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' Astor and the Oregon Country ^ By Grace Flandrau 'i^t^'^- djjjv Fdoisi _r\-(^.f53^ «?p .# ^' ^ •>. &•/■ ^>-^ 1K^ i \j Astor and the Oregon Country By Grack Flandrau Compliments of the (jrcat Northern Railway ^S' 2 -■■'■H I ' - *- r' - ir; - (i^' t-5Cip .n.(^.F5e4 From portrait in pi>fiBenBion of Vincent Astor John Jacob Asior 2 Astor and the Oregon Country "On the waters of the Pacific we can found no claim in right of Louisiana. If wc claim that country at all, it must be on Astor's settlement near the month of the Columbia." — Thomas Jefferson. It is not particularly surprising that, in the financial fairyland of a ne^ world, a capital of seven flutes and twenty-five dollars should have been transmuted into a great fortune ; many have been built in America on no capital at all. But this was a fortune with a difference, acquired by no mere turn of spectacular good luck or by shrewd manipulation of non-existing values, but painstakingly, in legitimate trade, and so far reaching in scope and in effect as to give it a quite special significance in American history. And yet luck, both good and bad, being to some extent a partner in all human experiments, is not entirely absent from this one. When the young German boy John Jacob Astor sailed from London about a century and a half ago with his small stock of musical instruments and his few dollars laboriously saved during two years of hard work in England, his future course of action presented itself in no more definite form than hope and a very fearless and determined ambition ; before he left the sailing vessel, ice locked for two months in Chesapeake Bay, it had found the direction he was to follow to supreme success. The American colonies had just emerged from their desperate revolutionary effort and the treaty of 1783 had solved the more pressing of the moot questions between the new nation and th*^- )3d. It was a time for great beginnings. The raw materials :»£ achievement prodigally awaited shaping hands; the little states hugging the Atlantic fringed an unconquered and unmeasured wilderness and doubtless the sense of it there, and of America's destiny toward it, must have broadened the scope and quickened the pulse of every man's desire. But in actual practice the new Americans had not yet had much time to look westward; there was enough to do within the limits of their half-grown common- wealths east of the Alleghanies. So far the only product of the vast hinterland had been fur, and the habit of two hundred years had formed a deep channel along which this traffic continued almost undisturbed, to flow. The French of the St. Lawrence, the Royal English Company on Hudson's Bay, the ^lontreal merchants who succeeded to the com- Hi mercc of New Fraiu-c, had beaten tlu' fur traditij,' trails and nionoiK)lizt'd the traflic of i)rac-tically all of the savage continent. There was to l)e sure, some jmrely AuioricaJi trade in the Atlantic states and such sparse settlements as existed in the remoter territories. In the towns and small communities alonj.,' the inland waterways men dealt more or less casually in furs ; Indians brought in many packs of silky fo.K and beaver, back woodsmen were glad to trap and sell what skins they had time to gather inci- dentally to their business of hewing homesteads out of the forest. A good many merchants in New York handled peltries and also went to the leading fur centers in Canada and bought them. But a.s commerce l)etween her loyal possession and her disloyal late possession was forbidden by I'^ngland, the furs could not be shipped from Canada to the United States but must be sent directly to England. Neverthcle.^s even with matters in this state fur trading was profitable in the United States. It was, moreover, a business peculiarly fitted for a man with a small stock of negotiable assets, and a plentiful supjily of the impalpable capital of shrewdness, industry, physical vigor and determination, with all of which Astor was particularly well equipped. By a happy accident one of his shipmates was a fur trader who, during the months of inactivity in Chesapeake Bay, struck up an intimacy with the young emigrant and "sold" him on the profits and advantages of that particular business. By the time .Astor reached New York his money was about gone and his flutes didn't readily sell, but his impalpable assets were unimpaired and were all and more than enough to pave a royal road to fortune. A Quaker fur trader gave him a job at $2.00 a week and board to beat furs ; when he was not beating furs the apprentice was finding out all that Indians, trappers and dealers knew about them and soon he was gathering information at a more valuable source. With a pack of trinkets on his back he tramped the wood- land trails of western and northern New York, visited the camps of the Indians, learned their language, ways and methods of trade and what goods they preferred ; learned the wilderness, learned more about furs and nnich about fur-bearing animals and polished off his course by studying the technique of merchandising fur at its source — among the nabobs of the trade, the great Canadian merchants of Afontreal, Michilimackinac and Grand Portage. The North Westers and the Hudson's Jiay people monopohzod a modest domain repchinjj; from Labrador and the lower St. Law- rence to the Rocky Mountains, from the Arctic sea to the upper Missouri ; while the Mackinaw Company, operatinjj larjjely in American territory, occupied a very extensive rejj;ion south of the (rrcat Lakes includin>^ Michi};an, Wisconsin, parts of Minnesota and extendiu},' south alonj^ the Mississippi. Astor, tirst for his employer, soon for himself, journeyed on foot and by awoe t(j Canada, lie dickered with those mafj[niticent rowdies, the North Westers in Mcmtreal — thoufjh it is probable that this thrifty and prudent young merchant did not spend nmch time revelliu},' with them at the Beaver club, where "Fortitude in Distress" and high living in leisure were the prevailing mottoes. He also traveled westward with the fur brigades up the Ottawa, through Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, the Straits of Mackinac, along the wild north shore of Lake Superior to the inland bazaar of the vScotch merchants at Grand Portage; or paused to trade with the Mackinaw Company at Michilimackinac. The blythe voyageurs sped with rhythmic paddle the long lake canoes along the waste of waters ; toiled under heavy burden over the forest portages ; gorged themselves on bear meat and beavers' tails at the evening camps ; sent their lilting tender songs afloat on the crystal silence of the brooding primeval world ; or deep in sleep, lay wrapped in gaudy blanket by the dying camp fire while the dark forest watched, and the jewel eyes of prowling wild things glared from the encircling shadow ; and when the end of the journey was reached misguidedly cast away on brandy and Indian sweethearts the wages of the long trail. Otherwise engaged was their sober, sturdy passenger who noted so keenly every detail of the country and of the business which, with curious and serene conviction, he proi^sed to con- quer, — sparing particular attention to the Mackinaw posts estab- lished south of the border where he believed they had no right to be. & Steadily and rapidly his fortunes advanced ; in two years he was in business for himself and had carried a cargo of furs back to London. He made a profitable exchange and returned with well selected Indian trade goods and a cargo of musical instruments. But furs, not flutes, were to be the agent of his destiny and soon the sign above his shop. Furs and Pianos, read merely Furs. A fast flying decade put hitn at the head of the business as carried on in the United States ; there poHtical conditions affecting the trade had improved. After the Jay treaty it became possible to import furs from Canada to New York ; moreover tlic British were compelled to evacuate their military posts along tiie American shores of the Great Lakes. This opened the region somewhat to American traders, but the experienced and well orgajiized British merchants were still permitted to retain their fur posts atid the Americans could make little headway. Astor's chief business as yet was to buy from the Canadians and ship tt) l^ondou. Before the end of the century his furs were transported in ships owned by him, while already the profits of his almost uniformly successful ventures were buying tract after tract of real estate on the island of Manhattan. The year 1800 marks the beginning of the second and most important phase of Astor's career. An anecdote is told about his entrance upon the vastly widened theatre of activity, the authen- ticity of which I cannot vouch for but which is so widely quoted as to seem to merit belief. It is said that while on a sight seeing visit to East Indian House in London, he recognized in the name of the governor a compatriot with whom he had had some slight acquaintance as a boy in Germany. He sought and gained admission to this official and so won his regard that in parting the governor made him a gift. It consisted of two documents; one was simply a current list of Canton prices, the other an almost priceless parchment authorizing the ship which carried it to trade freely in any Eastern port monopolized by the East India Company. ^^'ith this permit Astor is said to have induced an American merchant to outfit a vessel and sail her to Whampoa, the port of Canton, the most profitable fur market in the world ; that he received $50,000 as his share of the venture and that with this capital he bought a ship for the China trade and inaugurated the round-the- world commerce he was to carry on with immense profit for twenty-seven years. And rumor has it that luck once more spun the wheel very happily for Astor. The vessel stopped at the Sandwich Islands and took aboard a load of fire wood. This fuel, by sheer accident, happened to be sandal wood and was sold in China for $500 a ton. After this all the Astor vessels which rounded the stormy tip of South America and came to anchor in the blue Hawaiian waters carried from there a cargo of the ■■'WfrmfH iP^:'^ ' ^" precious wood, u tnulc secret so carefully kept that Astor niouopo- lizetl this traftic for seventeen years. At first tliis round-the-world trade tour took furs from New York to China, thence, with teas, silks and jjorcelains sailed on around Africa to ICurope, made a profitable exchange for Juiglish cutlery and other maiujfactured goods and returned to New York, having pyramided the profits at each point ; or reversed the order by sailing first to ICngland. Soon, however, they were to be varied by a most significant detour. ^ It is evident that a merchant as shrewd, enterprising and long sighted as ;\stor should not be content forever with buying from others what he could just as well produce himself, and which as an American citizen he felt particularly entitled to do. He had long had his own -agents and trappers gathering fur in the backwoods of New York, Pennsylvania and ix;rhaps Uhio but west from there the Mackinaw Company was firndy intrenched and Astor, well aware of the disastrous cost in money, decency and even life of unbridled competition in the fur country, was disinclined to enter very vigorously into their field — while it was their field. Now he made up his mind that it need not remain theirs. The American government had long felt the necessity of curbing this foreign traffic among our Indians and were more than ready to co-operate with Astor in his plan to create a strictly American trade within our territorial limits. In April. 1808, Jefferson wrote to Astor: "I learned with great satisfaction the disposition of our mer- chants to form in companies for undertaking the Indian trade within our own territory ... I consider it as highly desir- able to have that trade centered in the hands of our own citizens. You may be assured that in order to get the whole of this business passed into the hands of our own citizens and to oust foreign traders who so much abuse their privileges by endeav(jring to excite the Indians to war on us, every reasonable patronage and facility in the power of the executive will be afforded." Astor began by incorporating his wide spread interests in one general organization known as the American Fur Company, char- tered in 1808. He then proceeded in connection with the North West Company to buy a two-thirds interest in the Mackinaw Com- *-v; l)any with the underst.'iiuliiiji that within live years all of their husiness within the United States was to eonie solely under his control. The orjjani/ation thus formed was called the South West Company. Hut the field which Astor's comprehensive survey included, hy no means stopped at the Mississippi. Indeed it may he said only to have well hegun there; heyond lay a j^reater world to conquer. Astor had seen that immense part of Si)anish .America known as Louisiana l)econie i)art of the United States; he had waited with a definite plan forminji; in his mind for the reports Lewis and Clark would hring hack of the unknown country lyini; aloni; the upper Missouri and across the Rockies to the Pacific. Lonj^ l)efore their official statements were availahle he read Patrick Gass' journal of the expedition which appeared in LS07. It was the following year that the American Fur Company was organized and under its general charter a new enterprise was soon to take form — the Pacific Fur Company. The magnitude of that concei)tion is perhaps not readily api)arent to modern eyes. It is easy to forget how much higger the world was a hundred and twenty years ago than it is today. Then you did not i)ack a weekend hag antl run over to London in less than a week, or sail from IJoston to .Shanghai through a J'anama canal in six; or span the continent in five days; to say nothing of the fahulous standards now heing .set hy aeroplanes. In A.stor's time, for any one of these excursions you made your will, said good-hye to a family you would not .see for months or years or iK'rhajJS never — except for the i)rol)leinatic reunion heyond the grave; and with whom for the greater part of your ahsence. you could not even communicate. Commercial ventures which circunniavigated the glohe were open to enormous hazards; they were out of touch with head- (juarters for from two to three years, and vessels were almost always at the mercy of nations at war whose ccistly hahit it was to seize any and all shipping that came to hand. Now in addition to the hazards of sea commerce, .\stor was to add other and ])erhai>s greater ones. With the Louisiana juirchase we carried our western horder to the Rockies; heyond lay the Oregon Country over which no sovereignty existed ; the Russians and .Spaniards had vague claims, the .Americans and ICnglish definite pretensions to ownership, 'ihe acknowledged Russian possessions hordered it on the north and S])jiiii.sh-()\viu'(l California on tlie south. An Atnerican had dis- covered tiu' mouth of its }j[reat tivrr, which an .\tnerican expedi- tion had explored for 400 miles, in all the rest of the Oregon Country, except the Kootenai valley visited hy David Thompson in 1808. and in much of Louisiana except that part traversed hy Lewi^ and Clark, no white men had set foot. A virgin world rich beyond all conceiving in fur-hearing animals, big and little, so Gass' journal ])roved to Astor — in heaver, marten, mink and other small wearers of costly pelts; while legions of buffalo, elk, deer, wild sheep, wolves and bears offered incalculable wealth in robes and hides. Astor was by this time a rich man. The profits of the China trade and of soaring real estate values provided wealth equal to and superior to that flowing in from the fur business. It is certain that gain was not the only incentive back of the great ])lan he was now to jiut into execution and which lay nearer his heart than any he had ever engaged upon. He believed in America ; his whole career was both a result and a proof of that faith; and he desired its aggrandizement. He realized the imi)ortant j^art the existence of an American establish- ment on the Columbia would play in securing that country to us as well as very keenly perceiving its advantage as a commercial base. All his first hand knowledge of the fur trade, and of Indian character and habits, his personal experience in wilderness travel and his knowledge of international maritime commerce, went into the perfection of detail he lavished upon the two-fold proj- ect to I)e carried on by the Pacific Inir Company. Regular commerce was to be established between the North West coast and the United States ; the ( )regon Country and the American hinterland west of the Mississippi were to be occupied ; trading ])osts were to be strung along the Missouri and Columbia rivers and their tributaries, a central station to be established at the mouth of the Columbia. This was to be Frum Kranchtfrit'rt NHrrtitivf Ziibrii'l Frmchcrc a clearing house for furs, a 10 receiving,' station iv.v '"ide goods and supijlics >ent by ship around the Horn, and the dqiiarters for coastwise trade; from it furs were to be shipptn direct to China and teas and other articles brought back to the Atlantic seaboard or to ICngland, The American government gave him enthusiastic moral sup- port ; the Russian government, eager to rid Alaskan waters of tramj) traders who furnished the savages with fire arms, gave him the exclusive i)rivileges of su])plying their American posts. It was a ])ersonal venture; the sup])ort given by the government was after all moral and nothing else. His commercial operations would begin in New York, penetrate the forest aisles of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota; tlie Mississippi and Missouri would be their highways; they would traverse the prairies of the Dakotas and the wide-vistaed ujilands of Montana; thread the passes of the Rockies, the rivers of the I'acific watershed, the whispering forests of Oregon. From there, and from Archangel and the islands of Kamschatka sea, his ships loaded with beaver, seal and priceless .sea otter would .sail (m to China, and thence around the world to the ports of l^ngland and America. Such was the bold, canny, calculated and imaginative project which like a jn-ramid upside down, rested on a vanishing point of seven flutes and a few dollars in the pockets of an immigrant boy. H good luck had u\) to this time occasionally aided in a minor way the efforts of this able and determined man, a very fury of bad luck was to assail this particular endeavor, to thwart and foil it at every turn. The project as ])lanned by Astor was perfectly feasible and had it been executed as it was designed, would unquestionably have succeeded. Even the mis- chance of the war of 1S12 would ^, , . „. . From Lyman s History of OrPK"n not irremediablv have rniiicd it. Ruinsrv Cmohs 11 At llic time the Atnt'riean Inir Company was or^^anized the N'ortli Westers liad established certain i)osts heyond the Rockies ahove the Oregon Conntry and were preparing,' to extend their operations into the re{;;ions Astor i)roi)osed to occupy. Again desiring to avoid the evils of c<)mi)etition Astor offered them a third interest in his enterprise. Although he would have the advantage of an easier overland way hy two great rivers than their own chain of small streams, lakes and jxjrtages, their route was well known and much traveled, his was not; although his furs could he shipped directly from the North West coast to Canton while theirs must hear the added cost of the journey eastward hy canoe, still they had the advantage of long e.xperiencc in the West and of an expert per.sonnel ; moreover they wanted the: whole of the ( )regon C'ouiUry trade, not a third of it, and believing they could reach the mouth of the Columbia and occujjy the country Inst, they refused. They had in their emjiloy the great trader-geographer David Thompson, a man admirably fitted t(» undertake the job and he was to fail of accomplishing it only b} a few weeks. .\slor. realizing the absolute necessity of trained men to lead his enteri)rise. had turned, imprudently it now seems, to Canada. The lirst men to be chosen were three former North Westers. Ak xander .McKay who had accompanied Sir Ale.xander McKenzie on both his great ex])Ioring expeditions, Duncan McDougal and Donald McKen/.ie, while an .\merican, Wilson Price Hunt of New Jersey was chosen to be Astor s i)ersonaI representative and chief agent on the Pacific coast. ( )n July i.V ISIO, the articles of agreement between these nun acting for themselves and for others who were to become members of the com])any — David Stuart, Ramsay Crooks, Robert .Mel -elan. Joseph Miller, Robert .Stuart, and John Clarke (the two latter names do not appear in the original articles) were signed. Through the courtesy of the Mis.souri Historical Society these articles of association are herewith published in full for the lirst time. ( .\])pendix ,\.) ihe initial capital was supplied by Mr. .\stor and all expenses for the first live years were to be paid hy him up to the amount of four hundred thousand dollars. The stock of the company was to consist of 100 sb.ures. 50 of which were at the disposition '^V.'rfnif^ftt^fp,. ■■•-irvH«»l«liTiW«r5iWi««- of Mr. Astor, 50 to he divided among the partners and their associates. 'IMie two ex])e(htions were now organized, one to proceed hy .sea, the other to travel overland hy the route of Lewis and Clark. The .story of these fateful journeys is too well known to permit of hut the hriefest summary. A ship of 290 tons hurden called the Tonquin was chartered to carry the supi)lies and trade goods, and with her sailed McKay, McDougal. David and Rohert Stuart, twelve clerks, several artisans and thirteen French-Canadian voyageurs. The cai)tain was Jonathan Thorn, a naval officer on leave and veteran of the Tripolitan war. He was an upright, honest, loyal and in many ways admirahle man with all the infuriating fjualities it is possihle and even usual for too admirahle people to possess. His dcur nature, his ho.ssiness, his insistence upon the most extreme details of military discipline which after all he somewhat exceeded his authority in im])osing on i)artners of an enterprise sailing on their own shij). goaded hoth leaders and suhordinates accustomed to the lax good fellowshi]) of the wilder- ness trail almost to madness. He distrusted and not without reason the character and loyalty of some of these North Westers hut he did Mr. Astor no good hy jicrsecuting and antagonizing them ; while his refusal to take counsel with anyone, his stuhhorn conceit and self sufficiency which led him to disregard the exjiress and careful orders of his employer, hrought ahout the disastrous end of that melodramatic cruise which forms one of the most curious and tragic chapters of American commerce. The Tonquin sailed from New York in Sei)temher, 1810. After a six months' voyage which was a perfect miracle of ill feel- ing and hitterness, during which time Thorn attemjited to ahandon a numher of the .\storians on a desert island hecause they failed to return promjitly at the call of the whistle, after heating a sailor cruelly and leaving him in Hawaii for a slight infringement of discipline, after conflicts too numerous to mention and, it must he said, at the same time admirahly conducting the routine husiness of the ship. Thorn hrought her in sight of the Columhia river March 22, 1811. Here at the dangerous har which hlocked the entrance to the river, his had judgment and ruthless insistence on having his own way caused the death hy drowning of eight of the crew whom he insisted on sending in small hoats into the dan- gerous surge. The ron(|uin herself crossed the har without acci- 13 'WS-'-tk^f;, i .l.thiriii 14 i.^SSfHP"*""^" )€;^ (lent juul, safely at the end of her htu^ journey, (h'opped anehor in leaker's liay. Thiek forests of tall dark pine erowncd the hills, and the shores were i)right with flowers and jjreen with new leaved willows. Squat Indians eonsuniately skilful, skimmed the waves in carven fir or cedar wood canoes huilt with high prow and flaring gunwales. Their costume was a strange medley of savage and so-called civi- lized garments, red shirts, hlue hreech cloths, round hats and \)G'd jackets obtained from the trading ships. After the usual disagreements between cajrtain and partners, Point George on the south hank of the river was chosen as the site of the first American mercantile establishment on the Pacific coast and the construction of Astoria begun. It was June before the buildings could receive the stores destined for them and then the Tonquin sailed northward on that trading jcnirney up the coast from which she was never to return. The jjartner, Alexander McKay, and one clerk called Lewis sailed with her, the total number aboard being twenty-three. Disregarding the advice of the Indian interpreter. Thorn anchored in Nootka harbor on Vancouver Island where the savages were kn(jwn to be trejichcrous ; disregarding the dictates of common sense and Astor's express commands to treat the Indians with scrupulous courtesy and to admit but a few on l)oar(l at a time, he lost his temper, grossly insulted several chiefs and the very next day i)crmitted hordes of savages to crowd aboard the ve.ssel. The result is well known. The Indians at a given signal turned upon the unprepared white men and butchered all but five. The .\storian McKay was the first to fall. The .survivors, among them the clerk Lewis, badly wounded, were able to barricade them- selves in the cal)in and by firing tlinmgh holes in the door to rid the ship of savages. In the morning the Tonquin was seen riding cpiietly at anchor, her decks strewn with the bloody remains of the previous day's holocaust. At last a single white man, variously believed to be the clerk Lewis or a certain Stephen W'eekes, appeared and beck- oned with friendly signs to the savages intently watching along shore. A few at a time ventured out to the Tonquin ; the wounded white man had disappeared. When the ship was crowded with natives hap])ily engaged in plundering the stores, he exploded the powder magazine and blew the Ton(iuin and all aboard her to atoms. l.S From Kranchvru'a Narrativii 'I'lic Toiiqiiiii liiilcriiu/ llir Coltiiiihia River The four other survivors had escajied from the shij) the ))revious nijjht i)lantiiujf to reach Astoria in a small hoat. Head winds had i)revented their leaviu};; the hay ; they were surprised on shore hy the savages and tortured to death. These details were obtained from the Indian interjjreter who had accompanied the expedition. & The party at Astoria was unaware of this disaster for some time. Imt Indians brought other unwelcome news. British trading l)osts it seemed had already been established on Spokane river and probably elsewhere and they heard, too. that a party of white nun was descending the Columbia ])lanting the British flag at forks of rivers. This the Astorians realized must be a North West Company exi)edition. sent out to disinite their occupation of the Columbia. They hastened preparations to proceed inland and plant their own flag and establish their own sovereignty, but before the expechtion was ready a canoe flying the British standard swe])t down the river and beached before Astoria. It brought the North West trader, David Thompson, with a party of eight boatmen. He had crossed the Rockies by the headwaters of the .'\tha- basca. descended Kootenai river to the site of the i)resent city of Bonner's Ferry on the Great Northern Railway where he had already established a trading post— the first commercial station in the entire Oregon Country south of the pre.sent international Prom Fruichere'a Narntlve .Isloria in /iS'/.i' ir at aha- city had )n in iunal border. Thence he followed an Indian trail to Spokane House and proceeded from there to anrufc('d oil fuui. carryiiiji their itidispeiisalilc htirdens. Winter was eomin}; on; it was a lileak rej,n()n harren t»f j^aini', iiiliahiled hy a few t'aniished hiinds of poverty stricken huhans. Snow impeded their progress; for many weary months starvation walked witli tliem : a do},', a skeleton horse houfjht from the natives, a heaver skin or a few roots kept life in their emaciated hodies; two of the voyaj^curs were drowned, one iiavin>j[ j^one insane from huii,i;er. The parties separated ; some of the memhers, imahle to proceed, were left hehind, among these. Uamsay (rooks with tlie hunter John Day. Months later these two men reached the Colnmhia where they were rohhed of guns and ammunition and stripped naked hy the thieving Falls' Indians. Pierre Dorion's heroic wife gave hirth to a hahy during those fearful days in the mountains, hut she must march with the men, and, after hut one day's respite, uncomplainingly took the trail. In a short time the hahy died. ,\t last the various contingents, some hy one route, some hy another, reached the C'ohimhia and in Fehruary, 1812, most of the party were united at Astoria. It was decided the following month to send a party hack across the continent with dispatches for Mr Astor, and John Reed, who had only just completed the arduous journey, announced himself ready to return. He was to he accompanied hy the partner McLelan who was determined to withdraw from the enterprise, and three hoatmen. Parties were also to he sent at this time to the ( )kan()gau i)ost and to recover the cache made hy Hunt on .Snake river. The comhined forces ascended the Colunihia without niLshap until that i)art oi the Dalles known as the Long Narrows was reached. (I'resent town of Spearfish on S. P. & S. Railway.) Ahout these narrows and around the Great, now called Celilo, h'alls (litTicult portages must he made. The Indians who lived in the vicinity were a veritahle curse to fur traders ])assing that way for the next twenty years. They harassed, rohhed and mur- dered at every op])ortunity and this guerilla warfare hegan with the ui)-river journey of the Astorians. It resulted in the loss of the di.s])atch hox, the wounding of Reed and the ahandonnient of the overland journey. In May. 1S12. the Heaver, a ship sent out hy Mr. Astor plentifully laden with trade goods and supplies, reached .\storia. lU nr- '!r"rf?!^''^(,i if; AiraiiHi'ini'Uls wire ininu'diati'ly made l<» cstaMisli iiilcriur posts nil tlu' S|MilNanf aiiartit's ui-rc t(» Itr snil to till' I'latlirails ami Ktnitiiiais. A strntid iivcrlaii withdraw from tlu' t'litiTprisc. and Mi'Li'Ian, who had lon^' wanted to iTsif,'n, were ainoii},' the inemherh of the party. (Appendix U). A eonteni)Mtrary story of this journey as it appeared in the .Missouri (la/.ette of May S. IHl.V hy courtesy of the Missouri llislorical Society appears herewith. (.\ppendi.\ l'\ ) Hunt, who it will he reineiiihered was .Xstor's representative at the North West post, now elected with the hest intentions in the world, to sail away on the Ueaver. (Iele>j;atinj.; his powers at .\storia to the e\-.\orth Wester. Duncan .Mcl)ou),'al. (Appendix C) a decision which the event has proven a most unfortunate one. It was his purpose to investiji[ate personally the trade situa- tion at the Russian estahlislinients. He was j^^me not a few weeks as he had planned, hut one entire year, a i)eriod when his coiu-aj;e and perfect loyalty to .\stor were acutely needed at .\storia. The adventures of the He;iver are a fascinating' i)art of the fahulous scenario of Ast(»ria hut may not he dwelt upon here. They were characterized hy certain errors of judj^nuent on the part of hoth flutit and the ship's master. Captain Sowle. and hoth failed to ohey the exact instructions j^iven hy .\stor. The expedition resulted in serious loss to the enterprise. In the meantime events at .Astoria marched to their unfortunate conclusion. ( )n a January day in 181.^, while McKeuzie and John Clarke (a partner who had arrived on the lieaver) were conferring at the latter's post on the Si)okaiie. in walked the Xorth Wester Mc- 'i'avish. recently from Montreal. amiouncin.i( the unpleasant fact that the L'nited Stales and (ireat Britain were at war and that an armed ship, the Isaac Todd, carrying letters of mar(|ue, was heiiif,' sent to .Xstoria hy the Xorth West Company with no very friendly intentions. This news was at once conveyed to McDouj^al who. in the ahsence of Hunt, was first in command at Astoria and who almost from the hegiimiiit;- had been frankly disloyal to the enterprise. In view of the war. of the exi)ecte(l arrival of the Isaac Todd, (jf the alarmiii}^ absence of the lieaver and the alleged unsatis- factory state of the trade, he. encourat,fed by .McKenzie. decided that the .\stor enterprise must be abandoned. 20 arki- It the Mc- f;ict tliat W.'IS verv Wry mm-li a)^aiii>l tlu'ir uill tlu' nthcr partiicrN wcic ikt suatlfd nf tlii^ ami llial stJiniiur wlu-ii all rnnlrir»'(l al \>ltiria. several manil'i'slu^ >flliii>,' Inrlli llic roasmis I'm tlii>> (UriNicni were drawn u)). Wilson Trioc Hunt's U-tter hunk eontainin^ tlu'si- (Iikmi- ments is in the possession of tli Missouri I lisloriial Soi'irty am! liy the kind permission of the society they ari' lu riuiili rcpriMhucd in full for the lirst tinu-. (Appendix I). ) Only the hricfest >;lani.-e may he j^iven to the intrirati' events which followed. In August lltmt. retuniinin in a ehartend >>hip from the Sandwich Islands, heard of these iransai-ti(in> with dis- mav, hut seems not to liave had the streninth of mind or perhaps the power successfully to oppose them, lie rej^'retfully cnncnrri'd and then hustled otT to sea a^'ain to I'md a ship in winch lu' mijuht carry otT .Xstorians. Sandwich Islanders, furs and j.;oods he fore the liritish should arrive. . out .\stor meantime had sent a third supply ship, the Lark, and this was spectacular- ly wrecked off the Sandwich Islands, .\fter the declaration of war. the hlocka(k' of eastern ports hy the liritish. the threat- eninj;' attitude of the North West C'onii)any. he applied to the j^overnment to jjrotect his remote colony. The fnijate .\dams was assij^ned to this duty hut with that curious had luck which doKK^'d the enter- prise, was withdrawn for other service at the last moment. liritish men-of-war invaded the Pacific and one of these, the Racoon, hastened northward to capture that rich i)rize .\storia. which the Xorth Westers had heen iu;ikin.t; such a stir ahout. ///(■ . Islcriii (. (iluiiiii 21 Wj-wwy/js*;*-^ V'T,- ■ vi^v" Twd-fold was the ragv of the coiiimandcr, Caj)tain lilack, when o]i readiinj;" tlu' nioutli of the C'olunilna in Noveinher, 181.S, he found not a niaf^nitkent estahhshment. but a loj; tradinjj post surrounded by a wooden stockade which he could "batter down in two hours with a four pounder,'' and furthermore discovered that it was no longer an American stronghold with presumably rich booty in furs, but the property of the North West Comjjany ! Shortly after Hunt's dejiarture a large brigade of North Westers under McTavish had appeared at Astoria. McTavish produced a letter again aimouncing the arrival — threatened six months before — of the Isaac Todd, and that this time it would be accompanied liy a frigate of war with orders to destroy every- thing American on the coast. (Appendix E.) Whereupon McDougal sold Astoiia, furs, trade goods and all, to the North W'esters for a mere fraction of their value, himself becoming a partner of that company and remaining in command at the post. Before leaving, Captain Black of the Racoon took formal possession of the fort and of the country in the name of his Britannic Majesty, raised the British flag and changed the name of the establishment to Fort George — a ceremony which was to have a subsequent effect not anticipated by the British. In December, 1814, the treaty of Ghent was signed closing the W^ar of 1812 and providing "that all territory, places and possessions whatsoever taken by either party from the other during or after the war (except certain islands in the Atlantic) should be restored without delay." Now it appeared that the grandiloquent performance of Cap- tain Black raised the Astorian episode from a mere commercial transaction between the agents of two fur companies, in which case it would probably have been irrevocable, to an act of war, repealed by the treaty. Fort (jeorge automatically reverted to Astor and owing to his solicitations a man-of-war was sent to the North West coast. There, in August, 1818, Captain Biddle of the U. .S. S. Ontario, formally received the establishment from the British. He raised the Amer- ican flag and asserted our supremacy over the river and surround- ing country. But more than four years had passed since Ast(jria had been turned over to the Canadian company and the North W^'sters now had the trade of the entire region firmly in their grasp. Astor well knew what it meant to ojjpose that ruthless and militant 22 »l«fJBfW™>'*M»W'"'- "«>!»•" organization and before re-occupying Astoria he appealed for a small military force to be established there. This request was not granted.* So at last, he definitely abandoned his great project and for over twenty years the entire trade of the Oregon Country was exclusively British. East of the Rockies, however, Astor's plans, interrupted by the War of 1812, were resumed with vigor and entire success. British traders were excluded from American territory by act of Congress in 1815 and in the vast region of the Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi and Upper Missouri, Astor, until his retire- ment in 1834, reigned almost supreme. Although the creating of Astoria resulted in nothing but loss and disappointment to its founder it was a factor of the greatest importance in deciding the destinies of the Oregon Country. When the joint sovereignty of England and America came to an end in 1846, the fact that the first permanent establishment on the Columbia was American and that our claims to the mouth of the river had been acknowledged by luigland after the close of the war had a most favorable effect in securing for the United States the boundaries she believed to be rightfully hers. Events have amply proved the prophetic truth of Jefferson's words written to Astor in 1813 and which form a noble tribute to the founder of Astoria: "I view it | Astoria] as the germ of a great, free, independent empire and that liberty and self-govern- ment spreading from that, as well as this side, will insure their complete establishment over the whole. It must be still more gratifying to yourself to foresee that your name will be handed down with that of Columlnis and Raleigh as the founder of such an empire." *Scc letter from Mr. Gallatin wliich forms Appendix (i. TIIK i;ni) 21 AIM'KNDIX riiroiii/h llir ctinrlrsy of the Missouri Hisloriciii Society llicsi- articles of iissociiitioii and letters of aiireement are herei\'ith published for the lirsl lime. Al'I'DEXniX A- ARTICLES OF ACiRKEMKXT made and concluded the twenty- third day of June in the year of uur Lord one thousand eight Inindred and ten, by and between John Jacol) Astor of the city of New York, Mercliant of tlie lirst part, and Alexander McKay, Donald McKenzie, Duncan McDougall and Wilson 1'. Hunt, acting for themselves and the several ])ers(ins who already have agreed to become or shall hereafter l>eclPf9!l»^^ w h I (if till- si'coiul part aiul suili otlirrs as may lurcaflir Ixruinc associalcd with tlu'in and shall rcsicK- mi tlu' said Coast and (hpiiuUiuiis alldwiii^ to i-arh such I'artnrr a votr without ri'sptrt to the iiiiiiihcr of sliari's hf may hold, hut it siiall rcipiiri' two thirds of such Partners present or repre- stntcd to form a maj(»rity on such (|uestions. Tenthi.v. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed hy and iK'twccn all the parties to these presents that the said Conipany or Concern shall continue and he carried on for the si)ace and term of twenty years from the date of these Presents unless sooner dissolved in some or one of the modes hereinafter mentioned. Hi-EVENTHi.v. The said i)arty of the first part dotli hereby covenant and agree with the said Parties of the second part and also with tiiem and such other Persons as shall or may hereafter hecoine I'arties to or in this aKrcctnent or Concern that he the said I'arty of the lirst part His Heirs Executors and Administrators shall and will hear and sustain all the loss that shall or may he incurred hy the said Company during the first i'n'Q years of the said term taken collectively if the same shall so long continue in consideration of his being to share of the ijrolits thereof if any in the shares or proportion herein liefore mentioned and in order to ascertain such loss (if any shall be incurred) an Inventory & valuation shall he made at the end of the said live years of all the (ioods Wares and Merchandise of the said Company then on hand on the North West Coast of America at their first cost and charges adding Interest unless previously charged to the concern and adding to all such articles as may have been imported from the United States or elsewhere the further sum of ten per cent thereon provided always that the amount shall not exceed one hundred thousand Dollars unless (Ioods to a greater amount shall have been ordered by the parties of the second part, and also an Inventory and Valuation shall be made of all articles in use hy the said Company or Concern including Houses Stores aiul lm])rovements and all other effects such Inventories to he approved of and fixed hy a Majority of at least three fourths of the Company allowing one Vote for each share and a fair valuation and Inventory shall also he made by three dis- interested and proper persons of all (ioods and etTects of the Company or Concern then on hand at New York or elsewhere but no addition or allowance of ten per Cent is to he made except in the case above j)articu- larly provided for, and such Inventories and Valuations shall be conclusive and binding for the purpose aforesaid but not for any other purpose, nor shall this mode of proceeding form a Precedent upon any other occasion. Twelfth LY. It is hereby further covenanted concluded and agreed by and between all the parties to these Presents each c<»venanfing for himself only that they the said parties of the second part and such Persons as may hereafter become Parties to these Presents shall and will respec- tively to the outmost of their skill and aliilities i»romote the interest of the said Company and faithfully execute all such duties as may Ik' assigned to him by a majority of the Parties residing and being engaged in the business of the Comjiany on the said N'orth West Coast and its dependencies and shall for that purjiose repair to such Place or Places on the said North West Coast and its dependencies as the said majority shall appoint. 28 'riiiRTKKNTiii.v. -It is fiirtluT inviiiiiiitrd loiicliuli'd aii(l aj-rii'd as aforesaid that larli of ilic |)artirs wlin shall ri'side in tlu' Indian iVunilrii's for lilt tiansaitiiph nf the (onipanics ihisiiuss shall hi' allowvd hy the fonotrn Om- luiiidrid Dollars a yrar lor wiariiif; a))i)art'l lo hv |)iircliaseil at Ni'w York and siiit out and diliviri-d to him frir of charges and also tliat each of the parlies in the said ("onipany residing on tlie North West Coast of America or its dependencies shall he enti.led to take and receive annually from the stores of the Company (ioods to the Value of One hundred Dollars to he charged to him at twenty p. Cent advance on the cost and charges. Foi'RTKK.srm.v. — It is further covenanted and agreed as aforesaid that each of the said i)arties shall keep and render to the other in such general meeting as aforesaid when thereunto re(|uested or at stated periods to he hereafter fixed at a general meeting true and faithful accounts of all the goods and effects of the said Company received or disposed of hy them or under their direction so far as may he in their power and shall also render an account or Inventory of all the Company's property in their respective Departments or Possession and shall oblige all those under their direction to do the same. FiKTKKiNTiii.v. — It is further covenanted and agreed hy and hetween all the Parties to these Presents that none of the said parties to these Presei.its shall he in any wise engaged or concerned on his or their own account in the Indian trade on the North West Coast of America or other- wise to the detriment of the Concern during the time he or they may have or h()ld any Interest or share in said Company or Concern nor in Shii)ping Beaver skins to China unless on account of the said Company after the said Company shall he in a situation and able to ship annually Six thousand Heaver skins from the Xorth West Coast and its dependencies, but nevertheless the said John Jacob Astor is authorized and shall have power to ship Beaver skins or any other Furs to China on account of the said Co. when he may deem it for their interest — This is nevertheless to be deemed a mere personal trust and not to extend t(j his representatives or any person wlio may come into the Company in his stead. SiXTKKNTiii.v. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed by and l)etween all the parties to these Presents that the said parties shall have full power to abandon the said undertaking and to dissolve the said C()m|)any if they shall find within the term of five years above mentioned that the same is uni)rofitab!e. SKVK.vrKK.NTiii.v. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed as aforesaid that the .said parties of the .second part and the said David Stuart shall each of them have liberty to retire from the duties of the concern at any time after the expiration of live years, and the said Robert Mcl.elan. Joseph Miller and Ramsay Crooks shall each have the like liberty at any time after the expiration of seven years from the date of these presents but no oilier persons who may become partners in the said Com- jiaiiy before the year Kighteen hundred and fifteen shall be at liberty so to retire uiitill they shall have been engaged .seven years as Partners in the Indian Country, Provided always and it is further covenanted that no person that is or m;iy become a partner in the Concen: shall retire from the couiitrv where the chief F.stablishment is made or from the duties 2'J til III' liy liiiu in-rforiiud luik'ss lu' sliall n'wv at kast oiu' yiar's iidtico nf his iiitcntiiMi to the ((inipany at suili cliitf i\stal)1i.slinu'nt. l'",i(;irniM iii.\'. And it is lnrtli\ and hi'twccn all tlio sairl |iaiti»> that taili id tin- iiartmrs ntirinn I'niin tlif Company and his Ivxicuiois, Adniinistratois and Assigns shall hv entitled to receive from it and the Company shall account to him for his just proportion of the (Inods, \'essels, Bnildinns and elTects of the said Com- pany coiiformahly to the price or value atlixed to the same hy the concern in the Inventories of the preceeding year the same to he paid within one year from the time of his so retirinj; and also that he his Executors Administrators or assigns shall he entitled to one half of his interest or share in the said Comi)any for seven years from the time of his retiring, hut neither he nor his lixecutors Admim'strators or Assigns shall he entitled to any voice or vote in the said Company on account of the said shares and each I'artner so retiring may nominate a deserving Clerk of the Com- pany to succeed him provided he is approved of hy a majority of the concern in the manner provided for the .idniission of other memhers. NiNKTKKNTHi.Y. — It is further covenanted and agreed as aforesaid that an Inventory and valuation of the Company's property shall he made annually and in so doing all Goods Wares Merchandise and effects in cases not otherwise provided for shall he valued in such manner as shall be fixed and agreed upon in a general meeting of the Company. TwENTEENTHLY. — It is further covenanted concluded .ind agreed upon hy and between all the parties to these presents that should any of the parties to these presents or any other who may hereafter become associated with them other than the said John Jacob Astor his Heirs or Assigns shall refuse to comply with any of the Articles of this Agreement to the injury of the said Company or concern or shall conduct themselves in any manner intentionally injurious to the Interests of the Concern or render themselves incapable of their duty unless in case of sickness or any other reasonable cause, then and in such case they shall forfeit half of their respective Interests or shares in this Concern for the benefit of the Company at large and shall be obliged to retire and allowed to retain the other half of his or their respective Interest or shares during the term or space of seven years from the time of so retiring provided always he shall have been a Partner of this Concern five years, but it shall require at least three fourths of all the Parties of the second part residing and being engaged in the Business of this Concern on the North West Coast and its depend- encies to decide on such ((uestion or make such decision. It is understood if he be expelled before he shall have been a Partner five years lie shall be entitled to his half shares for as many years us he may have been a partner. TwE.NTV FiKSTi.v. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed by and between all the i)arties to tiiese Presents that for the better con- ducting of the Business of the said Company there shall be an agent api)ointed from among the parties of the second Part of their associates to continue in office for the term of live years unless he shall previously resign or be changed •••■d such agent shall reside at the chief Establish- ment of the Ccmipany on the said North West Coast and shall keep true and faithful accounts of all Goods and Effects received at the place of 30 a Depot and of all Imports and Exports and all Outfits and UisI)urscnK'n's made on account of the Company and generally transact all the Bnsincs. of the Concern at the said chief Establishment and he shall annually trans- mit to the said party of the first Part copies of all the said Accounts with Inventories of all (Joods, Wares & Merchandise Property and effects belonging to the said Concern, and should the Interests of the said concern require that such Agent should be absent from the said Chief FvStablish- mcnt and go on any expedition relating to the Business of the Concern it shall be his duty to do so, provided there shall have been a resolve to this effect passed in a general meeting of the Company and a Person .nppointed to take his place during his absence and it is hereby agreed that Wilson Price Hunt shall be the first Agent and should the Agency l)ecome Vacant at any time or times from Death or any cause another Agent shall be elected from among the Parties of the second part or such Persons as shall hereafter bennio members of the Company at a general meeting but three fourths of the whole number of Votes allowing one to each share shall be necessary to form a choice. — It is also agreed that the Agent may be changed at any such general meeting should the interest of the Concern require it and by the like number of Votes, but no Agent shall retire from the duties of his station or resign the same unless he shall have given one year's notice to the general meeting of his intention so to do. TwEXTV Secondlv. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed by and between all the parties to these Presents that all Furs Goods Com- modities and Productions of the Country that shall be received or taken in barter or otherwise in the course of the said Companies Business upon the said North West Coast or its dependencies shall be shipped by the Parties of the second part or the said Agent and consigned agreeable to the orders of the said party of the first part to be sold and disposed of by him or his Agents and the proceeds invested as he or they may deem best to the interest of the said Concern. Twenty Thirdlv. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed as aforesaid that the said parties of the second part and those who shall be hereafter admitted into the said Company shall respectively be allowed legal interest on all sums of money arising from the profits of their respective shares in the said Company — .\nd further that the several hereto shall not be held or made responsible for each other individualy nor for the Acts of each other but for his own Acts only nor shall any one of the , concern have authority to sign contracts for any other, or for the Company without a special authority for that purpose. TwENTV FouRTiii.v. — It is hereby further covenanted conchulcd and agreed by and between all the said parties that after the expiration of tive years one or more but not to exceed three of the parties of tlie second part and those who may become associated with them residing and being engaged in the Business of the Company or Concern on the said North West Coast of American atul its dependencies shall be allowed to absent himself or themselves from the duties of this Concern in such manner and agreeably to such Rotation as may hereafter be agreed upon by a Majority of two thirds of such Partners being and residing as aforesaid on the said Coast those Persons who now are parties to these Presents 31 s »l>p^ i MWJW li Miu H|^ai yyia«i« y« wwt^ and who may aciidi' tn tlu- saiiK' liavinn a prcliriiia' aiCDrdiiiK to tlii-ir pri-ct'dfiicy in this Agririm'tit atid tljcrcfdre ht-iiiK to l)f I'oiisidiTfd first in Rdtatidii, Init in cast* any difiicnlty should arist- anioiiK the said persons tirst in Rotation tlu- sanio shall Ik- docidcd hy Hallot— But in all cases where any of the parties aforesaid shall or may he ahsent on his or their Rotation or otherwise it is on the express condition that he or they shall return to the duties of this concern within a fjiven time which may he agreed upon hereafter when the parties are hetter enabled to judne upon the subject. TwK.NTV FiKTHi.v. It is further covenanted concluded and agreed as aft»resaid that the Kxecutors, Administrators and Assigns of those Persons who are named as parties hereto, or as intended to become so, or so many of them as may accede to these IVesents (of the second part) shall be and they are hereby entitled in case of death before the expiration of four years from the date hereof to enjoy every privilege and righ« of Shares or Interest in the Concern that such persons so dying would have been entitled to if living and allowed to retire from the Concern but shoidd they die before the expiration of four years from the date of these presents they shall in like maimer be allowed half their respective Interest during as many years as they may have been Partners in this Concern. TwE.VTV Sixthly. — It is further agreed as aforesaid that the said party of the fir.st part personally but not his representatives or assigns shall hereby have full authority to make any arrangements with the North West Company or any other Person or Persons for the Interest of the concern or in any way lawfully to extend the business thereof in relation to the Indian trade provided that there shall be no private nor separate Interest of his own obtained or secured thereby. TwENTV Skvknthlv. — It is further covenanted concluded and agreed by and Ijetwecn all the parties to these Presents that in case of the Death of the said party of the tirst part before the said Company shall have existed seven years his Heirs Executors Administrators or Assigns shall he and they are hereby obliged to carry on the Business of the said Concern for the term of seven years from the date of these presents to the extent herein before limited and upon the terms and in the manner herein provided for and they .shall have the right and privilege to continue the .said Business during the full term to which this Agreement extends in like manner and upon the same terms and conditicms as the said party of the first part might have done if living provided they shall think proper so to do — and it is further agreed and underst..od by and between the said parties that in the event of the Death of the said party of the first part, his Heirs, Executors or Administrators shall cause information thereof to be given as soon as may be to the said parties of the second part and their .Associates who shall within (;ne year after receiving such information or sooner if possible appoint rme of themselves as their agent with full power to negociate with the said Heirs Executors and .\dmin- istrators and any other person or persons for a continuance of the Business of the Concern and the .said Agent shall repair to New York with all |)t)ssible dispatch and should he form or elTecl a new arrangement or continuance of the said Concern shall remain there during the pleasure of the said parties of the Second part and their Assciciates to transact 32 m tlu' Hiisiiu'ss (if till- said Cumiiany in cunjimrtinii willi an Amiit i>v Am'nts not nunc than twd In Ih' a|i|i(iinti'f \\w j«ivi'iiaiil.s nr aKrctiniiils al'nri-said or any niatllcrs relating In llicir said (niu'crn tlic same sliall lie Kit tn llic ilccisinn nf tlirti' ilisintiri'sti'il and prniitT pirsnn.s nni' tn he ihnsin by I'aili nf llu- parties and the third hy the two and such arbitration:] sliall take place in the City nf New York hy which decision the said parties will respcttivcly abide. And for tiie faithful ])erforniance nf all and singular the said covenants ami aKreentents to be by them respectively kept and performed all and every of the parties tn these presents bind themselves separate and respectively but not jointly or one for the other and their several Heirs Kxecutnrs and Administrators to the others lirndy by these presents. In witness whereof the parties to these prtsents have hereunto set their hands and seals the day and year lirst above written. Sealed and delivered in the (Signed) JOHN JACOB ASTOK presence of By J. J. Astor and I). McDouKall (SiK'l.) MK\'. KOMIN'SOX. By I). .McKen/ie W. V. Hunt and K. McClelan (Sig'l.) JAMKS AIRI) By I). Stuart (SIk'I) JOHN' RKKI) By Jos. Miller and Ramv Crnnks (SiK'l.) JAMKS AIKI) (SiK'l) DONALD .McKKN/.lK DUN; McDOUdAM. f WILSON V. HUNT [ DAVID STUAKT (SJK'I.) ^KOBT McCLKLAN JOS. MILLKR RAMV CROOKS. AIM'DKNDIX B- I Robert McClelan do hereby relin(|uisli all right title and claim tn all the shares or interest in the Pacific Fur Cnmi)any towit — two and an half shares — and do also rcliiu|uish all i)rolit emolument or i)rivileges arising from my having been ;i partner thereof. Witness my hand and seal this first day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twelve. In presence of (Signed) ROBT. McCLKLAN (sigd) JOHN RKKI). T, John Clarke do hereby agree to become a party to the witliir agreement as one of the partners of the Company within described and will faithfully perform all the Covenants and agreements in the same contained in like manner as 1 should be bound to do if I had been named therein as a Party of the second i)art and had aclually executed the same. — It being understood that I shall be entitled to and have and hold three of the .said shares as herein before provided for. Witness my hand and seal this fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twelve 1S12. (Sigii'l.) lOilN CLARK K In presence ol John Reed. .34 '■*««i, >-►»»*«)»,.. I Kiinisay Cnii ks do iilin(|iii
  • -"f**«~v Ttfrmrvff-^^^mv^"^' Astoria and transact tlic business of tlie company until the return of W. P. Hunt. June n, 1812. WILSON P. HUNT D. McKENZIE DUX : McDOUGALL. DAVID STUART, ROBERT STUART JOHN CLARKE. Resolved, tliat it being necessary to send an Express to New N'ork, and all the papers and other things ))eing prepared Mr. Robert Stuart is hereby instructed to have and to take charge of theni. with which he 's to go as directly to New York as circumstances will admit — and there to 1)0 governed l)y tlie directions of Mr. Astor as to tlie time of his returning to the N. W. Coast. It is also resolved tliat John Day, Benjamin Jones, Francis LeClerc, .Andre Valle accompany Mr. Stuart as far as St. Louis where he is to pay tliem the balances due eacii by means of Drafts drawn by our W. P. Hunt on Jolui Jacob Astor on account of the Pacilic Fur Company. June 27 1812. W ILSON P. HUNT D. McKENZIE DUN: McDOU(iALL DAVID STUART ROBERT STUART JOHN CLARKE APPENDIX D— .■\s tile (juantity of goods now on hand are une(|ual to our wants; di.sassorted and unlit for the Trade of the Country, much less for com- petition, it is hereby vmanimously resolved as our only alternative in the present necessities of our situation, tliat we make proposals to our opponents to divide the Trade for tlie ensuing winter, to wit. That we will give them up to tlie Post of Spokan House and the establisliment of the Coutenais, and also supply them wi h these few articles of goods for which they have already made application ; payable next spring in Horses or in any other manner whicli may iK-st suit us at that period, all upon condi- tion that they on their part will aliandon to us all the remaining parts of the Columl)ia and forward our dispatches to Mr. Astor by tiieir usual winter express; since it is lieyond our i)ower to lit out an express ourselves. Astoria Columbia River 25th June 181,? DUN: McDOUGALL DONALD MacKEXZlE DAX'ID STUART JOHN CLARKE. Astoria Columbia River 26 June 181.?." It is lieriby resolved and agreeil that Mr. David Stuart shall go and winter as usual in the Nortii West parts of the Columbia with a party %. Rcid four Canadians and two Heaver Hunters shall go and winter in the Snake country in order to meet with those Hunters already in that ((uarter ; to trade all the good Heaver and Provisions the goods they take along with them can procure, and also gather as many as possihlc of the ("ompany's Horses that have heen in possession of the Indians since these two years. It is likewise resolved and agreed upon thay Mr. Duncan McUougall shall continue at this place as usual with a i)arty cotisisting of Forty strong to guard it against the natives of whom we have reason to suspect ill designs should no reinforcements arrive. — To secure this i)lace on which is our chiif dependence, too much precaution caimot he taken. And as there is no stock of provisions for its support Mr. Donald McKenzie shall go and winter in the Wallamct or thereabouts with four hunters and eight men and pay every attention to procure a constant supply of that indispensable article. And whereas the concern have more Clerks than is re([uisite in any jiroportion to the number of common men in the service. It is hereby agreed and resolved upon that if it meets their own approbation their engagements shall be delivered up to Donald McLennan, Donlad McGillis and Ross Cox with full permission to engage elsewhere provided they give their notes for any balance they may owe to the concern. DUN: McDOUGALL DONALD MacKENZIH DAVID STUART JOHN CLARKE. Astoria Columbia River 1st July, 1813. The period is now at hand when we must repair to our respective wintering grounds, but before our departure it is a duty incumbent upon us not only in justice to the concern but to the Party in general that decisive measures be entered upon respecting the alarming state of our affairs. The Ship Beaver was to have returned at the end of two months. Eleven months are now elapsed since she set sail. We have no tidings of her since, and we have every reason to conclude that she must have either perished or taken her final departure from the coast. Another vessel was to have sailed about the usual time for our support, but after every due allowance, we need no longer expect her. We are now destitute of the necessary supplies to carry on the Trade, and we have no hopes of receiving more. We are yet entirely ignorant of the coast, on which we always had great dependence. The interior p.irts of the country turn out far sliort of oin- I'Xpectations. Its ye.irly ])roduce in furs is very f;ir from being i'(|u;il to the expenses the trade incurs; much less will 38 «»*-; W«*Wl«*>i VKB^^ -.^.^f^tnoiWUnrwJ' ' iAA' •''W''*fea93!lj il(iW^ SV." f'\ it l)e al)le to recover the losses already sustainerl, or stand against a powerful opposition and support itself, in find, eircnnistanees arc a^'ainst us on every hand ; and nothing oj)erates to lead us into a conclusion, thai we can succeed. And whereas by the sixteenth article of the Company's agreement, bearing date the Twenty third day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten, we are authorized to abandon this under- taking, and dissolve the concern, if, before the period of five years, the same should he uni)rolitablc. Now, a Resolve is hereby unanimously agreed upon, passed and con- cluded, that unless the necessary support and supplies arrive with advice from John Jacob Astor of New York, or the stockholders to continue the trade, the same shall be abandoned as impracticable, as well as unprofitable. And we' hereby resolve and conclude, that we take our departure from the Forks of the Columbia the first day of June next year; and that every preparation shall be made previous to that period, to the end, that we transport our Furs and conduct our party in safety to the Terri- tory of Louisiana. DUN: McDOUGALL DONALD MACKENZIK DAVID STUART JOHN CLARKE. Augt. 25, 181.5. Whereas by a cert.nin resolve passed on the first day of July last by I). McDougall, D. McKeiizie D. Stuart and J. Clarke partners of the l^acific Fur Co. it was agreed & concluded to abandon the country of Columbia river & to conduct the party of clerks & men under their charge to Louisiana & to dissolve the said concern. And whereas on the 20th of this present month W. P. Hunt arrived in the Ship Albetross chartered at the Sandwich Islands to land him iK- some provisions at this place & as the (|uantity is not sufficient, together with the information obtained by \V. P. Hunt during his absence relative to the bad state of the trade on the N. West Coast not favourable \- having no reason at this time to think in any wise more favourably of the trade of the interior, we cannot avoid the strong impression we ari' under in justice to Mr. Astor and to ourselves of the necessity to take the best and most sure measures to get our people home (or discharged ) and to convey our skins to market that there may be as little loss in our unfortunate undertaking as possible. We therefore unanimously agree that W. P. Hunt again depart from this place in the Ship now here (for fear we may not have another opportunity) and proceed to see Captains Davies & Winship who are expected about this time in California, and to go either with them or any other opportunity to the Sandwich Islands for the purpose of chartering or of procuring in any other way in his power (should none come addressed to us) a vessel to come here and relieve us by taking up our skins and other property some of our people and the natives of the Sandwich Islands in our empl-)y being about 25 in numbers. That .said W. P. Hunt procure during his absence a »^ will evince to tiie world that a journey to the Western Sea will not be considered (within a few years) of much greater importance than a trip to New York. Missouri Gazette, May 15, 1813. We last week promised our readers an account of the jcjuincy of the gentlemen attached to the New York Fur Company from the Pacific Ocean to this place : we now lay it before our readers as collected from the gentlemen themselves. On the 29th June, 1812, Mr. Roberlf Stuart, one of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company with two Frenchmen, Mess. Ramsey Crooks and Robert McQellan, left the Pacific ocean with despatches for Xcw York. After ascending the Columbia river 90 miles John Day, one of the hunters became perfectly insane and was sent back to the main establish- ment, under the charge of some Indians; the remaining six pursued their voyage upwards of 900 miles, when they happily met witli Mr, Joseph Miller on his way to the mouth of the Columbia; he had been considerably to the south and east among the nations called Blackarms and .Arapahays, by the latter of whom he was robbed; in consequence of which he suffered almost every privation human nature is capable of, and was in a state of starvation and almost nudity when the party met him. They now had fifteen horses & pursued their jou'^ney for the Atlantic world, without any uncommon accident, until within aliout 200 miles of the Rocky mountains, where they unfortunately met with a party of the Crow Indians, who behaved with the most unbounded insoltnce, and were solely prevented from cutting off the party by observing tliem well armed and constantly on their guard. They, however, pursued on tlioir track six days and finally stole every horse belonging to the party. Some idea of the situation of those men may be conceived, when we tak( into consideration that they were now on foot and had a journey of 2000 miles before them, 1500 of which entirely unknown, as they intended and prosecuted it considerably south of Messrs. Lewis & Clark's route; the impossibility of carrying any quantity of provisions on their backs, in addition to their ammunition and bedding will occm- at first blush the danger to be apprehended from starvaticju was eminent, They however put the best face upon their prospects & ])ursiicd their route towards the Rocky Mountains at the head waters of tlu: Colorado or Spanish river, and stood their course E, S. E. until tliey struck the h, .d waters of the great river Platte, whicii tiiey undeviatingly followed to its mouth; it may here be observed, that this river for alxnu ,^(10 miles is navigable for a barge; from thence to the Otto village, witliin 43 miles of its entrance into the Missouri, it is a mire bed of sand, without water sufficient to float a skin canoe. From the Otto village to St. Louis the party performed tluir voyage in a canoe furnished them by the natives and arrived here in perfect health on the 30th of last month. Our travellers did not hear of the war with England until they came to the Ottocs ; these people told tliem that the Shawanoe Prophet had sent them a wampum, inviting them to join in the war against the Americans, that they answered the messenger, that they could make more by trapping Beaver, than making war against the .\mericans. 42 f.M Ki i mmwiiMjiy -.rt After crossing the hills (Rocky mountains) they happily fell in with a small party of Snake indians, from whom they purchased a horse who relieved them from any further carriage of food, as this faithful four footed companion, performed that service to the Otto village. They wintered on the river Platte about 600 miles from its mouth. By information received from these gentlemen, it appears that a journey across the continent of N. America, might be performed with a waggon, there being no obstruction in the whole route that any person would dare to call a mountain in addition to its being much the most direct and short route one to go from this place to the mouth of the Columbia river. Any future party who may undertake that journey, and arc tolerably acquainted with the different places, where it would be necessary to lay up a small stock of provisions would not be impeded, as in ill probability they would not meet with an indian to interrupt their progress ; altho on the other route more north there are almost insurmountable barriers. Messrs. Hunt, Crooks, Miller, McClcllan, M'Kenzie and about 60 men who left St. Louis in the beginnings of March 1811 for the Pacific ocean, reached the Aricoras village on the 13th day of June, where meet- ing with some American hunters who had been there the preceding year on the waters of the Columbia with Mr. Henry, and who giving such an account of the route by which they passed as being far preferable in point of procuring with facility an abundant supply of food at all times as well as avoiding even the probability of seeing their enemies the Black- feet, than by the track of capts. Lewis and Clark, the gentlemen of the expedition at once abandoned their former ideas of passing by the falls of the Missouri and made the necessary arrangements for commencing their journey overland from this place. Eighty horses were purchased and equipped by the 17 of July, and on the day following they departed from the Aricoras sixty persons in numl)er, all on foot excepting the partners of the company. In this situa- tion they proceeded for five days, having crossed in that time two consider- able streams which joined the Missouri below the Aricaras when finding an inland tribe of indians calling themselves Shawnays, but known among the whites by the appellations of Cheyen-nes, we procured from these people an accession of forty horses, which enabled the gentlemen to furnish a horse for every two men. Steering about well south west, they passed the small branches of Big river, the little Missouri above its forks, and several of the tributary streams of Powder river, one of which followed up they found a band of the Absaroka or Crow nation, encamped on its Ijanks, at the foot of the Big Horn mountain. Tor ammunition and some small articles they exchanged all their lame for sound horses, with these savages ; but although that this band has been allowed by every one who know them to be by far the best behaved of their tribe, it was only by that imalterable determination of the gentlemen to avoid jeopardizing the safety of the party, without at the same moment submitting to intentional insults, that they left this camp (not possessing a greater force than the whites) without coming to blows. The distance from the Aricaras to this mountain, is about 450 miles over an extremely rugged tract, by no means furnishing a sufficient supply 43 of water, hut during the twenty eight days they were getting tct tlie hase of the mountain, they were only in a very few instanees without al)undancu of Buffaloe meat. Tliree d;iys took them over to tiic plains of Mad river (the name given the Big Horn ahove this mountain ) whieh following for a nnmher of days they left it where it was reduced to thirty yards in width and the same evening reached the banks of the Colorado or Spanish river. Finding flocks of Buffaloe at the end of the third days travel on this stream, the party passed a week in drying Buffaloe meat fur the residue of the voyage, as in all probability those were the last animals of the kind they woul . meet with. From this camp in one day they crossed the dividing mountain and pitched their tents on Hohack's Fork of Mad river, where it was near 150 feet broad, and in eight days more having passed several stupendous ridges, they encamped in the vicinity of the establish- ment made by Mr. Henry in the fall of 1810, on a fork about 70 yards wide, bearing the name of that gentleman ; having travelled from the main Missouri about 900 miles in fifty four days. Here abandoning their horses the party constructed canoes and descended the Snake or Ky-eye-nem river (made by the junction of Mad River, south of Henry's Fork) 400 miles in the course of which they were obliged by the intervention of impassable rapids to make a number of portages till at length they found the river confined between gloomy precipices at least 200 feet perpendicular, whose basis for the most part were washed by the turbulent stream, which for 30 miles was a continual succession of hills, cascades and rapids. Mr. Crooks' canoe had split and upset in the middle of a rapid, immediately above by which one man was drowned, named Antonio Clai.pin (or Chappin?), and that gentleman saved himself only by extreme exertion in swimming. From repeated losses by the upsetting of canoes our stock of provisions were now reduced to a bare sufficiency for five days totally ignorant of the country where they were, and unsuccessful in meeting any of the natives, from whom they could hope to procure information. Unable to proceed by water, Messrs. McKenzie, M'Clellan and Reed, set out in different directions, inclining down the river for the purpose of finding Indians and buying horses, ^fr. Crooks with a few men returned to Henry's Fork, for those they had left, while Mr. Hunt remained with the main body of the men in trapping beaver for their support. Mr. C. finding the distance much greater by land than they had contemplated, returned at the end of three days, where waiting five more, expecting relief from below, the near approach of winter, made them determine on depositing all superfluous articles and proceeding on foot. Accordingly on the 10th of November, Messrs. Hunt and Crooks set out each with 18 men, one party on the north and the other on the south side of the river, Mr. Htmt was fortunate in finding Indians with abundance of Salmon and some horses but Mr. Crooks saw but few and in general too miserably poor to afford his party much assistance ; thirteen days travel brought the later to a high range of mountains through which the river forced a passage, and the bank being their only guide, they still by climbing over points of rocky ridges projecting into the stream, kept as near it as possible till in the evening of the 3rd December impassable precipices of 44 immense licight put an end to all hopes of following the margin of this watercourse, which here was not more than 40 yards, wide, ran with jncredihle velocity and was withal so foamingly tumultous that even had the opposite bank been lit for their p" ^*>-» a" attempt at rafting would have been perfect madness, as they could only have the inducement of ending in a watery grave a series of hardships and privations, by which the most hardy and determined of the human race must have found himself inadequate. They attempted to climb the mountains, still bent on pushing on, but after ascending for half a day, they d"'icovered to their sorrow that they were not half way to the summit, .t I the snow already too deep for men in their emaciated state to pr^ .ctl farther. Regaining the .cr bank, they returned up and on the third day met with Mr. Hunt and party with one horse proceeding downwards, a canoe was soon made of a horse hide and in it transported what meat they could spare to Mr. Crook's starving followers, who for the first 18 days after leaving the place of deposit had subsisted on half a meal in twenty-four hours, and in the last nine days had eat only one beaver, a dog, a few wild cherries and old mockasin soles. Having travelled during these twenty seven days at least 550 miles. For the next four days, both parties con- tinued on up the river without any other support than what little rosebuds and cherries they could find, but here they luckily fell in with some Snake Indians, from whom they got five horses, giving them three guns and some other articles for the same. Starvation had bereft J. B. Provost of his senses entirely and on seeing the horse flesh on the opposite shore, was so agitated in crossing in a skin canoe that he upset and was unfor- tunately drowned. From hence Mr. Hunt went on to a camp of Shoshonies about 90 miles above, where procuring a few ' ,..-; and a guide he set out for the main Columbia across the mountanis to the southwest, leaving the river where it entered the range, & on it Mr. Crooks and five men unable to travel. Mr. H. lost a Canadian named Carriere by starvation, before he met the Shy-ey to-ga Indians in the Columbia plains ; from whom getting a supply of provisions, he soon reached the main river, which he descended in canoes and arrived without any further loss at Astoria, in the month of February. Messrs. M'Kenzie, M'Clellan and Reed had united their parties on the Snake river Mountains, through which they travelled twenty one days to the Mulpot river, subsisting on an allowance by no means adequate to the toils they underwent daily & to the smallness of their number (wiiich was in all eleven) they attribute their success in getting with life to where they found some wild horses. They soon after reached the fork called by captains Lewis and Clark Kooskooske, went down Lewis's party and the Columbia wholly by water, without any tnisfortune, except the upsetting in a rapid of Mr. M'Clellan's canoe, and although it happened on the first day of the year, yet by great exertion they clung to the canoe till the others came to their assistance, making their escape witu the loss of some rifles, they reached Astoria early in January. Three of the five men who remained with Mr. Crooks, afraid of perishing by want, left him in February on a small river on the road by which Mr. Hunt had passed in (|uest of Indians, and have not since been 45 ..Hi-: (.- .. '■■ IXWI^fOKtlX* heard of. Mr. C. liad followed Mr. H't track in the snow for seven days but coming to a low prairie, he lost every appearance of the trace and was compelled to pass the remaining part of winter in the mountains, subsisting some times on beaver and horse meat, and their skins and at Dtliers on their success in finding roots. Finally on the last of March, the other only Canadian being unable to proceed was left with a lodge of Shoshonies, and Mr. C. with John Day finding the snow sufficiently diminished, undertook from Indian information to cross the last ridge, which they happily effected, and reached the banks of the Columbia by the middle of April, wherein the beginning of May, they fell in with Messrs. Stuart, having been a few days before stripped of everything they possessed by a band of villians near the falls. On the 10th of May, they arrived safe at Astoria, the principal establishment of the Pacifu Fur Company within 14 miles of cape Disappointment. May 14, 1812. WILSON P. HUNT DONALD MacKENZIE DUN: McDOUGALL DAViD STUART ROBERT STUART JOHN CLARKE. APPENDIX C. LETTER FROM MR. GALLATIN' TO MR. ASTOR DATED New York, August 5, 1835. Dear Sir, — In compliance with your request, I will state such facts as I recollect touching the subjects mentioned in your letter of 28th ult. I may be mistaken respecting dates and details, and will only relate general facts, whi-h I well remember. In conformity with the treaty of 1794 with Great Britain, the citizens and subjects of each country were permitted to trade with the Indians residing in the territories of the other party. The reciprocity was altogether nominal. Since the conquest of Canada, the British had inherited from tiie French the whole fur trade, through the great lakes and their com- munications, with all the western Indians, whether residing in the British dominions or the United States. They kept the important western posts on those lakes till about the year 1797. And the defensive Indian war, which the United States had to sustain from 1776 to 1795, had still more alienated the Indians, and secured to the British their exclusive trade, carried througli the lakes, wherever the Indians in that quarter lived. No yVmerican could, witiiout danger of property and life, carry on that trade, even within the United States, by the way of either Michilimackinac or St. Mary's. And independent of the loss of commerce, Great Britain was enable to preserve a most dangerous influence over our Indian . It was under these circumstances that you communicated to our government the prospect you had to be able, and your intention, to pur- chase one half of the interest of the Canadian Fur Company, engaged in trade by the way of Michilimackinac with our own Indians. 46 ».».-Jtt... llV»*««5e«. You wished to know whether the plan met with the approbation of Rovernment, and how far you could rely on its protection and encouraRc- ment. This overture was received with great satisfaction by tlie administra- tion and Mr. Jefferson, then President, wrote you to that effect. I was also directed, as Secretary of the Treasury, to write to you an official letter to the same purpose. On investigating the subject, it was found that the Executive had no authority to give you any direct aid; and I believe you received nothing more than an entire approbation of your plan, and general assurances of the protection due to every citizen engaged in lawful and useful pursuits. Von did effect the contemplated purchase, but in what year I do not recollect. Immediately before the war, you represented that a large quantity of merchandise, intended for the Indian trade, and including arms and munitions of war, belonging to that concern of which you owned (me half, was deposited at a post on Lake Huron, within the British dominions; that, in order to prevent their ultimately falling into the hands of Indians who might prove hostile, you were desirous to try to have them conveyed into the United States; but that you were prevented by the then existing law of non-intercourse with the British dominions. The Executive could not annul the provisions of that law. But I was direcud to instruct the collectors on the lakes, in case you and your agents should voluntarily bring in and deliver to them any part of the goods above mentioned, to receive and keep them in their guard, and not to commence jirosccutions until further instructions ; the intention being then to apply to Congress for an act remitting the forfeiture and penalties. I wrote accordingly, to tnat effect, to the collectors of Detroit and Michili- mackinac. The attempt to obtain the goods did not, however, succeed ; and I cannot say how far the failure injured you. But the war proved fatal to another much more extensive and important enterprise. Previous to that time, but I also forgot the year, you had undertaken to carry on a trade on your own account, though I believe under the New York charter nf the American Fur Company, with Indians west of the Rocky Mountains. This project was also communicated to govern- ment, and met, .if course, with its full approbation, and best wishes, for your success. You carried it on, on the most extensive scale, sending several ships to the mouth of the Columbia River, and a large party by land across the mountains, and finally founding the establishment of Astoria. This unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy during the war, from circumstances with which I am hut imperfectly acquainted — being then absent on a foreign mission. I returned in September, 1815, and sailed again on a mission to France in June, 1816. During that period I visited Washington twice — in October or November, 1815, and in March 1816. On one of these occasions, and I believe on the last, you mentioned to me that you were disposed once more to renew the attempt, and to re- establish Astoria, provided you had the protection of the American flag : for which purpose, a lieutenant's command would be sufficient to you. You requested me to mention this to the President, which I did. Mr. Madison said he would consider the subject, and altliough he did not 47 commit liimscif, I tlnuinlit tliat lie ri'i rived tin- prdposiil favoralily. The message was verlial, and 1 dn not know whctlier tlie applieatimi was ever renewed in a mure formal manner. I sailed soon after for lun-ope, and was seven years aliseiit. I never liad the pleasure, since 1816, to see Mr. Madison, and never heard a^ain anything concerning the suhject in ((nestion. I remain, dear sir, must respcctfnlly, ^'llnr ohedient servant, AMlKkT (iAIJ.ATlX. John Jacob Astor, Ks(|., New York. f| ^i 48 -*««r'-,»;t.»>««WiiK.xi»*H' The ever •'111(1 Mr. tidii. ■til 'mi