USA > Washington > History of Washington the evergreen state : from early dawn to daylight with portraits and biographies Vol. I > Part 14
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over all the unsettled regions claimed by the United States, to furnish the Russian settlements with supplies to be paid for in furs, and then re-sell at Canton, taking silks and teas in ex- change. It was a colossal scheme, and deserved to succeed ; had it done so it would have built up a trade which would have ad- vanced American settlement and actual occupancy on the North- west coast by at least a quarter of a century, given employment to thousands, and transferred the enormous profits of the Hudson's Bay and Northwest British fur companies from English to American coffers.
Looking over the ground, and being well aware of the jeal- ousy he would excite and the difficulties thus engendered, and being, therefore, like the prudent man of business that he was, anxious to disarm and soften the enmity sure to grow out of his effort to enter their field as a competitor, we find him beginning his enterprise cautiously. Having this in mind, he writes to the directors of the Northwest Company, then in the zenith of its power and a serious rival of its older brother, the Hudson's Bay, though it (the Northwest), maintained no trading posts west of the Rocky Mountains south of 52º north latitude, being confined to a region known as New Caledonia. To these gentle- men, shrewd, unscrupulous, and of great experience, he most unwisely, as the sequence proves, detailed his plans, and gener- ously offered them a third interest in his enterprise. He was met with a duplicity and want of good faith perfectly in ac- cordance with the source from whence it emanated. To gain time to send a party to occupy the mouth of the Columbia, to forestall and, if possible, disappoint Mr. Astor's intentions, they pretended to take his proposition into consideration, and imme- diately dispatched David Thompson, their surveyor and astrono- mer, with instructions " to occupy the mouth of the Columbia, to explore the river to its headwaters, and, above all, to watch the progress of Mr. Astor's enterprise." They then declined Mr. Astor's proposal ; but if they expected to discourage a man of Mr. Astor's stamp they reckoned without their host, for this un- gracious return for his generosity and good-will only stimulated him in his determination to carry out his plan.
On June 23d, 1810, the Pacific Fur Company was formed. Mr. Astor says :
" I preferred to have it appear as the business of a company
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rather than that of an individual ; the several gentlemen were, in effect, to be interested as partners in the undertaking so far as respected the profit which might arise, but the means were furnished by me and the property was solely mine, and I sus- tained the loss."
We will now revert to Evans's narrative of the sequence of events which, leading through a chain of misfortunes, culmi- nated in the final overthrow of Mr. Astor's undertaking, cutting down his elaborate statement of facts to such limits as our story will permit.
" Mr. Astor associated with himself as partners Alexander Mackay, Duncan MacDougal, and Donald Mackenzie, all late of the Northwest Company, men of great experience. Mackay had accompanied Alexander Mackenzie in his two voyages of discovery." (The reader will probably remember the strong anti-American sentiments that worthy laid down.) "The part- ners subsequently added were David and Robert Stuart and Ramsey Crooks, all Scotchmen" (as their names indicate), " John Clarke, of Canada, Wilson P. Hunt and Robert Maclellan, citi- zens of the United States."
And here at the very outset we find Mr. Astor, with all his shrewdness, making his first and most fatal mistake. In this choice of partners he was doubtless influenced by a desire to ob- tain skill and experience coupled with a thorough knowledge of the country and the particular trade in which he desired to en- gage ; but he might better have had less experience and more loyalty. Had he been American by birth, he would probably have reasoned with better results. He forgot in his selection to take into account the strength of an opposing nationality, to say nothing of previous association with the rival company, with whose secret enmity he was called to compete. When the Ethio- pian changes his skin and the leopard his spots will the English- man forget that he is born a Briton ; and we are not sure, if he exhibit his partiality in an honest way, that it is not commend- able. But if Mr. Astor had ever heard of the order and acted upon it said to have been given by Washington, " Put none but Americans on guard," the Pacific Fur Company might have survived, as it did not, the War of 1812. But to return :
" The articles of organization provided that Mr. Astor, as the head of the company, should remain in New York and man-
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age its affairs, vessels, goods, supplies, arms, and ammunition- in fact, every necessary was to be furnished by him at prime cost, provided they did not necessitate at any time an advance to exceed $400,000. The stock was divided into one hundred shares, of which Mr. Astor retained fifty. The remainder went to other partners and such persons as might be added to the company. Mr. Astor reserved the right to introduce other per- sons as partners, at least two of whom were to be conversant with the Indian trade ; but no individual should be permitted to hold more than three shares of stock. Twenty years was the duration of the company, but at the end of five years, if the business was found to be unprofitable, it might be dissolved. For the first five years all the loss was to be borne by Mr. Astor, after which each partner shared the loss in proportion to his stock."
Could any terms have been fairer or more liberal ? His asso- ciates could lose nothing but their time, and might be large gainers. The chief agent on the Columbia was to hold his posi- tion for five years. For this position Wilson P. Hunt, one of the two Americans, was selected. When he was absent his place was to be temporarily filled by a meeting of the partners then present. But the English leaven is already working, and the time-serving spirit of his British associates begins to display itself. The partners were to solemnly bind themselves to faith- fully execute the objects of the company ; before signing this obligation two of the British partners communicated to Mr. Jackson, the British Minister then in New York, the full details of Astor's project, and desired to know their status as British subjects trading under the American flag in the event of war between the two countries. Mackay was assured by the minis- ter " that he saw our object was purely commercial, but that all he could promise was that. in case of a war they should be re- spected as British merchants and subjects." All scruples of these British partners were dissipated. "Their patron," says Evans, " did not learn until too late of this gross disregard of mercantile honor or he might have guarded himself from the humiliating sacrifice which effectually transferred his enterprise to unscrupulous enemies."
The main party, consisting of four of the partners, twelve
1 clerks, five merchants, and thirteen Canadian voyageurs, was to
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go to the mouth of the Columbia via Cape Horn and await the arrival of Mr. Hunt, the chief agent, at the mouth of the river. Mr. MacDougal was to take charge. To convoy the party the ship Tonquin, 290 tons, was fitted for sea, commanded by Cap- tain Jonathan Thorne, a lieutenant in the United States Navy, on leave. A full assortment of Indian trading goods, a bounti- ful supply of provisions, and the frame timbers of a schooner designed for coasting-in short, everything necessary to secure comfort was provided for the proposed settlement.
We come now to the first covert attack (unless the dispatch of Thompson as a spy may so be considered) upon the enterprise.
" Before the Tonquin was ready for sea Astor was apprised that a British vessel of war was cruising off the Atlantic coast to intercept the Tonquin and impress the Canadians as British subjects. This was at the instance of the Northwest Coast Com- pany, so as to delay the departure of the ship, and thus give time for their emissary, Thompson, to arrive first at the mouth of the Columbia. To thwart this, Astor secured from the United States convoy off the coast till the Tonquin could proceed with- out interruption. On the 8th of September she sailed under convoy of the frigate Constitution, Captain Isaac Hull, of the United States Navy. Meanwhile, Mr. Hunt, the chief agent, with whom was associated Donald Mackenzie, who was to lead the overland party, had gone to Montreal and Fort William to recruit the necessary voyageurs for the service.
" The Tonquin reached the mouth of the Columbia and an- chored in Baker's Bay on the 22d of March, 1811. The crossing of the bar was attended with serious difficulties, and eight of the crew were lost in their attempt to mark out the channel. On the 12th of April the launch, with sixteen persons, freighted with supplies, crossed the river and landed upon Point George. Then and there was established a settlement to which was given the name of Astoria, in honor of the projector of the enterprise. By the end of the month the keel of the schooner of thirty tons had been laid, to be constructed of the frame timbers brought out in the Tonquin. They soon learned that a trading house had been established by their rival, the Northwest Company, on the Spokane River, about twenty miles from its mouth ; at the same time they established forts on Clarke's Fork of the Columbia and on the Kootenais.
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" On the 1st of June the Tonquin sailed north, Alexander Mackay, one of the partners, going as supercargo. By the mid- dle of the month she had reached Clyoquot Sound, on the west side of Vancouver's Island, and was anchored opposite the Ind- ian town of Newitty. They were about to commence trade with the Indians of Wickanish's tribe for sea otter skins. At a preconcerted signal the Indians, who had unwisely been per- mitted to crowd the deck of the Tonquin, commenced an attack. Captain Thorne and Mr. Mackay were almost instantly killed ; all upon deck met a like fate. When Captain Thorne first observed that the actions of the natives indicated hostility, he had en- deavored to make sail, and had ordered some of the crew up into the rigging. Five of the sailors were still aloft, but one in de- scending was badly wounded. The remaining four had con- tinued concealed. After the fight was over the Indians went on shore. Returning to strip the ship, the five survivors success- fully repelled the savages with fire-arms. In the night, at the earnest solicitation of Lewis, the wounded sailor, the four left the ship in one of her boats. Next morning the Indians in great numbers once more boarded the Tonquin. When they had most numerously collected the gallant Lewis, the wounded sailor, fired the magazine and blew up the ship, creating sad havoc among the hordes of savages who were stripping and robbing the Tonquin. Thus was the murder of Captain Thorne and the crew of the Tonquin promptly avenged. The four sailors who had endeavored to escape were overtaken and put to death with terrible tortures. One Indian interpreter was the sole survivor of this cruel massacre. He was retained in close captivity for more than two years, when he escaped through the various coast tribes. The story of the Tonquin's loss was told by him on his return to Astoria. There had, it seems, been a misunder- standing between Captain Thorne and the Indian chief on the preceding day. Captain William Smith, an old and experi- enced trader on the Northwest coast, then mate of the Alba- tross, of Boston, attributed the real provocation of this tragic affair to the conduct of Captain Ayres, of Boston. A short time previous the latter had been trading at Clyoquot Sound, and had induced some ten of the tribe to accompany him to the islands near the Bay of San Francisco to hunt seals. He had given a most positive assurance of their safe and early return. He
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sailed southward and violated that promise. In accordance with Indian custom his inhuman perfidy was avenged by an equiva- lent sacrifice of white men who fell into the hands of the out- raged tribe."
And now let us see how it fares with David Thompson, the Northwest Company's surveyor, astronomer, and spy, who on July 15th, nearly three months too late to anticipate the Ameri- can party, arrived with a crew of eight men in a canoe flying the British flag at Astoria. He proceeded on his mission, reached the Rocky Mountains, but was long delayed in finding a pass. Deserted by several of his men, he was obliged to return to the nearest post to winter. In the spring of 1811, however, he makes an early start, crosses the Rocky Mountains in 52º north, and strik- ing the extreme northern source of the Columbia, builds a canoe to descend the river. He builds huts at the forks of the river as he goes, erects flags upon them, and distributes smaller ones (he seems to have a cargo of flags) among the natives, which, à la Indian, were most probably devoted to head decorations by the squaws. Having gotten rid of his flags, he then proceeds to take formal possession of the country watered by the Columbia and its tributaries (rather a large slice of the Northwest, by the way) in the name of the King of Great Britain, but always for the Northwest Company. But Astor was already in possession at its mouth, which, of course, he could not occupy. It might be a curious geographical problem to decide (had his " taking pos- session" been worth anything) where his British fountain-head mingled with its larger American flood below, and at what precise point we were to draw the dividing line between Mr. Thompson's canoeing and the discovery by the New England Gray, backed up by the settlement of Astor !
And now we come to the very significant statement that though sent as an avowed emissary of their rival, and while actually engaged in an expedition hostile to the best interests of his employer, we find Thompson received and entertained as a welcome guest by MacDougal, the temporary chief agent, representing Mr. Astor. In spite of the earnest remonstrance of his fellow-partner, Stuart, MacDougal furnishes Thompson with supplies and means to return to his employers.
At the junction of the Columbia and Ocanagon, Mr. Stuart erects Fort Ocanagon, the first interior post west of the Rocky
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Mountains south of 49° north, and winters there with his com- pany in a log-house built of the drift-wood collected on the point made by the two rivers.
On October 2d the Astorians launch the little schooner Dolly, the first United States vessel built on the Pacific coast. The lit -. tle band, reduced in numbers and their supplies beginning to fail, look with growing anxiety for the arrival of the Tonquin, her reinforcements and supplies. They have not yet heard of her fate, though Indian rumors came to them of some ship in the Strait of Fuca being destroyed and her crew murdered, nor has anything yet been heard of Mr. Hunt and his overland party. Winter is at hand, and there is little to encourage them. At last a portion of Mr. Hunt's party arrives on January 8th, 1812 ; they reach the settlement in wretched plight. The remainder arrive on February 15th. They have suffered terribly from hard- ships and privation by the way. Even at Montreal, whither Hunt and Mackenzie had gone in the summer of 1810 to procure recruits, did the ill-will of their rival, the Northwest Company, follow and hinder them. Men who had engaged to serve were threatened, dissuaded, and bought. Unsuccessful at Montreal, they went to Fort William, where the same tactics produced similar results. Baffled and disappointed, they re- turned to St. Louis, where they arrived September 3d. There the Missouri Fur Company interfered, and did them more harm than their foes at Montreal and Fort William. To retain the men they had secured, Hunt left St. Louis on October 21st ; his party in three boats ascended the Missouri four hundred and fifty miles to the mouth of the Nodowa, where he established his winter quarters. This was in November ; in January we find him again in St. Louis, whither he had returned for reinforcements. Again with great difficulty he makes up his number, returns with his new men to the winter camp, from whence he finally starts for the Columbia on April 17th. They ascend the river in four boats, on the largest of which they have mounted a swivel and two howitzers. The personnel of the party is composed of five partners, one clerk, forty voyageurs, an interpreter, and several hunters. The Missouri Fur Company, determined to break up the expedition, hang upon their flanks and wage a sort of guerilla warfare during their ascent of the river through delays, difficulties, and trouble with the Indians. They travel fourteen
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hundred miles by water, then abandon their boats and proceed overland. Following the headwaters of the Yellowstone, they crossed the Rocky Mountains in September. Reaching the affluents of Lewis's Fork of the Columbia, they build canoes, intending to descend to the mouth of the Columbia ; but de- terred by rapids and other dangers of navigation, they abandon the project, and finally conclude this chapter of accidents, delays, dangers, and long preparations by reaching Astoria overland.
On May 5th the Beaver, a ship of 400 tons, which had been loaded and dispatched by Mr. Astor, reached Astoria. She brought as passengers John Clarke, the Canadian partner, six clerks, and twenty-six Kanaka laborers. Among the clerks was Ross Cox, afterward the author of " Adventures on the Colum- bia River," from whose pages we quote this word-painting of Astoria :
" The spot selected for the fort was a handsome eminence called Point George, which commanded an extensive view of the majestic Columbia in front, bounded by the bold and thickly wooded northern shore ; on the right, about three miles distant, a long, high, and rocky peninsula covered with timber, called Tongue Point, extended a considerable distance into the river from the southern side, with which it was connected by a nar- row neck of land, while on the extreme left Cape Disappoint- ment, with the bar and its terrific chain of breakers, was dis- tinctly visible. The buildings consisted of apartments for the proprietors and clerks, with a capacious dining hall for both ; extensive warehouses for the barter of goods and furs, a provision store, a trading shop, a smith's forge, a carpenter shop, etc., the whole surrounded by stockades forming a square, and reaching about fifteen feet above the ground. A gallery ran around the stockades, in which loopholes were pierced sufficiently large for musketry ; each bastion had two stories, in which a number of chosen men slept every night ; a six-pounder was placed in the lower story of each, and they were both well provided with small arms. Immediately in front of the fort was a gentle de- clivity, sloping down to the river's side, which had been turned into an excellent kitchen garden ; and a few hundred rods to the left a tolerable wharf had been run out, by which bateaux and boats were enabled at low water to land their cargoes without sustaining any damage. An impenetrable forest of gigantic
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pines rose in the rear, and the ground was covered with a thick underwood of brier and whortleberry, intermingled with ferns and honeysuckle."
It is Robert Stuart, while en route to carry dispatches to Mr. Astor, who discovers the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains, which afterward became the great gateway to the overland emi- gration. Various posts were also established in the upper Colum- bia country, one at the junction of the Cœur d' Alene and Spokane rivers and another on what is now known as the Snake.
" On the 4th of August the Beaver sailed for Sitka, Mr. Hunt accompanying. While at Sitka Mr. Hunt negotiated with Baranoff, the Governor of Russian America, a highly advan- tageous arrangement for the Pacific Fur Company. The two companies were not to interfere with each other's hunting or trading grounds, and they were to operate jointly against tres- passers on the rights of either. The Pacific Fur Company was to enjoy the exclusive privilege of supplying the Russian posts, the pay for which was to be in peltries. The Pacific Fur Com- pany was to receive all the Russian furs and convey them to Canton, and to receive a commission for their sale.
" Having collected large quantities of furs, the Beaver pro- ceeded to Canton instead of returning to Astoria. Mr. Hunt, the route being by the Sandwich Islands, went with her to Oahu, there to await the vessel then expected from New York, by which he was to return to Astoria. Before this agreement could go into effect war had been declared between Great Britain and the United States. Mr. Astor learned that the Northwest Com- pany was fitting out the Isaac Todd, a ship mounting twenty guns, to seize Astoria. As a large majority of the employés of the company were British subjects, Mr. Astor anticipated diffi- culty as soon as the existence of the war should become known. He appealed to the United States Government for a force to de- fend Astoria, to maintain possession of the mouth of the river. His efforts being in vain, he fitted out the Lark, which sailed March 6th, 1813."
The early part of 1813 found matters at Astoria in a very un- satisfactory condition. The Beaver, with Hunt on board, had not been heard from. Mackenzie, at his post on the Shahaptan, had been unsuccessful and was discouraged. In this mood he went to Clarke. While Mackenzie was there they were visited by
SNOQUALMIE FALLS, NOR. PAC. R. R.
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one MacTavish, a partner of the Northwest Company, who com- municated the news of the declaration of war, and boastfully stated that the Northwest Company's armed ship, the Isaac Todd, had sailed and was to be at the mouth of the Columbia in March, and that he had received orders to join her at that time. Mackenzie, alarmed, went back to Shahaptan, broke up his post, cached his provisions, and returned to Astoria. Here he in- formed MacDougal of the war, and after a conference Mac- Dougal, being in charge during Hunt's prolonged absence, determined to abandon Astoria in the coming spring and re-cross the Rocky Mountains. Upon returning to recover his cached provisions, which he had intended to use to purchase horses from the Indians, he found they had already discovered and stolen them. On his way he carried letters to Clarke and D. Stuart, informing them from MacDougal of his determination to abandon Astoria, and advising them to prepare for their return to the States. While going Mackenzie met a party of the North- west Company, under the command of MacTavish and Laroque, en route to the mouth of the Columbia to await the arrival of the Isaac Todd. The parties appear to have encamped together in the most friendly and agreeable manner-suspiciously so, we fancy, for Mr. Astor's interest.
" Walla Walla was now agreed upon as a rendezvous for the three parties to meet and proceed to Astoria for conference. But Clarke and Stuart, who had been very successful, utterly ignored the advice to prepare to leave the country. Mackenzie's provisions having been stolen, he could accomplish nothing, and of necessity the departure was deferred. Clarke and Stuart finally yielded a conditional assent that if aid did not come from the United States and prospects improve at Astoria the country should be abandoned in the spring."
And now we find a condition of things which, considering the long-continued hostility of the Northwest Company and its agents, to say nothing of the actual state of war between the two nations, seems simply unaccountable, and can only be inter- preted through the existence of an excellent understanding be- tween MacTavish and MacDougal.
MacTavish, who was camped at the fort, where, as an avowed enemy in time of war, he should never have been permitted to stay, made application to purchase trading goods. MacDougal
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proposed to sell him the post on the Spokane for horses (with which to quit the country), to be delivered next spring. After much urging by MacDougal and Mackenzie this proposition was accepted. Mackenzie was transferred to the post on the Willa- mette for the winter. Three clerks (among whom was Ross Cox) were transferred to the service of the Northwest Company. There seems to have been no reluctance to take service with the enemy. And now comes the beginning of the end. An arrange- ment for the dissolution of the company, to take effect June 1st of the next year in accordance with the terms of agreement, which provided for the abandonment of the enterprise if found unprofitable, was signed by the four partners. Clarke and Stu- art (evidently true men) were extremely reluctant, yielding be- cause of the determination of MacDougal and Mackenzie to abandon the country. On August 20th Hunt arrived at Astoria. He was powerless to change the result. The causes of discour- agement were presented by MacDougal, who pretended that he desired to save Mr. Astor's interests before the place fell into the hands of the British vessels on their way out. Mr. Hunt at length acquiesced, and consented that the management of the business should be entrusted solely to MacDougal if he (Hunt) did not return by January 1st. Mr. Hunt then sailed to secure a vessel to convey the property to the Russian settlements till peace should be declared, and also to give a return passage to the Sandwich Islands of the Kanaka laborers. Hunt agreed that if the men became dissatisfied they might be transferred to the Northwest Company, MacTavish becoming responsible for their wages, accepting goods to discharge indebtedness to them.
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