35

)34

'1 o

3 6"'}- Y'

LIBRARY
4896
 THE

American Fur Trade

OF THE

Far West

A Historyof the Pioneer Trading Posts and Early

Fur Companies of the Missouri Valley and
the Rocky Mountains and of
the Overland Commerce
with Santa Fe.

MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BY
HIRAM MARTIN CHITTENDEN
Captain Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., Author of
"The Yellowstone."

THREE VOLUMES
A'OLUMS i..

NEW YORK
FRANCIS P. HARPER
1902

J Jl 4/ i
 Copyright, 1901,
BY

FRANCIS P. HARPKR

All rights reserved

 V \

IN HONOR OF
THE

jforaotten Iberoes
OF

lEarlp 3fur TCrabe Daps

WHO
FIRST EXPLORED THE UNKNOWN REGIONS

BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI

BEARING THE STANDARD OF PEACEFUL COMMERCE

TO THE
REMOTEST VALLEYS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
AND THE
FAR-OFF COASTS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
 PREFACE.

;^" A late historical writer has said that there are few more
"i^ impressive incidents in the history of the West than the
meeting by Lewis and Clark, when nearly home from their
o\'^ journey across the continent, of numerous parties of traders
wending their way to the heart of the wilderness which
these explorers had just left. There could be no doubt in
this manifestation of a common purpose which way the
r.^ course of empire was tending. Scarcely had the United
States come into possession of Louisiana, and before she had
^,
taken stock of her new acquisition, her citizens had
fairly
^' begun to penetrate its remote interior, impatient to learn
f^ what it had in store for them.
Thirty-seven years passed away and this movement pre-
sented another phase of even deeper significance. A little

incident serves to determine its date. In the year 1843

Nv
James Bridger, whose name will always be prominent in
] annals of Western adventure, built a post on a tributary of
Green river, a water of the Pacific Ocean, for the conven-
ience of emigrants. It was the first trading post beyond
the Mississippi ever built for this purpose, and its establish-
ment marks the beginning of the era of emigration into the
Far West.
These two landmarks —
the return of Lewis and Clark
and the founding of Fort Bridger —
determine the limits of
a distinct period in Western history. It is a period of which
comparatively little is known because it has been obscured

by the more brilliant events of that immediately following.

The Mormon emigration, the War with Mexico, the dis-
Vlll PREFACE.

covery of gold in California, and the controversy over the

Oregon Question, absorbed public attention in their time, so
far as the West was concerned, and in a large measure have
done so since.
For forty years after the purchase of Louisiana the people
of the United States v^ere at a loss to know what to do with
their new possession. It was not yet needed for settlement,

for the eastern shore of the Mississippi was still an unsub-

dued wilderness in which the stream of emigration might
lose itself for many years to come. No one seems to have
suspected that its distant mountains abounded in the pre-
cious metals. The single attraction that it offered in a
commercial way was its wealth of furs, the gathering of
which became, and for a long time remained, the only busi-
ness of importance in this entire region.
The nature of this business determined the character of
the early white population. It was the roving trader and
the solitary trapper who first sought out these inhospitable
wilds, traced the streams to their sources, scaled the moun-
tain passes, and explored a boundless expanse of territory
where the foot of the white man had never trodden before.
The Far West became a field of romantic adventure, and
developed a class of men who loved the wandering career of
the native inhabitant rather than the toilsome lot of the
industrious colonist. The type of life thus developed,
though essentially evanescent, and not representing any
profound national movement, was a distinct and necessary
phase in the growth of this new country. Abounding in
incidents picturesque and heroic, its annals inspire an inter-
est akin to that which belongs to the age of knight-errantry.
For the free hunter of the Far West was, in his rough
way, a good deal of a knight-errant. Caparisoned in the
wild attire of the Indian, and armed cap-a-pie for instant
combat, he roamed far and wide over deserts and moun-
tains,gathering the scattered wealth of those regions, slay-
ing ferocious beasts and savage men, and leading a life in
which every footstep was beset with enemies and every
 PREFACE. IX

moment pregnant of peril. The great proportion of these

intrepid spirits who laid down their Hves in that far country
isimpressive proof of the jeopardy of their existence. All
in all, the period of this adventurous business may justly

be considered the romantic era of the history of the West.

But if the fur trade was lacking in events of deep nation-
al significance — the Astorian enterprise always excepted —
it was not without its influence upon the course of empire
in the West. It was the trader and trapper who first ex-

plored and established the routes of travel which are now,

and always will be, the avenues of commerce in that region.
They were the "pathfinders" of the West, and not those
later official explorers whom posterity so recognizes. No
feature of western geography was ever discovered by gov-
ernment explorers after 1840. Everything was already
known, and had been for fully a decade. It is true that
many features, like the Yellowstone wonderland, with which
these restless rovers were familiar, were afterward forgot-
ten and were re-discovered in later years; but there has
never been a time until very recently when the geography of
the West was so thoroughly understood as it was by the
trader and trapper from 1830 to 1840.
This minute knowledge was of practical use in many
ways. When Brigham Young selected the valley of Great
Salt Lake as the future home of his people, he did so largely
upon information derived from the traders. When the
War with Mexico came, the military forces of the United
States invaded New Mexico under the guidance of men
who knew every trail and mountain pass better than the
most thorough reconnaissance could have taught them.
When the national troops appeared before the gates of Santa
Fe they were met by a people who had already been virtually
won to the American cause through long intercourse with
the traders. When the rush of emigration to California
and Oregon followed, the emigrants found a highway across
the continent already established. When the government
entered in earnest upon the work of exploration, it was the
X PREFACE.

veteran mountaineer who was always sought to do service

as guide.
Profound and far-reaching was the influence of the fur
trade upon the destiny of the Indian. If the traders
brought with them corrupting vices and desolating disease,
they also brought to the Indian his first lessons in the life
that he was yet to lead. They mingled with his people,
learned his language and customs, understood his character,
and, when not impelled by business rivalry, treated him as
a man and as a brother. The extensive intermarriage of
the two races during a period of more than a century under
the fur trade regime has probably done more than any other
one thing toward the ultimate civilization of an almost un-
tamable race. It was only in these early years that the
white man and the Indian truly understood each other.
Very rarely has any Indian agent or army officer, however
wide their experience, displayed that intimate acquaintance
with the tribes and knowledge of the native character, that
was possessed by the trader and trapper. Fortunate would
it have been if this practical experience had been turned

to proper account and if these trained men had oftener been

employed by the government in transacting its business with
the Indians.
The cause of science has repeatedly acknowledged its in-

debtedness to the fur trade. Maximilian, Nuttall, Audu-

bon, Nicollet, Catlin, and many others enjoyed facilities for
work in that wild country which would have been impos-
sible without the assistance of the trader. This was par-
ticularly true of those researches which related to the early
life, customs, and tribal history of the Indians to the fauna
;

and flora of the country; and to the geography of a region

which was terra incognita when the trader entered it.

Finally the nation owes a debt of gratitude to those reso-

lute pioneers, who, single-handed and alone, stood their
ground against their British rivals between the Great Lakes
and the Rocky mountains. Their valiant bearing prevent-
ed in a large degree those international complications which
 PREFACE. Xi

SO often threatened the peace of the two countries along

other portions of the frontier.
The fur trade, therefore, had a real and potent influence
upon the history of the West —
an influence imperfectly
understood as yet, but which will be more fully recognized
as time goes on. It is the purpose of this work to promote

an appreciation of its importance by presenting a history of

The American Fur Trade of the Far West during the
period of its principal operations in that extensive region.
The subject has never yet been dealt with in a comprehen-
sive way, and many
of its important transactions are as lit-
tle known asthey had not taken place. Writers of West-
if

ern history have, to a great extent, neglected these earlier

events, giving their attention first to that which occurred
last, and have thus lefta goodly portion of the field worked
over scarcely at all. Excepting a few important works deal-
ing with special features, the history of the American fur
trade has never heretofore received any particular attention.
In fixing upon a logical order of presenting the subject
much embarrassment has been experienced on account of the
heterogeneous character of the material to be dealt with.
The events have been so diverse, and have borne so little re-
lation to each other, that the task of making a connected
narrative has been well-nigh impossible. Irving, in his
masterly treatment of certain enterprises of the American
fur trade, has handled this difficulty in a way that leaves
little to be desired. Along with the run of his story he con-
stantly introduces, without violence or apparent effort, de-
scriptions of scenery, fauna and flora, men and manners,
anecdotes of personal adventure, prominent
sketches of
characters, comments and criticisms — and
such har-
all in

monious fashion that the lack of connection between the va-

rious parts would scarcely be noticed by the general reader.
But in a work which attempts to give a comprehensive view
of the entire field, this method did not seem admissible. It
was considered essential to segregate cognate subjects as
far as possible under separate heads so as to present at a
xn PREFACE.

single view each phase of the general theme.] The result

has been a five-fold division of the work with smaller class-
ifications under each.
Part I. treats of the business of the fur trade in its sev-
eral bearings and describes its characteristic features. The
business was a peculiar one in many respects, and an under-
standing of its peculiarities is essential to an understanding
of its history.
Part II. is the narrative proper of the events of the fur
trade and follows their order chronologically as far as is

possibleand preserve the continuity of distinct subjects. It

comprises the bulk of the work and the principal results of
its researches.
Part III. is an account of those events which did not per-
tain directly to the fur trade, but which transpired in the
country and at the time in which the fur trade was being
carried on. Indirectly they were all connected with that
business.
Part IV. contains descriptions of a few of the more note-
worthy events and characters of the fur trade which stand
out by themselves as interesting incidents apart from their
particular bearing upon the course of the narrative.
Part V. undertakes to give a general view of the country
in which the trans-Mississippi fur trade flourished, together
with some notice of its fauna and flora and of its native
inhabitants. Its purpose is solely to present a picture of
the country as it appeared to the practical eye of the trader,
and not at all to discuss it in exhaustive detail or from a
technical standpoint. In strictly logical order this portion
of the subject was entitled to precedence in the arrange-
ment of parts, but as it was in reality of secondary impor-
tance to the main purpose, it was placed last. It is hoped
that this subordination of position may not divert from it

the attention it deserves as an explanatory adjunct to the

entire work. Particularly in the matter of geographical
nomenclature and discovery it contains the results of much
historical research.
 PREFACE. Xlll

Some of the rarer and more important original docu-

ments which have been used in preparing this work are
presented in the Appendix. To the critical student, and
even to the general reader, there will be much of genuine
interest in these living pictures of a forgotten past.
For the more complete elucidation of the subject a map
of the trans-Mississippi country has been prepared showing
it as it was in 1843. The preparation of this map has been
a greater labor than its lines and letters, skilfully as these
are made, might lead one to suppose, and upon many points
it will give a better idea than can be had from unaided
written description. The drawing was executed by Mr.
Paul Burgoldt of St. Louis, Mo., one of the ablest artists
in this kind of work that the country affords.
In assembling the data for this work more than ordinary
difficulties have been encountered. No general authorities
were available. Except in two instances the transactions
of the Western fur trade did not fall within the purview of
the public press, and the scattering references in eastern peri-
odicals are seldom of much value. The era of government
exploration not having yet set in there are very few official
reports that deal directly with the subject. A large amount
of information is scattered through the many narratives of

adventure which appeared at this time, but these works, un-

fortunately for the present purpose, were mostly written
to make good stories, and abound in exaggerations at the
expense of accurate data. They are a perilous resource to
the historian. Finally what may be called original data,
consisting of unpublished documents of every description
and oral testimony by those who have some personal knowl-
edge of these early events, are scattered as widely as are
the posterity of those who helped make the history of the
fur trade.
The use of the data brought together from these scat-
tered and dissimilar sources has been scarcely less embar-
rassing than the process of their collection. It has been
necessary to cull from a multitude of authorities — here a
XIV PREFACE.

little and there a little — checking one against another until

a correct result could be arrived at. Despite the great pains
taken in this sifting process, no one is more conscious
than the author that only a moderate degree of success
has been attained. The wholly unexpected places in which
material of the highest value has been found, forcibly sug-
gest that a great deal more may have been overlooked.
In truth, there is scattered throughout the country, in every
variety of hiding-place, documents of true historic value
which might become public knowledge did their owners
but realize their worth. Evidence has constantly presented
itself of the existence of valuable journals kept by those who
were once prominent in the far-west country, but where
they are now it is impossible to say. while an Every little

document falls under the eye

interesting letter or other
of some one who understands its worth and is brought to
public knowledge. This process will doubtless continue for
many years to come. But if it must be admitted that much
has escaped discovery in these researches, it is believed that
the essential facts relating to all the events herein described
have been determined.
Of the many published works consulted, those of Wash-
ington Irving and Josiah Gregg are the most important,
for they handle in a thoroughly comprehensive and accurate
way the special subjects of which they treat. Astoria, Cap-
tain Bonneville, and the Commerce of the Prairies will never
be surpassed in their particular fields.
Maximilian Prince of Wied is the most reliable published
authority upon the early history of the American Fur Com-
pany on the upper Missouri. The extensive library of
Americana belonging to the Hon. Peter Koch of Bozeman,
Montana, himself a discriminating student of early Western
history, possesses the very unusual treasure of a copy of
Maximilian's book. The loan of this work during several
months made it possible to draw from the distinguished au-
thor much information, which, in an ordinary perusal,
would have been overlooked.
 PREFACE. XV

Captains Lewis and Clark, the first officialexplorers of

the Missouri and Columbia valleys; Lieutenant Pike, the
pioneer explorer of the southwest; David Thompson and
Alexander Henry the younger, who crossed the continent in
1813 in the service of the Northwest Fur Company; Charles
Larpenteur, "Forty years a Fur Trader on the upper Mis-
souri," and Francisco Garces, a Spanish pioneer of the Col-
orado valley, left journals which have recently had the
good fortune to be published, either in original or new edi-
tions, under the editorship of the late Dr. Elliott Coues,
who gave to this work the ten years of his life immediately
preceding his untimely death. The intrinsic value of these
journals in themselves is scarcely greater than that of the
copious editorial commentary which, accompanies them.
Both have been freely used in this work, while equally im-
portant has been the direct assistance received from Dr.
Coues in the course of a lon^ and interesting correspond-
ence.
Mrs. Frances Fuller Victor, the historian of Oregon
and Washington, has woven around the biography of the
trapper Joseph Meek a very complete account of the desul-
tory operations of the mountain traders between 1830 and
1840. Her contributions to Bancroft's history of the West-
ern states likewise contain a great deal relating to the fur
trade. The extensive fund of information collected through
a lifetime devoted to these studies has been freely tendered
through the medium of correspondence for use in the pres-
ent work.
Father "P. J. De Smet, the distinguished Jesuit missionary,
holds an eminent place as an authority upon the pioneer his-
tory of the Rocky mountain region. The correspondence
relating to his travels was extensive and most of it has
been published. It is a rich treasure house of facts relat-
ing to those early times.
The writings of travelers who visited these remote re-
gions and published narratives of their experiences, or left
journals which have since been edited by other hands, are
XVI PREFACE.

the next most important reliance. Bradbury and Bracken-

ridge are the standard authorities upon thefirst part of

the overland Astorian expedition and upon contemporary

events along the Missouri river. Franchere, Cox, Ross,
and Henry allwrote of the transactions of the Pacific Fur
Company during its short career upon the Columbia. Ze-
nas Leonard, W. A. Ferris, Thomas Nuttall, J. K. Town-
send, Thomas J. Farnham, F. A. Wislizenus, Audubon the
naturalist, Nathaniel J. Wyeth, John B. Wyeth, Jacob
Fowler, and the Reverend Samuel Parker are among those
writers who have done most to preserve the history of this
early period.
There are other publications which deal with the same
subjects but in a less careful way, being narratives of per-
sonal adventure in which a thrilling recital was the principal
object in view. Among the better works of this class may
be mentioned Scenes in the Rocky Mountains by Rufus
Sage, and Scenes mid Adventures in the United States
Army by P. St. G. Cooke. The romance by Frederick Rux-
ton, Life in the Far West, is a useful work, as is also the
extravagant autobiography of James P. Beckwourth. Coy-
ner's Lost Trappers is an example of a vicious method of
writing occasionally indulged in by these early authors who
manufactured their narratives out of whole cloth and adver-
tised them to the public as truthful history.
There is much relating to the fur trade scattered through
government publications, though not as a general thing eas-
ily accessible. A few official reports have fortunately been
rescued from " public document " oblivion through the la-
bors of private editors. Lewis and Clark, Pike and Long
can now be found in any good library, but it is only in the
more elaborate collections that the reports of Nicollet and
others of equal value may be seen. The earlier government
publications, such as the American State Papers, are to be
found in only the very best libraries. They are rich in
material pertaining to early military and Indian problems
but like the hidden ore of the mountains it is to be had only
 PREFACE. XVU

by patient and laborious mining. Seldom indeed has the

government scattered its wealth of information in surface
deposits where it can be had by mere superficial digging.
The historical societies of Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and Montana have pub-
lished much relating to the history of the fur trade; and
have collected many documents bearing upon its various
features. In most instances this material has been gratu-
itously tendered for use in connection with these researches.
Such are the principal sources of information herein rehed
upon which can be found in the more complete libraries.
Convenient access to most of them has been afforded by the
Mercantile Library of St. Louis, through the courtesy of
its librarian, Mr. Horace Kephart. The admirable collec-
tion of works pertaining to trans-Mississippi history which
this library contains hasbeen constantly at the author's serv-
ice throughout these studies. But for the facilities thus
afforded he would have found his task well-nigh impossible.
Important as have been the data derived from the fore-
going sources, the main dependence has been upon original
documents many of which are here brought to public at-
tention for the first time. Among these may be included
the early Missouri newspapers of St. Louis and Franklin.
Although, strictly speaking, these papers should be classed
as published authorities, they are not so in the sense of
those just enumerated. They are practically inaccessible
to the general public, for only a single complete file of each is

still in existence.
The Missouri Gazette was the first newspaper published
west of the Mississippi river. It began its career May 12,
1808. The title was changed to Louisiana Gazette Decem-
ber 7, 1809, and back to Missouri Gazette July 18, 181 2.
On March 20, 1822, the name was changed to Missouri
Republican. This paper was the progenitor of the modern
5*^ Louis Republic, and a nearly complete file is still pre-
served in the vaults of the Republic office. Through the
indulgence^-of the proprietors of this journal the entire file
XVlll PREFACE.

down examined in connection with this

to 1850 has been
work. abounds in valuable data and is the sole existing
It
authority upon many obscure points. There were other
St. Louis newspapers during much of the fur trade era,
but they have not been so carefully preserved and are of
less value than the old Gaactte.
The Missouri and Boone's Lick Advertiser
Intelligencer
began its town of Franklin which stood
career in the little

(until the Missouri claimed it) on the opposite bank from

the modern city of Boonville, Missouri, two hundred miles
above the mouth of the river. It was for years the western-
most newspaper in the United States, and being directly on
the route of travel to the West, it contained many valuable
references to the early expeditions. These references are
particularly important in the case of the Santa Fe trade
which had its origin in Franklin. The files of this paper
have been examined through the courtesy of Mr. Irvin
Switzler of Columbia, Missouri, their present custodian, and
by the assistance of Professor Garland C. Broadhead, late
State Geologist of Missouri.
Nilcs Register, which is so valuable a mine of historic

data, borrows most of its items pertaining to the trans-

Mississippi territory during this period from the St. Louis
and Franklin papers.
By far the most important collection of original data that
has been consulted is the mass of documents relating to
the Missouri and American Fur Companies, now in the
possession of Mr. Pierre Chouteau of St. Louis, grandson
of the distinguished fur merchant, the late Pierre Chouteau.
These documents comprise correspondence, journals, rec-
ords of business accounts and other papers, some of them
dating back into the eighteenth century. Many of them are in
the French language and a few in the Spanish. Those per-
taining to the later years of the trade are nearly all in Eng-
lish. There are occasionally gaps and omissions and many
documents have evidently been lost, or their present where-
abouts are unknown; but enough are still in existence to
 PREFACE. XIX

settle most of the doubtful points upon the operations of

the St. Louis traders. Mr, Pierre Chouteau has afforded
every facility for examining these papers, and the enormous
labor of going through them, musty and dusty with fifty to
a hundred years of St. Louis atmosphere, has been patiently
performed. To the kindness of Mr. Chouteau and of his
father, the late C. P. Chouteau, whatever merit there may
be in result of these researches is largely due.
Mr. M. L. Gray of St. Louis, administrator of the Sub-
lette estate, has come into possession of much of the Ash-
ley-Sublette-Campbell-Smith correspondence. Though lim-
ited in scope, these papers are the sole existing authority
upon many points connected with the history of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company. Mr. Gray has generously author-
ized such use of them as was desired.
Mrs. William Mulkey of Kansas City, Missouri, daugh-
ter of the fur trader Andrew Drips, possesses much of the
early correspondence of her distinguished father. That por-
work of Major Drips as In-
tion which relates to the special
dian agent for the tribes of the upper Missouri from 1842
to 1846 contains exhaustive data upon the history of that
period.
Under the painstaking direction of Mr. William Seever,
late secretary of the Missouri Historical Society of St. Louis,
many original documents have been collected, and these
likewise have been carefully examined. The more impor-
tant are the journal of the Atkinson-O' Fallon expedition of
1825, and several unpublished essays upon early frontier
history by William Waldo and others.
The late Captain JosephLa Barge, the most noted pilot of
the Missouri river, whose experience upon that stream dated
from 1832 and extended to the collapse of the steamboat
business, and whose memory retained its power to a remark-
able degree even in old age, was an eye witness of some of
the events herein related and was personally acquainted with
most of the actors. His oral testimony has been freely
used throughout this work. There is in the possession of
XX PREFACE.

the La Barge family in St. Louis an old log book of the

American Fur Company containing the record of the annual
steamboat voyages up the Missouri for most of the decade
from 1840 to 1850. This venerable record has been very
useful in checking dates, events, and places.
The old legal papers in the Recorder's office in St. Louis
contain much information bearing upon the transactions of
the traders.
Through the accidents of fortune to which carelessness, if
nothing worse, has more than once subjected the most
valuable documents, the old records of the United States
Indian Superintendency of St. Louis, for the tribes residing
west of the Mississippi, were thrown away and would have
been lost but for the diligence of a second-hand book dealer
who thought them worth preserving. Some of these rec-
ords were purchased by the Kansas Historical Society and
are now preserved in the State Capitol at Topeka, where
an opportunity was had of examining them. They are full
of interesting data concerning the fur trade era down to
1830.
The American Fur Company letter books, open for in-
spection to visitors at the John Jacob Astor Hotel on Mack-
inaw Island, Michigan, contain practically the only reliable
data upon the earlier operations of the company.
Captain Edwin L. Berthoud of Golden, Colorado, a care-
ful student of the pioneer history of the West, improved
the exceptional opportunities afforded him as engineer on
the early Union Pacific surveys to collect much valuable in-
formation relating to events and characters of the fur trade.
This information has been freely drawn upon throughout
the present investigation.
Of the many other sources of information whose im-
portance is only less than that of those already enumerated
it would be impossible to make individual mention within
the compass of these pages, but the author's debt to them
is none the less gratefully acknowledged.
 CONTENTS OF VOLUME 1.

PAGB
Preface by the Author vii-xx

PART I.

THE FUR TRADE.

CHAPTER
Character of the Business .......I.

1-8

CHAPTER H.
Relations With the Indians 9-16

CHAPTER HI.

Evil Effects of Competition ...... 17-21

CHAPTER IV.

The Liquor Traffic 22-31

CHAPTER V.

Characteristic Features of the Fur Trade . . 32-43,^

CHAPTER VI.

Trading Posts 44-50

CHAPTER VII.

The Trapping Fraternity 51-64

CHAPTER VIII.

Life in the Wilderness . 65-70

 XXll CONTENTS.

PART II.

HISTORICAL.

CHAPTER I.
PAQB
Louisiana 71-82

CHAPTER n.
>J^^<^TSE OF THE AMERICAN FuR TrADE ..... 83-96

CHAPTER
St Louis .......... HI.

97-112

CHAPTER
Expeditions of ........
1807
IV.

113-124

CHAPTER V.

The Missouri Fur Company. — Manuel Lisa, its Founder . 125-136

CHAPTER VL
The Missouri Fur Company. — Sketch of its Varied Career 137-158

CHAPTER Vn.
Crooks and McLellan 159-162

j^
CHAPTER VHL
^ Astoria. —Origin and Scope of the Project . . . 163-170

CHAPTER IX.

\ AstoRiA. The Expedition by Sea ..... 171-181

CHAPTER X.

. Astoria. — The Overland Expedition — West . . . 182-199

CHAPTER XI.
— Beginnings
Astoria.
Expedition — East ........
on the Columbia and the Overland
200-214
 CONTENTS. XXlll

CHAPTER XII.
PAGE
"nAstoria. — The Course of Events on the Columbia . . 215-226

CHAPTER XIII.

s Astoria. — Review of the Enterprise ..... 227-238

CHAPTER XIV.
Astoria.
tion
— Its
"
.........
Author and the " Sources of His Inspira-
239-246

CHAPTER XV.
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company. — Ashley and His Men 247-261

CHAPTER XVI.

Ashley ..........
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company. — Under William H.
262-281

CHAPTER XVII.
\, he Rocky Mountain Fi-r Company. — Adventures Cf Jede-
diah S. Smith . . . 282-287

CHAPTER XVIII.
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company.— Its Later History . 288-308

CHAPTER XIX.
— Establishment
The American Fur Comp.\ny.
Western Department ....... of the
309-320

CHAPTER XX.
The American Fur Company. — The Upper Missouri Outfit 321-343

CHAPTER XXI.
The American Fur Company. — Stress of Competition . 344-362

CHAPTER XXII.
The American Fur Company. — 1834-1843 .... 363-374
 XXIV CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIII.
PAoa
The American Fur Company. — Methods and Men . .
375-395

CHAPTER XXIV.
Captain Bonneville ........ 396-433

CHAPTER XXV.
Nathaniel J. Wyeth 434-456

CHAPTER XXVI.
o The Oregon Trail 457-482
 ^^'

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

Fort Union in 1833 ....... Frontispiece

Ground Plan of a Trading Post . . . Facing page 45

Signatures to Contract for Return of Mandan Chief " " 139

of Agreement ........""
Facsimile of Smith, Jackson and Sublette's Articles
280

The Astor Medal ......."" 343

Independence Rock .......,"" 471

 THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE
OF

THE FAR WEST.

PART L THE FUR TRADE.

CHAPTER I.

CHARACTER OF THE BUSINESS.

Importance of the fur trade —

Era of the fur trade —
St. Louis —
Communication with New York —
Furs and peltries —
Methods of se-
curing furs —
Fur trade merchandise —
Profits of the trade —
Magni-
tude of the business —
Number of persons employed —
Losses of life
and property.

fTT is not an easy thing, at this period in American history,

to appreciate how great a place in the affairs of former
times the fur trade occupied. The trade has not by any
means become extinct, nor, perhaps, greatly diminished in
volume, if at all, as one may readily see by examining the
statistics of sales in the leading markets of the world today.
It isonly in a relative sense that it has become less important.
While it has remained stationary, other lines of trade have
expanded many fold, until now it is almost lost sight of in
the vast current of the world's affairs. Yet it is not long
since it was a leading branch of commerce in the western
world, nor more than sixty years since it was almost the
only business transacted in the immense territory west of the
Mississippi.
 2 •
SAINT LOUIS.

The fur trade of the Missouri valley began early in the

eighteenth century, but it did not assume large proportions
until after the cession of Louisiana to the United States and
the exploring expeditions of Lewis and Clark and Pike.
Its career thereafter continued practically unchecked until
the tide of Western emigration set in, about 1843. The
true period of the trans-Mississippi fur trade therefore
embraces the thirty-seven years from 1807 to 1843.
In this trade the city of St. Louis was the principal, if not

X the only, emporium. It is true that the headquarters of the

American Fur Company and of some other fur-trading

concerns v^ere in New York, but even in these cases the
actual base from which all operations in the Western country
were carried on was the city at the mouth of the Missouri.
All parties were organized and all outfits were made up
there. The returns of the trade en route to market all

passed that way. Most of the traders resided there, and all
non-resident firms maintained houses there. Great estab-
lishments arose for the convenience of the trade, while the
port of St. Louis became a center of commerce almost as
widespread as that of New York itself.

In the earlier years communication with New York and

other seaboard towns took place principally by way of the
Ohio river or the Great Lakes. In the latter case the route
was sometimes by way of the Illinois river to Lake Michi-
gan, thence either by water or across the country to Detroit,
thence to Black Rock near Buffalo, and thence overland to
New York at other times it was by way of the Mississippi,
;

the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to Lake Michigan, and the

rest of the way by the route just described. In later years,
after the use of steamboats became general, commerce
usually passed by way of New Orleans.
The business of the fur trade, as the name implies, was
mainly a trafiic in furs and peltries. There were the fine
furs obtained from the beaver, otter, mink, fox, and other
animals, and the coarser products such as buffalo robes, bear
and deer skins, which were not used as furs so much as for
 METHODS OF PROCURING FURS. 3

lap robes, heavy coats, and the like. Besides the furs and
peltries there were regularly brought to St. Louis cargoes
of buffalo tongues, buffalo and bear's tallow, and limited
quantities of other products. The trade from the south- -
west, particularly from Santa Fe, dealt more largely in
horses, mules, and specie.
There were several methods of procuring furs. The one ^
most generally resorted to, and which on the whole yielded \ /
the largest results, was by traffic with the Indians. The
first thought of the trader on going to a tribe of Indians

was to supply himself with those articles which he knew

had an attraction for the native fancy, to a large extent
things of trifling value, but of showy appearance. The
white man valued the native furs altogether beyond wha*
the Indian was able to comprehend, and the latter was only
too happy to find that he could trade them for that gaudy
and glittering wealth which had been brought from a great
distance to his country. Thus, in the early intercourse of
the white man with the Indian, each gave to the other some-
thing that he valued lightly, and received in return some-
thing that he valued highly, and each felt a keen contempt
for the stupid taste of the other. The trade, thus begun by
imposition on the one side and ignorance on the other, devel-
oped, upon more thorough acquaintance, into a regular
system.
All the fur companies regularly employed hunters and
trappers who killed buffalo and caught beaver and gathered h^
such other furs as came in their way. These men worked at
fixed wages, and the product of their labor belonged to the
company. No goods were brought into the country for
furs taken in this way, except in payment of the men's
wages, which were generally absorbed as fast as earned in
new outfits and in liquor or feasting.
A third source from which the products of the country ,rK
were obtained was the free hunter and trapper. These men
worked on their own account, being bound to no company,
and generally sold the product of their labor at some regu-
4 FUR TRADE MERCHANDISE.

lar trading post or rendezvous, although they occasionally

went to St. Louis with it themselves, A large portion of
the payment for their furs, if sold in the interior, was in the
form of articles required for new outfits, and for tobacco
and liquor. The free trappers worked only in the finer
kinds of fur.
It thus appears that, from whatever source the trader ob-
tained his furs, he generally paid for them in merchandise
carried into the country. This merchandise comprised such
articles as were used in traffic with the Indians and for the
equipments of trappers and hunters, the more necessary
articles of food which could not be obtained from the
country, and finally plenty of liquor and tobacco. To con-
vey a clear idea of the variety of articles in a trading equip-
ment, as well as the prices at which they were rated in the
mountains, an extract is given in the accompanying footnote
from the bill of sale by which General William H, Ashley
transferred his outfit to the firm of Smith, Jackson and Sub-
lette, near Great Salt Lake, July i8, 1826,^

^ The invoice included "gunpowder of the first and second quality at

one dollar fifty per pound, lead one dollar per pound, shot one dollar
twenty-five cents per pound, three point blankets at nine dollars each,
green ditto at eleven dollars each, scarlet cloth at six dollars per yard,
blue ditto common from four to five dollars per yard, butcher
quality
knives at seventy-five cents each, two and a half point blankets at
seven dollars each. North West fuzils at twenty-four dollars each, tin
kettles different sizes at two dollars per pound, sheet iron kettles at two
dollars twenty-five cents per pound, square axes at two dollars fifty
cents each, beaver traps at nine dollars each, sugar at one dollar per
pound, coffee at one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound, raisins at
one dollar fifty cents per pound, grey cloth of common quality at five
dollars per yard, flannel common quality at one dollar fifty cents per
yard, calicoes assorted at one dollar per yard, domestic cotton at one
dollar twenty-five cents per yard, thread assorted at three dollars per
pound, worsted binding at fifteen dollars per gross, finger rings at five
dollars per gross, beads assorted at two dollars fifty cents per pound,
vermilion at three dollars per pound, files assorted at two dollars fifty
cents per pound, fourth proof rum reduced at thirteen dollars fifty
cents per gallon, bridles assorted at seven dollars each, spurs at two
dollars per pair, horse shoes and nails at two dollars per pound, tin pans
 PRICES IN THE MOUNTAINS. 5

A large proportion of the merchandise of certain classes

was imported from Europe, for at this early day American
manufactures, in blankets and cloths particularly, were so
inferior that the Indians did not want them, having learned
through the British traders what a really good article was.
It thus happened that while the furs found their principal
market in Europe, the merchandise for which they were
traded was mostly manufactured there. It would be inter-

esting: to trace an invoice of fur-trade merchandise from the

manufactories of Europe in those early days to New York,
New Orleans, St. Louis, and thence to the remote and ob-
scure trading posts in the heart of the wilderness and there, ;

where the innocent beaver falls a victim to the wily trapper,

to witness the exchange of these goods for his rich coat of
fur, and to follow the latter back through St. Louis, New
York, and London, to its final destination in the comfort-
able garments of the aristocracy of Europe. The complete ^y"'
round occupied fully four years. Could we know the price
of the merchandise as it left the factory and its equivalent
in fur as sold in the completed garm.ent, the increase would
be found to be several hundred per cent. This did not, of
course, all represent profit. The insurance by sea, the losses
by river and land, particularly in the Indian country, and
the services of the many hands through which both the mer-
chandise and the furs had to pass, account to some extent
for the increase but there was still a heavy increment that
;

represented the profits of the trader. That these profits

assorted at two dollars per pound, handkerchiefs assorted at one dollar

fifty cents each, ribbons assorted at three dollars per bolt, buttons at five

dollars per gross, looking glasses at fifty cents each, flints at fifty cents
per dozen, mockasin awls at twenty-five cents per dozen, tobacco at
one dollar twenty-five cents per pound, copper kettles at three dollars
per pound, iron buckles assorted at two dollars fifty cents per pound,
fire steels at two dollars per pound, dried fruit at one dollar and fifty
cents per pound, washing soap at one dollar twenty-five cents per
pound, shaving soap at two dollars per pound, first quality James river
tobacco at one dollar seventy-five cents per pound, steel bracelets at one
"
dollar fifty cents per pair, large brass wire at two dollars per pound.
6 PROFITS IN THE FUR TRADE.

were enormous is sufficiently attested by the immense for-

tunes which were made in the fur trade.
In the matter of profits and losses, as well as in that of
volume of business, there are numerous early authorities.
Nathaniel J. Wyeth, a close observer, though rather too opti-
mistic, has left on record an estimate of what a well-man-
aged hunting expedition, in the best days of the fur trade,
might reasonably be expected to accomplish. ^ According
to this estimate the cost of an invoice of merchandise at the
Teton mountains, or in that vicinity, was about four hun-
dred per cent of its first cost in the eastern market. This
increase was taken up by the expenses of interest, insurance,
wagons, provisions for food until the buffalo country was
reached, horses and mules, pack and riding saddles, blankets,
pack covers, halters, bridles, horse shoeing, and other ex-
penses incidental to the transportation of the goods across
the plains. If the furs were obtained through hired trap-
pers, the wages were paid in goods at an advance of about
six hundred per cent upon their cost in the mountains. The
wages of a hunter being counted at four hundred dollars
per year and of common men who did the work of camp
at two hundred, a party of twenty hunters and ten camp
keepers, with their necessary horses (wliich " cost about $4
in goods prime cost in Boston or New York") could be
kept in the field for one year for not to exceed two thousand
dollars. With average success each hvmter would take one
hundred and twenty beaver skins in this time, the value of
vidiich, in Boston or New York, was about one thousand

dollars. With due allowance for the cost of the return

journey, the outlay of two thousand dollars would net in
the neighborhood of fifteen thousand dollars. " This, as
you will perceive, will leave a large profit, " is the logical
deduction by the author of this simple calculation. Of
course such successful enterprises were of rare occurrence,
for there were many sources of loss in these perilous expedi-
tions, but there are nevertheless authenticated instances of

'Sources of the History of Oregon, pp. 66 and 75.

 MAGNITUDE OF THE TRADE. 7

very high profits. In 1827 the house of Bernard Pratte and

Company joined with General Ashley in equipping an expe-
dition for the mountains. The whole enterprise lasted only
about six months and netted the company seventy per cent
profit on their investment.
In the Santa Fe trade forty per cent was a high profit,
while the average was between fifteen and twenty per cent.
In regard to the magnitude of the trade it is difBcult to
give definite figures; but the following table of statistics
compiled about 1832 by Indian Agent John Dougherty, em-
bracing the fifteen years from 181 5 to 1830, gives a fair
idea, not only of the extent of the trade, but of the wages
paid, the prices of furs, and the ])rofits realized, during this
^
period.
EXPENDITURES.
20 clerks, 15 years, @ $500 per year $ 150,000
200 men, 15 years, @ $150 per year 450,000
Merchandise 1,500,000
RETURNS.
26,000 buffalo skins per yr. for 15 yrs. @ $3 each. .$1,170,000
25,000 beaver skins per yr. for 15 yrs. @ $4 each. 1,500,000
.

4,000 otter skins per yr. for 15 yrs.@ $3 each 180,000

l2,oco coon skins per yr. for 15 yrs. @ 25c. each. 45,000
150,000 deer skins per yr. for 15 yrs. @ 33c.
lbs.

per lb 742.500
37,500 muskrat skins per yr. for 15 yrs. @ 20c. each. 112,500

Total $3,750,000
Total profit $1,650,000
Average annual expenditure $ 140,000
Average annual returns 250,000
Average annual profit 1 10,000

At an anniversary celebration of the founding of St.

' The actual number of persons engaged in the fur trade, either as
|
traders or employers, impossible to determine with accuracy
it is but ;
/
it was not large. Including those who traded to Santa Fe, it is not
probable that the number ever exceeded one thousand, while the aver-
age was nearer half ihat number. Judged by the volume of business
alone the fur trade was of relatively insignificant proportions but its ;

importance and historic interest depend upon other and quite different
considerations.
8 LOSSES OF LIFE AND PROPERTY.

Louis, held on the 15th of February, 1847, it was stated that

the annual value of the St. Louis fur trade for the past forty
years had been between two and three hundred thousand
dollars; and this may be taken as a fair estimate for the
period covered by our present studies.
The losses incident to the business of the fur trade were,
in the very nature of things, large. They arose almost
entirely from encounters with hostile Indians and involved
both life and property. The danger of losing horses was an
ever present peril, for even friendly Indians had no compunc-
tions about stealing these animals. Reliable statistics cov-
ering the period from 1820 to 1831 give the losses of life
from the Indians at one hundred and fifty-one and the loss
of property at a hundred thousand dollars. It is probable
that, for the entire period from 1806 to 1843, these figures
should be doubled. ^
Such is a general view of the American fur trade as con-
ducted from St. Louis during the first half of the nineteenth
century. Its more important special features, such as its
relation to the Indians, the traffic in liquor, the evils of com-
petition among the traders, the class of men engaged in the
business, and the kind of life which it developed, will be
separately considered.

* According to Andrew Drips there died at the hands of the Indians

in the year 1844 thirteen employes of the licensed traders and nine free
trappers.
 CHAPTER II.

RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS.

Importance of the Indian to the fur trade— Relation of the trader

—
and the Indian Policy of the government toward the Indian — The
—
factory system Mistake of tlie government— Downfall of the system.

'^T HE most important single factor in the business of the

^ fur trade was the presence of the Indian in the coun-
try where that trade was carried on. It controlled the whole
system of conducting the business. To a considerable ex-
tent the Indians were themselves the producers that is, they
:

trapped the beaver and hunted the buffalo, whose skins they
exchanged for whatever the white men brought into their
country. Even when the companies did their own trapping
it was necessary to take account of the Indian, for he did

not always approve of the invasion of his country by the

paleface, and often resisted it by force. The hunting and
trapping parties had therefore to be ever on the alert lest
they fall victims to a crafty and savage foe.
Had there been no native inhabitants in the country the
conduct of the fur trade would have been radically different.
All the furs would have been taken directly by the hunters
and trappers. There would have been but few permanent
posts instead of the many that were required to accommo-
date the various tribes. No merchandise would have been
carried into the interior to exchange for furs, for there
would have been no one to exchange it with. The innum-
erable tragedies of the plains, in which so many brave men
lost their lives, would not have taken place. It is indeed
difficult to estimate the degree to which the fur trade was
controlled by the Indian, while its far-reaching counter-
 lO RELATION OF INDIAN AND TRADER.

influence upon the tribes cannot, at this remote time, be ade-

quately realized.

X The relation of the trader to the Indian

natural and congenial of any which the
sustained toward each other.
two
was the most
races have ever
Properly conducted, it fitted
perfectly with the Indian's previous mode of life, really pro-
moted his happiness, and gave him no cause for complaint.
Itenabled him to piu-sue his natural occupation of hunting,
while it introduced just enough of the civilized customs of
exchange to furnish him with those simpler articles which
directly promoted the comfort of his daily life. The Indian
likewise fitted in perfectly with the white man's purposes of
trade. It was better that the native occupant of the soil, so
far as practicable, should garner its resources and bring
them in for exchange, than that the white hunters should
bands over the country for this
scatter themselves in lawless
purpose. By was taken by the
far the larger part of the fur
Indians and came into the possession of the traders only by
exchange, and it was in this traffic that the white man first
made his acquaintance with the tribes. From this starting
point the two came gradually into closer contact until
races
finally the Indian became dependent upon his white brother,
relinquishing little by little his former method of life, acquir-
ing new wants, becoming corrupted by new vices, and drift-
ing insensibly into that intricate relationship with the United
States government which is known in our history as the
Indian Question.
It would be alike idle and unjust at this period of our na-
tional history to arraign the methods of the government in
its dealings with the Indians —
idle because the past is
behind us; unjust because, whatever its failures, the pur-
poses of the government towards the native races within its
domain have ever been those of paternal benevolence. A
fundamental misconception of the nature of the Indian prob-
lem underlies the common assumption that a very different
result might and ought to have ensued, and that the policy
of our government in its treatment of the Indian has been
 THE GOVERNMENT AND THE INDIANS. II

actuated by motives unworthy of an enlig-htened people. It^"^ /^

ignores the operation of that evolutionary process by which -'^^
a weaker race disappears before a superior in spite of all that
laws or military force can do to prevent.^ That the aborig-
inal tribes were doomed to complete displacement on the soil
of their nativity after once the European races had discov-
ered this continent a proposition that few will care to
is

deny. A change sofundamental, involving loss of land, in-

stitutions, customs, and the innermost functions of social
life, was not one that could be accomplished without pain

and apparent wrong. But the change was as inevitable as

the progress of the stars, and the only ground for criticism
of those concerned in it is whether or not they have unneces-

sarily added to burden of sorrow and sufifering.

its

The policy of government, so far as it has been able to

control this course of unavoidable change, has always been
the highest good of the Indian. While it was powerless to
save the Indian's lands, or to preserve his customs from ex-
tinction, it has ever sought to ameliorate an unhappy situa-
tion and to secure the most ample reparation for an irreme-
diable loss. The failures of the government have never
been those of purpose, but rather those of lack of ability to
carry its purposes into effect. The very nature of our gov-
ernment, essentially w^eak in controlling its citizens and in
exercising arbitrary interference with what they deem to be "

their rights, was a powerful draw^back as compared with

the more centralized power of a government like that of
Great Britain. This weakness showed itself particularly
in those details of administration by which its humane and
benevolent purposes were to have been accomplished. The
prostitution of the Indian service to mere personal or par-
tisan advantage, and the placing of those delicate and vital
questions at the mercy of political adventurers, were crimes
which must ever leave a stain on the American name.
Herein, whether avoidably or not, the government has been
irredeemably at fault. It has sinned knowingly —
sinned
with the consequences patent to its eyes —
and from the
12 THE FACTORY SYSTEM.

paltriest and basest of motives that can guide the poHcy of a

nation.
Two
examples bearing directly upon our present work
will be cited toshow how strong has been the purpose of the
government to deal justly by the Indian, but how helpless it
has been in carrying out this purpose. The first is that of
the government factory system established to control the
trade with the Indians, and the second is that of the aboli-
tion of the liquor traffic in the Indian country.
The factory system which prevailed during the first two
decades of the century arose from a growing conviction on
the part of the government that a solution of the Indian
question could not be indefinitely postponed and that, how- ;

ever it might be deferred by moving the Indians farther and

farther West, it would ever arise anew and clamor for set-
tlement. It was therefore better to grapple with it seri-
ously from the start, and to this end it was important that
the government should stand in closer relations with the
tribes. It was justly concluded that it would be wiser for
the government to conduct the Indian trade itself. It could
thus secure to the Indian his due, protect him from impos-
ture, savehim from the deadly effects of alcohol, and wean
him gradually from his tribal life, so that, when the tide of
settlement should have swallowed up his domains and have
destroyed his ancient means of subsistence, he would accept
his new situation without deep reluctance. ^

To this end Congress in 1796 made an appropriation for

"
the establishment of a " liberal trade with the Indians.
Factories or trading houses were located at various points in
the Indian country, at which was kept the usual line of
"
Indian goods. It was intended to dispose of these goods
*
" These views are substantially founded upon the conviction that
it is the true policy and earnest desire of the government to draw its
savage neighbors within the pale of civilization."
W. H. Crawford, Secretary of War.
* The were mainly located east of the Mississippi, and only
factories
one on the Missouri, viz., at Fort Osage, forty miles below the present
site of Kansas City.
 DEFECTS OF THE SYSTEM. 1

to the Indians in exchange for furs at rates which would

simply make the factories self-sustaining. In this way the
Indian would get his goods at cost, an advantage which it
was thought would be so palpable that he would patronize
the factories in preference to the private trader.
The system was well conceived and it should have suc-
ceeded. The reason why it did not succeed is perfectly ap-
parent and must have been so at the time. The govern-
ment did not have the courage of its convictions. It should
have taken the field to itself, just as it does in the carrying of
mails, the coining of money, and the making of war. In-
stead of doing this it granted trading licenses to private par-
ties and thus degraded itself to the level of a competing
trader among a horde of irresponsible and frequently law-
less rivals. The fate of the factory system was thus sealed
from the beginning. The practices of the private traders
were not such as the government could afiford to permit in
its agents. It was a part of the government plan to let the
Indians hunt as of old, untrammeled by the presence of the
white man, and bring furs to the factory for sale. It
was also, though probably unwisely, a rule not to supply the
Indians on credit, hoping, rather chimerically, to inculcate
habits of thrift in this way. The shrewd private trader
promptly took advantage of this situation. He advanced
an outfit on credit to the improvident Indian when about to
start on his hunt, and thus virtually laid a mortgage on the
products of his labor. He did not await his debtor's re-
turn, but made payment him on his
sure by accompanying
hunts, and securing his furs as fast as they were taken.
The factories would not dispense liquor to the natives, but
the private trader smuggled it into the country and was thus
armed with that weapon, which, more than any other, was
certain of victory in any contest for the favor of the Indian.
The factories did not use the best articles in their trade,
for the rule of requiring the government to patronize
home industries, even whsn to its o-reat disadvantage, ex-
eluded it from the markets where the best goods were to be
14 GOVERNMENT TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS.

had. It was thus handicapped again, for the Indian was not
slow to note the difference between the goods offered him by
the government and those brought to him by the private
trader.
The trader wdio followed the Indians in their hunts was
usually well acquainted with them, understood their lan-
guage and customs and was virtually one of themselves.
The government trader, on the other hand, was a salaried
official, most likely a political employe, not versed in the

business of dealing with the Indians, and essentially a stran-

ger to them.
The government, moreover, in its intercourse with the In-
dians, was slow to grasp the fact that it was not deal-
ing with experienced business men, but with children. It

made them few presents, and often failed to observe those

childish formalities so essential in the eyes of the punctilious
savage. The private trader profited by all this, and in
spite of the cheaper price of goods at the factories, he often
succeeded in securing the greater part of the trade.
It is apparent that none of these drawbacks would have
had any weight if private traders had been excluded from
the field. The government could not descend to their meth-
ods consistently with the polic}'^ of dignified bearing and
paternal regard for its dependents, which were to be the
chief aim and end of its proposed system of trade. It

should therefore have saved itself from the humiliation of

these small rivalries and competitions by taking the entire
field to itself. It would have been in every way better for

all concerned, except the individual trader. It is a common

fallacy toassume that, because the government may not be
able to compete with private individuals in the transaction
of a particular business, it therefore cannot transact that
business as well as they. No mistake could be greater.
The government may be driven from a field, be-
fact that the
cause it will not stoop to the methods of private competition,
is no reason to assume that, if sole occupant, it would not

render the public better service than private parties would.

 OVERTHROW OF FACTORY SYSTEM. 1

The fatal error is to enter the field as a competitor, for this

deprives the government of the power to carry out its better
ideas, and at once degrades it to the standards of business
employed against it.
So it was in the case under consideration. A system es-
tablished for the good of the Indians soon became, in these
untoward circumstances, unpopular with its beneficiaries,
and excited the contempt of those untutored beings who
were little prone to investigate hidden causes, but always
judged from superficial appearances. In proportion as it
fell in the esteem of the Indians the traders became bold in

their outcries against it. The great American Fur Com-

pany was its most formidable assailant through the aggres-
sive attacks of Ramsay Crooks,'^ that clear-headed, incisive.
and fearless man of affairs who had risen to the general
agency of the company. He w^as ably seconded by the St.
Louis traders and the campaign in Congress was skilfully
handled by that astute leader (or rather, follower) of the
people, Missouri's greatest statesman. Senator Thomas H.
Benton. The fight was a prolonged and severe one, for the ^7
government defended the system with a consciousness of its 1
high merits and of the fact that it had never had half a«.=4^^^
>
y
chance for its life. The struggle ended in the overthrow of V^
the system in March. 1822.
In spite of certain defects of management the factory
system, during its twenty-six years' existence, clearly estab-

lished its ability to fulfil the expectations of its founders.

No better evidence of this need be sought than in the
' The vigorous manner in which Crooks attacked the factory system
is well illustrated in the forcible language with which he congratulated
Senator Benton, upon its overthrow. " I have been honored this morn-
ing, "he wrote on April i, 1822, "with your favor of Friday last and
hasten to congratulate you on your decisive victory The
result is the best possible proof of the value to the country of talents,
intelligence,and perseverance, and you deserve the unqualified thanks
of the community for destroying the pious monster, since to your
unwearied exertions and sound practical knowledge of the whole sub-
ject the country is indebted for its deliverance from so gross and un-
holy an imposition [!]."'
l6 CENTURY OF DISHONOR.

Strenuous efforts of its enemies to get rid of it. The cor-

respondence of the times shows that the factories absorbed a
goodly share of the trade. " As it [the Indian trade] now
stands," wrote Charles Gratiot to John Jacob Astor in 1814,
" it is too precarious for anybody to hazard anything in it
unless the factories were to be abolished." The official rec-

ords show that until near the close of its career, in spite of
the obstacles it had to contend with and the losses growing
out of the War of 18 12, it was self-sustaining.
Thus ended in failure a system fraught with possibilities
of great good to the Indian —
a system, which, if followed
out as it should have been, would have led the Indian to his
new destiny by easy stages and would have averted the long
and bloody wars, the corruption and bad faith, which have
gained for a hundred years of our dealings with the Indians
the unenviable distinction of a " Century of Dishonor."
 CHAPTER III.

EVIL EFFECTS OF COMPETITION.

Example of the Hudson Bay Company —

Weakness of the govern-
ment —Door thrown open to all —
Influence upon the Indians —
British competition.

*jI\AVING withdrawn from direct participation in the

"•^ Indian trade, the obvious duty of the government was
to adopt some method of control which should secure to the
Indian the benefits intended to flow from the factory system.
There was only one way to do this, and that was to grant to
some company a monopoly of the trade. The example of
the Hudson Bay Company is evidence of the great advan-

tage to concerned of the exclusion of competition in a

all

business like the Indian trade. Except in those years when

that company was struggling for supremacy with the North-
west Company, or when competing with American traders
along the border, the conduct of its business was admirably
adapted to secure the greatest good to the Indian. The sale
of liquor was interdicted. The trade was upon a fixed
basis as to prices. The traders were men of long experience
with the Indians and nearly all related to them by marriage.
In all its bearings the policy pursued by this great company
combined what was best in both the factory system and the
practice of private traders in the United States. The result
was that the company was nearly always at peace with the
Indians and avoided those needless misunderstandings
which produced such deplorable results south of the
boundary.
There can be no doubt that this system of monopoly was
better for all concerned than the unrestrained competition
1 MONOPOLY OF TRADE UN-AMERICAN.

which was the rule among American traders. It was im-

measurably better for the Indians. It was much more con-
ducive to the preservation of the fur-bearing animals. It

did not operate any more favorably for the few at the head
and against the many in the ranks than did the system of
trade in the United States; for surely the magnates of the
Hudson Bay Company did not outdo Astor, the Chouteaus,
the Ashleys, the Campbells, and the Sublettes in the accumu-
lation of fortunes, while the underlings of the great monop-
oly were in every way better off than those of the American
companies.
Here again the government was confronted by its ov^-n
weakness. The same unreasonable prejudice which drove
it out of the Indian trade opposed with tenfold greater

vehemence the granting of any exclusive privilege in that

trade. The mere suggestion at one time that such a privi-
lege be granted the American Fur Company (for Ramsay
Crooks was ready enough to take into the bosom of his
company the " pious monster " which he had lately made
such exertions to destroy) called forth a storm of protest
which caused the matter to be dropped as if it had been a red
hot iron. The spirit of American institutions was opposed
to monopoly of all kinds, and in a government w^here the
power rests directly with the people, the creation of such a
monopoly was an impossibility. Thus, in two essential
respects, the government of the United States was power-
less to carry out the policy which it knew to be best.
There was only one course left —
to make the field free
to all comers with special favors to none. That was the true
democratic policy but the most unwise that could have been
adopted. It opened up that never-ending commercial
rivalry in which the survival of the strongest was the only
road to supremacy. It was a fatal error, as we shall see,
and one that lay at the root of many of our later troubles
with the Indians.
The principle thus introduced into the Indian trade was
indeed no other than that which obtains in nearly all
 BRITISH COMPETITION. 21

from the frequent complaints of the American traders, the

matter was a really serious one, but it is not possible to dis-
cover any specific instance in which they suffered from this
cause. The British had the advantage in this alleged com-
petition of being allowed to import liquor, which was
prohibited to the Americans. They could also sell their
goods cheaper because Americans had to pay import duty.
Both of these matters were made the subject of repeated
expostulation with the government by officials of the Amer-
ican Fur Company.^
^ Thus, John Jacob Astor to Senator Benton, Jan. 29, 1829 :
" It is
known that none of the woolen goods fit for the Indian trade, such
as Indian blankets, strouds, and cloths of particular descriptions, are
as yet manufactured in this country. We are therefore obliged to
import them from England, and it so happens that those are just the
articles paying the heaviest duty. The English traders have theirs free
of duty, which enables them to bring their goods 60 per cent and over
cheaper than what we pay and they are thereby enabled to under-
sell us. Their furs and skins cost them little more than half what we
have to pay for ours. But this is not all. They are by these means en-
abled to send their furs here [New York] and actually do come and
undersell the American traders. It is unaccountable that they should
be permitted to bring their furs here free of duty, while we, if we send
any to the British dominions, are obliged to pay 15 per cent duty."
 CHAPTER IV.
THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

Desire of the government to exclude liquor from the Indian country

— Use of liquor by British traders — The practice of smuggling —
Fraudulent use of liquor — Advantages of monoply — Liquor for boat-
men — Competition of the British — Extracts from correspondence —
Law prohibiting liquor — Inferences.
traffic

"^^ HE control of the liquor traffic was the second of the

^^ examples previously cited of the helplessness of the gov-
ernment to give effect to its better intentions toward the
Indian. The degrading and demoralizing influence of
intoxicating spirits upon the Indian was well understood
from the experience of two centuries of frontier life. The
government earnestly desired to avoid, in its future dealings
with these people, a repetition of these evils, and this was
one of the considerations which led to the establishment of
the factory system. When that system was abandoned, and
even before, great care was taken to guard against abuses by
private traders who were forbidden to sell liquor to the
Indians. They were, however, allowed to take a certain
amount on their expeditions for the use of their employes;
but ^vhen became apparent that the liquor so taken was
it

most of it gwen
(not sold, for that would violate the law!)
to the Indians, this privilege was taken away, and the impor-
tation of liquor into the Indian country was interdicted
altogether. Inspectors were stationed at Leavenworth,
Bellevue, and other places to enforce this prohibition.
But the efforts of the government were wholly ineffectual.
In opening the door to free competition in the Indian trade,
it had nullified in advance any provision which it might
 LIQUOR SMUGGLING, 23

enact for the exclusion of ardent spirits. Liquor was the

most powerful weapon which the traders could employ in
their struggles with one another. Its attraction for the
Indian was irresistible, and by means of it he could be
robbed of everything he possessed. No trader could do any
business without it if his opponents were supplied with it.
It was therefore the one indispensable article which the

traders must have at any hazard.^

Another condition operated to the same end. The British
traders made free use of liquor along the border when in
competition with the American traders. As they were out-
side of even the nominal control of the United States Gov-
ernment, the American traders were completely at their
mercy unless they could use liquor in their turn. Earnest
efforts were made to secure permission to use it in this par-
ticular locality, but the government, rightly fearing that a
qualified restriction would be of little value, and that liquor
once in the Indian country would find its way wherever it
was wanted, steadily refused any relaxation of its rules.
There thus arose that stupen'dous practice of smuggling
ardent spirits into the Indian country, which was a promi-
nent feature of the entire history of the Indian trade. The
depths of rascality into which this traf^c fell might well
stagger belief were they not substantiated by the most posi-
tive evidence. The liquor was generally imported in the
form of alcohol, because of the smaller compass for the
same amount of poison. It was stored in every conceiva-
ble form of package. In overland journeys it was generally
carried in short, flat kegs, which would rest conveniently on
the sides of a pack mule. When carried by water it was
concealed in flour barrels, bales of merchandise, or any-
where that it would most likely escape discovery. Some
*
" So violent is the attachment of the Indian for it that he who gives
most is sure to obtain the furs, while should any one attempt to trade
without it he is sure of losing ground with his antagonist. No bar-
gain is ever made without it." Thomas Biddle to Henry Atkinson,
Oct. 29, 1819.
24 THE INDIAN DEFRAUDED.

instances of the sharp practice indulged in to avoid detection

by government inspectors will presently be given.^
In retailing the poisonous stuff (a pure article never
found its way to the Indian) the degree of deception and
cheating could not have been carried further. baneful A
and noxious substance to begin with, it was retailed with
the most systematic fraud, often amounting to a sheer
exchange of nothing for the goods of the Indian. It was
the policy of the shrewd trader first to get his victim so
intoxicated that he could no longer drive a good bargain.
The Indian, becoming more and more greedy for liquor,
would yield up all he possessed for an additional cup or two.
The voracious trader, not satisfied with selling his alcohol at
a profit of many thousand per cent, would now begin to cheat
in quantity. As he filled the little cup which was the stand-
ard of measure, he would thrust in his big thumb and
diminish its Sometimes he would
capacity by one-third.
substitute another cup with the bottom thickened up by
running tallow in until it was a third full. He would also
dilute the liquor until, as the Indian's senses became more
and more befogged, he would treat him to water pure and
simple. In all this outrageous imposition, by which the
Indian was virtually robbed of his goods, it must be con-
fessed that the tricks of the trader had at least this in their
favor that they spared the unhappy and deluded savage
from a portion of the liquor which he supposed he was
getting. The duplicity and crime for which this unhallowed
traffic is responsible in our relations with the Indians have
been equalled but seldom in even the most corrupt of
nations.
another instance where the granting of a monopoly
This is

in the trade would have been the better plan. The more
responsible companies always deplored the use of liquor,
and, moreover, ran great risks of detection if they smuggled
it into the country. The American Fur Company, for
example, shipped its merchandise in great cargoes up the
• See Part IV., Chapter V.
 LIQUOR FOR BOATMEN. .
25

river, and it was impossible to evade inspection by the

authorities at Bellevue or Leavenworth. But the small
trader, who either went overland or picked his stealthy way
in small craft up the river, could easily escape discovery in
that unsettled country. It thus resulted that, while the
company would have been glad hands with the gov-
to join
ernment was met at its dis-
in abolishing the liquor traffic, it

tant posts by these lawless adventurers equipped with this

never-failing passport to the Indian's favor. It was forced
in self-defense to violate the regulations and to become a
common smuggler with those who had no standing to lose.
In order that the view here given of the vital importance
of the liquor traffic in the business of the fur trade may not
appear exaggerated, some extracts will be given from the
correspondence of the traders and the observations of travel-
ers during the period when competition was at its height.
The two extracts which follow show how the privileges
granted to traders in their annual licenses to trade, before
the introduction of liquor into the Indian country was pro-
hibited altogether, were systematically abused " Permis- :

sion is hereby granted to William L. Sublette to take to the

places designated for carrying on trade (places
enumerated here) not exceeding four hundred and fifty
gallons of whiskey for the special use of his boatmen, etc."
He was compelled to give bond not to sell liquor to the
Indians. The shallowness of this pretext will be apparent
when it is known that in the year to which this license
relates, 1832, Sublette took his expedition overland all the
way to the valley of Pierre's Hole and back and did not have,
nor expected to have, occasion to use a single boatman.
Pierre Chouteau, Jr., in a letter to Kenneth McKenzie,
dated April 25, 1828, thus explains how liquor was gotten
to the posts of the interior at that time " The government
:

does not allow us to use liquor in our trade with the Indians.
On the contrary it is expressly forbidden. But it is per-
mitted to take one gill per day for each boatman during the
period of their absence —
that is, for twelve months. It is
20 HUDSON BAY COMPANY AND LIQUOR TRAFFIC.

on this ground that I have obtained permission to take an

amount corresponding to fifty men, twenty-seven of whom
set out from here and twenty-three are now up the country,
I took the names of those who are with you, v/ithout know-

ing whether you will keep them or send them back. That
makes no difference, however, for I explained the matter to
General Clark." In this way about three hundred gallons
of alcohol went up the river to relieve the necessities of the
various posts.
When the bill for the absolute prohibition of the impor-
tation of liquor into the Indian country was before Congress,
John Jacob Astor, General W. H. Ashley,
in a letter to
member of Congress, dated April 2nd, 1822, thus explained
the situation at the upper posts of the Missouri in reference
to their British competitors " A'Yherever the trade is
:

exclusively in the hands of our own citizens, there can be no

doubt that the uniform and complete enforcement of such a
law will be beneficial both to the Indians and the traders;
but at those points where we come in contact with the
Hudson's Bay Company we must either abandon the trade
or be permitted to use it, to a limited extent at least, in order
to counteract, in some measure, the influence of our rivals,
who can introduce any quantity they please.
" Our new posts on the Missouri river above the Mandans
must yield to the superior attractions of our opponents,
unless the government will permit us like them to use
spirituous liquors and the friendly relations we have at last
;

succeeded in establishing wuth the Blackfeet (those invet-

erate enemies of the Americans) at so much expense and
personal hazard, must inevitably be destroyed, and the
British be restored to the unlimited control they have here-
tofore exercised over these Indians.
" If the Hudson's Bay Company did not employ ardent
spirits against us, we would not ask for a single drop. But
without it, competition is hopeless; for the attraction is

irresistible; and if the British traders alone possess the

temptation, they will unquestionably not only maintain, but
 LIQUOR TRAFFIC PROHIBITED. 2/

rivet their influence over all the Indians within their reach,
to the detriment of the United States, in alienating their
affectionsfrom us, and in the loss of a trade to which we
have an undoubted claim."
The bill nevertheless became a law in the July following.'
There can be no doubt that the American Fur Company
looked forward to its possible enforcement with a great deal
of misgiving. " The late law," wrote Pierre Chouteau, Jr.,
to Mr. Astor, " prohibiting absolutely the carrying of liquor
to our trading establishments will do us an incalculable
injury at all the posts above the mouth of the Yellowstone."
Strenuous efforts were made to secure some relaxation in the
enforcement of the law, and the arguments used are thus re-
corded by Ramsay Crooks, who urged them in person before
the Secretary of War " I explained fully to Governor Cass
:

that our sole and only wish for a partial supply was to enable
us to cope with our Hudson Bay opponents at our new posts
above the Mandans, relinquishing it voluntarily everywhere
else as advantageous both to the natives and ourselves.
. .I pointed out the pernicious tendency of its exclu-
.

sion on our side, while they enjoyed the privilege to an un-

*
An
interesting sidelight on the passage of this law is contained in a
letter from Ramsay Crooks to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., dated November
l6, 1832 " I regret truly the blindness of the government in refusing
:

liquor for the trade of the country in the vicinity of the Hudson's Bay
Posts, because the prohibition will not prevent the Indians getting it

from our our most serious injury. It might have been pos-
rivals, to
sible last winter at Washington to accomplish some modification had we
been there together. I have, however, very strong doubts on the sub-
ject, because Gov. Cass is a temperance society man in every sense of
the word, and it was with his full consent and approbation that the
law for its exclusion from the Indian country was passed by the last
Congress, and though I did not go to the Great City, the Chairmen of
the Indian Committees were made as fully acquainted with the sub-
ject in all its bearings as if I bad detailed all the facts to them in per-
son. Had Ashley opposed the bill, his pi^sumed knowledge of Indian
trade would probably have been more than a match for the influence of
the Secretary of War. But it was got up as one of the government
measures of the session, and your representative, as a good Jackson
man, gave it his unqualified support, and secured its passage."
28 THE LAW IMPERATIVE.

limited extent and the absolute certainty of the country be-

;

ing deluged by a larger supply than usual, purposely to show

their superiority over us, degrading us, and with us the
government, in the eyes of the Indians, by our withholding
from them a gratification which was abundantly and cheer-
fully furnished by the British. | I also placed before the
secretary the dangers of our situation flowing from this
source, when stimulated by disappointment, and excited by
our rivals to institute comparisons between themselves and
us, which inevitably must lead to conclusions altogether
unfavorable to the Americans. I pressed upon his attention

the efforts we had made at the risk of the lives of our

people, and much pecuniary cost, to open an intercourse with
our mortal enemies, the Blackfeet, who had on every occa-
sion waged an exterminating war upon our citizens for
upward of twenty years —
the great value of the trade we
had already gained, and the prospect of a large increase we
might calculate upon, when, by our peaceful relations with
the savages of the Falls of the Missouri and Maria's river,
we could extend our intercourse to the Flatheads, and other
tribes— and lastly, the loss of influence which the govern-
ment must sustain in the belief that they would entertain of
its poverty, when contrasted with the affluence and liberality

of the British, who supplied every want, while we denied

them the greatest of all gratifications. I showed him the
entire prostration of all the philanthropic hopes of the gov-
ernment in enacting the late law, and tried to convince him
that it would do infinitely more harm than good until the
article was excluded from the Hudson's Bay territories, as
completely as on our side of the boundary.
" To all this the secretary replied, that the law was Imper-
ative, and the executive had no discretion but to see it
executed to the letter. But as we only desired to use liquor
in our own defense, it would give him pleasure to bring the
subject to the notice of the President and the Secretary of
State (in accordance with a wish I expressed when I found
that nothing else could be obtained) who, he was sure,

N
 TROUBLES OF THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY. 29

would at once enter into a correspondence with the British,

and do all in their power to induce tliat government to
exclude from the trade of the Hudson's Bay Company
every species of spirituous liquors, as effectually, as by law we
have done on our side."
The government adhered strictly to its policy of excluding
liquor from the Indian country, and as a consequence the
fur trade was characterized during all these years by the
crime of smuggling with every incident of fraud and trick-
ery known to that business. It is doubtful if the actual
quantity of liquor imported was by the
sensibly diminished
prohibition while its were aggravated by the clan-
effects
destine methods which the traders were forced to employ.
The American Fur Company was pushed to the severest
straits of all, for its great prominence made it more open to
detection. At one time it undertook to evade the law by
manufacturing liquor in the Indian country. This episode,
which created a great sensation at the time, will be con-
sidered in another place; and instances will be cited to
show how shrewd the company's traders became in getting
their wares past the government inspectors stationed along
the river. There were two occasions in particular when the
pressure upon the American Fur Company was very great,
and when the use of liquor was deemed by its agents abso-
lutely essential to its continuance in the country. The first
of these was in 1833 ^-^^ i834» j^'ist after the prohibitory law
was passed, and when the company was threatened with the
powerful opposition of Sublette and Campbell. The other
was ten years later, when it was again threatened by a
formidable opposition — the
firm of Fox, Livingston and
Company of New York. During all the intermediate period,
however, there were constant demands by the agents of the
company in the field for more liquor,^ and regular replies

*The imperious character of these demands is well illustrated in the

following letter fromHonore Picotte at Fort Pierre to Pierre Chou-
teau, Jr., dated January 4. 1843
" In one thing they [Fox, Livingston and Company] have the advan-
30 PRESSING APPEALS FOR LIQUOR.

from St. Louis, warning the agents of the perils involved in

sending any.
The house in St. Louis nevertheless made every effort to
meet the pressing demands of its agents, and generally
succeeded, not infrequently, it is suspected, by the conniv-
ance of the authorities — at least the following instructions
from Mr. Chouteau to Mr. Picotte would imply as much
" The quantity of A sent," he wrote March 31, 1840,
" is somewhat short of what was asked for, but we think
sufficient. In regard to this article, it has been highly nec-
essary that every possible care be taken, both to prevent its
abuse and to lessen the quantity distributed. Information
respecting this matter has already reached the Department
of the Attorney General, and if our Mr. San ford had not
been at Washington this winter most opportunely, we should
unquestionably have been prevented from sending any at
all this season. You will therefore perceive the necessity of
tage and that is liquor. We know to a certainty that they have five
barrels of alcohol at Cedar Island, seventeen at Fort Union [Fort Mor-
timer near Fort Union], seven of which were taken up by the steam-
boat New Haven last fall from Fort George, and three at Fort Clark.
Mr. Laidlaw writes me that he has no doubt they will open their liquor
as soon as the trade commences, and he says that he has not where-
with to oppose them in that article. If, during the winter, they sell but
part of their liquor, they will ne.xt year send the remainder to Fort Mc-
Kenzie. By that time we will not have a single drop in the country.

With their liquor on one side and the Hudson Bay Company's on the
other we are sure to lose the trade of that part next season. Pratte
and Cabanne have twelve kegs en cache at the head of the Cheyenne
which they will trade in the spring if they are not closely watched, and
every day some one comes over from the St. Peter's [river in Minnesota]
with that article, not in great quantity, it is true, but enough to injure
the trade. Under these circumstances you see plainly that we must
lose the Blackfeet and Assiniboine trade next year unless we have
liquor. I therefore request you to use all your influence to send us

some of that article next year, say four or five hundred gallons in can-
teens, kegs, even in bottles, if in no other way. It will require that

quantity to compete with Cutting [agent of Fox, Livingston and Com-

pany]. Perhaps Mr. Chouteau can get a permit. I will bind my-
self [ !] not to make use of it among the Sioux, Rees, Gros Ventres
[Minnetarccs], or Mandans. At all events zvc must have it."
 PROHIBITION DOES NOT PROHIBIT. 3I

some amendment in this matter, and we trust that you will

not fail to use every vigilance to effect it."

The extracts which have been given here from the unpub-
lished records of the times exhibit in a clear light the
deplorable effects of the liquor traffic in those early years,
not only upon the business of the fur trade, but upon the
native tribes as well. They show that, while the gov-
ernment steadfastly maintained on its statute books a regu-
lation designed to protect the Indian, it was never able to
carry it into effect. They afford another proof,
one were if
necessary, of the truth that the mere embodiment of a moral
purpose in legislation, regardless of its bearing upon the
practical affairs of life, is no guarantee of its successful
accomplishment. Finally they furnish an early illustration
of the modern aphorism that " Prohibition does not
prohibit."
 CHAPTER V.

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE FUR TRADE.

Means of transportation — The keelboat — The steamboat — The

canoe —
The mackinaw boat —
The bull-boat — Steamboat voyages —
The caravan —
The rendezvous —
The express — The cache — " Fall "
and " spring " hunts.

CKT. LOUIS, the principal mart and outfitting point for

*"^ the fur trade, was from one to two thousand miles
distant from the best hunting grounds. The matter of
transportation to and from regions so remote was, it will
readily be understood, one of very great importance. All
that portion of the traffic, by far the larger part of the whole,
which was confined to the immediate valley of the Missouri,
was carried in river craft, mostly in steamboats or keel-
boats. In downstream navigation use was made of macki-
naws, bull-boats or canoes, which were borne along by the
current with but slight assistance from the oars. The
interior expeditions to the valleys of the Great Salt Lake
and Green river were at first conducted by pack trains, but
later largely with wagons. The later Santa Fe trade was
carried on principally with wagons.

THE KEELBOAT.
The early commerce of the Missouri was always romantic
and interesting and not infrequently full of peril. ^ The
keelboat, the historic predecessor of the steamboat, was
extensively used down to 1830, and did not disappear from
the river for several years thereafter. It was a boat of no

*
For a description of the Missouri river and its tributaries, and a
consideration of the origin and application of the name " Missouri,
see Part V., Chapter III.
 THE KEELBOAT. 33

mean dimensions, averaging from sixty to seventy-five feet

long, fifteen to eighteen feet beam, and three to four feet
depth of hold. It was built on a regular model, with a keel
running from bow to stern, whence its name. Rising from
the deck some four or five feet was the cargo box, cut off
at each end about twelve feet shorter than the boat. This
part of the boat, as the name implies, was generally used
for freight, but was occasionally fitted up with staterooms
when used for passengers only. The boat was built on
thorough principles of ship craft, and was a strong, sub-
stantial vessel.
The means of propulsion were various, and were intended
to utilize all the forces which man and nature rendered
available. The cordelle wasmain reliance
the —
a long line
attached to the top of a high mast, which stood a little for-
ward of the center of the boat. It passed through a ring,
which was fastened by a short line to the bow to help guide
the boat, and was drawn by from twenty to forty men strung
along the shore. The reason for attaching it to the mast
was that it might swing clear of the brush on the bank.
It often happened at river crossings and elsewhere that
the cordelle could not be used, and in such cases poles had
to be resorted to. These were of various lengths suited to
convenient handling, and were equipped with balls or knobs
at the upper ends to rest in the hollow of the shoulder. To
propel the boat by means of these poles the voyageurs were
ranged in single file on each side of the deck near the bow,
facing aft. Planting their poles on the river bottom, point-
ing down stream, they pushed steadily against them, at
the same time walking towards the stern along the passe
avant, a narrow walk some fifteen inches wide on each side
of the cargo box, while the boat, yielding to their pressure,
moved ahead.
It now and
then happened that deep water was found in
places where neither pole nor cordelle could be used. Oars
were then resorted to, of which there were five or six on
each side of the bow.
34 THE CANOE AND MACKINAW.

A very important rJd, strange as it may seem, considering

the character of a stream like the Missouri, was the sail. It
was at times of great assistance, and even sufficient of itself
to propel the boat against the current.
Thus by one means or now and then by all
another, and
together, the early keelboatworked and worried its way up
the turbulent current of the Missouri. The best known
record for a long journey, say a thousand miles, was
eighteen miles per day, while the average was scarcely more
than twelve or fifteen. There are several records where
keelboats were extensively used for transporting troops, and
one in which propeller wheels were provided to be manipu-
lated through hand power by the soldiers. Whatever the
method of propulsion, however, the task was always
extremely laborious, and the large force and attendant
expense required were one of the great arguments for trying
the experiment, then considered a very doubtful one on the
Missouri, of introducing the steamboat.

THE CANOE.
The wooden canoe, dug out from the trunk of the cotton-
wood, and hence often called a " dugout," was a very useful
craft. Many a journey w^as made in these crude boats, from
the heart of the wilderness two thousand miles away to St.
Louis. They were extensively used for local traffic in the
neighborhood of the posts.

THE MACKINAW.
The mackinaw was a flat-bottomed boat pointed at both
ends, sometimes forty to fifty feet long with twelve feet
beam, and three to four feet depth of hold. The oarsmen,
four in number, were bestowed in the bow, and the steers-
man on a high perch in the stern, while the cargo was piled
up in the space between them. The current was the main
reliance for propulsion. The cargo was about fifteen tons,
the rate of progress seventy-five to one hundred miles per
day, and the cost about two dollars per day, or about one
 THE BULL-BOAT AND STEAMBOAT. 35

and a half mills per mile-ton. The boats were cheaply made,
and were intended only for downstream navigation, being
abandoned at St. Louis. They were the cheapest of all
methods for carrying freight down the river.

THE BULL-BOAT.
The bull-boat was made of buffalo sewn together and
skins
stretched over a frame of willow and cottonwood poles.
The size was commonly about twelve by thirty feet and
twenty inches deep. It had the least draught of any river
craft, and was therefore best adapted to such shallow
streams as the Platte. The cargo generally consisted of
robes,and amounted to two and a half tons weight, which
caused a draught of only about four inches. These boats,
in one form or another, saw extensive service on Western
rivers.
THE STEAMBOAT.
It has seldom happened in history that the introduction of
labor-saving devices has not robbed society to some extent
of what was poetic and sentimental, and replaced it by
something more prosaic and matter of fact. The Missouri
river steamboat was an exception, for wdth all the romance
that attached to the old keelboat, its own history was more
romantic still. The sight of one of these noble vessels,
standing high above the water line and well above the high-
est banks, its white form sharply outlined against the foliage
of the bottoms, its lofty chimneys pouring out clouds of
smoke, its apparent ease in stemming the swift current, and
finally, its strange and supernatural appearance to the rude

inhabitants of the prairies, gave it a character distinctly

its own. It was found to accomplish a great saving over
the cost of the keelboat, and it consequently came rapidly
into use, at first in the fur trade, and later in every kind of
business, public or private, that was transacted along the
river. No feature of frontier life is more intimately
blended with the history of the Western country than the
Missouri river steamboat.
36 ANNUAL VOYAGES,

It was an attractive looking craft. Unlike the ocean

vessel, which is in large part below the water line, the river
boat drew only three or four feet, and was therefore almost
entirely above the surface, giving it an apparent size rela-
tively much greater than that of the ocean vessel. The boats
were flat bottomed, and were formerly propelled with side
wheels, but later with one wheel in the stern. The freight
storage was in the hold, but everything else — boilers,
engine, cabins and all —
was above the main deck. Suitable
appliances were placed on the forecastle for handling
freight, while powerful capstans, lines and spars were pro-
vided to help over the shallow places.
The handling of these boatswas a science in itself, and
the Missouri river pilot had a more difficult role to fill than
ever fell to a navigator on the high seas. Not even the perils
of Mississippi river navigation, now permanently fixed in
literaturethrough the genius of Mark Twain, were to be
compared with those of its great western tributary.
The annual voyages of the steamboats were great events,
both at St. Louis and the various posts. The boat carried
the necessary outfit for a year's trade, and generally also a
hundred or more people for service in the Indian country.
Besides the regular crew of the boats, there were engages
to recruit the force in the field or to replace those whose
terms were about to expire. There were generally a partner
and one or more clerks returning from a visit to St, Louis.
More than likely there were several missionaries aboard,
while the cabin lists frequently included gentlemen o£
science or leisure, who made the trip in the interests of their
researches, on account of their love of adventure.
or
Finally there were never lacking the copper countenances of
the native inhabitants, who were always sending deputations
to St. Louis for one purpose or another. The crew and
passengers made up a motley assemblage, the like of which,
for picturesque variety, was probably never beheld except in
a Missouri river steamboat.
 LEAVING PORT. 37

Without following the long monotonous career of the

boat, through the innumerable of its long journey,
difficulties
it will here suffice to note the beginning and end of the
voyage. The departure of the boat from St. Louis was
naturally an event of much importance. Those who were
going to service in the wilderness would be absent several
years, while even those who were to return had perils
enough before them to make their absence a matter of
anxiety to friends. With most of the common passengers,
and particularly with the engages, the parting was anything
but a scene of sorrow. The previous days and nights were
given over to general carousal and dissipation, with the
result that when the hour of sailing arrived, a goodly num-
ber were unable to walk aboard the boat, and were either
carried on or left altogether. It occasionally happened that
those so left would recover in time to hie across the country
to St. Charles before the steamboat passed that point.
As the boat pulled out into the stream, those on board
opened a running salute of musketry, accompanied by such
other accessories as were at hand, and the uproar continued
until the boat was practically out of hearing. The exuber-
ant spirits of the crew then settled down to the serious task
of reducing things to order. This was a most important
proceeding, for ordinarily on leaving port the deck of the
boat presented a scene of inextricable confusion, with
packages of all descriptions strewn about and passengers
not yet assigned to their quarters. The engages were first
given their allowance of blankets and other equipments, and
then work was begun at storing away the cargo. Order
began gradually to from the general chaos, and before
rise
nightfall the vesselhad taken on the appearance which it
would continue to wear during the rest of the trip.
Thus the long voyage through the prairies was begun.
Week after week passed as the boat toiled up the river, stop-
ping at the various posts, until finally the scene shifted to the
most remote establishment which it was expected to visit.
The dreary routine of the trader's life suddenly changed to

J 'J
3cS THE CARAVAN.

unwonted activity. The long-looked-for annual boat was

in sight —
the great event of the year —
with news from
the outside world, and all the business matters that made up
the purpose of the journey. The fort manned its guns —
for had several small cannon mounted in the bastions
it

— and a hearty salute of welcome was fired. The boat

vigorously responded. Everybody about the fort crowded
to the scene — the bourgeois for whom a respectful space
was made in the crowd,and the clerks, artisans, storekeep-
ers, groups of free trappers, and bands of Indians, forming
in all as wild and motley a crowd as boat ever met in port.
Immediately upon landing, and even before the inter-
change of salutations was complete, the unloading of the
cargo was begun. No time was to be lost in navigating the
Missouri. Should the spring rise go down before the return
of the boat, she would have to stay up all the year, as hap-
pened with the steamer Assiniboine in 1834-35. Night and
day the roustabouts of the boat and the engages of the fort
were busy carrying off the goods and carrying on the furs.
A banquet on the boat and another with the bourgeois com-
pleted the festivities, and almost before the denizens of the
fort had taken their eyes from the strange visitor, she had
hauled in her lines and was speeding back to St. Louis. The
crowd of passengers was not so large as on the ascending
voyage, although there was still a goodly list, comprised
mostly of those whose terms of service had expired, of
partners in the business, whom the affairs of the concern
called to St. Louis, and of the travelers who went up for the
trip.
THE CARAVAN.
The caravans ^ which followed the land route to the
mountains or to Santa Fe were, of course, a very different
sort of organization from the steamboat and its crew as —
^ This term was not often used with reference to the Rocky
Mountain
expeditions, although entirely applicable to them. Its more common
occurrence was in the Santa Fe trade. The British companies called
their supply parties from the east brigades, a term which was occasion-
ally used in the earlier years of the American trade, but which quickly
fell into disuse.
 THE RENDEZVOUS. 39

different aswas the rendezvous at their destination from the

trading post on the river. They generally made their
starting point at Independence, Mo. In the earlier years
pack trains were exclusively used; later wagons were
resorted to for a part of the distance. Mules were used as
pack animals, and experts in the art of packing disposed the
unwieldy cargoes with marvelous skill upon the unwilling
beasts. The caravans moved fifteen to twenty-five miles
per day, and camped at the end of each day's journey
wherever good grass, wood, and water were to be found.
Great caution was always taken to guard against Indian
attacks.
THE RENDEZVOUS.
After about a month's wanderings, the caravan arrived
at theannual rendezvous in some valley, where it had been
arranged the previous year that the mountain parties should
meet at a particular date. Hither from all directions came
the roving population of the surrounding country. First
there were the bands of trappers who were in the regular
employ of the companies, and who had passed
a long and
lonesome winter among the mountains. Then there were
the freemen, who gathered with the rest to dispose of the
fruits of their labors. To the same spot came numerous
bands of Indians also with furs or horses to sell.
As soon as everyone expected had arrived, the business
began. The parties belonging to the company turned over
their furs, and received their wages and a new equipment.
The free trappers and the Indians trafficked their furs on
the best attainable terms, and purchased their equipments
for the ensuing year. While all this business was going on,
and while the cargoes were being made ready for the home-
ward journey, the heterogeneous assemblage went in for a
good time. The flat alcohol kegs were broached, liquor
flowed like water, and the wildest tumult at length ensued,
ending not infrequently with fatal results. The debauch
extended likewise to the Indians, many of whom were
presently reduced to a state of the most abhorrent and
40 FUR PACKS.

revolting intoxication. Gambling was actively rushed dur-

ing the whole time, and few were the trappers who did not
pay a heavy tribute upon the altar of chance. In fact, with
gaming, treating, and feasting, most of the hard earnings
of a year's toil found their way directly back into the
pockets of the company at the enormous profit which their
prices secured. The caravan then returned to the States,
and the sore-headed trappers, after recovering from their
dissipation, betook themselves with heavy hearts but light
pockets to their lonely retreats in the mountains, there to
pass another three hundred and sixty days in peril and toil,
that they might spend five in drunken frolic.
The mountain rendezvous was a remarkable gathering,
entirely unique in American history. Few finer subjects
for a great painting could be found than one of these assem-
blages as they used to take place in the upper valley of the
Green river under the Wind river mountains, or in Pierre's
Hole under the Three Tetons. The rendezvous, as it was in
its best days, was a very transient institution, continuing at

most for only about a decade. But its brief career was full
of thrilling incidents.
PACKS.
In transporting the furs to market, they were disposed in
packs weighing about one hundred pounds.^ They were
very securely packed and so wrapped as to protect them
from the weather. It was a costly and perilous undertaking
to move the heavy cargoes that were obtained at these ren-
dezvous on their long journey to St. Louis, and it is said
that General Ashley once offered a dollar a pound to any
one who would insure him against loss during the transpor-
tation.
A common unit of price in the earlier years of the trade
was a first-class beaver skin, worth in the neighborhood of
six dollars. It was called a plus, and was much used at
that time.
^
A pack of furs contained ten buffalo robes, fourteen bear, sixty
otter, eighty beaver, eighty raccoon, one hundred and twenty foxes, or
six hundred muskrat skins.
 THE EXPRESS AND CACHE. 4I

THE EXPRESS.
Along the Missouri valley communication by express
was had at intervals throughout the year with St. Louis.
Such was the case occasionally from the mountains. The
express down the valley was generally by canoe, except in
winter, when dog trains were used above Council Bluffs,
and saddle horses below. The upbound express was always
overland above Council Bluffs. The express was an import-
ant matter. It gave the officials at St. Louis news from their
remote establishments, brought down the requisitions from
the various posts for the next year's supplies, and reported
the state of the winter, the approximate depth of snow in
the mountains, and the probable time of its melting, whereby
the company was able to plan its annual voyage with at least
a shadow of relation to the condition of high water in the
river. The express from St. Louis likewise contained the
important correspondence relative to the business.
THE CACHE.
Of the many terms peculiar to the fur trade no one was of
more common use than the word cache. It frequently
happened that parties had to abandon temporarily the prop-
erty they were carrying, with the intention of returning for
it at a more convenient time. The property so abandoned
was cached or concealed so as to prevent its loss or injury.
The use of the word in this specific meaning is very old and
of course came through the French to whose language it
belongs. The cache, as ordinarily prepared, consisted of
a deep pit in the ground in the construction of which the
point of paramount importance was to avoid any trace of
the work which might attract attention after it was com-
pleted. The size of the pit depended upon the quantity it
was to hold, and sometimes it was very spacious and con-
tained wagons and other bulky material. The best site was
in a dry soil, easily excavated and in a situation that afford-
ed good facilities for concealment. The pit was lined with
sticks and dry leaves after which the goods were carefully
^2 SPRING AND FALL HUNTS.

disposed therein, and all perishable articles, such as provi-

sions or fur, were protected with the utmost care. This was
a vital matter for it frequently happened that valuable
articles were found spoiled.
The
greatest difficulty in the preparation of a cache was
its concealment after completion. From the sharp eyes of
the sons of the prairies no trace however minute would
escape. They might be peering over some neighboring
precipice as were the Crows when the returning Astorians
were making a cache on the shores of Snake river in 1812.
The concealment consisted simply in removing all evidence
of the cache —
never by any sort of covering. The point
was to leave the ground looking just as it did before. If
in turf, the sod was scrupulously replaced. In other places
it was usual to build a camp fire over the cache and thus

not only obliterate all evidence of the work but divert atten-
tion as well.
With all this care caches were often discovered and
" raised " or " lifted " by those who had no right to them.
Wolves often dug them out and their work would discover
them to the Indians. The trappers themselves, as a general
thing, respected the caches of rival parties.
Caches were occasionally made in the sides of vertical
cliffs. Such a bank in the Wind River valley once caved in
while work was going on and killed two men. They were
also made in the trunks of trees, in clefts of rocks and
other places, but nearly always in the ground.
These caches sometimes attained notoriety and have left
their names in various localities. Cache valley, Utah, is
an example, as were the " caches " on the Arkansas river.
There are also numerous "Cache creeks" scattered through-
out the West.

THE SPRING AND FALL HUNTS.

Few
terms are more familiar in the nomenclature of the
fur than spring and fall hunts.
trade Most of the
beaver fur was taken in these two seasons. In the summer
 SPRING FURS BEST, 43

the fur was not in g-ood condition, and the trapper improved
this period of enforced inactivity to visit the annual rendez-
vous or some trading post, to settle his accounts for the
year, to secure a new equipment, and to return to the theater
of his approaching- fall hunt. In the winter the climate
was too severe for work, the peril of travel was extreme,
the streams were frozen over, and the beaver was hibernating
in his lodge. The trapper again made a virtue of necessity,
selected some safe and sheltered retreat, and whiled away
the long and lonely winters as best he could.
The severity of the winter seemed to add quality to the
fur, and skins taken in the spring hunts were better than
those taken in the fall,
 CHAPTER VI.

TRADING POSTS.

Great number of trading posts —

Description of a typical trading
post —
Defensive features —
Interior arrangements —
The chantier —
Smaller posts —
Life at the trading posts —
Arrival of the annual con-
voy —
Journals of the posts —
Geographical distribution.

'TT O one who has never given the subject especial atten-
^^ tion, the large number of establishments, dignified
with the name of forts, posts, or houses, that existed in
the heart of the wilderness long before the tide of western
emigration had set in, would seem almost incredible. In
1843 there were in existence in the country tributary to
St. Louis no fewer than one hundred and fifty occupied
or abandoned posts. The names of more than one hundred
have been recovered while the casual hints thrown out in the
narratives and correspondence of the times make certain the
existence of a much larger number. Some of these were
really great establishments and lasted many years others
;

were very temporary affairs, being occupied only for a

season or two. Abandoned sites were frequently reoccu-
pied, often by different companies who christened them
with new names.
By far the greater number of these posts lay along the
Missouri river, and a glance at our map will show a crowd-
ing of names which even modern settlement scarcely equals.
Most of the names have long been buried in oblivion, and
are here resurrected as from the tomb of history. Many
are permanently while others can not be cleared of un-
lost,

certainty as to their true location and ownership. Many

of the names are perpetuated in towns and villages which
have grown up on or near the old sites. Others, that should
 </

: ,1 tfr'.<rr^r%rnfirfi<rrrifi.(ii(ff(rirrri<Bii '
^

.
,^^^^^u.^^^^^^«^A..^.^.nv...^^^^^.^.^^

i H^^WI^».A^^«OT.l^^m^^^«^...y

GROUND n.AN OK A TYPICAL TRADING POST

(Fort Pierre)
From a draiving by Maximilian

ff. Two-story block-houses. Upper story adapted for use of small arms; lower
story for cannon.
gg. Front and back of quadrangle 114 paces in length; other sides 108 paces;
inner area 87 by 87 paces.
dd. One-Story residence of bourgeois of post.
e. Office and residence of clerk.
aaaa. Residence of other clerks, interpreter, engages, and their families.
cc. Stores.
gg: Entrance doors to fort.
b. Garden.
 THE TYPICAL TRADING POST. 45

have survived on account of their great importance, have

passed entirely out of use.
These estabhshments w^ere generally designated as
" Forts." Their primary purpose was trade, but in a land
of savage and treacherous inhabitants they served the pur-
pose of protection as w^ell. Their construction was there-
fore adapted to both ends. The ground plan of the typical
trading post was always a rectangle, sometimes square, but
generally a little longer in one direction than the other.
The sides varied in length from one to four hundred feet
depending upon the magnitude of the trade which the post
must accommodate. In order to ensure the necessary pro-
tection the fort was enclosed with strong walls of wood or
adobe. There were a few posts built of adobe, but these
were the exception. The typical fort was protected by
wooden palisades or pickets varying from twelve to eighteen
feet high and from four to eight inches thick. In some
instances the pickets were squared and set in juxtaposition
in others they were halt round pieces formed by sawing
logs in halves. They were set from two to three feet in
the ground and the earth was generally banked up to a small
height against them. In some forts there were musketry
loopholes along the top of this embankment. For the pur-
poses of guard duty and also for active defense a plank walk
was bracketed to the inside of the pickets about four feet
below the top so that sentinels could walk there and observe
the ground outside. In case of attack the defenders could
mount this walk and fire over the palisades or through
the loopholes provided for the purpose.
The main reliance for defense consisted of two bastions,
or blockhouses, as they were commonly called, placed at
diagonally opposite corners of the fort. They were square
in plan, fifteen to eighteen feet on a with two stories,
side,
and were generally covered with a roof. The lower floor
was a few feet above the level of the ground and was
loopholed for the small cannon which all the more impor-
tant posts possessed. Above the artillery floor was another
46 INTERIOR ARRANGEMENTS.

for the musketry defense with about three loopholes on each

exposed face. The blockhouse stood entirely outside the
main enclosure, its inner corner joining the corner of the
fort so that it two sides; that is, the defenders in
flanked
each bastion could fire along the outer face of two sides of
the fort and thus prevent any attempt to scale or demolish
the walls.
A
" fort " thus constructed was really very strong and
was an enemy without artillery.
practically impregnable to
A host of savages armed with bows and arrows or with the
indifferent firearms of those days could make no impression
upon it, and the garrison could look with indifference upon
any attack, however formidable, so long as they used rea-
sonable precaution and were supplied with provisions and
ammunition. There is no record of a successful siege of a
stockaded fort in the entire history of the fur trade west of
the Mississippi.
The necessaryprerequisite of defense having been satis-
fied, the other arrangements of the fort related to the pur-
poses of trade. The entrance was through a strong and
heavy door provided with a wicket through which the door-
keeper could examine a person applying for admittance. In
the more elaborate posts there was a double door, with a
room and a trading counter between them. The Indians
were admitted only to this space for purposes of trade.
In the single-door posts trading was sometimes conducted
through the wicket when there was suspicion of danger.
On the opposite side of the enclosure from the entrance
stood the house of the bourgeois, usually the most pre-
tentious building in the post. Nearby stood the office and
the house of the clerks. Along one side of the quad-
rangle stood the barracks of the engages while across the
square were the store houses for the merchandise, provisions,
furs, and peltries. There were also buildings for shops,
of which the blacksmith shop was most important. A fur
press was a necessary part of the establishment. The build-
ings usually stood with their back walls on the line of tlie
 THE CHANTIER. 47

enclosure and for the distance covered by them they some-

times replaced the pickets. In the center of the enclosure
was a large square or court in which ordinarily stood a piece
of artillery trained upon the entrance, and a flag staff from
which the ensign of the republic daily floated to the prairie
breeze.
Close to the fort, and itself protected by a strong enclo-

sure, with a communication through the walls of the fort,

there was often to be found a small field in which common
vegetables were raised for the garrison. Then there was
always some protection for the horses which were the great
object of the Indian forays. Sometimes the corral was
outside and close to the fort; but in many cases the stock
was brought within the walls. On the plains around the
post there was scarcely ever absent the characteristic tent
of the Indian, and at certain seasons they were scattered by
hundreds in every direction.
Near most of the larger river posts there was some
spot selected where timber was abundant at which the
pickets and lumber for the posts were manufactured, the
mackinaw boats and the canoes built, and such other work
done as the establishment required. These places were
called chanticrs, the French for shipyard, and the name
has survived in one or two places, as at Chantier creek in-
South Dakota and Shonkin creek, which was first called
Chantier creek, a little below Fort Benton in Montana. The
Fort Pierre chantier was commonly called the Navy Yard
and was twenty miles or so above the post.
The description above given applies only to the larger
posts. There were besides a great number of smaller posts,
which were intended for temporary occupancy only and
were accordingly of a much less pretentious character. In
many cases the resources of the traders did not permit of
anything except the most primitive structures. Generally
these posts or houses were simply log buildings, perhaps two
or three huddled together, but often only one. They were
scattered all over the West and the names and localities
of most of them have been forgfotten.
48 LIFE AT THE TRADING POST.

In the upper Missouri country the smaller posts were not

independent establishments but were connected with some
larger post from which they received supplies, equipment,
and men and to which they sent the produce of their trade.
Union and Pierre are the most prominent examples of
the larger posts, to each of which there were connected a
number of smaller establishments.
Life at these trading posts, buried as they were in the
depths of the wilderness, a thousand miles, often, from civili-
zation, could not but be dull, uninteresting, and lonely, for the
greater part of the year. Few indeed were the diversions
that came to enliven the humdrum life of the garrison, yet
occasionally there were excitement and hilarity to spare.
For the most part the steady routine of w^ork kept up day
by day — receiving and dismissing bands of Indians who
came in to trade, watching the country for signs of buffalo
and when they came sending parties out to hunt them, pre-
paring and dispatching the winter express to St. Louis,
cutting wood for the annual steamboat at such posts as
were on the river, keeping the account books, journals, and
correspondence of the posts, receiving returns from subor-
dinate houses, and baling and pressing furs for St. Louis.
Once or twice a year bundles of newspapers arrived from the
outer world and these were read and re-read until worn
out by the handling. Occasionally distinguished visitors
passed weeks or months at the post, thus adding a new and
interesting element to its life. Hunting was the one great
amusement and in this the buffalo chase stood supreme.
There was of course a variety of games and the Fort Pierre
journal occasionally mentions them in its records. The ar-
rival of bands of free trappers was always signalized by a
season of debauch in which the astute trader got not only all
the furs, but generally all the money he had paid for them.
As there were competing establishments at most of the
important situations a degree of social intercourse was kept
"
up between them. There were " calls " and " dinners
back and forth, for the exigencies of competition were never
 ARRIVAL OF ANNUAL CONVOY. 49

permitted to interfere with those amenities which are nat-

urally observed between man and man.
The most notable event in the life of the trading post
was the arrival of the annual convoy from the States, wheth-
er the steamboat or keelboat on the Missouri, the brigade
in the mountains, or the caravan on the plains. This was
the time when the business of the past year was closed up
and a new year begun. Engages whose terms of service had
expired might now return home while others came to take
their places. The convoy brought merchandise for the next
year's trade, packages and letters from friends, and papers
from the outside world. It took back the cargoes of furs
and peltries gathered during the year and such of the force
whose terms of service had expired and who did not wish to
remain longer. The arrival of the Missouri steamboat in
particular was an event looked forward to with the most
eager interest. When the time had come to expect it Indian
runners were dispatched down the river a hundred miles
or so to bring the first news of her approach. Then the
bourgeois and his clerk would sometimes set out in a canoe
and meet the boat on her way. When the lofty smoke
stacks burst into sight from behind the last bluff which
excluded her from view, the fort let go, in joyful salute,
such artillery as it possessed, while the whole population—
traders, engages, and Indians — went down to the bank to
bid welcome to the visitor.
At the more important posts a daily journal of events
was regularly kept. Fragments of those at Forts Pierre,
Clark, and Union have been preserved and give us an inside
view of the kind of life that was led there.^
In the matter of geographical distribution the controlling
factor in the location of the posts was the convenience of
the Indians. Not infrequently the tribes arbitrarily desig-
nated the spots where the posts should be built. The geog-
raphy of the country exercised an important influence on
the commercial value of any situation. The post at the
*
See Appendix F.
50 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.

mouth of the Yellowstone, for example, commanded the

commerce of two great rivers and became a most important
establishment. So throughout the West in all those situa-
tions like the mouth of the Yellowstone, the mouth of the
Laramie, the heart of the Blackfoot, Sioux, and Mandan
Arkansas and South Platte,
countries, the headwaters of the
where the advantages for trade were greatest, the trading
post arose. In general there were two or three such posts
belonging to different companies.
 CHAPTER VII.

THE TRAPPING FRATERNITY.

The Bourgeois or Partisan — The hunter and trapper — Camp keep-

ers— Free trappers — The voyageur — The American hunter — Arti-
sans — Mangeurs de lard — Habits of — Physiognomy — Dress
thrift
— Shelter — Wages — Desertion — Language — Lack of interest in ge-
ology, etc.

TfTj NDER this title will be considered the wandering pop-

^^ ulation of the Western country who entered it upon
its discovery for purposes of trade and adventure, and who
for many years were the sole representatives of white occu-
pancy. Their life was peculiar and forms a distinct and
unique phase in the growth of American communities. It
was the first phase of this" growth, for it was the trader, the
trapper, and the hunter who paved the way for the settlement
and development that were to follow.
It would scarcely be possible to propose any distinct type
as characteristic of the trapping fraternity. In the first
place there were three separate nationalities, American,
French and Spanish, who carried into the life of the West
their peculiar national traits quite Independently of the par-
ticular work in which they were engaged. Then there was
a wide variety of occupation in the business of the fur trade
and the individual who filled one role might be a very differ-
ent sort of man from him who filled another. It is therefore
necessary to consider the various features of this early busi-
ness in order to understand what manner of man was partic-
ularly suited to each.

THE BOURGEOIS AND THE PARTISAN.

By these terms were usually designated those who had
 52 THE BOURGEOIS AND PARTISAN.

charge of the trading posts and field expeditions of the vari-

C
ous companies. The bourgeois was the manager of the
trading post, while the partisan was the leader of the expe-
dition, for it will be borne in mind that there were two
distinct methods of conducting the fur business, one at per-
manent posts and the other at temporary rendezvous. The
bourgeois had absolute authority at his post, and conducted
his business with an almost military discipline. He usually
dined either alone or with a few only of the leading subor-
dinates. The distinction of rank was strictly drawn and the
common mongciir de lard would no sooner presume unbid-
den to hold social intercourse with his bourgeois than would
a soldier with his regimental commander. In some of the
posts in the early days the bourgeois wore a kind of uni-
form. This was particularly true of that considerable
leaven which came into the American fur trade through
the Columbia Fur Company. McKenzie at Fort Union
wore uniform and so for a time did Laidlaw at Pierre.
The bourgeois was nearly always a partner in the com-
pany. He was director in chief of all the business at the
particular post of which he was in charge and controlled
the policyof trade with the Indians who belonged geograph-
ically to it. He organized parties of trappers to work up
particular streams, and sent individual traders to such tribes
as he thought necessary. He employed hunters to keep the
post supplied with fresh meat and he directed to what extent
gardening should be carried on, or other means be adopted
to provide subsistence at his own and the outlying posts.
He selected certain subordinates to conduct the trade with
visiting Indians, others to care for and pack the furs for
shipment, while he attended to the correspondence with the
company at St. Louis or with his lieutenants at detached
stations.
His duties were of the most comprehensive nature and it

required a man of great administrative ability to manage

them. And so we find that the bourgeois at such posts as
Pierre and Union or Bent's Fort on the Arkansas were men
 THE CLERK. 53

of a high order of ability. Kenneth McKenzie, WilHam

Laidlaw, Alexander Culbertson, William Bent, and others
were fit men to command armies, manage great railroads, or
fillany high calling to which the fortune of life might have
led them. No commander of a military post on the frontier
ever carried a greater responsibility than did these important
bourgeois, whose authority covered a vast stretch of terri-
tory where the rule of law did not reach and where they had
to deal continually with restless adventurers and savage men.
What was true of the bourgeois of the great posts was
equally true of the partisan or leader of the itinerant expe-
ditions. The nature of their business was somewhat differ-
ent, but the qualities of success were the same and one may
find the counterparts of the McKenzies and Culbertsons of
the trading posts in the Ashleys, Smiths, and Sublettes of
the mountains,
CLERK.
Next in importance to the bourgeois was the clerk,
whose duties placed him first in line of promotion. He was
entitled to the same social rank as the bourgeois, and in
the latter's absence succeeded to his duties. He was fre-
quently in command of posts, and his work on the whole
was the most exacting of any that pertained to the trade.
He was often required to take an outfit of merchandise
and proceed to some Indian village, there to reside in the
lodge of a chief until the trade of the band had been ex-
hausted.
There were usually several clerks at the more important
posts. The most trusted of them were frequently stock-
holders or partners in the companies for which they were
working, but ordinarily they were only salaried employes.

THE HUNTER AND TRAPPER.^

The hunters and trappers can hardly be said to have
constituted a distinct class, for they were men who could
* The term " mountaineer " was extensively used in describing the
personnel of the mountain expeditions.
54 THE HUNTER AND TRAPPER.

turn their hand to ahnost any work that fell in their way.
There were, indeed, in ever}^ expedition skilled hunters
whose duty it was to beat up the country along the route
and provide meat for the party, and there were also men
who followed the streams exclusively and spent their lives
trapping beaver; but in general the hunter was a versatile
genius who adapted himself to whatever duty presented
itself.

When it was desired to work up a section of country by

trapping its streams, it was the usual practice for the larger
parties to break up into small groups, each group taking a
particular stream or locality. In this way lone bands would
penetrate to the most obscure and inaccessible retreats of
the mountains and remain perhaps weeks or months with-
out seeing another individual than their own party. It was
not often, however, that the resources of a stream took long
to exhaust them and the parties usually reappeared after a
few days, ready to take up another stream or join the main
party in a move to a different locality. Frequently the
danger from the Indians forbade separation into small
groups and the whole party had to keep together.
The life of these lonely hermits of the mountains, like the
solitary sheepherder of today, seems unendurable to one who
is fond of social intercourse, or at least of seeing now and
then some one or more of his fellowmen. The habit of
seclusion, however, seemed to grow upon the individual
and he came to love the life in spite of its solitude, its hard-
ships, and its privations.

CAMP KEEPERS.
Under this designation it is intended to include only those
individuals in the trapping expeditions to the mountains
whose duty it was to remain in camp and care for the furs
which their companions might collect. They skinned the
beaver and other animals; cleaned, dressed, and dried the
skins, and did whatever other work was required to protect
and preserve the fruits of the chase. They also cared for
 FREE TRAPPERS. 55

the Stock and attended to other duties of the camp. There

was usually one of these camp keepers to about two trappers.
FREE TRAPPERS.
A characteristic class engaged in the fur trade was that
of the free hunters or trappers. As the name implies, these
people were not bound to service with any company. They
had their own individual organization and went when and
where they chose. Sometimes there were a number of free
trappers together, each independent of the other, capturing
and selling his own peltries, but keeping with the rest for
self-protection. In other instances the free trapper was a
sort of partisan and had his own
party bound to him in
service. The results of the hunt all went to him, under
certain arrangements, and he generally took his furs to the
nearest trading post for sale, or even went with them him-
self to St. Louis.
The free trappers, or freemen, as they were commonly
called, were the most interesting and enviable class in the
mountains. Bound to no company, free to go where they
pleased, they were held in higher repute than any other
class. Moreover they were men of bold and adventurous
spirit for none other would have the courage to follow so
hazardous a business. They were liable, however, to have
too much of this spirit, or perhaps better, too much of a
ruffian spirit. The leader could not always control them
and they were prone to all sorts of excesses. Vain of their
appearance, extravagantly fond of ornament for both them-
selves and their steeds, they rivaled the proud Indian him-
self in the profusion of gewgaws which decked out their
attire. They were likewise utterly improvident, fond of
gambling, and of all sorts of trials of skill, and it was a
general rule that most of the proceeds of their labor were
quickly squandered at the first rendezvous or post which
they reached.
THE VOYAGEUR.
As Is well known, the French Creole, both of Canada and
56 THE VOYAGEUR.

Louisiana, was a very important figure in the early fur

trade. It is probable that at least four-fifths of the lower
grades of employes were of this nationality, and as the dif-
ferences of habit and temperament between them and the
American were marked, it will be of advantage to present
a brief comparison of the two.
The voyageur had a light and buoyant vein in his na-
ture which was totally wanting in the American. He was
always singing at his work, laughing and joking with his
companions, and cheerful and happy in his manner. His
willingness to toil, his complacent endurance of the most
prodigious labors and his long acquiescence in the most
scanty provision for food and shelter made him the cheerful
slave of the fur trade. Itwould have been impossible to
have extorted similar service from an American. As a gen-
eral thing his field of work was more upon the water than
upon land, although this was not an exclusive rule. It was
he who cordelled the keelboat up the long course of the
Missouri and performed the arduous labors connected with
the navigation of that most stubborn stream. The canoe or
other craft, and not the horse, was therefore his mode of
conveyance; the water was his natural element, and the
river valleys, rather than the mountains and the plains, were
his home.
As a rule the voyageurs were wholly illiterate and very
few of them were able to sign their contracts of service.
They were not a brave people, and their fears when upon
dangerous ground were often ludicrous in the extreme.
They were all devout Catholics.
The voyageur was beyond comparison the most inter-
esting and picturesque personality in the trapping frater-
nity — mild in disposition, mercurial in temper, obedient,
willing, and contented, ever ready to undergo the most
severe hardship, and altogether a most useful and indispen-
sable character in the business of the fur trader.
The American on the other hand, lacked the
hunter,
vivacity and happy temperament of the Frenchman. He
 CANADIAN BOAT SONGS. 57

was less subservient and compliant under authority. He

was more of a " deserter," more independent, talked and
sang less, and in outward appearance was a less amiable
and agreeable character to get along with. But in
dangerous emergencies, in long and arduous undertak-
ings, and in sterling qualities in battle he was far and away
above his Gallic brother. If, in service on the rivers, Mr.
Astor's estimate was true that one Canadian voyageur was
worth three Americans, it was equally true that in the rough
life of the wilderness one American hunter was worth three

Canadians. Each filled a place which the other could not,

and all comparisons should take this fact into consideration
lest injustice be done on either side.^

ARTISANS, ETC.

There were always at the larger posts various grades of

^
The common verdict of the traders, as well as of travelers, is that
the voyageur was very deficient in physical courage. Ashley com-
him at the time of the Aricara fight. in
plained that they utterly failed
1823. Maximilian, Prince of Wied, records that when passing some
dangerous ground, " my Canadians were so timid that they did not
venture to speak aloud." They were always terror-stricken in the
presence of Indians whose friendship was doubtful.
The Canadian boat songs were a characteristic feature of the voya-
geur's life. They were usually simple ditties and were a great relief in
times of difficult work, when they cheered up the weary company as
martial music does the tired soldier. It is to be regretted that more of
these songs have not been preserved. The following stanzas illustrate
their general quality

" Dans mon chemin j'ai rencontre

Trois cavalieres bien montees,
L'on, ton, laridon danee
L'on, ton, laridon, dai.

" Trois cavalieres bien montees,

L'une a cheval, I'autre a pied.
L'on, ton, etc."

The Canadians, despite the scantiness of their allowance of food,

were great eaters when they could get what they wanted, and it was a
common saw in the fur business that two Canadians would devour off-
hand the whole side of a buffalo.
58 MANGEURS DE LARD.

artisans such as blacksmiths, carpenters, and boat builders,

who were any
qualified for special work which the exigen-
might require.
cies of the service With the overland expe-
ditions there were of course the necessary packers, team-
sters, and camp followers to do the work of the camp and
the march.
MANGEURS DE LARD.
To perform the common labor of the fur trade there were
annually imported from Canada numbers of raw recruits
who were wholly without experience in the business. They
were bound for a period of five years under the most
rigorous engagement, and at wages that made it impossible
for them to arrive at the end of their term without being
in their employers' debt. As there was no way for them to
get passage out of the country while so in debt, they were
compelled to remain and keep at work or resort to the
dangerous expedient of desertion. En route from Canada
to their places of work they were fed on pork, hard bread,
and pea soup, but principally on pork, from which circum-
stance they were called mangenrs de lard, or pork eaters,
by the more experienced voyageurs. From this association
the term came to be used in ridicule to denote a greenhorn,
tenderfoot, or generally an individual of no experience.^

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRAPPING FRATERNITY.

Habits of thrift among the trappers were practically un-
known. They were improvident, largely by choice. They
spurned the idea of frugality or economy in regard to their
earnings, and were therefore always poor. Zenas Leonard,
* Pierre Chouteau, Jr., in one of his letters characterizes an employe
who had made a false step as "a raw hand, a new beginner, or in com-
mon parlance, a mangeur de lard." Father De Smet says that the term
was applied by way of pleasantry to anyone who was making his first
appearance in the country.
Those who had passed several winters in the Indian country and had
gained some experience were often called hivcrnans or zvinterers. The
common hired hands engaged at St. Louis were generally termed
engages.
 PHYSIOGNOMY OF THE TRAPPER. 59

who passed three years with them, and whose experiences

will be related in another part of thiswork, said " Scarce- :

ly one man in ten of those employed in this country ever

thinks of saving a single dollar of his earnings, but all spend
it as fast as they can find an object to spend it for. They
care not what may come to pass tomorrow, but think only
of enjoying the present moment." Nathaniel J. Wyeth
said of his own party :
" Almost all the men take up [their
wages] as fast as theyearn — and would would faster, if I
let them — in goods at about hundred per cent on orig-
five
inal cost." It was a sort of mountain pride, a convention
of the business, to squander wages as fast as earned.
The nature of service in the wilderness produced its effect
in the physiognomy, language, habits, and dress of the hunt-
er. The hard life which he was compelled to follow left a
deep impression upon his physical appearance. He was or-
dinarily gaunt and spare, browned with exposure, his hair
long and unkempt, while his general make-up, with the queer
dress which he wore, made it often difficult to distinguish
him from an Indian. The constant peril of his life and
the necessity of unremitting vigilance gave him a kind
of piercing look, his head slightly bent forward and
his deep eyes peering from under a slouch hat, or whatever
head-gear he might possess, as if studying the face of the
stranger to learn whether friend or foe. On the whole he
impressed one as taciturn and gloomy, and his life did to
some extent suppress gaiety and tenderness. He became
accustomed to scenes of violence and death and the problem
of self-preservation was of such paramount importance that
he had but little time to waste upon ineffectual reflections.
His conversation with his companions, where interspersed
with lighter touches, was still of a dry wit order, not much
abounding in hearty laugh or relaxed countenance. Such
evidences of affection or love for his fellows as he did dis-
play were generally couched in language of an opposite
character through which his companion would divine his
intended meaning. In spite, however, of his apparently
60 DRESS OF THE HUNTER.

unsocial disposition, he was " generous, even to a fault."

So few were his numbers that friendships became deeply
rooted. His " possibles " were always at the disposal of his
companions, and their word or promise was all the security
he wanted.
Partly from inclination and partly from necessity the
hunter in his dress adopted the customs of the Indians.
The clothes which he brought from the States quickly
fell to pieces under the wear and tear of the life in which

he was engaged. The Indian costume was the most con-

venient substitute. There was moreover a manifest pride
on the part of the hunter in imitating the garb of his red
brethren, and it is doubtful if the fondness of the latter for
the incongruous combinations of his own and the white
man's clothing was more marked than that of the hunter for
the wild attire of the savage. The headdress in summer
usually consisted of a light handkerchief, adjusted in the
style of a turban so as to be attractive in appearance while
serving as a protection against heat and insects. The upper
part of the body was clad in a light blue shirt of coarse
cotton or other cloth, and in some cases breeches with long
deerskin leggings were worn, leaving the thighs and hips
bare. The cloth which was folded around the loins was
*'

held in place by the girdle," while a " hunting shirt with a

large cape and loose sleeves reached nearly to the knees.
. . It opened in front like a coat and was made so
large as to lap at least a foot across the breast. The folds
of the bosom served the purpose of a pocket. . . .

The moccasin was made of a single piece of heavy dressed

buckskin. A plain seam ran from the heel to the ankle,
but the upper part, from the toe to the instep, was gathered.
The shoe thread was the sinews of deer or of buckskin."
In winter the clothing as just described was materially
increased both in quantity and quality. The hunting shirt
was made of dressed deerskin. A heavy hooded cloak,
called a capote, was thrown over the shoulders. The tops
of the moccasins were made with long folds which could
 THE WINTER CAMP. 6l

be wrapped around the ankles and the interior was lined

with wool or deer hair.
All portions of this picturesque attire, whether for sum-
mer or winter use, were ornamented with gay embroidery,
fringes, bead work, hair, feathers, and other gewgaws. A
belt hung over the left shoulder and under the right arm
in which the ammunition for his rifle was carried. In
were his knife and hatchet
leather bags attached to his girdle
and materials for mending his moccasins, while his few
remaining equipments were bestowed upon other portions
of his body,^
While wandering about on his hunting expeditions the
mountaineer ordinarily had no shelter but the sky and lay
down to sleep in the open air. His bed consisted generally
of a single buffalo robe, occasionally with leaves or boughs
underneath. His saddle often did service as a pillow, while
one or two blankets were his sole protection from the cold.
In the winter season, or at other times when his business
required a considerable sojourn in one place, he erected
a rude hut for his better protection in either hot or cold
weather. It was located near some stream where both grass
and wood were plenty, and was formed of skins spread
over an arched frame-work of saplings bent to a semicircle
with their extremities inserted in the ground. His fire was
built in front, and near by was a pole laden with the various
meats which were his main reliance for food. The " grain-
ing blocks " and stretching frame, used in cleaning and cur-
ing the skins, stood conveniently at hand. The traps hung
on some neighboring tree and perhaps a brace of elk antlers
did service as a rack on which to hang his articles of clothing
when not in use. The various equipments for his horse were
* This description of the hunter's apparel is mainly borrowed and
condensed from an article in the Encyclopedia of St. Louis (1899).
It is the most complete that has fallen under the author's notice, and is

from the pen of Prof. Sylvester Waterhouse, of Washington University,

St. Louis — a most painstaking investigator, the fruit of whose careful
researches has enriched the work of more than one writer upon these
themes.
62 WAGES IN THE FUR TRADE.

carefully bestowed in some convenient place and the steed

himself was probably grazing near by or eating the bark
of Cottonwood trees felled for the purpose.''
The hunter's " possibles " or " fixens," as his equip-
ment and luxuries were called by himself, were very limited,
for his manner of life required that he should be as free of
impedimenta as possible. His rifle and its appurtenances,
his traps, knives, hatchet, a few culinary utensils, his tobac-
co, and some indispensable articles of food such as coffee,
sugar, and salt —
these with his bedding and the equipments
for his horse constituted the extent of his worldly belong-
ings. He usually had, besides the horse he rode, one or
two pack animals to carry his equipments and the furs which
he might secure.
The wages paid in the fur trade were very small consid-
ering the arduous and dangerous character of the work.
Clerks received about five hundred dollars and the engages
about one hundred and fifty dollars a year. With this went
a plain subsistence which would instantly be repudiated by
a laboring man of today. Often the engages were required
to subsist themselves " mix aliments dii pays," that is, to get
along with such provisions as they or the hunters could
extract from the country. They were required, when not
otherwise needed, to hunt game, gather wild fruits, cultivate
the gardens and do whatever else was necessary to get provi-
sions. If they ever indulged their appetite for sugar or
similar luxuries which could be had only from the com-
pany's warehouse, they paid for them at a price which
quickly absorbed their hard earnings.
The lower employes were generally in the com-
class of
pany's debt, and this may account in part for the desertions
that were always taking place. These were more frequent
among the Americans than among the Creoles, but they
were common with both. One can form some idea of the
severe service required of these engages when they were
^ This descrii)tion of a winter shelter for the hunter is drawn in part
from Rocky Mountain Life — Sage, p. 348.
 THE HUNTERS NOT GOLD SEEKERS. 63

willing, in order to escape from it, to undertake the hazard-

ous experiment of desertion. Often two or three men with
a canoe, if on the river, or their horses, if inland, would start
for St. Louis, a thousand miles away, through tribes of
hostile Indians^ always in danger of death or recapture. In
spite of the romance of the trapper's life, it had its dark
side, a side that would be very dark if placed alongside of
the laboring man's condition of today.
Xhe^language of the trappers was a strange medley of
English, French, and Spanish and as distant from gram-
matical and literary propriety as it is possible to conceive.
As in all situationswhere men are long associated in the
same business and in a measure excluded from contact with
the world around them, a peculiar jargon grew up among
the trapping fraternity, vigorous, and picturesque, if not
choice, in its details, but now entirely extinct. Only in a
few old narratives of the times does it still survive with
any degree of fidelity.^
Here we may properly consider an historic peculiarity
of the trapping fraternity which has more than once attract-
ed attention —
their utter lack of interest in the geological
formations or mineral deposits of the country over which
they roamed so extensively. It is indeed a singular fact
that a class of men like the American hunters, who shrank
at no toil in their search for wealth, should have been so
oblivious to whatever lay beneath the surface of the earth.
Considering the fascination which the search for gold has
had for adventurers in all ages, it is inexplicable that those
hardy spirits should have roamed back and forth for half a
century or more over those now famous spots where wealth
could be had by stooping to pick it up, and should have
remained unconscious of its presence. It seems like a provi-
dential interposition that thus concealed the knowledge of
the mineral riches of the west until all those controversies
over the questions of international boundary were perma-
' The best of these is Life in the Far West by George Frederick
Ruxton, London, 1849.
64 FOREIGN TERRITORY.

nently settled. For it must be borne in mind that during

nearly all of the first half of the present century a large part
of the country roamed over by the trapper did not belong
to the United States.
 CHAPTER VIII.

LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS.

Love of wilderness life —

Absence of legal restraint — Business
methods —Personal relations.

*|rT was a common observation by travelers in the Far West

" during the fur-trading era that those who once entered
the wild life of the wilderness clung to it afterward as if by
an irresistible fascination. It is not difficult to account for
this fact, so far as it is actually true. Most men have an
element of aboriginal life in their make-up, perhaps the long
suppressed characteristic from the times when their ances-
tors so lived. The advantages of civilization are all pur-
chased at the expense of freedom; and the more profuse
and abundant these advantages the more rigid are the restric-
tions upon physical liberty. One may not walk except upon
paths specially prepared for that purpose ; he may not gather
fruits where he sees them ; he may not recline on the
grass, however nor lounge under trees, however
inviting,
grateful the shade. The native fondness for freedom of
movement never ceases to chafe under these restrictions and
is always seeking relief by expeditions to the " country " or

the mountains. And so in these early times men sought the

wilderness life because of its exemptions from the artificial
restraints of civilization. Like old Jim Bridger, they found
the canons of the cities (as he called the streets) too con-
tracted for their robust freedom, and they longed for those
grander avenues laid out by nature in the boundless region
of the West.
The fictitious barriers which society erects between man
and man, the power of wealth, the exclusiveness of rank.
66 LOVE OF WILDERNESS LIFE.

were mostly absent. All were equal and shared the toil
of the day and the rest of night with their fellows. Such
conditions are always attractive and particularly so to those
whose social and financial condition in civilized communities
places them in what may be called the lower class. More-
over, long absence from the frontiers, especially from the
larger towns like St. Louis, threw one out of touch with
the old life, and it was difficult, if not impossible, to pick up
the thread where it was left off. There was a sense of awk-
wardness on the part of the returned wanderer, a feeling
fill were occupied by some one
that the old places he used to
else, that made him the more ready to get back into the

prairies and mountains where conventionalities never stood

in his way.
Then there was the love of adventure, so natural to the
heart of everyone, that led men to the wilderness and
kept them there. The excitement of the chase, the crossing
of rivers and mountains, the meeting with savage tribes,
allwere new and interesting and drew many a youth into a
kind of life which he never afterward abandoned.

The Western country was proverbially healthy, and the

enforced abstinence from injurious practices kept the body
well and the mind clear. If starvation often stared the
hunter in the face, the disorders of an over-fed stomach
never disturbed his slumbers nor sapped his constitution
with disease. Men loved the country for its healthfulness.*
There were other and less creditable reasons why the wil-
derness had an attraction for some. Every expedition had
in its ranks not a few who had committed crimes which
led them to seek immunity from punishment by getting
beyond the pale of the law. Thus an old trapper back in the
thirties, who has left us a record of his adventures, refers as
follows to the event of his departure forhome with some
of his companions after an absence of three years " On :

*
" Among our partisans in the mountains, sickness and natural deaths
are almost unknown." Statement by Smith, Jackson and Sublette
about 1830.
 FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE. 6/

parting this time many of the men were at a loss to know

what to do. Many were anxious to return to the States,
but feared to do so lest the offended law might hold them
responsible for misdemeanors committed previous to their
embarking in the trapping business. Others could not be
persuaded to return at any price, declaring that civilization
had no charms for them." -
Thus from one cause or another it resulted that men who
embarked in this wild life formed a liking for it and were
apt to return to it even if they abandoned it for a time.
This feeling was not confined to any particular class, but
prevailed equally among all. The record left by Josiah
Gregg, who was always careful and conservative in his
statements, is not an unusual one :
" It will hardly be a
matter of surprise then when I add that this passion for
prairie life will be very apt to lead me upon the plains
again, to spread my
bed with the mustang and the buffalo
under the broad canopy of heaven; there to seek to main-
tain undisturbed my confidence in man by fraternizing with
the little prairie dogs and wild colts, and the wilder Indi-
ans — the unconquered Sabaeans of the American Deserts."
And again he says that *' scarcely a day passes without my
feeling a pang of regret that I am not now roving upon
those western plains. Nor do I find my taste peculiar for ;

I have hardly known a man, who has ever become familiar

with the kind of life which I have led for so many years, that
has not relinquished it with regret."
It was not, however, all who felt this way, as one may
readily gather from notes of the times and particularly from
the prevalence of desertions among the engages of the Amer-
ican Fur Company. To them, indeed, the blessing of free-
dom did not fully materialize. They had in a measure
jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. They had left
the restraints of society for the even greater restraints and
arduous toil of one of the most exacting concerns known in
commercial history. It was therefore an every-day occur-
' Adventures of Zenas Leonard. Clearfield, Pa., 1879, P- 86.
68 ABSENCE OF LEGAL RESTRAINT.

rence for men of this class to seek escape from their obliga-
tions and to return to their homes. But on the whole it
was true then as it is today, that any one who had become
familiar with that wild and rugged country never lost the
desire to return there.
Reference has already been made to the absence of legal
restraint as one of the valued privileges pertaining to the
business of the trapper, and it is an interesting question to
know to what extent, if any, this condition operated to de-
prive men of the rights to which they are entitled in a civ-
ilized state of society. Beyond the military post of Fort
Leavenworth and criminal jurisdiction extended only
civil

in name during the entire period covered by this work. It

might be concluded from this that, as the country was liter-
ally lawless, or without means of enforcing laws, lawless-
ness and disorder would be the rule. Such was not the
case. If due allowance be made for the fact, brought
out in the preceding pages, that a considerable portion of the
trapping fraternity were desperate characters, if not actual
outlaws, when they entered the fur trade, it will be found
that life, liberty, and the rights of property, were as much
respected in the depths of the wilderness as within the best
regulated of cities.

In the matter of business competition things were un-

doubtedly done in this remote country which could not have
been done where the laws were in full force. The robbery
of Fitzpatrick by the Crows, already cited, was an instance.
The very year following this event Fitzpatrick refused to
stand by an agreement to receive an invoice of goods from
Nathaniel J. Wyeth after the latter had purchased and
transported them all the way from Boston to the valley
of Green river. These were the harsher features which
competition in business assumed when it was possible to
arrive at one's end by mere brute force.
But in reviewing the dark and shadowy transactions of
a period now so deeply buried in the past, it will be well to
avoid the natural inclination to compare them more unfav-
 THE CODE OF BUSINESS. 69

orably than they deserve with the business methods of mod-

ern times. As a matter of fact he who examines the motive
as well as the deed will find it difficult to say in which period
these methods stood upon the higher ground. It is not so
would not bear favor-
certain that the code of the wilderness
able comparison with that of the modern business world.
Too great distinction is often made between physical and
intellectual piracy and plunder. The laws of society strictly
prohibit the use of superior physical force in appropriating
make no protest
to one's self the property of others, but they
against, nay, even protect,under legal forms, the exercise of
superior business sagacity in depriving an inferior of what
rightfully belongs to him. It was indeed a reprehensible

act in the American Fur Company secretly to instigate the

Crows to rob Fitzpatrick of his furs but the act was no less
;

justifiable morally, though transgressing the laws of the

land more openly, than have been thousands of business
transactions in modern times whereby great properties have
been wrecked, honest holders deprived of their securities,
and financial ruin carried to innocent individuals.
When it comes to the personal relations of individuals to
each other the account stands even more in favor of the
wilderness. It has been demonstrated over and over again
in the history of the West that the existence of laws, and the
presence of lawyers to expound and of officers to enforce
them, are not indispensable to a just and orderly condition in
thinly settled portions of a country. It was the universal
testimony of those who were familiar with the life of the
trapper, and later with that of the gold-seeker, that crimes
of all colors were never so few, nor punishment for such as

were committed so just and swift and sure, as in those

remote localities where there were neither laws nor lawyers.
Men trusted each other. Unless there were circumstances
to justify it, the trader or trapper was never known to "lift"
the cache of his rival, even though detection and discovery
were impossible. They rarely required written evidence of
their agreements, for they had implicit faith in the sanctity
70 PERSONAL RELATIONS.

of an oral promise. When disputes arose the common rule

was to resort to the code of the duello in some form or other,
and in this way every one knew that he would be called to
quick account for his delinquencies. Each man was in a
measure a law to himself, but here, more than in civilized
life — far more — the precepts of the Golden Rule pre-
vailed, and every man tried to treat his neighbor fairly.
Those rude men had a true sense of justice, and if they
administered it in a rough fashion there was rarely any com-
plaint that their judgments were wrong. " No court or
"
jury is called to adjudicate upon his disputes and abuses,
says Gregg, " save his own conscience and no powers are
;

invoked to redress them save those with which the God of

nature has endowed him. " It may be truly said that in
this land without laws the personal relations of individuals
to each other were as harmonious and just as they are under
the most elaborate social organization.
 PART II. HISTORICAL.

CHAPTER I.

LOUISIANA.

French colonial schemes in America —

Early discoveries by Spain,
France and England —
Marquette and Joliet —
La Salle Rivalry—
among colonial powers —
The French and Indian War —
Loss of Amer-
ican colonies to France —
American Revolution —
Spain and the United
States —
The Louisiana Purchase —
Downfall of Spanish colonial sys-
tem —Lewis and Clark expedition —
Pike's expedition —
Advent of
the trader.

'^^HE territory which forms the theater of the events

^*^ described in the following pages is mostly a part of
what was once the Province of Louisiana that boundless—
possession of the French government in America upon
which were built the imperial hopes of princely dominion be-
yond the sea. Of the three principal colonizing powers of
Europe —
Spain, France, and England —
the schemes of
France in North America were the most daring and com-
prehensive, and their realization would have made her the
foremost power in the New World. Her colonial policy, as
it finally took definite form, contemplated the settlement of
the valleys of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, and
their connection by aof forts passing up each to the
line
height of land between them. With more than half the cul-
North America and the two most important
tivable soil of
systems of inland navigation in her possession, and with
outlets upon the sea in widely separated directions, she
would control the future destiny of the continent, confining
72 COLONIAL BEGINNINGS.

the British to thenarrow Atlantic slope on the east, and the

Spanish to the steppes and Cordilleras of the southwest. In
other directions, the imagination could set no bounds to
this magnificent empire, unless it were the unknown shores
of the almost unknown Pacific.
It was indeed an imperial dream, but one destined never
to be realized; and in strange contrast with the vastness
of her designs, France proved to be the first of the three
powers to permanently from the continent. The
retire
was to be garnered in distant years by
fruit of her labors
a nation whose very birth was an event still buried in the
mists of futurity.
Spain had been the pioneer in the discovery and acquisi-
tion of territory in America. Columbus crossed the Atlan-
tic in 1492. The conquest of Mexico was finished in 1521,
and St. Augustine was founded in 1565. Following Spain,
the French made their first permanent settlement at Port
Royal, where now Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in 1605.
is

Two years later the English founded their first colony at

Jamestown, and in the following year the French laid the
foundations of Quebec. In 1620 the Pilgrims landed at
Plymouth Rock. This was one hundred and twenty-eight
years after the discovery of America —
so slow were the
European powers in following up the consequences of that
great achievement. At this time the general line of advance
of the three powers had taken definite form, and New
France, or Canada, New Spain and Florida, New England,
and Virginia, became the respective bases of operations in
their struggle for the dominion of America.
Many years elapsed before any new and marked advance
from these primary bases was accomplished, although in the
immediate vicinity of each there were continuous develop-
ment and expansion. Not until 1673 did any of the three
powers attempt to learn what lay within the vast interior of
the continent.^ The first important movement in that direc-
' A qualification of this statement ought to be
made in favor of the
Spanish under Hernando de Soto. That brilliant and knightly adven-
 DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 73

tion came from Canada. The French traders among the

Indians had heard the natives tell of a great river farther
to the westward which flowed neither north nor west, and
which they rightly conjectured must flow into the Gulf of
Mexico. Talon, the first intendant of New France, being
about to visit his native land, determined to ascertain the
truth of this rumor before he went. He dispatched two
trusty men, Marquette, a Jesuit priest, and Joliet, a trader,
to explore the region in question. On the i6th day of
June, 1673, they saw the Mississippi at the mouth of the
Wisconsin river. Thence they floated down the great
stream, noting its important tributaries, until they arrived in
the vicinity of the Arkansas. Having gone far enough to
remove doubt that the river emptied into the Gulf of
all

Mexico, they returned, the priest to his mission on the lakes

and the trader to Quebec.
Next in the valley of the Mississippi, so far as any settled
purpose of discovery is concerned, was Robert Cavalier de La
Salle, whose heroic work in this new field of adventure has
brought to its author imperishable fame. To him must be
accredited the great conception of joining the valleys of the
St. Lawrence and the Mississippi with a line of settlements
and of establishing a colony at the mouth of the latter
stream. His far-sighted vision even foresaw the time when
this inland empire would extend to the Pacific and draw
within its pale the commerce of oriental kingdoms. His
work in carrying out this project covered ten years of his
life,from 1677 to 1687, during which time he succeeded in
traversing and exploring, either in person or through his col-
leagues, nearly the entire length of the Mississippi river.
He built and garrisoned several forts along the route, and
on the 7th of April, 1682, at the mouth of the Missis-
turer came upon the banks of the Mississippi near Chickasaw Bluffs,
May and two years later was buried beneath its waters. But
26, 1540,
his great discovery led to no marked results. Spain did not follow it
up with any act of formal possession, and the country remained un-
claimed and unknown for over one hundred and thirty years thereafter.
74 COUNTRY NAMED LOUISIANA.

sippi, took formal possession, in the name of the King of

France, of the country drained by that stream and its trib-
utaries, and gave it the name of Louisiana.
Returning to France, he came back to America by way of
the Gulf in 1684, prepared to found a colony at the mouth of
the river. The way was lost, however, and the vessels
passed on to the distant shores of what is now Texas.
There a series of misfortunes overtook the enterprise which
finally left La Salle with but a small party and not a ship of
the several that came with him. In this distress he resolved
to strike across the country to the northeast and reach his
posts among the Illinois. After proceeding a considerable
was basely murdered by one of
distance into the interior he
his own party, which the most gigantic obstacles
and a life

could not dismay, was cut short by the stealthy hand of

treachery.
La Salle's attempts to found a colony at the mouth of the
Mississippi were not resumed until a decade after his death,
probably on account of the wars that were being waged be-
tween France and England. But in 1698 a squadron was
sent over for this purpose under the direction of Iberville
and his brothers, Bienville and Sauvolle, members of a very
noted family in the naval history of France, and themselves
greatly distinguished in their country's service. Iberville
entered the Mississippi in a barge, March i, 1699, probably
the European craft to enter that stream from the Gulf
first

of Mexico, and on the ist of May of that year a settlement

was made on the Bay of Biloxi. Although it was yet eight-
een years before the site of New Orleans was selected, and
twenty-two before it was actually occupied by the colonial
government, the foundation of the lower Louisiana colony
nevertheless dates from the last year of the seventeenth cen-
tury.
It may be
considered as from about this time that the
colonies of the new world began to be subjects of zealous
rivalry on the part of the mother countries. It is true that
before this they had been the scene of strife which originated
 RIVALRY OF THE POWERS. 75

across the sea. Campaigns had been fought in Canada and

in Florida. Pensacola had been lost and won. England
had once wrested all of Canada from France. But in gen-
eral upon the arrival of peace the new world conquests were
all restored, the only considerable exception being that of

Acadia, which was ceded to England in 171 3. The colo-

nies had not yet acquired that importance which gave them
much weight in European councils, and it does not appear
that the future destiny of America was in any adequate
sense appreciated by European statesmen of the time.
But the eighteenth century was not far advanced when it
became evident that the ever-expanding colonial frontiers
were soon to involve the mother countries in a final struggle
for supremacy upon the American continent. With jealous
eyes the three great powers watched each other. The dar-
ing schemes of France in particular excited great concern on
the part of her two rivals, for her position, if maintained,
could not but give her a commanding influence on the con-
tinent. England's possessions were not contiguous, for
there was no connection between the colonies of the coast
and the territory around Hudson Bay. The colonies
of Spain were likewise separated, for Louisiana lay be-
tween Florida and New Spain. But Canada and Louis-
iana formed one continuous possession to the future expan-
sion of which there seemed to be no limit but the ocean.
Spain henceforth regarded the advance of her rival with
a distrustful eye, and attempts of the French to open a
commerce with Mexico, either by way of the Gulf or over-
land through Texas, were met with absolute refusal. Both
nations made military advances. Spain sent an armed
expedition to the neighborhood of the Missouri, but it was
defeated and destroyed by the Indians. She advanced her
missions well into the interior and supported them by mili-
tary garrisons. In 1722 the French built the advanced
post of Orleans well up the Missouri river, and they like-
wise established posts on the Red and Arkansas rivers.^
" See " Fort Orleans," list of posts, Appendix F.
76 FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

The vicissitudes of European politics, it is true, often threw

France and Spain for a time together in common cause, but
never to such an extent as to remove the distrust with which
each regarded the advance of the other into the unsettled
territories between their American colonies.
In the fast approaching struggle for supremacy, which
clearly could not long be averted, there was a great advan-
tage on the side of England, arising from her more liberal
colonial policy. Largely left to care for themselves, the
settlements on the Atlantic coast expanded with a rapidity
which formed a marked contrast to the slow and sickly
growth of the French and Spanish colonies; for the policy
of these two nations was to regulate colonial affairs entirely
from home; impose restrictions in trade, industry, and
to
religion; to recruit the colonies from jails and houses of
correction, and to grant their trade and commerce to indi-
viduals or companies. The blindness of certain govern-
ments in this respect is proverbial, and the experience of
four hundred years has even yet failed to awaken the
government of Spain to the true cause of her many colonial
failures.
The various grants of land by Great Britain in North
America, with their absurd western extensions, in some
instances reaching to the Pacific, carried in themselves the
seeds of future discord along the colonial frontiers. It
was her advance into the valley of the Mississippi, or its
principal tributary, the Ohio, that precipitated the final
conflict. Those stirring times of 1753 and 1754,
which in
the personality of George Washington was ushered upon
the stage of history, are familiar to everyone. The
French and Indian War was, in its far-reaching conse-
quences, the most important ever waged upon the soil of
America, excepting possibly the late Civil War in the United
States. Accustomed as Americans are to look upon the
Revolutionary War as the fundamental fact about which
their national destiny turns, they seldom pause to inquire
what that Revolution would have amounted to, but for the
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. J'J

results of thewar that preceded it. The contest which gave

this country to the Anglo-Saxon instead of to the Latin
race, was one that assured the greatness of its future
destiny. It was terminated by the treaty of Paris, Febru-

ary lo, 1763, by which France ceded to Great Britain

Canada and all of Louisiana east of the Mississippi, except-
ing New Orleans and its island. Three months before this
time the French King had given to Spain all of his Amer-
ican possessions not included in the pending treaty with
England. Thus that nation, which at one time possessed
the cream of the continent, was now left without a foot of its
territory and the two rivals between whom her possessions
;

were divided confronted each other from opposite shores of

the Mississippi.
And now comes another turn of the wheel of political
fortune second in importance only to the results of the
French and Indian War. Great Britain, in a moment of
ill-advisement, abandoned the liberal policy which had so
far made her colonies flourish altogether more prosperously
than those of her rivals, and undertook to put into effect
those restrictions and regulations which have been a blight
to the growth of every colony where they have prevailed.
Unfortunately for her, this attempt came too late in the
process of colonial development to meet with anything else
than stubborn resistance. Angered at this the mother coun-
try undertook to compel obedience by force. The world
knows the result. A successful revolution ensued in which
Great Britain lost all of her original colonies in America
and all her conquests except Canada. In their place arose
an independent nation destined to play a brilliant role in
the future history of mankind.
The Mississippi had now become the frontier between the
most conservative and bigoted of monarchies, and the
youngest and most liberal of republics. It was not a change
which Spain could view with satisfaction. The youthful
blood and vigor of a new nation, established upon the very
soil which before was only a colonial dependency, boded no
 78 NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

good to the existing status of the Spanish upon the Missis-

sippi. It was natural, therefore, that Spain should view
the expansion of the population of the United States to
the westward with feelings of apprehension and alarm.
She sought by every possible means to obstruct it. She
strove to detach the western country from the Union and
incorporate it and
in her territories, so that the Mississippi
its might be under her own control. At one
tributaries
time there was a ray of hope in these designs, but as the new
government became better established, as the Indians came
to fear and respect it, and particularly when states west of
the Alleghenies were admitted into the Union, these delusive
prospects vanished forever.
It would be amusing, were it not an event of such pro-
found importance, to note how suddenly the vast territory
which Spain had received from France passed into the hands
of the youthful rival whom she was watching with such
suspicious dread. Napoleon Bonaparte had appeared upon
the stage of history. Under his irresistible sway the muta-
tions of fortune among European nations went on with
terrific rapidity. Spain fell into his hands, and among the
t&tvns, of peace wrung from her was the cession of Louisiana,
" ^o^ich was accomplished by the secret treaty of Saint Ilde-
/fpi!so, March 21, 1801.
A'^ To the United States the right of the free navigation of
the Mississippi was a matter of such overshadowing im-
portance that her statesmen had ever been alert and watchful
for any opportunity which might establish it more perfectly.
They were not slow to discern, in the rapid changes at the
time passing over Europe, that the occasion might arise
which would hasten or retard, as the event might turn, this
primary object of their desires. The cession of Louisiana
to France, as rumors of that event began to circulate, was
rightly viewed with grave apprehension. Might not that
genius, which had overridden and reduced to his own will the
venerable monarchies of Europe, turn his attention to the
New World and attempt the conquest of that also? Would
 THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 79

he be satisfied with restoring France to her own, or would

he seek to embrace within his western empire the whole of
North America? The boundless ambition of Napoleon no
doubt reached so far. But the reality was not to be, and it
is another proof of his unerring judgment that he was

among the first to realize the impracticability of his

schemes of empire in America. England controlled the
seas, and the defense of Louisiana against such a power was
impossible. He saw that in case of war with Great Britain,
he would not only lose Louisiana, but lose it to the very
power which he most desired to impoverish and humiliate.
This contingency did in fact arise, and Napoleon took
prompt measures to forestall its inevitable consequences and
to thwart forever the ambition of England in this direction. /
He sold Louisiana to the United States on the 30th o^
April, 1803.
The announcement of the re-cession of Louisiana to
France had hardly crossed the Atlantic and become known
upon the Mississippi, when that of its sale to the United
States arrived. It was at once apparent that this was the
finale to the fitful changes in the past career of the colony.
The new order of things was by no means generally accept-
able to the foreign element of the population, either Spanish
or French. They saw in it the death knell of their peculiar
customs and laws, and they knew that the enterprising spirit
of the Anglo-Saxon race would crowd them out of the
avenues of industry and commerce even on the very soil
where they had lived and toiled from infancy. But on the
other hand the more discerning felt that it was at least a
prospect of permanency in place of change, of self-govern-
ment in place of the capricious rule of distant princes, of
freedom in religion, industry, and commerce, in place of
baneful restrictions and regulations. The transfer was
made without serious disturbance; the current of affairs
soon began to run smoothly, and it was not long before the
most ardent lover of his parent country, whether France or
Spain, ceased to regret the change.
8o COLLAPSE OF SPANISH COLONIAL SYSTEM.

Although digressing beyond the Hmits assigned to this

work, it amiss to refer to those subsequent events
will not be
in the colonial history of Spain which show how well
founded was her jealousy of the growing power of the
United States. It was in 1804 that the transfer of Louis-
iana was consummated. Fifteen years later came the
cession of Florida. In the course of the next twenty years
successful revolution had extinguished Spanish sovereignty
upon the continent of America, and before the nineteenth
century had finished half its course the major part of the
vast colony of New Spain had entered the expanding fold
of the Republic of States.
But the downward career of Spanish empire had not yet
run its disastrous course. In the providence of history the
United States has been the instrument of retributive justice
in punishing Spain for the accumulated wrong of centuries
of colonial misrule. It was a fitting climax to the progress
of Anglo-Saxon liberty throughout the world during the
nineteenth century that it should fall to the lot of the
American Republic, before the century was complete, to
sweep away forever the last vestige of Spanish sovereignty
in the Western World : nay, further, to supplant it in the
distant Orient, until that once powerful nation, which dis-
covered America and planted its flag in every clime, is left

with only a few scattering islands, the pitiful remnants of

world-wide colonial dominion.
President Jefferson, to whose administration belongs the
credit of the Louisiana Purchase, lost no time in acquainting
himself with the nature and extent of his new acquisition.
The formal surrender of Lower Louisiana to the United
States took place at New Orleans December 20, 1803.
During the following winter, explorations were made by
direction of the government along the Red and Washita
rivers. An expedition was organized in the fall of 1803 to
ascend the Missouri and cross to the Pacific ocean, but as
possession of Upper Louisiana had not yet been given up,
it was delayed until the following spring. On the loth of
 LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION. OI

March, 1804, at the city of St. Louis, formal surrender of

Upper Louisiana was made to the United States, thus ful-
filling the terms of the treaty with France. On the 14th of
May, Lewis and Clark set out on their long and perilous
expedition. This celebrated performance stands as incom-
parably the most perfect achievement of its kind in the
history of the world. The expedition reached the Pacific
ocean, November 16, 1805, set out on the return journey
March 2t^, 1806, and arrived in St. Louis September 23,
1806. The journey was accomplished with the loss of only
one man, who died from causes apparently in no way con-
nected with the expedition.^ The information gathered
was so exhaustive and correct that Lezvis and Clark con-
tinued to be the standard authority on the region traversed
by the expedition for fully forty years thereafter.
In the meantime Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike
had ascended the Mississippi river from St. Louis to its
source, acquainting the Indians and traders in that section
with the change of ownership of Louisiana. After his
return to St. Louis he set out in 1806 to explore the country
to the southwest as far as to the Spanish frontier in the
direction of Santa Fe. He passed westward through what
are now Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado until he reached
the mountains, and then turned south into Spanish territory,
where he was arrested by the authorities of that ever
jealous and suspicious government. After much delay he
was released, and he returned to the United States in July,
1807.
These important explorations bring this preliminary
sketch down to the period covered by the present work.
'
who died near the present site of Sioux
Sergeant Charles Floyd,
City, August 20, Nearly a century after his death, the govern-
1804.
ment of the United States, aided by the State of Iowa, erected a suit-
able monument over the grave of the first soldier of the United States
who died west of the Mississippi river. This monument is a solid ma-
sonry obelisk one hundred feet high, and was dedicated May 30, 1901.
It was designed and erected under the supervision of the author of this
work.
82 ADVENT OF THE TRADER.

Louisiana was now national territory. Official explora-

tions had been made in all directions, and the acts of formal
possession were at an end. Some forty years, however,
were yet to elapse before this vast territory was to engage
the serious attention of the world. In the meanwhile, it

was given over to the trader and trapper, the hunter and
adventurer, the traveler and the missionary. In desultory
fashion it was explored in all directions, and lines of travel
gradually developed. Slowly but surely emigration began
to seek those remote regions, and by 1843 it had set heavily
in that direction. Then followed in startling rapidity those
made this country
events which in less than seven years
well known throughout the world, and transformed the
great West into a theatre of commercial and industrial
activity.
It is of the fragments of history that fill up this formative
period of less than two score years that we purpose here to
treat ; to recover as far as possible those obscure beginnings
in the founding of a great empire which the historian has
neglected for the more alluring themes connected with the
building of the superstructure.
 CHAPTER II.

RISE OF THE AMERICAN FUR TRADE.

—
Importance of the fur trade in American history France the pioneer
in the fur trade — —
Spanish fur trade Great Britain and the fur trade
— Rise of the Hudson Bay Company — Rise of the Northwest Com-
pany — Rivalry between the two companies — Amalgamation of the two
companies — Business methods of the Hudson Bay Company — The
Mackinaw Company — Spanish fur companies — Tardy development of
an American fur trade — Trade of the Northwest coast — State of
American fur trade in 1807.

'HE fur trade is indissolubly connected with the history

of North America. For more than two centuries it
was the principal business, and often the only one, transacted
upon the frontiers. The visionary dreams of the early
explorers, that the new world abounded in precious metals
awaiting only their arrival to be gathered in inexhaustible
quantities, led the first adventurers upon this coast to seek
the wealth of the mine rather than that of the forest. The
Spanish were slow to abandon this alluring motive of dis-
covery and conquest, and the treasures which they had
been able to wrest from the more civilized races of the
continent served to keep alive their zeal in this direction long
after any real reason for its existence had disappeared.
But at a very early day the French and English turned their
attention, in their New World projects, to more substantial,
if less attractive, fields of enterprise. North America,
above those latitudes where a semi-tropical climate prevails,
was, at the time of its discovery, the richest and most
extensive field for collecting fine furs upon the face of the
earth. The conditions encountered here seemed to have
been especially prepared by nature to facilitate the exploita-
tion of this particular species of wealth. The continent
 84 VALLEY OF THE ST. LAV/RENCE.
V

was thinly populated with a wild race of men who dwelt in

the wilderness and passed their lives in common neighbor-
hood with the native fauna. Although the fur-bearing ani-
mals supplied the Indian with food, clothing, and shelter,
still his numbers were not sufficient to prevent their increase,

and both man and beast dwelt and bred their species on a
common ground. The stranger came from across the
ocean, introducing new wants to the Indian, which the latter
was able to gratify by giving the native furs in exchange for
the white man's goods. The shrewd trader was thus
enabled, at trifling cost to himself, to put an army of these
native fur gatherers into the field, and the product obtained
in this way he retailed in Europe at an enormous profit.
Fortune seekers both in France and England were quick to
grasp the importance of this new mine of wealth, and indi-
viduals or companies in both countries petitioned their gov-
ernments for exclusive privileges in its development. Royal
J grants for this purpose thus came to be a prominent feature
of American colonial history.
The valley of the St. Lawrence became the and first,

remained the of this business, with Montreal

principal, field
as its chief emporium. Nature had fitted this valley as the
great commercial highway of the fur trade. Through an
unknown and unexplored wilderness, where no overland
route existed, a chain of lakes and a net work of rivers gave
easy access to almost every portion. Low portages con-
nected the lakes on the south and west with the Mississippi
valley, whence the Missouri opened a way to the distant
mountains. To the north the transfer was easy to another
system of waterways connected with Hudson Bay and the
rivers that flowed from the limitless expanse of the north-
west, beyond which, by somewhat difficult portages, lay the
great rivers of the Pacific coast. The St. Lawrence valley
was thus the natural highway for the peculiar trade of the
wilderness, and for two hundred years it was the scene of a
traffic unparalleled for romantic interest in the history of
commerce.
 HUDSON BAY COMPANY INCORPORATED. 87

ment gave to other parties the exclusive right of trade in

these regions, and Groseilliers saw his well-laid schemes
destroyed in very beginning.
their Disappointed, he
returned to France and sought redress from his government
for what he considered an injustice to himself and his asso-
ciate. Failing in this he addressed himself successfully to
the English court. Under the patronage of JEmice_JR.upert
he was outfitted with a vessel and cargo, and in 1668 sailed
for Hudson Bay. Well nigh at the southeastern extremity
of the bay he built the first post ever erected on its shores
and named it Fort Charles for the English king.
This success led to the formation of the famous monopoly
officially known The Governor and Company of Adven-
as
turers of England, trading intoHudson Bay, but known in
common parlance as the I^udsQiuBa^c-CQIlipany. The date
of the charter was May 2, 1670. The privileges granted ^>C
"-^"^^
were such as no other company ever enjoyed. Over a
region of unknown extent it was given absolute proprietor-
ship, supreme jurisdiction in civil and military affairs, the
power to make laws, and to declare war against pagan peo-
ples, and in fact nearly all the attributes of a sovereign and
independent government.
This monopoly did not enjoy throughout its career a
smooth and prosperous existence. In its earlier years it
received repeated checks from the French, who claimed the
territory included in its charter —
a claim that was subse-
quently on one occasion recognized by the British Govern-
ment. The French made several expeditions both by sea and
land against the company's establishments. They were gen-
erally successful,and the forts were at one time all captured
and some of them destroyed. The operations in these
waters, in which the brothers dTberville, founders of the
Louisiana colony, greatly distinguished themselves, were
almost uniformly favorable to France and highly creditable
to her navy. But the fur company did not succumb to these
reverses and kept right on with its operations. Later events
turned the tide in its favor. The Treaty of Utrecht, 171 3,
88 NORTHWEST COMPANY OF MONTREAL.

greatly curtailed the rights of France as recognized in the

Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, while the Treaty of Paris, 1763,
abrogated them altogether, and left England undisputed
sovereign of North America except to the west and south-
west of the Mississippi, and on the Pacific coast.
Thus the rising monopoly was for a time relieved of its
troublesome interlopers, and enjoyed the uninterrupted
exercise of its trade. It did not pursue an aggressive com-

mercial policy. It did not seek a rapid extension of the

field of its operations, and it built but few posts. It sought
to secure its furs by trade with the Indians rather than by its
own hunters, for it would thus more surely protect the fur-
bearing animals from extinction. This prudent manage-
ment was very profitable. The stock rose greatly in value.
Admission to the company was difficult, and the managers
sought to conceal all knowledge of the country, or at least
to depreciate its importance, in order not to arouse inquiry

or induce pressure for a share in its privileges. Had there

been a well-defined boundary of its territories so that it could
have excluded with certainty all intruders, there is no tell-
ing how long this quiet prosperity might have gone on
undisturbed. But to the west and southwest there was
nothing definite as to boundaries, and a rival presently arose
which was only too ready to take advantage of this impor-
tant fact.
This rival was the Northwest Company of Montreal.
It was the outgrowth of the old French trade in the region
of the upper lakes and beyond. As that trade began to
rally from the destructive effects of the French and Indian
War, it fell principally into the hands of a few Scotchmen,
leading merchants of Montreal, who for several years acted
in the main independently of each other. The trade began
to revive about 1 766, and by 1 780 had regained a large part
of its former vigor. But the evil effects of individual com-
petition, and the loss of profits due to the smallpox
scourge of 1 782, induced the leading traders to enter into an
association for the common pursuit of the business. This
 MACKENZIE AND THOMPSON. 89

took place in the winter of 1783-4, and the new company

was styled the Northwest Company of Montreal.
At this time the traders had already established their
great emporium upon the northern shore of Lake Superior,
where their business was conducted with the remote and
vast interior. This was the Grand Portage, which was
connected by a road about ten miles long with the water
courses above the falls of Pigeon river, whence a water
route led all the way to the very base of the mountains.
The new company, Hudson Bay Company, had
like the
rough Not all
sailing in the earlier years of its existence.
of the Montreal traders were satisfied with the new arrange-
ment. A rival association was organized under the name
of Pond, Pangman and Company, including Alexander
Mackenzie, who later became famous through his explora-
tions. Pond soon deserted to the older company, and was
largely responsible for a which grew out of
tragedy
the rivalry between the two concerns. This was the killing
of John Ross, a trader of the smaller company. So
alarmed were the parties on both sides at the possible con-
sequences of this event, that a union of the two factions was
formed in 1787, from which date the full career of the
Northwest Company may be said to have begun.
The operations of the company from this time on were
conducted on a truly imperial scale. One of the partners,
Alexander Mackenzie, began a series of explorations of the
i^northwest, which, in 1793, carried him to the Pacific ocean.
Another far-reaching movement was the engagement, as
astronomer and surveyor for the company, of David
Thompson, who had lately left the service of the Hudson
Bay Company. He was directed to survey the 49th parallel,
which formed the international boundary west of Rainy
Lake, to explore the country along that line, and to find suit-
able locations for the company's posts as its operations
should extend farther to the westward. Thompson's work
carried him to the Missouri river at the Mandans, and later
to the mouth of the Columbia. It had an influence on
 99 THE XY COMPANY,

national affairs quite beyond its importance in the business

of the company.
Meanwhile the regular trading operations of the com-
pany were pushed with aggressive vigor in all directions.
After eight years of uninterrupted progress, further dissen-
sion arose in the company councils resulting in a separation.
The seceding partners were led by Alexander Mackenzie,
and the old company by Simon McTavish. Mackenzie
went to England, published his travels, received the honor
of knighthood, and returning to Canada in 1801, was instru-
mental in organizing the New Northwest Company, or as it
was generally known, the XY Company.^ The rivalry
between the two factions went on with vigor until the death
/ of McTavish, in 1804. In the following year a coalition
was formed and the united company became stronger than
ever.
When the Northwest Company came into existence its
headquarters were at Montreal, and its principal depot at
the Grand Portage. The operations of the company had
extended far into the northwest, between the Hudson Bay
territories on the one hand and Louisiana on the other,
and embraced considerable territory in the United States.
The trade had been carried quite to the base of the Rocky
mountains, and as already stated one of the traders had
crossed to the Pacific ocean, being the first white man to
perform this feat north of the Spanish possessions. As a
result of surveys it was found that the depot at the Grand
Portage was on United States territory, and a new post was
built farther north and named Fort William in honor of
William McGillivray, chief agent of the company at Mon-
treal. It was at Fort William that the agents from
Montreal and the wintering partners from the interior
assembled each summer for the exchange of outfits and the
determination of plans for the ensuing year.

*The use of these letters is explained by a recent writer as being en-

tirely accidental and arising from the fact that they were the letters of
the alphabet which immediately followed the last of the letters N W.,
the initials of the Northwest Company.
 THE SELKIRK COLONY. 9I

The daring enterprise of the Northwest Company, and the

bold extension of its operations regardless of the territorial
rights of the Hudson Bay Company, forced that lethargic
concern into active resistance. Inasmuch as we are here
only indirectly concerned with the operations of these com-
panies, it may be permitted to step a few years ahead of our
narrative to note the outcome of this contest. The rivalry
between the two companies knew almost no bounds.
Wherever one might establish a post the other would plant
one beside it in order to watch its operations and forestall
any advantage of position. When opportunity occurred,
forts were burned, property confiscated, and even lives sac-
rificed, fo'r the criminal and civil jurisdiction of Canada did
not yet reach to these remote regions, and there was no
government restraint upon acts of lawlessness.
_£inally the Hudson Bay Company took a radical step to
annoy and harass their opponent. In the year 1811 they
granted to the Earl of Selkirk a large tract of land in the
^ed River valley, between the United States boundary and
Lake Winnipeg, for the purpose of founding there a colony.
The Northwest Company resisted by the most energetic
measured* this encroachment upon what they claimed as
their rights. The new settlement extended directly athwart
their path to the westward, and cut their territory in two.
They determined that it should not be made. Lord Selkirk,
who was a benevolent, high-minded and able man, had
embarked his private fortune, and based his dearest hopes,
upon the upbuilding of this colony, and he was in no sense
disposed to yield. The brunt of the struggle fell upon the
innocent colonists, and the stories of their misfortunes dur-
ing the ten years following are among the most touching
and pathetic in the history of North American settlement.
The struggle at length reached a climax in 181 6, when it
attained the proportions of actual war between the North-
west people on the one side and the Hudson Bay people with
the colonists on the other. Many lives were lost on both
sides, but the colonists suffered most severely.
 92 BUSINESS METHODS OF HUDSON BAY COMPANY.

The grave aspect which this rivalry had now assumed

was such that it could no longer escape the attention of the
mother country. The contestants were brought into court,
and in 1819 the matter was laid before the British parlia-
ment. It is said that over half a million dollars were
expended in litigation without effecting any satisfactory
settlement. Finally the inevitable course, which had long
..^ been pointed out by more far-sighted men,^ that of coalition,
/ took place in 1821, the united company retaining the name
of the older rival. New regulations relating to criminal
and civil jurisdiction were promulgated, and new descrip-
tions of boundaries were made. The rights of the company
were not materially abridged, while its territories were

vastly extended, and its power for peaceful commerce

increased. Meanwhile the noble efforts of Lord Selkirk
began to prosper, and the Red river colony secured a new
and permanent lease of life.
The organization of the Hudson Bay and Northwest
companies, their internal regulations, method of dealing
with the Indians, and policy in preserving the fur-bearing
animals from extinction, were the outgrowth of long expe-
rience, and embodied the highest wisdom in the manage-
ment of their extensive affairs. The experience of each of
the rivals was added to that of the other in the amalgamated
company after 182 1, and formed one of the most perfect
commercial organizations of which the world has any
knowledge. The systems of service and promotion pro-
tected the company from incompetent servants. To gain
high position in the service, one must begin at the bottom
and work up. All must work for the company's interest,
and none were allowed to engage in any private trade.
Employes were frequently changed in station to break up
any irregular practices which might grow up with long
residence in one place, and this rotation was taken advantage
of to reward faithful service and punish the reverse. The
company's officers had power to try and punish offenders.
* Mackenzie had suggested the advisabiHty of union as early as 1801.
 THE MACKINAW COMPANY. 93

Military dutywas exacted whenever necessary, and a regu-

lar uniform was provided. The whole organization, from
the governor down through factors, traders, and clerks, to
the lowest mangeur de lard, was based upon the principle of
perfect discipline, absolute subordination of individual inter-
est to that of the company, and a regular promotion based
upon merit. Long
experience had perfected all parts of
this intricate machine, and not even the greatest of modern
railway systems can excel it in thoroughness of detail and
organization.
In its dealings with the Indians the same wise policy
was apparent. Where not necessary to meet competition
was not generally indulged
the sale of liquor to the natives
in. was upon a fixed, though just, basis, and the
All trade
Indians knew exactly what to expect. The traders were
men of experience with the natives, and were well
acquainted with the Indian character. Intermarriage with
native women was common, from the chief officers down to
the ranks, and thus bonds of mutual interest were created.
Although this company did not always escape difficulties
with the Indians, it was generally on terms of peace with
them, and its hold upon them as against irregular traders
was well-nigh absolute. It may readily be seen how
powerless must have been a private trader and even a strong
company against this embodiment of power, wealth, expe-
rience and organization. We
shall have occasion in the
course of these pages to note several attempts to enter the
field in competition with the company, and their invariable

result in failure.
There was another British company which occupied a
place of some prominence in the early fur trade, and which
was founded after the career of the Northwest Company
had well begun. From the fact that its headquarters and
principal establishment were at Michilimackinac, it was
generally known as the Mackinaw Company. It operated
mainly within the territories of the United States, around
the shores of Lake Michigan and westward to the Missis-
sippi, and in Canadian territory east of Lake Huron.
 94 UNITED STATES FUR TRADE.

At St. Louis in the days of Spanish rule there were com-

panies trading under grants from the governor of Louisiana.
Maxent, Laclede and Company was one of these. After the
death of Laclede the company was dissolved and others took
its place. Down to the time of the cession there had been
several of these associations, and the trade had extended
well up the Missouri and far out into the prairies. None of
these companies ever attained any extensive success.
1/ -In Jhe^ United States no great company arose until late in
the decade of the nineteenth century. Circumstances had
first

been unfavorable to the building up of the trade. The War

of the Revolution absorbed the attention of the people, and
its termination left them little prepared to enter at once

upon great commercial undertakings. The Lidians were

generally hostile, and under British influence. For a num-
ber of years Great Britain continued to hold the posts
along the upper lakes, whereby the trade of those regions
was kept in the hands of her own subjects. For a decade or
more after the peace with Great Britain the obstacles to the
organization of an American fur company were almost
insuperable. Such organization as did finally ensue was
brought about mainly through the efforts of one man, a
foreigner by birth, John Jacob Astor. The career of this
king of the American fur trade will be noted more at length
in our treatment of his great enterprise on the Pacific
coast.
There still remains to be noticed the trade of the north-
west coast, which bears an intimate relation to the history
not only of the American fur trade, but of the nation itself.
The trade was originated by the Russians as early as the
middle of the eighteenth century. The motive which led
adventurers from this nation to the American coast was the
great abundance there of sea otter, whose fur is the most
precious known. These furs the Russians collected and
carried to the Siberian coast, whence they were transported
partly to the interior and partly to the frontier of China.
The operations of these traders extended along the coast
 THE NORTHWEST COAST. 95

from Bering Strait to Vancouver Island, and were the

foundation of Russian claims to territorial sovereignty on
that portion of the American continent.
American traders also obtained a foothold in the lucrative
trade of the northwest coast. The celebrated voyage of
Captain Cook, 1776-80, made known to the world this reser-
voir of wealth but as it was several years before an authen-
;

tic account of the voyage appeared, the results of the dis-

covery were not immediately taken advantage o.f. In 1787,

shortly after the appearance of the narrative of Cook's dis-
coveries, some Boston merchants, enthused by his reports,
undertook to send some ships to see what was to be found
there. This was the beginning of the American trade on
this coast, a trade which soon developed almost to the pro-
portions of a monopoly for down to the time of the War
;

of 181 2 there were more than three times as many American

vessels engaged in it as those of all other nations together.
The trade, as practiced by the Boston merchants, devel-
oped into quite a system, A cruise ordinarily lasted three
years. The vessel would leave home with suitable merchan-
dise, intime to reach the coast in the spring of the year.
After trading all summer along the coast, it would go to the
Sandwich Islands for winter, and would return again the
following spring. After another season's trade it would
sail with cargo to China, exchange it for goods suitable
its

to the American market, and then return home.

^ Briefly to summarize what has been related on the sub-

ject of the American fur trade, its status at about the year
1807 was as follows: The Hudson Bay and Northwest
companies were fighting for supremacy in the country
northwestward from Lake Superior, The southern line of
their operations lay well within United States territories,
touching the sources of the IMississippi and extending to the
Missouri in the vicinity of the Mandan villages. The..
Mackinaw- Company and other traders controlled the terri-
tory about the upper lakes and westward to the Mississippi.
John Jacob Astor was gradually getting a hold upon the
96 STATE OF TRADE IN 1807.

American trade, and was already forming the schemes

which occupied his later life. The various St. Louis
traders carried on their business up the Mississippi for some
distance, but mainly up the Missouri and its tributaries,
having already encountered the Northwest Company on the
upper river. A large part of their trade at this time was
along the Osage and Kansas rivers and southward toward
the Arkansas. A few isolated expeditions had gone as far
west as the Rocky mountains, and one or two attempts had
been made to penetrate to Santa Fe. Lewis and Clark had
crossed to the Pacific and had returned, making known the
vast resources of the upper tributaries of the Missouri and
of the country beyond. Pike had made a similar expedition
to the southwest. With these extensive regions now under
the flag of the United States, the field of enterprise in the
fur trade was open to all who chose to embark in it.
Traders at once prepared to improve the opportunities thus
thrown open to them, and their enterprises thereafter went
on unceasingly until the onward march of civilization termi-
nated them altogether.
 CHAPTER III.

ST. LOUIS.

Importance as an emporium of trade — Founding of the city— La-

clede —
Spanish rule at St. Louis —The "Affair of 1780" — Transfer
of Upper Louisiana to the United States —Early growth of St. Louis—
Advent of the steamboat — Early population of St. Louis— The fur
trade —
Comparison of the old city with the new.

*W'T is if history affords the example of another

doubtful
which has been the exclusive mart for so vast an
city
extent of country as that which was tributary to St. Louis
during the entire period embraced in this work. Every
route of trade or adventure to the remote regions of the west
centered in St. Louis. The very location at the mouth of the
Missouri gave it monopoly of all trade originating in the
valley of that stream, whether among the wild tribes of the
mountains three thousand miles away, or among the infant
settlements which were advancing with slow but sure foot-
step along the lower course of the river. The Oregon
Trail, which began, as an independent line of travel, near
the present site of Kansas City, Mo., brought down the
tribute from the high mountain sections of the central west,
from the interior basin of the Great Salt Lake, and to some
extent from the more remote regions on the Pacific slope.
In like manner the Santa Fe Trail, which left the Missouri
river at the same point as did the Oregon Trail, and was
coincident with it for some distance west, carried to and fro
that peculiarcommerce which long existed with the foreign
city ofSanta Fe, and even with the distant provinces of old
Mexico and of southern California.
Following the lines of trade, all travel to the Far West,
whether for pleasure or for scientific research, all exploring
98 MAXENT, LACLEDE AND COMPANY.

expeditions, all military movements, all intercourse with the

Indians, and even the enterprises of the missionaries in that
distant country, made St. Louis their starting point and
base of operations.
It was here that trans-shipment of commerce was made
to eastern markets by way of the Mississippi, the Ohio, or
the Great Lakes, Warehouses and mercantile establish-
ments arose for outfitting the numberless expeditions to the
interior. The government maintained a military post near
by, and had here its principal office of Indian affairs for the
trans-Mississippi tribes.
The city of St. Louis is therefore in the fullest sense
an historic datum for all events which transpired during this
period in the vast regions to the westward and some notice ;

of its contemporaneous history is indispensable to a com-

plete exposition of our subject.
St. Louis is one of the few American cities of the first

class whose birth antedates the birth of the Union. Boston,

New York, and Philadelphia on the Atlantic, Detroit on the
Great Lakes, New Orleans on the Gulf, San Francisco on
the Pacific, and St. Louis in the interior, comprise the
number. The founding of St. Louis and the choice of its
location appear to be closely related to that event which has
already been referred to as the most important in American
history —
the conquest of Canada and eastern Louisiana by
the English. In 1762 the firm of Maxent, Laclede and
Company of New Orleans was granted the exclusive trade
of the Missouri river and of the Mississippi as far as to the
mouth of the river St. Peters. The grant was an important
one, and the company took prompt steps to realize its
advantages; but as they had to organize a large and costly
expedition and send to Europe for their merchandise, it
was not until August 3, 1763, that they were able to leave
New Orleans.
The responsibility of selecting a site for the company's
proposed establishment was entrusted to one of its number,

Pierre Laclede Liguest, who is described as a man of ability

 LACLEDE ARRIVES AT FORT DE CHARTRES. 99

and well qualified for so important a duty. Among his

companions was Auguste Chouteau, then a lad of only
thirteen, who, notwithstanding his extreme youth, is said
to have been Laclede's most trusted subordinate.
When the expedition left New Orleans the news of the
Treaty of Paris and that of the cession of the west bank
of the Mississippi to Spain had not yet arrived. Laclede
therefore set out on his long journey in the belief that the
country included in his grant was still a dependency of
France. The progress of keelboat navigation up the
devious course of the Mississippi was very slow, and the
summer and autumn had worn away before the expedition
arrived in the neighborhood of the French settlements
above the mouth of the Ohio. Here in all probability
Laclede received his first intimation of the cession of the
east bank of the river to Great Britain, and at once saw that
this event was of great consequence to the future of his
enterprise. We was his desire to
are led to infer that it

build his post on the east bank of the

where he would
river,
be among his own people, in easier reach of supplies, and
protected against danger from the Indians on the opposite
bank. But now this choice was no longer open to
him.
The season was too far advanced when he reached St.
Genevieve, the lowest of the upper settlements, and the only
one then located on the west bank, to permit him to establish
his post before winter would set in, and it became imperative
to find a place where he could store his merchandise until
spring. The village of Genevieve had no available
St.
building of sufficient capacity, and Lacledewas perplexed to
know what to do, when a messenger arrived from M. De
Neyon de Villiers, commandant at Fort de Chartres on the
east shore, offering Laclede the necessary accommodations
at that place until the English should arrive. Laclede
promptly accepted the offer, and arrived at Fort de Chartres
November 3d, just three months after leaving New Orleans.
After having made such arrangements as he could to
lOO SITE OF ST. LOUIS CHOSEN.

carry on a trade from Fort de Chartres during the winter, he

set out with Chouteau and a small party in December to
select the site of his post. The news of the cession of the
east bank of the river to Great Britain had the effect of
enlarging Laclede's views of the future of his proposed
establishment. He saw that there would be a large emigra-
tion of the French from the Illinois settlements, for many of
the inhabitants would refuse to live under English rule.
They could not return to Canada, for that was also included
in the cession, and New Orleans was a thousand miles away.
Why not offer them a refuge at the place where he proposed
to build his post? The idea evidently became a part of
Laclede's plan, for Chouteau, who later wrote a narrative
of these events, repeatedly refers to his selection of a site as
the place of his proposed " settlement " or " village."
The choice of site now being restricted to the west bank,
and as near as possible to the mouth of the Missouri, yet
below it, descending either stream might be com-
lest traffic

pelled to ascend the other in order to reach the post, the sit-
uation where St. Louis now stands was certain to be selected.
Here was a bold, firm bank, high enough to give immunity
from floods, yet not so high as to be inaccessible in loading
and unloading cargoes a bench of land broad enough for
;

the proposed village; and a safe and commodious channel

close to the shore, where boats could be loaded and unloaded
with ease and safety. Add to these desirable features that
the surroundings were of great beauty, the site evidently
salubrious, and the quick eye of Laclede told him that he
had found what he was after. He might have followed the
shore for many a mile in either direction without finding its

superior.
Chouteau says that Laclede " was delighted to see the
situation,and did not hesitate a moment to form there the
establishment that he proposed. After having
. . .

examined all thoroughly, he fixed upon the place where he

wished to form his settlement, marked with his own hand
some trees," and then gave Chouteau explicit directions as
 THE CITY FOUNDED. lOI

to what he desired to have done. Upon Fort

his return to
de Chartres he expressed his great satisfaction with the site

selected, and even indulged the prediction that here would

yet arise " one of the finest cities in America."
Navigation opened early in the following spring, and
Chouteau set out in the beginning of February with thirty
men, " nearly all mechanics," and reached the site of the
proposed establishment on the 14th of that month. ^ On the
morning of the 15th work was begun in earnest, and
ground was broken for the first time to erect buildings where
now stand the stately edifices of a city of half a million peo-
ple. Laclede arrived early in April and "occupied himself
with his settlement, fixed the place where he wished to
build his house, laid the plan of the village he wished to
form, and named it St. Louis in honor of Louis XV.,
whose subject he expected to remain for a long time."
Thus in the midst of the solitudes of a yet unexplored
country, upon the shores of the greatest river of the con-
tinent, this small band of practical men, eschewing all osten-
tatious ceremony or display, and guided solely by the natural
fitness of the situation for the purposes of peaceful com-
merce, laid the foundations of the future metropolis of the
Mississippi valley. Not least of the honors which have
befallen men in the past is that of having chosen from the
wilderness those situations where their posterity has loved
to dwell where it has opened its marts of trade and indus-
;

try where it has built its temples of learning and religion,

;

and where it has assembled that infinite variety of the prod-

ucts of civilization which unite to form a great city. Such
an honor will ever attach to the name of Pierre Laclede
Liguest.^
* There
is some discrepancy among the authorities as to this date,

but the one here given has the weight of evidence in its favor.
^ Named indirectly in honor of Louis XV., by giving it the name of
his patron saint, St. Louis, who was Louis IX. of France.
^ The view of the founding of St. Louis which I have here given is at

variance with the conclusions of certain historians of St. Louis, who

maintain that Laclede was ignorant of the Treaty of Paris until after
I02 SUBJECTS OF THE KING OF SPAIN.

Although the residents of the newly-formed village were

not aware of the fact, they were at this time virtually sub-

jects of the King of Spain, and so remained for just about

forty years, when the city passed to its final place in the
history of nations. It was not once that the Spanish
at
assumed possession. Laclede remained sole director of the
colony for upward of a year, or until the arrival of St.
Ange de Bellerive. This officer had been left at Fort de
Chartres by De Neyon de Villiers to surrender that post
and the surrounding country to the English; and immedi-
ately upon the consummation of this event he withdrew his
troops to St. Louis. By general consent he was placed in
charge of the affairs of the young settlement, and so
remained until 1770, May 20, when the first Spanish gov-
ernor, Don Pedro Piernas, assumed control. There were
seven Spanish governors in and with one exception their
all,

administrations were highly acceptable to the people, to a

degree, in fact, which forms a bright exception to the gen-
eral unpopularity of Spanish colonial government.^

he had selected his site. In doing this they are obUged to treat the
narrative of Auguste Chouteau as a mere fabrication — an ingenious
after-thought designed to give a philosophical explanation of a very for-
tunate event. Such a course is a drastic one, to say the least, for even
if we are to assume that this distinguished pioneer were willing to per-
vert the facts of history to his own credit, the motive in this case is

wanting. Whatever may have been the cause of the selection of the
site, whether that above given or some other, the credit of it would

nevertheless redound to the good judgment of the founder.

The view of these writers is apparently based on the fact that news
of the cession did not reach New Orleans for some months after
Laclede's departure. It ignores the other fact that the news might, and
probably did, first reach the settlements of the Illinois by another route

than that of the lower Mississippi. Tidings of such deep importance

to all the colonists of both countries would not travel slowly, and it is
entirely within the range of possibility —
it is even highly probable —
that the Illinois settlements knew what had happened before Laclede
arrived at St. Genevieve. The time required to reach the Mississippi,
either by way of the Great Lakes or by the Ohio, would make this
possible.
*
Don Pedro Piernas, from May 20, 1770, to May, 1775 ; Don Fran-
 AFFAIR OF 1780. 103

For the most part the affairs of the colony moved on

very smoothly. There was but one serious menace from
the Indians, and that was far from being as important as
historians have represented. It is known as the " affair of
1780," and undoubtedly grew directly from the struggle
then going on between Great Britain and her American
colonies. The country eastward of the Mississippi
to the
had been wrested from the English through the valor of
General George Rogers Clark, and there were some attempts
to retake it. One of these, to all appearances, was the incur-
sion of the Indians in 1780, and their abortive attempt upon
Kaskaskia, on the east bank of the river. Failing in their
main purpose, some of them crossed to the west bank. May
26, 1780, and murdered six people on the Grand Prairie,
some four or five miles northwest of St. Louis. This
occurrence became magnified in the course of time into a
terrible attack upon the infant village, in which some sixty
inhabitants lost their lives, many more were wounded, and
others carried into captivity. But slight as it actually was,
it produced a deep impression upon the community. The
people had grown to believe that their village was privileged
with immunity from Indian attacks, for nothing of the kind
had ever occurred. No fortifications had been erected,
and so great was the feeling of security that certain rumors
of attack, which are said to have been afloat for several days
prior to the events just related, were cast aside as unworthy
of attention. But after this affair no time was lost in
placing the village in a state of defense. A line of fortifi-
cations was around it, and the citizens for a long time
built
faithfully guarded it. But this was the last, as it had been
the first, serious danger from the Indians which ever threat-
ened St. Louis, unless we include the many individual out-

cisco Cruzat, from May, 1775, to 1778; Don Fernando de Leyba, from
1778 until his death, June 28, 1780; Silvio Francisco Cartabona (acting
governor), from June 28, 1780, until the arrival of the new governor;
Don Manuel Perez, from November 25, 1787, to 1793; Zenon Trudeau,
from 1793 to August 29, 1799; Charles Deshault Delassus, from August
29, 1799, to end of Spanish rule, March 9, 1804.
I04 TRANSFER OF LOUISIANA.

rages which were committed upon the settlers by the Osage

Indians, and by the Sacs and Foxes during the War of
1812.
The greatest event in the history of St. Louis, except its

founding, was its transfer, with that of Upper Louisiana, to

the United States. The quiet tenor of colonial life had
rarely been disturbed by events in the outer world, and it

is doubtful if these were followed very closely or with much

interest by the contented inhabitants. But they were at
length suddenly awakened from the easy routine of their
affairs by the glad tidings that they were about to be
restored to the sovereignty of France; and fast upon the
track of this news came the less welcome announcement that
their city and their country had been sold to the Americans.
It was an unusual spectacle that took place in St. Louis
March 9 and 10, 1804, and one filled with sadness to the old
inhabitants, who were mostly of French descent. The
formal transfer of LTpper Louisiana from Spain to France
had not been made when the time arrived for its transfer to
the United States. In order that this transfer might be
made from France to the United States, according to the
terms of the treaty with Napoleon, Captain Amos Stoddard,
United States Army, who had been delegated to receive the
country from France, was empowered by the French govern-
ment to act as its agent in the transfer, which must first take
place from Spain to France. The ceremony of the first
transfer occurred between the hours of 11 A. M. and 12 M.,
March 9, 1804. The Spanish flag was lowered and the
standard of France was run up in its place. The people,
although conscious that the sovereignty of France was being
resumed but for a moment, and simply as a necessary for-
mality in the final transfer, nevertheless could not restrain
them once more the standard
their joy at seeing float over
which even forty years of the mild sway of Spain had not
estranged from their memory. So deep was the feeling
that, when the customary hour came for lowering the flag,
the people besought Captain Stoddard that it might remain
 —

SLOW GROWTH OF ST. LOUIS. IO5

up all night. The request was granted, and the flag of

France floated for twenty-four hours over the city from
which it was about to be withdrawn forever. At the
appointed time on the following day, March lo, 1804, the
ceremony of transfer from France to the United States was
enacted. The flag of the French Republic was withdrawn,
and the Stars and Stripes waved for the first time in this
future metropolis of the valley of the Mississippi. Thus
St. Louis became perhaps the only city in history which
has seen the flags of three nations float over it in token of
sovereignty within the space of twenty-four hours.^
The growth of St. Louis during the forty years from its
founding to its transfer to the United States had been very
small — in fact, almost nothing. The sudden exodus of the
French families to the west shore as a result of the cession
of the east shore to Great Britain, gave the new town a pop-
ulation of over five hundred by the end of its first year's
existence. In 1800, thirty-five years thereafter, the popula-
tionwas only 925. At the time of the cession it could not
have been more than a thousand. Contrary to general
expectation the effect of the cession in stimulating immi-
gration was at small.
first The War of 181 2, and the
resulting danger from the Western Indians, who were to
some extent under British influence, together with the gen-
eral stagnation of business enterprise throughout the
country, held back the growth of the town for many years.
The United States census of 1810 showed only 1,400 popu-
lation; a local census of 181 5 showed 2,000, while the next
United States census, that of 1820, gave 4,000.
^"The author of these sketches [History of Louisiana] was the con-
stitutedagent of the French Republic in Upper Louisiana, and in
her name received possession of that province on the ninth day of
March, 1804, and the next day transferred it to the United States."
Stoddard.
The interesting episode regarding the flag rests upon tradition, but of
more than ordinary probability. It was related to the author by Mr.
Pierre Chouteau of St. Louis, whose ancestors were eye-witnesses of
the ceremonies attending the transfer.
 ;

I06 ADVENT OF THE STEAMBOAT.

At about this latter date St. Louis began to feel the effect
of that important innovation in transportation methods —
the development of the steamboat. We may place as the
third great event in her history, the arrival of the first
steamboat. This event took place on July 27, 181 7, when
the steamer Pike moored at the city landing. The first
attempt to navigate the Missouri by steam was in 1819.
The Independence left St. Louis for Franklin, Mo., on the
i6th of May of that year, and either on that day or the
next entered the mouth of the Missouri. The great impor-
tance of this new invention, by which the current of the
rivers was overcome and all distances virtually shortened to
one-fourth their former length, can not be overestimated.
It was fully appreciated by the thoughtful men of St. Louis
at the time, and filled them with a just enthusiasm at the
brilliant prospects beforethem. "In 181 7," said a writer
in the Missouri Gazette, " less than two years ago, the first
steamboat arrived at St. Louis. We hailed it as the day of
small things, but the glorious consummation of all our
wishes is daily arriving. Who could or would have
. .

dared to conjecture that in 1819 we should have the arrival

of a steamboat from Philadelphia or New York ? Yet such
"
is the fact !

The growth of steamboat navigation on all the western

rivers after this period was rapid and continuous. St.
Louis became a great trade center, and soon her long levees
had not space enough to accommodate the boats which
assembled there from every direction —
from New Orleans
at the south and from the falls of St. Anthony at the north
from the Alleghenies in the east and the Rockies in the west,
and even from the distant cities of the Atlantic coast. It
was a wonderful development, and marks the era of real
growth of the city of St. Louis.
A feature of the early life of St. Louis, which will always
have an attraction for the readers of its history, is that
which relates to the manners and customs of its first inhab-
itants. St. Louis today bears scarcely a trace of its early
 EARLY POPULATION OF ST. LOUIS. IO7

character. The two or three hundred original families who

were here at the time of the cession would now be well-nigh
hundred thousand families to be found within the
lost in the
even if they had preserved unimpaired the cus-
city limits,
toms and language of their fathers. But these families
have themselves yielded to the current of innovation, and
have drifted far from the ancient landmarks. They no
longer use their native language in business affairs, and
while they adhere to the religious faith of their fathers,
the church no longer fills the place in their life that it once
did.
The population of St. Louis at the time of the cession
was extremely heterogeneous. New Orleans was the parent
of the enterprise which led to its founding, but the nearly
century-old towns of the Illinois —
Vincennes, Cahokia,
Kaskaskia, and Fort de Chartres — furnished most of the
original population. Thus the two great provinces of New
France, Canada and Louisiana, united in the up-building of
this future great city. But the Creoles of the north and
south bore little enough resemblance to the same generations
of Frenchmen in the motherland. The rapid progress of
France in the disturbing ideas of the times, which culmi-
nated in the Revolution, was not shared by the colonists in
the new world; and the settlements in the far interior of
America were more like the French villages of the time of
Louis XIV. than those of the period in which they actually
flourished. This early French population of the Illi-

nois was to some extent what the peasantry of French

Quebec are today. The)^ loved the quiet, listless ways
of their fathers. The enterprising spirit of the Anglo-
Saxon had no charms for them. Honest and punctilious in
their dealings, courts and lawyers were almost unknown.
Crime was very rare and jails were not found necessary.
Wealth and beggary were alike absent. Ambition was not
a trait of their character. Art and learning had not yet
taken root. Even the commonest manufactures seem to
have been lacking and the people derived their living from
I08 PAIN COURT, VIDE POCHE, MISERE.

the field and from the chase. But with all this apparent lack
of the qualities which seem to us essential to the growth of
any community, they were a happy people. They were
fond of amusements, in which the celebration of church
fetes bore a prominent part. They were unselfish, hospi-
table and friendly in their intercourse, and a kind of demo-
cratic spirit prevailed which their change from monarchical
rule to that of a republic has certainly not operated to foster.
On the whole they represented a type of life over which

the contemplative mind delights to linger,and it is a doubt-

ful question whether in its extinction the world has not lost
something which the present substitute does not adequate-
ly replace.
St. Louis was perhaps less noteworthy as an example of
this mild and benevolent type of life than were the little
villagesfrom which she sprung. The more enterprising
of the French families settled here. They did not settle
down like their neighbors to the tilling of the soil, but
devoted themselves more to commercial pursuits. To such
a degree did they discard agriculture in favor of trade that
they were compelled to purchase their subsistence to some
extent from the neighboring towns and hence the origin
;

of the soubriquet Pain Court (short of bread) which her

neighbors used to fling at her. There was not the strict
propriety in this nickname, however, that there was in
Vide Poche (empty pocket) and Miscre (wretchedness)
with which she was wont to taunt her sisters in return.
In addition to the French element, St. Louis at the time
of the cession contained representatives of other races and
nationalities. There were numbers of Spaniards who had
come while the colony belonged to Spain. The Americans
had already gained a considerable foothold, which every
year served to increase. The new government brought its
quota of civil officials who, with the army officers stationed
there, became an important accession to the town. Then
there was a floating population composed of the voyageurs
and adventurers who were constantly going to and returning
 ST. LOUIS AND THE FUR TRADE. IO9

from the wilderness. A considerable element of negro pop-

ulation in the status of slavery existed, and the sight of
Indians in the streets of the village was never wanting.
Add to these elements the very considerable contingent of
respectable visitors who came and remained long enough to
see the new country, frequently also making excursions into
the interior, and we have as varied and mixed a population
as can be imagined.
The great business of St. Louis in these early years was
her trade with the wild regions of the far west, at this time
consisting mostly in furs. St. Louis was an offspring of
the fur trade and her growth for three-fourths of a cen-
tury depended almost entirely upon it.® Her principal
merchants were all more or less concerned in it, and most
of them were familiar by actual experience with life on
the frontier. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., the leading mercantile
genius of St. Louis, and one of the greatest in the country,
made several trips up the Missouri, at one time going as
far as to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Manuel Lisa spent
a large part of his time in actual life in the wilderness.
General Ashley spent much time on the upper Missouri and
beyond the mountains on Green river and in the Salt Lake
basin. Sublette and Campbell were both trained mountain
men. It was in these remote fields that the foundations
of great fortunes were laid, and that the substantial business
character of St. Louis began its development.''^
It is always a pleasing recreation of the fancy to trace the
changes which time works in great cities, particularly where
' For fifteen years before the cession the annual value of the St. Louis

fur trade is said by one authority (Thomas Allen) to have been $200,-
000; but this was probably an exaggeration.
^ It is a matter of much interest, and one that few residents of
St.
Louis are cognizant of, that the supremacy which their city held as a
fur market in its early days she holds in an even greater degree today;
and it will even more surprise many to know that the magnitude of the
St. Louis fur trade is now actually larger than in the years when the
great fur companies were exploiting those virgin regions where the
beaver had never been disturbed by man. The character of the trade
has changed somewhat, but its volume is as great as it ever was.
no THE OLD ST. LOUIS.

those changes are so rapid and extensive as they are in most

American cities, St. Louis was built, and long remained,
" under the hill " that is, it was on the first bottom or
;

terrace immediatelyon the bank of the river where the levee.

Main street and Second street now are. This terrace led to
an abrupt limestone bluff facing the river, which has now
been wholly graded down and replaced by a well-paved
levee of gradual slope. It was very many years before the
city climbed the hill at all. It was mostly located along one
street, La Rue Principalc (also called La Rue Royale), the
present Main street. Second street was called La Rue de
I'Eglise, or Church street, because it ran in front of the
block where the old cathedral and church buildings stood.
Third street was called La Rue des Granges, or Barn street,
while Fourth street had not come into existence. The
cross streets likewise had French names, as for example. La
Rue de la Tour (Tower street) the present Walnut, which
extended back from the river to the fort and tower on the
hill where Fourth street now intersects Walnut.

The defenses which were constructed after the " affair of

1780" lay mainly on the hill. The line started from the
river at the foot of the present Franklin avenueand extend-
ed back to the bastion at the intersection of Franklin and
Third. It then ran in nearly a straight line to the fort
and tower between Fourth and Fifth at the crossing of
Walnut. Thence it extended nearly parallel to the river to
a point in Third street near Lombard, where was located in
1797 a blockhouse on the banks of Mill creek. From the
blockhouse it ran directly to the river. On or near this de-
fensive line were four stone towers.
Mill creek. La Petite Riviere, occupied the valley where
the railroads of St. Louis now
enter and leave the city. Its
source, says Brackenridge, was about " three miles from
town among a few tall oaks," where it took its rise in " four
or five silver fountains." At an early day a dam was
thrown across the valley and a considerable pond was thus
created near by the present site of the Union Station. It
 THE NEW ST. LOUIS. Ill

was long used to furnish power to a flour mill, and was a

favorite resort until the city overgrew it.
The extensive plateau stretching back in gentle undula-
tions and culminating in the ridge along which Grand
avenue new runs, reaching far to the northward, was
called La Grande Prairie. Beyond this extended the broad
area of rolling timbered ground, full of the beauty of luxur-

iant foliage, and presenting a picture which the modern St.

Louisan may still behold in the undisturbed topography of
Forest Park.
Such was the St. Louis of our ancestors. How different
it istoday ! Approaching from the east shore of the river,
the visitor crosses on one of the world's greatest bridges
and sees below him to right and left the broad levee and row
of low buildings where the ancient village was built. Sud-
denly he is lost in darkness, for the train enters a tunnel
through the " hill " and does not emerge until it reaches
the valley of La Petite Riviere.But the little creek and its
ancient pond and no longer to be seen. In their
mill are
place lie the innumerable tracks and the yards pertaining to
the railroads which center in the metropolis of the Missis-
sippi valley and terminate in one of the finest railroad sta-
tions in the world. Beneath the surface of the ground, and
in place of the former stream, lies a mammoth sewer through
which a hundred petites rivieres might flow.
Just on the summit of the " hill," near where the old fort
used to stand, is the business center of St. Louis. Many
a building now rises in that vicinity which alone represents
more wealth than the entire village possessed in 1804. Far
up and down the river for a distance of many miles the unin-
terrupted succession of buildings extends. To the west-
ward over the " Grande Prairie " it stretches from six to ten
miles, and the elite of the city now dwell where were only
fieldsand woods when St. Louis became an American city.
All over this immense area an intricate system of mains and
pipes carries the supply of water and light for half a million
people, while in every direction powerful electric cars of
 !

112 LACLEDE S PREDICTION.

modern creation bear to and fro an active and prosperous

population.
It would be an endless task to pursue this comparison
into all the details, even of interest and importance, which
readily suggest themselves. For St. Louis is a prophecy
fulfilled, and could Laclede but return for a moment into
her midst, with what pride might he not recall his enthusi-
astic prediction that here should yet stand " one of the finest
cities of America"

•A
 CHAPTER IV.

EXPEDITIONS OF 1807.

Ma quel — Lisa, Menard, Morrison and Company — Drouillard

Lisa
kills — Expedition meets John Colter — Lisa's
Bissonnette with the
skill
Indians — Passage of the Aricara villages — Experience with the Assini-
boines — Lisa builds a post the Crow country — Result of year's
in
trade — Mandan chief Big White — Preparations for chief's return
home — Stopped by the Aricaras — Battle with the Aricaras — Failure
of the expedition.

FOUNDING OF FORT LISA.

*fi5EGINNING with the close of the government explora-

^'^ tions in 1806, the narrative portion of the present
work takes up the thread of events with the following year,
when for the first time an attempt was made to organize an
extensive trade in the newly discovered regions around the
sources of the Missouri.
The Spanish regime of forty years in Upper Louisiana
gave to the fur trade but one prominent name of that nation-
ality. This was Manuel Lisa. In boldness of enterprise,
persistency of purpose, and he was a
in restless energy,
fair representative of theSpaniard of the days of Cortez.
He was a man of great ability, a masterly judge of men,
thoroughly experienced in the Indian trade and native cus-
toms, intensely active in his w^ork, yet withal a perfect enig-
ma of character which his contemporaries were never able
to solve. Although he never seems to have commanded the
warm support and confidence of his associates, still so fully
were his abilities recognized that he was selected to com-
mand in the field nearly every expedition sent out by the St.
Louis companies of which he was a member.^
^
A careful biographical sketch of this distinguished representative of
the early St. Louis fur trade will be found in the following chapter.
114 LISA, MENARD AND MORRISON.

U Lis^/was quick to grasp the importance of the information

femtiglitback by Lewis and Clark concerning the resources
of the countries traversed by these explorers, and in his
characteristic way he at once set about to reap his share of
its advantages. He formed an association with William
Morrison of Kaskaskia, 111., an experienced and successful

trader, and Pierre Menard of the same town who for many
years was connected with one or another of the St. Louis
companies. Careful preparations were made to send an
expedition under Lisa to the upper rivers the following
spring, with a view of establishing posts among those dis-
tant tribes who had not yet been brought into relations with
American traders. It was a venture of no little hazard for
the destination was more than two thousand miles away,
among tribes whose friendship was at least doubtful, and a
goodly portion of the route lay through the country of other
tribes already well known for their treacherous and desper-
ate character. To a less courageous spirit than that of Lisa
be obstacles would have seemed too great.
The expedition Louis in the spring of 1807.^ The
left St.

merchandise destined for barter with the Indians was carried

on a keelboat and the progress of the expedition was limited
to the slow rate at which this boat could be dragged up the
winding course of one of the most troublesome navigable
streams in the world.
Early in the journey an incident occurred which illus-

tratessome of the harder features of the fur trade. Lisa

had with him as his right hand man, George Drouillard,^
who had been an interpreter and hunter with Lewis and
' The data for the history of this expedition are less complete than
could be wished. The Louisiana Gazette, the first newspaper of St.
Louis, and now one of our best authorities upon those early times, was
not established until 1808. There are no letters or documents extant
bearing upon the enterprise. Our main authorities are Brackenridge,
who received an account of the expedition direct from Lisa, and Thomas
Biddle, who wrote from personal knowledge of the work of the fur
traders in the early years of the century.
^
"A man of much merit, . . . peculiarlj' useful from his knowl-

\
 MEETING WITH JOHN COLTER. II5

Clark and had now associated himself with the first trading
expedition to the regions he had visited. At the mouth of
the Osage river Antoine Bissonette, one of the engages,
deserted, Lisa ordered a search for him and commanded
that he be brought back dead or alive. Drouillard over-
took and shot him, wounding him severely. Lisa put the
wounded man in a boat and sent him back to St. Charles,
•doing all that was possible for his comfort but he died;

on the way. When Lisa and Drouillard returned the fol-

lowing year, 1808, Drouillard was tried for murder before
J, B. Lucas, presiding judge, and Auguste Chouteau, asso-
ciate. The jury found him not guilty.
The passage of the mouth of the Platte was marked on
the present occasion by an event of more importance than
the enactment of the good-natured jokes which world-
wide maritime custom inflicts upon those who for the first
time cross the " line " from one hemisphere to the other.^ A
boat with a solitary passenger, a white man, was descried
descending the river. Such a sight, at this early date, was
most unusual, and the members of the expedition were eager
to learn who it might be. By good fortune it proved to be
the very man of all others whom Lisa, had he been permitted
to choose, would have wished to meet. It was John Colter,

one of Lewis and Clark's men, who had crossed to the

Pacific with those officers, and on his way back the follow-
ing year had stopped to hunt and trap upon the upper trib-
utaries of the Missouri. He was fresh from the very coun-
try which Lisa intended to visit, and that sagacious leader,
it may be safely assumed, omitted no inducement which

might secure to his party so valuable an acquisition. Col-

ter agreed to return, and, abandoning his own little craft,
turned his face for the third time toward the sources of the

edge of the common language of gesticulation and his uncommon skill

as a hunter and woodsman." Lewis and Clark.
Lisa's expedition was commonly mentioned at the time as that of
Lisa and Drouillard.
* See Part V., chapter IIL, description of the Platte river.
ii6 Lisa's skill with the Indians.

Missouri. It was now over three years since he had left the
frontiers of civihzation.
The danger from hostile Indians to those early expedi-
tions up the Missouri was a very formidable one. Above
the friendly tribe of the Omahas, who dwelt not far from
the mouth of the Platte, the navigator had to pass the
country of six or seven tribes who might prove hostile or
friendly according as circumstances over which he had no
control might turn. It was a very rare thing for a keelboat
to run the entire gauntlet unmolested, while in many in-
stances disastrous conflicts were precipitated. The chan-
nel of the river, so capricious and shifting, often ran close
to the shore, and placed a boat party in frequent jeopardy, if
not absolutely at the mercy of the Indians. A leader of
great experience, full of nerve and tact, and of that scarcely
less valuable quality described by the word " bluff," was
indispensable in these delicate emergencies. The lives of
the party frequently hung upon a thread which the slight-
as
est maladroitness or weakness would break. Defects of
leadership cost many a life on the hostile shores of the Mis-
souri.
But Lisa was as far master of the art of conciliating the
good will of the Indians as was any trader that ever ascend-
ed the river. He knew when to be gentle and when severe,
and could adroitly mingle with his protestations of friend-
ship demonstrations of ability to defend himself. While
smoking the pipe of peace he did not conceal the muskets
of his followers, nor the more formidable swivels upon the
boat. He knew the indispensable function of presents, and
he was never niggardly in this respect where parsimony
might mean ruin. In short he understood all the secret
springs which actuate the savage mind, and with marvelous
dexterity he played them so as always to avert catastrophe.
His enemies accused him of going beyond the legitimate
field of diplomacy and of warding ofT danger from his own

head by directing it upon those of competing traders. Be

that as it may, he never was caught in an Indian snare and
never personally had serious difficulty with the savages.
 TROUBLE WITH THE ARICARAS. II/

On the J resent occasion Lisa passed through the country

of the Sioux without trouble, but was stopped by that
most treacherous of the Missouri tribes, the, AricaraS'l He
found between two and three hundred warriors awaiting his
approach, for news always traveled among these Indians
faster than boats ascended the river. They evidently meant
trouble, and probably intended to prevent Lisa's further ad-
vance. They fired a volley across his bow at the place
where they had decided that he should land. There was no
way to ignore their imperious command, and Lisa put to
shore. Immediately upon touching the beach he ordered
that no Indians should get in his boat, and the chief sta-
tioned a guard to keep off the crowd. The women then
appeared with bags of corn with which to open trade but ;

an Indian rushed forward and cut the bags with his knife,
whereupon the women took to flight. Whether this was a
premeditated signal for a general onslaught is not clear, but
if so, the purpose was foiled by Lisa's watchfulness and

preparation. They had failed tothrow him off his guard.

Instantly calling his men toarms and training his two
swivels upon the shore, he gave such evidence of a purpose
to open immediately that the Indians retreated in con-
fire

fusion. The chiefs then came forward holding their pipes

before them in token of pacific intentions. Lisa permitted
them to approach and they apologized for the incident, char-
acteristically throwing the blame of it upon some irrespon-
sible person who they said was a " bad man." Lisa accept-
ed this hollow explanation without being in the least
deceived by it. He quickly finished his business at the vil-
lages and resumed his voyage.^
Further difficulty was encountered among the Man-
dans —a very unusual circumstance, for these Indians were
nearly always friendly to the whites —
but Lisa's skillful
management again carried his party safely through. With-
* We shall presently see how different an interpretation was placed
upon Lisa's action at the Aricara village by a party who followed him
up the river.
Il8 FRIGHTENS THE ASSINIBOINES.

out the least trepidation he left the boats and alone passed
through the entire line of villages, keeping the Indians
back from the river until the boats were safel} past. He
probably left a small outfit of goods at this point.
Some distance above the Mandan villages an immense
band, numbering four or five thousand Indians, belonging
to the wandering Assiniboine tribes, was encountered.
Here Lisa thought it expedient to adopt a bolder policy
and terrorize the Indians before actually coming in contact
with them. He caused his swivels to be heavily loaded
and every man to prepare his musket as if about to go into
battle. Having completed his preparations he steered across
the river and made directly for the place where the Indians
were collected on the bank. When he had arrived within
a hundred yards he ordered his swivels and musketry to
be discharged, taking care, however, to aim where the
projectiles could do no harm. The Indians were appalled at
the sight and sound and fell over each other in their panic
to get to the hills for safety. A
few of the chiefs and war-
riors remained and asked to smoke the pipe of peace. The
usual ceremonies were gone through with, presents were
given, and protestations of friendship were exchanged, after
which the little party, thankful for another escape, pursued
their perilous way up the river.
Lisa mentions no other encounters with the Indians upon
this trip. He steadily kept on his way up the Missouri
until he reached the mouth of the Yellowstone, where later
was to stand one of the greatest of the fur-trading establish-
ments, and then ascended the latter stream until he reached
the mouth of its principal tributary, the Bighorn river.
Here Lisa stopped and prepared to commence his trading
operations. But he had made a false move in ascending the
Yellowstone instead of the Missouri, considering that one of
his chief purposes was to open a trade with the Blackfeet
Indians. He was now in the heart of the territory of the
inveterate foes of that tribe, the Crow nation. Whatever
might be his real intentions, this act of going to the Crows
 FORT MANUEL. I I9

to build his post could not but make the jealous Blackfeet
suspect that he was in league with their enemies. Lisa prob-
ably did not realize the far-reaching consequences of this
act at the time and very likelyascended the Yellowstone on
the advice of Colter, who had found it a good fur country

and who had had little occasion to observe the political

situation of the various tribes.
Be this as it may, Lisa halted in the heart of the Crow
territory at the mouth of the Bighorn river, and commenced
his post at the junction of the two streams on the right bank
of each. The post has since been variously known as Fort
Lisa, Fort Manuel, and Manuel's Fort. No relic of it has
survived and the precise spot where it stood is unknown, but
to it belongs the honor of being the first American trading
post established on the upper rivers and the first building
erected within the limits of the present state of Montana.
Of Lisa's operations during the following winter we
know nothing except as they are connected with the adven-
tures of John Colter.'^' It is known that he made a strong
effort to open up relations with both the Crows and Black-
feet. With
the Crows he was successful, but not so with
the others. The outcome of the year's trade, however, was
evidently satisfactory, and Lisa returned to St. Louis in the
spring of i^qB> elated with his success. The glowing ac-
counts brought back by him bore fruit in the more preten-
tious company which continued his work in the following
year.
ATTEMPTED RETURN OF THE MANDAN CHIEF.
When Lewis and Clark arrived at the Mandan villages
on theirway back from the Pacific in 1806, they persuaded
the Mandan chief Shahaka, more commonly called Gros
Blanc, or Big White, to accompany them to St. Louis with
® Colter's connection with this expedition has won for the intrepid
hunter a permanent place in the history of the west. So important
were his adventures, even apart from the objects of Lisa's expedition,
that their consideration has been made the subject of separate treatment.
See Part IV., Chapter X. «
II20 ESCORT OF MANDAN CHIEF.

a view of making a visit to President Jefferson. One of

the conditions of this arrangement was that the chief should
be safely escorted back to his nation when the contemplated
visit was over. Accordingly in the following summer the
United States took measures to carry out its agreem.ent and
an expedition was organized for the purpose.'^
The chief's party consisted of himself and his interpreter,
Rene Jesseaume —with their wives and one child each.
The escort consisted of two non-commissioned officers and
eleven privates under the command of Ensign Nathaniel
Pryor who, as a sergeant, had accompanied the expedition
of Lewis and Clark. There had but recently come to St.
Louis a deputation of Sioux Indians consisting of eighteen
men and women and six children accompanied by William
Dorion. It was arranged that they should return at the
same time, but they were provided with a separate escort of
soldiers commanded by Lieutenant Joseph Kimball. There
also ascended the river at this time two trading parties, one
for the Mandan trade, consisting of thirty-two men under
the direction of Pierre Chouteau, and the other of ten men
destined for the Sioux trade led by " young Dorion," pre-
sumably a son of the interpreter who was for a time with
the Lewis and Clark expedition. There were, besides, one
hunter, three hired boatmen, and a second interpreter. The
total strength of the joint party, including the officers
but
omitting the Indians, was seventy-two men. Including the
Indians the number was ninety-five. The whole party were
to proceed together as far as to the Sioux country,
whence
Ensign Pryor's party with that of Pierre Chouteau would
continue on to the Mandans.
The departure from St. Louis took place late in May,
1807. The expedition proceeded prosperously, although
very slowly, passing all the lower Sioux bands in safety.
Here Kimball's and Dorion's parties left the expedition,
^ The data for this expedition I have mainly
found in four letters by
General William Clark and Nathaniel Pryor. These were edited by
Dr. Elliott Coues and published in Annals of Iowa, 1895, pp. 613-620.
 ARICARAS STOP EXPEDITION. 121

which now, reduced to about fifty men, continued the jour-

ney and reached the lower Aricara village at 9 A. M., Sep-
tember 9th. The Indians of this village fired several guns
in the direction of the boats.Dorion, the interpreter, asked
what was the matter and they replied by inviting the party
to come on shore and obtain a supply of provisions. The
hospitable treatment which Lewis and Clark had received
from these same Indians the year before threw the party off
their guard and the boats were ordered to land. Here it
was learned that the Aricaras and Mandans were at war
with each other and that several of the upper Sioux bands
were allied with the Aricaras and were present in the village.
There now came on board a Mandan woman who had
been captive among the Aricaras for several years, and who
imparted some interesting and important information which
would probably not otherwise have been found out. It
appears that Mr. Frederick Bates, who had given Manuel
Lisa his license to trade on the upper river, visited St.
Charles as he was about to start and obtained a promise
from him to wait and accompany the party escorting the
Mandan chief. Lisa, with his characteristic facility for
doing what he deemed best for his own interests regardless
of promises, went on alone. According to the story of the
Mandan woman, when he found the Aricaras disposed to
stop him, he told them that a large party with the Mandan
chief would soon arrive, and after giving them a consider-
able part of his goods, including some guns and ammuni-
tion, he was allowed to proceed. The Indians determined
to kill him on his return, but let him pass on for the present
lest rumors of their acts and intentions might reach the par-
ties below,* and cause them to turn back.

* Lisa's account of this affair,

as related by Brackenridge, has already
been given. Pryor and Chouteau were led to believe that Lisa had
secured his own passport through these tribes at their expense. How
far their suspicions were true cannot be said. It was not the only
charge of this kind against Manuel Lisa, but it is a singular fact that
his various acts of alleged bad faith, such as that here related, come
122 ARICARAS OPEN ATTACK.

This fortunate interview acquainted Ensign Pryor with

the true situation. He ordered the Mandan chief to barri-
cade himself in his cabin and prepared his men for action.
After considerable parleying and speech-making, in which
Ensign Pryor explained the purpose of his journey, and
after presenting a medal to one of the chiefs, the party left
the Indians at the lower village in no good humor and pro-
ceeded to the upper village. The two interpreters, Dorion
and Jesseaume, went by land through the villages. The
Indians being clearly bent on mischief, Pryor determined to
land, for the double purpose of taking his interpreters on
board and of seeing the chief of the upper village, whom
he had not been able to communicate with in the village
below. The Indians ordered the boats to proceed up a
narrow channel near the shore, but the whites discovered
the trap in time and refused to comply. They now made
known their purpose to detain the boats, saying that Lisa
had told them that it was the intention of the present party
to remain and trade with them. They first seized the cabl?
of Chouteau's barge, intending to attack the party in which
there were no soldiers, and motioned to Pryor to go on.
This Pryor refused to do, but seeing the desperate state of
affairs, he urged Chouteau to offer the Indians some con-
cession. Finally Chouteau agreed to leave with them a
trader and half his goods; but the Indians, confident in
their ability to capture the outfit, refused the offer.
Meanwhile the chief of the upper village came on board of
Ensign Pryor's barge and demanded that the Mandan chief
go on shore with him. The request was peremptorily
refused. The Indians now assumed an insolent and aggres-
sive manner. They demanded a surrender of all the arms
and ammunition. The chief to whom the medal had been
given threw it on the ground and one of Chouteau's men
was struck down with a gun. Raising a general war-whoop
they fired on the boats and on Chouteau and a few of his
only from those who claim to have suffered by them. The reputable
historians of the time make no mention of them, and they are evidently
to be taken with much caution.

\
 PRYOR AND CHOUTEAU DEFEATED. 1
23

men who were on the shore, and then withdrew to a fringe

of willows along the bank some fifty yards back. Ensign
Pryor had prepared himself for this contingency and imme-
diately replied with the fire of his entire force. The willows
were more of a concealment than a protection and the Indi-
ans probably suffered considerably. The contest was main-
tained for over a quarter of an hour, but as the number of
Indians was so great as to threaten destruction to his party
if the fight were continued, Pryor ordered a retreat. This
was in itself a difficult thing to execute, for Chouteau's barge
had stuck fast on a bar, and the men were compelled to get
out into the water and drag it for some distance, all the
while under the fire of the Indians. At length the boats
were gotten off, and floated down the current, the Indians
following along the bank and maintaining the fight for up-
wards of an hour.
It was not until sunset that the pursuit was finally aban-
doned, and then only on account of the death of one of the
Sioux chiefs, the very man who had been in Ensign Pryor's
boat. He wore a white bandage around his head and this
mark served to distinguish him among his followers with
whom, to the number of about forty, he was trying to reach
a projecting point which the boats must pass. He was
singled out by those in the boats and instantly killed. His
followers gathered around him and abandoned the pursuit
of the boats which soon passed out of sight.
The losses in this conflict were three of Chouteau's men
killedand seven wounded, one miortally. Three of Ensign
Pryor's party were wounded, including the interpreter, Rene
Jesseaume.
Ensign Pryor now proposed to the Mandan chief that
they should attempt to make the rest of the distance, about
three days' march, by land, going well back from the river
and thus passing around the hostile Indians.
into the prairies
The chiefwould not consent on account of the wounded
condition of the interpreter and the encumbrances of their
wives and children. The party then returned to St. Louis.
124 BRITISH INFLUENCE.

Thus ended the first attempt to return the Mandan chief

to his nation. Ensign Pryor expressed his opinion that it

would require a force of not than four hundred men

less
to accomplish the expedition with the temper of the Indians
as it then was. It was thought at the time that the hand
of the British was plainly apparent in inciting the northern
Indians to this and similar outrages. Whether such was
the case or not may be doubted, but it was the general
belief, shared even by those high in authority. The inci-
dent was the beginning of that series of outrages committed
by the treacherous Aricaras upon the traders in which many
white men lost their lives during the next twenty years.®

• For an account of this tribe of Indians see Part V., chapter IX.
 CHAPTER V.

THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY.

MANUEL LISA,, ITS FOUNDER. /
Manuel Lisa —
His supposed attempt in the Santa Fe trade His —
journeyings — —
Made sub-agent His work in the War of 1812 Be- —
comes president of the Missouri Fur Company His death Magnitude — —
of his work — His energetic nature — His
enemies —
His marriage —
His Indian marriage — His name and language —
His religion.

/^ F the three principal fur companies which operated from

^^ St. Louis to the westward — the Missouri Fur Com-
pany, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and the American
Fur Company —
the first-named was the oldest, and had
nearly run its course before either of the others was well es-
tablished in the St. Louis trade. The history of this com-
pany is practically the history of one man, who was from the
first its leading- spirit, and for a large part of its history the
only man of prominence connected with it. So remarkable
was his life, and so strong a part did he play in the early
history of the Missouri fur trade, that an extended notice
of his career is an essential preliminary to a history of the
company.
Manuel Lisa, Indian trader, was born of Spanish parents
in New Orleans, September 8, 1772.^ His father, Christo-
pher Lisa, came to this country in the service of his govern-
ment about the time that the Spanish took possession of
Louisiana. Nothing of interest concerning the father's ca-
reer nor of young Lisa's early life has come to light. It is
known that the father spent the rest of his life in the Spanish

* This is the record on Lisa's tombstone in Bellefontaine Cemetery,

St. Louis. His birthplace is generally given as in one of the West
Indies.
126 LISA AND THE SANTA FE TRADE.

service and that young Lisa came to St. Louis at an early

date, probably not later than 1790. He had become well
established in his lifelong occupation, the fur trade, before
the end of the century, for one of the first notices on record

concerning him is that of his securing from the Spanish gov-

ernment about the year 1800 the exclusive trade with the
Osage Indians on the Osage river. He must have already
gained some reputation and experience as a trader to be
given so important a grant, for he thus displaced Pierre
Chouteau, who is said to have had the privilege of the trade
for upwards of twenty years.^
Our first definite knowledge of Lisa begins with the period
covered by the present work. He went up the Missouri
river in 1807 built his post at the mouth of the Bighorn ;
;

returned in 1808 and was the moving spirit in the organiza-

tion of the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company in the winter
of 1808-9. He ascended the river again in the spring of
1809 to his post on the Bighorn, which he transferred to the
new company. He returned to St. Louis In October, 1809.
" In a letter to Lieutenant Z. M. Pike, written by General Wilkinson at
St. Louis shortly after Pike's departure in 1806 on his tour of explora-
tion to the southwest, occurs an interesting reference to some trader
whose name is purposely withheld, but whom the latest editor of
Pike's Journals, Dr. Elliott Coues, thinks he can identify as Manuel
Lisa. Wilkinson informs Pike that this trader has on foot a scheme to
carry an expedition to Santa Fe, and he warns Pike to take measures
to prevent it. It is quite possible that the robust ambition of Lisa may
have looked so far in search of profitable adventure. He was at this
time probably in relation with William Morrison, who had tried to
open communication with Santa Fe two years before, and he may now
have been considering a project of this sort. Why it should have ex-
cited the umbrage of General Wilkinson, it is difficult to understand,
unless came athwart some incipient enterprise of that faithless serv-
it

ant of his country. There was certainly no harm in attempting to open

up that line of trade which a few years later was to become an impor-
tant branch of frontier commerce. The reference is of interest, both as
indicating the breadth of Lisa's ambition, and showing that already
he had raised up about him that swarm of enemies that harassed him
the rest of his life.
 MADE INDIAN AGENT. 1
27

In the following winter he attempted to go to Montreal on

business connected with the trade, but was stopped by the
embargo (ce maudi cmhargaii, in his own bad French,) at
Detroit and was compelled to return. In the spring of 1810
he again ascended the river, returning to St. Louis in the fall
and remaining there the following winter. In April, ''1811,
he set out again for the upper river in the hope of learning
what had become of Major Andrew Henry, and also for
the purpose of bringing down the returns of the previous
winter and of ascertaining the state of the company's prop-
erty; for this was the last year of the term fixed for the
duration of the company and a dissolution or reorganization
was to take place in the following winter. This was the
celebrated trip on which Lisa made such herculean efforts to
overtake Wilson Price Hunt, who was in charge of the over-
land Astorian party. Lisa went as far as to his post at the
Mandans but soon returned to the Aricara villages, where
he remained until Henry came down the river. He went
back to St. Louis in October.
The St. Louis Missouri Fur Company was reorganized
during the winter of 181 1-12, some of the members dropping
out and Lisa becoming relatively a more important person-
age in the concern than before. Lie went up the river with
two barges which left St. Louis May 2 and May 6, 1812,
and remained at his Mandan post until the following spring.
He arrived at St. Louis with the winter's trade June i, 181 3.
During his absence war had broken out between the United
States and Great Britain and new conditions had arisen in
the upper Missouri trade. It was known that British agents

were, or soon would be, active among the upper Missouri

tribes, and that there might soon be precipitated upon the
settlements the horrors of a frontier war. No man had
more influence with these Indians than Lisa, and to him
was assigned the task of endeavoring to hold them fast to
the interests of the United States. He was made sub-agent
for the Missouri tribes above the Kansas, and set out
all

again for the upper rivers in August, 18 14. It is quite

^
 5

128 PRESIDENT OF THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY.

possible that Lisa went up to the Omaha nation during the

previous year, but no record of such a trip has come to us.
He now went up to Fort Lisa, an estabHshment which he
had built a little above the present site of Omaha, Nebras-
ka, and remained there until the spring of 1815. He suc-
ceeded beyond all expectations in controlling the Indians.
He not only organized war expeditions against some of the
tribes on the Mississippi who were allies of the British, but
he secured pledges of friendship from nearly all the Missouri
tribes, and went down to St. Louis in the spring of 181
with forty-three chiefs and head men authorized to make
treaties of friendship and alliance with the United States.
It was mainly through his efforts that the upper Missouri
tribes were prevented from going over to the British, and
the government of the United States duly recognized the
fact.3
Lisa's movements during the two years after the war are
not very certain, but it is known that he wintered at Fort
Lisa each year. In 181 7 he resigned his commission as
sub-agent in a letter,^ which is well worth perusal, so true is
it to the character of the man as shown in the record of

his work. He now continued his regular trade, wintering

at Fort Lisa and spending about two months of the summer
at St. Louis. The Missouri Fur Company underwent vari-
ous changes, Lisa becoming more dominant in its councils,
and finally its president. He also seems to have been gen-
eral agent or manager of the affairs of the firm of Cabanne
and Company on the Missouri until he was deprived of
the trust in February, 1819, because he had come down the
river earlier than he was authorized to by the terms of his
contract. But he doubtless came down from necessity of
defending his interests against his ubiquitous enemies.
^American State Papers, Yo\. II., Indian Affairs, p. 76: "Manuel
Lisa, salary, agent for the tribes of the Missouri above the
$548 ;

Kansas greater part of his time with these tribes resides in St.
;
;

Louis has been of great service in preventing British influence the last
;

year by sending large parties to war."

*
See Appendix B.
 5
DEATH OF LISA. 1
29

In 18 19 the famous Yellowstone expedition went up the

river and made its grand encampment for 1819-20 near
Lisa's fort. Lisa left no stone unturned to cultivate the
good will of his new neighbors and evidently rendered them
many friendly offices. His wife, whom he had married but
a year before, went up to his establishment and remained
during the winter.
Lisa returned to St. Louis in April, 1820, in good health.
This was his last voyage on the Missouri. About August
ist he was seized with a serious illness, the nature of which
is not now known, and he died on the 12th of August at

the Sulphur Springs some distance southwest of the old city,

but now within its limits.
Thus closed the career of the most active and indefati-
gable trader that St. Louis ever produced. A
faint idea of
the prodigious labors that were crowded into his life may
be gleaned from the fact that during its last thirteen years
he ascended and descended the Missouri river twelve times,
and possibly thirteen, if his movements in 181 3-14 were
more fully known. These journeys were never less than
670 miles long, the distance to Fort Lisa. Several trips
were made to the Mandan establishments, about fifteen hun-
dred miles, while two trips were made to the mouth of the
Bighorn, about two thousand miles. In all he could not
have traveled less than twenty-six thousand miles by river,
or a total distance greater than the circumference of the
earth. With a fair allowance for speed it will result that
he must have spent not less than the equivalent of three
solid years battling against the intractable Missouri or
gliding swiftly with its downward current. Of the twelve
winters included in the above period he probably spent seven,
and possibly eight, in the wilderness.
Such are some of the more tangible facts that attest the
extraordinary energy of this noted trader. He was beyond
comparison the ablest of the traders so far as the actual
conduct of an enterprise was concerned, and wherever he
alone had control, and was not hampered by the councils
130 SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES.

of others, he generally succeeded. He once said, in explain-

ing his successes: "I put into my operations great activity.
I go a great distance while some are considering whether
they will start today or tomorrow." Privation, hardship,
incessant toil, were his constant portion. He could put his
hand to the oar, if necessary, among his voyageurs, lead
them in their songs, and cheer them to exertions which
would have otherwise been unendurable. In brief he was a
man who never shrank from any toil that occasion demand-
ed, and a finer example of persistent effort throughout a life-
time can scarcely be pointed out.
It was but natural that so vigorous and aggressive a na-
ture should have made enemies, but it is not easy to see why
these should have been so numerous and vindictive. The
leading characteristic of Lisa's life, next to those just noted,
was the constant state of embroilment with others in which
he lived. Even La Salle, whose entire career was beset
by jealous enemies, could scarcely have surpassed Manuel
Lisa in this regard. He was always at odds with some one
who was jealous of his success or felt aggrieved at his inter-
ference with his own schemes. Every letter written by Lisa,
which has come to notice in these studies, is mainly taken
up in anxious complaints of the unceasing efforts of his ene-
mies to ruin him. It is very difficult at this time, when all
who knew him personally are dead, to fathom the cause of
this remarkable feature of Lisa's career. All contemporary
references to him are exceedingly flattering, and he evident-
ly stood high in the esteem of his fellows. The primary
cause of his incessant troubles seems to have been jealousy
of his success as a trader. It will be noted that down to the
day of his death no other trader succeeded in securing a
foothold in the upper Missouri trade. There is also some
evidence, although it all came from his enemies, that he
was unscrupulous in the means he employed to promote his
own interests. If this be so, the only difference between
him and his detractors is that he was too sharp for them and
succeeded where they failed. His methods certainly were
 :

BUSINESS PRINCIPLES. I3I

as pure as theirs, and their wrath was kindled not so much

on account of them as at their invariable success. There is
no record of his ever having come out second best in a con-
testwith his competitors.
He was accused in 1807 of having prevailed upon the
Aricaras, in consideration of letting his expedition pass, to
stop Lieutenant Pryor who was conducting to his home the
Mandan chief. The evidence, however, is insufficient.
Lisa could have had no motive for such an act, for Pryor's
expedition was not in the trade, and could do Lisa no- harm.
Moreover it would have been madness on his part to antag-
onize a government expedition and thus perhaps cause his
own trading license to be canceled. Crooks and McLellan
brought a similar accusation against him in 1810, but no
evidence of its truth has ever come to light.
So in every instance there is present the animus of jeal-
ousy on the part of rival traders, and such evidence must
be taken with much allowance. That Lisa was always right
in these matters, that he hesitated to resort to unscrupulous
measures in resisting those of an enemy, is not to be sup-
posed. His code was the code of the wilderness. He prac-
ticed it with unflinching severity, and his superior skill was
chieflywhat roused the ire of his less expert rivals.^
Thus his life was not only one of physical activity, but
" The following letter
is a fair example of the bitter feeling which

was entertained toward Lisa by his St. Louis rivals. It is from B.

Berthold to Pierre Chouteau, and is dated August 20, 1819.
"Mon cher Associe
"Par Mr. Dent j'apprend que Manuel s'est decide a ammener sa
femme [toFort Lisa], afin d'attirer chez lui la protection des officiers,
vu qu'on lui a rapporte que Ton comptait surveiller sa conduite. II se
fait fort de si bien les traitter, qu'il espere en tirer de grands avantages.
" Dans le cas ou vous seriez decide a y faire une visite, je crois que de

bonnes lettres d'introduction pour les officiers superieures pourraient

etre de quelque utilite.
"L'escargot a toujours ete tres vanteur, et d'avance a pretendu
predire ce qu'il ferait. Cette annee il pretend se consolider a jamais.
Je crois pour ma part, que quant a lui meme, il est le moins capable de
tous les traiteurs."
132 Lisa's marriages.

mental unrest and turmoil as well —a life not at all exem-

plified in his death, if we may accept the simple record in the
diary of his father-in-law, Stephen Hempstead, who was
present at his death bed, that " he died without distressing
struggles."
Lisa was twice married among his own people and had
besides a wife among the Omaha nation. Of his first wife
almost nothing is known. There was a tradition that she
had been taken prisoner by the Indians and was held by them
until General Harrison ransomed her, when Lisa, pitying
her condition, married her. Her name, as given on deeds
by her mark was Mary Charles or Polly Charles. She died
in the autumn of 1817. She had three children. The
eldest, Sally, died February 22, 1809. The second, Man-
uel, was born October 12, 1809, and died June 29, 1826,
surviving his father six years. The third died in infancy,
nearly a year after its mother's death.
Lisa's second matrimonial alliance was with the well-
known Hempstead family. He married Mary Hempstead
Keeney, widow of John Keeney, and daughter of Stephen
Hempstead, August 5, 1818. This marriage was a very
happy one and there are still extant two letters of Lisa writ-
ten to his wife which evince the most tender affection for
her. He was even heard to say that he had never before
known what domestic happiness was. But this happiness
had its drawbacks, though fortunately not of a serious na-
ture. Lisa could not speak either English or French dis-
tinctly and his wife could not speak French or Spanish.
Their difficulties in making each other understood were a
source of much mirth to the family. Mrs. Lisa spent the
winter of 1819-20 at Fort Lisa, and was probably the first
white woman to ascend the Missouri so far. She was a
most lovable and saintly woman, revered by all who knew
her. She was always known, after her marriage with Lisa,
as Aunt ManuelOC.She survived her husband nearly fifty
years in widowhood, and died at Galena, Illinois, Sej^tem-
ber 3, 1869, at the age of eighty-seven.
 THE STORY OF MITAIN. I33

An interesting and pathetic romance is connected with

Lisa's Indian courtship and marriage. On his part the
alHance was made purely from motives of pohcy the better
to ingratiate himself in the good will of the Omaha tribe,

and to strengthen himself against the influence of rival trad-

ers. He sought the hand of a beautiful daughter of one of
the principal families of the nation and after the usual nego-
tiations with the parents the marriage was consummated
with due ceremony. Lisa, with honorable frankness, made
known the fact that he was already married, but this, in
Indian custom, was not considered a bar to further marriage.
The alliance took place in 1 814. In the spring of 181 5 Lisa,
as was his wont, went down to St. Louis with the winter's
trade and returned during the autumn. His Indian wife,
who does not appear at first to have been very enthusiastic
over the turn in her fortunes, fell deeply in love with Lisa
before his return, perhaps in consequence of the birth of a
daughter, a fine child, which occurred during Lisa's absence.
She went to the river daily with her child and watched for
the boat which should bring back the husband and father.
Great was her joy when he arrived and she presented him
with their first born, and the father himself seems to have
been pleased with his new acquisition. Upon his return in
the fall of 1816 his Indian wife presented him with another
child, a son. When Lisa was preparing for his St. Louis
trip in the summer of 181 7, he wanted to takej;he first child,
which he had named Rosalie, with him. The mother re-
luctantly consented, but seemed to realize that she should
see it no more, and burst into the most frantic demonstra-
tions of grief when father and child disappeared.
In the fall of 181 7 Lisa's first wife died, and after his re-
turn from his post in the following summer, he married Mrs.
Keeney. When he took her to Fort Lisa in the fall of 1819
he sent word to have his Indian wife removed from the
immediate vicinity of the post. She could not remain away,
however, and after a time came to the post with some of her
friends and sent their little son, who had been named Ray-
134 PARTING WITH LISA,

mond, to Lisa. had further endeared the child to her,

Peril
for during Lisa's absence both mother and child had nar-
rowly escaped death at the hands of the Sioux. While one
day engaged with other squaws tilling the soil, the little baby
strapped to its cradle board reclining against a tree, the
Sioux were seen approaching. All fled in terror, but the
mother, quickly remembering that she had forgotten the
child, rushed back in the very face of the Sioux, seized her
precious burden and fled for the post. When she reached
the fence around the post the Sioux were almost upon her,
and she threw the board, baby and all, with her full strength
to the other side. Mother and child escaped, although four
of their companions were slain. Lisa received the child
affectionately and after giving the mother some presents
bade her go to her people.
When Lisa was preparing to depart for St. Louis in the
spring of 1820 he sent for his Lidian wife and told her that
he intended to take the remaining' child to St. Louis to be
reared and educated there. The mother was so overpow-
ered with grief that she seized the child, ran to the river, and
getting quickly into a boat, rowed to the other side, where
she remained out of doors all night. The next morning,
she went back, gave the child to Lisa, saying that she knew
itwould be better off where he wished to take it, but begged
that he would take her also. She would not trouble him
but would live in any nook or corner that he might provide
for her, if only she could be permitted now and then to see
her children. But Lisa was inflexible. He offered her
rich presents and bade her return to her people, telling her
that their relation to each other could no longer continue.
The wretched woman burst into a paroxysm of grief and
taunted Lisa with faithlessness, saying that their marriage
was for life and could not be broken off ;
that Lisa had
ruined her opportunities for marriage among her own peo-
ple,and now was about to desert her and carry away her
children. But these entreaties, whatever weight they may
have had with Lisa, could not prevail. What she asked was
 NAME, SIGNATURE, PORTRAIT, LANGUAGE. 1 35

impossible and it was Lisa's desire to benefit the children

that alone made him wish to take them with him. He was
now reaping the sad consequences of a step taken solely for
purposes of policy. He persisted in his decision and would
have carried it into effect had not the Indian Agent inter-
fered and forbidden him to take the child from its mother.®
Lisa died soon after, and in his will directed his executor
to provide for the education of thesetwo children, and left
two thousand them when they should be-
dollars each for
come of age. Whether these benevolent provisions were
ever carried out does not appear, nor what became of the
two children. As all of Lisa's other children died without
issue, it is through the children of his Indian wife, if at all,

that the blood of their distinguished parent has found a

direct descent to posterity.
Lisa's name once appears, in an official document, as Man-
always wrote it Manuel Lisa. He was
uel de Lisa, but he
generally known by his first name, Manuel, or Mr. Manuel,
and many did not know him by any other. He is said to
have followed the sea when young and thence to have gained
the title of captain by which he was frequently called. His
name was at one time identified with many geographical
features of the upper country, but now survives in one or
two only. His signature may be seen opposite page 139.
There is still in existence a portrait of Lisa in oil, now^in
possession of Mrs. Nathan Corwith, of Highland Park,
Illinois.

Lisa's native tongue was Spanish, and he never acquired

a fluent or correct use of either French or English. Letters
in his own handwriting in either language are barbarously
written. That given in the Appendix is taken from the Mis-
souri Gazette and was edited pretty thoroughly by some
friend or acquaintance before publication but the force and
;

spirit of the composition clearly stamp it a genuine product

of Lisa's vigorous mind.
*This woman's name was Mitain, and she was seen by Maximilian,
1833.
136 Lisa's religion.

Lisa was a Catholic, but evidently not a very punctilious

follower of his church. He was married (the second time)
by a Presbyterian clergyman, the well-known Salmon Gid-
dings, to a daughter of a staunch member of the same
church. His funeral services were conducted in the Cath-
olic church, but he was buried in the private burying ground
of the Hempsteads, now in the Protestant Bellefontaine
cemetery.
The Lisa monument is a very satisfactory shaft and is

still in a state of perfect preservation. The record of his

life is on the southwest face over the word Lisa, and that
of his wife on the southeast face over the words Aunt
Manuel, There are also records of other members of the
family on the remaining faces.
How much property Lisa left is not known, but his affairs
were certainly much involved at the time of his death and
the unencumbered residue of the estate was probably not
large.
 CHAPTER VI.

THE MISSOURI FUR COMPANY.

SKETCH OF ITS VARIED CAREER.

The first — Contract for return of Mandan chief — Ex-

association
pedition of 1809 — Movement to the Three Forks of the Missouri — At-
tack by the Blackfeet — Death of Drouillard — Position at Three Forks
untenable — Henry crosses the Divide — Fort Henry abandoned — Aban-
donment of entire upper country — Post at Cedar Island burned —
Notes from Alexander Henry — Reorganization of the company — De-
fects of association — Gloomy prospects of new company — War
first

of 1812 — Revival of the trade after the war — Death of Lisa — Joshua
Pilcher succeeds Lisa — Trade carried to upper Yellowstone — Jones
and Immel sent to Three Forks — Meeting with the Blackfeet — Am-
bushed by the Blackfeet — Jones and Immel slain — Suspicion of Brit-
ish intrigue — Company withdraws from the trade of the upper river —
Pilcher's tour of the Hudson Bay posts — Missouri Fur Company ex-
tinct — Biographical notes.

'^^HE return of Lisa in the summer (probably August) of.

^^ 1808 and the reports brought back concerning the re-
sources of the upper country made a deep impression upon
the St. Louis traders, and led to the formation of a trading
company which included nearly all the prominent business
men in the city. It was incorporated under the name of the

St. Louis Missouri Fur Company, but was generally known

as the Missouri Fur Company.^ The members of the new
company in the order in which their names appear in the
* This was a popular name for more than
a quarter of a century and
was applied to several different associations of St. Louis traders which
succeeded each other in the early commerce of the Missouri. The first
of these was formed at the suggestion of Zenon Trudeau, " governor of
the western part of the Illinois," who on May 12, 1794, assembled the
traders of St. Louis and advised the formation of a company not only
138 ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION.

record, were: Benjamin Wilkinson, Pierre Chouteau, Sr.,

Manuel Lisa, Auguste Chouteau, Jr., Reuben Lewis, Wil-
liam Clark, Sylvester Labadie, all of St. Louis ; Pierre
Menard and William Morrison, of Kaskaskia, Illinois;
Andrew Henry, of Louisiana, Missouri, and Dennis Fitz
Hugh, of Louisville, Kentucky.
The articles of association prescribed in much detail the
proposed methods of conducting the company's business,
and defined the duties of the several partners. Lisa and
Wilkinson were designated as the factors to trade with the
Indians and General Clark was made the company's agent
in St. Louis. No member was permitted to trade on his pri-
vate account. The term during which the various asso-
ciates were to reside in the Indian country without returning
to St. Louis was fixed at three years, except that those mem-
bers who were permitted first to return home could do so the
following year. Pierre Chouteau, Manuel Lisa, and Pierre
Menard were to be the first to enjoy this privilege Benja- ;

min Wilkinson and Auguste Chouteau the next. The new

association bought out the stock and equipments of the late
firm of Lisa, Menard and Morrison and likewise purchased
their post at the mouth of the Bighorn river.
An important feature of the articles relates to a contract ^

to control the trade of the Missouri, but to extend geographical and

scientificknowledge as well. A company was formed accordingly, but
it soon failed owing to the fraudulent conduct of one of its members.

Another firm of some prominence was founded in 1802 by Manuel

Lisa, Francis M. Benoit, Gregoire Sarpy, and Charles Sanguinet. It
continued only for a few years, when, in 1807, Lisa, Menard, and Mor-
rison organized the company already described, which was soon merged
with the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company.
The record of the Articles of Association of the St. Louis Missouri
Fur Company may still be seen in Book B, p Z72), in the recorder's office
in the city of St. Louis.
* There is a singular discrepancy in the dates of these two instru-
ments. The articles of association were signed May 9th, 1809, and the
contract February 24th, although the latter refers to the former as
already in existence.
 ^
iwii(iWtiiiO"'»ilM''^''*'*''

!H-V

H>'
«'*
I I
\.

:^

_*.te.._^
1

f
 RETURN OF MANDAN CHIEF. 1 39

between Governor Meriwether Lewis on the part of the

United States and the members of the new company for
transporting to his tribe the Mandan chief who had not yet
gone home. The principal items in this interesting docu-
ment were the following: The company agreed to en-
gage one hundred and twenty-five men, of whom forty
should be " Americans and expert riflemen," to constitute a
body of militia of the territory of Missouri for the specific
purpose of escorting the Mandan chief home, after which
they were to be given their discharge. This force was to
be suitably equipped with firearms of which there should
be at least fifty rifles. The command of the escort was
assigned to Pierre Chouteau, who had already given evi-
dence of his determined spirit in the battle before the Aricara
villages in 1807. The company was to provide suitable
quarters on the boat for the chief, his wife, and child, the
interpreter Jesseaume, his wife, and child, and two other
interpreters. It bound itself to protect with its utmost
power the chief and his party from all danger en route,
and to report at once their safe arrival at the Mandan vil-
lages. It was also to transport the necessary presents to
the Indians. The start from St. Louis was fixed for April
20, 1809, and might not be delayed beyond May loth,
under a penalty of three thousand dollars. The compensa-
tion agreed upon for this service was seven thousand dol-
lars, one-half to be paid on the date of starting and the
balance when a report was received of the satisfactory com-
pletion of the journey. Governor Lewis also agreed that
before the departure of the expedition he would not license
any other traders to ascend the Missouri higher than to
the mouth of the Platte.
The Missouri Fur Company entered upon its career
under the most auspicious circumstances. The Louisiana
Ga::cite of March 8, 1809, referring to the new association,
said :
" It has every prospect of becoming a source of in-
calculable advantage not only to the individuals engaged
but to the community at large. Their extensive prepara-
 I40 A CLOSE CORPORATION.

tions,and the extensive force with which they intend to

ascend the Missouri,may bid defiance to any hostile force
they may meet with. The streams which descend from the
Rocky mountains afford the finest of hunting, and here, we
learn, they intend to build their fort."
The company included the ablest traders of the west.
of operations embraced the whole watershed of the
Its field
Missouri from the mouth of the Platte upward a region —
known abound in all the resources of the chase. Only
to
one obstacle was feared and that was the hostility of the
Indians. To meet this there was provided a force consid-
ered ample to repel any attacks, while it was hoped that a
liberal extension of the trade would secure the friendship of
the tribes. The capitalization of the company was not stat-
j ed in the articles of association but it is understood to have

^'^s/ been $40,000. The company felt so confident of success,

/ /and was so determined to close the door to all but its chosen
few, that it provided in one of the articles that " no person
shall hereafter be permitted to become a member of this
company unless by the unanimous consent of every mem-
ber."
The first expedition of the company numbered about one
hundred and fifty men and carried suf^cient merchandise to
supply five or six posts and to equip as many smaller outfits
as should be found desirable. The plan was to establish
several posts along the river from the Sioux to the Minne-
tarees,but to take the main part of the expedition to Lisa's
fort on the Yellowstone. It was expected to pass the first

winter in that neighborhood and then to proceed in the fol-

lowing spring to the Three Forks of the Missouri, where the
principal establishment was to be placed.
The expedition left St. Louis in the spring of 1809^ and
®
The date of the departure is not precisely known. By the terms
of the contract for the return of the Mandan chief, the escort was to
set out not later than May 10, under pain of forfeiture of $3,000. But
the last ration return for the chief and his interpreters covers the period
from February i, 1809, to May 15, 1809, "the day of his departure."
which would indicate that the contract time was exceeded. There is no
 THREE FORKS OF THE MISSOURI. 14!

proceeded to its destination without serious mishap. The

Sioux threatened trouble but were deterred from actual dis-
turbance by the formidable appearance of the party. The
Aricaras, who were passed September 12, were very hos-
pitable. Doubtless this treacherous tribe understood from
the strength of the party that it was expedient to put on the
guise of friendship. The Mandan villages were passed
September 24. Parties had been left to establish posts at
Cedar Island among the Sioux, and at the Aricaras, Man-
dans, and Minnetarees. The main party then went on and
arrived in due time, probably toward the end of October, at
themouth of the Bighorn river.
This portion of the expedition wintered in the Crow coun-
try, for it was too late in the year to establish a post at the
Three Forks. A profitable trading and trapping campaign
was carried on in the fall and winter, and early in the spring
of 1810 a strong party, in which were at least two partners,
Pierre Menard and Andrew Henry, set out for the Three
Forks of the Missouri.'* The temper of the Blackfeet was
doubtful, and the party went prepared to exploit the re-
sources of the country by means of their own trappers in
case they did not succeed in opening a trade with the
Indians.
Upon the arrival of the party at the Three Forks the erec-
tion of a postwas promptly begun on the neck of land be-
tween the Jefferson and Madison rivers, about two miles
above their confluence. In the meanwhile the trappers
were dispersed to gather the resources of this rich beaver
country. Fortune at first smiled upon them most encour-
agingly. It was evident that they were in the midst of vir-

notice of the departure in the Gazette, but there is a notice of the re-
turn of messengers who were sent back from the Mandans to report
the arrival of the expedition at that point. These messengers stated
that the expedition arrived at its destination September 24, loi days out
from St. Louis, which would indicate June 15 as the day of departure.
It is probable that the military escort set out first and that the trading
expedition followed some weeks later.
^ For an extended description of this remarkable spot see Part V.,
Chapter II.
142 WAR WITH THE BLACKFEET.
gin territory unsurpassed in its wealth of beaver. The daily
catch was heavy and the prospect was excellent that the
company would take out from the Three Forks fully three
hundred packs of beaver the first year.
In the midst of this sunshine of prosperity a black storm
of disaster broke upon the unsuspecting company. It was

the morning of the 12th of April and the trappers as usual

^
had gone to examine their traps when a band of Blackfeet
came down upon them with the suddenness of a lightning
flash. Before the least warning could be given five of the
men were killed, and all their horses, guns, ammunition,
traps, and furs were stolen. Only two of the Indians are
known to have been killed. This most unfortunate affair
spread gloom and discouragement throughout the camp, and
It was with difficulty that the men could be induced to re-

sume their work. It was necessary to adopt a different and

much more expensive system by which a large proportion of

the trappers were to remain at a central camp, while those
tending the traps should keep closer together.
One of the great difficulties of the situation was to open
any communication with the Blackfeet whereby peace might
be sought. The Indians were so intensely hostile that there
seemed to be no possibility of an interview except at the
rifle's mouth. To get over this difficulty Pierre Menard
proposed to make a visit to the Flathead and Snake Indians
with a view of inducing them to join in a war upon the
Blackfeet until they could obtain a prisoner. Him they
would dispatch to his people with propositions of peace
which it was thought could be obtained on condition of es-
tablishing a trading post on the Missouri below the Great
Falls.*^ But before Menard could carry this ingenious

"*
Grosventres of the Prairie. For an account of this tribe and why
they were constantly confounded with the Blackfeet, see Part V., chap-
ter IX.
* Letter from Pierre Menard to Pierre Chouteau, dated Three
Forks
of the Missouri, April 21, 1810. This most interesting and valuable
document, sole surviving relic of the fort at the Three Forks of the
Missouri, is given in Appendix A.
 DROUILLARD SLAIN. I43

scheme into and only two days after he had written

effect,
of it fell upon the party again.
to St. Louis, the Blackfeet
The result of this attack is not known, but it was evidently
not such as to encourage Menard to remain in the country.
He must have left within a month afterward, for he was
back in St. Louis "a few days" before July 26, iSio."^
Before Menard started for St. Louis, however, another
unfortunate encounter with the Blackfeet had taken place in
which fell an important man for the company's service,
George Drouillard, who has already been introduced in these
pages. Early in May Drouillard with several Delaware In-
dians in the employ of the company went out to hunt, con-
trary to the advice of the rest of the party, who believed
that Indians were prowling in the neighborhood. Their
fears were quickly realized. Drouillard had not gone two
miles when his party was ambushed by the Blackfeet ^ and
himself and two of his companions killed. From the ap-
pearance of the scene of this attack it was apparent that
Drouillard made a desperate defense. He seems to have
used his horse as a breastwork, turning him so as to shield
himself constantly from the enemy. It was but a short
time until the horse was killed and he himself was the next
victim. A
most painful feature of this affair was that it
took place within ordinary hearing distance of relief, but
owing to a high wind prevailing at the time, the firing was
not heard.
It was now apparent that the expectations of the com-
pany were not to be realized. Many of the hunters had re-
solved to leave, and it was decided that Pierre Menard
should accompany them and take down the furs, about
thirty packs, which had so far been collected. The rest of
the party under the command of Andrew Henry remained
at Three Forks.
From this time on the difficulties of the hunters increased.
' See the Louisiana Gazette of this date.
' These were probably the band called the Blood Indians. See Part
v.. Chapter IX.
144 HENRY CROSSES THE DIVIDE.

There seemed no possibility of negotiating with the Black-

feet who hung constantly in the neighborhood attacking
every party over which they felt certain of having the ad-
vantage. The whole plan of operations of the company
was broken up. Trapping, which was profit-
in that quarter
able only when
carried on in small detached parties, had to
be suspended. Even with the utmost precaution it is said
that between twenty and thirty men lost their lives. What
transpired at this post during the rest of the season of 1810
we do not certainly know, except that, before the summer
was over, a party of abouttwenty hunters met and repulsed
an attack of about two hundred Blackfeet. The hunters
made good their retreat with the loss of only one man, but
claimed to have killed about twenty of the Indians.
The course of events during the summer made it evident
that this post^ would have to be given up. Not wishing to
retire from the country altogether, Henry abandoned the
position some time during the fall of 1810, moved south
across the Continental Divide, and established himself on
the north fork of Snake river, which has been known since
that time as Henry Fork. One account states that in cross-
ing the mountains he lost a part of his horses at the hands
of the Crows. He built a temporary post consisting of a
few log houses at a point near where the village of Egin,
Idaho, now stands. This was the first trading post ever
built in the valley of the Columbia or west of the Continental
Divide.
In their new position theband was scarcely more
little

fortunate than in the one they had just left. They do not
seem to have been molested by ihe Indians, but they found
almost no game. A severe winter ensued, with deep snows
and heavy spring rains, and the party could scarcely find
means to keep themselves alive. They were compelled to
subsist mainly on horse flesh. They succeeded, however,
in securing some forty packs of beaver.

*For a more extended reference to this post, see list of trading posts
in Appendix F.
 FORT IlEXRV ABANDONED. 1 45

By the time the spring of 1811 had come the party were
thoroughly dispirited and could no longer be held together.
They separated into groups and set out in various directions,
some toward the Spanish possessions, some east over the
mountains, while Henry himself resolved to abandon the
post and depart with the winter's returns for the lower river.
Several of these bands of hunters will reappear in the course
of this narrative. Some, no doubt, never again saw the
frontier, but perished in the wilderness, yet such was the
capacity for self-preservation possessed by these virile and
hardy adventurers that most of them sooner or later found
their way back.
It is not known by which of the two rivers, the Missouri
or the Yellowstone, Henry made his descent in the spring
of 181 1, but probably by the Yellowstone; nor what, if any,
remarkable adventure he experienced. Lisa ascended the
river that spring to wait for him. He visited the Mandan
villages, and then went back to the Aricaras, where he re-
mained until he was joined by Henry some time after the
middle of July.^^
Thus ended in failure the project upon which the com-
pany had mainly relied. In the meanwhile the post at the
Bighorn had been abandoned and the company had with-
drawn all its parties from above the Mandans. This, how-
ever, was not the sum of the company's disasters. In the
spring of 1810 Auguste Chouteau set out for St. Louis with
the intention of taking down the furs thai had been collected
below the Mandans. Just before he reached Cedar Island
the post at that point was burned wath furs estimated to
be worth fifteen thousand dollars. Add to these misfor-
tunes the fact that furs were at this time bringing but little
more than half their normal market price, ^^ and the outlook
for the company was discouraging enough. But in spite
of these reverses, it is stated that the company arrived at the
" For biographical sketch of Andrew Henry see Chapter XV. of this
part.
" The price of beaver was about $2.50 per pound, as against a normal
rate of $4.00 per pound.
T46 SIDE LIGHTS FROM ALEXANDER HENRY.

term of its existence without any loss and with a small

profit,having saved its original capital in addition to such
posts as were upon the upper rivers. -^^
Although the articles of association specified the full term
of three years from March 9, 1809, as the period of the com-
pany's existence, a reorganization was effected on the 24th
of January, 1812, and the property of the old company was
sold on the 15th of the following month. The new com-
" Some interesting sidelights upon these events on the upper Mis-
souri have come to light in the recently published journals of Alexander
Henry. From them it appears that the Blackfeet robbed the whites
of some beaver in 1808 and brought them to the British posts to trade.
This probably refers to their attack on Colter and Potts. They under-
took to repeat their tactics in 1809, but were not successful. Early in
the spring of 1810 the Blackfeet were defeated by the Crows near Lisa's
fort on the Yellowstone. The following extract relates to the affairs
at the Three Forks in the summer of 1810: " While on a war excursion

last summer these people [the Falls Indians or Gros Ventres of the
Prairies] fell upon a party of Americans whom they confess that they
murdered, and robbed of considerable booty in utensils, beaver skins, etc.
Some of the beaver skins, I observed, were marked Valley and Jum-
mell with different numbers — 8, 15, etc The Bloods were
at war on the Missouri about the same time as the Falls Indians.
They also fell upon a party of Americans, murdered them all, and
brought away considerable booty in goods of various kinds, such as
fine cotton shirts, beaver traps, hats, knives, dirks, handkerchiefs, Rus-
sia sheeting tents, and a number of bank notes, some signed New
Jersey and Trenton Banking Company. From the description the
Bloods gave of the dress and behavior of one whom they murdered,
he must have been an officer or trader; they said he killed two Bloods
before he fell. This exasperated them, and I have reason to suppose
they butchered him in a horrible manner and then ate him partly raw,
and partly boiled. They said his skin was exceedingly white and tat-
tooed from the hips to the feet."
Valley and Jummell are Valle and Immel, who were apparently free
trappers in company with the main expedition. It is possible that the
officer or trader referred to was Drouillard, whose tragic death has
already been noticed.
In March. 181 1, some Picgans reported that they had lately seen a

fort on the Yellowstone " inhabited by white people." This would in-
dicate that Lisa's fort was not abandoned until the spring of 181 1,
and that Henry went that way when he left Snake river and took the
garrison and property along with him.
1
 DEFECTS OF THE FIRST ASSOCIATION. 1 4/

pany was made up from the members of the old, but did not
include them all. The capital was fixed at fifty thousand
dollars, of which twenty-seven thousand was accepted in
funds and property of the late company, and the balance
was raised by subscription.
Looking back from this distance at the history of the St.
Louis Missouri Fur Company, it is apparent that the pri-
mary cause of its failure was the top-heavy character of its
organization. Capitalized at less than fifty thousand dol-
embraced every trader of distinction in St. Louis, all
lars, it
of whom bore an active part in the administration of affairs
either at home or in the field. It was not to be expected
that such an arrangement could be as effective as if a single
individual had controlled management. Another error
its

on the part of the St. Louis traders was their unwillingness

to permit Mr. Astor to have any share in their business.
They excluded the very man who would have been able to
carry them through their initial misfortunes to ultimate suc-
cess. The great confidence of the St. Louis merchants, and
their determination to keep this new and rich field of enter-
prise to themselves, is well attested by the fact that the orig-
inal company was a kind of close corporation into which
admission was impossible, except by the unanimous con-
sent of the members. Under the reorganization the door
was in some degree opened to the public by giving the asso-
ciation the character of a joint stock company. But even
then there was strenuous opposition to letting the stock get
out of the hands of St. Louis parties, and a proposition to
admit Mr. Astor to the extent of five shares was rejected.^^
" The following extract is from a letter from Charles Gratiot to
John Jacob Astor, and throws some valuable light upon the workings
of the St. Louis traders. It was written December 14, 181 1. "I have
been engaged for some time past in the settlement and dissolution of
the Missouri Fur Company. I acted as agent for one of my relations
who was absent. At the request of all the parties I was chosen to draw
the articles for a new act of association, which I have made, but which
will not be determined upon before next month. The capital of the
present company with a moderate valuation is estimated at 30 thou-
148 GLOOMY OUTLOOK.

The prospects of the new company were far from flatter-

ing. The threatening aspect of affairs, already in the
shadow of approaching war, had its influence upon busi-
ness even in the Far West. Communication with the East
by way of New
Orleans would soon be interrupted. All
the Indian tribes within reach of British influence would
most likely become disaffected towards Americans. The
fur marketwould be cut off in large part and the price of
furswould fall still further. On the whole the company
would have been wise to have gone out of business alto-
gether.
Notwithstanding this unfavorable outlook, an expedition
was fitted out with eleven thousand dollars' worth of mer-
chandise, and two boats were sent up the river under the
personal charge, as usual, of Manuel Lisa. On the 27th of
September the returns of the previous year's trade reached
St. Louis, but fell short of expectation. The business of
the following year was also unsatisfactory, and in the
autumn of 181 3 the board of directors issued another call for
a meeting of the stockholders for the purpose of dissolving
the company. Whether the company was actually dis-
solved, or only reorganized does not appear. It is only
known that the business continued under a company of
sand dollars, divided in ten equal shares. I have proposed to extend
the ten shares to fifteen, Mrhich will give an additional sum of fifteen
thousand dollars to the original stock; that an offer should be made to
you of the five shares with proposition that you should contract to fur-
nish on commission the equipments necessary for the trade of the
upper Missouri, and to make the sales of the furs which would be re-
ceived in return. This proposition has met with the approbation of
some of the members, but I fear will be opposed by others. When I
made this proposition I contemplated that you wished to draw the fur
trade into your hands. In this view I considered that you would be
of great service to each other, or likewise the measure might facilitate
the operations of Mr. Hunt, as you could by that means have a commu-
nication open from this place to the Columbia."
We shall again have occasion to refer to the far-sighted suggestion
with which this extract closes. Had the counsels of Charles Gratiot
prevailed, the course of the American fur trade would have been quite
different from what it was.
 REVIVAL OF TRADE. 1 49

which Lisa was the principal member and from which most
of the old members were now absent.
The operations of the fur trade are almost wholly devoid
of interest during the next six years. The War of 1812
absorbed the energies and attention of the people, and Lisa
seems to have been the only active trader on the Missouri.
The company was commonly spoken of as " Manuel Lisa
and Company, " and all contemporary references to the fur
trade are simply accounts of Lisa's operations. The organ-
ization underwent further changes in 1814 and again in
181 7, but what they were is not known.
It was during the War of 181 2 and possibly as a conse-
quence of it that Lisa withdrew his establishments from the
upper river and concentrated them at Council Bluffs, where
he built his noted trading post of Fort Lisa. Here he
spent the greater part of his time for several years and evi-
dently maintained an important establishment. As affairs
began to assume a normal aspect after the war he gradually
extended his operations up the river as far as to the Man-
dans. His trade attained considerable magnitude, to judge
from notices of the annual arrival of his furs in St. Louis, in
which a cargo worth thirty-five thousand dollars is once
mentioned and others are referred to as valuable. Business
had so far revived by 1818 that Lisa began to consider again
the question of attempting to establish a trade at the head-
waters of the Missouri and even beyond the Rocky Moun-
tains.
In 819 the company underwent another reorganization,
1

the last with which Lisa was connected. The members were
Manuel Lisa, president, Thomas Hempstead, Joshua Pilcher,
Joseph Perkins, Andrew Woods, Moses Carson, John B.
Zenoni, Andrew Drips, and Robert Jones. — not a name
of those who founded the original company ten years be-
fore except that of Lisa, but in their place several new names
destined to prominence in the fur trade. This was the year
of the celebrated Yellowstone expedition.^"*

"See Part III., Chapter II.

 ;

150 JOSHUA PILCHER SUCCEEDS LISA.

Lisa's career was now drawing to a close. He was taken

ill about August i, 1820, in St. Louis, and died there on
the 1 2th of that month. In his death the Missouri Fur
Company lost its chief spirit, and itself survived only a few
years longer. ^^
After Lisa's death Joshua Pilcher succeeded to the man-
agement of the company. He was a worthy successor to
the great trader, possessing his breadth of view, his tireless
energy, and being withal a man of upright character and
high standing among his fellows. He proceeded at once
to develop the project which Lisa had formed, of carrying
the trade to the upper rivers, and his first attempts were
fairly successful. In the fall of 1821 he established a post
named Fort Benton at the mouth of the Bighorn river, the
site of the last, as it had been of the first, post built by the
Missouri Fur Company. In the spring of 1822 a large ex-
pedition under Jones and Immel, consisting of " 180 ad-
venturers," left St. Charles for the upper river. The com-
pany had now about three hundred men in the mountains,
and their operations were meeting with good results. In
the fall of 1822 about twenty-five thousand dollars' worth
of furs was sent to St. Louis. A Missouri paper referred
to this expedition as the " first adventure to the Rocky

" Lisa's death occurred on the eve of the real revival of the St.
Louis fur trade. The following list of companies doing business on
the Missouri in 1819 will show the condition of the trade at that time:
The Missouri Fur Company, capital $17,000; traded with Pawnees,
Omahas, Otoes, Sioux and lowas principal establishment at Ft. Lisa,
;

Council Blufifs.
Cerre and Francis Chouteau, capital $4,000; traded with Osages and
Kansas trading house at mouth of Kansas.
;

Other traders by the name of Chouteau traded principally with the

Osages, having a capital of about $6,000.
Robidoux and Papin, in company with Choureau and Berthold, cap-
ital $12,000; traded with the same tribes as did the Missouri Fur Com-
pany. Their principal establishment was at Nishnabotna.
Pratte and Vasquez capital $7,000
; traded with the same tribes
;

house near the Omaha village.

It will be seen that, while the first of these companies is evidently the
most important, none of them were doing a large business.
 JONES AND IMMEL AT THREE FORKS. I5I

Mountains " since the revival of the fur trade. At this

time the prospect was good that the Missouri Fur Company
would reap the rich harvest which fell to the Rocky Moun-
tain Fur Company a few years later. But the same fatality
which destroyed the hopes of the first Missouri Fur Com-
pany in that region was destined soon to destroy the pros-
pects of the last.
Early in the spring of 1823 Jones and Immel set out from
Fort Benton with a large party for the upper Missouri, to
carry out Pilcher's plan of opening up a trade with the
Blackfeet. Their instructions were to " use every effort
to obtain a friendly interview with the Blackfeet, to incur
any reasonable expense for the accomplishment of that ob-
ject, and to impress them with the friendly disposition of
American citizens toward them, and with the true object of
their visiting the country." The party reached the Three
Forks of the Missouri in due time, and remained there un-
til the middle of May, meanwhile trapping the Jefferson

Fork nearly to its source. They were somewhat disap-

pointed in their hunt, for they found that the Blackfeet had
industriously trapped these streams during the past ten
years. They succeeded, however, in securing over thirty
packs, which, with their hunt in other sections, made fifty-
two packs in all. Finally, May
they resolved to return,
16,
to the Yellowstone, not having come across any Indians;
but on the following day, while descending Jefferson Fork,
they met a party of thirty-eight Blackfeet. With much
precaution they were permitted to approach, when one of
them exhibited a letter which was written on the leaf of a
notebook, with " Mountain Park, 1823," on the top of the
leaf, and the date " 1820" on the bottom. It was super-
scribed " God save the King," and its substance was a rec-
ommendation of the bearer as a principal chief of his nation,
well disposed toward the whites, and in possession of a
quantity of furs. The Indians remained
all night with the

party, were very seemed to be greatly pleased at the

friendly,
proposition to establish a post below the Great Falls of the
152 PARTY AMBUSHED.

Missouri, and departed next day with many professions of

friendship.
But Immel and Jones did not permit these friendly ap-
pearances to throw them off their guard. They knew the
treacherous character of the tribe and resolved to make
quick work in getting out of the country. They reached
the Yellowstone in safety, descended it for a considerable
distance, and having practically gotten into the Crow terri-
tory, felt themselves comparatively safe. In the mean-
while the band of Blackfeet whom they had left on the Mis-
souri promptly notified others of their tribe, and having in-
creased their number to about four hundred, set out on
the track of the whites. They moved down the Yellow-
stone, got ahead of the whites, and selected a natural posi-
tion of great advantage for the purposes of ambush. ^^
The whites had been very watchful, particularly at night,
but made a mistake in not having any flankers out while on
the march. At this point there was a steep hill, washed by
the river at its base, along which the only track was an in-
tricate buffalo trail, winding among the rocks and trees and
so narrow that the party had to pass in single file. On the
slope of the hill the Blackfeet had concealed themselves for
the purpose of attacking the party as soon as they became
completely entangled in the defile. Besides Immel and
Jones, we have the names of two others of the unfortunate
party, William Gordon and a Mr. Keemle. Gordon had the
good fortune to be sent on ahead that day to hunt, and
passed the defile in advance of the main party, the Indians
permitting him to pass lest they should alarm the rest of
the party, if they attacked him. This threw the party still
more off their guard, for they were close upon Gordon's
trail, who, they might reasonably assume, would give the

alarm in case of danger.

**The site of this battle ground is not definitely known. Lieut.
Bradley thought that it was near what is now known as Bridger
Creek, but it was evidently far below that. From the fact that the party
had traveled two weeks from Jefferson Fork and were within ten miles
of the Crow village when they were attacked, and that they reached the
 JONES AND IMMEL SLAIN. 1 53

It was on the last day of May, 1823, that the party, twen-
ty-nine in number, arrived at the fatal defile and immedi-
ately commenced its passage. " The Indians did not show
themselves until the rear of the party had entered the pass,
when they rushed furiously upon them from every rock and
bush. Knowing Immel and Jones, their chief aim was first

to them. An Indian, supposed to be one of their prin-

kill

cipals, rushed boldly upon Immel, covering himself with

his shield. Immel. by a well-directed shot, brought him
down. His gun was hardly empty when he was literally cut
to pieces. About thirty Indians fired and rushed upon him
at the same instant and immediately after gave way.
" Jones seized the moment, and although he had received
two severe wounds, rallied and assembled his men, and col-
lected the scattered horses, and was pressing forward with
some prospect of success to pass the defile and gain the river
plain when the Indians rushed upon them with great fury.
They attacked the whites with lances, battle axes, scalping
knives and every weapon used by Indians. Jones, pierced
on every side, Nothing but defeat under such
fell. . .

circumstances could be looked for and how so many of them

escaped is indeed wonderful."^^
The party lost nearly all their property, including horses,
traps and some packs of beaver, the total loss
thirty-five
being estimated at fifteen thousand dollars. Of the party
the two leaders and five men were killed and four wounded.
The rest, under the leadership of Mr. Keemle, succeeded,

almost by miracle, in constructing a raft and getting across

the river. They reached the Crow village near the mouth
of Pryor Fork the same day. Mr. Gordon with one man
here left the party and proceeded to Fort Vanderburgh, the

Crow village after the attack, the same day, and found it near Pryor
Fork of the Yellowstone river, it must be concluded that the scene of
the disaster was not far above the mouth of Pryor Fork, probably in the
vicinity of the mouth of Canon Creek, near Canon Station on the
Northern Pacific railroad.
" Letter from Joshua Pilcher to Thomas Hempstead, dated Sep-
tember 30, 1823.
154 SUSPICION OF BRITISH INTRIGUE.

Mandan post, where he arrived June 15, and wrote to Mr.

Pilcher of the disaster, Mr. Keemle constructed enough
bull-boats to transport the party, raised the cache of beaver
which had been their fall hunt in the Crow country, and
made his way safely to Fort Vanderburgh.
This disaster was a terrible blow to the Missouri Fur
Company, and to the hopes of Mr. Pilcher. His conduct of
the company's affairs had so far been very successful. He
said in a letter to Major Benjamin O'Fallon, dated Fort Re-
covery, Upper Missouri, July 23, 1823: " This our second
adventure to the mountains, had surpassed my most
sanguine expectations success was complete and my views
;

were fulfilled in every respect." We can readily under-

stand the prostration of spirit in which he added " The:

flower of my business is gone my mountaineers have been

;

defeated, and the chiefs of the party both slain."

Rightly or wrongly, the Missouri traders attributed these
acts of persistent hostility on the part of the Indians to the
instigation of the British traders. It was about the same
time that Ashley was attacked by the Aricaras and several
of his men killed, while Henry's party near the mouth of the
Yellowstone suffered a similar though less disastrous expe-
rience. It seemed impossible that these Indians would of
their own free will maintain an attitude of such uncom-
promising hostility. Indignation at repeated outrages may
have made the American traders unduly suspicious of the
British. Whether these suspicions were well founded or
not, it was a fact that the firearms with which the Indians
attacked the traders came from across the line, and the furs
which they took from our people quickly found their way
back there in payment.^^
^*
Howdeep was the suspicion of British intrigue in all these mat-
ters maybe seen from the following extract from a letter by Major
O'Fallon to General Atkinson, dated July 3, 1823 :
" I was in hopes

that the British Indian Traders had some bounds to their rapacity. I
was in hopes, during the late Indian War, in which they were so in-
strumental in the indiscriminate massacre of our people, that they were
completely saturated with our blood. But it appears not to have been
 PILCHER AND COMPANY. 155

The result of this disaster and similar ones to Ashley and

Henry's parties induced Pilcher to withdraw from the trade
altogether above the Omahas. He took part in the cam-
paign against the Aricaras with Colonel Leavenworth in
the following August and September,^'' and then retired to
his main establishment at Council Bluffs.
The company continued to do business for several years
under Pilcher's direction and was commonly referred to as
Pilcher and Company. It probably operated to some ex-

tent in the mountain country, for Pilcher has left the state-
ment that he had several times crossed South Pass. Be that
as it may the further operations of the company were of
little importance and attracted no attention at the time.

The growing power of the Western Department of the

American Fur Company and of the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company was gradually restricting its activities, and it
finally passed out of existence altogether. The termination
of its was marked by a rather unusual event in which
career
the moribund company was gracefully bowed off the stage
of western history.
In September, 1827, Mr, Pilcher and a party of forty-five
men left Council Bluffs for Salt Lake Valley with a com-
plete outfit of merchandise and over one hundred horses.
The fame of Ashley's exploits in these regions was now at
its height and apparently it was Pilcher's purpose to obtain

a share of the wealth of that country. He took the usual

the case. Like the greedy wolf, not satisfied with the flesh, they quar-
rel over the bones. They ravage our fields and are unwilling that we
should glean them. .Alarmed at the individual enterprise of our
. .

people, they are exciting the Indians against them. They furnish them
with . the instruments of death and a passport to our bosoms.
. .

Immel had great experience of the Indian character, but (poor fellow!)
with a British passport they at last deceived him and he fell a victim
to his own credulity and his scalp, and those of his comrades, are
;

now bleeding on their way to the British trading establishments."

The authorities mainly relied upon in the above narrative are Amer-
ican State Pafyers, Indian Affairs, vol. II., p. 451 et seq., and Military
Affairs, vol. II., p. 578 et seq. Senate Executive Document 39, 21st
;

Congress, 2d Session.
" See Chapter III., Part III.
156 TOUR OF THE NORTHWEST.

route via the Platte and Sweetwater rivers. In the neigh-

borhood of South Pass Pilcher's horses were all stolen and
he was compelled to cache his merchandise. He then went
on to Green river, where he spent the following winter. In
the spring of 1828 he sent a partner back to the cache for the
goods, but they were found to have been nearly ruined by
water. The remnant saved was taken to Bear Lake, " then
a rendezvous for hunters and traders." After completing
the trade, Pilcher's partners and most of the men returned to
Council Bluffs, while Pilcher himself, with nine men, " com-
menced a tour to the northwest with a view of exploring
the region of the Columbia river, to ascertain its attrac-
tions and capabilities for trade."
It was late in July, 1828, when he set out. His course
was northwesterly and he stopped for the winter at Flat-
head Lake. In February, 1829, he resumed his journey
north, but had not gone far when his horses were stolen.
Soon after he fell in with some men belonging to one of the
St. Louis traders. His own men becoming disheartened,
he discharged all except one, with whom he set out, in com-
pany with a British trader, for Fort Colville on the Colum-
bia. He arrived at this post September i, 1829. Being
offered the protection of the Hudson Bay Company express
for the east, he accepted and
Fort Colville on the 21st
left
of September, in company with six men. He arrived at
Boat Encampment (so called as being the place where the
boats are abandoned preparatory to the passage of the moun-
tains) October 4th, and remained there until November 2d,
when the express from the east arrived. The party left
Boat Encampment November 4th, arrived at the Jasper
House on the Athabasca, November nth, and left there De-
cember 17th, equipped with dog sleds and snow shoes. On
the first day of January. 1830, they arrived at Fort Assini-
boine. Setting out from this point on the 4th they reached
Edmonton House, or Fort de Prairie, on the north fork of
the Saskatchewan, in a few days more.^*^
*'*This post is of particular interest, not only as being one of the
 MISSOURI FUR COMPANY EXTINCT, 1 5/

Pilcher left Fort de Prairie January 15th, and passing

Fort Pitt, arrived at Carlton House on the ist of February.
Continuing his journey after eleven days' rest he arrived at
the Cumberland House the 24th of the same month, and at
Moose Lake March ist. He then set out for Selkirk's set-
tlement in the Red River valley, where he arrived March
26th. Leaving that place on the 29th, and proceeding up
the Asj-.iniboine river, he reached Brandon House April 4th.
The next day he set out with a half-breed Indian for the
Mandan villages on the Missouri, where he arrived on the
22d of April. Here he found Mr. Sanford, Indian sub-
agent for the upper Missouri, Daniel Lamont, agent for the
American Fur Company, and the German traveler. Prince
Paul of Wurtemburg, who was now on his second visit of
exploration to the interior of North America. Mr. Pilcher
arrived in St. Louis in June, 1830.
His long expedition had given him an acquaintance with
the British posts such as at that time was possessed by no
other American. He was treated by the Hudson Bay trad-
ers with the hospitality so well understood by that com-
pany, but which, when dispensed to rival traders, was al-
ways accompanied with a firm refusal to assist in any way
in their trading operations.
It is about at the time of Pilcher's return to St. Louis that
he refers to himself as being no longer in the fur trade, and
we may count the Missouri Fur Company as now finally
extinct. There seems to be no evidence that it was ever
bought out by another company. It had an existence under
one style or another for over twenty-five years and was the
most important company that did business from St. Louis
in the first quarter of the century.

most important of the Hudson Bay Company posts, and the distributing
point for the trade of a large section of country at the eastern base of
the mountains, but it was the post at which the Blackfeet traded.
Even the British found this tribe a troublesome one to deal with, and
their post at this point was unusually strong. Pilcher says that
it was a " strong stockade, with six bastions, and ten or twelve pieces

of small ordnance."
158 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

Biographical Notes Joshua Pilcher was born at Culpeper, Virginia,

:

March 15,1790; came to St. Louis during War of 1812; was a hatter by
occupation, but was engaged in other pursuits as well is mentioned ;

in 1817 as one of the directors of the Bank of St. Louis. In 1819 he en-
tered the fur trade as a member of the Missouri Fur Company, of which
he became president upon the death of Manuel Lisa. He remained at
the head of the company until its final dissolution between 1828 and
1830. Entered the service of the American Fur Company in charge of
its affairs near Council Bluffs, and remained there about two years. In
1838 he succeeded General Clark as superintendent of Indian Affairs at
St.Louis and held the position until his death, June 5, 1847.
Pilcher is represented as a man of good ability, strict integrity of
character, and high standing in business and social circles.
Jones and Immel. These two names are almost always seen together,
for the reason that about all that is known of them is their connection
with the expedition which ended in their tragic death on the Yellow-
stone in 1823. Benjamin O'Fallon thus refers to them in a letter to
General Clark, dated July 7, 1823: "Jones [Robert] was a gentleman
of cleverness and formany years a resident of St. Louis. Immel . . .

[Michael?] has been a long time on the river; formerly an officer in

the U. S. A. since then an Indian trader of some distinction. In some
;

respects he was an extraordinary man. He was brave, uncommonly

large, and of great muscular strength. When timely apprised of dan-
ger, he was a host in himself." This may be the same Immel who was
associated with Valle as a free hunter on the upper Missouri in 1810,
 CHAPTER VII.
CROOKS AND MCLELLAN.

Robert McLellan —
Crooks and McLellan form a partnership —
Turned back by the Sioux in 1809 —
Manuel Lisa charged with bad
faith— Crooks and McLellan join Pacific Fur Company Death of —
McLellan.

^1 SMALL trading company occasionally noticed in the

^^ annals of the time was that of Ramsay Crooks ^ and
Robert McLellan, who prosecuted a trade on the Missouri
from 1807 to 181 1. Crooks had come to America from
Scotland in 1803 and had drifted to St. Louis within the
next three years, where he saw and studied the new field of
enterprise which the valley of the Missouri offered. Here
he met a man suited to his temper and ready to embark in
any undertaking that promised ordinary chances of success.
This was Robert McLellan, one of the most romantic char-
acters in the annals of the Western fur trade. He was a
man of many perilous exploits and hairbreadth escapes, a
sure shot, a daring hunter, and altogether a superb example
of frontier manhood. He had greatly distinguished him-
self in the early Indian wars under General Wayne in Ohio,
and was already a comparatively old man when he crossed
the Mississippi to penetrate the newly acquired wilderness
of Louisiana. He entered the trade of the Missouri imme-
diately after the transfer of Louisiana. In the winter of
1805 he was trading with the Omahas and he told Lewis
and Clark the following summer that he was opposed in this
trade by Joseph Le Croix, a British trader so far did—
* A biographical sketch of this able trader is given in Chapter XXIIL
of this part.
l60 PARTNERSHIP FORMED.

those daring adventurers of the Northwest Company push

their operations into foreign territory, McLellan com-
plained that this competition compelled him to sell his mer-
chandise at an actual loss, but that he determined to hold
out in the hope that such interlopers would soon be driven
from the field.
It seems to have been in 1807 that McLellan met Crooks

and formed a partnership with him. They made up an ex-

pedition of eighty men, and, with an outfit advanced on
shares (de moitie) by Sylvester and Auguste Chouteau, they
set out for the upper river in the fall of that year. On their
way they met Ensign Pryor returning to St, Louis with the
Mandan chief after his defeat by the Aricaras, The report
which Pryor brought of the hostile attitude of the Sioux
and Aricaras caused Crooks and IMcLellan to turn back.
They established themselves near Council Bluffs and re-
mained there until the spring of 1809,
When they saw the expedition of the Missouri Fur Com-
pany ascend the river in the summer of that year they decid-
ed to follow. With about forty men they set out up the
river, but ill-luck attended their enterprises. While pass-
ing the country of the Sioux, a band of these Indians, some
six hundred strong, appeared upon a high bank in a con-
cave bend of the river and ordered the boats to turn about
and land farther down stream. The number of the Indians
was such as to make it out of the question to resist their
commands, and Crooks and IMcLellan, with feigned willing-
ness, turned about. They had an interview with the Sioux,
who absolutely forbade them to proceed, but agreed to trade
peaceably with them should they remain where they were.
The party was not strong enough to defy the Sioux, and
they accordingly had no alternative but to open trade at that
point. Making a virtue of necessity they set about erect-
ing a post with every appearance of good faith. Meanwhile
most of the Indians went to their village some twenty miles
away to procure articles for trade, leaving only a small
guard behind. Crooks and McLellan took advantage of
 CHARGES AGAINST MANUEL LISA, l6l

this absence to carry out in part the purpose of their expedi-

tion and also to revenge themselves upon the Indians. They
clandestinely sent a party of hunters and trappers up the
river in a canoe with directions to collect such furs as they
could and to await favorable opportunities to return. As
soon as this detachment was thought to be well beyond the
hostile country, the partners broke up their trading estab-
lishment very suddenly, left a message for the Indians not
calculated to mollify their feelings, and themselves made
their way to their old establishment down the river.
Crooks and McLellan always claimed that this miscar-
riage of their plans was due to the machinations of the St.
Louis Missouri Fur Company, whose active agent in accom-
plishing it was Manuel Lisa. They asserted that Lisa, in
order to facilitate his own passage through this hostile
country, had told the Sioux that another expedition was on
its way with the express purpbse of trading with them, and

that they must not permit it to pass. This may or may not
have been true. Certainly the character of the traders, and
the measures often resorted to in their competition are quite
in keeping with such a course; but of direct evidence there
is none. Even if it were true, the motive w^as probably not
so much to secure a free passage to the Missouri Fur Com-
pany, for they had force enough to secure that, as to pre-
vent competition in the upper country. There is moreover
some question as to the right of Crooks and McLellan to
ascend the river at this time. The contract for the return of
the Mandan chief expressly stipulated that Governor Lewis
should not, before the departure of the expedition, license
any other traders to ascend the Missouri river above the
mouth of the Platte. Crooks and McLellan could not have
had any such license, therefore, unless they got it after the
departure of the expedition, for the licenses to trade were
generally renewed every year.
There is likewise no evidence that these gentlemen re-
when he passed up, although that
vealed their plans to Lisa
wily trader would doubtless have found them out if such
l62 JOIN THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY.

plans were then in contemplation. There was no adequate

reason, except personal pique and disappointment of ex-
pected gains, to justify this extreme bitterness against Lisa.
Certainly there was nothing in Lisa's action which partook
so much of the lawlessness of the wilderness as did the plans
of McLellan for getting even with him for he declared re-
;

peatedly, with a manner that left little doubt of his sincerity,

that if he ever caught Lisa in that part of the country he
would shoot him on the spot. How he did so meet him,
and how he failed to carry out his threat, will be told in our
account of the Astorian expedition.
Disappointed again in their efforts to ascend the river,
Crooks and McLellan returned to their post near Council
Bluffs. There is some evidence that they made an inef-
fectual attempt to establish a trade above the Aricaras in
1810, but it is not conclusive. In the winter of 1810-11
both gentlemen entered the Pacific Fur Company and joined
the overland Astorian expedition under W. P. Hunt. Their
own partnership thus came to an end with the year 1810.
The further careers of these two traders were identified
with the Pacific and American Fur Companies. After the
return of McLellan to St. Louis in the spring of 181 3 he
quite disappears from public notice. The only authentic
reference to him after this time that has come to light is a
notice in a St. Louis paper, dated March 15, 181 6, of the ad-
ministration of his estate. He therefore probably died in
St. Louis, although one account of his life says that it was
near the Omaha village on the Missouri and another that it
was at St. Genevieve.
 CHAPTER VIII.
• ASTORIA.
ORIGIN AND SCOPE OF THE PROJECT.

Tohn Tacob Astor — His early operations — The Louisiana Purchase —

The American Fur Company chartered — General plan of operations —
Organization of the Pacific Fur Company.

*IOEFERENCE has already been made to the fact that in

"^ the earUer years of United States history there was no
systematic conduct of its fur trade and no recognized Ameri-
can Fur Company, and allusion was made to those obstacles,
notably the possession of the frontier posts by the British,
which for many years deterred private enterprise from em-
barking in that direction. It was not until the final evacu-
ation of these posts that the time was ripe for the com-
mencement of a distinctively American enterprise of this
sort.
The opportunity, when it came, was seized upon, not, as
might have been expected, by some native-born American,
but by a foreigner who had made America his home and
was just emerging into prominence in the commercial world.
John Jacob Astor, although an alien by birth, is one of
America's best examples of self-made men —
men of hum-
ble beginnings, who, by sheer native ability, have risen to the
foremost rank in their respective callings. He easily stands
at the head of that ever-expanding roll of financial geniuses
which America has produced, for although his operations,
measured by their magnitude alone, have been exceeded in
later times, the greater difficulties with which he had to
contend make them the most extraordinary of any in the
commercial history of the United States.
Astor was born July 17, 1763, in the village of Waldorf
 164 ASTOR ENTERS THE FUR TRADE.

near Heidelburg, in the Duchy of Baden, Germany. At

the age of sixteen or seventeen he went to London and en-
gaged with an elder brother, w4io had already established a
business there, in the manufacture and sale of musical in-
struments. After two or three years in London he deter-
mined to see if he could not better his fortunes by crossing
the Atlantic. He sailed in November, 1783, taking with
him a small stock of instruments, the proceeds of which
would be his only capital to begin life with in the new world.
His ship reached the mouth of the Chesapeake en route for
Baltimore in January, 1784, but was detained in the bay by
ice until the following March. During the tedious period
of waiting he had the good luck to fall in with a fur dealer,
who gave him much information and advised him to go to
New York with his goods and invest the proceeds of the
sale in furs. This Astor did, and having further informed
himself as to the conditions and prospects of that line of
business, he sailed for London with his furs in the early
summer. He disposed of them to advantage, gathered full

information regarding the fur markets of Europe, and re-

turned to New York before the end of 1784, having definite-
ly resolved to make America his home and the fur trade his
business.^
/Astor's career as a fur merchant began in 1784. His
^><^traordinary judgment of commercial conditions, and his
^ remarkable foresight, told him from the
business had a great future in store for him.
first that the fur
Even his
brief investigation of a few months on the occasion of his
first visit to America, led him to predict, on his return to
London, that " when the [Canadian] frontiers are surren-
dered I will make my fortune in the fur trade." His grasp
of the situation in so short a time is no less remarkable than
'
Astor's subsequent connection with the fur trade is mostly given
in the following pages. In his other business and public relations
his career is well known. He became
one of America's wealthiest men,
one of her most progressive citizens, and before his death was well
known throughout the world. He died March 29, 1848.
 EARLY ACHIEVEMENTS. 1
65

his confidence in his own powers, which led him, on more

than one occasion, to predict his future great weahh. With
the full courage of his convictions he embarked in the fur
trade immediately upon his return from London and worked
himself up by rapid steps until by the end of the century
he had become the leading fur merchant of the United
States and probably the leading authority in the w^orld upon
that business. His reputation had reached beyond the fron-
tier of his adopted country and the magnates of the fur trade
in Montreal and St. Louis recognized in him a formidable
competitor.^ Astor had at this time amassed a fortune of
perhaps half a million dollars, had become a ship owner, and
had formed commercial relations with the uttermost parts
of the earth. It was a great achievement for a man of his
years, and for the period in which he lived, and it demon-
strated his ability to grapple with the highest problems
which the commercial world at that time presented. Such
problems were soon to confront him. --^,^
Astor's early operations wxre largely conducted at Mon-
^
treal, on account of the restrictions of the existing tariff. /]
He frequently visited that city, even going to the trading
posts of the interior, and thus familiarizing himself with
the details of his business in all its bearings. As the com-
mercial relations between Great Britain and the United
States began to assume a more favorable aspect, and the
tariff laws of the latter country became less stringent in the
he was able to extend his business fur-
article of fine furs,
same time
ther north along the shore of the lakes, and at the
to conduct it more from New York as a primary base of op-
erations. The course of political affairs was working his
way as the power of his own government became more firm-
ly established. The purchase of Louisiana opened up an
" In a letter dated at St. Louis April 29, 1800. addressed to Astor,
the writer, Charles Gratiot, said: "You are beyond question the
greatest of the fur merchants. Your relations at home and abroad give
you facilities which no other house in the United States possesses.
You are established in the most active city upon the globe today, where
everything is to be found from all parts of the world, etc."
1 66 A WORLD-WIDE BUSINESS.

entirely new vista of almost illimitable scope. Louis

St.
thereby became an American city and all the country of
which it emporium United States territory. What
was the
the extent of the new acquisition was, was not definitely
known, except that it was very great. Certainly it included
the immense watershed of the Missouri, and it was gener-
ally considered that, if the Purchase itself did not extend
through to the Pacific, the right of discovery gave America
a first claim there. The expedition of Lewis and Clark
had shown that this new country abounded in furs, and thus
the business field in which Mr. Astor had chosen to exercise
his powers was at a single stroke trebled in extent. More
than this, if the mouth of the Columbia were now, as he evi-
dently thought, American territory, the commerce of the
Orient, that great market for rich furs, was brought prac-
tically to his own door.
Mr. Astor was not slow to grasp the magnitude of this
new and unexpected development. With China a market
for furs from the Pacific coast, with Russian establishments
on the northwest coast which his ships might supply as
an incident to their main business, with markets at home
for the products of the Orient, with lines of trading
posts along the Columbia from the sea to its source, con-
nected thence with the Missouri, and extending down that
stream to St. Louis, and from that point by way of the Great
Lakes to New York itself, Mr. Astor saw that his business
would indeed be world-wide in scope and international in
importance.
In exploiting his schemes of commercial conquest Mr.
Astor was early led to entertain views regarding the expan-
sion of American territory altogether in advance of those of
our own statesmen. He believed not only in the desirability
but the practicability of our taking possession of the whole
Pacific coast from the Spanish to the Russian possessions,
and he clearly saw in that distant region the germ of a
mighty future empire. He took the only view which a man
accustomed to look at things on a broad scale, yet in a plain.
 THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY CHARTERED. 1
6/

matter-of-fact way, could take, that itwould be better for

this territory to be in the possession of a single power than
to be parceled out among several. There can be no doubt as
to what power Mr. Astor thought that this should be.
His projects of commerce led him into relations with his
government which, it seems, heartily applauded his views,
but could lend him no other aid than tacit encouragement.
It is ever to be lamented that President Madison did not see
his way to adopt as bold a course in regard to Mr. Astor's
enterprise as did his illustrious predecessor in office in re-
gard to the purchase of Louisiana. Had he done so the
political map of North America would not be what it is to-
day.
The greatness of Mr. Astor's powers is nowhere better
shown than in his unhesitating determination to carry out
his schemes even without any direct aid from the govern-
ment. In the year 1808, April 6th, he secured a charter
from the state of New York creating the American Fur
Company. It was the first time that this distinctive national
name had been stamped upon the great business of the fur
trade — a business peculiarly identified throughout Amer-
ican history with colonial development and expansion. It
does not appear that the company was formed with a view
to any specific trade, but was rather a general title to in-
clude of Mr. Astor's operations.^
all

Assured of the approval of the government, Mr. Astor

proceeded to elaborate his plans. The general scheme con-
templated a central establishment near the mouth of the Co-
lumbia, from which the trade was to be prosecuted in all di-
rections in the interior. The supplies for the establish-
ment were to be sent out from New York in an annual ship,
which would receive the returns of the trade, dispose of the
furs in China, and return home with goods for the home

'W. W. Astor, in a magazine article upon his illustrious ancestor,

says that this corporate body was simply a "fiction intended to broaden
and facilitate his operations." The date of the charter has nearly al-
ways heretofore been given as 1809.
l68 THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY.

market. In conjunction with this trade Mr. Astor would

also prosecute the coast trade from his vessels, and would
endeavor to secure the privilege of supplying the Russian
establishments farther north. He saw how great would be
his advantage, once thoroughly established on the coast,
over his competitors, the Northwest Company, should they
extend their trade in that direction. Their line of supply
overland across the continent from Montreal would be much
longer than that which he might establish from St. Louis
with a single river leading more than half the way. The
Northwesters could not compete with him in the ocean busi-
ness, for the British East India Company monopolized that
trade. Everything indicated that the plan was feasible and
it may be said, after a lapse of ninety years, that nothing has

come to light to show that it was not so.

Having fixed upon his general plan, Mr. Astor proceeded
to organize his company and fit out his expeditions. As a
name to cover this particular enterprise he chose "Pacific
yur Company," but it was in reality only the American Fur
Company with a special name applied to a special locality.
His long acquaintance and familiarity with the Canadian
trade turned his mind in that direction as the best field
for recruits trained in the business. He even hoped to sig-
nalize the commencement of his undertaking by a master-
stroke which should forestall competition in the future. He
proposed to the Northwest Company to join him. His of-
fers were alluring, but the managers of that concern did not
look with favor upon the alliance, and moreover resolved
to anticipate him in his own plans. They declined his ofifer,

but forthwith commenced preparations for a descent upon

the Columbia.
A union with the Northwest Company being impossible,
Mr. Astor nevertheless organized his company largely from
Northwest men. This matter will be referred to later on, in
order to trace its influence upon the outcome of the enter-
prise, but for the present it need only be stated that a large
part of the rank and file of the company were subjects of
 ORGANIZATION OF THE COMPANY. 1
69

Great Britain, with which nation the United States was then
on the verge of war.
-<?**^ The articles of agreement of the Pacific Fur Company

were signed on the 23d of June, 1810. Mr. Astor was

to be the head of the company, to furnish the means, not
to exceed, however, an advance of four hundred thousand
dollars, and to bear all losses for the period of five years.
Of the hundred shares into which the stock was to be divid-
ed, Mr. Astor was to hold fifty and the associates fifty.
The company was to hold its annual general meeting at the
central establishment on the Columbia, at which absent
members were to be represented by proxy. The term of the
association was fixed at twenty years, with the privilege of
dissolving it within the first five years if found unprofitable.
An agent of the company was to reside at the principal es-
tablishment on the Columbia for a period of five years.
The company in the course of its career included the fol-
lowing persons Mr. Astor, president and principal stock-
:

holder; Wilson Price Hunt, of New Jersey, partner and

firstresident agent; Alexander McKay, Duncan McDou-
gal, Donald McKenzie, Ramsay Crooks, Robert McLellan,
Joseph Miller, David Stuart, Robert Stuart, John Clarke,
partners. There were in addition some eighteen clerks, and
the necessary complement of voyageurs, hunters, and en-
gages, comprising upwards of one hundred and forty men.
In commencing to carry out his scheme, Mr. Astor or-
ganized two expeditions, one to go by sea and the other by
land along the route of Lewis and Clark. The first vessel
was to stop at the mouth of the Columbia and leave there
such material and passengers as were designed for the estab-
lishment at that point, and then she was to pursue Mr. As-
tor's further business along the coast, returning to the Co-
lumbia for such furs as might be collected there. The over-
land expedition would at the same time proceed across the
continent and, if things went well, reach the Columbia not
much later than the ship.
Mr. Astor's comprehensive mind had arranged a multi-

^
170 CONSENT OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.

tude of details, and among them one which shows the high
authority of his name at this time throughout the world.
He made application to the Russian government for permis-
sion to prosecute his purpose of trade with the Russian posts
on the northwest coast. His request was granted and he
thus entered upon his undertaking with the expressed sanc-
tion of two interested governments.
 CHAPTER IX.

ASTORIA.
THE EXPEDITION BY SEA.

The Tonquin — Voyage of the Tonquin — Misunderstandings with

Captain Thorn — Crossing the Columbia Bar — Selection of for
site
fort — Tonquin leaves Astoria — The loss of the Tonquin — Criticism
of Captain Thorn.

"^^ HE ship selected by Mr. Astor to convey the sea expedi-

^^ tion to its was called the Tonquin a ves-
destination —
sel of 290 tons burden and a good staunch ship. Her com-
mander was Jonathan Thorn, a United States Naval officer
on leave, probably for this purpose through the courtesy of
the government. He bore an excellent reputation as an offi-
cer, was honest and single-minded in his loyalty to his
employer, but imfortunately could not distinguish between
the rigid requirements of military discipline and the more
pliant authority which should be exercised toward those re-
lated tohim only by the common bond of commercial adven-
ture. The crew of the vessel numbered twenty-one and the
passengers thirty-three. The vessel was well laden with
merchandise suited to the trade, and carried in addition a
full equipment for hunting and trapping parties, materials
and tools for the construction of a small schooner on the
Columbia,^ and for the erection of a trading post, and seeds
for the cultivation of the soil around the new establishment.
The Tonquin weighed anchor September 6th, 1810, and
cleared the bar at Sandy Hook September 8th. For a dis-
tance she was accompanied by an American naval vessel to
protect her against searchby British cruisers, an event which
*For a description of the Columbia river and a consideration of
the origin of the name " Oregon," see Part V., Chapter IV.
172 CHOLERIC CAPTAIN THORN,

there was much reason to fear might transpire. The voy-

age passed off without serious mishap. The Falkland Is-
lands were sighted December 3d, the Pacific ocean was
entered December 24th, and the Hawaiian Islands ^ were
reached February i ith, 1811. On the 28th of February the
Tonquin left the Islands, having taken twenty-four natives
on board, and on March 22d, sighted land at the mouth of
the Columbia.
The principal feature of the voyage was the irrepressible
feeling of hostility that prevailed between the Captain and
most of the passengers. More incompatible natures it would
have been difficult to bring together. The Captain, as a
naval officer, had been educated in the iron discipline of a
man-of-war and his temperament emphasized its defects
and severities. His relentless rigor could not countenance
any laxity, either in business matters or in the relations of
officers to those below them. The Canadians were bred to
a different sort of life. They were freer with each other,
cared little for the punctilio of rank or the requirements of
discipline so long as the main purpose of their enterprise
was prospering. Those who were partners in the associa-
tion felt that they were sailing in their own vessel, and they
naturally considered themselves entitled to privileges which
might not be accorded to the common passenger. Captain
Thorn was disposed to give them no higher consideration
than the ordinary crew, and he at once commenced apply-
ing to them the petty regulations of the ship, such as the
putting out of lights at a certain hour, and the like. As the
partners stood out stoutly for their rights in these matters,
bad blood was engendered, and the Captain more than once
threatened to put them in irons.
Captain Thorn, moreover, had conceived a very poor opin-
ion of these associates of Mr. Astor. He knew that they
*
It was in these early days that were laid the foundations of that com-
mercial intercourse which nearly ninety years later was to make the
Hawaiian Islands a part of the American Republic.
 AN UNFORTUNATE COMBINATION. I73

themselves had furnished no money, that they had no prop-

erty at stake, and he could not see them touch a bale of
goods or suggest a measure pertaining to the enterprise,
without feeling that they were trifling with his employer's
interests. He forgot also that most of them had not been
to sea before and that everything was new and strange.
Had he not done so he might have experienced less contempt
for their desire to land here and there, and for their pro-
clivity for taking notes upon the voyage.
This bitter feeling led to some perilous situations. At
the Falkland Islands the Captain became enraged because
some of the party who had gone on shore did not return
as he had directed. He weighed anchor, and declared in a
letter to Mr. Astor that he would certainly have left them
had not the wind changed so as to prevent his sailing. The
passengers say that his change of mind was prompted by the
bold action of young Robert Stuart, who threatened to shoot
him if he did not instantly turn about and wait for the
party. At the Sandwich Islands the same imperious temper
caused him to abandon Edward Aymes, a sailor, after most
unmercifully beating him for not returning, on one occa-
sion, promptly to the ship.
He washimself doubtless conscious of his failing in this
regard and felt that he was incurring a great deal of ill will

on the part of his fellow passengers. He even at one time

imagined that they were plotting a mutiny, but of this there
is not the slightest evidence.
It was in every way an unfortunate combination. One
can readily understand how, from his point of view, the in-
flexible Captain was sorely disturbed by everything that did
not partake of the clockwork regularity and unbending
methods of his own manner of life. In this he was an
extreme example of a fault by no means unfamiliar to
officers of the Army and Navy at all times. He had not the
happy faculty of adapting himself to circumstances, and he
could not conceive of such a thing as a business-like pro-
ceeding in which stern and rigid discipline were not con-
174 CROSSING THE COLUMBIA BAR.

stantly in evidence. It is a strong point in his favor that his

crew were and even those who heartily dis-
generally loyal,
liked him were compelled to applaud the constant care which
he took of the order and cleanliness of the ship and the
health of his passengers and crew. With all his failings he
kept constantly in view his employer's interests, and while
a man with more tact and knowledge of human nature
might have maintained equally good discipline and at the
same time a friendly relation with his passengers, none
could have shown greater singleness of purpose in carrying
out what he understood to be his duty.
At the mouth of the Columbia the Captain exhibited
what must be pronounced a serious error of judgment, even
in his own profession, in his attempts to get over the bar.
That wild and tempestuous entrance to the great " River of
the West " was well known for its dangers to navigation.
At the time of the Tonqidn's arrival it was in one of its
worst moods, when it was almost madness to undertake to
sound its channel. Nothing daunted, the Captain at once
undertook the task and sent off a boat under charge of the
first mate Fox, with a crew of four men. The boat was
itself a worthless one, and Fox seems to have felt that he
was embarking upon an enterprise from which he should not
return. So it proved, for not a word was ever afterward
heard from these five men.
On the 23d of March, the Captain continued his efforts,
sending out one or two boats which returned without suc-
cess, but with narrow escapes from disaster. In the after-
noon of the next day another crew was sent out, and was
soon followed by the Tonquin herself. When at the most
difiicult point of the passage, the strong outward swell (for
the Captain had unfortunately selected the period of ebb-
tide) swept the small boat out to sea past the Tonquin,
whose crew were utterly helpless to extend them any assist-
ance owing to the critical situation of the ship. The boat
was soon upset and three of the crew were drowned, includ-
ing one Sandwich Islander. Stephen Weekes, and another
 ASTORIA FOUNDED. 1/5

islander, succeeded, by dint of the utmost exertion, in mak-

ing land, where they were found next day by the main party.
Thus, at the very threshold of the great enterprise, eight men
lost their lives.
It was duringthe night that the ship finally found herself
at a safe anchorage within the mouth of the Columbia.^
The first care of the crew and passengers of the Tonqiiin
was to search for the missing boat crews, and this business
occupied most of the 25th of March. They found only
Weekes and one Sandwich Islander, and, although some
hope of discovering the rest of the party still remained, it
was now generally believed that all were lost.
Several days were spent in the search for a suitable site
whereon to erect a post. None being found. Captain Thorn
became disgusted and proceeded to erect a shed under which
to store the material and merchandise for the establishment.
He was in haste to get out of the bay and continue the
further prosecution of the voyage. The Captain's arbitrary
action offended McDougal, the principal partner in the
absence of Mr. Hunt, and he, with David Stuart, set out on
the 5th of April to explore the south side of the bay. The
result of his search was the which, though
selection of a site,

not entirely satisfactory, was adopted on account of the

eagerness of the Captain to discharge his cargo. On the
1 2th of April sixteen of the party, with the necessary
material and equipment, commenced clearing the ground.
Soon afterward the Tonquin made her appearance and was
duly received with a salute of musketry. The new estab-
lishment was christened Astoria.
The difficulties between Captain Thorn and the partners
did not cease with the selection of the site for the post. The
Captain could not brook what he considered an unnecessary
'
I have assumed March 2Sth as the date when the Tonquin entered
the Cokimbia for it is clear from Irving's detailed description, that
the vessel was forced to anchor before she made the entrance, which she
finally effected during the night on the flood tide. This must have
been between midnight and morning, and the crew were not certain
that they were safe over the bar until daylight of the 25th.
176 THE TONQUIN SAILS.

delay in getting the new buildings ready to receive the ship's

cargo. As soon as possible McDougal established his
quarters on shore, so as to be freed from the immediate inter-
ference of the Captain, and thereafter their rancorous com-
munications were mostly conducted by letter. The delay in
building the post was not by any means entirely inexcusable.
The site was occupied by immense trees, and the men were
not accustomed to the work of clearing ground of such
obstructions. Ross gives an amusing picture of the awk-
ward maneuvers of these inexperienced men in felling the
huge trees, and his account makes one wonder, not that the
site was long in being cleared, but that it was ever cleared
at all. At last suitable buildings for the temporary storage
of the Tonqiiin's cargo were completed. The ship was
unloaded, and on the ist of June departed from Astoria
with Alexander McKay, partner, on board as supercargo,
and James Lewis as clerk. We shall follow to her untimely
end the good ship that had brought the Astorians to their
destination, and shall return to the Columbia at a later
opportunity.^
The To7iqttin left Astoria on the ist of June, 181 1, but

* Our data for the loss of the Tonquin, one of the most appalling
marine disasters in history, are derived from a single original source.
This was an Indian of the Chehalis tribe, by the name of Lamazee (Irv-
ing), Lamazu (Ross) or Lamanse, according to the recent finding of
Mr. Bancroft. He had occasionally been employed by coasting vessels
as an interpreter and in that way had picked up enough English to
make himself useful. He was taken along on the present occasion and
was the sole survivor of the massacre. Some months afterward he was
brought into Astoria and there related the circumstances of the disaster.
His veracity has been impugned by Ross, with what reason I do not
know, but in any case necessity compels us to accept his narrative for
there is no other. We have five records of what he said derived di-
rectly from those who heard him. The first is by Crooks and Stuart,
published in the Missouri Gazette of St. Louis, May 15, 1813. The
second is contained in Franchere's Narrative. The third is by Ross
Cox. The fourth is by Irving. The fifth is by Alexander Ross. Irv-
ing's is the most minute and elaborate of all. and embodies the most
reasonable probabilities from the conflicting reports of those who heard
the story.
 DANGER FROM COAST INDIANS. I'JJ

did not succeed in passing the bar until the 5th. She turned
north, and at Gray's Harbor picked up an Indian, who had
some skill as an interpreter, to assist in the traffic with the
natives. In about a week she arrived at Nootka Sound in
Vancouver Island, and anchored opposite a large Indian
village located on its shores.^ The interpreter cautioned
Captain Thorn against this tribe, as one noted for treachery
toward the whites, but his warnings were unavailing.
The danger to trading vessels from the coast Indians was
already well known. Many lives had been lost at their
hands. Repeated attempts had been made to capture ves-
sels, and in the case of the ship Boston, eight years before,

the Indians had succeeded in destroying all but two of the

crew. Mr. Astor was thoroughly alive to this peril, and
his parting counsel to Captain Thorn was to beware of the
Indians, and not to permit many on board at a time, for
nearly all disasters on the coast had arisen from this cause.
Captain Thorn had evidently too great a contempt for
the population that he found at Nootka to cause him to pay
any respect to his interpreter's advice or even to that of his
employer. McKay and the interpreter went on shore the
day after the arrival. They were well received and remained
one or two nights. In the meanwhile Clerk Lewis and the
Captain opened up a considerable traffic on board. The
Captain was not a very politic trader, and soon got into a
wrangle with the Indians, which terminated in his striking
the principal chief in the face with a bale of furs, and expell-
ing him from the ship. To the chief it was a mortal insult,,
and he secretly vowed revenge.
As soon as McKay and the interpreter discovered what
had happened they hastened back to the ship and remon-
strated with the Captain for his rash conduct. The latter
treated their fears with contempt, and, as if confirming his
views, the Indians, on their next visit, did appear very
friendly and pretended to have overlooked the insult to their

"It is probable that the date of arrival was not later than June 12,
although the estimate of time is based upon confessedly meagre data.
178 PLOT OF THE INDIANS.

chief. Thorn, in return, being doubtless somewhat repent-

ant of his act, treated them civilly and welcomed them
aboard. Thus matters went on, for how many days we do
not know, but until the Indians felt that all apprehension on
the part of the whites was allayed. They then fixed upon
a day for the execution of their purpose, and early in the
morning commenced carrying it into effect.
While yet Captain Thorn and Mr. McKay were asleep,
a pirogue with some twenty Indians aboard, carrying furs
indicative of a purpose to trade, arrived alongside the ship.
They were admitted on board without hesitation. Soon
after,another boat load arrived, and were likewise admitted,
and others were seen approaching from shore. The num-
bers increasing so rapidly, and the empty canoes being left
in charge of the women, together with other suspicious cir-
cumstances, alarmed the watch. He sent for the Captain
and Mr. McKay, who had not yet come on deck. The
interpreter cautioned McKay that there was trouble on foot,
and McKay communicated his fears to the Captain. But
the latter was still unconvinced and affected to believe any
serious danger out of the question. The trading opened up
briskly, and the Indians showed none of their usual bicker-
ing about prices. As far as possible and not excite
suspicion, they demanded knives in exchange. These they
concealed about their persons, while the merchandise they
threw into the canoes in charge of the women. As they
became more completely armed they spread themselves about
the deck until there were two or three Indians close by
every white man.
Thorn at last began to fear that something was wrong,
and ordered preparations for sailing, A part of the crew
commenced taking up the anchor, and seven men ascended
the rigging to unfurl the sails. When the preparations
were nearly complete the Captain told the Indians that he
was about to depart, and that they would have to leave the
ship. Instantly, by a preconcerted signal, they uttered a
terrific yell and commenced the attack. Clerk Lewis was
 THE TONQUIN MASSACRE. 1 79

the first man

struck, and fell mortally wounded. McKay
was the one killed. He was felled by a war club, flung
first

into the sea and there killed by the women in the canoes.
Cox says that he was held for a time in the canoes as a
prisoner before he was finally slain. Captain Thorn made
a most heroic defense against overwhelming odds, having
no weapon but his pocket knife, and was not overpowered
until he had slain several of his assailants. It seems that
every one on deck was soon killed except Lewis, who had
crawled into the cabin.
The men aloft, when they realized the situation, under-
took to descend and reach the cabin. Two were killed in
the attempt, and Stephen Weekes, who had so miraculously
escaped drowning on the Columbia bar, was mortally
wounded. He and four uninjured men made their way to
the cabin, where, under cover and in possession of fire arms,
they soon cleared the ship. The interpreter, during the
progress of the fight, had leaped overboard and had taken
refuge in the canoes where he was concealed by the women.
The Indians did not return to the boat that day, and at
night the survivors of the crew debated what course they
should pursue. To try to take the ship away alone was too
hazardous, as she would almost certainly be driven ashore
where she would fall an easy prey to the natives. It was
thought best to abandon her in one of the ship's boats. The
wounded man, however, declined to go, urging that he was
injured beyond recovery, must soon perish any way, and
was determined to sacrifice his life in wreaking vengeance
upon the Indians. Who this brave man was is not known.
It must, however, have been James Lewis or Stephen
Weekes. The narratives of Crooks and Franchere indi-
cate that it was Weekes, while Irving was led to believe that
it was Lewis, on account of some expressions which the

latter had let fall during the voyage.

Whoever it was, he found a ready instrument for his pur-
poses. In the magazine there were upwards of four and
a half tons of powder, enough to blow the ship to pieces.
l8o A DOUBLE REVENGE.

He resolved to end his own misery by slaying as many as

possible of the tribe that had caused it. On the morning
following the massacre the Indians cautiously approached
the ship. A man appeared on deck and welcomed them on
board, but immediately withdrew below. The interpreter,
who was with the Indians, thought that it was Mr. Lewis.
The Indians soon climbed on board, and meeting no resist-
ance, began to scatter about the vessel, no doubt in high
spirits at the rich prospect of plunder before them. Little
did they know of the act of stern determination which was
then being performed by the intrepid individual who had
invited them aboard. He was already at the great maga-
zine prepared to sacrifice his revenge upon his savage
life in

foes. He and instantly the vessel was

ignited the powder,
blown to pieces, its wreckage being thrown far and wide
with the mutilated bodies of the Indians aboard of and
around her. If the massacre had been successful the
revenge was doubly so, and for every one of the ship's people
who had perished, four or more of the Indians were
destroyed. The interpreter himself was on board, but was
thrown into the sea unharmed and escaped.
The four men in the ship's boat were now struggling with
a contrary wind at the mouth of the bay. They were
finally compelled to make for the shore, and having found
a sheltered nook, concealed themselves until they could
make their escape. It appears that in some way the Indians
suspected the escape of some of the crew, doubtless because
they had found on board next morning but one of the men
who had driven them from the ship the day before. Know-
ing that they could not survive the sea in its condition that
day in an open boat, they rightly concluded that they must
be along the shore somewhere within the mouth of the bay.
A search was commenced and resulted in the capture of the
four men, who were brought to the and there put to
village
death by torture. Before this took place the interpreter
obtained from them a relation of the events which had
transpired after the massacre.
 RESPONSIBILITY OF CAPTAIN THORN. l8l

For awful disaster Captain Thorn must alone be hel

this
responsible. He violated the instructions of Mr. Astor in
admitting the Indians on board, and he displayed a culpabl
want of tact in dealing with them. His contemptuous
treatment of the warnings of Mr. McKay and the inter-
preter was inexcusable. But he paid for his errors with his
life, and while these errors must be charged to his account,
they did not involve a suspicion of disloyalty or lack of
integrity. Irving, who knew him in childhood, and felt
the natural indulgence which such acquaintance inspires,
has dealt with his memory with a degree of consideration
which does it the most ample justice.
With singular rapidity and accuracy the news of this
great catastrophe spread among the Indian tribes, and the
overland Astorians were apprised of it while yet far from
their destination. The news likewise made its way quickly

to New York, for there is a letter by Charles Gratiot dated

St. Louis, May had received a letter
31, 181 2, stating that he
from Astor giving information of the loss of the Tonquin.
Astor must therefore have heard of his loss not later than
the winter of 181 1-12.
To the Astorians, among the uncertainties of a new and
trying situation, and menaced by an uprising of the sur-
rounding tribes, the loss of the Tonquin was a terrible
calamity. To Mr. Astor it was an
augury for the suc-
evil
cess of the enterprise upon which he had built such far-
reaching hopes.
 CHAPTER X.

ASTORIA.
THE OVERLAND EXPEDITION WEST.

Mr. Hunt at Montreal — Arrives in St. Louis —

Winter camp at
— —
Nadowa Hunt spends winter in St. Louis Trouble with Manuel
Lisa — Hunt leaves St. Louis — Entire party leaves Nadowa — Lisa
attempts to overtake Hunt — Lisa overtakes Hunt — Quarrel between
Lisa and Hunt — Arrival at the Aricara villages —
Hunt decides to
abandon river— Departure from Aricara villages —
Expedition stops at
the Cheyennes— Edward Rose — Arrival at Green river —
Party on
Snake river in Jackson Hole — Arrival at Fort Henry —
Decision to
abandon horses and take to canoes — Departure from Fort Henry —
Disaster at Caldron Linn — Departures from Caldron Linn Hunt—
and Crooks stopped by the mountains — Hunt leaves Snake river for
the Columbia — Arrival at Astoria — McKenzie, McLellan and Reed —
Experiences of Crooks and Day — The route of the Astorians.

*[rN June, 1810, Mr. W. P. Hunt, one of the partners in the

" newly-formed Pacific Fur Company, Avent to Montreal,
where, in company with another partner, Donald McKenzie,
he set about organizing the overland party. The work in
Montreal was completed without serious difficulty, and on
the 5th day of July, Hunt and McKenzie set out for
Mackinaw, where it was proposed to take additional
recruits. The route pursued was by the Ottawa river, and
the party arrived at Mackinaw on the 22nd of July. At
this point Mr. Ramsay Crooks, future president of the
American Fur Company, was received into the concern.
Mr. Hunt experienced a great deal of opposition at Macki-
naw in securing the men he wanted, but by dint of shrewd
management he at length succeeded. On the 12th of
August the augmented party set out via Lake Michigan, the
 ORGANIZING THE EXPEDITION. 183

Fox and Wisconsin rivers and the Mississippi to St. Louis,

where they arrived on the 3d of September.
At St. Louis Mr. Hunt received another partner, Joseph
Miller, and made a considerable addition to the party. In
order to avoid the expense of v^intering in St. Louis, he
decided to select a place well up the Missouri beyond the
frontier. Accordingly he set out from St. Louis on the 21st
of October and stopped November i6th a little above the
site of St. Joseph, Missouri, near a small stream called the
Nadowa. He stopped none too soon, for the river closed
with ice the second day after his arrival.
Three days after Mr. Hunt's departure from St. Louis,
letters arrived for him from Mr. Astor, addressed in the care
of Mr. Gratiot, who forwarded them by the first oppor-
tunity. These letters, it seems, contained important orders
from Mr. Astor, giving to Mr. Hunt the chief direction of
the overland expedition, which had so far been managed by
Hunt and McKenzie on equal footing. This course gave
great offense to McKenzie, who considered it a violation of
his arrangement with Mr. Astor. It was treasured up as a
wrong not to be overlooked, and had a decisive influence on
his conduct during the trying period which soon arrived on
the Columbia.
At Nadowa Mr. Hunt was joined by Robert McLellan,
a partner of Crooks in his recent trading expeditions up the
Missouri river. He was given a partnership in the enter-
prise. John Day, an experienced hunter, also joined the
party at this point. In order to attend to personal affairs
and to secure more hunters, and also an interpreter for pass-
ing the Sioux Indians, Mr. Hunt left Nadowa January i,

181 1, and arrived at St. Louis on the 20th of that month.

In his negotiations at St. Louis during the winter. Hunt
was opposed by the Missouri Fur Company and by Manuel
Lisa^its principal agent. There seems to have been np
adequate reason for this opposition inasmuch as the new
expedition was not to operate in the Missouri Fur Company
territory, but there may have been a feeling that it was a
184 AFFAIR OF PIERRE DORION.

Step on the part of Astor to gain a foothold on the Missouri.

Finally, as Mr. Hunt was about to leave St. Louis, this
opposition took acute form in the case of Pierre Dorion, who
figured for many years as half-breed interpreter among the
Indian tribes of the Missouri. Dorion had been in Lisa's
service only the year before, and while up the country had
contracted a debt for liquor for which Lisa had charged him
at the rate of ten dollars a quart. This extortionate charge
Dorion refused to pay, and any reference to it by Lisa
aroused his passionate indignation. Lisa tried to secure his
services again in opposition to Hunt, but the remembrance
of the liquor debt defeated his purpose. Dorion took
service with Hunt, almost upon his own terms, for besides
an extravagant salary he stipulated that his wife and two
children should accompany him. Lisa, having failed to
detain Dorion, resorted to severer measures, and undertook
to have him arrested for debt. In this he was defeated
through the timely offices of John Bradbury, the English
naturalist, who, with Mr. Nuttall, also an Englishman, were
to accompany Mr. Hunt for a considerable distance up the
Missouri. Hunt with his party of recruits left St. Louis
March 12, 181 1. Bradbury and Nuttall remained one day
longer to await the arrival of the post, intending to overhaul
the boat at St. Charles. Hearing of Lisa's intentions'
during the day, they set out at 2 A. M. on the 13th, and met
the boat the next morning before its arrival at St. Charles,
where Lisa was to arrest the interpreter. Dorion at once
took to the woods and rejoined the party the following
day.
Hunt now proceeded with ordinary progress up the river.
On the 17th of March he-passed the hamlet of La Charette,
a little beyond which, on the following day, Bradbury had a
long visit with John Colter. On the 8th of April he arrived
at Fort Osage, about forty miles below the present site of
Kansas City. Here he was met by Crooks and a few men.
The united party proceeded on their way on the loth, and
arrived at the Nadowa wintering ground on the 17th. The
 KEELBOAT RACE ON THE MISSOURI. 1 85.

winter quarters at Nadowa were abandoned April 21st, and

the entire party commenced its long journey to the Pacific.
In the meanwhile Manuel Lisa had set out from St. Louis
for the upper Missouri to learnwhat had become of Andrew
Henry, and also to bring down the winter's trade. He was
fully aware of the dangers to be encountered in passing the
Sioux nations on the Missouri, and was very desirous of
overtaking Hunt in order that both expeditions might pass
this perilous section together. He had one of the best keel-
boats that ever ascended the Missouri, and had manned it
with twenty picked men. Lisa was a host in himself, being
a man of intense energy and never afraid to take hold of any
part of the work with his men, leading them in their songs,
and otherwise stimulating them to extraordinary exertions.
With these advantages he hoped to overtake Hunt, notwith-
standing the considerable start of the latter; for on the
2nd of April, when Lisa left St. Charles, Hunt was nine-
teen days and about two hundred and forty miles ahead.
This remarkable keelboat race, covering a period of just
two months and a distance of about eleven hundred miles, is

one of the notable events in early Western history. For the

greater part of the trip the elements were strong against
Lisa. He encountered almost continuous storms and wind,
and the difficulties of the trip were considerably above the
average. Owing to this fact he did not quite accomplish
his purpose of overtaking Hunt before the latter reached the
Sioux country.
When Hunt arrived in the neighborhood of the present
city of Omaha, where Crooks and McLellan had their
principal establishment. Crooks went over to the Platte
river to close up his business with the Oto Indians, promis-
ing to rejoin the expedition at the Omaha villages. He
took his departure May 2nd, accompanied by Bradbury.
As Hunt was about to leave the wintering ground of
Crooks and McLellan he lost two men, Samuel and William
Harrington, by desertion. He reached the Omaha villages
on the loth of May, and was rejoined there by Crooks and
1 86 hunt's distrust of lisa.

Bradbury on the following day. Lisa was now about one

hundred and fifty miles behind Hunt.
On the 19th of May Lisa passed the Omaha villages, and
now, despairing of overtaking Hunt before the latter should
arrive at the Sioux country, he dispatched a message over-
land requesting him to wait. This message overtook Hunt
near the mouth of the Niobrara river. Hunt sent back an
answer that he would wait, but immediately set out with
redoubled exertions to get away from Lisa. This uncon-
scionable action was not justified even by the exigencies of
fur trade competition. It was caused by the representations
of Crooks and McLellan, who believed, rightly or wrongly,
that Lisa had been the cause of their detention by the
Indians in 1809, and that it was his plan in this instance to
get ahead of Hunt and play the same trick on him. Admit'
ting that Lisa was entirely capable of such a proceeding, the
circumstances surrounding this case were such that they
must have shown Mr. Hunt, had he stopped to reflect, that
it could not have been the present motive. Lisa had but a
small force, twenty men, wholly insufficient to pass the
Sioux country with safety; he knew that Hunt was not
planning to enter the trade of the Missouri, but was going
to the Columbia, and thus there was an absence of motive
for such a proceeding as Hunt suspected. The subsequent
course of events showed this to be the case, and it is only
simple justice to Lisa to exculpate him from any insincerity
in this affair. But McLellan was so imbued with the idea
that Lisa could mean nothing but treachery, that he not only
threatened to shoot him as soon as he should meet him in the
Indian country, but prevailed upon Hunt to take the under-
hand course which he did. In this way the chances of dis-
aster to both parties were greatly increased, and no good end
was served.
On May 22nd Hunt Ben
picked up Alexander Carson and
Jones, and on the 26th John Hoback, Edward Robinson,
and Jacob Rezner, all of whom had gone up the river with
the Missouri Fur Company. The latter three were return-
 LISA WINS THE RACE. I87

ing from Henry's abandoned post on the north fork of

Snake river. It is probable that these five men belonged to
the forty " Americans and expert riflemen " who escorted
the Mandan chief to his nation. These acquisitions to
Hunt's force were partly neutralized by the desertion of two
men on the 25th of May.
Late in the month of May the wind and weather which
had hitherto been against Lisa turned more in his favor.
When he reached the Niobrara he was but sixty miles
behind Hunt. Finding that Hunt had not waited for him,
and feeling the imminent peril of his situation, he redoubled
his exertions, frequently sailing nearly all night, and on one
occasion making seventy-five miles in twenty-four hours.
Unextinguished fires at Hunt's old camps told him that his
efforts were counting, and that he could not be far behind.
On May 30th Hunt was stopped by the Indians, but by a
bold and fearless display of force he prevented any hostile
action. Lisa met the same Indians June ist, and also suc-
ceeded in getting away from them without serious trouble.
On the I St of June Hunt had another conference with the
Indians and again escaped without difficulty. On the morn-
ing of the 2nd, while still parleying with the Indians, Lisa's
boat hove in sight. Hunt went on for about five miles and
then waited for his rival to come up. Lisa had won the
race, although not so soon as he had expected. His per-
formance had been a prodigious one when the difficulties of
keelboat navigation on the Missouri river and the particu-
larly unfavorable weather of the trip are taken into consid-
eration. He had averaged over eighteen miles per day for
sixty days.
The united parties now
proceeded at a leisurely rate and
in apparent good humor The weather this
until the 5th.
day being such that the boats could not proceed, the parties
remained in camp a short distance from each other. Dur-
ing the day Lisa and Dorion got into a quarrel over their old
difference, and Hunt himself soon became involved on Dor-
ion's side. The matter was rapidly approaching a climax in
l88 HUNT ABANDONS THE RIVER.

the form of a duel between Hunt and Lisa, when it was

through the good offices of Bradbury and
finally settled
Brackenridge. McLellan was present, but his threat to
shoot Lisa did not materialize. The two parties arrived at
the Aricara villages June 12, 181 1, thus terminating the
first stage of the overland expedition.

Hunt's original plan had been to ascend the Missouri and

Yellowstone rivers. But the information derived from the
recruits whom he had picked up below, of the great danger
of attempting to pass the country of the Blackfeet, decided
him to leave the Missouri at the Aricaras, and to make the
rest of the journey to the Columbia by land. It was there-
fore necessary to secure horses enough to transport his
goods, and these he resolved to try to get of the Aricaras.
Accordingly a conference was held with these Indians imme-
diately upon the arrival of the party, at which Lisa's
extremely pacific and generous conduct largely allayed the
suspicions of the other party. Negotiations for horses were
at once commenced by Hunt and continued for more than a
month. He also entered into an arrangement with Lisa by
which he exchanged boats and surplus supplies for horses.
To secure these it was necessary to visit Lisa's post among
the Mandans, one hundred and fifty miles farther up. Lisa,
Brackenridge, and Nuttall set out by boat June 19th, and
Crooks and Bradbury by land the same day. The latter
party reached the fort late at night on the 22nd, and the
boat party arrived on the 26th. Crooks started on his
return with the horses next day and arrived safely at Hunt's
encampment. Lisa and the other gentlemen left by river on
the 6th of July and reached the Aricaras on the next day.
On the 17th of July Brackenridge and Bradbury left for
St. Louis, and without serious incident other than consider-
able peril from a storm arrived at their destination on the ist
of August. The presence of these two gentlemen on the
expeditions of Hunt and Lisa was a most fortunate event,
for it is mainly upon their published journals that our knowl-
edge of the expeditions rests.
 EDWARD ROSE. 1
89

The next day after the departure of Brackenridge and

Bradbury, Hunt with his whole party took up their long and
uncertain journey to the westward. It was a serious mo-

ment to most of them, for no one knew what lay ahead, and
they found but little consolation in the doubtful looks of
Lisa's people who had been upon the upper rivers. But the
party nevertheless set off, sixty-four in number, including
Dorion's squaw and two children, and the interpreter,
Edward Rose. There were eighty-two horses, of which
each of the partners and the interpreter, Dorion, had one.
The rest, seventy-six in number, were laden with the mer^c
chandise and other material which it was necessary to take
along. From this statement some idea may be had of the
considerable amount of freight which the expedition under-
took to carry.
On the 23rd of July Hunt went into camp on the banks
of what was then called Big river, near a camp of friendly
Cheyennes. Here he remained until the 6th of August, lay-
ing in buffalo meat and procuring more horses.^ An acces-
sion of thirty-six horses enabled him to allot one horse to
every two of the rest of the party. On this part of the
journey Mr. Crooks was for some time seriously indisposed,
and had to be carried on a litter.
At about this time Mr. Hunt became thoroughly, and it
would seem unnecessarily, alarmed on account of his new
interpreter,Edward Rose, whom he had hired to help him
while in the country of the Crows. Rose had been among
these Indians for two or three years, having probably gone
up the river with the Missouri Fur Company in 1809,
though possibly with Lisa in 1807. Certain suspicious ac-
tions of Rose had induced the belief that he was plotting
to betray the party to the Crows. How far these suspi-
cions were well founded can not be said, but the probabilities
are all against them. At any rate, Hunt was badly worked
up over the matter and resorted to precautions which seem
^ The Aricaras and Cheyennes were horse-dealing tribes. — See Part
v., Chapter IX.
190 IN GREEN RIVER VALLEY.

almost ridiculous, considering the strength of his party.^

Setting out anew on the 6th of August, the party made
their way through the maze of hills and streams on the
northern border of the Black Hills and across the desolate
wastes beyond. On the 17th of August Hunt first saw,
from the top of a considerable hill near the route, the distant
range of the Bighorn mountains. On the 30th of August
the party arrived at the foot of this range and spent two
days in the pleasant valleys of the foothills in company
with a band of Crow Indians whom they met there. On
the 2d of September they left Rose among his old associates
and resumed their journey. After considerable difficulty
in finding a pass, during which they were obliged to accept
the guidance of the Crows for a distance, they made their
way through the mountains and met a band of Shoshones
on the western slope. On the 9th of September the party
reached Wind river just above the cafion where its lower
course takes the name of Bighorn river. They continued
up this stream for eighty miles and left it at 3 P. M. Septem-
ber 1 5th, to cross theWind River mountains into the valley
of Green river. The whole of the next day was spent in
making the passage, which seems to have been in the neigh-
borhood of Union Pass, and it was not until the evening
of the 1 6th that they reached Green river well towards its

source. While on the summit of the pass they caught a

glimpse of the Teton mountains, already familiar landmarks
to Hoback, Robinson, and Rezner.
The party continued in the valley of Green river until
the 24th of September and spent the time hunting buffalo,
curing meat and recuperating their horses. They resumed
their journey on the above date, crossed the divide between
Green and Snake rivers, and followed down Hoback river
to its junction with the Snake where they arrived on the
26th of September. Plere there was a clamor among the
members of the party to abandon the horses and take to
the river. But information derived from the Indians, and
*For a sketch of this interesting character see Part IV., Chapter VI.
 AT FORT HENRY. I9I

from a reconnaissance along the river, showed that naviga-

tion was impracticable. At this point Hunt detached a
trapping party of four men to remain in the neighborhood
during the winter. They were Alexander Carson, Pierre
Delauney, Pierre Detaye, and one St. Michael. He then
proceeded on his way October 4th, making for Henry's fort
upon the advice of Hoback, Robinson, and Rezner, and af-
ter crossing Snake river and Teton pass arrived at the
abandoned post October 8, 181 1.
At Fort Henry Hunt committed the great mistake of the
expedition. He yielded to the desires of the party, aban-
doned the horses, and decided to trust to the river the rest
of the way. He at once set about manufacturing canoes,
and this work was completed and the flotilla loaded within
ten days. In the meanwhile, October loth, a second party
of trappers was detached, consisting of Joseph Miller, one of
the partners, John Hoback, Edward Robinson, Jacob Rez-
ner, and a man named Cass. Miller joined the party be-
cause, apparently, he was disgusted with the enterprise and
had decided to throw up his share. The other* partners
were astonished and mortified at this strange resolution, but
could not prevail upon him to alter it.
On the 19th of October the party left their horses in the
care of two Snake Indians and embarked in fifteen canoes
on the strong, dark, rapid stream. It was a delightful
change, and the swift progress of the first day was for the
time being a complete confirmation of the wisdom of having
adopted it. But the satisfaction was of short duration.
The river soon began to show its true character as a treach-
erous and torrential mountain stream, and gloomy forebod-
ings quickly followed hopeful anticipations. After having
passed without serious loss several dangerous places, they at
length came, October 28th, to a terrific strait where one of
the canoes, containing Mr. Crooks, was wrecked on a rock
and one of the men, Antoine Clappine, was drowned. The
appearance of this frightful place completely dismayed the
"
party, who gave it the expressive names of '* Caldron Linn
and the " Devil's Scuttle Hole."
 192 AT CALDRON LINN.

It was now apparent that further navigation of the river

was not to be thought of until it should be explored and its
character determined. Parties were at once dispatched
down both banks, Mr. Hunt himself going down the right
bank some forty miles. He returned with ill report, but
the other party thought that boats could be managed after
reaching a point six miles below. Four of the canoes were
accordingly sent on to make the trial and at the same time
John Reed, the clerk, and three men were sent for a more
extended exploration of the river. The canoe party re-
turned the day after setting out, having lost their canoes.
The situation that now confronted the party was indeed
a grave one, and they fully realized the folly of abandoning
their horses and trusting to an unknown stream in the heart
of the mountains. The various wreckages and losses had
reduced their provisions so that they were face to face with
starvation. They had with them a large quantity of
goods, and were absolutely without means of transporting
them. But something had to be done at once. " After a
little anxious but bewildered counsel," as Irving well puts

it, Reed which

three parties set out in addition to that of Mr.
had two days before. McLellan, with three men, start-
left

ed down stream, McKenzie with four men started north over

the desert, and Crooks with five men started back after the
horses at Fort Henry, Hunt with the rest of the party
began caching goods so as to be ready for instant de-
their
•^parture should necessity demand. Crooks returned after
three days, having given up the idea of returning to Fort
Henry. Five days later two of Reed's men returned and
pronounced the river unnavigable. It was then definitely
resolved to abandon any further attempt at navigation and
to proceed on foot. Such goods as were not absolutely in-
dispensable were concealed in nine caches, and the party
was divided into two detachments, one to descend each
bank of the river. Mr. Hunt, with twenty-two persons,
including Dorion's family, took the right bank, and Crooks
with eighteen men took the left. The divided party set
 SUFFERINGS ON SNAKE RIVER. I93

out from Caldron Linn on the 9th of November, still in

the mountains with winter at hand.
Hunt's party made their way with much suffering, though
with occasional relief at the scattering encampments of In-
dians, to the neighborhood where the great river, having
taken a course almost due north, breaks through the Blue
mountain range. A
few horses had been secured on the
way which relieved the men to some extent of their packs.
Dorion's family in particular found this relief a most grate-
ful one. On December Hunt was brought practi-
the 6th of
by the mountainous country in front of
cally to a standstill
him, and on the following morning was hailed from the
other bank by Crooks' party, whom he had not seen for near-
ly a month. Crooks had proceeded more rapidly than Hunt
and had gone three days' journey farther down stream until
his progress had been barred by the mountains. The condi-
tion of his party as regards provisions was even more des-
perate than that of Mr. Hunt, who at once sent across the
river an allowance of such as he had.
A now resolved upon for the pur-
retrograde march was
pose of securing provisions from the Indians farther up
the river. Crooks, who, with one man, had come across
the river, was taken sick and was unable to return to his
party. Hunt's party proceeded up stream, but Crooks,
being sick, fell somewhat behind. He caught up on the
nth of December, when, at his urgent request, more pro-
visions were sent across to his party on the other bank.
On one of the return trips, Jean Baptiste Prevost, having be-
come frantic at the sight of some meat, forced himself into
the frail craft, upset it before it got across, and was drowned.

At this place John Day crossed to the right bank.

Hunt now left Day and Crooks with a few men and
hastened on to the stream, Weiser river, which he had passed
on the 26th of the previous month. Among the Indians
who were encamped some distance up this stream he re-
mained December 21st, when, having procured a stock
until
of provisions and a guide, he set out on his way to the Co-
194 HUNT ARRIVES AT ASTORIA.

lumbia. Descending the Weiser to the Snake river he

crossed his party with great difficulty. He left behind him
Crooks, Day, and four Canadians who resolved to remain
among the Snakes rather than undertake the perils of a win-
ter journey across the Blue mountains.
On the 24th of December Hunt left the Snake river under
the guidance of the Indian, and six days later, December
30th, arrived at the broad mountain valley later known as
the Grande Ronde. The only incidents of importance on
this six days' journey were that two of the men, La Bonte
and Carriere, gave out and had to be put on horses, and
that Dorion's wife gave birth to a child on the morning of
the 30th.
Having celebrated New Year's day, 181 2, in the Grande
Ronde with such cheer as could be obtained from a small
band of Indians found there, Hunt and his party set out to
cross the Blue mountains, the last barrier that separated
them from the Columbia. A week was consumed in cross-
ing the range during which time Dorion's new-born child
died and Carriere was lost, never to be heard of after. On
the 8th of January Hunt reached the Umatilla river in a
warm and some prosperous
pleasant valley and found there
and well-provided Indians with whom he rested for upwards
of two weeks.
On the 20th of January Hunt resumed his journey and
moved to the north toward the Columbia where he arrived
on the following day. He crossed to the north shore and
descended the right bank of the river until he came to the
" Long Narrows " (The Dalles) about the end of the month.
From the Indians along the river, as well as from those on
the Umatilla, Hunt gathered a great deal of information
about the establishment at the mouth of the Columbia, the
arrival of McLellan, McKenzie, and Reed, and the loss of
the Totiquin. Finally, having passed the Cascades of the
Columbia, Hunt embarked in canoes on the 5th of February
and arrived with his party at Astoria, February 15, 18 12.
McKenzie, McLellan, and Reed, whom we saw depart
 REJOICING AT ASTORIA. I95

from the Caldron Linn, luckily united their parties at some

distance below that point, near the base of the mountains
which later stopped Hunt and Crooks. They were twenty-
one days getting through these mountains, when they
struck the Clearwater river and thence made their way to
the Snake, or as it was there called, the Lewis river. Down
this stream and the Columbia they made their way with
no more serious accident than the upsetting of McLellan's
canoe, January i, 1812, and the loss of his rifle. The party
reached Astoria, January 18, 1812, nearly a month in
advance of Hunt.
Great was the rejoicing at Astoria upon the arrival of
these parties with so few losses for while the fate of Crooks
;

and his men was still doubtful, there were only threfe men
known to have been lost in the almost insuperable difficul-
ties in which the expedition had become involved. Their
safe deliverance was a cause of deep gratitude, and a day
was at once given over to a general jubilee.
Returning now to look after Crooks and Day we find that
they had not long delayed after the departure of Hunt from
the banks of the Snake river. Three of the Canadians
abandoned them in February, preferring to remain with the
Indians rather than continue the journey. They entirely
lost Hunt's trail on his arrival at the Grande Ronde and
remained in that vicinity during the rest of the win-
ter, subsisting on beaver and horses. Late in March they
resumed their journey, but the Canadian, Dubreuil, who
had come with them thus far, gave out, and was left behind
with a band of Shoshone Lidians. Crooks and Day now
went on alone and near the middle of April arrived safelv on
the banks of the Columbia at about the same point where
Hunt had crossed it. Here they found a hospitable tribe
of Indians who helped them in their necessities. They soon
started down the river, but when near the head of the rapids
they were attacked by the native banditti who infested that
region, stripped utterly naked and robbed of everything
they had with them. They then started back to find the
196 BELATED ARRIVALS.

friendly Indianswhom they had lately left. On the ist of

May they were picked up by David Stuart's party returning-
from Okanagan, and with them proceeded to Astoria, which
they reached on the nth of May, 1812.
There were still absent the four men who had been left

by Crooks, and the two detached trapping parties on Snake

river — men. Of these, seven reached Astoria
in all thirteen
nearly a year January ij, 181^.
later,

Hunt had left St. Louis March 12, 181 1, and arrived at
Astoria February 15, 181 2, a period, including these two
dates, of three hundred and forty days. His own estimate
of the distance was thirty-five hundred miles. The most
direct railroad route at the present time makes the distance
from Louis to Astoria twenty-three hundred miles. Of
St.
the three hundred and forty days consumed at least one
hundred and forty were spent in camp at various points or in
retrograde marching on Snake river.
Below will be given as close a description of the route
followed after leaving the Missouri as it is possible to pre-
pare from the meagre information obtainable. It is believed

to be correct within a small error, even in the most doubtful

places, while for the greater part of the way it is known to
a certainty. The route is laid down on the accompanying
map.
The Aricara villages, where Hunt organized for his over-
land journey, were eight or ten miles above the mouth of
Grand river, and thirteen hundred and twenty-five miles
above the mouth of the Missouri. From this point the
route bore first to the northwest a short distance, then
southwest across Grand river and probably one or more
branches of the Moreau. Inclining then a little to the
north nearer to the valley of Grand river the route followed
pretty closely the divide between this stream and the Moreau
or possibly went back to the south fork of the Grand. It
crossed the state line between South Dakota and Montana
near the parallel of 45 degrees 20 minutes, and soon after
struck the Little Missouri. It kept up the right bank of
 ROUTE OF TPIE EXPEDITION. 197

this Stream some ten miles when it crossed not far from the
modern postoffice of Alzada, and bore off to the westward.
Coming into a difficult country it bore south for some dis-
tance passing near the Missouri Buttes from which vicinity
Hunt and McKenzie had their first glimpse of the Bighorn
mountains.
From this point the route followed the general line of
the divide between Powder river and the Belle Fourche
(North Fork of Cheyenne) inclining toward the former
stream, which it reached near the mouth of Pumpkin creek,
some twenty miles northeast of Pumpkin Buttes, well-
known landmarks of later years.
Crossing the river it reached the base of the mountains
along one of the southernmost branches of Crazy Woman's
Fork of Powder river. The distance traveled so far is given
as four hundred miles by Irving, and four hundred and fifty
miles by Crooks, the second estimate being more nearly cor-
rect.
In seeking a pass across the mountains during the next
few days the party moved southward some thirty miles and
entered the range along one of the branches of the middle
fork of Powder river, emerging on the other side into the
valley of No-Wood creek, near where the little village of
Red Bank now stands. The route then took a southwesterly
course across a divide into the valley of Bad- Water creek,
which it followed to its confluence with Wind river.^
No portion of the above route east of the Bighorn chain
is now followed as a highway of travel, and its exact loca-
tion is a matter of uncertainty; but the route given is be-
lieved to be correct within an error of five miles on either
side. The route across the Bighorn mountains has become
a regular highway.
The course of the party after reaching Wind river was up
'The portion of the route across the Bighorn range has been fol-
lowed by Ex-Gov. W. A. Richards, of Wyoming, a close stu-
in detail
•ient of the history of his state, and the owner of a ranch in that locality.
* s-ta indebted to him for valuable suggestions in this and other connec-
198 CONTINUATION OF ROUTE.

the valley of that stream, sometimes on one side and some-

times on the other, to the near vicinity of where the modern
road turns off to Union Pass. There is no doubt that the
party followed the regular Indian trail across the Wind river
range, and crossed by the pass to which Captain Raynolds,
forty-nine years later, gave the name " Union."
From Union Pass the route lay directly across the head-
waters of Green river ; thence up one of the small unnamed
tributaries of that stream and over a divide to Hoback
river which it followed to Snake river.
Crossing Snake river the route followed the regular In-
dian trail across Teton pass into the valley of Pierre's Hole
and down that valley to Henry's Fort on the north fork of
Snake river.
Of that portion of the route which the party followed
after reachingWind river nearly all has since been used as
a public highway. The distance from the Aricara villages
to Fort Henry was estimated by Cr ooks a t nine hundred
miles and may be considered as the first division of the
overland journey. It was all made by packtrain and on

horseback, in an entirely successful manner, although with

what now seems to have been a good deal of unnecessary
delay.
The seconddivision of the journey was from Fort Henry
to Caldron Linn ^ where the shipwreck took place. It
was made by water all the way and its location is therefore
known with precision. The position of the Caldron Linn
is not positively known, for the river distances given by the

party are absurdly exaggerated. It was probably half

way between the American and Shoshone Falls. Irving

gives the distance as three hundred and forty miles from
Fort Henry Crooks as four hundred miles. With the ut-
;

most allowance for river windings it could not have been

more than two hundred miles. This enormous exaggeration
This name was probably given by Crooks or McKenzie, the Scotch-
*

men of the party, for Linn is from a Scotch word Lin or Lyn and
means a pool of water in a perturbed state, as at the foot of a waterfall.
The caches at Caldron Linn were on the right bank of the Snake river.
 CONTINUATION OF ROUTE. I99

arose from an over-estimate of the velocity of flowing water

and also from the natural tendency among travelers to over-
estimate distances when the difficulties are either slight or
great.
The third division of the journey was made on foot from
Caldron Linn to Astoria. For a part of the way it was
made in five parties, of which three were small detachments
under Reed, McLellan, and McKenzie, and two were larger
ones under Hunt and Crooks. All followed the general di-
rection of Snake river but the route of Hunt, who had the
main party, will alone be considered.
Hunt's route lay along the right bank of the Snake to
the neighborhood of the modern Henry's Ferry, and then
left the river in a direction slightly west of north until it
reached the Boise river near where Boise City now stands.
The route then lay down the Boise to the Snake and then
down the right bank of the latter stream, to about opposite
the mouth of Powder river, Oregon, a tributary of the
Snake. Hunt estimated the distance from Caldron Linn at
four hundred and seventy-two miles.
Hunt now went back as far as Weiser river where he
obtained some supplies and horses from the Indians. He
then crossed the Snake near the mouth of the Weiser. The
route from here on was practically that of the later Oregon
trail. It followed the regular Indian trail through the
Grande Ronde, across the Blue mountains and down to the
valley of the Umatilla. Thence it descended this valley for
some distance and then crossed over to the Columbia near
the mouth of the Walla Walla. The remainder of the route
was along the Columbia river.
 CHAPTER XI.

ASTORIA,
BEGINNINGS ON THE COLUMBIA AND THE OVERLAND
EXPEDITION EAST.

Prosperous beginnings — Rumors of Northwest Company traders —

David Thompson arrives at Astoria — Defensive measures against the
Indians — The Dolly christened — Arrival of the Overland Astorians —
Departure of an expedition for the interior —
Battle at the Falls of the
Columbia — Return of party to Astoria —
Arrival of the Beaver War —
declared by United States against Great Britain —
Second expedition
leaves Astoria for the interior —
Visit of Reed to Caldron Linn Ad- —
ventures of Astorian hunters —
Stuart and Crooks start for St. Louis —
They meet Miller, Hoback, Robinson, and Rezner on Snake river Ar- —
rival at Caldron Linn — —
On Bear river Turning north to find Hunt's
—
trail Robbed by the Crows — —
On Hunt's trail McLellan's pilgrim-
age— Crooks' illness — Arrival in Green river valley —
Danger of
starvation— Arrival in the Sweetwater valley —
The " Fiery Nar-
—
rows " Decide to go into winter quarters —
Abandonment of first
winter quarters —
Second winter quarters —
Party abandon quarters in
spring— Arrival at St. Louis —
The route of Stuart and Crooks.

'TT^HE Tonquin from Astoria on the ist of June,

sailed
^^ i8i I, and the band who were left behind to found
Httle

the first settlement in the valley of the Columbia set diligently

about their task. They enjoyed the good fortune of having
commenced their work in the spring with an entire summer
in which to prepare for their first winter. Good relations
had been established with the tribes, and fortune smiled upon
the infant colony. In the midst of their activities two In-
dians, who turned out to be women attired as men, arrived
at the post June 15th bringing definite news of a trading
establishment on Spokane river, a branch of the Columbia.
A similar rumor had arrived as early as the previous April
 DAVID THOMPSON AT ASTORIA. 20I

to the effect that there were white men in the neighborhood

of the Falls, but this story had been proven untrue. Now,
however, there could be no doubt that there were white
men higher up, nor any doubt that they belonged to the
Northwest Company. There at once loomed up before the
eyes of the Astorians the gloomy forecast of the inevitable
competition which must ensue between them and this for-
midable rival.
The strength of the Astorians at this time precluded any
extensive operations in planting detached posts, but it was
resolved at least to oppose the British post on the Spokane,
if such there really were, and Mr. David Stuart prepared
to carry a party thither. As he was about to depart there
arrived at Astoria, July 1 5th, a canoe manned by nine white
men and bearing the British flag. It proved to be a party
under David Thompson, a partner in the Northwest Com-
pany, whom that company had dispatched the previous year
to anticipate Astor on the Columbia, The desertion of
most of his party on the east side of the mountains had
defeated his plan, but with a few who remained faithful he
had crossed the mountains and descended the Columbia to
the sea. He was the first white man to explore that river
above the point where it was reached by Lewis and Clark.
The presence of Thompson was regarded with much mis-
giving by most of the partners except AlcDougal, who not
only treated him with great hospitality, but actually equip-
ped him for the return journey. Mr. David Stuart did not
approve of this manner of treating competing traders. On
the 23d of July Stuart and his party, consisting of four
clerks, two voyageurs, and two Sandwich Islanders, set out
for their proposed establishment in the interior, accompanied
by Mr. Thompson and party. Stuart at length becoming
very distrustful of Thompson's sincerity got rid of him by
a ruse and pushed on alone. At the mouth of the Snake
river they found a British flag attached to a pole and on it a
slip of paper laying claim to the country in the name of
Great Britain. It would appear by this that the North-
202 M DOUGAL AND THE SMALL-POX.

westers were in that country not for the purpose of trade

alone. By the very small margin of three months they
missed the opportunity of planting the British flag at the
mouth of the Columbia. Stuart continued his journey to
the mouth of the Okanagan river, five hundred and forty
miles above Astoria, and commenced the erection of a trad-
ing house there on the 2d of September.
After the sailing of the Tonquin and the departure of
Stuart and his party work on the establishment at Astoria
was continued with vigor. Presently, however, it was di-
rected to another purpose, that of defense, for substantial
rumors had gotten afloat that a general attack by the neigh-
boring tribes was impending. A strong palisade was con-
structed around the quarters, flankedby bastions upon which
were mounted four four-pounders. The men were trained
daily in the use of their arms, and all preparations were
made for a vigorous defense pending the arrival of the over-
land Astorians or the return of the Tonquin. In this last
resource, unfortunately, the Astorians were doomed to dis-
appointment, for rumors soon began to arrive from the
neighboring Indians of a terrible disaster to the Tonquin —
nothing less than her capture and destruction by the Indians,
and the massacre of her crew. It was on this occasion that
McDougal is said to have practiced a piece of sharp strat-
egy on the Indians. The smallpox had ravaged the coast
a few years before, and the Indians remembered it with the
utmost terror. McDougal assembled the chiefs whom he
believed to be in conspiracy against the Astorians, drew
forth a bottle, told them that it contained the smallpox,
which he could spread among them by simply uncorking the
bottle, and threatened to smite them on the first evidence of
hostility. The terrified Indians promised peace and kept
theirword.
On the 26th of September the large house which was to
serve as quarters of the company was finished, and about
the same time the small schooner also. This vessel was
launched with appropriate ceremonies on the 2d of October,
 ARRIVAL OF THE OVERLAND ASTORIANS. 2O3

and was christened the Dolly, in honor of Mr. Astor's wife.

On the 5th of October a party from Stuart's poston the
Okanagan arrived, consisting of two clerks and two men.
They reported everything satisfactory, and that they had
returned only because their services were not needed during
the winter, and was feared that there would not be pro-
it

visions enough for all. With them came two men, Regis
Brugiere, a free trapper, with his wife and two children, and
an Iroquois hunter, Ignace Shonowane. They had come
from the east by the way of the Northwest Company route.
Nothing of especial interest transpired during the remain-
der of the year. The rainy season set in about the first of
October. The Indians withdrew to the interior, and the As-
torians were compelled to make considerable use of the
Dolly in foraging expeditions. A
party was dispatched
under Robert Stuart to trap on the Willamette, thus open-
ing up that rich and productive region to the white man.
The year thus closed under favorable auspices, and the
New Year was welcomed at Astoria with due pomp and cer-
emony. Eighteen days later Donald McKenzie, Robert
McLellan, John Reed, and eight men arrived, and they were
followed a little less than a month later by Hunt's party, con-
sisting of thirty-four persons.
On the 22d of March a joint party set out from Astoria
for the several purposes of carrying supplies to the post at
Okanagan, of visiting Hunt's caches at Snake river, and of
carrying dispatches to New York. John Reed was selected
to carry the dispatches, and for their better security he sealed
them up in a bright tin box, which he strapped upon his per-
son. He was to be accompanied by McLellan, Ben Jones,
and two Canadians. Upon arriving at the " Long Nar-
rows " the party suffered a severe attack from the Indians, in
which Robert Stuart and McLellan greatly distinguished
themselves, and Reed lost his dispatches and almost his life.
The bright tin box, by attracting the attention of the In-
dians, had caused its own loss. One main object of the ex-
pedition, viz., the carrying of dispatches to Mr. Astor, being
204 WAR OF l8l2 BEGUN.

thus frustrated, the visit to the caches was hkewise given

up, and the whole party went on to David Stuart's post on
the Okanagan, where they arrived on the 24th of April.
Four days later they set out to return, accompanied by
Stuart, who had conducted a successful winter's trade at
Okanagan and at a branch post which he had established on
Thompson river. About the ist of May they met Ramsay
Crooks and John Day, who were traveling up the river in
sorry plight from their recent despoilment by the Indians.
The entire party reached Astoria on the nth of May.
The day before this there had arrived at Astoria the com-
pany's ship, Beaver, Captain Cornelius Sowles, which had
been dispatched from New York by Mr. Astor, October 10,
181 1. Besides an abundant cargo she brought John Clarke,
a partner, Ross Cox, Alfred Seton, and four other clerks,
quite a number of American and Canadian employes, and
several Sandwich Islanders. The arrival of this ship was an
important event to the new establishment, for it placed
everything on a substantial basis, and gave the enterprise
every prospect of a successful issue. This bright gleam of
sunshine was not yet for a time to be overclouded by the
sinister events which were now transpiring in the busy world
outside. A little more than a month later, when all was
bustle and activity at Astoria, in preparation for the first
systematic trading expedition to the interior, there transpired
that event which was to prove the downfall of the enter-
prise. War was declared by the United States against
Great Britain on the 19th of June, 181 2.
In formulating their plans for the ensuing year the part-
ners determined that Mr. Hunt should carry out the mari-
time part of Mr. Astor's enterprise, which related to supply-
ing the Russian posts. This assignment of duty was a great
mistake, though possibly an innocent one, on the part of all
concerned. It deprived the establishment of the one man

who, if any one, could have grappled successfully with the

approaching crisis.
On the 29th of June there set out for the interior a large
 EXPEDITION TO INTERIOR. 205

party of some sixty individuals, charged with the following-

purposes: David Stuart, with clerks Matthews and Mc-
Gillis, was to proceed to Okanagan and conduct the trade

in that section John Clarke, with clerks Pillet, McLennan,

;

Farnham, and Cox, was to establish a central post at Spo-

kane, in opposition to the Northwest Company, and subor-
dinate posts among McKenzie, with
the surrounding tribes ;

clerks Seton and Reed, was to establish a post on the Snake

river among the Nez Perces, and to secure the goods left in
the caches at the Caldron Linn Robert Stuart, with a small
;

party, was to carry dispatches to New York.

Everything proceeded prosperously and without notable
incident, until the various expeditions reached their posts.
The several parties separated about the 31st of July, near the
mou-th of the Walla Walla. David Stuart arrived at Okan-
agan on the 1 2th of August, and on the 25th of that month
went among the tribe of Indians on Thompsoij river, where
he remained during the winter, leaving Alexander Ross in
charge of the post. Clarke arrived at the site of his pro-
posed establishment on the 21st of August, and immediately
commenced the construction of a house. The clerks were
later dispatched to trade among the various tribes — Farn-
ham and Cox among the Flatheads, McLennan among the
Coeur d'Alenes, and Pillet among the Kootenais. McKen-
zie proceeded up the Snake river to a point not certainly
known, but probably near the mouth of the Clearwater river,
and after having commenced the establishment of his post,
dispatched J^eed to Hunt's caches at the Caldron Linn.
The several detachments in the interior carried out their
programs without notable adventure, and it will be of im-
portance to note here only one incident, the visit of Reed to
the caches. After assisting McKenzie to establish his post,
Reed out for the caches, probably about September ist,
set
expecting to reach them in twenty days. The first notable
incident of the trip was finding at a camp of Shoshone In-
dians seven men of Hunt's overland party. They were Car-
son, Delauney, and St. Michael, of the party who had been
 I

206 REED VISITS THE CACHES.

detached by Hunt on Snake river Octoberi, 1811, and Du-

breuil, La Chapelle, Turcot, and Landry, who had been left

by Crooks mountains the preceding winter.
in the
The La Chapelle, Turcot, and Landry, after
three men,
Crooks had left them, returned to the Snake encampment on
the borders of the river. Being destitute of provisions and
equipment, they proposed to the Snakes to visit the caches at
Caldron Linn. This was done, and six of the nine caches
were rifled of their contents. The Indians and the four
hunters then went on a grand hunting expedition to the head-
waters of the Missouri, where they were set upon by the
Blackfeet and robbed of all they possessed. They then re-
turned to the Snake country, where they fell in with Du-
breuil, whom Crooks and Day had left in the mountains the
preceding March. Soon after this they were joined by Car-
son, Delauney and St. Michael. These three men, who, with
Detaye, had been left by Hunt on Snake river the pre-
vious autumn, made a fall and winter hunt in that locality,
and went to the Missouri river in the spring of 1812. Here
they were attacked by the Crows, who robbed them of every-
thing and killed Detaye. The report of their presence
among the Crows found its way to St. Louis that fall
through some of Lisa's men, and was forwarded to Mr.
Astor in the following January. After this misfortune the
survivors went back to the Snake country, where they joined
the party of four, as just stated. Delauney had with him
an Indian wife, whom he had picked up in his wanderings.
Reed, after falling in with these seven men, went on to the
caches, where he took what property was left, saw Edward
Robinson, received news of Stuart's safe journey thus far,
and then returned to McKenzie's post, after an absence of
thirty-five days.
It was July 28th that Robert Stuart and his companions
arrived at Walla Walla, in company with the large party
which left Astoria on the 29th of June for various points in
the interior. Stuart at once prepared to set out on his long
journey to St. Louis and New York. With him were

J
 THE SNAKE AND THE HORSE. 20/

Crooks and McLellan, who were tired of the enterprise, and

were determined to return home; and also Andri Vallar,
Ben Jones, and Francis Leclerc —six in all. John Day,
who intended to return, had become violently insane on the
way up from Astoria, and it was necessary to send him back.
The little party set out from Walla Walla on the 31st of
July and, without other incident than that of very hard trav-
eling, arrived, on the 12th of August, on the banks of Snake
river, just above the point where it enters the Blue moun-
tains. They followed up the south bank on their way to
Caldron Linn. The first incident of importance on this
part of the journey was the meeting of a Snake Indian who
claimed ownership of Stuart's horse —a fine steed which
Stuart desired to take to New York as a present to Mr.
Astor. This Indian had been one of Hunt's guides from the
mouth of Hoback river to Fort Henry the previous year,
and was one of the two men who had been left at the latter
place in charge of the horses. From him it was learned
that the horses had been stolen, the caches at Caldron Linn
robbed, the various hunting parties scattered, and that the
survivors were in great distress. The Indian was engaged
as a guide, but on the night of August i8th absconded with
Stuart's horse.
On the 20th of August the party came upon four of the
hunters who had been detached at Fort Henry on the loth
of the preceding October. They were Miller, Hoback, Rob-
inson, and Rezner. They gave to Stuart an account of
their wanderings, and a doleful narrative it was. After
leaving Fort Henry they went south upwards of two hun-
dred miles and trapped on a river which, they said, dis-
charged itself into the Pacific ocean. It is highly probable
that this stream was the present Bear river, Utah, and that
these men visited Great Salt Lake. After a successful hunt,
they proceeded east for several hundred miles, where they
were robbed by a band of Arapahoes. They wintered in
this vicinity, and in the following spring were again robbed
by the same Indians.
208 HOBACK, ROBINSON AND REZNER.

It was about time that Cass was lost to the party.

this
They had deserted them in their extrem-
told Stuart that he
ity, taking with him their last remaining horse. It is hardly

conceivable that he should thus voluntarily have forfeited the

only protection to be found in that remote wilderness, and
further doubt is cast upon the story by the fact that Robin-
son a short time after gave a different version of it to Reed,
viz.,that Cass had been killed in one of the affairs with the
Arapahoes. Uncharitable individuals believed that he had
been killed by his companions to allay the cravings of hun-
ger, but of this there is no evidence, and the general good
character of the four survivors precludes the possibility of
believing it.

The hunters then proceeded westwardly during the spring

and summer, becoming reduced to abject want, and when
found were on the very brink of starvation and were sub-
sisting upon fish.
Stuart's augmented party now proceeded to the Caldron
Linn, where they arrived on the 29th of August. They
found six of the nine caches robbed, and after taking from
those remaining the things they needed, they closed them
up, pending the expected arrival of Reed. Hoback, Robin-
son, and Rezner concluded to try their luck again, and were
accordingly outfitted for another hunt. Miller decided to
leave the country.
The party, numbering seven after the accession of Miller,
left the Caldron Linn on the ist of September, and continued
up the river. On the 7th they abandoned the river, strik-
ing off to the southeast under the guidance of Miller, and on
the 9th reached Bear river, to which Stuart gave the name
Miller. Continuing up the river until the 12th, they en-
countered a band of Crows, who stayed with them that night
and displayed a decided inclination to give them trouble.
The party got away successfully, however, on the 13th, but
left the river, which here flows from the south, and turned
off due east over the mountains. Coming upon a consid-
erable tributary flowing from the north, they abandoned
 SEEKING HUNT S TRAIL. 20g

their eastern course and ascended was here that

its valley. It
the great mistake of the returning overland expedition was
committed. The party had so far followed practically what
was afterward the Oregon Trail. They could scarcely have
improved upon it, except in the smaller details. But being
wholly unacquainted with the country, they fancied that
Miller had led them too far south and away off from their
proper course. Moreover, that indescribable bewilderment
which is expressed by the word " lost," and which only those
who have lost their bearings in a wild and unsettled country
can appreciate, had come upon the party, and their great
desire now was to get back to Hunt's route and follow it to
the Missouri. It is difficult to conceive the state of mind
which could lead men to such a pass of absurdity as is in-
dicated by their route for the next month. The reader
should examine the map and note the camping places of the
13th of September and the 20th of October. They are
scarcely six days' journey apart, and the passage would have
been made in that time, had not these bewildered overland-
ers forgotten that the sun rises in the east.
Having decided to regain Hunt's route, they traveled
north up the stream they were then on, over a divide to what
is now Salt river, and down that stream to the Snake, which

they reached nearly where the present boundary line between

Wyoming and Utah crosses the river. They arrived here
on the 1 8th of September. The next morning they were
robbed of all their horses by the very band of Crows whom
they had lately met on Bear river. The party, now without
horses, set out dozvn Snake river, as If on their way back
to Astoria. If they had gone up stream they would have
struck Hunt's trail at the mouth of Hoback river, within
a distance of twenty-five to thirty miles. On the second day
they built a raft and undertook to cross to the north shore.
Finding that it floated well they remained in the stream for
nearly a week, and made in all, from the mouth of Salt river,
about one hundred and ten miles of retrograde course.
Having now passed the main part of the range of moun-
2IO LECLERC S DESPERATE PROPOSAL.

tains along the right bank, and judging the passage to be

and cross into the val-
easy, they concluded to leave the river
ley of Pierre's Hole, through which Hunt had passed the
preceding autumn. They were very apprehensive of dan-
ger from the Blackfeet and took extra precautions not to at-
tract the attention of any bands that might be in the vicin-
ity. One of these precautionary measures was to pass over
a high hill or mountain that they might more easily have
passed around, but would have exposed themselves to par-
ties in the plain below. McLellan, tired out with the hard-
ships of the journey, flatly refused to undergo this extra
labor. He struck off alone around the base of the moun-
tain, and was not seen for thirteen days afterward.
The following night, October ist, Crooks was taken seri-
ously ill, and the party remained in camp in Pierre's Hole
for four days. On the 5th the journey was resumed along
Hunt's old route, who must have passed this point almost
exactly a year before. The party continued their way on
the difficult route by which they had come and which was
particularly precipitous and dangerous along Hoback river.
On the 1 2th they reached Green river and descended that
stream for a distance. The next day they overtook McLel-
lan, whom they found ready to give up in despair. None of
the party had had anything to eat for upwards of three days,
and so great was their hunger that it led one of them, Le-
clerc, topropose to Stuart at the evening encampment that
lots should be cast to see which should be killed for the sal-
vation of the rest. The fellow was so persistent that
Stuart was obliged to threaten his life if he did not desist.
The following day fortune favored the party with an old
buffalo bull, which perhaps saved them from starvation.
They did not follow Green river far, but bore off in the direc-
tion of the Wind
River mountains and took a general south-
easterly course along the base of this range.In their prog-
ress away from the river they crossed a large Indian trail,
probably the regular highway down Green river valley.
They kept on their way with fair progress, having picked
 PARTY MISS SOUTH PASS. 211

up some game en route, and on the i8th of October luckily

came upon a camp of about a hundred Snake Indians, from
whom they secured a quantity of provisions and a horse.
From these Indians they learned that a large band of Crows
were encamped to the east of the mountains in a river valley,
probably that of the Sweetwater, in Wyoming.
Setting out next morning they soon came again upon the
large Indian trail which they had crossed some days before,
and as it led in their direction they followed it the rest of
the day and part of the next. But early on the 20th they
found that turned abruptly to the northeast, and as they
it

feared to get any closer to the party that had passed along it,
they abandoned and kept on to the southeast. It is prob-
it

were again on the line of the Ore-

able that at this point they
gon Trail of later years, and had they followed the Indian
Trail, they would that day have discovered and crossed the
celebrated South Pass, which holds so conspicuous a place
in the history of the West.
Turning east on the 21st of October the little party con-
tinued for five days over the barren and desolate wastes
just south of the Sweetwater mountains, Wyoming, meeting
with no incident of special interest. On the 26th they
turned to the northeast, and after passing through a gap in
the mountains found themselves in a beautiful open valley
and on the willowed banks of a strong, clear mountain
stream, none other than the Sweetwater river. Here they
spent the following day, hunting buffalo. Resuming their
course on the 27th, they wound their way slowlydown the
what later
plentiful valley, passing the sites of were known
as the Devil's Gateand Independence Rock, and arrived on
the 30th at the main stream of the North Platte. During
the following day they passed that sublime and august nat-
ural formation now known as the Upper Platte canon, but
which, from the red color of the rocks and the turbulent
condition of the river below, they named the " Fiery Nar-
rows."
The river in this part of its course bore so strongly to the
212 FIRST WINTER QUARTERS.

northeast that the travelers were led quite astray in their

conjectures as to its identity. It did not seem possible to

them that it could be the Platte, and they concluded that it

must be the Cheyenne or Niobrara, or some other stream in
that general direction. This erroneous conclusion and the
increasing evidences of approaching winter led the explorers
into their second serious mistake, that of deciding to go into
winter quarters without attempting to reach St. Louis that
fall. It was still only the end of October, and in all the sec-
tion of country which they were to traverse, the months of
November and December are, for the most part, months of
They could easily have reached the Mis-
pleasant weather.
souri by the middle of December and Louis by the end
St.
of the year, or soon after, thus saving four months' time.
They decided, however, to go into winter quarters, and ac-
cordingly, having come upon a fine bend of the river with a
beautiful wooded bottom, which afforded shelter and protec-
tion against storms, with abundant promise of game, they
commenced the construction of a cabin on the 2nd of No-
vember. ^
For the next six weeks everything moved off prosper-
ously. The location fully satisfied their expectations, and
their new cabin was soon hung full of wholesome buffalo
meat, a sure guarantee against the danger of starvation.
But alas in the midst of this apparent security, they were
!

visited one morning by the same band of Arapahoes who had

robbed Miller and his party the previous year. The Indians
hung around for two days, and although they committed no
violence to speak of, they succeeded in getting nearly all the
little party's supply of meat. After their departure it was
resolved to abandon the place at once, inasmuch as their se-
curity there was at an end. They accordingly set out down
the river on the 13th of December. They found traveling,
after their repose and comfort, very annoying, particularly

'
This was the first building within the limits of the present state
of Wyoming. The site was in the beautiful bottom half enclosed by a
great bend of the river opposite the mouth of Poison Spider creek.
 3

ARRIVAL AT ST. LOUIS. 21

as the ground was now covered with snow. They con-

two weeks, having traveled by their
tinued, nevertheless, for
estimate three hundred and thirty miles, when they found
themselves entirely out of the mountains and upon the
prairies below. Rightly judging this time that they were
upon the Platte, and that at so late a season of the year it
would be extremely perilous to undertake to reach the Mis-
souri, they determined to retrograde until they should find a
suitable place to go into winter quarters again. They went
back for three days over an estimated distance of seventy-
seven miles, and having found a suitable camping ground,
went into quarters again on the 30th of December, 1812.
Here they remained undisturbed until spring. This situa-
tion was about where Wellesville, Nebraska, now stands.
During the winter they constructed some canoes, and on
the 8th of March broke up their encampment and started for
the Missouri. They made very little progress for the first
twelve days and had to abandon their canoes almost at the
outset.
The party were well on their way again by the 20th of
March and proceeded without notable incident until the 13th
of April, when they arrived at the village of the Oto Indians,
already familiar ground to Crooks and McLellan. Here
they first learned of the existence of war with Great Britain.
They now traded their horse for a canoe, and on the morn-
ing of April 1 6th resumed their journey. On the i8th they
entered the Missouri, and having found soon after a desert-
ed canoe, larger and better than their own, they took posses-
sion of it. They stopped for a short time at Fort Osage
and arrived Louis " in perfect health "
at St. and fine spirits
on the ^oth of April, 1813.
Their arrival made a great sensation in the little town, for
nothing definite had been heard from Mr. Hunt's party for
nearly two years. The Missouri Ga::ctte chronicled the
event with a brief reference to their impressions of the trip
214 THE RETURN ROUTE.

and in its issue of May 15th published quite a lengthy ac-

count of their journeyand of the loss of the Tonquin}
This overland journey consumed three hundred and six
days, as against three hundred and forty days on Hunt's
journey. If we deduct the time uselessly lost in the absurd
northern detour from Bear river to Snake river and the time
spent in winter quarters, and lost in the attempt to navigate
the Platte, that actually consumed on the journey will be
found to have been only one hundred and eighty days, and
the party should have reached St. Louis by Christmas of
1812.
The route pursued on the return journey was, with three
exceptions, that of the Oregon Trail of later years. Stuart's
party kept south of Snake river, instead of crossing and fol-
lowing the line of the Boise. They also missed the line
from Bear river to the Devil's Gate, although near it a good
deal of the way. From Grand Island to the mouth of the
Kansas they followed the rivers, instead of crossing the an-
gle between them, as the Trail did afterward. All of these
variations from the true route would have been avoided on
another journey. The two Astorian expeditions, therefore,
are entitled to the credit of having practically opened ap the
Oregon Trail from the Missouri river at the mouth of the
Kansas to the mouth of the Columbia river.
*These articles were the first public account of the Astorian expedi-
tion. That relating to the overland journeys was reprinted in the
Appendix of the Journals of Bradbury and Brackenridge. The ac-
count of the loss of the Tonquin has never been reproduced until in the
present work. See Appendix C.
 CHAPTER XII.
ASTORIA.
THE COURSE OF EVENTS ON THE COLUMBIA.
—
News of the outbreak of war Action of McKenzie and McDougal —
Partners return from the interior —
Manifesto of the partners Hunt —
returns to Astoria and immediately departs again —
Arrival of the
Northwest brigade — Sea-farings of Mr. Hunt — His delay at the Rus-
sian establishments — Sails to the Sandwich Islands — Captain Sowles'
conduct Canton — Hunt
at to Astoria
sails the Albatross — Returns
in
to Sandwich Islands — The Lark wrecked — Hunt returns to Astoria
in the Pedler — Hunt's arrangement with McDougal — Sale of Astoria
— Arrival of the Raccoon — Astoria rechristened Fort George — Clos-
ing scenes at Astoria — Home journey of the Astorians — Departure of
the Northwest brigade — Sad fate of John Reed's party.

^nV R. HUNT, the chief partner, having sailed from the

'*'•' Columbia, and Crooks and McLellan having
returned to the United States, the control of affairs at Asto-
ria fell upon Duncan McDougal, and the whole enterprise
on the Columbiawas practically in the hands of British
subjects. They were good, energetic men, however, and in
ordinary times would have been as serviceable to the estab-
lishment as any one else. The summer and fall of 1812
passed away prosperously both at Astoria and at the
detached posts with the exception of McKenzie's. In the
midst of this promising outlook, as in an unclouded sky, a
menace of impending doom appeared like a black cloud
gathering on the horizon. McKenzie, from the time when
he was superseded by Hunt, had been out of sympathy with
the enterprise. His establishment on Snake river among
the Nez Perce Indians did not satisfy him for some reason,
and he concluded to remove it to another point. Before
2l6 NEWS OF THE OUTBREAK OF WAR.

doing so he decided to visit Clarke at Spokane and get his

advice. While at Clarke's post, some time in December,
John George McTavish and Joseph La Roque of the North-
west Company arrived, bringing news of the Declaration of
War, and stating that the armed ship Isaac Todd was
expected at the mouth of the Columbia in the following
March. McKenzie did not wait to secure the advice of
Clarke, but without consulting him went back to his post,
broke up the establishment, cached his goods, and with all
his people set out for Astoria, where he arrived January 15,

McKenzie and McDougal concluded that war had made

the situation hopeless, and after a sort of council of war, at
which the clerks were silent witnesses, they determined to
abandon the enterprise in the following spring and return
across the mountains. Some time during the month of
March following, McKenzie set out for the interior with
Seton and Reed to visit the caches at his late establishment,
and to inform Clarke and Stuart of the action taken at
Astoria. At a point not far above the Dalles he met a party
in two canoes en route for Astoria, under the command of
John George McTavish. The two parties passed a jovial
and companionable night together, quite unlike the rela-
tions of competing traders, and in the morning took their
respective ways. When McKenzie arrived at the caches he
found them robbed. He at once commenced search for the
property and in the meanwhile sent Reed to Spokane and
Okanagan with letters from McDougal. McKenzie, after
a great deal of trouble, succeeded in recovering most of his
stolen property as well as in purchasing a large number of
horses. Having accomplished these purposes he repaired
to Walla Walla, the agreed rendezvous of the wintering
partners before returning to Astoria. Stuart and Clarke
joined him there by the 4th of June. The joint party set

*
It was at this time that the seven men whom Reed picked up on
his way to the caches — the
arrived at Astoria last of the overland
Astorians to complete the journey.
 MANIFESTO OF THE PARTNERS. 217

out for Astoria on the 5th and arrived at that place on the
14th with the returns of the winter's trade. Already those
from the Willamette had been received.
Upon the arrival of the partners at Astoria the situation
of affairs was seriously considered, McKenzie and McDou-
gal being in favor of abandoning the enterprise, and Clarke
and Stuart opposing it. The vehement appeals of McKen-
and Clarke and Stuart reluctantly
zie finally carried the day,
joined in signing, July i, 181 3, a manifesto which set forth
the reasons for abandonment. These were briefly that the
non-arrival of the Beaver had left them without supplies, >

while the existence of war rendered their arrival in the 1

future doubtful ; that the interior trade had not come up to |

their expectations and that they were not able to withstand

;

the competition of the powerful Northwest Company. It

was decided to abandon the undertaking the ist of June,
1 814. In the meanwhile Messrs. Clarke and Stuart were
to return to their posts for the winter. Reed was to go to
the Snake country, and McKenzie to the valley of the
Willamette. The post of Spokane was sold to the North-
west Company, and three of the clerks, Ross, Cox, and
McLennan, entered the service of that company.
McTavish, who had now been at Astoria for nearly three
months, engaged to send dispatches across the country to
Astor. McDougal sold him the necessary provisions, and
he and Laroque set out with Cox on the 5th of July,
accompanied by Clarke, Stuart, and Reed as far as to their
respective points of divergence. The parties arrived safely
at their destinations. Laroque and Cox, who had been
entrusted with the dispatches for the east, had reached the
point where they were to leave the Columbia and cross the
mountains, when on September 2nd they were met by the
Northwest Brigade under John Stuart and Joseph McGilli-
vray, who were on their way to Astoria, armed with full
powers to treat for the purchase of the Pacific Fur Company.
Cox and Laroque accordingly turned back and the whole
party arrived at Astoria October 7th.
2l8 SEA-FARINGS OF MR. HUNT.

In the meanwhile Mr. Hunt had returned to Astoria after

a year's absence. Finding that the course of events had
already gone so far that he could not change it, he made the
necessary arrangements with Mr. McDougal for closing up
Mir. Astor's affairs on the Columbia. He remained at Asto-
ria only a week, arriving August 21st, and departing August
26th for the purpose of securing a ship in which to take
away Mr. Astor's property and to transport the Sandwich
Islanders home.
On the 2nd of October following, McKenzie started for
the interior to carry the news of the arrangement with Mr.
Hunt and to bring down the Sandwich Islanders. Three
days later he met the Northwest Brigade and returned with
it to Astoria.
It is now Hunt was doing all
necessary to see what Mr.
this time, and wanderings over the
to follow his ubiquitous
Pacific ocean by which he was kept away from Astoria
when the fate of the enterprise on the Columbia was being
decided. Mr. Hunt sailed in the Beaver August 4, 181 2,
to carry out Mr. Astor's plans of trade with the Russian Fur
Company, although it is very evident that Mr. Astor would
scarcely have wished to have Mr. Hunt the individual to
take charge of it. He tmderstood too well the importance
of having that gentleman at Astoria. But it was decided
otherwise by the partners, and perhaps none of the others
were qualified for that kind of an undertaking. Mr. Hunt
sailed to New Archangel, arriving there on the 19th of
August, 18 1 2, armed with Mr. Astor's arrangement with the
Russian government and company. Although the com-
mandant of the post had no apparent objections to the
arrangement and willingly received the goods, he was so
intolerably procrastinating in bringing the business to an end
that a month and a half elapsed before Hunt could get away.
A still further delay was caused by the method of payment,
which was made in seal skins, and as there happened to be
none at the establishment, the ship was obliged to proceed to
the distant island of St. Paul on the confines of Behringr sea
 TIMID COUNSEL OF CAPTAIN SOWLES. 219

to get them. Here she was driven off in a storm while Mr.
Hunt was on shore, and did not reappear for several days.
It was the middle of November before the Beaver was

ready to leave the island —

two weeks later than the agreed
time when Mr. Hunt was to be back at Astoria. Instead of
making all haste to return he permitted himself to be dis-
suaded by the timid counsel of Captain Sowles, whose faults
were the exact opposite of those of Captain Thorn of the
Tonquin. The condition of the ship after the late storm
would not in his judgment permit an attempt to enter the
Columbia until she was repaired, and he therefore urged,
with a great deal of persistency, that she be allowed to pro-
ceed to the Sandwich Islands. As
would make it too
that
late to return to Astoria and then reach Canton in time for
the markets there, it was thought that Mr. Hunt could wait
at the Islands for the next annual ship.
It is not an easy thing to overrule a captain who says that
his ship is unseaworthy and must be repaired, and Mr.
Hunt was not the man to take that kind of responsibility.
So away to the Sandwich Islands went the Beaver, where
she was put and then sailed for Canton January i,
in repair
18 1 3. Arrived at Canton Captain Sowles exhibited the
same timid policy that kept him away from Astoria. He
received word from Mr. Astor announcing the existence of
war, and directing him to proceed at once to Astoria. He
replied that he would await in Canton the arrival of peace
and then return home. He failed to dispose of the furs,
although offered prices which, if invested in Canton goods,
would have netted the company a quarter of a million dollars
profit in New York. Compliance with Mr. Astor's orders
and the exercise of common business sense might have saved
the day at Astoria; for such a brilliant financial beginning
to the maritime part of the enterprise would have ensured
ample support to the Astorians as soon as the war should
cease.
Mr. Hunt found that he might as well be a prisoner in the
hands of an enemy as where he now was, so far as any assist-
220 HUNT AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.

ance he could render to the company was concerned. Month

after month dragged by and still no annual ship. Finally
on the 20th of June, 1813, the ship Albatross came from
China bearing the jfirst news which Hunt had received of
the war. He now concluded that this was why the ship
had not come, and as he feared that the Astorians might be
running short of supplies, he chartered the Albatross, loaded
her with what he could get in the Islands, and sailed for the
Columbia. He arrived at Astoria August 20th, one year
and sixteen days after he had left.
Great was his astonishment and chagrin when he learned
what had happened, but he found that he was too late to
reverse the course of events, particularly as he himself had
nothing to show for his own work, and had so completely
failed to keep his engagement. He was compelled to acqui-
esce in the proceedings of the partners and it now became
necessary for him to take measures to close up Mr. Astor's
affairs. In order to ship the furs collected, and return the
Sandwich Islanders to their home, it was necessary to secure
another vessel, the Albatross not being available. Mr. Hunt
accordingly left Astoria a week after his arrival. The Alba-
tross was bound first for the Marquesas Islands and then for
the Sandwich Islands. At the Marquesas Hunt first learned
of the near approach of a British war vessel and gave up all
hope of even saving Mr. Astor's property. On his arrival
at the Sandwich Islands he found to his astonishment that
Mr. Astor had sent out the regular annual ship and that she
had come prosperously on her way until near the Sandwich
Islands, where she was wrecked in a tempest. The hulk,
with the captain and some of the crew, drifted to the Islands,
and were there when Mr. Hunt arrived. The latter at once
purchased a brig called the Pedlcr, put Captain Northrup
of the wrecked ship, Lark, in charge, and sailed for Astoria
to carry out the orders which Mr. Astor had sent by the ship.
These were to remove the company's property as speedily as
possible to the Russian settlements to avoid capture, and
 SALE OF ASTORIA. 221

await the cessation of hostilities. Mr. Hunt reached Asto-

ria February 28th, 1814.
The arrangement between Hunt and McDougal, when
Hunt sailed in the Albatross, August 26th, was that McDou-
gal should have power to transfer to the Northwest Com-
pany, with proper security for arrears of wages, the services
of such men as desired to remain. The property belonging
to the company was to be protected until Hunt should return
for it, and in the meanwhile the Islanders were to be collected
and such employes as preferred to leave were to be ready.
McDougal was given power to take such measures to carry
out these arrangements as might be found necessary.
It was on the 7th of October that the Northwest Brigade
arrived at Astoria with full power to negotiate for the pur-
chase of Astoria. Clarke was with them, having sold the
post at Spokane. McKenzie, who had set out for the inte-
rior five days before, to carry the news of the arrangements
between Hunt and McDougal, was also with them. Nego-
tiations for the transfer of Astoria were at once set on foot,
and so far as the record goes, were not limited to the post
and appurtenances, but embraced the furs and property which
Mr. Hunt expected to take away. So briskly did these
negotiations move that an agreement was reached on the
1 6th of October and was signed, according to Franchere, on

the 23rd.^

Ross is our authority for the statement that the sale was not actual-
'

ly consummated by transfer of invoices and receipts for some time

afterward. The shrewd Northwesters, not satisfied with having driven
having secured at a fraction
their rivals out of the country, or with
of their value the furs and other property of the company, hoped
to improve the bargain by getting the property for nothing at all.
A war was momentarily expected and should one arrive
British ship of
before the transfer was actually made, the post and all its property
would be captured. It was only on the threat of a resort to extreme
measures by McKenzie and McDougal that McTavish consummated the
bargain on the 12th of November.
Irving and Franchere make no note of such a proceeding as this and
the probabilities are all against it, for in case of capture the property
222 THE RACCOON ARRIVES.

The whole proceeding was viewed with shame and indig-

nation by the American contingent and by a number of the
Canadians as well. They felt that there was no real neces-
sity for the action taken, for, with the transfer of the post,
the property which belonged in so large part to British
subjects would be respected. But they were in a hopeless
minority, with no voice in the councils and no power to
stay the course of events.
On the 29th of October a large party set out for the inte-
rior to make a transfer of the various posts and of the
property at each. Nothing of note transpired at Astoria,
except the arrival on November 23rd of Alexander Stuart
and Alexander Henry,^ until the 30th of that month, when
the long expected war vessel hove in sight. It was the
Raccoon of twenty-six guns, commanded by Captain Black.
This vessel with the Isaac Todd, the frigate Phoebe, and
sloop of war Cherub, had sailed from Rio Janeiro on the
6th of July preceding with John McDonald, a partner of the
Northwest Company, on board. The Isaac Todd had
become separated from her company off Cape Horn, and
had not since been seen. The other vessels arrived safely
at the agreed rendezvous at the island of Juan Fernandez,
and after waiting some time for the Isaac Todd, and hear-
ing of the havoc which the American Commodore Porter
was making among the British whalers, it was decided that
the Raccoon should go on alone with McDonald to Astoria,
and that the other vessels should cruise after Porter. The
Raccoon arrived in due time within the mouth of the
Columbia.
The officers and crew of the Raccoon had been led to
suppose that a valuable prize awaited them at the end of

would have been a prize of war and the Northwesters would not have
been entitled to it. It was certainly to their advantage to secure it
before any such eventuality. That they made use of the war ship ar-
gument to drive a good bargain is very probable.
^ Henry's
Journals, recently made public through the editorial labors
of Dr. Elliott Coues, have furnished valuable new light upon the closing
scenes at Astoria.
 " :

ASTORIA BECOMES FORT GEORGE. 22T,

their long cruise. When they found that the post and
property had been sold to British subjects they were greatly
chagrined and disappointed. Captain Black, it is said, even
threatened to bring suit for their recovery, but the threat,
if made, was not carried out.
If Captain Black was crestfallen at losing a valuable
prize, he was disgusted when he beheld the character of
the fort which he had been sent half way around the world
to capture. He exclaimed with ill-concealed contempt
" Is this the fort about which I have heard so much talking ?
—
D n me, but I'd batter it down in two hours with a four
pounder!
Captain Black, with a retinue of officers, landed at Asto-
ria late on the night of December 12th, and after dinner on
the 13th he took formal possession of the fort in the name
of the British king, and rechristened it Fort George. The
disappointed captain, could he have foreseen the future,
would not have felt ashamed of this day of small things.
He had done what no British sailor had ever done before
in taking possession of this fort he had saved an empire to
his country.*
Thus ended the eventful career of Astoria. It now
remains only to see how the various individuals connected
with the enterprise made their dispositions for the immediate
future. A large number, including McDougal, entered the
service of the new company. Others refused offers of serv-
iceand among them Franchere, who had never ceased to
regard the downfall of Astoria as a catastrophe which was
wholly unnecessary.'^
The Raccoon left the Columbia on the last day of the
year and Mr. Hunt arrived with the brig Pedler on the 28th
of February, 1814. He was indignant at the conduct of
McDougal, but in this case, as before, the march of events
during his absence had carried the business beyond his
* For the
significance of this statement see Chapter XIII., this Part.
Franchere did take temporary service while waiting an opportunity
"

to return home.
224 FAREWELL TO ASTORIA.

power to remedy it. He now found that he had no property

to carry away, and all that he could do was to secure the
papers of the late company, and, with such of the Astorians
as desired to accompany him, to bid a final adieu to the
coast which he did so much to forfeit to his country. He
left the Columbia April 3rd, 1814.
Messrs. Alfred Seton, J. C. Halsey, Bernard Clapp, and
Russell Farnham sailed on the Pedler, which was taken first
to Sitka and Kamchatka to close up some business there,
and thence made her way toward home. She was captured
on the coast of California and held for upwards of two
months. Nothing further is known of her voyage nor how
Mr. Hunt got home. Of the other passengers Halsey was
landed at Sitka and drops out of sight. Farnham was
landed at Kamchatka and sent overland with dispatches to
Mr. Astor. He made the astonishing journey across Asia
and Europe and in due time reached New York. He will
again appear in our narrative in a more prosperous connec-
tion. Clapp left the ship at the Marquesas Islands, " where
he entered the service of his country as midshipman under
Commodore Porter" (Franchere). Alfred Seton was put
off at San Bias on the California coast to make his way
home by land. He went to Darien, where he was detained
several months by sickness. He finally reached Carthagena,
where, in great destitution, he appealed to the commander
of a British squadron lying there, and was by him hospi-
tably received. After a time he was landed at Jamaica,
whence he made his way to New York. He subsequently
achieved great business success and he will again appear in
these pages as the capitalist behind Captain Bonneville's
enterprise.
On the 4th of April, 1814, the day after the Pedler left
the Columbia, the Northwest Brigade set out for the east,
taking along such of the Astorians as desired to return
home by land. Of this number was Gabriel Franchere,
who reached home September 2nd.
There is only one other incident connected with the As-
 SAD FATE OF JOHN REED. 225

torian enterprise which may detain us. When the North-

west Brigade was nearing the Walla Walla on the 17th of
April, they were startled by a child's voice crying out in
French, " Arretez done Arretez done !" A canoe party
!

was sent to shore and found that it was the squaw of Pierre
Dorion and her two children. From her they received
a tale of horror which was a fitting finale to the tragedy
of Astoria.
On the 5th of July, 181 3, John Reed left Astoria with the
large party that set out for the interior that day, his desti-
nation being the country of the Snake river, where he was
and collect as many horses as possi-
to trap during the winter
ble for the overland expedition of the following spring.
With him were Giles Leclerc, Frangois Landry, Jean Bap-
Turcot, Andre La Chapelle, Pierre Dorion and family,
tiste

and Pierre Delauny. Late in September he was joined by

those hardy hunters, Hoback, Robinson, and Rezner, who
here come to sight for the last time.
Reed winter on what is now Boise
finally located for the
river, Idaho, long known to fur traders as Reed's river.
During the autumn three men were lost from one cause or
another. Delauny left the party and was never again heard
from, and was probably killed by the Indians. Landry fell
from his horse and was killed. Turcot died of King's Evil.
Late in the year Rezner, Dorion, and Leclerc went about
five days' march from Reed's house, where they put up a
hut and commenced a prosperous trapping campaign. One
evening, about January loth, Leclerc staggered into the
house desperately wounded, and told Dorion's squaw that
her husband and Rezner were killed. She at once caught
two horses, put Leclerc on one of them, and herself and two
children on the other and started for Reed's house. On the
third day Leclerc died. When the Indian woman reached
Reed's house it was only to find that the rest of the party
had likewise been slain. She at once summoned all her
energies and started for the Columbia. She forded the
226 dorion's widow escapes.

Snake river and got as far as to the Blue mountains, but

could not cross at that season. With marvelous resource
she maintained herself during the winter, but the imminence
of starvation at length compelled her to move. She made
her way with great suffering to Walla Walla, and was on
her way down the Columbia when she was met by the
Northwest Brigade.
 CHAPTER XIII.

ASTORIA.
REVIEW OF THE ENTERPRISE.

—
National significance of the Astorian enterprise Feasibility of gen-
eral plan — Lack of overland connection — Astor and the St. Louis
traders — Large proportion of British subjects — Unfortunate choice
of partners — Criticism of Hunt — Criticism of McKenzie — Criticism
of McDougal — No necessity for abandoning Astoria — Responsibility
of the United States — Northwest Company exonerated.

'^^HE world never ceases to linger over those decisive

^^ events in its history which have deflected the current

of human affairs and have influenced for better or worse the

welfare of mankind. It matters not that their issues are set-

tled forever; none the less do men love to speculate upon

their causes and results and to enquire what would have
ensued had their outcome been other than it was. Among-
these decisive events, though in itself of little moment, and
scarcely noticed among the great transactions of that impor-
tant period, must be placed the enterprise of Mr. Astor
upon the Pacific coast. It is no flight of fancy, but rather
a sober and legitimate conclusion, to say that if the Asto-
rian enterprise had succeeded the course of empire on the
American continent would have been altogether different
than it has been. With the valley of the Columbia and the
neighboring shores of the Pacific occupied by American citi-
zens instead of British subjects during the period of contro-
versy over the Oregon Question, no part of the Pacific
coast line would now belong to Great Britain.
That such has not been the case is less a matter of regret
than it would have been had a different civilization found
228 FEASIBILITY OF PROJECT.

its abode there. It is at least a satisfaction to see in that

country a people of our own race and language, no less

earnest than we in carrying forward the cause of constitu-
tional government and commercial development into regions
of unknown extent and unmeasured possibilities. Never-
theless will never cease to regret the outcome of
Americans
nor to feel that it was not what it should have
this affair,
been; and they will always welcome any new light which
may exhibit more clearly the causes of its failure, and
determine more surely where the responsibility for it ought
to rest.
In reviewing the enterprise of the Pacific Fur Company
after the lapse of nearly a century, the general plan upon
which it was based stands above criticism. It was a pro-
ject no less feasible than magnificent. Although its course
was one of almost uniform disaster, its very failures showed
that under normal conditions its success v^ould have excelled
the anticipations of its great promoter. He had proposed
well, but God and man, with tempest and war, had disposed
in a way which he could scarcely have imagined possible.
In the execution of the project Mr. Astor committed
certain errors both in the plan of his expeditions and the
personnel of his company. It is evident that he should
have laid more stress upon his overland connection with
St. Louis, particularly in view of the danger of war. It

would seem to have been only a measure of common pru-

dence to have established a secure line of operations which
the navy of Great Britain could not touch. Had he known
as we do that he could easily have gone from St. Louis to the
mouth of the Columbia with merchandise in three months,
his neglect of this route would indeed have been culpable.
To be sure Crooks and Stuart brought back favorable
reports of the possibility of this route, but it was evidently
not then believed to be as practicable as it really was. Its
importance was not, however, entirely overlooked by Air.
Astor, who at one time contemplated sending another expe-
dition overland, but for some reason never did it.
 ATTITUDE OF ST. LOUIS TRADERS. 229

may be wondered why Mr. Aster did not try to interest

It
St. Louis traders in his schemes, and it is impossible not to
feel that he would have been better off with Ashley, Henry,
or Manuel Lisa in charge of his affairs than with McDou-
gal, McKenzie, or even Hunt. The truth is that most of the
St. Louis traders were afraid of the proposed connection.
They wanted a Missouri Fur Company, with the trade all to
themselves, and, with a narrow provincialism which does
them little credit, they refused a share in their trade to Mr.
Astor, but kept on for twenty years in a sickly and failing
business, only to fall at last into the very hands which
might have saved them from their early disasters.^
The second point in which it is manifest that Mr. Astor
acted contrary to sound judgment, even with only the light
that he then had, was in choosing the personnel of his com-
pany. Xt is easy to understand why he turned his eye to the
north to find suitable men. At Montreal, or in the service
of its great fur company, was
found the highest expe-
to be
rience which the fur trade afforded. If union with that
company could not be effected, and it could not, it might at
least be possible to secure some of its servants to carry on
an independent enterprise. Some of them in fact had not
been satisfied with recent treatment by their company, and
were ready to join any opposition. Mr. Astor, who had
often visited Montreal, had conceived a high opinion of the
talent and business methods of the Northwest traders, and
even of the rank and file in the company's service. He is
said by Ross to have remarked on the occasion of a display
of skill in handling a canoe by two Canadian boatmen, that
six Americans could not have done so well. Very different
was the estimate of relative worth which obtained in the
Far West. There one American hunter was rated as equal
* That such is the true explanation of Mr. Astor's failure to establish

himself at St. Louis may readily be seen from the letters of Charles
Gratiot, who long tried to get him to establish a house in St. Louis,
and tried to persuade the Missouri Fur Company to give him a share in
their business.
230 BRITISH SUBJECTS IN THE MAJORITY.

to three Creole voyageurs. It is apparent that Mr. Astor as

yet imperfectly appreciated the worth of the American tra-
der and trapper, and could not bring himself to consider
either as an adequate substitute for " un homme du Nord."
Therefore he was led to organize his parties largely on the
northern frontier instead of at St. Louis, and to compose
them mainly of British subjects.
Had all would have been well.
peace continued But it
was a decisive error to man his expeditions and compose
his company from the subjects of a nation with which the
United States was then believed to be on the verge of war.
Of the thirty-three company men who sailed on the Tonquin,
the four partners were all subjects of Great Britain, as were
eight of the eleven clerks, and fifteen of the eighteen subor-
dinate employes whose names are given by Franchere. Of
those who went with the overland expedition, omitting
Crooks, McLellan, and Miller who immediately returned,
one partner, Hunt, was an American, and one, McKenzie,
a resident of Canada; the clerk. Reed, was an Irishman,
although probably an American citizen, while the rank and
file who reached Astoria were by a great majority Cana-

dians. The Beaver brought one partner, Clarke, an Amer-

ican, although he had long been affiliated with the North-
west Company, and six clerks, of whom only one appears to
have been a foreigner, but two of whom must have left Asto-
ria at an early day, as there is not the slightest mention of
their presence there. When the fate of Astoria hung in the
balance, and was decided by the vote of the four partners
present, three of them, McDougal, McKenzie, and Stuart,
were British subjects, and McDougal held Mr. Astor's proxy
which gave him the determining vote. Of the clerks then
on the Columbia, the Canadians outnumbered the Americans
by two to one while of the subordinate employes the dis-
;

proportion was even greater.

It is obvious enough that in the event of war with Great
Britain the same loyal support to an American company
as against a British company could not be expected from
 1

AMERICANS NOT ON GUARD, 23

British subjects as from American citizens. It is no reflec-

tion upon the Canadian Astorians to say this, for simple
patriotism could mean no less. War was foreseen at the
time that Mr. Astor selected his associates. Two of them,
it was afterwards learned, so clearly foresaw its approach

that they called upon the British minister at New York to

learn what their position would be in case that eventuality
should actually ensue. Mr. Astor could not have been blind
to the course of events, and common prudence should have
led him to trust his enterprise only to the hands of his fel-
low citizens, or at least to have made it impossible for for-
eigners to have a majority vote in the councils of his far
distant establishment. Fortunate for him would it have
been if, in the trying hour of his cherished enterprise, he
could have repeated the command which tradition ascribes to
Washington —" Put none but Americans on guard to-
night." With Americans on guard the pusillanimous action
of McDougal and McKenzie in the winter of 1 812-13 would
not have taken place. With Americans on guard the
various parties of Northwesters would not have been
received as brothers, but as competing traders, and treated
with the scant business indulgence which that shrewd com-
pany knew so well how to dispense to its opponents. With
Americans on guard the post at Spokane would not have
been sold when there was no necessity for it; the manifesto
of July 13, 1813, would never have been signed; John
George McTavish would not have been permitted to linger
with his retainers under the guns of Astoria waiting for a
British ship of war and the shameful bargain of McDougal
;

with McTavish and Stuart of October 16, 181 3, would not

have been concluded. The fact that Americans were not
on guard is the one severe indictment against the manage-
ment of the Astorian enterprise which will be sustained at
the bar of history.
Even leaving out of nationality, Mr.
considerations
Astor's choice of partnerswas not a happy one. McDou-
gal, McKenzie, and Hunt did not prove good men in their
232 HUNT AND M KENZIE.

respective places. Captains Thorn and Sowles were unfor-

tunate selections as ship masters. But such is the experi-
ence of every new undertaking. It takes time to learn men
and to settle them A few years' serv-
in their proper places.
icewould have corrected these errors and have adjusted each
part of the intricate machine to its proper work. Unfortu-
nately this time was not to be had.
Of Mr. Hunt's share in the enterprise not much can be
said in commendation except that he was loyal and single-
hearted to Mr. Astor throughout. He was not the man for
the place. His conduct of the overland expedition was not
efficient and he should have been in Astoria in midsummer
of 181 1 instead of mid)vinter of 1811-12. Permitting
himself to be sent on the maritime expedition was a fatal
error, for it took away from the establishment the only
partner whose sympathies were unquestionably on the side
of the company. He not only allowed himself to be sent
away, but he afterward deliberately kept himself away for
more than a year, by which time the fate of Astoria was
sealed.
McKenzie, Hunt's overland associate, was an able, but
unscrupulous man, who could be a powerful enemy or ally,
according to his mood. Unluckily he had from the start
been soured on the enterprise on account of what he thought
an unjust precedence given by Mr. Astor to Hunt. He
never had any heart in his work. His establishment was
the only one that failed, and he was the first one to lose
faith in the undertaking.
Of Duncan McDougal, who held the reins of authority
at Astoria during Mr. Hunt's absence, the common verdict
is that he was not only unfit for the place but disloyal to his

duty. Even his apologist, Ross, admits his unfitness and

characterizes him as " a man of but ordinary capacity, with
an irritable, peevish temper the most unfit man in the world
;

to head an expedition or command men." Inasmuch as the

suspicion of disloyalty to the company has always attached
to his conduct at Astoria, although he strenuously main-
 DUNCAN M DOUGAL. 233

tained his innocence, it will be worth while to examine the

evidence for and against.
From the first McDougal treated the parties of the North-

west Fur Company with a degree of hospitality wholly

uncalled for and wholly contrary to the teachings of the
school in which he had been brought up. Instead of allow-
ing them only the scant courtesy which common hospitality
requires, and giving them plainly to understand that their
presence could not be tolerated, he treated them more like
associates, distributing favors with a lavish hand, selling
them provisions, and permitting them to spy out whatever
was going on or in contemplation. This course was noted
with disapproval by the other partners and members of the
establishment. Ross says of the visit of Thompson, in July,
181 1 :"McDougal received him like a brother; nothing
was too good for Mr. Thompson; he had access every-
where saw and examined everything, and whatever he
;

asked for he got as if he had been one of ourselves." Small

wonder that the people of Astoria regarded Thompson as
" little better than a spy in camp." Franchere says that it

was the general opinion at the time that he was there solely
to anticipate Astor in establishing a trading post at the
mouth of the Columbia, but had been prevented by untoward
circumstances from doing it.

The McDougal and McKenzie in the winter of

action of
1812-13, immediately after McKenzie had returned from
the interior with news of the war, was wholly without excuse
or justification. The resolution of these two partners to
abandon the establishment and quit the country was certainly
a most extraordinary proceeding. McDougal, by virtue of
Astor' s proxy, possibly had the technical right to take such
action, but it was never intended by Mr. Astor, and was
contrary to the spirit of the Articles of Association. The
Association could be dissolved within five years if found

unprofitable ; but there was

no evidence that it would
as yet
be unprofitable, and subsequent events have proved that it
would have been quite the reverse. McDougal's action was
 ;

234 OPINION OF FRANCHERE.

and can only be explained on the ground

clearly ultra vires,
of cowardice or disloyalty to the enterprise.
When McTavish came down to wait for the Isaac Todd,
as he said, in the spring of 1813,McDougal permitted him
to hang around Astoria for over three months, when it was
within his power to have driven him out of the country, even
without a resort to force.
Finally at the time of signing the manifesto stating the
reason for abandoning the establishment, and during the
subsequent period of negotiations for the purchase of Asto-
ria, McDougal's treatment of his competitors was such as to

cause general comment and to excite the shame and indigna-

tion of the Americans who were present. Add to this that
he entered the service of the Northwest Company soon after
the transfer, still acting as agent and holding the papers of
the Pacific Fur Company, and permitting their contents to be
known to the Northwest people, and the burden of proof is
very heavy against him that he acted, in the words of Irving,
" if not a perfidious, certainly a craven part."
Franchere, who gave the first account of these proceed-
ings to the world, who wrote in Montreal and
In French, and
therefore not at all American public
to catch the eye of the
and, moreover, who bears a reputation untarnished by any
suspicions of disloyalty to Mr. Astor, takes positive ground
against McDougal. " Those at the head of affairs," he
wrote, " had their own fortunes to seek, and thought it more
for their interest, doubtless, to act as they did ; but that will
not clear them in the eyes of the world, and the charge of
treason to Mr. Astor's interests will always be attached to
their characters." And again, "
McDougal, as a reward
for betraying the trust reposed in him by Mr. Astor, was
made a partner in the Northwest Fur Company."
In all these matters may be seen the fruition of that course
which McDougal initiated while still in New York by calling
on the British minister there and divulging to him the plans
of Mr. Astor. Even while yet in the presence of the patron
of the great enterprise he was secretly taking steps, whether
 DOWNFALL OF ASTORIA UNNECESSARY. 235

intentionally or not,which could but be inimical to his best

interest. Information has recently come to light in the
journal of Alexander Henry which confirms the prima facie
evidence of disloyalty to Astor, involved in McDougal's
acceptance of a connection with the Northwest Company.
McDougal was no favorite with that company, and the rela-
tions of the other partners to him, as shown in Alexander
Henry's journal, were so strained that they negotiated only
by letter. As with all traitors, those whom he had served
by his treachery distrusted him. They clearly had no use
for him; but nevertheless on the 23rd of December they
made formal propositions to him which were accepted on the
25th, giving him a share in the company. It is hardly prob-
able that they would have done this for one whom they so
thoroughly disliked except in fulfillment of a promise made
upon condition of his facilitating the sale of Astoria.
Of the other partners, and of the clerks, except possibly
Ross and Cox, there no doubt of their loyalty to the under-
is

taking, nor of their readiness to stand by it under all diffi-

culties. McDougal principally, and with him McKenzie,
are the men responsible for the downfall of Astoria. Con-
cerning this downfall itself it was as unnecessary as any
human proceeding ever was. The facts upon which the
necessity of abandonment was alleged in the manifesto of
July 13, 181 3, stand to this day unproved. In the fruits of
the previous winter's trade, the first essay on the Columbia,
which had all arrived at Astoria before the middle of June,
was a conclusive refutation of the allegation of unprofitable-
ness, and it was only on the ground of unprofitableness that
the enterprise could be abandoned. Mr. Hunt had not yet
returned as agreed, it is true, and the resident partners
knew nothing of the brilliant outlook in that direction;
but it was their duty to await.
The only other justification of their
action would have
been that they could not maintain themselves either from
the danger of starvation or of capture by the British.
Neither of these dangers was imminent if common sense
236 NO DANGER OF CAPTURE.

precautions were taken. The Astorians were never seri-

ously reduced and had now learned the country
in supplies,
so well that they could easily have made themselves self-
supporting. They had, moreover, reason to expect an early
addition to their stores from the annual ship or from Mr.
Hunt.
As to capture by a British war vessel, it was a matter
always within their power to save everything except the
buildings, which could be replaced at slight expense. A
small establishment could have been built farther back,
where a ship's force could not have followed, and here the
valuable property could have been stored pending develop-
ments. The main house at Astoria could have been kept
open in the meanwhile and if a man-of-war had actually
come in sight, it could have been hastily abandoned. The
war vessel would then have found only the empty buildings
and at most could only have destroyed these. The crew
would not have dared to undertake an expedition into the
interior among natives warmly attached to the Astorians,
and would have been compelled to withdraw without having
accomplished anything. That this was the opinion of those
at the time who remained loyal to the enterprise may be seen
from the following remarks of Franchere " From the
:

account given in this chapter the reader will see with what
facility the establishment of the Pacific Fur Company could
have escaped capture by a British force. It was only nec-
essary to get rid of the land party of the Northwest Com-
pany, who were completely in our power, then remove our
effects up the river upon some small stream and await the
result. The sloop-of-war arrived, it is true; but, as in the
case I have supposed, she would have found nothing, she
would have left after setting fire to our deserted houses.
None of their boats would have dared follow us, even if
the Indians had betrayed to them our lurking place." If
there were any doubt on this point it is dispelled by the fact
that this very course was in contemplation by the Northwest
Company after the transfer, when, on one occasion, it was
 PRECARIOUS SITUATION OF THE NORTHWESTERS. 237

doubtful whether an approaching sail were friend or foe.

It is true thatAlexander Henry, in his journal, speaking of

his forlorn state after the Northwest Brigade had departed
in April, 1814, and had left him in charge at Fort George,
says that in the event of the arrival of an American vessel,
retreat was impossible to him. But he had no force with
him adequate to the task, and the Indians around him were
hostile. His remarks refer only to the weakened condition
of the fort at that time.
In short, at no time during the career of Astoria wai
there danger of her capture either by the British war vessel
or by the Northwesters. The Astorians were always
stronger and better supplied than their rivals. It was in

their power to communicate with St. Louis by a route

shorter and less dangerous than that of the Northwest Com-
pany to Fort William. It was already known to them that
Crooks and Robert Stuart had made their way back in per-
fect safety over all that part of the journey which had given
Hunt so much trouble. Henry's journals make known to
us now, were not patent at the time, how precarious the
if it

situation of the Northwest Company really was, and how

great was the danger that the course of events, in his own
words, "would end in the failure of our business here."
All that Astoria ever needed to carry her through the storm
was a leader determined not to yield so long as there was a
chance to hold out.
Concerning the unfortunate events at sea, such as the loss
of the Tonqiiin and the Lark, and the conduct of Captain
Sowles, bad as they were, they were not by any means irrep-
arable blows to Astoria, for Mr. Astor had covenanted to
bear all losses himself for the first five years. The most
harmful feature of the maritime business was Mr. Hunt's
enforced absence until affairs at the Columbia had gotten
beyond recall.
A large share of the responsibility for the loss of Astoria
mustfall upon the government of the United States. It had
warmly approved of Mr. Astor's plans, and although it
238 RESPONSIBILITY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT.

could grant him no direct assistance in time of peace, it

could and ought to have lent him the small aid necessary to
protect his establishment from a public enemy. It could

not have been insensible to the importance of the infant

colony at the mouth of the Columbia. But when the hour
of danger came it lent not the slightest aid. To be sure it
had its hands full at the time, but the small assistance which
was required and which Mr. Astor besought the government
to send, would have been a trivial burden. It would at least
have been possible to have sent a company of soldiers along
the track of Crooks and Stuart, and they would have held
the Columbia against any attack to be feared in that quarter.
But alas! there was not a could-have-been in the whole
transaction that did not turn out adversely, and wherever
the element of chance entered in it ran uniformly one way.
The great purpose of the enterprise, the with which it
skill

was planned, the far-reaching relation which

it bore to the

future of the United States, and the loss of life and property
in the attempt to carry it out, were worthy of a better fate.^
In all this affair it is a satisfaction to exonerate the North-
west Company from any dishonorable conduct. They had
—
a purpose to accomplish that of driving the Americans off
the Columbia. They executed this purpose with their
characteristic energy and skill. They did not scruple to
apply the code of the fur trade in all its severity against their
rivals, but they were within their rights. They can not
justly be charged with doing any more than they were enti-
tled to do in the circumstances but that only makes our
;

shame the greater that therewas no one on the other side

possessed of the same dogged determination to maintain
their rights.

* The number of persons lost in the company's service was not

total
less than sixty-five.For a muster of the Astorians, and biographical
sketches of the leading characters, see Appendix C.
 CHAPTER XIV.
ASTORIA.
ITS AUTHOR AND THE " SOURCES OF HIS INSPIRATION."

Astoria fortunate in her historian — Irving's accuracy impugned —

Irving's interest in the fur trade — Alleged subservience to Mr. Astor —
Irving charged with plagiarism — Irving's Captain Bonneville — Fran-
chere's criticism of Astoria — Bancroft's treatment of Irving.

93 STORIA was happy in finding an historian as she

as
^^ was unfortunate
in working out her history. Irv-
ing's treatment of this subject has become classic. It has

served a two- fold purpose — that of fixing in imperishable

characters the history of a great enterprise, and that of pre-
serving to posterity the most real and graphic picture now in
existence of a phase of which has entirely passed away.
life

It is not the purpose here to offer anything in the way of

criticism of this great work, but simply to notice one or two
popular but erroneous notions concerning it.
The fashion among later writers upon western history has
been to rate Astoria as a work whose classic standing in
literature is due to the brilliancy of its author's style. If
not directly, still constantly by innuendo, Mr. Irving's fidel-
ity as an historian is impugned, and he is charged with
having embellished his work at the expense of its accuracy.
He has been accused by one writer of permitting his friend-
ship for Mr. Astor to bias his judgment of men and events.
Finally he has been charged, if not with plagiarism direct, at
least with lavish use of the writings of others without due
acknowledgment. It is these three matters that will here
be given brief consideration.
Great in his calling is the architect or engineer who can
240 IRVING S ACCURACY.

design a work like the Brooklyn Bridge, in which every

part is so related to every other that there is nothing useless

or superfluous in its construction and that the highest result

of which the material is capable is realized. But far greater
is he who can do not only this, but can add the touches of

artistic genius by covering up the cold and severe outlines

with the adornments of painting and sculpture, until the
result, like St. Peter's of Rome, is a living picture of beauty.
The work has lost nothing of its architectural form and pro-
portions, and beneath the superficial beauty are still the same

perfect adaptations of the parts to their various uses ; but the

whole effect is many fold more important, because it appeals
to the hearts as well as to the judgments of men. And yet
it is a prevalent notion that these two important qualities
rarely coexist, and that excellence in either is ordinarily
obtained at the expense of the other.
In making a somewhat exhaustive study of the authorities
relating to the Astorian enterprise it was expected at the out-

set to find this popular idea of Irving's Astoria the cor-

rect one, and that when it came to removing the lustre of art
there would be found a rather shaky framework in which
would be many a defective member. The result has been
exactly the reverse, and it has been a matter of growing
astonishment throughout these studies to find with what
detail the illustrious author had worked out his theme, and
with what judicial fairness he had passed judgment upon
actors and events. Not in the allurements of style alone,
but in the essential respects of accuracy and comprehensive
treatment, Irving's work stands immeasurably above all
others upon the subject.
In that always troublesome matter of dates, for example,
Irving has fewer errors than any other of the Astorian
authors. Most of those in Astoria are evidently slips,

and are self-corrective from the context.^

* To
the casual reader Irving may seem to skip over his chronology
rather carelessly, by his " next mornings," " following days," etc.
But whoever will take pains to fit in the proper dates will find that the
 ROUTES OF THE ASTORIANS. 24I

A
matter in which we have taken great interest is the
recovery of the routes of the overland Astorians. At the
time of these journeys there was ahnost no geographical
knowledge of the country traversed between the Missouri
and the Columbia — not even names in most instances to
describe natural features by. Even when Irving wrote
there were only the crudest maps and very little in the way
of geographical information yet collected. It would seem,

in this situation, that any attempt to work out routes from

the meagre data derived from journals of the expedition
must be and from no fault of the
in a large degree a failure,
author. Yet in spite of all these difficulties it is possible to
identify most of the localities very closely, and many of
them exactly, from Irving's description. Pen pictures
which would probably pass for the effusions of a versatile
pen are found to be true to the localities even at the present
day. There are indeed some gaps and omissions, but these
are nothing in comparison with the remarkable feat of pre-
serving so well the line of march in which not a single scien-
tific observation as to course or direction was taken, and in

a country of which no map had ever been made.

No mistake could be greater than to suppose that Irving
took up this subject simply as one affording him a good
theme for his ever-ready pen, or that he neglected in any
degree the weighty responsibility of the historian. The
fur trade had commanded his attention from early life.
He had visited Montreal and the nearer establishments of the
Northwest Company, as well as our own prairies. All his
life he had been thrown in contact with those who had spent

much of their time in the wilderness. The doings of those

engaged in the fur trade "have always been themes
author has not lost his chronology by these omissions, but has carried
it along with fidelity. For example take the following from the nar-
rative of the overland journey of the Astorians east: "On the nth .

. . next day
the . . . At daybreak . . . Before daylight
... the next morning ... the following day . . . the next
day, October 17th " etc.
242 ALLEGED SUBSERVIENCE TO MR. ASTOR.

of charmed interest to me," he once wrote, " and I have felt

anxious to get at the details of their adventurous expedi-
tions." And again " It is one object of our task, how-
:

ever, to present scenes of the rough life of the wilderness,

and we are tempted few memorials of a transient
to fix these
state of things fast passing into oblivion." Such was the
purpose — to " fix " the " details " of events and this —
motive finds expression in the remarkable accuracy which
runs through the entire work.
As to the charge of undue subservience to Mr. Astor's
views, it is difficult to see upon what it is based unless it be
the fact that these gentlemen were warm friends. No evi-
dence of it can be found in the book itself, which, though
full of admiration for Mr. Astor's enterprise, is no more
so than the subject deserves. Irving's treatment of the
leading members of the company is eminently fair, and errs,
if at all, on the side of generous indulgence. How could
he treat more considerately than he has the action of Mr.
Hunt or the conduct of Captain Thorn? McDougal might
indeed wince under the lash of Irving's pen, but he could
scarcely complain that the punishment was greater than the
crime.
An oft repeated charge against Irving is that he made
use of other authorities without due acknowledgment and —
of Franchere's Narrative in particular. This is always a
serious charge, and particularly reprehensible in an eminent
author who filchesfrom the works of obscure writers. Let
us see what are the facts. At the time of the publication of
Astoria, there were four published works which treated of
portions of the enterprise. These were the works of Brack-
enridge and Bradbury, which related only the journey from
St. Louis to the Aricara villages; and those of Franchere
and Cox, which treated of the general history of the enter-
prise. What reference does Irving make to these works,
and what his own statement concerning the " sources of
is

his inspiration " ? says He" All the papers relative to

:

the enterprise were accordingly submitted to my inspection.

 :

THE CHARGE OF PLAGIARISM. 243

Among them were journals and letters narrating expeditions

by land and sea, and journeys to and fro across the Rocky
mountains by routes before untraveled, together with doc-
uments illustrative of savage and colonial life on the borders
of the Pacific. With such materials in hand I undertook
the work." Again he refers to the journals as the authori-
ties " on which I chiefly depended." He explicitly states,
however, that these were not all; that he derived informa-
tion from other sources, and he tells us what those sources
were. He adds: " I have, therefore, availed myself occa-
sionally of collateral lights supplied by the published jour-
nals of other travelers who had visited the scenes described
such as Messrs. Lewis and Clark, Bradbury, Brackenridge,
Long, Franchere, and Ross Cox, and make a general
acknowledgment of aid received from these quarters."
Not only does he thus discharge with the strictest fidelity his
obligation to these authorities, but throughout the text,
when he makes direct citation, he states the fact in a foot
note.
As a matter of fact Irving follows none of his authorities
closely, never to the extent of adopting their language. It
is indeed difficult to trace his indebtedness, if there was any,
and this fact alone negatives any possibility of extensive
borrowing. If he did borrow, he so completely worked the
matter over in his own incomparable style, that itwas to all
intents and purposes new matter.
The estimate that we have here given of Astoria
applies as Captain Bonneville, a work equally
well to
remarkable for its accuracy of detail and its comprehensive
treatment of a wide range of subjects. These two works
are the classics of the American fur trade, unapproached
and unapproachable in their particular field. They are the
full fruition of Mr. Irving's desire to " fix these few memo-

rials of a transient state of things fast passing into ob-

livion."2

'Although a few writers have seen fit to refer disparagingly to

Astoria as an historical authority, there are only two who need
244 FRANCHERE S NARRATIVE.

be considered here — Franchere, whose Narrative is the earliest history

of Astoria, and Bancroft whose treatment is the latest.
Gabriel Franchere, who is the most reliable authority on the history
of Astoria except Irving, took occasion in the English edition of his
work, to criticise Astoria somewhat severely but nowhere does
;

he complain that Irving borrowed from him without credit. The

burden of his complaint is that Irving gave publicity to the choleric
opinions of Captain Thorn touching the young Canadians who sailed
in the Tonquin. It was indeed too rich a feast to be rejected by the
genial author, and the world will always thank him for having made
the most of it. Franchere, who was one of the " engravers of tomb-
stones " and writers of journals who so moved the contempt of Captain
Thorn, seems to have taken Irving seriously as endorsing the Captain's
opinions, whereas he only reports them. This sensitiveness at the
humorist's treatment of the young clerks is the only thing of conse-
quence that Franchere has to urge against Irving —
a complaint with so
little foundation that his editor felt called upon to present a note of

apology.
Hubert Howe Bancroft has endeavored to appropriate to himself
the historical field of the trans-Mississippi country, and his efforts in
this direction have borne fruit in thirty-eight massive volumes. He
was compelled to rely mainly on co-laborers whose heterogeneous pro-
ductions have been consolidated under his own direction and all placed
in the first person indicative of personal responsibility. The work is
unquestionably a great one in the breadth of subject covered and in the
extensive list of authorities quoted, and it will always be a valuable ref-
erence work to the student. It is not a work of historical accuracy
in its details. Such accuracy was not to be expected for it would have
;

been beyond the compass of human genius to have covered so vast

a field in so short a time and have covered it well. It is not to be
wondered at that it abounds in errors —
wrong dates, confusion of per-
sons, events and places, erroneous reliance upon authorities, and the
like —which make it unsafe as a guide for him who would proceed
carefully. These defects are inseparable from the immensity of the
task and are not to have weight against the great value of the work as
a whole.
No such indulgence, however, can be extended to Mr. Bancroft's dis-
cussion of certain historic questions, for pressure of work can not
explain his implacable prejudices and his itching desire to put forth
theories which shall subvert popular ideals or overthrow accepted con-
clusions. Particularly, whenever it is a question of an American view
as against a Spanish, British, or Indian view, Mr. Bancroft, if the
circumstances will possibly admit it, ranges himself against his own
countrymen.
In no instance is this peculiar trait more flagrantly in evidence
 HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT. 245

than in his treatment of Astoria, its founder and

historian.
its His
persistent bias of judgment and which place him
his bitter prejudice,
in an attitude of constant hostility toward Astor and Irving, and lead
him repeatedly into sheer falsifications and downright slander, are
wholly without rational explanation. It will be alike idle and weari-
some to examine in detail the several pages of close print in which Mr.
Bancroft exploits his hatred of these two historic characters but ;

a few examples illustrate the tenor of the whole.

Referring to the articles of agreement of the Pacific Fur Company
Mr. Bancroft, in his efforts to clear McDougal, says " In their
:

agreement with Astor they [ the partners ] reserved the right to close
the business should their interests seem so to dictate. Whatever loss
might arise from the enterprise fell on each in proportion to their
share." This is not so. TJie association was not to be dissolved
until it should prove unprofitable, and the loss for the first five years
was not to be borne by the partners in proportion to their share, but
by Mr. Astor alone.
"Had this scheme," says Mr. Bancroft, "been based on self-sacrifice,
on pecuniary loss for the public good, or the promulgation of some
great principle, the current of unqualified sycophancy, sentimentality,
and maudlin praise which runs through Astoria might be more bear-
able." Since when has Mr. Bancroft known of a commercial enter-
prise* being organized on the basis of "
pecuniary loss for the public
good"? Commercial undertakings are not conducted in that way.
It is no criticism of Mr. Astor's projects to say that their sole purpose
and aim were money-making. All great projects of discovery and col-
onization have been founded in commerce. It has been the genius of
commerce, rather than that of arms, that has carried the flag of
England around the world. The first motive in the foreign policy of all
governments is the protection and fostering of the commercial enter-
prises of their subjects wherever they may be. It may, however, be
truly said of the Astorian enterprise that it did involve the " promul-

gation of a great principle " — the cause of American empire on the

Pacific coast —and it did involve enormous pecuniary loss in an enter-
prise that was fraught with the highest possibility fo' the public good.
In respect to the vicious attack upon Irving contained in this paragraph,
the candid reader will not find in Astoria a single sentence that will
lend even the color of justification to it.
Mr. Bancroft says of Irving and Franchere " There are whole
:

pages in Astoria abstracted almost literally from Franchere. Pretend-

ing to draw all his information from private sources, the author makes
no allusion to the source to which he is most indebted, not even men-

tioning Franchere's name once in his whole work." It is quite evident

that Mr. Bancroft had never read carefully either Irving or Franchere
or he would have avoided the pitiful blunders contained in this para-
246 A DISGRACE TO AMERICAN HISTORY.

graph. The reader is referred to Irving's own statement of his authori-

ties just given, and to his acknowledgment of aid from Franchere,
Cox and others.
Again Bancroft says " In telling this story [ of Reed's massacre
:
]

Irving takes whole sentences from Ross and Cox without a sign of
an acknowledgment these works, however, were little read in Amer-
;

ica in Irving's day." The work of Ross was not published until
thirteen years after Astoria! Irving does not take a sentence verba-
tim from Cox and moreover acknowledges his debt to that author for
such information as was derived from him. His reference to Co^'s
work was a better introduction to the American reading public than
the young author could have secured in any other way, and Mr.
Bancroft's slur that Irving attempted to conceal his reliance upon Cox
because of that author's obscurity is excusable only on the ground of
ignorance.
Finally as a climax to his exhibition of spleen Mr. Bancroft says:
" Up
to this time the imputation that he [ Irving ] had received money
from Mr. Astor for writing Astoria I believed to be utterly false and
unworthy of consideration. But ... I am otherwise unable to
account for this unusual warp of judgment." Mr. Bancroft should
produce his facts. To Irving living he would hardly make this accu-
sation without proof in hand. It is not the part of courage at this late
day, to placard the infamous slander upon the tombstone of one of
America's most gifted and beloved authors. It is needless to say that
the whole idea is a climax of absurdity. The work itself refutes the
charge. Moreover, was Irving so simple as to suppose that he would
escape detection at the bar of history if he departed knowingly from
the facts? In the fulness of his reputation is it likely that he would
tarnish his great name for any " money " that Mr. Astor might give
him? Mr. Bancroft in this aflfair stands in no higher character than
that of libeler and slanderer and his performance is a disgrace to
American history.
Asearching criticism of Mr. Bancroft's treatment of the Astorian en-
terprise was published in 1885 in the March number of the Magazine of
American History. It is from the pen of Peter Koch of Bozeman,
Montana.
I regret to note in some of the late Doctor Coues' recent works an
i.'«clination to sanction these popular errors concerning Irving's
works on the fur trade; and I deem it only just to say, as an infer-
ence from my correspondence with him, that these impressions were
rather the result of reading hostile authors like Bancroft than from
mature investigation. As his attention was called through specific ex-
amples to the general accuracy and originality of these works, he ma-
terially modified his earlier opinion of them.
 CHAPTER XV.
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.
ASHLEY AND HIS MEN.

Wiliiam—H, Ashley — Andrew Henry — Jedediah Smith — The

S.
— James Bridger — Thomas Fitzpatrick — Henry Fraeb —
Sublettes
Robert Campbell — David Jackson — Etienne Provost and others.

^y HE founder of that fur-trading association which at one

^^ time in its career bore the name at the head of this
chapter,was Wilham H. Ashley, of St. Louis, one of the
most noted and successful of the traders. With him was
associated Andrew Henry, another distinguished character
in the early fur trade ; while in his employ was a remarkable
group of young men whose names in later years became well
known throughout the West. Among them were Jedediah
S. Smith, David E. Jackson, William L. Sublette and his
brother Alilton, Robert Campbell, James Bridger, Thomas
Fitzpatrick, Samuel TuUoch, James P. Beckwourth. Etienne
Provost, and many others.

ASHLEY.
William Henry Ashley was born in Powhatan county,
Virginia, in 1778. He came to St. Louis in 1802, and re-
mained there until his death. There is little known about
his early career in St. Louis, and it is necessary to draw in-
ferences from the occasional hints that are found in the
newspapers and correspondence of the times. He was en-
gaged at one time in the real estate business, and for some
years prior to 1820 was interested in the manufacture of
gunpowder at Mine Shibboleth, having doubtless taken up
the business as a consequence of the War of 1812. He was
also engaged mining, then one of the most flourishing in-
in
dustries in Missouri, and probably in this way became ac-
248 A REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN.

quainted with his future able partner in the fur trade, An-
drew Henry "of the mines." In 1814 he was one of a
committee of gentlemen to solicit subscriptions for a pro-
posed bank in St. Louis. He took an active part in devel-
oping the militia of the state, and gradually advanced
through the various grades of authority. He is mentioned
as Captain in 181 3, Colonel in 1819, and General in 1822,
being then highest in command of the state troops. In pol-
itics, likewise, he began at an early day to take a hand, and

in 1820 was elected the first Lieutenant-Governor of the

^
newly admitted state of Missouri.
From these scattering glimpses of Ashley's early life it
may be concluded that he was a representative American
business man of the frontier type, when fixed callings were
the exception and men
turned their hands to whatever
offered them the best prospect of success. The twenty
years' apprenticeship served in the school of frontier enter-
prise had admirably equipped him to make the most of the
opportunity of his life which now opened up before him,
absorbing his time for the next six years and leaving him
at the end an independently wealthy man.
The rise of the Rocky Mountain fur trade will be
sketched in the ensuing chapter. Ashley entered this trade
in 1822 in partnership with Andrew Henry. His early es-
says were not particularly encouraging. In his first expe-
dition he lost a keelboat and cargo worth ten thousand dol-
lars, and 1823 suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the
in
Aricaras, and minor outrages to his force under Henry at
the mouth of the Yellowstone. In the summer of 1824 he
was defeated as candidate for Governor of Missouri. In
spite of these reverses, which might well have discouraged
him, he set out for the mountains in the fall of 1824 with a
new little way ahead of him
expedition, having sent only a
another under Henry. Luck now turned in his direction.
Year after year his parties came down from the mountains
with the most astonishing returns, and by 1828 his fortune
was assured.
 ELECTED TO CONGRESS. 249

Of Ashley's personal visits to the upper country there were

only four. He went as far as to the mouth of the Yellow-
stone in 1822 and to the Aricara villages in 1823. In 1824
he went to the Green river valley and in the following spring
to Great Salt Lake. He made another journey to the
mountains in 1826, when he sold out to Smith, Jackson, and
Sublette. He started on a fifth trip in 1827 but was pre-
vented by ill health from completing it.

Ashley had at this time formed a comprehensive view of

the way in which the fur trade ought to be conducted. He
had laid his plans to attempt the Blackfoot country again,
in spite of the disastrous failures of the Missouri Fur Com-
pany, and he had even fixed upon the mouth of the Marias
river as the proper site of his proposed establishment. But
his activities were now turned into new fields and he never
carried out these extensive designs. His financial fortune
being won, the old thirst for political honors returned. It
was an opportune moment to present himself to the people
as a candidate for their suffrages. He had won a high place
in public esteem by his business successes and his public spir-
it, while his exploits in the mountains had given an air of

romance to his career which counts for so much in the quest

for popular favor. Keelboats and steamboats were named
for him, and "Ashley beaver" came to have a definite place
in the trade as the name of an extra fine brand of that fur.
His opinions on all matters pertaining to the business of the
fur trade were of the highest authority. In short, General
Ashley at this time was the most influential man in Missouri,
next to Senator Benton.^
Ashley was elected to Congress in 1831 to fill the unex-
pired term of Spencer Pettis, who was killed in a duel with
Thomas Biddle on August 27th of that year. He was twice
re-elected, and continued in office until March 4, 1837. His
services were of great value to the people of his state. His
' It is possible that there were other and more substantial induce-

ments that led Gen. Ashley to give up his expeditions to the mountains.
See foot note to letter of Thomas Forsythe, Appendix E.
250 ASHLEY S GRAVE.

practical knowledge of the western country made his opin-

ions sought on all questions relating to the Indian trade. He
supported the bill for the permanent exclusion of liquor
from the Indian country, but more because it was an admiiv
istration measure than from any belief in its practical work-
ings. He was instrumental in securing the first government
aid for improving the channel of the Mississippi in the vi-
cinity of St. Louis. He was popular in public life and was
greatly assisted by his wife, better known in after years as
the wife of John J. Crittenden, and one of the most accom-
plished women of her time.
Ashley was in poor health when he left Congress and nev-
er fully recovered. He returned to his beautiful home in St.
Louis where he remained until shortly before his death.
Early in 1838, being much broken down, he went with his
wife to reside for a time with Dr. James W. Moss, Mrs.
Ashley's father, at his home near the confluence of the La
Mine and Missouri hoping that the change would be
rivers,
beneficial. In this they were disappointed; the General's
health rapidly failed, and he died March 26, 1838. In ac-
cordance with his request, made shortly before his death, he
was buried on an Indian mound in a beautiful situation on a
bluff overlooking the Missouri a mile above the mouth of the
La Mine river.^ A few years after Ashley's death a wooden
fence was built around the grave, but this has now decayed,
and as no monument was erected, the grave is in a state of
neglect with nothing whatever to mark it —
a fate tliat has
befallen many another prominent man.^"*
Ashley's death was a great loss to his state and to the
political party to which he belonged. One of the most
touching eulogies ever devoted by the press to the memory
of a public man was that which appeared in the Missouri
Republican of April 3, 1838. On the 5th of the same month
*The foregoing facts relating to the sickness and death of General
Ashley I have from a biographical sketch by Wm. F. Switzler, pub-
lished in the Columbia (Missouri) Herald Sept. 22, 1899.
* "A lind tree
to the foot and a cedar to the head " of his grave is the
present condition as described by the farmer who now owns the land.
 ANDREW HENRY. 25I

a meeting was held of the citizens of St. Louis county to take

action on his death, while on every hand testimonials of
esteem and expressions of sorrow were heard.
Ashley is said to have been four times married, but of his
earlier marriages no record survives. He was married to
Miss Elizabeth Christy October 26, 1825, immediately after
his return from his first success in the mountains. She lived
only five years and in 1833 ^^^ married a widow, Mrs.
Wilcox, whose rare accomplishments we have elsewhere
referred to. Ashley left no children.
HENRY.
Andrew Henry, one of the original incorporators of the
Missouri Fur Company, and later the partner of Gen. W. H.
Ashley, was born between 1773 and 1778, in Fayette county,
Pa. It is not known when he migrated West, but probably
before the cession of Louisiana. He joined the Missouri
Fur Company injiSogjand bore the brunt of the terrible
struggle with the Blackfeet in the following year at the
Three Forks of the Missouri. Driven from this position,
he crossed the Divide and built a post on that tributary of
Snake river, which still bears his name. He was thus the
first American trader to carry his business to the Pacific side

of the mountains. Unable to maintain himself there he

returned to the settlements in the following year. Nothing
is known of his doings for the next ten years, but he pre-
sumably went into the business of mining, for there is one
reference to him about 181 5 as "Andrew Henry of the
mines."
In 1822 he associated himself with Ashley, and his doings
during the next two years will presently be narrated. It
is not known when he finally left the Indian country, nor

to what business he devoted himself in his later years. He

was at one time well off, but lost his money by becoming
surety for defaulting debtors. Urged to put his property
in his wife's name to avoid its loss, he indignantly repelled
the suggestion, preferring to live a poor man rather than
a dishonest one.
252 JEDEDIAH S. SMITH.

Henry died at his residence in Harmony township, Wash-

ington county, Missouri, January 10, 1832. St. Louis A
paper, announcing the event, referred to him as " a man
much respected for his honesty, inteIHgence, and enterprise.
. . . One of those enterprising traders who first explored
the wild and inhospitable regions of the Rocky mountains."
Henry married, late in life, a beautiful woman of French
birth much younger than himself, whom he had once car-
ried as a child in his arms, and then playfully predicted that
she would yet be his wife. He left who died
a son, Patrick,
July 15, 1898, leaving a daughter, Miss Mary Henry, who
still home.
resides in the vicinity of her grandfather's
Henry is and slender, yet of commanding
described as tall

presence, with dark hair and light eyes inclined to blue.

He was fond of reading and played the violin well. He
was not a member of any church, but was a believer in the
Christian religion. He was evidently a man of acts rather
than words, and no letter or recorded expression of his has
come down to us. We know only his signature, which may
be seen with that of others at the foot of the articles of
incorporation of the Missouri Fur Company.

SMITH.

Jedediah S. Smith was one of the most remarkable men

that ever engaged in the American Fur Trade. He was like
that distinguished character of later years, Stonewall Jack-
son, in combining with the most ardent belief in, and prac-
an undaunted courage, fierce
tice of, the Christian religion,
and impetuous nature, and untiring energy. His deeds are
unfortunately much veiled in obscurity, but enough has sur-
vived to show that he was a true knight errant, a lover of
that kind of adventure which the unexplored West afforded
in such ample degree.
Smith was born in the state of New York, of respectable
parentage, was well educated, and at about eighteen years
of age went to St. Louis, where he entered the service of
Ashley and Henry in 1823. It is a singular coincidence that
 VOLUNTEERS TO CARRY DISPATCHES. 253

Smith, Jackson, and Sublette were all in this expedition.

They greatly distinguished themselves in the battle with
the Aricaras, June 2, 1823. After Ashley's retreat, and
while he was waiting for the military to come to his relief,
it became important to communicate with Henry on the

Yellowstone. It was an extremely hazardous errand, and

Ashley called for volunteers. To the astonishment of
every one, young Smith, a mere youth, stepped forward and
offered to go. Ashley was greatly impressed with the
young man's intrepidity. He accepted the offer, but pre-
vailed upon an experienced Canadian Frenchman to go with
him. The mission was successfully performed, although not
without great peril.
The rest of Smith's career in the fur trade will be narrated
in another part of this work. It was full of the most peril-
ous adventures, and carried him over from the
all the West,
British boundary to the Mexican provinces, and from the
Mississippi to the Pacific. He was twice in California, and
always referred to that country as the most beautiful on the
globe. On several occasions his escape from the Indians,
from grizzly bears, and from starvation, bordered on the
miraculous. In 1826 he became senior member of the firm
of Smith, Jackson, and Sublette, which sold out to the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company in 1830. The following year the
three partners embarked in the Santa Fe trade; but during
the first expedition Smith lost his life on the Cimarron.'*
" Smith was a bold, outspoken, professing, and consistent
Christian, the first and only one known among the early
Rocky mountain trappers and hunters. No one who knew
him well doubted the sincerity of his piety. He had become
a communicant of the Methodist church before leaving his
home in New York, and ... in St. Louis he never
failed to occupy a place in the church of his choice, while he
gave generously to all objects connected with the religion
which he professed and loved. Besides being an
. . .

adventurer and a hero, a trader and a Christian, he was

* See Chapter XXXI., this Part.
254 MILTON G. SUBLETTE.

himself inclined to literary pursuits, and had prepared a

geography and atlas of the Rocky mountain region, extend-
ing perhaps to the Pacific, but his death occurred before its
publication."'
SUBLETTE.
This is a name highly distinguished in the fur trade.
There were four brothers ^ who engaged in the trade —
Andrew, Solomon P., Milton G., and William L. but —
only the last two bore a prominent part in it.
Milton G. Sublette was a great deal in the mountains with
his elder brother, and was one of the firm of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company, and later of the firm of Fitzpatrick,
Sublette and Bridger. He was an able trader, although less
distinguished than William L. His death was caused by a
disease in his leg, which compelled him to relinquish his
expedition of 1834 to the mountains. His leg was twice
amputated, but to no purpose, and he died at Fort Laramie
December 19, 1836.
William L. Sublette was one of the most distinguished
and successful of the fur traders, and renowned as a bold
and hardy mountaineer. He was born in 1799, and came
to St. Charles in 181 8, where he commenced life by putting
up the first billiard table in that town. He came from
Kentucky stock, and it was claimed by the family that his
grandfather was the slayer of Tecumseh, at the battle of the
Thames. His ancestors on both sides were celebrated in the
frontier history of the West. Sublette was one of the com-
pany of " enterprising young men " whom Ashley advertised
for and secured for his early mountain expeditions under
Henry. With him were Jedediah S. Smith and David E.
Jackson, who were long and intimately associated with him
in his later business career. He was with Ashley at the
Aricara fight, June 2, 1823, and held the rank of Sergeant-
' William Waldo in MS. No. 135, Missouri Historical Society, St.
Louis.
*A P. W. Sublette was killed by the Blackfeet in 1828 in the Rocky
mountains.
 ;

WILLIAM L. SUBLETTE. 255

Major in the attack upon the villages August 9-1 1, under

Leavenworth.
His name does not occur often in the next three years,
but it is certain that he was actively engaged in the mountain
trade under Ashley, for in 1826, he, with Smith and Jack-
son, bought out Ashley and succeeded to his business under
the firm name of Smith, Jackson and Sublette.
This partnership being dissolved by the death of Smith
in 1 83 1, Sublette remained foot loose in business connections
until the fall of 1832. In the summer of that year he went
to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company rendezvous in Pierre's
Hole, where he participated in the celebrated battle with
the Blackfeet July i8th, in which he received a severe
wound.
On the 20th of December, 1832, Sublette formed a part-
nership with his fast friend, Robert Campbell, who had long
been a companion on his mountain expeditions. This firm
continued for ten years and constituted the only serious
opposition which American Fur Company had to
the
encounter during this time. Their two principal trading
posts were on the Platte at the mouth of the Laramie, and
on the Missouri, near Fort Union. The firm was dissolved
by mutual agreement January 12, 1842, Campbell apparently
taking the business, although there is evidence that the firm
name was longer continued.
Sublette did not long survive the close of his affairs in
the Indian country. While on his way to Washington in
1845 he died at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on the 23rd of
July.
From a passportnow in the possession of Mr. M. L.
Gray, of St. Louis,granted by the United States govern-
ment to Sublette in 1831 to enable him to visit Santa Fe
and other points in New Mexico, we have the following
description of his personal appearance " Height six feet
:

two inches forehead straight and open eyes blue, light

; ;

nose Roman mouth and chin common hair light or sandy

; ;

complexion fair face long and expressive scar on left side

; ;

of chin." He was at this time thirty-two years old.

256 POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS.

While not a man of conspicuous ability Sublette was

admirably adapted to the business of the mountain fur
trade ; was feared and respected by the Indians ; and was
a bold and successful leader. His partner, Campbell, and
he were fast friends, and in a will of Campbell's dated July
27, 1835. Sublette was included. This recalls an incident
in the life of these two men when they went into the battle
of Pierre's Hole in 1832. Each made his will orally to the
other as they were hastening to the conflict, but fortunately
both escaped.
Sublette had some political aspirations, but they were
never satisfied. A curious and interesting document in
more ways than one, is among the Sublette papers in the
possession of Mr. Gray. It is entitled," Give the Pioneer
a hoire! William L. Sublette," and is written by one of

Sublette's friends who signs himself a " Pioneer of the Far

West — one of the hardy race which have been opening the
wild country in advance of the thick settlements since the
first colonization of our continent." It is a strong plea for
the election of Sublette to Congress. After reviewing the
situation generally in a strain which today would stamp him
as a loyal believer in the Chicago Platform of 1896, the
writer presents his candidate " as amongst the fittest of the
prominent men of our party to be placed on the general ticket
for Congress. His experience, fit age, chivalric character,
his intimate acquaintance with the people, and their confi-
dence in him, and above all his undeviating adherence to, and
practice of, the pure Democratic-Republican principles
through his past life, are the qualifications which endear
him to the people." All this, though politics, was true,
but it did not avail to send him to Congress.
In 1 84 1 Sublette was appointed aide-de-camp to Governor
Thomas Reynolds. In the spring of 1845 ^^^ wrote to Sen-
ator Benton to see if he could not secure the superintendency
of Indian Affairs at St. Louis, and it was probably on this
business that he was going to Washington when his last
illness overtook him.
 JAMES BRIDGER. 257

Sublette was independently rich when he died. He lived

in much
comfort, and always maintained a lively interest in
his Far West career. At the Sublette and Campbell store
there was a wigwam in which an Indian family was main-
tained. He had several Indians around him, who, when
they died, were buried in the private burying ground of the
Sublettes. On the Sublette farm were kept specimens of the
wild fauna, while in the house were numerous curiosities
characteristic of Indianlife. He was called Fate by the
Indians.
Sublette was buried in the private burying ground on the
farm in the outskirts of St. Louis, and in later years his
remains were removed to Bellefontaine cemetery, where they
now rest. The place is marked by a granite shaft.
Sublette was married to Miss Frances Hereford, of Tus-
cumbia, Alabama, March 21, 1844. Gossip surrounds this
incident with a little romance worthy of mention. It is

said that the lady in question had formed a prior attach-

ment to William's younger brother, Solomon P., but that
William's greater fortune turned the scale in his favor.
When Sublette died, soon after his marriage, he willed his
property to his wife on condition that she should not change
her name. Four years after her husband's death she mar-
ried her first love,Solomon P.
By one of those peculiar fatalities which now and then
overtake families, the Sublette family has becorne almost
extinct.
BRIDGER.
James Bridger, who was generally considered the ablest
hunter, mountaineer and guide of the West, was born in
Richmond, Virginia, March 17, 1804. His father's name
was William, and his mother's name was Chloe. They kept
a tavern in Richmond. In 1812 they went to St. Louis, but
soon moved to Six-Mile Prairie, where they passed the rest
of their lives. When Bridger was thirteen years old he was
apprenticed to Phil Creamer, of St. Louis, to learn the black-
smith trade. Nothing is known of him for the next five
258 ESTABLISHES FORT BRIDGER.

years. In 1822 he went to the Indian country in the party

under Andrew Henry, which contained so many names after-
ward distinguished in Western history. There is some evi-
dence tl^at he was the young man of the party who deserted
Hugh '^lass in 1823."^ Bridger was one of the band of
explorers among whom were Etienne Provost and Andrew
Henry, who discovered South Pass and opened up the trade
of the Great Salt Lake and Green river valleys. He is
the first white man whom we know to have seen the Great
Salt Lake. He visited it in the winter of 1824-5.
It would be an endless task
to trace the ubiquitous wan-
derings of this restless mountaineer during the next forty
years of his life. There was scarcely an accessible spot in
the mountains that he was not acquainted with. He had
become a daring leader before 1830 and in that year was
one of the partners of the newly organized firm of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company. He led his expeditions in every
direction, saw many a fight with the Indians, and in 1832
was wounded in the back by an arrow, which was extracted
in 1835 by the missionary. Dr. Whitman. After the dis-
banding of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company Bridger
entered the service of the American Fur Company, and he
seems to have been with the company from that time on, for
several years, or at least as late as 1843. There is on record
a power of attorney to William L. Sublette executed by
Bridger for the collection from Pratte, Chouteau and Com-
pany of $3,317.13 for two years' services. It is dated
Wind river, July 13, 1838. For several years Bridger was
associated with one Vasquez, in hunting enterprises for the
American Fur Company. In 1843 he founded Fort Bridger
on Black's Fork of Green river, and it became one of the
famous posts of the West. After 1843 Bridger led a more
regular order of life, giving much of his time to his busi-
ness at Fort Bridger and gradually drifting into govern-
ment service. His long schooling of twenty-five years in
this wild country had given him qualifications as a guide
' See Part IV., Chapter VIII.
 THOMAS FITZPATRICK. 259

not surpassed by any other. He was in constant demand

on official expeditions, and always commanded a good sal-
ary. Almost continuously for upward of twenty years he
was engaged in this work, and was as much entitled to be
called a veteran as were any of the officers and soldiers of
the army.
But neither the business of which
his earlier life nor that
followed could long continue. Both related to phases of
American history which were essentially evanescent.
Bridger lived to see the conditions which made a career like
his possible pass entirely away and in his later years he must
;

have felt like a man without a country, so different was

his environment then from that in which he had passed his
prime. His keenest enjoyment in his old age was to find
some comrade of his early life with whom he might live
over again those adventures which now existed only in
memory.
Late in life Bridger settled on a farm near Westport,
Missouri, now a part of Kansas City. Here he died July
17, 1881.
Bridger gained his chief reputation as a guide, and it
would be easy to fill pages with the voluntary testimonials
of his contemporaries from published narratives of the
times. All references to him are in his praise, and although,
like any man of prominence, he had his enemies, these were
generally confined to rivals in his particular calling, who
were jealous of his superiority.

FITZPATRICK.

Thomas Fitzpatrick was a prominent member of the

Rocky Mountain Fur Company, and later was much in the
service of the government during the era of exploration.
Like many othermen of this period his comings and goings
are lost behind the scenes, and all that is known of him is
from transient glimpses while he is passing across the stage
before us. He went to the mountains with Ashley, and
was with the Rocky Mountain Fur Company throughout its

V
260 ROBERT CAMPBELL.

career. After the downfall of the fur business he contin-

ued West, and is frequently mentioned in narratives of
in the
travel of that period. He was often employed by the gov-
ernment as a guide, and probably knew the Western country
as well as any man except Bridger. He was known to the
Indians as the Bad Hand.
FRAEB.
Henry Fraeb was a member of the Rocky Mountain Fur
^

Company from 1830 to 1834, and was distinguished among

the mountaineers for his skill and courage as a partisan.
He must have followed the mountains for as many as fif-
teen years. He was killed on St. Vrain's fork of the Yam-
pah river in southern Wyoming, in the latter part of August,
1841, in a battle between about sixty whites and a war party
of Sioux and Cheyennes. Fraeb and four companions were
killed. The battle is supposed to have been near a fort
built by Fraeb which was then or soon after
in this locality,
destroyed.
CAMPBELL.
Robert Campbell was born in 1804 in Aughlane, County
Tyrone, Ireland, and came to St. Louis in 1824. A year
later he was prostrated with hemorrhage of the lungs, and
upon the advice of physicians undertook a trip to the moun-
tains in one of Ashley's parties. The result was a complete
restoration of his health. He remained in the mountain
trade for the next twenty years or more, but personally with-
drew from conduct of operations in the field about 1835. I
His partnership with Sublette has been noted elsewhere.
Campbell became one of the foremost business men of St.
Louis. In the course of his career he was president of the
old State Bank and of the Merchants' National Bank, and
the owner of the Southern Hotel. In 1851 he was a Com-
missioner with Father De Smet to treat with the Indians
in the great conference near Fort Laramie. He was
* Always spelled, and of course pronounced, by his contemporaries

Frapp, but signed by himself as above.

 OTHER NOTED CHARACTERS. 261

appointed by President Grant on a similar commission in

1869. He died in St. Louis October i6, 1879.
These are some ot the more prominent of the " enterpris-
ing young men " whom Ashley took with him to the
mountains. One not considered here was David Jackson,
of whose biography nothing worthy of mention has come to
light except his association with Smith and Sublette. He
was fortunate in bequeathing his name to one of the most
beautiful situations in nature — the valley and lake at the
eastern base of the Teton mountains.
It is a remarkable coincidence that Ashley should have
drawn together under his banner so many choice spirits, and
in this good fortune may be discerned something of the secret
of his success. There were many others of note, besides
those whose names are here given. There was Etienne
Provost, one of the best and most reliable of the mountain
men, believed to have been the discoverer of South Pass,
and the same whose name now designates the city of Provo,
Utah. There was old Hugh Glass —he of the duel with
the grizzly bear — and there were Edward Rose, the Crow
man, and James Beckwourth, the inimitable fabricator of
frontier yarns. There were also Mike Fink, the famous
shot and treacherous friend, and his victim, Carpenter, and
Carpenter's avenger, Talbot. How many others there were
we do not know, but these are enough to make Ashley's
expeditions famous in the annals of the West.
 CHAPTER XVI.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

UNDER WILLIAM H. ASHLEY.

Ashley's advertisement — Plan of Gen. Ashley — Henry's expedition

of 1822 — Ashley's expedition of 1823 — Treacherous character of the
Aricaras — The affair at the Aricara villages — Ashley's retreat — Ex-
press sent to Henry and to Fort Atkinson — Henry joins Ashley — Hen-
ry returns to the Yellowstone and Ashley to Louis — Henry moves
St.
up the Yellowstone — South Pass discovered — Jedediah Smith
S. visits
Hudson Bay Company posts — Henry goes 10 Louis and immediately
St.
returns to the mountains — Ashley's doings 1823-4 — Change
in meth-
in
od of business — Ashley goes to Green river valley — Ashley descends
Green river and is shipwrecked — Meeting of Ashley and Provost —
Provost's party massacred by the Snakes — Ashley south of Salt Lake —
Ashley and Ogden — Ashley starts for St. Louis — Meets General At-
kinson at mouth of Yellowstone — Arrives inLouis — Marries —
St.
Returns to the mountains in 1826 — Sells out to Smith, Jackson and
Sublette — Etienne Provost's defection — Effect of Ashley's success.

'^'HE beginning of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company

^^ may be definitely traced to the following announce-
ment, which appeared in the Missoiiri Republican of St.
•^i Louis, March 20, 1822: "To enterprising young men.
^J^^he subscriber wishes engage one hundred young men to
to
ascend the Missouri river toits source, there to be employed

for one, two, or three years. For particulars enquire of

Major Andrew Henry, near the lead mines in the coimty
of Washington, who will ascend with, and command, the
party; or of the subscriber near St. Louis." [Signed.]
" William H. Ashley." The first recorded license for Ash-
ley to tradeon the upper Missouri bears date of April 11,
1822, and " a license of precisely the same tenor and date
was granted to Major Andrew Henry."
 HENRY COMMANDS EXPEDITION. 263

The response to this advertisement was prompt and sat-

isfactory. The desired number was duly enrolled and was
made up almost from young men, " many of whom
entirely
had relinquished the most respectable employments and
circles of society for the arduous " life of the wilderness.
The plan was to ascend to the Three Forks of the IMissouri,
a region which was believed to abound in a " wealth of furs
not surpassed by the mines of Peru." The party would be
absent three years, trapping on all " the streams on both
sides of the mountains in that region, and would very likely
penetrate to the mouth of the Columbia."
The expedition was commanded by Andrew Henry,* and
left St. Louis about April 15, with two keelboats laden with
merchandise and trapping equipments. It passed Franklin
April 25. About twenty miles below old Fort Osage the
party met with a heavy misfortune in the loss of a keelboat
from striking a snag. It sank almost instantly, carrying
down property valued at ten thousand dollars. It was with
difficulty that the crew were saved. In spite of this heavy
loss the expedition kept on and met with no incident of
serious import until after it had passed the Mandans. On
his way from the Mandan villages to the mouth of the
Yellowstone in the month of August, Henry met with a
serious mishap at the hands of the Assinibolne Indians. He
was aboard the boat while a land party wuth some fifty
horses were following the river bank. At a point where
the river channel was for a considerable distance near the
farther bank, forcing the parties away from each other, a
band of Indians met the shore and under the guise of
party,
friendship got possession of the horses and then rode off.
It was the plan of the expedition to push on to the Falls of

the Missouri the present season and commence a fort there,

but the loss of the horses prevented. A post ^ was accord-
ingly established at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and the

^Ashley was also with the party and ascended as far as to the mouth
of the Yellowstone, returning in the fall.
^ See list of posts, Appendix F.
 264 CHARACTER OF THE ARICARAS.

winter was spent there. The hunters explored and trapped

the streams in that section, and Henry secured a fresh sup-
ply of horses.
Early the' next spring Henry set out for the Blackfoot
country. The details of his expedition are extremely mea-
ger, and all that is known is that he was attacked by the
Blackfeet in the neighborhood of Great Falls with the loss
of four men killed, and was driven out of the country. He
returned to the mouth of the Yellowstone sometime in
June, 1823.
In the meantime Ashley had advertised at St. Louis for
one hundred men and had organized his disastrous
'^^v.-.^^another

y expedition of 1823. He accompanied it himself, and left

St. Louis with two keelboats on the loth of March. His
progress was without notable incident vmtil his arrival before
the Aricara villages on the 30th of May.
The fickle and treacherous character of these Indians was
well understood.^ It could never be predicted what their
attitude would be. In 1804 and 1806 they were friendly to
Lewis and Clark. In 1807 they attacked and defeated
Ensign Pryor and his party, who were escorting the Mandan
chief home. The Missouri Fur Company and the Astorians
had no serious trouble with them in 181 1, but in 1816 or
181 7 they attacked a party of whites and killed one man.
In 1820 they robbed two trading houses of the Missouri
Fur Company, located one above and one below the Great
Bend of the Missouri. Pilcher, who first visited them in
1822, found them exceedingly friendly, and was quite
deceived in regard to their true character. The Indians
continued their depradations, however, and even tried to
waylay Pilcher himself on his descent of the river. During
the month of March, 1823, they went down the river to
the Missouri Fur Company establishment among the Sioux,
where they robbed 1 party of whites, and finally, to the
number of one hundred and fifteen, attacked the trading
house. They were repulsed with the loss of several wound-
• See Chapter IX., Part V.
 PROGRESS OF NEGOTIATIONS. 265

ed and two killed, including the son of a principal chief.

Such was the record of this tribe down to May, 1823, when
General Ashley arrived before their villages.
It was Ashley's intention to imitate Hunt's course of
twelve years before, and to purchase a number of horses
from the Aricaras, so that he could send a portion of his
men across the country to the Yellowstone. This was the
more important because an express had just arrived from
Henry, urging Ashley to bring up all the horses he could
secure. It was decided therefore to open up a trade with

the Aricaras, who were always well provided with these ani-
mals. The conduct of these negotiations, and their lament-
able outcome, will be described very nearly in General
Ashley's own words.
The General was not wholly unprepared for a hostile
demonstration, although these Indians had treated him with
great friendship the year before. He knew the character
of the tribe and had reason to expect that they would be in
a revengeful mood on account of the recent loss of two of
their warriors. Upon his arrival, therefore, he anchored his
two keelboats and himself with two
well out in the stream
men went on shore. Here he met some of the principal
chiefs, who professed friendship and expressed a desire to
trade. Ashley then proposed that the chiefs of the two vil-
lages should meet him on the sand beach where all the details
of the trade could be arranged. After a long consultation
among themselves, the Indians agreed to his proposal, and
the council was held at the designated place. Ashley made
the chiefs some presents, at which they appeared well pleased.
He then said that he had understood that they had had some
trouble with a party of the Missouri Fur Company, and
feared that they might be disposed to harm him. He
explained to them the probable consequences of such an
attempt. The Indians replied that the angry feelings which
the event had stirred up were now allayed, and that they
considered the whites their friends. A price for the horses
was agreed upon, the trading commenced, and by the
266 ROSE WARNS ASHLEY.

evening of the ist of June, Ashley had completed his prep-

arations and had arranged to set out the nextmorning with
both the boat and land parties. He was intending to con-
duct the land party himself.
Late in the afternoon of the ist the chief of one of the
villages sentan invitation to Ashley to visit him at his lodge.
Ashley hesitated, but finally decided to go, lest his refusal
might lead the Indians to think he distrusted them. Accord-
ingly he went with his interpreter to call on the chief, who
received him with every evidence of friendship, as did also
several other chiefs who were present. Ashley was quite
thrown off his guard by these well-played deceptions, and
returned to his quarters on the boat confident that every-
thing was all right.
It should be stated, although Ashley makes no mention
of it, that he was warned at this time to be on his guard.
His interpreter, the noted Edward him that,
Rose, cautioned
from signs apparent to those versed in Indian wiles, trouble
of sorae sort was brewing. Ashley seems to have been
about as suspicious of Rose as Hunt had been twelve years
before, and with just as little reason. He rejected Rose's
advice to moor the boats for the night against a bar on the
opposite side of the river, and not only remained near the
shore next to the villages, but even left his land party
encamped on the beach. Among the latter were Smith,
Sublette, and Jackson. This party numbered about forty
men, and had with them all the horses which had been pur-
chased.
The Aricara Indians at this time resided in two villages,
the lower one containing seventy-one dirt lodges, and the
uDper one seventy. Both towns had been newly picketed
with timber, which, according to General Ashley, was from
twelve to fifteen feet high, and six inches thick. There
was a ditch outside, and part of the way inside also, and the
earth was banked up against the inside to a height of
eighteen inches. The lowerwhere Ashley was
village
encamped was on the convex bend of the river with a large
 OPENING OF ATTACK. 267

sand bar in front, forming nearly two-thirds of a circle.

Between the bar and the shore on which the village stood ran
the river. At the head of the bar the channel was very nar-
row and here the Indians had built a timber breastwork
which entirely commanded the river. They had shown
excellent judgment in their arrangements both for attack
and defense.^ There were even indications that a party of
Indians was concealed on the opposite bank at a point where
the river channel, after passing the upper village, ran close
to the east shore.
At about half past three o'clock on the morning of June
2nd, Ashley was awakened and informed that one of his
men had been killed by the Aricaras, and that an immediate
attack on his parties was threatened. Instant preparations
r^were made for defense. As soon as daylight came the
Indians opened from a line along the picketing of the
fire

town for some six hundred yards. The ground was broken
and there was some timber shelter so that the Indians
fought with every advantage of good cover. Their fire
was heavy and mainly concentrated on the party on shore,
who used their horses as a breastwork. The whites returned
the with vigor, but the Indians were so well concealed
fire

that they suffered but little injury.

As soon as the firing commenced Ashley undertook to
have the horses swum across to a submerged sand bar on
the other side of the river, but before he could accomplish
anything the fire had become so destructive that he aban-
doned the attempt. He then undertook to move his keel-
boats in shore, a distance of only about ninety feet, in order
to take on the men, but the boatmen w^ere so panic-stricken
that they refused to expose themselves in the least degree.
Ashley then managed to get two skiffs ashore capable of
holding about thirty men, but the land party were deter-
mined not to yield, and only seven men, four of whom were
*
" I think that about three-fourths of them [the Indians] are armed
with London fusils that carry a ball with great accuracy and force, and
which they use with as much expertness as any men I ever saw handle
arms." Ashley.
268 DEFEAT OF ASHLEY's PARTY.

wounded, took advantage of the opportunity. The small

skiff with two men wounded, one mortally, made for the
opposite shore. The large skiff, after transferring its five
men was sent back, but before it reached the
to the keelboat,
shore one of the men who were handling it was shot down
and in some way the boat got adrift. By this time nearly
all the horses were killed and half the men on shore were

either killed or wounded. Ashley made every possible effort

to move the keelboats in shore, but to no purpose. The men
on the beach, seeing the uselessness of further resistance,
retreated into the river and swam to the boats. Several
who tried to reach the boats after being wounded were
drowned. So fiercely did the conflict rage that it was only
fifteenminutes from the time the attack began until the shore
party was dispersed and the remnant had reached the boats.
The anchor of one of the boats was raised and the cable of
the other cut, and they thus drifted down out of the reach
of the villages and put ashore at the first timber, apparently
on the head of Ashley Island, a short distance below.^
Ashley's purpose now was, after landing at the timber,
to put the party in better shape for defense and then to renew
his efforts to pass the village. But to his " surprise and
mortification," he was " told by the men (with a few excep-
tions) that under no circumstances would they make a sec-

' Two
accounts of this battle state that the Indians finally succeeded
between the land party and the river, thus cutting off retreat,
in getting
whereupon the survivors were compelled to cut their way out, leaping in-
to the river and swimming to the boats. But this was not the case.
Of the whites there were killed on the spot twelve, and two of the
wounded died soon after, making fourteen. Thefe were also nine
wounded, making a total of twenty-three casualties. All the horses and
such of the property as was on shore were also lost. Ashley gives the
names of the killed and wounded, but none of them are familiar except
that of Hugh Glass who was wounded. It was thought that only a
few, not more than were killed or wounded.
six or eight, of the Indians
The shore party fought with ihe utmost bravery and coolness, but it
was impossible to withstand the terrible fire of the Indians, protected as
they were by their cover. The voyageurs proved themselves arrant
cowards.

k
 SMITH CARRIES EXPRESS TO HENRY. 269

ond attempt to pass without a large reinforcement." The

utmost that they would agree to do was, that if Ashley-
would descend the river some twenty-five miles, fortify his
camp, and take other measures for their security, they would
wait there until he could receive aid from Henry or else-
where. Ashley was compelled to accede to this proposi-
tion, but when he arrived at the designated point the men
determined to go farther. Most of them were resolved to
desert. Ashley called for volunteers, and thirty agreed to
remain —among them only five boatmen, or voyageurs.
He then transferred to one of the keelboats, the Ycllozvstone,
as much of the property as he could from the other, and sent
the latter down the river with the seriously wounded and
such of the men as would not remain, with inst'"uctions to
store the balance of the property at the first post below.
Ashley sent word at once to Major O' Fallon, Indian Agent,
and to the commanding officer at Fort Atkinson, notifying
them of his disaster, and informing them that if they would
send a government force to chastise the Indians he would
wait and co-operate. In that event he advised bringing
some artillery.
Immediately after the battle Ashley sent an express to
Henry. It has already been related how young Jedediah S.
Smith volunteered on this perilous service. He made his
way through although with some narrow
successfully,
escapes. Fortunately Henry had returned to the mouth of
the Yellowstone after his own defeat by the Blackfeet.
Smith and Henry, with all but twenty men, who were left
in the fort at the mouth of the Yellowstone, descended the
river, and joined Ashley near the mouth of the Cheyenne
about the 2nd of July. Smith was sent on to St. Louis with
the proceeds of Henry's hunt. His boat passed Fort Atkin-
son near Council Bluffs on the 8th of July and made its way
safely to St. Louis, where he saw General Atkinson, who
commanded the United States troops west of the Mississippi,
and then hastened back to join his employer.
In the meantime Ashley and Henry, hardly believing that
270 HENRY RETURNS TO THE YELLOWSTONE.

the military would undertake the campaign, or arrive before

fall ifthey did, and not wishing to give up their plans
entirely, concluded to drop down the river and if possible
secure enough horses to equip the party " intended to be sent
to the Columbia." They accordingly left their property
with a portion of the party and dropped down stream to the
mouth of the Teton river, where they stopped for a time
to procure horses. They then went on to " Fort Bras-
seaux," ^ a fort not elsewhere mentioned, but which seems to

have been above, but not far from, Fort Lookout. Here
they learned to their great satisfaction of the near approach
of the United States troops.
As the campaign which followed is more properly a part
of the military history of the period than of the doings of
the traders, it will be considered in another place.'^ '^^

Immediately upon the close of the Leavenworth campaigm

General Ashley dispatched Henry with a party of about
eighty men to carry out his plans for the season, which had
been so rudely interrupted by the Aricaras. Henry moved
across the country in the direction of the Yellowstone river.
With him were most of the men whom Ashley had brought
up, including Smith, Jackson, Sublette, Rose, Bridger. and
old Hugh Glass, whose remarkable adventure with a grizzly
bear ^ on this trip was the means of preserving about all the
data we now have concerning it.
The evil genius which seemed to dog Henry's footsteps
in all his mountain expeditions and constantly harass him
with attacks from the Indians, did not yet forsake him.
On the 20th of August before he was many days out from
the Missouri, he was attacked by a party of Indians, and lost
two men killed and two wounded. When he reached the
post at the mouth of the Yellowstone he found that twenty-
two of the horses he had left there had been stolen by the
Blackfeet and Assiniboines. Soon afterward he lost seven
• See List of Posts, Appendix F.
'Part III., Chapter III.
* See Part IV., Chapter VIII.
 1

DISCOVERY OF SOUTH PASS. 27

more, when he concluded to abandon the post and move up

the Yellowstone river. /
Near the mouth of the Powder river Henry fell in with
a party of Crows from whom he purchased forty-seven
horses. He then organized a party which he probably
placed under the charge of Etienne Provost, and sent it
toward the southwest, while he himself went on to the
mouth of the Bighorn river and erected a post.
It was during the autumn of 1823, and the following
winter and spring that the rich beaver country of Green
river valley, and possibly that of Great Salt Lake also, were
invaded by the American traders for the first time since the
ill-fated Astorians passed through them. The party dis-
patched by Henry to the southwest is believed to have been
the first party of white men to have crossed South Pass.
Tradition among the traders and trappers always ascribed
the discovery of this pass to Provost, and there is little doubt
of the fact but of positive proof there is none.
; The date of
discovery was probably late in the fall of 1823.
In the spring of 1824 Jedediah S. Smith set out on one of
those expeditions which were so conspicuous a feature of
his career, and went with a small party across the moun-
tains to the headwaters of Snake river. He spent the sum-
mer and fall in that vicinity and meanwhile fell in with a
small detached party of Hudson Bay trappers. From these
he obtained in some way or other all their catch of beaver,
one hundred skins, and then gave them the protection of his
own party until they should find their leader, Alexander
Ross. The Hudson Bay Company partisan was not much
way his men had been relieved of their fur,
pleased with the
but he was forced to concede that the Americans were
" shrewd men." and that Smith in particular was a " very
intelligent person."
From which was in the valley of Godin river
this point,
northwest of Snake river, and on the outskirts of the great
lava plain. Smith made his way north and is said to have
passed the winter among the Flatheads. He visited one or
272 EXIT ANDREW HENRY.

more posts of the British company and gained the first posi-
tive information concerning operations in the Columbia
valley that had been received since the Astorians left the
country.
Smith returned to St. Louis in the summer or autumn of
1824, and gave such information as he had gathered to Gen-
eral Atkinson, who considered it of so much importance that
he embodied it War
Department in the
in a report to the
November following. In this report he refers to Smith as
" an intelligent young man who was employed by General
Ashley beyond the Rocky mountains."
In spite of the unfortunate beginning of the expedition of
1823 it was on the whole successful. When the detached
trapping parties met in the mountains in 1824® they had
collected a considerable quantity of beaver fur, which Henry
took back to St. Louis. The results of the expedition were
sufficiently favorable to justify his immediate return, and
he left St. Louis on the 21st of October with a new expe-
dition for the mountains. This departure, strange to say,
is the very last word which we have of Andrew Henry in the

fur trade. He evidently did not remain long in the moun-

tains, but just when he left, or for what reason, is not
known. Jedediah S. Smith took his place and remained
Ashley's partner until 1826.
The doings of General Ashley from the close of the
Aricara campaign to the return of Henry in the fall of 1824

are uncertain. He had campaign on hand, being

a political
a candidate for governor of Missouri, and that must have
absorbed a large part of his time. James P. Beckwourth in
his autobiography represents Ashley as actively engaged in
equipping his expeditions. He sent a party in the fall of
1823 to collect horses among the Kansas and other Indians,
and in the spring of 1824 out with an expedition for the
set
mountains. He had not gotten far from the Missouri when
he was robbed of his horses on the Platte by the Pawnees,
•
This was the first of the famous annual rendezvous in the moun-
tains.
 CHANGE IN BUSINESS METHODS. 273

and was compelled to postpone his expedition until fall. In

the meantime the election took place, in August, and Ashley-
was defeated.
By the fall of 1824 Ashley's plan of carrying on the
business had undergone a complete change. Clinging to the
past practice of the traders he had heretofore undertaken
to conduct his business, in part, at least, from trading posts.
He had already built two of these, one at the mouth of the
Yellowstone, and one on that river near the mouth of the
Bighorn. It was his plan to build two more on the Missouri
— one at the mouth of the Marias and one at Three Forks.
But like all his predecessors he failed to open trade relations
with the Blackfeet, and found that the methods which
worked so well on the lower river were ineffectual in the
mountains. The explorations of Henry, Smith, and Pro-
vost in the southwest near Great Salt Lake had shown that
that country abounded in beaver. Finally the Missouri Fur
Company was pushing its own operations with great vigor
toward the head of the Missouri, and constituted a formida-
ble competition in that quarter. These considerations led
Ashley to relinquish the Missouri river valley altogether and
to carry his operations to the other side of the mountains.
He likewiseabandoned all efforts to conduct the trade from
fixed points, and relied only upon itinerant parties made up
mostly of trappers. As a consequence of this new method it
became necessary to appoint some place of meeting where the
various parties could assemble each year with the product
of their work. Hence arose the well-known rendezvous
of the mountains, one of the most interesting features of the
fur trade. The new system was, as will be seen, eminently
successful for a season.
After the close of Ashley's unsuccessful political cam-
paign he devoted his time exclusively to his mountain busi-
ness. Shortly after Henry's departure, October 21, 1824,
he himself set out with a party and arrived at Council Bluffs
about the ist of November. Thence he ascended the Platte
river and its South Fork until he reached the mountains.
274 NAVIGATION OF GREEN RIVER.

He then made his way across the country, probably some-

what south of the line of the modern Union Pacific railway,
until he reached the valley of Green river. As it was
already winter when he arrived there he doubtless remained
in the immediate neighborhood of the valley until spring.
The doings of Ashley and his parties during the ensuing
winter and spring were of the highest importance to his
business, and are of much historic interest as well. In the
spring of 1825 Ashley made the first attempt ever made by
white men to navigate Green river. It has been said that
he thought that this stream emptied into the Gulf of Mexico
— an idea which was generally accepted at the time. The
long easterly course of the river just south of the Wyoming
boundary might have led one to suppose that its outlet was
to the eastward, and this view was further strengthened by
the geographical information contained in the report of
Lieutenant Pike, which was at that time the only published
authority that touched upon the question. It is not at all

likely, however, that Ashley's attempt at navigating Green

river had any other end in view than the exploration of new
territory for the prosecution of his business. But whatever
may have been his intention, the experiment itself was a
disastrous one. He made his perilous way through Brown's
Hole, to the point where the river abandons its easterly
course and thence for a considerable distance to the south-
west, when his boat was totally wrecked in a cascade near
the mouth of what is now Ashley river. Ashley inscribed
his name on a rock near by, and the inscription was seen by
Major J. W. Powell, of the U. S. Geological survey, forty-
four years afterwards, when that gentleman was making his
exploration of theGrand Canon of the Colorado. Near the
same spot Powell found an iron bake oven, a tin plate, and
other wreckage which he thought might have been Ashley's,
but probably were not.^^

" As a striking illustration of the extent to which oblivion has ob-

scured the events of this time, the reference of Powell to Ashley's party
is particularly interesting. The inscription which he found was " on
 THE EVANESCENCE OF FAME. 275

Being now to the south of the Uintah mountains and on

the west bank of Green river, Ashley probably thought it bet-
ter to make his way to the west and around by Great Salt
Lake then to cross the rugged mountains which he had just
traversed through the dark and precipitous canons of the
river. This may possibly have been his intention from the
start. At any event, after the wreck he set out to the west-
ward, and shortly after had the good luck to fall in with
Etienne Provost, who had made his way into the valley of
Green river by way of Great Salt Lake. While this meeting
may possibly have been accidental, it was more probably a
part of General Ashley's comprehensive plan of exploring
the country, and that he had instructed Provost to make a
circuit and meet him on the lower course of Green river.
The united parties now made their way westward across
a high rock" and read "Ashley 18-5." The third figure was illegible,

but as nearly as Powell could make out it was 3 or 5. Of course it was

2, but Powell evidently believed it to be 5, as the following comment
will show. " Though some of his companions were drowned, Ashley
and one other survived the wreck, climbed the canon wall, and found
their way across the Wasatch mountains to Salt Lake City, living chiefly
on berries, as they wandered through an unknown and difficult country.
When they arrived at Salt Lake they were almost destitute of clothing
and nearly starved. The Mormon people gave them food and clothing
and employed them to work on the foundation of the Temple until they
had earned sufficient to leave the country. Of their subsequent
history I have no knowledge. It is possible that they returned to the
scene of the disaster, as a little creek entering the stream below is known
as Ashley's creek, and it is reported that he built a cabin and trapped
on this river for one or two winters."
Speaking of the evanescence of fame, here is indeed an example. Lit-
tle did Ashley imagine that his romantic adventures, so celebrated in
their day, and himself one of the leading public men of the West, would
be so far forgotten in two score years that he would be referred to in a
government report of high authority as an obscure hunter on whom the
Mormons (so hated in Missouri in his time) took compassion and set
to work on their Temple thirty years after he was in their country Sic !

transit gloria iiiundi!

In reference to Ashley's shipwreck it is worthy of note that James P.
Beckwourth claims the credit of having rescued the General from
drowning.
2/6 MASSACRE OF PROVOST's PARTY.

the Wasatch mountains into the Salt Lake valley. This

was already familiar ground to Provost, who had been there
the year before and had suffered a disaster equal to that of
Ashley at the Aricara villages. On the shore of Utah Lake,
where that tributary enters which now bears the name
(abbreviated) of Etienne Provost, this capable frontiersman
was for once completely deceived by the Indians. He had
fallen in with a band of Snake Indians under an evil-minded
chief, Mauvais Gauche, and was invited to smoke the calu-
met of peace with them. The chief said that it was con-
trary to his medicine to have anything of a metallic character
near by while the ceremony was going on, and requested that
both parties should remove their weapons to a distance.
Provost yielded to the chief's importunity, for he had learned
that on the whole it was better to humor the superstitious
whims of the Indians. Himself and his men placed their
guns to one side, and sat down in the circle to smoke In
the riiidst of the ceremony the Indians sprang up at a pre-
concerted signal and fell upon the whites with knives and
tomahawks which they had kept concealed within their
clothing. Most of the men were killed. Provost, who was
a powerful and athletic man, extricated himself from his
assailants, and with three or four others made his escape.
This terrible event, which has few parallels in the history of
the American Indians, made a deep impression upon the
mountain men. They vowed vengeance upon the faithless
chief, but that wily savage eluded their search and had not
been caught as late as 1834. This was one of the very
few instances of hostility between the Snakes and the
whites. ^^
It was on Ashley made his explorations
this occasion that
south of Great Salt Lake. He
went as far as Sevier Lake,
which was then given the name of Ashley Lake. Historians
"This account, which is from Ferris' Life in the Rocky Mountains,
states that fifteen men were killed. Page 283, Letter book, Superintend-
ency of Indian affairs, St. Louis, Mo., now in possession of the Kansas
Historical Society, Rives the numher as 17, and happily confirms the
event on the authority of Smith, Jackson and Sublette.

M'
 OGDEN RELIEVED OF HIS FUR. 277

have generally supposed that it was Utah Lake which was

temporarily honored with the General's name, but this is not
the case. It was on the shores of either Utah or Sevier Lake

that the trading post stood which Ashley is said to have

Havmg completed these explorations Ashley and Provost

turned north en route to the annual rendezvous in the valley
of Green river. At some point north of Great Salt Lake,
and possibly in the beautiful mountain park known as Cache
Valley, an event took place which marked the turning point
in Ashley's fortunes. There was in this neighborhood at
the time a party of Hudson Bay trappers under the leader-
ship of the well-known trader, Peter Skeen Ogden. They
were in possession of a large quantity of beaver fur various-
ly estimated at from seventy to two hundred thousand dol-
lars' These furs, through some transaction now not
worth.
positively known, came into Ashley's possession at an insig-
nificant price —
some say by looting a cache in which they
were concealed, and some by voluntary sale to Ashley by
Ogden to relieve the latter's necessities.^^ Be that as it may,
" See list of posts, Appendix F.
" Common tradition among the traders, which has even survived to
the present time, says that Ashley and Provost accidentally came upon
a cache of Ogden's fur, and not feeling very well disposed toward the
British on general principles, nor believing that they had any business
in this quarter, promptly confiscated the fur. One authority says that
Ogden was in great straits for some cause or other, and that he
sold out to Ashley for a mere nominal sum order to relieve his
in
necessities.Wyeth says (Sources of tlie History of Oregon, vol. I.,
p.74) that a " Mr. Gardner, one of his [Ashley's] agents, met a Mr.
Ogden, clerk of the H. B. Co. in the Snake country at the head of a
trapping party. Gardner induced the men of Ogden's party to desert
by promises of supplies and good prices for furs. The furs thus ob-
tained amounted to about 130 packs, or 13,000 pounds, worth at that
time about $75,000." Beckwourth says that the furs cost Ashley " com-
paratively little." Audubon quotes Ashley as saying that the disaster at
the Aricara villages " proved fortunate for him as it turned his steps
toward some other spot where he procured a hundred packs of beaver
skins for a mere song."
Of the main fact therefore there is no room for doubt : but the exact
278 ASHLEY MEETS ATKINSON AND o'fALLON.

the event was an important one to Ashley. He is said to *

have been deeply involved in debt at that time, owing to his

repeated disasters ; but the returns of this year enabled him
to pay off his debts and lay the foundations of a goodly
fortune.
After the summer rendezvous, which took place in the
valley of Green river, Ashley set out with his furs for St.
Louis. Upon Provost's advice he went by way of South
Pass to the Bighorn river, where he constructed bullboats
and descended that stream and the Yellowstone to the
Missouri. There he saw for the first time the fort, now in
ruins, that Henry had built two years before. He reached
the mouth of the Yellowstone on the 19th of August. Here
by a most fortunate coincidence he met General Atkinson
and Major O'Fallon, who had arrived two days before with
a large military force on a!i official expedition to the various
tribes of the Missouri. General Atkinson offered Ashley
safe convoy for his furs to Council Bluffs if he would await
the return of the expedition. Ashley accepted and accom-
panied the General on an excursion up the river in search
of the Black feet and Assiniboines. They returned to the
mouth of the Yellowstone August 26th, and on the follow-
ing morning the whole party set out down the river. No
incident of importance occurred on the home journey except
that one of the keelboats loaded with Ashley's furs was
wrecked on a snag near the mouth of James river, Dakota;
the boat and all its cargo were saved. Council Bluffs was
reached on the 19th of September. Ashley at this point
parted with the military and after three days' rest, resumed
his way down the river. He passed Franklin about the
of October, and probably reached St. Louis by the 8th.
I St

From St. Charles he sent a messenger across the country to

details will probably remain unknown world hears from Mr.
until the
Ogden through the records of the Hudson Bay Company. That Ogden
should voluntarily have disposed of his furs at all, and particularly at a
nominal price to an American rival, is scarcely credible to one who
knows anything of the business methods of the British companies.
 ASHLEY SELLS OUT. 2^9

notify Wahrendorff and Tracy, his backers, of his great

success.
On the 26th of October Ashley was married to Miss Eliza
Christy, and four days later dispatched a party of seventy
men to the mountains. Beckwourth, who had returned with
Ashley, accompanied this party. He says that on this trip
he took the North Fork of the Platte and went by way of
South Pass, thus striking Green river much higher than the
year before. Ashley remained in St. Louis during the
winter.
The rendezvous for 1826 was fixed in Cache valley north
of Great Salt Lake in the present state of Utah. Ashley set
out for the mountains with another party on the 8th of
March, 1826, and is presumed to have followed the route
of the North Platte and South Pass. On this trip he took
a six-pounder wheeled cannon through to Utah Lake and
installed it in his post there. ^^ This was the first wheeled
vehicle of any description that crossed the plains north of
the Santa Fe route.
This was the last journey that Ashley made to the moun-
tains. He evidently had no great love for mountain life and
was ambitious of political success. He looked to the moim-
tains mainly for a fortune, and having now secured that he
resolved to abandon further personal conduct of affairs there.
This he could do without relinquishing his interest in the
business. He had developed some of the ablest spirits of
the fur trade, men of the highest worth, who later figured
prominently in the history of the West. H
he could turn
over his affairs in the mountains to them, and himself con-
duct the St. Louis end of the business, it would be more
to his own liking, and give these young men a start in their
own names. Accordingly he made propositions to the ablest
and most experienced of his lieutenants, Jedediah S. Smith,
David E. Jackson, and William L. Sublette, and on the i8th
" All references to this event by historians place it in the year 1826,
but Ashley himself says it was in 1827,although he did not go to the
mountains after 1826.
28o DEFECTION OF ETIENNE PROVOST.

day of July, 1826, articles of agreement were made and

signed " near the Grand Lake west of the Rocky moun-
.tains." This instrument, which is still in existence, ^^ con-
stituted the firm of Smith, Jackson and Sublette, and marks
the beginning of the second period in the history of the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company. The agreement is prin-
cipally confined to prices of goods, and
arrangements by
to
which Ashley is to supply the firm with merchandise and
to dispose of their furs. It also stipulated that Ashley
was not to furnish any other company with merchandise
so long as it continued in force.
Having completed his arrangements Ashley returned to
St. Louis where he arrived on the 9th of September with one
hundred and twenty-three packs of beaver. Beckwourth
gives the very probable story that upon leaving the moun-
tains Ashley made an affectionate farewell to his men,
thanking them for their loyalty to his business and wishing
them equal success in their own undertakings.
There was one man, however, who did not reciprocate
the General's expressions of good will. This was Etienne
Provost, the veteran mountaineer, who had first penetrated
to the region of the Great Salt Lake. For some reason he
had fallen out with Ashley, possibly from not being included
in the new business arrangement. He forthwith set out for
St. Louis, arriving there ahead of Ashley, and entered into
negotiations with Bernard Pratte and Company by which
he was to conduct a rival expedition to the mountains in
the following year. Ashley, upon his arrival, nipped this
opposition in the bud by himself offering Bernard Pratte and
Company a share in his next expedition to the mountains.
He agreed to accompany it himself and was to receive a high
salary for this service, besides his share in the venture.
In the following April Ashley set out for the mountains
but was taken sick on the frontier and compelled to return,
leaving the party in other hands. In September following,
" In the possession of M. L. Gray of St. Louis. For facsimile of sig-
nature see opposite this page.
t^
 ;

EFFECT OF ASHLEY's SUCCESS. 281

when he judged that the return expedition must be near the'X/

frontier he left St. Louis to meet it. He returned on Octo-/ )
ber 15th with one hundred and thirty packs of beaven
Smith, Jackson and Sublette had been able to pay off their
indebtedness to Ashley and to lay the foundations of com-
fortable fortunes for themselves, while the net profits of the
summer's expedition to Ashley and to Bernard Pratte and
Company was seventy per cent.
The brilliant success of General Ashley fairly dazed the
staid authorities on the fur trade and disturbed
in St. Louis,
not a little the equanimity of the great American Fur Com-
pany in New York. The correspondence of the traders at
this time shows how completely Ashley had fired the minds
of every one with visions of wealth no less real than if he
had discovered mines of gold.^'^ And there was much rea-
son for it. He had brought down in 1824 one hundred
packs, in 1826 one hundred and twenty-three packs, in 1827
one hundred and thirty packs. If we add reasonable returns
for the years 1823 and 1824, he must have brought in
something like five hundred packs of beaver, worth in St.
Louis over a quarter of a million dollars. After deducting
the cost of the expedition, and all losses, there still remained

what at that period was an ample fortune for those en-

gaged in the enterprise. Ashley had acquired a reputation
as an authority on the Western fur trade that never after-
ward deserted him and in his subsequent career in Congress
he was looked to as much as was Senator Benton for infor-
mation upon all measures relating to the West.

"An interesting example is found in two letters written almost

exactly a year apart by Mr. Bostwick, agent of the American Fur Co.,
to parties in New York. October 5, 1825, he wrote: "Gen. Ashley
arrived here yesterday with (as rumor says) 100 packs of Rocky
Mountain beaver weighing 9,700 pounds. There is no doubt of the fact.
It is said to be of fine quality."
And September "Fortune has again smiled upon the enter-
21, 1826:
prise of General Ashley. He
is within a few days' march of this place

with 123 packs of beaver. There is no doubt of the truth of this report
it was brought by some men who came from the mountains with him."
 CHAPTER XVII.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

ADVENTURES OF JEDEDIAH S. SMITH.

Smith's love of exploration —

Starts for California —
Trouble with
Spanish authorities —
Spends winter in California —
Leaving party in
California Smith returns to Salt Lake —
Departs again for California —
Party attacked by the Mojaves —
Renewed difficulties with Spanish au-
thorities — —
Spends winter on American Fork Massacre of his party on
the Umpquah— The Hudson Bay Company recovers Smith's property
and pays him for — Smith leaves Fort Vancouver to rejoin his part-
it

ners — Meeting of the partners.

HE doings of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company while

under the firm name of Smith, Jackson and Sublette,
find their chief interest in the adventures of the senior mem-
ber of the firm. Smith seems to have been in every way a
remarkable man, A Christian and a soldier, the Bible and
the rifle were his inseparable companions, and the mild
teachings of the one never diminished in any way the vigor
with which he used the other. The new West captivated his
mind with its opportunities for adventure and he made the
most of them during the ten years before his untimely death.
Immediately upon the conclusion of tlie business transac-
tions of 1826 in which Ashley sold out to Smith, Jackson
and Sublette, Smith set out on those long- and perilous expe-
ditions which absorbed his time for the next three years.
Fortunately we have his own account of both of his Califor-
nia visits, which, with numerous sidelights, enable us to
present a complete narrative of his wanderings.^
On the 22nd of August, 1826, Smith left the rendezvous

* See letter from Smith to General Clark, written at Great Salt Lake
in the summer of 1827 and published in the Missouri Republican Octo-
 SMITH GOES TO CALIFORNIA. 283

near Great Salt Lake with a party of fifteen men for the
purpose of exploring the country to the southwest, then
wholly unknown to the American traders. His route lay by
Utah Lake, thence across the Sevier valley to the Virgin
river, ^ which he descended to the Colorado. Nothing of
importance transpired on this part of his route except the
discovery of a remarkable salt cave on the Virgin two days'
march above its mouth. Smith crossed to the east bank of
the Colorado and followed down the stream until he came
upon the Mojave Indians with whom he remained fifteen
days to recruit his stock of horses. Recrossing the Colo-
rado at the end of this time he pursued a westerly course,
with great hardship and suffering, across the barren and
desolate wastes of southern California, and arrived at San
Diego, probably about the middle of October.
In California Smith's principal difficulties were with the
Spanish authorities, who viewed his presence there with sus-
picion, and hampered his movements by their arbitrary
requirements. Through the interposition of Captain W. H.
Cunningham of the Courier, of Boston, he obtained permis-
sion to purchase the supplies he needed and also to return
by the route he had come. Smith was not disposed to leave
at once a country which he had come so far to see, and mov-
ing back from the coast he turned northwest and traveled

ber II, 1827; a letter from Captain Cunningham of the ship Courier

from Boston, dated San Diego, December, 1826, and published in the
Missouri Republican October 25, 1827 and an account of Smith's sec-
;

ond expedition to California in the letter book of Indian Affairs, Su-

perintendency of St. Louis under General Clark, now in possession of
the Kansas Historical Society at Topeka, Kansas. There are also nu-
merous briefer references here and there. Bancroft has worked up in
considerable detail the doings of the Americans in California during
those early days, and as this territory is outside the scope of this work,
they will not be touched upon farther than necessary to show when and
where Smith was during his wanderings.
'^
Smith named this stream Adams river in honor of the President. I
am inclined to think that its present name was given for Thomas Virgin
who was with Smith in 1827, and was severely wounded by the Indians
in this locality, and afterward killed in the fight on Umpquah river.
284 RETURNS TO GREAT SALT LAKE.

some three hundred miles parallel with the coast, and at a

distance from which he estimated at one hundred and fifty-
it

miles. He spent a good part of the winter on this journey

and turned it to advantage in trapping. Spring found him
in the vicinity of the headwaters of the San Joaquin and
Merced rivers.
Early in May he attempted to take his party across Mt.
Joseph, as he called the high range of the Sierra Nevada
mountains, in order to return to the summer rendezvous of
1827 near Salt Lake; but the deep snows baffled his efforts.
He then decided to leave most of his men in California while
he should go to the rendezvous and return for them in the
fall. With two men, seven horses, and two mules laden
with provisions and forage, he set out on his perilous jour-
ney May 20, 1827. In eight days he succeeded in crossing
the mountains with a loss of only two horses and one mule,
the deep snow being hard enough to sustain the weight of the
animals. Twenty days more took him to the southwestern
extremity of Great Salt Lake along the western shore of
which he then bent his course. He reached the rendezvous
by the middle of June. The sufferings of the party in
crossing the Salt Lake desert were terrible, and only two
of the animals survived the journey.
There is no clue given in Smith's account as to the route
followed, but it was certainly far south of the Humboldt

river. He probably crossed the range near Sonora Pass,

going north of Mono Lake and south of Walker Lake. He
saw no lakes, but noted a stream flowing north, which was
probably Walker river.
Immediately after the rendezvous. Smith set out, July
13, with a small party of eighteen men to return to Califor-
nia and bring back the men he had left there. He followed
the route of the previous year and went direct to the Mojave
Indians. Unfortunately, since his previous visit, the jealous
Spaniard had been there and had warned the Mojaves not
to permit any more Americans to pass that way. Smith
was ignorant of this, and counting on their former friendly
 TROUBLE WITH THE SPANIARDS. 285

disposition,was somewhat off his guard. Upon his depart-

ure from the village, and while in the act of crossing the
river on a raft, the Indians fell upon the party, killing ten
men and capturing all the property and papers. This was;
in the month of August.
Smith now made his way with intense suffering and
great peril to the Spanish settlements, which he reached at
San Gabriel in nine and one-half days. Here he left two
wounded men, and himself started north to join his party.
Two Indian guides whom
Smith had secured to conduct
him were seized by the authorities.
into southern California
One died under harsh treatment, and the other was sen-
tenced to death. One of the wounded men, Thomas Virgin,
who had been left at San Gabriel, was taken to San Diego
and thrown into prison, but was finally released and sent to
join Smith.
Upon arriving at the San Jose mission. Smith sought
permission to visit the governor at Monterey, but the request
was denied, and he was thrown into prison. Presently he
was sent under guard to Monterey, where he encountered
almost hopeless difficulties with the equivocating governor.
Finally, sometime November, through the intercession of
in
the master of an American vessel, he was given permission
to depart, after purchasing the necessary supplies, and was
enjoined that he must leave Mexican territory.
The authorities refused to let Smith augment his party,
although there were several Englishmen and Americans on
the coast who wanted to join him. He left with a party of
twenty men, two of whom soon deserted.^ Two months
was the period fixed within which he must depart from
^ In the party of 1826 were fifteen men of whom Smith left thirteen
when he returned to rendezvous in the summer of 1827. He started
back to California with eighteen men of whom he lost ten at the hands
of the Mojaves, thus leaving "eight, which with the thirteen already
in California would make the twenty-one with whom he set out to return
in December, 1827. This, however, supposes that there were no other
losses than those mentioned, a rather improbable supposition, and
Smith may have succeeded in procuring recruits.
286 THE UMPQUAH MASSACRE.

Spanish territory, and the general route which he must fol-

low was designated by the authorities. It so happened that
this route would take him across the Buenaventura (Sacra-
mento) river, which was then impassable from high water.
Smith accordingly took the matter into his own hands, and
resolved to pass the winter in that neighborhood. He fol-

lowed slowly up the course of the river to its principal fork,

where he passed several months. From this circumstance
the stream came to be known as American Fork. On the
13th of April, 1828, Smith set out in a northwest direction.
After reaching the coast he turned north and kept on with-
out noteworthy incident until he reached the Umpquah
river. His party did a good deal of trapping on the way,
and by this time had secured a large quantity of fur. On
the 14th of July Smith left the party in camp and went out
alone to search for a road. On his way back he was fired
on by some Indians, and although he escaped it was only to
find his camp and all the property in the hands of the sav-
ages. Fifteen of his men were killed, and only three,
including a Mr. Black, escaped.^ The survivors had fled
north, and Smith was left entirely alone. He made his way
in a state of utter destitution to Fort Vancouver, on the
Columbia, where he found his companions. The Hudson
Bay Company authorities received him with every consid-
eration of generosity, and even sent a force under Thomas
McKay to punish the Indians and to recover his property.
They succeeded in getting nearly all of it. Doctor Mc-
Loughlin charged for only the value of the men's
this service
time at the rate of sixty dollars a year and four dollars
apiece for such horses as were lost on the trip. He pur-
chased Smith's furs, amounting to about $20,000 worth, at
the market price, giving him a draft on London in payment.
* Smith says that only Mr. Black escaped, but all other authorities,

including particularly Dr. John McLoughlin, the Hudson Bay factor at

Fort Vancouver, say three besides Smith. This is probably correct,
for Smith's party which numbered 2t when it started from near San
Francisco, and lost 2 by desertion, must have numbered 19 on the Ump-
quah. The number 15 lost checks with the 4 escaped.
 SMITH REJOINS HIS PARTNERS. 287

Smith remained at Vancouver until March 12, 1829,

when he set out for the East to rejoin his partners. He
ascended the Cokimbia, and followed the British fur traders'
route to their post among the Flatheads, which Smith had
visited in 1824. Thence he and his man Black started
south for Snake river. On his way he met Jackson, who
was looking for him, and a little later found Sublette, " on
the 5th of August, 1829, at the Tetons on Henry Fork, the
south branch of the Columbia."
Such is the simple statement as given by Smith himself
of his three years' explorations. Much has been written
about them, mostly imaginary, and many are the reputed
heroic exploits connected with them. That the expeditions
were full of romantic interest and thrilling adventure can
not be doubted nor that the little parties, and particularly
;

their leader, endured great hardship and privations. The

important results of Smith's work in the cause of geograph-
ical discovery will be considered in the following chapter.
 CHAPTER XVIII.

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

ITS LATER HISTORY.

Operations of Sublette and Jackson during Smith's absence — Meet-

ing with Smith — Plan of operations — Attacked —
by the Blackfeet
Trappers assemble on Wind river — Sublette goes to Louis — The
St.

spring hunt of 1830 — Sublette's journey from the states — Rendezvous

of 1830 — Change in business management — Extinction of the firm of
Smith, Jackson and Sublette — Fall hunt of 1830 — Fitzpatrick and Og-
den — Winter encampment on Powder river — Spring hunt of 1831 —
Fitzpatrick goes to Louis and thence to Santa Fe — Fitzpatrick
St. fails

to appear at Green river rendezvous — Partners meet in Powder river

valley — Opposition of the American Fur Company — Fitzpatrick and
Bridger go to head of Snake river — Partners move south to Bear
river — Vanderburgh and Drips appear — Rendezvous at Pierre's Hole
— Fitzpatrick goes after Sublette — His adventures on his way back —
Sublette reaches the rendezvous — Battle of Pierre's Hole — Small part)
leaves Pierre's Hole — Attacked by Blackfeet — Break-up of the ren-
dezvous — Change in the mountain trade — Fatal results of businesa
rivalry — Rendezvous of 1833 on Green river — Campbell, Sublette and
Wyeth set out for Louis via the Bighorn river — Robbery of Fitzpat-
St.

rick and, Wyeth — Deplorable state of trade in the mountains — Rendez-

vous of 1834 — Dissolution of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company^
Review of work — Albert Gallatin's map.
its

^T'HE whereabouts of Jackson and Sublette during Smith's

^^ absence are not fully recorded. At the rendezvous of
1827 they agreed with Smith -to meet him at the head of
Snake river in the summer K)f 1829, and in the meanwhile
they continued the business as before, going annually to St.
Louis with the furs. In the summer of 1828 Sublette went
to St. Louis alone, while Jackson remained in the mountains
during the winter. In the spring of 1829 Sublette returned
 JACKSON HOLE AND PIERRE'S HOLE. 289

with a large party and outfit of merchandise. The rendez-

vous for this year was fixed on the Popo Agie river which
enters Wind river near the point where the latter stream
turns from its southeast course to the north. Forty-two
packs of furs were collected here and sent back to St. Louis,
arriving there September 5th. Milton G. Sublette was then
dispatched with a well-appointed outfit to work up the
country along the Bighorn river, while William L. Sublette
went on to the beautiful valley of Snake river at the eastern
base of the Teton mountains, where he expected to meet
Smith and Jackson. Here he found Jackson, who had been
there for some time, and had perhaps wintered there, and it
is most likely from this date that the name Jackson Hole

came to be applied to the valley.^ As Smith failed to put

in an appearance, the partners set out to find him. They
crossed the mountains into Pierre's Hole and Sublette
remained in the vicinity of Henry Fork, while Jackson
started in the direction of the Flathead country, thinking
that Smith might be returning by that route. He was right
in this conjecture,and soon after fell in with Smith and
Black. The two partners then started for Sublette's camp,
where th^ arrived, as already narrated, August 5th, 1829.
This was perhaps the first time that the beautiful valley of
Pierre's Hole came prominently to the notice of American
traders.
The united parties remained in Pierre's Hole some time
before commencing their fall hunt. In spite of Smith's
rough experiences and work had
his several disasters, his
nevertheless been fairly successful. The humane and gen-
erous action of Dr. McLoughlin had saved him the results
of his arduous labors, where the code of competition might
properly have deprived him of it, and, if he did not bring
to his associates a goodly lot of furs, he had in his pocket
which were even better.
securities
Smith's Christian nature would not permit the benevolent
McLoughlin to outdo him in generosity, and he insisted that
*For a description of this valley see Part V., Chapter II.
290 MEEK IN THE YELLOWSTONE PARK.

the fall hunt of himself and his associates should be made

east of the Continental Divide, so as not to trespass upon the
territory which the Hudson Bay Company claimed as
belonging commercially to them.^
The other parties reluctantly consented, and all set out on
their fall hunt in October, taking a northeasterly direction
toward the Yellowstone, with the intention of swinging
round into the Bighorn basin, where Milton Sublette had
been left. Just as they were starting they had a slight brush
with the Blackfeet Indians, who attempted to steal their
horses. It was a little too early in the morning, before the
horses had been turned out to graze, and the Indians were
beaten off through the energetic action of Fitzpatrick.
While croFsing the range of mountains between the Galla-
tin and Yellowstone rivers, a little to the north of the modern
National Park, they had a severe skirmish with the Black-
feet, in whi^h two men were killed, and the rest of the party

scattered. U was some time before they all came together

again, in f^ct not until they were east of the mountains and
in the Bighorn basin. The journey through the rugged
mountams bordering the park on the north was one of great
peril and suffering. One of the party, Joseph Meek, became
separated from the rest and utterly lost, wandering into the
hot springs country just east of the Yellowstone river, where
he was found by some of his companions.
At length the party were re-united in the Bighorn basin,
where they found Milton Sublette, and all together went
south with their furs to the valley of Wind river. It being
too late to carry the furs to St. Louis, they were cached in
the side of a cut bank. This locality was fixed as the next
rendezvous, and thereupon Sublette, with one man, set out
for St. Louis to bring out the outfit for the following year.
It was about Christmas time that he started on his journey,
and he reached his destination on the nth of February fol-
^ Original data on the doings
of this year are exceedingly few and 1
have mainly relied on Mrs. Victor's River of the West for them as also
for numerous details relating to the three following years.
 WAGONS ON THE OREGON TRAIL. 29I

lowing.^ This is one of the very few examples at this early-

day of crossing the plains in the dead of winter.
The party which remained behind was too large to find
subsistence in one locality, there being no buffalo in the
vicinity, and Smith and Jackson were compelled to shift
their camp, although in mid-winter, to better ground. They
accordingly went over into the Powder river country, where
they found buffalo and spent the winter in plenty. On the
I St of April Jackson set out for a spring hunt at his old
stamping ground in Jackson Hole, while Smith, with young
Jim Bridger as guide, started by way of the Yellowstone for
the upper Missouri. Smith went as far as to the Judith
basin, made a successful hunt, and returned to the rendez-
vous on Wind river without any untoward accident. Jack-
son likewise came back after a successful hunt, and here the
tv/o partners waited the arrival of Sublette from the States.'*
At about this time an unfortunate accident occurred. While
removing the furs from the cache made the previous Decem-
ber, the bank caved in, killing one man and severely injuring
another.
Sublette left St. Louis April loth with eighty-one men
mounted on mules, ten wagons with merchandise drawn by
five mules each, two dearborns of one mule each, and twelve
head of cattle and one milch cow for their support until they
should reach the buffalo country. This was the advent of
wagons on the Oregon Trail, although they had already
been used for eight years on the Santa Fe Trail. The party
arf-ived at rendezvous on the i6th of July without any difB-
culty, and the letter of the partners referred to in the above

' The following interesting scrap, referring to Sublette's arrival, taken

from the correspondence of the times shows the unaccommodating atti-
tude of rival traders toward each other. Chouteau, writing to Astor,
thus refers to Sublette's arrival: " Je I'ai beaucoup questionne. Je n'ai
rien obtenu de satisfaisant. II me regard toujours comme un opponent."'
*
For a description of the journey to rendezvous in 1830 I rely upon a
joint letter of Smith, Jackson and Sublette to the Hon. John H. Eaton.
Secretary of War. dated St. Louis, Oct. 29, 1830, and published in
Sen. Doc. 39, 21st Cong., 2nd Sess.
292 THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

note says that " here the wagons could easily have crossed
the Rocky mountains, it being what is called the Southern

Pass, had been desirable for them to do so." ^

it

The business of the rendezvous was this year particularly

important. Smith, Jackson and Sublette, following the
example of Ashley four years before, relinquished their trade
and sold out to several younger men, who had now become
distinguished by their ability and experience. These were
Thomas Henry Fraeb, Jean
Fitzpatrick, Milton G. Sublette,
Baptiste Gervais, and James Bridger, and the new firm was
called the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, the only instance
where any firm did business under this specific name. The
transfer of the business from the old to the new firm took
place August 4, 1830. Smith, Jackson, and Sublette left
the same day for St. Louis with one hundred and ninety
packs of beaver. They arrived October loth, bringing back
the ten wagons, four of the cattle, and the milch cow.
In the following year they embarked in the Santa Fe
trade, but Smith was Cimarron desert by the
slain in the
Comanches soon and the firm was thus dissolved.
after
Jackson formed a partnership with David E. Waldo, and is
said to have taken a party soon after to California. He
here disappears from the field of our inquiries. Sublette
returned to St. Louis and for several years supplied the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company with their outfits and
brought back and marketed their furs.
The history of the new Rocky Mountain Company during
the four years of its existence is difficult to trace. It carried

on a wild and roving trade, and its numerous bands of trap-

pers overspread the entire mountain region. No attempt
^ The writers refer to the rendezvous as being at the " head of Wind
river," which, with the above statement that it was near the Southern
Pass, is somewhat confusing. It is possible that the " head of Wind
river " was the head of the Popo Agie, and that Southern Pass was the
South Pass at the head of the Sweetwater where that name was always
thereafter applied. The rendezvous would hardly have been fixed at
the head of Wind river near either of the two passes to be found there.
 FALL HUNT OF 183O. 293

will be made to do more than follow the wanderings of the

more important parties.
As soon as Smith, Jackson, and Sublette had left the
Wind river rendezvous in August, 1830, the new firm organ-
ized its campaign for the ensuing autumn. Fraeb and Ger-
vais led a party south into the mountains of Colorado, and
nothing is known of their exact whereabouts until the next
rendezvous. Fitzpatrick, Sublette, and Bridger, with a
party of over two hundred men, moved north through the
Bighorn basin, crossed the Yellowstone river, and continued
in a northwesterly direction until they reached the Missouri
river in the vicinity of the Great Falls. Turning south they
ascended the Missouri to the Three Forks, and then followed
the Jefferson Fork to the Divide. The expedition was a
successful one, and a large quantity of furs was taken, while
the formidable appearance of the party kept the Blackfeet
from attacking it.

Crossing the Divide the trappers continued their course

south for several hundred miles, and finally reached Ogden's
Hole on the northeast shore of Great Salt Lake. Here, it is
said, they fell in with Peter Skeen Ogden, the same Hudson
Bay Company trader whom Ashley had relieved of his furs
five years before. Fitzpatrick proceeded without delay to
follow his old leader's example, if not in method, at least in
the results obtained. As the Hudson Bay Company
did not
permit the use of liquor in the trade, except along the inter-
national boundary, Ogden was quite helpless to oppose Fitz-
patrick, who, without the slightest scruple, debauched his
men with liquor and soon secured the product of a year's
hunt for comparatively nothing. After this profitable but
discreditable stroke of business the party left Ogden's Hole
and crossed the country to the eastward in time to reach the
valley of Powder river before winter set in. An idea of the
lengthy journeys which these parties were wont to make may
be had from the present instance in which the distance trav-
eled by Fitzpatrick and his party during their fall hunt could
not have been less than twelve hundred miles.
294 FITZPATRICK GOES TO SANTA FE.

The Powder river valley was always a favorite wintering

ground, because game, especially buffalo, was usually plen-
tiful there, and the grazing was good. The partners
remained there all winter, excepting Fraeb and Gervais, who
returned to their hunting grounds in the south. During the
winter an express was sent to St. Louis.
With the opening of the spring of 1831 the partners again
set out for the Blackfoot country, but they had not gone far
when most of their horses were stolen by the Crows. A ca-
tastrophe of this kind, so fatal to the mobility of a party,
destroyed its effectiveness, and it was imperative to retake
the horses. A party was organized for this purpose, and,
after considerable delay and a good deal of adroit manage-
ment, succeeded not only in retaking their own horses, but
in capturing those belonging to the Indians.
Shortly, after this affair Fitzpatrick left with one man for
St. Louis to bring out the annual supplies to the rendezvous
appointed for this year in Green river valley. He traveled
by land and passed Council Bluffs about April 19th. Upon
his arrival at St. Louis he was prevailed upon to accompany
Smith, Jackson, and Sublette to Santa Fe, from which point
he would take his outfit to the rendezvous. Under this
unfortunate arrangement he accompanied the disastrous
expedition in which Smith lost his life, and finally, after
long and vexatious delays, he left Santa Fe with his mer-
chandise, still almost as far from the rendezvous as he was
at St. Louis. He traveled north along the eastern base of
the mountains and reached the North Platte river near the
mouth of the Laramie late in the year.
In the meanwhile Sublette and Bridger prosecuted their
spring hunt, swinging rotjjid aifiong the mountains on very
much the same circuit as that followed in the previous
autumn. In due time they reached the place of rendezvous
on Green river, where they met Fraeb and Gervais, who had
now been al)sent for about a year. As Fitzpatrick did not
appear it Was decided that Fraeb should go to meet him.
After a long search and a good deal of wandering among
 AMERICAN FUR COMPANY IN THE FIELD. 295

the Black Hills, he finally met Fitzpatrick just as the latter

arrived at Platte river. Sublette and Bridger, despairing of
seeing Fitzpatrick, had already broken up the rendezvous
and betaken themselves to the Powder river country for the
winter. Hither Fitzpatrick and Fraeb bent their course,
and in a short time the five partners were again gathered
together.
Their prospects for a quiet winter in the plentiful coun-
try of Powder river were not to be realized. A cloud of
black portent was gathering in the hitherto unclouded hori-
zon of the company's affairs. It was at about this time
that they began to feel the presence of that rival who finally
drove them out of the business. In another chapter will be
given an account of the steady and resistless progress of the
American Fur Company up the Missouri and into the moun-
tains, where it sought to share the rich harvest hitherto
garnered by the Rocky Mountain traders alone. Its first
essays in the mountains were conducted by three partisans,
Vanderburgh, Drips, and Fontenelle, whose names became
familiar in the annals of the trade. The policy of these
leaders when they first entered the country was to follow the
parties of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and learn from
them where the best trapping country lay. It was an under-
hand method of conducting business, and it led to some des-
perate and tragic situations. /
It was in the fall of 1831 and in the Powder river country
that the tactics of these interlopers became apparent. Van-
derburgh and Drips had followed hard upon the trail of
Fraeb and Fitzpatrick and went into camp in their imme-
diate neighborhood. Fitzpatrick and his associates, indig-
nant at this action, quietly stole out of the country, and by
forced marches traveled west for upwards of four hundred
miles to the forks of Snake river, having fixed their next
rendezvous in the valley of Pierre's Hole. They spent the
winter trading with the Flathead and Nez Perce Indians,
imannoyed by the presence of their competitors.
Early in the year 1832, the most eventful year in the
296 RENDEZVOUS IN PIERRE's HOLE.

Rocky Mountain fur trade, Fitzpatrick and his partners set

out upon their spring hunt. Their course lay up the valley
of the Snake to the mouth of Salt river and up the latter
stream for a distance, when they crossed over into the valley
of John Gray (now called John Day) river. Ascending
this stream to its range of
source, the party passed over a.

mountains Bear
into the valley of
river. Here, to their dis-
gust, they found Vanderburgh and Drips, who were evi-
dently trying to find them. It was resolved to strike ojfif into
some other section at once. Sublette unluckily was severely
wounded in an affray with an Indian, and was compelled to
stay behind. Joseph Meek remained to take care of him,
and it was not until several months afterward that he was
able to rejoin his companions, who, after their spring hunt,
had assembled at the annual rendezvous in the valley of
Pierre's Hole.®
Here, to their infinite vexation, Vanderburgh and Drips
turned up again, and as it would soon be time for the various
bands of trappers and Indians to assemble, it was of the
utmost importance to receive the annual convoy of goods
from St. Louis before their rivals should capture the trade.
William L. Sublette had contracted to bring out the outfit,
and in order to hurry him up it was decided that Fitzpatrick
should go to meet him. He set out at once and met Sub-
lette on the Platte river below the mouth of the Laramie, a
distance of some four hundred miles from Pierre's Hole.'
On their way back, June 13, Fitzpatrick hired a p^ty of men
at Laramie river belonging to the firm of Gant and Black-
well, who had experienced a most unfortunate campaign at
trapping during the previous winter.
When the joint party arrived at the Sweetwater, Fitz-
patrick went on ahead entirely alone to carry the news of
Sublette's approach to rendezvous. It was a hazardous
enterprise in that dangerous country. Fitzpatrick led a
very fleet horse already saddled and equipped, while he rode
another, so that the first might be at all times fresh for a

' For a description of this beautiful valley, see Part V,, Chapter II.
 FITZPATRICK LOST. 297

'chaseif necessary. Everything went well until he reached

the valley of Green river, where he came suddenly upon a
party of Blackfeet Indians. Mounting the led horse he
galloped to the mountains and concealed himself in a defile.
After waiting three days he came out from his retreat only
to fall in with the Indians again. This time he lost his
other horse in making his escape together with all the equip-
ments which were attached to his saddle. Even his blankets
were lost, and he saved only his rifle and the single charge
which it contained. He barely succeeded in saving him-
self by crawling among the rocks and cliffs of the mountains.
Here he remained for several days, when he finally emerged
and made his way on foot in utter destitution toward the
rendezvous. His sole resource for food must have been ber-
ries and roots. His moccasins wore out and he made others
with his hat. In swimming one of the rivers, probably the
Snake, he lost his rifle. At length, when nearly used up,
he was met by two Iroquois hunters, who helped him to ren-
dezvous on one of their horses. He arrived so emaciated
as scarcely to be recognized. Sublette was already there,
and the partners were thoroughly alarmed over his absence.
The caravan of William L. Sublette reached the rendez-
vous on the 8th of July. There were already present the
various parties of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company num-
bering between one and two hundred men. The American
Fur Company was represented by a large party under Van-
derburgh and Drips. Nathaniel J. Wyeth with his raw
"^

New Englanders was there, while the neighboring plains

were covered with the tents of free trappers and bands of
Indians. The trading proceeded briskly and much to the
advantage of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, for Fon-
tenelle had not yet arrived with the annual supplies for Van-
derburgh and Drips, and they were therefore not well
prepared to compete with their rivals.
On the 17th of July the rendezvous began to break up.
Milton Sublette was to lead a party into the country north
^ See Chapter XXV., this Part,
298 BATTLE OF PIERRE's HOLE.

of the Salt Lake desert. As his route would lie for a long
distance in the valley of Snake river, Wyeth decided to
accompany him for protection as far as their ways ran
together. A by the name of Sinclair with fif-
free trapper
teen men also started with them. The first day they pro-
ceeded about eight miles up the valley, intending to bear off
to the south on the following morning. Just as they were
about to resume their march, July 18, they saw Indians
approaching, who proved to be a band of the dreaded Gros-
ventres. A parley ensued during which Antoine Godin
killed a chief who had come forward, and thus precipitated
the Battle of Pierre's Hole, which raged the remainder of
the day. It was a hard fought struggle, and the most noted
battle between the Indians and the traders that ever took
place in the mountains. Among the casualties on the part of
the whites was the partisan Sinclair killed, and William L.
Sublette wounded. The Blackfeet withdrew during the
night.^
This unexpected event delayed the departure from the
rendezvous. On the 25th of July a portion of Wyeth's
party, who had decided to return home, became impatient of
delay, and set out with Alfred K. Stephens and a small
party of free trappers for Jackson Hole, The next day
they w^ere attacked by the Blackfeet, and two of their party
were killed, while Stephens was mortally wounded.
Milton Sublette and Gervais, with Sinclair's free trappers
and Wyeth's reduced party, left on the 24th. William L.
Sublette's wound had so far healed that he was enabled to
start for St. Louis on the 30th. He took with him a large
pack train and one hundred and sixty-eight packs of beaver,
Fitzpatrick and Bridger left for the headwaters of the
Missouri hoping to elude their rivals. Vanderburgh and
Drips set out in all haste, August 2nd, to find Fontenelle and
secure their equipment, before Fitzpatrick and Bridger
should get too far away. They found Fontenelle on Green
river, August 8th, and four days later started back to

• For a full account of this battle see Part IV., Chapter II.
 TURNING POINT IN THE MOUNTAIN TRADE. 299

Pierre's Hole. Fraeb probably went back to the sources ^'

of Grand river in the Colorado mountains. ~)

The rendezvous in Pierre's Hole was one of the most^*\4^

important of those singular gatherings ever held in the v
mountains, and it marked the turning point in the Rocky
mountain trade. A
great change was beginning to come
over the business. The field was no longer to the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company alone. The powerful opposition
of the American Fur Company had evidently come to stay.
Wyeth had entered the country, and although his present
opposition amounted to nothing, there was no telling what
a man of his energy might not yet accomplish. Finally,
there was Captain Bonneville, backed by New York capital-
ists,invading the mountains with a formidable party. The
opposition of the Hudson Bay Company was nothing to
that now pouring in from the East. The old order of things
was gone. Henceforth there was to be bitter competition,
all the more to be dreaded because it most likely meant the

ruin of the business.

It is needless to follow in detail the wanderings of the
various parties who
left the rendezvous of Pierre's Hole in

1832. Milton Sublette and Gervais spent the summer and

autumn in the country to the southwest. Fitzpatrick and
Bridger, in their trapping ground on Jefferson Fork, soon
had the mortification to find Vanderburgh and Drips on their
trail again. They had offered at rendezvous to divide the
trapping territory with them, but this offer had been declined,
probably because the newcomers preferred to use their
experienced rivals to pilot them to the best beaver country.
Fitzpatrick and Bridger promptly pulled up their stakes
and sought again to get away, but to no purpose. Becoming
utterly exasperated they resolved to lead their opponents a
chase which would teach them a lesson. Plunging into the
very heart of the Blackfoot country they lured their rivals
from one point to another until they were attacked by the
Indians and Vanderburgh was slain.^ Bridger was himself
* For the story of this lamentable tragedy see Part IV., Chapter III.
300 GREEN RIVER RENDEZVOUS.

attacked soon after and barely escaped with his life. He

received a severe wound and carried an arrowhead in his
back for two years after.
Winter found the various parties of the Rocky Mountain
Fur Company, except possibly that of Fraeb, again together
in the Snake river valley. In the following spring they
made their usual hunt and in due time gathered at the annual
rendezvous appointed for this year (1833) at the head of
Green river. This was another great gathering,^*' for be-
sides the two leading companies there were present Captain
Bonneville's company, numerous free trappers, a party of
sportsmen under an English officer. Captain Stuart, ^^ Na-
thaniel J. Wyeth, then on his way back home, and Robert
Campbell, with a party and outfit just from St. Louis in —
all about three hundred white men. There was besides a
small village of Snake Indians. The rendezvous was in full
activity as early as June 15th, and continued until June
24th.
On the latter date Robert Campbell, Fitzpatrick, and Mil-
^'*"I should have been proud of my countrymen if you could have
seen the American Fur Company or the party of Mr. Campbell. For
efficiency of goods, men, animals and arms I do not believe the fur bus-
iness has afforded a better example." Wyeth at Green river rendezvous
1833, July 18.
In spite of this excellent character, however, Wyeth expressed his
opinion in the same letter that things were in such a state that life

was unsafe and that there was "a great majority of scoundrels" among
the various companies.
" This Captain Stuart is often mentioned in the correspondence of the
fur trade and he was inuch mountain men. His full name
liked by the
and title, was Sir William Drum-
as given by a contemporary authority,
mond Stuart, Bart. His home was in Perthshire, Scotland, where he
lived for many years after his adventures in America. There is a tra-
dition that he published a journal of his experiences. If he did, the
work would be well worth reading, as it could not fail to be useful his-
torical authority.
In the same party with Captain Stuart was another character also
frequently mentioned. This was Dr. Benjamin Harrison, who had gone
to the mountains apparently to recuperate his health. He was a son of
Gen. William Henry Harrison.

iMf
 CONTRACT BETWEEN FITZPATRICK AND WYETH. 3OI

ton Sublette, with fifty-five packs of beaver, accompanied by-

Nathaniel J. Wyeth and Captain Stuart, left for the Bighorn

river. It to return to St. Louis by way of the
was intended
Yellowstone and Missouri rivers, probably in order to meet
William L. Sublette, who was coming up the river this year
with a strong outfit in opposition to the American Fur Com-
pany. Wyeth says that this route was selected because of
the danger from the Aricara Indians, who were at this time
infesting the Platte route with their marauding parties.
At a point on tho^Bighorn river, where a stop was made to
prepare bullboats for the further journey by water, and
where Fitzpatrick parted company with Campbell and Mil-
ton Sublette, a contract was entered into between the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company and Nathaniel J. Wyeth, August
14th, 1833, t)y which the latter agreed to bring out three
thousand dollars' worth of merchandise to their rendezvous
on Green river in the following year. Sublette, Campbell,
and Wyeth then went on by boat and arrived in due time at
the mouth of the Yellowstone, where they met W. L. Sub-
lette with his opposition outfit. Campbell and Milton
Sublette remained behind with him and Wyeth went on
alone.
The various bands of trappers now scouring the moun-
tainsmade their usual fall hunt, doing everything that they
could to hamper each other's movements. Only one inci-
dent of the fall campaign will be noticed and that because it

illustrates so well the desperate measures which the fur

companies were now using toward each other. After Fitz-
patrick had bidden goodbye to his associates on the Bighorn
river he set out for the valley of Tongue river, where he
expected to find the Crow village, in order to secure their
permission to make his fall hunt in their country. " But
before I had time," says Fitzpatrick, " for form or ceremony
of any kind, they robbed me and my men of everything we
possessed."^^
"" A letter from Captain Stuart near the Crow village in September
states . . . that Fitzpatrick was robbed of lOO horses, all his mer-
 !

302 ROBBERY OF FITZPATRICK.

Fitzpatrick openly charged the American Fur Company

with having instigated this outrage; the Indians confessed
the fact and the company's agent admitted it, and still the
only evidence of any restitution that has come to our notice
is in the following extract from a letter by McKenzie to

Samuel Tulloch, agent of the company among the Crows,

dated Fort Union, January 8, 1834: "The 43 Beaver
skins traded, marked, R. M. F. Co.,' I would in the present
'

instance give up if Mr. Fitzpatrick wishes to have them, on

his paying the price the articles traded for them were worth
on their arrival in the Crow village, and the expense of
bringing the beaver in and securing it. My goods are
brought in to the country to trade and I would as willingly
dispose of them to Mr. Fitzpatrick as to any one else for
beaver or beaver's worth, if I get my price. I make this

proposal as a favor, not as a matter of right, for I consider

the Indians entitled to trade any beaver in their possession
to me or to any other trader." A most condescending
" favor," to be sure! After having instigated the robbery,
and then having gotten the plunder, to restore it to its right-
ful owner upon payment of its value in the Indian trade,
was a mark of generosity which ought not to be omitted
from the credit of the American Fur Company
But if the Rocky Mountain Fur Company had just cause
for indignation at this outrageous treatment, they were on
their part equally careless of their own business obligations.
Milton Sublette went to Boston during the following winter,
and under his direction and advice Wyeth made up the
invoice of merchandise which he had contracted to take to
the mountains. In the following summer these two gentle-
men were crossing the plains together on their way to the
Green river rendezvous. Unfortunately Sublette was com-
pelled to go back on account of illness. William L. Sub-
lette in the meanwhile strained every nerve to reach the

chandise, some beaver and traps, his capote, and even his watch. That
party can consequently make no hunt this fall." Kenneth McKenzie to
Pierre Chouteau, Fort Union, December 10, 1833.
 DEPLORABLE STATE OF MOUNTAIN TRADE. 303

mountains ahead of Wyeth. In this he succeeded and

induced Fitzpatrick to refuse to stand by his bargain with
Wyeth. The latter was thus left with a large quantity of
merchandise on his hands which he had brought to this
point under a written agreement with the company who now
arbitrarily refused to receive it.

Outrages of this sort show

to what a state the fur trade
had now degenerated. Unrestrained competition had filled
the mountains with rival companies, each using every effort,
regardless of honor, to undermine the power of the rest.
It became as much as one's life was worth to change service
from one company to another, and it is stated that murders
were committed on account of these rivalries. The Indians
were utterly demoralized by the strange conduct of the
whites toward each other and of course lost all confidence in
them. They became more lawless and less industrious, and
even the friendly tribes could no longer be depended upon.
In proportion as these unfavorable conditions increased
the profits of the trade and the Rocky Mountain Fur
fell off,

Company could now was on the

clearly see that its business
decline. It was, moreover, the dupe of those on whom it
had placed its chief reliance. The elder Sublette and his
partner, Robert Campbell, were shrewdly drawing into their
own hands the profits of the trade. By virtue of their
arrangements with the Mountain Company for bringing out
supplies and marketing the furs, they controlled the entire
situation and turned into their own coffers the hard-earned
profits of others.^^
It was amid discouraging conditions like these that the
Rocky Mountain Fur Company met in annual rendezvous
^'
Significant of this fact is the following letter from Nathaniel J.
Wyeth to M. G. Sublette, Ham's Fork, July ist,1834, after Fitzpatrick
had refused to stand by Wyeth's contract with Sublette. " Now, Milton,
business closed between us, but you will find that you have only
is

bound yourself over to receive your supplies at such a price as may be

inflicted upon you, and that all you will ever make in this country will
go to pay for your goods. You will be kept, as you have been, a mere
slave to catch beaver for others."
304 DISSOLUTION OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

in the summer of 1834. A dissolution of the partnership

was agreed upon. Henry Fraeb
sold out his interest for
" forty head of horse beast, forty beaver traps, eight guns,
and one thousand dollars' worth of merchandise." Gervais
followed suit " in consideration of twenty head of horse
beast, thirty beaver traps, and five hundred dollars' worth
of merchandise." The remaining partners formed a new
firm under the style of Fitzpatrick, Sublette and Bridger,
assuming all responsibilities of the old company. This
firm is scarcely known in the history of the times and con-
tinued only for a very brief time. It may be doubted if it

was a legal partnership at was formed without

all, for it

the knowledge or consent of one of the members, M. G.

Sublette, who was absent at the time and whose signature to
the instrument evidencing the agreement was put in by some
one else.

The annual rendezvous in Green river valley in the sum-

mer of 1834 marks the end of the career of the Rocky Moun-
tain Fur Company. ^^ Fitzpatrick, Sublette and Bridger in

" The firm of Sublette and Campbell can not be considered as a Rocky
Mountain Company but rather as an opposition to the American Fur
Company on the Missouri. Its history will be considered with that
of the latter company.
The document here reproduced (see page 864) marks as definitely
th^ end of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company as did Ashley's adver-
tisement in 1822 its beginning. A letter written by Lucien Fontenelle
at Bellevue to Pierre Chouteau September 17, 1834, discusses several
interesting points in the present connection and is one of the very few
surviving letters written by that romantic character :
" I arrived here

three days ago with my expedition and returns from the mountains
for the last year. I shall be able in a few days more to ship the beaver
down. I am waiting for the boat which is now building at the Oto
post. It is probable that you may wish
have the beaver insured and
to
I am extremely sorry that I can not give you the correct weight.
However, the number of skins I have amount to 5,309 beaver, 90 of
otter, 18 of bear, 130 of muskrats, and about 150 pounds of castorum.
I hardly think it necessary to have them insured, although the river
is very low, but the boat will be very strong, and will have a double

crew formed of the very best kind of voyageurs under the eyes of Mr.
Cabanne, and the superintendence of Etienne Provost.
 STATE OF THE DIFFERENT COMPANIES. 305

the following year bought out the post built by Sublette and
Campbell 1834 on the Laramie and entered the
in the fall of
service of the American Fur Company. In 1836 Milton
Sublette died and the firm was dissolved, the surviving part-
ners taking individual service with the great company on
the Missouri.

From the date of Ashley's first essay in the fur trade to

the dissolution of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was a
period of only twelve years. What did the company accom-
plish during this short time, and what is its proper place in
western history?
In the matter of trade it opened up one of the wealthiest

" I
am sorry to say that I would have sent down more beaver had
it not been for the misfortune of losing a cache in which there were
eight or ten packs lost, destroyed by wolves and bears, and eight or
ten packs more which we have lost by the rascality of a few men, who
were largely indebted to us and who traded their fall's hunt with other
companies during the winter as it happened they did not winter near any
of our parties. I am in hopes that it will not so happen in the future
as I have so arranged that it will be hard for any of them to defraud us
hereafter.
" You must have heard before this of the returns that were made by
Mr. Sublette and the company of Bonneville and Company. The latter
I think by next year will be at an end with the mountains. They have
sent down from twelve to fourteen packs of beaver and admitting that
it should sell at a high price it is not enough to pay their retiring hands.

Wm. Sublette takes down about forty packs. The heretofore arrange-
ments between him and Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Milton Sublette and others
having expired last spring, they have concluded not to have anything
more to do with William Sublette and it will surprise me much if he
takes more than ten packs down next year. I have entered into a
partnership with the others and the whole of the beaver caught by them
is to be turned over to us by agreement made with them in concluding

the arrangement. William Sublette has built such a fort as Fort Clark
(Mandans) on Laramie's Fork of the River Platte and can make it a
central place for the Sioux and Cheyenne trade. He has now men run-
ning after these Indians to bring them to the River Platte. Buffalo is
in abundance on that river during all seasons of the year, and the situa-
tion may turn out to be an advantageous one for the trade." . . .

Fontenelle.
 -

306 WORK OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY.

fur sections of the West. Its operations were confined al-
most exclusively to the procuring of beaver fur and this was
mainly obtained by its own trappers rather than by trade
from the Indians. From all available data it is probable
that this company under its various names procured and
shipped to St. Louis upwards of a thousand packs of beaver
worth about five hundred thousand dollars. Through the
business arrangements by which the trade was conducted
most of the profits found their way into the pockets of the
St. Louis parties, particularly Ashley and William L. Sub-
lette. Milton Sublette, Fitzpatrick, Gervais, Fraeb and
Bridger evidently made no great amount of money. They
did the work and endured the hardships, but their earnings
served mainly to augment the fortunes of others.
As a school of adventure the Rocky Mountain Fur Com-
pany had no parallel among the business concerns of the
mountains. The campaign with the Aricaras, the advel^"
tures of Hugh Glass, Mike Fink, and Etienne Provost, the
wanderings of Jedediah S. Smith, the battle of Pierre's Hole,
and innumerable other romantic incidents have made fa-
mous the career of this notable company. Some idea of the
perils incurred in their numberless adventures may be judged
from the loss of life among their employes. From 1822 to
1829 inclusive these losses amounted to seventy men, none
of whom died natural deaths. The number who lost their
lives in the later career of the company would certainly bring
the total up to one hundred. The losses of property amount-
ed probably to one hundred thousand dollars.
The cause of geographical knowledge owes a great deal to
this company. The whole country around the sources of the
Platte, Green, Yellowstone and Snake rivers and in the re-
gion around Great Salt Lake was opened up by them.
Their adventurers gave names to the Sweetwater river. In-
dependence Rock, Jackson Hole, and the tributaries of Green
river and Great Salt Lake. They discovered this lake and
also South Pass. They were the first to descend Green
river by boat, and likewise the first, after Colter, to enter
 ;

ALBERT GALLATIN S MAP. 307

the Yellowstone Wonderland. They were the first to travel

from Great Salt Lake southwesterly to southern California,
the first to cross the Sierras and the deserts of Utah and Ne-

vada between California and Great Salt Lake, and the first,
so far as is known, to travel by land up the Pacific coast
from San Francisco to the Columbia. They were indefati-
gable explorers and considering the fact that most of them
made no records of what they did, the impress which they
have left upon the geography of the west is surprisingly
great. ^^

" This is a fitting place to pay a deserved tribute to Albert Gallatin

for a work knowledge which seems to
in the cause of geographical
have attracted very little it accom-
attention, in spite of the fact that
panies that writer's celebrated Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North
America, which forms the basis of all later work upon the ethnography
and philology of the American Indians. In this work Gallatin discusses
the geography of the Far West with the new light which he had obtained
from Gen. Ashley and Jedediah S. Smith. Ashley sent him a '^manu-
script map accompanied with numerous explanatory notes," and he
also secured a statement from Smith as to the latter's observations. The
result of this information, which Gallatin embodied in a map prepared
and drawn by himself, was to settle many, and in fact nearly all, the
important unknown and disputed questions in regard to the geography
of the western portion of what is now United States territory. Among
the points especially noted were the following: That the sources of
the Rio Grande del Norte were not above 39 degrees north latitude
that the sources of the Colorado of the West were as far north as 43
degrees that Lake Timpanago, or Great Salt Lake, had no outlet to the
;

Pacific ocean and no tributary on its west shore, but two important ones
from the east that there was another salt lake without cm outlet about
;

80 miles south of the southernmost point of Great Salt Lake that the
;

course of the far-famed Buenaventura river, which was long supposed

to drain some great central lake, was confined to the Pacific coast, and,
far from being east and west, was in reality from north to south that ;

the Multanomah, or Willamette river, long supposed to rise near Great

Salt Lake, was also a Pacific coast stream only that the Owyhee river
;

took its rise west of and at no great distance from the Great Salt Lake;
and finally that the whole country between Great Salt Lake and the
Sierra Nevada mountains was of sandy, desert character with only a
few wild Indians, "the most miserable objects in creation."
When it is considered that this information was given to the world
in 1836, a year before Captain Bonneville's map, which claims credit
2o8 WORK OF EXPLORATION.

But perhaps the most important service which the com-

pany rendered its country was as a school for the education
of those who were later to-^^t^st-the government in the
exploration of the West. It was to the old members and
employes of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company that the
government looked mainly for its guides when it entered
those regions for the first time. It owes them a debt which

the salaries paid for their services very inadequately meas-

ure.

for nearly all of it, was published, one may easily judge of its importance
in the evolution of our Western geography. We shall further treat of
this matter in our sketch of Captain Bonneville's work.
For a resume of existing knowledge concerning the discovery of
Great Salt Lake see Part V., Chapter IV.
 CHAPTER XIX.

THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WESTERN DEPARTMENT.

Astor purchases interest in Mackinaw Company —

Foreigners ex-v.
eluded from the United States fur trade —
Astor buys out Northwest \^
interests in United States— The Mackinaw letter books —
Farnham's \
—
outfit confiscated Suit against Colonel Chambers —
Opposition of j
St. Louis traders— Russell Farnham —Negotiations with St. Louis /
parties— Western Department established at St. Louis. \^4 '^^ ^"^^""^

*^ HE American Fur Company was incorporated by Act

^^ New York, April 6, 1808. Mr.
of the Legislature of
Astor was the company and the incorporation was merely
" a fiction intended to broaden and facilitate his opera-
tions." Hitherto Mr. Astor's relation to the trade had been
rather that of a merchant, buying from the producers and
shipping to various parts of the world for sale to the con- ;

sumers. He now began to enter the trade on a broader

scale, producing the furs by means of his own operations in
the field. But in his efforts to establish himself in the re-
gion along the Great Lakes, then the richest fur country yet
opened up within the limits of the United States, he encoun-
tered a formidable obstacle in the presence of the Mackinaw
Company whose headquarters were at Michilimackinac, in
the strait between Lakes Huron and Michigan. Although
there were no longer British troops south of the boundary,
the laws of the United States did not exclude British traders,
and the Mackinaw Company had firmly established itself in
all the country about the Great Lakes and the headwaters of

the Mississippi. In order to neutralize to some extent the

power of this company Mr. Astor found it necessary to pur-
3IO THE SOUTHWEST COMPANY.

chase an interest in it. He was doubtless enabled to do this

because the British traders understood that it was in line
with the wishes of the American government, and they pre-
ferred to yield a share of their business to American traders
rather than lose it all as they might do if Congress should
exclude foreigners from the trade within the United States.
Accordingly Mr. Astor and certain partners of the North-
west Company bought out the Mackinaw Company and or-
ganized a new association under Mr. Astor's charter and
called it the Southwest Company.^ The name was given in
contradistinction to the British Company which did business
in the country to the north and west. Under this arrange-
ment Mr. Astor held a two-thirds interest in the trade within
the United States with the understanding that it was all to
fall hands at the expiration of five years. Scarcely
into his
had the new arrangement gone into effect when its opera-
tions were suspended by the War of 1812.
Another comprehensive enterprise which Mr. Astor or-
ganized under his general charter was the Pacific Fur Com-
pany whose career has already been sketched in these pages.
This enterprise also was ruined by the war and Mr. Astor
found himself in 181 5 scarcely a whit advanced in his
schemes over three years before. He now began to gather
up the scattered fragments pf his business on the lakes.
The better to advance his interests In this quarter he urged,
and was largely instrumental in, the passage of an Act by
Congress excluding foreigners from participating in the fur
trade of the United States except in subordinate capacities
under American traders. After the passage of this Act,
April 29, 181 6, It became necessary for the Northwest Com-
pany to relinquish their interests on American territory.
Mr. Astor stood ready to accommodate them in this regard
and it has often been said that he seized the opportunity to
^ The names of the Mackinaw traders seem to have been Cameron,
Fraser, Dickson, and Rolette, the last two becoming prominent at a
later date in the American Fur Company. Astor gave them a one-
third interest in the new Southwest Company.
 THE MACKINAW LETTER BOOKS. 3II

recoup himself for the losses forced upon him by that com-
pany on the Pacific in 1813. Be that as it may the American
Fur Company succeeded to the interests of the Northwest
and Southwest Companies in 1816 and in the following- year
the new organization went into effect."
The field of operations which had its base at Mackinaw
and embraced the region of the Great Lakes and the upper
Mississippi, and, what is not generally known, a consider-
able tract of territory on the east shore of Lake Huron, is
not within the scope of this work. It is referred to here

only to show the course of events connecting the operations

of the Pacific Fur Company with those of the Western De-
partment of the American Fur Company with headquarters
at St. Louis. But as nearly ten years elapsed from the
downfall of Astoria to the final establishment of Mr. Astor's

business at St. Louis, a brief outline of intervening events is

essential to a proper exposition of the subject. Luckily the

necessary data for such an outline are still extant in the form
of two ponderous letter books of the American Fur Com-
pany which the visitor at Mackinaw Island may now
see in
the John Jacob Astor Hotel.^ The letters are almost en-
tirely those of Ramsay Crooks and Robert Stuart, the larger
part having been written by Crooks. The books seem to
have accompanied Crooks in his travels between New York,
Michilimackinac and St. Louis, as the many different hand-
writings of copyists and the varieties of ink used sufficiently
attest. The first letter is dated September 18, 1816, and the
last July 29, 1825 but the period most thoroughly covered
;

embraces only the years 1817-23, including, however, the

entire period from the dissolution of the Southwest Com-
pany to the establishment of the Western Department of the
^ Crooks, in
a letter dated in May or June, 1817, says
:
" The business
of the Southwest Company, heretofore conducted by Mr. Pierre D.
Rocheblave, is now managed by myself, and in consequence a trans-
fer has been made of all the property of that concern."
' For an opportunity
to examine these books the author is indebted
to their owner, Mr. Claude Cable, proprietor of the John Jacob Astor
Hotel.
312 JEALOUSY OF ST. LOUIS TRADERS.

American Fur Company in St. Louis. The course of events

which led to the final opening up of the Missouri branch of
the trade will be told as far as possible in the language of
these letters.
In thenew arrangement the old Pacific Fur Company-
came again prominently to the front.
partners and clerks
Ramsay Crooks became the general agent of the company
associated with Robert Stuart on apparently equal terms.
Russell Farnham became the company's chief representative
on the Mississippi. W. W. Mathews was their agent in
Montreal for the hiring of employes. Franchere was
offered a berth but was forced to defer acceptance for a time
pending the fulfillment of a prior engagement with the
Northwest Company. Of the new men who bore an impor-
tant part in the operations of the new company, the most
prominent were the Abbott brothers, James and Samuel, of
Detroit. Both were able men and both rendered the com-
pany excellent service.
Crooks, Stuart, and Farnham joined in the campaign of
1817. Crooks himself spent most of the summer on Mack-
inaw Island organizing the business. No incident of special
importance occurred during this year except in the case of
Farnham, who had been selected to manage the business on
the Mississippi. The long standing jealousy of the St.
Louis traders toward Mr. Astor's company had been com-
municated in some degree to the government officials sta-
tioned in St. Louis charged with the conduct of Indian
affairs. While the Act of 181 6 excluded British traders, it
did not prevent the engagement of foreigners in the service
of American traders. The American Fur Company very
largely recruited its force from Montreal and Farnham's
Mississippi company was composed mainly of Canadians.
The authorities near St. Louis seized upon this fact as a
violation of the law. The measures which they took to
enforce the law as they interpreted it are thus described by
Crooks in a letter to Governor Cass, dated New York, April
15, 1818: "Colonel Talbot Chambers of the Rifle Regi-
 SEIZURE OF FARNHAM S OUTFIT. 313

ment, having last summer thought proper to deny the power

of the Agent of Indian Affairs, acting under your immediate
orders, to grant foreigners permission to accompany Amer-
ican traders to the Mississippi, for the purpose of aiding
those citizens in their commerce with the Indians on that
stream; and refusing any other authority to
to recognize
trade in that country than the hcenses emanating from the
Governors of the Missouri and Ilhnois territories, he seized
and sent down to St. Louis, in charge of Lieutenant Blair
and a Sergeant's guard, two boats belonging to the American
Fur Company, which were under the command of Russell
Farnham and Daniel Darling, both natural born citizens of
the United States." The American Fur Company was not
accustomed to permit infringements of its rights by any
government official, no matter how high. Suit was
promptly brought against Colonel Chambers, and after liti-
gation running through four years, was decided in favor of
the company.'* Colonel Thomas H. Benton was counsel for
the American Fur Company in this case. Crooks said in the
letter quoted in the accompanying footnote that the
verdict was especially gratifying to him, not on account of
the award, but because it exposed the unreasonable persecu-
tion to which the company had been subjected by the St.
Louis parties.
The extent to which this persecution was carried may be
inferred from the following remarks contained in a letter
from Crooks to Nicholas Bolevin at Prairie du Chien dated
at Michilimackinac August 9, 1818: "A species of civil
war has already been too long waged by the St. Louis inter-
ests against those of the Lakes. Our rights to the Indian
trade are precisely the same, and surely the men of Mack-
inaw are entitled to equal protection and advantage with
*
" The suit with Colonel Chambers for the seizure of Farnham's
boats in 1817 was brought to a close at the end of last October, when
we obtained a verdict for $5,000 damages. The Colonel's bar'l being
'
'

very good, we are likely to recover the amount awarded to us." Let-
ter from Crooks to Stuart, February 8. 1823.
314 AUTHORITY TO ENTER THE MISSOURI.

those of the IlHnois country. . ask nothing for

. . We
ourselves, from either the civil or military authorities of
the country, which we would for a moment wish to be with-
held from the others. We
are fully entitled to equal priv-
ileges with our opponents, and we can never consent to have
them abridged or in any manner impaired."
Still further in evidence of thesame bitter feeling against
the American Fur Company are the following instructions
to Farnham when he was about to start on one of his expe-
ditions to the Mississippi :
" You must not listen to the
thousand stories and perhaps threats you will hear, for such
things will be attempted with a view to checking your activ-
ity and enterprise. ... Be extremely cautious in
giving vent to the hard things you may and will feel inclined
to say of some people you will have to deal with in the course
of your absence from this place for, be assured, every word
;

affecting these great men will be treasured up against you.

And beware of others who will try to insinuate themselves
into your confidence the better to betray you."
The American Fur Company meanwhile used its great
influence at Washington to remove the legal difficulties of
the situation and eventually succeeded. In a letter to Farn-
ham written in New York March 17, 18 19, Crooks stated
that the War Department had at last cleared up the con-
struction of the law in regard to the introduction of foreign-
ers and the territorial extent of licenses and that the St.
Louis officials had been directed to recognize the validity of
the licenses of the Mackinaw traders. " You may ascend
the Missouri with your Mackinaw men," he writes, " in
perfect confidence. Governor Clark has the order about
respecting your licenses and so has Colonel Chambers. I
met with Mr. Benjamin O' Fallon in Washington. He is
appointed agent for the Missouri, and is, I believe, con-
vinced that all the reports so industriously circulated about
Mr. Astor and his agents, which created such unheard-of
prejudices against us, and did us so much injury with the
officers, were invented and propagated by people who feared
 RUSSELL FARNHAM. 315

US, and labored to drive us by this means from the country.

On the whole we have now reason to believe that
this reign of persecution is, if not at an end, at least very
nearly so. . . . There is nothing to prevent your going
^
into the Missouri now with your Canadians."
° Farnham's first essays up the Missouri river were only as far as
to the mouth of Grand where he left the Missouri to visit the
river,
Sac Indians. Nevertheless, him belongs the credit of being the
to
first trader in the employ of the American Fur Company to carry the
business of that company into the valley of the Missouri.
Russell Farnham was a typical frontiersman of the better class.
He first our notice as a clerk in the Pacific Fur Company,
comes to
and one of the Astorians who sailed in the Tonquin. He was a " Green
Mountain Boy" of great energy, pluck, and perseverance. His career
at Astoria was full of adventure. He was one of a party who pur-
sued and captured a number of deserters in November, 181 1. He was
in the Indian fight at the Dalles of the Columbia when Reed's tin
box was stolen. He helped build the post at Spokane and spent the
winter of 1812-13 among the Flatheads. He was executioner of the
Indian whom Clarke ordered hung for theft, June ist, 1813. Upon the
downfall of Astoria he sailed with Hunt on the Pcdlcr; was landed at
Kamchatka made his way overland to Hamburg, and sailed thence
;

to New York. Crooks, referring to Farnham's life on the Columbia,

once said that " he underwent greater privations than any half dozen
of us."
When the American Fur Company began to resume operations after
the War of 1812, Farnham entered its service and bore the brunt of
the battle during the company's struggle to establish itself on the
Missouri. All that is known him in this new field is given in
of the
present chapter. He did good work and was respected alike by his
employers and opponents.
Farnham continued in the service of the company until 1832, when
he fell a victim to the cholera and died at St. Louis, October 30th of
that year. Crooks thus refers to his death in a letter to Pierre Chou-
teau, Jr., written in New York November i6th, 1832 " Poor : Farn-
ham; he has paid the debt of nature after a life of uncommon activity
and endless exposure. Peace to his manes He was one of the best !

meaning, but the most sanguine men I almost ever met with. During
all the ravages of the pestilence here, and the unexpected rapidity

with which some of my friends were hurried to their long account,

I never felt anything like the sensation I experienced upon hearing of
my honest friend's death, for I did not know he was at St. Louis,
and thought him safe in some part of the wilderness."
3l6 NEGOTIATIONS WITH ST. LOUIS TRADERS.

It is not to be inferred that during all these years, while

Crooks was pushing and
his operations in the field farther
farther to the westward, Mr, Astor made no attempt to
establish a branch house in St. Louis nor others to interest
him there. The firm of Berthold, Chouteau and Company
had more than once considered the question of purchasing
an interest in Mr. Astor's business, but had never come to
any definite arrangement. Crooks became tired of dallying
in the matter and thus expressed his feeling to Mr. Astor,
at that time in Europe, under date of July 2"], 1820: " To
address Messrs. Berthold and Chouteau on a subject so often
canvassed, appears to me more than useless, as their conduct
has hitherto betrayed such indecision that small hopes ought
to be entertained of their determination now. Perhaps the
appearance of David Stone and Company at St. Louis may
rouse them from their fancied security and turn their atten-
tion seriously this way. Lest that should be the case, and to
clear myself from all blame, I shall in a few days write them
and request an immediate and specific reply at New York."
The new firm of Stone and Company, to which allusion is
here made, was having a career of such rapid prosperity as
to alarm the St. Louis traders and even to excite the appre-
hensions of the American Fur Company itself. What
became of its efi'orts will presently appear, but it will first be
of interest to present Mr. Crooks' letter to Berthold and
Chouteau which he promised but a moment ago. It is a
model in its way and displays to advantage the confidence
of the American Fur Company in the ultimate success of its
undertaking. After reciting that he had been informed of a
recent proposition by Mr. Berthold to Mr. Astor's son to
purchase an interest in the American Fur Company, and
stating the conditions under which Mr. Astor would be
willing to sell, he urged an immediate reply with explicit
powers in order that he might convey it to Mr. Astor on his
intended visit to that gentleman in Paris. He concluded
his letter as follows :
" You might perhaps expect me to
give an opinion of what the business will hereafter be, but
 ULTIMATUM TO BERTHOLD AND CHOUTEAU. 317

I neither advise you you frorn the under-

to join nor dissuade
taking. You know enough you to decide on what
to enable
you ought to do, and I can not consent to be blamed should
my anticipations and the result prove at variance. For my-
self and the gentlemen here I am permitted to say, we will
with pleasure pursue the same path with you, but if you will
not be of our party, we are determined on traveling, as here-
'''

tofore, by ourselves."
To this curt ultimatum Berthold and Chouteau did not
see fit to accede, and the year's trade went on as before. In
the following winter, 1820-21, Crooks went to Europe and
entered into arrangements with Astor for the next four
years. In the meanwhile, the field of the Missouri grew
more tempting than ever, and it became the settled policy of
Crooks and Stuart to enter it at the earliest possible moment.
In a letter to Mr. Astor, who was still in Europe, dated
Michilimackinac, July 29, 1821, Crooks says: "I still
intend going to St. Louis with a branch of our concern, and
will draw from the outfit usually made from this place those
of the lower Mississippi and the Wabash coun-
Illinois, the
try. The balance of the business can be transacted here
advantageously." In pursuance of this policy he wrote to
' As further illustrating the confidence of the American
Fur Com-
pany agents, the following incident may be cited. In the winter of
1818-19 the firm of Cabanne and Company of which Manuel Lisa seems
to have been either a partner or principal agent, was dissolved, and
both Lisa and one Dennis Julien applied to Mr. Crooks for an outfit
of goods, apparently with the intention of embarking in independent
enterprises. Although it is not to be supposed that the American Fur
Company was unable to comply with these requests, or that it would
have been unwilling in ordinary circumstances to do so, Crooks now
viewed the matter in a different light. He was willing to forego the
advantages of this temporary trade rather than place himself under
further obligations to the St. Louis traders, or do anything which
might interfere with him when the proper opportunity arrived to seize
upon the Missouri trade. He therefore replied adroitly that " it is now
too late to procure an additional supply from abroad. Nothing prop-
er for your purpose can be procured here, with the exceptions of
some articles of minor importance, and it will consequently be out of
my power to meet your wishes."
3l8 CREDITABLE CONDUCT OF MR. ASTOR.

Samuel Abbott, who was managing the company's business

at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, under date of October
" Unless it is absolutely necessary for you to
25, 1821 :

remain at Prairie du Chien it is our wish that you proceed

this fall to St. Louis, there to remain until you obtain a
complete list of the goods usually found in the retail estab-
lishments at that place. Ascertain everything that may be
of advantage to us, and, as soon thereafter as may be con-
venient to yourself, pursue your journey to New York. .

The state of the fur trade generally, and that of the

Missouri particularly, will be very desirable, more especially
when coupled with the resources of the individuals who are
engaged in the business, as also their standing with the
world."
On the 30th of November, 1821, Crooks thus wrote to
Mr. Astor " Preliminary arrangements are made for
:

prosecuting the trade of St. Louis and the Missouri next

season. Berthold and Chouteau, with all their advantages,
have suffered the firm of Stone & Co. to get the better of
them more effectually than could have been believed, and as
there is no injunction to the contrary, we may as well come
in for a share of the business. . You now do no
. .

business with them worth attending to,'^ and any scruples

we have heretofore entertained in regard to embarking
^This refers to Mr. Astor's relations with certain traders in St.
Louis which had in part deterred him from entering the field against
them. It is greatly to the credit of Mr. Astor that he never stooped
to the petty competition which was such a constant feature of the fur
trade in those years. He stood on higher ground in those matters
than his agents ever did, possibly because he was more removed from
the field of actual operations. He was supplying with goods certain
St. Louis firms whose trade lay up the Missouri, and he therefore
scrupulously avoided entering the same field of operations with them.
Thus, in a letter to Farnham dated December 28, 1818, Crooks ex-
presses regret that Farnham had entered the country of the Sac Indians
by the route of the Missouri and Grand rivers, instead of by the Mis-
sissippi and the Des Moines ;
" for," said he, " although no agreement

exists between us and Messrs. Cabanne & Company, to prevent our

going into that river or they into the Mississippi, still, as Mr. Astor
supplies their goods, they partly calculated on our not opposing them."
 ABOLITION OF GOVERNMENT FACTORIES. 319

in their portion of the trade,ought not to be indulged in

any longer. bad management in
Besides, their apathy or
opposing Stone begins to enlarge his views, and has already
tempted him to commence a competition with our outposts
on the lower Mississippi so that, independent of other con-
;

siderations, self defense will lead us into the field against

him. however, for the first year attempt much.
I shall not,

My intention merely to supply our lower Mississippi and

is

Illinois river outfits from St. Louis, and tamper with the
Missouri traders on a moderate scale, in order to secure
them for the following year. . Without being very
. .

sanguine, I feel so favorably toward the undertaking as to

make me enter it with great confidence of success."
On the 2nd of July, 1821, the British Parliament passed
an act which virtually excluded American traders from
Canadian territory. The American Fur Company accord-
ingly withdrew its outposts from the region to the east of
Lake Huron, but promptly made a counter move along the
frontier from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods by
establishing three posts there in competition with the Hud-
son Bay Company.
In the winter of 1821-22 the American Fur Company
made a very important move in securing the abolition by
Congress of the United States factories for trading with the
Indians. This achievement, which has been fully consid-
ered in another place, removed government competition in
the trade, and left the company wath a free hand to fight its
battles with the private traders.
In the spring of 1822 Crooks prepared to put his ideas into
effect by opening up an establishment at St. Louis. He
wrote to Astor, April 23, 1822 " I regret beyond measure
:

that our fastidiousness about interfering with our St. Louis

friends induced us to postpone until the present time any
attempt to participate in the Missouri trade." And later in
the same letter he adds " Mr. Samuel Abbott goes to St.
:

Louis to remain in charge of our concerns there." In a

letter from Crooks to Stuart of April 10, 1822, occurs the

r •.

i
320 THE WESTERN DEPARTMENT.

first mention that has fallen under our observation of the use

of the name Western Department as applied to the St. Louis

interests of the American Fur Company.
It was therefore in the year 1822 (not 1819, as has been
generally given by historians) that the American Fur Com-
pany established its Western Department at St. Louis, and
gave to its previous field of operations the name of the
Northern Department. Samuel Abbott was the first person
in charge of the new business at St. Louis, while Robert
Stuart remained at Michilimackinac. The Western Depart-
ment was confined to the Missouri and the lowqr posts on
the Mississippi and the Illinois. With the Northern Depart-
ment, which embraced the region of the Great Lakes and
the upper Mississippi, we shall have nothing to do farther
except as it may incidentally fall in our way.

/
/
 CHAPTER XX.

THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

THE UPPER MISSOURI OUTFIT.

Consolidation with Stone, Bostwick and Company — Arrangement

with the St. Louis traders —
Sketch of the Columbia Fur Company —
Rivalry with the American Fur Company —
Union with America n Far
Company — Importance of this union —
Movement toward the upper
river — Establishment of Fort Union —
Commencement of the moun-
tain trade— Henry Vanderburgh —
Attempt to open a trade with the
Blackfeet — The mission of Berger —
Blackfeet visit Fort Union A —
trader sent to the Blackfeet — Treaty of peace between the Blackfeet
and the Assiniboines — Establishment of Fort Piegan — Successful
trade at this post— Mitchell builds Fort McKenzie — Tulloch builds
Fort Cass on the Yellowstone — Upper country occupied by end
all

of 1832 — Business changes — Proposition to introduce steamboats

in the trade — The Yellowstone built — Voyages of 1831 and 1832 —
Their importance in the history of the Missouri — Impression upon the
Indians — British influence on the Upper Missouri — History of the
Astor medals.

'^'HE American Fur Company was thus finally estab-

^^ lished at St. Louis in spite of the opposition of the St.
Louis traders. It was there without connection or depend-
ence upon any of them. But it would still require a great
deal of adroit management and much hard work before its
hold on the Missouri trade could be made secure. There
was the solid opposition of the local traders to contend with,
and there had lately arisen the formidable concern of David
Stone and Company, or, as it was also called. Stone, Bost-
wick and Company. Finally a Boston company, whose
name is omitted from the correspondence, had recently
entered the field with a great show of strength. So many
houses could not all prosper on the amount of business at
322 BERNARD PRATTE AND COMPANY.

that time in sight, and it was must be a com-

clear that there
bination of interests by which some of the companies would
survive and others be forced from the field.
The first step toward a consolidation is announced in a
letter from Crooks to Stuart dated New York, February 8,
1823. It say's, "among other things, that " Messrs. Stone,
Bostwick and Company have been admitted into the Ameri-
can Fur Company to commence the ist of April next and
continue three and one-half years, which is six months
longer than our agreement with Mr. Astor.^ For . .

the present, you will take charge of the Detroit Department,

and Mr. Bostwick will manage at St. Louis, where I will
assist him next summer." Abbott was also to operate with
Bostwick in St. Louis. This was welcome news to Stuart,
who wrote to David Stone, May 19, 1823 " Permit me to :

w^elcome you as a member of the American Fur Company.

I think you have all acted wisely; but if the junction had
been formed five years ago, there would have been cause
for mutual congratulation."
The arrangement with Stone, Bostwick and Company ran
through the agreed three and one-half years, and was not
renewed, but instead the management of the affairs of the
Western Department was placed in the hands of Bernard
Pratte and Company under an agreement which was to
continue in force for a period of four years.^ Thus, at the
very period when General Ashley's remarkable achievements
were turning the heads of the St. Louis traders, the Amer-
ican Fur Company formed its first alliance with any of the
old St. Louis houses. Bernard Pratte and Company
'
Crooks and Stuart's arrangements thus continued until the spring
of 1826, while the agreement with Stone, Bostwick and Company ran
until the fall of that year.
With the letter next below the Mackinaw record closes and the next
data upon the subject are found in the Chouteau papers of St. Louis.
^
" Nous sommes fondes sur }/2 dans les 6u perts des ope-
profits
rations de traite pour le Mississippi depuis le Prairie du Chien et de tout
le Missouri et de ses dependences." Bernard Pratte and Company to
J. P. Cabanne, January 9, 1827.
 THE COLUMBIA FUR COMPANY. 323

included some of the strongest of the traders, among them

one or more of the Chouteaus. It is only to be regretted

that this inevitable consummation did not take place in

1809 instead of 1827.

Scarcely had the American Fur Company closed this
important arrangement when it was compelled to give its
attention to a powerful opposition which had grown up in
the field of its operations. This was the Columbia Fur
Company, an organization only five years old, which had
extended its trade through the entire "region of the head-
waters of the Mississippi as far east as the Great Lakes and
The history of this company
as far w^est as the Missouri.
is somewhat obscure, but the more important facts are
known. Its founder was Joseph Renville, an old British
trader who later served as an officer during the War of
1812. After the war he retired on the half pay of a captain
of the line, and resumed his former occupation. Wishing
to return to his post on the Red River of the North within
the territory of the United States, but not being permitted
to retain his pay if he left British territory, he gave up his
pension and went back to his post. When the amalgama-
tion of the Northwest and Hudson Bay Companies took
place in 1821, and threw out of service many of the former
employes of these companies, Renville invited several of
the most experienced to join him in a new company. The
names of those who accepted this proposal were Kenneth
McKenzie and William Laidlaw. The ablest of these asso-
ciates was Kenneth McKenzie, who in a few years rose to the
presidency of the new company. As the laws of the United
States forbade foreigners to engage in the fur trade w'ithin
its boundaries on their own account, the organization was
legalizedby bringing in certain citizens of the United States.
among them Daniel Lamont, and placing it under their
name. The legal title of the firm was Tilton and Company,
but the name by which it was always known was the Colum-
bia Fur Company. Whether this name was given in token
of the ambitious schemes of the new company and their
324 KIPP AMONG THE MANDANS.

purpose to carry their trade to the Pacific, does not appear.

The capital of the Columbia Fur Company was not large,
but the partners were all bold, experienced, and enterprising
men. They rapidly extended their trade over a wide tract
of country. Their principal establishment was at Lake
Traverse, almost exactly on the divide between two impor-
tant rivers — the St. Peter's, a large tributary of the Missis-
sippi, and the Red River of the North. Another post was
at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi, and a third as far
east as Green Bay on the western shore of Lake Michigan.
The most important outposts, however, were on the Missouri
river. In 1823^ James Kipp and a Mr. Tilton, doubtless
of the firm of Tilton and Company, visited the Mandans,
and then built a post on the south side of the Missouri above
the site where Fort Clark was built. Tilton was the first
trader in charge. He and Kipp had a hard time of it at
the new post, for the Aricaras, immediately after Colonel
Leavenworth's attack on their villages, had moved up the
river and had settled down opposite the Mandans. Far
from being humbled by their experiences at the hands of
Colonel Leavenworth, they were more vicious and trouble-
some than ever, and practically held the new post in a state
of siege, Tilton and Kipp were forced to abandon it before
winter set it. They built a house in the Mandan village,
where they conducted their trade until 1827. The necessary
supplies were brought in part from Fort Traverse, and in
part by keelboat from St. Louis.
The most important of this company's posts on the
Missouri was just above the mouth of the Teton river, or
the Little Missouri, as it was then called. It bore the name

of Fort Tecumseh, The American Fur Company also had

a post here, but what the name was is not known. Still
farther down was Fort Lookout, and close by it the Ameri-
This would seem to be the correct date. Maximilian says it was
'

in 1822, but adds that it was in the year of the Leavenworth cam-
paign against the Aricaras, which was in 1823. Others of Maximilian's
dates in this connection are back one year.
 UNION OF THE TWO COMPANIES. 325

can Fur Company post, Kiowa. Below this were posts at

the mouth of the Niobrara, James, and VermiHon rivers,
while the lowest establishment on the river was at Council
Bluffs. The American Fur Company likewise had posts
all along this stretch of but none so high as the Man-
river,
dans. By the close of the year 1826, when Bernard Pratte
and Company assumed the agency of the Western Depart-
ment, the American and Columbia Fur Companies were in
active competition with each other through the Sioux and
Omaha country. Both companies outfitted in St. Louis, and
throughout the field did business along the same lines.
The Columbia Fur Company had grown too strong and
possessed too much ability to be put down by competition,
and it became necessary for the American Fur Company to
do something else to rid itself of an opposition which, ac-
cording to Crooks, did their " business in those countries an
annual injury of ten thousand dollars at least."
Proposals were therefore made for a union of the two
companies and negotiations to this end were completed about
July, 1827.^ The terms of the new arrangement were
advantageous to all concerned, and were an important step
on the part of the American Fur Company toward adjusting
its business to the new situation upon which it had entered.

The Columbia Fur Company withdrew altogether from the

region of the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi, which
thus reverted to the Northern Department without opposi-
tion. On the sub-department was created
Missouri a
including all mouth of the Big Sioux,
the valley above the
and the Columbia Fur Company took charge of this depart-
ment almost without change of organization. The partners
of the retiring company became partners or proprietors of
this^ub-department, and McKenzie, Laidlaw, and Lamont
* Chouteau to Russell Farnham, July 11, 1827: "I have at last con-
cluded the arrangement [of consolidation] with the Columbia Fur
Company."
Numerous other references to this event are found in the correspond-
summer of 1827.
ence of the
326 THE UPPER MISSOURI OUTFIT.

conducted the affairs of the upper Missouri quite as inde-

pendently as if they had remained a separate company.
Mr. Crooks^ in his instructions to P. D. Papin, whom he
sent up the river to appraise with Mr. McKenzie the prop-
erty of the Cokimbia Fur Company, gave him the follow-
ing directions " You will deliver to Mr. McKenzie or
:

his agent the whole of our property at the different posts,

with all the books and papers appertaining thereto, and you
will direct our people to obey him in all things as they would
Bernard Pratte and Company. You will give him all the
information you can relative to the property, the condition of
our business, the nature and state of the accounts, and the
character of our people individually." The arrangement
with the American Fur Company was therefore more in the
nature of a union than an amalgamation. The name
Columbia Fur Company was dropped and in its place arose
the unpretentious business style of " Upper Missouri Outfit,"
or in brief, " U. M. O." In all the trade arrangements for
the^next twenty years or more this name and division of
the river were preserved.^
The transfer of property resulting from the union of the
two companies was completed by the end of the year 1827.
The inventories were turned over du Chien Octo-
at Prairie
ber 10; at Council Bluffs October and at Fort Tecumseh
i ;

December 5. The valuation of the Columbia Fur Company

property at the various posts on the Missouri was a little
over seventeen thousand dollars. The entire transaction
was thus completed and the new arrangement went into full
effect with the beginning of the year 1828.
This event was the most important in the history of the
Western Department of the American Fur Company for it
made that department by far the most powerful trading
'
It is an interesting fact that this division of the valley of the Mis-
souri has characterized the history of the river in one respect or an-
other to the present day. In the government control and improvement
of the river there are now two districts whose dividing line is at
Sioux City, Iowa.
 MOVEMENT UP THE MISSOURI, 327

concern on the river. Thereafter the " company " always

meant, among the fur traders of the West, the American Fur
Company, and all others were mere " opposition " com-
panies. This supremacy it maintained until it went out
of business altogether over thirty years afterward.
-At the time of the transfer of the Columbia Fur Company,
General Ashley had just received the third of his phenome-
nal collections of beaver skins from beyond the mountains.
His successes made a profound impression at St. Louis, and
it was the ambition of the American Fur Company to invade

those regions from which wealth was being so easily

extracted. It was Kenneth McKenzie's desire to enter the
mountain business at once and he laid before the manage-
ment in St. Louis a carefully concerted plan of operations
for the season of 1828. But less sanguine councils pre-
vailed. Ashley's performance was regarded as too extraor-
dinary to be capable of general imitation, and the company
thought it better to go a little slow and first establish a per-
manent post at the mouth of the Yellowstone, which would
afford a safe and convenient base for the operations of the
upper country. McKenzie was selected for this purpose,
after Pierre Chouteau, with great gentleness and considera-
tion, had dissuaded him from his cherished mountain enter-
prise.
In the summer of 1828 accordingly a definite advance
toward the sources of the Missouri river was commenced.
The first step naturally was to occupy that important situa-
tion at the mouth of the Yellowstone to which natural
routes of travel converged from all parts of the territory
beyond. Here evidently would be the central and principal
depot for all the trade of the upper country. It is more than
possible that it was this " union at some convenient point
above," referred to by McKenzie in discussing the trade
situation, which led him to give the name Union to the
establishment finally built there. It was about September
15th that he dispatched the keelboat Otter from the Man-
dans to the mouth of the Yellowstone to establish a post
328 FORT UNION.

for the Assiniboine trade. The boat arrived " in sufficient

time to build a fort and have all necessary preparations made
for security." ^ Who it was that McKenzie sent to do this
work not stated in the correspondence, but it was very
is

likely James Kipp. The date of the beginning of the work

was within two weeks of October i, 1828. This post, the
first American Fur Company built above the Man-
that the
dans, was not named Union, as is generally supposed, but
Fort Floyd.^ " Fort Union " was first applied to a post
built in the year 1829, about two hundred miles above the
mouth of the Yellowstone. The correspondence of the
American Fur Compan}'- is clear upon this point. But
before the close of 1830 the name " Floyd " had been aban-
doned and " Union " had been permanently settled upon
the post at or near the Yellowstone.
While McKenzie was establishing himself upon the upper
Missouri, he was keeping his eye upon the rich fields where
General Ashley had won his wealth and fame. He took
early measures to open up a business in the mountains even
if he could not personally attend to it. In the fall of 1828
he sent Etienne Provost to look up the trappers of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company with a view to bringing them in to
Fort Floyd. This was no doubt congenial work to Provost,
who, as we have seen, had fallen out with Ashley and his
associates in the summer of 1826. In the fall of 1828 old
Hugh Glass came to Fort Floyd and said that he had been
deputed by the free trappers to invite McKenzie to bring
goods to a rendezvous designated by them for trade after the
spring hunt of 1829. To meet these hunters a party was
organized under Henry Vanderburgh, and left St. Louis in
April, 1829, with thirty men, twenty-five horses and fifty
traps. Not much is known for the next two years of the
doings of this intrepid leader except that he plunged at once
into the heart of the mountains and was as bold and enter-
prising as were any of his rivals in the mountain company.
® McKenzie to Chouteau, Fort Tecumseh, December 26, 1828.
' See " Fort Union " in list of trading posts, Appendix F.
 THE MOUNTAIN TRADE. 329

One scrap of information shows that he made the acquaint-

ance of the Blackfeet at an early day. In the summer of
1830 he had a hard battle with them in which he was victo-
rious though at the loss of one of his party. He killed a
large number of the Indians. It was only two years later

that he paid for this victory with his own life.

This was the beginning of the American Fur Company's

participation in the fur trade of the Rocky mountains. It

dates from the year after the termination of Bernard Pratte

and Company's arrangement with General Ashley. It did
not prove to be an advantageous branch of the trade, but
rather a source of infinite annoyance in the fierce competition
which it engendered.*
The contract between the American Fur Company and
Bernard Pratte and Company by which the latter assumed
control of the Western Department was to continue in force
for four years. It expired with the outfit for 1829. In like
manner the contract between the latter company and Mc-
" The following extracts from from Pierre Chouteau, Jr.,
letters
to Kenneth McKenzie Septem-
will be of interest in this connection.
ter 28, 1827 " I have the satisfaction to inform you that our moun-
:

tain expedition in connection with General Ashley has been successful

in its trade by closing at once the outfit and fortunate by having
reached the settlements in safety with the whole returns which ter-;

minates our arrangements with the General. It therefore becomes

necessary to learn from you with the least possible loss of time what
is to be done to prosecute the business in the Rocky mountains, which
is intended to be carried on through the medium of your Upper Mis-
souri Outfit."
April 25, 1828: "I have no objection to your going with the first
expedition, because I consider it very important, not only on account
of the hunt, but even more for the purpose of opening relations with
the hunting parties, whether of Ashley, or Pilcher, or whatever trader.
For three years these enterprises have succeeded well with General
Ashley, but with him alone. Many others, and even he before this time,
have met with great disasters. I believe that there is a great deal to
gain if such an expedition succeeds, but there is also great risk to run.
One of the principal dangers is loss of horses at the hands of the
Indians. It is necessary to be prudent, firm, and especially to exact
obedience from the engages, who are generally very insubordinate.
The least negligence in the care of the horses may entail the ruin of
the party." Other considerations prevailed, as we have seen, and Mc-
Kenzie did not go to the mountains.
330 OVERTURES TO THE BLACKFEET.

Kenzie, Laidlaw and Lament, as agents of the Upper

Missouri Outfit, expired with the equipment for the year
1830. Both of these contracts were renewed the first on—
the 22nd of March, 1830, and the second in August of that
year. The renewals in both cases were for four years. The
firm of Bernard Pratte and Company included Bernard
Pratte, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., John P. Cabanne, and B.
Berthold. The terms of the new agreement were practically
the same as the old. The arrangement between the Western
Department and the Upper Missouri Outfit was also the
same as before, except that McKenzie was given a higher
salary.^
McKenzie entered upon the second period of his work on
the upper Missouri with all the energy of a strong nature
and a full realization of his magnificent opportunities.
Being now secure in his position at the mouth of the Yellow-
stone, and having made a definite beginning in the mountain
trade, he turned his attention toward the occupation of more
advanced territory. Hitherto the country of the Blackfeet
had not been successfully occupied by any company. The
Missouri Fur Company was twice driven out with great
loss while Ashley and Henry in 1822 and 1823 met with a
fimilar experience. Even as late as 1830 no intercourse of
any kind had been opened up with these Indians and they had
no means of knowing the views of American traders. They
were under the influence of British traders, so far as they
were under any influence from without, and this was hostile
to the Americans. The prospect of gaining a foothold in
their country was therefore anything but reassuring. But
as the tributaries of the upper Missouri were known to be
rich in beaver it was scarcely to be expected that a man of
'It seems that McKenzie was paid a salary besides his share in the
business. The renewal of the contract above referred to is mentioned
in a letter from Chouteau to W. B. Astor, August 23, 1830, in which
Mr. Chouteau says " The company has renewed the contract with
:

McKenzie, Laidlaw, and Lamont for four years more, upon existing
conditions, except that the equipment of the U. M. O. is to pay $2,00Q
annually to Mr. McKenzie instead of $1,500, as heretofore."
 berger's mission to the piegans. 331

McKenzie's ambitious temperament would fail to find some

means of drawing their wealth in his own direction.
It happened that the desired opportunity of opening com-
munication with the Blackfeet came about in quite an unex-
pected way. McKenzie, who had been down the river in the
summer of 1830, returned to Fort Union in the fall. He
found there an old trapper by the name of Berger, who had
long served with the Hudson Bay Company at their post
nearest the Blackfoot country. Berger understood the
Blackfoot language perfectly, was well acquainted with the
tribal characteristics, and knew many of the Indians indi-
vidually. How he happened to come to Fort Union and
enter the service of the American Fur Company is not
known, but there he was, and a more useful individual to
McKenzie's purpose he could not have found in the entire
West. McKenzie promptly approached him with a proposal
that he should visit the Blackfeet and open negotiations
with them. It was a dangerous mission, and was considered
almost a forlorn hope by the people at Fort Union, but Ber-
ger consented to try it.^*^
Berger set out from Fort Union in the fall and traveled
some four weeks before he saw any Indians. The party
carried a flag unfurled so that the Indians might know at
a distance that they were white men. They finally found
a large village on the Marias river, some distance above the
mouth. At the sight of it the little party were so terror-
stricken that they wanted to turn back, but Berger persisted
in the purpose of his mission, and the men followed his lead,
scarcely expecting to be alive for another hour. When they
were discovered, a number of mounted Indians started for
" There are several accounts of this expedition, notably those given
by Charles Larpenteur in Forty Years a Fur Trader, pp. 111-116; and
by James Stuart in contributions to Montana Historical Society, Vol. I.,
p. 84. These accounts differ widely in details, as all narratives based
upon tradition are liable to. But the essential facts have recently
come to light in the American Fur Company correspondence herewith
presented, so that the account here given may be considered as being
close to the facts as they occurred.
332 BERGER PLEDGES HIS SCALP.

them at full speed. Berger halted his party and himself

advanced with his flag. The Indians paused and Berger
called out his name. They recognized it, there was a rush
to shake hands, and then the little party were welcomed to
the village, where, to their great joy, they were received in
the most hospitable manner. How long they remained is.
not known, but Berger finally succeeded in inducing a party
of about forty, including several chiefs, to accompany him to
Fort Union. The route was a long one, and on the way
the Indians began to complain of the distance. Berger was
put to his wit's end to prevent their turning back. Finally,
when within a day's march from the post, tradition says, the
Indians concluded to stop. Berger besought them to go on
one day more and told them that if they did not reach the
fort in that time he would give them his scalp and all his
horses. This guaranty of good faith induced them to keep
on, and sure enough, about 3 P. M. the next day they
passed over a river bluff and beheld in the valley below the
fort, just as Berger had told them. It was a great feat that
Berger had accomplished, and McKenzie was highly grati-
fied at its successful outcome.
The party reached Fort Union before the end of the year
1 83 1. McKenzie had a conference with the chiefs, and it
goes without saying that that astute leader left no stone
unturned to create a favorable impression. The Indians
professed great satisfaction at the prospect of having a
trading post near their village, and as an earnest of his pur-
pose to establish one there during the following summer,
McKenzie sent a trader and a few men to trade with them
during the winter. He completed this stroke of good for-
tune during the following summer by bringing about a treaty
of peace and friendship between the Blackfeet and the Assin-
iboineswhich promised protection to the trade throughout
this region.The treaty was consummated on the 29th day
of November, 1831.^^
" Following is McKcnzie's account of Bcrger's successful visit, as
condensed in a letter to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., dated at Fort Tecum-
 TREATY OF PEACE. 333

In accordance with this promise to the Blackfeet McKen-

zie dispatched an expedition up the river in the fall of 1831.
It consisted of twenty-five men under James Kipp, and left

Fort Union on the 25th of August. The progress was very

slow owing to low water, and the expedition did not pass
the mouth of the Muscleshell until September i6th. In one
place they only made eight miles in eleven days. They
probably arrived at the mouth of the Marias and com-
menced their fort about the 15th of October.
The day before they reached their destination a trader of
the Hudson Bay Company by the name of Fisher approached
within a day's march and sent a message to the Piegans with
a flattering offer if they would bring their trade to the
British posts. He told them that the chiefs should all be
seh, January 7, 183 1 : "On my arrival at Fort Union last fall I
fortunately found a Blackfoot interpreter, Berger, and by this means
have been enabled to make those Indians acquainted with my views
regarding them. I sent him with four or five men to their village,
where they were kindly received and well treated. On their return
to the fort they were accompanied by some of the principal chiefs.
They expressed great satisfaction and pleasure at having a post at
their village, which I promised and assured them that they should
have this fall and in order to strengthen my promise I have sent a
;

clerk, with four or five men, to them to trade what they may have.
It is impossible to say what may be the result of this enterprise, but
I am very sanguine in my expectations."
The treaty of peace which McKenzie concluded with the Blackfeet in
the summer of 1831, and which all narratives of these events mention,
is a singular document. It is thus referred to in a letter from McKenzie
to Chouteau, written at Fort Union December 11, 1831 "I have :

lately negotiated a treaty of peace between the Assiniboine and Black-

foot Indians, which I expect will be ratified. Exchange of tobacco
has been made and all requisite ceremonies observed. If firm and
durable it will be of great importance to this district."
Maximilian has preserved to us a copy of this treaty, which is
worthy of reproduction for its original and grandiloquent phrase-
ology " We send greeting to all mankind
: Be it known unto all !

nations that the most ancient, most illustrious, and most numerous
tribes of the redskins, lords of the soil from the banks of the great
waters unto the tops of the mountains, upon which the heavens rest,
have entered into a solemn league and covenant to make, preserve and
334 THE PIEGANS FRIENDLY.

well dressed, all their wants supplied, and that they should
be given better prices for their furs than the Americans, who
were very poor, would give. Fortunately, McKenzie had
a trader present among the Piegans at that time, the same
whom he had sent among them some months before, and he
proved quite as influential as " the smooth-tongued English-
man." The Piegans seemed from the start to be warmly
attached to the Americans. It was a fortunate circumstance

for they were the beaver hunters of their nation. They were
at this time, says McKenzie, very jealous of their rights, and
would not permit white men to set a trap in their country.
This, however, far from being a disadvantage, was quite the
reverse, for the company was spared all the trouble and loss
attendant upon trapping expeditions.
The site selected by Kipp for the post was immediately in

cherish a firm and lasting peace, that so long as the water runs, or
the grass grows, they may hail each other as brethren, and smoke the
calumet in friendship and security.
"On the vigil of St. Andrew in the year 1831, the powerful and dis-
tinguished nation of the Blackfeet, Piegan, and Blood Indians by their
ambassadors appeared at Fort Union near the spot where the Yellow-
stone river unites its current with the Missouri, and in the council
chamber of the Governor, Kenneth McKenzie, and the principal
chief of the Assiniboine nation, the Man-that-Holds-the-Knife, attended
by his chiefs of council, le Bechu, le Borgne, the Sparrow, the Bear's
Arm, La Terre qui Tremble, and I'Enfant de Medecin, when, conform-
ing to all ancient customs and ceremonies, and observing the due mysti-
cal signs enjoined by the great medicine lodges, a treaty of peace and
friendship was entered into by the said high contracting parties, and
is testified by their hands and seals hereunto annexed, hereafter and for-

ever to live as brethren of one large, united, and happy family and ;

may the Great Spirit who watcheth over us all approve our conduct
and teach us to love one another.
"Done, executed, ratified, and confirmed at Fort Union on the day
and year first within written, in the presence of Jas. Archdale Hamil-
ton."
The treaty is signed by a number of Assiniboine chiefs and by jMc-
Kenzie on " behalf of the Piegans and Blackfeet." The ratification
which McKenzie speaks of in his letter above doubtless refers to the
Blackfeet, who were evidently absent, from the fact that McKenzie
signed for them.
 BUILDING OF FORT PIEGAN. 335

the angle between the Marias and the Missouri. When he

arrived no Indians were present, but on the following day
they appeared in great numbers. Kipp requested them to
withdraw while he was constructing the post, telling them
that if they would return in seventy-five days he would be

ready to receive them. They agreed to do this. Promptly

upon the expiration of the time fixed they appeared again
and were astonished to find the fort all completed and ready
for the trade.^^ During the first ten days after the post was
built there were traded, according to McKenzie, two thou-
sand four hundred beaver skins with the prospect of bring-
ing the number up to four thousand before the winter was
over.
The British, meanwhile, alarmed at the success of the
Americans, are said to have instigated the Blood Indians
to attempt the reduction of the post. The attack occurred
in the winter time. Kipp had sufficient warning to lay in
a stock of ice, for he had plenty of everything except water,
and had no fear of a siege. The Indians beleaguered the
post for some time, but finally withdrew. Kipp then turned
his own weapons of war — the war of the traders — upon
the Indians, and poured into them incessant charges of alco-
hol until the whole band was utterly vanquished and sur-
rendered body and soul to the incomparable trader. Never
had the English treated them so bountifully. They brought
all their furs to the American post and before spring a fine

lot had been collected.

In the spring of 1832 became necessary for Kipp to take
it

his furs to Fort Union. It was the strong desire of the

Indians that the fort should be kept open during the sum-
mer, but Kipp's men refused to remain if he left. They
accordingly abandoned the post and the Indians burned it

soon after.^^

" This post was very appropriately named Fort Piegan.

" Some of the statements contained in this account of the founding
of Fort Piegan were related by Kipp himself to Lieutenant J. H. Brad-
ley, whose manuscript is now in the possession of the Montana His-
336 BUILDING OF FORT m'kENZIE.

In the summer of 1832 David D. Mitchell was sent to take

charge of affairs at the mouth of the Marias. Before he
had reached the Muscleshell the keelboat Flora, carrying, it
was said, thirty thousand dollars' worth of goods, was lost.
It was swept from its moorings during the night by a storm,
and was blown against a sand bar, where it sank. Two men
were drowned. All the presents which McKenzie was send-
ing to the Blackfeet were also lost. A large number of these
Indians were accompanying the party, and were very angry,
for they suspected that the destruction of the boat was by
design. Mitchell came very near having serious trouble.
He must have gone back to Union for a new outfit, but there
is no record of his having done so.

When Mitchell arrived at Fort Piegan he found it burned

down, and not liking the situation, he moved up the river
six miles and selected a site on the left or north bank of the
river in what is now known as Brule bottom. The erection
of the new post at this point was one of the thrilling episodes
of the fur trade. There were several thousand Indians
present, who had assembled from all quarters. The whites,
during the building of the fort, lived on their keelboat.
They worked like beavers, for the peril of the situation was
apparent to all. Many of the Indians were actually hostile,
and were ready for desperate measures. The entire party
of whites could easily have been destroyed. But the men
kept working away, while Mitchell maintained amicable
relations. On one occasion it seemed as if trouble could
not be avoided, but Mitchell's firmness and tact saved the
party. As soon as the stockade was erected the men felt
safe, and the Indians in large part withdrew soon after.
This post was named Fort McKenzie, in honor of the able
trader who ruled the country from Fort Union. Its suc-
cessful completion assured a permanent foothold in the
Blackfoot country, and it continued to be occupied until
nearly the close of the period embraced in this work.

torical Society.Unfortunately Kipp was too intent upon warping the

facts to his own
glorification to give one that confidence in his state-
ments that could be desired.
 FORT CASS ON THE YELLOWSTONE. 337

As soon as the success of the Blackfoot estabhshment was

assured McKenzie turned his attention to the Crows. He
already had itinerant traders among them, but the Indians
wanted a post. In the same letter (December ii, 1831) in
which he announced to the St. Louis management that Kipp
had succeeded in his enterprise at the mouth of the Marias
he said " I intend to build a fort next summer on the Yel-
:

lowstone at the mouth of the Bighorn for the Crows, and

for many years some straggling white hunters will stay in
the Crow country from whom we may expect a little bea-
ver." This purpose was carried out the following year.
Mr. Chouteau, who visited Union in June, 1832, on the
steamboat Yellowstone, wrote to Mr. W. B. Astor on his
return that McKenzie was, at the time of his visit at the fort,
" preparing an outfit for the Yellowstone in order to estab-
lish a post at the mouth of the Bighorn for the trade of the
Crows and the surrounding tribes, and to supply their moun-
tain hunters." Samuel Tulloch was sent in charge of this
work. The post was built in the fall of 1832, and was
called Fort Cass.
By this time the field of the upper Missouri was as fully
occupied as it ever came to be by the American Fur Com-
pany. There were three primary bases of operations —
Fort Union at the confluence of the Missouri and the Yel-
lowstone; Fort McKenzie on the Missouri near the mouth
of the Marias, and Fort Cass on the Yellowstone at the
mouth of the Bighorn. The company at one time contem-
plated building a post at the Three Forks, but this was never
done, for the subsequent developments of the trade never
required any increase in the number of these establishments.
It was found that the resources of this remote country could
be better exploited by the mountain trade, which was by this
time thoroughly organized.
The work of McKenzie, by which, in the space
successful
of years he had practically covered the whole field,
five
and had firmly established his company in a region which
had so far baffled the efforts of all traders to penetrate, is
338 INTRODUCTION OF THE STEAMBOAT.

ample proof of his great executive ability. Among the

schemes which he originated for the more vigorous conduct
of the business was the introduction of the steamboat in the
trade. As this event marks the advent of one of the most
flourishing businesses and one of the most remarkable fea-
tures in the frontier development of the West, it is of much
historic interest. Steamboats had been used to a limited
extent on the lower river for the previous decade. The first
boat had entered the Missouri in 18 19, and in the same year
the Western Engineer had reached Council Bluffs. But
before 1830 scarcely any steamboat business was done above
the mouth of Kansas river, and but very little below.
the
McKenzie's scheme of taking a steamboat to the mouth of
the Yellowstone river was therefore very much in the nature
of an experiment, and the majority of the business men of
St. Louis doubted its success. But McKenzie was the sort
of man to grapple with new and hazardous enterprises, and
was not afraid to undertake a measure simply because it had
not been tried before. He succeeded in convincing the man-
agement at St. Louis of the practicability of the project, and
it was decided to undertake it.^^

The plan of this new was outlined in great

enterprise
detail by Mr. Chouteau in a letter to the house in New York
written on the 30th of August, 1830. He recounted the
great losses and delays, as well as the expense for men,
attendant upon keelboat traffic. He thought that a small
steamboat, such as could be built for about seven thousand
dollars, could start up the Missouri in April and return with
the proceeds of the trade by the end of June. The men
required would be fewer, and barges could be retained for
the trade higher up, or could return to St. Louis late in the
season with furs. They would also be available in case of

" This decision was reached in the month of August, 1830, after a full
conference with McKenzie, who arrived at St. Louis from the interior
August 5. In a letter dated August 31, 1830, Mr. Chouteau says:
" Nous avons en contemplation de faire batir un petit steamboat dans
le cours de I'hiver pour le faire monter de bon printemps avec les mar-
chandises pour la traite suivante."
 FIRST VOYAGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 339

accidents to the steamboats. The greatest difficulty to be

apprehended was from the breakage of machinery so far
away from shops, and this it was hoped to overcome by
taking along spare parts together with a complete black-
smith outfit. On the whole the experiment was considered
worth trying, and steps were taken accordingly. The boat
was contracted for in October, 1830, to be delivered on the
ist of April following. It was built in Louisville, Ken-

tucky, and was christened the Yellozvstone.

The boat was completed on time, brought to St. Louis,
loaded with the first fur trade cargo that any steamboat
ever attempted to take to the far upper rivers, and left St.
Louis on the i6th of April, 1831.^'^ Captain B. Young was
master of the boat, while its principal passenger was Pierre
Chouteau, Jr., who made the trip for the double purpose of
judging of the merits of the steamboat experiment, and of
studying the situation of the trade at the various posts. The
boat proceeded with fair progress until it passed the
mouth of the Niobrara, about the 31st of May. Just above
this point it was stopped by low water and was delayed for
a considerable time. This delay was a great annoyance to
Mr. Chouteau. Impatiently he waited day by day for a rise
in the river. In his anxiety he would go ashore every day,
and pace up and down a high river bluff watching the
weather and longing for more water. The place has ever
since been known as Chouteau's Bluffs. He did not, how-
ever, wait supinely for the weather, but sent for some boats
from Fort Tecumseh to act as lighters. By the aid of these
the steamboat was able to proceed, and arrived at the fort
on the 19th of June, 1831.^^ That part of the trip which
lay above Council Bluffs was traversed on this voyage for
the first time by steamboats.

""Le steamboat Yellowstone a laisse le port le 16 a midi." B. Pratte

& Co. to W. B. Astor, April 19, 1831.
"Chouteauto W. B. Astor, August 17, 1831 " Ce ne fut done qu'a
:

la faveur de trois berges, que j'envoyai chercher au Petit Missouri, et

qui regurent une grande partie de la charge, qu'il m'a ete possible de
me rendre avec le bateau le 19 Juin au Fort Tecumseh."
340 SECOND VOYAGE OF THE YELLOWSTONE.

No attempt was made to go beyond Fort Tecumseh.

After the business at this post was transacted the boat
started for St. Louis. She made the return journey in
safety and arrived Louis on the 15th day of July,
in St.
" with a full cargo of buffalo robes, furs, and peltries,
besides ten thousand pounds of buffalo tongues." Mr.
Chouteau returned convinced of the feasibility of using
steamboats in his trade, and it was decided to repeat the
experiment the following year.
In several respects the voyage of the Yellowstone in 1832
has been a landmark in the history of the West. It demon-
stratedthe practicability of navigating the Missouri by
steam as far as to the mouth of the Yellowstone with a
strong probability that boats could go on to the Blackfoot
country. Among the passengers was the artist, Catlin,
whose works have given added celebrity to the voyage. The
boat left Louis March 26, 1832. It made extremely
St.
slow progress, and did not reach Fort Tecumseh until the
31st of May. Here a delay of six days occurred during
which the new fort, built to replace Fort Tecumseh, was
christened Fort Pierre, in honor of the distinguished trader,
Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who was a passenger on the boat.
Leaving Fort Pierre on the 5th of June, the boat went
on to Fort Union. The date of its arrival is uncertain.
That given by Catlin, June 26th, is wrong, for the boat was
back at Fort Pierre on the 24th. The date was about June
17th. On the return journey the^ Yellowstone left Fort
Pierre on the 25th of June and reached St. Louis July 7th.
Its downward trip had averaged one hundred miles per
day.
This noted voyage gave great satisfaction to the company.
It completed the second step in reaching the head of naviga-
tion on the Missouri by steam, the first having been accom-
plished from St. Louis to Council Bluffs in 1819, and the
third from Fort Union to Fort Benton in 1859. From 1832
on, the Missouri river steamboat was a constant and indis-
 :

THE STEAMBOAT AND THE INDIANS. 34I

pensable feature of frontier life in every department until

the railroad at last destroyed its usefulness.
The interest created by the voyage of the Yellowstone
extended not only over the United States, but to Europe as
well. Writing from New York, November i6, 1832, Ram-
say Cronksjthus addressed Mr. Chouteau upon the subject
" I congratulate you most cordially on your perseverance
and ultimate success in reaching the Yellowstone by steam,
and the future historian of the Missouri will preserve for
you the honorable and enviable distinction of having accom-
plished an object of immense importance, by exhibiting the
practicability of conquering the obstructions of the Missouri
considered till almost the present day insurmountable to
steamboats even among those best acquainted with their
capabilities. You have brought the Falls of the Missouri
as near, comparatively, as was the River Platte in my
younger days." And Mr. Astor, writing from Bellevue,
France, said to Mr. Chouteau " Your voyage in the Yel-
:

lowstone attracted much attention in Europe, and has been

noted in all the papers here."
It is needless to say that the appearance of this wonder-

ful craft made a profound impression upon the Indians. Its

power against the current, as if moved by some supernatural
agency, excited the keenest astonishment, and even aroused
a feeling of terror. One good effect was to increase their
respect The Missouri Republican, com-
for Americans.
menting upon the voyage, said " Many of the Indians who
:

had been in the habit of trading with the Hudson Bay

Company, declared that the company could no longer com-
pete with the Americans, and concluded thereafter to bring
all their skins to the latter; and said that the British might
turn out their dogs and burn their sledges, as they would no
longer be useful while the Fire Boat walked on the waters."
Reference has already been made to a subject which had
an importance among the Missouri traders all out of pro-
portion to the information which they have left concerning
it. From the date of the Lewis and Clark expedition to the
342 BRITISH INFLUENCE AGAIN.

close of the period of this work the traders were always com-
plaining of the British. Particularly in the earlier years of
the American Fur Company's business along the boundary
these complaints were loud and incessant. There was prob-
ably something in them, but ho\y much it is impossible to
say, for they were couched in general terms, and rarely gave
any specific facts to support them.
McKenzie, who had been reared in the school of the
Northwest Company, and understood how much importance
was attached to presents by the Indians, thought it a good
idea to imitate the example of the British companies, and
have some medals struck in the name of the American Fur
Company. Pierre Chouteau, Jr., who attached great weight
to McKenzie's opinions, laid the matter before the house in
New York in the same letter (August 17, 183 1) in which
he announced the result of the steamboat voyage to Fort
Tecumseh. Referring to the proposed post in the Blackfoot
country, then about to be established, he said :
" It is at this

establishment that we
have to combat the opposition
shall
of the English traders, who have a fort not far distant, and
who, as is their custom, will undoubtedly do everything in
their power to excite the Indians against us. This diffi-
culty might nevertheless be somewhat diminished if the
government could be persuaded to place at our disposal a few
presents, which would be delivered to the Indians in the
name of the President of the United States. The English
government, if I am well informed, allows the Northwest
Company ^"^ an annual sum for this particular purpose. A
little indulgence of this nature on the part of the government

will secure the confidenceand friendship of these savages

toward us."
Mr. Crooks wrote to Washington, and the War Depart-
ment consented that the company might make some medals
on its own account. The way in which the government del-
egated a function which belonged only to itself, but con-
" This name survived in common usage after the amalgamation of
1821, when the official name became that of the Hudson Bay Company.
 !

THE ASTOR MEDALS. 343

cealed its action under a fiction of words, is described in a

letter from Croo ks to C houteau November i6, 1832 :
" For

Mr. McKenzie's coat of mail ^^ I have sent to England, for

nothing of the sort could be found here. His fusil a six
coups is ordered from Rochester; and the medals for his
outfit are in the hands of the die-maker, who, I hope, will
give us a good likeness de noire estimable grand-papa
[Astor]. I wrote to Washington about them, and the

War Office made no objections to our having these orna-

ments made. Remember they are ornaments, not medals"
These medals later gave the company trouble, when some
of its enemies reported to Washington that it was usurping
the functions of the government in their distribution. Some
correspondence resulted but the matter was never carried up.
Mr. Chouteau stated in his reply to an inquiry from Wash-
ington that " before the die for the Astor medals was struck
the matter was submitted to Governor Cass, then Secretary
of War, who gave his consent to the measure, and a sample
of the medals was deposited with the department, accom-
panied by letters of the President of the American Fur Com-
pany." The privilege of using these medals was discon-
tinued by order of the Secretary of War, March 22, 1844.^^
By means of the intelligent and energetic measures
described in the few preceding pages the American Fur
Company extended and consolidated its trade upon the upper
rivers. The unpleasant task remains to record those less
honorable measures which it did not scruple to resort to for
the accomplishment of its purposes.
" What McKenzie proposed to do with his coat of mail can only be
conjectured. It may
simply have been an adjunct to the high state
which he maintained in the remote post where he ruled as lord of the
country round about.
" Only two or three of the Astor medals are known to be now in
existence. The photograph here reproduced is of one in possession of
Mr. F. J. Haynes, of St. Paul. It is also understood that there is one
in the possession of the Chouteaus of St. Louis, and another in the pos-
session of the Astors. The origin and history of the medals have never
before been given.
 CHAPTER XXI.
THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.
STRESS OF COMPETITION.

Standards of business —
Dealing with opposition companies The —
French Fur Company —
The affair with Leclerc —
The Sublette-Camp-
bell opposition— McKenzie victorious —
Arrangement with Sublette
and Campbell —Importance of liquor in the trade —
McKenzie de-
pressed at the outlook — The distillery project — Voyage of 1833 —
Distillery established at — Successful
Fort Union operation— Wyeth
reports McKenzie — General Clark calls for an explanation — The
operation of the distillery suspended — Dangerous complications.

*frN regard to the standard of business morality observed

"" in the affairs of the American Fur Company, it was
simply that of the business world today no better, no—
worse. The ruthless code of competition which finds
expression in the correspondence of Pierre Chouteau, Jr., in
such instructions as que coute and ecrasej: toiite oppo-
coiite
sition, is the world wide rule of business affairs. The only
difference between the American Fur Company and the
great concerns of modern times is in the fact that the fur
business was mostly conducted where the arm of the law did
not reach. The merciless rivalry, which is now toned down
by force of law to an outward semblance of equitable deal-
ing, broke out in its true hideous colors when beyond the
reach of legal jurisdiction. Competition, which even in this
day precipitates unseemly railroad wars, then meant war
of the genuine sort. It is difficult to exaggerate the state of

affairs which at times prevailed. " The company," by

which is always meant the American Fur Company, was
thoroughly hated even by its own servants. Throughout its
career it was an object of popular execration, as all grasping
 DEALING WITH OPPOSITION COMPANIES. 345

monopolies are. Many are the stories, largely exaggerated,

no doubt, that have come down to us of its hard and cruel
ways. Small traders stood no show whatever and the most
desperate measures were resorted to without scruple to get
them out of the way. Many an employe, it is said, who had
finished his term of service and had started for St. Louis
with a letter of credit for his pay fell by the way and was
reported as killed by the Indians. These harsher features of
a heartless business it is difficult to believe, but the fact that
such traditions have persisted even to the present day is not
compatible with the theory of entire innocence.
The first step always taken in dealing with an " opposi-i
tion " was to crush it by sheer force if possible. When that
did not succeed an attempt would be made to buy it out,
admit it to an interest in the company, or divide the field
with it. In one way or another the American Fur Company
succeeded in maintaining itself against all comers, although
it was sometimes badly frightened, and occasionally came

near calling down upon itself the strong arm of the govern-
ment. A few examples will be given.
The first opposition which the American Fur Company
had to contend with after union with the Columbia Fur
its

Company was what was then known as the French Fur

Company. It is thus referred to in a letter from Chouteau
toMcKenzie written July 5, 1829: "It now remains for
me to tell you of the new company which is lately formed
here, consisting of eight partners, who are Messrs. Papin,
Chenie fils, the two Cerres, Delaurier, Picotte, Denis Guion
and Louis Bonfort, with an equipment of $16,000, of which
each partner contributes an equal share. These gentlemen
have done, and are still doing, everything in their power to
debauch all our clerks. .You can not but see how
. .

important it is for our future interests to make every effort

this year to arrest this opposition from the start." This
company, like most associations where all enter on equal
terms without subordination of members to duly constituted
officials, had a brief and inglorious career. It occupied
 :

346 THE FRENCH FUR COMPANY.

numerous positions in the upper Missouri country close to

the American Fur Company posts and commenced business
with the usual bravado and pretense employed by concerns
of its calibre. But it made no permanent impression any-
where. It maintained a lingering existence for two years

and then sold out to the company. The transfer of its

principal establishment, which stood just across the Teton
river from Fort Tecumseh, took place October 14, 1830.
Papin, Picotte, and one of the Cerres entered the company's
service.
In the year 1831 one Narcisse Leclerc,^ late an employe of
the company, having laid by a small saving which some
associates eked out to a respectable amount, concluded to try
his own hand at the business. As he had gained consid-
erable knowledge of the trade, the company felt that he
might give them some annoyance, and his first year's work
tended to confirm this apprehension. It was resolved to get
rid of his opposition before he should get up the river with
his outfit in 1832. How to do this was not so easy a matter,
for although there was as yet no legal jurisdiction in the
remote region where the trade was conducted, yet the very
license of the company was dependent upon the govern-
ment authorities, who might and would revoke it if con-
vinced that it was being abused. Whatever was done must
therefore be under color of the law. The problem was left
to J. P. Cabanne. an enterprising agent of the company in

^
Leclerc was a shrewd character and quite a match in craftiness for
those with whom he had to deal. He was outfitted by Henry Shaw
under the Northwest Fur Company. He cherished a full
style of the
share of the general dislike for the American Fur Company and its
agents. Referring to Leclerc and his first expedition in 1831, Laidlaw
said to McKcnzie in a letter from Fort Tecumseh, November 27, 183 1
" I have heard nothing of Leclerc since I last wrote you, and as the
ice is now drifting a little, I am in hopes he will not get up this far.
But even if he does, I am well prepared for him and shall have some
one at his heels all the time. He told Papin that nothing would do
him so much good as to go puffing a cigar alongside of you and put
on a dignified look. I expect the gentleman would take care not to
get too close."
 THE LECLERC AFFAIR. 347

charge of its affairs near Council Bluffs. He was author-

ized in extremity to offer Leclerc a cash payment if he would
not go as far up the river as the Sioux country, but confine
himself to the trade below. Soon after Leclerc set out up
the river with his outfit, Cabanne left St. Louis for his post
where he arrived considerably in advance of Leclerc.
In the meantime circumstances had thrown in Cabanne's
way an excuse for adopting radical measures. When the
company's steamboat came down the river from its Yellow-
stone trip of 1832 the master of the boat was informed at
Leavenworth that no more liquor would be allowed to pass
that point as the importation of that article into the Indian
country had been prohibited by law.^ Nevertheless Leclerc
was authorized by General William Clark, Superintendent of
Indian Affairs, to take with him two hundred and fifty gal-
lons of alcohol. Chouteau protested against this, but Gen-
eral Clark would not revoke the license, as it seems he had
not yet been officially notified of the passage of the new law.
He gave to Chouteau also authority to send with the com-
pany's outfit one thousand four hundred gallons. Knowing
that it would be too late if he waited until the following
spring Chouteau turned the Yellowstone about and sent her
to Council Bluffs with an outfit including the liquor. When
the boat reached Leavenworth the liquor was all confiscated.
Leclerc, on the other hand, either by favor or subterfuge, had
succeeded in getting by with his, and was already safe on his
way to the Indian country and well out of reach before the
news got back to St. Louis. The prospect looked dubious
enough to the company, for two hundred and fifty gallons
of alcohol judiciously used would be hard to contend
against. It was too late to remedy the evil and nothing but

Cabanne's ingenuity now stood in the way of an embarrass-

ing opposition.
A few days before Leclerc reached Bellevue three of Ca-
banne's men deserted, carrying off one of his skiffs. On
*Act of July 9, 1832.
348 LECLERC SURRENDERS TO SARPY.

the way down

the river, they met Leclerc and hired out to
him. Cabanne himself met Leclerc about twenty miles be-
low his post whither he had gone with some Indian annuities.
He demanded restitution of the deserters, but having no
force with him, could not compel their release. When they
arrived at Bellevue he had his men
them and put them
seize
in irons. They told Cabanne that Leclerc had a lot of liquor
in his outfit. This information gave Cabanne the pretext he
wanted. Here was a trader clandestinely violating the law
by carrying liquor into the Lidian country. He would stop
the illegal transaction and thereby put an end to the whole
expedition. It seems not to have occurred to Cabanne that

the enforcement of law is entrusted only to duly accredited

and that he was not one of these; that his only
officials

power in the case was to report Leclerc to the proper author-

ities. He did not worry himself about fine distinctions of
that sort. Instead, he sent his clerk — Sarpy, a man of
courage and spirit —
with an armed party, equipped with a
small cannon, to capture Leclerc and his whole outfit. In this
party was Joseph La Barge,^ then a lad of only seventeen,
on his first trip to the Indian country. This rude initiation
into the life of the wilderness made a lasting impression
upon him. Sarpy took his party to a point above the post
which commanded the where the channel lay very
river
clb^e to the shore. When Leclerc came along he ordered
him to surrender or he would blow him out of the water.
This Leclerc did promptly, and perhaps willingly, and party
and outfit were escorted back to the post, where the liquor
was confiscated and put in the warehouse. It is said that
Cabanne offered to restore the goods to Leclerc, but if he did
'
Joseph La Barge, the most distinguished of the Missouri river pilots,
was born in St. Louis October i, 1815, and died in the same city, April

3, 1899. Nearly all his active life was spent in steamboating on the
Missouri. He made and lost a fortune at the business. He served
for many years on the American Fur Company steamboats. He was
a man of high character and the best representative of a class of men —
the Missouri River Pilot — whose business has entirely passed away.
 LECLERC VICTORIOUS. 349

SO, Leclerc declined, for he was too shrewd not to see that
he could gather a better winter's trade back in St. Louis than
he could at his trading posts. It is not probable that the

offer was made, and certainly not unless Cabanne had be-
come alarmed at the consequences of his arbitrary proceed-
ing and thus sought to avert them.
At any rate Leclerc hastened back to St. Louis and
brought suit against the company, while criminal proceed-
ings were instituted against Cabanne, The matter was car-
ried to Washington and an outcry was made against permit-
ting the company longer to remain in the Indian country.
The exigency was certainly a grave one for the company
and required all its ingenuity and resources to avert disaster.
For Cabanne the case seemed quite hopeless, threatening him
with financial ruin, if nothing worse."* A compromise was
finally reached by paying Leclerc the sum of $9,200, which
was charged to the account of the Upper Missouri Outfit.
In a letter to Joshua Pilcher who had succeeded Cabanne
at Bellevue, notifying him of the outcome of the case, Chou^
teau expressed his regret that Cabanne, instead of resorting
to such heroic measures, had not offered Leclerc outright a
thousand dollars not to go so far as to interfere with the
trade of the upper river. This observation effectually ex-
plodes the claim of thecompany and of Cabanne, put for-
ward with such a show of innocence, that their sole purpose
in stopping Leclerc was to prevent his violating the law.
Their object was to keep him out of the trade, and the
*
" If it were not for the unreasonable excitement that exists against
our friend in Missouri, and which no doubt great pains will be taken to
keep alive, I should not despair of Mr. Cabanne's escaping with light
damages or perhaps acquittal. The strong point of defence, in my
opinion, should be that at the time Leclerc was stopped and brought
back he was violating the law of the land excluding ardent spirits en-
tirely from the Indian country that General Clark's permission was no
;

protection after the Act of July 9, 1832, was published, and with its
provisions Mr. Leclerc was bound to be acquainted. You have, how-
ever, I dare say, the best advice your country affords, but it seems
to me that in case of defeat I would appeal the case to the Supreme
Court of the United States." W. B. Astor to Chouteau, March 14. 1833,
350 SUBLETTE AND CAMPBELL.

presence of the liquor gave them a pretext to accomplish

their purpose by a short cut. Cabanne succeeded in this
perfectly, but in so doing he ruined his own career in the
Indian country.
The strongest opposition which the American Fur Com-
pany ever encountered on the Missouri was that of the firm
of Sublette and Campbell which was formed on the 20th
of December, 1832. Both of the partners were experienced
traders and of the highest business standing. Supported as
they were by General Ashley, then a member of Congress,
their credit was practically unlimited and there were any
number of capitalists who were ready to furnish them means.
Immediately after the partnership was formed preparation
was made to oppose the American Fur Company at all points
with an equipment which should equal or surpass their
own. Coming, as this opposition did, just at the time when
McKenzie felt that he was at last firmly established in all
the region of the upper Missouri and Yellowstone, it was
not pleasant news to that ambitious trader. But the peril,
far from discouraging him, served only to strengthen his
determination to succeed in spite of it.

Sublette and Campbell divided their forces for the sum-

mer campaign of 1833. Campbell took a party to the
mountains and met the Rocky Mountain Fur Company at
the Green river rendezvous in the middle of July. Thence
he made his way to the mouth of the Yellowstone where he
arrived with Milton Sublette, N. J. Wyeth and others
August 24th. In the meanwhile Sublette had ascended the
Missouri in the steamboat Otto with a splendid equipment,
leaving parties to establish posts at nearly all the points
occupied by the American Fur Company. At some point on
the way, probably at Pierre or Clark, he sent the steamboat
back and himself went on with a keelboat to the mouth of
the Yellowstone. Here he met Campbell and Milton Sub-
lette on the 27th of August, and immediately set about se-
lecting a site for a post. That chosen was on the north bank
of the Missouri opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone,
 Mckenzie's effective measures. 351

almost exactly where Fort Buford afterward stood, and

about three miles by land or six by water below Fort Union.
The post was christened Fort William in honor of the elder
Sublette, Having made his arrangements he left Campbell
to conduct affairs at this important station while he returned
with the keelboat to St. Louis.
The success of this new and
really formidable opposition
during the fall trade of 1833 may best be told by Mr. Mc-
Kenzie himself, bearing in mind the natural desire of the
narrator to make out a good case in his own behalf. The
account is, however, substantially correct as shown by evi-
dence derived from the opposition itself. Writing to D. D.
Mitchell, at Fort McKenzie under date of January 21, 1834,
Mr. McKenzie said " Sublette and Campbell arrived here
:

August 29th, and soon fixed on a site for their fort which
they have built two miles below me and called Fort William.
They came up in great force with a very large outfit and
abundance of alcohol and wines highly charged with spirits.
They engaged the three young Deschamps as interpreters
at salaries of $500 per annum each, and Tom Kipland at
$600. They had, moreover, a full complement of clerks
and seemed prepared to carry all before them, nothing doubt-
ing but that they would secure at least one half the trade of
the country. They abandoned the idea of sending to the
Blackfeet this season. They started a small equipment
on horses to the Crow villageon Wind river. They were
expected to return early in December but have not yet been
heard of. Mr. Winter and J. Beckwith passed the fall in the
Crow camp and traded all their beaver. While Mr. Winter
was with the Crows Mr. Fitzpatrick of the R. M. F. Co. (my
friend Captam Stewart was with him) arrived with thirty
men, one hundred horses, and mules, merchandise, etc., etc.,
and encamped near the village. He had not been long there
before a large party paid him a visit and pillaged everything
he had, taking even the watch from his pocket and the
capote from his back also driving off all his horses.
; This
has been a severe blow to Sublette and Campbell. And al-
352 PROPOSALS TO SELL OUT.

though on their first start here they made great show and
grand promise to the Indians and ahhough among the men
nothing was talked about but the new company, they Hve
now at the sign of 'The case is akered.' Their interpre-
ters have quarreled and left them, and are now working hard
for me. The Indians find their promises mere empty words
and are applying continually to me to engage them. They
have a post near to Riviere au Tremble in opposition to
Chardon where they are doing literally nothing. Chardon
has it all his own way. They have another post on the
Yellowstone in opposition to Pillot and Brazeau and there
they get no robes although they offer a blanket of scarlet for
a robe.
" You must be aware that I have not been asleep this fall.
It has cost me something to secure the Indians to me,
but being determined to get the peltries, nothing has been
neglected that would carry my point. My opponents can
not by any means get peltries sufficient to pay the wages
of their men. At the Gros Ventres and Mandans they
have not even robes to sleep on. At the Mandans my last
account states that Picotte has eighty packs of robes and five
hundred beaver, the opposition two packs of robes and
eight beaver, and I hope things are equally promising lower
down. On my return from Fort Pierre, Mr. Campbell
called on me. W. Sublette had previously gone down
stream on his way to St. Louis and proposed to sell out to
me all their interest on the river. I listened to his terms,
but was by no means disposed to buy out an opposition,
when all my old experienced and faithful clerks and trades-
men felt so certain of driving them out; especially on my
giving them carte blanche with respect to trade at their re-
spective posts, of course to be used with discretion but with
must be secured for the A. F.
this condition, that all peltries
Co. and thus far have no reason to complain. The new
I

company is now in bad odor and must sink."

That McKenzie's estimate of his success was not much
exaggerated is clear from the evidence of Charles Larpenteur
 VICTORY FOR M KENZIE. 353

who at this time was in the employ of Campbell at Fort Wil-

liam. " The Indians," he said, " had no confidence in his
[Campbell's] remaining, so that the bulk of the trade went
to the big American Fur Company in spite of all we could do.
This post [Fort William] was not the only one that
was out of luck for all those along the Missouri proved a
failure."
How did McKenzie accomplish this? Very much as the
Standard Oil Company today crushes any rival enterprise
that may dare to show its head in any part of the United
States. His letter to Mitchell shows that. The " carte
blanche " to the clerks simply meant that they might pay the
Indians any price, however high, for furs, and might make
use of any amount of liquor that was necessary to secure
the trade. At the Mandan post as high as twelve dollars
was paid for beaver skins. McKenzie might well say " it
has cost me something to secure the Indians to me " when in
order to do it he was compelled to pay four times the usual
price for furs. Of course such competition wiped out all
profits and it was simply a question of resources as to which
competitor could hold out the longer. In this McKenzie
with the great company at his back had every advantage;
and his victory was practically won at the close of the sea-
son's trade.
So confident did McKenzie feel of his ability to drive off
his competitors that he would not even listen to their
overtures to sell out to him. He was therefore much cha-
grined when he found that the house at St. Louis had taken
the matter into their own hands without consulting him and
had entered into an arrangement with Sublette. The fact
was that the home officials were a good deal more fright-
ened than McKenzie and thought it best to come to terms.
Their action and the reasons for it are thus explained in a
McKenzie dated April 8, 1834: " By the enclosed
letter to
agreement you will see that we have concluded an arrange-
ment at New York with Mr. Sublette. We take such of his
equipment in merchandise, utensils, etc., as remains at the
354 END OF SUBLETTE-CAMPBELL OPPOSITION.

close of the season's trade and we retire from the mountain

trade ensuing year.
for the ...
In making this
arrangement our object was to keep Sublette from purchas-
ing a new equipment and from connecting himself with
houses that were making him all sorts of offers. His repu-
tation and that of his patron, Ashley, whatever may be the
cause, are far above their worth. Nevertheless such is the
fact and it is enough to procure them unlimited credit. It

is this which induced us to ofifer to buy them out.

We hope, therefore, that, taking all things into consideration
you will approve of the transaction."
This was the end of the Sublette-Campbell enterprise on
the Missouri and it left the American Fur Company untram-
meled by any serious opposition for several years to come.
The arrangement is the only one by which the fur territory
was ever divided among the traders, and this was only for a
single year. The many statements in contemporary
accounts of these events, that the American and Rocky
Mountain Fur Companies entered into agreements of this
character, are without foundation.
In all of McKenzie's work, as just narrated, there was
nothing for which he can be properly criticised. He had
done nothing that is not recognized the world over as legiti-
mate business. It does not appear that he was privy to the
robbery of Fitzpatrick, however glad he may have been that
it took place. Nowhere in his relations with his competi-
tors did he treat them more severely than the recognized
code of business permits, and his standing with his oppo-
nents was as high as with his own people. But, unfortu-
nately, under the heavy strain of competition of the year
1832, he permitted himself to take a false step, which, like
that of Cabanne in the Leclerc afifair, ended his usefulness
in the Indian country.
Among the articles of trade, as already explained, which
were exchanged for the furs of the Indians, liquor was by
far the most imnortant. It is indeed imnossible to exag-
gerate its importance; and it is only by an intimate under-
 THE LIQUOR SITUATION. 355

Standing- of the conditions of the business that one can

account for the almost frantic appeals which were continu-
ally pouring into St. Louis for more liquor. " Liquor we
must have or we might as well give up," is a sample of the
complaints which burdened the correspondence of the
traders. It was impossible to conduct the trade without it if
one's opponents were provided with it. The only alterna-
tive was to retire from the field. The Act of July 9, 1832,
prohibiting absolutely the introduction of liquor into the
Indian country, was therefore simply appalling to McKen-
zie. Here was the great opposition of Sublette and Camp-
bell which he must encounter the following year. He had
no confidence that they would be held to the law by the
inspectors and he knew that if they were they would smug-
gle liquor by them. He had learned from experience that
the great prominence of the American Fur Company made
such clandestine work doubly difficult, for the company was
always operating as it were in the enemy's country, where
there was a spy at every turn.
One point in McKenzie's mind was settled from the start.
Law or no law he must be equipped with liquor the when
outfit of Sublette and Campbell should come to oppose him.
His first move was Washington and New York and
to go to
see if he could not effectsome modification of the regula-
tion for enforcing the law. The stock argument on such
occasions always was that the liquor was wanted only to
resist the competition of British traders who made free use
of along the line.
it McKenzie was entirely unsuccessful
in his mission, and returned to St. Louis with gloomy fore-
bodings of the future.^ There was no course now open,
apart from extensive smuggling, which was an extremely
perilous business for the company at that time, except to
carry out an ingenious and radical measure, which for some

^"The and the difficulties that may

total exclusion of ardent spirits,
grow out of our friend Cabanne's imprudent course toward Leclerc,
have disheartened Mr. McKenzie very much, and he parted with me
[at Washington] in desponding anticipations of the future." Crooks to
Chouteau, February 17, 1833.
 !

356 THE FORT UNION DISTILLERY.

time had been developing in McKenzie's mind. This was

nothing less than to open up a distillery at Fort Union and
commence the manufacture of liquor on his own account.
He would be within the law, he reasoned, because that for-
bade only the importation of liquor into the Indian country
To such feeble subterfuges did the exigencies of the fur
trade drive men of real and unquestioned ability ! The
house in St. Louis took legal advice in the matter, and, aston-
ishing as it may seem, succeeded in getting an opinion in
favor of the project. Armed with this they made bold to
disregard the advice of that sage counselor in New York,
Ramsay Crooks, who earnestly besought them to abandon
any thought of so hazardous a venture. In the letter quoted
in the footnote above he said :
" The excitement against us
is undoubtedly greater than it ought to be, but whether well

or ill founded, the effect is not the less injurious, and we are
looked upon by many as an association determined to
engross the trade of the upper Missouri, by fair means if we
can, but by foul proceedings if nothing short will ensure our
objects. With such a reputation it becomes us to be more
than usually circumspect in all we do. Every eye is upon
us, and whoever can will annoy us with all his heart. It will

therefore, in my opinion, be madness to attempt your Cin-

cinnati project of the Boxes, or the Alemhique." What
Boxes refers to does not elsewhere appear, but the Alem-
hique scheme grew into a shining reality, which very soon
it as a scheme of " madness."
justified Crooks' opinion of
Referring to the competition of British traders which the
Western Department had represented to the house in New
York as the principal reason why they must use liquor in the
trade, and to overtures on the part of the United States to
Great Britain that both nations prohibit the traffic along the
border, Mr. Crooks said: "If the Government of Britain
reject the proposal, their object will evidently be to drive us
out of the country, and deprive tlie United States of a trade
which justly belongs to her citizens and I can not allow
;

myself to believe that after such unequivocal proof of their

 CARGO OF LIQUOR CONFISCATED. 357

real intentions, our own Government will persist in denying

us the use of ardent spirits so far as the article is required
to place us on an equal footing with our commercial rivals.
But still, if in the face of reason and common sense, the
Executive will not have the law so modified as to afford us
a fair chance with our Hudson Bay opponents, I would,
hard as it is, rather abandon the trade, than violate the stat-
ute if that was necessary to sustain ourselves against them."
Unhappily these wiser counsels did not prevail. A
still

was procured and arrangements were made to put it into

early operation. Two boats went up the river in the spring
of 1833, the Yellowstone and a new boat, the Assiniboine.
On the Yellowstone were two distinguished passengers, Mc-
Kenzie himself, and Maximilian Prince of Wied, whose
journey to the upper river on this occasion has done so
much to preserve the early history of that country. The
voyage passed off prosperously enough until Fort Leaven-
worth was reached. McKenzie had determined to try his
luck in getting some liquor past the inspectors, but his
attempt quickly came to grief. The inspection was very
strict. Maximilian lamented that " they would scarcely per-
mit us to take a small portion to preserve our specimens of
natural history." McKenzie wrote to Chouteau from the
Black Snake Hills (St. Joseph) to the following effect:
" We have been robbed of all our liquors, say seven barrels
shrub, one of rum, one of wine and all the fine men and
sailors' whiskey which was in two barrels. They kicked
and knocked about everything they could find and even cut
through our bales of blankets which had never been undone
since they were put up in England." It is apparent that
the inspectors handled the cargo without ceremony, and that
all the liquor was confiscated. The affair worried McKen-
zie, as he said, so much that he could not rest. He had
obtained what seemed to be indisputable proof that Sub-
lette and Campbell had on their steamboat one hundred of
the flat alcohol kegs used in the mountains. " The more
I think of it," he wrote, " the clearer I see the injury we are
358 SUCCESS OF DISTILLERY.

going to sustain by being deprived of that article." To add

to his anxiety he had so far failed to find a suitable man for
operating his distillery. But he had to make a virtue of
necessity and go on handicapped as he was.
On his way up he put off a force of laborers at the mouth
of the Iowa river to start a corn plantation, for it was upon
corn that he would mainly have to rely for his distillery.
He probably took along a cargo of corn from Council Bluffs
on his way. At Fort Pierre the Yellowstone turned back,
while McKenzie and Maximilian went on in the Assiniboine
and arrived without further incident at Fort Union on the
24th of June.
The distillery was at once set up and was in operation
when Wyeth passed Fort Union two months later. There
is abundant evidence that the experiment was a complete

success. McKenzie was greatly elated over the result, for

it placed him on a footing of independence and unquestioned
superiority over his rivals. His letters on the subject, writ-
ten in the following December, are interesting reading. To
Chouteau he wrote " Our manufactory flourishes admi-
:

rably. We only want corn to keep us going. The Mandan

corn yields badly but makes a fine, sweet liquor. Do not
load the boat too heavily at St. Louis, that a few hundred
bushels of corn may be placed on board at the Bluffs. . .

Surely you will contrive some means of passing alcohol to

the Bluffs for the Sioux trade. It is hard that new hands
and limited means should have such advantages over us."
And to Crooks in reference to Sublette and Campbell "We :

have every advantage that experience of the Indian trade

and knowledge of the Indians can give, but at the lower
posts they have abundance of alcohol and we are destitute,
and you know how fond some Indians are of strong water.
For this post I have established a manufactory of strong
water. It succeeds admirably. I have a good corn mill, a

respectable distillery, and can produce as fine a liquor as

need be drunk. I believe that no law of the United States
is thereby broken [ !] though perhaps one may be made to
 THE WAY OF THE TRANSGRESSOR. 359

break up my distillery. But liquor I must have or quit any

pretension to trade in this part." By the same express he
sent a letter to Pilcher at Council Bluffs urging him to send
up a good supply of corn in the spring, or, he added " my
wine vats will be idle."
But alas! at the very moment in which McKenzie was
writing his exultant letter to his chief in St. Louis, the latter
was agitated with very different emotions, for he had but
lately experienced in a forcible way the truth of the adage
that the way of the transgressor is not an easy one. The
distillery business had been reported to the United States
Government, and mischief enough was to pay. It happened
in this way: On August 24, 1833, there arrived at Fort
Union that irrepressible Yankee adventurer. Nathaniel J.
Wyeth, who was on his way east in the interests of his busi-
ness. With him was also M. S. Cerre, Captain Bonneville's
principal man. McKenzie received these gentlemen with
true fur trader hospitality, in which he had been admirably
schooled during his service with the British Northwest Com-
pany. His house was wide open to his guests. He gave
them the best that he had —
bread, cheese, milk, excellent
meat, and even wine —
luxuries which they had not tasted
for many a long month. He showed them about his post,
explained everything, and in his enthusiasm so far forgot
his wonted discretion as to permit them to see the distillery.
The guests were most agreeably impressed with the liberal-
ity of their host, and probably would have left him with a
sense of obligation that would have put a bridle on their
tongues, had it not been for a circumstance that marked the
close of their visit. They bought a considerable quantity
of supplies from McKenzie, and applied to him for some
liquor. They then quickly learned the difference between
the generous host and the competing trader. No liquor was
to be had. McKenzie was not going to arm his opponents
with the most powerful weapon which they could wield
against him. When they came to make settlement for their
purchases they again found that they were dealing with the
360 IS NOT AN EASY ONE.

trader and no longer with the host. There was no hospital-

ity in the pricescharged, which were all on the basis of the
exorbitant retail prices of the Indian country. Wyeth and
Cerre were indignant at this treatment, but, smothering their
resentment, they settled their bills without a murmur and
bided their time for revenge.
The opportunity was not long delayed. When the irate
travelers arrived at Fort Leavenworth they appeared before
an Indian agent at that place and made affidavit to the facts
that they had observed at Fort Union, and alleged that the
American Fur Company was there " making and vending
whiskey in quantity." The agent promptly wrote to General
Wm. Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis,
setting forth the information contained in the affidavits.
General Clark in turn wrote to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., Novem-
ber enclosing the communication from the Indian
14th,
agent, and asking for such explanation as he should " think
proper to give." Nine days later Chouteau returned an
answer which, for ingenuity, surpassed even the distillery
scheme itself. After protesting ignorance that operations
were being carried on at Union " in the manner and to the
extent stated," and disclaiming all responsibility for such
unauthorized acts, he gave the following statement of the
extent of the company's connection with the matter " The :

company, believing that wild pears and berries might be con-

verted into wine (which they did not understand to be pro-
hibited), did authorize experiments to be made, and if, under
color of this, ardent spirits have been distilled and vended, it
is without the knowledge, authority, or direction of the com-

pany, and I will take measures, by sending immediately an

express to arrest the operation complained of, if found to
exist." The express was sent and the disappointed McKen-
zie was destined to see his brilliant prospects blasted in their
bloom.
In sending the express, Chouteau so far forgot
his own part in the affair as to administer a rebuke to
McKenzie for *'
having placed the company in an unpleasant
 EXPERIMENTING ON THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY. 361

situation." McKenzie was cut to the quick, and replied

that while he was perfectly willing to be made the scapegoat
in the affair, providing " the company be thereby benefited,"
yet he would not permit the imputation that he had taken
any step to which the management at St. Louis was not a
party. In spite of his irritation, however, he hastened to
his patron's assistance, and fabricated two letters designed
to furnish a plausible explanation of the presence of the dis-
tillery at Fort Union. The purport of them was that a
friend of McKenzie, living in the Red River colony, had
asked him to purchase a still while he was in the States in
the spring of 1833, and have it sent to Pembina. McKen-
zie did this and transported it up the river as far as Fort
Union. While holding it there until called for, an Ameri-
can citizen, who knew something about its operation, had
turned up at the fort and requested permission to experi-
ment with it upon the " fruits of the country." The request
was granted, the distillery set up, and the manufacture of
" wine " was begun. The result was satisfactory and a
" very palatable article " was produced but the whole
;

affair was in the nature of a passing experiment, and had

no relation to the company's business.
Neither Chouteau's lame excuse tp General Clark nor
McKenzie's feeble invention sejxv^dAS; exculpate the com-
pany. The news quickly reached M^^shington both through
ofiicial channels and through the ma'ny enemies of the com-
pany. The government authorities were highly incensed at
this obvious contempt of law, and coming as it did upon the
heels of the Leclerc incident and Fitzpatrick's robbery,^ it
came very near proving disastrous. The company had a life
*
" In a letter to General Ashley, Fitzpatrick accuses the company of
having instigated the savages to commit certain depredations of which
he was the victim, and it appears that this letter has been sent to the De-
partment of Indian Afifairs. The dragoons will perhaps be ordered to
make a tour along the base of the mountains, and in that case it is pos-
sible that they will pay you a visit. You will therefore prepare for their
reception and especially for any searches which they may make if they
go." Chouteau to McKenzie, April 8, 1834.
362 PROMOTING THE CAUSE OF BOTANY.

and death struggle and it was only by a dangerously nar-

row margin that it saved its license. How great was the
peril may be judged from the following letter sent by the
house in St. Louis to McKenzie in the spring of 1834.
Referring to the express of the previous winter which went
up with orders to stop the use of the distillery, the letter
says :
" In asking you to stop at once its operation, we
now urgently renew the request, and however painful it may
be to destroy an establishment which promised such excel-
lent results, it is nevertheless of the most urgent necessity to
submit. Otherwise we shall expose ourselves to the greatest
embarrassments. It was only b)^ the assurance of our Mr.
Chouteau to the Secretary of War that we would conform
to the government regulations pertaining to the Indian trade
that the affair has not been followed up. Under these cir-
cumstances we think it will be prudent to send the still
down or to dispose of it otherwise so that it may give offense
'^
to no one."
The distillery incident seems to have practically closed
McKenzie's career in the Indian country. He came down
the river in the summer
of 1834 and visited Europe. Upon
his return he went back to Union for a short time, but soon
left the country and established himself at St. Louis.

^ On what special plea the company through its political backer.

Senator Benton, succeeded in averting disaster is not now very clear, but
a hint at the crafty methods employed is furnished in the following let-
ter from Crooks to Chouteau, February 23, 1834 " The General
:

tells me that you had the address to persuade Judge H that your
distillery at the Yellowstone was only intended to promote the cause
of botany. But prcnes-y-gardc. Don't presume too much on your
recent escape from an accusation which might have been attended with
serious consequences. The less of this sort of business you do, the bet-
ter, for the time may, and very probably will, come when you will
be exposed by the endless number of spies you have around you."
 CHAPTER XXII.

THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

1834- 1843.

Mr. Astor retires — Pratte, Chouteau and Company — The mountain

trade — Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company — Opposition the year
in
1842 — Andrew Drips made Indian agent — Liquor Fort Platte —
at
Fox, Livingston and Company — Experience of Mr. Kelsey — Mr. Cut-
ting and the Assiniboine chief — Fox, Livingston and Company —
retire
Battle of Fort McKenzie — Situation in1843.

'TT'HE year 1834 witnessed a momentous change in the

—
^^ American Fur Company nothing less than the
retirement of its founder from further connection with its
affairs. Mr. Astor had for several years meditated this
move. He was now advanced in life, and his great wealth
relieved him from the necessity of concerning himself in the
future with the exacting cares of business life.' But like all
earnest and active men, he could not easily bring himself to
the point of actual retirement. The reluctance to yield to
the truth that age is coming on, together with the real inter-
est which a man of business never ceases to feel in active
affairs,made it difficult for him to let go of the company
which he, single-handed, had created. It was a monument
to his genius such as few men have been able to erect, and
it was endeared to him by the very struggles which he had

passed through and the difficulties which he had been com-

pelled to overcome. We may well appreciate the force of
Mr. Crooks' remark Mr. Chouteau while the
in a letter to
negotiations for the transfer were going on, that " the busi-
ness seems to him like an only child and he can not muster
courage to part with it." This was written in March,
1833.
364 MR. ASTOR RETIRES FROM THE COMPANY.

It was only three months later that Mr. Astor, from Ge-
neva, Switzerland, addressed the following letter to Messrs.
Bernard Pratte and Company, St. Louis, Missouri " Gen- :

—
tlemen Wishing to retire from the concern in which I am
engaged with your house, you will please to take this as
notice thereof, and that the engagement entered into on the
7th of May, 1830, between your house and me, on the part
of the American Fur Company, will expire with the outfit
of the present year on the terms expressed in said agree-
ment."
Mr. Astor was no doubt partly influenced to take this step
in view of impending changes which he foresaw must soon
overtake the fur trade. While in London the summer before
he had noted the beginning of the downfall of the beaver
trade. He said in a letter written at the time :
" I very
much fear beaver will not sell well very soon unless very
fine. It appears that they make hats of silk in place of
beaver."
The negotiations thus initiated by Mr. Astor himself came
to a termination of June, 1834, when the North-
on the ist
ern Department, retaining the name of American Fur Com-
pany, was sold to a company of which Ramsay Crooks was
the principal partner, and the Western Department to
Pratte, Chouteau and Company of St, Louis.^
^
" Mr. J. J. Astor having decided to retire from business, our relations
with him have in consequence terminated and our house is today under
the style of Pratte, Chouteau and Company. As a consequence of this
change, we have found it necessary to make an arrangement with Mr,
Sublette by which we make mutual concessions. He is to abandon the
Missouri trade and we that of the mountains, after the present expedi-
tion, it is understood." Pratte, Chouteau and Company, April 9, 1834.
By a letter of the previous day to McKenzie the was requested
latter
to come to St. Louis and renew the arrangement with the Upper Mis-
souri Outfit for the next four years.
In adjusting the affairs of the company at this time an appraisement
was made of the various posts by representatives of both parties. Mr.
Astor's man estimated their value at $8,250, and Pratte, Chouteau and
Company's representatives at $4,500. These figures show how flimsy
most of these structures must have been.
 ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT JOHN. 365

By important arrangement the American Fur Com-

this
pany permanently from the Western trade, which
retired
now reverted to the control of the St. Louis traders. The
company had been at St. Louis just twelve years, and in that
time had established itself beyond the power of any rival con-
cern seriously to disturb it.Although the name American
Fur Company did not properly apply to the new firm, it was
nevertheless, in popular usage, retained for many years to
come.
The affairs of the company during the decade from 1834
to 1843 present nothing of unusual interest. The business
continued under the regular routine and no serious opposi-
tion arose until 1842. The arrangement with Sublette and
Campbell for a division of the fur trade territory did not
operate to keep the American Fur Company out of the moun-
tains. Fontenelle took out parties in both the years 1834
and 1835. Fitzpatrick, Sublette, and Bridger severed their
connection with Sublette in 1834, and formed a partnership
with Fontenelle, thus merging the remnants of the expiring
Rocky Mountain Fur Company with its great rival on the^
Missouri. Sublette's new post on the Laramie was bought
by Fontenelle and his associates at about the same time and
the American Fur Company thus established itself in the
last of its great depots of trade. Fort John, as this post
came to be known, ranked with McKenzie, Cass, and Clark
in impo-rtance.
The mountain trade had neVer succeeded well with the
American Fur Company. Their expeditions were scarcely
ever on the ground in time to compete with their indefatiga-
ble rivals of the Rocky Mountain Company.^ They lost
heavily from the Indians, and on the whole the trade was far
from being profitable. The management at St. Louis
became thoroughly tired of this branch of the business, and
it was only the fear of loss of prestige with the Indians and

'"We have always been too late [at rendezvous] and our opponents
in the country make a great boast of it." Fontenelle to Chouteau, July
31, 1833, from the rendezvous on Green river.
366 MOUNTAIN TRADE UNPROFITABLE.

trappers that kept them from abandoning it altogether. The

following reference to this subject in a letter from Chou-
teau to Astor, written May 4, 1833, illustrates the views of
the Western Department "I am convinced that these
:

expeditions have been an annual loss. But we have hoped

for improvement from year to year. Generally the loss
falls upon the traders. If the expeditions to the upper
Missouri had confined themselves entirely to the trade [at
regular posts] its returns would have been greater and its
expenses much less. Nevertheless, in spite of the unfavor-
able prospect, I do not think it politic to abandon this trade
for the present.Just at the time when Sublette and Com-
pany are opposing us on the Missouri it is not for us to
leave the mountains exclusively to them."
The mountain business therefore went on much as before.
The command of the annual expeditions, after the death of
Fontenelle in 1836, was given to Andrew Drips, who
retained it until as late as 1840. James Bridger also con-
ducted trapping parties through the mountains for several
years in the interest of the American Fur Company.^
About 1840 or 1 84 1 he was associated with Benito Vasquez
in charge of an extensive outfit. These two men continued
in partnership for several years, and in 1843 built the noted
fort on Black's Fork of Green river to which Bridger's
name was given. This event marks the termination of the
organized fur trade of the Rocky mountains.
In the year 1838 the company management underwent
another modification in which the name was changed from
Pratte, Chouteau and Company to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and
Company —
a name which continued nearly, if not quite,

' An important event in Rocky mountain history should be placed to

the credit of the mountain expeditions of the American Fur Company.
In the spring of 1834, W.
who had spent the winter among the
A. Ferris,
Flatheads, made Upper Geyser Basin of the Yellowstone
a visit to the
Park. He went from a point near where Beaver Canon, Idaho, now is
and was at the Upper Basin May 20, 1834. His account of this visit,
published in the Western Literary Messenger, of Buffalo, New York,
is the first published account of this region.
 OPPfSITION COMPANIES. 367

to the date when the company retired permanently from the

business.'*
In the year 1842 the company was again considerably
perturbed by the presence of an imposing opposition. No
fewer than six rival companies were in the field, some of
them for the first time. Lupton and Bent and St. Vrain op-
erated mainly in the territory to the southwest. The prin-
cipal opposition on the Missouri was Fox, Livingston and
Company, and William P. May and Company. On the
north fork of the Platte and in the neighboring country the
firms of Pratte, Cabanne and Company and Sybille and
Company strove to divert a portion of the trade from the
company's establishment at Fort John on the Laramie.
The American Fur Company met this formidable oppo-
sition by a shrewd move which, during the next four years,
proved a great element of strength in its favor. It secured
the revival of the office of Indian agent for the tribes of the
Upper Missouri and the appointment of one of its own most
trusted and experienced traders, Andrew Drips, as agent.
It did this upon the ground of putting a stop to the liquor
traffic. There can be no doubt of the sincerity of the' com-
pany in this matter, although its action was based upon
purely selfish motives. It had no f^ar of opposition in the
ordinary business of the trade, but it dreaded the use of
liquor by its opponents. Without this article its own power
would count for nothing, even against the most worthless
opponent who might be supplied with it. It was therefore
of the first importance to break up the practice of smug-
gling, and the company for once found itself in the happy
position of being able to serve its own interests by a zealous
enforcement of the laws of the country.
The correspondence still in the possession of the descend-
ants of Major Drips shows conclusively that the appoint-
ment of this able and experienced trader was due to the influ-
* This was in
1864. when the old company sold out to the Northwest-
ern Fur Company, which was organized by J. B. Hubbell of St. Paul,
Minn.

z^
368 ANDREW DRIPS INDIAN AGENT.

ence of the American Fur Company, and that they were not
slow to exact a return for their services when he entered
upon his new duties.^ Never before in the history of the
fur trade had any agent taken such energetic measures to
enforce the law prohibiting the importation or use of liquor
into the Indian country. The new agent traveled over the
entire Western country, not even stopping for the cold of
winter, and did everything which his limited means permit-
ted to break up the traffic among the opposition traders. At
the same time he granted the American Fur Company every
possible facility for pursuing their rivals. They were
authorized in express terms to establish trading posts
wherever Fox, Livingston and Company, or Pratte, Cabanne
and Company might establish them. While it is not likely
that a man of Major Drips' high character deliberately used
his official position for the benefit of his old company, there
is no doubt that his administration operated strongly to that

end. Mr. F. Cutting, resident agent of Fox. Livingston

and Company, openly accused him of gross favoritism to the
American Fur Company, and demanded his removal from
office. The charges, however, were denied by Major Drips
and no notice was taken of them by the Department at
Washington.
The opposition to the company on the Platte river was of
considerable importance. Pratte, Cabanne and Company,
who owned Fort Platte, succeeded in smuggling in some
three hundred gallons of alcohol, a portion of which was
brought in by a man named Richards, notorious for his
character as a lawless desperado. It is supposed that he
brought from the Mexican territory. At this period the
it

practice of smuggling liquor from Santa Fe to the head-

waters of the Arkansas and Platte rivers had become a
regular business and led the War Department to station a
* " Heretofore zve traders have never thought the government in earn-
est when they spoke about Hquor. I hope that you will teach us now
that such is no longer the case." J. F. A. Sanford, Agent of the Amer-
ican Fur Company, to Drips, July 10, 1843.
 FOX, LIVINGSTON AND COMPANY. 369

company of dragoons on the Arkansas in 1843.^ Major

Drips sent J. V. Hamilton to Fort Platte to investigate the
matter, and armed him with written authority to confiscate
the property of the offending company and to expel them
from the country. But the shrewd traders were too quick
for him. They raised the caches where the liquor was con-
cealed within the fort and hurried it to a secure hiding
place outside. When Hamilton arrived he could only find
the fresh evidences of the empty caches, and rumors of the
recent presence of liquor there, but of positive proof he could
find none.
The Fort on a feeble opposition to
Platte traders carried
the American Fur Company number of years, but
for a
could make no permanent impression upon the country and
finally succumbed to their powerful rival.
The firm of Fox, Livingston and Company, also called
the Union Fur Company, and frequently Ebbetts and Cut-
ting from the names of the resident agents, was the most
powerful opposition with which the Upper Missouri Outfit
ever had to deal excepting only that of Sublette and Camp-
bell ten years before. The rise of this company is thus
sketched by Charles Larpenteur in his Forty Years a Fur
Trader. The partner, Ebbetts, went up the river in 1841
with a small equipment to trade upon his own account. The
*
" I would particularly call the attention of the Department to a de-
scription of traders who reside in the vicinity of the Mexican country
on the waters of the Arkansas. They cultivate corn, etc., which they

trade to the Indians for robes and skins with which they proceed to
Santa Fe and Taos and barter for whiskey, flour, etc. These latter
articles they again bring to the Indians with whom they trade in oppo-
sition to, and much to the detriment of, the regular licensed traders.
They defy a United States agent, and want of a proper force at the
latter's command permits them to act with impunity. They reside in
two villages, one on the American, and the other within the Mexican,
line. They are a mongrel crew of Americans, French, Mexicans, and
half-breeds, and, generally speaking, are unable to procure employment
on account of past misconduct. In fact, they are no better than out-
laws." Drips to Thomas H. Harvey, Superintendent Indian Affairs, St.
Louis. Dated at Fort Pierre, April 11, 1845.
3/0 MISREPRESENTATIONS OF AGENT EBBETTS.

American Fur Company did not pay much attention to him

and he made an exceedingly profitable trade. Upon the
strength of this he went to New York and approached the
firm of Fox, Livingston and Company with a view of enlist-
ing them in the business. The evidence of his own success
was convincing, and his statem^ent that the American Fur
Company was in a bad way and losing its hold upon the
country was believed. A new firm was organized for this
trade, under the style of the Union Fur Company, and one
of its members, a Mr. Kelsey, was deputed to reside in the
Indian country and co-operate with the agents, Ebbetts and
Cutting, in the management of the business. The license
granted the new company enumerated a great number of
points throughout the Indian country where they might
establish posts but their principal establishments were fixed
;

at the mouth of the Yellowstone, where old Fort William

was re-occupied and called Fort Mortimer, and in the Sioux
country twenty miles below Fort Pierre, where the post of
Fort George was built.
Promptly with the opening of the season of 1842 the
Union Fur Company went up the river with the steamboat
Nezv Haven laden with a full and complete outfit and pro-
ceeded to establish trading posts everywhere in opposition
to the American Fur Company. But Mr. Kelsey soon
found, as he entered the Indian country, that Mr. Ebbetts'
roseate view of the prospects of trade in that region was
absurdly overdrawn. became more and more evident that
It
his company had been grossly deceived and that their enter-
prise was destined to be a losing one. But they had now
gone too far to withdraw, and putting the best face on their
dubious prospect, they entered upon their work with every
possible proof of a determination to succeed. They exhib-
ited from the evading the law and resort-
start a facility for
ing to desperate measures, which was never surpassed even
by the American Fur Company itself; and in spite of all
that Major Drips could do they succeeded in smuggling
quantities of liquor to nearly all of their posts.
 SIMENEAU ISLAND GANG. 3/1

Fort George in the Sioux country was their first and

principal estabhshment, and hither Mr. Kelsey retired after
a trip on the boat to the mouth of the Yellowstone. Mr.
Kelsey found himself in the hands of a most desperate set of
outlaws who were ready to go to any length of rascality that
opportunity or inclination might suggest. Kelsey made
effective use of them for awhile in opposing his rivals.
When the trader William P. May came down the river in
1843 with a boat load of furs, Kelsey's men fired upon the
boat, compelled him to land, and then confiscated his cargo.
As soon as Fort George was established the American Fur
Company sent a trader named Bonis down from Fort Pierre
to set up a lodge with an assortment of goods to oppose the
new company. He had not been there very long before the
employes at Fort George, who seemed to be drunk most of
the time, made a raid upon him and cut his lodge all to
pieces. He was relieved J. V. Hamilton, who promptly
by
reported to Fort Pierre that the situation at Fort George was
such that his life was in continual danger.
In fact Kelsey soon found that he could not himself con-
trol the desperate band whom he was using against his
opponents. Some of them had established themselves on
Simeneau's Island opposite Fort George and near the east
shore. Here they took possession of an old cabin and bade
defiance to Mr. Kelsey. This gentleman, who seems to have
been a man of nerve and spirit, ordered them to leave the
island, and upon their refusal to do so armed himself and
proceeded to see that his orders were carried out. Two of
the men he shot dead on the spot and severely wounded two
others. Dreading the consequences of this desperate per-
formance he is said to have left the post the following night
and to have fled to Mexico. Major Drips secured several
affidavits from persons acquainted with the affair and these
are now presumably on file in the Department at Washing-
ton.
Mr. Cutting, who was left in charge at Fort Mortimer,
was confident of his ability to cope with the American Fur
372 AGENT CUTTING AND THE ASSINIBOINE CHIEF.

Company; but a little incident that happened soon after-

ward went far to dispel that illusion. As was the custom
when a new opposition came up the river, the Indians paid
it some attention. A powerful Assiniboine chief called on
Mr. Cutting, from whom he received a brilliant uniform as
a present. From his general demeanor Cutting felt sure
that he had secured the custom of the chief and his band.
When the chief left he went straight to Fort Union, sat
down room of Mr. Culbertson, who was then
in the private
and after a few moments' silence said
in charge, " I sup- :

pose you think I have left our big house [Fort Union].
No I am not a child. I went below to see the chief, who
;

treated me well. I did not ask him for anything. I did not
refuse his presents. But these can not make me abandon
this house, where are buried the remains of our fathers,
whose tracks are yet fresh in all the paths leading to this
house. No, I will not abandon this house! " Cutting was
completely undone when he heard this news, and concluded
that the American Fur Company was not, after all, in so bad
a way as his associate Ebbetts had represented.
The Union Fur Company continued to do a losing busi-
ness for about three years, their affairs constantly going
from bad to worse. Their better class of employes, feeling
that they were on a sinking ship, withdrew from their
employ, leaving them only the most abandoned and reckless
characters in the country. Finally, in the spring of 1845,
they sold out to the American Fur Company, thus closing
the career of the last of the opposition companies which we
'^

shall have occasion to notice.

In the summer of 1833, the year following the establish-
ment of Fort McKenzie, an important incident occurred at
that post. Notwithstanding the inviolable peace which the
"
" The Union Fur Company has sold their entire stock in the country
to P. Chouteau, Jr., & Company. I am sorry to inform you that they

leave in the country upwards of fifty men —

a mongrel set of half-
breeds and white men, the greater part notorious for their misconduct
here as well as in the civilized world." Drips to Thomas H. Harvey,
Superintendent Indian Affairs. Dated Fort Pierre, May 18, 1845.

1
 AFFAIRS AT FORT M KENZIE. 373

Assiniboines had promised McKenzie should thenceforth

subsist between them and the Blackfeet, those Indians from
some cause or other grew compact and proceeded
tired of the
On
to treat it as of no effect. morning of August 28th,
the
1833, they made a bold attack upon a party of Blackfeet
who were encamped around the fort. Quite a number of
Indians were killed at the first onslaught, but the Blackfeet
were quickly admitted into the fort from which a counter
attack was vigorously returned. The battle continued in a
desultory fashion all day and ended in the discomfiture of
the Assiniboines. Prince Maximilian was in the post at the
time,and has left a vivid picture from his pen, as his artist,

Bodmer, did from his pencil, of this exciting affair.^

No other event of unusual interest transpired at this
remote outpost until 1842. F. A. Chardon, an able but
unscrupulous man, and something of a desperate character
when his evil nature was once aroused, was in charge. It
happened that in the winter of 1842-3 a negro belonging to
Chardon, to whom he was greatly attached, was killed by the
Blood Indians. Chardon vowed vengeance and found a
ready coadjutor in Alexander Harvey, one of the most
abandoned desperadoes known to the fur trade. A general
massacre was planned but it only partially succeeded.®
Enough was done, however, to embitter the Indians so that
the further usefulness of Fort McKenzie was at an end.
Chardon accordingly abandoned the post in the summer of
1843 ^"d built another farther down, at the mouth of the
Judith, and called it Fort Chardon. The Indians promptly
burned the old post. Strange to say the name of the old
post lapsed entirely so far as popular usage was concerned,
and it came to be known only as Fort Brule and its site as
Brule Bottom.
The year 1843, with which our present studies terminate,
found the American Fur Company occupying all the ground
that it had ever won, but still having to fight, as it always had

'See Part IV., Chapter IV.

* See notice of Harvey, Part
IV., Chapter VII.
374 STATE OF THE TRADE.

done, for its existence. Just at this time the prospects of

the Upper Missouri Outfit were particularly gloomy. Fox,
Livingston and Company were at the best of their career and
were causing the company no little anxiety. Bridger had
made almost a total failure of his latest mountain expeditions
and had practicallyannounced the death knell of the moun-
tain trade by building a post in the heart of the old fur
country for the convenience of emigrants. The company
was still to survive for a score of years, but it required no
prophet to see that the sun of its prosperity, so far as the
fur trade was concerned, was on the decline.
 CHAPTER XXIII.

THE AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

METHODS AND MEN.

Financial Stability of the American Fur Company — Conservative

management — Business arrangements — Opposition companies — Meas-
ures of policy — Able men in the American Fur Company — Ramsay
Crooks — Pierre Chouteau, — Kenneth McKenzie — William Laid-
Jr.
law — Alexander Culbertson — David D. Mitchell — James Archdale
Hamilton — James Kipp — Daniel Lamont — The Sarpy/ family —
Lucien Fontenelle — William Henry Vanderburgh — Jacob Halsey —
Joseph A7 Sire — Charles Larpenteur — Warren Angus Ferris.

*irN the general discussion upon the business methods of

" the fur trade much has already been said that applies to
the American Fur Company. Only those special features
which distinguish it from other trading concerns need there-
fore be noticed here.
The chief elements of strength which made the American
Fur Company such a power in the Indian countrywere the
great wealth and business sagacity of its founder. Its for-
midable financial backing gave to its operations a degree of
force and stability which none of the other American fur
companies possessed. Reverses which would have ruined
an ordinary concern scarcely caused a ripple on the current
of its affairs. If competing traders stood in the way, and
could not be crushed by opposition, the exhaustless reservoir
of Mr. Astor's pocket-book could buy them out. The
onward march of the company was therefore that of resist-
less power and even the great opposition of the St. Louis
traders was finally forced to give way.
The operations of the company, moreover, were always
conducted with caution and sound judgment. Its career
376 CONSERVATIVE MANAGEMENT.

was marked by few brilliant strokes of policy, but rather by

a conservative and continuous advance so fortified and
supported that each step v^as permanent progress. It per-

mitted other and more adventurous concerns to break the

ground in new and dangerous territory rather than run the
risk of invading those untried fields.^ Thus every point of
its territory on the upper river had previously been occupied

by the Missouri or Columbia Fur Companies or by General

Ashley. This was not perhaps much to the credit of its
courage, but greatly to the advantage of its business. The
American Fur Company never met with anything like the
brilliant success of General Ashley, but if its particular
gains were not great, they were many and continuous, and
the aggregate was always large.
The goods for the trade were generally imported or pur-
chased in New York under the immediate direction of the
home office. Those going to the Northern Department were
sent to Lake Erie and shipped from Black Rock to posts on
the lakes and the upper Mississippi. Those bound for the
Western Department were generally sent by way of New
Orleans, particularly after the advent of steamboats. Ship-
ments were also often made by way of Pittsburg, and occa-
sionally by way of the lakes.
St. Louis was the headquarters of the Western Depart-
ment, as Michilimackinac was of the Northern. It was the

outfitting point for the entire country to the westward, and

for the posts on the Mississippi as far up as Prairie du
Chien. The lower Missouri posts were supplied by inde-
pendent outfits, but the entire river above the present location
of Sioux City was included in a single equipment, called the
Upper Missouri Outfit.
The goods, in their long journey from Europe to the
interior of this continent, passed through three distinct
agencies before their final destination was reached. They
^To this general rule the enterprise of the Pacific Fur Company was
a notable exception, as was also the establishment of Fort Piegan among
the Blackfeet.
 A ONE-SIDED ARRANGEMENT. 377

were generally furnished by Mr. Astor at a fixed advance

upon cost and charges. They then went through the house
at St. Louis, where the various outfits for each year were
made up. Here there was a second regular advance. To
this point the profits were fixed and certain, and the chances
of loss very small. It was not until the traders at the com-

pany houses in the interior were reached that the struggle of

the business began. The trader's profits were largely
dependent upon his own efforts. He ran the risks of loss
from hostile Indians, competing traders, and the many other
difficulties that beset his business. On the whole the trade
arrangements of the American Fur Company were grossly
one-sided and unfair. They threw the risks of loss upon
those who had the burden of the work to perform. Thus
the heavy damages of nearly ten thousand dollars which
the affair of Cabanne and Leclerc cost the company, were
charged to the " U. M. O.," although the house in St. Louis
was in the fullest sense a party to the transaction. It is not
a pleasing reflection that the profits of this extensive business
found their way into a few hands while those who bore its

hardships and dangers beyond the frontiers of civilization

and the comforts and luxuries thereof, generally ended their
careers in comparative poverty if not in actual want.^
In the multitudinous details of a business like that of the
American Fur Company, covering half tlie area of the
United States, it is not surprising that it should appear in
different lights from different points of view. One may
search in vain in the correspondence of Astor or Crooks for

^"Meek was evidently very poor. He had scarcely clothing enough

to cover his body. And while talking with us the frosty winds which
sucked up the valley made him shiver like an aspen leaf. He reverted
and complained of the injustice of his former
to his destitute situation
employers the little remuneration he had received for the toils and dan-
;

gers he had endured on their account, etc. a complaint which I had

;

heard from every trapper whom I had met on my journey." Travels in

the Great Western Prairies, T. J. Farnham, 1839, p. 69. This is a fair
sample of the complaints which came from nearly all the old employes
of the company.
37^ ONE CODE FOR THE EAST, ANOTHER FOR THE WEST.

any evidence of irregular methods. The conduct of affairs

at the home office, however vigorous and aggressive it might
be, was always strictly within the law. Very different was
it at the other end of the line, where the business came in

contact with the lawless element of the wilderness. Thus,

while McKenzie was making preparations to establish a dis-
tillery at Fort Union whereby he would be able to evade the
Federal statutes, Crooks was writing to Chouteau strongly
deprecating his course, and urging the agents of the com-
pany to stand upon higher ground. " It is enough," he
said, " that ourlaws prohibit the introduction of ardent spir-
its into the Indian country, and it is our bounden duty to

conform honestly thereto." The St. Louis house had a

more difficult role to fill, for it was midway between New
York and the wilderness — between the law-abiding man-
agement of the company's affairs and the law-defying agents
at the distant posts. One does not need to scan very closely
the correspondence of the Western Department at St. Louis
to see that it had one code of business when looking toward
the east and quite a different one when looking in the other
direction.
Owang to the great power of the American Fur Company
it was opposed by all other traders. It had no allies. An
" opposition company " was one opposed to the American
Fur Company. Flowever much the smaller traders might
fight among themselves, there was one enemy against whom
they made common cause —
one flag under which all could
rally. The opposition to the company was, it is true, more
numerous than formidable, and considering their uniform
experience of failure, the number of competitors is at first
thought surprising. A great part of the opposition to the
company was a species of blackmail. It was a common
thing for employes who had been trained in its service until
they had acquired some knowledge of the fur trade, to quit
their employment and set up for themselves. Sometimes
they did this from personal because they had a griev-
spite,

ance against the company, and at others because they actu-

 OPPOSITION TRADERS. 379

ally felt that they might meet with some success. Occa-
sionally the more experienced would enlist eastern capital
in their enterprises and would themselves ascend the river
as agent or principal in the business. As a general thing,
however, these smaller concerns, like minor political parties,
had no real expectation of accomplishing anything by them-
selves, but hoped, by embarrassing their powerful competi-
tor, to force it to buy them out or to make profitable con-
cessions to them. To this end they would ascend the river
and settle down near some important outpost of the com-
pany and ply their skill to the utmost to debauch the Indians
and secure their trade. Not having any character to defend
they were reckless of measures. They could easily smuggle
through the small quantities of liquor they wanted, and were
often better ecjuipped at particular points with this decisive
weapon of trade than were their opponents. These irre-
sponsible traders were in fact an unmitigated nuisance in the
Indian trade. They w'ere not powerful enough to stand the
least chance of crippling their adversary, any more than sum-
mer flies can cripple the horse which they annoy, but they
could and did succeed in causing it infinite embarrassment,
and its whole career was one prolonged effort to extermi-
nate the myriad pests that were always swarming about it.
Notwithstanding the discreditable motives which lay
behind most of these adventurers the sympathy of the public
was always with them. The great company w^as looked
upon as an oppressive monopoly, resolved to crush whatever
lay in its way, and its acts w^ere judged by a stricter standard
than were those of its less powerful rivals. The govern-
ment inspectors were as a rule more severe with it, perhaps
from sympathy with the smaller traders, but probably
because they could more easily detect its shortcomings.
The attitude of the company toward these competitors
was always severe and merciless, for, knowing their charac-
ter and motives, held them in the utmost contempt.
it As
a general thing it fought them with their own methods until
it had won all the trade away from them, when they would
 ^

380 PERSONIFICATION OF MONOPOLY.

find themselves stranded and helpless and would sue for

mercy. Others or the more respectable class it would buy
out, receiving them again into the service. With still others
who were really powerful rivals, like the Columbia Fur Com-
pany, it formed coalitions on advantageous terms to the
company absorbed. In one way or another it held the field
against all competitors and only retired at last when its
work was done and a new order of things had come over the
field of its extensive operations.^
For the rest, the company's afifairs were conducted on the
same principles which control in the business world today.
It knew perfectly well the power of political influence, and
no railroad corporation of modern times is more assiduous
in the lobby than was the American Fur Company in the
Departments at Washington. More than once it escaped
exclusion from the Indian country where a more obscure
party would have had no show whatever. The company
also understood to perfection the value of favors to those
who were in a position to help or injure it. Free passes
were provided on its steamboats scientific
; enterprises were
generously promoted, and every thing was done that would
redound to its praise or credit. It may indeed be said that
the history of the company upon the upper Missouri was
uniformly on the side of the advancement of knowledge and
its assistance to enterprises of this character was of perma-

nent value. But to the average individual the American

Fur Company was the personification of monopoly, deter-
mined to rule or ruin, and hence it was thoroughly hated
even by those who respected its power.
' It
was with reference to these competing traders that Chouteau on
one occasion issued the following instructions to John P. Cabanne at
Council Bluffs: "Si vous ne croycs pouvoir vous debarasser d'eux
par la force des armes, il vaut. micux fairc un arrangement en leur
donant tcl paste que vous jugez le plus convenahlc a nos interets."
And the faithful lieutenant returned the following comfortable assurance
to his chief: " Sois sans inquietude. Ricn ne sera neglige pour faire
mordre la poussicre a notre incapable adversaire, ct tout ce qui depen-
dra de moi sera mis en usage pour y parvenir."
*The following testimonial by an Indian agent, uttered at about the
 ;

AMERICAN FUR COMPANY LEADERS. 381

It is scarcely necessary to observe that a business concern

of the magnitude and importance of the American Fur

Company must needs have had many men of high abihty
connected with it. Astor, the founder of the company,
whose biography has been given in another place, stands at
the front rank of commercial geniuses of this or any other
age. The Chouteaus of St. Louis were considered in their
day among the ablest business men of the country, and there
is no other name so intimately connected with the growth

and development of the metropolis of the Mississippi valley.

Ramsay Crooks, Robert Stuart, Kenneth McKenzie, Alex-
ander Culbertson, D. D. Mitchell, and many others were men
who were charged with high responsibilities, and would
today stand near the top in the world of business.
The strongest man, next to Mr. Astor himself, who at any
time stood at the helm, in the home office at New York, was
Ramsay Crooks, who rose to the presidency of the com-
pany. He was born in Greenock, Scotland, January 2nd,
1787. He came to America at the age of sixteen, and at
once entered the service of the Montreal fur traders. He
went to Mackinaw as clerk to Robert Dickson, and the next
year pushed his way on to St. Louis, where he entered the
trade of the Missouri. As early as 1807 he became associ-
ated with Robert McLellan, with whom he continued in busi-
ness until the two entered the Pacific Fur Company in 181 1.
After Crooks' return from the Pacific in 181 3, he drops out
of sight for the next few years, but he was evidently asso-
ciated in some capacity with Mr. Astor. Li 18 17 he appears
as agent of the American Fur Company, which had just
bought out, the Southwest Company. During this period he
displayed ihe most extraordinary energy in his work, and
for many years made the long and arduous annual journey

time that the American Fur Company was permanently retiring from
business, shows that it had not risen in popular estimation: "This old
American Fur Company is the most corrupt institution ever tolerated in
our country. They have involved the government in their speculations
and schemes they have enslaved the Indians kept them in ignorance
; ;

taken from them year after year their pitiful earnings, etc."
382 RAMSAY CROOKS.

to Mackinaw and even to St. Louis. Crooks was the vir-

tual head of the company's business during the twelve years
after the Western Department was established in St. Louis.
When Mr. Astor sold out his interest in the company in
1834, Crooks purchased the Northern Department, which
then took the company name, and soon after became its pres-
ident. Crooks lived to the age of seventy-two and died in
New York June 6, 1859. He became related through mar-
riage to the Chouteau family, having married Emily Pratt,
March i, 1825.
Crooks was the letter writer of the American Fur Com-
pany; not merely because his correspondence was volumi-
nous, but because in character and quality it was far above
that of the average trader. It was strong and vigorous, like
the nature of the man behind it. It abounded in interesting
matter, of great value historically, and his letters constitute
our best fund of information on many points connected with
these early events. Some of these letters are unsurpassed as
examples of clear and incisive writing.
Crooks was always open and above board in his dealings,
yet a vigorous and relentless enemy when he took up a con-
test. He opposed clandestine, quite as much as open, viola-
tions of the law. In all his career connected with a business
where the temptation to use lawless methods was so great,
there is no record of any attempt on his part to do anything
that he had not a legal right to do.
Although a man of great energy and longevity he was not»
a strong man physically. The record of his work shows
that he was in ill health a great deal of the time, and it is

a matter of surprise that so much of an invalid could accom-

plish such a quantity of work.
The Western Department of the
principal character in the
American Fur Company was Pierre Chouteau, Jr., of St.
Louis, grandson of Auguste Chouteau, one of the founders
of the city, and himself the most illustrious scion of the dis-
tinguished Chouteau family. He was born in St. Louis,
January ig, 1789, and by his own people was known as
 PIERRE CHOUTEAU, JR. 383

Pierre Cadet Chouteau. He was bred in the atmosphere of

the fur trade, and early showed a marked aptitude for busi-
ness, becoming clerk to his father before he had reached the
age of sixteen. In 1806 he accompanied Julien Du Buque
to the lead mines of the upper Mississippi, and in i8og went
with his father up the Missouri in the service of the Missouri
Fur Company. Soon after reaching his majority he went
into business on his own account, and in 181 3 formed a part-
nership with B. Berthold, which continued until 1831. He
was a member of the firm of Bernard Pratte and Company,
which secured the agency of the Western Department of the
American Fur Company and a leading member of the firm
;

of Pratte, Chouteau and Company, which purchased the

Western Department in 1834. Four years later the firm
name was changed to Pierre Chouteau, Jr., and Company,
which remained the name for more than twenty years.
As his business expanded, Chouteau was drawn into other
fields, and for many years resided mainly in New York,

where he was interested in railroads and other industrial

enterprises. He was at this time one of the leading finan-
ciers in that home of financial men.
Chouteau died in St. Louis, October 6, 1865.
One has only to read the correspondence of Pierre Chou-
teau, Jr., to understand that he was a man of more than ordi-
nary business ability. A born merchant, he possessed to a
marked degree the rare quality of turning to pecuniary profit
whatever he touched. These natural abilities he supple-
mented by the most industrious and persevering methods.
In a business which stretched over a million square miles he
carried out the details with the greatest exactness and under-
stood the needs of the most remote posts as if he had been
there. He personally made two extensive steamboat trips
to the upper river and thus further familiarized himself with
the wants of the trade. His solicitude extended to the
minutest particulars. It is said that whenever the company's
annual boat was about to leave port for the upper river he
always visited the Captain on the boat, went over everything
384 THE CHOUTEAU PAPERS.

in detail, cautioned him about trusting to the Indians, and

enjoined him under no circumstances to take unnecessary
risks.
Chouteau, Hke every successful man, adapted his methods
to conditions as he found them. He made no attempt to
introduce a higher standard of business morality in the trade
than it was accustomed to. He stood solidly behind his
agents on the upper river in the questionable measures which
the exigencies of competition frequently obliged them to
resort to. In short his code of business morals was suffi-
ciently elastic to fit the situation with which he had to deal.
Strict and severe in the discipline of his business, he was
nevertheless generous and fair to all who served him well.
His most trusted steamboat masters he would permit, with-
out loss of salary, to take service with other boats after their
return from the annual trip until the company again required
their services :but let one of them have the temerity to set
up in trade for himself where the company was doing busi-
ness and the whole enginery of that leviathan concern would
be used to crush him.
Chouteau was liberal toward scientific expeditions seeking
to go up the country, and he contributed in no small degree
to their success. His house was always open to people of
this class. He took a deep personal interest in their
researches, and himself gathered an extensive collection
of Indian curios.
In the course of his long business career an immense mass
of correspondence had accumulated, and although this was
long before the era of typewriters, and to some extent before
that of the common letter press, copies of everything were
laboriously preserved even where they had to be transcribed
by hand. All the letters received were carefully briefed and
bound together in neat packages, in which form they have
come down to the present time, and constitute our most valu-
able original data upon the history of the American fur
trade.
King of the " U. M. O." in its palmy days was Kenneth
 KENNETH m'kENZIE. 385

McKenzie, the ablest trader that the American Fur Com-

pany ever possessed. He was born of distinguished parent-
age in Rosshire, Inverness, Scotland, in 1801. He was a
relative of Alexander Mackenzie, who made the first journey
across the continent ever made by white men north of the
Spanish possessions. Kenneth came to America early in
life and entered the service of the British Fur Companies.

Almost nothing is known of him during this period, but it is

probable that he lost his position as did so many others when
the two British companies consolidated in 1821. He joined
Joseph Renville in forming the Columbia Fur Company, of
which he was President at the time of its union with the
American Fur Company in 1827. McKenzie was placed in
control of theAmerican Fur Company's interests upon the
upper Missouri and with Laidlaw and Lamont formed the
sub-department called the Upper Missouri Outfit. To Mc-
Kenzie fell the responsible task of carrying the trade into
those hostile regions from wdiich the traders had always
hitherto been driven. He was very ambitious and entered
this new wath great enthusiasm and untiring energy.
field
Within four years he had occupied the entire theatre of
trade with posts at the mouth of the Yellowstone, the Big-
horn, and the Marias. The noted post of Fort Union at
the mouth of the Yellowstone, the best built and the most
commodiously-equipped post west of the Mississippi, was
McKenzie's creation. He was successful in his work, but
allowed his zeal to lead him into a faux pas which ended his
usefulness in the upper country. This was the erection of a
distillery at Fort Union for the purpose of evading the laws
of the United States. The detection of this subterfuge
brought wide-spread odium upon the company, seriously
threatened its charter, and forced McKenzie to retire for a
time from the country. He visited Europe, and after his
return went again to Fort Union, but did not long remain
there. He closed up his affairs with the American Fur
Company w^ith about fifty thousand dollars to his credit.
He then established himself in the wholesale liquor trade,
 :

386 KING OF THE UPPER MISSOURI.

but was not successful, and with his habits of lavish hospi-
tality soon spent the greater part of his fortune. He died
in St. Louis April 26, 1861.
McKenzie was eminently fitted for the particular calling

which fortune assigned him. Of distinguished birth, he

always carried himself as one born to command. His disci-
pline was severe, and he had little regard for human life
when it stood in his way. He once offered to surrender to
the merciless savages a man who had killed one of their
number. At another time, when news came of an Indian
attack upon a party of hunters, he was heard to inquire if the
horses had been saved. On hearing that they had all been
lost and that only the men had escaped, he exclaimed
" D —
n the men If the horses had been saved it would
!

have amounted to something! " No one about Fort Union

ever doubted his ability no one but dreaded his authority.
;

He affected a kind of state

in his business, generally wear-
^

ing a uniform, and permitting only a select few at his table.

Toward his guests he was and in him
lavishly hospitable,
as an entertainer the best traditions of British Fur Com-
panies found expression. He was fond of manly sports,
and his particular delight was to engage in buffalo hunts
with the fine horses which he kept especially trained for the
purpose. He took much interest in the country around him,
and made an extensive collection of specimens and curios
illustrating its remarkable features.
From his headquarters at Fort Union, McKenzie ruled
over an extent of country greater than that of many a notable
empire in history. His outposts were hundreds of miles
away. His parties of trappers roamed far and wide through
the fastnesses of the mountains. From every direction
tribes of roving Indians came to his post to trade. Alto-
' "Imagine my on entering Mr. Campbell's room, to find my-
surprise,
self in the who was at that time considered
presence of Mr. McKenzie,
the king of the Missouri and, from the style in which he was dressed,
•

I really thought he was a king." Larpenteur's first acquaintance with

McKenzie. Forty Years a Fur Trader, p. 65.
 WILLIAM LAIDLAW. 387

gether it was a remarkable business that he followed, and

one which only a man of great ability could have handled
so successfully. He was universally feared and respected
even by the turbulent spirits of the mountains, while his
immediate subordinates in charge of the various posts con-
sidered him not merely their superior but a friend. His
correspondence with them shows diplomatic skill of no mean
order, and he could with equal facility praise well doing,
administer mild censure in a way to rob it of all bitterness,
or bear down with merciless weight upon him who deserved
it.

McKenzie had a fair education and the extensive corre-

spondence which has come down to us is extremely well
written. It discloses an active mind which looked beyond

the mere details of trade and took an intelligent interest in

the affairs of the world.
McKenzie married late in life and left two children,
daughters, who are still (1900) living. He also had a son
by an Indian wife. The name of this son was Owen Mc-
Kenzie. He was given a good education and became a man
of considerable prominence in the upper Missouri trade.
He was killed by Malcolm Clark in 1863.
William Laidlaw, next to Kenneth McKenzie, was the
ablest of the traders who came to the Missouri with the
Columbia Fur Company. To him was assigned Fort
Tecumseh, which later became Fort Pierre, the largest and
most important post except Fort Union. He was of Scotch
descent, trained in the service of the British Fur Companies,
and thoroughly versed in the business of the fur trade. He
was a severe master, and his tyrannical temper often made
him unpopular. A great lover of hunting he spent much
time in the buffalo chase. Like McKenzie he was a good
letter writer and evidently was considered a valuable man.
He was well ofif when he retired from the business. He
built a house near Liberty, Missouri, where he kept open
door to his friends as long as his money lasted. He died a
poor man.
388 ALEXANDER CULBERTSON.

Alexander Culbertson, who ranked with McKenzie

and Laidlaw in the Missouri fur trade, had not risen to
prominence until about the close of the period which this
sketch embraces. He was of Scotch-Irish parentage and
was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in May, 1809.
He lived with his parents on their farm until 1826 when he
accompanied his uncle, John Culbertson, to Florida, and
was there during the Indian War. He entered the Ameri-
can Fur Company service in 1829. He rose steadily and
became the company's most important man when McKenzie
and Laidlaw retired. For a long while he was at the head of
Fort Union and for a time also of Fort John on the Laramie.
He built Fort Alexander on the Yellowstone near the mouth
of the Bighorn.
Culbertson was a popular trader and lacked the arbitrary
manner characteristic of McKenzie and Laidlaw. He was
about six feet high, of strong presence, a keen eye and a
frank and open countenance. He married a woman of the
Blackfoot nation who became well known in the history of
the upper Missouri. She died only a few years ago. Their
children were all well educated and became responsible bus-
iness men and women. Culbertson died August ^j, 1879, at
Orleans, Missouri. He was well off financially when he
retired from the fur trade.
David D. Mitchell (born inLouisa County, Va., July
31, 1806; died in St. Louis, Mo., May
31, 1861,) had a long
and honorable career in the fur trade, first as a clerk and
then as a partner in the Upper Missouri Outfit. He was the
builder of Fort McKenzie in 1832. He became United
States Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Central Division,
with headquarters at St. Louis, September 20, 1841, and
held the position at intervals until 1852. He entered the
volunteer service during the war with Mexico and was
Lieutenant-Colonel of a Missouri regiment raised by Sterl-
ing Price. He served with Col. Doniphan during the war,
and commanded the detachment that captured Chihuahua.
HoNORE Picotte came to the Missouri with the Columbia
 JAMES ARCHDALE HAMILTON. 389

Fur Company, but after its union with the American Fur
Company he joined with others in forming the French Fur
Company, which in turn sold out to the American Fur Com-
pany in 1830. Picotte then entered the service of the Upper
Missouri Outfit where he remained for some twenty years.
He became a partner and finally rose to an influential stand-
ing in the company's affairs. His name constantly appears
in the correspondence of the times, but his history, except
in the immediate connection of the fur trade, is obscure.
James Archdale Hamilton, who served for a long time
at Fort Union, and had charge of that post during McKen-
zie'sabsence from July 26, 1834, to November 17, 1835,
was an able man over whose personality an air of mystery
hung which time has not cleared up. He is said to have
been an English nobleman by the name of Archibald Palm-
er ^ who through some difficulty had been obliged to leave
his native land. He came to America under an assumed
name and in some way or other became acquainted with
Kenneth McKenzie who took him to Fort Union as book-
keeper. He was well educated and proved himself very use-
ful, as may
be inferred from the fact that he was placed in
charge of the post during the absence of McKenzie. His
correspondence during this time shows him to have been
thoroughly conversant with the duties of the post. His
name is of frequent occurrence in the literature and corre-
spondence of the period. In the midst of the rough life of
the wilderness he held himself aloof from its vices, was reti-
cent in his manner, extremely punctilious in his dress which
he obtained from London, and always hated the Indians.
He was hospitable and companionable in spite of his eccen-
tric and exclusive ways. He is said to have died at St.
Louis in the service of the American Fur Company.
James Kipp was a well-known character in the early fur
trade and came to the Missouri with the Columbia Fur Com-
pany in 1822. He was in a sense the founder of Fort Clark
in that he established a post in that vicinity from which Fort

•Larpenteur, in Forty Years a Fur Trader, p. 84.

 —

390 THE SARPY FAMILY.

Clark evolved in the course of a few years. In 1831 Kipp

went to the Marias and built Fort Piegan, the first post in
the Blackfoot territory. In 1833-34 he was in charge of
Fort Clark. Very little is known of his life except that he
had a long and varied career in the Missouri fur trade.
Daniel Lamont was one of the three partners of the " U.
M. O." and one of the original Columbia Fur Company men.
He had a long career in the fur trade, but very little is known
of his life. He is supposed to belong to the Scottish family
of Lamont who originated in Argyleshire, Scotland, and
whose clan history is known back to the year 1200. Daniel
was the most common name in the family. One of the La-
monts, also named Daniel, settled in New York State in
18 18. He was grandfather of the Hon. Daniel S. Lamont,
Secretary of War under President Cleveland. Another
branch of the family migrated to Canada at an early date,
and it is supposed that the Missouri trader belonged to this
branch.
The Sarpy family was long connected with the St. Louis
fur trade. John B. was born January 12, 1798, and died
April I, 1857. His father, Gregoire Berald Sarpy, is said
to have been the man to attempt the navigation of the
first

Missouri with keelboats. Sarpy commenced his career as a

clerk to some of the St. Louis traders and rose to a partner-
ship in the American Fur Company, in whose affairs he bore
a part second only to that of Chouteau. Two posts were
named after him John, on the Laramie, and Sarpy, on the
Yellowstone.
Thomas L. Sarpy, a brother of John B., was a clerk in the
service of the American Fur Company when he met a tragic
death, January 19, 1832, at the post of the Ogalallah Indians.
On the evening of that day after a busy day's work at trad-
ing, he was putting away the robes which had been taken in.
An assistant was handing them over a counter on which a
lighted candle sat. A spark from the candle, it is supposed,
was blown by the gusts caused in handling the robes, into a
fifty-pound keg of powder which sat uncovered just behind
 LUCIEN FONTENELLE. 39I

the counter. In the explosion that followed, the building

was completely demolished and Sarpy was instantly killed,
his body being mutilated beyond all recognition. The other
two men in the room were not seriously injured and the
property was nearly all recovered.
Peter A. Sarpy was a clerk of the American Fur Com-
pany for several years in charge of the post near Bellevue.
LuciEN FoNTENELLE was One of the best examples of the
Rocky mountain " partisan," the leader of a " brigade." or
itinerant party of hunters and trappers. There was, more-
over, an element of romance in his life which has no parallel
in the history of the fur trade. It is said that he was of

royal lineage. His father and mother, Frangois and Mar-

eonise, came from Marseilles, France, to New Orleans, where
Lucien and a sister, Amelia, were born, about 1807. The
parents, some years afterwards, lost their lives in a flood
caused by a hurricane, but the children, being away at school,
escaped. At about the age of fifteen Lucien engaged as
clerk in a banking house, but, becoming incensed at an act of
harsh treatment by his aunt with whom he lived, he ran
away and was not seen again for twenty years. In the
meanwhile he went to St. Louis, engaged in the fur trade,
and at length became a leader of the mountain expeditions
of the American Fur Company. At this time he was a
partner of Andrew Drips, with whom
he built a post at
Omaha. In
Bellevue, a few miles below the present city of
1835 Fontenelle went into partnership with Fitzpatrick,
Sublette and Bridger, and it is said that in the following
year he committed suicide at Fort Laramie.
After Fontenelle's sister Amelia had grown up she
married wealth and position and led a life of high social dis-
tinction in New Orleans. Her brother, whom she supposed
dead, was only a memory. One day there called at her
house a man of rough appearance, dark, browned and swar-
thy with years of wilderness life, in whose face there was
not now left a trace of its former lineaments. His sister
refused to receive him. His old nurse who still lived was
392 ANDREW DRIPS.

called in and identified him by a flesh mark on his foot.

But the aristocratic sister did not take kindly to her unpol-
ished, long-lost brother and he soon went back to Bellevue.
Fontenelle was married by Father De Smet to an Omaha
woman. He had four children who lived to adult years
and some of them achieved prominence in the history of the
state of Nebraska.
Andrew Drips was another of the famous trio of moun-
taineers — Fontenelle, Drips, and Vanderburgh — and, al-

though older than either of his associates, survived them

both many years. Comparatively little is known of his bi-
ography. He was born in Westmoreland County, Pa., in
1789, and died in Kansas City, Mo., September i, i860.
Our first notice of him is in 1820 when he was associated
with a fur trader by the name of Perkins. He was later a
member of the Missouri Fur Company with Pilcher. Soon
after the American Fur Company entered the mountain
trade, Drips became associated with Vanderburgh in charge
of the mountain expeditions. He continued in this business
for many years. In 1842 he was appointed by President
Tyler, agent for the tribes of the upper Missouri and held
the ofiice for four years. He was an active and efficient
agent. After the expiration of this duty he returned to the
employment of the American Fur Company.
Drips' principal establishment, while in the mountain
trade, was at Bellevue a little above the mouth of the Platte
and here he married a woman of the Oto nation. By her
he had several children. His fourth child, a daughter, was
born in Pierre's Hole on the day of the famous battle there
with the Grosventre Indians, July 18, 1832. She is still
living and possesses the papers of her distinguished father.
'^

These are preserved in a small fur-covered trunk which

Major Drips carried with him on his expeditions. They
form a very complete history of the events on the Missouri
during the period when Major Drips was Indian Agent.
William Henry Vanderburgh, clerk and partisan of
^Mrs. William Mulkey of Kansas City. Mo.
 WILLIAM HENRY VANDERBURGH. 393

the American Fur Company, was a chivalrous and daring"

leader. He was born in Vincennes, Ind., probably about
1798, although there is authority for fixing the date at 1792.
He was the son of Henry Vanderburgh who did service in
the Revolutionary War as captain in the Fifth New York
Regiment, and was subsequently appointed by President
Adams, Judge of the Indiana territory. Young Vander-
burgh was educated at West Point, having entered that insti-
tution in 181 7. He could not long have remained in the
government service, for as early as 1823 he had achieved
distinction as a trader and was associated with Joshua Pil-
cher in the Missouri Fur Company, He was present at the
battle with the Aricara Indians in August of that year and
held the nominal rank of Captain by appointment of Colonel
Leavenworth. After leaving the service of the Missouri
Fur Company he entered that of the American Fur Company
as a partisan in charge of the mountain expeditions. The
events of his career in the mountains, so far as known, are
related in the regular course of our narrative, while the
circumstances of his tragic death form the subject of a
separate chapter.^
Jacob Halsey, and partner in the " U. M. O.,"
clerk
served mainly at Forts Pierre and Union. He kept the jour-
nal at Pierre and on one occasion varied its monotony by
introducing an interesting dissertation upon the Mandan
and Aricara Indians. He was a valuable man, but given to
hard drink, which eventually ruined his constitution. In
1837 he had the smallpox at Fort Union. Late in the sum-
mer of 1842, while on a visit at Laidlaw's home, near Lib-
erty, Missouri, he became intoxicated and in this condition
rode on horseback at a rapid gait along a road through some
woods. His head struck one of the trees and he was in-
stantly killed.
Joseph A. Sire was prominently identified with the trans-
* See Part IV.. Chapter III. The data for this sketch were furnished
in part by Mrs. Francis N. Davis, of Sioux City, Iowa, who is a descend-
ant of the Vanderburgh family.
394 CHARLES LARPENTEUR.

portation business of the American Fur Company on the ear-

ly steamboats. For many years he was master of the an-
nual boat, and one of the most interesting documents of
those times which still survive, is a log book in which he
kept a record of his trips. It was kept in French and is a
precious relic of a phase of Western life now gone forever.
Later he became admitted to an interest in the company.
Sire was born at La Rochelle, France, February 19, 1799;
came to America at the age of fifteen; established himself
in Philadelphia until 1836 when he went to St. Louis where
he remained the rest of his life. He died July 15, 1854.
Charles Larpenteur was an engage and clerk of the
American Fur Company and otherwise employed in the
country along the Missouri for more than thirty years. His
importance in the present connection is rather that of
historian than trader. In the latter vocation he was a
failure, but he followed the practice of keeping a daily jour-
nal which he later worked over into an autobiography.
This, by a stroke of rare good fortune, found its way to
the world through the editorship of Dr. Elliott Coues, and
with the editorial ^ notes is a valuable contribution to the
history of the times.
Larpenteur was born in Fontainebleau, France, in 1803;
came to America with his parents in 1813 ; went to St. Louis
and atthe age of twenty-one entered the fur trade. In 1833
he went to the mountains in the employ of Sublette and
Campbell. In the following summer he made his way to the
mouth of the Yellowstone where he remained at Fort Wil-
liam until Sublette and Campbell sold out to the American
Fur Company, when he entered McKenzie's service at Fort
Union. His life thereafter was of the most diversified char-
acter and he was engaged in a variety of callings, all of

' Forty Years a Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri, the Personal Nar-
rative of Charles Larpenteur, 1833-72, edited, with many critical notes,
by Elliott Coues. Maps, Views, and Portraits. In Two Volumes. New
York, Francis P. Harper, 1898.

lii
 WARREN ANGUS FERRIS. 395

which terminated unsuccessfully. He died a disappointed

man, November 15, 1872.
Warren Angus Ferris is another of the American Fur
Company men whose interest to us arises solely from his
literary work. He was born at Glens Falls, N. Y., Decem-
ber 20, 1 810; was educated as a civil engineer; in 1830 en-
tered the American Fur Company service as clerk, and
remained with them until 1835, wandering over a vast sec-
tion of the West subsequently he moved to Texas where he
;

lived in the practice of his profession until his death, which,

took place at Reinhardt, near Dallas, February 8, 1873.
Ferris' career in the Rocky mountains embraced the most
interesting period of the fur trade. He followed the practice
of keeping a journal and this in later years he worked up
Rocky Mountains
into a series of articles entitled Life in the
which were published in the Western Literary Messenger of
Buffalo, N. Y. It abounds in valuable data relating to the
fur trade and is our sole authority on a number of points. It
contains for example the first written description by an eye-
witness of the geysers of the Yellowstone. The death of
Henry Vanderburgh, the building of Fort Bonneville, the
massacre of Etienne Provost's party by the Snakes, the ori-
gin of several important geographical names, and numerous
other historic matters find their best authority in Ferris.
His style is, unfortunately, laborious to a degree, and either
he or his editor made a woful mix-up of the matter of dates.
While the work is now of great historic value we can quite

appreciate the causes which led the readers of the Western

Literary Messenger to beseech the editor to give them no
more of it.^*^

'"I am indebted to Mr. O. D. Wheeler, of St. Paul, for the data on

Ferris' and the public are even more indebted to him for unearth-
life,

ing this historic treasure, which has remained buried in oblivion from
the time it was published until the fall of 1900, when Mr. Wheeler dis-
covered it.
 CHAPTER XXIV.
CAPTAIN BONNEVILLE.

Bonneville a history-made man— —

Biographical sketch Development
of Bonneville's scheme— Organization of his expedition — Progress
to Green river — Fort Bonneville — Winter quarters on Salmon river —
Dispositions for the winter — Spring hunt on Malade river — Bonneville
and Wyeth — Green river rendezvous of 1833 — Meager returns —
Plans for ensuing year — Purpose of the Walker expedition — I. R.
Walker — Zenas Leonard — Alfred K. Stephens — Leonard with Sin-
clair'sfree trappers join Milton Sublette — Composition of Walker's
party — The expedition starts — Massacre of the Digger Indians — Peril
in crossing the Sierras — Discovery of Yosemite — Reach the Pacific —
Party sets out for home — The return route — Second massacre of Dig-
ger Indians — Arrival at rendezvous on Bear river — Review of the
expedition — Captain Bonneville in the Crow country — The Captain
abandons the Crow country — Arrangements for the winter of 1833-4 —
Captain Bonneville makes an expedition to the Columbia — Reception
at Fort Walla Walla — Return to winter quarters of his party — Annual
rendezvous inBear river valley — Gloomy prospects — Second expedi-
tion to the Columbia — Return to Snake river — Winter quarters on
Bear river — Rendezvous of 1835 on Wind river — Return to the States
— Biographical notes — Review of Captain Bonneville's enterprise — A
business failure — Scientific accomplishment nothing — Bonneville's
maps — Bonneville as a leader of an expedition — Bonneville takes wag-
ons to Green river — Bonneville's breach of discipline — Bonneville and
Irving — Criticism of Bancroft.

'^'HE adventures of Captain Bonneville in the Rocky

^^ mountains from 1832 to 1835 have attained a promi-
nence in the history of the West to which they are not enti-
tled. They and their hero are an apt illustration of Die-
drich Knickerbocker's profound idea of the power of his-
tory to rescue men and events from the " wide-spread, insa-
tiable maw of oblivion." Captain Bonneville, so far as his
work in the Rocky mountains is concerned, is a history-
 A HISTORY MADE MAN. 397

made man. Irving's popular work, which in later editions

bears Captain Bonneville's name, is not in reality so much a
record of that officer's adventures, as it is of all the transac-
tions of a period in which the business of the fur trade in the
Rocky mountains was at its height. Scarcely a third of
the work has to do exclusively with Bonneville, but around
this theme as a nucleus are gathered the events of the most
interesting era of the fur trade, until the central figure in the
narrative is encased in a frame more costly and attractive
than the picture itself.^
Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in France,
April 14, 1796. His father, a well-educated man, and a
publisher,who had actively discussed the questions of the
day through his pamphlets, fell under the displeasure of the
government and was imprisoned. Upon his release he
sought permission to sail for America, but it was refused
him. He contrived, however, to send Mme. Bonneville and
her son Benjamin with Thomas Paine, who, likewise find-
^ The
authorities here relied upon are the following The Rocky
:

Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and Adventures in the Far West;

Digested from the Journal of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville of the Army
of the United States, and Illustrated from Various Other Sources.
Washington Irving.
Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard, a native of Clearfield
County, Pa., who spent five years in trapping for furs, trading Tmth
the Indians in the Rocky Mountains, written by himself: Printed and
Published by D. W. Moore, Clearfield, Pa., 1839. This exceedingly rare
work was recently discovered by Mr. Horace Kephart, Librarian of
the Mercantile Library in St. Louis. It is almost unique as only three
or four copies are known to exist. Its chief value is the new light which
itthrows upon the Walker Expedition, under Bonneville's direction in
1833-34. Unfortunately Leonard's inaccuracy in matters where there
are other authorities to check him, detracts from the value of his narra-
tive in this case.
The Journal and Letters of N. J. Wyeth, the works of Townsend and
others who crossed the plains while Bonneville was there the corre-
;

spondence of the American Fur Company, and the Rocky Mountain Fur
Company — all furnish valuable hints as to Bonneville's operations.
There are a few letters of Bonneville still extant, but his journals
which Irving used appear to be lost.
Life in the Rocky Mountains, by W. A. Ferris.
398 Bonneville's leave of absence.

ing France a good country to be out of at this time, secretly

sailed forAmerica. Upon their arrival in the United States
the hionnevilles went to live for a time with Paine at New
Rochelle. Through Paine's influence Benjamin secured a
cadetship at West Point where he graduated in 1819. On
the occasion of Lafayette's visit to i\merica in 1825 he
showed so much interest in the Bonneville family that the
young officer was detailed to accompany him as aide on his
tour of the States. When Lafayette returned to France he
took Bonneville with him and the latter remained for some
years an inmate of the Lafayette home. On his return to
America he was assigned to duty on the western frontier,
and there became deluded with the idea that there was a
fortune for him in the fur trade. He began casting about
for an opportunity to gratify this new ambition and the
result was his famous expedition of 1832-5.
Whether the prime mover in this enterprise was Bonne-
ville himself, or certain business men in New York who
wanted to enter the fur trade and thought the Captain a
good man to conduct an expedition, does not appear. Bonne-
ville secured a leave of absence from August, 1831, to Octo-
ber, 1833, '^^th permission to spend it in the unexplored
regions of the Far West. The letter from the War Depart-
ment, granting this leave, states that it was " for the pur-
pose of carrying into execution your design of exploring
the country to the Rocky mountains and beyond, with a
view to ascertaining the nature and character of the several
tribes inhabiting those regions the trade which might be
;

profitably carried on with them the quality of the soil, the

;

productions, the minerals, the natural history, the climate,

the geography and topography, as well as the geology of the
various parts of the country." To these general purposes
the Department added another — that of securing special
information as to the Indian tribes, their numbers, methods
of making war, their condition, equipment, alliances, etc.
Captain Bonneville's expedition was to be of no expense to
the United States.
 ORGANIZATION OF THE EXPEDITION. 399

This " design " of Captain Bonneville furnishes a clue to

the arguments which he presented as the basis of his appli-
cation for a leave of absence. It is certain, however, that

whatever may have been his representations to the Depart-

ment, the primary object of his enterprise was trade. The
entire record of his work, so far as it has been preserved to
us, proves this.
Bonneville entered into arrangements with Alfred Seton,
of New York, one of the old Astorians, by which Seton and
some associateswere to provide the funds for a mountain
expedition and Bonneville was to conduct its operations in
the field. In carrying out this program the Captain organ-
ized a party of one hundred and ten men with two principal
assistants, Mr, I. R. Walker, later of California renown, and
Mr. M. S. Cerre, a member of a family well known in the
fur trade of the West. A fine assortment of goods was pro-
vided and the equipment was in all respects a splendid one.
Wagons were used on the expedition, contrary to the prac-
tice of the mountain traders generally. There were twenty
of these vehicles drawn by oxen and mules. The whole
organization was on the basis of strict military discipline,
and outward appearances the enterprise promised to
to all
make a very formidable showing in the mountain trade.
The story of Bonneville's adventures has been told by
Washington Irving in a more interesting way than it is
likely ever to be told again. All that will be given here
will be, as in the case of Astoria, a condensed sketch of the
enterprise with such additional light as has been discovered
since Irving wrote, together with an estimate of the value
of Captain Bonneville's work as a part of the history of the
West.
The final organization of the expedition took place at
Fort Osage, ten miles from Independence, and the start from
this point was made on the ist of May, 1832. The journey
to the mountains passed off without notable incident. Bon-
neville conducted his party on true military principles, so far
as protection against the Indians was concerned, and he was
400 FORT BONNEVILLE.

evidently esteemed an excellent " partisan." The route was

the usual one up the valleys of the Platte and Sweetwater
riversthrough South Pass and thence to Green river, where
he arrived about noon on the 27th of July. The day before
he was passed by an American Fur Company party under
the well-known leader, Fontenelle. Both parties were much
too late for the annual rendezvous in Pierre's Hole, which
had already taken place some two weeks before. Bonneville
and Fontenelle struck Green river nearly due west of South
Pass at the mouth of Piney Creek, a tributary from the west.
Bonneville calls this stream Grand Encampment creek, very
likely from the circumstance of two large parties having
gone into camp there. In a short time both parties moved
farther up stream and established camps. Here the Captain
proceeded to erect a trading post with the evident purpose
of making a permanent establishment. The spot selected
was on the west shore of the river, five miles above the
mouth of Horse creek. The site was an ideal one, and the
Captain erected the typical post, with palisade walls and
flanking bastions at two diagonal corners. This was the
post known in the history of the west as " Fort Bonneville,"
or " Bonneville's Old Fort," but the trappers called it " Fort

Nonsense," or " Bonneville's Folly," from the fact that no

use was ever made of it.^
The truth is that Bonneville found out, after the work was
well under way, what he should have ascertained before it
was begun, that, however suitable the upper valley of Green
river might be for a summer rendezvous, it was no place for
a permanent post; for the altitude was so high and the
winter climate so severe, that Indians and trappers alike left
it during the winter season. For his approaching winter
quarters therefore he determined to seek a more hospitable
climate, and, from such information as he could obtain, he
fixed upon the headwaters of Salmon river as the most eligi-
ble spot. His stock not yet being all recuperated, he de-
tached a small party under one Mathieu to pasture them for
' See List of Posts, Appendix F.
 WINTER QUARTERS ON SALMON RIVER. 4OI

a time on the banks of Bear river with instructions to join

him at winter quarters before the season of snow set in.
Bonneville himself set out for Jackson and Pierre's Hole
on the 22nd of August. In Jackson Hole he found the
unburied remains of two men, More and Foy, who had been
murdered there by the Blackfeet just about a month before.
The Captain passed by and examined the old battle field of
Pierre's Hole and saw the gruesome evidences of the con-
flict which had lately taken place there. The site for the
winter's camping ground on the Salmon river was reached
on the 26th of September and the erection of winter quarters
was at once begun. This location was on the west bank of
the river, three miles below the Forks (mouth of the Lemhi)
in a grove of cottonwoods. According to Ferris, who saw
it about a month later and who was naturally an unfriendly

critic of an opposition trader, it was a " miserable estab-

lishment," consisting of " several log cabins, low, badly con-
structed, and admirably situated for besiegers only who
would be sheltered on every side by timber, brush, etc."
The latitude of the place, as determined by Captain Bonne-
ville, was N 45 degrees, 5 1 minutes, 24 seconds, nearly fifty

miles too far north.

While the preparations for winter quarters were going
on. Captain Bonneville dispatched three parties of hunters
in various directions and retained only twenty men with
himself. The autumn hunt wore away without incident of
note, except the Captain's interesting intercourse with the
Nez Perce Indians. Gradually the hunters returned, nearly
all of them having had encounters of a more or less disas-

trous nature with the Blackfeet. The camp now became

crowded, not only with the people belonging to the company,
but with numerous bands of the Nez Perce, Flathead and
Pend d'Oreille Indians. The large herds of horses ate up
the pasturage while the game resources of the immediate
neighborhood were by no means adequate to the wants of
the multitude that had to be fed. Captain Bonneville
accordingly detached about fifty men to hunt and trap on
402 SEARCH FOR MATHIEU.

Snake river with orders to join him on Horse creek in the

Green river valley in the following July. The Indians soon
moved in search of better feed, and the Captain, after suffi-
cient delay to enable him secretly to cache his surplus goods,
followed in their wake on the 20th of November. He soon
overtook the Indians in their new camping ground and
remained there until the 9th of December, when the whole
party moved to a new location —
a snug retreat in the
mountains on Lemhi Fork of Salmon river where they
remained until the festive Christmas season took place.
On the 26th of December, with thirteen hunters well
armed and mounted, Captain Bonneville set out in search
of Mathieu, who had been detached at Green river to recu-
perate his horses in Bear river valley, and whose failure to
appear began to cause serious apprehension. The Captain's
route lay up the Lemhi river, thence through John Day
Defile or Pass to John Day (now Little Lost) river; thence
to Godm river, now called Big Lost river thence across the
;

lava plains, passing the base of the westernmost of the Three

Buttes; and finally, after great danger and hardship from
the severe cold weather, the party reached the Snake river
near the mouth of the Portneuf, January 12, 1833. Here
they soon fell in with some of Mathieu' s party, and on the
3rd of February were joined by that leader himself.
Mathieu had had bad luck for he had lately been surprised
by the Indians and had lost three of his men.
After a residence of three weeks in Mathieu's encamp-
ment. Captain Bonneville set out, February 19, with sixteen
men for the caches on Salmon river, leaving as many more
men on Snake river. The Captain's party made the journey
in safety and without noteworthy incident, and about the
middle of March arrived at the caches, which were found
untouched.
After having taken such articles as he was in need of.
Captain Bonneville prepared for his spring hunt. He dis-
patched Cerre and Hodgkiss, the clerk, with an assortment
of goods to trade with the neighboring Indians, with instruc-
 SPRING HUNT ON THE MALADE. 4O3

tions to join him at the Sahnon river caches on June 15th.

For himself and the rest of the party, numbering about
twenty, he had selected the valley of the Malade river as the
field of operations. He arrived in the valley of Godin river
about the ist of April and here determined to pause a
short time, it being a good muskrat country, when, to his
great annoyance, he fell upon the trail of a party of whites
who had recently passed that way in the same direction that
he himself was going. So certain was it that the Captain
had on his hands a rival band of trappers that he not only
detached two spies to ascertain their movements, but set
forward at full speed to reach the trapping ground as soon
as possible. Upon meeting the returning spies it was
learned that Milton G. Sublette and J. B. Gervais, partners
in the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, themselves able and
experienced mountaineers, with a party of twenty-one
trained men, were en route for the very hunting ground
selected by Captain Bonneville for his spring hunt. This
news well-nigh took the life out of the Captain's movement,
but for the present he hung close upon the skirts of his
adversaries. The snow was still so deep that neither party
could cross the divide between Godin river and the Malade,
and they had to wait where they were until the 25th of
April. The month of May was spent by the rival parties
on the headwaters of the Malade, and although Captain
Bonneville's historian has considerately passed over the
details of the hunt, it is evident that its results were not
altogether satisfactory.
Early in June the Captain set out for the Salmon river
rendezvous, where he arrived safely on the 15th and met by
appointment his other parties. The caches were safe and
the party having been re-equinDed, set out to find Hodgkiss,
who had been left with the Nez Perces on the Snake river
plain. He was found on the 24th of June. At the t">lace of
meeting, which was about sixteen miles from Henry Fork
of Snake river, Nathaniel J. Wyeth, who was on his way
East, and was traveling in company with Mr. Ermatinger
404 END OF THE FIRST YEAR S OPERATIONS.

and party of the Hudson Bay Company, overtook the Cap-

tain. The British trader being at the time short of supplies,
Captain Bonneville thought the opportunity a good one to
do the trading with the Indians himself. He accordingly
opened his goods, but not an Indian would touch the tempt-
ing bait. The trader's control of them was perfect, and
the Captain was completely disconcerted.
While at this camp Wyeth proposed to Captain Bonneville
a joint hunt in the country to the southwest as far as to the
mountains of California. The Captain accepted the propo-
sition, but subsequently the plan fell through, and he left for
Green river on the 6th of July. No incident of moment
happened on the journey, and his party arrived at rendez-
vous on the 13th of July.^
The Captain was now at the end of his first year in the
mountains and was about to take stock of the results of his
enterprise thus far. The party of fifty whom he had
detached to work up the country to the south and west had
fallen in with Milton Sublette and Gervais, and their time
had been frittered away in useless contention with their
rivals. A trader (probably Montero by name) had been
sent the year before to make a fall hunt in the Crow country
with instructions to come to the Salmon river wintering
ground upon its completion. He had not been seen since
until at the present rendezvous where Captain Bonneville
heard for the first time the woful tale of his misfortunes.
While in the Crow country with a village of that tribe, he
was relieved of nearly all his property —
horses, traps,
merchandise —
by those polite freebooters, who even
seduced most of his men to desert and remain in their own
camp. With the few who remained faithful he sought the
protection of the new Fort Cass at the mouth of the Big-
horn and remained in its vicinity during the winter. But
he found that he had jumped from the frying pan into the
fire. His men were constantly stealing away to the fort
' The dates of Wyeth's journal for his own departure and arrival are
July 7th and July 15th.
 THE LUCKLESS PARTISAN. 4O5

with all the furs they could get hold of and trading them
for liquor. The American Fur Company was undoubtedly
( back of this faithless behavior as well as the previous conduct
of the Crows, among whom they had active and unscrupu-
lous agents.
Early in the spring the luckless trader set out to try his
fortune on the headwaters of Powder river. It happened
that about this time the Aricara Indians, that ever treacher-
ous and hostile tribe, had located on the Platte river, and
were making the whole country round about unsafe to any
but large parties. That very spring a party under Bridger
and Fraeb and another under a well-known free trapper by
the name of Harris had lost their horses at the hands of
these Indians. Soon after leaving Fort Cass a war party of
Aricaras were found to be hovering about Montero's camp
and in the course of a few days succeeded in capturing all
his horses. In doing this they undertook to allay suspicions
by sending two of their warriors on a friendly mission to
camp while the rest should drive off the horses. The trap-
pers, suspecting something, seized the two Indians, but not
in time to save the horses. Negotiations then ensued for
the ransom of the prisoners. The trappers refused to give
them up except upon a restoration of all the horses, and
threatened to burn the captives if this were not done. The
Indians left their companions to the mercy of their cantors,
who, true to their threat, consigned them to the flames.
This unlucky event completed the ruin of the partisan and he
turned up at rendezvous with only himself, and thankful for
that much.
Putting everything together Captain Bonneville did not
have as a result of a year's work of his party of over one
hundred men more than about twenty-three packs of beaver,
or less than twenty skins to the man for his party. That
would scarcely pay the wages of his men.'*
*" Messrs. Bonneville & Co. 2,2^/2 packs. Few goods, few horses,
and poor Capt. Cerry [Cerre] goes home. B. remains."— Wyeth
Sources of the History of Oregon, p. 70.
" Bonneville, seeing that he is nearly gone, plays the devil with us.
406 PLANS FOR SECOND YEAR.

Captain Bonneville remained at rendezvous twelve days

doing what he could to keep up his end with the Rocky
Mountain and American Fur Companies, who were
encamped in the neighborhood. In making his arrange-
ments for the ensuing year his principal move was to be,
according to his own representation, as recorded by Irving,
a thorough exploration of Great Salt Lake and the country
around it. This work he entrusted to his principal assist-
ant, Mr. I. R. Walker. For the purpose of conveying his
meager returns to the states he delegated his second assist-
ant, Mr. M. S. Cerre, who was to follow the river route
in company with the parties of Campbell and Wyeth. For
himself he decided to remain and inaugurate a fall hunt in
the Crow country, notwithstanding that his leave of absence
would expire in the following October.
A shadow of doubt will always attach to the statement of
motives which actuated Captain Bonneville in regard to this
expedition. According to Irving it was one of the Cap-
tain's cherished schemes " to have the [Great Salt] lake
properly explored, and all its secrets revealed and while it ;

was one in which his imagination evidently took a leading

part, he believed that it would be attended with great profit,
from the numerous beaver streams with which the lake must
be fringed." His instructions to Walker, who was charged
He oflfers to common hands $350 to $1,000 per annum, knowing that
when the time is up, he will pay them with wind. Many of the men
that I have brought out, having received so large an allowance in St.
Louis, have left me. I will use every effort to get them back. Bonne-
ville has 23 packs of beaver, principally obtained from trappers indebted
to the American Fur Company, and Fontenelle and Drips. He
is out of goods and can get no supply this year. I am in hopes we
shall get clear of him. If he continues as he has done, $80,000
. . .

will not save him. Sublette's company are doing well. They have
none but hired men and can not be put down by competition." Letter
from Fontenelle to McKenzie, written at Green river rendezvous two
days before Bonneville's departure.
" It is conceded that Bonneville, out of
all his grand expedition will

have only enough to pay the wages of his men." Chouteau to Astor,
September 25, 1833.
 THE SALT LAKE PROJECT. 4O7

with the expedition, and " in whose experience and abihty

he had great confidence," were " to keep along the shores of
the lake, and trap in all the streams along his route." For
this purpose Walker was given a party of forty men and
Captain Bonneville's resources were taxed to the utmost
to suppl}^ a complete equipment. The expedition was to
be absent for a year and was to meet in the following sum-
mer at the appointed place of rendezvous in Bear river
valley.
Such is the unequivocal statement of Captain Bonneville,
as reported by Irving, in regard to the motives of his so-
called Salt Lake expedition. It constitutes the sole evi-
dence that the exploration of Great Salt Lake was any part
of the Captain's scheme. Everything else goes to show that
his plan was to send an expedition to California and that the
Salt Lake project was wholly an afterthought. Already
only two weeks before Captain Bonneville had agreed to an
arrangement with Wyeth for exactly such an expedition, but
for some reason it had fallen through, probably because the
Captain preferred to conduct it entirely with his own
resources and not place himself in any way in the hands of
the energetic New Englander. Three men who were mem-
bers of the party, Walker himself, George Nidiver, and
Zenas Leonard, afterwards wrote up their recollections of
the expedition. All of them speak of it as being from the
first intended to go to California. Leonard for example
says that Walker " was ordered to steer through an un-
known country toward the Pacific, and if he did not find
beaver he should return to the Great Salt Lake in the follow-
ing summer. ... I was anxious to go to the coast

of the Pacific, and for that purpose hired with Mr. Walker
as clerk for a certain sum per year." Nidiver says (Ban-
croft, vol. XX., 41, n. 14) " In the spring [of
p. :
1833]
there were a large number of trappers gathered at the ren-
dezvous in Green river valley, and among them Captain
Walker and company bound for California. We joined
him, making in all a party of thirty-six."
408 TRUE PURPOSE OF THE EXPEDITION.

Such is the direct evidence of those who went on the expe-

dition. The circumstantial proof is equally convincing.
If Captain Bonneville's instructions were to hold to the shore
of Great Salt Lake, carrying on the joint purposes of explo-
ration and trapping, why did he supply the party for a year
and put off a meeting with them until the following sum-
mer? The remotest point on Great Salt Lake was scarcely
two hundred miles from rendezvous, and this Captain Bon-
neville knew very well at the time. If this ambitious
explorer were really so absorbed in his desire to learn all
about the Great Salt Lake, how happened it that he remained
three years in the country and passed repeatedly within fifty
or a hundred miles of the lake but never went to see it?
Explorers do not ordinarily explore in that way.
The truth is Captain Bonneville sent out a trapping expe-
dition to go through to California. The information
derived from Wyeth had convinced him that there was every
prospect of success in that direction. He had no thoughts
of exploration except as a mere incident to the main purpose.
Not an instrument of any kind for taking observations did
he provide with the elaborate equipment. It was beaver fur,
not geographical knowledge, that he was after. His entire
sinews of war were supplied by those who were looking for
profits. They had not equipped him for an exploring tour,
and his experience during the past year had warned him
that he must bestir himself more vigorously if he was to
meet the expectations of his backers. That the Captain
deliberately planned an expensive exploring tour is there-
fore not to be supposed. Irving himself gives a hint of the
real motive of the expedition in his reference to its unfortu-
nate outcome. " The faikire of the expedition," he says,
" was a blow to his [Bonneville's] pride, and a still greater
blow to his purse." It was principally a blow to his purse,
for surely his pride ought to have been more gratified by
what the Walker party actually did in the line of exploration
than what it would have accomplished had it remained on
the borders of Great Salt Lake.
 ZENAS LEONARD. 4O9

Having premised this much upon the scope and purpose

of this expedition it is in order to follow the party upon its
adventurous path to and from the Pacific. Walker, the
leader, was a proper man for that sort of work. He had
had a long and varied experience in the Santa Fe and Mis-
souri trade. He
understood the Indians well, loved the
hardships of wilderness life and was particularly fond of

adventure in new and untried fields. In later years he

became a conspicuous character in California history.
Zenas Leonard, Mr. Walker's clerk, whose connection
with the expedition has only recently come to light, is now
our most circumstantial authority upon its history. He
was a native of Clearfield county, Pennsylvania, and like
many another youth, sought to try his fortune in the unex-
plored regions beyond the Mississippi. He left his native
state in the spring of 183 1, and having engaged in the serv-
ice of Gant and Blackwell of St. Louis, left that city on
April 24th with a party of seventy men on an expedition to
the mountains. The route was the usual one by way of the
Platte river, although at that time it was not much traveled.
The party arrived at the Forks of the Platte on the ist, and

at Laramie river on the 27th, of August. Here they com-

menced their fall trapping campaign. Leonard joined a
party of twenty-one men under Alfred K. Stephens, whose
immediate field of labor was along the valley of the Laramie.
The party lost all their horses during the winter and then
undertook to go to Santa Fe where Stephens had been
before. They made an inefifectual attempt to penetrate the
mountains and finally, on the 20th of April, 1832, they
started for the mouth of the Laramie, where the several
divisions of their company were to meet in the spring.
None of the other parties, however, put in an appearance,
and Stephens and his men were still waiting when Sublette
and Fitzpatrick came along with the caravan bound for
the annual rendezvous in Pierre's Hole. The little band,
discouraged and forlorn, got to quarreling among them-
selves, and finally abandoned further effort to hunt inde-
4IO DEATH OF ALFRED K. STEPHENS,

pendently and hired out to Fitzpatrick, Stephens sold his

furs to Fitzpatrick, and they were cached near the Laramie
pending Sublette's return from the rendezvous.
The whole party then went on to the rendezvous in
Pierre's Hole and Leonard participated in the battle with
the Blackfeet on the i8th of July. day or two after- A
ward Stephens and Fitzpatrick quarreled about the terms of
their bargain on the Laramie. Stephens, considering him-
self treated unfairly, hired four men and started back to
seize the furs before Sublette, who had not yet recovered
from his wound in the late battle, could overtake them. In
the valley of JacksonHole this little party and seven men of
Wyeth's expedition who were returning home, were attacked
by the Blackfeet. Two men were killed and Stephens was
severely wounded. He returned to Pierre's Hole, where he
remained until July 30, when he set out for home with the
party of Wm. L. Sublette. He died the same day and was
buried near the trail in the southeast extremity of Pierre's
Hole.^
Leonard and one Saunders joined the party of fifteen free
trappers who went with Milton Sublette to the southwest
from Pierre's Hole for the fall hunt of 1832. They wan-
dered over an immense stretch of territory, nearly to the
sources of the Owyhee river in northern Nevada, and then
made their way back to the neighborhood of Great Salt
Lake. From this locality they moved east to the Crow
country and thence southwest to the Platte at the mouth of
the Laramie. Here they found a letter from Gant detailing
a catalogue of misfortunes which effectually disposed of any
further hope of business in that quarter. Leonard and
Saunders, becoming discouraged, resolved to go to the Green
river rendezvous of 1833, then about to assemble. Arrived
there they fell irt with Walker and engaged for the Califor-
nia expedition. Such were some of the experiences of the
" At Stephen's request " a few minutes before his death " Sublette
took back to St. Louis 86 pounds beaver and 7 pounds castorum be-
longing to Stephens. The receipt for this property is still in existence
in the possession of M. L. Gray of St. Louis.
 THE WALKER EXPEDITION. 4I I

man who is fairly entitled to be called the historian of the

Walker expedition to California in 1833.
Walker's party, consisting of forty men,*' left Green river
July 24, 1833. They went directly to the valley of Great
Salt Lake, where they stopped to lay in their final supply of
buffalo meat. The last buffalo was killed August 4th, and
three days later the party bade farewell to the lake at its
western extremity and " took a westerly course into the
most extensive and barren plains have ever seen."
I (Leon-
ard.) Wending their painful way through the Salt Lake
desert they finally reached the Humboldt river, to whicii
they gave the name Barren, because " the country, native?.
and everything belonging to it justly deserve the name."
On the 4th of October they arrived at the sinks of the Hum-
boldt, and here there transpired an event which has cast a
lasting odium uix)n the expedition.
While following down the course of the Humboldt par-
ties of the Pai-ute or Digger Indians were encountered —
a forlorn and impoverished race, generally inoffensive and
friendly to the whites. But from some not very patent
cause they incurred the enmity of Walker's men. It may^

have been their thefts —

both Irving's and Leonard's
accounts say as much —
and this racial weakness of the
Indian tribes makes it easy to believe so —
but it is more
probable that these reckless trappers, far away from even
wilderness law, and among Indians whom they saw that
they could insult with impunity, were inclined to treat them
much as they would prowling and pilfering wolves.
Their earlier experiences with these Indians are thus
related by Leonard " We continued traveling down the
:

river, now and then catching a few beaver. But as we

continued extending our acquaintance with the natives, they
began to practice their national failing of stealing. So
eager were they to possess themselves of our traps that we
' According
to Leonard there must have been nearly sixty in the party.
Probably the forty were all Bonneville's men, but others joined the ex-
pedition.
412 THE DIGGER INDIANS.

were forced to quit trapping in this vicinity and make for

some other quarter. The great annoyance we sustained in
this greatly displeased some of our men, and they were for
taking vengeance before we left the country —
but this was
not the disposition of Captain Walker. These discontents
being out hunting one day, fell in with a few Indians, two
or three of whom they killed and then returned to camp, not
daring to let the Captain know it. The next day while out
hunting they repeated the same violation, but this time were
not so successful, for the Captain found it out, and imme-
diately took measures for its effectual suppression."
Upon arriving at the Humboldt Lakes it was found that
the Indians were about in great numbers and it was feared
that trouble was brewing. Finally one day matters came
to a head in the following summary fashion " A little
:

before sunset, on taking a view of the surrounding waste

with a spy glass, we discovered smoke issuing from the
high grass in every direction. This was sufficient to con-
vince us that we were in the midst of a large body of
Indians, but as we could see no timber to go to, we con-
cluded that it would be as well to remain in our present
situation and defend ourselves as well as we could. We
readily guessed that these Indians were in arms to avenge
the death of those our men had killed up the river, and if
they could succeed in getting any advantage over us, we
had no expectation that they would give us any quarter.
Our first care, therefore, was to secure our horses, which
we did by fastening them all together and then hitching
them to pickets driven into the ground. This done, we
commenced constructing something for our own safety.
The lake was immediately in our rear, and piling up all our
baggage in front, we had quite a substantial breastwork —
which would have been as impregnable to the Indian arrows
as were the cotton bales to the British bullets at New Orleans
in 1815.
" But before we had got everything completed the Indians
isslied from their hiding place in the grass, to the number,
 THE TRAPPERS SUSPICIOUS. 413

as near as I could guess, of eight or nine hundred, and

marched straight toward us, dancing and singing in the
greatest glee. When within about one hundred and fifty-
yards of us they all sat down on the ground and dispatched
five of their chiefs to inquire whether they might come in
and smoke with us. This request Captain Walker very
prudently refused, as they evidently had no good intentions,
but told them that he was willing to meet them half way
between the breastwork and where their people were sitting.
This appeared to displease them very much, and they went
back not the least bit pleased with the reception they had
met with.
" After the five deputies related the result of their visit to
their constituents, a part of them rose and signed to us that
they were coming to our camp. At this ten or twelve of
our men mounted the breastwork and signed to them that
if they advanced a step farther it would be at the peril of

their lives. They wanted to know in what way we would

do it. Our guns were exhibited as the weapons of death.
This they seemed to discredit and only laughed at us. Then
they wanted to see what effect our guns would have on
some ducks that w"ere swimming in the lake near the shore.
We fired at the ducks, thinking in this way to strike terror
into the savages and drive them away. The ducks were
killed, which astonished the Indians a good deal, but not so
much as the noise of the guns —
which caused them to fall
flat to the ground. After this they put up a beaver skin on
a bank for us to shoot at for their gratification, when they
leftus for the night. This night we stationed a strong
guard, but no Indians made their appearance, and we were
permitted to pass the night in pleasant dreams.
" Early in the morning we resumed our journey along the
lakes, without seeing any signs of Indians until after sun-
rise, when we discovered them issuing from the high grass
and on either side of us. This caused great
in front, rear,
alarm among our men at first, as we thought that they had
surrounded us on purpose but it appeared that we had only
;
414 THE CHARGE AND MASSACRE.

happened among them, and they were as much frightened

as we. From this we turned our course from the border of
the lake into the plain. We had not traveled far when the
Indians began to move after us — first in small numbers, but

presently in large companies. They did not approach near

until we had traveled in this way for several hours, when
they began to send small parties in advance, who would
solicit us most earnestly to stop and smoke with them.
After they had repeated this several times we began to
understand their motive — which was to detain us in order
to let their whole force come up and surround us, or to get
into close quarters with us, when their bows and arrows
would be as fatal and more effective than fire-arms.
" We now began to be a little stern with them, and gave
them to understand that if they continued to trouble us
they would do it at their own risk. In this manner we were
teased until a party of eighty or one hundred came forward
who appeared more saucy and bold than any others. This
greatly excited Captain Walker, who was naturally of a very
cool temperament, and he gave orders for the charge, saying
that there was nothing equal to a good start in such a case.
" This was sufficient. A number of our men had never
been engaged in any fighting with the Indians, and were
anxious to try their skill. When our commander gave his
consent to chastise these Indians and give them an idea of
our strength, thirty-two of us dismounted and prepared
ourselves to give a severe blow. We tied our extra horses
to some shrubs and left them with the main body of the
company, and then selecting each a choice steed, mounted
and surrounded this party of Indians. We closed in on
them and fired, leaving thirty-nine dead on the field, which
was nearly the half. The remainder were overwhelmed
with dismay, running into the high grass in every direction,
howling in the most lamentable manner. Captain Walker
then gave orders to some of the men to take the bows and
arrows of the fallen Indians and put the wounded out of
misery.
 GUILTY CONSCIENCES. 415

"The severity with which we dealt with these Indians may-

be revolting to the heart of the philanthropist but the cir- ;

cumstances of the case altogether atone for the cruelty. It

must be borne in mind that we were far removed from any
succor in case we were surrounded, and that the country
we were in was swarming with hostile savages, sufficiently
numerous to devour us. Our object was to strike a decisive
blow. This we did, even to a greater extent than we had
"^
intended."
It will be seen without much difficulty from the foregoing
narrative that this atrocious act was largely the result of a
guilty conscience. The thefts of the traps had been pun-
ished by the slaughter of several of the natives and the
presence of so many of their people so soon afterward very
reasonably excited alarm lest they were bent on revenge.
With any other would have been the
tribe of Indians this
case, and the men can hardly be blamed for feeling very
much concerned about their own safety. There was cer-
tainly more excuse for their last act than for those which led
to it.

This was not the end of the trouble with these poor
Indians. A week later when the party were involved in the
mountain labyrinths and were seeking a way across the
Sierra, Captain Walker, Nidiver, and Leonard were out
together exploring for a pass. While thus engaged the
following scene transpired, as related by Leonard " Nidi- :

ver was separated from us when two Indians made their

appearance, but as soon as they saw us, they took flight and
ran directly towards Nidiver, who, at once supposing that
they had been committing some mischief with us, and as
they were running one behind the other, killed them both at
one shot. After this unpleasant circumstance we went
back to our horses and thence to camp. Mr. Nidiver was
very sorry when he discovered what he had done."
It was October loth, according to Leonard, when the
party left Battle Lakes and undertook to cross the moun-
^
" The lakes have been named Battle Lakes." Leonard.
 6

41 CROSSING THE SIERRAS,

tains. The task proved one of great difficulty and terrible

suffering. Provisions became entirely exhausted. Twen-
ty-four horses were lost on the mountains, seventeen of them
being used for food. The party found no game at all until
they reached the other side. The first food of any account
procured was a basket of acorns which a frightened Indian
let drop when he saw the party. This was October 25th.
From Leonard's account, when the party arrived at the
verge of the Sierra they found it so steep as to be impossible
of descent in most places and they were forced to explore for
a long while before they found a practicable route. On the
first day of their search they killed a small deer, " the first

game larger than a rabbit we had killed since the 4th of

August, when we killed our last buffalo near the Great Salt
Lake." That day the party had to let their horses down
by ropes over a long slope of loose rocks, which they accom-
plished in time for their evening camp. The hunters came
in after dark with two large black-tailed deer and a black
bear. The famine was over, the redwood and balsam of the
sunny slopes of the mountains had taken the place of the
snow-covered tops of the Sierras, and in the far distance the
eye ranged over a vast plain, which, as they thought, sank
away into the bosom of the Pacific.
The party reached the foot of the main range on October
30th. In the course of the next few days they passed cer-
tain natural features which, to one familiar with that region,
might lead to an identification of their route. Soon after
leaving the base of the mountains they passed " some trees
of the redwood species, incredibly large, some of which
would measure from sixteen to eighteen fathoms around the
trunk at the height of a man's head above the ground."
Soon afterward they fell upon a river whose course they
followed for a considerable distance. " Its bed lay very
deep, forming very high banks even in smooth and level
parts of the country; but where there are rocks its appear-
ance is beyond doubt the most remarkable of any other
water course. In some places the rocks are piled up per-
 YOSEMITE DISCOVERED. 41/

pendiciilar to such a height that a man on top, viewed from

the bed of the river, does not look larger than a small child.
From the appearance of that precipice it is not exaggerating
to state that they may be found from a quarter to half a
mile high, and many of them no wider at the top than at the
bottom." May this have been the first visit of Americans
to the far-famed Yosemite?*
On the night of November 12th (Leonard) occurred the
meteoric shower of 1833, and it caused great terror to some
of the more superstitious of the party but Captain Walker,
;

with the versatility of Columbus when the magnetic needle

went wrong, explained it all away for them. Early the
next morning they came to where the tide rose and fell and
soon reached a bay, which was of course that of San Fran-
cisco. They did not long remain here but set out in a south-
ern direction and on the 20th caught sight of the broad
Pacific.
It is not intended to follow in detail the doings of the
party during the ensuing winter, for that properly belongs to
the history of California with which we are not at present
concerned. it to say that the day after their arrival
Suffice
at the Pacific they met the Boston ship Ladoga, Captain
Bradshaw (or as Leonard calls him, Baggshaw), and were
hospitably entertained by him. Captain Bradshaw received
the furs which they had caught on their way across the
mountains and paid for them in provisions.
The winter slipped away quickly in the enticing sunny
climate of California, while the bull fights, horse races, and
occasional hunts made the whole experience a very paradise
compared with the rugged life of a beaver trapper in the
heart of the Rocky mountains. We may well imagine that
it was with some reluctance that the party, upon the
approach of spring, turned their faces again toward the
inhospitable region where they had endured so much hard-
ship. In fact six of their number, all of them mechanics,
* It is said that Walker requested that the epitaph on his tombstone
record the fact that he discovered the Yosemite wonderland.
4l8 THE RETURN JOURNEY.

remained, " with the determination of making a permanent

residence in the country, and never again returning to the
States" ;while the rest of them " lazily left our camp
for the East." The returning party numbered, according to
Leonard, fifty-two men, with three hundred and sixty-five
horses, forty-seven beef and thirty dogs, together with an
outfit of provisions. The departure was on the 14th of
February, 1834.
The return route lay at first up the San Joaquin valley.
The progress of the party was very leisurely and just before
starting to cross the southern end of the Sierras, they hired
two Indian guides under whose leadership they made the
passage in safety, though with some difficulty. The guides
were dismissed on the ist day of March.
From this point the party turned north, keeping well into
the foothills of the mountains, where they could secure
water, intending to hold this direction until they should
reach the outgoing trail of the preceding year. Once, how-
ever, they undertook to strike directly across the desert to
the east and thus shorten the journey, but after traveling
two days without water and being reduced to the most des-
perate straits, they returned to the mountains and continued
north, or even northwest, until they reached their old trail
south of the Battle Lakes.
While passing the neighborhood of the lakes they fell
in with apparently the same band of Indians with whom
they had dealt so severely on the way out. " All along our

route from the mountains thus far," says Leonard, " we

had seen a great number of Indians, but now when we had
reached the vicinity of the place where we had had the
skirmish with the savages when going to the coast, they
appeared to rise in double the numbers that they did at that
time, and as we were then compelled to fight them, we saw
by their movements now that this would be the only course
to pursue. We had used every endeavor that we could think
of to reconcile and make them friendly but all to no purpose.
We had given them one present after another, made them
 SECOND MASSACRE OF DIGGER INDIANS. 419

all on our
the strongest manifestations of a desire for peace
part, by promising to do battle against their enemies, if
required, and we found that our own safety and comfort
demanded that they should be severely chastised for pro-
voking us to such a measure. Now that we were a good
deal aggravated some of our men said hard things about
what they would do if we should again come in contact with
these provoking Indians; and our Captain was afraid that,
if once engaged, the passions of his men would become so

wild that he could not call them off while there was an
Indian left to be slaughtered.
" Being thus compelled to fight, as we thought, in a good
cause and in self-defense, we drew up in battle array and
fell on the Indians in the wildest and most ferocious man-

ner we could, which struck dismay throughout the whole

crowd, killing fourteen, besides wounding a great many
more, as we rode right over them. Our men were soon
called off, only three of whom were slightly wounded.
" This decisive stroke appeared to give the Indians every
satisfaction they desired, as we were afterwards permitted
to pass through their country without molestation."
The party retraced their route along the Humboldt, but
instead of passing over to the Great Salt Lake, went north
to the Snake river and thence made their way to the
appointed rendezvous on Bear river, where they arrived
about June ist. It was not until the 20th of the month that
Captain Bonneville put in an appearance.^
The Walker California Expedition was a great disap-
pointment to Bonneville, and he has attributed its failure to

'Joseph Meek (see Mrs. Victor's River of the West) says that the
party after leaving southern CaHfornia crossed to the Colorado of the
West, and in the country to the east of that stream fell in with the
party of Henry Fraeb whose regular hunting ground was in the Col-
orado mountains. The united parties wandered over a great deal of
country, including the valley of the Gila and North and Middle Parks of
Colorado, winding up at the Green river rendezvous of 1834. If this
prodigious journey were actually taken, and it may have been, it was
only by a detachment of Walker's party and probably included none
of Bonneville's men.
420 EXPLANATION OF THE MASSACRES.

a disobedience of orders. In this he was not only unjust,

but actually misrepresented the affair. The evidence is
overwhelming that the expedition left Green river with the
full and primary expectation of going to the Pacific. Had
they come back successful, so far as their hunt was con-
cernjed, and had they not sullied the expedition with such
revolting barbarity toward the Indians, there is no doubt
that Captain Bonneville would have been entirely satisfied.
Concerning the slaughter of so many of the Indians, a
partial explanation has already been given. These Indians
were of a harmless, destitute character, but no doubt very
troublesome, as most Indians are, from their thieving pro-
pensities. Being little qualified for active resistance the
trappers were more careless of their treatment of them, and
some of the more reckless ones punished the thieves with
vSummary death. Later when such great numbers sur-
rounded them on the shores of Humboldt Lake, they natu-
rally surmised that revenge was their purpose, and this led
to the killing of so many at this point. On their return the
following year, they of course had still more reason to fear
a spirit of revenge, and so they again sought safety by a
desperate blow which should strike terror into the Indians.
Their plan for getting rid of their troublesome guests was
certainly most successful, but the blood of these fifty or more
Indians will always remain a blot upon the record of this
otherwise romantic expedition. ^*^
That portion of the route to which most interest attaches,
from a geographical point of view, lies beyond the Hum-
boldt Lakes. To the eastward the course of the Humboldt
river marks the line of their journey. But just where it
passed over the Sierras is a matter of speculation. It may

be inferred from the similarity of description to natural fea-

tures, that the party came down from the mountains on the
head of Merced river, California. That they entered the
Sierras to the southwest of the Humboldt Lakes seems

" Zenas Leonard's further service in the Indian country was mainly
among the Crows. He left for the East with Bonneville in 1835.
 Bonneville's fall hunt of 1833. 421

almost certain from the fact that on their return in the fol-
lowing year along the east slope of the mountains they
joined the last year's trail some days before they reached the
lakes. This they could not have done if the trail had led
directly west or northwest from the lake. The neighbor-
hood of Sonora Pass seems as likely as any to have been the
approximate point of passage.
The expedition is of interest as being the second Ameri-
can trapping expedition that made its way from the neigh-
borhood of Great Salt Lake to California. Jedediah S.
Smith had already made the trip across the Sierras, probably
a little to the south of the point where Walker crossed it.
Returning to Captain Bonneville we find that he left the
Green river rendezvous of 1833 on July 25th, with his full
party, and traveled by way of South Pass, the headwaters of
the Sweetwater, and the Popo Agie to the Bighorn river.
Campbell's party joined him near the head of the Bighorn.
Fitzpatrick was with Campbell and was looking for a place
for his fall hunt. Captain Stuart, of the British army, and
Nathaniel J, Wyeth, of Boston, were also with him. Cap-
tain Bonnevflle, fearing that Fitzpatrick intended to fore-
stall him in the approaching hunt, secretly detached a small

trapping party and fixed a place for their rendezvous late in

August, in the Medicine Lodge valley. A second party was
likewise detached at the second canon of the Bighorn.
When the point was reached where the various parties who
were going to St. Louis were to embark, all set to work on
the construction of bullboats. Upon their completion Wyeth
and Milton Sublette put off together Campbell took charge
;

of his own boats and Cerre with thirty-six men and three
;

boats conveyed the property of Captain Bonneville.

The Captain on the 17th of August set out for his ren-
dezvous on the Medicine Lodge. Here he met the two
detached parties who came in on the 2gth, each with a tale
of misfortune to relate. They had both fallen in with
marauding parties of Indians and had lost a goodly number
of horses and traps. As the neighborhood in which the
4^22 ABANDONS THE CROW COUNTRY.

Captain then was seemed to be infested with Indians, he

broke camp on the ist of September and went over into the
Wind river valley. Here he left his party, while he with
three men went to get some needed articles, particularly
traps, from the Green river caches. The Captain undertook
to ascend Wind river and cross the range directly into the
Green river valley. But he evidently struck into the moun-
tains before he arrived near the head of the river, and he
soon found himself in that entanglement of mountain peaks,
snow drifts and impassable chasms where the principal
source of Green river is to be found, and he was utterly
baffled in his attempts to get through. Forced to beat a
retreat, he swung around to the southwest, rounded the
Wind river range by way of South Pass, and arrived at the
old place of rendezvous on the 17th of September.
The Captain immediately set out on his return the fol-
lowing morning, and having good reason to believe that his
little party was being shadowed by a band of Blackfeet, he

moved with the greatest celerity and circumspection. His

route lay north across what is now Union Pass, and he
rejoined his party in the Wind river valley on the 24th.
The Captain found that the footsteps of his parties in the
Wind river valley had been dogged by a band
persistently
of Crows who made no commit violence, but were
effort to
evidently bent on robbery whenever opportunity should
offer. The truth is that the emissaries of Kenneth McKen-
zie were everywhere present in the Crow country this fall.
They succeeded in getting the Crows to rob Fitzpatrick of
allhe possessed, and they were trying to do the same thing
with Captain Bonneville. The Captain concluded that the
Crow country was no place for him at that time, and so he
pulled up stakes and started for Green river. Moving by
way of South Pass he arrived at the caches on the 14th of
October.
Having raised his caches the Captain proceeded down the
valleyon the west side of Green river and arrived at Ham's
Fork on the 26th of October. He then passed over to the
 FIRST TRIP TO THE COLUMBIA. 423

Bear river valley and reached the outlet of Bear lake on the
6th of November. On the loth he visited the celebrated
Beer Springs, as they were then called, or the Soda Springs
of the present day. With three men he now took temporary
leave of his party, appointing a place of rendezvous on
Snake river, and set out on the nth of November in quest
of the fur trappers whom he had detached under Hodgkiss in
the previous spring. Without notable incident, except the
meeting of a band of friendly Bannocks, he found the trap-
pers on the 20th of November, ensconced in the bosom of a
mountain valley. The united party now returned to Snake
river, where they met the party which had been left on Bear
river. As this was the 4th of December immediate prep-
arations were made to go into winter quarters in the valley
of the Portneuf river.
Having completed his arrangements for a winter camp,
and being satisfied that he was in a neighborhood of friendly
Indians, Captain Bonneville determined to leave his people
own devices during the winter, while he, with a few
to their
men, would make an exploring tour to the Columbia to study
the trade prospects in that direction and would return the
following March. Accordingly he set out with three men
Christmas morning, 1833. Their route lay down the left
bank of the Snake, generally at some little distance back
from the river. On the 12th of January they arrived at
Powder river, Oregon, and here would better have attempted
to cross straight to the Columbia, as Hunt and the Astorians
had done twenty-three years before. But instead they toiled
over the mountains through which the Snake cuts its way,
and after great hardship and peril, and many interesting
encounters with the local tribes, they reached the Hudson
Bay post on the Columbia, near the mouth of Walla Walla
river,March 4, 1834.
The Captain had been encouraged, while sojourning
among the Snake river tribes, to believe that there was a
good opening for American trade on the Columbia. The
Indians received him well and he determined to make the
424 RENDEZVOUS IN BEAR RIVER VALLEY.

attempt. But his experience at Fort Walla Walla was far

less encouraging. Although his reception was most hos-
when he came to ask for
pitable, yet supplies he was given
to understand that it was contrary to the policy of the Hud-
son Bay Company to outfit competing traders in any way.
As the Captain was wholly without supplies, he was com-
pelled to relinquish instantly his plan of descending the
Columbia, and to beat a precipitate retreat from the country.
He was so much piqued at this action of Mr. Pambrun. the
Hudson Bay factor, that he declined to accompany a party
under one of the British traders, a Mr. Payette, who was
going by a safe route across the mountains to convey pro-
visions to some of their trappers in the upper Snake valley.
The Captain and party set off by themselves on the 6th of
March and made their way with much difficulty across the
Blue mountains. They reached the winter camp on the
Portneuf on the 12th of May. It was not, however, until
the I St of June that the whole party was reunited.
Two days were given up to general festivities when the
party set out for the rendezvous in Bear river valley which
was fixed at a point near where the river crosses the present
state line between Wyoming and Utah. They reached the
rendezvous without any other incident than a harmless
encounter with the Blackfeet and an hilarious dissipation at
the Soda Springs. They found Walker and his California
party already waiting for them.
Soon after their arrival, Cerre came in from the States
with the annual supplies. The customary carousal ensued
and several days were given up to a good time. Walker's
party were the heroes of the occasion. Their long and peril-
ous journey across the mountains, their fights with the
Indians, their glorious winter in the sunny clime of the
Pacific, captivated the imaginations of the trappers and the
whole company would instantly have joined any party
bound for that far off country. Very different were the feel-
ings of Captain Bonneville. If the returns of his first
year's work in the mountains had been insufficient to pay
 FAILURE OF SECOND YEAR's WORK, 425

expenses, those of the second year were such as to threaten

instant collapse of the enterprise. His own parties had done
but little, while Walker, on whom he had chiefly relied,
came back empty-handed. He thus found himself with only
ten to fifteen packs of beaver to send back to the States —
not nearly enough to pay the wages of his men.^^
In spite of the gloomy prospect Captain Bonneville de-
cided to try another year in the mountains. Walker and
Cerre were dispatched to the States with the slender returns
of the year. A
party was sent to the Crow country under
one Montero to make the fall hunt in that section and east-
ward to the Black Hills, when they were to go to the
Arkansas for the winter. The Captain himself had resolved
upon another expedition to the Columbia.
Captain Bonneville took up his march on the 3rd of July '
<j«^
with a party of twenty-three men. On the loth he met a
company of Hudson Bay trappers and succeeded with alco-
hol and honey in making the leader ingloriously drunk. He
here learned that Nathaniel J. Wyeth had returned from
the States and was bound for the Columbia to establish a
business there. The Captain, not wishing to have a rival
band along with him, made haste to cache his goods and
get away; but unforeseen delays detained him until Wyeth
came up. After another series of hospitalities and a general
bufifalo hunt, the Captain finally got off and wended his
course down the Snake river, leaving Mr. Wyeth to build
a post which he proposed to establish on the Portneuf.
Nothing worthy of note occurred on the trip except the
dangers caused by an extensive conflagration which envel-
""The latter [Bonneville & Co.] I think by next year will be at
an end with the mountains. They have sent down from twelve to four-
teen packs of beaver, and admitting that it should sell at a high price, it
is not enough to pay their returning hands." Fontenelle to Chou-
teau September 17, 1834.
"At the camp [on Twin Creek about 17 miles east of Bear river]
we found Mr. Cerry and Mr. Walker who were returning to St. Louis
with the furs collected by Mr. Bonneville's company, about 10 packs,
and men going down to whom there is due $10,000." Wyeth —Sources
of the History of Oregon, p. 225.
426 SECOND TRIP TO THE COLUMBIA.

oped the entire country in the neighborhood of the Grande

Ronde. When the Captain arrived within thirty miles of
Fort Walla Walla he thought to repeat his experiment of
the winter before by sending a party to the post in quest of
provisions. This second attempt was no more successful
than the first, and as the Captain's party were well nigh out
of provisions it was necessary to bestir themselves with

vigor. They reached the Columbia about fifty miles below

the Walla Walla and started down stream, but found that
the influence of the Hudson Bay Company was everywhere
supreme, and that they were liable to be literally starved out
of the country. His various delays among the Indian tribes
had now brought him so well along in the season that he
must adopt the most energetic measures or winter would
hem him in within an enemy's land and leave him at their
mercy.
Making a virtue of necessity he set his face toward the
east and on the ist of October arrived at the base of the Blue
mountains. Recent rains had extinguished the summer fires
but there was so little game that the hunters could scarcely
provide for the company. An untoward accident caused
them to lose their way and spend three days buffeting around
among the mountains, and was not until the 30th of Octo-
it

ber that they arrived at Snake river. When they

the
reached the Portneuf they met two messengers from Mon-
tero's party who had come for additional supplies and to let
the Captain know that they would spend the winter in the
Crow country instead of going to the Arkansas, and would
join him in the spring wherever he might appoint. The
Captain took the messengers along with him to the caches
on Bear river, where they arrived on the 1 7th of November,
gave them the necessary articles, and sent them on their way
with orders to meet him at the forks of Wind river in the
latter part of June following. The Captain himself spent
the winter in the upper end of Bear river valley. Buffalo
were plenty and abundance reigned in camp, and with the
interesting society of Indian bands and the occasional visit
 THE MOUNTAINS CLEAR OF HIM. 427

of some white trappers, the winter wore away in ideal

hunter's fashion.
When spring opened the Captain collected all his property
in Bear river and on the ist of April, 1835, proceeded
valley,
by way of Ham's Fork to the valley of Green river. Just
where he went during the spring is not certain, but the loth
of June found him " a little to the east of the Wind river
mountains." He
reached the place of rendezvous at the
forks of Wind 22nd of June.
river about the A
few days
later Montero joined him after a fairly successful campaign
and at this place the united parties celebrated the 4th of July.
Montero was then detached to continue his operations in
the Crow country, while the Captain himself, with the rest of
his party, set out for the settlements. He arrived there
on the 22nd of August, 1835, and the mountains at last, in
the words of Fontenelle, " were clear of him."^^
" Bonneville's leave of absence having long expired before his return,
he had been dropped from the rolls of the army. There was a very
proper opposition among army officers to his reinstatement, and he
would have been excluded altogether but for President Jackson, who
reinstated him as a reward for his contributions to geographical knowl-
edge of the country. In his subsequent career Bonneville served at
various posts on the frontier, at Carlisle, Pa., and in the Seminole
and Mexican Wars, being wounded in the latter. He remained loyal
to the Union during the Civil War although his sympathies were on
the other side. He was made Brevet Brigadier General but reached no
more important command than that of Benton Barracks at St. Louis
where he remained most of the time during the war. After peace came
he retired from the service and took up his home at Fort Smith where
he had previously formed close attachments. He died at Fort Smith
June 12, 1878, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis.
Bonneville was married at Carlisle Barracks to Miss Ann Lewis.
While stationed at St. Louis both his wife and daughter died. He was
married again in 1870 to Miss Susan Neis of Fort Smith who survived
him.
Bonneville had a brother in the American Navy who gained some
distinction and was lost with the American ship Wasp.
"Bonneville, Benjamin L. E. (Born in France. Appointed from
N. Y.) Bvt. 2nd Lieut. Light Art., 11 Dec, 1815. 2nd Lieut., 15 Jan.,
1817. 2nd Lieut. 8th Inf., 10 March, 1819. ist Lieut., 9 July, 1820.
Trans, to 7th Inf., i June, 1821. Dropped 31 May, 1834. Reinstated 19
428 •
BUSINESS FAILURE.

Captain Bonneville's enterprise in the Rocky mountains

was primarily, if not solely, for purposes of trade, whatever
may have been the purposes set forth in his application
for a leave of absence. There is nothing in the whole his-
tory of the expedition to justify any other view. The Cap-
tain in his service on the frontier had been an eye-witness
of the various aspects of the fur trade and had conceived
a desire to try his own hand at it. He could not of course
ask so long a leave of absence solely to enable him to prose-
cute a private business, and he proposed to the government
to turn his opportunities to valuable account in collecting in-
formation which would be of public utility. On this repre-
sentation a leave of absence for two years was granted.
The ground on which the government gave the leave, and
the real purpose to which Captain Bonneville proposed to
apply it, were therefore quite different. Let us see what he
accomplished in both directions.
As to the commercial feature of the enterprise the result
was an unqualified failure. Irving is generously silent on
this subject but one may easily discern between the lines the
author's conviction that the Captain had no aptitude as a
trader. He was not trained to business, particularly the
kind of business that was transacted in the mountains, and
in his contacts with rival traders he was invariably worsted.
He was unduly afraid of the Indians, was unwilling to take
risks, and doubtless also held himself above the baser meth-
ods resorted to by irresponsible traders. He was lavish in
his hospitality, popular with his men, and a great favorite
with the free trappers who would travel hundreds of miles
to avail themselves of the cheer of the Captain's tent. The
Indians too liked him, but all —
Indians and trappers alike
— sold their furs in the other camp. The Captain hung on
April, 1836. Maj. 6th Inf., 15 July, 1845. Lieut. Col., 4th Inf., 7 May,
1849. Col. 3rd Inf., 3 Feb., 1855. Retired 9th Sept., 1861. Died 12
June, 1878. Bvt. Lieut. Col., 20 Aug., 1847, for gallant and meritorious
service at Contreras and Churubu.sco. Bvt. Brig. Gen., 13 March, 1865^
for long and faithful service in the army." — Powell's List of Officers
of the U. S. Army.
 SCIENTIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENT NOTHING. 429

for three years and probably would longer had his company
been willing. The final outcome must have been a loss to
them of many thousands of dollars.
The scientific feature of Captain Bonneville's expedition
was, if possible, more of a failure than the commercial. The
Captain never made any report of his work to the Depart-
ment and it is probable that he had nothing of value to re-
port. His adventures and observations were written up by
Irving, and although that work contains a great deal of use-
ful information, it is evident that a goodly portion of it was
derived from other sources than from Captain Bonneville.
The Captain's notes upon the nature of the country are lim-
ited and of no great value. His few astronomical observa-
tions for latitude and longitude are little better than wild
guesses. ^^ Irving felt constrained to apologize for his fan-
tastic views of Great Salt Lake, and he would have felt more
so if he had known that the Captain's estimate of the altitude
of that body of water above the level of the ocean (one and
three-fourths miles) was considerably more than twice the
correct figure. Touching the Indian tribes scarcely any in-
formation is given by Irving which is in line with the in-
structions of the War Department to Captain Bonneville.
The one really valuable result of Captain Bonneville's
expedition, so far as he alone is concerned, was his two maps
of the Western country. One of these is of the region about
the sources of the Missouri, Yellowstone, Snake, Green,
Wind and Sweetwater rivers, including the region of Great
Salt Lake. The other, on half the scale, included the coun-
try westward from the region embraced in the first map, to
the Pacific ocean.
These maps have won for Captain Bonneville a degree of
credit forpromoting geographical discovery to which he is
in no sense entitled. Nearly all of the valuable features
appeared on Gallatin's map of the year before and were fur-
ther brought to public notice by Gallatin's memoir accom-
" Longitude of Fort Bonneville 125 miles too far east.
Latitude of winter quarters on Salmon river 50 miles too far north.
430 BONNEVILLE S MAPS.

panying the map. The three most important additions to

geographical knowledge which must be credited to the Bon-
neville maps are the discovery and location of Humboldt
river and lakes, the location of the San Joaquin river, Cali-
fornia, and the approximately correct topography of the
country around the sources of the Bighorn and Green rivers.
In several respects Gallatin's map is more correct than Bon-
neville's. Gallatin's map unfortunately appeared in the
came to the knowledge
transactions of a scientific society and
of only a select few. maps on the other hand
Bonneville's
had the name and fame of Washington Irving to advertise
them to the world. Bonneville refers in no way to his debt
to Gallatin or to Ashley and Smith, although it is evident
that several important features were taken directly from
these authorities.^"* It was these maps, compiled in large

part from data derived from Gallatin, Ashley and Smith,

that won for Bonneville his reinstatement in the army.
"By the Eternal, Sir!" President Jackson is said to have
exclaimed when Bonneville showed him his map, " I'll see
that you are reinstated to your command. For this valuable
service to the War Department and the country you deserve
high promotion." It is evident, therefore, that in direct
and substantial reward, as well in public reputation. Captain
Bonneville has received from his government and from his
countrymen more than he deserves. ^^
" unaccountable that so careful a student as General G. K. War-
It is
ren, who wasdirected by the War Department " to carefully read every
report and examine every map of survey, reconnaissance and travel
that could be obtained," and who, in fulfillment of this duty, pro-
duced a map and memoir which have become a landmark in the history
of western geography, should have overlooked altogether the important
work of Albert Gallatin. He could not have seen it or he would not
have given Captain Bonneville the credit for so much of the information
which it contains.
'"Captain Bonneville gave his name to Great Salt Lake —
an arro-
gant presumption when we consider the utter lack of any connection
which his work had with that body of water. Posterity has very proper-
ly refused to recognize the name, although science has made use of it to
designate the old Quaternary lake which once occupied a large part of
the Great Basin.
 Bonneville's breach of discipline. 431

As the manager of an expedition and as a popular leader

Captain Bonneville was a distinct success. Had his func-
tion been solely that of conducting a party through the coun-
try, he might have rivaled Lev^is and Clark in the skill v^ith
which he could accomplish it. He managed his men with
great judgment, and it is no small item to his credit that, at a
period when hunters and trappers were yearly lost in con-
siderable numbers from the various companies, he remained
three years in the mountains without the loss of a single life,
where the men were in any wise under his personal control.
To Captain Bonneville belongs the credit of being the first
to take wagons through South Pass and to Green river.
Ashley had taken a wheeled cannon through to Utah Lake
in 1826. Smith, Jackson and Sublette had taken wagons
to Wind river in 1830; and the Santa Fe traders had taken
wagons to Santa Fe in 1822. Bonneville's expedition was
another step in the progress of civilization into the unsettled
regions of the Far West.
As a soldier by education and profession, Captain Bonne-
ville committed an unpardonable breach of discipline in over-
staying his leave of absence. It was more than a simple
lapse of duty, it was an act of ingratitude to his superiors,
considering their great indulgence in granting him so long
a leave. It was moreover unnecessary. The Captain sent
in his returns in 1833 in ample time to have communicated
with Washington before his leave expired. If he felt it im-
perative to stay with his expedition he should have applied
for an extension of his leave. If not he should have reported
to the Department and made his application in person.
But he did neither although he had frequent opportunity to
send communications. His action was therefore a gross
delinquency and the War Department and Army authori-
ties were quite right in resisting his reinstatement into the
service.
After all it will not be far wrong to say that the greatest
service which Captain Bonneville rendered his country was
by falling into the hands of Washington Irving. His whole
432 HIS LUCKIEST ACCIDENT.

advancement hitherto had been largely due to his fortuitous

associations,and Lafayette and Paine were the architects of
his fortune more than he himself was. But his luckiest
accident was in furnishing the occasion for the production
of Irving's description of Rocky mountain life during the
best days of the fur trade. Captain Bonneville, as this
work is now commonly and living picture of
called, is a true
those early scenes, and taken with Astoria will ever re-
main our highest authority upon the events to which they
1^
relate.

^'
In a former chapter we paid our respects to Hubert Howe Bancroft
in the matter of his reckless endeavors to discredit the work and
defame the character of Washington Irving. We shall here call atten-
tion to similar efforts in regard to the narrative of Bonneville's adven-
tures. Mr. Bancroft misstates the title of this work, in calling it
""Adventures of Captain Bonneville" whereas, as given by Irving, it was
The Rocky Mountains, or, Scenes, Incidents and Adventures in the Far
West; digested front the Journal of Captain B. L. E. Bonneville, of the
Army of the United States, and illustrated from various other sources.
On the exterior covers of the book the name of Captain Bonneville
did not appear at all. This fact is important, as illustrating Irving's
own view of the scope of the work. It was virtually a history of
the operations of the fur companies in the Rocky mountains during
that period from 1832 to 1835 when the trade was at its prime. Irving,
who never despised the embellishments of art, worked his historical
narrative around the nucleus of a single adventure and gave it an added

interest by that method. But the repeated assertions of Mr. Bancroft

that it is only " an elegant romance," a " thrilling narrative out of noth-
ing," " Irving's fiction," " duplicity," and the like, can proceed only from
sheer ignorance or from a knavish purpose to belittle a great work.
In the case of Astoria we found Irving incomparably the most
accurate historian of that enterprise —
far more so than Mr. Bancroft,
in spite of the greater facilities afforded by modern research. The
same is also true of the later work. In regard to Captain Bonneville,
it is clear that Irving himself did not have a high opinion of that offi-

cer's performance. If his never-failing generosity caused him to smooth

over the short-comings of his hero, one can not fail to discern a lack
of confidence in his actual achievements. Referring to the Great Salt
Lake, for example, he characterizes the Captain's view of that body
of water as " somewhat fanciful," and states that " he has evidently
taken part of his ideas concerning it from the representations of others,
who have somewhat exaggerated its features." Concerning the name
 HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT AGAIN. 433

Lake Bonneville, that was given by Bonneville himself, and Irving

adopted it from the Captain's map. There is no doubt whatever
that Irving believed Bonneville's statement in regard to the Salt Lake
expedition, and there would be no conclusive reason to doubt it today,
but for the facts that have come to light through the narratives of Nidi-
ver, Leonard and others, which were unknown to Irving.
As to Mr. Bancroft's infamous innuendoes regarding " well-paid
panegyrics " as a result of Irving's acquaintance with Mr. Astor, the
reader may note what we have said on this point in our treatment of
Astoria.
Mr. Bancroft thus refers to Irving's^ iiumorous account of Bonneville's
honey-alcohol entertainment on Bear river, July lo, 1834 " It is no-:

ticeable that whenever Irving sets two men drinking, his hero always
acts the gentlem^, while the other, especially if a foreigner, gets beast-
ly drunk and disgraces himself," If Mr. Bancroft will consult Town-
send's Narrative, page 84, he will find that no less an authority than
Nathaniel J. Wyeth was himself greatly struck with the Captain's ur-
banity and politeness of manner in the face of considerable provoca-
tion, and that the unmannerly behavior was exactly where Irving places
it.

But if Mr. Bancroft's treatment of Irving as an author is base and

contemptible, his treatment of Captain Bonneville as a man is no less
so. Small as may be our estimate of Bonneville's work in the Rocky
mountains, we are bound to say that there is nothing in it all to justify
the following vicious calumny :
"A Frenchman by birth, and a captaii
in the United States Army, being in his coarse way a ban vivant and
voluptuary, he preferred lording it in the forest with a troop of white
and red savages at his heels, and every fortnight a new unmarried wife
flaunting her brave finery, to sitting in satin sackcloth of conventional
parlors and simpering silly nothings. To shoot buffalo were
. . .

rare fun; but men were the nobler game, whom to search out in their
retreat and slaughter and scalp were glorious. What were the far-off
natives of the Rocky mountains doing, that this reckless, blood-thirsty
and cruel Frenchman should be permitted to kill them?" Mr. Ban-
croft should produce his facts. Can he give evidence of even one
Indian who was killed or scalped or in any way maltreated by Captain
Bonneville's order, or with his knowledge? If there is one character-
istic of the expedition more prominent than another it was the humane

treatment which Captain Bonneville always accorded the natives. If

reference is made to the Walker massacre at the Humboldt Lakes,
Captain Bonneville is morally no more responsible for that than Mr.
Bancroft himself.
 CHAPTER XXV.
NATHANIEL J. WYETH.

Hall J. — Wyeth's project — Formation of his party — Expe-

Kelley
— The start from Independence — Arrival Pierre's
dition at St. Louis at
Hole — Division of the party — Wyeth leaves Pierre's Hole for the
Columbia — Arrives at Fort Vancouver — Spends win|er on lower Co-
lumbia — Starts for the east in spring of 1833 — Proposes a joint hunt
with Bonneville — Arrives at Green river rendezvous — Contract with
Milton G. Sublette — Wyeth at Fort Union — Arrival Boston — The
in
Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company — Wyeth starts on his
second expedition — Leaves Independence — M. G. Sublette com-
pelled to return — Wyeth reaches Green river — Fitzpatrick repudiates
Wyeth's contract with M. G. Sublette — Wyeth meets Captain Bonne-
ville— Commences erection of Fort Hall — Reaches Fort Vancouver
— Arrival of the May Dacre — Wyeth's operations in and winter
fall

of 1834-5 — Builds Fort Williams — success and

111 health — Wyeth
ill

closes up his business.

^yUK history of human progress shows that great move-

^^ ments frequently receive their initial impulse from
the most visionary and impractical of men. Perhaps the
very quality of being visionary prone to —
see visions —
makes possible a forecast of results which lack of practical
ability in the individual could never accomplish. John
Brown did as much as any man to give direction to public
thought in favor of the emancipation movement in the
United States, but a man less qualified than he to bring that
movement to a successful issue could scarcely have been
found. So with the vital question of the Northwest the —
long-disputed Oregon Question it —
was preached, pub-
lishedand kept before the public for many years by a man
who proved himself wholly unfit to carry out his own
schemes. This man was a Boston schoolmaster, Hall J.
Kelley.
 HALL J. KELLEY. 435

Scarcely had the grand enterprise of Mr. Astor upon the

Columbia terminated in failure when Kelley in 1815 began
his crusade. He
read everything that he could find relating
to Oregon, believed it all, however extravagant, and retailed
it to the public with whatever addition his own over-wrought

imagination might suggest. He published a great deal in

current periodicals, circulated broadcast his pamphlets and
tracts, and even obtained the ear of Congress in behalf of the
Pacific empire whose fate, as he rightly considered, was even
then trembling in the balance. What he wrote was for the
most part grossly inaccurate; but with a public quite as ig-
norant as he, this was no drawback, but rather a positive
advantage. Everything came from his pen clothed with the
beauty of a western sunset. The fertile lands that could be
had for the asking, the salubrious climate of that distant
shore, the noble rivers with their living wealth of salmon,
and empire which must be claimed before
finally the glorious
it should be too such were the themes that formed the
late,

burden of his perfervid utterances. The barren plains to be

crossed in reaching this promised land, the savage foes to
be encountered, the perennial rains of the Pacific, and the
years of drudgery in winning a home from the wilderness —
of these Kelley had nothing to say. His crusade was a suc-
cessful one in helping to turn men's minds to a subject of
far-reaching national importance, and in this respect the
American people owe to his memory a debt of gratitude.
Although he never achieved the distinction of martyrdom In
the cause which he so boldly and persistently championed,
he will stand in history as the John Brown of the movement
which saved to the United States a part of Its rightful do-
main upon the Pacific.
The which Kelley was deficient, were
practical talents In
met with in amarked degree in one of his townsmen and dis-
ciples, Nathaniel J. Wyeth.^ Not that Wyeth was ultimate-
Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth was born in Cambridge, Mass., January 29,
^

1802. His father, Jacob Wyeth, was a Harvard gradute. His mother,
Elizabeth Jarvis Wyeth, was a member of the Jarvis family, owners of
436 CHARACTER OF UNDERTAKING.

ly any more successful than Kelley —

his schemes, like those
of Astor, were foredoomed to failure. mighty corpora- A
tion with an empire at back was more than any individual
its

single-handed could contend against. But Wyeth under-

stood the essential conditions of ordinary business success.
He was a man of great energy, sound judgment, and unques-
tioned integrity, a good organizer, fearless of obstacles, sin-
gularly free from visionary projects, and on the whole one
of the ablest men whom the fur trade brought to public no-
tice. His project for establishing a trade on the Pacific
coast, like that of Astor before him, was in itself eminently
feasible; but the conditions were such that without great
financial backing and some support from the government he
could not get a start; and unfortunately he never enjoyed
either of these advantages.
The crusade of Hall J. Kelley found a ready response in
the sympathetic and ambitious nature of Wyeth. The more
he thought of the subject the more he came to believe that
there was a great opening for business enterprise on the Pa-
cific. His views developed very much on the same lines as
those of Astor twenty years before, although of necessity

Jarvis field, famous in the annals of Harvard athletics. Young Wyeth

was fitted for college, but decided, much to his regret in later years,
not to take the time to complete a course. Upon leaving school he
succeeded his father for a short time in the management of a pleasure
resort on the borders of Fresh Pond, but disliking the business, he en-
tered the employ of Frederick Tudor who had just originated the ice
industry of the United States, including not only the cutting and storing
of ice, but its export to foreign countries. Wyeth remained in the
business until his western expedition took place, and became general
manager of the company. After his return from the mountains in 1836
he re-entered the business with Mr. Tudor. In 1840 he set up on his
own account. He was very assiduous in his work and invented most
of the appliances which have since been in common use in the ice
business. He was also largely interested in other enterprises such as
brick-making, nurseries, etc. He died August 31, 1856, on the spot
where he was born and which had been his life-long home.
The data for this note v/ere furnished by Mrs. Mary J. Fish, of Taun-
ton, Mass., a niece of Wyeth.
 DETAILS OF PROJECT. 437

Upon a much more modest scale. His project, as it finally

assumed definite form, was in brief to organize a trading
company to do business in the valley of the Columbia and
its tributaries. It is generally understood to have been con-
ceived with a view of developing the salmon trade, but this
was not the case with the first expedition. The specific
character of the trade was left undetermined, " without pos-
itively settling the, particular business " to be followed, as
Wyeth frequently wrote in reply to- inquiries. Again he
said :
" The company go out for trade in such branches
as may be expedient" but he adds that " probably the fur
;

business will be selected." His plan was to supply his par-

ties in the field, and ship his products to market, by ocean
vessels sailing toand from the Columbia. He believed that
he could reach the whole tramontane country in that way
more cheaply than overland from St. Louis and he therefore
hoped to get the carrying trade of other parties doing busi-
ness there. One cannot fail to observe the similarity in gen-
eral outline between Wyeth's idea and that of Astor before
him; but it was probably independently worked out by
Wyeth, for he rarely if ever refers in his letters to Astor's ex-
periences either by way of warning or guidance.
The first expedition was planned to include about fifty
persons among whom there should be " no families or other
helpless people." The nature of the compact which was to
bind the little company together is thus stated by Wyeth
himself: " Our company is to last five years. The profits
are to be divided in such a manner that if the number con-
cerned is fifty, and the whole net profits were divided into
that number of parts, I should get eight, the surgeon two,
and the remaining forty parts would be divided among the
remaining forty-eight persons. The eight parts which I
take is consideration for my service as head of the concern
and furnishing the requisite capital and credit for the bus-
iness, and which is to be Invested in goods to a small amount,
to take with us by land, camp equipage, horses, wagons, etc.,
and in vessels and goods to be sent out to us, so as to arrive
438 WYETH CUTS LOOSE FROM KELLEY.
there within a few months afterward. Each man will be
required to furnish his own equipment and pay his passage
as far as FrankHn, Missouri, which will amount to forty-
dollars, and the surplus to be paid for him from the capital
^
if it amounts to more."
Wyeth at first contemplated joining- fortunes with Hall
J. Kelley who was at this time actively engaged in organiz-
ing his Oregon Colonization Society. He always acknowl-
edged his debt to Kelley in turning his thoughts to the dis-
tant regions of the Columbia; but he found, as soon as he
seriously concluded to go to that country, that the disciple
would have from the master if he were to accom-
to cut loose
plish anything. His quick judgment told him that the
schoolmaster's visionary ideas would bring disaster to the
whole enterprise. Some of his letters to Kelley, who counted
on his co-operation, are worth quoting. Thus he says
in one of them " When you adopted the plan of taking
:

across the continent in the first expedition women and chil-

dren I gave up hope that you would go at all, and all inten-
tion of going with you if you did " and in another
;
" You :

very much mistake if you think I wish to desert your party,

but you must recollect that the ist of January last was set at
first as the time of starting," and it was now the ist of

March with no visible preparations yet, on Kelley's part.

Wyeth, on the other hand, believed in keeping his appoint-
ments even if made only with himself. He had fixed on the
ist of March, 1832, as the approximate date of starting and
he intended to start then. He did in fact leave Boston on
the loth of that month although he had secured a party of
only twenty men.
Wyeth says little in detail of the makeup of his expedi-
tion, but some light upon it from a not very friendly source
is furnished in a little book ^ published by a kinsman, John

*
Sources of the History of Oregon, p. 20.
A Short Story of a Long Journey. This is a racy and sarcastic nar-
*

rative of what the writer saw of the expedition. He had become dis-
gusted with the enterprise and was not strictly impartial as an historian.
 WYETH STARTS ON HIS JOURNEY. 439

B. Wyeth, who accompanied the expedition to Pierre's Hole

and then abandoned it. The party were at first required to
wear a uniform consisting of a " coarse woolen jacket and
pantaloons, a striped cotton shirt and cowhide boots. Ev-
ery man had a musket, most of them rifles, all of them bay-
onets in a broad belt, together with a large clasp knife for
eating and common purposes." A bugle was also provided
for signaling. For crossing streams which were too deep
to ford, the wagon boxes were carefully caulked and fitted
for quick conversion into boats. The sight of this unusual
contrivance excited the risibilities of the Cambridge stu-
dents who poked no end of fun at it, and finally gave to the
amphibious monster a scientific name of suitable length and
dignity by calling it a Nat-JVyethium. All of these su-
perfluous features of the outfit quickly disappeared before
the rough experiences of the trip, and no one was more
prompt to discard them than Wyeth himself as soon as he
came in contact with the true conditions of the journey.
To carry out the maritime part of the program Wyeth
secured the financial co-operation of the firm of Henry Hall
and Tucker and Williams who provided the means for char-
tering and loading a small vessel, the Sultana, Captain Lam-
bert, which was sent to the mouth of the Columbia by way
of Cape Horn.
Wyeth himself left Boston with a party of twenty men
and took sail to Baltimore. In that city he received four
recruits. The strength of his party when he reached St.
Louis was therefore twenty- four men. At St. Louis he
came in contact with the veterans of the fur trade and for
the first time understood how wide was their range of ex-
perience and how firmly they were established in the business
which he was about to enter. McKenzie was down from
Fort Union and Sublette was getting ready his mountain
expedition. The contrast between their thorough knowl-

Wyeth himself characterized the book as full of " white lies"

; mislead-
ing and unfair, but not maliciously false as were some of his other
critics in the public prints. The little book is well worth perusal.
 :

/|^n SUBLETTE TAKES PARTY IN TOW.

edge of the mountain business and the raw inexperience

of Wyeth's little company was not intended to strengthen
their confidence or enthusiasm in the success of the under-
taking. Evidences of disaffection already began to show
themselves, although not to such an extent but that the entire
party proceeded on the journey as soon as the necessary
preparations could be made at St. Louis. In less than a
week they embarked on the steamboat Otter en route for
the frontier rendezvous at Independence, leaving behind the
boat-wagons which Wyeth sold at half-price when he
learned that pack animals were almost exclusively used on
the Oregon Trail. In due time most of the party arrived
at Independence. Three, however, had deserted on the way
up, and three more left soon afterward a loss of one- —
fourth of a party which was less than half its intended
strength to start with.
The little band remained upwards of two weeks at Inde-
pendence getting ready for the forward movement. Here
their inexperience and lack of suitable equipment were more
than ever apparent and general discouragement might have
caused the abandonment of the enterprise then and there, but
for the timely arrival of William L. Sublette and his moun-
tain expedition from St. Louis. With his perfect knowledge
of conditions in the mountains Sublette saw that he had
nothing to fear from this new company and might very
likely draw all the men and the outfit into his own business
before he got through with them. He therefore lent them
a ready hand, set them on their feet, and offered them the
protection of his own party as far as he should go. To the
more timid unexpected assistance seemed providential
this
and they gave an exaggerated importance which we may
it

be sure that Wyeth did not. Says young John B. Wyeth

" To me it seems that we must have perished for want of
sustenance in the deserts of the Missouri had we been by
ourselves . and but for him we should probably
. .

never have reached the American Alps. By this time every

man had begun to think for himself."
 THE TOWN MEETING IN PIERRE S HOLE. 44I

Under Sublette's pilotage Wyeth and his eighteen com-

panions set out from Independence May 12th, crossed the
plains, and without any notable incident reached the annual
rendezvous of the traders in Pierre's Hole on July 8th.
Here they found one of those unique and motley gatherings
which could be seen only for a few years before and after
1830, a heterogeneous mixture of savages and white men
of many and various descriptions. There were present
about two hundred lodges of Indians, ninety trappers of
the American Fur Company, one hundred of the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company, besides Wyeth's party and many
free trappers. It was doubtless a strange and not very
inviting spectacle to the men of far-off New England who
had probably never seen a wild Indian before in their lives.
The party were now on Columbian waters. Sublette
had accompanied them as far as he could. They must go
the rest of the way alone. The situation was altogether
serious to many of them, and young Wyeth's account of
what transpired before the next important move took place,'
is so naively told as to justify its verbatim reproduction here.
" We had been dissatisfied for some time, but we had not
had communicate it,
leisure to and systematize our griev-
ances. Myself and some others requested Captain Wyeth
to call a meeting of his followers, to ask information, and to
know what we were to expect. We wished to
.

—
. .

have what we had been used to at home —

a town meeting
or a parish meeting, where every freeman has a right to
speak his sentiments, and to vote thereon. But Captain Wy-
eth was by no means inclined to this democratical procedure.
The most he seemed inclined to_was a caucus with a select
few, of which number neither his own brother, though older
than himself, nor myself was to be included. After consid-
erable altercation he concluded to call a meeting of the
whole, on business interesting and applicable to all. We ac-
cordingly met, Captain Wyeth in the chair, or on the stump,
I forget which. Instead of every man speaking his own
mind, the Captain commenced the business by ordering the
442 NAPOLEONIC SPIRIT.

roll tobe called; and as the names were called the clerk
asked the person if he would go on. The first name was
Nathaniel J. Wyeth, whom we had dubbed Captain, who
answered I shall go on.' The next was William Nud,
'

who, before he answered, wished to know what the Cap-

tain's plan and intentions were, whether to try to commence
a small colony or to trap and trade for beaver. To which
Captain Wyeth replied that tJiat was none of our business.
Then Mr. Nud said I shall not go
:
'
on and as the names
;

'

of the rest were called there appeared seven persons out of

the twenty-one who were determined to return home."
The total number who finally left Captain Wyeth was
seven, leaving eleven who adhered to the enterprise. Wyeth
gave up one of his two tents to the returning party and
the two factions pitched their camps about half a mile apart.
It is impossible not to admire the Napoleonic spirit of
Captain Wyeth on this occasion. It was not, in his opinion,

a time for democratic debates, but for action. He wanted

the true and untrue separated from each other that he might
know exactly where he stood. For that purpose one ques-
tion was enough " Will you go or return ?"
: No amount
of conciliatory debate would have settled the question more
efifectually.
Wyeth now attached himself, for protection until beyond
the range of the Blackfeet, to M. G. Sublette's party who
were going off to the westward and southwestward to trap.
The dissenters attached themselves to the returning party of
William L. Sublette. M. G. Sublette's party set out on
the 17th of July, but went only a short distance that day.
On the following morning they met a party of Blackfeet
about eight miles from rendezvous and brought on the cele-
brated battle of Pierre's Hole.^ This affair delayed M. G.
Sublette and Wyeth three days, and W. L. Sublette, who
had been wounded in the fight, twelve days. The seven re-
turning Wyethians becoming impatient set out on the 25th
of July with Alfred K. Stephens and a party of four
'
See Part IV., Chapter II.
 REACHES THE COLUMBIA. 443

men, but while in the vicinity of Jackson Hole on the follow-

ing day, they were attacked by the Blackfeet. One of their
number. More, and a man named Foy, were killed on the
spot, and Stephens was fatally wounded. No other adven-
ture of importance occurred on the way back, and that part
of the Wyeth expedition reached home in safety, wiser, if
not wealthier, than when they started.
On the 24th of July Wyeth and Milton Sublette again set
out on their journey. They went south across Snake river
and then took a southwesterly direction to the Portneuf
river, and thence to the Snake near the American Falls
where they arrived on the 13th of August. Their further
course for many weeks lay among the streams that empty
into the Snake river from the south, where Wyeth tried his
hand at trapping, with a view, no doubt, of getting some
experience in that business. He was moderately success-
ful but he was compelled to cache the furs he gathered, for
his party was too small to transport them. On the 29th of
August Wyeth parted company with Sublette, not Avithout
sincere regret.^ It is quite impossible to follow him closely
in hiswanderings in the valley of Snake river, for he makes
use of almost no geographical names. His men were often
short of provisions, as have been all parties traveling in that
desolate region. On the 28th of September the party un-
expectedly ran across Sublette and Fraeb nearly opposite the
mouth of the Boise, but Wyeth, who was away from camp,
did not see them. Finally, after much trouble in securing a
guide they succeeded in traversing the Blue mountains and
arrived at the Hudson Bay Company's post at the mouth
of the Walla Walla river October 14th at five o'clock P. M.
At the hands of Mr. Pambrun, who was in charge of the
post, as from all the other agents of the Hudson Bay Com-
pany, Wyeth received the most lavish hospitality and uni-
form kindness. However much he may have felt cause to
complain of their influence in ruining his own schemes, he
^
" This party have treated us with great kindness which I shall
long remember." Sources of tlie History of Oregon, p. 165.
444 AT FORT VANCOUVER.

never failed to acknowledge his deep debt to them for their

generosity in the many hours of distress which he experi-
enced while in their country,
Wyeth took leave of Fort Walla Walla October 19th and
reached Fort Vancouver on the morning of the 29th, and a
week later he made a visit to Fort George and the mouth
of the Columbia. Either at Vancouver or George he learned
that his ship had been wrecked at the Society Islands and
that this part of his program had ended in disaster. Upon
his return to Vancouver November 19th, the men unani-
mously asked for their discharge, as it was patent to all of
them that the expedition was a failure and that they would
have to shift for themselves. Wyeth could not of course
refuse, and the little band here dissolved the compact under
which they had made the first continuous journey on record
from Boston to the mouth of the Columbia. " They were
good men," is Wyeth's brief comment in his journal, " and
persevered as long as perseverance would do any good. I
am now afloat on the great sea of life without stay or sup-
^
port."
Wyeth spent the winter with his hospitable entertainers at
Fort Vancouver except for an excursion which he made up
the Willamette river. He accomplished nothing further
than to add to his stock of information. On the 3rd of
February, 1833, he set out for the East in company with
Mr. Ermatinger of the Hudson Bay Company who was
bound for the post among the Flathead Indians. They as-
cended the Columbia to Fort Walla Walla, then struck out
northeast for Spokane House, at that time abandoned and
in ruins, from which point they made a side trip to Fort
Colville. From Spokane they made their way into the
"
Wyeth left Boston with twenty men besides himself He secured
four more at Baltimore. Before he left Independence six deserted. At
Pierre's Hole seven turned back. Wyeth and eleven men went on. At
Vancouver two died, five went home by sea, two remained in the coun-
try and two started back east with Wyeth in the spring of 1833. 0(
these two one was discharged in the Flathead country and the other
apparently completed the journey home.
 WYETH S ARRANGEMENT WITH BONNEVILLE. 445

Flathead country, arriving at the company's fort there on

the 7th of April. From this point Wyeth made a tortuous
journey south, passing across the Divide to the sources of
the Missouri, thence back to the sources of the Salmon river
and thence into the valley of the Godin river and the plains
of Snake river where he could see the Three Buttes to the
south and the Three Tetons far to the southeast. Here he
fell in with Bonneville's clerk, Hodgkiss, and through him

wrote to the Captain under date of June 22, making a propo-

sition for a joint hunt in the country south of the Columbia
as far as to the vicinity of the Spanish settlements in Califor-
nia. Captain Bonneville accepted this proposition and it
was arranged that Wyeth should lead the party. Wyeth
joined Bonneville on the 2nd of July at a point about eight-
een miles east of Henry river and the two remained in
camp here for the next five days. Wyeth employed the 4th
of July in writing numerous letters to parties in the East in
all of which he mentions his arrangement with Bonneville

for the next year's hunt and his intention to go to Califor-

nia. It was a cold, disagreeable day, yet the indefatigable
Wyeth penned no fewer than seven long letters which to-
gether make up eight pages of fine print as they have recently
been given to the world. He presumably wrote also the
copy in his letter-book. It was not a very cheerful outlook
to the brave New Englander, there on the bleak desert,
spending the natal day of his beloved country,'^ But he
was true game and although he confessed that reflections
upon his situation now and then gave him the " blue devils,"
he never relaxed for a moment his energy and determination
to succeed.
But either on the 4th or the following day a complete
^"I hope that today you are better oflf than myself. I hope you are
in peace of mind and content, enjoying with your friends and family the
festivities of the day, and I hope you have a thought, too, of me. Imag-
ine to yourself a fellow seated on the open and extensive prairie beside a
little brook, without fire in freezing weather, and poorly clad in skins
with plenty of poor raw dried buffalo meat, and you see Nat."
Sources of the History of Oregon, p. 65.
446 WYETH STARTS FOR HOME.

change, of which we have not the slightest explanation, came

over Wyeth's plans. He gave up his arrangement with
Bonneville and decided to go directly home. The letters

written the day before, which he was to have sent by Mr.

Cerre, were now unnecessary, and " not sent " is written
across the face of each in the letter-book. Although Wyeth
says that he had furs enough in various caches through the
mountains to pay his expenses thus far, still he does not seem
to have collected them, but started immediately for home,
going by way of the annual rendezvous at the head of Green
river. He set out on the 7th of July, passed the battle
ground of Pierre's Hole on the loth, crossed Snake river the
next day, passed the spot where one of his men was killed
by the Blackfeet the year before, and reached Green river at
Bonneville's fort on the 15th. Here the great gathering of
the mountain parties was already assembled,^ and here
Wyeth received his first letters from home.
The rendezvous broke up about the 25th of July and
the various parties set out via South Pass for the Bighorn
river where they intended to ship their cargoes for St. Louis.
Wyeth's trip in a bullboat from the head of navigation on
the Bighorn to Fort Union at the mouth of the Yellowstone
was full of Incident and has given Irving an opportunity for
one of the best passages in his Captain Bonneville. In
particular the completeness with which Wyeth took the
conceit out of his hunters who professed a keen contempt
for the raw Easterner, and repeatedly excelled them in their
own craft, gave evident satisfaction to the genial author.
Wyeth spent August 12th to i6th making his bullboat, a few
miles above the Little Bighorn. While here he entered
into a contract, August 14th, with Milton Sublette, on be-
'
" Found here collected Captain Walker, Bonneville, Cerry of one
Co., Drips and Fontenelle of the American Fur Co., Mr. Campbell just
from St. Louis, Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Gervais, Milton Sublette of R. M.
F. Co., and in all the companies about three hundred whites and a small
village of Snakes." Sources of the History of Oregon, p. 205.
 AT FORT UNION. 447

half of the Rocky Alountain Fur Company, giving a bond

for its faithful performance, to bring out next year before a
stated time three thousand dollars' worth of merchandise
required by the company for the prosecution of their trade
the following year.
Wyeth set out in his bullboat on the i6th of August,
arriving at Fort Cass on the following day, and at Fort Un-
ion on the 24th where they were entertained for the next
three days by McKenzie ^ " with all possible politeness and
hospitality." Meanwhile Wyeth took careful note of the
fort which he considered to have been " better furnished
than any British fort " which he had seen. Naturally he
did not fail to record his enjoyment of such luxuries as
milk, flour, bread, bacon, cheese, and butter. He also noted
that they used coal and burned lime, and he records with
ominous import, when read in the light of later events, that
" they are beginning to distill spirits from corn traded from

the Indians below, owing to some restriction on the intro-

duction of the article into the country." At Union Wyeth
found the identical powder belonged to More who
flask that
was killed by the Blackfeet the year before. It had been
brought in and traded by the Indians.
Wyeth left the fort at 10:30 A. M. on August 27th in
company with Milton Sublette. Just as they were going
into camp for the night they met William L. Sublette who
had been establishing opposition posts along the river and
was now about to erect one near Fort Union. Here Milton
concluded to remain with his brother, and Wyeth was there-
fore left without any one who had ever descended the river
before. His only comment upon the situation was "I :

can go down stream," and down he started the next morn-

ing. He passed the Mandans September 2nd, Fort Pierre
on the 8th, Council Bluffs on the 21st, Leavenworth on the
27th, St. Louis October 9th and reached Cambridge Novem-
ber 7th. In passing Leavenworth he reported to the gov-
* McKenzie's opinion of Wyeth — "a man of many schemes and con-
siderable talent."
448 ORGANIZES A NEW EXPEDITION.

ernment authorities the fact that McKenzie was running a

whiskey distillery at Fort Union.
With as much energy and enthusiasm as if his last year's
venture had been a brilliant success instead of a total failure,
Wyeth began, on the very day of his return, preparations
for a repetition of his experiment. His report of operations
to Messrs. Henry Hall, Tucker and Williams, and his vari-
ous letters written at this time, furnish some of the most
authentic data now extant upon the fur trade of that period.
No better proof could be found of Wyeth's ability and ener-
gy than the fact that in spite of his failure thus far he was
able to enlist his financial associates in a second and more
extensive enterprise. His contract with M. G. Sublette gave
him a substantial point d'appni in arranging for means to
launch his new expedition. He counted upon it as a starting
point in opening up a carrying trade for parties doing busi-
ness in the m.ountains. He had observed so carefully every-
thing connected with the trade that his minute familiarity
with it all astonished his friends and despite his lack of suc-
cess they resolved to give him one more trial. A
company
was formed under the name of the Columbia River Fishing
and Trading Company. Another ship, the May Dacre, was
outfitted to go round by sea. Milton Sublette came on to
Boston during the winter and with him Wyeth made ar-
rangements to fill his contract for the ensuing season. A
further evidence of the versatility of Wyeth's ambition is
seen in the fact that he found time amid the rush of his busi-
ness to learn how to take latitude and longitude and carried
with him the instruments for making observations.
Having made all the necessary arrangements Wyeth left

Boston on his second expedition February 7th, 1834. and

arrived at St. Louis March 9th where he organized a com-
pany of seventy men, intending to cross the plains with the
parties going to the annual rendezvous. He left St. Louis
on the 3rd of April and arrived at Independence in due time
with all of his party and goods. Here he complains that
" the opposition of the four companies have made me pay a
 ON THE WAY TO RENDEZVOUS. 449

heavy advance on men and high prices for horses." But

Wyeth was now a veteran with the rest of them and he was
able to report to his financial sponsors that "everything is fa-
vorable except that the expense will be greater than has been
calculated."
His present expedition was honored by the presence of
some distinguished travelers. There were two scientists,
Thomas Nuttall and J. K. Townsend, and several mission-
aries under the leadership of Jason and Daniel Lee. Refer-
ring to the latter in a letter dated April 17th, Wyeth says:
" There are none of the dignitaries with me yet, and if they
preach much longer in the States they will lose their passage,
for I will not wait a minute for them." They did, however,
arrive in time and the united parties set out on their long
journey on the 28th of April, 1834.
On the 8th of May Milton G. Sublette was compelled to
abandon the expedition on account of sickness. On the 12th
William L. Sublette with his expedition passed Wyeth.
These two events, unimportant in themselves, had deep
meaning for Wyeth, who already, no doubt, began to fear
the machinations of the elder Sublette and to suspect that
with both Milton and himself absent from rendezvous when
Sublette arrived his own would receive scant con-
interests
sideration. He sent a letter by Sublette to Fitzpatrick no-
tifying him of his early approach with goods in compliance
with his contract.
The journey across the plains was a pleasant and success-
ful one. On the ist of June the party crossed Laramie river
and found some of Sublette's men engaged in building a
post there, the first ever erected in triat locality, where later

stood the most important military fort of the plains. Inde-

pendence Rock was passed on the morning of the 9th and
from an inscription left by Sublette it was learned that he
had passed there three days before. This day Wyeth sent
an express to Fitzpatrick notifying him of his near approach.
South Pass was crossed June 14th and the party proceeded
by rapid marches down the Big Sandy. The following
45© CONTRACT REPUDIATED.

entry in Wyeth's journal for June 19th describes the close

of his journey to the rendezvous: " On the night of the
17th I left camp to hunt Fitzpatrick and slept on the prairie.

In the morning struck Green river and went down to the

forks and finding nothing went up again and found rendez-
vous about twelve miles up, and much to my astonishment
the goods which I had contracted to bring up to the Rocky
Mountain Fur Company were refused by those honorable
gentlemen. Latitude 41 degrees 30 minutes."
Thus Wyeth's worst fears were realized. The merchan-
dise which he had was refused.
transported across the prairie
The absence of Milton G. Sublette and the early arrival at
rendezvous of William L. had enabled the latter to induce
the Rocky Mountain Fur Company to refuse to stand by the
contract. In fact affairs in the mountains had taken on a
dismal aspect. Between mutual quarrelings and attacks by
the Indians none of the companies had made more than
enough to pay off their men. The Rocky Mountain Fur
Company was on the point of dissolution, and was dissolved
on the 20th of June, and the new firm of Fitzpatrick, Sub-
lette and Bridger was formed. These gloomy prospects no
doubt had their weight with Fitzpatrick, of whom Wyeth
thus writes to Milton Sublette under date of July ist: "I
do not accuse you or him of any intention of injuring me in
this manner when you made the contract, but I think he
has been bribed to sacrifice my interests by better offers from
your brother."
As for Wyeth the most he received was an advance of five
hundred dollars which he had made to Milton G. Sublette
at Independence, and the " forfeit," whatever that might
have been, which the Rocky Mountain Fur Company was
obligated to pay but they refused " even to pay the interest
;

on cash advances for there is no law here." Wyeth was

highly indignant at this thoroughly dishonest treatment and
he is said to have told Fitzpatrick and Sublette that he would
yet " roll a stone into their garden which they would never
be able to get out." His first movement was a practical
 1

ESTABLISHMENT OF FORT HALL. 45

fulfillment of his threat. Finding himself encumbered with

a quantity of goods which he had expected to be rid of at
Green river, some new arrangement became immediately-
necessary. With characteristic promptness Wyeth decided
to build a fort as soon as he should reach Snake river, and

leave there a trader with his surplus goods. With 126

horses, forty-one men and his outfit of merchandise he left
camp on Ham's Fork ^^ July 3rd, and set out for Snake
river. The 4th of July he spent in camp on Twin creek,
a branch of Bear river, where he gave the men a celebra-
tion,^^ in company with Cerre and Walker, who were going
east with Bonneville's returns. Wyeth reached the Soda
Springs on Bear river July 8th and then started across the
country for Snake river. On the loth he passed Bonneville
who was exerting himself to keep out of his way. He
reached Snake river on the 14th and selected a site for his
post the next day. Its erection was commenced on the i6th
and by the 5th of August was so far progressed that Wyeth
felt that he could proceed on his journey. His entry in his
diary for August 6th is " Having done as much as was
:

requisite for safety to the fort and drank a bale of liquor and
named it Fort Hall ^^ in honor of the oldest partner of our
concern, we left it and with it Mr. Evans in charge of eleven
men and fourteen horses and mules and three cows." This
" There is no little confusion as to the precise location of this year's
rendezvous, but from Wyeth's Journal it seems to have been about 12

miles above the mouth of the Big Sandy in the valley of Green river.
The however, did not remain here but moved over to Ham's
parties,
Fork, a short day's march, on the 19th. It was here that all of Wyeth's
correspondence at this time was dated, and here were signed the con-
tracts for the dissolution of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and
the organization of its successor.
"
" I gave the men too much alcohol for peace and took a pretty
hearty spree myself." Wyeth's Journal.
""Since mine of June 21st from Ham's Fork I have, as I then pro-
posed, built a fort on Snake or Lewis river in Lat. 43 deg. 14 min. N.
and Long. 113 deg. 30 min. W. which I named Fort Hall in honor of
the oldest gentleman in the concern. We manufactured a magnificent
flag from some unbleached sheeting, a littlered flannel and a few blue
452 OPERATIONS ON THE COLUMBIA.

was the stone which Wyeth rolled into the garden of the
mountain traders and which they never succeeded in rolling
out.
Wyeth having crossed the Snake river made his way over
the lava plain to the Boise river and down that stream to
the Snake which he forded on the 23rd of August. He ar-
rived at the Grande Ronde August 31st and found Captain
Bonneville there. Resuming his route he reached Fort
Walla Walla September 2nd and Fort Vancouver on the
14th of that month. The next day the brig May Dacre
arrived and Wyeth learned that she had been struck by
lightning on her way out and had been compelled to put into
Valparaiso for repairs at a loss of three months' time. This
made her too late for the fishing season and thus another
move Wyeth's combination had failed. The vessel was
in
retained winter and was sent to the Sandwich Islands
till

with a load of " timber and card " returning in the spring
with cattle, sheep, goats, hogs, etc.

During the autumn and winter Wyeth pushed his business

with almost incredible energy. He personally explored the
Willamette valley as far as to the falls of that river. He
sent Captain Thing of the May Dacre with eight of his men
and thirteen Sandwich Islanders to Fort Hall with an outfit
of supplies. He himself conducted an extensive trapping
expedition along the Des Chutes river going as far as its
sources in central Oregon. While on this expedition he was
on the lookout for some deserters whom he supposed to
have gone in that direction. He also established a trading
post on Wappatoo Island near the mouth of the Willamette,

patches ; with damaged powder and wet it in villainous

saluted it

alcohol, and it makes, I do assure you, a very respectable ap-

after all
pearance among the dry and desolate regions of central Ainerica. Its
bastions stand a terror to the skulking Indian and a beacon of safety
to the fugitive hunter. It is manned by 12 men and has constantly
loaded in the bastions 100 guns and rifles. These bastions command
both the inside and outside of the fort." Wyeth to Leonard Jarvis
dated Columbia river October 6, 1834. Wyeth's second post was Fort
William on Wappatoo Island. He contemplated building a third near
Great Salt Lake.
 FAILURE OF ENTERPRISE. 453

which he named Fort WilHam, presumably for another

member of the Boston firm of Henry Hall and Tucker and
Williams. 13
Wyeth's indomitable pluck won for him the admiration of
every one and particularly of the philanthropic Hudson Bay
Company factor at Fort Vancouver, the venerable Dr. John
McLoughlin. These two men formed an earnest and last-
ing attachment for each other with which the necessities
of business competition were never permitted to interfere.
But in spite of Wyeth's herculean efforts his business did
not prosper. His British friends, though kind and hospi-
table to a degree, could not, of course, aid him in his schemes
of commercial rivalry, and gradually, yet surely, he saw the
fabric of his hopes crumble to ruin. The salmon business
did not develop as was expected. Fourteen of his men were
lost within a year by drowning or at the hands of the In-
dians. All the rest had suffered much from sickness, and
Wyeth himself, after almost incredible sufferings, was seized
with bilious fever late in the summer of 1835 and very nearly
perished. His situation at the time may best be told in
the words of a friendly eye witness. Townsend the natural-
ist in his journal of July 11, 1835, says: " It really seems
Columbia River Fishing and Trading Company
'

that the *

is devoted to destruction; disasters meet them at every

turn, and as yet none of their schemes have prospered. This
has not been for want of energy or exertion. Captain Wy-
eth has pursued the plans which to him seemed best adapted
for ensuring success, with the most indefatigable persever-
ance and industry, and has endured hardships without mur-
muring which would have prostrated many a more robust
man. Nevertheless he has not succeeded."
" To Wyeth's great astonishment, upon his return to Vancouver from
this expedition he found Hall J. Kelley, who had at length reached the
land of his long years of dreaming. But he had arrived forlorn and
discredited, having come up from California by land, and, it was said,
having been a party to a theft of horses. On this account, says Wyeth,
he " is not received at the fort as a gentleman. A house is given him
and food is sent him from the governor's table but he is not suffered
to mess here."
454 GLAD TO GO DOWN WITH THE SUN.

Farnham Western Prairies likewise

in his Travels in the
speaks enthusiastically of Wyeth's management. " From
what I saw and heard of Wyeth's management in Oregon
I was impressed with the belief that he was, beyond com-
parison, the most talented business man from the States that
ever established himself in the territory." But, according
to this same authority, the causes of his failure were not
hard to find. " In pursuance of the avowed doctrine of that
company [the Hudson Bay] that no others have a right to
trade in furs beyond the Rocky mountains, whilst the use of
capital and their incomparable skill and perseverance can
prevent it, they established a fort near him [referring here to
Fort Hall], preceded him, followed him, surrounded him
everywhere and cut the throat of his prosperity with such
kindness and politeness that Wyeth was induced to sell
his whole interest, existent and prospective, in Oregon, to
his generous, but too indefatigable, skilful and powerful
antagonist."
In language almost pathetic Wyeth himself, on one occa-
sion where his misfortunes had gotten the better of his
feelings, thus unbosoms himself in a letter to his uncle,
Leonard Jarvis " I am surrounded with difficulties be-
:

yond any former period of my life and without the health

and spirit to support them. In this situation you can judge
if memory brings to me the warnings of those wiser and

older who advised a course which would at least have re-

sulted in quietness. Yes, memory lends its powers for tor-
ment. A few days ago she told a tale which carried me back
to early life, led me through the varying shades of days
and years, while at every step the tale grew darker and at
last delivered me to the horrors of the present time. What
at that moment they were you may imagine — a business
scattered over half the deserts of the earth, and myself
a powerless lump of matter in the extremity of mortal pain
with little hope of surviving a day and if ; it could have iDeen

said, *
he never existed, glad to go down
'
with that sun."
Having now given up all hope of successfully continuing
 FAILURE BUT NOT DISHONOR. 455

the business Wyeth turned his thoughts to the matter of

closing out as advantageously as possible.
it He went to
Fort Hall in the fall of 1835 and remained there during the
winter. Returning to Fort William in the spring he placed
it Mr. C. M. Walker with directions to lease it
in charge of a
for fifteen years he could, and then went back to Fort Hall
if

where he arrived on the i8th of June. A week later he left

for the east by way of Taos and the Arkansas river and
reached home early in the autumn of 1836. In the follow-
ing year Fort Hall and all its appurtenances w^ere sold to the
Hudson Bay Company. Fort William was not disposed
of, and Wyeth's possession of the island became the founda-
tion of a claim for it at a later date under United States
laws.
Thus ended in failure, but not dishonor, one of the cele-
brated enterprises of the American Fur Trade. The causes
of its and may all be summed
failure are plainly apparent,
up want of adequate preparation, and in the apathy of
in
the United States government to its true interests on the
Pacific. Wyeth's enterprise was not unlike Astor's, but was
undertaken at a time when the great company which had
worsted Astor was firmly established in all the valley of the
Columbia. If the unlimited resources of Mr. Astor could
not succeed where he had at least an even chance with his
rivals, how little could Wyeth expect success against the
same rivals now and for twenty years in
firmly established
possession of the country. Nothing could have prevented
his failure except heavy financial backing which could have
held out through months and perhaps years of preliminary
failure. This backing Wyeth did not have. " The busi-
ness I am in must be closed," he wrote to his old partner in
the ice business, " not that it might not be made a good one,
but that those who are now engaged in it are not the men
to make it so. The smallest loss makes them fly the han- *

dle and such men can rarely succeed in a new business."

'
It
was no dishonor to Wyeth that he failed. His plans were in
themselves well conceived, no less so than those of Astor, but
456 wyeth's journal.

success in both cases unfortunately depended upon questions

of an international character over which private individuals
had no control. ^^
" Wyeth's journal and letter books, which were kept with extraordi-
nary fullness and regularity, even amid the difficulties of his long over-
land journeys, are an invaluable store of information concerning the
fur trade between 1830 and 1840. They have recently been published
by the Historical Society of Oregon under the title of Sources of the
History of Oregon. It is interesting to know that Irving had access
to these documents during his preparation of the history of Captain
Bonneville's adventures.
 CHAPTER XXVI.
THE OREGON TRAIL.

The Astorians and the Oregon — Work of the Rocky Moun-

Trail
tainFur Company —
Recovery of — The Trail a national
the old line
road — character as a highway — Impression upon the Indians —
Its
The Trail as a memorial — Reoccupation of the Trail — Itinerary of the
Trail — Independence and Westport — Brady Island — Scott's Bluffs —
Laramie river — Sweetwater river — Independence Rock — The Devil's
Gate — South Pass — Fort Bridger — Sublette's Cutoff — Soda Springs
— Portneuf river — Fort Hall — Fort Boise — The Grande Rondc —
The Columbia river — Fort Vancouver.

^T HE course of our narrative thus far has indicated pretty

^•^ definitely the development of a general route of travel
across the plains and over the Rocky mountains. The go-
ings and comings of the trappers and traders had gradually
connected the more feasible crossings of the mountains and
deserts until by 1843 there was a well-defined continuous
route from the Missouri river at the mouth of the Kansas
to the Pacific ocean at the mouth of the Columbia. It is
known in Western history as the Oregon Trail.
1 he history of the Oregon Trail begins with the Astorian
expeditions of 1811-1813. In their outward journey Hunt
and Crooks followed the line of the Trail approximately
from the mouth of the Portneuf where Fort Hall later stood
to the mouth of the Columbia. Stuart and Crooks, on their
return journey, after reaching the mouth of the Portneuf,
followed the subsequent route across to Bear river and up
this stream to the mouth of Thompson Fork. At this point
they left the river and made their wide and senseless detour
to the north in order to get back to Hunt's outgoing route
of the previous year. They again touched the Trail a few
458 DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRAIL.

:;i!f's west of South Pass, but instead of turning east into

pass, they went some distance south and then turned
o^v';!., paralleling the Trail for about one hundred miles.
Finally turning north they came again on the Trail in the
Sweetwater valley at no great distance above the Devil's
Gate. From this point eastward to Grand Island in the val-
ley of the Platte they were on the line of the Trail; but
they continued down the Platte to the Missouri, whereas
the Trail, as it later developed, crossed the country from
Grand Island to themouth of the Kansas. The Astorians
thus traveled, on their two expeditions, nearly the whole
course of the Oregon Trail. They also published an ac-
count of their journey in which they pronounced the route
entirely practicable, even for wagons.^
The next step in the development of the Trail may be
traced to the parties of General Ashley. South Pass was
discovered, probably in the fallof 1823, and" certainly not
later than 1824. The line of the Sweetwater valley was
opened up at the same time, as was also the route from
South Pass to Bear river. In 1826 Jedediah S. Smith con-
nected this route with Southern California by another ex-
tending from Great Salt Lake to the Colorado river and
thence across the Mojave desert to the Spanish settlements.
In the following year he opened the route between San Fran-
cisco and Great Salt Lake across the Sierra Nevada moun-
tains. Between 1832 and 1836 the parties of Bonneville
and Wyeth passed repeatedly over all parts of the Trail,
while Walker crossed from Great Salt Lake to the Pacific.
The portion of the route between Independence, Mo., and
Grand Island on the Platte came into use at an early day, but
* In
a strict sense the Oregon Trail, and all the other early routes
of travel, were opened up by the Indians to whom they had been
known from time immemorial. These people did simply what any other
people would do, what even the wild beasts do, they crossed the country
by those routes which ofifered the fewest obstacles to travel. And so
it came about that all these early routes of travel, which became so

prominent in later times, were occupied by Indian trails when the white
man first passed along them.
 RECOVERY OF THE TRAIL. 459

there Is no record as to when or by whom it was opened up.

While Independence was the usual starting place, parties
frequently left the Missouri at Fort Leavenwoith, St. J~
seph, and Council Bluffs.
At the period with which this sketch closes, the Oregon
Trail existed in its simple primary condition without any
of the modification of later times. As travel increased with
the inflow of emigrants numerous short-cuts were intro-
duced here and there, while in some places the road became
so worn that new locations were necessary, and thus from
one cause or another there came to be several parallel lines
over many portions of the route. Sometimes they were but
a few hundred feet from each other; and again they were
separated by many'^Hiiles of distance and occasionally by
rivers and mountains. In 1843 none of these modifications
had been made, and the route as here given is the original
line as it first came into general use. There are fortunately
several good descriptions of the Trail dating from about this
time. Fremont began his explorations in 1842. Joel
Palmer has left a minute distance table and description of the
route as he saw it in 1845. Major Howard Stansbury made
an official report upon it from his exploration in 1849 ^^ far
as Salt Lake valley. The data for recovering the Trail
within approximate limits are therefore ample.
We say " approximate limits " advisedly, for it would
be indeed a difficult matter to lay down the old line with
minute precision. The changes wrought by the settlement
of the country have been too great. The land surveys with
their rectangular divisions have forced the highways out of
their natural course and in many places the old road has
long since been plowed up and turned into cultivated ground.
The advent of railroads wrought an immense change in the
location of names. Although many of the old Trail names
survive, the towns which they denote are rarely located
where the names used to apply. They have probably gone
to the nearest railway station which may be several miles
away. From causes like these the old Trail has become
460 A NATIONAL ROAD.

totally obliterated and its most of

precise location lost over
that portion between Independence on the Missouri and
Grand Island on the Platte. Over the rest of the route
with few exceptions the location is precisely known, for it
lay in river valleys and along streams most of the way. In
some places the old road is still visible.
This wonderful highway was in the broadest sense a
national road, although not surveyed or built under the
auspices of the government. It was the route of a national
movement — the migration of a people seeking to avail itself
of opportunities which have come but rarely in the history
of the world, and which will never come again. It was a
route, every mile of which has been the scene of hardship
and suffering, yet of high purpose and stern determination.
Only on the steppes of Siberia can so long a highway be
found over which traffic has moved by a continuous journey
from one end to the other. Even in Siberia there are occa-
sional settlements along the route, but on the Oregon Trail
in 1843 the traveler saw no evidence of civilized habitation
except four trading posts, between Independence and Fort
Vancouver.
As a highway of travel the Oregon Trail is the most re-
markable known to history. Considering the fact that it
originated with the spontaneous use of travelers; that no
transit ever located a foot of it; that no level established
its grades; that no engineer sought out the fords or built

any bridges or surveyed the mountain passes that there was

;

no grading to speak of nor any attempt at metalling the

road-bed ; and the general good quality of this two thou-
sand miles of highway will seem most extraordinary.
Father De Smet, who was born in Belgium, the home of
good roads, pronounced the Oregon Trail one of the finest
highways in the world. At the proper season of the year
this was undoubtedly true. Before the prairies became too
dry, the natural turf formed the best roadway for horses to
travel on that has probably ever been known. It was am-

ply hard to sustain traffic, yet soft enough to be easier to the

 IMPRESSION ON THE INDIANS. 461

feet than even the most perfect asphalt pavement. Over

such roads, winding ribbon-Hke through the verdant
prairies, amid the profusion of spring flowers, with grass
SO plentiful that the animals reveled in abundance, and
its

game everywhere greeted the hunter's finally, with

rifle, and
pure water in the streams, the traveler sped his way with a
feeling of joy and exhilaration. But not so when the prai-
ries became dry and parched, the road filled with stifling
dust, the stream-beds mere dry ravines, or carrying only
alkaline water which could not be used, the game all gone to
more hospitable sections, and the summer sun pouring down
its heat with torrid intensity. It was then that the Trail
became a highway of desolation, strewn with aban-
doned property, the skeletons of horses, mules, and
oxen, and, alas ! too often, with freshly-made mounds
and head-boards that told the pitiful tale of sufferings too
great to be endured. If the Trail was the scene of romance,
adventure, pleasure, and excitement, so it was marked in
every mile of its course by human misery, tragedy, and
death.
The immense travel which in later years passed over
the Trail carved it into a deep furrow, often with several
parallel tracks making a total width of a hundred feet or
more. It was an astonishing spectacle even to white men
when seen for the first time. Captain Raynolds, of the
Corps of Engineers, United States Army, tells a good story
on himself in this connection. In the fall of 1859 he came
south from the Yellowstone river along the eastern base of
the Bighorn mountains and struck the Trail somewhere
above the first ford of the North Platte. Before reaching it
he innocently asked his guide, Bridger, if there was any
danger of their crossing the Trail without seeing it!
Bridger answered him with only a look of contemptuous
amazement.
It may be easily imagined how great an impression the

sight of this road must have made upon the minds of the
Indians. Father De Smet has recorded some interesting
462 A NATIONAL MEMORIAL,

observations upon this point. In 1851 he traveled in com-

pany with a large number of Indians from the Missouri
and Yellowstone rivers to Fort Laramie, where a great
council was held in that year to form treaties with the
several tribes. Most of these Indians had not been in that
section before, and were quite unprepared for what they
saw. "
Our Indian companions," says Father De Smet,
*'
who had never seen but the narrow hunting-paths by
which they transport themselves and their lodges, were
filled with admiration on seeing this noble highway, which

is as smooth as a barn floor swept by the winds, and not a

blade of grass can shoot up on it on account of the con-

tinual passing. They conceived a high idea of the count-
less White Nation, as they express it. They fancied that
all had gone over that road, and that an immense void must
exist in the land of the rising sun. Their countenances tes-
tified evident incredulity when I told them that their exit was
in nowise perceived in the land of the whites. They styled
the route the Great Medicine Road
of the Whites."
Over much of its length the Trail is now abandoned, but
in many not yet effaced from the soil, and may
places it is

not be for centuries. There are few more Impressive sights

than portions of this old highway today. It still lies there
upon the prairie, deserted by the traveler, an everlasting me-
morial of the human tide which once filled it to overflowing.
Nature herself has helped to perpetuate this memorial, for
the prairie winds, year by year, carve the furrow more
deeply, and the wild sunflower blossoms along its course, as
if in silent memory of those who sank beneath its burdens.
But if the Trail, as a continuous highway of travel, has
ceased to exist, the time will come, we may confidently
believe, when it willbe reoccupied, never to be abandoned
again. It is so occupied at the present time over a large
portion of its length. Railroads practically follow the old
line from Independence to Caspar, Wyo., some fifty miles
east of Independence Rock and from Bear river on the
;

Utah- Wyoming line to the mouth of the Columbia. The

 INDEPENDENCE AND WESTPORT. 463

time is not distant when the intermediate space will be occu-

pied, and possibly a continuous and unbroken movement of
trains over the entire line may some day follow. In a
future still more remote there may be realized a project
which is even now being agitated, of building a magnificent
national road along this line as a memorial highway which
shall serve the future and commemorate the past.
The Oregon Trail and the Santa Fe Trail were considered
as starting from the vicinity of the mouth ot the Kansas
river. Although the real starting point was St. Louis, the
journey from that city to the Kansas was generally made by
steamboat. But at the latter point the course of the
Missouri turned very nearly due north and no longer lay in
a direction to accommodate those who were going either to
Santa Fe or to the Columbia. It therefore became necessary
to abandon the boats here and organize land expeditions.
Two towns grew up as a consequence of this outfitting trade
— Independence and IVestport, progenitors of the present
Kansas City, Independence was the older of the two towns.
In 1825 the Osage title to the western strip of the State of
Missouri v/as extinguished and settlement began to pour
into this territory. The town site of Independence was
located on the 29th of March, 1827. Its early growth was
largely due to the Santa Fe trade. Previously to the found-
ing of Independence the Santa Fe expeditions had mostly
started from Franklin. Missouri, but now began to outfit at
the point where their route finally left the river. Later
the Rocky mountain and Columbia expeditions came to
start from the same point and a thriving business was
developed in making up the various outfits. Shops were
necessary for the repair of wagons and the shoeing of
horses. Warehouses containing all kinds of supplies,
markets for the sale~ofiTor«es and mules, and establishments
of all sorts suited to the caravan trade of the prairies, made
their appearance.
The rise of Westport so close to Independence was due
to the caprices of the Missouri river. That erratic stream
 :

464 OREGON AND SANTA FE TRAILS.

destroyed the steamboat landing of Independence. Farther

up stream there was a stable bank and here the steamboats
went. The place was
Westport landing, and was the
called
true beginning of the future Kansas City. Westport itself
was back some distance from the landing. It was laid out
in 1833 and grew rapidly, diverting much of the trade from
Independence. The growth of the latter town was more-
over much retarded by the Mormon agitation which raged
so fiercely there for a number of years.
The
early life of both of these towns depended almost en-
tirelyupon the trade along the Oregon and Santa Fe trails,
and that with the numerous tribes of Indians located in the
surrounding country. Both were outstripped at a later date
by Kansas City, which was laid out in 1838. Westport has
long since been absorbed by that city, but the older town
still retains its independence.^
Leaving Independence the route followed the old Santa
Fe Trail for about two days' journey, the points of interest
occurring as follows
Elm Grove, Round Grove, or Caravan Grove, as it was
variously called, 33 ^ miles a good camping ground.
;

" Here stood a venerable elm tree that must have seen many

ages." (Wislizenus.)
Junction of Oregon and Santa Fe Trails, 41 miles. The
Santa Fe Trail being first established, a sign board was later
set up to show where the Oregon Trail branched off. It

bore the simple legend " Road to Oregon," and, as Wisli-

zenus pertinently remarks, " to Japan, China, and the East
Indies might have been added." Surely so unostentatious
a sign never before nor since announced so long a journey.
This point was a little northwest of the present town of
'The data for this account of Independence and Westport were de-
rived from Messrs. John McCoy of Independence and Phil E. Chappell
and J. S. Chick of Kansas City.
*
The distances here given are from Independence. They are close
approximations. Authorities for distances are mainly Fremont, Stans-
bury, Joel Palmer, and the late R. R. surveys.
 ALONG THE LITTLE BLUE. 465

Gardner, Kansas, the route having already passed near the

modern villages of Glenn and Olathe.
Wakarusa Creek, 53 miles. The crossing was not far
from where the railroad running south from Lawrence,
Kansas, now crosses the stream. The Trail then followed
for a considerable distance the divide between the Wakarusa
and the Kansas.
Kansas River, 81 miles. The principal crossing was at
Papin's Ferry, where Topeka, Kansas, now stands. There
were two other crossings five and ten miles above.
Turkey Creek, 95 miles. This stream is now marked as
Cross Creek on the U. S. Land Office map, and the ford was
in the neighborhood of the present Rossville.
Little Vermilion, 119 miles. Noted on some modern
maps as Red Vermilion. This point is in the vicinity of
Louisville, Kansas.
Big Vermilion, 160 miles. Now known as the Black
Vermilion, a tributary of the Big Blue. The crossing was
in the vicinity of the modern Bigelow, Kansas, and near
here the road from Leavenworth came in.

Big Blue, 174 miles. The ford was near the mouth of the
Little Blue. Eight miles beyond the Big Blue the road from
St. Joseph came in. The junction was near Ballard Falls as
given on the Land Office maps. Distance from St. Joseph
about 100 miles; from Leavenworth about 164 miles.
Wyeth's Creek, 208 miles. A
small stream but an impor-
tant name.
Big Sandy, 226 miles, near its junction with the Little
Blue. The course of the Trail since the last station has been
along the Little Blue. The Kansas-Nebraska line is crossed
near the 97th meridian.
Little Blue, 242 miles. From the mouth of the Big
Sandy the Trail chords a bend of the Little Blue and
strikes the stream a few miles northwest of Hebron,
Nebraska,
Head of Little Blue, 296 miles. The Trail left the Little
Blue not far from Leroy, Nebraska.
466 BRADY ISLAND.

The Platte River, 316 miles. The Trail reached the

Platte about twenty miles below the head of Grand Island.
Upon approaching the Platte the traveler came upon a range
of low hills built up by the winds from the drifting sands of
the valley. These hills were known in the nomenclature of
the Trail as the Coasts of the Platte.
The Trail now lay up the immediate valley of the Platte
to the junction of the North and South Forks. There is no
feature of importance en route unless it be Brady Island,
which received its name from a lamentable affair in the early
days. The by Rufus Sage runs thus In 1833
story as told :

a party of trappers was descending the Platte in a boat

laden with furs. Brady and a companion had quarreled a
good deal en route and were very bitter toward each other.
While in camp on this island the other members of the party
went out to hunt, leaving Brady and his enemy to guard the
boat. Upon their return they found Brady dead, having
been killed, according to his companion's statement, by the
accidental discharge of his own gun. The party doubted
the truth of the story but could not disprove it. They
resumed burying Brady, but were soon
their journey after
compelled by the water to take to the shore.
shallow
Becoming destitute of provisions they separated and started
for the settlements, each man by himself. The night after
the separation the suspected murderer was trying to light a
fireby the discharge of his pistol in order to drive off mos-
quitoes, when in some way he discharged it into his own
thigh, inflicting a dangerous wound. He lay there in
agony for six days, when he was found by some Pawnee
Indians and taken to the lodge of a chief. Here he lingered
for a few days and died. Before he died he confessed to
the murder of Brady.
Lower Ford of the South Platte, 433 miles. This car-
ried the traveler into the long and slender tongue of land
which lies between the north and south forks of the Platte.
After crossing, the road kept up the north bank of the
South Fork for a considerable distance, and then turning
 CHIMNEY ROCK. 467

to the northwest, reached the North Fork near the mouth

of Ash creek. Travelers more generally, however, crossed
the South Fork at the
Upper Ford of the South Platte, 493 miles. At this
point the road to the trading posts near the headwaters of
the South Platte left the Trail and continued up the south
bank of the river. This road also led to the headwaters
of the Arkansas, to Bent's Fort, and to Taos and Santa Fe.
Ash Creek, or Ash Hollozv, 513 miles. It was here that
the Trail touched the North Fork.
Court House Rock, 555 miles. The Trail is now passing
through a section of country where the rocks have been
worn into a great variety of fantastic forms, some of which
were given names by the earliest explorers which they retain
to this day. Gonneville Creek, near which Court House
Rock stands, was the name properly applied to what is now
Pumpkin creek. It was named for a trapper who was
by the Indians in the early thirties.
killed there
Chimney Rock, 571 miles. This formation was one of
the well-known landmarks of the Trail. It was a cylindri-

cal tower of rock rising from the top of a conical hill.

Authorities vary as to its height. Rufus Sage gives it
(1841) as three hundred feet for the hill and two hundred

feet for the tower. All observers agree that the tower has
diminished greatly in height since it was first seen by
white men. Sage says that when he saw it the loss since
1 83 1 amounted to about fifty feet, which led him to rumi-
nate upon what its height must have been no longer ago than
" a couple of centuries " !

Scott's Bluffs, 616 miles. After leaving Chimney Rock

and proceeding about fifteen miles the Trail bore away
from the river, returning to it in the neighborhood of
Scott's BlufTs. The whole distance was full of interest
owing to the fantastic and wonderful forms of the rocks
already alluded to.

The name, from one of the most

Scott's BlufTs, arose
melancholy incidents in the history of the fur trade. The
468 scott's bluffs.

story has been often and variously told, but the most com-
plete account is that given by Irving in his Captain Bon-
neville. It appears that a party of trappers was descend-
ing from the upper Platte in canoes, when their boat was
upset in some rapids above the Laramie river, and all their
powder was spoiled and their provisions lost. Deprived of
the means both of sustenance and defense their plight was a
desperate one. To add to their misfortune one of the party
by the name of Scott fell seriously ill at Laramie Fork and
was unable to proceed. His companions were in great dis-
tress to know what to do, when some of their number came
upon a fresh trail of white men leading down the river. It
was of the last importance to overtake this party and share
their protection. But Scott could not move. In this
dilemma the other members of the party, absenting them-
selves on the plea of securing food, deliberately deserted
Scott and made haste to overtake the advance party. In this
they succeeded, but instead of returning for the sick man,
they represented that he had died of disease. Nothing
further was thought of it at the time. In the following year
some of the members of the party, returning with others to
the mountains, came upon a human skeleton in the vicinity of
Scott's Bluffs. It proved to be the remains of Scott, and it
was clear that the wretched man had crawled this immense
distance of upwards of forty miles before death overtook
him. How the above facts came to light is not known, for
it would seem that nothing short of a deathbed confession
could wrest the truth from men guilty of so base a desertion.
By some accounts Scott is mentioned as a trader, and by
one as the leader of the party. The name is occasionally
seen in the early correspondence and it is quite probable that
he was a man of some standing in the mountains. Just
when the event happened is likewise uncertain, but probably
as early as 1830. Irving, narrating Bonneville's journey
in 1832, speaks of it as having taken place " a number of
years " before.^
*
Ferris, Life in the Rocky Mountains, says Scott was a clerk in the
Am. F. Co. returning from the mountains and that he fell ill and the
 LARAMIE RIVER. 469

Horse Creek, 630 miles.

Laramie River, at Fort John or Laramie, 667 miles.
Laramie river takes its name from a trapper by the name
of Larame, Joseph Laramee, as one writer gives it, who lost
his life on the stream in 1821. The name was a frequent
one among the voyageurs, and is often met with in the
American Fur Company correspondence.
The confluence of the Laramie and the Platte was a point
of great importance in the history of the Trail. The route
here left the plains and entered the mountainous country.
The next point where repairs could be made or supplies pro-
cured, was Fort Bridger, 394 miles beyond. There was
always a stop of some duration at Fort Laramie, a general
overhauling and rearrangement of cargoes, and a much-
needed respite from the continuous strain of daily travel.
It was here too that the American Fur Company connection
with Fort Pierre and the Missouri river came in.
The Trail from Council Bluffs, which was much used,
held to the north bank of the Platte until above the mouth
of the Laramie, when it made the crossing.
Upon leaving the Laramie the Trail continued up the
valley of the North although the rugged character of
Platte,
the country often forced back a considerable distance from
it

the stream. In fact it at once passed on to the plateau

between the Platte and the Laramie and did not follow the
immediate bank of the river for a considerable distance.
The first important point was
Big Spring, 680 miles. This spring was also called
Warm Spring. It was in the valley of a " dry " stream
about three miles from the Platte. Five miles beyond this

leader of the party was compelled to leave him in order to push on

and overhaul another party. The leader agreed to wait at these bluffs
until Scott should come along. He left Scott with two men to be
brought down in a bullboat, but the boat was soon wrecked and lost
with everything in it, even the arms and ammunition. The two men
then forsook their companion and overtook the main party several days
later. The leader had not stopped where he agreed. Scott's bones
were found the following spring near the agreed place of waiting.
470 ALONG THE NORTH PLATTE.

the road forked and there were two roads for a distance.
The first point of interest on the right hand road was
Bitter Cottonivood Creek,690 miles. So
from a called
species of poplar which Fremont calls Hard amere. He
called the creek Fourche Amcre.
Horse Shoe Creek, 704 miles. This was a considerable
stream with good timber and pasturage. The Trail is three
miles from the river.
From Horse Shoe Creek the road bore toward the river
w^hich was reached in a distance of eight miles and was fol-
lowed for eight miles more. This part of the route was
through the beautiful lower Platte canon, where the Chey-
enne and Northern Railroad now runs.
La Bontc Creek, 733 miles. The left hand branch of the
road rejoined the main line between this and
Wagon-hound Creek, 736 miles. The distance by the
two roads was about the same.
La Prcle Creek, 752 miles, not known in that day ( 1843)
by its present name. The road is some distance back from
the river, but touches banks twelve miles bevond.
its

Deer Creek, 769 This is the largest tributary of

miles.
the Platte since leaving the Laramie. It was an important

camping place on the Trail during the whole emigration

period. A ferry over the Platte was later established just
above this point.
Ford of the Platte, This was the best ford on
794 miles.
this part of the river, and was a
above the present vil-
little

lage of Caspar, Wyoming. In later years a road w^as much

used along the right or south bank of the river to opposite
the mouth of Poison Spider creek, but it was not used in
the earlier history of the Trail.
Red Near Red l^>uttes.
Spring, 802 miles.
Poison Spider Creek, 807 miles. The road is now a little
back from the river and here leaves it altogether, crossing
the angle between the Platte and the Sweetwater. It passes

here, although not within sight, one of the finest canons in

the world, where the river cuts through mountains of red
sandstone. This was the Fiery Narrows of the Astorians,
 1

INDEPENDENCE ROCK. 47

and it was here that Fremont was shipwrecked in trying to

pass with a canoe in 1842. The valley of the Platte here
turns squarely to the south, and the main river finds its
source afar off in the North Park of Colorado. The river
is no longer followed by the Trail which continues west-

ward.
Independence Rock, 838 miles. This is another impor-
tant point in the journey, for it introduces the traveler into
the beautiful valley of the Sweetwater river. The name of
thisstream dates from the period of Ashley's expeditions.
A fitting explanation of its origin might easily be given
even in the absence of any historic data. The water in the
adjacent country for many miles around was so impregnated
with alkaline salts as to be unfit to drink. The thirsty
traveler, coming suddenly upon this stream of pure moun-
tain water, would very naturally by contrast call it the
Sweetwater. But the French name, which was the first
given, was not Eau Douce, but Eau Sucree, sugared water,
and arose, according to Ferris, from the fact that in the very
early years, certainly before 1830, a pack mule laden with
sugar was lost in the stream.
Independence Rock was a famous landmark. It is an
immense oblong block of oval, but irregular shape, along
the southern base of which lay the river and along the
northern base the old Trail. It covers an area of over
twenty-seven acres and its highest point is 155 feet above
the level of the river. It is wholly isolated and looks as if
it had been dropped there in the midst of the plain. The site
of the rock became from the first a great camping place, and
the custom early arose of inscribing on it the names of
travelers who passed it. It was thus, as Father De Smet
justly observes, " the great register of the desert."
The name is of very early date, probably before 1830, and

if so, coming from the Ashley expeditions. The incident

which gave rise to it is well known, from various references,
all of which indicate that a party of hunters encamped at the

base of this rock on a Fourth of July and here celebrated the

 '

472 FREMONT AT THE ROCK.

anniversary of the country's independence. Sage says that

" it derived its name from a party of Americans on their
way to Oregon under the lead of one Tharp, who celebrated
the Fourth of July at this place — they being
the first com-
pany of whites that ever made the journey from the States
via South Pass." As Oregon then included everything west
of South Pass, this may very likely refer to the first Ashley
party that followed this route, probably in 1823. The
name Tharp occurs elsewhere in narratives of the time, but
its use here may possibly be a misprint for the well-known
name Fraeb, always called Frapp by the trappers. The
statement itself is entirely Sage says that *' the
probable.
surface [of the rock] is covered with the names of travelers,
traders, trappers, emigrants, engraven upon it in almost
every conceivable part for the distance of many feet above
its base — but most prominent among them all is the word
*
Independence,' inscribed by the patriotic band who first
christened this lone monument of nature in honor of Lib-
erty's birthday." Thisis confirmed by Farnham who refers

to the rock as " a large rock, oval in form, on which the old
trappers many years ago carved the word Independence
'

and their own names."

While the general explanation above given, that a party
here celebrated the Fourth of July and gave the rock its
name, is undoubtedly correct, many and amusing are the
theories which have gained currency concerning its origin.
Mr. John B. Wyeth sagely informs us that it was the " rest-
ing place of Lewis and Clark on the 4th of July " One !

of the old residents still living in this locality is always ready

to entertain the ignorant visitor with an authentic account of
how the rock came to get its name. It was on the occasion
of General Fremont's first exploring tour to the Rocky
mountains.^ Word was given out that the General would
be at the rock, as yet unnamed, on the Fourth of July and
^The Lieutenant and Brevet-Captain at that time saw no general's
stars in his immediate horoscope. Beyond the achievement of having
married Senator Benton's daughter there had not been -much in his
career so far to give his name wide celebrity.
 OTHER AUTHENTIC ACCOUNTS. 473

would deliver an oration. Swift couriers rode up and down

the Trail urging the emigrants who were ahead to lay by at
the rock and those in the rear to make haste and catch up.
To hear a man of ''General" Fremont's reputation was an
opportunity not to be missed, and there was consequently
a great concourse of travelers present when the orator and
the day arrived. The enthusiastic admirers of the renowned
warrior bestirred themselves vigorously and hauled up the
steep sides of the rock the best carriage they had. In this
the General was drawn back and forth along the summit of
the rock. He then discoursed to the eager crowd upon the
greatness of the day. After he was done six couples of
plighted lovers ascended to the summit of the rock, and
there,on this sublime natural altar, surrendered their inde-
pendence pair by pair in voluntary bondage to each other.
The glorious record of these proceedings was perpetuated
from that day forth in the name of the rock.
Less elaborate, but not less to the point, is the explanation
given by another local authority who assures the visitor
with the utmost gravity that the rock derives its name from
the fact that it stands out in the plain independent of all sur-
rounding rocks or mountains After all, this explanation
!

will not seem so absurd when it is remembered that it

occurred to so eminent an observer as Father De Smet when
he first saw the rock.
It may be added that the Masons have a tradition that
the name came from the fact that the rites of their order
were once celebrated upon this rock on the nation's birthday.
The Devil's Gate, 843 miles. This remarkable feature is
a rift in a granite ridge through which the river flows. It

is about four hundred feet deep, with sides nearly vertical,

and less than three hundred feet apart at the top. It is one
of the most notable features of its kind in the world. The
traveler who takes the trouble to leave the road for a mile or
so and walk out to the summit of the Devil's Gate is
rewarded with a prospect such as no other point on the
Trail affords. Beneath him is the tremendous chasm
474 ALONG THE SWEETWATER.

through the soHd granite at the bottom of which courses the

gentle Sweetwater. To the westward a magnificent valley
spreads out before him as far as he can see, some ten or fif-
teen miles wide, a paradise in those days for buffalo and
other game. Through the beautiful valley the serpentine
course of the stream is plainly visible from the silver sheen
of its surface or from the ribbon of foliage which grows
along its banks. Below the Gate a similar valley lies spread
out for many miles even to the mouth of the river. All over
this region huge protuberances arise composed of detached
masses of granite, the most interesting of which is Inde-
pendence Rock. Lifting the eye above the surrounding
plains it rests upon a cordon of mountains which completely
encircles the beholder. To the northeast the Rattlesnake
Hills, to the east theCaspar range through which the North
Platte flows; to the southeast the Seminole and Ferris
ranges; to the south and southwest the Green mountains;
and finally to the west Crooks' Peak, which closes the hori-
zon in that direction. Near this peak is a little depression
through which the returning Astorians made their way
from the forbidding and desert tracts south of the moun-
tains. One has only to behold the valley of the Sweetwater
to understand with what delight these way-worn travelers
must have welcomed this paradise of the mountains, filled
as it was, when they saw it, with grazing herds of buffalo,,
and water and pasturage surpassing all their possible needs.
From the Devil's Gate the route continued along the
Sweetwater river nearly to its source. It crossed the
stream several times and there came to be two or three differ-
ent routes paralleling each other for considerable distances.
It will not be of profit to record minutely these unimportant
variations from the general line. About thirty-six miles
west of the Devil's Gate the road passed through a cafion,
where it crossed the stream three times in a short distance.
This place was called Three Crossings. In several places
the road was forced out upon the hills and back from the
river, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other.
 SOUTH PASS. 475

The road was usually dusty, the small streams alkaline, and
only the presence of the pure Sweetwater saved this portion
of the Trail from being the most trying of any.
South Pass, 947 miles. (Fremont gives 962 miles.)
" Here hail Oregon," as the itinerary of Palmer has it.
This is the most celebrated pass in the entire length of the
Continental Divide. Here the great trans-continental road
passed from Atlantic to Pacific waters, and the traveler,
though only half-way to his destination, felt that he could
see the beginning of the end. The pass itself, as a natural
feature, perhaps less striking and interesting than any
is

other. It is less than 7,500 feet above the level of the sea.
It is one of the few passes that are free of timber. There
isno well-defined gorge through the hills, but a broad, open
valley of so gentle slope thatFremont in his explorations
was in doubt what was the highest point. As a practicable
pass either for a highway or a railroad, it could hardly be
surpassed. The distances from Independence and Fort
Vancouver were nearly equal, so that it was in a strict sense
a half-way point.
The discovery of the pass is lost in the historic obscurity
of this early period. The returning party of the Astorians
came very near passing through it, but were deflected from
the route by the fear of following too closely a band of
Indians. They accordingly passed considerably south
before turning east. The Rev. Samuel Parker in 1835
refers 1.0 this fact in the following words " The valley,
:

was not discovered until some years since. Mr. Hunt

[Stuart, rather] and his party, more than twenty years ago,
went near but did not find it, though in search of some
favorable passage." The pass was most probably discov-
ered in 1823 by one of Henry's detached parties, who are
known have visited Green river valley from the Bighorn
to
in that year. Tradition says that it was discovered by
Etienne Provost, and this was probably the case.
The name was virtually given before the pass was dis-
covered. It was long recognized that a pass must be found
476 ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE.

south of those crossed by Lewis and Clark, and Southern

Pass, in contradistinction to the northern pass, was a term
already coined and in waiting for the situation when it
should be discovered. There is evidence that it had already
been applied to two other passes, before South Pass proper
was discovered. But when that remarkable crossing- of the
mountains came into use the name fell naturally upon it, and
this in common usage was quickly abbreviated to South
Pass.
The Trail now lies upon the Pacific slope and bears off
to the southwest. The first point of note was the
Pacific Springs, 952 miles, the first water of the Pacific
ocean.
The Sandy, a tributary of the Big Sandy, 969
Little
miles. Here was the junction with Sublette's Cut-Off.
Big Sandy, 985 miles. Thence down the Big Sandy to
Green River, 1,014 miles. That portion of the route from
South Pass to Green river was very disagreeable, being
mainly through a dry, barren, sandy country, in which the
heat and dust of summer were almost overpowering. Green
river was forded near the mouth of the Sandy. The route
then lay along the right bank of the river for a short distance
when it crossed to
Black Fork, 1,033 miles. This was three miles below
the junction with Ham's Fork, an important stream in those
days. Before the founding of Fort Bridger the Trail went
up the valley of Ham's Fork on its way to Bear river. Here
also passes the Oregon Short Line railroad of recent years
and the junction with the Union Pacific, at Granger, is very
nearly where the old Trail struck Black Fork.
Fort Bridger, 1.070 miles. This was the second great
stopping place on the Trail and the first after leaving Fort
Laramie. The post was built by James Bridger in 1843 ^"^
we are fortunate in having the founder's own narrative of
the event. " I have established a small fort," he wrote to
Chouteau, December 10, 1843, " with a blacksmith shop and
a supply of iron, on the road of the emigrants on Black's
 FORT BRIDGER. 477

Fork of Green river, which promises fairly. They, in com-

ing out, are generally well supplied with money, but by the
time they get there are in want of all kinds of supplies.
Horses, provisions, smith-work, etc., bring ready cash from
them, and should I receive the goods hereby ordered will do
a considerable business in that way with them. The same
establishment trades with the Indians in the neighborhood
who have mostly a good number of beaver with them."
The post was in a beautiful location in the valleyof a
strong mountain stream whose pure waters, fresh from the
melting snows of the Uintah mountains, and alive with
wholesome mountain trout, flowed through the post in sev-
eral branches, each lined with a fringe of trees kept alive by
the perennial moisture of the soil. It was veritably an oasis
in the desert, and its selection does great credit to the good
judgment of its founder.
Having again arranged his outfit, repaired his wagons,
rested his stock and replenished his supplies, the traveler
resumed his way, arriving first at the
Big Muddy, i,o88 miles. Following this stream towards
its source for thirty-two miles and then crossing the divide

and traveling sixteen miles farther, a part of the way in the

valley of Twin creek, where the Oregon Short Line now
runs, the traveler reached
Bear River, 1,136 miles, about where the Oregon Short
Line now touches the stream. This noteworthy stream
finds its source nearly east of Salt Lake City, Utah, and
flows north through almost two degrees of latitude, when
it turns completely around to the westward and flows south

for upwards of one hundred miles into Great Salt Lake.

From the point where the old Trail touched it to that where
it turns south, its course lay nearly on the direct line between

Forts Bridger and Hall. Affording as it did an easy pas-

sage through the mountain ranges of that region, it was
always followed by the emigrants and is followed by the
railroad today. The Trail therefore descended the course
of Bear river. At the distance of ten miles was the
478 ALONG BEAR RIVER.

Junction with Sublette's Cut-Off, 1,146 miles.

Sublette's Cut-Off, or the " Dry Drive," as it was called
on account of the long stretch of waterless country between
the Big Sandy and Green river, was designed to eliminate
the wide detour caused by going to Fort Bridger. It left
the main road at Little Sandy, 969 miles, and taking a
course nearly due west, reached the
Big Sandy, 975 miles, and
Green River, 1,021 miles, just above the junction of
Labarge creek, which comes in from the west. The road
then bore to the southwest across Labarge and Fontenelle
creeks. It crossed Ham's Fork some distance above the
point where the modern railroad leaves it, and then wound
its way through the mountains with a slight trend to the

north until it reached

Bear River, 1,093 niiles. The cut-off therefore saved
fifty-three miles, but missed the supply point at Fort Bridger.
Resuming the main trail with the Fort Bridger itinerary
[the n ext notable point was
Smith's Fork, 1,149 rniles. This name also dates from
the Ashley period and most probably was in honor of the
famous adventurer, J. S. Smith, although there was another
Smith in the Ashley expeditions of this period.
Thompson's Fork, 1,156 miles. This name, like the pre-
ceding one, belongs to the period of Ashley's expeditions,
and was given for one of his trappers. There were two
branches to the road in this vicinity. The northern branch
ascended Thompson's Fork about two miles, climbed over
the hill a distance of five miles, where the two branches
united on the right bank of Bear river. The other branch
forded the river near Thompson's Fork, followed around a
sharp southern bend where Nephur, Utah, now is, and
finally, after a distance of seventeen miles, rejoined the
northern branch upon the right bank. The short cut had
a severe hill to contend with ; the other branch had two
fords and seventeen against seven miles.
Continuing, the road reached
 FORT HALL. 479

Soda Springs, 1,206 miles, at the great northern bend of

Bear river. This noted place, which was also known as
Beer Springs, was an example of what is found on a stupen-
dous scale at the headwaters of the Yellowstone. It was
an object of great curiosity to travelers. There were nu-
merous hot springs, differing widely in character and ap-
pearance, and there was one miniature geyser erupting to a
height of about three feet at regular intervals. The noise
accompanying these pulsations caused it to be named the
Steamboat Spring.
After satisfying his curiosity at this singular place the
traveler resumed his journey down the river. In about
four miles the road parted company with Bear river which
here turned abruptly to the south. Continuing westwardly
for a few miles the road passed over the Divide between Bear
river and the
Portneuf River, a water of the Columbia. This beautiful
stream has one peculiar feature which is rarely seen on any
other. Its flow is constantly interrupted by low rock
dams of very irregular outline, which have been formed by
some process not easy to account for. These dams convert
the river into a series of quiet pools separated by cascades
of exquisite beauty, varying in height from an inch to four
feet.

There was another and a shorter road which did not

follow the Portneuf, but crossed its upper branches and en-
tered the Snake river plain along the valley of Ross Fork.
The distance by the Portneuf route, which
was that usually
taken, was about 80 miles ;by the other about 70 miles.
that
Fort Hall, 1,288 miles (Fremont 1,323 miles) was located
on the left bank of the Snake river, nine miles above the
mouth of the Portneuf in the fine bottom formed by the con-
fluence of these two streams. This was the third important
station on the Trail and the first on Columbian waters. It

was the first post on the route that belonged to the Hudson
Bay Company. Here the traveler made his preparations for
the last stage of the journey to the mouth of the Columbia.
480 ALONG SNAKE RIVER.

Oftentimes wagons were left here and pack horses substi-

tuted, but as the road became better known, wagons were
taken clear through. From Fort Hall the route lay along
the left bank of the Snake. The first feature of importance
was the
Portneuf Crossing, 1,294 miles, and the next,
American Falls, 1,308 miles. This fall is said to have de-
rived its name from the fact that a party of American hunt-
ers, descending the river in a canoe, came unawares upon it
and were all lost.
Raft River, 1,334 miles. Here the California road turned
off in 1846.6
Marsh Creek, 1,350 miles. This part of the Trail was
well back from the river.
Goose Creek, 1,367 miles, part of the distance from the
last station being along the river.
Rock Creek, 1,391 miles. The road touched the river at
one intermediate point. After reaching Rock creek it fol-
lowed the valley of this stream for fifteen miles and in
twenty miles more reached
Salmon Falls Creek, 1,433 miles.
Salmon Falls, 1,439 niiles. Beyond this point the road
chorded some bends in the river and at a distance of twenty-
three miles reached the
First Crossing of the Snake, i ,464 miles, in the neighbor-
hood of the modern Glenn's Ferry. It then struck across

the country in a northwesterly direction with no feature of

interest until it reached
Boise River, 1,537 miles, about in the vicinity of the mod-
ern Boise City. The road then turned to the west down the
valley of the Boise which it followed to
Fort Boise, 1,585 miles, a Hudson Bay Company post
located on the right bank of the Snake river, eight miles
below the mouth of the Boise. The Snake was again
'
At the date of 1843, the California Trail which passed by the north-
western extremity of Great Salt Lake had scarcely come into use at
all, and we have therefore not attempted to follow it.
 1

THE GRANDE RONDE. 48

crossed at this point after which the road turned to the

northwest, bearing away from the river. At fifteen miles it
crossed
Malheur River, i,6oi miles, near the modern town of
Vale, Oregon. the Snake about
The road again touched
twenty-three miles beyond the Malheur and five miles farther

reached
Burnt River, 1,632 miles. It then ascended Burnt river
for about twenty- six miles, and crossing a divide, reached
Pozvder River, 1,692 miles. At the point where the Trail
touched Powder river there stood in early days a solitary
pine tree, called by the French in that country L'Arhre Seul,
or the Lone Tree. It was a conspicuous and important

landmark, but some needy emigrant cut it down in 1843,

and when Fremont passed that way and was looking for it,
he found it freshly fallen. It became thereafter known as
The Lone Pine Stump.
Descending this stream ten miles in a northerly direction,
to the point where it turns abruptly to the southeast, and
continuing thence northwest the road entered
The Grande Ronde, 1,736 miles. This was a celebrated
valley in the mountains, circular in shape as its name implies,
a fine pasture, and an excellent camping place. It was all

the more important as being the point where the Trail

started across the difficult Blue mountains. From the point
where the Trail entered the Grande Ronde to the foot of the
Blue mountains where the crossing began was about fifteen
miles. Thence the customary route led to the summit very
much on the line of the modern railroad but in descending;

the west slope it followed a more direct course than does the
railroad.
Umatilla River, 1,791 miles, near the site of the present
Pendleton was the first point of importance west of the Blue
mountains. The trail followed the Umatilla forty-four
miles to the
Cohimhia River, 1,835 niiles.
Another but less frequented route left the Grande Ronde
 :

482 DOWN THE COLUMBIA.

in a northerly direction and reached the Columbia at the
mouth of the Walla Walla.
From Umatilla the road continued down the left bank of
the Columbia, passing in succession the following points
John Day River, 1,904 miles, a stream named for John
Day of Astoria renown.
Des Chutes River, 1,918 miles.
The Dalles, 1,934 miles.
The Cascades, 1,977 miles.
Fort Vancouver, 2,020 miles, opposite to the mouth of the
Willamette, and properly considered the end of the Trail.
This point is still 104 miles from old Astoria and 114 miles
from the mouth of tlie Columbia.
An old emigrant road ran from the Dalles south of Mount
Hood to Oregon City on the Willamette, a distance of 160
miles.

*byt>
i
 Library
University of California
Los Angeles
This book is pUEorvthejas^dat^st^^

W4
>
7 1974
,i^mi^

BEC'DC.LMAY0 4'03 375

Form L9
 3 1158 00704 5908

:jfv;v?v.'\^-;>-:v-

^lA