PREFACE TO VOLUME VII

The present volume is occupied by the reprint, from the original London edition of 1849, of Alexander Ross’sAdventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia Riverfrom 1810–13.

No less than three members of the Astorian expedition[1]published personal narratives, each of them a work of much merit. As a source for the study of this first attempt in behalf of the United States to colonize the North-west Coast, the account of Ross supplements in many particulars that of Gabriel Franchère, the French Canadian clerk whose notable tale of adventure is published in volume vi of our series. Ross’s narrative was not made public until twenty-nine years after the appearance of the first (French) edition of Franchère’s book; but it was based upon journals written at the time, and has the value of a first-hand relation.

Ross was a Scotchman, who left his father’s home (1804) to seek a fortune in the then “dissolute, extravagant, and butterfly” Province of Canada. He confesses that only stern Scotch pride kept him from returning to the parental roof, for which he secretly longed during several years after his departure. In the new land his fortunes did not flourish. Endowed with a good education, he at first eked out a scanty livelihood by teaching school; but after five years purchased some land in UpperCanada, and turned farmer. The reports of Astor’s enterprise and of fortunes to be acquired in the fur trade, tempted him to abandon the soil and embark in the promising project for a Columbia settlement, and he was a member of the contingent that sailed from New York in the “Tonquin,” in 1810. Arrived at Columbia River, Ross was soon assigned to a post in the interior, where he whiled away the tedium of existence by studying Indian languages and characteristics, by copious journalizing, and much reflection. Nor was incident lacking to divert the isolated fur-trader, as the various brigades of the rival North West Company swept up and down the Columbia, and the fate of Astoria hung trembling in the balance. Most of the “Nor’ Westers” were Scotchmen like himself, and Ross’s sympathies appear to have been enlisted strongly in their behalf. As the books of reminiscence written during his retirement grew, they took on the form of apologies for McDougal and McKenzie, the Scotch partners of the American house, and virtually became tirades against the associates of Astor, and his business management as well.

Upon the consummation of the sale of Astoria (October, 1813), Ross was easily induced to enter the service of the new British owners, and he remained upon Columbian waters so long as the Nor’ Westers operated in that district. With accustomed Scotch canniness he stipulated for an agreement in writing that he should be promoted at the end of seven years’ service; but just before the expiration of that term the North West Company merged with its great rival, the Hudson’s Bay (1821), and Ross’s hopes were again dashed. However, the governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company placed him in command of alarge brigade for hunting and exploring the country of the Snake Indians—the vast region of the Rocky Mountain divide, in the present states of Montana and Idaho. Here for two years (1823–25) he led his motley crews of Canadians, half-breeds, Iroquois, and Hawaiians, crossing and recrossing the path of Lewis and Clark, and exploring the fastnesses of the Snake and Salmon rivers.

But the wilderness had now lost its charm, and Ross returned to at least the borders of civilization, there to live in quiet and rear his half-breed children. In recognition of his services, the Hudson’s Bay Company granted him a hundred acres of land in the Red River Valley, where he became one of the earliest and most prominent citizens of the present city of Winnipeg. His estate was known as “Colony Gardens,” and upon the profits of his trade among the settlers and of his relations with the aborigines he grew wealthy and influential. Being chosen the first sheriff of Assiniboine (the present province of Winnipeg), he was later (1835) appointed a member of its first Government Council. Some account of his life as a settler, and a few of his letters, are published in the Historical and Scientific Society of ManitobaTransactionsNo. 63 (Winnipeg, 1903).

At last blessed with leisure, Ross now turned author, and published three works detailing the differing phases of his life. The first—Adventures of the First Settlers on the Oregon or Columbia River—relates his experiences as a fur-trader in American employ, and was issued from a London press in 1849; this book we here republish. The narrative of his life upon Western waters under the direction of British companies, appeared in 1855, asThe Fur Hunters of the Far West. His final essay was ahistory ofThe Red River Settlement, its Rise, Progress, and Present State, which appeared in 1856, the year of the author’s death. All of these books are written in a simple, clear, unpretentious style, being mainly narrations of daily events.

Referring specifically to theAdventures, which we have chosen for reprinting, it is evident that the author’s interest in topography was but slight. It is surprising to find a man who has had many years of intimate acquaintance with the interesting regions penetrated transiently by Lewis and Clark along narrow trails, contributing so slightly as does Ross to the world’s knowledge of the country; whereas Lewis and Clark brought back from their hurried journey a wealth of detailed information. With ethnology, Ross exhibits greater concern. His alliance with an Okanagan woman, and his constant contact with the natives of the coast, gave him a command of tribal habits, traditions, and beliefs which makes his work a valuable source for the study of Western Indian life. The last four chapters present a good sociological treatment of the natives of the Shahaptian family—their religion, government, family life, and characteristics—in the primitive state, before contact with the whites had brought modification and degeneracy. Ross’s account of the Indians of the coast, the Clatsop and Chinookan tribes, gives evidences of truth and accurate observation.

But it is chiefly as a narration of the fortunes of the Astorian expedition, that we value Ross’s book. Unlike Franchère, he exhibits no reserve, and unhesitatingly expresses his opinion of the conduct of Captain Jonathan Thorn and Astor’s partners, during the now famous voyage. His accounts of the adventures of the “Tonquin”and its passengers are consequently the more vivid and personal of the two. The dramatic situation evidently appealed strongly to our author’s temperament; the incidents at the Falkland and Hawaiian islands, the irascibility and unreasonableness of Thorn’s conduct, the useless sacrifice of life to the strictness of naval discipline, are related with no assuaging touch. Neither does the writer spare the reader an account of the hardships and trials of the adventurers, the poor and scanty food, the toil in felling trees and erecting buildings, the feuds and ill feeling between the workers, and the caprices of the commanding partners. Later, in describing the transfer of Astoria and its property to British hands, our author unhesitatingly appears as an apologist for the transaction, and an advocate of the pro-British party. His criticism of Astor’s management, while partly justifiable from Ross’s standpoint, seems to possess an element of personal pique; and for the clerks who, like Franchère, chose to remain loyal to the American owners, Ross has but few words of commendation. For a just estimate of the transaction, the reader must balance probabilities between the conclusions of Irving, Franchère, and Ross, and likewise take into consideration the emergencies arising from the Anglo-American war.

Aside from its historical value, Ross’sAdventurespossesses abundant interest for all who are stirred by clearly-delineated accounts of life in the great silent places of earth. Our author has a graphic touch: dangers from Indian treachery, perils of the forests and the waterways, thrilling escapes of every sort, lose nothing under his pen; wilderness life is vividly portrayed—the sharp contrasts between civilization and savagery, the obstacleswhich beset man’s progress through the vast solitudes of the North-west, the forbidding aspects as well as the beauties of primeval nature; all these are presented with force and not seldom with charm.

Assistance in annotating this volume has been received from Louise Phelps Kellogg, Ph. D., and Edith Kathryn Lyle, Ph. D.

R. G. T.

Madison, Wis., August, 1904.

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