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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01177 6082
HISTORY OF WASHINGTON
Dr. John. Il Loughlin
History of Washington
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CLINTON A. SNOWDEN
Advisory Editors CORNELIUS H. H. MILES C. MOORE, WILLIAM D. TA SAPDEN J. CHADWICK
VOLUME Twa
ŠTA
THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY NEW YORK 1909
DR. JOHN McLOUGHLIN.
Born at Rivière du Loup, in the province of Quebec, Canada, in 1784. Studied medicine in England. Entered the service of the Northwest Company at Fort William, 'and on the union of that company with the Hudson's Bay Company, was placed in control of the business of the united companies on the Pacific Coast. He removed the headquarters from Astoria to Vancouver, where he ruled with autocratic power for more than twenty years. He resigned from the company in 1846, and retired to his claim at Oregon City, where he made application to be made an Ameri- can citizen. He died in 1857.
Jr. Folin. I. Loughlin
History of Washington
The Rise and Progress of an American State
By CLINTON A. SNOWDEN
Advisory Editors CORNELIUS H. HANFORD, MILES C. MOORE, WILLIAM D. TYLER STEPHEN J. CHADWICK
VOLUME Two
STATE
THE
O
THE SEAL
ASHINGTON
1889
THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY NEW YORK 1909
Printed by John C. Rankin Company for The Century History Company
COPYRIGHT 1909 BY THE CENTURY HISTORY COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Publication Office 54 Dey Street, New York, N. Y. U. S. A.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE TRAILMAKERS.
The Early American Fur Hunters 3
Mr. Irving's Description of Them.
4
George W. Ebberts 5
Wilkins, Newell and Meek 6
Early Fur Companies.
7
General William Ashley
8
William Sublette.
9
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company.
IO
Captain Bonneville
II
First Wagons Cross the Mountains.
I2
Bonneville Reaches the Columbia.
I3
Nathaniel J. Wyeth.
I4
Hall J. Kelly .
I5
Wyeth at Fort Vancouver.
I6
Returns to Boston.
I7
Builds Fort Hall.
I8
Builds Fort William.
I9
Forced Out of the Country.
2I
Dr. Marcus Whitman's Party
22
First Wagons Reach the Columbia.
25
The Barlow Road. 26
CHAPTER XIX. 1385636
DIPLOMACY.
The Negotiations of 1804. 3I
John Quincy Adams at St. Petersburg. 33
The Treaty of Ghent. 35
The Negotiations of 1826. 37
Rush and Gallatin in London.
39
First Joint Occupation Convention. 40
Power of the Hudson's Bay Company.
42
The Florida Treaty 43
Russian Claims in the Northwest. 44
The Monroe Doctrine 45
General Jessup's Report. 46
The Columbia as a Boundary Line. 49
Value of Puget Sound to Great Britain. 51
"Fifty-Four Forty" First Mentioned. 52
vi
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Mr. Clay's Ultimatum. 54
A "Detached Territory" Proposed 55
The Joint Occupation Agreement Renewed. 57
CHAPTER XX.
EARLY DELIBERATIONS IN CONGRESS.
The Columbia River Country 61
Its Early Friends. 62
Dr. Floyd of Virginia 63
First Debate in Congress 63 Baylies of Massachusetts.
64
First Mention of a Panama Canal.
65
The Oregon Question in 1824
66
Debate in the Senate 67-68
The Debate in the House.
.69
Two Reports on Oregon. 70-72
Colonization Parties Forming 73
Third Debate on the Oregon Question. 75-80
President Jackson's Interest in Oregon. 81
Mr. Slacum Sent to the Columbia. 82
CHAPTER XXI.
"COME OVER AND HELP US."
Missionary Interest Aroused. 87
Four Flathead Indians Visit St. Louis. 88
Walker's Report of their Visit 90
Bishop Rosati's Report. 91
George Catlin and General Clark. 92
Missionary Work of the Hudson's Bay Agents. 93
Captain Bonneville's Observations 94
Real Object of the Indians' Visit. 95
Perversions of the Story 96
Their History 100
The Speech to General Clark. IOI
Jason Lee and His Party 102
Their Reception at Fort Vancouver. 103 They Go to the Willamette. 105 The Great Reinforcement
Indifference of the Indians. 109
First Schools in Oregon IIO
First Missionary Priests from St. Louis. 112
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
vii
CHAPTER XXII.
MARCUS WHITMAN AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
Parker and Whitman Explore the Trail. II7
Marriage of Dr. Whitman and Narcissa Prentiss I18
The Farewell Meeting. 119
Rev. H. H. Spalding and Wife 120
First Wagon to Reach Fort Boise. 121
Eastern Washington Explored 122
First Winter among the Indians. 123
Cushing Eells and Elkanah Walker 124
The Mission at Tshimakain. 126
Work of the Missionaries. I27
A Wilkes Party Visits the Mission. I28
Disappointment of the Missionaries 130
The Indians Grow Troublesome 131
They Abuse Dr. Whitman 132
Dissension among the Missionaries. I33
Waiilatpu Ordered to be Abandoned.
134
Gray Goes to the Willamette.
135
Dr. Whitman Resolves to Go East
I36
His Associates Consent.
137
His Famous Winter Ride. 138
Its Purpose 140
Lovejoy's Story 141-143
Whitman's Reception in Boston I44
"The Saved Oregon" Story 145
Mrs. Whitman's Letters 146
The Visit to Washington. 147
Public Interest in Oregon. 148-149
Effect of Senator Linn's Work. 15I
The Catholic Priests .. 152
Dr. Whitman and the Emigration of 1843 I54
Whitman's Place in History. I55
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.
Fathers Blanchet and Demers. I59
Their Reception at Fort Vancouver .. 160
Early Interest in Oregon among Canadian Catholics
161
Letter from the Archbishop of Montreal.
162
viii
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Across the Continent with the Hudson's Bay Express 163 First Mass at Cowlitz Prairie. 164
A Mission Established on the Willamette 164 First Visit to Puget Sound. 165
Priests Arrive from St. Louis. I66
Father Blanchet Appointed Archbishop. 166
Father Demers made Bishop of Vancouver Island 167
New Missionaries from Canada. 167
The Missionary Order of Mary Immaculate. I68
Success of the Catholic Missionaries 169
The Catholic Ladder.
170
Helpfulness of the Hudson's Bay Employees 172
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE WILKES EXPEDITION.
Value of Slacum's Visit to the Willamette 175
He Helps Settlers to Secure Cattle. 177
Value of His Report 178
The Wilkes Expedition Organized. 178
Arrives at the Strait of Fuca. 179
Procures a Pilot from Fort Nisqually. 180
Arrival at the Fort 18I
Exploring Parties Sent Out 182
The Commodore Starts for Astoria.
183
His Trip Down the Columbia. 184
Life at Fort Vancouver 185
Hudson's Bay Company's Farm as Wilkes Saw It I86
Peter Skeen Ogden 187
The Hudson's Bay Brigades. 188
Wilkes Visits the Willamette Valley 189
Talk of a Provisional Government .. 190
Reasons for the Commodore's Opposition I91
Helps to Outfit the "Star of Oregon" 193
Returns to Nisqually 194
Celebrates the Fourth of July. 195
Dr. McLoughlin Arrives a Day Late. 198
A Trip to Mound Prairie 199
The Survey of Puget Sound. 199
Loss of the Peacock. 200-201
Survey of the Coast Completed. 202
A Special Report Hurried to Washington. 203
Value of Wilkes' General Report 204
ix
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
CHAPTER XXV.
A CHAMPION APPEARS.
Early Friends of Oregon in Congress. 209
Lewis F. Linn of Missouri 210
His Early Life and Education. 210
His Interest in the West. . 211
His Attention Early Turned to Oregon. 212
His Plans to Secure its Settlement. 212
Bill to Establish Oregon Territory 214
The Ultimatum Report 215
Caleb Cushing's Report. 215-216
Earliest Germ of the Homestead Law. 217
A Bill for the Occupation of Oregon 218
Public Interest in Oregon 219
Lord Ashburton Arrives.
221
Northwest Boundary not Settled.
222
The Pendleton Report on Oregon. 223
Benton Denounces Tyler and Webster 224
Why No Reply was Made. 225
Debate on the Donation Law in the Senate. 226
Bill Passes the Senate 229
Death of Mr. Linn. 229-230
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE EARLY IMMIGRANTS.
The Farnham Party
235
Its Lack of Harmony
236
* Finally Broken Up. 237
Various Members of it Reach the Columbia 238
The Migration of 1842 239
Prominent Members of the Party.
240
Dr. Elijah White. 241
Adventurers on the Trail 242
Medorem Crawford's Story. 243
The Burnett-Applegate Party in 1843 244
Moving Cause of the Migration 245
Lieutenant Fremont. 247
Dr. Whitman Joins the Party. 248
Nesmith's Estimate of his Services 249
Jesse Applegate's Estimate. 250
Doubts Arise at Fort Hall. 251
Arrival at Whitman's Mission 252
x
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Perplexities at Walla Walla. 253
Sub-Agent White and the Indians. 254
His Inexperience Makes Trouble. 255 Dr. McLoughlin Restrains the Indians 256
The Simmons Party Arrives. 257
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED.
A People Without Government. 261
Memorials Sent to Congress 262
A Probate Court Demanded. 262
The Court Organized.
263
A Debating Club at the Falls. 264
Some of the Questions Debated. 265
The Politicians Begin Work. 266
"The Wolf Meeting" 267
W. H. Gray Makes an Appeal 268
Public Meetings Held. 269
Address of the Canadian Settlers
271
Reasons for their Opposition. 272
The Famous Meeting at Champoeg. 273
The Final Vote Taken. 274
Government Organized. 275
Laws Adopted .. 276-277
An Indian Uprising Threatened. 279
First Governor Elected 28I
Jesse Applegate's Statesmanship. 282
Hudson's Bay Officers in a Difficult Position 284
They Join the New Government. 285
English Warships Arrive. 287
The Texas Question. 288
An American Warship in the Columbia.
289
The First United States Flag in Oregon. 290
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE MASSACRE.
Work of the Early Missionaries Reviewed. 293
Whitman's Activity. 294
Growth of the Colony at Waiilatpu. 295
Sad Story of the Sager Family. 296-297
The Indians Becoming Restless.
299
Mckinlay Warns Whitman 300
OF AN AMERICAN STATE xi
The Severe Winter of 1846-7. 301
Murder of Elijah Hedding. 302
Dr. White's Troublesome Interference. 3º3
Whitman Warned by Paul Kane 3º5
An Epidemic among the Indians 306
Whitman Nourishes a Viper. 3º7
Whitman's Devotion to the Sick 308
His Visit to the Umatilla. 309
Warned of his Danger by Sticcas
310
His Hurried Return Home 310
The Morning of the Massacre.
The Attack 312
Heroism of Mrs. Whitman 313
Her Last Hour of Life. 315
Escape of Hall and the Osborne Family 316
The Women and Children Spared. 317
A Night of Terrible Anxiety. 318
The Day after the Massacre. 320
Burial of the Dead. 321
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE RESCUE.
News of the Massacre Reaches Vancouver. 327
Forwarded to Oregon City. 32
Peter Skeen Ogden to the Rescue 329
Condition of the Captives. 330
Their Treatment by the Indians. 333
Spalding's Narrow Escape 333
Mrs. Spalding's Experience. 334
The Indians Consult Bishop Blanchet. 335
Their Anxiety to Make Terms. 336
Ogden Summons the Chiefs to Counsel. 337
Offers to Ransom the Prisoners 338
The Captives Delivered 339
CHAPTER XXX.
RETRIBUTION.
The New Government Faces War. 345
Its Lack of Resources. 346
First Volunteers Enrolled 347
Hudson's Bay Officers Asked for a Loan. 348
An Appeal to the Merchants. 349
xii
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
Colonel Cornelius Gilliam 349
The Volunteers Start up the River 35I
The Advance from the Dalles 352
The First Battle.
353
Gilliam Asks for Reinforcements 355
Difficulty of Governor Abernethy's Position 356
Gilliam Tricked by the Indians. 357
Battle on the Touchet. 358
Death of Colonel Gilliam 359
Volunteers Winter on the Walla Walla. 360
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE BOUNDARY FIXED.
The Ashburton Treaty in England. 365
Mr. Peel's Government Embarrassed. 366
Dr. McLoughlin's Admonition Unheeded 367
President Tyler's Message in 1843 369
The Texas Question Again .. 369
"Fifty-Four Forty" in Politics 369
Negotiations Resumed. 370
Fruitless Correspondence. 37I
The Boundary Question in Parliament 372
Buchanan and Pakenham Confer
373
Fruitless Negotiations 374
More Correspondence. 375
Debates in Congress and in Parliament. 376
Joint Occupation to be Terminated. 377
Mr. Polk Asks the Advice of the Senate 378
The Advice Given. 379
The Treaty Made and Ratified. 380
Our Claims to Vancouver Island. 382
CHAPTER XXXII.
OLD FORT NISQUALLY.
Founded by Archibald MacDonald in 1833 385
Advantage of Its Location. 386
Its Buildings 389
Progress of Improvement. 390
Early Residents. 392
A Farm and Garden Established 393
Japanese Castaways Recovered .. 395
Early Missionary Work at the Fort 396
OF AN AMERICAN STATE xiii
Missionary Work at other Posts. 397
The Steamer Beaver 399
The Company's Sailing Vessels 400
Stock Raising Begun ..
401
Puget Sound Agricultural Company Organized. 402
Dr. Tolmie Becomes Manager.
405
The Company's Employees. 406
An Attempt at Colonization.
407
First Colonists Arrive.
408
The Enterprise a Failure
409
Protestant Missionaries Arrive.
410
Catholic Missionaries Arrive.
4II
Rev. John P. Richmond
412
Failure of His Mission .. 413
British Warships at the Fort. 414
British Holidays Celebrated. 415
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE IRRESISTABLE SETTLER ARRIVES.
Hopes of the Hudson's Bay Company. 419
Its Employees as Early Settlers. 220
The Simmons Party at Vancouver 42I
The First Winter at Washougal. 422
Simmons' First Trip up the Cowlitz. 423
His Enterprise Opposed by McLoughlin.
426
First Visit to Puget Sound. 426
Meets John R. Jackson. 427
The Sound Explored. 428
Returns to the Columbia 428
McLoughlin's Opposition Overcome. 429
The Whole Party Start Northward 430
Arrival at Tumwater. 433
First Winter on the Sound. 434
Reinforcements Arrive. 435
Mills Built at New Market. 437
The First Wedding in Washington. 439
A Trip to Whidby Island. 439
Migration Checked. 44I
The Discovery of Gold in California 442
The Census of 1850 443
Early Settlers and their Settlements 444
Beginning of the Oyster Business. 445
Steilacoom Founded 447
xiv
RISE AND PROGRESS OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Regular Troops Arrive. 448
John C. Holgate Explores Elliott Bay 449
American Ships Appear.
The Brig Orbit .. 450
45I
Colonel Isaac N. Ebey Arrives. 45I
Olympia Founded. 452
The Crosby Party Arrive.
453
An Early Public Meeting.
456
An Indian Attack on Fort Nisqually.
457
Leander C. Wallace Killed
459
The Settlers Alarmed. 461
Governor Lane of Oregon Visits the Sound. 462
Demand for the Indian Murderers 463
The Goldseekers Return 464
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE GREAT MIGRATION.
Its Volume
The Oregon Trail. . 469
Character of the Immigrants 470
Beginning the Long March. 471
The Crossing of the Missouri. 472
The Perils of the Platte. 474
Across the Plains.
475
Fierce Storms Encountered.
476
Old Fort Laramie
478
First View of the Mountains.
479
Across the Great Divide
480
Terrors of the Desert. 48I
Stories of Some of the Earlier Immigrants 482
Property Abandoned. 484
How the Rivers were Crossed.
485
Attempts to Float Down Snake River 486
From Snake River to the Columbia 490
The Nachess Pass 491
Encounters with the Indians. 493
P. B. Cornwall's Adventures. 494
War Parties of the Eastern Tribes 495
The Herds of Buffalo 498
467
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Dr. John McLoughlin. Frontispiece Fort Walla Walla. Facing page 12
Nathaniel J. Wyeth.
Facing page 14
Joseph L. Meek.
Facing page 22
Fort Vancouver Facing page 102
Rev. H. H. Spalding Facing page 120
Rev. Cushing Eells
Facing page 124
Old Fort Colvile
Facing page 126
Rev. Elkanah Walker
. Facing page 136
Tshimakain
Facing page 138
Bishop A. M. A. Blanchet
Archbishop F. N. Blanchet
Bishop Modeste Demers
. Facing page 164
Rev. J. B. A. Brouillet
Rev. P. J. De Smet
Catholic Mission at Fort Colvile.
Facing page 170
Commodore Wilkes.
Facing page 182
Lewis F. Linn
Facing page 208
Thomas H. Benton
Facing page 222
James W. Nesmith
Facing page 244
George Abernethy
.Facing page 280
Archibald Mckinlay
Facing page 300
Home of Dr. Whitman Facing page 308
Peter Skeen Ogden Facing page 334
Map of the Oregon Country in 1846 .. Facing page 358
Fort George in '45 Facing page 376
Dr. William Fraser Tolmie Facing page 396
Steamer Beaver Facing page 398
Sir George Simpson. Facing page 402
Fort Nisqually .Facing page 406
Fort Laramie
Facing page 478
Fort Hall
Facing page 484
CHAPTER XVIII. THE TRAILMAKERS.
W HILE Dr. McLoughlin and all who were asso- ciated with him still thought, if they thought about the matter at all, that nothing was less likely than that a practicable route for wagons through and across the Rocky Mountains would ever be found, and while most of our statesmen, including Jackson and Benton, like Jefferson looked upon Oregon as a country lying beyond the natural boundary of the United States, but which would in time be settled by a kindred people, enjoy- ing a free government and institutions similar to our own, the roadbuilders were already at work. They were building better than they knew, for they worked without plan, and with no higher or better object in view than to do at the time what the time required. But without realizing it, all that they did was in accordance with a higher design, and helped in its way to lead to greater results that were to be worked out by those who were to follow them.
The Hudson's Bay people had an ill concealed contempt of the American fur traders. They invariably spoke of them as "adventurers," and in a sense they were right. They were not organized into a vast fur-trading monopoly, nor were they backed by the unlimited capital which was behind the fur business as it was carried on further north. They oper- ated for the most part as individuals, as the members of the Northwest Company had done in their earlier experi- ences, and later formed small corporations which pushed their enterprises with vigor and courage, but they were not sufficiently strong to be very formidable, and as a large part of their energies were wasted in a fruitless competition with each other, they were less to be feared by the great monopoly, if they should ever invade its territory west of the moun- tains.
4
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
But while these small companies and individual traders operated with moderate means, they brought with them into the fur-bearing regions the free American trappers, those adventurous, and sometimes lawless, but always vigorous and daring agents, who rapidly spread the influence of the small concerns they depended upon to supply them, over a wide range of territory. There was a striking contrast be- tween these American trappers, and the Canadians and French half-breeds who worked for the old companies. The latter was an employee, or had been for a number of years, working for scanty wages, drudging at any kind of employ- ment that was given him, and wholly unaccustomed to think or act for himself. He rarely or never escaped from the Company's employ, and if he did he still remained in a greater or less degree its dependant.
The American trapper was an entirely different being. Mr. Irving in his Adventures of Captain Bonneville, says of him that "there is perhaps no class of men on the face of the earth, who led a life of more continual exertion, peril and excitement, and who are more enamored of their occupa- tions, than the free trappers of the West. No toil, no danger, no privation can turn the trapper from his pursuit. His passionate excitement at times resembles a mania. In vain may the most vigilant and cruel savages beset his path; in vain may rocks and precipices, and wintry torrents oppose his progress; let but a single track of a beaver meet his eye, and he forgets all dangers and defies all difficulties. At times, he may be seen with his traps on his shoulder, buffeting his way across rapid streams, amid floating blocks of ice; at other times, he is to be found with his traps swung on his back climbing the most rugged mountains, scaling or descend- ing the most frightful precipices, searching, by routes
5
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
inaccessible to the horse, and never before trodden by white man, for springs and lakes unknown to his comrades, and where he may meet with his favorite game.
"Drop him in the midst of a prairie, or in the heart of the mountains, and he is never at a loss. He notices every land- mark; can retrace his route through the most monotonous plains, or the most perplexing labyrinths of the mountains; no danger nor difficulty can appall him, and he scorns to complain under any privation.
"Such is the mountaineer, the hardy trapper of the West; and such, as we have slightly sketched it, is the wild, Robin Hood kind of life, with all its strange and motley populace, now existing in full vigor among the Rocky Mountains."
Most noted among these free trappers and frontiersmen of those days was "Kit" Carson, the famous scout who served Fremont so well in his later expeditions. Less famous, though more intimately connected with the early history of the Pacific Northwest, were Robert Newell, more generally known as "Doctor" Newell, Caleb Wilkins, Joseph L. Meek and George W. Ebberts. All these, like many others of their class, went to the mountains while still young, and early became inured to the hardships and dangers of life in the wilderness. There was a touch of romance in the earlier years of most, perhaps all, of them. Ebberts was born in Kentucky, and when thirteen years old was apprenticed to a machinist by his mother, who early became a widow. When nearing the end of his seven years' apprenticeship, he fell in love with the daughter of his employer, but their marriage was opposed both by her father and his mother, who thought, as parents usually do, that the ceremony should be delayed until the prospective husband could have time to provide some sort of a home for his wife. But this did not suit the
-
6
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
ardent lovers, and Ebberts resorted to the strangest of means to remedy matters. He ran away from his employer and employment, his mother and his prospective bride, and went to St. Louis, where he easily found work at the trade he had so nearly learned. Here he fell in love again, this time with a French girl. The bride's parents offered no objection-indeed the father proposed to endow her with two lots, which two years later sold for $100,000, but Ebbert's mother, whom he had invited to attend the wedding, again objected. "If you want to kill your mother," she wrote, "marry a French woman, and if you love me and care for me, marry an Ameri- can, and first of all a Kentuckian." The boy was loyal to his mother, and again resorted to the remedy, which he had tried once before. He ran away again, and this time went to the mountains where for nine years he followed the life of a hunter and trapper. During these years he married an In- dian woman, thereby complying with his mother's demand in one respect at least-he married an American, if not a Kentuckian.
Wilkins, Newell and Meek, like Ebberts, married Indian wives during their trapping days, and lived with them until death parted them, long after they had given up their adven- turous mode of living in the mountains, and made themselves comfortable homes in the Willamette Valley. They were all chosen from the Nez Perce tribe, whose women were famous in those days as more comely than those of any other.
Among the hundreds of young men whom the American fur traders thus distributed over the plains, along the rivers, and wherever fur-bearing animals were found, were many who, like these four, were designed to be very helpful in found- ing new States. They were called free trappers because they were in no sense in the employ of anybody. While they
7
OF AN AMERICAN STATE
came out originally in the employ of the traders, with whom they engaged for the trip, or perhaps for a longer term, each started out on his own independent account as soon as his term of services had expired. Thenceforth he acted for him- self, trapped where he pleased, and at the end of the season brought his pack of furs to the rendezvous, where he met the traders and exchanged the year's catch for clothing, blankets, traps, ammunition and such other articles as he needed or fancied, and returned again to the wilderness. In the pur- suit of game, or sometimes for the mere gratification of a desire for new scenes or new adventures, he penetrated far into the mountains, or roamed over the plains, and so con- tinually extended the area of the country in which the Ameri- can traders were known, and in an irregular and sometimes rather unsatisfactory way, increased the acquaintance of the American people with their own country. The numbers of these wild rovers of the plains and mountains continually increased until the whole mountain region was fully explored, and within less than a quarter of a century after Lewis and Clark had returned from their explorations, there were more than five hundred of them west of the great watershed of the Rocky Mountains, who sometimes traded their furs to the Hudson's Bay Company, as well as a large number who traded only with the Americans.
The trading concerns which brought these hunters into the mountains were first the old American Fur Company, still nominally under the control of John Jacob Astor, but now managed by Ramsay Crooks, who had come overland with Hunt to Astoria, and returned two years later with the Stuart party. There was also the old Missouri Fur Company, which Captain Clark and Manual Lisa had formed, and which had been disbanded in 1812, but was resuscitated some years
8
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
later, the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, controlled by General William H. Ashley, and various individual enter- prises like that of Captain Bonneville and Nathaniel Wyeth.
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