Introduction

WHEN THE TRAIL BEGINS

On maps, the Oregon Trail starts just west of St. Louis, Missouri. In time, the beginning of the Trail is a bit harder to place.

The first wagon train rolled onto the Trail in 1841 and emigrants eventually wore the road into a great highway, in some places a hundred feet wide and ten feet deep. Before then, however, many travelers had come to Oregon by a variety of routes: early explorers and traders from the west by sea; French Canadians and British emigrants overland from the north; companies of traders out of Spanish California from the south; and, following the fur trade, a small number of American trappers and missionaries from the east.

Any number of trails already crisscrossed Oregon before the arrival of the first Europeans. The earliest Oregon newcomers found that coastal tribes, who had never before seen whites, already possessed a few guns, knives, kettles, and even silver spoons. Native Americans of the Oregon Plateau traded west of the Cascades and east of the Bitteroot Mountains while coastal tribes traveled far inland for a lively yearly commerce at traditional sites on the Columbia River.

HIDDEN IN THE RAIN

Traditionally, the story of the Oregon Trail begins with the European/American discovery of the Columbia River and the voyages of captains Gray and Vancouver in 1792. These explorers' ships were just two of the 28 trading vessels in the Northwest in that year. After the mid-1780's, a thriving sea-otter fur trade centered at Nootka Sound (on present-day Vancouver Island) as part of a vast trading network which linked London, New England, Hawaii, Canada's coastal islands, Russian Alaska, and China. In spite of well-traveled trade routes along the Pacific Coast, the mouth of the Columbia River remained hidden from explorers behind constant rain and mist until 1792.

GATHERING THE PIECES

This Time Frame is designed to help researchers place individuals and events on the Oregon Trail into context. As well as a great number of very diverse people, the formation of the Trail involved many shorter journeys on future segments of the Trail. Sometimes the context of the Trail shifts to its western end in Oregon, sometimes to the fur trade out of St. Louis and Canada, and often to the travels of the mountain men who explored the region in between.

1792

DISCOVERY OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BY GRAY AND VANCOUVER:

Robert GRAY and the ship Columbia sailed on their second voyage from Boston to the Northwest on September 29, 1790. They spent the winter of 1791-92 at an encampment just north of Nootka Sound (on present day Vancouver Island), explored the local Pacific coast, and collected sea-otter furs for sale in China.

On May 11, 1792, the Columbia crossed the treacherous sand bar at the mouth of the Columbia River and explored the waterway. Among the 50 men aboard the first ship to sail into Oregon's Columbia River were Robert HASWELL, first officer, Andrew NEWELL, seaman and veteran of Gray's first voyage, ATTOO, cabin boy returning to his native Hawaii, Joseph BARNES, a seaman who had signed on in China, John AMES and Benjamin POPKINS, armorers, Barlet PEASE, cooper, Thomas NICHOLS, tailor, Obadiah WESTON, sail-maker, Thomas TRUMAN, cook, Samuel YENDELL and Nathan DEWLEY, carpenters, George DAVIDSON, painter of the ship (and painter of art), and Samuel HOMER, a 10 or 11 year old boy. Gray and the Columbia sailed home by way of China, completing their second trip around the world, and returned to Boston on July 25, 1793.

On April 1, 1791 Captain George VANCOUVER in the sloop Discovery and his lieutenant Captain William R. BROUGHTON in the tender Chatham left Falmouth, England, on an official British expedition to the Northwest coast of America, then known as New Albion. Among Vancouver's crew were lieutenants Joseph BAKER, PUGET, and WHIDBEY. They arrived in the Northwest in mid-April 1792 and concentrated on exploring the Straits of Juan de Fuca. In October 1792, Vancouver sent Broughton to search for navigable waterways south of the Straight. Broughton noted the Columbia River's mouth but dismissed the river as unsuitable for sea-going commerce.

April 27, 1792: The captains of the Discovery and the Columbia met just 2 days sail from Cape Disappointment. Gray showed Vancouver his map pin-pointing the location of the Columbia River (then unnamed; Gray had spotted the river mouth sometime during his explorations the previous year and charted its location). Although Vancouver had noted "river-colored water" in the sea as Discovery had passed a spot off the Oregon coast just two days earlier, he dismissed Gray's report just as he had dismissed the colored water as the outflow of a few minor streams. To Vancouver, Gray was simply a gullible amateur who had swallowed another legend about a great Northwest river.

May 11, 1792: Captain Robert Gray took the Columbia across the perilous sand bar and into the Columbia River.

October 1792: Vancouver dispatched Lt. William Broughton to search for navigable rivers to the south. Broughton traveled just far enough into the Columbia River to judge it "not suitable for major commerce."

July 25, 1793: Gray and the Columbia returned to Boston harbor after a voyage of 2 years, 313 days.

SOURCES: Vancouver and Haswell kept journals during the voyages. John Scofield's Hail Columbia includes an extensive bibliography with information on such primary sources as the journals of Haswell and Vancouver. Frederick W. Howay's Voyages of the Columbia to the Northwest Coast contains a wealth of primary materials in the form of journals, documents, and letters. "Dr. John Scouler's Journal," Oregon Historical Quarterly #6, records another early voyage to the Northwest.

1793

Spring 1793: VANCOUVER's vessels returned from Hawaii to the Pacific Coast with Lt. PUGET now in command of the Chatham.

 April 1793: Lt. Puget and the ship Chatham explored the northern Pacific Coast while Vancouver and the Discovery made way up the coast of California. The Chatham reached Nootka on April 15 and the Discovery on May 20. After exploring further north, the Vancouver expedition returned to Nootka on October 5, 1793.

Alexander MACKENZIE completed an expedition in 1793 that was the first to come OVERLAND TO THE PACIFIC through the Rocky Mountains. The party of 9 men left Ft. Chepewyan (near Athabasca Lake, northeast Alberta) in October 1792 and in July 1793 reached the Pacific at Fitzhough's Sound (north of Vancouver Island) traveling by way of the Peace and Findlay rivers. By late July, the party had descended the Fraser River and again reached the Pacific at the Bellacoola River (near the present Canada-US border). Among those who left Ft. Chepewyan with MacKenzie: Alexander MACKAY, Francois BEAUDIEUX, Baptiste BISSON, Francois COURTOIS, Jacques BEAUCHAMP, Joseph LANDRY, and Charles DUCETTE.

In January 1794, the Spanish and British agreed that the outpost at Nootka would officially return to the British Crown but that both nations would then cease to occupy Nootka Sound.

1797

The American ship Sea Otter, under command of Capt. Samuel HILL, entered the Columbia River. The Otter was one of many ships pursuing the fur trade along the coast from California to Alaska, some of which may have sailed the Columbia River or anchored off the Oregon Coast without leaving records. Ships in Pacific Northwest waters during the first two decades of the 19th century included British, Spanish, and Russian fur-traders/explorers, New England whalers, Boston traders, some French expeditions, and even few Japanese junks.

In 1797-8 David THOMPSON, Jean Baptiste HOULE and others with the Northwest Fur Company made contact with the Mandan villages of the Upper Missouri River region.

SOURCES: David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell, journal 1784-1812); Journal of William Sturges edited by S.W. Jackson, 1978, is excerpted at <http://www. hallman.org/indian/sturgis.html> for March-May, 1799.

1800

In the fall, a party of Kutenai (Indians from Canada west of the Rocky Mountains) visited traders of the Northwest Company at Rocky Mountain House (on the upper Saskatchewan River). Charles LAGRASSE, Pierre LEBLANC, and LeBlanc's wife returned to Kutenai country with them.

Duncan MCGILLIVRAY and David THOMPSON, head traders for the Northwest Fur Company, visited the Pikuni (or Piegan) Blackfeet to assure safe conduct for Company hunters now moving from the Saskatchewan River to trade in the Bow River region (present-day southern Alberta).

 SOURCES: on the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto; David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell, journal 1784-1812)

1802-1803

EAST:

Fur trader Manuel LISA established a post and trade in the Osage country west of St. Louis.

James PURSLEY traveled to New Mexico from St. Louis on a hunting expedition. Trade out of St. Louis into this more southern region rapidly followed and included the Arkansas and Colorado river basins and traffic to Taos and Santa Fe. Some names associated with this trade later became familiar figures of the Oregon Trail: Robert CAMPBELL, Captain GAUNT, Jim BRIDGER, DRIPPS, FONTENELLE, BLACKWELL, TRAPP, GERVAIS, BRENT, ST. VRAIN, and VAN DUSEN.

In March 1802, Gros Ventres killed 14 Iroquois and 2 Canadians trapping for the Northwest Fur Company in the Bow River region (present-day southern Alberta).

WEST:

In 1802, the Tlingits attacked the small outpost of the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY on Sitka Sound. After, Aleuts, Inuits, and Konigas would become Russian allies and employees while the Tlingits remained fierce enemies.

In 1803, the Russians sent their first expedition to California in pursuit of the sea-otter trade.

During 1803, President Thomas Jefferson negotiated the LOUISIANA PURCHASE from France (then under First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte). For 80 million francs, the United States added all of France's territory between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

SOURCES: Nineteenth century histories of Russian America: Berkh, Vasilii Nikolaevich (1781-1834), The Chronological History of the Discovery of the Aleutian Islands; or the Exploits of the Russian Merchants; with the Supplement of Historical Data on Fur Trade: Works Projects Administration, 1938. And Rezanov, Nikolai Petrovich (1764-1807), A History of the Russian-American Company: 1978, University of Washington Press; Journals for this year by David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); Robert Campbell (Campbell).

1804-1805

 WEST: 

In 1804, rival companies engaged in the fur trade out of Canada merged, with most trade after the merger under the Hudson Bay Company or the Northwest Fur Company.

The American ship Lelia Bird under Captain William SHALER could not find a safe passage across the bar at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1804. Abandoning the attempt to enter Oregon, the ship sailed south to trade in California.

The American ship Boston was also attacked by the Nootka people of southern Vancouver Island in 1804. The Nootka killed all but 2 of the crew. JOHN JEWETT WAS HELD CAPTIVE until rescue in 1805. YUTRAMAKI, chieftan in the Makah tribe (a people closely allied to the Nootka) had not been able to secure Jewett's release from MACQUINNA, chief of the Nootka. Instead Yutramaki passed a message to Capt. Samuel HILL of the Lydia who arranged ransom either before or after his visit to Oregon.

In 1805, Native Americans on Vancouver Island attacked and killed 8 of the crew of the Athualpa.

In 1805, the Lydia of Boston, Capt. Samuel HILL, entered the Columbia River to acquire timber for spars; it returned to Nootka Sound by November 1805. From this-and probably several other fur trading ships-Oregon Native Americans were aware of a European-settled nation far to their east even before the arrival of the LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION.

 EAST:

President Jefferson assigned Meriwether LEWIS, his personal secretary, to head an exploring expedition into the lands added the United States territory in 1803, the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis chose his friend, William CLARK, as co-leader and assembled a party of men for the journey. The Lewis and Clark Expedition left St. Louis on May 14, 1804, reached the Columbia River by October 16, 1805, wintered at their outpost (Ft. Clatsop, present-day site of Seaside, OR), and returned to St. Louis on September 23, 1806.

In the winter of 1805-06, the governor of Louisiana equipped a small party to scout northward to the Yellowstone River. The scouts included Phillipe DEGIE and Francois RIVET. Five of this party (including Rivet) had helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition reach their Mandan winter camp in the winter of 1804-05. In 1805, Rivet and some others had not returned downstream to St. Louis but remained to trap in the high country.

SOURCES: The Lewis and Clark Expedition journal, including a roster taken April 1805, has been published in various editions as Expedition to the Sources of the Missouri and Pacific Ocean (first edition 1814, Philadelphia and London); see also Donald Jackson's Letters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition with Related Documents, 1783-1854: 1962, Illinois. Sgt. Patrick Gass (Hosmer) and Sgt. Charles Floyd (OHS MS) also kept journals on the expedition.

1806

David THOMPSON was in charge at Rocky Mountain House for the Northwest Company with Nicholas MONTOUR, Jacques QUESNAL, and others under his command. In 1806, he ordered Jacques (Jacco) Raphael FINDLAY to improve a trail from Rocky Mountain House on the upper Saskatchewan River over the Rockies and into Kutenai Indian country. Findlay, his wife, and children followed the Blaeberry River and reached the Columbia on their round trip over the Rockies.

To bypass hostile Native Americans in the Northwest, the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY contracted with the American ship Peacock (Captain Oliver KIMBALL) in 1806-1807 to carry Russian fur traders to California. Timofei TARAKANOV sailed with this expedition and later (1808) with the disastrous Sv. Nikolai voyage to the Oregon Country.

Paul SLOBODCHIKOV led another group of Russian traders sailing on the American ship O'Cain. Slododchikov quarreled with the ship's owner, Johathan WINSHIP, and left with his men in Baja Calfornia. There he bought the Tamana (a ship built for King Kamehameha I) and sailed to Hawaii with a crew of 3 Hawaiians and 3 Americans. He renamed the ship the Sv. Nikolai and anchored at Sitka Sound, Alaska, in August 1807.

SOURCES: David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); on Russian American traders (Berkh, Rezenov).

1807

EAST:

Manuel LISA, a fur trader, and a small party of men journeyed from St. Louis to establish a post at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers (Montana) among the Crow nation. Lisa intended to begin fur trade with the initially friendly Blackfeet and dispatched John COLTER (a veteran of the Lewis and Clark expedition) to the headwaters of the Missouri River during the winter of 1807-08.

Colter traveled with a group of Crows, however, and fought along side them when they were raided by Blackfeet, the Crows' traditional enemies. On another journey, this time with a white companion, Colter was again attacked and he killed two Blackfeet. After 1808, the Blackfeet became enemies of the American traders in the mountains.

WEST:

David THOMPSON a geographer, explorer, and trader with the Northwest Fur Company departed in 1807 to explore the Columbia all the way to the ocean. His wife Charlotte and their children accompanied him on his explorations between Rocky Mountain House and the Great Divide and on his journey to the Northwest.

David Thompson so severely criticized Jacco FINDLAY's preparation of the trail that Findlay resigned from the Northwest Company and became a free trapper allied with the HBC. He worked out of Edmunton House (under James BIRD and Peter FIDLER in 1807) and rejoined the Northwest Company in 1810.

In September 1807, John MCCLELLAN, Francois RIVET, and a large party of American and Canadian independent trappers (perhaps including Charles COURTIN, Registre BELLAIRE, and Michel BORDEAUX DIT BOURDON) encamped in the Bitterroot Valley. McClellan sent word to Thompson of the Northwest Company (then on the Columbia River) not to encroach on their Bitterroot trading territory.

In the winter of 1807-08, eight men of the Bitterroot camp, including the leader John McClellan, were killed in a battle with Blackfeet or Gros Ventres.

SOURCE: David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814).

1808

EAST:

John COLTER explored the Wind River, Yellowstone, and Idaho valley regions in 1808. Back in St. Louis, his description of Yellowstone was disbelieved and the fantastic region was named "Colter's Hell."

WEST:

The American ships Derby, Capt. SWIFT, and Guatimozin, Capt. GLANVILLE, entered the Columbia River in 1808.

Simon FRASER led an exploring expedition in the Northwest this year.

Registre BELLAIRE, a former employee of the Missouri River trader Charles Courtin, was hired by David Thompson to work for the Northwest Company in the Columbia River region in 1808. Carlo CHATA (Charlot TseTse) also worked for Thompson between 1808 and 1810. In this year, or perhaps slightly later, Nicholas MONTOUR was placed in charge of Kootenay House.

In 1808, the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY recaptured Sitka Sound from the Tlingits with help from Aleut allies. Continued Tlingit hostility convinced Chief Manager Aleksandr BARANOV to concentrate future Russian efforts to the south, beginning with the Oregon Country.

THE WRECK OF THE SV. NIKOLAI (St. Nicolas): In September 1808, the Russian American Company dispatched a ship from New Arkhangel, Alaska, to found an outpost in the Oregon Country. In October, the Sv. Nicholai wrecked near the Quillayute River (present-day La Push, WA). The crew of 22-- Russians, Aleuts, and one American-fought with the Quileute Indians and fled south to the Ho River. The Hoh Indians took 2 men and 2 women captive. The rest fled to the interior and spent a miserable winter. (The names of the crew of the Nikolai and their fates are detailed in the 1810 section)

1809

 WEST:

David Thompson of the Northwest Company extended trading operations into the Flathead (probably Salish) region. Traders with Thompson in 1809 included the metis Michel Bourdeaux dit BOURDON, Michel KINVILLE, Francois SANS FACON, Francois GREGOIRE, Pierre GREGNON, and Francois RIVET.

Upon arrival, the Northwesters found about 20 metis (mixed white and Indian people, usually descendants of European/Canadian fur traders and Indian wives) already engaged in the fur trade in the Flathead region. This vanguard of Canadian emigration to the Northwest included the mixed-race clans of the Iroquois, emigrants from the Saskatchewan River region, and remnants of McClellan's 1807-08 American expedition into the Bitterroots.

SOURCE: John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana, 1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.

In territory that would later become Washington State, the SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK OF THE SV. NIKOLAI, tried to reach the coast after a miserable winter spent in the foothills of the Olympics. Anna Petrovna BULYGIN, the wife of the ship's navigator and captive of the Makah people, persuaded Bulygin, Timofei TARAKANOV, and a few others to surrender and take refuge with the Makah.

The rest attempted to escape by sea, leaving the Ho River in canoes, and were killed or captured by Hohs or Quileutes. The survivors of the Sv. Nickolai spent the next year in captivity among the Hoh, Quileute, and Makah. (The names of the crew of the Nikolai and their fates are detailed in the 1810 section)

At least three of the SURVIVORS OF THE NIKOLAI REACHED THE COLUMBIA RIVER in 1809. One, an un-named Aleut man, was ransomed by Capt. George Washington EAYRES (of the American ship Mercury) when he was offered for sale by his Indian captors on the bank of the Columbia River. Another, ship's apprentice Filip KOTELNIKOV, had been bought by Chinooks from the Hohs or Quileutes and apparently decided to remain with the Chinooks voluntarily. BOLGUSOV, another of the crew who had been sold to Columbia River Indians, was ransomed by Captain BROWN OF the American ship Lydia in 1810.

SOURCES: David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814); on the SV NIKOLAI (Owens). 

EAST:

Manuel LISA, Andrew HENRY, and 9 partners formed the MISSOURI FUR COMPANY in 1809 and headquartered operations in St. Louis. The Company became disorganized during the War of 1812 but was re-established.

John Jacob ASTOR received a charter in New York to form the AMERICAN FUR COMPANY in 1809.

1810

 WEST:

In 1810, Indians on the Columbia River shore offered to sell BOLGUSOV, a survivor of the wreck of the Sv. Nikolai, as a slave to CAPTAIN BROWN of the American ship Lydia. Brown ransomed Bolgusov and sailed north to the territory of the Makahs where the other survivors were held captive.

On May 6, 1810, the Lydia anchored off the coast of the Olympic Peninsula near Cape Flattery and Neah Bay. Brown negotiated the release and ransom of the 13 captives and set out northward for New Archangel, Alaska, arriving June 9, 1810.

The 13 ransomed were Timofei TARAKANOV, Dmitrii SHUBIN, Ivan BOLOTOV, Ivan KURMACHEV, Afansii VALGUSOV, Kasian ZYPIANOV, Savva ZUEV, Abram PETUKOV, John WILLIAMS (American), two Aleut men, and two Aleut women. Navigator BULYGIN and wife Anna Petrovna Bulygin died in Makah captivity. Five others died in battles with the Quileute or Hoh or died in captivity: IAKOV PETUKOV, Kozma OVCHINNIKOV, Khariton SOBACHNIKOV, and two Aleuts.

One Aleut man and a Russian named BOLGUSOV were ransomed on the Columbia River by American captains. Another, naval apprentice Filip KOTELNIKOV, apparently decided to stay voluntarily with the Chinooks on the Columbia River.

Some of the Nikolai passengers had developed affection for their captors. One captive rescued from the Quileutes (an Aleut woman) was brought along on a later expedition sent to punish and enslave the Quileute; she called out to them from the ship and warned away their canoes. YUTRAMAKI (or Machee Ulatilla), a Makah chief, was particularly praised for his nobility and protection. In 1805, this same Yutramaki had arranged for the release of American John JEWETT from Nootka captors.

May 26 through July 19, 1810: In spring of 1810 Capt. Nathan WINSHIP of Boston and a small crew arrived in the trading ship Albatross and attempted to establish a post on the Columbia River on an island about 3 miles from the present day site of Quincy, OR (at Oak Point about 40 miles from the mouth of the Columbia). Winship intended to leave a small party under the leadership of a man named WASHINGTON to stay the winter. Instead, during construction of the post, Winship imprisoned some Chilwitz (Echeloot) men mistakenly believing they were the party who had attacked the Russian post at New Archangel (Alaska). As the Chilwitz prepared for war, Winship and his crew retreated down the Columbia.

A party of trappers with the NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY set out from the Hudson Bay fort region for an expedition to the Pacific. They were led by David THOMPSON on a route through the Athabasca Pass (through a region named later as Alberta Province along the border of British Columbia).

By 1810, Jacco FINDLAY had rejoined the Northwest Company and worked as a clerk under Finan MCDONALD at Salish House.

During the summer of 1810, Salish Indians with the Northwest Company's BOURDON, Jean Baptiste BOUCHE, Jacco FINDLAY, and Finan MCDONALD crossed the Rockies heading east. The company held off an attack by Pikuni Blackfeet, retreated, and built the stronghold of Spokane House.

IN THE EAST:

In 1810 a MISSOURI FUR COMPANY party under Andrew HENRY built Ft. Henry on Henry's Fork (present day site of St. Anthony, Idaho). George DRUILLARD and 5 of his (mixed race) tribesmen were with this American party. Members of Henry's party were attacked by Kainah Blackfeet (also called Bloods) in 1810 when they tried to establish trade. The party wintered at the fort and abandoned it to go east in the spring of 1811.

With his eastern Rockies-based American Fur Company driven out of business by competition from the MACKINAW COMPANY in the north and the Missouri Fur Company and others in the south, JOHN JACOB ASTOR formed the PACIFIC FUR COMPANY to pursue the fur trade from west of the Rockies. Astor dispatched one party by ship from New York and another overland from St. Louis in 1810 to begin operations for the Pacific Fur Company.

The original Pacific Fur Company partners were John Jacob Astor of New York, an American from New Jersey named William Price HUNT and three former members of the Canadian Northwest Fur Company, Alexander MCKAY, Duncan MCDOUGAL, and Donald MACKENZIE.

In 1810 the two parties representing ASTOR'S PACIFIC FUR COMPANY, set out to establish the first trading post on the Columbia River. One party sailed from New York on the ship Tonquin, under the command of Captain Jonathan THORNE. The other party set out overland from St. Louis led by William Price HUNT. Both parties expected to arrive at the mouth of the Columbia River at about the same time. Astor also dispatched the ship Beaver with a load of supplies and some additional workers for the company.

Astor's ship, the TONQUIN, put to sea on September 8, 1810. Aboard were Captain Jonathan THORNE, fur company partners Alexander MCKAY, Duncan MCDOUGAL, David STUART, his nephew Robert Stuart, 12 clerks, and enough voyagers to make a crew of 20.

In Hawaii, 20 to 30 Hawaiians joined the Tonquin for the voyage to Oregon.

Astor's overland expedition to Oregon was led by William Price HUNT with partner Donald MACKENZIE. MacKenzie and Hunt left Montreal by canoe and arrived at Mackinaw (at the confluence of lakes Michigan and Huron) on July 23, 1810. Ramsey CROOKS (a Scotsman) joined them at Mackinaw and the party headed down river to arrive at St. Louis September 3, 1810. (Their journey took them via Green Bay to the Fox River, then the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien and on to the Mississippi River).

AT ST. LOUIS, the party recruited Joseph MILLER as a partner (he was a fur trapper from Maryland--Bancroft's Oregon, vol. 1 says Miller came west with Henry and met Astorians in Idaho). The Pacific Fur Company partners and men departed From St. Loius October 10. 1810 to establish winter quarters up the Missouri River. At Nodowa, the site of their winter camp, Robert MCCLELLAN (a war veteran) and John DAY (a hunter from Virginia) joined the Astorian party.

1811

 IN THE EAST:

 ASTOR bought out the Mackinaw Fur Company in 1811 and added it to his holdings in the American Fur Company and the Pacific Fur Company. Briefly, just until the War of 1812, Astor's merger of the Mackinaw and the American fur companies operated under the name the SOUTHWEST FUR COMPANY but revived after the war as the AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

 IN THE WEST:

After wintering at Ft. Henry (Idaho), MISSOURI FUR COMPANY members under Andrew HENRY abandoned the post to go east in the spring of 1811. Several men remained to trap in the mountains (Robert STUART would encounter some of these men on his way to St. Louis from Oregon in 1812: John HOBACK, Jacob REZNOR, Edward ROBINSON, and Joseph MILLER.)

FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST:

On New Year's Day, 1811, W.P. HUNT left the Astorians' winter camp on the Missouri River with 5 men to return to St. Louis. In St. Louis, Manuel LISA of the Missouri Fur Company was recruiting men for a rescue party and supplies and new recruits were scarce. Hunt was able to hire Pierre DORIONE as guide and Sioux interpreter, but only two of the five men who accompanied him to St. Louis returned (Dr. John BRADBURY, a botanist of the Linnean Society of Liverpool and James NUTTALL, a scientist).

In April 1811, on his way back to winter camp (up the Missouri River at Nowdowa) Hunt encountered Daniel BOONE (then 85 years old) and John COLTER. Hunt left Nodowa camp with a party of 60 and reached the Platte River on April 28, Omaha Village on May 10 and just below the Arikara village the first of June 1811.

At this place, a trapper company under command of Manuel LISA (Missouri Fur Company) and BRECKENRIDGE were encamped. Hunt and the Astorians departed from the Missouri River overland on July 23, 1811.

Pierre DORIONE, Alexander CARSON, and GRADPIE traveled ahead and lost the main party. The party with Hunt, by veering sharply westward, rejoined them at the Little Missouri River in mid-August. The Astorians with Hunt reached Ft. Henry on October 8, 1811.

At the deserted Ft. Henry (westernmost Wyoming), Louis ST. MICHEL, Pierre DELAUNEY, Pierre DETAYE,and Alexander CARSON were instructed to trap for furs and then make way to the Columbia River. (Francois LANDRY, Andre LACHAPPELLE and Jean TURCOTTE may also have left the party here or further west near the Mad River). John HOBACK, Jacob REZNOR, Edward ROBINSON, a remnant of the party that came west with Henry in 1810, were also still trapping in the Ft. Henry area (this party probably included Joseph MILLER and a man named CASS. One source, Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade, says that William CANNON and DUBRIEUL were also left by the Astorians to hunt in the Snake River region in 1811).

A trapper with the Astorians named CLAPPINE drowned in a canoe accident near Caldron Linn in late October 1811. Hunt's company cached supplies and furs at this place on the Snake River (between the American and Shoshone Falls) and headed for Oregon.

The route westward was unclear and Hunt's company split up. John REED led one party. Eighteen men under under HUNT and Pierre DORION followed after. Ramsey CROOKS led another 18 and reunited with Hunt and company on December 6, 1811. The rest of the Astorians together with John Reed, Donald MACKENZIE,and Robert MCCLELLAN, were by this time well ahead of Hunt's company.

At this point, Hunt left CROOKS and John DAY (then ailing) to make their way slowly along the Columbia River while Hunt's company doubled back to the last place where they had been able to find and purchase provisions (Woodpile Creek). On December 29, Madame DORION, wife of Pierre Dorion and mother of four- and two-year-olds (all on the expedition) gave birth to a healthy baby. Hunt, Dorion, and company resumed the journey westward on January 2, 1812.

SOURCES: William Price Hunt, journal (Franchere); James Nuttall, travel books (published in the early 19^th century and available at the Bancroft Library: Travels into the Old Northwest, [1810]; Travels in North America, [1817]; "Journal," Oct. 1818 to Feb. 1820; Journal of Travels [Arkansas], 1819; Nuttall, a botanist and orinthologist, came to Oregon on the Trail in 1834--after he returned to the east, he published a book on his travels in Oregon, Hawaii, and California, 1834-35).

IN OREGON:

THE SHIP TONQUIN ARRIVED AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA on March 22, 1811. (It put to sea September 8, 1810). Eight men, the crews of two small boats, were drowned during attempts to locate a channel across the bar during stormy weather.

Donald MCDOUGAL and David STUART went ashore at the landing site at Baker Bay to scout on April 5, 1811. They returned to the ship with Chief COMCOMLY of the Chinooks on April 12 and reported a better site for a post at a spot later named George Point. Captain THORNE set some of the crew and a small portion of the supplies ashore and sailed Vancouver Island.

Rather than begin trade with the Native Americans on Vancouver Island (at Clayoquot Bay), Thorne so antagonized them that they attacked the Tonquin. All on board were killed and the Tonquin burned, exploded, and sank to the bottom with all supplies.

An Indian interpreter named JOSEACHAL (a Quinault) returned to Ft. Astoria, the sole survivor of the WRECK OF THE TONQUIN. Joseachal said that four survivors of the original attack had holed up in the cabin of the Tonquin with the severely wounded clerk, James LEWIS. Lewis told them to escape and then ambushed Neeweetee (that is, Nootka or Clayoquot) Indians still aboard by setting fire to the ship's store of ammunition. The three remaining survivors were later captured and killed while the interpreter made his escape.

"Lamazee" has been misidentified as the Indian interpreter in many histories; this person, Lamazee, was also called Jack Ramsey. The correct account is in Robert F. Jones's "The Identity of the Tonquin's Interpreter," Oregon Historical Quarterly 98, no. 3.

The shore crew on the Columbia River could only hope for a speedy arrival of the overland party and began work on FT. ASTORIA. David STUART set out with 6 men of this company to establish another post beyond the upper Columbia (on the Okanagan River in territory that would later be Washington State). Stuart's party met a Pacific-bound expedition led by David THOMPSON during their journey up the Columbia River. Thompson, an employee of the Northwest Fur Company, continued with his party down the Columbia, set up camp outside Ft. Astoria, and established a presence for the NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY.

In summer of 1811, David THOMPSON, Michel BOURDON, BOULARD, Ignace L'IROQUOIS, and others of a Northwest Company boat party arrived at Ft. Astoria after travel down the Columbia River. Boulard, who was ailing, stayed at the fort and was replaced by a Hawaiian named COX for the return journey. Those paddling up river with Thompson also included Maurice PICARD, Thomas CANASWAREL, and Ignace SALIAHONE who had left his family at Ft. George. (Thompson was at Spokane House on June 14, 1811; at Astoria August 6; back to Spokane August 13 where he met Jacco FINDLAY; and to Salish House by November 11).

On September 26, 1811 the Astorians had completed quarters built of stone and clay. On October 2, they launched a new small schooner and named her Dolly.

A detachment from David STUART's post on the Okanagan arrived on October 5, 1811; David Stuart had sent half the company back to Astoria while he and the rest wintered over at the Okanagan post. Registre BRUGIER may have been with this party or with another Pacific Fur Company party which returned to Ft. Astoria in October 1811. At the fort, Gabriel FRANCHERE recognized Brugier from their previous association in the Iroquois trade out of Saskatchewan.

1812

 ON THE TRAIL TO OREGON:

Astorians with William Price HUNT left their camp at the lower Snake River on January 2, 1812 and reached the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers on January 21, 1812.

At about this date in January, Donald MACKENZIE, Robert MCCLELLAND, and John REED arrived at Ft. Astoria with a portion of the OVERLAND PACIFIC FUR COMPANY (ASTORIAN) EXPEDITION. Those with William Price Hunt arrived about a month later on February 15, 1812 (they had camped at Wishram Village, Celilo Falls, on January 31 and made the rest of the journey by canoe). Only 35 members of the original party of 59 reached the mouth of the Columbia River. Sickness, starvation, drownings, hostile Indians, fatigue and desertions took their toll during the 17 months of travel. Ramsey CROOKS and John DAY had been seen by neither party since December 1811.

Meanwhile, the Astorians left behind to hunt IN IDAHO traveled mostly northeast towards the Missouri River. While a party of four was on its way north towards the Missouri headwaters in late 1811 or early 1812, Pierre DETAYE was killed by Crows. Alexander CARSON, Pierre DELAUNEY, and Luis ST. MICHEL had also been attacked but reached the Missouri River region. Others with the Astorian fur trappers-Francois LANDRY, Andre LACHAPPELLE and Jean TURCOTTE-traveled with a party of Shoshones who were attacked by Blackfeet while traveling northeast from the Snake River. This party retreated to the Snake River at Caldron Linn.

[One historian, Daniel Lee in Ten Years in Oregon, claims that Landry, LaChapelle, and Turcotte "deserted" Crooks and Day in February 1812 and purposely led a party of Shoshones to plunder the cache. Other accounts, more likely, say the 3 stayed with Shoshones-who had guided Hunt and the main company in October 1811-and both the Shoshones and the Astorians were robbed of the cached supplies by marauding Blackfeet. In any case, the cache was discovered and plundered before the eastbound Astorians looked for it in August of 1812]

On March 22, 1812 three parties set out from Ft. Astoria to begin fur trade: RUSSELL, FARNHAM, Donald GILLES, and a party of 8 were to go to the cache at Caldron Linn . Robert STUART was to reinforce his uncle's post on the Okanagan and John REED, MCCLELLAN and their company were to go east with dispatches for Astor in New York. For 400 miles up the Columbia River, the routes for all three parties were the same and they traveled together

During portage at Deschutes, REED and his small party of companions were attacked by Indians. Two of the attackers were killed and the others driven off. In the melee, Reed was severely injured by tomahawk blows to his head and the dispatches were lost.

All three parties of Astorians changed their courses to go to David Stuart's post on the Onkanagan River. David STUART joined them for the return trip to Ft. Astoria.

Along the Columbia River, the party found the long-missing John DAY and Ramsey CROOKS. At the end of the previous year, Walla Walla Indians had taken in and sustained the two men. When they resumed their journey to the mouth of the Columbia River in 1812, traveling alone, they had been attacked by another tribe of Indians near Deschutes. They were uninjured but robbed of every supply.

The company returned to Ft. Astoria on May 11, 1812.

Meanwhile, May 6, 1812, the Astorian SUPPLY SHIP BEAVER arrived at the Columbia River.

By the end of June, the Astorians were ready to make a new attempt at trading expeditions. This time ROBERT STUART led the party bound for the States including John DAY, Andrew VALLE, Ramsey CROOKS, Benjamin JONES, Robert MCCLELLAN and Francois LECLAIRE. DAVID STUART went to establish a new post (300 miles beyond Okanagan) and parties with Donald MACKENZIE, Ross COX, and John CLARKE went to explore the upper Snake River region.

Once again, all the Astorians traveled together up the Columbia River. At the junction of the Walla Walla and Columbia Rivers, on July 31, 1812, ROBERT STUART AND HIS PARTY SET OUT OVERLAND FOR THE STATES (see the section titled "West to East" below for the chronology of this journey). DAVID STUART traveled north to establish another post 300 miles beyond Ft. Okanagan. Donald MACKENZIE, John CLARKE, and Ross COX parted company at the juncture of the Clearwater River and the Snake. John Clarke's party went up the upper Snake and the Lewis River to make a post at Spokane. Meanwhile MacKenzie's company canoed the Lewis River to the Sahaptin and made camp among the Nez Perce.

The summer INDIAN RENDEZVOUS of 1812 in Oregon (at the confluence of the Columbia and Walla Walla rivers) included David THOMPSON, David STUART, and Alexander ROSS. Ross reported that this traditional trading meet attracted about 1500 Cayuses, Walla Walla (Palouse), and other Shehaptin Indians (of the Plateau region). He also estimated 400 horses.

David Stuart and other Astorians joined David Thompson for the return trip down river to Ft. Astoria.

In August 1812, W.P. HUNT and the ship Beaver left Ft. Astoria to pursue the fur trade along the north coast. Duncan MCDOUGAL, left in charge of the fort, expected their return in October.

SOURCE: William P. Hunt (Franchere)

From his Shahaptin River camp, MacKenzie dispatched John REED and a small party to go east to the cache at Cauldron Linn on the lower Snake River. In the Caldron Linn region, Reed encountered Pacific Fur Company trappers who had wintered east of the Blue Mountains (Alexander CARSON, Louis ST. MICHEL, Pierre DELAUNEY, Joseph LANDRY, Andre LACHAPELLE, and Jean TURCOTTE). All the trappers headed back to MacKenzie's camp on the Shahaptin with the sad news that the Caldron Linn cache had been thoroughly plundered.

John CLARKE, Ross COX, and Donald MACKENZIE reunited at Spokane House (Clarke's post) in the fall of 1812. Here they received news of the War between the United States and Britain. The news had been brought by John George MCTAVISH who had come from Lake Winnepeg OVERLAND WITH MEN OF THE CANADIAN NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY.

In November or December 1812, Ross COX and Russell FARNHAM left the Flathead country to hunt buffalo in the Upper Missouri region. Buffalo-hunting Salish (one of the tribes often called "Flatheads") were now accompanied by fur traders on their traditional incursions into Blackfoot territory; this caused frequent skirmishes and brought Americans and Canadians further into conflict with the Blackfeet.

In late 1812 or very early 1813, MacKenzie returned to Ft. Astoria. David Stuart sent some of his company back to the mouth of the Columbia but he himself wintered at Okanagan.

After conference with Duncan MCDOUGAL at Ft. Astoria in January 1813, MACKENZIE and a party of men once again traveled up the Columbia, this time to confer with David Stuart and John Clarke about the news of war and the failure of the ship Beaver to return as scheduled.

Because of native hostility to Europeans and Americans in territory south of Alaska (and because of the increasing presence of British and Americans in Oregon) the RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY abandoned all attempts to create trading outposts in the Oregon Country. Instead, Ivan KUSHKOV founded ROSS COLONY in California in 1812, an outpost that remained until 1841.

FROM THE WEST TO THE EAST:

Meanwhile during summer and fall of 1812, Robert Stuart and 6 men continued their OVERLAND JOURNEY BACK TO ST. LOUIS from Oregon.

Near the mouth of the Willamette River, John DAY became too mentally ill to continue the journey. Stuart disarmed him and sent him back to Ft. Astoria under the care of Wapato Island Indians.

By August 20, Stuart and company had reached Hunt's former camp on Woodpile Creek. In western Idaho on August 25, Stuart's party encountered some of the men who came overland with the Pacific Fur Company in 1811 and with the Missouri Fur Company in 1810: John HOBACK, Edward ROBINSON, Jacob REZNOR, and Joseph Miller (Martin CASS had been with them during the winter). One of the four fur trappers encountered in western Idaho, Joseph MILLER, joined the Astorian caravan for the journey back to St. Louis.

By August 29, 1812, they reached Cauldron Linn and discovered that the caches of supplies left the year before had been plundered. On September 18 the party passed Mad River.

The returning Astorians discovered South Pass through the Rocky Mountains and traveled as far east as Chimney Rock in 1812. They retraced their steps westward to the Nebraska-Wyoming line and then spent three miserable months wintering over before setting out again for St. Louis.

While Astorians with Robert Stuart journeyed back to the States, Donald MCKENZIE, David STUART, and John CLARKE explored the upper Columbia River region.

SOURCES: Robert Stuart, journal of west to east journey (Rollins); John C. Luttig, journal on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813 (Drumm); David Thompson (Hopwood, narrative; Glover or Tyrell journal, 1784-1812; Coues, journal, 1799-1814)

Astor sent the SHIP LARK (a supply ship for Ft. Astoria) from New York in March 1813. It would never reach Oregon but sank in a storm off the coast of Hawaii late in 1813.

The same month, on March 25, 1813, the British dispatched two ships from England, the Isaac Todd and the Phoebe, under secret orders to destroy any American settlement on the Columbia River or the Pacific Coast. The ships Raccoon and Cherub joined them during the voyage as the slow-sailing Todd slipped further and further behind. The Raccoon was sent ahead to the Northwest as the other BRITISH WARSHIPS battled and defeated the American ship Essex off the coast of Valparaiso, Chile.

AT THE EAST END OF THE OREGON TRAIL:

Baptiste ROI and Francois DORUIN traveled from St. Louis to the Otoe village (present day Yutan, Nebraska) in spring of 1813. Major Eli CLEMSON was in charge at Ft. Osage.

Robert STUART's PACIFIC FUR COMPANY PARTY, which had left Astoria in June 1812, left their winter camp to resume the journey to St. Louis. In early April 1813 they arrived at the Otoe village near Grand Isle and met Doruin and Roi. Here they learned of the war between the US and Britain. They reached Ft. Osage (then under LT. BROWNSON) on April 16, 1813

On April 30, 1813, ROBERT STUART AND THE PACIFIC FUR COMPANY TRAVELERS ARRIVED IN ST. LOUIS from Oregon. Their route through Idaho and Wyoming was almost precisely the path later followed by the Oregon Trail.

SOURCE: John C. Luttig, journal on the Upper Missouri, 1812-1813 (Drumm); Robert Stuart, journal of west to east journey on the Oregon Trail (Rollins).

IN OREGON AGAIN:

Donald MACKENZIE had returned from inland Oregon to Ft. Astoria with news of the war between the US and Britain. After conference with Duncan MCDOUGAL at the fort in January 1813, MacKenzie, Alfred SETON, John REED and a party of 17 men once again traveled up the Columbia to return to Mckenzie's encampment on the Shahaptin River. MacKenzie also carried letters from McDougal for David STUART and John CLARKE about the news of war with Britain, the failure of the ship Beaver to return as scheduled, and the possibility of ending Pacific Fur Company business in Oregon.

At the Deschutes portage, where Reed had been attacked the previous year, MacKenzie and two volunteers tried to demand the return of Reed's rifle from Indians encamped there. The chief refused to smoke the pipe of peace during uneasy negotiations and MacKenzie felt threatened. He was able to trade a blanket and ax for the rifle and retreat in safety.

Shortly after passing Deschutes on the Columbia River, MacKenzie's party encountered John George MCTAVISH and two boatloads of Canadians then on their way downriver to Astoria. The two parties camped together overnight and then proceeded in opposite directions on the Columbia.

MacKenzie arrived at his encampment to discover that his caches had been plundered of all trading goods and furs. He dispatched parties to search for the thieves and another, under John REED, with messages for Clarke and Stuart.

On May 25, John CLARKE and a party of men with 28 horses left the encampment at Spokane and Lewis rivers. On May 30, at the confluence of the Pavion and Lewis rivers, the party stopped to retrieve and repair canoes left with Indians at their camp. Clarke's silver goblet was stolen and he threatened to hang the chief. The next night, when another Indian was caught stealing goods, Clarke promptly "tried" and hanged the thief.

Clarke's violent act, condemned by David Stuart and Donald MacKenzie, caused much upset among the various tribes gathered for summer INDIAN RENDEZVOUS at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers. At this rendezvous, attended by Stuart, MacKenzie, Clarke and others of the Pacific Fur Company, Alexander Ross recorded the statement of TUMMEATAPAM: "What have you done my friends. You have spilt blood on our lands."

The Pacific Fur Company trappers returned to Ft. Astoria from Indian rendezvous on June 12, 1813. Some who had originally intended to go to trade on the inland plains instead returned to Astoria. A group of 20 with David STUART was attacked while making portage at the Cascades. Stuart was wounded by arrows and their goods stolen but the party returned safely to Ft. Astoria.

In mid-July, John G. MCTAVISH and his party of men from the Northwest Fur Company left Astoria to begin an overland journey back to Canada.

Shortly after, in August 1813, William P. HUNT and some of the crew of the Beaver finally returned to Ft. Astoria after nearly a year without communication with the fort. In 1812, the Beaver had an accident in a storm off of Alaska and had limped into Hawaii for repairs. Hunt chartered another ship, the Albatross, for his much delayed journey back to Oregon. The news of the War of 1812 had also reached Hawaii by this time.

The Pacific Fur Company partners sold Ft. Astoria to the Northwest Company in October 1813, much influenced by news of the war and ships dispatched from England to take Ft. Astoria.

Afterwards, the Albatross returned to Hawaii and Pacific Fur Company partner MCDOUGAL changed his allegiance to the Northwest Fur Company. While McDougal remained at Ft. Astoria, Alexander ROSS and a party went to Walla Walla country.

Former Northwest Company employee, Registre BELLAIRE, and former Astorians John DAY, William CANNON, and Alexander CARSON worked together as free trappers along the Willamette in the winter of 1813-14.

Employees of the Northwest Fur Company who wintered 1813-14 at Ft. George included Iroquois Pierre CAWANARDE, Thomas OCANASAWARET, Jacques OSTISERICO, Etienne OWAYAISSA, Jacques SHATACKOANI, Ignace SALIOHENI and George TEEWHATTAHOWIE. J. SAGANAKEI, a Nipissing, and M. MANICQUE, a Wyandot, were also at the fort. Thornbun FINDLAY and Raphael FINDLAY Jr. (sons of the Northwest Company's Jacco Findlay) were employed by Ft. George from 1813-14.

When the British warship Raccoon (Captain BLACK) arrived at Astoria, Dec. 12, 1813, the Fort was already in British hands. The British officially took charge of Ft. Astoria on December 13, 1813 in a flag raising ceremony held by the captain of the Raccoon. Ft. Astoria was officially renamed FT. GEORGE and became an outpost of the Northwest Fur Company.

Back in Hawaii on December 20, 1813, HUNT met the survivors of the ship Lark. THE LARK, sent by Astor from New York to resupply Ft. Astoria, had sunk in a storm off of Hawaii before ever reaching the Columbia River.

SOURCES: Alexander Ross (Ross wrote Fur Hunter of the Far West; excerpts in OHS VF--from the Oregonian newspaper, 1885) and "Journal of Alexander Ross--Snake Country Expedition" (OHQ 1913); Peter Corney's Early Voyages in the Pacific Northwest, 1813-1818; David Thompson (Coues, journal, 1799-1814); William P. Hunt, journal of journey west to east (Franchere). On the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto; John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana, 1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.

1814

 IN OREGON:

The British ship Raccoon sailed way from Ft. Astoria on New Years Day, 1814 after re-naming the post FT. GEORGE and raising the British flag.

On January 20, 1814, 85 men in 18 canoes set out from Ft. George to avenge the attack on Stuart's party at the Cascades portage the previous year. J.G. MCTAVISH led four days' of negotiations demanding return of stolen property while the Cascade chiefs demanded the trappers turn over the men who had killed two of the tribe. The trapper company headed back to the fort on the fifth day after being robbed during the night.

In Hawaii, HUNT obtained the brig Pedler and sailed for Oregon with Capt. NORTHROP, and the survivors of the wreck of Astor's ship, the Lark. At Astoria on February 28, 1814, the Pedler took aboard those Americans unwilling to join the Northwest Company and sailed for New York, April 14, 1814. Former Pacific Fur Company partners MACKENZIE, CLARKE, and STUART soon set out from Ft. Astoria overland. MacKenzie traveled to the Willamette River while John Clarke and David Stuart returned to their posts north of the Columbia River.

On April 17, 1814, the British ship Issac Todd arrived at Ft. George at Astoria. Donald MCTAVISH took charge of Ft. George and planned to travel overland to Montreal after order had been established at Astoria. McTavish and his clerk, Alexander HENRY Jr., were drowned attempting to reach the Todd in an open boat from Ft. George. The Issac Todd sailed away for China under the command of Capt. Frazer SMITH.

The Isaac Todd had left behind four Spanish cattle at Ft. George. These and the goats and hogs brought by the Astorians became the basis for domestic livestock in Oregon.

In May of 1814 Ross COX, who had joined the Northwest Fur Company, traveled with 5 companions to the Yakima country (around Spokane House).

Alexander ROSS, Tom MCKAY, and 2 unnamed Canadians traveling with native wives were also in this region and traveled to a village where over 3000 had camped to gather camas roots. Negotiations were wary and tense but Ross traded for 100 horses.

Registre BELLAIRE in 1814 hired 4 Hawaiians to pursue the fur trade with him in the Walla Walla Valley region.

Pierre DORION, an overland Astorian who had gone to hunt in the Snake country in 1813, was killed by Indians in 1814. His widow and 2 children hailed an upriver-bound boat of trappers for rescue near the mouth of the Umatilla River at the Columbia in 1814.

SOURCES: Alexander Henry, journal (Coues); on the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto.

IN THE EAST:

In 1814, the US Congress forbid any British or Canadian concerns to trade with Native Americans of the Missouri River Basin. By 1816, J.J. Astor had bought out all British holdings in US territory east of the Rocky Mountains.

The WAR OF 1812, which included the burning of Washington D.C. in August 1814, exaggerated American resentment toward and competition with the British. The battle of New Orleans (January 1815) was fought after the Treaty of Ghent officially ended the war on December 24, 1814. News of peace and the implementation of the Treaty took even longer in the Northwest. The agreed upon British-American joint occupancy of the lands between Russian Alaska and Spanish California was not made official in Oregon until 1818.

SOURCES: See earlier entries for journals kept by Astorians and Northwest Company explorers. Alexander Henry Jr., a Company clerk, arrived in Oregon by ship in 1814 and kept a journal this year (Gough); David Thompson (Coues, journal, 1799-1814).

1815

In the summer of 1815, James MCMILLAN, Nicholas MONTOUR, and Ross COX hunted in the Spokane Plains.

1816

THE PEMMICAN WAR: In June of 1816 in eastern Canada there was a battle between the mostly metis (descendants of European Canadian fur traders and Indian wives) forces of the Northwest Fur Company and rival interests represented by the colonial governor and the Hudson Bay Company. Fur traders displaced or in legal trouble due to this battle (such as Tom MCKAY) often found their way to the Northwest.

The British Earl of Selkirk had imported a large number of displaced Scots to found a colony at the forks of the Red and Assiniboine rivers (an area southwest of Lake Winnipeg later called Manitoba Province). Clerks of the Northwest Company spread word among the metis free trapper/traders in the region that they were to be displaced from their homeland and cut off from their supply of Indian pemmican, a preserved food essential in the trappers' life. The metis first besieged Brandon House and then attacked Selkirk's settlement, killing the governor and 21 emigrants.

In 1816 the NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY established headquarters, named FT. NEZ PERCE, at the confluence of the Walla Walla and Columbia rivers. The fur trade headquartered here focused on the central Rockies and the Snake River watershed.

Donald MCKENZIE returned to the Columbia River in 1816 and formed the Snake River Hunting Brigade which, this year, included a number of Iroquois, Abanakees, and Hawaiians.

In 1816, a party of the Northwest Company killed an Indian chief near the Falls of the Willamette when tribute was demanded. A second expedition, probably this same year, paid restitution and established peace.

SOURCES: William Sublette papers at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis on the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto.

1817

A French ship on a round-the-world exploring expedition, the Bordelais, anchored at Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, in September 1817. The ship's captain, Lt. Camille DE ROQUEFEUIL received a report about 4 Americans living "at Tchinouk behind Cape Flattery" and 3 were named specifically: CLARK, KEAN, and LEWIS.

Ross COX retired from the fur trade this year and headed east; along the way, July 1817, he met Tom MCKAY then going from the Red River region back to Oregon. Joseph LAROCQUE came west from Canada to the Northwest in 1817 with a reinforcement of 40 (mostly Iroquois) for the Northwest Fur Company.

Donald MCKENZIE, who had married Tom McKay's sister at Ft. William in eastern Canada, returned to Ft. George (Astoria) in the fall of 1817.

SOURCES: Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders Among the Mandans and Hidatsa Indians, 1738-1818: the Narratives of John McDonnell, David Thompson, Francois-Antoine LaRoque, and Charles McKenzie: University of Oklahoma Press, c.1985.

1818

Arriving in the US sloop-of-war Ontario on August 9, 1818, Capt. J. BIDDLE received possession of Ft. George to enforce the agreement that ended the War of 1812.

In 1817, 25 TRAPPERS LEFT CANADA FOR THE NORTHWEST. Due to deaths on the way, only 18 arrived in Astoria in 1818. [Information from Hubert Howe Bancroft's Oregon, vol. 1; it's unclear if this was a party separate from LaRoque's company]. The survivors included Andre LACHAPELLE and Louis PICHETTE (dit DUPRE).

Captain J. HICKLEY and US Commissioner J.B. PREVOST arrived at Ft. George aboard the British frigate Blossom on October 6, 1818; the British formally ceded Ft. George at this time. The Canada Northwest Company, however, continued as the sole operators of the fort, now a trading post rather than military outpost of Britain.

SOURCE: on the NORTHWEST COMPANY: Wallace, W.S., Documents Relating to the Northwest Company, 1934, Champlain Society, Toronto;

During 1818, a fur trapper party led by P.S. OGDEN of the Northwest Company was attacked by inland Columbia River Indians. Ft. Nez Perce was fortified with a substantial stockade and cannons (and renamed FT. WALLA WALLA either in 1818 or a few years later).

In September of 1818, McKenzie ordered 25 Iroquois to hunt in the Indian Creek area of the Northwest. Instead, the hunters dispersed among the local tribes.

In convocation held at the mouth of the Walla Walla River, Donald MCKENZIE received permission for the HBC from the leaders of many Indian tribes and family groups to trap beaver in the Snake River region.

While Alexander ROSS completed work on Ft. WallaWalla in 1818, Donald MCKENZIE trapped along the Bear and perhaps Green Rivers. He spent the winter of 1818-19 among the Shoshone along the Snake and Portneuf Rivers.

In the winter of 1818-19, Thomas MCKAY led a hunting brigade south towards the sources of the Willamette River. His mostly Iroquois hunters killed 14 Indians in a battle on the Upper Umqua River. The party fled back to Ft. George but Louis LABONTE, Joseph GERVAIS, Etienne LUCIER, Louis KANOTA, and Louis PICHETTE dit DUPRE (all free trappers) stayed to hunt in the region in 1819.

SOURCE: Early Fur Trade on the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders Among the Mandans and Hidatsa Indians, 1738-1818: the Narratives of John McDonnell, David Thompson, Francois-Antoine LaRoque, and Charles McKenzie: University of Oklahoma Press, c.1985.

1819

IN THE WEST:

In February of 1819, Ignace GIASSON led "Iroquois" (actually European Canadian/Iroquois metis) hunters into New Caledonia, a region that later became Pacific coast British Columbia. One of this party, Charles TAYURESSE, settled in the Columbia River region the next year.

Louis LABONTE, Joseph GERVAIS, Etienne LUCIER, Louis KANOTA, and Louis PICHETTE dit DuPre (all free trappers) stayed to hunt in the Umpqua region in 1819 while Thomas McKay led a Northwest Company brigade back to Ft. George.

IN THE EAST:

The US Army established CANTONMENT MISSOURI north of the site of present day Omaha.

[A list of ships that visited the Northwest between 1819 and 1840 (with information about their nationality, captains, and destinations) is in Hubert Howe Bancroft's History of the Northwest Coast, vol. I 1543-1800 (vol. XXVII of Works of...): 1884, A.L. Bancroft & Company, San Francisco, pp 340-42]

1820

Cantonment Missouri (US Army) was relocated to Council Bluffs and renamed FT. ATKINSON; the fort was named for General Henry Atkinson who commanded the right wing of the US Army Western Department and headquartered at St. Louis. Other forts and posts near this eastern end of the Oregon Trail were operated by private companies such as the Missouri Fur Company's Ft. Recovery and the American Fur Company's Ft. Sioux City.

Lt. Steven H. LONG led a US Army exploring expedition up the Platte and South Platte rivers in 1820. He reported that the "American Desert" was uninhabitable. [Sources: Edwin JAMES, a member of the Army explorers, wrote Account of an Expedition ... under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long: published 1823, Philadelphia; also see The Personal Narrative of James O. PATTIE of Kentucky, during an Expedition from St. Louis: edited by Timothy Flint and published in Cincinnati, 1831.]

In September of 1820, John HALDANE sent a group of 50 or more Iroquois from Spokane House to hunt in the Flathead (Washington Salish) region. Meanwhile, Jacco FINDLAY had sent a rival force of hunters from Saskatchewan.

SOURCES: Edwin James (James, Edwin, Account of an Expedition…under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long: published 1823, Philadelphia).

1821

RUSSIA CLAIMED ALASKA south to 51^o and forbid entry to Alaskan waters for the ships from any other nation in 1821.

The British government ordered the Northwest Fur Company to be absorbed by the HUDSON BAY COMPANY in 1821. The HBC was franchised to control trade from west of the Rockies and north to 54^o 40' (Russian Alaska). During the 1820's the HBC established 13 trading posts/forts with headquarters at Ft. Vancouver.

Trappers and traders who had been laid-off by the merger of the Northwest Company and the HBC formed the COLUMBIA FUR COMPANY to continue trade in the Yellowstone, Missouri, and Mississippi river regions without affiliation to Britain or Canada.

Michel BOURDON led the HBC's Snake Brigade. During the summer of 1821, the hunters lost 2 and killed 7 in skirmishes with the Blackfeet.

1822

 IN THE EAST:

 April 3, 1822: Andrew HENRY, commander, and Daniel S.D. MOORE left St. Louis on an exploring expedition. Lt. Governor of Missouri, William H. ASHLEY, had obtained the services of Andrew Henry, a large company of men, and two keelboats for an expedition to scout fur trade possibilities in the upper Missouri River region.

Shortly after passing Council Bluffs, Iowa, in May 1822, one of the boats hit a snag and sank with $10,000 in supplies. A small party with Moore hurried back to St. Louis while Henry and the remaining boat continued the expedition. Back in St. Louis, Ashley recruited a new crew of 46 and set out to follow Henry. At Ft. Osage (about 50 miles below the Kansas River), Ashley's boat picked up the 20 men marooned by the sinking of Moore's boat.

In August 1822--at the Mandan Villages (present-day Bismark, North Dakota)-- Assinoboin Indians stole all of the expedition's horses. Due to hostile Blackfeet, Ashley's company abandoned their original plans to build a fort at the Missouri River's Great Falls and instead established a base at the mouth of the Yellowstone River in October 1822.

Daniel T. POTTS, one of the 8 men who had deserted Henry's party at Cedar Post, wandered alone until he found Ashley's encampment. In the Fall of 1822, Ashley returned to St. Louis, leaving over 150 trappers in the Yellowstone region to pursue the fur trade.

SOURCES: William T. Ashley Papers (Missouri Historical Society MS); Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison).

IN THE WEST:

Fourteen* trappers with the Hudson Bay Company Snake Brigade refused to follow Michel BOURDON through hostile Blackfeet territory on their return to Ft. Nez Perce. Perhaps intending to defect to Americans in the Yellowstone, the Snake Brigade deserters spent the winter of 1821-22 among the Mountain Crows near the Wind River. Some cached the furs gathered during the previous season and joined the (better paying and less autocratic) Missouri Fur Company. John GREY (a half-Iroquois) and 16 others returned to Ft. Nez Perce with Bourdon.

*[The 14 were: Joseph ST. ARMAND, Pierre CASSAWASA, Francois FRENETOROSUE, J. GARDIPE, Francois Wm. HODGENS, J. MCLEOD, Francois METHOD, Thos. NAKARSHETA, Patrick O'CONNER, Louis ST. MICHAEL, Ignace TAHEKEURATE, Lazard TEYCALEYECOURIGI, Ignace SOKHONIE and Sokhonie's stepson. [HBC Archives, Spokane District Report, 1822-23--Donald C. Jackson, in his Children of the Fur Trade, researched Hudson's Bay Company records in detail to record the history of metis in the Northwest]

Jean Baptiste LOLO dit St. Paul, an experienced interpreter for the Northwest Company, arrived at Ft. St. James in the New Caldonia District (north of the Fraser River in present-day British Columbia).

SOURCES: Moses Harris (Hafen, vol. 9, contains jottings, documents, newspaper articles and letters mentioning Harris; biography OHQ 52);, Clifford Dale, editor, Ashley-Smith Explorations and the Discovery of a Central Route to the Pacific, 1822-1829, with the Original Journals (Harrison); William T. Ashley Papers (Missouri Historical Society MS); Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Smith, Sullivan); John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana, 1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians..

1823

EAST:

On March 10, 1823, William ASHLEY again set out from St. Louis with a party of over 100 men. This fur trade expedition faced a disastrous journey, beginning with an accidental drowning of one man and an explosion of ammunition that killed three. Among Ashley's party were James CLYMAN, Jedediah SMITH, Mike FINK, William SUBLETTE and Moses HARRIS.

At Ft. Recovery (near White River), Ashley heard about an ATTACK BY ARIKARAS on a party of the Missouri Fur Company, a different attack on Ft. Cedar, and Arikara Chief Gray Eye's vow to avenge the death of his son. Ashley decided not to trade with the Arikara but his route still took the voyageurs past the Arikara villages. Ashley and his interpreter, Edward ROSE, parleyed with Little Soldier and The Bear. Negotiations with the Arikaras were wary but the traders still arranged for over 200 buffalo robes and a score of horses.

In the middle of the night on June 2, 1823, trapper Aaron STEVENS was murdered at the Arikara village and Rose ran back to warn Ashley. At that time 40 of Ashley's men were on shore (under the leadership of Jedediah Smith) with the horses; there were about 90 men in the boats.

At dawn, the Arikaras attacked the shore party. The boatmen refused Ashley's order to sail for shore and he was only able to save about 7 or 8 of the shore party in small skiffs (many in the party ashore refused rescue, preferring to fight). Routed by the Arikaras, the shore party fled and swam for the boat. Fifteen were dead and over a dozen wounded. Ashley ordered Jedediah Smith and a French Canadian to find Henry and warn him of the hostilities.

Ashley picked up the scattered survivors and withdrew 25 miles downstream. The men refused to make another attempt to pass the Arikara villages and only about 30 were willing to remain with Ashley. The rest went downstream in one of the party's 2 boats while Ashley and company withdrew to the mouth of the Cheyene River. Mike FINK of Ashley's party accidentally shot someone dead while playing a William Tell-type game; the victim's companion killed Fink after Fink threatened him during the resulting argument.

A roster of others in the battle with Arikaras: Killed, John Matthews, John Collins, James McDaniel, Westly Piper, George Flager, Benjamin F. Sneed, James Penn Jr., John Miller, John S. Gardner, Ellis Ogle, and David Howard; wounded (Gibson and 2 others later died), Reed Gibson, Joseph Monso, John LARRISON, Abraham Ricketts, Robert Tucker, Joseph Thompson, Jacob MILLER, David MCCLANE, Hugh Glass, Auguste Dufrain, and Willis (a black man).

In late June of 1823, the Missouri Fur Company faced attack by Blackfeet about 10 miles from Crow Village on the Yellowstone River; Robert JONES, Michael IMMELL and 5 others were killed. In July of 1823, Blackfeet attacked a party of 11 traveling with Henry in the Yellowstone region and killed 4.

On June 22, 1823, Colonel Henry LEAVENWORTH, commander of Ft. Atkinson, marched with 200 soldiers in 6 companies against the Arikaras traveling overland and by keelboat. Indian agent Benjamin O'FALLON and Major William S. FOSTER remained at the fort in Leavenworth's absence. With Leavenworth were Lt. W.N. Witcliff, Major A.R. Wooley, John Gale (surgeon), Lt. N.I. Cruger, Maj. D. Ketchum, Sgt. Bradley, Lt. Morris, Capt. B. Riley, and Lt. M.V. Morris.

A company of 40 men led by Joshua PILCHER of the Missouri Fur Company set out from St. Louis on June 27, 1823 to join Leavenworth. Pilcher's party included some of Ashley's deserters as well as Sergeant PERKINS and Captain William VANDERBURG, both members of the Fur Company.

On July 4, 1823 a US Army keelboat accidentally sank, drowning Sgt. STACKPOLE and 6 privates. Leavenworth's army delayed for repairs at Ft. Recovery (near White River). Pilcher and his troops caught up with them at the fort.

Meanwhile, Jedediah SMITH reached Andrew HENRY in the Yellowstone country with the report of the Arikara massacre. Henry left 20 of his men to guard the fort and set out with the rest to find Ashley. Shortly after Ashley and Henry met, they received news of Leavenworth's army and decided to join the battle. Their combined force numbered 80 and they joined Leavenworth near Ft. Brasseaux.

On August 9, 1823 the 500 Sioux warriors who had also joined Leavenworth's forces near Ft. Brasseaux raced ahead of the troops and engaged the Arikara in battle-they lost 2 and killed 15. The main force with Leavenworth killed 50 more and decisively defeated the Arikara. On August 10, 1823, after a peace parley with the Arikara, the Sioux withdrew homeward.

With the Sioux forces and most of his own round-shot gone, Leavenworth decided to make a treaty with the Arikara. Pilcher and the Missouri Fur Company strongly objected to this decision (they filed an official complaint later). Talks were held August 11 and 12, 1823, and the Arikaras made token reparations to Leavenworth. The Arikara then fled for refuge among the Mandans.

Leavenworth's troops entered the Arikara villages on August 13, 1823 and were surprised to find the site totally deserted. After a fruitless attempt to find the Arikaras, they set out to return home the next day. Two members of the Missouri Fur Company, Angus MCDONALD and William GORDON, stayed behind and torched the deserted Arikara villages. Trading-post operator TILTON later reported that homeless Arikaras among the Mandans were forming war parties.

On August 20, 1823 another attack on Henry's trappers left two dead (James ANDERSON and August NELL) while another war party staged a horse-raid on his fort (TILTON, who kept a post in the Mandan village later reported that the attacks were by Mandans, not by Blackfeet as supposed.) Henry dispatched Moses HARRIS, John FITZGERALD, and George HARRIS to the lower Missouri River to report on the fur company's troubles. Moses Harris gave his report at Ft. Atkinson on December 18, 1823 and traveled on to St. Louis. Meanwhile HENRY and his company of trappers fled and ascended the Yellowstone River to the Powder. There they met with Crows, traded for horses, and set out westward.

Sometime during the latter half of 1823 William L. SUBLETTE, Jedediah SMITH, and about 11 others split off from Ashley's party to explore the Rocky Mountains rather than return to St. Louis.

Also in 1823, Ewing YOUNG led an expedition from Missouri to New Mexico that included Joseph WALKER, later a well-known pathfinder.

By the end of 1823, Missouri Fur Company partner, Captain Joseph PERKINS, had brought $24,000 in furs from the Yellowstone country to Franklin, Missouri in this single year.

SOURCES: James Clyman (Camp); William T. Ashley Papers (Missouri Historical Society MS); Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Smith, Sullivan); Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis

WEST:

In the spring of 1823, the men who had deserted the HBC Snake Brigade the previous fall to winter along Wind River, were attacked and robbed by River Crows (enemies of their allies, the Mountain Crows). Due to this attack and another by Cheyennes only 6 of the original party of 14 reached Ft. Atkinson on August 23, 1823. Four others had fled to Taos.

Michel BOURDON, in charge of the Snake Brigade for the HBC, was killed by Blackfeet on the Salmon River with 3 of his men. Finnan MCDONALD and his men* then killed 70 of the (Piegan Blackfeet) tribe and won their concession to allow the HBC passage through Lemhi Pass down the Missouri River.

*(With McDonald were Jean B. Bouchard, Alex Carson, Ingnace Dehodionwasse, Charles Groslui, Jean Bapt. Grandriau, Antoine Godin, Ignace Katcheioronguese, Louis Kanota, Louis Konitagen, Ignace Konitagen, Lazard Hayaiguarelita, Charles Loyer, Charles LaGrasse, Martin Miaquin, Antoine Paget, Jos. Perrault, Francois Sansfacon, Sauteau St. Germain, Fran. Sasanirie, Baptiste Sowenge, , Pierre Tennotiessin, Jacque Thataracton, Laurent Karowtowshow, Jacques Osistericha, Pierre Tavenitogen and his 2 sons. [HBCArchives, Spokane District Report, 1822-23])

In late 1823 or early 1824, Finan MCDONALD was killed by Blackfeet while hunting with the Hudson Bay Company Snake Brigade.

SOURCES: David Douglas, a botanist in Oregon for the Hudson Bay Company, kept a journal 1823-27 (Lavender); John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade (Mountain Press Publishing Company, Montana, 1995) analyzes a huge number of primary sources (such as Hudson Bay Company archives and Harriet C. Duncan's 6-volume Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest) to trace the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.

1824

Thomas FITZPATRICK traveled to the Sweetwater River with James CLYMAN in 1824. Soon after they cached their pelts, they were attacked by Indians and fled down the Platte to Ft. Atkinson (Kansas) where they arrived near starvation.

Later in 1824, William ASHLEY led a caravan up the Platte from Ft. Atkinson to pursue the fur trade in the Green River region. Short on supplies, they descended the river and met Etienne PROVOST (PROVO) at his encampment in the Uintah Basin. At Salt Lake they met Northwest Fur Company members with P.S. OGDEN. This huge party of Americans and Canadians also included SUBLETTE and Moses HARRIS, who had been trapping in the Rockies, as well as Jim BECKWOURTH and Caleb GREENWOOD.

General Henry ATKINSON traveled with a party to make official treaties with the Missouri River tribes in 1824. Edward ROSE, hired as a guide and interpreter to the Yellowstone region, left the company in Montana to live among the Crow Indians.

On April 17, 1824 a TREATY BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND THE UNITED STATES set the southern border of Russian Alaska at 54^o 40' and the eastern border at 141^o.

SOURCES: James Clyman (Camp); William T. Ashley Papers (Missouri Historical Society MS); Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.

IN THE WEST:

Alexander ROSS led the Snake Brigade from Flathead Post in 1824. John GREY (the same part-Iroquois individual known as Jean Gray or Ignace HATCHIORAUQUASHA) and Old Pierre TREVANIGAN led a group of dissidents and received allowance to hunt for their own, rather than the Company's, benefit. They returned to the main Snake Brigade with 7 Americans (including Jedediah SMITH) whom they had met in Bear Valley. The dissidents' furs had mysteriously disappeared, probably into the caches of the better-paying Americans.

Joseph PORTNEUF was with the Hudson Bay Company party sent to establish a post on the Fraser River in 1824.

1825

 IN OREGON

The transformation of tiny FT. VANCOUVER into the massive headquarters of the Hudson Bay Company in the Northwest began in 1825 with the arrival of Dr. John MCLOUGHLIN. Completed in 1826, Ft. Vancouver included an extensive farm, factories, warehouses, homes, barracks, a chapel, and medical facilities. Until the mid- to late-1830's the HBC was the only source of imported supplies, manufactured goods, trade, transport, and manpower west of the American fur trade at Green River. Under McLoughlin's leadership, the Fort extended aid, loans, and trade to American missionaries and settlers as well as to the ex-employees and members of the Hudson Bay Company.

Governor George SIMPSON, commander of Hudson Bay Company operations in North America, christened Ft. Vancouver by smashing a bottle of rum against the flagstaff in March 1825.

Governor Simpson sent the sons of two chiefs (Spokane Nicholas GARRY and Flathead J.H. PELLY) to Canadian missionaries for education. The two returned in 1829.

In spring 1825, Gov. Simpson ordered all Iroquois HBC employees to be exiled from the Columbia River to eastern Canada. He also cancelled HBC operations at Spokane House.

P.S. OGDEN led the 1825 Snake Brigade for the HBC into the Bear River and Salt Lake regions.

SOURCES: John McLoughlin, letters (Rich, three volumes of material begin in this year); David Douglas David Douglas, journal 1823-27 (Lavender); Gov. George Simpson, journal 1824-25 (Merk); Peter Skene Ogden, journals 1824-26 (Rich).

EAST

In 1825, William ASHLEY's caravan left Chouteau's Landing (Kansas City), traveled up the Platte, and joined Rendezvous at Salt Lake. The party took along a mounted cannon, the first wheeled vehicle on this trail.

P.S. OGDEN of the Hudson Bay Company and his hunters met American trappers near Salt Lake in May 1825. Many (23 out of 55) of his force (mostly Iroquois) transferred their allegiance (and packs of furs) to the American encampment. Joseph PORTNEUF was one of the few not to desert Ogden.

Three men who had deserted the Snake Brigade in 1822 rejoined the Brigade in 1825, probably at this Rendezvous (Francois METHOD, Jack MCLEOD, and Lazard TEYCALECOURIGI). In 1825, Etienne PROVOST had led four of the deserters from Taos to Rendezvous. During the journey with Provost, Patrick O'CONNER was killed by Snake Indians near the Salt Lake.

Another source (Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade) reports that Rendezvous was held on Henry's Fork of the Green River and that Pierre TREVANITAGON and company partnered with the American Johnson GARDNER for an expedition to the Flatheads after Rendezvous.

ASHLEY, SUBLETTE, and Moses HARRIS returned to St. Louis with the season's catch of furs.

A fur trapper caravan of 60 men under Jedediah SMITH (a partner of Ashley) left St. Louis in November 1825 and wintered on the Republican Fork of the Kansas River. Because the company was short on supplies, Smith sent Moses HARRIS and Jim BECKWOURTH ahead to the Pawnee Village and another small party back to Ashley in St. Louis for resupply.

Edward ROSE joined SMITH's party for the trip as far west as South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. Robert CAMPBELL was with Smith. In 1825, Jedediah SMITH (then a member of Ashley's company) became the first American to come overland from St. Louis to California, traveling by way of Utah and Nevada.

1826

The Columbia Fur Company, formed in 1821, transferred its interests to (Astor and Ashley's) NORTH AMERICAN FUR COMPANY.

In Spring 1826, William ASHLEY, Jedediah SMITH, William CAMPBELL, Moses HARRIS, and William SUBLETTE and the trapper caravan left St. Louis. A party with Campbell traveled via the Platte River and the others followed the Sweetwater River. In the mountains they met William O'FALLON who had spent the winter in the high country.

After working in small parties in the Salt Lake region, the trappers gathered for RENDEZVOUS at nearby Cache (Willow) Valley with Louis VASQUEZ, James CLYMAN, Henry G. FRAEB, Daniel T. POTTS, and many others. After Rendezvous, Jedediah Smith, David JACKSON, and William Sublette bought out Ashley's interest in their partnership and formed a new partnership.

Ashley took a party back to St. Louis while others wintered 1826-27 at the confluence of the Weber and Ogden rivers in the Salt Lake Valley.

In December 1826, a party with Jedediah SMITH reached San Diego, California.

In Oregon [according to Daniel Lee] MCLEOD and DOUGLAS were attacked by Indians at the Dalles. The Kinse (Cayuse) came to their rescue.

SOURCES: "Reminiscence" by George T. Allan, HBC clerk (Bancroft MS and in Pacific Express, April 12, 1888); James Clyman (Camp); David Douglas, journal 1823-27 (Lavender); William T. Ashley Papers (Missouri Historical Society MS); Peter Skene Ogden, Snake country journal (Davies); Peter Skene Ogden, journals 1824-26 (Rich);John Work, journal of 1826 (Washington Historical Quarterly, #6, 1915); Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Smith, Sullivan); Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers (at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis); "Californios versus Jedediah Smith," documents 1826-47 (Weber).

1827

The British ship Cadboro arrived on the Columbia River from England for the first time in 1827 to become one of the regular HBC ships in the Oregon trade. The Broughton, a sloop built at Ft. Vancouver, was launched this year.

William SUBLETTE and Moses HARRIS set out from winter camp near Salt Lake in January 1827 and reached St. Louis in March 1827.

Meanwhile, William ASHLEY was advertising for a new company of fur trappers and had made overture to Pierre CHOUTEAU of Pratte, Chouteau, and Company. William SUBLETTE, who had bought Ashley's fur company interest in 1826, was furious. After negotiation with Sublette, Ashley agreed to send James B. BRUFEE and Captain Hiram SCOTT with supplies to be delivered to Sublette's company in exchange for future furs (this complex arrangement also included deals with the Missouri and American fur companies)

Beginning in 1827, Major PILCHER and a party of trappers from the Missouri Fur Company traveled to the Colorado basin and as far to the northwest as Ft. Coleville, WA, on a two-year trading expedition.

Robert CAMPBELL and Pierre TREVANITAGON were with the Smith-Jackson-Sublette partnership in 1827-28.

The HBC's Snake Brigade roster (fur trappers and hunters in the Columbia River to Snake River trade) included Thomas TAWAKON (or Tewateon); he was one of the many part-Iroquois or full-blooded Iroquois still in the Columbia region despite Gov. Simpson's 1825 order expelling them to eastern Canada.

Americans with Sam TULLOCK and the HBC Snake Brigade with P.S.OGDEN shared winter camp 1827-28.

SOURCES: Robert Campbell (Campbell); David Douglas, journals, 1823-27 (Lavender); Peter Skene Ogden, Snake country journal (Utah Historical Quarterly#22, Davies, Williams); Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Smith, Sullivan); "Californios versus Jedediah Smith," documents 1826-47 (Weber);Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers (Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis); John C. Jackson's Children of the Fur Trade records the history of Metis (part-Indian) French Canadians.

1828

In spring 1828, Indians attacked Americans near the mouth of the Portneuf River. About this time, Archibald GOODRICH married Nancy of the Dalles (later Mrs. J.B. DOBIN), the widow of another HBC man who had been killed in an earlier battle.

Pierre TREVANTITAGON was killed by Piegan Blackfeet. Pierre's Hole, on the west side of the Tetons, bears his name. In 1828, Thierry GODIN was also killed by Blackfeet.

IN OREGON:

Two British SHIPS WRECKED AT THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER in 1828. The wreck of the William and Ann killed 26 of the crew, most of them victims of an attack by Clatsops [Clallams]. Two Clatsop leaders were later killed in retaliation. The crew and officers of the second ship lost in 1828, the Isabella (Capt. RYAN) abandoned their vessel without fatalities. After the loss of another ship in 1830, the HBC occupied Ft. George continuously. The American ships Owyhee (Capt. DOMINUS) and Convoy (Capt. TOMSON) arrived at Ft. Vancouver in 1828 without mishap.

Jedediah SMITH, John TURNER, and two others reached Fort Vancouver in 1828 after most of their party was massacred by Rogue warriors near the mouth of the Umpqua River. Smith was leading an exploring party traveling to Oregon from northern California.

Trader Frances ERMATINGER and LOLO dit St. Paul were stationed at Ft. St. James in New Caledonia.

The Hudson Bay Company's Alexander MCLEOD led the Southern Brigade from Ft. Vancouver to northern California in 1828 while P.S. OGDEN was in charge of the Snake Brigade (which between 1828 and 1831 also included the 3 FINDLAY brothers, Augustin, Miequim, and Pinesta).

(THE HBC OPERATED YEARLY CARAVANS: the Montreal or York Factory Brigade to Hudson's Bay from Ft. Vancouver; the Snake Brigade, to mountain Rendezvous and back from 1829-1843; the New Caledonia Brigade between forts Vancouver and Alexandria; and the Southern Brigade from Ft. Vancouver to northern California).

William CANNON and J. GERVAIS were with the 1828 Southern Brigade that suffered a difficult return journey due to heavy snows in the mountains near Shasta.

SOURCES: Francis Ermatinger, "Journal of Expedition Against the Clallam Indians, June-July, 1828" (Bancroft MS); Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Smith, Sullivan); "Californios versus Jedediah Smith," documents 1826-47 (Weber); Peter Skene Ogden, Snake country journal (Utah Historical Quarterly#22, Williams); John McLoughlin (Rich, his letters and records from 1825 to the 1840's; also contains letters by David Douglas); F.P. Wrangle Journal, 1828-c1835 (published as Russian American Statistical and Ethnographic Information in 1839 by the Works Projects Administration).

EAST

Moses HARRIS, Jim BECKWOURTH, and PORTULEUSE trapped along Bear River in 1828.

W.H. ASHLEY's fur company traveled again into the mountains from Missouri in 1828. Trapper Hiram SCOTT died this year in western Nebraska.

A party with Ewing YOUNG traveled this year from Missouri to Southern California.

SOURCES: Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers (Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis).

1829

The Missouri Fur Company's Major PILCHER and a party of men returned to St. Louis in 1829 traveling from the Northwest by way of the Athabasca River. The troop--which had set out in 1827 and journeyed as far as Ft. Coleville, Washington--faced near starvation on a harrowing trip back to the States.

William SUBLETTE, Moses HARRIS, and company trapped in the Yellowstone region in 1829.

William SUBLETTE, Moses HARRIS, Joe MEEK, Jedediah SMITH, David E. JACKSON, and Thomas FITZPATRICK met at Pierre's Hole in 1829

They traveled together and at the Shoshone River on the Big Horn Plains joined Milton SUBLETTE and a company of 40 men. The combined company reached Wind River in December 1829.

SOURCES: Jedediah Smith, biography and journal (Sullivan); "Californios versus Jedediah Smith," documents 1826-47 (Weber);Ashley-Smith Explorations journals, 1822-29/contains "The Second Journal of Harrison G. Rogers (Harrison); William Sublette papers at the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.

IN OREGON:

Peter Skene OGDEN and Donald MANSON established Ft. Simpson for the HBC in 1829.

At Ft. Vancouver, Dr. John MCLOUGHLIN used the case of Etienne LUCIER in 1829 to formulate a new policy for ex-HBC employees. Company rules forbade ex-employees from settling Indian lands and mandated their return to their place of origin.

Since settlement seemed inevitable, McLoughlin encouraged ex-employees to farm in the Willamette Valley only. He provided loans for discounted supplies and a pair of cattle (the animals on loan for founding the settler's own herd). [TOPA 1880 has McLoughlin's memoranda on Etienne Lucier and settlement].

The two chiefs' sons, Spokane Gary and J.H. Pelly, sent for missionary education in Canada in 1824 returned to their tribes. Their experiences were impressive enough that the tribes sent a delegation to St. Louis with Lucien FONTENELLE and Andrew DRIPPS from the next Rendezvous.

1830

Beginning in this year and peaking in 1833, epidemics decimated tribes in the Lower Columbia, the Willamette Valley, and Klamath Lakes. Small pox had reached the Oregon coast by 1782 and continued to appear ever further inland. From 1830 onward, a yearly "ague" (influenza?) affected both whites and Indians.

In February 1830, Moses HARRIS, William SUBLETTE and others in their fur-trading party returned to St. Louis. In Spring, they again headed west.

The SMITH-JACKSON-SUBLETTE partnership caravan from St. Louis to Wind River region for summer Rendezvous in 1830 was the first train of wagons to travel up the Platte River trail. The caravan included 10 wagons, two dearborns, and 81 men. Some historical narratives call this expedition THE OPENING OF THE OREGON TRAIL.

In 1830 new partnerships and reorganized fur companies began to rival the Hudson Bay Company's exclusive dominance in the trade. Jedediah SMITH, William SUBLETTE, and David JACKSON reformed the ROCKY MOUNTAIN FUR COMPANY in August 1830 by buying out their former partners: Jim BRIDGER, J. Baptiste GERVAIS, Willaim CRAIG, George EBBERT, and Thomas FITZPATRICK. Henry FRAEB and Milton SUBLETTE were also members of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company.

Also in 1830, Andrew DRIPPS and Henry VANDERBURGH re-established the AMERICAN FUR COMPANY. Free trappers, estimated to number in the hundreds by this time, joined one or another company or made their own partnerships. (Lucien Fontenelle replaced Vanderburgh as Dripps's partner after Vanderburgh's death in 1832)

After selling his interest to the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, Jedediah SMITH led a party, including Joe MEEK, into the Judith Basin (Shoshone country). After 1830, Jedediah Smith and his partners concentrated on trade along the Santa Fe Trail; Smith was killed the next year, 1831, at the Cimarron River.

IN OREGON, Joseph PORTNEUF of the HBC and 2 of his children drowned at the Dalles. Portneuf River, Idaho, was named for him.

During 1830, from St. Louis, William WALKER of the Ohio Wyandots and G.P. DISOWAY urged a Protestant mission to be organized and sent to the Flatheads.