THE TRAIL BEGINS
maps, the Oregon Trail starts just west of St. Louis, Missouri.
In time, the beginning of the Trail is a bit harder to place.
first wagon train rolled onto the Trail in 1841 and emigrants eventually
wore the road into a great highway, in some places a hundred feet
wide and ten feet deep. Before then, however, many travelers had
come to Oregon by a variety of routes: early explorers and traders
from the west by sea; French Canadians and British emigrants overland
from the north; companies of traders out of Spanish California from
the south; and, following the fur trade, a small number of American
trappers and missionaries from the east.
number of trails already crisscrossed Oregon before the arrival
of the first Europeans. The earliest Oregon newcomers found that
coastal tribes, who had never before seen whites, already possessed
a few guns, knives, kettles, and even silver spoons. Native Americans
of the Oregon Plateau traded west of the Cascades and east of the
Bitteroot Mountains while coastal tribes traveled far inland for
a lively yearly commerce at traditional sites on the Columbia River.
IN THE RAIN
Traditionally, the story of the Oregon Trail begins with the
European/American discovery of the Columbia River and the voyages
of captains Gray
and Vancouver in 1792. These explorers' ships were just two of the
28 trading vessels in the Northwest in that year. After the mid-1780's,
a thriving sea-otter fur trade centered at Nootka Sound (on present-day
Vancouver Island) as part of a vast trading network which linked
London, New England, Hawaii, Canada's coastal islands, Russian Alaska,
and China. In spite of well-traveled trade routes along the Pacific
Coast, the mouth of the Columbia River remained hidden from explorers
behind constant rain and mist until 1792.
Time Frame is designed to help researchers place individuals and
events on the Oregon Trail into context. As well as a great number
of very diverse people, the formation of the Trail involved many
shorter journeys on future segments of the Trail. Sometimes the
context of the Trail shifts to its western end in Oregon, sometimes
to the fur trade out of St. Louis and Canada, and often to the travels
of the mountain men who explored the region in between.
OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BY GRAY AND VANCOUVER:
and the ship Columbia sailed on their second voyage from Boston
to the Northwest on September 29, 1790. They spent the winter of
1791-92 at an encampment just north of Nootka Sound (on present
day Vancouver Island), explored the local Pacific coast, and collected
sea-otter furs for sale in China.
May 11, 1792, the Columbia crossed the treacherous sand bar at the
mouth of the Columbia River and explored the waterway. Among the
50 men aboard the first ship to sail into Oregon's Columbia River
were Robert HASWELL, first officer, Andrew NEWELL, seaman and veteran
of Gray's first voyage, ATTOO, cabin boy returning to his native
Hawaii, Joseph BARNES, a seaman who had signed on in China, John
AMES and Benjamin POPKINS, armorers, Barlet PEASE, cooper, Thomas
NICHOLS, tailor, Obadiah WESTON, sail-maker, Thomas TRUMAN, cook,
Samuel YENDELL and Nathan DEWLEY, carpenters, George DAVIDSON, painter
of the ship (and painter of art), and Samuel HOMER, a 10 or 11 year
old boy. Gray and the Columbia sailed home by way of China, completing
their second trip around the world, and returned to Boston on July
April 1, 1791 Captain George VANCOUVER in the sloop Discovery and
his lieutenant Captain William R. BROUGHTON in the tender Chatham
left Falmouth, England, on an official British expedition to the
Northwest coast of America, then known as New Albion. Among Vancouver's
crew were lieutenants Joseph BAKER, PUGET, and WHIDBEY. They arrived
in the Northwest in mid-April 1792 and concentrated on exploring
the Straits of Juan de Fuca. In October 1792, Vancouver sent Broughton
to search for navigable waterways south of the Straight. Broughton
noted the Columbia River's mouth but dismissed the river as unsuitable
for sea-going commerce.
Vancouver and Haswell kept journals during the voyages. John
Scofield's Hail Columbia includes an extensive bibliography
with information on such primary sources as the journals of
Haswell and Vancouver. Frederick W. Howay's Voyages of the Columbia
to the Northwest Coast contains a wealth of primary materials
in the form of journals, documents, and letters. "Dr. John
Scouler's Journal," Oregon Historical Quarterly #6, records
another early voyage to the Northwest.
27, 1792: The captains of the Discovery and the Columbia met just
2 days sail from Cape Disappointment. Gray showed Vancouver his
map pin-pointing the location of the Columbia River (then unnamed;
Gray had spotted the river mouth sometime during his explorations
the previous year and charted its location). Although Vancouver
had noted "river-colored water" in the sea as Discovery
had passed a spot off the Oregon coast just two days earlier, he
dismissed Gray's report just as he had dismissed the colored water
as the outflow of a few minor streams. To Vancouver, Gray was simply
a gullible amateur who had swallowed another legend about a great
11, 1792: Captain Robert Gray took the Columbia across the perilous
sand bar and into the Columbia River.
1792: Vancouver dispatched Lt. William Broughton to search for navigable
rivers to the south. Broughton traveled just far enough into the
Columbia River to judge it "not suitable for major commerce."
25, 1793: Gray and the Columbia returned to Boston harbor after
a voyage of 2 years, 313 days.
1793: VANCOUVER's vessels returned from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast
with Lt. PUGET now in command of the Chatham.
1793: Lt. Puget and the ship Chatham explored the northern Pacific
Coast while Vancouver and the Discovery made way up the coast of
California. The Chatham reached Nootka on April 15 and the Discovery
on May 20. After exploring further north, the Vancouver expedition
returned to Nootka on October 5, 1793.
MACKENZIE completed an expedition in 1793 that was the first to
come OVERLAND TO THE PACIFIC through the Rocky Mountains. The party
of 9 men left Ft. Chepewyan (near Athabasca Lake, northeast Alberta)
in October 1792 and in July 1793 reached the Pacific at Fitzhough's
Sound at the Bellacoola River (north of Vancouver Island) traveling
by way of the Peace and Findlay rivers. By late July, the party
had descended the Fraser River and again reached the Pacific (near
the present Canada-US border). Among those who left Ft. Chepewyan
with MacKenzie: Alexander MACKAY, Francois BEAUDIEUX, Baptiste BISSON,
Francois COURTOIS, Jacques BEAUCHAMP, Joseph LANDRY, and Charles
January 1794, the Spanish and British agreed that the outpost at
Nootka would officially return to the British Crown but that both
nations would then cease to occupy Nootka Sound.
extensive quotes and use of primaries in Jacob A. Meyer's "Jacques
Rafael Finlay" (Washington Historical Quarterly, vol.10,
no.3, June 1919) and Agnes C Laut's Conquest of the Great Northwest
,(Moffat, Yard & Co., 1911); John C. Jackson's Children
of the Fur Trade details the life of Finlay and other metis
[part European Canadian, part Indian people]; John McDonald
of Garth wrote a Reminiscence in 1798--location of modern copy
Rafael Finlay (aka Jocco, Jocko) was in charge of the Northwest
Fur Company's Upper Bow Fort (near Duck Lake on the upper Saskatchewan
River). Jocko Finlay would become a trailblazer and a familiar figure
in fur trade history. In 1796, Finlay took charge of Fort des Prairies
(present-day Edmonton, Alberta)
June the Hudson's Bay Company Fort Branch (just 1000 yards from
Upper Bow Fort) was attacked by Sioux or Gros Ventres and 8 or 9
HBC employees killed (among them Magnus Annel, Hugh Brough, and
William Fea). An employee named Vanderiel--among those saved by
Jocko and his men, according to fur trapper Peter Fidler--hurried
to York Factory (Hudson's Bay Company headquarters) to report the
American ship Sea Otter, under command of Capt. Samuel HILL, entered
the Columbia River. Hill reported nine other ships on the Oregon
coast including the Alexander under Captain Dodge and another under
Captain Rowan. Many ships pursued the fur trade along the coast
from California to Alaska, some of which may have sailed the Columbia
River or anchored off the Oregon Coast without leaving records.
Ships in Pacific Northwest waters during the first two decades of
the 19th century included British, Spanish, and Russian fur-traders/explorers,
New England whalers, Boston traders, some French expeditions, and
even few Japanese junks.
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell, journal
1797-8 David THOMPSON, Jean Baptiste HOULE and others with the Northwest
Fur Company made contact with the Mandan villages of the Upper Missouri
March, the American ship Eliza (Captain Rowan) traded for furs with
the Kanganee Haida of Prince Edward Island (north of the Hecate
Strait, northern British Columbia/Alaskan panhandle region). The
Haida chief displayed a silver spoon given to him by Capt. Roberts
(also an American) and explained how the Cumshewa (Tsimshian) Indians
had become enemies of his tribe by forcing them from the mainland.
The Americans also had an enemy among the Tsimshian, a chief named
Scotseye, but sailed to the mouth of the Nass River, Tsimshian territory,
and fired their cannons to begin trade.
this time, in May, the ships Ulysees (Captain Lamb) and another
under Capt. Breck were also in the region. The Americans of the
Eliza pretended to be British, traded with the Tsimshians for over
100 furs, and then siezed Scotseye with his brother and son as captives.
Scoteye's son was ransomed for 3 of the 6 white-men's scalps held
by the Tsimshian tribe plus 18 muskrat pelts. Scotseye and his brother,
however, were turned over to the Kanganee Haida for execution. The
crew of the Eliza joined 1800-2000 of the Haida to witness their
deaths by stabbing.
Journal of William Sturges (edited by S.W. Jackson, 1978)
1799, the Eliza became the first American ship to sail into San
Francisco (Yerba Buena) Bay.
on the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating
to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto;
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell, journal
the fall, a party of Kutenai (Indians from Canada west of the Rocky
Mountains) visited traders of the Northwest Company at Rocky Mountain
House (on the upper Saskatchewan River). Charles LAGRASSE, Pierre
LEBLANC, and LeBlanc's wife returned to Kutenai country with them.
MCGILLIVRAY and David THOMPSON, head traders for the Northwest Fur
Company, visited the Pikuni (or Piegan) Blackfeet to assure safe
conduct for Company hunters now moving from the Saskatchewan River
to trade in the Bow River region (present-day southern Alberta).
Fur trader Manuel LISA established a post and trade in the Osage
country west of St. Louis.
PURSLEY traveled to New Mexico from St. Louis on a hunting expedition.
Trade out of St. Louis into this more southern region rapidly followed
and included the Arkansas and Colorado river basins and traffic
to Taos and Santa Fe. Some names associated with this trade later
became familiar figures of the Oregon Trail: Robert CAMPBELL, Captain
GAUNT, Jim BRIDGER, DRIPPS, FONTENELLE, BLACKWELL, TRAPP, GERVAIS,
BRENT, ST. VRAIN, and VAN DUSEN.
March 1802, Gros Ventres killed 14 Iroquois and 2 Canadians trapping
for the Northwest Fur Company in the Bow River region (present-day
Nineteenth century histories of Russian America: Berkh, Vasilii
Nikolaevich (1781-1834), The Chronological History of the
Discovery of the Aleutian Islands; or the Exploits of the
Russian Merchants; with the Supplement of Historical Data
on Fur Trade: Works Projects Administration, 1938. And Rezanov,
Nikolai Petrovich (1764-1807), A History of the Russian-American
Company: 1978, University of Washington Press; Journals for
this year by David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or
Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); Robert
In 1802, the Tlingits attacked the small outpost of the RUSSIAN
AMERICAN COMPANY on Sitka Sound. After, Aleuts, Inuits, and Konigas
would become Russian allies and employees while the Tlingits remained
1803, the Russians sent their first expedition to California in
pursuit of the sea-otter trade.
1803, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the LOUISIANA PURCHASE
from France (then under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte). For 80
million francs, the United States added all of France's territory
between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.
In 1804, rival companies engaged in the fur trade out of Canada
merged, with most trade after the merger under the Hudson Bay Company
or the Northwest Fur Company.
American ship Lelia Bird under Captain William SHALER could not
find a safe passage across the bar at the mouth of the Columbia
River in 1804. Abandoning the attempt to enter Oregon, the ship
sailed south to trade in California.
American ship Boston was also attacked by the Nootka people of southern
Vancouver Island in 1804. The Nootka killed all but 2 of the crew.
JOHN JEWETT WAS HELD CAPTIVE until rescue in 1805. YUTRAMAKI, chieftan
in the Makah tribe (a people closely allied to the Nootka) had not
been able to secure Jewett's release from MACQUINNA, chief of the
Nootka. Instead Yutramaki passed a message to Capt. Samuel HILL
of the Lydia who arranged ransom either before or after his visit
1805, Native Americans on Vancouver Island attacked and killed 8
of the crew of the Athualpa.
1805, the Lydia of Boston, Capt. Samuel HILL, entered the Columbia
River to acquire timber for spars; it returned to Nootka Sound by
November 1805. From this-- and probably several other fur trading
ships-- Oregon Native Americans were aware of a European-settled
nation far to their east even before the arrival of the LEWIS AND
President Jefferson assigned Meriwether LEWIS, his personal secretary,
to head an exploring expedition into the lands added the United
States territory in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose his
friend, William CLARK, as co-leader and assembled a party of men
for the journey. The Lewis and Clark Expedition left St. Louis on
May 14, 1804. [They would not reach the Pacific until late the next
year and would not return to St. Louis until near the end of 1806].
the end of July, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition had reached
the present-day site of Omaha, Nebraska. After they reached the
site of (present-day) Mandan, North Dakota, they constructed quarters
and storage rooms protected by an 18-foot stockade. Toussant CHARBONNEAU--traveling
with his pregnant wife, their toddler Jean Baptiste, and a Minnitaree
Indian on his way to make peace with the Shoshone--signed on as
an interpreter for the Expedition. The wife, SACAJAWEA, proved most
valuable as interpreter and guide. She was a Shoshone, captured
by Minnitarees in childhood, and then taken in by Charbonneau.
Expedition began their Continental trek westward in spring 1805
and, by early June reached a place where the Missouri River seemed
to divide into two channels. Lewis and a party traced the northern
channel while Clark and 6 men determined that the southern stream
was the Little Missouri. Farther west in August, at the extreme
southwest of Montana, Sacajawea was surprised to find her brother
whom she had not seen since she had been taken captive. Her brother,
a chief, and his people provided the expedition with fresh horses
and guided them through Lemhi Pass.
late August, the party was cold and hungry and Sacajawea was traveling
with her newborn son, Pompey. They reached the confluence of the
Snake and Columbia Rivers (near present-day Richland, Washington)
on October 16, and, by November, finally achieved the mouth of the
Columbia and the Pacific Ocean (Bakers Bay, just inland-ward of
Cape Disappointment). To encamp for the winter 1805-1806, the Lewis
and Clark Expedition crossed to the south shore, raised cabins and
a stockade, and named their camp Fort Clatsop.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition journal, including a roster
taken April 1805, has been published in various editions as
Expedition to the Sources of the Missouri and Pacific Ocean
(first edition 1814, Philadelphia and London); see also Donald
Jackson's Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related
Documents, 1783-1854: 1962, Illinois. Sgt. Patrick Gass (Hosmer)
and Sgt. Charles Floyd (OHS MS) also kept journals on the
expedition. Indian oral traditions about the visit of Lewis
and Clark may be found in Olin Dunbar Wheeler's The Trail
of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1904, GP Putnam & Sons, Knickerbocker
Press, NY and London, 1904) and in "Sayleesh Accounts
of the Arrival of Lewis and Clark," Northwest Discovery:
the Journal of Northwest History and Natural History, 7: 32&33
the winter of 1805-06, the governor of Louisiana equipped a small
party to scout northward to the Yellowstone River. The scouts included
Phillipe DEGIE and Francois RIVET. Five of this party (including
Rivet) had helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition reach their Mandan
winter camp in the winter of 1804-05. In 1805, Rivet and some others
had not returned downstream to St. Louis but remained to trap in
the high country.
1804 the US government sponsored a second western exploring expedition,
this one headed by Lt. ZEBULON PIKE on a southwestern route. Although
the trails in this region are outside the scope of the Oregon Trail
Time Frame, it should be noted that a southwest fur trade from the
Sates to Taos and Santa Fe, with trails extending into California
and Texas grew during the same time period as the Oregon Trail.
Many of the same pathfinders would travel both regions. Pike explored
from St. Louis to the Upper Mississippi to Leech Lake and back in
1804. Between 1805 and 1807, he and his command went again from
St. Louis, to the Pawnee Villages, through the Colorado Rockies,
south all the way to the Rio Grande, and then back via El Camino
Real across Texas.
March 23, 1806, the LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION left Fort Clatsop,
Oregon, to begin the long journey home. On their way up the Columbia
they noted Sauvies Island to the south but fog hid the Willamette
River (future destination of the Oregon Trail). After Indians told
them they had passed by a huge river (the "Multnomah"),
some members of Lewis and Clark's crew back-tracked forty miles
and explored the Willamette as far south as present-day Linnton,
Travelers Rest, east of Lolo Pass in the Rockies, Lewis headed a
party headed through the Three Forks region and the Marie River.
Meanwhile, Clark went through Bozeman Pass and by way of the Yellowstone
River. On August 12, the Expedition reunited at the confluence of
the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.
and her family said farewell to the Expedition at the Mandan Fort
(North Dakota). John COLTER also stayed at the Mandan Villages while
the rest of the Expedition continued downriver.
September 23, 1806, the Lewis and Clark Expedition reached St. Louis
after a nearly 27 month round-trip journey all the way to the Pacific.
Only one man (due to illness early in the trip) had died in all
the thousands of miles of hardship.
David THOMPSON was in charge at Rocky Mountain House for the Northwest
Company with Nicholas MONTOUR, Jacques QUESNAL, and others under
his command. In 1806, John McDonald of Garth (a Northwest Company
partner) ordered Jacques (JACCO) Raphael FINDLAY to improve a trail
from Rocky Mountain House on the upper Saskatchewan River over the
Rockies and into Kutenai Indian country. Accompanied by Kutenai
Indians, Findlay, his wife, and children followed the Blaeberry
River and reached the upper Columbia River on their round trip over
the Rockies. Finlay's party traveled by way of Howse Pass (later
named for Joseph Howse, a Hudson's Bay Co trader, who traveled the
Pass for the first time in 1809).
Finlay reportedly wintered on the Kootenay Plain near the headwaters
of the Saskatchewan River 1806-1807 but David Thompson noted that
he arrived back at Rocky Mountain House in November 1806 (accompanied
by Jacques QUESNEL, Joseph Daniel, BERCIER, and BOUNARD).
bypass hostile Native Americans in the Northwest, the RUSSIAN AMERICAN
COMPANY contracted with the American ship Peacock (Captain Oliver
KIMBALL) in 1806-1807 to carry Russian fur traders to California.
Timofei TARAKANOV sailed with this expedition and later (1808) with
the disastrous Sv. Nikolai voyage to the Oregon Country.
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal,
1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); Alexander Henry (Coues,
New Light on the Early History....); on Russian American traders
SLOBODCHIKOV led another group of Russian traders sailing on the
American ship O'Cain. Slododchikov quarreled with the ship's owner,
Johathan WINSHIP, and left with his men in Baja Calfornia. There
he bought the Tamana (a ship built for King Kamehameha I) and sailed
to Hawaii with a crew of 3 Hawaiians and 3 Americans. He renamed
the ship the Sv. Nikolai and anchored at Sitka Sound, Alaska, in
1806 to 1807, John COLTER trapped in the Three Forks (of the Missouri
River) region with Joseph DICKSON and Forrest HANCOCK.
April 1807, Manuel LISA, a fur trader, Benito VASQUEZ, his second
in command, Andrew HENRY and a small party (including Lewis and
Clark Expediton veterans George DRUILLARD, John POTTS, and Peter
WISER) journeyed from St. Louis to establish a post at the confluence
of the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers (Montana) among the Crow
nation. Druillard was with this expedition to represent stay-at-home
fur company partners, William Morrison and Pierre Menard.
the mouth of the Platte River, John Colter who was descending the
Missouri from the Mandan Villages, met Lisa's party. He then guided
the fur company to the Three Forks region. The company made camp
at the confluence of the Big Horn and Yellowstone rivers
Fall, Lisa (who intended to begin fur trade with the initially friendly
Blackfeet) dispatched Colter to the headwaters of the Missouri River,
the Big Horn basin, and Yellowstone area to pave the way for trade.
Before winter settled in, Colter had journeyed south to Wind River,
then west to Jackson Hole (Wyoming), and then crossed Teton Pass
into Idaho's Wind River region.
March 1807, Jocko FINLAY returned to Rocky Mountain House (Alberta)
from the mountains after his exploration trip over the Rocky Mountains
as far as the upper Columbia River region of (present-day) British
THOMPSON a geographer, explorer, and trader with the Northwest Fur
Company departed with fellow Nor'wester Finan MCDONALD and six other
men in 1807 to explore the Columbia all the way to the ocean. His
wife Charlotte and their children accompanied him on his explorations
between Rocky Mountain House and the Great Divide and on his journey
to the Northwest.
a time, hostile Piegan Blackfeet halted Thompson's advance into
the Rockies. When the Indians were diverted by a reported skirmish
between Blackfoot kinsmen and the Lewis and Clark Expedition (then
well to the south on their return journey), Thompson and party made
way through Howse Pass. Here, in June 1807, the explorers found
Finlay's steep, narrow trail, which he had blazed for a length of
forty miles. The canoes Finlay had prepared for navigation of the
Blaeberry River had been stripped of their birch coverings by porcupines
and mice over the winter.
built Kootenae House at the headwaters of the Columbia River near
Lake Windmere and close to the Kootenai River (present-day Athalmer,
British Columbia). He and his party wintered here, 1807-1808. [This
Kootenae House was called "Old Kootenae Fort" and is not
to be confused with two other forts on the Kootenai River: Kallyspell
House (present-day Bonner's Ferry, northern Idaho) was later named
Kootenay Fort and another post was built even farther east on the
Kootenai River in extreme northwest Montana]
Thompson severely criticized Jacco Findlay's preparation of the
trail and demanded that he be fined and lose half his yearly wages.
Findlay resigned from the Northwest Company and became a free trapper
allied with the HBC. He worked out of Edmunton House (under James
BIRD and Peter FIDLER in 1807) and rejoined the Northwest Company
in this Autumn, 1807, Finan McDonald established Lake Indian House
on the Kootenai River in Idaho. (this post was abandoned in favor
of Spokane House in 1811).
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal,
1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814).
September 1807, John MCCLELLAN, Francois RIVET, and a large party
of American and Canadian independent trappers (perhaps including
Charles COURTIN, Registre BELLAIRE, and Michel BORDEAUX DIT BOURDON)
encamped in the Bitterroot Valley. McClellan sent word to Thompson
of the Northwest Company (then on the Columbia River) not to encroach
on their Bitterroot trading territory.
the winter of 1807-08, eight men of the Bitterroot camp, including
the leader John McClellan, were killed in a battle with Blackfeet
or Gros Ventres.
early Spring, John COLTER returned from the Wind River region by
way of the Snake River, Jackson Hole, and a route that took him
through the Yellowstone Park area. Back in St. Louis, Colter's description
of Yellowstone was disbelieved and the fantastic region was named
traveled with a group of Crows and fought along side them when they
were raided by Blackfeet, the Crows' traditional enemies. After
1808, the Blackfeet became enemies of the American traders in the
Colter rejoined the Lisa-Henry party at the mouth of the Big Horn
on the Yellowstone. At this place, in Spring of 1808, the party
constructed Fort "Raymond" (which was usually referred
to as Ft. Manuel).
DROUILLARD, like Colter, was dispatched by Lisa from his Fort Manuel
to explore the Big Horn basin in 1808.
and a man named POTTS left on a separate scouting expedition up
the Jefferson River from the Three Forks region. They encountered
800 menacing Blackfeet who demanded they come ashore. Colter waded
to land while Potts remained in the canoe. The Blackfeet shot Potts
in the hip while Colter was stripped and robbed. Potts hollered
that he was too wounded to escape-- that Colter should make a run
for it while Potts could shoot at least one enemy. Potts did so,
died in a hail of bullets and arrows, and was hacked to pieces and
thrown in Coter's face.
Blackfeet told Colter to run, to give a sporting chance. Colter
walked about hundred yards and then took off, out-running all but
one warrior who kept with him half way to the Madison River. Colter
killed this man with the head of his own spear. He hid from the
rest of his pursuers behind a log in the river, swimming and floating
away during the night. Clad only in the Indian's blanket and armed
only with the spearhead, Colter walked 11 days back to the Yellowstone
July, Lisa returned by river to St. Louis while Henry stayed at
the fort. Back in St. Louis, Manuel Lisa organized the Missouri
Fur Company (partnered with Benjamin Wilkinson, Pierre Chouteau
Sr., Auguste Chouteau Jr., Reubin Lewis, William Clark, Sylvestre
Labbadie, Pierre Menard, William Morrison, and Andrew Henry).
American ships Derby, Capt. SWIFT, and Guatimozin, Capt. GLANVILLE,
entered the Columbia River in 1808.
FRASER led an exploring expedition in the Northwest this year.
BELLAIRE, a former employee of the Missouri River trader Charles
Courtin, was hired by David Thompson to work for the Northwest Company
in the Columbia River region in 1808. Carlo CHATA (Charlot TseTse)
also worked for Thompson between 1808 and 1810. In this year, or
perhaps slightly later, Nicholas MONTOUR was placed in charge of
The Wreck of the Sv. Nikolai (Oregon Historical Society
Press, 1985), by Kenneth N. Owens, editor, and Alton S. Donelly,
translator, contains the journal of Timofei Tarakanov and
the oral tradition narrative of Ben Hobucket, a Quileute,
as well as a debunking of the fraudulent journal of "Vassilie
Petrovich" (H.H. Bancroft's source); JOURNAL SOURCES:
Robert Campbell (Campbell); David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative;
Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814);
ON RUSSIAN AMERICA: ((Berkh, Rezenov).
1808, the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY recaptured Sitka Sound from the
Tlingits with help from Aleut allies. Continued Tlingit hostility
convinced Chief Manager Aleksandr BARANOV to concentrate future
Russian efforts to the south, beginning with the Oregon Country.
WRECK OF THE SV. NIKOLAI (St. Nicolas): In September 1808, the Russian
American Company dispatched a ship from New Arkhangel, Alaska, to
found an outpost in the Oregon Country. In October, the Sv. Nicholai
wrecked near the Quillayute River (present-day La Push, WA). The
crew of 22-- Russians, Aleuts, and one American--fought with the
Quileute Indians and fled south to the Ho River. The Hoh Indians
took 2 men and 2 women captive. The rest fled to the interior and
spent a miserable winter. (The names of the crew of the Nikolai
and their fates are detailed in the 1810 section)
Jocco FINLAY and his large family had an outpost near to Old Fort
Kootenae but closer to the Blaeberry River. In April, after the
death of the wife of one of Thompson's voyageurs, (Basile?) LUSSIER,
Findlay took in the Lussier children. In August, Finlay and family
took refuge with Thompson after their camp was raided by Piegan
THOMPSON of the Northwest Company extended trading operations into
the Flathead (that is Salish) region. Traders with Thompson in 1809
included the metis Michel BOURDEAUX DIT BOURDON, Michel KINVILLE,
Francois SANS FACON, Francois GREGOIRE, Pierre GREGNON, and Francois
RIVET. (Other names associated with Thompson at this time: Brucier,
Pembrook [Pembuck?], Bellaire, James McMillan, and Jean Baptiste
October 1809, after a 200 mile journey, Thompson and his party set
up a trading camp near the site of present-day Libby, Montana (later
the site of Kullyspell House and later still Fort Kootenay). Soon
they built and established Flathead Post (Salish House, present
day Montana) south of Flathead Lake and near Clark Fork River to
trade with the Salish and Pend d'Oreil Indians.
arrival, the Northwesters found about 20 metis (mixed white and
Indian people, usually descendants of European/Canadian fur traders
and Indian wives) already engaged in the fur trade in the Flathead
region. This vanguard of Canadian emigration to the Northwest included
the mixed-race clans of the Iroquois, emigrants from the Saskatchewan
River region, and remnants of McClellan's 1807-08 American expedition
into the Bitterroots.
territory that would later become Washington State, the SURVIVORS
OF THE WRECK OF THE SV. NIKOLAI, tried to reach the coast after
a miserable winter spent in the foothills of the Olympics. Anna
Petrovna BULYGIN, the wife of the ship's navigator and captive of
the Makah people, persuaded Bulygin, Timofei TARAKANOV, and a few
others to surrender and take refuge with the Makah.
rest attempted to escape by sea, leaving the Ho River in canoes,
and were killed or captured by Hohs or Quileutes. The survivors
of the Sv. Nickolai spent the next year in captivity among the Hoh,
Quileute, and Makah. (The names of the crew of the Nikolai and their
fates are detailed in the 1810 section)
least three of the SURVIVORS OF THE NIKOLAI REACHED THE COLUMBIA
RIVER in 1809. One, an un-named Aleut man, was ransomed by Capt.
George Washington EAYRES (of the American ship Mercury) when he
was offered for sale by his Indian captors on the bank of the Columbia
River. Another, ship's apprentice Filip KOTELNIKOV, had been bought
by Chinooks from the Hohs or Quileutes and apparently decided to
remain with the Chinooks voluntarily. BOLGUSOV, another of the crew
who had been sold to Columbia River Indians, was ransomed by Captain
BROWN of the American ship Lydia in 1810.
spring of 1809, Andrew HENRY, field captain, Pierre CHOUTEAU, military
commander, Pierre MENARD, company manager, and a party of Missouri
Fur Company trappers set out from St. Louis to the Three Forks region
of the Missouri River. Manuel LISA followed them up the Missouri
in June, overtaking the flotilla of 13 barges and keelboats before
they reached the Mandan Villages on the Upper Missouri.
JAMES commanded a flotilla of 13 barges and keelboats. Pierre Chouteau
(one of the fur company partners) escorted SHAHAKA, who had been
brought to St. Louis by Lewis and Clark, back to his home among
the Mandans. RUEBEN LEWIS (brother of Merriwether Lewis), Francoise
VALLE, LABBADIE, MENARD, MILLER, MORRISON, one of Chouteau's sons
and Thomas James (barge captain) also made the journey.
VASQUEZ (Lisa's second in command in 1807-1808) met them at the
Mandan villages. Many of the Americans with the party dropped out
and went back down river at this point. Lisa had recruited heavily
among the Creoles of Detroit, St. Louis, and Kankaski and the original
party was about half-and-half American and French. They had bickered
all the way up river with Chouteau and Lisa the targets of the Americans'
anger. (Henry and the small party of Americans that were with him
"David Thompson's Journey in Idaho" (his journal
of Sept 1809 in Washinton Historical Quarterly, vol. 11, no.
2, April 1920); John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade
(Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana, 1995) analyzes
a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson Bay Company
archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic Church
Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history of
Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.
Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812;
Coues, journal, 1799-1814); on the SV NIKOLAI (Owens).
the company founded Ft. Lisa (often called Ft. Mandan) just upriver
from the native Mandan villages, arguments came to a head. When
Lisa and Chouteau refused to give the Americans promised trapping
equipment, one man threatened them with death. The commanders confiscated
all the guns and the Americans camped outside the new fort. When
Chouteau ordered his men to fire upon the Americans, Henry, Valle,
Sylvestre Labbadie, Pierre Menard, William Morrison, and Chouteau's
son placed themselves bodily between the hostile factions. Chouteau
returned to the fort with no shots fired.
Missouri Fur Company was now ready to begin operations. Thomas James,
MCDANIELS, and Miller had left to trap two days before the big argument.
Henry went quickly overland to Ft. Manuel (Raymond) while Menard,
most of the men, and the supplies voyaged upriver to meet him.
Henry and the trappers wintered at the fort (at the mouth of the
Big Horn on the Yellowstone River) Manuel Lisa and Pierre Chouteau
returned to St. Louis.
Jacob ASTOR received a charter in New York to form the AMERICAN
FUR COMPANY in 1809.
1810, Indians on the Columbia River shore offered to sell BOLGUSOV,
a survivor of the wreck of the Sv. Nikolai, as a slave to CAPTAIN
BROWN of the American ship Lydia. Brown ransomed Bolgusov and sailed
north to the territory of the Makahs where the other survivors were
May 6, 1810, the Lydia anchored off the coast of the Olympic Peninsula
near Cape Flattery and Neah Bay. Brown negotiated the release and
ransom of the 13 captives and set out northward for New Archangel,
Alaska, arriving June 9, 1810.
13 ransomed were Timofei TARAKANOV, Dmitrii SHUBIN, Ivan BOLOTOV,
Ivan KURMACHEV, Afansii VALGUSOV, Kasian ZYPIANOV, Savva ZUEV, Abram
PETUKOV, John WILLIAMS (American), two Aleut men, and two Aleut
women. Navigator BULYGIN and wife Anna Petrovna Bulygin died in
Makah captivity. Five others died in battles with the Quileute or
Hoh or died in captivity: IAKOV PETUKOV, Kozma OVCHINNIKOV, Khariton
SOBACHNIKOV, and two Aleuts.
Aleut man and a Russian named BOLGUSOV were ransomed on the Columbia
River by American captains. Another, naval apprentice Filip KOTELNIKOV,
apparently decided to stay voluntarily with the Chinooks on the
of the Nikolai passengers had developed affection for their captors.
One captive rescued from the Quileutes (an Aleut woman) was brought
along on a later expedition sent to punish and enslave the Quileute;
she called out to them from the ship and warned away their canoes.
YUTRAMAKI (or Machee Ulatilla), a Makah chief, was particularly
praised for his nobility and protection. In 1805, this same Yutramaki
had arranged for the release of American John JEWETT from Nootka
26 through July 19, 1810: In spring of 1810 Capt. Nathan WINSHIP
of Boston and a small crew arrived in the trading ship Albatross
and attempted to establish a post on the Columbia River on an island
about 3 miles from the present day site of Quincy, OR (at Oak Point
about 40 miles from the mouth of the Columbia). Winship intended
to leave a small party under the leadership of a man named WASHINGTON
to stay the winter. Instead, during construction of the post, Winship
imprisoned some Chilwitz (Echeloot) men mistakenly believing they
were the party who had attacked the Russian post at New Archangel
(Alaska). As the Chilwitz prepared for war, Winship and his crew
retreated down the Columbia.
of trappers with the NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY set out from the Hudson
Bay fort region for an expedition to the Pacific. They were led
by David THOMPSON on a route through the Athabasca Pass (through
a region named later as Alberta Province along the border of British
1810, Jacco FINDLAY had rejoined the Northwest Company and worked
as a clerk under Finan MCDONALD at Salish House.
the summer of 1810, Salish Indians with the Northwest Company's
BOURDON, Jean Baptiste BOUCHE, Jacco FINDLAY, and Finan MCDONALD
crossed the Rockies heading east. The company held off an attack
by Pikuni Blackfeet, retreated, and built the stronghold of Spokane
House (near the junction of the Spokane Riverand the Little Spokane,
present-day Washington State).
David Thompson and a party had traveled east of the Rockies. In
the summer of 1810, Piegan Blackfeet had unsuccessfully fought a
force of 150 Nez Perce and Flatheads on the plains (some of whom,
unlike the Piegans, had received guns in trade from the Northwesters).
The hostile Piegans blocked Thompson's usual route over the Rockies.
He crossed on a more northerly pass, traveled south along the Kootenai
and Pend d'Oreil rivers, and arrived at Spokane House in June 1811.
EAST TO WEST:
by John COLTER, Andrew HENRY, Pierre MENARD, and most of the trappers
who had wintered at Fort Manuel traveled to the Three Forks region
in April 1810 for trapping and trade with local Indians.
men were killed in an attack by an estimated 200 Blackfeet of the
Kiniah tribe (also called Bloods). In another skirmish on the Jefferson
River, one American lost his life as the trappers killed 22 Blackfeet.
George DRUILLARD, who was trapping with a group of 21 men, was killed
in yet another battle. Henry, Menard, and their men retreated over
the pass to the Yellowstone. At the mouth of the Clark River on
the Yellowstone they met a large party of friendly Crows. Here they
cached their goods and divided into two groups, the men with Menard
traveling back to Ft. Manuel (also called Ft. Raymond, at the mouth
of the Big Horn) and those with Henry west to the Madison River.
and his sixty men passed through a low divide to the south (Bozeman
Pass) and crossed over the Tetons to the headwaters of the Snake
River. Spying abundant beaver, they built a fort just downstream
of a lake on Henry's Fork (site of present-day St. Anthony, Idaho).
Archibald PELTON became separated from Henry's company somewhere
along the Fork (He would not be seen again until 1811). Although
the beaver were plenty, the high elevation meant game was scarce
and the men endured a starvation diet. John HOBACK, Edward ROBINSON,
P. MCBRIDE, Jacob REZNOR, B. JACKSON, and L. CATHER were among those
wintering over at the miserable Ft. Henry.
his eastern Rockies-based American Fur Company driven out of business
by competition from the MACKINAW COMPANY in the north and the Missouri
Fur Company and others in the south, JOHN JACOB ASTOR formed the
PACIFIC FUR COMPANY to pursue the fur trade from west of the Rockies.
Astor dispatched one party by ship from New York and another overland
from St. Louis in 1810 to begin operations for the Pacific Fur Company.
original Pacific Fur Company partners were John Jacob Astor of New
York, an American from New Jersey named William Price HUNT and three
former members of the Canadian Northwest Fur Company, Alexander
MCKAY, Duncan MCDOUGAL, and Donald MACKENZIE.
1810 the two parties representing ASTOR'S PACIFIC FUR COMPANY, set
out to establish the first trading post on the Columbia River. One
party sailed from New York on the ship Tonquin, under the command
of Captain Jonathan THORNE. The other party set out overland from
St. Louis led by William Price HUNT. Both parties expected to arrive
at the mouth of the Columbia River at about the same time. Astor
also dispatched the ship Beaver with a load of supplies and some
additional workers for the company.
ship, the TONQUIN, put to sea on September 8, 1810. Aboard were
Captain Jonathan THORNE, fur company partners Alexander MCKAY, Duncan
MCDOUGAL, David STUART, his nephew Robert Stuart, 12 clerks, and
enough voyagers to make a crew of 20.
Hawaii, 20 to 30 Hawaiians joined the Tonquin for the voyage to
ON RUSSIAN AMERICA (Owens, Berkh, Rezenov); on the NORTHWEST
COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest
Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto; David Thompson
(Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812;
Coues, journal, 1799-1814); John C. Jackson's Children of
the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana,
1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson
Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic
Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history
of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.
of the Overland Astorians, 1810-1812" (OHQ 1933); [The
roll of the overland Astorians 1810-12 appears in Oregon Historical
Quarterly #34 as well as the trail journal of Robert Stuart];
On the ship Tonquin, Robert Stuart, Thomas and Alexander McKay;
on the trail William P. Hunt (Franchere).
overland expedition to Oregon was led by William Price HUNT with
partner Donald MACKENZIE. MacKenzie and Hunt left Montreal by canoe
and arrived at Mackinaw (at the confluence of lakes Michigan and
Huron) on July 23, 1810. Ramsey CROOKS (a Scotsman) joined them
at Mackinaw and the party headed down river to arrive at St. Louis
September 3, 1810. (Their journey took them via Green Bay to the
Fox River, then the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien and on to
the Mississippi River).
Pierre MENARD came downstream from Ft. Manuel and reached St. Louis
in September. His report to the Missouri Fur Company was so discouraging
that the partners decided not to send new supplies to Andrew Henry
and his trappers. Instead, they planned to dispatch a small rescue
party come Spring.
ST. LOUIS, HUNT and the Pacific Fur Company party recruited Joseph
MILLER as a partner (he was a fur trapper from Maryland--Bancroft's
Oregon, vol. 1, says Miller, who came west with Henry, met Astorians
in Idaho; otherwise he would have had to have returned to St. Louis
from Ft. Manuel, as Menard did). The Pacific Fur Company partners
and men departed From St. Louis October 10. 1810 to establish winter
quarters up the Missouri River. At Nodowa, the site of their winter
camp, Robert MCCLELLAN (a war veteran) and John DAY (a hunter from
Virginia) joined the Astorian party.
late 1810, the Missouri Fur Company's Cedar Post accidentally burned
with $12,000 to $15,000 worth of furs.
bought out the Mackinaw Fur Company in 1811 and added it to his
holdings in the American Fur Company and the Pacific Fur Company.
Briefly, just until the War of 1812, Astor's merger of the Mackinaw
and the American fur companies operated under the name the SOUTHWEST
FUR COMPANY but revived after the war as the AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.
March 25, concerned about Astor's operations, the Missouri Fur Company
partners met in St. Louis to discuss the rescue party that they
had planned during the previous September. The CHOUTEAUs withdrew
their financial backing and only partners Manuel LISA, William CLARK,
and Pierre MENARD supported the transport of reinforcements and
supplies to aid Andrew Henry and his men. Lisa was to lead the rescue
party and await Henry and his trappers at the Mandan villages.
wintering at Ft. Henry (Idaho), MISSOURI FUR COMPANY members under
Andrew HENRY abandoned the post to go east in the spring of 1811.
Several men remained to trap in the mountains.
group under Henry went northeast to Ft. Manuel (officially named
Ft. Raymond) by way of the Yellowstone River. The other party traveled
to Jackson Hole, over Togwotee Pass (Lewis and Clark's route), and
then perhaps down the Wind River and Big Horn to reach Ft. Manuel
via the Yellowstone River.
the Fort, the trappers found that no supplies had been sent by the
Missouri Fur Company partners in St. Louis.
THE EAST TO THE WEST:
New Year's Day, 1811, W.P. HUNT left the Astorians' winter camp
(called Nadowa) on the Missouri River with 5 men to return to St.
Louis. In St. Louis, Manuel LISA of the Missouri Fur Company was
recruiting men for a rescue party so supplies and new recruits were
scarce. Hunt was able to hire Pierre DORIONE as guide and Sioux
interpreter, but only two of the five men who accompanied him to
St. Louis returned (Dr. John BRADBURY, a botanist of the Linnean
Society of Liverpool and Thomas NUTTALL, a scientist).
Spring 1811, on his way back up the Missouri River to winter camp
(at Nowdowa) Hunt encountered Daniel BOONE (then 85 years old) and
John COLTER. The Pacific Fur Company under Hunt, left Nodowa Village
for their journey to Oregon on March12, 1811. Hunt and his party
of 60 reached the Platte River on April 28, Omaha Village on May
10, and just below the Arikara Village (near the mouth of the Grand
River on the Missouri) on the first of June 1811. Lisa and his rescue
party were already encamped.
his boat, and a crew of 21 set out from St. Louis on April 2, slightly
behind the Pacific Fur Company party. With him were Henry Marie
BRECKENRIDGE and a couple returning to the Hadatsa Village; Toussaint
CHARBONNEAU and SACAJAWEA were going home after a visit with William
Clark in St. Louis.
steadily gained on Hunt's party as he and his crew made way up the
Missouri. They passed the mouth of the Platte on May 10, the Omaha
Village on May 19. At this point, Hunt was only four days ahead.
On May 23, Lisa met F.M. BENOIT who had come downriver (Benoit was
the Missouri Company's chief factor at the Mandan Villages, upriver
near the mouth of the Big Knife River). Benoit reported that all
Indians except the Arikaras and the Mandans had become the Americans'
enemies. The Sioux, said Benoit, had killed several Americans in
the Mandan vincinity.
days later, on May 26, two of Hunt's men who had been dispatched
by him to go back downriver reached Lisa with a message: Hunt was
only one day away and would wait for Lisa and his company at the
Ponca Village (mouth of the Niobrara river, now northeast Nebraska).
Lisa also encountered two deserters from Hunt's party who told him
that Hunt had placated hostile Sioux by promising the Indians that
Lisa was on his way with goods for them.
on the same day, three of Andrew Henry's men (Jacob REZNOR, Edward
ROBINSON, and John HOBACK) came to Hunt's encampment from Ft. Manuel
(on the Yellowstone River). The three joined Hunt's party as guides.
and the Astorians (Pacific Fur Company) found Lisa and his Missouri
Fur Company rescue party already encamped when they arrived at the
Arikara Village (at the mouth of the Grand River). From here, Lisa
continued upriver and arrived at the Mandan Villages on June 26.
Reubin LEWIS was waiting there for him but the rest of Henry's company
did not arrive at Ft. Lisa (more commonly called Ft.Mandan) until
September. Lewis told Lisa that Henry was on his way with a huge
catch of furs. Henry, Lisa, Benoit and others returned downriver
to St. Louis in the Fall of 1811. On their way back, they rebuilt
the trading post on Cedar Island.
the Arikara Villages, Hunt and the Astorians departed from the Missouri
River overland on July 23, 1811. To avoid hostile Blackfeet, the
three guides (formerly Andrew Henry's men) convinced the party to
go west by way of Union Pass rather than the more northerly route
of Lewis and Clark (Togwotee Pass).
DORIONE, Alexander CARSON, and GRADPIE traveled ahead and lost the
main party. The party with Hunt, by veering sharply westward, rejoined
them at the Little Missouri River in mid-August. The Astorians with
Hunt reached Ft. Henry on October 8, 1811.
the deserted Ft. Henry (westernmost Wyoming), Louis ST. MICHEL,
Pierre DELAUNEY, Pierre DETAYE,and Alexander CARSON were instructed
to trap for furs and then make way to the Columbia River. (Francois
LANDRY, Andre LACHAPPELLE and Jean TURCOTTE may also have left the
party here or further west near the Mad River).
HOBACK, Jacob REZNOR, and Edward ROBINSON (who were traveling west
with the Astorians as guides) rejoined the remnant of the party
that came west with Andrew Henry in 1810. These men stayed to trap
in the Bear River region as the Pacific Fur Company proceeded toward
the Columbia River. (This party may have included a man named CASS
and Joseph MILLER, if he had not met the Astorians in St. Louis
as reported in some sources. One source, Jackson's Children of the
Fur Trade, says that William CANNON and DUBRIEUL were also left
by the Astorians to hunt in the Snake River region in 1811).
with the Astorians named CLAPPINE drowned in a canoe accident near
Caldron Linn in late October 1811. Hunt's company cached supplies
and furs at this place on the Snake River (between the American
and Shoshone Falls) and headed for Oregon. At the Lewis River, they
found the long lost Archibald PELTON who had become separated from
Henry's expedition the year before. Pelton appeared to be out of
his mind but fortunately had been taken in by Snake Indians (Shoshones).
route westward was unclear and Hunt's company split up. John REED
led one party. Eighteen men under under HUNT and Pierre DORION followed
after. Ramsey CROOKS led another 18. Crook's party reunited with
Hunt and company on December 6, 1811. The rest of the Astorians
together with John Reed, Donald MACKENZIE,and Robert MCCLELLAN,
were by this time well ahead of Hunt's combined company.
this point, Hunt left CROOKS and John DAY (then ailing) to make
their way slowly along the Columbia River while Hunt's company doubled
back to the last place where they had been able to find and purchase
provisions (Woodpile Creek). On December 29, Madame DORION, wife
of Pierre Dorion and mother of four- and two-year-olds (all on the
expedition) gave birth to a healthy baby. Hunt, Dorion, and company
resumed the journey westward on January 2, 1812.
SHIP TONQUIN ARRIVED AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA on March 22, 1811.
(It put to sea from New England September 8, 1810). Eight men, the
crews of two small boats, were drowned during attempts to locate
a channel across the bar during stormy weather.
MCDOUGAL and David STUART went ashore at a landing site at Baker
Bay to scout on April 5, 1811. They returned to the ship with Chief
COMCOMLY of the Chinooks on April 12 and reported a better site
for a post at a spot later named George Point. Captain THORNE set
some of the crew and a small portion of the supplies ashore and
sailed to Vancouver Island.
than begin trade with the Native Americans on Vancouver Island (at
Clayoquot Bay), Thorne so antagonized them that they attacked the
Tonquin. All on board were killed and the Tonquin burned, exploded,
and sank to the bottom with all supplies.
Indian interpreter named JOSEACHAL (a Quinault) returned to Ft.
Astor, the sole survivor of the WRECK OF THE TONQUIN. Joseachal
said that four survivors of the original attack had holed up in
the cabin of the Tonquin with a severely wounded clerk, James LEWIS.
Lewis told them to escape and then ambushed Neeweetee (that is,
Nootka or Clayoquot) Indians still aboard by setting fire to the
ship's store of ammunition. The three other survivors were later
captured and killed while the interpreter made his escape.
William Price Hunt, journal (Franchere and in Thwaites, vol.6);
Thomas Nuttall, travel books (published in the early 19th
century and available at the Bancroft Library: Travels into
the Old Northwest, ; Travels in North America, ;
"Journal," Oct. 1818 to Feb. 1820; Journal of Travels
[Arkansas], 1819; Nuttall, a botanist and orinthologist, came
to Oregon on the Trail in 1834--after he returned to the east,
he published a book on his travels in Oregon, Hawaii, and
California, 1834-35); Brackenridge, Henry Marie, Views of
Louisiana, Readex Microprint, 1966; Bradbury, John, Travels
in the Interior of America, Readex Microprint, 1966.
Journals by William P. Hunt (Franchere), Ross Cox (Stewart),
Alexander Ross (Ross wrote Fur Hunter of the Far West; excerpts
in OHS VF--from the Oregonian newspaper, 1885; also OHQ 1913);
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal,
1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); "Matthews' Adventures
on the Columbia" (OHQ 40); Gabrielle Franchere's journal
of a voyage arriving in Oregon this year (Quaife); in this
year, Robert Stuart was in Oregon--he arrived on the ship
Tonquin (Rollins, editor--Stuart's journal begins in 1812
but recounts past events); Thomas McKay was in Oregon, arriving
on the Tonquin (William Cameron McKay Papers [son of Thomas
McKay] are in the Pendleton Public Library, Oregon); material
about the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating
to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto.
shore crew on the Columbia River could only hope for a speedy arrival
of the overland party and began work on FT. ASTOR. David STUART
set out with 6 men of this company to establish another post beyond
the upper Columbia (on the Okanagan River in territory that would
later be Washington State). Stuart's party met a Pacific-bound expedition
led by David THOMPSON during their journey up the Columbia River.
Thompson, an employee of the Northwest Fur Company, continued with
his party down the Columbia, set up camp outside Ft. Astor, and
established a presence for the NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY.
summer of 1811, David THOMPSON, Michel BOURDON, BOULARD, Ignace
L'IROQUOIS, and others of a Northwest Company boat-party arrived
at Ft. Astor after travel down the Columbia River. Boulard, who
was ill, stayed at the fort and was replaced by a Hawaiian named
COX for the return journey. Those paddling up river with Thompson
also included Maurice PICARD, Thomas CANASWAREL, and Ignace SALIAHONE
who had left his family at Ft. Astor. (Thompson was at Spokane House
on June 14, 1811; at Ft. Astor August 6; back to Spokane August
13 where he met Jacco FINDLAY; and to Salish House by November 11).
November, Thompson left Cox and Paul "Iroquoi" with Jocco
FINLAY at Spokane House. He also ordered Michel KINVILLE to abandon
his charge of Lake Indian House and move all company goods to Spokane
September 26, 1811 the Astorians had completed quarters built of
stone and clay. On October 2, they launched a new small schooner
and named her Dolly.
from David STUART's post on the Okanagan arrived on October 5, 1811;
David Stuart had sent half the company back to Ft. Astor while he
and the rest wintered over at the Okanagan post. Registre BRUGIER
may have been with this party or with another Pacific Fur Company
party that returned to Ft. Astor in October 1811. At the fort, Gabriel
FRANCHERE recognized Brugier from their previous association in
the Iroquois trade out of Saskatchewan.
THE TRAIL TO OREGON:
with William Price HUNT left their camp at the lower Snake River
on January 2, 1812 and reached the confluence of the Walla Walla
and Columbia rivers on January 21, 1812.
about this date in January, Donald MACKENZIE, Robert MCCLELLAND,
and John REED arrived at Ft. Astor with a portion of the OVERLAND
PACIFIC FUR COMPANY (ASTORIAN) EXPEDITION. Those with William Price
Hunt arrived about a month later on February 15, 1812 (they had
camped at Wishram Village, Celilo Falls, on January 31 and made
the rest of the journey by canoe). Only 35 members of the original
Astorian party of 59 overlanders reached the mouth of the Columbia
River. Sickness, starvation, drownings, hostile Indians, fatigue
and desertions took their toll during the 17 months of travel. Ramsey
CROOKS and John DAY had been seen by neither party since December
the Astorians left behind to hunt IN IDAHO traveled mostly northeast
towards the Missouri River. While a party of four was on its way
north towards the Missouri headwaters in late 1811 or early 1812,
Pierre DETAYE was killed by Crows. Alexander CARSON, Pierre DELAUNEY,
and Luis ST. MICHEL had also been attacked but reached the Missouri
River region. Others with the Astorian fur trappers--Francois LANDRY,
Andre LACHAPPELLE and Jean TURCOTTE--traveled with a party of Shoshones
who were attacked by Blackfeet while traveling northeast from the
Snake River. This party retreated to the Snake River at Caldron
historian, Daniel Lee in Ten Years in Oregon, claims that Landry,
LaChapelle, and Turcotte "deserted" Crooks and Day in
February 1812 and purposely led a party of Shoshones to plunder
the cache. Other accounts, more likely, say the 3 stayed with Shoshones--who
had guided Hunt and the main company in October 1811--and both the
Shoshones and the Astorians were robbed of the cached supplies by
marauding Blackfeet. In any case, the cache was discovered and plundered
before the eastbound Astorians looked for it in August of 1812]
March 22, 1812 three parties set out from Ft. Astor to begin fur
trade: RUSSELL, FARNHAM, Donald GILLES, and a party of 8 were to
go to the cache at Caldron Linn . Robert STUART was to reinforce
his uncle's post on the Okanagan and John REED, MCCLELLAN and their
company were to go east with dispatches for Astor in New York. For
400 miles up the Columbia River, the routes for all three parties
were the same and they traveled together
portage at Deschutes, REED and his small party of companions were
attacked by Indians. Two of the attackers were killed and the others
driven off. In the melee, Reed was severely injured by tomahawk
blows to his head and the dispatches were lost.
three parties of Astorians changed their courses to go to David
Stuart's post on the Onkanagan River. David STUART joined them for
the return trip to Ft. Astor.
the Columbia River, the party found the long-missing John DAY and
Ramsey CROOKS. At the end of the previous year, Walla Walla Indians
had taken in and sustained the two men. When they resumed their
journey to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1812, traveling alone,
they had been attacked by another tribe of Indians near Deschutes.
They were uninjured but robbed of every supply.
company returned to Ft. Astor on May 11, 1812.
May 6, 1812, the Astorian SUPPLY SHIP BEAVER arrived at the Columbia
the end of June, the Astorians were ready to make a new attempt
at trading expeditions. This time ROBERT STUART led the party bound
for the States including John DAY, Andrew VALLE, Ramsey CROOKS,
Benjamin JONES, Robert MCCLELLAN and Francois LECLAIRE. DAVID STUART
went to establish a new post (300 miles beyond Okanagan) and parties
with Donald MACKENZIE, Ross COX, and John CLARKE went to explore
the upper Snake River region.
again, all the Astorians traveled together up the Columbia River.
At the junction of the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers, on July
31, 1812, ROBERT STUART AND HIS PARTY SET OUT OVERLAND FOR THE STATES
(see the section titled "West to East" below for the chronology
of this journey). DAVID STUART traveled north to establish another
post 300 miles beyond Ft. Okanagan. Donald MACKENZIE, John CLARKE,
and Ross COX parted company at the juncture of the Clearwater River
and the Snake. John Clarke's party went up the upper Snake and the
Lewis River to make a post at Spokane. [This post called Spokane
Fort was just a half mile from the Northwester's Spokane House (established
1810)]. Meanwhile MacKenzie's company canoed the Lewis River to
the Sahaptin River and made camp among the Nez Perce.
summer INDIAN RENDEZVOUS of 1812 in Oregon (at the confluence of
the Columbia and Walla Walla rivers) included David THOMPSON, David
STUART, and Alexander ROSS. Ross reported that this traditional
trading meet attracted about 1500 Cayuses, Walla Walla (Palouse),
and other Shehaptin Indians (Indians of the Plateau region). He
also estimated 400 horses.
Stuart and other Astorians joined David Thompson (of the Northwest
Fur Company) for the return trip down river to Ft. Astor.
August 1812, W.P. HUNT and the ship Beaver left Ft. Astor to pursue
the fur trade along the north coast. Duncan MCDOUGAL, left in charge
of the fort, expected their return in October.
his Shahaptin River camp, MacKenzie dispatched John REED and a small
party to go east to the cache at Cauldron Linn on the lower Snake
River. In the Caldron Linn region, Reed encountered Pacific Fur
Company trappers who had wintered east of the Blue Mountains (Alexander
CARSON, Louis ST. MICHEL, Pierre DELAUNEY, Joseph LANDRY, Andre
LACHAPELLE, and Jean TURCOTTE). All the trappers headed back to
MacKenzie's camp on the Shahaptin River with the sad news that the
Caldron Linn cache had been thoroughly plundered.
CLARKE, Ross COX, and Donald MACKENZIE reunited at Spokane House
(Clarke's post) in the fall of 1812. Here they received news of
the War between the United States and Britain. The news had been
brought by John George MCTAVISH who had come from Lake Winnepeg
OVERLAND WITH MEN OF THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY.
November or December 1812, Ross COX and Russell FARNHAM left the
Flathead country to hunt buffalo in the Upper Missouri region. Buffalo-hunting
Salish (one of the tribes often called "Flatheads") were
now accompanied by fur traders on the Indian's traditional incursions
into Blackfoot territory; this caused frequent skirmishes and brought
Americans and Canadians further into conflict with the Blackfeet.
late 1812 or very early 1813, MacKenzie returned to Ft. Astor. David
Stuart sent some of his company back to the mouth of the Columbia
but he himself wintered at Okanagan.
conference with Duncan MCDOUGAL at Ft. Astor in January 1813, MACKENZIE
and a party of men once again traveled up the Columbia, this time
to confer with David Stuart and John Clarke about the news of war
and the failure of the ship Beaver to return as scheduled.
of native hostility to Europeans and Americans in territory south
of Alaska (and because of the increasing presence of British and
Americans in Oregon) the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY abandoned all
attempts to create trading outposts in the Oregon Country. Instead,
Ivan KUSHKOV founded ROSS COLONY in California in 1812, an outpost
that remained until 1841.
THE WEST TO THE EAST:
during summer and fall of 1812, Robert STUART and 6 men continued
their OVERLAND JOURNEY BACK TO ST. LOUIS from Oregon.
the mouth of the Willamette River, John DAY became too mentally
deranged to continue the journey. Stuart disarmed him and sent him
back to Ft. Astor under the care of Wapato Island Indians.
William P. Hunt (Franchere)
Cox (Stewart), Alexander Ross (Ross wrote Fur Hunter of the
Far West; excerpts in OHS VF--from the Oregonian newspaper,
1885) and "Journal of Alexander Ross--Snake Country Expedition"
(OHQ 1913); Robert Stuart (Rollins), David Thompson (Hopwood,
narrative; Glover or Tyrell for Thompson's journal, 1784-1812;
Coues, journal, 1799-1814).
Stuart, journal of west to east journey (Rollins); John C.
Luttig, journal on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813 (Drumm);
David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell for Thompson's
journal 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814)
August 20, Stuart and company had reached Hunt's former camp on
Woodpile Creek. In western Idaho on August 25, Stuart's party encountered
some of the men who came overland with the Pacific Fur Company in
1811 and with the Missouri Fur Company in 1810: John HOBACK, Edward
ROBINSON, Jacob REZNOR, and Joseph Miller (Martin CASS had been
with them during the winter). One of the four fur trappers encountered
in western Idaho, Joseph MILLER, joined the Astorian caravan for
the journey back to St. Louis.
August 29, 1812, they reached Cauldron Linn and discovered that
the caches of supplies left the year before had been plundered.
On September 18 the party passed "Mad River" [from Stuarts'
journal, probably Madison River].
returning Astorians discovered South Pass through the Rocky Mountains
and traveled as far east as Chimney Rock in 1812. They retraced
their steps westward to the Nebraska-Wyoming line and then spent
three miserable months wintering over before setting out again for
Astorians with Robert Stuart journeyed back to the States, Donald
MCKENZIE, David STUART, and John CLARKE explored the upper Columbia
sent the SHIP LARK (a supply ship for Ft. Astor) from New York in
March 1813. It would never reach Oregon but sank in a storm off
the coast of Hawaii late in 1813.
same month, on March 25, 1813, the British dispatched two ships
from England, the Isaac Todd and the Phoebe, under secret orders
to destroy any American settlement on the Columbia River or the
Pacific Coast. The ships Raccoon and Cherub joined them during the
voyage as the slow-sailing Todd slipped farther and farther behind.
The Raccoon was sent ahead to the Northwest as the other BRITISH
WARSHIPS battled and defeated the American ship Essex off the coast
of Valparaiso, Chile.
THE EAST END OF THE OREGON TRAIL:
January 10, 1813, Manuel LISA and Andrew HENRY met with others in
St. Louis to reorganize the Missouri Fur Company. The enterprise
had been profitable but the War of 1812 and Indian trouble made
the venture very risky.
was created in Missouri (then under Governor William Clark) because
of the War. The First and Third Battalions included names familiar
in the fur trade: Andrew HENRY (Commander, 1st); Jacob PETIT (Captain,
1st); William JAMES (Lieutenant, 1st); Benjamin HORINE (Ensign);
Robert BROWN (Captain, 3rd); James H. MOUTREE (Lieutenant, 3rd);
and Drury GOOCHE (Ensign, 3rd).
ROI and Francois DORUIN traveled from St. Louis to the Otoe village
(present day Yutan, Nebraska) in spring of 1813. Major Eli CLEMSON
was in charge at Ft. Osage.
STUART's PACIFIC FUR COMPANY PARTY, which had left Ft. Astor in
June 1812, left their winter camp to resume the journey to St. Louis.
In early April 1813 they arrived at the Otoe village near Grand
Isle and met Doruin and Roi. Here they learned of the war between
the US and Britain. They reached Ft. Osage (then under LT. BROWNSON)
on April 16, 1813
April 30, 1813, ROBERT STUART AND THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY TRAVELERS
ARRIVED IN ST. LOUIS from Oregon. Their route through Idaho and
Wyoming was almost precisely the path later followed by the Oregon
MACKENZIE had returned from inland Oregon to Ft. Astor with news
of the war between the US and Britain. After conference with Duncan
MCDOUGAL at the fort in January 1813, MacKenzie, Alfred SETON, John
REED and a party of 17 men once again traveled up the Columbia to
return to MacKenzie's encampment on the Shahaptin River. MacKenzie
also carried letters from McDougal for David STUART and John CLARKE
about the news of war with Britain, the failure of the ship Beaver
to return as scheduled, and the possibility of ending Pacific Fur
Company business in Oregon.
the Deschutes portage, where Reed had been attacked the previous
year, MacKenzie and two volunteers tried to demand the return of
Reed's rifle from Indians encamped there. The chief refused to smoke
the pipe of peace during uneasy negotiations and MacKenzie felt
threatened. He was able to trade a blanket and ax for the rifle
and retreat in safety.
after passing Deschutes on the Columbia River, MacKenzie's party
encountered John George MCTAVISH and two boatloads of Canadians
then on their way downriver to Ft. Astor. The two parties camped
together overnight and then proceeded in opposite directions on
arrived at his encampment to discover that his caches had been plundered
of all trading goods and furs. He dispatched parties to search for
the thieves and another, under John REED, with messages for Clarke
May 25, John CLARKE and a party of men with 28 horses left the encampment
at Spokane and Lewis rivers. On May 30, at the confluence of the
Pavion and Lewis rivers, the party stopped to retrieve and repair
canoes left with Indians at their camp. Clarke's silver goblet was
stolen and he threatened to hang the chief. The next night, when
another Indian was caught stealing goods, Clarke promptly "tried"
and hanged the thief.
violent act, condemned by David Stuart and Donald MacKenzie, caused
much upset among the various tribes gathered for summer INDIAN RENDEZVOUS
at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers. At this
rendezvous, attended by Stuart, MacKenzie, Clarke and others of
the Pacific Fur Company, Alexander Ross recorded the statement of
TUMMEATAPAM: "What have you done my friends. You have spilt
blood on our lands."
Pacific Fur Company trappers returned to Ft. Astor from Indian rendezvous
on June 12, 1813. Some who had originally intended to go to trade
on the inland plains instead returned to Astoria. A group of 20
with David STUART and Keith was attacked while making portage at
the Cascades. Stuart was wounded by arrows and their goods stolen
but the party returned with their lives to Ft. Astor.
mid-July, John G. MCTAVISH and his party of men from the Northwest
Fur Company left Ft. Astor to begin an overland journey back to
after, in August 1813, William P. HUNT and some of the crew of the
Beaver finally returned to Ft. Astor after nearly a year without
communication with the fort. In 1812, the Beaver had an accident
in a storm off of Alaska and had limped into Hawaii for repairs.
Hunt chartered another ship, the Albatross, for his much delayed
journey back to Oregon. The news of the War of 1812 had also reached
Hawaii by this time.
Early Voyages in the Pacific Northwest 1813-1818 by Peter
Corney, Fairfield, WA, 1965
C. Luttig, journal on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813 (Drumm);
Robert Stuart, journal of west to east journey on the Oregon
Alexander Ross (Ross wrote Fur Hunter of the Far West; excerpts
in OHS VF--from the Oregonian newspaper, 1885) and "Journal
of Alexander Ross--Snake Country Expedition" (OHQ 1913);
Peter Corney's Early Voyages in the Pacific Northwest, 1813-1818;
David Thompson (Coues, journal, 1799-1814); William P. Hunt,
journal of journey west to east (Franchere). On the NORTHWEST
COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest
Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto; John C. Jackson's
Children of the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company,
Montana, 1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such
as Hudson Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume
Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace
the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.
Pacific Fur Company partners sold Ft. Astor to the Northwest Company
in October 1813, much influenced by news of the war and ships dispatched
from England to take Ft. Astor.
the Albatross returned to Hawaii and (at Ft. Astor) Pacific Fur
Company partner MCDOUGAL changed his allegiance to the Northwest
Fur Company. While McDougal remained at Ft. Astor, Alexander ROSS
and a party went to Walla Walla country.
Northwest Company employee, Registre BELLAIRE, and former Astorians
John DAY, William CANNON, and Alexander CARSON worked together as
free trappers along the Willamette in the winter of 1813-14.
of the Northwest Fur Company who wintered 1813-14 at Ft. Astor included
Iroquois Pierre CAWANARDE, Thomas OCANASAWARET, Jacques OSTISERICO,
Etienne OWAYAISSA, Jacques SHATACKOANI, Ignace SALIOHENI and George
TEEWHATTAHOWIE. J. SAGANAKEI, a Nipissing, and M. MANICQUE, a Wyandot,
were also at the fort. Thornbun FINDLAY and Raphael FINDLAY Jr.
(sons of the Northwest Company's Jacco Findlay) were employed by
Ft. Astor (later called Ft. George) from 1813-14.
the British warship Raccoon (Captain BLACK) arrived at Ft. Astor,
Dec. 12, 1813, the Fort was already in British hands. The British
officially took charge of Ft. Astor on December 13, 1813 in a flag
raising ceremony held by the captain of the Raccoon. Ft. Astor was
officially renamed FT. GEORGE and became an outpost of the Northwest
in Hawaii on December 20, 1813, HUNT met the survivors of the ship
Lark. THE LARK, sent by Astor from New York to resupply Ft. Astor,
had sunk in a storm off of Hawaii before ever reaching the Columbia
British ship Raccoon sailed way from Ft. Astor on New Years Day,
1814 after re-naming the post FT. GEORGE and raising the British
January 20, 1814, 85 men in 18 canoes set out from Ft. George to
avenge the attack on Stuart's party at the Cascades portage the
previous year. The Northwesters anchored at the foot of the rapids
to begin negotiations. John G. MCTAVISH led four days' of negotiations
demanding return of stolen property while the Cascade chiefs demanded
the trappers turn over the men who had killed two of the tribe.
The trapper company retreated to the fort on the fifth day after
being robbed during the night.
Hawaii, HUNT obtained the brig Pedler and sailed for Oregon with
Capt. NORTHROP, and the survivors of the wreck of Astor's ship,
the Lark. At Ft. George (formerly Ft. Astor) on February 28, 1814,
the Pedler took aboard those Americans unwilling to join the Northwest
Company and sailed for New York, April 14, 1814. Former Pacific
Fur Company partners MACKENZIE, CLARKE, and STUART soon set out
from Ft. George overland. MacKenzie traveled to the Willamette River
while John Clarke and David Stuart returned to their posts north
of the Columbia River.
April 17, 1814, the British ship Issac Todd arrived at Ft. George
at Astoria (the modern name for the region). Donald MCTAVISH took
charge of Ft. George (formerly Ft. Astor) and planned to travel
overland to Montreal after order had been established at Astoria.
McTavish and his clerk, Alexander HENRY Jr., were drowned attempting
to reach the Todd in an open boat from Ft. George. The Issac Todd
sailed away for China under the command of Capt. Frazer SMITH.
Isaac Todd had left behind four Spanish cattle at Ft. George. These
and the goats and hogs brought by the Astorians became the early
basis for domestic livestock in Oregon.
May of 1814 Ross COX, who had joined the Northwest Fur Company,
traveled with 5 companions to the Yakima country (around Spokane
ROSS, Tom MCKAY, and 2 unnamed Canadians traveling with native wives
were also in this region and traveled to a village where over 3000
had camped to gather camas roots. Negotiations were wary and tense
but Ross traded for 100 horses.
BELLAIRE in 1814 hired 4 Hawaiians to pursue the fur trade with
him in the Walla Walla Valley region.
DORION, an overland Astorian who had gone to hunt in the Snake country
in 1813, was killed by Indians in 1814. His widow and 2 children
hailed an upriver-bound boat of trappers for rescue near the mouth
of the Umatilla River at the Columbia in 1814.
* Alexander Henry, journal (Coues); on the NORTHWEST COMPANY:
Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company,
1934, Champlain Society, Toronto.
earlier entries for journals kept by Astorians and Northwest
Company explorers. Alexander Henry Jr. (called the Younger),
a Company clerk, arrived in Oregon by ship in 1814 and kept
a journal this year (Gough, journal 1799-1814); David Thompson
(Coues, journal, 1799-1814).
1814, the US Congress forbid any British or Canadian concerns to
trade with Native Americans of the Missouri River Basin. By 1816,
J.J. Astor had bought out all British holdings in US territory east
of the Rocky Mountains.
WAR OF 1812, which included the burning of Washington D.C. in August
1814, exaggerated American resentment toward and competition with
the British. The Treaty of Ghent officially ended the war on December
24, 1814. News of peace and the implementation of the Treaty took
a long time to reach the Northwest. The agreed upon British-American
joint occupancy of the lands between Russian Alaska and Spanish
California was not made official in Oregon until 1818.
the summer of 1815, James MCMILLAN, Nicholas MONTOUR, and Ross COX
hunted in the Spokane Plains.
provided by Patricia Kohnen