sent out to sound the entrance, and two more white men were lost. Finally the ship itself tried the bar, and as if by a miracle the Tonquin drifted in over the Columbia bar and into Baker's bay on the 24th of March, 1811. Here the live stock which had been purchased at the Sandwich Islands, was landed and confined in pens of poles, and from this point an exploring party was sent out to find and select a point to build a fort. This exploring party was composed of Captain Thorn, Alexander McKay, David Stuart, three clerks and members of the crew well armed, provisioned and manned for the occasion to fight if necessary. Five days were occupied in examining the north bank of the river, when the party returned to the ship without agreeing on a location. McDougal and Stuart determined to try the south bank, although Captain Thorn bitterly objected, saying that it was nothing but a sporting excursion and he would land all the goods right where they were on the south bank unless they returned in two days. McDougal and Stuart encountered a heavy squall on the river, their boat was upset and they were saved from drowning only by the timely succor of the Chinook Indians who came to their rescue in canoes. But they finally agreed upon a point for the fort, Point George, and on which the fort was built, which is now the city of Astoria. To Duncan McDougal and David Stuart is the honor due for founding the city of Astoria. And on the 12th day of April, 1811, twelve men of the Tonquin Astor party landed on Point George with tools and provisions and began the erection of the fort, a picture of which is given on another page. Trading, fort building and ship building now commenced in earnest. The Chinook Indians, under the chieftaincy of Concomly, were friendly and lent the white men what assistance they could and supplied them with fish and game. For this the white men were grateful, and especially McDougal, who in a few weeks took a wife, a comely daughter of the hospitable chief, Concomly. Turning now to the ship Tonquin that carried the adventuresome party around the world and founded American civilization at the mouth of the great Columbia, it is to be regretted that either damned by the evil eye and splenetic temper of Commander Thorn, or doomed by the irony of fate, the ship sailed out of the Columbia and north to Clayoquot on Nootka sound on the west coast of Vancouver island, and here put in for trade with the Indians. Astor warned Thorn before he sailed from New York to beware of the Indians at this place, saying, "All accidents which have as yet happened there arose out of too much confidence in the Indians." The interpreter also warned Thorn, but all to no purpose. The Indians came on board the ship with furs to trade in great numbers, unrestrained by the precautions enforced by other ship masters of allowing only a few Indians at one time on the ship. And Thorn being unable to trade with them on his own terms, quarreled with them and drove them off the ship in anger, striking a chief in the face with his own furs. This started the trouble. The next day the Indians came back in still greater numbers and with more furs, conducting themselves in most peaceable style. They would trade one roll of furs but keep back another which they would not part with. They crowded the deck of the ship fore and aft. Finally, to get rid of them, and now alarmed himself, Thorn ordered the sails unfurled and the anchor raised; then ordered the Indians to leave the ship. Each Indian arose, picked up his roll of furs, thrust his hand within it, and upon a prearranged signal out came knife and club, and with a demoniac yell they fell upon the few white men-captain and crew-and killed every man that could be reached in a few minutes. The five men who had been ordered into the rigging to unfurl the sails, seeing the slaughter dropped through the steerage hatchway, one being stabbed to death as he dropped down; the other four closed the hatches over their heads, then broke through into the cabin, seized fire arms and attacked the Indians who fled from the ship in dismay. The next day the four men took a ship's boat and put out to sea and were never heard from afterwards. Now all the men were dead or gone in this boat with the possible exception of James Lewis, who was supposed to have been the first man killed, but who fell into the hold of the ship and might not have then died. At all events. the Indians believed that all were gone or dead; and from the report of the interpreter whom the squaws hid and protected when he jumped over the side of the ship when the carnage commenced, and which report he made to Franchere two years after, the Indians approached the ship next day with great caution. sailing round and round to see if any man was alive; and finally encouraged by increasing numbers they swarmed over the boat side until there were five hundred Indians aboard. Then, without premonition, with a terrible explosion the ship blew all to pieces and two hundred Indians were killed and drowned instantly. The powder magazine had been reached by fire in some way, and whether it was the wounded man Lewis, having no hopes of his own life, and knowing he would surely be killed if found alive, or whether it was spontaneous combustion that fired the magazine will never be known. Returning again to Astoria, and while the building of the fort was in progress. faint rumors were carried in by the Indians that a company of white men were building a fort far up the Columbia at a great waterfall. It was decided to find out the truth of this story; but before a party could be spared to go up the river any great distance, two strange Indians were brought to the fort by Concomly's men, whose dress was that of the Indians on the east side of the Rocky mountains. They said they had been sent to carry a letter from Finnan McDonald, a clerk of the Northwest Company at a fort on the Spokane river, to John Stuart in New Caledonia, and losing their way, and hearing from other Indians of the white men at Astoria had come there thinking that was the place to go to. This gave the Northwest Company away. They had rushed their men over into Old Oregon to forestall Astor. This was discouraging news to the Astor men, for they had but slight resources to found their new posts in the interior. But they resolved to accept the challenge, hold the country, and plant post for post alongside the Northwesters as long as their means would hold out. David Stuart was selected with men and Indians to start for the interior on July 15, 1811. But about noon of that day, while loading their canoes to start, a large canoe with eight white men flying the British flag swept around Tongue Point and made straight for Astoria. The Astorians were thunderstruck; here was war and rumors of war. As the canoe touched the little wharf a distinguished gentleman stepped ashore and announced himself as David Thompson. He was politely received and hos pitably entertained, but distinctly informed that he could not raise his flag at Astoria, for this was American territory. Thompson freely explained how he had, with a large party, been rushed to the Rocky mountains, with instructions to come over the mountains and down to the mouth of the Columbia and take possession of the country; but having been snowed in at the mountains had failed to get through to the mouth of the Columbia in 1810. How little things change the course of empire! Had Thompson got through in 1810, Great Britain would. have made war on the United States before giving up the mouth of the Columbia river. But notwithstanding this threatened opposition from the Northwest Company, it was decided that Stuart with his party should go up the Columbia and establish trading posts the same as if Thompson had made no appearance. And accordingly on the 23d of July, 1811, David Stuart, with four clerks-Pellet, Ross, Montigny and McLellan, with four boatmen, sailed out of the port of Astoria and up the Columbia accompanied by Thompson and his crew, all in their light canoes and under sail, making a party of thirteen men, with Indian goods, provisions, arms and canoes, and being the first small germ of the present vast commerce on the great Columbia river. Stuart and Thompson kept company with each other until they passed the Dalles, when Stuart dropped behind Thompson and proceeded more leisurely that he might more carefully examine the country. Proceeding up the Columbia to the mouth of what the Indians called the Okanogan river, Stuart here stopped and built a fort out of drift wood logs gathered out of the river, and as a commencement erected a log house sixteen by twenty feet in size, and here stored his goods. From this point he sent back Pellet and McLellan to Astoria; and taking Montigny and two boatmen made a winter expedition to the north, leaving Alexander Ross entirely alone to spend the winter by himself as best he could. Here is courage and heroic character for history. Ross lived alone for 188 days and traded with the Indians that winter until his stock of goods was exhausted; and the net gain of his trading was 1,550 beaver skins worth in China $11,250.00 and costing his company only $165.00 in Indian goods. This was the first expedition of white men into the Okanogan country. The Astorians were by no means idle; for the sum of their explorations in their first year in Oregon amounted to over ten thousand miles of travel. But their very activities incurred opposition. The Chinooks that had been so friendly fell away and tired of the novelty; and besides that they disliked to hunt beaver and otter and give their skins for goods that it seemed they might take by force. So they con-cocted a plan to murder all the Astorians and take their goods. Indians had come over from Nootka and told about killing all the white men. McDougall's royal father-in-law, Concomly, absented himself from the fort; all the Indians disappeared in the forests; no beaver were brought in and no fish were caught. There was a Judas in the Indian camp, and for a red shirt he gave the grand scheme away. The white men strengthened their defenses and mounted their cannons, and kept guards on watch at night. But to put an end to the uprising McDougal devised a stratagem. He sent word to the Indians that he had a great secret to tell them, something nobody knew of, and it was for their benefit alone. He knew the mortal terror the Indians had of the small-pox, and resolved to make the most of it. The Indians came by their chiefs and were admitted to the grand council chamber. Here McDougal craftily let out the secret which they had been concocting to kill the white men, saying: "White men read the stars, and hear the news in the winds, and it is dangerous to think though the white. men are few they can be easily killed. And although Indians killed twenty white men at Nootka, dead white man blew up the ship and killed two hundred Indians." Then taking it from the interior of his vest with great ceremony he exhibited a little bottle saying with a shudder: "You have all heard of the awful small-pox. Listen to me now; I am the Small-pox Chief. I have the small-pos here in this bottle. If I should pull out this cork, and send it forth among you, you would all be dead men in a minute. But this is for my enemies and not for my friends." The trick was a charm. The Indians begged that the cork be not pulled; the threatened attack on the fort was not made, and beaver pelts came in the next day in vast quantities. And now is reached the last chapter in Astor's ill-fated venture to Astoria. After planting trading posts at many available points in the interior and doing a large and profitable business with the Indians for two years throughout much of the territory of the present states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, together with a large trade with the Russians in Alaska, Astor's partners and managers in Oregon were compelled to take the alternative to fight, fly or sell out to their rival, the Northwest Company. The first overture came from John George McTavish, who came down the Columbia river flying the British flag on April 11, 1813. War had already been declared by the Congress of the United States on June 17, 1812, and several battles had been fought. The representatives of the Northwest Company in Oregon had been promptly notified by express runner from Canada, which information had been by them passed on to the Astorians. It was impossible for Astor to send his company in Oregon any relief, and Hunt and the other partners were compelled to act wholly on their own responsibility. There can be no doubt that the Northwest Company were quite ready to drive a hard bargain not only to get rid of the Astor competition in Oregon, but also get the Astoria stock of furs at a big profit. But they had also to take their chances in the game so far as getting the furs were concerned. The British government had set afloat a fleet of privateers to prey on American commerce, and the capture of Astoria would have made a British privateer sea captain a very rich man. Privateers were already on their way to the mouth of the Columbia river to seize Astoria; and McTavish of the Northwest Company was aware of the fact. The Astorians could not stand out against a war vessel and must surrender if one came; or they must ship all their goods away to the interior, hide and take the chances of the Indians, led by white men, massacring their whole party to get the rich plunder. The Scotchmen of the Northwest Company being subjects of Great Britain, the British privateer could not take their property. So that the Northwest Company was put to the test of making such an offer to the Astorians as they would accept quickly, or see a British privateer capture the post and get the Astoria plunder for nothing. Nothing worries the real genuine Scotch trader so much as to have a chance to make a profit and then see another step in and take it. Every time he will take a small profit on a sure thing rather than run the risk of gaining a large profit on a gamble. The British war vessels may come at any time; the chances are all in favor of their coming; if they do come they will take everything as their lawful prize. These considerations laid heavy on the hearts of the men on both sides of the bargain counter. Finally they agreed, and the whole stock of goods, furs and equipment at Astoria, and at all interior points belonging to the Pacific Fur Company was sold to the Northwest Company on October 16, 1813, for actual cost and ten per cent advance thereon. The sale amounted to $80,500.00 and the Astor people got drafts on Canada for their money. The Astor Company lost nothing but the profits on its furs, and the breaking up of their business, but that was probably worth a million dollars. |