FOOTNOTES:

In the evening Conoth one of the men killed 2 geese.—(Charlo) the Iroquoy was off seeking Deer but without success.

Thursd. y. 17

Sharp frost in the night fine clear weather all day.

Resumed our journey before 8 oclock and reached the end of the Portage[192]after 10 when the canoes were immediately got out of the woods and the men distributed into crews and busily employed repairing the canoes arranging paddles poles &c. The saddles appichimans &c. were tied up ready to send off with an Indian who came to take home the horses.

I had intended to take four canoes as they would be all required to bring down the fall trade & for the spring, but on account of the lateness of the season and the length of time it would take going up with two men per canoe, I am induced to alter my plans & take only three, we will then have 3 men per canoe including an Indian who is going up.

A woman who is going this road to join one of the Cootenay men ( ), very shortly after arriving at the camp brought forth a child, and seemed attending to her little affairs during the day afterwards as if nothing had happened.

Friday 18

Some sleet and rain in the morning. foggy soft weather afterwards.

Everything being ready & the canoes loaded, we embarked before 8 oclock, and made a good days work, as we encamped at the old Fort[193]at the upper end of the Lake, it was past 4 oclock when we encamped, fortunately it was calm when we crossed the lake, we were retarded a little at the sandy point[194]by the shallowness of the water.

I had first intended to take four canoes with two men in each, but considering that it would take a long time to get up so weakly manned at this late season. I altered my plan & took only three, we have now three men in each and an Indian that it going up with us making the 9th man.

Passed some Indians only one of whom we spoke to him we induced to tell all he knew, that Mr. Kittson had taken another rout that the Kootenies would find him below the Chutes[195]at the place appointed.

Before we embarked in the morning sent off the Indians who came from the Fort for the purpose, with the horses saddles, appichimans, cords, in all 20 horses including the Company's 13. Messrs. McDonald[196]Kittson& myself 3 Men 4 & Indian 3, besides he is to take 5 by the way, 4 from the Coeur de Alan plains & 1 from our first encampment, these are the horses that were strayed, three are now missing now.

Satd.y. 19

Soft foggy weather cold in the morning.

Embarked a little past six oclock & encamped a little past 3 above the (Lower) Rapid[197], to get the canoes gummed as they had become very leaky.—This is a pretty good days work at this late season.

Sunday 20

Blowing fresh in the night some rain. Mild foggy weather during the day.

It was near 7 oclock when we embarked owing to the bad road we had to pass—it required to be broad daylight—We were detained two hours gumming Chala's canoe, which retarded us considerably, yet we got over the Stony Island portage & encamped near 4 oclock at its upper end where all the canoes were gummed.

Monday 21

Soft weather but raw and cold.

Embarked past 6 oclock, and were detained an hour gumming Charla's canoe again, and again encamped a little below the barrier Rivers[198]a little past 2 oclock to get the canoes thoroughly gummed, it was night by the time this business was completed.—Saw 2 deer but could not approach them.

Tuesday 22

Raw cold foggy weather.

Embarked a little past 6 oclock and encamped before 4, (in order to join the canoes), a little below the Chutes. Notwithstanding that the canoes were gummed yesterday evening an hour was lost gumming Chala's one shortly after we started. had it not been for these delays we would have been past the Chutes.

Wed.y. 23

Foggy in the morning, cloudy pleasant weather afterwards. This is the only day the sun shone occasionally since we left Spokane.

Continued our route at 6 oclock reached the Chutes[199]at, had canoes and all carried across & the canoes gummed & reembarked at 12 and encampedat the upper end of Thompsons[200]near 4.—We took up some goods a barrel of powder, 2 traps and two bags of ball and shot mixed that were burried at a rapid a little above the Chutes. Though these things were burried in a dry place the bags that contained the ball were completely rotten, and the hoops on the keg so rotten that it hardly held together till the powder was got emptied into a bag. Property hidden this way ought to have wood all round it on every side so that the earth could not touch it, otherwise it will in a very short time be rotten and spoiled.

Some Indians and a freeman visited us shortly after we encamped. From the former we got 4 small trout and a bale of meat which was very acceptable to the men as they have had nothing but dry salmon since they left the Fort. By these people we learn that the Flat Heads are not yet arrived, but that the Pendent Orielles are a little above the Fort. The two men whom Mr Ogden[201]sent with the F Heads to take up the beaver which he hid found them all safe and are on their way in with them.

Gave the Indians a little Tobacco.

Thursday 24

Sharp frost in the forepart of the night rain afterwards,—foggy in the morning cloudy in the afternoon.—

Embarked at a little past 6 oclock and arrived at the Fort[202]at 11. The houses are all standing but without doors or windows & all the floors torn up by the Indians scouting for anything that might be under them. Some of the pieces were burned & marks of where a fire had been made in the dwelling house that had the wood been dry would have destroyed all the buildings.—Some of the doors could not be found & several empty kegs which had been left here were brok to pieces. The men were employed the afterpart of the day fixing doors to the store and laying the floors. The store was got temporarily closed and the goods stowed in it.

Two Indians who were here went off to the Pendant Oreille camp with whom a piece of Tobacco was sent to the three principal men.—And notice sent them that we would be ready to trade tomorrow or next day when they chose to come.—

Friday 25

Snow in the night & morning the most of which had thawed & disappeared on the low grounds towards evening.

The men employed arranging their axes and afterwards squaring planks for doors &—.

An Indian one of the Pendant Oreille chiefs arrived to enquire when we would be ready to trade, though word had been sent to them yesterday that we were ready when they chose to come. Gave him a little tobacco when he set off & a few balls and Powder to send some of his young men to get some fresh meat.

A young man also came with a present of 4 fresh buffalo tongues.

Saturday 26

Disagreeable weather with snow and sleet the forepart of the day but fair in the afternoon.

Had the men employed making doors and putting the houses in order.

The Indians began to arrive about noon and a brisk trade was immediately commenced and continued on till it was getting dark. I am unable to ascertain exactly the amount of the days trade, but there are upwards of 340 beaver skins and nearly 40 bales of meat. There was a great demand for guns and Tobacco.—The Indians as is the case still when a stranger arrives among them, complain about being harder dealt with than heretofore, however they seemed well pleased notwithstanding that (not?) a single item of their (prices) demanded would be abated.

Sunday 27

Sharp frost in the night. Mild pleasant weather during the day.

The Indians arrived in the morning & trade was resumed and continued on nearly all day, but not so brisk as yesterday. The Indians say their trade is nearly finished.—Some parchment skins were traded to make windows for the houses and some mats to cover them of which they are in want as the wet drips through the roofs.

A present of 16 inches of Tobacco to each of the 3 F. H. chiefs was given to an Indian to carry to them and to apprise them of our arrival.

The Indians with whom we have been trading these two days are principally Pendent Oreilles or Collespellums, with a few Flat Heads, or Asschesh,[203], and some Spokans.—

Monday 28

Thin frost in the night, fine mild weather during the day.

Two men employed assorting & examining the meat, the others finishing the doors putting in windows, & covering the house with mats.—

A few straggling Indians traded a little meat and a few Beaver Skins and appichimans. The Indians are all encamped at some distance[204]from the Fort, there is only one lodge here.—

Tuesdy 29

Frost in the night. Pleasant mild weather during the day.

The men differently employed as yesterday. The meat is not all yet assorted.

La (Broch), one of the principal F. Head chiefs arrived with 8 or 9 men who traded 16 bales meat & 13 Beaver skins, & a few appichimans.

A Kootany Indian arrived in the morning from the camp of a small party of that tribe that is at a short distance and told us that they intended to visit us and trade what furs they had in a few days. I did not wish that these Indians would come here at all as a Fort is on their own lands expressly for them, but as it is likely it would be well on in the season before they might see Mr. Kittson & that perhaps they would not exert themselves hunting while they have furs on hand I thought it most advisable not to prevent them from coming in and that after trading they would hunt briskly on their way to Mr Kittsons Fort & that although more furs would be obtained for the Company I understand there is only a few lodges of them here which separated from the Pendent Oreilles & Flat Heads a short time ago.

The carcasses of 3 Deer and 2 Beaver were traded from the Indians.

Wedy. 30th

Sharp frost, clear pleasant weather.

The men differently employed.

A few Indians visited the Fort and traded a little meat & a few beaver and appichimans.—I sumed up the trade since our arrival on the 24th Inst. and find it to amount to 310 large & 202 small beaver, 11 otters, 76 Rats, 4 fishes, 1 mink, 1 Robe, 6 dressed, deer skins, 17 pacht, do. 4 dressed Elk skins, 11 saddles, 111 fathoms cord, 97 appichimans, 69 bales, 4094 lbs. net wt. dry meat, 170 fresh Tongues, 103 dry do, 342 lbs. 5¼ (dry) fresh venison, 4 Bushels Roots, 50 (?), 14 Horns buffalo, 4 Hair Bridles and 2 dogs.

The Expenditure for the above trade including presents of Tobacco & am. to the chiefs, smoaking &c. is as follows 4 doz. Inds. awls, 6 half & 4 small axes, 1-2/3 doz. (hawk balls), 2¼ lb. N. W. 5 lb. canton, and 2½ yds. green Transparent Beads, 115 lbs. Ball, 1 (EyedDog), 2 Files 7 Inch. 14 guns, 78 flints, 3½ doz. gun (?), 11 Looking Glasses, 37 lbs. gun Powder, 11 Kirby hooks, 18¼ lbs. brass & copper kettles, 4-1/6 doz. scalpers & 11/12 doz. Folding Knives, 3½ yds Red Strands, 3 pr. (?), 2 lbs. Beav. shot 3½ doz. Thimbles, 72 lb. Tobacco, 3 Beaver Traps and ½ lb. Vermillion—The awls, Flints and gun (worms) were generally given for nothing and also some of the Tobacco. The bales of dry meat cost on an average 3½ (Pluis) and was paid for principally with ammunition, a little Tobacco & some knives. The bales as bought from the Indians average about 60 lbs. net each. Of the above 4094 lbs. meat, there are 2314 lb. Lean, 1340 Back fat, and 440 Inside fat.

Decr. Thursday 1st.

Overcast frosty weather.

The men employed splitting planks cutting firewood, &c.

An old Flat Head chief Le Buche, the only one yet arrived visited the Fort with 8 or 9 attendants, who traded in the course of the evening 13 bales of meat and a few beaver skins.—The old chief has taken up his quarters with me and says he intends to stay three nights. He has a good deal of influence with the Indians.

Friday 2

Weather as yesterday. Snow in the night.

A few Indians still visiting the house but little to Trade. 1½ Deer were purchased.

Saturday 3

Overcast milder weather than these days past. Some snow in the night.

The men splitting planks.

A Kooteany Indian arrived yesterday evening and went off only this morning. With him I sent a letter to Mr Kittson which I supposed might be nearly at his fort by this time, but as I had learned from Soteaux a freeman that the road was very difficult & that probably he would have to return I sent word to the Indians that in case of their not hearing of his arrival, to come in here and trade their furs immediately, but if heard of his arrival to go to their own Fort & by no means come here. The sooner the furs can be got out of the Indians hands the better, as they will then exert themselves to collect more.

Mr Kittson and his people arrived in the evening in a canoe with their supplies for the Kootenais. It seems that on entering the Kootany River after mounting the Columbia they found the Navigation so difficult that it was deemed impracticable to reach their destination with the craft they had (a small boat) or indeed with any craft except one that two men could carry. Mr Kittson therefore determined to return to Spokan and make his way by the old rout[205]across Au Platte Portage, but reaching Spokan the Company's horses were so lean that a sufficient number (only 8 or 9) were totally incapable of undertaking the journey and would not have been able to perform it. He, therefore proceeded on to this place with the canoe that I left at the Coeur d Alan portage, and sent a man across land to the Kootenais to apprise them of his failure in attempting to get to their country and to make the best of their way to this place to Trade.

Not succeeding in getting to the Kootany country in time will be attended with some loss in beaver as a part of the fall hunt will be lost, however as things are now situated there is no means of remedying it, the supplies cannot be sent to meet them and detain them in their own country for want of horses, which cannot be procured here.

The Governor was certainly misinformed regarding the navigation when he ordered the Kootany supplies to be sent by water.

Sunday 4

Foggy mild weather, but still freezing.

Eight young men from the Kootany camp arrived and traded 15 small beaver skins for Tobacco with which they set off in the evening to regain the camps. A little Tobacco was sent to the chiefs.—The young men report that seeing no whites arrive, the chiefs had raised camp to come here[206]& trade, and that the man whom Mr Kittson sent came up with them & is now with the Chief.—The camp is not far off but it will be some time before they reach this as they make but short days marches. They have plenty of beaver.

Monday 5th

Some snow in the morning. Overcast mild weather afterwards.

The Old Chief La Buche paid us another visit. A few other Indians visited the Fort but had little to trade.

The man whom Mr Kittson sent round by the Kootanies arrived in the afternoon accompanied by an Indian. He was very well treated by the Indians. The whole tribe are on their way here and at no great distance,but it will still be some days before they arrive as they make but slow marching.

The men employed packing up what beaver and appichimans we have already traded, for the purpose of sending off two canoes. The furs, appichimans, saddles &c. will not more than load 1 canoe the other we will have to load with provisions though by so doing we subject our silves to the chance of being in want before the spring in case any mischance should befall the Flat Heads so that they have been unsuccessful and do not bring in a supply. I much wished to detain the canoes till the F. Heads arrived but being anxious to get La Course to Spokan to commence the boat building as soon as possible, and being apprehensive that the Navigation might be stopped by the ice it is deemed necessary to send them off immediately, specially as the men have to go to Spokan for some supplies, and on account of the canoes it is very disirable that they get back by water.—

Tuesday 6th

Rain in the night & snow towards morning and snow & sleet during the day.

Sent off the two canoes 5 men each 7 of whom are to return and 3 to remain below. The canoes are not deep laden having only 22 pieces each besides the people's provisions.—

Th Old Chief La Buche took his departure in the evening. Some Indians traded a few beaver & appichimans.

Wed.y. 7

Rained hard in the night and all day.

Some Indians Pendent Oriells & Spokans traded nearly 40 beavers & some appichimans.—

With the constant rain the water is dripping through the houses in every direction. Sent word to the Indians to bring some mats to cover them.

Thursday 8

Continued raining all night & the greater part of the day.

Some Indian women arrived in the morning with mats which were traded and the men immediately set too to cover the houses with them which nearly completed befor night, at least the trading shop & store. We have only two men & the cook since we sent the people off.—

Received news from the F. Head camp they are still at a considerable distance and will be some time before they reach us, as their horses are very lean & they make but slow marching. It is said they have plenty of meat, but no amount of furs.—

Friday 9th.

Foggy with showers of rain.

A party of about 20 Nezperces arrived in the evening from the Buffalos[207]but deferred trading till tomorrow. Gave them to smoke. These peoples horses are very lean, & from them we learn that the Flat Heads horses are still worse in consequence of which it will still be some time before they come away. These Indians fired a salute to the Fort on their arrival.[208]It has been hitherto the custom to return the salute as I had omitted to do so to Old La Buche (from not knowing their customs,) when he arrived with a few young men and also fired, lest it would cause jealousy, however, as the old gentlemen again paid us a visit this evening, & was smoking with the chiefs we explained to him the cause of our not firing, and told thse people we would give them a round on their departure, which La Bouche said would give him no offense. I understand it is pleasing to the Indians to receive this mark of respect. As the expense is but trifling we intend returning their salutes when they arrive in future.—

Saturday 10th

Foggy in the morning, Sun shining occasionally during the day.

The Nezperces that arrived yesterday traded 18 beaver, 23 Appichimans, 2 Robes, 5 Saddles, 4 dressed skins, 97 Tongues, 10 (Bosses), & 11 Bales of Meat 665 lbs net., principally for Tobacco & ammunition.

Some other Indians visited the Fort but had little to trade.

Sunday 11

Overcast soft mild weather.

The Nezperces chief & his men went off for the Flat Head camp. A few shots were fired on their departure. A little Tobacco was sent with the chiefs to C. McKay[209]who is coming in with the Snake furs.—A young man arrived from the Kootany Chief who is encamped with all his people at a short distance & will be here tomorrow. A small piece of Tobacco was sent to the Chief.

Had 113 Buffalo Tongues salted in bags made of (pannefliches)[210]having no kegs, we expect they will keep in the bags.

Monday 12

Foggy raw cold weather, drizzly rain in the evening.

The Kootany chief with about a dozen of his men arrived and smoked but brought no furs with them as they said they intended to trade tomorrow. The Chief it seems has been occasionally accustomed to get a dram on his arrival, and on asking for it got a glass of rum mixed with water, which, little as it was, with the smoking took him by the head and made him tipsy. A woman who goes in mens clothes[111] & is a leading character among them was also tipsy with ¾ of a glass of the mixed liquor and became noisy, some others of the leading men who got a little were not affected by it. Gave them some tobacco to smoke when they went off in the evening.

When it was dark 3 Au Plattes, another band of Kootenais, arrived for some Tobacco to smoke, these people are all afoot and were not able to keep up with the main band who have horses. They are all said to have plenty of beaver.

The men employed sorting and baling up meat.

Tuesday 13

Weighty rain in the night, soft mild weather during the night.

The Kootenay chiefs with 60 to 80 of his people arrived in the morning, and after smoking & conversing to about 11 oclock a brisk trade was commenced and continued on to night, when all their furs & leather was traded, the Chief got some tobacco for his people to smoke in the night besides a small present of Ammunition and beads 4 Pluis. A present was also given to, Bundosh[211], a woman who assumes a masculine character and is of some note among them, she acted as interpreter for us, she speaks F. Head well. A little ammunition & Tobacco was also given to some of the other leading men.—The trade was as follows, 481 Large & 205 small beaver, 8 Otters, 1200 Rats, 6 Fishes, 7 Mink, 10 Martens, 21 Elk skins, 27 Deer Skins, 9 (Pannefliches) & 31 fath. cords, which may be considered an excellent trade as it is seldom or never that things come up to it in the fall.—The Chief & indeed the whole of them went off apparently well pleased, though the trade is very cheap, excpt 12 guns, 3 blankts, and a few Kettles, principaly ammunition & Tobacco.

Wed.y. 14

Blowing a storm with heavy rain in the night. Blowing fresh from the Northward all day, but fair.

The Kootany Chief with some of his people visited the fort & Traded 15 beaver a few rats & some dressed skins. The beaver traded today make up the Kootany trade now 488 Large & 213 small beaver.—

C. McKay & Joachim Hubert arrived with the Snake Furs, 17 packs & 4 partons, they had only 4 horses of the Companie's and not being able, as Mr Ogden expected, to obtain any assistance from the Indians, McKay, had to get part the furs carried by 4 Freemen who accompany him. Some of these freemen are in disgrace and will probably have to be punished for their conduct towards Mr Ogden, but as this gentleman has not written or sent any instructions on the subject, it was thought best to give them a dram & a piece of Tobacco and not make it appear that anything was against them till instructions which are written for, be received from below regarding how they are to be dealt with. These steps are necessary in order to endeavour to get the furs out of their hands so that they may not dispose of them in trade among the Indians.—The caches were not found all complete a few beaver belonging to one of the men's wives were missing and a cache of 100 Large beaver belonging to two of the freemen, Bastong & Gadua, was stolen by the Indians. The horses are very lean and would have been able to go little farther. They parted with the Indians some time ago. The F Heads will not be here for some time yet.

(To be continued.)

FOOTNOTES:[161]Peter Skene Ogden, then in charge of the Snake Country trapping expedition and on the headwaters of either the Snake or the Missouri rivers.[162]Thos. Dears, a clerk in charge of the building at the new trading post at Kettle Falls, Wash., to be known as Fort Colville.[163]The family of John McLeod en route to the Red River Dist. Consult Note No. 40, p. 103, of April Quarterly.[164]Dr. McLoughlin visited this place the following summer and the Fort was built where Gov. Simpson had selected the site.[165]More recently known as Long Prairie, about 18 miles from the Fort.[166]This Express boat ascended the Columbia River to Boat Encampment at the mouth of Canoe river and met there by appointment the H. B. Co. officer returning from York Factory after the annual summer council there. The horses that brought that Gentleman's party across the Athabasca pass returned with these passengers and dispatches, and the officer came back down the Columbia in the boat. Consult this text Oct. 31st Prox.[167]A prairie still known by the same name; near Springdale, Stevens county.[168]Probably Walkers Prairie, where the Walker-Eells Mission was located in 1838.[169]This would be Francois Rivet, an interpreter, who was given some authority by the traders. He afterward settled on French Prairie below Salem, Oregon.[170]That is, by the Snake river route through Boise, Payette, Weiser, Burnt river and the Grande Ronde in Eastern Oregon. He actually arrived at Fort Walla Walla on Nov. 9th.[171]The first vegetables grown in Stevens county, Washington, by white men.[172]Good cedar timber suitable for boats is said to have grown above the mouth of Deep creek four or five miles above the Fort.[173]The flat where Spokane House was built was a small prairie with some scattering timber in spots. Gov. Stevens found it so in 1853; see Part 1, Vol. 12 of Pac. Ry. Reports.[174]Mr. Kittson's first wife was from the Walla Walla tribe: their son Peter William, born at Fort Walla Walla in 1830, is still living (1914) about 25 miles from Portland, Oregon.[175]See Gov. Simpson's instructions in entry of July 21st ante. The Pend d'Oreille river between Metaline Falls and its mouth is not navigable to this day and this route was never adopted.[176]That is: from Fort Nez Perces or Walla Walla.[177]From other sources we know that Dr. McLoughlin did not get further inland than Fort Walla Walla that season.[178]Spokane or Coeur d'Alene prairie.[179]A. R. McLeod, a chief trader who remained on the Columbia several years and commanded expedition against the Clallam Indians In 1828, for which he was criticised and perhaps censured: Mr. Samuel Black (who was afterwards murdered at Kamloops) was on the way to take charge of Fort Walla Walla to relieve Mr. Dease there; Francis Ermatinger remained in the Columbia District for twenty years, but the brother, Mr. Edward Ermatinger, retired to St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1828. Consult "Journal of Edward Ermatinger," published by Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, 1912. This "Express" brought mail from Hudson's Bay and all Eastern points. The Forks means the mouth of the Spokane river.[180]William Kittson and Francis Ermatinger, clerks of the Hudson's Bay Company, the latter on his way to take charge of Fort Oknaugan for the winter; Mr. Work and James Birnle, also a clerk, remain in charge at Spokane House. Mr. Birnie passed his last days at Cathlamet on the lower Columbia; his descendants reside there.[181]The prairie pasture between the Spokane Falls and the Coeur d'Alene lake.[182]The Kootenay river was originally named McGilllvray's river, by David Thompson.[183]Kootenay Falls near Troy, Lincoln County, Montana; the "Old Fort" referred to stood opposite Jennings, Montana, about 25 miles further up the river. For mention of that Fort consult Ross Cox.[184]See letter from Gov. Simpson in Part I of this Journal (p. 98 of this Quarterly for April 1914).[185]That is, the house for building cedar batteaux, which were to be run down to the Columbia river at high water in the spring.[186]Mr. J. W. Dease, who had been in charge of Fort Walla Walla, but was being transferred to Spokane House, but is delayed waiting for Peter Skene Ogden's arrival from the Snake Country of Southern Idaho.[187]Mr. Work is assigned to spend the winter at the trading post among the Flathead Indians in Montana. The "portage" refers to the 76 miles over which they must carry the trading goods on pack animals between Spokane House and the Pend d'Oreille river.[188]About where Hilyard now is, near city of Spokane.[189]Rathdrum creek, probably.[190]That is, at the Spokane Falls.[191]Now called Hoodoo Lake, in Bonner County, Idaho. The Spokane-International By. passes by it.[192]That is at Sina-acateen crossing of the Pend d'Oreille river, nearly opposite Laclede station of the Great Northern By.[193]Meaning the Kullyspell House or trading post established in Sept., 180, by David Thompson, but long since abandoned; it stood not far from Hope, Idaho.[194]Sand Point of the present day, very early and properly so named.[195]Kootenay Falls of the oKotenay river.[196]Meaning Mr. Finan McDonald, who had resided among the Spokane Indians for years, but who was absent now on exploring expedition into southern Oregon.[197]Probably Cabinet rapids of the Clark Fork river.[198]Probably Trout creek, of today.[199]Meaning Thompson Falls, Montana.[200]Thompson's Prairie or Plain, where David Thompson established his Saleesh House in Oct., 1809. The H. B. Co. removed the trading post further up the river. This camp was close to the mouth of Thompson river.[201]Peter Skene Ogden. Consult Oregon Hist. Quarterly, Vol. 10, pp. 229-78.[202]Flathead Fort or House, then located at or near the present R. R. station of Eddy, in Sanders county, Montana, on main line of No. Pac. Ry.[203]The best Mr. Work could make or the Indian family name Saleesh or Salish.[204]Probably about 8 miles away on the Horse Plains, of Plains, Montana, where was usual Indian camping ground.[205]The portage across from Pend d'Oreille lake north to Bonners Ferry on the oKotenay river, known as the flat portage because of there being no high mountain range to cross, and the Kootenay Indians on that part of the river being designated by the same name.[206]These Indians crossed by the "Kootenae Road," shown on David Thompson's famous map (See Henry-Thompson Journals) from near Jennings, Montana, south across the Caldnet Mountains to Thompson's Prairie, or to the Horse Plains.[207]Both Nez Perces and Flatheads spent the summer and fall hunting buffalo on the prairie along the Missouri river.[208]For a graphic description of this custom consult Oregon Hist. Quarterly for December, 1913; given in Journal of Alex. Ross, who had charge of this Fort in Dec., 1824.[209]Mr. McKay was bringing furs from Mr. Ogden's party, which had been in southern Idaho, but the main party had returned direct to Fort Walla Walla.[210]Parflesches or saddle bags.[211]In 1811 two Indians in men's clothes appeared at Ft. Astoria, as related by Franchere, Ross and Irving. They returned to the interior with David Thompson's party that summer. He described them as Kootenays and one of them as a prophetess and this may be the same Indian.

[161]Peter Skene Ogden, then in charge of the Snake Country trapping expedition and on the headwaters of either the Snake or the Missouri rivers.

[162]Thos. Dears, a clerk in charge of the building at the new trading post at Kettle Falls, Wash., to be known as Fort Colville.

[163]The family of John McLeod en route to the Red River Dist. Consult Note No. 40, p. 103, of April Quarterly.

[164]Dr. McLoughlin visited this place the following summer and the Fort was built where Gov. Simpson had selected the site.

[165]More recently known as Long Prairie, about 18 miles from the Fort.

[166]This Express boat ascended the Columbia River to Boat Encampment at the mouth of Canoe river and met there by appointment the H. B. Co. officer returning from York Factory after the annual summer council there. The horses that brought that Gentleman's party across the Athabasca pass returned with these passengers and dispatches, and the officer came back down the Columbia in the boat. Consult this text Oct. 31st Prox.

[167]A prairie still known by the same name; near Springdale, Stevens county.

[168]Probably Walkers Prairie, where the Walker-Eells Mission was located in 1838.

[169]This would be Francois Rivet, an interpreter, who was given some authority by the traders. He afterward settled on French Prairie below Salem, Oregon.

[170]That is, by the Snake river route through Boise, Payette, Weiser, Burnt river and the Grande Ronde in Eastern Oregon. He actually arrived at Fort Walla Walla on Nov. 9th.

[171]The first vegetables grown in Stevens county, Washington, by white men.

[172]Good cedar timber suitable for boats is said to have grown above the mouth of Deep creek four or five miles above the Fort.

[173]The flat where Spokane House was built was a small prairie with some scattering timber in spots. Gov. Stevens found it so in 1853; see Part 1, Vol. 12 of Pac. Ry. Reports.

[174]Mr. Kittson's first wife was from the Walla Walla tribe: their son Peter William, born at Fort Walla Walla in 1830, is still living (1914) about 25 miles from Portland, Oregon.

[175]See Gov. Simpson's instructions in entry of July 21st ante. The Pend d'Oreille river between Metaline Falls and its mouth is not navigable to this day and this route was never adopted.

[176]That is: from Fort Nez Perces or Walla Walla.

[177]From other sources we know that Dr. McLoughlin did not get further inland than Fort Walla Walla that season.

[178]Spokane or Coeur d'Alene prairie.

[179]A. R. McLeod, a chief trader who remained on the Columbia several years and commanded expedition against the Clallam Indians In 1828, for which he was criticised and perhaps censured: Mr. Samuel Black (who was afterwards murdered at Kamloops) was on the way to take charge of Fort Walla Walla to relieve Mr. Dease there; Francis Ermatinger remained in the Columbia District for twenty years, but the brother, Mr. Edward Ermatinger, retired to St. Thomas, Ontario, in 1828. Consult "Journal of Edward Ermatinger," published by Royal Society of Canada, Ottawa, 1912. This "Express" brought mail from Hudson's Bay and all Eastern points. The Forks means the mouth of the Spokane river.

[180]William Kittson and Francis Ermatinger, clerks of the Hudson's Bay Company, the latter on his way to take charge of Fort Oknaugan for the winter; Mr. Work and James Birnle, also a clerk, remain in charge at Spokane House. Mr. Birnie passed his last days at Cathlamet on the lower Columbia; his descendants reside there.

[181]The prairie pasture between the Spokane Falls and the Coeur d'Alene lake.

[182]The Kootenay river was originally named McGilllvray's river, by David Thompson.

[183]Kootenay Falls near Troy, Lincoln County, Montana; the "Old Fort" referred to stood opposite Jennings, Montana, about 25 miles further up the river. For mention of that Fort consult Ross Cox.

[184]See letter from Gov. Simpson in Part I of this Journal (p. 98 of this Quarterly for April 1914).

[185]That is, the house for building cedar batteaux, which were to be run down to the Columbia river at high water in the spring.

[186]Mr. J. W. Dease, who had been in charge of Fort Walla Walla, but was being transferred to Spokane House, but is delayed waiting for Peter Skene Ogden's arrival from the Snake Country of Southern Idaho.

[187]Mr. Work is assigned to spend the winter at the trading post among the Flathead Indians in Montana. The "portage" refers to the 76 miles over which they must carry the trading goods on pack animals between Spokane House and the Pend d'Oreille river.

[188]About where Hilyard now is, near city of Spokane.

[189]Rathdrum creek, probably.

[190]That is, at the Spokane Falls.

[191]Now called Hoodoo Lake, in Bonner County, Idaho. The Spokane-International By. passes by it.

[192]That is at Sina-acateen crossing of the Pend d'Oreille river, nearly opposite Laclede station of the Great Northern By.

[193]Meaning the Kullyspell House or trading post established in Sept., 180, by David Thompson, but long since abandoned; it stood not far from Hope, Idaho.

[194]Sand Point of the present day, very early and properly so named.

[195]Kootenay Falls of the oKotenay river.

[196]Meaning Mr. Finan McDonald, who had resided among the Spokane Indians for years, but who was absent now on exploring expedition into southern Oregon.

[197]Probably Cabinet rapids of the Clark Fork river.

[198]Probably Trout creek, of today.

[199]Meaning Thompson Falls, Montana.

[200]Thompson's Prairie or Plain, where David Thompson established his Saleesh House in Oct., 1809. The H. B. Co. removed the trading post further up the river. This camp was close to the mouth of Thompson river.

[201]Peter Skene Ogden. Consult Oregon Hist. Quarterly, Vol. 10, pp. 229-78.

[202]Flathead Fort or House, then located at or near the present R. R. station of Eddy, in Sanders county, Montana, on main line of No. Pac. Ry.

[203]The best Mr. Work could make or the Indian family name Saleesh or Salish.

[204]Probably about 8 miles away on the Horse Plains, of Plains, Montana, where was usual Indian camping ground.

[205]The portage across from Pend d'Oreille lake north to Bonners Ferry on the oKotenay river, known as the flat portage because of there being no high mountain range to cross, and the Kootenay Indians on that part of the river being designated by the same name.

[206]These Indians crossed by the "Kootenae Road," shown on David Thompson's famous map (See Henry-Thompson Journals) from near Jennings, Montana, south across the Caldnet Mountains to Thompson's Prairie, or to the Horse Plains.

[207]Both Nez Perces and Flatheads spent the summer and fall hunting buffalo on the prairie along the Missouri river.

[208]For a graphic description of this custom consult Oregon Hist. Quarterly for December, 1913; given in Journal of Alex. Ross, who had charge of this Fort in Dec., 1824.

[209]Mr. McKay was bringing furs from Mr. Ogden's party, which had been in southern Idaho, but the main party had returned direct to Fort Walla Walla.

[210]Parflesches or saddle bags.

[211]In 1811 two Indians in men's clothes appeared at Ft. Astoria, as related by Franchere, Ross and Irving. They returned to the interior with David Thompson's party that summer. He described them as Kootenays and one of them as a prophetess and this may be the same Indian.

By hisAstoriaWashington Irving drew the eyes of the world to the now far famed Columbia River and perpetuated the story of the late John Jacob Astor's ill fated enterprise on the Pacific Coast. The name "Astoria" recalls, not only the trading fort which gave the book its title, but the varied adventures by sea and land of those who went forth to plant the Stars and Stripes on the Columbia and to secure for Mr. Astor's company a share of the rich fur trade of the far West.

If Mr. Astor's great enterprise was, through no fault of his, doomed to failure, almost from its beginning, it enabled him to supply, from the correspondence and journals of his co-partners and employees, material with which Washington Irving was able to shed the halo of a romantic early history upon the Columbia and the Northern Pacific Coast. Captain Bonneville's adventures enabled the illustrious author to extend his chronicles to regions further east.

Among the cherished possessions of the present writer is an old volume, presented to his father by the author. It was published in Montreal in 1820. It is written in French by G. Franchere,fils, one of the clerks who sailed in theTonquinin 1810, on her memorable voyage round Cape Horn, to the Sandwich Islands and the Columbia, where he remained to assist in the founding ofAstoriaand other trading posts. On the cession of the posts to the Canadian "Northwest Company" he remained a few months in the employ of the latter, and returned over the mountains and by way of the Red River settlement and Lake Superior to Montreal in 1814. His narrative agrees in the main with that of Irving. Indeed, it is probable that it was one of the sources from which the latter obtained his account of theTonquin'strip and subsequent events on the Columbia. On two points dwelt on by Irving it is, however, silent—the one, the marriage of Macdougall, one of the partners in the Astor company, to the dusky princess, the daughter of King Comcomly—the other, the chief part played by Macdougall in the transfer of Astoria to the British company. It is probable, however, that a marriage, after the Indian custom, may havetaken place between these personages, M. Franchere not thinking it worth while to mention the matter, nor even the fact of the young woman's existence. That there was treachery toward Mr. Astor in McDougall's dealings with the North West Company is rather a matter of inference with Irving than a distinct charge. Franchere—who speaks of the bargain with the North West Company as participated in by all present at Astoria at the time—not being a partner, could scarcely know more than appeared on the surface.

The only sentence in English in Franchere's book is contained in a footnote. It is the now historic exclamation of Captain Black of His Majesty's shipRaccoonwhen he landed at Astoria: "What! Is this the Fort I have heard so much of! Great God! I could batter it down with a four pounder in two hours." Franchere evidently thought his French rendering of these memorable words did not do the gallant captain complete justice, so he re-translated them, and Irving repeats them in all their nautical Anglo-Saxon vigour.

Washington Irving's chronicle of Astoria practically closed with the cession of that post to McTavish, representing the North West Company—with the running up of the British in place of the American flag at the Fort in 1813 and the change of name from Astoria to "Fort George." As the North West Company thus swallowed up the American Company in 1813, so in 1821 the Hudson's Bay Company practically swallowed the North West Company—though the settlement of the irregular warfare, waged for years between these rival British companies, was termed an association or coalition.

The industrious beaver and his less industrious neighbour, the Indian, saw little or no change. It will, however, be remembered by readers ofAstoriahow disgusted was the worthy one-eyed monarch, King Comcomly, chief of the Chinooks, at the sudden change of flag at Astoria, brought about by his son-in-law, McDougall, whom he finally concluded to be a squaw rather than a warrior. Yet Comcomly lived on and, making a virtue of necessity, cultivated friendship and amity with the British as he had before with the Americans. His poor opinion of his whilom son-in-law may have subsequently been confused by the fact of the latter's leaving the princess, his wife, behind when he left the country—though, as a rule, both the wife and her family in such cases preferred her remaining among her own people to venturing into the haunts of civilization. The divorced princess in question, too, we reserved for higher honours; as we are told by Paul Kane, a Canadian artist and traveller, who visited the country in the forties, that she subsequently became the favourite wife of a powerful chief named Casanov, who could previously to 1829 leadinto the field 1000 men—leaving at home, at the same time, ten wives, four children and eighteen slaves. Casanov is described as a man of more than ordinary talent for an Indian, and of great influence with the people whom he governed, in the vicinity of the British fort, Vancouver—Chinooks and Klickitats. He possessed, among other luxuries, a functionary, known as his "Scoocoone" or "evil genius"—a sort of Lord High Executioner—whose duty it was to remove persons obnoxious to his lord and master, by assassination. This functionary had the misfortune to fall in love with one of Casanov's wives, who eloped with him—with the result that, though they at first eluded his search, Casanov at length met and "removed" his errant wife on the Cowlitz river and procured also a like fate for her lover, the whilom executioner himself.

It was the belief of the chiefs that they and their sons were personages so important that their deaths could not occur in a natural way, but were always attributable to the malevolent influence of some one, whom they selected in an unaccountable manner and unhesitatingly sacrificed. One most near and dear to the deceased was as likely to be selected as another. The former wife of McDougall, now favourite wife of Casanov, was thus selected by him, to accompany her own son, who died of consumption, to the great beyond, but she escaped and sought and was accorded protection at Fort Vancouver. Mr. Black, an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company in charge of their Fort on Thompson's River, fell a victim to the same superstitious custom—shot in the back by the nephew of an old chief with whom Black had been on the most friendly terms, at the instigation of the dead chief's widow. Regard for Mr. Black, however, impelled the young man's tribe to ignore the sanction of the custom and hunt down and put him to death.

The company chartered by gay King Charles II—"the company of gentleman adventurers trading into Hudson's Bay," or "the Honourable the Hudson's Bay Company"—as it was and still is styled—was undoubtedly the dominant partner in the new coalition. Newspaper and pamphlet warfare occasionally broke out between partizans or admirers of the former rival corporations during the next half century—an occasional flow of ink of controversy instead of the flow of blood which sometimes characterized their collisions in former days—but the North West Company had ceased to exist, while the Hudson's Bay Company ruled almost half a continent.

On the Columbia their chief post was established ninety miles up the river from the sea and was called Fort Vancouver—which must not be confused with the flourishing young city at the western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Fort George or Astoria became thereaftera subsidiary post, utilized as a place from which a watch could be kept on the movements of American traders. Though the territory now comprising Oregon and Washington was claimed by the United States ever since Captain Gray with his good shipColumbiapassed the dreaded bar and gave the river a name, the Hudson's Bay Company was, under a series of ten-year treaties between the two nations, leaving the question of ownership open—providing indeed for a joint occupation—in practical possession of the country and its trade, until the boundary question was finally settled in 1846—not long after which the company withdrew its headquarters to the north of the 49th parallel. The company gradually obtained control by lease of a number of the Russian posts as well, maintaining also vessels to trade along the seashore. The country tributary to the Columbia was rich in furs in those days. Even as late as 1840, one trader, for example, was able to bring out of the Snake country 3300 beaver and otter skins, the result of his season's work for the company.

Though Sir George Simpson was the governor in chief of the Hudson's Bay Company after the coalition, the dominant spirit west of the Rocky Mountains for some twenty-five years was Dr. John McLaughlin—the "Big Doctor," as he was familiarly termed. "He was the partner in charge of the whole Columbia department, to which is attached that of New Caledonia and Fraser River, for more than a quarter of a century," wrote an old Hudson's Bay clerk[213]who knew the doctor, "a more indefatigable and enterprising man it would have been difficult to find. With an energetic and indomitable spirit, his capacious mind conceived and pushed forward every kind of improvement for the advancement of commerce and the benefit of civilization. With only seven head of horned cattle and others which he imported from California, by good management and perseverance, he stocked the whole of the Oregon territory, until they had increased to thousands. He built saw mills and cultivated an extensive farm on the beautiful prairie of Fort Vancouver. Subsequently he laid the foundation of Oregon City, where he built a splendid grist mill. The machinery of the mill he imported from Scotland and from the same country a good, practical miller. * * * By every means in his power he promoted trade and commerce with other countries. To Sitka, the principal Russian establishment, the company exported produce—chiefly wheat—to the Sandwich Islands lumber and salmon, and to California, hides and tallow. In short, under Dr. McLaughlin's management, everything was done to develop the resources of the country." Two military officers, Warre and Vavaseur, who visited Oregon on the part of the British government, reported that the doctor favoured the Americans. While his correspondenceshows a sympathy with the advanced political party in Canada, which at that time would have been there regarded as proof positive of "Americanism," the fact is that the doctor's mind was of that liberal cast which favoured everyone who could be useful to the country. Britisher or foreigner. This is borne out by his actions as well as his unpublished correspondence.

Not only was there an extensive farm established at Fort Vancouver, but others at Fort Colville and on the Cowlitz, while a large grazing company or association was formed, to raise sheep, near Puget's Sound. The doctor was, moreover, anxious to wean the red man from his savage life to agricultural pursuits, as well as to promote in every way the settlement of the country. He succeeded in making cattle plentiful by forbidding the killing of any for a considerable period. At last he wrote in 1837, "I killed forty head of cattle last summer, so, you see, the taboo is broken." He hailed with satisfaction the arrival of missionaries, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, and did much to inculcate temperate habits among the people, both whites and natives. Indeed, in 1843 he rejoiced in having for a number of years successfully enforced a prohibitory law for both Indians and the French settlers on the Willamette, at that time numbering 200, ninety per cent of whom were old voyageurs and American Rocky Mountain trappers, yet with few exceptions temperance men, "which," quaintly wrote the doctor, "I think may be said to be unique of its nature in such a number." The American traders seem to have been his chief foes in the region of the Columbia, in regard to the liquor traffic—as the Russians were in the regions farther North.

The doctor was a firm believer in exemplary punishment for crime, especially in territories where such punishment only would act as a deterrent on savages, who might at any time be tempted to outrage. One instance of his method of dealing with such cases may be referred to.

From an old manuscript report of one of the Company's traders, who took part in the proceedings detailed, the following particulars are gleaned. In January, 1828, Mr. Alexander McKenzie and four men under his charge were murdered on Puget's Sound, on their way from Fort Langley, and an Indian woman of the party carried off, by the tribe known as the Clallums. All the effective men at Fort Vancouver were mustered and told by Chief Factor McLaughlin of the affair and of the necessity for an expedition being sent off in search of the murderous tribe, to make a salutary example of them if possible. A call for volunteers brought a ready response and on the 17th June a force of upwards of sixty men under Chief Trader Alex. R. McLeod set forth, with a salute of cannon from the fort and cheers from the officers and crew of theEagle—presumably anAmerican vessel. The voyageurs having enjoyed their customaryregaleand the Iroquois their war dance, on the previous evening, no delay for these ever necessary functions occurred and the expedition proceeded down the Columbia and up the Cowlitz to theportage, where their boats werecached, and horses obtained. Then the motley army, consisting of Canadians, half-breeds, Iroquois, Sandwich Islanders and Chinooks, with Scotch and English officers, mounted, set forth, looking, as the chronicler thought, more like a band of gypsies than a force collected for the purpose in view. At the end of theportagethe force again embarked in canoes and on 1st July, coming upon a couple of lodges, one, understood to be occupied by Clallums, was at once attacked and death immediately dealt out to its inmates, ruthlessly, regardless apparently as to whether they were concerned in the murder of McKenzie and his party or not, while in the semi-darkness of evening men, women and even children appear to have shared the same fate.

Off Cape Townsend the company's vesselCadboro', Captain Simpson, was sighted. Thereafter the land and naval forces co-operated—so far, at least, as the somewhat divergent views and orders of their respective commanders permitted. A day or two was spent off one of the Clallum villages, near New Dungeness, in apparently fruitless negotiations for the return of the Indian woman, whose father was a man of great influence in his own tribe. Not until a chief and eight others had been slain by shots from the vessel's guns and a bombardment of a village, where some articles of Mr. McKenzie's were found, had taken place, was the woman brought on board. A second village, from which the murderers of McKenzie's party were said to have set out, was burned. The force then parted from theCadboro'and returned to Fort Vancouver. The Indians stated that seven people had been killed at the lodge fired upon on the 1st, and that the friends of these had at once avenged their deaths, by putting to death two of the principal murderers of McKenzie. In all, they reported 25 people killed in these various affrays, to avenge the original crime, not to speak of a very considerable quantity of Indian property destroyed.

It would be unjust to charge Dr. McLaughlin with the responsibility for the entire proceedings of this merciless expedition. What his instructions toMr. McLeodwere that gentleman kept pretty well to himself. Unfortunately the latter showed vacillation and timidity, at the moments when firmness and promptness were required, disputed and quarrelled with Captain Simpson on board his own vessel, assumed too much authority at one time, too little at another, with the result that indiscriminate slaughter and destruction of property seem to have taken the place of just and meritedpunishment. It is to be presumed, however, that the deterrent effect was produced, at any rate as to the Clallums.

The population, native and foreign, of the Columbia district, at this period, was of a wonderfully heterogeneous character. The number of small tribes into which the native population of the Pacific Coast and islands was divided is well known to have been large. Yet Indians from the plains and Iroquois from the far East had come in as servants of the company, while Sandwich Islanders—or Owhyhees (Hawaiians) as they were termed—were among almost all the company's crews and forces. French half-breeds and others of varying tints and gay costumes lent picturesqueness to the Hudson's Bay posts and campfires. Sir George Simpson gives a striking instance of the variety in colour and language afforded by a single boatload. "Our batteau carried as curious a muster of races and languages as perhaps had ever been congregated within the same compass in any part of the world. Our crew of ten men contained Iroquois, who spoke their own tongue; a Cree half-breed of French origin, who appeared to have borrowed his dialect from both his parents; a North Briton, who understood only the Gaelic of his native hills; Canadians who, of course, knew French; and Sandwich Islanders, who jabbered a medley of Chinook and their own vernacular jargon. Add to all this that the passengers were natives of England, Scotland, Russia, Canada and the Hudson's Bay Company's territories; and you have the prettiest congregation of nations, the nicest confusion of tongues, that has ever taken place since the days of the tower of Babel. At the native camp near which we halted for the night, we enriched our clans with one variety more, by hiring a canoe and its complement of Chinooks, to accompany us."

Sir George Simpson was at this time on his famous overland journey round the world, having the previous day, Sept. 1st, 1841, left Fort Vancouver, where, by the way, his party found two vessels of the United States exploring squadron under command of Lieutenant (afterward) Commodore Wilkes, which contributed much to the enjoyment of their week's stay there. The circumnavigators had parted on the beach at Fort Vancouver with Lieutenant Wilkes and party and had added to their number another Hudson's Bay officer, Mr. Douglas (afterwards Sir James Douglas, governor of Vancouver Island) and had visited the company's extensive dairy on the delta or island of Multnomah or Wapatoo. Thence down the Columbia and up the Cowlitz, across to Fort Nisqually and Puget's Sound, visiting the Cowlitz farm and the sheep ranch—a four days' journey from Fort Vancouver brought them to the company's steamer, theBeaver, on which they set out for the posts of the Pacific coast and Sitka—that coast trip now familiar to thousands of gold-seekers.

At the Stikine (or Stickeen) River—a place much in the world's eye during the past year or two—Sir George found young John McLaughlin, a son of the big doctor, in charge of the company's post, with a force of twenty-two men. The governor next proceeded to Sitka, and, after a somewhat protracted side trip to California and the Sandwich Islands, returned in the Spring of '42 to Stikine on board the company's ship, theCowlitz, in tow of a Russian steamer loaned him by Governor Etholine of Sitka—to find that young McLaughlin had just been murdered by his own men, who were in a state of mingled mutiny and intoxication within the fort, while about 2000 Indians were gathered without, in readiness to take advantage of the insurrection within! The opportune arrival of Sir George, with two ships' crews at his disposal, enabled him to speedily quell the disturbance and disperse the Indians, after preparing their minds for a measure which the company was anxious here as elsewhere to enforce—the discontinuance of the liquor traffic. It may here be remarked that the one good result of this most unhappy tragedy at the Stikine was the agreement arrived at soon after with the Russian company—whose bad example had been held to necessitate the British company's fighting "firewater" with "firewater" at competitive trading posts—under which agreement both companies inaugurated a prohibitory liquor law on this coast.

Doubts as to his powers and the best policy to pursue led Sir George to take the man who fired the fatal shot with him to Sitka, whither he was returningen routeto Siberia and Europe. For a less comprehensible reason he sent another man—a supposed participant in the affair—to Fort Vancouver, accompanied by a letter to Dr. McLaughlin, apprising him of the tragedy and casting some blame upon the murdered son for the insurrection. The letter the big doctor had, of course, no alternate but to receive, but the man he would not see nor so much as suffer to set foot on shore at Fort Vancouver—but had him kept a prisoner on board theCadboro. On a trip of that vessel to Vancouver Island, this man saw Mr. Douglas and at once made a confession to him, implicating all the people at Stikine in a plot to murder John the younger. He even stated that an agreement to that effect had been drawn up by the man who was acting as a temporary assistant or clerk to the murdered man. The confession absolved the young trader from the charge of drunkenness and contradicted the depositions taken by Sir George in every material point. Little wonder is it that the doctor, smarting under the blow received, was not satisfied with the apparently easy methods pursued by Sir George, with whom he had moreover recently exchanged some angry words in California on matters of business; nor that he sent an officer of the company to Mr. Manson, with a complete new complement of men, to the Stikine to re-open the investigation—with no known retributive result, though the evidence taken tends to justify the doctor's summing up—his vigorous penmanship adding strength to his words—"The short and the long of the affair is, these fellows wanted to impose on my son, to which he would not submit"—true chip of the old block it seemed!—"They, finding they could not make him bend, conspired and murdered him."

It is worthy of note that at the last the young man seems to have relied upon his Owhyhees (Hawaiians) to make a stand against the whites.

The doctor's subordinate officers at these various and remote posts eagerly scanned all news of the affair which reached them and sympathized with the afflicted father—but they could scarcely grasp the situation in all its details of doubt and difficulty as to criminal procedure, territorial jurisdiction, etc. "I fear we have got ourselves into a hobble and that it will turn out we are moreau faitin our humble occupation as Indian traders than as the dispensary of Her Majesty's criminal law," wrote one. But the big doctor's feelings were still aroused—he attributed, whether rightly or wrongly, his son's death to Sir George indirectly, as a result of the governor's having removed a trusted man, Mr. Finlayson, from the post of assistant to the young trader, substituting a labourer in his place—and he carried the matter before the heads of the company in England—"wrote a thundering epistle to their honours at home, concerning Sir George, ripping up old grievances," as another old trader, John Tod (1 Sept. 1842) put it. Yet Sir George remained at the head of the company, while the old doctor continued to mourn the unavenged death of the son he evidently loved much.

The witnesses who were examined by Mr. Manson at Stikine testified that the document referred to by their former comrade in his confession, as an agreement to murder the trader, was simply a formal complaint against him, which they intended presenting to Sir George Simpson, as head of the company, on his expected arrival—but that it was never presented, but destroyed, because it was too dirty to be presented to the governor. Not only was Sir George a man whose examples as to soiled documents had to be considered, but he seems to have had a prejudice in favour of clean linen as well—as the following less tragic incident would seem to indicate: Sir George at one time wrote Dr. McLaughlin to remove the officer in charge of Fort George (Astoria), with a seven years' pension. The doctor declared the governor "must do his dirty work himself," and took no decisive steps to interfere with the officer in question, who was described as youthful in appearance, though fat and indolent, but with "children enough far a colony." The officer nominated to succeed him enquired of the condemned, what he had done to offend thegovernor. He stated that Sir George had sent two cotton shirts ashore to be washed and while they were being taken, under the fat officer's charge, from the fort to the ship, one of them fell overboard, but he declared his intention of sending another to London and hoped his offense would be forgiven. His propitiatory offering, or Sir George's better feelings, it is presumed, prevented his becoming the victim of another "tale of a shirt," by an ignominious expulsion from office, for such a cause.

On December 8th, 1846, there arrived at Fort Vancouver a person whose errand was of a novel character to dwellers upon the Columbia—Mr. Paul Kane, to whom reference has already been made, was a native of Toronto, who had adopted painting as the profession of his choice and, after spending some four years in Europe qualifying himself in his art, conceived the idea of making an overland trip across the continent, making sketches, as he proceeded, of the representative Indians of the various tribes and of the scenery of the country through which he passed, then an almost unbroken wilderness. He spent nearly four years in these wanderings, to and from the Pacific, sketching portraits of chiefs, medicine men, warriors, their wives and daughters—also fishing, hunting and other scenes, illustrative of the customs, occupations and amusements of the red men and the physical features of the country. From these sketches he subsequently executed many paintings, some of which are on the walls of the embryo Canadian national gallery at Ottawa, but a much more extensive and elaborate series in oils—numbering about 100 canvasses—is among the valued possessions of a Toronto gentleman, the Hon. George W. Allen, Canadian senator.[214]The artist's Journal, published in London in 1859, with specimens of his work—now unfortunately out of print—gave an interesting narrative of his travels and adventures, with much of the history and folklore of the various people of the Northwestern regions.

Kane reached the height of land on November 12th. His voyage down the Columbia to Fort Vancouver he accomplished in little more than a fortnight—including stoppages at Forts Colville and Walla Wallaen route—whereas it took him four months to cover the same distance on his return the following year.

It may well be imagined that the advent of such a character excited no little interest. At Fort Vancouver two chief factors, Messieurs Douglas and Ogden, now reigned, in place of Dr. McLaughlin, with eight or ten clerks and 200 voyageurs. Her Majesty's warshipModeste, with her complement of officers, lay in the broad river, opposite the fort. Outside the stockade was the village with its motley population of English, French,Iroquois, Sandwich Islanders, Crees and Chinooks, and its confusion of tongues. The artist enjoyed the hospitality of the officers at the fort for about a month and on 10 January, 1847, in company with Mr. MacKenzie, a chief trader, proceeded up the Willamette to Oregon City, passing "two cities that are to be," one of which contained but two houses and the other not much more advanced. Oregon City, located by Dr. McLaughlin, who owned the chief mills, contained then about ninety-four houses and two or three hundred inhabitants, a Methodist and a Roman Catholic church, two grist mills and as many hotels. A lawyer and "doctors ad libitum" were already on the ground. That it would be rivalled, if not eclipsed, by a city to be built where Portland now is, was even then predicted, owing to intervening impediments to navigation. A few weeks at Oregon City and a few days at the Roman Catholic missions further up the Willamette, and Kane returned to spend the balance of the winter pleasantly with the Hudson's Bay and naval officers at Fort Vancouver in riding, and in fishing and shooting the waterfowl and seal with which the neighbourhood abounded. In the Spring he made a trip to Vancouver Island and adjacent coasts and islands, returning to Fort Vancouver in June, and on July 1st began his homeward journey.

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