a region many 
 leagues further up the Missouri, were near at hand, awaiting the 
 approach of the party, with the avowed intention of opposing 
 their progress. 
 
 The Sioux Tetons were at that time a sort of pirates of the 
 Missouri, who considered the well-freighted bark of the American 
 trader fair game. They had their own traffic with the British 
 merchants of the northwest, who brought them regular supplies 
 of merchandise by way of the river St. Peter. Being thus inde- 
 pendent of the Missouri traders for their supplies, they kept 
 no terms with them, but plundered them whenever they had an 
 opportunity. It has been insinuated that they were prompted 
 to these outrages by the British merchants, who wished to keep 
 off all rivals in the Indian trade ; but others allege another mo- 
 tive, and one savoring of a deeper policy. The Sioux, by their 
 intercourse with the British traders, had acquired the use of fire- 
 arms, which had given them vast superiority over other tribes 
 higher up the Missouri. They had made themselves also, in a 
 manner, factors for the upper tribes, supplying them at second 
 hand, and at greatly advanced prices, with goods derived from 
 the white men. The Sioux, therefore, saw with jealousy the 
 American traders pushing their way up the Missouri ; foreseeing 
 
108 ASTORIA. 
 
 tliat the upper tribes would thus be relieved from all dependence 
 on them for supplies ; nay, what was worse, would be furnished 
 with firearms, and elevated into formidable rivals. 
 
 We have already alluded to a case in which Mr. Crooks and 
 Mr, M^Lellan had been interrupted in a trading voyage by these 
 ruflSans of the river, and, as it is in some degree connected with 
 circumstances hereafter to be related, we shall specify it more 
 particularly. 
 
 About two years before the time of which we are treating, 
 Crooks and M'Lellan were ascending the river in boats with a 
 party of about forty men, bound on one of their trading expedi- 
 tions to the upper tribes. In one of the bends of the river, 
 where the channel made a deep curve under impending banks, 
 they suddenly heard yells and shouts above them, and beheld the 
 cliffs overhead covered with armed savages. It was a band of 
 Sioux warriors, upwards of six hundred strong. They bran- 
 dished their weapons in a menacing manner, and ordered the 
 boats to turn back and land lower down the river. There was 
 no disputing these commands, for they had the power to shower 
 destruction upon the white men, without risk to themselves. 
 Crooks and M'Lellan, therefore, turned back with feigned alac- 
 rity ; and, landing, had an interview with the Sioux. The latter 
 forbade them, under pain of exterminating hostility, from attempt- 
 ing to proceed up the river, but offered to trade- peacefully with 
 them if they would halt where they were. The party, being prin- 
 cipally composed of voyageurs, was too weak to contend with so 
 superior a force, and one so easil}^ augmented ; they pretended, 
 therefore, to comply cheei fully with their arbitrary dictation, and 
 immediately proceeded to cut down trees and erect a trading 
 house. The warrior baud departed for their village, which was 
 about twenty miles distant, to collect objects of traffic ; they left 
 six or eight of their number, however, to keep watch upon the 
 
M'LELLAN'S VOW. 169 
 
 wliite men, and scouts were continually passing to and fro with 
 intelligenca 
 
 Mr. Crooks saw tliat it would be impossible to prosecute his 
 voyage without the danger of having his boats plundered, and a 
 great part of his men massacred ; he determined, however, not to be 
 entirely frustrated in the objects of his expedition. While he con 
 tinned, therefore, with great apparent earnestness and assiduity, 
 the construction of the trading house, he dispatched the hunters 
 and trappers of his party in a canoe, to make their way up the 
 river to the original place of destination, there to busy themselves 
 in trapping and collecting peltries, and to await his arrival at 
 some future period. 
 
 As soon as the detachment had had sufficient time to ascend 
 beyond the hostile country of the Sioux, Mr. Crooks suddenly 
 broke up his feigned trading establishment, embarked his men 
 and effects, and, after giving the astonished rear-guard of savages 
 a galling and indignant message to take to their countrymen, 
 pushed down the river with all speed, sparing neither oar nor 
 paddle, day nor night, until fairly beyond the swoop of these 
 river hawks. 
 
 What increased the irritation of Messrs. Crooks and M'Lel- 
 lan at this mortifying check to their gainful enterprise, was the 
 information that a rival trader was at the bottom of it ; the Sioux, 
 it is said, having been instigated to this outrage by Mr. Manuel 
 Lisa, the leading partner and agent of the Missouri Fur Com- 
 pany, already mentioned. This intelligence, whether true or 
 false, so roused the fiery temper of M'Lellan, that he swore, if 
 ever he fell in with Lisa in the Indian country, he would shoot 
 him on the spot ; a mode of redress perfectly in unison with the 
 character of the man, and the code of honor prevalent beyond 
 the frontier. 
 
 If Crooks and M'Lellan had been exasperated by the insolent 
 
 8 
 
170 ASTORIA. 
 
 conduct of the Sioux Tetons, and the loss which it had occasioned, 
 those freebooters had been no less indignant at being outwitted 
 by the white men, and disappointed of their anticipated gains, 
 and it was apprehended they would be particularly hostile against 
 the present expedition, when they should learn that these gentle- 
 men were engaged in it. 
 
 All these causes of uneasiness were concealed as much as 
 possible from the Canadian voyageurs, lest they should become 
 intimidated ; it was impossible, however, to prevent the rumors 
 brought by the Indians from leaking out, and they became sub- 
 jects of gossiping and exaggeration. The chief of the Omahas, 
 too, on returning from a hunting excursion, reported ' that two 
 men had been killed some distance above, by a band of Sioux. 
 This added to the fears that already began to be excited. The 
 voyageurs pictured to themselves bands of fierce warriors sta- 
 tioned along each bank of the river, by whom they would be ex- 
 posed to be shot down in their boats : or lurking hordes, who 
 would set on them at night, and massacre them in their encamp- 
 ments. Some lost heart, and proposed to return, rather than 
 fight their way, and, in a manner, run the gauntlet through the 
 country of these piratical marauders. In fact, three men de- 
 serted while at this village. Luckily, their place was supplied b}'' 
 three others who happened to be there, and who were prevailed 
 on to join the expedition by promises of liberal pay, and by being 
 fitted out and equipped in complete style. 
 
 The irresolution and discontent visible among some of his 
 people", arising at times almost to mutiny, and the occasional 
 desertions which took place while thus among friendly tribes, and 
 within reach of the frontiers, added greatly to the anxieties of 
 Mr. Hunt, and rendered him eager to press forward and leave a 
 hostile tract behind him, so that it would be as perilous to return 
 as to keep on, and no one would dare to desert. 
 
DEPARTURE FROM THE OMAHA VILLAGE. 171 
 
 Accordingly, on the 15th of May he departed from the village 
 of the Omahas, and set forward towards the country of the formi- 
 dable Sioux Tctons. For the first five days they had a fair and 
 fresh breeze, and the boats made good progress. The wind then 
 came ahead, and the river beginning to rise, and to increase in 
 rapidity, betokened the commencement of the annual flood, caused 
 by the melting of the snow on the Kocky Mountains, and the ver- 
 nal rains of the upper prairies. 
 
 As they were now entering a region where foes might be lying 
 in wait on either bank, it was determined, in hunting for game, to 
 confine themselves principally to the islands, which sometimes ex- 
 tend to considerable length, and are beautifully wooded, affording 
 abundant pasturage and shade. On one of these they killed three 
 bufialoes and two elks, and, halting on the edge of a beautiful 
 prairie, made a sumptuous hunter's repast. They had not long 
 resumed their boats and pulled along the river banks, when they 
 descried a canoe approaching, navigated by two men, whom, to 
 their surprise, they ascertained to be white men. They proved 
 to be two of those strange and fearless wanderers of the wilder- 
 ness, the trappers. Their names were Benjamin Jones and 
 Alexander Carson. They had been for two years past hunting 
 ■and trapping near the head of the Missouri, and were thus float- 
 ing for thousands of miles in a cockle shell, down a turbulent 
 stream, through regions infested by savage tribes, yet apparently 
 lis easy and unconcerned as if navigating securely in the midst of 
 civilization. 
 
 The acquisition of two such hardy, experienced, and dauntless 
 hunters was peculiarly desirable at the present moment. They 
 needed but little persuasion. The wilderness is the home of the 
 trapper ; like the sailor^ he cares but little to which point of the 
 compass he steers ; and Jones and Carson readily abandoned 
 
173 ASTORIA. 
 
 tlieir voyage to St. Louis, and turned their faces towards the 
 Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. 
 
 The two naturalists, Mr. Bradbury and Mr. Nuttall, who had 
 joined the expedition at St. Louis, still accompanied it, and pur- 
 sued their researches on all occasions. Mr. Nuttall seems to 
 have been exclusively devoted to his scientific pursuits. He was 
 a zealous botanist, and all his enthusiasm was awakened at be- 
 holding a new world, as it were, opening upon him in the bound- 
 less prairies, clad in the vernal and variegated robe of unknown 
 flowers. Whenever the boats landed at meal times, or for any 
 temporary purpose, he would spring on shore, and set out on a 
 hunt for new specimens. Every plant or flower of a rare or 
 ; unknown species was eagerly seized as a prize. Delighted with 
 the treasures spreading themselves out before him, he went grop- 
 / ing and stumbling along among a wilderness of sweets, forgetful 
 of every thing but his immediate pursuit, and had often to be 
 sought after when the boats were about to resume their course. 
 At such times he would be found far ofi" in the prairies, or up the 
 course of some petty stream, laden with plants of all kinds. 
 
 The Canadian voyageurs, who are a class of people that 
 know nothing out of their immediate line, and with constitu- 
 tional levity make a jest of any thing they cannot understand, 
 were extremely puzzled by this passion for collecting what they 
 considered mere useless weeds. When they saw the worthy bota- 
 nist coming back heavy laden with his specimens, and treasuring 
 them up as carefully as a miser would his hoard, they used to 
 make merry among themselves at his expense, regarding him as 
 some whimsical kind of madman. 
 
 Mr. Bradbury was less exclusive in his tastes and habits, and 
 combined the hunter and sportsman with the naturalist. He 
 took his rifle or his fowling-piece with him in his geological 
 
ADVENTURE WITH AN INDIAN. 173 
 
 researches, conformed to tlie liardy and rugged habits of the 
 men around him, and of course gained favor in their eyes. He 
 had a strong relish for incident and adventure, was curious in 
 observing savage manners, and savage life, and ready to join any 
 hunting or other excursion. Even now, that the expedition was 
 proceeding through a dangerous neighborhood, he could not 
 check his propensity to ramble. Having observed, on the eve- 
 ning of the 22d of May, that the river ahead made a great bend 
 which would take up the navigation of the following day, he 
 determined to profit by the circumstance. On the morning of 
 the 23d, therefore, instead of embarking, he filled his shot-pouch 
 with parched corn, for provisions, and set off to cross the neck 
 on foot and meet the boats in the afternoon at the opposite side 
 of the bend. Mr. Hunt felt uneasy at his venturing thus alone, 
 and reminded him that he was in an enemy's country ; but Mr. 
 Bradbury made light of the danger, and started off cheerily upon 
 his ramble. His day was passed pleasantly in traversing a 
 beautiful tract, making botanical and geological researches, and 
 observing the habits of an extensive village of prairie dogs, at 
 which he made several ineffectual shots, without considering the 
 risk he run of attracting the attention of any savages that might 
 be lurking in the neighborhood. In fact he had totally forgotten 
 the Sioux Tetons, and all the other perils of the country, when, 
 about the middle of the afternoon, as he stood near the river 
 bank, and was looking out for the boat, he suddenly felt a hand 
 laid on his shoulder. Starting and turning round, he beheld a 
 naked savage with a bow bent, and the arrow pointed at his 
 breast. In an instant his gun was levelled and his hand upon 
 the lock. The Indian drew his bow still further, but forbore to 
 launch the shaft. Mr. Bradbury, with admirable presence of 
 mind, reflected that the savage, if hostile in his intents, would 
 Lave shot him without giving him a chance of defence; he 
 
174 ASTORIA. 
 
 paused, tlierefore, and held out his hand. The other took it in 
 sign of friendship, and demanded in the Osage language whether 
 he was a Big Knife, or American. He answered in the affirma- 
 tive, and inquired whether the other were a Sioux. To his 
 great relief he found that he was a Ponca. By this time two 
 other Indians came running up, and all three laid hold of Mr. 
 Bradbury and seemed disposed to compel him to go off with 
 them among the hills. He resisted, and sitting down on a sand 
 hill contrived to amuse them with a pocket compass. When the 
 novelty of this was exhausted they again seized him, hut lie now 
 j)roduced a small microscor)e. This new wonder again fixed the 
 attention of the savages, who have far more curiosity than it 
 has been the custom to allow them. While thus engaged, one 
 of them suddenly leaped up and gave a Vfar-whoop. The hand 
 of the hardy naturalist was again on his gun, and he was pre- 
 pared to make battle, when the Indian pointed down the river 
 and revealed the true cause of his yell. It was the' mast of one 
 of the boats appearing above the low willows which bordered the 
 stream. Mr. Bradbury felt infinitely relieved by the sight. 
 The Indians on their part now showed signs of apprehension, 
 and were disposed to run away ; but he assured them of good 
 treatment and something to drink if they would accompany 
 him on board of the boats. They lingered for a time, but dis- 
 appeared before the boats came to land. 
 
 On the following morning they appeared at the camp accom- 
 panied by several of their tribe. With them came also a white 
 man, who announced himself as a messenger bearing missives for 
 Mr. Hunt. In fact he brought a letter from Mr. Manuel Lisa, part 
 ner and agent of the Missouri Fur Company. As has already 
 been mentioned, this gentleman was going in search of Mr. Henry 
 and his party, who had been dislodged from the forks of the 
 Missouri by the Blackfeet Indians, and had shifted liis post 
 
UNWELCOME MISSIVES. 175 
 
 somewhere beyond the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Lisa had left St. - 
 Louis three weeks after Mr. Hunt, and having heard of the hos- 
 tile intentions of the Sioux, had made the greatest exertions to 
 overtake him, that they might pass through the dangerous part 
 of the river together. He had twenty stout oarsmen in his service, 
 and they plied their oars so vigorously, that he had reached the 
 Omaha village just four days after the departure of Mr. Hunt. 
 From this place he dispatched the messenger in question, trust- 
 ing to his overtaking the barges as they toiled up against the 
 stream, and were delayed by the windings of the river. The 
 purport of his letter was to entreat Mr. Hunt to wait until he 
 could come up with him, that they might unite their forces and 
 be a protection to each other in their perilous course through the 
 country of the Sioux. In fact, as it was afterwards ascertained, 
 Lisa was apprehensive that Mr. Hunt would do hnn some ill 
 office with the Sioux bands, securing his own passage through 
 their country by pretending that he with whom they were accus- 
 tomed to trade, was on his way to them with a plentiful sujDply 
 of goods. He feared, too, that Crooks and M'Lellan would take 
 this opportunity to retort upon him the perfidy which they 
 accused him of having used, two years previously, among these 
 very Sioux. In this respect, however, he did them signal injus- 
 tice. There was no such thing as covert design or treachery in 
 their thought ; but M'Lellan, when he heard that Lisa was on his 
 way up the river, renewed his open threat of shooting him the 
 moment he met him on Indian land. 
 
 The representations made by Crooks and M'Lellan of the 
 treachery they had experienced, or fancied, on the part of Lisa, 
 had great weight with Mr. Hunt, especially when he recollected 
 the obstacles that had been thrown in his own way by that gen- 
 tleman at St. Louis. He doubted, therefore, the fair dealing of 
 Lisa, and feared that, should they enter the Sioux country 
 
176 ASTORIA. 
 
 together, the latter might make use of his influence with that 
 tribe, as he had in the case of Crooks and M'Lellan, and instigate 
 them to oppose his progress up the river. 
 
 He sent back, therefore, an answer calculated to beguile Lisa, 
 assuring him that he would wait for him at the Poncas villagej 
 which was but a little distance in advance ; but, no sooner had 
 the messenger departed, than he pushed forward with all dili- 
 gence, barely stopping at the village to procure a supply of dried 
 buffalo meat, and hastening to leave the other party as far behind 
 as possible, thinking there was less to be apprehended from the 
 open hostility of Indian foes, than from the quiet strategy of an 
 Indian trader. 
 
CAMP GOSSIP. • 177 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 It was about noon when tlie party left the Poncas village, about 
 a league beyond wliich they passed the mouth of the Quicourt, or 
 Kapid River, (called, in the original French, l'Ea26 Qui Court.) 
 After having proceeded some distance further, they landed, and 
 encamped for the night. In the evening camp, the voyageurs 
 gossiped, as usual, over the events of the day ; and especially 
 over intelligence picked up among the Poncas. These Indians 
 had confirmed the previous reports of the hostile intentions of 
 the Sioux, and had assured them that five tribes, or bands, of that 
 fierce nation were actually assembled higher up the river, and 
 waiting to cut them oiF. This evening gossip, and the terrific 
 stories of Indian warfare to which it gave rise, produced a strong 
 efi"ect upon the imaginations of the irresolute ; and in the morn- 
 ing it was discovered that the two men, who had joined the party 
 at the Omaha village, and been so bounteously fitted out, had de- 
 serted in the course of the night, carrying with them all their 
 equipments. As it was known that one of them could not swim, 
 it was hoped that the banks of the Quicourt River would bring 
 them to a halt. A general pursuit was therefore instituted, but 
 without success. 
 
 On the following morning, (May 26th,) as they were all on 
 shore, breakfasting on one of the beautiful banks of the river, 
 tney observed two canoes descending along the opposite side. By 
 the aid of spy-glasses, they ascertained that there were two white 
 
 7* 
 
178 ASTORIA. 
 
 men in one of the canoes, and one in the other. A gun was dis- 
 charged, which called the attention of the voyagers, who crossed 
 over. They proved to be three Kentucky hunters, of the true 
 " dreadnought " stamp. Their names were Edward Robinson^ 
 John Hohack, and Jacob E-izner. Robinson was a veteran back- 
 woodman, sixty-six years of age. He had been one of the first 
 settlers of Kentucky, and engaged in many of the conflicts of the 
 Indians on " The Bloody Ground." In one of these battles he 
 had been scalped, and he still wore a handkerchief bound round 
 his head to protect the part. These men had passed several 
 years in the upper wilderness. They had been in tne service of 
 the Missouri Company under Mr. Henry, and had crossed the 
 Rocky Mountains with him in the preceding year, when driven 
 from his post on the Missouri by the hostilities of the Blackfeet. 
 After crossing the mountains, Mr. Henry had established him- 
 self on one of the head branches of the Columbia River. There 
 they had remained with him for some months, hunting and trap- 
 ping, until, having satisfied their wandering propensities, they felt 
 disposed to return to the families and comfortable homes which 
 they had left in Kentucky. They had accordingly made their 
 way back across the mountains, and down the rivers, and were in 
 full career for St. Louis, when thus suddenly interrupted. The 
 sight of a powerful party of traders, trappers, hunters, and voya- 
 geurs, well armed and equipped, furnished at all points, in high 
 health and spirits, and banqueting lustily on the green margin of 
 the river, was a spectacle equally stimulating to these veteran 
 backwoodmen with the glorious array of a campaigning army to 
 an old soldier ; but when they learned the grand scope and extent 
 of the enterprise in hand, it was irresistible : homes and families, 
 and all the charms of green Kentucky vanished from their 
 thoughts ; they cast loose their canoes to drift down the stream, 
 and joyfully enlisted in the band of adventurers. They engaged 
 
DANGER FROM THE BLACKFEET. 179 
 
 on similar terms with some of the other hunters. The company 
 was to fit them out, and keep them supplied with the requisite 
 equipments and munitions, and they were to yield one-half of tho 
 produce of their hunting and trapping. 
 
 The addition of three such stanch recruits was extremely 
 acceptable at this dangerous part of the river. The knowledge 
 of the country which they had acquired, also, in their journeys 
 and hunting excursions along the rivers and among the Rocky 
 Mountains, was all important ; in fact, the information derived 
 from them induced Mr. Hunt to alter his future course. He had 
 hitherto intended to proceed by tho route taken by Lewis and 
 Clarke in their famous exploring expedition, ascending the Mis- 
 souri to its forks, and thence going, by land, across the moun- 
 tains. These men informed him, however, that on taking that 
 course he would have to pass through the country infested by 
 the savage tribe of the Blackfeet, and would be exposed to their 
 hostilities ; they being, as has already been observed, exasperated 
 to deadly animosity against the whites, on account of the death 
 of one of their tribe by the hands of Captain Lewis. They ad- 
 vised him rather to pursue a route more to the southward, being 
 the same by which they had returned. This would carry them 
 over the mountains about where the head waters of the Platte 
 and the Yellowstone take their rise, at a place much more easy 
 and practicable than that where Lewis and Clarke had crossed. 
 In pursuing this course, also, he would pass through a country 
 abounding with game, where he would have a better chance of 
 procuring a constant supply of provisions than by the other 
 route,, and would run less risk of molestation from the Blackfeet. 
 Should he adopt this advice, it would be better for him to aban- 
 don the river at the Aricara town, at which he would arrive in 
 the course of a few days. As the Indians at that town possessed 
 horses in abundance, he might purchase a sufficient number of 
 
180 ASTORIA. 
 
 them for his great journey overland, which would commence al 
 that place. 
 
 After reflecting on this advice, and consulting with his asso- 
 ciates, Mr. Hunt came to the determination to follow the route 
 thus pointed out, in which the hunters engaged to pilot him. 
 
 The party continued their voyage with delightful May weather. 
 The prairies bordering on the river were gayly painted with innu- 
 merable flowers, exhibiting the motley confusion of colors of a Tur- 
 key carpet. The beautiful islands also, on which they occasionally 
 halted, presented the appearance of mingled grove and garden. 
 The trees were often covered with clambering grape-vines in 
 blossom, which perfumed the air. Between the stately masses of 
 the groves were grassy lawns and glades, studded with flowers, or 
 interspersed with rose-bushes in full bloom. These islands were 
 often the resort of the bufi'alo, the elk, and the antelope, who had 
 made innumerable paths among the trees and thickets, which had 
 the efi"ect of the mazy walks and alleys of parks and shrubberies. 
 Sometimes, where the river passed between high banks and bluff"Sj 
 the roads, made by the tramp of bufi'aloes for many ages along 
 the face of the heights, looked like so many well-travelled high- 
 ways. At other places the banks were banded with great veins 
 of iron ore, laid bare by the abrasion of the river. At one place 
 the course of the river was nearly in a straight line for about 
 fifteen miles. The banks sloped gently to its margin, without a 
 single tree, but bordered with grass and herbage of a vivid green. 
 Along each bank, for the whole fifteen miles, extended a stripe, 
 one hundred yards in breadth, of a deep rusty brown, indicating 
 an inexhaustible bed of iron, through the centre of which the 
 Missouri had worn its way. Indications of the continuance of 
 this bed were afterwards observed higher up the river. It is, in 
 fact, one of the mineral magazines which nature has provided in 
 the heart of this vast realm of fertility, and which, in conneo 
 
IRON ORE— A LAND OF DANGER. 181 
 
 tion with the immense beds of coal on the same river, seem gar- 
 nered up as the elements of the future wealth and power of the 
 mighty West. 
 
 The sight of these mineral treasures greatly excited the curi- 
 osity of Mr. Bradbury, and it was tantalizing to him to be checked 
 in his scientific researches, and obliged to forego his usual ram- 
 bles on shore ; but they were now entering the fated country of 
 the Sioux Tetons, in which it was dangerous to wander about 
 unguarded. 
 
 This country extends for some days' journey along the river, 
 and consists of vast prairies, here and there diversified by swell- 
 ing hills, and cut up by ravines, the channels of turbid streams 
 in the rainy seasons, but almost destitute of water during the 
 heats of summer. Here and there, on the sides of the hills, or 
 along the alluvial borders and bottoms of the ravines, are groves 
 and skirts of forest ; but for the most part the country presented to 
 the eye a boundless waste, covered with herbage, but without trees. 
 
 The soil of this immense region is strongly impregnated 
 with sulphur, copperas, alum, and glauber salts ; its various 
 earths impart a deep tinge to the streams which drain it, and 
 these, with the crumbling of the banks along the Missouri, give 
 to the waters of that river much of the coloring matter with 
 which they are clouded. 
 
 Over this vast tract the roving bands of the Sioux Tetons 
 hold their vagrant sway , subsisting by the chase of the bujQfalo, 
 the elk, the deer, and the antelope, and waging ruthless warfare 
 with other wandering tribes. 
 
 As the boats made their way up the stream bordered by thia 
 land of danger, many of the Canadian voyageurs, whose fears had 
 been awakened, would regard with a distrustful eye the bound- 
 less waste extending on each side. All, however, was silent, and 
 apparently untenanted by a human being. Now and then a herd 
 
182 ASTORIA. 
 
 of deer jvould be seen feeding tranquilly among the flowery her, 
 bage, or a line of bufl"aloes, like a caravan on its march, moving 
 across the distant profile of the prairie. The Canadians, however, 
 began to apprehend an ambush in every thicket, and to regard 
 the broad, tranquil plain as a sailor eyes some shallow and perfi 
 dious sea, which, though smooth and safe to the eye, conceals the 
 lurking rock or treacherous shoal. The very name of a Sioux 
 became a watchword of terror. Not an elk, a wolf, or any other 
 animal, could appear on the hills, but the boats resounded with 
 exclamations from stem to stern, '• voila les Sioux /" " voila Us 
 Sioux /" (there are the Sioux ! there are the Sioux !) Whenever 
 it was practicable, the night encampment was on some island in 
 the centre of the stream. 
 
 On the morning of the 31st of May, as the travellers were 
 breakfasting on the right bank of the river, the usual alarm was 
 given, but with more reason, as two Indians actually made their 
 appearance on a bluff on the opposite or northeast side, and 
 harangued them in a loud voice. As it was impossible at that 
 distance to distinguish what they said, Mr. Hunt, after breakfast, 
 crossed the river with Pierre Dorion, the interpreter, and ad- 
 vanced boldly to converse with them, Avliile th^ rest remained 
 watching, in mute suspense, the movements of the parties. As 
 soon as Mr, Hunt landed, one of the Indians disappeared behind 
 the hill, but shortly reappeared on horseback, and went scouring 
 off across the heights. Mr. Hunt held some conference with the 
 remaining savage, and then recrossed the river to his party. 
 
 These two Indians proved to be spies or scouts of a large war 
 party encamped about a league off, and numbering two hundred 
 and eighty lodges, or about six hundred warriors, of three differ- 
 ent tribes of Sioux ; the Yangtons Ahna, the Tetons Bois-brule, 
 and the Tetons Min-na-kine-azzo. They expected ^aily to be 
 reinforced by two other tribes, and had been waiting eleven days 
 
THREATENED HOSTILITIES. 183 
 
 for the arrival of Mr. Hunt's party, with a determination to 
 oppose their progress up the river ; being resolved to prevent all 
 trade of the white men with their enemies the Arickaras. Man* 
 dans, and Minatarees. The Indian who had galloped oiF on 
 horseback had gone to give notice of the approach of the party, 
 so that they might now look out for some fierce scenes with thoso 
 piratical savages, of whom they had received so many formidable 
 accounts. 
 
 The party braced up their spirits to the encounter, and re- 
 embarking, pulled resolutely up the stream. An island for some 
 time intervened between them and the opposite side of the river ; 
 but on clearing the upper end, they came in full view of the 
 hostile shore. There Vv^as a ridge of hills down which the sav- 
 ages were pouring in great numbers, some on horseback, and 
 some on foot. Keconnoitering them with the aid of glasses, they 
 perceived that they were all in warlike array, painted and deco- 
 rated for battle. Their weapons were bows and arrows, and a 
 few short carbines, and most of them had round shields. Alto- 
 gether they had a wild and gallant appearance, and, taking 
 possession of a point which commanded the river, ranged them- 
 selves along the bank as if prepared to dispute their passage. 
 
 At sight of this formidable front of war, Mr. Hunt and his 
 companions held counsel together. It was plain that the rumors 
 they had heard were correct, and the Sioux were determined to 
 oppose their progress by force of arms. To attempt to elude 
 them and continue along the river was out of the question. The 
 gtrength of the mid-current was too violent to be withstood, and 
 the boats were obliged to ascend along the river banks. These 
 banks were often high and perpendicular, affording the savages 
 frequent stations, from whence, safe themselves, and almost un- 
 seen, they might shower down their missiles upon the boats below. 
 and retreat at will, without danger from pursuit, Nothing 
 
184 ASTORIA. 
 
 apparently remained, tlierefore, but to fight or turn back. Tbe 
 Sioux far outnumbered tliem, it is true, but their own party was 
 about sixty strong, -svell armed and supplied with ammunition ; 
 and, beside their guns and rifles, they had a swivel and two how- 
 itzers mounted in the boats. Should they succeed in breaking 
 this Indian force by one vigorous assault, it was likely they would 
 be deterred from making any future attack of consequence. Tho 
 fighting alternative was, therefore, instantly adopted, and the 
 boats pulled to shore nearly opposite to the hostile force. Here 
 the arms were all examined and put in order. The swivel and 
 howitzers were then loaded witli powder and dischargedj to let 
 the savages know by the report how formidably they were pro- 
 vided. The noise echoed along the shores of the river, and must 
 have startled the warriors, who were only accustomed to sharp 
 reports of rifles. The same pieces were then loaded with as many 
 bullets as they would probably bear ; after which the whole pa^rty 
 embarked, and pulled across the river. The Indians remained 
 watching them in silence, their painted forms and visages glaring 
 in the sun, and their feathers fluttering in the breeze. The poor 
 Canadians eyed them with rueful glances, and now and then a 
 fearful ejaculation would escape them. "Parbleu! this is a sad 
 scrape we are in, brother !" would one mutter to the next oars- 
 man. '• Aye, aye !" the other would reply, " we are not going to 
 a wedding, my friend !" 
 
 When the boats arrived within rifle shot, the hunters and 
 other fighting personages on board seized their weapons, and 
 prepared for action. As they rose to fire, a confusion took place 
 among the savages. They displayed their buffalo robes, raised 
 them with both hands above their heads, and then spread them 
 before them on the ground. At sight of this, Pierre Dorion 
 eagerly cried out to the party not to fire, as this movement was 
 a peaceful signal, and an invitation to a parley. Immediately 
 
THE PIPE OF PEACE. 185 
 
 about a dozen of the principal warriors, separating from the rest^ 
 descended to the edge of the river, lighted a fire, seated them- 
 selves in a semicircle round it, and, displaying the calumet, in- 
 vited the i^artj to land. Mr. Hunt now called a council of the 
 partners on board of his boat. The question was, whether to trust 
 to the amicable overtures of these ferocious people ? It was de- 
 termined in the afiirmative ; for, otherwise, there was no alter- 
 native but to fight them. The main body of the party were 
 ordered to remain on board of tlie boats, keeping within shot, 
 and prepared to fire in case of any signs of treachery : while Mr. 
 Hunt and the other partners (M'Kenzie, Crooks, Miller, and 
 M'Lellan,) proceeded to land, accompanied by the interpreter 
 and Mr. Bradbury. The chiefs, who awaited them on the mar- 
 gin of the river, remained seated in their semicircle, without 
 stirring a limb or moving a muscle, motionless as so many 
 statues. Mr. Hunt and his companions advanced without hesi- 
 tation, and took their seats on the sand so as to complete the 
 circle. The band of warriors who lined the banks above stood 
 looking down in silent groups and clusters, some ostentatiously 
 equipped and decorated, others entirely naked, but fantastically 
 painted, and all variously armed. 
 
 The pipe of peace was now brought forward with due cere- 
 mony. The bowl was of a species of red stone resembling 
 porphyry ; the stem was six feet in length, decorated with tuft?} 
 of horse-hair dyed red. The pipebearer stepped within tho 
 circle, lighted the pipe, held it towards the sun, then towards 
 the difi'erent points of the compass, after which he handed it to 
 the principal chief The latter smoked a few whiiTs, then, 
 holding the head of the pipe in his hand, offered the other end 
 to Mr. Hunt, and to each one successively in the circle. "When 
 all had smoked, it was considered that an assurance of good 
 faith and amity had been interchanged. Mr. Hunt now made a 
 
186 ASTORIA. 
 
 Bpeecli in French, wliicli was interpreted as he proceeded by 
 Pierre Dorion. He informed the Sioux of the real object of the 
 expedition, of himself and his companions, which was, not to 
 trade with any of the tribes up the river, but to cross the moun- 
 tains to the great salt lake in the west, in search of some of 
 their brothers, whom they had not seen for eleven months. 
 That he had heard of the intention of the Sioux to oppose his 
 passage, and was prepared, as they might see, to effect it at 
 all hazards ; nevertheless, his feelings towards the Sioux were 
 friendly, in proof of which he had brought them a present of 
 tobacco and corn. So saying, he ordered about fifteen carottes 
 of tobacco, and as many bags of corn, to be brought from the 
 boat and laid in a heap near the council fire. 
 
 The sight of these presents mollified the chieftain, who had, 
 doubtless, been previously rendered considerate by the resolute 
 conduct of the white men, the judicious disposition of their little 
 armament, the completeness of their equipments, and the compact 
 array of battle which they presented. He made a speech in re- 
 ply, in which he stated the object of their hostile assemblage, 
 which had been merely to prevent supplies of arms and ammuni- 
 tion from going to the Arickaras, Mandans, and Minatarees, with 
 whom they were at war ; but being now convinced that the party 
 were carrying no supplies of the kind, but merely proceeding in 
 quest of their brothers beyond the mountains, they would not 
 impede them in their voyage. He concluded by thanking them 
 for their present, and advising them to encamp on the opposite 
 side of the river, as he had some young men among his warriors 
 for whose discretion he could not be answerable, and who might 
 be troublesome. 
 
 Here ended the conference : they all arose, shook hands, and 
 parted. Mr. Hunt and his companions re-embarkedj and the 
 boats proceeded on their course unmolested. 
 
A MEETING OF OLD OPPONENTS. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 On the afternoon of the following day (June 1st) they arrived at 
 the great bend, where the river winds for about thirty miles 
 round a circular peninsula, the neck of which is not above two 
 thousand yards across. On the succeeding morning, at an early 
 hour, they descried two Indians standing on a high bank of the 
 river, waving and spreading their buffalo robes in signs of amit}^ 
 They immediately pulled to shore and landed. On approaching 
 the savages, however, the latter showed evident symptoms of 
 alarm, spreading out their arms horizontally, according to their 
 mode of supplicating clemency. The reason was soon explained. 
 They proved to be two chiefs of the very war party that had 
 brought Messrs. Crooks and M'Lellan to a stand two years be- 
 fore, and obliged them to escape down the river. They ran to 
 embrace these gentlemen, as if delighted to meet with them ; yet 
 they evidently feared some retaliation of their past misconduct, 
 nor were they quits at ease until the pipe of peace had been 
 smoked. 
 
 Mr. Hunt having been informed that the tribe to which these 
 men belonged, had killed three white men during the preceding 
 Bummer, reproached them with the crime, and demanded their 
 reasons for such savage hostility. '• We kill white men," replied 
 one of the chiefs, "because white men kill us. That very man," 
 added he, pointing to Carson, one of the new recruits, " killed 
 one of our brothers last sumKier. The three white men wero 
 slain to avenge his death." 
 
188 ASTORIA. 
 
 The chief was eon cot iu his reply. Carson admitted thatj 
 being with a party of Arickaras on the banks of- the Missouri, 
 and seeing a war party of Sioux on the opposite side, he had 
 fired with his rifle across. It was a random shot, made without 
 much expectation of effect, for the river was full half a mile in 
 breadth. Unluckily it brought down a Sioux warrior for whose 
 wanton destruction threefold vengeance had been taken, as has 
 been stated. In this way outrages are frequently committed on 
 the natives by thoughtless or mischievous white men ; the In- 
 dians retaliate according to a law of their code, which requires 
 blood for blood ; their act, of what with them is pious vengeance, 
 resounds throughout the land, and is represented as wanton and 
 unprovoked ; the neighborhood is roused to arms ; a war ensues, 
 which ends in the destruction of half the tribe, the ruin of the 
 rest, and their expulsion from their hereditary homes. Such is 
 too often the real history of Indian warfare, which in general is 
 traced up only to some vindictive act of a savage ; while the 
 outrage of the scoundrel white man that provoked it is sunk in 
 silence. 
 
 The two chiefs, having smoked their pipe of peace and re- 
 ceived a few presents, departed well satisfied. In a little while 
 two others appeared on horseback, and rode up abreast of the 
 boats. They had seen the presents given to their comrades, but 
 were dissatisfied with them, and came after the boats to ask for 
 more. Being somewhat peremptory and insolent in their de- 
 mands, Mr. Hunt gave them a flat refusal, and threatened, if 
 they or any of their tribe followed him with similar demands, to 
 treat them as enemies. They turned and rode off in a furious 
 passion. As he was ignorant what force these chiefs might have 
 behind the hills, and as it was very possible they might take ad- 
 vantage of some pass of the river to attack the boats, Mr. Hunt 
 called all stragglers on board and prepared for such emergenoj. 
 
DANGERS AND PRECAUTIONS 189 
 
 It was agreed that the large boat commanded by Mr. Hunt, 
 Bhould ascend along the northeast side of the river, and the three 
 smaller boats along the south side. By this arrangement each 
 party would command a view of the opposite heights above the 
 heads and out of the sight of their companions, and could give 
 the alarm should they perceive any Indians lurking there. Tho 
 signal of alarm was to be two shots fired in quick succession. 
 
 The boats proceeded for the greater part of the day without 
 seeing any signs of an enemy. About four o'clock in the after- 
 noon the large boat, commanded by Mr. Hunt, came to where 
 the river was divided by a long sand-bar, which apparently, how- 
 ever, left a sufficient channel between it and the shore along 
 which they were advancing. He kept up this channel, therefore, 
 for some distance, until the water proved too shallow for the 
 boat. It was necessary, therefore, to put about, return down the 
 channel, and pull round the lower end of the sand-bar into the 
 main stream. Just as he had given orders to this effect to his 
 men, two signal guns were fired from the boats on the opposite 
 side of the river. At the same moment a file of savage warriors 
 was observed pouring down from the impending bank, and gather- 
 ing on the shore at the lower end of the bar. They were evi- 
 dently a war party, being armed with bows and arrows, battle 
 clubs and carbines, and round bucklers of buffalo hide^ and their 
 naked bodies were painted with black and white stripes. The 
 natural inference was, that they belonged to the two tribes of 
 Sioux which had been expected by the great war party, and that 
 they had been incited to hostility by the two chiefs who had been 
 enraged by the refusal and the menace of Mr. Hunt. Here then 
 was a fearful predicament. Mr. Hunt and his crew seemed 
 caught, as it were, in a trap. The Indians, to the number of 
 about a hundred, had already taken possession of a point near 
 which the boat would have to pass : others kept pouring down 
 
190 ASTORIA. 
 
 the bank, and it was probable that some would remain posted on 
 the top of the height. 
 
 The hazardous situation of Mr. Hunt was perceived by those 
 in the other boats, and they hastened to his assistance. They 
 were at some distance above the sand-bar, however, and on tho 
 opposite side of the river, and saw, with intense anxiety, the 
 number of savages continually augmenting, at the lower end of 
 the channel, so that the boat would be exposed to a fearful attack 
 before they could render it any assistance. Their anxiety in- 
 creased, as iliiij ' saw Mr. Hunt and his party descending tho 
 channel and dauntlessly approaching the point of danger ; but it 
 suddenly changed into surprise on beholding the boat pass close 
 by the savage horde unmolested, and steer out safely into the 
 broad river. 
 
 The next moment the whole band of warriors was in motion. 
 Thcj 'in along the bank until they were opposite to the boats, 
 then throwing by their weapons and buffalo robes, plunged into 
 the river, waded and swam off to the boats and surrounded them 
 in crowds, seeking to shake hands with every individual on 
 board ; for the Indians have long since found this to be the white 
 man's token of amity, and they carry it to an extreme. 
 
 All uneasiness was now at an end. The Indians proved to 
 be a war party of Arickaras, Mandans and Minnetarees, consist- 
 ing of three hundred warriors, and bound on a foray against the 
 Sioux, "heir war plans were abandoned for the present, and 
 they determined to return to the Arickara town, where they 
 hoped to obtain from the white men arms and ammunition that 
 would enable them to take the field with advantage over their 
 enemies. 
 
 The boats now sought the first convenient place for encamp- 
 ing. The tents were pitched ; the warriors fixed their camp at 
 about a hundred yards distant ; provisions were furnished from 
 
APPROACH OF LISA 191 
 
 tlie boats sufficient for all parties ; there was hearty though rude 
 feasting in both camps, and in the evening the red warriors en- 
 tertained their v/hite friends with dances and songs, that lasted 
 until after midnight. 
 
 On the following morning (July 3) the travellers re-embarked, 
 and took a temporary leave of their Indian friends, who intended 
 to proceed immediately for the Arickara town, where they ex- 
 pected to arrive in three days, long before the boats could reach 
 there. Mr. Hunt had not proceeded far before tl,ie chief came 
 galloping along the shore and made signs for a p " 3y. He said, 
 his people could not go home satisfied unless they had something 
 to take with them to prove that they had met with the white men. 
 Mr. Hunt understood the drift of the speech, and made the chief 
 a present of a cask of powder, a bag of balls, and three dozen of 
 knives, with which he was highly pleased, \yhile the chief was 
 receiving these presents an Indian came running along the/hore, • 
 and announced that a boat, filled with white men, was co,ii|,iig up 
 the river. This was by no means agreeable tidings to Mr. Hunt, 
 who correctly concluded it to be the boat of Mr. Manuel Lisa ; 
 and he was vexed to find that alert and adventurous trader upon 
 his heels, whom he had hoped to have out-manoeuvred, and left 
 far behind. Lisa, however, was too much experienced in the 
 wiles of Indian trade to be lulled by the promise of waiting for 
 him at the Poncas village ; on the contrary, he had allowed him- 
 self no repose, and had strained every nerve to overtako 'je rival 
 party, and availing himself of the moonlight, had even sailed 
 during a considerable part of the night. In this he was partly 
 prompted by his apprehensions of the Sioux, having met a boat 
 which had probably passed Mr. Hunt's party in the night, and 
 which had been fired into by these savages. 
 
 On hearing that Lisa was so near at hand, Mr. Hunt per- 
 ceived , that it was useless to attempt any longer to evade him ^ 
 
102 ASTORIA 
 
 after proceeding a few miles further, therefore, he came to a halt 
 and waited for him to come up. In a little while the barge of 
 Lisa made its appearance. It came sweeping gently up the river, 
 manned by its twenty stout oarsmen, and armed by a swivel 
 mounted at the bow. The whole number on board amounted to 
 twenty -six men ; among whom was Mr. Henry Breckenridge, then 
 a young, enterprising man ; who was a mere passenger, tempted 
 by notions of curiosity to accompany Mr. Lisa. He has since 
 made himself known by various writing, among which may bo 
 • noted a narrative of this very voyage. 
 
 The approach of Lisa, while it was regarded with uneasiness 
 by Mr. Hunt, roused the ire of M'Lellan ; who calling to mind 
 old grievances, began to look round for his rifle, as if he really 
 intended to carry his threat into execution and shoot him on the 
 spot ; and it was with some difficulty that Mr. Hunt was enabled 
 to restrain his ire, and prevent a scene of outrage and confusion. 
 
 The meeting between the two leaders, thus mutually distrust- 
 ful, could not be very cordial : and as to Messrs. Crooks and 
 M'Lellan, though they refrained from any outbreak, yet they 
 regarded in grim defiance their old rival and underplotter. In 
 truth, a general distrust prevailed throughout the party concern- 
 ing Lisa and his intentions. They considered him artful and 
 slippery, and secretly anxious for the failure of their expedition. 
 There being now nothing more to be apprehended from the Sioux, 
 they suspected tliat Lisa would take advantage of his twenty- 
 oared barge to leave them and get first among the Arickaras. As 
 he had traded with those people and possessed great influence 
 over them, it was feared he might make use of it to impede the 
 business of Mr. Hunt and his party. It was resolved, therefore, 
 to keep a sharp look-out upon his movements; and M'Lellan 
 swore that if he saw the least sign of treachery on his part, he 
 would instantly put his old threat into execution. 
 
THE RAGE OF PIERRE DORION. 193 
 
 Notwithstanding these secret jealousies and heart-burnings, 
 the two parties maintained an outward appearance of civility, and 
 for two days continued forward in company with some degree of 
 harmony. On the third day, however, an explosion took place, 
 and it was produced by no less a personage than Pierre Dorion, 
 the half-breed interpreter. It will be recollected that this worthy 
 had been obliged to steal a march from St. Louis, to avoid being 
 arrested for an old whisky debt which he owed to the Missouri 
 Fur Company, and by which Mr. Lisa had hoped to prevent his 
 enlisting in Mr. Hunt's expedition. Dorion, since the arrival of 
 Lisa, had kept aloof and regarded him with a sullen and dogged 
 aspect. On the fifth of July the two parties were brought to a 
 halt by a heavy rain, and remained encamped about a hundred 
 yards apart. In the course of the day Lisa undertook to tamper 
 with the faith of Pierre Dorion, and, inviting him on board of his 
 boat, regaled him with his favorite whisky. "When he thought 
 him sufficiently mellowed, he proposed to him to quit the service 
 of his new employers and return to his old allegiance. Finding 
 him not to be moved by soft words, he called to mind his old 
 debt to the company, and threatened to carry him off by force, in 
 payment of it. The mention of this debt always stirred ui3 the 
 gall of Pierre Dorion, bringing with it the remembrance of the 
 whisky extortion. A violent quarrel arose between him and 
 Lisa, and he left the boat in high dudgeon. His first step was* 
 to repair to the tent of Mr. Hunt and reveal the attempt that 
 had been made to shake his faith. While he was yet talking 
 Lisa entered the tent, under the pretext of coming to borrow a 
 towing line. High words instantly ensued between him and 
 Dorion, which ended by the half-breed's dealing him a blow. A 
 quarrel in the " Indian country," however, is not to be settled 
 with fisticuffs. Lisa immediately rushed to his boat for a weapon. 
 Dorion snatched up a pair of pistols belonging to Mr. Hunt, and 
 
 9 
 
194 ASTORIA. 
 
 placed himself in battle array. The noise had roused the camp, 
 and every one pressed to know the cause. Lisa now reappeared 
 upon the field with a knife stuck in his girdle. Mr. Breckenridge, 
 who had tried in vain to mollify his ire, accompanied him to the 
 scene of action. Pierre Dorion's pistols gave him the advantage, 
 and he maintained a most warlike attitude. In the meantime, 
 Crooks and M'Lellan had learnt the cause of the affray, and were 
 each eager to take the quarrel into their own hands. A scene of 
 uproar and hubbub ensued that defies description. M'Lellan 
 would have brought his rifle into play and settled all old and new 
 grudges by a pull of the trigger, had he not been restrained by 
 Mr. Hunt. That gentleman acted as moderator, endeavoring to 
 prevent a general melee ; in the midst of the brawl, however, an 
 expression was made use of by Lisa derogatory to his own honor. 
 In an instant, the tranquil spirit of Mr. Hunt was in a flame. 
 He now became as eager for fight as any one on the ground, and 
 challenged Lisa to settle the dispute on the spot with pistols. 
 Lisa repaired to his boat to arm himself for the deadly feud. 
 He was followed by Messrs. Bradbur}^ and Breckenridge, who, 
 novices in Indian life and the "chivalry" of the frontier, had no 
 relish for scenes of blood and brawl. By their earnest mediation 
 the quarrel was with great difiiculty brought to a close without 
 bloodshed ; but the two leaders of the rival camps separated in 
 anger, and all personal intercourse ceased between them. 
 
FEATURES OF THE WILDERNESS. 195 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The rival parties now coasted along tlie opposite sides of the 
 river, within sight of each other ; the barges of Mr. Hunt always 
 keeping some distance in the advance, lest Lisa should push on 
 and get first to the Arickara village. The scenery and objects, as 
 they proceeded, gave evidence that they were advancing deeper 
 and deeper into the domains of savage nature. Boundless wastes 
 kept extending to the eye, more and more animated by herds of 
 buffalo. Sometimes these unwieldy animals were seen moving in 
 long procession across the silent landscape ; at otlicr times they 
 were scattered about, singly or in groups, on the broad-enamelled 
 prairies and green acclivities, some cropping the rich pasturage, 
 others reclining amidst the flowery herbage ; the whole scene 
 realizing in a manner the old Scriptural descriptions of the vast 
 pastoral countries of the Orient, with " cattle upon a thousand 
 hills." 
 
 At one place the shores seemed absolutely lined with buffa- 
 loes ; many were making their way across the stream, snorting, 
 and blowing, and floundering. Numbers, in spite of every effort, 
 were borne by the rapid current within shot of the boats, and 
 several were killed. At another place a number were descried on 
 the beach of a small island, under the shade of the trees, or 
 standing in the water, like cattle, to avoid the flies and the heat 
 of the day. 
 
 Several of the best marksmen stationed themselves in the bow 
 of a barge which advanced slowly and silently, stemming the cur- 
 
196 ASTORIA. 
 
 rent with the aid of a broad sail and a fair breeze. The buffalo 
 stood gazing quietly at the barge as it api)roached, perfectly uncon- 
 scious of their danger. The fattest of the herd was selected by the 
 hunters, v/ho all fired together and brought down their victim. 
 
 Beside the buffaloes they saw abundance of deer, and frequent 
 gangs of stately elks, together with light troops of sprightly an- 
 telopes, the fleetest and most beautiful inhabitants of the prairies. 
 
 There are two kinds of antelopes in these regions, one nearly 
 the size of the common deer, the other not much larger than a 
 goat. Their color is a light gray, or rather dun, slightly spotted 
 with white ; and they have small horns like those of the deer, 
 which they never shed. Noj^hing can surpass the delicate and 
 elegant finish of their limbs, in which lightness, elasticity, and 
 strength, are wonderfully combined. All the attitudes and move- 
 ments of this beautiful animal are graceful and picturesque ; and 
 it is altogether as fit a subject for the fanciful uses of the poet, 
 as the oft-sung gazelle of the East. 
 
 Their habits are shy and capricious ; they keep on the open 
 plains, are quick to take the alarm, and bound away with a fleet- 
 ness that defies pursuit. When thus skimming across a prairie 
 in the autumn, their light gray or dun color blends with the hue 
 of the withered herbage, the swiftness of their motion bafiles the 
 eye, and they almost seem unsubstantial forms, driven like gos- 
 samer before the wind. 
 
 While they thus keep to the open plain and trust to their 
 speed, they are safe ; but they have a prurient curiosity that 
 sometimes betrays them to their ruin. When they have scud 
 for some distance and left their pursuer behind, they will sud- 
 denly stop and turn to gaze at the object of their alarm. If the 
 pursuit is not followed up they will, after a time, yield to their 
 inquisitive hankering, and return to the place from whence they 
 have been frightened. 
 
AN EMBASSY— NEGOTIATIONS. 191 
 
 Jolin Day, the veteran liimter already mentioned, displayed 
 Lis experience and skill in entrapping one of these beautiful 
 animals. Taking advantage of its well known curiosity, he laid 
 down flat among the grass, and putting his handkerchief on the 
 end of his ramrod, waved it gently in the air. This had the 
 effect of the fabled fascination of the rattlesnake. The antelope 
 gazed at the mysterious object for some time at a distance, then 
 approached timidly, pausing and reconnoitring with increased 
 curiosity ; moving round the point of attraction in a circle, but 
 still drawing nearer and nearer, until being within the range of 
 the deadlj^ rifle, he fell a victim to his curiosity. 
 
 On the 10th of June, as the party were making brisk pro- 
 gress with a fine breeze, they met a canoe with three Indians 
 descending the river. They came to a parley, and brought news 
 from the Arickara village. The war party, v/hich had caused 
 such alarm at the sand-bar, had reached the village some days 
 previously, announced the approach of a party of traders, and 
 displayed with great ostentation the presents they had received 
 from them. On further conversatiqn with these three Indians, 
 Mr. Hunt learnt the real danger which he had run, when hem- 
 med up within the sand-bar. The Mandans who were of the war 
 party, when they saw the boats so completely entrapped and 
 apparently within their power, had been eager for attacking it, 
 and securing so rich a prize. The Minatarees, also, were nothing 
 loth, feeling in some measure committed in hostility to the 
 whites, in consequence of their tribe having killed two white men 
 above the fort of the Missouri Fur Company. Fortunately, the 
 Arickaras, who formed the majority of the war party, proved 
 true in their friendship to the whites, and prevented any hostile 
 act, otherwise a bloody affray, and perhaps a horrible massacre, 
 might have ensued. 
 
 On the nth of June, Mr. Hunt and his companions en- 
 
198 ASTORIA. 
 
 camped near an island about six miles below the Ariekara village. 
 Mr. Lisa encamped, as usual, at no great distance ; but the same 
 sullen and jealous reserve, and non-intercourse continued be- 
 tween them. Shortly after pitching the tents, Mr. Breckenridge 
 made his appearance as an ambassador from the rival camp. He 
 came on behalf of his companions, to arrange the manner of 
 making their entrance into the village and of receiving the 
 chiefs ; for every thing of the kind is a matter of grave ceremo- 
 nial among the Indians. 
 
 The partners now expressed frankly their deej) distrust of 
 the intentions of Mr. Lisa, and their apprehensions, that, out of 
 the jealousy of trade, and resentment of recent disputes, he 
 might seek to instigate the Arickaras against them. Mr. Breck- 
 enridge assured them that their suspicions were entirely ground- 
 less, and pledged himself that nothing of the kind should take 
 place. He found it difficult, hov«^ever, to remove their distrust ; 
 the conference, therefore, ended without producing any cordial 
 understanding ; and M'Lellan recurred to his old threat of 
 shooting Lisa the instant he, discovered any thing like treachery 
 in his proceedings. 
 
 That night the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by thunder 
 and lightning. The camp was deluged, and the bedding and 
 baggage drenched. All hands embarked at an early hour, and 
 set forward for the village. About nine o'clock, when half way, 
 they met a canoe, on board of which were two Ariekara digni- 
 taries. One, a fine-looking man, much above the common size, 
 was hereditary chief of the village ; he was called the Left-handed, 
 on account of a personal peculiarity. The other, a ferocious- 
 looking savage, was the war chief, or generalissimo ; he was 
 known by the name of the Big Man, an appellation he well 
 deserved from his size, for he was of a gigantic frame. Both 
 were of fairer complexion than is usual with savages. 
 
TWO CHIEFS AND A CREOLE INTERPRETER. 199 
 
 They were accompanied by an interpreter ; a French Creole ; 
 one of those haphazard wights of Gallic origin, who abound upon 
 our frontier, living among the Indians like one of their own race. 
 He had been twenty years among the Arickaras, had a squaw 
 and a troop of piebald children, and officiated as interpreter to 
 the chiefs. Through this worthy organ the two dignitaries signi- 
 fied to Mr. Hunt their sovereign intention to oppose the further 
 progress of the expedition up the river unless a boat were left to 
 trade with them. Mr. Hunt, in reply, explained the object of his 
 voyage, and his intention of debarking at their village and pro- 
 ceeding thence by land ; and that he would willingly trade with 
 them for a supply of horses for his journey. With this explana- 
 tion they were perfectly satisfied, and putting about^ steered for 
 their village to make preparations for the reception of the 
 strangers. 
 
 The village of the Rikaras, Arickaras, or Ricarees, for tho 
 name is thus variously written, is between the 46th and 47th 
 parallels of north latitude, and fourteen hundred and thirty miles 
 above the mouth of the Missouri. The party reached it about 
 ten o'clock in the morning, but landed on the opposite side of the 
 river, where they spread out their baggage and efiects to dry, 
 From hence they commanded an excellent view of the village. 
 It was divided into two portions, about eighty yards apart, being 
 inhabited by two distinct bands. The whole extended about 
 three-quarters of a mile along the river bank, and was composed 
 of conical lodges, that looked like so many small hillocks, being 
 wooden frames intertwined with osier, and covered with earth. 
 The plain beyond the village swept up into hills of considerable 
 height, but the whole country was nearly destitute of trees. 
 While they were regarding the village, they beheld a singular 
 fleet coming down the river. It consisted of a number of canoes, 
 each made of a single buffalo hide stretched on sticks, so as to 
 
200 ASTORIA. 
 
 form a kind of circular trough. Each one was navigated by a 
 single squaw, who knelt in the bottom and paddled ; towing after 
 her frail bark a bundle of floating wood intended for firing. This 
 kind of canoe is in frequent use among the Indians ; the buf- 
 falo hide being readily made up into a bundle and transported 
 on horseback ; it is very serviceable in conveying baggage acrosa 
 the rivers. 
 
 The great number of horses grazing around the village, and 
 scattered over the neighboring hills and valleys, bespoke the 
 equestrian habits of the Arickaras, who are admirable horsemen. 
 Indeed, in the number of his horses consists the wealth of an 
 Indian of the prairies ; who resembles an Arab in his passion for 
 this noble animal, and in his adroitness in the management of it. 
 
 After a time, the voice of the sovereign chief, " the Left- 
 handed," was heard across the river, announcing that the council 
 lodge was preparing, and inviting the white men to come over. 
 The river was half a mile in width, yet every word uttered by 
 the chieftain was heard ; this may be partly attributed to the 
 distinct manner in which every syllable of the compound words 
 in the Indian languages is articulated and accented ; but in 
 truth, a savage warrior might often rival Achilles himself for 
 force of lungs.* 
 
 Now came the delicate point of management ; how the two 
 rival parties were to conduct their visit to the village with proper 
 circumspection and due decorum. Neither of the leaders had 
 spoken to each other since their quarrel. All communication had 
 been by ambassadors. Seeing the jealousy entertained of Lisa, 
 Mr. Breckenridge, in his negotiation, had arranged that a depu- 
 tation from each party should cross the river at the same time, 
 90 that neither would have the first access to the ear of tho 
 Arickaras. 
 
 » Bradbury, p. 110. 
 
LANDING AT THE VILLAGE. 201 
 
 The distrust of Lisa, however, had increased in proportion as 
 they approached the sphere of action, and M'Lellan in particular, 
 kept a vigilant eye upon his motions, swearing to shoot him if he 
 attempted to cross the river first. 
 
 About two o'clock the large boat of Mr. Hunt was manned, 
 and he stepped on board, accompanied by Messrs. M'Kenzie and 
 M'Lellan ; Lisa at the same time embarked in his barge ; the 
 two deputations amounted in all to fourteen persons, and never 
 was any movement of rival potentates conducted with more wary 
 exactness. 
 
 They landed amidst a rabble crowd, and were received on the 
 bank by the left-handed chief, who conducted them into the vil- 
 lage with grave courtesy ; driving to the right and left the swarms 
 of old squaws, imp-like boys, and vagabond dogs, with which the 
 place abounded. They wound their way between the cabins, 
 which looked like dirt-heaps huddled together without any plan, 
 and surrounded by old palisades ; all filthy in the extreme, and 
 redolent of villanous smells. 
 
 At length they arrived at the council lodge. It was some- 
 what spacious, and formed of four forked trunks of trees placed 
 upright, supporting cross-beams and a frame of poles interwoven 
 with osiers, and the whole covered with earth. A hole sunken 
 in the centre formed the fireplace, and immediately above was a 
 circular hole in the apex of the lodge, to let out the smoke and 
 let in the daylight. Around the lodge were recesses for sleeping, 
 like the berths on board ships, screened from view by curtains of 
 dressed skins. At the upper end of the lodge was a kind of 
 hunting and warlike trophy, consisting of two buffalo heads gair- 
 ishly painted, surmounted by shields, bows, quivers of arrows, 
 and other weapons. 
 
 On entering the lodge the chief pointed to mats or cushions 
 which had been placed around for the strangers, and on whioh 
 
 9» 
 
202 ASTORIA. 
 
 they seated themselves, while he placed himself on a kind of 
 etool. An old man then came forward with the pipe of peace or 
 good-fellowship, lighted and handed it to the chief, and then fall- 
 ing back, squatted himself near the door. The pipe was passed 
 from mouth to mouth, each one taking a whifF, which is equivalent 
 to the inviolable pledge of faith, of taking salt together among 
 the ancient Britons. The chief then made a sign to the old pipe- 
 bearer, who seemed to fill, likewise, the station of herald, senes- 
 chal, and public crier, for he ascended to the top of the lodge to 
 make proclamation. Here he took his post beside the aperture 
 for the emission of smoke, and the admission of light ; the chief 
 dictated from within what he was to proclaim, and he bawled it 
 forth with a force of lungs that resounded over all the village. 
 In this way he summoned the warriors and great men to coun- 
 cil ; every now and then reporting progress to his chief through 
 the hole in the roof. 
 
 In a little while the braves and sages began to enter one by 
 one as their names were called or announced, emerging from un- 
 der the buiFalo robe suspended over the entrance instead of a 
 door, stalking across the lodge to the skins placed on the floor, 
 and crouching down on them in silence. In this way twenty en- 
 tered and took their seats, forming an assemblage worthy of the 
 pencil ; for the Arickaras are a noble race of men, large and 
 well formed, and maintain a savage grandeur and gravity of de- 
 meanor in their solemn ceremonials. 
 
 All being seated, the old seneschal prepared the pipe of cere- 
 mony or council, and having lit it, handed it to the chief He 
 inhaled the sacred smoke, gave a puff upward to the heaven, then 
 downward to the earth, then towards tlie east ; after this it was 
 as usual passed from mouth to mouth, each holding it respect- 
 fully until his neighbor had taken several whiffs ; and now the 
 grand council was considered as opened in due form. 
 
THE SPEECH OF LISA. 203 
 
 The chief made an harangue welcoming the white men to his 
 village, and expressing his happiness in taking them by the hand 
 as friends ; but at the same time complaining of the poverty of 
 himself and his people ; the usual prelude among Indians to beg 
 ging or hard bargaining. 
 
 Lisa rose to repl}^, and the eyes of Hunt and his companions 
 were eagerly turned upon him, those of M'Lellan glaring like a 
 basilisk's. He began by the usual expressions of friendship, and 
 then proceeded to explain the object of I^is own party. Those 
 persons, however, said he, pointing to Mr. Hunt and his com- 
 panions, are of a different party, and are quite distinct in their 
 views ; but, added he, though we are separate parties, we make 
 but one common cause when the safety of either is concerned. 
 Any injury or insult offered to them T shall consider as done 
 to myself, and will resent it accordingly. I trust, therefore, that 
 you will treat them with the same friendship that you have 
 always manifested for me, doing every thing in your power to 
 serve them and to help them on their way. The speech of Lisa, 
 delivered with an air of frankness and sincerity, agreeably sur- 
 prised and disappointed the rival party. 
 
 Mr. Hunt then spoke, declaring the object of his journey to 
 the great Salt Lake beyond the mountains, and that he should 
 want horses for the purpose, for which he was ready to trade, 
 having brought with him plenty of goods. Both he and Lisa 
 concluded their speeches by making presents of tobacco. 
 
 The left-handed chieftain in reply promised his friendship 
 and aid to the new comers, and welcomed them to his village. 
 He added that they had not the number of horses to spare 
 that Mr. Hunt required, and expressed a doubt whether they 
 should be able to part with any. Upon this, another chieftain, 
 called Gray Eyes, made a speech, and declared that they could 
 readily supply Mr. Hunt with all the horses he might want, 
 
S04 ASTORIA. 
 
 since, if they had not enough in the village, they could easily 
 steal more. This honest expedient immediately removed the 
 main difficulty ; hut the chief deferred all trading for a day or 
 two, until he should have time to consult with his subordinate 
 chiefs, as to market rates ; for the principal chief of a village, in 
 conjunction with his council, usually fixes the prices at which 
 articles shall he bought and sold, and to them the village must 
 conform. 
 
 The council now broke up. Mr. Hunt transferred his camp 
 across the river at a little distance below the village, and the 
 left-handed chief placed some of his warriors as a guard to pre- 
 vent the intrusion of any of his people. The camp was pitched 
 on the river bank just above the boats. The tents, and the men 
 wrapped in their blankets and bivouacking on skins in the open 
 air, surrounded the baggage at night. Four sentinels also kept 
 watch within sight of each other outside of the camp until mid- 
 night, when they were relieved by four others who mounted guard 
 until daylight. Mr. Lisa encamped near to Mr. Hunt, between 
 him and the village. 
 
 The speech of Mr. Lisa in the council had produced a pacific 
 efi'ect in the encampment. Though the sincerity of his friend- 
 ship and good-will towards the new company still remained mat- 
 ter of doubt, he was no longer suspected of an intention to play 
 false. The intercourse between the two leaders was, therefore, 
 resumed, and the afikirs of both parties went on harmoniously. 
 
AN INDIAN HORSE FAIR. «05 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A TUADE now commenced witli the Arickaras under the regula- 
 tion and supervision of their two chieftains. Lisa sent a part ot 
 his goods to the lodge of the left-handed dignitary, and Mr. Hunt 
 established his mart in the lodge of the Big Man. The village 
 soon presented the appearance of a busy fair ; and as horses were 
 in demand, the purlieus and the adjacent plain were like the 
 vicinity of a Tartar encampment ; horses were put through all 
 their paces, and horsemen were careering about with that dexte- 
 rity and grace for which the Arickaras are noted. As soon as a 
 horse was purchased, his tail was cropped, a sure mode of distin- 
 guishing him from the horses of the tribe ; for the Indians disdain 
 to practise this absurd, barbarous, and indecent mutilation, in- 
 vented by some mean and vulgar mind, insensible to the merit 
 and perfections of the animal. On the contrary, the Indian 
 horses are suffered to remain in every respect the superb and 
 beautiful animals which nature formed them. 
 
 The wealth of an Indian of the far west consists principally 
 in his horses, of which each chief and warrior possesses a great 
 number, so that the plains about an Indian village or encamp- 
 ment are covered with them. These form objects of traffic, or 
 objects of depredation, and in this way pass from tribe to tribe 
 over great tracts of country. The horses owned by the Aricka- 
 ras are, for the most part, of the wild stock of the prairies ; 
 some; however, had been obtained from the Poncas, Pawnees, and 
 other tribes to the southwest, who had stolen them from the 
 
206 ASTORIA. 
 
 Spaniards in the course of liorse-stealing expeditious into the 
 Mexican territories. These were to be known hj being branded ; 
 a Spanish mode of marking horses not practised by the Indians. 
 
 As the Arickaras were meditating another expedition against 
 their enemies the Sioux, the articles of traffic most in demand 
 were guns, tomahawks, scalping-knives, powder, ball, and other 
 munitions of war. The price of a horse, as regulated by the 
 chiefs, was commonly ten dollars worth of goods at first cost. 
 To supply the demand thus suddenly created, parties of young 
 men and braves had sallied forth on expeditions to steal horses : 
 a species of service among the Indians which takes precedence of 
 hunting, and is considered a department of honorable warfare. 
 
 While the leaders of the expedition were actively engaged in 
 preparing for the approaching journey, those who had accompa- 
 nied it for curiosity or amusement, found ample matter for obser- 
 vation in the village and its inhabitants. Wherever they went 
 they were kindly entertained. If they entered a lodge, the buf- 
 falo robe was spread before the fire for them to sit down ; the 
 pipe was brought, and while the master of the lodge conversed 
 with his guests, the squaw put the earthen vessel over the fire, 
 well filled with dried buffalo meat and pounded corn ; for the In- 
 dian in his native state, before he has mingled much with white 
 men, and acquired their sordid habits, has the hospitality of the 
 Arab : never does a stranger enter his door without having food 
 placed before him ; and never is the food thus furnished made a 
 matter of traffic. 
 
 The life of an Indian when at home in his village is a life of 
 indolence and amusement. To the woman is consigned the labors 
 of the household and the field ; she arranges the lodge ; brings 
 wood for the fire ; cooks ; jerks venison and bufi'alo meat ; dresses 
 the skins of the animals killed in the chase ; cultivates the little 
 patch of maize, pumpkins, and pulse, which furnishes a great part 
 
DOMESTIC LIFE OF AN INDIAN. 207 
 
 of tlieir provisions. Their time for repose and recreation is at 
 sunset, wlien the labors of the day being ended, they gather toge- 
 ther to amuse themselves with petty games, or to hold gossiping 
 convocations on the tops of their lodges. 
 
 As to the Indian, he is a game animal, not to be degraded by 
 useful or menial toil. It is enough that he exposes himself to 
 the hardships of the chase and the perils of war ; that he brings 
 home food for his family, and watches and fights for its protec- 
 tion. Every thing else is beneath his attention. When at home, 
 he attends only to his weapons and his horses, preparing the 
 means of future exploit. Or he engages with his comrades in 
 games of dexterity, agility and strength ; or in gambling games 
 in which every thing is put at hazard, with a recklessness seldom 
 witnessed in civilized life. 
 
 A great part of the idle leisure of the Indians when at home, 
 is passed in groups, squatted together on the bank of a river, on 
 the top of a mound on the prairie, or on the roof of one of their 
 earth-covered lodges, talking over the news of the day, the affairs 
 of the tribe, the events and exploits of their last hunting or fight- 
 ing expedition ; or listening to the stories of old times told by 
 some veteran chronicler ; resembling a group of our village quid- 
 nuncs and politicians, listening to the prosings of some superan- 
 nuated oracle, or discussing the contents of an ancient newspaper. 
 
 As to the Indian women, they are far from complaining of 
 their lot. On the contrary, they would despise their husbands 
 could they stoop to any menial office, and would think it con- 
 veyed an imputation upon their own conduct. It is the worst 
 insult one virago can cast upon another in a moment of alterca- 
 tion. " Infamous woman !" will she cry, " I have seen your 
 husband carrying wood into his lodge to make the fire. Where 
 was his squaw, that he should be obliged to make a woman of 
 himself!'' 
 
208 ASTORIA. 
 
 Mr, Hunt and liis fellow travellers had not been many daya 
 at the Arickara village, when rumors began to circulate that the 
 Sioux had followed them up, and that a war party, four or five 
 hundred in number, were lurking somewhere in the neighbor- 
 hood. These rumors produced much embarrassment in the 
 camp. The white hunters were deterred from venturing forth 
 in quest of game, neither did the leaders think it proper to 
 expose them to such risk. The Arickaras, too, who had suffered 
 greatly in their wars with this cruel and ferocious tribe, were 
 roused to increased vigilance, and stationed mounted scouts 
 upon the neighboring hills. This, however, is a general precau- 
 tion among the tribes of the prairies. Those immense plains 
 present a horizon like the ocean, so that any object of importance 
 can be descried afar, and information communicated to a great 
 distance. The scouts are stationed on the hills, therefore, to 
 look out both for game and for enemies, and are, in a manner, 
 living telegraphs conveying their intelligence by concerted signs. 
 If they wish to give notice of a herd of buffalo in the plain beyond, 
 they gallop backwards and forwards abreast, on the summit of 
 the hill. If they perceive an enemy at hand, they gallop to and 
 fro, crossing each other ; at sight of which the whole village flies 
 to arms. 
 
 Such an alarm was given in the afternoon of the 15th. Four 
 scouts were seen crossing and recrossing each other at full 
 gallop, on the summit of a hill about two miles distant down the 
 river. The cry was up that the Sioux were coming. In an 
 instant the village was in an uproar. Men, women and children 
 were all brawling and shouting; dogs barking, yelping and 
 howling. Some of the warriors ran for the horses to gather and 
 drive them in from the 'prairie, some for their weapons. As fast 
 as they could arm and equip they sallied forth ; some on horse- 
 back, some on foot. Some hastily arrayed in their war dress. 
 
AN ALARM.— INDIAN DOGS. 209 
 
 witli coronets of fluttering feathers, and their bodies smeared 
 with paint ; others naked and only furnished with the weapons 
 they had snatched up. The women and children gathered on 
 the tops of the lodges and heightened the confusion of the scene 
 by their vociferation. Old men who could no longer hear arms 
 took similar stations, and harangued the warriors as they passed, 
 exhorting them to valorous deeds. Some of the veterans took 
 arms themselves, and sallied forth with tottering steps. In this 
 way, the savage chivalry of the village to the number of five 
 hundred, poured forth, helter-skelter, riding and running, with 
 hideous yells and war-whoops, like so many bedlamites or 
 demoniacs let loose. 
 
 After a while the tide of war rolled back, but with far less 
 uproar. Either it had been a false alarm, or the enemy had re- 
 treated on finding themselves discovered, and quiet was restored 
 to the village. The white hunters continuing to be fearful of 
 ranging this dangerous neighborhood, fresh provisions began to 
 be scarce in the camp. As a substitute, therefore, for venison 
 and bufialo meat, the travellers had to purchase a number of 
 dogs to be shot and cooked for the supply of the camp. Fortu- 
 nately, however chary the Indians might be of their horses, they 
 were liberal of their dogs. In fact, these animals swarm about 
 an Indian village as they do about a Turkish town. Not a 
 family but has two or three dozen belonging to it, of all sizes 
 and colors ; some, of a superior breed, are used for hunting ; 
 others, t3 draw the sledge, while others, of a mongrel breed, and 
 idle vagabond nature, are fattened for food. They are supposed 
 to be descended from the wolf, and retain something of his 
 savage but cowardly temper, howling rather than barking ; 
 showing their teeth and snarling on the slightest provocation, 
 but sneaking away on the least attack. 
 
 The excitement of the village continued from day to day, 
 
210 ASTORIA. 
 
 On the day following tlie alarm just mentioned, several parties 
 arrived from different directions, and were met and conducted by 
 some of the braves to the council lodge, where they reported the 
 events and success of their expeditions, whether of war or hunt- 
 ing ; which news was afterwards promulgated throughout the vil- 
 lage, by certain old men who acted as heralds or town criers 
 Among the parties which arrived was one that had been among 
 tne Snake nation stealing horses, and returned crowned with suc- 
 cess. As they passed in triumph through the village they were 
 cheered by the men, women, and children, collected as usual on 
 the tops of the lodges, and were exhorted by the Nestors of the 
 village to be generous in their dealings with the white men. 
 
 The evening was spent in feasting and rejoicing among the 
 relations of the successful warriors ; but sounds of grief and 
 wailing were heard from the hills adjacent to the village : the 
 lamentations of women who had lost some relative in the foray. 
 
 An Indian village is subject to continual agitations and ex- 
 citements. The next day arrived a deputation of braves from 
 the Cheyenne or Shienne nation ; a broken tribe, cut up, like the 
 Arickaras, by wars with the Sioux, and driven to take refuge 
 among the Black Hills, near the sources of the Cheyenne Eiver, 
 from which they derive their name. One of these deputies was 
 magnificently arrayed in a buffalo robe, on which various figures 
 were fancifully embroidered with split quills dyed red and yel- 
 low ; and the whole was fringed with the slender hoofs of young 
 fawns, that rattled as he walked. 
 
 The arrival of this deputation was the signal for another of 
 those ceremonials which occupy so much of Indian life ; for no 
 being is more courtly and punctilious, and more * observing of 
 etiquette and formality than an American savage. 
 
 The object of the deputation was to give notice of an intended 
 visit of the Shienne (or Cheyenne) tribe to the Arickara village 
 
RETURN OF A WAR PART 7. 211 
 
 in the course of fifteen days. To this visit Mr. Hunt looked 
 forward, to procure additional horses for his journey ; all his bar- 
 gaining being ineffectual in obtaining a sufficent supply from the 
 Ariekaras. Indeed nothing could prevail upon the latter to 
 part with their prime horses, which had been trained to buffalo 
 hunting. ■ 
 
 As Mr. Hunt would have to abandon his boats at this place, 
 Mr. Lisa now offered to purchase them, and such of his mer- 
 chandise as was superfluous, and to pay him in horses, to be ob- 
 tained at a fort belonging to the Missouri Fur Company, situated 
 at the Mandan villages, about a hundred and fifty miles further 
 up the river. A bargain was promptly made, and Mr. Lisa and 
 Mr. Crooks, with several companions, set out for the fort to pro- 
 cure the horses. They returned, after upwards of a fortnight's 
 absence, bringing with them the stipulated number of horses. 
 Still the cavalry was not sufiiciently numerous to convey the 
 party and the baggage and merchandise, and a few days more 
 were required to complete the arrangements for the journey. 
 
 On the 9th of July, just before daybreak, a great noise and 
 vociferation was heard in the village. This being the usual 
 Indian hour of attack and surprise, and the Sioux being known 
 to be in the neighborhood, the camp was instantly on the alert. 
 As the day broke Indians were descried in considerable number 
 on the bluffs, three or four miles down the river. The noise and 
 agitation in the village continued. The tops of the lodges were 
 crowded with the inhabitants, all earnestly looking towards the 
 hills, and keeping up a vehement chattering. Presently an In- 
 dian warrior galloped past the camp towards the village, and in 
 & little while the legions began to pour forth. 
 
 The truth of the matter was now ascertained. The Indians 
 upon the distant hills were three hundred Arickara braves, re- 
 turning from a foray They had met the war party of Sioux 
 
212 ASTORIA. 
 
 vrbo had been so long hovering about the neigliborliood, had 
 fought them the day before, killed several, and defeated the rest 
 with the loss of but two or three of their own men and about 
 a dozen wounded ; and they were now halting at a distance until 
 their comrades in the village should come forth to meet them, 
 and swell the parade of their triumphal entry. The warrior who 
 had galloped past the camp was the leader of the party hastening 
 home to give tidings of his victory. 
 
 Preparations were now made for this great martial ceremony. 
 All the finery and equipments of the warriors were sent forth to 
 them, that they might appear to the greatest advantage. Those, 
 too, who had remained at home, tasked their wardrobes and toi- 
 lets to do honor to the procession. 
 
 The Arickaras generally go naked, but, like all savages, they 
 have their gala dress, of which they are not a little vain. This 
 usually consists of a gray surcoat and leggins of the dressed 
 skin of the antelope, resembling chamois leather, and embroi- 
 dered with porcupine quills brilliantly dyed. A buffalo robe is 
 thrown over the right shoulder, and across the left is slung a 
 quiver of arrows. They wear gay coronets of plumes, particu- 
 larly those of the swan ; but the feathers of the black eagle are 
 considered the most worthy, being a sacred bird among the 
 Indian warriors. He who has killed an enemy in his own land, 
 is entitled to drag at his heels a fox-skin attached to each mocca- 
 son ; and he who has slain a grizzly bear, wears a necklace of his 
 claws, the most glorious trophy that a hunter can exhibit. 
 
 An Indian toilet is an operation of some toil and trouble : 
 the warrior often has to paint himself from head to foot, and is 
 extremely capricious and difficult to please, as to the hideous 
 distribution of streaks and colors. A great part of the morning, 
 therefore, passed away before there were any signs of the distant 
 pageant. In the meantime a profound stillness reigned over the 
 
TRIUMPHANT PROCESSION. 213 
 
 villago. Most of the inliabitants had gone forth ; others remained 
 in mute expectation. All sports and occupations were suspended, 
 excepting that in tne lodges the painstaking squaws were silently 
 busied in preparing the repasts for the warriors. 
 
 It was near noon that a mingled sound of voices and rudo 
 music, faintly heard from a distance, gave notice tnat the proces- 
 sion was on the march. The old men and such of the squaws as 
 could leave their employments hastened forth to meet it. In a 
 little while it emerged from behind a hill, and had a wild and 
 picturesque appearance as it came moving over the summit in 
 measured step, and to the cadence of songs and savage instru- 
 ments ; the warlike standards and trophies flaunting aloft, and the 
 feathers, and paint, and silver ornaments of the warriors glaring 
 and glittering in the sunshine. 
 
 The pageant had really something chivalrous in its arrange- 
 ment. The Arickaras are divided into several bands, each bear- 
 ing the name of some animal or bird, as the buffalo, the bear, the 
 dog, the pheasant. The present party consisted of four of these 
 bands, one of which was the dog, the most esteemed in war, 
 being composed of young men under thirty, and noted for prow- 
 ess. It is engaged on the most desperate occasions. The bands 
 marched in separate bodies under their several leaders. The 
 warriors on foot came first, in platoons of ten or twelve abreast ; 
 then the horsemen. Each band bore as an ensign a spear or bow 
 decorated with beads, porcupine quills, and painted feathers. 
 Each bore its trophies of scalps, elevated on poles, their long 
 black locks streaming in the wind. Each was accompanied by its 
 rude music and minstrelsy. In this way the procession extended 
 nearly a quarter of a mile. The warriors were variously armed, 
 some few with guns, others with bows and arrows, and war clubs ; 
 all had shields of buffalo hide, a kind of defence generally used 
 by the Indians of the open prairies, who have not the covert of 
 
214 ASTORIA. 
 
 trees and forests to protect them. They were painted in the 
 most savage style. Some had the stamp of a red hand across 
 their mouths, a sign that they had drunk the life-blood of a foe ! 
 
 As they drew near to the village the old men and the women 
 began to meet them, and now a scene ensued that proved the 
 fallacy of the old fable of Indian apathy and stoicism. Parents 
 and children, husbands an i wives, brothers and sisters met with 
 the most rapturous expressions of joy ; while wailings and lamen 
 tations were heard from the relatives of the killed and wounded. 
 The procession, however, continued on with slow and measured 
 step, m cadence to the' solemn chant, and the warriors main- 
 tained their fixed and stern demeanor. 
 
 Between two of the princij)al chiefs rode a young warrior who 
 had distinguished himself in the battle. He was severely wound- 
 ed, so as with difficulty to keep on his horse ; but he preserved a 
 serene and steadfast countenance, as if perfectly unharmed. 
 His mother had heard of his condition. She broke through the 
 throng, and rushing up, threw her arms around him and wept 
 aloud. He kept up the spirit and demeanor of a warrior to the 
 last, but expired shortly after he had reached his home. 
 
 The village was now a scene of the utmost festivity and 
 triumph. The banners, and trophies, and scalps, and painted 
 shields were elevated on poles near the lodges. There were war- 
 feasts, and scalp-dances, with warlike songs and savage music ; 
 all the inhabitants were arrayed in their festal dresses ; while 
 the old heralds went round from lodge to lodge, promulgating 
 with loud voices the events of the battle and the exploits of the 
 various warriors. 
 
 Such was the boisterous revelry of the village ; but sounds of 
 another kind were heard on the surrounding hills ; piteous wail- 
 ings of the women, who had retired thither to mourn in darkness 
 and solitude for those who had fallen in battle. There the poor 
 
LAMENTATIONS AMONG THE HILLS. 215 
 
 motlier of the youthful warrior who had returned home in tri- 
 umph but to die, gave full vent to the anguish of a mother's 
 heart. How much does this custom among the Indian women of 
 repairing to the hill tops in the night, and pouring forth their 
 wailings for the dead, call to mind the beautiful and affecting 
 passage of Scripture, " In Rama was there a voice heard, lamen- 
 tation, and weeping, and great mourning, Kachel wee^Ding for 
 her children, and would not be comforted, because they arc not." 
 
ai6 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 While Mr. Hunt was diligently preparing for his? arduous jour- 
 ney, some of his men began to lose heart at the perilous prospect 
 before them ; but, before we accuse them of want of spirit, it is 
 proper to consider the nature of the wilderness into which they 
 were about to adventure. It was a region almost as vast and 
 trackless as the ocean, and, at the time of which we treat, but 
 little known, excepting through the vague accounts of Indian 
 hunters. A part of their route would lay across an immense 
 tract, stretching north and south for hundreds of miles along the 
 foot of the Rocky Mountains, and drained by the tributary 
 streams of the Missouri and the Mississippi. This region, which 
 resembles one of the immeasurable steppes of Asia, has not 
 inaptly been termed " the great American desert." It spreads 
 forth into undulating and treeless plains, and desolate sandy 
 wastes, wearisome to the eye from their extent and monotony, 
 and which are supposed by geologists, to have formed the ancient 
 floor of the ocean, countless ages since, when its primeval waves 
 beat against the granite bases of the Pvocky Mountains. 
 
 It is a land where no man permanently abides ; for, in cer 
 tain seasons of the year there is no food either for the hunter or 
 his steed. The herbage is parched and withered ; the brooks 
 and streams are dried up ; the buffalo, the elk and the deer have 
 wandered to distant parts, keeping within the verge of expiring 
 verdure, and leaving behind them a vast uninhabited solitude, 
 
WILDERNESS OF THE FAR WEST. 217 
 
 Beamed Iby ravines, tlie beds of former torrents, but now serving 
 only to tantalize and increase the thirst of the traveller. 
 
 Occasionally the monotony of this vast wilderness is inter- 
 rupted by mountainous belts of sand and limestone, broken into 
 confused masses ; with precipitous cliffs and yawning ravines, 
 looking like the ruins of a world ; or is traversed by lofty and 
 barren ridges of rock, almost impassable, like those denominated 
 the jBlack Hills. Beyond these rise the stern barriers of the 
 Kocky Mountains, the limits, as it were, of the Atlantic world. 
 The rugged defiles and deep valleys of this vast chain form shel- 
 tering places for restless and ferocious bands of savages, many 
 of them the remnants of tribes, once inhabitants of the prairies, 
 but broken up by war and violence, and who carry into their 
 mountain haunts the fierce passions and reckless habits of des- 
 peradoes. 
 
 Such is the nature of this immense wilderness of the far 
 West ; which apparently defies cultivation, and the habitation of 
 civilized life. Some portions of it along the rivers may partially 
 be subdued by agriculture, others may form vast pastoral tracts, 
 like those of the East ; but it is to be feared that a great part of 
 it will form a lawless interval between the abodes of civilized 
 man, like the wastes of the ocean or the deserts of Arabia ; and^ 
 like them, be subject to the depredations of the marauder. Here 
 may spring up new and mongrel races, like new formations in 
 geology, the amalgamation of the "debris" and "abrasions" of 
 former races, civilized and savage ; the remains of broken and 
 almost extinguished tribes ; the descendants of wandering hunters 
 and trappers ; of fugitives from the Spanish and American fron- 
 tiers ; of adventurers and desperadoes of every class and coun- 
 try, yearly ejected from the bosom of society into the wilderness. 
 We are contributing incessantly to swell this singular and heto- 
 
218 ASTORIA. 
 
 rogeneous cloud of wild population that is to hang about our 
 frontier, by the transfer of whole tribes of savages from the east 
 of the Mississippi to the great wastes of the far "West. JVIany 
 of these bear with them the smart of real or fancied injuries ; 
 many consider themselves expatriated beings, wrongfully exiled 
 from their hereditary homes, and the sepulchres of their fathers, 
 and cherish a deep and abiding animosity against the race that 
 has dispossessed them. Some may gradually become pastoral 
 hordes, like those rude and migratory people, half shepherd, half 
 warrior, who, with their flocks and herds, roam the plains of up- 
 per Asia ; but, others, it is to be apprehended, will become pre- 
 datory bands, mounted on the fleet steeds of the prairies, with 
 the open plains for their marauding grounds, and the mountains 
 for their retreats and lurking-places. Here they may resemble 
 those great hordes of the North ; " Gog and Magog with their 
 bands," that haunted the gloomy imaginations of the prophets. 
 " A great company and a mighty host, all riding upon horses, and 
 warring upon those nations which were at rest, and dwelt peacea- 
 bly, and had gotten cattle and goods." 
 
 The Spaniards changed the whole character and habits of the 
 Indians when they brought the horse among them. In Chili, 
 Tucuman and other parts, it has converted them, we are told, into 
 Tartar-like tribes, and enabled them to keep the Spaniards out of 
 their country, and even to make it dangerous for them to venture 
 far from their towns and settlements. Are we not in danger of 
 producing some such state of things in the boundless regions of 
 the far "West ? That these are not mere fanciful and extravagant 
 Buggestions we have sufficient proofs in the dangers already ex- 
 perienced by the traders to the Spanish mart of Santa Fe, and to 
 the distant posts of the fur companies. These are obliged to 
 proceed in armed caravans, and are subject to murderous attacks 
 
BODERS OF ILL LUCK. 219 
 
 from bands of Pawnees, Camanclies and Blackfeet, that coma 
 Bcouring upon them in their weary march across the plains, or lie 
 in wait for them among the passes of the mountains. 
 
 "We are wandering, however, into excursive speculations, when 
 our intention was merely to give an idea of the nature of the 
 wilderness which Mr. Hunt was about to traverse ; and which at 
 that time was far less known that at present ; though it still re- 
 mains in a great measure an unknown land. We cannot be sur- 
 prised, therefore, that some of the least resolute of his party 
 should feel dismay at the thoughts of adventuring into this peri- 
 lous wilderness under the uncertain guidance of three hunters, 
 who had merely passed once through the country and might have 
 forgotten the landmarks. Their apprehensions were aggravated 
 by some of Lisa's followers, who, not "being engaged in the expe- 
 dition, took a mischievous pleasure in exaggerating its dangers. 
 They painted in strong colors, to the poor Canadian voyageurs, 
 the risk they would run of perishing with hunger and thirst ; of 
 being cut off by war-parties of the Sioux who scoured the plains ; 
 of having their horses stolen by the Upsarokas or Crows, who in- 
 fested the skirts of the Rocky Mountains ; or of being butchered 
 by the Blackfeet, who lurked among the defiles. In a word, there 
 was little chance of their getting alive across the mountains ; and 
 even if they did, those three guides knew nothing of the howling 
 wilderness that lay beyond. 
 
 The apprehensions thus awakened in the minds of some of the 
 men came well nigh proving detrimental to the expedition. Some 
 of them determined to desert, and to make their way back to St. 
 Louis. They accordingly purloined several weapons and a barrel 
 of gunpowder, as ammunition for their enterj^rise, and buried 
 them in the river bank, intending to seize one of the boats, and 
 maJie off in the night. Fortunately their plot was overheard hy 
 
220 ASTORIA. 
 
 John Day, the Kentiickian, and communicated to the partners, 
 who took quiet and effectual means to frustrate it. 
 
 The dangers to be apprehended from the Crow Indians had 
 not been overrated by the camp gossips. These savages, through 
 whose mountain haunts the party would have to pass, were noted 
 for daring and excursive habits, and great dexterity in horse 
 stealing. Mr. Hunt, therefore, considered himself fortunate in 
 having met with a man who might be of great use to him in any 
 intercourse he might have with the tribe. This was a wandering 
 individual named Edward Rose, whom he had picked up some- 
 where on the Missouri — one of those anomalous beings found on 
 the frontier, v/ho seem to have neither kin nor country. He had 
 lived some time among the Crows, so as to become acquainted with 
 their language and customs ; and was, withal, a dogged, sullen, 
 Bilent fellow, with a sinister aspect, and more of the savage than 
 the civilized man in his appearance. He was engaged to serve in 
 general as a hunter, but as guide and interpreter when they 
 should reach the country of the Crows. 
 
 On the 18th of July, Mr. Hunt took up his line of march by 
 land from the Arickara village, leaving Mr. Lisa and Mr. Nuttall 
 there, where they intended to await the expected arrival of Mr. 
 Henry from the Rocky Mountains. As to Messrs. Bradbury and 
 Breckenridge, they had departed some days previously, on a voy- 
 age down the river to St. Louis, with a detachment from Mr. 
 Lisa's party. With all his exertions, Mr. Hunt had been unable 
 to obtain a sufficient number of horses for the accommodation of 
 all his people. IJis cavalcade consisted of eighty-two horses, 
 most of them heavily laden with Indian goods, beaver traps, am- 
 munition, Indian ccrn, corn meal and other necessaries. Each 
 of the partners was mounted, and a horse was allotted to the in- 
 terpreter, Pierre Dorion, for the transportation of his luggage 
 
DEPARTURE FROM THE ARICKARAS. 221 
 
 and his two cliildren His sqiiaw, for tlie most part of the time, 
 trudged on foot, like the residue of the party ; nor did any of the 
 men show more patience and fortitude than this resolute woman 
 in enduring fatigue and hardship. 
 
 The veteran trappers and voyageurs of Lisa's party shook 
 their heads as their comrades set out, and took leave of them as 
 of doomed men ; and even Lisa himself, gave it as his opinion, 
 after the travellers had departed, that they would never roach the 
 shores of the Pacific, but would either perish with hunger in the 
 wilderness, or be cut off by the savages. 
 
SS2 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIl. 
 
 TflE course taken by Mr. Hunt was at first to the nortliwest, 
 but soon turned and kept generally to the southwest, to avoid 
 the country infested by the Blackfeet. His route took him 
 across some of the tributary streams of the Missouri, and over 
 immense prairies, bounded only by the horizon, and destitute of 
 trees. It was now the height of summer, and these naked 
 plains would be intolerable to the traveller were it not for the 
 breezes which sweep over them during the fervor of the day, 
 bringing with them tempering airs from the distant mountains. 
 To the prevalence of these breezes, and to the want of all leafy 
 covert, may we also attribute the freedom from those flies and 
 other insects so tormenting to man and beast during the summer 
 months, in the lower plains, which are bordered and interspersed 
 with woodland. 
 
 The monotony of these immense landscapes, also, would be 
 as wearisome as that of the ocean, were it not relieved in some 
 degree by the purity and elasticity of the atmosphere, and the 
 beauty of the heavcas. The sky has that delicious blue for 
 which the sky of Italy is renowned ; the sun shines with a splen- 
 dor, unobscured by any cloud or vapor, and a starlight night on 
 the prairies is glorious. This purity and elasticity of atmosphere 
 increases as the traveller approaches the mountains, and gradu- 
 ally rises into more elevated prairies. 
 
 On the second day of the journey, Mr. Hunt arranged the 
 f arty into small and convenient messes, distributing among them 
 
CANADIANS IN CAMP. 223 
 
 the camp kettles. The encampments at night were as before ; 
 some sleeping under tents, and others biyouacking in the open 
 air. The Canadians proved as patient of toil and hardship on 
 the land as on the water; indeed, nothing could surpass the 
 patience and good-humor of these men upon the march. They 
 were the cheerful drudges of the party, loading and unloading 
 the horses, pitching the tents, making the fires, cooking ; in 
 short, performing all those household and menial offices which 
 the Indians usually assign to the squaws ; and, like the squaws, 
 they left all the hunting and fighting to others. A Canadian has 
 but little affection for the exercise of the rifle. 
 
 The progress of the party was but slow for the first few days. 
 Some of the men were indisposed ; Mr. Crooks, especially, was 
 so unwell that he could not keep on his horse. A rude kind of 
 litter was, therefore, prepared for him, consisting of two long 
 poles, fixed, one on each side of two horses, with a matting between 
 them, on which he reclined at full length, and was protected from 
 the sun by a canopy of boughs. 
 
 On the evening of the 23d (July) they encamped on the banks 
 of what they term Big River ; and here we cannot but pause to 
 lament the stupid, commonplace, and often ribald names entailed 
 upon the rivers and other features of the great West, by traders 
 and settlers. As the aboriginal tribes of these magnificent regions 
 are yet in existence, the Indian names might easily be recovered ; 
 which, beside being in general more sonorous and musical, would 
 remain mementoes of the primitive lords of the soil, of whom in a 
 little while scarce any traces will be left. Indeed, it is to be 
 wished that the whole of our country could be rescued, as much 
 as possible, from the wretched nomenclature inflicted upon it, by 
 ignorant and vulgar minds ; and this might be done, in a great 
 degree, by restoring the Indian names, wherever significant and 
 euphoniouri. As there appears to be a spirit of research abroad 
 
224 ASTORIA. 
 
 in respect to our aboriginal antiquities, we would suggest, as a 
 worthy object of enterprise, a map, or maps, of every part of our 
 country, giving the Indian names wherever they could be ascer- 
 tained. Whoever achieves such an object worthily, will leave a 
 monument to his own reputation. 
 
 To return from this digression. As the travellers were now 
 in a country abounding v/ith buffalo, they remained for several 
 days encamped upon the banks of Big River, to obtain a supply 
 of provisions, and to give the invalids time to recruit. 
 
 On the second day of their sojourn, as Ben Jones, John Day, 
 and others of the hunters were in pursuit of game, they came 
 upon an Indian camp on the open prairie, near to a small stream 
 which ran through a ravine. The tents or lodges were of dressed 
 buffalo skins, sewn together and stretched on tapering pine poles, 
 joined at top, but radiating at bottom, so as to form a circle capa- 
 ble of admitting fifty persons. Numbers of horses were grazing 
 in the neighborhood of the camp, or straying at large in the prai- 
 rie ; a sight most acceptable to the hunters. After reconnoitring 
 the camp for some time, they ascertained it to belong to a band 
 of Cheyenne Indians, the same that had sent a deputation to the 
 Arickaras. They received the hunters in the most friendly man- 
 ner ; invited them to their lodges, which were more cleanly than 
 Indian lodges are prone to be, and set food before them with true 
 uncivilized hospitality. Several of them accompanied the hunters 
 back to the camp, when a trade was immediately opened. Tho 
 Cheyennes were astonished and delighted to find a convoy of 
 goods and trinkets thus brought into the very heart of the prai- 
 rie ; while Mr. Hunt and his com^Dauions were overjoyed to have 
 an opportunity of obtaining a further supply of horses from these 
 equestrian savages. 
 
 During a fortnight that the travellers lingered at this place, 
 their encampment was continually thronged by the Cheyennes. 
 
SKILL OF THE CHEYENNE HORSEMEN. 225 
 
 They were a civil, well-behaved people, cleanly in their persons 
 and decorous in their habits. The men were tall, straight and 
 vigorous, with aquiline noses, and high cheek bones. Some were 
 almost as naked as ancient statues, and might have stood as 
 models for a statuary ; others had leggins and moccasons of deer 
 skin, and buffalo robes, which they threw gracefully over their 
 shoulders. In a little while, however, they began to appear in 
 more gorgeous array, tricked out in the finery obtained from the 
 white men ; bright cloths ; brass rings ; beads of various colors, and 
 happy was he who could render himself hideous with vermilion. 
 The travellers had frequent occasion to admire the skill and 
 grace with which these Indians managed their horses. Some of 
 them made a striking display when mounted; themselves and 
 their steeds decorated in gala style ; for the Indians often bestow 
 more finery upon their horses than upon themselves. Some 
 would hang round the necks, or rather on the breasts of their 
 horses, the most precious ornaments they had obtained from the 
 white men ; others interwove feathers in their manes and tails 
 The Indian horses, too, appear to have an attachment to their 
 wild riders, and indeed it is said that the horses of the prairies 
 readily distinguish an Indian from a white man by the smell, 
 and give a preference to the former. Yet the Indians, in 
 general, are hard riders, and, however they may value their 
 horses, treat them with great roughness and neglect. Occa- 
 sionally the Chej^ennes joined the white hunters in pursuit of 
 the elk and buffalo ; and when in the ardor of the chase, spared 
 neither themselves nor their steeds, scouring the prairies at full 
 speed, and plunging down precipices and frightful ravines that 
 threatened the necks of both horse and horseman. The Indian 
 gteed, well trained to the chase, seems as mad as his rider, and 
 pursues the game as eagerly as if it were his natural prey, on 
 the flesh of which he was to banquet. 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 The liistory of tlie Cheyennes is that of many of those -wan- 
 dering tribes of the prairies. They were the remnant of a once 
 powerful people called the Shaways, inhabiting a branch of the 
 Red Kiver which flows into Lake Winnipeg. Every Indian 
 tribe has some rival tribe with which it wages implacable hostility. 
 The deadly enemies of the Shaways were the Sioux, who, after a 
 long course of warfare, proved too powerful for them, and drove 
 them across the Missouri. They again took root near the 
 Warricanne Creek, and established themselves there in a forti- 
 fied village. 
 
 The Sioux still followed them with deadly animosity; dis- 
 lodged them from their village, and compelled them to take 
 refuge in the Black Hills, near the upper waters of the Sheyenne 
 or Cheyenne River. Here they lost oven their name, and be- 
 came known among the French colonists by that of the river 
 they frequented. 
 
 The heart of the tribe was now broken ; its numbers were 
 greatly thinned by their harassing wars. They no longer 
 attempted to establish themselves in any permanent abode that 
 might be an object of attack to their cruel foes. They gave up 
 the cultivation of the fruits of the earth, and became a wandering 
 tribe, subsisting by the chase, and following the buffalo in its 
 migrations. 
 
 Their only possessions were horses, which they caught on the 
 prairies, or reared, or captured on predatory incursions into the 
 Mexican territories, as has already been mentioned. With some 
 of these they repaired once a year to the Arickara villages, ex- 
 changed them for corn, beans, pumpkins, and articles of Euro- 
 pean merchandise, and then returned into the heart of the 
 prairies. 
 
 Such are the fluctuating fortunes of these savage nations. 
 War, famine, pestilence, together or singly, bring down their 
 
FLUCTUATIONS OF SAVAGE LIFE. 227 
 
 strength and thin their numbers. Whole tribes are rooted up 
 from their native places, wander for a time about these immense 
 regions, become amalgamated with other tribes, or disappear from 
 the face of the earth. There appears to be a tendency to extinc- 
 tion among all the savage nations ; and this tendency would seem 
 to have been in operation among the aboriginals of this country 
 long before the advent of the white men, if we may judge from 
 the traces and traditions of ancient populousness in regions 
 which were silent and deserted at the time of the discovery ; and 
 from the mysterious and perplexing vestiges of unknown racea, 
 predecessors of those found in actual possession, and who must 
 long since have become gradually extinguished or been destroyed. 
 The whole history of the aboriginal population of this country, 
 bowoverj is an enigma, and a grand one — will it ever be solved ? 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 On the sixth of August the travellers bade farewell to the friend- 
 ly band of Cheyennes, and resumed their journey. As they had 
 obtained thirty-six additional horses by their recent traffic, Mr. 
 Hunt made a new arrangement. The baggage was made up in 
 smaller loads. A horse was allotted to each of the six prime 
 hunters, and others were distributed among the voyageurs, a 
 horse for every two, so that they could ride and walk alternately. 
 Mr. Crooks being still too feeble to mount the saddle, was carried 
 on a litter. 
 
 Their march this day lay among singular hills and knolls of 
 an indurated red earth, resembling brick, about the bases of 
 which were scattered pumice stones and cinders, the whole bear- 
 ing traces of the action of fire. In the evening they encamped 
 on a branch of Big River. 
 
 They were now out of the tract of country infested by the 
 Sioux, and had advanced such a distance into the interior that 
 Mr. Hunt no longer felt apprehensive of the desertion of any 
 of his men. He was doomed, however, to experience new cause 
 of anxiety. As he was seated in his tent after nightfall, one of 
 the men came to him privately, and informed him that there was 
 mischief brewing in the camp. Edward Rose, the interpreter, 
 whose sinister looks we have already mentioned, was denounced 
 by this secret informer as a designing, treacherous scoundrel, who 
 was tampering with the fidelity of- certain of the men, and insti- 
 gating them to a flagrant piece of treason. In the course of a 
 
TREACHERY IN THE CAMP. 229 
 
 few days thoy would arrive at . the mountainous district infested 
 by the Upsarokas or Crows, the tribe among which Rose was to 
 officiate as interpreter. His plan was that several of the men 
 should join with him, when in that neighborhood, in carrying off 
 a number of the horses with their packages of goods, and desert- 
 ing to those savages. He assured them of good treatment 
 among the Crows, the principal chiefs and warriors of whom ho 
 knew ; they would soon become great men among them, and have 
 the finest women, and the daughters of the chiefs, for wives ; and 
 the horses and goods they carried off would make them rich for 
 life. 
 
 The intelligence of this treachery on the part of Rose gave 
 much disquiet to Mr. Hunt, for he knew not how far it might be 
 effective among his men. He had already had proofs that several 
 of them were disaffected to the enterprise, and loth to cross the 
 mountains. He knew also that savage life had charms for 
 many of them, especially the Canadians, who were prone to inter- 
 marry and domesticate themselves among the Indians. 
 
 And here a word or two concerning the Crows may be of ser- 
 vice to the reader, as they will figure occasionally in the succeed- 
 ing narration. 
 
 The tribe consists of four bands, which have their nestling- 
 places in fertile, well-wooded valleys, lying among the Rocky 
 Mountains, and watered by the Big Horse River and its tribu- 
 tary streams ; but, though these are properly their homes, where 
 they shelter their old people, their wives, and their children, the 
 men of the tribe are almost continually on the foray and the 
 scamper. They are, in fact^ notorious marauders and horse- 
 stealers ; crossing and recrossing the mountains, robbing on the 
 one side, and conveying their spoils to the other. Hence, we are 
 told, is derived their name, given to them on account of their 
 unsettled and predatory habits ; winging their flight, like the 
 
230 ASTORIA. 
 
 crows, from one side of the mountains to tlie other, and making 
 free booty of every thing that lies in their way. Horses, how- 
 ever, are the especial objects of their depredations, and their skill 
 and audacity in stealing them are said to be astonishing. This 
 is their glory and delight ; an accomplished horse-stealer fills up 
 their idea of a hero. Many horses are obtained by them, also, 
 in barter from tribes in and beyond the mountains. They have 
 an absolute passion far this noble animal ; beside which he is 
 with them an important object of traffic. Once a year they make 
 a visit to the Mandans, Minatarees, and other tribes of the Mis- 
 souri, taking with them droves of horses which they exchange for 
 guns, ammunition, trinkets, vermilion, cloths of bright colors, 
 and various other articles of European manufacture. With these 
 they supply their own wants and caprices, and carry on the 
 internal trade for horses already mentioned. 
 
 The plot of Rose to rob and abandon his countrymen when 
 in the heart of the wilderness, and to throw himself into the 
 hands of a horde of savages, may appear s'trange and improbable 
 to those unacquainted with the singular and anomalous charac- 
 ters that are to be found about the borders. This fellow, it ap- 
 pears, was one of those desperadoes of the frontiers, outlawed by 
 their crimes, who combine the vices of civilized and savage life, 
 and are ten times more barbarous than the Indians with whom 
 they consort. Rose had formerly belonged to one of the gangs 
 of pirates who infested the islands of the Mississippi, plundering 
 boats as they went up and down the river, and who sometimes 
 shifted the scene of their robberies to the shore, waylaying trav- 
 ellers as they returned by land from New Orleans with the pro- 
 ceeds of their downward voyage, plundering them of their money 
 and effects, and often perpetrating the most atrocious murders. 
 
 These hordes of villains being broken up and dispersed. Rose 
 had betaken himself to the wilderness, and associated himself 
 
A DESPERADO OF THE FRONTIER. 231 
 
 with the Crows, whose predatory habits were congenial with his 
 own, had married a woman of the tribe, and, in short, had iden- 
 tified himself with those vagrant savages. 
 
 Such was the worthy guide and interpreter, Edward Eose. 
 We give his story, however, not as it was known to Mr. Hunt 
 and his companions at the time, but as it has been subsequently 
 ascertained. Enough was known of the fellow and his dark and 
 perfidious character to put Mr. Hunt upon his guard : still, as 
 there was no knowing how far his plans might have succeeded, 
 and as any rash act might blow the mere smouldering sparks of 
 treason into a sudden blaze, it was thouglitadvisable by those 
 with whom Mr. Hunt consulted, to conceal all knowledge or 
 suspicion of the meditated treachery, but to keep up a vigilant 
 watch upon the movements of Rose, and a strict guard upon the 
 horses at night. 
 
232 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 The plains over which the travellers were journeying continued 
 to be destitute of trees or even shrubs ; insomuch that they had 
 to use the dung of the buifalo for fuel, as the Arabs of the desert 
 use that of the camel. This substitute for fuel is universal 
 among the Indians of these upper prairies, and is said to make 
 a fire er^ual to that of turf If a few chips are added, it throws 
 out a cheerful and kindly blaze. 
 
 These plains, however, had not always been equally destitute 
 of wood, as was evident from the trunks of the trees which the 
 travellers repeatedly met with, some still standing, others lying 
 about in broken fragments, but all in a fossil state, having 
 flourished in times long past. In these singular remains, the 
 original grain of the wood was still so distinct that they could be 
 ascertained to be the ruins of oak trees. Several pieces of the 
 fossil wood wel'e selected by the men to serve as whetstones. 
 
 In this part of the journey there was no lack of provisions, 
 for the prairies were covered with immense herds of buffalo, 
 These, in general, are animals of peaceful demeanor, grazing 
 quietly like domestic cattle ; but this was the season when they 
 are in heat, and when the bulls are usually fierce and pugnacious. 
 There was accordingly a universal restlessness and commotion 
 throughout the plain ; and the amorous herds gave utterance to 
 their feelings in low bellowings that resounded like distant 
 thunder. Here and there fierce duellos took place between rival 
 enamorados ; butting their huge shagged fronts together, goring 
 
THE LOST HUNTERS. 233 
 
 * 
 
 each other with their short Hack horns, and tearing up the earth 
 with their feet in perfect fury. 
 
 In one of the evening halts, Pierre Dorion, the interpreter, 
 together with Carson and Gardpie, two of the hunters, were miss- 
 ing, nor had they returned by morning. As it was supposed they 
 had wandered away in jmrsuit of buffalo, and would readily find 
 the track of the party, no solicitude was felt on their account. A 
 fire was left burning, to guide them by its column of smoke, and 
 the travellers proceeded on their march. In the evening a signal 
 fire was made on a hill adjacent to the camp, and in the morning 
 it was replenished with fuel so as to last throughout the day. 
 These signals are usual among the Indians, to give warnings to 
 each other, or to call home straggling hunters ; and such is the 
 'transparency of the atmosphere in those elevated plains, that a 
 slight column of smoke can be discerned from a great distance, 
 paiticularly in the evenings. Two or three days elapsed, how- 
 ever, without the reappearance of the three hunters ; and Mr. 
 Hunt slackened his march to give them time to overtake him. 
 
 A vigilant watch continued to be kept upon the movements of 
 Rose, and of such of the men as were considered doubtful in their 
 loyalty ; but nothing occurred to excite immediate apprehensions. 
 Kose evidently was not a favorite among his comrades, and it was 
 hoped that he had not been able to make any real partisans. 
 
 On the 10th of August they encamped among hills, on the 
 highest peak of which Mr. Hunt caused a huge pyre of pine wood 
 to be made, which soon sent up a great column of flame that might 
 be seen far and wide over the prairies. This fire blazed all night,, 
 and was amply replenished at daybreak ; so that the towering 
 pillar of smoke could not but be descried by the wanderers if 
 within the distance of a day's journey. 
 
 It is a common occurrence in these regions, where the fea- 
 tures of the country no much resemble each other, for hunters to 
 
234 ASTORIA. 
 
 lose themselves and wander for many days, before tliey can find 
 tlieir way back to the main body of their party. In the present 
 instance, however, a more than common solicitude was felt, in 
 consequence of the distrust awakened by the sinister designs of 
 Eose. 
 
 The route now became excessively toilsome, over a ridge of 
 steep rocky hills, covered with loose stones. These were inter- 
 sected by deep valleys, formed by two branches of Big River, 
 coming from the south of west, both of v/hich they crossed. 
 These streams were bordered by meadows, well stocked with 
 buffaloes. Loads of meat were brought in by the hunters ; but 
 the travellers were rendered dainty by profusion, and would cook 
 only the choice pieces. 
 
 They had now travelled for several days at a very slow rate, 
 and had made signal-fires and left traces of their route at every 
 stage, yet nothing was heard or seen of the lost men. It began 
 to be feared that they might have fallen into the hands of some 
 lurking band of savages. A party numerous as that of Mr, 
 Hunt, with a long train of pack-horses, moving across open plains 
 or naked hills, is discoverable at a great distance by Indian 
 scouts, who spread the intelligence rapidly to various points, and 
 assemble their friends to hang about the skirts of the travellers, 
 steal their horses, or cut off any stragglers from the main body. 
 
 Mr. Hunt and his companions were more and more sensible 
 how much it would bo in the power of this sullen and daring 
 vagabond Rose, to do them mischief, when they should become 
 entangled in the defiles of the mountains, with the passes of which 
 they were wholly unacquainted, and which were infested by his 
 freebooting friends, the Crows. There, should he succeed in se- 
 ducing some of the party into his plans, he might carry off the 
 best horses and effects, throw himself among his savage allies, and 
 set all pursuit at defiance. Mr. Hunt resolved, therefore^ to frus- 
 
A BRIBE TO BE HONEST. 235 
 
 trate the knave, divert him, by management, from his plans, and 
 make it sufficiently advantageous for him to remain honest. He 
 took occasion, accordingly, in the course of conversation, to in- 
 form Kose that, having engaged him chiefly as a guide and inter- 
 preter through the country of the Crows, they would not stand 
 in need of his services beyond. Knowing, therefore, his connec- 
 tion by marriage with that tribe, and his predilection for a resi- 
 dence among them, they would put no restraint upon his will, but, 
 whenever they met with a party of that people, would leave him 
 at liberty to remain among his adopted brethren. Furthermore 
 that, in thus parting with him, they would pay him half a year's 
 wages in consideration of his past services, and would give him a 
 horse, three beaver traps, and sundry other articles calculated to 
 set him up in the world. 
 
 This unexpected liberality, which made it nearly as profitable 
 and infinitely less hazardous for Kose to remain honest than to 
 play the rogue, completely disarmed him. From that time his 
 whole deportment underwent a change. His brow cleared up 
 and appeared more cheerful ; he left off his sullen, skulking habits, 
 and made no further attempts to tamper with the faith of his 
 comrades. 
 
 On the 13th of August Mr. Hunt varied his course, and in- 
 clined westward, in hopes of falling in with the three lost hunt- 
 ers ; who, it was now thought, might have kept to the right hand 
 of Big River. This course soon brought him to a fork of the 
 Little Missouri, about a hundred yards wide, and resembling the 
 great river of the same name in the strength of its current, its 
 turbid water, and the frequency of drift-wood and sunken trees 
 
 Rugged mountains appeared ahead, crowding down to the 
 water edge, and offering a barrier to further progress on the side 
 they were ascending. Crossing the river, therefore, they en- 
 camped on its northwest bank, where they found good pasturage 
 
236 ASTORIA. 
 
 and buffalo in abundance. The weather was overcast and rainy, 
 and a general gloom pervaded tlie camp ; the voyageurs sai 
 smoking in groups, with their shoulders as high as their heads, 
 croaking their forebodings, when suddenly towards evening a 
 shout of joy gave notice that the lost men were found. They 
 came slowly lagging into the camp, with weary looks, and horses 
 jaded and wayworn. They had, in fact, been for several -days in- 
 cessantly on the move. In their hunting excursion on the prairies 
 they had pushed so far in pursuit of buffalo, as to find it impos- 
 sible to retrace their steps over plains trampled by innumerable 
 herds ; and were baffled by the monotony of the landscape in 
 their attempts to recall landmarks. They had ridden to and fro 
 until they had almost lost the points of the compass, and become 
 totally bewildered ; nor did they ever perceive any of the signal 
 fires and columns of smoke made by their comrades. At length, 
 about two days previouslv. when almost spent by anxiety and 
 hard riding, they came, to their great joy, upon the "trail" of 
 the party, which they had since followed up steadily. 
 
 Those only, who have experienced the warm cordiality that 
 grows up between comrp '''^s in wild and adventurous expeditions 
 of the kind, can picture to themselves the hearty cheering with 
 which the stragglers were welcomed to the camp. Every one 
 crowded round them to ask questions, and to hear the story of 
 their mishaps ; and even the aquaw of the moody half-breed, 
 Pierre Dorion, forgot the sternness of his domestic rule, and the 
 conjugal discipline of the cudgel, in her joy at his safe return. 
 
BLACK MOUNTAINS. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Mr. Hunt and Iiis party -were now on the skirts of the Black 
 HillSj or Black Mountains, as they are sometimes called ; an ex- 
 tensive chain, lying about a hundred miles east of the Kocky 
 Mountains, and stretching in a northeast direction from the south 
 fork of the Nebraska, or Platte River, to the great north bend of 
 the Missouri. The Sierra or ridge of the Black Hills, in fact, 
 forms the dividing line between the waters of the Missouri and 
 those of the Arkansas and the Mississippi, and gives rise to the 
 Cheyenne, the Little Missouri, and several tributary streams of 
 the Yellowstone. 
 
 The wild recesses of these hills, like those of the Kocky 
 Mountains, are retreats and lurking-places for broken and preda- 
 tory tribes, and it was among them ^\sLt the remnant of the 
 Cheyenne tribe took refuge, as has been stated, from their con- 
 quering enemies, the Sioux. 
 
 The Black Hills are chiefly composed of sandstone, and in 
 many places are broken into savage clifi's and precipices, and pre* 
 sent the most singular and fantastic forms ; sometimes resembling 
 towns and castellated fortresses. The ignorant inhabitants of 
 plains are prone to clothe th.e mountains that bound their horizon 
 with fanciful and superstitious attributes. Thus the wandering 
 tribes of the prairies, who often behold clouds gathering round 
 the summits of these hills, and lightning flashing, and thunder 
 pealing from them, when all the neighboring plains are serene 
 and sunny, consider them the abode of the genii or thunder- 
 
238 ASTORIA. 
 
 spirits, who fabricate storms and tempests. On entering their 
 defiles, therefore, they often hang offerings on the trees, or place 
 them on the rocks, to propitiate the invisible " lords of the moun- 
 tains," and procure good weather and successful hunting ; and 
 they attach unusual significance to the echoes which haunt the 
 precipices. This superstition may also have arisen, in part, from 
 a natural phenomenon of a singular nature. In the most calm 
 and serene weather, and at all times of the day or night, succes- 
 sive reports are now and then heard among these mountains, 
 resembling the discharge of several pieces of artillery. Similar 
 reports were heard by Messrs. Lewis and Clarke in the Rocky 
 Mountains, which they say, were attributed by the Indians to the 
 bursting of the rich mines of silver contained in the bosom of the 
 mountains. 
 
 In fact these singular explosions have received fanciful expla- 
 nations from learned men, and have not been satisfactorily 
 accounted for even by philosophers. They are said to occur fre- 
 quently in Brazil. Yasconcelles, a Jesuit father, describes one 
 which he heard in the Sierra, or mountain region of Piratininga, 
 and which he compares to the discharges of a park of artillery. 
 The Indians told him that it was an explosion of stones. The 
 worthy father had soon a satisfactory proof of the truth of their 
 information, for the very place was found where a rock had burst 
 and exploded from its entrails a stony mass, like a bomb-shell, 
 and of the size of a bull's heart. This mass was broken either 
 in its ejection or its fall, and wonderful was the internal organi- 
 zation revealed. It had a shell harder even than iron ; within 
 which were arranged, like the seeds of a pomegranate, jewels of 
 various colors ; some transparent as crystal ; others of a fine red; 
 and others of mixed hues. The same phenomenon is said to oc- 
 cur occasionally in the adjacent province of Guayra, where stones 
 of the bigness of a man's hand are exploded, with a loud noise, 
 
SOUNDS IN THE MOUNTAINS. 239 
 
 from the bosom of the earth, and scatter about glittering and 
 beautiful fragments that look like precious gems, but are of no 
 value. 
 
 The Indians of the Oreilanna, also, tell of horrible noises 
 heard occasionally in the Paraguazo, which they consider the 
 throes and groans of the mountain, endeavoring to cast forth the 
 precious stones hidden within its entrails. Others have endeav- 
 ored to account for these discharges of '-mountain artillery" on 
 humbler principles ; attributing them to the loud reports made 
 by the disruption and fall of great masses of rock, reverberated 
 and prolonged by the echoes ; others, to the disengagement of 
 hydrogen, produced by subterraneous beds of coal in a state of 
 ignition. In whatever way this singular phenomenon may be 
 accounted for, the existence of it appears to be well established. 
 It remains one of the lingering mysteries of nature which throw 
 something of a supernatural charm over her wild mountain soli- 
 tudes ; and we doubt whether the imaginative reader will not 
 rather join with the poor Indian in attributing it to the thunder- 
 spirits, or the guardian genii of unseen treasures, than to any 
 commonplace physical cause. 
 
 Whatever might be the supernatural influences among these 
 mountains, the travellers found their physical difficulties hard 
 to cope with. They made repeated attempts to find a passage 
 through, or over the chain, but were as often turned back by 
 impassable barriers. Sometimes a defile seemed to open a prac- 
 ticable path, but it would terminate in some wild chaos of rocks 
 and clifi's, which it was impossible to climb. The animals of 
 fliese solitary regions were difierent from those they had been 
 accustomed to. The black-tailed deer would bound up the 
 ravines on their approach, and the bighorn would gaze fearlessly 
 down upon them from some impending precipice, or skip play- 
 fully from rock to rock. These animals are only to be met with 
 
240 ASTORIA. 
 
 in mountainous regions. The former is larger than the common 
 deer, but its flesh is not equally esteemed by hunters. It has 
 \'ery large ears, and the tip of the tail is black, from which it 
 derives its name. 
 
 The bighorn is so named from its horns ; which are of a great 
 size, and tyv^isted like those of a ram. It is called by some the 
 argali, by others, the ibex, though differing from both of these 
 animals. The Mandans call it the ahsahta, a name much better 
 than the clumsy appellation which it generally bears. It is of 
 the size of a small elli. or large deer, and of a dun color, ex- 
 cepting the belly and round the tail, where it is white. In its 
 habits it resembles the goat, frequenting the rudest precipices ; 
 cropping the herbage from their edges ; and like the chamois, 
 bounding lightly and securely among dizzy heights, where the 
 hunter dares not venture. It is difficult, therefore, to get within 
 shot of it. Ben Jones fhe hunter, however, in one of the passes 
 of the Black Hills, succeeded in bringing down a bighorn from 
 the verge of a precipice, the flesh of which was pronounced by 
 the gourmands of the camp to have the flavor of excellent 
 mutton. 
 
 Baffled in his attempts to traverse this mountain chain, Mr. 
 Hunt skirted along it to the southwest, keeping it on the right ; 
 and still in hopes of finding an opening. At an early hour one 
 day, he encamped in a narrow valley on the banks of a beautifully 
 clear but rushy pool ; surrounded by thickets bearing abundanco 
 of wild cherries, currants, and yellow and purple gooseberries. 
 
 "While the afternoon's meal was in preparation, Mr, Hunt and 
 Mr. M'Kenzie ascended to the summit of the nearest hill, from 
 whence, aided by the purity and transparency of the evening' 
 atmosphere, they commanded a vast prospect on all sides. Be- 
 low them extended a plain, dotted with innumerable herds of 
 buffalo. Some were lying down among the herbage, others roam- 
 
THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 241 
 
 ing in tlieir unbounded pastures, while many were engaged in 
 fierce contests like those already described, their low bellowinga 
 reaching the ear like the hoarse murmurs of the surf on a distant 
 shore. 
 
 Far off in the west they descried a range of lofty mountains 
 printing the clear horizon, some of them evidently capped with 
 snow. These they supposed to be the Big Horn Mountains, so 
 called from the animal of that name, with which they abound. 
 They are a spur of the great Eocky chain. The hill from whence 
 Mr. Hunt had this prospect was, according to his computation, 
 about two hundred and fifty miles from the Arickara village. 
 
 On returning to the camp, Mr. Hunt found some uneasiness 
 prevailing among the Canadian voyageurs. In straying among 
 the thickets they had beheld tracks of grizzly bears in every 
 direction; doubtless attracted thither by the , fruit. To their 
 dismay, they now found that they had encamped in one of the 
 favorite resorts of this dreaded animal. The idea marred all the " 
 comfort of the encampment. As night closed, the surrounding 
 thickets were peopled with terrors ; insomuch that, according to 
 Mr. Hunt, they could not help starting at every little breeze 
 that stirred the bushes. 
 
 The grizzly bear is the only really formidable quadruped of 
 our continent. He is the favorite theme of the hunters of the 
 far West, who describe him as equal in size to a common cow and 
 of prodigious strength. He makes battle if assailed, and often, 
 if pressed by hunger, is the assailant. If wounded, he becomes 
 furious and will pursue the hunter. His speed exceeds that of 
 a man, but is inferior to that of a horse. In attacking he rears 
 himself on his hind legs, and springs the length of his body. 
 Woe to horse or rider that comes within the sweep of his terrific 
 claws, which are sometimes nine inches in length, and tear every 
 thing before them. 
 
 U 
 
242 ASTORIA. 
 
 At the time we are treating of, tlie grizzly "bear was still 
 frequent on the Missouri, and in the lower country, but, like 
 some of the broken tribes of the prairie, he has gradually fallen 
 back before his enemies, and is now chiefly to be found in the 
 upland regions, in rugged fastnesses, like those of the Black 
 Hills and the Rocky Mountains. Here he lurks in caverns, or 
 holes which he has digged in the sides of hills, or under the 
 roots and trunks of fallen trees. Like the common bear he is 
 fond of fruits, and mast, and roots, the latter of which he will 
 dig up with his fore claws. He is carnivorous also, and will 
 even attack and conquer the lordly buffalo, dragging his huge 
 carcass to the neighborhood of his den, that he may prey upon it 
 at his leisure. 
 
 The hunters, both white and red men, consider this the most 
 heroic game. They prefer to hunt him on horseback, and will 
 venture so near as sometimes to singe his hair with the flash of 
 the rifle. The hunter of the grizzly bear, however, must be an 
 experienced hand, and know where to aim at a vital part ; for of 
 all quadrupeds, he is the most difficult to be killed. He will 
 receive repeated wounds without flinching, and rarely is a shot 
 mortal unless through the head or heart. 
 
 That the dangers apprehended from the grizzly bear, at this 
 night encampment, were not imaginary, was proved on the follow- 
 ing morning. Among the hired men of the party was one 
 William Cannon, who had been a soldier at one of the frontier 
 posts, and entered into the employ of Mr. Hunt at Mackinaw. 
 He was an inexperienced hunter and a poor shot, for which he 
 was much bantered by his more adroit comrades. Piqued at 
 their raillery, he had been practising ever since he had joined 
 the expedition, but without success. In the course of the pro- 
 Bent afternoon, he went forth by himself to take a lesson in 
 venerie, and, to his great delight, had the good fortune to kill a 
 
ADVENTURE OF WILLIAM CANNON. 243 
 
 buffalo. As lie was a considerable distance from tlie camp, lie 
 cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into 
 a parcel, and, slinging them on his shoulders by a strap passed 
 round his forehead, as the voyageurs carry packages of goods, 
 set out all glorious for the camp, anticipating a triumph over his 
 brother hunters. In passing through a narrow ravine, he heard 
 a noise behind him, and looking round beheld, to his dismay, a 
 grizzly bear in full pursuit, apparently attracted by the scent of 
 the meat. Cannon had heard so much of the invulnerability of 
 this tremendous animal, that he never attempted to fire, but, 
 slipping the strap from his forehead, let go the buffalo meat and 
 ran for his life. The bear did not stoT> to re2;ale himself with 
 the game, but kept on after the hunter. He had nearly over- 
 taken him when Cannon reached a tree, and, throwing down his 
 rifle, scrambled up it. The next instant Bruin was at the foot 
 of the tree ; but, as this species of bear does not climb, he con- 
 tented himself with turning the chase into a blockade. Night 
 came on. In the darkness Cannon could not perceive whether 
 or not the enemy maintained his station ; but his fears pictured 
 him rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, 
 in the tree, a prey to dismal fancies. In the morning the bear 
 was gone. Cannon warily descended the tree, gathered up his 
 gun, and made the best of his way back to the camp, without 
 venturing to look after his buffalo meat. 
 
 While on this theme we will add another anecdote of an ad* 
 Tenture with a grizzly bear, told of John Day, the Kentucky 
 hunter, but which happened at a different period of the expedi- 
 tion. Day was hunting in company with one of the clerks of the 
 company, a lively youngster, who was a great favorite with the 
 veteran, but whose vivacity he had continually to keep in check. 
 They were in search of deer, when suddenly a huge grizzly bear 
 emerged from a thicket about thirty yards distant, rearing him- 
 
244 ASTORIA. 
 
 self upon bis hind legs with a terrific groM'l, and displaying a 
 hideous array of teeth and claws. The rifle of the young man 
 was levelled in an instant, but John Day's iron hand was as quickly 
 upon bis arm. " Be quiet, boy ! be quiet !" exclaimed the hunter 
 between his clinched teeth, and without turning his eyes from 
 the bear. They remained motionless. The monster regarded 
 them for a time, then, lowering himself on his fore paws, slowly 
 withdrew. He had not gone many paces before he again turned, 
 reared himself on his hind legs, and repeated his menace. Day's 
 hand was still on the arm of his young companion ; he again 
 pressed it hard, and kept repeating between his teeth, " Quiet, 
 boy ! — keep quiet ! — keep quiet !" — though the latter had not 
 made a move since his first prohibition. The bear again lowered 
 himself on all fours, retreated some twenty yards further, and 
 again turned, reared, showed his teeth, and growled. This third 
 menace was too much for the game spirit of John Day. " By 
 Jove !" exclaimed he, " I can stand this no longer," and in an 
 instant a ball from his rifle whizzed into the foe. The wound 
 was not mortal ; but, luckily, it dismayed instead of enraging 
 the animal, and he retreated into the thicket. 
 
 Day's young companion reproached him for not practising the 
 caution which he enjoined upon others. " Why, boy," replied 
 the veteran, '• caution is caution, but one must not put up with 
 too much even from a bear. Would you have me sufier myself 
 to be bullied all day by a varmint ?" 
 
AN INDIAN TRAIL. 845 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 For the two following days, the travellers pursued a westerly 
 course for thirty-four miles along a ridge of country dividing the 
 tributary waters of the Missouri and the Yellowstone. As land- 
 marks they guided themselves by the summits of the far distant 
 mountains, which they supposed to belong to the Big Horn chain. 
 They were gradually rising into a higher temperature, for the 
 weather was cold for the season, with a sharp frost in the night, 
 and ice of an eighth of an inch in thickness. 
 
 On the twenty-second of August, early in the day, they came 
 upon the trail of a numerous band. Rose and the other hunters 
 examined the foot-prints with great attention, and determined it 
 to be the trail of a party of Crows, returning from an annual 
 trading visit to the Mandans. As this trail aiforded more com- 
 modious travelling, they immediately struck into it, and followed 
 it for two days. It led them over roUgh hills, and through broken 
 gullies, during which time they sufiered great fatigue from the 
 ruggedness of the country. The weather, too, which had re- 
 cently been frosty, was now oppressively warm, and there was a 
 great scarcity of water, insomuch that a valuable dog belonging 
 to Mr. M'Kenzie died of thirst. 
 
 At one time they had twenty-five miles of painful travel, with- 
 out a drop of water, imtil they arrived at a small running stream, 
 Here they eagerly slaked their thirst ; but, this being allayed, 
 the calls of hunger became equally importunate. Ever since they 
 had got among these barren and arid hills, where there was a 
 
246 ASTORIA. 
 
 deficiency of grass, they had met with no buffaloes ; those ani- 
 mals keeping in the grassy meadows near the streams. They 
 were obliged, therefore, to have recourse to their corn meal, which 
 they reserved for such emergencies. Some, however, were lucky 
 enough to kill a wolf, which they cooked for supper, and pro- 
 nounced excellent food. 
 
 The next morning they resumed their wayfaring, hungry and 
 jaded, and had a dogged march of eighteen miles among the same 
 kind of hills. At length they emerged upon a stream of clear 
 water, one of the forks of Powder Kiver, and to their great 
 joy beheld once more wide grassy meadows, stocked with herds 
 of buffalo. For several days they kept along the banks of the 
 river, ascending it about eighteen miles. It was a hunter's para- 
 dise ; the buffaloes were in such abundance that they were ena- 
 bled to kill as many as they pleased, and to jerk a sufficient 
 supply of meat for several days' journeying. Here, then, they 
 revelled and reposed after their hungry and weary travel, hunt- 
 ing and feasting, and reclining upon the grass. Their quiet, 
 hov/ever, was a little marred by coming upon traces of Indians, 
 who, they concluded, must be Crows ; they were therefore 
 obliged to keep a more vigilant watch than ever upon their 
 horses. For several days they had been directing their march 
 towards the lofty mountain descried by Mr. Hunt and Mr. 
 M'Kenzic on the 17th of August, the height of which rendered 
 it a landmark over a vast extent of country. At first it had 
 appeared to them solitary and detached ; but as they advanced 
 towards it, it proved to be the principal summit of a chain of moun- 
 tains. Day by day it varied in form, or rather its lower peaks, 
 and the summits of others of the chain emerged above the clear 
 horizon, and finally the inferior line of hills which connected most 
 of them rose to view. So far, however, are objects discernible in 
 the pure atmosphere of these elevated plains, that, from the place 
 
PEAKS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 247 
 
 where tliey first descried the main mountain, they had to travel 
 a hundred and fifty miles "before they reached its base. Here 
 they encamped on the thirtieth of August, having come nearly 
 four hundred miles since leaving the Arickara village. 
 
 The mountain which now towered above them was one of the 
 Big Horn chain, bordered by a river of the same name, and ex- 
 tending for a long distance rather east of north and west of 
 south. It was a part of the great system of granite mountains 
 which forms one of the most important and striking features of 
 North America, stretching parallel to the coast of the Pacific 
 from the Isthmus of Panama almost to the Arctic Ocean ; and 
 presenting a corresponding chain to that of the Andes in the 
 southern hemisphere. This vast range has acquired from its rug- 
 ged and broken character, and its summits of naked granite, the 
 appellation of the Rocky Mountains, a name by no means dis- 
 tinctive, as all elevated ranges are rocky. Among the early ex- 
 plorers it was known as the range of Chippewyan Mountains, and 
 this Indian name is the one it is likely to retain in poetic usage. 
 Rising from the midst of vast plains and prairies, traversing sev- 
 eral degrees of latitude, dividing the waters of the Atlantic and 
 the Pacific, and seeming to bind with diverging ridges the level 
 regions on its fiank?; it has been figuratively termed the back- 
 bone of the northern continent. 
 
 The Rocky Mountains do not present a range of uniform 
 elevation, but rather groups and occasionally detached peaks. 
 Though some of these rise to the region of perpetual snows, and 
 are upwards of eleven thousand feet in real altitude, yet their 
 height from their immediate basis is not so great as might be 
 imagined, as they swell up from elevated plams, several thousand 
 feet above the level of the ocean. These plains are often of a 
 desolate sterility ; mere «andy wastes, formed of the detritus of 
 the "granite heights, destitute of trees and herbage, scorched by 
 
248 ASTORIA. 
 
 the ardent and reflected rays of the summer s sun, and, in winter, 
 swept by chilling blasts from the snow-clad mountains. Such is a 
 great part of that vast region extending north and south along 
 the mountains, several hundred miles in width, which has not im- 
 properly been termed the Great American Desert. It is a region 
 ■that almost discourages all hope of cultivation, and can only be 
 traversed with safety by keeping near the streams which inter- 
 sect it. Extensive plains likewise occur among the higher re- 
 gions of the mountains, of considerable fertility. Indeed, these 
 lofty plats of table-land seem to form a peculiar feature in the 
 American continents. Some occur among the Cordilleras of the 
 Andes, where cities, and towns, and cultivated farms, are to be 
 seen eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 The Rocky Mountains, as we have already observed, occur 
 sometimes singly or in groups, and occasionally in collateral 
 ridges. Between these are deep valleys, with small streams 
 winding through them, which find their way into the lower plains, 
 augmenting as they proceed, and ultimately discharging them- 
 selves into those vast rivers, which traverse the prairies like great 
 arteries, and drain the continent. 
 
 While the granitic summits of the Eocky Mountains are 
 bleak and bare, many of the inferior ridges are scantily clothed 
 with scrubbed pines, oaks, cedar and furze. Various parts of 
 the mountains also bear traces of volcanic action. Some of the 
 interior valleys are strewed with scoria and broken stones, evi- 
 dently of volcanic origin ; the surrounding rocks bear the like 
 character, and vestiges of extinguished craters are to be seen on 
 the elevated heights. 
 
 We have already noticed the superstitious feelings with 
 which the Indians regard the Black Hill ; but this immense 
 range of mountains, which divides all that they know of the 
 world, and gives birth to such mighty rivers, is still more an 
 
TOWNS OF THE GENEROUS SPIRITS. 24D 
 
 o'bject of awe and veneration. They call it " the crest of the 
 world," and think that Wacondah, or the master of life, as they 
 designate the Supreme Being, has his residence among these 
 aerial heights. The tribes on the eastern prairies call them the 
 mountains of the setting sun. Some of them place the " happy 
 hunting-grounds," their ideal paradise, among the recesses of 
 these mountains ; but say that they are invisible to living men. 
 Here also is the " Land of Souls," in which are the " towns of 
 the free and generous spirits," where those who have pleased the 
 master of life while living, enjoy after death all manner of de- 
 lights. 
 
 Wonders are told of these mountains by the distant tribes, 
 whose warriors or hunters have ever wandered in their neighbor- 
 hood. It is thought by some that, after death, they will have to 
 travel to these mountains and ascend one of their highest and 
 most rugged peaks, among rocks and snows and tumbling tor- 
 rents. After many moons of painful toil they will reach the 
 summit, from whence they will have a view over the land of 
 Bouls. There they will see the happy hunting-grounds, with the 
 souls of the brave and good living in tents in green meadows, by 
 bright running streams, or hunting the herds of buffalo, and elks, 
 and deer, which have been slain on earth. There, too, they will 
 see the villages or towns of the free and generous spirits bright- 
 ening in the midst of delicious prairies. If they have acquitted 
 themselves well while living, they will be permitted to descend 
 and enjoy this happy country; if otherwise, they will but be 
 tantalized with this prospect of it, and then hurled back from 
 the mountain to wander about the sandy plains, and endure the 
 sternal pangs of unsatisfied thirst and hunger. 
 
250 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 The travellers had now arrived in tlie vicinity of the mountaia 
 regions infested by the Crow Indians. These restless marauders, 
 as has already been observed, are apt to be continually on the 
 prowl about the skirts of the mountains ; and even when en- 
 camped in some deep and secluded glen, they keep scouts upon 
 the cliffs and promontories, who, unseen themselves, can discern 
 every living thing that moves over the subjacent plains and val- 
 leys. It v-as not to be expected that our travellers could pass 
 unseen through a region thus vigilantly sentinelled ; accordingly, 
 in the edge of the evening, not long after they had encamped at 
 the foot of the Big Horn Sierra, a couple of wild-looking beings, 
 scantily clad in skins, but well armed, and mounted on horses 
 as wild-looking as themselves, were seen approaching with great 
 caution from among the rocks. They might have been mistaken 
 for two of the evil spirits of the mountains so formidable in 
 Indian fable. 
 
 Rose was immediately sent out to hold a parley with them, 
 and invite them to the camp. They proved to be two scouts 
 from the same band that had been tracked for some days past, 
 and which was now encamped at some distance in the folds of the 
 mountain. They were easily prevailed upon to come to the camp, 
 where they were well received, and, after remaining there until 
 late in the evening, departed to make a report of all they had 
 iseen and experienced, to their companions. 
 
 The following day had scarce dawned, when a troop of these 
 
MOUNTAIN SCAMPERERS.— A CROW CAMP. 251 
 
 wild mountain scamperers came galloping with whoops and yells 
 into the camp, bringing an invitation from their chief for the 
 white men to visit him. The tents were accordingly struck, the 
 horses laden, and the party v/ere soon on the march. The Crow 
 horsemen, as they escorted them, appeared to take pride in show- 
 ing off their equestrian skill and hardihood; careering at full 
 speed on their half-savage steeds, and dashing among rocks and 
 crags, and up and down the most rugged and dangerous places 
 with perfect ease and unconcern. 
 
 A ride of sixteen miles brought them, in the afternoon, in 
 sight of the Crow camp. It was composed of leathern tents, 
 pitched in a meadow on the border of a small clear stream at the 
 foot of the mountain. A great number of horses were grazing in 
 the vicinity, many of them doubtless captured in marauding 
 excursions. 
 
 The Crow chieftain came forth to meet his guests with great 
 professions of friendship, and conducted them to his tents, point- 
 ing out, by the way, a convenient place where they might fix 
 their camp. No sooner had they done so, than Mr. Hunt opened 
 some of the packages and made the chief a present of a scarlet 
 blanket, and a quantity of powder and ball ; he gave him also 
 some knives, trinkets, and tobacco to be distributed among his 
 warriors, with all which the grim potentate seemed, for the time, 
 well pleased. As the Crows, however, were reputed to be per- 
 fidious in the extreme, and as errant freebooters as the bird after 
 wliich they were so worthily named ; and as their general feel- 
 ings towards the whites were known to be by no means friendly, 
 the intercourse with them was conducted with great circum- 
 spection. 
 
 The following day was passed in trading with the Crows for 
 buffalo robes and skins, and in bartering galled and jaded horses 
 for others that were in good condition. Some of the men also. 
 
252 ASTORIA. 
 
 purchased horses on tlieir own account, so that the number noT? 
 amounted to one hundred and twenty-one, most of them sound 
 and active, and fit for mountain service. 
 
 Their wants being supplied they ceased all further traffic, 
 much to the dissatisfaction of the Crows, who became extremely 
 urgent to continue the trade, and, finding their importunities of 
 no avail, assumed an insolent and menacing tone. All this was 
 attributed by Mr. Hunt and his associates, to the perfidious insti- 
 gations of Kose the interpreter, who they suspected of the desire 
 to foment ill-will between them and the savages, for the promo- 
 tion of his nefarious plans. M'Lellan, with his usual trmicliant 
 mode of dealing out justice, resolved to shoot the desperado on 
 the spot in case of any outbreak. Nothing of the kind, however, 
 occurred. The Crows were probably daunted by the resolute, 
 though quiet demeanor of ikid white men, and the constant vigi- 
 lance and armed preparations which they maintained ; and Rose, 
 if he really still harbored his knavish designs, must have per 
 ceived that they were suspected, and, if attempted to be carried 
 into efi'ect, might bring ruin on his own head. 
 
 The next morning, bright and early, Mr. Hunt proposed to 
 resume his journeying. He took a ceremonious leave of the Crow 
 chieftain, and his vagabond warriors, and, according to previous 
 arrangements, consigned to their cherishing friendship and frater- 
 nal adoption, their worthy confederate, Rose ; who, having figured 
 among the water pirates of the Mississippi, was well fitted to rise 
 to distinction among the land pirates of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 It is proper to add, that the ruffian was well received among 
 the tribe, and appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the compro- 
 mise he had made ; feeling much more at his ease among savages 
 than among white men. It is outcasts from civilization, fugitives 
 from justice, and heartless desperadoes of this kind, who sow the 
 eecds of enmity and bitterness among the unfortunate tribes of 
 
AN ADOPTED CROW. 253 
 
 the frontier. There is no enemy so implacable against a country 
 or a community as one of its own people who has rendered him- 
 self an alien by his crimes. 
 
 Eight glad to be relieved from this treacherous companion, 
 Mr. Hunt pursued his course along the skirts of the mountain, in 
 a southern direction, seeking for some practicable defile by which 
 he might pass through it ; none such presented, however, in the 
 course of fifteen miles, and he encamped on a small stream, still 
 on the outskirts. The green meadows which border these moun- 
 tain streams are generally well stocked with game, and the hunt- 
 ers soon killed several fat elks, which supplied the camp with 
 fresh meat. In the evening the travellers were surprised by an 
 unwelcome visit from several Crows belonging to a different band 
 from that which they had recently left, and who said their camp 
 was among the mountains. The consciousness of being environed 
 by such dangerous neighbors, and of being still within the range 
 of Rose and his felloAV rufiiaus, obliged the party to be continually 
 on the alert, and to maintain weary vigils throughout the night, 
 lest they should be robbed of their horses. 
 
 On the third of September, finding that the mountain still 
 stretched onwards, presenting a continued barrier, they endea- 
 vored to force a passage to the westward, but soon became entan- 
 gled among rocks and precipices which set all their efi'orts at de- 
 fiance. The mountain seemed, for the most part, rugged, bare, 
 and sterile ; yet here and there it was clothed with pines, and 
 with shrubs and flowering plants, some of which were in bloom. 
 In toiling among these weary places, their thirst became exces- 
 sive, for no water was to be met with. Numbers of the men 
 wandered off into rocky dells and ravines in hopes of finding 
 some brook or fountain ; some of whom lost their way and did 
 not rejoin the main party. 
 
 After half a day of painful and fruitless scrambling, Mr. 
 
254 ASTORIA. 
 
 Hunt gave up the attempt to penetrate in this direction, and, 
 returning to tlie little stream on the skirts of the mountain, 
 pitched his tents within six miles of his encampment of the pre- 
 ceding night. He now ordered that signals should be made for 
 the stragglers in quest of water, but the night passed away with- 
 out their return. 
 
 The next morning, to their surprise, Kose made his appear- 
 ance at the camp, accompanied by some of his Crow associates. 
 His unwelcome visit revived their suspicions ; but he announced 
 himself as a messenger of good-will from the chief, who, finding 
 they had taken a wrong road, had sent Rose and his companions 
 to guide them to a nearer and better one across the mountain. 
 
 Having no choice, being themselves utterly at fault, they set 
 out under this questionable escort. They had not gone far be- 
 fore they fell in with the whole party of Crows, who, they now 
 found, were going the same road with themselves. The two cav- 
 alcades of white and red men, therefore, pushed on together, and 
 presented a wild and picturesque spectacle, as, equipped with va- 
 rious weapons and in various garbs, with trains of pack-horses, 
 they wound in long lines through the rugged defiles, and up and 
 down the crags and steeps of the mountain. 
 
 The travellers had again an opportunity to see and admire the 
 equestrian habitudes and address of this hard-riding tribe. They 
 were all mounted, man, woman, and child, for the Crows have 
 horses in abundance, so that no one goes on foot. The children 
 are perfect imps on horseback. Among them was one so young 
 that he could not yet speak. He was tied on a colt of two years 
 old, but managed the reins as if by instinct, and plied the whip 
 with true Indian prodigalitv. Mr. Hunt inquired the age of 
 this infant jockey, and was answered that " he had seen two 
 winters." 
 
 This is almost realizing the fable of the centaurs ; nor can 
 
SEARCH AFTER STRAGGLERS. 255 
 
 wc wonder at tlie equestrian adroitness of these savages, wlio are 
 tlius in a manner cradled in the saddle, and become in infancy 
 almost identified with the animal they bestride. 
 
 The mountain defiles were exceedingly rough and broken, and 
 the travelling painful to the burdened horses. The party, there- 
 fore, proceeded but slowly, and were gradually left behind by the 
 band of Crovrs, who had taken the lead. It is more than proba- 
 ble that Mr. Hunt loitered in his course, to get rid of such doubt- 
 ful fellow-travellers. Certain it is that he felt a sensation of 
 relief as he saw the whole crew, the renegade Rose, and all, dis- 
 appear among the windings of the mountain, and heard the last 
 yelp of the savages die away in the distance. 
 
 When they were fairly out of sight, and out of hearing, he 
 encamped on the head waters of the little stream of the preceding 
 day, having come about sixteen miles. Here he remained all the 
 succeeding day, as well to give time for the Crows to get in the 
 advance, as for the stragglers, who had wandered away in quest of 
 water two days previously, to rejoin the camp. Indeed, consider- 
 able uneasiness began to be felt concerning these men, lest they 
 should become utterly bewildered in the defiles of the mountains, 
 or should fall into the hands of some marauding band of savages. 
 Some of the most experienced hunters were sent in search of 
 them, others, in the meantime, employed themselves in hunting. 
 The narrow valley in which they encamped being watered by a 
 running stream, yielded fresh pasturage, and, though in the heart 
 of the Big Horn Mountains, was well stocked with bufi"alo. Sev- 
 eral of these were killed, as also a grizzly bear. In the evening, 
 to the satisfaction of all parties, the stragglers made their ap- 
 pearance, and provisions being in abundance, there was hearty 
 good clieer in the camp. 
 
J2SG ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Resuming their course on the following morning, Mr. Hunt and 
 his companions continued on westward through a rugged region 
 of hills and rocks, but diversified in many places by grassy little 
 glens, with springs of water, bright sparkling brooks, clumps of 
 pine trees, and a profusion of flowering plants, which were in 
 full bloom, although the weather was frosty. These beautiful 
 and verdant recesses, running through and softening the rugged 
 mountains, were cheering and refreshing to the wayworn tra- 
 vellers. 
 
 In the course of the morning, as they were entangled in a 
 defile, they beheld a small band of savages, as wild-looking as 
 the surrounding scenery, who reconnoitred them warily from the 
 rocks before they ventured to advance. Some of them were 
 mounted on horses rudely caparisoned, with bridles or halters ef 
 bufialo hide, one end trailing after them on the ground. They 
 proved to be a mixed party of Flatheads and Shoshonies, or 
 Snakes ; and as these tribes will be frequently mentioned in the 
 course of this work, we shall give a few introductory particulars 
 concerning them. 
 
 The Flatheads in question are not to be confounded with 
 those of the name who dwell about the lower waters of the 
 Columbia ; neither do they flatten their heads, as the others do. 
 They inhabit the banks of a river on the west side of the moun- 
 tains, and are described as simple, honest, and hospitable Like 
 all people of similar character, whether civilized or savage, they 
 
DIGGERS AND SHOSHONIES. 257 
 
 are prone to "be imposed upon ; and are especially maltreated by 
 the ruthless Blackfeet, who harass them in their Tillages, steal 
 their horses hy night, or openly carry them off in the face of 
 day, without provoking pursuit or retaliation. 
 
 The Shoshonies are a branch of the once powerful and pros- 
 perous tribe of the Snakes, who possessed a glorious hunting 
 country about the upper forks of the Missouri, abounding in 
 beaver and buffalo. Their hunting ground was occasionally 
 invaded by the Blackfeet, but the Snakes battled bravely for 
 their domains, and a long and bloody feud existed, with variable 
 success. At length the Hudson's Bay Company, extending their 
 trade into the interior, had dealings with the Blackfeet, who 
 were nearest to them, and supplied them with firearms. The 
 Snakes, who occasionally traded with the Spaniards, endeavored, 
 but in vain, to obtain similar weapons ; the Spanish traders 
 wisely refused to arm them so formidably. The Blackfeet had 
 now a vast advantage, and soon dispossessed the poor Snakes of 
 their favorite hunting grounds, their laud of plenty, and drove 
 them from place to place, until they were fain to tako refuge in 
 the wildest and most desolate recesses of the Bocky Mountains. 
 Even here they are subject to occasional visits from their im- 
 placable foes, as long as they have horses, or any other property 
 to tempt the plunderer. Thus by degrees the Snakes have 
 become a scattered, broken-spirited, impoverished people ; keep- 
 ing about lonely rivers and mountain streams, and subsisting 
 chiefly upon fish. Such of them as still possess horses, and 
 occasionally figure as hunters, are called Shoshonies; but there 
 is another class, the most abject and forlorn, who are called 
 Shuckers, or more commonly Diggers and Boot Eaters. These 
 are a shy, secret, solitary race, who keep in the most retired 
 parts of the mountains, lurking like gnomes in caverns and clefts 
 of the rocks, and subsisting in a great measure on the roots of 
 
258 ASTORIA. 
 
 the eartli. Sometimes, ii-i passing tliroiigh a solitary mountain 
 valley, the traveller comes perchance upon the bleeding carcass 
 of a deer or buffalo that has just been slain. He looks round in 
 vain for the hunter; the whole landscape is lifeless and deserted: 
 at length he perceives a thread of smoke, curling up from among 
 the crags and cliffs, and scrambling to the place, finds some 
 forlorn and skulking brood of diggers, terrified at being dis- 
 covered. 
 
 The Shoshonies, however, who, as has been observed, have 
 still " horse to ride and weapon to wear," are somewhat bolde? 
 in their spirit, and more open and wide in their wanderings. In 
 the autumn, when salmon disappear from the rivers, and hunger 
 begins to pinch, they even venture down into their ancient 
 hunting grounds, to make a foray among the buffjxloes. In this 
 perilous enterprise they are occasionally joined by the Platheads, 
 the persecutions of the Blackfeet having produced a close alliance 
 and co-operation between these luckless and maltreated tribes. 
 Still, notwithstanding their united force, every step they take 
 within the debateable ground, is taken in fear and trembling, 
 and with the utmost precaution : and an Indian trader assures 
 us, that he has seen at least five hundred of them, armed and 
 equipped for action, and keeping watch upon the hill tops, while 
 about fifty were hunting in the prairie. Their excursions are 
 brief and hurried ; as soon as they have collected and jerked 
 sufficient buffalo meat for winter pro^dsions, they pack their 
 horses, abandon the dangerous hunting grounds, and hasten 
 back to the mountains, happy if they have not the terrible 
 Blackfeet rattling after them. 
 
 Such a confederate band of Shoshonies and Flatheads, was 
 the one met by our travellers. It was bound on a visit to the 
 Arapahoes, a tribe inhabiting the banks of the Nebraska. They 
 wore armed to the best of their scanty means, and some of- the 
 
ENCAMPMENT ON THE MOUNTAIN 259 
 
 Slioslionies had bucklers of buffalo hide, adorned with feathers 
 p.nd leathern fringes, and which have a charmed virtue in their 
 eyes, from having been preiDared, with mystic ceremonies, by their 
 conjurers. 
 
 In company with this wandering baud our travellers pro- 
 ceeded all day. In the evening they encamped near to each 
 other in a defile of the mountains, on the borders of a stream 
 running north, and falling into Big Horn River. In the vicinity 
 of the camp, they found gooseberries, strawberries, and currants, 
 in great abundance. The defile bore traces of having been a 
 thoroughfare for countless herds of buffaloes, though not one was 
 to be seen. The hunters succeeded in killing an elk and several 
 black-tailed deer. 
 
 They were now in the bosom of the second Big Horn ridge, 
 with another lofty and snow-crowned mountain, full in view to 
 the west. Fifteen miles of western course brought them, on the 
 following day, down into an intervening plain, well stocked with 
 bufialo. Here the Snakes and Flatheads joined with the white 
 hunters in a successful hunt, that soon filled the camp with pro- 
 visions. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th of September, the travellers parted 
 company with their Indian friends, and continued on their course 
 to the west. A march of thirty miles brought them, in the even- 
 ing, to the banks of a rapid and beautifully clear stream about a 
 hundred yards Avide. It is the north fork or branch of the Big 
 Horn River, but bears its peculiar name of the Wind River, from 
 being subject in the winter season to a continued blast which 
 Bweeps its banks and prevents the snow from lying on them. 
 This blast is said to be caused by a narrow gap or funnel in the 
 mountains, through which the river forces its way between per- 
 pendicular precipices, resembling cut rocks. 
 
 This river gives its name to a whole range of mountains con- 
 
260 ASTORIA. 
 
 sisting of three parallel chains, eighty miles in length, and about 
 twenty or twenty-five broad. One of its peaks is probably fifteen 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea, being one of the highest 
 of the Eocky Sierra. These mountains give rise, not merely 
 to the Wind or Big Horn River, but to several branches of the 
 Yellowstone and the Missouri on the east, and of the Columbia 
 and Colorado on the west ; thus dividing the sources of these 
 mighty streams. 
 
 For five succeeding days, Mr. Hunt and his party continued 
 up the course of the AVind River, to the distance of about eighty 
 miles, crossing and recrossing it, according to its windings, and 
 the nature of its banks ; sometimes passing through valleys, at 
 other times scrambling over rocks and hills. The country in 
 general was destitute of trees, but they passed through groves of 
 wormwood, eight and ten feet in height, which they used occa- 
 sionally for fuel, and they met with large quantities of wild flax. 
 
 The mountains were destitute of game ; they came in sight 
 of two grizzly bears, but could not get near enough for a shot ; 
 provisions, therefore, began to be scanty. They saw large flights 
 of the kind of thrush commonly called the robin, and many 
 smaller birds of migratory species ; but the hills in general ap- 
 peared lonely and with few signs of animal life. On the even- 
 ing of the 14th September, they encamped on the forks of the 
 Wind, or Big Horn River. The largest of these forks came from 
 the range of Wind River Mountains. 
 
 The hunters who served as guides to the party in this part of 
 their route, had assured Mr. Hunt that, by following up Wind 
 River, and crossing a single mountain ridge, he would come upon 
 the head waters of the Columbia. The scarcity of game, how- 
 ever, which already had been felt to a pinching degree, and which 
 threatened them with famine among the sterile heights which 
 lay before them, admonished them to change their course. It 
 
LANDMARKS OF THE COLUMBIA. 261 
 
 was determined, tlierefore, to make for a stream, which, they were 
 informed, passed the neighboring mountains, to the south of 
 west, on the grassy banks of which it was probable they would 
 meet with buffalo. Accordingly, about three o'clock on the fol- 
 lowing day, meeting with a beaten Indian road which led in 
 the proper direction, they struck into it, turning their backs upon 
 Wind River. 
 
 In the course of the day, they came to a height that com- 
 manded an almost boundless prospect. Here one of tie guides 
 paused, and, after considering the vast landscape attentively, 
 pointed to three mountain peaks glistening with snow, which rose, 
 he said, above a fork of Columbia River. They were hailed by 
 the travellers with that joy with which a beacon on a sea-shore is 
 hailed by mariners after a long and dangerous voyage. It is 
 true there was many a weary league to be traversed before they 
 should reach these landmarks, for, allowing for their evident 
 height, and the extreme transparency of the atmosphere, they 
 could not be much less than a hundred miles distant. Even 
 after reaching them, there would yet remain hundreds of miles 
 of their journey to be accomplished. All these matters were for- 
 gotten in the joy at seeing the first landmarks of the Columbia, 
 that river which formed the bourne of the expedition. These 
 remarkable peaks are known to some travellers as the Tetons ; 
 as they had been guiding points for many days, to Mr. Hunt, he 
 gave them the name of the Pilot Knobs. 
 
 The travellers continued their course to the south of west for 
 about forty miles, through a region so elevated that patches of 
 snow lay on the highest summits, and on the northern declivities. 
 At length they came to the desired stream, the object of their 
 search, the waters of which flowed to the west. It was, in fact, 
 a branch of the Colorado, which falls into the Gulf of California, 
 and had received from the hunters the name of Spanish River, 
 
2G2 ASTORIA. 
 
 from information given bj the Indians, that Spaniards resided 
 upon its lower waters. 
 
 The aspect of this river and its vicinity was cheering to the 
 wayworn and hungry travellers. Its banks were green, and 
 there were grassy valleys running from it in various directions', 
 into the heart of the rugged mountains, with herds of buffalo 
 quietly grazing. The hunters sallied forth with keen alacrity, 
 and soon returned laden with provisions. 
 
 In this part of the mountains Mr. Hunt met with three dif- 
 ferent kinds of gooseberries. The common purple, on a low and 
 very thorny bush ; a yellow kind, of an excellent flavor, growing 
 on a stock free from thorns ; and a deep purple, of the size and 
 taste of our winter grape, with a thorny stalk. There were also 
 three kinds of currants, one very large and well tasted, of a pur- 
 ple color, and growing on a bush eight or nine feet high. Another 
 of a yellow color, and of the size and taste of the large red cur- 
 rant, the bush four or five feet high ; and the third a beautiful 
 scarlet, resembling the strawberry in sweetness, though rather 
 insipid, and growing on a low bush. 
 
 On the 17th they continued down the course of the river, 
 making fifteen miles to the southwest. The river abounded with 
 geese and ducks, and there were signs of its being inhabited by 
 beaver and otters : indeed they were now approaching regions 
 where these animals, the great objects of the fur trade, are said to 
 abound. They encamped for the night opposite the end of a moun- 
 tain in the west, which was probably the last chain of the Rocky 
 Mountains. On the following morning they abandoned the main 
 course of Spanish River, and taking a northwest direction for 
 eight miles, came upon one of its little tributaries, issuing out of 
 tlie bosom of the mountains, and running through green meadows, 
 yielding pasturage to herds of buffalo. As these were probably 
 the last of that animal they would meet with, they encamped on 
 
A HALT FOR REPOSE. 2C3 
 
 jtlie grassy banks of the river, determining to spend several days 
 in hunting, so as to be able to jerk sufficient meat to supply them 
 until they should reach the waters of the Columbia, where they 
 trusted to find fish enough for their support. ' A little repose, 
 too, was necessary for both men and horses, after their rugged 
 and incessant marching ; having in the course of the lust seven- 
 teen days traversed two hundred and sixty miles of rough, and 
 in many parts sterile, mountain country. 
 
2G4 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Five days were passed by Mr. Hunt and his companions In 
 tlie fresh meadows watered by the bright little mountain stream. 
 The hunters made great havoc among the buffaloes, and brought 
 in quantities of meat ; the voyageurs busied themselves about the 
 fires, roasting and stewing for present purposes, or drying pro- 
 visions for the journey ; the pack-horses, eased of their burdens, 
 rolled on the grass, or grazed at large about the ample pastures ; 
 those of the party who had no call upon their services, indulged 
 in the luxury of perfect relaxation, and the camp presented a 
 picture of rude feasting and revelry, of mingled bustle and re- 
 pose, characteristic of a halt in a fine hunting country. In the 
 course of one of their excursions, some of the men came in sight 
 of a small party of Indians, who instantly fled in great apparent 
 consternation. They immediately returned to camp with the 
 intelligence : upon which Mr. Hunt and four others flung them- 
 selves upon their horses, and sallied forth to reconnoitre. After 
 riding for about eight miles, they came upon a wild mountain 
 scene. A lonely green valley stretched before them, surrounded 
 by rugged heights. A herd of buffalo were careering madly 
 through it, with a troop of savage horsemen in full chase, plying 
 them with their bows and arrows. The appearance of Mr. Hunt 
 and his companions put an abrupt end to the hunt ; the buffalo 
 scuttled off in one direction, while the Indians plied their lashes 
 and galloped off in another, as fast as their steeds could carry 
 them. Mr. Hunt gave chase ; there was a sharp scamper, though 
 
SHOSHONIE HLNTERS. 265 
 
 of sliort continuance. Two young Indians, wlio were indifferently 
 mounted, were soon overtaken. They were terribly frightened, 
 and evidently gave themselves up for lost. By degrees their 
 fears were allayed by kind treatment; but they continued to 
 regard the strangers with a mixture of awe and wonder;, for it 
 was the first time in their lives they had ever seen a white 
 man. 
 
 They belonged to a party of Snakes who had come across tho 
 mountains on their autumnal hunting excursion to provide buffalo 
 meat for the winter. Being persuaded of the peaceable inten- 
 tions of Mr. Hunt and his companions, they willingly conducted 
 them to their camp. It was pitched in a narrow valley on the 
 margin of a stream. The tents were of dressed skins ; some of 
 them fantastically painted ; with horses grazing about them. The 
 approach of the party caused a transient alarm in the camp, for 
 these poor Indians were ever on the look-out for cruel foes. No 
 sooner, however, did they recognize the garb and complexion of 
 their visitors, than their apprehensions were changed into joy ; 
 for some of them had dealt with white men, and knew them to 
 be friendly, and to abound with articles of singular value. They 
 welcomed them, therefore, to their tents, set food before them ; 
 and entertained them to the best of their power. 
 
 They had been successful in their hunt, and their camp was 
 full of jerked buffalo meat ; all of the choicest kind, and ex- 
 tremely fat. Mr. Hunt purchased enough of them, in addition 
 to what had been killed and cured by his own hunters-, to load 
 all the horses excepting those reserved for the partners and the 
 wife of Pierre Dorion. He found also a few beaver skins in their 
 camp, for which he paid liberally, as an inducement to them to 
 hunt for more ; informing them that some of his party intended 
 to live among the mountains, and trade with the native hunters 
 for their peltries. The poor Snakes soon comprehended the 
 
 12 
 
266 ASTORIA. 
 
 advantages tlms held out to them, and promised to exert them- 
 selves to procure a quantity of beaver skins for future traffic. 
 
 Being now well supplied with provisions, Mr. Hunt broke up 
 his encampment on the 24th of September, and continued on to 
 the west. A march of fifteen miles, over a mountain ridge, 
 brought them to a stream about fifty feet in width, which Ho- 
 back, one of their guides, who had trapped about the neighbor- 
 hood when in the service of Mr. Henry, recognized for one of 
 the head waters of the Columbia. The travellers hailed it with 
 delight, as the first stream they had encountered tending toward 
 their point of destination. They kept along it for two days, 
 during which, from the contribution of many rills and brooks, it 
 gradually swelled into a small river. As it meandered among 
 rocks and precipices, they were frequently obliged to ford it, and 
 such was its rapidity, that the men were often in danger of being 
 swept away. Sometimes the banks advanced so close upon the 
 river, that they were obliged to scramble up and down their 
 rugged promontories, or to skirt along their bases where there 
 was scarce a foothold. Their horses had dangerous falls in some 
 of these passes. One of them rolled, with his load, nearly two 
 hundred feet down hill into the river, but without receiving any 
 injury. At length they emerged from these stupendous defiles, 
 and continued for several miles along the bank of Hoback's 
 River, through one of the stern mountain valleys. Here it was 
 joined by a river of greater magnitude and swifter current, and 
 their united waters swept off through the valley in one impetu- 
 ous stream, which, from its rapidity and turbulence, had received 
 the name of Mad E-iver. At the confluence of these streams the 
 travellers encamped. An important point in their arduous jour- 
 ney had been attained, a few miles from their camp rose the 
 three vast snowy peaks called the Tetons, or the Pilot Knobs, 
 the great landmarks of the Columbia, by which they had shaped 
 
MAD RIVER 267 
 
 fclieir coursG through this mountain wilderness. By their feet 
 flowed the rapid current of Mad Eiver, a stream ample enough to 
 admit of the navigation of canoes, and down which they might 
 possibly be able to steer their course to the main body of the 
 Columbia. The Canadian yoyageurs rejoiced at the idea of once 
 more launching themselves upon their favorite element ; of ex- 
 changing their horses for canoes, and of gliding down the bosoms 
 of rivers, instead of scrambling over the backs of mountains. 
 Others of the party, also, inexperienced in this kind of travel- 
 ling, considered their toils and troubles as drawing to a close. 
 They had concjuered the chief difficulties of this great rocky 
 barrier, and now flattered themselves with the hoj^e of an easy 
 downward course for the rest of their journey. Little did they 
 dream of the hardships and perils by land and water, which were 
 yet to be encountered in the frightful wilderness that intervened 
 between them and the shores of the Pacific ! 
 
168 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 On tLe banks of Mad Kiver Mr. Hunt held a consultation with 
 tlie other 23artners as to their future movements. The wild and 
 impetuous current of the river rendered him doubtful whether it 
 might not abound with impediments lower down, sufficient to 
 render the navigation of it slow and perilous, if not impractica- 
 ble. The hunters who had acted as guides, knew nothing of tl>e 
 character of the river below ; what rocks, and shoals, and rapids 
 might obstruct it, or through what mountains and deserts it might 
 pass. Should thej^ then abandon their horses, cast themselves 
 loose in fragile barks upon this wild, doubtful, and unknown 
 river ; or should they continue their more toilsome and tedious, 
 but perhaps more certain wayfaring by land ? 
 
 The vote, as might have been expected, was almost unanimous 
 for embarkation ; for when men are in difficulties every change 
 f-eems to be for the better. The difficulty now was to find timber 
 of sufficient size for the construction of canoes, the trees in these 
 high mountain regions being chiefly a scrubbed growth of pines 
 find cedars, aspens, haws and service-berries, and a small kind of 
 cotton-tree, with a leaf resembling that of the willow. There 
 was a species of large fir, but so full of knots as to endanger the 
 axe in hewing it. After searching for some time, a growth of 
 timber, of sufficient size, was found lower down the river, where- 
 upon the encampment was moved to the vicinity. 
 
 The men were now set to work to fell trees, and the moun- 
 tains echoed to the unwonted sound of their axes. While prepa- 
 
TRAPPERS DETACHED. 269 
 
 rations were thus going on for a voyage down tlie river. Mr. Hunt, 
 wlio still entertained donbts of its joracticabilitj, dispatched an 
 exploring party, consisting of John Keed, the clerk, John Day, 
 the hunter, and Pierre Dorion, the interpreter, with orders to pro- 
 ceed several days' inarch along the stream, and notice its course 
 find character. 
 
 After their departure, Mr. Hunt turned his thoughts to ano- 
 ther object of importance. He had now arrived at the head 
 waters of the Columbia, v»'hich were among the main points em- 
 braced by the enterprise of Mr. Astor. These upper streams 
 were reputed to abound in beaver, and had as yet been unmo- 
 lested by the white trapper. The numerous signs of beaver met 
 with during the recent search for timber, gave evidence that the 
 neighborhood was a good " trapping ground." Here then it was 
 proper to begin to cast loose those leashes of hardy trappers, that 
 are detached from trading parties, in the very heart of the wilder- 
 ness. The men detached in the present instance were Alexander 
 Carson, Louis St. Michel, Pierre Detaye, and Pierre Delaunay. 
 Trappers generally go in pairs, that they may assist, protect and 
 comfort each other in their lonely and perilous occupations. 
 Thus Carson and St. Michel formed one couple, and Detayc and 
 Belaunay another. They were fitted out with traps, arms, ammu- 
 nition, horses, and every other requisite, and were to trap upon 
 the upper part of Mad Ptiver, and upon the neighboring streams 
 of the mountains. This would probably occupy them for some 
 months ; and, when they should have collected a sufficient quan- 
 tity of peltries, they were .to pack them upon their horses and 
 make the best of their way to the mouth of Columbia Ptiver, or 
 to any intermediate post which might be established by the com- 
 pany. They took leave of their comrades and started off on theii 
 several courses with stout hearts, and cheerful countenances; 
 though these lonely cruisings into a wild and hostile wilderness 
 
Ji70 ASTORIA. 
 
 seem to tlie uninitiated crjuivalcnt to being cast adrift in the ship's 
 yawl in the midst of the ocean. 
 
 Of the perils that attend the lonely trapper, the reader will 
 have su"Scient proof, when, he comes, in the after part of this 
 work, to learn the hard fortunes of these poor fellows in the course 
 of their wild peregrinations. 
 
 The trappers had not long departed, when two Snake Indians 
 wandered into the camp. When they perceived that the strangers 
 were fabricating canoes, they shook their heads and gave them to 
 understand that the river was not navigable. Their information, 
 however, v/as scoffed at by some of the party, who were obstinately 
 bent on embarkation, but was confirmed by the exploring party, 
 who returned after several days' absence. They had kept along 
 the river with great difficulty for two days, and found it a narrow, 
 crooked, turbulent stream, confined in a rocky channel, with 
 many rapids, and occasionally overhung with precipices. From 
 the summit of one of these they had caught a bird's-eye view of 
 its boisterous career, for a great distance, througii the heart of the 
 mountain, with impending rocks and cliffs. Satisfied, from this 
 view, that it was useless to follow its course either by land or 
 water, they had given up all further investigation. 
 
 These concurring reports determined Mr. Hunt to abandon 
 Mad River, and seek some more navigable stream. This deter- 
 mination was concurred in by all his associates excepting Mr. 
 Miller, who had become impatient of the fatigue of land travel, 
 and was for immediate embarkation at all hazards. This gentle- 
 man had been in a gloomy and irritated state of mind for some 
 time past, being troubled with a bodily malady that rendered 
 travelling on horseback extremely irksome to him, and being, 
 moreover, discontented with having a smaller share in the expedi- 
 tion than his comrades. His unreasonable objections to a further 
 march by land were overruled, and the party prepared to decamp. 
 
HENRY'S POST. 271 
 
 Robinson, Hoback, and Eezner, the tliree hunters who had 
 hitherto served as guides among the mountains, now stepped for* 
 ward, and advised Mr. Hunt to make for the post established 
 during the preceding year by Mr. Henry, of the Missouri Fur 
 Company. They had been with Mr. Henry, and^ as far as they 
 could judge by the neighboring landmarHs, his post could not be 
 very far off. They presumed there could be but one intervening 
 ridge of mountains, which might be passed without any great 
 difficulty. Henry's post, or fort, was on an upper branch of the 
 Columbia, down which they made no doubt it would be easy to 
 navigate in canoes. 
 
 The two Snake Indians being questioned in the matter, showed 
 a perfect knowledge of the situation of the post, and offered, with 
 great alacrity, to guide them to the place. Their offer was ac- 
 cepted, greatly to the displeasure of Mr. Miller, who seemed 
 obstinately bent upon braving the perils of Mad River. 
 
 The weather for a few days past had been stormy ; with rain 
 and sleet. The Rocky Mountains are subject to tempestuous 
 winds from the west ; these, sometimes, come in flaws or cur- 
 rents, making a path through the forests many yards in width, and 
 whirling off trunks and branches to a great distance. The pre- 
 sent storm subsided on the third of October, leaving all the sur-^ 
 rounding heights covered with snow ; for, while rain had fallen 
 in the valley, it had snowed on the hill tops. 
 
 On the 4th, they broke up their encampment, and crossed the 
 river, the water coming up to the girths of their horses. After 
 travelling four miles, they encamped at the foot of the mountain, 
 the last, as they hoped, which they should have to traverse. 
 Four days more took them across it, and over several plains, 
 watered by beautiful little streams, tributaries of Mad River. 
 Near one of their encampments there was a hot spring continually 
 emitting a cloud of vapor. These elevated plains, which give a 
 
272 ASTORIA. 
 
 peculiar character to the mountains, are frequented by large gangs 
 of antelopes, fleet as the wind. 
 
 On the evening of the 8th of October, after a cold wintry 
 day, with gusts of westerly wind and flurries of snow, they arrived 
 at the sought-for post of Mr. Henry. Here he had fixed himself, 
 after being compelled by the hostilities of the Blachfeet, to aban- 
 don the upper waters of the Missouri. The post, however, was 
 deserted, for Mr. Henry had left it in the course of the preceding 
 spring, and, as it afterwards aj^peared, had fallen in with Mr. 
 Lisa, at the Arickara village on the Missouri, some time after the 
 separation of Mr. Hunt and his party. 
 
 The weary travellers gladly took possession of the deserted 
 log huts which had formed the post, and which stood on the bank 
 of a stream upwards of a hundred yards wide, on which they in- 
 tended to embark. There being plenty of suitable timber in the 
 neighborhood, Mr. Hunt immediately proceeded to construct 
 canoes. As he would have to leave his horses and their accoutre- 
 ments here, he determined to make this a trading post, where the 
 trappers and hunters, to be distributed about the country, might 
 repair ; and where the traders might touch on their v/ay through 
 the mountains to and from the establishment at the mouth of the 
 Columbia. He informed the two Snake Indians of this determi- 
 nation, and engaged them to remain in that neighborhood and 
 take care of the horses until the white men should return, pro- 
 mising them ample rewards for their fidelity. It may seem a 
 desperate chance to trust to the faith and honesty of two such 
 vagabonds ; but, as the horses would have, at all events, to be 
 abandoned, and would otherwise become the property of the first 
 vagrant horde that should encounter them, it was one chance in 
 favor of their being regained. 
 
 At this place another detachment of hunters prepared to 
 separate from the party for the purpose of trapping beaver. 
 
SINGULAR RESOLUTION OF MR. MILLER. 273 
 
 Tiirec of tliese had already been in this neighborhood, being tho 
 veteran Robinson and his companions, Hoback and Rezner, who 
 had accompanied Mr. Henry across the mountains, and who had 
 been picked up by Mr. Hunt on the Missouri, on their way home 
 to Kentucky. According to agreement they were fitted out with 
 horses, traps, ammunition, and every thing reciuisite for their un- 
 dertaking, and were to bring in all the peltries they should col- 
 lect, either to this trading post, or to the establishment at the 
 mouth of Columbia River. Another hunter, of the name of 
 Cass, was associated with them in their enterprise. It is in this 
 way that small knots of tra^^pers and hunters are distributed 
 about the wilderness by the fur companies, and like cranes and 
 bitterns, haunt its solitary streams. Robinson, the Keutuckian, 
 the veteran of the " bloody ground," who, as has already been 
 noted, had been scalped by the Indians in his younger days, was 
 the leader of this little band. When they were about to depart, 
 Mr. Miller called the partners together, and threw up his share 
 in the company, declaring his intention of joining the party of 
 trappers. 
 
 This resolution struck every one with astonishment, Mr 
 Miller being a man of education and of cultivated habits, and 
 little fitted for the rude life of a hunter. Besides, the precarious 
 and slender profits arising from such a life were beneath the 
 prospects of one who held a share in the general enterprise. Mr. 
 Hunt was especially concerned and mortified at his determina- 
 tion, as it was through his advice and influence he had entered 
 into the concern. He endeavored, therefore, to dissuade him 
 from this sudden resolution ; representing its rashness, and the 
 hardships and perils to which it would expose him. He earnestly 
 advised him, however he might feel dissatisfied with the enter- 
 prise, still to continue on in company until they should reach the 
 mouth of Columbia River. There they would meet the expedi- 
 
 12* 
 
274 ASTORIA. 
 
 tion tliat was to come by sea ; wlien, should lie still feel disposed 
 to relinquish the undertaking, Mr. Hunt pledged himself to fur- 
 nish him a passage home in one of the vessels belonging to the 
 company. 
 
 To all this, Miller replied abruptl}', that it was useless to 
 argue with him, as his mind ^as made up. They might furnish 
 him, or not, as they pleased, with the necessary supplies, but he 
 was determined to part company here, and set off with the trap- 
 pers. So saying, he flung out of their presence without vouch- 
 safing any further conversation. 
 
 Much as this wayward conduct gave them anxiety, the part- 
 ners saw it was in vain to remonstrate. Every attention was paid 
 to fit him out for his headstrong undertaking. He was provided 
 with four horses, and all the articles he recjuired. The two Snakes 
 undertook to conduct him. and his companions to an encampment 
 of their tribe, lower down among the mountains, from whom they 
 would receive information as to the best trapping grounds. Af- 
 ter thus guiding them, the Snakes were to return to Fort Henry, 
 as the new trading post was called, and take charge of the horses 
 which the party would leave there, of which, after all the hunters 
 were supplied, there remained seventy-seven. These matters be- 
 ing all arranged, Mr. Miller set out with his companions, under 
 guidance of the two Snakes, on the 10th of October; and much 
 did it grieve the friends of that gentleman to see him thus wan- 
 tonly casting himself loose upon savage life. How he and Iiis 
 comrades fared in the wilderness, and how the Snakes acquitted 
 themselves of their trust respecting the horses, will hereafter 
 ai')pcar in the course of these rambling anecdotes. 
 
A MENDICANT SNAKE. aV. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 While the canoes were in preparation, the liimters ranged about 
 the neighborhood, but with little success. Tracks of buffaloes 
 were to be seen in all directions, but none of a fresh date. There 
 were some elk, but extremely wild ; two only were killed. An- 
 telopes were likewise seen, but too shy and fleet to be approached. 
 A few beavers were taken every night, and salmon trout of a 
 small size, so that the camp had principally to subsist upon 
 dried buffalo meat. 
 
 On the 14th, a poor, half-naked Snake Indian, one of that 
 forlorn caste called the Shuckers, or Diggers, made his appear- 
 ance at the camp. He came from some lurking place among the 
 rocks and cliffs, and presented a picture of that famishing 
 wretchedness to which these lonely fugitives among the moun- 
 tains are sometimes reduced. Having received wherewithal to 
 allay his hunger, he disappeared, but in the course of a day or 
 two returned to the camp, bringing with him his son, a miserable 
 boy, still more naked and forlorn than himself. Food was given 
 to both; they skulked about the camp like hungry hounds, 
 seeking what they might devour, and having gathered up the 
 feet and entrails of some beavers that were lying about, slunk off 
 with them to their den among the rocks. 
 
 By the 18th of October, fifteen canoes were completed, and 
 on the following day the party embarked with their effects ; 
 leaving their horses grazing about the banks, and trusting to tho 
 
376 ASTORIA. 
 
 honesty of tlie two Snakes, and some special turn of good luck 
 for their future recovery. 
 
 The current bore them along at a rapid rate ; the light spirits 
 of the Canadian voyageurs, which had occasionally flagged upon 
 land, rose to their accustomed buoyancy on finding themselves 
 again upon the water. They wielded their paddles with their 
 wonted dexterity, and for the first time made the mountains 
 echo with their favorite boat songs. 
 
 In the course of the day the little squadron arrived at the 
 confluence of Henry and Mad Rivers, which, thus united, swelled 
 into a beautiful stream of a light pea-green color, navigable for 
 boats of any size, and which, from the place of junction, took the 
 name of Snake River, a stream doomed to be the scene of much 
 disaster to the travellers. The banks were here and there 
 fringed with willow thickets and small cotton-wood trees. The 
 weather was cold, and it snowed all day, and great flocks of 
 ducks and geese, sporting in the water or streaming through the 
 air, gave token that winter was at hand ; yet the hearts of the 
 travellers were light, and, as they glided down the little river, 
 they flattered themselves with the hope of soon reaching the 
 Columbia. After making thirty miles in a southerly direction, 
 they encamped for the night in a neighborhood which required 
 some little vigilance, as there were recent traces of grizzly bears 
 among the thickets. 
 
 On the following day the river increased in width and 
 beauty; flowing parallel to a range of mountains on the left, 
 which at times were finely reflected in its light green waters. 
 The three snowy summits of the Pilot Knobs or Tetons, were 
 still seen towering in the distance. After pursuing a swift but 
 placid course for twenty miles, the current began to foam and 
 brawl, and assume the wild and broken character common to the 
 streams west of the Rocky Mountains. In fact the rivers which 
 
THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLES. 277 
 
 flow from those mountains to the Pacific, are essentially different 
 from those which traverse the great prairies on their eastern de- 
 clivities. The latter, though sometimes boisterous, are generally 
 free from obstructions, and easily navigated ; but the rivers to 
 the west of the mountains descend more steeply and impetuously, 
 and are continually liable to cascades and rapids. The latter 
 abounded in the part of the river which the travellers were now 
 descending. Two of the canoes filled among the breakers ; the 
 crews were saved, but much of the lading was lost or damaged, 
 and one of the canoes drifted down the stream and was broken 
 among the rocks. 
 
 On the following day, October 21st, they made but a short 
 distance when they came to a dangerous strait, where the river 
 was compressed for nearly half a mile between perpendicular 
 rocks, reducing it , to the width of twenty yards, and increasing 
 its violence. Here they were obliged to pass the canoes down 
 cautiously by a line from the impending banks. This consumed 
 a great part of a day ; and after they had re-embarked they were 
 soon again impeded by rapids, when they had to unload their 
 canoes and carry them and their cargoes for some distance by 
 land. It is at these places, called '• portages," that the Cana- 
 dian voyageur exhibits his most valuable qualities ; carrying 
 heavy burdens, and toiling to and fro, on land and in the water, 
 over rocks and precipices, among brakes and brambles, not only 
 without a murmur, but with the gi'eatest cheerfulness and alac- 
 rity, joking and laughing and singing scraps of ojd French 
 ditties. 
 
 The spirits of the party, however, which had been elated on 
 first varying their journeying from land to water, had now lost 
 some of their buoyancy. Every thing ahead was wrapped in un- 
 certainty. They knew nothing of the river on which they were 
 floating. It had never been navigated by a white man, nor could 
 
278 ASTORIA. 
 
 they meet witli an Indian to give tliem any information concern- 
 ing it. It kept on its course through a vast wilderness of silent 
 and apparently uninhabited mountains, without a savage wigwam 
 upon its hanks, or hark upon its waters. The dijSiculties and 
 perils they had already passed, made them apprehend others be- 
 fore them, that might effectually bar their progress. As they 
 glided onward, however, they regained heart and hope. . The cur- 
 rent continued to be strong ; but it was steady, and though they 
 met with frequent rapids, none of them were bad. Mountains 
 were constantly to be seen in different directions, but sometimes 
 the swift river glided through prairies, and was bordered by small 
 cotton-wood trees and willows. These prairies at certain seasons 
 are ranged by migratory herds of the wide-wandering buffalo, 
 the tracks of Vv'hich, though not of recent date, were frequently 
 to be seen. Here, too, were to be found the prickly pear or In- 
 dian fig, a plant which loves a more southern climate. On the 
 land were large flights of magpies, and American robins ; whole 
 fleets of ducks and geese navigated the river, or flew off in long 
 streaming files at the approach of the canoer^ ; while the frequent 
 establishments of the painstaking and quiet-loving beaver, show- 
 ed that the solitude of these waters was rarely disturbed, even 
 by the all-pervading savage. 
 
 They had now come near two hundred and eighty miles since 
 leaving Fort Henry, yet without seeing a human being, or a 
 human habitation ; a- wild and desert solitude extended on either 
 side of the river, apparently almost destitute of animal life. At 
 length, on the 24th of October, they were gladdened by the sight 
 of some savage lents, and hastened to land and visit them, for 
 they were anxious to procure information to guide them on their 
 route. On their approach, however, the savages fled in conster- 
 nation. They proved to be a wandering band of Shoshonies. In 
 their tents were great quantities of small fish about two inches 
 
SHOSHONIE TENTS. 279 
 
 long, together with roots and seeds, or grain, which they were 
 drying for winter provisions. They appeared to be destitute of 
 tools of any kind, yet there were bows and arrows very well 
 made; the former were formed of pine, cedar, or bone, strength- 
 ened by sinews, and the latter of the wood of rose-bushes, and 
 other crooked plants, but carefully straightened, and tij)ped with 
 stone of a bottle-green color. 
 
 There were also vessels of willow and grass, so closely wrought 
 as to hold water, and a seine neatly made with meshes, in the 
 ordinary manner, of the fibres of wild flax or nettle. The humble 
 effects of the poor savages remained unmolested by their visitors, 
 and a few small articles, with a knife or two, were left in the 
 camp, and were no doubt regarded as invaluable prizes. 
 
 Shortly after leaving this deserted camp, and re-embarking 
 in the canoes, the travellers met with three of the Snakes on a 
 triangular raft made of flags or reeds ; such was their rude mode 
 of navigating the river. They were entirely naked excepting 
 small mantles of hare skins over their shoulders. The canoes 
 approached near enough to gain a full view of them, but they 
 were not to be brought to a parley. 
 
 All further progress for the day was barred by a fall in the 
 river of about thirty feet perpendicular ; at the head of which 
 the party encamped for the night. 
 
 The next day was one of excessive toil and but little pro- 
 gress : the river winding through a wild rocky country, and being 
 interrupted by frequent rapids, among which the canoes were in 
 great peril. On the succeeding day they again visited a camp 
 of wandering Snakes, but the inhabitants fled with terror at the 
 eight of a fleet of canoes, filled with white men, coming down 
 their solitary river. 
 
 As Mr. Hunt was extremely anxious to gain information con- 
 cerning his rente, he endeavored by all kinds of friendly signa 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 to entice back the fugitiyes. At length one, ^Aho ^Yas on horse- 
 back, ventured back with fear and trembling. He was better 
 clad, and in better condition, than most of his vagrant tribe that 
 Mr. Hunt had yet seen. The chief object of his return appeared 
 to be to intercede for a quantity of dried meat and salmon trout, 
 which he had left behind ; on which, probably, he depended for 
 his winter's subsistence. The poor wretch approached with hesi- 
 tation, the alternate dread of famine and of white men operating 
 upon his mind. He made the most abject signs, imploring Mr. 
 Hunt not to carry off his food. The latter tried in every way to 
 reassure him, and offered him knives in exchange for his pro- 
 visions ; great as was the temptation, the poor Snake could only 
 prevail upon himself to spare a part ; keeping a feverish watch 
 over the rest, lest it should be taken away. It was in vain Mr. 
 Hunt made inquiries of him concerning his route, and the course 
 of the river. The Indian was too much frightenx^d and bewil- 
 dered to comprehend him or to reply ; he did nothing but alter- 
 nately commend himself to the protection of the Good Spirit, and 
 supplicate Mr. Hunt not to take away his fish and buffalo meat ; 
 and in this state they left him, trembling about his treasures. 
 
 In the course of that and the next day they made nearly eight 
 miles ; the river inclining to the south of west, and being clear 
 and beautiful, nearly half a mile m width, with many populous 
 communities of the beaver along its banks. The 28th of Octo- 
 ber, however, was a day of disaster. The river again became 
 rough and impetuous, and was chafed and broken by numerous 
 rapids. These grew more and more dangerous, and the utmost 
 skill was required to steer among them. Mr. Crooks was seated 
 in the second canoe of the squadron, and had an old experienced 
 Canadian for steersman, named Antoine Cla23pine, one of the 
 most valuable of the voyageurs. The leading canoe had glided 
 eafely among the turbulent and roaring surges, but in following 
 
THE CALDRON LINN. 281 
 
 it, Mr. Crooks perceived tliat liis canoe was bearing towards a 
 rock. He called out to tlie steersman, but liis warning voice was 
 either unlieard or unlieeded. In the next moment they struck 
 upon the rock. The canoe was split and overturned. There 
 were five persons on board. Mr. Crooks and one of his compan- 
 ions were thrown amidst roaring breakers and a whirling current, 
 but succeeded, by strong swimming, to reach the shore. Clappine 
 and two others clung to the shattered bark, and drifted with it 
 to a rock. The wreck struck the rock with one end, and swing- 
 ing round, flung poor Clappine oif into the raging stream, which 
 swept him away, and he perished. His comrades succeeded in 
 getting upon the rock, from whence they were afterwards taken off. 
 This disastrous event brought the whole squadron to a halt^ 
 and struck a chill into every bosom. Indeed, they had arrived 
 at a terrific strait, that forbade all further progress in the canoes, 
 and dismayed the most experienced voyageur. The whole body 
 of the river was compressed into a space of less than thirty feet 
 in width, between two ledges of rocks, upwards of two hundred 
 feet high, and formed a whirling and tumultuous vortex, so fright 
 fully agitated, as to receive the name of " The Caldron Linn.' 
 Beyond this fearful abyss, the river kept raging and roaring on, 
 until lost to sight among impending precipicea 
 
282 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Mr. Hunt and Lis companions encamped upon the borders of tho 
 Caldron Linn, and held gloomy counsel as to their future course. 
 The recent wreck had dismayed even the voyageurs, and the fate 
 of their popular comrade, Clappine, one of the most adroit and 
 experienced of their fraternity, had struck sorrow to their hearts, 
 for, with all their levity, these thoughtless beings have great kind- 
 ness towards each other. 
 
 The whole distance they had navigated since leaving Henry's 
 Fort, was computed to be about three hundred and forty miles ; 
 strong apprehensions were now entertained tiJat the tremendous 
 impediments before them would oblige them to abandon their 
 canoes. It was determined to send exploring parties on each 
 side of the river to ascertain whether it was possible to navigate 
 it further. Accordingly, on the following morning, three men 
 were dispatched along the south bank, while Mr. Hunt and three 
 others, proceeded along the north. The two parties returned 
 after a weary scramble among swamps, rocks, and precipices, and 
 with very disheartening accounts. For nearly forty miles that 
 they had explored, the river foamed and roared along through a 
 deep and narrow channel, fi-om twenty to thirty yards wide, which 
 it had worn, in the course of ages, through the heart of a barren 
 rocky country. The precipices on each side, were often two and 
 three hundred feet high, sometimes perpendicular, and. sometimes 
 overhanging, so that it was impossible, excepting in one or two 
 places, to get down to the margin of the stream. This dreary strait 
 
DANGERS AND DIFFICULTIES. 283 
 
 was rendered the more dangerous by frequent rapids, and occasion- 
 ally perpendicular falls from ten to forty feet in height ; so that it 
 seemed almost hopeless to attempt to pass the canoes down it. 
 The party, however, who had explored the south side of the 
 river had found a place, about six miles from the camp, where 
 they thought it possible the canoes might be carried down the 
 bank and launched upon the stream, and from whence they might 
 make their way with the aid of occasional portages. Four of the 
 best canoes were accordingly selected for the experiment, and 
 were transported to the place on the shoulders of sixteen of the 
 men. At the same time, Mr. Eeed the clerk, and three men, 
 were detached to explore the river still further down than the 
 previous scouting parties had been, and at the same time to look 
 out for Indians, from wdiom provisions might be obtained, and a 
 supply of horses, should it be found necessary to proceed by land. 
 
 The party who had been sent with the canoes returned on the 
 following day, weary and dejected. One of the canoes had been 
 swept away with all the weapons and effects of four of the voy- 
 ageurs, in attempting to pass it down a rapid by means of a line. 
 The other three had stuck fast among the rocks, so that it was 
 impossible to move them ; the men returned, therefore, in despair 
 and declared the river unnavigable. 
 
 The situation of the unfortunate travellers was now gloomy 
 in the extreme. They were in the heart of an unknown wilder- 
 ness, untraversed as yet by a white man. They were at a loss 
 what route to take, and how far they were from the ultimate 
 place of their destination, nor could they meet, in these uninhab- 
 ited wilds, with any human being to give them information. The 
 repeated accidents to their canoes, had reduced their stock of 
 provisions to five days' allowance, and there was now every appear- 
 ance of soon having famine added to tJieir other sufferings. 
 
 This last circumstance rendered it more perilous to keep 
 
•284 ASTORIA. 
 
 together tliau to sej^arate. Accordingly, after a little anxiouhJ 
 but bewildered counsel, it was determined that several small 
 detachments should start off in different directions, headed by 
 the several partners. Should any of them succeed in falling in 
 with friendly Indians, within a reasonable .distance, and obtain- 
 ing a supply of provisions and horses, they were to return to the 
 aid of the main body : otherwise, they were to shift for them- 
 selves, and shape their course according to circumstances ; keep- 
 ing the mouth of the Columbia River as the ultimate point of 
 their wayftiring. Accordingly, three several parties set off from 
 the camp at Caldron Linn, in opposite directions. Mr. M'Lel- 
 lan, with three men, kept down along the bank of the river. Mr. 
 Crooks, with five others, turned their steps up it ; retracing by 
 land the weary course they had made by water, intending, should 
 they not find relief nearer at hand, to keep on until they should 
 reach Henry's Fort, where they hoped to find the horses they 
 had left there, and to return with them to the main body. 
 
 The third part}^, composed of five men, was headed by Mr. 
 M'Kenzie, who struck to the northward, across the desert plains, 
 in hopes of coming upon the main stream of the Columbia. 
 
 Having seen these three adventurous bands depart upon their 
 forlorn expeditions, Mr. Hunt turned his thoughts to provide for 
 the subsistence of the main body left to his charge, and to pre- 
 pare for their future march. There remained with him thirty- 
 one men, beside the squaw and two children of Pierre Dorion. 
 There was no game to be met with in the neighborhood ; but 
 beavers were occasionally trapped about the river banks, which 
 afforded a scanty supply of food ; in the meantime they com- 
 forted themselves that some one or other of the foraging detach- 
 ments would be successful, and return with relief. 
 
 Mr. Hunt now set to work with all diligence, to prepare 
 ccuclies^ in which to deposit the baggage and merchandise, of which 
 
A CACHE. 285 
 
 it would "be necessary to disburden themselveSj preparatory to 
 tlieir weary march by land . and here we shall give a brief de- 
 scription of those contrivancos, so noted in the wilderness. 
 
 A cache is a term common among traders and hunters, to 
 designate a hiding place for provisions and effects. It is derived 
 from the French word caclicr^ to conceal, and originated among 
 the early colonists of Canada and Louisiana ; but the secret 
 depository which it designates was in use among the aboriginals 
 long before the intrusion of the v/hitc men. It is, in fact, tho 
 only mode that migratory hordes have of preserving their valua- 
 bles from robbery, during their long absences from their villages 
 or accustomed haunts, on hunting expeditions, or during the 
 vicissitudes of war. The utmost skill and caution are recjuired 
 to render these places of concealment invisible to the lynx eye of 
 an Indian. The first care is to seek out a proper situation, which 
 is generally some dry low bank of clay, on the margin of a water 
 course. As soon as the precise spot is pitched upon, blankets, 
 saddle-cloths, and other coverings, are spread over the surround- 
 ing grass and bushes, to prevent foot tracks, or any other derange- 
 ment ; and as few hands as possible are employed. A circle of 
 about two feet in diameter is then nicely cut in the sod, which is 
 carefully removed, with the loose soil immediately beneath it, 
 and laid aside in a place where it will be safe from any thing that 
 may change its appearance. The uncovered area is then digged 
 perpendicularly to the depth of about three feet, and is then 
 gradually widened so as to form a conical chamber six or seven 
 feet deep. The whole of the earth displaced by this process, 
 being of a different color from that on the surface, is handed u]^ 
 in a vessel, and heaped into a skin or cloth, in which it is con- 
 veyed to the stream and thrown into the midst of the current, 
 that it may. be entirely carried off. Should the cache not be 
 formed in the vicinity of a stream, the earth thus thrown up is 
 
286 ASTORIA. 
 
 carried to a distance, and scattered in sucli manner as nob to 
 leave the minutest trace. The cave "being formed, is well lined 
 with dry grass, hark, sticks, and poles, and occasionally a dried 
 hide. The property intended to he hidden is then laid in, after 
 having heen well aired : a hide is spread over it, and dried grass, 
 brush, and stones thrown in, and trampled down until the pit is 
 filled to the neck. The loose soil which had been put aside is 
 then brought, and rammed down firmly, to prevent its caving in, 
 and is frequently sprinkled with water, to destroy the scent, lest 
 the wolves and bears should be attracted to the place, and root 
 up the concealed treasure. When the neck of the cache is nearly 
 level with the surrounding surface, the sod is again fitted in with 
 the utmost exactness, and any bushes, stocks, or stones, that may 
 have originally been about the spot, arc restored to their former 
 places. The blankets and other coverings are then removed from 
 the surrounding herbage : all tracks are obliterated : the grass 
 is gently raised by the hand to its natural position, and the 
 minutest chip or straw is scrupulously gleaned up and thrown 
 into the stream. After all is done, the place is abandoned for 
 the night, and, if all be right next morning, is not visited again, 
 until there be a necessity for reopening the cache. Four men 
 are sufiicient, in this way, to conceal the amount of three tons 
 weight of merchandise in the course of two days. Nine caches 
 were required to contain the goods and baggage which Mr. Hunt 
 found it necessary to leave at this place. 
 
 Three days had been thus employed since the departure of 
 the several detachments, when that of Mr. Crooks unexpectedly 
 made its appearance. A momentary joy was difiused through the 
 camp, for they supposed succor to be at hand. It was soon dis- 
 pelled. Mr. Crooks and his companions had become completely 
 disheartened by this retrograde march through a bleak and barren 
 country ; and had found, computing from their progress and the 
 
THE DEVIL'S SCUTTLE HOLE. 287 
 
 accumulating difficulties besetting every step, that it would be 
 impossible to reach Henry's Fort, and return to the main body in 
 the course of the winter. They had determined, therefore, to 
 rejoin their comrades, and share their lot. 
 
 One avenue of hope was thus closed upon the anxious sojourn- 
 ers at the Caldron Linn ; their main expectation of relief was 
 now from the two parties under Heed and M'Lellan, which had 
 proceeded down the river ; for, as to Mr. M'Kenzie's detachment, 
 which had struck across the plains, they thought it would have 
 sufficient difficulty in struggling forward through the trackless 
 wilderness. For five days they continued to support themselves 
 by trapping and fishing. Some fish of tolerable size were speared 
 at night by the light of cedar torches ; others that were very 
 small, were caught in nets with fine meshes. The product of their 
 fishing, however, was very scanty. Their trapping was also pre- 
 carious ; and the tails and bellies of the beavers were dried and 
 put by for the journej^ 
 
 At length, two of the companions of Mr. Eeed returned, and 
 were hailed with the most anxious eagerness. Their report 
 served but to increase the general despondency. They had fol- 
 lowed Mr. Keed for some distance below the point to which Mr. 
 Hunt had explored, but had met with no Indians, from whom to 
 obtain information and relief. The river still presented the same 
 furious aspect, brawling and boiling along a narrow and rugged 
 channel, between rocks that rose like walls. 
 
 A lingering hope, which had been indulged by some of the 
 party, of proceeding by water, was now finally given up : the 
 long and terrific strait of the river set all further progress at 
 defiance, and in their disgust at the place, and their vexation at 
 the disasters sustained there, they gave it the indignant, though 
 not very decorous appellation, of the Devil's Scuttle Hole. 
 
2^3 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTEll XXXIV. 
 
 The resolution of Mr. Hunt and his companions was now taken 
 to set out immediately on foot. As to tlie other detachments 
 that had in a manner gone forth to seek their fortunes, there was 
 little chance of their return ; they would probably make their 
 own way through the wilderness. At any rate, to linger in the 
 vague hope of relief from them, would be to run the risk of 
 perishing with hunger. Besides, the winter was rapidly ad- 
 vancing, and they had a long journey to make through an un- 
 known country, where all kinds of perils might await them. 
 They were yet, in fact, a thousand miles from Astoria, but the 
 distance was unknown to them at the time : every thing before 
 and around them was vague and conjectural, and wore an aspect 
 calculated to inspire desj^ondency. 
 
 In abandoning the river, they would have to launch forth 
 upon vast trackless plains destitute of all means of subsistence, 
 where they might perish of hunger and thirst. A dreary desert 
 of sand and gravel extends from Snake River almost to the 
 Columbia. Here and there is a thin and scanty herbage, insuffi- 
 cient for the pasturage of horse or buffalo. Indeed these tree- 
 less wastes between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, are 
 even more desolate and barren than the naked, upper prairies on 
 the Atlantic side ; they present vast desert tracts that must ever 
 defy cultivation, and interpose dreary and thirsty wilds between 
 the habitations of man, in traversing which, the wanderer will 
 often be in danger of perishing. 
 
PREPARATIONS 'FOR A P.I ARCH. 289 
 
 Seeing the hopeless character of these wastes, Mr. Hunt and 
 hiu companions determined to keep along the course of the river, 
 where they would always have water at hand, and would be able 
 occasionally to procure fish, and beaver, and might perchance 
 meet with Indians, from whom they could obtain provisions. 
 
 They now made their final preparations for the march. All 
 their remaining stock of provisions consisted of forty pounds of 
 Indian corn, twenty pounds of grease, about five pounds of 
 portable soup, and a sufficient quantity of dried meat to allow 
 each man a pittance of five pounds and a quarter, to be reserved 
 for emergencies. This being properly distributed, they deposited 
 all their goods and superfluous articles in the caches, taking 
 nothing with them but what was indispensable to the journey. 
 With all their management, each man had to carry twenty 
 pounds' weight beside his own articles and equipments. 
 
 That they might have the better chance of procuring subsist- 
 ence in the scanty regions they were to traverse, they divided 
 their party into two bands, Mr. Hunt, with eighteen men, beside 
 Pierre Dorion and his family, was to proceed down the north 
 side of the river, while Mr. Crooks, with eighteen men, kept 
 along the south side. 
 
 On the morning of the 9th of October, the two parties sepa- 
 rated and set forth on their several courses. Mr. Hunt and his 
 companions followed along the right bank of the river, which 
 made its way far below them, brawling at the foot of perpen- 
 dicular precipices of solid rock, two and three hundred feet high. 
 For twenty-eight miles that they travelled this day, they found 
 it impossible to get down to the margin of the stream. At the 
 end of this distance they encamped for the night at a place 
 which admitted a scrambling descent. It was with the greatest 
 difficulty, however, that they succeeded in getting up a kettle of 
 water from the river for the use of the camp. As some rain had 
 
 o 
 
290 ASTDRIA. 
 
 fallen in tlio afternoon, tliey passed the night under the shelter 
 of the rocks. 
 
 The next day they continued thirty-two miles to the north- 
 west, keeping along the river, which still ran in its deep cut 
 channel. Here and there a sandy, beach or a narrow strip of 
 soil, fringed with dwarf willows, would extend for a little distance 
 along the foot of the cliffs, and sometimes a reach of still water 
 would intervene like a smooth mirror between the foaming rapids. 
 
 As through the preceding day, they journeyed on without 
 finding, except in one instance, any place where they could get 
 down to the river's edge, and they were fain to allay the thirst 
 caused by hard travelling, with the water collected in the hollow 
 of the rocks. 
 
 In the course of their march on the following morning, they 
 fell into a beaten horse path leading along the river, which 
 showed that they were in the neighborhood of some Indian 
 village or encampment. They had not proceeded far along it, 
 when they met with two Shoshonies, or Snakes. They approached 
 with some appearance of u.neasiness, and accosting Mr. Hunt, 
 held up a knife, which by signs they let him know they had re- 
 ceived from some of the white men of the advance parties. It 
 was with some difficulty that Mr. Hunt prevailed upon one of 
 the savages to conduct him to the lodges of his people. Striking 
 into a trail or path which led up from the river, he guided them 
 for some distance in the prairie, until they came in sight of a 
 number of lodges made of straw, and shaped like 'hay stacks. 
 Their approach, as on former occasions, caused the wildest 
 affright among the inhabitants. The women hid such of their 
 children as were too large to be carried, and too small to take 
 care of themselves, under straw, and, clasping their infants to 
 their breasts, fled across the prairie. The men awaited the 
 approach of the strangers, but evidently in great alarm. 
 
SHOSHONIE LODGES. 291 
 
 Mr. Hunt entered tlie lodges, and, as lie was looking about, 
 ODserved where the children were concealed ; their black eyes 
 glistening like those of snakes, from beneath the straw. He 
 lifted up the covering to look at them ; the poor little beings were 
 horribly frightened, and their fathers stood trembling, as if a 
 beast of prey were about to pounce upon the brood. 
 
 The friendly manner of Mr. Hunt soon dispelled these ap- 
 prehensions ; he succeeded in purchasing some excellent dried 
 salmon, and a dog, an animal much esteemed as food, by the na- 
 tives ; and when he returned to the river one of the Indians ac- 
 companied him. He now came to where lodges were frequent 
 along the banks, and, after a day's journey of twenty-six miles to 
 the northwest, encamped in a populous neighborhood. Forty or 
 fifty of the natives soon visited the camp, conducting themselves 
 in a very amicable manner. They were well clad, and all had 
 buffalo robes, which they procured from some of the hunting 
 tribes in exchange for salmon. Their habitations were very com- 
 fortable ; each had its pile of wormwood at the door for fuel, and 
 within was abundance of salmon, some fresh, but the greater part 
 cured. When the white men visited the lodges, however, the wo- 
 men and children hid themselves through fear. Among the sup- 
 plies obtained here were two dogs, on which our travellers break- 
 fasted, and found them to be very excellent, well-flavored, and 
 hearty food. 
 
 In the course of the three following days they made about 
 sixty-three miles, generally in a northwest direction. They met 
 with many of the natives in their straw-built cabins who received 
 them without alarm. About their dwellings were immense quan- 
 tities of the heads and skins of salmon, the best part of which 
 had been cured, and hidden in the ground. The women were 
 badly clad ; the children worse ; their garments were buffalo robes, 
 or the skins of foxes, wolves, hares, and badgers, and sometimes 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 the skins of ducks, sewed together, with the plumage on. Most 
 of the skins must have been procured by traffic with other tribes, 
 or in distant hunting excursions, for the naked prairies in the 
 neighborhood afforded few animals, excepting horses, which were 
 abundant. There wer6 signs of buffaloes having been there, but 
 a long time before. 
 
 On the 15th of November they made twenty-eight miles along 
 the river, which was entirely free from rapids. The shores were 
 lined with dead salmon, which tainted the whole atmosphere. 
 The natives whom they met spoke of Mr. Keed's party having 
 passed through that neighborhood. In the course of the day 
 Mr. Hunt saw a few horses, but the owners of them took care to 
 hurry them out of the way. All the provisions they were able 
 to procure, were two dogs and a salmon. On the following day 
 they were still worse off, having to subsist on parched corn, and 
 the remains of their dried meat. The river this day had resumed 
 its turbulent character, forcing its way through a narrow channel 
 between steep rocks, and down violent rapids. They made twenty 
 miles over a rugged road, gradually approaching a mountain in 
 the northwest, covered with snow, which had been in sight for 
 three days past. 
 
 On the 17th they met with several Indians, one of whom had 
 a horse. Mr. Hunt was extremely desirous of obtaining it as a 
 pack-horse; for the men, worn down by fatigue and hunger, 
 found the loads of twenty pounds' weight which they had to 
 carry, daily growing heavier and more galling. The Indians, 
 however, along this river, were never willing to part with their 
 horses, having none to spare. The owner of the steed in ques- 
 tion seemed proof against all temptation ; article after article of 
 great value in Indian eyes was offered and refused. The charms 
 of an old tin-kettle, however, were irresistible, and a bargain was 
 concluded. 
 
SUFFERINGS FROM THIRST. 293 
 
 A great part of tlie following morning was consumed in light- 
 cnina: the packasres of the men and arranscins; the load for the 
 horse. At this encampment there was no wood for fuel, even the 
 wormwood on which they had frequently depended, having disap- 
 peared. For the two last days they had made thirty miles to the 
 northwest. 
 
 On the 1 9th of November, Mr. Hunt was lucky enough to 
 purchase another horse for his own use, giving in exchange a 
 tomahawk, a knife, a fire steel, and some beads and gartering. 
 In an evil hour, however, he took the advice of the Indians to 
 abandon the river, and follow a road or trail, leading into the 
 prairies. He soon had cause to repent the change. The road 
 led across a dreary waste, without verdure ; and where there was 
 neither fountain, nor pool, nor running stream. The men now 
 began to experience the torments of thirst, aggravated by their 
 usual diet of dried fish. The thirst of the Canadian voyageurs 
 became so insupportable as to drive them to the most revolting 
 means of allaying it. For twenty-five miles did they toil on 
 across this dismal desert, and laid themselves down at night, 
 parched and disconsolate, beside their wormwood fires ; looking 
 forward to still greater suftcriugs on the following day. Fortu- 
 nately it began to rain in the night, to their infinite relief ; the 
 water soon collected in puddles and afforded them delicious 
 draughts. 
 
 Eefreshed in this manner, they resumed their wayfaring as 
 Boon as the first streaks of dawn gave light enough for them to 
 see their path. The rain continued all day so that they no longer 
 suffered from thirst, but hunger tock its place, for, after travel- 
 lino- thirty-three miles they had nothing to sup on but a little 
 parched corn. 
 
 The next day brought them to the banks of a beautiful little 
 Btream, running to the west, and fringed with groves of cotton- 
 
294 ASTORIA. 
 
 wood and willow. On its borders was an Indian camp, with a 
 great many horses grazing around it. The inhabitants, too, ap- 
 peared to be better clad than usual. The scene was altogether 
 a cheering one to the poor half-famished wanderers. They has- 
 tened to the lodges, but on arriving at them, met with a check 
 that at first dampened their cheerfulness. An Indian immedi- 
 ately laid claim to the horse of Mr. Hunt, saying that it had 
 been stolen from him. There was no disproving a fact, supported 
 by numerous bystanders, and which the horse-stealing habits of 
 the Indians rendered but too probable ; so Mr. Hunt relinquished 
 his steed to the claimant ; not being able to retain him by a second 
 purchase. 
 
 At this place they encamped for the night, and made a sump- 
 tuous repast upon fish and a coujdIc of dogs, procured from their 
 Indian neighbors. The next day they kept along the river, but 
 came to a halt after ten miles' march, on account of the rain. 
 Here they again got a supply of fish and dogs from the natives ; 
 and two of the men were fortunate enough each to get a horse in 
 exchange for a buffalo robe. One of these men was Pierre Dorion, 
 the half-breed interpreter, to whose suffering family the horse was 
 a most timely acquisition. And here we cannot but notice the 
 wonderful patience, perseverance, and hardihood of the Indian 
 women, as exemplified in the conduct of the poor squaw of the 
 interpreter. She was now far advanced in her pregnancy, and 
 had two children to take care of ; one four, and the other two 
 years of age. The latter of course she had frequently to carry 
 on her back, in addition to the burden usually imposed upon the 
 squaw, yet she had borne all her hardships without a murmur, 
 and throughout this weary and painful journey had kept pace 
 with the best of the pedestrians. Indeed on various occasions in 
 the course of this enterprise, she displayed a force of character 
 that won the respect and applause of the white men. 
 
SCARCITY OF FOOD. 295 
 
 Mr. Hunt endeavored to gather some information from these 
 Indians concerning the country, and the course of the rivers. 
 His communications with them had to be by signs, and a few 
 words which he had learnt, and of course were extremely vague. 
 All that he could learn from them was, that the great river, the 
 Columbia, was still far distant, but he could ascertain nothing as 
 to the route he ought to take to arrive at it. For the two follow- 
 ing days they continued westward upwards of forty miles along 
 the little stream, until they crossed it just before its junction 
 with Snake River, which they found still running to the north. 
 Before them was a wintry-looking mountain covered with snow 
 on all sides. 
 
 In three days more they made about seventy miles ; fording 
 two small rivers, the waters of which were very cold. Provisions 
 were extremely scarce ; their chief sustenance was portable soup ; 
 a meagre diet for weary pedestrians. 
 
 On the 27th of November the river led them into the moun- 
 tains through a rocky defile where there was scarcely room to 
 pass. They were frequently obliged to unload the horses to get 
 them by the narrow places ; and sometimes to wade through the 
 water in getting round rocks and butting cliffs. All their food 
 this day was a beaver which they had caught the night before ; by 
 evening, the cravings of hunger were so sharp, and the prospect 
 of any supply among the mountains so faint, that they had to kill 
 one of the horses. " The men," says Mr. Hunt in his journal, 
 " find the meat very good, and indeed, so should I, were it not for 
 the attachment I have to the animal." 
 
 Early in the following day, after proceeding ten miles to the 
 north, they came to two lodges of Shoshonies, who seemed in 
 nearly as great an extremity as themselves, having just killed two 
 horses for food. They had no other provisions excepting the seed 
 of a weed which they gather in great quantities, and pound fine. 
 
296 • ASTORIA. 
 
 It resembles hemp-seed. Mr. Hunt purchased a bag of it, and 
 also some small pieces of horse flesh, which he began to relish^ 
 pronouncing them " fat and tender." 
 
 From these Indians he received information that several 
 white men had gone down the river, some one side, and a good 
 many on the other ; these last he concluded to be Mr. Crooks 
 and his party. He was thus released from much anxiety about 
 their safety, especially as the Indians spoke of Mr. Crooks 
 having one of his dogs yet, which showed that he and his men had 
 not been reduced to extremity of hunger. 
 
 As Mr. Hunt feared that he might be several days in passing 
 through this mountain defile, and run the risk of famine, he en- 
 camped in the neighborhood of the Indians, for the purpose of 
 bartering with them for a horse. The evening was expended in 
 ineffectual trials. He offered a gun, a buffalo robe, and various 
 other articles. The poor fellows had, probably, like himself, the 
 fear of starvation before their e3^es. At length the women, learn- 
 ing the object of his pressing solicitations, and tempting offers, 
 set up such a terrible hue and cry, that he was fairly howled and 
 scolded from the ground. 
 
 The next morning early, the Indians seemed very desirous to 
 get rid of their visitors, fearing, probably, for the safety of their 
 horses. In reply to Mr. Hunt's inquiries about the mountains, 
 they told him that he would have to sleep but three nights more 
 among them ; and that six days' travelling would take him to the 
 falls of the Columbia ; information in which he put no faith, be- 
 lieving it was only given to induce him to set forward. These, 
 he was told, were the last Snakes he would meet with, and that 
 be would soon come to a nation called Sciatogas. 
 
 Forward then did he proceed on his tedious journey, which, 
 at every step grew more painful. The road continued for two 
 days, through narrow defiles, where they were repeatedly obliged 
 
TOILSOME PROGRESS. ^91 
 
 to unload the horses. Sometimes the river passed through such 
 rocky chasms and under such steep precipices that they had to 
 leave it, and make their way, with excessive labor, over immense 
 hills, almost impassable for horses. On some of these hills were 
 a few pine trees, and their summits were covered with snow. On 
 the second day of this scramble one of the hunters killed a black- 
 tailed deer, which afforded the half-starved travellers a sump- 
 tuous repast. Their progress these two days was twenty eight 
 miles, a little to the northward of cast. 
 
 The month of December set in drearily, with rain in the val- 
 leys, and snow upon the hills. They had to climb a mountain 
 with snow to the midleg, which increased their painful coil. A 
 small beaver supplied them with a scanty meal, which they eked 
 out with frozen blackberries, haws, and choke-cherries, which 
 they found in the course of their scramble. Their journey this 
 da}', though excessively fatiguing, was but thirteen miles ; and 
 all the next day they had to remain encamped, not being able to 
 see half a mile ahead, on account of a snov.''-storm. Having 
 nothing else to eat, they were compelled to kill another of their 
 horses. The next day they resumed their march in snow and 
 rain, but with all their efforts could only get forward nine miles, 
 having for a part of the distance to unload the horses and carry 
 the packs themselves. On the succeeding morning they were 
 obliged to leave the river, and scramble up the hills. From the 
 summit of these, the}'- got a wide view of the surrounding coun- 
 try, and it was a prospect almost sufficient to make them despair. 
 In every direction they beheld snowy mountains, partially 
 sprinkled with pines and other evergreens, and spreading a desert 
 and toilsome world around them. The wind howled over the 
 bleak and wintry landscape, and seemed to penetrate to the mar- 
 row of their bones. They waded on through the snow, which at 
 
 eveiy step was more than knee deep. 
 
 10* 
 
♦298 ASTORIA. 
 
 After toiling in this way all day, they had the mortification 
 to find that they were but four miles distant from the encamp- 
 ment of the preceding night, such was the meandering of the 
 river among these dismal hills. Pinched with famine, exhausted 
 with fatigue, with evening approaching, and a wintry wild still 
 lengthening as they advanced ; they began to look forward with 
 sad forebodings to the night's exposure upon this frightful waste. 
 Fortunately they succeeded in reaching a cluster of pines about 
 sunset. Their axes were immediately at work ; they cut down 
 trees, piled them up in great heaps, and soon had huge fires " to 
 cheer their cold and hungry hearts." 
 
 About three o'clock in the morning it again began to snow, 
 and at daybreuk they found themselves, as it were, in a cloud ; 
 scarcely being able to distinguish objects at the distance of a 
 hundred yards. Guiding themselves by the sound of running 
 water, they set out for the river, and by slipping and sliding con- 
 trived to get down to its bank. One of the horses, missing his 
 footing, rolled down several hundred yards with his load, but sus- 
 tained no injury. The weather in the valley was less rigorous 
 than on the hills. The snow lay but ankle deep, and there was a 
 quiet rain now falling. After creeping along for six miles, they 
 encamped on the border of the river. Being utterly destitute of 
 provisions, they were again compelled to kill one of their horses 
 to appease their famishing hunger. 
 
UNEXPECTED MEETING. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXY. 
 
 The wanderers had now aceomplislied four hundred and seventy- 
 two miles of their dreary journey since leaving the Caldron Linn, 
 how much further they had yet to travel, and what hardships to 
 encounter, no one knew. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th of December, they left their dismal 
 encampment, but had scarcely begun their march, when, to their 
 surprise, they beheld a party of white men coming up along the 
 opposite bank of the river. As they drew nearer, they were re- 
 cognized for Mr. Crooks and his companions. When they came 
 opposite, and could make themselves heard across the murmuring 
 of the river, their first cry was for food ; in fact, they were almost 
 starved. Mr. Hunt immediately returned to the camp, and had 
 a kind of canoe made out of the skin of the horse, killed on the 
 preceding night. This was done after the Indian fashion, by 
 drawing up the edges of the skin with thongs, and keeping them 
 distended by sticks or thwarts pieces. In this frail bark, Sarde- 
 pie, one of the Canadians, carried over a portion of the flesh of 
 the horse to the famishing party on the opposite side of the river, 
 and brought back with him Mr. Crooks, and the Canadian, Le 
 Clerc, The forlorn and wasted looks, and starving condition of 
 these two men, struck dismay to the hearts of Mr. Hunt's follow- 
 ers. They had been accustomed to each other's appearance, and 
 to the gradual operation of hunger and hardship upon their 
 frames, but the change in the looks of these men, since last they 
 parted, was a type of the famine and desolation of the land ; and 
 
300 ASTORIA. 
 
 th^v now began to indulge tlie horrible presentiment that tbey 
 would all starve together, or be reduced to the direful alternative 
 of easting lots ! 
 
 . When Mr. Crooks had appeased his hunger, he gave Mr. 
 Hunt some account of his wayfaring. On the side of the river, 
 along which he had kept, he had met with but few Indians, and 
 those were too miserably poor to yield much assistance. For the 
 first eighteen days after leaving the Caldron Linn, he and his men 
 had been confined to half a meal in twent3^-four hours ; for three 
 days following, they had subsisted on a single beaver, a few wild 
 cherries, and the soles of old moccasons ; and for the last six 
 days, their only animal food had been the carcass of a dog. They 
 had been three days' journey further down the river than Mr. 
 Hunt, always keeping as near to its banks as possible, and fre- 
 quently climbing over sharp and rocky ridges that projected into 
 the stream. At length they had arrived to where the mountains 
 increased in height, and came closer to the river, with perpendi- 
 cular precipices, which rendered it impossible to keep along thiB 
 stream. The river here rushed with incredible velocity through 
 a defile not more than thirty yards wide, where cascades and 
 rapids succeeded each other almost without intermission. Even 
 had the opposite banks, therefore, been such as to permit a con- 
 tinuance of their journey, it would have been madness to attempt 
 to pass the tumultuous current, either on rafts or otherwise. Still 
 bent, however, on pushing forward, they attempted to climb the 
 opposing mountains ; and struggled on through the snow for half 
 a day until, coming to where they could command a prospect, 
 they found that they were not half way to the summit, and that 
 mountain upon mountain lay piled beyond them, in wintry deso- 
 lation. Famished and emaciated as they were, to continue for- 
 ward would be to perish ; their only chance seemed to be to 
 regain the river, and retrace their steps up its banks It was in 
 
INSURMOUNTABLE DIFFICULTIES. 301 
 
 this forlorn and retrograde march that they had met J^Ir. Hunt 
 and his party. 
 
 Mr. Crooks also gave information of some others of their fel- 
 low adventurers. He had spoken several days previously with 
 Mr. Keed and Mr. M'Kenzie, who with their men were on the 
 Opposite side of the river, where it was impossible to get over to 
 them. They informed him that Mr. M'Lellan had struck across 
 from the little river above the mountains, in the hope of falling 
 in with some of the tribe of Flatheads, who inhabit the western 
 skirts of the Rocky range. As the companions of Reed and 
 M'Kenzie were picked men, and had found provisions more abun- 
 dant on their side of the river, they were in better condition, and 
 more fitted to contend with the difficulties of the country, than 
 those of Mr. Crooks, and when he lost sight of them, were push- 
 ing onward, down the course of the river. 
 
 Mr. Hunt took a night to revolve over his critical situation, 
 and to determine what was to be done. No time was to be lost ; 
 he had twenty men and more, in his own party, to provide for, 
 and Mr. Crooks and his men to relieve. To linger would be to 
 starve. The idea of retracing his steps was intolerable, and, not- 
 withstanding all the discouraging accounts of the ruggedness of 
 the mountains lower down the river, he would have been disposed 
 to attempt them, but the depth of the snow with which they 
 were covered, deterred him ; having already experienced the 
 impossibility of forcing his way against such an impediment. 
 
 The only alternative, therefore, appeared to be, to return and 
 seek the Indian bands scattered along the small rivers above the 
 mountains. Perhaps, from some of these he might procure 
 horses enough to support him until he could reach the Columbia; 
 for he still cherished the hope of arriving at that river in the 
 course of the winter, though he was apprehensive that few of Mr, 
 Crooks' party would be sufficiently strong to follow him. Even 
 
302 ASTORIA. 
 
 ia adopting this course, ho had to make up hh mind to the 
 certainty of several days of famine at the outset, for it would take 
 that time to reach the last Indian lodges from which he had 
 parted, and until they should arrive there, his people would have 
 nothing to subsist upon but haws and wild berries, excepting ona 
 miserable horse, which was little better than skin and bone. 
 
 After a night of sleepless cogitation, Mr. Hunt announced to 
 his men the dreary alternative he had adopted, and preparations 
 were made to take Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc across the river, 
 with the remainder of the meat, as the other party were to keep 
 up along the opposite bank. The skin canoe had unfortunately 
 been lost in the night ; a raft was constructed, therefore, after the 
 manner of the natives, of bundles of willows, but it could not be 
 floated across the impetuous current. The men were directed, 
 in consequence, to keep on along tlie river by themselves, while 
 Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc would proceed with Mr. Hunt. They 
 all, then, took up their retrograde march with drooping spirits. 
 
 In a little while, it was found that Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc 
 were so feeble as to walk with difficulty, so that Mr. Hunt was 
 obliged to retard his pace, that they might keep up with him. 
 His men grew impatient at the delay. They murmured that 
 they had a long and desolate region to traverse, before they 
 could arrive at the point where they might expect to find horses ; 
 that it was impossible for Crooks and Le Clerc, in their feeble 
 condition, to get over it ; that to remain with them would only 
 be to starve in their company. They importuned Mr. Hunt, 
 therefore, to leave these unfortunate men to their fate, and think 
 only of the safety of himself and his party. Finding him not to 
 be moved either by entreaties or their clamors, they began to 
 proceed without him, singly and in parties. Among those who 
 thus went off was Pierre Dorion, the interpreter. Pierre owned 
 the only remaining horse ; which was now a mere skeleton. Mr. 
 
MR. CROOKS AND LE CLERC LEFT. 303 
 
 Hunt had suggested, in their present extremity, that it should 
 be killed for food; to which the half-breed flatly refused his 
 assent, and cudgelling the miserable animal forward, pushed on 
 sullenly, with the air of a man doggedly determined to quarrel 
 for his right. In this way Mr. Hunt saw his men, one after 
 another, break away, until but five remained to bear him company, 
 On the following morning, another raft was made, on which 
 Mr. Crooks and Le Clerc again attempted to ferry themselves 
 across the river, but after repeated trials, had to give up in 
 despair. This caused additional delay: after which, they con- 
 tinued to crawl forward at a snail's pace. Some of the men who 
 had remained with Mr. Hunt now became impatient of these 
 incumbrances, and urged him, clamorously, to push forward, 
 crying out that they should all starve. The night which 
 succeeded was intensely cold, so that one of the men was severely 
 frost-bitten. In the course of the night, Mr. Crooks was taken 
 ill, and in the morning was still more incompetent to travel. 
 Their situation was now desperate, for their stock of provisions 
 was reduced to three beaver skins. Mr. Hunt, therefore, re- 
 solved to push on, overtake his people, and insist upon having 
 the horse of 'Pierre Dorion sacrificed for the relief of all hands. 
 Accordingly, he left two of his men to help Crooks and Le Clerc 
 on their way, giving them two of the beaver skins for their 
 support; the remaining skin he retained, as provision for himself 
 and the three other men who struck forward with him. 
 
304 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 All tliat day, Mr. Hunt and bis tliree comrades travelled witli- 
 out eating. At night they made a tantalizing supper on their 
 beaver skin, and were nearly exhausted by hunger and cold. The 
 next day, December 10th, they overtook the advance party, who 
 -were all as much famished as themselves, some of them not hav- 
 ing eaten since the morning of the seventh. Mr. Hunt now pro- 
 posed the sacrifice of Pierre Dorion's skeleton horsed Here he 
 again met with positive and vehement opposition from the half- 
 breed, who was too sullen and vindictive a fellow to be easily dealt 
 with. What was singular, the men, though sufi"ering such pinch- 
 ing hunger, interfered in favor of the horse. They represented, 
 that it was better to keep on as long as possible without resorting 
 to this last resource. Possibly the Indians, of whom they were 
 in quest, might have shifted their encampment, in which case it 
 would be time enough to kill the horse to escape starvation. Mr. 
 Hunt, therefore, was prevailed upon to grant Pierre Dorion's 
 horse a reprieve. 
 
 Fortunately, they had not proceeded much further, when, 
 towards evening, they came in sight of a lodge of Shoshonies, 
 with a number of horses grazing around it. The sight was as 
 unexpected as it was joyous. Having seen no Indians in this 
 neighborhood as they passed down the river ; they must have 
 subsequently come out from among the mountains. Mr. Hunt, 
 who first descried them, checked the eagerness of his companions, 
 knowing the unwillingness of these Indians to part with their 
 
A NECESSARY OUTRAGE. 3O5 
 
 torses, and their aptness to hurrj tliem off and conceal them, iu 
 case of an alarm. This was no time to risk such a disappoint- 
 ment. Approaching, therefore, stealthily and silently, they came 
 upon the savages by surj^rise, who fled in terror. Five of their 
 horses were eagerly seized, and one was dispatched upon the spot. 
 The carcass was immediately cut up, and a part of it hastily 
 cooked and ravenously devoured. A man was now sent on horse- 
 back with a supply of the flesh to Mr. Crooks and his compan- 
 ions. He reached them in the night; they were so famished 
 that the supply sent them seemed but to aggravate their hunger, 
 and they were almost tempted to kill and eat the horse that had 
 brought the messenger. Availing themselves of the assistance 
 of the animal, they reached the camp early in the morning. 
 
 On arriving there, Mr. Crooks was shocked to find that, while 
 the people on this side of the river, were amply supplied with 
 provisions, none had been sent to his own forlorn and famishing 
 men on the opposite bank. He immediately caused a skin canoe 
 to be constructed, and called out to his men to fill their camp- 
 kettles with water and hang them over the fire, tJiat no time 
 might be lost iu cooking the meat the moment it should be re- 
 ceived. The river was so narrow, though deep, that every thing 
 could be distinctly heard and seen across it. The kettles were 
 placed on the fire, and the water was boiling by the time the 
 canoe was completed. When all was ready, however, no one 
 would undertake to ferry the meat across. A vague, and almost 
 superstitious terror had infected the minds of Mr. Hunt's fol- 
 lowers, enfeebled and rendered imaginative of horrors by the dis- 
 mal scenes and sufi"erings through which they had passed. They 
 regarded the haggard crew, hovering like spectres of famine on 
 the opposite bank, with indefinite feelings of awe and apprehen- 
 sion ; as if something desperate and dangerous was to be feared 
 from them. 
 
306 ASTORIA. 
 
 Mr Crooks tried in yaiu to reason or shame them out of thia 
 singular state of mind. He then attempted to navigate the canoe 
 himself, but found his strength incompetent to brave the impetu- 
 ous current. The good feelings of Ben Jones, the KentuckiaUj 
 at length overcame his fears, and he ventured over. The supply 
 he brought was received with trembling avidity. A poor Cana- 
 dian, however, named Jean Baptiste Prevost, whom, famine had 
 rendered wild and desj^erate, ran frantically about the bank, after 
 Jones had returned, crying out to Mr. Hunt to send the canoe 
 for him, and take him from that horrible region of famine, de- 
 claring that otherwise he would never march another step, but 
 would lie down there and die. 
 
 The canoe was shortly sent over again, under tne manage- 
 ment of Joseph Delaunay, with further supplies. Prevost im- 
 mediately 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 im- 
 mediately. Finding the canoe putting off without him, he forced 
 himself aboard. As he drew near the opposite shore, and beheld 
 meat roasting before the fire, he jumped up, shouted, clapped his 
 hands, and danced in a delirium of joy, until he upset the canoe. 
 The poor wretch was swept away by the current and drowned, and 
 it was with 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 fur- 
 ther supply of meat to the opposite part}^ The canoe brought 
 back John Day, the Kentucky hunter, who came to join his for- 
 mer employer and commander, Mr. Crooks. Poor Bay, once so 
 active and vigorous, was now reduced to a condition even more 
 
EMERGE FROM THE MOUNTAINS. 307 
 
 feeble and emaciated than his companions. Mr. Crooks bad such 
 a value for the man, on account of his past services and faitliful 
 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 Baptistc Dubreuil, likewise remained 
 with Mr. Crooks. 
 
 Mr. Hunt left two horses with them, and a part of the car- 
 cass of the last that had been killed. This, he hoped, would 
 be sufficient to sustain them until they should reach the Indian 
 encampment. 
 
 One of the chief dangers attending the enfeebled condition 
 of Mr. .Crooks and his companions, was their being overtaken 
 by the Indians whose horses had been seized : though Mr. Hunt 
 hoped that he had guarded against any resentment on the part 
 of the savages, by leaving various articles in their lodge, more 
 than sufficient to compensate for the outrage he had been com- 
 pelled to commit. 
 
 Resuming his onward course, Mr. Hunt came up with his 
 people in the evening. The next day, December 13th, he beheld 
 several Indians, with three horses, on the opposite side of the 
 river, and after a time came to the two lodges which he had seen 
 on going down. Here he endeavored in vain to barter a rifle for 
 a horse, but again succeeded in effecting the purchase with an 
 old tin kettle, aided by a few beads. ' 
 
 The two succeeding days were cold and stormy ; the snow 
 was augmenting, and there was a good deal of ice running in the 
 river. Their road, however, was becoming easier ; they were 
 getting out of the hills, and finally emerged into the open coun- 
 try, after twenty days of fatigue, famine, and hardship of every 
 kind, in the ineffectual attempt to find a passage down the river. 
 
 They now encamped on a little willowed stream, running 
 
308 ASTORIA. 
 
 from tlio east, wliicli tliey had crossed on the 26th of November. 
 Here they found a dozen lodges of Shoshonies, recently arrived, 
 who informed them that had they persevered along the river, 
 they would have found their difficulties augment until they 
 became absolutely insurmountable. This intelligence added to 
 the anxiety of Mr. Hunt for the fate of Mr. M'Kenzie and his 
 people, who had kept on. 
 
 Mr. Hunt now followed up the little river, and encamped at 
 some lodges of Shoshonies, from whom he procured a couple 
 of horses, a dog, a few dried fish, and some roots and dried cher- 
 ries. Two or three days were exhausted in obtaining informa- 
 tion about the route, and what time it would take to get to the 
 Sciatogas, a hospitable tribe, on the west side of the mountains, 
 represented as having many horses. The replies were various, 
 but concurred in saying that the distance was great, and would 
 occupy from seventeen to twenty-one nights. Mr. Hunt then 
 tried to procure a guide ; but though he sent to various lodges 
 up and down the river, offering articles of great value in Indian 
 estimation, no one would venture. The snow they said was waist 
 deep in the mountains ; and to all his offers they shook their 
 headS; gaye a shiver, and replied, " we shall freeze ! we shall 
 freeze !" at the same time they urged him to remain and pass 
 the winter among them. 
 
 Mr. Hunt was in a dismal dilemma. To attempt the moun- 
 tains without a guide, would-be certain death to him and all his 
 people ; to remain there, after having already been so long on the 
 journey, and at such great expense, was worse to him, he said, 
 than " two deaths ' He now changed his tone with the Indians^ 
 charged them with deceiving him in respect to the mountains, 
 and talking with a '• forked tongue," or, in other words, with 
 lying. He upbraided them with their want of courage, and told 
 them they were women, to shrink from the perils of such a jour- 
 
CROSSING SNAKE RIVER. 303 
 
 ney. At length one of them, plc[iiecl by his taunts, or tempted 
 by his offers, agreed to be his guide ; for which he was to receive 
 a gun, a pistol, three knives, two horses, and a little of every 
 article in possession of the party ; a reward sufficient to make 
 him one of the wealthiest of his vagabond nation. 
 
 Once more, then, on the 21st of December, they set out upon 
 their Avayfaring, with newly excited spirits. Two other Indians 
 accompanied their guide, who led them immediately back to 
 Snake River, which they followed down for a short distance, in 
 yearch of some Indian rafts made of reeds, on which they might 
 cross. Finding none, Mr. Hunt caused a horse to be killed, and 
 a canoe to be made out of its skin. Here, on the opposite bank, 
 they saw the thirteen men of Mr. Crooks' party, who had con- 
 tinued up along the river. They told Mr. Hunt, across the 
 stream, that they had not seen Mr. Crooks, and the two men who 
 had remained with him, since the day ^lat he had separated from 
 them. 
 
 The canoe proving too small, another horse was killed, and 
 the skin of it joined to that of the first. Night came on before 
 the little bark had made more than two voyages. Being badly 
 made, it was taken apart and put together again, by the light of 
 the fire. The night was cold ; the men were weary and disheart- 
 ened with such varied and incessant toil and hardship. They 
 crouched, dull and drooping, around their fires ; many of them 
 began to express a wish to remain where they were for the win- 
 ter. Thd very necessity of crossing the river dismayed some of 
 them in their present enfeebled and dejected state. It was rapid 
 and turbulent, and filled with floating ice, and they remembered 
 ihat two of their comrades had already perished in its waters. 
 Others looked forward with misgivings to the long and dismal 
 journey through lonesome regions that awaited them, when they 
 filiould have passed this dreary flood. 
 
310 ASTORIA. 
 
 At an early hour of tlie morning, December 23cl, they began 
 to cross the river. Much ice had formed during the night, and 
 they were obliged to break it for some distance on each shore. 
 At length they all got over in safety to the west side ; and their 
 spirits rose on having achieved this perilous passage. Here they 
 were rejoined by the people of Mr. Crooks, who had with them 
 a horse and a dog, which they had recently procured. The poor 
 fcllo\vs were in the most squalid and emaciated state. Three of 
 them were so completely prostrated in strength and spirits, that 
 they expressed a wish to remain among the Snakes. Mr. Hunt, 
 therefore, gave them the canoe, that they might cross the river, 
 and a few articles, with which to procure necessaries, until they 
 should meet with Mr. Crooks. There was another man, named 
 Michael Carriere, who was almost equally reduced, but he deter- 
 mined to proceed with his comrades, who were now incorporated 
 with the party of Mr. Hunt. After the day's exertions they en- 
 camped together on the banks of the river. This was the last 
 night they were to spend upon its borders. More than eight 
 hundred miles of hard travelling, and many weary days, had it 
 cost them ; and the sufferings connected with it, rendered it 
 hateful in their remembrance, so that the Canadian voyageura 
 always spoke of it as "La maudite riviere enragee" — the ac* 
 cursed mad river ; thus coupling a malediction with its name. 
 
DEPARTURE FROM THE RIVER. 311 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 On the 24tli of JDecember, all tilings "being arranged, Mr. Hunt 
 turned his back upon the disastrous banks of Snake River, and 
 struck his course westward for the mountains. His party, being 
 augmented by the late followers of Mr. Crooks, amounted now to 
 thirty-two white men, three Indians, and the squaw and two chil- 
 dren of Pierre Dorion. Five jaded, half-starved horses were 
 laden with their luggage, and, in case of need, were to furnish 
 them with provisions. They travelled painfully about fourteen 
 miles a day, over plains and among hills, rendered dreary by oc- 
 casional falls of snow and rain. Their only sustenance was a 
 scanty meal of horse flesh once in four-and- twenty hours. 
 
 On the third day the poor Canadian, Carriere, one of the 
 famished party of Mr. Crooks, gave up in despair, and lying down 
 upon the ground declared he could go no further. Efforts were 
 made to cheer him up, but it was found that the poor fellow was 
 absolutely exhausted and could not keep on his legs. He was 
 mounted, therefore, upon one of the horses, though the forlorn 
 animal was in little better plight than himself 
 
 On the 28th, they came upon a small stream winding to the 
 north, through a fine level valley; the mountains receding on 
 each side. Here their Indian friends pointed out a chain of 
 woody mountains to the left, running north and south, and covered 
 with snow; over which they would have to pass. They kept 
 along the valley for twenty-one miles on the 29th, suffering much 
 from a continued fall of snow and rain, and being twice obliged 
 
312 ASTORIA. 
 
 to ford the icy stream. Early in the following morning tlio 
 squaw of Pierre Dorion, who had hitherto kept on without mur-- 
 muring or flinching, was suddenly taken in labor, and enriched 
 her husband with another child. As the fortitude and good con- 
 duct of the poor woman had gained for her the good-will of the 
 party, her situation caused concern and perplexity. Pierre, how- 
 ever, treated the matter as an occurrence that could soon bo 
 arranged and need cause no delay. He remained by his wife in 
 the camp, with his other children and his horse, and promised 
 soon to rejoin the main body, who proceeded on their march. 
 
 Finding that the little river entered the mountains, they 
 abandoned it, and turned off for a few miles among hills. Here 
 another Canadian, named La Bonte, gave out, and had to be 
 helped on horseback. As the horse was too weak to bear both 
 him and his pack, Mr. Hunt took the latter upon his own shoul- 
 ders. Thus, with difficulties augmenting at every step, they 
 urged their toilsome way among the hills half famished, and faint 
 at heart, when they came to where a fair valley spread out before 
 them of great extent, and several leagues in width, with a beauti- 
 ful stream meandering through it. A genial climate seemed to 
 prevail here, for though the snow lay upon all the mountains 
 within sight, there was none to be seen in the valley. The tra- 
 vellers gazed with delight upon this serene sunny landscape, but 
 their joy was complete on beholding six lodges of Shoshonies 
 pitched upon the borders of the stream, with a number of horses 
 and dogs about them. They all pressed forward with eagerness 
 and soon reached the camp. Here their first attention was to 
 detain provisions. A rifle, an old musket, a tomahawk, a tin ket- 
 tle, and a small quantity of ammunition soon procured them four 
 horses, three dogs, and some roots. Part of the live stock was 
 immediately killed, cooked with all expedition, and as promptly 
 devoured. A hearty meal restored every one to good spirits. In 
 
THE NEW YEAR. 313 
 
 the course of tlie following morning tlie Dorion family made its 
 reappearance. Pierre came trudging in the advance, followed 
 by his valued, though skeleton steed, on which was mounted his 
 squaw with the new-born infant in her arms, and her boy of two 
 years old, wrapped in a blanket and glung at her side. The 
 mother looked as unconcerned as if nothing had happened to 
 her ; so easy is nature in her operations in the wilderness, when 
 free from the enfeebling refinements of luxury, and the tamper- 
 ings and appliances of art. 
 
 The next morning ushered in the new year (1812). Mr. Hunt 
 was about to resume his march, when his men requested permis- 
 sion to celebrate the day. This was particularly urged by the 
 Canadian voyageurs, with whom new-year's day is a favorite festi- 
 val ; and who never willingly give up a holiday, under any cir- 
 cumstances. There was no resisting such an application ; so the 
 day was passed in repose and revelry ; the poor Canadians con- 
 trived to sing and dance in defiance of all their hardships ; and 
 there was a sumptuous new-yejir's banquet of dog's meat and 
 horse flesh. 
 
 After two days of welcome rest, the travellers addressed 
 themselves once more to their painful journey. The Indians of 
 the lodges pointed out a distant gap through which they must 
 pass in traversing the ridge of mountains. They assured them 
 that they would be but little incommoded by snow, and in three 
 days would arrive among the Sciatogas. Mr. Hunt, however, 
 had been so frequently deceived by Indian accounts of routes 
 and distances, that he gave but little faith to this information. 
 
 The travellers continued their course due west for five days, 
 crossing the valley and entering the mountains. Here the tra- 
 velling became excessively toilsome, across rough stony ridges, 
 p.nd amidst fallen trees. They were often knee deep in snow, 
 and sometimes in the hollows between the ridges sank up to 
 
 14 
 
514 ASTORIA. 
 
 their waists. The weather was extremely cold ; the sky covered 
 with clouds^ so that for days they had not a glimpse of the sun. 
 In traversing the highest ridge they had a wide but chilling 
 prospect over a wilderness of snowy mountains. 
 
 On the 6th of January, however, they had crossed the dividing 
 Bummit of the chain, and were evidently under the influence of a 
 milder climate. The snow began to decrease; the sun once 
 more emerged from the thick canopy of clouds, and shone 
 cheeringly upon them, and they caught a sight of what appeared 
 to be a plain, stretching out in the west. They hailed it as the 
 poor Israelites hailed the first glimpse of the promised land, for 
 they flattered themselves that this might be the great plain of 
 the Columbia, and that their painful pilgrimage might be drawing 
 to a close. 
 
 It was now five days since they had left the lodges of the 
 Shoshonies, during which they had come about sixty miles, and 
 their guide assured them that in the course of the next day they 
 would see the Sciatogas. 
 
 On the following morning, therefore, they pushed forward 
 with eagerness, and soon fell upon a small stream which led them 
 through a deep, narrow defile, between stupendous ridges. Here 
 among the rocks and precipices they saw gangs of that mountain- 
 loving animal, the black-tailed deer, and came to where great 
 tracks of horses were to be seen in all directions, made by the 
 Indian hunters. 
 
 The snow had entirely disappeared, and the hopes of soon 
 coming upon some Indian encampment induced Mr. Hunt to 
 press on. Many of the men, however, were so enfeebled that 
 they could not keep up with the main body, but lagged, at inter- 
 vals, behind ; and some of them did not arrive at the night 
 encampment. In the course of this day's march the recently 
 born child of Pierre Dorion died. 
 
A SCIATOGA CAMP. 315 
 
 The march was resumed early tlie next morning, without 
 waiting for the stragglers. The stream which they had followed 
 throughout the preceding day was now swollen by the influx of 
 another river ; the declivities of the hills were green and the 
 valleys were clothed with grass. At length the jovial cry was 
 given of " an Indian camp !" It was yet in the distance, in tho 
 bosom of the green valley, but they could perceive that it con- 
 sisted of numerous lodges, and that hundreds of horses were 
 grazing the grassy meadows around it. The prospect of abun- 
 dance of horse flesh diffused universal joy, for by this time the 
 whole stock of travelling provisions was reduced to the skeleton 
 steed of Pierre Dorion, and another wretched animal, equally 
 emaciated, that had been repeatedly reprieved during the journey. 
 
 A forced march soon brought the weary and hungry travel- 
 lers to the camp. It proved to be a strong party of Sciatogas 
 and Tus-che-pas. There were thirty-four lodges, comfortably 
 constructed of mats ; the Indians, too, were better clothed than 
 any of the wandering bands they had hitherto met on this side 
 of the Rocky Mountains. Indeed they were as well clad as the 
 generality of the wild hunter tribes. Each had a good bufi*alo 
 or deer skin robe ; and a deer skin hunting shirt and leggins. 
 Upwards of two thousand horses were ranging the pastures 
 around their encampment ; but what delighted Mr. Hunt was, 
 on entering the lodges, to behold brass kettles, axes, copper tea 
 kettles, and various other articles of civilized manufacture, which 
 showed that these Indians had an indirect communication with 
 the people of the sea-coast who traded with the whites. He 
 made eager inquiries of the Sciatogas, and gathered from them 
 that the great river (the Columbia,) was but two days' march 
 distant, and that several white people had recently descended it; 
 who he hoped might prove to be M'Lellan, M'Kenzie and their 
 companions. 
 
316 ASTORIA. 
 
 It was witli the utmost joy and tlie most profound gratitude 
 to heaven, that Mr. Hunt found himself and his hand of weary 
 and famishing wanderers, thus safely extricated from the most 
 perilous part of their long journey, and within the prospect of a 
 termination of their toils. All the stragglers who had lagged 
 behind arrived, one after another, excepting the poor Canadian 
 voyageur, Carriere. He had been seen late in the preceding 
 afternoon, riding behind a Snake Indian, near some lodges of that 
 nation, a few miles distant from the last night's encampment ; 
 and it was expected that he would soon make his appearance. 
 
 The first object of Mr. Hunt was to obtain provisions for his 
 men. A little venison of an indifferent quality, and some roots 
 were all that could be procured that evening ; but the next day 
 he succeeded in purchasing a mare and colt, which were immedi- 
 ately killed, and the cravings of the half-starved people in some 
 degree appeased. 
 
 For several days they remained in the neighborhood of these 
 Indians, reposing after all their hardships, and feasting upon 
 horse flesh and roots, obtained in subsecpent traffic. Many of 
 the people ate to such excess as to render themselves sick, others 
 were lame from their past journe}^ ; but all gradually recruited 
 in the repose and abundance of the valley. Horses were obtained 
 here much more readily, and at a cheaper rate, than among the 
 Snakes. A blanket, a knife, or a half pound of blue beads would 
 purchase a steed, and at this rate many of the men bought horses 
 for their individual use. 
 
 This tribe of Indians, who are represented as a proud-spirited 
 race, and uncommonly cleanly, never eat horses nor dogs, nor 
 would they permit the raw flesh of either to be brought into their 
 huts. They had a small quantity of venison in each lodge, but 
 Bet so high a price upon it that the white men, in their impover- 
 ished state, could not afford to purchase it. They hunted the 
 
UMATALLA RIVER. 317 
 
 deer on horseback ; '• ringing," or surrounding them, and running 
 tliem down in a circle. They were admirable horsemen, and their 
 weapons were bows and arrows, which they managed with great 
 dexterity. They were altogether primitive in their habits, and 
 seemed to cling to the usages of savage life, even when possessed 
 of the aids of civilization. They had axes among tliem, yet they 
 generally made use of a stone mallet wrought into the shape of 
 a bottle, and wedges of elk horn, in splitting their wood. Though 
 they might have two or three brass kettles hanging in their lodges, 
 yet they would frecjuently use vessels made of willow, for carry- 
 ing water, and would even boil their meat in them, by means of 
 hot stones. Their women w^ore caps of willow neatly worked and 
 figured. 
 
 As Carriere, the Canadian straggler, did not make his appear- 
 ance for two or three days after the encampment in the valley, 
 two men were sent out on horseback in search of him. They 
 returned, however, without success. The lodges of the Snake 
 Indians near which he had been seen were removed, and they 
 could find no trace of him. Several days more elapsed, yet 
 nothing was seen or heard of him, or of the Snake horseman, 
 behind whom he had been last observed. It was feared, there- 
 fore, that he had either perished through hunger and fatigue ; 
 had been murdered by the Indians ; or, being left to himself, 
 had mistaken some hunting tracks for the trail of the party, and 
 been led astray and lost. 
 
 The river on the banks of which they were encamped, emptied 
 into the Columbia, was called by the natives the Eu-o-tal-la, or 
 (Jmatalla, and abounded with beaver. In the course of their 
 sojourn in the valley which it watered, they twice shifted their 
 cam]), proceeding about thirty miles down its course, which waa 
 to the west. A heavy fall of rain caused the river to over- 
 flow its banks, dislodged them from their encampment, and 
 
318 ASTORIA. 
 
 drowned tlirce of tlieir liorses, wliicli were tethered in the low 
 ground. 
 
 Further conversation with the Indians satisfied them that 
 they were in the neighborhood of the Columbia. The number of 
 the white men who they said had passed down the river, agreed 
 with that of M'Lellan, M'Kenzic, and their companions, and 
 increased the hope of Mr. Hunt that they might have passed 
 through the wilderness with safety. 
 
 These Indians had a vague story that white men were coming 
 to trade among them ; and they often spoke of two great men 
 named Ke-Koosh and Jacquean, who gave them tobacco, and 
 smoked with them. Jacquean, they said, had a house somewhere 
 upon the great river. Some of the Canadians supposed they were 
 speaking of one Jactj[uean Finlay, a clerk of the Northwest Com- 
 pany, and inferred that the house must be some trading post on 
 one of the tributary streams of the Columbia. The Indians were 
 overjoyed when they found this band of white men intended to 
 return and trade with them. They promised to use all diligence 
 in collecting quantities of beaver skins, and no doubt proceeded 
 to make deadly war upon that sagacious, but ill-fated animal, 
 who, in general, lived in peaceful insignificance among his Indian 
 neighbors, before the intrusion of the white trader. On the 20th 
 of January, Mr. Hunt took leave of these friendly Indians, and 
 of the river on which they were encamped, and continued west- 
 ward. 
 
 At length, on the following day, the wayworn travellers lifted 
 up their eyes and beheld before them the long-sought waters of 
 the Columbia. The sight was hailed with as much transport as 
 if they had already reached the end of their pilgrimage ; nor can 
 we wonder at their joy. Two hundred and forty miles had they 
 marched, through wintry wastes and rugged mountains, since 
 leaving Snake Kiver ; and six months of perilous wayfaring had 
 
CROSS THE COLUMBIA 319 
 
 they experienced since their departure from the Arickara village 
 on the Missouri. Their whole route by land and water from 
 that point had been, according to their computation, seventeen 
 hundred and fifty-one miles, in the course of which they had 
 endured all kinds of hardships. In fact, the necessity of avoid- 
 ing the dangerous country of the Blackfeet had obliged them to 
 make a bend to the south, and to traverse a great additionul 
 extent of unknown wilderness. 
 
 The place where they struck the Columbia was some distance 
 below the junction of its two great branches, Lewis and Clarke 
 Rivers, and not far from the influx of the Wallah- Wallah. It 
 was a beautiful stream, three quarters of a mile wide, totally free 
 from trees ; bordered in some places with steep rocks, in others 
 with pebbled shores. 
 
 On the banks of the Columbia they found a miserable horde 
 of Indians, called Akai-chies, with no clothing but a scanty man- 
 tle of the skins of animals, and sometimes a pair of sleeves of 
 wolfs skin. Their lodges were shaped like a tent, and very light 
 and warm, being covered with mats of rushes ; beside which they 
 had excavations on the ground, lined with mats, and occupied by 
 the women, who were even more slightly clad than the men. 
 These people subsisted chiefly by fishing ; having canoes of a 
 rude construction, being merely the trunks of pine trees split and 
 hollowed out by fire. Their lodges were well stored with dried 
 salmon, and they had great quantities of fresh salmon trout of an 
 excellent flavor, taken at the mouth of the Umatalla ; of which 
 the travellers obtained a most acceptable supply. 
 
 Finding that the road was on the north side of the river, Mr. 
 Hunt crossed, and continued five or six days travelling rather 
 elowly down along its banks, being much delayed by the straying 
 of the horses, and the attempts made by the Indians to steal 
 them. They frequently passed lodges, where they obtained fish 
 
320 ASTORIA. 
 
 and dogs. At one place the natives had just returned from 
 hunting, and had brought hack a large quantity of elk and deer 
 meat, but asked so high a price for it as to be beyond the funds 
 of the travellers, so they had to content themselves with dog'a 
 flesh. They had by this time, however, come to consider it very 
 choice food, superior to horse flesh, and the minutes of the expe- 
 dition speak rather exultingly now and then, of their having 
 made a " famous repast," where this viand happened to be un- 
 usually plenty. 
 
 They again learnt tidings of some of the scattered members 
 of the expedition, supposed to be M'Kenzie, M'Lellan, and their 
 men, who had preceded them down the river, and had overturned 
 one of their canoes, by which they lost many articles. All these 
 floating pieces of intelligence of their fellow adventurers, who 
 had separated from them in the heart of the wilderness, they 
 received with eager interest. 
 
 The weather continued to be temperate, marking the superior 
 softness of the climate on this side of the mountains. For a 
 great part of the time, the days were delightfully mild and clear, 
 like the serene days of October, on the Atlantic borders. The 
 country in general, in the neighborhood of the river, was a con- 
 tinual plain, low near the water, but rising gradually ; destitute 
 of trees, and almost without shrubs or plants of any kind, ex- 
 cepting a few willow bushes. After travelling about sixty miles, 
 they came to where the country became very hilly and the river 
 made its way between rocky banks, and down numerous rapids. 
 The Indians in this vicinity were better clad and altogether in 
 more prosperous condition than those above, and, as Mr. Hunt 
 thought, showed their consciousness of ease by something like 
 eauciness of manner. Thus prosperity is apt to produce arro- 
 gance in savage as well as in civilized life. In botli conditions, 
 man is an animal that will not bear pampering. 
 
THE FALLS OF THE COLUMBIA. 821 
 
 From these people Mr. Hunt for the first time received vague, 
 but deeply interesting intelligence of that part of the enterprise 
 which had proceeded by sea to the mouth of the Columbia. 
 The Indians spoke of a number of vrhite men who had built a 
 large house at the mouth of the great river, and surrounded it 
 with palisades. None of them had been down to Astoria them- 
 selves ; but rumors spread widely and rapidly from mouth to 
 mouth among the Indian tribes, and are carried to the heart of 
 the interior, by hunting parties and migratory hordes. 
 
 The establishment of a trading emporium at such a point- 
 also, was calculated to cause a sensation to the most remote parts 
 of the vast Vv^ilderness beyond the mountains. It, in a manner, 
 struck the pulse of the great vital river, and vibrated up all its 
 tributary streams. 
 
 It is surprising to notice how well this remote tribe of savages 
 had learnt through intermediate gossips, the private feelings of 
 the colonists at Astoria : it shows that Indians are not the incu- 
 rious and indifferent observers that they have been represented. 
 They told Mr. Hunt that the white people at the large house had 
 been looking anxiously for many of their friends, whom they had 
 expected to descend the great river ; and had been in much 
 affliction, fearing that they w^ere lost. Now, however, the arrival 
 of him and his party would wipe away all their tears, and they 
 would dance and sing for joy. 
 
 On the 31st of January, Mr. Hunt arrived at the falls of the 
 Columbia, and encamped at the village of Wish-ram, situated at 
 the head of that dangerous pass of the river called " the long 
 u^itrows." 
 
 U* 
 
828 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Of the village of Wisli-ram, the aborigines' fishing mart of the 
 Columbia, we have given some account in an early chapter of 
 this work. The inhabitants held a traffic in the productions of 
 the fisheries of the falls, and their village was the trading resort 
 of the tribes from the coast and from the mountains. Mr. Hunt 
 found the inhabitants shrewder and more intelligent than any 
 Indians he had met with. Trade had sharpened their wits, 
 though it had not improved their honesty ; for they were a com- 
 munity of arrant rogues and freebooters. Their habitations com- 
 ported with their circumstances, and were superior to any the 
 travellers had yet seen west of the Rocky Mountains. In gen- 
 eral, the dwellings of the savages on the Pacific side of that great 
 barrier, were mere tents and cabins of mats, or skins, or straw, 
 the country being destitute of timber. In Wish-ram, on the con- 
 trary, the houses were built of wood, with long sloping roofs. 
 The floor was sunk about six feet below the surface ef the ground, 
 with a low door at the gable end, extremely narrow, and partly 
 sunk. Through this it was necessary to crawl, and then to de- 
 scend a short ladder. This inconvenient entrance was probably 
 for the purpose of defence ; there were loop-holes also under the 
 eaves, apparently for the discharge of arrows. The houses were 
 large, generally containing two or three families. Immediately 
 (vithin the door were sleeping places, ranged along the walls, like 
 berths in a ship ; and furnished with pallets of matting. These 
 extended along one-half of the building ; the remaining half waa 
 appropriated to the storing of dried fish. 
 
DISTRESSING INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 The tradiug operations of the inhabitants of Wish-ram had 
 given them a wider scope of information, and rendered their 
 village a kind of head-quarters of intelligence. Mr. Hunt was 
 able, therefore, to collect more distinct tidings concerning the 
 settlement of Astoria and its aifairs. One of the inhabitants had 
 been at the trading post established by David Stuart on the 
 Oakinagan, and had picked up a few words of English there. 
 From him, Mr. Hunt gleaned various particulars about that 
 establishment, as well as about the general concerns of the enter- 
 prise. Others repeated the name of Mr.'M'Kay, the partner 
 who perished in the massacre on board of the Tonquin, and gave 
 some account of that melancholy affair. They said, Mr. M'Kay 
 was a chief among the white men, and had built a great house at 
 the mouth of the river, but had left it and sailed away in a large 
 ship to the northward, where he had been attacked by bad In- 
 dians in canoes. Mr. Hunt was startled by this intelligence, 
 and made further inquiries. They informed him that the 
 Indians had lashed their canoes to the ship, and fought until 
 they killed him and all his people. This is another instance of 
 the clearness with which intelligence is transmitted from mouth 
 to mouth among the Indian tribes. These hidings, though but 
 partially credited by Mr. Hunt, filled his mind with anxious 
 forebodings. He now endeavored to procure canoes, in which to 
 descend the Columbia, but none suitable for the purpose were to 
 be obtained above the narrows ; he continued on, therefore, the 
 distance of Iv^elve miles, and encamped on the bank of the river. 
 The camp was soon surrounded by loitering savages, who went 
 prowling about, seeking what they might pilfer. Being baffled 
 by the vigilance of the guard, they endeavored to compass their 
 ends by other means. Towards evening, a number of warriors 
 entered the camp in ruffling style ; painted and dressed out as 
 if for battle, and armed with lances, bows and arrows, and 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 scalping knives. They informed Mr. Hunt that a party of 
 thirty or forty braves were coming up from a village below to 
 attack the camp and carry off the horses, but that they were 
 determined to stay with him, and defend him. Mr. Hunt re- 
 ceived them with great coldness, and, when they had finished 
 their story, gave them a pipe to smoke. He then called up all 
 hands, stationed sentinels in different quarters, but tjld them to 
 keep as vigilant an eye within the camp as without. 
 
 The warriors were evidently baffled by these precautions, and, 
 having smoked their pipe, and vapored off their valor, took their 
 departure. The farce, however, did not end here. After a little 
 while, the warriors returned, ushering in another savage, still 
 more heroically arrayed. This they announced as the chief of 
 the belligerent village, but as a great pacificator. His people 
 had been furiously bent upon the attack, and would have doubt- 
 less carried it into effect, but this gallant chief had stood forth 
 as the friend of white men, and had dispersed the throng by 
 his own authority and prowess. Having vaunted this signal 
 piece of service, there was a significant pause ; all evidently ex- 
 pecting some adev^uate reward. Mr. Hunt again produced the 
 pipe, smoked with -the chieftain and his worthy compeers ; but 
 made no further demonstrations of gratitude. They remained 
 about the camp all night, but at daylight returned, bafiled and 
 crest-fallen, to their homes, with nothing but smoke for their pains. 
 
 Mr. Hunt now endeavored to procure canoes, of which he saw 
 several about the neighborhood, extremely well made, with ele- 
 vated stems and sterns, some of them capable of carrying three 
 thousand pounds weight. He found it extremely difficult, how- 
 ever, to deal with these slippery people, who seemed much more 
 inclined to pilfer. Notwithstanding a strict guard maintained 
 round the camp, various implements were stolen, and several 
 horses carried off. Among the latter, we have to include the 
 
ARRIVAL AT ASTORIA. 325 
 
 loiig-cberislied steed of Pierre Dorion. From some wilful caprice, 
 tliat worthy pitched liis tent at some distance from the main body^ 
 and tethered his invaluable steed beside it, from whence it was 
 abstracted in the night, to the infinite chagrin and mortification 
 of the hybrid interpreter. 
 
 Having, after several days' negotiation, procured the requisite 
 number of canoes, Mr. Hunt would gladly have left this thievish 
 neighborhood, but was detained until the 5th of February by 
 violent head winds, accompanied by snow and rain. Even after 
 he was enabled to get under way, he had still to struggle against 
 contrary winds and tempestuous weather. The current of the 
 river, however, was in his favor ; having made a portage at the 
 grand rapid, the canoes met with no further obstruction, and, on 
 the afternoon of the 15th of February, swept round an interven- 
 ing cape, and came in sight of the infant settlement of Astoria. 
 After eleven months wandering in the wilderness, a great part of 
 the time over trackless wastes, where the sight of a savage vng- 
 wam was a rarity, we may imagine the delight of the poor 
 weather-beaten travellers, at beholding the embrj^o establishment, 
 v/ith its magazines, habitations, and picketed bulwarks, seated on 
 a high point of land, dominating a beautiful little bay, in which 
 was a trim-built shallop riding quietly at anchor. A shout of joy 
 burst from each canoe at the long-wished-for sight. They urged 
 their canoes across the bay, and pulled with eagerness for shore, 
 where all hands poured down from the settlement to receive and 
 welcome them. Among the first to greet them on their landing, 
 were some of their old comrades and fellow-sufi"erers, who, under 
 the conduct of Eeed, M'Lellan, and M'Kenzie, had parted from 
 them at the Caldron Linn. These had reached Astoria nearly a 
 month previously, and, judging from their own narrow escape 
 from starvation, had given up Mr. Hunt and his followers as lost. 
 Their greeting was the more warm and cordial. As to the Cana- 
 
326 ASTORIA. 
 
 diau voyageurs, tlieir mutual felicitations, as usual, were loud and 
 vociferous, and it was almost ludicrous to beliold these ancient 
 •' comrades " and '• confreres," hugging and kissing each other on 
 the I'iver bank. 
 
 When the first greetings were over, the different bands inter- 
 changed accounts of their several wanderings, after separating at 
 Snake Kiver ; we shall briefly notice a few of the leading particu- 
 lars. It will be recollected by the reader, that a small exploring 
 detachment had proceeded down the river, under the conduct of 
 Mr. John Keed, a clerk of the company : that another had set 
 off under M'Lellan, and a third in a different direction, under 
 M'Kenzie. After wandering for several days without meeting 
 with Indians, or obtaining any supplies, they came together for- 
 tuitously among the Snake Kiver mountains, some distance below 
 that disastrous pass or strait, which had received the appellation 
 of the Devil's Scuttle Hole. 
 
 When thus united, their party consisted of M'Kenzie, M'Lel- 
 lan, Reed, and eight men, chiefly Canadians. Being all in the 
 same predicament, without horses, provisions, or information of 
 any kind, they all agreed that it would be worse than useless to 
 return to Mr. Hunt and encumber him with so many starving 
 men, and that their only course was to extricate themselves as 
 soon as possible from this land of famine and misery, and make 
 the best of their way for the Columbia. They accordingly con- 
 tinued to follow the downward course of Snake River ; clamber- 
 ing rocks and mountains, and defying all the difficulties and dan- 
 gers of that rugged defile, which subsecj[uently, when the snows 
 had fallen, was found impassable by Messrs. Hunt and Crooks. 
 
 Though constantly near to the borders of the river, and for a 
 ^Tcat part of the time within sight of its current, one of their 
 greatest sufferings was thirst. The river had worn its way in a 
 deep channel through rocky mountains, destitute of brooks or 
 
ADVENTURES. 327 
 
 springs. Its banks were so liigli and precipitous, that tliere was 
 rarely any place where the travellers could get down to drink of 
 its waters. Frequently they suffered for miles the torments of 
 Tantalus ; water continually within sight, yet fevered with the 
 most parching thirst. Here and there they met with rain-water 
 collected in the hollows of the rocks, but more than once they 
 were reduced to the utmost extremity ; and some of the men 
 had recourse to the last expedient to avoid perishing. 
 
 Their sufferings from hunger wore equally severe. They 
 could meet with no game, and subsisted for a time on strips of 
 beaver skin, broiled on the coals. These were doled out in 
 scanty alio vv'ances, barely sufficient to keep up existence, and at 
 length failed them altogether. Still they crept feebly on, scarce 
 dragging one limb after another, until a severe snow-storm 
 brought them to a pause. To struggle against it, in their 
 exhausted condition, was impossible, so cowering under an im- 
 pending rock at the foot of a steep mountain, they prepared 
 themselves for that wretched fate which seemed inevitable. 
 
 At this critical juncture, when famine stared them in the 
 face, M'Lellan casting up his eyes, beheld an ahsahta, or bighorn, 
 sheltering itself under a shelving rock on the side of the hill 
 above them. Being in a more active plight than any of his com- 
 rades, and an excellent marksman, he set off to get within shot 
 of the a,nimal His companions watched his movements with 
 breathless anxiety, for their lives depended upon his success. 
 He made a cautious circuit ; scrambled up the hill with the 
 Litmost silence, and at length arrived, unperceived, within a 
 proper distance. Here levelling his rifle he took so sure an aim, 
 that the bighorn fell dead on the spot ; a fortunate circumstance, 
 for, to pursue it, if merely wounded, would have been impossible 
 in his emaciated state. The declivity of the hill enabled him to 
 
328 ASTORIA. 
 
 roll tlie carcass down to liis companions, wlio were too feeble to 
 climb tlie roclis. Tliey fell to work to cut it up ; yet exierted a 
 remarkable self-denial for men in tlieir starving condition, for 
 tbey contented themselves for the present with a soup made from 
 the bones, reserving the flesh for fature repasts. This 'providen- 
 tial relief gave them strength to pursue their journey, but they 
 were frequently reduced to almost equal straits, and it was only 
 the smallness of their party, requiring a small supply of pro- 
 visions, that enabled them to get through this desolate region 
 with their lives. 
 
 At length, after twenty-one days of toil and suffering, they 
 got through these mountains, and arrived at a tributary stream 
 of that branch of the Columbia called Lev/is Kiver, of which 
 Snake River forms the southern fork. In this neighborhood 
 they met with wild horses, the first they had seen west of the 
 Kocky Mountains. From hence they made their way to Lewis 
 River, where they fell in Vv'itli a friendly tribe of Indians, who 
 freely administered to their necessities. On this river they pro- 
 cured two canoes, in which they dropped down the stream to its 
 confluence with the Columbia, and then down that river to Asto- 
 ria, where they arrived haggard and emaciated, and perfectly 
 in rags. 
 
 Thus, all the leading persons of Mr. Hunt's expedition were 
 once more gathered together, excepting Mr. Crooks, of whose 
 safety they entertained but little hope, considering the feeble 
 condition in which they had been compelled to leave him in the 
 heart of the wilderness. 
 
 A day was now given up to jubilee, to celebrate the arrival of 
 Mr. Hunt and his companions, and the joyful meeting of the 
 various scattered bands of adventurers at Astoria. The colors 
 were hoisted ; the guns, great and small, were fired; there was 
 
FESTIVAL AT ASTORIA. . 329 
 
 a fecast of fish, of "beaver, and venison, which relished well with 
 men who had so long heen glad to revel on horse flesh and dogs' 
 moat ; a genial allowance of grog was issued, to increase the 
 general animation, and the festivities wound up, as usual, with a 
 grand dance at night, by the Canadian vojageurs.* 
 
 * The distance from St, Louis to Astoria, by the route travelled by Hiuit 
 and M'Kenzie, was upwards of thirty-five hundred miles, though in a direct 
 line, it does not exceed eighteen hundred. 
 
330 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The winter had passed away tranquilly at Astoria. The appre^ 
 hensions of hostility from the natives had subsided ; indeed, aa 
 the season advanced, the Indians for the most part had disap- 
 peared from the neighborhood, and abandoned the sea-coast, so 
 that, for want of their aid, the colonists had at times suffered con- 
 siderably for want of provisions. The hunters belonging to the 
 establishment made frequent and wide excursions, but with very 
 moderate success. There were some deer and a few bears to be 
 found in the vicinity, and elk in great numbers ; the country, 
 however, was so rough, and the w^oods so close and entangled, 
 that it was almost impossible to beat up the game. The preva- 
 lent rains of winter, also, rendered it difficult for the hunter to 
 keep his arms in order. The quantity of game, therefore, brought 
 in by the hunters was extremely scanty, and it was frequently 
 necessary to put all hands on very moderate allowance. Towards 
 spring, however, the fishing season commenced, — the season of 
 plenty on the Columbia, j^out the beginning of February, a 
 small kind of fish, about six inches long, called by the natives 
 the uthlecan, and resembling the, smelt, made its appearance at 
 the mouth of the river. It is said to be of delicious flavor, and 
 so fat as to burn like a candle, for which it is often used by the 
 natives. It enters the river in immense shoals, like solid col* 
 umns, often extending to the depth of five or more feet, and is 
 boooped up by the natives wiih small nets at the end of poles. 
 In this way they will soon fill a canoe, or form a great heap upon 
 the river banks These fish constitute a principal article of their 
 
THE UTHLECAN. 335 
 
 food ; tlie women drying tliem and stringing them on cords. As 
 tlie uthlecan is only found in tlic lower part of tlie river, the 
 arrival of it soon brought back the natives to the coast; who 
 again resorted to the factory to trade, and from that time fur- 
 nished plentiful supplies of fish. 
 
 The sturgeon makes its appearance in the river shortly after 
 the uthlecan, and is taken in diflferent ways, by the natives: 
 sometimes they spear it ; but oftener they use the hook and line, 
 and the net. Occasionally, they sink a cord in the river by a 
 heavy weight, with a buoy at the uj^per end, to keep it floating. 
 To this cord several hooks are attached by short lines, a few 
 feet distant from each other, and baited with small fish. This 
 apparatus is often set towards night, and by the next morning 
 several sturgeon will be found hooked by it ; for though a large 
 and strong fish, it makes but little resistance when ensnared. 
 
 The salmon, which are the prime fish of the Columbia, and as 
 important to the piscatory tribes as are the buffaloes to the 
 hunters of the prairies, do not enter the river until towards the 
 latter part of May, from which time, until the middle of August, 
 they abound, and are taken in vast quantities, either with the 
 spear or seine, and mostly in shallow water. An inferior species 
 succeeds, and continues from August to December. It is re- 
 markable for having a double row of teeth, half an inch long and 
 extremely sharp, from whence it has received the name of the 
 dog-toothed salmon. It is generally killed with the spear in 
 small rivulets, and smoked for winter provision. We have 
 noticed in a former chapter the mode in which the salmon are 
 taken and cured at the falls of the Columbia; and put up in 
 parcels for exportation. From these different fisheries of the 
 river tribes, the establishment at Astoria had to derive much of 
 its precarious supplies of provisions. 
 
 A year's residence at the mouth of the Columbia, and various 
 
332 ASTORIA. 
 
 expeditions iu the interior, had now given the Astorians some 
 idea of the country. The whole coast is described as remarkably 
 rugged and mountainous ; with dense forests of hemlock, spruce, 
 white and red cedar, cotton-wood, white oak, white and swamp 
 ash, willow, and a few walnut. There is likewise an undergrowth 
 of aromatic shrubs, creepers, and clambering vines, that render 
 the forests almost impenetrable ; together with berries of various 
 kinds, such as gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, both red 
 and yellow, very large and finely flavored whortleberries, cran- 
 berries, serviceberrics, blackberries, currants, sloes, and wild and 
 choke cherries. 
 
 Among the flowering vines is one deserving of particular 
 notice. Each flower is composed of six leaves or petals, about 
 three inches in length, of a beautiful crimson, the inside spotted 
 with white. Its leaves, of a fine green, are oval, and disposed 
 by threes. This plant climbs upon the trees without attaching 
 itself to them ; when it has reached the topmost branches, it 
 descends perpendicularly, and as it continues to grow, extends 
 from tree to tree, until its various stalks interlace the grove like 
 the rigging of a ship. The stems or trunks of this vine are 
 tougher and more flexible than willow, and are from fifty to one 
 hundred fathoms in length. From the fibres, the Indians manu- 
 facture baskets of such close texture as to hold water. 
 
 The principal quadrupeds that had been seen by the colonists 
 in their various expeditions, were the stag, fallow deer, hart, 
 black and grizzly bear, antelope, ahsahta, or bighorn, beaver, sea 
 and river otter, muskrat, fox, wolf, and panther, the latter ex- 
 tremely rare. The only domestic animals among the natives were 
 horses and dogs. 
 
 The country abounded with aquatic and land birds, such as 
 swans, wild geese, brant, ducks of almost every description, peli- 
 cansj herons, gullS; snipes, curlews, eagles, vultures, crows, raven?, 
 
CLIMATE WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS. 333 
 
 magpies, woodpeckers, pigeons, partridges, pheasants, grouse, and 
 a great variety of singing birds. 
 
 Tliere were few reptiles ; the only dangerous kinds were the 
 rattlesnake, and one striped with black, yellow, and white, about 
 four feet long. Among the lizard kind was one about nine or 
 ten inches in length, exclusive of the tail, and three inches ia 
 circumference. The tail vras round, and of the same length as 
 the body. The head was triangular, covered with small square 
 scales. The upper part of the body was likewise covered with 
 small scales, green, yellow, black, and blue. Each foot had five 
 toes, furnished with strong nails, probably to aid it in burrowing. 
 as it usually lived under ground on the plains. 
 
 A remarkable fact, characteristic of the country west of the 
 Rocky Mountains, is the mildness and equability of the climate. 
 That great mountain barrier seems to divide the continent into 
 different climates, even in the same degrees of latitude. The 
 rigorous winters and sultry summers, and all the capricious ine- 
 qualities of temperature prevalent on the Atlantic side of the 
 mountains, are but little felt on their western declivities. The 
 countries between them and the Pacific are blessed with milder 
 and steadier temperature, resembling the climates of parallel 
 latitudes in Europe. In the plains and valleys but little snow 
 falls throughout the winter, and usually melts while falling. It 
 rarely lies on the ground more than two days at a time, except 
 on the summits of the mountains. The winters ure rainy rather 
 than cold. The rains for five months, from the middle of Octo- 
 ber to the middle of March, are almost incessant, and often ac- 
 companied by tremendous thunder and lightning. The winds 
 prevalent at this season are from the south and southeast, which 
 usually bring rain. Those from the north to the southwest are 
 the harbingers of fair weather and a clear sky. The residue of 
 the year, from the middle of March to the middle of October, 
 
334 ASTORIA. 
 
 an interval of seven months, is serene and delightful. There is 
 scarcely any rain throughout this time, yet the face of the country 
 is kept fresh and verdant hy nightly dews, and occasionally by 
 humid fogs in the mornings. These are not considered jDrejudi- 
 cial to health, since both the natives and the whites sleep in the 
 open air with perfect impunity. While this equable and bland 
 temperature prevails throughout the lower country, the peaks 
 and ridges of the vast mountains by which it is dominated, are 
 covered with perpetual snow. This renders them discernible at 
 a great distance, shining at times like bright summer clouds, at 
 other times assuming the most aerial tints, and always forming 
 brilliant and striking features in the vast landscape. The mild 
 temperature prevalent throughout the country is attributed by 
 some to the succession of winds from the Pacific Ocean, extend- 
 ing from latitude twenty degrees to at least fifty degrees north. 
 These temper the heat of summer, so that in the shade no one is 
 incommoded by perspiration ; they also soften the rigors of wm- 
 ter, and produce such a moderation in the climate, that the inhab- 
 itants can wear the same dress throughout the year. 
 
 The soil in the neighborhood of the sea-coast is of a brown 
 color, inclining to red, and generally poor ; being a mixture of 
 clay and gravel. In the interior, and especially in the valleys 
 of the Eocky Mountains, the soil is generally blackish ; though 
 sometimes yellow. It is frequently mixed with marl, and with 
 marine substances in a state of decomposition. This kind of 
 soil extends to a considerable depth, as may be perceived in the 
 deep cuts made by ravines, and by the beds of rivers. The vege- 
 tation in these valleys is much more abundant than near the 
 coast ; in fact, it is in these fertile intervals, locked up between 
 rocky sierras, or scooped out from barren wastes, that population 
 must extend itself, as it were, in veins and ramifications, if ever 
 the regions beyond the mountains should beccme civilized. 
 
NATIVES OF THE COAST. 335 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 A BRIEF mention Las already been made of the tribes or hordes 
 existing about the lower part of the Columbia at the time of the 
 settlement ; a few more particulars concerning them may be 
 acceptable. The four tribes nearest to Astoria, and with whom 
 the traders had most intercourse, were, as has heretofore been 
 observed, the Chinooks, the Clatsops, the Wahkiacums, and the 
 Cathlamets. The Chinooks resided chiefly along the banks of a 
 river of the same name, running parallel to the sea-coast, through 
 a low country studded with stagnant pools, and emptying itself 
 into Baker's Bay, a few miles from Cape Disappointment. This 
 was the tribe over which Comcomly, the one-eyed chieftain, held 
 sway ; it boasted two hundred and fourteen fighting men. Their 
 chief subsistence was on fish, with an occasional regale of the 
 flesh of elk and deer, and of wild-fowl from the neighboring 
 ponds. 
 
 The Clatsops resided on both sides of Point Adams ; they 
 were the mere relics of a tribe which had been nearly swept off 
 by the smallpox, and did not number more than one hundred 
 and eighty fighting men. 
 
 The Wahkiacums, or Waak-i-cums, inhabited the north side 
 ot the Columbia, and numbered sixty-six warriors. They and 
 the Chinooks were originally the same ; but a dispute arising 
 about two generations previous to the time of the settlement be- 
 tween the ruling chief and his brother Wahkiacum, the latter 
 Beceded, and with his adherents formed the present horde which 
 
B3(i ASTORIA. 
 
 continues to go by his name. In this way new tribes or clans are 
 formed, and lurking causes of hostility engendered. 
 
 The Cathlamets lived opj^osite to the lower village of the 
 "VYahkiacums, and numbered ninety-four warriors. 
 
 These four tribes, or rather clans, have every appea.rance of 
 springing from the same origin, resembling each other in person 
 dress, language and manners. They are rather a diminutive race, 
 generally below five feet five inches, with crooked legs and thick 
 ankles ; a deformity caused by their passing so much of their 
 time sitting or squatting upon the calves of their legs, and their 
 heels, in the bottom of their canoes ; a favorite position, which 
 they retain, even when on shore. The women increase tl^e de- 
 formity by wearing tight bandages round the ankles, which pre- 
 vent the circulation of the blood, and cause a swelling of the 
 muscles of the leg. 
 
 Neither sex can boast of personal beauty. Their faces are 
 round, with small, but animated eyes. Their noses are broad and 
 flat at top, and fleshy at the end, with large nostrils. They have 
 wide mouths, thick lips, and short, irregular and dirty teeth. In- 
 deed, good teeth are seldom to be seen among the tribes west of 
 the Rocky Mountains, who live chiefly on fish. 
 
 In the early stages of their intercourse with white men, these 
 savages were but scantily clad. In summer time the men went 
 entirely naked ; in the winter and in bad weather, the men wore 
 a small rooe, reaching to the middle of the thigh, made of the 
 skms of animals, or of tne wool of the mountain sheep. Occa- 
 sionally, tney wore a kind of mantle of matting, to keep off the 
 Brain ; but, having thus protected the back and shoulders, they 
 left the rest of the body naked. 
 
 The women wore similar robes, though shorter, not reaching 
 below-the waist ; beside which, they had a kind of petticoat, or 
 fringe, reaching from the waist to the knee, formed of the fibres 
 
FEATURES AND DRESS. 337 
 
 of cedar bark, broken into strands, or a tissue of silk grass twisted 
 and knotted at the ends. This was the usual dress of the women 
 in summer ; should the weather be inclement, they added a vest 
 of skins, similar to the robe. 
 
 The men carefully eradicated every vestige of a beard, con- 
 Gidering it a great deformity. They looked with disgust at the 
 whiskers and well-furnished chins of the white men, and in de- 
 rision called them Long-beards. Both sexes, on the other hand, 
 cherished the hair of the head, which with them is generally black 
 and rather coarse. They allowed it to grow to a great length, 
 and were very proud and careful of it, sometimes wearing it 
 plaited, sometimes wound round the head in fanciful tresses. No 
 greater affront could be offered to them than to cut off their 
 treasured locks. 
 
 They had conical hats with narrow rims, neatly woven of bear 
 grass or of the fibres of cedar bark, interwoven with designs of 
 various shapes and colors ; sometimes merely squares and tri- 
 angles, at other times rude representations of canoes, with men 
 fishing and harpooning. These hats were nearly waterproof, and 
 extremely durable. 
 
 The favorite ornaments of the men were collars of bears' 
 claws, the proud trophies of hunting exploits ; while the women 
 and children wore similar decorations of elks' tusks. An inter- 
 course with the white traders, however, soon effected a change in 
 the toilets of both sexes. They became fond of arraying them- 
 selves in any article of civilized dress which they could procure, 
 and often made a most grotesq[ue appearance. They adapted 
 many articles of finery, also, to their own previous tastes. Both 
 Bcxes were, fond of adorning themselves with bracelets of iron, 
 brass or copper. They were delighted, also, with blue and white 
 beads, particularly the former, and wore broad tight bands of 
 them round the waist and ankles ; large roils of them round tho 
 
ASTORIA 
 
 neckj and pendants of tliem in tlie ears. The men, especially, 
 who, in savage life carry a passion for personal decoration farther 
 than the females, did not think their gala equipments complete, 
 unless they had a jewel of haiqua, or wampum, dangling at the 
 nose. Thus arrayed, their hair besmeared with fish oil, and their 
 bodies bedaubed with red clay, they considered themselves irre- 
 sistible. 
 
 Yv^hen on warlike expeditions, they painted their faces and 
 bodies in the most hideous and grotesque manner, according to 
 the universal practice of American savages. Their arms were 
 bows and arrows, spears, and war clubs. Some wore a corslet, 
 formed of pieces of hard wood, laced together with bear grass, so 
 as to form a light coat of mail, pliant to the body ; and a kind of 
 casque of cedar bark, leather, and bear grass, sufficient to protect 
 the head from an arrow or war club. A more complete article of 
 defensive armor was a buff jerkin or shirt of great thickness, 
 made of doublings of elk skin, and reaching to the feet, holes 
 being left for the head and arms. This was perfectly arrow 
 proof ; add to which, it was often endowed with charmed virtues, 
 by the spell? and mystic ceremonials of the medicine man, or 
 conjurer. 
 
 Of the peculiar custom, prevalent among these people, of flat- 
 tening the head, we have already spoken. It is one of those in- 
 stances of human caprice, like the crippling of the feet of females 
 in China, v/hich are quite incomprehensible. This custom pre- 
 vails principally among the tribes on the sea-coast, and about the 
 lower parts of the rivers. How far it extends along the coast we 
 are not able to ascertain. Some of the tribes, both north and 
 south of the Columbia, practise it ; but they all speak the Chinook 
 language, and probably originated from the same stock. As far 
 as we can learn, the remoter tribes, which speak an entirely differ- 
 ent language, do not flatten the head. This absurd custom de- 
 
OF THE AIR SPIRIT AND THE FIRE SPIRIT. 339 
 
 clineSj also, in receding from tlie shores of the Pacific ; few traces 
 of it are to be found among the tribes of the Eocky Mountains, 
 and after crossing the mountains it disappears altogether. Those 
 Indians, therefore, about the head waters of the Columbia, and in 
 the solitary mountain regions, who are often called Flatheads, 
 must not be supposed to be characterized by this deformity. It 
 is an appellation often given by the hunters east of the mountain 
 chain, to all the western Indians, excepting the Snakes. 
 
 The religious belief of these people was extremely limited and 
 confined ; or rather, in all probability, their explanations were but 
 little understood by their visitors. They had an idea of a bene- 
 volent and omnipotent spirit, the creator of all tilings. They 
 represent him as assuming various sliapes at pleasure, but gene 
 rally that of an immense bird. He usually inhabits the sun, but 
 occasionally wings his way through the aerial regions, and sees 
 all that is doing upon earth. Should any thing displease him, he 
 vents his wrath in terrific storms and tempests, the lightning being 
 the flashes of his eyes, and the thunder the clapping of his 
 wings. To propitiate his favor they offer to him annual sacrifices 
 of salmon and venison, the first fruits of their fishing and hunting. 
 
 Beside this aerial spirit they believe in an inferior one, who 
 inhabits the fire, and of whom they are in perpetual dread, as, 
 though he possesses ecjually the power of good and evil, the evil 
 is apt to predominate. They endeavor, therefore, to keep him in 
 good humor by frequent offerings. He is supposed also to havo 
 great influence with the winged spirit, their sovereign protector 
 and benefactor. They implore him, therefore, to act as their 
 interpreter, and j^rocure them all desirabable things, such as suc- 
 cess in fishing and hunting, abundance of game, fleet horses, obe- 
 dient v/ives, and male children. 
 
 These Indians have likewise their priests, or conjurers, or 
 medicine men, who pretend to be in the confidence of the deities, 
 
340 ASTORIA. 
 
 and the expounders and enforcers of their will. Each of these 
 medicine men has his idols carved in wood, representing the 
 spirits of the air and of the fire, under some rude and grotesque 
 form of a horse, a bear, a beaver, or other quadruped, or that of 
 bird or fish. These idols are hung round with amulets and 
 votive ofi'erings, such as beavers' teeth, and bears' and eagles' 
 claws. 
 
 When any chief personage is on his death-bed, or danger- 
 ously ill, the medicine men are sent for. Each brings with him 
 his idols, with which he retires into a canoe to hold a consulta- 
 tion. As doctors are prone to disagree, so these medicine men 
 have now and then a violent altercation as to the malady of the 
 patient, or the treatment of it. To settle this they beat their 
 idols soundly against each other ; whichever first loses a tooth 
 or a claw is considered as confuted, and his votary retires from 
 the field. 
 
 Polygamy is not only allowed, but considered honorable, and 
 the greater number of wives a man can maintain, the more impor- 
 tant is he in the eyes of the tribe. The first wife, however, takes 
 rank of all the others, and is considered mistress of the house. 
 Still the domestic establishment is liable to jealousies and cabals, 
 and the lord and master has much difiiculty in maintaining har- 
 mony in his jangling household. 
 
 In the manuscript from which we draw many of these par- 
 ticulars, it is stated that he who exceeds his neighbors in the 
 number of his wives, male children and slaves, is elected chief of 
 the village ; a title to office which we do not recollect ever before 
 to have met with. 
 
 Feuds are frequent among these tribes, but are not very 
 deadly. They have occasionally pitched battles, fought on ap 
 pointed days, and at specified places, which are generally the 
 banks of a rivulet The adverse parties post themselves on the 
 
AMUSEMENTS— GAMBLING— STEALING. 341 
 
 Opposite sides of tlie stream, and at sucli distances that tlie bat- 
 tles often last a long while before any blood is shed. The 
 number of killed and wounded seldom exceed half a dozen. 
 Should the damage be equal on each side, the war is considered 
 as honorably concluded ; should one party lose more than the 
 other, it is entitled to a compensation in slaves or other propertyj 
 otherwise hostilities are liable to be renewed at a future day. 
 They are much given also to predatory inroads into the terri- 
 tories of their enemies, and sometimes of their friendly neigh- 
 bors. Should they fall upon a band of inferior force, or upon 
 a village, weakly defended, they act with the ferocity of true 
 poltroons, slaying all the men, and carrying off the women and 
 children as slaves. As to the property, it is packed upon 
 horses which they bring with them for the purpose. They are 
 mean and paltry as warriors, and altogether inferior in heroic 
 qualities to the savages of the buffalo plains on the east side of 
 the mountains. 
 
 A great portion of their time is passed in revelr}^, music, 
 dancing, and gambling. Their music scarcely deserves the name ; 
 the instruments being of the rudest kind. Their singing is harsh 
 and discordant ; the songs are chief!}' extempore, relating to' 
 passing circumstances, the persons present, or any trifling object 
 that strikes the attention of the singer. They have several kinds 
 of dances, some of them lively and pleasing. The women are 
 rarely permitted to dance with the men, but form groups apart, 
 dancing to the same instrument and song. 
 
 They have a great passion for play, and a variety of games. 
 To such a pitch of excitement are they sometimes roused, that 
 they gamble away every thing they possess, even to their wives 
 and children. Thc}^ are notorious thieves, also, and proud of 
 their dexterity. He who is frecpentl}^ successful, gains much 
 applause and popularity ; but the clumsy thief, who is detected 
 
342 ASTORIA. 
 
 in some bungling attempt, is scoffed at and despised, and some- 
 times severely punished. 
 
 Sucli are a few leading characteristics of the natives in the 
 neighborhood of Astoria. They appear to us inferior in many 
 respects to the tribes east of the mountains, the bold rovers of 
 the prairies ; and to partake much of the Escjuimaux character ; 
 elevated in some degree by a more genial climate, and more 
 varied style of living. 
 
 The habits of traffic engendered at the cataracts of the Co- 
 lumbia, have had their influence along the coast. The Chinooka 
 and other Indians at the mouth of the river, soon proved them- 
 selves keen traders, and in their early dealings with the Astori- 
 ans, never hesitated to ask three times what they considered the 
 real value of an article. They were in(|uisitive, also, in the 
 extreme, and impertinently intrusive ; and were prone to indulge 
 in scoffing and ridicule, at the expense of the strangers. 
 
 In one thing, however, they showed superior judgment and 
 self-command to most of their race ; this was, in their abstinence 
 from ardent spirits, and the abhorrence and disgust with which 
 they regarded a drunkard. On one occasion, a son of Comcomly 
 had been induced to drink freely at the factory, and went home 
 in a state of intoxication, playing all kinds of mad pranks, until 
 he sank into a stupor, in which he remained for two days. The 
 old chieftain repaired to his friend, M'Dougal, with indignation 
 flaming in his countenance, and bitterly reproached him for 
 having permitted his son to degrade himself into a beast, and to 
 render himself an object of scorn and laughter to his slave. 
 
VARIOUS KXPEDITIONS SET ON FOOT. 843 
 
 CHAFIER XLI. 
 
 As the spring opened, the little settlement of Astoria was in agi- 
 tation, and prepared to send forth various expeditions. Several 
 important things were to be done. It was necessary to send a 
 supply of goods to the trading post of Mr. David Stuart, estab- 
 lished in the preceding autumn on the Oakinagan. The cache, 
 or secret deposit, made by Mr. Hunt at the Caldron Linn, was 
 likewise to be ^visited, and the mercliandise and other effects left 
 there, to be brought to Astoria. A third object of moment was 
 to send dispatches overland to Mr. Astor at New- York, inform- 
 ing him of the state of affairs at the settlement, and the fortunes 
 of the several expeditions. 
 
 The task of carrying supplies to Oakinagan was assigned 
 to Mr. Eobert Stuart, a spirited and enterprising young man, 
 nephew to the one who had established the post. The cache was 
 to be sought out by two of the clerks, named Russell Farnham 
 and Donald M'Grilles, conducted by a guide, and accompanied by 
 eight men, to assist in bringing home the goods. 
 
 As to the dispatches, they were confided to Mr. John Eeed, 
 the clerk, the same who had conducted one of the exploring 
 detachment! of Snake Kiver. He was now to trace back his way 
 across the mountains by the same route by which he had come, 
 with no other companions or escort than Ben Jones, the Ken- 
 tucky hunter, and two Canadians. As it was still hoped that 
 Mr. Crooks might be in existence, and that Mr. Reed and hia 
 party might meet with him in the course of their route, tlley 
 
344 ASTORIA. 
 
 were cliarged with a small supply of goods and provisions, to aid 
 that gentleman on his way to Astoria. 
 
 When the expedition of Reed was made known, Mr. M'Lellan 
 announced his determination to accompany it. He had long 
 been dissatisfied with the smallness of his interest in the copart- 
 nership, and had requested an additional number of shares ; his 
 request not being complied with, he resolved to abandon the 
 company. M'Lellan was a man of a singularly self-willed and 
 decided character, with whom persuasion was useless ; he was 
 permitted, therefore, to take his own course without opposition. 
 
 As to Keed, he set about preparing for his hazardous journey 
 with the zeal of a true Irishman. He had a tin case made, in 
 which the letters and papers addressed to Mr. Astor were care- 
 fully soldered up. This case he intended to strap upon his 
 shoulders, so as to bear it about with him, sleeping and waking, 
 in all changes and chances, by land or by water, and never to 
 part with it but with his life ! 
 
 As the route of these several parties would be the same for 
 nearly four hundred miles up the Columbia, and within that 
 distance would lie through the piratical pass of the riipids, and 
 among the freebooting tribes of the river, it was thought advisa- 
 ble to start about the same time, and to keep together. Accord- 
 ingly, on the 22d of March, they all set off, to the number of 
 seventeen men, in two canoes ; — and here we cannot but pause to 
 notice the hardihood of these several expeditions, so insignificant 
 in point of force, and severally destined to traverse immense wil- 
 dernesses, where larger parties had experienced so much danger 
 and distress. "When recruits were sought in the preceding year 
 among experienced hunters and voyageurs at Montreal and St. 
 Louis, it was considered dangerous to attempt to cross the Rocky 
 Mountains with less than sixty men ; and yet here we find Reed 
 ready to push his way across those barriers with merely three 
 
THE PIRATICAL PASS. 345 
 
 companions. Such is the fearlessness, the insensibility to clan- 
 ger, which men acquire by the habitude of constant risk. The 
 mind, like the body, becomes callous by exposure. 
 
 The little associated band proceeded up the river,, under the 
 command of Mr. Robert Stuart, and arrived early in the month 
 of April at the Long Narrows, that notorious plundering place. 
 Here it was necessary to unload the canoes, and to transport 
 both them and their cargoes to the head of the Narrows by land. 
 Their party was too few in number for the purpose. They were 
 obliged, therefore, to seek the assistance of the Cathlasco Indians, 
 who undertook to carry the goods on their horses. Forward 
 then they set, the Indians with their horses well freighted, and 
 the first load convoyed by Eeed and five men, well armed ; the 
 gallant Irishman striding along at the head, w^ith his tin case of 
 dispatches glittering on his back. In passing, however, through 
 a rocky and intricate defile, some of the frcebooting vagrants 
 turned their horses up a narrow path and galloped off, carrying 
 with them two bales of goods, and a number of smaller articles. 
 To follow them was useless ; indeed, it was with much ado that 
 the convoy got into port with the residue of the cargoes ; for 
 some of the guards were pillaged of their knives and pocket 
 handkerchiefs, and the lustrous tin case of Mr. John Reed was 
 in imminent jeopardy. 
 
 Mr. Stuart heard of these depredations, and hastened forward 
 to the relief of the convoy, but could not reach them before dusk, 
 by which time they had arrived at the village of Wish-ram, 
 already noted for its great fishery, and the knavish propensities 
 of its inhabitants. Here they found themselves benighted in a 
 strange place, and surrounded by savages bent on pilfering, if 
 not upon open robbery. Not knowing what active course to take, 
 they remained under arms all night, without closing an eye, and 
 at the very first peep of dawn, when objects were yet scarce 
 
 15* 
 
346 ASTORIA. 
 
 visible, every tiling was hastily embarked, and, Trithout seeking 
 to recover the stolen effects, they pushed off from shore ; " glad 
 to hid adieu, ' as they said, " to this abominable nest of mis- 
 creants." 
 
 The worthies of Wish-ram, however, were not disposed to 
 part so easily with their visitors. Their cupidity had been 
 quickened by the plunder which they had already taken, and 
 their confidence increased by the imj^unity with which their 
 outrage had passed. They resolved, therefore, to take further 
 toll of the travellers, and, if possible, to capture the tin case of 
 dispatches ; vv^hich shining conspicuously from afar, and being 
 guarded by John Reed with such especial care, must, as they 
 supposed, be " a great medicine." 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Stuart, and his comrades had not proceeded 
 far in the canoes, when they beheld the whole rabble of Wish-ram 
 stringing in groups along the bank, whooping and yelling, and 
 gibbering in their v/ild jargon, and when they landed below the 
 falls, they were surrounded by upwards of four hundred of these 
 river rufiians, armed with bows and arrows, war clubs, and other 
 savage weapons. These now pressed forward, with offers to 
 carry the canoes and effects up the portage. Mr. Stuart declined 
 forwarding the goods, alleging the lateness of the hour ; but, to 
 keep them in good humor, informed them, that, if they conducted 
 themselves well, their offered services might probably be accepted 
 in the morning ; in the meanwhile, he suggested that they might 
 carry up the canoes. They accordingly set off with the two 
 canoes on their shoulders, accompanied by a guard of eight men 
 well armed. 
 
 When arrived at the head of the falls, the mischievous spirit 
 of the savages broke out, and they wore on the point of destroy- 
 ing the canoes, doubtless with a viev/ to impede the white men 
 from carrying forward their goods, and laying them open to fur- 
 
PORTAGE AT THE FALLS. 347 
 
 tlier pilfering. Tliej were with some difficulty 23revented from 
 committing this outrage by the interference of an old man, who 
 a]3peared to have authority among them ; and, in consequence of 
 his harangue, the whole of the hostile hand, with the exception 
 of about fifty, crossed to the north side of the river, where they 
 lay in wait, ready for further mischief 
 
 In the meantime, Mr. Stuart, who had remained at the foot 
 of the falls with the goods, and who knew that the proffered 
 assistance of the savages was only for the purpose of having an 
 opportunity to plunder, determined, if possible, to steal a march 
 upon them, and defeat their machinations. In the dead of the 
 night, therefore, about one o'clock, the moon shining brightly, he 
 roused his party, and proposed that they should endeavor to 
 transport the goods themselves, above the falls, before the sleep- 
 ing savages could be aware of their operations. All hands sprang 
 to the work with zeal, and hurried it on in the hope of getting 
 all over before daylight. Mr. Stuart went forward with the first 
 loads, and took his station at the head of the portage, while Mr. 
 Reed and Mr. M'Lelian remained at the foot to forward the 
 remainder. 
 
 The day dawned before the transportation was completed. 
 Some of the fifty Indians who had remained on the south side of 
 the river, perceived what was going on, and, feeling themselves 
 too weak for an attack, gave the alarm to those on the opposite 
 side, upwards of a hundred of whom embarked in several largo 
 canoes. Two loads of goods yet remained to be brought up. Mr 
 Stuart dispatched some of the people for one of the loads, with 
 a recpest to Mr. Pveed to retain with him as many men as he 
 thought necessary to guard the remaining load, as he suspected 
 hostile intentions on the part of the Indians. Mr. Reed, how- 
 ever, refused to retain any of them, saying that M'Lelian and 
 himself were sufficient to protect the small quantity that remained. 
 
348 ASTORIA. 
 
 The men accordingly departed witli tlie load, while Reed and 
 M'Lellan continued to mount guard over the residue. By this 
 time, a number of the canoes had arrived from the opposite side. 
 As they approached the shore, the unlucky tin box of John E-eed^ 
 shining afar like the brilliant helmet of Euryalus, caught their 
 eyes. No sooner did the canoes touch the shore, than they leaped 
 forward on the rocks, set up a war-whoop, and sprang forward to 
 secure the glittering prize. Mr. M'Lellan, who was at the river 
 bank, advanced to guard the goods, when one of the savages at- 
 tempted to hoodwink him with his buffalo robe with one hand, and 
 to stab him with the other. M'Lellan sprang back just far enough 
 to avoid the blow, and raising his rifle, shot the ruffian through 
 the heart. 
 
 In the meantime. Reed, who with the want of forethought of 
 an Irishman, had neglected to remove the leathern cover from 
 the lock of his rifle, was fumbling at the fastenings, when he re- 
 ceived a blow on the head with a war club that laid him senseless 
 on the ground. In a twinkling he was stripped of his rifle and 
 pistols, and the tin box, the cause of all this onslaught, was borne 
 off in triumph. 
 
 At this critical juncture, Mr. Stuart, who had heard the war- 
 whoop, hastened to the scene of action with Ben Jones, and seven 
 others of the men. When he arrived. Reed was weltering in his 
 blood, and an Indian standing over him and about to dispatch 
 him with a tomahawk. Stuart gave the word, when Ben Jones 
 levelled his rifle, and shot the miscreant on the spot. The men 
 then gave a cheer, and charged upon the main body of the 
 savages, who took to instant flight. Reed was now raised from 
 the ground, and borne senseless and bleeding to the upper end 
 of the portage. Preparations were made to launch the canoes 
 and embark all in haste, when it was found that they were too 
 leaky to be put in the water, and tliat the oars had been left at 
 
AN INDIAN AJMBUSH. 343 
 
 the foot of the falls. A scene of confusion now ensued. The 
 Indians were whooping and yelling, and running about like 
 fiends. A panic seized upon the men, at being thus suddenly 
 checked, the hearts of some of the Canadians died within them, 
 and two young men actually fainted away. The moment they 
 recovered their senses, Mr. Stuart ordered that they should be 
 deprived of their arms, their under garments taken off, and that 
 a piece of cloth should be tied round their waists, in imitation of 
 a squaw ; an Indian punishment for cowardice. Thus equipped, 
 they were stowed away among the goods in one of the canoes. 
 This ludicrous affair excited the mirth of the bolder spirits, even 
 in the midst of their perils, and roused the pride of the waver- 
 ing. The Indians having crossed back again to the north side, 
 order was restored, some of the hands were sent back for the 
 oars, others set to work to calk and launch the canoes, and in a 
 little while all were embarked and were continuing their voyage 
 along the southern shore. 
 
 No sooner had they departed, than the Indians returned to 
 the scene of action, bore off their two comrades, who had been 
 shot, one of whom was still living, and returned to their village. 
 Here they killed two horses ; and drank the hot blood to give 
 fierceness to their courage. They painted and arrayed themselves 
 hideously for battle ; performed the dead dance round the slain, 
 and raised the war song of vengeance. Then mounting their 
 horses, to the number of four hundred and fifty men, and bran- 
 dishing their weapons, they set off along the northern bank of 
 the river, to get ahead of the canoes, lie in wait for them, and 
 take a terrible revenge on the white men. 
 
 They succeeded in getting some distance above the canoes 
 without being discovered, and were crossing the river to post 
 themselves on the side along which the white men were coasting, 
 when they were fortunately descried. Mr. Stuart and his com- 
 
350 ASTORIA. 
 
 panions were immediately on tlie alert. As they drew near to 
 the place where the savages had crossed, they observed them 
 posted among steep and overhanging rocks, close along which, the 
 canoes would have to pass. Finding that the enemy had the 
 advantage of the ground, the v/hites sto]3ped short when within 
 five hundred yards of them, and discharged and reloaded their 
 pieces. They then made a fire, and dressed the wounds of Mr. 
 Keed, who had received five severe gashes in the head. This 
 being done, they lashed the canoes together, fastened them to a 
 rock at a small distance from the shore, and there awaited tho 
 menaced attack. 
 
 They had not been long posted in this manner, when they saw 
 a canoe appi-oaching. It contained the war-chief of the tribe, and 
 three of his principal warriors. He drew near, and made a long 
 harangue, in which he informed them that they had killed one 
 and wounded another of his nation ; that the relations of the 
 slain cried out for vengeance, and he had been compelled to lead 
 them to fight. Still he wished to spare unnecessary bloodshed, 
 he proposed, therefore, that Mr. Reed, who, he observed, was lit- 
 tle better than a dead man, might be given up to be sacrificed to 
 the manes of the deceased warrior. This would appease the fury 
 of his friends ; the hatchet would then be buried, and all thence- 
 forward would be friends. The answer was a stern refusal and a 
 defiance, and the war-chief paw that the canoes were well pre- 
 pared for a vigorous defence. He withdrew, therefore, and re- 
 turning to his warriors among the rocks held long deliberationa 
 Blood for blood is a principle in Indian equity and Indian honor ; 
 but though the inhabitants of Wish-ram were men of war, they 
 were likewise men of traffic, and it was suggested that honor for 
 once might give way to profit. A negotiation was accordingly 
 opened with the white men, and after some diplomacy, the matter 
 was compromised for a blanket to cover the dead, and some to- 
 
THE EXPEDITION ABANDONED. 361 
 
 "bacco to Ibe smoked by tlie liviug. This being granted, tlie heroes 
 of Wish-ram crossed the river once more, returned to their vil- 
 lage to feast upon the horses v/hose blood they had so vain- 
 gloriously drunk, and the travellers pursued their voyage without 
 further molestation. 
 
 The tin case, however, containing the important dispatches 
 for New- York, was irretrievably lost ; the very precaution taken 
 by the worthy Hibernian to secure his missives, had, by render- 
 ing them conspicuous, produced their robbery. The object of 
 his overland journey, therefore, being defeated, he gave up the 
 expedition. The whole party repaired with Mr. Robert Stuart 
 to the establishment of Mr. David Stuart, on the Oakinagan 
 River. After remaining here tvv'o or three days, they all set out on 
 their return to Astoria, accompanied by Mr. David Stuart. This 
 gentleman had a large quantity of beaver skins at his establish- 
 ment, but did not think it prudent to take them vath him, fearing 
 the levy of ''black mail" at the foils. 
 
 On their way down, when below the forks of the Columbia, 
 they were hailed one day from the shore in English. Look- 
 ing around, they descried two wretched men, entirely naked. 
 They pulled to shore ; the men came up and made themselves 
 known. They proved to be Mr. Crooks and his faithful follower, 
 John Day. 
 
 The reader will recollect that Mr. Crooks, with Day and four 
 Canadians, had been so reduced by fiimine and fatigue, that Mr. 
 Hunt was obliged to leave them, in the month of December, on 
 the banks of the Snake Ptiver. Their situation was the more 
 critical, as they were in the neighborhood of a band of Shosho- 
 nies, whose horses had been forcibly seized by Mr. Hunt's party 
 for provisions. Mr. Crooks remained here twenty days, detained 
 by the extremely reduced state of John Day, who was utterly 
 unable to travel, and whom he would not abandon, as Day had 
 
352 ASTORIA. 
 
 been in his employ on tlie Missouri, and had always proved him- 
 self most faithful. Fortunately the Shoshonies did not offer to 
 molest them. They jiad never before seen white men, and seemed 
 to entertain some superstitions with regard to them, for, though 
 they would encamp near them in the daytime, they would move 
 off with their tents in the night ; and finally disappeared, without 
 taking leave. 
 
 When Day was sufficiently recovered to travel, they kept 
 feebly on, sustaining themselves as well as they could, until in 
 the month of February, when three of the Canadians, fearful of 
 perishing with want, left Mr. Crooks on a small river, on the 
 road by which Mr. Hunt had passed in quest of Indians. Mr. 
 Crooks followed Mr. Hunt's track in the snow for several days, 
 sleeping as usual in the open air, and suffering all kinds of hard- 
 ships. At length, coming to a low prairie, he lost every ap- 
 pearance of the '• trail," and wandered during the remainder of 
 the winter in the mountains, subsisting sometimes on horse meat, 
 sometimes on beavers and their skins, and a part of the time 
 on roots. 
 
 About the last of March, the other Canadian gave out, and 
 was left with a lodge of Shoshonies ; but Mr. Crooks and John 
 Day still kept on, and finding the snow sufficiently diminished, 
 undertook, from Indian information, to cross the last mountain 
 ridge. They happily succeeded, and afterwards fell in with the 
 Wallah-Wallahs, a tribe of Indians inhabiting the banks of a 
 river of the same name, and reputed as being frank, hospitable 
 and sincere. They proved worthy of the character, for they 
 received the poor wanderers kindly, killed a horse for them to 
 eat, and directed them on their way to the Columbia. They 
 struck the river about the middle of April, and advanced down 
 it one hundred miles, until they came within about twenty miles 
 of the falls. 
 
ARRIVAL AT ASTORIA. 353 
 
 Here tliej met witli some of the " chivalry " of that noted 
 pass, who received them in a friendly way, and set food hefore 
 them ; but, while they were satisfying their hunger, perfidiously 
 seized their rifles. They then stripped them naked, and drove 
 them off, refusing the entreaties of Mr. Crooks for a flint and 
 steel of which they had robbed him ; and threatening his life if 
 he did not instantly depart. 
 
 In this forlorn plight, still worse off than before, they re- 
 newed their wanderings. They now sought to find their way 
 back to the hospitable Wallah- Wallahs, and had advanced eighty 
 miles along the river, when fortunately, on the very morning that 
 they were going to leave the Columbia, and strike inland, the 
 canoes of Mr. Stuart hove in sight. 
 
 It is needless to describe the joy of these poor men at once 
 more finding themselves among countrymen and friends, or of 
 the honest and hearty welcome with which they were received by 
 their fcllov/ adventurers. The whole party now continued down 
 the river, passed all the dangerous places without interruption, 
 and arrived safely at Astoria on the 11 th of May. 
 
S54 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Having traced the fortunes of the two expeditions by sea and 
 land to the mouth of the Columbia, and presented a view of affairs 
 at Astoria, we will return for a moment to the master spirit of 
 the enterprise, who regulated the springs of Astoria, at his resi- 
 dence in New- York. 
 
 It will be remembered, that a part of the plan of Mr. Astor was 
 to furnish the Kussian fur establishment on the northwest coast 
 with regular supplies, so as to render it independent of those 
 casual vessels which cut up the trade and supplied the natives 
 with arms. This plan had been countenanced by our own gov- 
 ernment, and likewise by Count Pahlen, the Russian minister at 
 Washington. As its views, however, were important and exten- 
 sive, and might eventually affect a wide course of commerce, Mr. 
 Astor was desirous of establishing a comjDlcte arrangement on 
 the subject with the Russian American Fur Company, under the 
 sanction of the Russian government. For this purpose, in March, 
 1811, he dispatched a confidential agent to St. Petersburgh, fully 
 empowered to enter into the requisite negotiations. A passage 
 was given to this gentleman by the government of the United 
 States, in the John Adams, one of its armed vessels, bound to a 
 European port. 
 
 The next step of Mr. Astor was, to dispatch the annual ship 
 contemplated on his general plan. He had as yet heard nothing 
 of the success of the previous expeditions, and had to proceed 
 upon the presumption that every thing had been effected accord- 
 
FITTING OUT OF- THE BEAVER. 355 
 
 ing to his instructions. Ho accordingly fitted out ca fine &liip of 
 four hundred and ninety tons, called the Beaver, and freighted 
 her with a valuable cargo destined for the factory, at the mouth 
 of the Columbia, the trade along the coast, and the supply of the 
 Ftussian establishment. In this ship, embarked a reinforcement^ 
 consisting of a partner, five clerks, fifteen American laborers, and 
 six Canadian voyageurs. In choosing his agents for his first ex- 
 pedition, Mr. Astor had been obliged to have recourse to British 
 subjects experienced in the Canadian fur trade ; henceforth it was 
 his intention, as much as possible, to select Americans, so as to 
 secure an ascendency of American influence in the management 
 of the company, and to make it decidedly national. 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. John Clarke, the partner, who took the 
 lead in the present expedition, was a native of the United 
 States, though he liad passed much of his life in the northwest, 
 having been employed in the fur trade since the age of sixteen. 
 Most of the clerks were young gentlemen of good connections 
 in the American cities, some of whom embarked in the hope 
 of gain, others through the mere spirit of adventure incident 
 to youth. 
 
 The instructions given by Mr. Astor to Captain Sowle, the 
 commander of the Beaver, were, in some respects, hypothetical, 
 in consequence of the uncertainty resting upon the previous steps 
 of the enterprise. 
 
 He was to touch at the Sandwich Islands, inquire about the 
 fortunes of the Tonquin, and whether an establishment had been 
 formed at the mouth of the Columbia. If so, he was to take as 
 many Sandwich Islanders as his ship would accommodate, and 
 proceed thither. On arriving at the river, ho was to observe great 
 caution, for even if an establishment should have been formed, it 
 might have fallen into hostile hands. He was, therefore, to j)ut 
 in as if by casualty cr distress, to give himself out as a coasting 
 
356 ASTORIA. 
 
 trader, and to say nothing about his ship being owned by Mr. 
 Astor, until ho had ascertained that every thing was right. In 
 that case, he was to hind such part of his cargo as was intended 
 for the establishment, and to proceed to New Archangel with 
 the supplies intended for the Russian post at that place, where 
 he could receive peltries in payment. With these he was to 
 return tc Astoria ; take in the furs collected there, and, having 
 completed his cargo by trading along the coast, was to proceed 
 to Canton. The captain received the same injunctions that had 
 been given to Captain Thorn of the Tonc[uin, of great caution 
 and circumspection in his intercourse with the natives, and 
 that he should not permit more than one or two to be on board 
 at a time. 
 
 The Beaver sailed from NcAV-York on the 10th of October, 
 1811, and reached the Sandwich Islands without any occurrence 
 of moment. Here a rumor was heard of the disastrous fate of 
 the' Tonquin. Deep solicitude was felt by every one on board 
 for the fate of both expeditions, by sea and land. Doubts were 
 entertained whether any establishment had been formed at the 
 mouth of the Columbia, or whether any of the company would 
 be found, there. After much deliberation, the captain took 
 twelve Sandwich Islanders on board, for the service of the 
 factory, should there be one in existence, and proceeded on his 
 voyage. . 
 
 On the 6th of May, ho arrived off the mouth of the Colum- 
 bia, and running as near as possible, fired two signal-guns. -^No 
 answer was returned, nor was there any signal to be descried. 
 Night coming on, the ship stood out to sea, and every heart 
 drooped as the land faded away. On the following morning they 
 again ran in witliin four miles of the shore, and fired other signal 
 guns, but still without rcpl}^ A boat was then dispatched, to 
 sound the channel, and attempt an entrance ; but returned with- 
 
SIGNAL GUNS- SIGNAL FLAG 357 
 
 out success, tliere being a tremendous swell, and breakers. Sig- 
 nal guns were fired again in the evening, but equally in vain, 
 and once more the ship stood oif to sea for the night. The cap- 
 tain now gave up all hope of finding any establishment at the 
 place, and indulged in the most gloomy apprehensions. He 
 feared his predecessors had been massacred before they had 
 reached their place of destination ; or if they should have <3rected 
 a factory, that it had been surprised and destroyed by tho 
 natives. 
 
 In this moment of doubt and uncertainty, Mr. Clarke an- 
 nounced his determination, in case of the worst, to found an 
 establishment with the present party, and all hands bravely en- 
 gaged to stand by him in the undertaking. The next morning 
 the ship stood in for the third time, and fired three signal gunF", 
 but with little hope of reply. To the great joy of the crew, three 
 distinct guns were heard in answer. The apprehensions of all 
 but Captain Sowle were now at rest. That cautious commander 
 recollected the instructions given him by Mr. Astor, and deter- 
 mined to proceed with great circumspection. He was well aware 
 pf Indian treachery and cunning. It was not impossible, he ob- 
 served, that these cannon might have been fired by the savages 
 themselves. They might have surprised the fort, massacred its 
 inmates ; and' these signal guns might only be decoys to lure him 
 across the bar, that they might have a chance of cutting him ofi', 
 and seizing his vessel. 
 
 At length a white flag was descried hoisted as a signal on 
 Cape Disappointment. The passengers pointed to it in triumph, 
 but the captain did not yet dismiss his doubts. A beacon fire 
 blazed through the night on the same place, but the captain 
 observed that all these signals might be treacherous. 
 
 On the following morning. May 9th, the vessel came to 
 anchor oif Cape Disappointment, outside of the bar. Towards 
 
3HS ASTORIA. 
 
 noon an Indian canoe was seen making for the ship, and all 
 hands were ordered to be on the alert. A few moments after- 
 wards, a barge was perceived following the canoe. The hopes 
 and fears of those on board of the ship were in tumultuous 
 agitation, as the boat drew nigh that was to let them know the 
 fortunes of the enterprise, and the fate of their predecessors. 
 The captain, who was haunted with the idea of possible treachery, 
 did not suffer his curiosity to get the better of his caution, but 
 ordered a party of his men under arms, to receive the visitors. 
 The canoe came first alongside, in which were Comcomly and 
 Bix Indians ; in the barge were M'Dougal, M'Lellan, and eight 
 Canadians. A little conversation with these gentlemen dispelled 
 all the captain's fears, and the Beaver crossing the bar undei 
 their pilotage, anchored safely in Baker's Bay. 
 
OPERATIONS AT ASTORIA. 3S9 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 The arrival of tlie Beaver with a reinforcement and supplies, 
 gave new life and vigor to affairs at Astoria. These were means 
 for extending the operations of the establishment, and founding 
 interior trading posts. Two parties were immediately set on 
 foot to proceed severally under the command of Messrs. M'Kenzie 
 and Clarke, and establish posts above the forks of the Columbia, 
 at points where most rivalry and opposition were apprehended 
 from the Northwest Company. 
 
 A third party, headed by Mr. David Stuart, was to repair 
 with supplies to the post of that gentleman on the Oakinagan. 
 In addition to these expeditions, a fourth was necessary to convey 
 dispatches to Mr. Astor, at New York, in place of those unfor- 
 tunately lost by John Reed. The safe conveyance of these dis- 
 patches were highly important, as by them Mr. Astor would 
 receive an account of the state of the factory, and regulate his 
 reinforcements and supplies accordingly. The mission was one 
 of peril and hardship, and required a man of nerve and vigor. 
 It was confided to Kobert Stuart, who, though he had never been 
 across the mountains, and a very young man, had given proofs of 
 his competency to the task. Four trusty and well-tried men, 
 who had come over land in Mr. Hunt's expedition, were given as 
 his guides and hunters. These were Ben Jones and John Day, 
 the Kentuckians, and Andri Vallar and Francis Le Cierc, Cana- 
 dians. Mr. M'Lellan again expressed his determination to take 
 this opportunity of returning to the Atlantic States. In this he 
 
8G0 ASTORIA. 
 
 was joined by Mr. Crooks, wlio, notwithstanding all that lie had 
 suffered in the dismal journey of the preceding winter, was ready 
 to retrace his steps and brave every danger and hardship, rather 
 than remain at Astoria. This little handful of adventurous men 
 we propose to accompany in its long and perilous preregrinations. 
 
 The several parties we have mentioned all set off in company 
 on the 29th of June, under a salute of cannon from the fort. 
 They were to keep together, for mutual protection, through the 
 piratical passes of the river, and to separate, on their different 
 destinations, at the forks of the Columbia. Their number, col- 
 lectively, was nearly sixty, consisting of partners and clerks, 
 Canadian voyageurs, Sandwich Islanders, and American hunt- 
 ers ; and they embarked in two barges and ten canoes. 
 
 They had scarcely got under way, when John Day, the Ken- 
 tucky hunter, became restless and uneasy, and extremely way- 
 ward in his deportment. This caused surprise, for in general he 
 was remarkable for his cheerful, manly deportment. It was sup- 
 posed that the recollection of past sufferings might harass his 
 mind in undertaking to retrace the scenes where they had been 
 experienced. As the expedition advanced, however, his agitation 
 increased. He began to talk wildly and incoherently, and to 
 show manifest symptoms of derangement. 
 
 Mr. Crooks now informed his companions that in his desolate 
 wanderings through the Snake Kiver country during the pre- 
 ceding winter, in which he had been accompanied by John Day, 
 the poor fellow's wits had been partially unsettled by the suffer- 
 ings and horrors through which they had passed, and he doubted 
 whether they had ever been restored to perfect sanity. It was 
 gtill hoped that this agitation of spirit might pass away as they 
 proceeded ; but, on the contrary, it grew more and more violent. 
 His comrades endeavored to divert his mind and to draw him 
 into rational conversation, but he only became the more exaspe- 
 
PIRATICAL PASS. 3C1 
 
 rated, uttering wild and incoherent ravings. The sight of any 
 of the natives put him in an absolute fury, and he would heap on 
 them the most opprobrious epithets ; recollecting, no doubt, what 
 he had suffered from Indian robbers. 
 
 On the evening of the 2d of July he became absolutely fran- 
 tic, and attempted to destroy himself Being disarmed, he sank 
 into quietude, and professed the greatest remorse for the crime 
 he had meditated. He then pretended to sleep, and having thus 
 lulled suspicion, suddenly sprang up, just before daylight, seized 
 a pair of loaded pistols, and endeavored to blow out his brains. 
 In his hurry he fired too high, and the balls passed over his head. 
 He was instantly secured and placed under a guard in one of the 
 boats. How to dispose of him was now the question, as it was 
 impossible to keep him with the expedition. Fortunately Mr. 
 Stuart met with some Indians accustomed to trade with Astoria: 
 These undertook to conduct John Day back to the factory, and 
 deliver him there in safet}^ It was with the utmost concern that 
 his comrades saw the poor fellow depart ; for, independent of his 
 invaluable services as a first-rate hunter, his frank and loyal 
 qualities had made him a universal favorite. It may be as well 
 to add that the Indians executed their task faithfully, and landed 
 John Day among his friends at Astoria; but his constitution 
 was completely broken by the hardships he had undergone, and 
 he died within a year. 
 
 On the evening of the 6th of July the party arrived at the 
 piratical pass of the river, and encamped at the foot of the first 
 rapid. The next day, before the commencement of the portage, 
 the greatest precautions were taken to guard against lurking 
 treachery, or open attack. The weapons of every man were put 
 in order, and his cartridge-box replenished. Each one wore a 
 kind of surcoat made of the skin of the elk, reaching from his 
 neck to his knees, and answering the purpose of a shirt of mail, 
 
 16 
 
362 ASTORIA. 
 
 for it was arrow proof, and could even resist a musket ball at the 
 distance of ninety yards. Thus armed and equipped, they posted 
 their forces in military style. Five of the officers took their sta- 
 tions at each end of the portage, which was between three and 
 four miles in length ; a number of men mounted guard at short 
 distances along the heights immediately overlooking the river, 
 while the residue thus protected from surprise, employed them- 
 selves below in dragging up the barges and canoes, and carrying 
 up the goods along the narrow margin of the rapids. With these 
 precautions they all passed unmolested. The only accident that 
 happened was the upsetting of one of the canoes, by which some 
 of the goods sunk, and others floated down the stream. The 
 alertness and rapacity of the hordes which infest these rapids, 
 were immediately apparent. They pounced upon the floating 
 merchandise with the keenness of regular wreckers. A bale of 
 goods which landed upon one of the islands was immediately 
 ripped open, one half of its contents divided among the captives, 
 and the other half secreted in a lonely hut in a deep ravine. Mr. 
 E-obert Stuart, however, set out in a canoe with five men and an 
 interpreter, ferreted out the wreckers in their retreat, and suc- 
 ceeded in wresting from them their booty. 
 
 Similar precautions to those already mentioned, and to a still 
 greater extent, were observed in passing the long narrows, and 
 the falls, where they would be exposed to the depredations of the 
 chivalry of Wish-ram, and its freebooting neighborhood. In 
 fact, they had scarcely set their first watch one night, when an 
 alarm of '• Indians !" was given. '' To arms !" was the cry, and 
 every man was at his post in an instant. The alarm was ex- 
 plained ; a war party of Shoshonies had surprised a canoe of the 
 natives just below the encampment, had murdered four men and 
 two women, and it was apprehended they would attack the camp. 
 The boats and canoes were immediately hauled up, a breastwork 
 
STOLEN ARTICLES RECOVERED. 363 
 
 was made of them, and the packages, forming three sides of a 
 square, with the river in the rear, and thus the party remained 
 fortified throughout the night. 
 
 The dawn, however, dispelled the alarm; the portage was 
 conducted in peace ; the vagabond warriors of the vicinity hov- 
 ered about them while at work, but were kept at a wary distance. 
 They regarded the loads of merchandise with wistful eyes, but 
 seeing the " long-beards " so formidable in number, and so well 
 prepared for action, they made no attempt either by open force 
 or sly pilfering to collect their usual toll, but maintained a peace- 
 ful demeanor, and were afterwards rewarded for their good con- 
 duct with presents of tobacco. 
 
 Fifteen days were consumed in ascending from the foot of 
 the first rapidy to the head of the falls, a distance of about eighty 
 miles, but. full of all kinds of obstructions. Having happily ac- 
 comj^lished these difficult portages, the party, on the 19th of July, 
 arrived at a smoother part of the river, and pursued their way 
 up the stream with greater speed and facility. 
 
 They were now in the neighborhood where Mr. Crooks and 
 John Day had been so perfidiously robbed and stripped a few 
 months previously, when confiding in the proffered hospitality of 
 a ruffian band. On landing at night, therefore, a vigilant guard 
 was maintained about the camp. On the following morning a 
 number of Indians made their appearance, and came prowling 
 round the party while at breakfast. To his great delight, Mr. 
 Crooks recognized among them two of the miscreants by whom 
 he had been robbed. They were instantly seized, bound hand 
 and foot, and thrown into one of the canoes. Here they lay in 
 doleful fright, expecting summary execution. Mr. Crooks, how- 
 ever, was not of a revengeful disposition, and agreed to release 
 the culprits as soon as the pillaged property should be restored. 
 Several savages immediately started off in difi'erent directions, 
 
364 ASTORIA. 
 
 and before niglit the rifles of Crooks and Day were produced , 
 several of the smaller articles pilfered from them, however, could 
 not be recovered. 
 
 The bands of the culprits were then removed, and they lost 
 no time in taking their departure, still under the influence of ab- 
 ject terror, and scarcely crediting their senses that they had 
 escaped the merited punishment of their ofiences. 
 
 The country on each side of the river now began to assume a 
 difierent character. The hills, and cliffs, and forests disappeared ; 
 vast sandy plains, scantily clothed here and there with short tufts 
 of <"rass, parched by the summer sun, stretched far away to the 
 noi.. and south. The river was occasionally obstructed with 
 rocks and rapids, but often there were smooth, placid intervals, 
 where the current was gentle, and the boatmen were enabled to 
 ligten their labors w^ith the assistance of the sail. 
 
 The natives in this part of the river resided entirely on the 
 northern side. They w^ere hunters, as well as fishermen, and had 
 horses in plenty. Some of these were purchased by the party, 
 as provisions, and killed on the spot, though they occasionally 
 found a difficulty in procuring fuel w^ierewith to cook them. One 
 of the greatest dangers that beset the travellers in this part of 
 their expedition, was the vast number of rattlesnakes which 
 infested the rocks about the rapids and portages, and on which 
 the men were in danger of treading. They were often found, 
 too, in quantities about the encampments. In one place, a nest 
 of them lay coiled together, basking in the sun. Several guns 
 loaded with shot were discharged at them, and thirty-seven killed 
 and wounded. To prevent any unwelcome visits from them in 
 the night, tobacco was occasionally strewed around the tents, a 
 weed for which they have a very proper abhorrence. 
 
 On the 28th of July the travellers arrived at the mouth of 
 the Wallah-Wallah, a bright, clear stream, about six feet deep, 
 
WALLAH-WALLAH HORSEMEN. 3U5 
 
 and fifty-five yards wide, which flows rapidly over a bed of sand 
 and gravel, and throws itself into the Columbia,, a few miles be- 
 low Lewis River. Here the combined parties that had thus far 
 voyaged together, were to separate, each for its particular des- 
 tination. 
 
 On the banks of the Wallah-Wallah, lived the hospitable tribe 
 of the same name who had succored Mr. Crooks and John Day 
 in the time of their extremity. No sooner did they hear of the 
 arrival of the party, than they hastened to greet them. They 
 built a great bonfire on the bank of the river, before the camp, 
 and men and women danced round it to the cadence of -"ibeir 
 songs, in which they sang the praises of the white men, anc. wel- 
 comed them to their country. 
 
 On the following day a trafiic was commenced, to procure 
 horses for such of the party as intended to proceed by land. 
 The Wallah-Wallahs are an equestrian tribe. The equipments 
 of their horses were rude and inconvenient. High saddles, 
 roughly made of deer skin, stufi'ed with hair, which chafe the 
 horse's back, and leave it raw ; wooden stirrups, with a thong of 
 raw hide wrapped round them ; and for bridles they have cords 
 of twisted horse-hair, which they tie round the under jaw. They 
 are, like most Indians, bold but hard riders, and when on horse- 
 back gallop about the most dangerous places, without fear for 
 themselves, or pity for their steeds. 
 
 From these people Mr. Stuart purchased twenty horses for 
 his party ; some for the-saddle, and others to transport the bag- 
 gage. He was fortun^ in procuring a noble animal for his own 
 use, whicji was prai^ by the Indians for its great speed and 
 bottom, and a high price set upon it. No people understand bet- 
 ter the value of a horse, than these equestrian tribes ; and no- 
 where is speed a greater requisite, as they frequently engage in 
 tlie chase of the antelope, one of the fleetest of animals. Even 
 
366 ASTORIA. 
 
 after tlie Indian wlio sold tliis boasted horse to Mr. Stuart had 
 concluded his )3argain, he lingered about the animal, seeming loth 
 to part from him, and to be sorry for what he had done. 
 
 A day or two were employed by Mr. Stuart in arranging 
 packages and pack-saddles, and making other preparations for his 
 long and arduous journey. His party, by the loss of John Day 
 was now reduced to six, a small number for such an expedition. 
 They were young men, however, full of courage, health, and good 
 spirits, and stimulated, rather than appalled by danger. 
 
 On the morning of the 31st of July, all preparations being 
 concluded, Mr. Stuart and his little band mounted their steeds 
 and took a farewell of their fellow-travellers, who gave them three 
 hearty cheers as they set out on their dangerous journey. The 
 course they took was to the southeast, towards the fated region of 
 the Snake Kiver. At an immense distance rose a chain of craggy 
 mountains, which they would have to traverse; they were the 
 same among which the travellers had experienced such sufferings 
 from cold during the preceding winter, and from their azure tints, 
 when seen at a distance, had received the name of the Blue 
 Mountains. 
 
SUNBURNT HILLS. 867 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 In retracing the route which had proved so disastrous to Mr. 
 Hunt's party during the preceding winter, Mr. Stuart had trusted, 
 in the present more favorable season, to find easy travelling and 
 abundant supplies. On these great wastes and wilds, however, 
 each season has its peculiar hardships. The travellers had not 
 proceeded far, before they found themselves among naked and 
 arid hills, with a soil composed of sand and clay, baked and brit- 
 tle, that to all appearance had never been visited by the dews of 
 heaven. 
 
 Not a spring, or pool, or running stream was to be seen ; the 
 sunburnt country was seamed and cut .up by dry ravines, the beds 
 of winter torrents serving only to balk the hopes of man and 
 beast, with the sight of dusty channels where water had onco 
 poured along in floods. 
 
 For a long summer day they continued onward without halting , 
 a burning sky above their heads, a parched desert beneath their 
 feet, with just wind enough to raise the light sand from the knolls, 
 and envelope them in stifling clouds. The sufi'erings from thirst 
 became intense ; a fine young dog, their only companion of the 
 kind, gave out, and expired. Evening drew on without any pros- 
 pect of relief, and they were almost reduced to despair, when 
 they descried something that looked like a fringe of forest, along 
 the horizon. All were inspired with new hope, for they knew that 
 on these arid wastes, in the neighborhood of trees, there is always 
 water. 
 
S68 ASTORIA. 
 
 They now quickened their pace ; tlie horses seemed to under- 
 stand their motives, and to partake of their anticipations ; for, 
 though before almost ready to give out, they now required neither 
 whip nor spur. With all their exertions, it was late in the night 
 before they drew near to the trees. As they approached, they 
 heard, with transport, the rippling of a shallow stream. No soonei 
 did the refreshing sound reach the ears of the horses, than the poor 
 animals snuffed the air, rushed forward with ungovernable eager- 
 ness, and plunging their muzzles into the water, drank until they 
 seemed in danger of bursting. Their riders had but little more 
 discretion, and required' repeated draughts to quench their ex- 
 cessive thirst. Their- weary march that day had been forty-five 
 miles, over a tract that might rival the deserts of Africa for 
 aridity. Indeed, the sufferings of the traveller on these Ameri- 
 can deserts, is frequently more severe than in the wastes of 
 Africa or Asia, from being less habituated and prepared to cope 
 with them. 
 
 On the banks of this blessed stream the travellers encamped 
 for the night ; and so great had been their fatigue, and so sound 
 and sweet was their sleep, that it was a late hour the next morn- 
 ing before they awoke. They now recognized the little river to 
 be the Umatalla, the same on the banks of which Mr. Hunt and 
 his followers had arrived after their painful struggle through the 
 Blae Mountains, and experienced such a kind relief in the 
 friendly camp of the Sciatogas. 
 
 That range of Blue Mountains now extended in the distance 
 before them; they were the same among which poor Michael 
 Carriere had perished. They form the southeast boundary of 
 the great plains along the Columbia, dividing the waters of its 
 main stream from those of Lewis River. They are, in fact, a 
 part of a long chain, which stretches over a great extent of 
 country, and includes in its links the Snake River Mountains. 
 
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 The day was somewliat advanced before the travellers left 
 the shady Banks of the Umatalla. Their route gradually took 
 them among the Blue Mountains, which assumed the most 
 rugged aspect on a near approach. They were shagged with 
 dense and gloomy forests, and cut up by deep and precipitous 
 ravines, extremely toilsome to the horses. Sometimes the trav- 
 ellers had to follow the course of some brawling stream, with a 
 broken, rocky bed, which the shouldering cliffs and promontories 
 on either side, obliged them frequently to cross and recross. For 
 some miles they struggled forward through these savage and 
 darkly wooded defiles, when all at once the whole landscape 
 changed, as if by magic. The rude mountains and rugged 
 ravines softened into beautiful hills, and intervening meadows, 
 with rivulets winding through fresh herbage, and sparkling and 
 murmuring over gravelly beds, the whole forming a verdant and 
 pastoral scene, which derived additional charms from being 
 locked up in the bosom of such a hard-hearted region. 
 
 Emerging from the chain of Blue Mountains, they descended 
 upon a vast plain, almost a dead level, sixty miles in circumfe- 
 rence, of excellent soil, with fine streams meandering through it 
 in every direction, their courses marked out in the wide landscape 
 by serpentine lines of cotton-wood trees, and willows, which 
 fringed their banks, and afforded sustenance to great numbers 
 of beavers and otters. 
 
 In traversing this plain, they passed, close to the skirts of 
 the hills, a great pool of water, three hundred yards in circumfe- 
 rence, fed by a sulphur spring, about ten feet in diameter, boiling 
 up in one cornqr. The vapor from this pool was extremely 
 noisome, and tainted the air for a considerable distance. The 
 place was much frequented by elk, which were found in consider- 
 able numbers in the adjacent mountains, and their horns, shed in 
 the spring time, were strewed in every direction around the pond. 
 
 16* 
 
370: ASTORIA. 
 
 On the 20 til of August, they reached the main body of "Wood^ 
 vile Creek, the same stream which Mr. Hunt had ascended in the 
 preceding year, shortly after his separation from Mr. Crooks. 
 
 On the banks of this stream they saw a herd of nineteen 
 antelopes ; a sight so unusual in that part of the countr}^, that at 
 first they doubted the evidence of their senses. They tried by 
 everj^ means to get within shot of them, but they were too shy 
 and fleet, and after alternately bounding to a distance, and then 
 stopping to gaze with capricious curiosity at the hunter, they at 
 length scampered out of sight. 
 
 On the 12th of August, the travellers arrived on the banks 
 of Snake River, the scene of so many trials and mishaps to all of 
 the present party excepting Mr. Stuart. They struck the river 
 just above the place where it entered the mountains, through 
 which Messrs. Stuart and Crooks had vainly endeavored to find 
 a passage. The river was here a rapid stream, four hundred 
 yards in width, with high sandy banks, and here and there a 
 scanty growth of willow. Up the southern side of the river they 
 now bent their course, intending to visit the caches made by Mr. 
 Hunt at the Caldron Linn. 
 
 On the second evening, a solitary Snake Indian visited tlieir 
 camp, at a late hour, and informed them that there was a whit6 
 man residing at one of the cantonments of his tribe, about a 
 day's journey higher up the river. It was immediately con- 
 cluded, that he must be one of the poor fellows of Mr. Hunt's 
 party, who had given out, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, in 
 the wretched journey of the preceding winter. All present, who 
 had borne a part in the sufferings of that journey, were eager 
 now to press forward, and bring relief to a lost comrade. Early 
 the next morning, therefore, they pushed forward with unusual 
 alacrity. For two days, however, did they travel without being 
 able to find any trace of such a straggler. 
 
NEWS OF STRAGGLERS. 371 
 
 On the evening of the second day, they arrived at a place 
 where a large river came in from the east, which was renowned 
 among all the wandering hordes of the Snake nation for its 
 salmon fishery, that fish being taken in incredible quantities in 
 this neighborhood. Here, therefore, during the fishing season, 
 the Snake Indians resort from far and near, to lay in their stock 
 of salmon, which, with esculent roots, forms the principal food of 
 the inhabitants of these barren regions. 
 
 On the bank of a small stream emptj^ing into Snake River at 
 this place, Mr. Stuart found an encampment of Shoshonies. He 
 made the usual inquiry of them concerning the white man of 
 whom he had received intelligence. No such person was dwell- 
 ing among them, but they said there were white men residing 
 with some of their nation on the opposite side of the river. This 
 was still more animating information. Mr. Crooks now hoped 
 that these might be the men of his party, who, disheartened by 
 perils and hardships, had preferred to remain among the Indians. 
 Others thought they might be Mr. Miller and the hunters who 
 had left the main body at Henry's Fort, to trap among the 
 mountain streams. Mr. Stuart halted, therefore, in the neigh- 
 borhood of the Shoshonie lodges, and sent an Indian across the 
 river- to seek out the white men in question, and bring them to 
 his camp. 
 
 The travellers passed a restless, miserable night. The place 
 swarmed with myriads of musquitoes, which, with their stings 
 and their music, set all sleep at defiance. The morning dawn 
 found them in a feverish, irritable mood, and their spleen was 
 completely aroused by the return of the Indian without any 
 intelligence of the white men. They now considered themselves 
 the dupes of Indian falsehoods, and resolved to put no more 
 confidence in Snakes. They soon, however, forgot this resolu- 
 tion. In the course of the morning, an Indian came galloping 
 
372 ASTORIA. 
 
 after them ; Mr. Stuart waited to receive him ; no sooner had he 
 come up, than, dismounting and throwing his arms round the neck 
 of Mr. Stuart's horse, he began to kiss and caress the animal, 
 who, on his part, seemed by no means surprised or displeased 
 with his salutation. Mr. Stuart, who valued his horse highly, 
 was somewhat annoyed by these transports ; the cause of them 
 was soon explained. The Snake said the horse had belonged to 
 him, and been the best in his posesssion, and that it had been 
 stolen by the Wallah-Wallahs. Mr. Stuart was by no means 
 pleased with this recognition of his steed, nor disposed to admit 
 any claim on the part of its ancient owner. In fact, it was a 
 noble animal, admirably shaped, of free and generous spirit, 
 graceful in movement, and fleet as an antelope. It was his 
 intention, if possible, to take the horse to New- York, and present 
 him to Mr. Astor. 
 
 In the meantime, some of the party came up, and immedi- 
 ately recognized in the Snake an old friend and ally. He was, 
 in fact, one of the two guides who had conducted Mr. Hunt's 
 party, in the preceding autumn, across Mad River Mountain to 
 Fort Henry, and v/ho subsequently departed with Mr. Miller and 
 his fellow trappers, to conduct them to a good trapping ground. 
 The reader may recollect that these two trusty Snakes were 
 engaged by Mr. Hunt to return and take charge of the horses 
 which the party intended to leave at Fort Henry, when they 
 should embark in canoes. 
 
 The party now crowded round the Snake, and began to ques- 
 tion him with eagerness. His replies were somewhat vague, and 
 but partially understood. He told a long story about the horses, 
 from which it appeared that they had been stolen b}' various wan- 
 dering bands, and scattered in different directions. The cache, 
 too, had been plundered, and the saddles and other equipments 
 carried off. His information concerning Mr. Miller and his com- 
 
THE SNAKE OF MAD RIVER. 373 
 
 rades, was not more satisfactory. Tliey Iiad trapped for some 
 time about the upper streams, but bad fallen into the hands of a 
 marauding party of Crows, who had robbed them of horses, 
 weapons, and every thing. 
 
 Further questioning brought forth further intelligence, but 
 all of a disastrous kind. About ten days previously, he had met 
 with three other white men, in very miserable plight, having one 
 horse each, and but one rifle among them. They also liad been 
 plundered and maltreated by the Crows, those universal free' 
 hooters. The Snake endeavored to pronounce the names of these 
 three men, and as far as his imperfect sounds could be understood, 
 they were supposed to be three of the party of four hunters, viz. 
 Carson, St. Michael, Detaye and Delaunay, who were detached 
 from Mr. Hunt's party on the 28th of September, to trap 
 beaver on the head waters of the Columbia. 
 
 In the course of conversation, the Indian informed them that 
 the route by which Mr. Hunt had crossed the Rocky Mountains, 
 was very bad and circuitous, and that he knew one much shortei 
 and easier. Mr. Stuart urged him to accompany them as guide, 
 promising to reward him with a pistol with powder and ball, a 
 knife, an awl, some blue beads, a blanket, and a looking-glass. 
 Such a catalogue of riches was too tempting to be resisted ; be- 
 side the poor Snake languished after the prairies ; he was tired, he 
 said, of salmon, and longed for buffalo meat, and to have a grand 
 buffalo hunt beyond the mountains. He departed, therefore, 
 with all speed, to get his arms and equipments for the journey, 
 promising to rejoin the party the next day. He kept his word, 
 and, as he no longer said any thing to Mr. Stuart on the subject 
 of the pet horse, they journeyed very harmoniously together ; 
 though now and then, the Snake would regard his quondam steed 
 with a wistful eye. 
 
 They had not travelled many miles, when they came to a 
 
, 374 ASTORIA. 
 
 great bend in tlie river. Here the Snake informed them that, "by 
 cutting across the hills they would save many miles of distance. 
 The route across, however, would be a good day's journey. He 
 advised them, therefore, to encamj) here for the night, and set off 
 early in the morning. They took his advice, though they had 
 come hut nine miles that day. 
 
 On the following morning they rose, bright and early, to 
 ascend the hills. On mustering their little party, the guide was 
 missing. They supposed him to be somewhere in the neighbor- 
 hood, and proceeded to collect the horses. The vaunted steed of 
 Mr. Stuart was not to be found. A suspicion flashed upon his 
 mind. Search for the horse of the Snake ! — He likewise was 
 gone — the tracks of two horses, one after the other, were found, 
 making off from the camp. ' They appeared as if one horse had 
 been mounted, and the other led. They were traced for a few 
 miles above the camp, until they both crossed the river. It was 
 plain the Snake had taken an Indian mode of recovering his horse, 
 having quietly decamped with him in the night. 
 
 New vows were made never more to trust in Snakes, or any 
 other Indians. It was determined, also, to maintain, hereafter, 
 the strictest vigilance over their horses, dividing the night into 
 three watches, and one person mounting guard at a time. They 
 resolved, also, to keep along the river, instead of taking the short 
 cut recommended by the fugitive Snake, whom they now set 
 down for a thorough deceiver. The heat of the weathet was 
 oppressive, and their horses were, at times, rendered almost 
 frantic by the stings of the prairie flies. The nights were suffo- 
 cating, and it was almost impossible to sleep, from the swarms of 
 musquitoes. 
 
 On the 20 th of August they resumed their march, keeping 
 along the prairie parallel to Snake River. The day was sultry, 
 and some of the party, being parched with thirst, left the line of 
 
MEETING WITH LOST COMRADES. 375 
 
 marcli, and scrambled down tlie bank of tlie river to drink. The 
 bank was overhung with willows, beneath which, to their sur- 
 prise, they beheld a man fishing. No sooner did he see them, 
 ihan he uttered an exclamation of joy. It proved to be John 
 Hoback, one of their lost comrades. They had scarcely ex- 
 fhanged greetings, when three other men came out from among 
 ihe willows. They were Joseph Miller, Jacob Rezner, and 
 Kobinson, the scalped Kentuckian, the veteran of the Bloody 
 Ground. 
 
 The reader will perhaps recollect the abrupt and wilful man- 
 ner in which Mr. Miller threw up his interest as a partner of the 
 company, and departed from Fort Henry, in company with these 
 three trappers, and a fourth, named Cass. He may likewise 
 recognize in Robinson, Rezner, and Hoback, the trio of Kentucky 
 hunters who had originally been in the service of Mr. Henry, 
 and whom Mr. Hunt found floating down the Missouri, on their 
 way homeward ; and prevailed upon, once more, to cross the 
 mountains. The haggard looks and naked condition of these 
 men proved how much they had suffered. After leaving Mr. 
 Hunt's party, they had made their way about two hundred miles 
 to the southward, where they trapped beaver on a river which, 
 according to their account, discharged itself into the ocean to the 
 south of the Columbia, but which we apprehend to be Bear 
 River, a stream emptying itself into Lake Bonneville, an immense 
 body of salt water, west of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Having collected a considerable quantity of beaver skins, 
 they made them into packs, loaded their horses, and steered two 
 hundred miles due east. Here they came upon an encampment 
 of sixty lodges of Arapahays, an outlawed band of the Arapahoes, 
 and notorious robbers. These fell upon the poor trappers ; 
 robbed them of their peltries, most of their clothing, and several 
 of their horses. They were glad to escape with their lives, and 
 
376 ASTORIA. 
 
 witliout being entirely stripped, and after proceeding about fifty 
 miles further, made their halt for the winter. 
 
 Early in the spring they resumed their wayfaring, but were 
 unluckily overtaken by the same ruffian horde, who levied still 
 further contributions, and carried off the remainder of their 
 horses, excepting two. With these they continued on, suffering 
 the greatest hardships. They still retained rifles and ammuni- 
 tion, but were in a desert country, Avhere neither bird nor beast 
 was to be found. Their only chance was to keep along the 
 rivers and subsist by fishing ; but, at times, no fish were to be 
 taken, and then their sufferings were horrible. One of their 
 horses was stolen among the mountains by the Snake Indians ; 
 the other, they said, was carried off by Cass, who, according to 
 their account, " villainously left them in their extremities." 
 Certain dark doubts and surmises were afterwards circulated 
 concerning the fate of that poor fellow, which, if true, showed to 
 what a desperate state of famine his comrades had been reduced. 
 
 Being now completely unhorsed, Mr. Miller and his three 
 companions wandered on foot for several hundred miles, enduring 
 hunger, thirst, and fatigue, while traversing the barren wastes 
 which abound beyond the Rocky Mountains. At the time they 
 were discovered by Mr. Stuart's party, they were almost famished, 
 and were fishing for a precarious meal. Had Mr. Stuart made 
 the short cut across the hills, avoiding this bend of the river, or 
 had not some of his party accidentally gone down to the margin 
 of the stream to drink, these poor wanderers might have remained 
 undiscovered, and have perished in the wilderness. Nothing 
 could exceed their joy on thus meeting with their old comrades, 
 or the heartiness with which they were welcomed. All hands im- 
 mediately encamped ; and the slender stores of the party were 
 ransacked to furnish out a suitable regale. 
 
 The next morning they all set out together ; Mr Miller and 
 
THE SALMON FALLS. 377 
 
 his comrades being resolved to give up tlie life of a trapper, and 
 accompany Mr. Stuart back to St. Louis. 
 
 For several days they kept along the course of Snake Kiver, 
 occasionally making short cuts across hills and promontories, 
 whore there were bends in the stream. In their way they passed 
 several camps of Shoshonies, from some of whom they procured 
 salmon, but in general they were too wretchedly poor to furnish 
 any thing. It was the wish of Mr. Stuart to purchase horses for 
 the recent recruits of his party ; but the Indians could not be 
 prevailed upon to part with any, alleging that they had not 
 enough for their own use. 
 
 On the 25th of August they reached a great fishing place, to 
 which they gave the name of the Salmon Falls. Here there is a 
 perpendicular fall of twenty feet on the north side of the river, 
 while on the south side there is a succession of rapids. The 
 salmon are taken here in incredible quantities, as they attempt to 
 shoot the falls. It was now a favorable season, and there were 
 about one hundred lodges of Shoshonies busily engaged killing 
 and drying fish. The salmon begin to leap, shortly after sunrise. 
 At this time the Indians swim to the centre of the falls, where 
 some station themselves on rocks, and others stand to their waists 
 in the water, all armed with spears, with which they assail the 
 salmon as they attem.pt to leap, or fall back exhausted. It is an 
 incessant slaughter, so great is the throng of the fish. 
 
 The construction of the spears thus used is peculiar. The 
 i^cad is a straight piece of elk horn, about seven inches long ; on 
 the point of which an artificial barb is made fast, with twine well 
 gummed. The head is stuck on the end of the shaft, a very long 
 pole of willow, to which it is likewise connected by a strong cord, 
 a few inches in length. When the spearsman makes a sure blow, 
 he often strikes the head of the spear through the body of the 
 fish. It come^ioff easily, and leaves the salmon struggling with 
 
378 ASTORIA. 
 
 the string through its body, while the i^ole is still held by the 
 spearsman. Were it not for the precaution of the string, the 
 willow shaft would be snapped by the struggles and the weight 
 of the fish. Mr. Miller, in the course of his wanderings, had 
 been at these falls, and had seen several thousand salmon taken 
 in the course of one afternoon. He declared that he had seen a 
 salmon leap a distance of about thirty feet, from the commence- 
 ment of the foam at the foot of the fall, completely to the top. 
 
 Haying purchased a good supply of salmon from the fisher- 
 men, the party resumed their journey, and on the twenty-ninth, 
 arrived at the Caldron Linn ; the eventful scene of the preceding 
 autumn. Here, the first thing that met their eyes, was a me- 
 mento of the perplexities of that period ] the wreck of a cauoe, 
 lodged between two ledges of rocks. They endeavored to get 
 down to it, but the river banks were too high and precipitous. 
 
 They now proceeded to that part of the neighborhood where 
 Mr. Hunt and his party had made the caches, intending to take 
 from them such articles as belonged to Mr. Crooks, M'Lellan, 
 and the Canadians. On reaching the spot, they found, to their 
 astonishment, six of the caches open and rifled of their contents, 
 excepting a few books which lay scattered about the vicinity. 
 They had the appearance of having been plundered in the course 
 of the summer. There were tracks of wolves in every direction, to 
 and from the holes, from which Mr. Stuart concluded that these 
 animals had first been attracted to the place by the smell of the 
 skins contained in the caches, which they had probably torn up; 
 and that their tracks had betrayed the secret to the Indians. 
 
 The three remaining caches had not been molested : they con- 
 tained a few dry goods, some ammunition, and a number of beaver 
 traps. From these Mr. Stuart took whatever was requisite for 
 his party ; he then deposited within them all his superfluous bag- 
 gage, and all the books and papers scattered around j the holes 
 
THE PERSEVERING TRAPPERS. 379 
 
 were then carefully closed up, and all traces of tliem effaced. 
 And here we have to record another instance of the indomitable 
 spirit of the western trappers. No sooner did the trio of Ken- 
 tucky hunters, Kobinson, Eezner, and Hoback, find that they 
 could once more be fitted out for a campaign of beaver-trapping, 
 than they forgot all that they had suffered, and determined upon 
 another trial of their fortunes ; preferring to take their chance 
 in the wilderness, rather than return home ragged and jDenniless. 
 As to Mr. Miller, he declared his curiosity and his desire of trav- 
 elling through the Indian countries fully satisfied ] he adhered 
 to his determination, therefore, to keep on with the party to St. 
 Louis, and to return to the bosom of civilized society. 
 
 The three hunters, therefore, Kobinson, Rezner, and Hoback, 
 were furnished, as far as the caches and the means of Mr. Stuart's 
 party afforded, with the requisite munitions and equipments for 
 a " two years' hunt ;" but as their fitting out was yet incomplete, 
 they resolved to wait in this neighborhood until Mr. Reed should 
 arrive ; whose arrival might soon be expected, as he was to set 
 out for the caches about twenty days after Mr. Stuart parted 
 with him at the Wallah- Wallah River. 
 
 Mr. Stuart gave in charge to Robinson a letter to Mr. Reed, 
 reporting his safe journey thus far, and the state in which he had 
 found the caches. A duplicate of this letter he elevated on a 
 pole, and set it up near the place of deposit. 
 
 All things being thus arranged, Mr. Stuart and his little 
 band, now seven in number, took leave of the three hardy trap- 
 pers, wishing them all possible success in their lonely and peril- 
 ous sojourn in the wilderness ; and we, in like manner, shall leave 
 them to their fortunes, promising to take them up again at some 
 future page, and to close the story of their persevering and ill 
 fated enterprise. 
 
380 ASTORIA. 
 
 .. ' CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 On the 1st of September, Mr. Stuart and bis companions resumed 
 their journey, bending their course eastward, along the course of 
 Snake River. As they advanced, the country opened. The hills 
 which had hemmed in the river receded on either hand, and 
 great sandy and dusty plains extended before them. Occasion- 
 ally there were intervals of pasturage, and the banks of the river 
 were fringed with willows and cotton-wood, so that its course 
 might be traced from the hill tops, winding under an vimbrageous 
 covert, through a wide sunburnt landscape. The soil, however, 
 was generally poor ; there was in some places a miserable growth 
 of wormwood, and a plant called saltweed, resembling penny- 
 royal; but the summer heat had parched the plains, and left 
 but little pasturage. The game too had disappeared. The 
 hunter looked in vain over the lifeless landscape ; now and then 
 a few antelope might be seen, but not within reach of the rifle. 
 We forbear to follow the travellers in a week's y^^andering over 
 these barren wastes, where they suffered much from hunger; 
 having to depend upon a few fish from the streams, and now and 
 then a little dried salmon, or a dog, procured from some forlorn 
 lodge of Shoshonies. 
 
 Tired of these cheerless wastes, they left the banks of Snake 
 E-iver on the 7th of September, under guidance of Mr. Miller, 
 who having acquired some knowledge of the country during his 
 trapping campaign, undertook to conduct them across the moun- 
 tains by a better route than that by Fort Henry, and one more 
 
A CROW GIAI^T AND HIS GANG. 381 
 
 out of the range of the Blackfect. He proved, however, but an 
 indifferent guide, and they soon became bewildered among rug- 
 ged hills and unknown streams, and burnt and barren prairies. 
 
 At length they came to a river on which Mr. Miller had 
 trapped, and to which they gave his name ; though, as before 
 observed, we presume it to be the same called Bear River, which 
 empties itself into Lake Bonneville. Up this river and its 
 branches they kept for two or three days, supporting themselves 
 precariously upon fish. They soon found that they were in a 
 dangerous neighborhood. On the 12th of September, having 
 encamped early, they sallied forth with their rods to angle for 
 their supper. On returning, they beheld a number of Indians 
 prowling about their camp, whom, to their infinite disquiet, they 
 soon perceived to be Upsarokas, or Crows. Their chief came 
 forward with a confident air. He was a dark herculean fellow, 
 full six feet four inches in height, with a mingled air of the 
 rufiian and the rogue. He conducted himself peaceably, how- 
 ever, and dispatched some of his people to their camp, which was 
 somewhere in the neighborhood, from whence they returned with 
 a most acceptable supply of bufi'alo meat. He now signified to 
 Mr. Stuart that he was going to trade with the Snakes who 
 reside on the west base of the mountains, below Henry's Fort. 
 Here they cultivate a delicate kind of tobacco, much esteemed 
 and sought after by the mountain tribes. There was something 
 sinister, however, in the look of this Indian, that inspired dis- 
 trust. By degrees, the number of his people increased, until, by 
 midnight, there were twenty-one of them about the camp, who 
 began to be impudent and troublesome. The greatest uneasiness 
 was now felt for the safety of the horses and eJSects, and every 
 one kept vigilant watch throughout the night. 
 
 The morning dawned, however, without any unpleasant occur- 
 rence, and Mr. Stuart, having purchased all the buffalo meat 
 
382 ASTORIA. 
 
 tliat the Crows had to spare, prepared to depart. His Indian 
 acc|uaintance, however, were disposed for further dealings ; and. 
 above all, anxious for a supply of gunpowder, for which they 
 offered horses in exchange. Mr. Stuart declined to furnish them 
 with the dangerous commodity. They became more importunate 
 m their solicitations, until they met with a flat refusal. 
 
 The gigantic chief now stepped forward, assumed a swelling 
 air, and, slapping himself upon the breast, gave Mr. Crooks to 
 understand that he vfas a chief of great power and importance, 
 He signified, further, that it was customary for great chiefs when 
 they met, to make each other presents. He req[uested, therefore, 
 that Mr. Stuart would alight, and give him the horse upon which 
 he was mounted. This was a noble animal, of one of the wild 
 races of the prairies ; on which Mr. Stuart set great value ; he, 
 of course, shook his head at the request of the Crow dignitary. 
 Upon this the latter strode up to him, and taking hold of him, 
 moved him backwards and forwards in his saddle, as if to make 
 him feel that he was a mere child within his grasp. Mr. Stuart 
 preserved his calmness, and still shook his head. The chief then 
 seized the bridle, and gave it a jerk that startled the horse, and 
 nearly brought the rider to the ground. Mr. Stuart instantly 
 drew forth a pistol, and presented it at the head of the bully-ruffiam 
 In a twinkling, his swaggering was at an end, and ho dodged 
 behind his horse to escape the expected shot. As his subject 
 Crows gazed on the affray from a little distance, Mr. Stuart 
 ordered his men to level their rifles at them, but not to fire. The 
 whole crew scampered among the bushes, and throwing them- 
 selves upon the ground, vanished from sight. 
 
 The chieftain thus left alone, was confounded for an instant ; 
 but, recovering himself, with true Indian shrewdness, burst into 
 a loud laugh, and affected to turn off the whole matter as a piece 
 of pleasantry. Mr. Stuart by no means relished such equivocal 
 
CROW SIGNALS. 383 
 
 joking, but it was not Lis policy to get into a quarrel ; so lie joined 
 with the best grace he could assume, in the merriment of the 
 jocular giant ; and, to console the latter for the refusal of the 
 horse, made him a present of twenty charges of powder. They 
 parted, according to all outward professions, the best friends in 
 the world ; it was evident, however, that nothing but the smalb 
 ness of his own force, and the martial array and alertness of the 
 white men, had prevented the Crow chief from proceeding to 
 open outrage. As it was, his worthy followers, in the course of 
 their brief interview, had contrived to purloin a bag containing 
 almost all the culinary utensils of the party. 
 
 The travellers kept on their way due east, over a chain of 
 hills. The recent rencontre showed them that they were now in 
 a land of danger, subject to the wide roamings of a predacious 
 tribe ; nor, in fact, had they gone many miles, before they beheld 
 sights calculated to inspire anxiety and alarm. From the sum- 
 mits of some of the loftiest mountains, in diiFerent direQtious, 
 columns of smoke began to rise. These they concluded to be 
 signals made by the runners of the Crow chieftain, to summon 
 the stragglers of his band, so as to pursue them with greater 
 force. Signals of this kind, made by out-runners from one cen- 
 tral point, will rouse a wide circuit of the mountains in a won- 
 derfully short space of time ; and bring the striiggling hunters 
 and warriors to the standard of their chieftain. 
 
 To keep as much as possible out of the way of these free- 
 booters, Mr. Stuart altered his course to the north, and, quitting 
 the main stream of Miller's Ptiver, kept up a large branch that 
 came in from the mountains. Here they encamped, after a 
 fatiguing march of twenty-five miles. As the night drew on, the 
 liorse3 were hobbled or fettered, and tethered close to the camp ; 
 a vigilant watch was maintained until morning, and every one 
 slept with his rifle on his arm. 
 
384 ASTORIA. 
 
 At sunrise, they were again on tlie march, still keeping to tlio 
 north. They soon began to ascend the mountains, and occasion- 
 ally had wide prospects over the surrounding country. Not a 
 sign of a Crow was to he seen ; hut this did not assure them of 
 their security, well knowing the perseverance of these savages in 
 dogging any party they intend to rob, and the stealthy way in 
 which they can conceal their movements, keeping along ravines 
 and defiles. After a mountain scramble of twenty-one miles, 
 they encamped on the margin of a stream running to the north. 
 
 In the evening there was an alarm of Indians, and every one 
 was instantly on the alert. They proved to be three miserable 
 Snakes, who were no sooner informed that a band of Crows was 
 prowling in the neighborhood, than they made off with great 
 signs of consternation. 
 
 A couple more of weary days and watchful nights brought 
 them to a strong and rapid stream, running due north, which 
 they concluded to be one of the upper branches of Snake Kiver. 
 It was probably the same since called Salt River. They deter- 
 mined to bend their course down this river, as it would take 
 them still further out of the dangerous neighborhood of the 
 Crows. They then would strike upon Mr. Hunt's track of the 
 preceding autumn, and retrace it across the mountains. The 
 attempt to find a better route under guidance of Mr. Miller had 
 cost them a large bend to the south ; in resuming Mr. Hunt's 
 track, they would at least be sure of their road. They accor- 
 dingly turned down along the course of this stream, and at the 
 end of three days' journey, came to where it was joined by a 
 larger river, and assumed a more impetuous character, raging 
 and roaring among rocks and precipices. It proved, in fact, to 
 be Mad River, already noted in the expedition of Mr. Hunt. On 
 the banks of this river, they encamped on the 18th of September, 
 at an early hour. 
 
A SURPRISE. 386 
 
 Six days Lad now elapsed since their interview with the 
 Crows ; during that time they had come nearly a hundred and fifty 
 miles to the north and west, without seeing any signs of those 
 marauders. They considered themselves, therefore, beyond the 
 reach of molestation, and began to relax in their vigilance, linger- 
 ing occasionally for part of a day, where there was good pasturage 
 The poor horses needed repose. They had been urged on, by 
 forced marches, over rugged heights, among rocks and fallen 
 timber, or over low swampy valleys, inundated by the labors of 
 the beaver. These industrious animals abounded in all the 
 mountain streams, and water courses, wherever there were 
 willows for their subsistence. Many of them they had so com- 
 pletely dammed up as to inundate the low grounds, making 
 shallow pools or lakes, and extensive quagmires : by which the 
 route of the travellers was often impeded. 
 
 On the 19th of September, they rose at early dawn; some 
 began to prepare breakfast, and others to arrange the packs pre- 
 paratory to a march. The horses had been hobbled, but left at 
 large to graze upon the adjacent pasture. Mr. Stuart was on the 
 bank of a river, at a short distance from the camp, when he heard 
 the alarm cry — " Indians ! Indians ! — to arms ! to arms !" 
 
 A mounted Crow galloped past the camp, bearing a red flag. 
 He reined his steed on the summit of a neighboring knoll, and 
 waved his flaring banner. A diabolical yell now broke forth qu 
 the opposite side of the camp, beyond where the horses were 
 grazing, and a small troop of savages came galloping up, whoop- 
 ing and making a terrific clamor. The horses took fright, and 
 dashed across the camp in the direction of the standard-bearer^ 
 attracted by his waving flag. He instantly put spurs to his steed^ 
 and scoured off, followed by the panic-stricken herd, their fright 
 being increased by the yells of the savages in their rear. 
 
 At the first alarm, Mr. Stuart and his comrades had seized 
 
 17 
 
386 ASIORIA. 
 
 their rifles, and attempted to cut off tlie Indians, 'wh.o were pur- 
 suing the horses. Their attention was instantly distracted by 
 whoops and yells 'in an opposite direction. They now appre- 
 hended that a reserve party was about to carry off their baggage. 
 They ran to secure it. The reserve party, however, galloped by, 
 whooping and yelling in triumph and derision. The last of them 
 proved to be their commander, the identical giant joker already 
 mentioned. He was not cast in the stern poetical mould of fash- 
 ionable Indian heroism, but on the contrary, was grievously given 
 to vulgar jocularity. As he passed Mr. Stuart and his compan- 
 ions, he checked his horse, raised himself in the saddle, and clap- 
 ping his hand on the most insulting part of his body, uttered 
 some jeering words, which, fortunately for their delicacy, they 
 could not understand. The rifle of Ben Jones was levelled in 
 an instant, and he was on the point of whizzing a bullet into the 
 target so tauntingly displayed. " Not for your life ! not for 
 your life !" exclaimed Mr. Stuart, " you will bring destruction 
 on us all !" 
 
 It was hard to restrain honest Ben, when the mark was so 
 fair and the insult so foul. " Oh, Mr. Stuart," exclaimed he, 
 '' only let me have one crack at the infernal rascal, and you may 
 keep all the pay that is due to me." 
 
 '• By heaven, if you fire," cried Mr. Stuart, " I'll blow your 
 brains out. 
 
 By this time the Indian was far out of reach, and had rejoined 
 his men. and the whole dare-devil band, with the captured horses, 
 Bcuttled off along the defiles, their red flag flaunting over head, 
 and the locks echoing to their whoops and yells, and demoniao 
 laughter. 
 
 The unhorsed travellers gazed after them in silent mortifica- 
 tion and despair ; yet Mr. Stuart could not but admire the style 
 and spirit with which the whole exploit had been managed, and 
 
INDIAN LURKERS. 387 
 
 pronounced it one of the most daring and intrepid actions he had 
 ever heard of among Indians. The whole number of the Grows 
 did not exceed twenty. In this way a small gang of lurkers will 
 hurry off the cavalry of a large war party, for when once a drove 
 of horses are seized with a panic, they become frantic, and nothing 
 ehort of broken necks can stop them. 
 
 No one was more annoyed by this unfortunate occurrence 
 than Ben Jones. He declared he would actually have given his 
 whole arrears of pay, amounting to upwards of a year's wages, 
 rather than be balked of such a capital shot. Mr. Stuart, how- 
 ever, represented what might have been the consequence of so 
 rash an act. Life for life is the Indian maxim. The whole tribe 
 would have made common cause in avenging the death of a war- 
 rior. The party were but seven dismounted men, with a wide 
 mountain region to traverse, infested by these people, and which 
 might all be roused by signal fires. In fact, the conduct of the 
 band of marauders in question, showed the perseverance of sav- 
 ages when once they have fixed their minds upon a project. 
 These fellows had evidently been silently and secretly dogging 
 the party for a week past, and a distance of a hundred and fifty 
 miles, keeping out of sight by day, lurking about the encampment 
 at night, watching all their movements, and waiting for a favora- 
 ble moment when they should be off their guard. The menace 
 of Mr. Stuart, in their first interview, to shoot the giant chief 
 with his pistol, and the fright caused among the warriors by pre- 
 senting the rifles, had probably added the stimulus of pique to 
 their usual horse-stealing propensities, and in this mood of mind 
 they would doubtless have followed the party throughout their 
 whole course over the Rocky Mountains, rather than be diap- 
 pointed in their scheme. 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 Few reverses in this changeful world are more complete and 
 disheartening than that of a traveller, suddenly unhorsed, in the 
 midst of the wilderness. Our unfortunate travellers contem- 
 plated their situation, for a time, in perfect dismay. A long 
 journey over rugged mountains and immeasurable plains lay 
 before them, which they must painfully perform on foot, and 
 every thing necessary for subsistence or defence must be carried 
 on their shoulders. Their dismay, however, was but transient, 
 and they immediately set to work, with that prompt expediency 
 produced by the exigencies of the wilderness, to fit themselves 
 for the change in their condition. 
 
 Their first attention was to select from their baggage such 
 articles as were indispensable to their journey ; to make them up 
 into convenient packs, and to deposit the residue in caches. The 
 whole day was consumed in these occupations ; at night, they 
 made a scanty meal of their remaining provisions, and lay down 
 to sleep with heavy hearts. In the morning, they were up and 
 about at an early hour, and began to prepare their knapsacks for 
 a march, while Ben Jones repaired to an old beaver trap which 
 he had set in the river bank at some little distance from the 
 camp. He was rejoiced to find a middle-sized beaver there, suffi- 
 cient for a morning's meal to his hungry comrades. On his way 
 back with his prize, he observed two heads peering over the edge 
 of an impending cliff, several hundred feet high, which he sup* 
 posed to be a couple of wolves. As he continued on, he now and 
 
PRYING SPIES— A BONFIRE. 389 
 
 tlien cast bis eye up ; tlie heads were still tliere, looking down 
 witli fixed and watcliful gaze. A suspicion now flashed across 
 his mind that they might be Indian scouts ; and, had they not 
 been far above the reach of his rifle, he would undoubtedly have 
 regaled them with a shot. 
 
 On arriving at the camp, he directed the attention of his 
 comrades to these aerial observers. The same idea was at first 
 entertained, that they were wolves ; but their immovable watch- 
 fulness soon satisfied every one that they were Indians. It was 
 concluded that they were watching the movements of the party, 
 to discover their place of concealment of such articles as they 
 would be compelled to leave behind. There was no likelihood 
 that the caches would escape the search of such keen eyes and 
 experienced rummagers, and the idea was intolerable, that any 
 more booty should fall into their hands. To disappoint them, 
 therefore, the travellers stripped the caches of the articles depo- 
 sited there, and collecting together every thing that they could 
 not carry away with them, made a bonfire of all that would burn, 
 and threw the rest into the river. There was a forlorn satisfac- 
 tion in thus balking the Crows, by the destruction of their own 
 property ; and, having thus gratified their pique, they shouldered 
 their packs, about ten o'clock in the morning, and set out on 
 their pedestrian wayfaring. 
 
 The route they took was down along the banks of Mad River, 
 This stream makes its way through the defiles of the mountains, 
 into the plain below Fort Henry, where it terminates in Snake 
 Kiver. Mr. Stuart was in hopes of meeting with Snake encamp- 
 ments in the plain, where he might procure a couple of horses to 
 transport the baggage. In such case, he intended to resume his 
 eastern course across the mountains, and endeavor to reach 
 the Cheyenne River before winter. Should he fail, however, of 
 obtaining horses, he would probably be compelled to winter on 
 
390 ASTORIA. 
 
 the Pacific side of the mountainSj somewliere on the head waters 
 of the Spanish or Colorado River. 
 
 With all the care that had been observed in taking nothing 
 with them that was not absolutely necessary, the poor pedestrians 
 were heavily laden, and their burdens added to the fatigues of 
 their rugged road. They suffered much, too, from hunger. The 
 trout they caught were too poor to yield much nourishment ; 
 their main dependence, therefore, was upon an old beaver trap, 
 which they had providentially retained. Whenever they were 
 fortunate enough to entrap a beaver, it was cut up immediately 
 and distributed, that each man might carry his share. 
 
 After two days of toilsome travel, during which they made 
 but eighteen miles, they stopped on the 2.1st, to build two rafts 
 on which to cross to the north side of the river. On these they 
 embarked, on the following morning, four on one raft, and three 
 on the other, and pushed boldly from shore. Finding the rafts 
 sufficiently firm and steady to withstand the rough and rapid 
 water, they changed their minds, and instead of crossing, ven- 
 tured to float down with the current. The river was, in general, 
 very rapid, and from one to two hundred yards in width, winding 
 in every direction through mountains of hard black rock, covered 
 with pines and cedars. The mountains to the east of the river 
 were spurs of the Rocky range, and of great magnitude ; those 
 on the west were little better than hills, bleak and barren, or 
 scantily clothed with stunted grass. 
 
 Mad River, though deserving its name from the impetuosity 
 of its current, was free from rapids and cascades, and flowed on 
 in a single channel between gravel banks, often fringed with cot- 
 ton-wood and dwarf willows in abundance. These gave suste- 
 nance to immense quantities of beaver, so that the voyageurs 
 found no difficulty in procuring food. Ben Jones, also, killed a 
 fallow deer, and a wolverine, and as they were enabled to carry 
 
RAFTING A RIVER. 391 
 
 the carcasses ou tlieir rafts, their larder was well supplied. In- 
 deed, they might have occasionally shot heavers that were swim* 
 ming in the river as they floated by, but they humanely spared 
 their lives, being in no want of meat at the time. In this way, 
 they kept down the river for three days, drifting with the current 
 and encamping on land at night, when they drew up their rafts on 
 shore. Towards the evening of the third day, they came to a 
 little island on which they descried a gang of elk. Ben Jones 
 landed, and was fortunate enough to wound one, which imme- 
 diately took to the water, but, being unable to stem the current, 
 drifted above a mile, when it was overtaken and drawn to shore. 
 As a storm was gathering, they now encamped on the margin of 
 the river, where they remained all the next day, sheltering them- 
 selves as well as they could from the rain, and hail, and snow, a 
 sharp foretaste of the impending winter. During their encam|)- 
 ment, they employed themselves in jerking a part of the elk for 
 future supply. In cutting up the carcass, they found that the 
 animal had been wounded by hunters, about a week previously, 
 an arrow head and a musket ball remaining in the wounds. In 
 the wilderness, every trivial circumstance is a matter of anxious 
 speculation. The Snake Indians have no guns ; the elk, there- 
 fore, could not have been wounded by one of them. They were 
 on the borders of the country infested by the Blackfeet, who 
 carry firearms. It was concluded, therefore, that the elk had 
 been hunted by some of that wandering and hostile tribe, who, of 
 course, must be in the neighborhood. The idea put an end to 
 the transient solace they had enjoyed in the comparative repose 
 and abundance of the river. 
 
 For three days longer they continued to navigate with their 
 rafts. The recent storm had rendered the weather extremely 
 cold. They had now floated down the river about ninety-ono 
 miles, when, finding the mountains on the right, diminished to 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 moderate sized hills, they landed, and prepared to resume their 
 journey on foot. Accordingly, having spent a day in prepara- 
 tions, making moccasons, and parcelling out their jerked meat in 
 packs of twenty pounds to each man, they turned their backs 
 upon the river on the 29th of September and struck off to the 
 northeast ; keeping along the southern skirt of the mountain on 
 which Henry's Fort was situated. 
 
 Their march was slow and toilsome ; part of the time through 
 an alluvial bottom, thickly grown with cotton-wood, hawthorn and 
 willows, and part of the time over rough hills. Three antelopes 
 came within shot, but they dared not fire at them, lest the report 
 of their rifles should betray them to the Blackfeet. In the course 
 of the day, they came upon a large horse-track apparently about 
 three weeks old, and in the evening encamped on the banks of a 
 small stream, on a spot which had been the camping place of this 
 same band. 
 
 On the following morning they still observed the Indian 
 track, but after a time they came to where it separated in every 
 direction, and was lost. This showed that the band had dispersed 
 in various hunting parties, and was, in all probability, still in the 
 neighborhood ; it was necessary, therefore, to proceed with the 
 utmost caution. They kept a vigilant eye as they marched, upon 
 every height where a scout might be posted, and scanned the 
 solitary landscape and the distant ravines, to observe any column 
 of smoke ; but nothing of the kind was to be seen ; all was inde- 
 scribably stern and lifeless. 
 
 Towards evening they came to where there were several hot 
 springs, strongly impregnated with iron and sulphur, and sending 
 up a volume of vapor that tainted the surrounding atmosphere, 
 and might be seen at the distance of a couple of miles. 
 
 Near to these they encamped, in a deep gully, which afforded 
 some concealment. To their great concern, Mr. Crooks, who had 
 
WILFUL CONDUCT OF M'LELLAN. 
 
 been indisposed for the two preceding days, had a violent fever in 
 the night. 
 
 Shortly after daybreak they resumed their march. On 
 emerging from the glen, a consultation was held as to their 
 course. Should they continue round the skirt of the mountain, 
 they would be in danger of falling in with the scattered parties 
 of Blackfeet, who were probably hunting in the plain. It was 
 thought most advisable, therefore, to strike directly across the 
 mountain, since the route, though rugged and difficult, would be 
 most secure. This counsel was indignantly derided by M'Lellan 
 as pusillanimous. Hot-headed and impatient at all times, he had 
 been rendered irascible by the fatigues of the journey, and the 
 condition of his feet, which were chafed and sore. He could not 
 endure the idea of encountering the difficiilties of the mountain, 
 and swore he would rather face all the Blackfeet in the country. 
 He was overruled, however, and the party began to ascend the 
 mountain, striving, with the ardor and emulation of young men, 
 who should be first up. M'Lellan, who was double the age of 
 some of his companions, soon began to lose breath, and fall in 
 the rear. In the distribution of burdens, it was his turn to carry 
 the old beaver trap. Piqued and irritated, he suddenly came to 
 a halt, swore he would carry it no further, and jerked it half-way 
 down the hill. He was offered in jplace of it a package of dried 
 meat, but this he scornfully threw upon the ground. They might 
 carry it, he said, who needed it, for his part, he could provide his 
 daily food with his rifle. He concluded by flinging ofi" from the 
 party, and keeping along the skirts of the mountain, leaving 
 those, he said, to climb rocks, who were afraid to face Indians. 
 It was in vain that Mr. Stuart represented to him the rashness 
 of his conduct, and the dangers to which he exposed himself : he 
 rejected such counsel as craven. It was equally useless to repre- 
 sent the dangers to which he subjected his companions j as he 
 
394 ASTORIA. 
 
 could be discovered at a great distance on those naked plains, and 
 the Indians, seeing him, would know that there must be other 
 white men within reach. M'Lellan turned a deaf ear to every 
 remonstrance, and kept on his wilful way. 
 
 It seems a strange instance of perverseness in this man thus 
 to fling himself off alone, in a savage region, where solitude itself 
 was dismal, but every encounter with his fellow-man full of peril. 
 Such, however, is the hardness of spirit, and the insensibility to 
 danger, that grow upon men in the wilderness. M'Lellan, more- 
 over, was a man of peculiar temperament, ungovernable in his 
 will, of a courage that absolutely knew no fear, and somewhat of 
 a braggart spirit, that took a pride in doing desperate and hair- 
 brained things. 
 
 Mr. Stuart and his. party found the passages of the mountain 
 somewhat difficult, on account of the snow, which in many places 
 was of considerable depth, though it was now but the 1st of Octo- 
 ber. They crossed the summit early in the afternoon, and beheld 
 below them a plain about twent}^ miles wide, bounded on the oppo- 
 site side by their old acquaintances, the Pilot Knobs, those towering 
 mountains which had served Mr. Hunt as landmarks in part of 
 his route of the preceding year. Through the intermediate plain 
 wandered a river about fifty yards wide, sometimes gleaming in 
 open day, but oftener running through willowed banks, which 
 marked its serpentine course. 
 
 Those of the party who had been across these mountains, 
 pointed out much of the bearings of the country to Mr. Stuart, 
 They showed him in what direction must lie the deserted post 
 called Henry's Fort, whore they had abandoned their horses and 
 embarked in canoes, and they informed him that the stream which 
 wandered through the plain below them, fell into Henry River, 
 half way between the fort and the mouth of Mad or Snake River. 
 The character of all this mountain region was decidedly volcanio; 
 
HUMANE RESOLUTION. 395 
 
 and to the northwest, between Henry's Fort and the source of 
 the Missouri, Mr. Stuart observed several very high peaks covered 
 with snow, from two of which smoke ascended in considerable 
 volumes, apparently from craters, in a state of eruption. 
 
 On their way down the mountain, when they had reached the 
 bkirts, they descried M'Lellan at a distance, in the advance, trav- 
 ersing the plain. Whether he saw them or not, he showed no dis- 
 position to rejoin them, but pursued his sullen and solitary way. 
 
 After descending into the plain, they kept on about six miles, 
 until they reached the little river, which was here about knee 
 deep, and richly fringed with willow. Here they encamped for 
 the night. At this encampment the fever of Mr. Crooks increased 
 to such a degree that it was impossible for him to travel. Some 
 of the men were strenuous for Mr. Stuart to proceed without him, 
 urging the imminent danger they were exposed to b}^ delay in 
 that unknown and barren region, infested by the most treache- 
 rous and inveterate of foes. They represented that the season 
 was rapidly advancing: the weather for some days had been 
 extremely cold ; the mountains were already almost impassable 
 from snow, and would soon present effectual barriers. Their 
 provisions were exhausted ; there was no game to be seen, and 
 they did not dare to use their rij&es, through fear of drawing 
 upon them the Blackfeet. 
 
 The picture thus presented, was too true to be contradicted, 
 and made a deep impression on the mind of Mr. Stuart ; but the 
 idea of abandoning a fellow being, and a comrade, in such a 
 forlorn situation, was too repugnant to his feelings to be admitted 
 for an instant. He represented to the men that the malady of 
 Mr. Crooks coul-d not be of long duration, and that in all proba- 
 bility, he would be able to travel in the course of a few days. It 
 was with great difficulty, however, that he prevailed upon them 
 to abide the event. 
 
396 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 As the travellers were now in a dangerous neigliborhoodj where 
 the report of a rifle might bring the savages upon them, they 
 had to depend upon their old beaver-trap for subsistence. The 
 little river on which they were encamped gave many " beaver 
 signs," and Ben Jones set off at daybreak, along the willowed 
 banks, to find a proper trapping-place. As he was making his 
 way among the thickets, with his trap on his shoulder and his 
 rifle in his hand, he heard a crashing sound, and turning, beheld 
 a huge grizzly bear advancing upon him, with terrific growl. The 
 sturdy Kentuckian was not to be intimidated by man or monster. 
 Levelling his rifle, he pulled trigger. The bear was wounded, 
 but not mortally : instead, however, of rushing upon his assailant, 
 as is generally the case with this kind of bear, he retreated into 
 the bushes. Jones followed him for some distance, but with suit- 
 able caution, and Bruin effected his escape. 
 
 As there was every prospect of a detention of some days in 
 this place, and as the supplies of the beaver-trap were too preca- 
 rious to be depended upon, it became absolutely necessary to run 
 some risk of discovery by hunting in the neighborhood. Ben 
 Jones, therefore, obtained permission to range with his rifle some 
 distance from the camp, and set off to beat up the river banks, 
 in defiance of bear or Blackfeet. 
 
 He returned in great spirits in the course of a few hours, 
 having come upon a gang of elk about six miles off, and killed 
 
ROCKY HEIGHTS. 397 
 
 five. This was joyful news, and the party immediately moved 
 forward to the place where he had left the carcasses. They were 
 ohliged to support Mr. Crooks the whole distance, for he was un- 
 able to walk. Here they remained for two or three days, feasting 
 heartily on elk meat, and drying as much as they would be able 
 to carry away with them. 
 
 By the 5th of October, some simple prescriptions, together 
 with an " Indian sweat," had so far benefited Mr. Crooks, that 
 he was enabled to move about ; they, therefore, set forward 
 slowly, dividing his pack and accoutrements among them, and 
 made a creeping day's progress of eight miles south. Their 
 route for the most part lay through swamps, caused by the indus- 
 trious labors of the beaver ; for this little animal had dammed 
 up numerous small streams, issuing fram the Pilot Knob Moun- 
 tains, so that the low grounds on their borders were completely 
 inundated. • In the course of their march they killed a grizzly 
 bear, with fat on its flanks upwards of three inches in thickness. 
 This was an acceptable addition to their stock of elk meat. The 
 next day Mr. Crooks was sufficiently recruited in strength to be 
 able to carry his rifle and pistols, and they made a march of sev- 
 teen miles along the borders of the plain. 
 
 Their journey daily became more toilsome, and their suffer- 
 ings more severe, as shey advanced. Keeping up the channel 
 of a river, they traversed the rugged summit of the Pilot Knob 
 Mountain, covered with snow nine inches deep. For several days 
 they continued, bending their course as much as possible to the 
 east, over a succession of rocky heights, deep valleys, and rapid 
 streams. Sometimes their dizzy path lay along the margin of 
 perpendicular precipices, several hundred feet in height, where a 
 single false step might precipitate them into the rocky bed of a 
 torrent which roared below. Not the least part of their weary 
 task was the fording of the numerous windings and branchings 
 
398 ASTORIA. 
 
 of tlie mountain rivers, all boisterous in their currents, and 
 iej cold. 
 
 Hunger was added to their other sufferings, and soon became 
 the keenest. The small supply of bear and elk meat which they 
 had been able to carry, in addition to their previous burdens, 
 served but for a very short time. In their anxiety to struggle 
 forward, they had but little time to hunt, and scarce any game in 
 their path. For three days they had nothing to eat but a small 
 duck, and a few poor trout. They occasionally saw numbers of 
 antelopes, and tried every art to get within shot ; but the timid 
 animals were more than commonly wild, and after tantalizing the 
 hungry hunters for a time, bounded away beyond all chance of 
 pursuit. At length they were fortunate enough to kill one : it 
 was extremely meagre, and yielded but a scanty supply ; but on 
 this they subsisted for several days. 
 
 On the 11th, they encamped on a small stream, pear the foot 
 of the Spanish Kiver Mountain. Here they met with traces of 
 that wayward and solitary being, M'Lellan, who was still keeping 
 on ahead of them through these lonely mountains. He had en- 
 camped the night before on this stream ; they found the embers 
 of the fire by which he had slept, and the remains of a miserable 
 wolf on which he had sup23ed. It was evident he had suffered, 
 like themselves, the pangs of hunger, though he had fared better 
 at this encampment ; for they had not a mouthful to eat. 
 
 The next day, they rose hungry and alert, and set out with 
 the dawn to climb the mountain, which was steep and difficult. 
 Traces of volcanic eruptions were to be seen in various direc- 
 tions. There was a species of clay also to be met with, out of 
 which the Indians manufacture pots and jars, and dishes. It is 
 very fine and light, of an agreeable smell, and of a brown color 
 spotted with yellow, and dissolves readily in the mouth. Vessels 
 manufactured of it, are said to impart a pleasant smell and flavor 
 
STARVATION. 399 
 
 to any liquids. These mountains abound also with mineral 
 earths, or chalks of various colors ; especially two kinds of ochre, 
 one a pale, the other a bright red, like vermilion ; much used by 
 the Indians, in painting their bodies. 
 
 About noon, the travellers reached the " drains " and brooks 
 that formed the head waters of the river, and later in the day, 
 descended to where the main body, a shallow stream, about a 
 hundred and sixty yards wide, poured through its mountain 
 valley. 
 
 Here the poor famishing wanderers had expected to find buf- 
 falo in abundance, and had fed their hungry hopes during their 
 scrambling toil, with the thoughts of roasted ribs, juicy humps, 
 and broiled marrow bones. To their great disappointment, the 
 river banks were deserted ; a few old tracks, showed where a herd 
 of bulls had some time before passed along, but not a horn nor 
 hump was to be seen in the sterile landscape. A few antelopes 
 looked down upon them from the brow of a crag, but flitted away 
 out of sight at the least approach of the hunter. 
 
 In the most starving mood they kept for several miles further, 
 along the bank of the river, seeking for '• beaver signs." Find- 
 ing some, they encamped in the vicinity, and Ben Jones imme- 
 diately proceeded to set the trap. They had scarce come to a 
 halt, when they perceived a large smoko at some distance to the 
 southwest. The sight was hailed with joy, for they trusted it 
 might rise from some Indian camp, where they could procure 
 something to eat, and the dread of starvation had now overcome 
 even the terror of the Blackfeet. Le Clerc, one- of the Canadians, 
 was instantly dispatched by Mr. Stuart, to reconnoitre ; and the 
 travellers sat up till a late hour, watching and listening for his 
 return, hoping he might bring them food. Midnight arrived, 
 but Le Clerc did not make his appearance, and they laid down 
 once more supperless to sleep, comforting themselves with the 
 
400 ASTORIA. 
 
 hopes that their old heaver trap might furnish them with a 
 breakfast. 
 
 At daybreak they hastened with famished eagerness to the 
 trap — they found in it the fore paw of a beaver ; the sight of 
 ■which tantalized their hunger, and added to their dejection. 
 They resumed their journey with flagging spirits, but had not 
 gone far when they perceived Le Clerc approaching at a distance. 
 They hastened to meet him, in hopes of tidings of good cheer. 
 He had none to give them ; but news of that strange wanderer, 
 M'Lellan. The smoke had risen from his encampment, which 
 took fire while he was at a little distance from it fishing. Lo 
 Clerc found him in forlorn condition. His fishing had been 
 unsuccessful. During twelve days that he had been wandering 
 alone through these savage mountains, he had found scarce any 
 thing to eat. He had been ill, wayworn, sick at heart, still he 
 had kept forward ; but now his strength and his stubbornness 
 were exhausted. He expressed his satisfaction at hearing that 
 Mr. Stuart and his party were near, and said he would wait at 
 his camp for their arrival, in hopes they would give him some- 
 thing to eat, for without food he declared he should not be able 
 to proceed much further. 
 
 When the party reached the place, they found the poor fellow 
 lying on a parcel of withered grass, wasted to a perfect skeleton, 
 and so feeble that he could scarce raise his head or speak. The 
 presence ot his old comrades seemed to revive him ; but they 
 had no food to give him, for they themselves were almost starving. 
 They urged him to rise and accompany them, but he shook his 
 head. It was all in vain, he said ; there was no prospect of their 
 getting speedy relief, and without it he should perish by the 
 way ; he might as well, therefore, stay and die where^^as. At 
 length, after much persuasion, they got him upon his legs ; his 
 vifle and other effects were shared among them, and he was 
 
STARVATION. 401 
 
 cLeered and aided forward. In this way they proceeded for 
 seventeen miles, over a level plain of sand, until, seeing a few 
 antelopes in the distance, they encamped on the margin of a 
 small stream. All now that were capable of the exertion, turned 
 out to hunt for a meal. Their efforts were fruitless, and after 
 dark they returned to their camp, famished almost to despera- 
 tion. 
 
 As they were preparing for the third time to lay down to 
 sleep without a mouthful to eat, Le Clerc, one of the Canadians 
 gaunt and wild with hunger, approached Mr. Stuart with his 
 gun in his hand. '• It was all in vain," he said, " to attempt to 
 proceed any further without food. They had a barren plain 
 before them, three or four days' journey in extent, on which 
 nothing was to be procured. They must all perish before they 
 could get to the end of it. It was better, therefore, that one 
 should die to save the rest." He proposed, therefore, that they 
 ghould cast lots ; adding, as an inducement for Mr. Stuart to 
 assent to the proposition, that he, as leader of the party, should 
 be exempted. 
 
 Mr. Stuart shuddered at the horrible proposition, and endea- 
 vored to reason with the man, but his words were unavailing. 
 At length, snatching up his rifle, he threatened to shoot him on 
 the spot if he persisted. The famished wretch dropped on his 
 knees, begged pardon in the most abject terms, and promised never 
 again to offend him with such a suggestion. 
 
 Quiet being restored to the forlorn encampment, each one 
 sought repose. Mr. Stuart, however, was so exhausted by the 
 agitation of the past scene, acting upon his emaciated frame, 
 that he could scarce crawl to his miserable couch ; where, not- 
 withstanding his fatigues, he passed a sleepless night, revolving 
 upon their dreary situation, and the desperate prospect before 
 them. 
 
402 ASTORIA. 
 
 Before daylight tlie next morning, tliey were up and on tlieir 
 way ; tliey had nothing to detain them ; no breakfast to prepare, 
 and to linger was to perish. They proceeded, however, but 
 slowly, for all were faint and weak. Here and there they passed 
 the skulls and bones of buffaloes, which showed that these ani- 
 mals must have been hunted here during the past season ; tho 
 sight of these bones served only to mock their misery. . After 
 travelling about nine miles along the plain, they ascended a range 
 of hills, and had scarcely gone two miles further, when, to their 
 great joy, they discovered " an old run-down buffalo bull ;" the 
 laggard probably of some herd that had been hunted and harass- 
 ed through the mountains. They now all stretched themselves 
 out to encompass and make sure of this solitary animal, for their 
 lives depended upon their success. After considerable trouble 
 and infinite anxiety, they at length succeeded in killing him. 
 He was instantly flayed and cut up, and so ravenous was their 
 hunger, that tliey devoured some of the flesh raw. The residue 
 they carried to a brook near by, where they encamped, lit a fire, 
 and began to cook. 
 
 Mr. Stuart was fearful that in their famished state they would 
 eat to excess and injure themselves. He caused a soup to be 
 made of some of the meat, and that each should take a quantity 
 of it as a prelude to his supper. This may have had a beneficial 
 effect, for though they sat up the greater part of the night, cook- 
 ing and cramming, no one suffered any inconvenience. 
 
 The next morning the feasting was resumed, and about mid- 
 day, feeling somewhat recruited and refreshed, they set out 
 on their journey with renovated spirits, shaping their course 
 towards a mountain, the summit of which they saw towering in 
 the east, and near to which they expected to find tbe head waters 
 of the Missouri. 
 
 As they proceeded, they continued to see the skeletons of 
 
GIGANTIC LODGE. 403 
 
 buffaloes scattered about the plain in every direction, wliich 
 showed that there had been much hunting here by the Indiana 
 in the recent season. Further on they crossed a large Indian 
 trail, forming a deep path, about fifteen days old, which went in 
 a north direction. They concluded it to have been made by some 
 numerous band of Crows, who had hunted in this country for the 
 greater part of the summer. 
 
 On the following day they forded a stream of considerable 
 magnitude, with banks clothed with pine trees. Among these 
 they found the traces of a large Indian camp, which had evidently 
 been the head-quarters of a hunting expedition, from the great 
 quantities of buffalo bones strewed about the neighborhood. The 
 camp had apparently been abandoned about a month. 
 
 In the centre was a singular lodge one hundred and fifty feet 
 in circumference, supported by the trunks of twenty trees, about 
 twelve inches in diameter and forty-four feet long. Across these 
 were laid branches of pine and willow trees, so as to yield a tol- 
 erable shade. At the west end, immediately opposite to the door, 
 three bodies lay interred with their feet towards the east. At 
 the head of each grave was a branch of red cedar firmly planted 
 in the ground. At the foot was a large buffalo's skull, painted 
 black. Savage ornaments were suspended in various parts, of the 
 edifice, and a great number of children's moccasons. From the 
 magnitude of this building, and the time and labor that must 
 have been expended in erecting it, the bodies which it contained 
 were probably those of noted warriors and hunters. 
 
 The next day, October 17th, they passed two large tributary 
 streams of the Spanish Hiver. They took their rise in the Wind 
 lliver Mountains, which ranged along to the east, stupendously 
 high and rugged, composed of vast masses of black rock, almost 
 destitute of wood, and covered in many places with snow. This 
 day they saw a few buffalo bulls, and some antelopes, but could 
 
404 ASTORIA. 
 
 not kill any ; and tlieir stock of provisions began to. grow scanty 
 as well as poor. 
 
 On the 18th, after crossing a mountain ridge, and traversing 
 a plain, they waded one of the branches of Spanish Kiver, and 
 on ascending its bank, met with about a hundred and thirty 
 Snake Indians. They were friendly in their demeanor, and con- 
 ducted them to their encampment, which was about three miles 
 distant. It consisted of about forty wigwams, constructed prin- 
 cipally of pine branches. The Snakes, like most of their nation, 
 were very poor ; the marauding Crows, in their late excursion 
 through the country, had picked this unlucky band to the very 
 bone, carrying off their horses, several of their squaws, and most 
 of their effects. In spite of their poverty, they were hospitable 
 in the extreme, and made the hungry strangers welcome to their 
 cabins. A few trinkets procured from them a supply of buffalo 
 meat, and of leather for moccasons, of which the party were 
 greatly in need. The most valuable prize obtained from them, 
 however, was a horse : it was a sorry old animal in truth, but it 
 was the only one that remained to the poor fellows, after the fell 
 swoop of the Crows ; yet this they were prevailed upon to part 
 with to their guests for a pistol, an axe, a knife, and a few other 
 trifling articles. 
 
 They had doleful stories to tell of the Crows, who were en- 
 camped on a river at no great distance to the east, and were in 
 such force that they dared not venture to seek any satisfaction 
 for their outrages, or to get back a horse or squaw. They en- 
 deavored to excite the indignation of their visitors by accounts 
 of robberies and murders committed on lonely white hunters and 
 trappers by Crows and Blackfeet. Some of these were exagger- 
 ations of the outrages already mentioned, sustained by some of 
 the scattered members of Mr. Hunt's expedition ; others were in 
 all probability sheer fabrications, to which the Snakes seem to 
 
THE FORLORN ALLIANCE. 406 
 
 have been a little prone. Mr. Stuart assured them that the day 
 was not far distant when the whites would make their power to 
 be felt throughout that country, and take signal vengeance on the 
 perpetrators of these misdeeds. The Snakes expressed great joy 
 at the intelligence, and offered their services to aid the righteous 
 cause, brightening at the thoughts of taking the field with such 
 potent allies, and doubtless anticipating their turn at stealing 
 horses and abducting squaws. Their offers of course were ac- 
 cepted ; the calumet of peace was produced, and the two forlorn 
 powers smoked eternal friendship between themselves, and ven- 
 geance upon their common spoilers, the Crows. 
 
40R ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 By sunrise ou the following morning, (October IQtli,) the travel- 
 lers had loaded their old horse with hulFalo meat, sufficient for 
 five da^-s' provisions, and, taking leave of their new allies, the 
 poor, hut hospitable Snakes, set forth in somewhat better spirits, 
 though the increasing cold of the weather, and the sight of the 
 snowy mountains which they had yet to traverse, were enough to 
 chill their very hearts. The country along this branch of the 
 Spanish River, as far as they could see, was perfectly level, 
 bounded by ranges of lofty mountains, both to the east and west. 
 They proceeded about three miles to the south, where they came 
 again upon the large trail of Crow Indians, which they had 
 crossed four days previously, made, no doubt, by the same 
 marauding band that had plundered the Snakes ; and which, 
 according to the account of the latter, was now encamped on a 
 stream to the eastward. The trail kept on to the southeast, and 
 was so well beaten by horse and foot, that they supposed at least 
 a hundred lodges had passed along it. As it formed, therefore, 
 a convenient highway, and ran in a proper direction, they turned 
 into it, and determined to keep along it as far as safety would 
 permit ; as the Crow encampment must be some distance oflf, and 
 it was not likely those savages would return upon their steps. 
 They travelled forward, therefore, all that day, in the track of 
 their dangerous predecessors, which led them across mountain 
 streams, and along ridges, and through narrow valleys, all tend- 
 ing generally towards the southeast. The wind blew coldly from 
 the northeast, with occasional flurries of snow, which made them 
 
BAD WEATHER AND GOOD CHEER. 407 
 
 encamp early, on tlie slieltered banks of a brook. The two Cana- 
 dians, Yallee and Le Clerc, killed a young buffalo bull in the 
 evening, which was in good condition, and afforded them a plen- 
 tiful supply of fresh beef. They loaded their spits, therefore, 
 nd crammed their camp kettle with meat, and while the wind 
 whistled, and the snow whirled around them, huddled round a 
 rousing fire, basked in its warmth, and comforted both soul and 
 body with a hearty and invigorating meal. No enjoyments have 
 greater zest than these, snatched in the very midst of difficulty 
 and danger ; and it is probable the poor wayworn and weather- 
 beaten travellers relished these creature comforts the more highly 
 from the surrounding desolation, and the dangerous proximity of 
 the Crows. 
 
 The snow which had fallen in the night made it late in the 
 morning before the party loaded their solitary pack-horse, and 
 resumed their march. They had not gone far before the Crow 
 trace which they were following changed its direction, and bore 
 to the north of east. They had already begun to feel themselves 
 on dangerous ground in keeping along it, as they might be 
 descried b}'" some scouts and spies of that race of Ishmaelites, 
 whose predatory life required them to be constantly on the alert. 
 On seeing the trace turn so much to the north, therefore, they 
 abandoned it, and kept on their course to the southeast for eigh- 
 teen miles, through a beautifully undulating country, having the 
 main chain of mountains on the left, and a considerably elevated 
 ridge on the right. Here the mountain ridge which divides 
 Wind River from the head waters of the Columbia and Spanish 
 Rivers ends abruptly, and winding to the north of east, becomes 
 the dividing barrier between a branch of the Big Horn and Chey- 
 enne Rivers, and those head waters which flow into the Missouri 
 below the Sioux country. 
 
 The ridge which lay on the right of the travellers having now 
 
408 ASTORIA. 
 
 become very low, they passed over it, and came into a level plain, 
 about ten miles in circumference, and incrusted to the depth of 
 a foot or eighteen inches with salt as white as snow. This is 
 furnished by numerous salt springs of limpid water, which are 
 continually welling up, overflowing their borders, and forming 
 beautiful crystallizations. The Indian tribes of the interior are 
 excessively fond of this salt, and repair to the valley to collect it, 
 but it is held in distaste by the tribes of the sea-coast, who will 
 eat nothing that has been cured or seasoned by it. 
 
 This evening they encamped on the banks of a small stream, 
 m the open prairie. The northeast wind was keen and cutting ; 
 they had nothing wherewith to make a fire, but a scanty growth 
 of sage, or wormwood, and were fain to wrap themselves up in 
 their blankets, and huddle themselves in thir " nests," at an early 
 hour. In the course of the evening, Mr. M'Lellan, who had now 
 regained his strength, killed a bufialo, but it was some distance 
 from the camp, and they postponed supplying themselves from 
 the carcass until the following morning. 
 
 The next day, (October 21st,) the cold continued, accompa- 
 nied by snow. They set forward on their bleak and toilsome 
 way, keeping to the east-northeast, towards the lofty summit of 
 a mountain, which it was necessary for them to cross. Before 
 they reached its base they passed another large trail, steering a 
 little to the right of the point of the mountain. This they pre- 
 sumed to have been made by another band of Crows, who had 
 probably been hunting lower down on the Spanish River. 
 
 The severity of the weather compelled them to encamp at the 
 end of fifteen miles, on the skirts of the mountain, where they 
 found sufficient dry aspen trees to supply them with fire, but they 
 sought in vain about the neighborhood for a spring or rill of water. 
 
 At daybreak they were up and on the march, scrambling up 
 the mountain side for the distance of eight painful miles. From 
 
WINTRY PLAINS. 409 
 
 tlie casual hints given in the travelling memoranda of Mr. Stuart, 
 this mountain would seem to offer a rich field of speculation for 
 the geologist. Here was a plain three miles in diameter, strewed 
 with pumice stones and other volcanic reliques, with a lake in the 
 centre, occupying what had probably been the crater. Here were 
 also, in some places, deposits of marine shells, indicating that this 
 mountain crest had at some remote period been below the waves. 
 
 After pausing to repose, and to enjoy these grand but savage 
 and awful scenes, they began to descend the eastern side of the 
 mountain. The descent was rugged and romantic, along deep 
 ravines and defiles, overhung with crags and cliffs, among which 
 they beheld numbers of the ahsahta or bighorn, skipping fear- 
 lessly from rock to rock. Two of them they succeeded in bring- 
 ing down with their rifles, as they peered fearlessly from the 
 brow of their airy precipices. 
 
 Arrived at the foot of the mountain, the travellers found a 
 rill of water oozing out of the earth, and resembling in look and 
 taste, the water of the Missouri. Here they encamped for the 
 night, and supped sumptuously upon their mountain mutton, 
 which they found in good condition, and extremely well tasted. 
 
 The morning v/as bright, and intensely cold. Early in the 
 day they came upon a stream running to the east, between low 
 hills of bluish earth, strongly impregnated with copperas. Mr. 
 Stuart supposed this to be one of the head waters of the Mis- 
 souri, and determined to follow its banks. After a march of 
 twenty-six miles, however he arrived at the summit of a hill, the 
 prospect of which induced him to alter his intention. He beheld, 
 in every direction south of cast, a vast plain, bounded only by the 
 horizon, through which wandered the stream in question, in a 
 gouth-southeast direction. It could not, therefore, be a branch 
 of the Missouri. He now gave up all idea of taking the stream 
 for his guide, and shaped his course towards a range of mouu- 
 
 18 
 
410 ASTORIA. 
 
 tains in the east, about sixty miles distant, near wliicL. he lioped 
 to find another stream. 
 
 The weather was now so severe, and the hardships of travel- 
 ling so great, that he resolved to halt for the winter, at the first 
 eligible place. That night they had to encamp on the open 
 prairie, near a scanty pool of water, and without any wood to 
 make a fire. The northeast wind blew keenly across the naked 
 waste, and they were fain to decamp from their inhospitable 
 bivouac before the dawn. 
 
 For two days they kept on in an eastward direction, against 
 wintry blasts and occasional snow storms. They suffered, also, 
 from scarcity of water, having occasionally to use melted snow ; 
 this, with the want of pasturage, reduced their old pack-horse 
 sadly. They saw many tracks of buifalo, and some few bulls, 
 which, however, got the wind of them, and scampered off. 
 
 On the 26th of October, they steered east-northeast, for a 
 wooded ravine, in a mountain at a small distance from the base 
 of which, to their great joy, they discovered an abundant stream, 
 running betwe^ willowed banks. Here they halted for the 
 night, and BeiJtaJones having luckily traj)ped a beaver, and killed 
 two buffalo bulls, they remained all the next day encamped, feast- 
 ing and reposing, and allowing their jaded horse to rest from 
 his labors. , 
 
 The little stream on which they were encamped, was one of 
 the head waters of the Platte River, which flows into the Mis- 
 souri ; it was, in fact, the northern fork, or branch of that river, 
 though this the travellers did not discover until long afterwards. 
 Pursuing the course of this stream for about twenty miles, they 
 came to where it forced a passage through a range of high hills, 
 covered with cedars, into an extensive low country, affording ex- 
 cellent pasture to numerous herds of buffalo. Here they killed 
 three cows, which were the first they had been able to get, having 
 
THE FIERY NARROWS. 41J 
 
 hitherto Iiad to content tliemselves witli bull beef, wliicli at tlila 
 season of tlie year is very poor. The hump meat afforded them 
 a repast fit for an epicure. 
 
 Late on the afternoon of the 30th, they came to where the 
 stream, now increased to a considerable size, poured along iii 
 a ravine between precipices of red stone, two hundred feet ia 
 height. For some distance it dashed along, over huge masses of 
 rock, with foaming violence, as if exasperated by being compressed 
 into so narrow a channel, and at length leaped down a chasm that 
 looked dark and frightful in the gathering twilight. 
 
 For a part of the next day, the wild river, in its capricious 
 wanderings, led them through a variety of striking scenes. At 
 one time they were upon high plains, like platforms among the 
 mountains, with herds of buffaloes roaming about them ; at an- 
 other, among rude rocky defiles, broken into cliffs and precipices, 
 where the black-tailed deer bounded off among the crags, and the 
 bighorn basked in the sunny brow of the precipice. 
 
 In the after part of the day, they came to another scene, sur- 
 passing in savage grandeur those already deseniJ3ed. They had 
 been travelling for some distance through a pasjl of the moun- 
 tains, keeping parallel with the river, as it roared along, out of 
 sight, through a deep ravine. Sometimes their devious path 
 appri)ached the margin of cliffs below which the river foamed, and 
 boiled and whirled among the masses of rock that had fallen into 
 its channel. As they crept cautiously on, leading their solitary 
 pack-horse along these giddy heights, they all at once came to 
 where the river thundered down a succession of precipices, 
 throwing up clouds of spray, and making a prodigious din and 
 uproar. The travellers remained, for a time, gazing with mingled 
 awe and delight, at this furious cataract, to which Mr. Stuart 
 gave, from the color of the impending rocks, the name of " The 
 Fiery Narrows." 
 
413 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 The travellers encamped for tlic iilglit on tlio banks of the river, 
 below the cataract. The night was cold with partial shcwcra of 
 rain and sleet. The morning dawned gloomily, the skies were 
 Allien and overcast, and threatened further storms ; but the little 
 hand resumed their journey, in defiance of the weather. The 
 increasing rigor of the season, however, which makes itself felt 
 early in these mountainous regions, and on these naked and ele- 
 vated plains, brought them to a pause, and a serious deliberation, 
 after they had descended about thirty miles further along the 
 course of the river. 
 
 All were convinced that it was in vain to attempt to accom- 
 plish their journtf}^ on foot at this inclement season. They had 
 still many hundlbd miles to traverse before they should reach the 
 m-iin course of the Missouri, and their route would lay over 
 immense prairies, naked and bleak, and destitute of fuel. The 
 ijuestion then was, where to choose their wintering place, and 
 t\'hcther or not to proceed further down the river. They had at 
 lirst imagined it to be one of the head waters, or tributary streams, 
 of the Missouri. Afterwards they had believed it to be the Rapid, 
 or Quicourt Kiver, in which opinion they had not come nearer to 
 the truth ; they now, however, were persuaded, with equal fallacy, 
 by its inclining somev/hat to the north of east, that it was the 
 Cheyenne. If so, by continuing down it much further they must 
 arrive among the Indians, from whom the river takes its name. 
 Among these they would be sure to meet some of the Sioux tribe. 
 
A WINTERING PLACE. 413 
 
 These would apprise tlicir relatiycs, the piratical Sioux of the 
 Missouri, of the approach of a band of white traders ; so that, in 
 the spring time, they would be likely to be waylaid and robbed on 
 their way down the river, by some party in ambush upon its banks. 
 
 Even should this prove to be the Quicourt or Kapid River, it 
 would not be prudent to winter much further down upon its 
 banks, as, though they might be out of the range of the Sioux, 
 they would be in the neighborhood of the Poncas, a tribe nearly 
 as dangerous. It w^as resolved, therefore, since they must winter 
 somewhere on this side of the Missouri, to descend no lower, but 
 to keep up in these solitary regions, where they would be in no 
 danger of molestation. 
 
 They were brought the more promptly and unanimously to 
 this decision, by coming upon an excellent wintering place, that 
 promised every thing recjuisite for their comfort. It was on a 
 fine bend of the river, just below where it issued out from among 
 a ridge of mountains, and bent towards the northeast. Here 
 vv'as a beautiful low point of land, covered by cotton-wood, and 
 surrounded by a thick growth of willow, so as to yield both shel- 
 ter and fuel, as v^ell as materials for building. The river swept 
 by in a strong current, about a hundred and fifty yards wide. 
 To the southeast were mountains of moderate height, the nearest 
 about two miles off, but the whole chain ranging to the east, south, 
 and southwest, as far as the eye could reach. Their summits 
 were crowned wdth extensive tracts of pitch pine, checkered with 
 small patches of the quivering aspen. Lower down were thick 
 forests of firs and red cedars, growing out in many places from 
 the very fissures of the rocks. The mountains were broken and 
 precipitous, with huge blufi's protruding from among the forests. 
 Their rocky recesses, and beetling cliffs, afforded retreats to in 
 numerable flocks of the bighorn, wdiile their woody summits and 
 ravines abounded with bears and black-tailed deer. These with 
 
414 ASTORIA. 
 
 the numerous liGrcIs of buffalo that ranged the lower groundss 
 along the river, promised the travellers abundant cheer in their 
 winter quarters. 
 
 On the 2d of November, therefore, they pitched their camp 
 for the Yfinter, on the woody point, and their first thought was, to 
 obtain a supply of provisions. Ben Jones and the two Cana- 
 dians accordingly sallied forth, accompanied by two others of the 
 party, leaving but one to watch the camp. Their hunting was un- 
 commonly successful. In the course of two days, they killed 
 thirty-two buffaloes, and collected their meat on the margin of a 
 small brook, about a mile distant. Fortunately, a severe frost 
 froze the river, so that the meat was easily transported to the en- 
 campment. On a succeeding day, a herd of buffalo came tramp- 
 ling through the woody bottom on the river banks, and fifteen 
 more were killed. 
 
 It was soon discovered, however, that there was game of a 
 •more dangerous nature in the neighborhood. On one occasion, 
 Mr. Crooks had wandered about a mile from the camp, and had 
 ascended a small hill commanding a view of the river. He was 
 without his rifle, a rare circumstance, for in these wild regions, 
 where one may put up a wild animal, or a wild Indian, at every 
 turn, it is customary never to stir from the camp-fire unarmed. 
 The hill where he stood overlooked the place where the massacre 
 of the buffalo had taken place. As he was looking around on 
 the prospect, his eye was caught by an object below, moving 
 directly towards him. To his dismay, he discovered it to be a 
 grizzly bear, with two cubs. There was no tree at hand into 
 which he could climb ; to run, would only be to provoke pursuit, 
 and he should soon be overtaken. He threw himself on the 
 ground, therefore, and lay motionless, watching the movements 
 of the animal with intense anxiety. It continued to advance un- 
 til at the foot of the hill, when it turned, and made into the 
 
COMFORTABLE QUARTERS. 415 
 
 woods, having probably gorged itself with buffalo flesh. Mr. 
 Crooks made all haste back to the camp, rejoicing at his escape, 
 and determining never to stir out again without his rifle. A few 
 days after this circumstance, a grizzly bear was shot in the neigh- 
 borhood, by Mr. Miller. 
 
 As the slaughter of so many buffaloes had provided the 
 party with beef for the winter, in case they met with no further 
 supply, they now set to work, heart and hand, to .build a comfor- 
 table wigwam. In a little while the woody promontory rang 
 with the unwonted sound of the axe. Some of its lofty trees 
 were laid low, and by the second evening the cabin was complete. 
 It was eight feet wide, and eighteen feet long. The walls were 
 six feet high, and the whole was covered with buffalo skins. The 
 fireplace was in the centre, and the smoke found its way out by 
 a hole in the roof. 
 
 The hunters were next sent out to procure deer skins for 
 garments, moccasons, and other purposes. They made the 
 mountains echo with their rifles, and, in the course of two days' 
 hunting, killed twenty-eight bighorns and black-tailed deer. 
 
 The party now revelled in abundance. After all that they 
 had suffered from hunger, cold, fatigue and watchfulness ; after 
 all their perils from treacherous and savage men, they exulted in 
 the snligness and securit}'- of their isolated cabin, hidden, as they 
 thought, even from the prying eyes of Indian scouts, and stored 
 with creature comforts ; and they looked forward to a winter of 
 peace and quietness : of roasting, and boiling, and broiling, and 
 feasting upon venison, and mountain mutton, and bear's meat, 
 and marrow bones, and buffalo humps, and other hunter's dainties, 
 and of dosing and reposing round their fire, and gossiping over 
 past dangers and adventures, and telling long hunting stories, 
 until spring should return ; when they would make canoes of 
 buffalo skins and float themselves down the river. 
 
416 ASTORIA. 
 
 From such halcyon dreams, tliey were startled one morning, 
 at daybreak, by a savage yell. They started up and seized their 
 rifles. The yell was repeated by two or three voices. Cautiously 
 peeping out, they beheld, to their dismay, several Indian warriors 
 among the trees, all armed and painted in warlike style ; being 
 evidently bent on some hostile purpose. 
 
 Miller changed countenance as he regarded them. ' We are 
 in trouble," said he, " these are some of the rascally Arapahays 
 that robbed me last year." Not a word was uttered by the rest 
 of the party, but they silently slung their powder horns and ball 
 pouches, and prepared for battle. M'Lellan, who had taken his 
 gun to pieces the evening before, put it together in all haste. 
 He proposed that they should break out the clay from between 
 the logs, so as to be able to fire upon the enemy. 
 
 " Not yet," replied Stuart ; " it will not do to show fear or 
 distrust ; we must first hold a parley. Some one must go out 
 and meet them as a friend." 
 
 Who was to undertake the task ! it was full of peril, as the 
 envoy might be shot down at the threshold. 
 
 " The leader of a party," said Miller, " always takes the 
 advance." 
 
 " Good !" replied Stuart ; "I am ready." He immediately 
 went forth ; one of the Canadians followed him ; the rest of the 
 party remained in garrison, to keep the savages in check. 
 
 Stuart advanced holding his rifle in one hand, and extending 
 the other to the savage that appeared to be the chief The latter 
 Btepped forward and took it ; his men followed his example, and 
 all shook hands with Stuart, in token of friendship. They now 
 explained their errand. They were a war party of Arapahay 
 braves. Their village lay on a stream several days' journey to 
 the eastward. It had been attacked and ravaged during their 
 absence, by a band of Crows, who had carried off several of theii" 
 
UNWELCOME VISITORS. 417 
 
 women, and most of their horses. They were in quest of ven- 
 geance. For sixteen days they had been tracking the Crows 
 about the mountains, but had not yot come upon them. In the 
 meantime, they had met with scarcely any game, and were half 
 famished. About two days previously, they had heard the report 
 of firearms among the mountains, and on searching in the direc- 
 tion of the sound, had come to a place where a deer had been 
 killed. They had immediately put themselves upon the track of 
 the hunters, and by following it up, had arrived at the cabin. 
 
 Mr. Stuart now invited the chief and another, who appeared 
 to be his lieutenant, into the hut, but made signs that no one 
 else was to enter. The rest halted at the door ; others came 
 straggling up, until the whole party, to the number of twenty- 
 three, were gathered before the hut. They were armed with 
 bows and arrows, tomahawks and scalping knives, and some few 
 with guns. All were painted and dressed for war, and had a wild 
 and fierce appearance. Mr. Miller recognized among them some 
 of the very fellows who had robbed him in the preceding year ; 
 and put his comrades upon their guard. Every man stood ready 
 to resist the first act of hostility ; the savages, however, con- 
 ducted themselves peaceably, and showed none of that swagger- 
 ing arrogance which a war party is apt to assume. 
 
 On entering the hut the chief and his lieutenant cast a wistful 
 look at the rafters, laden with venison and buffiilo meat. Mr. 
 Stuart made a merit of necessity, and invited them to help them- 
 selves. They did not wait to be pressed. The rafters were soon 
 eased of their burden ; venison and beef were passed out to the 
 crew before the door, and a scene of gormandizing commenced, 
 of which few can have an idea, who have not witnessed the gas- 
 tronomic powers of an Indian, after an interval of fasting. This 
 was kept up throughout the day ; they paused now and then, it 
 is true, for a brief interval, but only to return to tlie charge with 
 
 18* 
 
418 ASTORIA. 
 
 renewed ardor. The chief and the lieutenant surpassed all the 
 rest in the vigor and perseverance of their attacks : as if, from 
 their station thej were bound to signalize themselves in all on- 
 slaughts. Mr. Stuart kept them well supplied with choice bits, 
 for it was his policy to overfeed them, and keep them from Icav- 
 iDg the hut, where they served as hostages for the good conduct 
 of their followers. Once, only, in the course of the day, did the 
 chief sally forth. Mr. Stuart and one of his men accompanied 
 him, armed with their rifles, but without betraying any distrust. 
 The chieftain soon returned, and renewed his attack upon the 
 larder. In a woid, he and his worthy coadjutor, the lieutenant, 
 ate until they were both stupefied. 
 
 Towards evening the Indians made their preparations for the 
 night according to the practice of war parties. Those outside of 
 the hut threw up two breastAvorks, into which they retired at a 
 tolerably early hour, and slept like overfed hounds. As to the 
 chief and his lieutenant, they passed the night in the hut, in the 
 course of Avhich, they, two or three times, got up to eat. The 
 travellers took turns, one at a time, to mount guard until the 
 morning. 
 
 Scarce had the day dawned, when the gormandizing was 
 renewed by the whole band, and carried on with surprising vigor 
 until ten o'clock, when all prepared to depart. They had sis 
 days' journey yet to make, they said, before they should come up 
 with the Crows, who they understood were encamped on a river 
 to the northward. Their way lay through a hungry country 
 where there was no game ; they would, moreover, have but little 
 time to hunt : they, therefore, craved a small supply of provi- 
 sions for their journey. Mr. Stuart again invited them to help 
 themselves. They did so with keen forethought, loading them- 
 selves with the choicest parts of the meat, and leaving the late 
 plenteous larder far gone in a consumption Their next request 
 
GOOD QUARTERS ABANDONED. 41S 
 
 was for a supply of ammunitiorij having guns, "but no powder and 
 ball. They promised to pay magnificently out of the spoils of 
 their foray. " We are poor now," said they, " and are obliged to 
 go on foot, but we shall soon come back laden with booty, and 
 all mounted on horseback, with scalps hanging at our bridles. 
 "We will then give each of you a horse to keep you from being 
 tired on your journey." 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Stuart, " when you bring the horses, you 
 shall have the ammunition, but not before." The Indians saw 
 by his determined tone, that all further entreaty would be una- 
 vailing, so they desisted, with a good-humored laugh, and went 
 off exceedingly well freighted, both within and without, promis- 
 ing to be back again in the course of a fortnight. 
 
 No sooner were they out of hearing, than the luckless travel- 
 lers held another council. The security of their cabin was at an 
 end, and with it all their dreams of a cjuiet and cosey winter. 
 They were between two fires. On one side were their old ene- 
 mies, the Crows ; on the other side, the Arapahays, no less dan- 
 gerous freebooters. As to the moderation of this war party, 
 they considered it assumed, to put them off their guard against 
 some more fiivorable opportunity for a surprisal. It was deter- 
 mined, therefore, not to await their return, but to abandon, with 
 all speed, this dangerous neighborhood. From the accounts of 
 their recent visitors, they were led to believe, though erroneousl}-, 
 that they were upon the Quicourt, or Rapid River. They pro- 
 posed now to keep along it to its confluence with the Missouri ; 
 but, should they be prevented by the rigors of the season from 
 proceeding so far, at least to reach a part of the river where they 
 might be able to construct canoes of greater strength and dura- 
 bility than those of buffalo skins. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 13th of December, they bade adieu, with 
 many a regret, to their comfortable (quarters, wlicrCj for five 
 
420 ASTORIA. 
 
 weeks, they had been indulging the sweets of repose, of plenty^ 
 and of fancied security. They were still accompanied by their 
 veteran pack-horse, which the Arapahays had omitted to steal, 
 either because they intended to steal him on their return, or bo- 
 cause they thought him not worth stealing. 
 
WINTRY TRAVELLING. -121 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 The interval of comfort &,nd repose which the party had enjoyed 
 in their wigwam, rendered the renewal of their fatigues intolera- 
 ble for the first two or three days. The snow lay deep, and was 
 slightly frozen on the surface, but not sufficiently to bear their 
 weight. Their feet became sore by breaking through the crust, 
 and their limbs weary by floundering on without firm foothold. 
 So exhausted and dispirited were they, that they began to think 
 it would be better to remain and run the risk of being killed by 
 the Indians, than to drag on thus painfully, with the probability 
 of perishing by the way. Their miserable horse fared no better 
 than themselves, having for the first day or two no other fodder 
 than the ends of willow twigs, and the bark of the cotton-wood 
 tree. 
 
 They all, however, appeared to gain patience and hardihood 
 as they proceeded, and for fourteen days kept steadily on, making 
 a distance of about three hundred and thirty miles. For some 
 days, the range of mountains which had been near to their wig- 
 wam kept parallel to the river at no great distance, but at length 
 subsided into hills. Sometimes they found the river bordered 
 with alluvial bottoms, and groves with cotton-wood and willows ; 
 sometimes the adjacent country was naked and barren. In one 
 place it ran for a considerable distance between rocky hills aiid 
 promontories covered with cedar and pitch pines, and peopled 
 with the bighorn and the mountain deer ; at other places it 
 wandered through prairies well stocked with buffaloes and ante- 
 
422 ASTORIA. 
 
 lojDes. As tliey descended tlie course of tlie river, they began to 
 perceive the ash and white oak here and there among the cotton- 
 wood and willow; and at length caught a sight of some wild 
 horses on the distant prairies. 
 
 The weather was various ; at one time tiie snow lay deep ; 
 then they had a genial day or two, with the mildness and serenity 
 of autumn ; -then, again, the frost was so severe that the river was 
 sufficiently frozen to bear them upon the ice. 
 
 During the last three days of their fortnight's travel, however, 
 the face of the country changed. The timber gradually dimin- 
 ished, until they could scarcely find fuel sufficient for culinary 
 purposes. The game grew more and more scanty, and, finally, 
 none were to be seen but a few miserable broken-down buffalo 
 bulls, not worth killing. The snow lay fifteen inches deep, and 
 made the travelling grievously painful and toilsome. At length 
 they came to an immense plain, where no vestige of timber was 
 to be seen ; nor a single quadruped to enliven the desolate land- 
 scape. Here, then, their hearts failed them, and they held an- 
 other consultation. The width of the river, which was upwards 
 of a mile, its extreme shallowness, the frequency of quicksands, 
 and various other characteristics, had at length made them sensi- 
 ble of their errors with respect to it, and they now came to the 
 correct conclusion, that they were on the banks of the Platte or 
 Shallow River. What were they to do ? Pursue its course to 
 the Missouri ? ,/Jo- .go on at this season of the year seemed 
 dangerous in ^^it itrcme. There was no prospect of obtaining 
 either food or firing, ^he country was destitute of trees, and 
 though there might be drift-wood along the river, it lay too deej, 
 beneath the snow for them to find it. 
 
 The weather was threatening a change, and a snow storm on 
 these boundless wastes, might prove as fatal as a whirlwind of 
 sand on an Arabian desert. After much dreary deliberation, it 
 
SECOND CANTONMENT. 423 
 
 was at Icngtli determined to retrace tlicir three last days' joarney, 
 of seventy-seven miles, to a place wliicli tlicy had remarked : 
 where there was a sheltering growth of forest trees, and a 
 country abundant in game. Here they would once more set up 
 their winter quarters, and await the opening of the navigation to 
 launch themselves in canoes, 
 
 Accordingly, on the 27th of December, they faced about, re- 
 traced their steps, and on the 30th, regained the part of the 
 river in question. Here the alluvial bottom was from one to two 
 miles wide, and thickly covered with a forest of cotton-wood trees; 
 while herds of buffalo were scattered about the neighboring 
 prairie, several of which soon fell beneath their rifles. 
 
 They encamped on the margin of the river, in a grove where 
 there were trees large enough for canoes. Here they put up a 
 shed for immediate shelter, and immediately proceeded to erect 
 a hut. New- Year's day dawned when, as yet, but one wall of 
 their cabin was completed ; the genial and jovial day, however, 
 was not permitted to pass uncelebrated, even by this weather- 
 beaten crew of wanderers. All work was suspended, except that 
 of roasting and boiling. The choicest of the buffalo meat, with 
 tongues, and humps, and marrow bones, were devoured in quan- 
 tities that would astonish any one that has not lived among 
 hunters or Indians ; and as an extra regale, having no tobacco 
 left, they cut up an old tobacco pouch, still redolent with the 
 potent herb, and smoked it in honor of the a. Thus for a 
 time, in present revelry, however uncouth,^ ^^y ^orgot all past 
 troubles and all anxieties about the f'-^ture, and their forlorn 
 wigwam echoed to the sound of gayety. 
 
 The next day they resumed their labors, and by the 6th of 
 the month it was complete. They soon killed abundance of buffalo, 
 and again laid in a stock of winter provisions. 
 
 The party were more fortunate in this their second canton- 
 
424 ASTORIA. 
 
 ment. The winter passed away witliout any Indian Tisitors , and 
 tlie game continued to be plenty in the neighborhood. They 
 felled two large trees, and shaped them into canoes ; and, as the 
 spring opened, and a thaw of several days' continuance melted 
 the ice in the river, they made every preparation for embarking. 
 On the 8th of March they launched forth in their canoes, but 
 soon found that the river had not depth sufficient even for such 
 slender barks. It expanded into a wide but extremely shallow 
 stream, with many sand-bars, and occasionally various channels. 
 They got one of their canoes a few miles down it, with extreme 
 difficulty, sometimes wading, and dragging it over the shoals ; at 
 length they had to abandon the attempt, and to resume their 
 journey on foot, aided by their faithful old pack-horse, who had 
 recruited strength during the repose of the winter. 
 
 The weather delayed them for a few days, having suddenly 
 become more rigorous than it had been at any time during the 
 winter ; but on the 20th of March they were again on their journey. 
 
 In two days they arrived at the vast naked prairie, the wintry 
 aspect of which had caused them, in December, to pause and turn 
 back. It was now clothed in the early verdure of spring, and 
 plentifully stocked with game. Still, when obliged to bivouac 
 on its bare surface, without any shelter, and by a scanty fire of 
 dry buifalo dung, they found the night blasts piercing cold. On 
 one occasion, a herd of buffalo straying near their evening camp, 
 they killed three of them merely for their hides, wherewith to 
 make a shelter for the night. 
 
 They continued on for upwards of a hundred miles ; with 
 rast prairies extending before the7Ji as they advanced; some- 
 times diversified by undulating hills, but destitute of trees. Id 
 one place they saw a gang of sixty-five wild horses, but as to the 
 buffaloes, they seemed absolutely to cover the country. AVild 
 geese abounded, and they passed extensive swamps that were alivo 
 
IMMENSE PLAINS 425 
 
 witli innumerable flocks of waterfowl, among wliicli were a few 
 swans, but an endless variety of ducks. 
 
 The river continued a winding course to tlie east-northeast, 
 nearly a mile in width, but too shallow to float even an empty 
 canoe. The country spread out into a vast level plain, bounded 
 by the horizon alone, excepting to the north, where a line of hills 
 seemed like a long promontory stretching into the bosom of the 
 ocean. The dreary sameness of the prairie wastes began to grow 
 extremely irksome. The travellers longed for the sight of a 
 forest, or grove, or single tree, to break the level uniformity, and 
 began to notice every object that gave reason to hope they were 
 drawing towards the end of this weary wilderness. Thus the 
 occurrence of a particular kind of grass was hailed as a proof 
 that they could not be far from the bottoms of the Missouri ; 
 and they were rejoiced at putting up several prairie hens, a kind 
 of grouse seldom found far in the interior. In picking up drift- 
 wood for fuel, also, they found on some pieces the mark of an 
 axe, which caused much speculation as to the time when and the 
 persons by whom the trees had been felled. Thus they went on, 
 like sailors at sea, who perceive in every floating weed and wan- 
 dering bird, harbingers of the wished-for land. 
 
 By the close of the month the weather became very mild, and, 
 heavily burdened as they were, they found the noontide tempera- 
 ture uncomfortably warm. On the 30th, they came to three de- 
 serted hunting camps, either of Pawnees or Ottoes, about which 
 were bufi"alo skulls in all directions ; and the frames on which the 
 hides had been stretched and cured. They had apparently been 
 occupied the preceding autumn. 
 
 For several days they kept patiently on, watching every sign 
 that might give them an idea as to where they were, and how 
 near to the banks of the Missouri. 
 
 Though there were numerous traces of hunting parties and 
 
4^6 ASTORIA. 
 
 encampments, tliey were not of recent elate. The country seemed 
 deserted. TLe only human heings they met with were threo 
 Pawnee scLuaws, in a hut in the midst of a deserted camp. Their 
 people had all gone to the south, in pursuit of the baffalo, and 
 had left these poor women behind, being too sick and infirm to 
 travel. 
 
 It is a common practice with the Pawnees, and probably with 
 other roving tribes, when departing on a distant expedition, which 
 will not admit of incumbrance or delay, to leave their aged and 
 infirm with a sui:)ply of provisions sufficient for a temporary sub- 
 sistence. When thi^ is exhausted, they must perish; though 
 sometimes their sufferings are abridged by hostile prowlers who 
 may visit the deserted camp. 
 
 The poor squaws in question expected some such fate at the 
 hands of the white strangers, and though the latter accosted them 
 in the kindest manner, and made them presents of dried buflfalo 
 meat, it was impossible to soothe their alarm, or get any informa- 
 tion from them. 
 
 The first landmark by which the travellers were enabled to 
 conjecture their position with any degree of confidence, was an 
 island about seventy miles in length, which they presumed to be 
 Grand Isle. If so, they were within one hundred and forty miles 
 of the Missouri. They kept on, therefore, with renewed spirit, 
 and at the end of three days met with an Otto Indian by whom 
 they were confirmed in their conjecture. They learnt at the same 
 time another piece of information, of an uncomfortable nature. 
 According to his account, there was war between the United 
 States and England, and in fact it had existed for a whole year, 
 during which time they had been beyond the reach of all know- 
 ledge of the affixirs of the civilized world. 
 
 The Otto conducted the travellers to his village, situated a 
 eliort distance from the banks of the Platte. Here they were 
 
ARRIVAL AT FORT OSAGE. 42? 
 
 dcliglited to meet with two wliite men, Messrs. Dorniii and Eoi, 
 Indian traders recently from St. Lonis. Of these they had a 
 thousand inquiries to make concerning all affairs, foreign and 
 domestic, during their year of sepulture in tlie wilderness ; and 
 esiDecially about the events of the existing war. 
 
 They now prepared to abandon their weary travel by land, 
 and to embark upon the water. A bargain was made with Mr. 
 Dornin, who engaged to furnish them with a canoe and provisions 
 for the voyage, in exchange for their venerable and well-tried 
 fellow traveller, the old Snake horse. 
 
 Accordingly, in a couple of days, the Indians employed by 
 that gentleman constructed for them a canoe twenty feet long, 
 four feet wide, and eighteen inches deep. The frame was of poles 
 and willow twigs, on which were stretched five elk and buffalo 
 hides, sewed together with sinews, and the seams payed with 
 unctuous mud. In this they embarked at an early hour on the 
 16th of April, and drifted down ten miles with the stream, when 
 the wind being high they encamped, and set to work to make 
 oars, which they had not been able to procure at the Indian 
 village. 
 
 Once more afloat, they went merrily down the stream, and 
 after making thirty-five miles, emerged into the broad turbid 
 current of the Missouri. Here they were borne along briskly 
 by the rapid stream, though, by the time their fragile bark had 
 floated a couple of hundred miles, its frame began to show the 
 efi"ects of the voyage. Luckily they came to the deserted win- 
 tering place of some hunting party, where they found two old 
 wooden canoes. Taking possession of the largest, they again 
 committed themselves to the current, and after dropping down 
 fifty-five miles further, arrived safely at Fort Osage. 
 
 Here they found Lieutenant Brownson still in command ; 
 the officer who had given the expedition a hospitable reception 
 
428 ASTORIA. 
 
 on its way up the river, cigliteen months previously. He received 
 this remnant of the party with a cordial welcome, and endeavored 
 in every way to promote their comfort and enjoyment during 
 their sojourn at the fort. The greatest luxury they met with on 
 their return to the abode of civilized man, was bread, not having 
 tasted any for nearly a year. 
 
 Their stay at Fort Osage was but short. On re-embarking 
 they were furnished with an ample suj^ply of provisions by the 
 kindness of Lieutenant Brownson, and performed the rest of 
 their voyage without adverse circumstance. On the 30th of 
 April they arrived in perfect health and fine spirits at St. Louis, 
 having been ten months in performing this perilous expedition 
 from Astoria. Thfeir return caused quite a sensation at the 
 place, bringing the first intelligence of the fortune of Mr. Hunt 
 and his party, in their adventurous route across the Kocky 
 Mountains, and of. the new establishment on the shores of tlie 
 Pacific. 
 
COMMERCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. 429 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 It is now necessary, in linking togetlicr the parts of this ex- 
 cursive narrative, that we notice the proceedings of Mr. Astor, 
 in support of his great undertaking. His project with respect 
 to the Russian establishments along the northwest coast, had 
 been diligently prosecuted. The agent sent by nim to St. Peters- 
 burgh, to negotiate in his name as president of the American Fur 
 Company, had, under sanction of the Russian government, made 
 a provisional agreement with the Russian company. 
 
 By this agreement, which was ratified by Mr. Astor in 1813, 
 the two companies bound themselves not to interfere with each 
 other's trading and hunting grounds, nor to furnish arms and 
 ammunition to the Indians. They were to act in concert, also, 
 against all interlopers, and to succor each other in case of dan- 
 ger. The American company was to have the exclusive right of 
 supplying the Russian posts with goods and necessaries, receiv- 
 ing peltries in payment at stated prices. They were also, if sg 
 requested by the Russian governor, to convey the furs of the 
 Russian company to Canton, sell them on commission, and bring 
 back the proceeds, at such freight as might be agreed on at the 
 time. This agreement was to continue in operation four years, 
 and to be renewable for a similar term, unless some unforeseen 
 contingency should render a modification necessary. 
 
 It was calculated to be of great service to the infant estab- 
 lishment at Astoria ; dispelling the fears of hostile rivalry on the 
 
4a0 ASTORIA. 
 
 part of the foreign companies in its neigliborliood, and giving a 
 formidable blow to the irregular trade along tlie coast. It was 
 also the intention of Mr. Astor to have coasting vessels of his 
 own, at Astoria, of small tonnage and draft of water, fitted for 
 coasting service. These, having a place of shelter and deposit, 
 could plv about the coast in short voyages, in favorable weather 
 and would have vast advantage over chance ships, which must 
 make long voyages, maintain numerous crews, and could only ap- 
 proach the coast at certain seasons of the year. He hoped, 
 therefore, gradually to make Astoria the great emporium of the 
 American fur trade in the Pacific, and tlie nucleus of a powerful 
 American state. Unfortunately for these sanguine anticipations, 
 before Mr. Astor had ratified the agreement, as above stated, war 
 broke out betAveen the United States and Great Britain. He 
 perceived at once the peril of the case. The harbor of New-York 
 would doubtless be blockaded, and the departure of the annual 
 supply ship in the autumn prevented ; or, if she should succeed 
 in getting out to sea, she might be captured on her voyage. 
 
 in this emergency, he wrote to Captain Sowle, commander of 
 the Beaver. The letter, which was addressed to him at Canton, 
 directed him to proceed to the factory at the mouth of the Co- 
 lumbia, with such articles as tSie establishment might need ; and 
 to remain there, subject to the orders of Mr. Hunt, should that 
 gentleman be in command there. 
 
 The war continued. No tidings had yet been received from 
 Astoria ; the dispatches having been delayed by the misadventure 
 of Mr. Reed at the falls of the Columbia, and the unhorsing of 
 Mr. Stuart, by the Crows among the mountains. A painful un- 
 certainty, also, prevailed about Mr. Hunt and his party. Nothing 
 ]iad been heard of -them since their departure from the Arickara 
 village ; Lisa, who parted from them there, had predicted their de- 
 struction ] and some of the traders of the Northwest Company, 
 
RUMORS AND PERPLEXITIES- 431 
 
 had actually spread a rumor of their having been cut off by 
 the Indians. 
 
 It was a hard trial of the courage and means of an individual 
 to have to fit out another costly expedition, where so much had 
 already been expended, so much uncertainty prevailed, and where 
 the risk of loss was so greatly enhanced, that no insurance could 
 be effected. 
 
 In spite of all these discouragements, Mr. Astor determined 
 to send another ship to the relief of the settlement. He selected 
 for this purpose, a vessel called the Lark, remarkable for her fast 
 sailing. The disordered state of the times, however, caused such 
 a delay, that February arrived, while the vessel was yet lingering 
 iu port. 
 
 At this juncture, Mr. Astor learnt that the Northwest Com- 
 pany v/ere preparing to send out an armed ship of twenty guns, 
 called the Isaac Todd, to form an establishment at the mouth of 
 the Columbia. These tidings gave him great uneasiness. A 
 considerable proportion of the persons in his employ were Scotch- 
 men and Canadians, and several of them had been in the service 
 of the Northwest Company. Should Mr. Hunt have failed to 
 arrive at Astoria, the whole establishment would be under tho 
 control of Mr. M'Dougal, of whose fidelity he had received very 
 disparaging accounts from Captain Thorn. The British govern- 
 ment, also, might deem it worth while to send a force against the 
 establishment, having been urged to do so some time previously, 
 by the Northwest Company. 
 
 Under all these circumstances, Mr. Astor wrote to Mr. Mon- 
 roe, then secretary of state, requesting protection from the gov- 
 ernment of the United States. He represented the importance 
 of his settlement, in a commercial point of view, and the shelter 
 it might afford to the American vessels in those seas. All he 
 asked was, that the American government would throw forty or 
 
432 ASTORIA. 
 
 fifty men into tlie fort at Iiis establislimentj wliicli would be suffi- 
 cient for its defence, until lie could send reinforcements over 
 land. 
 
 He waited in vain for a re^Dly to tliis letter, tlie government, 
 no doubt, being engrossed at the time, by an overwhelming crowd 
 of affairs. The month of March arrived, and the Lark was 
 ordered by Mr. Astor, to put to sea. The officer who was to 
 command her, shrunk from his engagement, and in the exigenc}' 
 of the moment, she was given in charge to Mr. Northrop, the 
 mate. Mr. Nicholas G. Ogden, a gentleman on whose talents and 
 integrity the highest reliance could be placed, sailed as super 
 cargo. The Lark put to sea in the beginning of March, 1813. 
 
 By this opportunity, Mr. Astor v/rote to Mr. Hunt, as head 
 of the establishment at the mouth of the Columbia, for he would 
 not allow himself to doubt of his welfare. '• I always think you 
 are well," said he, " and that I shall see you again, Vv'hich heaven, 
 I hope, will grant." 
 
 He warned him to be on his guard against any attempts to 
 surprise the post ; suggesting the probability of armed hostility 
 on the part of the Northwest Company, and expressing his indig- 
 nation at the ungrateful returns made by that association for his 
 frank and open conduct, and advantageous overtures. " Were I 
 on the spot," said he, " and had the management of affairs, I 
 would defy them all ; but, as it is, every thing depends upon you 
 and your friends about you. Ow enterprise is grand, and 
 deserves success, and I hope in God it will meet it. If m^^ 
 object was. merely gain of money, I should sa}^, think whether \\, 
 is best to save what we can, and abandon the place ; hut the very 
 idea is like a dagger to my hearts This extract is sufficient to 
 show the spirit and the views which actuated Mr. Astor in this 
 great undertaking. 
 
 Week after week, and month after month elapsed, without 
 
GLOOMY DOUBTS— A RAY OF HOPE. 433 
 
 any thing to dispel the painful incertitude that hung over every 
 part of this enterprise. Though a man of resolute spirit, and 
 not easily cast down, the dangers impending over this darling 
 scheme of his ambition, had a gradual effect upon the spirits of 
 Mr. Astor. He was sitting one gloomy evening by his window 
 revolving over the loss of the Tonquin, and the fate of her unfor- 
 tunate crew, and fearing that some equally tragical calamity 
 might have befallen the adventurers across the mountains, when 
 the evening newspaper was brought to him. The first paragraph 
 that caught his eye, announced the arrival of Mr. Stuart and his 
 party at St. Louis, with intelligence that Mr. Hunt and his com- 
 panions had effected their perilous expedition to the mouth of 
 the Columbia. This was a gleam of sunshine that for a time 
 dispelled every cloud, and he now looked forward with sanguine 
 hope to the accomplishment of all his plans. 
 
 10 
 
(134 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The course of our narrative now takes us back to the regicna 
 beyond the mountains, to dispose of the parties that set out from 
 Astoria, in company with Mr. E-obert Stuart, and whom he left 
 on the banks of the Wallah- WaHah. Those parties, likewise 
 separated from each other shortly after his departure, proceeding 
 to their respective destinations, but agreeing to meet at the 
 mouth of the Wallah- Wallah, about the beginning of June in the 
 following year, with such peltries as they should have collected 
 in the interior, so as to convoy each other through the dangerous 
 passes of the Columbia. 
 
 Mr. David Stuart, one of the partners, proceeded with his men 
 to the post already established by him at the mouth of the 
 Oakinagan ; having furnished this with goods and ammunition, 
 he proceeded three hundred miles up that river, where he 
 established another post in a good trading neighborhood. 
 
 Mr. Clarke, another partner, conducted his little band up 
 Lewis River to the mouth of a small stream coming in from the 
 north, to which the Canadians gave the name of the Pavion. 
 Here he found a village or encampment of forty huts or tents. 
 covered with mats, and inhabited by Nez JPerces, or pierced-nose 
 Indians, as they are called by the traders ; but Chipunnish, as 
 they are called by themselves. They are a hardy, laborious, and 
 somewhat knavish race, who lead a precarious life, fishing, and 
 digging roots during the summer and autumn, hunting the ducr 
 on snow shoes during the winter, and traversing the Rocky 
 
CLARKE'S POST. 436 
 
 Mountains in tlie spring, to trade for buffalo skins with the 
 hunting tribes of the Missouri. In these migrations they are 
 liable to be waylaid and attacked by the Blackfeet, and other 
 warlike and predatory tribes, and driven back across the moun- 
 tains with the loss of their horses, and of many of their comrades. 
 
 A life of this unsettled and precarious kind is apt to render 
 men selfish, and such Mr. Clarke found the inhabitants of this 
 village, who were deficient in the usual hospitality of Indians ; 
 parting with every thing with extreme reluctance, and showing 
 no sensibility to any act of kindness. At the time of his arrival, 
 they were all occupied in catching and curing salmon. The men 
 were stout, robust, active, and good looking, and the women hand- 
 somer than those of the tribes nearer to the coast. 
 
 It was the plan of Mr. Clarke to lay up his boats here, and 
 proceed by land to his place of destination, which was among the 
 Spokan tribe of Indians, about a hundred and fifty miles distant. 
 He accordingly endeavored to purchase horses for the journey, 
 but in this he had to contend with the sordid disposition of these 
 people. They asked high prices for their horses, and were so 
 difficult to deal with, that Mr. Clarke was detained seven days 
 among them, before he could procure a sufficient number. During 
 that time he was annoyed by repeated pilferings, for which he 
 could get no redress. The chief promised to recover the stolen 
 articles ; but failed to do so, alleging that the thieves belonged 
 to a distant tribe, and had made off with their booty. With this 
 excuse Mr. Clarke was fain to content himself, though he laid up 
 in his heart a bitter grudge against the whole pierced-nose race, 
 which it will be found he took occasion subsequently to gratify 
 in a signal manner. 
 
 Having made arrangements for his departure, Mr. Clarke laid 
 up his barge and canoes in a sheltered place, on the banks of a 
 small bay, overgrown with shrubs and willows, confiding them to 
 
436 ASTORIA. 
 
 the care of the Nez Perce chief, who, on "being promised an ample 
 compensation, engaged to have a guardian eye upon them ; then 
 mounting his steed, and putting himself at the head of his little 
 caravan, he shook the dust off his feet as he turned his back 
 upon this village of rogues and hard dealers. We shall not fol- 
 low him minutely in his journey ; which lay at times over steep 
 and rocky hills, and among crags and precipices ; at other times 
 over vast naked and sunburnt plains, abounding with rattle* 
 snakes, in traversing which, both men and horses suffered intol- 
 erably from heat and thirst. The place on which he fixed for a 
 trading post, was a fine point of land, at the junction of the 
 Pointed Heart and Spokan Rivers. His establishment was 
 intended to compete with a trading post of the Northwest Com- 
 pany, situated at no great distance, and to rival it in the trade 
 with the Spokan Indians ; as well as with the Cootonais and 
 Flatheads. In this neighborhood we shall leave him for the 
 present. 
 
 Mr. M'Kenzie, who conducted the third party from the "Wal- 
 lah-Wallah, navigated for several days up the south branch of the 
 Columbia, named the Camoenum by the natives, but commonly 
 called Lewis River, in honor of the first explorer. Wandering 
 bands of various tribes were seen along this river, travelling in 
 various directions ; for the Indians generally are restless, roving 
 beings, continually intent on enterprises of war, traffic, and hunt- 
 ing. Some of these people were driving large gangs of horses, 
 as if to a distant market. Having arrived at the mouth of the 
 Shahaptan, he ascended some distance up that river, and estab- 
 lished his trading post upon its banks. This appeared to be a 
 great thoroughfare for the tribes from the neighborhood of the 
 falls of the Columbia, in their expeditions to make war upon the 
 tribes of the Rocky Mountains ; to hunt buffalo on the plains 
 beyond, or to traffic for roots and buffalo robes. It was the sea- 
 
CANADIAN STRAGGLERS. 437 
 
 son of migration, and the Indians from various distant parts were 
 passing and repassing in great numbers. 
 
 Mr. M'Kenzie now detached a small band, under the conduct 
 of Mr. John Reed, to visit the caches made by Mr. Hunt at the 
 Caldron Linn, and to bring the contents to his j)Ost ; as he de- 
 pended, in some measure, on them for his supplies of goods and 
 ammunition. They had not been gone a week, when two Indians 
 arrived of the Pallatapalla tribe, who live upon a river of the 
 same name. These communicated the unwelcome intelligence 
 that the caches had been robbed. They said that some of their 
 tribe had, in the course of the preceding spring, been across the 
 mountains, which separated them from Snake River, and had 
 traded horses with the Snakes in exchange for blankets, robes, 
 and goods of various descriptions. These articles the Snakes 
 had procured from caches to Vvhich they were guided by some 
 white men who resided among them, and who afterwards accom- 
 panied them across the Rocky Mountains. This intelligence was 
 extremely perplexing to Mr. M'Kenzie, but the truth of part of 
 it was confirmed by the two Indians, who brought them an 
 English saddle and bridle, which was recognized as having 
 belonged to Mr. Crooks. The perfidy of the white men who 
 revealed the secret of the caches, was, however, perfectly inexpli- 
 cable. We shall presently account for it in narrating the expe- 
 dition of Mr. Reed. 
 
 That worthy Hibernian proceeded on his mission with his 
 usual alacrity. His forlorn travels of the preceding winter had 
 made him acquainted with the topography of the country, and he 
 reached Snake River without any material difficulty. Here, in 
 an encampment of the natives, he met with six white men, wan- 
 derers from the main expedition of Mr. Hunt, who, after having 
 had their respective shares of adventures and mishaps, had fortu- 
 
438 ASTORIA. 
 
 natcly come together at this place. Three of these men were 
 Turcottc, La Chapelle, and Francis Landry; the three Cana- 
 dian vojageurs who, it may be recollected, had left Mr. Crooks 
 in February, in the neighborhood of Snake River, being dismayed 
 hj the increasing hardships of the journey, and fearful of per- 
 ishing of hunger. They had returned to a Snake encampment, 
 where they passed the residue of the winter. 
 
 Early in the spring, being utterly destitute, and in great 
 extremity, and having worn out the hospitality of the Snakes, 
 they determined to avail themselves of the buried treasures 
 within their knowledge. They accordingly informed the Snake 
 chieftains that they knew where a great quantity of goods had 
 been left in caches, enough to enrich the whole tribe ; and offered 
 to conduct them to the place, on condition of being rewarded 
 with horses and provisions. The chieftains pledged their faith 
 and honor as great men and Snakes, and the three Canadians 
 conducted them to the place of deposit at the Caldron Linn. 
 This is the way that the savages got knowledge of the caches, 
 and not by following the tracks of wolves, as Mr. Stuart had 
 supposed. Never did money diggers turn up a miser's hoard 
 with more eager delight, than did the savages lay open the trea- 
 sures of the caches. Blankets and robes ; brass trinkets and blue 
 beads were drawn forth with chuckling exultation, and long 
 strips of scarlet cloth produced yells of ecstasy. 
 
 The rifling of the caches effected a change in the fortunes and 
 deportment of the whole party. The Snakes were better clad 
 and equipped than ever were Snakes before, and the three Cana- 
 dians, suddenly finding themselves with horse to ride and weapon 
 to wear, were, like beggars on horseback, ready to ride on any 
 wild scamper. An opportunity soon presented. The Snakes 
 determined on a hunting match on the buffalo prairies, to lay in 
 
MORE STRAGGLERS. 43& 
 
 a supply of beef, that tliey might live in plenty, as became men 
 of their improved condition. The three newly mounted cavaliers 
 mnst fain accompany them. They all traversed the Eocky 
 Mountains in safety, descended to the head waters of the Mis- 
 souri, and made great havoc among the buffaloes. 
 
 Their hunting camp was full of meat ; they were gorging 
 themselves, like true Indians, with present plenty, and drying 
 and jerking great quantities for a winter's supply. In the midst 
 of their revelry and good cheer, the camp w^as surprised by the 
 Blackfeet. Several of the Snakes were slain on the spot ; the 
 residue, with their three Canadian allies, fled to the mountains, 
 stripped of horses, buffalo meat, every thing ; and made their 
 way back to the old encampment on Snake River, poorer than 
 ever, but esteeming themselves fortunate in having escaped with 
 their lives. They had not been long there when the Canadians 
 were cheered by the sight of a companion in misfortune, Dubreuil, 
 the poor voyageur who had left Mr. Crooks in March, being too 
 much exhausted to keep on with him. Not long afterwards, three 
 other straggling members of the main expedition made their 
 appearance. These were Carson, St. Michael, and Pierre Delau- 
 nay, three of the trappers who, in company with Pierre Detaye, 
 had been left among the mountains by Mr. Hunt, to trap beaver, 
 in the preceding month of September. They had departed from 
 the main body well armed and provided, with horses to ride, and 
 horses to carry the peltries they were to collect They came wan- 
 dering into the Snake camp as ragged and destitute as their prede- 
 cessors. It appears that they had finished their trapping, and were 
 making their way in the spring to the Missouri, when they were 
 met and attacked by a powerful band of the all-pervading Crows. 
 They made a desperate resistance, and killed seven of the savages, 
 but were overpowered by numbers. Pierre Detaye was slain, the 
 
440 ASTORIA 
 
 rest were robbed of horses and effects, and obliged to turn bact, 
 when they fell in with their old companions, as already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 We should observe, that at the heels of Pierre Delaunay camo 
 draggling an Indian wife, whom he had picked up in his wander- 
 ings ; having grown weary of celibacy among the savages. 
 
 The whole seven of this forlorn fraternity of adventurers- 
 thus accidentally congregated on the banks of Snake Kiver, were 
 making arrangements once more to cross the mountains, when 
 some Indian scouts brought word of the approach of the little 
 band headed by John Heed. 
 
 The latter, having heard the several stories of these wander- 
 ers, took them all into his party, and set out for the Caldron 
 Linn, to clear out two or three of the caches which had not been 
 revealed to the Indians. 
 
 At that place he met with Hobinson, the Kentucky veteran, 
 who, with his two comrades, Kezner and Hoback, had remained 
 there when Mr. Stuart went on. This adventurous trio had been 
 trapping higher up the river, but Robinson had come down in a 
 canoe, to await the expected arrival of the party, and obtain 
 horses and equipments. He told Reed the story of the robbery 
 of his party by the Arapahays, but it differed, in some particulars, 
 from the account given by him to Mr. Stuart. In that, he had 
 represented Cass as having shamefully deserted his companions 
 in their extremity, carrying off with him a horse ; in the one 
 now given, he spoke of him as having been killed in the affray 
 with the Arapahays. This discrepancy, of which, of course, 
 Reed could have had no knowledge at the time, concurred with 
 other circumstances, to occasion afterwards some mysterious 
 speculations and dark surmises, as to the real fate of Cass ; but 
 as no substantial grounds were ever adduced for them, we forbear 
 
ARRIVAL AT M'KENZIE'S POST. 441 
 
 to throw any deeper shades into this story of sufferings in the 
 wilderness. 
 
 Mr. Reed having gathered the remainder of the goods from 
 the caches, put himself at the head of his party, now augmented 
 by the seven men thus casually picked up, and the squaw of 
 Pierre Delaunay, and made his way successfully to M'Kenzie'3 
 Post, on the waters of the Shahaptan. 
 
 19* 
 
412 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER nil. 
 
 After the departure of the different detachnientSj or Irigades^ 
 as they are called by the fur traders, the Beaver prepared for her 
 voyage along the coast, and her visit to the Russian establish- 
 ment, at New Archangel, where she was to carry supplies. It 
 had been determined in the council of partners at Astoria, that 
 Mr. Hunt should embark in this vessel, for the purpose of ac- 
 quainting himself with the coasting trade, and of making arrange- 
 ments with the commander of the Russian post, and that he 
 should be relanded in October, at Astoria, by the Beaver, on her 
 way to the Sandwich Islands, and Canton. 
 
 The Beaver put to sea in the month of August. Her depar- 
 ture, and that of the various brigades, left the fortress of Astoria 
 but slightly garrisoned. This was soon perceived by some of the 
 Indian tribes, and the consequence was, increased insolence of 
 deportment, and a disposition to hostility. It was now the fish- 
 ing season, when the tribes from the northern coast drew into the 
 neighborhood of the Columbia. These were warlike and perfi- 
 dious in their dispositions ; and noted for their attempts to sur- 
 prise trading ships. Among them were numbers of the Newee- 
 tees, the ferocious tribe that massacred the crew of the Tonquin. 
 
 Great precautions, therefore, were taken at the factory, to 
 guard against surprise while these dangerous intruders were in 
 the vicinity. Galleries were constructed inside of the palisades ; 
 the bastions were heightened, and sentinels were posted day and 
 night. Fortunately, the Chinooks and other tribes resident in 
 the vicinity manifested the most pacific disposition. Old Com 
 
GLOOMY APPREHENSIONS. 443 
 
 coinly, who held sway over them, was a shrewd calculator. Ho 
 was aware of the advantages of having the whites as neighbors 
 and allies, and of the consequence derived to himself and his 
 people from acting as intermediate traders between them and the 
 distant tribes. He had, therefore, by this time, become a firm 
 friend of the Astorians, and formed a kind of barrier between 
 them and the hostile intruders from the north. 
 
 The summer of 1812 passed away without any of the hostili- 
 ties that had been apprehended ; the Neweetees, and other dan- 
 gerous visitors to the neighborhood, finished their fishing and re- 
 turned home, and the inmates of the factory once more felt secure 
 from attack. 
 
 It now became necessary to guard against other evils. The 
 season of scarcity arrived, which commences in October, and lasts 
 until the end of January. To provide for the support of the 
 garrison, the shallop was employed to forage about the shores of 
 the river. A number of the men, also, under the command of 
 some of the clerks, were sent to quarter themselves on the banks 
 of the WoUamut, (the Multnomah of Lewis and Clark,) a fine 
 river which disembogues itself into the Columbia, about sixty 
 miles above Astoria. The country bordering on the river is 
 finely diversified with prairies and hills, and forests of oak, ash, 
 maple and cedar. It abounded, at that time, with elk and deer, 
 and the streams were well stocked with beaver. Here the party, 
 after supplying their own wants, were enabled to pack up quanti- 
 ties of dried meat, and send it by canoes to Astoria. 
 
 The month of October elapsed without the return of the 
 Beaver. November, December, January, passed away, and still 
 nothing was seen or heard of her. Gloomy apprehensions now 
 began to be entertained : she might have been wrecked in the 
 course of her coasting voyage, or surprised, like the Tonquin, by 
 some of the treacherous tribes of the north. 
 
444 ASTORIA. 
 
 No one indulged more in these apprehensions than M'Dougal, 
 who had now the charge of the establishment. He no longer 
 evinced the bustling confidence and buoyancy which onoe charac- 
 terized him. Command seemed to have lost its charms for him j 
 or rather, he gave way to the most abject despondency, decrying 
 the whole enterprise, magnifying every untoward circumstance, 
 and foreboding nothing but evil. 
 
 While in this moody state, he was surprised, on the 16th of 
 January, hy the sudden appearance of M'Kenzie, wayworn and 
 weather-beaten by a long wintry journey from his post on the 
 Shahaptan, and wifli a face the very frontispiece for a volume of 
 misfortune M'Kenzie had been heartily disgusted and disap- 
 pointed at his post. It was in the midst of the Tushcpaws, a 
 powerful and warlike nation, divided into many tribes, under dif- 
 ferent chiefs, who possessed innumerable horses, but, not having 
 turned their attention to beaver trapping, had no furs to offer. 
 According to M'Kenzie, they were but a " rascally tribe ;" from 
 which we may infer that they were prone to consult their own in- 
 terests, more than comported with the interests of a greedy 
 Indian trader. 
 
 Game being scarce, he was obliged to rely, for the most part, 
 on horse-flesh for subsistence, and the Indians discovering his 
 necessities, adopted a policy usual in civilized trade, and raised 
 the price of horses to an exorbitant rate, knowing that he and 
 his men must eat or die. In this way, the goods he had brought 
 to trade for beaver-skins, were likely to be bartered for horse* 
 flesh, and all the proceeds devoured upon the spot. 
 
 He had dispatched trappers in various directions, but the 
 country around did not offer more beaver than his own station. 
 In this emergency he began to think of abandoning his unprofitr 
 able post, sending his goods to the posts of Clarke and David 
 Stuart, who could make a better use of them, as they were in a 
 
A RASH RESOLUTION. 443 
 
 good beaver countryj and returning with his party to Astoria, to 
 seek some better destination. With this view he repaired to the 
 post of Mr. Clarke, to hold a consultation. AVhile the two part- 
 ners were in conference in Mr. Clarke's wigwam, an unexpected 
 visitor came bustling in upon them. 
 
 This was Mr. John George M'Tavish, a partner of the North- 
 west Company, who had charge of the rival trading posts estab- 
 lished in that neighborhood. Mr. M'Tavish was the delighted 
 messenger of bad news. He had been to Lake Winnipeg, where 
 he received an express from Canada, containing the declaration 
 of war, and President Madison's proclamation, which he handed 
 with the most officious complaisance to Messrs. Clarke and 
 M'Kenzie. He moreover told them that he had received a fresh 
 supply of goods from the northwest posts on the other side of 
 the Rocky Mountains, and was prepared for vigorous opposition 
 to the establishment of the American Company. He capped the 
 climax of this obliging, but belligerent intelligence, by informing 
 them that the armed ship, Isaac Todd, was to be at the mouth of 
 the Columbia about the beginning of March, to get possession of 
 the trade of the river, and that he was ordered to join her there 
 at that time. 
 
 The receipt of this news determined M'Kenzie. He imme- 
 diately returned to the Shahaptan, broke up his establishment, 
 deposited his goods in caclie^ and hastened, with all his people to 
 Astoria. 
 
 The intelligence thus brought, completed the dismay of 
 M'Dougal, and seemed to produce a complete confusion of mind. 
 He held a council of war with M'Kenzie, at which some of the 
 clerks were present, but of course had no votes. They gave up 
 all hope of maintaining their post at Astoria. The Beaver had 
 probably been lost ; they could receive no aid from the United 
 States, as all the ports would be blockaded. From England 
 
446 ASTORIA. 
 
 notliing could be expected but hostility. It was dotermined; 
 therefore, to abandon the establishment in the course of the fol- 
 lowing spring, and return across the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 In pursuance of this resolution, they suspended all trade with 
 the natives, except for provisions, having already more peltries 
 than they could carry away, and having need of all the goods for 
 the clothing and subsistence of their people, during the remain- 
 der of their sojourn, and on their journey across the mountains 
 This intention of abandoning Astoria was, however, kept secret 
 from the men, lest they should at once give up all labor, and be- 
 come restless and insubordinate. 
 
 In the meantime, M'Kenzie set off for his post at the Shahap- 
 tan, to get his goods from the caches, and buy horses and provi- 
 sions with them for the caravan across the mountains. He was 
 charged with dispatches from M'Dougal to Messrs. Stuart and 
 Clarke, apprizing them of the intended migration, that they might 
 make timely preparations. 
 
 M'Kenzie was accompanied by two of the clerks, Mr. John 
 Reed, the Irishman, and Mr. Alfred Seton, of New-York. They 
 embarked in two canoes, manned by seventeen men, and ascended 
 the river without any incident of importance, until they arrived 
 in the eventful neighborhood of the rapids. They made the 
 portage of the narrows and the falls early in the afternoon, and, 
 having partaken of a scanty meal, had now a long evening on 
 their hands. 
 
 On the opposite side of the river lay the village of Wish-ram^ 
 of freebooting renown. Here lived the savages who had robbed 
 and maltreated Reed, when bearing his tin box of dispatches. It 
 was known that the rifle of which he was despoiled was retained 
 as a trophy at the village. M'Kenzie oflfered to cross the river, 
 and demand the rifle, if any one would accompany him. It was 
 a hair-brained project, for these villages were noted for the ruf- 
 
A DEN OF RUFFIANS. 447 
 
 lian cliaracter of their inhabitants ; yet two volunteers promptly 
 stepped forward ; Alfred Seton, the clerk, and Joe de la Pierre, 
 the cook. The trio soon reached the opposite side of the river. 
 On landing^ they freshly primed their rifles and pistols. A path 
 winding for about a hundred yards among rocks and crags, led 
 to the village. No notice seemed to be taken of their approach 
 Not a solitary being, man, woman, or child, greeted them. The 
 very dogs, those noisy pests of an Indian town, kept silence. On 
 entering the village, a boy made his appearance, and pointed to a 
 house of larger dimensions than the rest. They had to stoop to 
 enter it ; as soon as they had passed the threshold, the narrow 
 passage behind them was filled up by a sudden rush of Indians, 
 who had before kept out of sight. 
 
 M'Kenzie and his companions found themselves in a rude 
 chamber of about twenty-five feet long, and twenty wide. A 
 bright fire was blazing at one end, near which sat the chief, about 
 sixty years old. A large number of Indians, wrapped in buffalo 
 robes, were squatted in rows, three deep, forming a semicircle 
 round three sides of the room. A single glance around sufficed 
 to show them the grim and dangerous assembly into which they 
 had intruded, and that all retreat was cut off by the mass which 
 blocked up the entrance. 
 
 The chief pointed to the vacant side of the room opposite to 
 the door, and motioned for them to take their seats. They com- 
 plied. A dead pause ensued. The grim warriors around sat like 
 statues ; each mufiied in his robe, with his fierce eyes bent on tho 
 intruders. The latter felt they were in a perilous predicament. 
 
 " Keep your eyes on the chief while I am addressing him," 
 eaid M'Kenzie to his companions. " Should he give any sign to 
 his band, shoot him, and make for the door." 
 
 M'Kenzie advanced, and offered the pipe of peace to the 
 chief, but it was refused. lie then made a regular speech, 
 
448 ASTORIA. 
 
 explaining the object of their visit, and proposing to give in 
 exchange for the rifle two blankets, an axe, some beads and 
 tobacco. 
 
 When he had done, the chief rose, began to address him in a 
 low voice, but soon become loud and violent, and ended by work- 
 ing himself up into a furious passion. He upbraided the white 
 men for their sordid conduct in passing and repassing through 
 their neighborhood, without giving them a blanket or any other 
 article of goods, merely because they had no furs to barter in 
 exchange ; and he alluded, with menaces of vengeance, to the 
 death of the Indian killed by the whites in the skirmish at the 
 falls. 
 
 Matters were verging to a crisis. It was evident the sur- 
 rounding savages were only waiting a signal from the chief to 
 spring upon their prey. M'Kenzie and his companions had 
 gradually risen on their feet during the speech, and had brought 
 their rifles to a horizontal position, the barrels resting in their 
 left hands ; the muzzle of M'Kenzie's piece was within three feet 
 of the speaker's heart. They cocked their rifles ; the click of the 
 locks for a moment suffused the dark cheek of the savage, and 
 there was a pause. They coolly, but promptly, advanced to the 
 door ; the Indians fell back in awe, and suffered them to pass. 
 The sun was just setting, as they emerged from this dangerous 
 den. They took the precaution to keep along the tops of the 
 rocks as much as possible on their way back to the canoe, and 
 >i^eached their camp in safety, congratulating themselves on their 
 escape, and feeling no desire to make a second visit to the grim 
 warriors of Wish-ram. 
 
 M'Kenzie and his party resumed their journey the next 
 morning. At some distance above the falls of the Columbia^ 
 they observed two bark canoes, filled with white men, coming 
 down the river, to the full chant of a set of Canadian voyageurs 
 
THE RIFLED CACHES. 449 
 
 A parley ensued. It was a detacliment of northwesters, under 
 the command of Mr. John George M'Tavish, bound, full of song 
 and spirit, to the mouth of the Columbia, to await the arrival of 
 the Isaac Todd. 
 
 Mr. M'Kenzie and M'Tavish came to a halt, and landing, 
 encamped together for the night. The voyageurs of either party 
 hailed each other as brothers, and old " comrades," and they 
 mingled together as if united by one common interest, instead of 
 belonging to rival companies, and trading under hostile flags. 
 
 In the morning they proceeded on their difi'erent ways, in style 
 corresponding to their diiferent fortunes : the one toiling pain- 
 fully against the stream, the other sweeping down gayly with the 
 current. 
 
 M'Kenzie arrived safely at his deserted post on the Shahaptan, 
 but found, to his chagrin, that his caches had been discovered 
 and rifled by the Indians. Here was a dilemma, for, on the 
 stolen goods he had depended to purchase horses of the Indians. 
 He sent out men in all directions to endeavor to discover the 
 thieves, and dispatched Mr. Reed to the posts of Messrs. Clarke 
 and David Stuart, with the letters of Mr. M'Dougal. 
 
 The resolution announced in these letters, to break up and 
 depart from Astoria, was condemned by both Clarke and Stuart. 
 These two gentlemen had been very successful at their posts, 
 and considered it rash and pusillanimous to abandon, on the first 
 difficulty, an enterprise of such great cost and ample promise. 
 They made no arrangements, therefore, for leaving the country, 
 but acted with a view to the maintenance of their new and pros- 
 perous establishments. 
 
 The regular time approached, when the partners of the inte- 
 rior posts were to rendezvous at the mouth of the Wallah- Wallah, 
 on their way to Astoria, witli the peltries they had collected. 
 Mr. Clarke accordingly packed all his furs on twenty-eight horses, 
 
450 ASTORIA. 
 
 and, leaving a clerk and four men to take charge of the post 
 departed on the 25th of May with the residue of his force. 
 
 On the 30th, he arrived at the confluence of the Pavion and 
 Levrio Rivers, where he had left his barge and canoes, in the 
 guardianship of the old Pierced-nose chieftain. That dignitary 
 had acquitted himself more faithfully of his charge than Mr. 
 Clarke had expected, and the canoes were found in very tolerable 
 order. Some repairs were necessary, and, while they were 
 making, the party encamped close by the village. Having had 
 repeated and vexatious proofs of the pilfering propensities of 
 this tribe during his former visit, Mr. Clarke ordered that a 
 wary eye should be kept upon them. 
 
 He was a tall, good-looking man, and somewhat given to pomp 
 and circumstance, which made him an object of note in the eyes 
 of the wondering savages. He was stately, too, in his appoint- 
 ments, and had a silver goblet or drinking cup, out of which he 
 would drink with a magnificent air, and then lock it up in a largo 
 {^arde vm, which accompanied him in his travels, and stood in 
 his tent. This goblet had originally been sent as a present from 
 Mr. Astor to Mr. M'Kay, the partner who had unfortunately 
 been blown up in the Tonquin. As it reached Astoria after the 
 departure of that gentleman, it had remained in the possession 
 of Mr. Clarke. 
 
 A silver goblet was too glittering a prize not to catch the eye 
 of a Pierced-nose. It was like the shining tin case of John Reed. 
 Such a wonder had never been seen in the land before. The In- 
 dians talked about it to one another. They marked the care with 
 which it was deposited in the garde vin, like a relic in its shrine, 
 and concluded that it must be a " great medicine." That night 
 Mr. Clarke neglected to lock up his treasure ; in the morning the 
 sacred casket was open — the precious relic gone 1 
 
 Clarke was now outrageous. All the past vexations that he 
 
AN EXECUTION. 451 
 
 bad suffered from this pilfering community rose to mind, and ho 
 threatened, that, unless the goblet was promptly returned, he 
 would hang the thief should lie eventually discover him. The 
 day passed away, however, without the restoration of the cup. 
 At night sentinels were secretly posted about the camp. With 
 all their vigilance, a Pierced-nose contrived to get into the camp 
 unperceived, and to load himself with booty ; it was only on his 
 retreat that he was discovered and taken. 
 
 At daybreak the culprit was brought to trial, and promptly 
 convicted. He stood responsible for all the spoliations of the 
 camp, the precious goblet among the number, and Mr. Clarke 
 passed sentence of death upon him. 
 
 A gibbet was accordingly constructed of oars : the chief of 
 the village and his people were assembled, and the culprit was 
 produced, with his legs and arms pinioned. Clarke then made 
 a harangue. He reminded the tribe of the benefits he had be- 
 stowed upon them during his former visits, and the many thefts 
 and other misdeeds which he had overlooked. The prisoner, 
 especially, had always been peculiarly well treated by the white 
 men, but had repeatedly been guilty of pilfering. He was to be 
 punished for his own misdeeds, and as a warning to his tribe. 
 
 The Indians now gathered round Mr. Clarke, and interceded 
 for the culprit. They were willing he should be punished se- 
 verely, but implored that his life might be spared. The compan- 
 ions, too, of Mr. Clarke, considered the sentence too severe, and 
 advised him to mitigate it ; but he was inexorable. He was not 
 naturally a stern or cruel man ; but from his boyhood he had 
 lived in the Indian country among Indian traders, and held the 
 life of a savage extremely cheap. He was, moreover, a firm be- 
 liever in the doctrine of intimidation. 
 
 Farnham, a clerk, a tall "Green Mountain boy" from Yer 
 mont, who had been robbed of a pistol, acted as executioner. 
 
452 ASTORIA. 
 
 The signal was given, and the poor Pierced-nose, resisting, strug- 
 gling, and screaming, in the most frightful manner, was launched 
 into eternity. The Indians stood round gazing in silence and 
 mute awe, but made no attempt to oppose the execution, nor tes- 
 tified any emotion when it was over. They locked up their feel- 
 ings within their bosoms until an opportunity should arrive to 
 gratify them with a bloody act of vengeance. 
 
 To say nothing of the needless severity of this act, its im- 
 policy was glaringly obvious. Mr. M'Lennan and three men were 
 to return to the post with the horses, their loads having been 
 transferred to the canoes. They would have to pass through a 
 tract of country infested by this tribe, who v/ere all horsemen 
 and hard riders, and might pursue them to take vengeance for 
 the death of their comrade. M'Lennan, however, was a resolute 
 fellow, and made light of all dangers. He and his three men 
 were present at the execution, and set off as soon as life was ex- 
 tinct in the victim ; but, to use the words of one of their com- 
 rades, " they did not let the grass grow under the heels of their 
 horses, as they clattered out of the Pierced-nosed country," and 
 were glad to find themselves in safety at the post. 
 
 Mr. Clarke and his party embarked about the same time in 
 their canoes, and early on the following day reached the mouth 
 of the Wallah-Wallah, where they found Messrs. Stuart and 
 M'Kenzie awaiting them ; the latter having recovered part of the 
 goods stolen from his cache. Clarke informed them of the signal 
 punishment he had inflicted on the Pierced-nose, evidently ex- 
 pecting to excite their admiration by such a hardy act of justice, 
 performed in the very midst of the Indian country, but was mor- 
 tified at finding it strongly censured as inhuman, unnecessary, 
 and likely to provoke hostilities. 
 
 The parties thus united formed a squadron of two boats and 
 six canoes, with which they performed their voyage in safety down 
 
PELTRIES FROM THE WALLAMUT. 453 
 
 the river, and arrived at Astoria on the r2th of Jane, bringing 
 with them a valuable stock of peltries. 
 
 About ten days previously, the brigade which had been quar* 
 tered on the banks of the "VVollamut, had arrived with numerous 
 packs of beaver, the result of a few months' sojourn on that 
 river. These were the first fruits of the enterprise, gathered by 
 men as yet mere strangers in the land ; but they were such as to 
 give substantial grounds for sanguine anticipations of profit, 
 when the country should be more completely explored, and the 
 trade established. 
 
464 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IIV. 
 
 The partners found Mr. M'Dougal in all the bustle of prepara 
 tion : having about nine days previously announced at the fac- 
 tory, his intention of breaking up the establishment, and fixed 
 upon the 1st of July for tlie time of departure. Messrs. Stuart 
 and Clarke felt highly displeased at his taking so precipitate a 
 step, without waiting for their concurrence, when he must have 
 known that their arrival could not be far distant. 
 
 Indeed, the whole conduct of Mr. M'Dougal was such as to 
 awaken strong doubts as to his loyal devotion to the cause. His 
 old sympathies with the Northwest Company seemed to have 
 revived. He had received M'Tavish and his party with uncalled- 
 for hospitality, as though they were friends and allies, instead of 
 being a party of observation, come to reconnoitre the state of 
 affairs at Astoria, and to await the arrival of a hostile ship. Had 
 they been left to themselves, they vfould have been starved off 
 for want of provisions, or driven away by the Chinooks, who only 
 wanted a signal from the factory to treat them as intruders and 
 enemies. M'Dougal, on the contrary, had supplied them from 
 the stores of the garrison, and had gained them the favor of the 
 Indians, by treating them as friends. 
 
 Having set his mind fixedly on the project of breaking up 
 the establishment at Astoria, in the current year, M'Dougal was 
 sorely disappointed at finding that Messrs. Stuart and Clarke 
 had omitted to comply with his request to purchase horses and 
 provisions for the caravan across the mountains. It was now too 
 late to make the necessary preparations in time for traversing the 
 mountains before winter, and the project had to be postponed. 
 
TRANSACTIONS AT ASTORIA. 455 
 
 In the meantime, the non-arrival of the annual ship, and the 
 apprehensions entertained of the loss of the Beaver and of Mr. 
 Hunt, had their effect upon the minds of Messrs. Stuart and 
 Clarke. They began to listen to the desponding representations 
 of M'Dougal, seconded by M'Kenzie, who inveighed against their 
 situation as desperate and forlorn ; left to shift for themselves, 
 or perish upon a barbarous coast ; neglected by those who sent 
 them there, and threatened with dangers of every kind. In this 
 way they were brought to consent to the plan of abandoning the 
 country in the ensuing year. 
 
 About this time, M'Tavish applied at the factory to purchase 
 a small supply of goods wherewith to trade his way back to his 
 post on the upper waters of the Columbia, having waited in vain 
 for the arrival of the Isaac Todd. His request brought on a 
 consultation among the partners. M'Dougal urged that it should 
 be complied with. He furthermore proposed, that they should 
 give up to M'Tavish, for a proper consideration, the post on the 
 Spokan, and all its dependencies, as they had not sufficient goods 
 on hand to supply that post themselves, and to keep up a compe- 
 tition with the Northwest Company in the trade with the neigh- 
 boring Indians. This last representation has since been proved 
 incorrect. By inventories, it appears that their stock in hand for 
 the supply of the interior posts, was superior to that of the North- 
 west Company ; so that they had nothing to fear from competition. 
 
 Through the influence of Messrs. M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, 
 this proposition was adopted, and was promptly accepted by 
 M'Tavish. The m-erchandise sold to him, amounted to eight hun- 
 dred and fifty-eight dollars, to be paid for, in the following 
 spring, in horses, or in any other manner most acceptable to the 
 partners at that period. 
 
 This agreement being concluded, the partners formed their 
 plans for the year that they would yet have to pass in the coun* 
 
456 ASTORIA. 
 
 try. Their objects werej chie^j, present subsistence, and the 
 purchase of horses for the contemplated journey, though they 
 were likewise to collect as much peltries as their diminished 
 means would command. Accordingly, it was arranged, that 
 David Stuart should return to his former post on the Oakina 
 gan, and Mr. Clarke should make his sojourn among the Flat 
 heads. John Reed, the sturdy Hibernian, was to undertake the 
 Snake River country, accompanied by Pierre Dorion and Pierre 
 Pelaunay, as hunters, and Francis Landry, Jean Baptiste Tur- 
 cotte, Andre la Chapelle, and Gilles le Clerc, Canadian voyageurs. 
 
 Astoria, however, was the post about which they felt the 
 greatest solicitude, and on which they all more or less depended. 
 The maintenance of this in safety throughout the coming year, 
 was, therefore, their grand consideration. Mr, M'Dougal was to 
 continue in command of it, with a party of forty men. They 
 would have to depend chiefly upon the neighboring savages for 
 their subsistence. These, at present, were friendly, but it was to 
 be feared that, when they should discover the exigencies of the 
 post, and its real weakness, they might proceed to hostilities ; or- 
 at any rate, might cease to furnish their usual supplies. It was 
 important, therefore, to render the place as independent as possi- 
 ble, of the surrounding tribes for its support ; and it was accord- 
 ingly resolved that M'Kenzie, with four hunters, and eight com- 
 mon men, should winter in the abundant country of Wollamut, 
 from whence they might be enabled to furnish a constant supply 
 of provisions to Astoria. 
 
 As there was too great a proportion of clerks for the number 
 of privates in the service, the engagements of three of them, 
 Ross Cox, Ross, and M'Lennan, were surrendered to them, and 
 they immediately enrolled themselves in the service of the North- 
 west Company ; glad, no doubt, to escape from what they con- 
 fiidered a sinking ship. 
 
MANIFESTO OF THE PARTNERS. 457 
 
 Having made all these arrangements, the four partners, on 
 the first of July, signed a formal manifesto, stating the alarming 
 state of their affairs, from the non-arrival of the annual ship, and 
 the absence and apprehended loss of the Beaver, their want of 
 goods, their despair of receiving any further supply, their igno- 
 rance of the coast, and their disappointment as to the interior 
 trade, which they pronounced unequal to the expenses incurred, 
 and incompetent to stand against the powerful opposition of the 
 Northwest Company. And as by the 16th article of the com- 
 pany's agreement, they were authorized to abandon this under- 
 taking, and dissolve the concern, if before the period of five years 
 it should be found unprofitable, they now formally announced 
 their intention to do so on the 1st day of June, of the ensuing 
 year, unless in the interim they should receive the necessary sup- 
 port and supplies from Mr. Astor, or the stockholders, with 
 orders to continue. 
 
 This instrument, accompanied by private letters of similar 
 import, was delivered to Mr. M'Tavish, who departed on the 
 5th of July. He engaged to forward the dispatches to Mr. 
 Astor, by the usual winter express sent overland by the North- 
 Wv>st Company. 
 
 The manifesto was signed with great reluctance by Messrs. 
 Clarke and D. Stuart, whose experience by no means justified the 
 discouraging account given in it of the internal trade, and who 
 considered the main difficulties of exploring an unknown and 
 savage country, and of ascertaining the best trading and trapping 
 grounds, in a great measure overcome. They were overruled, 
 however, by the urgent instances of M'Dougal and M'Kenzie, 
 who, having resolved upon abandoning the enterprise, were de- 
 sirous of making as strong a case as possible to excuse their 
 conduct to Mr. Astor and to the world. 
 
 20 
 
458 ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER LY. 
 
 While difficulties and disasters had been gathering about the 
 infant settlement of Astoria, the mind of its projector at New 
 York, was a prey to great anxiety. The ship Lark, dispatched 
 by him with supplies for the establishment, sailed on the 6th of 
 March, 1813. Within a fortnight afterwards, he received intelli- 
 gence which justified all his apprehensions of hostility on the 
 part of the British. The Northwest Company had made a 
 second memorial to that government, representing Astoria as an 
 American establishment, stating the vast scope of its contemplated 
 operations, magnifying the strength of its fortifications, and ex- 
 pressing their fears that, unless crushed in the bud, it would 
 efi"ect the downfall of their trade. 
 
 Influenced by these representations, the British government 
 ordered the frigate Phoebe to be detached as a convoy for the 
 armed ship, Isaac Todd, which was ready to sail with men and 
 munitions for forming a new establishment. They were to pro- 
 ceed together to the mouth of the Columbia, capture or destroy 
 whatever American fortress they should' find there, and plant the 
 British flag on its ruins. 
 
 Informed of these movements, Mr. Astor lost no time in ad- 
 dressing a second letter to the secretary of state, communicating 
 this intelligence, and requesting it might be laid before the pres* 
 ident; as no notice, however, had been taken of his previous 
 letter, he contented himself with this simple communication, anci 
 made no further application for aid. 
 
FITTING OUT OF THE ADAMS. 459 
 
 Awakened now to tlie danger that menaced the establishment 
 at Astoria, and aware of the importance of protecting this foot- 
 hold of American commerce and empire on the shores of the 
 Pacific, the government determined to send the frigate Adams, 
 Captain Crane, upon this service. On hearing of this determi- 
 nation, Mr. Astor immediately preceded to fit out a ship called 
 the Enterprise, to sail in company with the Adams, freighted with 
 additional supplies and reinforcements for Astoria. 
 
 About the middle of June, while in the midst of these pre- 
 parations, Mr. Astor received a letter from Mr. R. Stuart, dated 
 St. Louis, May 1st, confirming the intelligence already received 
 through the public newspapers, of his safe return, and of the 
 arrival of Mr. Hunt and his party at Astoria, and giving the most 
 flattering accounts of the prosperity of the enterprise. 
 
 So deep had been the anxiety of Mr. Astor, for the success ot 
 this great object of his ambition, that this gleam of good news 
 was almost overpowering. " I felt ready," said he, " to fall upon 
 my knees in a transport of gratitude." 
 
 At the same time he heard that the Beaver had made good 
 her voyage from New- York to the Columbia. This was additional 
 ground of hope for the welfare of the little colony. The post 
 being thus relieved and strengthened with an American at its 
 head, and a ship of war about to sail for its protection, the pros- 
 pect for the future seemed full of encouragement, and Mr. Astor 
 proceeded with fresh vigor, to fit out his merchant ship. 
 
 Unfortunately for Astoria, this bright gleam of sunshine was 
 soon overclouded. Just as the Adams had received her comple- 
 ment of men, and the two vessels were ready for sea, news came 
 from Commodore Chauncey, commanding on Lake Ontario, that 
 a reinforcement of seamen was wanted in that quarter. The de- 
 mand was urgent, the crew of the Adams was immediately trans- 
 ferred to that service, and the ship was laid up 
 
460 ASTORIA. 
 
 Tills was a most ill-timed and discouraging blow, but Mr. 
 Astor would not yet allow himself to pause in his undertaking. 
 He determined to send the Enterprise to sea alone, and let her 
 take the chance of making her unprotected way across the ocean. 
 Just at this time, however, a British force made its appearance off 
 the Hook ; and the port of New- York was effectually blockaded. 
 To send a ship to sea under these circumstances, would be to 
 expose her to almost certain capture. The Enterprise, was, 
 therefore, unloaded and dismantled, and Mr. Astor was obliged 
 to comfort himself with the hope that the Lark might reach 
 Astoria in safety, and that aided by her supplies, and by the good 
 management of Mr. Hunt and his associates, the little colony 
 might be able to maintain itself until the return of peace. 
 
AN ALLIANCE OF STATE. 461 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 We have hitherto had so much to relate of a gloomy and disas 
 trous nature, that it is with a feeling of momentary relief we turn 
 to something of a more pleasing complexion, and record the first, 
 and indeed only nuptials in high life that took place in the 
 infant settlement of Astoria. 
 
 M'Dougalj who appears to have been a man of a thousand 
 projects, and of great, though somewhat irregular ambition, sud- 
 denly conceived the idea of seeking the hand of one of the native 
 princesses, a daughter of the one-eyed potentate Comcomly, who 
 held sway over the fishing tribe of the Chinooks, and had long 
 eupplied the factory with smelts and sturgeons. 
 
 Some accounts give rather a romantic origin to this afiair, 
 tracing it to the stormy niglit when M'Dougal, in the course of 
 an exploring expedition, was driven by stress of weather to seek 
 shelter in the royal abode of Comcomly. Then and there he was 
 first struck with the charms of this piscatory princess, as she 
 exerted herself to entertain her father's guest. 
 
 The "journal of Astoria," however, which was kept under hia 
 own eye, records this union as a high state alliance, and great 
 stroke of policy. The factory had to depend, in a great measure, 
 on the Chinooks for provisions. They were at present friendly, but 
 it was to be feared they would prove otherwise, should they disco- 
 ver the weakness and the exigencies of the post, and the intention 
 to leave the country. This alliance, therefore, would infallibly 
 rivet Comcomly to the interests of the Astorians, and with him 
 
468 ASTORIA. 
 
 ilie powerful tribe of the Cliinooks. Be this as it raay, and it is 
 hard to fathom the real policy of governors and princes, M'Dou- 
 gal dispatched two of the clerks as ambassadors extraordinary, 
 to wait upon the one-eyed chieftain, and make overtures for the 
 hand of his daughter. 
 
 The Chinooks, though not a very refined nation, have notionis 
 of matrimonial arrangements that would not disgrace the most 
 refined sticklers for settlements and pin money. The suitor 
 repairs not to the bower of his mistress, but to her father's 
 lodge, and throws down a present at his feet. His wishes are 
 then disclosed by some discreet friend employed by him for the 
 purpose. If the suitor and his present find favor in the eyes of 
 the father, he breaks the matter to his daughter, and inquires 
 into the state of her inclinations. Should her answer be favorable, 
 the suit is accepted, and the lover has to make further presents 
 to the father, of horses, canoes, and other valuables, according 
 to the beauty and merits of the bride; looking forward to a 
 return in kind whenever they shall go to housekeeping. 
 
 "We have more than once had occasion to speak of the shrewd- 
 ness of Comcomly ; but never was it exerted more adroitly than 
 on this occasion. He was a great friend of M'Dougal, and 
 pleased with the idea of having so distinguished a son-in-law ; 
 but so favorable an opportunity of benefiting his own fortune 
 was not likely to occur a second time, and he determined to 
 make the most of it. Accordingly, the negotiation was protracted 
 with true diplomatic skill. Conference after conference was held 
 with the two ambassadors : Comcomly was extravagant in his 
 terms ; rating the charms of his daughter at the highest price, 
 and indeed she is represented as having one of the flattest and 
 most aristocratical heads in the tribe. At length the prelimina- 
 ries were all happily adjusted. On the 20th of July, early in tho 
 afternoon, a squadron of canoes crossed over from the village of 
 
BRINGING HOME THE BRIDE. 463 
 
 the ChinookSj bearing the royal family of Comcomlyj and all his 
 court. 
 
 That worthy sachem landed in princely state, arrayed in a 
 bright blue blanket and red breech clout, with an extra quantity 
 of paint and feathers, attended by a train of half-naked warriors/ 
 and nobles. A horse was in waiting to receive the princess 
 who was mounted behind one of the clerks, and thus conveyed, 
 coy but compliant, to the fortress. Here she was received with 
 devout, though decent joy, by her expecting bridegroom. 
 
 Her bridal adornments, it is true, at first caused some little 
 dismay, having painted and anointed herself for the occasion 
 according. to the Chinook toilet; by dint, however, of Qopious 
 ablutions, she was freed from all adventitious tint and fragrance, 
 and entered into the nuptial state, the cleanest princess that had 
 ever been known, of the somewhat unctuous tribe of the Chinooks. 
 
 From that time forward, Comcomly was a daily visitor at the 
 fort, and was admitted into the most intimate councils of his son- 
 in-law. He took an interest in every thing that was going 
 forward, but was particularly frequent in his visits to the black- 
 smith's shop ; tasking the labors of the artificer in iron for every 
 kind of weapon and implement suited to the savage state, 
 insomuch that the necessary business of the factory was often 
 postponed to attend to his requisitions. 
 
 The honey-moon had scarce passed away, and M'Dougal was 
 seated with his bride in the fortress of Astoria, when, about noon 
 of the 20th of August, Gassacop, the son of Comcomly, hurried 
 into his presence with great agitation, and announced a ship at 
 the mouth of the river. The news produced a vast sensation. 
 Was it a ship of peace or war ? Was it American or British? 
 Was it the Beaver or the Isaac Todd ? M'Dougal hurried to 
 the water side, threw himself into a boat, and ordered the hands 
 to pull with all speed for the mouth of the harbor. Those in the 
 
464 ASTORIA. 
 
 fort remained watching the entrance of the river, anxious to 
 "know whether they were to prepare for greeting a friend or 
 fighting an enemy. At length the ship was descried crossing 
 the bar, and bending her course towards Astoria. Every gaze 
 was fixed upon her in silent scrutiny, until the American flag 
 was recognized. A general shout was the first expression of joyj 
 and next a salutation was thundered from the cannon of the fort. 
 
 The vessel came to anchor on the opposite side of the river, 
 and returned the salute. The boat of Mr. M'Dougal went on 
 board, and was seen returning late in the afternoon. The Asto- 
 rians watched her with straining eyes, to discover who were on 
 board,, but the sun went down, and the evening closed, in, before 
 she was sufficiently near. At length she reached the land, and 
 Mr. Hunt stepped on shore. He was hailed as one risen from 
 the dead, and his return was a signal for merriment almost equal 
 to that which prevailed at the nuptials of M'Dougal. 
 
 We must now explain the cause of this gentleman's long 
 absence, which had given rise to such gloomy and dispiriting 
 surmises. 
 
VOYAGE TO NEW ARCHANGEL. 465 
 
 CHAPTER LVIL 
 
 It will be recollected, that tlie destination of the Beaver, when 
 she sailed from Astoria on the 4th of August in 1812, was to 
 proceed northwardly along the coast to Sheetka, or New Arch- 
 angel, there to dispose of that part of her cargo intended for 
 the supply of the Russian establishment at that place, and then 
 to return to Astoria, where it was expected she would arrive in 
 October. 
 
 New Archangel is situated in Norfolk Sound, lat. 57° 2' N., 
 long. 135-= 50'' "W. It was the head-quarters of the different col- 
 onies of the Russian Fur Company, and the common rendezvous 
 of the American vessels trading along the coast. 
 
 The Beaver met with nothing worthy of particular mention 
 in her voyage, and arrived at New Archangel on the 19th of 
 August. The place at that time was the residence of Count 
 Baranhoff, the governor of the different colonies ; a rough, rugged, 
 hospitable, hard-drinking old Russian ; somewhat of a soldier, 
 somewhat of a trader • above all, a boon companion of the old 
 roystering school, with a strong cross of the bear. 
 
 Mr. Hunt found this hyperborean veteran ensconced in a fort 
 which crested the whole of a high rocky promontory. It mounted 
 one hundred guns, large and small, and was impregnable to In 
 dian attack, unaided by artillery. Here the old governor lorded 
 it over sixty Russians, who formed the corps of the trading estab' 
 lishment, besides an indej&nite number of Indian hunters of the 
 Kodiak tribe, who were continually coming and going, or loung' 
 
 20* 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 ing and loitering about the fort like so manj'- hounds round a 
 sportsman's hunting quarters. Though a loose liver among his 
 guests, the governor was a strict disciplinarian among his men ; 
 keeping them in perfect subjection, and having seven on guard 
 night and day. 
 
 Beside those immediate serfs and dependents just mentioned, 
 the old Russian potentate exerted a considerable sway over a 
 numerous and irregular class of maritime traders, who looked to 
 him for aid and munitions, and through whom he may be said to 
 have, in some degree, extended his power along the whole north- 
 west coast. These were 'American captains of vessels engaged 
 in a particular department of trade. One of these captains 
 would come, in a manner, empty-handed to New Archangel. 
 Here his ship would be furnished with about fifty canoes and a 
 hundred Kodiak hunters, and fitted out with provisions, and 
 every thing necessary for hunting the sea-otter on the coast of 
 California, where the Russians have another establishment. The 
 ship would ply along the Californian coast from place to place, 
 dropping parties of otter hunters in their canoes, furnishing them 
 only with water, and leaving them to depend upon their own dex- 
 terity for a maintenance. When a sufficient cargo was collected, 
 she would gather up her canoes and hunters, and return with 
 them to Archangel ; where the captain would render in the 
 returns of his voyage, and receive one-half of the skins for 
 his share. 
 
 Over these coasting captains, as we have hinted, the veteran 
 governor exerted some sort of sway, but it was of a peculiar and 
 characteristic kind ; it was the tyranny of the table. They were 
 obliged to join him in his '• prosnics " or carousals, and to drink 
 "potations pottle deep." His carousals, too, were not of the 
 most quiet kind, nor were his potations as mild as nectar. " Ho 
 is continually," said Mr. Hunt, "giving entertainments by way 
 
TYRANNY OF THE TABLE. 467 
 
 of parade, and if you do not drink raw rum, and boiling puncli as 
 strong as sulphur, lie will insult you as soon as he gets drunk, 
 which is very shortly after sitting down to table." 
 
 As to any " temperance captain " who stood fast to his faith, 
 and refused to give up his sobriety, he might go elsewhere for a 
 market, for he stood no chance with the governor. Rarely, how- 
 ever, did any cold-water caitiff of the kind darken the door of 
 old Baranhoff; the coasting captains knew too well his humor 
 and their own interests ; they joined in his revels, they drank, 
 and sang, and whooped, and hiccuped, until they all got '' half 
 seas over," and then affairs went on swimmingly. 
 
 An awful warning- to all " flinchers " occurred shortly before 
 Mr. Hunt's arrival. A young naval officer had recently been 
 sent out by the emperor to take command of one of the com- 
 pany's vessels. The governor, as usual, had him at his " pros- 
 nics," and plied him with fiery potations. The young man stood 
 on the defensive until the old count's ire was completely kindled ; 
 he carried his point, and made the greenhorn tipsy, willy nilly. 
 In proportion as they grew fuddled they grew noisy, they quar- 
 relled in their cups ; the youngster paid old Baranhoff in his 
 own coin by rating him soundly ; in reward for which, when sober, 
 he was taken the rounds of four pickets, and received seventy- 
 nine lashes, taled out with Russian punctuality of punishment. 
 
 Such was the old grizzled bear with whom Mr. Hunt had to 
 do his business. How he managed to cope with his humor 
 whether he pledged himself in raw rum and blazing punch, and 
 " clinked the can " with him as they made their bargains, does not 
 appear upon record ; we must infer, however, from his general 
 observations on the absolute sway of this hard-drinking potentate, 
 that he had to conform to the customs of his court, and that 
 their business transactions presented a maudlin mixture of punch 
 and peltry. 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 The greatest annoyance to Mr. Hunt, however, was the delay 
 to which he was subjected, in disposing of the cargo of the ship, 
 and getting the requisite returns. With all the governor's devo- 
 tions to the bottle, he never obfuscated his faculties sufficiently 
 to lose sight of his interest, and is represented by Mr. Hunt as 
 keen, not to say crafty, at a bargain, as the most arrant water 
 drinker. A long time was expended negotiating with him, and 
 by the time the bargain was concluded, the month of October had 
 arrived. To add to the delay he was to be paid for his cargo ir 
 seal skins. Now it so happened that there was none of this kind 
 of peltry at the fort of old Baranhoff. It was necessary, there 
 fore, for Mr. Hunt to proceed to a seal-catching establishmentj^ 
 which the Russian company had at the island of St. Paul in the 
 sea of Kamschatka. He accordingly set sail on the 4th of Octo- 
 ber, after having spent forty-five days at New Archangel, boosing 
 and bargaining with its roystering commander, and right glad 
 was he to escape from the clutches of this " old man of the sea." 
 
 The Beaver arrived at St. Paul's on the 31st of October; by 
 which time, according to arrangement, he ought to have been back 
 at Astoria. The island of St. Paul's is in latitude 57° N., longi- 
 tude 170° or 171° W. Its shores, in certain places, and at cer- 
 tain seasons, are covered with seals, while others are playing 
 about in the water. Of these, the Russians take only the small 
 ones, from seven to ten months old, and carefully select the 
 males, giving the females their freedom, that the breed may 
 not be diminished. The islanders, however, kill the large ones 
 for provisions, and for skins wherewith to cover their canoes. 
 They drive them from the shore over the rocks, until within a 
 short distance of their habitations, where they kill them. By 
 this means, they save themselves the trouble of carrying the skins^ 
 and have the flesh at hand. This is thrown in heaps, and when 
 the season for skinning is over, they take out the entrails and 
 
FISHY FOOD AND FUEL. 469 
 
 make one heap of the blubber. This, with drift-wood, serves for 
 fuel, for the island is entirely destitute of trees. They make 
 another heap of the flesh, which, with the eggs of sea-fowls, pre- 
 served in oil, an occasional sea-lion, a few ducks in winter, and 
 some wild roots, compose their food. 
 
 Mr. Hunt found seven Russians at the island, and ono 
 hundred hunters, natives of Oonalaska, with their families. 
 They lived in cabins that looked like canoes ; being, for the most 
 part formed of the jaw-bone of a whale, put up as rafters, across 
 which were laid pieces of drift-wood covered over with long 
 grass, the skins of large sea animals, and earth ; so as to be 
 quite comfortable, in despite of the rigors of the climate ; though 
 we are told they had as ancient and fish-like an odor, " as had 
 the quarters of Jonah, when he lodged within the whale." 
 
 In one of these odoriferous mansions, Mr. Hunt occasionally 
 took up his abode, that he might be at hand to hasten the loading 
 of the ship. The operation, however, was somewhat slow, for it 
 was necessary to overhaul and inspect every pack to prevent 
 imposition, and the peltries had then to be conveyed in large 
 boats, made of skins, to the ship, which was some little distance 
 from the shore, standing off and on. 
 
 One night, while Mr. Hunt was on shore, with some others 
 of the crew, there rose a terrible gale. When the day broke, the 
 ship was not to be seen. He watched for her with anxious eyes 
 until night, but in vain. Day after day of boisterous storms, 
 and howling wintry weather, were passed in watchfulness and 
 solicitude. Nothing was to be seen but a dark and angry sea, 
 and a scowling northern sky ; and at night he retired within the 
 jaws of the whale, and nestled disconsolately among seal skins. 
 
 At length, on the 13th of November, the Beaver made her 
 appearance ; much the worse for the stormy conflicts, she had 
 sustained in those hyperborean seas. She had been obliged to 
 
470 ASTORIA. 
 
 carry a press of sail in heavy gales, to be able to hold her ground^ 
 and had consequently sustained great damage in her canvas and 
 rigging. Mr. Hunt lost no time in hurrying the residue of the 
 cargo on board of her ; then, bidding adieu to his seal-fishing 
 friends, and his whalebone habitation, he put forth once more 
 to sea. 
 
 He was now for making the best of his way to Astoria, and 
 fortunate would it have been for the interests of that place, and 
 the interests of Mr. Astor, had he done so ; but, unluckily, a 
 perplexing question rose in his mind. The sails and rigging of 
 the Beaver had been much rent and shattered in the late storm ; 
 would she be able to stand the hard gales to be expected in 
 making Columbia River at this season ? Was it prudent, also, at 
 this boisterous time of the year to risk the valuable cargo which 
 she now had on board, by crossing and recrossing the dangerous 
 bar of that river ? These doubts were probably suggested or 
 enforced by Captain Sowle, who, it has already been seen, was an 
 over-cautious, or rather, a timid seaman, and they may have had 
 some weight with Mr. Hunt ; but there were other considerations, 
 which more strongly swayed his mind. The lateness of the 
 season, and the unforeseen delays the ship had encountered at 
 New Archangel, and by being obliged to proceed to St. Paul's, 
 had put her so much back in her calculated time, that there was 
 a risk of her arriving so late at Canton, as to come to a bad 
 market, both for the sale of her peltries, and the purchase of a 
 return cargo. He considered it to the interest of the company, 
 therefore, that he should proceed at once to the Sandwich 
 Islands ; there wait the arrival of the annual vessel from New- 
 York, take passage in her to Astoria, and suffer the Beaver to 
 continue on to Canton. 
 
 On the other hand, he was urged to the other course by his 
 engagements ; by the plan of the voyage marked out for the 
 
INJUDICIOUS DECISION. 47i 
 
 BeaTer, by Mr. Astor ; by his inclination, and the possibility that 
 the establishment might need his presence, and by the recollec- 
 tion that there must already be a large amount of peltries col- 
 lected at Astoria, and waiting for the return of the Beaver, to 
 convey them to market. 
 
 These conflicting questions perplexed and agitated his mind 
 and gave rise to much anxious reflection, for he was a conscien- 
 tious man that seems ever to have aimed at a faithful discharge 
 of his duties, and to have had the interests of his employers 
 earnestly at heart. His decision in the present instance was in- 
 judicious, and proved unfortunate. It was, to bear away for the 
 Sandwich Islands. He persuaded himself that it was a matter 
 of necessity, and that the distressed condition of the ship left 
 him no other alternative ; but we rather suspect he was so per- 
 suaded by the representations of the timid captain. They 
 accordingly stood for the Sandwich Islands, arrived at Woahoo, 
 where the ship underwent the necessary repairs, and again put 
 to sea on the 1st of January, 1813; leaving Mr. Hunt on the 
 island. 
 
 We will follow the Beaver to Canton, as her fortunes, in some 
 measure, exemplify the evil of commanders of ships acting con- 
 trary to orders ; and as they form a part of the tissue of cross 
 purposes that marred the great commercial enterprise we have 
 undertaken to record. 
 
 The Beaver arrived safe at Canton, where Captain Sowle 
 found the letter of Mr. Astor, giving him information of the war 
 and directing him to convey the intelligence to Astoria. He 
 wrote a reply, dictated either by timidity or obstinacy, in which 
 he declined complying with the orders of Mr. Astor, but said 
 he would wait for the return of peace, and then come home. The 
 other proceedings of Captain Sowle were equally wrong-headed 
 and unlucky. He was offered one hundred and fifty thousand 
 
472 ASTORIA. 
 
 dollars for the fur he had taken on board at St, Paul's. The 
 goods for which it had been procured, cost but twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars in New- York. Had he accepted this ofi"er, and re- 
 invested the amount in nankeens, which at that time, in conse- 
 quence of the interruption to commerce by the war, were at 
 two-thirds of their usual price, the whole would have brought 
 three hundred thousand dollars in New- York. It is true, the 
 war would have rendered it unsafe to attempt the homeward 
 voyage, but he might have put the goods in store at Canton, 
 until after the peace, and have sailed without risk of capture to 
 Astoria ; bringing to the partners at that place tidings of the 
 great profits realized on the outward cargo, and the still greater 
 to be expected from the returns. The news of such a brilliant 
 commencement to their undertaking would have counterbalanced 
 the gloomy tidings of the war.; it would have infused new spirit 
 into them all, and given them courage and constancy to persevere 
 in the enterprise. Captain Sowle, however, refused the ofi'er of 
 one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and stood wavering and 
 chafi"ering for higher terms. The furs began to fall in value ; 
 this only increased his irresolution ; they sunk so much that he 
 feared to sell at all ; he borrowed money on Mr, Aster's account 
 at an interest of eighteen per cent., and laid up his ship to await 
 the return of peace. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Mr. Hunt soon saw reason to repent the 
 resolution he had adopted in altering the destination of the ship 
 His stay at the Sandwich Islands was prolonged far beyond all 
 expectation. He looked in vain for the annual ship in the spring. 
 Month after month passed by, and still she did not make her ap- 
 pearance. He, too, proved the danger of departing from orders. 
 Had he returned from St. Paul's to Astoria, all the anxiety and 
 despondency about his fate, and about the whole course of the 
 undertaking, would have been obviated. The Beaver would have 
 
WANDERING VOYAGES OF MR. HUNT. 473 
 
 received the furs collected at the factory, and taken them to Can- 
 ton, and great gains, instead of great losses, would have been the 
 result. The greatest blunder, however, was that committed by 
 Captain Sowle. 
 
 At length, about the 20th of June, the ship Albatross, Cap- 
 tain Smith, arrived from China, and brought the first tidings of 
 the war to the Sandwich Islands. Mr. Hunt was no longer in 
 doubt and perplexity as to the reason of the non-appearance of 
 the annual ship. His first thoughts were for the welfare of 
 Astoria, and, concluding that the inhabitants would probably be 
 in want of provisions, he chartered the Albatross for two thou- 
 sand dollars, to land him, with some supplies, at the mouth of the 
 Columbia, where he arrived, as we have seen, on the 20th of Au- 
 gust, after a years' seafaring that might have furnished a chapter 
 in the wanderings of Sindbad. 
 
iM ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIIL 
 
 Mr. Hunt was overwhelmed with surprise when he learnt the 
 resolution taken hy the partners to abandon Astoria. He soon 
 found, however, that matters had gone too far, and the minds of 
 his colleagues had become too firmly bent upon the measure, to 
 render any opposition of avail. He was beset, too, with the same 
 disparaging accounts of the interior trade, and of the whole con- 
 cerns and prospects of the company that had been rendered to 
 Mr. Astor. His own experience had been full of perplexities 
 and discouragements. He had a conscientious anxiety for the 
 interests of Mr. Astor, and, not comprehending the extended 
 views of that gentleman, and his habit of operating with great 
 amounts, he had from the first been daunted by the enormous 
 expenses required, and had become disheartened by the subse- 
 quent losses sustained, which appeared to him to be ruinous in 
 their magnitude. By degrees, therefore, he was brought to acqui- 
 esce in the step taken by his colleagues, as perhaps advisable in 
 the exigencies of the case ; his only care was to wind up the busi- 
 ness with as little further loss as possible to Mr. Astor. 
 
 A large stock of valuable furs was collected at the factory, 
 which it was necessary to get to a market. There were twenty 
 five Sandwich Islanders also in the employ of the company, whom 
 they were bound by express agreement to restore to their native 
 country. For these purposes a ship was necessary. 
 
 The Albatross was bound to the Marquesas, and thence to 
 the Sandwich Islands. It was resolved that Mr. Hunt should 
 sail in her in quest of a vessel, and should return, if possible, by 
 
FURTHER ARRANGEMENTS. 475 
 
 the 1st of January, bringing with him a supply of provisions. 
 Should any thing occur, however, to prevent his return, an 
 arrangement was to be proposed to Mr. M'Tavish, to transfer 
 such of the men as were so disposed, from the service of the 
 American Fur Company into that of the Northwest, the latter 
 becoming responsible for the wages due them, on receiving au 
 equivalent in goods from the storehouse of the factory. As a 
 means of facilitating the dispatch of business, Mr. M'Dougal 
 proposed, that in case Mr. Hunt should not return, the whole 
 arrangement with Mr. M'Tavish should be left solely to him. 
 This was assented to ; the contingency being considered possible, 
 but not probable. 
 
 It is proper to note, that, on the first announcement by Mr. 
 M'Dougal of his intention to break up the establishment, three 
 of the clerks, British subjects, had, with his consent, passed into 
 the service of the Northwest Company, and departed with Mr. 
 M'Tavish for his post in the interior. 
 
 Having arranged all these matters during a sojourn of six 
 days at Astoria, Mr. Hunt set sail in the Albatross on the 26th 
 of August, and arrived without accident at the Marquesas. He 
 had not been there long, when Porter arrived in the frigate 
 Essex, bringing in arnumber of stout London whalers as prizes, 
 having made a sweeping cruise in the Pacific. From Commodore 
 Porter he received the alarming intelligence that the British 
 frigate Phoebe, with a storeship, mounted with battering pieces, 
 calculated to attack forts, had arrived at Bio Janeiro, where she 
 had been joined by the sloops of war Cherub and Bacoon, and 
 that they had all sailed in company on the 6th of July for tlio 
 Pacific, bound, as it was supposed, to Columbia Biver. 
 
 Here, then, was the death-warrant of unfortunate Astoria i 
 The anxious mind of Mr. Hunt was in greater perplexity than 
 ever. He had been eager to extricate the property of Mr. Aster 
 
476 ASTORIA. 
 
 from a failing concern witli as little loss as possible ; there was 
 now danger that the whole would he swallowed up. How was it 
 to be snatched from the gulf? It was impossible to charter a 
 ship for the purpose, now that a British squadron was on its v,ay 
 to the river. He applied to purchase one of the whale ships 
 brought in by Commodore Porter. The commodore demanded 
 twenty-five thousand dollars for her. The price appeared exor- 
 bitant, and no bargain could be made. Mr. Hunt then urged 
 the commodore to fit out one of his prizes, and send her to 
 Astoria, to bring off" the property and part of the people, but he 
 declined, " from want of authority." He assured Mr. Hunt, how- 
 ever, that he would endeavor to fall in with the enemy, or, should 
 he hear of their having certainly gone to the Columbia, he would 
 either follow or anticipate them, should his circumstances war- 
 rant such a step. 
 
 In this tantalizing state of suspense, Mr. Hunt was detained 
 at the Marquesas until November 23d, when he proceeded in the 
 Albatross to the Sandwich Islands. He still cherished a faint 
 hope that, notwithstanding the war, and all other discouraging 
 circumstances, the annual ship might have been sent by Mr. 
 Astor, and might have touched at the islands, and proceeded to 
 the Columbia. He knew the pride and interest taken by that 
 gentleman in his great enterprise, and that he would not be 
 deterred by dangers and difficulties from prosecuting it ; much 
 less would he leave the infant establishment without succor and 
 Bupport in the time of trouble. In this, we have seen, he did 
 but justice to Mr, Astor ; and we must now turn to notice the 
 cause of the non-arrival of the vessel which he had dispatched 
 with reinforcements and supplies. Her voyage forms another 
 chapter of accidents in this eventful story. 
 
 The Lark sailed from New- York on the 6th of March, 1813 
 and proceeded prosperously on her voyage, until within a few 
 
WRECK OF THE LARK. 4Ti 
 
 degreea of the Sandwich Islands. Here a gale sprang up that 
 soon blew with tremendous violence. The lark was a stanch and 
 aoble ship, and for a time buffeted bravely with the storm. Un- 
 luckily, however, she " broached to," and was struck by a heavy 
 sea, that hove her on her beam-ends. The helm, too, was knocked 
 to leeward, all command of the vessel was lost, and another moun 
 tain wave completely overset her. Orders were given to cut 
 away the masts. In the hurry and confusion, the boats also were 
 unfortunately cut adrift. The wreck then righted, but was a 
 mere hulk, full of water, with a heavy sea washing over it, and 
 all the hatches off. On mustering the crew, one man was missing, 
 who was discovered below in the forecastle, drowned. 
 
 In cutting away the masts, it had been utterly impossible to 
 observe the necessary precaution of commencing with the lee rig- 
 ging, that being, from the position of the ship, completely under 
 water. The masts and spars, therefore, being linked to the wreck 
 by the shrouds and rigging, remained alongside for four days. 
 During all this time the ship lay rolling in the trough of the sea, 
 the heavy surges breaking over her, and the spars heaving and 
 l)anging to and fro, bruising the half-drowned sailors that clung 
 to the bowsprit and the stumps of the masts. The sufferings of 
 these poor fellows were intolerable. They stood to their waistg 
 in water, in imminent peril of being washed off by every surge. 
 In this position they dared not sleep, lest they should let go their 
 hold and be swept away. The only dry place on the wreck was 
 the bowsprit. Here they took turns to be tied on, for half an 
 hour at a time, and in this way gained short snatches of sleep. 
 
 On the 14th, the first mate died at his post, and was swept off 
 by the surges. On the 17th, two seamen, faint and exhausted 
 were washed overboard. The next wave threw their bodies back 
 upon the deck, where they remained, swashing backward an i for- 
 ward, ghastly objects to the almost perishing survivors. Mr. 
 
478 ASTORIA. 
 
 Ogdeiij the supercargo, wlio was at the bowsprit, called to the 
 men nearest to the bodies, to fasten them to the wreck ; as a last 
 horrible resource in case of being driven to extremity by famine ! 
 
 On the 17th the gale gradually subsided, and the sea became 
 calm. The sailors now crawled feebly about the wreck, and be- 
 gan to relieve it from the main incumbrances. The spars were 
 cleared away, the anchors and guns heaved overboard ; the sprit- 
 sail yard was rigged for a jurymast, and a mizzen topsail set upon 
 it. A sort of stage was made of a few broken spars, on which 
 the crew were raised above the surface of the water, so as to be 
 enabled to keep themselves dry, and to sleep comfortably. Still 
 their sufferings from hunger and thirst were great ; but there 
 was a Sandwich Islander on board, an expert swimmer, who found 
 his way into the cabin, and occasionally brought up a few bottles 
 of wine and porter, and at length got into the run, and secured 
 a quarter cask of wine, A little raw pork was likewise procured, 
 and dealt out with a sparing hand. The horrors of their situa- 
 tion were increased by the sight of numerous sharks prowling 
 about the wreck, as if waiting for their prey. On the 24th, the 
 cook, a black man, died, and was cast into the sea, when he was 
 instantly seized on by these ravenous monsters. 
 
 They had been several days making slow headway under 
 their scanty sail, when, on the 25th, they came in sight of land. 
 It was about fifteen leagues distant, and they remained two or 
 three days drifting along in sight of it. On the 28th, they 
 descried, to their great transport, a canoe approaching, managed 
 by natives. They came alongside, and brought a most welcome 
 supply of potatoes. They informed them that the land they had 
 made was one of the Sandwich Islands. The second mate and 
 one of the seamen went on shore in the canoe for water and pro- 
 visions, and to procure aid from the islanders, in towing the 
 wreck into a harbor. 
 
SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 479 
 
 Neither of the men returned, nor was any assistance sent 
 from shore. The next day, ten or twelve canoes came alongside, 
 but roamed round the wreck like so many sharks, and would 
 render no aid in towing her to land. 
 
 The sea continued to break over the vessel with such violence, 
 that it was impossible to stand at the helm without the assistance 
 of lashings. The crew were now so worn down by famine and 
 thirst, that the captain saw it would be impossible for them to 
 withstand the breaking of the sea, when the ship should ground ; 
 he deemed the only chance for their lives, therefore, was to get 
 to land in the canoes, and stand ready to receive and protect the 
 wreck when she should drift to shore. Accordingly, they all got 
 safe to land, but had scarcely touched the beach when they were 
 surrounded by the natives, who stripped them almost naked. 
 The name of this inhospitable island was Tahoorowa. 
 
 In the course of the night, the wreck came drifting to the 
 strand, with the surf thundering around her, and shortly after- 
 wards bilged. On the following morning, numerous casks of 
 provisions floated on shore. The natives staved them for the 
 sake of the iron hoops, but would not allow the crew to help 
 themselves to the contents, or to go on board of the wreck. 
 
 As the crew were in want of every thing, and as it might be 
 a long time before any opportunity occurred for them to get 
 away from these islands, Mr. Ogden, as soon as he could get a 
 chance, made his way to the island of Owyhee, and endeavored 
 to make some arrangement with the king for the relief of his 
 companions in misfortune. 
 
 The illustrious Tamaahmaah, as we have shown on a former 
 occasion, was a shrewd bargainer, and in the present instance 
 proved himself an experienced wrecker. His negotiations with 
 M'Bougal, and the other " Eris of the great American Fur 
 Company," had but little effect on present circumstances, and he 
 
480 ASTORIA. 
 
 proceeded to avail himself of their misfortunes. He agreed to 
 furnish the crew with provisions during their stay in his territo- 
 ries, and to return to them all their clothing that could be found, 
 hut he stipulated that the wreck should be abandoned to him as 
 a waif cast by fortune on his shores. With these conditions Mr. 
 Ogden was fain to comply. Upon this the great Tamaahmaah 
 deputed his favorite, John Young, the tarpawlin governor of 
 Owyhee, to proceed with a number of the royal guards, and take 
 possession of the wreck on behalf of the crown. This was done 
 accordingly, and the property and crew were removed to Owyhee. 
 The royal bounty appears to have been but scanty in its dispen- 
 sations. The crew fared but meagerly ; though, on reading the 
 journal of the voyage, it is singular to find them, after all the 
 hardships they had suffered, so sensitive about petty inconve- 
 niences, as to exclaim against the king as a " savage monster," 
 for refusing them a " pot to cook in," and denying Mr. Ogden the 
 use of a knife and fork which had been saved from the wreck. 
 
 Such was the unfortunate catastrophe of the Lark ; had she 
 reached her destination in safety, affairs at Astoria might have 
 taken a different course. A strange fatality seems to have at 
 tended all the expeditions by sea, nor were those by land much 
 less disastrous. 
 
 Captain Northrop was still at the Sandwich Islands, on De- 
 cember 20th, when Mr. Hunt arrived. The latter immediately 
 purchased, for ten thousand dollars, a brig called the Pedler, and 
 put Captain Northrop in command of her. They set sail for 
 Astoria on the 22d January, intending to remove the property from 
 thence as speedily as possible to the Russian settlements on the 
 northwest coast, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the 
 British. Such were the orders of Mr. Astor, sent out by the Lark. 
 
 "We will now leave Mr. Hunt on his voyage, and return to EOO 
 what has taken place at Astoria during his absence. 
 
tSQUADRON OF NORTHWESTF4RS. 481 
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 On the 2d of October, about five weeks after Mr. Huut had sailed 
 in the Albatross from Astoria, Mr. M'Kenzie set off with two 
 canoes, and twelve men, for the posts of Messrs. Stuart and Clarke, 
 to apprize them of the new arrangements determined upon in 
 the recent conference of the partners at the factory. 
 
 He had not ascended the river a hundred miles, when he met 
 a squadron of ten canoes, sweeping merrily down under British 
 colors, the Canadian oarsmen, as usual, in full song. 
 
 It was an armament fitted out by M'Tavish, who had wich 
 him Mr. J. Stuart, another partner of the Northwest Company, 
 together with some clerks, and sixty-eight men — seventy-five souls 
 in alL They had heard of the frigate Phoebe and the Isaac Todd 
 being on the high seas, and were on their way down to await their 
 arrival. In one of the canoes Mr. Clarke came passenger, the 
 alarming intelligence having brought him down from his post on 
 the Spokan. Mr. M'Kenzie immediately determined to return 
 with him to Astoria, and, veering about, the two parties encamped 
 together for the night. The leaders, of course, observed a due 
 decorum : but some of the subalterns could not restrain their 
 chuckling exultation, boasting that they would soon plant the 
 British standard on the walls of Astoria, and drive the Ameri- 
 cans out of the country. 
 
 In the course of the evening, Mr. M'Kenzie had a secret con- 
 ference with Mr. Clarke, in which they agreed to set off privately, 
 before daylight, and get down in time to apprize M'Dougal of tho 
 approach of these Northwesters. The latter, however, were com- 
 
 21 
 
482 ASTORIA. 
 
 pletely on the alert ; just as M'Kenzie's canoes were about to push 
 off, they were joined by a couple from the northwest squadron^ 
 in which was M'Tavish, with two clerks, and eleven men. With 
 these, he intended to push forward and make arrangements, 
 leaving the rest of the convoy, in which was a large quantity of 
 furs, to await his orders. 
 
 The two parties arrived at Astoria on the 7th of October. 
 The Northwesters encamped under the guns of the fort, and dis- 
 played the British colors. The young men in the fort, natives of 
 the United States, were on the point of hoisting the American 
 flag, but were forbidden by Mr. M'Dougal. They were astonished 
 at such a prohibition, and were exceedingly galled by the tone and 
 manner assumed by the clerks and retainers of the Northwest 
 Company, who ruffled about in that swelling and braggart style 
 which grows up among these heroes of the wilderness ; they, in 
 fact, considered themselves lords of the ascendant, and regarded 
 the hampered and harassed Astorians as a conquered people. 
 
 On the following day M'Dougal convened the clerks, and read 
 to them an extract of a letter from his uncle, Mr. Angus Shaw, 
 one of the principal partners of the Northwest Company, an- 
 nouncing the coming of the Phoebe and Isaac Todd, " to take 
 and destroy every thing American on the northwest coast." 
 
 This intelligence was received without dismay by such of tho 
 clerks as were natives of the United States. They had felt in- 
 dignant at seeing their national flag struck by a Canadian com- 
 mander, and the British flag flowed, as it were, in their faces. 
 They had been stung to the quick, also, by the vaunting airs as- 
 sumed by the Northwesters. In this mood of mind, they would 
 willingly have nailed their colors to the staff, and defied the frigate 
 She could not come within many miles of the fort, they observed, 
 and any boats she might send could be destroyed by their cannon. 
 
 There were cooler and more calculating spirits, however, who 
 
BARGAIN WITH THE NORTHWESTERS. 483 
 
 had the control of affairs, and felt nothing of the patriotic pride 
 and indignation of these youths. The extract of the letter had, 
 apparently, been read by M'Dougal, merely to prepare the way 
 for a preconcerted stroke of management. On the same day- 
 Mr. M'Tavish proposed to purchase the whole stock of goods and 
 furs belonging to the company, both at Astoria and in the inte- 
 rior, at cost and charges. Mr. M'Dougal undertook to comply ; 
 assuming the whole management of the negotiation in virtue of 
 the power vested in him, in case of the non-arrival of Mr. Hunt. 
 That power, however, was limited and specific, and did not extend 
 to an operation of this nature and extent ; no objection, however, 
 was made to his assumption, and he and M'Tavish soon made a 
 preliminary arrangement, perfectly satisfactory to the latter. 
 
 Mr. Stuart, and the reserve party of Northwesters, arrived 
 shortly afterwards, and encamped with M'Tavish. The former 
 exclaimed loudly against the terms of the arrangement, and in- 
 sisted upon a reduction of the prices. New negotiations had 
 now to be entered into. The demands of the Northwesters were 
 made in a peremptory tone, and they seemed disposed to dictate 
 like conquerors. The Americans looked on with indignation and 
 impatience. They considered M'Dougal as acting, if not a perfi- 
 dious, certainly a craven part. He was continually repairing to 
 the camp to negotiate, instead of keeping within his walls and 
 receiving overtures in his fortress. His case, they observed, was 
 not so desperate as to excuse such crouching. He might, in fact, 
 hold out for his own terms. The northwest party had lost their 
 ammunition; they had no goods to trade with the natives for 
 provisions ; and they were so destitute that M'Dougal had abso- 
 lutely to feed them, while he negotiated with them. He, on the 
 contrary, was well lodged and victualled ; had sixty men, with 
 arms, ammunition, boats, and every thing requisite either for do 
 fence or retreat. The party, beneath the guns of his fort, were 
 
484 ASTORIA. 
 
 at liis mercy ; should an enemy appear in tlie offing, lie could 
 pack up tlie most valuable part of the property and retire to some 
 place of concealment, or make off for the interior. 
 
 These considerations, however, had no weight with Mr. 
 M'Dougal, or were overruled by other motives. The terms of 
 sale were lowered by him to the standard fixed by Mr. Stuart, 
 and an agreement executed on the 16th of October, by which 
 the furs and merchandise of all kinds in the country, belonging 
 to Mr. Astor, passed into the possession of the Northwest 
 Company at about a third of their real value.* A safe passage 
 through the northwest posts was guaranteed to such as did not 
 choose to enter into the service of that company, and the amount 
 of wages due to them was to be deducted from the price paid for 
 Astoria. 
 
 * Not quite ^40,000 were allowed for furs worth upwards of ^100,000. 
 Beaver was valued at two dollars per skin, though worth five dollars. Land 
 otter at fifty cents, though worth five dollars. Sea otter at twelve dollars, 
 worth from forty-five to sixty dollars ; and for several kinds of furs nothing was 
 allowed. Moreover, the goods and merchandise for the Indian trade ought 
 to have brought three times the amount for which they were sold. 
 
 The following estimate has been made of the articles on hand, and the prices 
 
 17,705 lbs. beaver parchment, valued 
 
 at 
 
 $2,00 
 
 worth 
 
 $5,00 
 
 465 old coat beaver, 
 
 . 
 
 « 
 
 " 
 
 1,G6 
 
 <{ 
 
 3,50 
 
 907 land otter. 
 
 . 
 
 « 
 
 (( 
 
 ,50 
 
 " 
 
 5,00 
 
 G8 sea otter. 
 
 . 
 
 « 
 
 « 
 
 12,00 
 
 " 45 to C0,00 
 
 30 « « 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 " 
 
 5,00 
 
 (C 
 
 25,00 
 
 ling was allowed for 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 179 mink skins. 
 
 worth each 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 ,40 
 
 22 racoon. 
 
 « 
 
 fC 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 ,40 
 
 '2S lynx. 
 
 t( 
 
 *t 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 2 00 
 
 18 fox. 
 
 (( 
 
 t€ 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1,00 
 
 10(j " 
 
 « 
 
 U 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 1,50 
 
 71 black bear. 
 
 (t 
 
 (( 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 4,00 
 
 16 grizzly bear, 
 
 (€ 
 
 tt ^ 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 
 
 10,00 
 
OPINION OF MR. ASTOR. 485 
 
 The conduct and motives of Mr. M'Doiigal, tlirougliout tlie 
 wliole of this proceeding^ have been strongly questioned by the 
 other partners. He has been accused of availing himself of a 
 wrong construction of powers vested in him at his own request, 
 and of sacrificing the interests of Mr. Astor to the Northwest 
 Company, under the promise or hope of advantage to himself 
 
 He always insisted, however, that he made the best bargain 
 for Mr. Astor that circumstances would permit ; the frigate 
 being hourly expected, in which case the whole property of that 
 gentleman would be liable to capture. That the return of Mr. 
 Hunt was problematical ; the frigate intending to cruise along 
 the coast for two years, and clear it of all American vessels. He 
 moreover averred, and M'Tavish corroborated his averment by 
 certificate, that he proposed an arrangement to that gentleman, 
 by which the furs were to be sent to Canton, and sold there 
 at Mr. Aster's risk, and for his account; but the proposition 
 was not acceded to. 
 
 Notwithstanding all his representations, several of the per- 
 sons present at the transaction, and acquainted with the whole 
 course of the affair, and among the number Mr. M'Kenzie him- 
 self, his occasional coadjutor, remained firm in the belief that he 
 had acted a hollow part. Neither did he succeed in exculpating 
 himself to Mr. Astor ; that gentleman declaring, in a letter writ- 
 ten some time afterwards, to Mr. Hunt, that he considered the 
 property virtually given away. " Had our place and our prop- 
 erty," he adds, '■'• been fairly captured, I should have preferred it. 
 I should not feel as if I were disgraced." 
 
 All these may be unmerited suspicions ; but it certainly is a 
 circumstance strongly corroborative of them, that Mr. M'Dougal, 
 shortly after concluding this agreement, became a member of the 
 Northwest Company, and received a share productive of a hand- 
 Bome income. 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 On the morning of the 30th of November, a sail was descried 
 doubling Cape Disappointment. It came to anchor in Baker's 
 Bay, and proved to be a ship of war. Of what nation ? was now 
 the anxious inquiry. If English, why did it come alone ? where 
 was the merchant vessel that was to have accompanied it ? If 
 American, what was to become of the newly acquired possession 
 of the Northwest Company. 
 
 In this dilemma, M'Tavish, in all haste, loaded two barges 
 with all the packages of furs bearing the mark of the Northwest 
 Company, and made off for Tongue Point, three miles up the 
 river. There he was to await a preconcerted signal from M'Dougal, 
 on ascertaining the character of the ship. If it should prove 
 American, M'Tavish would have a fair start, and could bear off 
 his rich cargo to the interior. It is singular that this prompt 
 mode of conveying valuable, but easily transportable effects be- 
 yond the reach of a hostile ship should not have suggested itself 
 while the property belonged to Mr. Astor. 
 
 In the meantime, M'Dougal, who still remained nominal chief 
 at the fort, launched a canoe, manned by men recently in the 
 employ of the American Fur Company, and steered for the ship. 
 On the way, he instructed his men to pass themselves for Amer- 
 icans or Englishmen, according to the exigencies of the case. 
 
 The vessel proved to be the British sloop-of-war Kacoon, 
 of twenty-six guns, and one hundred and twenty men, com- 
 manded by Captain Black. According to the account of that 
 
THE RACOON SLOOP OF WAR. 487 
 
 officer, the frigate Phoebe, and the two sloops-of-war Cherub 
 and Racoon, had sailed in convoy of the Isaac Todd from Rio 
 Janeiro. On board of the Phoebe, Mr. John M'Donald, a 
 partner of the Northwest Company, embarked as passenger, to 
 profit by the anticipated catastrophe at Astoria. The convoy 
 was separated by stress of weather off Cape Horn. The three 
 ships of war came together again at the island of Juan Fernan- 
 dez, their appointed rendezvous, but waited in vain for the Isaac 
 Todd. 
 
 In the meantime, intelligence was received of the mischief 
 that Commodore Porter was doing among the British whale ships. 
 Commodore Hillyer immediately set sail in quest of him, with 
 the Phoebe and the Cherub, transferring Mr. M'Donald to tho 
 Racoon, and ordering that vessel to proceed to the Columbia. 
 
 The officers of the Racoon were in high spirits. The agents 
 of the Northwest Company, in instigating the expedition, had 
 talked of immense booty to be made by the fortunate captors of 
 Astoria. Mr. M'Donald had kept up the excitement during the 
 voyage, so that not a midshipman but revelled in dreams of 
 ample prize-money, nor a lieutenant that would have sold his 
 chance for a thousand pounds. Their disappointment, therefore, 
 may easily be conceived, when they learned that their warlike 
 attack upon Astoria had been forestalled by a sung commercial 
 arrangement; that their anticipated booty had become British 
 property in the regular course of traffic, and that all this had 
 been effected by the very company which had been instrumental 
 in getting them sent on what they now stigmatized as a fool's 
 errand. They felt as if they had been duped and made tools of, 
 by a set of shrewd men of traffic, who had employed them to 
 crack the nut, while they carried off the kernel. In a word, 
 M'Dougal found himself so ungraciously received by his country- 
 men on board of the ship, that he was glad to cut short his visit, 
 
4S8 ASTORIA. 
 
 and return to shore. He was busy at the fort, making prepara- 
 tions for the reception of the captain of the Racoon, when his 
 one-eyed Indian father-in-law made his appearance, with a train 
 of Chinook warriors, all painted and equipped in warlike style. 
 
 Old Comcomly had beheld, with dismay, the arrival of a "big 
 war canoe" displaying the British flag. The shrewd old savage 
 had become something of a politician in the course of his daily 
 visits at the fort. He knew of the war existing between the 
 nations, but knew nothing of the arrangement between M'Dougal 
 and M'Tavish. He trembled, therefore, for the power of his 
 white son-in-law, and the new-fledged grandeur of his daughter, 
 and assembled his warriors in all haste. " King George," said 
 he, " has sent his great canoe to destroy the fort, and make slaves 
 of all the inhabitants. Shall we sufi"er it ? The Americans are 
 the first white men that have fixed themselves in the land. They 
 have treated us like brothers. Their great chief has taken my 
 daughter to be his squaw : we are, therefore, as one people." 
 
 His warriors all determined to stand by the Americans to the 
 last, and to this effect they came painted and armed for battle. 
 Comcomly made a spirited war speech to his son-in-law. He 
 off'ered to kill every one of King George's men that should 
 attempt to land. It was an easy matter. The ship could not 
 approach within six miles of the fort ; the crew could only land 
 in boats. The woods reached to the water's edge ; in these, he 
 and his warriors would conceal themselves, and shoot down the 
 enemy as fast as they put foot on shore. 
 
 M'Dougal was, doubtless, properly sensible of this parental 
 devotion on the part of his savage father-in-law, and perhaps a 
 little rebuked by the game spirit, so opposite to his own. He 
 assured Comcomly, however, that his solicitude for the safety of 
 himself and the princess was superfluous ; as, though the ship 
 belonged to King George, her crew would not injure the Ameri- 
 
LANDING OF CAPTAIN BLACK. 489 
 
 cans, or their Indian allies. He advised him and his warriors, 
 therefore, to lay aside their weapons and war shirts, wash off the 
 paint from their faces and bodies, and appear like clean and civil 
 savages, to receive the strangers courteously. 
 
 Comcomly was sorely puzzled at this advice, which accorded 
 xS little with his Indian notions of receiving a hostile nation ; 
 and it was only after repeated and positive assurances of the 
 amicable intentions of the strangers that he was induced to lower 
 his fighting tone. He said something to his warriors explanatory 
 of this singular posture of affairs, and in vindication, perhaps, of 
 the pacific temper of his son-in-law. They all gave a shrug and 
 an Indian grunt of acquiescence, and went off sulkily to their 
 village, to lay aside their weapons for the present. 
 
 The proper arrangements being made for the reception of 
 Captain Black, that officer caused his ship's boats to be manned, 
 and landed with befitting state at Astoria. From the talk that 
 had been made by the Northwest Company of the strength of 
 the place, and the armament they had required to assist in its 
 reduction, he expected to find a fortress of some importance. 
 "When he beheld nothing but stockades and bastions, calculated 
 for defence against naked savages, he felt an emotion of indig- 
 nant surprise, mingled with something of the ludicrous. "Is 
 this the fort," cried he, " about which I have heard so much talk- 
 ing ? D — n me, but I'd batter it down in two hours with a four 
 pounder !" 
 
 When he learned, however, the amount of rich furs that had 
 been passed into the hands of the Northwesters, he was outra- 
 geous, and insisted that an inventory should be taken of all the 
 property purchased of the Americans, " with a view to ulterior 
 measures in England, for the recovery of the value from the 
 Northwest Company." 
 
 As he grew cool, however^ he gave over all idea of preferring 
 21* 
 
ASTORIA. 
 
 such a claim, and reconciled himself, as well as he could^ to the 
 idea of having been forestalled by his bargaining coadjutors. 
 
 On the 12th of December, the fate of Astoria was consum- 
 mated by a regular ceremonial. Captain Black, attended by his 
 officers, entered the fort, caused the British standard to be erected, 
 broke a bottle of wine, and declared, in a loud voice, that he took 
 possession of the establishment and of the country, in the name 
 of his Britannic Majesty, changing the name of Astoria to that of 
 Fort George. 
 
 The Indian warriors, who had offered their services to repel 
 the strangers, were present on this occasion. It was explained 
 to them as being a friendly arrangement and transfer, but they 
 shook their heads grimly, and considered it an act of subjugation 
 of their ancient allies. They regretted that they had complied 
 with M'Dougal's wishes, in laying aside their arms, and remarked, 
 that, however the Americans might conceal the fact, they were 
 undoubtedly all slaves ; nor could they be persuaded of the con- 
 trary, until they beheld the Racoon depart without taking away 
 any prisoners. 
 
 As to Comcomly, he no longer prided himself upon his white 
 son-in-law, but, whenever he was asked about him, shook his head, 
 and replied, that his daughter had made a mistake, and, instead 
 of getting a great warrior for a husband, had married herself to 
 
ARRIVAL OF MR. HUNT IN THE PEDLER. 49J 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Having given the catastrophe at the Fort of Astoria, it remains 
 now but to gather up a few loose ends of this widely excursive 
 narrative and conclude. On the 28th of February the brig 
 Pedler anchored in Columbia River. It will be recollected that 
 Mr. Hunt had purchased this vessel at the Sandwich Islands, to 
 take off the furs collected at the factory, and to restore the 
 Sandwich Islanders to their homes. When that gentleman learned, 
 however, the precipitate and summary manner in which the prop- 
 erty had been bargained away by M'Dougal, he expressed his in- 
 dignation in the strongest terms, and determined to make an 
 effort to get back the furs. As soon as his wishes were known in 
 this respect, M'Dougal came to sound him on behalf of the North- 
 west Company, intimating that he had no doubt the peltries might 
 be repurchased at an advance of fifty per cent. This overture 
 was not calculated to soothe the angry feelings of Mr. Hunt, and 
 his indignation was complete, when he discovered that M'Dougal 
 had become a partner of the Northwest Company, and had actu- 
 ally been so since the 23d of December. He had kept his part- 
 nership a secret, however ; had retained the papers of the Pacific 
 Fur Company in his possession ; and had continued to act as Mr. 
 Aster's agent, though two of the partners of the other company, 
 Mr. M'Kenzie and" Mr. Clarke, were present. He had, moreover, 
 divulged to his new associates all that he knew as to Mr. Aster's 
 plans and affairs, and had made copies of his business letters for 
 their perusal. 
 
422 ASTORL\. 
 
 3Ir. Hunt now considered the whole conduct of M'Dougal 
 hollow and collusive. His only thought was. therefore, to get all 
 the papers of the concern out of his hands, and bring the busi- 
 ness to a close ; for the interests of Mr. Astor were vet completely 
 at stake : the drafts of the Xorthwest Company in his favor; for 
 the purchase money, not having yet been obtained. With some 
 diSculty he succeeded in getting possession of the papers. The 
 bills or drafts were delivered without hesitation. The latter he 
 remitted to Mr. Astor by some of his associates, who were about 
 to cross the continent to Xew-Tork This done, he embarked on 
 board the Pedler, on the 3d of April, accompanied by two of the 
 clerks. 3Ir. Seton and Mr. Halsey. and bade a final adieu to Astoria. 
 
 The next day, April . 4thj 3Iessrs. Clarke. M-Kenzie, David 
 Stuartj and such of the Astorians as had not entered into the 
 service of the Xorthwest Company, set out to cross the Eocky 
 3Iountains. It is not our intention to take the reader another 
 journey across those rugged barriers : but we will step forward 
 with the travellers to a distance on their way. merely to relate 
 their interview with a character already noted in this work 
 
 As the party were proceeding up the Columbia, near the 
 mouth of the Wallah- Wallah Kiver. several Indian canoes put 
 off from the shore to overtake them, and a voice called upon them 
 in French and rci^uested them to stop. They accordingly put to 
 shore^ and were joined by those in the canoes. To their surprise, 
 they recognized in the person who had hailed them the Indian 
 wife of Pierre Dorion. accompanied by her two children. She 
 had a story to telL involving the fate of several of our unfortu- 
 nate adventurers. 
 
 31 r. John P.eed, the Hibernian, it will be remembered, had been 
 detached during the summer to the Snake River. His party 
 consisted of four Canadians, Giles Le Clerc. Francois Landry, 
 Jean Baptiste Turcot, and Andre La Chapelle, together with two 
 
PIERRE DORIOX'S WIFE. 493 
 
 hunters, Pierre Dorion and Pierre Delaunav : Porion. as usual, 
 being accompanied bj his wife and children. The objects of this 
 expedition were twofold : to trap beaver, and to search for the 
 three hunters. Robinson. Hoback. and Rezner. 
 
 In the course of the autumu. Pteed lost one man. Landry, by 
 death ; another one. Pierre Delaunav. who was of a sullen, per- 
 verse disposition, left him in a moodv fit. and was never heard of 
 afterwards. The number of his party was not. however, reduced 
 by these losses, as the three hunters. Robinson, Hoback- and 
 Rezner. had joined it. 
 
 Reed now built a house on the Snake River, for their winter 
 quarters : which being completed, the party set about trapping. 
 Rezner. Le Cierc. and Pierre Dorion. went about five days* jour- 
 ney from the wintering house, to a part of the country well 
 stocked with beaver. Here they put up a hut. and proceeded to 
 trap with great success. "While the men were out hunting. Pierre 
 Dorion's wife remained at home to dress the skins and prepare 
 the meals. She was thus employed one evening about the begin- 
 ning of January, cooking the supper of the hunters, when she 
 heard footsteps, and Le Clerc staggered, pale and bleeding, into 
 the hut. He informed her that a party of savages had surprised 
 them, while at their traps, and had killed Rezner and her husband. 
 He had barely strength left to give this information, when he 
 sank upon the ground. 
 
 The poor woman saw that the only chance for life was instant 
 flight, but. in this exigency, showed that presence of mind and 
 force of character for which she had frequently been noted. With 
 great difficulty, she caught two of the horses belonging to the 
 party. Then collecting her clothes, and a small quantity of 
 beaver meat and dried salmon, she packed them upon one of the 
 horses, and helped the wounded man to mount upon it. On the 
 other horse she mounted with her two children, and hurried 
 
494 ASTORIA. 
 
 away from this dangerous neighborhood, directing her flight to 
 Mr. Heed's establishment. On the third day, she descried a 
 number of Indians on horseback proceeding in an easterly direc- 
 tion. She immediately dismounted with her children, and helped 
 Le Clerc likewise to dismount, and all concealed themselves. 
 Fortunately they escaped the sharp eyes of the savages, but had 
 to proceed with the utmost caution. That night they slept with- 
 out fire or water ; she managed to keep her children warm in her 
 arms ; but before morning, poor Le Clerc died. 
 
 With the dawn of day the resolute woman resumed her 
 course, and, on the fourth day, reached the house of Mr. Reed. 
 It was deserted, and all round were marks of blood and signs of 
 a furious massacre. Not doubting that Mr. Reed and his party 
 had all fallen victims, she turned in fresh horror from the spot. 
 For two days she continued hurrying forward, ready to sink for 
 want of food, but more solicitous about her children than herself 
 At length she reached a range of the Rocky Mountains, near the 
 upper part of the Wallah-Wallah River. Here she chose a wild 
 lonely ravine, as her place of winter refuge. 
 
 She had fortunately a buffalo robe and three deer skins ; of 
 these, and of pine bark and cedar branches, she constructed a 
 rude wigwam, which she pitched beside a mountain spring. Hav- 
 ing no other food, she killed the two horses, and smoked their 
 flesh. The skins aided to cover her hut. Here she dragged 
 out the winter, with no other company than her two children. 
 Towards the middle of March, her provisions were nearly ex- 
 hausted. She therefore packed up the remainder, slung it on 
 her back, and, with her helpless little ones, set out again on her 
 wanderings. Crossing the ridge of mountains, she descended to 
 the banks of the Wallah- Wallah, and kept along them until she 
 arrived where that river throws itself into the Columbia. She was 
 hospitably received and entertained by the Wallah- Wallahs, and 
 
REVENGE OF THE NEZ PERCYS 495 
 
 had been nearly two weeks among them when the two canoes 
 passed. 
 
 On being interrogated, she could assign no reason for this 
 murderous attack of the savages ; it appeared to be perfectly 
 wanton and unprovoked. Some of the Astorians supposed it an 
 act of butchery by a roving band of Blackfeet ; others, however 
 and with greater probability of correctness, have ascribed it to 
 the tribe of Pierced-nosed Indians, in revenge for the death of 
 their comrade hanged by order of Mr. Clarke. If so, it shows 
 that these sudden and apparently wanton outbreakings of san- 
 guinary violence on the part of the savages, have often some 
 previous, though perhaps remote, provocation. 
 
 The narrative of the Indian woman closes the checkered 
 adventures of some of the personages of this motley story ; such 
 as the honest Hibernian Reed, and Dorion the hybrid inter- 
 preter. Turcot and La Chapelle were two of the men who fell oflf 
 from Mr. Crooks in the course of his wintry journey, and Imd 
 subsequently such disastrous times among the Indians. We 
 cannot but feel some sympathy with that persevering trio of 
 Kentuckians, Robinson, Rezner, and Hoback ; who twice turned 
 back when on their way homeward, and lingered in the wilder- 
 ness to perish by the hands of savages. 
 
 The return parties from Astoria, both by sea and land, ex- 
 perienced on the way as many adventures, vicissitudes, and mis- 
 haps, as the far-famed heroes of the Odyssey ; they reached their 
 destination at different times, bearing tidings to Mr. Astor of the 
 unfortunate termination of his enterprise. 
 
 That gentleman, however, was not disposed, even yet, to give 
 the matter up as lost. On the contrary, his spirit was roused by 
 what he considered ungenerous and unmerited conduct on the 
 part of the Northwest Company. " After their treatment of 
 me," said he, in a letter to Mr. Hunt, " I have no idea of remain- 
 
496 ASTORIA. 
 
 ing quiet and idle.' He determined, therefore, as soon as cireum 
 stances would permit, to resume his enterprise. 
 
 At the return of peace, Astoria, with the adjacent country 
 reverted to the United States by the treaty of Grhent, on the 
 principle of status ante helium^ and Captain Biddle was dispatched 
 in the sloop of war Ontario, to take formal repossession. 
 
 In the winter of 1815, a law was passed by Congress prohibit- 
 ing all traffic of British traders within the territories of the 
 United States. 
 
 The favorable moment seemed now to Mr. Astor to have 
 arrived for the revival of his favorite enterprise, but new diffi- 
 culties had grown up to impede it. The Northwest Company 
 were now in complete occupation of the Columbia River, and its 
 chief tributary streams, holding the posts which he had estab- 
 lished, and carrying on a trade throughout the neighboring 
 region, in defiance of the prohibitory law of Congress, which, in 
 effect, was a dead letter beyond the mountains. 
 
 To dispossess them, would be an undertaking of almost a 
 belligerent nature ; for their agents and retainers were well 
 armed, and skilled in the use of weapons, as is usual with Indian 
 traders. The ferocious and bloody contests which had taken 
 place between the rival trading parties of the Northwest and 
 Hudson's Bay Companies, had shown what might bo expected 
 from commercial feuds in the lawless depths of the wilderness. 
 Mr. Astor did not think it advisable, therefore, to attempt the 
 matter without the protection of the American flag ; under which 
 his people might rally in case of need. He accordingly made an 
 informal overture to the President of the United States, Mr. 
 Madison, through Mr. Gallatin, offering to renew his enterprise, 
 und to re-establish Astoria, provided it would be protected by th« 
 American flag, and made a military post ; stating that the whole 
 force required would not exceed a lieutenant's command. 
 
NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING ASTORIA. 497 
 
 The application, approved and recommended by Mr. Gallatin, 
 one of the most enlightened statesmen of our country, was favora^ 
 bly received, but no step was taken in consequence ; the President 
 not being disposed, in all probability, to commit himself by any 
 direct countenance or overt act. Discouragecl by this supineness 
 on the part of the government, Mr. Astor did not think fit to 
 renew his overtures in a more formal manner, and the favorable 
 moment for the re-occupation of Astoria was sufi"ered to pass un- 
 improved. 
 
 The British trading establishments were thus enabled, with- 
 out molestation, to strike deep their roots, and extend their rami- 
 fications, in despite of the prohibition of Congress, until they had 
 spread themselves over the rich field of enterprise opened by Mr. 
 Astor. The British government soon began to perceive the im- 
 portance of this region, and to desire to include it within their 
 territorial domains. A question has consequently risen as to the 
 right to the soil, and has become one of the most perplexing now 
 open between the United States and Great Britian. In the first 
 treaty relative to it, under date of October 20th, 1818, the ques- 
 tion was left unsettled, and it was agreed that the country on the 
 northwest coast of America, westward of the Bocky Mountains, 
 claimed by either nation, should be open to the inhabitants of 
 both for ten years, for the purposes of trade, with the equal right 
 of navigating all its rivers. When these ten years had expired, a 
 subsequent treaty, in 1828, extended the arrangement to ten addi- 
 tional years. So the matter stands at present. 
 
 On casting back our eyes over the series of events we havo 
 recorded, we see no reason to attribute the failure of this great 
 commercial undertaking to any fault in the scheme, or omission 
 in the execution of it, on the part of the projector. It was a 
 magnificent enterprise ; well concerted and carried on, without 
 regard to difficulties or expense. A succession of adverse 
 
498 ASTORIA. 
 
 circumstances and cross purposes, however, beset it almost from 
 the outset ; some of them, in fact, arising from neglect of the 
 orders and instructions of Mr. Astor. The first crippling blow 
 was the loss of the Tonquin, which clearly would not have 
 happened, had Mr. Astor's earnest injunctions with regard to 
 the natives been attended to. Had this ship performed her 
 voyage prosperously, and revisited Astoria in due time, the trade 
 of the establishment would have taken its preconcerted course, 
 and the spirits of all concerned been kept up by a confident 
 prospect of success. Her dismal catastrophe struck a chill into 
 every heart, and prepared the way for subsequent despondency. 
 
 Another cause of embarrassment and loss was the departure 
 from the pkn of Mr. Astor, as to the voyage of the Beaver, 
 subsequent to her visiting Astoria. The variation from this 
 plan produced a series of cross purposes, disastrous to the 
 establishment, and detained Mr. Hunt absent from his post, 
 when his presence there was of vital importance to the enterprise ; 
 so essential is it for an agent, in any great and complicated 
 undertaking, to execute faithfully, and to the letter, the part 
 marked out for him by the master mind which has concerted the 
 whole. 
 
 The breaking out of the war between the United States and 
 Great Britain, multiplied the hazards and embarrassments of the 
 enterprise. The disappointment as to convoy, rendered it diffi- 
 cult to keep up reinforcements and supplies ; and the loss of the 
 Lark added to the tissue of misadventures. 
 
 That Mr. Astor battled resolutely against every difficulty, 
 and pursued his course in defiance of every loss, has been suffi^ 
 ciently shown. Had he been seconded by suitable agents, and 
 properly protected by government, the ultimate failure of his plan 
 might yet have been averted. It was his great misfortune, that 
 his agents were not imbued with his own spirit. Some had not 
 
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 499 
 
 capacity sufficient to comprehend the real nature and extent of 
 his scheme ; others were alien in feeling and interest, and had 
 been brought up in the service of a rival company. Whatever 
 sympathies they might originally have had with him, were 
 impaired, if not destroyed, by the war. They looked upon his 
 cause as desperate, and only considered how they might make 
 interest to regain a situation under their former employers. The 
 absence of Mr. Hunt, the only real representative of Mr. Astor, 
 at the time of the capitulation with the Northwest Company, 
 completed the series of cross purposes. Had that gentleman 
 been present, the transfer, in all probability, would not have 
 taken place. 
 
 It is painful, at all times, to see a grand and beneficial stroke 
 of genius fail of its aim : but we regret the failure of this enter- 
 prise in a national point of view ; for, had it been crowned with 
 success, it would have redounded greatly to the advantage and 
 extension of our commerce. The profits drawn from the country 
 in question by the British Fur Company, though of ample 
 amount, form no criterion by which to judge of the advantages 
 that would have arisen had it been entirely in the hands of the 
 citizens of the United States. That company, as has been shown, 
 is limited in the nature and scope of its operations, and can make 
 but little use of the maritime facilities held out by an emporium 
 and a harbor on that coast. In our hands, besides the roving 
 bands of trappers and traders, the country would have been 
 explored and settled by industrious husbandmen ; and the fertile 
 valleys bordering its rivers, and shut up among its mountains, 
 would have been made to pour forth their agricultural treasures 
 to contribute to the general wealth. 
 
 In respect to commerce, we should have had a line of trading 
 posts from the Mississippi and the Missouri across the Rocky 
 Mountains, forming a high road from the great regions of the 
 
500 ASTORIA. 
 
 west to the shores of the Pacific. We should have had a fortified 
 post and port at the mouth of the Columbia, commanding the 
 trade of that river and its tributaries, and of a wide extent of 
 country and sea-coast ; carrying on an active and profitable 
 commerce v/ith the Sandwich Islands, and a direct and frec[uent 
 communication with China. In a word, Astoria might have 
 realized the anticipations of Mr. Astor, so well understood and 
 appreciated by Mr. Jefferson, in gradually becoming a commer- 
 cial empire beyond the mountains, peopled by "free and inde- 
 pendent Americans, and linked with us by ties of blood and 
 interest." 
 
 We repeat, therefore, our sincere regret, that our government 
 should have neglected the overture of Mr. Astor, and sufi'ered 
 the moment to pass by, when full possession of this region might 
 have been taken quietly, as a matter of course, and a military 
 post established, without dispute, at Astoria. Our statesmen 
 have become sensible, when too late, of the importance of this 
 measure. Bills have repeatedly been brought into Congress for 
 the purpose, but without success ; and our rightful possessions 
 on that coast, as well as our trade on the Pacific, have no rally- 
 ing point protected by the national flag, and by a military force. 
 
 In the meantime, the second period of ten years is fast 
 elapsing. In 1838, the (juestion of -title will again come up, and 
 most probably, in the present amicable state of our relations 
 with Great Britain, will be again postponed. Every year, 
 however, the litigated claim is growing in importance. There is 
 no pride so jealous and irritable as the pride of territory. As 
 one wave of emigration after another rolls into the vast regions 
 of the west, and our settlements stretch towards the Ilocky 
 Mountains, the eager eyes of our pioneers will pry beyond, and 
 they will become impatient of any barrier or impediment in the 
 way of what they consider a grand outlet of our empire. Should 
 
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. 501 
 
 any circumstance, therefore, unfortunately occur to disturb the 
 present harmony of the two nations, this ill-adjusted question, 
 which now lies dormant, may suddenly start up into one of belli- 
 gerent import, and Astoria become the watchword in a contest 
 for dominion on the shores of the Pacific. 
 
 Since the above was written, the question of dominion over 
 the vast territory beyond the Rocky Mountains, which for a time 
 threatened to disturb the peaceful relations with our transatlan- 
 tic kindred, has been finally settled in a spirit of mutual conces- 
 sion, and the venerable projector whose early enterprise forma 
 the subject of this work had the satisfaction of knowing, ere his 
 eyes closed upon the world, that the flag of his country again 
 waved over '• Astoria." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 DravgJit of a jJeliiion to Congress, sent hj Mr. Aster in 1812. 
 
 To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
 
 States, m Congress assembled, 
 The petition of the American Fur Company respectfully showeth : 
 
 That the trade with the several Indian tribes of North America, has, for 
 many years past, been almost exclusively carried on by the merchants of 
 Canada ; Vi^ho, having formed powerful and extensive associations for that 
 purpose, being aided by British capital, and being encouraged by the favor and 
 protection of the British government, could not be opposed, with any prospect 
 of success by individuals of the United States. 
 
 That by means of the above trade, thus systematically pursued, not only 
 the inhabitants of the United States have been deprived of commercial profits 
 and advantages, to which they appear to have just and natural pretensions, 
 but a great and dangerous influence has been established over the Indian 
 tribes, difficult to be counteracted, and capable of being exerted at critical 
 periods, to the great injury and annoyance of our frontier settlements. 
 
 That in order to obtain at least a part of the above trade, and more 
 particularly that which is within the boundaries of the United States, your 
 petitioners, in the year 1808, obtained an act of incorporation from the State 
 of New- York, whereby they are enabled, with a competent capital, to carry 
 on the said trade with the Indians in such manner as may be conformable to 
 the laws and regulations of the United States, in relation to such commerce. 
 
 That the capital mentioned in the said act, amounting to one million of 
 dollars, having been duly formed, your petitioners entered with zeal and 
 alacrity into those large and important arrangements, which were necessary 
 for, or conducive to, the object of their incorporation ; and, among other things, 
 purchased a great part of the stock in trade, and trading establishments, of 
 the Michilimackinac Company of Canada. — Your petitioners also, with the 
 expectation of great public and private advantage from the use of the said 
 establishments, ordered, during the spring and summer of 1810, an assort- 
 ment of goods from England, suitable for the Indian trade ; which, in Gon- 
 
 22 
 
506 APPENDIX. 
 
 sequence of the President's proclamation of Xovember of that year, were 
 shipped to Canada instead of Xew-York, and have been transported, under a 
 very heavy expense, into the interior of the country. But as they could not 
 legally be brought into the Indian country within the boundaries of the United 
 States, they have been stored on the Island of St. Joseph, in Lake Huron, 
 where they now remain. 
 
 Your petitioners, with great deference and impHcit submission to the 
 wisdom of the national legislature, beg leave to suggest for consideration, 
 whether they have not some claim to national attention and encouragement, 
 from the nature and importance of their undertaking ; which though hazardous 
 and uncertain as it concerns their private emolument, must, at any rate, 
 redoimd to the public security and advantage. If their undertaking shall 
 appear to be of the description given, they would farther suggest to your 
 honorable bodies, that unless they can procure a regular supply for the trade in 
 which they are engaged, it may languish, and be finally abandoned by 
 American citizens ; when it will revert to its former channel, with additional, 
 and perhaps with irresistible, power. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and upon all those considerations of pubUc 
 policy which will present themselves to your honorable bodies, in connection 
 with those already mentioned, your petitioners respectfully pray that a law 
 may be passed to enable the President, or any of the heads of departments 
 acting under his authority, to grant permits for the introduction of goods 
 necessary for the supply of the Indians, into the Indian country that is within 
 the boundaries of the United States, vmder such regulations, and with such 
 restrictions, as may secure the pubhc revenue and promote the pubhc welfare. 
 
 And your petitioners shall ever pray, &c. 
 In witnes whereof, the common seal of the American Fur Company is here- 
 
 nnto afiixed, the day of March, 1512. 
 
 By order of the Corporation. 
 
 AN ACT to enable the American Fur Company, and other citizens, to 
 introduce goods necessary for the Indian trade into the territories within 
 the boundaries of the United States. 
 
 "Whereas, the public peace and welfare require that the native Indian tribes, 
 residing within the boundaries of the United States, should receive their 
 necessary supplies tmder the authority and from the citizens of the United 
 States : Therefore, be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 
 of the United States, in Congress assembled, that it shall be lawful for the 
 President of the United States, or any of the heads of departments thereunto 
 by bim duly authorized, from time to time to grant permits to the American 
 Fur Company, their agents or factors, or any other citizens'of the United 
 
APPENDIX. 507 
 
 States engaged in the Indian trade, to introduce into the Indian country 
 ^vithin the boundaries of the United States, such goods, wares, and merchan- 
 dise, as may be necessary for the said trade, imder such regulations and 
 restrictions as the said President or heads of departments may judge proper ; 
 any law or regulation to the contrary', in anywise, notwithstanding. 
 
 Letter from Mr. Gallatin to Mr. Astor, dated 
 
 Xew-York, August 5, 1835. 
 
 Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I will state such facts as I 
 recollect touching the subjects mentioned in your letter of 2Sth ult. I may be 
 mistaken respecting dates and details, and will only relate general facts,, 
 which I well remember. 
 
 In conformity with the treaty of 1794 with Great Britain, the citizens and 
 subjects of each country were permitted to trade with the Indians residing in 
 the territories of the other party. The reciprocity was altogether nominal. 
 Since the conquest of Canada, the British had inherited from ihe French the 
 whole fur trade, through the great lakes and their communications,- with all 
 the western Indians, whether residing in the British dominions or the United 
 States. They kept the important western posts on those lakes till about the 
 year 1797. And the defensive • Indian war, which the United States had to 
 sustain from 1776 to 1795, had still more alienated the Indians, and secured 
 to the British their exclusive trade, carried through the lakes, wherever the 
 Indians in that quarter Uved. No American could, without imminent danger 
 of property and Hfe, carry on that trade, even within the United States, by 
 the way of either Michilimackinac or St. Mar3r's. And independent of the 
 loss of commerce. Great Britain was enabled to preserve a most dangerous 
 influence over our Indians. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that you commimicated to our govern- 
 ment the prospect you had to be able, and your intention, to purchase one 
 half of the interest of the Canadian Fur Company, engaged in trade by the 
 way of Michilimackinac with our own Indians. You wished to know 
 whether the plan met with the approbation of government, and how far you 
 could rely on its protection and encouragement. This overture was received 
 with great satisfaction by the administration, and Mr. Jefferson, then president, 
 wrote you to that effect. I was also directed, as secretary of the treasury, to 
 write to you an official letter to the same purpose. On investigating the 
 Bubject, it was found that the Executive had no authority to give you any 
 direct aid j and I believe that you received nothing more than an entire 
 
508 APPENDIX. 
 
 approbation of your plan, and general assurances of the protection due to every 
 citizen engaged in lawful and useful pursuits. 
 
 You did effect the contemplated purchase, but in what year I do not recol- 
 lect. Immediately before the war, you represented that a large quantity of 
 merchandise, intended for the Indian trade, and including arms and munition? 
 of war, belonging to that concern of which you owned one half, was 
 deposited at a post on Lake Huron, within the British dominions ; that, iu 
 order to prevent their ultimately fallmg into the hands of Indians who might 
 prove hostile, you were desirous to try to have them conveyed into the United 
 States ; but that you were prevented by the then existing law of noninter- 
 coures with the British dominions. 
 
 The Executive could not annul the provisions of that law. But I was 
 directed to instruct the collectors on the lakes, in case you or your agents 
 should voluntarily bring in and deliver to them any parts of the goods above 
 mentioned, to receive and keep them in their guard, and not to commence 
 prosecutions until further instructions : the intention being then to apply to 
 Congress for an act remitting the forfeiture and penalties. I wrote accordingly, 
 to that effect, to the collectors of Detroit and MichiUmackinac. 
 
 The attempt to obtain the goods did not, however, succeed ; and I cannot 
 Bay how fir the failure injured you. But the war proved fatal to another much 
 more extensive and important enterprise. 
 
 Previous to that time, but I also forget the year, you had undertaken to 
 carry on a trade on your own account, though I beUeve under the New-York 
 charter of the American Fur Company, with the Indians west of the Rocky 
 Mountains. This project was also communicated to government, and met, 
 of course, with its full approbation, and best wishes, for your success. You 
 carried it on, on the most extensive scale, sending several ships to the mouth 
 of the Columbia River, and a large party by land across the mountains, and 
 fmally founding the establishment of Astoria. 
 
 This unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy during the war, from 
 circumstances with which I am but imperfectly acquainted — being then 
 absent on a foreign mission, I returned in September, 1815, and sailed 
 again on a mission to France in June, 1816, During that period I visited 
 Washington twice — in October or November, 1815, and in March, 1816. On 
 one of these two occasions, and I believe on the last, you mentioned to me 
 that you were disposed once more to renew the attempt, and to re-establish 
 Astoria, provided you had the protection of the American flag ; for which 
 purpose, a lieutpnant's command would be sufficient to you. You requested 
 me to mention this to the President, which I did. Mr. Madison said he 
 would consider the subject, and, although he did not commit himself, I thought 
 that he received the proposal favorably. The message was verbal, and I do 
 Bot laiow whether the application was ever renewed in a more formal manner. 
 
APPENDIX. 509 
 
 I auiled soon after for Europe, and was seven years absent. I never had the 
 pleasure, shice 181G, to see Mr. Madison, and never heard agam any tiling 
 concerning the subject in question. 
 
 I remain, dear sir, most respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 JoHjj Jacob Astok, Esq., 
 
 . New-York. 
 
 Notices of the presenf stale of the Fur Trade, chiejly extracted 
 from an article imhllshed in Sillunan^s Journal for January, 
 1834. 
 
 The Northwest Company did not long enjoy the sway they had acquired 
 over the trading regions of the Columbia. A competition, ruinous in ita 
 expenses, which had long existed between them and the Hudson's Bay Com- 
 pany, ended in their downfall and the ruin of most of the partners. The relict 
 of the company became merged in the rival association, and the whole businesa 
 was conducted under the name of the Hudson's Bay Company. 
 
 This coalition took place in 1821. They then abandoned Astoria, and 
 built a large establishment sixty miles up, the river, on the right bank, which 
 they called Fort Vancouver. This was in a neighborhood where provisions 
 could be more readily procured, and where there was less danger from 
 molestation by any naval force. The company are said to carry on an active 
 and prosperous trade, and to give great encouragement to settlers. They are 
 extremely jealous, however, of any interference or participation in their trade, 
 and monopolize it from the coast of the Pacific to the mountains, and for 
 a considerable extent north and south. The American traders and trappers 
 who venture across the mountains, instead of enjoying the participation in 
 the trade of the river and its tributaries, that had been stipulated by treaty, 
 are obliged to keep to the south, out of the track of the Hudson's Bay 
 parties. 
 
 Mr. Astor has withdrawn entirely from the. American Fur Company, as 
 he has, in fact, from active business of every kind. That company is new 
 headed by Mr. Ramsay Crooks ; its principal establishment is at Michih- 
 niackinac, and it receives its firs from the posts depending on that station, 
 and from those on the Mississippi, Missouri, and Yellow Stone Rivers, and 
 the great range of country extending thence to the Rocky Mountains. This 
 company has steamboats in its employ, with which it ascends the rivers, and 
 penetrates to a vast distance into the bosom of those regions ibrmerly to 
 
510 APPENDIX. 
 
 painfully explored in keel-beats and barges, or by weary parties on horseback 
 and on foot. The first irruption of steamboats into the heart of these vasl 
 wildernesses is said to have caused the utmost astonishment and affright among 
 their savage inhabitants. 
 
 In addition to the main companies already mentioned, minor associations 
 have been formed, which push their way in the most intrepid manner to the 
 remote parts of the far West, and beyond the mountain barriers. One of the 
 most noted of these is Ashley's company, from St. Louis, who trap for them 
 Belves, and drive an extensive trade with the Indians. The spirit, enterprise, 
 and hardihood of Ashley, are themes of the highest eulogy in the far West, 
 and his adventures and exploits furnish abundance of frontier stories. 
 
 Another company of one hundred and fifty persons from New- York, 
 formed in 1831, and headed by Captain Bonneville of the United States army 
 has pushed its enterprises into tracts before but little known, and has brought 
 considerable quantities of furs from the region between the Rocky Mountains 
 and the coasts of Monterey and Upper California, on the Buenaventura and 
 Timpanogos Rivers. 
 
 The fur countries, from the Pacific, east to the Rocky Mountains, are 
 now occupied (exclusive of private combinations and individual trappers and 
 traders) by the Russians ; and on the northwest, from Behring's Strait to 
 Queen Charlotte's Island, in north latitude fifty-three degrees, and by the 
 Hudson's Bay Company thence, south of the Columbia River ; while Ashley's 
 company, and that under Captain Bonneville, take the remainder of the 
 region to California. Indeed, the whole compass from the Mississippi to the 
 Pacific Ocean is traversed in every direction. The mountains and forests, 
 from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, are threaded, through every maze, 
 by the hunter. Every river and tributary stream, from the Columbia to the 
 mouth of the Rio del Norte, and from the M'Kenzie to the Colorado of the 
 West, from their head springs to their junction, are searched and trapped for 
 beaver. Almost all the American furs, which do not belong to the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, find their way to New-York, and are either distributed thence 
 for home consumption, or sent to foreign markets. 
 
 The Hudson's Bay Company ship their furs from their factories of York 
 Fort and from Moose River, on Hudson's Bay ; their collection from Grand 
 River, &c., they ship from Canada ; and the collection from Columbia goes 
 to London. None of their furs come to the United States, except through the 
 London market. 
 
 The export trade of furs from the United States is chiefly to London. 
 Some quantities have been sent to Canton, and some few to Hamburgh ; 
 and an increasing export trade in beaver, otter, nutria, and vicunia wool, 
 prepared for the hatter's use, is carried on in Mexico. Some furs are exported 
 from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston ; but the principal shipments from 
 th,e United States are from New- York to London, from whence they are scat 
 
APPENDIX. 511 
 
 10 Leipsic, a well-known mart for furs, where they are disposed of duiing 
 tlie great fair in that city, and distributed to every part of the continent. 
 
 The United States import from South America, nutria, vicunia, chinchilla, 
 and a few deer skins ; also fur seals from the Lobos Islands, off the river 
 Plate. A quantity of beaver, otter, Sec, are brought annually from Santa 
 Fe. Dressed furs for edgings, linings, caps, muffs, &c., such as squirrel, 
 genet, fitch skins, and blue rabbit, are received from the north of Europe; 
 also coney and hare's fur; but the largest importations are from London, 
 wnere is concentrated nearly the whole of the North American fur trade. 
 
 Such is the present state of the fur trade, by which it will appear that the 
 extended sway of the Hudson's Bay Company, and its monopoly of the region 
 of which Astoria was the key, has operated to turn the main current of this 
 opulent trade into the coffers of Great Britain, and to render London the 
 emporium instead of New- York, as Mr. Astor had intended. 
 
 We will subjoin a few observations on the animals sought after in this 
 traffic, extracted from the same intelligent source with the preceding remarks. 
 
 Of the fur-hearing animals, ** the precious ermine," so called by way of 
 pre-eminence, is found, of the best quality, only in the cold regions of Europe 
 and Asia.* Its fur is of the most perfect whiteness, except the tip of its tail, 
 which is of a brilliant shining black. With these black tips tacked on the 
 skins, they are beautifully spotted, producing an effect often imitated, but never 
 equalled in other furs. The ermine is of the genus mustela, (weasel,) and 
 resembles the common weasel in its form ; is from fourteen to sixteen inches 
 from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail. The body is from ten to twelve 
 inches long. It lives in hollow trees, river banks, and especially in beech 
 forests ; preys on small birds, is very shy, sleeping during the day, and 
 employing the night in search of food. The fur of the older animals is pre- 
 ferred to the younger. It is taken by snares and traps, and sometimes shot 
 with blunt arrows. Attempts have been made to domesticate it ; but it is 
 extremely wild, and has been found untameable. 
 
 The sable can scarcely be called second to the ermine. It is a native of 
 northern Europe and Siberia, and is also of the genus mustela. In Samoieda, 
 Yakutsk, Kamschatka, and Russian Lapland, it is found of the richest quality, 
 and darkest color. In its habits, it resembles the ermine. It preys on small 
 squirrels and birds sleeps by day, and prowls for food during the night. It is 
 60 like the marten in every particular except its size, and the dark shade of ita 
 color, that naturalists have not decided whether it is the richest and finest of 
 the marten tribe, or a variety of that species. t It varies in dimensions from 
 eighteen to twenty inches. 
 
 * An animal called tlie stoat, a kind of ermine, is said to be found in North America, but 
 very icferior to tlie European and Asiatic. 
 
 t The finest fur and the darkest color are most esteemed ; and whether the difference arises 
 froui the age of tlie animal, or from some peculiarity of location, is not known. They do not 
 vary more from the commoa marten than the Arabian horse from the shaggy Canadisin. 
 
512 APPENDIX. 
 
 The ricli dark shades of the sable, and the snowy whiteness of the ermine, 
 the great depth., and the peculiar, almost flowing softness of their skins and 
 fur, have combined to gain them a preference in all countries, and in all ageg 
 of the world. In this age, they maintain the same relative estimate in regard 
 to other furs, as v/hen they marked the rank of the proud crusader, and were 
 emblazoned in heraldry : but in most European nations, they are now worn 
 promiscuously by the opulent. 
 
 The martens from Northern Asia and the Mountains of Kamschatka are 
 much superior to the American, though in every pack of American marten 
 skins there are a certain number which are beautifully shaded, and of a dark 
 brown olive color, of great depth and richness. 
 
 Next these in value, for ornament and utility, are the sea otter, the miiilv, 
 and the fiery fox. 
 
 The fiery fox is the bright red of Asia ; is more brilliantly colored and of 
 finer fur than any other of the genus. It is highly valued for the splendor of 
 its red color and the fineness of its fur. It is the standard of value on the 
 northeastern coast of Asia. 
 
 The sea otter, which was first introduced into commerce in 1725, from the 
 Aleutian and Kurile Islands, is an exceedingly fine, soft, close fur, jet black 
 in winter, with a silken gloss. The fur of the young animal is of a beautiful 
 brown color. It is met with in great abundance in Bhering's Island, Kam- 
 schatka, Aleutian and Fox Islands, and is also taken on the opposite coasts of 
 North America. It is sometimes taken with nets, but more frequently with 
 clubs and spears. Their food is principally lobster and other shell-fish. 
 
 In 1780 furs had become so scarce in Siberia, that the supply was insuffi- 
 cient for the demand in the Asiatic countries. It was at this time that the 
 eea otter was introduced into the markets for China. The skins brought such 
 incredible prices, as to originate innnediately several American and British 
 expeditions to the northern islands of the Pacific, to Nootka Sound, and the 
 northv/est coast of America ; but the Russians already had possession of the 
 tract which they now hold, and had arranged a trade for the sea otter with the 
 Koudek tribes. They do not engross the trade, however ; the American 
 northwest trading ships procure them, all along the coast, from the Indians. 
 
 At one period, the fur seals formed no inconsiderable item in the trade. 
 South Georgia, in south latitude fifty-five degrees, discovered in 1675, was 
 explored by Captain Cook in 1771. The Americans immediately commenced 
 carrying seal skins thence to China, where they obtained the most exorbitant 
 prices. One million two hundred thousand skins have been taken from that 
 island alone, and nearly an equal number from the Island of Desolation, since 
 they were first resorted to for the purpose of commerce. 
 
 The discovery of the South Shetlands, sixty-three degrees south latitude, in 
 1818, added surprisingly to the trade in fur seals. The number taken from 
 the South Shetlands in 1821 and 1822 amounted to three hundred and twenty 
 
APPENDIX. 513 
 
 thousand. This valuable animal is now almost extinct in all tlijese islands 
 owing to the exterminating system adopted by the hunters. They are still 
 taken on the Lobes Islands, where the provident government of Montevideo 
 restrict the fishery, or hunting, within certain limits, which insures an annual 
 return of the seals. At certain seasons these amphibia, for the purpose of 
 renewing their coat, come up on the dark frowning rocks and precipices, 
 where there is not a trace of vegetation. In the middle of January, the 
 islands are partially cleared of snow, where a few patches of short strag- 
 gling grass spring up in favorable situations ; but the seals do not resort to 
 it for food. They remain on the rocks not less than two months, without 
 any sustenance, when they return much emaciated to the, sea. 
 
 Bears of various species and colors, many varieties of the fox, the wolf, 
 the beaver, the otter, the marten, the racoon, the badger, the wolverine, the 
 mink, the lynx, the muskrat, the woodchuck, the rabbit, the hare, and the 
 squirrel, are natives of North America. 
 
 The beaver, otter, lynx, fisher, hare, and racoon, are used principally for 
 hats ; while the bears of several varieties furnish an excellent material for 
 sleigh linings, for cavalry caps, and other military equipments. The fur of 
 the black fox is the most valuable of any of the American varieties ; and next 
 to that the red, which is exported to China and Smyrna. In China, the 
 red is employed for trimmings, hnings, and robes ; the latter being variegated 
 by adding the black fur of the paws, in spots or waves. There are many 
 other varieties of American fox, such as the gray, the white, the cross, the 
 silver, and the dun-colored. The silver fox is a rare anunal, a native of 
 the woody country below the falls of the Columbia River. It has a long, 
 thick, deep lead-colored fur, intermingled with long hairs, invariably white 
 at the top, forming a bright lustrous silver gray, esteemed by some more 
 beautiful than any other kind of fox. 
 
 The skins of the bufialo, of the Rocky Mountain sheep, of various deer, 
 and of the anielope, are included in the fur trade with the Indians and trap- 
 pers of the north and west. 
 
 Fox and seal skins are sent from Greenland to Denmark. The white 
 tur of the arctic fox and polar bear is sometimes found in the packs brought 
 o the traders by the most northern tribes of Indians, but is not particularly 
 valuable. The silver-tipped rabbit is peculiar to England, and is sent thence 
 to Russia and China. 
 
 Other furs are employed and valued according to the caprices of fashion, 
 as well in those countries where they are needed for defences against the 
 severity of the seasons, as among the inhabitants of milder climates, who, 
 being of Tartar or Sclavonian descent, are said to inherit an attachment to 
 furred clothing. Such are the inhabitants of Poland, of Southern Russia, 
 of China, of Persia, of Turkey, and all the nations of Gothic origin in the 
 middle and western parts of Europe. Under the burning suns of Syria and 
 
514 APPENDIX. 
 
 Egypt, and the mild climes of Bucharia and independent Tartary, there is 
 also a constant demand, and a great consumption, where there exists no physi- 
 cal necessity. In our own temperate latitudes, besides their use in the arts, 
 they are in request for ornament and warmth during the winter, and large 
 quantities are annually consumed for both purposes in the United States. 
 
 From the foregoing statements, it appears that the fur trade must hence- 
 forward decline. The advanced state of geographical science shows that no 
 new countries remain to be explored. In North America, the animals are 
 slowly decreasing, from the persevering efforts and the indiscriminate slaughter 
 practised by the hunters, and by the appropriation to the uses of man of those 
 forests and rivers, which have afforded them food and protection. They 
 recede with the aborigines, before the tide of civilization ; but a diminished 
 supply will remain in the mountains and uncultivated tracts of this and other 
 countries, if the avidity of the hunter can be restrained within proper lim- 
 itations. 
 
 Height of the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Various estimates have been made of the height of the Rooty Mountains, 
 but it is doubtful whether any have, as yet, done justice to their real altitude, 
 which promises to place them only second to the highest mountains of the 
 Unown world. Their height has been diminished to the eye by the great 
 elevation of the plains from which they rise. They consist, according to 
 Long, of ridges, knobs, and peaks, variously disposed. The more elevated 
 parts are covered with perpetual snows, which contribute to give them a 
 luminous, and, at a great distance, even a brilliant appearance ; whence they 
 derived, among some of the first discoverers, the name of the Shining Moun- 
 tains. 
 
 James's Peak has generally been cited as the highest of the chain ; and its 
 elevation above the common level has been ascertained, by a trigonometrical 
 measurement, to be about eight thousand five hundred feet. Mr. Long, how- 
 ever, judged, from the position of the snow near the summits of other peaks 
 and ridges at no great distance from it, that they were much higher. Having 
 heard Professor Renwick, of New-York, express an opinion of the altitude 
 of these mountains far beyond what had usually been ascribed to them, we 
 applied to him for the authority on which he grounded his observation, and 
 here subjoin his reply : 
 
 Columbia College, New- York, February 23, 1836. 
 Dear Sir, — In compliance wi',h your request, I have to communicate 
 Bome facts in relation to the heights of the Rocky Mountains, and the sources 
 whence I obtained the information. 
 
APPENDIX. 515 
 
 In conversation with Simon M'Gillivray, Esq., a partner of the Northwest 
 Company, he stated to me his impression, that the mountains in the vicinity 
 of the route pursued by the traders of that company were nearly as high aa 
 the Himalayas. He had himself crossed by this route, seen the snowy sum- 
 mits of the peaks, and experienced a degree of cold which required a spirit 
 thermometer to indicate it. His authority for the estimate of the heights was 
 a gentleman who had been employed for several years as surveyor of that 
 company. This conversation occurred about sixteen years since. 
 
 A year or two afterwards, I had the pleasure of dining, at Major Dela- 
 field's, with Mr. Thompson, the gentleman referred to by Mr. M'Gillivray. 
 I inquired of him in relation to the circumstances mentioned by Mr. M'Gil- 
 livray, and he stated, that, by the joint means of the barometric and trigono- 
 metric measurement, he had ascertained the height of one of the peaks to be 
 about twenty-five thousand feet, and there were others of nearly the same 
 height in the vicinity. 
 
 I am, dear sir. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 JAMES RENWICK. 
 Tc W. Irvlw, Esq. 
 
 Suggestions luith respect to the Indian tribes, and the protection of 
 our Trade. 
 
 In the course of this work, a few general remarks have been hazarded 
 respecting the Indian tribes of the prairies, and the dangers to be apprehended 
 from Ihem in future times to our trade beyond the Rocky Mountains and with 
 the Spanish frontiers. Since writing those remarks, we have met with some 
 excellent obsei-vations and suggestions, in manuscript, on the same subject, 
 written by Captain Bonneville, of the' United States army, who has lately 
 returned from a long residence among the tribes of the Rocky Mountains. 
 Captain B. approves highly of the plan recently adopted by the United States 
 government for the organization of a regiment of dragoons for the protection 
 of our western frontier, and the trade across the prairies. " No other species 
 of military force," he observes, « is at all competent to cope with these restless 
 and wandering hordes, who require to be opposed with swiftness quite as much 
 as with strength; and the consciousness that a troop, uniting these qualiii- 
 caiions, is always on the alert to avenge their outrages upon the settlers and 
 traders, will go very far towards restraining them from the perpetration of 
 those thefts and murders which they have heretofore committed with impu- 
 nity, whenever stratagem or superiority of force has given them the advantage. 
 Their interest already has done something towards their pacification with 
 
516 APPENDIX. 
 
 our countijTnen. From the traders among them, they receive their supplies 
 in the greatest abundance, and upon very equitable terms ; and when it is 
 remembered that a very considerable amount of property is yearly distributed 
 among them by the government, as presents, it will readily be perceived 
 that they are greatly dependent upon us for their most valued resources. If, 
 superadded to this inducement, a frequent display of military power be made 
 in their territories, there can be little doubt that the desired security and peace 
 will be speedily afforded to our own people. But the idea of establishing a 
 permanent amity and concord amongst the various east and west tribes them- 
 selves, seems to me, if not wholly impracticable, at least hifinitely more difficult 
 than many excellent philanthropists have hoped and believed. Those nations 
 which have so lately emigrated from the midst of our settlements to live upon 
 our western borders, and have made some progress in agriculture and the 
 arts of civilization, have, in the property they have acquired, and the protec- 
 tion and aid extended to them, too many advantages to be induced readily to 
 take up arms against us, particularly if they can be brought to the full convic- 
 tion that their new homes will be permanent and undisturbed ; and there is 
 every reason and motive, in policy as well as humanity, for our ameliorating 
 their condition by every means in our power. But the case is far different with 
 regard to the Osages, the Kanzas, the Pawnees, and other roving hordes 
 beyond the frontiers of the settlements. Wild and restless in their character 
 and habits, they are by no means so susceptible of control or civilization ; and 
 they are urged by strong, and, to them, irresistible causes in their situation and 
 necessities, to the daily perpetration of violence and fraud. Their permanent 
 Bubsistence, for example, is derived from the buffalo hunting grounds, which 
 lie a great distance from their towns. Twice a year they are obliged to make 
 long and dangerous expeditions, to procure the necessary provisions for them- 
 selves and their families. For this purpose horses are absolutely requisite, for 
 their own comfort and safety, as well as for the transportation of their food, 
 and their little stock of valuables ; and without them they would be reduced^ 
 during a great portion of the year, to a state of abject misery and privation. 
 They have no brood mares, nor any trade sufficiently valuable to supply their 
 yearly losses, and endeavor to keep up their stock by stealing horses from 
 the other tribes to the west and southwest. Our own people, and the tribes 
 immediately upon our borders, may indeed be protected from their depreda- 
 tions ; and the Kanzas, Osages, Pawnees, and others, may be induced to 
 remain at peace among themselves, so long as they are permitted to pursue 
 the old custom of levying upon the Camanches and other remote natioii'^ 
 for their complement of steeds for the warriors, and pack-horses for their trans- 
 portations to and from the hunting ground. But the instant they are forced 
 to maintain a peaceful and inoffensive demeanor towards the tribes along 
 the Mexican border, and find that every violation of their rights is followed 
 by the avenging arm of our government, the result must be, that, reduced to a 
 
APPENDIX. 511 
 
 wretchedness and want which they can ill brook, and feeling the certanity 
 of punishment for every attempt to ameliorate their condition in the only 
 ^vay they as yet comprehend, they will abandon their unfruitful territory 
 and remove to the neighborhood of the Mexican lands, and there carry on 
 a vigorous predatory warfare indiscriminately iipon the Mexicans and our 
 own people trading or travelling in that quarter. 
 
 " The Indians of the prairies are almost innumerable. Their superior 
 horsemanship, which, in my opinion, far exceeds that of any other people 
 on the face of the earth, their daring bravery, their cunning and skill in 
 the warfare of the wilderness, and the astonishing rapidity and secrecy with 
 which they are accustomed to move in their martial expeditions, will always 
 render them most dangerous and vexatious neighbors, when their necessities 
 or their discontents may drive them to hostility with our frontiers. Their 
 mode and prmciples of warfare will always protect them from final and irre- 
 trievable defeat, and secure their families* from participating in any blow, 
 however severe, which our retribution might deal out to them. 
 
 " The Camanches lay the Mexicans under contribution for horses and 
 mules, which they are always engaged in stealing from them in incredible 
 numbers ; and from the Camanches, all the roving tribes of the far West, by 
 a similar exertion of skill and daring, supply themselves in turn. It seems 
 to me, therefore, under all these circumstances, that the apparent futility of 
 any philanthropic schemes for the benefit of these nations, and a regard for 
 our own protection, concur in recommending that we remain satisfied with 
 maintaining peace upon our own immediate borders, and leave the Mexicans 
 and the Camanches, and all the tribes hostile to these last, to settle their 
 difierences and difficulties in their own way. 
 
 " In order to give full security and .protection to our trading parties circu- 
 lating in all directions through the great prairies, I am under the impression 
 that a few judicious measures on the part of the government, involving a 
 very limited expense, would be sufiicient. And, in attaining this end, which 
 of itself has already become an object of public interest and import, another, 
 of much greater consequence, might be brought about, viz., the securing to 
 the States a most valuable and increasing trade, now carried on by caravans 
 directly to Santa Fe, 
 
 " As to the first desideratum : the Indians can only be made to respect the 
 lives and property of the American parties, by rendering them dependent upon 
 us for their supplies; which can alone be done with complete effect by the 
 establishment of a trading post, with resident traders, at some point which 
 will unite a sufficient number of advantages to attract the several tribes to 
 itself, in preference to their present places of resort for that purpose ; for it 
 is a weli-known fact, that the Indians v/ill always protect their trader, and 
 those in whom he is interested, so long as they derive benefits from him. 
 The alternative presented to those at the north, by the residence of the agenta 
 
518 APPENDIX. 
 
 uf the Hudson's Bay Company amongst them, renders the condition of our 
 people in that quarter less secure ; but I think it will appear, at once, upon 
 the most cursory examination, that no such opposition further south could be 
 maintained, so as to weaken the benefits of such an establishment as is here 
 suggested. 
 
 " In considering this matter, the first question wliich presents itself is, wheie 
 do these tribes now make their exchanges, and obtain their necessary supplies? 
 They resort almost exclusively to the Mexicans, who, themselves, purchase 
 from us whatever the Indians most seek for. In this point of view, therefore, 
 cceteris paribus, it would be an easy matter for us to monopolize the whole 
 traffic. Ail that is wanting is some location more convenient for the natives 
 than that offered by the Mexicans, to give us the undisputed superiority ; and 
 the selection of such a point requires but a knowledge of the single fact, that 
 these nations invariably winter upon the head waters of the Arkansas, and 
 there prepare all their buffalo robes for trade. These robes are heavy, and, 
 to the Indian, very difficult of transportation. Nothing but necessity induces 
 them to travel any great distance with such inconvenient baggage. A post, 
 therefore, established upon the head waters of the Arkansas, must infallibly 
 eecure an uncontested preference over that of the Mexicans, even at their 
 prices and rates of barter. Then let the dragoons occasionally move about 
 among these people in large parties, impressing them with the proper estimate 
 of our power to protect and to punish, and at once we have complete and 
 assured security for all citizens whose enterprise may lead them beyond the 
 border, and an end to the outrages and depredations which now dog the 
 footsteps of the traveller in the prairies, and arrest and de^jress the most 
 advantageous commerce. Such a post need not be stronger than fifty men ; 
 twenty-five to be employed as hunters, to supply the garrison, and the residue 
 as a defence against any hostility. Situated here upon the good lands of the 
 Arkansas, in the midst of abundance of timber, while it might be kept up at 
 a most inconsiderable expense, such an establishment within ninety miles of 
 Santa Fe or Taos would be more than justified by the other and more impor- 
 tant advantages before alluded to, leaving the protection of the traders with 
 the Indian tribes entirely out of the question. 
 
 " This great trade, carried on by caravans to Santa Fe, annually loads one 
 hundred wagons with merchandise, which is bartered in the northern provinces 
 or Mexico for cash and for beaver furs. The numerous articles excluded as 
 contraband, and the exorbitant duties laid upon all those that are admitted by 
 the Mexican government, present so many obstacles to commerce, that I am 
 well persuaded, that if a post, such as is here suggested, should be established 
 on the Arkansas, it would become the place of deposite, not only for the 
 present trade, but for one infinitely more extended. Here the Mexicans might 
 purchase their supplies, and might well afford to sell them at prices which 
 would silence all competition from any other quarter. 
 
APPENDIX. 519 
 
 " These twe trades, with the Mexicans and the Indians, centering at thia 
 post, would give rise to a large village of traders and laborers, and would 
 undoubtedly be hailed, by all that section of country, as a permanent and 
 invaluable advantage. A few pack-horses would carry all the clothing and 
 ammunition necessary for the post during the first year, and two light field- 
 pieces would be all the artillery required for its defence. Afterwards, all tho 
 horses required for the use of the establishment might be purchased from the 
 Mexicans at the low price of ten dollars each ; and, at the same time, what- 
 ever animals might be needed to supply the losses among the dragoons trav- 
 ersing the neighborhood, could be readily procured. The Upper Missouri 
 Indians can furnish horses, at very cheap rates, to any number of the same 
 troops who might be detailed for the defence of the northern frontier ; and, in 
 other respects, a very limited outlay of money would suffice to maintain a post 
 in that section of the country. 
 
 " From these considerations, and my own personal observation, I am, 
 therefore, disposed to believe, that two posts established by the government, 
 one at the mouth of the Yellow Stone River, and one on the Arkansas, would 
 completely protect all our people in every section of the great wilderness of 
 the West ; while other advantages, at least with regard to one of them, con- 
 firm and urge the suggestion. A fort at the mouth of Yellow Stone, garrisoned 
 by fifty men, would be perfectly safe. The establishment might be constructed 
 simply with a view to the stores, stables for the dragoons' horses, and quarters 
 for the regular garrison ; the rest being provided with sheds or lodges, erected 
 m the vicinity, for their residence during th(>- winter months." 
 
 ./y 
 
 THE E N P 
 
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