Chapter I (3)

Having passed a deserted village, and then several islands, we came in sight of a noble mountain on the north, about twenty miles distant, all covered with snow, contrasting remarkably with the dark foliage of the forests at its base, and probably the same which was seen by Broughton, and named by him _Mount St. Helen’s_.[50] We pulled against a strong current all this day, and at evening our guide made us enter a little river, on the bank of which we found a good camping place, under a grove of oaks, and in the midst of odoriferous wild flowers, where we passed a night more tranquil than that which had preceded it.

On the morning of the 6th we ascended this small {110} stream, and soon arrived at a large village called _Thlakalamah_, the chief whereof, who was a young and handsome man, was called _Keasseno_, and was a relative of our guide.[51] The situation of this village is the most charming that can be, being built on the little river that we had ascended, and indeed at its navigable head, being here but a torrent with numerous cascades leaping from rock to rock in their descent to the deep, limpid water, which then flows through a beautiful prairie, enamelled with odorous flowers of all colors, and studded with superb groves of oak. The freshness and beauty of this spot, which Nature seemed to have taken pleasure in adorning and enriching with her most precious gifts, contrasted, in a striking manner, with the indigence and uncleanliness of its inhabitants; and I regretted that it had not fallen to the lot of civilized men. I was wrong no doubt: it is just that those should be most favored by their common mother, who are least disposed to pervert her gifts, or to give the preference to advantages which are factitious, and often very frivolous. We quitted with regret {111} this charming spot, and soon came to another large village, which our guide informed us was called _Kathlapootle_, and was situated at the confluence of a small stream, that seemed to flow down from the mountain covered with snow, which we had seen the day before: this river is called _Cowilkt_.[52] We coasted a pretty island, well timbered, and high enough above the level of the Columbia to escape inundation in the freshets, and arrived at two villages called _Maltnabah_. We then passed the confluence of the river _Wallamat_, or _Willamet_, above which the tide ceases to be felt in the Columbia.[53] Our guide informed us that ascending this river about a day’s journey, there was a considerable fall, beyond which the country abounded in deer, elk, bear, beaver, and otter. But here, at the spot where we were, the oaks and poplar which line both banks of the river, the green and flowery prairies discerned through the trees, and the mountains discovered in the distance, offer to the eye of the observer who loves the beauties of simple nature, a prospect the most lovely and {112} enchanting. We encamped for the night on the edge of one of these fine prairies.

On the 7th we passed several low islands, and soon discovered _Mount Hood_, a high mountain, capped with snow, so named by Lieutenant Broughton; and _Mount Washington_, another snowy summit, so called by Lewis and Clarke.[54] The prospect which the former had before his eyes at this place, appeared to him so charming, that landing upon a point, to take possession of the country in the name of King George, he named it _Pointe Belle Vue_. At two o’clock we passed _Point Vancouver_, the highest reached by Broughton.[55] The width of the river diminishes considerably above this point, and we began very soon to encounter shoals of sand and gravel; a sure indication that we were nearing the rapids. We encamped that evening under a ledge of rocks, descending almost to the water’s edge.

The next day, the 8th, we did not proceed far before we encountered a very rapid current. Soon after, we saw a hut of Indians engaged in fishing, where we stopped to breakfast. We {113} found here an old blind man, who gave us a cordial reception. Our guide said that he was a white man, and that his name was _Soto_. We learned from the mouth of the old man himself, that he was the son of a Spaniard who had been wrecked at the mouth of the river; that a part of the crew on this occasion got safe ashore, but were all massacred by the Clatsops, with the exception of four, who were spared and who married native women; that these four Spaniards, of whom his father was one, disgusted with the savage life, attempted to reach a settlement of their own nation toward the south, but had never been heard of since; and that when his father, with his companions, left the country, he himself was yet quite young.[56] These good people having regaled us with fresh salmon, we left them, and arrived very soon at a rapid, opposite an island, named _Strawberry Island_ by Captains Lewis and {114} Clarke, in 1806. We left our men at a large village, to take care of the canoe and baggage; and following our guide, after walking about two hours, in a beaten path, we came to the foot of the fall, where we amused ourselves for some time with shooting the seals, which were here in abundance, and in watching the Indians taking salmon below the cataract, in their scoop-nets, from stages erected for that purpose over the eddies. A chief, a young man of fine person and a good mien, came to us, followed by some twenty others, and invited us to his wigwam: we accompanied him, had roasted salmon for supper, and some mats were spread for our night’s repose.

The next morning, having ascertained that there was no trading post near the Falls, and Coalpo absolutely refusing to proceed further, alleging that the natives of the villages beyond were his enemies, and would not fail to kill him if they had him in their power, we decided to return to the encampment. Having, therefore, distributed some presents to our host (I mean the young chief with whom we had supped and lodged) {115} and to some of his followers, and procured a supply of fresh salmon for the return voyage, we re-embarked and reached the camp on the 14th, without accidents or incidents worth relating.

[43] For a brief account of the formation of the North
West Company, see Preface to J. Long’s _Voyages_,
vol. ii of our series.--ED.

[44] In 1792, Broughton named this promontory Tongue
Point. Lewis and Clark called it Point William, in
honor of the latter explorer. The North West Company
built a subsidiary post here in 1814.--ED.

[45] The Wahkiacum were a tribe first named and described
by Lewis and Clark. They were a branch of the Upper
Chinook, named from one of their chiefs, but now
have no separate existence. Their village was in
the county of Wahkiacum, in the present state of
Washington.--ED.

[46] Coalpo (Calloph) was a Clatsop chief, who had many
dealings with the Astorians and their British
successors. See Coues’s edition, _Henry-Thompson
Journals_ (New York, 1897), _index_.--ED.

[47] Kreluit was Franchère’s spelling for the Indians
designated by Lewis and Clark as Skilloots. They
were a Chinookan tribe, occupying both banks of the
river, and acting as middlemen in trade between
the tribes of the Upper Columbia and those at the
mouth of that river. Lewis and Clark represent them
as superior in intelligence and probity to their
kindred the Wahkiacum.--ED.

[48] Mount Coffin, noted by all early travellers in this
region, is a well-known landmark in Cowlitz County,
Washington, just below the Cowlitz River.--ED.

[49] A party of Cowlitz Indians, no doubt, from whom the
river takes its name. They were a large and powerful
Salishan tribe, less in touch with traders than the
Skilloots (Kreluits). Cowlitz River is an important
northern tributary of the Columbia, through whose
valley the Washington branch of the Northern Pacific
Railway now passes.--ED.

[50] Mount St. Helens (altitude, 9,750 feet), one of the
Cascade Mountains in Washington, was sighted by
Vancouver’s expedition in May, 1792, and named the
following October in honor of Lord St. Helens, then
the British ambassador at Madrid.--ED.

[51] Keasseno (Cassino) was a brother-in-law of Coalpo,
and spoken of by Henry as “chief of the Willamette
tribe.” Two years later, Franchère found him upon
the Willamette River. It would appear that the
village where Franchère’s party now visited him was
upon the Kalama River, a stream in Cowlitz County,
Washington upon which there are cascades some two
miles above the mouth.--ED.

[52] Lewis and Clark speak of the Cathlapotle (Kathlapootle)
Indians as along this northern bank of the Columbia.
They were a tribe of Upper Chinook, and their habitat
was the Washington River, now called Lewis, which
separates Cowlitz County from that of Clark. The
aboriginal name for this river is doubtful. Franchère
appears to be the only one to give the form Cowilkt.--ED.

[53] The Multnomah Indians, whose name is said to signify
“down river,” occupied the region about the mouth
of the Willamette. They were of Chinookan origin,
and divided into a number of smaller tribes. The
villages passed by Franchère were upon Wappato (now
Sauvie) Island. The river Willamette (sometimes
called, also, the Multnomah) was first explored by
Clark on his return journey in 1806. In the valley
of this river grew up the first permanent settlement
in the present state of Oregon.--ED.

[54] Mount Hood (11,225 feet), of the Cascade Range,
lies south of the Columbia in Wasco County, Oregon.
It was seen (October 29, 1792) by Lieutenant
Broughton, who “honoured it with Lord Hood’s name;
its appearance was magnificent; and it was clothed
in snow from its summit as low down as the high
land, by which it was intercepted, permitted it to
be visible.” Lord Hood, later Lord Bridport, was
an English admiral. Lewis and Clark first called
this the “Falls or Timm Mountain;” later, they
recognized its identity with Broughton’s Mount Hood.
Franchère’s “Mount Washington” is in reality Mount
Jefferson.--ED.

[55] Pointe Belle Vue has not positively been identified.
Apparently it was just above the mouth of the
Willamette, on the southwest bank of the Columbia.
Point Vancouver was not at the site of the later
Fort Vancouver, but nearly twenty miles farther up
the river, on the north bank, just above the mouth
of Sandy River.--ED.

[56] These facts, if they were authenticated, would prove
that the Spaniards were the first who discovered
the mouth of the Columbia. It is certain that long
before the voyages of Captains Gray and Vancouver,
they knew at least a part of the course of that
river, which was designated in their maps under the
name of _Oregon_.--FRANCHÈRE.

{116} CHAPTER IX

Departure of the Tonquin--Indian Messengers--Project of
an Expedition to the Interior--Arrival of Mr. Daniel
Thompson--Departure of the Expedition--Designs upon us by the
Natives--Rumors of the Destruction of the Tonquin--Scarcity of
Provisions--Narrative of a strange Indian--Duplicity and Cunning
of Comcomly.

Having built a warehouse (62 feet by 20) to put under cover the articles we were to receive from the ship, we were busily occupied, from the 16th to the 30th, in stowing away the goods and other effects intended for the establishment.

The ship, which had been detained by circumstances, much longer than had been anticipated, left her anchorage at last, on the 1st of June, and dropped down to Baker’s bay, there to wait for a favorable wind to get out of the river. As she was to coast along the north, and enter all the harbors, in order to procure as many furs as {117} possible, and to touch at the Columbia river before she finally left these seas for the United States, it was unanimously resolved among the partners, that Mr. M’Kay should join the cruise, as well to aid the captain, as to obtain correct information in regard to the commerce with the natives on that coast. Mr. M’Kay selected Messrs. J. Lewis and O. de Montigny to accompany him; but the latter having represented that the sea made him sick, was excused; and Mr. M’Kay shipped in his place a young man named Louis Bruslé, to serve him in the capacity of domestic, being one of the young Canadian sailors. I had the good fortune not to be chosen for this disastrous voyage, thanks to my having made myself useful at the establishment. Mr. Mumford (the second mate) owed the same happiness to the incompatibility of his disposition with that of the captain; he had permission to remain, and engaged with the company in place of Mr. Aikin as coaster, and in command of the schooner.[57]

{118} On the 5th of June, the ship got out to sea, with a good wind. We continued in the meantime to labor without intermission at the completion of the storehouse, and in the erection of a dwelling for ourselves, and a powder magazine. These buildings were constructed of hewn logs, and, in the absence of boards, tightly covered and roofed with cedar bark. The natives, of both sexes, visited us more frequently, and formed a pretty considerable camp near the establishment.

On the 15th, some natives from up the river, brought us two strange Indians, a man and a woman. They were not attired like the savages on the river Columbia, but wore long robes of dressed deer-skin, with leggings and moccasins in the fashion of the tribes to the east of the Rocky Mountains. We put questions to them in various Indian dialects; but they did not understand us. They showed us a letter addressed to {119} “_Mr. John Stuart, Fort Estekatadene, New Caledonia_.”[58] Mr. Pillet then addressing them in the _Kristeneaux_ language, they answered, although they appeared not to understand it perfectly.[59] Notwithstanding, we learned from them that they had been sent by a Mr. Finnan M’Donald, a clerk in the service of the Northwest Company, and who had a post on a river which they called _Spokan_; that having lost their way, they had followed the course of the _Tacousah-Tesseh_ (the Indian name of the Columbia), that when they arrived at the Falls, the natives made them understand that there were white men at the mouth of the river; and not doubting that the person to whom the letter was addressed would be found there, they had come to deliver it.[60]

We kept these messengers for some days, and having drawn from them important information respecting the country in the interior, west of the Mountains, we decided to send an expedition thither, under the command of Mr. David Stuart; and the 15th July was fixed for its departure.

All was in fact ready on the appointed day, {120} and we were about to load the canoes, when toward midday, we saw a large canoe, with a flag displayed at her stern, rounding the point which we called TONGUE POINT. We knew not who it could be; for we did not so soon expect our own party, who (as the reader will remember) were to cross the continent, by the route which Captains Lewis and Clarke had followed, in 1805, and to winter for that purpose somewhere on the Missouri. We were soon relieved of our uncertainty by the arrival of the canoe, which touched shore at a little wharf that we had built to facilitate the landing of goods from the vessel. The flag she bore was the British, and her crew was composed of eight Canadian boatmen or _voyageurs_. A well-dressed man, who appeared to be the commander, was the first to leap ashore, and addressing us without ceremony, said that his name was David Thompson, and that he was one of the partners of the Northwest Company.[61] We invited him to our quarters, which were at one end of the warehouse, the dwelling-house not being yet completed. After the usual civilities {121} had been extended to our visitor, Mr. Thompson said that he had crossed the continent during the preceding season; but that the desertion of a portion of his men had compelled him to winter at the base of the Rocky mountains, at the head waters of the Columbia. In the spring he had built a canoe, the materials for which he had brought with him across the mountains, and had come down the river to our establishment. He added that the wintering partners had resolved to abandon all their trading posts west of the mountains, not to enter into competition with us, provided our company would engage not to encroach upon their commerce on the east side: and to support what he said, produced a letter to that effect, addressed by the wintering partners to the chief of their house in Canada, the Hon. William M’Gillivray.[62]

Mr. Thompson kept a regular journal, and travelled, I thought, more like a geographer than a fur-trader. He was provided with a sextant, chronometer and barometer, and during a week’s sojourn which he made at our place, had an opportunity {122} to make several astronomical observations. He recognised the two Indians who had brought the letter addressed to Mr. J. Stuart, and told us that they were two women, one of whom had dressed herself as a man, to travel with more security. The description which he gave us of the interior of the country was not calculated to give us a very favorable idea of it, and did not perfectly accord with that of our two Indian guests. We persevered, however, in the resolution we had taken, of sending an expedition thither; and, on the 23d Mr. D. Stuart set out, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet, Ross, M’Clellan and de Montigny, with four Canadian _voyageurs_, and the two Indian women, and in company with Mr. Thompson and his crew. The wind being favorable, the little flotilla hoisted sail, and was soon out of our sight.[63]

{123} The natives, who till then had surrounded us in great numbers, began to withdraw, and very soon we saw no more of them. At first we attributed their absence to the want of furs to trade with; but we soon learned that they acted in that manner from another motive. One of the secondary chiefs who had formed a friendship for Mr. R. Stuart, informed him, that seeing us reduced in number by the expedition lately sent off, they had formed the design of surprising us, to take our lives and plunder the post. We hastened, therefore, to put ourselves in the best possible state of defence. The dwelling house was raised, parallel to the warehouse; we cut a great quantity of pickets in the forest, and formed a square, with palisades in front and rear, of about 90 feet by 120; the warehouse, built on the edge of a ravine, formed one flank, the dwelling house and shops the other; with a little bastion {124} at each angle north and south, on which were mounted four small cannon. The whole was finished in six days, and had a sufficiently formidable aspect to deter the Indians from attacking us; and for greater surety, we organized a guard for day and night.

Toward the end of the month, a large assemblage of Indians from the neighborhood of the straits _Juan de Fuca_, and _Gray’s Harbor_, formed a great camp on Baker’s Bay, for the ostensible object of fishing for sturgeon.[64] It was bruited among these Indians that the Tonquin had been destroyed on the coast, and Mr. M’Kay (or the chief trader, as they called him) and all the crew, massacred by the natives. We did not give credence to this rumor. Some days after, other Indians from Gray’s Harbor, called _Tchikeylis_,[65] confirmed what the first had narrated, and even gave us, as far as we could judge by the little we knew of their language, a very circumstantial detail of the affair, so that without wholly convincing us, it did not fail to make a painful impression on our minds, and keep us in an excited state of {125} feeling as to the truth of the report. The Indians of the Bay looked fiercer and more warlike than those of our neighborhood; so we redoubled our vigilance, and performed a regular daily drill to accustom ourselves to the use of arms.

To the necessity of securing ourselves against an attack on the part of the natives, was joined that of obtaining a stock of provisions for the winter: those which we had received from the vessel were very quickly exhausted, and from the commencement of the month of July we were forced to depend upon fish. Not having brought hunters with us, we had to rely for venison, on the precarious hunt of one of the natives who had not abandoned us when the rest of his countrymen retired. This man brought us from time to time, a very lean and very dry doe-elk, for which we had to pay, notwithstanding, very dear. The ordinary price of a stag was a blanket, a knife, some tobacco, powder and ball, besides supplying our hunter with a musket. This dry meat, and smoke-dried fish, constituted our daily food, and that in very insufficient quantity for hardworking {126} men. We had no bread, and vegetables, of course, were quite out of the question. In a word our fare was not sumptuous. Those who accommodated themselves best to our mode of living were the Sandwich-islanders: salmon and elk were to them exquisite viands.

On the 11th of August a number of Chinooks visited us, bringing a strange Indian, who had, they said, something interesting to communicate. This savage told us, in fact, that he had been engaged with ten more of his countrymen, by a Captain _Ayres_, to hunt seals on the islands in _Sir Francis Drake’s Bay_, where these animals are very numerous, with a promise of being taken home and paid for their services;[66] the captain had left them on the islands, to go southwardly and purchase provisions, he said, of the Spaniards of Monterey in California; but he had never returned: and they, believing that he had been wrecked, had embarked in a skiff which he had left them, and had reached the main land, from which they were not far distant; but their skiff was shattered to pieces in the surf, and they had {127} saved themselves by swimming. Believing that they were not far from the river Columbia, they had followed the shore, living, on the way, upon shellfish and frogs; at last they arrived among strange Indians, who, far from receiving them kindly, had killed eight of them and made the rest prisoners; but the _Klemooks_, a neighboring tribe to the _Clatsops_, hearing that they were captives, had ransomed them.[67]

These facts must have occurred in March or April, 1811. The Indian who gave us an account of them, appeared to have a great deal of intelligence and knew some words of the English language. He added that he had been at the Russian trading post at _Chitka_,[68] that he had visited the coast of California, the Sandwich islands, and even China.

About this time, old Comcomly sent to _Astoria_ for Mr. Stuart and me, to come and cure him of a swelled throat, which, he said, afflicted him sorely. As it was late in the day, we postponed till to-morrow going to cure the chief of the Chinooks; and it was well we did; for, the same {128} evening, the wife of the Indian who had accompanied us in our voyage to the Falls, sent us word that Comcomly was perfectly well, the pretended _tonsilitis_ being only a pretext to get us in his power. This timely advice kept us at home.

[57] This schooner was found too small for the purpose.
Mr. Astor had no idea of the dangers to be met at
the mouth of the Columbia, or he would have ordered
the frame of a vessel of at least one hundred tons.
The frames shipped in New York were used in the
construction of this one only, which was employed
solely in the river trade.--FRANCHÈRE.

[58] John Stuart was a well-known “Nor’Wester,” who was
in the Athabasca department as early as 1799. In
1803 he was with David Thompson on Peace River, and
from 1806-08 with Simon Fraser on his voyage of
discovery which resulted in the descent of Fraser
River. Stuart built a fort somewhere west of the
mountains, which he maintained until 1811. The
following year found him upon the Columbia, and he
made part of the North West force at Fort George
until 1814. Remaining in the employ of the company
at different stations until 1821, he then entered
the Hudson’s Bay service, and was their chief factor
at Little Slave Lake (1828). He finally returned to
England, where he died in 1846.--ED.

[59] For the Christinaux (Kristeneaux) Indians, see
J. Long’s _Voyages_, vol. ii of our series, note
75.--ED.

[60] Finnan McDonald was chief clerk, under David
Thompson, (see following note), of the North West
Company at various places on the Saskatchewan, in
the Rocky Mountains, and upon the headwaters of the
Columbia (1806-12). See _Henry-Thompson Journals_.
Thompson and McDonald had several posts on the
upper waters of the Columbia--one on Lake Pend
d’Oreille, two on the Kootenay, and still another
on the Spokane. Fraser River was long known as the
Tacoutché Tessé; but as its upper reaches were at
first thought to be the Columbia, the misuse of
the name was common. The aboriginal name for the
Columbia has not been satisfactorily determined.--ED.

[61] David Thompson was one of the most interesting and
remarkable men of the fur-trading coterie. Born in
London in 1770, and educated at Christ’s Hospital,
he went to America (1789) as employé of the Hudson’s
Bay Company. He was greatly interested in science,
and during his extensive travels made meteorological
and astronomical observations. The company by whom
he was first employed discouraged geographical
pursuits; Thompson therefore went over to the North
West Company (1797) as affording more scope to his
talents. During the winter of 1797-98 he visited the
Mandan Indians, on the Missouri, and the following
summer explored the sources of the Mississippi. By
1801 he had pushed his explorations to the foot of
the Rocky Mountains, whither in 1806 he sought for
the waters of the Columbia. During the next four
years he collected furs and explored on the upper
Columbia, building several posts, and reaping a rich
harvest among tribes hitherto unexploited. After
his failure to seize the mouth of the Columbia for
the British, Thompson went back to his Columbia
posts, but finally abandoned the upper country in
1812. He lived in Lower Canada until his death in
1857, occupied in surveys for boundary lines, and
astronomical pursuits. His last years were spent in
poverty and neglect.--ED.

[62] William McGillivray was a “Nor’Wester” who had been
in the employ of that company from its formation,
and had served his apprenticeship in the field. In
1787-88 he was in charge of the post on English
River, and in 1790 became one of the wintering
partners. Upon the death of Simon McTavish,
McGillivray succeeded to the position of chief
agent of the house at Montreal, frequently coming
up to meet the “winterers” at the rendezvous at
Fort William (Grand Portage), which was named in
his honor. In 1821 he signed the agreements for
union with the Hudson’s Bay Company, and soon after
returned to Scotland, where he died about 1825.--ED.

[63] Mr. Thompson had no doubt been sent by the agents
of the Northwest Company, to take possession of an
eligible spot at the mouth of the Columbia, with
a view of forestalling the plan of Mr. Astor. He
would have been there before us, no doubt, but
for the desertion of his men. The consequence of
this step would have been his taking possession of
the country, and displaying the British flag, as
an emblem of that possession and a guarantee of
protection hereafter. He found himself too late,
however, and the stars and stripes floating over
_Astoria_. This note is not intended by the author
as an after-thought: as the opinion it conveys was
that which we all entertained at the time of that
gentleman’s visit.--FRANCHÈRE.

[64] The strait of Juan de Fuca, separating Washington
from Vancouver Island, was named from a Greek
navigator, in the Spanish service, who claimed as
early as 1592 to have found a large inlet on the
Northwest Coast in latitude 49°. The narrative of
his voyage was published in England in 1602, but is
now discredited by historians. The fact that a great
strait was found near this point by the English
navigator Barclay (1787), revived the old story
of Juan de Fuca’s discovery, and resulted in the
latter’s name being attached to the inlet. Gray’s
Harbor, upon the coast of Washington, was named by
Vancouver in honor of the American Captain Gray (see
note 1, _ante_); this bay must be distinguished from
Gray’s Bay, within the mouth of Columbia River.--ED.

[65] Chehalis (Tchikeylis, Shahalas) is a collective term
for the Salishan tribes of the coast of Washington,
where a large county takes this name. A few of
these Indians are still living upon the Puyallup
reservations, in Washington.--ED.

[66] This Captain Ayres was probably the same officer
who is reported (in 1814, in the sloop “Mercury”)
as engaged in kidnapping Indians as slaves, to sell
to the Russians at Sitka. See Lyman, _History of
Oregon_ (New York, 1903), ii, p. 289.

It is disputed by historians whether Sir Francis Drake,
in his voyage around the world (1577-80), entered
the harbor of San Francisco, or Bodega Bay lying
to the north. The evidence leans to the latter
view.--ED.

[67] The Tillamook (Klemook, Killamuck) Indians inhabited
the sea-coast south of the Columbia, within the
county now bearing their name. They were of the
great Salishan family, separated from their northern
kindred by the Chinook tribe. A few Tillamook
existed upon the Grande Ronde Reservation, Oregon,
within recent years.--ED.

[68] Russian explorations of the Northwest Coast of
America began early in the eighteenth century,
under the lead of Vitus Bering. In 1781 a company
was formed to exploit the fur-trade; but because of
its cruelty to the natives this was dissolved, and
the Russian-American Company organized in 1799. The
headquarters of the latter were established at New
Archangel, or Sitka (Chitka), built 1799.--ED.

{129} CHAPTER X

Occupations at Astoria--Return of a Portion of the Men of the
Expedition to the Interior--New Expedition--Excursion in Search
of three Deserters.

On the 26th of September our house was finished, and we took possession of it. The mason work had at first caused us some difficulty; but at last, not being able to make lime for want of lime-stones, we employed blue clay as a substitute for mortar. This dwelling-house was sufficiently spacious to hold all our company, and we had distributed it in the most convenient manner that we could. It comprised a sitting, a dining room, some lodging or sleeping rooms, and an apartment for the men and artificers, all under the same roof. We also completed a shop for the blacksmith, who till that time had worked in the open air.

{130} The schooner, the construction of which had necessarily languished for want of an adequate force at the ship-yard, was finally launched on the 2d of October, and named the _Dolly_, with the formalities usual on such occasions. I was on that day at _Young’s Bay_, where I saw the ruins of the quarters erected by Captains Lewis and Clarke, in 1805-’06: they were but piles of rough, unhewn logs, overgrown with parasite creepers.[69]

On the evening of the 5th, Messrs. Pillet and M’Lellan arrived, from the party of Mr. David Stuart, in a canoe manned by two of his men. They brought, as passengers, Mr. Régis Bruguier, whom I had known in Canada as a respectable country merchant, and an Iroquois family. Mr. Bruguier had been a trader among the Indians on the Saskatchewine river, where he had lost his outfit: he had since turned trapper, and had come into this region to hunt beaver, being provided with traps and other needful implements.[70] The report which these gentlemen gave of the interior was highly satisfactory: they had found {131} the climate salubrious, and had been well received by the natives. The latter possessed a great number of horses, and Mr. Stuart had purchased several of these animals at a low price. Ascending the river they had come to a pretty stream, which the natives called _Okenakan_.[71] Mr. Stuart had resolved to establish his post on the bank of this river, and having erected a log-house, he thought best to send back the above named persons, retaining with him, for the winter, only Messrs. Ross and de Montigny, and two men.[72]

Meanwhile, the season being come when the Indians quit the seashore and the banks of the Columbia, to retire into the woods and establish their winter quarters along the small streams and rivers, we began to find ourselves short of provisions, having received no supplies from them for some time. It was therefore determined that Mr. R. Stuart should set out in the schooner with {132} Mr. Mumford, for the threefold purpose, of obtaining all the provisions they could, cutting oaken staves for the use of the cooper, and trading with the Indians up the river. They left with this design on the 12th. At the end of five days Mr. Mumford returned in a canoe of Indians. This man having wished to assume the command, and to order (in the style of Captain Thorn) the person who had engaged him to obey, had been sent back in consequence to _Astoria_.

On the 10th of November we discovered that three of our people had absconded, viz., P. D. Jeremie, and the two Belleaux. They had leave to go out shooting for two days, and carried off with them firearms and ammunition, and a handsome light Indian canoe. As soon as their flight was known, having procured a large canoe of the Chinooks, we embarked, Mr. Matthews[73] and I, with five natives, to pursue them, with orders to proceed as far as the Falls, if necessary. On the 11th, having ascended the river to a place called _Oak Point_,[74] we overtook the schooner lying at anchor, while Mr. Stuart was taking in a load of {133} staves and hoop-poles. Mr. Farnham joined our party, as well as one of the hands, and thus reinforced, we pursued our way, journeying day and night, and stopping at every Indian village, to make inquiries and offer a reward for the apprehension of our runaways. Having reached the Falls without finding any trace of them, and our provisions giving out, we retraced our steps, and arrived on the 16th at Oak Point, which we found Mr. Stuart ready to quit.

Meanwhile, the natives of the vicinity informed us that they had seen the marks of shoes imprinted on the sand, at the confluence of a small stream in the neighborhood. We got three small canoes, carrying two persons each, and having ascertained that the information was correct, after searching the environs during a part of the 17th, we ascended the small stream as far as some high lands which are seen from Oak Point, and which lie about eight or nine miles south of it. The space between these high lands and the ridge crowned with oaks on the bank of the Columbia, is a low and swampy land, cut up by {134} an infinity of little channels. Toward evening we returned on our path, to regain the schooner; but instead of taking the circuitous way of the river, by which we had come, we made for Oak Point by the most direct route, through these channels; but night coming on, we lost ourselves. Our situation became the most disagreeable that can be imagined. Being unable to find a place where we could land, on account of the morass, we were obliged to continue rowing, or rather turning round, in this species of labyrinth, constantly kneeling in our little canoes, which any unlucky movement would infallibly have caused to upset. It rained in torrents and was dark as pitch. At last, after having wandered about during a considerable part of the night, we succeeded in gaining the edge of the mainland. Leaving there our canoes, because we could not drag them (as we attempted) through the forest, we crossed the woods in the darkness, tearing ourselves with the brush, and reached the schooner, at about two in the morning, benumbed with cold and exhausted with fatigue.

{135} The 18th was spent in getting in the remainder of the lading of the little vessel, and on the morning of the 19th we raised anchor, and dropped down abreast of the Kreluit village, where some of the Indians offering to aid us in the search after our deserters, Mr. Stuart put Mr. Farnham and me on shore to make another attempt. We passed that day in drying our clothes, and the next day embarked in a canoe, with one _Kreluit_ man and a squaw, and ascended the river before described as entering the Columbia at this place. We soon met a canoe of natives, who informed us that our runaways had been made prisoners by the chief of a tribe which dwells upon the banks of the Willamet river, and which they called _Cathlanaminim_. We kept on and encamped on a beach of sand opposite _Deer island_.[75] There we passed a night almost as disagreeable as that of the 17th-18th. We had lighted a fire, and contrived a shelter of mats; but there came on presently a violent gust of wind, accompanied with a heavy rain: our fire was put out, our mats were carried away, and we could {136} neither rekindle the one nor find the others: so that we had to remain all night exposed to the fury of the storm. As soon as it was day we re-embarked, and set ourselves to paddling with all our might to warm ourselves. In the evening we arrived near the village where our deserters were, and saw one of them on the skirts of it. We proceeded to the hut of the chief, where we found all three, more inclined to follow us than to remain as slaves among these barbarians. We passed the night in the chief’s lodge, not without some fear and some precaution; this chief having the reputation of being a wicked man, and capable of violating the rights of parties. He was a man of high stature and a good mien, and proud in proportion, as we discovered by the chilling and haughty manner in which he received us. Farnham and I agreed to keep watch alternately, but this arrangement was superfluous, as neither of us could sleep a wink for the infernal thumping and singing made by the medicine men all night long, by a dying native. I had an opportunity of seeing the sick man make his last will {137} and testament: having caused to be brought to him whatever he had that was most precious, his bracelets of copper, his bead necklace, his bow and arrows and quiver, his nets, his lines, his spear, his pipe, &c., he distributed the whole to his most intimate friends, with a promise on their part, to restore them, if he recovered.

On the 22d, after a great deal of talk, and infinite quibbling on the part of the chief, we agreed with him for the ransom of our men. I had visited every lodge in the village and found but few of the young men, the greater part having gone on a fishing excursion; knowing, therefore, that the chief could not be supported by his warriors, I was resolved not [to] be imposed upon, and as I knew where the firearms of the fugitives had been deposited, I would have them at all hazards; but we were obliged to give him all our blankets, amounting to eight, a brass kettle, a hatchet, a small pistol, much out of order, a powder-horn, and some rounds of ammunition: with these articles placed in a pile before him, we demanded the men’s clothing, the three fowling-pieces, and {138} their canoe, which he had caused to be hidden in the woods. Nothing but our firmness compelled him to accept the articles offered in exchange; but at last, with great reluctance, he closed the bargain, and suffered us to depart in the evening with the prisoners and the property.

We all five (including the three deserters) embarked in the large canoe, leaving our Kreluit and his wife to follow in the other, and proceeded as far as the Cowlitzk, where we camped. The next day, we pursued our journey homeward, only stopping at the Kreluit village to get some provisions, and soon entered the group of islands which crowd the river above Gray’s bay. On one of these we stopped to amuse ourselves with shooting some ducks, and meanwhile a smart breeze springing up, we split open a double-rush mat (which had served as a bag), to make a sail, and having cut a forked sapling for a mast, shipped a few boulders to stay the foot of it, and spread our canvass to the wind. We soon arrived in sight of Gray’s bay, at a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles from our establishment. {139} We had, notwithstanding, a long passage across, the river forming in this place, as I have before observed, a sort of lake, by the recession of its shores on either hand: but the wind was fair. We undertook, then, to cross, and quitted the island, to enter the broad, lake-like expanse, just as the sun was going down, hoping to reach Astoria in a couple of hours.

We were not long before we repented of our temerity: for in a short time the sky became overcast, the wind increased till it blew with violence, and meeting with the tide, caused the waves to rise prodigiously, which broke over our wretched canoe, and filled it with water. We lightened it as much as we could, by throwing overboard the little baggage we had left, and I set the men to baling with our remaining brass kettle. At last, after having been, for three hours, the sport of the raging billows, and threatened every instant with being swallowed up, we had the unexpected happiness of landing in a cove on the north shore of the river. Our first care was to thank the Almighty for having delivered us {140} from so imminent a danger. Then, when we had secured the canoe, and groped our way to the forest, where we made, with branches of trees, a shelter against the wind--still continuing to blow with violence, and kindled a great fire to warm us and dry our clothes. That did not prevent us from shivering the rest of the night, even in congratulating ourselves on the happiness of setting our foot on shore at the moment when we began quite to despair of saving ourselves at all.

The morning of the 24th brought with it a clear sky, but no abatement in the violence of the wind, till toward evening, when we again embarked, and arrived with our deserters at the establishment, where they never expected to see us again. Some Indians who had followed us in a canoe, up to the moment when we undertook the passage across the evening before, had followed the southern shore, and making the portage of the isthmus of Tongue Point, had happily arrived at Astoria. These natives, not doubting that we were lost, so reported us to Mr. M’Dougal; {141} accordingly that gentleman was equally overjoyed and astonished at beholding us safely landed, which procured, not only for us, but for the culprits, our companions, a cordial and hearty reception.

[69] Young’s Bay was so named by Broughton (1792), in
honor of an English naval officer. Lewis and Clark
called this Meriwether Bay. Fort Clatsop, the
wintering post of these explorers, was situated
upon the Netul (now Lewis and Clark) River, about
six miles below the present Astoria. They occupied
this structure from December 24, 1805, to March
23, 1806. Upon their departure they presented
it to the Clatsop chief Cobaway (Comowool), who
lived in it the following winter. No traces of the
buildings are now to be found. For a drawing of the
plan of the fort, see Thwaites, “Newly Discovered
Personal Records of Lewis and Clark,” in _Scribner’s
Magazine_, June, 1904.--ED.

[70] Bruguier is a type of that interesting class
known as free trappers, who wandered through the
wilderness hunting, trapping, and trading on
their own account. Most of them were Canadians or
half-breeds.--ED.

[71] Fort Okanagan, built by David Stuart, became the
chief interior post of the Pacific Fur Company.
Stuart made several trips thither, and explored the
Okanagan River beyond. Upon the sale of Astoria,
Fort Okanagan likewise passed into the hands of the
North West Company, who found this so profitable a
site for a post that it became the chief deposit
station for the entire region. The Hudson’s Bay
Company maintained the place until 1859, when they
sold their Columbia posts to the Americans, and
withdrew north of the line. The fort was on the east
bank of the Okanagan River, just above its entrance
into the Columbia, within the present Okanogan
County, Washington.--ED.

[72] One of these men had been left with him by Mr.
Thompson, in exchange for a Sandwich-islander whom
that gentleman proposed to take to Canada, and
thence to England.--FRANCHÈRE.

[73] William W. Matthews enlisted in the Astorian
expedition in New York, and came out as one of
the clerks. He was a man of much enterprise and
activity. After the transfer of Astoria he enlisted
in the North West Company, married the daughter of
the Clatsop chief Cobaway; their daughter Ellen,
born in 1815, is the first recorded white child of
Oregon. Later, Matthews returned to New York, where
he died; his widow became the wife of Labonté. Ellen
Matthews was educated in the East, and married a
wealthy citizen of Montreal.--ED.

[74] Oak Point was a well-known landmark on the Columbia,
so named by Broughton (1792), who saw oaks at this
place. It was on the south bank of the river,
nearly opposite the upper end of Grim’s Island, in
Columbia County, Oregon. The present Oak Point is
nearly opposite, on the northern bank. For the first
settlement at this place, see note 94, _post_.--ED.

[75] This tribe of Indians was designated by Lewis and
Clark as Clannahminnamum, their village being
located upon Wappato (Sauvie) Island--this would,
however, place it upon one branch of the Willamette.
The tribe has been extinct since 1840. Deer Island
is in Columbia County, Oregon, not far below the
town of St. Helens. Lewis and Clark gave it this
name, which is a translation of the Indian name
Elallah, signifying deer.--ED.

{142} CHAPTER XI

Departure of Mr. R. Stuart for the Interior--Occupations at
Astoria--Arrival of Messrs. Donald M’Kenzie and Robert
M’Lellan--Account of their Journey--Arrival of Mr. Wilson P.
Hunt.

The natives having given us to understand that beaver was very abundant in the country watered by the Willamet, Mr. R. Stuart procured a guide, and set out, on the 5th of December, accompanied by Messrs. Pillet and M’Gillis[76] and a few of the men, to ascend that river and ascertain whether or no it would be advisable to establish a trading-post on its banks. Mr. R. Bruguier accompanied them to follow his pursuits as a trapper.

The season at which we expected the return of the Tonquin was now past, and we began to regard as too probable the report of the Indians of Gray’s Harbor. We still flattered ourselves, {143} notwithstanding, with the hope that perhaps that vessel had sailed for the East Indies, without touching at Astoria; but this was at most a conjecture.

The 25th, Christmas-day, passed very agreeably: we treated the men, on that day, with the best the establishment afforded. Although that was no great affair, they seemed well satisfied; for they had been restricted, during the last few months, to a very meagre diet, living, as one may say, on sun-dried fish. On the 27th, the schooner having returned from her second voyage up the river, we dismantled her, and laid her up for the winter at the entrance of a small creek.

The weather, which had been raining, almost without interruption, from the beginning of October, cleared up on the evening of the 31st; and the 1st January, 1812, brought us a clear and serene sky. We proclaimed the new year with a discharge of artillery. A small allowance of spirits was served to the men, and the day passed in gayety, every one amusing himself as well as he could.

{144} The festival over, our people resumed their ordinary occupations: while some cut timber for building, and others made charcoal for the blacksmith, the carpenter constructed a barge, and the cooper made barrels for the use of the posts we proposed to establish in the interior. On the 18th, in the evening, two canoes full of white men arrived at the establishment. Mr. M’Dougal, the resident agent, being confined to his room by sickness, the duty of receiving the strangers devolved on me. My astonishment was not slight, when one of the party called me by name, as he extended his hand, and I recognised Mr. Donald M’Kenzie, the same who had quitted Montreal, with Mr. W. P. Hunt, in the month of July, 1810. He was accompanied by a Mr. Robert M’Lellan, a partner, Mr. John Reed, a clerk, and eight _voyageurs_, or boatmen. After having reposed themselves a little from their fatigues, these gentlemen recounted to us the history of their journey, of which the following is the substance.[77]

Messrs. Hunt and M’Kenzie, quitting Canada, {145} proceeded by way of Mackinac and St. Louis, and ascended the Missouri, in the autumn of 1810, to a place on that river called _Nadoway_, where they wintered. Here they were joined by Mr. R. M’Lellan, by a Mr. Crooks, and a Mr. Müller, traders with the Indians of the South, and all having business relations with Mr. Astor.